This new forms were more able to support
levels of efficiency appropriate to the new condition achieved in
the experience of farming. It was no longer the case that
survival equaled finding and appropriating means of subsistence
in nature. Rather, natural cycles were introduced as a matrix of
work, modulating the entire existence. Once the experience of
religion was identified as such, religious praxis adopted the
same matrix. In almost all known religions, natural cycles, as
they pertain to reproduction, work, celebrations, education, are
detailed. Cooperation and coordination progressively increased.
A mechanism of synchronization beyond the one that only
accommodated natural cycles became necessary. In retrospect, we
understand how rules of interaction established in the
nature-dominated pragmatic framework turned into the
commandments of what would be asserted through written religion.
We also understand how animistic pre-religious practice-embodied
in the use of masks and charms, in worship of the untouched
natural object (tree, rock, spring, animal), and the employment
of objects meant to keep harm away (tooth, bone, plant) took new
forms in what can be defined as the semiotic strategy of
attaching the religious word (more broadly, the Book) to the
life of each member of the religious community. The need to
establish the community, and to identify it through action, was
so pressing that ceremonies were put in place to bring people
together for at least a few times during the year.
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