Dema Deity
{{Short description|Archetype in mythology and ethnology}}
File:XRF-Hainuwele.jpg, whose dismembered body gave origin to various edible plants]]
Dema Deity is a concept introduced by Adolf Ellegard Jensen following his research on religious sacrifice.{{cite book |first=Adolf Ellegard |last=Jensen |title=Myth and Cult among Primitive Peoples |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1963}} Jensen was a German ethnologist who furthered the theory of Cultural Morphology founded by Leo Frobenius.{{cite web |url=http://michaelstausberg.net/old_site/Texts/Western%20Europe%20RELIGION%20II%20pre-proof.pdf |title=The study of religion(s) in Western Europe II |first=Michael |last=Stausberg}}
Description
The term dema comes from the Marind people of southwest Papua and has been used to refer to similar concepts in Melanesian religion and elsewhere.
Dema Deities are mythological figures who have given to certain peoples their land, food-crops, totems, and knowledge such as how to cultivate crops, raise poultry, make boats, perform dances, and perform sacred rituals.
In some cases, such as in the Hainuwele myth of Seram Island recorded by Jensen, it is claimed that from their dismembered bodies, blood, etc., came the different communities that are now in existence, together with their territory.
Both local culture and natural environment remain infused with the supernatural power of these creative deities.{{cite book |url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/powers_plumes_and_piglets.html |title=Powers, Plumes and Piglets: Phenomena of Melanesian religion |editor=Habel, N.C. |place=Bedford Park, South Australia |publisher=Australia Association for the Study of Religions |year=1979 |isbn=0-908083-07-6}}
Examples
- Cronus, from Greek mythology
- Osiris, from Egyptian religion
- Pangu, from Chinese mythology
- Ukemochi, from Shinto religion
- Tiamat, from Babylonian mythology
- Ymir, from Norse mythology
See also
References
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Further reading
- {{cite book |url=http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/657270.R_F_Fortune |author=Fortune, R.F. |asin=B000MX07MG |title=Sorcerers of Dobu: The social anthropology of the Dobu Islanders of the Western Pacific |place=London, UK; Darby, PA |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul; Arden |orig-year=1963; 1932 |edition=reprint |year=1979}}
- {{cite book |author=Williams, F.E. |url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120559b.htm |title=Drama of Orokolo: The social and ceremonial life of the Elema |chapter=Williams, Francis Edgar (1893–1943) |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1940}} {{cite book |url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/908917 |title=NLA 908917|year=1940 |publisher=Clarendon Press }}
- {{cite book |author-link=Ted Strehlow |author=Strehlow, T.G.H. |contribution=Australia |editor1=Bleeker, C.J. |editor2=Widengren, G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ouYGkiP4rAC&q=STREHLOW,+T.+G.+H.:Historia+Religionum:+Handbook+for+the+History+of+Religions&pg=PA590 |via=Google Books |title=Historia Religionum: Handbook for the history of religions |place=Leiden |publisher=Brill |volume=2 |year=1971 |pages=609–628|isbn=9788470571435 }}
- {{cite book |author-link=Charles Gabriel Seligman |author=Seligman, C.G. |url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/the_melanesians_of_british_new_guinea.html |title=The Melanesians of British New Guinea |place=Cambridge, UK; New York, NY |publisher=Cambridge University Press; AMS |orig-year=1910 |edition=repr. |year=1976 |isbn=0-404-14174-9}}
- {{cite book |author=Burridge, K. |url=https://archive.org/details/tangutraditionss0000burr |title=Tangu Traditions: A study of the way of life, mythology, and developing experience of a New Guinea people |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1969 |isbn=0-19-823136-9 |url-access=registration }}
- {{cite book |author-link=Mircea Eliade |author=Eliade, M. |url=https://archive.org/details/australianreligi00elia |title=Australian Religions: An introduction |place=London, UK; Ithaca, NY |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1973 |isbn=0-8014-0729-X |url-access=registration }}
- {{cite book |author-link=A. P. Elkin |author=Elkin, A.P. |url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/aboriginal_men_of_high_degree_a02.html |title=Aboriginal Men of High Degree |edition=2nd |place=St. Lucia, AU; New York, NY |publisher=University of Queensland Press; St. Martin's Press |orig-year=1977 |year=1978 |isbn=0-7022-1017-X}}
- {{cite book |author-link=Clifford Geertz |author=Geertz, C. |url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/the_religion_of_java.html |title=The Religion of Java |place=Glencoe, IL; Chicago, IL |publisher=Free Press; University of Chicago Press |orig-year=1960 |year=1976 |isbn=0-226-28510-3}}
- {{cite book |author=Jensen, E. |url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/the_iban_and_their_religion.html |title=The Iban and their Religion |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=Clarendon Press |orig-year=1974 |year=1975 |ISBN=0-19-823179-2}}
- {{cite book |author=Pognant, R. |url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/oceanic_mythology.html |title=Oceanic Mythology: The myths of Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia |place=London |publisher=Hamlyn |year=1967 |isbn=0-600-02372-9}}
External links
- {{cite book |url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/sorcerers_of_dobu.html |title=Sorcerers of Dobu: The social anthropology of the Dobu Islanders of the Western Pacific |publisher=Waveland Press |date=August 1989 |isbn=0-88133-452-9}}
- {{cite book |chapter-url=http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120559b.htm |title=Williams, Francis. Edgar|chapter=Williams, Francis Edgar (1893–1943) |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.citybasementbooks.com.au/dump/books-0003/67396.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301111803/http://www.citybasementbooks.com.au/dump/books-0003/67396.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-03-01 |title=Drama of Orokolo: The social and ceremonial life of the Elema}}
- {{cite journal |title=A book review of Drama of Okokolo: The Social and Ceremonial Life of the Elema by F.E. Williams |journal = The Geographical Journal|volume = 96|issue = 1|pages = i–viii|issn=0016-7398|jstor = 1788493|year = 1940}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3458000374.html |title=Orokolo}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.everyculture.com/Oceania/Orokolo-Bibliography.html |title=Orokolo - Bibliography}}
- {{cite book |url=http://isbndb.com/d/book/historia_religionum_a01.html |title=Historia Religionum: Handbook for the History of Religions |first1=C.J. |last1=Bleeker |first2=G. |last2=Widengren |isbn=90-04-08928-4|year=1988 }}
- {{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/melanesiansofbri00seli |title=The Melanesians of British New Guinea|year=1910 }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.tepapastore.co.nz/shop_info.asp?page=3¤cy=NZD&language=english&new=Te%20Papa%20Press&productid=93344&productname=Elsdon%20Best:%20Maori%20Religion%20and%20Mythology%20Part%201 |title=Elsdon Best: Maori Religion and Mythology – Part 1 |access-date=2011-01-23 |archive-date=2011-07-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724194703/http://www.tepapastore.co.nz/shop_info.asp?page=3¤cy=NZD&language=english&new=Te%20Papa%20Press&productid=93344&productname=Elsdon%20Best:%20Maori%20Religion%20and%20Mythology%20Part%201 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite web |url=http://isbndb.com/d/person/burridge_kenelm.html |title=Bibliography - Burridge Kenelm}}
- {{cite journal |doi=10.1525/ahu.1994.19.2.130 |title=Locating the Divine in Melanesia: An Appreciation of the Work of Kenelm Burridge |journal=Anthropology and Humanism |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=130–137 |year=1994 |last1=Jorgensen |first1=Dan }}
- {{cite journal |doi=10.1525/aa.1970.72.6.02a00790|title=General and Ethnology: Tangu Traditions: A Study of the Way of Life, Mythology, and Developing Experience of a New Guinea People. Kenelm Burridge|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=72|issue=6|pages=1530–1532|year=1970|last1=Robbins|first1=Sterling|doi-access=free}}
- {{cite book|title = Australian Religions: An Introduction|isbn = 080140729X|last1 = Eliade|first1 = Mircea|year = 1966| publisher=Cornell University Press |url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/australianreligi00elia}}
- {{cite book |title=The Iban and Their Religion|id={{ASIN|0198231792|country=uk}}}}
- {{cite book |title=Oceanic Mythology: The Myths of Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia|isbn = 0814803865}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.paperbackswap.com/Roslyn-Poignant/author/ |title=Bibliography - Roslyn Poignant}}