Animal worship

worship of animals, zoolatry; paganism

Animal worship covers religious and ritual practices including the worship of a living animal considered as a deity incarnate, animal sacrifice as well as the respect for the bones of a slain animal. Such practices are very widespread in pre-modern societies, and are also found at the historical core of both Abrahamic religions and Dharmic religions. They hark back to hunting rituals which evolved in paleolithic times, and scholars of religion such as Walter Burkert derive all human religious behaviour such contexts (see hunting hypothesis).
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Noun
1. worship of animals
(synonym) zoolatry
(hypernym) worship
(hyponym) ichthyolatry, fish-worship

[Other] Animal worship is a cult that appears in many ancient (nature) religions. In these cults animals are regarded as representatives or appearances of the deity, or are attributed divine characteristics. It is partly based on the fact that animals possess qualities that humans lack or have in lesser measures, such as strength or speed, and which inspire fear. Another factor is the mysteries that surround certain animals and this also gives cause for worship. An example is the snake. It is feared, yet in many cultures it is held sacred; it has healing properties or is associated with healing (it is the symbol of the healer god Asclepius) and it is a symbol of immortality (the shedding and renewing of the skin). Important snakes in mythology are the Egyptian Apophis, the world-serpent Jormungand, Ananta of the Hindus, and of course the great Quetzalcoatl of the Aztec. In ancient Egypt, animal worship was an important part of their religion. The goddesses Hathor and Bastet appeared as a cow...
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Synonyms and related words:
Druidism, Parsiism, Sabaism, Zoroastrianism, demonism, demonolatry, devil worship, fetishism, fire worship, heathenism, hero worship, iconoduly, iconolatry, idol worship, idolatrousness, idolatry, idolism, idolodulia, idolomancy, image worship, paganism, phallic worship, phallicism, pyrolatry, snake worship, star worship, sun worship, tree worship,