Animal Worship

Animal worship, or zoolatry, is a practice in which animals are given special significance as part of religious belief. Such beliefs are among the earliest known examples of religious observation in human history and may be a reflection of the close relationship between humankind and the natural world. Zoolatry can involve any number of practices, including animal sacrifice, the reverence of animals as holy, or the physical worship of specific animals.

It is thought to be an offshoot of animism, which is an ancient form of belief in which aspects of the natural world are perceived as containing such living representations of the sacred as having a soul. Under the precepts of this belief system, certain places, objects (such as a rock), plants, or animals may be viewed as holding aspects of the divine and are, thus, treated with particular reverence. In some cultures, animal worship is believed to have developed from being an aspect of animism into an independent form of worship. Aspects of zoolatry born from these ancient customs remain in place in many contemporary societies.

History

In many cultures, animism, nature worship (a broad, simple respect for the earth in all its forms), and animal worship were the first foundations of organized religion. Why these forms of religion arose independently of each other in so many cultures is unclear; however, it may be linked to early man's attempts to understand and gain benefit from the natural world.

Such belief systems appear in the traditions of the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Mayans, and the Hindus, although many cultures have demonstrated some form of animal worship. In many of these traditions, animal worship was centered on the belief that animals contained souls of their own or had characteristics that man wished to emulate.

Beliefs

Animal worship has many different forms. It can be the singular basis of a religion or a ceremonial aspect of a broader faith. Most examples of animal worship were not intended to venerate the animal itself, but instead what it symbolized, such as its associations with a specific deity or its role in nature.

In many early religions, gods often had associations with a species of animal and would take on its physical attributes. In ancient Egypt, many gods were depicted as half-human and half-animal. The sun god Ra was portrayed as having the head of a falcon, while Anubis and Thoth, who were heavily involved with death rituals, were shown as having the head of a jackal and an ibis, respectively. In Greek mythology, the gods would disguise themselves as animals to interact and test their subjects, leading to the veneration of species associated with these deities. Animal sacrifice also played a key role for the Greeks, and they would use goats, oxen, and sheep as offerings to the gods. For the Mayans, many animals would serve as assistants to the gods or were deities themselves, and were, therefore, honored through ceremonial acts.

Animal worship was not limited to an association with a religion's gods. In many Native American belief systems, respect for nature was paramount and was extended to include animals. Many tribes would name themselves after animals, hoping to gain the animals' strengths for themselves or in recognition of shared characteristics. Native Americans' respect for animals was also manifested in the hunt, and some tribes would ask for permission from an animal's spirit before consuming it. Additionally, many cultures believed in animal guides, or totems, which were spirits in the form of animals that would guide individuals throughout life. This concept of a guiding spirit was not limited to the Native Americans, however, and can be found in various forms in cultures around the world.

The singular devotion to a single species of animal, which was a common feature of the ancient Egyptian religion, is referred to as a cult, as with the Cult of Bastet (a cat-headed goddess of warfare) or the Cult of Apis (a bull-headed god of fertility or the harvest). In both cases, cult members would worship these gods by caring for their earthly animal incarnations in temples dedicated to them.

Animal Worship in the Twenty-First Century

Although ancient in its origins, aspects of animal worship remain in contemporary society. Examples may include religious dietary restrictions, symbolic iconography, or the religious reverence of animals.

Several religions have strict dietary rules. Judaism, in particular, has very austere laws regarding food, called kashrut. Only some animals are allowed for human consumption. When prepared in a specific manner intended to limit the pain to the animal and ensure cleanliness, such animals are called kosher. The origins of the keeping of kashrut may be related to the relative virtues of animals as perceived by early rabbinical councils or possibly in response to the worship of certain animals by competing cultures.

Other religions also have dietary laws born from ancestral beliefs about animals. Hindus ban the practice of slaughtering cattle, a custom that dates back to the Vedic Indian worship of the cow as a maternal figure, while Jainism—in keeping with the nonviolent creed of ahimsa, which views all life as sacred—bans the killing of any animal or the consumption of animal by-products, a rule that requires followers to maintain a vegetarian diet.

Many other contemporary religions have also retained aspects of animal worship, particularly in their symbolic iconography. Christianity, for instance, refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God, a title that reflects both his passive nature and his role as God's sacrificial offering on behalf of humankind. As a result, symbolic iconography of the lamb as a stand-in for Jesus regularly occurs in both Christian art and liturgy.

The Buddhist belief in reincarnation, in which individuals may be reborn in other forms in their next lives depending on the level of karma achieved in previous lives, has resulted in an instilled interest in treating all animals with respect, as any animal could potentially contain the soul of a human being.

Bibliography

Abreu, Karly Noelle. "The Origins of Animal Worship." On Bipeds and Brutes: Exploring the Human Animal Bond, National Museum of Animals & Society, bipedsandbrutes.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/the-origins-of-animal-worship. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.

"Animal Worship." World Spirituality, www.worldspirituality.org/animalworship.html. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.

Barreto, David. Karma & Reincarnation in the Animal Kingdom: The Spiritual Origin of Species. Destiny Books, 2023.

Colonna, Angelo. Religious Practice and Cultural Construction of Animal Worship in Egypt from the Early Dynastic to the New Kingdom Ritual Forms, Material Display, Historical Development. Archaeopress Publishing, 2021.

Gilhus, Ingvild Sælid. "The Religious Value of Animals." Animals, Gods and Humans: Changing Attitudes to Animals in Greek, Roman and Early Christian Ideas. Routledge, 2006.

Ullucci, Daniel C. The Christian Rejection of Animal Sacrifice. Oxford UP, 2012.