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Prehistoric Art

 

            
             Early on, when man had but a basic understanding of himself, it is theorized that he (they) had a basic religious belief. The belief was in Animism and The Locus Mundi. Animism is the term given to the belief that everything has its own spirit, or energy. Not just things we consider "alive", but hills, waterfalls, the air you breathe, all of these had energy. The energy had to come from somewhere though, hence, The Locus Mundi. The Locus Mundi is the center of all life, where all the energy of all things comes from, and where it will go when it dies. Somehow, in some way, it is said that the belief in animism became a widely practiced religion. The main focus of the practice was the shaman. The shaman was almost always an artist, and would draw or make something. An example of his work would be a cave painting. He would then take some of his anima and infuse it into what he created. The pictures were extremely general, so whatever he painted or made he turned into a prediction or spell of what was to come. For instance, drawing a bison being hunted on a cave wall (like the ones on the walls at the Lascaux cave) would be like a spell a shaman would "cast" for a good hunt. This type of "magic" was called sympathetic magic. By all logic this is magic by coincidence. However, to a caveman, if you said that you were going to cast a spell for a good hunt, and then the hunters came back with a bison, you had special power. Places had magic in them too. Stonehenge is a very good example. It was made with mathematic precision and excellent craftsmanship. Each stone had to be precisely cut and placed. Not to mention all the stones weighed many tons individually. No one knows why whoever built it did so, but many explanations have been put forth. Maybe it's a calendar, or a place to hold ceremonies or sacrifices, the truth is, we don't know for sure because we weren't there. It is a sight to behold though, and to a caveman that saw it, or built it, this place had power.


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