Ancient people saw divinity in all aspects of life from "summary" of A History of God by Karen Armstrong
In ancient times, people did not draw a sharp distinction between the sacred and the profane. The world was seen as suffused with divine presence; the gods were present in every aspect of life. The sun, the moon, the stars, the rivers, and the mountains were all inhabited by powerful spiritual beings. These deities were not remote entities, dwelling in a distant heaven; they were immanent, present in the world around them. Every event in the natural world was seen as a manifestation of the divine. The changing seasons, the birth of a child, the growth of crops—all of these were seen as evidence of the gods' activity in the world. People believed that they could communicate with the divine through rituals and sacrifices, through prayer and meditation. They sought to cultivate a sense of awe and reverence for the world around them, recognizing the sacredness of even the most mundane aspects of life. This vision of the world as a sacred and interconnected whole shaped every aspect of ancient society. Religion was not a separate sphere of life, distinct from politics, economics, or social relations. It was woven into the fabric of ...
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