Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour cleverly hidden at the intersection of religion and politics. This is an open thread where we can share our thoughts and comments about the day. Today we are going to start in ancient Scotland.
Ancient religions in Scotland—that is, those religions which existed before writing and before Christianity—were religions which stressed practice in the form of personal and community relationships rather than any profession of belief or faith. These religions have incorporated animism (the belief that plants, animals, rocks, rivers, and so on had souls and were therefore alive), shamanism (the practice of using trance states to communicate with the spirit world), and magic (a way of controlling the powers of the universe). The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh has displays showing some of the artifacts associated with these ancient religions.
Some objects became sacred when they are deliberately sacrificed—i.e. broken—during ceremonies. Other objects are made sacred by having special symbols painted or inscribed on them.
Open Thread
This is an open thread—all topics are welcome.