Religions:

1. Australian Aborigines

2. African Traditions

3. North American Plains Indians

4. Mesoamerican Religion

Glossary:

(4-5) Human Relationship with Nature

(6-7) Framing of Sacred time and/or Sacred Place

(8-9) Respect for origins, Gods, and ancestors

(10-11) Sacred practices

(12-13) The line Between the Natural and Supernatural

(14-15) Central Role of Stories

(16-17) Place

(18-19) Eternal Time

Part I:

Human Relationship With Nature

Australian Aborigines: They believe the land is holy and it was created Spirit. The world is their cathedral

African Traditions: The Yoruba see the cosmos as deities in which they worship. Man is made up of both corporeal and spiritual elements, the latter having a variety of functions.

Mesoamerican Religion:

North American Plains Indians: The Native American Plains people way of life is built around the seven natural laws. These laws or sacred teachings are embodied by an animal, each animal represents a different law and is meant to teach man how to live close to the Earth. They also participate in elaborate ceremonies celebrating mother earth.

They worshipped many gods relating to things of nature such as the sun and rain gods.

Part II:

Framing of Secret Time and/or Secret Place

African Traditions: African traditional religion cannot be traced back to a certain date. The people practice in southwest Africa in what is known as Yorubaland.

Australian Aborigines: The Aborigines maintained traditions extending many thousands of years into the past.

Mesoamerican Religion: They believed the universe started in the city of Teotihaucan and was created by Topiltzin.

North American Plains: The Native American Plains people do not really have any importance with time but they do hold importance in where things are done. When their elders pass they bury them in sacred burial grounds that have been there for many many years. They also refer to the cottonwood tree as the center pole of their rituals and world.

Part III:

Respect for origins, Gods, and ancestors

African Traditions: Olorun is the supreme deity and he is the major god that the Yoruba people worship. The Oshiras are the lesser deities that the Yoruba people worship and other ancestral beings, which is where they get respect for their origins.

Australian Aborigines: The foundation of Aboriginal religion is the concept of the Dreaming. According to Aboriginal belief, the world was originally formless. Then at a certain point in the mythic past, supernatural beings called ancestors emerged and gave shape to earth.

Mesoamerican Religion: The Aztec's main god was Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl. They had many other minor gods whom they worshipped for various reasons. They would perform numerous sacrifices to these gods every year in order to please them. Everything they did was in order to please the gods.

North American Plains: They worship Wakan Tanka who is the native peoples supreme reality but is sometimes known as the Great Spirit or Great Mysterious. Wakan Tanka is made up of 16 different deities, the 16 coming from the number four (because of the four compass directions north, south, east and west). One of the supernatural beings is  Inktomi , who is the trickster figure of the Lakota  and mediator between the people on earth and other supernatural beings.

Part IV:

Sacred practices

African Traditions: Ritual practitioners dress in masks and are costumed figures that represent and are connected to ancestral beings. Divination is the practice of seeking knowledge of the future or the unknown by supernatural means.

Australian Aborigines: The Aboriginal religion is the entire process of recreating the mythic past of the Dreaming in order to tap into its sacred power. This process is accomplished primarily through ritual, the re-enactment of myth.

Mesoamerican Religion: They would perform ritual sacrifices where they would tear the heart out of a human to offer their life up to the gods. Other times people would cut themselves to offer up blood to the gods. They would also sacrifice birds or other animals.

North American Plains: The North American Plains people have many traditions and rituals that are important to their culture and way of life but THE most important is the Sundance Ceremony. This ceremony lasts about 3-4 days in the beginning of the summer and tests the participants mind, body and spirit.