For millennia, the weather has captivated the imagination of humanity and has been intricately tied to the idea of divine energy. Ancient religions across the globe attributed weather patterns to gods and deities. In fact, until the early 20th century when weather predictions became more accurate, the weather was very much believed to be ‘An Act of God’. In fact this term is still used to describe unpredictable extreme weather for the purposes of legal contracts and insurance exclusions. According to the Colins dictionary an Act of God can be described as a ‘sudden and inevitable caused by natural forces and not as a result of human activity, such as a flood, earthquake, or a similar catastrophe’. Despite our ability in the modern day to accurately predict short-term weather, the weather as a whole still remains somewhat a mystery, raising profound questions about our level understanding around this elemental force. Could our ancient ancestors be correct that the weather is indeed an Act of God?
The Weather as a Modern-Day Enigma
Most of us in today’s modern scientific world have grown used to relying on short-term accurate weather forecasts. These short-term forecasts are mostly accurate and are based on supercomputers which process data on current weather around the world with an algorithm to predict what it is likely to do next. Despite these extremely advanced super computers and decades of weather study to refine predictions it is still very difficult to predict long-term weather. Strange phenomena, such as the Foehn and Chinook winds, continue to puzzle meteorologists and scientists revealing the complex nature of our atmosphere and how little we really understand about the nature of the weather and the forces that control it.
Ancient Religions and Weather Deities
In almost all ancient belief systems we find deities that personified the weather. Thor, the Norse god of thunder, Indra the Hindu god believed to control the monsoons. The Egyptian god Ra commanded the sun’s warmth. The Greek god Zeus, the Roman god Jupiter and the Baltic god Perkūnas ruled over lightning and thunder. Indigenous cultures such as the Hawaiian, Native American and Inuit cultures all believe in deities that have the power to control the weather. It is clear from the beliefs of our ancient ancestors that they were in no doubt in their belief that the weather was an Act of God. It is understandable that extreme weather would capture the imagination of our ancient ancestors, causing them to personify and dramatise these weather patterns but what is intriguing is that so many ancient cultures shared very similar beliefs.
Seeking Divine Intervention Into the Weather
To influence the weather, ancient societies turned to religious and spiritual practices to envoke the favour of the gods. Rain dances and similar practices including dance and song have been a common theme throughout history. In many indigenous cultures in North America, Africa and Australia these rituals are still practiced today. Recent research explores the idea that the weather may possess a more spiritual dimension than we’ve previously acknowledged. Studies on rain dances and similar rituals remain inconclusive, however they do suggest a connection between human practices and localised weather patterns. There have also been several studies into links between psychokinesis and the weather. This is something mentioned in many ancient stories, most notably Jesus Christ and also in stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann. These studies are often inconclusive due to the difficulty in conducting experiments into the weather as it is so variable. However, they do raise intriguing possibilities around the idea that the human mind could influence weather patterns in ways we’re only beginning to understand.
Our Modern-Day Intervention Into the Weather
The desire to try to control the weather is not solely confined to ancient and indigenous beliefs. Many modern-day corporations and governments are now heavily investing into technology to try to control the weather via cloud-seeding. This process involves speeding up or increasing rain droplet production in clouds by inserting ice nuclei or silver iodide into the cloud in the air. This process again has limited scientific backing but this does not stop the increasing investment into the desire of modern man, just as our ancient ancestors to control the weather.
Chaos Theory and the Weather
Chaos theory is another example of how the weather is so sensitive to minor influences and how connected the weather is to the rest of nature, including human thought and actions. The butterfly effect is famously explained as how “a butterfly can flutter its wings over a flower in China and cause a hurricane in the Caribbean”. This theory would support the idea that humans actions in an attempt to invoke the will of the gods could have far-reaching consequences on atmospheric conditions and weather systems.
A Reevaluation of Ancient Wisdom
As we continue to explore the weather’s mysteries and its potential connection to human and divine energy, we may come to realise that our ancient ancestors understood this intricate relationship far better than we initially thought. Weather, once regarded as an Act of God, remains a profound enigma that reached far beyond our scientific understanding. As scientific research into the weather continues we may confront the possibility that our ancestors possessed insights into the nature of the weather that we have not yet begun to understand through mainstream science. The ancient wisdom that the weather is not merely a physical phenomenon but also a spiritual force may hold the key to helping us to better understand the enigma that is the weather.
