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"And sittith on the righthand of god the father almighty, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." - Nicene Creed
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Why was the righthand the "right" side and the lefthand the "wrong" side? The reason may go back to some of our earliest observations of the sky.
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Ancient sun worshippers in the northern hemisphere, (modern religions were probably influenced by these thoughts too), would have seen their god, the sun, moving steadily away from the left and towards the right. The same pattern can be seen when travelling southwards from the northern hemisphere in a ship.
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When the ship is travelling from the northern hemisphere southwards towards the equator, the sun appears to rise to the left (east), reaches its highest point almost straight overhead, and sets to the right (west). When the ship is far to the south of the equator, then the sun continues to appear to rise to the left (east), reaches its highest point due behind (north), and sets to the right (west).
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That this was the path that the ancients believed their god took, as it moved across the sky, was probably enough reason for them to be suspicious of the left.
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Exodus 15:6 "Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy."
Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Road Trippin" (Just a Mirror For The Sun)
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lefthand , righthand , superstition , bible , nicene creed , evil , sun worship , atheist , sunset , sunrise
A lot of powerful symbolism in that concept.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a christian & took an interest in the origins of symbolisms in the scripture, I was discouraged from pursuing that line of thinking. Although, symbolism IS an important aspect in all religions, looking to closely at it is considered dangerous territory. Why would Christians not want to understand their own roots?
I believe that hand preference exists in animals and we merely evolved to be mostly right-handed. Who knows why right is preferred? Tough question! As for words, funny how "left" also means adandoned, as in "left behind"
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't uncommon for people back in the day to be re-trained to use their right hands as opposed to their left hands.
ReplyDeleteThere's always been a prejudice against southpaws.
As I understand it, most Semitic languages are read right-to-left (but I could be off on this).
Strangely enough, my good friend (who's a YEC'er, no less), is a southie.
As an amusing sidenote, Ned Flanders on the Simpsons is a right-wing fanatic, but runs a leftorium.
I'd point out that "sinister" means left handed.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to find out why there is a hand preference bilogically.
RE lt
ReplyDeleteI agree that religious believers are not encouraged to think about the origins of faith, or why certain things are done or believed in. Of course, when it is considered wicked, or bad to doubt faith, it is no wonder that many people do not ask questions.
RE blueberry
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere recently that chimps are predominately left handed. It is interesting that one of our closest relatives shows a preference for the opposite hand. I have no idea why this is so, but it is another interesting part of the puzzle of life.
Of course there are all these theories about how if you are righthanded, you tap into different brain potentials, but I am as yet unconvinced about the authority of this.
RE ka
ReplyDeleteYes, my mother was one of them. And she went to a catholic school where the nuns were able to convince her,not so subtlely in those days, that she should write with her right hand.
Their methods at that time involved a ruler which was applied often to the back of the left hand.
It wasn't a good way to spread the "love and peace of religion" as far as my mother was concerned.
RE discord:
ReplyDeleteYes that is right. Interesting isn't it, that a preference for one side or the other is taken to be sinister or evil.
I don't know why the majority of people are righthanded, but from an evolutionary point of view, it may convey an advantage. What that advantage is, if one exists, I don't know.
What I have noticed is that many outstanding thinkers, artists and innovators have been lefthanded. Whether or not there is a correlation between lefthanded and creativity /freethought, I am not sure. But it is interesting, none the less.
Re: Left-handed chimps:
ReplyDeleteMaybe the reason we humans managed to create everything from the printing press to the DVR is because of being right-handed, while chimps are out there creating ... um, great works of impressionist art?
Right-handedness is more common than left-handedness in humans. If we could go back far enough, I think it's probably as simple as that. What's not in the norm, especially before you have the science to study something or explain why something is so, will generally be considered an abhorrence.
ReplyDeleteMy left-handed grandmother for instance (born 1901) had her left hand tied to the chair behind her back at school and she was severely beaten if she tried to liberate it.
RE ted
ReplyDeleteMy lefthanded mother suffered a similar fate. Except it was the nun's ruler.
What I have noticed is that many outstanding thinkers, artists and innovators have been lefthanded.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention great cricketers.
My left-handed grandmother for instance (born 1901) had her left hand tied to the chair behind her back at school and she was severely beaten if she tried to liberate it.
ReplyDeleteThe power of magical thinking!!
Wasn't there something about 'rising to the right hand of gawd' in the gospels?
ReplyDeleteRE arthur
ReplyDeleteCricketers are never great, they just have a natural affinity for being on TV during summer. ;)
RE KA
Yes, quite a few quotes concerning "the righthand" in the bible. Some people say that the righthand of god referecnes the authority of god.