Tag: Pueblo

"Santa Claus executed", or the eternal return of an immortal rite

Published on: Last updated on: Written by: Categorized into: Anthropology, Esotericism, folklore, History, History of Religions

With an essay with a provocative title, "Santa Claus executed", Claude Lรฉvi-Strauss is inspired by a bizarre news event at his time - the hanging and holocaust of a puppet of Santa Claus by the Dijonese clergy - to arrive to the understanding of the "true meaning of Christmas", based on the reciprocal relationship between the world of children and that of the dead. The method used for this purpose is a synchronic and confrontational approach with non-European societies.

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The "myths of emergence" in the traditions of Native Americans

Published on: Last updated on: Written by: Categorized into: Anthropology, folklore, Mito, History of Religions

di Marco Maculotti

According to many mythical traditions, in the beginning the first members of the human race were generated in the bowels of the Earth, within underground worlds similar to cavernous wombs. The myths of emergence, particularly prevalent among Native American populations, provide us with the best examples of such subterranean realms. The mythical tales tell of how the first humans were brought to the surface to live in the sunlight only after they remained for a long time under the earth's surface, in the - so to speak - "larval" state, and after developing a rudimentary physical form. and a human conscience. According to native peoples, this emergence from the underworld marks the birth of man in the present era - or, to use a typical American term, the "Fifth Sun" - and also represents the transition from childhood and dependence on womb of Mother Earth to maturity and independence.

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