churchother minds, to see into the future, to witness past lives, to lift heavy
objects, to endure extreme pain, and other forms.
Further reading: Olson (2008)
CHAOS
In various religious traditions, chaos is described in negative terms: as an
immaterial mass, unlike anything within the world, or as something inde-
finable that cannot be explained by anyone. It is akin to the negation of
the present, existing world. Among the ancient Egyptians, chaos exists
before the sky and earth and prior to humans and death. The Egyptians
envision original creation as a shaping of a formless material – chaos –
into an ordered world. Prior to creation, there is a boundless ocean called
Nun, a dark, watery abyss, which represents the primordial substance out
of which the world would be formed by a demiurge, who is submerged
within the chaos and preceded any gods. If the original chaos is an undif-
ferentiated, unitary state, it is the demiurge that embodies the process of
differentiation. In later Egyptian history, the demiurge is identified with
Ra, the sun god, or Ptah, the earth god.
Among the ancient Mesopotamians and Indians, it is possible to find
accounts of an original creation returning to chaos and being restored by
a heroic deity. In Mesopotamia, this figure is identified as Ninurta, and
he defeats Anzu to restore the world. In the ancient Vedic myth of India,
it is the heroic deity Indra who is recruited by the gods to defeat Vritra, a
cosmic serpent who envelopes the entire world. Drinking three vats of
soma, a powerful hallucinogen liquid, for strength, Indra split open the
serpents head releasing the cosmic waters. Thereafter, Indra assumes
leadership of the divine pantheon as a reward, which is agreed to prior to
his exploits with the other gods, for his heroic deed.
Further reading: Anderson (1967); Eliade (1965)
CHURCH
This concept is of Christian origin and use, originally meaning “assem-
bling together.” The church is a type of religious society that evolves