Before Christianity

[JonyDarko]

Before Christianity what did your ancestors believe?

If I had to make an educated guess, I would say half of mine worshiped some form of the Norse gods and the other half would have been worshiping Celtic gods.

Hard to say for sure but interesting to think about.

[averagejoe]

Before Christianity what did your ancestors believe?

If I had to make an educated guess, I would say half of mine worshiped some form of the Norse gods and the other half would have been worshiping Celtic gods.

Hard to say for sure but interesting to think about.

Great subject.....

Just some historical facts is that Christianity was around before the Norse Gods...

Armenia became the first Christian country around 300 AD.

The Scandinavian people didn't arrive in mass till about 100 years later to their homeland of today. (Norway and Sweden)
Norwegian and Swedish people originated in the Ukraine area before moving the Scandinavia.....

Their main city in the Ukraine was called Gelinas. It was burnt down by Persian King Darius about 30 years before his son Xerxes attacked Greece.....

[JonyDarko]

I could see how it could be confused easily, but I meant before your ancestors believed in Christ.. Or one of the other abrahamic religions.

[JonyDarko]

How far back does Germanic paganisim date?
Lol already kinda derailed....

[maryjane48]

http://beginningandend.com/jesus-copy-h ... agan-gods/


300th to 51st millennium BCE[edit]
223,000–100,000 BCE
The earliest evidence of Hominids, such as Neanderthals[2][3] and even *bleep* heidelbergensis,[3][4] deliberately disposing of deceased individuals usually in funerary caches. The graves, located throughout Eurasia (e.g. the Pontnewydd Cave (Wales), Atapuerca Mountains (Spain), Qafzeh, Es Skhul, Krapina (Croatia),[3] are believed to represent the beginnings of ceremonial rites, although there is some debate about this.[5] Neanderthals placed their deceased in simple graves with little or no concern for grave goods or markers; however, their graves occasionally appeared with limestone blocks in or on them, possibly an archaic form of grave marking.[3] These practices were possibly the result of empathetic feelings towards fellow tribespeople, for example: an infant buried in the Dederiyeh Cave after its joints had disarticulated was placed with concern for the correct anatomical arrangement of its body parts.[3]
98,000 BCE
In the area of present-day France and Belgium, Neanderthals begin defleshing their dead, possibly after a period of excarnation prior to burial.[3]
50th to 11th millennium BCE[edit]
40,000 BCE
One of the earliest anatomically modern humans to be cremated is buried near Lake Mungo.[6][7][8][9][10]
38,000 BCE
The Aurignacian[11] Löwenmensch figurine, the oldest known zoomorphic (animal-shaped) sculpture in the world and one of the oldest known sculptures in general, is made. The sculpture has also been interpreted as anthropomorphic, giving human characteristics to an animal, although it may have represented a deity.[12]
All convincing evidence for Neanderthal burials ceases. Roughly coinciding with the time period of the *bleep* sapiens introduction to Europe and decline of the Neanderthals.[3] Individual skulls and/or long bones begin appearing heavily stained with red ochre and are separately buried. This practice may be the origins of sacred relics.[3] The oldest discovered "Venus figurines" appear in graves. Some are deliberately broken or repeatedly stabbed. Possibly representing murders of the men they are buried with[3] or some other unknown social dynamic.
25,000–21,000 BCE
Clear examples of burials are present in Iberia, Wales, and Eastern Europe. All of these, also, incorporate the heavy use of red ochre. Additionally, various objects are being included in the graves (i.e. periwinkle shells, weighted clothing, dolls, possible drumsticks, mammoth ivory beads, fox teeth pendants, panoply of ivory artifacts, "baton" antlers, flint blades, etc.).[3]
13,000–8,000 BCE
Noticeable burial activity resumes. Prior mortuary activity had either taken a less obvious form or contemporaries retained some of their burial knowledge in the absence of such activity; dozens of men, women, and children were being buried in the same caves which were used for burials 10,000 years beforehand. All these graves are delineated by the cave walls and large limestone blocks. The burials are very similar to each other and share a number of characteristics—ochre, shell and mammoth ivory jewellery—that go back thousands of years. Some burials are double, comprising an adult male with a juvenile male buried by his side. They are now appearing to take on the form of modern cemeteries. Old burials are commonly being redug and moved to make way for the new ones, with the older bones often being gathered and cached together. Large stones may have acted as grave markers. Pairs of ochred antlers are sometimes poles within the cave; this is compared to the modern practice of leaving flowers at one's grave.[3]
100th to 34th century BCE[edit]
9831 BCE
The Neolithic Revolution begins and results in a worldwide population explosion. The first cities, states, kingdoms, and organized religions begin to emerge. The early states were usually theocracies, in which the political power is justified by religious prestige. Beginning of First Sangam, Hinduism 'Shivan' period in South India.[citation needed]
9130–7370 BCE
The apparent lifespan of Göbekli Tepe, one of the oldest human-made place of worship yet discovered,[13] has also been found in a nearby site, Nevali Çori.
8000 BCE
Four to five pine posts are erected near the eventual site of Stonehenge.
7500–5700 BCE
The settlements of Catalhoyuk develop as a likely spiritual center of Anatolia. Possibly practicing worship in communal shrines, its inhabitants leave behind numerous clay figurines and impressions of phallic, feminine, and hunting scenes.
5500–4500 BCE
The Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE) emerged, probably within the Pontic-Caspian steppe (though their exact urheimat is debated). The PIE peoples developed a religion focused on sacrificial ideology, which would influence the religions of the descendent Indo-European cultures throughout Europe, Anatolia, and the Indian subcontinent.
~3750 BCE
The Proto-Semitic people emerged with a generally accepted urheimat in the Arabian peninsula. The Proto-Semitic people would migrate throughout the Near East into Mesopotamia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the eastern shore of the Mediterranean. Their religion would influence their descendant cultures and faiths, including the Abrahamic religions.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_ ... _burials-3

[OREZ]

...yyyeah, whatever^^

However,in response to the OP question; it's a very interesting thing to think about but I would think that for most of us it would be completely impossible to even speculate in such a multi-cultural and multi-racial country since I would think that the vast majority of Canadians couldn't trace their family trees back to before the Christian era. If you don't know that it's a wild guess.

[JonyDarko]

I think you could make an educated guess based on heritage, and even last names in some cases.

[OREZ]

Okay, I'm going to guess that for my ancestors it would have been the Norse gods as well but I'm also going to wonder if my ancestors may have been quite preoccupied with surviving and had little time left over to take an active part in worshipping them. Perhaps they joined in the Yule festivities though.

[JonyDarko]

You might be surprised by what people find time for. I know I am when ever I see people by 7/11 in Rutland or alongside 97. Hell one time a couple of guys knocked on my door during the superbowl.

[JonyDarko]

On another note, I just thought to ask.

Has anyone tried to reconnect to what was probably an ancestors faith?

I would imagine this would be common among first nations people.

Very interested in hearing.

[Ptolemy Soter]

On another note, I just thought to ask.

Has anyone tried to reconnect to what was probably an ancestors faith?

I would imagine this would be common among first nations people.

Very interested in hearing.

I attempted to follow the ways of the ancient Germanics and the Saka (Scythians). Despite spending many years researching, my ancestors proved to be a little too elusive to make anything I attempted worthy of mention. Worship and ritual bore no fruit. Simply, too much information has been lost. I'm certain that many of their customs survive today in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and other churches. Before that, through the old eastern Slavic cults of course.

Just the Saka religions alone is almost a total mystery. Most tribal branches didn't have a written language. Herodotus, a Greek historian, can't really be trusted for certain details. We do know that they worshipped a war god above their other six deities, and thought they were the descendants of Heracles, who apparently travelled through much of Asia. They were heavily reliant on cannabis, which provided clothing, food, feed for livestock, burned in saunas, and used in death rituals. The Suebi and Saxons I belong to is similar to what the Scandinavians recognized, but even that is not well known.

[averagejoe]

Awesome!!!! Someone who knows who the ancient Scythians were!!!!

[JonyDarko]

*removed*

[averagejoe]

*removed*

[JonyDarko]

I beat Rome 2 total war a couple times, one of which I played as the Scythians.