The primary element of religion and the caves of Lescaux

Over the centuries there have been thousands of different philosophies or ways of thought and action that have been classified as ‘religion.’ There are religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism that follow one single god or higher being and there are still more like the ancient Egyptians, Native Americans, Wiccans, ancient Romans and Greeks that are polytheist and follow many gods. Still others do not base their religion on the worship of God(s), choosing rather to focus on the human condition and human potential. What then is religion? Is there an underlying element or overarching concept that can be used to define religion? The search for the answer to this question is essential in the understanding of many religions and indeed, religion itself.

In reading about Ur-religion and the ‘cave-drawings’ of the Upper Palaeolithic people I like many others found myself enamored with the drawings and what they could mean to the people who created them. When tools or bone pendants and jewelry are discovered they give insight into the daily life or rank of these people. Cave-drawings on the other hand provide more information about the beliefs of these early humans, since the drawings do not appear to serve any physical or practical purpose like that of tools. The drawings are seen as early art and possible representations of a religion. In Palaeolithic art and religion the definition of “belief in supernatural entities and related practices believed to afford contact with those entities” (Clottes & Lewis-Williams p.9) is used. The drawings that the Upper Palaeolithic people made have been hypothesized to be their attempts at communicating with higher beings or to influence them in some way that benefited the humans, perhaps this was their expression of religion.

What are the primary elements of religion? Though I have not studied many religions as of yet, based on my readings thus far and drawing from the chapter by Jean Clottes and David Lewis-Williams on ur-religion and the Upper Palaeolithic humans, I have an idea as to what some underlying principles might be. Most religions have one thing in common; that is, belief in and the desire to connect with the supernatural or to find harmony and a higher understanding of the world around them. Religion is not merely the belief in other worlds or divine beings but rather it is the attempt of mankind to connect with these other worlds or divine beings and to find a better understanding. The drawings reflect this belief in several ways. In the caves, many of the animals are not simply painted on the rock but are a part of it, using ridges and cracks to define backbones or places of origin, the artists were attempting to find the animals within the rock, perhaps because the god(s) had put them there and to be closer to the divine they attempted to bring the animals out. I was particularly struck by the description of animals being drawn as if they were issuing from a crack in the cave wall; I took this to mean that they were seen to be coming from a supernatural world on the other side. The use of a cave also reflects the supernatural world. On the face of the earth there are places that are more frightening or interesting than others to humankind; these include caves, mountains, huge trees, and many more. These locations are often used in the attempt to touch that other world or to communicate with the divine, the Upper Palaeolithic people perhaps ventured into the dark caves like Lescaux to search for a way to get closer to a spirit world or to attempt to interpret meaning in the rocks that were the creation of god(s).