Since prehistory, people have desired more intimate connection with animals. Cave paintings in France and animals carved into the landscape in Peru demonstrate the depth of feeling and intimacy towards our animal relations. Study religious symbols, and you get a glimpse of how close humans’ relationship to animals is. Moslems call camels, “God’s Gift,” and Incas refer to llamas as “Children of the Great Mother.” In Christianity, Christ is called the “Lamb of God.”
The religious pantheons of many cultures feature the merging of animals and people. In Egypt, Bast is depicted as a woman with a cat’s head, while Horus is symbolized as a hawk. Zeus of the Greeks could transform Himself into various animals for his own purposes. The Hindu God Ganesha is depicted as an elephant, while Cernunnos, the Celtic Lord of the Animals, is shown with a stag’s horns on his head.
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