Is Aversion to Pork a part of the Human Experience?

[Rainbow Mage]

I have to ask because it seems not only do many cultures and religions of the world regard pork as ritually unclean for consumption, but it seems many people can't eat a lot of pork or it makes them feel ill. I'm one of those types myself, and many people in my own religion report the same thing, that eating pork makes them feel ill. It may be that the gods don't want us eating pork. The idea certainly isn't new in Egyptian belief. The ancients didn't eat it.

 

[Willamena]

The ancients didn't eat it.

The Hawaiians did.

:eat::tribal::eat:

 

[Smoke]

I can't imagine having an aversion to pork. I almost reconsidered my decision to quit eating beef and pork, watching my aunt and nephew chow down on barbecued pork while I ate chicken instead.

 

[fallingblood]

Eating pork has been something that has been around for many years, since ancient times. We have evidence that the Canaanites ate pork. There is evidence even before that that people ate boar. So eating pork is something that ancients did.

As to why some didn't eat pork. I've heard one theory that people chose not to eat pork because when a pig is killed, it sounds like a baby crying. So they ruled out eating pork for that reason. I don't know how likely that is, and I wouldn't vouch for it, but it was one idea I heard.

Judaism probably ruled it out as they wanted to differentiate themselves from the Canaanites, who were big pork eaters.

It could also be that some places simply did not produce good environments for raising pigs. So it eventually came to them ruling out eating pork for that reason.

 

[ChristineES]

Nowadays, it is safer to eat pork. Back in the ancient times, it was easier to get trichinosis from pork. I found out a couple of years ago that trichinosis is what killed W. A. Mozart. Nowadays, they feed pigs different stuff so that worms are less of a possibility and people know to cook it thoroughly.

 

[Smoke]

Back in the ancient times, it was easier to get trichinosis from pork.

It's well known that the ancients preferred to die of salmonella.

 

[ChristineES]

It's well known that the ancients preferred to die of salmonella.

Not to mention E. Coli.

 

[Beaudreaux]

I have to ask because it seems not only do many cultures and religions of the world regard pork as ritually unclean for consumption, but it seems many people can't eat a lot of pork or it makes them feel ill. I'm one of those types myself, and many people in my own religion report the same thing, that eating pork makes them feel ill. It may be that the gods don't want us eating pork. The idea certainly isn't new in Egyptian belief. The ancients didn't eat it.

This is fascinating. In an industrialized nation where pork is inspected like every other meat, why do you suppose the Gods don't like it?

 

[LuisDantas]

Pork has a very pleasant flavor, but it is also a bit heavier on the liver and more prone to contamination. There are those who believe that Moses forbade eating it mainly out of health reasons.

 

[YmirGF]

I have to ask because it seems not only do many cultures and religions of the world regard pork as ritually unclean for consumption, but it seems many people can't eat a lot of pork or it makes them feel ill. I'm one of those types myself, and many people in my own religion report the same thing, that eating pork makes them feel ill. It may be that the gods don't want us eating pork. The idea certainly isn't new in Egyptian belief. The ancients didn't eat it.

Well, if I bother to BBQ a piece of pork tenderloin, you are welcome to not partake. My guess is your feeling ill is psychosomatic and simply faithfully reflecting your beliefs about pork. In essence, it is your beliefs about what you are eating that makes you feel sick, not what you are eating.

 

[Tarheeler]

I have to ask because it seems not only do many cultures and religions of the world regard pork as ritually unclean for consumption, but it seems many people can't eat a lot of pork or it makes them feel ill. I'm one of those types myself, and many people in my own religion report the same thing, that eating pork makes them feel ill. It may be that the gods don't want us eating pork. The idea certainly isn't new in Egyptian belief. The ancients didn't eat it.

I doubt it. Only a few groups don't eat it and allergies to meat (or specifically pork) are pretty rare. It seems to be eaten quite regularly across the world.

 

[ChristineES]

Pork has a very pleasant flavor, but it is also a bit heavier on the liver and more prone to contamination. There are those who believe that Moses forbade eating it mainly out of health reasons.

I've often wondered it, myself.

 

[tumbleweed41]

The ancients didn't eat it.

Pork was the main source of protein, besides fish, for all of ancient Greece and its colonies.

 

[croak]

Pigs have played an important part in some cultures.

Pigs, Politics and Social Change in Vanuatu

 

[Wotan]

What no more bacon and eggs? No sausage? No more bacon wrapped filet mignon?

Say it ain't so, Joe.

 

[Cypress]

I did a little research into pig & religion and came up with these:

From this site:

The pig was sacred to Isis, just as it was to Demeter. (Indeed several aspects of her mythology --especially details of the quest for the dismembered Osiris -- are identical to myths of Demeter's quest for her abducted daughter.)

Swine were sacred to Demeter, goddess of the earth's fertility, who was the mother of Persephone, queen of the underworld. In autumn, during the rites of Thesmophoria, her devotees drove a herd of swine into a labyrinthine cave. Later, they would return to see if the deity had accepted this offering by examining the condition of any pig carcasses that might remain.

Her cult was later absorbed and subsumed by that of the Roman goddess of grain, Ceres, to whom the pig offering continued to be performed. Swine were sacrificed also, to Hercules, to Venus and also to the Lares by those seeking relief from their illnesses.

The Celtic Mother goddess Ceridwin, who was associated with the moon, was referred to as the Old White Sow. The Celts were also among those who considered the flesh of swine the most suitable meal for the gods even after the Old Mythology was diminished into tales of the Otherworld. It was also said that Manannan, god of the sea, had magic pigs which though eaten one day, returned the next to be eaten again.

About goddess Ceres:

In a rural context, Cato the Elder describes the offer to Ceres of a porca praecidanea (a pig, offered before the sowing).

Varro describes the sacrifice of a pig as "a worthy mark of weddings" because "our women, and especially nurses" call the female genitalia porcus (pig).

To secure this transition and consecrate the tomb, well-off families offered Ceres sacrifice of a pig.

Wikipedia entry on Demeter:

Demeter taught humankind the arts of agriculture: sowing seeds, ploughing, harvesting, etc.
She was especially popular with rural folk, partly because they most benefited directly from her assistance, and partly because rural folk are more conservative about keeping to the old ways.
Demeter herself was central to the older religion of Greece.
Relics unique to her cult, such as votive clay pigs, were being fashioned in the Neolithic.In Roman times, a sow was still sacrificed to Ceres following a death in the family, to purify the household.

Wikipedia entry on Nut:

Mostly depicted in human form, Nut was also sometimes depicted in the form of a cow whose great body formed the sky and heavens, a sycamore tree, or as a giant sow, suckling many piglets (representing the stars).

From here:

Pig (Muc): A swine was considered to be the magickal, sacred food of the Tuatha De Dannan and an animal of Manannan mac Lir.
In the Mabinogion Pwyll received a gift of pigs from the underworld God, Awrawn. Their later theft by Gwydion caused the death of Pwyll's son Pryderi.
The writtings of Merlin say that he spoke with a little pig in visions. Symbolic of the spiritual food necessary to the Witches who were said to be swine herders.

About goddess Freyja:

Freyja is associated not only with the cat (the lore does not give us the names of the cats who draw her cart-- in Brisingamen I assigned them the names "Tregul" (Tree-gold, or Amber) and "Bygul" (Bee-gold, or Honey), but with the pig (sacred in many cultures to the earth-goddess).

From this site:

Pigs symbolise most completely the sacrifice leading to renewal. They were sacrificed at almost every initiation and festival to the Two Goddesses, and sometimes to Hades as well.
A piglet, usually a black one, would be first washed (baptised) alongside the initiate, as a method of mystical transference -- i.e. the piglet would become the person, in effigy.
When at the temple altar, the throat of the pig was slit and the blood spilled either in a cup or on the floor.
After this, the body would be thrown into a pit (sometimes filled with snakes, which are described as having eaten smaller parts of the pigs) and allowed to decompose for a year.
At the end of the year, right after the Greater Mysteries were completed, special priestesses would dig up the mess and ceremoniously spread it on the fields, to fertilize and consecrate the crops to be planted.
Statues of young pigs were found at Eleusis.

Encyclopedia of Wicca & witchcraft about pig.
Hittite pig sacrifice
Boars, Pigs, and Myth

My idea about this is that pigs were once considered sacred, associated especially with goddesses.
Later when the patriarchal religions took over, pigs & pig-meet became a taboo.

 

[dawny0826]

Nowadays, it is safer to eat pork. Back in the ancient times, it was easier to get trichinosis from pork. I found out a couple of years ago that trichinosis is what killed W. A. Mozart. Nowadays, they feed pigs different stuff so that worms are less of a possibility and people know to cook it thoroughly.

Ew. And to be honest, this is why I rarely eat pork. Years ago and I'm tallking many, many moons ago, in seventh grade, there was an entire Chapter in my Life Science book that was focused on parasites.

I still think about those awful lessons and cringe. Mice, parasites, crocodiles and flying insects - these are the things that freak me out.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Cypress that was part of why the ancient Egyptians didn't eat it. Because it was viewed as sacred to some deities.

 

[Thesavorofpan]

Well I don't know If I could have been Jewish at the time of Moses. Since shrimp is my favorite meat and it was consider unclean.
Anyways, each time I'm about to eat pork or anything unclean I say to myself. "this is totally not clean."

 

[painted wolf]

Pork is one of the oldest historical meats.... Pigs were domesticated independently several times, the oldest at least 13,000 years ago. Indeed, they have been with us longer than cattle, almost as long as sheep.

In many cultures, especially in the Asia/pacific region they are still the prized (and preferred to eat) animal.

And yes, the Pharaohnic Egyptians ate pork, especially at festivals honoring the gods/goddesses to whom it was sacred.

So, historically and modern, there are relatively few human peoples who shun pork.

wa:do