Editing Mircea Eliade (section)

===The High God===
{{See also|Sky father|Deus otiosus}}
According to some "evolutionistic" theories of religion, especially that of [[Edward Burnett Tylor]], cultures naturally progress from [[animism]] and [[polytheism]] to [[monotheism]].<ref>Eliade, "The Quest for the 'Origins' of Religion", pp. 157, 161</ref> According to this view, more advanced cultures should be more monotheistic, and more primitive cultures should be more polytheistic. However, many of the most "primitive", pre-agricultural societies believe in a supreme [[Sky father|sky-god]].<ref>Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', p. 93; ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', pp. 38–40, 54–58</ref> Thus, according to Eliade, post-19th-century scholars have rejected Tylor's theory of evolution from [[animism]].<ref>Eliade, "The Quest for the 'Origins' of Religion", p. 161</ref> Based on the discovery of supreme sky-gods among "primitives", Eliade suspects that the earliest humans worshiped a heavenly Supreme Being.<ref>Eliade, ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', pp. 38, 54; ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', p. 176</ref> In ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', he writes, "The most popular prayer in the world is addressed to 'Our Father who art in heaven.' It is possible that man's earliest prayers were addressed to the same heavenly father."<ref>Eliade, ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', p. 38</ref>

However, Eliade disagrees with [[Wilhelm Schmidt (linguist)|Wilhelm Schmidt]], who thought the earliest form of religion was a strict monotheism. Eliade dismisses this theory of "primordial monotheism" (''Urmonotheismus'') as "rigid" and unworkable.<ref>Eliade, "The Quest for the 'Origins' of Religion", p. 162; see also Eliade, ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', pp. 54–58</ref> "At most," he writes, "this schema [Schmidt's theory] renders an account of human [religious] evolution since the [[Paleolithic]] era".<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', p. 176</ref> If an ''Urmonotheismus'' did exist, Eliade adds, it probably differed in many ways from the conceptions of God in many modern monotheistic faiths: for instance, the primordial High God could manifest himself as an animal without losing his status as a celestial Supreme Being.<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', pp. 176–177</ref>

According to Eliade, heavenly Supreme Beings are actually less common in more advanced cultures.<ref>Eliade, ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', pp. 54–55</ref> Eliade speculates that the discovery of agriculture brought a host of [[Fertility god|fertility gods and goddesses]] into the forefront, causing the celestial Supreme Being to fade away and eventually vanish from many ancient religions.<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', p. 138</ref> Even in primitive hunter-gatherer societies, the High God is a vague, distant figure, dwelling high above the world.<ref>See Eliade, ''Patterns in Comparative Religion'', pp. 54–56</ref> Often he has no [[Cult (religious practice)|cult]] and receives prayer only as a last resort, when all else has failed.<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', pp. 134–136; ''The Myth of the Eternal Return'', p. 97</ref> Eliade calls the distant High God a ''[[deus otiosus]]'' ("idle god").<ref>Eliade, ''Myth and Reality'', pp. 93–94</ref>

In belief systems that involve a ''deus otiosus'', the distant High God is believed to have been closer to humans during the mythical age. After finishing his works of creation, the High God "forsook the earth and withdrew into the highest heaven".<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', p. 134</ref> This is an example of the Sacred's distance from "profane" life, life lived after the mythical age: by escaping from the profane condition through religious behavior, figures such as the [[shaman]] return to the conditions of the mythical age, which include nearness to the High God ("by his ''flight'' or ascension, the shaman [...] meets the God of Heaven face to face and speaks directly to him, as man sometimes did ''in illo tempore''").<ref name="Eliade, p.66">Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams and Mysteries'', p. 66</ref> The shamanistic behaviors surrounding the High God are a particularly clear example of the eternal return.