thanks to the written system of ancient Mesopotamia, we have a REALLY good idea as to the procedures of the types of events that are typically shrouded in mysticism, such as marriage, birth of children, etc. The Mesopotamian's obsession with keeping logistical records has allowed us to see that a marriage contract to them was pretty much the same type of "contract" that we think of today. there were a lot of weird little rules and exceptions, however that differ greatly from modern marital laws. surprisingly, i wasn't able to find a lot of evidence for "mystical" procedures involved with marriage. in fact, the Mesopotamian wedding ceremony seems a lot less weird than Korean Thanksgiving. the only "odd" practice is when the groom pours perfume on the bride's head - but who doesn't want to smell nice on their wedding day, right?
there are a few traces of mystic beliefs in Mesopotamian lore. In the epic of Gilgamesh, there is an interesting series of dreams predicting the future (as interpreted by Gilgamesh's mother), strongly suggesting that dreams were a big part of how Mesopotamians believed they had mystical experiences. there is also strong evidence of a link between what Christians may call gentile beliefs and the beliefs of the people of israel - the biblical " Merkabah " or Ezekiel's chariot dream, contains mythical images that correspond to Mesopotamian traditions(Vita Daphna Arbel)
what commonly accepted things in our society may be considered "mysticism" in 500 years?
Things will change, certainly.
ReplyDeletePerhaps our reliance on well-defined news outlets will be considered too human, whereas our reliance on Google will be considered a primitive form of some future use of information.
For all the strange things we associate with ancient cultures, it's kinda cool to hear that something as like marriage is more strange our culture than in one from 5000 years ago.
Do you think that "strange" commonly held beliefs disappear as society becomes more scientific? it seems like we can see evidence of this in our lives ( what does your grandma tell you to do when you get a cold? )
ReplyDeleteon my mission, one day we contacted a lady holding a baby. the baby had the hiccups and had a small coil of thread on its forehead. we asked what the thread was for - the response came back that if your baby gets hiccups, you put a coil of thread on their forehead and their hiccups will go away in about five minutes.................ok.
are our "cold remedies" gonna sound that stupid in twenty years? thirty? a hundred?