Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'David Lewis-Williams'

Entoptics or Doodles: Children of the Cave

October 1st, 2011 · 10 Comments · Archaeology, Cognition, Ritual, Shamanism

There was a time when Paleolithic cave paintings were construed primarily through the lens of “art,” an interpretive stance which assumes that at least some Paleolithic peoples were “artists” who painted for pleasure. Because this lens is so subjective (and creative), all manner of interpretations were offered. Whether prosaic or fanciful, this approach raised troubling [...]

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Consciousness, Dreams & The Supernatural

September 21st, 2011 · 14 Comments · Cognition, Hunter-Gatherers, Shamanism

The notion of binaries or opposites is deeply entrenched in Western culture and thought. Although it seems perfectly natural to perceive and categorize the world in terms of dichotomies (black-white, either-or), what seems natural is actually learned. Our teacher in this regard is Aristotle, who was so impressed by the Pythagorean Table of Opposites that [...]

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Lab Research, Meet Ethnohistory

June 12th, 2011 · 13 Comments · History, Hunter-Gatherers, Shamanism

In labs around the world, researchers interested in the “evolution of religion” or cognitive science of religion are conducting experiments that tell us something about how supernatural beliefs initially may have arisen and subsequently been the target of selection. While we are accumulating lots of interesting data and the results are revealing, these studies will [...]

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Mural Magic of Mushrooms

March 14th, 2011 · 8 Comments · Archaeology, Cognition, Hunter-Gatherers, Ritual, Shamanism

Cognitive archaeologist David Lewis-Williams has long argued that the spectacular Paleolithic paintings in European caves such Lascaux, Chauvet, and Altamira were created by early shamans who were experiencing altered states of consciousness (“ASC”). Because Paleolithic rock art around the world displays the same types of symbols or form constants, which Lewis-Williams calls “entoptics,” he contends [...]

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Spreading Leg Woman?

February 6th, 2011 · 4 Comments · Archaeology, Hunter-Gatherers, Ritual

Over at Discovery, Jennifer Viegas reports on an 11,000 year old piece of elk antler, found in Poland, that is incised with zigzags:

The artifact will be described in the March issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science. Polish archaeologist Tomasz Plonka talked to Viegas about the find:
“The ornament is composed of groups of zigzag lines [...]

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Astronomy & Paleolithic Cave Paintings

August 23rd, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology, Hunter-Gatherers, Shamanism

Over at Seed, Holly Capelo provides a helpful survey of the various ways in which the famous Upper Paleolithic cave paintings — found primarily in France and Spain — have been interpreted over the last several decades.  The occasion for her survey, which strangely omits mention of David Lewis-Williams’ contention that the paintings were the [...]

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Is “Quantum Consciousness” the Essence of “Spirituality”?

August 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Classifications, Cognition, Definitions, Methodology, Philosophy, Shamanism

In “Quantum Consciousness: The Way to Reconcile Science and Spirituality,” Kingsley Dennis elegantly discusses what has proven to the most intractable issue in neuroscience: consciousness.  Because fluctuations and altered states of consciousness are so often linked to the supernatural-religious, I have examined it in many posts, including Consciousness and the Supernatural, which provides a brief [...]

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Hospital Hallucinations — Consciousness and the Otherwordly

June 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Cognition, Evolutionary Byproduct, Shamanism

In a previous post, Consciousness and the Supernatural, I discussed at some length David Lewis-Williams’ contention that supernatural thinking arises naturally from fluctuations of consciousness.  These fluctuations range from normal (dreaming) to periodic (reveries) to pathological (delusions).  Deliberately induced — and dramatic — altered states of consciousness are of course a specialty of shamans around [...]

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What is “Spirituality”?

June 7th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Classifications, Cognition, Definitions, Emotions, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct

Over at HuffPo Religion, Kate Fridkis ponders the protean term “spirituality” and reasonably wonders what it means.  It is pretty common these days to hear someone say they are not religious but instead are “spiritual.”  When asked what they mean by this, the response often involves  some combination of the following words: peace, harmony, bliss, [...]

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Multiple Brain Regions-Functions Result in Supernatural Thinking

May 22nd, 2010 · No Comments · Cognition, Emotions, Evolutionary Adaptation, Evolutionary Byproduct

Recently, I came across the claim — supported by numerous lines of study and evidence — that the natural development or ontogeny or language is similar to the natural development of supernatural thinking.  At quite an early age, children exposed to language will effortlessly begin acquiring and using the many skills which result in linguistic [...]

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