Between Maps and Meaning

I’ve missed some days and in my return have decided to write a very short essay on how geography can shape a culture’s religious beliefs. I figured in my return I should finally explore some geography topics for how can I call this Between Maps and Meaning if I’m not discussing at least some geography. I watched maybe 3-4 hours of 3 separate documentaries on Papua New Guinea and Indonesia over the last couple days. I had a thought about how geography has shaped belief systems over time. Why would some cultures be more open to the idea of witch craft being real vs others thinking that might be nonsense. Of course there’s lots to consider, and you can easily get into someone’s upbringing and experiences that of course drives us as individuals. On a broad scale over time though is where my mind is. I found an amazing article by Nurit Bird-David that I highly recommend you read, and reading it over this would be more beneficial to you. The article is called, ““Animism” Revisited. Personhood, Environment, and Relational Epistemology.” There’s an idea that the way geography shapes our everyday lives leads to how we see the world.

Now to my original thought, while watching these documentaries on these two islands nations I could not help but think of Caribbean island nations. More particularly a place like Hatti. Then I thought it isn’t just islands, it is tropical places in general. All these places have a shared unique historical system of belief that is different from other climates and geographies. They tend in their history to believe in Animism. In short this is a belief that anything and everything has a life force. In other words “god” is everywhere, including in the rivers, the rocks, the animals, the plants, and even in the wind. Let me try to convince you over the next few paragraphs that this is because of their geography. More specifically let me convince you that geography shapes how we see the physical, and spiritual world.

PART 1 Rainforest and Animism
How would you describe a rainforest? I’ve been in one actually myself and I can say it is loud, dense, and maybe the best way I can describe it is that you know there’s more than what you see. It’s just impossible to see or bring in more information because of how much of an overload those jungles can be. I can tell you the weather changes in a flash. A beautiful sunny day can easily become the worst rain fall you’ve ever seen. In the same way it can be raining and you might think there’s no way anyone is going out today, but 10 min later the skys have cleared and the birds singing. Think of a predator like a jaguar. The most classic rain forest killer. He is hiding and you cannot see him. Danger is imminent. So imminent even a bite from a bug you barely notice might end your life. This can lead to the belief that what we see isn’t everything. To a rainforest society what you see means almost nothing. What you feel saves you more in the rainforest than your real vision. This opens the door to Animism. This opens the door to witch craft being a palatable belief. Seeing is not believing to these cultures and geography plays a part.

PART 2 Desert and Morale Laws
I want to give you a few examples as I’m more versed in desert cultures (that is part of the reason for the 4 hour marathon on the two rain forest island nations). That being said I am not an expert. Desert cultures tend to have written morale laws guiding them. They tend to focus on a small Patheon of gods and even developed to what we know, the earliest forms of monotheism. Zoroastrianism, ancient Israel, and more recently Islam are essentially codes and laws to be followed. Now, I don’t want to downplay the spiritual aspects of these beliefs, I am focusing on broad ideas for a broad thought. That being said how does the geography of a desert lead to this system of belief? What is a desert? Well for one they are vast and you can see everything until your eyes fail you. While in the rainforest seeing a few feet away is a challenge with all that color and density. In other words you can trust what you see in the desert. You can see a storm forming in the distance so weather seems more predictable. Your predators act very differently. A lion for example which is now mostly extinct in deserts but used to run through much the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East. The lion does not hunt like the jaguar. The lion you can see coming. Death is not a surprise in a desert. Scarcity is real, you must be organized to deal with things like food and water. Since it could be months before herds of animals return, or a drop falls from the sky. This organization to survive bleeds into the written morale law we see come out of these societies. You’re less likely to believe something like witch craft in the desert since you tend to trust your eyes over your feeling. Morality is simple in the desert because feeling means less. An eye for an eye, is an easy outcome. Not everything is governed by spirits but by the will to do right vs wrong.

PART 3 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
I hope you found this enjoyable. Forgive me for only providing ideas and not concrete sited work in this essay. I of course wanted to have fun, and citing a source for a thought is not very fun. I know these sources exist though as I did site one in the start. I read more articles as well, that one just stood out as the best. What I will say is geography is only a piece of the puzzle to a belief structure. There’s so much more that makes us believe or not believe something.

I find in my own life I am more like a desert society person. As I’ve aged I’ve started to think more like a rainforest society, although the desert in me is still strong. I of course at my core am a Christian. This forces this desert thinker to start believing in what we cannot see. As Optimus Prime would say there’s “More than meets the eye,” and I hope that however I’m seeing the world in 10 years I remember that my geography is helping to shape it.