Cosmologies

Question 1

what are the five parts of the Christian cosmos?

Answer 1

Heaven, Hell, The firmament, Earth, Purgatory

Question 2

What is purgatory

Answer 2

A place (perhaps a mountain) or a purifying inner experience (no defined physical location)
removes venial sin by fire

Question 3

describe the firmament

Answer 3

separates the waters above and the waters below. has holes for communication or travel to heaven

Question 4

the elect

Answer 4

those who lived exemplary lives, who ascend directly to heaven

Question 5

theosis

Answer 5

transformative effect of divine grace, becoming more godlike in spirit

Question 6

mortal sins

Answer 6

committed deliberately, with knowledge and consent. sentenced to eternal damnation

Question 7

venial sins

Answer 7

forgivable sins, through purgatory to cleanse before election

Question 8

Sheol

Answer 8

hebrew, Pit/hell
has water beneath it

Question 9

heaven is occupied by

Answer 9

saints, angels, ascended souls

Question 10

purgatory is occupied by

Answer 10

Venial sinners undergoing purification through fire

Question 11

what is an axis mundi

Answer 11

a world axis, manifests in many cultures (pan cultural), conduit connecting cosmic realms, facilitating communication and movement between them

Question 12

examples of Axis Mundis

Answer 12

Yggdrasil (norse), Bile Buadha/Craebh (Celtic), Irminsul and yeavering (germanic)

Question 13

High places

Answer 13

foci in landscape with consolidation of territories/cities. Pan cultural, liminal spaces
proto-urbanization locals: Ceremonial and economic functions occurred here

Question 14

examples of High places

Answer 14

Chang’an, Hill of Tara

Question 15

irminsul

Answer 15

a monumental wooden pillar, acts as an axis mundi in germanic

Question 16

early celtic cultures

Answer 16

Hallstatt (8th-6th C), La Tene (500-1st C BCE)

Question 17

issues with anthropological writings from MA?

Answer 17

a lot of greco-romano-centrism since most knowledge from these cultures

Question 18

Magh Mor

Answer 18

upper world (sky)

Question 19

Mide

Answer 19

middle world (land)

Question 20

Tir Andomain/TIr na nog

Answer 20

the other world (sea)

Question 21

trees of power

Answer 21

Bile buadha or Craebh (celtic), Yggdrasil (Norse)

Question 22

Tuatha de danan

Answer 22

the sidhe (faeries or gods) from the book of invasions (12 C)

Question 23

Meath

Answer 23

site of the Hill of Tara and Newgrange. Occupied by ancestors of irish people (Milesians) after Tuatha are relegated to “other world”

Question 24

how is the otherworld accessed

Answer 24

through entering burial mounds, caves, crossing sea, diving underwater

Question 25

Liminal spaces

Answer 25

communication with ancestors is facilitated (place or time when the veil is thinnest, chance of encountering sidhe is high) eg. water, burial mounds etc.

Question 26

high cross

Answer 26

mound/raised base and vertical pillar

Question 27

Nemeton

Answer 27

a sacred wood in celtic tradition

Question 28

fidnemed

Answer 28

sacred woods in irish tradition

Question 29

samhain

Answer 29

end of harvest season, time of feasting and prepping for winter. Dagda weds morrigan/nemain/badb catha

Question 30

Dagda

Answer 30

tribal god, father, benefactor, protector

Question 31

Morrigan

Answer 31

queen of demons

Question 32

nemain

Answer 32

panic

Question 33

badb catha

Answer 33

raven of battle

Question 34

universalis columna quasi sustinens omnia

Answer 34

a universal pillar supporting the whole

Question 35

nine cosmic realms united by yggdrasil in norse cosmology

Answer 35

Asgard, alfheim, vanaheim, midgard, jotuneheim, nidavellir, svartalfheim, muspelheim, Hell

Question 36

who destroyed germanic monument Irminsul and when

Answer 36

Charlemagne in 772

Question 37

Lau Tzu

Answer 37

a legendary or semi-legendary figure who wrote the Tao Te Ching when leaving the city of Chengzhou

Question 38

Tao Te Ching

Answer 38

531 BCE, written by Lau-Tzu. The great book of the way of virtue

Question 39

Wu Chi or Tao

Answer 39

The beginning. universal energy from which all things eminate

Question 40

the one

Answer 40

emerges from Tao, manifest the world. divides into two (yin and yang)

Question 41

Chi (qi)

Answer 41

material energy/ energy flow/ life force fueled by interactions of Yin and Yang

Question 42

the five elements

Answer 42

wood, fire, metal, water, earth. generated by interactions of Yin and Yang

Question 43

ten thousand things

Answer 43

emerge from the five elements. constitute all manifest existance

Question 44

the practice of taoism is

Answer 44

an attempt to perceive the presence and workings of the universal tao, and to live in balanced accordance with it

Question 45

taoist belief

Answer 45

the world is populated by invisible spirits

Question 46

taoist reincarnation

Answer 46

the soul/spirit does not die when the corporeal body ceases to function -> migrates to next body continues until unification with the tao (Cutting the thread of life)

Question 47

Diyu

Answer 47

intermediate stage before reincarnation. a preparatory realm (different from purgatory)

Question 48

The principle god of Taoism

Answer 48

The Jade emperor, Yu Huang

Question 49

describe the taoist walled city

Answer 49

a repository of culture within the walls. fantastic/magic/danger outside of these walls