Naturalis Historia: Volume II

Ye Animal Gods of Olde

Animals and nature have greatly influenced our myths and beliefs. From the beautiful cave paintings of our early ancestors to the myths of Greece, animals were always present. The early hominids glorified lions, bears, and deer by painting them on cave walls, some dating to 30,000 years ago. In ancient Eygpt, cats were worshipped as gods, guardians of the afterlife. Other animals, such as the stork, were symbols for their gods and goddesses. Some of their heiroglyphics were depictions of animals. In ancient Greece, their religion was filled with natural references. Nymphs were young maidens who not only lived in forests, but they were part of the forest. Nymphs and dryads were anthropomorphic symbols of nature. If someone killed a tree, then the nymph that lived in it would die as well. A current theme in greek and roman myths was people being transformed into animals. The reason varied, whether it was punishment, a curse, or their own will, but to the ancient world, animals represented the instinctive and feral side of people. In medieval Europe, there were popular stories of elves, fairies, unicorns, and dwarves. These creatures also represented the more natural side of humans. Fairies were connected with nature; to destroy nature would be to kill fairies. One type of religion I feel is common to this, is that of animism. Animism is the belief that everything has an individual spirit, like trees, rivers, rocks, animals, they all have spirits. One animistic religion, Shinto has small nature spirits called kodamas. These kodamas live in trees, but are also part of the tree. They are connected to the tree’s life. When forests were polluted or cut down, shintoists believed that the kodamas would die. All these beliefs, kodamas, fairies, sprites, or nymphs, had the similar belief that these creatures were part of nature. They were the “humans” that still believed in nature and could communicate with animals. Whether you believe fairies are real or not, the fact is, we are all connected to the natural world whether we realize or not.