Sacred Origins of Profound Things Read online

  ARKANA

  SACRED ORIGINS OF PROFOUND THINGS

  CHARLES PANATI, a former physicist and for six years a science editor of Newsweek, is the author of thirteen fiction and nonfiction books, including Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things and The Browser’s Book of Beginnings. He has an obsession with getting to the root of things—and has made a career out of it.

  ALSO BY CHARLES PANATI

  Supersenses: Our Potential for Parasensory Experience (1974)

  The Geller Papers: Scientists Examine Psychic Uri Geller (editor, 1976)

  Death Encounters: Evidence of an Afterlife? (1979)

  Breakthroughs: Advances in Medicine and Technology (1980)

  The Silent Intruder: Surviving the Radiation Age

  (WITH MICHEAL HUDSON, 1981)

  The Browser’s Book of Beginnings (1984)

  Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things (1987)

  Panati’s Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody (1989)

  Panati’s Fads, Follies and Manias (1991)

  FICTION

  Links (1978)

  The Pleasuring of Rory Malone (1982)

  Sacred

  Origins

  of

  Profound

  Things

  CHARLES PANATI

  ARKANA

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books USA Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.

  Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane, London W8 5TZ, England

  Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood, Victoria, Australia

  Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2

  Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182–190 Wairau Road, Auckland 10, New Zealand

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England

  First published in Arkana 1996

  Copyright © Charles Panati, 1996

  All rights reserved

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA

  Panati, Charles, Sacred origins of profound things/Charles Panati.

  p. cm.

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  ISBN: 978-1-101-65607-5

  1. Religions. 2. Rites and ceremonies. I. Title.

  BL425.P36 1996

  200—dc20 96-14594

  Designed by Deborah Kerner

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition bring imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  For my mother,

  an American Catholic

  Why We Believe

  What We Believe

  INTRODUCTION

  EACH OF US LONGS to believe that our own life—and all life—is not accidental and meaningless but has value and purpose. Assurance that this is so has come from religion for billions of people since the dawn of history.

  Anthropologists have never discovered a group of people who did not harbor some sort of religious beliefs—in gods or goddesses, or in supernatural powers. Religion seems to be as old as our species and no doubt has its origins in human reflection. Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where will I end up?

  Our word “religion” is from the Latin religio, which meant “respect for what is sacred, awe,” and was rooted in the verb religare, “to bind.” In medieval Europe, the word evolved to mean “a system of sacred beliefs and practices that binds a people together.”

  Even the most religious among us tend, over time, to take religion for granted. People have lost sight of the origins of sacred practices and customs, the reasons for religious holidays, rituals, and symbols, the meanings of vestments, sacraments, devotions, and prayers.

  Why, for instance, do we pray with hands joined together?

  Why are there nine classifications of angels?

  Who recited the first rosary?

  Who made the first hajj?

  When did the first boy become bar mitzvah?

  How do certain Christian saints come to be patrons of cyberspace? Of hemorrhoids?

  Have all religions recognized a Satan?

  Are there differences between the Jewish “Yahweh,” the Christian “God the Father,” and the Islamic “Allah”?

  How did millions of people move from the concept of polytheism—the worship of many gods and goddesses—to the adoration of a single male deity?

  Why don’t Jews eat pork, why don’t some Muslims eat certain vegetables, and why did Christians once observe meatless Fridays?

  Why does Judaism, but not Roman Catholicism, allow divorce?

  How did the pope become infallible on issues of faith and morals? Why did papal infallibility become dogma only in the summer of 1870?

  What does sacred scripture—the Jewish and Christian Bibles and the Koran—really say about contraception, abortion, certain sexual practices, and homosexuality?

  I have written about origins before, in such books as Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, which dealt with secular origins. This book deals with sacred origins. I wrote it to clarify the origins of hundreds of religious customs and practices existing in many faiths. I admit to having an obsession with learning about how things started.

  It is my hope that by focusing on the fundamental hows and whys underlying religious practices and beliefs, I can rekindle in readers the excitement and awe that we felt when we were first introduced to religion as children.

  That awe often dims with the rigors of adult life. Busy with careers and childrearing, we may end up worshiping by rote—and lose out on the magic inherent in the act of worship. Every now and then it is wise and helpful to go back to basics. In these pages you will find the origins of some of the most profound and cherished religious beliefs. Some will be familiar. Others may be shocking.

  If, at times, entries seem slightly slanted toward Catholicism that may be due to the fact that I attended Catholic grammar school, high school, and college; for sixteen years I was taught by nuns and priests. I was an altar boy, and I even considered becoming a priest. Writers, it’s said, tend to write about what they know best.

  Since the book covers many faiths, Eastern and Western, I’ve used a non-denominational dating system:

  B.C.E. = BEFORE THE COMMON ERA (PREVIOUSLY: BEFORE CHRIST).

  C.E. = COMMON ERA (PREVIOUSLY: A.D., LATIN, ANNO DOMINI, “IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD”).

  Traditional dates are used for Old Testament books.

  CHARLES PANATI

  New York City

  Contents

  Why We Believe

  What We Believe: Introduction

  PART I. POPULAR PIETY

  1. Prayer Postures: Hands Joined to Heads Covered

  2. Best-Loved Prayers: Apostles’ Creed to Agnus Dei

  3. Acts of Devotion: Rosary to Hajj

  PART II. HEAVENLY HOSTS

  4. Angels: Messengers to Guardians

  5. Archangels and Demons: Michael to Metatron

  PART III. WISE WORDS

  6. Moral Codes: Ten Commandments to Golden Rule

  7. Biblical Phrases: “Writing on the Wall” to “Eye to Eye”

  PART IV. RITES AND RITUALS

  8. Sacred Symbols: Halo to Star of David

  9. Dressed to Kill: Vestments to Vessels

  10. Sacraments: Godparents to Seven Deadly Sins

  11. Vows That Bind: Celibate Priests to Ordained Women

  PART V. FEASTS AND FESTIVAL
S

  12. Christian Feasts: Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday

  13. Jewish Feasts: Passover to Hanukkah

  PART VI. SAINTS AND THEIR BONES

  14. Saints: Abused Virgins to Celibate Clerics

  15. Relics: Buddha’s Tooth to Christ’s Cross

  16. Patron Saints: AIDS to Cyberspace

  PART VII. CELESTIAL PERSONAE

  17. God: Appearance to Existence

  18. Christ: Son to Trinity

  19. Allah: Abraham to Koran

  PART VIII. I DO

  20. Marriage: Mazal Tov to Diamond Ring

  21. Divorce: Get to Jackie Kennedy Onassis

  22. Annulment: Impotency to Senator Edward Kennedy

  PART IX. EXTRAORDINARY EVIL

  23. Satan: Lucifer to Genies

  24. Exorcism: Satan to Dybbuk

  25. Antichrist: “666” to Apocalypse Now

  PART X. DIVINE DOS AND DON’TS

  26. Forbidden Foods: Pork Chops to Meatless Fridays

  27. Forbidden Sex: Gay to Lesbian

  28. Contraception: Condoms to Crushed Testicles

  PART XI. RELIGIOUS REALMS

  29. Heaven: Soul to Immortality

  30. Hell: Hot to Hotter

  31. Purgatory: Divine Comedy to Sale of Indulgences

  32. Limbo: Original Sin to the Harrowing

  PART XII. ACTS OF FAITH

  33. Miracles: Raising the Dead to Stigmata

  34. Virginity of the Virgin: Immaculate Conception to Virgin Birth

  35. Visions of the Virgin: Guadalupe to Medjugorje

  36. Papal Infallibility: Tradition to Dogma

  References and Reading

  Index

  PART

  I

  Popular

  Piety

  CHAPTER

  1

  Prayer Postures

  Hands Joined to Heads Covered

  WHAT PRAYER IS

  “An intimate friendship, a frequent conversation held alone with the Beloved” is how sixteenth-century Spanish mystic Saint Teresa of Ávila defined prayer.

  “Elevation of the mind to God” is what prayer was for Saint John of Damascus.

  “Ask, and it will be given you” is how Luke in 11:9 summed up petition as a form of prayer.

  “Religion’s primary mode of expression,” said philosopher William James, who claimed that religion itself could not exist without the concept of prayer.

  An Islamic proverb states that to pray and to be a Muslim are synonymous. In Indian mysticism, prayer is considered as vital as breathing.

  Christians pray following the example of Jesus Christ, who throughout his lifetime remained in communication with his Father in Heaven through prayer. Christ prayed at the time of his baptism, on performance of his miracles, and before and after his passion. For Saint Augustine, his autobiographical Confessions is one single long prayer between the saint and his Creator—in prayer’s confessional mode. There are five modes, as we’ll see.

  When prayer becomes manipulative in its intent, it harks back to its origin: magic incantation. For ancient peoples, superstitious of thunder and lightning, swarms of locusts and torrential monsoons, magical chant, recited in prescribed rhythm before the sacrificing of a lamb or the deflowering of a virgin, was their way to appease a god. “All good fates are in the hands of god,” says one of the earliest of Egyptian prayers.

  In all likelihood, the very first human prayer fervently uttered was a cry for help—a petitional prayer. We have no way of knowing if it was answered.

  BIBLICAL ORIGIN OF PRAYER: GENESIS 4:26

  The first mention of prayer in the Bible comes early in the Book of Genesis, and indeed donates prayer’s origin. Adam and Eve already have disobeyed God. Cain has killed Abel. Eve has borne another son, Seth, and Seth has named his own son Enosh when we’re told:

  At that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord. (Gen. 4:26)

  And man would call and call on God. And God makes a promise to hear man’s prayers, and woman’s, too, if not to answer all of them, in Deuteronomy 4:7:

  For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him?

  Thus early in the Bible, through these quotations, the formula is set: Humans ask, God listens. Maybe God answers.

  More than a thousand years after Moses wrote the Book of Genesis, Jesus Christ, God the Son, arrives and assures us with filial frankness: “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will … all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 11:24, 9:23). Thus we feel that if a particular prayer petition is not answered, perhaps our belief was not ardent enough.

  The Bible’s Book of Psalms is actually a meditation of biblical history presented in the form of prayer, in which the Word of God becomes his people’s prayer.

  Prayer, as we’ll see, is one of the most ancient expressions of religion, cherished in all cultures throughout recorded time. It is a human act of communication with the sacred or holy—with God, or with gods or goddesses, or with any transcendent realm.

  FIVE KINDS OF PRAYER: PREHISTORY

  Recited either sitting or standing, kneeling or swaying, skull bare or cloaked, eyes closed or cast heavenward, palms joined or arms extended skyward, prayer is divided by theologians into five categories that have existed since primitive times.

  ADORATION. This highest form of prayer consists of contemplation of God himself. It is the kind of intense meditation we most accurately associate with the prayers of mystics, and it’s the purest form of prayer. We ask no favors; we just adore our Creator.

  The word “adore” is from the Latin adorare, meaning “to worship.”

  In Christianity, neither saints nor the Blessed Virgin Mary may be addressed with prayers of adoration. In Islam, adoration is the primary form of prayer.

  One of the earliest recorded prayers of adoration in the Bible is the Sanctus or song of Heaven recorded in the prophet Isaiah’s vision: “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory” (Isa. 6:3).

  Intellectually, prayer is communication or talk. Emotionally, though, prayer is inseparable from a sense of a sacred presence in our midst. This is especially true of adoration. “Going out of one’s self” or a “pilgrimage of the spirit” is a unique ingredient of adorational prayer.

  All peoples pray alike. And have for all time. In order to appreciate this cross-cultural uniformity in adorational prayer over the ages, here are several examples, each dated, striking in their similarities, diverse in their deities.

  Creator of the germ in woman,

  Maker of the seed in man,

  Giver of breath to animate everyone he maketh!

  O sole God, whose powers no other possesseth.

  Thou didst create earth according to thy heart.

  TO THE SUN GOD, ATON, EGYPT, FOURTEENTH CENTURY B.C.E.

  There is a Spirit which was before heaven and earth were.

  The One dwelling in silence beyond earthly forms, never changing, omnipresent. I do not know its name.

  I call it Tao. I call it the Supreme.

  TAOISM, FIFTH CENTURY B.C.E.

  There is a light that shines beyond all things.

  All the universe is in truth Brahman. He is the beginning and the end and life of all.

  As such, in silence, give unto him adoration.

  EIGHTH CENTURY B.C.E. HINDU UPANISHAD,

  I address myself to Thee, to Whom all worship is due.

  My heart yearns for thee with a yearning that is never stilled. Let me live before Thee, with Thee,

  Live in Thy sight, I humbly pray.

  AHURA MAZDA, ZOROASTRIAN GOD, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.E.

  Ho! Great Spirit, Grandfather, you made everything and are in everything, guide everything,

  Provide everything and protest everything because

  Everything belongs to you.

  ANCIENT SIOUX PRAYER

  Great and holy is th
e Lord, the holiest of holy ones.

  Majesty precedes him,

  Grace and truth surround his presence,

  Blessed be he who makes the earth by his power.

  DEAD SEA SCROLLS, C. 150 B.C.E.–68 C.E.

  To God belongs the praise, Lord of Heaven and Earth,

  Lord of all being. His is the dominion in the heavens and in the earth.

  He is the Almighty, the everwise.

  SEVENTH-CENTURY ISLAMIC PRAYER TO ALLAH

  CONFESSION. This is the personal acknowledgment that the believer has sinned and seeks forgiveness. It is a prayer of self-examination, usually recited in private. Many a Christian saint previously a sinner has titled his autobiography Confession.

  The general form of a confession includes an expression of sorrow for past transgression, a petition for God’s forgiveness, and, in some cases, the expression of resolve to amend one’s ways.

  The word “confess” is from the Latin confiteri, meaning “to acknowledge.”

  Psalm 51, the Miserere, or Prayer of Repentance, is a perfect example of the confessional mode: “Have mercy on me O God…. Thoroughly wash me of my guilt [petition] … I acknowledge my offense [sorrow] … teach me wisdom [resolve].”

  Roman Catholicism has elevated confession to the status of a sacrament; a mortal sin can be forgiven only through a formal act of contrition before a priest. Sacramental confession is optional in Anglican churches and many Protestant denominations. (See Penance.)

  Here is a beautiful ancient Persian prayer of confession, recited today by Muslims; notice how, like many Old Testament psalms, it employs repetition to cast its spell.

  All that we ought to have thought and have not thought,

  All that we ought to have said and have not said,

  “To pray” means “to beg.” Petitioning is the most common form of prayer.

  All that we ought to have done and have not done,