World Religion 101- historical facts and myths

[Bellabie]

Oh, I keep doing this.
Please don't feel like you need to do research if you aren't sure. I ought to be less sloth and do so myself. Thank you very much, though, for answering my troublesome questions.
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[Lady Rayya]

eh, I like research... its one of the main reasons I'm still in college. It's the getting up at 7am I detest, and that's just for college not for you.... wink  

[Bellabie]

Well, if you insist, then...
I do very much appreciate your sharing all of this knowledge. You're almost a personal theology teacher to me. Hee hee.
Again, many, many thanks.
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[Ravenlady13]

Here's an interesting factoid about religion: Did you know many Christian symbols originated as pagan and Wiccan symbols, such as rabbits and chicks and eggs during Easter (symbolizing rebirth in the spring,) fir trees decorated and fireplaces burning at Christmas time, (offerings to deities of various natures,) and probably others that aren't falling of the tip of my head?

Lady Rayya, if my dragon and your dragon have a baby, will it be gray?  

[Lady Rayya]

ESPECIALLY christmas symbolism... the original intent was to protect the Christians from persecution and ensure they blended into the local area and appeared to do the same stuff... THEN it became a way of converting the populace using preexisting symbology... like the shamrock and "St." Brigid......

and maybe grey... are our dragons pureblooded or mixed? because the tables are different for color based on genetics... wink  

[Bellabie]

Well, if we wanted to go that far, we could look at the most basic ideas of creationism, particularly if it is centered around one area in the world, there are so many similarities, it is clear to see that many things have been based off of one another.

Say, how many religions have angels? Are all angels classical winged beings?

... and as for the dragons, I'd guess that white is a recessive gene, so it may either have a fifty percent chance at white or none at all, I'd think... Of course that is only with the most basic genetic crossings...  

[Ravenlady13]

Lady Rayya

like the shamrock and "St." Brigid......

I have cat named Brigid. She's named after a Celtic goddess of healing and fertility. Presumably the same saint you mentioned, in her, shall we say, undiluted form.

It's very interesting though, if you look at the pantheons (hierarchies of gods and goddesses) for different groups, like the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Celts, many of the gods and goddesses have similar names and/or symbolism.  

[Lady Rayya]

back in the day the best way to convert was to subvert....
take the preexisting gods and goddess, turn them into saints, or explain how the are all aspects of the greater deity. Take the symbology and make it mean what YOU want it to mean, show them how, with a little tweaking, they can go on exactly as before, but as Christina/Catholic.... ten over the years gradually remove any references to the old, original religion. So Brigid the healer becomes St. Brigid of something or other....

All very ingenious, and very effective.  

[Lady Rayya]

as for angels, devine messengers are an integral part of quite a few religions, not all of them monotheistic. The Hindus have the devis and the avatars, for instance.
Angels in the Bible aren't the "classical" angel, either. there are a few types mentioned, like the angel who delivered the message of the virgin birth to Mary was like a human, but glowing and whatnot.
Then Ezekiel saw the wheel....

and those angels were UGLY. Four wings, four faces (or heads, depends on the translations) and they basically did nothing but hover there while something else happened.....
From this, we get the Hebraic traditions of the "types" of angel: Neraphim, Seraphim, and.... other '-phims.'

PLEASE someone help me on this, angels aren't a major topic of interest for me, I'm going off of memory. My memory isn't all that good, either.  

[Bellabie]

Wow, I feel awful for saying classical... I had meant in an artistic sense, I suppose, but it came out rather biased. I apologize.

Thank you very much. Avatars and devis, but no wings and halos... Does anyone know of when this (fairly modern idea, it seems,) of the winged herald of God came about?  

[Lady Rayya]

later middle ages and renaissance imagery.. made the angels more "human" in appearance and approachable in nature.  

[Bellabie]

Hm, yes... I see.
There have been winged people for quite some time, though.  

[Lady Rayya]

ah yes, the ka, or was it ke? the Egyptian soul, with wings. The difference being it wasn't really a separate entity. Of course, in their quest to convert their captors, the Hebraic populations in Egypt may have adapted the concept.... that would bear some looking into.... anyone know? theories?  

[Bellabie]

Hm, I don't know.

The pictures I provided were of the Egyptian "Isis" and a Sumerian figure. They very well could have been adapted, but it seems odd that they should transition into harpy-like figures before being restored to divine and "perfect" human specimen.
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[Lady Rayya]

I mentioned the Ka, or soul. They seem to have been more of the source for angels. Isis typically didn't have wings in her depictions....