Michael Cremo - Human Devolution - A Vedic Alternative To Darwin's Theory

In the cosmology of the Hopis, we find key elements of the template Vedic cosmology. In both there is a distinction between an ultimate high god and a creator god, or gods, responsible for manifesting the forms of humans and other creatures. In both, there is a multilevel universe.

The Lenape or Delaware Indians are Algonguins. They believed in many gods, mani ‘towuk , but among the mani ‘towuk, one was supreme. He was called Gicelemu ‘kaong, which means “creator” or “great spirit.” All of the other mani ‘towuk were his servants. Through them Gicelemu

‘kaong manifested the earth and all of its creatures. The Lenape directed most of their worship to the agents of the great spirit, considering them more closely involved in their daily life. The great spirit lived in a distant place, the twelfth and highest heaven above the earth (Eliade 1967, pp.

12–13).

Lenape chiefs would recite this prayer during ceremonies held in the tribal Big House: “Man has a spirit, and the body seems to be a coat for that spirit. That is why people should take care of their spirits, so as to reach Heaven and be admitted to the Creator’s dwelling. We are given some length of time to live on earth, and then our spirits must go. When anyone’s time comes to leave this earth, he should go to Gicelemu`kaong, feeling good on the way. We all ought to pray to Him to prepare ourselves for days to come so that we can be with Him after leaving the earth . . . When we reach that place, we shall not have to do anything or worry about anything, only live a happy life. We know there are many of our fathers who have left this earth and are now in this happy place in the Land of Spirits . . . Everything looks more beautiful there than here, everything looks new, and the waters and fruits and everything are lovely. No sun shines there, but a light much brighter than the sun, the Creator makes it brighter by his power. All people who die here, young or old, will be of the same age there; and those who are injured, crippled, or made blind will look as good as the rest of them. It is nothing but the flesh that is injured: the spirit is as good as ever” (Eliade 1967, p 160). The parallels with the Vedic cosmology are striking. In Bhagavad Gita (2.22) , the body is described as a garment for the soul. The purpose of life is characterized as journeying to the realm of God. The Bhagavad Gita (15.6) specifically says that the realm of God is luminous, but without the light of the sun or moon.

The Lenape Big House is a model of the universe. “The centre post is the staff of the Great Spirit, with its foot upon the earth, its pinnacle reaching to the hand of the Supreme Deity. The floor of the Big House is the flatness of the earth. . . . The ground beneath the Big House is the realm of the underworld while above the roof lie the extended planes or levels, twelve in number, stretched upward to the abode of the Great Spirit, even the Creator” (Speck 1931, pp. 22–23). The Big House also included a White Path, corresponding to the Milky Way, the path by which the soul goes to the spiritual realm of the Great Spirit.

The supreme being of the Omaha Indians is called Wakonda. The process of humans coming into being expressed by the Omaha Indians is similar to the concept of human devolution expressed in this book. An Omaha Indian informant said, “At the beginning, all things were in the mind of Wakonda. All creatures, including man, were spirits. They moved about in space between the earth and the stars (the heavens). They were seeking a place where they could come into bodily existence.” First they went to the sun and moon, but these were not fit places for them. Then they came to the earth, which at first was covered by water. When the water receded dry land was revealed. The Omaha informant said, “The host of spirits descended and became flesh and blood. They fed on the seeds of the grasses and the fruits of the trees, and the land vibrated with their expressions of joy and gratitude to Wakonda, the maker of all things” (Eliade 1967, pp. 84–85).

Cosmology of the aranda People of Australia

The Aranda are one of the aboriginal peoples of Australia. They believe that in the beginning there were great personalities called Numbakulla. The meaning of this word is “always existing” and “out of nothing.” The greatest of them, according to the members of the southern, central, and northern groups of aboriginals, is the Numbakulla who came out of nothing at Lamburkna, in the south. He created the land and water, and established the main features of the landscape, such as mountains, rivers, hills, and deserts. He also brought into being plants and animals. He also established totem places ( knanikilla ), which he would use in the future in populating the earth (Spencer and Gillen 1927, p. 356).

Below Numbakulla in the Aranda cosmology come gods and goddesses of nature. The sun goddess is called Alinga or Orthika. She is said to have come out of the ground at a place near Alice Springs, along with two woman associates. The eldest of the women carries a young child. The sun goddess leaves them each day and rises into the sky. At night the sun returns to the spot where it rose (Spencer and Gillen 1927, p. 496). The Water Men (Atoakwatje) supply water to earth from the clouds, wherein they dwell. The moon god, Atninja, is regarded as male and is therefore sometimes called Atua Oknurcha, big man. There is also an underworld.

Returning to his tmara marakirna (great camp) at Lamburkna, Numbakulla carved a cavelike storehouse in the rock and surrounded it with gum tree boughs. He did this in preparation for the creation of the first ancestors of humans. The process begins with the making of churingas, objects imprinted with signs associated with totem groups. When Numbakulla later made the churingas he would put them in the rock cave (Spencer and Gillen 1927, p. 356). The time and place associated with Numbakulla, the original ancestor, and his various first creations is called alchera. The cave where the churingas were to be stored was called the pertalchera, the rock of the alchera (Spencer and Gillen 1927, p. 357).

Before the churingas could be made, Numbakulla had first to make the ilpintiras, the signs that would be imprinted on the churingas. On the floor of the pertalchera , Numbakulla painted a churinga-ilpintira, a sign for the churinga of a totem group, or knanj. This first churinga-ilpintira was for the achilpa knanj, or wild cat totem. He painted another achilpa churinga-ilpintira on the ground outside the pertalchera . In the center of it, he raised a pole called kauwa-auwa. Numbakulla then made the first churinga for the achilpa totem. He did this by marking a rock or other object with the achilpa churinga-ilpintira , the sign of the wildcat totem. He placed in this first achilpa churinga the kuruna (soul or spirit) of the first Achilpa man, and placed this churinga on the churinga-ilpintira in the Pertalchera cave. Out of the churinga came Inkata Achilpa Maraknirra, the first Achilpa man, who was called inkata (leader) and maraknirra (very great).

Numbakulla then manifested many more kurunas, souls, from within himself. Each kuruna was connected with an original churinga, one for each knanj (totem group): achilpa (wildcat), erlia (emu), arura (kangaroo), etc. Numbakulla gave these original churingas to Inkata Achilpa Maraknirra, and also taught him the ceremonies for each totem group. Inkata Achilpa Maraknira carried the original churingas to the totem places ( knani-killa ) previously designated by Numbakulla. In each original churinga there was the kuruna of an inkatat oknirra, a headman, as well as many additional churingas and kurunas. These original churingas are called churinga indulla-irrakura . After the headman for a totem group appeared from a churinga in a specific place, he would make use of the churingas and kurunas in the churinga indulla-irrakura to make more people. He would also use churingas and kurunas stored in his own body (Spencer and Gillen 1927, p. 361).