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==Pigs in religion==

[[Image:Piero di Cosimo 025.jpg|thumb|Painting of Saint Anthony with pig in background by Piero di Cosimo c. 1480]]

*In ancient Egypt pigs were associated with Seth, the rival to the sun god Horus. Swineherds were forbidden to enter temples.

*In [[Hinduism]] the god Visnu took the form of a boar in order to save the earth from a demon who had dragged it to the bottom of the sea.

*In ancient Greece, a sow was an appropriate [[sacrifice]] to [[Demeter]] and had been her favorite animal since she had been the Great Goddess of archaic times. Initiates at the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]] began by sacrificing a pig.

*The pig is one of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the [[Chinese zodiac]] related to the [[Chinese calendar]]. Believers in [[Chinese astrology]] associate each animal with certain personality traits. See: [[Pig (Zodiac)]].

*The dietary laws of [[Judaism]] ([[Kashrut]], adj. [[Kosher]]) and Islam ([[Halal]]) forbid the eating of flesh of swine or pork in any form, considering the pig to be an [[unclean animals|unclean animal]] (see [[taboo food and drink]]).

*In [[Christianity]] pigs are associated with [[Saint Anthony the great|Saint Anthony]], the patron saint of swineherds.

==Environmental impacts ==