Jupiter, Ancient Roman sky god

The sky father is a recurring theme in mythology. In Roman mythology, Jupiter was the king of the gods and the god of Sky and Thunder. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" The sky father is the complement of the earth mother and appears in some creation myths, many of which are European or ancient Near Eastern. A mother goddess is a Goddess, often portrayed as the Earth Mother who serves as a general Fertility deity the bountiful embodiment of the Earth. A creation myth is a supernatural mytho-[[religion religious]] story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, Earth, life, and B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century Other cultures have quite different myths; Egyptian mythology features a sky mother and an earthly dying and reviving god of vegetation. Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in Ancient Egypt from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity The category life-death-rebirth deity also known as a "dying-and-rising" or "Resurrection" Deity is a convenient means of classifying the many divinities Shinto gives precedence to a sun goddess. is the native religion of Japan and was once its State religion. A sky father also relates to a solar deity, a god identified with the sun. "Sun god" redirects here For the Ramsey Lewis album see Sun Goddess (album.

• In Maori mythology, Ranginui was the sky father. Māori mythology and Māori traditions are the two major categories into which the Legends of the Māori of New Zealand may usefully be divided Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatuanuku) appear in a Creation myth explaining the origin of the world In this story, the sky father and earth mother Papatuanuku, embraced and had divine children. A mother goddess is a Goddess, often portrayed as the Earth Mother who serves as a general Fertility deity the bountiful embodiment of the Earth.

• In China, the God of the Abrahamic religions is sometimes called 天父 which means the Sky Father or Heavenly Father. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity.

• In Ancient Rome the sky father, or sky god, was Jupiter (Zeus, Ζεύς, in Ancient Greece). Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC In Roman mythology, Jupiter was the king of the gods and the god of Sky and Thunder. Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Often depicted by birds, usually the Eagle or Hawk, and clouds or other sky phenomena. Eagles are large birds of prey which are members of the Bird order Falconiformes and family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera The term hawk can be used in several ways In strict usage in Europe and Asia, to mean any of the Species in the Subfamily Nicknames included, "Sky God" and, "Cloud Gatherer. " Most predominantly heard in The Iliad, an epic poem written by the Greek poet Homer. The Iliad ( Greek: Ἰλιάς (Ancient Ιλιάδα (Modern is together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Homer ( Ancient Greek:, Homēros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic Poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the While many attribute a sky god to the sun, Jupiter ruled mainly over the clouds and the heavens, while Apollo is referred to as the god of the sun. Apollo was, however, the child of Jupiter.

• In Ancient Egypt, Horus was ruler of the sky. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now He was shown as a typical male humanoid, however, he appeared to have the head of a falcon. A falcon (fɔlkən or fælkən is any Species of raptor in the Genus Falco. It is not uncommon for birds to represent the sky in ancient religions, as birds were one of the few creatures that flew.

History of the concept

In late nineteenth century opinions on comparative religion, in a line of thinking that begins with Friedrich Engels and J. J. Bachofen, and which received major literary promotion in The Golden Bough by Sir James G. Frazer, it was believed that worship of a sky father was characteristic of nomadic peoples, and that worship of an earth mother similarly characterised farming peoples. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Comparative religion is a field of Religious study that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes myths rituals and concepts among the world's religions Friedrich Engels (28 November 1820 – 5 August 1895 was a German social scientist and philosopher, who The Swiss Anthropologist and Sociologist Johann Jakob Bachofen (1815 &ndash 1887 is most often connected with his research into the matriarchal clans The Golden Bough A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging comparative study of Mythology and Religion, written by Scottish anthropologist Sir Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture According to this body of doctrine, nomads militarily overran farming societies, and replaced goddesses with male gods. A goddess is a Female Deity. Many Cultures have goddesses Often deities are part of a polytheistic system that includes several deities During the process, it was believed that the invaders devalued the status of women and replaced a matriarchy with a patriarchy. Matriarchy is a term which is applied to gynocentric form of Society, in which the leading role is by the Female and especially by the Mothers Patriarchy is the structuring of Society on the basis of Family units where fathers have primary responsibility for the welfare of hence authority over The religious changes were imagined to reflect this change in the status of the sexes. This belief system was linked to the discovery of the Indo-European languages, and it was fancied that the military conquest underlying this model spread those languages. The sky father was held to be an Indo-European cultural ideal. Aryan and Indo-European were synonymous during this period. This article deals with the general meaning of the term "synonym"

The sky father is frequently invoked in feminist spirituality, which has helped revive the concept even as the notion of earth mothers and sky fathers was rejected as oversimplified and implausible in the world of anthropology, archaeology, and comparative religion. Thealogy is a Neologism translating to "study of the Goddess " (based on Greek θεά thea, "goddess" + -λόγία Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Comparative religion is a field of Religious study that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes myths rituals and concepts among the world's religions

The ancient God of the Turks, Tengri or Tangra, is usually referred to as the "kok Tanri" or sky god, therefore heavenly father.

Reconsideration of theory

The theory of a common sky father is rejected by most archaeologists and anthropologists as an explanation of early European religious life. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Anthropology (/ˌænθɹəˈpɒlədʒi/ from Greek grc ἄνθρωπος anthrōpos, "human" -λογία -logia) is the study of The archaeological record does not indicate that Indo-European languages spread throughout their area in Europe and Asia by military conquest alone. Many non-Indo-European cultures also have male-dominated pantheons, without being conquered or bent on conquest. There is no direct historical correlation between the worship of goddesses and the social status of women; nor is there a great deal of evidence that the worship of female deities is associated with agriculture, or that male gods accompany nomadism. Nor is there any reason to believe that the Indo-Europeans practiced a religion that was more male-dominated, patriarchal, or wont to promote male gods at the expense of goddesses, than any other polytheistic religion. Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple Gods (usually assembled in a pantheon) together with associated Mythology and Rituals

It is in fact true that a male sky god, whose name has been reconstructed as *Dyēus ph₂ter, and which survive in Greek mythology as Zeus, in Roman mythology as Jupiter, and in Vedic mythology as Dyaus Pitar, seems to have been shared and inherited from a common stock of Proto-Indo-European religion. * Dyēus (also * Dyēus ph2ter) is the reconstructed chief deity of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Zeus (zjuːs in Greek: nominative: Zeús /zdeús/ genitive: Diós; Modern Greek /'zefs/ in Greek mythology Roman mythology, or more appropriately Latin mythology, refers to the mythological beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its In Roman mythology, Jupiter was the king of the gods and the god of Sky and Thunder. Vedic mythology refers to the mythological aspects of the Historical Vedic religion and Vedic literature. In the Vedic religion Dyauṣ Pitar   is the Sky Father, husband of Prithvi and father of Agni and Indra ( RV 4 The existence of similarities among the deities and religious practices of the Indo-European (IE peoples allows glimpses of a common Proto-Indo-European Each of these names is cognate to the others. Cognates in Linguistics are words that have a common origin They may occur within a language such as shirt and skirt as two English words descended from This is not, in fact, the most widespread inherited Indo-European deity. The dawn goddess whose name is reconstructed as *aus-os- is even more widespread; she appears in Greek mythology as Eos, in Rome as Aurora, in Germanic mythology as Eostre, in Baltic mythology as Aušra, in Slavic mythology as Zorya, and in Vedic and Hindu mythology as Ushas. For other uses of the name Eos see Eos (disambiguation. For the Slavic goddesses called the Auroras see The Zorya. For other uses of the name Eos see Eos (disambiguation. For the Slavic goddesses called the Auroras see The Zorya. ags Ēostre is the name of an Anglo-Saxon goddess attested by the eighth-century Benedictine monk Bede 's De temporum ratione Aušrinė is a Lithuanian feminine deity of the Morning Star ( Venus) in the Lithuanian mythology. Slavic mythology is the Mythological aspect of the Religion that was practised by the ancient Slavs. In Slavic mythology, the Zorya (alternately Zarya, Zvezda, Zwezda, Zory) are the three (sometimes two guardian Goddesses Hindu mythology is the large body of Mythology related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and Ushas (sa उषस् uṣas) Sanskrit for " Dawn " is a Vedic deity, and consequently a Hindu deity as well These names (except Zorya) are all cognate as well. In Slavic mythology, the Zorya (alternately Zarya, Zvezda, Zwezda, Zory) are the three (sometimes two guardian Goddesses From what we can tell of Indo-European culture, there was neither a systematic bias against goddesses or a religious motivation towards male dominance greater than any other comparable culture.

Influences

The theory about earth goddesses, sky fathers, and patriarchal invaders was a stirring tale that fired various imaginations. The story was important in literature, and was referred to in various ways by important poets and novelists, including T. S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, and most influentially, Robert Graves. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter Thomas Stearns Eliot, OM (September 26 1888 – January 4 1965 was a poet Dramatist, and Literary critic. David Herbert Richards Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930 was an English writer of the 20th century whose prolific and diverse output included Novels short James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Robert Graves (24 July 1895 &ndash 7 December 1985 was an English Poet, Translator and Novelist.

How it worked out in practice depended on the side for which the believers chose to root. Belief in the sky father and the military prowess of Aryan supermen was a feature of Nazi racial ideology; the swastika was chosen to embody this belief system because it was a symbol thought to be used by the ancient Vedic religion (as well as modern Hinduism and Buddhism. Nazism, which was a short name for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus refers primarily to the Ideology and practices of the National Socialist German An ideology is a set of beliefs aims and Ideas especially in politics The swastika (from Sanskrit: svástika sa स्वस्तिक Hindu IS CORRECT if 'ि' is positioned incorrectly see -->) is ) Sympathy with the lost utopia of the matriarchal goddessdom arose later. Utopia is a name for an ideal community taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir Thomas More describing a fictional Island in the Established as a recurring theme in important literature, the tale lived on among the literature faculty long after it had been dropped by the anthropology department. Its truth was assumed by several historical novelists and fantasy authors, including Mary Renault, Mary Stewart, and more recently Mercedes Lackey and Marion Zimmer Bradley, among many others. An historical novel is a Novel in which the story is set among historical events or more generally in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the Author Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Mary Renault (pronounced Ren-olt ( 4 September 1905 – 13 December 1983) born Mary Challans, was an English Writer Mary Florence Elinor Stewart ( née Rainbow; born 17 September 1916) is a popular English Novelist, best known for her series Mercedes Lackey (born June 24, 1950) New York New York (also known as Misty Lackey) is a prolific American author of fantasy novels Marion Eleanor Zimmer Bradley ( June 3, 1930 – September 25, 1999) was an American author of Fantasy novels such

The earliest reference to the concept of a Sky Father or a conception of Mother Earth can be found in Rig Veda, one of the Hindu sacred texts, recorded around 1700-1100 B. The Rigveda ( Sanskrit sa ऋग्वेद ṛgveda, a compound of ṛc "praise verse" and veda "knowledge" C. E. . It is one of the oldest texts of the Indus Valley Civilization (formed around the Indus [Sindhu] river. ) Manthra 4, Sooktha 89, Mandala 1 of Rigveda can be translated as thus:

"Let us be exposed to the soothing effect of plant life by the wind, Mother Earth and Father Sky. Let the stone that grinds the herbs also do the same. O' Aswins, accept our prayer for this. "

Here Aswins refer to Sun (see Surya) and Moon (see Chandra,) as they were portrayed as charioteers, thus invoking the entire nature to nurture men. In Hinduism, Surya ( Devanagari: सूर्य sūrya, lit "the Supreme Light" Malay: Suria; Thai: In Hinduism, Chandra (lit "shining is a Lunar deity and a Graha.

Christianization

In their inculturation efforts, Christian missionaries have often used the name of the local sky gods to translate the name of the Christian God. Inculturation is a term used in Christianity, especially in the Roman Catholic Church, referring to the adaptation of the way Church teachings are presented to non-Christian Christian translations of God have varied throughout that religion's nearly two-thousand year history The term "Godhead" The term Godhead is a term denoting deity or divinity

For example, among the Chinese terms for God there are:

• Shang Di 上帝 (Hanyu Pinyin: shàng dì) (literally King Above) was a supreme God worshipped in ancient China. Chinese terms for God, especially a "Supreme God" have produced many variations for the title Shangdi (上帝 Pinyin: Shàngdì, Wade-Giles Shang Ti) is the Supreme God in the original religious system of the Han Chinese Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National It is also used to refer to the Christian God in the Standard Mandarin Union Version of the Bible. Standard Mandarin, also known as Standard Spoken Chinese, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin
• Zhu, Tian Zhu 主,天主 (lit. Lord or Lord in Heaven) is translated from the English word, "Lord", which is a formal title of the Christian God in Mainland China's Christian churches.
• Tian 天 (lit. Tian ( is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the Cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. sky or heaven) is used to refer to the sky as well as a personification of the sky. Whether it possesses sentience in the embodiment of an omnipotent, omniscient being is a difficult question for linguists and philosophers.

The Liber Sancti Iacobi by Aymericus Picaudus tells that the Basques called God Urcia, a word found in compounds for the names of some week days and meteorological phenomena. Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain Urtzi, Ortzi, Ost and similar forms are the old Basque words for " Sky " The current usage is Jaungoikoa, that can be interpreted as "the lord of above". Jaungoikoa or Jainko is the Basque word for " God " It is unclear whether jainko is derived from Jaungoikoa The imperfect grammaticality of the word leads some to conjecture that it is a folk etymology applied to jainkoa, now considered a shorter synonym. Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word a False etymology.

See also

• Sky deity
• Thunder god
• Tengri