HEAVEN, CULT OF. - In the various religions the sky can have notable importance above all for three reasons: it can be conceived as a divinity; it can lend its characteristics to some divinity; it can appear, finally, as the dwelling place of the divinity. Between these three principal forms, and their variants, the boundaries are not always clear-cut. A divinity can be called Sky and dwell in the sky; others can dwell in the sky without having particular celestial attributes; of still others, despite evident connections with the sky, no celestial dwelling is explicitly remembered. The very fluctuation of the boundaries between the various forms makes it plausible that the distinction among them is later and secondary, while the origin of the relationship between divinity and sky is to be sought in a period in which human thought is not accustomed to precise and abstract distinctions. In fact, sky and Celestial Being, a god with celestial attributes and a god who dwells in the sky are, in origin, inseparable ideas, and only in certain developments of religious mentality (e.g., anthropomorphic polytheisms and monotheisms) will the relations of the divinity with the sky come to be limited to certain attributes or to the dwelling place.
The Celestial Being or the god Sky figures, one might say, in all spheres of primitive civilizations. In these, the idea of it often interferes with another religious idea: that of the Supreme Being. For some time the existence, in the religions of uncultured peoples, of the concept of a Supreme Being has been pointed out, whose position among the other divinities and spirits of cult and mythology is entirely particular and distinct: the historico-cultural school of Fr. W. Schmidt, indeed, emphasizes that precisely the idea of such a Supreme Being belongs to the most ancient religious heritage of humanity. Now, in many cases, in this primitive Supreme Being the characteristics of the Celestial Being are found: considered now identical with the sky, now dwelling in the sky, now regulator of celestial phenomena. However, such a Supreme Being does not always have a clear celestial character and, above all, the Celestial Being does not always occupy the position of Supreme Being; there also exist cases in which, in the same religion, several Celestial Beings are found.
Of the innumerable Celestial Beings of primitive peoples it will suffice here to cite a few examples, to show the universality of the idea and the variety of its forms. a) Australia: The Baiame of the Kamilaroi and related peoples, like the Daramulun of the Yuin, dwells in the sky, regulates meteorological phenomena, and is all-seeing. Also the Bungil of the Kulin, a creator dwelling in the sky, sees everything. Atnatu, esoteric god of the Kaitish, is also characterized by his numerous wives who are the stars. b) Asia: The Puluga of the Andamanese is omniscient, but only by day; he punishes with lightning, dwells in the sky, and his name perhaps means "thunder." The Kari of the Semang (Malacca) is defined by his name, which means "sky." c) Melanesia: Ndengei, in the Fiji Islands, has a name that means sky; he, by closing his eyes, produces darkness. d) Polynesia: Rangi, the sky, in New Zealand, is not a Supreme Being, only one of the divinities of a rich polytheistic system; his spouse is Papa, the earth. e) Africa: The governance of meteorological phenomena, the celestial dwelling and omniscience characterize the Kaang of the Bushmen, the Tsui-Goab of the Hottentots, the Tilo of the Ba-ronga. Nzambi, among the western Bantu, Mulunga among the eastern Bantu bear in their name the meaning "sky." Likewise the figure of Marvu, among the Eve negroes, in which characteristics are found that derive from the visual impression of the sky. f) North America: The Sing of the Haida Indians is the luminous sky. Among the Bellachula, Qamaitis is the sky, but is a goddess. Of the celestial character of the Supreme Being of the Pawnee, Tirawa, a rich color symbolism of the cult bears witness. g) South America: Kamuscini, in the Caribbean, is defined as sky by the natives who consider him as the first cosmogonic being. The Pillan of the Araucanians is a Supreme Being who manifests himself above all in meteorological phenomena.
A particular position among the other divinities distinguishes the divinity of the sky also in the religions of the various higher civilizations. The divinity that by its name, its mythology, its iconographic characteristics, etc., reveals an identity or at least a particularly close connection with the sky, figures often as father of all, omniscient, omnipotent, king of the gods, governor of the cosmic and moral order.
In the religions of Indo-European-speaking peoples more than one divine figure connected with the sky is encountered. In the Vedic religion, Dyaus, whose name means "sky," and Vāruna share the essential attributes of the sky, but while the former has a more limited cult and is of a primarily cosmogonic character, Vāruna is a supreme divinity of the anthropomorphic type. In Greece, on the contrary, Uranus, whose name corresponds to that of Vāruna, bears in his name and mythology a complete identity with the sky, but has an extremely limited cult, while Zeus, corresponding to Dyaus, is the supreme divinity, though not devoid of evidently celestial attributes: dwelling in the sky, he sends the rain, the lightning, the thunder. The same figure dominates the Roman religious world, under the name of Iuppiter, a name whose second part implies the fatherhood attributed both to the Indic Dyaus and to the Greek Zeus. The Tiu of the Germans, etymologically corresponding, has a less salient importance and an altered character.
In Babylonia, Anu (= sky), though not having a very popular cult, was considered the king and father par excellence. In Egypt the sky is instead a goddess: Nūt, while the earth, which in other religions, primitive and cultured, figures for the most part as the divine spouse of the sky, appears here in the functions of the spouse. Though being a goddess, Nūt maintains the characteristics that belong to the divinity of the sky: she is lady and mother of all, mother also of the sun, and it is she who sends the rain.
A perfect identity between sky and supreme divinity is found in the most ancient religion of China. T'ien (= sky), also called Shang-ti (Supreme Emperor), is the central divinity, guarantor of the order of the universe. The emperor, considered his son, presents to him an annual sacrifice for the well-being of the country, at a round altar oriented according to the cardinal points, on the day of the winter solstice.
In monotheistic religions the sky remains the dwelling place of the divinity: thus, in Zoroastrianism Ahura Mazda, in Islam Allāh, are conceived as dwellers of the sky.
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Angelo Brelich