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Living with the Gods

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Gold coin, Credit: The Trustees of the British Museum

How shared beliefs have shaped societies from the earliest days of humanity

How shared beliefs have shaped societies around the world, from the very earliest days of humanity with Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum.

How shared beliefs have shaped societies around the world, from the very earliest days of humanity with Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum. 

Image: Gold coin, Credit: The Trustees of the British Museum

Living with the Gods: The Other Side of the Leaf

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07/04/2018 GMT

The Other Side of the Leaf

BBC World Service - Living with the Gods, The Other Side of the Leaf

The societies who believe that they share the landscape with invisible co-inhabitants

The societies who believe that they share the landscape with invisible co-inhabitants.

Neil MacGregor looks at expressions of shared beliefs with a focus on societies who believe that they share the landscape with co-inhabitants who are not visible but are present. Such belief systems can be found in places such as the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.

It is difficult to express this relationship with the landscape in the English language. Words such as spirits, gods or beings do not adequately convey the nature of the co-inhabitants - and although these co-inhabitants cannot always be seen, they are always there, on the other side of the leaf.

(Photo credit: The Trustees of the British Museum)

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