AN

I N T RO D U CT I O

SE?

TO T H E

S TO RY

OF

RE L I G I O N

BY

FR A N K B Y R O N

VO N S

M A
.

L I TT D

CLA S S I CA L T U T OR I N T H E U N I VE RS I TY O F D U R H A M

M ET H U E N
36 E S SEX

CO

S T R E E T,

LO N D O N
1 896

PRE FACE

IN

of

thi s book the history

t he

of

p ri ncip les and methods

of

that the in t erest s

identical

early religion is investigated

anth r opology and in the belief

,

truth and r eligion are fundamentally

Th e

wo rk i s intended p rimari ly for stu de nt s who r equir e

an i ntroducti on to the history

r eligi on but w ill also i t is

of

of

and to the wid e r circle

of

ho p ed p r ove inte r esting to students

l
o
o
p
gy ,

on

folk lo r e and anthr o

-

gene ral r eade r s

A s fa r as I am awa r e the r e i s no othe r book which covers

,

exactly the same gr ound as this does

which attem p ts

or

to

summari s e the results of r ecent anthropology to estimate

,

the ir bea ring u p on religious problems and

to

into a connected h i s to ry

of

ea rly religion

weave the whole

Thus far then this book i s o riginal namely as fa r as

,

r ega rds the use to which its materials are put ; but the

mate rial s them s elves a r e la rgely though not

,

fr om the w ritings
to

of

othe r s

w holly ,

In all case s I have endeavoured

expr e s s my obligations in the footnote s

I am however

more e sp ecially bound to mention here the name

Pr ofe ss o r

Robe r t s on Smith ,

de rived

to whose

Relig ion

of

the late

tim Sem ites

f
my obligati ons a r e too gr eat for their exp re ss ion to be conned

to footnotes

My indebtedne s s

Tylor A Lang and

,

Fra z er

to

the wo rks of Mes s rs

is he r e gratefully acknowledged

CON TE NTS
CR A P

I N T R OD U TO RY
I I O UT L I N E O F
AR UM E N T
III
S U P E NA TU RAL
V S Y M PA TH E TI
A I
V L I F E AND D E TH
V
OO IT S T R N S I SS I I L I Y
VII THI N S T A OO
V III T
M O RAL ITY
RE L I I O N
T O EMI S M
S U RVI VALS O F T O T E MI S M
AN I AL S RI F I E TH E ALT
X II AN IM AL S A R I F I E TH E S A R I F I I AL M E AL
X III ET
X I V FA MI LY O D S
UAR I N S P I RITS
V
E S T WO R S HI P
X V I T EE AND PLAN T WO R S HI P
X V I I NA TU RE WO R S HI P
X V III S YN R ETI S M AND P O LY TH E I S M
X I X M YTH O L O Y
PR I ESTH OO D
XX I TH E E T
E
XX II TH E RAN S MI RATI O N O F SO U LS
XX III TH E YS T E RI ES
XX I V TH E E L E US I N I AN M YS TE R I ES
XX V M O N O H E I S
XXVI TH E E VO LUTI O N
E E
I ND E
I.

TH E

TH E

C M

I . TA B

AN C

D A

OR-

XX

AR

AND G

I SH I SM

AN D

AC

X I.

A B OO,

IX

G C

1 44

1 63
1 80
189
20 6

2 26
2 34
2 49

270
2 97

314

OF B

1 30

LI F

1 13

LI

vii

3 27
3 58

382

3 98
417

AN

I N TR O D U CTI ON
TO

TH E HI STOR Y OF RELI GI ON

C H A P TE R

I NTRODU CTORY

book now before the reader is not a H istory o f Religion

but an Introductio n to the H istory o f Religion : its object is
not to place a history o f religion be f ore the student but to
prepare him f o r the study o f that history to f ami l iarise him
with some o f the elementary ideas and some of the commonest
topics o f the subj ect Much which would ll a large part o f
a history o f religion nds no place in this Introduction :
thus fo r instance religions such as C hristianity Moham
m e d a n is m Buddhism which are the outcome o f the teaching
o f their individual fo unders are not included wi th in the scope
of this book But these religions which on the analogy
of
positive law
law enacted by a sovereign have been
termed Positive religions were all designed by their founders
to supersede certain existing religions which n o t being
enacted by the authority of any single f ounder but being
practised as a matter of custom and tradition may be called
customary religions I t is with these religions their customs
and institutions that this I ntroduction deals
N o w religious institutions are not the only institutions
which an early people possesses it has also social institutions
such as those which regulate marriage the organisation o f
the family the vengeance to be taken f o r the murder o f a
THE

TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

I N TR O D U C T I O N

kinsman the holding o f proper t y the government o f the

community etc ; and the study o f these social institutions
forms o n e branch of the science o f anthropology
But
religious institutions also all have their social side religious
worship is a public institution ; the gods are the gods o f the
community as a whole and all the members o f the community
are requir ed by custom to unite in the performance o f the
rites and sacrices with which it is the custom o f that
particular society to approach its go d s
Thus religious
customs and institutions seem o n their social side to requi re
to be studied like other social institutions on the principles
and methods o f anthropology
Of late years they have
been largely so studied ; and in this book it is proposed to
collect together the prin cipal res ul ts o f these recent investiga
tions an undertaking the more necessary because the
studies in question are at present scattered and on single
topics and have n o t yet been focussed in such a way as to
show what their total bearing o n the history o f religion is
But the proposal thus to apply the methods o f science
and the principles o f anthropology to the study o f religion
meets in some quarters with not unnatural and certain ly not
unreasonable objections We must there fore at the outset
make a brief statement o f the methods in question and
consider the obj ections that may be made to them To
begin with anthropology employs the C omparative Method
t he customs of some one uncivilised o r semi civilised people
are compared with the customs of another people in the
same stage of culture and considerable resemblance is found
to exist between them just as the in t arrow heads made by
man bear always a striking likeness to each other whether
they come f ro m Europe or from Mexico and the rudest
pottery f rom G reece cannot be distinguished from the
pottery of the ancient Peruvians These resemblances enable
u s to extend o ur knowledge considerably ; thus the way in
which cave men contrived to fasten their stone axe heads to
wooden handles becomes clear when they are placed side by
side with the axes having stone heads fastened o n to wooden
handles which are used by some savages at the present day
The purpose f or which a stone implement was used by
primitive man may be very doubtful until it is compared
,

I N T R O D U C TO RY

with the us e m ade by living savages o f some similiar

implement So too the purpose o f some rite o r custom
practised by o n e people may be doubtful o r unknown until
it is compared with the same o r a similar rite performed
elsewhere under circumstances which clearly show its object
Again the C omparative Method is used in anthropology in
the same way as it is employed in deciphering fragmentary
ancient inscriptions in inscriptions o f a similar kind similar
formul ae recur thus in decrees o f the Athenian people the
formula resolved by the people constantly recurs ; s o if
only a few letters o f t he formula can be traced in what is
plainly a decree we can restore the missing letters with
condence In the same way a custom consisting in the
performance of a series o f acts may be found amongst
several peoples in its entirety and may amongst another
people only survive in a m ul t il a t e d form and then we can
in f er with condence that the missing acts also once f ormed
part o f this now fragmentary custom
It is clear therefore that the C omparative Method can
only be properly employed Where the things compared
resemble each other If then we apply the C omparative
Method to religion we seem to be committed to the a s s um p
tion that all religions are alike and that is a proposition t o
which no religious minded person can be expected to a s s e n t
especially when some writers apparently take it as self
evident that all religion is f etishism o r animism or what n o t
N ow it is clear that the application o f the C omparative I
M ethod to religion does imply that religions resemble o n e
another ot herwise it would be useless to compare the m
But it is also equally clear that the us e o f the C omparative
Method implies that religions differ from o n e another
otherwise it wo ul d be unnecessary to compare them A
bilingual inscription ( o f suf cient length ) in both Etruscan
and some known language would settle the problem of Et rus
can : the resemblance in meaning would enable us to compare
the two languages together ; it is the di fferences which make
it necessary to have some such means o f comparison
C omparative anatomy would have no obj ect if the structure
I f there were no di fferenc e s
o f all animals were exactly alike
betwe en languages there would be no need o f C om parative
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

Ph ilology And so it is precisely because religions do di ffer

that the C omparative Method can be applied to them ; and
the use o f the method is a standing disproof of the idea that
all religions are alike
The C omparative Method then can only be used where
there a re di fferences in the things compared
Indeed we
may go f urther and say that it is f or the sake o f ascertaining
these differences that the method is brought into us e Thus
it is not the recurring f ormul ae the stereotyped ofcial
phrases which are the interesting points in Athenian
inscriptions but their subj ect matter in which they differ
f rom each other and which is studied f o r the light it throws
the history o f Athens
The various Indo European
on
languages both resemble and differ from o n e another ; the
resemblances are studied for the light which they throw o n
the di fferences the di fferences are studied because in their
explanation lies the key to the process by which the various
languages all grew o ut o f the common original Aryan tongue
All growth consists in a series o f changes and the
record o f the successive differences is the history o f the
thing s growth It was by a succession o f changes in o n e
direction that Italian was evolved o ut o f Latin ; in an other
The primitive custom which
F rench in another Spanish
required vengeance to be taken for the murder of a kinsman
appears in o n e form in the C orsican vendetta in a more
developed form in the Saxon demand for wer geld in a yet
more developed form in the Athenian laws agains t murder
while in English law the prosecution has been taken entirely
out o f the hands o f the kin Now the stages by which the
nal form o f this or any other institution was reached in any
given co untry may all be recorded in the annals o f that
country but if some are missin g the C omparative Method
warrants us in inferrin g that they were the same as those by
which the same institution reached its n al form in other
countries Thus by the C omparative Method we are enabled
to apply the theory o f evolution to the study o f social
institutions and amon gst others to the study o f religious
customs and institutions o n their social side
H ere again however we are m e t with serio us objections
evolution is t he development o f higher forms o f li fe and
.

I N T R O D UC TO RY

thought o ut o f lower monotheism is the highest f orm o f

religion and theref ore o n the general principles o f evolution
must have been the nal form reached by a slow evolution
f rom such lower stages as polytheism fetishism ancestor
worship etc They there fore who believe in the Bihl e m p s t
consider the very notion o f evolution as essentially inapplicable
to religion Monotheism according to G enesis w a s revealed
to begin with and there fore cannot have been reached by a
process of development The truth was given t o man a t the
beginning and there f ore cannot be the outcome o f evolution
Every step taken in religion by man since Adam if it was
n o t in the right line o f monotheism must have been away
"
from the truth o f revealed religio n ; t he only evol ution

the evolution of error Man s imagination when once it

abandons the o n e guide becomes the prey o f all sorts o f
perversion o f the monstrous customs o f heathendom which
it i s useless to trace as they lead only away from the truth
and are as irrational and a s little t o be heeded as the ravings
o f a mind distraught
I he val idity of th i s reasonin g all depends upon the tacit
ass umpti on that evoluti on is the same thing as progress
where as in po int o f fact evolution is universal but progress
i s very rare the civilised peoples o f the earth are less
numerous than the semi civilised and u n civilised ; and o f
the civi lised themselves the progressive peoples are a
minority Institutions n o t only grow but decay also and
decay as well a s growth is a process o f evolution Florid art
is evolved o ut o f someth ing simpler but is not there fore
superior to it The Roman Empire was evolved o ut of the
Roman Republic and was morally a degeneration from it
The polytheism o f Virgil is not better as religion than that
of H omer ; the polytheism o f late Brahminism is certainly
worse than that o f the earlier periods There fore to s a y
that the only evolution in religion except that which is o n
the lines of the Bible is an evolution o f error may be
quite true and yet not show that the idea o f evolution is
inapplicable to heathen religions Their evolution may well
have been from the religious point o f view o n e long process
of
degeneration
Progress is certa inly as exceptional in
religion a s in other things and where i t takes place must be
,

'

'

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

due to exceptional causes The study o f heathen re lig ions

therefore o n evolutionary principles may throw some light
o n t r ue religion ; if we can ascertain the reasons why they
have failed to advance we shall be able better to appreciate
the causes to which progress is really due This however
assumes that it is possible scientically to ascertain the law
o f growth in the case o f pagan religions ; and it may seem
that they are t o o hopelessly fallacious almost insane in
their perversions o f the truth But the study o f fallacies is
a part and a very valuable part o f logic Even in sanity has
its laws and it is only by their discovery that the medical
man can hope to cure the mind diseased An d though the
missionary ha s resources which the physician ha s not still it
cannot but help him if he starts with a knowledge o f the
savage s poin t o f view To the necessity o f such knowle d ge for
the m 1 ssio n ary no more eloquent testimony could be given than
is a fforded by the labour which m issionaries have bestowed
o n the study o f native religions and which provides most o f
the material for the history o f early f orms o f religion

1
To accept the principle there fore that religion is evolve d
by no means pledges us to reject a p riori and without
examination the possibility that monotheism may have been
the original religion N or shall we s o rej ect it here On
the other hand a writer who approaches the history o f
religion from the anthropological standpoint cannot start by
a ssuming that monotheism was the o riginal religion H e
must start from the facts provided by his science namely the
religious cus t oms and institutions o f the various peoples o f
the world And even s o he will n o t be able to work back
to the time o f our rst parents ; anthropology carries us no
further back than the period just be fore the civilised races
appear to o ur view It is to this period therefore that
primitive man as he appears in these pag es her ea fter
belongs ; and let it be borne in mind he is a hypothesis
like the creatures which have le f t only a sin gle bone or a
f oot print behind he is reconstructed f rom the traces he
has le f t H e is invented to account for the f eatures common
to both civilised man and existing savages o r rather to their
ancestors H e is not purely identical with the savage as he
n o w exists fo r the savage has existed fo r a long time and
.

I N T R O D U C TO RY

we cannot suppose without change indeed he can be shown

to have retrograded in many cases Thus between primitive

man and o ur rst parents there is a wide gap ; and the

anthropologist standing on primitive man s side o f the gulf
cannot pretend to s e e o r s ay with certainty what did o r did
not happen o n the other side Science ha s n o t yet even
settled the question whether man s o r igin was monogenetic
or polygeneticthough the balance o f opinion seems incl ined
t o settle in favour o f the former theory
Whether the anthropologist will fall back upon the Book
o f G enesis to assist him in his conjectures as to what happened
before the earliest times o n which his science has any clear
light to throw will depend upon the value he assigns to
G enesis and the interpretation he puts upon it Some
writers argue that G enesis may be literally true but it
never says that religion wa s revealed But it seems to me !
that the account in G enesis could never have been written
e xcept by o n e who believed ( 1 ) that monotheism wa s the
original religion ( 2 ) that there never was a time in the
history o f man when he was without
that the
revelation o f G od to man s consciousness was immediate
direct and carried conviction with it
N ow the rst o f
these three tenets is a point o n which we have already
touched and the discussion of which we shall take up again
in it s proper place The second is a proposition the falsity
o f which so m e writers have endeavo ured to demonstrate by
pro d ucing savage peoples alleged to have no religious idea s
whatever This point we have no intention o f discussing
because as every anthropologist knows it has n o w gone to
the limbo o f dead controversies Writers approaching the
subject f rom such di fferent points o f view a s Professor
Tylor Max M uller Ratzel de Q uatrefages Tiele Waitz
G erland Peschel all agree that there are no races however
r ude which are destitute of all idea o f religion
The third is a point which must receive rather fuller
treatment here To the religious minded m an the ex istence
the personality o f G od and communion with H im are facts
of
internal but immediate consciousness : he has as direct
perception o f the light o f the soul a s he has o f the light o f
the eye To him therefore since G o d has never at any time
,

'

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

le ft H imself without a witness it is perfectly natural that

the same revelation carrying conviction with it should have
been made to all men in a]l times It is this revelation
this element in the common consciousness o f all generations
e t religion
o f men which for him constitutes the ,e eht m
D
gitX
H e is aware that the f acts o f consciousn ess receive very
unequal degrees o f attention ; the mind s eye can only be
f ocussed o n o n e spot in the eld o f consciousness at the same
time it is but o n a chosen f e w o f the mass o f presentations
owing in upon the mind that attention can at any o n e time
be concentrated Indeed th e art o f lif e consists in paying
attention to the right things and neglectin g the rest ; and
systematic inattention may be carried to such a poin t that
in course o f time the very roar o f Niagara becomes if not
inaudible at a n yra t e un noticed H ere then we have the
explanation o f that slow process o f religious degeneration
due to prolonged and in creasing distraction o f at tention
whi ch is a s we have seen o n e form o f evolution But a s long
as religion exists at all in however degenerate a form s o m e I
f aint consciousness of the f undamental facts must linger on
and it is that consciousness attenuated as it may be which
constitutes that continuity without which there could be no
evolution y I f evolution takes place something must be
evolved ; and that something as being continuously present
in all the diff erent stages may be called the c on tin uum o f
religion Whether the movement o f religion be upwards or
downwards whether its evolution in any given case be a
process o f progress o r of degeneration it is by the c on tin uum
running through all its forms that the highest stages and
the lowest are lin ked together
N ow the existence o f this con tin uum the historian o f
religion if he is an evolutionist ha s to accept H e is bound
to assume its presence from the very beginning o f the process
o f evolution the
process cannot begin without it The
belie f that the course o f the world is directed by divine
agency and personal will is o n e the existence o f which the
historian even if he could not explain it would still be
bound to assum e H e is in exactly the same position as the
physicist is The physicist has to assume the reality o f the
external world be fore he can show what consequences his
,

I N T R O D U C TO RY

science can trace from the assumption ; but he knows that

some philosophers c g H ume and Mill deny its reality and
that no proof o f it s reality ha s been discovered which all
n o f religion must
philosophers accept So too the his
assume the reality of the facts o f t h? religious consciousness
I
to begin with else he cannot explain the various form s they
take in the course o f their evolution nor the vari ous customs
and institutions in which they nd outward expression But
he knows that their reality is condently denied a s well as
stoutly asserted Further it is clear that physical science
cannot prove the existence of the external world
if a
physicist were to undertake to devise a chemical experiment
which should prove o r disprove the existence o f matter he
woul d show thereby that he had n o t g o t beyond the
J ohn son ian stage of the discussion Physical science being a ?
body o f inferences which ow from the assumption cannot
prove the assumption except by arguin g i n a vicious circle
So t oo the history o f religion ha s t o assume it cannot prove
o r dis p rove the rea li ty o f the facts o f the r eligious conscious
ness Perhaps another analogy may make this clearer
It i s only by a slow process o f accumul ation that human
knowledge has reached it s present dimensions ; the science
o f the modern s a va n t ha s been evolved o u t o f the errors o f
the simple savage But it would be obviously absurd there
fore contemptuously to pooh pooh the discoveries of modern
science as merely survivals o f the o l d erroneous way of look
ing at the world And it is equal ly fallacious to talk as
both friends and foes o f religion do sometimes talk a s tho ugh
the application o f the theory o f evolution to relig i on wo uld
reduce the hi gher forms o f it to mere survivals o f barbarism
animism and s o o n
The art o f Phidias was evolved o ut o f
something o f which we may almost s ay that it was artistic
only in intention ; but the man would be to be pitied who
could s e e nothing in the highest art of G reece but survivals
o f a barbaric stage o f carvin g
Ar t is a mode o f expression
whereby the artist delivers himself o f his message I t is
co m mon to both barbaric and civil ised man ; and the inference
is that it is neither peculiarly barbaric n or specically civilised
but universally human So t o o w i th religio n as a form o f
thought the perception o f the in visible things o f H im
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

10

through the things that are made ; it is common both to

barbaric and civili sed man but it is not therefore a barbaric

form o f thought rather it is a mode o f cognition which is part

The per f ect beauty o f ful ly developed art
o f human nature
is o f course n o t present in its rude begin n ings ; but even the
barbaric artist is feeli ng after the ideal if peradventur e he
may nd it
In the case of sc ience the con tin uum which however ne
and long drawn o ut yet links the s a va n t to the savage is
their common belief in the u n iformity o f Nature N o w the
savage doubtless often wrongly applies this belief
He
sees unifor m i ties where they do n o t exist but we do n o t
regard this as a proof that Nature is not uniform H e
ascribes events to their wrong causes but this does not shake
our faith in the proposition that every event has a cause
So too the belief that all things are ruled by supernatural
will is not proved to be false because it is o f ten wrongly
applied When the hi story of religion has recorded all the
wrong applications of the belief the validity o f the belief has
still to be tested o n quite other grounds and with quite other
tests by the philosophy of religion The validity of the
belie f in the uni formity o f Nature is in nowise a ff ected by
the vast array o f errors contained in the history o f science
U nfortunately t hough we all beli eve in the uni formity o f
Nature as we all believe in the reality o f the external world
there is no satisfactory way o f proving either t o be true
The average man o f science simply walks and wisely walks
by f aith in these matters ; he takes it for granted that N ature
is uniform and that the external world is real And in
religion the average man may do worse than imitate the
example given him in science It is the boast o f science
that it deals with things not names that it proves everythin g
by experience brings every proposition to the test o f immediate
consciousness Religion has no other proo f no other test f o r
its truths ; it is by his o w n experience a man proves the
truth that blessed are the humble and meek
it is by the
tes t o f immediate consciousness that he learns ii he does

learn that G od is n o t fa r from each o n e o f us

,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO R Y O F R E L I G I O N

12

conviction that there are certain things which must a bs o

l a tely and not o n grounds o f experience o r unconscious
utility
Things
It is the
b e avoided ( ch vii
categorical imperative Tho u shalt not
which is the rst
form assumed by the sense o f social and moral oblig ation and
by religious commandments ( ch vii i Taboo Mora li ty and
Religion
Primitive man then feeling it both necessary and possible
to establish permanent friendly relations wi th some o f the
supernatural powers by which he w a s surrounded proceeded
to do s o H e n o t only ascribed to natural objects a personality
like his o wn ; he also noticed that as men were organised in
kins ( clans and families ) s o natural obj ects grouped them
selves in natural kinds (genera and species ) And as allia nces
between human kins were formed by means o f the blood
covenant which made all the members o f the two contracting
tribes blood brothers s o he proceeded to make a blood covenant
between a human kind and an animal species This is
Totemism ( ch
We may not be able to s ay at p riori
why he chose animals rst rather than any other natural
kind but the hypothesis that he did s o is the o n e which
alone o r best accounts for the facts to be explained and
there fore may be taken as a working hypothesis It accounts
f o r animal worship f o r the animal or semi animal form o f

many gods for the association o f certain animals with certain

gods fo r sacred and fo r unclean animals and for the

domestication of animals ( ch x Survivals o f
It
also accounts for the altar and for the idol ( ch xi Animal Sacri
c e : The
and fo r animal sacrice and for the sacra
mental meal ( c h xii Animal Sacrice :The Sacramental
Thus far we have been dealing with public worship to
which the i n d ividual was admitted not o n his private merits
but because he was a member o f the tribe which had a
I f the individual
blood covenant with a totem species
however wished to commend himsel f specially to supernatural
protection there were two ways in which he might do s o
o n e illicit and o n e licit
H e might address himse lf to o n e
o f the supernatu r al powers which had no friendly relations

with his own tribe o r any other which was no god

and
this was in itsel f a suspicious way o f proceeding which the

TH E

O UTLI N E O F

A RGU M E N T

13

community resented and if harm came o f it visited with

punishment ( ch xiii Fe t ishism
Or h e m ight with the
approval o f the community and by the intermediation of
the priest place his family o r himself under the immediate
protection o f o n e o f the comm un ity s gods In any case
however licit o r illicit the ritual adopted was copied from
that observed by the community in approaching its gods
F
ch
xiv
amily
G
ods
and
G
uardian
pirits
L
ike
all
S
(
other private cults the worship of ancestors was modelled
o n the public worship of the commu ni ty ; and as the family
is an institution of later growth than the t ribe or clan the
worship o f family ancestors is a late r institution than the

worship of the tribal god ( ch xv Ancestor

We now return to public worship Species o f trees and
plants might be and were taken for totems as well as
species of anim als This led to the domestication o f plants
Another result was that bread ( or maize ) and wine came to
furnish forth the sacramental meal in the place of the body
and blood o f the animal victim hitherto sacriced ( ch xvi
Tree and Plant
The breed ing o f cattle and
cultivation o f cereals m ade man more dependent than here
tofore on the forces of nature ( conceived by him as super
natural powers ) and led him to worshi p them with the same
ritual as he had worshipped his p lant o r animal totems

A
ch
xvii
N
ature
gricu
ture
made
it
possible
l
(
to relinquish a wanderin g mode o f existence fo r settled life ;
and settled life made it possible for neighbouring tribes to

or
state
But this
unite in a larger political whole
political union involved a fusion o f cults and that fusion
might t ake o n e o f two forms : if the resemblance between
the gods wors hipped by the two tribes was close the two
gods might come to be regarded as one and the same go d ;
if n o t the result was polytheism ( ch xv iii
Syncretism and
Polytheism
In either case the resulting modications in
the tribal worship requi red explanation and was explained
as all things were explained by primitive m an by means o f
a myth ( ch xix
Myths were n o t the work )

that is but a form o f the fallacy that the priest ?

o f priests
made religion the truth being that religion made the p ries t }
ch
xx
Priesthood
(
,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

14

the next lif e was conceived as a continuance

of this life under slightly changed and less f avourable
Sometimes by a
conditions ( ch xxi
The N ext
development o f the belief that man after death assumed the
form of his totem it was conceived as a transmigration o f the
soul ( ch xxii The Transmigration o f Souls
N either belie f
however proved permanently satis factory to the religious con
s c io us n e s s ; and in the sixth century B C the conviction spread
from Semitic peoples to G reece that f uture happiness depended
o n communion with ( some ) G od in this li f e by means o f a
sacrament and consisted in continued communion af ter death
ch
xxiii
T
he
Mysteries
In
G
reece
this
belief
was
(
di ffused especially by the Eleusinian Myster1 es ( ch xxiv The
Eleusinia
There remains the question what we are to suppose to
have been the origin o f Monotheism ( the subj ect o f ch
o n which will depend largely our theory o f the Evolution o f
Belief ( discussed in ch
Sometimes
,

THE

SU PERNATU RAL

T HERE are no savages in existence to whom the use

of

implements and the art of making re are unknown ; and

vast as is the antiquity o f the earliest remains o f man they
do not take us back to a time when he was ignorant o f
the art of making either re o r stone implements
It is
therefore mere matter of speculation whether there ever was
such a period o f ignorance It was man s physical inferiority
to his animal competitors in the struggle fo r existence which
made it necessary that he should equi p himself with articial
weapons if he was to survive ; and the difculty o f main
taining existence under the most favourable natural conditio n s
is s o great for the savage even now when he has re and
tools at his command that we may imagin e he could not in
the beginning have long survived without them if at all
But as there must have been on e weapon which was the
rst to be made o n e re which was the rst ever kindle d
we must either infer that for a time man was without re
and without implements o r else we must assign this discovery
to some hypothetical hal f human ancestor of man Which
l
r
ever was the case whether there was ever o never such a
period o f human ignorance the object o f this chapter is to
argue that from the beginning man believed in a s upernatural
S pirit ( o r spirits ) having a f nity with his o w n
S pirit and
having power over him
It is o f course only with the
existence o f this belie f that a history o f religion has t o d o
Its validity falls to be discussed by the philosophy o f religio n
Thanks to the assiduous labours o f a long line of men o f
scie n ce the laws o f nature have been so exactly laid down
and the unive r se wo r ks with such regularity nowadays that
,

15

16

I N T R O D U C T I O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

it is difcult even to conceive a time when there were no

natural laws And yet to him who knows not the law o f a
thing s movements the thing s behaviour is as though it had
no law for ca: hyp othesi h e does not know what it wil l do
next If then we suppose a time when no natural laws had
as yet been discovered all things then must have appeared
to happen a t haphazard ; and primitive man s experience
must have consisted o f a stream of events as disjointed and
disconnected as the successive incidents in a dream So
ZEs c hy l us describes the condition o f men before Prometheus
.

o r 7r

co r a

0 1 11 0 11 7

'

69

ktym

p3
.

Bhe n o ur e s EBk e n o v p d n yv,

K o vo v , a hk
o ve r a r a w
q
p

1!

o w:

p o p gba t o

'

'

Ei p o v

im j

'

'

I/

'

d vr a

TO V

'

p a Kp o v

Bt o v

Of

what might happen in those early days when nature

had but fe w laws to obey and obeyed them by no means
unif ormly we have f ortunately plenty o f contemporary
evidence : the f airy tales which were composed in the infancy
and are still the delight of childhood
o f the human race
faithfully reect what actually happened in the daily life o f
p ri mitive man The proof o f this statement is the fact that
for savages now existing the incidents of which fairy tales
are made up and which seem to us most extravagant and
supernatural are matters o f ordinary if not everyday
occurrence
The transformation o f men into beasts and
vice versa is not only believed to take place but is actually
witnessed by savages and in the case o f witches has been
proved in many an English court o f law
The J a c o on s
believe that a tiger in their path is invariably a human
enemy who assum es by sorcery the shape o f the beast to
execute his vengeance o r malignity They assert that in vari
ably be fore a tiger is met a m an has been seen or might
have been seen to disappear in the direction from which
the animal Springs In many cases the metamorphosis they

assert ha s plainly been seen to take place

C
ameron
(
)
The Bushmans s ay their wives can change themselves into
lions and so get food fo r the family ( Anderson) Even in
Europe a woman still ( 1 8 6 0 ) livin g in Kirchhain changed
herself not long ago into a wol f and scratched and tore a
,

TH E

17

S U P E RN AT U R A L

girl going across the elds ( M ii hlha us e n ) The giant w ho

had no heart in his body and was invulnerable and immortal

because he had deposited his heart or soul in a safe place
was but doing what the Minahassa o f C elebes do whenever
they move into a n e w house : A priest collects the souls o f
the whole f amily in a bag and afterwards restores them to
their owners because the moment o f enterin g a new house
1
is supposed to be f raught with supernatural danger
The helples sness o f primitive man s e t down in the midst
o f a u ni v erse of which he knew not the laws may perhaps be
brought home to the mind o f modern m an if we compare the
universe to a vast workshop ful l o f the mos t various and
highly complicated machinery working at full speed The
machinery if properly handled is capable o f producing every
thing that the heart o i primitive man can wish fo r but also
if he sets hand to the wrong part o f the machinery is capable
o f whirlin g him o ff between it s wheels
and crushing and
killing him in its inexorable and ruthless movement Further
primitive man cannot decline t o submit himself to the perilous
test : he must make his experiments or perish and even s o
his survival is conditional o n his selecting the right part o f
the machine to handle N or can he take his o wn time and
study the dangerous mechanism long and careful ly before
se t ting his hand to it : his needs are pressing and his action
must be immediate
It was there fore often at the actual cost and always at
the danger o f his life that primitive man purchased that
working knowledge o f the laws o f nature and the properties o f
matter without which modern man could never have acquired
either the theoretic science o r the material comfort which he now
enj oys But if modern man owes hi s science and his comfort
to primitive man prim i tive man in his turn owes his pre
servation in his perilous quest to a gift by the power o f which
mankind has conquered the material universe ; that gift is the
faith in the unif ormity o f nature the belief that what has
once happened will in similar circumstances happen again
The existence o f this belief in the earliest times is a matter
susceptible o f easy demonstration and is o f some importance
f or the history o f religion
It is important because when it
'
Fra z er G E ii 3 2 7

18

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

overlooked we are liable to fall into the error o f imaginin g

that there wa s a ti m e when man did not distinguish between
the natural and the supernatural This error may take the
f orm of saying either that to primitive m a n nothing was
supernatural o r that everything was supernatural N oth in g
it may be said was supernatural f o r as in a dream the most
incongruous and impossible incidents are accepted by the
dreamer as per fectly natural and are only recognised as
surprising and impossible when we wake and reect on them
s o events which are seen by civilised man to be incredible
and impossible are to primitive man matters o f everyday
occurrence and are perfectly natural On the other hand
it is said that when no natural laws are known there can be
no natural and necessary sequences o f events and everything
there fore is supernatural According to this view primitive
man lived in a state o f perpetual surprise : he marvelled
every time he f ound that water was wet he was racked with
anxiety every time he went to bed lest the sun should n o t
rise the next day and he was lled with grate ful astonishment
when he found that it did rise But this view sufciently
improbable in itsel f must be rej ected fo r two reasons : rst
the very animals have f o r in stance their lairs and their
customary drinking places to which they resort in f ull con
d e n c e that they will nd them where they were be fore ; and
we cannot rate the intelligence o f primitive man s o fa r below
that o f the animals as to imagine that he was ever in doubt
whether fo r instance water would slake his thirst o r fo od
appease his appetite N ext it is a fact o f psychology that
the native tendency o f the human mind to believe that what
has once happened will happen again is s o strong that until
experience has corrected it a single occurrence is sufcient to
create an expectation o f recurrence : the child to whom y o u
have given sweetmeats once fully expects sweetmeats from
you at your next meeting
We may then regard it as certain that from the
beginning there were some sequences o f phenomena some
laws which man had observed and the occurrence o f which
he took as a matter o f course and regarded a s na t ural Or

putting ourselves at the practical point o f view the only

point o f view which could exist f o r primitive man in his
is

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

20

was as great as that with which civilised man would witness

t he unaccountable suspension o r inversion o f what he c o n
s id e re d a law o f nature ; f o r the tenacity with which a belie f
is held does not vary with the reasonableness o f the belief
o r the amount o f evid ence for it ; but o n the contrary those
people are usually most condent in their opinions who have
the least reason to be s o Again it will hardly be doubted
that when prim i tive man f ound his most reasonable and
justiable expectations (as they appeared to him ) f rustrated
in a manner for which he could not account or nd any
assignable cause the feelin g thus aroused in him wo ul d be
that which men have always experienced when they have
f ound themselves confronted by what they deemed to be
supernatural At all times the supernatural has been the
miraculous a n d the essence of miracle has been thought to
be the violation o f natural law E ven where there is no
violation o f natural laws men may be pro foundly impressed
with the convi ction that they are in the hands o f an
inscrutable overruling and supernatural power To awaken

this conviction it is only necessary that their reasonable

expectations should be disappointed in some striking way a s
f o r instance by the triumph o f the ungodly o r the undeserved
suffering o f the innocent In ne to be convinced o f the
existence o f the supernatural it is sufcient that man should
realise his helplessness
When however primitive man realised that he was in
the hands at an yra t e occasionally o f a mysterious and
supernatural power it was in evitable that he should cast
about for some means o f entering into satis factory relations
with that power We shall have to consider hereafter what
were the conditions which governed and directed his rst
attempts ; here however we may note two things The
rst is that it is not always necessarily to the disadvantage
but sometimes to the advantage of man that his reasonable

expectations may be miraculously disappointed in other

words the belie f in the supernatural is not necessarily o r
exclusively the outcome o f fear Thus tradition says that
the people o f C ape C oast rst discovered the existence o f
Dj wi j a hn u [ the local deity o f C onnor s H i l l ] f rom the
great loss which the Ashantis experienced at this spot
,

TH E

S U P E RN AT U R A L

21

during their attack o n C ape C oast on the 1 1 t h o f J uly 1 8 2 4

The sla ughter was so great and the rep ulse o f the Ashantis
s o complete
that the Fantis accustomed to s e e their foes
carry everything be fore them attributed the unusual result
o f the engagement to the assistance o f a powerful local god
1
and they set up a cult accordingly
The K a firs o f Natal
make t han k o e rin gs and express gratitude to the Spirits for
blessings received thus : This kraal o f yours is good ;
you have made it great I s ee around me many chil dren ;
you have given me them You have given me many cattle
Yo u have blessed me greatly
Every year I w ish t o be thus
blessed Make right everything at the kraal I do not
wish any omens to come G rant that no o n e may be sick
2
all the year
In ne as Mr Cl o d d says in prim i tive
religion there is an adoration o f the great and bountiful as
3
well as a sense of the m a l e c e n t and fate ful
The second thing to notice is that as it was owing to
man s phys ical helplessness in his competition wi th his
animal rivals that he was compelled to exercise his in tellect
in order to survive in the struggle for existence so it was
his in tellectual helplessness in grappling with the forces o f
nature which led him into the way o f religion ; and as it was
his intellectual f aculties which gave him the victory over his
animal competitors so it was the strength drawn by him
from his re l igious belie fs that gave him the courage to face
and conquer the mysterious forces which beset him
Assuming then that from the begin ning man was c o m
of a
l
l
e
e
d
f
rom
time
to
ti
e
to
recognise
th
e
existence
m
p
supernatural power intervening unaccountably in his a ffairs
and exercisin g a mysterious con trol over his destinies we
have yet to inquire how he came to ascribe thi s supernatural
power to a spirit having a fnity with his o wn
N ow savages
all the world over believe that not only animals and plants
but inanimate things also possess life ; and the inference
that whatever moves has lif e though mistaken is s o natural
that we have no difculty in understanding how the gliding
stream and the leaping ame may be considered to be
veritably living things But savages also regard motionless

1
3

El l is , Ts hi sp ea kin g P e p l es , 4 0
Cl o d d , M y ths a n d D rea m s , 1 1 4
-

Sh oo t er, K a rs

N a t al , 1 6 6

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

22

objects as possessing life ; and this too is not hard to

understand : the savage who falls and cuts h imself o n a
jagged rock ascribes the wound to the action o f the rock
which he there fore regards as a living thin g In this case
there is actual physical motion though the motion is the

man s In other cases the mere movement o f attention

by which an object was brought within the eld o f conscious
ness would sufce to lend the thin g that appearance o f
activity which alone was required to make it a thin g o f lif e
Then by a later process o f reasoning all things would be

credited with life we talk o f a rock growing (i e projecting )

out o f the ground the peasant believes that stones actually
grow ( i e increase) and as it is from the earth that all
things proceed the earth must be the source o f all l ife and
therefore herself the living mother In ne all chan ges
whatever in the universe may be divi ded into two classes
those which are initiated by man and those which are not ;
and it was inevitable from the rst that man Should be li eve
the source and cause of the one class to be Will as he knew
it to be the cau se and source o f the other class of changes
All the many movements then and changes which are
perpetually takin g place in the world o f things were explain ed
by pri m itive man on the theory that every obj ect which had
activity enough to a ffect him in any way was animated by a

f
n
in a word ( Dr Tyl or s word ) o n
li e and will like his o w
the theory o f anim ism But the activity o f natural pheno
mena as thus explained neither proceeds from n or implies
nor accounts for belief in the supernatural This may easil y
be made clear Primitive man s theory his animism con
sists o f two parts : the facts explained and t he explanation

iven
and
in
neith
er
is
anything
supernatu
r
al
involved
g
N o t in the facts explained for the never hast ing never
resting ow o f the stream f or instance was just as familiar

and must have seemed j ust a s natural t o primitive as

t o civilised man : there was nothin g s up ern at ural in such
activity But neither was t he cause to which he ascribed
this activity supernatural ; for the cause assigned was a will
which being exactly like his o wn had nothing unusual
mysterious o r supernatural about it ; for we must remember
two things rst that fo r the average mind explanation
,

TH E

S U P E RN AT U R A L

23

means likening the thin g to be explained to something

already familiar and next that the famili ar which often
most needs t o be explained is usually supposed to require
no explanation and to have nothing miraculous in it
If then for the phrase life and will we substitute the
word S pirit and s a y that in the view o f primitive man all
things which possessed ( or seemed to him t o possess) activi ty
were ani mated by spirits we must also add that those spir its
were not in themselves supernatural Spirits
They only
became so when man was led to ascribe to them that super
natural power which he had already found to exercise an
unexpected and irresistible control over his destiny The
immediate causes o f this identication are easily conj ectured
When a startli ng frustration o f man s calculations brought
home to him the existence o f an overr u lin g power man
woul d as has been already said eventually cast about for
means of entering into relations with that power The rst
thing to do for this purpose necessarily was to locate the
power ; and when prim i tive man was on the look o ut for
some indi cation as to the place o f origin whence this power
emanated it would not be long before he found what he was
on the watch for In some cases the indications would be so
clear that the identication would be immediate and in d ub it
able ; the erysipelas which was the result o f bat hing when
overheated wo ul d be regarded as due to the supernatural
power o f t he water spirit and was so interpreted by an
Australian black man
In other cases a lo n ger process o f
induction would be required ; t he Peruvian mountaineer o f
the time o f t he I n c a s who f ell ill when he had to descend
into the unhealthy valleys ascribed his sickness to the super
natural power o f the sea for it wa s only when he was in
sight o f the s e a that he was il l
In this way the notion o f supernatural power which
originally was purely negative and manif ested itself merely
in suspending o r counteracting the unif ormity o f nature
came to have a positive content A natural agent such as
the river spirit which at rst conned its energies to the
production o f its ordinary operations namely the ceaseless
pauseless motion o f the river was eventually invested with
the su p ernatural p ower transcendin g its natural Sphere o f
,

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY

24

OF

R ELI GI O N

operation o f violating the laws o f nature and producin g say

sickness But when once o n e exceptional action o f the river
S pirit had been put down as t he outcome o f supernatural
power then in course o f time even its ordinary operation
and the customary ow o f the water would also come to be
regarded as having a supernatural cause and as being t he
manifestation not merely o f a spirit but o f a supernatural
Thus in course o f time all t he phenomena o f nature
S pirit
even the discharge of the storm cloud and the movement o f
the stars in their cour ses came to be regarded a s due to
supernatural power
To some readers this account o f the conception o f the
supernatural m a y perhaps seem to be an inversion o f the
Sure l y
real process by which the conception was develope d
it will be said the characteristic mark o f things supernat ural
is that they are th ings which it is beyond the power o f m an
to perf orm or to control and from the very beginning he
must have learnt by painful experience o f the elements that
he co ul d not control the drenching tempest o r command the
scorching sun To this the reply is that primitive man fo r
long did not be li eve that these elemental phenomena were
beyond his control ; o f which the proof is that at the present
day many savages are in the habit o f m aking rain to f all the
wind to blow o r the sun to stand still ; and they do n o t
consider the power of producing these results to be super
natural In Af rica rain makers are to be f ound in most
negro villages and their reputation and even their lives
depend upon their success in making it In the Isle o f Man
there were and in the Shetlands there still are o l d women
who make a livelihood by selling winds to seamen The
Austral ian black f ellow in order that he may n o t be late for
supper will delay you the settin g o f the sun These results
are admittedly obtained by mea ns o f Sympathetic Magic

But whether sympathetic magic

a question begging
epithe t has anythin g supernatural about it we have to
,

1 n q u1r e

The inquiry has a special interest f or the history o f

religion beca use according to a n o t uncommon View all
religion has been developed o ut o f magic ; the priest has been
evolved out o f the sorcerer the idol is but an elaborated
,

TH E

S U P E RN AT U R A L

25

fetis h On this theory the distin ction between the natural

and the supernatural was known to primitive m an ; thin gs
natural were things whi ch men d id things supernatural were
thin gs which the gods did e g causing rain o r sunshine
But the distinction between men and gods accordin g to thi s
theory was somewhat blurred because man also by means o f
magic art could do thin gs supernatural and even constrain
the gods to work his will G radually however he l earned
that his powers were not supernatural and that he could not
u s e force to the gods but must persuade them by prayer and
sacrice to grant his wishes Then to attempt the super
natural by means o f magic became an invasion o f the divine
prerogative and the priest was differentiated by his orthodoxy
f rom the sorcerer
Thus accordin g to this view divine
power and magic were originally identical and the early
history o f religion consists in the diffe re ntiation o f the two
and the partial triumph o f the former
But there are reasons for hesitatin g to accept this view
and fo r believing rst that religion and magic had di fferent
origins and were always essentially distin ct f rom o n e another
next that the belief in the supernatural was prior to the
belief in magic and that the latter whenever it S pran g up
was a degradation o r relapse in the evolution of religion In
this discussion everything turns o n the recognition o f the
di ff erence between the negative and the positive aspects of
the supernatural : the negative aspect o f supern atural power
becomes manifest to the min d o f man in any stri king vio la t iOn
o f that uniformity in nature which it is the inherent tendency
of man t o count upon with condence ; the positive aspect
o f supernatural power is later displayed to man s conscio us
ness as the cause of the ordinary and familiar phenomena o f
nature
N ow the very essence o f the conception o f
supernatural in its negative aspect is that it is a power which
mysteriously overrides and overturns the best f ounded hum an
expectations sometimes to man s disappointment sometimes
to his more agreeable surprise
.

w o l ha l p o p c
'

71 0
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a

ra

t
i
w

57

( 6 1 77 7 1 0 9

d 30 10 76612 1
a

30 1< 1rra

Ba t p o vl a

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"

i
p

OK

a vo v m

ere

'

ov

66 0 5

h a an,
'

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w,

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)q

26

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

far then as man was under the dominion o f this conception

that he
o f the supernatural he could not possibly believe
himsel f was in possession o f supernatural power or that he
was o n a level with the wie l ders o f it And if as we have
seen reason to believe this the negative phase o f the super
natural dawned upon the mind o f man before the positive
then man could not have begun by thinking himself equal to
In ne the power o f the
or more powerful than his gods
supernatural was from the beginning conceived as someth ing
di fferent in kind from any power exercised by m an
N ext as has already been urged the regular and familiar
phenomena of nature such as the shining o f the s un and the
descent o f rain were not at rst regarded as supernatural
n o r was it the observation o f such f amiliar facts which could
have stimulated the sentiment o f the supernatural into
activity Even when th ese phenomena were attributed ( as
probably from the beginning they were attributed ) to the
agency of indwellin g spirits and when material objects were
regarded as living things those living things and those
indwelling spirits were not at rst regarded as s up ernatural
beings
C onsequently when man attempted as undoubtedly
at rst he did attempt to make rain o r sunshine he was not
conscious o f attempting anything supernatural 3 H e could
not know to p riori and at the beginnin g what series o f
changes it was possible for man to initiate and what not
what e ffects in nature it was and what it was not possible
fo r man to produce
It was only by trying all things that
he could learn that not all things were possible for man ; and
it was only when he had learned that lesson that he could
extend the denotation o f the term supernatural s o as to
include in it things impossible for man
It was only after
making many experiments that he learned that the power to
stay the sun o r to make the wind to cease was supernatural
H e could not theref ore have known whilst making his
experiments that he was attempting the supernatural The
conclusion that the things attempted were supernatural was
the con sequence o f his attempts and was the very opposite
o f the idea with which he started
Finally the mea n s by which the savage attempts to
p roduce r esults which we sh ould but which he does n o t
So

C H AP TER I V
H

S YM PAT ETI C

M AGI C

law o f continuity holds not only in scie nce but o f

science I t is true not only of the subj ect matter with
which science deals but o f the evolution o f science itsel f
The assured triumphs o f modern science are linked to the
despised speculations of the savage by a chain which may be
ignored but cannot be snapped ; for in the rst place though
the mass o f observed facts which the modern investigator has
at his command is greater than that which was at the disposal
o f the ancient student o f nature the accumulation has been
gradual ; and in the next p l ac e t he foundation the p rin c ip l e a n d
1
the methods o f savage logic and scientic logic are identical
The f oundation of both logics is the same fo r it is the
uniformity o f n ature What reason we have for believin g
that nature is uniform is a matter much disputed by
philosophers The cause o f the belie f t he inherent tendency
o f the human mind to expect similar sequences or coexist
in simil ar conditions was as strong in primitive
en c es
man as in the modern s a c a n t ; and the savage n o t only
expects a cause to produce its e ffect but also holds with
Mill that a sin gle instance o f the production o f a phenomenon
by a given antecedent is enough to warrant the belie f that it
wil l always tend to be produced by that antecedent Thus
the king o f the Koussa K a f rs having broken o ff a piece o f
a stranded anchor died soon a fterwards upon which all the
K a frs looked upon the anchor as alive and saluted it
2
respectfully whenever they passed near it
THE

S e e F l k L ore, ii
-

220, F

Je vo n s ,

(Jun e
2

Lub b ock , Origin

of

Civi l is a ti

on

1 88
28

Re p

ort

on

G reek M y t ho l o g y

SY M P AT H ETI C MA G I C

29

the K a frs error consisted in jumping to the

conclusion that the molestation o f the anchor was the cause
o f the king s death ; and as it is against this class o f error
that the inductive methods are designed to guard the reader
may be tempted to imagine that it is in the ignorance of
those methods that the difference between savage and scientic
logic consists But the reader would be mistaken The
savage has not indeed formulated the meth ods but he uses
them all to distinguish the antecedent which is the cause
f rom the other antecedents which have nothing to do with
the e ffect under investigation Thus the Peruvian mountaineers
mentioned in the last chapter who observed that a certain
kind o f illness befell them whenever they w ere in sight o f the
s e a were using the Method of Agreement in inferring that the
illness
s ea spirit w as the cause o f that particular kind o f
The Method of Diff erence according to which if the intro
duction of a new antecedent into a s e t o f conditions already
known is immediately followed by the emergence o f a new
e ffect the new antecedent may be regarded as the cause o f
the new e ffect is employed by the D usuns in Borneo who
according to Mr H atton (N orth B orn eo
attribute
anything whether good o r bad lucky o r unlucky that
happens to them to something novel which has arrived in
their country Fo r instance my living in K in d ra m ha s
caused the intensely hot weather we have experienced o f

late
The Method o f C oncomitant Variations ag ain plays a
large part in savage logic According to this method things
which vary together are causally related to o n e another o r
together vary together
vic e vers a things which are r elated
H ence the world wi de belief that if the nail parings o r the
cut hair o f a man pass into the possession o f an enemy the
enemy can injure the man ; and hence too the equally wide
spread custom o f burying hair o r n ail parings or otherwise
placing them beyond reach o f an enemy
The Shadow
the image the picture and the name o f a man are closely
related to him ; and there f ore as they are treated so will
he su ffer H ence the witch could tort ure her victim by
roastin g or wounding a waxen image o f him
T he savage
declines to be sketched or photograp hed for the same
H ere

'

Q uo t e d

in G B
.

i 174
.

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

30

the ancient Egyptian secured happiness hereafter by

reason
having his tomb lled with pictures representing him engaged
in his favourite occupations and surrounded by luxury ; wounds
inicted o n the shadow o r the foot p rints o f a man will take e ffect
savages frequently keep their names a pro found secret
o n him
and the sa fety and inviolability o f the city o f Rome depended
o n the secrecy observed as to the name of its tutelary deity
If the connection required by the method does not exist then
it must be arti cially created as it easily may be : the
Ephesians placed their c i ty under the protection o f Artemis
by connecting the city and the temple wi th a rope seven
f urlongs long
But the bes t e x e m p lic a t io n o f the savage
application o f the Method o f C oncomitant Variations is t he
waxing and the waning o f the moon with which the growth
and decay of all sorts o f s ub lunar obj ects plants and
animals things animate and inanimate are associated ; and if
the reader is incli ned to s m ile a t the obvious f olly and
puerili ty o f the savage let him remember that the weather
is still supposed by educated people t o vary with the changes
of the moon ; and that as to the inuence of her phases
on vegetation and the advisability o f sowing o n
a waxing
moon the founder of inductive logic Bacon himsel f thought
there was something in it : vid e m us enim in p l an t a t io n ib us
e t in s it io n ib us aet a t um lun ze o b s e rva t ion e s non esse res o m n in o

f rivo l a s ( De A ug S cien t iii

So thin are the partitions
between savage and scienti c logic
The principle o f induction again is the same in the logic
of the savage and the s a va n t That principle is the principle
of
similarity in difference Whether the induction be an
in ference from particulars to particulars o r to universals it
proceeds f rom s im ilars to s im ilars and would be impossible if
S imilar cases did not recur in experience
In such an induc
1

When Dr Cat at an d his co m p an io n s M M M a is t re a n d Fo u c a rt w ere

e x pl o rin g t he B a ra co un t r
e p eo pl e
t
h
co
d
c
a
o
f
M
a
a
as
ar
o
n
h
e
w
es
t
s
t
t
y
g
s udd en l y b e c a m e h o s t il e
On t he p re vio us d ay t he t ra vell ers n o t w it ho ut
d ifc ul t y ha d ph o t ogra ph e d t h e roya l fa m il y a n d n o w foun d t he m s el ves
a cc us e d of t a k in g t h e s o ul s o f t h e n a t ive s w it h t h e o b e c t of s el l in
e m w he n
h
t
g
j
Den ial w a s o f n o a va il fo ll o w in g t h e c us t o m of t he
t he y re t urn e d t o Fra n c e
M a l ag a s ay s t he y we re co m p el l e d t o c a t ch t h e s o ul s whic h w ere t h en p ut in t o a
1
b a sk e t a n d o rd ere d b y Dr Ga t e t t o re t urn t o t h e ir re s p e c t ive o wn e rs
1

'

Fo l k L ore,
-

vi.

7 5,

fro m

t he Tim es

of

M arc h 2 4 , 1 8 9 1

SY M P AT H E T I C MA G I C

31

tion fo r instance as that Socrates and Plato are mortal

there fore A ristotle is mortal it is because Socrates Plato and
Aristotle resemble each other in being men that we can in fer
that they also resemble each other in being mor t al They also
resemble each other in other points e g in being G reeks and
philosophers etc and differ from each other e g in size and
weight ; but these points o f resemblance and difference do n o t
a ffect the question : it is not because they were G reeks
that they died and their differences in physical characteristics
did not exempt any o f them from the common doom These
irrelevant points therefore have to be s e t aside or in
technical language
abstracte d
and the result of the
abstraction is that we are enabled t o assert the coexistence
N ow the
o f the t w o qualities o f humanity and mor t ality
savage also is capable o f abstract ideas and o f asserting their
coexistence H e recognises the hardness o f some substances
and t he scent o f others and he wears a ring o f iron in order
that it may im part it s quality o f hardness to his body as he
might wear a ower fo r the sake o f its scent or when he is
bargaining for a cow or asking a woman for wif e he chews a
piece o f wood t o soften the heart o f the person he is deali n g
with In the same way havin g discovered in the lion the
quality o f courage or in the deer that of swiftness he eats
the f ormer that he may become bold and the latter that he
may run well So also he will eat an enemy to acqui re his
boldness o r a kinsman to prevent his virtues f rom going out
The points o f resemblance between what he
o f the f amily
does a n d what he wishes to e ffect seem to the savage to be
the essential points f o r his purpose : the man o f science
deems otherwise D oubtless the man o f science is right ; but
the savage is not there fore superstitious in t his matter H e

applies a principle o f logic to the wrong things perhaps but

still the process is o n e o f logic savage if you like but not
superstitious
The s avag e the gry o f causation again is not fundamentally
different from
it is only incomplete and
exaggerated The e ff ect is the o ffspring o f the cause and
resembles it s parent ; to produce motion in a body y o u must
impart motion to moisten a thi ng you must communicate
moisture to it H ence the savage m akes the generalisation
,

32

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

that like produces like ; and then he is provided with the

means o f bringing about anything he wishes fo r to produce
an e ffect he has only to imitate it To cause a wind to blow
he aps a blanket as the sailor still whistles to bring a
whistling gale Before going on the warpath or the chase
a mimetic dance in which the quarry o r the f o e are repre
sented a s fall ing before his weapon will secure him success
I f the vegetation requ ires rain all that is needed is to di p a
branch in water and with it to sprinkle the ground Or
a spray o f water squirted from the mouth will produce a mist
su fciently like the mist requi red to produce the desired
e ffect ; or black clouds o f smoke will be followed by black
clouds o f rain If the moon s light threatens to fail re
tipped arrows are Shot up to it by the H ottentots ; and the
same remedy is applied by the Ojibways to the s un when
eclipsed
To complete these outlines o f savage logic it is only
necessary to point o ut that hypothesis is 3 11 instrument o f
thought which is o f great service in primitive speculation
A hypothesis is any assumption made f or the purpose o f
explaining a fact or facts already known to be true But
whereas the assumptions o f the sa va n t are hypotheses those
T
hus
when
it
is
sought
to
o f the savage are called my hs
t
account for the observed fact that the moon periodically
decreases in size and that her appearance in the s k y is the
signal for the departure o f the sun a savage hypothesis
accounting for the facts is that sun and moon are husband
and wife who have quarrelled and separated ; periodically
the moon makes overtures of reconciliation and periodically
wastes away be fore o ur eyes in grief at their rejection
Or the observed facts o f thunderstorms are accounted f o r o n
the supposition that a jar o f rain is carried by o n e Spirit and
is smashed by the mace o f another ; whence the crash o f the
thunder and the descent o f the rain The importance o f
hypothesis as a savage instrument o f thought may be judged
by the fact that it is a quite tenable position that all the
countless myths in the world were origin ally explanatory
etiological
myths
primitive
hypotheses
a
)
(
H Sl io ul d now be clear that there is no fundamenta l
d i fference between savage a n d scientic logic but that o n the
,

SY M P AT H ETI C

M AG I C

33

they are fundamentally ide n tical The uniformity

of nature the principle o f induction the theory of causation
the in ductive methods form the common framework of both
logics : the savage would probably be able to give his assent
to all the principles o f Mil l s logic
In other words the
diff erences are not formal but material The errors o f the
early logician were extra logical and therefore were such as
could be remedied by no process o f logic but only by wider
experience
The problem o f induction is to ascertain the
cause ( or e ffect) o f a given phenomenon ; and the cause ( or
e ffect) is to be looked fo r amongst the immediate antecedents
consequents
o
f
that
phenomenon
But
the
antecedents
o
r
)
(
o n e o f the countless
r consequents
co
m
prise
every
single
o
)
(
changes which take place in any part of the universe the
moment before ( or after) the occurrence o f the phenomenon
under investigation : any o n e o f these antecedents ( or c o n se
quents ) may be the cause ( o r e ff ect) and there is nothing
a p riori or in logic to make us select o n e rather than another
It i s plain therefore that as long as man is turned loose as it
were amongst these innumerable possible causes with nothing
to guide his choice the chances against his mak ing the right
selection are conside r able and that to speak o f the savage s
cho ice as haphazard and illogical is to misconceive the nature
o f logic
It should also be clear that n o progress could be
made in science until man had disting uished at a n yra t e
roughly possible from absolutely impossible e ffects ( or causes )
and had lea r ned to dismiss from consideration the impossible
N ow it m ight be expected that as it was only experience
which could Show what was impossible so experience would
su fce of itself to teach man th is essential distinction But
as a matter o f fact experience by itself has done n o such
thing as is shown by the simple fact that great as is the age
and long as is the experience o f the human race the vast
majority o f its members have not yet learnt from experience
that like does n o t necessarily produce like : four f t hs o f
mankind probably believe in sympathetic magic and therefore
neither need nor can make any intellectual progress whilst
the progressive minori ty are p recisely those from amongst
whom magic has been uprooted by its relentless fo e religion
The reason why the real order and sequence of natural events
n t ra ry ,

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

34

does not mechanically impress itself in its correct form upon

l
the human mind is that the m ind is not t he p a ss ive recipient
o f external impressions but reacts upon them and remodels
them s o that the ultimate Shape taken by them depends as
much o n the f orm o f the mental moul d s o to speak into which
they are poured as it does upon their o w n nature In other
words the mind does n o t pay equal attention to everything
which is presented t o it : it only sees what it is prepared to
Thus the preconception that things causally related to
s ee
one another must be Similar and vice oers a a preconception
due to the mental law by whi ch sim il ar ideas suggest o n e
another is so strong as to prevent the savage fro m seeing
facts which are at variance with it and thus the expe ri ence
which might be expected automatical ly to correct the error
serves but to strengthen it But when the consequences of
that error came in conict wi th the religious sentiment that
hostility between magic and religion was aroused o f which
the existence i s universally admitted though differently
explained
N ow the fallacy that things causally related must be
1/
similar to o n e another is on e that the human mind from its
very constitution must have fallen into in its very rst attempts
to interpret the complex manifold of nature It is also a
fallacy from which most savages who in this may be taken
as representin g primitive man have not yet escaped But
the fallacy though pr imeval has nothing to do with magic
o r the supernatural : it requires for it s existence no belief in
supernatural powers o r even in spirits it might perfectly well
ourish in a region where neither religion nor magic had been
heard o f Thus the fact o f a man s using this fallacious mode
of procedure to produce o r forecast certain desired res ul ts
does not in the least tend t o show that he considers the
process itself to be magical o r supernatural ; the savage who
wears an iron ring to give strength to his body has not
advanced so far in science as the man who takes iron in a
tonic but he no more believes himself to be dealing in magic
and spells than the educated persons of to day do who fore
ca st the weathe r by the changes o f the moon
This wi ll perhaps be made clearer if it be pointed out

like produces like but

t hat it is not merely the f allacy o f
,

sorcery was invented and the rest o f the evolution o f

religion follows without dif culty ; or if any further explana
tion is required it is to be fou nd in the fact that the imagina
tion of the savage is unbridled N o w though the savage if
the idea that he too Should have supernatural powers had been
S uggested to him would doubtless have tho ught the suggestion
excellent if it could be ca rried o ut he would also have
inquired how the thing was to be done It is o n e thing to
wish you had a certain power ; it is quite another thin g to
imagine you have it something be it what it may is
required to s e t the imagination to work to start the idea
that it is possible to work impossibilities The suggestion
that the savage fancy is s o unbridled that it is capable o f
believing anything does not help us much here for several
reasons On e is that as Mr Andrew La ng has conclusively
1
shown the incredulity of the savage is quite as strong and
as marked as his credulity : he is proof again st the invasion
Another is that according to the best
o f unfa m iliar ideas
observers the imagination of the savage is not unbridled but
is singularly sterile and moves within remarkably narrow
limits A third is that the savage s thought is subj ect to
mental laws as much a s is civili sed man s ; and that the
conception o f art magic could no t possibly have sprung up
uncaused and without a reason If the conception were
conned to some one region it might possibly be due to a
fortuitous combination o f ideas or a fancied resemblance i n
particular things which no general laws could assist us to
divine But the belief in magic is world wide and sho uld be
due to some widely working cause
2
nations whose
Dr E B Tylor has po inted out that
education has not advanced f a r enough to d estroy the ir

belie f in magic itsel f yet cannot shut their eyes to the

f act that it more essentially belongs to and is more thoroughly

at home among races less c ivilis e d t ha n themselves

In
any country an isolated o r outlying race the lingering s ur
vivo r o f an older nationality is liable to the reputation o f
sorcery
It is from this fact that the explanation o f magic
here advanced takes its start In historic times the belie f
in magic is f ostered by the juxtaposition o f two races t he
,

M yth, Ritua l ,

a nd

Re l igi on , i 9 1
.

2
.

Pi

r m itive

Cul ture,

c h.

iv

37

SY M P AT H ETI C M AG I C

more and the other less civilised The o n e race being \/

the more civilised has learnt ( whether in the way suggested
in the last chapter o r otherwise ) that certain natural
phenomena are due to divine agency and are beyond the
power o f man to inuence o r control The other race bein g
less civilised ha s not yet learnt this lesson ha s not yet
learnt to distinguish between what it is and what it is n o t
possible fo r man to e ffect but still employs fo r the production
o f both classes o f e ffects indiscriminately those principles
induction which are common both to savage and scienti

logic H ence the more civilised race nd themselves face to

face with this extraordinary f act namely that things w hic hv
they know to be supernatural are commonly and deliberately
bro ught about by members o f the other race But this is
what is mea n t by magic
N o w if this be the correct account o f the origin o f the
idea o f magic it follows rst that the idea was not due t o
any freak o f savage fancy that it was n o t anybody s invention
nor the outcome o f research but was like most other ideas
sim ply and directly suggested by actual facts ; and in the
next place t hat the cause which suggested it is n o t local o r
tTRh s ie n t but is the necessary and inevitable outcome o f the
fact that some men progress more rapidly than others and
consequently is what we are in search o f namely a world
wide cause
It is however not essential to the production o f the
i dea of magic that there should be a diff erence o f race
between those who are credited with magical power and those
who credit them with it They may be members o f the
same community All that is requisite is the juxtaposition
the coexistence of the more and the l ess enlightened views
o f what man can e ffect in di fferent sections o f the community
and the survival amo ngst the more backward members of the
belief in the power o f certain processes to produce e ffects
which are deemed by the more advanced section to be super
natural Wherever these conditions were to be found that
is everywhere causes were at work which must inevitably
produce in the more ( but by n o means fully ) advanced
members a belief that the lower possessed magical power s
That the lower section o r race readily accepted the reputa
one

'

38

H I S TO R Y

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO

O F RELI GI ON

tion thus put upon them is the more intelligible because

sometimes it is practically the only thing which saves them
from extinction at the hands o f their more advanced
neighbours o r conquerors ; and at all times it is gratifyin g to
the despised nigger or barbarian to excite the terror o f
his owner or his superior in civilisation The privilege thus
con ferred upon the lower race o r section wo ul d be j ealously
preserved and handed down ; and hence probably nowadays
all those who are credited by their neighbours with this
power rmly believe themselves that they possess it
We may now proceed to consider the conditions un der
which was waged that struggle for existence betwe en magic
and religion on the issues o f which the future progress
scientic a s well as religious o f mankin d depended A n d
rst let it be obser ved that though evolution is universal
progress whether in religion morality science o r art is
exceptional The law o f the survival o f the ttest works
inexorably ; the ttest f orm o f belie f b e it the belie f in
m agic o r the belief in rel igion inevitably survives only the

ttest is not necessarily o r u sually the highest ; it is that

which the particular race under its special conditions is
,

for

e hostility from the beginning between religion and

magic is as ha s already been said universally adm itted ; its
origin is disputed T he suggestion made by those who regard
sorcery a s the primeval fact o f which religion was an o ff shoot
that it is due to the priest s j ealousy of the sorcerer once his
conf rere
and then his professio n al rival does not carry us
very fa r To say nothing o f the fact that he who says priest
says religion i e o f the fact tha t to assume without explana
tion the existence o f the priest is to leave the origin o f
religion unexplained the j ealousy o f the priest is not the fact
of
real importance in the discussion What we want to
know is why the j ealousy o f the priest woke an answering
chord in the heart o f t he average man fo r without that
response the priest s j ealousy would be powerless fo r good o r
f o r evil
The probable answer is that the sentiment o f the
supernatural the conviction o f the existence o f an over
ruling superna t ural power whatever the occasion unde r
which man rst became aware o f its existence a s o n e o f the
,

SY M P AT H ETI C M AG I C
of

facts

his

39

intern al experience was o ffended by the pre

tension o f any merely human being to wield supernatural
power ; such a pretension wa s irreconcilable wi th the exist
ence o f the sentiment a n d the Shock which ensued from the
collision o f the two res ul ted in the feelin g or rather was the
feelin g that the pretension wa s impious But i t is obvious
that the violence o f the shock and the vigour o f the c o n s e
quent reaction would depend considerably on the s trength o f
the sentiment and convi ction o f the supernatural This
brings us to note that in the historical instances given by
Dr Tylor o f the existence in civilised races o f the belief in
magic those races have not yet reached the stage o f develop
m ent in which sorcery is seen to be an absolute impossibility
both from the religious and the scientic po int o f v i ew
Probably even their present stage o f development is higher
however than that in which they were when the belie f rst
appeared amongst them
I n ne the triumph o f magic
where it wa s complete is itself a considerable presumption
that the conict began at a time when the re l igious sentiment
w a s quite immature and incapable o f successfully assertin g
itsel f Where the sentiment o f the supernatural succumbed
it d i d not cease t o ex i st but was modied o r misinterpreted ,
in acco r dance wi th the m agl ca l view o f the universe
Progress in science and religi on ceased but the evolution and
organisation o f m a gic into a system went o n apace until where
a people is entirely given up to magic the world is lled
with supernatu ral terrors and life with the rites prescribed to
exorcise them
On the other hand where we nd religi on\
in the ascendant but sorcery coexisting wi th it we may
infer that religion had become rmly established in the more
progressive section o f the community before the contrast
between the belie f s o f the more and the less enlightened
members had produced that confusion o f ideas which is the
essential condition o f the belie f in magic And here we may
remark that as sorcery when it is victorious} does n o t kill
the sentiment o f the supernatural but o n the contrary lives
o n it and perverts it t o it s o w n uses so there are f e w religions
f
which succeed in entirely uprooting the belief in magic from
the min ds of the m ost backward members o f their congrega
tions ; and that owing t o the vitality and tenacity o f primitive
,

'

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

40

thought no religion is free from the danger o f

o n the part o f some o f its beli evers and the re c rud
H ence it is that we nd religion
e s c e n c e of a belie f in magic
and magic sometimes acting and reacting on one another
Even a religion s o comparat ively developed as that o f ancient
Rome sanctioned the resort in times o f stress such as an
exceptional drought to magic and f ell back on the lap is
m a n a tis as a ra in makin g charm
Sometimes religion will
have a xed m o d us c ioen d i with sorcery and take magic into
its own organisation a s in C hald aea On the other hand
magic even whe re its relation to reli gi on 1 s o n e of avowed
hostility will implicitly recognise the superiority of its rival
by borrowin g f rom o r travestying its ritual ; the superstitious
min d incapable o f understanding prayer wil l recite the
Lord s Prayer backwards a s a S pell more powerful than any
of
its o wn ; and the I rish peasant uses ho l y water where
S imple water would have been considered by his pre C hristian
ancestor as su f ciently e i c ac io us
C onsequently everywhere now we nd either ( 1 ) magic
surviving in countries where religion is dominant o r ( 2 )
magic practically in sole possession of the human mind By
the former fact some inquirers have been led t o regard the
t wo a s originally identical ; by the latter to regard magic as
that o ut o f which religion has been evolved But both
inferences may be as erroneous as it would be to infer
that because in Southern Europe pagan practices are still
sometimes tolerated under the shelterin g shadow o f the
C hurch there f ore C hristianity was evolved o ut o f Aryan
polytheism At an yra t e whether the attempt m ade in
this chapter and the last to o ffer a third explanation be
accepted o r rejected it is well to recognise that the facts
/
are not necessarily exclusive o f the view that religion a n d
magic had di fferent origins nor absolutely conclusive in

favour o f viewing religion as a mere variety or sport o f

sorcery
of

modes
relapse

C HAP TER
LI FE

DEA T H

AN D

A CCORDI N G to the vi ew advanced in the previous chapters

the belief that all natural phenomena have life and that all
the many changes in nature are due t o a will o r wills
simil ar to man s does not necessarily imply any belie f in the
supernatural The sequences o f events which this piece o f
primitive phi losophy seeks to explain are themselves ea:
hyp othesi uniform fam iliar in a word natural not super
natural ; and the explanation itself consists in assimil ating
the things explain ed not to anything supernatural o r
superhuman but to something essentially characteristic o f
human nature T he sentiment of the supernatural is not
aroused by events which happen as they were expected to
happen but by so m e mysterious and unaccountable devi ation
from the ordinary cou r se o f nature
It is specically distinct
also from the terror which dangers inspire o r the respect
and admirati on which the strength of the greater carn ivora
may have exacted from primitive m a n and it seems psycho
logically inadmissible o n the o n e hand to derive it from any of
these feel ings and o n the other to confo un d it either with
fear o r with gratitude ; f o r though each o f these la tter two
emotions may go with it neither is in dispensable to it
But though no belie f in the supernatural is necessarily
implied in the view that all things which a ffect man possess
lif e still the two belie f s seem to have been universally
combined in varying degrees
This combination is I
suggest the rst great step in o r towards the evolution o f
religion The second great step was that which settled the
terms o n which man was to live wi th the supernatural beings
by whom he wa s surr ounded Those terms could only be
,

'

41

42

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

terms either o f hostility o r of friendship ; in d i fference

towards the powers with whom it lay to thwart man s most
cherished hopes and even his e fforts to e ffect his own self
preservation was an impossible attitude
But permanent
resistance to such powers was an attitude equally impossible
Primitive man in his struggle for existence must have
su ffered s o many defeats his generalisations must have been
s o o ften upset his forecasts o f the immediate future s o o f ten
disappointed as perpetually to strengthen the belief that
amongst the f orces against which he wa s contending there
were m any that were irresistible supernatural
That
relying upon magic he thought to combat and actually to
coerce the supernatural beings that he had to deal with is
difc ul t to believe Much that civilised man regards as
magic is regarded by those who practise it not as sorcery
but as Science and its practice implies no intention to put
constraint upon supernatural beings Of the practices which
are in intention magical some are in their orig in
sympathetic ( i e pieces o f savage science ) and the rest are
perversions o r parodies of acts o f true worship ; but both
classes presuppose the conception o f the superna tural : the
latter by the terms o f its denition the f ormer because it
could not be used to constrain supernatural beings until the
beings to whom it was appli ed came to be thought super
natural In ne both classes are subsequent in development
to the establishment o f those permanent friendly relations
between worshipper and G od in which worship takes its rise
Again in conj ectures about primitive man we argue back
f rom existing savages ; now many o f the cases in which
savages have been reported to apply constraint to t heir gods
and inict punishment upon them prove to be due to
m isunderstanding as we Shall see in a subsequent chapter

F
e
i
i
h
t
s
m
s
f o r the savage s terror o f the supernatural is too
on
great to allo w him wantonly to provoke its anger We may
there fore reasonably doubt whether all the supposed cases o f
coercion are n o t due to error in observation ; at a n y ra t e we
may condently assert that there is no tribe existing whose
attitude towards the supernatural is o n e o f hostility pure and
simple and whose faith is placed in magic alone as there
must once have been if they are right who hold that magic

'

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

44

bed The solution is that both he and his friends were

right : his body was in bed but his S pirit was away As fo r
the appearance o f his spirit it is the counterpart or doub l e
o f himsel f ( hi s body ) for he has himsel f in dreams met the
S pirits o f f riends who ( in the esh ) were far away and has
recognised them As f or the nature or cons t itution of t he
S pirit it is essentially unsubstantial and hence it is commonly
called by some word whi ch means breath ( sp irit sp iritus
a n im us s ou l
or
shade ( um bra o lc t a
Or as its
usual place of abode is inside the man it may be identied
with one of the internal organs and call ed the heart o r

Or again it is the life because in it s merely

mi dri ff
temporary absence the Sleepin g body presents the appearance
o f an almost lif eless body ; o r it is the blood because
the
blood is the life and w hen blood is shed li fe depar t s
Or
nally it may at o n e and the same time be all these things ;
and s o a man may have as amongst the Romans four souls
or as amongst savages even more
The savage is thus equipped with an explanation of sleep
death and disease Sleep is due to the temporary absence
o f the S pirit
from the body hence the belie f that it is
dangerous to wake a sleeper suddenly and before his S pirit
has had time to return to his body D eath is ca us ed by o r
consists in the permanent absence from the body o f the
Spirit
Illness is the threatened departure o f the spirit
H ence the remedy f o r illness is to tempt the wave ring and
as yet hesitating spirit to return t o its body This may be
done in various ways as fo r instance by making a display
o f all the patient s best clothes or by rehearsing the pains
and penalties incurred by S pi rits who wilf t
desert their
true and lawful bodies On the C ongo health is identied
with the word Moyo ( S pirit Lower C ongo ) and in cases o f
wasting sickness the Moyo is supposed to have wandered away
f rom the su ff erer
In these cases a search party is sometimes
led by a charm doctor and branches land shells or stones
are collected The charm doctor will then perform a series
o f passes between the sick man and the collected articles
This
1
ceremony is called o utula ng a m og o ( the returning o f the Spir it)
.

'

am

J ourn a l

o o ca l I n stitute xx iv 2 8 7 The m et hod by which

s ha m a n re s t o res a s ic k m a n his s o ul is d e s crib e d

t he A n throp l g i

o n g t he B ut at s

L I F E A N D D E AT H

45

In C elebes the To pan t un uas u whip the patient soundly

in order that the spirit may feel sorry for its poor body
and return to it to save it from further castigation
In Ambon and the U liase Islands the medicine man aps
a branch about calling o ut the sick man s name until
he has caught the wandering soul in the branch ; he
then strikes the patient s body and head with the branch
and thus restores his soul to him In Nias the departing
soul is visible t o the medicine man alone ; he catches it with
a cloth then with the cloth rubs the forehead and brea st o f
the patient and thus saves him The H aidab Indians have
soul catchers bone implements fo r catching the patient s soul
when it tries to y away S pecimens of which may be seen in
1
the Berlin Museum fur Viilk e rk un d e
Where as in Sarawak
the spirit or life is believed to reside not in the blood o r the
hear t but in the head o r the hair and the soul ha s deserted
the patient he is cured by the restoration of his soul in the
shape o f a bundle o f hair So t o o in C eram the hair may
not be cut because it is the seat of the man s strengt h ; the
G aboon n egroes for the same reason will n o t allow any o f
their hair to pass into the possession o f a stranger ; and the
same belief apparently prevailed in Rome unguium Dia lis
2
e t capilli s eg m in a s ub t e r a rb o re m f e l ic e m terra o p e riun t ur
Even when the sick man is really dead there is un
certain ty whether the soul is for ever ed ; there is the
possibility that it may return
It is in consequence of the

belief amongst the E we speak in g peoples o f the Slave C oast

tha t the soul does occasionally return a fter leaving t he
body that appeals to the dead to come back are always made
immediately after death ; and generally S peaking it is only
when the corpse begins to become corrupt and the relatives
thereby become certain that the soul does not intend to
3
return that it is buried
So too o n the G old C oast
all
the most valuable ar ticles belonging t o t he deceased are
placed round the corpse and the dish that was most pre ferred
in lif e is prepared and placed be f ore it ; the wailing being
interrupted every now and then to allow the wi dows to
,

B art e l s , M ed icin d e r N a t ur volker, 2 0 1 3

'

B a s t ian , A l l erl ei , i 4 0 1
.

Ell is , E we-wea kin g

Cf N um

eop l es ,

1 56

vi

5, 1 8,

an d

J udg

xvi

17

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

46

entreat the deceased t o eat o r drink

the idea evidently
being that the soul may be tempted by these delicacies to
re t urn In Eastern Asia again the A ra fua s tie the deceased
to an upright ladder and invite him to j oin in the funeral
f east ; and it is only when they have placed food in his
2
mouth in vain that they bury him
On the Slave C oast
too
the corpse is washed attired in the best clothes
bedecked with ornaments and placed in a chair be fore which
a small table with food and drink is set o ut
the deceased
3
is implored to eat and portions of food are put to his lips
In C hina too according to the Li Y un when o n e died they
went upon the house t o p and called o ut his name in a pro

longed note saying C ome back So and So

A fter this they
lled the mouth ( o f the dead ) with uncooked rice and ( set
4
forth as o fferings to him ) packets o f raw esh
At this poin t perhaps it is tting that I should frankly
state to the reader what is my obj ect in making these
quotations and those which I am about t o make Many
learned and many unlearned anthropologists hold that the
original and s o to speak the natural sentiment o f man
towards his dead is that of fear So too many writers have
seen in fear the sole sour ce o f religion So too again many
moral philosophers from the time o f Thras ym a c hus o r earlier
have regarded selshness the selsh desires personal fear
and t he baser passions as the only natural impulses to action
In this book the Opposite view that of Bishop Butler is
main tained namely that love gratitude a ffection are just as

natural as their opposites N ow as regards the family

affections there can be n o possibil ity o f doubt ; the in fancy
o f man is longer than that of any o f the animals most o f
which can walk and take ca re o f themselves almost if not
quite as soon as they are born Man s infancy o n the other
hand is s o long that the human race could not have survived
in the struggle f o r existence had not the parental in stincts
and f amily a ffections been strong in primitive man Existin g

savages are in this respect men s o to speak

In Samoa
for instance whenever the eye is xed in death the house
,

3
4

Ell is , Ts hi sp ea kin g P eop l es , 2 3 8

8
E ll i e sp ea kin g P eep l es , 1 5 7

B a s t ian , 0 es t A sien ,
.

Legge , The Li K i , 3 6 9 ( S a cred B ooks

the E as t )

83

L I F E A N D D EAT H

47

becomes an indescribable scene o f lamentation and wailing

Oh my father why did y o u not let me die and you live
here still !
Oh my child had I known y o u were goin g
to die ! of what use is it fo r me to survive y o u ? would that
I had died f o r you !
These and other doleful cries
1
are accompanied by the most frantic expressions o f grie f
Among the negroes o f the Slave C o a st
the widows and
daughters lament their lonely and unprotected state somewhat
as follows
I go to the market it is crowded There are
many people there but he is not among them
I wait but
he comes not Ah me ! I am alone N ever more shall I s ee
him
It is over ; he is gone I shall s ee him no more Ah
me ! I am alone
I go into the street The people pass
but he is not there Night falls but he comes n o t Ah
me ! I am alone Alas ! I am alone Alone in the day
alone in the darkness o f t he night Alas ! my father ( or
2
?
husband ) is dead Who will take care o f me C
Amongst
the negroes o f the G old C oast no sooner has the breath left
the body than a loud wailing cry bursts forth from the house
and the women rush into the streets with disordered clothes
and dishevelled hair uttering the most acute and mournful
3
cries
Amongst the Ew e speaking peoples o f the Slave
C oast a death in a family i s announced by an outbreak o f
shrieks and lamentations o n the part o f the women w ho
throw themselves on the ground strike their heads against
the walls and commit a va riety of extravagances callin g upon
the deceased meanwhil e not to desert them and endeavouring
by all kinds o f supplications to induce the soul to return and
4
reanimate the body
It not un frequently happens that
what in its origin was spontaneous comes in time to be
5
conventional ; and in Bonny ( as in C hina) there is a regular
ceremony entitled recalling the so ul to the house
Perhaps
also in the feast which is spread with the dead man s favourite
delicacies to tempt his soul to return we may have the origin
which are universal and
o f the funeral f easts and wakes
therefore need n o t be illustrated
The natural a ff e c t l o n which makes the relatives of the
.

G Turn er, N i n eteen Year/rs in P o l y nesi a , 22 7

3
Ts hi sp ea kin g eop l es , 2 3 7
El l is , Yoru ba sp ea kin g eop l es , 1 5 7
5
B as t ian , E cp ed ition a n d er L oa n g o K its te, i 1 1 4
El l is , 1 5 7
.

2
4

I N T R O D UC T I O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

48

deceased reluctant to believe that he can be dead and which

leads the negroes o f the Lo ango C oast to try to induce him to
eat and makes them talk o f his brave exploits peradventur e
he may be beguiled into listening and returning does not
cease immediately when it is ascertained t hat he is beyond
doubt dead
Thus we read o f the Mandan women going
year after year to take food to the skulls o f the ir dead
kinsfolk and sitting by the hour to chat and j es t in their
most endearing strain with the relics o f a husband or child ;
thus the G uinea n egroes who keep the bones of parents in
chests will go to talk with them i n the little huts whi ch
1
serve for their tombs
We cannot doubt the affection with
which the H o s invite the soul to return to them when the
body has been burned
,

We

We

rain

s t an

n ot

y ou

on ge d

wr

n ever

an d

U n d er t he s a m e roof ;
De s ert it n o t n o w !
n ight s , a n d t he co l d b l o win g

Do
Do

col d e d

Co m e t o us b a ck !
l o ve d a n d cherish ed y o u ;

e ver

The

n e ve r s

n ot

w an

d er

b y t h e b urn t

l ive d l on g t oget her

have

d a ys

y ou ;

a re

com in g

on

h ere !

as h es

c m e

t o us

gain

c a n n o t n d s hel t er un d er the p eepul when t he rain com e s do wn

The s oeul will n o t s hie l d y o u fro m t h e co l d b it t er w in d
Com e t o y our h o m e !
I t is s wep t fo r y o u an d c l ea n ; an d we are t here wh o l o ve d y ou ever ;
An d t here is ric e p ut for y ou ; an d wa t er ;
Co m e h o m e c o m e h o m e c o m e t o us a ga in
You

The natural reluctance to believe that the beloved one

has gone f rom us for ever does not among savages limit
itself merely to poetical invitations to the Spirit to return
In the Marian Isles a basket is provided in the house for
3
the soul to rest in when it revisits it s friends
and o n the
C ongo the relatives abstain fo r a year from sweeping the
ho use o f the deceased fo r f ear they sho ul d unwittingly and
4
invol untarily sweep o ut the soul
In H awai where ghosts
usually go t o the next world the spirit o f a dear friend dead
5
may be detained by preserving his bones o r clothes
The
.

W Af rica
.

Ty l o r

Pi

Tyl o r,

r m

3 94

l oc

B as t ian ,

Cu l t ii

1 5 0 ; Ca t lin , N

I n d ia ns , i 9 0 ; J
.

Wil s o n

ci t

Der

ii 3 2
.

3
.

B a s t ia n , 0 est A sie n ,
.

M ens ch, ii 3 2 3
.

5
.

B a s t ia n , A l l erl ei , i 1 1 6
.

83
.

LIF E

AN D

D EAT H

belief that t he S pirit is attached to his

ment is common enough and indeed is
o f a very natural association o f ideas ;
is the haunt of ghosts though the soul
in ancient Rome
,

49

former earthly tene

a necessary outcome
a modern graveyard
is in the next world ;

Te rra t eg it c e rn em , t um ulum c irc um vol a t um b ra

M an es Orc us ha b et , S p irit us as t ra p e t it ;

the Fan t e e s believed that the ghost remains in the neighbour

1
hood o f the corpse ; and this belief enables the savage to
cheat his grief to some extent In Fiji a child of rank
died under the care of Marama the queen o f Somosomo
The body was placed in a box and hu n g from the tie beam
o f the chie f temple and for some months the best of food
was taken to it daily the bearers approaching with the
greatest respect and after having waited as long as a person
wo ul d be in taking a meal clapping their hands as when a
2
chief has done eating and retiring
The persistence even

amongst savages o f natural a ffection when the obj ect o f

a ff ection is dead may be further illustrated by a similar
example from a di ff erent quarter o f the globe : When a
child dies among the Ojibways they cut some o f it s hair and
make a little doll which they call the doll o f sorrow This
lifeless obj ect takes the place o f the deceased child T hi s
the mother carr i es for a year She places i t near her at the
re and sighs often when gazing on it
She carries it
wherever She goes They think t he child s spirit has entered
this bundle and can be helped by its mother Presents and
sacricial gifts are made to it Toys and useful implements
3
I n G uinea s o far from
are tied to the doll for its use
being afraid o f the dead man they keep h im for a whole
year o r even several years in the house before burying him
4
which leads to a sort o f m um m i c a t io n
In Bonny where
also he is embalmed they do n o t part with him even when
5
buried but bury him in the house as is customary o n the
6
Amazon and w a s the custom amongst the early Romans

B as t ian , Der M ens ch, ii 3 3 5

.

Will iam s

Do rm

B a s t ia n ,

an ,

Wa l l a c e

Fij i

the F ij ia ns , i 1 7 7
.

o ls

P ri m itive S up ers titi n s , 1 1 6 ( K h

L a n g K us te, i 23 2

a nd

Am m

an ,

346

K itchi Ca m i,
5
Der M ens ch, l oc

cit .

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

50

G reeks Teutons and other Aryan peoples Even when the

corpse is b uried at a distance from the house measures may
be and are taken to facil itate the return o f the spirit to his
Thus the I roquois leave a small hole in the grave
f riends
1
in order that the soul may pass freely in and o ut ;
and
2
C o unt G oblet d A l vie l la conj ectures that this practice was
known to N eolithic man :
There is a certain detail
f requently observed in these dolmens which has not f ailed to
exercise the minds o f the arch aeologists especially when the
dolmens were supposed to be the work of one particular people

n
f
It is the presence in o e o the walls generally the o n e

that closes the entrance o f a hole n o t more than large

enough f o r the passage of a human head I n the C au c asus
and o n the coast o f Malabar these holes have given the

dolmens the popular name o f dwarf houses

The hole
is too small to serve as a passage f o r living men o r for
the introduction o f the Skeleton or even f o r inserting
the sacrices which moreover would be f ound piled up
against the interior wall
The mo s t probable explanation
seems to be that it was intended for the soul to pass

through
The belie f that the soul cannot bring itself to desert its
body leads some peoples who wish the soul to stay with
them to burn the body in order that the soul may be
detached and free to revi sit them Thus in Se re n d yk the
corpse is burnt to enable the soul to return and the C atal
l
l
on
the
coast
f
M
a
a
a
a
burn
the
good
and
bury
the
bad
o
(
)
y
3
But the soul when
f o r then the bad cannot return
released whether by burning o r otherwise from the body
is apt to lose its way when it seeks to come home ; s o to
the present day in the Tirol the corpse is always conveyed
to the cemetery by the high road in order that the souls m a y
have no d if c ul ty in retracin g the route Or care is taken
to catch the soul as soon as possible s o that it may not get
lost ; the To n q ui n es e cover the dying man s face with a cloth
the Marian Islanders with a vessel to catch the soul ; the
Payaguas ( South America ) do not cover the corpse s head
,

B as t ian , Oes t A sien , iii 2 5 9

The Ohio t rib es b ore h o l es in t he c o i n

l e t t h e s p irit p a s s in a n d o ut , Do rm an , P r im S up 2 0
3
3
B a s t ia n , Der Al ens ch, ii 3 3 1
H i bbert L ectu re, 2 4

to

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

52

Even when
by the negro every time he leaves the house
the burial place is away from the house the same provision
may be made f or regularly tending the deceased Thus in
the Tenger Mountains ( in J ava) a hollow bamboo is inserted
in the grave at burial in order that o fferin gs o f drink and
2
In the houses in which the
f ood m a y be poured down it
bones o f the chiefs o f the Tim m a n e e s are kept there are
3
small openings through which f ood can be given to the dead
In ancient Mycen ae an altar over on e of the shaft graves has
been discovered with a tube leading into the grave ; the
altar is evidently not intended fo r the worship o f the gods
4
but is an e o X alpa and the tube fulls the same purpose as
5
the bamboo in J ava an d the funnel in Bonny ; whil e the
trench dug in Da b aib a has its exact parallel in the G reek
8 59p 0 9 into whi ch Odysseus for instance poured the blood
o f which the spirits were to
drink In historic times in
G reece blood was daily o ff ered in Tron is o f Daulia to the
spirit o f the hero founder in the Mycen aean mode : 7 5 ja v
a lg a 5i dw ij s a

o va w
In
Peru
the
relations
7 51/
x
o f the deceased used to pour some o f the liquor named Chica
into the grave o f which a portion was conveyed by some
7
hollow canes into the mouth o f the dead person
Blood which is the life is the food frequently o ffered to
the dead The priests o f the Batta pour the blood o f a fowl
8
on the corpse
In Ashanti the S keletons o f deceased kin gs
carefully preserved and mounted o n gold wire are seated
each o n his o wn stool and the living king washes each with
9
blood
The Marian Islanders anoint the bones o f their
10
dead
Then by a substitution of s im il ars it is considered
sufcient to colour the corpse o r some part thereof with
some red substance tak ing the place of blood Thus in Tanna

the face is kept exposed and painted red and o n the

11
The
follo wing day the grave is dug and the body buried
1

Z ur
2

B as t ian , Re chts verhci l tn is se, 2 9 6,

Vo l ks kun d e, 3 9 9

B a s t ian , D er M en sch, ii 3 3 6
id)

33

r ol s

'

iyp wa w d u o d u
oue v,
'

3
.

P oll

1 8
.

Roh d e , P s yche , 3 3
Z ara t e, Con ques t of P eru ( t ra n sl a t e d in Ke rr,
B a s t ia n , Oes t A sien ,
.

Lie b rec ht ,

B a s t ia n , Oes t A s ie n ,
.

v
v.

36 5
281

9
.

11
.

B a s t ian , l oo

cf

3 35 ;

Der M ens ch, ii

and

a usan ias ,

Voy a g es

a nd

cit .

Tr a vel s , iv

El lis , Ts hi sp ea k in g P e p l es , 1 6 8
Turn er, N ine tee n Yea rs i n P l y nesi a , 9 3
-

L I F E A N D D EAT H

53

Kalmucks are content t o cover the corpse with something

1
red whilst it is awaiting burial
And according to C ount
2
G oblet d A lviel la
in certain grave s the earliest o f which
go back to the reindeer age ( t hose o f Mentone f o r example )
the bones o f the dead are painted red with oligist o r
cinnaba r ; and in our own day some o f the N orth American
tribes who expose their dead o n trees collect the naked
An
bones and paint them red before nally burying them
analogous custom has been observed amongst the Mincopies
o f the Andaman Islands and the N iams of C entral Af rica
The f eeling towards the dead in all these examples
examples which a learned anthropologist would with ease I
am convinced have made many times as numerous is o r in
all cases may be that p rompted by the affection parental
lial conjugal which was even more necessary fo r the self
preservation of the human race in the earliest days than it is
in civilised times But it is not here suggested that love
was the only feeling ever felt for the deceased On the
contrary it is admitted that fear o f the dead was and is

equally widespread and is equally

natural
What
in f erence then is to be drawn from these two sets of
apparently opposed facts o r what explanation is to be given
o f them ?
To this question the right answer is given both
by savages themselves a n d by careful observers o f savage
modes of thought K ub ary long a resident in the Pelew
3
Islands says the islanders are only a fraid of ghosts o f
strangers as they are safe from the ghosts o f their own
people beca use o f the good understa n ding which exists

So o n the G old
between the family and its o wn ghosts
C oast though the Spirit of the dead man wanders about if
homeless doing good o r evil according to his disposition it is
4
to his Own family that he does good
Black people said

a Zulu do not worship all Am a t o n go indifferently that is

all the dead of their tribe But their father whom they
knew is the head by whom they begin and end in their
prayer for they know him best and his love for his children ;
.

B a s t ian , Oes t A s ien ,

.

vi

607

H i bbert L ectu re, 1 7 , re ferrin g t o Cas t a il ha c , L a Fra n ce p rehis to ri gu e, 2 92

I n A l lerl ei a us Vol les un d M ens chen kun d e , i 1 0
Ell is , E we sp ea kin g
-

P op l
e

es ,

1 02

54

I N T R O D U C T I O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

they remember his kindness to them whilst he was living ;

they compare his treatment of them whilst he was livin g
support themselves by it and s a y H e will still treat us in
the Same way now he is dead We do n o t know why he
1
he will regard us only
S hould regard others beside us
In
ne as we might reasonably expect the man who was loved
during his li fetime did n o t immedia te ly ceas e to be loved
even by savages when he died nor was he who was feared
in lif e less f eared when dead
In primitive societies there is no state or central power
administering justice between its members and protecting
them from external aggression The only bond which unites
the society is the tie o f blood The indivi dual exists only as
a m ember o f a f amily or clan and only s o far as it supports
and protects him The survival of the race thus depends o n
the ready and e ffective aid rendered by the clan to its
members
C onsequently the individual s only friends are his

clansmen and stranger means enemy

e
and
s
t
s
u
t
o
i
s
h
g
are philologically the same word N or does a man cease to
be a member o f his clan when o r beca use he dies On the
contrary his claims o n his clansmen may then become more
sacred and more exacting than ever for if he has been
murdered they must avenge him at all costs It is then
quite intelligible that strangers who as strangers were
enemi es while alive should continue to be hostile a ft e r
death ; and that clansmen especially the father whom they

knew should both Show and receive the loving kindness

which during their lifetime marked their relations wi th their
f ellow members
The object of this chapter was to conj ecture what there
was in the daily experience of the earliest form o f society
which may have suggested the po ssibility of maintaining
permanently friendly relations with some o f the spir its by
which primitive man was surrounded and by which his
f ortunes were inuence d
The conjecture o ere d is that he
was ordinarily and naturall y engaged in maintaining such
relations wi th the S pirits o f his deceased clansmen ; that he
was necessarily led to such relations by the operation o f
,

Ca l l a w a y , Rel igio us Sy stem

Cu l t ii 1 1 6
1

f A m a zu l u, p art ii

o te d

qu

b y Ty l o r, P ri m

LI FE

AND

D EAT H

55

those natural a ffections which owing to the prolo n ged help

less i nfancy o f the human being were indispensable to the
survival o f the human race ; and that the relations of the
living clansman with the dead o ffered the type and pattern
in part though only in part o f the relations to be established
with other more powerful spirits
if not his
The reader will already have noticed

attention is now drawn to the fact that hitherto with the

exception o f the last quotation ( that re ferring to the Zulus )
no mention has been made o f ancestor worship The reason
is not merely that ancestor worship may be and is explained
erroneously in the opinion o f the writer o f these lines as
due in its origin solely to fear like all worship ; but that
ancestor worship implies a belie f on the part of the
worshipper that the S pirit wors hi pped is a supernatural spirit
N ow according to the thesis s e t forth in the previous
chapters not all S pirits are necessarily supern atural spirits ;
the man who believes the bowing tree o r the leaping ame
t o be a living thing like himself does not therefore believe it
t o be a supern atural bei n g
rather s o far as it is like him
self it like himself is n o t supernatural fo r we have seen
reason to rej ect the conj ecture that man began by thinking
he himself possessed supernatural powers With this dis
tinction between Spirits and supernatural spirits it has not
be en necessary for the purpose o f this chapter to assume
th at the Spirits o f the dead possessed in the earliest f orm
of
society that power o f thwarting man s best grounded
an t icipations which is o f the essence o f supernatural power
There may indeed be no a p riori reason why man when
casting round fo r the source o f this mysterious supernatural
interf erence with natural laws should n o t have found it in
the action of the spirits of the dead as well a s in that o f any
other class o f spirits And as a matter o f fact in some
religious systems the spirits o f the dead are credited with
supernatural powers though it must be remarked their
powers are not by any means so great as those o f the
national o r local gods and the general feeling is that it is the
dead w ho are dependent o n the living for their com fort and
even fo r their continued existence rather than vice versa ; in
Egypt the lea was annihilated if the survivo r s did not
,

56

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

embalm the body o f the deceased and make images of the

dead man ; in G reece and Aryan India the main motive fo r
marriage was and in C h ina is anxiety to provide descendants
competent to continue the rites on which the p os t m or tem
wel fare o f the deceased depends ; and amongst savages
generally the belief is that the dead stand in actual need o f
the food that is o ffered to them B ut as a matter o f f act
there are grounds f or believin g that it was to another quarter
altogether than an cestral Spirits that man looked in his
attempts to locate the supernatural in the external world
This point will be ful ly discussed in a later chapter
In the next place if as is here argued man s communion
with the spirits o f his dead suggested the possibility o f
communication w i th other and supernatural spirits then it
i s intel ligible that if ever the ritual for approachin g both
classes o f Spirits came to be the same the similarity would
eventually react to the advantage and increased honour of
the spirits o f the dead The acts which constituted worship in
the case o f the supernatural spirit would n o t differ from tho se
in which a ff ection for a deceased father found its nat ural
expression ; and consequently not differing would come to be
worship in the case o f the deceased ancestor also Thus o n this
guess ancestor worship is secondary on and a by product o f the
act o f worship in the proper sense (i e the worship o f a g o d)
To restate the argument : ( 1 ) The family feast h eld
immedi ately afte r the death o f the deceased and repeated
at intervals afterwards and the other o fferings o f food to
the deceased are not o riginally acts of worship ; ( 2 ) the same
sort of o fferings and festivals come to be employed in the
case o f supernatural spirits and to constitute the ( external )
worship o f those spirits ; ( 3 ) the o ffe rin gs to the spiri ts o f
the dead then become ancestor worship
This argument
depends f o r its validity largely on the identity here alleged
o f the ritual for approaching S pirits o f the dead and super
natural spirits The identity cannot be exhibited fully until

the act of worship in the proper sense has been as in

a later chapter it will b e fully set forth ; and the reader
is accordingly requested to suspend his nal judgment on
the question till the full evid ence is before him There are
howeve r so m e outstanding poin ts to consider be fo re we c an
,

L I F E A N D D EAT H

57

proceed to consider this e vidence For instance it will have

struck some readers as a serious omission that no reference
has been made in this d i scussion to the unclean ness which
is very generally if not universally considered to attach to
a corpse and to all who come in contact with it an omission
all the more serious because this taboo has been explained
as due to fear lest the spirit o f the deceased should lodge o n
1
the pe r son who touches the dead body
The omission
however has been intentional and the reasons for it are
twofold First whatever the theory o f thi s ta boo in practice
the taboo may and does coexist wi th love for and condence in
the spirit of the deceased Thus amongst t he Pelew Islanders
who as has been said already have no fear of the ghosts o f

their own people because o f the good understanding which

exists between the family and its o wn ghosts the relatives

2
o f the deceased are
unclean for several days
In Samoa
where the natural a ffection for the deceased nds touching
expression
those who attended the decea sed were most
careful not to handle food and fo r days we r e fed by others
as if they were helpless in fants
fastin g was common
at such times and they who di d so ate nothing durin g the
day but had a meal at night ; re m inding us says the Re v
3
o f w hat Davi d said when mourning the death
G Turner
o f Abne r :
So do G od to me and more also if I taste brea d
o r ought else till the s un be down
The fth day was a
day o f purication
They bathed the face and hands with
ho t water and then they were clean and resumed the u sual

time and mode o f eating

On the G old C oast where the
wives o f the deceased try to tempt his soul to return by
o ff erin g him his favourite dish those persons who have
touched the corpse are considered unclean ; and after the
interment they go in procession to the nearest well o r brook
and sprinkle themselves wi th water wh i ch is the ordinary
4
native mode o f pu rication
In ancient G reece also where
5
ancestors were worshipped the relatives were tabooed
In
.

I ha ve

fort h
2

b ut

b e en

n ot
of.

Fra

Kub ary in

er,

l t o s e e t he pa p er
G old en B o ugh i 1 54
ab e

A l lerl ei, i 6
.

x plan at ion

is p ut

3
.

in which t his

N ine teen Yea rs i n P ol y n esia , 2 2 8

Ell is , Ts hi sp ea lc in g P eop l es, 24 1

5
Fun eral La ws a n d Fo l k Lo re in G re ec e, in t he Cl a s sic a l
Se e m y p ap e r,
Review fo r Jun e 1 8 95 , for in s t an c e s
-

58

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

C hina too where the spirit so far from being feared was as
in Bonny invited to return the corpse is o r w a s taboo ; f or
1
we may in fer from the question in The M K i
Whoever
being engaged with the mourning rites fo r a parent bathed

?
o
r
his head
body
that the period o f the mourning rites
was a time of uncleanness for the s o n
It seems therefore that even if we were to admit that
this species of uncleanness originated in a savage theory

that the soul might settle o n the unclean we could not

infer that deceased spirits were f eared wherever this taboo
was found to exis t N ext and this is the second reason
why no reference has been previ ously made to this important
s e t o f facts there are several kinds of taboo of which the
corpse taboo is only one and it seems p roper to employ the
comparative method and consider the various kinds together
We may thus perha p s avoid o n e sided conclusions and get
a general view if not a general t heory of the subj ect The
next chapter there fore deals with taboo
,

Le gg e

t ra n s

la t io n

( S a c red

ooks

f the Ea s t )

1 81

I N T R O D UC T I O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

60

touch taste or handle Thus in Samoa

Tupai was the
name o f the high priest and prophet H e was greatly
dreaded H is very look was poison If he looked at a
cocoa nut tree it died and if he glanced at a bread fruit tree
1
it also withered away
The king o f Loango may not fo r
the same reason s e e a river o r tree and he has to make
2
many long detours in consequence when he goes visitin g
In some places girls when taboo have an equall y poisonous
glance and are made to wear very broad brimmed hats
in order that they may not infect the sun
The custom
common amongst savage royalties o f holdin g a state umbrella
over the king may be I conjecture a survival from times
when the king was a divine king and like Tupai o r a tabooed

woman might do mischie f with hi s eyes In Whydah i n

former times on the eve o f the day for the public procession
n
i
of
the
sacred
python
the
priests
and
a
h
went
round
D
s
[
]
the town announcing the approach of the festival and warn
ing all the inhabita nts white and black to close their doors
3
and windows and to abstain from lookin g into the streets
In ancient G reece the same belief manifests itself in the
tale that Eury p hyl us was stricken with madness when he
ventured to open the X dpva f or tabernacle and look upon
4
the image o f Dionysus I Es ym n e t e s
In the mysteries the
secret obj ects o f worship were s o taboo that it was only after
a long course o f preparatory purication and communion that
it became safe for the worshipper to see them : the e vro vr re t a
5
was the last and highest grade of initiation
In modern

folk lore it is held to be fatal to see the good people

they are fair ies : he who looks on them shall die
On the same principle that seeing or bein g seen is
dangerous mere prox imity also is forbidden ; and amongst

the Basutos during harvest tim e the unclean may n o t

3
even approach the crop
In the same way too to hear is
as dangerous as to s e e ; thus amongst the Zulus o n receipt
o f the news that a relative is dead the b e a re r must S prinkle

himself with the blood o f sacrice to purify himself from

.

'

2
Turn er, S a m oa , 2 3
B as t ia n , L oa n go K ils te, i 2 63 8

1
El l is , E L M sp ea ki ng P eop l es , 6 1
a us an ia s , viii c 1 9
G ard n er an d J evo n s , Greek A n tiq uities , 2 7 8
-

Cas al is , Les B a ss outos , 2 66

TA B OO

I T S T RAN S M I S S I B I L I TY

61

the mourn ing though obvi ously from the nature of the case
there ca n have been no bodily o r even v i sual conta ct with
the corpse t o dele the mourner Even the nam e o f the
deceased as well as the news o f h i s death is dangerous to
hear and may not be pronounced Thus the native tribes

2
o f Tasmania
n ow
extinct
never mentioned the dea d ;
3
and the same reticence is observed by the Ai n o s and the
4
Australian black men
The Ostiaks avoid mention in g the
5
name of the deceased ; t he C aribs d o not lik e to p ronounce
6
the names o f their dead
The same dis lik e is found in
7
Tierra del Fuego
The G uay c o ro us never utter the name
9
3
of a deceased chief and the Ab ipo n e s abstain n o t o n ly
from the name of the deceased but f rom any word o f which
the name may happen to form part It would however be
an erro r to suppose that it is only the names o f things
unclean and d e lin g such as the nam e o f one who is n o w
a corpse are dangerous to hear ; in Polynesia chiefs are so
sacred that their names are st ri ctly taboo and the com
ponent syllables may not be used in common conversation
In Sumatra the name o f the tiger i s taboo and when a
reference to him is unavoidable euphem i sms are employed

and he is called G randfather

Anci ent On e
The Free
10
etc
The later J ews shrank from p r onouncin g the actual
name o f G od and m ade substi tutio n s to avo id unnecessary
contact even o f this indirect kind with the consuming
holiness of the Lo r d
In ancient G reece the rites to which
the initiated alone we r e admitted were so sacred that all

mentio n o f them to the profane was tabooed hence o ur

uncertainty as to what those rites really were
We have ho w e ve r yet to mention the peculiar characteristic
of the institution o f taboo and that which gives it its wi dest
r ange and greatest power
That is the transm i ss i bili ty the
infection or contagion o f taboo Everyth ing which comes in
,

B a s t ian , Der M en s ch, iii 2 4

.

3
5

6
7

8
1

J o urn a l
I bid

23 8

oo

the A n throp l g ica l I ns titute, 2 3 8

re

3 62

Del ab ord e in t he Recueil d c d ivers

Rvill e , Re l igi on s d es p eup l es

I bid

384

B a s t ia n , Oes t A sien ,

4
.

B as t ian , Der M ens ch,

Pe

voy a ges

non -civi lise s ,

i 3 98
.

3
.

B as t ian , Oes t A s ien ,

.

51

(A

I bid

386

86

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

62

contact with a tabooed pers on o r thing becomes its elf as

dangerous as the original obj ect becomes a fresh centre of
in fectio n a fresh source o f danger to the community In

the case o f things unclean the modern mind can without

d ifculty unders t and that granted the original obj ect is really
polluted it communicates it s pollution to whatever touches it
It requires no great exercise o f the imagination to comprehend
that in ancient Greece the o fferings used for the purication o f
a murderer became in the very process o f purifying him
1
themselves polluted and had to be buried
The rules about
the uncleanness produced by the carcases o f vermin in
L eviticus xi 3 2 ff are also intelligible from this point o f
view : Whatever they touch must be washed ; the water
itsel f is then unclean and can propagate the contagion ;
nay if the d e l e m e n t a ffect an ( unglazed ) earthen pot it is
supposed to Sink into the pores and cannot be washed out
2
so that the pot m us t be broken
It is however strange

to nd that the infection o f holiness produces exactly the

same results as the pollution o f uncleanness that is to s ay
it renders the thing touched taboo an d there fore unusable
B ut in Tahiti if a chie f s f oot touches the earth the spot
which it touches becomes taboo thenceforth and none may

i
approach t chiefs are therefore carried in Tahiti when
they go o ut
If he enters a house it becomes taboo ; no o n e
else may go into it ever a f t er N 0 o n e may touch him o r
eat and drink o ut o f a vessel which he ha s touched
In N ew
Zealand it is fatal to touch anything that is his o r that he
has used ; none may use a bed that he has slept in If a drop
o f his blood happens to fall o n anything the thing on which
it falls becomes his property When a missionary had saved
a choking Maori f rom death by extracting a bone from his
throat by means o f a pair o f tweezers the rst thing the
Maori did o n recovering his breath was to claim the
tweezers : they had touched him and were taboo and thereby
appropriated to h im In ancient G reece the priest and
priestess o f Artemis H ym n ia amongst the Orc ho m e n ia n s
and the Rechabites amongst the J ews might not enter a
3
private ho use for the same reaso n as the Polynesian chief
,

'

1
3

P
P

a us a n ia s ,
a us a n ias ,

Rob e rt s on Sm it h, Rel ig ion

viii 1 3 , a n d J er ru m 9 ff

ii 3 1
.

f the Sem ites

44 7

TA B O O

I T S T RAN S M I S S I B I L I T Y

63

The clothes a s well as the drinking vessels o f the Mikado

1
were fatal to those who touched them
Am ongst the T shi
speaking peoples o f the G old C oas t all the commoner
utensils that have been used during the festival [a general
remembrance o f the dead ] such as calabashes and earthen
pots are carried o ut at daybreak o n the n inth day and
2
The Selli at D odona were X a ua t eiiva t
thrown away
i e abstained from sleeping in a bed probably for the reason
that the bed would become too holy f o r anyone else to occupy
a f t erwards They were also aw n 7 67 0 86 9 and the priest and
3
priestess o f Artem is H ym n ia did not wash like other people
doubtless because o f the excessive sa nctity o f their persons just
as the Arabians o f old might n o t wash o r anoint the head ;

and the head o f a Maori chi ef was s o sacred that if he only

touched it with his ngers he was obliged immediately t o
apply them to his nose and snu ff up the sanctity which they
had acquired by the touch and thus restore it to the part
4
from whence it wa s taken
A S tabooed persons render everything taboo with which
they come in contact s o holy places make everythi ng in them
taboo The sh in the sacred river Re it i in Attica were
5
themselves like the stream sacred to Demeter and might be
caught by her priests alone In Pharae ( a town o f Ach aea ) there
was a stream sacred to H ermes the s h o f which as being
6
sacred t o the god were taboo and might n o t be caught a t all
In Y abe there is a certain deity s hut which is s o taboo that
whoso enters it except o n business becomes the slave o f
7
the priest
On the Slave C oast any person accidentally
touched by the sacred python is thereby made dedicate to
3
the god and has to serve it f o r the rest o f his l ife
By an
extension o f the same principle in Polynesia the holy places
o f the gods and the houses o f the most sac r ed chiefs became
asylums fo r f ugitives The very soil o f holy places is sacred
and communicates its sanctity to that which touches it :
hence in Peru
none came within where the idol was save
.

3
4
5

B a s t ia n , Oes t A s ien , v 2 8 2

P
F
P

aus an ias , viii.

ra e r,

14

G l d en B

a us a n ias ,

i 38
.

2
.

Ell is , Ts hi sp ea lcin g P eop l es , 2 2 8

-

ough

i 1 9 1 , q uo t in g R Tayl o r
3
I bid viii 2 2
.

B a s t ia n , L oa n g o K il s te, i 2 1 9
.

3
.

E ll is , E we sp ea king
-

P op l
e

es ,

57 .

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

64

the principal chie fs who entered with much reverence and

1
veneration having removed their sandals
doubtless because
the sandals by contact with the sacred soil would become
In the same way in
t aboo and unt therea f ter for daily use
Tonga the upper garment wa s removed in the presence o f the
king because his glance would render it taboo and there fore
useless afterwards
The sanctity of the soil o f sacred places gives rise to a
r emarkable coincidence in the practices o f two races s o widely
separated as the ancient Mexicans and the negroes o f the

G old C oast The former practised eating earth in honour

o f the god
the latter still eat fetish
The Mexicans o n
entering any sacred place or by way o f taking oath touched
the soil with their nger and then placed the nger in the
2
mouth
Amongst the negroes to make an oath bindin g on
a person who takes it it is usual to give him something to
eat o r drink which in some way appertains to a deity
the ordinary plan is to take something from the spot in
which the deity resides
a little earth or some leaves o r
3
berries
this is ( incorrectly ) called eating f etish
That this proced ure somehow gives the deity o f the place a
greater hold over the person taking oath than he would have
H o w o r why this
if the ceremony was omitted is clear
should be may be difcult for the enlightened reader to
imagine but it would be intelligible e n o ugh t o the inten di ng
perjurer who at the present day in an English court o f
j ustice kisses his thumb instead o f the book and thinks
thereby to escape the consequences o f his perjury The
mediaeval practice of swearing by o r o n the relics of a saint and
the classical custom o f swearing o r conjuring by the beard
( which partakes of the peculiar sanctity o f the head ) though
they do not involve eating or kissing are inspired by the
same f eel ing ; indeed we may s ay generally that the practice
o f swearing
by anything and therefo r e the very conception
o f an oath is due in its origin to the f eeling that the sacred
ness of the obj ect held or kissed communicates itself and
gives sacredness to the oath Probably the earliest oaths

are those o f compurgation and the person thus freeing

d B ta zo
P y e The N ew Wo ld ca ll ed A m e rica i 5 1 3 q uo t i g J u
,

Sa ha g un

App e n d ix

t o bk

ii

an

s.

El l is , Ts hi sp ea king P e p l es , 1 96
-

TA B O O

65

I T S T R A N S M I S S I B I L I TY

himsel f f rom the charge made against him does s o by

voluntarily mak in g himself taboo by eatin g f etish
or
otherwise devoting himsel f to the god Thus his enemy no
longer can touch him for he is taboo nor is it necessary
that his enemy Should touch him ; it is now the god s aff air
Oaths o f witness then follow the analogy o f purgatory
oaths
But perhaps the most remarkable instance o f the con
t agio n
o f taboo is to be found in the fact that it is capable
o f infecting not only thin gs but actions and even t ime itself
Thus amongst the Basutos o n the day o f a chief s decease
1
the corpse d e l e s not only those who
work is tabooed
come in contact with it but all work done on the f atal
day In Madagascar work is taboo to the relatives of the
2
deceased fo r a longer o r shorter time according to his rank
The Tshi speaking negroes celebrate an annual feast for the

dead generally and the whole eight days are termed eg w a h

Eight Seats because it is a period of rest during
a wotchwi
3
which no work may be performed
In the N ew World the
funeral ceremonies of the kings of Mechoacan lasted ve days
and in all that time no Fire was permitted to be kin dled
in the C ity except in the King s house and Temples nor yet
any C orn was ground o r Market kept nor durst any go o ut o f

the ir houses
And it is n o t only in the case o f things
unclean that time itself becomes a channel of infection :
the infection o f holiness is transmitted in the same way
on the day sacred to o r s e t apart for the
On the G old C oast
o ffering o f sacrice to a local g o d t he inhabitants abstain
f rom all work smear their bodies with white clay and wear
5
white cloths in Sign o f rej oicing
On the Slave C oast
every general tribal and local god with the e x ception o f
3
A mongst the Tshi speaking
Mawu has his holy day
peoples o n the day sacred to it [the tutelary deity] all the
members o f the f amily w e ar whi t e o r light coloured cloths
and mark themselves with white
no work o f any kind
may be done and should o n e o f the members o f the family
,

Ca s al is , L es B as s outos , 2 7 5
El l is , Ts hi sp ea lein g P eop l es , 2 2 8

R vil l e, Re l d es p eup
.

n on -c iv.

Po

G ag e , A N ew S urvey of the Wes t I nd ies , 1 60

3
4
Ell is , Tshi sp ea lcin g e p l es , 7
E is , E we sp ea kin g
-

ii 1 67

ll

eop l es,

79

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

66

be absent o n a j ourney he must o n that day make a halt

In Polynesia not only o n the death o f Tuit on ga o r in time
o f general mourning or o f sickness in the royal f amily but
be f ore war ( a sacred f unction ) o r before a great feast a taboo
day or days are proclaimed ; no o n e may cook f ood no re o r
light may be kindled no o n e may go outside o f his house no
domestic animal may utter a sound ( dogs are muzzled cocks
put under a calabash ) In Mexico too the principal f easts
o f the
two chie f deities Tezcatlipoca and H uitzilopochtli
were preceded by a taboo period
notice o f which was
2
solemnly given by the o fc ia l s
In Madagascar there are
days o n which it is taboo to go outside the house or begin
any business ; the child who comes into the world o n o n e o f
t hose days is drowned exposed o r buried alive f or it belongs
3
to the gods and there fore may not be kept from them
This last quotation may make it easier to understand
why work is taboo o n a holy day ; anything begun or done o n
such a day belongs to the god and is not for common use
But the re f erence to a god is not indispensable ; work done

o r begun on an
un clean day is equally unt for every
day us e though there is no god f or it to belong to
An
exact parallel may be f ound in the matter o f raiment o f

best clothes and mournin g The clothes which a mourner

wears become d e l e d by his contact with the deceased ;
and when the days o f his impurity are over they are
cast aside ; they can no lo n ger be used in his ordinary
avocations f or they would communicate to all that he touched
and to everything that he did the pollution with which they
H e therefore connes himself to o n e s e t of
are infected
garments in order not to spoil too many ; and if it is the
custom in his co untry to mark tabooed obj ects by some
S pecial colo ur he is expected to wear raim ent of that colour
to warn o ff those who otherwise might unwittingly come in
contact with him and become d e l e d
So too t he clothes
which a man wore in the worship of the gods acquired
sanctity and could not be used in his ord inary avocations
just
as
among
the
later
ews
the
contact
of
a
sacred
volume
J
(
or
a phylactery d e l e d the hands and called fo r an
.

1
3

El l is , Ts hi sp ea kin g P e p l es , 9 3
Rvil l e , Rel d es p eup n on c iv i 1 6 7
-

yn e

o rl d , i 4 8 6
N e w 1V
.

H I S TO RY

I N T R O D U CTI ON TO

68

sel f

OF

RE L I G I ON

argument ; it was a
evident fact of which he had dir ect
consciousness and immediate certitude But if this is so if
man began with this be l ief and did not infer o r deduce it
from anyth ing then we must rej ect those theories which
represent taboo as being the consequence of some other belief
such a s that things t aboo trans m i t a material physical
pollution o r that some supernatural inuence is transm i tted
or that the dead man s spir it adheres to those who touch the
corpse The material physical theory ( implied in the use o f

the terms contagion

infection
o f taboo ) is untenable
because the belief in taboo is not an induction based upon
observation exper i ence and experiment but an a p r iori
convi ction : it is not an inference from such facts o f observa
tion as that pitch mud etc dele but a belie f prior to
independent o f indeed irreconcilable with the facts o f e xp eri
ence The theory o f a supernatural cause is simply super
uo us ; the connection between the two associated ideas wa s
a self evi dent fact which for the savage required n o ex
planation supernatural o r other but was rather i tself the
explanation o f other things
But though the laws o f the Association of Ideas expla in
the trans m i ssibil ity o f taboo and account for the fact that
whatever is mentally associated wit h the thing taboo awakens
the same terror as the thing itsel f still they obviously cannot
explain why the thing itself is terrible to begin with To
learn that we must examine the thi ngs themselves
-

VII

C H A P T ER
H NG S

T I

TAB OO

B EFORE beginning to exam i ne things taboo with a vi ew to

seeing whether they possess any common quality whether
any general statement can be made with regard t o them
whether in ne it is possible t o frame any induction from
them it is plain that we must d is criminate between things
wh ich I will venture henceforth to distinguish as things
taboo and thin gs ta booed Both classes are infectious and
communicate their mysterious and dangerous quali ties to
whatever they come in contact with ; but thin gs tabooed are
those which would not possess the taboo infection if they
had not derived it from contact with something else taboo o r
tabooed whereas things taboo are those which do n o t derive
the contagion from anythi n g else but have it inherent in them
selves A single thing taboo might infect the whole universe ;
o n the L oango C oast a divine king s glance would infect a river
1
and the river infect all in its course ; in m odern Polish folk
2
lore a corpse may not be carried over a stream fo r the same
reason ; taboo persons are generally n o t allowed to be seen by
the sun for they would inf ect him and he the universe
Fo r the purpose o f th is chapter therefore we must set
aside things tabooed F ood for instance is not inherently

taboo though it may become tabooed in many ways if it is

touched intentionally o r unintentionally by a sorcerer (in
the Mulgrave Islands ) o r by an A m a t on ga ( amongst the Zulus )
tapued person ( in N ew Zealand ) or by the Mikado
o r by a
o r by the sick ( in Fiji ) o r by mourners ( Tahiti N e w Zealand
Samoa ) or by a superior chief ( Fiji and Tonga ) or by an out
cast ( Burma and the Brahmins) ; and as the hands are
,

B as t ian , L oa/ng o K itste, i 2 63

.

A m Urquel l , iii 5 1
.

69

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

70

used for all sorts o f things and are specially liable therefore

to become unclean not only are mourners n o t allowed in

Tahiti to feed themselves lest the food d e l e d by the touch
1
not
o f their polluted hands should cause their o w n death
only has the tabooed person in Timor to be fe d like a little
2
child f or the same reason not only was sacred food consumed
in Mexico by a sort o f bob cherry performance wi thout the
3
use o f the hands but in Tanna no food whatever might be
o ffered with the bare hands a s such contact might give the
food a potency f o r evil ; nally as a taboo person can infect
things by his mere glance it is a co m mon precaution to allow
1
no o n e to s e e y o u take your food
Tabooed persons too must be distinguished from persons
taboo ; and under the former head must probably be placed
crim i nals and the sick There is reason to thi nk that in
primitive society the only criminals are t he violators of taboo ;
and this crime carries its own punishment with it for in the
act of breaking taboo the o ffender himself becomes tabooed
and no one in the community wi ll touch him o r hav e any
thing to do with him In ne as the only o ffence known to
p rimitive society is taboo breaking so the only punishment is
excommunication As far as the early Indo E uropeans are
concerned the evidence o f linguistic pal aeontology is clear
upon the latter point : wretch is a word which goes back
5
Even
to the earliest Aryan times and it means an outlaw
in historic times the Roman community continued to protect
itself by the interdict from re and water the obj ect o f
which was probably in its origin rather to save those n e c es
6
s a ries of life from pollution than to punish the o ffender
As
f or the sick the taboo o n them is I think conned to
Polynesia and is expressly explained as due to the fact that
an a tua o r Spirit enters them they are thereby tabooed but
they are n o t taboo

1
2

Wil k es

U S E xp l r in g E xp ed i ti n , iii 1 1 5
3
R vill e , Rel d es p e up n on ci v ii 1 62
Pa n e , N e w W r l d , i 4 2 8
M r Cra w l e y g iv e s in s t an c es r m A b y s s in ia , N ub ia , M a a g as a r, t h e A t e
.

fo
d
c
z cs
Ca co n g o C un a Dah o m e y Co n g o t h e M o n b ut t oo t h e P o n g o Co a s t A s ha n t i
To n g a t he B ak a iri t he Ka raj a Lo a n g o Co a s t Cel eb es S an d w ic h I s l an d s Fo lk
L ore vi 2 1 4 0
S chra d e r P rehis to ric A n ti q u i t ies of the A ry a n P eop l es 3 5 0
G ra g er Wors hip of the Rom a n s 2 66 cf Cic ero p r o S B osci o
71
4

T H I NGS TA B OO

71

In the same way it is clear that for the purposes o f

this chapter we must class as tabooed and not as taboo all
persons animals and objects in which a supernatural spirit
takes up his abode But though all supernatural beings are
inherently taboo we are not yet in a position to convert the
proposition simply and say that all things taboo are super
natural : we have to inquire wi thout preju di ce whether as a
matter o f f act there are things taboo and yet not super
natural H owever this may turn o ut to be a th ing o r
person may undoubtedly become tabooed by contact wi th the
supernatural H ence strangers are not in herently taboo but
a s belonging to strange gods brin g with them strange super
natural inuences I t is well therefore not to touch their
food o r eat with them as the Y ule Islanders hold and are
supported by the Papuans of H umboldt Bay the black
1
fellows o f Victoria and the Atiu Islanders as well as the
2
inhabitants o f Van Die m e n s L and
A common practice
also is to fumigate strangers to drive away the ir evil
inuences or for t he natives t o o ffer blood to their o wn gods
and so gain divine protection T he early explorers o f the
N ew World mis takenly regarded these proceedin gs as done
in their honour : in Palmeria when they re c ie ue s t ra un g ers
o r newe
f
f
rien d s hi
u
e
s
e
in
token
o
e
they
drawe
a
t
s
g
pp
little b l o ud from t hem s el ue s either o ut o f the tongue hand
3
arme o r any other part of the bodie
Finally to o ur list o f things tabooed rather than taboo
we must add two if originally they were two and not one
class in which the in stitution o f taboo has had marked
e ffects on the progr ess o f civili sation ; they are property and
wives In Polynesia women before marriage are n oa ( common
safe ) afterwards tabooed So too in Mayumbe it is death
to touch another man s wife whereas unmarried women are
4
f ree to all ;
and elsewhere o n the L oango C oast married
women are s o taboo that things must n o t be handed directly
to them by a man but must be put d own o n the ground for
5
I n the same way a Wa l iah makin g
them t o pick up
,

Cra w l e y, l oc

c it .

Rvil l e , Re l d es p eup
.

H ak l uy t , H is tor ic of the Wes t I n d i es , De c a d e iv

rep ea t e d l y m a k e s t he s a m e m is t a k e
3

c h.

ii 1 5 9
.

B ern a l Dia

B as t ia n , L

oa n go K ils te

5
.

I bid

1 68

72

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

o fferings to a Brahmin must not hand them but put them o n

1
the ground for him to pick up
As for property generally
in Polynesia the owner protects himself in possession by
tabooing it ; where shing is conducted c o operatively the
catch is tabooed until divided ; when a diamond m ine was
supposed to have been found near H onolulu King Tame
hameha at once tabooed it in order to appropriate it
exclusively to himself ; and European shipmasters who did
n o t care for native visitors got their vessels tabooed by a
native chief In the Moluccas charms are used for the
protection o f property w hi ch have the power o f bringin g
2
illness or misfortune on the thief
And a ccording to
H akluyt the C aribs cultivated the plant called by them
H a y ; each man had his o wn plot o f ground and e ue ry o n e
in c l os e t h his portion onely with a little cotton lin e and they
account it a matter o f s a c ril e d g e if any passe ouer the corde
and t re a d e on the possession o f his neighbour and holde it
f o r c e rt a yn e that whoso vio l at e t h this sacred thing shall
3
So too in Melanesia in the eastern islands
shortly perish
the tambu [taboo ] Sign is often two sticks crossed and placed
in the ground In such a manner the St C hristoval native
4
secures his patch o f ground from intrusion
In Eastern
C entral Africa the same word that is used fo r betrothin g
a girl is also applied to the selecting o f a piece of ground f o r
hoeing A person who wants a new farm goes forth and
makes his selection After doing s o he takes bunches o f
long grass and ties round the trees in that eld Everyone
that passes knows by the grass put upon the trees that the
eld ha s been taken possession o f
In the same way
the intending husband points to the cloth that he has given
5
to the girl and says She is mine
But the di stinction between things ta booed and things
taboo is not the only distinction that it is necessary to draw
The very conception o f taboo based as it largely is o n the
association o f ideas is o n e pec ul iarly liable to extension by
analogy I f fo r instance a species of things is taboo then
.

B as t ian , Oes t A si en ,
.

v.

H ak l uy t H is t ori c of the
,

G uppy , The S o l om

on

53

2
.

Wait z

Wes t I n d ies

I s l a nd s , 3 2

Duff M a cdo n al d , Af r i c a n a , i 1 1 8
.

G erl an d , A n throp o l ogie ,

De c a d e

viii

ch.

v i.

3 54

T H I NGS TA B OO
a bun d a n tia

73

c a uteloc ,

in the supererogation of precaution

the whole genus to which the species belongs might well
come to be taboo Or an individual which originally was
only taboo at certain periods o f its existence might easily
come to be considered taboo at all times Or we might
expect a p riori that n e w social institutions would on the
analogy o f o l d ones come to be protected by the power o f
taboo A n d as a matter o f fact unless we are going to
ascribe division into castes to primitive society we have
in the m a clear case o f the growth o f a taboo and o f its
extension by analogy : the members o f an inferior caste
are treated by the superior castes as crimin als were treated
by primitive society ; outcasts are like outlaws taboo
eating especially must be avoided with publicans and
S inners
It was not however specially fo r the benet of outcasts
Of persons o r things
that the last paragraph was penned
inherently taboo we have now two classes left : o n e consists
the other includes blood new born
o f supernatural beings
children with their mothers and corpses ; and it is con
c e iva b l e that the taboo on o n e class was extended by analogy
to the other class . That is a question to be considered here
a f ter At present o ur business is to Show that blood etc
are as a matter o f fact taboo
As for blood its taboo character has been s o fully
1
demonstrated by Mr Frazer as to be beyond possibility o f
doubt H ere it w ill suf ce to add one o r two instances t o
his collection
Blood as we have already seen t a b oo e s
whatever it falls o n and renders the object o r spot useless
H ence the very general p re c au
for all common purposes
tions taken to prevent royal or sacred blood from bein g
spilled o n the ground Thus in A n g o y the blood of royal
women may n o t be Shed and if they have t o be put to
2
death their ribs must be broken
In Dahom i in 1 8 1 8
G e z o dethroned A d an l o san and as the royal blood may not
be s hed A d a n l os an bound hand and foot was walled up in
3
a small room and left t o die o f starvation
In Da b a ib a
it was ordained that a priest who has o ffended shall e y t he r
ea

1
3

ff
E we sp ea kin g P eop l es

G ld en B
El lis ,

ough

i 1 78
.

89

B as t ia n , L

oa ng o K ils te

i 216
.

74

I N T R O D UC TI O N

H I S TO RY

TO

R ELI GI O N

OF

be stoned to death or burned

So too the blood o f
sacrice was not allowed to be Spilled o n the ground either
in ancient Egypt o r in ancient India ; according to the
2
the e ffused blood which at the time o f
G rihya Sutra
immolation was held in a vessel should be thrown o n
'

3
bundles of ki i sa grass
Strabo too says o f an Indian tribe
that they do not shed the blood o f the victims they o ff er to
the gods but strangle the animals An d in ancient Egypt

when an o x was sacriced at the grave a priestly ofcial

caught in a vessel the blood whi ch owed from the throat
Even to see
when cut ( cf Pyramid text Teta line
a thing taboo is dangerous Blood therefore must not be
5
seen and in ancient In di a it appears from a Prayoga
the
institutor o f the sacrice and the priests should sit during
the operation with their faces averted s o as not to behold

the sanguinary work

Naturally therefore the Shedder o f
blood is regarded as taboo
Amongst the Yum o s o f
C olorado the man Slayer is taboo for a month durin g which

6
time he must fast ; and the K afr is unclean after a
7
battle
Animal blood produces the same e ffects
The
H ottentot after a hunt must purify himself from the blood o f
3
the animals he has slain
The sanctity or uncleanness o f the new born child
and it s mother may next be illustrated In West A frica
after childbirth the mother is considered unclean for seven
9
days
The L eaf Wearers of Orissa also seclude a woman
10
after childbirth f or seven days
On the L oango C oast the
11
I n C elebes s he is
mother is taboo for as long as six months
= taboo
a
m
a
l
i
f
r
a
period
the
length
o
f
which
is
not
o
p
(
)

12
stated
Amongst the Australian tribes o f lat 3 1 0

long 1 3 8 5 5 E for a short time after birth o f child she

.

H a kl uyt , H istoric of the West I n d ies , De c ad e vii c h 1 0

Q u o t e d b y Raj en d ral al a M it ra, I n d o A ry a ns , i 3 65
.

A
5

Wie d em a n n

MS

No

in A m Ur qu el l, iii 1 1 4
1 5 5 2 , San sk rit C l l e e o f Ca

M it ra , I n d o A ry a n s , i 3 7 2
6
B a s t ian , D er M ens ch, iii 2 4

7 10

o g

l c ut t a

u
q

ot ed

b y Raj e n d ra l ala

3
10
11
12

I bid
J

7
.

I bid

o urn a l

B a s t ian ,

Wa it z

o oo

the A n thr p l gica l S

L a n g o K il s te, i 1 8 4

G erl a n

oc

A n throp o l og ie ,

vi.

Ellis , Ts hi sp c a lci n g P e p l es , 2 3 3
vi
iety , I I I
9

3 55

cxxx

76

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

ground o n which he trod taboo s o amongst the Mexicans

children on the day o f birth were so taboo they might not be
1
put upon the ground
Amon gst the Dyaks as commonly
in modern European folk lore new born children are the
2
especial prey o f evil Spirits that is to say are taboo for the
restrictions o f taboo are frequently thus explained when the
institution itsel f has otherwise perished The chi ld like the
mother being thus in f ectious must be puried Amongst
the C aribs the purication was e ffected by S prinklin g the
3
chil d with some o f the father s blood
Amongst the Alf o e rs
4
the child was washed in s wine s bloo d
On the G old C oast
5
rum is squirted over the child by the father
The rum is a
substitute or surrogate for blood Final ly in Polynesia the
Tohunga or priest dips a green twig into water and sp rinkles
6
the child s head o r else im merses the infant totally
The
common custom o f washing the new born child is probably
t o be regarded as originally ceremonial rather than cleanl y in
intent A mongst the Damaras a new born child is washed
the only time he is ever washed in his life then dried
7
and greased and the ceremony is over
The perfect parallel between the three notions o f

uncleanness
holiness and taboo pure and simple is well
marked in the case o f corpses with which our list o f things
inherently taboo concludes As contact with what is holy o r

f
taboo makes a thing holy o r taboo so in West A rica and
indeed we may say universally
those persons who have
3
A s the new
touched the corpse are con sidered unclean
born child o r a
tapued person t a b oo e s the ground he
touches so amongst the Buryats the corpse o f a Shaman is
placed on a f elt carpet so that it be not d e l e d by contract
9
and a lingering sur vival o f this feelin g
with the ground
is probably the explanation of some modern European f olk
lore c g in the Tirol a corpse must be conveyed by the high
10
road ; in some parts o f England the conveyance o f a corpse
,

B a s t ia n , Oes t A s ien ,
.

3
5

3
9
1

M ull er, l o c
El l is , l oc
G al t

on

41

v.

c it .

cit

2
.

S ou th Af rica , 1 9 0

o
o oo

B a s t ia n , D er M ens ch, ii 3 2 9
.

47

o oo

El l is , Ts hi sp ea ki n g P e p l es , 2 41
J urn a l of t he A n thr p l gic a l I n s ti tute ,
-

B a s t ia n , op cit v 2 7 0
Wa it G erl an , A n thr p l g ie,
.

I bid

xx iv

1 35

vi

1 32

an d

3 62

T H I N G S T AB O O

77

over private property is supposed to give a right of way

T hat contact with a corpse like contact with things holy or
taboo renders special vestments nece ssary has been already
mentioned H ere we need only add one quotation to show
that the reason is that the garments are rendered useless
an d therefore sometimes at least must be destroyed On
the S lave C oast at the end of the period of mourning the
widows put on clean cloths the old cloths being burned A t
1
Agweh men who have lost their head wiv es do this also
N o t only are clothes taboo but the house also either for a cer
2
tain period ( eight days amongst the H ill Dyaks one according
to the funeral law of C eo s
or altogether in which case the
house is deserted or destroyed
usually the apartment in
which the deceased is buried is closed and never used again
and sometimes the roof is removed
just as amongst the
E we S peaking peoples the house of a person struck by the
lightning god is plundered and even in the M iddle Ages a
5
murderer s house was formally and solemnly pu lled down
T hat death like the service of the gods makes the day
on whi ch it takes place taboo for other purposes has
been already pointed out as also that the very name
of the deceased or of a god may be tabooed Again
tho s e who have touched holy things or are like the
6
priest an d prieste s s of A rtemis H ym n ia
themselves
holy may not eat like other people i e may not touch
food with their hands and on the same ground namely that

they would taboo their own food ; those who attended the
deceased were mo s t c areful not to handle food and for day s
7
were fed by other s as if they were helpless infants
H ence
some peoples pushing things to their logica l conclusion
fast altogether in mourn ing as also in the case of vows ( for
persons under a vow are dedicate and s acred to the go d
.

1
2

E we sp ea kin g P eop l es , 1 60
Wa it z erl an , A n thr op ol ogie, vi 3 5 5
Ellis , Yor u ba -sp ea kin g P eop l es , 1 60

Ell is

A bip on es , ii

en t irel y

to

27 3,

p iec es

t h e h o us e whi h h e

I m Thum

I n d i a ns

d es erte d

Roehl , I n sor A n t 3 95
Do b rizho er, H is tory of the
.

Cf
(t he

dec e

as e

d)

G uia na , 2 2 5,

v er

in hab it e
a

fea s t

is

t h ey

c el eb

p ull

ra t e d ,

Dorm an , P ri m i tive S up erst it ion s ,

t h e Oj ib w a y s p ull e d d o wn t h e h ous e in which a n y o n e h a d d ie d
s o, t oo , t h e
N avaj o s , S em in o l es , Ark an s a s , an d N e w E n glis h t rib es
t he hous e is t hen

an d

for

Pos t ,

Ges chl chts g

e

en ossens

haf t, 1 1 3

6
.

T urn er, N ine teen Yearn in P o l ynes ia , 2 28

Paus a n ia s ,

viii

13

78

I N T R O D U C TI O N

TO

H I STO RY

R EL I G I O N

OF

F asting was common at

to whom the vow is made )
s uch times (i e mourning ) and they who did so ate nothing
during the day but had a meal at night ; reminding us of
what David said when mourning the death of A bner So d o
God to m e a n d m ore a ls o if I ta s te brea d o r oug ht else till
1
A mongst the E we S peaking peoples
the s un be d own
2
the relatives must fast
A mongst the T shi speaking
pe o ples
from the moment of death the relatives of
the deceased and the members of the household abstain from
3
food and continue fasting as long as their strength permits
A mongs t the Y oruba speaking peoples usage requires them to
refuse all food at leas t for the rst twenty four hours after
which they usually allo w themselves to be persuaded to take
4
5
some nourishment
The C aribs also fasted during mourning
H oly persons such as the S elli and tabooed persons
eg
candidates prepared for initiation in the Eleus inia
generally may not wash for fear probably lest the sanctity
should be communicated by the water to other persons or
things in the same way as the impurity of the murderer in
G reece might be conveyed by the o ff erings used in his p uric a
tion The hair and nail parings of holy persons are also
capable of conveying the taboo infection H ence they either
remove their hair before entering into the taboo state or else
allo w it to gro w during that period and remove and dispose
of it carefully afterwards These restrictions are common to
mourners as well as to persons under a vow or otherwise

sacred I n C entral Af rica

while a woman s husband is
absent she goes without anointin g her head or washing he r
face
and amongst the ancient M exicans the relatives of
7
a merchant abroad did not wash their heads or faces a
restriction which was probably part of a vow for the safety
of the absent one I n the M iaot z e tribe at a parent s death
the son remains in the house forty nine days without
8
washing his face
and when it is said of the Leaf Wearers
of Orissa that the only death ceremonies known to them are

1
3
5

T urn er, N i neteen

E l l is

239

Yea rs

i n P o l yn esia , 22 8

4
.

B a s t ia n , D er M ens h, ii 3 2 8
.

M a cd o n a l d , Af ri ca na , i 8 1
B a s t ia n , D er M en s ch, ii 1 1 1
.

El l is
Ell is

,
,

1 58

1 57

S aha g un , bk iv
.

19

T H I NG S T A B O O

79

bathin g and fasting this probably implies a previous

( ceremonial ) unwashen state Amongs t the negroes of the
G old C oast the relations may not wash themsel v es or comb
their hair during the funeral ceremonies in consequence of
which the rites themselve s are sometimes styled 0 fo
1
unwashed
In Ag weh a Widow is supposed to remain
shut up for six months in the room in which her husband is
buried during which time she may not wash or change
her clothes
A t the end of the period of mourning the
widows wash shave the head pare the nails and put on clean
cloths the old cloths the hair and the nail parings being
2
burned
A mongst the C row I ndians the widow shaves
her head and her mo urning ceases when the hair has gro wn
3
again
I n the T onga I sla n ds at the death of a To o it o n ga
4
the whole population shaved their heads
I n S avage I sland
the women singed o ff the hair of their heads as a token of
5
mourning on the death of their husbands
I n S iam the
6
head is shaved as a sign of mourning
T he classical reader
will be reminded of the G reek and Roman funeral custom
On the G old C oas t
the nearest relations of the deceased
of both sexes shave the head and all hair from their
bodies This ha s commonly been regarded as a sign of grief ;
but having in view the shaving of the head by women on
the sacre d days of deities which are days of rejoicing it
7
A mongs t the Ew e
appears rather to be a sig n of respect
speaking and the Y oruba speaking peoples also shaving
8
marks the termination of the period of mournin g
Amongst
the So um o o or Woolwa I ndians of the N e w World the hair

9
is cropped in sign of mournin g ; and the A ustralian blacks

usually shave the head and plaster themselves with white

1
c 0 pi or pipe clay
Am ongst the Bakongo on the death
of a chief all his followers shaved their heads in token of
11
mourning
Of the Ab ip o n e s last century it was noted
,

E ll is Yoru ba sp ea kin g P eop l es 1 60

E ll is E we sp ea kin g P eop les 1 60
-

5
B a s t ia n
5

D er M en s ch, ii 3 2 8
.

Turn er, S a m

oa ,

306

5
B a s t ia n

E l l is Ts hi sp ea k in g P eop l es 2 4 1
E ll is E we 1 60 ; Yoru ba 1 60
J ourn a l of the A n throp ol ogica l I n stitu te
-

I bid

1 88

xx iv

11
.

2 207

Wa rd

O es t A s ie n , iii 3 2 0
.

M a rin er, To n ga I s l a n d s , 2 1 4

Con g o Ca n n i ba ls , 4 3

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

80

that it is also a c ustom to shave t he heads of widows

and to cover them with a grey and black hood
which
it is reckoned a crim e for her to take o ff till she marries
again
A widower has his hair cropped with many
ceremonies and his head covered with a little net shaped hat
1
which is not taken o ff till the hair grows again
Of the
I ndians of G uiana it still holds good that the survivors
2
and of the Fijians many make themselves
crop their hair
3
bald for the dead
Purication again is required not only of the mourners
but of all who may have touched the dead j ust as contact

with a holy volume d e l e d the hands of the later J ews

and entailed ablution
C ontact with a corpse renders a
person unclean and he must purify himself by w ashing
4
in water from head to foot
T hose persons who have
touched the corpse are considered unclean ; and after the
interment they proceed in procession to the nearest well
or brook and sprinkle themselves with water which is the
5
ordinary native mode of puri c a t ion
I n S amoa the fth
day ( of mourning ) was a day of purication
T hey bathed
the face and hands with hot water and then t hey were clean
6
and resumed the usual time and mode of eating
I n Peru
certain springs were assigned as places for ablution after
7
performin g funeral rites
I n ancient G reece a basin of
lustral water was placed at the door of the house of mourning
8
for purposes of p uric a t io n
S ince then the reluctance to come in contact with a
corpse and the precautions taken by those who have to come
or have come into such contact are identical with the
reluctance and precaution observed in the case of other
things taboo or tabooed it is reasonable to look for an
identical cause N o w t he supposed hostili ty or malevolence
of the spirit of the deceased will not serve as a common cause :
the phylacteries and the sacred volume of the J ews were n o t

Do b rizh o ffer, H is t ory of the A bipo nes , ii 1 8

I m Thurn , I n d i a ns of Gu i a n a , 2 2 4
Wil liam s , F ij i a n d the F ij ia n s , i 1 7 7
.

E l lis Ts hi
,

7
3

sp ea k in

T urn er, N i n eteen

Pa y n e , N ew
.

Yea rs

World

Eur A l c 1 0 0
.

g P eop l es

2 41

E ll is

E we, 1 60

i n P o l yn e s ia , 2 2 8

i 4 45
.

M ark h am , B i tes

a nd

L a ws

the I n

cas

12

T H I N G S TA B O O

81

the seat of any hostile spiritual inuence the M ikado was

not malevolent towards his own people and yet contact
direct or indirect with him or them was avoided as
scrupulously as contact with a corpse Besides the rites for
driving away the S pirit of the deceas ed and there are many
1
such rites
are altogether distinct from and have nothing
in common with the precautions taken to prevent contact
with the corpse F ear of evil spirits therefore cannot be
the source of the world wide institution of taboo What the
so urce was we have yet to consider in our next chapter
F r s om
i t h Cl a ssic a l Revi ew f r
I n d o Eu ope
rit s s e m y p p
,

Jun e 1 8 95

an

er

C H A P T E R VI I I
TAB O O , M ORALI I Y,
'

AND RELI

GI O N

Polyne s ia the in s titution of taboo was closely entwined

with the social and political constitutions of the various
states ; taboos were imposed by the priest s and the nobility
and the unwritten code of taboo corresponded in many
important respects with the legal and social codes of more
advanced civilisations I t is not therefore surprising that
the earli er students of the system regarded it as an articial
invention a piece of state craft cunningly devised in the
interests of the nobility and priests
This view is how
ever now generally abandoned Wider researches have sho wn
that the institution is not due to state enactment or to
priest craft for the simple reason that it is most at home in
communities which have n o state organisation and ourishes
where there are no priests or no priesthood A bove all the
belief is not arti c ial and imposed but spontaneous and
universal
Taboo was next explained and is stil l explained a s a
religious observance ; everything belonging to or connected
with a god is forbidden or taboo to man This explanation
however has the fault fatal to a hypothesis of not accounting
for all the facts I t is true that everything sacred is taboo ;
it is not true that everything taboo is sacred T emples and
all the apparatus of ritual belong to the god and therefore
are taboo ; and even the corpse taboo may be brought into
a sort of harmony with this theory if we assume that the
spirit which has left the corpse become s a god and if we
al s o further assume that the spiri t is regarded as hostile by
the mourners With a little more strain upon the theory
it can be made also to explain the blood taboo ; for the blood
IN

82

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I STO RY O F REL I G I O N

84

himself in the wars of the tribe

N o sooner did he hear
the fatal news than he was sei z ed by the most extraordin ary
convulsions and cramp in the s tomach which never ceased
1
C ontact with
till he died about sun down the same day
the Mikado s clothes or drinking vessels wa s avoided not
fr o m fear of contracting any of his qualities but because the
clothes would cause swellings and pains all over the body
and the vessels would burn up the throat C ontact with a
corpse which might one would ha v e thought lead to con

tractin g the quality of death produce s loss of hair and

2
teeth
I n Whydah the negroes may not look upon the
sacred python when it goes in procession because if they
did their bodies would at once become the prey of loathsome
3
F ear of contracting the qualities of the thing
maggots
loathed does not as far as appears seem to be alleged by the
savage as his reason for avoiding persons or things taboo H e
is not commonly explicit as to the consequences of breaking
taboo ; he only gets so far as something plainly sugge s ted by the
association of ideas e g tabooed food will disagree with him
more or less seriously ; clothes be like the robe steeped in
the blood of N essus more or less unc o mfortable But as a
rule the consequences are lef t in the vague ; they are matter
for private and divers conjectures the one thin g about
which the savage ha s n o doubt is that the taboo must not
be broken I n ne the imperative of taboo is categorical
not hypothetical
T he last sentence will have reminded the reader that
according to the I ntuitionist school of moral philosophers
what distin guishes the M oral S entiment and Ethical Laws
from all others is precisely the fact that their commands are
categorical and that they require uncon d itional obedience
without regard to the consequences [The man who is honest
because to be honest is the best policy I s not actuated by a
moral motive fo r if dishonesty were a better policy he w o uld
for the same reason pursue it ; whereas the truly go o d man
is he who does what is right because it is right no matter
what the consequences T hat there is further a real connec
tion between taboo and morality has been noticed by Mr
.

Fra z er, op cit 1 6 8 , a n d A Pak eha M a ori, Ol d N ew Z ea l a n d , 9 6

3
-L
k
e
l
oc
or ,
c it
E llis , E we-sp ea kin g Peop l es , 6 1
Cra wl ey , Fo l
.

Fra z er ,

who s ays taboo subserved the progres s of civ ili s ation

by fostering conceptions of the rights of property and the
sanctity of the marriage tie
We shall scarcely err in
believing that even in advanced societies the moral sentiments
in so far as they are merely sentiments and are not based on
an induction from experience derive much of their force from
1
an original system of taboo
We may now taking leave of pre vious theories of taboo
go on our own way ; and a s our startin g point we wil l take
the fact that among sa vages universally there are some thin gs
which categorically and unconditionally must not be done
That this feeling is a
primitive sentiment a tendency
inherent in the mind of man the following consideration s
will I hope incline the reader to believe T hough all things
taboo are dan gerous not all dangerous thin gs are taboo ; for
instance it is not taboo to eat poisonous plants handle
venomous serpents jump over a precipice beard the lion or
in ne to do anything the danger of which you can discover
for yourself either by your own experience or that of
others
On the contra ry it is things which experience could
nev er teach you to be dangerous that are taboo s uch as
touching a new born child or the water in which a holy
person has washed I ndeed experience so far from being
able to generate the belief that these things are dangerous
would have sho wn that there was no danger in them and
would not have given rise to but have destroyed the belief
the proof of which is that in Polynesia the belief in taboo
has been broken down chiey by the fact that European s
v iolated taboos innumerable and were as the natives saw
none the wor s e The sentiment then as it appears even
in its earliest an d lowest manifestations cannot have been
derived from experience ; it is prior to and even contra di ctory
to experience I n n e it is an inherent tendency of t he
human mind ; and as such it does not stand isolated and
alone for in a previ o us chapter we have seen that t he belief
in the uniform ity of nature the tendency to expect what
has once happened to happen again is independent of as it
is often disappointed b y experience
Between the s e two
sentiments namely the positive belief that what you ha v e done
d ia B ritan ica s v
T b o
E cJ l
.

n zc o

oe

86

TO H I STO RY O F REL I G I ON

I N T RO D U C TI O N

once you can do again and the negativ e belief that there are
some things which you must not do there are other points
of contact as we shall ha v e occasion to note besides their
com m on orig in
The next point in our theory of taboo is that though the
moral sentiment undoubtedly does derive much of its force

from an original system of taboo it is not merely in the

m ora li ty of advanced societies tha t taboo continues to display
its force nor is taboo in its origin specically moral I n
advanced societies there are other things which must not be
done besides immoral acts e g irreligiou s acts breaches of
the code of honour vio lations of etiquette etc A nd in
savage communities there are things taboo which are not
irreligious or immoral but rather non moral But the senti
ment merely as a sentiment and apart from the reason or
j ustication of it is the same in all cases namely that the
thing must not be done T he sentiment in itself therefore is
neither exclusively moral religious nor social
I n other
words the sentiment is purely formal and without content ;
the conviction that there are some things which must not be
done does not help us at all to know what thin gs they are
which must not be done just as the conviction that what has
happened once will happen again under sim i lar circumstances
does not tell us whether the circum s tances of the second
occasion of a given experience are s imilar to those of the
rs t whether the a we have before us is really s imilar to the
a which was followed by b
H ow primitive man settled what thin gs were not to be
done there is no evidence to show We will therefore
content o urselves with the fact that as far back as we can

see in the history o r rather the prehistory o i man taboo

was never grossly material I t marked the awe of man in the

presence of wha t he conceived often mistakenly to be the

supernatural ; and if his dread of contact with blood babes and
corpses appears at rst sight irrational let us remember that
in these the three classes of o bj ects which are inherently
taboo we have man in relation to the mystery of life and
death and in his afnity to that supernatural power which
he conceived to be a spirit like himself The danger of

c ontact with these obj ects is imaginary if you like but it

,

TA B O O,

M O RA L I T Y

AN D REL I GI O N

87

is Spiritual i e it i s the feeling that experience sense

experience is not the sole s ource or nal test of truth ; and
that the things which are seen bring man daily into relation
with thin gs unseen Fo r once more the essence of taboo is
that it is a p ri ori that without consulting experience it pro
n o un c e s certain thing s to be dangerous
T hos e things as a
matter of fact were in a s ense not dangerous and the belief in
their danger wa s ir rational Y et had not that belief existed
there would be now no morality and con s equently no civili sa
tion
The thin gs were indeed dangerous but the danger was

for u s men of to day not for those who obeyed the taboo for
civilisation and not for the sa vage I t was a danger which
no experience at the time could have discovered so remote

i
was t an d so great
I f the savage appears irrational in his choice of obj ects
to b c taboo his belief in the transmissibili ty of taboo wa s
equally irrational and equally essential to the progress of man
kind The belief that every person who touched a thin g
taboo became himself tabooed and was a fresh centre of
infection to everyone and everything around him is obviously
an a p riori be l ief which is due not to experience at all but
to the as s ociation of ideas T he terror of the original taboo
spread to all associated with it and everything that suggested
it
This belief was a fallacy as experience would at
once have demonstrated ha d the savage dared to make
the experiment But this fallacy was the sheath which
enclo s ed and protected a conception that was to blossom and
bear a priceless fruit the conception of S ocial Obligation
T o respect taboo wa s a duty towards society because the man
who broke it caught the taboo conta gion and transmitted it
t o everyone and everything that he came in contact with
T hus the community had a d irect and li vely interest in
requiring that every member should respect taboo On the
other hand it was equally the interest of the individual to
avoid contact with things taboo because the infection fell
rst and most fatally on him Thus private interest and
public good coincided exactly ; and the problem that pu zzles
modern moral philosophers so much namely which of the two
if they do not co incide can a man reasonably be expected to
follow was and would be stil l absolutely inconceivable in a
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I STO RY O F R EL I G I O N

88

community where taboo is an institution I t seems there

fore that those philosophers who regard selshness as alone
natural and primitiv e have neglected the actual facts of
the case for from the beginning the sense of duty towards
oc
i ety has been necessarily present as a restraining inuence
s
on the individual H e has shrunk from violation of taboo
not merely as an in di vidual but also and always as a member
of society
T he terror with which he viewed the prospect of
coming into personal contact with thi ngs taboo was identi c ally
the same feeling with which he viewed the taboo breaker
N o r could he if he broke taboo hope by secrecy to conceal
his o ffence and escape his punis h m ent for the taboo contagion
infects as we have seen even those who unwittingly come in
contact with the thin g taboo
T hat society would not exist if the individual members
thereof did not nd their account in supporting it is un
deniable ; but it is equally true that no society could exist
unless the feeling of social obli gation held it together N ow
it is clear that the conviction that a man s own private
interest requires him to perform his duty towards the com
munity must have done much to bind society together I t
is also obvious that a m an mu s t ha v e been powerfully s t im u
lated to do his du t y by the further conviction that it was
impossible for any violation of duty to be hid T he belief
therefore in the transmissibil ity of taboo e ffected two things
First by rendering it impossible even to imagine a divergence
between private and public good it protected the growth of the
feeling of social ob ligation until it was strong eno ugh to stand
to some extent alone N ext by inspiring the conviction that
all breaches of taboo must inevitably be promptly discovered
it prepared the way for the higher feeling that whether likely
to be discovered or not wrong must not be done
But though there were a ll these possibilities of good in
the insti t ution of taboo it was only amongst the minority o f
mankind and there only under exceptional circumstances
that the institution bore its best fruit Fo r evolution and
progress are not identical
Everywhere there has been
evolution but progress has been rare I ndeed in many
respects the evolution of taboo has been fata l to the progress
o f humanity
The belief in the transmissibility of taboo led
.

TA B O O

M O RA L I TY

A N D R E LI GI O N

89

for instance in Polynesia to the desertion and inhuman

abando nment of the sick who were regarded a s taboo and
therefore could not b e ministered to becaus e those who
tended the m wo uld themselves become taboo Again the
taboo contagion spread so widely as to check man with its
iron hand in every attempt which he might make to subdue
nature and utilise her gif ts With its arbitrary and senseless
restrictions it overgro ws healthy social tendencies and kills
them as moss kills o ff grass or ivy stra n gles the tree T he
taboo laid on young mothers is extended to all women ; hence
the separation of man and wife ( I have scarcely ever seen

anything like s ocial intercourse between husband and wife

says the Ojibway Peter J ones ) the degradation of women
and the destruction of natural a ffection ( the wife beheld
u n moved the suff erings of her husband and the amusement
of the mother was undisturbed by the painful crying of her
langui shing child
I n religion the institution also had a
baneful e ff ect ; the irrational restrictions touch not taste not
handle not which constitute formalism are essentially taboos
indispensable to the education of man at one period of hi s
development b ut a bar to his progress later
The growth of taboo then need not detain us
I t is
amply accounted for by the fatal rapidity with which thanks
to the associatio n of ideas it spreads over the whole of savage
and even semi civili sed life
But the process by which taboo
has been converted into an element of civilisation calls for
some explanation
T he facts with which we have to reckon
in our attempt are these : on the o n e hand we have a net
work of innumerable taboos covering the whole life of the
savage restricting in the most irrational and in j urious manner
his incomings and outgoings his mode of eating his family
life his whole existence from the time when he is taboo as a
new born child to the tim e when he is a corpse and as such
is equally taboo
On the other in modern civilisation we
have all these taboos cast aside except those which subserve
the cause of m o rality and religion and those which lend their
force to the code of honour social e t iq ue t t e a n d minor morals
generally Evidently a process of selection
natural o r
o therwise ha s been at work and the problem is to discover
E llis P o lyn esi a n Resea che iv 1 2 6
,

s,

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

90

the nature of that process We might surm i se that the

selective agency has been experience
M ankind has dis
covered by experience the baleful consequences of certain
taboos the benecial e ffects of others and has retain ed the
latter while rej ecting the former N o t all communities have
been equally alert in the work o f discrimination ; the most
discriminating t he quickest to learn by experience have fared
best the ttest have survived T his theory has its recognised
place in moral philosophy under the title of the U nconscious

U tilitarianism of C ommon S ense ; unco n sciously but none

the less e ff ectively mankind has selected for condemnation as
immoral those actions which militate against utility and has
exacted as a moral duty the performance of those which tend
to the general g o od
The difficulty I have in accepting this theory is tha t it
fails to take into acco unt one of the most marked features of
taboo The very life of taboo as an institution depends on
the success with which it forbids the appeal to experience
and prevents experiments from being made
I f the eld
of experience were open freely to the savage doubtless
repeated experiment would in course of time teach him as
the theory of unconscious utilitarianism requires that it
should But taboo closes the eld to him H e dare not
make the e xperiment s which if made would enlighten him
Even if accidentally and unintentionally he is led to make such
an experiment instead of proting by the experience he di es
of fright as did the A ustralian slave who ate his master s
dinner ; or if he does not die he is tabooed excommunicated
outlawed ; and his fate in either case strengthens the original
respect for taboo T he vicious circle with which taboo
surro unds the savage is exactly like that which sympathetic
magic weaves round him The belief that like produces
like which is the foundation of sympathetic magic b l inds
his eyes to the facts which should undeceive him and the
teachings of experience fall c o nsequently in vain on ears which
will not hear
N o w the fallacy that like produces like stands in the same
relation to the positive belief in the uniformity of nature
that the transmissibility o f taboo stands in to the negative
belief that some things the re are which must not be done
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I ST O RY O F RE L I G I O N

92

same assumption is made by the religious sentiment which

even when most distressed for example by the apparent
triumph of injustice or by problems such as that of the origin
of evil still holds that the facts are capable ultimately of a
satisfactory explanation
The advance then which civilisation has made on savagery
consists partially at least in shaking o ff the bonds imposed
upon the mind by the association of ideas in seeking a
rational instead of a mechanical explanation of things ; in ne
to ret urn to the subj ect of this chapter in the ra t ionalisation
of taboo N o w wherever the operation of taboo is accepted
as an ul timate fact which requires no explanation there no
advance towards its rationalisation can be made and progress
is impossible But as soon as a taboo is taken up into
religion its character is changed ; it is no longer an arbitrary
fac t it becomes the command of a di vine being who has
reasons for requiring obedience to his ordinances N o t all
taboos however are taken up into religion ; there is a process
of selection and rej ection T o the consideration of this
process we shall return shortly ; here all we are concerned
wit h is to point out that when the taboos which receive the
sanction of religion are regarded as reasonable as being the
commands of a being possessing reason then the other taboos
also may be brought to the test of reason and man may
gradually learn to disregard those which are manifestly
unreasonable
The conviction begins to gain s t rength that
G od does not forbid things without a reason ; at the same
time religion by selectin g certain taboos to receive its
sanction strengthens them and thereby relatively weakens
the force of those which it rejects T he fact that the latter
have not received the religious sanction creates a p re s um p
tion that they are less binding and makes it easier for man
to discard them if they have n o reason and no utili ty
H ence all the elab o rate precautio ns which are taken by the
savage to prevent his f o od from becoming tabooed dwindle
down to the etiquette of the dining table the removal of a
garment lest it sh o uld be tabooed by the glance of a superior
is etiolated into civili sed man s form of salutation ; and the
interdict from re and water as a social penalty survives
only in the cut direct But tho ugh restrictions which are
,

T A B OO M O R A L I T Y
,

A N D R E L I GI O N

93

manifestly un reasonable and usele s s ha v e to a large extent

been broken down there are many which ne v erthel ess
continue to exist becaus e they are associated with occasions
and feelings not religious indeed but still sacred for instance
the wearing of mourning This reection may serve to
remind us that pure reason has no great motor power and
is only one of the factors in progress
Taboo has indeed
been rationalise d but not in all cases by r eason T o under
stand this we must return to the taboos taken up into
religion
T hese taboo s as we ha v e s aid when they receive the
sanction of YeII gion receive a di fferent character ; they are no
longer arbitrary facts they are rules of conduct enj oined by
a divine being I n the lower forms Of religi O
n they are

scarcely more rational than other savage taboos

but the
restrictions on individual li c ence which are due to respect
for a known and friendly power allied to man however
trivial and absurd they may appear to us in their details
contain within them germ in ant p rinc ip l es gf s ocial progress
and moral order
to restrain one s individual l icence not
out of slavish fear but from respect for a higher and
b e n e c e n t power is a moral discipline of which t h e value
does not altogether depend on the rea s onablene s s of the
sacred restriction s ; an English schoolboy is subj ect to many
unrea s onable taboos which are not without their value in the
1
formation of character
I n the higher forms of religion
however the trivial and absurd restrictions are cast o ff and
those alone retained and emphasised which are essential to
morality and religion T he higher forms of religion however
are the fewer ; the lower include the vast maj ority of man
kind and this fact su f ces to show that there is nothing even
in the respect for a known and friendly power allied to
man
which makes it inevitable that religion should
automatically rise from lower forms to higher and the
highest nor to conne ourselves to the matter in hand is
there anything automatic in the growing reasonableness of
the sacred restric tions of the higher religions I f one
religion differs from another in the reasonableness and moral
value of its restrictions t he difference is due to s ome
,

'

'

Rob ert s on Sm it h, Religi on

the S em it es , 1 5 4

94

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

di fference in their conditions I f the religion of one nation

di ffers from that of another in this way it must be due to
some di ff erence in the two nations ; the one nation is more
capable than the other of distinguishing between the
restrictions which are trivial and the restrictions which are
of paramount importance for the progress of civilisatio n
But o n examination it becomes apparent that it is not the
mass of a nation which initiates any reform in religion any
discovery in science any new form of art any new teaching
in morals I t is the individual reformer artist or moral
teacher who starts the new idea though it rest s with the
mass to accept his teaching We have then two factor s to
take into account : the in di vidual and the community A s
regards the forme r no one pretends to have discovere d the
law of the distribution of genius or to explain why one age
men of genius and another
o r nation should be rich in
barren We can only accept the fact that G reece produced
more geniuses in literature and art than any other country
and that there was a remarkable series of religious teacher s
in I srael T here is no law to account for the one fact or
the other ; nor can the manifestations of genius be exhibited
as the natural consequence of any general conditions On
the other hand the behaviour of the mass or generality of
the nation in face of the new teaching may be traced to the
general conditions at work upon them and the law of the
direction which the new teaching took among them may
perhaps be ascertained ; and after all it is for the most part
the conditions only and not the originating causes of great
spiritual movements which admit of analysis at the hands of
1
the historian
I t seems then that it is individual religious reformers
who have carried out the selective process by which the
innumerable taboos of savage life have been reduced to the
reasonable restrictions which are essential to the well being
of mankind A nd the prophets and religious teachers who
have selected this and rejected that restriction have usually
considered themselves in so doing to be speaking not their
own words or thoughts but those of their G od This beli ef
has been shared by the community they addressed otherwise
.

Rashd al l , Un iversities

E urop e, i 3 2
.

C H A P T IER I X
T O T EM I S M

THE

last three chapters though absolutely necessary for our

purpose have been somewhat of a digression from the direct
line of the argument The occasion of the di gression was
the necessity of examining the subj ect of taboo generally in
order to ac e rt ain whether the corpse taboo necessarily implied
hostility o n the part of the spirit of the dead man and
consequent fear on the part of the living Various reasons
1
have been suggested in the course of the digression for
answering this question in the negative and if these reasons
be accepted we are free to believe that the feasts in which
the dead were invited to partake were the spontaneous
expressions of natural a ff ection ; and that the possibili ty of
dealings between man and S piritual beings may thus have
been suggested in the rst instance That the desire existed
in man to approach the supernatural bein gs by which he
w as surrounded wil l hardly be doubted for the importance
of conciliating beings with irresistible power for good and for
evil was of the highest I t is clear also that the friendship
or alliance which man sought to establish between himself
a n d the spirits that he conceived to be supernatural wo ul d be
m o delled on that which bound together human friends or
a llies for there was no other form of alliance or friendship
known t o him We have therefore to ask what was the
earliest tie which bound man to man in other words what
was the earlies t form of society ?
That the nations of the world before they settled in the
countries now occupied by them were wanderers on the face
of the earth nomads is a matter which in the case of some
,

Se e

a b o ve ,

96

pp

8 0, 8 1

T OT E M I S M

97

people s admits of historic proof and is n o t doubted in the

case of the rest T he form which society takes amongst
nomads is that of tribes o r clans the members of which are
akin ( however they count kinship ) to one another
T he
normal attitude of these clans to one another is that of
hostility ; consequently the very existence of a clan depends
upon the promptitude and success with which the whole of
the small communi ty comes to the rescue of any one of its
members when threatened with danger or if too late to save
his life in i cts punishment on the hostil e clan
On the
other hand not merely the S layer but all his kin are
responsible for his deed : if their clan is to exist they must
protect him as any other member with their u nited stren gth ;
and hence as the kin smen of the slain man have the whole
of the slayer s clan arrayed against them it is im m aterial to
them whether they avenge themselves upon the actual slayer
o r not as long as they kill some one of his clan
T hus the
individual s only safety was in the help and protection of
the clan to which he belonged : outside that circle he was
helpless and alone
I n ne the only type of friendship
known to man in thi s stage of society is that of clansmen
o n e to another each of whom is ready to lay down his life
1
to protect or a v enge his kin sman
But if a man o r any
other being for the matter of that is not by birth one of
your kin how then is it possible to form any friendly
relation to enter into any engagement o r compact with him ?
T here is only one way if he is n o t by birth o n e of your clan
he must become one if the s ame blood does n o t circul ate in
your veins it must be introduce d into them ; in a word a
blood covenant must be made between you and then the
fellowship between you becomes sacred and in violable for you
are now kinsmen one esh and one blood Examples of
this proceeding are to be found all over the w
orld ; one o r
two may be gi v en here
T he exchange of blood is often
pract is ed amongst the blacks of Africa as a token o f alliance
,

Tha t t he b l o o

d f ud is
-

worl

d wid e
c s
-

an d

un i ers al

in s t it ut ion is

dc

so

wel l

A g oo
oll e t io n wil l b e o un
k n o wn t h at ill us t ra t ion s o f it are un n e es a ry
in P os t , Die es hl e htsgen ossens haf t d er Urzeit, 1 55- 1 7 4 Ot her in s t a n es :
Do b rizho ffer, A bip on es ,
2 8 0 I m Th urn , I n d i a ns of
uia na , 3 2 9
J o urn of
B as t ian , D er M en s h, iii 2 5, 2 6
A n t h I ns t xx iv 1 7 1 ff

G c c

I NT R O D U C TI O N TO

98

H I STO RY O F R E L I G I O N

and friendship T he M a m b e t t u people after having inicted

small wounds upon each other s arms reciprocally suck the
blood which ows from the incision I n the U n yora country
the parties dip two co ffee berries into the blood and eat them
A mongst the S andeh the procee di ngs are not so repulsive ;
the operator armed with two sharp knives inocul ates the
1
blood of one person into the wound of the other
The
exact manner in which this last operation is performed is
described by M r Ward who himself submitted t o it After
noting that blood brotherhood is
a form of cementing
friendship and a guarantee of good faith popular with a l l

U pper C ongo tribes he proceeds : A n incision was ma de in

both o ur right arms in the outer muscul ar swelling just b elow
the elbow and a s the blood owed in a tiny stream the
charm doctor sprinkled powdered chalk and potash o n the
wounds delivering the while in rapid tones an appeal t o uS
to maintain unbroken the sanctity of the contract a n d then
our arms being rubbed together s o that the owin g blood
intermingled we were declared to be brothers of one blood
whose interests henceforth should be uni t ed as o u blood
2
>a 0 t the
now was
I n S urinam when natives make a com:
G o d o m a n ( priest) draws blood from the contracti n g parties
3
pours some o n the ground and gives them the rest t drink
4
H d Od Ot us
T he ancient S cyths preferred to drink the blood
says they poured into a great bowl wine mixed Vith the
blood of the contracting parties ; then they dipped into the
bowl a dagger some arrows an axe and a javelin di d When
they had done that they made many imprecations sl d drank
of the bowl both they and the most d is t in g uis he c 0 f their
followers Again the drinking of blood o n the Oc a SiOD Of
ancient
an alliance compact or oath was common amo n g
Magyars The anonymous N o t arius of K in g B l a IC 5 6 )
says m ore p ag a n is m o f usis p rop riis s a nguin ibus in 7 mm m s
5
l
S
a VS to
ra tu m
c
e
e
r
u
n
A
mong
the
S
outher
t
i
u
r
m
e
u
m
a
n
t
f
this day blo o d feuds are common and may be termin a3 d b y t he
parties to the fe ud becoming blood brothers This 3 8 5 8 ( 3t
.

1
2

3
5

Cas a t i, Ten

Ward

F ive

Yea rs
Yea rs

i n Equa t ori a , i 1 7 7
w i th the Con o Ca n n i ba l s , 1 3 1

B a s t ia n , D er M en s h, ii 2 9 9
A m Ur q u e l l , iii 2 7 0
.

4
.

H dt iv 0
.

I N TR O DU C TI ON T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

100

was divided T hat he actually did consider these classes of

objects as organisations of the same kind as h uman clans is
shown by the fact that savages have blood feuds with these
natural kinds as they would with clans of hum an bein gs
Amongst the K o ok ie s a man s whole tribe takes vengeance if
one of them is killed by an animal or any wild beast and if
a tree has fallen o n him and killed him it is cut up by them
1
into the nest splinters which are scattered to the winds :
it is not essential that the very animal should be killed but
2
only that it should be one of the same species
On the
other hand it is believed that the whole of the animal s clan
will take up the blood feud o n behalf o f any o n e of them
against men T he Lapps and Ostiaks dread a blood feud
with the Bear clan and accordin gly before killin g a bear they
try to persuade him to fall a wil ling sacrice by explain in g
to him at length the exalted and atterin g uses to which his
3
esh fat and pelt will be put
The A rabs in the same way
4
must apologise to an animal before killin g it
I t is
generally believed by the natives of Madagascar that the
crocodile never except to avenge an injury destroys innocent

persons
an aged native abo ut to cross a river addressed
himself to the croco d ile urgin g him t o do him no in j ury
because he had never done him (the crocodile ) any ; and
as s uring him that he had never engaged in war against any
of his species
at the same time adding that if h e came
to attack him vengeance sooner or later would follow ; and
that if he devoured him all his relative s and all his ra ce
6
would declare war against him
T he I ndians of G uiana
endeavour also to avert blood feuds with animal s
Before
leavin g a temporary camp in the fore s t where they have
killed a tapir and dried the meat o n a babracot I ndians
invariably destroy this babracot saying that should a tapir
passing that way nd traces of the slaughter of one of his
kind he would come by night on the next occasion when
I ndians slept at that place and taking a man would
ch iii 2 5
B t i n De M
Ty l or P im i tiv Cu l tu
i 2 8 6 re ferrin g t o A s Res vii 1 8 9
D
M ns ch iii 5
B st i
I bid 6
i 53
E llis H is tory f M ad a gas c
M on sieur de V who e voy g e t o Mad ag asc r was
I bid 5 7 q uot in g
publ ished in
.

'

as

er

an ,

ens

a r,

re,

TOT E M I S M

101

babracot him in revenge

I t is not therefore s urpris ing if
man can have blood feuds with animal clans as he has with
human that he should seek t o establish an alliance with o n e
of these kinds o f beings in the same way and on the same
principle as with one o f the various human kins with which
he came in contact I t is to be presumed that in the choice
of an ally he would prefer the kind which he believed to
possess supernatural powers or if several possessed such
powers then the kind or species which possessed the greatest
powe r I n any case however it was n o t and from the
nature of the circumstances could not be an individual
s upernatural being with which he sought alliance but a class
or kind of beings with supernatural powers B ut this is
precis ely a totem
A totem is never an isolate d individual
i
j
b ut always a class of obj ects generally a species of animals
o r of plants more rarely a class of inanimate natural obj ects
2
very rarely a class of articial obj ects
I t is not merely
3
an individual but the species that is reverenced
T hus if
the owl be a totem as in S amoa and an owl was foun d dead
this was not the death of the god : he was supposed to be
4
yet alive and incarnate in all the owls in existence
But
just as it was i mpossible in the then stage of society to make
an alliance with a single member of another kin or kind and
therefore it was always the species and never an individual
merely that became a totem so it was impo s sible f or the
compact to be made between the totem species and one
individual man it was also and necessarily a covenant
between the clan and the class of objects chosen as a totem
I n other words from the beginning religion was not an a ffair
which concerned the individual only but one which demanded
the c o operation of the whole community ; and a religious
community was the earliest form of society
A s a clan cons ists of those in whose veins the same blood
runs and who are t herefore o n e esh the totem animal is
spoken of by the M ount G ambier tribe for instance as being
their tum a n a ng i e their esh and is treated in all respects
as a cl ansman N o w in the primitive nomad stage the most
sacred and inviolable duty is to re spect t he blood of the kin
I m T hu
T t mi m 2
I n d ian s f Guia na 3 5 2
F z
.

'

'

rn ,

I bid

15

4
.

ra

er,

o e

Turn er, S a m oa , 2 1

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I ST O RY O F RE L I G I O N

102

a clan in whi ch the kinsmen should shed each other s blood

would speedily perish ; only those clans could survive in the
struggle for existence which rigorously observed this funda
men tal duty Al l blood even of animals was as we have
seen tab o o but the blood of a kinsman was even more it was
sacred : the restriction by this change in its content is raised
from the taboo level to the plane of morality I n times
when it became possible or customary to accept compensation
w e rgeld for the slaying of a clansman in lieu of the blood
whi ch could alone originally atone for his death no com
n s a t io n could be accepted for the kil ling of a clansman by
e
p
a clansman I t was the unpardonable o ffence ; the Erinyes
of a dead kinsman were implacable I n this case and this
case alone kil ling was murder N ow the totem animal is a
clan s man and its lif e therefore is sacred : a man n ever k ill s
his totem ; to do s o would be murder Thus the Osages
abstained from hunting the beaver because in killing that
animal they killed a brother of the
Abstaining
from killing his totem he also endeavours to protect it from
being killed by others ; and if he fails to do so then amongst
2
the I ndians of C olumbia he will demand compensation
as he would for the d eath of any o ther kinsman The dead
totem an imal is mourned for and buried with the same
ceremonies as a clansman I n S amoa if a man found a dead
owl by the roadside and if that happened to be the in carna
tion of his village god he would sit down and weep over it
3
and beat his forehead with stones till the blood o w e d
Of all food the totem is most taboo ; death and sicknesses of
various kinds are believed to be the con s equence if a man
eats even unwittingly of his totem animal or plant Like
other thin gs taboo the totem as food is dangerous even to
see ; and it is well generally to avoid mentioning it s name
As the totem anim al becom es a member of the human
clan so the human clansman becomes a member of the
animal s clan This he indicates by dressing in the skin
or other part of the totem animal arranging his hair and
4
mutilating his body s o as to resemble the totem
T hus
among the Thlin k e t s at a funeral feast a relative of the
.

Fra

e r,

Tu rn er,

and

8 , q uo t in g Le wis
Cl a rk , i 1 2
N ine teen Yea rs in P o l y nesi a , 2 4 2
.

3
.

4
.

Fra z er, 8

Fra z er, 2 6

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

1 04

and his blood allowed to ow over the boy A nother and

another man is substituted until the boy is completely
1
covered with blood and thus is made e ff ectually one blood
with the tribe T he blood is the life ; and that the ceremony
is intended to give a new life to the youth and to be a new
birth for him is proved by the fact that in some tribes the
youth is supposed rst to be killed and then after initiation
has to pretend to forget all that ever he did or was before the
ceremony ; whilst in others a mimetic representation of the
resurrection of a clan s man accompanies the ceremony
A s the totem animal is a member of his human c l an s m en s
tribe and the clansmen are members of the animal s clan it
follows that men and totem animals are descended from a
common ancestor which common an cestor is universally
conceived by primitive totem clans to have been animal and
not human and myths are accordingly invented to account for
the fact that some of his descendants have assumed human

form thus the T urtle clan of the I roquois are descended from
a fat turtle whi ch burdened by the weight of its shell in
walking contrived by great exertions to throw it o ff an d
3
thereafter gradually developed into a man
When tote m i sm
is decayin g myths are invented with precisely the opposite
purpose namely to explain how it was that the ancestor ever
assumed a nimal form T he metamorphoses of the gods in
G reek mythology are probably thus to be accounted for as
Mr Lang has argued in his M yth Ritua l a n d Relig ion
Le t us now see how this alliance between a human kin
and a species of natural obj ects conceived as superhuman
a ff ected the parties to it Man s attitude to the world around
him was at once changed : he had gained the supernatural
ally he sought and thus was enabled to make that free use
of nature which was the condition of material progress but
whi ch was debarred him by the restrictions imposed upon his
action by fear of supernatural terrors But hi s ally s place
in nature was also changed by the alliance : this supernatural
power was distin gui shed from all others by the fact that it
was in alliance with him I t became a permanen tly friendly
power ; in a word it became a god whereas all other spirits
remained evil or at a n yra t e hostile powers by whom a man
.

B a s t ian , A l ler l ei , i 1 7 1
.

3
.

Fra

z er

T OT E M I S M

105

could only expect to be treated as he was treate d by and as

indeed he himself treated members of a strange clan Other

tribes might and did have their supernatural allies as my
clan had and those allies were gods because they ha d a
denite circle of worshippers whom they permanently assis ted
but they were no gods of mine But these two classes of
supernatural powers did not exhaust the world of superhuman
spirits : there were spirits not attached to any human clan
having no circle of worshippers to whom they were friendly ;
that is to say they were hostile to all men implacable
1
I n a pre vi ous chapter we have examined and combated
the view that man begin s by endeavouring to constrain and
coerce the supernatural powers by which he conceives himself
to be surro unded ; and that he is encouraged to use such
compulsion ei t her because he has not yet learnt to d istinguish
between the natural and the supernatural and therefore
believes him s elf to be as strong as these spirit s or because he
thinks himself to pos s e s s magical powers and s o to be
stronger than they N o w thi s view that man feel s himself
a mat c h or more than a match for the non human powers by
which he is s urrounded is absolutely opposed to the abj ect
terror in which savages stand towards these spirits What
M r I m T hurn says of the I ndians of G uiana is true of all
savages : I t i s almost impossible t o overestimate the dreadful
sense of constant and unavo i dable danger in which the I ndian
would live were it not for his tru s t in the protecting power of
3
Ther e is however an argument in support of
his pe aim an
this view which we did not mention at the time because the
proper reply to it would have required us to anticipate this
chapter The argument is that the lowest s avages having
none but material conceptions of the univer s e evil spirits
3
and
origin ally are dealt with by mere p hysical force
instances may be found of the forcible physical expulsion of
4
evil spirits
But to say nothing of the fact that taboo the
most potent inuence over the savage mind is not a material
.

1
3

S up ra ,
Im

2 4 ti

35

T hurn , I n d ia n s

d o t o r, b ut
3

pp

als o

in

P a y n e, N ew

Pay n e , l oc

ff

Gu i

s o m e s en s e

Worl d

c it . , a n d

t he

i 3 90
.

Fra

a na ,

3 33

pries t

The pe a im

32 8

an

z er Gold en
,

B ough, ii 1 58 1 8 2
.

is

n ot

s im

pl y

t he

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

1 06

forcible expulsion of evil spirits is in the

conception
majority of cases one part of an annual ceremony of which
an essential feature is some rite o r other for gaining the
protection of the friendly god as a preliminary to this combat
with the evil spirits Probably more accurate observation
would show that the assistance of a supernatural ally is a
n on
of all such demonstrations
A t a n yra t e if
s in e gud
totemism m a y be taken to be a stage of development through
which all peoples have passed we may fairly argue that it was
the consciousness of possessing a supernatural ally which rst
nerved the savage to attack a supernatural power
Ot her writers again rightly recognising that the rulin g
desire of the savage is to avoid giving o ffence to the many
evil spirits have not only jumped to the conclusion that

religion was born of fear p rim us in orbe tim or f ecit d eos

but have been led by the prejudice to mal observation of the
facts of savage life Fo r instance it was in N orth A merica
that totemism ourished to a degree unequalled elsewhere

save in A ustralia ; and yet amongst all of the Am erican

tribes the worship of Spirits that are malicious and not of
those that are good is a characteristic that has been noticed
with much astonishment and commented upon by travellers
3
and other writers
the fact bein g simply that the totem

god is left out of account by these writers

Pure unmixed
d evil worship prevails through the le n gth and breadth of t he

3
land says another writer who perhaps however only means
by devil worship the worship of false gods just as so many

travellers apply the term sorcerer to men whose function

in the community is actually to coun teract magic and sorcery
and who are then q uoted to show that the priest is evolved
out of the sorcerer and religion o ut of magic
But however
true it is that savage man feels himself to be environed by
innumerable dangers which he does not understand and so
e
r
o
n i e s as in visible or mysterious enemies of more than
s
p
human power it is not true that the attempt to appease these
rs is the foundation of religion
o
e
w
From the earliest t imes
p
religion
as
distinct
from
magic
or
sorcery
addresses
itself
to
I
k in d re d and friendly beings who may indeed be angry with
l
I
S up a p 6 8
titi on
30
D m
P ri m itiv S up
C th lic M i si
25
Sh
1

'

ea ,

o ns ,

or

an ,

ers

s,

1 08

I N T R O D U C T I O N T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

host ile o n e to an o ther so were their gods H ence the god

of each tribe protected his own men and went in person with
them to war a n idea which totemism bequeathed to more
advanced stages in religion for instance to Peruvian poly

theism
the C olla
D uring t he revolt of the C ollao
warriors
carried an idol of the Sun during the cam
and
to
the
polytheistic
negroes
of
the
G
old
C
oast
n
i
a
p g
where in t ime of war the struggle is not carried o n by the
opposing tribes alone for the protecting deities o f each side
are believed also to be contending together each strivin g to
achieve success for hi s own people ; and they are believed to
be as much interested in the result of the war as the people
3
engaged
As loyalty to the god o f the community is a
sentiment without which monotheism could never have
triumphed over lower forms of belief So the recognition that
there could be other ( hostile) gods a s well as the god o f a
man s own clan was the germ of polytheis m I t is only by
the fusion of several tribes that a nation can be created and
this fusion carries with it o r is caused b y the amalgama
tion o f their respective cults But this only takes place after
totem times when the nomad clan has become the village
communi ty
The relation between the human kin and the totem
species which at rst is o n e of alli ance and therefore in
consequence o f the blood covenant one of blood relationship
eventually changes its character somewhat for the kin ship
between men and animals comes to require explanation The
requisite explanation is a ff orded by a myth which makes
the original ancestor of the two kins an animal H ence the
members of the human community become the god s children
and the god their father not the actual human father who
begat them for he is alive ( and when he dies his death makes
no difference) but a hypothetical father so to speak i e one
that reason led them to assume as the only way of account
ing for the actual facts (namely their k inship with their
tote m ) ; and the verication of this primitive hypothesis was
found by the m in thei r inner experience i e in the lial
reverence and a ff ection which they felt towards him D oubt
less it was not all o r most men who had this experience or
.

Pa yn e ,

N ew

World

i 51 5
.

3
.

E l l is Ts hi
,

sp ea lc ing

P eop l es , 7 7

TOT E M I S M

1 09

rather it was but few who attended to the feeling but the
best must have paid heed to it and have foun d satisfaction in
dwelling o n it else the conception o f the deity would never
have followed the line on which as a matter of fact it developed
T he result was that the god tended to be conceivedand when
the time for art came to be repre s ented no longer in animal
but in human form
T he compact between the clan and it s supernatural ally
not only altered the relation o f e ach to the rest of the
univ erse but it also changed the relation of the clansmen to
one another H enceforth they were united not only by
blood but by religion : they were not merely a society but a
religious community The aid rendered by the god to the
clan in its conicts with its enemies human o r superhuman
and his habitual a ff ection for his own people constituted a
claim both upon each member o f the community and upon
the community as a whole H ence if any man o ffended the
clan god the god s quarrel wa s taken up by the whole o f the
rest o f the comm unity and by them if necessary the o ffender
was punished and the god avenged The acts which offended
h im were roughly speaking thin gs which a c cording to the

savage s a p riori feeling must not be done i e are taboo

such as intrudin g upon the god s privacy or ha vin g to do
with persons outside the community namely new born
children strangers and outlaws o r coming into contact with
blood and so on
S ome o f these acts e g the shedding of
kindred blood are condemned by us as im moral and sinful ;
we can therefore hardly blame the savage to whom they were
all equally repugnant for treating them all as o ffences both
against the community and against the god and punishin g
them as such
I n thi s j oint action of the community as a
collective whole prompted by religion we have the r s t

appearance of what was hereafter to be the state the rst

because here the authority of the community is not delegated
as it is when a war leader is ele c ted : the method o f e x e c ut
in g the criminal is stoning in which the whole community
j oin s
I f it is in love and not in fear that relig ion in any true
s ense of the word ha s its o rigm it i s no n e the less true that
fearnot of irrational dan g e rs but of d eser ve d punis hment
,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

110

is es s en tial to the moral and religious ed ucation o f man : it is

the fear of the Lord that is the begin n ing of wisdom

T hat the lowest savages are a perpetual prey to irrational
terror and believe sickne s s and death to be unnatural and to
be the work in all cases of evil spirits is matter of common
knowledge I t was inevitable therefore that the supernatural
ally o f a human kin Sho ul d c ontinue to exercise this power
of caus ing disease and death But whereas the belief that
disease is due to evil spirits is fatal not only to a right
understanding of the action o f natural causes and to all
intellectual progress but also prevents fear from becoming an
instr ument in the moral education of man the ascription of
S ickness to the agency of a friendly power has a different
result
T his action on his p art HIS departure from the
usuall y benevolent behaviour shown by him to his own people
can only be explained by the assumption that he has been in
some way o ffended by them The possible modes of offence
are known ; they are such as have been mentioned in the
last paragraph and though they at rst include many which
religion as it advances sets aside by a process o f super

natural selection they include offences which we recognise

to be immoral and on the checking o f which the further
progress o f morality depended
But i n that the earliest
stage o f socie t y unl ess the restrictions which we see to be
irrational and stigmatise a s taboos had been enforced neither
co ul d those have been enforced which really contained the
germs of morality
We have seen at the beginning of this chapter that
there was one such restriction ( against shedding kindred
blood) on which not merely the morality but the very exist
ence o f the clan depended and that the mere fact of a clan s
survival in the struggle fo r exi s tence is proof conclusive that
t he restriction was obeyed
But though a clan s survival
proves that the restriction must have been obeyed it does not
show what i t wa s that made the clansmen obey it
I n some
clans it was n o t obeyed and those clans perished That a
dim perception of the utility perhaps of the necessity of
curbing personal animosity may have existed we will admit
But that a savage smarting under personal resentment would
stay his hand out of consideration for such a remote and

2
113

I N T R OD U C TI O N

To

H I S TO RY

OF

RELI GI O N

f
h
ch
h
i
s
m
n
t
w
e
n
pp

enforces the restrictions essential to the

tribe s existence but also the internal consciousness of having
disregarded the claim which the affection of the protecting
clan god for his people establishes o n one and all of the
community, I n a word from the beginning o ffences against
the community are felt not only a s immoral but also as sins
T o the external sequence of ca lamity consequent upon
transgression there corresponds the internal sense of lesion
in the bond of mutual goodwill which marks the alliance
between the clansmen and their god
We have now examined the way in which men and gods
were affected respectively by the alliance formed between
them But what shall we s ay of the third memb er to the
alliance the totem species of plant or animal ? did it remai n
unaffected by the alliance ? M r Fra z er concludes his
Tot em is m with the followin g pregnant passage : C onsidering
the far reaching effects produced on the fauna and ora of a
district by the preserva tion o r extinction of a single species
of an imals o r plants it appears probable that the tendency
of totemism to preserve certain species of plants and animals
must have largely inuenced the organic lif e of the c o un t fie s
where it has prevailed But this question wi th the kindred
question o f the bearing o f totemism o n the original domestica
tion of animals and p lant s is beyond the scope o f the present
1
N either has a his t o yy of religion anything appar
article
ently to do with the domestication b f plants and anim als
Y et it is only by taking it as our starting point t ha t we can
solve the difcult and important problem why so few traces
of totemism are to b e found in the great civili sation s of t he
world

"

'

Fra z er, Tote m ism

9 5, 9 6

C H A P TER X
S U RVI VALS

OF T O TEM I SM

I M PO RTAN T as tote mism is as a stage of reli gious development

it is almost more important in the history of material civilisa

tion for totemism was the prime motor of all material
progress
M
aterial
progress
means
the
accumulation
of
,
wealth
Of the various form s which wealth can take the
most import ant is food for until food is provided it is
impossible to proceed to the production of any other kind
of wealth I f the whole time an d energies of a community
are exhausted in scraping together just enough food to carry
o n with there is no leisure o r strength left for the production
of any other kind of wealth N o w that is the case in which
those nomad clans nd them selves who depend for their
food si pon hunting shing and t he gathering of fr ui ts and

roots the natural basis of subsistence

But with th o se
wandering clans which succeed in domesticating the cow
sheep goat an d other animals the case is very different
T he labour of obtain ing food is greatly economised and the
labour thus set free can be employed in the production o f
those other kinds of wealth which constitute the ric heg o f a
pastoral people When cereals and other food plants come
to be c ul tivated and agriculture makes a wandering life no
longer possible food pro d uction is still further quickened
and the substitution of an articial for a na tural basis of
3
is completed U ntil this s ubstitution takes
subsistence
place civilisation is impossible ; an d whate v er started this
substitution i e led to the domestication o f plants and
animals started the movement of material progress
N o w of the innumerable species of plants and animals
,

Pa y n e , N ew

World

i 27 6
.

114

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

which exist or have existed on the face of the earth only

a relatively very small number are capable o f domestication ;
and before they were brought under cultivation there was
nothing whatever in their appearance or in man s scanty
experience to indicate that they and they alone could be
domesticated H ow then did he light upon exactly those
kinds which were capable of cultivation
S imply by trying
all Those kinds which were incapable of domestication
remained wild ; the few that co ul d be cultivated became

our domestic animals and plants But though man tried

all k inds he was not aware that he was making experiments
still less that the consequence of his attempts would be the
domestication of certain species H ow could he be when

the very idea of domestic animals had not yet dawned

upon man s mind ? I t co ul d then have been no considera
tion of util ity no prospective personal benet no foresight
of the consequences that made man all over the globe
attempt to domesticate every species of animal that he came
across indeed he did not know that he was domestica ting
1
3
The suggestion that his motive was amusement does
it
not supply an adequate cause ; granted that amusement might
lead a man here and there to capture an animal and try to
tame it we cannot suppose the whole human race in every
latitude and on every continent giving itself up to this kind

amusement as we must suppose if we are thus t o

of

account for the domestication of animals t o say nothing

of plants A nd when we bear in mind that the savage is
usually incapable o f steady continuous persistent eff ort we
shall require a more potent cause than amusement as a
motive for the long labour of domestication But in tote m i sm
we have a cause persistent world wide and adequate to
account for the facts The totem animal not merely an
individual but the whole species is reverenced protected
and allowed or rather encouraged to in crease and multiply
over the whole area traversed by the tribe and the area
,

The

Fac u l ty ,

t he

270
2 4 3

a us es

t o t e m is m ,
3

a b o ve

a rgum en t
.

l e a d in g
an d

He

to

t hin k s

is

b orro w e

also re c ogn is es
t he d o m

d f

I n qu iries i n to H um an
t h e s a n c t it y o f c ert a in a n im a l s a s o n e o f

e s t i a t io n

of

tha t the s a va g e s hab it

Lord Kam e s , S ketches , bk i

.

sk .

ro m

a l t on ,

a n im a l s ,
o f m a k in g

( P a yn e

b ut

does

p e t s is

n ot

t he

m en tion

chie f c

a us e .

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

116

as it may appear a paradox to assert that men learnt to ea t

cattle by abstainin g from eating them perhaps a few more
words in elucidation should be given The ordinary theory
of the beginnings of domestication is presumably that the
hunter having learnt by experience that beef was good o r

that mountain sheep are sweet resolved to Spare the

young an imals and breed fro m them To this there are two
obj ections First the savage having practically no thought
for the morrow i s habitually reckless and wasteful in con
sumption eats all he can and only goes hunting again when
there is absolutely nothing lef t to ea t N ext as a matter
of fact their cattle are precisely the animals which pastoral
peoples do not eat
T he common food o f these races is
milk or game ; cattle are seldom k illed for food and only
1
on exceptional occasions such as the proclamation of a war

etc A mongst the Z ulus the killin g of a cow is seldom and

3
reluctantly done
A K a fr does not often slaughter his
3
cattle except for sacrice or to celebrate a marriage
Every idea and thought o f the D inka is how to acquire and
maintain cattle ; a kind of reverence would seem to be paid
a cow is never slaughtered but when sick it
t o them
is segregated from the rest and caref ully tended in the large
huts built for the purpose
indescribable is the grief when
either death or rapine has robbed a Dinka of his cattle H e
is prepared to redeem their loss by the heaviest sacrices
4
for they are dearer to him than wife or chil d
T hough
the I ndian women breed fowl and other domestic animals
in their cottages they never eat them
much less kill
5
them
The Battas of S umatra ( who are totemis ts ) have

domesticated the buffalo dog pig goat fowl and hors e ;

buff aloes and goats dogs and horses ( which latter are care
f ul ly fattened ) a s a r ul e never ser v e for food except at
3
festivals
I t is therefore the or din ary theory of domestication that
is paradoxical for it assumes that man domesticates animals
,

Ro b ert s on S m it h , R el igi on of t he S em ites , 29 7

I bid q uo t ing Shaw , M em ori a l s of S ou th Af rica , 5 9
Sho o t er, K a rs of N a ta l , 28
S h wein urt h , H ea rt of Af ri a , i 1 63
.

Ull o a, q uot ed in al t o n , I n q u i ries i n to H u m a n Fa

Wait z, A n throp ol og ie, 1 1 8 3

c ul ty

2 47 .

S U RV I VA L S

O F TO TEM I S M

117

for no other purpose than to eat them and then does n o t

eat them On the other hand the view here a dvanced is
that totemism is or has been world wide it can be traced
in A ustralia N orth America C entral America S outh
1
America Africa A sia Polynesia
that probably every specie s
of animal has been worshipped a s a totem somewhere o r
other at some time or other ; that in consequence of the
respect paid to them those animals which were capable o f
dome s tication became gradually tame of themselves ; and
nally in consequence o f changing circumstances religious
social and economi c as totemism and the taboo o n the esh
of the totem faded away the habit of eating those dome s ticated
animals which are good for food / grew slowly up
T he
growth o f this habit will be traced in the chapter o n the
Sac ric ia l M eal
H ere however one or two points may be
noted I f our theory be true we should expect to nd even
amongst those peoples who have taken to eating domesticated
animals traces of reluctance to kill o r consum e animals
which once were forbidden food
S uch traces are found T o
3
kill an o x was once a capital o ffence in G reece and the
3
word Bo vgbw a implies that s uch slaughter was murder
I n England it was in C aesar s time a re l igious o ffe n ce to
eat fowl (a s it was amongst the S outh American Indians
mentioned above in the quotation from U lloa ) goose or
4
hare ; and yet they were bred he says
C aesar feels that
there is something s trange in this but (anticipating Lord
K ames ) he conj ectures that the creatures were bred

for amusement
animi vo l upt at is q ue causa
But there
are two obvious obj ections to this : rst if they were
bred merely for amusement there could have been no
religious o ffence in eating them ; next if there was a taboo
on eating them they were not domesticated merely for
amusement Wild animals are undoubtedly commonly kept
5
as pets by savages but savages have no scruples about
killing pets T hus C aptain S peke says
I was told Suna
M t ese
kep t buff aloes antelopes and animals of all sorts
,

Fra z er, Totem is m , 91 9

-

Rober t son Sm

i th

3
.

Rel ig ion

Varro

the Sem it es , 3 0 6

R R ii 5
.

v 12 :
n
s
are
f
a
a
m
e
u
Cas s B
t
s
n
o
n
u
t
n
h
a
ef
r
t
a
t
g
p
5
G al t o n , H um a n Fa cul ty , 24 3 tf , g i es in s t an es
.

a l un t .

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I ST O RY

118

OF

RE L I G I O N

his s on no sooner came to the throne than he indulged in

shootin g them down before his admiring wives and now he
1
I f the fowl
has only one buffalo and a few parrots left
and other domestic animals bred by the S outh American
I ndians were merely pets we should not nd that if a
stranger o ffers ever so much money for a fowl they refu s e
to part with it
or that o n seeing it killed the Indian
woman shrieks dissolves into t ears and wrings her hand s
3
as if it had been an only son
Other animals which civilised man i s reluctant to fee d
3
on are swine dogs and horses T he two latter animals are
of importance for our argument not merely because they
show how long the loathing set up by the original taboo can sur
vive its cause but also because they rem i nd us that domestic
animals serve other purposes than that of providing an
articial food supply According to our theory animals that
were capable of domestication became tame of themselves
in consequence of the respect and protection a fforded to
them as to other totem animals ; and it was only in the
course of time that it gradually dawned on the mind o f man
that he might make economic use o f the m
On the other
hand the ordinary vie w is that man rst saw how u s eful
,

al t o n , op

ci t

249

U ll oa , ap G a l t o n , 2 4 7
o o d t o t h e H e b re w s
Wit h reg ar
.

Th e s win e , l ik e t he hare , wa s o rb i en
t o t he for m er a n im al , t he a t s s ee m t o b e a s oll o ws The
c a t e d ani m al w as n ot k no wn t o t he un dis ers e d S em it e s
p

fc

dd

s wine as a d om e s t i
or t o t he Sum erian
o
u
l
a
t
i
o n o f B a b yl on ( S chra d er P rehis tor ic A n t iq uiti es
o n t he o t h er
p p
hand it s fle sh w as forb id d en fo o d t o al l the Sem it e s (Religion of the S em ites
The in feren c e t h ere fo re is t ha t ( 1 ) it wa s a ft er t h eir d is p ers io n t ha t
t h e S e m i t es be c a m e a c q uain t e d w it h t h e s win e a s a d o m e s t ic an im al ( 2 ) it w a s
forb id den food from t he t im e o f it s rs t in t ro d uct ion an d s pread am o n g s t t hem
I n the n e x t pl a c e ( 1 ) t he p ig c a n o n l y b e housed and re are d a m ongs t a s e t t l ed
i e a gric ul tu ra l p o p ul a t io n ( 2 ) t he p ig is a s s o c ia t e d es p e c ially wi th t he w o rs hip
,

o f a g ri ul t ural

d e it ie s ,

The in eren e
g D e m e t er, A on is , a n d A p hro d it e
a g a in is t ha t , a s a ri ul t ure an d t h e re l i io us rit e s a s s o ia t e d w it h it s re a d
g
p
g
t og e t h er, it w a s in on n e t io n w
h
at
s o m e orm
t
o f a ri ul t ura l w o rs h i
g

d o m es t i
S em it i

a t io n
ra

ce

of

S em it es , ( 2 ) is

t he

i th

i
p g o un d it s w ay
Fin al l y , t h e s win e ( 1 )

o n d em n e d

a m o n gs t

wa s

in

I s aiah ( l xv
a b om in a t io n

4,

the

vario us

e s t eem e d

l x vi

3,

f th
c
c t by so m e

b ra n he s

s a ro s an

cf

be cause
a ss o

ci

it wa s

at o n

c d;

s a re

wh e re it

d id

n ot,

p o f fal s e g o d s

wit h t he worsh i

cc

it

Re l i ion of
16 ;
e , t he n , is t h a t t he

S em ites , 2 9 1 ) a s a heathen
The in eren
w o rs hip w it h whi h the s win e w a s a s s o ia t e d did n o t n d e ual a
q
a m o n s t all t he S e m it e s
Where it d id n d a ep t an e, the es h wa s
g
.

the

was p rohib it e d

cc ept n ce
forbid d en

b ec aus e

of

it s

1 20

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I ST O RY O F RE L I G I O N

to civil isation But totemism did n ot uni versally lead to

civilisation or invariably develop in t o a hi gher form of
re l igion On the contrary the civili sed and civilising peoples
are in the minority and totemism still e xists
N o w if we consider the geographi cal d istribution of
totemism we nd that the two countries in which it is ( r
g
was at the time of the discovery o f those countries ) most
marked are A ustrali a and N or t h America ; whil e the peopl es
in which its traces are hardest to nd are the S em i tic a nd
the I ndo European I f again we consider the geographical
distribution of those species of animals which are capable
of domestication and on the domestication o f which t lie
possibility of civil isation depended we shall nd that t he
greatest number belonged to the Old World those bf
1
America were fewer and Australia had none at all ; inde ed
of the three species occurring in A merica ( reindeer lla m a
and paco ) none come i n to account in this argument for
they are outside the totem area o f N orth A merica I t w l
scarcely be considered a merely fortuitous
however we may explain it that the two
totemism lasted longest and ourished most are
in which there are no domesticable a nim als
merely accidental occurrence that the peoples
completely thrown o ff totemism are precisely those which \
have by the domestication of plants and animals attaine d
to civilisation The inference is that the domestica tion to
which totemism inevitably leads ( when there are any
animals capable of domestication ) is fatal to totemism
The fundamental principle of totemism is the alliance of aM
clan with an animal species and when the clan ceas es to
exist as a social organisation the alli ance is dissolved also
But with the transition from a nomad to a settled form o f
life which the domestication o f plants and animals entails
the tie of blood relationship indispensable to the existence of
a wandering tribe is n o longer necessary to the existence o f
the community : local association and the bond of neigh
b o urho o d take its place for the restriction of civic and
political rights to the actual descendants of the original clan
is inconsistent with the expansion of the community By
.

Pa y n e , 2 8 3

S U R V I VA L S O F TOT E M I S M

1 21

this expansion of society beyond the narrow bounds of blood

relationship the germ of higher religious belief which
to t emism envelops is enabled also to burst its sheath and
man s conception of the deity sloughs o ff the totem god But
though totemis m perished in the very process o f producing
the advance from savagery to civilisation still even in the
civil isation of the Old World survivals of the system may be
traced
For the Egyptians totemism m a y be regarded as
1
certain
Egypt was divided into nomes o r districts in
each o f which a different animal was revered by the
inhabitants
I t was not an individual ani mal but the
whole species which w a s thus reverenced and it was by all
the inhabitants of the nome that it was revered T he l ives
of such animals were sacred each in its own nome and their
esh might not be consumed as food by the inhabitants of that
nome T he god of the district manifested himself in the
species sacred to that district But this i s not a survi val o f
totemism I t is totemis m the thing it s elf
N o one however all eges that the religion of Egypt never
got beyond totemis m On the contrary we can see side by
s ide with it in Egypt many of the stage s and processes by
which religion gradually divested itself of this its rst
protecting envelope just as we may see sedimentary rocks
by the s ide o f the igneous rocks from which they are
derived
I ndeed even in the lowest stratum of Egyptian
totemism we may detect signs if not evi dence o f the
disintegrating process : the bond of kinship the tie of blood
is relaxed I t is to be presumed that the inhabitants of a
nome did not for ever continue to be blood relations of one
another as they probably were when rst they settled in the
district ; and the bel ief that the sacred species of anim al was
one blood and one esh with the human tribe also faded
B ut tho ugh the blood tie which held the human clansmen
together and which also bound the human clansmen to the
animal was relaxed and faded away from memory the e ffects
which it produced continued to exist
T hus the sacred
animal whether it was still believed to be a blood relation or
not rece ived the same ob s equies and was mummied in the
,

Fra z er, 9 4

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

1 22

same way as man ; and the killing by one nome of an

animal sacred to another was avenged in eff ect if not
consciously in the spirit with which the blood feud was
exacted on behalf of a slaughtered kinsman
Another and a f urther stage of development is reached
when one particular specimen o f the species is selected as
being the one which the deity has chosen to abide in as for
instance the calf marked by twenty nine particular signs
which showed that the C alf go d Apis was present in him
On the one hand the concentration of veneration on an
individual would tend to withdra w sanctity from the rest of
the specie s and the result might easily be a nal separation
of the animal god from the animal species
On the other
han d that in Egypt at an y ra t e the worship o f an individual
animal such as the Apis calf is the ou t come of totemism
is plain from two things : rst the rest o f the S pecies did
continue to be sacred eating cow s esh was a s abhorrent to
the Egyptians as cannibalism and next when the sacred
animal died the god as such did not die with him but at
once became incorporated in another animal resembli ng the
1
rs t
evidently as in S amoa when an owl died
this
was not the death of the god ; he was supposed to be yet
3
alive and incarnate in all the owls in existence
That in spite of the ties which bound him to the rest of his
species the animal god did shake o ff his humbler rel a t ion s
and came to be worshipped in his higher aspect exclusively
is certain ; and the process was facilitated by the dissolutio n
of the bonds which tied down his worship to one particular
nome
Apis e g came to be worshipped all over Egypt
But the fact that his c u
lt was originally local not universal
is shown by t he circumstance that his calf wherever in
Egypt it appeared was taken to Me m phis and kept there
Thus not only was the indivi dual animal exalted above the
rest of his species but the god that dwelt in him was far
rem oved fr o m all his worshippers except those who dwelt in
the immediate neighbourhood o f his animal manifestation
T hus he gained in magnicence both ways and in both ways
the associations which bound him to his animal form and
,

'

1
3

Wie dem a n n
T urn er,

D ie Religion d er a l ten A egyp ter, 9 6

S a m oa , 2 1 , s ee ab o ve , p 1 0 1
,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE LIGI ON

1 24

arises whether supposing that in Egypt

or elsewhere we nd a purely anthropomorphic god having an
animal associated with him in art and sacred to him in
ritual but having none of those further relations to a sacred
species of animals and a particular human kin which are o f
the essence of totemism we are justied in assumi ng that the
worship ( or part o f the worship ) o f that god is a survival of
totemism ? Plainly the answer to this question depends
o n whether there is any o t her way in whi ch gods become
ass o ciated in ritual and art with animals
I f there is we
shall have to consider in each particul ar case which is the
more probable genesis of the given association
I f not we
may provisionally and until further cause be shown assume
the association to have been totemistic N o w there is only
one other way which has been suggested to account fo r
the association and which is also a method app licable to
other countries in which gods are associated with animals
1
as well as to Egypt
I t is that the a ni mals were chosen as
symbols to express some attribute some aspect of the might
and majesty of the gods
We will begin by admitting the beauty and the value
of symbolism N ay ! we will insist that there are truths
which can only be shadowed forth by means o f symbols A t
the same time as it is possible to detect a symbolism where
it was never meant we must be on our guard against

ridiculous excess
The fact to be explained is that
certain animals are considered sacred
T he suggestion is
that the anim als were chosen to typify cer t ain divine
attributes and as the symbols of certain excellences But
if one surveys the list of sacred beasts it is found to
include all the more important representatives of the fauna of
3
Egypt mammals birds shes amphibia insects
S urely
this should give us pause I nnocence may be typied by the
dove and cunnin g ha ve the serpent for its symbol ; and as
regards insects fo r the ant and the bee let them pas s But
a ll insects ?
The symbol theory is getting strained
H ow
T he question

now

'

The

s ug g e s t io n s

t ha t t h e hiero g l y hs

rea

ct ed

on

w o rs hip ,

an d

t ha t t h e

am bigui ty o f s om e Egy p t ian n am e s o f g od s l ed t o an im al w orship a pply

t o E gyp t and are in ad e q uat e t o a cc oun t fo r all e ven o f t he E gyp t ian fa c t s
3
Wiede m an n Rel d a l ten A egyp ter 9 4
-

on l

1 25

S U R V I V A L S O F T OT E M I S M

ever even if the lord o f ies derived his title from s ome
quality unstated but typied by tho s e insects was it not
from the symbolic point of view superuous to o ffer them a
1
sa crice a whole ox as was done in Leucas ? Again the
sacred animal or plant may not be eaten which is hard to
explain on the symbolic theory
The o id ae may have
3
abstained from ea ting asparagus but does anyone believe
that it was for its symbolism ? T here is no evidence to
show or reason to believe that the asparagus symbolised
anything whatever
A nd why should this devotion to a
symbol wholly inexplicable o n the symbolist theory be
limited in each case to one clan o r neighbourhood ? That

id
i
nobody but the o
ae
f they
saw anything symbolical in
the asparagus can be understood ; but when the symbol was

one that could be appreciated by the meanest under

standing
why was it appropriated exclusively by one
clan
T he symbol theory simply does not account for the facts
which it is framed to explain ; and totemism at present is
the only satisfactory answer to the question why certain
plants and animals are sacred
When then we turn to
G reece and nd that every g o d and goddess has his or her
sacred animal we may consider that mere fact as con
s t it ut in g a reasonable presumption that part of the deity s
ritual has its roots in totemism
I t is also however not
unreasonable to demand other conrmatory evi dence N o w
in G reece we do n o t nd totemism anywhere as a li ving
organic system as in Ancient Egypt This may be due to
ignorance of G reek peasant life
But we d o nd
o ur
fragments of the system one here and another there w hich
if only they had not been scattered but had been found
together would have made a living whole T hus we have
famil ies whose names indicate that they were originally
totem clans e g there were Cyn a d ae at A thens as there was
a Dog clan amongst the M ohicans ; but we have n o evidence
to show that the dog was sacred to the Cy n ad ae in historic
tim es On the other hand storks were revered by the
Thessalians but there is nothing to show that there was a
,

A el ian ,

x i.

Pluta r h,

( Lan g

T heseus,

op

cit

1 4 ( Lan g ,

126

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

S tork clan in T hessaly

And though
the Myrmidons
1
claime d descent from the ants and revered ants
even this

is not quite enough to establish totem ism as a goin g

c oncern ; we should like to know a little more about the
reverence
paid them Were they when found dead
?
buried like clansmen
I t is said that at Athens whoso
3
ever slays a wolf collects what is needful for its burial
Elsewhere in G reece there was a Wolf clan and in A thens
itself a Wolf hero i e a totem which had cast o ff its animal
for m and emerged human
T he wolf was also a sacred
animal but its worshippers were not a Wo lf clan A gain

the lobster was generall y considered sacred by the G reeks

and not eaten if the people of S eriphos
found a dead
on e
they buried it and mourned over it as over one of

3
themselves
But there is no Lobster clan on record
Thus in G reece though we have all the parts of the system
we do not nd them combined in a livin g whole S till no
fair minded man will deny that for the G reeks totemism is
4

highly probable
The wonder is not that there are so
few but that there are s o many traces left Even in the
Mycen aean period there are indications slight and con
e
c
t
u
r
l
a
of
course
that
animal
worship
which
undoub
t
edly
j
existed then had passed beyond the purely totemistic
5
stage
Agriculture and with it t hose agricultural rites
and my t h s which overlaid and undermined totemism
had be en known not only to the G reeks before they ent ered
G reece but to al l the European members of the Aryan race
3
before they scattered and settled in their historic habitations
Pastoral life which is itself the result o f totemism and in its
tu rn rea c ts upon and modies the totemistic system wa s a
stage of development which had been reached by the Aryan
race even before the E uropean branch had separated from
the H in d o Persian H ow remote then must be the period
when the undivided A ryans were hunters living on the

natural basis o f subsisten ce and making those blind

.

'

3
3

5
3

La n g , op c it 2 7 7
S
a d A oll
Rho d ii 1 2 4 ( Lan g , l oc
Fra er, 1 5, an d As lian , N A
iii 2 6
J ourn a l Qf H el l en i S tu d ies , x iv 8 1 , 2 7 0

chol

S hra

de

t ra n s l at io n )

r,

P rehis tori

A n ti qu i ties

Fra z er, 9 4

the A ry a n Pe op l es , 2 8 4 ff

(E n gl ish

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

1 28

two sides of a trian gle can stand to each other namely that
determined by the side which the angle subtends s o there is
only one relation in which men can stand to animals in totem
ism namely that determined by the system N o w amongst
the S emites we never nd the complete triangle of totemism :
sometimes one side 1 s m i s s m g sometimes another sometimes
the third but in every case the angle o f the two remainin g
sides i e the relation between men and god god and animal
animal and men shows what the missin g side must ha v e been
To begin with the rst side of the triangle : we nd deities
in animal or semi animal form such as Dagon Then we

have deities associated a t the totemistic angle s o to speak

with particular species of animals e g Astarte with swine
1
the S yrian A t arga t is with sh the S un god with horses
The animal side o f the triangle again is connected with the
third side men at the totemistic angle that is to say we
have a human clan treatin g a species o f animal as they do

their clansmen e g
when the B H arith a tribe of S ou t h
Arabia nd a dead ga z elle they wash it wrap it in cerecloths
3
and bury it and the whole tribe mourns for it seven days
When then we nd the animal S ide of the triangle by itself
and apart from the other two sides we still can infer the
triangle to which it belonged ; or to drop metaphor when we
3
4
and mice unclean
nd that vermin were sacred
we
5
remember that mice were totem animals in G reece and
Finally to
insects among the sacred beasts of Egypt
complete our round of the totemist triangle we nd men in
the totemist relation to the animal god in Baalbek where the
god ancestor o f the inhabitants was worshipped in the form
3
of a lion
Thus the a p riori argument that the prehistoric S emites
while they were yet an undivided people and before they
had settled down in those territories in which history knows
them were ( like all other peoples in a state of savagery)
acquainted with totemism is conrmed not only by the
,

xx iii 1 1 (Rob ert son Sm ith

3
Ro b ert s on Sm i t h S em ites 4 4 4
3
Ez ek viii 1 0 (S em i tes
4
I s a l x vi 1 7
1

2 Kin g s

Lan g , op c it i 2 7 7
Rob ert s o n Sm it h, op
.

c it .

4 44

Sem it es ,

S U R V I V A L S O F TOT E M I S M

1 29

reection that but for totemism their material civilisation

their transition to pastoral and agricultural life is not to be
accounted for but also by the survival s to be found amongst
them even in historic t M e s
A nd yet the most remarkable argument in support o f
t he theory remains to be set f orth
,

C H AP T ER X I
ANI M AL

THE

S A CRI FI CE

ALTAR

IN

the last chapter we saw that the practice of selecting

o n e indi vidual of the totem species e g the calf in w hic h A p is
was supposed to m anifest himself and concentrating on it
the reverence which was due t o the whole species was a
relatively late d eve l opment o f totemism
I t is also in its
ultimate consequences inconsistent with the principle o f
totemism according to which the owl totem god for instance
was not incorporate in any one bird more than in any other

3
but was incarnate in all the o w ls in existence
We have
also seen that it is the beli ef of societies which are held
together by the bond of blood relationship that it is the

o
same blood which runs in the veins of all bl od relations it
is the blood o f their common ancestor H ence the blood
covenant between two individuals is a covenant between their
respective kins : it is not merely t he blood of the two persons
that has been mingled and m ade one but the blood of the
two clans
I t follows therefore that the blood of any o n e
animal of t he totem species is not t he blood of that individual
merely but of t h e whole species I n the same way therefore
t hat the blood of the tribe as a whole is communicated in
initiation ceremonies to the youth by allowing the blood o f
3
older members to ow over him so it is obvious the blood
of the t otem species as a whole m ight be co m municated to
the person or thing over which the blood of any individual
of the species was allowed to ow But the blood is the life :

it is like breath heart etc

one o f the things identied by
savages with the Spirit or soul The blood of any individual
t o tem animal therefore is the spirit not of that particular
.

'

Sup ra ,

1 22

3
.

T urn e r, S a m oa , 2 1
1 30

3
.

Sup ra , p 1 0 3
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F R E L I G I O N

1 32

of argument we shall now follow with some illustration s o f

our own
whatever else was done in connection with a
sacrice the primitive rite of sprinkling o r dashing the
bl o od against the altar or allowing it to ow down on the
ground at its base was hardly ever omitted ; and this
practice was not peculiar to the S emites but was equally the
rule with the G reeks and Romans and indeed with the
1
ancient nations generally
The altar of the more civilised
members of these races was of course not a mere heap o f
stones : it was a much more elaborate and arti s tic structure
But
o f stone than a mere cairn o r rough monolithic pillar
when we nd that amongst the more backward members of
these races piles of stones or rough single stones were used
for the same purposes as the more nished structure we can
hardly draw a line between them
Thus in the sacred
enclosure of the Dioscuri at Pha rae there was a primitive
structure of this kind which was both used as an altar and

2
called an altar Bro /1 59 d
v Ao y dBwv ;
and in Arabia we
nd no proper altar but in its place a rude pillar o r heap
o f stones beside which the victim is slain the blood being
3
poured o ut o v er the stone or at its base
Even amongst
the northern S emites in their earlier days the ancient law

of Ex xx 2 4 2 5 prescribed that the altar must be of ear t h

or unhewn stone ; and that a single stone sufficed appears
4
from 1 S am xiv 3 2 sqq
I n t he semi civilisations of the
N e w World as well as in the greater civilisations o f the Old
the primitive cairn came to assume the shape rst of a
dresser on which the vic t im was cut up and then o f a table
on which o fferings were laid ; but the transition is even
clearer in the N e w World than the Ol d for in the former the
primitive pil e of stones was not discarded but a table stone
was placed upon it : the at stones on which the esh and
bloo d o fferin gs were left for the S pirits raised o n a pile of
smaller stones became the altar I n the most advanced
times in M exico and C entral America the human sacrice
was slain with a stone knife o n a stone slab slightly elevated
5
in the middle
We nd the same connecting lin k between
,

g of
3
Re ligi on of
1

Rel i ion

the S em i tes , 2 0 2

3
.

t he S em i tes , 2 0 1

Payn e , N ew

Worl d

i 410
.

4
.

Pa us a n ia s ,
I bid

20 2

viii

22

A NIMA L S AC RI FI C E

TH E

A LTA R

133

the primitive heap of stones an d the perfect altar in a

quarter of the globe far removed alike from the Ol d
World and the N e w I n S amoa P onge and To afa were the
names o f two oblong smooth stones on a raised platform of
loose stones
o fferings o f cooked taro and s h were laid
1
on the stones accompanied by prayers for ne weather
T hi s instance is the more valuable because it comes from a
community which was still totemistic at the time Fin ally
in a latitude and amongst a race o f men widely different
from any y e t mentioned we have the s o called sacricial
piles of the S amoyeds ( a M ongoloid and probably Fin n ic
t he
race) which o ccur in the I sland of Waiga t z and a l o n g :
coast between the Pechora and the Y en es ei ; a s li ght natural
eminence is chosen for the site and on it a rough layer or
platform of s tones and driftwood is constructed and masses
of bones o f bear and deer that have been sacriced mark
the us e to which thi s the most primitiv e form o f al tar has
3
been put
But whereas the primitive heap o f stones ultimately
developed into a dresser or table and became an altar in
the specic sense of the word the primitive unhewn stone or
pillar continued where it remained in use to be a b a e t yl io n
a beth e l the obj ect in which the god manifested h imself
when the blood was S prinkled o r dashed upon it S uch a
primitive rude stone pillar wa s the m a sseba of which H osea
3
speaks
a s an indispensable feature in the sanctuaries of
4
and the Arabian n os b with its
northern I srael in his time
g ha bg ha b ( trench or pit ) in front of it into which the blood
collected
S uch too was the monolith mentioned in the
P op ol Vuh a collection of the sacred traditions o f the
Q uich es ( C entral America ) put together and committed to
writin g by a nativ e shortly after the conquest
I t too ha d a
a
b
h
a
b
h
o
r
trench
before
it
which
was
lled
with
the
blood
g
g
5
and that the deity entered the stone when the
of sacrice
bloo d was dashed o n it is clear from such passages a s these
but in truth it was no stone then : like young men came
.

1
3

Turner , S a m oa , 2 4
o

cf

g ca l

the A n throp ol o i

iii 4 ;
I s a xix 1 9
B ra s s eur d e B ourb o urg , P op ol
.

J ou rn a l

I n s ti tu te,

xx iv
4

Vuh

2 59

40 0

Reli ion

the Sem ites . 2 0 3

134

H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

I N TR O DU C TI O N TO

each of them [ the gods ] then

or the blood o f birds and
deer was poured by the hunters on the stone of Tob il and
A vilix [gods ] ; and when the gods had drunk the blo o d
3
the s t one S pake
S o too the offering o f blood gave
the stones worshipped by the S candinavians the power of
3
pr o phecy
The consequence o f this differentiation of the altar and
the pillar was that though originally they were identical in
use and purpose in H ebrew and C an aanite sanctuaries the
two are found side by side at the same sanctuary the altar
as a piece of sacricial apparatus and the pillar as a visible
4
symbol or embodimen t o f the presence o f the deity
S imilar causes produce similar results and we shall therefore
not be surprised to nd that in Polyn e sia the same evolution
took place I n Ellice I sland Fo il a p e wa s the principal god

and they had a stone at his temple that is the unhewn

monoli th but there was an altar also o n which o ff erings of

5
food were laid
The sacricial piles of the S amoyeds
exhibit the same association : from the midst of all this
mass
of
bones
there
rise
a
number
sticks
and
poles
o
f
[
]
3
some being less than a foot and others a s l o ng as 6 feet
only here the altar is associa t ed not with t he stone pillar
but with the wooden post which serves the s ame purpose ;
in the same way as in the local sanctuaries o f the H ebrews
t he
which the prophets regard as purely heathenish
7
altar w a s incomplete unless an a shera stood beside it
This a shera appears again amongst peoples which di ffer as
widely as possible from one another in race and place and
time : it is presupposed by the 56a m of the G reeks ; it is
3
found amongst the Ain o s ; the gods of the Bra z ilian tribes
e represented by poles stuck upright in the ground at
the foot of whic h offerings were laid ; t he H urd I slanders
in their houses had several stocks or small pillars of wood
4 or 5 feet high as the representatives o f household gods
and o n these they poured o il [which takes the place of fat

B ra ss e ur d e B ourb o urg , P op o l Vu h, 2 5 9
0 19 c i t 2 5 3
R eli ion of the S em it es , 2 0 4
J o urn a l of the A n throp ol o ic a l I n s tit u te,

3
7

g
g

Rel i io n

B a s t ian , D er M ens h, ii 2 6 9

Turn er, S a m oa , 2 8 1

the S em i t es , 1 8 7

xxiv

H o wa rd , Tra ns S i beria n S a va ges , 4 5 , 8 4 , 1 98

-

40 0

1 36

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

arbitrary and irrational association of ideas : blood for

instance is inherently taboo and to be shunned ; anythin g
therefore that reminds the savage of it either by its uid
consistency or merely by its colour awakens the same terror
and is equally to be avoided
H ence certain localities
whether because of their blood red soil or of their trees wi th
trunks of ghastly white ( for white also is a taboo colour
possibly from the pallor o f the corpse even negro corpses
are said to be pallid ) or from s ome other accidental a s socia
tion of ideas arouse the taboo terror in the savage and are
shunned by him Of the law of the association of ideas he
knows nothin g : he only knows that o n approaching certain
place s he is lled with the same sort o f terror as he e x p eri
e n c es on seeing blood o r a corpse
I f and when he reasons
o n the matter the explanation he gives to himself and others
is that the spot is the haunt of a supernatural power and
that is why he feels as he does feel For the savage the
world is ful l of such haunted spots
On the G old C oast
every spot where the earth is of a red colour is the abode
1
of a Sas a b o n s um a malignant spirit
When however the
savage has gained an ally amongst the supernatural powers
surroundin g him if in one of these haunted places he sees
his totem animal or plant the character o f the locality is
thereby somewhat changed to his apprehension : it is still
the haunt of a S pirit but o f a friendly one ; it still is to be
avoided but not from slavish fear rather from a respectful
desire not to intrude on the privacy of the god
s o he now
interprets his feeling which is indeed really changed by the
new association o f ideas Above all it is now a place which
under due restrictions and with proper precautions may be
approached by him when he wishes to seek the presence of
his powerful protector for a legitimate end e g to renew the
blood covenant with him Again everything in this h o ly

place earth stones trees and excepting animal life there

can hardly be anything else in it everythi n g in it partakes
3
of its sancti t y As we have seen both in West Africa and
in ancient M exico the s o il was holy And according to the
prescription in the ancient law of Exodus already referred
,

E ll is Ts hi
,

sp ea lei n g

S up ra , p 6 4
.

P eop l es , 3 5

cf also t h c h
.

a p t er on

Fe t is his m

AN I MA L S AC R I F I C E

1 37

T H E A L TA R

to the altar must be made of earth or unhewn stone I t

was the earth stones or wood of such a holy place which
alone could have possessed the sanctity desirable in a
structure which the god was to be invited to enter in order
that his worshippers migh t have communion with him The
sentiment of the supernatural which lled the hearts and
minds of the worshippers d uring the rite seems to be
different however from the awe which prevents transgression

on holy places T he latter is except when mingled wi th

the former purely negative restrictive prohibitory The
former is a feeling psychologically as distinct from the
feelings o f awe o r terror as say the feeling of beauty from
other pleasurable feelings ; its earliest manifestation appears
to be on occasions when the natural order of things is
suspended and it is thereafter revived when man is con s cious
of the presence o f the cause of that suspension
I n the earliest times then there were holy places ; i t
was out of the materials spontaneously o ffered by them that
the primitive altar was made the idol elaborated and within
their bounds that the temple eventuall y was built
The theory on the other hand that the idol was an

is one against which some arguments

e laborated fetish
will be o ffere d in a subsequent chapter on Fetishism H ere
however we must make some r emarks on a slightly di fferent
view namely that which would confound the primitive altar
with rocks which form a conspi c uous feature in many land
scapes and which are often believed by savages to possess
supernat ural powers like waterfalls and other striking
natural features N o w in the rst place these rocks are
natural features of the landscape whereas the primitive altar
is always an articial structure ; and next they possess
their supernatural powers inherently i e quite independently
anything man does whereas the altar requires the
of
application o f the blood o f sacrice if the deity is to enter it
I n ne these natural objects and the dread o f them are survival s
from the pre totemistic stage when everythin g which was
supposed by the savage to possess activity o r wa s associated
by him with events affecting his fortunes was also supposed
1
to possess a life and powers like his own
T he primitiv e
.

S up ra ,

21

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F R EL I G I O N

138

altar on the other hand is the creation and the outcome of

1
Further as long as it remains an
the needs of totemism
altar pure and simple it never becomes the embodiment of
the god nor t hough highly sacred does it acqui re super
natural power A s l o n g as totemism was a living force it
would be di fcult or impossible to confuse :
the sacricial pile
at which the deity manifested himself with the god him self
or even to imagine that he was permanently pre s ent in the
altar for the totem animals were seen by the savage daily
and it was with their species that his clan made the blood
covenant and in each and every m ember of the species that
the god dwelt M r Williams has accurately observed and
precisely stated the totem i st s attitude towards his sacricial
piles when after noting that idolatry in the strict sense
o f the term the Fijian seems never to have known ; for he
makes no attempt to fashion material representations of his
3
gods
he goes on to s a y stones are use d to denote the
locali t y of some gods and the occasional resting places of
3
o thers
T he same observation has been made with regard
to savages generally by M r H oward : My personal inquiries
amongst almost every variety o f heathen worshippers
inclu di ng the most degraded types in I ndia in C hina and
also the devil worshippers in C eylon have never yet secured
from any o f them the ad m ission which would justify me in
thinking that the red bedaubed stone or tree or any image
in front of which they worshipped was supposed to contain
4
in esse the g o d to which that worship was addressed
I n the course of time however three changes do
undoubtedly take place : the rite o f sacrice tends to become
formal ; the god comes to be conceived as the ancestor o f
the race ; the clan expands in t o a tribe of which the majority
of members dwell remote from the original monolithic altar
C onsequen tly when at stated intervals the tribe does gather
t ogether at the o ld altar stone of their forefathers to do
sacrice the stone itself in which t he g o d is to manifest

o
himself easily bec mes identied with the g o d the majority
of the tribe know it only in this aspect and with the god
as their common ancestor Thus amongst the Re d I ndians
,

1
3

S up ra ,
I bid

p
2 21

1 31

3
4

William s

F ij i

a nd

the F ij ia ns , 2 1 6

H o wa rd , Tr a n s S i beria n S a va ges , 20 2
-

140

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F R E L I G I O N

occasional but the permanent dwelling place of the god the

rite o f sacrice is in danger of becoming a meaningless and
superuous ceremony for its object is to procure the presence
of the god and the god now is alrea d y present or rather the
stone is the god H ence the rite dwindles until the only
trace left of it is that t he stone is painted red as amongst
1
the Wara lis o f K onkan
By this time the totem alliance is
s o completely dissolved that the totem animal
which has
hitherto been required to provide the blood for smearing the
stone now is completely dissociated from the worship and
drops altogether out of view But when the totem animal
is no longer sacriced when the stone ha s itself become the
god and its history has been forgotten there is little left by
which to distingui sh it from the other class of stones notable
natural featur es of the landscape to which supernatural
powers were ascribed in the pre totem i stic period There are
however still some distin guishing marks T he natural stones
still are what all supernatural powers were until man learnt
to make allies amongs t them hostile ; but the quondam
altar stones are still traditionally friendly powers w ho will
like the stone o f the M on it arris if a sacrice is o ffered cause
3
an expedition to be successful and not merely abstain from
doing injury T he friendly relation of the primitive altar or
rather god to its original circle of worshippers is clear in a
case such as that mentioned by Ca illi of a stone which
travelled of its own accord thrice round an African village
whenever danger threatened the inhabitants And the rock
in Fo ugn a near G ouam in the Marian I slands which is
regarded as the ancestor o f men ranks itself at once with the
Oneida stone
I n many cases however the quondam altar
has lost even these t races of it s once higher estate ; natural
stones have attracted to themselves or have come to share
m the few remnants of the full rite of worship once accorded
t o the articial structure ; and all distinction between the
two classes is obliterated Thus the retrograde totemist
-

B a s t ian , Oes t A s ien ,

.

This

unless

and

t he

o t h er

c s are
d
ver

o t h er re eren

1 2
3 2 , who , h owe

s t on e - wors h i

139

e x am p les
g iven ,

raw s

no

o f s t on e -wors hip

Gi
d is t i c t i

rard

ro m

on s

in t his

ch

a p t er a re

tak en

d e Rial l e , M y tho l ogie Com p a ree ,

b e t w een t he va rio us k inds o f

A N I MA L S AC R I F I C E

T H E A L TA R

141

apparently relap s e s into precisely the same stage as that

which his pre totemist forefather occupied But as this is a
matter which raises the important question how far we can
take the savage to represent primitive man it is necessary
to note that the post totemistic stage though in much it
resembles the pre totemistic also differs much from it In
both stages any and every rock that impresses the imagination
o f the savage may by him
be credited with life and even
with supernatural powers ; he s imply returns in t he later
period to the an imism of the earlier o r rather he has never
a bandoned it But he return s t o it with an idea w hich was
wholly unknown to him in the rst period namely the

conception o f worship the idea not merely of sacrice but

of o ffering sacrice to someone N o w this conception or
rather these conceptions as should be by this time clear

have their origin in totemism : worship as an act in its

rudimentary stage means only the sprinkling of blood upon
the altar ; the blood sprinkled is that of the totem animal
and the only obj ect of the rite is to renew the blood covenant
between the totem clan an d the totem Species and to procure
the presence of the totem god T he idea of o ffering a
sacrice to a god i s a notion which can only be developed
in a later stage of totemism when on the one hand t he
monoli th has come to be identied with the god and o n the
other the god is no longer in the animal Above all
worship on its inner side and in the ideas and emotions
correlated with the rite and the external act implies the
existence for the worshipper o f a god i e not merely of a
supernatural b eing as such but of a supernatural being who
1
The ex totemist
has stated relations with a community
therefore who retains nothing o f his forefathers beliefs and
rites but the idea that it is possible to appease a supernatural

being by o ff erin g sacrices to him may gravely mislead

the historian of primitive religion I ndeed he has led
some students to imagine that his inherited habit of o ffering
sacrices to stones and rocks is a primitive practice out of
which religion has sprung while the truth is that the worship
The
o f stones is a degradation of a higher form o f worship
mere existence of sacrice is an indication o f the former
-

Ro b ert s on Sm i th, Religion

the Sem i tes , 1 1 9

142

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

existence of totemism T he very idea of a temporary compact

between an individual man an d a supernatural power is
derived from the original form o f alliance which was always
and necessaril y between clans not between individuals
A m o re varied and interesting chapter in the history of
the mon o lithic altar is that o f its fortunes when a higher
form of religio n invades the land I f the cult of any given
altar and the local sanctuary in which it stands is too vigor
ous to be extinguished it may be adopted by the invading
and dominant race and incorporated into their reli gion This
amalgamation of cults bears the technical name of syn

cretism
T hus in the N e w World the I ncas when they
invaded Peru bringing with them their worship of the S un
built temples of the S un in some of the local sanctuaries ; and
in the Old World the totem animals whose blood from of old
had been dashed on the primitive monolith continued to be
offered at the same altar even when it had been appro
ria t e d to the service o f the S un god or S ky spirit Z eus o r
p
I f on the other hand the local cult had already
A pollo
decayed if sacrice was rarely o ffered and the monolith was
but the obj ect of traditional veneration then the respect or the
sanctity attaching to it came in course of time to require
explanation and an explanation spontaneously sprang up
which commended itsel f to the now dominan t beliefs and
traditions of the new rel igion Thus in M exico the sanctity
of the monolith of Tlalnepa n tla was accounted for by the
belief that the great culture god Q uet zalcoatl had left on it
the imprint of his hand ; and in the Old World monolithic
pillars or cairns o f stone are frequently mentioned in the
more ancient parts of the Old Testament as standing at
sanctuaries generally in connection with a sacred legend about
the occasion o n which t hey were set up by some famous
1
patriarch or hero
But matters did not always progress so
peaceably Frequently both in its own interests and we
may add to the ultimate benet o f mankind the higher
religion found it necessary to undertake the suppression of
the older cults Thus I nca Roca threw down the monolith
worshipped by the inhabitants of a certain village ; the
C oun c il s of Tours ( 5 6 7 ) and N antes ( 8 9 5 ) ordered the
.

'

Ro b e rt s o n Sm it h , op

ci t .

203

CH A PTE R
ANI M AL

S A CRI FI CE

II

SACRI FI CI AL M EAL

THE

TH AT amongst the S emitic and Aryan peoples the eating o f

the victim was part of the sacricial rite is too well known
to need illustration We shall therefore conne ourselves
to quoting the late Professor Robertson S mith s account of
the most pri mitive form of the S emitic ceremony as practised
by certain heathen Arabs ( S aracens ) and described by N ilus :
The camel chosen as the victim is bound upon a rude altar
of stones piled together and when the leader o f the band
has thrice led the worshippers round the altar in a sole m n
procession accompanied with chants he inicts the rst
wound while the last words of the hymn are still upon the
lips o f the congregation and in all haste drin ks of the blood
that gushes forth Forthwith the whole company fall on the
victim with their swords hackin g o ff pieces of the quivering
esh and devouring them raw with such wild haste tha t in
the short interval between the rise of the day star which
marked t he hour for the service to begin and the disappear
ance of its rays before the rising sun the entire camel body
1
and bones skin blood and entrails is wholl y devoured
A s for the Aryan peoples we have nothing s o prim itive
as the S emitic ceremonial described in this extract but the
ancient P russians retained some ancient features of the original
rite in one o f their festivals though with later accretions
T he community met together in a barn and a ram was
brough t in The high priest laid his hands upon this victim
and invoked al l the gods in order men tionin g each by name
,

Rob ert s o n Smi th , R el i gi on of the S em i t es , 3 38

I n t his hap t er, ag a in , I
o l l o w his lin e o f a rg um en t t o t h e b es t o f m
a b il i t y , a n d a d d on e o r t wo
y
il l us t rat io n s ro m t h e rit es o f n o n Se m it i p e o p l e s
1

14 4

A N I MA L S AC R I F I C E : T H E S AC R I F I C I A L M E A L

145

Then all who w ere present lifted up the vi ctim and held it
aloft whilst a hymn was sung When the hymn was nished
the ram was laid upon the ground and the priest addressed
the people exhorting them to celebrate solemnly this feast
transmitted to them from their forefathers and t o hand o n
in their turn the tradition of it to their c hildren The
animal was then slain its blood was caught in a bowl and
the priest sprinkled with it those present
The esh was
given to the women to cook i n the barn
T he feast lasted
all night and the remnants were buried early in the morning
outside the village in order that birds or beasts might not
1
get them

T he more revolting details of the S emitic rite

the
scramble described by N il us the wild rush to cut gobbets of
3
esh from the still quivering victim
are not of the essence
of the ceremony but incidental and d ue merely to the
uncivil ised condition of the worshippers
A S such they give
way among the later A rabs to a more orderly partition o f
the sacricial esh amongst those present
I t was however
necessary to mention them here for two reasons : rst they
show by their very want of civilisation that the Arabians
retained the primitive form of the rite ; and next they nd
their parallel not merely amongst other uncivilised peoples
but also in the strange reversions practised in the mysteries
the ancient world These will be discussed in a later
of
chapter and s o all we need say of t hem here is that different
local sanctuaries di ffered in the degree o f tenacity with which

they adhered to primitive uses : some gave them up soon

others retained them long and late
We may conject ur e
therefore that when a reversion to a lower or more barbarous
ritual suddenly spreads in a civilised community it is one of
these more conservative and out o f
the way Sanctuaries which
is the centre of diffusion
T urning however from these barbarous and accident al
adjuncts to the more important features o f the rite we may
notice how the sacricial meal diff ers from ordinary eating
I n the rst place the victim must be con s umed there and
then a im
on the spot where the sacrice takes place

there before the Lord in the sanctuary wherein the al tar

R l i gi
ch iii 1 54
of th S m it
B ti
De M
341
.

as

an ,

I O

en s

on

es ,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F R E L I G I O N

146

is erected The Re v G T urner noted this feature in the

Polynesian ritual A t the annual feast in M ay he says the

food brought as an o ff ering was divided and eaten there

1
and at their annual festival they feasted
before the Lord
3
with and before their god
Fa r away from Polynesia the
T ehuelche Patago ni ans celebrate births marriages and deaths
by the sacrice of mares and the animals are eaten on the
3
In a similar c liin e but at the opposite end of the
S p ot
earth s pole the same rule is observed amongst the J ak ut s
when a sacrice is offered for a sick man s recovery tongue
heart and liver are cooked and placed on a specially prepared
one legged table the top of which has a round hole in the
4
centre The rest of the meat is consumed by the J ak ut s
T he Mongols regard it as sacrilege to leave any of the sacred
5
victim unconsumed ;
and in certain fea s ts of the Re d
3
I ndians the meat must be wholly consumed
Returnin g to
the Old World we nd that in Arcadia the home of lingering
cults the sacrice to A pollo Pa rrha s io s must be consumed in
7
the san ctuary : d va k ia lc o va w a dr dt
lep e to v 7 d Icp a
Even more interesting is the case of the M e il ic hioi The
fe s tival at which the Athenians made sacrice to Z eus
M e ilic hio s the Diasia was one of the most ancient of their
institutions ; but though they adhered closely to the ancien t
primitive use the Locrians of M y on ia were still more
and
faithful to the ritual which they had received from the
common ancestors of Locrians and A thenians alike for like
t he S aracens and the Pruss ians they o ffered the sacrice by
night and consumed the victim before the rising of the
.

'

'

ai
w
p

'

s un : vv/c re

cw a k o o a c 7

t d ua ta t 66 0 29 7 0 29 M GLALX LOI S e ia i
5
a IJ T CCL w iv i) ifM o v e n eo
e iv vo uio vo t
p
x

3%

Ie

'

'

'

Ka

It

'

is therefore interesting to note the recurrence of this feature

in another branch of the Aryan race the H indoos A ccording

to the G rihya S utra the time for the Sulaga va sacrice was
3
a f ter midnight but some authorities preferred the dawn
I n the next place it wa s of the essence o f the rite that
.

1
3

4
3
7
9

T urn er, P o ly nesi a , 2 4 1

J ourn a l

B as t ia n ,

Miill er,

T urn er, S a m oa , 2 6

t he A n throp ol o ic a l I ns titu te, i

A l l erl ei , i 2 08
.

G chichte d e
es

Pausa n ia s ,

viii

Ra en d ral al a

38

5
.

20 0

B as ti an , D er M ens h, iii 1 5 1

A m er ika n i s hen Urreligi onen , 8 6

3

M it ra , I n d o A ry a ns , i 3 64
-

I bid

148

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I ST O RY O F RE L I G I O N

peculiar features it is the more necessary to call attention to

t he important points in which it follows the same laws and
lines as other countries ; and if as we have sought to S how
totemism has at one time or other been universal through o ut
the w o rld t hen its outcome namely animal sacrice should be
found in C hina as well as elsewhere I t is s o found ; it is
the subj ect of one of the C onfucian books the Li K i ; and it
is a large part of the state religion T he greatest of the
sacrices was like several which we have already mentioned
1
annual ( at the wi nter solstice)
The victim was n o t only killed but eaten : the viands
3
of the feast were composed o f a calf
T he practice o f
eating the esh raw as in the S aracen rite seems once to
have been known
A t the sacrices in the time of the Lord
of Y u
there were the o fferings of blood of raw esh
3
Even the reversion to this savage
and of sodden e s h
practice which is seen in some o f the mysteries of ancient
G reece appears also in C h ina for in times of public calamity
4
animals are torn in pieces as by the Bacch ae And to
come back to the mat t er in hand namely the primitive custom
which demanded that the whole clan should partake of the
victim when there was a sacrice at the SII S altar of a
5
village some one went to it from every house
Again by
a post C onfucian custom the C hinese pour wine (a very
general substitute for blood ) from a beaker on the straw
image of C onfucius and then all present drink of it and tas t e
the sacricial victim in order to participate in the grace of
3
C onfucius
I n Thibet in the time o f Marco Polo when a wether
was o ffered on behalf of a child the esh was divided
7
Finally to conclude these illustra
amongst the relatives
tions of the primitive custom requiring all present to partake
of the victim in the Pelew Islands sickness is attributed to
the wrath o f a god who is appeased by the sacrice of a pig
goat or turtle which must be consumed by the invalid s
8
relatives and by the god
I n the last quotation it wil l be noted that the victim is
,

1
3

Leg g e , The L i K i , i 4 1 6 ( S ac red B ooks

4
5
I bid 4 2 5
I b id 3 0 7
I bi d 4 4 3
3
B as t ian , A l l er lei , i 4 3
I bi d 1 57
.

the Ea s t )
3

3
.

I bid

417

c iii

B a s t ian , D er M en s h,

1 54

'

AN I MA L S AC R I F I C E : T H E S AC R I F I CIA L M EA L

149

to be consumed by the god as well as by his worshippers

j ust a s in S amoa the people feasted as the Re v G Turner

1
says with as well as before their god
But in the
Y agua sacrice the victim is eaten sacramentally as a means
of entering into communion with the god ; and the C hinese
View of sacrice is the same
A ccording to Professor Legge

the general idea symbolised by the character K i is an

o ffering whereby communication and communion with
3
S piritual
beings is e ffected
T hese are two different
though not necessarily inconsistent aspects o f the sacricial
rite : one is the eating with the god the other the eating of
the god Both require examination and illustration We
will beg in wi t h the latter
In the S aracen rite with a description o f which this
chapter began the whole of the victim body and bones
skin blood and entrails was consumed by the worshippers
T he same thing is perhaps implied by the words o f Pausanias
in what he says about the o fferings to Apollo P a rrhas io s and
to the M eil ic hio i The M ongols also regarded it as sacrilege
to leave any of the sacred victim unconsumed ; and in
H awaii a terrible visitation wa s the penalty for not c on s um
ing the whole of the o ffering T he consumption of the bones
blood skin and entrails is evidently a practice which a d va n
cing civilisation could not but discard ; and we nd that the
ancient Prussians had left it behind but what they d id not
eat had to be di sposed of somehow and it was buried I n
S amoa the custom was the same as in ancient Pruss 1 a :
3
whatever was over after the meal was buried at the beach ;
and s o elsewhere in Polynesia : they were careful to bury
or throw into the sea whatever food was over after the
4
festival
In Thibet at the end of the rite alr e ady described
the bones o f the animal were carried away in a co ffer
the bones and other o ffal are burnt
Amongst the J a k u t s
5
and the sacrice is complete
The Tartars who make
their gods of a sheep skin eat the body o f the S heep and
3
burn the bones
In the H indoo Sul agava sacrice
the
tail hide tendons and hoof of the victim are to be thrown
,

S a m oa , 2 6
T urn e r, S a m

oa ,

57

B as t ian , A l l erl ei, i 2 0 8

.

3
.

egge

op

c it .

20 1

(n o t e)

Turn er, P ol yn es ia , 2 4 1

B a s t ia n , Der M en s h, ii 2 5 7
.

1 50

I N T R O D U C T I O N T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N
1

in t o the re
A mongst the K a frs on occasion of the
sacrice of an ox to the Am a c hl o s i when the esh has been
3
eaten many tribes burn the bones of the victim
T he
Ts c he re m is s at the annual feast to their supreme god J uma
poured the blood of the victim in the re : head lungs and
heart were offered t he rest eaten and the remnants if any

3
were thrown into the re
bon re
Our English word
bone re points in the same direction Finally burn ing
4
was the mode adopted by the H ebrews
N o w this custom ( of eating the whole o f the victim )
require s explanation not the custom of burning or buryi ng
what was not eaten that is plainly the mode adopted by
advancing civili s ation fo r e ff ecting the same end whate ver
it wa s that the primitive worshipper accomplished by
consuming the whole o f the vi c tim But the custom o f
consuming everythin g even bones entrails tendons etc could
only have originated in a barbarous stage of society Evi
d e n t ly therefore the belief also which led to the cus t om
co ul d only have originated in savagery T herefore again it
is to savage ideas that we must look for an explanation not
to con c eptions which c ould only have been formed long after
the custom Of such savage ideas there are several which
might well have gi v en ris e to the practice in question I t is
for instance a belief amongst various savage hunters that i f
the bones of an animal are put together and carefully bu ried
the animal it s elf will hereafter revive They accordingly
take this precaution partly in order to secure a supply o f
game in the future and partly because they think that if
the animal is not thus b uried the survi ving animals of the
species resent the indignity and desert the country or decline
5
to be captured
But this custom and belief do not help u s :
they migh t account for the burying of the bones but they do
n o t accoun t for burning the bones or for what really requires
explanation namely the custom of consuming the bones etc
I ndeed the two cus t oms are as we now s ee fundamentally
,

1
3

Raj e n d ral al a M i t ra, I n d o A ry a n s , i 3 6 5

H a rt m an n , Die Vo l leer Af r ika s , 2 2 4
-

x ix

Ro b ert s on Sm it h, Re l igi on
6,

xxii

30

For in s t a n

the S em ites ,

B as t ia n , D er M ensch, iii 1 5 7
2 3 9 , re e rrin g t o Le v vii 1 5 if
.

ces

s ee

Fra z er,

Golden

B o u h,

c h.

iii

12

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY

1 52

R ELIG I O N

OF

very sacred indeed ; and that the emotion which swaye d

the worshippers and their motive for devouring the whole of
the victim was not fear lest the remnants should be used
against them still less anxiety about what might happen to
incautious strangers but desire on the part of each to obtain
for himself as much as possible of something that was in the
highest degree desirable N o w that the sacricial anim al
should be accounted very sacred indeed is intelli gible
enough if it was ( in the savage times when the whole victim
was consumed ) the totem an imal and go d of the clan makin g
the sacrice A S for the eagerness of the worshippers it
need not be doubted ; but o f the savage s motives for that
eagerness we ought to try and fo r m for ourselves some clear
idea
I n the sacricial rite itself as an external act of worship
the essential feature is that the worshipper should partake of
the o ffering ; but it is only after a time that this central
fea ture disengages itself from the repulsive accessories which
were indeed inevitable concomitants of a savage feast but
were no part of the essence of the rite We may therefore
reasonably expect to nd the rite o n its inward side i e a s it
presented itsel f to the worshipper fo llowin g a parallel lin e of
development T hat the idea of communication an d com

munion with spirit ual beings which as we have seen is the

C hin ese conception o f sacrice is the aspect of the rite which
has persisted longest we will take for granted Whether it
was present dimly and obscured or overlaid by other associa
tions but s t ill implicitly present to the consciousness of
savage man is a question which depends for its answer o n
what view we take o f that identity in difference which exis ts
between civilised and uncivilised man and makes the whole
world kin We may regard selshness and the baser desires
a s alone
natural and as constituting t he sole identity ; or
by the same question beggin g epithet we may credi t the

savage with the natural a e c t ion s as well The questi on

has always divided phil osophers not merely in Euro pe b u t
in C hina where S eun sides with H o bbes and H a n y u antici
pated the view o f Butler that good instincts as well as bad
are natural I f therefo re here we take our st a nd withou t
hesitation but with o ut argument on the side o f the latter it

AN I MA L S AC R I F I C E : T H E S AC R I F I C I A L M E A L

1 53

is not that we wish to ignore the other view but because

this is not the place to discuss it We shall therefore with
the reader s leave assume that the mere existence of the
family and of the clan implies the existence of some measure
of affection between parents and children and between blood
1
relations
But if this be gran ted the rest follows : where
a ffection exists in one direction it may come to exist in
others ; and communion is sought only with those toward s
whom we have a e c t ion
H ere then lay the germ : in the
conception of the clan god as a permanently friendly power
A s t he leader of the clan in war he claimed and received the
a ffectionate loyalty of those on whom he conferred protection
and victory ; a s the father o f his worshippers the lial a ffec
tion of his children
I t was not always or everywhere that
the s eed bore fruit : in the case of many savages still
existing e g most or all o f t he Australian aborigine s the
conception of the totem go d as a protecting power has been
lost and they have l apsed almost into their original animism
But where it did germinate its growth was accompanied
by the intellectual and material development by the move
ment towards civilisation of the peoples amongst whom it
ourished
But the desire for union with the spiritual being with
whom the fate and fortun es of the tribe were identied was
necessarily in savage times enveloped and conditioned by
savage modes of thought and savage views of nature and her
processes On e of these views has been c alled in by some
writers to explain in part the motive with which the sacri
c ia l victim was originally ea ten : it is that wi t h the esh
the quali ties of the animal are absorbed and assimilated ; and
as a matter of fac t some savages do eat tiger to give them
courage or deer to give them e e t n e s s
But it is important
to n o te it is not the characteristic quality of the totem
animal that the savage in his sacricial meal desires t o
appropriate : many or most totems turtle snail cockle etc
have as mere animals no obviously desirable qualities t o
recommend them It is not the natural but the supernatural
,

t ha t

Pro

s a va

un s e l s h

es s or

e
g

am

Tylor

( A ca d em y N o
,

ilies , w it h

1 2 37, N S
.

their ro ugh wa y s
one o f t he w o n d ers

all

k in d n e s s , w hi h is

a re

of

4 9)

held

hu m an

i t a s a fa c t
t o g e t h e r by a b o n d o f

re g ard s

n a t ure .

1 54

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F R E L I G I O N

qualities of the totem that the savage wis hes to assimilate

I t is as god not as animal that t he totem furnishes the
sacricial meal
The sa vage seeks against the supernatural
powers by which he is surrounde d a supernatural ally ; and it
is in the condence which the sacricial rite affords him that
he undertakes that forcible physical expulsion of evil spirits
1
which has already been mentioned
H ence then his
eagerness to partake of the victim an eagerness so great
that none of the an imal was lef t uneaten I t was the desire
to fortify himself a s completely as possible for the dangerous
encounter for which it was the preparation
When however advancing civi li s ation made the complete
consumption of the animal impossible the rem nants of the
sacricial feast were naturally treated with every precaution
known t o the s avage both to protect himself against his
enemies and to protect his friends again s t the danger o f in
advertently eating food so highly taboo as wa s the esh of a
totem animal H ere perhaps the reader may feel it a d if
culty that the totem animal sho ul d be tabooed foo d and yet
should be eaten by his worshippers T he dif c ulty and its
solution are exactly the same here as in connection with in
t rud in g on holy places
Such places are indeed forbidden
ground yet those who would seek the god must enter them
and s o may enter them for that purpose and with d ue pre
cautions On the Loan go C oast the sanctuary o f a certain
god may be entere d by those who seek his aid but all others
2
become his slaves for ever if they trespass on his precincts
N o w what is chara c teristic of the sacricial meal all over the
world i s precisely the fact that it is di sting uished from ordinary
ea ting by restrictions and precautions which are the same
everywhere and amongst all races : the meal must be eaten
in a certain place at a certain time by certain persons in a
certain way for a certain purpose A S we have seen only
clansmen may eat o f it and everyone of them must partake
of it They must consume it wholly in the sanctuary there
and then I t is not at all times that the rite is celebrated
but once a year that the feast is held and the conict with
e vil S pirits undertaken and then only a f ter due preparation
by fasting etc for a s those who have come into contact with
.

S up ra ,

1 05

S up ra ,

6 3 ; B a s t ian , L oa n

go K itste

21 8

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I STO RY O F REL I G I O N

1 56

esh is cut up and divided between the chiefs h ead men and
1
B u t we have as yet no instance o f a totem animal
priests
sacriced by a totem clan in the hunting stage I t is there
fore conceivable though improbable that the sacrice of totem
animals dates from pastoral times i e the period o f domes tic
ated animals and does not go back to the hunter stage
This is improbable for two main reasons
rst if sacrice
originated with the s laughter of domesticated animals we
should expect only domesticated animals to be sacriced
whereas wild animals also are sacriced as we have just seen
next the sacricial rite altar stones the idols which grew
o ut of them the partition o f the victim amongst all the wor
shippers are known to the Re d I ndians who cannot have rst
learnt the rite in connection with domesticated animals and
then extended it by analogy to wild ani mals because they
have not any domesticated animals
I ndeed the horrible
human sacrices of the semi civilised peoples of C entral
America are due I conj ecture to the fact that in their
nomad period they sacriced wild animals ; and in their
settled city life they could get little game and had no domestic
ated animals to provide the blood which was essential for the
sacricial rite
S till though in N orth America the circle of
w orshippers was a totem clan which o ffered animal sacrice
and though there are traces of the annual kil ling by the clan
3
of its totem animal still in the absence of an actual instance
of the eating as well as the killing of the totem we must re
gard it merely as a working hypothesis that in pre pastora l
times the animal sacriced and eaten by the totem clan was
the totem animal The point however is o f less impo rtance
3
if we were right in contending
that domesticated animals
were totems before they were dome s ticated and owed t heir
F o r we
domestication to the f act that they were totems
have instances in which they are sacriced by the clan to
which they are sacred Once a year the Todas by whom t he
bu ffalo is held sacred and treated even wi th a degree of
adoration kill and ea t a young male cal f and this is the
4
only occasion on which the T odas eat buffalo e s h
The
A b c ha s e s once a year sacrice an o x : a n y man who did not
G l d B ough ii 9 0
E llis T hi sp lei g P op l e 2 2 5
F z
-

S up ra ,

ea

1 1 4 ff

s,

4
.

ra er,

Fra

e r, op

o
.

en

c it .

1 36

A N I MA L S A C R I F I C E :

TH E

1 57

S A CR I F I C IA L M EA L

get at least a scrap of the sacred esh would deem himself

most unfortunate The bones are carefully collecte d burned
1
in a great hole and the a shes buried there
We have already had occasion to note that in t he begin
3
ning past o ral peoples do not kill their cattle
I n East
Africa the nomad values his cow above all things and weeps
3
f o r its death as for that of a chil d
H e cannot a fford to
kill his cattle for o n e thing ; and for another they are his
totem animal H ence in the beginnin g of the pastoral period
sacrice is a rare and solemn rite
The cattle are the
property of the clan and are only slaughtered for the ann ual
clan sacrice
But if the clan prospers things alter The
taste for e sh meat develops and with the increase o f wealth
in the shape of ocks and herds the means for the more
frequent gratication of the taste are a ff orded Excuses for
killing meat under the pretext of sacrice become common ;
thus a Z ulu said to Bishop C allaway A mong black men
slaughtering cattle has become much more common than
formerly
O people are now very f ond of meat and a
man says he has dreamed of the I d hl o z i and forsooth he says
4
so because he would eat meat
H ence sacrice tends to
become less awful and more frequent The Madi o r M oru
tribe sacrice a sheep annually for religious purposes ; but

this ceremony is observed on a small scale at other times

if a family is in any great trouble thro ugh illness or bereave
ment
the same custom prevails at the grave o f departed
friends and also on joyous occasions such as the return of
5
a son home after a very prolonged absence
T hus the
sacricial feast becomes a festival of rej o icing ; and private
generosity manifests itself in an invitation to the whole o f
the communi ty to make glad in the name of religion N o r
is the god excluded from the invitation for he too is a
member of the clan
I n S amoa the people feasted with and
6

before their god

I n a different z one when a J a k ut is
about to start on a long journey to g et Skins he carves an
G ld en B ough ii 1 3 5 ( t e )
F z
S up r
p 116
,

4
5

no

a,

3
e
2
n
z
u
n
e
m
i
t
s
M
i
er
t
a
9
uo
t
ing
O
s
r
S
7
t
u
d
i
e
n
g
5 47
,
, q
f
g ,
f S
,
Ca l l away , Re l igi ous Sy s tem of the A m a zul u,
Fel k in , N otes on the M a d i or M oru Tri be of Cen tra l Af rica , qu o t e d

R el i i on

Fra z er,
3

ra er,

Gol d e

B ough, ii 1 3 8

Turn er, S a m oa , 2 6

by

I N T R O D U C T I O N TO H I STO RY O F R E L I G I O N

1 58

idol of wood and smears it with the blood of an animal which

he sa crices in it s honour With the esh he enter t ains the
1
shaman and guests the idol o c cupying the seat o f honour
The Tartars do not begin a meal until they have rst smeared
3
On the S lave
the mouth of their god N a c ygai with fat
C oast every god has his festival o r sacre d day when sacrice
is o ff ered and the blood of the sacrice is always smeared on
his image as it is the blood which especially belongs to or

is particularly acceptable to the god whil st the body is eaten

3
unless
it
is
a
human
body
by
the
worshipper
s
T
he
(
)
4
Q uic hs rubbed the mouths of their idols with blood
evidently that they might drink it The ancient Peruvians
according to a contemporary
every month sa c ri ce their
own chil dren and paint the mouths o f their i dols with the
5
blood of their vict ims
or as it is put more generally they
3
anointed the hua ca with the blood from ear to ear
In
M exi c o the blood o f the captives o ff ere d to any god wa s
7
smeared on the idol s mouth
When the S amoyede s o ffer
sacricial piles
the blood o f the sacri
s acrice at the ir
c e is smeared on the s l its which represent the mouths o f the
3
gods
Whether the blood which was dashed on the alta r
stone before it had come to be shaped into an idol was
supposed to be consumed by the god there is nothin g to
show and it wo ul d be ha zardous to a i rm it
Thi s state of things the period when all slaughter of c attle
was sacricial and every membe r o f the clan wa s entitled to his
share o f the victim has left its traces behind it in various parts
of the world Am ong the Z ulus when a man kills a cow
which howev er is seldom and reluctantly done unless it hap
pens to be stolen property the whole population of the ham l et
3
Among the Damaras
assemble to eat it without invitation
another superstition [i e in addition to that which forbid s
clans from eating their totem animals] is that meat is
common property Every slaughter is looked upon as a kind
of sacrice or festal occasion Damaras ca nnot con c eive that
A ll l i i 21 3
B st i
B s t ian D r M ens ch iii 1 5 4
.

3
5

an ,

E ll is

E we

er e

wea kin g P m

l es , 7 9

B as t ia n , D er M ensc h, ii 2 69
.

( Tern aux Co m p a n s , iv
M arkham , Rite s a nd L a ws of the Yn ca s , 5 5
3
n
d
i
e
n
A
pp
x
u
a
h
a
J ourn A n ih I nst
S
,
g
X res , La Cong uele d a Pero

7
3

Sha w, M em oria l s

S ou th Af ric a , 59, q uo t e

di

Re l igioa

xx iv

4 00

S em ites , 2 8 4

1 60

I N T R O D U C T I O N TO H I STO RY O F R E L I G I O N

and his god but it also strengthened t he bo n ds o f family

national social and moral obligations The j oint eating and
drink ing was a bond of fellowship By it the god and his
worshippers were united B ut it was o nly as a member of
the clan not on his private merits that the individual was
admitted to this meal All worship of this kind wa s public
and taught that a man lived not to himself but also for his
1
fellows
Again when all feasts are religious and the gods
are invited to all rejoicings there is and can be no habitual
2
N o r as the god is the god of the
sense of human guilt
3
community rather than of the individual could any such
feeling be awakened as lon g as the community prospered
But when public disaster o r national calamity supervened one
or both of two things happened : the individual sought super
natural protection by means not included in or recognised by
the public worship o f the community ; and the older gloomier
4
rite of worship which still continued regained its former
and more than its former importance
5
P ublic disaster as we have seen was interpreted as the
A t the same time the older annual
S ign o f individual sin
sacricial rite so di fferent from the common j oyous festivals
was felt in consequence of its difference t o requi re some
explanation That explanation was found in the view that it
was an atonement for the sins of the people ; t hat it was
piacular : hence its gloomy nature
T he feasting with the
god which was characteristic o f the ordinary festival was
here o ut of place ; and the worshipper left the whole of the
victim for the o ffended god Thus do ubly consecrated to the
service o f the god the victim was sacrosanct and contact
with it proportio nately dangerous T he whole of the victim
therefore was treated as the un eaten remains alone had been

D oubtless also a motive for burn t

treated before burn t
o ff erings was the feeling that the o ff er ing was etherealised
and thus made a more tting form of food for a spiritual
being But it was the sacrosanct nature of the piacular
,

Re li

Th e

m un it ie s

Duff M a
4

the S em i tes , 2 6 3 , 26 4

ion o

n a t ive s

T heir

cdonald

S upr a , p

w o rs h ip

n ot

Af ric a n a , i 6 4

1 55

so

religion is m ore

u ch

p ubli

in d ivid ual l y
t h an

as

255

in

vill a g e s

a p ri va t e m a t t er

S up ra ,

or c o m

Th

5
.

I bi d

111

Re v

A N I MA L S AC R I F I C E : T H E S AC R I F I C I A L M E A L

1 61

victim which rst made burning necessary ; and then sacrice

by re was extended to the god s portions of the victim even
in ordinary sacrices
But the revival of the gloomy annual rite in the new
shape of piacular sacrice reacted not only on the mode of
sacrice but on the nature o f the victim T he piacular
sacrice was conceived as the atonement for the sin of a
member of the community ; it was a member of the com
munity therefore that ought to su ffer or if he could no t be
discovered then at least a life of the same kind i e hum an
must be o ffered This was probably the origin of the sacrice
of human beings to the gods amongst t he M editerranean
peoples A mongst the A mericans it was as we have said
due to the lack o f domesticated animals a n explanation
which also co v ers the case of Polynesia where the pig an d
the rat were the only quadrupeds that were known T he
slaughter of human beings to accompany a dead chief to the
next world is not sacrice in the sense in which the word
has been used in this chapter S uch slaughter was in all
1
probability known in early I ndo European times and is
widespread in Africa where the sacrice o f human beings
in the worship of the gods may have been simply borrowed
fr om the ritual at the grave
I f however at the piacular sacrice an animal continues
to be sacriced as it originally was then an explanation has
to be found to account for the victim s being animal and not
human
T he explanation forthcoming is that the an imal
is a scape goat and a substitute for the human being who
ought to be slain Thus in C ochin C hina the king makes a
yearly offering in F ebruary to the heaven and the earth for
benets received I n ancient times this o ffering consisted
in a slaughtered animal placed on an altar over which wine
was poured T he offering is now conceived as a piaculum
for the s ins which every m an is conscious o f having com
m itt e d and which could only be expiated by death : t he
2
animal is regarded as being sl a in instead of a man
If

Tylor , P rim i tive Cul ture, i 4 6 4

B as t ia n , Oes t A s i en , iv 4 1 1
For
.

s ee
an

Ro b ert s o n Sm it h, Religion
a m on s t o t her
g

I I

p eo pl es

the s c a p e g oat
-

am on s t
g

S em i tes , 3 9 7 , 4 2 2 ; in l a ss i
ol d e n B ough, ii 1 8 2 2 1 7

t he

Fra z er,

t he H eb re w s ,

al

a nt iq uit y

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I STO RY O F RE L I G I O N

1 62

again the g o d insists o n human life an alien is o ffered as

1
on the G old C oast amongst the ancient G reeks and
eg
universally amongst the ancient Mexicans
The primitive annual nocturnal rite was also revived in

mysteries of the ancient world but with them we

t he
shall deal hereafter I t remains f or us now to discuss the
devices to which the individual resorted when the god of
the community failed to render him efcient protection
or when the services required were not such as a god of
the community ought to a fford This wi ll require a fresh
chapter
,

El l is Ts hi
,

sp ea lci n g

P eop les , 1 6 9

1 64

I NTR O D U C TI ON TO HI STO RY

is

R ELI G I O N

OF

buil t ; Cudj o the god of a shoal o r reef between C ape

C oast C astle and A c q uo n Point ; K o t t o r k ra b ah who resided
at the wells now known by that name ; B e hn ya the god of
the river B ehn ya and so on To which of these two classes
Sra hm an t in and Sa s a b on s um are to be assigned it is difcult
I n o n e sense they are local sin c e every dis trict
to say
has one or more ; and i n another sense they are general
since they are known all over the coast by these names
Properly speaking it seems as if Srahm a n t in and Sa s ab on s um
were each a name o f a genus of deities every member of
which posse s ses identical characteristics ; though these names

are i n each locality used t o designate in d ividual deities

Sa s a b on s um is implacable ; once a n gered he can never be
m o lli e d o r propitiated
Wherever the earth is of a red
colour there is or has been a Sa s a b o n s um : t he redness is
caused by the blood of the wayfarers he has devoured T he
third class of deities are the tutelary deities o f particul ar
sections of the community such as towns families the
inhabitant s of any division of the town ( a town company )
the frequenters of any market etc Thes e t ut el ar y d eit ie s
iffe r from the local deities in this respect : the latter
hi s own locality ( hill river rock
s n a l l y dwell each in
lagoon
and ente r the images which are made of them
to receive their worshippers sacrices and prayers ; but the
tutelary deity though it is not absolutely and irrevocably
conned to the material obj ect ( wooden gure stone calabash
which is its usual abode for it can leave that abode

and enter into and possess a priest does usually and at

ordinary times dwell in that material obj ect When a family
grows so large that it must divide and the branch in whose
keeping the tutelary deity does not continue consequently
requir es a new one o r when a new town company is
formed application is made to the priest of some local deity
who goes to the hill rock or river etc where the local deity
resides and communicates with him subsequently the priest

becomes possessed and being in spired by the lo c al deity

whose priest he is says he is directed to go to t he abode of
the local deity and take therefrom a s t one or some of the
earth ; or to make a wooden gure o ut of the wood of a tree

growing there or something of that kind

This he does
,

F ET I S H I S M

1 65

pouring some rum on the ground as an o ff ering and then

dancing before them and bearing the obj ect which is now
believed to be the receptacle or ordinary abode o f an in

dwelling god he proceeds to install it in the place where

it is henceforth to be and continue as a tutelary deity ; as
such it like local and general deities has a sacred day o f it s
own o n which its worshippers do no work shave their heads
paint themselves with wh i te c lay and wear white clothes
S acrices are o ffered to the tutelary as to the general an d
local deities T he tutelar y deity o f a family protects the
members from sickness and mis fortune generally
The

tutelary deities o f a town company have each a special

function : the principal one protects the ghting men o f the
company in war ; another perhaps watches that no quarrel
or division takes place between the members of the company ;
another may watch over them when danc ing or hold ing a

festival ; and a thir d may take care of the drums

We
now come to the fourth and last class termed by C olonel

Ellis
the Tutg ary Deities of individual s
Th e s e deitie s
resemble those Cf the t hird cl ass in as much as they dwell in
exactly the same sort of objects wooden gures stones or
a pot containin g a mixture o f earth and blood but they
di ff er from them in s everal important points First the S pot
from which the wood or stone o r earth is taken is not a spot
frequented by a local deity but one haunted by a Sa s ab on s um
N ext no priest i s employed o r consulted by the man who
wants such a s uhm a n as its name is Third though o ffering s
are made to the s uhm a n by its owner they are made in
private public opinion does not approve of them Fourth
whe r eas the function of the tutelary deity of a family or
town company etc is to protect the member s of that sec t ion
one of the special attri butes of a s uhm a n is to procure the
death of any person whom its worshipper may wish to hav e
re m oved indeed
the most important function of the
s uhm a n appear s to be to work evil against those who have
injured or offended it s worshipper ; it s inuence in other

Fifth a s uhm a n can communicate

matters is very secondary
its own powers to other obj ects and the owner of a s uhm a n
sells such charms Finally if a s uhm a n does not prove
ef cacious the man conclude s that either a spirit doe s n o t
,

"

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I ST O RY O F RE L I G I O N

1 66

dwell in the obj ect o r that if it does it is indispo s ed to

serve him : in either case he t hrqwg a wau hp reg gptagl e
he had prepared for the S pirit and recommences d e n ovo
But so great is the fear of giving possible o ff ence to any
superhuman agent that before discardin g it he invariably

makes some o ffering to it to avert its anger

H ere I interrupt the summary of C olonel Ellis S account
to make some remarks As we have seen C olonel Ellis nds
a d ii c ul t y in saying what class of god Sas a bo n s um belongs
to I would suggest that the source o f the dif culty is that
Sas a b o n s um is not a god at all ; and I would point to several
differen c es between Sa s ab on s um on the o n e hand and general
deiti es local deities and tutelary deities of sections o f the
community on the other hand
T he latter have each a
denite circle of worshippers ; Sa s ab on s um none They have
priests of the ir o wn ; Sas ab on s um has not Further their
worship is pub l ic and approved ; Sa s ab on s um s is secret and
ill icit They do good more or less to thei r worshippers ;
Sa s a b on s um
is implacable and does good to
nobody I n ne Sa s a b o n s um is a spirit with whom no body
of wor s hippers has established perm anent friendly relations
an d is not therefore a god at all T he worship o f the
general deities the lo c al deities and the tutelary deities of
particular sections of the comm unity is religious worship
for they are gods of the o r a community ; but dealings with
Sas a b on s um and the manufacture of s uhm a n s are in the
nature of black art as Sa s a b on s um is not o n e of the
community s gods
N o w let us l isten to C olonel Ellis again
The Portuguese
discoverers of West A frica ( 1 4 4 1 1 5 0 0 ) were familiar in
Europe with relic s of saints charmed rosaries amulets and
charms generally for which the Portuguese term was f eit icos
When then they found the T shi speaking negroes worshipping
pieces of stone and other tangible inanimate obj ects such as
the tutelary deities ( whether of individuals or of sections of
the community ) dwelt in they naturally regarded these small
obj ects a s charms and called them f eit igos They could not
have applied the term to a natural feature of the landscape
such as a river valley rock etc in which a general or local
deity dwelt and where he was worshipped N o w the term
,

IN T R O D U C T I O N TO H I S TO R Y

1 68

OF

R EL I G I O N

quen t ly re t urns t o hi s primi t ive es t a t e We make and break

o ur gods d a ily and consequen t ly are t he mas t ers and inven t ors
The con t emp t uous t o ne o f t his
o f wha t we s a crice t o
descrip t ion mus t s t rike t he reader The explana t ion is t ha t
in his you t h lived among
t he na t ive in forman t o f Bosman
t he F rench whose language b e perfec t ly unders t ood and
spoke and as a consequence he ridiculed his o w n coun t ry
gods
D oub t less he was as C olonel Ellis sugges t s anxious
t o appear superior t o his more supers t i t ious fellow coun t ry
men and t o grea t er advan t age t o his European acquain t ance
and s o he s t a t ed t he na t ive prac t ices b ut suppressed every
The idea
t hing t ha t would m ake t hem in t elligible and ra t ional
o f coercion as applied t o a dei t y appears t o C olo n el Ellis af t er
making i n quiries in all direc t ions and aft er an experience o f
t he G old C oas t ex t ending over t hirt een years
t o be qui t e
t he negroes s o implici t ly
foreign t o t he mind o f t he negro
believe in t he superhuman power o f t he gods and hold t hem
generally in such awe t ha t I am convinced no coercion is
ever t here a t t emp t ed or even t hough t of The t es t imony o f
all t he na t ives I have consul t ed on t his poin t seems t o me
conclusive
The bes t proo f of t he accuracy of C olonel Ellis s observa
t ions is t ha t t hey are as we shall shor t ly s e e conrmed
unin t en t ionally by t he parallels a fforded by observers o f
o t her widely remo t e races and religions As a preliminary
t o resumin g our argumen t where we dropped it a t t he end o f
t he las t chap t er however l e t us ask Wha t now is t he meaning
of
fe t ishism
C olonel Ellis has classied for us t he
general local and sec t ional dei t ies of t he G old and S lave
C oas t s t oge t her wit h t he guardian spiri t s of individuals and
t h e charms t o which a guardian spiri t o r s uhm a n ha s com
m un ic a t e d it s o w n powers
We may if we like call all t hese
t hings f e t ishes as D e Brosses and C om t e did and Bas t ian
does The only objec t ion t o t his is t ha t t hen t he word has
no meaning o r a meaning so nebulous as t o be useless for
scien t ic pur poses Thus if we included under t he t erm all
t he objec t s enumera t ed exc ep t t he s u hm a n charms we migh t
t
u
t
a
meaning
on
h
w
rd
hen
all
h
t
hings
designa
ed
t
f
r
e
e
o
o
t
t
p
by it would be t hings w o rshipped B ut t he s uhm a n charms
h
e
t
o
f
e
d
o
i
t
can
we
we
ap
p
ly
n
me
r
e
w
N
a
o
o
r
n
r
a
t
sh
jpp
.

FE T I

S HI S M

1 69

all t he obj ec t s enumera t ed above dene a fe t ish as every t hin g

connec t ed wi t h religion ; f o r t he feeling wi t h which t he
s uhm a n charm is viewed by it s owner is n o t religious
B ut
wi t hou t pressing t hese obj ec t ions we may observe t ha t t he
very business of a his t ory of religion is t o ascer t ain in wha t
rela t ion t he classes o f t hings en umera t ed above s t and t o o n e
ano t her ; and t o lump t hem all t oge t her as f e t ishes does n o t
help forward t he work o f dis t inc t ion and arrangemen t b u t
ra t her re t ards and confounds it ; for wha t does it help us t o
be t old t ha t all religion origina t es in fetihis m v if f e t is his m
means every t hing t ha t has t o do wi t h religion ? o r t ha t
Zeus wa s a fe t ish if a fe t ish only means any t hin g t ha t is
worshipped ?
On t he o t her hand we may if we like consider t ha t
fe t ishism mus t be some t hing very low and degraded a n d t ha t
t herefore t he t erm had be t t er be conned t o t he s uhm a n and
t he charms derived from it t he lowes t o f C olonel Ellis s
classes B ut in t ha t case s o far from t he idol s being an
1
elabora t ed f e t ish
t he s uhm a n or fe t ish is i t self b ut an
imit a t ion idol made af t er t he fa shion and o n t he pa t t ern o f ,
t he genuine idol o f a local or general dei t y
And if we !
conne t he t erm fe t ish t o t he charm made from t he s uhm a n
t hen it is n o t t he idol t ha t is an elabora t ed fe t ish b ut t he
fe t ish t ha t is t he remnan t o r survival o f an imit a t ion idol
Finally wha t ever t he meaning we choose t o put upon t he

t erm
fe t ish no harm can be done if when we mean local
deit y o r guardian spiri t e t c t erms fairly plain w e say

local dei t y o r guardian spiri t e t c as t he case may be

ins t ead of ca l ling t hem fe t ishes which may mean one t hing
t o one person and ano t her t o ano t her because it has no
generally accep t ed scien t ic de ni t ion Le t us now pick
up t he t hread o f o ur argument from t he end of t he las t
chap t er
A god we will repea t is n o t a superna t ural bein g as
such b ut o n e having s t a t e d friendly rela t ions wi t h a deni t e
circle o f worshippers originally blood rela t ions o f o n e ano t her
It is wi t h t he clan t ha t his alliance is made and it is t he
f or t unes o f t he clan ra t her t han o f any individual member
C onsequen t ly if
t hereo f
t ha t are under his pro t ec t ion
,

S up r a , p 1 3 7
.

170

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO R Y

OF

R EL I GI O N

t hings g o ill wi t h t he individual clansman , he mus t do o n e

specially
o f t wo t hings : he mus t ei t her commend himsel f

pr o t ec t ion o f t he god of t he communi t y o r he mus t

seek t he aid of some o t her superna t ural power The lat t er
course however is disloyal t o t he communi t y and if t he
comm uni t y is vigorous and s t rong enough t o suppress dis
loyal t y such indelit y is punished by ou t lawry It was
t herefore t he former course which w a s rs t a t t emp t ed and
we will begin wi t h it accordingly
The answer t o t he ques t ion how t o commend oneself t o
t he pro t ec t ion o f t he dei t y could n o t have been difc ul t t o
nd it was hit o n by s o many di fferen t races in exact ly t he
same form The alliance be t ween t he communi t y and t he
o d took t he
shape
of
a
blood
covenan
Even
priva
e
t
t
g
1
individuals can as we have already seen a t a cer t ain s t age
in t he developmen t o f socie t y form a blood coven a n t bet ween
t hemselves which only binds t hemselves and does n o t in
c l ud e t heir clansmen in t he bene t s t o be derived from it
O bviously t herefore a covenan t be t ween t he god and t he
individual worshipper could be sealed in t he same way ; and
t he individual accordingly o ff ers his own blood o n t he al t ar
The occasions on which t he worshipper
or
t o t he idol
requires t he god s special favour are various It may be t ha t
t he god s f avour has been los t and mus t be regained ; t hus
amongs t t he Q uis sam as an o ff ering o f t he worshipper s own
2
S ickness may be t he
blood appeases t he o ffended fe t ish
mark o f his anger s o on t he L oango C oas t whoever wishes t o

be healed by t he fe t ish Bin gu mus t shave his head and

3
pain t him self red which is eq uivalen t to covering himsel f
wit h his own blood In t he Tonga Islands equi valen t s are
n o t accep t ed ; a nger join t mus t be c ut o ff t o procure t h e
4
The Aus t ralian aborigines and
recovery of a sick relat ion
t he Tscherkess also c ut o ff a nger in sickness
Wealt hy
women o f t he S udra cas t e o ffer a golden nger in place o f t h e
re a l esh and blood The Ab ipo n e s subs t i t u t ed an o ffering
t o t he

p 1 01
2
Wh at
A s he is c al l e d in t he J ourn a l of t he A n thrOp ol og ica l I n s ti tut e i 1 9 2
kind o f god he rea l l y was I ca nno t m ake out
3
B as t i an L o a n go E us te i 2 7 0
H ere t o o I c anno t m ake o ut whe t her t his
fe t ish is a g ener al or a l oca l g o d o r even whe t her he is a g o d a t all
M ariner Ton g a I s la n d s ii 2 1 0
1

S up r a ,

172

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY

OF

R EL I G I O N

heads were bruis ed and bleeding

In Equa t oria par t of
t he D o n a g l a wedding ceremony is a survival o f t he blood
le t t ing ri t e
The husband scra t ches t he sides and shoulders
o f t he bride ( wi t h nails prepared a long t ime be f ore
ill
h
t
t
e
)
2
bl o o d s t ar t s as is required by cus t om
To commend
t hemselves and t heir prayers t he Q uich es pierced t heir ears
and gashed t heir arms and o ffered t he sacrice o f t heirblood
3
t o t heir gods
The Mexicans bled t heir ears o r t ongues in
4
honour o f Macuilxochit l and many o t her gods The prac t ice
5
o f drawing blood from t he ears is said by Bas t ia n
t o be
6
common in t he O rien t ; and L ipper t conjec t ures t ha t t he
marks le ft in t he ears were valued as visible and permanen t
indica t ions t ha t t he person possessing t hem was under t he
pro t ec t ion of t he god wi t h whom t he worshipper had uni t ed
himself by his blood o ffering In t ha t case earrings were
originally designed n o t for ornamen t b ut t o keep open and
t here fore permanen t ly visible t he mark o f former worship
The marks o r scars lef t on legs or arms from which blood had
l b e e n drawn were probably t he origin o f t a t t ooing as has
o c c urre d t o various a n t hrO o l o is t s
L
ike
mos
o
her
ideas
t
t
g
p
i
we may add t ha t o f t a t t ooing mus t have been forced o n man ;
it was n o t his own inven t ion and b ein g a decora t ive idea it
mus t have followed t he laws which regula t e t he developmen t
o f all decora t ive a rt
A s t ick o r bo ne is prized because o f
i t sel f it sugges t s or bears somewha t of a likeness t o some
objec t e g t he head o f an animal ; and t he prim i t ive ar t is t
comple t es t he likeness sugges t ed S o t he scars from cere
monial blood le t t ing may have sugges t ed a gure ; t he
resemblance was delibera t ely comple t ed ; and nex t t ime t he
scars were from t he beginning designedly arranged t o f orm
a pa t t ern Tha t t he pa t t ern t hen chosen sho ul d be a pic t ure
of
t he t o t em animal o r t he g o d t o whom t he blood wa s
o ffered would be sugges t ed by a na t ural and almos t inevi t able
associa t ion o f ideas Tha t t he occasion selec t ed f or t he
Opera t ion should be early in life and should be o n e o f which
it was desirable t ha t t he worshippers should carry a visible
and perma nen t record e g ini t ia t ion whe t her in t o manhood
.

Turner

P o l y nes ia , 1 8 7

de B ourb ourg
5
Der M en s ch iii 4

B r a sseur

Ca s a t i

i 69
h g n i xiv
ii 3 2 8

Ten Yea rs i n E q ua t or i a ,
4
Sa a u ,
P op l Vu h, 2 2 9 , 2 59
6
Cul tu rgeschi chte d er M en s ch/wit ,
2

FETI S H I SM

173

or as amongs t t he B a t t as prie s t hood is also comprehensible

and when we recollec t t hat in deat h t he clansman is o ft en
3
supposed t o be reuni t ed t o his t o t em we can unders t and t he
belief o f t he Esquimaux and Fiji Islanders t ha t none but t he
4
t a t t ooed can en t er t heir respec t ive paradises
By t he t ime t ha t t he blood le t t ing ri t e has come t o be
s t ereo t yped and obliga t ory on all in t he form o f t a t t ooing or
in it s original form has come t o be t o o usual t o secure t he
undivided a t t en t ion which a man s o wn for t un es seem t o him
t o require t here wi l l be a t endency unless t he communi t y
exhibit s t ha t loyal t y t o it s o w n gods which is essen t ial bo t h
t o t he exis t ence and t o t he moral and religious developmen t
o f t he t ribe t o seek t he aid o f superna t ural spiri t s o t her
t han t he t ribal g o d
N ow for t he savage superna t ural
bein gs are divided in t o t hree classes t he gods o f his own
t ribe t hose o f o t her t ribes and spiri t s which unlike t he
rs t t wo classes have never ob t ained a denit e circle o f
worshippers t o offer sacrice t o t hem and in re t urn receive
pro t ec t ion from t hem
This las t class never having been
t a ken in t o alliance by any clan have never been eleva t ed
int o gods There is in t he case we are now considering no
ques t ion o f seeking t he aid o f s t range g od s t hey are pre
s um a bl y already t o o much engaged in lookin g af t er t heir own
worshippers t o mee t t he exorbit an t demands o f t he man who
is dissa t ised wit h his o wn proper gods Thus in Peru each
province each nat ion each house had it s o wn gods differen t
from one ano t her ; for t hey t hough t t ha t a s t ranger s god
occupied wi t h someone else could n o t a tt end t o t hem b ut
5
only t heir o wn
I t is t here f ore t o t he t hird class o f spiri t s
t ha t he mus t t urn
H e has n o t far t o go t o nd t hem : he
can scarcely s e t o ut f rom t he camp or village in any direc t ion
wi t hou t passing some spo t a conspicuous rock a gloomy
,

v 45
2
T he rit e o f circumcision ha s prob ab l y been di ffused from o n e single cen t re
Whe ther t he pra c t ice belongs in it s origin t o t he cl a ss o f ceremonies describe d
in t he t ext is m at t er o f conj ect ure The exis t ence in t he N ew World o f a
ri t e simil a r except t h a t it is conned t o an o ff ering of blood seems t o fa vo ur
t h e co njec t ure
4
3
S up r a p 1 03
B a s t i an op cit vi 1 5 1
G a rc il a s s o de l a Vega R oy a l Com m en ta ri es of the Yncas ( Hakl uy t
i 47
1

B a s t i a n , Oes t A s ien ,
.

1 74

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

glade which t radit ion or t he t aboo fear has marked a s t he

abode o f o n e o f t hese spiri t s In t he Pelew Islands for
2
ins t ance a mos t t rus t wor t hy observer says t ha t besides t he
t ribal and family gods t here are coun t less o t her spirit s o f
ear t h moun t ain woods and s t reams all o f which are m is
c hie vo us and o f all o f whi ch t he islanders are in daily fear
S o t o o on t he S lave and G ol d C oas t s t he malignan t spiri t s
Srahm an t in and Sas ab o n s um haun t places easily recognisab l e

wh ere t he eart h is red o r sil k co t t on t rees grow If t he

savage has lit t le di c ul t y in nding t he abode o f him whom
he seeks he has also li t t le doub t as t o t he manner o f a p
ro a c hin
: he will t rea t him as he wo ul d his t ribal god
him
p
g
he knows no o t her way of opening communicat ion wit h
superna t ural beings H e adap t s t herefore t he t ribal rit ual
Bishop C aldwell s very caref ul observa t ions in Tinnevelly are
s o ins t ruc t ive in t his respec t t ha t we wi ll summarise t hem
here inser t ing in bracke t s wha t is necessary t o bring o ut t he
parallel be t ween t he religious and t he sacril egious rit es
In
Tinnevelly evil spiri t s have no regular pries t s ; b ut when it
becomes necessary in consequence o f some pressing need t o
resor t t o t he aid o f t hese spiri t s some one is chosen o r o ff ers
himself t o be t he pries t fo r t he occasion and is dressed up
in t he insignia o f t he spiri t [As blood is t he sacrice t o a
god s o ] in t he dance wit h which t he evil spiri t s [ lik e t he
3
t ribal god ] are wors hi pped t he dancer in an ecs t asy draws
4
his o wn blood and drinks t ha t o f t he vic t im
a goa t s ay
and t hus t he spiri t passes in t o him and he has t he power of
prophecy [ As t he sacrice o f t he sacred vic t ims wa s a
solemn mys t ery t o be celebra t ed by nigh t and t ermina t ed
be fore sunrise s o ] t he worship o f t he evil spirit s mus t be
performed by nigh t and t he general opinion is t ha t nigh t is
t he appropria t e t ime for t heir worship
A
s
h
god
was
t
e
[
supposed t o be in o r t o en t er t he vic t im and t he en t rance
of
a go d in t o possession o f a human being is univers ally
manifes t ed by t he shivering convulsive m ovemen t s o f t he
possessed person it was a common cus t om t o pour wa t er o n
1

S up ra , p 1 3 6
Kub ary (l o n g a
.

Religi on

See ,

below

resident in t he isl ands ) in

the S em i tes , 4 3 2

t he

ch a pt er on t he P ries t hoo d

B a s t i a n , A ll erl ei,

46

176

I N T R O D UC T I O N TO H I S T O RY

RELI GI O N

OF

essen t ial t o t he exis t ence o f socie t y and when t he uns t able

equilibrium o f t he small communi t y requires t he devo t ion o f
every member t o preven t it f rom falling From t his poin t
o f view t h e proce e dings in Tinnevelly being t he a c t o f t he
communi t y are quit e differen t f rom t hose o f a priva t e
individual : t hey may if grea t bene t t o t he communit y is
deriv e d from t hem ( e g if a pes t ilence is s t ayed in c o n s e
u
n c e t hereof ) resul t in t he communi t y s acquirin g a new
e
q
god and one who t akes an ac t ive in t eres t in t he welfare o f
In t he Pelew Islands a t
his new worshippers collec t ively
t h e presen t day una t t ached spirit s n o t unfrequen t ly become
1
gods in t he proper sense o f t he word in some such way ;
and in ancien t G reece friendly rela t io n s were sim il arly
es t ablished wi t h all t he local S piri t s B ut in t hese cases it is
t he public good which is sough t and promo t ed by t he j oin t a c t
o f t h e communi t y a n d under t he direc t ions o f a pries t ac t ing
in t he name o f t he communi t y s gods Thus t he negro
2
according t o C olonel Ellis who requires a t u t elary deit y fo r
his fa mily applies t o t he pries t
In t he N ew World also t he
na t ives of H ispaniola did n o t make and break t heir gods a t
will I t w as n o t enough fo r ins t ance t ha t a t ree S hould move
in a mys t erious way for it t o be s t raigh t way worshipped by
Be fore it could become
t he individual who was awes t ruck
an obj ec t of worship it mus t be recognised as t he residence
of a
o d by a pries t and a due ri t ual mus t be provided f o r it
g
as appears from t he accoun t given by F a t her R oman a c o m
panion o f C olumbus : A person t ravelling sees some t ree
t ha t seems t o move o r S hake it s roo t s o n which in grea t
alarm he asks who is t here ? To t his t he t ree answers t ha t

such and such a B uhuit ihu knows and will in form ; t he

t hen s t anding up addresses t he
B uhuit ihu is fe t ched and
t ree wi t h many t i t les as if some grea t lord t hen asks who it
is wha t he does t here why he sen t fo r him and wha t he
would have him do ; whe t her he desires t o be o ut whe t her he
will accompany him where he will be carried and if a hous e
is t o be buil t and endowed for his recep t ion ? H aving re
c e ive d sa t is fac t ory answers t he t ree is c ut down and f orm ed
in t o a c em i [id o l ] fo r which a house is buil t and endowed and
or religio us ceremonies perfor m
ed t here a t cer t ain
c og ia b a
,

Kub ary

in A lle r l ei i
,

46

2
.

S up ra ,

1 64

F ETI S H I S M

177

V ery differen t is it when an individual

s t a t ed t imes
priva t ely resor t s t o o n e of t hese spiri t s because t he reques t
which he has t o prefer is such t ha t he dare n o t make it
publicly t o t he clan god who is t he guardian o f t he com
m un it y s in t eres t and t h e t ribal morali t y
There is all t he
difference in t he world be t ween applying t o t he clan go d and
t o a S piri t who has no reason t o look wi t h friendly eyes o n
your fellow clansmen b ut rat her presumably t akes a pleasure
in injuring t hem Nat urally such a suspicious proceeding
is resen t ed by t he communit y and should disas t rous couse
n c es ensue t o any o f it s members is punished by dea t h
u
e
q
C er t ainly it implies malignit y in t he person dealing wi t h
such spirit s and a conscious delibera t e opposit ion t o t he
public in t eres t and t he recognised moralit y of t he t ribe I n
ne t he wi t ch whe t her o f presen t day Africa or medi aeval
E urope is a person who believin g him o r herself t o possess
t he power by means o f magic t o cause loss bodily t or t ure
and dea t h t o his or her neighbours uses t ha t power and is
t herefore morally exac t ly o n a par wi t h a person w ho in t end
ing t o poison by s t rychnine should accident ally adminis t er
no t hing more dangerous t han phenace t ine I f amongs t t he
persons t hus a t t acked some by a coincidence happen t o d ie
and t he poisoner regards t heir dea t hs as evidence o f his success
t he communit y ( being equally unable t o t ell s t rychnine from
phenace t ine ) may regard t hem as reason for his execu t ion
A more accura t e knowledge o f science o f course would have
enabled t he t ribunals t o dis t ing ui sh t he innocen t from t he
guilt y and t he murderer t o dis t inguish poisons from non
poisons
Magic is in fac t a direc t relapse in t o t he s t at e o f t hings
in which man found him
when he was surrounded by
superna t ural beings none of which was bo un d t o him by any
t ie o f goodwill wi t h none o f which had he any s t a t ed re
l a t ion s b ut all were uncer t ain capri ci ous and caused in him
unreasoning t error This reign of t error magic t ends t o re
es t ablish and does re es t ablish wherever t he beli ef in magic
prevail s The rs t s t ep t owards man s escape from it was
t he condence given t o him by his alliance wit h t he clan g o d
.

'

Kerr ,

3 96

1 2

Voy a ges

iii

1 38 9

fuller accoun t in

Pa yne , N ew

Wo rl d

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

178
t ha t

his for t unes and his des t iny were no longer a t t he mercy
o f capricious powers b ut in t he hands o f a being who was
friendly t o him and was ac t ua t ed by in t elligible and reasonable
mo t ives Magic t herefore t he dealing wi t h spiri t ual bein gs
o t her t han t he gods of t he communi t y is in t w o ways t he
nega t ion o f religion and necessarily incurs it s hos t ili t y F irs t
t he deser t ion o f a worshipper is o ffensive ingra t it ude t o t he
clan god who accordingly m ay wi t hdraw his pro t ect ion fro m
t he communi t y which is collec t ively responsible ( as in t he
blood feud ) f or t he ac t s o f any of it s members N ex t t he

f
fundamen t al principle o religion belief in t he wisdom and
goodness o f G od is viola t ed by t he belief in magic by t he
idea t ha t a good man can come t o harm o r t ha t a bad man
is allowed t o injure him
B ut magic is more t han a mere reversion for in his
relapse man carries wi t h him in a perver t ed form some t hing
of hi s higher es t a t e In t he begin ni ng if he could n o t
in uence t he superna t ural powers which surrounded him t o
hi s own good neit her could he t o his f ellow man s harm
B ut
in his relapse he t akes wi t h him t he only idea whi ch a mind
so relapsin g can en t er t ain of worship namely t ha t it is a
sequence o f ex t ernal ac t ions par t icularly po t en t over super
na t ural beings The armoury t herefore on which he relies
fo r working evil t o hi s fellow man consis t s in ri t es which are
parodies or perversions o f t he worship o f t he communi t y s

gods ; o r sympat he t ic magic which has already been ex

plained in C hap t er I V ; and charms o f which a word here
C harms or amule t s are ma t erial obj ec t s in which no spiri t
resides eit her permanen t ly or occasionally b ut which are
associa t ed wit h some t hing be it blood o r babe or corpse o r
good S piri t or bad which is t aboo They t herefore ca t ch t he
t aboo infec t ion and b ecome charged wi t h t he proper t ies o f
They may serve t herefore t o do injury t o
t he t hing t aboo
o t hers by communica t ing t he t aboo con t agion ; o r by t heir
dangerous charac t er and t he fear t hey inspire t hey may p ro
t ee t t he owner from bo t h human and superhuman foes ; o r
t hey may f rom some associa t ion or o t her o f ideas be lucky
To sum up : t he di fferenc e be t ween religion and magic is
radical Psychol o gica lly it is impossible f rom t he maligni t y
which is t he mo t ive o f magic t o derive t he t ie o f a ffec t ion
,

C H AP TER X I V
FAM I LY

AND G UARDI AN

e o ns

SPI RI TS

is s t ill a much d ispu t ed ques t ion wha t was t he original

form of hum an marriage b ut in any case t he family seems
t o be a la t er ins t it u t ion t han t h e clan o r communi t y wha t
ever it s s t ruct ure and fami ly gods consequen t ly are la t er
If promiscui t y o r if
t han t he gods o f t he communi t y
polyandry and t he ma t riarcha t e were t he original s t a t e of
t h ings t hen t he family was admi t t edly a la t er develop
men t And s o also it was if t he pa t riarcha t e wit h monogamy
In t he la t t er
o r polygamy prevailed f rom t he beginning
case t he gods o f t he pa t riarch were necessarily also t he gods
o f his married children and his grandchildren ; as long a s
t he pa t riarch and his children and children s children dwel t
t oge t her and formed t he communi t y t he married children
and their respec t ive families could have no separa t e gods o f
When however circums t ances made it possible
t heir o w n
fo r t he families which formed such a pa t riarchal communi t y
t o exis t apar t from o n e ano t her and t his was only possible
in rela t ively la t e t im es t hen it became also possible for t hem
t o have gods o f t heir o wn in addi t ion t o t hose t ha t t hey
worshipped along wi t h t heir kinsmen In Wes t ern Africa
as appe a rs from t he accoun t cit ed a t t he beginning o f las t
chap t er from C olonel Ellis families ob t ain t heir cul t s from
t he sanc t uaries o f t he es t ablished gods by t he media t ion o f
I t is from t he gods o f t he communi t y also
t he pries t s
t ha t individu als in some cases ob t ain t heir guar d ian spiri t s

Thus in S amoa a t chil d birt h t he help o f several go d s

was invoked in successio n and t he o n e who happened t o be
addressed a t t he momen t o f t he bir t h was t he infan t s

IT

1 80

F AM I LY G O DS A ND G U A RD I A N S P I R IT S
t o t em

181

his
n
vidual
t
o
t
em
t
i
di
(

is qui t e dis t inc t in S amoa

from t he clan t o t em and is t he child s guardian spirit )
B ut t hough bo t h g uardian sp irit s and family gods may

be ob t ained from t he ranks o f t he communit ys gods it is

q ui t e possible for t he reverse process t o t ake place Thus in
t he Pelew Islands where t he gods are t o t em gods each t ribe
and each family has it s o wn t o t em go d and a s a t ribe
develops in t o a s t at e t he god o f t he family or t ribe which
2
is t he mos t impor t an t poli t ically becomes t he highes t g o d
And a s a guardian spiri t in some cases becomes heredit ary
and s o a family g o d t he circ ula t ion o f gods becomes
comple t e ; b ut a s t he communi t y is prior chronologically t o
t he family and t he emancipa t ion o f t he individual f rom t he
c us t oms which subordina t e him and his in t eres t s t o t he
communit y is la t er even t han t he segrega t ion of t he family
t he ow o f gods has it s source in t he gods o f t he communi t y
originally I t is n o t however always t ha t a t ribe has
su fcien t cohesion amongs t it s members t o develop in t o a
s t at e More o ft en indeed usually t he clan is uns t able and
even t ually dissolves Then it s members formerly unit ed in
t he worship o f t he g o d t ha t pro t ec t ed t hem sca t t er ; and t he
o
d
H
i
becomes
a
mere
memory
a
name
s worship ceases
g
for now no t hing brings his worshippers t oge t her H e is
remembered vaguely a s a good g o d ; and if a whit e man asks
t he savage why t hen he does n o t worship him t he savage
n o t knowing inven t s and says it is unnecessary t he god is
good and is quit e harmless
S o t he whi t e man falls in t o
one o f t w o errors : ei t her he concludes t ha t f ear is t he source
o f t he savage s religion and t ha t he only worships evil S piri t s

or he sees in it a mono t heis t ic t endency or perhaps a

t race of primeval mono t heism
The rs t error is due t o t he
fac t t ha t t hough t he sava ge s conscience reproaches him
when he falls ill for n eglec t ing his gods and s o far fear
plays a par t in his educa t io n s t ill he does receive bene
t s from his gods assis t ance in war e t c and looks o n
The o t her error lies in t aking
t hem wi t h f riendly eyes
a single fac t and explaining it wi t hou t reference t o it s
con t ex t
When a clan does s o dissolve or when in consequence
Fr a z er To tem is m 5 5
B s t i n A ll rlei i 1 6

182

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

clan s expansion t he clan al t ar becomes remo t e from

t he majori t y o f t he t ribe t he need o f a more immedia t e
pro t ec t or and o f more in t ima t e and cons t an t rela t ions wi t h
him ma kes i t self fel t wit h t he res ul t t hat a guardian spiri t
fa mily god is chosen n o t always a n d probably n o t
or
origin a lly from amongs t t he gods o f t he communi t y (if t here
be more t han one ) B ut whe t her t he guardi an spirit of t he
individual be drawn from t he gods o r f rom o t her una t t ached
superna t ural spiri t s t he ri t ual adop t ed by t he individual is
t ha t used by t he communi t y in worshipping it s own gods
In N or t h America where t o t emism is t he form o f t he
communi t y s religion t he individual also selec t s an animal
S pecies (n o t an individual animal ) which is t o be t o him
wha t t he clan t o t em is t o t he clan We may call it an
individual t o t em or a m an it o o ( an Indian word for spirit
f amil iar t o E nglish readers in t he phrase G rea t M a n it o o i e
t he G rea t S piri t )
a guardian spiri t The period a t
or
which such a m an it oo is chosen is t he t ime when t he boy is
t o en t er on t h e righ t s a n d du t ies o f full manhood a t ime o f
li fe o f t en chosen by t o t em peoples fo r t he ini t ia t ion o f t he
you t h in t o t he worship o f t he clan t o t em The blood o ffer
ing which forms par t o f t he la t t er ceremony is found in t he
f ormer also
The Mosqui t o India ns in C en t ral America
sealed t heir compac t wi t h it [ t he individual t o t em ] by draw
1
ing blood from various par t s o f t heir body
The t a t t ooing
which is t he ou t come o f t he blood le t t ing ri t e accompani es
and marks t he choice o f a guardian spiri t The Indians o f
2
C anada t a t t ooed t heir individual t o t ems on t heir bodies
The fas t ing whi ch is t he prepa ra t ion f o r con t ac t wi t h t hings
h o ly and t herefore for p a r t icipa t ion in t he clan sacrice is
3
an indispensable prelim i n a ry t o t he selec t ion o f a m an it o o
The animal o f which t he you t h dreams rs t during t hese
X
ri t es becomes his individual t o t em A S t he communi t y
seal t heir allia nce w i t h t he t o t em species by t he sacrice o f
o n e o f it s members so t h e individual kills o n e o f t he S pecies
which is t o be his t o t em and which hencefor t h will be
sacred t o him and will be nei t her killed nor ea t en by him
F rom t he S kin o f t he one member of t he S pecies which he
1
Fr z er Totem ism 5 5 ( B ncro ft N a tive Ra ce i
F r z er l oc it
W i t z A n th op l ogie iii 1 1 8 1 9 1
of

t he

a
3

s,

I N T R O D U C T I O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

184

dwindled t o a mere charm b ut is s t ill t he abode o f a

pro t ec t ing S pirit Amongs t t he J ak ut s t o keep in nor t hern

zones t he skin has disappeared t he human likeness is given
t o a wooden idol t he connec t ion o f t he idol wit h a t o t em
animal survives only in t he fac t t ha t t he idol is smeared wit h
blood a n d it is n o t for lif e b ut for some special occasion o r
purpose t ha t a guardian S piri t is t hus invoked B ut t he
s a crice t o t he idol and t he feas t a t which it occupies t he
1
seat o f hono ur S how t ha t it is s t ill t he abode o f a spirit and
H ere t o o t he shaman t akes
n o t a mere mechanical charm
par t in t he proceedings
In Bra g ] t he maraca or t am m arac a is a calabash o r
gourd con t ainin g s t ones and various small ar t icles Every
Brazilian Indian has o n e I t is all powerful I t s power is
communi ca t ed t o it by a pries t who ge t s it from a far o ff
2
spiri t
S acrices especially human are made t o it
H ere
t he original t o t em animal ha s le f t n o t even it s S kin
The
bag o f animal skin which amongs t t he B e d Indians also
is a recep t acle fo r va ri ous small ar t icles t ha t are grea t
medicin e
has been given up f or wha t we may call a b o x
supplied by t he vege t able world The Brazili an maraca
nds it s exac t parallel in Eas t C en t ral Africa When t he
diviners give t heir response t hey shake a small gourd lled
wi t h pebbles and inspec t pieces o f s t icks bones cla ws
3
po t t ery e t c which are in ano t her gourd
R e t urning t o
t he N ew World it was usual for t he pries t s amongs t t he
nor t hern Indians of C hili t o have some square bags o f
p a in t ed hide in which he keeps t he S pells like t he maraca
4
o r ra t t le o f t he Brazilian sorcerers
Elsewhere in t he N ew
World in t he An t illes t here were t u t elary deit ies ( C hemis )
o f t he in di vidual and o f t he family which resided in ido l s o f
human o r animal f orm and t he gure o f t he C hemi w a s
t a t t ooed o n t he worshipper 5
In Peru c o n Op as were t he
t u t elary deit ies o f individuals ; t hey received sacrices and
6
t
migh be handed down f rom f a t her t o son
L eaving t he N ew World we may no t e in passin g t ha t
ha s

n ot

B a s t i an , A ll erl ei ,

21 3

Mull er A m erika/n Urreligion

3
D uff M a c d on al d Af rica n a 4 4
M ul l er op c it 1 7 1
2

2 62 ;

cf D orm a n
.

4
.

op

c it .

1 59

Kerr , Voy a ges , v 4 0 5

D orm a n , op c it 1 6 0
.

F A M I LY G O D S A N D GU A RD I A N S P I R I T S

185

t he

e vidence fo r t he exis t ence o f individual t o t ems in

1
We go o n
Aus t ral ia t hough conclusive is very scan t y

t herefore t o Polynesia where

t iki
is wha t t o t em is in
N or t h America To every individual every family and every
communi t y t here is a t iki o r t o t em animal The individual
t o t em is chosen from amongs t t he animals worshipped as
t o t ems by t he various communi t ies
I t is chosen by a
2
me t hod already described a t t he bir t h o f t he child B ut
t here are indica t ions t ha t originally t h e ceremony t ook place
n o t a t bir t h b ut a t t he same t ime o f li f e as amongs t t he R ed
3
Indians
I t is t here f ore in t eres t ing t o no t ice t ha t t h e
t endency t o an t eda t e t he ceremony which in Polynesia has
become fully es t a blished had alre a dy begun t o manifes t i t self
in America ; and f ur t her t ha t t he mode o f choice is t he
s a me in bo t h cases b ut t ha t in America a pparen t ly t he
eld o f choice had n o t y e t become limi t ed t o animals already

Among t he t ribes o f t he Is t hmus o f Tehuan t epec

t o t ems
when a woman was abou t t o be conned t he rela t io ns
assembled in t he b ut a n d drew o n t he oor gures o f
differen t animals rubbin g each o n e o ut a s soon as it was
nished This wen t o n t ill t he child was born and t he
gure t ha t remained ske t ched o n t he ground was t he child s
4
Tha t in Polynesia also t he choice was n o t
t on a o r t o t em
originally limi t ed t o animals o r plan t s already t o t ems a n d

herefore
domes
ica
ed
ii t hey were species capable o f
t
t
t
domes t ica t ionmay be indica t ed by t he fac t t ha t amongs t

d
h
e god o f plan t s
Maoris
Tiki
is
name
a
h
h
o
f
o
t
t e
t e
g
Elsewhere Tiki is t he god
t ha t have n o t been domes t ica t ed
of t a t t ooing which again poin t s t o t he connec t ion be t ween
t a t t ooing and t he t o t em
A s t hen guardia n spiri t s and family gods are found in
Africa Asia Am erica Aus t ralia and Polynesia we may n o t
unreasonably look fo r t hem in t he O ld World We shall
.

F ra z er op cit 5 3
3
Wa i t z A n throp ol og i e vi 3 2 0
S up r a pp 1 8 0 1 8 1
mys t eries which
I n E a s t ern C en t ra l A fric a a t t he
Fr a z er op cit 5 5

in t h e ini t i at ion o f m a les gures of t he wh a l e are

t ak e pl a ce a t p ub ert y
m ade o n t he g ro und a n d in t he ini t iat ion of fem a les gures o f leop ards
hyen a s an d s uch a nim al s as are seen by t hose t h at never lea ve t heir homes
Duff Ma cdonal d Af rica n a i 1 3 1 Perh a ps t hese p ubert y mys t eries re
remna n t s o f t he c us t om of choosing an individ ua l t o t em a t t h a t t ime o f l ife
1

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

186

also expec t t o nd t ha t t heir cul t is modelled t here a s else

where o n t he c ul t o f t he grea t gods As t o t emism had been
almos t comple t ely me t amorphosed by subsequen t develop
men t s o f religion we need n o t expec t t o nd much o f it in
t he guardian spiri t s and famil y gods of t he O ld World ;
and if t he idols in which t he C hemis o f t he An t illes dwel t
had come t o be an t hropomorphic in some cases we need n o t
be surprised if t hey were invariably an t hropomorphic in
G reece o r R ome nor if t he t u t elary deit ies o f families or
individuals in t hose coun t ries were drawn from t he ranks o f
t he communi t y s gods as was t he case in Polynesia
Amongs t t he S emit es t he terap him t he worship o f which
was apparen t ly n o t considered idola t rous amongs t t he
i
H ebrews were family gods They were gures of wood o r
me t al wit h heads S haped in t o t he likeness o f a human f ace ;
t hey served as house oracles and were worshipped by t he
1
C hald aeans and by t he inhabi t an t s o f S yria
Tha t a t Ro m e t he G enius was t he guardian spirit o f t he
individual and t ha t t he Lares and Pena t es were family gods
no
o n e will ques t ion
I t is however in t eres t in g t o no t e
t ha t bo t h t he G enius and t he L ares are associa t ed wi t h
animals t he f ormer wi t h t he snake and t he la t t er wit h t he
dog and s o be t ray probably t heir t o t emis t ic origin The life
o f t he individual was in some cases supposed t o depend upon
t he lif e o f t he snake in which his genius lived ; t he man s
2
he a l t h depended on his genius and when t he serpen t which
was t he genius o f t he fa t her o f t he G racchi was kill ed
3
Tiberius di ed
This exac t ly agrees wi t h t he accoun t given
o f t he individual t o t em amongs t
t he G ua t e m a l t e c s : many
are deluded by t he D evil t o believe t ha t t heir li fe depends
o n t h e L i f e of such and such a Beas t
o
t
t
which
t
hey
ake
(
t hem a s t heir f amilia r S piri t ) and t hink t ha t when t ha t beas t
dies t hey mus t die when he is chased t heir hear t s p a n t ; when
he is fain t t hey are fa in t ; nay it happens t ha t by t he D evil s
delusion t hey appe a r in t he shape o f t ha t Beas t ( which com
m o n l y by t heir choice is a Buck o r D oe a Lion o r Tigre D o g
4
or Eagle ) and in t ha t S hape have been sho t a t and wounded
.

A m Urquel l , v 9 2
Prel ler , R em ische M ytho l ogie ,

J evons , P l ut a rc h s Rom a ne Q ues tion s , x l viii

4
A
e
ge
r
a
w
u
v
e
o
N
G
S
,
y f the Wes t I n d ies , 3 3 4
.

ii

1 98

I N T R O D UC T I O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

188

men t ion o f ances t or worship and a f t er him no cul t o f

guardian spiri t s Whe t her we are t o connec t t hes e t w o
fac t s a n d in f er t ha t ances t or worship sprin ging up in pos t
H omeric t imes amalgama t ed wi t h t he cul t o f t he guardian
spiri t ( as in R ome wi t h t he cul t o f t he Lar) and t hen over
shadowed it al t oge t her is a poin t which I will n o t do more
A t any ra t e it is o bviously
t han sugges t for considera t ion
desirable t ha t we should n o w go o n t o consider t he ques t ion
o f ances t or worship in general ; and bearing in mind t ha t it
is essen t ially a priva t e worship and a p urely fami ly a ffair we
may n o t inappropria t ely sum up t he resul t s o f t his chap t er
as a ff ec t ing cul t s o f t hi s kind They are as follows When
ever and wherever cul t s o f t hi s kind are found and t hey
are f ound in every quar t er o f t he globe t hey are assimil a t ed
t o t he ri t ual used in t he worship o f t he communi t y s gods ;
and t he t u t elary S pirit s t hemselves assume t he same ex t ernal
f orm as t he public gods
N ex t it is more probable t ha t t he
individual sho ul d imit a t e t he comm uni t y s ri t ual t han t he
communit y an individual s ; and in some c a ses it is avowedly
t he individual t ha t borrows his guardian spiri t f rom t he
ra nks o f t he comm un i t y s gods Finally t he fa mily is an
ins t i t u t ion which appears rela t ively la t e in t he his t ory o f
socie t y I f t herefore we nd poin t s o f similari t y be t ween
t he ri t ual used in an c estg worship and t ha t used in t he
worship o f t he public gods we shall n o t fa ll in t o t he error o f
t rea t ing it as an isola t ed and unparalleled f ac t in t he his t ory
o f religion b ut sh a ll ra t her regard it as subjec t t o t he same
laws and t o be explained in t he same way as t he res t of t he
class o f priva t e cul t s t o which it belongs
-

CH APTER X V
AN C S T R- W RSHI P

E O

A DE SCRI PTI ON has already been given in C hap t er V o f t he

spon t aneous ou t burs t s o f sorrow t he indescribable scenes of

lamen t at ion and wailing as Mr Turner calls t hem which

and
t ake place amongs t savages o n t he occasion o f a dea t h
o f t he uncer t ain t y whe t her dea t h ha s really supervened t he
reluc t ance t o believe t ha t it has t he endeavours t o de t ain
t he soul of t he dyin g man by o ffering him his favouri t e
dishes displaying his mos t cherished possessions praising his
n oble deeds ; t he a t t emp t s t o recall t he soul when t he man
is dead t o induce it t o abide wit h t he survivors ; in n e t he
desire t o dwell on t he memory and t o seek communion wit h
The
t he spirit s o f t hose who have been loved and los t
objec t o f t ha t chap t er was t o s ugges t t ha t t he aven u
e of
communica t ion t hus opened be t ween t he savage and t he spiri t s
o f his dead may have served t o sugges t t o him a way of
approaching o t her beings who like t he dead were spiri t s b ut
unl ike t hem possessed superna t ural powers fo r t he dead do
n o t seem in any of t he ceremonies describe d
t o appear as
superna t ural beings The being wit h whom t he savage seeks

communion in t hese rit es is t he fa t her whom he knew n o t

a d aemon o f any kind A t deat h as in sleep t he spirit
desert s t he body b ut does n o t in ei t her case necessarily
Af t er dea t h indeed t he
t hereby gain superna t ural powers
ghos t s rela t ion t o t he living is ra t her o n e o f dependence for
In ne
f ood comfor t and even con t inuance of exis t ence
grief and
t hese spon t aneous demons t ra t ions o f aff ec t ion
desire fo r reunion wit h t he depar t ed do n o t amoun t t o
worship We have t herefore n o w t o t race t he process by
which t hey developed in t o ances t or worship
,

1 89

I N T R O D UC T I O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

1 90

condi t ion Of any such developmen t is t ha t t he

demons t ra t ions a t rs t spon t aneous sho ul d become con
This is n o t t he same
ve n t io n a l and harden in t o cus t om
t hing as saying t ha t grief ceases t o be genuine when t he
manner o f it s expression becomes conven t ional
On t he
con t rary in t he rs t place benea t h t he ou t ward t rappings

and t he sign s o f w o e t here may be t ha t which passes

S how
and in t he nex t place t he exis t ence o f a conven t ional
mode of expressing t he mourner s woe shows t ha t public
Opinion con siders grief in t hese circums t ances righ t and
proper ; such demons t ra t ions in fac t are n o t t he isola t ed
expression o f unusual suscep t ibilit y b ut an indica t ion o f t he
habit ual a ffect ion even of a savage for t hose neares t and
deares t t o him When t hen it has become t he t ribal cus t om
for rela t ives t o perform c e r t ain ac t s o n t he occasion Of a
dea t h which were originally spon t aneous and n o w are t he
conven t ional expressions Of grief it becomes possible for fear
t o opera t e in suppor t Of t his as o f o t her t ribal cus t oms
t hough it was n o t in fear t ha t ei t her it o r t hey origin a t ed
C us t om is o n e o f t he earlies t shapes in which du t y presen t s
i t self t o t he consciousness Of t he savage : it is wha t is expec t ed
Of him bo t h by t he communi t y and in his be t t er momen t s
by himself as a good member Of t he communi t y N ow t he
savage regards all sickness as t he work o f spiri t s
n ot
necessarily o f evil spiri t s as is commonly and carelessly said
When t here fore he falls ill he cas t s abou t in his mind fo r
and if like
t he spiri t who may be t h e cause o f his sickness
1
chie f men t ioned by Lipper t he has been
t he African
negl igen t o f t he rit es which it is cus t omary t o perform t o
a deceased paren t he na t urally in t erpre t s his headache
as a reminder from t he neglect ed ghos t
In a word fe a r Of
punishmen t is an indispensable ins t rumen t in t he educa t ion Of
man be he savage o r be he civilised ; b ut f ear o f punishmen t
is n o t t he same t hing as fear Of evil S piri t s The la t t er is
irra t ional and is s t eril e bo t h morally and in t ellec t ually
while t he f ormer implies a s t andard Of du t y ( or cus t om )
and opens o ut t he possibilit y o f moral and in t ellec t ual
progress
That t he c erem qnies o ut Of whic h a n c
as
The rs t

ippert

K u l t urg esc hic hte,

iii

75

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

1 92

blood was pain t ed red

In Wes t Africa it was t he rela t ives
2
t
t
wives
who
were
pain
ed
on
his
occasion
(
)
To in t erpre t t his ceremony as due t o fear and as an
indicat ion t ha t t he spirit o f t he deceased is regarded as an
evil spirit would be unreasonable o n t w o accoun t s F ir s t
t h e ceremony is always associa t ed wit h demons t ra t ions o f
grie f and t here f ore pr o bably adds volume t o t he ow o f t ha t
emo t ion whereas fear would check it
N ex t dea t h is n o t
t h e only occasion o n which t he blood o f t he t ribe is applied
2
at
t he dawn o f
t o t he body Of a clansman : a t bir t h
5
manhood } and a t marri age t he same ceremony is Observed
and it is reasonable t herefore t o suppose t ha t it has t he
On t hose occasions t he Objec t is t o com
same in t en t ion
m un ic at e t he blood which is t he life Of t he clan t o t he
clansman when he has especial need o f it
I would sugges t
t herefore t ha t originally t he blood le t t ing ri t e a t t he grave
was on e o f t he various devices described in C hap t er V
fo r re t aining o r recallin g t he li f e which was o n t he poin t o f
leaving o r had lef t perhaps n o t beyond recall it s ear t hly
t enemen t and t ha t t he blood was in t ended t o s t reng t hen t he
bond be t ween t he clansman and his clan a t a t ime when it
was obviously t ending t o snap
B ut as t he ou t ward ac t s which cons t i t u t e t he ceremony
t end by a na t ural process t o become less revol t ing and less
cruel un t il even t ually t he ac t ual e ffusion o f blood is dispensed
wi t h and some o t her colouring ma t t er t akes it s place S O t he
f eeling and t he ideas Of whi ch t he ou t ward a c t was t he
expression t end t o change wi t h changin g circums t ances
When t his demons t ra t ion o f grief and o f a ffec t ion ha s become
conven t ional t he neglec t o f it inevi t ably comes t o b e regarded
as a wan t of respec t t o t he deceased and t he performance o f
it is regarded no longer as a crude a t t emp t t o give f resh life
t o t he deceased b ut as some t hing done t o please him
H ence

in t he Tonga Islands t hey wound t he head and c ut t he

esh in various par t s wi t h knives shells clubs spears e t c
in honour o f t he deceased
and in S amoa t he blood is
regarded as an o ffering t o t he dead
D ole ful cries are
.

T urner

P ol y nes i a , 9 3

p 76
5
M ariner Ton ga
3

S up ra ,

2
.

I sl a n d s,

ii

S up r a ,
.

212

1 03

Ellis

Ts hi sp ea kin g P e p l es , 2 68
5
171
S up ra ,

A N C E S TO R W O RS H I P

1 93

accompanied by t he mos t fran t ic expressions o f grie f such a s

rending garmen t s t earing t he hair t humping t he f ace and
eyes burning t he body wi t h small pierc in g re b ra n d s bea t in g
t he head wit h s t ones t ill t he blood runs ; and t his t hey called
an o ffering Of blood f or t he dead E veryone acquain t ed
wi t h t he hi s t orical par t s o f t he Bible will here observe
1
B ut o fferings Of t he worshipper s
remarkable coincidences
2
blood are a s we have seen made t o gods and t he scars which
t he Opera t ion leaves o r t he t a t o o in g t o which it leads are
in t erpre t ed as marks showing t ha t t he worshipper is under
t he pro t ec t ion o f t he god t o whom t he O ffering has been
3
made
When t herefore as in Aus t ra l ia widows as a rule
have a number o f cu t s made o n t heir back as a S ign Of

mourning
and t he blood shed by t he rela t ives comes t o

be regarded as an o fferin g t o t he deceased t here is an

Obvious danger o f t he ceremony coming t o be considered a s
worship o f t he deceased by t hose who prac t ise it as a ma t t er
o f cus t om and explain it by ob vious and incorrec t analogies
H ence it was forbidden t o t he H ebrews : Y e shall n o t make
any cu tt ings in your esh fo r t he dead nor prin t any marks
5
upon you : I am t he L ord
whereas t he cu t t ings and marks
wo ul d imply t ha t t he dead man was t he lord o f t hose who
made t he cu t t ings in t heir esh
Where however t he
t endency was n o t t hus checked i e everywhere else ances t or
wors hi p w a s f ree t o develop ; b u t it s developmen t required
t he c o opera t ion Of o t her causes which we shall S hor t ly s e t
for t h B ut rs t it is necessary t o consider t he very in t eres t in g
ques t ion o f t he hair O ff ering
The fac t t ha t mourners all over t he world d o cut Off t heir
hair and shave t heir heads is well es t a b lished The rea son
6
Mr F razer regards t he
fo r t heir doing s o is dispu t ed
proceedin g as a means Of disinfec t in g t he mourners from t he
t aboo con t agion analogous t o t he breakin g o f t he vessels used
7
by a t aboo person The la t e Prof essor R ober t so n S mit h
regarded it as an o ffering o f t he hair in which as in t he
blood t he life Of t he individual is commonly believed t o
,

1
2
4
5

T he Rev
S up r a ,

Turner

170

P o lynes ia ,

J ou r na l of A n throp o l og ica l

2
0
6
o
o
h
i
u
7
G ld en B
g
1

2 27

S up r a , p 1 7 2
Lev xix 2 8
.

I ns tit ute ,

x xiv
7

1 95

5
.

Re l igion of t he S em it es , 3 2 5 ff

1 94

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

reside The t wo views however are n o t irreconcilable and

h
t
e
analogy
blood
O ffering as explained in o ur las t
f
o
t he
paragraph enables us t o combine t hem
O riginally t he hair
wa s c ut Off a t once in order t ha t it migh t n o t ca t ch and
convey t he t aboo in fec t ion : t he hair was n o t an O ffering t o
t he deceased any more t han t he blood o f t he clan which was
communica t ed in order t o revivify him was an Offering in his
honour
Then t he cus t om is con t inued even when t he
reason is f orgo t t en ; and meanwhil e t he prac t ice has grown
up Of commending one s individual prayers and for t unes t o
Finally
t he gods by O ff ering one s blood o r hair t o t hem
t he mour ning cus t om t h e original reason Of which ha s been
forgo t t en calls f or explanat ion and is explained o n t he
analogy o f t he O fferings t o t he gods Tha t it is so explained
by t hose who prac t ise it is clear from examples Of t he

cus t om in which it is done in honour o f or for t he

1
deceased
Tha t originally it was a measure Of di sinfec t ion
is clear from t he fac t t ha t it is Observed in cases where t he
2
t heory Of an O ffering is quit e inapplicable
The his t ory Of f ood O fferings t o t he dead is o n t he t heory
here sugges t ed exac t ly parallel t o t ha t Of hair and bl o od
o fferings
O riginally t he dead were supposed t o su ffer f rom
hunger and t hirs t as t he living do and t o require f ood f o r
which t hey were dependen t o n t he living Even t ually t he
f uneral f eas t s were in t erpre t ed o n t he analogy Of t hose a t
which t he gods f eas t ed wit h t heir worshippers and t he dead
were now no longer dependen t o n t he living b ut o n a level wi t h
The f ood O ff ering is however more in t eres t ing
t he gods
in one way t han t he O fferings Of blood o r hair : it enables
us t o da t e ances t or worship rela tively I t wa s n o t unt il
agricul t ural t imes t ha t t he sacricial rit e became t he cheer
f ul f eas t at which t h e bonds o f f ell owship were renewed
3
be t ween t he god and his worshippers
I t co ul d n o t t here
f ore have been un t il agricul t ural t imes t ha t t he f uneral f e a s t
came t o be in t erpre t ed o n t he analogy o f t he sacricial fe a s t
O ff erings o f food hair and blood t hen are elemen t s bo t h
o f t he ri t es f o r t he de a d and o f t he worship o f t he g o ds
B ut t hey do n o t t o ge t her cons t it u t e a nces t or worshi p : t hey
a re it s elemen t s as
however
held
in
s
pension
an d
u
s
e
t
y
p 1 92
S up
Fr z e l
it
S up r a p 1 5 9
,

ra ,

r,

oc . c

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

1 96

buried
The B a t t as pour t he blood of a fowl o n t he corpse
The Tehuelche ( Pat agonians ) sacrice mares wi t h all t he rit es
3
I t is n o t surpr isin g t herefore t ha t
previously described
t he graves on which t hes e sacrices were O ffe red should
like t he sacrices t hemselves be a ff ec t ed by t he t endency t o
assimilat e t he priva t e cul t of ances t ors t o t he public worship
The cairns which are frequen t ly erec t ed t o
of
t he gods
mark a grave and o n which t he sacrice w a s O ffered would
recall t he primi t ive alt ar t o mind The single s t one o r
wooden pos t erec t ed on a grave was conver t ed in t o a human
shape o n t he analogy Of t he idol t o which t he communi t y s
sacrices were O ffered
Thus in D e P ey s t e r s Island
a
s t one was raised a t t he head of t he grave and a human head
4
carved o n it
Amongs t many American t ribes a grave
pos t is roughly hewn in t o t he image o f t he person over whose
5
The prac t ice is repor t ed o f t he Indians
body it is placed
anoin t ing and greasing t ha t man o f wood a s if
Of Q uebec
living says Fa t her S alaman t ) t he O t t awas Algonk ins
Al askans t he Indians o f t he N or t h Wes t t he na t ives Of
C hili o f t he Wes t Indies Nicaragua t he Is t hmus Peru and t he
Mayas and t he Az t ecs Where crema t ion prevailed t he ashes
were placed in hollo w wooden s t a t ues holl ow clay images o r
5
urns having on t he ou t side a represen t a t ion of t he deceased
When t he assimilat ion Of t he ri t es for t he dead t o t he
ri t ual o f t he gods has proceeded t hus far it na t urally happens
t ha t in many cases some superhuman powers are ascribed t o
B ut it never happens t ha t t he
t he spiri t s Of t he dead
S piri t s of t he dead are conceived t o be gods
F or t his t here
are several Obvious reasons Man is dependen t on t he gods ;
b ut t he spiri t s o f his deceased ances t ors are dependen t on
him The house fa t her when he dies does n o t cease t o be
t he f a t her whom t hey kne w
t hough dead and some t imes
differing in degree o f power f rom his sons who in t heir t urn
will be worshipped he does n o t like t he gods di ffer in
kind from mor t al men Above all t he gods of t he
communit y merely from t he f ac t t ha t t hey have t he whole
of
t he commu ni t y f o r t heir worshippers and under t heir
2

1
5
5

Ca s al is

L es B a sso ut os , 2 6 4

p 146
D orm a n P rim itive S up ers titions
S up ra ,

B a s t i a n , Oes t A s ien ,
.

1 17

5
.

Turner, S a m oa , 2 8 6
I bid

3 65

1 97

A N C ESTO R W O RS H I P
-

pro t ec t ion mus t inevi t a bly be regarded as grea t er powers

t han a spiri t who is only worshipped by t he narrow circle o f
a single f amily and cann ot d o much even f o r t hem

To speak o f t h e gods as deied ances t ors is t o us e

If
an expression which covers some ambigui t y o f t hough t
wha t is implied is t ha t in a communi t y possessing t he con
c e p t io n o f divine personali t y cer t ain ances t ors are
by some
unexplained process raised t o t he ra nk o f gods t he s t at emen t
may be t rue b ut it does n o t prove t ha t t he gods t o whose
rank t he spiri t is promo t ed were t hemselves originally
ghos t s which is t he very t hing t ha t it is in t ended t o prove
Wha t t hen of t hese gods ? Eit her t hey are believed t o be
t he ances t ors o f some o f t heir worshippers or t hey are n o t
If t hey are believed t o be t he ances t ors Of t heir worshippers
t hen t hey are n o t believed t o have been human : t he
worshipper s pride is t ha t his ances t or was a god and no
mere mor t al
Thus cer t ain G reek families believed t ha t
t hey were descended from Zeus and t hey worshipped Zeus

n o t as ances t or b ut as god
The deied ances t or t heory
however would have us believe t ha t t here was once a man
named Zeus who had a f amily and his descendan t s t hough t
t ha t he was a god
Which is simplicit y i t self If o n t he
o t her hand a go d is n o t believed t o be t he ances t or o f any
of his worshippers t hen t o asser t t ha t h e wa s really a
deied ances t or is t o make a s t a t emen t for which t here is
no evidence it is an inference from an assump t ion namely
t ha t t he only spiri t s which t he savage originally knew were
ghos t s This assump t ion however is n o t t rue : t he savage
believes t he f orces and phenomena o f na t ure t o be personalit ies
like himself he does n o t believe t ha t t hey are ghos t s o r
worked by ghos t s In ne t he no t ion t ha t gods were evolved
o u t Of ghos t s is based on an unproved assump t ion and t h e
S imple f allacy o f co nfusing ances t ors human and ances t ors
divine The fac t is t ha t ances t ors k n own t o be human were
not
worshipped as gods and t ha t ances t ors worshipped a s
gods were n o t believed t o have been human
This las t remark leads us t o a generalisa t ion which
t hough Obvious is impor t an t : it is t ha t wherever ances t or
worship exis t s it exis t s side by S ide wi t h t he public worship
o f t he gods Of t he communi t y
The t wo sys t ems develop o n
,

lines which are parallel indeed anid t herefore never mee t ;

whereas if t hey had moved on t he s ame lin e o f developmen t
In o t her words if
o n e would have absorbed t he o t h r
e
ances t or worship were t he s ourc e f o f religion if gods were
o rigin a lly ghos t s we may be re a sbn a b l y sure t ha t ances t or
wo rship wo uld have died in givin g b ir t h t o t he higher form
o f reli ion o r ra t her t ha t it would have been t rans f ormed
g
in t o it
In t he newly evolved organism we shoul d have
t raced surv ivals here and t here rudimen t ary organs inhe ri t ed
f rom t he previous s t a t e Of t hings
We sho ul d also have
f ound races who ha d never g o t beyond t he earlier s t age o r
had relapsed in t o it B ut we sho ul d n o t everywhere have
f ound t he t w o sys t ems al ive t oge t her : we m i gh t as well
expec t t o nd t he chrysalis s t ill living by t he side of t he
bu t t ery which has emerged from it
The clear demarca t ion be t ween t he t w o sys t ems t heir
mu t ual exclusiveness t o t he las t is an indica t ion t ha t t hey
s t ar t f rom differen t presupposit ions and are addressed t o
di fferen t objec t s A t t he same t ime t he parallelism be t ween
t hem shows t ha t t hey have t heir respec t ive sources in t he
s a me region of feeling Tha t f eeling is pie t y lial pie t y in
t he o n e case pie t y t owards t he pro t ec t in g g o d o f t he clan
in t he o t her
H ere we have displayed t he secre t o f t he
s t reng t h o f ances t or worship and also Of it s we a kness Of
it s s t reng t h because as C onfucius says
F ilial pie t y and
f ra t ernal submission ! are t hey n o t t he roo t Of all benevolen t
1
?
ac t ions
O f it s weakness because it is in a dequa t e o f
i t sel f t o sa t is fy t he demands Of t he religious ins t inc t
In
Chi na t he people excluded from part icipa t ion in t he s t a t e
worship o f H ea ven decline upon t he lowes t forms of religion
in t heir desire f or communion wit h a supern a t ural power
This desire where it exis t s canno t be sa t ised by t he
subs t it ut io n Of a human Obj ec t o f adora t ion f o r t he super
na t ural which it craves t o feed on ; and t he presen t religious
condi t ion o f China shows how unprac t ical C on fucius was in
recommending t he a vera ge man t o regard his human fa t her
as a god : nor in [lial Obedience] is t here any t hing S O
essen t ial as t o reverence one s fa t her ; and as a m a rk of
reverence t here is no t hing more impor t an t t han t o place him
,

Lun yu,
-

( Dougl a s Co nf ucia n is m ,
,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

20 0

B ut whereas human
necessary expiat ion Of human sin
sacri ce comes t hus la t e in t he his t ory o f religious ri t ual t he
prac t ice Of immola t ing human beings a t a t omb apparen t ly
comes fa irly early in t he developmen t o f t he ri t es o f t he
d ead ; such immola t ion cer t ainly has a t o t ally differen t origin
and meaning from human sacrice in religio us ri t ual The
persons bu t chered a t t he grave Of a savage chie ft ain are usually
his wives and o t her a t t endan t s ; and t he objec t o f t he
slaugh t er eviden t ly is exact ly t he same as t ha t o f providing
f ood for t he dead t he deceased f ollows t he same pursuit s
enjoys t he same rank and requi res t he same f ood and a t t end
ance when dead a s during life I t is t his iden t i t y be t ween t he
purpose Of food o fferin gs and o f t he slaugh t er Of a t t endan t s
which shows t he la t t er t o be o n e of t he primi t ive elemen t s
o ut o f which sys t ema t ic
ances t or worship was subsequen t ly
organised Where such slaugh t er con t inued t o be cus t omary
at
t he t ime when human sacrice had come t o be par t
of
t he ri t ual Of t he gods it
came t o be in t erpre t ed

on
t he analogy o f human
sacrice
in t he proper (i e
religious ) sense Of t he word jus t as t he o fferings Of blood
hair and f ood came t o be S imilarly in t erpre t ed o r misin t e r
re t e d
B
u
h
t
human
sacrice
again
in
proper
sense
Of
t
e
p
(
t he word ) was only O ffered in seasons of fear and t ribula t ion
and slaugh t er a t t he t omb now came t o be ascribed t o t he
same emo t ion o f fear The idea t ha t slaugh t er a t t he t omb
was from t he beginning due t o fear o f t he ghos t seems t o
me t o overlook t wo impor t an t fac t s : t he rs t is t ha t t he
ghos t is from t he beginning dependen t on t he living
according t o many peoples he canno t even nd his way t o
t he place where he would be wi t hou t t heir assis t ance ; t he
nex t is t ha t affec t ion is qui t e as capable o f ex t ravagan t excess
Le t t he reader recall t he well known ins t ance o f
as f ear
t he R ed Indian son who coolly k illed a whi t e man t he close
f riend Of his fa t her because he could n o t t hink how his f a t her
jus t dead w o uld be able t o g e t o n wi t hou t his Old friend t o
t alk t o
The fac t is t ha t an u t t er disregard fo r human li f e
m a y well exis t d o es frequen t ly coexis t wi t h devo t ed a t t ach
2
men t t o part icular persons SO much fo r t ha t unpleasan t t opic
1

1
2

S up ra ,

Mr

p 1 61
J ames Dawson who is wel l qualied
.

to

speak s a ys
,

of

s r alia ns

t h e Au t

20 1

A N C E S TO R W O RS H I P
-

As

cannibalism : it is n o t sufcien t ly general or

uniform in it s manifes t a t ions t o allow o f any general s t a t e
men t wi t h regard t o it
S ome t imes it is religious in
in t en t ion some t imes t he al t erna t ive t o s t arva t ion ; some t imes
it is due t o a perver t ed t as t e f o r food some t imes it is
prac t ised medicinally ; here it is only clansmen t ha t are
ea t en t here only aliens The cases in which it is religious
1
in in t en t ion have been discussed in a previous chap t er
They are highly excep t ional and n eed n o t de t ain us N o r
need we do more t han no t e t ha t
t he negro man ea t er
cer t ainly t akes human esh as food purely and simply and
2
n o t from any religious o r supers t i t ious reason
The C aribs
bred children as a food s upply o f t his kind as t hey migh t
poul t ry Tha t t he belie f in t he possibilit y o f acquiring t he
courage o r o t her a tt ribu t es o f an animal or man by consuming
his or it s esh does lead t o cannibal ism in some cases may be
3
t aken as proved ;
in such cases it is only selec t ed por t ions

of t he body t ha t are consumed and t hos e medicinally n o t

as food Tha t some peoples e a t only aliens is undoub t ed ;
and t he rigour Of t he res t ric t ion is illus t ra t ed by an inciden t
t ha t happened recen t ly o n t he C ongo where
one man who
fo r

(A us tra li a n A borig in es

p
who are some t imes r anked a s t he lowes t o f
s a va ges
I t m ay b e t r uly s a id O f t hem t h a t w i t h t he excep t ion o f t h e low
es t im at e t hey n at ur ally pl ace on life t heir mor a l ch ar a ct er an d modest yall
t hings considered comp a re fa vo ur a bly wi t h t hose O f t h e mos t high l y cul t iv a t ed
communi t ies o f E urope
if t hose who doub t t his were t hemselves t o lis t en t o
t h eir guileless convers a t ion t heir h umo ur an d w it an d t heir expressions o f

h ono ur a n d a ffec t ion for on eZa n o t her t hey wo uld h a ve t o a dmi t t h at t hey
St ill
a re a t le a s t eq ua l
if n o t s uperior t o t he gener a l run O f whit e men
lower in t he sc al e o f hum anit y are t he Shoshones ( California ) : T hose who
h ave seen t hem un a nimousl y a gree t h a t t hey o f a ll men a re l owes t
ha ving no
clo t hes scarcely an y cooked food in m any ins t a nces no we apons (B a ncroft
Y e t one t r a veller s ays
T hey are very rigid in t heir
N a tive R aces i
mora ls an d hones t a n d t ru st wor t hy b ut l a z y an d dirt y
a no t her t h at

fra nk an d com m unic a t ive

a no t her
high l y in t elligent a n d
t hey a re
livel y
t h e mos t vir t uo us an d unsophis t ic a t ed o f al l t he I ndi ans
a no t her
scr up ulo usly cle an
an d
t he mos t p ure a n d uncorrup t ed a borigines

ch a s t e in t heir h a b i t s
O f t he Dinka Sch weinfur t h s ays (H ea rt of Af ric a i
N o t wi t hs t a nding t h a t cer t a in ins t a nces m ay be a l leged which seem t o
demons t ra t e t h at t he ch ara c t er o f t he Dink a is u nfeeling t hese c a ses never
refer t o such a s are bound by t he t ies of kindred
t he a cc us a t ion is q ui t e
unj us t i a ble t h a t fa mi l y a ff ec t ion in o ur sense is a t a l o w ebb a mong t hem
1
S up ra p 1 6 1
2
Ca p t a in H inde spe a king at t he B ri t ish A ssoci a t ion 1 8 9 5
3
F ol k L ore J une 1 8 9 2 ( H a r t l a n d The S in E a ter)
,

202

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

was placed o n sen t ry go sho t his own fa t her and t hen

expressed regre t because by t he rule Of t he t ribe he could
1
n o t e a t t he body Of his paren t
Finally t here are ins t ances in which only members
ea t en
This prac t ice is report ed by
of
t he t ribe a re
2

h
o
f
t
e
H erodo t us
Pad eci probably t he G 6n d a Of t he

k
n
k
a
h
N or t hern D e
who s t ill main t ain t e cus t om and his
s t a t emen t t ha t few Of t hem a t t ain t o Old age because a man
is a t once killed when he shows symp t oms o f illness is
curiously conrmed by t he words o f C ap t ain H inde speakin g
On t he L omami R iver no grey hairs were
Of a di fferen t race :
t o be seen because t he adul t s were ea t en when t hey began
manifes t signs o f decrepi t ude
We may t here fore
to
believe H erodo t us when he makes t he same s t a t emen t o f
3
especially a s t he m ode o f consump t ion
t he M a s s a g e t ae
4
described by him reappears amongs t t he Bangala ; and o f
5
t he Issedones whose t rea t men t Of t he bones Of t he deceased
nds it s parallel in t he remarkable discoveries made jus t now
in Egyp t by D r Flinders Pe t rie ; and whose invi t a t ions t o
friends t o par t ake in t he f eas t are paralle l ed by a similar
5
I t is n o t t here f ore a p ri ori improbable
cus t om in L uzon
7
cus t om as S t rabo repor t s
t ha t t h e Irish f ollowed t he
especiall y as it is said t o have been found amongs t ano t her
8
I t occurs also in
branch o f t he Aryan peoples t he Wends
9
amongs t t he Ba t t as o f
t he U a aup s Valley S ou t h America
S uma t ra t he K o o k ie s t he in habi t an t s of S indai and Of t he
10
11
and t he Aus t ralians
The Q uis s am a s kill
Floris Islands
12
and e a t crimin als o f t heir own t ribe
In F rancis Island
o nl y in such
t hieves were killed and t heir bodies e a t en
13
cases was t here cannibalism
To unders t an d t he cus t om we mus t place ourselves a t
t he s a vage p o in t o f view
We mus t remember t he savage s
habit ual disregard f o r human li fe and t ha t amo n gs t nomads
compelled by t he severi t y o f t he s t ruggle fo r exis t ence t o
a bandon
the aged who ca nno t keep up wi t h t he en f o rced
-

1
4

Ca p t a in H inde , l oc
S chneider , Rel ig d
.

5
3

si n
Wall ace
J ou rn a l

Ba t

12

I bid

ci t .

187

the A n thr op
.

iii

99

Af ri k N a tu rvOl kcr, 1 3 5
.

Oes t A si en , v 2 7 2
0 u the A m a zon , 3 3 4 6
o

E dt

i 216
iv 2 6
3
B a s t i a n l oc
5
B a s t i a n l oc
3

11

o l og i

St r ab o ,

iv v
.

Hd t
Hd t

c it .

c i t.

1
.

ca l

xxiv 1 8 2
1 3 T rner
u
S a m oa

I n s ti t u t e,

1 96

300

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

204

V
endidad
(

Farg

vii

Tha t t his is a relic of t he

f o rmer de t es t able cus t om is eviden t f rom t he f ac t Of t he said
S crip t ures enjoining t he exposure o f corpses t ha t dogs and
carrio n birds may s e e and dev o ur t hem ( V endidad F arg v 7 3
Sag did

Where t he rela t ives could n o t o r wo uld n o t adop t eit her Of

t hese modes t he corpse which is o n e o f t he t hings inheren t ly
2
had t o be isola t ed in some manner There were
t aboo

f
ff
various ways O e ec t ing t his isola t ion : inhuma t ion which
preven t ed t he ghos t from swelling t he inops in hum a t a q ue

Of spiri t s and crema t ion need no illus t ra t ion The

t urba
prac t ice of abandoning t he house o r room in which t he corpse
3
lay and t hus isola t ing it has bee n il lus t ra t ed already
B u t t he
cus t om o f suspending t he corpse be t ween heaven and ear t h
fo r t h e same purpose is n o t s o familiar
I t is found however
amongs t t he Aus t ralians : a s t age consis t ing o f boughs is
bui l t in t he branches o f a t ree t he corpse placed t hereon and
4
5
I t is prac t ised by t he Aleu t s t he
covered wi t h boughs
Mandans t he S an t a F e t ribes t he D aco t ahs t he Wes t ern
5
Ojibways t he Assiniboins and on t he C olumbia R iver
Amongs t t he S amoyedes t he bones o f a dea d S haman are
r
in
a
ree
and
in
Equa
orial
Africa
M
b
u
o
a
rain
u
t
t
t
;
p
maker selec t ed for his t omb an Old t ree being possessed by
an idea t ha t it was indecorous f or a prince t o be placed in
con t ac t wi t h t he eart h ; and he gave orders t ha t t he upper
par t o f t he t ree was t o be hollowed o ut leng t hwise and his
7
body placed inside it in an uprigh t posit ion
In conclusion t he reader may have no t iced t ha t t here is
one class Of O fferings ( weapons implemen t s u t ensils e t c ) o f
which no men t ion has been made in t his chap t er The fac t
is t hey di ffer in no t hin g f rom t he O fferings e g of f ood which
have been discussed : t he ghos t requires t hem as he does
food and is dependen t for t hem on t he living
Even t ually
however owing t o t he analogy Of cer t ain fea t ures in t he
ri t u a l o f t he gods t hey come t o be in t erpre t ed as gift s t o
,

1
2

Raj en d ral al a M i t r a , I n d o A rya n s ,

S up r a , p 7 6
-

J our na l

1 62

S up ra ,

the A n th op l g ic a l I n s tit ute, 1 7 8

5
N a t ive Ra ces ,
a
93
D

ncroft
C a s at i Equa toria i

Ba

r oo
i

ii

1 70

77

o f.

orm n

1 8 2 , 1 8 6, 1 9 5

P rim

S up e

rs t it ions

1 68

A N C ES TO R W O R S H I P

205

B ut t hese f ea t ures and t he

appease t he manes
gift
t o which t hey give rise canno t be
t heory of sacrice
adequa t ely explained un t il we come t o s e e t he inuence Of

n
agricul t ural belie fs o religion t he subj ec t o f our nex t
chap t er
H ere t herefore we will con t en t ourselves wi t h
no t ing t ha t t he t heory t ha t t he t hings SO given t o t he
deceased are t hings which belonged t o him and t o which his
ghos t migh t cling does n o t accoun t for t he fac t t ha t in
neo l i t hic in t ermen t s t he i n t implemen t s e t c are perfec t ly
unused and t ha t t he Ojibway Indians place new guns and
blanke t s on t he grave in case t he deceased s own are o ld o r
1
inferior
The mo t ive t herefore is n o t fear of t he clinging
ghos t
.

ou rn a l of

the A n throp ol ogica l I n s ti tu te, 1 1 2

C H AP TER X V I
EE

WORSHI P

AN D PLAN T

TR

savage s t heory Of causa t ion is ani m i s t ic ; t ha t is t o s ay

he regards every t hing anima t e or inanima t e which ac t s o r
produces an e e c t as possessing like powers and passions
mo t ives and emo t ions wi t h him self Tha t t rees and plan t s
especially possessed like par t s and passions wi t h himsel f wa s
an inference in which he w a s conrmed n o t merely by t he
f ac t t ha t t hey possess ( vege t able ) lif e b ut by t he blood l ike
s a p which many exude when c ut and by t he shrieks which
B ut animism is ra t her a prim i t ive
t hey u t t er when felled
philosophical t heory t han a form Of religious be lief : it
ascribes human n o t superhuman powers t o non human
beings and t hings When however t he a t t en t ion o f t he
savage is direc t ed by t he occurrence Of some in c om prehen
sible or s t rikingly unexpec t ed and unaccoun t able even t t o t he
sen t imen t o f t he superna t ural la t en t in his consciousness ;
when he ascribes irresis t ible power over his own for t unes t o
some anima t e or inanima t e objec t t hen t ha t Objec t becomes
marked Off from o t her t hings and is dis t in guished from t hem
by t he possession of superhuman powers and by t he fac t t ha t
in it t he savage sees t he ex t ernal so urce o f t ha t sen t imen t o f
t he superna t ural of which he is conscious wi t hin himsel f
That t he savage in hi s blind search for t he S uperna t ural
amongs t ex t ernal objec t s was frequen t ly in all lands led t o
believe t ha t t rees and plan t s exercised superna t ural powers
is a well known fa c t
That he would t hen seek t o es t a blish
an alliance be t ween his t ribe and t he S pecies which he
believed t o possess any especial power over his own f a t e is
an inference which t he exis t ence of animal t o t ems would
jus t ify us in drawing a p riori And a s a ma t t er Of fac t we

THE

"

2 06

I N T R O D U C TI O N

208

H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

TO

his l if e depends o n and t ermina t es wi t h t ha t o f t he t ree ; he

grows or wi t hers as his t ree grows o r wi t hers
We may expec t
TO re t urn however t o t he clan t o t em
t o nd t he his t ory o f t he t ree t o t em passin g t hrough much
t he s a me s t ages as t ha t Of t he an imal t o t em : t hus an
individual t ree or some f e w individuals may come t o enjoy
t he whole o f t he worship which was originally bes t owed upon
all t he m embers o f t he species ; and t his w a s t he ca se wi t h
t he sacred O l ive o f A t hn a t At hens and wi t h t he maypole
Of t he Teu t ons which was t o t he village wha t t he bir t h
was t o t he individual it was t he g en ius tu tela ris t he
t ree
1
e o
h
e
t
a lt er
of
t
whole
communi
y
which
a
orded
an
ff
g
2
asylum t o every member o f t he vil lage communi t y pro t ec t ed
3
4
t he villagers from all harm and brough t t hem all bless ings
O r again t he species may con t inue t o be worshipped ; b ut
owin g t o t he relaxa t ion Of t he blood t ie consequen t upon
se tt led life and polit ical developmen t t he wors hi p may be
t hrown Open t o all and n o t conned t o t he clan : t hus in
G reece and R ome t he laurel and t he ivy in Assyria t he
palm t ree were species o f plan t s whose worship was general
and n o t in his t oric t imes res t ri c t ed t o any o n e t ribe ; in

India among t he sacred t rees t he various varie t ies o f t he

t he various g t rees hold
g hold a conspicuous place
an impor t an t par t in t he domes t ic ri t ual
The p ip a l is
worshipped by moving round it in t he course of t he sun
t his regard f o r t he pipal ( Fic us relig iosa ) ex t ends t hrough
Africa N ew Zealand Aus t ralia S uma t ra and J a t 5
A S t he animal t o t em even t ually in some cases assumes
human form and aft er passing t hrough various in t ermedia t e
S hapes becomes an an t hropomorphic god so we may expec t
t he t ree t o t em t o be an t hropomorphised ; and t his is Of t en
The D ryads o r t ree nymphs o f t he Greeks will
t he case
occur t o t he reader a t once ; and amongs t t he Aryans o f
N or t hern Europe Mannhard t has shown conclusively t ha t t he
t ree spirit was represen t ed by a human being or a human
gure t ied t o a t ree or s e t o n a t ree t o p o r enveloped in
o r o t herwise associa t ed
t ree leaves ( Jack in t he
'
When t hen we nd a Z eus e vBez/Bp o s o r a
wi t h t h e t ree
.

'

M a nnh a rd t , B K 1 8 2
C rooke , op cit 24 7 9
.

2
.

L oc

ci t .

I bid

53

4
.

I bid

37

T R EE A N D P L A N T W O RS H I P
A t vvo o s vBe v

209

and t ha t in G reece images of t he gods

1
were s e t o n t rees
and t ha t t he Ephesian Ar t emis was
believed t o dwell wi t hin t he s t em o f an o ak we are j us t ied
in believing t ha t t hese dei t ies were ei t her originally t ree
t o t ems or t ha t t heir wors hi p has absorbed t ha t of some
t ree t o t em ; and t h e same conclusion holds good when
we nd t ha t a species o f t ree o r plan t is associa t ed
wi t h some god e g t he laurel wi t h Apollo o r t he ivy wi t h
D ionysus
A S t o t em t ribes name t hemselves af t er t heir ani mal t o t em
a n d con t inue t o be designa ted by t h e name even when t hey
have le f t t he t o t em s t age behind so wi t h plan t t o t ems
On

h
h
A
ra
d
z
i
f o o r Plan t ain family s t ill abs t ain
G
old
C
oas
t
t
e
b
t e
from t he plan t ain as t he L eopard D og and Parro t famil ies
2
abs t ain from leopards dogs and parro t s respec t ively
We
can t herefore hardly refuse t o believe t ha t t he C orn s t alk
family and t he Palm oil G rove family had t he corn s t alk and
palm t ree f or t o t ems originally t hough we do n o t happen t o
have evidence t o show t ha t t hey con t inue t o S ho w respec t t o
Amongs t t he
t he plan t s from which t hey ta ke t heir name
G reeks and R omans t ree and plan t worship may probably
3
accoun t f o r such names as l5nya t eis and Fabius ; and in
N or t h Europe t here are ins t ances which may possibly be
4
11 0 138 survivals o f t his prac t ice
As t he animal t o t em was a t cer t ain seasons t aken round
t l e m en t in order t o for t ify t he inhabi t ant s wi t h super
na t ural powers agains t superna t ural d angers e g t he py t hon
in N or t h Europe t he begging
r May boughs f rom door t o door
e ry whe re originally a se ri ous and s o t o speak sacra
I
P en t al signi cance ; people really believed t ha t t he god Of
h
t
e
t
t
t
t
row
h
ra
her
ree
o
em
was
presen
unseen
in
t
h
t
e
t
[
]
g
bough ; by t he procession he wa s brough t t o each ho use t o
5
SO t o o t he god presumably was
bes t ow his blessing
originally presen t in t he S wit ch Of rowan wi t h whi ch t he
S c o t t ish milkmaid pro t ect s her ca t t le from evil spiri t s ; and
oq,
,

1 0

4
'
5

1
2
3
4

S chr a der , P rehis tori c A n ti q ui ties , 2 7 8

Ellis , Tshi sp ea kin g P eop l es , 2 0 67
-

or I n scrip
M a nnh ard t B
C p

A tt
.

ii

K 51
.

1 0 8 , 4 3 5,
5

et c .

ra z er

G B
.

8 6, t

ra nsla t in g B

K 315
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

210

on t he same principle in India mos t Vaishnava sec t s wear

1
necklaces and carry rosaries made of holy basil
As in dea t h t he clansman was believed t o rej oin t he
animal t o t em s o t he O raons o f Bengal revere t he t amarind
2
and bury t heir dead under it s branches
This is probably
a con t ribu t ing cause t o t he prac t ice o f suspension burial
3
men t ioned in a previous chap t er
S ome o f t he se m i
H induised Bengal G hon d s have t he remarkable cus t om o f
t yin g t he corpses o f adul t males by a cord t o t he m a hua t ree
4
in an uprigh t posi t ion previous t o burial
F inally t ree t o t ems like animal t o t ems make t heir
appearance in t he marriage ri t e
Amongs t some o f t he
D ravidian races a branch o f t he sacred m a hua t ree is placed
in t he hands o f t he bride and bridegroom during t he
5
ceremony
evi den t ly t o bring t hem under t he immedia t e
pro t ec t ion o f t he t o t em god and by way Of worship t hey
also revolve round a branch Of t he t ree plan t ed in t he
ground j us t as in N or t hern Europe amongs t t he Wends t he
5
bride had t o worship t he lif e t ree o f her new home
Or
t he bride and bridegroom are married rs t t o t rees and t hen
7
t o each o t her
Much more import an t however t han t ree t o t ems f o r t he
his t ory o f religion and o f civilisa t ion in general are plan t
t o t ems f or it was t hro ugh plan t worship t ha t cereals a
food plan t s came t o be cul t iva t ed a n d it wa s in consequence
of t heir cult iva t ion t ha t t he a c t Of worship received a
remarkable ex t ension Wi t h regard t o t he origin Of cul t iva
it ha s usual ly been held t ha t cul t iva t ion mus t have
t ion
t aken it s rise from t he acciden t o f chance seeds being sca t
t e re d abou t in t he neighbourhood o f t he hut or Of t he
3

domes t ic manure heap t he barbaric ki t chen midden

B ut
some t hing m or e considerably more t han t his is necessary t o
accoun t fo r t he origin o f cul t iva t ion : seeds mus t be re t ained
f rom o n e year t o t he nex t f o r t he purpose o f sowi ng t hem
and such re t en t ion implies rs t t ha t prim i t ive m a n was aware
o f t he necessi t y o f saving seeds and seco n d t ha t he had t he
self con t ro l t o save t hem ins t ead o f ea t ing t hem TO accoun t
,

Crooke , op c it 2 5 7
Crooke , 2 5 1
.

2
.

F or ex mples
a

rooke

I bid
L oc

2 5 8 ff

2 56

c it .

3
.

3
.

S up r a , p 2 0 4
B K 1 6 1 , 1 7 4, 1 8 2
G

ran t

Al l

en

The A t tis , 4 5

H I S TO RY

INT R O D U C TI O N TO

21 2

O F RELI GI O N

individual is n o t t he dea t h Of t he god s o according t o t he

belie f Of t he Nor t h E uro pean Aryans a vege t a t ion spiri t
inhabi t ed n o t a single plan t b ut several individuals o r t he
whole S pecies and consequen t ly did n o t perish in t he au t umn
1
wi t h t he individual
H ence any sheaf would like any
branch con t ain t he god ; and if preserved in t he house or
t en t from o n e year t o t he nex t it would secure t he presence
and pro t ec t ion o f t he god in t he in t erval be t ween t he au t umn
and t he spring during which t here was no grow t h o r life o f
B ut t he preserva t ion o f t he sheaf would
plan t s in t he el d
also t each primit ive man t he fac t o f which in t he beginning
he mus t have been ignoran t t ha t food plan t s are produced
f rom seeds and can be produced from seeds which have been
I t would also form in him
kep t from o n e year t o t he nex t
t he habi t of preserving seeds t o s o w t hem
Tha t o ur Aryan f ore fa t hers in Europe were in t he habi t
of
t hus preserving a sheaf and worshipping it has been
2
conclusively proved by Mannhard t from an examina t ion o f
harves t cus t oms s t ill surviving S everal ears Of corn are bound
t oge t her worshipped preserved for t he year and supposed t o
inuence t he nex t harves t
In G rea t Brit ain t he ears are
s t ill some t imes bound t oge t her made in t o t he rude f orm Of a
f emale doll clad in a paper dress and called t he C orn Baby
3
Kern Baby or t he Maiden some t imes also in England and
4
elsewhere in Europe t he O ld Woman o r C orn Mo t her
Tha t t he prac t ice is n o t peculiar t o t he Aryan peoples and
t ha t it s explana t ion mus t be sough t in some world w ide
belief is shown by t he exis t ence o f t he cus t om in t he N ew
World bo t h in C en t ral and in S ou t h America Thus in
Peru t hey t ake a cer t aine por t ion o f t he mos t fruit efull of t he
Mays [ maize ] t ha t grow e s in t heir fa rm e s
t hey p ut
t his Mays in t he riches t g a rmen t s t hey h a ve and bein g t hus
wrapped and dressed t hey worship t his Pir n a and hold it in
grea t venera t io n saying it is t he Mo t her o f t he Mays of t heir
inheri t ances a n d t ha t by t his means t he Mays augmen t s and

5
is preserved ;
and in Mexico t he damsels t ha t served
C hicomecoa t l carried each o n e on her shoulder s seven ears o f
,

1
3
5

K 4
.

2
.

ra z er G B i 3 4 4
Lang Cu s tom a n d M y th
F

1 9,

K 209

I bid

no t e

3 3 8 ff

2 1 2, 2 1 3

quo t ing G rim s t on s t ra nsla t ion of Acos t a

T R EE A N D P L A N T W O RS H I P

21 3

maize rolled in a rich man t le

Af t er t he fes t ival in which
t hey c a rried t his maize in process ion
t he f olk re t urned t o
t heir houses and sanc t ied maize was p ut in t he bo t t om o f

every gran a ry and it w a s said t ha t it w a s t he hear t [life

S pirit ] t hereo f and it rem ained t here t ill t aken o ut for
2
seed 3
O riginally a clan t ha t had a plan t o r animal for it s t o t em
worshipped t h e ac t ual plan t o r animal as a being possessed Of
superna t ural po wers Then t he t o t em g o d was conceived a s
a spiri t manifes t ing i t self in any and every member o f t he
species ; t hen again gradually t his spiri t was conceived as
having human s hape ; and nally t he an t hropomorphic god
becomes so de t ached from t he species t ha t his origin is qui t e
forg o t t en and t he plan t or animal is merely sacred t o him o r
a usual sacri ce t o him or simply associa t ed wi t h him in a r t
In t he examples cit ed in t he las t paragraph t he food plan t
is s t ill i t self worshipped b ut t he rs t s t ep t owards an t hro
i
has
been
aken
The
female
dress
which
hi
m
t
m
o
o
r
s
t
p
p
wears is eviden t ly in t ended t o indica t e t hat t he ind welling
S piri t would if seen appear in human shape
SO in Bengal
3
clo t hed as a woman and worshipped
t he plan t ain t ree is
This t ransi t ion s t age in t he developmen t Of t he goddess o ut
o f t he plan t may be compared t o t he half human half animal
shape of t he animal t o t ems of Egyp t
The nex t s t age in t he
evolu t ion is comple t ed when t he goddess is represen t ed in
purely human form b ut expresses her connec t ion wit h t he
plan t by her f unc t ions a t t ribu t es or n a me s o clearly t ha t
her origin is undisg uised Thus t he origin o f t he Mexican
g o ddess o f maize K ilo u en is expressed wi t hou t any possibility

of disguise by her name ( from x il o t l young ear Of maize )

as well as by her func t ion ; and t he same may be said Of
t he Peruvian Sa ra m am a or Ma ize mo t her and t h e H indoo
F inally t he Mexican goddess
B ho ga ld ai or C o t t on mo t her
C hicomecoa t l and t he G reek D eme t er are represen t a t ives o f
t he s t age in which it is f orgo t t en t ha t t he goddess wa s
originally a plan t and her o rigin is indica t ed only by t he
f ac t t ha t t he f ormer is represen t ed as carrying s t alks Of
mal ze in her hand t he la t t er as wearing a corn garla n d a n d
bo t h as ha vrn g cereals o ffered t o t hem
.

B a ncroft , N a ti ve

R a c es ,

iii

3 58

2
.

I bi d

3 62

3
.

C rooke

2 55

I N T R O D UC T I O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

214

The primary Objec t o f a t o t em alliance be t ween a human

kin and an animal kind is t o Ob t ain a superna t ural ally
agains t supern a t ural f oes Annually t he t o t em clan sacrices
it s anim a l god and by par t aking o f t he sacricial meal f o rt i e s
it s members a ga ins t superna t ural dangers f o r t he for t hcoming
year renews t he alliance and en t ers in t o fresh and closer
communion wit h t he t o t em god
In t he case of clans having
f o r t heir t o t ems t rees and plan t s which do n o t produce edible
f ruit s o r seeds communion wi t h t he god was sough t by
ano t her means which we reserve for separa t e discussion here
a f t er In t he case however Of t o t em t rees and plan t s which
do produce edible seeds and frui t s t he sacramen t al meal was
possible ; and it s evolu t ion which we now have t o t race
f ollowed lines s o parallel in t he O ld World and t he N ew t ha t
it is eviden t t ha t t he causes a t work t o produce it were n o t
excep t ional o r peculiar t o any one race or t ime o r clime but
were general causes yieldi ng general laws for t he his t ory o f
early religion
The rs t s t age in t he developmen t of t his form o f t he
sacramen t al meal is t ha t in which t he plan t t o t em o r vege t a
t ion spiri t has n o t y e t come t o be conceived o f as ha ving
human form
In t his s t age t he seeds o r frui t s are ea t en a t
a solemn annual meal Of which all members of t he communit y
clan
or
family
mus
t
e
a
t
and
which
no
fragmen
s
mus
be
o
f
t
t
(
)
1

lef t t wo condi t ions essen t ial a s we have seen in t he

sacricial meal of t he animal t o t em
O f t his s t age we have
a survival in t he Li t huanian feas t Sa m b orios Annually in
D ecember in each household a mess consis t ing of whea t
barley oa t s and o t her seeds was cooked ; Of it none b ut
members of t he household could par t ake and every member
mus t par t ake ; no t hing migh t be lef t o r if le ft t he remains
2
mus t be buried
A similar survival wa s t he At henian
P y a n e p s io n an annual f eas t ( occurrin g a t t he end Of t h e
procession in which t he e ire s io n was carried) in which also
a mess o f all sor t s o f cereals ( n d vc n epua ) was cooked and
3
consumed by t he household
In S icily t he K o t y t is f eas t had
degenera t ed considerably Like t he A t henian feas t it began
wi t h a procession in which t he branch o f a t ree wa s c a rried
round t he communi t y b ut t he only t ra ce o f t he original
.

S up ra ,

1 45

2
.

F K 24 9 ;
.

c f. s up ra ,

1 4 9 ff

3
.

F K
.

227

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

216

moun t aineer Peruvians had a solemn fes t ival o n which

occasion t hey s e t up t w o t all s t raigh t t rees lik e mas t s
sur
o n t he t o p o f which was placed t h e gure o f a man
rounded by o t her g ures and adorned wi t h owers The
inhabi t an t s wen t in procession armed wi t h bows and a rrows
and regularly marshalled in t o companies bea t ing t heir drums
and wi t h grea t ou t cries and rej oic ings each company in
1
succession discharging t heir arrows a t t he dressed up gures
h
f
h
This
ceremony
corresponds
solemn
slaugh
er
o
e
o
e
t
t
t
t
(
animal t o t em in t he responsibilit y for which every member
Of t he communi t y mus t t ake his share Relig ion of the Sem ites

p
In Mexico we have a similar con t amina t ion
combined wit h t he sacrice and sacramen t al ea t in g o f t he
god : a t a fes t ival in t he t en t h mon t h Of t he Mexican year a
A pas t e gure re p re
t ree was felled and t he t runk erec t ed
sen t ing X i uht e c ut li was placed o n t he t o p and young men
vied wi t h each o t h er in climbing up t he ropes which main
t ain e d t he t ree t runk in posi t ion b ut very few reached t he
The rs t t o do s o seized t he gure s t ripped it Of it s
t op
insignia broke it in pieces ( as t he m a yor in Bourbonnais
does ) and scat t ered t he fragmen t s amongs t t he crowd below
2
who dispu t ed and fough t for t hem
In t he nex t s t age t he dough o r pas t e which was an
appropriat e ma t erial for t he image o f a cereal goddess sprea d s
t o t he ri t es o f o t her dei t ies ; and a dough image ( o f animal o r
human shape ) t akes t he place of t he animal or human vict im
which originally furnished f or t h t he sacramen t al meals o f non
cereal dei t ies In t he O ld World t his ex t ended applica t ion
Of t h e dough image seems t o have been conned t o local c ul t s
and n o t t o have been adop t ed int o t he S t a t e ri t ual Thus
amongs t t he G reeks t he us e of cakes in t he shape o f animals
as O fferings a t t he D iasia is men t ioned as a peculiarly local
3
use
Amongs t t he S emit es t here are in dica t ions t ha t t he
im a ge assumed human form According t o Ibn K ut aib a t he
Banu H anifa before t heir conversion made an image o f t heir
god o ut o f a pas t e of da t es bu t t er milk and meal and consumed
t he

Z r te

Con q u es t of P eru , 3 6 1 ( in Kerr , Vo y a ges,

Sa h a gun , bk ii 0 1 9
Cl i m b ing t he M a y po l e is
a a

see B
3

K 209
.

(Mu m

E uropea n c us t om a l so

m xcbpt a

T huc i
.

1 26

(rig h t l y

expl a ined

b y t he

scho l ia s t )

T R EE A N D

W O R S HI P

P LA N T

217

sacramen t ally
In t he N ew World t he us e o f dough for
t he images Of non cereal dei t ies was adop t ed in t he S t a t e
ri t ual and became qui t e comm o n Thus t he human images o f
3
2
t he Tlalocs
t he god o f
o r moun t ain gods and o f Om ac a t l
banque t s were made Of dough and were consumed sacra
men t ally F urt her t he ri t e o f sacrice wa s accomplished
upon t hese pas t e idols e g once a year a dough s t a t ue was
made o f H uit zilopoch t li and a pries t hurled a dart in t o it s
breas t
This was s t yled killing t he god H ui t zilopoch t li s o
4
t ha t his body migh t be ea t en
Fa t her Acos t a s accoun t

t hough it omi t s t he
killing o f t he god is wor t h quo t ing
The Mexicaines in t he mone t h of Maie
did mingle a
u
i
i
a
n
t
o
f
h
f
t
e
t
e
scede
o
bee
t
es
wi
h
ros
ed
Mays
and
hen
t
t
t
q
t hey did mould it wi t h honie making an id o l l o f t ha t pas t e
in bign e s s e like t o t ha t o f wood
I t was conveyed in pro
cession from t he t emple t o t he cour t by maidens crowned
wi t h garlands o f Mays ros t ed and parched
and t hen t o
various places in t he neighbourhood of t he ci t y by young men
crowned aft er t he same manner like vn t o t he women
On

t heir re t urn
all t he virgins came o ut Of t heir conven t
bringing peeces of pas t e compounded o f bee t es and ros t ed

Mays
and t hey were Of t he fashion o f grea t bones
Then cer t aine ceremonies wi t h singing and d a un c in g were

used by meanes whereof t hey [t he peeces o f pas t e] were

blessed and consecra t ed fo r t he esh and bones o f t his id o ll
i
z
ili
V
z t li
The
ceremonies
dancing
and
sacrice
ended
u
t
(
p
)
t he pries t s and superiors Of t he t emple t ooke t he id o l l o f
pas t e which t hey s p o yl e d Of all t he ornamen t s it had and
made many peeces as well o f t he id oll it s elfe as of t he
t ron c ho n s which were consecra t ed and t hen t hey gave t hem
t o t he people in maner o f a communion beginning wi t h t he
grea t er and con t inuin g vn t o t he res t bo t h men women and
li t t le children who received it wi t h such t eares f eare and
reverence as it was an admirable t hing saying t ha t t hey did
ca t e t he esh and bones o f G o d wherewi t h t hey were grieved
S uch as had any sicke folkes d e m aun d e d t hereof for t hem and
5
carried it wi t h grea t reverence and venera t ion
1

it

1
4
5

B a s t i a n , D er M en s ch,

iii

1 57

2
.

Sa h a g

n ii

16

an d

21

3
.

I bid

15

h a gun b k iii 0 1 2 a n d B a ncro ft N a tive Ra ces iii 2 9 9

A cos t a (Grim s t on s t r a ns pp 3 5 6 3 6 1 in t he Hakluy t S ocie t y s edi t ion )
Sa

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

218

The na l s t age is t ha t in which t he use o f dough o r pas t e

has become so rmly es t ablished in t he sacramen t al meal t ha t
it is no longer f el t t o be necessary t o give t hem t he shape o f
Thus in t he N ew World
t he dei t y whe t her human o r anim a l
a nnually amongs t t he Ma yas consecra t ed wa f ers were broken
dis t ribu t ed and preserved as a pro t ec t ion agains t misfor t une
1
f or t he y ear
In Peru in Augus t f our sheep were o ffered t o
f our divini t ies and when t his sacrice was O ffered up t he
pries t had t he sa n ou a pudding o f coarsely ground maize ]
o n grea t pla t es Of gold and he sprinkled it wi t h t he blood o f
t he sheep
The high p ri es t t hen said in a loud voice s o

t ha t all migh t hear :

Take heed how y o u e a t t his sa n ou
fo r he who ea t s it I n s in and wi t h a double will and hear t
is seen by o ur fa t her t he S un who will p unish him wit h
grievo us t roubles B ut he who wi t h a single hear t par t akes
o f it t o him t he S un and t he Thun der will S how f avour and
will gran t children and happy years and abundance and all
t ha t he requires
Then t hey all rose up t o par t ake rs t
m a kin g a solemn v o w be fore ea t ing t he y a hua r sa n ou y a hua r
blood ; s a n cu pudding
in which t hey promised never t o
murmur agains t t he C rea t or t h e S un or t he Th under ; never
t o be t rai t ors t o t heir lord t he Yn c a o n pain Of receiving
condemna t ion and t rouble The pries t Of t he S un t hen t ook
wha t he could hold o n t hree ngers p ut it in t o his mou t h
and re t urned t o his sea t
In t his order and in t his manner
Of t aking t he oa t h all t he t ribes rose up and t hus all par t ook
down t o t he li t t le children
They t ook it wi t h such care
t ha t no par t icle was allowed t o fall t o t he ground t his being
2
l ooked upon as a grea t s in
Acos t a s accoun t is as f ollows
The M a m a c o n as o f t he S unne which were a kind Of Nun n eS
o f t he S unne made li t t le loaves o f t he ower o f M a ys died
t hen pre
and mingled wi t h t he blo n d Of whit e s hee p e
s en t l
t
hey
c
mmanded
ha
all
s
rangers
should
en
er
t
o
t
t
t
y
and t he Pries t s
gave t o every o n e a m orc el l o f t hese
small loaves sayin g vn t o t hem t ha t t hey gave t hese peeces t o
t he end t ha t t hey should be vn it e d and con f edera t ed wi t h t he
Yn c a
and a ll did receive and e a t e t hese peeces t h a nking
t he S unne inni t ely f o r so grea t a favour which he had done
W i t z A th p l g i iv 330
,

ro

o o

M a rk h a m , R i tes

e,

and

L a ws

the Yn c as , 2 7

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

2 20

wi t h leavened bread
Ano t her way in which t he ri t ual of
plan t dei t ies came t o be a ffec t ed by and assimil a t ed t o t ha t
o f animal dei t ies was t ha t when t he plan t dei t y ceased t o
be regarded a s imm a nen t in t he plan t species he did n o t a t
o nce c o me t o be regarded as having human form : as a ma t t er
2
he is commonly conceived t o have animal shape
o f fa c t
The explanat ion Of t his I sugges t is t ha t a t t he t ime when
vege t a t ion S piri t s were t hus inves t ed wit h animal forms
t he only gods ( o t her t han plan t t o t ems ) known t o t heir
worshippers were animal t o t ems and consequen t ly t he only
shape which a plan t dei t y could assume differen t from t he
plan t was t hat of an animal t he only shape which t o t em
gods a t t he t ime were known t o have When t hen vege t a t ion
S pirit s were supposed t o appear as a n imals it was t t ing t ha t
t hose animals should be sacriced t o t hem ; and in t he O ld
World we nd t ha t a cereal deit y like D eme t er has an animal
t he pig sacred and sacriced t o her
B ut t he ri t e Of worship wi t h w hi ch t ree worshippers
usually approached t heir god and placed t hemselves in com
munion wi t h him and under his pro t ec t ion was Of a di fferen t
kind There were t wo ways in which early man sough t t o
e ffec t an ex t ernal union be t ween himself and t he god he
worshipped : by t he sacricial meal he incorpora t ed t he
subs t ance o f t he god in t o his own body ; by blood le t t in g
ri t es and t he hair
O ffering he so t o speak incorpora t ed
himself wi t h t he god N ow t hough t he f ormer me t hod is
n ot
absolu t ely impossible fo r t he t ree worshipper for
t hroughou t N or t hern India t h e worshippers of t he sacred
n im t ree chew it s leaves in order t o gain t h e pro t ec t ion o f
t he dei t y agains t t he dea t h pollu t ion and
t he K a up ha t a s o f
C u t ch g e t t he car t ilage o f t heir ears sli t and in t he sli t a n im
3
s t ick is s t uck
and t hus t he subs t ance o f t he god is incor

ora
t
e
d
h
h
t
t
e
t
in
body
Of
devo
ee
s
ill
prac
ical
t
h
e
t
e
t
p
inconveniences are s o grea t t ha t it is t he second me t hod
t ha t is genera lly used ; and Mr H ar t land in t he second
v o lu m e o f his Leg en d of P ers eus ha s demons t ra t ed learnedly
a n d c o nclusively n o t o nly t ha t t he union may be e ffec t ed by
t he incorpora t ion o f any por t ion o f t he worshipper ( blood
Ex xxiii 1 8
ins t nces see Fr z er G B ch iii 1 0
F
.

'

Crooke , F ol k L ore
-

or

f N orthern

I nd i a , 2 53

T R EE A N D P L A N T W O RS H I P

221

hair saliva ) wit h t he g o d b ut t ha t according t o primi t ive

modes o f t hough t ( i e t hough t guided by t he associa t ion Of
ideas and n o t by reason ) any t hing worn by o r belonging t o
or even merely handled by a man is par t and parcel Of t he
man
H ence t he widespread prac t ice Of t ying rags o r
1
leaving por t ions Of clo t hin g upon a sacred t ree or bush
is
a sacramen t al ri t e
O ur examina t ion o f t he prac t ices o f
t hrowing pins in t o wells o f t ying rags o n bushes and t rees
Of driving nails in t o t rees and s t ocks o f t hrowing s t ones and
s t icks o n cairns and t he an alogous prac t ices t hroughou t t he
world leads t o t he conclusion t ha t t hey are t o be in t erpre t ed
as ac t s o f ceremonial union wit h well wi t h t ree or s t ock o r
2
cairn
i e wi t h t he wa t er spiri t t ree spiri t e t c
My shir t
o r s t ocking o r a rag t o represen t it placed upon a sacred

bush o r t hrus t in t o a sacred well m y name wri t t en upon

t he walls of a t emple
a s t one o r a pelle t from my hand cas t

upon a sacred image o r a sacred cairn a remnan t o f my

food cas t in t o a sacred wa t erfall o r bound upon a sacred t ree
or a nail f rom my hand driven in t o t he t runk o f t he t ree is
t hencefor t h in con t inual con t ac t wi t h divini t y ; and t he
will reach
e f ue n c e o f divin i t y reaching and involving it
and involve me
In t his way I may become permanen t ly
3
unit ed wi t h t he go d
The charac t eris t ic o f t he t hings chosen all over t he
world for t hus placing t he worshipper in communi on wit h
his g o d is t ha t t hey are t hings having no commercial value
rags nail parings hair s t ones e t c
O fferings
t hey may be
if s o we choose t o t erm t hem b ut t hey are n o t gift s
S t ill
occasionally ar t icles o f value are included amongs t t hem and
gif t s o f value are commonly made t o t he gods o f civilised
communit ies In ancien t G reece where O fferings were hung
upon sacred t rees as is shown by t he resul t s of t he excava
5
4
t ions in O lympia and discoveries in C yprus t he prac t ice Of
making gif t s Of grea t value wa s well es t ablished even in
5
B ut t his wa s n o t t he original prac t ice
H omeric t imes
anywhere a s Mr H ar t land has conclusively proved and
,

H a r t l a nd , P erseus , ii
H el b ig , H om e rische Ep o s , 3 1 4
.

0d

iii

u d o ua r ci

2 73

on

xpva u r e

2 00

0p

ci t

228
5

e 6 d y d kua r

3
.

d urn/ ey

(i

e.

cit

2 1 4
5

C a uer H om erkritik 1 9 7
fa s t ened t o t rees or a lt a r )
,

0p

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

222

we have n o w t o t race t he origin Of t he idea and prac t ice Of

making presen t s t o t he gods To do s o we mus t re t urn t o
o ur plan t t o t ems
Our argumen t t o show t ha t it is t o t o t emism we o w e t he
cul t iva t ion o f plan t s a s well as t he domes t ica t ion Of animals
may be summed up t hus far as follows : food plan t s are
adop t ed by savages a s t o t ems ; t hat t he savage ances t ors o f
civilised races t ook cereals fo r t heir t o t ems is a poin t Of
which we have n o t and under t he circums t ances could n o t
expec t t o have direc t evidence ; b ut we have proof t ha t t hey
t rea t ed cereal plan t s in t he same way as savages t rea t t heir
t o t em plan t s i e t hey kep t f rom one year t o t he nex t a
bundle of plan t s f or t he sake o f t he pro t ec t ion a fforded by
t he immanen t spiri t j us t as a branch of a sacred t ree was
kep t for t he same purpose ; t ha t t he sheaf t hus preserved
wo ul d yield seeds and sugges t sowing is clear and it is
cer t ain t ha t t he sacred sheaf wa s used for t hat purpose
B ut if t he cereal was a t o t em t hen originally it mus t have
been forbidden as food ( excep t a t t he so l emn annual sacra
men t al meal) jus t as t he animal t o t em was t aboo and jus t
as in Africa t he Plan t ain family abs t ain from t he p lan t ain
H ow t hen did it come t o be a s t aple ar t icle o f f ood ? In all
probabilit y in t he same way as t he animal t o t em : originally
t he animal t o t em was sacriced and ea t en only once a year ;
t hen as ocks and herds mul t iplied and t he t as t e for e s h
meat developed t rivial pre t ex t s for slaugh t ering vic t im s were
frequen t ly found or inven t ed un t il a t las t t he only t races t o
be found Of t he original t aboo are e g t he ceremonial ri t e
which amongs t Mohammedans t he bu t cher is expec t ed t o
Observe o r t he small o ffering t o t he gods which amongs t t he
H indoos o f M an n s t ime t he consumer had t o make before
ea t ing or t he Tar t ars prac t ice Of n o t beginning a meal un t il
t hey have rs t smeared t he mou t h Of t heir g o d N a c yg ai wi t h
1
fa t i e un t il t he g o d has himself ea t en of t he mea t
N ow if cul t iva t ed plan t s were originall y lik e domes t ic
animals f orbidden f ood we should expec t t o nd some t races
Of t he original t a boo in t he case o f cereals as we d o in t he
case Of es h mea t ; a n d such t races I sugges t we nd in t he
widespread reluc t ance t o e a t t he new corn e t c un t il some
.

s i an

Ba t

D er M ensc h,

iii

1 54

224

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

been m ade be fore t his new social ins t i t u t ion b u t t he t endency

now wa s t o in t erpre t t hem as gift s from man t o go d The
anim a l which origin a lly had been t he god and f o r long a ft er
was s a cred in it s own righ t as a member of t he clan wa s now
proper t y and only became holy by being presen t ed a s a gi ft
consecra t ed t o t he god The o fferin gs by which
t he worshipper had uni t ed himsel f wi t h his god became
proper t y ; and t o be accep t ed as gift s mus t be valuable
H ence in t he long run arose religious difcul t ies : t he
t radi t ional ri t ual showed t ha t t he a n imal was consumed a s
f ood by t he dei t y ; t he new view made t ha t f ood a gif t f rom
The
t he worshipper ; t hus t he god had t o be f e d by m a n
t radi t ional cus t om o f a t t aching O fferin gs t o t ree o r al t ar had
t he a t t ainmen t o f some wish o r t he gran t ing
f or it s o bj ect
t he new view required t ha t t he O ff ering
o f some prayer
should be a gif t Thus reli gion was in danger o f becoming
t he a rt o f giving some t hing in order t o g e t more in re t urn a
2
S pecies Of higglin g in t he celes t ial m a rke t ridiculed by
L ucian d enounced by t he Psalmis t a n d exposed in t he
E u thyp hr o
Amongs t t he H ebrews t his d a nger was m e t by
t he t eaching Of t he prophe t s t ha t G od requires no ma t eria l
obl a t ion b u t jus t ice mercy and humil i t y
Amongs t t he
H indoos t he no t ion t ha t sacrice consis t s in t he vol un t ary
loss o f proper t y and t h a t t hereby meri t is a cquired reduced
religion t o mere magic ; s a crices Of su fcien t magni t ude
gave man t he same power Of absolu t e command over t he
gods as in folk t ales S olomon exercises over t he djinn I t is
t rue t ha t bo t h in India and in G reece philosophers a rgued
f or a higher view o f sacrice : t hus Isocra t es m ain t ained t ha t
t h e t rues t sacrice and service was for a man t o m ake
3
himself as g o od and j us t as possible ; and t hroughou t t he
U p a nish a ds t he idea recurs t ha t
t here was some t hing far
be t t er fa r higher far more enduring t han t he righ t perform
ance o f s a crice ; t h a t t he Obj ec t o f t he wise man Should be
t o know inwardly and consciously t he G rea t S oul o f all ; a n d
,

1
2

H ar t l a n d , P erseus,

ii

2 00

Em ropt m y d pa
6 11 e in, C
b E t zgt po v,
an ew , P a t , E uthyp hro , 1 4

l o

18 0 0

cw dis

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.

l
vr w r o u
B

Ka

37

i7 60 1 67 773

Ka i

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t Om a cr a r ov

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'

T R E E A N D P L A N T W O RS H I P

225

t ha t

by t his knowledge his individual soul would become

1
unit ed t o t he S upreme Being t he t rue and absolu t e self
B ut it is also t rue t ha t t his t eachin g remain ed prac t ically
s t erile ; and t he reason Of t he s t erili t y seems t o lie in t he
fac t t he general law t ha t it is only by and in t he name Of
religion t ha t re forms in religion have been accomplished : it
is only by a higher f orm of religion t ha t a lower is expell ed
F inally t he gi ft t heory Of sacrice has in modern t imes
con t ribu t ed t o a f undamen t ally erroneous concep t ion o f t he
his t ory o f religion
I t has been supposed t ha t all O fferings
were from t he very beginning gift s whereas in t ru t h t he

earlies t O fferin gs were b ut means fo r placin g t he worshipper

in physical con t ac t and permanen t communion wi t h his go d
This erroneous supposit ion has t hen been combined wi t h t he
t heory t ha t t o primi t ive man all superna t ura l powers were
malevolen t ; and t he conclusion has been drawn t ha t t he
O fferings were int ended t o appease t hese malevolen t gods t ha t

religion had it s origin in fear whereas a go d is a f riendly

power fr om whom man expec t s aid and pro t ec t ion and wi t h
whom he seeks communion
S ome t imes t he t wo fallacies
t he gif t t heory o f sacrice and t he fear t heory Of religion
are combined wi t h t he fur t her error t ha t ances t or worship is

The basis o r core Of

t he earlies t form o f religion t hus :
worship is surely O ffering t ha t is t o say t he propi t ia t ion Of
t he ghos t by jus t such gif t s o f food drink slaves o r women
a s t he savage would na t urally make t o a living chie f wi t h
2
B ut t he core of
whom he desired t o curry favour
worship is communion ; O fferings in t he sense o f gift s are a
compara t ively modern ins t it u t ion bo t h in ances t or worship
as in t he worship o f t he gods ; and ances t or worship is la t er
t han and modelled o n t he worship o f t he gods
.

1
2

hys D avids
G r an t All en

H ibbert L ect u re, 1 8 8 1 ,

The A t tis , 93
.

28

C HAPTER

VI I

U E WORSHI P

NAT R

WHAT raised man from savagery t o civilisa t ion was t he

t ransi t ion from a na t ural t o an ar t icial basis of food supply
i e was t he domes t ica t ion o f animals and cul t iva t ion o f
plan t s ; and such domes t ica t ion and cul t iva t ion w a s as we
have endeavoured t o show t he ou t come n o t t he designed
but none t he less t he inevi t able ou t come Of t he earlies t
f orm of religion t ha t is t o t emism t he worship o f plan t s and
animals H aving shown t ha t religion gave t he rs t impe t us
t o ma t erial progress we have now t o show how ma t erial
progress react ed on re l igion ho w t he widening circle Of
human ac t ivi t y brough t man in t o more ex t ensive con t ac t
wit h t he forces of nat ure rendering t heir c o opera t ion wi t h
him more necessary and giving him f resh reasons t o es t ablish
friendly rela t ions and a permanen t alliance wi t h t he powers
o n whose goodwill t he increase Of his ocks o r t he fer t ilit y
of his elds depended
The hun t er mus t have a knowledge of t he habi t s Of
t he quarry ; t he herdsman mus t kno w n o t only where t o
nd pas t ure for his ocks b ut t o some ex t en t t he condit ions
which favour t h e grow t h o f herbage : he has a very direc t
in t eres t in t he rains and t he s t reams which wa t er t he ear t h
F ur t her he mus t be able t o see some dis t ance ahead t o be
re a dy wi t h his prepara t ions t o t ake care Of t he younglings
Of his herd when born ; he mus t be able t o compu t e t ime
N ow t hough it may appear t o us t ha t no very ex t ensive
Observat ion would be required on t he par t Of primit ive man
t o discover t ha t t he same amoun t Of t ime always elapsed
be t ween o n e new m o on and t h e nex t or t o ca lcula t e how
many d a ys t ha t period consis t ed Of y e t when we remember
-

2 26

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

228

civilis at ion are t he win t er sols t ice ( brum a lia Yule C hris t mas )
t he vernal equinox ( Eas t er A S B os t ra a goddess ) t h e
summer sols t ice ( t he grea t fes t ival o f O lympian Zeus ) and
B ut t he impor t ance o f t he s un as
t he au t umn equinox
t he c a use o f all grow t h was t o t he cul t iva t or even grea t er
A t t he same
t han i t s impor t ance as a measur er o f t ime
t ime t he varying quali t ies o f soil mus t have impressed man
in t he agricul t ural s t age wi t h t he idea t ha t t he ear t h could
yield o r re fuse increase t o t he crops a t wil l Thus t he
cul t iva t or was compelled t o feel his dependence o n t hese
t wo na t ure powers t o seek t heir c o opera t ion and add t wo
more t o t he lis t of dei t ies inherit ed by him from t he pas t oral
s t age
Tha t t his was t he ac t ual order Of even t s a t any ra t e in
t he case o f o ur own fore fa t hers seems t o be indica t ed by
t he res ul t s o f linguis t ic pal aeon t ology ; t he undivided Indo
Europeans were acquain t ed wi t h t he moon as t he measurer
2
1
Of t ime t hey worshipped a sky spir i t and t hey had n o t
3
t
hey
had
n o t learn t t o
e t passed o ut o f t he pas t oral s t age
y
4
t ha t was reserved fo r t he a gric ul
calcula t e t he solar year
t ural s t age i e t he period af t er t he separa t ion of t he Indian
from t he European branch
Tha t man in t he pas t oral and agricul t ural periods would
be impressed wit h t he desirabili t y Of winnin g t he permanen t
favour o f t he spiri t Of t h e river or clouds ear t h moo n sun
n or can it be doub t ed
wi
hardly
be
doub
ed
if
ll
t
or sk
;
y
t he argumen t o f o ur previous chap t ers be admi t t ed t ha t
t he rit ual employed by t he t o t emis t t o uni t e himself wi t h
t he new superna t ural powers whose favour he desired would
be f ormed o n t he analogy Of t he ri t es wi t h which b e
worshipped his plan t or animal t o t em he knew no o t her
way o f worship Those ri t es were rs t t he sa cricial meal
by which t he subs t ance o f t he god was incorpora t ed in t he
worshipper ; second t he O ff erings by which t he worshipper
was placed in con t ac t wi t h t he go d
In t he case Of s t reams
and foun t ains it is t he second me t hod which obviously
commended i t self and as we have seen in t he las t chap t er it
has ac t ually le f t abundan t survivals all over t he world
,

Schr a der ,
0p

P rehis t

c it 2 8 7 .
.

or ic A n tiqui ties

3 0 6 ff

2
.

0p
0p

ci t

41 7

c it .

30 9

H ere we need o n ly add t ha t it is n ot merely O fferings which

t he worshipper immerses b ut o n occasion his o wn body :
ba t hing is t hroughou t India regarded as a means o f re
l igio us advancemen t
and t he world wide use o f wa t er for
purposes o f ( ceremonial ) purica t ion wa s in it s origin we
may conjec t ure simply a means Of gaining fo r t he worshipper
t he pro t ec t ion of t he wa t er spiri t agains t t he consequences
o f pollu t ion
F rom t he prac t ice Of immersion t he s t ream
or pool becomes a place o f oracle and divina t ion
t he will
Of t he dei t y being indica t ed according as t he wa t er swallows
2
or rejec t s t he O ffering cas t in t o it
t he origin Of t he ordeal
of wa t er as applied t o wi t ches
The principle of t he
sacramen ta l meal is n o t indeed inapplicable t o t he wa t er
spiri t but ins t ances are n o t common : t races Of it may be
found in t he belief t ha t drinking t he sacred wa t er proves
fa t al or injurious t o t he criminal o r t he perjurer as in

Mexico o r o n t he G old C oas t ea t ing fe t ish i e ea t ing sacred

3
soil does
In t he case Of non t o t em dei t ies which like s un moon
and s k y are beyond t he reach o f physical con t ac t it migh t
be supposed tha t nei t her form o f t o t em ri t es could be
applied t ha t ext ernal physical union was impossible b ut
t his is n o t t he case ; t here were various means of ge t t ing
over t he difcul t y In t he rs t place it is t o be remembered
t ha t t he basis of t o t emism is pr imi t ive man s discovery t ha t
as men are uni t ed t o one ano t her in kindreds s o n a t ural
Obj ec t s can be classed in na t ural kinds hence t he t o t em
alliance be t ween a human kin and a nat ural kind N ow t he
wa t ers o n t he ear t h and t hose in t he s k y Obviously belong
t o t he same kind and communion wi t h o n e member o f t he
species is accordin g t o t he belief o n which t o t emism is base d
communion wit h all H ence t he worshipper who wishing
a river god t o gran t a vow unit es himself wi t h t he g o d by
O ffering in t o t he wa t er follows exac t ly
t hrowing some
t he same process w hen he wishes t o comm end himself t o
In Es t land when rain w a s
t he wa t ers above t he ear t h
wan t ed some t hing was cas t in t o a cer t ain sacred brook
s t reams o r lakes which t he momen t wood o r s t ones are
,

C rooke Fo lk L ore of N or thern I nd ia

2
Rober t son Smi t h Re l igion of Sem ites

20

178

3
.

Sup ra ,

64

I N T R O D UC T I O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

230

t hrown

in t o t hem cause rain and s t orm clouds t o appear

1
occur all over Europe
On t he same principle in t imes
o f drough t t he a gricul t ur is t seeks t o place his plan t s under
t he pro t ec t ion o f t he S piri t of wa t ers by immersing in a
s t ream t he represen t a t ive ( hu m an o r o t herwise ) o f t he
2
vege t a t ion spirit
B ut if communica t ion could t hus be e ffec t ed wi t h t he
spiri t s o f s k y and cloud t hen neit her were s un and moon
inaccessible t o would b e worshippers for t hey are Of t he
genus re and wha t ever is cas t in t o a re o n ear t h would
es t ablish communion wi t h t he grea t er and t he lesser ligh t s
in t he s k y a s in t he case of t he wa t ers o n and over t he
ear t h I t is a t any ra t e in t his way t ha t t he Ainus make
all re including t ha t o f t he s un
t heir O fferin gs t o t he s un
3
bein g divine t o t hem
The parallel t hus drawn be t ween re
and wa t er is conrmed by t he p urica t o ry powers Of bo t h ;
t he person o r t hing t ha t passes t hrough o r over a re is
brough t in con t ac t and in communion wi t h t he re god
When t o t e m ism has become s o far disin t egrat ed t ha t it
is forgo t t en t ha t t he animal sacriced is t he god him sel f
t hen animal s a
crice can be and is ex t ended by a n a logy from
t o t em t o non t o t em deit ies ; t he sacrice Of an animal is t hen
t he t radit ional mode of approaching cer t ain dei t ies and is
in ferred t o be t he proper mode Of worshipping all dei t ies
H ence we g e t a second means o f es t ablishin g union be t ween
man and go d s who are spa t ially remo t e from him : an imals
are sacriced t o t hem as t o o t her gods b ut whereas t radit ion
de t ermi ned wha t animals should be sacriced t o t o t em gods
analogies ( more o r less fanciful ) had t o be sough t t o de t ermine
t he proper sacrices t o n o n t o t em gods horses were sacriced
t o t he sun perhaps because o f his mo t ion and also t o t he
s ea
perhaps f rom t he shape and movemen t s o f it s waves ;
river gods were supposed t o appear Oft en as bul ls o f t en a s
serpen t s The blood o f sacrice in t he case o f n o n t o t em
a s well as o f t o t em gods
is t hen dashed upon an al t ar o r
s t one and t he g o ds Of bo t h kinds are suppo sed t o visi t o r
,

M a nnhard t W F K 3 4 1 no t e 1 w h o h owever regards t hese as ins t a nces

of sym p at he t ic m a gic
2
B K 3 5 6 no t e for ins t a nces
3
H ow ard Tra ns S iber ia n S a va ges 1 7 2
1

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY

232

RELI GI ON

OF

fes t ivals o n Midsummer Eve o r Mids ummer D ay which

1
survive s o generally all over Europe and t he Af rican cus t om
Of worshipping t he moon by shoo t ing aming arrows t owards
2
her
Mr F razer however who apparen t ly inclines t o regard
religion as developed o ut Of magic consis t en t ly enough says
The bes t general explana t ion Of t hese European re fes t ivals
seems t o be t he o n e given by Mannhard t namely t ha t t hey
a re sun charms or magical ceremonies in t ended t o ensur e a
3
proper supply o f sunshine for men animals and plan t s ;
and following Mannhard t he also explains t he c us t om
o f burning t he represen t a t ive Of t he vege t a t ion spiri t as a
x
piece of sympa t h e t ic magic ha ving t he same Obj ec t as t he
Midsummer bonres
B ut sympa t he t ic magic implies t ha t
an e ff ec t is produced in vi rt ue Of t he similari t y be t ween t ha t
e ffec t and it s cause and wit hou t t he in t erven t ion o f any
superna t ural being t here is no t hing religious abou t it
N ow neit her is t here any t hing re l igious in t he Midsummer
rit es as a t presen t prac t ised by E uropean peasan t s ; b ut
t hen t hese ri t es are survivals and in religion a survival
consis t s in t he con t inued performance Of ac t s originally
having a religious S ignicance a ft er all re ligious signicance
has depar t ed from t hem Th us no o n e doub t s t ha t s t reams
and wells were once considered superna t ural powers o r t he
abodes o f superna t ural spiri t s having amongs t o t her powers
t ha t of curing disease
N or can it be doub t ed t ha t origin a lly
t he worshipper placed himself in con t ac t wi t h and under t he
pro t ec t ion o f t he spiri t by ba t hing in t he wa t er Tha t t he
sacred wells which are common enough now were origin
ally worshipped as gods is t olerably clear B ut t he prac t ice
o f resor t ing t o t hem is now a survival it is in t he proper
sense o f t h e word a s upers t i t io n ; t ha t is t o s ay t hose who
believe t ha t wa t er from a cer t ain well will cure diseases o f
t he eye believe S O n o t because t hey suppose any spiri t t o
dwell in t he wa t er b ut simply because it is t he t radit ion t ha t
B u t it
t ha t wa t er does as a ma t t er Of fac t cure eye disea se
would be erroneous t o infer t ha t because now no spiri t is
supposed t o e ffec t t he cure t herefore t he belief never had a
religious elemen t in it ; and in t he same way it is n o t safe t o
For ins t nces see Fr z er G B ii 5 8 ff
d M nnh r d t W F K 3 0 9
,

R vill e , P eup l es

n on c i vi l is e s ,

58

an

3
.

G B
.

ii

8
2 67

N AT U R E W O RS H I P

233

in fer t ha t because t here is now no elemen t o f religion in t he

Midsummer ri t es t here f ore t here never was Ra t her I would
sugges t t he inference is t hat t he re f es t ivals occurring as
t hey do a t t he summer sols t ice are like o t her fes t ivals
occurrin g on t ha t day survivals o f early s un worship ; while
t he burning o f t he vege t a t ion S pirit s represen t a t ive is t he
early cul t iva t or s me t hod Of commending his crops t o t he s un
S pirit a s immersion is his me t hod of placin g t hem under t he
care o f t he s k y spiri t o r rain god
On t he o t her hand if
we regard t hese re fes t ivals and wa t er ri t es as pieces o f
sympa t he t ic magic t hey are clear ins t ances in which man
imagines himse lf able t o cons t rain t he gods in t his case t he
god o f vege t a t ion t o subserve his o w n ends
N ow t his
vain imagina t ion is n o t merely non religious b ut an t i
religious ; and it is difcul t t o s ee how religion could have
I t is inconsis t en t wi t h t he abj ec t
been developed o ut Of it
fear which t he savage feels of t he superna t ural and which is
some t imes supposed t o be t he origin of religion ; and it is
inco n sis t en t wi t h t ha t sense Of man s dependence o n a
superior bein g which is a real elemen t in religion
,

CHAP TER XV I I I

S N CR TI SM

AN D P L TH I S M

THE

ma t erial progress made by man as he advanced f rom

t he ma t erial basis Of subsis t ence o n roo t s frui t s and t h e
chase rs t t o pas t oral an d t hen t o agricul t ural lif e required
t ha t he should make an ever increasing us e for his o wn ends
o f na t ural forces
These f orces were t o him li ving beings
wit h superhuman powers o f whom he s t ood in dread b u t
whose c c Opera t ion he requi red Wi t hou t some condence
t ha t it was possible if he s e t abou t it in t he righ t way t o
secure t heir favour and assis t a nce his effor t s would have
been p a ra lysed Tha t condence was given him by religion ;
he was brough t in t o friendly rel a t ions wi t h powers from
which in his previously narrow circle of in t eres t s he had
had litt le t o hope o r t o gain ; and t hus t he number of his
gods had been increased
Pas t oral life and even a rudimen t ary form o f agricul t ure
are compa t ible wit h a wandering mode o f exis t ence in which
t he sole t ies t ha t can keep socie t y t oge t her are t h e bonds Of
blood kinship and a common cul t
B ut t he developmen t
Of agricul t ure is only possible when t he t ribe is permanen t ly
se t t led in a xed abode ; and t hen it becomes possible f o r
neighbours n o t o f kindred blood t o unit e in o n e communi t y
In a word poli t ical progress becomes possible ; and poli t ical
progress a t t his s t age consis t s in t he fusion or syn oikis m os o f
sev er a l t ribes in t o a single S t a t e This process a ls o ha d it s
e ff ect upon religion : a cla n is a religious commun it y a s well
a s a body Of kinsmen and t he f usion o f t wo clans implied
t he fusion o f t heir respec t ive cul t s
In many ca ses t he
resemblances o f t he t wo cul t s may well have been so grea t
as ra t her t o promo t e t han hinder t he a lliance ; t hus when
,

23 4

I N T R O D UC T I O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

236

al t ar appeared in diff eren t animal shapes or had

differen t animals O ffered t o him
F usion o f t his kind syncre t ismwould be ma t erially
f acili t a t ed a t rs t by t he fac t t ha t t he gods had originally
no proper names As long as t he clan had only one go d no
name was req ui red t he gods o f hos t ile clans were su fcien t ly
dis t inguished by t he fac t t ha t t hey were t he gods Of o t her

clans : t he dei t y was t he dei t y of o ur clan jus t as t he

river is t ha t near which I dwell and whose geography book
name I may n o t know B ut t he possession of a proper name
gives more individualit y t o a g o d ; and fusion be t ween t wo
gods each possessing t his higher degree of personali t y is
more di fcul t t han be t ween t w o nameless spiri t s On t he
o t her hand fusion is n o t impeded if o f t he t w o gods o n e
possesses a name and t he o t her does n o t only t he advan t age
is wi t h t he one having a personal name H e readily absorbs
t he nameless on e : t hus t h e cul t o f t he G reek god of wine
was a combina t ion of t he worship of a vege t at ion spiri t and
o f t he S pirit of t he v ine b ut t he f ormer was nameless and
t here f ore it was t he la t t er D ionysus t ha t gave it s n ame
t o t he god
SO t o o when we nd t ha t in di ff eren t places
hal f a dozen di fferen t animals wolf roe goa t ram mouse
grasshopper lizard swan hawk eagle t o s ay no t hin g Of
plan t s (e g t he laurel ) were associa t ed wit h or O ffered t o
Apollo we are j us t ied in inferring t ha t as many differen t
nameless t o t em gods plan t or animal have been absorbed by
t he S pi ri t which was for t una t e enough t o possess t he personal
name Apollo Whe t her t ha t spiri t was o r was n o t a sun
god is a ques t ion t o which no decisive answer is for t hcoming
B ut it is clear t ha t fusion be t ween t he cul t of t he sun god
and t he worship o f o t her gods would be considerably facilit a t ed
by t he fac t t ha t burn t O fferings played a par t in t he rit ual
bo t h of t he s un god and o f o t her gods The a gricul t uris t
whose crops required sunshine acknowledged his dependence
on t he s un a n d worshipped him In many cases t he s un god
migh t con t in ue t o be consciously dis t inguished from t he pla n t
t o t em o r vege t a t ion S piri t b ut in many per haps mos t cases
t he agricul t uris t would worship bo t h gods in a common
f es t ival and combine t heir ri t ual : he had t o make o fferings
t o bo t h and t o bo t h it was possible t o convey his O fferings
at

t he

A ND

SYNCR ETI S M

2 37

P O LY T H E I S M

by cas t ing t hem in t o a re Thus t he D ruids a t t heir grea t

quinquennial fes t ival cons t ruc t ed a colossal Jack o f t he G reen
placed inside it bo t h animal vic t ims and human crimin als
f
t
cap
ives
o
r
in
defaul
t
hereo
clansmen
and
burn
h
t
t
t
e
(
)
1
whole
Tha t in course Of t ime t heir fes t ival migh t come
t o be reg a rded as a feas t in honour o f some one god is
readily in t elligible ; and as long as t he differen t gods con
cerned were nameless none could appropria t e t he f es t ival
A sim ilar combina t ion o f cul t s is indica t ed by t he fac t t ha t
2
be fore t emples were known and for t he ma t t er o f t ha t
af t er t hey were common t he al t ars o f t he gods whe t her

Aryan o r S emit ic o r H ami t ic were usually t o be found in

t he neighbourhood Of a sacred t ree or t rees and a sacred
s t ream N ow t he cul t iva t or whose crops required wa t ering
h
and
e herdsman whose pas t urage was dependen t o n t he
t
(
wa t er spiri t ) had an in t eres t in worshipping t he spiri t of
wa t ers as well as t he vege t a t ion spiri t ; and as t he common
associa t ion o f sacred grove and sacred s t ream shows he
sough t for t he place Of his worship a S po t in which he could
a t o n e and t he same t ime approach bo t h spiri t s in a j oin t
ac t Of worship and t here he s e t up t he al t ar s t one o n whi ch
he dashed t he blood of sacrice To t his spo t he resor t ed a t

h
f
e
xed
fes
ivals
O
t
agricul
t
ural
calendar
t
t he sols t ices
h
t e
and equinoxes and also o n ex t raordinary occasions when
drough t s t erilit y o r disease awoke in him a consciousness o f
t he necessi t y Of renewing t he bond wi t h t he gods t o whose
pro t ec t ion it was t he cus t om o f t he clan t o resor t wit h con
On such occasions t here was
d e n c e in cases of emergency
a xed ri t ual t o be observed : some O fferings mus t be cas t
in t o t he river o t hers hung upon t he t rees t he blood of
sacrice be Sprinkled o n t he s t one and t he vic t im s esh be
solemnly consumed by t he assembled clan I t was on t he
exac t and punc t ilious performance o f all t hese various pro
c e e din g s t ha t t he success o f t he a c t o f worship ( i e a sense
Of re co n cili a t ion wi t h t he god and t he t ermina t ion o f t he
drough t or t he s t ayin g of t he plague ) depended
The
omission Of any one o f t hem o r t he failure t o perform t hem
in t he exac t manner prescribed by cus t om and t radi t ion
.

K 526
.

Sup ra ,

C ass
1 35

vi

1 6 ; St

ra bo iv
,

e.

1 98 ; Diod

32

238

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

would invalida t e t he whole In a word t he procee di ngs

from t he t ime o f en t ering t o t he momen t o f leaving t he
sacred place t ended t o presen t t hemselves t o t he worshipper s
mind as one single ac t o f worship Tha t t he various con
s t it ue n t par t s o f t ha t a c t had had di fferen t origins was a fac t
which would inevi t ably t end t o be obscured and even t ually
Tha t t he various ri t es composing t he o n e a c t o f
forg o t t en
worship had been originally addressed t o differen t spiri t s would
ri p a ss u also t end t o be f orgo t t en ; indeed if t he S piri t s
a
p
were nameless it would be difcul t for several genera t ions
of worshippers t o hold t hem clearly apar t in t heir minds
Wha t would be presen t t o t he consciousness o f any given
worshipper would be t h a t o n cer t ain occasions e g when
danger o f any kind t hreat ened it was t he cus t omary t hing
t o resor t t o t he sacred place Of t h e clan and t here t o perform
cer t ain ex t ernal ac t s and t ha t if t hose ac t s were performed
in t he proper way t he danger would be aver t ed by t he
superna t ural power o r powers friendly t o t he clan and
haun t ing t he grove Whe t her o n e or more spiri t s were
concerned in gran t in g t he prayers of t he communi t y migh t
be ma t t er f o r specul a t ion ; t he unit y Of t he a c t o f worship
however would be a presump t ion in favour of t he un i t y o f
Thus in A ric ia t here w as a sacred
t he power worshipped
grove or fores t the fores t o f t he inhabit an t s N em us which
was t hus resor t ed t o ; and t he numen Of t he spo t wa s known

simply a s
N em ore n sis
Even t ually
t he f ores t er
t he

f ores t er
was iden t ied wit h a goddess having a more

individual name and a higher degree o f personali t y D iana

O n t he analogy t herefore o f D iana N e m ore n sis we may
conjec t ure t ha t dei t ies wi t h double names Ph oebus Apollo
Pallas A t hene and s o o n were originally dis t inc t dei t ies
whose cul t s have been combined by syncre t ism
B ut it is n o t here alleged t ha t even spir i t s whose abodes
were s o closely associa t ed t oge t her a s were t hose o f t ree
spiri t s and river spiri t s necessarily or generally blended
t oge t her o r were absorbed by a god wi t h a more developed
personali t y Each o f t he gods migh t have such a marked
personalit y t ha t fusion was impossible
The D rya ds t he
N ereid s t he N a id s t he nymph s o f t rees and s t re ams con
t in ue d t o exis t side by side wi t h t he grea t er gods o f G reece
.

240

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

which are celebra t ed exclusively by women and from which

men are excluded are generally connec t ed wit h agricul t ure
and agricul t ural deit ies e g t he Thesmophoria t he ri t es o f
1
F ur t her it
t he Bona D ea and sundry H indu cere m onies
is a well known fac t t ha t amongs t savages agric ul t ure is lef t
t he men mos t
t o t he women : amongs t t he N iam Niam
s t udiously devo t e t hemselves t o t heir hun t ing and leave t he
cul t ure o f t he soil t o be carried o n exclusively by t he
2
women ;
amo n gs t t he K a rs t he women are t he real
labourers t he en t ire business Of diggin g plan t in g and
weeding devolves on t hem
whils t t he M o n but t oo
women a t t end t o t he t illage o f t he soil and t he ga t hering o f
t he harves t t he m en excep t t hey are absen t eit her fo r war
4
or hun t ing spend t he en t ire day in idleness
In ne it
may be said of Africa generally t ha t t he wife has t he chief
5
share Of t he hoeing and cul t iva t ion o f t he soil ;
as it was
said o f t he ancien t Peruvians
t hese women give grea t
assis t ance t o t heir husbands in all t he labours belongin g t o
husbandry and domes t ic a ffairs or ra t her t hese t hings fall
5
I t is t herefore an easy guess t ha t
en t irely t o t heir l o t
t he cul t iva t ion of plan t s was one o f woman s con t ribu t ions
t o t he developmen t o f civilisa t ion ; and it is in harmony
wi t h t his conj ec t ure t hat t h e cereal dei t ies are usually bo t h
in t he O ld World and t he N ew f emale The agricul t ura l or
semi agricult ural mys t eries t here fore from whi ch even in
civil ised t imes women con t inued t o exclude men m ay be
survivals o f early t imes w hen agricul t ure was a cul t as well
as a craft a mys t ery as well as a minis t erium and when
fur t her t he craf t ( and t here fore t he cul t ) was t he exclusive
prerogat ive o f t he wives o f t he t ribe Tha t cul t iva t ed plan t s
were originally t o t ems we have already argued If women
were t he rs t cul t iva t ors it will follow t ha t cereals were
originally sex t o t ems Agricult ure however when it s bene t s
became t horoughly unders t ood was n o t allowed amongs t
civilised races t o con t inue t o be t he exclusive preroga t ive Of
,

1
2

Crooke , F olk L ore of N or thern I n d i a , 4 1

Schwein furt h , H ea rt of Af ri c a , ii 1 2
Shoo t er , K a rs of N a t a l , 1 7
-

an d

43

D uff Ma cdon ald Af rica n a i 1 3 7

5
Z ar a t e Con que s t of P er u ( Kerr Voy a ges iv

S chwein fur t h ,

ii

90

SYNCR ET I S M A N D P O LY T H E I S M

241

women ; and t he C orn goddess Maiden or Mo t her had t o

admi t t o t he circle of her worshippers t he men as well as
t he wives o f t he t ribe
H ence t hough t he corn spirit
con t inued t o be o f t he sex o f her original worshippers and
t hough women con t inued t o play a par t in t he my t hs abou t
t he goddess as well as in her worship ( e g t he maidens who
carried t he ears o f maize in Mexico and Peru and t hose who
are represen t ed o n G reek monumen t s as carrying ears Of
corn ) s t ill D eme t er t ook her pl a ce wi t h t he o t her deit ies ;
t he men of t he t ribe par t icipa t ed in her worship ( t hough t he
you t hs who gured in t he Eiresione procession a t t he
P ya n e p s io n ha d t o dress up a s women
and t he Eleusinian
mys t eries were Open t o men as well as t o women

Poli t ical developmen t in early t imes t o t urn t o t he main

cause of poly t heism depends o n t w o condi t ions : rs t t he

causes which t end t o induce neighbourin g communi t ies t o
a c t t oge t her and blend t oge t her in o n e poli t ical whole
or
S t a t e mus t be more powerful t han t he causes which t end t o
keep t hem apar t ; and nex t t he causes which t end t o keep
t hem apar t are t w o namely rs t t he t ie of blood which uni t es
t he members Of a communi t y t oge t her and marks t hem Off
from s t rangers and nex t t he t ie o f a common worship t o
which none b ut members o f t he communit y are ad m i t t ed
Bo t h t hese dividing inuences mus t be overcome if a S t a t e o f
any size and poli t ical impor t ance is t o grow up In a word
in early t imes poly t heism is t he price which mus t be paid
fo r poli t ical developmen t
The loyal t y t o t he clan and t o
t he clan g o d t he convic t ion t ha t t he re l igious communi t y
f ormed by t he t ribe cons t it u t es it a peculiar people is
essen t ial t o mono t heism and inconsis t en t wi t h poli t ical
grow t h : polit ically t he Jewish S t a t e was insignican t and a t
t he mercy of it s neighbours ; a t t he presen t d a y t he Jews
are sca t t ered and form no polit ic a l communi t y ; b ut t hey
re t ain t heir original loyal t y t o t he blood bond and t o t he
G od of t heir fa t hers
Tha t di fferen t t ribes would exhibit diff eren t degrees o f
a t t achmen t t o t heir ances t ral fai t h differen t degrees o f
j ealousy fo r t heir clan god follows from t he varie t y o f
K a 7 ix N uV P ho t ius B ibl ioth C 2 3 9 p 3 2 2 ; M n h rd t
-

vva

ar

F K 216
.

as

oro

OL

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

24 2

human na t ure B ut when t he rs t s t ep t owards poly t heism

has been t aken when once t he t ribe s worship has been

h
t
t
nally divided be t ween t e t o t em and ano her dei y t hough
t his does n o t t ake place probably wi t hou t many relapses by
t he pr o cess o f syncre t ism in t o t he Old cus t om of a single
sanc t u a ry and a single t o t em t o a single t ribe t he develop
men t o f p oly t heism is easy and rapid ; t he need f o r friendly
rela t ions wi t h all t he na t ural f orces by which man s f ort unes
are or can be supposed t o be a ffec t ed is s o great t ha t on e
a f t er ano t her all are gradually brough t wi t hin t he circle o f
his worship B ut t his is a process which canno t t ake place
wit hou t a ffec t ing t he na t ure charac t er and posi t ion o f t he
gods For ins t ance t he original clan god was omnipo t en t :
t he worshipper appealed t o him in any and every need wi t h
condence t ha t he could if he so willed save him
B ut
when by t he f usion of several communi t ies t he members o f
t he n e w S t a t e found t hemselves t he worshippers o f several
omnipo t en t gods some adjus t men t of t heir rela t ions was
necessary
Tha t adjus t men t O ft en t ook t he form of a
division o f labour and we can s e e clearly in some cases how
a god originally all powerful would come t o be a merely
depar t men t al god In t he view o f e a rly man war is a holy
func t ion : be fore going in t o ba t t le sacrice is o ffered t o t he
clan g o d t he warriors are consecra t ed t o him and are placed
under t he t aboos ordinarily imposed o n t hose who are in
direc t and special communion wi t h t he clan god Whe t her
t he clan god be an animal t o t em o r a vege t a t ion spiri t o r
wha t n o t he is all powerf ul and only exercises t his power Of
pro t ec t ing his warriors by t he way s o t o speak B ut if o f
several t ribes unit ing in a poli t ical f edera t ion o n e is d is
t in guis he d for it s success in war t he in f erence inevi t ably
wil l be t ha t it s god has special powers o f conferring vic t ory
in war ; and t he o t her clans federa t ed wi th it will worship it s
d
o
f
o
more
especially
and
ra
her
han
heir
in
ime
war
t
n
o
w
t
t
t
g
Thus a god who like Mars was admit t edly in t he beginning
a vege t a t ion spiri t may end by becoming t he war god o f a
2
1
na t ion Again t he sacred t rees and sacred s t ream o f a holy
place are habit ually used as oracles ; and if some sacred
place for some reason or o t her gains repu t e as a place f o r
.

Ro b ert son Smi t h

on

Religi

of t he S em ites ,

1 94

2
.

0p

c it .

187

244

I N T R O D UC T I O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

and animals which he canno t e a t and moreover t he t o t em

plan t or animal is precisely t he species which he abs t ain s
In ne b e worshipped plan t t o t ems fo r t he
from ea t in g
same reason as he worshipped animal t o t ems and he
worshipped t o t ems which even t ually t urned o ut t o possess
ec o n o mic u t ili t y fo r t he same reason as b e wors hipped t hose
whi ch even t ually proved t o have none ; and t ha t reason was
t ha t he belie v ed t hem t o be superna t ural beings possessin g
t he power t o pro t ec t him from all dangers and t o confer o n
him all blessings Tha t even t ually t he prayers which he
t o t he C orn spiri t or Maize S piri t came t o be
a ddressed
mainly prayers for good crops was due t o t he vari ous causes
which we have already sugges t ed : t he growt h o f poly t heism
led t o a division Of labour amongs t dei t ies t he economic
impor t ance of food plan t s made t heir mul t iplica t ion a ma tt er
of especial desire and t he spirit immanen t in t hem bein g
t heir life na t urally came t o be considered t o be t he spirit
B ut even so t here are clear t races
t ha t made t hem grow
enough in la t e t imes t ha t t he vege t a t ion spiri t t hough mainly
con cerned wi t h vege t a t ion con t inued t o exercise o t her powers
t he t ree spiri t o f t he Li t huanians had con t rol over rain and
sunshine } and amongs t t he nor t hern Europeans generally t he
vege t a t ion S pirit brough t blessings o f all kinds and n o t
2
merely prosperi t y t o t he crops
Therefore also t he general
supernat ural powers exercised by D emet er D ionysus C hico
m e c oa t l e t c may have been inheri t ed and n o t ex t ended t o
t hem in la t e t imes o n t he analogy o f t he o t her gods Of t he
pan t heons t o which t hey belonged
B ut when once t he concep t ion o f depar t men t al dei t ies
had been developed by poly t heism it ex t ended widely The
animis t ic belief t ha t every t hi n g was a living bein g and t he
roo t concep t ion of t o t emism t ha t t h ings are unit ed in kinds
as men are uni t ed in kins was combined wi t h t he new idea
t ha t t he S piri t immanen t in any species o f beings o r class o f
t hings had t he f unc t ional power o f promo t ing t he u t il i t y o f
t ha t class
H ence a large number Of new minor deit ies
whose c o Opera t ion man mus t secure
Tha t w o rship wa s
necessary for t his end was self eviden t Tha t t he w orship
o f t he new dei t ies should be modelled o n t ha t o f t he Old was
,

'

K 37
.

K 52
.

AN D

SYN CR ETI S M

P O LYT H EI S M

24 5

inevi t able B ut t o unders t and t he difcul t y in t he way Of

ex t ending t he Ol d rules o f worship t o cover t he new ins t ances
I n t he earlies t form o f
some explana t ion is required
sacrice a t heophany o f t he t o t em god was procured by
dashing t he blood of t he t o t em animal o n t he al t ar s t one :
t he vic t im w a s t he god t he blood was t he life t he spiri t Of
NO invoca t ion
t he species t o which t he animal belonged
t herefore was required no naming t he god was necessary ;
t he god had no name indeed and t he only god who could
pass in t o t he al t ar was t he spiri t immanen t in t he animal
t ha t is t o say t he t o t em god o f t he clan
To t his day
survivals of t his s t a t e o f t hings may be found : t he K urek s
a t irreg ular t imes slaugh t er a reindeer o r a d o
u
i
head
t
t
s
g p
o n a pole facing eas t and men t ioning n o name s a
This
y
1
for Thee : gran t me a blessing
B ut when poly t heism
grew up when one clan worshipped several gods it would be
necessary t o dis t inguish Especially when t he same animal
migh t be O ffered t o differen t gods would t here be no t hin g t o
guaran t ee t ha t t he righ t god passed in t o t he al t ar H ence
t he advan t age o f having di fferen t names fo r t he di ff eren t
gods and t he cus t om of invoking a god by his n ame before
slaying t he vic t im t ha t wa s in t ended for him Those who
did n o t know t he name o f t he god could n o t o ff er him a
sacrice cou l d n o t en t er in t o communion wi t h him could
n o t gain his ear for any prayer
H ence t he pro found and
successful secrecy wit h which t he name Of t he t u t elary
dei t y Of R ome was guarded t ha t no foe migh t induce him
t o abandon R ome
F inally we may no t e t ha t savages
generally believe t ha t knowledge of a man s name confe rs
power over t he man himself ; a man s name or for t ha t
ma t t er a god s name is par t of himself in t he s avage s
Opinion and consequen t ly jus t as hanging clo t hes o n a sacred
t ree places t he wearer in con t act wi t h t he divinit y of t he
t ree jus t as writ ing a name o n t emple walls pu t s t he owner
of t he name in con t inual union wi t h t he dei t y o f t he t emple
s o f o r early men t he knowledge invoca t ion and vain repe t i
t ion o f t he dei t y s name cons t i t u t es in i t self an ac t ual if
mys t ic union wi t h t he dei t y named
To re t urn t o o ur minor and depar t men t al d e it ies o f
.

B a s t i an , Der M ensc h,

ii

1 09

24 6

INT R O D UC T I O N TO

H I S TO RY

O F R E L I G I ON

whom t he R oman D i I n d ig e t e s are t he mos t remarkable

example it is clear rs t t ha t for t he worship o f t hese
generic dei t ies it was essen t ial t ha t t heir names should be
known and second t ha t when known t he mere repe t i t ion o f
t heir names would be an a c t o f worship su fcien t for t he
purpose t hough n o t o f course excluding sacrice a s well if
H ence in R ome t he p o n t ic e s
it were deemed advisable
kep t regis t ers ( indigi t amen t a ) of t he names Of all t hese D i
F rom wha t is said by wri t ers quo t ing from
I n d ig e t es
basing t hemselves o n Varro who had access t o t he
or
indigi t amen t a it seems probable t ha t t here were four classes
o f t hese func t ional dei t ies : t he rs t consis t ed o f t hose in
dwelling in ar t icles o f food clo t hing and o t her necessaries o f
li fe and t he second Of t hose in cer t ain par t s o f houses
h
door
hinge
hreshold
o
her
classes
are
t
e
u
t
t
e
t
t
w
o
b
t
c
(
);
t he mos t in t eres t ing because t he d i comprised in t hem are
all immanen t n o t in ma t erial t hings b ut in processes t he
various processes ( 1 ) o f farming ( 2 ) o f human lif e and
t hey showed t ha t t he R oman had reached t h e conclusion t ha t
any t hing what ever t o which a class name could be given had
a real exis t ence a ffording a S phere fo r t he func t ion o f a
spiri t ual being Examples o f D i I n d ig e t e s are t he S piri t Of
sowing ( a s a t io n e S a t or ) harrowing ( ab o c c a t io n e deus Oc c a t o r)
dunging ( a s t e rc o ra t io n e St e rc ulin ius ) o f doors ( Fo rc ul us a
forib us ) hin ges ( C ardea a c ard in ib us ) o f t he t hreshold
i
L
m
n t in us
i
e
f
t
alking
L
o
u
t
u
s
of
h
cradle
C
uni
n
a
o
c
t
e
(
(
(
)
)
)
etc
The mos t probable deriva t ion o f t he word in d ig es is f rom
in d u ( of 312 80 12 and in d u p era tor
int p era tor) and ag ( t he
s t em Of ag ere) in t he sense o f t he god t ha t ac t s manifes t s
himsel f or is immanen t in a t hing
B ut t hough it is t he D i I n di g e t es Of R ome wi t h which
we are mos t familiar it is n o t t o be in ferred t ha t it was in
Rome al o ne t hat poly t heism worked wi t h di sin t egra t ing e ffec t
a n d pr o duced t hese f unc t ional dei t ies
We mee t wit h t hem
in every qu a r t er o f t he globe
I n A f rica t h e negro has
t ut el a ry dei t ies each o f which is f o r a special pur pose
These a lso a re in a nim a t e Obj ec t s possessing indwelling spiri t s
O ne perhaps wa t ches t ha t no quarrel o r division t akes pla ce
like t he La t in C oncordia ano t her m a y wa t ch over t hem
when dancing o r hold ing a f es t ival and a t hird may t ake
,

248

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

religion an t hropomorphism made it possible t o bring

poly t heism in t o some t hing like a sys t em t o bring all t he
gods t o dwell t oge t her in o n e O lympus t o organise t hem in t o
a socie t y framed on t he model o f human socie t y and t o
es t ablish t heir rela t ions t o o n e ano t her by means Of
I t is t herefore o f my t hology t ha t o ur nex t
my t hology
chap t er mus t t rea t
,

C H AP T ER X I X

O O

M TH L G

AS

long as man is on t he na t ural basis o f subsis t ence as

long as he lives on roo t s frui t s and t he produce Of t he chase
so long it t akes him t he whole of his t ime t o scrape t oge t her
enough f ood t o li ve on and progress is im possible I t is t he
domes t ica t ion Of plan t s and animals which enables him t o
produce a grea t er f ood supply in a shor t er t ime which gives
him leisure se t s f ree a large par t o f his energies and gives
him t ime t o medi t a t e t he f ur t her appropria t ion o f na t ural
powers t o his own purposes and s o makes ma t erial progress
possible The consequen t increase o f weal t h brings in it s
This developmen t
t rain t he ins t i t u t ion o f priva t e proper t y
of ma t erial civilisa t ion it self due t o religion reac t s upon
re ligion In every cul t t here are t w o t endencies or impulses
t he mys t ic and t he prac t ical t he need o f t he blessings which
bes t o w and t he desire for
t he superna t ural power can
communion wit h t he au t hor o f t hose blessings
The la t t er
manifes t s i t self f rom t he rs t a s we have seen bo t h in t he
sacricial meal and in t he sacramen t al Offerings by means o f
which t he worshipper seeks t o uni t e himself wi t h t he obj ec t
of his worship B ut it t ended t o be obscured and ma t erial
progress t ended t o emphasise t he prac t ical Objec t o f cul t in
Poly t heism disin t egra t ed t he t o t em god and gave
t w o ways
bir t h t o f un t io n al deit ies t hus sugges t ing and fos t ering t he
p
idea t ha t as t hese deit ies had only o n e func t ion t o perform
and t ha t one o f ma t erial bene t t o man t heir only func t ion
was t o perf orm it for man s bene t A t t he same t ime t he
concep t ion of proper t y was in t roduced in t o t he rela t ions
be t ween G od and man in such a way t ha t sacri c e t ended t o
appear as a bargain in which t he la t t er had so much t he be tt er
,

24 9

250

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

he g o t every t hing and prac t ically gave no t hing Thus

t he prac t ical impulse in worship w a s gr a dually exaggera t ed
t ill it s absur d i t y became gross and t he mys t ic impulse had
been t hrus t in t o t he background un t il it wa s almos t en t irely
los t t o view H ow it came t o reasser t i t self we shal l have
soon t o inquire b ut we can now no longer delay t o recognise
t ha t in religion besides t he mys t ic and prac t ical t endencies
t here is also t he s p e c ula tiy g t d e n c y and whereas t he
gp
former manifes t t hemselves in cul t t he la tt er nds expres
sion in my t hology I t is indeed t rue t ha t in early religions
whil e it was absolu t ely incumben t o n a man t o perform
exac t ly and punc t il iously t he ex t ernal ac t s which cons t i t u t ed
t he ri t ual and cul t of t he clan or s t a t e t o wh ich he belonged
e
t
t
belief
in
a
cer
ain
series
my
hs
was
nei
her
Obliga
ory
t
O
f
t
t
y
as a par t o f t rue religion nor w as it supposed t ha t by
beli eving a man acquired religious meri t and conciliat e d t he
1
favour o f t he gods
I t is also t rue t ha t t here is a
conspicuous absence of re lig io us f eIal in g f rom m ost m y t hs
S t ill it is impossible for us t o exclude t he considera t ion o f
2
my t hology
My t hs are n o t like psalms o r hymns lyrical expressions
of religious emo tion ; t hey are n o t like creeds o r dogmas
s t at emen t s o f t hings which mus t be believed : t hey are
n ar
t
es
n
t
They
are
his
ory
hey
are
ales
old
abou
o
t
t
t
t
y
i
rat
gods and heroes and t hey all have t wo charac t eris t ics : o n
t he o n e hand t hey are t o us obviously or demons t rably
un t rue and of t en irra t ional on t he o t her hand t hey were t o
t heir rs t audience s o reasonable as t o appear t ru t hs which
were sel f eviden t
Many my t hs are ( or in t heir original
f orm were ) designed t o explain some name ri t ual o r wha t
ever seemed t o require explana t ion : t he name o f S ho t over
H ill is explained t o be due t o t he f act t ha t Li t t le John once
sho t over it
O t her my t hs explain no t hing and poin t no
t ha t

Rob er t son S mi t h , Rel igi on

the S em ite s , 1 7

The view of myt hol ogy in t his ch p t er is t h

d isciple of M r Andrew
La ng ; a n d t h e s t uden t is re ferred t o M r La ng s a r ticle o n M y t ho l ogy in t h e
E wy c l op oed i a B ri ta n n ic a his M y th R it ua l a n d Rel igi o n a n d his Cu st om a n d
M y th
T he most comprehensive a ccount o f t h e v ario us t heories which h a ve
been held on t he s ubj ect o f my t hology is t o be found in G ruppe Die g r iechis chen
Cu lt e u nd M ythen (t he Engl ish rea der wi l l nd a b rie fer a cco un t b y t he presen t
writ er in t he a r t icl e o n M y t hol ogy in Cha m b ers s E m y cl op ced ia )
2

at o f a

2 52

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

The god appears occasionally on Egyp t ian monumen t s in

purely animal f orm t he skin of t he animal t o t em a branch
of
t he god t ree some ac t ual ears o f whea t o r maize are
worshipped as very god Then t he semi human na t ure o f
t he god is expressed by clo t hing a human image in an animal
S kin } or placing a human gure ( o f dough e t c ) o n a t ree o r
clo t hing a t ree o r a shea f o f ears in human dress o r a human
being in a sheaf o r leaves Then when t he animal or plan t
origin o f t he god has been al t oge t her forgo t t en t he god is

simply
associa t ed
in a rt wi t h t he plan t or animal
D eme t er wear s a garland o f whea t ears C hicomecoa t l ca rries
maize s t alks in her hand Apollo s t ands beside a dolphin ; and
nally even t hese symbols are dropped The same evolu t ion
is abun dan t ly illus t ra t ed in my t hology : t he Tur t le Of t he
Iroquois corresponds t o t he purely animal f orm o f t he
Egyp t ian gods ; Zeus who is a t o n e t ime human and a t
ano t her animal corresponds t o t he m is ch bild t he human
body wi t h animal head which is t he mos t common Egyp t ian
mode of represen t ing t he gods or t o t he half human half
vege t able deit y represen t ed by a shea f wrapped in human

raimen t
The associa t ion o f a deit y wi t h a plan t appears
in t he my t h of t he R ed Maize clan o f t he O mahas who s a y
t ha t
t he rs t man Of t he clan emerged from t he wa t er
2
F inally even t he
wi t h an ear Of red maize in his hand

associa t ion disappears in t he my t h Of t he Pima Indians

abou t t he maize spiri t : one day as S he lay asleep a rain
drop fe ll on her naked bosom and she became t he ances t ress
3
Of t he maize growing Pueblo Indians
In course o f t ime t he clan may forge t t ha t t heir animal
god was t heir ances t or and t hen a fresh reason is required t o
accou n t fo r t he alliance be t ween t he human kin and t he
anim al kind and s o some families in t he islands L e t i Moa
and L akor reverence t he S hark and re f used t o ea t it s esh
4
because a shark once helped o n e of t heir ances t ors a t sea
O r t he cla n may re m e m ber t ha t it was descended fro m an
anim al b ut o wing t o t h e general disappearance o f animal
w orship forge t t ha t t he anim a l wa s a god in which case
,

"

Apr eut s o m

F ra z er
3
Pa yne
2

op

xeu

ci t .

N ew

s viii c

d un exon vn Oepua k d o v, Pa u

37

World i
,

414

not

4
.

Fra z er

op

cit .

M Y T H O L O GY

253

s t ill appears as a fea t ure in t he s t ory b ut

t he Kalang who have
it is n o longer due t o divine agency
claims t o be considered t he aborigines of Java are descended
from a princess and a chief who had been t rans formed in t o
1
a d og
N ow we began by no t ing t hat t hough many my t hs are
ae t iological i e designed t o expla in some t hing many are n o t
b ut are ra t her like fairy t ales ; and it is eviden t t ha t we are
n o w af t er s t a r t ing wi t h t he former rapidly approaching t he
lat t er class : t he t ransforma t ion o f t he Kalang chief reminds
us of t he enchan t ers and enchan t resses Of t he A ra bia n N ig hts
t he helpful Papuan shark belongs t o t he same order o f

crea t ures as Arion s dolphin and t he friendly animal s Of

numerous nursery t ales
Wha t t hen are t he rela t ions
be t ween t he t wo classes ?

begin
wi
h
gran t ed t ha t t he t endency t o ask t he
t
To
rea son why t he desire rerum cognoscere causas ( provided
t he t hings be in t eres t ing ) is charac t eris t ic o f man generally
it is clear t ha t curiosit y would be inevit ably aroused by
t he t o t emis t ic belie f s t ha t human beings are descended from
animals and t ha t animals help men : some explana t ion would
even t ually be fel t t o be necessary and as a ma t t er o f fac t
explana t ions o f t he kind already illus t ra t ed are f or t hcomin g
I t is clear also t ha t when t he belie f s were dead and forgo t t en
t he s t ories which had been inven t ed t o accoun t f or t hem
would if t hey survived ip s o fa cto be dissevered from t he
beliefs ; and would n o w appear no longer as reasons o r
explana t ions b ut as s t a t emen t s of fac t s which occurred

An d as s t ill
once upon a t ime
inciden t s anecdo t es
happens wit h anecdo t es t here was no t hing t o preven t t hem
from bein g appropria t ed t o ( or by ) t he wrong persons : t he
original dolphin my t h was a t t ached t o t he his t oric Arion
whils t t he t o t em dolphin t he original of t he my t h was
absorbed by t he god Apollo B ut a single inciden t does n o t
make a s t ory
There was once a man and he was changed
in t o a d og is n ot a s t a t emen t o f su fcien t in t eres t t o live
long in t he memory ; b ut it may have t he requisit e in t eres t
if ei t her I believe t ha t t he man in ques t ion was an ances t or
o r if I know some t hin g abou t t he m an o t her
of my own
F raz er p cit 6
t ransforma t ion

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

2 54

wis e e g if I know him as t he hero o f o t her inciden t s SO

t ha t gran t ed t ha t t he inciden t s which compose my t hs are
explana t ions which have survived t he belie f s t hey were
inven t ed t o explain we have y e t t o learn why t hey came t o

be grouped t oge t her a poin t of rs t ra t e impor t ance because

t hey w o uld n o t have sur vived if t hey had n o t been combined
We canno t suppose t ha t t hey were rs t dissevered
t oge t her
f rom t he beliefs o n which t hey orig in ally depended for t heir
exis t ence and t hen were subsequen t ly combined s o a s t o
ob t ain a renewed exis t ence because t hey wo ul d probably
have perished in t he in t erval We mus t t herefore suppose
t ha t t hey were combined in t o t ales ere y e t t he belie f s o r
ins t it u t ions which gave t hem t heir rs t lease of life had
perished This means t ha t t he various par t s o f o n e
ins t it u t ion for ins t ance mus t have had each it s separa t e
explana t ion and t ha t t hese explana t ions were combin ed in t o
o n e whole t he uni t y of which corresponde d t o t he uni t y o f
An illus t ra t ion will make t his clearer and
t he ins t i t u t ion
we will choose o n e which shall serve t o remind us t ha t t he
rela t ions o f men t o t heir t o t em anim al and t o t heir animal
kindred are n o t t he only t hings for which early man requir ed
an explana t ion and are n ot by any means t he only source
o f t he inciden t s t o be found in my t hs and fairy t ales
C eremonies may con t inue t o be perf ormed as a ma t t er
of cus t om and t radi t ion long af t er t heir original purpose
and objec t have been forgo t t en ; b ut t hey will n o t con t inue
t o be performed unless some reason o r o t her is f or t hcomin g
and usually t he reason which commends i t self is some
infere n ce from t he na t ure o f t he ceremony i t sel f which is
indeed an incorrec t in f erence b ut is s o easy and s o readily
unders t ood t ha t various people can arrive a t it for t hemselves
and all can apprecia t e it a t once The explana t ions which
t hus come t o be given of religious ri t ual for m an impor t an t
class o f ae t iological my t hs and have t he f ur t her in t eres t fo r
us t ha t t hey a fford ins t ances o f my t hs which from t he
beginning were t ales and n o t merely single inciden t s : a single
rit e migh t consis t Of a series o f ac t s each of which demanded
it s o wn explana t ion ; and t he uni t y Of t he rit e migh t produce
a uni t y o f in t eres t and ac t ion in t he resul t in g m y th F or
an ins t ance we mus t Obviously t urn t o a complex ri t ual and
,

256

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

par t s of t he f es t ival was forgo t t en and t he spec t a t ors

were reduced t o t heir o wn conj ec t ures The leadin g fac t
and t he s t ar t ing poin t for all a t t emp t s a t explana t ion was
t ha t t h e fes t ival was in honour o f t he g o d D ionysus and
wha t ever w a s done or represen t ed in it mus t be some t hing
redounding t o his glory Then who was represen t ed by t he
gure on t he t ree t o p which was t rea t ed wi t h such hos t ilit y
and h a t red pel t ed and pulled t o pieces by t he women ? I t
mus t be some enemy o f t he g o d whose des t ruc t ion was a
mph for D ionysus and was t herefore commemora t ed in
t ri u
The women eviden t ly were on t he side Of t he
t his f es t ival
god mus t have been hi s worshippers t herefore t he man
was n ot o n e o f D ionysus worshippers Perhaps t ha t accoun t s
for t he opposi t ion be t ween him and t he god : he would n o t
bow down t o D ionysus whereas t he women accep t ed t he god

cheer fully t he women o f a communi t y would be more

likely t o welcome a novel t y in worship t han t he head o f t he
family and represen t a t ive o f t he Ol d worship B ut why is
t he man dressed in woman s clo t hes ? no man in his senses
would go abou t in p ublic dressed up like a woman N O ;
b ut it is jus t o n e of t he powers o f t he wine god t ha t he

makes men lose t heir senses and t ha t may acco un t t oo for

t he women killing t heir o w n kin g t hey mus t have been
frenzied t o do t ha t
S o t here only remain t w o t hings n o t
cle a r now why is t he god n o t represen t ed a t his own fes t ival ?
and wha t is t he meaning of t he t ree being suddenly hauled
up erec t ? Perhaps t he god is supposed t o be presen t
invisible bu t direc t ing every t hing ; and in t ha t case it is he
who causes t he t ree t o p t o rise a f t er inducing hi s f o e t o
moun t it in order t ha t af t er exposing him t o ridicule he may
cause him t o perish a t t he hands Of t he women of his own
family
We have only now t o ll in t he proper names in order
t o have t he my t h o f Pen t heus which a ffords t he framework
o f Euripides
play t he B accha
Pen t heus is t he king who
resis t s t he in t roduc t ion o f t he worship of D ionysus } and is
consequen t ly beref t o f his senses and led in woman s clo t hes
as a laughing s t ock t hrough his o wn t own by D ionysus
d T iryns in
I expl ined t h simil r my t hs o f Lyc urgus Ele ut her e
much t h s me w y in Fol k L r J une 1 8 9 1 vol ii ii 2 3 8 4 1
t hree

o e,

an

The women o f Thebes headed by Agave t he mo t her o f

Pen t heus are t he women who accep t t he god and become
m aenads I t is t o enable Pen t heus t o s py t heir worship t ha t
D ionysus bends down a pine t ree se t s him o n t he t o p
and t hen le t s it go F inally it is Agave who wit h t he
o t her bacch ae pel t s and pulls t o pieces her o wn son and
carries Off his head and se t s it o n his o wn palace gable
The t endency o f syncre t ism t o yield my t hs is n o t
conned t o G reece Le t us t ake a pair o f ins t ances from
The C hibchas o f N ew G ranada had a
t he N ew World
goddess who dwel t as a serpen t in Lake I gua q ue b ut whose
1
name B a c hu simply means she who suckles t he maize
i e s he was a maize mo t her a plan t t o t em from whom t he
C hibchas t raced t heir descen t Eviden t ly t he worshippers o f
t his maize mo t her had uni t ed t heir worship wi t h t ha t of a
clan having an animal a serpen t for t o t em and t he worship
o f t he wa t er spiri t had fur t her been incorpora t ed wi t h t ha t o f
B a c hu wi t h t he resul t t ha t a my t h had t o be inven t ed t o

accoun t for it all and was t o t h e e ff ec t t ha t on t he rs t

day o f t he world t here emerged from it s [Lake I gua q u e s ]
wa t ers a beau t iful woman named B ac hu o r Fuzac ha gua
t he good woman ] carrying in her arms a ch ild t hree years
Old These were t he ances t ors Of t he race : when t he world
was peopled t hey re t urned t o t he lake and disappeared in
2
The syncre t ism o f a
it s wa t ers in t he form Of serpen t s
maize goddess and a bird t o t em ha s given rise t o t he my t h
t old by t he Ca fiari Indians in t he di s t ric t sou t hward o f
There were once t w o bro t hers whose provisions were
Q uit o
exhaus t ed ; t he herbs and roo t s which t hey were able t o
collec t scarcely su fced for t heir sus t enance and hunger
sorely pressed t hem un t il t wo parro t s en t ered t heir hut in
t heir absence and prepared t hem a meal o f cooked maize
t oge t her wi t h a supply o f t he f ermen t ed liquor ( chicha )
which is made by s t eeping it in wa t er This happened day
by day un t il a t leng t h o n e o f t he birds was made cap t ive by
When t hus cap t ured it changed in t o a beau t iful
t he bro t hers
woman from whom t he bro t hers Ob t ained t he maize seed and
learned t he art Of cul t iva t ing it and who ult imat ely became
3
Possibly t he maize
t he ances t ress o f t he C a nari na t ion
,

Pa

yne
1

N ew

Worl d i
,

4 55

2
.

I bid

3
.

I bid

3 27

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

258

was originally t he t o t em of t he women t he parro t o f t he men

wa s
o f t he t ribe ; f o r t he cul t iva t ion o f maize Mr Payne adds
in t he earlies t t imes t he exclusive t ask o f t he women o f t he
I t is only in a la t er s t age t ha t it is shared by t he
t ribe

men and t hen t he men would be admi t t ed t o t he worship o f

t he maize goddess and t h e maize t o t em would be placed by
t he side o f t he parro t t o t em t ill t he worship o f t he t wo
blended in on e whole and requi red a my t h t o explain it
There was a t ime in t he his t ory o f man when a s y e t t he
rs t t ale had n o t been t old and t he very idea Of s t ory t ellin g
had n o t y e t occurred t o his mind When it did occur it
was probably due t o S ugges t ion and n o t t o his own unaided
inven t ion ; and probably also it was an idea o f very slow
and gradual grow t h The explana t ions which primi t ive man
f ound for t he various problems which perplexed him were o f
course t o him ac t ual fac t s n o t pieces o f imaginat ion ; and
t hey were mos t ly single inciden t s usually des t i t u t e o f in t eres t
excep t for t he communi t y for whom t hey were originally
designed t hey migh t and did supply ma t erials f or t ales b ut
S ome o f t hese explana t ions
t hey were n o t t hemselves t ales
however being designed t o explain a series o f phenomena
would spon t aneously form a series of inciden t s f ormin g a
t rue t ale e g as in t he case of t he my t h o f Pen t heus ; and
some a s for ins t ance t he Ca ari my t h would have a charm
Of
t heir o w n whi ch would win and deligh t o t her people
besides t he ac t ual descendan t s Of t he bird maiden The man
whose memory a ffec t iona t ely re t ained as many o f t hese my t hs
as he could ga t her and who could repea t t hem well would
always command an audience When he had t old all he
could easily remember t he t ribu t e o f praise couched in t he
appealing impera t ive
G o o n ! would s t imula t e him t o
rack his memory wi t h t he resul t t ha t semi consciously he
migh t subs t i t ut e for t he original inciden t o r charac t er some
analogous o n e t he t ransforma t ion in t o an animal ins t ea d
Of a bird a god for a goddess a j ealous H era for an ir at e

D ionysus and when wha t was rs t d one semi consciously

came t o be d o ne wi t h f ull consciousness and delibera t ion t he
of
a rt
s t ory t elling would be accomplis hed Again t ales
wit h a permanen t hum an in t eres t would easily spread beyond
t he limi t s o f t he original audience and s o would t end t o
,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

2 60

was only one race Of men capable Of t elling t ales

t hose inciden t s may have been p u t t oge t her in t his
par t icular combina t ion a t any place in t he inhabi t ed world
B ut it does n o t follow t ha t t his par t icular combina t ion would
be f o rmed by every race which was f amiliar wi t h t he separa t e
inciden t s The Ca ari combina t ion migh t indeed S pring up
in dependent ly in several cen t res for a number o f t ribes t race
t heir descen t t o t he maize mo t her o r a cereal goddess and
t he circums t ances which would lead t o a belie f in t he t rans
forma t ion Of t he goddess in t o an animal are fairly common
also ; and t he par t icular animal migh t be a bir d in several
cases ; o r if it was a serpen t t hen we should g e t a t ale o f
B ut t he f ur t her inciden t s Of t he
t he M lusine class
depar t ure o f t he b en e c en t dei t y and in animal f orm and
depart ure in
t ha t form a bird ( o r serpen t ) and t ha t
consequence o f a viola t ion of t aboo t hough t hey migh t
conceivably have been combined in t his par t icular sequence
more t han once probably are n o t o n t he t heory o f chances
likely t o have come t oge t her in t his part icular form When
t hen we nd t he s t ory wi t h it s f ull complemen t o f inciden t s
f
h
or
in
a
orm
which
clearly
pos
t
ula
t
es
t
e
previous
exis
ence
t
(
o f t he f ull complemen t ) in several di fferen t places we should
conclude t ha t it has spread t o t hem from it s place of origin
We have t hen now t o consider t he problem of t he di ffusion
o f my t hs
O ne way in which a my t h migh t be di ff used is t he
dispersion o f t he people t o whom it was known The Indo
E uropeans spread from t heir original home wherever t ha t
was un t il t hey covered Europe and par t o f Asia ; and if
t hey had any t ales in t eres t ing enough t o live t he s e t ales
m a y well have been di ff used over all t he area even t ually
covered by t he I n d O Europeans B ut it is qui t e cer t ain t ha t
t h e circula t ion o f t hose t ales woul d n o t be conned t o t he
Indo European public : t hey would nd t heir way t o all
peoples wi t h whom t he Indo Europeans had dealin gs and
t here would be an int erna t ional exchange o f t a les as well as
o f goods
In o t her words borrowing is a fac t o r in t he
diffusion o f my t hs as well as t radi t ion
And when we reec t
t ha t t he O ceanic or Malay race has come t o ex t end from t he
S andwich Islands o n t he wes t t o Mada ga sc a r o n t he eas t and
t ha t t here
-

M Y T H O L O GY
f rom F ormosa

2 61

nor t h t o N ew Zealand o n t he sou t h

we shall be inclined t o believe t ha t it may well have exchanged
t ales wi t h t he negroes of Africa and t he Mongols and Aryans
of Asia if n o t also wi t h t he peoples o f C en t ral America
When t hen we n d any given my t h widely di ffused
t he re are t hree ways in which it s diffusio n may be accoun t ed
for namely borrowin g t radi t ion and independen t origin
Of t hese t hree t he t w o la t t er are o f somewha t res t ric t ed
opera t ion The t heory t ha t a my t h has origina t ed in
dependen t ly in several di fferen t places is applicable main ly
where t he my t h is a S ingle inciden t or simple com
bina t ion o f t wo or t hree inciden t s ; and where t he inciden t
or combina t ion is such t ha t it would or migh t easily
arise in consequence o f t he ac t ion o f causes known t o exis t
in t he supposed places Of origin
Amongs t t he problems
which savages specula t e on t he cause Of lunar eclipses is
one ; and a ; fairly common solu t ion hit upon is t ha t t he
moon is s w
allowe d by some mons t er
To pos t ula t e
borrowing o r t radit ion t o accoun t fo r t he fac t t hat differen t
peoples believe t he moon s disappearance t o her being
gradually swallowed up seems superuous
O r again t he
regulari t y wi t h which t he sun m oves along his allo t t ed pa t h
calls f o r explana t ion and t he inference t ha t he does s o
because somebody compels o r has compelled him is so easy
and Obvious t ha t various people may well have hit upon it
independen t ly o f e a ch o t her B ut when t he my t h is even
modera t ely complex t he t heory o f independen t origin seems
t o become inapplicable
The di fcul t ies in t he way o f applying t he t radi t ion
t heory are so grea t t ha t it has almos t en t irely been given up
A s t ory common t o several di fferen t branches o f t he same
race may have been inherit ed by t hem f rom t heir undivided
fore fa t hers b ut it may also have origina t ed a ft er t he dis
rs io n and have spread by borrowing f rom o n e branch t o
e
p
ano t her long a f t er t hey had dispersed f rom t he original home
There is li t t le agreemen t amongs t exper t s as t o wha t indeed
whe t her any my t hs can be t raced back t o t he original home
o f t he Indo Europeans
for ins t ance As fo r t racking back a
my t h by t he hypo t hesis o f t radit ion from t he uncer t ain home
o f t he Indo Europeans t o t he cradle o f t he human race t he
t he

on

2 62

I N T R O D U C T I ON T O

H I S TO RY

R E LI G I O N

OF

a t t emp t is n o t t o be made My t hs t ha t are world wid e are

ei t her such as by t heir rela t ive complexit y show t ha t t hey
have spread by borrowing or such as by t heir absolu t e
s implici t y S how t ha t t hey may have originat ed a mongs t any
race in t he earlies t s t age o f cul t ure discernible by pal aeon t ology
Tha t s t age was n o t conned t o any one por t ion Of t he globe

t he S t one Age gives us no clue t o t he place Of man s

origin o n ear t h
remain t w o classes o f my t hs t o which we have n o t
abou t t he o rigin of t he world and Of man
and o odLm yt hs The my t hs abou t t he origin o f man s o far
as t hey have any uniformit y a t all seem t o be cons t ruc t ed
on t he analogy Of t he t o t emis t s belief abou t t he ances t or o f
his clan : t he rs t man grew o ut Of an animal
belched up

by a cow s ay t he Zulus o r o ut o f a t ree or o ut Of t he

ground like a t ree or o ut o f a rock o r moun t ain The
cosmogonic my t hs include some which regard t he universe as
t he hollow o f a vas t cocoa n ut shell di vided in t o many
1
imaginary circles like t hose o f m e d iaeva l s p e c ul a t ion
many o f t he
t hese seem t o be borrowed ; o t hers regard
t h ings in t he world as fragmen t s o f t he frame o f a semi
superna t ural and gigan t ic being human or bes t ial belonging
2
and t hese
t o a race which preceded t he adven t o f man
t o o are perhaps n o t above t he suspicion of being borrowed ;
and o t hers again credi t t he t o t em ances t or whe t her in
animal or human f orm wi t h having some t hing t o do wi t h t he
cons t ruc t ion of t he world as known t o t he par t icular my t h
maker Of o o d my t hs as o f cosmogonic my t hs some are
n o t na t ive t o t he peoples amongs t whom t hey are repor t ed
as having been f ound b ut are due t o C hris t ian inuences
O t hers have n o t been derived from European se t t lers and
may be genuine na t ive produc t ions : t he my t hical descen t o f
t he t ribe from a moun t ain e g t he Babylonian
moun t ain
involves t he necessi t y o f expl a in ing how t he
o f mankind
ances t or came t o be o n t he moun t ain f rom which he issued
and t he savage hypo t hesis is t ha t he mus t have been
compelled t o go t here and compelled Obviously by a oo d
O t hers are possibly n o t my t hs a t a ll b ut t radit ions o f a local
inunda t ion
-

La n g, M y th, Ritu a l ,

and

Rel igi

on i
,

1 94

2
.

0p

c it .

1 66

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

2 64

The narra t ives in which prim i t ive S peculat ions were em

bodied were n ot merely in t ellec t ual exercises nor t he work of
t he abs t rac t imagina t ion : t hey reec t o r express t he mind Of
t he au t hor in it s t o t a li t y for t hey are t h e work Of a hu m an
being n o t o f a cre a t ure possessi n g reason and no moralit y or
imagin a t ion and no feeling They will t herefore express t he
mora l i t y of t he au t hor and his genera t ion ; t he mo t ives
a scribed t o t he heroes o f t h e narra t ive wil b e such as ac t ua t ed
t he men by whom and f o r whom t he narra t ive was designed ;
t hey may be high o r low accor di ng as t he s t andard o f t he
t ime is high o r low b ut t hey canno t be higher t han t he
bes t which t he au t hor co ul d nd in his o wn hear t
In t he
same way t hen as t he moral t one and t emper o f t he au t hor
and his age makes i t self fel t in t hese primit ive S pecula t ions
so will t he religious S piri t o f t he t ime q I n ne my t hology
is n o t religion M t
is n o t t he source of religion
t hough it is t
s o urc e o f s c ie n c e
z
ha
m
m df M ytho l ogy is no more t he s o uf df g lig
it iS Of morali t y ; b ut jus t a s t he la t t er is expressed in a man s
t hough t s in wha t he lik es t o dwell on and how he likes t o
im a gine himself faring in a man s ac t ions in a people s
poe t ry so my t hology is o n e o f t he spheres o f human
ac t ivi t y in which religion may manifes t it s e l f ; o n e of t he
depar t men t s o f human reason which religion may pene t ra t e
su ffuse and inspire H ence we may expec t t ha t t he early
narra t ives in which t he science and poe t ry t he his t ory and
philosophy o f early peoples are embodied will in differen t
peoples diff er in re ligious S piri t Fo r ins t ance if we gran t
f o r a momen t t ha t t he cosmogonies which appear wi t h such
S imilari t y in early H ebrew and C hald aean records were a
piece of primi t ive science a t t emp t ing t o accoun t fo r t he
cons t it u t ion o f t he universe t hen we have in t hem a
s t riking exam ple o f t he vas t difference be t ween primi t ive
narra t ive s which are inspired by t he religio us spiri t and
primi t ive narra t ives which are n o t so pene t ra t ed The same
considera t ions will apply t o t he various narra t ives o f t he
F lood o r t o a comparison o f t he Paradise o f t he Book o f
G enesis wi t h t he Babylonians G a rden of Eden or t he
Persians Eran Vej
I t is t he differences in t hese early
narra t ives n o t t heir rese m blances which are im por t a n t o n
,

,g

2 65

M Y T H O L O GY

view
The resemblances are due t o t he human reason
which in differen t places working o n t he same ma t erial comes
t o similar inferences
The d i ff erence which dis t in guishes t he
H ebrew from all o t her primi t ive narra t ives t es t ies t ha t t he
religious spirit was deal t in a larger measure t o t he H ebrews
t han t o o t her peoples
1
In a previous chap t er we have seen t ha t primi t ive
man s t ar t s wi t h a f undamen t al convic t ion t ha t t here are
cer t ain t hings which mus t n o t be done ; and t he human reason
in t he endeavour t o de t ermine wha t are t he t hings which
mus t n o t be done goes as far as t ray a s it did in it s primi t ive
a t t emp t s t o solve t he problems of science Primi t ive logic
a t t he mercy o f t he associa t ion o f ideas t ended t o mul t iply
t he number o f t hings f orbidden un t il man s every s t ep
in lif e was en t angled in a ne t work o f t aboo
S ome o f
t hese prohibi t ions were required in t he in t eres t s o f man
kind o t hers n o t ; and progress in t his respec t consis t ed
in t he survival Of t he t t es t o f t hese res t rain t s and t he
rej ec t ion o f t he res t
The share of religion in t his process
consis t ed in wha t we have called t he superna t ural selec t ion
of
t he t t es t
of
t hese
res t rain t s : the religious spiri t
rej ec t ed t hose which were repugnan t t o t he religious
consciousness and re t ained t hose which were essen t ial t o t he

moral law and t o t he concep t ion o f holiness

N o w as t he
human reas on by it s very cons t i t u t ion w a s impelled t o
in t erpre t t he fundamen t al feeling t ha t t here are cer t ain
t hin gs which mus t n o t be done
it was impelled t o
so
in t erpre t t he phenomena Of nat ure socie t y and life in order
t o furnish an answer t o t he problems which t hose phenomena
sugges t ed And as t he res t raining and selec t ive agency o f
t he religious S piri t was required t o cri t icise t he in t erpre t e
t ions p ut f orward by t he reason in t he o n e case s o it was
required in t he o t her Thus in t he primi t ive pieces o f
science t o which re ference was made in t he las t paragraph
t he conspicuous fac t is t ha t in t he H ebrew narra t ives t here
has bee n wha t we have called a superna t ural selec t ion and
a rej ec t ion o f t he elemen t s which are inconsis t en t wi t h
mono t heism and t he higher religion o f t he H ebrews B ut
we can t race t he ac t ion of superna t ural selec t ion even

t his

S up ra

85

2 66

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

fur t her and gain a s t ill f ur t her conrmat ion Of t he fac t

t ha t t he primi t ive science Of t hese early narra t ives was
t he work o f t he hu m an reason and proceeded from a
di fferen t sour ce f rom t ha t whence t he religious elemen t s
in t hem came As t hose fea t ures o f a primit ive hypo t hesis
which were repugnan t t o t he religious consciousness were
rejec t ed by it s o migh t t he whole o f such a hypo t hesis be
repugnan t and be rej ec t ed accor di ngly in toto The selec t ive
process could n o t be conned t o por t ions o f a my t h it woul d
inevi t ably be applied t o discrimin a t e on e my t h from ano t her
and resul t in t he rejec t ion o f t hose which were in c o n
sis t en t wi t h t he par t icular s t age o f religious developmen t o f
Explana t ions of t he kind familiar in primi t ive
t h e t ime
science migh t occur and be rej ec t ed by t he mind t o which
t hey occurred or fail t o Ob t ain any vogue in t he commu n i t y
because t hey were below t he spirit ual level o f t he
communi t y ; or t hey migh t commend t hemselves t o t he
communit y b ut be repugnan t t o t he re l igious consciousness
and be rej ec t ed by t heir
o f t he more S piri t ual members
inuence The resul t would be t wofold : t he imagina t ion
would be more and more excluded f rom t he region Of
S pecula t ion which produced t he ordinary my t hs Of early
peoples ; and more and more res t ric t ed t o t he pa t h of
religious medit a t ion
N o w t hese t w o fea t ures are bo t h
charac t eris t ic Of t he H ebrew S crip t ures : t heir pover t y in
my t hs has s t ruck every inquirer ; t heir richness in
devo t ional poe t ry is fam i liar t o all
The ex t raordinary no t ion t ha t my t hology is religion is t he
out come of t he erroneous and misleading prac t ice of reading
modern ideas in t o ancien t religions I t is b ut on e f orm o f
t he fallacy t ha t m y t hology was t o t he an t ique religions

h
wha t dogma is t o t e modern wi t h t he superadded fallacy
t ha t dogma is t he source ins t ead o f t he expression Of religious
convic t ion My t hology is primi t ive science primi t ive philo
sophy an impor t an t c o n s t it ut en t o f prim i t ive his t ory t he
source o f primi t ive poe t ry b ut it is n o t primi t ive religion
I t is n o t necessarily o r usually even religious
I t is n o t t he
proper o r even t he ordinary vehicle fo r t he expression o f
Prayer medi t a t ion devo t ion a l p o e t ry
t he religious spiri t
are t he chosen vehicles in t ho ugh t and word ; ri t ual in
,

2 68

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

The assump t ion a t t he base Of all forms of t he alle

i
heory
s
t
ha
t
in
early
imes
t
here
exis
ed
a
class
o
r
i
c
a
l
t
t
t
f
o
g
philosophers t eaching pro found philosophy and conveying it
in t he f orm of fables N ow t he exis t e n ce of t his cas t e o f
philosophers if it is a his t oric fac t ough t t o be capable o f
being demons t ra t ed in accordance wi t h t he ordinary canons
o f his t orical cri t icism ; and it is Lo b e c k s con t ribu t ion t o t he
science o f my t hology t ha t he proved once and fo r all t he
en t ire absence o f any proof o r even presump t ion in favour
of
t he his t orical exis t ence Of t hese philosophers
S ince
Lo b e c k s t ime his Ag la op ha m us was published in 1 8 2 9
t he applica t ion o f t he t heory o f evolu t ion t o t he science o f
man has enabled us t o t race back civilised peoples t hrough
t he Iron Age and t he Bronze Age t o t he t ime when t heir
ances t ors had only in t implemen t s and were unacquain t ed
even wi t h t he rudimen t s o f agricul t ure A t t he same t ime
t he s t udy o f savages s t ill in t he S t one Age has revealed t he
fac t t ha t n o t only are t he implemen t s made and used by
t he m t he same all over t he world b u t t ha t t he ins t i t u t ions
and concep t ions by which t hey govern t heir lives have an
equal ly s t rong resemblance t o o n e ano t her The presump t ion
t here f ore t ha t our Indo European forefa t hers o f t he S t one
Age had beliefs and prac t ices similar t o t hose o f o t her
peoples in t he same s t age o f developmen t is very s t rong ;
and it is conrmed by t he fac t t ha t amongs t t he mos t
backward members o f civilised commun i t ies amongs t t hose
classes which have made rela t ively lit t le advance in civilisa
t ion
folk lore discovers abundan t t races of supers t i t ions
which nd exac t analogues in savage cus t oms Fo r t he proof
however t ha t t he irra t ional elemen t s in t he my t hology and
f olk t ales o f civilised na t ions t he t aboos and me t amorphoses
t he inces t and bes t iali t y are surviv a ls from savagery we
mus t re fer t he reader t o t he works o f Mr Andrew Lang
men t ioned a t t he beginnin g o f t his chap t e r
Tha t t he allegory t heory o f my t hology survived t o t he
presen t cen t ury un t il it received it s dea t hblow from Lo b e c k
was due pa r t ly t o t he beli e f t ha t t he inner eso t eric meaning
o f t he my t hs was t augh t t o t he ini t ia t ed a t t he Eleus inian
and o t her mys t eries by t he pries t s t o whom it was handed
down by t heir predecessors t he inven t ors o f t his mode o f
,

M Y T H O L O GY
t eaching

2 69

This belief which we shall have t o examine

shor t ly deri ved considerable sus t enance from t wo fallacies
O ne was based o n t he illici t impor t at ion of modern idea s
in t o ancien t ins t it u t ions : it was na t urally b ut erroneously
in ferred t ha t because in modern religions grea t s t ress is
laid upon wha t a man believes t he same impor t ance was
ascribed t o t his side Of religion in ancien t t imes whereas
t he an t ique religio n s had f o r t he mos t par t n o creed ; t hey
1
consis t ed en t irely Of ins t it u t ions and prac t ices
H en c e k
t hen t he rs t fallacy t ha t o f belie ving t ha t t he busin ess Of
t he ancien t pries t was t o t each
There was no au t hori t a t ive
dogma f or him t o t each and as a ma t t er of fac t he did n o t
t each
The o t her fallacy consis t ed in t he assump t ion t ha t

my t hology was t he work o f t he pries t s which is b ut a form

o f t he wider and coarser fall acy t ha t religion is t he inven t ion
o f pries t cra f t
I t seems t herefore t o be desirable t ha t before resumin g
t h e direc t t hre a d Of our argumen t and showing how t he
mys t ic t endency obscured under poly t heism was revived by
t he mys t eries we should indica t e t he place o f t he pries t
hood in early religio n and S how t ha t it was n o t t he pries t
t ha t made religion b ut religion t ha t made t he pries t
.

"

Rober t son S mi t h , Religi o

f the S em ites

no

16

C HAP TER
PRI

XX

E STHOO D

all early religions pries t s are marked o ff from o t her

worshippers par t ly by wha t t hey do and par t ly by wha t
t hey may n o t do ; and t here is s o much agreemen t be t ween
t he diff eren t rel igions o n bo t h poin t s t ha t we obviously
have t o do wit h t he e ffec t s o f a cause o r causes opera t ing
uniformly in all par t s of t he world A t t he same t ime t here
are cer t ain f ea t ures of t he pries t hood which t hough t hey
recur in various religions are n o t uniformly presen t in all :
t hey are n o t essen t ial par t s Of t he an t ique concep t ion o f
pries t hood I t is clear t herefore t ha t any general t heory
on
t he subj ec t mus t accoun t f o r bo t h t he unif ormi t y in
cer t ain charac t eris t ics and t he wan t o f uniformi t y in t he
o t her charac t eris t ics The general cause which a t heory
pos t ula t es mus t be such t ha t it s opera t ion would produce
t he comple t e uniformi t y o f t he one class and t he only
par t ial unif ormi t y o f t he o t her class o f fea t ures
The mos t impor t an t poin t in which only par t ial uni formi t y
prevails is t enure Of o fce
S ome pries t hoods are annual
some t enable f o r ve years some for t welve some for lif e ;
o f some t h e t enure is t erminable o n cer t ain con t in gencies ;
o t hers are heredit ary S ome t imes pries t s form an order
apar t and in t ha t case t he order in some places consis t s
o f pries t s appoin t ed for lif e some t imes o f heredi t ary pries t s
In o n e count ry t here may be only o n e form o f pries t hood
e g an order o f heredit ary pries t s a s in Israel
or an order
o f pries t s chosen f o r li f e as amongs t t he negroes o f t he G old
I n ano t her li fe pries t s annual and quinquennial
C oas t
pries t hoods and pries t hoods t erminable o n cer t ain con
t in ge n c ie s may all exis t side by side as e g in ancien t G reece
And t he t enure o f even heredit ary pries t hood may be made
IN

270

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

272

he migh t n o t t ouch Whea t en our or leavened bread ; he

migh t n o t t ouch or even name a goa t a dog raw mea t
beans and ivy ; he mig h t n o t walk under a vine ; t he fee t
Of his bed had t o be daubed wi t h mud ; his hair c Oul d be
and his
o ut only by a free man and wi t h a bronze knife
hair and nails when c ut had t o be buried under a lucky
t ree ; he migh t n o t t ouch a dead body n or en t er a place
where o n e was burned ; he migh t n o t s e e work being done
o n holy days ; he migh t n o t be uncovered in t he Open air ;
if a man in bonds were t aken in t o his house he had t o
be unbound and t he cords had t o be drawn up t hrough a
hole in t he roof and so l e t down in t o t he s t ree t H is wife
t he F l a m in ic a had t o Observe nearly t he same rules and
o t hers o f her own besides
S he migh t n o t ascend more
t han t hree s t eps of t he kind o f s t a ircase called G reek ; a t
a cer t ain f es t ival she migh t n o t comb her hair ; t he lea t her
Of her shoes migh t n o t be made from a beas t t ha t had died
a na t ural dea t h b ut only from o n e t ha t had been slain or
sacriced ; if s he heard t hunder she was t abooed t ill s he
had O ffered an expia t ory sacrice
The t heory t ha t pries t ly
t aboos were symbolical o f t he religious qualica t ions required
o f t he pries t can har dl y be s t re t ched t o cover all t h e fac t s
I t may explain par t ly why some t aboos were re t ained in
advancing civilisa t ion ; it canno t explain t heir original imposi
We shall have t here fore t o nd ano t her explana t ion
t ion
Their abo l i t ion it is which is due t o t he
o f t heir origin
religious sen t imen t n o t t heir origin ; and t he same selec t ive
process which gradually weeded o ut t he irra t ional pro hib i
t ions permi t t ed t he survival o f t hose which co ul d be explained
as t he ou t ward and visible symbols o f higher t hings
We now t urn from t he t hings which pries t s may n o t do
t o t he o t her f ea t ure charac t eris t ic of and common t o all
pries t s in early religions namely t he t hings whic hj hey do
H ere t o o in t he mids t o f wha t a t rs t sigh t appears t o be
endless va rie t y we nd a principle o f uniformi t y : t he prie s tk
had charge o f t he rit ual Of t he sanc t uary in which he served
I t was his business t o s e e t ha t t he various ex t ernal ac t s which
cons t it u t ed t ha t ri t ual were perf ormed in t he order and
manner prescribed by cus t om The prescribed de t ails migh t
and did vary gre a t ly in di fferen t places t hus in S icyon a pig
,

27 3

P R I E S T H OO D

gh t n o t be Offered t o A phro di t ; in Megara she was t he only

dei t y t o whom it could be O ffered B ut uniformly t he pries t s
ofce was t o draw near t o t he god and t o in t roduce the
worshi pper t o him The c en t ral fea t ure o f t he pries t ly
fun c t ion t he key t o his posit ion and place in t he rit ual was
t ha t by inviolable cus t om he and he alone could kill t he
vic t im which t he worshi pper brough t and o n t he sacrice
o f which
t he worshipper s hope depended o f commen di ng
himself t o t he god and renewing t he bond wi t h him The
pries t alone deal t ( ac t ually o r f ormally ) t he rs t and fa t al
blow a t t he vic t im hence his power Of rejec t ing a worshipper
who brough t t he wrong kind o f vic t im o r failed t o full any
of
t he prelimin ary condi t ions ( of fa st in g purica t ion e t c )
which t he cus t om of t he sanc t uary exac t ed I t is t he power
and du t y o f dealing t he rs t blow which is universally
charac t eris t ic o f t he an t ique pries t hood ; and a s t his du t y is
involved wi t h t he a c t o f sacrice which is t he cen t re and
origin Of ancien t religious ins t it u t ions we may reasonably
c o nsider t ha t in it we have an indica t ion o f t he direc t ion in
which we mus t look for t he origin Of t he pries t hood Wha t
was it t ha t caused a primit ive communi t y t o agree in looking
upon o n e par t icular man a s peculiarly qualied or privileged
t o s t rike t he rs t blow ?
To answer t his ques t ion we mus t no t e t ha t in civili sed
communit ies t he prie s t as a rule only in t ermedia t es be t ween
t he god and t he worshipper in t he sense t ha t by sacricing t he
vic t im which t he lat t er brings he p ut s him in t o communi
ca t ion wi t h t he former and s o enables him t o make his
prayer The pries t may from his co n s t an t a t t endance upon
the sanc t uary and t he zeal wi t h which he looks aft er t he
in t eres t s o f t he deit y have as C hryses in t he I l ia d has some
personal in uence wi t h t he god ; b ut as a rule in civilis ed
t imes t he pries t does n o t himself exercise superna t ural powers
B u t t o t his rule t here are excep t ions well es t ablished in
civilised coun t ries and more common amongs t uncivili sed
peoples
For ins t ance a superna t ural power o f foreseeing
t he fu t ure may be exercised by t he pries t or pries t ess who
is t hen believed t o be t emporarily in spired o r possessed by
Two ins t ances mus t su fce for us
In F iji
on e
t he god
w ho in t e n d s t o consul t t he oracle dresses and Oils h im se lf
mi

274

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

is placed before t he pries t a dish of scen t ed Oil wi t h

which he anoin t s himself
in a few minu t es he t rembles ;
sligh t dis t or t ions are seen in his face and t wi t ching movemen t s
in his limbs These increase t o a violen t muscular ac t ion
which spreads un t il t he whole f rame is s t rongly convulsed
and t he man shivers as wi t h a s t rong ague t
The pries t
is now possessed by his god and all his words and ac t ions
are considered as no longer his o wn b ut t hose o f t he dei t y
who has en t ered in t o him
S hrill cries of I t is I ! it is I l
ll t he air and t he god is t hus supposed t o no t ify his
approach While givin g t he answer t he pries t s eyes s t and
his voice is unna t ural his face
o ut and roll as in a frenzy
pale his lips livid his brea t hin g depressed and his en t ire
appearance like t ha t o f a furious madman Th e swea t runs
from every pore and t ears s t art from his s t rained eyes af t er
which t he symp t oms gradually disappear The pries t looks
round wi t h a vacan t s t are and as t he god says I depar t
announces his ac t ual depar t ure by violen t ly in ging himself
1
down on t he m at
The o t her ins t ance is con t ained in
Virgil s descrip t ion of t he possession o f t he S ibyl :
t here

'

Ve n t um er a t

limen c um Virgo Pos c ere fat a

T empus a it ; de us ecce deus c ui t al ia fa n t i
A n t e fores s ubi t o non vul t us non col or un us
N o n c om p t ae m au sere com ae ; sed pec t us an hel um
Et r abie fer a cord a t um en t ; m aio rq u e vid eri
N ee mor t al e son a ns a d a t a e s t n umine q ua ndo
I a m p ro piore dei
At Ph oeb i n o n d um p at iens im m an is in a n t ro
B a c c h a t ur v a t es m a gn um si pec t ore p o ss it
Exc us s isse deum ; t an t o m a gis il l e fa t ig a t
O s rab id um fera cord a d om an s n git q ue premendo
ad

2
.

B ut t he

Apollo who en t ered t he S ibyl and prophesied

t hrough he r lips coul d also in t he same way give superna t ural
3
s t reng t h ; and in t he orgias t ic worship of D ionysus t he
worshi ppers were supposed by t he G reeks t o be endowed wi t h
superhuman physical power by t he god o n whose body t hey
had fe d Amongs t savages even more ex t ensive powers are
believed t o be exercised n o t t emporarily b ut permanen t ly
by human bein gs o f whom a god has t aken n o t t emporary
.

1
3

Wil lia ms

Pa us

Fij i

xxxii

a nd
.

the Fij i a n

s i
,

2 24

2
.

n.

vi

4 5 tf

7 7 ff

276

IN T RO D U C T I O N

HI S TO RY

TO

R ELI G I O N

OF

remembered was lim i t ed as t o t he food he migh t ea t or even

he migh t n o t ride o r
s e e as t o t he garmen t s he migh t wear
see work done on holy days No w n o t only was t he S abba t h
known a t all even t s in Accadian t imes as a d ies n efa s t us

a day on which cer t ain work was forbidden t o be done b ut

t he king himself it is s t a t ed mus t n o t e a t esh t ha t has been
cooked over t he coals or in t he smoke he mus t n o t change t he
garmen t s of his body whi t e robes he mus t n o t wear sacrices
1
he may n ot o ff er in a chario t he may n o t ride
In civilised
communit i e s t he res t ric t ions imposed upon bo t h kin gs an d
pries t s have usuall y decreased in number and dwindled down
t o mere s urvival s
t herein keeping pace wit h t he diminu t ion
o f t he sacred powers ascribed t o each
In less advanced s t ages
o f cul t ure where high pries t s and kings each exe cise t he
divin e powers depu t ed t o t hem more ex t ensively t he res t ric t ions
are more numerous and more real and bo t h t he powers and
t he limi t a t ions are uni t ed and more ex t ensive in t he case of
rulers who are like t he Egyp t ian a t once high pries t and king
The parallel be t ween t he royal and t he pries t ly Ofce fur t her
ex t ends t o t he condit ions of t enure kingship may be hered

it ary or elec t ive annual or lifelong e t c

and as we shall
hereaft er see t o t he manner of consecra t ion A t t his poin t
however o ur business is t o see how t he na t ural opera t ion o f t he
t aboos would t end t o di fferen t ia t e t he primi t ive in s t it u t ion
in t o t he t w o separa t e ins t it ut ions of royal t y and pries t hood
The infec t iousness of t aboo is such t ha t t he energies of
primit ive socie t y are devo t ed t o isolat ing t he t abooed person
A human being in whom t he divine a fa t us is
o r t hing
permanen t ly presen t is highly t aboo and t he mos t s t ringen t
measures are t aken t o isola t e him ; and t ha t is t he origin al
reason o f t he res t ric t ions imposed on pries t s and kings B ut
t he isola t ion ac t s o r t ends t o a c t in a way n o t origina l ly
cont empla t ed : even if it does n ot lead t o t he permanen t and
absolut e seclusion o f t he ruler in his palace ( as was t he case
wit h t he Mik ado and o t her sacred kings in E t hiopia Sa b aea
Tonquin and in C orea and Loango a t t he presen t day
s t ill
t he number Of prohibi t ions t o which he is subj ec t ed is eno ugh
h
t
as
t
e
aboos
o
n t he F lamen Dia lis may show ) t o hamper
(
and res t ric t him in such a way t ha t he is as e ff ec t ually c ut
,

Sayce , H igher Critic is m , 7 5

2
.

'

G B
.

1 64

P RI E

S T H OO D

277

Off

from in t ercourse wit h his subjec t s and t he discharge o f

t he ac t ive du t ies o f kingship a s if he were absolu t ely
conned t o his palace
The resul t is t ha t all real power
passes o ut of t he hands of a man in such a helpless con
di t ion For a t ime t he ins t it u t ion of king pries t may endure
because t here are found men who are czOn t e n t t o enjoy
t he power wi t hou t t he glory of ruling
B ut generally t he
pressure of ex t ernal foes even t ually makes it necessary for
t he king pries t t o en t rus t t he command o f his subj ec t s t o a
war king The Oi c e o f war king may be in t ended t o be
1
t emporary
annual or t erminable a t t he end of t he campaign
b ut it usually resul t s in becoming lif elong and frequen t ly
2
I f t he war king f ur t her is n o t con t en t wit h
heredi t ary
milit ary power b ut arroga t es t o himself t he res t o f t he
t emporal po wer t ha t originally belonged t o t he pries t king
and t hen succeeds in founding a family t he resul t will be t he
exis t ence side by side of t wo ins t it u t ions o n e t he kingship
in which t he t emporal power is cen t red ; t he o t her t he
3
n
o
i
t

c a t e in which t he spiri t ual powers remain

B ut t he
p
divini t y which hedged in t he pries t king wa s inevit ably
t ransferred wi t h t he t ransference o f par t o f his func t ions t o
t he t emporal king
Even when t he la t t er wa s like t he
Tycoon of Japan a mere usurper t he same fa t e even t ually
overt ook his descendan t s as had befallen t he Mikado whose
func t ions t hey usurped : en t angled in t he same inex t ricable
web of cus t om and law t hey degenerat ed in t o mere puppe t s
hardly s t irring from t heir palaces and occupied in a perpe t ual
round o f emp t y ceremonies while t he real business o f
4
When
governmen t wa s managed by t he council of s t a t e
t hen the war king was n o t a un s urp e r b ut was duly c o n
secre t ed by t he king pries t t he divine charac t er o f t he
original Oi c e would be likely a fortiori t o be t ransmit t ed t o
t he new ins t it u t ion ( as in Mexico ) wholly o r in par t
If t he
divine charac t er was t rans m i t t ed only in such degree t ha t
t he king was n o t impeded in hi s work t he ins t i t u t ion o f
royal t y w as safe from t he danger which deprived t he original
ins t i t u t ion o f half it s power b ut if in a grea t er degree t hen
some means o f evading t he hampering res t ric t ions o f t he
S O in M nga i ib 1 2 0
S O in T onquin oc cit
.

SO

in M exico

a,

an d

C olombia

i bid

44 , 1 1 3

4
.

I bid 1 1 9
.

278

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

O fce ha d t o be f ound
O ne such means was t ha t adop t ed
by t he Mik a do it consis t ed in abdicat ing on t he bir t h o f a
son and doing homage t o t he child o n whom t hus f ell all t he
res t ric t ions while t he fa t her ac t ing in t he in fan t monarch s
1
I t is in a S imilar way we
name exercised all t he power
m a y conj ec t ure t ha t t he pries t hoods adminis t ered by you n g
men o r chil dren were t rans ferred t o t hem by t heir fa t hers ;
f o r t he rules which wo uld hamper t he fa t her in his daily life
and work could be Observed wi t h less prac t ical inconvenience
in t he case Of t he young o r in fa n t son F or it need hardly
be remarked t he pries t even when t emporal power had passed
t o t he kingship s t ill re t ained t he divine charac t er and wi t h
it t he incapaci t y f o r mixing in t he a ff airs o f daily lif e which
a t t ached t o t he pries t king Thus in Tar t ary we nd F a t her
G rueber saying D uo ho c in R egno R eges sun t quorum prior
R egni n eg o t iis rec t e a d m in is t ra n d is incumbi t e t D ena
d ic it ur a l t er ab omni nego t iorum e x t ran e o rum mole a vul s us
in t ra secre t os p al a t ii s ui s ec e s s us o t iO in d ulg en s N um in is
hun c v e l ut i D eu m verum e t vivum
ins t ar a d o ra t ur
2
quem e t P e t rem aet ernum e t c oel e s t em v o c an t
adoran t
In t his connec t ion we m a y n o t e it as a f ur t her indica t ion
o f t he origin a l indivisible uni t y o f t he Of c e o f p ries t a n d
i
t ha t even when t he t w o f unc t ions have come t o be
p
k
exercised by d i fferen t persons t here is a perpe t ual t endency
it is n o t merely t ha t each
t o rever t t o t he old organic uni t y
Of
t he separa t e O fces re t ains some par t Of t he divine
charac t er t ha t a t t ached t o t he undivided O fce b ut t he
f unc t ions t hemselves t end t o reuni t e rever t ing in t heir
uni t y some t imes t o t he pries t and some t imes t o t he king
I f f o r ins t a nce t he pries t hood becomes ( o r remains ) he re d it
ar
and
empor
a l rulers are appoin t ed a d hoc and f rom t ime
t
y
t o t ime t h e t emporal f unc t i o ns na t ur a lly relapse in t o t h e
pries t h o o d in t he in t ervals ( longer o r shor t er ) when no judge
o r w a r leader is f or t hcomin g
Indeed even in t he l a t es t
t imes t he consecra t i o n o f t h e ki n g by a pries t t es t ies t o t he
original s o urce Of t he king s O fce O n t he o t her h a n d if
t he kingship becomes heredi t ary b u t t he pries t hood n o t
t hen in spi t e o f t he exis t ence o f pries t s pries t ly func t ions
t end t o a t t ach t hemselves t o t he kingly o fce ; hence it is a
L c c it
Theveno t Divers Voy ges iv 2 2
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

28 0

food t o grow t he people g o t a ngry wit h t hem in t imes of

scarci t y a n d killed t hem s o t he end o f it wa s t hat no o n e
1
O n t he o t her hand it is clear t hat
wished t o be king
peoples who wishe d t o re t ain t he ins t i t u t ion o f king ship
would have t o give up requiring suicide Of t he king The
requi remen t however would n o t have been made in t he rs t
in s t ance if t here had n o t been a very powerf ul mo t ive
wha t ever t he mo t ive migh t have been for making it ; and
t he mo t ive opera t ed a gains t t he a b olit ion o f t his con di t ion o f
holding royal O fce as also it mus t have operat ed in inducing
Even t uall y
t he occupan t s o f t he Ofce t o comply wi t h it
Amongs t t he Wes t ern S emit es
t he condi t ion was evaded
in Babylon t he t enure Of Ofce seems t o have been annual

h
e
original
erm
as
we
shall
hereaf
t
er
argue
and a t t he
t
t
end o f t he year t he king wa s p ut t o deat h
In course o f
t ime t he communi t y seem t o have consen t ed t o an evasion :
when t he t ime for execu t ion came t he king abdica t ed and a
criminal was allowed t o reig n in his s t ead f o r ve days a t
t he end o f which t ime t he criminal was execu t ed and t he
2
king resumed his t hrone
Elsewhere t he king abdica t es
annually a n d a t emporary king is appoin t ed b u t is n o t
3
killed he is only subj ec t t o a mock execu t ion
In t wo
places ( C ambodia and Jambi ) t he t emporary kings come o f a
4
s t ock believed t o be akin t o t he royal f amily
S ome t imes
t he mock king is n o t appoin t ed annually b ut once for all
f o r a f e w days a t t he beginning o f t he reign which seems t o
indica t e t ha t in t his case t he cus t om o f annually execu t ing
a subs t i t u t e f o r t he kin g had given way t o t he prac t ice Of
execu t ing o n e once f o r all a t t he accession o f t he kin g
F inally it is sugges t ed by Mr F razer t ha t a criminal would
probably n o t a t rs t have been accep t ed by t he communi t y
as an adequa t e subs ti t u t e : hence possibly t he origin al subs t i t ut e
5
was t he king s rs t born s on
The prac t ice o f sacricin g t he
rs t born t o t he gods is well known
I t seems probable t ha t origin a lly t he o fce o f divine
pries t k ing was h eld fo r a year because in t ha t case t he
difcul t y and cruel t y Of insis t ing o n t he fullmen t o f the
condi t ion Of t enure would na t urally lead t o an ex t ension
T urner S m o 3 0 4
I bi d 2 2 8 3 1
F r z er op cit 2 2 7
,

I bid

234

a,

5
.

I bid

28 1

P R I E S T H OO D

rs t t o some denit e period as fo r ins t ance t o t welve years

( or since as some pries t hoods were quinquennial perhaps t o
ve years ) t hen f o r life provided t ha t na t ural dea t h was n o t
allowed t o in t erfere wit h t he suicide o r execu t ion which was
in t he bond To preven t t hi s las t con t ingency some peoples
made t he appearance o f t he rs t indica t ion o f Old age
t he rs t physical blemish a sign for execu t ion and t o t he
end a physica l blemish in a pries t was widely depreca t ed
sacerdos n o n in t egri corporis quasi mali o m in is res vit anda
,

es t

1
.

It

seems t hen t ha t t he func t ions habit ually performed by

t he pries t in t he civilised s t a t es o f ancien t t imes and t he
powers which he exercised less frequen t ly and t he res t ric t ions
which were laid upon him were all inherit ed by him f rom his
I t seems a lso t ha t t he similar
predecessor t he divine pries t
res t rict ions and t he similar sanc t i t y o f t he ordinary kin g o f
his t oric t imes were inheri t ed by him from his predecessor t he
divine king And t he exi s t ence o f t hese di vine pries t s and

divine kings in a ll quar t ers o f t he globe as t he ins t ances

accumula t ed by t he learning Of Mr F razer S how po in t s t o
t he f ac t t ha t in t he early his t ory Of t he race in pa t riarchal
t imes each wandering communi t y o f fellow t ribesmen had
over it a person who was in some sense divine bo t h pries t
and kin g and whose dea t h volun t ary o r imposed a t t he end
of a year was regarded by t he communi t y and accep t ed by
t he vic t im as impera t ive in t he highes t in t eres t s o f t he c o m
muni t y We have t herefore t o inquire why t his was believed
and it is only proper t ha t we should begin by s t at ing Mr
F razer s answer t o t he ques t ion
Mr F razer t hinks t ha t men began by be l ieving t hem
selves t o be possessed of magical powers and consequen t ly
t ha t t he dis t inc t ion be t ween men and gods wa s somewha t
blurred apparen t ly t ha t it was difcul t or impossible for
primit ive man t o t ell whe t her a cer t ain person his own ruler
in t his case was a very grea t magician o r a god Fur t her
apparen t ly t he primi t ive communi t y seem t o have come t o
t he conclusion t ha t t heir chief was a g o d and t ha t havin g
i
hold
of
a
god
t
was
desirable
t
o re t ain him f o r purposes
o
t
g
B ut t he god migh t grow o ld and feeble which
o f t heir o w n
,

S enec a, Co ntrov

So

in M exico

Sa h agun

( pp

62

an d

97

of

t he

F rench t ra ns

282

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

would be a pi t y and he migh t die and s o slip t hrough t heir

hands a l t oge t her
Bo t h mis for t unes however could be
aver t ed by inducing his soul t o migra t e in t o ano t her heal t hy
young body This was e ffect ed by killing t he g o d : his so ul
t hen had perforce t o leave it s o l d body and by some means
n o t q ui t e clear
it was supposed t o en t er t he body o f t he
murderer who t hus became t he new god Even t ually ho w
ever according t o Mr F razer men learned t o dis t inguish
be t ween magic and re l igion and t hen t hey placed t heir fai t h

h
t
in e former no longer b ut in prayer and s ac ric e n o t now
deeming t hemselves indis t inguishable from gods
The doc t rine t ha t magic is prior t o or even in origin
coeval wi t h religion ha s already failed t o win our assen t }
and we have also argued t ha t t he idea Of man s coercing t he
gods for his own ends belongs t o a di ff eren t s et o f t hough t s
and feelings from t hose in which re ligion origina t es and mus t
be la t er in poin t o f developmen t because gods mus t exis t rs t
2
be fore coercion can be applied t o t hem
We do n o t t here
fore propose t o repea t o ur argumen t s o n t he general ques t ion
Of t he priori t y Of religion o r magic
N or do we propo se t o
t raverse t he s t a t emen t t ha t divine power can be t ransmi t t ed
by t he person who possesses it t o someone else Wha t we
are here concerned t o show is t ha t apar t from t hese ques t ions
t here is evidence t o S how rs t t ha t t hese kings and pries t s
were n o t gods and nex t t hat t he divine powers t hey possessed
were n o t na t ive t o t hem and inh eren t in t hem in vir t ue o f
t heir magic b ut communica t ed t o t hem o r derived by t hem
f rom t he gods
This may t ake us a s t ep fur t her t owards t he answer t o
t he main ques t ion of t his chap t er namely how and why did
t he communi t y come t o regard it as t he privilege or du t y o f
s o me o n e par t icular member t o exercise t he pries t ly func t ion
Of dealing t he rs t and fa t al blow a t t he sacricial vic t im ?
To a nswer t ha t it was beca use t ha t person was t he chie f o f
t he t ribe will n o t adv a nce u s much now t h a t we recognise t he
,

S up r a ,

1 77 9

rg ue d t h t t he m a gic l mea ns o f coercion m ay h a ve exis te d before

t he gods did we m u s t re fer t he re a der a ga in t o o ur a t t emp t t o Show t h a t al l
s uch magic is derive d from or r at her a dis t or t ion or p a rody o f t he worship o f
t h e gods
2

I f it b e

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

284

And during t he t ime t ha t t his represen t a t ion las t ed which

was for a y e ere in some feas t s
t hey reverenced and
worshipped him in t he same maner as t he proper id oll ;
t he feas t being come and hee gro wn e fa tt e t hey killed him
1
opened him ea t him making a s ol e m pn e sacrice o f him
The presump t ion t herefore is t ha t t he S ou t h Indian king in
Q uil a c a re who a t t he end o f t welve years o f reigni ng had t o
kill himself in public in fron t Of an idol and who performed
t his sacrice t o t he idol and un der t ook t his mar t yrdom fo r
2
love o f t he idol
like t he Az t ec vic t im did represen t t he
B u t t hough mos t o r all Of t he Az t ec deit ies had
same id o ll
human represen t a t ives of t he kind described t he dis t inc t ion

is always main t ained be t ween t he human image as he was

called in Mexico and t he ac t ual idol o r god t o whom and
before whom he wa s sacriced
An d t he Mexican idea
doub t less was all t ha t was in t ended by t he king of Iddah
when he t old t he English O fcers o f t he Niger Expedi t ion
wi t h unin t en t i o nal O ffensiveness : G o d m a de me a f t er H is
o wn image ; I am all t he same as G od
and
H
e
ppoin
t
ed
me
a
;
3
A t any ra t e his concluding words do n o t lend
a king
much suppor t t o Mr F razer s t heory t h a t it is by being
On
magicians t ha t men come t o be divine kings and pries t s
t he con t rary t hey cons t i t u t e an explici t s t a t emen t o f t he
king o f I d d ah s consciousness t ha t his sacred O f ce wa s
bes t owed upon him and his powers delega t ed t o him from
above N ow this belie f t ha t t he divine S piri t can and does
en t er in t o men and ll t hem in a grea t er or less degree is
universal On t he t ru t h o f t he belief t he his t orian has n o t
t o pronounce : he has only t o no t e t ha t t he universali t y of
t he consciousness if it canno t demons t ra t e nei t her can it
imp a ir t he t ru t h o f t he belief
N or does it follow t ha t
be c ause man has o f t en mis t aken t he condi t ions under which
t he H oly S piri t descends upon man or t he t okens o f it s
mani fes t at i o n t here fore t he belie f is un t rue The belief in
t he universalit y Of causa t ion is none t he less t rue because
par t icular t hings have been and o f t en are supposed t o s t and
as cause and e ffec t t o each o t her and are n o t rea ll y s o rela t ed
,

Acos t a,

S ocie t y
2

H is t ory

s edi t ion ii
B i 224

the I n d ies

( G rim s t on

ransl at ion in

I bid

42

t he Ha

kl uy t

P R I ES T H O O D

28 5

The sacricial and sacramen t al meal which from t he

beginning has been t he cen t re Of all religion has from t he
beginning also always been a momen t in which t he conscious
ness has been presen t t o man o f communion wit h t he god of

his prayers wi t hou t t ha t consciousness m an had no mo t ive

In t he beginning again
t o con t inue t he prac t ice of t he ri t e
t he sacramen t al meal required f o r t he annual renewal o f t he
blood covenan t t h a t t he worshipper should par t ake of t he
body and blood Of t he vic t im : t his par t icipa t ion was t he
condi t ion and cause o f t he communica t ion Of spiri t ual and
superna t ural pro t ec t ion t o t he worshipper agains t t he super
na t ural dangers by which primit ive man was surrounded I t
was by drinking t he blood Of sacrice t ha t t he pries t ess o f
Apollo in D oiras ob t ained t he power of prophecy and became

1
possessed by t he god
Amongs t t he S candinavians a
blood o ff ering gave even t he sacred al t ar s t on e t he power o f
2
and t he B al on d a and Baro t se have a similar
prophecy
medicine wi t h which t hey can make images o f wood and
3
clay prophesy
B ut t he blood or t he fa t o f t he vic t im o r t he
Oil Ob t ained from it migh t be sprinkled o r s m eare d o n t he
al t ar s t one or o n t he li n t el Of a house t o indica t e t he presence
and pro t ec t ion o f t he g o d ; and in t he same way t he Oil used
in t he consecra t ion o f t he king indica t ed t ha t it wa s n o t in

virt ue o f his own merit s s t ill less Of his magical powers

divine
b ut o f t he en t ry in him of t he divine spiri t t ha t

righ t was bes t owed upon him and t ha t he became kin g

Again it was o f t he skin of t he vic t im t ha t t he rs t idols
probably were made : t he K uril e s make t heir idols by wrap
ping an image in t he skin o f an animal t hey have slaugh t ered
4
for t he purpose and t he cus t om Of dressing an idol t hus wa s
known t o t he G reeks In all t hese cases t he use o f t he skin
was probably n o t merely symbolical b ut was supposed t o
ensure t he god s ac t ual presence in t he idol jus t as in
N or t hern Europe enveloping t he human represen t a t ive of t he
vege t a t ion S pirit in a sheaf or green leaves probably impar t ed
a divine charac t er t o him
In t he same way when t he
human image o f an Az t ec deit y was dressed in t he insignia
of t he god it was n o t merely a ceremonial a t t ire b ut was
,

'

1
2

Pau s

ii
B as t i a n
.

24 y
0
uvn
2 69
Der M en sch,
.

a lg e r o s

e va a

ii

i7 yurij Kd r oxo s K
3
I bid 2 5 8

0 6 0 0 y tr er a t
I bid 2 5 8
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

286

inves t him wit h some o f t he divin e powers ; and

when t he pries t a f t er s a cricing him clad himself in t he skin
undoub t edly resumed t he divin e
o f t he h um an vic t im } he
powers which a t t he beginning o f t he year he had resigned
image Of t h e god fo r t hus clad he ran t hrough t he
t o t he
s t ree t s t o sanc t i fy t hem a s t he Luperci ra n f or t he same
purpose t hough n o t in t he same guise
When t ree and plan t worship prevails t he t ree o r plan t
is gured as t he body o f t he g o d and ea t ing some par t
t hereo f con t inues t o be regarded as t he cause o r condit ion o f
divine possession In India t he leaves o f a sacred t ree are
ea t en t o ob t ain superna t ural pro t ec t ion agains t t he dea t h
2
pollu t ion
In ancien t G reece Apollo s pries t ess wa s inspired
n o t only by drinking t he blood o f sacrice b ut equally by
3
ea t ing t he leaves o f t he laurel
The sacramen t al ea t ing Of
4
t he body of cereal deit ies we have already enlarged o n
H ere we have t o no t e t ha t t he blood o f vege t a t ion spiri t s
consis t ed in t he s a p Of t he t ree o r j uice o f t he plan t ; and if
t he plan t worshipped happened t o be o n e t he juice of which
was a poison o r an in t oxican t t he cla n would nd i t self in
possession o f a par t icularly po t en t dei t y O rdeal by poiso n
in which t he deit y recognises and spares t he innocen t s pra ng
up in t he o n e case ; t he orgias t ic ri t es o f t he wine g o d in t he
o t her for t he in t oxica t ion being due t o t he j uice Of t he vine
t
t
o t he ac t ion o f
blood
was
eviden
ly
due
o f t h e god )
h
e
t
(
t he divine subs t ance o n t he worshipper ; and his s t range
behaviour was t aken as a manif es t a t ion o f divine posses

sion
H ence in course of t ime any man who behaved in
t his way wi t hou t havin g drunk wine was considered t o be
possessed by a god I t need perhaps scarcely be remarked
t ha t as plan t worship has been universal every plan t capable
o f producing in t oxi c a t ion in every par t of t he globe has been
discovered and has been employed fo r t he purpose ; and so
possession is
t he idea t ha t f renzied conduc t indica t es
universal A f e w ins t ances mus t su fce
Among t he nor t hern Indians o f C hili it was t he case
such as happe n t o be subjec t t o epilepsy o r St Vit us
t ha t
dance a re considered as especially marked o ut for t he service
t hough t t o

'

h a g un i 0 vi ii
Luci a n B is acc us 1
Sa

4
.

S up ra ,

S up ra ,

p 2 20
ch xvi
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

28 8

pries t and as such exercises grea t po lit ical power however

low his origin When he dies t he god is unrepresen t ed
un t il some one begins t o go abou t in a wild ecs t at ic
possessed manner wit h su f cien t pert inacit y even t ually
1
t o c o nv ince t he communi t y which a t rs t laughs a t him
t he o fce o f p e a im a n was formerly heredi t ary
I n G ui a na
I f t here was no son t o succeed t h e fa t her t he la tt er chose

and t rained some boy f rom t he t ribe o n e wit h an epilep t ic

and t he p e aim a n when in t he
t endency being preferred
mids t o f his fran t ic perf ormance seems as t hough overcome
2
by some fearful t o r in t he ex t re me o f raving madness
The Tin n eh have no reg ul ar order Of S ham ans anyone
when t he spiri t moves him may t ake upon him t heir du t ies
3
and pre t ensions
Among t he Thlin k e et s sham anism is
mos t ly heredi t ary b ut t he s o n mus t be in i t ia t ed i e he mus t
fa s t kil l an o t t er and keep t he skin (it n o t bein g lawful t o
4
kill an o t t er save f o r t his purpose ) and his hair is never out
Amongs t t he C lallams t he init ia t ion t akes t he form o f a
pre t ended dea t h and resurrec t ion which elsewhere is t he
condi t ion of ini t ia t ion in t o vari o us mys t eries : t he candida t e
fas t s t ill apparen t ly dead his body is plunged in t o a river
h
t
e dead
his
hey
call
washing
he
t
hen
runs
Off in t o a
t
t
(
wood and reappears equipped in t he insignia o f a medicine
5
man
Where t he pries t hood forms a corpora t ion as for ins t ance
in t he S andwich Islands where t he pries t s appear t o be
a dis t inc t order o r body Of men living for t he mos t par t
5
some form of init ia t ion is always required The
t oge t her
pries t s o f t he Ba t t a t a t oo t hemselves wit h t he gures of
7
beas t s and birds and e a t bu ffalo esh during t he ceremony
A R o man C a t holic missionary among t he S uahili describin g
t he ini t ia t ion Of candida t es for t he pries t hood Observes t ha t
a le a ding f eat ure in t he ceremony consis t ed in t he candida t e s

ea t ing a sacra men t a l meal a fac t which as t he sacramen t al

meal is t he essence o f every form o f early religion is n o t
surprising b ut which t o him appeared a sa t a n ic imit a t ion
H e could n o t however smile con t emp t
o f t he C o m munion
,

B a s t i a n , A ll erl ei , i 3 1
B a ncroft , N a ti ve Ra ces ,
.

3
5

M ariner

Ton g a

iii
I s l a nd s ii
,

Im

Thurn
4

1 42

127

I bid

I n d ia ns Qf Guia na , 3 3 4
5
1 45
I bid 1 5 5
.

B a s t i an , Oes t A s ien ,
.

45

P R I E S T H OO D

parody t he solemni t y wi t h which t he proc eedin gs

were conduc t ed was t oo awe inspiring : a vic t im was slain
t he blood sprinkled on t he candid a t e a n d t he esh ea t en
be f ore t he morning dawn by t he pries t s and t hose who had
1
pre viously par t aken o f a sim il ar meal
F inally t he selec t ion
in t he case o f t he D alai
o f a candida t e may be made as
La ma by l o t : t his also is a direc t expression o f t he divine
will D ivina t ion by wa t er i e by consul t at ion o f t he wa t er
2
S piri t we have already explained
H ere we have only t o
add t ha t o ur word l o t is e t ymologically iden t ical wi t h
xd
o s t wig small s t ick f rom which comes t he G reek word
3
for l o t xxp o s g a n d t ha t t he use of pieces o f wood
f o r drawin g lo t s is due t o t he presence o f t he t ree god
t herein
Thi s review Of t he mod es in which admission t o t he
pries t hood is ob t ained lends no coun t e nance t o t he t heory
t ha t it is by being a magician t ha t a man becomes a pries t o r
king o r king pries t
On t he con t rary it is inspira t ion by
t h e g o d o f t he communit y wh ich makes a man a pries t ; and
t his conclusion is conrmed by t he fac t t ha t a clear lin e is
drawn be t ween pries t and magician
In t hose who believe
t ha t t he idol is an elabora t ed f e t is h it is consis t en t t o main
t ain t ha t t he pries t is a successful sorcerer ; b ut we have
seen re a son t o rejec t t he former idea and t he la t t er is n o t
borne o ut by t he fac t s o f t he case Those f ac t s are some
t imes obsc ured by t he European t raveller s habi t o f applyin g
t he t erms conjurer wi t ch sorcerer t o any na t ive who professes
t o exercise superna t ural powers wi t hou t inquiring as t o t he
us e or source Of t h o se powers o r even when he knows t ha t
t he conjurer is t he p ries t Of t he comm uni t y a s e g when it
is said t ha t t he j ugg lers perform t he O fces n o t only o f
4
soo t hsayers and physicians b ut also o f p riests
F or t una t e ly
however it is quit e clear on exami na t ion in mos t cases t ha t
t here are t w o dis t inc t classes o f men co m p ri sed un der t he se
undiscrimina t ing epi t he t s o n e brin ging a b ou t disease and
dea t h in t he communit y t he o t her coun t erac t in g t he m a chin a
t ions o f t he rs t class and a ls o bringing posit ive bles sings t o
at

t he

289

1
3

B a s t i a n , A ll er lei ,

i 142
S chr a der P rehi s t oric A n ti q ui tie s
.

Do b rizho ffe r, H is t or y
1

279

the A bipone s

S up ra ,

2 29 .

2 90

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

commun it y in t he way o f good crops e t c This dis t inc t ion

is generally recognised by t ravel lers in Africa when t hey
speak o f t he wit ch and t he wit ch n d e r a n d amongs t t he
Indians o f G uian a we nd kena im a s who cause mischief and
it is almos t impossible t o over
t he p ea im a n who cures it :
es t ima t e t he dread ful sense o f cons t an t and unavoidable
danger in which t he In di an wo ul d live were it n o t f o r his
1
F ur t her
t rus t in t he pro t ec t ing power o f t he p ea i m a n
examina t ion shows t ha t t he o n e class derive t heir powers
f rom t he g o d who pro t ec t s and is wors hi pped by t h e com
m un i t y t he o t her from spiri t s who are bound by no t ies o f
Thus t he Aus t ralian
f ellowship o r good will t o t he comm un it y
sorcerer is universally believed t o g e t his powers f rom t he
2
good spir it who lives beyond t he s k y
In t he Pelew Islands
besides t he t ri bal and fam i ly gods t here are coun t less o t her
spirit s o f ear t h moun t ains woods and s t reams all o f which
are mischievous and o f whi ch t he islanders are in dail y fear
The pries t s
I t is wi t h t hese spiri t s t ha t t he sorcerers deal
live generall y in pe a ce wit h t he sorcerers b ut t he a t t it ude o f
t he communi t y is shown by t he fac t t ha t sorcerers are liable
3
The fac t
t o be p ut t o dea t h f o r exercising t heir powers
t ha t it is in t he in t eres t s o f t he communi t y t ha t t he powers
derived f rom t he t ribal g o d are exercised is shown by t he
frequen t combina t ion o f t he O fce o f chief and pries t in o n e
person : amongs t t he M urrin gs ( Aus t ralia) t he sorcerer is
4
Amongs t
respec t ed highly is chie f a t once and sorcerer
t he c hi e fs o f t ribes have some kind o f sacer
t he D amaras
do t al au t horit y more s o t han a mili t ary o n e They bless
5
As for t he H aid ahs t he chie f is t he principa l
t he oxen
sorcerer and indeed possesses b ut li t t le au t hori t y save
5
f rom his connec t ion wi t h t he pre t er human powers
The
7
A mongs t
chie f o f t he S alish is ex o cio a k ind o f pries t
t he Eskimo t he An gak ut s ( pries t s ) are
a kin d o f civil magis

t ra t es
amongs t t he Zulus
t he heaven is t he chief s he
can call up clouds and s t orms
in N ew Zealand every
Ranga t ira ha s a superna t ural p ower
among t he Zulus

t he I t o n g o ( S pirit ) dwe lls wi t h t he grea t m a n ; he who

2
4
8
s
i
n
i
I m T h urn I nd ia
i
B
A
l
u
G
i
a
n
a
t
ll
e
33
3
f
t he

3
5

I bid

46

ns o

4
.

I bid

B a ncroft , N a t ive Ra c es ,

iii

248

1 50

G al t

on

I bid

r e

S o uth Af r ica , 1 3 9

154

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

292

sake o f his f ellow men

The dread ful sacrice is
1
perf o rmed n o t wi t h savage j oy b ut wit h awf ul sorrow
SO
grea t was t he diffi cul t y o f nding anyone t o s t rike t he rs t
blow t ha t t he pra c t ice o f s t oning t he vic t im t o dea t h w as
f requen t ly adop t ed as t hereby t h e responsibili t y was divided

amongs t all t he clansmen a prac t ice which survived in t he

cus t om in No r t hern Europe o f pel t ing t h e represen t a t ive Of
t he vege t a t ion spirit in t he simil a r Al d o Bo M a o f t he G reeks
e
in
h
Pen
heus
my
h
and
a
N
ew
World
cus
om
a
l
ready
t
e
t
t
t
)
( g
2
re ferred t o
Tha t sheddin g even human blood is a crime
t h e responsibili t y o f which mus t be S hared by all t he com
munit y appears from t he fac t t hat when a criminal has t o
be execu t ed it is a negro cus t om t o t ear him t o pieces
Amongs t t he H o t t en t o t s t he chief gives t he rs t blow and
3
t hen t he res t f all on t h e criminal and bea t him t o dea t h ;
and amongs t t he Tuppin I m b a s when a cap t ive is t o be
ea t en t he man who deals him t he rs t blow incurs t he g uil t
and as blood mus t have bl o od t he king draws blood from his
arm and f o r t he res t o f t he day he mus t remain in his
4
B ut t he fac t t ha t t he pries t in all religio n s slays
hammock
t he vic t im su fces t o S how t ha t t he earlier cus t om o f s t oning
mus t have given place universally t o t ha t which gave rise t o
t he pries t hood
Tha t blood gui l t iness would a t t ach t o t he man who s t ruck
t h e rs t blow is eviden t
B ut t he king pries t is dis t inguished
f rom his fellows by his superior holin ess and it is n o t clear
t ha t t he a c t o f deal ing t he blow would ip s o fa cto give him
t ha t l arger me a sure o f t he divine a fa t us which marked t he
pries t Off f rom his f ellow worshippers
In t he Phil ippine
Islands it does indeed seem t o have been t he belie f t ha t t he
sl a yi n g o f t he vic t im was if n o t t he ca use a t any rat e t he
occa sio n o f t he god s en t eri n g in t o t he slayer as appears from
f o r t he

in t h e E n cycl op oed ia B rita n n ic a

F or o t her ins t ances see G B i 2 6 4 B K 4 1 3 M y th
F ors ch 20 9 ; J o u rn a l of H e l l en ic S tu d ies xiv ii 2 5 2
3 ; t he N At in
Tro e z en ( Paus ii xxxii
t h e Luperc a li a an d N o n ae
a t t h e E l e u sini a
Ca p ro t in ae an d c f t h e s t oning of t h e apu x s ( H a rp
3
S o t o o t he sc a pego a t in A si a M inor t h e M am uri us Vet us in Rome a n d
t h e s l a ve a t t h e Chaero n e an f es t iv a l were be a t en n o t as a piece o f symp a t he t ic
m agic
B a s t i an Der M ens ch iii 3
1

Rober t son Smi t h ,

S up ra , p 2 1 5
6
.

3 . v.

S a crice

P R I EST H O O D

293

accoun t o f an old t raveller ( who when he says 1e D iable

means t he god o f t he savages ) : 1 1 y a de c eS pr os t res qui
o n t v n commerce par t iculier a ue c l e D iable
il passe
u
l
u
f
i
l
e
dans
corps
de
leur
r
i
a
r
dans
c
e
o
u
e
s
s
e
S
ac
t
e
s
c
q
q
peu de t emps que dure l o S acrice il leur fait dire
execu t er des choses qui remplissen t de crain t e les a s s is t a n s
l e S acrice
auc o
s e fai t en frapp a n t la V ic t ime
cer t aines ceremonies que l e Sa c ric at e ur fai t en c a d a n c e
m arq u ee par vn t ambour ou par vn e cloche c es t dans c c
t em ps l a que l e D iable les possede qu il leur fai t faire mille
c o n t o rs iOs
grimace e t a la n ils disen t c c q u il s c roy en t
1
a uOir v e u ou en t endu
B ut again s t t his we have t o s e t t he
universal belief t ha t it is by drinking t he god s blood t ha t
I t is t here f ore t o t his par t
t he god en t ers t he worshipper
o f t he ri t e we mus t
look N ow t he sla yer o f t he vic t im
would na t urally be t he rs t t o drink o f t he blood and it is
en t irely in accord wi t h prim i t ive ideas t o suppose t hat t he
rs t blood was considered t o con t ain more o f t he sacred li f e
t han t he res t w e need only recall t o mind t he universal
reluc t ance t o par t ake o f t he rs t fruit s o f t he eld as
con t aining t he divine life in it s mos t po t en t form
SO by
t he European cus t om t he man who a t e t he rs t apple from
t he t ree in which t he vege t a t ion spiri t dwel t became t he
2
human represen t a t ive o f t he spiri t fo r t he year
Thus it
was t he man who grea t ly d a ring rs t killed t he vic t im and
drank t he rs t draugh t o f t he sacred lif e who t hereby became
image o r represen t a t ive o r vicegeren t of t he
t he human
god pries t and king for a year by which t ime t he blood
covenan t required t o be renewed and again a vic t im had t o
be slain a S layer f ound
There remains t he ques t ion why t he pries t king forf ei t ed
his li fe a t t he end o f t he year N ow t he forfeit a t t ached t o
t he O fce : t he momen t t he O fce was un der t ak en t h e forfeit
was incurred B ut it was by a man s own volun t ary a c t t ha t
t he o fce was assumed ; and t ha t a c t had t w o elemen t s t he
o fce t w o sides There was t he blood guil t iness a t t aching t o
th e killing o f t h e god and t here was t he sanc t i t y brough t by
I t mus t t here f ore have
t he drinking o f t he sacred blood
T heveno t D iv s Voy a g iv Rel t ion des I sles Phil ippines
t he

er

K 4 09
.

es ,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

2 94

been in on e o f t hese t wo charac t ers t ha t t he king pries t was

S lain
Mr F razer s view is t ha t he was slain as being t he
god This however is unsa t is fac t ory fr om our poin t o f view
The rs t is t ha t t he evidence as we have
for t wo reasons
argued seems t o indica t e t ha t t he king pries t w a s as a ma t t er
o f fac t regarded bo t h by himsel f and o t hers as t he god s vice
geren t ra t her t han as himself t he god The o t her is t ha t if he
was regarded as t he go d and slain as such t hen t here would
from t ha t t ime on have been no fur t her need o r possibil it y o f
a n im a l
sacrice : t he pries t who slew t he slayer would in
t urn be slain and so human sacrice and cannibalism would
have been t he universal t ype of t he sacricial meal whereas
rs t cannibalism as a rit ual is t he excep t ion n o t t he rule
and nex t every religious ins t it u t ion and every survival in
religion which has a bearing on t he ques t ion poin t s t o t he
sacramen t al ea t ing rs t o f t o t em animals and t hen o f t o t em
plan t s
We are t herefore f orced back on t he o t her hypo t hesis
t ha t it was as t he S hedder o f divine blood t ha t t he king
pries t s blood was shed t ha t it was t he blood guil t iness
a t t aching t o his original a c t which made his lif e for feit f rom
Fo r a year t he sanc t i t y o f t he d ivin e blood in his
t he rs t
veins ensured his safe t y ; a t t he end o f t ha t t ime t he penal t y
was exact ed If it be asked why a t t he end of a year t he
only answer is t ha t in early t imes t he communit y seem t o
have fel t t he need o f an annual renewal o f t he blood covenan t
wit h t heir god ; t he yearly sacrice is t he oldes t ; a t t he en d
Of a year t hey fel t t ha t t he sacred blood t ha t was in t hem
had depar t ed from t hem ; and if from t hem t hen from t he
king pries t whom accordingly it was now safe t o slay and
t heir du t y t o slay
Tha t t he exac t ion of t he penal t y would
even t ually come t o be deferred is probable enough and is
conrmed b y t he his t oric ins t ances in which it was only
enforced a t t he end o f a t welve years reign Then it
wo ul d be de ferred inde ni t ely t o t he appearance o f t he rs t
physical blemish in d ica t ive o f Old age or un t il famine or
disas t er warned t he com muni t y t ha t t he spillin g o f divine
blood had n o t y e t been avenged B ut in t he absence o f such
mo ni t ions t he penal t y migh t even be evaded al t oge t her wi t h
t he consen t o f t he commun it y by t he subs t i t u t ion o f t he
-

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296

ra t her by t radi t ion t han by any living s e n t M e n t o f necessi t y

When t he animal was a mere chat t el t he execu t ion even o f
a cap t ive would be unmeaning ; Of a rs t born s o n shockin g
N o r can we fail in t his connec t ion t o no t e t ha t whereas
drinking t he blood was o f t he essence Of t he rit e originally
in course Of t ime it came t o be generally dropped o r pro

possibly o n grounds o f renemen t b ut possibly also

hibit ed
o n reli gious grounds o n t he ground t ha t no man S hould be
allowed t o communi ca t e s o closely wit h t he divine life
F inally we may no t e t ha t t he original idea Of t aboo is
iden t ical neit her wi t h t ha t of ho li ness nor t ha t Of unclean
ness b u t is t he roo t idea o ut o f which bo t h t hese were s ub
sequen t ly differen t ia t ed and developed : it is s im my t ha t
which mus t n o t be t ouched o r approached N ow t he kin g
pries t was s t ric t ly t aboo in t he original sense : bo t h as t he
S hedder o f blood and as t he par t aker in divine life he was
n o t t o be approached during his year
We have endeavo ured t o show t ha t t he in s t it u t ion o f
t he pries t hood was t he na t ural necessary and inevi t able o ut
come o f t he primeval ri t e o f t he sacricial meal ; and t ha t
from t he beginning t he pries t had no o t her means o f drawing
near t o hi s god t han t hose open t o all his f ellow worshippers ;
he was dis t inguished from t hem only by hi s grea t er readiness
We have found
t o sacrice himself for t heir relig ious needs
no t hing t o suppor t t he no t ion t ha t religion is t he inven t ion
o f pries t s and we have been ob liged t o dissen t bo t h from t he
view t ha t primi t ive man was uncer t ain whe t her he was a g o d
or n o t and from t he view t ha t t he pries t was a sorcerer who
had go t on in t he world
We have nex t t o show how t he mys t ic view o f sacrice as
communion s t ruggled t o reasser t i t sel f agains t t he commercial
view o f sacrice as givin g in order t o g e t some t hing which
had overlaid it ; and how t his a ffec t ed man s view o f t he
fu t ure s t a t e
B ut rs t we mus t unders t and wha t his view Of
t he o t her world was t o begin wit h
.

C H A P T E R XX I
E

THE N X T LI F

AS t o

man s fu t ure s t a t e m any very diff eren t views have been

held and are held by differen t peoples To some it appears
b ut a con t inua t ion o f t h e presen t lif e f o r o t hers it involves
a re t ribu t ion for wha t has been done in t his world ; and each
The re t ribu t ion m a y
o f t hese t heories has many varie t ies
consis t in a simple reversal Of t his lif e s l o t so t ha t t hose who
have fared ill here will be well Off in t he nex t world and vice
vers a ; o r t he be t t er l o t in t he nex t world may be reserved
eit her for t hose who in t his were persons o f qualit y or for
t hose who dis t inguished t hemselves by t heir val o ur o r by
O r t he nex t lif e may be
t heir vir t ue o r by t heir pie t y
for all men alike a con t inuance o f t his under more pleasan t
condi t ions o r under more gloomy condi t ions b ut in ei t her
case t he rank and occupa t ion Of t he deceased will be wha t
t hey were in t his l i f e even t he scars and mu t ila t ions Of t he
body sur vivin g wi t h t he o t her marks o f personal iden t i t y
O r again life may be con t inued b ut in such a way t hat
personal iden t i t y is concealed as fo r ins t ance by t he t rans
migra t ion Of t he soul in t o an animal body o r is forgo t t en as
by t he soul s t ha t drink t he wa t ers Of L e t he before bein g re
born o r merged in t he divine essence O r t he soul may n o t

survive dea t h a t all only t he fr ui t o f it s moral o r immoral

ac t s may be t ransmit t ed
An equally great varie t y o f Opinion prevails a s t o t he
S i t ua t ion and t opography o f t he nex t world
I t may be o n
If on it t hen it
t he e a r t h s surface o r under it o r above it
is a far o ff land a garden behind far dis t an t hills a land
beyond a dis t an t river an island across t he s e a a far Off
wes t ern world O r it may be above t he ear t h in t he sun
.

2 97

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

2 98

moon t he s t ars o r above t he solid rm am en t o f t he sk y

If below t he eart h it may be on e vas t and gloomy realm o r
I f t he
it may be mapped o ut in t o many va ri ous divisions
re t ribu t ion t heory is held t hen t he heaven may be above t he
e a r t h o r it m ay be underground I f it is underground t hen
t he places o f bliss and punishmen t are t opographically dis t in
i
f
h
t
e heaven is above t he world t hen it may or
u
i
s he d
g
may n o t be locally dis t ingui shed from t he abode o f t he gods
The underground hell may o r may n o t have places of
t or t ure ; if it has t hey t oo may be more or less numerous
The number Of heavens may ex t end t o t he t hird t he seven t h
o r even go as high as t hir t y
In t o t he mass of bewil dering de t ails o f whi ch t hese are
b ut a few some order has been in t roduced by t he labour Of
various writ ers especially Professor E B Tylor in his
H e has shown for ins t ance t ha t t he
P rim itive Culture
re t ribut ion t heory appears generally a t a la t er s t age o f
cul t ure t han t he con t inuance t heory ; and t ha t t he c on c e p
t ions of t he nex t world as a far Off land a wes t ern world an
underground abode or as locat ed in t he sun m oon s t ars o r
s k y are o f common occurrence amongs t di fferen t peoples and
are concept ions such as m ig h t be f ormed independen t ly by
differen t peoples and need n o t have been borrowed by o n e
from ano t her These conclusions may be regarded as well
es t ablished and we shall make t hem t he basis for an a t t emp t
t o t race t he grow t h o f t he belief in a fu t ure s t a t e
Whe t her t he funeral ri t es pract ised by man in t he low es t
s t age Of cul t ure known t o us and also in t he earlies t t imes
f rom which we have in t ermen t s were promp t ed by love or
f ear by t he desire t o de t ain t he spiri t o f t he one loved and
los t or by t he wish t o drive Off t he ghos t may be a di spu t ed
ques t ion B ut t ha t t hese ri t es show primit ive man t o have
believed t ha t t he ghos t lin gered fo r some t ime in t he neigh
b o urho o d o f t he survivors is universally admi tt ed
N o r can
t here be any doub t as t o t he cause of t he belie f : t he memory
o f t he dep a r t ed is s t il l fresh in t h e minds o f t he survivors
and t he occ a sions are frequen t which sugges t t o t heir min ds
t he pic t ure o f t he deceased engaged in his f amiliar gui s e and
o ccupa t ions
As t ime goes o n t he mem ory o f him is revived
less O f t en and a t lo nger a n d l o nger in t ervals a n d it is in

t he

1/

H I S TO R Y

I NT R O D U C T I O N T O

300

OF

R E LI G I O N

The Y oruba proverb runs :

scarcely wi t h cheer ful ness
A corner in t his world is be t t er t han a corner in t he world
S piri t s
The ghos t o f Achil les rej ec t ed cons o la t ion :
of
Nay ! speak n o t comfort ably t o me of dea t h 0 grea t
O dysseus
R a t her would I live o n ground as t he hireling
of ano t her wi t h a landless man who had no grea t livelihood
2
The H ades o f t he
t han bear sway among all t he dead
Babylonian legends closely resembles t he H ades o f t he H omeric
poems I t is t he gloomy realm benea t h t he eart h where t he
spirit s o f t he dead it abou t in darkness wit h dus t and mud
for t heir food and drink and f rom whence t hey escape a t
H ere t he shades o f
t imes t o feed o n t he blood o f t h e living
t he grea t heroes o f Old s it each on his t hrone crowned and
t errible risin g up only t o gree t t he coming among t hem of
one like un t o t hemselves
good and bad heroes and
plebeians are alike condemned t o t his dreary l o t ; a s t a t e o f
f u t ure punishmen t s and rewards is as y e t undreamed o f ;
moral responsibilit y ends wit h dea t h H ades is a land Of
f orge t f ulness and of darkness where t he good and evil deeds
of t his life are remembered no more ; and it s occupan t s are
mere shadows o f t he men who once exis t ed and whose con
s c io us n ess is like t he consciousness Of t he spec t ral gures in
3
F or t he S heol of t he O ld Tes t amen t we
a ee t ing dream
may quo t e S mi t h s Dic tion a ry of the B ible : it is t he vas t
hollow sub t erranean res t ing place which is t he common
recep t acle o f t h e dead I t is deep (Job xi 8 ) and dark (J o b
xi 2 1
in t he cen t re o f t he ear t h ( Num xvi 3 0 D eu t
xxxii
havin g wit hin it dep t hs o n dep t hs ( Prov ix
and fas t ened wi t h ga t es ( Isa xxxviii 1 0 ) and bars (J o b xvii
In t his cavernous realm are t he souls o f de a d men
t he R ephaim and ill spiri t s ( P S lxxxvi 1 3 1xxxix 4 8
Prov
I t is all
xxiii 1 4 ; Ezek xxxi 1 7 xxxii
devouring
Prov
i
1
xxx
insa
iable
Isa
v
and
remorseless
2
t
(
(
t
ii
2
C
an
vi
Job
xi
cxxxix
8
and
Amos
ix
8
P
S
(
merely illus t ra t e t he Jewish no t ions o f t he localit y o f S heol
in t he bowels o f t he ear t h
G enerally speaking t he
H ebrews regarded t he grave as t he nal end o f a ll sen t ien t
and in t elligen t exis t ence t he land where a ll thing s a re

b ut

L0 6
Sa

Cit

yce

2
.

H i bber t Lect u r e, 3 6 4

0d

xi

486

( B ut cher

an d

n s t ra n s

La g

TH E

N EXT L I F E

301

forg otten ( Ps vi 5 lxxxvii i 1 0 2 2 ; I s a xx xviii 9 2 0

Eccles ix 1 0 Ecclus xvii 2 7
I n t his view o f t he f u t ure life t here is no room f o r t h e
re t ribut ion t heory : all men a l ike go t o H ades o r S heol t he
all devouring Indeed t he con t inuance t heory is generally
clearly involved in it
In t he Babylonian underworld t hose
who were in t heir life t ime heroes re t ain t heir t hrones In
t he G reek H ades Achilles is s t i ll a king and t he phan t om
O rion hun t s phan t om beas t s ; and t here t he soul o f t he
d ead Karen wi t h t he souls o f his axe and cleaver builds his
house and cu t s his rice ; t he shade o f t he Al gonquin hun t er
hun t s souls o f bea ver and elk walkin g o n t he souls Of his
snow shoes over t he so ul o f t he snow ; t he f ur wrapped
Kamchadal drives his dog sledge ; t he Zulu milks his cows
and drives his ca t t le t o kraal ; S ou t h American t ribes live o n
whole o r mu t il a t ed heal t hy o r sick a s t hey lef t t his world
1
leading t heir Old lives
SO t o o in V irgil t he ghos t o f
D eiphobus shows it s ghas t ly wounds t o I En eas In S heol
2
t he kings o f t he na t ions have t heir t hrones and t he m igh t y
3
t heir weapons Of war
The idea t ha t in t he underground ghos t land t he soul
con t inues t o follow t he same pursui t s as in lif e gave rise
t o t he cus t om o f burying wi t h him t he necessary weapo n s
implemen t s po t t ery clo t hes e t c ; and as habi t s are less
easil y changed t han opinions t his cus t om con t inued t o be
prac t ised even when t he con t in uance t heory which originat ed
it had given way t o t he re t ri bu t ion t heory
I t was ho w
ever impossible t h a t t he cus t o m should con t inue wi t hou t
a ffec t ing belief ; and t he way in whi ch it a ffec t ed t he
re t ribu t ion t heory was t wo fold : it modied men s con
c e p t io n rs t o f t he na t ure o f t he bliss f ul s t a t e and second
o f t he means by which it is t o be a t t ained
I t made t ha t is
t o s a y f u t ure bliss t o consis t simply in purs uing ear t hly
occupa t ions under more deligh t ful condit ions t han exis t in
t his lif e or exis t ed in t he dreary shadow land t o which t he
con t inuance t heory rs t gave bir t h ; and in t he nex t place
t he persis t ence o f ances t or worshi p made it appear t ha t t he
soul s a t t ainmen t t o fu t ure bliss depended in par t a t any
ra t e o n some t hin g t ha t t he survivors could do f o r it Thus
xiv 9
Ty l e r 7 5 6
Is
E z ek xxxii 2 7

'

a.

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO R Y O F R E L I G I ON

302

in t he Sc an d m a VI a n Walhalla t he warriors ride f or t h t o t he

gh t a s t hey did o n ear t h only a t t he end of t h e day and t he
f ray t hose who have been killed go back t o t he banque t and
enjoy it jus t as much a s t heir vic t ors do In Egyp t where
t he heaven was also o n e o f ma t erial t hough more peaceful
deligh t s access t o it d e p en d e d q uit e as much upo n t he due
performance o f t he elabora t e funeral ri t es by t he survivors
a s upon t he vir t ue and pie t y o f t he deceased himself
I t is
clear t hen t ha t ances t or worship was a considerable hindrance
t o t he acquisit ion o r recept ion o f a purer and more spiri t ual
concep t ion Of t he f u t ure life I t is t herefore import an t f or
t he his t orian Of religion t o no t e t ha t ances t or worship was
f orbidden t o t he Jews : t he worship o f G o d did n o t permi t
of
ances t or worship
This prohibi t ion however was n o t
in i t sel f ei t her t he cause o f or a s t imul us t o a higher view
o f man s f ut ure s t a t e : it only cleared t he ground o f weeds
which migh t have choked it s grow t h As a ma t t er o f fac t
t hough t he soil was t hus prepared it was n o t un t il t he t ime
o f t he C ap t ivi t y t ha t t he rs t seeds were sown in it
H ere t oo perhaps it will be well t o no t e t ha t in t hese
early specula t ions a s t o ghos t land whe t her it be placed in
an underground region or in some far Off land upon t he
ear t h s surface t here is no t hin g religious : t hey have no t hin g
t o do wi t h t he service o f t he gods t hey are t o t ally un c o n
n e c t e d wi t h t he sacricial meal by which communion wi t h
t he god o f t he t ribe is sough t : t hey are purely philosophical
S pecula t ions
R eligion did n o t origina t e from ances t or
w o rShip nor ances t or worship from religion
I t is impor t an t
also t o remember t ha t comple t e consis t en cy is n o t t o be
f ound or expec t ed in t hese o r any o t her specula t ions ind ulged
in by man when in a low s t age o f cul t ure Impressed by
t he broad fac t t ha t t he dead do n o t re t urn t o lif e he may
describe t he underground abode as one f rom which t here is
no
re t urn B ut t his canno t wi t h him weigh agains t t he
fac t t ha t ghos t s are occasionally seen ; and t ha t fac t in it s
t urn in no wise impairs his belie f t h a t t here is a dis t a n t
world which is t he proper abode Of depar t ed souls Indeed
a t t he presen t d a
t
t
in
C
hris
ian
coun
ries
supers
i
ious
h
e
t
t
t
y
believe t ha t graveyards are haun t ed t ho ugh t hey would n o t
deny t ha t t he souls o f t he dead are reall y in heaven or in
,

"

H I S TO R Y O F R EL I G I ON

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO

304

belief in a far Off land s t ill t he Older belie f o r ra t her a

reminiscence o f it s t ill lin gered here and t here ; and being
di fferen t from t he now dom inan t fait h in an underw o rld it
called f o r explana t ion Tha t explanat ion was fair ly Obvious
H ere were Old men declaring t ha t
a n d e a sily f or t hcoming
in t heir t ime o r in t im e S t he y had heard o f t he S piri t s
o f t he dead used t o go t o a far Off land n o t t o t he under
ground world as t hey do n o w
Obviously t herefore t hings
have changed : in t he good old t imes men di d n o t go t o t he
dreary gloomy ne t her land ; t hey wen t t o a garden beyond
t he hills ligh t ed and cheered by t he rays o f t he s un very
differen t f rom t he sunless abodes o f H ades B u t t ha t is over
now ; t o t his genera t ion t he ga t es Of t ha t brigh t land are
closed ; and if t hey were Open t o t he men o f yore t ha t is
because men were heroes in t he brave days o f old This I
1
submi t is t he origin of H esiod s m y t h Of t he f our t h and
las t o f t hose ages of which t he G olden Age was t he rs t
The heroes who f ell a t t he siege o f Troy o r o f Thebes were
placed by Zeus a f t er dea t h in a land a t t he u t t ermos t
2
3
bounds o f t he ear t h where t hey con t inue in happiness
In
4
Babylon also t here were bliss ful elds beyond Da t ill a
to
which in bygone t im es a few persons e g X is ut hro s and his
wif e n o t heroes b ut pious persons had been admi t t ed t hough
S ome t imes t he explana t ions
t he ga t es were closed t o all else
inven t ed t o accoun t for t he difference in t he t rea t men t o f
t his genera t ion and o f bygone gener a t ions do n o t invoke
t he superior valour o r pie t y Of t he la t t er t o accoun t for t he
ch a nge indeed such ideas belong t o t he re t ribu t ion t h eory
and probably were compara t ively la t e ad di t ions t o t he original
f orm o f explan a t ion which con t en t ed i t self wi t h t he simple
fa c t t ha t t he rs t man o r men dwell t here and all o t her souls
go t o t he homes o f underground Thus in Irania n my t hology
Yima t he rs t man and his genera t ion live and have li ved
f rom t he beginning o f his t o ry in t he Far Off Land Eran Vej
5
an e a r t hly paradise
Even here however t he original
-

1
2

Works a n d

H esiod ,

D a ys , 1 5 6 7 3

1 6 8 , Z e a) : K po m dns Ka r e va o o e 7ra n 7p s n e ipa r a y a tns

'
1 7 0 , n e t 7 0 2 p 61! va io vo w d xnd a Bua bu xo ur e s

Sa yce , H e r od otus , i

iii App 3 92
Al fred N ut t in Th Vo y a ge of
.

'

F or t his see M r
,

B ra n , 3 0 9 1 1
-

TH E

N EX T L I F E

305

explana t ion has been adap t ed and al t ered t o supply ma t erial

fo r cosmological specula t ion
Eran Vej is said t o have been
crea t ed by Ahura Mazda whereas t he F ar Off Land as we
have seen had no t hing t o do wi t h religion and was n o t
supposed t o have been crea t ed by o r t o be in any way
connec t ed wi t h t he gods In t his respec t we g e t a t ruer
view o f t he F ar Off Land in cer ta in t ales which go back t o
t he t ime when it s deligh t s s o brigh t by comparison wi t h
t he underground world were s t ill ma t t er o f t radi t ion when
it s exis t ence ( if only it could be discovered ) was s t ill believed
in b ut it s origin as ghos t land wa s f orgo t t en These are
t hose t ales o f a land o f C ockaigne wi t h which even an t iqui t y
2
wa s acquain t ed } which a S olon could describe in verse
and which are t he earlies t t ypes Of many a subsequen t
U t opia
We may t hen t ake it as a general law t ha t t he human
mind is capable of hOldin g simul t aneously beliefs which are
inconsis t en t up t o a cer t ain ( un d e n ab l e ) poin t ; b ut if by
t he force Of circums t ances t he inconsis t ency becomes t oo
great an explana t ion will be inven t ed ; and t ha t explana t ion
will exaggera t e and s t e re o t yp e t he difference s o t ha t wha t
were b ut t wo varie t ies o f t he same original opinion will
become t wo quit e differen t beliefs capable o f being logically
held by t he same person Le t us apply t his canon t o t he
belief in t he Underground ghos t land
Inasmuch as t he abode o f t he dead is underground t he
en t rance t o it mus t be t hrough some hole in t he ground cave
Thus t he souls of t he B a p e ri in S ou t h Af rica go down
etc
t hrough t he cavern o f M arim a t l ; in Mexico t here were
t w o such caverns Cha l c ha t o n g o and M ic t l a n which were t he
en t rances t o t he ne t her world ;
N or t h G erman peasan t s
s t ill remember o n t he banks o f t he swampy DrOm lin g t he
place of access t o t he land o f depar t ed souls
in ancien t
R ome t he mundus o r opening t hrough which t he spirit s of
t he dead came up t hrice a year f o r t heir O fferings w a s in t he
C omi t ium ; in Ireland it was believed in t he f t een t h cen t ury
A D t ha t S ir O wain descended in t o t he ne t her world wi t h t he
monk G ilber t t hrough St Pa t rick s purga t ory a cavern in t he
t he
H ppy O t h er W orld op cit
Se M r N ut t
F r g 3 8 ( B ergk
Tylor ii 4 5
.

20

on

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO R Y O F R E L I G I O N

306

island o f Lough D erg C oun t y D onegal in Timor ear t hquakes

are dreaded because t he souls may escape t hrough t he chasms
2
t hus O pened ; t he en t rance t o t he Accadian under world wa s
believed t o be in t he marshes beyond t he mou t h o f t he
3
Many peoples can t ell of livin g men who before
Euphra t es
S ir O wain have descended by t hose openings and have
re t urned t o describe t he underworld
B ut t hese Open ings being of necessi t y local are known
only t o t he neighbourin g inhabi t an t s
There is however o n e
en t rance t o t he ne t her world which is famili ar t o many
differen t peoples ; and it is known t o many because t he fac t s
which prove it t o be a ga t e o f t he underworld are pa t en t t o
all Those fac t s are t ha t t he s un disappears below t he
surface o f t he ear t h in t he wes t and emerges again from it
in t he eas t ; t herefore in t he nigh t he m us t have t ravelled
from wes t t o eas t below t he ear t h i e t hrough t he realm Of
t he dead
Among t he na t ives o f Encoun t er Bay t he s un is
f eminin e :
every nigh t s he descends among t he dead who
4
s t and in double lines t o gree t her and l e t her pass
Am ongs t
t he Magyars it is day in Kalunga t he land o f t he dead when
it is nigh t o n ear t h because t he s un passes t hrough it by
5
nigh t as it is also believed t o do by t he people o f Mangaia
and was believed t o do by t he ancien t Egyp t ians t o t he end
The N e w Zealander w ho says t he s un has re t urned t o Hades
5
and it was an Az t ec sayin g
simply means t ha t it has s e t
7
The hole
t ha t t he s un goes a t evening t o ligh t en t he dead
in t he ground t herefore t hrough which t he s un descends
belo w t he ear t h is t he en t rance t hrough which according t o
many peoples t he souls of t he dead have t o gain admis sion
t o t he under world
In Aus t ralia t hey t ravel for t ha t purpose
t o Nyn a m n a t t he sunse t ; in Torres S t rai t t o kibuka t he
8
wes t ern world ; in Polynesia t o o t hey go wes t ; t o t he wes t
likewise t he S piri t s o f t he Iroquois o f t he Fij ian s and Of t he
Brazili ans ; in Virginia t he cave Po p og uss o lies wes t wes t t he
9
G ul c hin a m o f t he Chil ian s
O dysseus found t he en t rance t o
Tylor ii 5 5 7
1

B a s t i a n , D ie

yce
4
La ng
3

5
3

Sa

Ve r bl eibs

, H e rod ot us , i
, M y th, R it u a l ,

Ty l e r, 6 6

iii

Orte d er
.

a bges chied en

Ap p 3 92

a nd

Seel e, 5 2

Rel ig ion ,

1 29

5
.

7
.

B as t ie n , 3 9

3
.

B a s t i an , op
I b id 7 2
I bid 5 4
.

c it.

52

I N T RO D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

308

ra t e t he occasion o f t he re rib t ip n the ory The ques t ion

t p
became pressing which s oul s we n t t o t he cheerful wes t ern
home which t o t he dreary world below ? Probably it was
t aken for gran t ed a t rs t t ha t t he chiefs who t ook t he bes t
t hin gs here had a righ t t o t he more a t t rac t ive region a ft er
de a t h ; t hen t ha t t he bes t warriors would claim an en t rance
The t wo views were comb ined by t he A h t s : In V ancouver s
Island t he Ah t s fancied Q ua w t eaht s calm sunny plen t eous
land in t he s k y a s t he res t ing place o f high chiefs who live
in one grea t house
while t he slain in ba t t le have
ano t her t o t hemselves
B ut o t herwise all Indians o f
low degree go deep down under t he ear t h t o t he land o f
C hay her wi t h it s poor houses and n o salmon and small
deer and blanke t s S O small and t hin t ha t when t he dead
1
are buried t he friends Of t en bury blanke t s wit h t hem
The rude Tupinambas o f Brazil t hink t he souls of such
as had lived vir t uously t ha t is t o s ay who have well avenged
t hemselves and ea t en many Of t heir enemies will go behind
t he grea t moun t ains and dance in beau t iful gardens wi t h
t he souls o f t heir f a t hers ; b ut t he souls o f t he e ffemina t e
and wor t hless who have n o t s t riven t o defend t heir coun t ry
2
will go t o A ygn an
In t he Tonga Islands it is only
aris t ocra t ic souls t ha t go t o B ol o t u t he wes t ern and for t un a t e
isle full o f all nes t f rui t s and lovelies t owers t ha t ll
t he air wi t h fragrance and come anew t he momen t t hey
are plucked ; birds o f beau t eous plumage are t here and hogs
in plen t y all immor t al save when killed t o be ea t en and even
3
t hen new li ving ones appear immedia t ely t o ll t heir places
There was t hen in t he wes t a t t he en t rance o f t he
sun s ne t her domains a happy o t her world t o which t he
so ul s Of t he valian t and t he vir t uous wen t ; and t here was
t he o l d cheerless unhappy o t her world t o which wen t t he
cowards and t he bad To call t he o n e H eaven and t he
o t her H ell would be misleading for t hese t erms be a r a
re ference t o religion and t he la t t er f ur t her implies a place
o f t ormen t
N ow as we have said early S pecula t ions o n
t he o t her world were phil osophical ra t her t han religious : it
wa s only in course Of t ime t ha t t he happy o t her world came
t o be adop t ed in t o an t ique religions
The Jews were c ut o ff
'

Ty l e r, 8 5

2
.

I bid

8 6
7

I bid

62

TH E

N EX T L I F E

309

by t heir primit ive prohibit ion o f ances t or worship from t he

philosophical specula t ions which resul t ed in a happy o t her
world o f bodily deligh t s ; and it was only by degrees t ha t
t he cheerless ne t her ghos t land came t o be a place o f ac t ive
t ormen t
Egyp t ian religion is ins t ruc t ive on bo t h poin t s
The righ t eous soul wen t t o t he happy elds o f A a l u where
t he heigh t o f t he corn we are t old
is seven cubi t s and
1
t ha t o f t he ears is t w o ( in some readings four ) cubi t s
b ut
t he reward of t he righ t eous is n o t spiri t ual it is ear t hly ;
and as depic t ed on t he monumen t s Of t he o ld Empire it
has n o t risen above t he level Of peoples in t he con t inuance

t
s age Of developmen t excep t t ha t t heir dead do n o t enj oy
t heir occupa t ions much and t he Egyp t ian did enjoy his :

t he t omb o f Ti a t Sak k a rah fo r ins t ance presen t s us wi t h

pic t ures o f t he af t er world in which t he dead man lives
over again his life in t his ; he farms hun t s superin t ends
his workmen and slaves and feas t s j us t as he had done o n
2
ear t h
A more naive confession of t he fac t t ha t t he
happy o t her world of t he Egyp t ian was only an improvemen t
o n t he original ghos t land and n o t a place o f spiri t ual bliss
superior t o t he deligh t s o f t his world could n o t be found t han
t ha t which is con t ained in t he rubric t o t he rs t chap t er o f
t he B ook of the Dea d describing t he l o t of t he righ t eous

soul : There shall be given t o him bread and beer and esh
upon t he t ables o f Ra ; he will work in t he elds o f Aaru
and t here shall be given t o him t he whea t and barley which
3
are t here fo r he shall ourish a s thoug h he were up on ea rth
no higher or more S pirit ual ideal en t ered o r could en t er
in t o t he composi t ion Of t he Egyp t ian abode o f bliss beca use
it s origin was essen t ially non religious
B ut if t he happy
world had n o t been developed in t o a heaven nei t her o n t he
monumen t s o f t he o l d Empire had t he cheerless underground

world become a place o f t ormen t : we should look in vain

in t hem for t hose represen t a t ions o f t he t ormen t s and t rials
which awai t t he dead below of t he headless souls and
horrible coils of t he mons t rous serpen t Apepi t hat s t ar t le
4
us o n t he pic t ured walls Of t he royal t ombs a t Thebes
In India t o o t he underground world originally like
-

1
3

Reno uf,

H i bbert L ecture, 1 8 1

Reno uf,

H i bbe t L ectu

e,

1 923

Sa yce , H d t i
.

4
.

Sa yce , 3 4 7

iii

346

I N T RO D UC TI O N TO H I S TO R Y O F R E L I G I O N

31 0

H ades and S heol was t he land t o which wen t t he souls o f

good and bad ; b ut t hen t he happy o t her world drew
a ll
Off a por t ion o f it s popula t ion namely t he souls of t hose who
in t heir lives had been worshippers Of S oma and le f t only
A t rs t apparen t ly
t he bad t o go t o t he world below
t he con t ras t be t ween t he cheerlessness o f t he o l d ghos t land
a n d t he deligh t s o f t he h a ppy world where soma could be
drunk for ever seems t o have cons t i t u t ed su fcien t punish
men t for t he bad B ut in course o f t ime in India a s in

Egyp t t ormen t s were added and t he ul t ima t e ou t come o f

in t he six t h and f t h cen t uries B C is a

t his evolu t ion
series o f hell visions which for puerile beas t liness and
horror ou t vie any t hing perhaps t ha t even t his hideous phase
1
o f t heological fancy has pic t ured
The idea t ha t t he place where t he s un wen t down was
t he en t rance t o t he ne t her world led as we have seen t o t he
beli e f t ha t t here was a happy o t her world in t he wes t B ut it
also led men t o nd a happy o t her world elsewhere e g in t he
sun o r in t he sky H ow it migh t na t urally do s o will be clear
if we re e c t t ha t it was t he sun s descen t below t he horiz on
which was supposed t o open t he wes t ern en t rance t o ghos t
land : t hus t he funeral dirges of t he D ayaks describe how
t he spirit s o f t he depar t ed have t o run wes t ward a t full
S peed t hrough brake and briar over rough ground and
cu t t ing coral t o keep up wi t h t he s un and slip t hrough
2
t he clashing ga t es by a t t aching t hemselves t o him
Now
t hough holding o n t o t he sun in order t o win t hro ugh t he
momen t arily open en t rance was a t rs t simply a m eans by
which t he ghos t migh t reach it s underground abode y e t it
was indispensable and all impor t an t and s o migh t easily
come t o be considered t he only t hing necessary for t he
ghos t who was t o be a t peace and t o be released from t he
cruel race a ft er t he s un The ghos t it should perhaps be
said who could n o t keep up wi t h t he s un and arrive a t t he
en t rance si m ul t aneously wit h him has t o recommence t he
race nex t day : hence res t and release for t he depar t ed spiri t
were only t o be f ound in ca t ching up and j oinin g t he sun
aft er t ha t came peace Thus t he sun was t he res t ing place
o f t he depar t ed
B ut t he o l d belie f in t he underground
,

Nut t , op

ci t .

3 2 3,

B as t i a n , op

c it .

25

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO R Y O F R E L I G I O N

312

was t o be m erged in t he divine essence This view afforded

a reconcili a t ion o f t he belief in Aaru and t he O siris doc t rine :
t he s o ul rs t wen t t o Aaru and t hen became an O siris ; t he
soul en t ered t he bliss ful elds o f A alu t here t o be puried
f r o m all t he s t ains of it s ea r/ly li f e and a f t er becoming
perf ec t in wisdom and kn owledge t o be absorbed in t o t he
1
divin e essence
F inally we may no t e t ha t t he happy wes t ern world
under cer t ain circum s t ances shared t he fa t e which over
As we have seen in t he chap t er on
t ook t he far o ff land
My t hology a primi t ive hypo t hesis if de t ached from t he
belief o r cus t om e t c which it was inven t ed t o explain
becomes a my t h I t may be so de t ached from it s basis
ei t her because t he belief e t c o n which it was based has
chan ged o r perished o r because it has sufcien t roman t ic
in t eres t in i t self t o be wor t h t elling a n d hearing quit e
apar t from it s t opical allusions
In t his way t he far Off
l a nd when it was depopula t ed so t o speak by t he in t ro
duct ion o f t he underground world as t he abode for t he
dead became rs t a place t o which none now go or can go
and t hen an ear t hly paradise and nally a land o f C ockaigne
U t opia
N ow t hough t he belief in t he happy wes t ern
world never perished wherever it became known s t ill it
migh t become de t ached from it s basis inasmuch as rumours
o f i t as a place o f high deligh t migh t spread t o peoples who
had as ye t n o t advanced t o t he concep t ion o f a happy
o t her world
To such a people having no concep t ion o f

t he re t ribu t ion t heory and havin g only o n e ghos t land

and
t ha t a dreary one for t he recep t ion of all ghos t s righ t eous
or unrigh t eous alike t he rumour migh t pene t rat e of a happy
land in t he brigh t wes t t he inhabi t an t s o f which dwel t in
fabulous deligh t s and never died The wonder and romance
o f t he t ale would be heigh t ened by t he added fac t t ha t all
t he inhabi t an t s were righ t eous
And t he na t ural objec t ion
Of t he scep t ic t ha t if t here were such a h a ppy land every
body would go t here would be m e t by t he s t a t emen t made
o n t he s a me au t hori t y as t he original rumour t ha t t he place
is over t h e wes t ern sea an island a for t una t e island t o
which only t hose favoured by t he gods are carried and t he
.

Sa

yce

34 5

TH E

N EXT

313

LI F E
-

road t o which no living man ever y e t discovered A t ale

so roman t ic would be readily caugh t up by s t ory t ellers
ever as eager as t heir hearers for some new t hing and by
t hem be worked in t o t heir t ales
In some such way as t his
I sugges t t he rumour o f t he blissful elds o f Aal u spread
from Egyp t t o G reece
The resemblance o f t he n ame Of t he

Egyp t ian elds t o t ha t o f t he Elysian plain s o f H omer

may be acciden t al b ut it is perhaps more t han fort ui t ous
t ha t it was in Egyp t t ha t Menelaus heard for t he rs t
and only t ime of t he Elysian plain s t o which he was
ul t ima t ely t o be carried by t he dea t hless gods accordin g t o
1
Pro t eus
Be t his as it may t here are o t her I magi nary
and roman t ic happy lands in G reek lit era t ure and all are
wha t we should expec t o n t he hypo t hesis ske t ched above :
t here is t he isle o f S yria a t t he t urnin g place o f t he sun
where deat h never en t ers and sickness is unknown ; t here is
t he land of t he H yperboreans ( wes t as well as nor t h ) t o
2
which man never found his way by s ea o r land ; t here are
t he islands o f t he H esperides t he islands o f t he Bles t and
t he dwellings in t he eas t and in t he wes t of t he righ t eous
E t hiopians who once more bring us t o t he neighbourhood
Of Egyp t
F rom t he G reeks t he rumour o f t his wonder
land S pread t o t he C el t s ; and Irish li t era t ure is full o f
3
t ales t elling a s The Voy ag e of B ra n t ells o f a happy island
f rom which t he man who discovers it ca nno t re t urn a n
island in which according t o t he Adven t ures o f Con n la t here
was no dea t h and no s in ; and according t o t he t ale o f
Cuc hulin n s S ick Bed t here are a l l manner o f deligh t s
When however t he wes t er n world has t hus become a mere
wonderland it inevit ably becomes c o n fused wi t h t he far Off
land which also in course o f t ime becomes a merely
roman t ic concep t ion ; and fairy islands and enchan t ed moun
t ains become t he scene o f exac t ly t he same kind o f roman t ic
advent ures
.

'

H omer , 0 d xv 4 0 3
K M eyer, The Voya ge of B ra n , 1 4 2 ;
.

( Ma rch

Pind a r , P y th
Cl a ssica l Revi ew , x
2

cf

x
ii

30

1 2 1
5

C H A PTE R X X I I
TRAN S MI GRATI

THE

ON

OF S

OULS

T HUS fa r we have been engaged in t racing t he evolu t ion of

t he pri m i t ive philosophical t heory o f a ghos t land and have
seen it successively assume t he shapes o f a far Off land an
underground world a wes t ern island o r o t her abode o f t he
blessed a happy o t her world in t he sun or sky un t il a t las t
ghos t s and ghos t land alike are dissolved by an advanced
philosophy in t o t he ocean o f divine essence
It is t ime
t herefore t o recall t o mind t ha t even when t he belie f in
ghos t land rs t arose t here was ano t her view as t o man s
f u t ure s t a t e inconsis t en t indeed b ut coexis t en t never t heless
wi t h t he ghos t land t heory : it was t ha t a f t er dea t h man
rejoined his t o t em and assumed t he shape o f t he plan t o r
animal t ha t he worshipped We have t here f ore now t o
In mos t t he vas t maj ori t y o f
t race t he career of t his view
cases it had no career The people which held t he view
were ei t her progressive o r t hey were n o t
If t hey were n o t
t hen an hyp othes i no developmen t in t heir views t ook place :
t he t wo vie ws as t o t he f u t ure s t a t e remained as amongs t
t he Zulus inconsis t en t and coexis t en t
On t he o t her hand
if t he people were progressive t hen every t hing in t o t emism
t ha t was capable Of b eing t aken up in t o t he higher f orms of
religion which supervened was so t ransformed and t he res t

including t his par t icular f eat ure o f t o t emism lingered on as

a mere survival in t he shape of t ales o f men being changed
in t o animals and in o ut Oi t he way and backward places in
t he belie f t ha t such changes s t ill t ake place
I t may t here
fore seem a t rs t sigh t as t hough in no case could t here be
any developmen t o f t his p a r t icul ar f ea t ure Of t o t emism namely
a belief in t he pos t humous t rans forma t ion o f man in t o a
-

31 4

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

316

cease t o exis t Thus t o t emism con t in ued t o ourish un t il

G reek and R oman t imes in t he ri t es and cus t oms of t he

common people t hough t he re l igion Of t he ruling classes had
more t han hal f e m erged from t he t o t emis t ic s t age even in
t he t ime o f t he earlies t monumen t s
N o w jus t as t he animal names and hal f animal f orms o f
t he gods depic t ed o n t he monumen t s be t ray t heir t o t emis t ic
origin } s o t he represen t at ions Of t he fu t ure s t a t e be t ray t he
exis t ence of a large number o f persons who had n o t y e t cas t
aside t he belief t ha t aft er dea t h t hey would rejoin t he t o t em
in favour of t he newer belief t ha t t hey would go t o t he plains
of A al u The older t o t emis t ic belief mus t have been S hared
a t t his t ime by some propor t ion o f t he more c ul t ured classes
f or we nd from t he monumen t s t ha t as many depar t ed souls
preferred going t o A a l u t o union wi t h O siris so many

preferred and were all owed in t he Opinion of t heir class

B ut wha t m arks t hi s belief as
t o migra t e in t o some animal
differen t from and an advance upon t he simple t o t emis t ic
fai t h is rs t t ha t t he deceased may m i gra t e in t o any animal
he p leased t his was eviden t ly because t here were many
differen t t o t ems and each man would be sure t o choose his
and nex t t ha t it was only t he good who were allowed
o wn
Thus t he re t ribu t ion t heory held by o n e por t ion
t o do t his
of t he communi t y has inuenced and modied t he t o t emism
o f ano t her sec t ion : it is only o n condi t ion Of con f orming t o

f
h
a
high one t ha t t he
t e t ime
t he moral s t andard o
t o t emis t was allowed t o conform t o t he prac t ice o f his
fa t hers and join t hem in animal shape
On t he o t her hand
it is clear t ha t as y e t we have by no means reached me t em
psychosis Le t us go o n
In t he long course o f advancing civil isa t ion t he cul t ured
classes o f ancien t Egyp t all dropped t he belie f t ha t a man
A a l u and O sir is
ough t t o rejoin his t o t em af t er dea t h
t riumphed and t h e belief t ha t souls migra t ed pos t humously
in t o plan t s and animals survived amongs t t he educa t ed
no longer as a religious convic t ion b ut simply as an echo o f
wha t once had been an ordinary t hin g b ut now was sim ply
an inciden t Of romance O f such a romance we have an
example in t he t a le o f Ba t t a con t a ined in a papyrus o f t he
.

S up ra ,

pp

1 2 4 ff

TH E

T R A N S M I GR ATI O N O F S O U LS

317

nine t een t h o r perhaps t he eigh t een t h cen t ury : as Of t en as Ba t t a

is killed in o n e shape he reappears in ano t her a ower a
bull a t ree a man Wi t h t he decay of t o t emism amongs t
t he cul t ured rs t t he moral Obliga t ion t o migra t e in t o t he
t o t em animal had r
elaxed and t he permission t o assum e any
form wha t ever had been ac t ed o n ; and t hen t he belief had
los t it s religio us charac t er and passed in t o t he na t ure o f
romance
Amongs t t he uneduca t ed however t o t emism s t ill c on
t in ue d t o exis t ; and whe t her it wa s t ha t t he ranks of
condemned souls were supposed t o be recrui t ed mos t largely
from amongs t t he uneduca t ed or t ha t t he assumpt ion o f
animal S hape was a t las t t hough t an unwor t hy reward o f
vir t ue t he doc t rine came t o be held t ha t t he wicked soul
w a s sen t enced t o t he various t ormen t s o f hell o r t o wander
like a vampire be t ween heaven and ear t h o r else doomed t o
t ransmigra t e in t o t he bodies o f animals un t il permit t ed t o
1
regain it s original body and undergo a fresh t rial
Thus
in Egyp t t he ar t icial combina t ion o f t he re t ribu t ion t heory
wi t h t o t emism a t las t produced a real t heory of me t em
psychosis ; and for t he purpose o f avoiding confusion be t ween
t he Egyp t ian and t he Indian forms o f t he belief in t he
t ransmigra t ion o f souls it is impor t an t t o no t e t hree t hings :
t he rs t is t ha t it is only t he wicked who are doomed by t he
Egyp t ian t heory t o t ransmigra t ion ; t he nex t is t ha t Egyp t ian
t ransmigra t ion is a circular process t he soul of a m an
migra t es in t o animals birds s h b ut nally re t urns t o it s
human f orm ; t he t hird is t ha t t here is no escape from t he
cycle when once it has s t ar t ed it is only af t er reaching
human form again t ha t t he soul ha s ano t her t rial and ano t her
chance o f becoming an O siris Bearing t hese fac t s in mind
l e t us t urn t o India
A happy o t her world in t he sun o r sky was known in
2
India as early as t he t ime of t he V edas and by t he S ix t h
cen t ury B C an elabora t e hell had been worked o ut by t he
dominan t religion In India t o t emism was t o be f ound ;
3
indeed well marked t races Of it survive t o t he presen t d a y
In India as in Egyp t t he dominan t religion and t he lower
1
iii 3 4 5
N ut t op cit 3 2 0
Sayce E d t i
,

C rooke

Fo l k -L or e

f N orthern

I n d ia ,

c h.

viii

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I ON

318

forms ac t ed and reac t ed on one ano t her wi t h t he resul t t ha t

t he re t ribu t ion t heory of t he former had t o be reconciled
wit h t he belie f o f t he t o t emis t in a pos t humous t rans forma
Thus in
t ion in t o t he shape o f t he plan t o r an im al t o t em
t he Chan d o gy a U panishad we read : Those whose conduc t
has been good will quickly a t t ain some good bir t h bir t h a s
a Br ahm ana or a s a Ksha t riya o r a Vaisya ;
and in t he
K a us t ut a k i Brahmana U panishad
he is born ei t her as
a worm o r a grasshopper o r a sh o r a bird o r a lion or a
boar o r a ser pen t o r a t iger or a man o r some o t her
1
crea t ure according t o his deeds and his knowledge
H ere
we have a genuine t heory o f t ransmigra t ion of souls : t he
s imple t o t emis t belief has been enlarged s o as t o mee t t he
views o f t hose who n o t being t o t emis t s were n o t bound t o
be changed in t o any o n e par t icular animal and man has been
in t rod uced in t o t he lis t o f me t amorphoses B ut t hough in
India as in Egyp t t he t o t emis t fai t h has been generalised
and dissocia t ed from t he t o t em a ni mal and t hough in bo t h
coun t ries t he migra t ing soul may re t urn t o human form here
all resemblance ceases
In Egyp t me t empsychosis was rs t
made a means o f rewarding t he righ t eous exclusively and
t hen exclusively an ins t rumen t fo r punishing t he wicked
B u t in India it was applied t o bo t h good and bad alike : t he
re t ribu t ion t heory was infused in t o me t empsychosis all men
were born again b ut t he good g o t a good bir t h t he bad a
bad o n e accordin g t o t heir deeds and deser t s In t he nex t
place t here was a cycle o f t ransforma t ions in Egyp t wi t h t he
possibili t y o f escape on t he comple t ion o f t he cycle B ut in
India t here was no cycle and no escape : t he good go t a good
bir t h and t hen ha d behaviour migh t cause him t o be reborn

h
lower in t e scale b ut whe t her t he soul behaved well or ill
it always had t o be born again
N ow t o t he pessimis t t he prospec t Of living for ever in
o n e f orm o r ano t her is an evil
I t was a pessim i s t t herefore
G o t ama who revol t ed agains t t he Brah m i nis t doc t rine o f t he
t ransmigra t ion o f souls
G o t ama t he enligh t ened t he
Buddha s t ruck a t t he roo t Of t he t heory he a t t acked by
d enying t he exis t ence of t he so ul al t oge t her he also denied
t he exis t ence o f a G od t herefore t here could be no t rans
,

Rhys

D a vids

H i bber t L ect ure, 8 1

I N T R O D U C TI ON T O H I S TO R Y

320

O F R EL I G I ON

was a cycle o f changes t o be su ffered ; in Buddhism

karma is t ransmi t t ed in a direc t line which may be con t inued
In Egyp t escape is possible only on t he comple
t o inni t y
t ion o f t he cycle and t hen it is rs t condi t ional o n t h e
favourable judgmen t o f t he god O siris and is nex t e ffec t ed
by union wi t h O siris ; whereas in Buddhism which denies
t he exis t ence bo t h o f t he so ul and o f G o d escape nei t her
depends o n divine j udgmen t n or consis t s in t he absorp t ion of
t he soul in t o t he divine essence
In connec t ion wi t h t he t heory of me t empsychosis and
as a preliminary t o o ur inves t igat ion o f t he subjec t o f t he
Mys t eries it remains for us t o give a S hor t accoun t o f
Py t hagoreanism
The unanimous voice o f an t iq ui t y proclaimed t ha t
Py t hagoras ( in t he S ix t h cen t ury B C ) t augh t t he doc t rine
o f t he t ransmigra t ion of souls and wi t h how much t ru t h
may be ques t ioned t ha t he derived t he doc t rine from
Egyp t and t hat he himsel f remembered his experiences in
his previous s t a t es which if t rue would have made it
u n necessary we migh t suppose for him t o learn t he fac t
of t rans m i gra t ion from anyone else Egyp t ian o r o t her
Empedocles a f ollower o f Py t hagoras t a ugh t doub t less in
accord wit h his mas t er s t eaching t ha t t he cause of t rans
migra t ion was S in t ha t t he t erm Of t ransmigra t ion was t hir t y
t housand years t ha t he himself had served t ha t t erm and
t ha t nally his soul like o t hers in t he same case would
1

become a god which indeed it had been from t he beginning

Pindar who was a con t emporary o f Empedocles and picked
up some Py t hagoreanism o n his visit s t o S icily also le t s us
s ee
t ha t it was only t he wicked who were doomed t o
t ransmigra t ion t he good wen t s t raigh t t o a happy o t her
world ; and t ha t af t er t ransmigra t ion and re t urn t o human
f orm t he soul had t o be judged by Persephone and migh t
In qui t e recen t years t here
t hen en t er t he abodes o f bliss
have been discovered in graves near Thurii and Pe t e lia t ha t
is in t he home of Py t h a goreanism t hree golden t able t s
2
bearing inscrip t ions
These inscrip t ions cont ain direc t ions
t o t he deceased Py t hagorean wi t h whom t hey were buried t o
t here

1
2

J evons , His tory

D iet erich

Greek Litera ture,

N eky ia , 8 5

1 05

THE

T R A N S M I GR ATI O N O F S O U L S

321

enable him t o nd his way abou t in t he underworld t hus :

O n t he lef t you will nd a s t ream and near it a whi t e
poplar : go n o t near t ha t s t ream ; you will nd ano t her cool
wa t er owing from t he mere o f Memory ; in front o f it are
guards
S ay I am t he child Of ear t h and s t a rry s k y ; I am
o f heavenly origin as ye yourselves know full well
I am
parched a n d perishing wi t h t hirs t ; give me a t once cool
wa t er owing from t he mere o f Memory and t hey will give
1
you o f t he divine s t ream t o drink
The t able t s were
buried wi t h t he deceased because t hey possessed a magical
power t o direc t and pro t ec t him
The name o f Persephone
occurs o n t w o o f t hem t hus conrming wha t Pindar says ;
t he ca use o f t ransmigra t ion is said t o be s in it s na t ure a
cycle
and t he soul t ha t escapes from t he cycle
becomes a god t hus conrming Empedocles To t his we
mus t add t ha t when t he soul is said t o become a god o r
2
G od and s t ill more when it is said t o be a child o f ear t h
3
and s t arry s k y t he expression was o n e which could be t aken
in t wo senses a religious sense and a philosophical sense I t
could be t aken by t he Py t hagorean t o mean ei t her t ha t his
individual personali t y would be dissolved in t he O ne t he All
t he s k y ; or t ha t his personal iden t i t y would con t inue in a
bli ssful life in a happy o t her world The la t t er is t he view
which commends i t self t o Pindar ( in his second O lympian )
t he former makes i t sel f fel t in Euripides } and is expressed
in t he f uneral inscrip t ion on t he grave o f t he A t henians
B ut t he average man
who f ell a t Po t id aea in B C
did n o t dis t inguish t he t w o views very clearly : whe t her
t he place was t he sky or t he e t her o r O lympus o r Elysium

he did n o t curiously inquire he used all t he t erms

5
conver t ibly
This brief ske t ch will sufce t o sho w t ha t Py t hagoreanism
is very differen t n o t only from Buddhism which is n o t a
belief in t he t ransmigra t ion o f souls b ut also from t he Indian
doc t rine which is
The idea t ha t Py t hagoreanism was
The inscript ion is in K ib l I G S I 6 4 1 d D ie t erich l c cit
,

3
4
5

an

0 6 69 yvo u f d vdpun rov, Ka ib ol , I G S I 6 4 2

'
s lut Ka t o t pa vo i} ao r ep e ur os , Ka ib e l , 6 4 1
i
n
a
s
5
3
7 5

S upp

53 1
a

2 1

C I
.

t he

i 442
v arious funeral inscript ions given in D ie t eric h
5

This is pp ren t from

.

'

106 7
-

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

322

borrowed from India is impossible : it di ff ers f rom t he Indian

doc t rine in all four of it s cardinal poin t s namely t he cause o f
t ransmigra t ion ( s in ) t he na t ure ( a cycle ) t he fac t of escape
N ex t if
an d
t he mode o f escape ( t rial be f ore a dei t y )
Py t hagor eanis m were as independen t in it s origin o f t he
Egyp t ian doc t rine as it is o f t he Indian it ough t t o differ
equ a lly in it s charac t er B ut t he f our poin t s in which it
differs from t he Indian t heory are four poin t s (n o t t he only
poin t s ) in which it is iden t ical wit h t he Egypt ian
This
combined wi t h t he t radi t ion o f an t iqui t y t ha t Py t hagoras
deri ved his doc t rine f rom Egyp t wo ul d su f ce t o prove it s
Egypt ian origin B ut t here are fur ther resemblances
The
Egyp t ian philosophy which t augh t t ha t t he soul re t urns t o
t he divine essence from which it sprang is reproduced in t he
Py t hagorean t eaching t ha t t he soul emana t ed from and
nally re t urns t o t he e t her t he s t arry sky
And jus t a s
t he Egyp t ian philosophers adop t ed religious t erminology t o
convey t heir specula t ions and t augh t t ha t t o become G od
or a god O siris or an O siris was t he same t hing as being
merged in t he divine essence so Py t hagoreanism t augh t
was t he same
t ha t f o r t he soul t o become 6e o s o r 861 6} t
t hing as for it t o dissolve in t o e t her o r in t o t he s t arry s k y
B ut even gran t ing t ha t
which it was t he o ffspring
Of
Py t hagoras could and did inven t o u t o f his own head a
t heory exac t ly resembling in it s cardinal poin t s a doc t rine
which in Egyp t was t he resul t o f slow cent uries o f e vol u
t ion s t il l we mus t t hink it s t range t ha t t he minor de t ail s
and non essen t ial accessories should be t he same Le t us
illus t ra t e t his poin t
In t he Py t hagorean inscrip t ion already
quo t ed t he depar t ed soul is represen t ed as anxiously eager
N0 such anxie t y is ever
t o drink o f cool owin g wa t er
expressed in li t era t ure as far as I am aware by any G reek
1
B ut in t he
ghos t n o t holding Py t h agorean doc t rines
2
inscript ions o n t ombs in ancien t Egyp t t he deceased
commonly prays f o r t his lus t ral wa t er This may however
be a for t uit ous agreemen t f or liba t ions o f wa t er are O ffered
in ances t or worship by t he H indus B ut t he H indus did n o t
,

(0d

I n H omer , g hos t s

a re

o ffered w a t er ( 0 d x
.

xi
F or e x mples see Renouf
.

b ut t hey

H ibbert L ec tu re, 1 2 7
41

prefer blood

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

3 24

Py t hagorean was f orced in despair t o clu t ch a t a t ex t in

H esiod which t augh t n o t t ha t men b ut t ha t gods were rs t
1
crea t ed from t he union Of Ear t h and S ky
Again in Egyp t
it was righ t t ha t t he supreme god O siris should judge t he
depar t ed ; and he could properly be presen t in t he ne t her
world because t he Egyp t ians believed t ha t he t he s un
In Greece
t ravelled every nigh t t hrough t he underworld
however Zeus t he supreme god had no t hing t o do wi t h t he
ne t her world ; t he g o d H ades w as already appropria t ed t o
s o t he Py t hagorean had t o be
t he Old dreary ghos t land
con t en t wi t h Persephone as t he deit y who regul a t ed ad m ission
Again t he idea t ha t so uls had any
t o t he abodes o f bliss
where t o go t o excep t t o t he Old cheerless sun less ghos t land
was absolut ely unknown t o t he G reeks SO in order t o
form a concep t ion o f an abode o f bliss f o r t he righ t eous dead
Pindar a n d o t her poe t s drew upon t he descrip t ions o f Elysium
2
and t he for t una t e isles con t ained in epic poe t ry ; and t hus
even t ually t he plains Of Elysium came t o be wha t in G reece
t hey had never been be fore namely t he abode o f t he dead
In ne t here is no t hing in Py t hagoreanism which is n o t
t o be found in t he religion o f ancien t Egyp t ; and t here
is much which is unin t elli gible if t aken by i t sel f b ut is a t
once seen t o have a meanin g when res t ored t o t he Egyp t ian
con t ex t from which it was t aken The doc t rine which in
Egyp t t ook cen t uries t o develop c an no t have been inven t ed
in Magna G raec ia by o n e man t hough o n e man migh t well
bring back from Egyp t a mix t ure of t he leading doc t rines and
some unimpor t an t accessories and in t roduce t hem in t he

form Of a mys t ery in t o his o wn coun t ry Again t he

t heory Of t he t ransmigra t ion o f souls is n o t a simple b ut a
complex idea I t is n o t an idea which could spring up
wherever t o t em i sm exis t ed else it would be as widespread
as are t he animal and half animal gods which t o t emism has
everywhere lef t behind it Me t empsychosis is a complex
idea it is a combina t ion o f t he re t ribu t ion t heory wi t h a
t he

The phr se in

ac r ep be vr o s,

is from

Py t h a gore a n

t he

H esiod , Theog 1 0 5

inscrip t ion

S up ra ,

pp

P 739

7 :

r a ts

of

"

d d a vd r wv iepc w y uo s a cv vr wu,
f ey uozl r o Ka i Opa uo i) d a r e be vr os
p

3 1 2, 3 1 3

s lut

Ka t

ot

pa uo

TH E

T R A N S M I GR ATI O N O F S O U L S

325

living belie f in t he t rans forma t ion of men in t o animals ; and

t his combina t ion is o n e which could n o t have t ak e n p la c e in
Magna G ras cia because nei t her Of t he elemen t s o f which t he
t heory is composed was in exis t ence t here
To t emism had
been t ransmu t ed in t o a higher form Of belief even in
Mycen aean t imes ; t he re t ribu t ion t heory was as y e t unknown
In t he t ime o f H omer and H esiod t he souls of all men good
and bad alike wen t t o one and t he same place t he unde r
ground ghos t land Even af t er t heir t ime t here I s no hin t
o f any di fference in t he fu t ure s t a t e o f t he good and o f t he
bad un t il t he t ime o f t he Py t hagorean and o t her mys t eries ;
and t hen such re f erences are always made in connec t ion wi t h
t he mys t eries and as par t o f t he doc t rine t augh t a t t he
mys t eries
Why t his should be and why t he re t ribu t ion
t heory should have begun t o s t ir t h e minds bo t h o f t he
G reeks and o f t he Jews abou t t he same t ime i e from t he
t ime of t he C ap t ivi t y o f t he Jews onwards are t he ques t ions
t o which we mus t address ourselves in t he nex t chap t er
Le t us t herefore s um up and conclude t his
There are cer t ain elemen t s of t he belief in a fu t ure world
t ha t recur s o cons t an t ly and under such di fferen t circum
s t ances in t he various religions which we have examined in
t his chap t er t ha t we mus t regard t hem as la t en t in t he
human mind and ready t o manif es t t hemselves whenever t he
condi t ions requisi t e t o evoke t hem are brough t in t o play
They are , t ha t t he soul con t inues t o exis t aft er dea t h t ha t it s
fa t e t hen depends upon it s deeds in t his life t ha t it mus t
undergo a t ransforma t ion o f some kind and rej oin t he objec t
it s worship
of
1 11 t w o o f t he religions t ha t we have
men t ioned t hose o f t he G reeks and t he Jews t hese elemen t s
had n o t been sy n t hesised befo re t he six t h cen t ury and we
have y e t t o s e e whet her and how fa r t hey were combined
subsequen t ly In o t her f e ligio n s e g t hose of India and o f
Egyp t t he syn t hesis had been e ffec t ed t o some ex t en t ; b ut
t ha t t he syn t hesis was n o t o n e which could permanen t ly
recommend it sel f as sa t isfac t ory t o t he religious consciousness
is demons t ra t ed by t h e fac t o f it s leading in t he o n e coun t ry
t o t he Buddhis t denial o f t he exis t ence bo t h of t he soul and
of G od and in t he o t her t o a pan t heism which equally denied
personal immor t ali t y
If we seek for reasons why t hese

3 2 6 I NT RO D UC TI O N

H I S TO R Y

TO

OF RE

LI G I O N

a t t emp t s failed t o produce a fait h capable o f sa t isfyin g t he

religious consciousness t he rs t fac t t ha t s t rikes us is t ha t
While t he con t inuance t heory was
t hey were prema t ure
s t ill so s t rong in it s hold upon t he minds o f men t ha t t hey
could conceive no fut ure lif e excep t as an ex ac t reproduc t ion
t h e re t ribu t ion
o f t he condi t ions and ac t ivit ies of t his life
t heory was fused wit h it s o t ha t t he rewards and punish
men t s were pic t ur ed in t he grosses t and mos t ma t eriali s t ic
fashion
O n t he o t her hand before t he belief t ha t man
mus t undergo a pos t humous t ransforma t ion had been
dissociat ed from t he idea of t rans forma t ion in t o animal o r
plan t form it was infused wi t h t he re t ribu t ion t heory s o t ha t
t he soul could n o t escape from a ma t erial body o n t his view
any more t han from it s ma t erial occupa t ions and deligh t s o n
A fur t her reason why t hese a t t emp t s failed t o
t he o t her
sa t is fy t he religious consciousness is t ha t t hey did n o t proceed
from it : t hey were in t heir origin t he spec ul a t ions o f
primit ive philosophy
They were indeed adop t ed in t o
religion b ut in t he case bo t h of India and Egyp t t hey were
fa t al t o it The a ft er dea t h communion wi t h G o d which
t hey O ffered was ei t her purely formal and ex t ernal as mus t
be t he case when t here are many gods fo r t he soul t o mee t ;
or absolu t e absorp t ion and ex t inc t ion
Tha t communion
during life was a t once a condi t ion and an an t icipa t ion of
wha t was t o be hereaf t er was a concep t ion which could n o t
arise where sacrice had degraded in t o t he giving o f some
t hing in order t o g e t more
In o t her words no religious
syn t hesis o f t he elemen t s o f belie f in a fu t ure s t a t e could be
e ffec t ed as long as o n t he o n e hand t ha t belief was o u t o f
rela t ion t o t he cen t ral a c t o f worship t he sacricial meal ;
o r as long o n t he o t her hand as t he sacramen t al charac t er
o f t ha t ac t was obscured
We h a ve t here fore t o consider in
t he nex t chap t er how f a r t hese t w o condi t ions were fullled
by t he religious movemen t s amongs t t he G reeks and Jews
f ro m t he six t h cen t ury B C onwards
,

328

I N T R O D UC T I O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

necessarily new religions for in t hem t he

gods o f t he na t ion migh t s t ill be worshipped t hough
old
They can scarcely be called sec t s even f or
wi t h new ri t es
t heir members were n o t required t o give up t he ordinary
heredi t a ry worship o f t he s t a t e t o which t hey belonged B ut
t he idea was n o w f or t he rs t t ime expressed in ac t ion t ha t
a man could belong t o a religious communi t y which w as
dis t inc t from t he s t at e The possibili t y o f choice be t ween
t he worship t o which he was born and ano t her was now
be f ore him F reedom of choice en t ails personal responsibili t y
for t he choice made and makes it necessary t ha t t he man
should decide be t ween compe t ing claims in t he t ribunal o f
his o wn heart and conscience
S uch reec t ion and judgmen t
in ma t t ers religious even t ually deprive a t radi t ional and
heredit ary religion of much o f t he advan t age which in it s
compe t i t ion wi t h newer forms it derives from t he fac t t ha t
it is heredi t ary and t radi t ional ; and t he habi t o f reec t ion
even if it nds none o f t he newer forms accep t able canno t
fail t o reveal some o f t he weak poin t s in t he Older Thus
t he innova t ions o f t he six t h cen t ury in course Of t ime
con t ribu t ed t heir share t o t he disin t egra t ion o f t he an t ique
religions and t o t he prepara t ion o f t he soil for t he recep t ion
o f C hris t iani t y ; and no o n e who reec t s how grea t is t he
s t reng t h Of cus t om and t radi t ion and ho w slow is t he grow t h
o f t he cri t ical facul t y
will consider t he t ime t o o long fo r
t he e ff ec t
Ra t her t he marvel is rs t t ha t a new form o f
religious communion sho ul d ever have arisen and nex t t ha t
it should have been allowed by t he dominan t religions t o
exis t for so long These t hen are t he t w o poin t s t ha t we
mus t begin wi t h
The new movemen t had it s origin in t he S emit ic area of
t he ancien t civilised world and in t he na t ional calami t ies
which be fell t he N or t hern S emi t es in t he seven t h and six t h
1
cen t uries B C
The s t reng t h o f t he na t ional religions o f
an t iquit y la y largely in t he f ac t t ha t t hey were na t i o nal
B ut in t ha t fa c t t here also lurked t he possibili t y of danger
As long as t he na t ion prospered t he rela t ions be t ween t he
na t ional gods and t heir worshippers were t aken t o be
sa t isfac t ory ; b ut when poli t ica l disas t er over t ook t he s t a t e
were

n ot

always

or

Rober t son Smi t h , Re l ig i o

f the S em ites

no

3 5 7 ff

TH E

329

M YS T E R I E S

t he

inference was t ha t t he na t ional gods were unwilling or

unable t o pro t ec t t heir worshippers The worshipper migh t
t here fore seek t o aver t t he divine wra t h o r he migh t seek t o
ee it ; b ut eit her course was bound t o in t roduce modicat ions
in t o t he na t ional religion and t o mark a new depar t ure fo r
in ei t her case t he worshipper sough t for closer commun ion
whe t her wi t h t he na t ional o r o t her and more powerful gods
The consequences o f t he closer a t t en t ion t hus concen t ra t ed
on
t he fac t s o f t he religious consciousness and t h e inner
revela t ion t hereby gained were t wofold F irs t in t he place
o f t he gloomy an t icipa t ions o f a dismal abode af t er dea t h in
S heol a condence and hopefulness wi t h regard t o t he
f u t ure li fe began t o m anifes t t hemselves which nd t heir
1
in t he
highes t expression wit h ex t raordinary S plendour
Psalms The second consequence was o n e which a ffec t ed
in various ways and degrees t he concep t ion and performance
o f t he cen t ral ri t e o f religio n t h e a c t o f sacrice
Amongs t t he H e bre w S t he e ff ec t produced upon t he
more spiri t ual minds t ook t he form o f t he convic t ion t ha t
animal sacrice was valueless and meaningless The gif t
t heory o f sacrice t he idea t ha t t he worshipper presen t ed
O ff erings in re t urn for which h e wa s en t i t led t o receive
bless ings already s t ood condemned N ow it became clear
t ha t communion wi t h G o d was n o t t o be e ff ec t ed by t he
blood o f bulls and rams o r by any physical mechanical
means ; and t he necessi t y o f t he sacrice o f a broken and
con t rit e spirit wa s inculca t ed This however did n o t sa t isfy
t he yearni ngs Of t hose whose fai t h required fo r it s suppor t
t he performance o f some ou t ward and visible a c t o f worship
They fel t a s men always have fel t t ha t sacrice t o be real
t o be per f ec t and comple t e mus t be in some sense ex t ernal
They were warned by t heir na t ional
t hemselves
to
calami t ies t he t okens o f divine wra t h t ha t t he sacrices
which t hey had cus t omarily O ffered were n o t a n adequat e
B ut t he N or t hern S emit es were
means o f communion
incapable o f risin g t o t he heigh t o f t he more spiri t ual minds
amongs t t he H ebrews and o f cas t ing aside animal sacrice ;
and t hey followed a via m ed ia
The cus t omary sacrices
t hey abandoned and t hey sough t for o t her forms o f sacrice
.

Mr

G la ds t one

in t he N orth A m erica n

Review for

Ma rch

1 8 96

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

330

unusual ex t raordinary and t herefore presumably more

po t en t
S uch sacrices owing t o t he uneven ra t e a t which
religion progresses in differen t dis t ric t s were for t hcoming
Even where religion generally had advanced far beyond t he
s t age of animal worship survivals o f such worship were t o be
f ound here and t here in o ut of
t he way and backward places
G enerally all t ha t was lef t of t he religious respec t paid t o
t he original animal g o d was a vague feelin g t ha t t he
crea t ure was n o t t o be t ouched by man was unclean
B ut a t some obscure sanc t uaries and in some unprogressive
rit uals t he animal s t ill con t inued t o be o ffered in sacrice ;
and t hough t he fac t t ha t t he animal had once been a g o d
migh t have disappeared from memory t he sacrice o f an
animal almos t universally held t o be unclean would be
deemed mys t erious by all and by some even O ff ensive I t
was t herefore t o such abomina t ions as t he sacrice o f dogs
swine mice and horses t ha t t he N or t hern S emit es resor t ed
in order t o aver t t he divine wra t h In some cases t his
revival of ancien t modes o f religion was carried s t ill f ur t her ;
and a direc t reversion t o t he primi t ive concep t ion o f sacrice
produced a new form Of religious communi t y Where t he
bond o f blood rela t ionship is t he only t ie which holds a
communi t y t oge t her such expressions as t ha t t he t ribesmen
are o f o n e blood o r one esh are unders t ood li t erally in t he
mos t concre t e physical sense ; and it is t o t he j oin t meals of
t he cla nsmen as much as t o t heir common origin t ha t t his
physical uni t y o f t he kin is ascribed To t he Arab t he life
of t he s t ranger who par t a kes o f his meal is for a t ime a t
a n ra t e
f
on e
h
o
sacred
because
f
o
r
ime
he
becomes
t
t
e
y
blood wi t h him The same view as t o t he e ffec t o f commen
s a l it
eon a rrea tio
is
bo
om
R
oman
and
is
o
f
h
e
a
t
h
t
t
t
t
e
y
f
implied in t he G reek worship o f Zeus X e n io s
In t he case
o f t he sacricial meal t h e
bond crea t ed be t ween t he par
t ic ip a n t s was one of peculiar f orce and s a nc t i t y because
a l l became par t akers in t he divine lif e o f t he sacred animal
This concep t ion ha d indeed as a r ule been obli t era t ed in
course of t ime by t he grow t h o f t he gif t t heory o f sacrice
and t he degrada t ion o f t he animal from it s original sanc t i t y
t o t he level o f a mere cha t t el
B u t t he spread o f t he gi f t
t heory had n o t been s o uni form o r s o comple t e as en t irely
,

332

I N T R O D U C TI ON TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

which even t ually in Egyp t led t o t he denial of in di vidual

immor t ali t y and in India t o t he Buddha s denial of t he
exis t ence o f t he soul a t all B ut t hough hopefulness as t o
t he f u t ure world was now associa t ed wi t h and condi t ional on
spiri t ual communion in t his lif e t he a t t emp t t o bring t he
religious belief in t he fu t ure life in t o rela t ion wi t h t he
cen t ral ri t e o f religion sacrice was eit her n o t made or was
made prema t urely Where animal sacrice was discarded
no ex t ernal sacricial ri t e wa s lef t wi t h which t he belief
could be connec t ed Where mys t ic sacrices were revived
t he belief was indeed associa t ed wi t h t he ri t e b ut t he
associa t ion was prema t ure because t he ri t e i t self had no
permanen t vi t ali t y : t he reversion t o mys t ic sacrices merely
escaped from t he error o f t he gif t t heory t o fall in t o a
recrudescence of barbarous rit ual ac t s such a s t hose o f
dismemberin g t he divine animal and drinking it s blood
The wave o f religious revivalism which ha d it s cen t re
o f di ffusion in t he S emi t ic area was speedily propaga t ed over
t he G reek ci t ies o f As ia Minor over H ellas i t s elf and
nally over I t aly The widespread convic t ion amongs t t he
N or t hern S emit es t ha t divine wra t h could be aver t ed by
ex t raordinary piacular sacrices was one easily commun ica t ed
and readily picked up and conveyed t o G reece by in di viduals
And it was prob a bly in t he form o f p uric a t o ry ceremonies
and sacrices t ha t t he new m ovemen t rs t t ravelled t o
G reece Thus it was from C re t e t ha t t he At henians for
1
ins t ance in B C 5 9 6 summoned Epimenides t o purify t heir
ci t y when t hey wished t o cleanse t hemselves from t he
pollu t ion caused by t he murder o f Cyl o n s fo l lowers a t t he
al t ars of t he gods
H e ordered sheep black and whi t e t o be
driven in all direc t ions from t he Acropolis ; and when t hey
had wandered as fa r as t hey would t h ey were t o be sacriced
wherever t hey lay down ; and t he al t ars on which t hey were
t o be immola t ed were n o t t o be dedica t ed t o any known god
2
by name b ut simply t o t he proper dei t y
H ence long af t er
al t ars migh t be found in various places in A t t ica which bore
no ded ica t io n a n d were t herefore popularly kno wn as t he
nameless al t ars or as al t ars o f t he unkno wn gods
t ion

1
3

ris t o t l e

T93

At

po a rj xo vn

n o)!

0.

D ic y L ee rt
.

110

an d

112

TH E

It

M YS T ER I ES

333

was however n o t only ci t ies t ha t required purica t ion

from pollu t ion ; priva t e individuals also migh t need t o be
reconciled wit h t he o ffended gods ; and minis t ers t o t heir
S piri t ual wan t s were for t hcoming t hough t hey have n o t
like Epimenides or Empedocles aft er him bequea t hed t heir
names t o pos t eri t y
C ollec t ively t hey were known as
ay yr tas a G reek subs t a n t ive derived f rom a verb } meaning
t o b eg alms o r make a collec t ion in order t o de fray t he expense
o f t he sacrice which was an essen t ial par t o f t heir mys t eries
The agyrtes pro f essed by means o f his ri t es t o puri fy men
f rom t he sins t hey had t hemselves commi t t ed o r from an
ances t ral curse o r heredit ary guil t and s o t o secure t o t hose
whom he puried an exemp t ion f rom t he evil l o t in t he nex t
world which awai t ed t hose who were n o t ini t ia t ed The
ag yr tes t ravelled from ci t y t o ci t y wi t h his appara t us a pile
of sacred books a t ame serpen t a drum a ches t a magic
2

m irror e t c
laden on a donkey s back
Arrived a t his
t emporary des t ina t ion he pi t ched his t en t which also was
carried by t he donkey and in which t he mys t eries were t o
be celebra t ed ; and t hen wi t h a t t endan t s t o carry a por t able

3
shrine i e a minia t ure t emple o n a salver o r board
and
t o bea t t he drum he proceeded t o parade t he s t ree t s in
procession he himself dancing ecs t a t ically t o t he sound o f
t he drum and ei t her carrying t he sacred serpen t o r else
gashing his legs or cu t t ing his t ongue t ill t he blood owed
}
from it
Thus he succeeded in a t t rac t ing a crowd which
he drew aft er him t o his t en t where t hose who chose c on
s ul t e d him
and by t he aid o f his books and his magic
mirror which probably he used in t he same way as it is
used in Egyp t a t t he presen t day he replied t o t hem
B ut in all t his t here was no t hin g t o make any such
permanen t change in G reek religion as did ac t ually follow
upon t his invasion o f G reece by O rien t al ri t es
The
calamit ies which be f ell G reek s t a t es were a t t his t ime merely
casual n o t ca t as t rophic a s in t he S emi t ic area ; and t here
,

d y e (pe w

"

vo s

d y u u ,u va 'r n
pt a , Ar Frogs , 1 5 9
1 27
Su
t he
.

c h were
silver shrines
v 6
of D ia na
es
9 ;
po in I gn a t ius t
an d for a pic t ure o f t h em S chreiber Ku l this t B ild era t l a s xvii 1 0
4 L uci n Luci us 3 5
a
3

am

2
Ch
u
rc
h
i
n
t
h
e
R
o
m
an
E
m
e
s y,
pi r ,
of Ac t s xix C f t he 0 o 6pot an d

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I STO RY O F R E L I G I O N

3 34

was t herefore no permanen t demand fo r t he services o f such

men as Epimenides and Empedocles
O n t he o t her hand
t he ag yrtoe were i t ineran t and t heir minis t ra t ions in t er
mi t t en t
In a word t o accoun t fo r t he permanen t changes
wrough t in G reece by t he wave o f revivalism which spread
f rom t he N or t hern S emi t es over H ellas it is Obvious rs t
t ha t t here mus t have been some more permanen t mo t ive a t
work upon t he G reek mind t han t he fear inspired by casual
poli t ical di sas t ers and nex t t ha t t here mus t have been some
more s t a t ionary and permanen t organisat ion for t he propaga
t ion Of t he new movemen t t han was provided by t he i t ineran t
and in t ermit t en t agency of t he ag yrtoe N ow t he G reek wi t h
his j oyous na t ure had no abiding sense o f Sin and if he
welcomed t he s t range sacrices and s t irring ri t es f rom t he
Eas t it was par t ly because t here was in t hem t he promise
o f a more sa t isfac t ory sacramen t t han t he gif t s a c ri c es o f t he
t radi t ional religion provided and par t ly because t hey opened
up a brigh t er and more hopeful view o f t he life aft er dea t h
I t is beyond doub t t ha t o t her and less wor t hy mo t ives were
als o a t work : love phil t res charms f or bewit ching enemies
and S pells generally were bo t h demanded and supplied ; and
for t he agyrtes who supplied t hem an i t ineran t life was a
necessi t y if only f or t he sake of escaping de t ec t ion and
exposure B ut wi t h t he agy rtes who se t t led deni t ely in one
place founded a permanen t religious associa t ion and so ga ve
a guaran t ee o f earnes t ness and fai t h in his mission t he case
is differen t and it is wi t h him t ha t we now have t o deal
1
Am ongs t t he religious associa t ions o f t he G reeks
t here
were cert ain socie t ies known variously as thias i era n i o r
o rg eon es t he cons t i t u t ion o f which is fairly well known t o us
from inscrip t ions ( usually vo t es of t hanks t o t he o fcials )
The inscrip t ions do n o t carry us fur t her back t han t he fourt h
cen t ury B C b ut we have plen t y o f lit erary evidence o f t he
exis t ence o f t hese associa t ions in t he f t h cen t ury and thias i
are recognised even as early as B C 5 9 4 in t he legisla t ion o f
S olon as legal socie t ies t he bye laws o f which were acknow
ledged and en fo rced by t he s t a t e so far as t hey were n o t
2
in coni c t wi t h t he law o f t he land
These thia si were
.

wh at fol lows see F oucart Des A ss oci a tion s

2
G ardner an d J evons Greek A ntiq ui ties 5 6 0

For

Re l igi euses chez l es G r ecs

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

336

t he

necessary in
law cour t s b ut whose power is o t herwise
vague and was probably ra t her ho n oric t han real ; and
cer t ain ofcials some t imes called ep iscop i some t imes ep im eletee }
who in some places had t he righ t o f convoking t he assembly
and in o t hers shared t he func t ions o f t he t reasurer or t he
secre t ary A ll t hese O f cials were so t o S peak civil O fcers
and were elec t ed by t he vo t es Of t he assembly The religious
f unc t ions were discharged by a pries t pries t ess o r s a c ric e rs 2

l
o
t
a recognised mode o f consul t ing t he
who were chosen by
divine will The du t ies o f t he pries t (o r pries t ess ) were t o
conduc t t he sacrices and t he ri t es t o open and close t he
t emple a t t h e proper t imes t o preside over t he purica t ion
and init ia t ion o f members and t o celebra t e t he mys t eries f or
The funds Of
t he perf ormance Of which t he socie t y exis t ed
t he socie t y were devo t ed rs t t o t he purchase and main t enance
3
o r sacred enclosure con t aining a t emple a hall
o f a sanc t uary
in which t o hold t he sacred banque t and o t her buildings nex t
t o de fraying t he cos t o f t he mon t hly sacrices ; t hird t o t he
paymen t of salaries ; and las t n o t unfrequen t ly t o t he burial
These s o cie t ies were usually in deb t o r
o f deceased members
in danger Of it and t he t reasurer ( who was when t he socie t y
could s o con t rive it a man o f means and generosi t y ) n o t
uncommonly came t o t he rescue of t he socie t y wi t h his priva t e
purse When t he poorer members were assis t ed by t he socie t y
it was n o t as a ma t t er o f chari t y b ut on t he principle o f a
mu t ual bene t socie t y : t he money was advanced o n securi t y
and had t o be repaid by t he borrower On t he o t her hand
an inscrip t ion recen t ly published shows t ha t t he poorer
members o f a socie t y were some t imes chari t ably assis t ed by
4
t he weal t hier
The cons t it u t ion o f t hese societ ies as described in t he
las t paragraph is Obviously modelled on t he republican
ins t i t u t ions which prevailed in many of t he G reek s t a t es
Of t he f our t h cen t ury B C and canno t be earlier t han t ha t
period In previous t imes it mus t have been di fferen t and
-

to xon o z, m uehrrra t,

Tue vos
I ns o
0 orp

a lso

/ 5m m o r
(n x

Aoy w r a l

2
.

l epon ozo t

A ttic a ru m

xew 7 63V 5 6 50 11 6 v
at
t a B C 1 59
5

on xo bs ,uer

Onu

ion is n ot l er h n

iv ii
.

6 2 4b,

12

p bun

o ev

56

'
O
in rO 63 p ye cbvwv I ha upc61rwm

Ka i

The i

n s c ri

TH E

3 37

M YS T E R I E S

na t urally much simpler Probably in t he beginning t here

was only one o fcial t he pries t : t he nances o f t he socie t y
were n o t so great as t o require a t reasurer nor it s archives s o
ex t ensive as t o call f o r a secre t ary I t was only wit h t he
grow t h o f t he socie t y if it did grow ( fo r many o f t hese
associa t ions probably never g o t beyond a rudimen t ary s t age
o f exis t ence
h
ha
h
number
o
f
members
increased
t
t
t
e
t
e
)
revenues swelled and t he expenses of t he rit ual developed
so
much t hat t he pries t became u n able t o manage t he
whole and t ha t a division o f labour became necessary
1
be t ween a secre t ary t reasurer president and pries t
The
ease and simplici t y wit h which an agyrtes could found o n e
of
t hese associa t ions in t heir simples t form may be seen
f rom an inscrip t ion } which t hough it is in da t e as la t e as
t he second cen t ury o f our era is y e t probably in spiri t and
essen t ials t rue t o it s t ype The inscrip t ion was discovered
in 1 8 6 8 near t he silver mines Of La ureion 1n Att ica and
it S hows how t he worship o f an O rien t al deit y in t his case
M n Ty ran n o s ( i e t he S overeign Moon ) migh t be in t roduced
in t o G reece The worship o f M n was widely spread over
Asia M inor : t he image of t he god gures o n t he coins o f
nearly all t he t owns o f Ph rygia Lydia and Pisidia as well
as o n some o f t he monumen t s o f Pamphylia C aria and
Thrace The au t hor o f t he inscrip t ion was a Lycian slave
workin g in t he mines for his owner a R oman proprie t or ;
and it was t he god M n himself who in a vision o r dream
bade Xan t hos es t ablish his cul t : I Xan t hos a Lycian
belonging t o C aius Orb ius have consecra t ed t he t emple o f
M n Ty ran n o s in con formi t y wi t h t he wil l o f t he god
To erec t a t emple was an under t aking beyond t he resources
whi ch X an t hos had a t his disposal s o he simply appropria t ed
a deser t ed hero On and adap t ed it t o his own purposes As
f ounder and pries t o f t he cul t he himsel f composed and
engraved ( as t he s t yle and spellin g suf cien t ly show ) t he
law of t he new cul t
In it he laid down t he condit ions
under which t he t emple migh t be used sacrices o ffered

and era n i o r banque t s held : n o o n e who was unclean

migh t approach t he t emple sacrices migh t n o t be O ff ered
wit hou t t he c o opera t ion o f t he founder X an t hos and in
.

F ouca r t
2 2

26

2
.

NO 38
.

in F o uc art

op

c it .

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

338

case of his dea t h or absence his funct ions could only be

1
di scharged by someone nomina t ed by him in person

The law t hus laid down by Xan t hos was probably

somewha t simpler t han t ha t which f ormed t he basis o f
Pla t o t alks o f t he piles of books which
t he earlies t thia s i
2
i t ineran t ag yrtee carried abou t wi t h t hem and t hey were
doub t less handed down by t he original founder o f a thia s us
These books con t ained as we learn from
t o his successors
Pla t o ins t ruc t ions as t o t he ri t ual t o be Observed in sacrice ;
and according t o D emos t henes } it wa s from such sacred
books belonging t o t he t hias us o f S abazios t ha t ZEs c hin e s
read t he formul ae which had t o be recit ed during t he p uri
ca t ion and init ia t ion o f t hose who wished t o be admit t ed t o
t hese mys t eries
In t hese priva t e mys t eries as in t he public mys t eries
which we shall have t o describe hereaf t er we have t o
dis t inguish be t ween t he preliminary ceremonies o f purica t ion
and prepara t ion and t he act ual rit e for t he celebra t ion o f
which t he religious organisa t ion public o r priva t e exis t ed
F o r t he priva t e mys t eries we g e t o ur in forma t ion mainly
The
f rom t he passage of D emos t henes alre a dy referred t o
exac t order o f proceedings t he precise ac t s t o be performed
by t he no vice his very a t t i t ude and ges t ure a t each s t age
Of t h e proceedings seem t o have been prescribed in t he ri t ual
book ; and t he func t ion of t he you t hful [ Es c hin e s was t o
read o ut t hese ins t ruc t ions s o t ha t t he novice migh t know
wha t nex t t o do The rs t s t ep in t he preliminary ceremony
was t o place t he can di da t e under t he pro t ect ion o f t he
god and t his was done by t hrowing a fawn s k in round him
In t his a c t we no t e t he survival o r revival of one o f t he
Oldes t belie fs connec t ed wi t h animal worship namely t ha t t he
anima l god may reside in t he skin o f t he animal jus t as
a t ree god may reside in t he bough of a t ree In t his fai t h
t o t em t ribes on solemn occasions clo t he t hemselves in t he
skin Of t he t o t em animal and more advanced peoples made
idols Of animal gods by s t u fng t he hide or la t er ( as in G reece )
4
clo t hed a human shaped idol wi t h t he skin
When t he
.

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37

IN T R O D U C T I O N T O HI S TO RY

340

RELI G I O N

OF

fra t erni t y uni t ed by a mys t ic bond with his fellow worshippers

A s such it became his du t y t o promo t e t he in t eres t s o f t he
associa t ion t o gain new members fo r it and t o ex t end it s
inuence H e t herefore t ook par t in t he procession o f t he
socie t y which paraded t he s t ree t s in order t o a t t rac t fresh
f ollowers a n d wearing a garland o f fennel o r poplar and
bearing t he sacred cis t o r t he mys t ic winnowing fa n o r
carrying a t ame serpen t in bo t h hands above his head h e
danced w ildly along t es t ifyin g t o his membership by shriek
ing t he words Evoe S aboe ! H y s At t s ! At t es H y s ! B ut
t his me t hod o f prosely t ising was probably limi t ed t o t he
poorer and more s t ruggling associat ions which co ul d n o t
a ff ord t o build t emples b ut m e t in t he priva t e house of on e
of t he weal t hier members o r of t he promo t er o f t he organisa
t ion and did n o t o e r sacrice o f animals b ut par t ook o f
sacred wafers or cakes such as came t o f urnish for t h t he
sacramen t al meal bo t h in t he N ew World and t he O ld when
1
cereal gods t ook t heir place by t he side o f animal gods
In spit e of t he fac t n o t only t ha t t hese priva t e
mys t eries were Open t o all b ut also t ha t t he mos t s t renuous
e ffor t s were made by t he members t o ob t ain t he larges t
possible number o f adheren t s t hese associa t ions a t t he bes t
were sec t s and narrow ones ; and as such t hey were exposed
t o t he same dangers as are all sec t s t ha t is t o say being
wi t hdrawn by t he na t ure o f t he case from t he sane and
heal t hy ac t ion o f public Opin ion t hey were liable t o run in t o
ex t ravagance and excess The danger was in t his case all
t he grea t er because t he essence and t he a t t rac t ion of t he ri t es
which t hese associa t ions were formed t o celebra t e lay in t he
fac t t ha t t he ri t ual was di fferen t from t ha t o f t he ordinary
cul t was s t range unusual mys t erious and t herefore more
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THE M Y

S TE R I E S

34 1

po t en t as ri t ual Again t he very obj ec t o f t he s t rangeness

o f t hese n e w ri t es o f t he whirling dances t he frenzied shrieks
and t he s t reams o f blood which owed over t he devo t ees as
t hey scourged or gashed t heir limbs o r t heir t ongues was
t o work upon t he worshipper s emo t ions un t il he had n o
con t rol over t hem and wa s swep t away by t he t ide o f ecs t asy
which was shared as he saw by his fellow worshippers
Add t o t his t ha t an essen t ial fea t ure of t hese revivalis t ri t es
consi t ed in re t urning t o t he primi t ive fashion of o ffering t he
solemn and awful sacrice o f t he t o t em god by nigh t and
we shall unders t and t ha t t hese priva t e mys t eries were bo t h
morally and spiri t ually a t t he bes t in a s t a t e o f uns ta ble
equili brium and migh t easily lapse int o t he excesses and
debauchery which a t t ended t he spread o f t he B a c c an alia in
I t aly The very freedom wit h whi ch t he organisa t ion o f
t hese socie t ies was permi t t ed worked in t he same d ir ec t ion
It is doub t ful whe t her t here was in At hens any res t ric t ion
o n t he
forma t ion of t hese socie t ies : foreigners were n o t
a s a rule allowed t o acquire or possess land in A t t ica b ut
when t hey wished t o purchase a si t e for a t emple in which
t o worship t heir own gods af t er t heir o wn fashion t hey were
allowed t o do s o as we know from t he s t one record o f t he
decree which gave permission o n t he express ground t ha t
1
t here was no law t o forbid t he proceeding : t he purpose t o
which t he sit e was t o be app lied cons t it u t ed ac t ually a reason
in favour o f allowing t he foreigners t o acquire A t henian soil
B ut whe t her t his A t t ic law allowed At henian ci t izens t o
par t ake in such foreign worships is ano t her and dispu t ed
2
ques t ion
It ha s been bo t h asser t ed and denied t ha t t he
legal penal t y fo r t he in t roduc t ion o f new gods ( in t he sense
inducing cit izens t o worship o t her t han t heir ances t ral
of
gods) was dea t h ; b ut wit hou t under t aking t o se t t le t his
obscure poin t we may no t e t ha t t here is no ins t ance o n
record in which anyone was even prosecu t ed much less
condemned on t he sole charge o f in t roducing new god s :
t here were always o t her coun t s in t he indic t men t which
seems t o indica t e t ha t for some reason or o t her t here wa s no
prospec t o f ge t t ing a j ury t o convic t o n t he ground simply
'

I
Th e Cit i s d f u ix w C I A
.

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5 60

34 2

TO H I S TO RY

I N T R O D UC TI O N

of

O F R EL I G I ON

worshipping s t range gods Wha t ever danger t here may

have been for t he A t henian cit izen in such worship could
be t o some ex t en t if n o t wholly aver t ed by a demons t ra t ion
o f t he my t hological iden t i t y o f t he f oreign dei t y s a y S abazios
or C ybele wi t h some G reek god o r goddess as D ionysos or
R hea ; and it is possible t ha t fear o f t he law as well as t he
desire of commending a s t range god by proving him t o be
merely an o l d dei t y under a new name may have helped t o
give t he gods o f t he O rphic my t hology t he haziness o f ou t line
and wan t of de fi n i t ion which a t once marks t hem o ff from
t he genuine gods o f G reece and enables any o n e t o be
iden t ied wi t h any o t her Be t his as it may it is cer t ain
t ha t no penal t y a t t ached t o t he priva t e worship o f t he
es t ablished gods wi t h t he new ecs t a t ic rit ual and t ha t no
permission or licence had t o be ob t ained from t he s t at e in
order t o organise a thias us o r org eon for t he purpose
C on
sequen t ly any adven t uress who chose migh t s e t up a s pries t ess
and under t he pre t ence o f orgias t ic worship m i gh t make

her house t he scene o f orgies in t he modern sense o f

t he word
Tha t t his ac t u a lly was d one in some cases is cer t ain b ut
t ha t all priva t e mys t eries were a mere excuse o r occasion
for debauchery is improb a ble in i t sel f and is c o n t radic t ed by
t he evidence
If any charge of t his kind co uld have been
brough t o r even insinua t ed wit h any degree of probabili t y
by D emos t henes agains t t he mo t her o f ZEs c hin es we may
be sure t ha t it would n o t have been omi t t ed There is n ot in
t he speech o f D emos t henes any sugges t ion t ha t G l a uc o t hea s
thias us was any t hin g b ut respec t able from t he moral poin t
o f View : t here is con t emp t f o r t he
semi menial func t ions
perf ormed by ZEs c hin e s in t he ri t ual t here is a sa t irical
jux t aposit ion o f t he barbarous ri t es and t he solemn f ormula
Bad have I escaped and be t t er have I found t o emphasise
t he absur d i t y a n d f olly o f pe o ple who imagin ed t ha t spiri t u a l
regenera t ion was t o be e ffec t ed by t he ex t ern a l a pplica t ion
o f a mix t ure o f clay a n d bran b ut even D emos t henes does
n ot
ven t ure t o hin t a t any t hing worse t han f olly in t he
members o f t he thia s us a n d perh a ps semi conscious impos t ure
o n t he par t o f t he promo t ers o f t he organisa t ion
In a word
t he a t t i t ude o f t he be t t er class o f A t henia ns t owards t hese
.

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY

344

OF

R EL I GI O N

man a be tt er man morally s o much s t ress is now laid o n

t he necessit y o f moral improvemen t t ha t t he spiri t ual change
is frequent ly regarded merely a s a par t icularly e fcacious
perhaps t he only really efcacious me ans o f e ffec t ing a moral
change The iden t it y o f t he spirit ual l if e and t he moral is
emphasised ; t heir d i e re n c e and t he wider area o f t he fo rmer
When t hen we nd t ha t in
t ends t o be los t f rom Vi ew
t he an t ique religions t here was a lively if in t ermi t t en t sense
of t he need o f a reconcilia t ion be t ween G o d and man and a
craving for a spiri t ual lif e and communion wi t h H im b ut a t
t he same t ime nd t hough many ex t ernal ac t s and ceremonies
were prescribed no moral amendmen t wa s insis t ed upon we
are a p t t o in f er t hat t here was no real religious force a t work
eit her Whereas t he t ru t h would ra t her seem t o be t ha t t he
force was religious b ut was misdirec t ed The aspira t ion t o
communion wit h G od n o t only in t his life b ut in t he nex t
can only be described as religious ; and it wa s misdirec t ed
n o t merely because
erroneous concep t ions o f t he G odhead
were en t ert ained b ut because t here was no consciousness
t ha t it was in t he dir ec t ion o f moral puri t y t ha t sa t is fac t ion
f o r t he S piri t ual aspira t ion was t o be sough t
It would
however be rash t o infer t ha t because a consciousness o f t he
'
connec t ion be t ween moral reform and spiri t ual progress w i
wan t ing t herefore t he connect ion i t self was wan t ing Tha
would be much t he same as arguing t h a t because S ocra t es
Pla t o and Aris t o t le had no name for t he conscience o r t he
will t here f ore t hey possessed no conscience and no wil l I n
ne many mus t have failed t o ob t ain even t he degree o f
S pirit ual co m munion which was open t o t hem who would
have at t ained t o it had t hey been t augh t t he necessit y rs t
/
o f amending t heir l ives
Of t he res t t hose who regarded
t he mere ac t s o f ceremonial purica t ion as all impor t an t and
o f sole impor t ance
derived no more S piri t ual bene t from
t hem t han t hey would have derived f rom t he ri t es and
ceremonies o f a higher religion ; b u t t hose who considered
t hem merely as aids in t heir search f o r t he be tt e r c a nn o t have
f ailed in some me a sur e t o esca pe f rom evi l
D oub t less t he
u
ri c a t or
t
ac
s t hemselves were very barbar o us and puerile
p
y
and especially do t hey seem s o t o us who w o uld ra t her t hey
had p uried t heir he a r t s ; b ut t rivial a s t he ac t s were t heir
,

M YS T E R I E S

TH E

34 5

S piri t and in t en t were religious ; mis t aken

t hough t he

rit es

were t he desire o f t he worshipper was t o t himsel f t o

approach his G od ; and t hough we may despi se o r deplore
t he means he adop t ed we may also hesi t a t e t o asser t t ha t
t he yearnings o f his hear t were wholly defrauded in t he
resul t or t ha t his S piri t ual t ravail brough t for t h n o moral frui t s
We can however go a s t ep fur t her t han t his We need
n o t rely exclusively o n t he ct p riori argumen t t ha t t he genuine
desire for closer communion wit h G o d in bo t h worlds mus t
result in a more godly and righ t eous life We have direc t
and explici t evidence t o S how t ha t in t h e priva t e mys t eries
moral amendmen t was act ually laid down as t he condi t ion o f
such communio n and o f fu t ure bliss
In t he second book o f
his Rep ublic } Pla t o Wishes t o insis t o n t he fac t t ha t righ t eous
ness is desirable in it self an d wi t hou t regard t o consequences
t ha t t he t ruly moral man is he who loves a n d does wha t is
righ t for it s o wn sake and S imply and solely because it is
righ t H e t herefore denounces t he common vulgar t eaching
t ha t hones t y pays because s o many people a t once jump t o
t he conclusion t ha t t he only reason for doing wha t is righ t
is t he ma t erial advan t ages which ensue from righ t doin g ; in
word t ha t it is n o t reasonable o r sensible t o do wha t is righ t
( 1% it s o w n sake
B ut if t he bourgeois doc t rine t ha t prosperit y
In t his world is t he proper mo t ive for hones t y appears im
moral t o Pla t o much more mons t rous does it seem t o him t ha t
t he doc t rine o f f u t ure rewards and punishmen t s should be
used t o bribe men in t o doing wha t is righ t and frigh t en t hem
f rom doing wrong
And it wa s precisely t his doc t rine which
according t o Pla t o was t augh t in t he priva t e mys t eries by
Mus aeus and O rpheus in t he nex t world t he righ t eous
2
received blessings and a lif e o f happiness a s a reward for
3
t heir vir t ue in t his li f e ; Whereas evil doers were punished
in H ades
In t he face t here f ore o f t his explici t t es t imony from a
4
hos t ile wi t ness it seems impossible t o main t ain t ha t t he wide
di ffusion and permanen t success o f t he priva t e mys t eries in
,

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34 6

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

G reece can be wholly accoun t ed for by t he supposi t ion t ha t

t hey required a lower s t andard moral and S piri t ual t han
t ha t a t t a ined by t he ordinary religion o f t he G reek ci t izen
and were consequen t ly welcomed by t he lo wer members o f
G reek socie t y as a ff ording an escape from t he exac t ing
demands of t he s t at e religion N or can we accep t a s com
l
l
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t
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f
t
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sa
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view
ha
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ri
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t
t
t
p
y
supplied a S pur and s t im ulus t o t he grosser na t ures and gave
t hem a pseudo spiri t ual sensual exci t emen t
Tha t t his was
t he e ff ec t in some cases is t rue ; b ut t he inuence o f public
opinion and t he force o f t he law were qui t e s t rong enough
bo t h in G reece and I t aly t o purge o ut such depravi t ies ; and
we mus t n o t form our j udgmen t o f an t iqui t y solely by t he
revela t ions o f it s law cour t s The maj ori t y o f t he priva t e
mys t eries cer t ain ly t hose t ha t had t he elemen t o f permanence
in t hem canno t have lived solely on t he unheal thy t endencies
of socie t y o r have t hriven f or cen t uries o n ou t burs t s o f
exci t emen t which in t heir na t ure are necessarily S pasmodic
and t ransit ory The doc t rine t ha t f u t ure happiness depended
upon righ t eousness in t his lif e wha t ever it s in t rinsic value
f rom t he poin t o f view o f moral phil osophy was a grea t
advance upon any t hing previously known in G reek religion ;
and t he ex t en t t o which it had spread in Pla t o s t ime is
S hown bo t h by t he ala rm which it caused in hi s mind and
by t he vas t amoun t o f O rphic li t era t ure which it rapidly
called in t o exis t ence If it be asked why t hen did t he
mys t eries n o t e ffec t t he moral regenera t ion o f G reece we
may sugges t t wo reasons Firs t t he morali t y which was
t augh t wa s simply t he ordinary morali t y o f G reek li f e : no
new moral t ru t hs were reve aled On t he bes t n a t ures no
fresh demand was made : t hey ea: hyp othesi were already
living up t o t he highes t moral s t andard o f t he t ime ; and s o
f o r t hem t he message had no t hing new
If t hey were dis
sa t ised a n d uneasy wit hout knowing why t he mys t eries
could n o t help t hem : St C lemen t t ried t hem all and f o und
all emp t y I n t he nex t place t he spiri t o f exclusiveness wa s
wan t ing from t hese organis a t ions : t heir members were n o t
expect ed t o renounce t he worship o f t he s t a t e gods Thus
t hose members who had been living below t he ordinary
s t andard of morali t y and who were induced by par t icipa t ion
,

34 8

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S T O RY

OF

R EL I GI O N

course conned t o G reece ; on t he con t rary t hey are or have

been world wide and t hough t hey belo n g t o a part icul ar
s t age o f religious developmen t t hey are conned t o no
par t icular cen t ury o r coun t ry
C eremonial purica t ion by
wa t er which plays a large par t in t he m ys t eries is t o be
found everywhere and was known t o t he H omeric G reeks
long before t he t ime o f t he mys t eries The prac t ice again
o f placing a person o r t hing in direc t communica t ion wit h
an animal god by wrapping t he person or t hing in t he skin
o f t he anim a l is as we have a l ready seen world wi de : it was
prac t ised by t he European branch o f t he Aryans from pre
his t oric t imes The crouching pos t ure which t he novice had
t o assume during t he preliminary purica t ion may or may
n o t have been known t o t he S emi t es b ut it was cer t ainly
par t o f t he archaic G reek ceremony o f purica t ion known
}
as A {a s n Sw v
The ceremonial us e of clay is a poin t o f
su fcien t impor t ance t o require ra t her closer examina t ion
In t he mys t eries daubing t he novice wi t h clay was par t
o f t he process by which he was cleansed and puried ; and
pouring wa t er over him wa s ano t her N ow a s it is n o t
obvious a t rs t sigh t how rubbing a person wi t h mud can
clean him and as symbolism a ff ords an easy explana t ion even
of
t hings which never had any symbolical meaning some
modern wri t ers have expla ined t ha t t he candida t e was rs t
plas t ered wi t h clay and t hen washed clean wi t h wa t er t o
express symbolically and by ou t ward a c t t he in t ernal and
S pirit ual purica t ion which he w a s undergoing
B ut u n
for t una t ely for t his explana t ion t he ac t ual order o f proceedings
was o t herwise : t he novice was rs t soused wi t h wa t er and
2
t hen m ade clean wi t h mud
The words o f D emos t henes
are quit e explici t upon bo t h poin t s The clay it was t ha t
possessed t he cleansing proper t ies ; and t hat is wh a t is mean t
3
by Plu t arch when he speaks abou t cleansings unclean and
u
r
i
c a t io n s impure
H ence t o o accordin g t o t he t eaching
p
4
o f t he mys t eries sinners were in t he nex t world buried in clay
,

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TH E

M YS T E R I E S

34 9

obviously t o cleanse and purify t hem of t heir wicked

ness
N o w t here are a t t he presen t day plen t y o f people who
plas t er t hemselves wit h clay The negroes o f t he Wes t
C o a s t o f Africa when engaged in t he service o f a god no t i fy
t h e fac t by dressin g in whi t e and covering t hemselves wi t h
whit e clay if t he service be o f a fes t al charac t er wi t h red
if it be of a more serious kind This reminds us o f t he
Polynesian cus t om o f pain t ing t hings which are t aboo red
t he colour o f blood ; and in poin t o f fac t persons who are
abou t t o under t ake some sacred func t ion o r who are ac t ively
engaged in t he service o f t he gods are very generally c o n
and are marked o ff as such in order t ha t
s id e re d t aboo
o t her people may abs t ain f rom con t ac t wi t h t hem and t ha t s o
t hey may nei t her carry pollu t ion in t o t he worship n o r c o m

infec t ion o f holi ness t o o t hers

The mos t
m un ic a t e t he
famil iar ins t ance o f t his precau t ion is ( I subm i t ) a fforded
by savage warfare : t o t he savage war is a sacred func t ion
t he t ribal g o d himself gh t s f o r his clan t he warriors are
e n gaged in his service as such t hey are t aboo and dangerous

and t hey no t ify t he f ac t by donning war pain t

Thus t he
E t hiopians who served t he grea t king in his invasion o f
G reece pain t ed half t heir bodi es wi t h whit e clay when t hey
1
were going in t o ba t t le and t he o t her half wit h red
Tha t
t he G reeks t hemselves had once followed t his prac t ice is
proved by an o d d ins t ance of it s survival or ra t her revival
in his t oric t imes The Phocians who were always a t war
wi t h t he Thessalians and were always ge t t in g the wors t o f it
a t las t in despair sen t t o Elis f o r a seer ( a d v n 9) Te l l i s by
name t o help t hem ; and he p ut t hem up t o a device H e
t ook s ix h undred o f t heir braves t men made t hem plas t er
t hemselves and t heir armour all over wit h whit e clay and
t hen sen t t hem t o make a nigh t a t t ack upon t he foe which
t hey did wi t h such success t ha t t hey kill ed four t housand
2
Thessalians
N o w H erodo t us regards t his as no t hing b ut

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I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY

3 50

RE L I GI O N

OF

a clever and somewha t humorous device o n t he par t o f t he

holy man : t he Phocians recognised each o t her in t he darkness
by t heir war pain t and t he Thessalians were t erried by six
hundred app a rit ions in whi t e B u t it seems more lik ely t ha t
if t he Phocians sen t t o Elis f o r a seer it was beca u se t hey
wa n t ed some advice as t o t he way in which t hey migh t
win t he f avour o f t he g o d s ; a n d Tellies mus t have had a
repu t a t ion for knowin g t he proper ri t ual t o be observed in
Eviden t ly amongs t t he t radi t ions s t ored
t he conduc t o f war
up in his mind one was t ha t warriors should be prepared fo r
bat t le by previous purica t ion and by dedica t ion t o t he gods
Whe t her Tellies was aware t ha t t he war pain t was b ut t he
ou t ward S ign t hat t he warriors were dedica t e and so t aboo
o r whe t her he regarded t he daubin g as par t o f t he p uri c a t o ry
ceremony t here is no t hin g t o S how B ut in t he mys t eries
by t he t ime o f Pla t o t he daubing t hough it s t ill did n o t
t ake place un t il a f t er t he novice had been puried by wa t er
and so had become t t o be dedica t ed was regarded as b ut
a second and more po t en t means of cleans ing In ne if we
divide t he prelim inary ceremonial of t he mys t eries in t o t w o
par t s namely ( 1 ) purica t ion and ( 2 ) dedica t ion t he plas t ering
wi t h clay which originally was t he rs t s t age in
came
even t ually t o be regarded as t he las t s t age in
To cover t he whole o f t he body wi t h clay is a process
which t hough e ff ec t ual nat urally t ends t o be abridged if
possible Mourners who are highly t aboo and are bound t o
no t i fy t heir condi t ion in order t ha t no on e may in adver t en t ly
t ouch t hem in various coun t ries subs t it u t e whi t e clo t hin g fo r
whi t e clay and ei t her ( lik e t he Wes t C oas t negroes on f es t al
days ) only daub t heir faces o r dispense wit h t he daubin g
al t oge t her In G reece it can be shown t ha t t he m ys tw only
daubed t heir faces Fo r t he various s t range ac t s which t he
m ys t oe had t o perform reasons ha d t o be given; and t he
re a sons t ook t he form o f myt hs t he Wi g/s tag had t o do t he
t hing because once some god o r hero o r superna t ural bein g
did it
H ence from t he my t hs we can some t imes gain
impor t an t info rma t ion as t o t he rit ual N ow t he my t h in
t his case is t h a t t he Tit ans when abou t t o mur der t he in fan t
Bacchus pla s t ered t heir faces in order t ha t t hey migh t n o t
be recognised : t here fore t hose who worshipped t he mys t ic
-

352

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY

OF

REL I GI O N

mea t o f sacrice was par t aking in t he divine l if e o f

t h e sacred anim a l was a concep t ion which had largely dis
appe a red fr o m View especially in t h e cit ies t he cen t res o f
civilised lif e B ut in t h e coun t ry where t hings change more
sl o wly a n d ideas m o ve less ra pidly t he o ld no t io n t oge t her
wit h t he old an d more o r less barbarous ri t ual o f drinking
t he blood and scrambl ing f o r t he vic t im s esh ( or f or t he
s a cred wafers and cakes ) s t ill lingered o n un t il t he six t h
cen t ury wave o f revivalism made it once more a po t en t
D oub t less t he revived
f a c t or in t h e developmen t o f religion
concep t ion and t he revived ri t ual as t augh t and pract ised by
t he a g yrtes and in t he t hia s i and org eon es a t rs t appeared
t o t h e G reeks who dwel t in ci t ies as some t hin g new and
B ut t hey were n o t long in discovering t ha t t he
f oreign
supposed foreign novel t y had t he sanc t ion and au t hori t y o f
some o f t heir own na t ive and venerable sanct uaries O ne
G reek god t here was wi t h whose worship t he supposed new
rit es could be seen by everybody t o be fundamen t ally
iden t ical namely D ionysus An d accordingly t he cul t o f
D ionysus who hi t her t o as a god o f vege t a t ion and harves t
generally a n d o f t he vine and t he vin t age in pa r t icular had
been almos t exclusively a rus t ic god now spread f rom t he
coun t ry t o t he t owns I t was in t he middle o f t he six t h
cen t ury in t he t im e o f t he Pisis t ra t id ae t ha t t ragedy t h e
w orship o f D ionysus found it s way from t he coun t ry in t o
At hens and was t aken under t he pa t ronage o f t he s t at e
In t hese circums t ances it is n o t surprisin g t ha t t he
dei t ies S abazios Zagreus and Iacchus who were worshipped
wi t h t he revived rit es in t he Eas t should have been iden t ied
by t heir G reek worshippers wi t h D ionysus A t t he same
t ime t h e differences as well as t he resemblance be t ween s ay
Z agreu s and D ionysus had t o be explain ed ; and t he explana
t ions o f t he likeness in unlik eness necessarily t ook t he form
of
my t hs
F ur t her as t here was no pries t hood whose
f u n c t ion was t o t each as t here were no revealed books no
C hurch t o f ormula t e a creed or en force a dogma t he eld
was open t o a ll c o mers and every worshipper w as a t liber t y
n o t merely t o believe b ut also t o f rame any explana t ion he

chose Many explanat ory my t hs accordin gly were framed

some of which were more and o t hers less plausible The
of

t he

TH E

M YS T E R I E S

353

more convincing soon spread bey o nd t he limi t s o f t he rs t

audience
of
thia s o toe o r o rg eones
t o whom t hey were
addressed a s we have already seen t he f ounder o f a thias us
provided t he sacred bo o ks which prescribed t he rit ual and
gave it s expl a na t ion and t he success f ul es t ab li shmen t o f a
thia s us probably depended largely o n whe t her t he my t hs
were o f a sa t is fac t ory and convincing charac t er H ence a
wide circula t io n f o r t hose which commended t hemselves t o
t he avera ge G reek : t hey were essen t ial t o t he success ful
propag a t ion o f t he new worship B ut explana t ory my t hs
were required n o t only t o prove t he f undamen t al iden t it y o f
t he new god wi t h t he old b ut a lso t o give a reason f o r t he
pecul iar charac t er o f t he p uric a t o ry and dedica t ory ri t es
and f o r t he remarkable ri t ual o f t he sacrice F inally t he
new t eaching o f hope wi t h regard t o t he lif e t o come had t o
be brough t in t o some connec t ion wi t h t he cus t omary religion
t o be gra f t ed o n it if it was t o grow
N ow t he same
t endency which made bo t h G reeks and R omans t ake it f o r
gran t ed t ha t in f oreign deit ies t hey co ul d de t ec t t heir o wn
gods under differen t names made t he religious Greek who
recognised D ionysus in Zagreus t ake it for cer t a in t ha t t he
new t eaching abou t t he nex t life mus t have once formed
par t o f his o w n religion if only he could rediscover it j us t
as t he new ri t es t urned o ut t o have been preserved in cer t ain
o ut o f
The only ques t ion was which
t he way sanc t uaries
o f t he grea t men o f o l d had t augh t t he doc t rine
Plain ly
it mus t have been someone who had visi t ed t he o t her world
and s o could speak o n t he subjec t wi t h au t hori t y Tha t
person could only have been O rpheus
The t eaching
t here f ore was t he t eaching of O rpheus ;
and from t ha t
posi t ion it was b u t an easy s t ep t o ascribe t o O rpheus n o t
only t he subs t ance b ut t he ac t ual words o f any par t icular
me t rical my t h which owing t o it s populari t y had de t ached
i t self f rom t he circle o f worshippers fo r which it wa s originally
in t ended a n d had circula t ed widely b ut anonymously S uch
li t era t ure o f which inc onsiderable f ra gmen t s have survived
t o o ur o wn day accordin gly came t o be known as O rphic
and t he reli gious associa t ions whose worship t hese my t hs
were composed t o explain and jus t if y came t o be sp o ken o f
as
O rphic mys t eries
In t he second hal f o f t he six t h
,

3 54

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

cen t ury B C t his li t era t ure was edit ed in some sense o r

o t her a t t he co u r t of Pisis t ra t us ( whose pa t ronage o f t ragedy
shows his favo ur able inclinat ion t o t he cul t o f D ionysus )
by On o m a c rit us
Then t he Py t hagorean doc t rine of t he
t ransmigrat ion of souls spread from L ower I t aly t o G reece
and Py t hagorean pan t heism was impor t ed in t o O rphic
li t era t ure The change t hus brough t abou t in t he charac t er
and t endency o f O rphic li t era t ure is import an t for t he his t ory
o f t h e mys t eries and especially ( as we shall s e e in t he nex t
chap t er ) for t he righ t comprehension o f t he public mys t eries
t he Eleusinia
The t yranny o f Pisis t ra t us las t ed f rom B C 5 6 0 t o
B C
5 2 7 and t he li t erary ac t ivi t y o f On o m a c rit us mus t
accordingly be placed before t he la t t er da t e The o ruit o f
Py t hagoras is agreed t o be abou t B C 5 3 0 and accordingly
t he Py t hagorean bro t herhoods can scarcely have spread from
Lower I t aly t o G reece in t ime t o have inuenced On om ac rit us
in his work ( wha t ever it s na t ure ) in connec t ion wit h O rphic
li t era t ure and t he new movemen t
N ow before t he
appearance o f Py t h a goreanism in G reece t he O rphic
mys t eries whe t her di ssemin a t ed by i t ineran t ag yrtoe o r
t ak ing local and permanen t f orm in t he shape o f i ias i
were a religious innova t ion s t ruggling f o r recogni t ion ; and
t he obj ec t o f t heir adheren t s was t o prove t ha t t he apparen t ly
new rit es a n d new obj ec t s o f worship s o fa r f rom being alien
or o ffensive t o t he t radit ional religion and es t ablis hed gods
were fundamen t ally iden t ical wit h t hem and more venerable
f orms o f t hem
The proof o f t hese s t a t emen t s consis t ed in
t h e produc t ion o f my t hs o f religious legends associa t ing t he
new deit ies and rit es wi t h t he dei t ies o f t he accep t ed G reek
my t hology Af t er t he in t roduc t ion o f Py t hagoreanism in t o
H ellas t hese very my t hs are t hemselves t aken as a basis and
are explained as a llegorical o r symbolical s t a t emen t s o f a
pant heis t ic philosophy In t he pre Py t h a gorean period t ha t
is t o say t he objec t aimed a t was religious and prac t ical
n a mely t o secure t he recogni t ion and accep t ance o f t he new
ri t es and t he new fai t h B ut t he aim o f t he la t er lit era t ure
w a s philosophical a n d specula t ive namely t o S how t h a t t he
O rphic my t hs led t o some p a r t icular t heory o f t he orig in
o f man o f evil
or o f t he world N ow t hese philosophical
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

356

him t hey fell upon him Thereupon Zagreus goes t hrough a

series o f t rans format ions in his coni c t wit h t he Tit ans in his
endeavo urs t o escape from t hem ; b ut nal ly when he was in
t he shape o f a bul l t he Ti t ans overpowered him t ore him
piece mea l and devoured his esh ( wherefore his worshippers
also were t o consume his esh ) The hear t o f Zagreus
however was rescued by At h en e and conveyed by her t o
Zeus who swallowed it ; and s o Zagreus was born again as

t he new D ionysus
This las t
t he s o n o f Zeus and S emel e
inciden t in which someone by swallowing a port ion of t he
bodily subs t ance o f t he hero becomes t he paren t o f t he hero
in o n e o f his re birt hs has a t rs t sigh t a fant as t ic O rien t al
air ; b ut it is a widespread inciden t in folk t ales and mus t
have been famili ar t o t he average G reek else it would n o t
have proved s o successf ul as an explana t ion of t he funda
men t al iden t it y o f Zagreus and D ionysus
Thus far we have been dealing wi t h my t h and wi t h a
genuine folk ta le We now proceed t o t he philosophi cal
specula t ions whi ch individual t hinkers endeavoured t o read
int o t his folk t ale and we nd ourselves in a very differen t
a t mos phere Zeus in his anger smo t e t he evil Ti t ans wi t h
his t hunderbol t s and reduced t hem t o ashes
F rom t hose
ashes sprang t he human race H ence t he t wo elemen t s in
man t he Ti t ani c and t he D ionysiac t he e vil and t he divine
t he ma t erial and t he spirit ual
Thus t he folk t ale o f early
O rphic lit era t ure wa s made t o a fford a basis f or t he Py t ha
r
n t eachin g o f t he opposi t ion o f t he body t o t he soul
o
e
a
g
and t he e ffor t s of t he la t t er t o escape from impris onmen t in
t he f ormer and t o rejoin t he world soul t he divine essence
which was some t imes by accommoda t ion t ermed O uranos
some t imes Zeus In t he same vein t he O rphic my t h of t he
dismembermen t o f Zagreus by t he Ti t a ns wa s made t o bear
wit ness t o Py t hagorean pan t heism : t he body o f Zagreus was
t he o n e reali t y t he divine essence o f all t hings which is
robbed of it s divine uni t y by t he ac t ion of t he Ti t anic o r
evil ele m en t and spli t up in t o t he manif old o f t he phenomenal
world B ut t he longing o f t he soul t o escape from it s es hly
prison t o merge i t sel f in t he divine essence and s o S hu f e o
it s individual e x is t ence is a t es t imony a t once t o t he origin al
unit y which exis t ed be fore it s harmony wa s broken by t he
.

TH E

M YS T E R I E S

3 57

in t rusion o f evil and t o t he ul t ima t e des t iny of t he soul

when puried
I t is however no par t o f o ur t ask t o pursue fur t her t hese
specula t ions w hich indeed are ra t her philosophical t han
religious Ra t her we have t o inquire ho w t he original
O rphic doc t rine o f t he f u t ure life was modied by it s fusion
wi t h Py t h a goreanism B ut t o do t his we mus t know wha t
t he O rphic doc t ri ne n o t la t er t han t he t ime o f On om a c rit us was
Tha t however is a ques t ion which can only be answered
when we have some no t ion o f t he t eaching on t his subj ec t
associat ed wit h t he grea t public m yst eriesm the Eleusinia
Meanwhile it is hoped t ha t enough has been sa id t o S how
how t he new worship was graft ed on t o t he ol d religion and
how t he way was made easy for a man t o j oin t he new
movemen t wi t hout ceasing t o worship t he s t a t e gods
,

CHA PT ER XX I V
THE ELEU S I NI AN

M YS TERI ES

I N t he

las t chap t er we were concerned wi t h religious associa

ti ons which were founded and organised by priva t e individual s
which t o t he end remained as t hey had been from t he begin
ning in t he hands o f priva t e individuals and so may be

called priva t e m y s t eries

B ut t here also arose in G reece
as a c o n s e q i dc e of t he wave o f revivalism which spread over

t ha t coun t ry in t he six t h cen t ury B C

public mysteries
and it is of impor t ance t ha t t he meanin g of t he t erm

public in t his connect ion sho ul d be clearly unders t ood

The t erm does n o t imply t ha t t hese mys t eries were more
widely open t o t he general public t han t he
priva t e
mys t eries were : bot h alike were open t o all who chose t o go
t hrough t he ceremony of ini t ia t ion
N o r does t he dis t inc t ion
consis t merely in t he fac t t ha t more persons availed t hem
selves o f t he permission in t he o n e case t han in t he o t her
for t hough it is t rue as a ma t t er of fac t t ha t a grea t er

number did go t o t he public mys t eries y e t t ha t was

simply because t hey were more widely known and t heir
wider fame was due t o t he fac t t ha t t hey were under t he
man agemen t o f some famous S t a t e This however indica t es
t ha t in some cases t he S t a t e s a t t it ude t owards t he new
m o vement was n o t one merely o f t olerance b ut o n e o f ac t ual
par t icipa t ion : for some reason or o t her t he S t a t e adop t ed t he
new principle o f ini t ia t ion
ins t ead o f t he o l d principle
o f bir t hrigh t o f ci t izenship as t he qualica t ion fo r admission
t o t he worship o f t he S t a t e gods
N o w t his was a viola t ion
o f all t he t radi t ional ideas accordin g t o which n one b ut t he
members o f a t ribe or s t a t e would be lis t ened t o by t he gods
t ha t s t a t e o r t ribe and t he human members o f t he
of
,

3 58

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

3 60

?
di
t
o
o
her
in
which
splay
i
t
self
There
is
no
reason
in
t
y
t he na t ure o f t he cul t i t self t o accoun t fo r it s bein g sin gled
The probabili t y is t ha t it s select ion was purely
o ut
acciden t al and wholly undesigned The grea t changes in
ins t i t u t ions and cons t i t u t ions are rarely delibera t ely planned ;
t hey generally spring f rom some acciden t al d epar t ure f rom
t he t radi t ional pa t h so sligh t as originally t o be overlooke d
al t oge t her o r condoned if challenged as o f n o prac t ical
impor t ance The varia t ion may di e o u t al t oge t her ; it m a y
soon prove s o mischievous as t o call for comple t e repression ;
it may bring un foresee n
o r from unforeseen circums t ances
advan t ages and commend i t self by it s success in spi t e o f it s
irregulari t y The At henian explana t ion o f t he conversion o f

mys t ery is
t he c ul t o f t he Eleusinian D eme t er in t o a
Obviously unhis t orical M odern scholars have paid li tt le o r
no a t t en t ion t o t he poin t ; and it is a problem which we shall
have t o endeavour t o solve for ourselves in t his chap t er
Tha t lit t le regard has been paid t o t his impor t an t poin t
is probably due t o t he long prevail in g b ut now slowly
dissolving view t hat t he chie f charac t eris t ic o f t he mys t eries
was secrecy and t ha t t he mos t impor t an t problem w a s t o
discover t heir secre t s H idden wisdom and eso t eric doct rines
were supposed t o have been handed down from pries t t o
pries t and by t hem communica t ed under a vo w o f secrecy t o
B ut t he mys t eries were n ot secret S ociet ies :
t he init ia t ed
4 t hey w e re o p en t o all wi t hou t dis t inc t ion ; and all could be
init ia t ed in t o every grade even t he las t and t he highes t
The pries t s again formed n o secre t order b u t were plain
ci t izens having no such superiorit y in educa t ion o r poli t ical
or social posit ion t ha t t hey could be in exclusive possession

f
any sublime religious knowledge and as we have said
o
t he whole G reek world was a t liber t y t o learn t he whole o f
wha t t hey had t o t each B ut t he pries t s were n o t preachers
o r t eachers : t heir o ffi cial du t ies consis t ed simply in knowing
and per forming t he t radi t ional ri t ual Abou t t he doc t rin e o f
immor t ali t y and t he f u t ure blessedness o f t hose who par t ook
in t he mys t eries t here was no concealmen t wha t ever : Pindar
ZEs c hyl us and S o phocles openly re f er t o it ; Aris t ophanes
i
d
s it ; t he H omeric H ymn t o D eme t er which was a n
ro
e
a
p
so t o s p e a k s t a t es it ex p ressly a nd
of cial p ublica t ion

an

"

TH E E L E U S I N I A N

M YS T E R I E S

3 61

explici t ly I t is t herefore n o t surprising t o nd t ha t no oa t h

The
o f secrecy was required o f t he candida t e f o r ini t ia t ion
1
herald called indeed for s ilence b ut it was fo r silence durin g
t he sacred ceremonies t he silence t ha t be t s religious worship
t he concen t ra t ion o f t he mind
a n d na t urally accompanies
upon higher t hin gs I t is t rue also t ha t silence was Observed
af t erwards as t o t he ceremonies by t he ini t ia t ed b ut t his t o o
was a reveren t ial silence ra t her t han an a t t emp t a t conceal
men t and t he mo t ive which promp t ed it was t he s ame as
t ha t which required t he candida t e t o be prepared by fas t in g
and purica t ion before par t icipa t ing in t he mys t eries : t hin gs
sacred mus t n o t be pollu t ed by con t ac t wi t h t hin gs o r persons
unclean ; indeed such con t ac t is owing t o t he in f ect ion o f
holiness dangerous t o t he unclean H ence if part icipa t ion
in and knowledge o f t he mys t eries were wit hheld from all who
were n o t duly init ia t ed t he obj ec t of such exclusion w as n o t
a desire t o keep t he m ys t eries a secre t b ut f ear o f t he danger
which con t ac t be t ween t he holy and t he unclea n would brin g
upon bo t h So t o o t he sil ence observed aft er in it ia t ion was
n o t f o r t he sake o f
concealmen t b ut in order t o preven t
pollu t ion and it s consequen t dangers The iden t it y o r a t
leas t t he close connec t ion be t ween a t hing and it s n ame n o t
only makes t he u t t erance o f a holy name an invoca t ion which
e n sures t he ac t ual presence o f t he deit y invoked it also makes
t he holy name t oo sacred for common use o r even fo r use a t
all Thus even t o speak o f t he mys t eries t o t he uninit ia t ed
t he profane would be jus t as dangerous as t o allow such
unclea n persons t o t ake par t in t he sacred ceremonies
H ence t he revela t ion o f t he mys t eries was a crime which t he
S t at e under t ook t o punish n ot because o f any viola t ion o f
secrecy b ut because o f t he danger t o t he unclean and in
order t o aver t t he divine wra t h which such pollu t ion m igh t
bring o n t he communit y a t large
The secrecy t hen which shrouded t he celebra t ion o f t he
mys t eries was acciden t al and n o t delibera t ely designed for
purposes o f concealmen t Failin g t o observe t his however
many modern scholars have supposed t ha t where s o much
C oncealmen t was prac t ised some marvellous secre t mus t have
been hid ; while o ther scholars arg uing from t he fac t t ha t
hu m wm j S op t er in Wail Rhet GT 8 1 1 8 2 4 if
m dz
.

'

rr et T

v,

3 62

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

no t hing marvellous in t he mys t eries ha s ever been discovered

have concluded t ha t t he secre t was so well kep t simply because
The t ru t h may well lie be t ween
t here w a s no t hin g t o reveal
t here mus t have been some t hing t o reveal else
t hese ex t remes
E s c hy l us for ins t ance could n o t have been prosecu t ed f o r
revealing it ; but t ha t some t hing need n o t have been any t hin g
marvellous it probably simply consis t ed in cer t ain ancien t
rit ual ac t s which appeared mys t erious t o t he worshi pper because
t heir o riginal meaning had been f o rg o t t e n a n d which were chiey
impressive because t he worshipper believed t ha t t hrough t hem
he reached closer union wit h t he D ivine Na t ure and received
I t will t herefore be necessary t o
t he hope o f e t ernal life
a t t emp t n o t only t o ascer t ain t he na t ure and original meaning
o f t his archaic ri t ual b ut also t o guess ho w t he new doc t rine
o f fu t ure bliss came t o be a t t ached t o t he worship o f D eme t er
The la t t er problem is some t imes solved by t he simple asser t ion
t ha t D eme t er was a
ch t honic i e underground dei t y ; and
as such na t urally exercised an inuence over t he underground
world t o which t he souls o f t he dead depar t ed B ut n o t all
dei t ies are ch t honic t hat are S imply asser t ed t o be s o ; and
t he proposed solu t ion f ail s t o explain how it is t ha t o f t he
many places in which D eme t er was worshipped Eleusis was
t he only spo t in all G reece in which D eme t er was su fcien t ly
ch t honic t o be connect ed wi t h t he doc t rine o f a f u t ure life
Ano t her way o ut o f t he dii c ul t y is some t imes f ound by t he
aid o f my t hology t he daugh t er o f D eme t er is Persephone
t he seed corn which descends below t he ear t h only in due
t ime t o be raised again t o life and it is from t his my t hical
analogy t ha t t he G reek belie f in immor t ali t y arose B ut t his
explana t ion fails t o expl a in t he very t hing which requires
explana t ion I t is n o t t he G reek belief in a fu t ure life
which requir es explain ing
I t is
t ha t exis t ed from o f Old

t he belie f in f u t ure blessedness in a

heaven as dis t inc t
f rom t he weary dreary H a des o f H omeric t imes t ha t requires
t o be accoun t ed f o r ; and t he a nalogy o f t h e seed corn t he
my t h o f Persephone s rape could n o t have produced t hat
N eit her Persephone t hen nor D eme t er had originally
any connec t ion wi t h t he belief in a happy o t her world bo t h
were goddesses long be fore t he re t ribu t ion t heory made it s
a ppe a rance in G reece
Nei t her had D eme t er o r her daugh t er
,

3 64

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

un t il t he t ime o f S olon t ha t Eleusis was bro ugh t in t o

polit ica l union wi t h A t hens and t he goddesses o f Eleusis t ook
The
t heir place amongs t t he dei t ies of t h e A t henian S t a t e
long resis t ance t o t his polit ical synoikismos and re li gious
f usion which t he Eleusinians o ff ered was probably due t o
religious causes
Like o ther primit ive agricul t ural com
m un it ie s t he Eleusinians worshipped t he corn which t hey
cul t ivat ed bo t h t he ripe ear t he C orn Mo t her and t he green
2
blade or C orn Maiden
Their cul t iva t ion o f t he corn was t o
t hem no mere agricul t ural Opera t ion b ut a religious worship
Their abundan t crops were due in t heir eyes n o t t o t heir o wn
skill in farming or t o t he chemical proper t ies o f t he soil b ut
t o t he favour w hic h t he C orn G oddess showed t o her t rue a nd
fai t hful worshippers N ow t ha t favour was earned by t he
minu t e and punc t ilious performance o f t he t radi t ional rit es
and ancien t worship o f t he goddesses ; and it was n ot t o be
expec t ed t hat t he Eleusinians would ei t her forsake t heir o wn
goddesses who blessed t hem exceedingly for s t range gods o r
admi t foreigners as fellow ci t izens fell ow worshippers and
par t ners in t he blessings which t he Eleusinian goddesses had
t he power t o bes t ow
The na t ure of t he Eleusinian goddesses was Obviously t he
same as t ha t of cereal goddesses all over t he world ; and t heir
ri t ual iden t ical wi t h t ha t everywhere used in t he worship o f
plan t t o t ems
O riginally every ear o f corn was sacred t o t he
t ribe which t ook corn for it s t o t em jus t as every o w l was
sacred t o an O wl clan Then some o n e par t icular ear o r
sheaf o f ripe corn was selec t ed t o represen t t he C orn Spiri t
and was preserved un t il t he following year in order t ha t t he
worshippers migh t n o t be deprived during t he win t er of t he
presence and pro t ec t ion of t heir t o t em The corn t hus pre
served served a t rs t unin t en t ionally as seed and sugges t e d
t he prac t ice Of sowing ; and even when a larger and proper
s t ock o f seed corn w a s laid in t he o n e par t icul ar shea f was
s t ill reg a rded as t he C orn Mo t her which like t he Peruvian
Mo t her o f t he Maize } de t erm i ned by her supernat ural power
t he kind and quan t i t y o f t he followin g harves t
In Eleusis
4
t his sheaf was dressed up as an o ld woman and was pre
1

n ot

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TH E E L E U S I N I A N

M YS T E R I E S

3 65

served from harves t t o seed t ime in t he house of t he head

man o f t he village originally and in la t er t imes in a t emple
This sheaf w a s probably highly t aboo and n o t allowed t o be
1
t ouched o r even seen excep t o n cer t ain occasions and t hen
only by t hose who had elabora t ely puried t hemselves o f
t heir uncleanness : t he whole fu t ure harves t depended o n t he
shea f in ques t ion and it s sanc t it y would na t urally be grea t
and anxiously pro t ec t ed I t wa s a t t he t ime Of so wing af t er
t he seed had been commit t ed t o t he ground and during t he
period o f uncer t ain t y a s t o whe t her t he young plan t t he
Maiden o r C orn Maiden would ever appear above ground
t ha t t he favour o f t he C orn Mo t her was especially necessary
and t hat her pro t ec t ion wa s par t icularly invoked The rit es
by which t he Eleusinians o n t his occasion annually sough t t o
place t hemselves in close communion wi t h t heir goddess were
ra t her solemn t han j oyous more in t he na t ure o f a fas t t han
a fes t ival They puried t heir elds by re running over
2
t hem in all direc t ions wi t h ligh t ed t orches f o r t his purpose
Their children t hey puried in t he same way passing t hem
3
t hrough t he re by nigh t o r making t hem j ump over it in
a way which survives here and t here in Europe even t o t he
presen t day The adul t s prepared t hemselves fo r t he crowning
4
5
cer emony by fas t ing and abs t aining f rom washing for nine
days They also renewed t he bond wi t h t heir dei t y by
O fferings of t heir o wn blood which t hey made t o ow n o t a s
in Polynesia by bea t ing each o t her s heads wi t h clubs b ut by
6
A t t he end o f t his t ryin g
pel t ing each o t her wit h s t ones
t ime o f preparat ion and preliminary purica t ion t hey were

ri t ually clean and prepared fo r t he t wo grea t and solemn

ac t s o f worship by which t hey were t o be unit ed t o t heir
deit y and t o become recipien t s o f her favour
The rs t
was a sacramen t
As t he worshippers o f anim al t o t ems a t
t heir annual s acrice consumed t he esh o f t heir god and
t hus par t ook of his divine life s o t he worshippers o f t h e
C orn G oddess annually par t ook o f t he body o f t heir deit y i e
-

1
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6

consequences o f seeing t hings t a boo see s up ra pp

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I bid
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his prac t ice elsew h ere in G reece

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49

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

3 66

of a cake or pas t e o r posse t made o f t he meal o f wheat and

1
wa t er
The join t par t icipa t ion in t his by all t he wors hi ppers
n o t only renewed t he bond be t ween t hem and t heir dei t y it
also once more unit ed t he fellow worshippers in a mys t ic
bond wi t h one ano t her ; and for t he younger members n o w
t aking par t in t he ceremony f o r t h e rs t t ime it was an
ini t ia t ion mum
Thus for t ied by t his sacram en t al meal
t he worshippers were considered t o be properly prepared for
t he second grea t a c t of worship
This consis t ed in t he pre
s e n t a t io n t o t he eyes o f t he worshippers o f t he ac t ual ear o r
shea f which was t he C orn Mo t her hersel f and which migh t
now be seen wi t hou t danger because her worshippers were

no longer unclean
This manifes t at ion o f t he C orn G oddess
a fforded n o t merely a visible hope and t angible pro m i se t ha t
t he sowing of t he seed should be followed by a harves t o f
ripe corn b ut in i t self cons t i t u t ed a direc t communion wi t h
t he dei t y ; and it was in t he condence inspired by t ha t
communion t hat t he worshipper ven t ured t o brea t he t he
simple prayer fo r t he fall o f rain and t he grow t h o f t he
2
crops wit h which t he ceremony t ermina t ed
Those were t he ri t es o n which t he prosperi t y o f Eleusis
and t he welfare bo t h spiri t ual and ma t erial o f it s ci t izens
depended They were t he rit es which wi t h wh a t ever addi
t ions cons t i t u t ed t he Eleusin ian mys t eries
Their mean in g
may have been Obscure even t o t he Eleusini ans Of t he six t h
cen t ury B C To t he t own bred A t he ni an o f S olon s t ime
whom t he Eleusinians had hi t her t o jealously and success fully
excluded from any share in t he worship o f t heir powerful
goddesses t he rit ual n o w t hrown open mus t have appeared
even more mys t erious and by it s gloomy and in some respec t s
even savage charac t er mus t have been unusuall y impressive
B ut t hough t he vagueness o f t he ri t es made it easy for t he
At henian t o read in t o t hem a meaning which was n o t t heirs
originally ; and al t hough t he ri t es were archaic enough t o
carry convic t ion t o t hose w ho s t ar t ed wi t h t he belie f t ha t
happiness in t he nex t world was t o be secured by t he per
f o rm an c e o f mys t erious rit es in t his ; s t ill some t hing more
deni t e t han t his some explici t s t a t emen t wa s necessary
A t t he same t ime t he rela t ion o f t he Eleusinian goddesses
.

H H V 2 08
.

6 X 96:

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K156

INT R O D UC TI ON

3 68

TO H I S TO R Y O F RE L I G I ON

It
wi t h her daugh t er s reappearance on t he sh o res o f ligh t
mus t t hen have been her daugh t er s disappearance which
caused D eme t er s wra t h and O lympian Zeus mus t have had
some share in her daugh t er s disappearance o r some responsi
.

b ili t y f o r it

The fac t t ha t Kore t he Maiden D eme t er s daugh t er spen t

par t o f her lif e below t he eart h s surface wo ul d probably in
i t self have been qui t e sufcien t reason for iden t ifying her wi t h
Persephone t he wif e o f H ades B ut in t he S ix t h cen t ury
B C
when t he doc t rine o f f u t ure bliss was nding it s w a y in t o
G reece a n d rit es as s t range and imposing as t hose o f Eleus is
appeared t o t he At henians were supposed t o c a rry wi t h t hem
a special hope o f f ut ure happiness it was inevi t able t h a t an
a t t emp t shoul d be made t o iden t ify one o f t he Eleus ini an
goddesses wi t h Persephone in whose power it w as as queen
o f H ades t o make o r mar man s l o t a f t er dea t h
F ur t her
t his iden t ica t ion was conrmed o n reec t ion by several
considera t ions I t accoun t ed in a sa t is fac t ory wa y for t he
Eleusinian belief t ha t D eme t er had resided wi t h t hem : if
D eme t er descended f rom O lympus it was Obviously in ques t
o f her daugh t er ; f o r as Persephone was t he wi f e of H ades
S he mus t have been carried Off by him t o hi s undergroun d
abode Again when t he rit ual a ct s performed t radit ion a l ly
in any c ul t required expl a na t ion it was t he common form in
my t hology t o s ay t ha t t hey were performed by t he worship
pers because t he dei t y himsel f had originally performed t hem
I t was t here f ore self eviden t t ha t D eme t er had original ly
fas t ed and abs t ained f rom washing f o r nine days ; and as
t hese were recog ni sed modes o f expressing mourning t hey
plainly indic a t ed t he grief s he f el t a t t he loss of her daugh t er
And s ince D eme t er l ike her worshippers rushed wil dl y abou t
in all direc t ions carrying t orches in her hand it mus t have
been because s he did n o t know wha t had become o f her
daugh t er o r whit her s he had gone H ades mus t have carried
o ff Persephone wi t hou t D eme t er s knowledge o r consen t
Al t hough t he A t henia ns migh t concede t o t he Eleusinians
t ha t D eme t er dwel t f o r a t ime in Eleusis in t he house o f
K e l e o s t hey c o uld n o t admit t ha t t ha t was her permanen t
ab o de : she mus t have even t ually re t urned t o O lympus ; and
if s o t hen t here mus t have been a reconcil ia t ion e ff ec t e d

TH E E L E U S I N I A N

M YS T E R I E S

3 69

be t ween her and t he denizens o f O lympus B ut t he only

reconcil ia t ion possible was t he res t ora t ion of her daugh t er
Tha t her daugh t er w a s res t ored t o t he upper world w as a fac t
abou t which t he Eleusinians had no doub t fo r t hey t hem
selves s a w and w o rshipped t he C orn Maiden when she re
appeared from underground
A t t he same t ime it was
b eyond doub t t ha t Persephone s proper home w as in t he
house o f Hades The o nly in f erence t herefore whi ch could
be drawn from t hese fac t s was t ha t bo t h were t rue and t ha t
s he spen t p ar t o f her t ime wi t h H ades and par t wi t h D eme t er
in Eleusis To some Eleusin ians jealous fo r t he honour of
t heir local goddess t his arrangemen t may n o t have appeared
a wor t hy compromise o r a sufcien t ly grea t t riumph for
D eme t er ; b ut t his difficul t y was go t over by t he ad a p t a t ion
of an inciden t so common in folk t ales and so familiar t ha t
it s adequacy f o r t he purpose could n o t be doub t ed
Per
s e p ho n e was ill advised enough t o par t ake o f f ood a pome
grana t e in t he house o f H ades ; and as everyone knew t o
do s o was t o p ut herself in t o t he po wer o f H ades for ever :
j oin t ea t in g es t ablishes according t o prim i t ive ideas a sacred
bond be t ween gues t and hos t which n o t only makes ( a s
amongs t t he Arabs ) t he gues t s lif e inviolable b ut also ( a s in
t he case o f mor t als who par t ake o f fairy f ood ) makes him o n e
o f t he hos t s clan and as such subj ec t t o t he cus t oms o f t he
clan This w a s a law which even Zeus himsel f could n o t
override s o D eme t er fel t it no ground o f complain t agains t
him t ha t her daugh t er was only res t ored t o her for par t o f
t he year ; and t hough it had been wi t h Zeus connivance t ha t
H ades originally carried Off t he maiden D eme t er relaxed he r
wra t h a gains t O lympus A s long as Persephone w as wit h
H ades underground D eme t er refused her gift s t o mankin d
no crops grew } and no sacrices could be o ffered by mort als
2
B ut wi t h t he res t ora t ion t hrough
t o t he gods in O lympus
Zeus in t erven t ion of Persephone t o her m o t he f i e wi t h t he
rs t appearance of t he green blade above ground t he period
o f fas t in g o f sorrow and anxious expec t a t ion was over recon
cilia t ion was e ffec t ed n o t only be t ween Zeus and D eme t er b ut
be t ween man and his gods ; and t he goddess revealing her
self t o t he Eleusinians a s now no longer t he O ld Woman b ut as
.

H H
.

3 06

2
.

I bid

31 2

370

I N T R O D U C T I O N TO

HI S TO R Y

RELI GI O N

OF

D eme t er bade t hem hencefor t h worship her wi t h ri t es

c o mmemora t ive o f her su ff erings and wi t h t he hope Of t ha t
fu t ure bl iss which her daugh t er had it in her power t o bes t ow
2
upon man af t er dea t h
Thus t he polit ical union o f Eleusis wit h A t hens en t ailed
t he admission o f all A t henian ci t izens t o t he worship o f t he
Eleusinian goddesses
B ut t he A t henians t hus admi t t ed
impor t ed t heir o wn ideas religious and my t holo gical in t o t he
worship This widening o f t he circle of worshippers would
under any circums t ances have deprived t he cul t o f some o f
it s local narrowness and have expanded it s religious Sig n i
cance ; f or A t henians would n o t t ake par t in t he Eleusinian
worship merely t o secure t he fa vour o f t hese powerf ul
goddesses t o t he Eleusinians : t he At henian worshipper
resor t ed t o t he Eleusinian sanc t uary fo r t he blessings
spiri t ual o r ma t erial which he migh t himself derive t hence
I t was however no par t Of t he original design o f t he
Eleusinian c ul t t o bring blessings o n t he A t henians b ut
S imply t o secure fer t ilit y t o t he B arian plain
The inclusion
t here f ore of A t henians in t he Eleusinian circle o f worshippers
necessarily involved t he expansion o f t he cul t from a purely
local and agricul t ural worship in t o an elemen t o f na t ional
religion This developmen t was e ffec t ed n o t by any change
in t he ri t ual t o al t er t ha t would have been t o forfei t t he
favour o f t he t wo goddesses b ut in t he feelings and belie f s
wi t h which t he new worshippers performed t he ri t es And
t his change in feeling and belief found it s expression in t he
H omeric H ymn t o D eme t er which is eviden t ly com posed in
t he a t t emp t t o pour new wine in t o t he old bo t t les and t o
show t ha t t he new At henian doc t rine as t o t he real person
ali t y of t he C orn Mo t her and Maiden s o far from being a t
variance wi t h t he Eleusinian t radi t ion is presupposed by it
and gives it a fa r higher religious signicance
B ut t hough t he Eleusinian cul t in becomin g A t henian
would h a ve become broader it would n o t have a t t ained t he
1

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.

2 68

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d a vd r o w
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7
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re

to

D eme t er see
,

Appendix ,

377

37 2

I N TR O D U C TI O N

TO H I S TO RY O F

RE L I G I O N

The consequence o f t his incorpora t ion was an expansion of

t he cul t o f t he Eleusinian goddesses even grea t er t han t ha t
which f ollowed o n t he union o f Eleusis wi t h At hens The
ri t ual was enlarged : t he image o f Iacchus was conveyed in
procession by hi s worshippers f rom his t emple in A t hens
along t he S acred Way t o Eleusis and t here placed in t he
Eleusinion by t he side of t he t w o goddesses This was an
expression in ou t ward a c t o f t he union of t he t wo cul t s and
cons t it u t ed an addi t ion t o t he Eleusinia b ut n o t a modica t ion
B ut t he in t roduc t ion o f Iacchus did also modify
o f t hem
t he Eleusinia : Iacchus wa s iden t ied wi t h D ionysus and t he
drama t ic performances which were par t o f t he worshi p o f
D ionysus now became par t o f t he rit ual of Eleusis
The
original primi t ive agricul t ural ri t es were n o t d rOp p e d : t he
sacramen t o f t he c ea w was s t ill ad m in is t ered and t he ear
of corn was s t ill exhibi t ed Indeed t hese were always t he
mos t sacred par t o f t he whole ri t ual B ut t o t his rit ual
o t her t hings were added I t was t he promise o f fu t ure bliss
which drew wors hi ppers t o Eleus is ; and t hi s promise had no
original or in t ima t e connec t ion wi t h t he primi t ive agricul t ural
ri t es o f Eleusis B ut it was connec t ed wi t h t he my t h which
owing t o A t henian inuence had en t irely t rans formed t he
meaning and purpor t of t he ri t es I t was t herefore na t urally
t he my t h which w as emphasised ; and t he requisi t e emphas is
was given when t he in t roduc t ion o f Iacchus enabled t he
principle of drama t ic represen t a t ion t o be t ransferred from
t he worship o f D ionysus t o t ha t Of D eme t er and Persephone
The sacred drama performed a t Eleusis consis t ed mainl y
probably en t irely o f choral odes and dances as was t he case
wi t h t ragedy i t self in it s earlier s t ages Of developmen t and a t
t he t ime when t he D ionysiac elemen t w a s rs t in t roduced
in t o t he Eleusinia The excava t ions o n t he S it e of Eleusis
have S hown t ha t a t Eleusis t here was no provision for t he
produc t io n of s t range s t age e ffec t s N ever a t any t ime wa s
t here in t he shallow s t age o f a G reek t hea t re a n y room f o r
t hose elab o ra t e e ffec t s in which modern s t a ge man a gers deligh t
All was simplici t y and conven t ion B ut a t Eleusis t here
was n o t even a s t age The people s a t t ier above t ier all
round t he buil ding and wha t ever wen t o n ha d t o go o n in
I f t hey were dazzled by s t range sigh t s t h ese
t heir m i ds t
.

TH E E L E U S I N I A N

373

M YS T E R I E S

s t range sigh t s mus t have been very simply con t rive d

If
t hey saw gods descending from t he Sk y o r rising from t he
ground t hey mus t have been willing t o spread round t he
very primi t ive machinery by which such ascen t s and descen t s
1
w o uld be accomplished an imagina t ive h alo o f t heir o wn
Whe t her t he infan t Iacchus played any par t in t he
Eleusinian drama is ma t t er f or conj ec t ure
The bir t h
'
I m /a t o f various dei t ies appears as t he t i t le of various los t
comedies ; and according t o t he O rphic t heology Iacchus was
t he child o f Persephone
I t may be t herefore t ha t t he bir t h
o f Iac chus formed t he subj ec t o f some o f t he choral odes and
dances Persephone was made in O rphic my t hology t o be
t he mo t her o f Iacchus chiey because t hus t he recep t ion
o f t he foreign god was facilit a t ed
Tha t t he cul t o f Iacchus
had gained a f oo t ing in A t hens before it was incorpora t ed
wi t h t he Eleusinia is shown by t he fac t t ha t t here was a
t emple of Iacchus an I ac c he io n in A t hens in which t he
image o f Iacchus was kep t always excep t for t he few days
when it was t aken t o Eleusis t o t ake par t in t he Eleusinia
Tha t t he cult Of Iacchus was in t roduced in t o A t hens by
priva t e individuals as a priva t e worship and was carried o n
by means o f one of t he ordinary priva t e religious associa t ions
o r thia si
may be considered as cert ain o n t he analogy o f
all t he o t her Eas t ern cul t s which wit hou t excep t ion were
in t roduced in t his way B ut t his thia sus o f Iacchus like all
o t her thia si would be Ope n t o all who chose t o become
members of it and probably large numbers did choose t o
j oin it
When t here fore Pisis t ra t us ordained t ha t t he
circle o f t he Eleusinian deit ies should be enlarged by t he
addit ion o f Iacchus t o t heir number and t ha t t he s t a t ue o f
Iacchus sho ul d accordingly be carried in solemn procession
by it s worshippers from A t hens t o Eleusis and t here by
t hem be placed by t he side of t he t w o goddesses he n o t
only enlarged t he number of t he Eleusin ian deit ies he
also enlarged t he circle o f t heir worshippers Indeed t he
objec t Of Pisis t ra t us may have been t o draw t o Eleusis
worshippers who migh t o t herwise have preferred t o place
t heir hope o f fu t ure blessedness in t he worship of D ionysus
I f his Objec t was t o increase t he number o f worshippers a t
.

G a rdner

an d

J ev e ns , Greek A n tiquities , 2 8 3

3 74

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

sanc t uary of Eleusis he succeeded beyond his expec t at ion

S ince t his thias us like all o t her thia s i was open t o all who
chose t o become members of it whe t her na t ive At henians o r
f oreigners ; and since all members o f t his thia s us were
qu a lied t o f ollow t he procession o f Iacchus and presen t
t hemselves a t Eleusis a f oreigner who wis hed t o s e e t he
Eleusinian ri t es ha d only rs t t o j oin t he thia sus o f Iacchus
Thus t he rit es o f Eleusis now fo r t he rs t t ime came t o be
mys t eries in t he proper sense o f t he word t ha t is t o s ay
t hey became ri t es which were open t o all who chose t o be
init ia t ed t o become m ys tce t hey were no longer a local
cul t ad m i ssion t o which was conned as a birt hrigh t t o
ci t izens t hey were po t en t ially ca t holic ; and ini t ia t ion p na t s
n o t c ivita s was t he qualica t ion for membership
Init ia t ion
int o t he worship of Iacchus t ook place a t t he lesser
1
mys t eries and even t ually was required of all who w ished
t o be admi t t ed t o t he grea t er mys t eries a t Eleusis ; b ut a
memory of t he t ime whe n t he lesser mys t eries of Iacchus
were peculi arly t he por t al by which foreign ers ob t ained
adm ission t o t he Eleusinia s t ill survives in t he my t h t ha t
t h e lesser
mys t eries were inven t ed for t he bene t o f
H eracles who wished t o be admit t ed t o t he Eleusinian ri t es
b ut could n o t be ini t ia t ed because he was a foreigner ;
t herefore t he lesser mys t eries were inven t ed and t hrown
2
open t o all foreigners ( G reeks n o t barbarians )
The populari t y o f Iacch us and o f t he Eleusinian mys t eries
was enormously increased in B C 4 8 0 half a cen t ury
aft er t he expulsion o f t he Pisis t ra t id aeb y t he fac t t ha t
t he grea t and glorious vic t ory over t he Persians a t S alamis
was w on o n t he very day appoin t ed for t he procession o f
Iacchus f rom A t hens t o Eleusis and when A t hens in
consequence of her sel f s ac ric e and devo t ion in t he Persian
wars became t he leading s t a t e in G reece t he mys t eries o f
Eleusis grew y e t more famous and became t he chief agen t
in t he conversion Of t he Greek world from t he H omeric
view o f H ades t o a more hopeful belief as t o man s s t a t e
aft er dea t h We have t heref ore now t o t race t he several
s t ages t hrough which t he belief passed
St eph B y
x x vi 3 0 7
N onn D i
t he

z.

S chol

ad

on .

Aris t o ph P l u t 1 0 1 4
.

37 6

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

Bo t h in t he passage from Aris t ophanes and in t he passage

from Pla t o referred t o in t he las t paragraph t he wicked
who are punished are O ffenders agains t morali t y ; and here
we may probably s e e t he inuence o f P yt h a goreanism on t he
original O rphic doc t rine Py t h a goras borrowed from Egyp t
t he idea o f a day o f judgmen t af t er dea t h o n which t he
f u t ure fa t e o f man would be decided according t o t he good
or evil he had done ; and it is clear from t he Py t hagorean
t able t s t ha t it was Persephone who according t o t he Py t ha
rean s s a t in j udgmen t on t he souls o f t he depar t ed and
o
g
dismissed t hem t o bliss o r woe H ence when Py t hagoreanism
blended wi t h t he O rphic t heology t he t heory o f e t hical
re t ribu t ion wo ul d easily be impor t ed in t o O rphi c li t era t ure ;
and it is n o t t o be supposed t ha t t he Eleusinian mys t eries
would remain a t a lower moral level t han t he O rphic o r
rejec t a concep t ion which so readily commends i t self t o t he
conscience o f man
Thus by t he beginning o f t he C hris t ian era t he mys t eries
had permea t ed t he G reek world wit h several ideas o f grea t
impor t ance fo r t he subsequen t developmen t o f religion
They were rs t t he doc t rine o f fu t ure punishmen t s and
rewards ; nex t t ha t happiness herea ft er is condi t ional o n
communion wi t h some deit y in t his life ; t hird t ha t such
communion wit h it s hope o f fu t ure bliss was freely Open t o
all ( Greeks and R omans ) whe t her men o r women bond o r
free who chose t o avail t hemselves o f t he grace t hus o ffered
by t he mys t eries ; and nally t he concep t ion o f a religious
communit y t he bounds o f which were n o t limi t ed by t hose
o f any poli t ical communi t y a n d t he members o f which were
kni t t oge t her n o t by t he t ie o f blood or a common ci t izenship
b ut by t he bond of spiri t ual fellowship and t he par t icipa t ion
in a comm on religious worship
O wing t o t he inuence o f t he N e O Pla t onic philosophy
it is possible t ha t philosophical pan t heism may have co m e
t o be read in t o t he mys t eries by bo t h worshippers and
ofcials b ut t here is no reason t o believe t ha t t he mys t eries
a t any t ime t a ugh t mono t heism
,

AP P EN D IX T O C HA P T ER XX IV

ANAL S I S

E E E

OF THE H M N

TO D M T R

1 2 1 THE daugh t er o f D eme t er is carried o ff by Aidoneus

wi t h t he permission o f Zeus b ut wi t hou t t he knowledge o f
her mo t her S he was ga t hering owers on t he Ny s ian plain
and had s t re t ched o ut her hands t o pluck a marvell ously
beau t iful narcissus when t he ear t h yawned H ades appeared
and carried her o ff shrieking in his chario t t o his underground
abode
The name Persephone is carefully avoided by t he

poe t un t il line 5 6 because by t he phrase

daugh t er o f
D eme t er Eleusinians would na t urally unders t and Kor e t o
be mean t whereas if t he name Persephone had been used
t hey migh t n o t have realised t ha t it was Kor e who was
being spoken o f S o t o o t he At henian audi t or n o t y e t
accus t omed t o t he idea t ha t Persephone w a s t he da ugh t er
o f D eme t er only nds o ut inciden t ally in 5 6 when it is s o
t o speak t o o la t e t o pro t es t ( for his sympa t hies are by t ha t
t ime enlis t ed ) t ha t t he daugh t er of D eme t e r is Persephone
The permission o f Zeus is p ut in t he forefron t Of t he s t ory
in line 3 because o t herwise t here would be no reason
why D eme t er S hould be angry wi t h Zeus and t hen it
would be impossible t o accou nt for D eme t er s forsaking
O lympus and residin g in Eleusis which is o n e o f t he mos t
impor t an t fac t s t ha t t he poe t had t o provide an explan a t ion
for

2 2 8 7 D eme t er hears t he cries o f her daugh t er as s he is

carried o ff and rushes t o seek her b ut can nd no t race
F or nine days s he seeks her everywhere carrying t orches in
her hand abs t ai ni n g from eat ing drinking and washin g in
her grie f O n t he t en t h day H eca t e t ells her t ha t she
.

3 77

378

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

heard Persephone s voice b ut knows n o t who carried her

who
o ff ; and D eme t er and H eca t e t oge t her go t o H elios
informs t hem t ha t H ades wit h Zeus consen t had carried
o ff D eme t er s daugh t er
I t was necessary t ha t D eme t er S ho ul d n o t a t rs t know
wha t had become o f her daugh t er be c ause t he t orch ri t e
showed t ha t t he goddess had wandered abou t ( else her
worshippers would n o t have done s o ) ; and she would n o t
have wandered if s he ha d known where t o look for her
A t t he same t ime it was necessary t ha t she
daugh t er
sho uld discover Zeus complici t y else t here would be no
mo t ive for t ha t residence o f t he C orn G oddess in Eleusis
which was an ar t icle o f rm fai t h wi t h t he Eleusinians
All seeing H elios t herefore is na t urally in t roduced in t o t he
s t ory ; b ut H eca t e is so useless for t he ac t ion of t he s t ory
t ha t we may conj ec t ure she was in t roduced for purely ri t ual
reasons
8 8 1 8 3 Wra t hful wi t h Zeus D eme t er forsook O lympus
and descended t o ear t h in disguise ; and no mor t al who
1
s a w her knew t ha t s he was D eme t er
A t leng t h s he drew
near t o t he house o f K el e o s who was t hen lord Of Eleusis ;
and t ook her sea t in t he guise o f an old woman by t he
Par t henian Well There t he four daugh t ers o f K el e os came
t o draw wa t er s a w t he O ld Woman and inquired her s t ory
S he had been carried o ff from her C re t an home by pira t es
b ut had escaped from t hem and would be gra t e ful t o nd
employmen t such as migh t b e t a woman o f her age e g
as nurse
They declared t ha t any o f t he ci t izens ( some
whose names are men t ioned hon oris ca us a) would
of
welcome her b ut especially t heir own fa t her and t he ir
mo t her who had a young son t o nurse A ft er consul t a
t ion wi t h t heir paren t s t hey conduc t her t o t he house o f
,

K e l eo s

Throughout t his sec t ion f o r a hundred lines t he poe t

care fully avoids all men t ion o f t he name D eme t er The
reason is t ha t t he Eleusinia ns originally only knew t he cereal
goddess as t he O ld Woman ; and t here would be an obvious
improprie t y o f feeling in t he poe t s t hrus t ing his new doc t rine
,

Line 9 4

0
e io o

'

666

w
v
vwc xe
y
p

n s

d v6pd w

a vgcbk
B

Te '
yw a m

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

380

roga t e of blood was excluded from t he non an imal sacrice

o ffered t o cereal deit ies
The inciden t o f D emopho on is
inven t ed t o accoun t for t he common prac t ice of passing
children over a re for purica t ion and t o make t hem t hrive
The erec t ion of t he t emple marks t he t ransi t ion o f t he cul t
o f t he C orn G oddess from t he hands o f t h e women in t o t hose
The S hedding o f Eleusinian blood by Eleusinia ns
o f t he men
is in t roduced S O awkwardly and gra t ui t ously t ha t it s men t ion
mus t be due t o ri t ual reasons t o t he necessi t y o f accoun t ing
for t his par t icul ar way o f o ffering t he worshipper s blood t o t he
dei t y i e by s t oning each o t her ( t he Bam b irue)
3 0 1 a d n D eme t er in her resen t men t agains t Zeus
caused a fa m ine no crops grew and no Sacrices could be
O ffered t o t he gods N or did s he relax her wra t h b ut s a t
apar t from t he o t her gods in her t emple a t Eleusis unt il
Zeus sen t H ermes t o bid H ades allow Persephone t o be seen
of
her mo t her H ades consen t ed b ut rs t s et for t h t o
Persephone t he honour she gained by being his wife and t he
au t hori t y she exercised over t he dead t o punish t hose who in
t heir life t ime had neglec t ed t o do her worship
S he was t hen
res t ored t o her mo t her a t Eleusis ; b ut having been beguiled
by H ades t o e a t t hough only a pomegrana t e s he was s t ill
s o far in his power t ha t she would have t o S pend one t hird
o f each year wi t h him
D eme t er t hen being reconcil ed wit h
Zeus allowed t he crops once more t o grow and showed t o
Trip t olemos D iocles Eum ol p o s and K e l e o s t he ri t ual wi t h
which t hey were hencefor t h t o worship her Then t he
t w o goddesses re t urned t o O lympus ; and blessed is t he man
who has seen wha t is t o be seen in t heir sacred ri t es :
weal t h is his in t his life and happiness in t he nex t
Grea t ly
blessed is t he mor t al whom t hey accep t
In t he f ully developed form of t h e Eleusinian mys t eries
t he las t t hing revealed a n d t he highes t revela t ion made t o t he
worshipper was some t hing which was visibly exhibit ed by
t he hierophan t t o t he eyes o f t he worshipper
This revela
t ion was t he crown and consumma t ion o f t h e ri t es ; and it
was t o t his par t o f t he mys t eries t ha t t he t aboo o f sil ence
pre eminen t ly a pplied H erein t he la t er mys t eries did b u t
f ai t h fully adhere t o t h e primi t ive a g ric ul t ua l ri t ual o f Eleusis
for in t he H omeric H ymn t he same t aboo of silence is solemnly
-

'

TH E

A N A LYS I S O F

H Y M N TO D E M ET E R

381

imposed as t o t he sigh t s revealed t o t he worshipper } and

it is t he communion t hus a fforded ra t her t han t he sacra
men t al Ic v/c ea m which is t he crowning poin t o f t he rit ual
When t hen we nd t ha t in la t er t imes an ear o f corn w a s
2
exhibit ed we may fairly in fer t ha t it was an ear o f corn
which was exhibi t ed in t he primit ive agricul t ural rit es and
t ha t it was originally t he embodimen t o f t he C orn G oddess
.

47 7

"

a ri
:

o tfrrws

dx e w

'

na

'
u
j ya

voip

P hil os op hum en a ,

viii

d 6 67rw

1 1 5,

'
u
pe ue o ffr e 1rv60

u
.

0 6 661! 6 7 0 3 (30 7( d
m xoul wu d up cbn wv

TL

/
1re x

ed M iller
.

60

'

C HAPT E R X XV
M ONO THE I SM

we accep t t he principle o f evolu t ion as applied t o religion

and t he many di ff eren t forms of religion seem t o be bes t
accoun t ed for by t he t heory o f evolut ion it seems t o
follow t ha t mono t heism was developed o ut o f poly t heism
The process o f evolu t ion is from t he simple and homo
o
h
more
complex
and
highly
orga
ni sed
o us
en
e
t
t
e
g
fro m lower forms of life t o t he higher
The implemen t s
t he language t he science t he a rt t he social and poli t ical
ins t i t u t ions o f civilised man have all been s l owly evolved
o ut o f much simpler and more savage forms : o ur language
has been t raced back t o t he common speech o u t Of which all
Aryan t ong ues have been evolved ; our ins t i t u t ions t o t he
t ribal c us t oms o f t he wandering Teu t ons ; we can see and
ha ndle t he bronze and in t implemen t s ac t ually used by our
own forefa t hers Whe t her t herefore we t rea t re ligion as an
I ns t i t u t ion and apply t o it t he same compara t ive me t hod a s
o r examine it a s belie f
t 6 le gal and pol i t ical ins t i t u t ions
in t he s a m e wa y as we t race t he slow grow t h of scien t ic
concep tions o f t he universe ; t he presump t ion is t ha t here
as everywhere else t he higher f orms have been evolved
o ut o f lower forms and t ha t m o n o t he is m
has been developed
o ut of
a pre vious poly t heism (j R eligion is an organism
which r uns t hrough it s various s t ages anim i sm t o t emism
poly t heism mono t heis m
The law o f con t inui t y links
The
t oge t her t he high es t l o w e s t and in t ermedia t e forms
f orm o f t h e religio us idea is ever slowly changing t he
con t en t remains t he same always
The presump t io n t hus raised by t he general process o f
evolu t ion t ha t mono t heism is developed o ut o f poly t heism
IF

38 2

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

384

mos t powerful impul se t o t he movemen t was given by

me t aphysical S pecula t ion : all real t hings are equally real t he

n
reali t y of all is ident ical t here is only o e reali t y G od
F rom t his it followed t ha t t he various gods believed by t he
vulgar t o be diff eren t beings were b ut differen t aspec t s or
manifes t a t ion o f o n e deit y in whom and in whose personalit y
1
all m e t and were merged As The B ook of the Dea d pu t s
it : O siris came t o Mendes ; t here he m e t t he soul o f R a ;

The
t hey embrace d and became as one soul in t w o soul s
various forms in which t he o n e real exis t ence manifes t s
himself are his o wn crea t ion whe t her t hey b e mat erial
human or divine Thus he according t o an expression o f t he
Egyp t ian t heologians perpe t ually crea t es his o w n members
2
which are t he gods
o r says
I am t he maker o f heaven
and Of t he ear t h
It is I who have given t o a ll t he gods
I am C hepera in t he
t he soul which is wi t hin t hem
3
morning Ra a t noon Tm u in t he evening
B ut t hough
maker o f t he ear t h t he on e reali t y is a spiri t more
spiri t ual t han t he gods ; t he holy soul which clo t hes i t self
4
wi t h forms b ut i t self remains unknown
B ut while on t he o n e hand we t hus s ee poly t heism
approaching mono t heism o n t he o t her we nd among t he
mono t heis t ic Jews s urvivals from a t ime when t h ey
apparen t ly like o t her S emi t es were p o lypheis t s
The
cons t an t relapses o f t he mass o f t he people in t o idola t rous
worship as revealed by t he denuncia t ions in S crip t ure agains t
Such backslidi ng seem t o indica t e a slow upward movemen t
from poly t heism which w as n o t y e t comple t e and s o far as
it was successful was due t o t he lif t ing power o f a fe w grea t
minds s t riving t o carry a reluc t an t people wi t h t hem t o t he
higher ground of mono t heism More conclusive however is
t he evidence a ff orded by t he religious ins t i t u t io n s o f t he Jews
and by t he rit ual o f Jehovah Every god has some anim al
or o t her which and which alone it is proper t o sacrice t o him
This close connect ion be t ween a sacred animal and t he god
t o whom it is sacred a n d is sacri ced poin t s a s we have
seen t o t he ul t ima t e iden t i t y o f t he g o d and t he animal and

t he

C h xvii lines 4 2 4 3
2
L e Pa ge Reno uf H i bbe rt L ect ure 2 2 1
4
D Al viell a l o o c it q uo t ing M a spero
1

D Al viel la , H i bbert L ect ur e, 2 1 4

2 22

P eup les d c l Orien t,

2 7 9.

M O N OTH EI SM

385

an original t o t emism F rom t he na t ure o f t he s ac ric e a

t herefore e g whe t her animal o r vege t able we can in f er
some t hing as t o t he origin o f t he god whe t her he is
descended from a plan t o r an animal t o t em F ur t her if
several kinds o f animal are sacriced e g t o Apollo we c a n
in f er some t hing as t o t he his t ory o f the god namely t ha t under
t he o n e name Apollo several d i ff eren t gods have someho w
come t o be wo rshipped When t hen we nd that n o t only
were an i mals sacriced t o Jehovah b ut a t t he agricul t ural
"
feas t o f U nleavened Bread a sheaf of corn played a fl
prominen t part as in t he agricul t ural ri t es a t Eleusis ; when
we nd t ha t t he L evi t ical law prescribed t ha t oxen sheep
ff
h
oa
s
bread
and
wine
should
be
O
ered
sanc
uary
t
a
t
t
e
t
g
t he inference plainly seems t o be t ha t a t t he o n e al t ar a
t
h
lurali
y
and
o f dei t ies were worshipped
t
e plural name
p

Elohim used o f t he o n e G od seems t o add t he evidence

o f language t o t ha t a fforded by t he
compara t ive s t udy Of
ins t i t u t ions
F inally t he same causes which were a t work elsewhere
t o evolve mono t heism o ut o f poly t heism were in exis t ence
amongs t t he Jews
There was t he same t endency t o
iden t ify one god wi t h ano t her ; and t his t endency was
considerably reinforced by t he S emit ic habit o f applying
general t erms expressing lordship e g Baal t o t heir gods s o
t ha t t he difc ul t y would ra t her be t o dis t inguish o n e Baal
from ano t her t han t o be lie ve t hem t he same g o d Among
t he Jews t o o t here would be t he same t endency t o projec t
human rela t ions o n t o t hings divine t o conceive t he divine
personali t y by wha t wa s known o f t he hum an t o imagine t he
communi t y of t he gods a s reec t ing t he social rela t ions o f
men H ence t he grow t h of t he monarchy in t he Jewish
s t a t e would n at urally be reec t ed by t he developmen t o f
In G reece and
t he idea o f one G o d L ord and King o f all
R ome t he kingship fell before t he aris t ocracy ; in Asia t he
kin gship held it s o wn t ill in t he larger s t at es it developed
in t o despo t ism or in t he smaller ones it wa s crushed by

a f oreign despot ism This diversi t y o f poli t ical for t une is

f
h
eec
ed
in
e
diversi
y
o
religious
developmen
The
t
t
t
t
r
t endency of t he Wes t where t he k ingship succ umbed was
t owards a divine aris t ocracy of many gods only modied by
to

386

I NT R O D U C TI O N TO H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

a weak reminiscence o f t he o l d kingship in t he n o t very

e ffec t ive sovereign t y o f Zeus ; while in t he Eas t t he n a t ional
ended
o acquire a really monarchic
sway
Wha
t
i
t
o
d
t
s
g
o ft en described as t he na t ural t endency o f S e m i t ic religion
t owards e t hical mono t heism is in t he main no t hing more
of
alliance o f religion wi t h
t he
t han a consequence
1
monarchy
Thus t he hypo t hesis t ha t mono t heism w a s evolved o ut of
poly t heism has much t o be said in it s favour There is t he
presum p tio n a fforded by t he m at ura o f e volu t ion in general
and by t he d evelopmen t of religion in part icular ; t here is
t he im probabil i t y t ha t t he o n e doub t ful case o f t he Jews
S hould be an excep t ion t o a general law ; t here are t he
apparent survivals even in Jewish mono t heism o f a
previous poly t heism ; t here is t he cons t an t t endency o f
poly t heisms t o pass in t o mono t heism and t he evidence fo r
t he exis t ence o f t ha t t endency amongs t t he Jews t hem
selves B ut be fore we can a ccep t t he hypo t hesis we mus t
hear wha t if any t hing can be said agains t it
We may t o begin wi t h admit t ha t religion may advance
f rom lower s t ages t o higher ; t ha t C hris t iani t y is a higher
f orm o f religion t han Judaism
t ha t wi t hin t he lim i t s o f t he

O ld Tes t amen t i t sel f a

progressive revela t ion
may be
t raced ; and t ha t following t he same lin e back we may by
t he scien t ic use of t he imagina t ion conjec t ur e
in t he
unrecorded pas t a form o f mono t heism more rudimen t ary
t han any o t herwise known t o science
We may furt her
admi t t he principle o f evolu t ion as applied t o religion b ut
ap alo
t hen we sh a ll nd t ha t t he a r
en
r
t
ells
o
t
f
m
m
u
g
gy
ra t her agains t t han fo r t he hypo t hesis t ha t mono t heism is
evolved f rom poly t heism If we are t o t re a t religion as an
organism and as subjec t t o t he same laws as govern t he e vo l u
t ion o f orga nisms we mus t decline t o t ake t he t w o highes t
exis t ing species a n d s a y t hat eit her is descended fr om t he o t her ;
f o r t ha t w o uld be t o repea t t he vulgar error o f im aginin g t ha t
men are supposed t o be descended f rom apes
Indeed if
we base ourselves o n evolu t ionary principles we may sa fely
s a y t ha t wha t ever he t he genesis and his t ory o f mon o t he ism
o n e t hing is cer t ain namely t ha t it canno t have been developed
.

Rober t son Smi t h , Re lig io n of the S em it es , 7 4

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N
wha t t ha t poin t is where t he line is t o be drawn is a
ques t ion which canno t be se t t led a p riori or by a considera
t ion merely of t he laws o f animal li fe b ut only by care ful
s t udy o f t he fac t s and his t ory of religion it self We can
s ay wi t h cer t ain t y t ha t a seed if it is t o become a full grown
t ree mus t pass t hrough cer t ain in t ermedia t e s t ages ; t ha t a
bu t t ery mus t once have been a chrysalis B ut we canno t
o n t he s t reng t h Of t hese analogies f rom o rga n ic f ife s ay t ha t
religion t o reach mono t heism mus t pass t hrough a s t age o f
poly t heism or t ha t if it grows a t all it mus t in all cases
however differen t t hey may be run t hrough t he same s uc
c es s ive forms
We can infer wit h ce r t ain t y o n seeing an oak t ha t it
sprang fro m an acorn because o f t he innumerable ins t ances
known in which acorns do develop in t o oaks
In t he same
way if t here were many ins t ances known o f t he way in
which mono t heism grows up we migh t infer wi t h t olerable
condence t ha t o n e par t icular ins t ance t he his t ory o f which
did n o t happen t o be recor ded obeyed t he same laws o f
growt h a s all t he o t hers Even if mono t heism sprang up in
t w o independen t peoples and it s his t ory was fully known
in o n e case and very imperfec t ly known in t he o t her we
should na t urally and reasonably employ our knowledge o f t he
o n e t o l l up t he gaps in o ur knowledge o f t he o t her
B ut
as a ma tt er of fac t n o t even t his is t he case
O n t he
con t rary t he mono t heism Of t he Jews is a unique and
soli t ary phenomenon in t he his t ory of religion N owhere
else in t he world ha s t he developmen t o f religion culmina t ed
The reasonable inference from t his pa t en t
in mono t heism
and f undamen t al fac t is t ha t nowhere else can religion have
developed along t he same lines as amongs t t he J e wS The
very fac t t ha t all o t her na t ions have t ravell ed along a line
leading t o poly t heism and t ha t a ll have failed t o g e t beyond
it cons t i t u t es a presump t ion t ha t mono t heism is n o t t o be
reached by t he rou t e t ha t leads t o poly t heism X I f it is
possible t o reach mono t heism via poly t heis m it is a t leas t a
remarkable fa c t t ha t o f all t he peoples o f t he world no S ingle
on e is known t o have done s o
I t can hardly be alleged
t ha t it is by ex t ernal acciden t al circums t ances t ha t t he
consummat ion has been preven t e d
Had some o n e some
,

389

M O N OT H E I S M

few peoples only failed t heir failure migh t be impu t ed t o

some acciden t due t o t heir peculiar circ ums t ances B ut
when t he same experimen t has been t ried under t he mos t
diverse condit ions o f cul t ure clime and t ime ; when t he
circums t ances have been varied t o t he u t mos t ; when t he
seed has been sown in soils t he mos t diff eren t and been
developed under clima t ic condi t io n s t he mos t diverse , and
e
t
has
always
refused
produce
mono
heism
any
hing
t
o
r
t
o
t
y
b ut poly t heism ;
seems t o be t ha t t he refusal is
due n o t t o t he circums t ances being unfavourable b ut t o t he
seeds being o f t he wrong kind
We can however go fur t her t han t his if we allow o ur
selves t o be guided by t he ac t ual fac t s o f religious his t o ry
and n o t by t he uncert ain analogy drawn from t he life his t ory
plan t and animal organisms What t he ac t ual poly
of
t heisms known t o science p as s in t o is eit her f et is hi sm as is
th e c am it h fnos t African t ribes} or pan t heism as in Egyp t
never mono t heism The t endencies Which have been s up
posed in poly t heism t o make for mono t heism have always
been purely pan t heis t ic specula t ive ra t her t han pract ical
me t aphysical ra t her t han religious ; and as bein g me t a
physical specula t ions have always been conned t o t he
cul t ured few and have never even leavened the poly t heism of
A god supreme over all t he o t her members o f
t he masses
t he pan t heon is very di fferen t from t he one and only G od o f
even t he lowes t form of mono t heism ; and t he fact t hat Zeus
lords it over t he o t her gods as a human king over his
subjec t s is no evidence or sign o f any mono t he is t ic t endency :
it proceeds from no inner consciousness t ha t t he objec t o f
man s worship is o n e and indivisible o n e and t he same G od
always I t is scarcely a religious idea a t all : it is n o t drawn
from t he spiri t ual dep t hs o f man s na t ure it is a concep t ion
borrowed from poli t ics for t he purpose n o t o f unifying t he
mul t iplicit y of gods b ut o f pu t t ing t heir m ul t iplici t y o n an
in t elligible and permanen t basis
On t he o t her hand t he
idea o f a world soul a o n e reali t y of which all t hings anima t e
o r inanima t e human and divine are t he manifes t a t ions does
indeed reduce t he mul t iplicit y of t he gods amongs t o t her
t hings t o uni t y ; b ut it is a me t aphysical specula t ion n o t a
,

8
un-

Se e

for t his C h apt er X I I I

,

s up ra ,

F et ishism

I N T R O DU C TI O N

390

H I S TO RY

TO

R EL I GI O N

OF

fac t Of whi ch t he religious consciousness has direc t in t ui t ion ;

and hence it is never like a purely religious movemen t
h
ropaga
hrough
t
e mass
of
average
unphilosophic
l
t
t
ed
a
p
mankind
They a re n o t t o be t ouched by complica t ed
argumen t s ; and t he philosopher is n o t consumed by t ha t zeal
o f t he L ord which enables t he religious re f ormer t o re his
fellow men The prophe t s o f Israel deno unced t he worship
The philosophers o f Egyp t f ound accommoda
o f f alse gods
t ion f o r t hem as manif es t a t ions of t he o n e real exis t ence
The belief t ha t t he o n e reali t y is equally real in all it s forms
and t ha t all it s forms are equally unreal is n o t a creed whi ch
leads t o t he breaking o f idols t he des t ruc t ion o f groves and
high places or t he denuncia t ion o f all worship save a t t he
al t ar o f t he Lord Pan t heism is t he philosophical comple
men t o f a pan t heon ; b ut t he spiri t which produce d t he
mono t heism o f t he Jews mus t have been some t hing very
d i e re n t
N or is it easy t o s e e why among t he Jews alone
monarchy should have yielded mono t heism If monarchy
like mono t heism had been an ins t it u t ion pecul iar t o t he
J ews t here migh t be some t h ing in t he argumen t
B ut ;
m e p a c hy has ourish e d am on gs t m os t p eopl e a m ue hw
p
,

'

mono t heism for i t s con c o m i t an t Even t he supposed mono

l t heis t ic t endency o f t he S e mit ic as opposed t o t he H ellenic

which is in t he main no t hing

o r Aryan sys t em o f religion
more t han a consequence o f t he al liance o f reli gion wi t h
monarchy
canno t in it s na t ural developmen t fairly be
1
said t o have come near t o mono t heism
Amongs t t he Jews
alone of t he S emit es di d it follow a line o t her t han t ha t o f

it s na t ural developmen t

Wit h fsyn
n o t merely iden t if yin
h
prac
t
ice
o
f
e
f
s
m
t
e
g
ft
differen t gods but Of fusing t heir c ul t s in t o o n e ri t ual t he
case is somewha t differen t
On t he one hand it I s probable
t ha t several gods have gone t o t he making up Of say t he
o n e g o d Apoll o in whos e worship t he ri t es Of all are un i t ed
On t he o t her it is cer t ain t ha t for t he G reek o f any recorded
period t he personalit y o f Apollo w a s as individual as his
B ut even if we were t o admi t t ha t t he ri t ual of
o wn
Jehovah is t o be accoun t ed fo r in t his way we S hould be no
.

Ro b er t son S mi t h , op

c it .

74

an d

75

392

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

is almos t inevi t able t ha t t heir gods sho ul d be

unied : what is essen t ial t o t heir poli t ical union is t ha t each

sh oul d par t ake of t he o t her s sacrice and so become o f o n e

blood and o n e worship wi t h each o t her ; each t herefore
brings t o a common al t ar it s o wn animal t o t em each in t urn
d ashes t he blood o f sacri c e o n t he same a l t ar s t on e and
each part ak es o f t he o t her s vic t im Thus t h e go d o f each
passes in t o o r manifes t s himself a t t he same al t ar and o n t he
occasion of t he same complex a c t Of worship and t he
iden t i t y of t he al t ar and t he uni t y o f t he rit ual so add t o t he
difcul t y o f men t ally separat in g t w o p am el es s g o d s who have
t o dis t ingui sh t hem t ha t t he very memory
n o w no t h ing
Even more rapid and
o f t heir di fference soon dies away
comple t e is t his process of syncre t ism if one o f t he t wo go d s
has a personal name and t he o t her has n o t ; for t he o n e wi t h
a n a me survives in t he minds o f men and inheri t s al t ar and
worship and a ll whereas t he nameless god is forgo t t en
Ou t righ t
In t his way a god whose worshippers were s o
v ividly impressed wit h his personalit y as t o appropria t e t o
him a proper name m i gh t as his worshippers absorbed one
t ribe aft er ano t her in t o t heir confederacy come t o inheri t
several differen t ri t uals : t he various t ribes migh t come t o
worship a t his al t ar wi t h t heir o wn ri t es and t heir o wn
vic t ims b ut it would be a t his al t ar and in his name Thus
even if we ad m i t t ha t t he complex sacricial ri t es o f t he
L evi t ical law are an ins t ance o f syncre t ism inevit ably
consequen t o n t he poli t ical process by which t he Jews were
f orm ed in t o o n e s t a t e ; s t ill we are n ot t hereby t aken back
f rom mono t heism t o previous poly t heism and we do gain an
expl a n a t ion n o t only o f t he rit ual b ut also o f t he backsliding
which has been supposed t o be a survival o f poly t heism ; f o r
som e t ribes doub t less would be reluc t an t t o abandon t heir
o w n gods en t irely and would seek t o con t inue t heir worship
co n curren t ly wi t h t ha t o f Jehovah
he sacrices o ffered t o Jehovah poin t back t hen n o t t o
poly t heism but t o a low form o f mono t heism in which each
c l an t ha t o ff ered sacrice worshipped b u t one god
t hough
t ha t g o d was conceived in t he form o f t he a nim a l o r plan t
which w as s a criced This brings us t o t he ques t ion whe t her
t ot emism t ha t lowes t f orm o f mono t heism is t he earlies t
amalgama t e , it

'

'

"

M O N OT H EI M

393

form o f religion ; and for t he answer t o t he ques t ion we are

reduced t o conjec t ure O ne cer t ain fac t however we have
t o go upon if we accep t t he t heory o f evolu t ion as applied t o
religion it is t ha t t hen t he law o f con t in ui t y mus t prevail
t hroughou t t he his t ory o f religion t ha t is t o s ay t here mus t
be a con tin u um in re ligion some t hing which is c ofn m o n t o all
religions so far as t hey are religious and which , however
much it s forms may change in t he course o f evolu t ion
underlies t hem all This con tin uum is some t imes assumed t o L
be animism B ut t hough animism exercises grea t inuence
over re li gion in it s early s t ages direc t ing it s course and
de t erminin g it s various forms it is n ot ia it s e l f a re ligio us
idea nor a produc t o f t he religious consciousness I t is t he
belief t ha t all t hin gs whi ch a c t all agen t s are personal
agen t s ; and t his t heory is a piece o f pri m i t ive science n o t o f
early religion N o t all personal a g e n t s are supernat ural nor
1
are all superna t ural powers gods
Thus a specically re li gious
concep t ion has t o be impor t ed in t o animism if it is t o have a ny
religious charac t er a t all Th e reli gious elemen t is no par t o f
animis m pure and simple To make t he personal agen t s o f
animi sm in t o superna t ural agen t s o r divin e p owers t here mus t
be added some idea which is n o t con t ain ed in animism pure
and simple and t ha t idea is a specically religious idea o n e
which is apprehended dir ec t ly o r in t uit ively by t he religio us
consciousness , The difference wha t ever it m ay be be t ween
human and divin e persona l ity is ma t t er o f di rect t hough
in t ernal percep t io n ; Like o t her fac t s of consciousness it
may o r may n o t some t im es does and somet imes does n o t
arres t t he a t t en t ion o f any given m an
There are t imes as
H omer says when all men have need o f t he gods and when
in t he words of ZEs c hyl us ? he prays and supplica t es t he
gods who never believed in t hem before Tha t t he gods
have t he power some t imes t he will t o save ; t ha t silen t
prayer t o t hem is heard and direc t answer given t o t he heart
all t hese are cer t ainly par t s of t he religious idea and as
cer t ainly are no par t o f anim ism pure and simple

#3

"

S up ra ,

pp

2 2 , 1 0 6, 1 0 7

6
1rp 2u Ira/
Li ter 0 66a u0

Ki r a io t
'

i}

xe r o

1 19

3 94

TO

I N T R O D UC T I O N

H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

Tha t t he divi ne personal it y does impress i t sel f in t hese

and o t her ways upon men t ha t it impresses i t self unequally
unequally on t he same man a t d ifferen t
o n differen t men
t imes t hese t hings are all ma t t ers o f immedia t e conscious
ness : are di rect percep t ions Whe t her t hese percep t ions
correspond t o ac t ual fac t s is n o t a ques t ion f or t he his t orian
o f religion t o discuss : t he eye o f t he soul may or may n o t
be cons t i t u t ed as t he eye o f t he body is said t o be in such a
Wa y t hat from it s very s t ruc t ure it canno t b u t be a false
guide as t o t he ligh t
The his t orian however has t o

o
rec
gnise
ha
hese
percep
ions
do
exis
ha
whe t her
t
t
t
t
t
t
t
I
;
t here exis t s any t hing Objec t ive corresponding t o t hem
or n o t t hey are fac t s o f consciousness ; t ha t t hey are
universal t hough t hey may play a li t t le or a large pa r t
or no par t a t all in t he lif e of t his man o r t ha t ; t hat
t hey form par t of t he con tin uum in religious evolu t ion ;
H
a nd t ha t t hey are specically religious
In
n o t a nim is t ic
m
h
n
ani
ism
man
projec
s
personali
y
ex
ernal
t
i
s
o
o
n
o
t
w
t
t
;(
na t ure : ,in religion he is increasingly impressed by t he
divine personalit y ; and however fain t o r ill a t t ended t o
we may imagine t his conscious ness t o have been in t he
early s t ages o f t he evolu t ion o f religion it is in an d by
i t sel f a higher form of religious t hough t t han we g e t
in animal worship in
rs t sigh t t his may
appear t o se t t le t he ques t ion : evolu t ion proceeds by lower
f orms t o higher t o t emism is t he lower and t herefore t he
original form B ut in reali t y t he ques t ion is n o t se t t led
qui t e s o easily I t is t rue t ha t t he ad vance in religion as
in o t her t hings from lower t o higher is a p ro c e s s o f evolu t ion
I t is n o t t rue t ha t every process o f evolu t ion is an advance :
decay is a f orm o f evolu t ion as much as grow t h In a rt t ha t
f orm sur vives which is bes t adap t ed t o t he t as t e o f t he a g e
a n d t he age may have no t as t e ; o r it may have worse
t as t e t han t he previous age or be t t er and t here will t hen be
a decline o r an improvemen t in art as t he case may be B ut
declin e and improvemen t are equally par t o f t he evolu t ion in
a rt f o r in e a ch c a se t ha t f orm survives which is bes t t t ed
t o survive under t he given co n di t ion s t houg h it is n o t
'
necessarily o r alwa ys o r commonly t he highes t form o f a rt
I n morals and in religio n evo lu t ion t hus may fo l l o w a
,

'

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

396

mat t ers is always due t o t he minorit y t o individual t hinkers

discoverers reformers And t here is no known law of t he d is
t rib ut ion o f genius : in li t era t ure and art fo r ins t a nce t he
grea t names are as frequen t B C as A D Progress does n o t
mul t iply t hem o r produce t hem : t hey ini t ia t e it Tha t in
his t o ric t imes progr ess in religion is d u t o individual
prophe t s and reformers may be t aken t o be
t eachers
undoub t ed ; and we may ven t ure t o infer t ha t wha t ever
progress was made in prehis t oric t imes was made in t he
same way The grow t h of civilisa t ion seems t o have no
power t o increase t he number o f geniuses born in a cen t ury ;
and it would be diff i c ul t t o prove t ha t it is impossible for a
mind o f t he highes t powers t o be born Of a race in a rude
B ut it may
and se m i civilised or even uncivilised s t a t e
perhaps be argued t ha t a mind s o born wo ul d fail t o develop
because Of it s unfavourable environmen t
H ere however
we mus t dis t inguish be t ween t he t wo kinds o f knowle d ge
rs t t he in t ui t ive or immedia t e and second t ha t which is
gained by means o f inference induc t ive o r deduc t ive KA s
regards t he la t t er a N ew t on migh t be born o u t o f due
season in a race which knew no processes o f ma t hema t ical
in ference and so migh t fail because he found no men t al
ins t rumen t s no ma t hema t ical me t hods in exis t ence t o do
wha t o t herwise he migh t have done B ut t his is n o t t he
case o r n o t s o much so wit h t he knowledge which is

t
h
n
t
:
in ui ive t e ar t is t of t o day has be t t er mea s ma t erials

t
and me hods elabora t ed by his predecessors for expressing
himsel f b ut he has n o t a more direct percep t ion o f t he
t ru t h t han had t he prehis t oric ar t is t who ha s bequea t hed t o
us his ske t ches of t he reindeer and t he mammo t h N ow t he
ar t is t s source o f t ru t h is his direc t percep t ion o f t hings
ex t ernal ; ( b ut o f spirit ual t hings t he knowledge comes by
inward int uit ion by direc t percep t ion o f t hin gs n o t a p
prehended by t he ou t ward senses In t he degree o f t hi s
knowledge men vary ; and Of Old as a t t he presen t day
t he million rose t o
one t o t each
We may
explain t his as due t o revel ation o r t o grea t er powers o f
S piri t ual insigh t o r in some o t her way b ut t he fac t remains
t ha t men do t hus vary and t ha t it is t h e m i nori t y who
t each who re form religion and impar t t o it it s progress
,

3 97

M O N OT H E I S M
R eligious progress

moves wholly on o n e line t ha t of

personalit y and is t he unveiling revealing disclosure o f
B ut t he di vin e personali t y
wha t is implied t herein
impresses i t self unequally on differen t minds and it is
t o t hose mos t impressed by it t ha t religious progress is due
t o t hem mono t heism wa s disclosed t he divin e personalit y w a s
in t heir o wn belief revealed ; and we canno t main t ain it t o
be impossible o r even improbable t ha t such revelat ion may
have been made even t o primi t ive man
,

CH APTER X XVI
THE

EVOLU TI ON

E EF

OF B LI

B E LI E FS are abou t fac t s fac t s o f ex t ernal consciousness and

in t ern al consciousness and are s t a t emen t s t ha t fac t s are
t hus and t hus
The ul t ima t e t es t of a belief is whe t her t he

t
t
fac s ac ually are as s t a t ed and believed t o b e i e is t he
appeal t o consciousness
D ifferences o f belief ( which may be compared t o t he
varia t ions o f organis ms) s o far as t hey are n o t due t o
erroneous logical processes may be explained in o n e o f t w o
ways : ( 1 ) t he pppgers o f vision ( spiri t ual moral aes t he t ic)
may be supposed t o vary from individual t o individual as do
t hose o f physical vis ion and for t he same ( unexplained b ut
n o t t herefore superna t ural
h
t
e
causes
This
assumes
ha
t
t
)
fac t s are t hemselves always t he same b ut t ha t o n e man
having be t t er sigh t sees t hem and t heir rela t ions t o each
o t her be t t er t han o t her people and t herefore differen t ly from
o t her people
This accoun t s fo r t he orig in of differen t
v a rie t ies o f belief The p erp etua tion o f any varie t y depends
solely on t he condi t ions under which it occurs : wha t ever
varie t ies Of belie f are n o t favoured by t he con di t ions by t heir
environmen t will perish t he res t will survive ( t he survivin g
belie f will n o t neces saril y be t ha t o f t he keenes t sigh t ed man
b ut t ha t which accords wi t h wha t t he average sigh t can s e e
o f t he f ac t s
i
The
survival
a
new
varie
y
f
belief
impl
es
f
o
o
t
)
harmony be t ween t he re f ormer s vision and t he average man s
view o f t he fac t s o n t his t heory ; and t herefore t he t he o ry
fail s t o explain any advance unless indeed we pos t ul a t e

t ha t t he n e w varie t y o r spor t
a t once al t ers t h e condi t ions
an d makes t hem f av o ura ble
t o i t sel f and it s o wn grow t h
N ow t his is wha t re ally t a kes place in t he ca se o f belie f ( bad
.

'

398

400

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

NO arg umen t can be drawn from t he fact t h a t

o f t he numerous forms capable o f exis t ing for a longer o r
short er t ime some even t ual ly perish for t hey are ex
hyp othes i n ot radically un t b ut simply less t t han o t hers
I f t hen we conne ourselves t o t he fac t s t he only forms
we have experience o f are forms t in some measure o r o t her
radically un t f orms are unproven a mere hypo t hesis
The o n e t hing cer t ain is t ha t forms Of life capable o f
surviving mus t have exis t ed in t he beginning And gran t ed
t hat un t forms also exis t ed (o r ra t her failed t o exis t ) t heir
exis t ence ( or failure t o exis t ) t hrows no ligh t ei t her on t he
survival or o n t he origin o f t he forms whi ch were capable o f
surviving The t survived because t hey were t n ot because
o t hers were fundamen t ally un t
B ut t he absence o f fundamen t ally un t forms seems
t o indica t e t ha t t he forms of life which rs t occ urred o n
t his plane t were t he ou t come o f t he same causes as t he
condit ions which f avoured t heir developmen t
And it seems
f airly obvious t ha t what favoured t heir grow t h migh t favour
t heir origin ( which is only t he e a rlies t period of grow t h )
And so genera lly t hroughou t t he course of developmen t
t he causes which bring a b ou t a change in t he condi t ions
would also produce a variat ion t t o survive in t he new
condit ions and t o t ake t he place of t he an t iqua t ed species
2
f
orig in o f varie t ies in belief
The
o
her
heory
t
o
h
t
t
e
( )
i e o f t he fac t t ha t one man sees ( spirit ually or morally )
wha t ano t her canno t s e e is n o t t ha t he ha s grea t er powers
of vision b ut t ha t he has more rey eal ed t o him On t his
t heory t he s urviva l o f a new vari e t y mus t H
e
i duc t o t he fac t
t ha t a sim ilar revela t ion is simul t aneously or subsequen t ly
made t o t hose who accep t t he new belief s o t ha t t o t hem
also more is revealed t han was known before This woul d
be in accordance wit h t he view already s e t for t h t ha t t he
same cause ( n o t necessarily a p erson a l ca use ) which produces
a new varie t y also produces t he condit ions favo urable t o t he
survival o f t ha t varie t y
On t he o t her hand t his t heory ( I ) would make teac hing
quit e unnecessary whereas as a ma t t er o f fac t t eaching
s ee m s t o be an essen t ial condi t ion ( perhaps n o t t he only o n e )
of any ex t ension in t he disciples range o f vision and ( 2 )
n ecessa ry

T H E E VO LU TI O N O F

401

B EL I E F

would make t he process o f spiri t ual o r moral reform purely

mechanical quit e apar t from t he res t of man s na t ure and
absolu t ely necessi t arian
AS regards t he las t considera t ion t he higher p ow er o f
vis ion t heory is j us t as fat al t o f ree will as t he revela t ion
t heory
Now if t he fac t s of t he in t ern al consciousness are reali t ies
in t he same sense as t he f ac t s of t he ex t ernal consciousness
t hen t hey mus t be t he same for all men and equally
available for all And from t he re l igious poin t o f View it
mus t be t hat all who seek can nd t hem out t ha t t he door
wil l open t o all who knock
The lat t er considera t ion poin t s t o t he rej ec t ion o f n e c es s i
t a rian is m : it implies t ha t t he t ru t h ca n be perceived by any
o n e w ho chooses t o look for it t ha t t he fac t s are t here all
t he t ime for t hose who will a t t end t o t hem
This is n o t
however inconsis t en t wi t h t he revela t ion t heory as such ; b ut
it requires us t o beli eve t ha t as a t t en t ion is a ma t t er o f
personal wil l and choice s o t he revela t ion o f new fac t s is a
ma t t er o f personal grace in variably accorded but s t ric t ly
condit ional on t he f ree exercise Of t he seeker s will Thus
t he fac t s a re equall y open t o a ll and if n o t equally revealed
are equally ready t o reveal t hemselves SO t o o ex t ernal
fac t s have t o be learn t by humble and pa t ien t wa t chin g for
t hem
This t heory t hen wil l accoun t for t he t wo fundamen t al
explicanda : ( 1 ) t ha t diff erences in t he ra ng e Of vi sion d o
exis t in di fferen t individual s ; ( 2 ) t ha t t he fac t s t he realit y
t he t ru t h are equally open t o all minds
The grea t er power o f vision t heory is t hen superuous
And no t e t ha t it is only a hypo t hesis it s only evidence is
I t is n o t capable o f in d ep en d en t
t ha t it explain s t he fac t s
verica t ion ; and as a ma t t er o f scien t ic psychology t he
facul t y t heory has been di scarded as an erroneous and m is
lea di ng s t a t emen t Of t he s imple fac t t ha t diff eren t minds do
behave in di fferen t ways S ome m i nds seek religious t ru t h
more earn es t ly t han o t hers have a grea t er hun ger and t hi rs t
fo r righ t eousness
Even t o t he reformer t he grea t er measure
o f revela t ion is accorded because o f hi s grea t er impor t uni t y
Thus t he ult ima t e reason for varie t y o f belie f seems t o be

I N T R O D UC TI O N TO H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

402

0 31

men in t he exercise o f t heir free will

pay varying degrees o f a t t en t ion t o t he fac t s ; and t his is an
ul t imat e fac t for which we are n o t in a posi t ion t o assign a
reason any more t han we can assign a reason for spor t s
di ff ering f rom t he o t her individuals o f t he species or for t he
fa c t t h a t bodies t end t o wards one ano t her in t he manner
f ormula t ed by t he law of gravi t y
F rom it we can deduce
t hings as t hey are ; for it we can assign no scien t ic ca use
Indeed if we could assign a cause ( o t her t han t he individual s
o wn f ree choice ) we should t hereby deny t he f reedom o f t he
will and have t o ask why t he po t t er blames t he po t s f o r t he
aws in t hem o f his own making F ree will is t he ul t ima t e
t erm t o which we come when w e look a t t he fac t s o f
in t ernal consciousness in o ur endeavour t o escape from
t he endless chain o f scien t ic causa t ion jus t as a F irs t C ause
is t he ul t ima t e t erm and mode o f escape when we look a t

ex t ernal consciousness
Personalit y is t he
t he fac t s of
concep t which supplies t he solu t ion in bo t h cases : t he f ree
will o f a personal agen t is t he unifying principle o f e xp eri
ence in bo t h spheres
B ut as t he F irs t C ause ac t s by laws which t hough na t ural
laws are G od s laws and t he expression o f His will s o t he
free will o f t he human agen t ac t s wi t h equal regularit y and
in t he same way under t he same circums t ances N0 scien t ic
accoun t o f na t ure or o f man is possible save on t his a s s um p
t ion namely t ha t t here is n o t only a uniformi t y of na t ure b ut
a uniformit y o f human na t ure B ut t his la t t er uniformi t y
is t he expression o f t he free will o f t he human agen t jus t as
It is from t his po in t o f view
t he f ormer is o f G od s will
t ha t we have t o in quire why and how erroneous as well as
correc t belief s originate and are evolved
Belief s
Firs t we mus t dis t inguish t rue and f alse belief
are abou t fac t s are s t at emen t s abou t fac t s s t a t emen t s t ha t
cert ain fac t s will be found t o occur in a cer t ain way or be
of a cer t ain kind If t he fac t s are found t o be o r occur as
s ta t ed t he belie f is correc t ; if n o t n o t
The only nal
t es t is t he ac t ual fac t s t he t es t o f immedia t e consciousness
C onsciousness is a S phere o n e half or hemisphere being

ex t ernal consciousness t he o t her consis t ing o f t he in t ernal

fac t s o f consciousness Tha t c er t ain acids corrode cer t ain
1

t he f ac t t ha t

c,

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S TO RY O F R E L I G I O N

4 04

Again be t ween t he convic t ion t ha t every t hing has a

cause and abilit y t o assign t he cause of every t hing t ha t
happens t here is a grea t dis t ance
Man s t ar t ed in t he
begin n ing wit h t he former and is y e t a long way o ff t he
la t t er S o fa r as he has bridged t he gap he has done S O
s imply by closer and closer a t t en t ion t o t he fac t s of con
s c io us n e s s
Even t he des t ruc t ion o f erroneous canons o f
reasoning e g like produces like has been e ffec t ed simply
by t he process o f verica t ion
B ut t he convict ion wi t h which man s t ar t ed was nei t her
t he resul t o f any process o f reasoning ( no sa t isfac t ory reason
ing ha s even y e t been found for it s proo f) nor could it have
been t he resul t o f experience in t he beginning when man had
as y e t had no experience It was a convic t ion undemons t ra t ed
and unproved if n o t in capable o f proof y e t o n e wi t hou t which
science could have made n o t only no progress b ut n ot even a
beginnin g
SO t oo t he convic t ion t ha t changes n o t caused by man
are y e t due t o will was a simil ar f orm o f t hough t a mod e
in which man could n ot help t hinking and wi t hou t which
religion could have made no progress
B ut j us t as t he convic t ion t ha t every t hing has a cause
does n o t help us t o de t ermine whe t her A B or C is t he
caus e o f Z and does n o t preven t us from selec t ing A B C
D as t he cause when it really is K s o t he convict ion
or
t ha t changes n o t caused by man are due t o will did n o t
enable man t o iden t ify t he Being whose will it was nor
preven t him from ascribing t ha t will t o many erroneous
sources
That man should in t he beginning make many mis t akes
needs no explana t ion B ut it wo ul d be an error t o suppose
t ha t his mis t aken inferences were au t oma t ically correc t ed by
t heir discrepancy wi t h ac t ual fac t s
S cien t ic knowledge is
t he possession even now of b ut few : t he vas t majorit y have
n o t learn t t o correc t t heir inferences or veri fy t heir conclusions
by comparing t hem wi t h fac t s Even when fac t s f orce
t hemselves o n t heir no t ice t hey are disregarded : we no t e
and remember t hose which conrm o ur preconceived opini on s
and s e t aside t he res t
The same is t rue of religion
In
ne it is neit her t he origin nor t he grow t h nor t he survival
,

T H E E VO L U T I O N

405

O F B E L I EF

Of error t ha t need surprise us (for error has it s laws o f grow t h

and propaga t ion) b ut t ha t t ru t h should ever supplan t it
N ow it is possible t o look a t a t hing wi t hou t seeing it
eg
t o look a t a rock wi t hou t seeing it s resemblance t o a
human face o r gure And when once t h e t hing has been
poin t ed o ut by somebody else it is impos sible t o look a t it
wi t hou t seeing it
This is a s t rue Of spiri t ual and men t al
VI SI On as it is o f physical sigh t
The o n e t hin g needful f o r
t h e S pread and propaga t ion o f t he t rue view is t ha t t here
should be someone t o poin t it o ut Af t er t ha t t he c o n vin
cing power o f fac t s should su fce The preconcep t ions t he
wrong way o f looking a t t he fac t s t he overlooking o f t hem
s t and in t he way and require t o be removed by t he assis t ance
o f someone w ho sees wha t he wishes you t o s e e
That it is
G od wi t h whom t he religious hear t communes in prayer is a
fac t Of immedia t e consciousness which is none t he less a
f ac t because ano t her looks a t it w it hou t seein g it or is as
unable t o di s t ingui sh it from some o t her fact o f consciousness
as he may be t o dis t inguish dark purple from black t he
personal ambi t ion which really moves him from t he pa t ri o tism
which s t irs him in par t t hough n o t a s comple t ely a s he
t hinks
Tha t a man who sees t he fac t is able t o assi s t o t hers
t o concen t ra t e t heir a t t en t ion un t il t hey also s ee it is un
doub t ed it is t he only means o f S preading a n y t eaching
scien t ic aes t he t ic or religious I t is t he condit ion o f t he
growt h o f a belief I S it n o t t he condi t ion o r a condi t ion o f
t he o rig in also ? Wha t t he reformer rs t sees in his o wn
mind and hear t he sees in consequence Of his communing wi t h
G od and of H is t eachin g Be t his as it may t he mode o f
propaga t ion is t ha t t he learner learns t o s e e fac t s which he
did n o t s ee be fore : en hyp othesi a t rs t he canno t s ee t hem
b ut he believes t ha t he may come t o have immedia t e c o n
s c io us n es s o f t hem and he S O beli eves because he has fai t h
in his mas t er The reason he canno t see t hem is t ha t
preconcep t ions block his view o r direc t it amiss These
preconcep t ions eec hyp othes i are erroneous conclusions
reached by a reasoning process or simple wan t o f t eaching
how t o us e t he eye o f t he mind and direc t it t o t he proper
quar t er To lay aside or cas t o ff t hese preconcep t ions means
.

I N T R O D U C TI O N T O H I S TO RY

406

R EL I G I O N

OF

giving up belief in t hem adm i t t ing t ha t t hey are wrong ; and

such an admissi on I s only possible t o t he h umble minded :
The
man
who
h
um il it y is t he rs t condi t ion of learning
r
t hinks he knows has no desire t o learn ; t h e man who is
sure he is righ t ca nno t s e t abou t amending his ways
The period o f fai t h does n o t t ermina t e however when
t he pupil has come t o have immedia t e consciousness o f t he
fac t s which a t rs t he co ul d n o t s ee : t he new fac t s o f con
s c io us n es s have t o be reconciled wi t h o t her ( real or apparen t )
fac t s e g t he all powerfulness wi t h t he all goodness o f G od
and such reconcili a t ion may be beyond t he reasoning power
o f t he individual or o f man ; b ut fai t h persis t s t ha t t he belief
will ul t ima t ely be found t o be j us t ied by t he fac t s H ere
no t e t ha t fai t h is n o t some t hing peculiar o r conned t o
religion b ut is in t erwoven wi t h every a c t o f reason no
ma t t er wha t t he subj ec t ma t t er t o which t he reasoning
process is applied The objec t o f reason is t o infer fac t s
The fac t s o f which we have immediat e consciousness a t any
momen t are rela t ively very few B ut t he reasoning processes
enable us t o judge wha t cer t ain fac t s will be which a t t he
momen t are n ot imme di a t ely presen t t o consciousness The
only reason why we believe t ha t any given process w ill
enable us t o an t icipa t e correc t ly t he movemen t o f fac t s is
t hat in t he pas t it has s o enabled us and was veried by t he
fac t s H ere we eviden t l y assume t ha t fac t s will in t he fu t ure
con t inue t o move on t he same lines as in t he p as t an d n o t
Swerve Off in some t o t ally di ff eren t direc t ion in a word
we assume t ha t na t ure is uniform N ow t his b e lie f / cha t
fac t s will behave in t he fu t ure as in t he pas t t ha t re e g
will n o t cease t o burn is a piece o f pure fait h The diff erence
b e t we e n t his f ai t h and re lig igps fai t h is t ha t no great e ffor t
I

f
l
o
wi l is required f o r it t he reason of which is t ha t fac t s
apparent ly irreconcilable wit h it are n o t o f f requen t occurrence
The m o men t such fac t s a re a lleged e g as in t he case o f t he
way in which ma t erial objec t s are alleged t o behave a t
spiri t ualis t ic S ea n c e s an
main t ain t he fa i t h
in t he uniform it y o f na t ure is s t imula t ed, which in t he case
supposed t akes t he form some t imes o f angry denuncia t ions
Of t he f olly Of human na t ure o r conden t asser t ions t ha t t he
alleged fac t s will be f ound o n closer inspec t ion t o be no fac t s
,

408

I NT R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO R Y

OF

R EL I G I O N

H ence t he e ff or t o f will is a much more frequen t and more

marked f ea t ure o f religious t han o f scien t ic fai t h
S cien t ic i n ves t iga t ions made by means o f t he microscope
or t elescope en t ail a considerable expen di t ure o f will power

f
f
and a considerable exercise o scien t ic ai t h o f fait h t ha t
t h e res ul t s will be wor t h t he labour and o f will power in t he
concen t ra t ion of a tt en t ion for long hours o n wha t is presen t ed
The a t t i t ude o f t he religious mind differs from
t o t he eye
t ha t of t he scien t ic in t ha t it is one n o t o f cri t ical observa
t ion b ut o f t rus t ful wai t ing and wa t ching and it s fai t h is in
a personal G od and n o t in na t ural laws conceived as working
mechanically B ut t he religious mind equally wi t h t he
scien t ic is engaged in t he con t empla t ion o f fac t s o f immedia t e
consciousness and as grea t concen t ra t ion of a t t en t ion is
required in t he o n e case as in t he o t her A nd once more
it is only by an appeal t o t he fac t s o f consciousness t ha t t he
t ru t h o f any s t a t emen t o r o f any process o f reasoning can be
demons t ra t ed B ut t o Observe w i t h t he exac t i t ude which
science requires is an art n o t acq uired in a day : wha t t he
m i croscope presen t s t o t he eye o f t he t rained Observer is
some t hin g very differen t from wha t is seen when t he
microscope is used for t he rs t t ime Fo r o n e t hing t he
t rained microscopis t knows how t o u s e his ins t rumen t b ut
wha t is more impor t an t he knows how t o us e his eye a
knowledge which is only Ob t ained by habit ual concen t ra t ion
Of t he a t t en t ion upon wha t is presen t ed t o t he eye
The
fac t t ha t t he un t rained observer does n o t s e e some t hing is no
proo f t ha t t he t hing is n o t t here t o be seen This considera
t ion may serve t o illus t ra t e t he proposi t ion t ha t t hough t he
same fac t s are presen t in t he S piri t ual consciousness o f a ll
men t hey a re n o t equally discerned by all Thus t here is
an a p riori reason why t he his t orian o f religion sho ul d assume
t ha t man be ing man began wi t h a S piri t ua l consciousness o f
t he same con t en t as now
There is no reason why he should
ass ume t ha t man began by realising all t ha t was con t ained
in t ha t consciousness In t his respec t t he ex t ernal con
is t he coun t erpar t o f t he int ernal : t he laws which
s c io us n e s s
science has discovered t o pervade t he fac t s o f t he physical
universe o f ex t erna l consciousness we re a t work when man
rs t a ppeared b ut man wa s n o t t hen aware o f t hem B ut
.

O F B EL I EF

T H E E VO L U TI O N

409

even t hen he was so far conscious o f t he uniformit y o f na t ure

as t o a c t upon it : once bit t en doub t less he w a s t wice s hy
else he would have soon perished Even t hen t oo he ac t ed
on t he belief t ha t every t hing ha d a cause b ut for him every
cause was personal every e ff ec t t he e ffec t o f some will o r
o t her This however wa s n o t a religious belief : t he wills he
assumed rivers and t rees t o have were in his eyes na t ural
n o t superna t ural n o t superhuman b ut like his own human
will They were inferences immedia t e inf erences made by
his reason from t he fac t s o f his ex t ernal consciousness and
were an early piece of philosophyj us t as t o t his day t heism
is a philosophical ra t her t han a religious belief Tha t man
f rom t he beginning had some concep t ion some sen t imen t of
t he superna t ural is n o t here denied
Wha t is m ain t ained
is t ha t t ha t sen t imen t was n o t derived from t he ex t ernal
fac t s o f which he wa s conscious b ut frpm his n m h e a rt : t he
sense of his dependence o n a superna t ural will n o t his o wn
t hough personal like his o wn w as found by him in his inner

consciousness a fac t o f which he had n o more doub t t han

he doub t ed t ha t re burns Tha t he S hould look for t ha t
superna t ural will amongs t t he ex t ernal physical embodimen t s
o f will such as plan t s
animals rivers clouds e t c by which
he wa s surrounded was an inevi t able consequence o f t he fac t
t ha t he had as y e t made li t t le progress in t he work o f d is
crimina t in g t he con t en t s of his consciousness ex t ernal and
in t ernal
B ut t ha t t he con t empla t io n of such ex t ernal
obj ect s could be t he source o f t he sen t imen t o f t he s uper

na t ural is impossible t ha t lay wi t hin him

I t is an es t ablished fac t of psychology t ha t every a c t
men t al o r physical requires t he concurrence n o t only o f t he
reason and t he will but of emo t ion : in any given a c t o n e o f
t hese t hree elemen t s may predomi na t e s o much t ha t t he o t her
t wo may easily be overlooked ; b ut t ha t t hey are presen t fo r
all t ha t is a greed by all psychologis t s Tha t fo r t he con
cen t ra t ion of t he a t t en t ion o n t he fac t s Of spiri t ual conscious
ness an e ffor t o f t he will is required we have alre a dy argued
C oleridge indeed said t ha t it required t he grea t es t e ffor t
Be t ha t as it may no one will doub t
t ha t man could make
N o r can
t ha t ac t s o f worship are acc ompanied by emo t ion
t here be any doub t a s t o t he quali t y o f t ha t e m o t ion : it is
,

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S TO R Y O F R E L I G I ON

410

desirable it has it s o wn peculiar joy peace and blessedness ;

it is envied by t hose who t hink t hey canno t share it ; it
s t rengt hens t hose who feel it in t he habit and ac t ivi t y of
No w t hese are fac t s which canno t be overlooked
f a it h
when we come t o consider t ha t religion and worship are
universal among mankind It is t rue t ha t t he wides t spread
f orms Of religious belief are t he lowes t b ut t he persis t ence
o f religion under condi t ions
t he mos t unfavourable for it s
survival is proof t ha t even in t hose condit ions it has n o t
en t irely los t it s preroga t ive We may t herefore safely infer
t ha t from t he beginning man n o t only recognised his depend
"
ence on a personal and superna t ural y vil l b u t t ha t he found
a peculiar happiness in t he recogni t ion To p ut it ano t her
way : as t he laws o f na t ure were in exis t ence and in operat ion
long before t hey were formula t ed by man so before t he t ru t h
was formula t ed t hat G od is Love H is love was t owards all
His creat ures ; and as even primi t ive man ac t ed on t he con
vic t ion t ha t na t ure is unif orm s o his hear t responded wi t h
love t o t he divine love t hough he may have reasoned litt le
o r n o t a t all o n ei t her poin t
Indeed t he reason o f prim i t ive
man was ex hyp othesi undeveloped ; and in any cas e
religious belief is n o t an in ference reached by reason b ut is
t he immedia t e consciousness o f cer t a in fac ts
Those fac t s
however may be and are t aken like o t her fac t s o f conscious
ness as t he basis for reasoning and as t he premisses from
which t o reach o t her fac t s n o t immedia t ely presen t t o c o n
s c io us n e s s
The mo t ive for t his process is t he inna t e desire o f
man t o harmonise t he fac t s o f his experience t o uni t e in one
syn t hesis t he fac t s of his ex t ernal and his inner consciousness
The earlies t a t t emp t in t his direc t ion t ook t he form o f a s c rib
ing t he ex t ernal prosperi t y which befell a man t o t he ac t ion
o f t he divine love o f which he was conscious wi t hin him sel f ;
and t he mis for t unes which be fell him t o t he wra t h o f t he
t
ff
us
ly
o
ended divine will Man being by na t ure religious
j
bega n by a r elig ious explana t ion o f na t ure To assume as is
o f t en done t ha t man had no religious consciousness t o begin
wi t h and t ha t t he mis fo r t unes which be fell him inspired him
wi t h fear and f ear led him t o propit ia t e t he malignan t beings
whom he imag ined t o be t he causes o f his s u e rin g fa ils t o
accoun t for t he very t hing it is in t ended t o explain namely t he
,

'

4 12

I N T R O D UC TI O N T O H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

s t age o f in t ellect ual developmen t man sough t t o reconcile his

in t ernal and ex t ernal experience by iden t ifying t he personal
divine will which manifes t ed it self t o his inner consciousness
wi t h o n e of t he personal agen t s in t he ex t ernal world t ha t
exercised an inuence on his for t u n es ; a nd t he personal
agen t s which his immat ure reasoning led him t o regard a s
exercising t ha t inuence were various S pecies o f an imals
H aving t hus chosen as t he sea t o f t ha t in uence an ex t ernal
agen t he necessarily adop t ed an ex t ernal means of communion
wit h it ; and t he only means which man in t ha t s t age o f
social developmen t ( t he t ribal) kne w for e ffec t ing permanen t
union wi t h anyone ext ernal t o t he t ribe was a blood covenan t
The covenan t wi t h t he animal t o t em t herefore t ook t he form
of part icipat ing in t he blood of t he animal t o t em Ani mal
sacrice con t inued as an ins t it u t ion long af t er t o t emis m wa s
a t hing of t he forgo t t en pas t ; b ut as a survival it poin t s
back t o t o t e m ism as t o t emism in it s t urn poin t s t o t h e
previous con vic t ion o f t he necessit y and t he comfor t o f union
wit h t he divine will
It is a co m monplace t ha t no lie can circula t e unless it
con t ains some t ru t h ; t ha t it is t he elemen t o f t rut h in it
which is seen t o correspond t o fac t s and t here fore is
supposed t o lend it s coun t enance t o t he elemen t s o f error
associa t ed wit h it
S o in religion t he no t ion t ha t animal
sacrice was an essent ial condi t ion of communion wit h G od
was an error ; b ut it was an error which could nei t her have
come in t o exis t ence nor have con t inued t o exis t unless t here
had been a desire f o r such communion and t he desire is
inexplicable excep t on t he assump t ion t ha t it s sa t is fac t ion
was f ound as a ma t t er o f immedia t e consciousness t o bring
S piri t ual comfor t
B ut it wa s t he pa t en t t ru t h o f t he fac t s
t ha t oa t ed t he erroneous reasoning imposed upon t hem

The f ac t t ha t some degree o f spiri t ual communio n in

propor t ion t o t he ex t en t t o which G od was reve a led t o t he
par t icular worshipper wa s a t t a ined a f t er t he o fferin g o f
a nim a l s a crice
was fallaciously in t erpre t ed t o imply t ha t
communion w a s t he e ffec t o f a nimal sacrice : p os t hoc erg o
r hoe
e
r
t
o
f
o
The
ru
h
ha
some
ex
ernal
worship
a
c
t
t
t
t
t
t
p p
is necessary t o t he con t inued exercise o f t he habit o f fai t h
may easi ly be made in t o an arg umen t in favour o f a
,

'

T H E E VO LU TI O N

O F BEL I EF

413

mischievous rit e
Errors may a t t ach t hemselves t o t he
t ru t h b ut t he t ru t h mus t rs t be t here before t hey can do
so In t his sense t ha t is t o say logically t o t emism animal
worship presupposes a s t age in which man had n o t y e t found
as he supposed in t he ex t ernal world t he source o f his inner
consciousness o f t he divine and had n o t ye t iden t ied it
by a process Of vain reasoning wi t h an animal species
The his t orical exis t ence of t his s t age can only be ma t t er
of
conjec t ure and mus t res t mainly on t he diffi cul t y
inven t ed
o f supposing t ha t man t he momen t he was man
an idea which wha t ever
t he idea o f animal sacrice
it s origin can hardly be regarded as inna t e o r even as
obvious
The na t ure of religious belief in t he pre t o t emis t ic s t age
is also en t irely ma tt er o f conjec t ure Tha t it was exclusively
of t he nat ure o f fear is however improbable
Man did
indeed nd himself in t he mids t o f a world of forces ( con
c e ive d by him as personal agen t s ) over which he had in t he
main no con t rol and by which his fort unes were a ffec t ed
Oft en disas t rously B ut t hese forces were n ot all of t hem
inimical t ha t he should fear t hem Again love and gra t i t ude
are jus t as na t ural jus t as much in t egral par t s o f t he con
There is no probabilit y
s t it ut io n of man as fear and ha t red
in t he idea t ha t t he only emo t ion early man fel t o r wa s
capable of feeling was fear Indeed t he fac t t ha t in t he
t o t emis t ic s t age he selec t ed now o n e and now ano t her of t he
personal agen t s which made up t he world fo r him as t he
embodimen t o f t he Being af t er whom his hear t in s t inc t ively
sough t peradven t ure it migh t nd H im is i t self a p res um p
t ion t ha t he did n o t regard every t hing ex t ernal wit h fea r
In t he same way t he fac t t ha t in t he s t age of t o t emism t he
clan has b ut o n e t o t em o n e t ribal god cons t it u t es some
presump t ion t hat man was conscious o f b ut one G o d
before he iden t ied Him wit h one or o t her o f t he forces
na t ure S o far belief in t his s t age may be t ermed
of
mono t heism ; fo r as already said t here is reason t o believe
t ha t poly t heism was de veloped o ut Of t o t emism a n d does
rela t ively lat e period in t he evolu t ion of
n o t occur un t il a
socie t y
O n t he o t her hand man s c on sciousn e ss o f G od m ust in
.

'

I N T R O D U C TI O N TO H I S T O RY O F R E L I G I O N

4 14

early s t age have been s o rudimen t ary ea: hyp othesi as t o

permit o f His coming t o be conceived by a process o f vain
reasoning as manifes t ing H imself in animal form And t his
is in accordance wit h all t ha t science t eaches as t o early man s
undeveloped condit ion ma t erial and men t al social and moral
O nce more we mus t remember t ha t t he fac t s o f consciousness
were t he same fo r early as fo r civilised man ; b ut t hey were
(n o t as e t discriminat ed They swam before man s un rained
t
y
eye and ran in t o one ano t her
Even t he fundamen t al
division of obj ec t s in t o anima t e and inanima t e had n o t been
xed B ut even so all was n o t irra t ional chaos fo r man
In t he ou t er world o f his experience t he laws o f na t ure
which are G od s laws worked wi t h t he same regulari t y
In t he world Of his inner experience G od
t hen as n o w
was n o t far from him a t any t ime If he could n o t
formula t e t he laws Of na t ure a t leas t he had t he key t o t heir
comprehension in t he convic t ion n ot expressed b ut ac t ed
on
If his spiri t ual vision wa s
t ha t na t ure w a s uniform
dim his consciousness o f G o d was a t leas t s o s t rong t o
s t ar t wit h t hat he has never since ceased seeking af t er
H im The law o f con t inuit y holds o f religion a s o f o t her
t hings
Finally sacrice and t he sacramen t al meal which followed
on it are ins t it u t ions which are o r have been universal The
sacramen t al meal wherever it exis t s t es t ies t o man s desire
f o r t he closes t union wit h his go d and t o his consciousness
o f t h e fac t t ha t it is upon such u ni on alone t ha t righ t social
rela t ions wi t h his fellow man can be s e t B ut be fore t here
can be a sacramen t al meal t here mus t be a sacrice Tha t
is t o s a y t he whole human race fo r t housands of years has
been educa t ed t o t he concept ion t ha t it w a s only t hrough a
divine sacrice t hat perfec t union wi t h G o d was possible fo r
man
A t t imes t h e sacramen t al concep t ion o f s acrice
appeared t o be abou t t o degenera t e en t irely in t o t he g ift
t he o ry ; b ut t hen in t he six t h cen t ury B C t he sacramen t al
concep t ion woke in t o new life t his t ime in t he form of a
1

search for a perfec t s ac ric e a search wh ich led C lemen t

2
and C yprian t o t ry all t he mys t eries o f G reece in vain B ut o f
t his

'

Eus e b P rcep a r Eva n gel

.

F ouc ar t

As

ii

socia tions Rel igieuses

7 6,

not e

I N D EX
n a me

a d t a b oo
de
61
alt ar
A
pole 1 3 4 o fferings t o t h e s un 2 3 0
A ALU 3 0 9
Al a sk a ns gr a ve p e s t s 1 9 6
1 2 3 1 3 31 6
A b a pan s i 2 9 9 3 0 3
A l e ut s s uspension buri a l 2 0 4
A b c ha s e s s a crice 1 5 6 1 5 7
A l fo ers a ft er chi l d bir t h mo t her puri
Ab ip on e s n a m e of d e a d t ab oo 6 1 ; mo urn
ed fa t her b e at en 7 5 chi l d w a sh ed
in g 7 9 8 0 sick ness d ue t o sin 1 1 1
in b lood 7 6
A bs t r a c t ide a s fami l i a r t o t h e s ava ge
Al g on k uin s gr a ve pos t s 1 96
31
Al iens e at en 2 0 1 2
A cc a dia 2 7 6 underworl d 3 0 6
ll eg o ry
as
t h e in t erpre t a t ion o f
A chilles 3 0 0 3 0 1
myt hology 2 6 8
A cropolis 3 3 2
l lia n c e be t ween cl a n an d god 1 6 9
A c t ors s a cred 3 5 1
170
bet ween t o t em a n d cl a n 2 1 4
ll y s upern a t ura l so ugh t by m an 1 5 4
A dora t ion a s primi t ive a s fe ar in
l t ar a pol e o r pi l e t o m a rk t h e p l a ce
rel igion 2 1
ZEs c hin es 33 8 4 O
o n which t h e b l ood of t he t o t em is
E s c hy l us 1 6 an d t h e mys t eries 3 60
shed 1 31 ; surviva l o f t h e pile in
G reece 1 3 2 in N ew W orld Sa mo a
3 62
Affec t ion p a ren t al 1 5 2 1 5 3
an d t h e S a moyeds 1 3 3
pi l e b ecomes
A ffec t io n n a t ur al of s a va g es 2 0 0 2
a dresser or a l t a r i h
t he pill a r a
A fric a s a crices t o t he de a d 1 9 5
be t h el i b pil e a n d pill a r combine d
1 34
wooden pill a r b ecomes woo d en
s acred t rees 2 0 8
A fric a C en t r al proper t y t ab oo 7 2 ;
im age s t one pil l a r t he m ar bl e im ag e
O f t he god 1 35 1 3 9 idol lik e a lta r
wives d o n o t w a sh in h usb a n d s
a bsence 7 8
sme ared wi t h blood i h m a t eria ls
n o t t o be t aken from an
A fric a Equa t ori al t ree b uri al 2 0 4
ch
nce
a
y
A7 6 6 tu
pl a ce 1 3 5 b ut from a t a boo
s 187
A y d bs 6 i wv 1 8 7
spo t 1 3 6 1 3 7 ; primi t ive al t ars t o
A ga ve 2 5 7
b e dis t ing uished fro m s t ones wor
1
f
A y p w 33 3
shipped 1 3 7 primi t ive a l t a r n o t a t
A y pd 3 35 1
rs t a god 1 3 8 a common use d b y
t w o or more t ri b es 2 3 5 ; gener a l l y
A greemen t M e t hod of used by s a v a ges
29
ne a r s a cred t ree an d s t re a m 2 3 7
Al t a r s t one a noin t ed wi t h O il o r cl a d
A gric ul t ur a l t imes s a crici al ri t e rs t
b ecomes a cheerful fe a s t
in ski n 2 91
1 94 ; a n
Am a t o n g o 5 3
c e s t or worship d a t es from 1 9 4 1 9 5
Am a z on peop l es dea d b uried in ho use
Agric ul t ure l a t er t h an p a s t or a l life
1 1 5 ; comp a t i bl e w i t h nom a d l ife
4 9 mo t hers t a boo a ft er c h il d birt h 7 5
A m a z ul u pries t s 2 8 7
3 4 gener al l y l eft b y s av a ges t o t h e
2
A m b on c ure for dise a se 4 5
women 2 4 0 2 5 8 3 7 9
A m ule t s
Agyr t ae 333
4 35 2 3 7 1
S ee Ch a rm s
A h t s b l ood o ff ering 1 7 1
nex t world A n a x a goras o n myt hs 2 67
30 8
Ances t or wors hi p n ot t he so urce o f
Ah ur a M a z d a 3 05
bel ief in t he s upern at ural 55 causes

Ain os ,

of

0 re

a ,a

'

I ND E X

18

desire for sons 5 6 ; a b y prod uct

187
1 88 ;
i h ; g ua rdi a n spiri t s
essen t i all y a privat e worship 1 8 8 ;
expressions an d a c t s o f sorrow do n o t
1 8 9 ; s uch a c t s
a mo un t t o worship
m u s t rs t become m at t er o f cus t om
1 9 0 ; bl ood l e t t ing t o revivify t h e
d ece a sed comes t o b e reg a rded a s an
2 ; p ar allel
O ffering t o him 1 90
h a ir offerings 1 93 4 ; so t h e
of
funera l fe as t is in t erpret ed a s in
hono ur o f t h e de a d 1 94 ; d at e of
t his c h a nge i h ; t hen when t h e
famil y comes int o exis t ence 3 b ody
worshippers is provided 1 9 5
of
d at e i b a ssimil at ed t o t he worship
1 9 5 ; a l t a rs a n d idol s
o f t h e gods
s uperh um a n powers now
1 96 ;
1 96 1 9 7 ;
a scri b e d t o t he dece a sed
t he
d ei ed a nces t o r fall a cy 1 9 7
gods n ot origin all y ghos t s 1 97 8 ;
a nces t or worship does n o t s at isfy t h e
rel igious ins t inc t 1 9 8 ; boun d up
wit h t he p at ria rch a t e a n d event ual l y
progress 1 99 ; n o t
a n obs t a cl e t o
b a sed o n fea r nor t he source o f
rel igion 2 2 5 it s effect s o n t he
b el ief in t h e nex t worl d 3 0 1
2
for
bidden t o t h e J ews 3 0 2 ; n o t t h e
source o f rel igion i h ; lib at ions of
wa t er in 3 2 34
-

,
,

An gak ut s , 2 9 0
A ngels , 3 8 3
A n g oy , roy a l blood m ay n ot be shed , 7 3
Anim al he a ded gods , 1 2 3
Anim als , s a criced t o non t o t em dei t ies ,
2 30 ; s a cred , ch a nge o f s t a t us in ,
2 9 56 s a cred t o gods , 3 8 4
Ani m a t e an d in a n im a t e , a division
unknown t o primi t ive m a n , 4 1 4
A ni m ism , 2 1 ff ; no elemen t o f t h e
s upern a t ura l necessari l y presen t in ,
2 2 , b ut u s ua lly presen t , 4 1 ; rever
sions t o, 1 4 1 ff n ot p er s e relig ious ,
2 0 6, 3 9 3 , 4 0 9 ; in it m an projec t s
-

his

o wn

person alit y

on

to

re

n at u

3 94

AVL1r1 61r0 6e s, 6 3
19
at
A
, 3
a
an d
of
ua
a
A
a t , 2 94
1 55
A t
as t t
,
,
a
an d
d al
ol
t
A t
,
2 an d
i
u
t t ut
,
a at
2
t
t he C
of
t ree t o t em s ,
A t
,
t
208 9 ;
of
,
qu
a ua l
t
t a a l
2 47 ;
l
t
2 52
a rt a n d
,
a
t , 1 84
A t l , ua
1 26
A t , as t t
,
31 1
A a a
,
'

nnihil ion
nn l s crice
renew l
blood
coven n
n elope
o em
n hrop ogy e s wi h soci l
rel gio s ins i ions
employs
omp r ive M e hod
n hropomorphism
conse ence
poly heism
gr d
grow h r ce b e in
my ho ogy
n il es g rdi n spiri s
ns
o ems
p l ch es
-

p a t uri a 5 1
pepi 3 0 9
phrodi t e 2 7 3
pis c alf ma rk ed by t wen t y nine signs
1 2 2 ; in which t h e god m a nifes t e d
himself 1 3 0 t houg h al l o t her cows
were a l so s a cred 1 8 3
A pollo l a urel a ssoci at ed wi t h 2 09 ;
a bsorbed m a ny o t her (t o t em ) gods
2 3 6 3 8 5 ; a ssoci a t ed wi t h dolphin
2 52
dissocia t ed from dol phin myt h
2 5 3 eiresi on e a t t a che d t o his t emple
2 5 5 ; person ali t y individ ua l t ho ugh
rit ua l complex 3 90 ; possesses t he
S i b yl
274
283
comm unic a t es
power o f prophecy b y blood o f
s a crice 2 8 5 ; b y e a t ing o f l aurel
leaves 2 8 6
Apollo Pa rrha s io s s a crice t o be con
s umed in s a nc t uary 1 46 an d
en t irely 1 4 9

A
A
A
A

Ar o gbpd 6e s ( i mpa c) , 6 7
A
l , at
t he
t , 2 93
A ra bia n N ights , 25 3 , 2 5 9 , 3 55
A a a
a
a ,
t he
g t n ot
u
63 ;
t
a i
a
1 00 ;
,
i t
a ta , 1 32
t he
h, 1 3 3
a
a
t , 1 44 ;
t at n ,
3 30
S ee H
I a ,
,
,
S
t
Ara fuas , u
a
a t , 46
A a d a,
t
of
a
ac
a , 146
O
335

Apxpa uo s, 3 3 5 2

o
Apxt i a o ir ns, 33 5
A ric ia , 2 3 8
2 53
A
,
a
A
t
a
u
a, 3 7 5 6
,
a, t t
A
t
t
103
,
a
A rn ob ius , a
t
t
, 1 43
it s
Art ,
t
n ot a u
i al
,
a
a
of
t
u
10 ;
,
,
b t
a ua
t
of a t
o m or his m , 2 5 2 ;
96
, 3
p
p
g
1
a
a
A t mi ,
2
t he
, 25
a , 209
H y m n ia ,
A t
t
ta
,
,
62 , 6 3 , 7 7
A a
S ee I
u
a
at
A a t ,
Fa t i , 2 1
ff
b
t o t he
a , 52 ; t
at
239
,
a, 1 34, 1 3 5
A
A a, u t
al
t
, 247
A a a u , as t t
, 1 25
A
u
bu a , 2 04
,
at
a
a
A
o f an a
t
,
1 2 4, 1 2 7 ;
a
u
um a
an d
20 8 9 ;
t
art , 2 5 2
,
at
A
of
u t
I a , a
t a
t
ta
91
, 67

pp e e ing

rs

r bi ns mi h
w sh
he d
blood fe ds wi h n m ls
pr mi ive l r
nos
s cri ci l ri e
j oin e i g
ebrews sr el J ews
emi es
f ner l fe s s
rc i primi ive form
s ri ci l
me l
-

rion
ris oph nes p rodies Ele sini
rmeni o em ombs ones
noin ed s cred s ones
in highes forms
s rv v
b rb rism ho gh evolved
exhi i s gr d l grow h
n hro
pro ress in
r e s im ge cl d in skin
Ephesi n
r emis
pries ess of boo

ry n
ndo E rope n
sh n is defe ed by n s
o er
lood
de d
h eir con
feder ion
sher
si f nc ion dei ies
sp r g s
o em
ssiniboins s spension ri l
ssoci ion
nim l wi h god
of h
n g re
ree
in
ssoci ion
de s
cco n s for
r nsmissibili y of boo
-

I N D EX

2
4 0

B lood

offerings t o t he de a d 5 1 5 2 ;
C
as a m e a ns of commend a t ion t o t h e
gods 1 7 0 ff
in worship of C A I R N S whic h m ark gr a ves come to be
reg arded a s al t ars 1 9 6
t o g ua rdi a n
u n a t t a ched Spiri t s 1 7 4
spiri t s 1 8 2 ; a t t h e gra ve 1 9 1 n o t Cal a mi t y d ue t o sin 1 60
Ca l dwell B p 1 7 4 6
d ue t o fe a r b ut d esire t o revivify t h e
dece a sed 1 90 2 in t he El eusinia Ca lend a r t he a gric ul t ural 2 2 58
C al f god 1 2 2
Ca lic ut k ings of 2 7 9
B l oo d rel a t io ns hip necess a ry b ond o f
Ca mbodi a 2 7 5 2 8 0
nom a d b ut n o t of se t t led l ife 1 2 0
Ca n a d a
I ndi a ns
of
an d
B l oodshed ev a ded 2 9 2
t o t ems
t a t t ooing 1 8 2
B l ood t ie b ond o f socie t y 5 4 3 3 0 ;
Ca ari I n d i ans my t h 2 5 7 8 2 60
broken do wn 3 7 6
r a rel y religious in in
B ob o wiss i a genera l dei t y I 6 3 chief C a nnib alism
t en t ion 2 0 1 ; pr a c t iced o n a liens
god of F a nt i confeder a t ion 2 3 9
2 0 1 on kinsmen 2 0 2
l a t t er imp l ies
B o lo t u 3 0 8
no disrespec t n o r preven t s a nces t or
B mb N wu h y 16
1 32
worship 2 0 3 ; but a ims a t keepi n g
B on a D e a 2 4 0
t he good q u a li t ies o f t he dece a sed
B ond be t ween gods an d m a n renewed
wit hi n t he cl a n 2 0 3
237
B o n es b uried t o procur e res urrec t ion
C ape Co as t n a t ives discover Dj wi
of a nim a l 1 5 0
j a hn u 2 0 2 1
C a rdea 2 4 6
B e n fire b o n e re 1 5 0
C arib s n ame o f de a d t a boo 61
B o n ny ceremony o f rec a lling t h e so ul
47
em b al ming 4 9 dea d b uried
proper t y t a boo 7 2 ; mo urners f s t
under doors t ep 5 1
7 8 ; fa s t ed a ft er a b ir t h 7 5 ; t hen
B ook of the D ea d
p uried ch il d 7 6 t heir c a nni
30 9 3 1 1
323
-

01 11 ,

/0

384

B
B

orneo n ex t world
orrowi n g of my t hs

s ns

2 99
S ee Du u
2 60 1
.

B bbp o a, o 2
B o vgb m a , 1 1 7 , 2 9 1

b al ism , 2 0 1
a t , ba
on t a
3
, 7
Ca t a l ( t h e ), b u
d,
t he
b ad , 5 0
at
a
l
a
t
I
, 85
g
by a t a
Ca t t l , n o t a t
116
t at d A
S ee

C se

sed

rn

boo

goo

b ury

C e oric
e

t he

mper ive
e en
p s or l peoples
B ourb onn a is do ugh m an 2 1 5 6
D omes ic e nima l s
B ra h fo 1 5 5
C au ca sus dwarf houses in 5 0
B ra n Voy a ge of 3 1 3
255
s a va ge t heory o f 3 1
Ca us a t ion
B r a n ch c a rried in procession
206 ;
a nimis t ic
uni vers a l i t y
of
S ee P rocession
2 8 4 ; m a n s b e l ief in in heren t a n d
B ra t s t v a 9 9
u ndemons t r a t ed 4 0 4
B r a z i l al t a r pol e 1 3 4 guardi a n spiri t s
Ce l ebes
t he To p an t un uas u remedy
1 8 4 ; n gers c ut o ff in hono ur of
for dise a e 4 5 mo t hers t a b oo
de a d 1 9 1 wes t ern worl d 3 0 6
a ft er child b ir t h 7 4
B rum al i a 2 2 8
S ee M in a h a ss a
C el t s 3 1 3
B ud d h a 3 1 8 ff 3 3 2
B uffal o t o t em 1 0 3
Ceos funera l l a w 7 7
B uhuit ihu 1 7 6
Cer a m h a ir m ay n o t be c ut in 4 5
B ul g ari a ns funera l fe a s t s 51
Cere al dei t ies genera l l y feminine w hy
24 0
B ull s s a criced t o rivers 2 3 0
C ere l s c ul t ivat ion of 2 1 0 a s t o t ems
B ura t s
t heir remedies for dise a se
-

44

21 1

in ho use 4 9 50 o f
people Ch aerone a 2 92
of t o t em a nim al s 1 2 6 it s X h gbbl x I 7 1
o ec isol a t ion o f t h e corpse which Ch a l c at on go 3 0 5
is t aboo 2 0 4 effec t ed b y suspension C ha l d aea m agic in 4 0 ; ho use gods
ib
186
S e Crem a t ion I nh um a t ion
u
B urm ah o u t c a s t s t a b oo 69
X y
63
B urn ing t o a voi d b l oo d shed 7 3 7 4
Ch a rms 1 6 5 ; n o t worshipped 1 68
B urn t O fferin g s ub se q ue n t t o grow t h
no spiri t resid es in t hem 1 7 8
333
o f t he concep t ion
o f a pi a c ul um
fa cil i t a t es syncre t ism 2 3 6
Ch y her 3 0 8
1 60 1
B ury a t s corpse o f Sh a m a n t a b oo 7 6
Cheese n o t t o be e a t en b y pries t ess o f
B ut l er B p 4 6 1 52
A t h en e 2 7 1
C he m is 1 8 4 1 8 6
B ut t ery a s t o t em 2 4 3
B uri al ,
50 ;
bj t

b ad

xa

e s,

at,

a ce

I ND E X

2 1

n t i rel igious a n d t herefore n o t t he

so urce o f rel igion 2 33
Co l o ur t ab oo co l o urs whi t e 6 5 6 6
T
7 9 ; red 6 7 3 4 9
C olumbi a ( I ndia ns of) t o t ems 1 0 2 ;
s uspen sion b uria l 2 0 4
Comi t i um 3 0 5 3 0 7
C ommunion wi t h de ad a n d wi t h
s upern a t ur a l powers 5 6 ; is t he
bj ec t o f t h e s a crici al me al 1 5 2 ;
O

a ssoci a t ed
wi t h m a i z e pl a n t
effect ed by physic a l a ssimil at ion
her procession 2 5 5
2 52
o f t h e s upern a t ur a l q ual i t ies of t h e
Chiefs t a boo in Ta hi t i an d N ew
divine a n i m al 1 5 2 1 5 3 w i t h pl a n t
Z eal a nd 62 go t o t he h appy o t her
t o t ems 2 1 4
9 ; wi t h t re e t o t em s
world 30 8
2 2 0
2 ;
s a t a nic imi t a t ion o f
2 8 8 ; condi t ion o f fut ure h a ppiness
C hi l d bir t h t aboos t he mo t her 7 4
326
C hi l dren t a boo a t birt h 7 5 so a re
3 76
foll owed on s a crice
prey of evil spiri t s 7 6 ; must be
412
S ee Sa cr a men t
p uried 7 6 dresse d lik e t o t em 1 0 3 C omm unit y t he on l y rel igio us origin
Chile gr a ve pos t s 1 96
a l l y t h e St a t e 3 2 8
9
C hil i g uar d ia n spirit s 1 8 4 ; posses C ompara t ive M et hod a pplied t o
sion
286
nex t world 2 99
ins t it ut ions is b a sed o n resem bl a nces
wes t ern worl d 3 0 6
bet ween t h e ins t i t ut ions o f d i fferen t
C hin a soul invi t ed t o re t urn ( Li Yun )
peopl es 2 3 b ut a lso impl ies
4 6 ; a nces t or worship 5 6
mourners
di ff erence 3 is empl oyed t o est a b
s a crice in 1 4 7
lish t hose d i fferences 4 ; a n d t o
t a booed
58
t r a ce t heir s u ccession (i e
1 48
1 49 ; a nces t or worship does
t heir
his t ory an d evol ut ion ) 4
n o t s a t isfy t he rel igio us ins t inc t in
Comp urga t ion o ri gin o f 6 4 6 5
1 98
on c o m it a n t Va ri a t ions
M e t hod o f
C hoc t a ws 2 5 1
u sed by s a v a ges 2 9
C hris t i a n it y a high er form o f mono
C oncordia 24 6
t heism t h a n J ud a ism 3 8 6 ; s a cr a
men t a n d s a crice in 4 1 4 5
Co n farre a t io 3 3 0
C onrm at io n in t he s a v a ge ch urch
C hris t m a s 2 2 8
1 03
Chryses 2 7 3
C onfucius 1 9 8 1 9 9 com munion wi t h
C h urc h ( t h e s a va ge ) 1 0 3
1 48
C h urching o f women 7 5
C o n g o remedies for dise a se 4 4 ;
C ircum am b ul at ion 2 1 0
welcom e t he d ea d 4 8 ; b lood
C is t 3 5 5
coven an t 9 8 c annib a l ism 20 1
Cit ian s 3 4 1
Con n l a a dven t ures o f 3 1 3
Civilis a t ion m at eri al d ue t o religion

Ch eper a , 38 4
S ee
Cheremiss , C herkess , Chuwa s h
Ts c h erem is s , scherk ess , Ts c huwas c h
t heir
Chibch a s , my t h o f B a c hu , 2 5 7
pries t k ing, 2 7 5
Chic a , offered t o t h e de a d , 5 2
corresponds t o t he
Chicomeco a t l ,
Corn M o t her , 2 1 2 3 her fe a s t , 2 1 5
syncre t ism in her ri t ua l , 2 3 5 differ
e n t ia t e d
from X il on en , 239 ;

249
C ta

ivi s 3 7 4
C l a ll a m ordin a t ion 2 8 8
C l a n b o und b y b l ood t ie 5 4 ; whol e
cl an m us t p a rt ak e o f s a crici al me a l
when cl a n dissol ves it s worship
1 47
cea ses 1 8 1 ; n amed a ft er it s t ot em
,

Co n o p as , 1 8 4
Conscience , 3 4 3

C onsciousness fa ct s o f t he rel igious

3 9 4 t h e ex t ern a l 4 0 8 a t t e m p t s t o
reconcile t he fa c t s o f t he ex t ern l
a n d in t ern al
410
Co n secr a t ion o f kings 2 8 5
Con t a gion of t ab oo 6 5
209
S ee I nfec t ion
C l a n god le ader in war an d fa t her O f C on t amin a t ion o f t ree an d pl a nt
worship 2 1 5 6 S ee Syncret ism
t h e cl an 1 5 3
Cl ansmen e a t en 20 1 2 ; fellow C n t inuit y Law o f hol d s o f science 2 8
worshippers 3 2 7
Con t in uu m o f religio us evol ut io n 8 o f

4
l
y
c
e
nsi
n
g
b
3
9
3
8
51 355
l
a
3
t he evol ut ion of science
in
a
10
C
y
religion 3 934
Cl emen t 3 4 6 4 1 4
S ee G a rmen t s
C orn n ot t o b e ground on t a b oo d a ys
Clo t hes b es t 66
65
a s t o t em
3 64
e a r o f exhib i t ed
C ochin C hin a pi a c ul um 1 6 1

2
3
1
3
oc
igne
in t he El eusinia 3 7 2 3 8 1 he a f O f
3
0
5
k
a
C
in t h e Eleusini a a n d t he Fe a s t o f
Cock l e a s t o t em 1 5 3
Un l e a vened B rea d 3 8 5
Coercion n o t a ppl ied by m an t o t h e
gods 4 2 ; n o t applied by m an t o C orn b ab y h o w m a de 2 1 2
s upern at ur al powers 1 0 5 1 6 8 1 8 3 ; Corn go d dess 2 4 1
,

I N D EX

2 2
4

C orn Maiden differen t ia t ed from Corn

M o t her 2 3 9 2 4 1 in t he E l eusini a
-

Daul i a

S ee Tro n is
57 , 7 8
a
,
d a y , 6 5, 6 6
Day , t a
4 5 53
a
t at
a ,
t
,
b
53 ;
52 ; a t
t
,
,
at
t ,
o f, 5 3 ;
a
at
b t of r
t
t he l
t
t , 54
,
61 ;
a
ta
55 ;
,
qu
21 0 ;
u
t
1 94 ;
,
,
n ot
a
t he , 2 8 8 ;
tu n ,
u
302 ;
to
t
t
,
j
t rn , 3 0 3
S ee B u a , C
,
S
t
G
t , M u
,
a a
t
o f, 4 4
at ,
2 88
u
t
D a t an d
t
,
,
G
a
a ,
t ,
S ee
,
S
t
112
e c ora t ive a rt , it s
,
a
D el em en t , 66
S ee
ut
8
of
at
a
D
,
,

o f t he
Dei ed a
t
t he a a
,
1 97
,
D
b u , 3 01
Deira s , 2 8 5
a , an d
ut a
a , L
D t
G
,
,
1 64 ;
ff
b t
t
1 63 ;
,
l G
t ut a , 1 65
S ee a
243
,
c at
D
t ,
a
t o , 63 a
a
21 3 ;
a
to
t
,
f
K e,
2 20 ;
t at
,
by
i a ll
23 9 ;
at d
241 ; a
t
,
l u
a
ul t
2 52 ;
at ,
t
t o al l , 3 5 9 it s
bl
ut u
t
t t he
t n
,

i b ; an d P
3 62 ;
t
,
a
i b ; a s t he Ol d W
,
a
l u , 3 6 7 if
a
,
t , 8 8
1 83, 378
H H to
D
t
3 38 4O
,
D a, 2 78
.

D vid

boo
3 4 6 ff
D e d re men of
w shed
Corn M o t her how m ade 2 1 2 differen
wi h lood
p in ed red
t ia t e d fro m C orn M a iden 2 3 9 2 41
fe r
rel ions wi h sugges t
in t he E l e usini a 3 6 4 ff
243
possi ili y f iendly rel ions wi h
C orn sieve 2 4 7
spiri s
dependen on
iving
Corn s t a l k fami l y 2 0 9 2 1 1
n me of
boo
re ire
C orporat ion o f pries t s 2 8 8 ff
food
b ried in rees
Corpses t a boo 7 6 m ay n o t t o uc h t h e
w shing
do
re r
ground i b dele clot hes 7 7
ho gh ghos s do
re oin
d evo ured by dogs ( t o t e m a nim al )
e
ri l
orpses
4
2 0 3
S ee Ca nni b a l ism B uri a l
hos s o rners piri s
Cosmogony 2 62 2 6 4
e h s v ge heory
Co t t on M o t her 2 4 3
e h
res rrec ion pre ended
Co unci l s of T o urs a n d N a n t es s uppress
s t one worship 1 4 2 1 4 3
D ece sed
D e d C orpses hos s
C r y s h Cl a n myt h of origin 2 51
piri s
origin
Cre a t ion my t hs a s t o 2 62
C rema t ion 50 2 99
Uncle nness
S ee B uri al
egener ion process evol ion
Corpses I nh um at ion
nces ors
f ll cy
Cre t e 3 3 2
expression
Crimin a l s t aboo 59 ; are t hose who
h ave violat ed t a boo 7 0 ; e at en 2 0 2
eipho s
203
exec ut ed in pl ace o f d ivine
k in g 2 8 0
ei ies ener l oc l
T el ry
C row I n d ians mo urning 7 9 ; blood
di erence e ween hem
o fferings t o t he d e a d 1 91
el ry
F mi y ods
Cuc hul in n 3 1 3
D elphi
Cud j o 1 6 4
eme er sh s cred
sso i ed
C ult s privat e a n d fa mily how rel at ed
wi h cere ls
pig s criced
t o p u bl ic c ul t s 1 8 8 l oc a l open o nl y
her
differen i ed rom or
t o inh a b i t a n t s 3 2 7
worshipped orig n y
S ee Worship
Cunin a 2 4 6
women only
ssoci e wi h
Cust om t h e rs t for m in which d ut y
whe
her E e sini n c
present s i t sel f 1 9 0
hrown O pen
connec
C us t oma ry Rel igions dened 1
ion wi h
doc ri e of f re iss
Cut direc t 92
ch honic
erse
Cycle o f t ransmigrat ion 3 1 7 3 2 1
phone
om n of
Cylon 3 3 2
E e sis
n me of voided in
Cyn ad ae 1 2 5
D eme er

Cyp ri a n 4 1 4
emos henes
Cyprus 2 2 1
en
D epa rt ment al gods h ow t hey a rose
-

242

D e Pey s t er s I sl and gra ve pos t s

blood D ervishes D a ncing 2 8 7
D esign t heory o f 3 9 9 4 0 0

funera l fe as t s 5 1
m a y n o t b e shed 7 3 7 4
Da co t ahs descended from a s t one
bl ood o fferings t o t h e de a d
s uspension b uri al 20 4
D g on 1 2 8
D ahomey funeral fea s t s 51

DA B A I B A ,

1 39
1 91 ;

w a shed only when born 7 6

a ll s l a ugh t e r is s a crice
1 58 1 59 ;
d ivine k ings 2 9 0
Da nce a s worship 1 7 4
D a nh si S ee Whyda h
,

'

Da t il l a , 3 0 4
Da ub ing , for

D evil worship 1 0 6
i I n d ig et e s 2 4 56
ialis his h a ir clippings a n d n ail
p a rings b uried 4 5 S ee Fl amen
b y Ta me
Diam o n d m in e t ab ooed
h ameh a 7 2
Di a n a 2 3 8
Dia si a vic t im cons umed before s un
rise 1 4 6 c akes in sh a pe o f a nim a ls
,

Da m a r a s ,

De vak s , 2 0 7

Aa iuwv, 3 22
Ad i/LOVGS, 1 8 7

1 96

puric at ion

3 49

ff

'

216

Dies

efa s t i 67 2 7 6
D ieyeri e pubert y c eremonies
n

17 1

1 0 3, 1 0 4 ,

I N D EX

24

Ephesi a ns us e o f M e t hod o f Co n c o m i
t n t Va ri a t ions 3 0
Epilepsy sign o f possession 2 8 6

FA B
Fa

IU S

209
a
t
,
t
ul t
ta
,
t al ,

ce p in ing of
F c y heory
iries boo see
iry es reec primi ive m n s
ignor nce n r l ws
heir
origin
F ih
fo nd ion of science
we
religion
in er
woven wi h every
re son
in re igion
in science
cies
Error
F mi y
er ins i ion h n
c n
does
come
in o exis ence n il f er nom d
imes
F mi y fec ions s rong mongs
s v ges
con in ed in de h
s gges friend y rel ions
wi h s pern r spi i s
F ly gods
how ob ined
from
gods of
comm n y
from
g di n spiri s
mongs
emi es
in ome
in
reece
n is ri e heir vic ory over
sh n is
hi her o n nown
on ghos s
heir
eder ion
off n
ff origin
belief
in
F s ing
mo rners
mo hers f er chi
ir h
ppe se g rdi n spiri
E e sini
s si e
ood
herhoo
wn s in in mys eries
Fe r
on y occ sion
whic h
e ie in
s pern r l m ni
fes s i self
eged
n r
sen imen ow rds
de d
dece sed
so rce
mo rning
oo
nor of
oo
gener y
of spiri s
co n er c ed
i nce wi h
on y eeling fel
w r s spiri s
origin
re gion
necess ry
e emen in e c ion
s per
n r powers
p nishmen
in ispens le in ed c ion
so rce
ri es
de
re son
implemen s
ried wi h
ece se
core of worship
s pern r el
s v ge
,

3 50 1
Ep im el t ae, 3 3 6
,
4
1
0
a
2
3
d
3
,
,
p
o
60
t
a
3
6
F
3
,
,

a
t
t he
t
t
ta
Fa
E Irom e ia
16 t
a
a
of
a t u al
6 0 , 3 80
t
,
,

4
2
at
a
a
5
3
a, b
uat
,
,
as
u
at
a t ,
t he
172

t
1
1
0
7
a
f
l
2
l
s
o
u
2
8
7
;
,
,
,
q
40
a
6
o
f
a
c
t
Vej , 2 64 ; t h e Far
La
t
a
,
,
ib
l
407
at
b y A u a Ma a, 3 0 5
30 4
,
,

a
4
6 , 33 7
S ee
3
3
Fall a
,
a
t
t
h
a
l
a
t
u
t
1
2
l
t
e
t
0
a
,
,
,
n ot
of
h a s it s a
la , 1 8 0 , 1 8 8 ;
a n d it s
t he
,
a
a
t
l ut
t
u
t
5
6
t
,
,
1 95
52
t
,
a
at l
l
af
t
a
t
t
,
, 3 31
2 90
k
a a
t u
at ,
4 6 ff
,
,
a , 3 60
l
u
t
at
t
t
t he
u
5 3 ; an d
,
2
he
a t u al
r t , 5 4, 5 5
u
t
, t
, 3 1 1 , 3 1 9, 3 2
21 9
a
l
1 64 ;
ta
t
a t
am i
ib
w t
,
,
,
,
tla d , a
u
230
t he
u it ,
t he
,
a,
t
n
275 ;
1 8 0 ; an d vice vers d , 1 8 1 ; or
,
by
i
a
t to
2
9
a
r
a
t
b
u
t
7
,
,
a
t
w ar
a
1 86 ;
zb
t , 3 49 ;
S
t ,
R
,
( t he
,
t u ), 31 3
1 87 , 1 88
G
,
t q u tt , 8 6, 92
at t
t
t he
Fa t
but t
E da iuwv, 1 8 7
to a
u k
A a t
t
t
u
d , 32 1
c on
t , 49 ; t
god , 2 1 ;
a , 2 51
u
f
at
239
,
Eury p hy l us ,
l at d t a
60
La d , 2 9 7
of
Far
,
a t
u
t, 375
2 98 9
,
Sa b , 3 4 0
u
57 ,
of
a t
of
77
,
,
l ut
it a
l d b t , 65 ; t o
?
a t
to
t
,
5
un
al ,
in
t i al ,
a
ua
a
t, 1 83 ;
a
5, 3 8 ; a
l
l
to
a , 3 6 5, 3 68
l u
( a rt )
d
n ot
l
2 85
t he
t at
Fa t ub t t ut for bl
,
l
art )
ba ba
Fa t
d , o f G o d , 1 0 8 , 1 0 9, 1 3 9
(
,
9 , 1 0 ; an d
1
n ot
k ,
t
t al ,
Fa
, 3 38, 3 5
88 ;
ta
8 8, 8 9 ;
a
n o t t he
l
a
on
l
,
,
3 8 2 , 3 8 6
at u a
a
u
t
t he u
7 ; n ot
t he b l f

4
3
9
2 0 ff
a ll
5
t o b e t he
t
t
,
g
,

ak
a
t he
t a t t he
a t u al
t
t t
,
ul
a i
a ll
of
tu
a
n ot
u
a , 46 ; of
t o t he
b d , 45 ; t
t t he
u
o f t he
u
t ab , 5 8 ;
t ab
d
a
d to
46 ;
al
t , 1 05 ;
tu ,
u
a ll , 8 0 , 8 1 ;
la
t at
47 ;
a
t
u t
a t
b y a ll a
t a god ,
,
t a
l , 53 ;
a
l f
t to
1 0 5 1 0 6 n o t t he
yt
t ab o , 6 0 ; a
of
t
u
a d
t , 1 0 6 n o t t he
at
t ab
a
63
a
65
li
t ab
1 0 6, 1 0 7 , 1 0 9 ; a
,
,
,
a l bl
d m ay n ot
u
1
f
1
l
d u at
0
o
73
t
,
,
u
ta
t
l g t
6
of
u
o
d
a
a
6
t
u
l
1
, 77 ;
,
,
g
77 ;
u
n ot
a
al
u at
7 8, 7 9 ;
d
ab
,
, 1 90
al , 1 5 8
a
ad ,
t o t he
a
1 95
t
o f t he
t he
o f t he
u
l
t t
t
w hy
1 92
a
t ut
n o t t he
,
l g n as
l as
d , 205
a
10 ;
a re b u
t
t he d
,
n ot t a
m an
at
ff t
225 ; o f
ul
n ot
t he
,
an d
at
ul
n ot
d u , 33
t he u
at u al f
t b y t he a a
,
n ot t he b a
o f ta
8 5, 87
233
,
t
al
l
S ea W
e it i o s , 1 6 6
c

E imeni es
Episcopi
of hings boo in
mys eries
Eq ori lood offering
m rri ge
'

'

E inoxes
Er n
cre ed
h r
Er ni
Erinyes
Error
l ws
evo ion

off
zd

nd

process

Esch o ogy
Es imo
Eso eric doc rines in
Ele sini
Essence
divine
Es honi ns sme r rees i h b ood
Es n r in proc red
E hiopi divine ki gs
ordered
pries s die
E hiopi ns
p in
righ eo s
Ei e e
E ripi es
E rop

vio e
boo
Everl s ing p nishmen
Evoe
oe
Evo ion does
pply
religion
E ivers progress excep on
pp ied
re igion or
oes
invo ve
inference h
re igion or
is mere r rism
progress
iden ic
of boo
in re igion
synonymo s wi h
pro ress
Ewe spe ing peoples believe h
so occ s on y re rns
o y
emp
so l
ece se
re rn
f ner
men ions
ghos s h rm
s r ngers on y
s cred p hon
o
s cred py hon comm ni
c es
oo
oo d ys
roy
oo
be shed
mo rners boo
i h ning
mo rners
s crici
me
s crices
de d
Experience so e es of r h in
re i io
we l
science
did
e ch
wh e ec s he co d
wh he co d
pro ce
se
boo
Ex ern wor d
orld
F
.

'

IN D E X
Feralia , 5 1
Fe t ish an d

4 5
2

nera ls pries t s n ot a llowed t o a t t end

Fu

idol

271
eat i n g f 6 4
F e t ishism t he word f c itzgo wrongl y Funnel used for co n veying blood o ffer
2
ings
1
a pplied by t h e P or t u uese t o t ut el a ry
5
5
g
dei t ies 1 6 6 1 6 7 ext ended b y D e F ut ure s t a t e in H omeric t imes 3 7 4 ;
in t he Hymn t o D eme t er 3 7 5
B rosses t o a ny t hing worshipped
1 6 7 ; b y B osm a n t o t hings k nown
Fuza c h ag ua 2 5 7
t o b e in a nim a t e y e t worshipped
1 67 1 6 8
now usel ess for scien t ic
G
pur oses 1 6 9 ; ido l n o t a n el a bor
at e
fet ish ib ; a degenerat ion o f G A B O O N negroes will n o t p ar t wit h
rel igion 2 4 7 ; t he o ut come o f poly
t heir h a ir 4 5
t heism 3 8 9
G a rmen t s rem o v ed l es t t hey be t a booed
F ig t rees s a cred 2 0 8
6 4 67 92
t a b ooed b y mo urning 66
F ij i a ffect ion for dea d 4 9 ; t he sick G aut a m a S e e G o t a m a
t a boo 6 9 ; chiefs t a b oo ib
mourn G a z ell e a s t o t em 1 2 8
ing 8 0 ; mut il at ion in honour o f G enesis s ee M ono t heism 5 does it
t he d e a d 1 91
pries t possessed
sa
h
a t m o n o t h e is m w as reve a l ed ? 7
t
y
2 7 4 wes t ern worl d 3 0 6
G eni us no l aw o f it s dis t rib ut ion 9 4
F ili a l rel a t ion o f cl ansmen t o cl a n g od
3 96 ; g uardi a n spiri t 1 8 6 ; a ssoci a t ed
w i t h a nim a l s i b ; o f T i G r a cch us
F ing ers c ut o ff a s o ff erings 1 7 0 c ut
zb
m a n s u ffers a s a nim a l geni u s
o ff in hono ur o f t h e de a d 1 9 1
s uffers 756 fa milia r spiri t a survival
of a nim al genius 1 8 7
F ire t he rs t 1 5 ; p urica t ion by
3 65 3 6 8 a gen us c a p a ble o f t o t e m
G enius t ut el a ris 2 0 8
is t ic worship 2 2 9 2 3 0 ; p uri c a t o ry
G h a b gh a b 1 33
powers o f 2 3 0 o ff erings c a s t in t o G ho n d s t ree b uri a l 2 1 0
res a s offerings 2 3 1 2
G hos t s fe ared on l y if s t r a ngers 5 3 5 4 ;
n o t a l w a ys cred it ed wi t h s upern a t ur a l
p a ssing t hrough 3 8 0 n ot t o be
powers 5 5 ; send sick ness 1 9 0 ; do
kind l ed on t ab oo d a ys 6 5
F irs t born s a crice o f 2 9 5
n o t a c q uire s upern a t ur al powers un t i l
6
a rel a t ively l a t e t ime 1 9 6 ; n o t t h e
F i t t es t s urviva l o f 3 8 t o s urvive n o t
necess a rily t he highes t 3 9 45
origin al gods 1 9 7 8 l inger in neigh
Fl a men Dial is 2 7 1
b o urho o d of s urvivors 2 9 8 ; fo ll ow
Fl aminic a 2 7 2
t heir fa vo uri t e occ up at ions in ghos t
F lin t impl emen t s t heir p urpose a s
l a nd 3 0 3
cer t a ined by C omp ar a t ive M e t hod G hos t l a nd b elief in philosophic al 3 0 2
2 3 ; t he rs t ever m a d e 1 5
G ia n t who ha d no hea rt in his b ody 1 7

4
4
5
2
2
5
F l ood my t hs 2 6 2
20
G i ft t heory o f s acrice
Florid a 3 1 1
1 3 33
3 30
F loris I s l a nds c a nnib a l ism 2 0 2
G irl s
S ec Women
Fo lk l ore 2 6 8 3 6 9
G l auc o t h e a 3 4 2
F ood n o t inheren t l y t a boo 6 9 m ay G o a t s 3 5 1
be
infec t ed b y mo urners an d G OD n a me o f t a boo 6 1 t he divin e
essence 3 1 1 ; exis t ence o f d enied
o t her t a b ooed persons 69 7 0 t o t em
t a b oo a s 1 0 2
s urviva l o f t he t b oo
b y B u ddh a 3 1 9 ; t he Un k nown
118
remn a n t s o f us d t o inj ure t he
332
e a t er
1 51
d angerous t o o t hers G ods dened 1 0 4 ; a god gh t s f or
1 54
req uired b y t he dea d 1 9 4
his cl an 1 0 8 ; t he g od of t he com
Fo rc ul us 2 4 6
m unit y 1 6 0 ; go d s dis t ing uished
Form a l ism 8 9
from o t her s upern a t ur al powers 1 6 6 ;
For t un a t e Is l es 3 1 2 3
h a ve a deni t e circl e o f worshippers
F owl s n o t e a t en in Engla nd in C aes ar s
worship
1 6 9 ; s t r a nge gods 1 7 3 ff
t ime
117
n or
by t he B a t t a s
ce a ses when cla n dissol ves 1 8 1
116
fe a s t wi t h t heir worshippers 1 9 4
Fr a ncis I sl a nd c a nni b al ism 2 0 2
kil l ing o f t he 2 1 6 2 5 5 2 9 1 6 ;
F ree will 4 0 2
2
2
5
ods
friendly
powers
e
r
a
;
g
Frie n d s = c l a n s m en 5 4
t hemse l ves t h e vic t ims offered t o
Fumiga t ion o f s t r angers 7 1
how t heir n umber
t he m sel ves 2 3 1
Func t ion a l dei t ies 2 4 6
7
w a s incre a sed 2 3 4 2 3 9 ; origin a ll y
Funeral
fea s t s 4 5 7 ; fea s t s n o t
how
h d n o proper n a mes 2 3 6
origin a lly a c t s o f worshi p 5 6
2 42 2 4 9 ;
a ff ec t ed by poly t heism

25

'

'

2
4

I N D EX

M enel aus M 6 70 6
m id o ns M ys t eries

origin ally dep art men t a l b ut

omnipo t en t 2 4 3 4 ; how t hey a o
q uired n a mes 2 4 5 ; t rib a l w or
shipped b y t ri b e only 3 2 7 ; s t a t e
go d s b y memb ers o f s t a t e on l y if)
in t rod uc t ion in t o At hens o f new
iden t i t y o f wit h s a cred
341 ;
5 ; a t rs t h a ve no
a nim als
3 8 4
n ames 3 91 ; t imes when al l men
h a ve need o f t hem 3 93 S ee F a m i ly
G ods
Gua rdi a n S piri t s
S piri t s
Supern a t ur a l
G od s M o n t h 2 7 9
G o l d C o a s t S ee T shi spe aking peoples
G o l den Ag e 3 0 4
n ot

N epigwu, N du o s ,

O lympi

en he s

37 3

o z/ a i,

G oud a, prob ably s ame a s Pa d aei, 2 0 2

G o t a m a , 3 1 8 ff
G o urd , serves a s medicine -b ag , 1 8 4
G r a ve pos t s , c a rved in t o t em fo rm ,
m a de in t o h um a n form , 1 9 6
1 03
G r a vey ards h aun t ed , 3 0 2
G reece , Ap a t uri a , 5 1 a nces t o r worshi p
in , 5 6 mo urners t a booed , 5 7 w a t er
used for p uric a t ion , 8 0 ; p uri c a
t ion , 8 0 ; t o t emism in , 1 2 5 ; b lood
d a shed on a l t a r, 1 3 2 ; h a ir offering
1 7 1 , b lood o ff ering , i b ; un a t t a ched
spirit s become gods , 1 7 6 s a cred
species o f pl a n t s , 2 0 8 ; im a ges o n
t rees , 2 0 9 ; pries t hood in , 2 7 0
S ee
Es
A chil les , A cropo l is , A c t ors ,
chines , E s c hy l us , A ya d os da ip wzz,
'
Ag a ve , Ay e ip e w , A yopd , Agy rt ae,
A n a x a gora s , A ut r r owo de s , A p a t uri a ,
A po ll o ,
A phro d i t e ,

A rc a di a , Apxep a ut a r rj s, Apxt d t a a ir ns,

A r t emis ,
A rion ,
Aris t oph anes ,
At h en e, At hens , B a cch ae , B a cch us ,
B ahhr vs , B a p t ae, B a a ahe zs , B ea/1 69 ,
B dpo s, B o vqb m a , C eos , Ch aeron e a ,
.

a ha

C hryses

f o cpzha xe s, X a ua t e va t ,
Cre t e ,

il

Cy n a d ae,
Cyl on ,
Aa inwv, D eira s , D el phi ,
Di a si a ,
D emos t henes ,

Cit ian s ,

C yprus
D eme t er
D ion y sus At c 6 v D iosc uri
D rya ds
Eiresione
Ele usini a
El eusis E l eut her ae El is E l ysi a n
E l ysi um
Empedocl es
Pl a ins
E phesi a ns E p im el t ae Epimenides
Episcopi Era ni Erinyes E xd p
End iy w
E urop a
E ury phy l us
Evoe Sa b oe G l a uc o t he a I u i
H a des H ec a t e H el ios H er a H er
H ermes H esiod H esperides
a cles
H ieroph a n t
H es t ia s e is
Hymn
I a cch us
I pd
f
H yes
I p
S s K xp s
c
o i d ee I socr at es d
K
u
SV
Kor e K o t y t is Kp npigw
Laure ion
Led a
A d p g
Leu c a s
A d BM
Locri a ns
Leuk ip p id es
S M e il ic hio i M n
Luperc al i a M d
,

io

os

,
,

v,

a,

ar

o a

'

o n o co

o ,

v,

va

I/T L

o
,

D nk

c se of c l mi y
sense
rel ive y l e
ine negroes lk wi h heir de d
preserve heir bodies

hoci ns
s l o
o id

'

ersephone

O lymp s
O rion ll s

O dysseus

N a id s , N a 6> opm ,

hoeb s ind r isis r

l rch
rome he s
ro e s
y h gore nism
z ios
mis
e i
emele
eriphos
icily
icyon
olon
p r ns
yri T elli s
T hebes O
T hes
T hess li ns T hi si
rii
Troy
n h os
Z gre s Z e s
ro nd booed where boo persons
s ep
oil
rdi n spiri s derived fro
comm ni y s gods
lw ys
lw ys l ke
h em
fsi g
prelimin ry
choosing hem
di id l o em
medicine
s i
or wooden
ido
in c se of p n o ems
c b sh
go rd serves
s crice o fered
in O ld
geni s
or d
f mili r piri
connec ed wi h nces or wor
ship
g rdi n sp r s
n me de d boo
i n mo rning
e ds i h
pirs
dre d
s per
n r l spiri s
pries s

M ycen ae Myr

Ok ho s,
a,
u ,
On om ac rit us ,
rep/
m ,
a , II d ua v
Org e on es ,
, Pa
P t u ,
P
Pe t elia ,
,
a
Pharae, Ch i p/r a m s, (Pny m eis , P
,
a , P
P
u , P
t at u , P at ,
H ohpa pxo s,
P ut a
P t aea ,
,
P
t
u ,
P t u ,
i
a
Py an e p s io n , P t a
, R e t i,
Sa b a
S al a
S ll , S
,
,
,
S
S
S
S
,
,
,
,
S a ta , S
a,
e , Teue vos,
e o i, Oeo g
bpoc, G o s,
,
a
hu
m op h o ria ,
a a
, T
,

Xa t
Tpot YOL, Tron is ,
,
,
,
u ,
u
3 6a m , a
G u , ta
ta

f
2
6
c
t
3
6
S ee S
7
,
,
a
m
t he
t ,
Gua

u t
1 8 0 , 1 8 1 ; b ut
,
i
a
n ot a
1 8 2 ; b ut a a
,
a
a
1 82 ;
a t n
t
,
ib ;
t he in
to
t
,
1 8 2 ; t he
v ua t t
,
a
b ag, 1 8 3 , or a k n , i b ,
la t t t
l, 1 8 4 ;
a
,
a
al a a
1 84 ;
or
u
,
a
f
1 8 3, 1 8 4 ;
,
W l , 1 8 58 ; a s
u , 1 8 6 ; as
a
a
S
t , 1 8 7 ; a s da tum/ e s,
ib ;
a
t
t
t
1 87
,
ua
a
i it , 1 86
Gua t em al t ec s ,
a
61
G uay c oro us , a
of
ta
,
w t
u
Gu a a,
80 ; f u
,
a
u
1 0 0, 1 0 1 ;
of
ta
,
at u a
t , 2 88 ,
t , 1 05 ;
2 90
a a
t , 1 60 ;
G u t , au
l
at , 1 99
o f,
at
a
a
t
t
a ,
Gu
, t
48
t
49
,
G ul c h em an , 2 9 9, 3 0 6
G ul c hin a m , 3 0 6
a
a , 2 99
G un gun g

HA D E S ,

ndergro und

of H omer
en ra nce in

2 99 ;
1
t
303 ;

fa ul t ,
t , 307
t he
(t he
), 3 2 4 , 3 2 7 ;
l u , 3 6 8 ff
45
a
u
H a ab I
,
,
k
2 90
,
at o f
29
o f,
u
Ha , l
,
to be
t , 45
an d
t
a ta
t
o r a ft
ff
t a o f bl
tat , 7 8, 7 9 ;
a
a
o f Thlin k ee t
1 70, 1 7 1
,
n o t c ut , 2 8 8
n ot

wes
god
in E e sis
id
ndi ns c re for sickness
divine ings
ir c ippings
b ried
se
life
s reng h
removed
before
er en ering on
boo
s e
ins e d
ood o er
ing
sh m n
.

2
4

I N D EX

I ndi ans , do n o t k i l l t heir fowls , 1 1 6

Ca na ri ,
Choc t a ws ,
S ec
Ca n a d a ,
C ol um b i a , Crow, Da co t ahs , G ui an a,
H aid ab , H urons , I ow a s , I ro q u ois ,
M os q ui t o , j ib ways , m ah a s , t ta
w a s , P im a , Pu ebl o , Q u eb ec , Sho
shones , So um o o , Thl in k e et s
I n d iges , deriva t ion o f, 2 4 6
I nd igi t a men t a , 2 46
I ndivid ual (t h e) , depended for exis t ence
.

J mb i
a

Ja v a ,

2 80

lood offerings
s a cred t rees 2 0 8
b

ead 52 ;
nex t world
d

to

2 99

J ehov h his rit u l

J ews n me of G d

5
, 384
,
a
o
61 ;
t ab
,
a t,
a
al l
241
t d , 3 02, 3 08 ;
l
of t
t io n al a t u
3 8 6, 3 8 8
S ec H b
L
,
La w, M
S
it
t
,
u
t , d ay
6
, 37
2 89
u
,
um a , 1 50
2 39
u t
,
a

oo

politi c
nces t or

y insignic n
worship prohibi e
e xc e p
n re
heir re igion 38 3
e rews evit ical
o n his cl a n
99
ono heism em es
of
funer al fea s t s 5 1 J dgmen
I n d o E uropea ns
J ggler
t boo 7 0 t o t emism o f 1 2 6 h um a n
s a crice 1 6 1 me a suremen t of t ime J
2 2 8 ; sky spiri t i b ; in t h e p a s t or a l
J pi er
s t a ge
t heir s k y spiri t
2 39
myt hology 2 60 2 6 1 did n ot kn ow
t he wes t e rn en t r a nce t o t h e o t her
KA 55
worl d 3 0 7
I nd u c t ion
principle of s a me in Ka frs of N a ta l pra y a n d m ake t h a nks
givings 2 1 2 8 2 9 shed d er o f b l ood
s a va ge a s in scien t ic logic 3 0
33
t a b oo 7 4 ; do n o t k i l t heir cows
1 1 6 ; s acrici l
meal 1 4 7 1 4 9
I n d uc t ive
M et hods pra c t ised b y
wom en fa rm 2 4 0
s a v a ges 2 9 3 3 3 5
Kal a ng descended from a dog 2 5 3
I n fa ncy t h e helpl essness o f m a n s
259
m ak es fa mil y a ffec t ion necess ary 4 6
I nfec t ion of ho l iness 6 2 6 5 o f t a boo
Ka l m ucks funer al c us t oms 5 3
69
Ka l ung a 3 0 6
I nh um a t ion 2 0 4 2 99
Ka n e k a s pries t s 2 9 1
I ni t i a t ion in t o priva t e mys t eries 3 38
Ka n iag m ut mo t hers m ay n o t feed
int o pub lic 3 5 8 6 1
t hemselves 7 6
I nscrip t ions
m ut il t ed res t ored b y Karens funera l f e a st s 5 1 299 3 0 1
C omp a ra t ive M e t hod 3 4 ; Py t ha Karm a 3 1 9 ff
Ka uph at a s 2 2 0
g o re an 3 2 0 3 2 1 ; f une ral 3 2 1
Ke n a im a s 2 9 0
I nsigni a of god p ut o n his im age
2 8 5
Kern b ab y
6
S ee Cor b ab y
Ki sym b o l ises comm union 1 4 9
I n t er d ic t a t aboo 7 0
6
I n t oxic a n t s origin o f 2 8 6
Kil lin g t h e god 2 1 6 2 1 7 2 5 5 2 9 1
Kin a B al u 2 9 9
I n t ui t ionism 8 4
I nvoca t ion n o t origin al in worship
Kinds (n a t ur al ) a l o g ous t o h um a n
2 4 5 ; how it a c t s 3 6 1
kins 9 9 ; b loo d fe ud s wi t h t hem
I ow a s b u ffa lo t o t em 1 0 3
1 80
o i d ee a bs t a ined from a sp ar agus 1 2 5
Kings di vine 2 7 5 ff
I ra ni a n nex t worl d 3 0 4
Kinsm a n s l augh t er o f m urder 1 0 2
K hd d
I rish c a nni b a l ism 2 0 2 2 0 3
28 9
K hp
I ro q uois fa c il i t a t e re t urn o f so ul 50
28 9
t o t ems 1 0 4 ; t he Tur t le cl a n 2 5 1
Knowl edge in t ui t ive a n d inferen t i al
w es t ern worl d 3 0 6
3 96
I rr at ion l e l emen t in my t h 2 6 8 ; in
Kocch funer l fe a s t s 5 1
pries t l y t ab oos 2 7 1
Ko ok ie s feud s wi t h n at ur a l k in d s 1 0 0 ;
I socr t es on s a cri fice 2 2 4
c a nni b al ism 20 2
I sr a el pries t hoo d 2 7 0
pub ert y ceremonies an d
Kor a n a s
I sse d ones c a nni b a l ism 2 0 2 2 0 3
l essons 1 0 7
I vy
s acred 2 0 8 ; a ssoci at ed wi t h Kor e 2 39 ; n o t origin al l y connec t ed
Dionys us 2 0 9
3 6 3 ; in E l e usis
w it h Persephone
3 68 ff
,

n-

na
-

o s,

o s,

Ko t t or k rab ah , 1 64
Ko t y t is , 2 1 4 5
Kou ss a Ka f rs b el ief
o f N a t ure, 2 8 , 2 9
-

J A CK in t h

reen 2 0 8 2 3 7
J a c o o n s b e lieve in t r a ns form a t io n
J ak ut s s a crici a l me al 1 4 6 1 4 9
1 58
guardi a n spiri t s 1 8 4
,

16
1 57,

in t he Uni formi t y
1

Kpa r npigwu, 3 3 9 , 3 4 0
K uxc cbu, 3 7 2 , 3 7 5 , 3 8 1

IN D E X
Kurek s , a l t a r
Kuril es , 2 8 5

pol e

1 3 5, 2 45

LA K O R , 2 5 2
La m a , 2 7 5 , 2 8 3 , 2 8 9
L ap is m a n a l is , 4 0 , 3 0 7
La pps , fe uds wi t h b e a rs , 1 0 0
La res , 1 8 6 , 1 8 7 , 1 8 8
A d p ua f o f D ionys u s fEs ym n et es t a boo ,
60

La ure ion , 3 3 7
La ure l , 2 0 8 ;
20 9
La w , o f t

ssoci a t ed wi t h

A pollo ,

hiasi 3 35 3 38
S ee
La ws n a t ur al G od s l aws 4 0 2
N a t ure C on t in ui t y Fi t t es t ( s urviv a l
,

La ws

N a t ure ,

in opera t ion before

t hey were f orm ul a t ed 4 1 0
Lea f we arers
S ee O riss a
Led a 2 5 1
Lees 3 5 1
Leop a rd a s t o t em 2 0 9
Le t he 2 9 7
Let i 2 52
Le uc a s 1 2 5
of

Li t t l e J oh n , 2 50
Lo ango , King o f, t a boo , 60 , 6 9 wives
t a boo , 7 1
mo t hers t a boo a ft er chil d
birt h , 7 4 ; red p ain t for bl ood offer
ing, 1 7 0
Lo b e c k , o n my t hology , 2 6 8
Lobs t er , a s t o t em , 1 2 6
Locri a ns , primi t ive form of s a crici al
meal , 1 4 6
Lo c ut ius , 246
Lo g ic , scien t ic a n d s a v a ge , 2 8 ff
no
fundamen t a l di fference b e t ween t hem ,
3 2 ff
Lom ami River , c a nnib a lism , 2 0 2

Lord s Pr a yer , 4 0
Lot , me a ns o f d ivine selec t ion 2 8 9
,
;
deriva t ion of t h e word ,
Love , t he so urce of rel igion, 1 0 9 1 1 0
,
t h e divine 4 1 0
Loya l t y t o t he t o t em god , 1 0 7 , 1 0 8
;
t o c l a n god necess a ry 1 7 3 1 7 7
,
,
Luperc al i a , 2 9 2 2
Luperci , 2 8 6
Lu on , t o t em t ombs t ones , 1 0 3 c a nni
b a l is m , 2 0 2
Lyc urg us , 2 5 61

Le uk ip pid e s , 2 8 3
Levi t ic a l Law , 3 8 4 , 3 9 2
Li Ki, 5 8
Li Y un
8 6 6 C hin a
Lib a t ions o f b l oo d , 5 1 , 5 2
Life , t h e N ex t , v a riet y of opinions a s
t o , 2 9 7 ret rib ut ion t heory l at er t h a n
con t inuance t heory, 29 8 ; origin o f
bel ief in a Far o ff Land , 2 9 8 9 ; in
t he Undergro und World , 2 9 9 3 0 1 ;
which implies t he con t in ua nce
t heor y , 3 0 1 ;
de t rimen t al eff ect of
a nces t or -worship on re l igio u s view o f
nex t life , 3 0 2 ; ghos t l a nd n ot a
religious ide a , i b di fferen t iat ion o f
t he Far o ff La nd from t h e Under
g ro u nd Worl d a n d it s consequ ences ,
3 0 3 ; origin o f be l ief in a H a ppy
an d
t her worl d , 3 0 4
o f U t opi a ,
3 0 5 ; di fferen t i at ion o f t h e Under
from
grou nd
t her worl d
t he
Wes t ern Wor l d , 3 0 51 0 ; t he s un
a s t he H a ppy
t her World , 3 1 0
12
H a ppy Wes t ern Wor l d a l so b ecomes
a
U t opia , 3 1 2 ; in G reece an d in
I rel a nd , 3 1 3
.

L ife

ree 2 1 0
Lik e pro d uces lik e
Lim
L

en t in us ,

ion

as

3 1 , 3 4 , 90

A z oBoMa , 2 92 a n d
3 65
a
L t ua a , u
a , 21 4
ta

i h ni ns f ner l fe a s t s 51 s a cra
men l me l
t ree spiri t 2 4 4
,

no t e ; in Eleusis

a,

1 28

246

o em

t t

M A CH I N E RY o f n at ure primi t ive m an

owes his m a s t ery of it t o his fa i t h
in Uni formi t y o f N a t ure 1 7 t akes
t h e cre d i t of it s a c t ion t o himse l f 1 9
M a d a ga sc a r t ab oo d a ys 6 5 6 6 fe uds
wi t h crocodi l es 1 0 0 S ee M al ag s ay s
M a di s a crice 1 5 7
M agic rel igion s upposed t o be evo l ved
o ut o f 2 4 ff
t heir hos t i l i t y 3 4 3 8
m agic dened 3 5 it s orig in 3 5 ff
4 0 recognise d in Rome a n d Ch ald ae
4 0 ; a p a rody of re l igion 4 2
; a re
l a pse in rel igio us devel opmen t n o t
it s so urce 1 7 7 ; a n offence t o t he
c l a n g o d 1 7 8 an d fund men t a ll y
irrel ig io us i b a p aro d y of religion
an d
divine powers origin a ll y
indis t in guish a bl e a ccording t o M r
Fr a z er 2 8 1 ff
S ee S y mp a t he t ic
a gn a G r as ci a
324 5
M a gy a rs 3 0 6 b l o o d c oven a n t 9 8
M a h ua t ree 2 1 0
M i d en how m a de 2 1 2
Ma i z e mo t her 3 64 ; originall y omni
po t en t 2 4 3 ; m y t h o f 2 5 7 8
M a izium offered t o t he de ad 5 1
M a lab ar
dwa rf h o uses 5 0
M al a g a s ay s b e lief a s t o pho t ogr a phy
30
M al a
a
M al ay a l a

y r ce

it s
S ee

ex t en t
C at al

M am a c on as 2 1 8
M am b et t u, b lood
,

2 60 1

coven a n t

98

I ND E X

4 3o

M ammo t h 3 9 6
3
M a murius Ve t us 2 9 2
M and a n women ch a t wi t h t heir dead
4 8 ; p ub er t y ceremonies 1 7 1 ; s us
pension b uria l 2 0 4
M a nes 3 0 7
M nga i a 3 0 6 ; t o t emism 1 0 7

world
Az t ecs

M an it oo , 1 8 2
M ott/7 L9, 3 4 9
M a n u, 2 2 2
,

1 40

M a rim at l e , 30 5
M a r q ues a s I s l a nds 2 7 5
,

M arria ge owes it s s anc t i t y t o

primev al t aboo 7 1 7 2
M a rri ge ri t es t ree t o t e m s in 2 1 0
M ars 2 4 23
M as s ag et ae c a nnib alism 2 0 2 20 3

M as s b a , 1 33
M a y b o ug h s , in procession , 2 0 9
2
M a y pole , 2 0 8 2 1 6
M ay po l es , t w o for o n e comm uni t y
-

2
4
syncre
ism
t
3
5
(
)
M ay t rees in procession 2 0 9
M a ya s gr a ve pos t s 1 9 6 ; consecr at ed
w a fers 2 1 8
M ayum b e wives t a boo 7 1
M echo a ca n t a boo d a y 6 5
M e d icine b g 1 8 3
,

3 0 5,
at l ,

30 6

S ee
C hicomeco
H uit zil o
,
p o c ht l i, M ic t l a n , Om a c a t l , Q u e t al
c o at l , Tl a l oc a n ,
l a locs ,
o t on acs ,
X il on e n
M ia o t e , do n ot w ash a ft er pa ren t s
dea t h , 7 8
M ice , unc l e a n , 1 2 8
M ic t l an , 2 9 9 , 3 0 5
M ids ummer re fes t iv als , 2 32
M ik a do , t aboo , 63 , 6 9, 7 5, 8 1 , 8 4 ;
worshipped , 2 7 5 ; loss o f power ,
277
ev a des roya l t aboos , 2 7 8
M ill, S , 9 , 2 8
M in a h a ss a o f C el ebes , believe in t he

e t ern al so ul , 1 7
M incopies , p aint t he de a d red , 53
Mirror, m a gic , 3 3 3 , 3 5 5
M ission aries , t heir services t o t he
s t udy o f religion , 6
M ix t ek s , funer a l fe a s t s , 5 1
M oa , 2 5 2
M ock kings , 2 8 0
M oh a mmed a nism , b ut chers , 2 2 2 ; a
lower form o f mono t heism t h an
J uda ism , 3 9 5
M olucc a s , propert y t ab oo , 7 2
M on a rchy, it s re a c t ion on religious
ins t it ut ions , 3 8 56, 3 9 0
M on b ut t o o , women fa rm , 24 0
M ongols , s a crici a l me a l , 1 4 6, 1 4 9 ;
dogs eat corpses , 2 0 3
M on it arris , 1 4 0
M onol it h a l t ars , 1 31 if ; legends a n d
myt hs a b o ut , 1 4 2

Ma ori chiefs t a boo 6 2 6 3 ; t heir god

Ti k i 1 8 5
M ar a ca 1 8 4
M a ri a n I sl a nders welcome t he de a d
c at ch t he soul 50 ; a noin t
48 ;
b ones o f t he de a d 5 2 ; s urviv a l o f
a l t ar,

300 ,

2 99,

M eilic hio i, 1 4 6, 1 4 9
M el a nesi a , proper t y t aboo , 7 2
'
M el usine , 2 60

M ono t heism ,

reve a led a ccording t o

G enesis
5 ; m a y h a ve b een t he
origin a l religion 6 7 b ut c a nno t
be a ssumed t o h a ve been s uch by
6 ;
s upposed
t h e a n t hropo l ogis t
1 8 1 ; dele t erio us t o
t endency t o
poli t ic al grow t h 3 1 5 ; pres ump t ion
t h a t it w a s evolved o ut o f poly t heism
a fforded ( 1 ) b
y t he gener a l co urse o f
evol ut ion 3 8 2 ( 2 ) by religio us
evolut ion in p ar t icul a r 3 8 3 ( 3 ) by
t he forces a t work on poly t heism
3 8 3 ( 4 ) b y t h e s urviv al s of poly
t heism t o b e fo und in J ewish mono
t heism 3 8 4
5 ( 5 ) by t h e re a c t ion o f
mon archy o n rel igion a mongs t t he
J ews 3 8 5 6 b ut ( 1 ) t he p res um p
t ion a fforded b evol ut ion is a ga ins t
y
t he deriv a t i on o f mono t heism from
polyt heism 3 8 6
7 ( 2 ) re l igion is n o t
an
orga nism 3 8 7 ( 3 ) t h e mono
t heism o f t he J ews is unique a n d
so m us t be d ue t o pec uli a r ca uses
3 8 8
9 ( 4 ) t he s upposed mono t heis t ic
t endencies o f po l y t heism never pro
d uce mono t heism 3 8 9 3 90 ( 5 )
syncret ism m ay b e presen t in mono
,

M emory mere o f 3 2 1
M emphis 1 2 2
M en dressed in women s clo t hes
,

241 ,

256

M en Ty ran n os , 3 3 7
M endes , 1 2 3
M enel a us , 3 1 3
M eroe , 2 7 9

M e t a morphoses 1 0 4
M e t empsychosis
S ee T ra nsmi g ra t ion
M exico soil s a cred 6 4 ; T e z c at lipoc a s
t a b oo d a ys 6 6 ; s a cred food t o be
e a t en wit ho ut using t h e h a nds 7 0 ;
new b orn chil d t aboo 7 6 ; did n o t
w a s h in a rel at ive s a bsence 7 8 ;
sick ness d ue t o sin 1 1 1 ; primi t ive
s t one a l t a r 1 3 2 ; s urviva ls o f s t one
worship 1 4 2 s a cricia l mea l 1 58
1 7 2 ; m a i z e wor
b lood offerings
shipped 2 1 2 3 ; cont amin a t ion
2 1 6 ; new wine bro a ched b y t he
wine god 2 2 3 ; func t ion a l dei t ies
2 4 7 ; kings con t rol we a t her 2 7 5 ;
pries t eva des execut ion 2 8 3 ff nex t
,

I N D EX

in my t hology 2 5 2 ; t o a ccoun t fo r
b e t ween h um an k in a n d
a lli a nce
t r a nsform a t ion
a nim l k ind 2 5 2 ;

2
d
t
2
3 ae t io l o gi
5
s
expe
ien
a
l
t he u u
c a l t en d t o p a ss in t o non aet io l og i
2 5 3 ; bec a use primi t ive
c al my t hs
expl a n a t ions were a lways t hrown
in t o n a rrat ive form ib an d t he ex
pl an a t ion oft en b ec ame de t a ched
from or s urvived t h e explic a nd um
4 ; n o t inciden t s on l y b ut con
2 5 3
t in uo us n arra t ives migh t a rise from
complex
t he ex pl a n a t ion o f e g
ri t ual 2 5 4 ex ampl e from myt h of
2 5 5 2 56 2 57 ; o f t he
Pen t he us
C hib ch a s 2 5 7 ; an d t he C a nari
n a t io n 2 5 7 8 ; con t inui t y o f n rr a
t ive t hus s ugges t ed w as imi ta t ed a t
rs t undesignedl y a n d t hen d el i b er
9 ; d iffusion o f my t hs
a t ely
258
b y dispersion o f t h e peoples possess
ing t hem 2 60 ; b y borrowing
independen t o ri gin of simil ar
2 60
1
2 61 ;
t ra di t ion
2 61
2 ;
m y t hs
my t hs as t o crea t ion 2 62 ; o o d
myt hs i b ; myt hol ogy primit ive
science his t ory a n d rom ance 2 63 ;
reec t s t he rel ig ion o f t he t ime 2 6 4
s upern at ur al sel ect ion in my t hology
2 6 5
6 ; my t ho l o g y n o t re l igion nor
t h e work o f t h e re l igio u s spiri t
s a v a ge my t hs t ra nsmi t t ed t o
2 66 7
civilised t imes 2 6 7 a ll egoric a l ex
pl a n a t ions of my t hology 2 68 o f

l
1
a
2
or
n
e
is
es
u
t
3
3 ; O rphic
h
e
f
t
t
3 5 4 ff
,

N emorensis , N emus , 2 3 8
N eoli t hic m an , left a hole
50 ;

fo und

in t ermen t s

dea d

205
238

N ere id s ,
N e w G uine a,
1 59
N ew H

in t ombs
new implement s

sl augh t er is s a cri ce

all

ebrides blood o fferin gs

-

t o t he

1 91

Z e l nd

boo 62 ;
mourners t aboo 6 9 t error of t ab oo
8 3 ; s a cred t rees 2 0 8 ; underwor l d

N ew

a a

c hi efs

ta

306
N ew
S ee A b ip on es , A a a ,
A ut s , Al
A a
A t l
,
,
,
A al a
B a c hu , B a l , B uhui
,
t u,
a
b ,
Ca iia ri ,
C
,
C
a ,
a,
C l , Co n o p a s ,
Dab a ib a ,
Fl
a,
Fu za c ha g ua ,
G ua t e m a l t ec s ,
G ul c h em an ,
G ul
a
H
a
la,
H
u a ,
,
I a , I
a
Ken a im a ,
a
a
,

W orld
l sk ns
le
gonkins m z on n i les
p ches
r zi
ih
C ri s
hemis
hibch s C hic
hi e
orid
.

chin m
isp nio
ond r s
nc s ndi ns
M m
con a s M a r a c a M a ya s M echoa c a n
M e xico Pa lmeria Peaim an Peru
Pirn a Sa n ou Ta m m a ra c a Te hua n
t epec
T ehuelche Tl al n ep aut la
X iuht e c ut l i Y uc a t a n
N ew t on 3 9 6
N i ams p a in t t he de a d red 5 3 women
fa rm 2 40
N i a s c ure for dise a se 4 5
N ic ar gua gr a ve pos t s 1 9 6
N im t ree 2 2 0
N irva n
31 9
N om a d l i fe r udimen t a ry ag ric ul t ure
possi b le in 23 4
N ome s a cred a nima l o f 1 2 1
,

a,

3 35

N o n ae Cap ro t in ae , 2 9 2
N on t o t em dei t ies , 22 9 ff
N or t h A meric ans , p a in t t h e
2

N A CY G A I ,
N a gua l ism , 2 0 7
N aid s , 2 3 8
N a il p a rings , 2 9
N ames , kep t secret , 3 0 gods origin al l y
h a d none , 2 3 6 t heir ut ili t y in wor
ship, 2 4 5 ; o f gods , k ep t secre t , i b ;
p ar t o f t he person n ame d , i b ; n ames
a n d t hings i d en t ic al , 3 61
N a n a N ya n k upon , 1 6 3
22 2

de ad red

53

N orwa y , s t ones an om t ed , 1 4 3
N osh, 1 3 3
N ut , 3 2 3
N y n am n at , 3 0 6

N a gb opo r, 3 3 3
31 1
N at
,
as
an d
a t tu
N at u a l , l
an d b a
l
a s t he
1 52 , 1 53
a ff
t
,
o f,
t
N at u , l a
a
o f, 1 6 ; b ut h is
i n
l ut , 1 8 , 1 9
n ot ab
t ua u
N at u
,
,
t , 2 28
on t t
1
N eplj co v, 3 38 , 3 4 0
N GCB SSit a l ian is m , 4 0 1
b t n , 103
t
t , t t
N

OA K , 2 0 9

che z
O bserva t i on ex ac t essen t i a l t o men t al
prog ress 4 0 8
r
ove
gr i de n a t ur al
se sh
ser desires 4 6 ; Oc c a t o r 2 4 6
O dysseus 3 0 67
ec ions
re
ws
primi ive m a n s O ff erin gs t o t h e de ad n o t origin ally
a nces t or worship
56
f or puric a
g or nce
ignora nce
ti on t r a nsmi t t a b oo 6 2 7 8 ; b urn t
so e
1 60
1 6 1 ; n o t a l wa ys gi ft s
22 1 ;
re worship ri l sed in b a sed
how t hey b ecome g i ft s 2 2 4 ; why
o em ri es
c a s t in t o re 23 01 ; simi l a ri t y o f
offerings fa cil i t at es syncre t ism 2 3 5
in complex ri t ua l 2 3 7
egri os o em om s o es
-

'

I N D EX

O il s ubs t it ut e f

surrogat e of

fa t , t he

or

blood 2 85
Ojibwa ys renew t he ligh t o f t he s un
49
3 2 ; a ff ec t ion for t he dea d
descended from a s t one 1 3 9 ; s us
pension b uri a l 2 0 4 b ury new
implemen t s wit h dece a sed 2 0 5
,

433

P a ren t a l i a , 51
P a rro t , a s t o t em , 20 9
in t o , 2 5 8

r ansform at ion

rsis corpses shown t o ( origin ally

e a t en by ) dogs 2 0 34
P ar t hi a ns dogs ea t corpses 2 0 3
P a s t oral l ife 1 2 6 p a s t or a l s t a ge 1 5 5 ff
peoples do n ot kill t heir ca t t le 1 5 7
Oh s 3 7 5
O ld W om an how m a de 2 1 2 ; d i ff er P a t ag on ia n s S ee T ehuelche
from Corn M a iden 2 3 9 ; Pa t ri a po t es t a s 1 99
en t ia t e d
9
in Eleusis 3 6 4 ff in H H 3 7 8
Pa t ri arch at e an d fa mily wors hip 1 8 0
an d a nces t or worship 1 99
O live t he s a cred 2 0 8
O lympia 2 2 1
P a y ag ua s c at ch t h e so ul 5 0 5 1
O lym pus 2 4 8 3 2 1
gives pro t ec t io n aga ins t
Pe a im a n
s uperna t ura l powers 1 0 5 ; h ow
Om a ca t l 2 1 7
O m ah a s red m ai z e t ot em 2 1 1 myt h
selec t ed 2 8 8 ; pro t ec t ion aga ins t
,

to ,

O neid s t one

1 39
On o m acritus , 3 5 4 , 3 5 7 , 3 7 1
at e , 2 2 9
a
,
a

O r cles by w r
O r cul r gods how t hey arise
O r ons t ree t ot ems 2 1 0
a

24 2

Orbius , 3 3 7
rcus , 2 99, 30 7

O
O rde l by poiso
a

W i t ch
O rg a nism religion
,

Org eo n e s ,

O rgies
O rion
O riss

286

n,

S ee

Wa t er

38 2 , 3 8 7
3 3 4 6 , 3 3 8 4 2 , 3 52

a s an ,
-

34 2
301

Le a f

we arers o f mo t hers t aboo

a ft er child birt h
7 4 ; p uried 7 5 ;
funera l rit es 7 7
O rph ic lit era t ure 3 4 6 3 53 ff lit era
t ure an d my t h ology 3 7 1 3 7 5
O s ages be a ver t ot em 1 0 2
O siris union o f dece ased wit h 3 1 1 ;
as
t he
an d
31 7
t r a nsmi g ra t ion
divine essence 3 1 9 3 2 2 ; t h e divine
essence 3 8 4
O s t iak s n ame o f de a d t aboo 61 feuds
wit h be a rs 1 0 0 ; t ree worship 21 9
O t t aw a s gra ve pos t s 1 96
O ut c a s t s t a b oo 6 9
O wa in Sir 3 0 56
O wl t ot em 1 0 1
Owl cl a n 3 6 4
O ys t er a t ot em 2 4 3
a,

k e n aim a , 2 9 0
only s t r ange r
c lew I sl a nders , fe a r
gh ost s , 5 3 , 5 7 s acricia l me al ,
1 48 ;
un at t a ched
spirit s becom e
gods , 1 7 4 , 1 7 6 ; pries t s , 2 8 7 8
sorcerers , 2 90
P en at es , 1 8 6 , 1 8 7
ht d oohta , 2 9 2
P en t heus , 2 5 6
8
7

2 52

e r ury ,

411

P er u, t h eory

moun t ain sickness

2 3 2 9 ; o ff er food t o de a d
52
s a cred soil t a boo 6 3 6 4 puric a
t ion
8 0 ; t h e g od gh t s for his
people 1 0 8 ; c al a mit y c aused by
sin 1 1 1 t emple rit ual in 1 3 5
s a cricia l mea l 1 4 7 1 5 1 1 5 2 1 5 8 ;
e a ch people ha d it s o w n gods 1 7 3
gua rdi a n spiri t s 1 8 4 ; gra ve pos t s
1 96 ;
M o t her of t he M a i z e 2 1 2 ;
kil ling
t ree a n d pl a n t worship 2 1 6
zb
comm union 2 1 8
t he god
s t ones represen t s un 2 3 1 ; women
fa rm 2 4 0 pries ts 2 8 7
,

to

as

64

P ersephone , in P y t h agore a nism , 3 2 0 1 ,

doct rine o f fut ur e
324 ;
t he
bliss , 3 62 ; ha d origin all y no c o n
n ec t io n wi t h Kore, 3 63
j udges t h e
de a d , 3 7 6 n ame o f, a voided in
beginning o f H ymn t o D emet er , 3 7 7
P ersi a ns , dogs e a t corpses , 2 0 3 ; Era n
Vej , 2 6 4 S ee Ah ur a M a 'd a, Er a n
Vej , I ra ni an , Parsis , Sag di d
P ersonal i t y , how conceived by t he
s av age , 4 3 t he divine conceived on
t he h um a n , 3 8 5 impresses i t s e l f on
t he sol ut ion o f ul t i m a t e
m an , 3 9 4
prob lems , 4 0 2 ; ex t ern a l o bject s con
c e ive d un der t he c a t egory of, 4 0 9 ,

'

21 4

Pe t el ia , 3 2 0
P e t rie , D r F linders , 2 0 2
P e t s , n ot t he origin of domes t ic at ed
a nim a ls , 1 1 7 , 1 1 8
Pha rae , it s s a cred s t rea m , 6 3 p ri mi t iv e
.

an d
Pa n t heism , in Egyp t , 3 1 1 2
person al immor t a l it y, 3 2 5 s ucceeds
polyt heism , 3 8 9 sc arcely a religious
ide a , 3 8 9, 3 90
Pa r a dise , ga rden of, 2 6 4
-

FA DZEI , e a t kinsmen , 2 0 2
P all a s A t hene , 23 8
Pa l meri a , blood le t t ing , 7 1
P al m o il G rove fa mily , 2 0 9
Palm t ree , 2 0 8

l ta r

132
2
ua Ko s, 2 92

I ND E X

4 34

a rd s,

209

hilippine I s l a nds s a crice 2 9 2

3
P hilosophy a n d t he nex t life 3 0 2
P

31 1

P hil t res , 3 3 3
Phoci a ns , w a r-p a in t , 3 49
Phoeb us A pol l o , 2 3 8
P hyl a c t ery , t a b oo , 6 6
Pi a c ul a r s a crice , 1 6 0 , 1 61 in G reece ,
332
Pierres t e s , 1 4 3
Pie t y , 1 9 8
Pim a I ndi a ns , 2 5 2
Pind a r , 3 20 , 3 2 1 , 3 2 4
Pins , 2 2 1
Pioj s o f P ut um a yo , p a ren t s fa s t a ft er
chil d b ir t h , 7 5
Pip al , 2 0 8

P ipe cl a y used
-

m ark

to

ta

boo persons

79

Ts h i

his func t ions pa ro

die d
req red for t he ins t a lla
t ion of new dei y 1 6 4 5 1 7 6 none
in Red I ndi a n ri t ual 1 8 3 ; m arked
o ff from o t her men b y wh a t t hey do
an d
wh a t t hey m ay n o t do 2 7 0 ;
uniformi t y comple t e a n d p ar t i a l of
pa r t ial
t he di ff eren t religions db
uni f ormi t y
in t enure o f o fce
1 ; comple t e uniformi t y in t h e
2 7 0
presence o f t he irr a t ion a l elemen t
o f t h e res t ric t ions l a id upon t hem
a n d in t he fa c t t h a t t he ri t ua l
272
of
t he s nc t ua ry is en t rus t ed t o
t hem 2 7 2 ff
t he pries t a lone m ay
kill t he vic t im 2 7 3 t his t he
source o f t he po wer o f t he pries t hood
ih
why ha s he a l one t he righ t ?ib
pries t s b elieved t o exercise s uper
n a t ur al powers 2 7 3 5 kin gs also
ib
t his poin t s t o primi t ive in s t it u
t ion o f pries t kingship
275
as
a l so does t he p a r a l l el be t ween roy a l
a n d pries t ly t a boos 2 7 5
6
an d t he
simil a ri t y in t he condi t io n s of t enure
o f ofce
2 7 6 ; a c t ion o f t a boo in
d ifferen t i a ting t he t w o o fces 2 7 6
8
persis t en t t endency t o revert t o
t h e origin a l uni t y o f t he t w o 2 7 8 9
b o t h origin all y ha d t o b e exec ut e d or
a t t he
t o commi t s uicide 2 7 9 2 8 0
end o f a y a r 2 80 1 ; why ? ib
M r F r az er s t heory 2 8 1 2 ; o bj ec
king pries t s n o t
t ions t o it 2 8 2 ff
gods b ut receive t heir powers from
4 ; by p a r t icip a t ion
t he gods 2 8 3
in t he s a cricia l me a l o r some
derived ri t e 2 8 5 ff 5 ordin a t ion m ay
be orga nised 2 8 7 9 ;
o r m ay n o t
pries t k in g dis t inguished from
sorcerer by using his powers for t he
g ood o f t h e communi t y 2 8 9 9 1
from t h e res t o f t he communit y b y
t h e fa c t t h a t he n o t o n ly ki ll ed t he
god 2 9 1 3 b ut drank t he rs t
mos t po t en t dra ug h t o f t he divine
blood 2 93 ; his life forfei t bec ause
he k ill ed t he god 2 9 34 t he forfei t
2 94 5
t he
g r a d uall y re m i t t ed
remission fa ci li t t e d b y ch nge in
t h e s t at u s o f t h e divine a nim al
pries t k ing doubl y t a b oo
2 9 5
6
no secre t order in Ele usis
2 96
1 64 , 1 65 ;
174
ui
a
t

P is is t ra tus 3 5 4 3 7 1 3 7 3
Pl a n t s a s t o t ems 2 0 6 2 5 ; c a r ri ed in
procession 2 0 9 ; domes t i ca t ion o f
2 1 0 ff
preserved from on e ye a r
wors h ipped 21 2 ;
t o nex t
21 1
a n t hropomorphised
213
ea t en
s a cra men t a l ly 2 1 4 ; t abooed a s
food 2 22
3
fem ale 2 1 3 s a cra
Pl a n t dei ti es
men t a l e at ing o f 2 8 6
Pl a n t a in fa mily 2 0 9 2 1 1 2 22
Pl a t o o n myt hs 2 6 7 his t heory of
t ra nsmigr a t ion 3 1 9
P lo ugh M ond ay 2 4 7
Plu t arch 3 4 8
,

H ohp a pxo s, 2 7 9
,

Po p o g us s o , 3 0 6
P opol Vuh , 1 3 3 , 1 3 4
P or t u guese , a ut hors o f t erm

P olyd aemonism 2 4 7
P ol ynesi a chiefs n a mes t a boo 6 1 ;
t emples an d chiefs ho uses a c t a s
wives
a syl ums
63
t a boo d a ys 66
t a b oo
72 ;
7 1 ; proper t y t a boo
inf n t immersion 7 6 t h e sick
t a b oo 7 0 ; mo urners m ay n o t fee d
sa crici a l me al
t hemselves
77
1 4 6 1 4 9 ; remn a n t s o f food used
t o inj ure t h e e a t er 1 5 1 ; wes t ern
worl d 3 0 6
P ol y t heism has it s germ in t o t em
ism 1 0 8 ; d ue t o synoikismos 2 3 4
2 3 9 2 41
b ut m ay origin a t e e a rlier
239
devel opmen t o f 2 4 2 pre
supposes t ot emism 4 1 1 See M ono
t heism
P omeg r a n a t e 3 8 0

P irn a , 2 1 2

fet ish

3 60

1 66
P
t

osi ive Religions dened

Possession 1 6 4 1 7 4 1 7 5
,

2 8 6 if .

P o t id ae a , 3 2 1
Preconcep t ions , in religion , 4 0 5
Pre t o t emis t ic peri od , 4 1 3
Pries t , s upposed t o be evolved out o f
sorcerer , 2 4 , 3 5, 3 8 , 1 0 6 among t he

P rimit ive M an dened 6 ; be t ween

him a n d o ur rs t ances t ors a wide
,

2 7 4 , 2 8 3,

g p, 7
a

I N D EX

6
43

pr imit i ve 3 96 7 progressive 3 8 6 ;
a s t he c a use of origin of v a rie t ies of
1
b elief 4 0 0
Reversion in religion 1 4 5 of sep a ra t e
o f ces o f k ing an d pries t t o t heir
origin al unit y 2 7 8 t o primi t ive
ri t ual 3 2 9 3 3 0 3 7 1
spre a ds from
3 2 9 ff
Reviva l ism
3 3 2 ; it s
S emi t ic a re a t o G reece
perm a nence in t he l at t er 3 3 3
Rhe a 3 4 2
Righ t of wa y conferred by corpse 7 6 7 7
Ri t es f o r t h e de a d 5 6
Ri t ua l how a complex a rises 2 3 7 8
complex ri t ua l gives rise t o myt hs
2 5 4
6 ; under ch a rge o f pries t 2 7 2 ;
reversion t o primi t ive 3 29 3 3 0 3 7 1
River god s 2 3 0
1
Ro h de 3 03
Rome n a me o f kep t secre t 3 0 m a gic
o fci a lly recog nised in 4 0 e a c h
4 9 ; de a d
Rom a n ha d fo ur souls
buri ed in t he h o use 736 bl ood
d a shed on a l t ar 1 3 2 blood o fferin gs
birt h t rees
t o t h e de a d
1 91
s a cred species o f pl a n t s 2 0 8 ;
207
t ut el a ry dei t y o f 2 4 5
S ee Aric ia
B on a Dea B rum a li a
B a c c a n al ia
C ardea C omit ium Concordia C on
D eiphob us D i
f arrea t io
Cunin a
I ndigi t es Dial is D i an a D ies nefa s t i
F abi us Fera lia F l a minic a Forc ul us
Jupit er La pis M an al is La res Limen
M a muri us Ve t us
Lo c ut ius
t in us
Ma nes M a rs Mund us N emorensis
N o n ae Ca p ro t in ae Oc c a t or O rc us
P a ren t al i a Pa t ri a P o t es t a s P en a t es
Sat or S t erc ul in us Virg il
Row a n 2 0 9
Rum s ub s t i t ut e for blood 7 6
Russi a ns funer al fe a s t s 5 1
-

nor t o a ver t d a nger from o t her

people 1 51 nor from t he com
m un ic a n t s
b ut t o proc ure t he
ut mos t bene t t o t he comm unic a n t
1 5 2 an d t o a ssim i l a t e t he q ua li t ie s
t he divine a nim a l
of
1 53 1 5 4 ;
s a cri ci al me a l m ay be e at en only
by cla nsmen 1 5 4 once a year
a ft er d ue prep a r a t ion
1 55 ; a n d at
nigh t t ime 735
s a crices o t he r
t h an
a nn ua l
1 55 ;
s a cri ce did
n o t origin a t e w i t h t he s l a ugh t er o f
domes t ic at e d a nim a ls 1 5 6 ; h um a n
s a crice somet imes d ue t o la ck of
a nim a ls
1 5 6 ; a nim a l s acrice a t
rs t r a re becomes a n exc use for
e a t ing mea t 1 5 7 an d merry m aking
1 59 ;
t hen t he
gloomy a nnual
s a crice is regarded as pi a cul ar 1 6 0
a n d h um a n b eings m us t be offered
for hum a n offences 1 61 or a sc a pe
go at fo und ib ; parody of 1 7 4 1 7 5
t o gua rdi a n spiri t s 1 8 3 1 8 4
ex
t ended from t he ri t ua l o f t h e god s
t o t he ri t es for t he de ad 1 9 5 anim a l
s acrice alone known in t o t emis t i c
t imes 1 99 a nn ua l 2 1 4
gift t heory
of
2 2 4 5 ; becomes hig gling 2 2 4
an d
mere m agic i b ; kil ling t he
an im al
k ill in g t he god 2 9 1 ; t he
rs t t o s t rike f or fei t s his life 2 9 1 2
o f rs t b orn
2 9 5 ; a nim a l s a cric e
a t l a s t c a s t a side 3 2 9
revived 3 3 0
reversion t o b a rb rous forms o f ha s
no permanen t vi t a lit y 3 3 2 pia cul a r
in G reece 3 3 2 reviva l of t he s a cra
men t al view o f 3 7 1 primi t ive
a t t emp t t o m ake m an an d G o d a t o n e
2 ; a nim a l
4 1 1
pres upposes t o t em
ism 4 1 2 ; univers al 4 1 4 t he pro
p a ideut ic o f t he world t o C hris t
1 50 ,

414 5
S a c ri c ial
a ,
a
t o
, 1 75
a a
t
u
natu a
t o
a
,
2 1 4 ; a ll
u t
a t ak ,
a t
t, ib ;
u
by
la t ,
2 1 4 6 ; t he
t of
u
,
2 8 5 t he
a
u
atu a
zb
t
o f t he
,
at
fa t
n
t
o ut
lat
t o, 3 2 6 ; u
t
t
b l
t an d , 3 0 2
t t ut s
a
d of f
s
330
,
Sa cri c ial
l , o f Sa
1 34
,
Sa g d id , 2 0 4
t
a ,
t t ab
2
St
, 7

at
St P a t
u
, 30 5

a
St V t u
, 286
S akk ara h , 3 0 9
4
Sa a
, 37
2 90
Sa
t
,
,
S a ut a t
92
,
-

SA B A Z O S , 3 38
Sa bb at h , 6 5 , 6 6 ; in A cc a di a , 2 7 6
8
9 in priva t e
S a cr a men t , 2 1 4 5 6 7
mys t eries , 33 9 in t he Eleusinia ,
3 7 2 , 3 7 5 , 3 8 1 , 4 1 4 ; in C hris t i a ni t y ,
41 5
Sa crice , origin al ly designed t o procure
t he presence of t h e god , 1 3 1 ff , 1 4 0
t ends t o b ecome me a nin gless , 1 4 0 ;
rit e , 1 4 4 ff
a mongs t
t he
t he
Sar a cens , 1 4 4 , P russi a ns , 1 4 4 , 1 4 5 ;
how it di ff ers
t h e m e a l , 1 4 5 ff
from ordin a ry e a t in g , 1 4 5 , 1 4 6
mus t be e at en o n t he spo t , 1 4 6 ; a ll
t he comm uni t y m u s t p a r t a ke , 1 4 7
t h e whole vic t im m us t b e cons umed ,
rem a ins t o b e burn t o r b uried ,
1 4 9 ff
n o t t o proc ure res urrec t ion o f a nim a l ,

me l p rodied
pro e
i n g ins s per
r l d nger
m s p r e no remn n s
be lef
f rnished
p ns
momen
comm nion
me ns of conveying s per
n r l powers
no heory
ex life s is c ory which is
of
re ion
nconnec ed wi h
e ief in ghos l
cons i e
bon
ellow hip
pi es
moyeds
.

C hris ov l proper y
rick s p rg ory
i s d nce

l mis
lish pries king
l
ions
-

oo

IN D E X
S a lv a dor, sickness d ue t o sin , 1 1 1
S al va t ion A rmy , 3 4 3
S am b ori o s , 2 1 4 , 2 3 5
S a mo a , mo urning t aboo , 60 ; high
pries t t a b oo , 6 6, 69 ; funera l
l a men t at ions , 4 7 ; mo urners t a b oo ,
6 9 p uric a t ion , 8 0 o w l t o t em , 1 0 1 ,
1 02
primit ive al t a r, 1 3 3 s a cricia l
me a l , 1 4 9 s a crice , 1 5 7 ; bl ood
o ffering a t m a rria ge , 1 7 1 , 1 7 2 ;
a rdi a n
1
u
spiri
s
t
80 , 1 8 1 ; blood
,
g
o ff erings t o t he d e a d , 1 9 2
S a mo y ed es , t heir g ua rdi a n spiri t s , 1 8 3
-

4 37

B ae t y l ion ,
B anu
B abylonia ns ,
H anifa , B et h el , C h ald aea , D a gon ,
Da t il l a , D a vid , Dj i nn , E d en , Elohim ,
G enesis , G h a b gh a b , Ha ri t h , H a s a n ,
ews ,
H ebrews , I sr a el , J ehova h ,
L evi t ic a l Law, M a ss b a , M oh a m
m e d an is m ,
N o sb,
Rec h a bi t es ,
S a b b a t h , Sa ra cens , Sheol , S olomon ,
era phim ,
Unle a vened B re a d ,
X is ut hro s
S equences , n at ur a l a n d s upern at ur a l ,
18
na t ural , 2 2 ; origin al l y n at ur al ,
-

s ubse q uen t ly s upern at ural 2 3 2 4

t ree b uri a l 2 0 4 ; s a crici a l me a l
Seren d y k corpse b urn t 5 O
1 58 ; primi t ive a l t a r 1 3 3 1 3 4 1 3 5 ;
S eriphos l obs t er s a cred in 1 2 6
S erpen t in mys t eries 3 3 3
c a t ch t he soul 5 1
an c t uary
S e un 1 5 2
in mys t eries 3 3 6
S ee
H oly Pl a ces
Se x mys t eries
S ee M ys t eries
S an c u 2 1 8
Se x t o t ems
S ee T o t emism
1
S a nd a ls removed on en t ering s a cred
a
S h m an
c ures disea se 4 4 ; corpse
t a boo
an d
gua rdia n spirit s
76
( t aboo ) pl a ces 63 64
S a ndeh b l ood coven a n t 9 8
1 8 3
4 ; ho w selec t ed 2 8 7
8
S a n d wich I sles pries t s 2 8 8
S h ark a s a friendly a nim al 2 5 2
S a ns k ri t my t ho l ogy 2 6 7
S h a rk s B ay t o t ems 1 1 9
S a n t a F s uspension b uri a l 2 0 4
Sh a ving b efore o r a ft er en t ering on a
S ara cens t heir s a c ri ci a l ri t es 1 4 4 1 49
t aboo s t a t e 7 9
151
Shea f w orshipped 2 1 2 m an wr a pped
S ara m am a 2 1 3
in 2 8 5 ; preserved from h a rves t t o
S a ra w a k c ure fo r dise a se 4 5
spring 3 6 4 ; dressed up as a n old
S as ab o n s um 6 7 1 3 6 1 6 4 1 6 5 ; n o t a
wom an 3 6 45 ; highly t a boo 3 6 5 ;
god a t a ll 1 6 6 1 7 4
shown t o worshippers 3 66 See
S at or 2 4 6
Ea r C orn
Sa va ge I sl a nd mo urning 7 9 ; decline
Sh eep skin relic o f t o t emism in Rome
of k ingship 2 7 9 2 8 0 2 8 3
103
S c a ndin a vi a ns primi t ive a l t a r 1 3 4
S heo l 2 99 3 0 0 3 0 1 ; gives w ay t o a
more hopeful concep t ion 3 2 9
285
2
S c a pe go a t 1 6 1
Sh ivering sign o f possession 1 7 4 5
S oars in nex t world 29 7 3 0 1
S hoshones mor al ch ar a c t er 2 0 0
S cience evolved o ut o f s a va ge spec ul a
S ho t over H i l l 2 5 0
S i am mo urning 7 9 divine kings 2 7 5
t ion 9 1 7 2 8 b ut n o t t here f ore a
m ere s urviva l of s a va ge error 1 0 ;
S iby l 2 7 4 2 8 3
S ici l y 2 1 4
a ss umes b ut c a nno t prove exis t ence
5
o f ex t ern a l wor l d an d t he Uni formi t y
Sick ( t he ) t a booed in P olynesi a only
o f N a t ure 8
10
wa lks by fa i t h 1 0
70
primit ive is myt hology 2 63
Sickness in t he belief of t he Aus t ra li a ns
S cy t hs
bl ood coven a n t 98 ; blood
P er uvi a ns 23 ; n o t necess ari l y t he
work of evil spirit s 1 90
offerings t o t he de a d 1 91
3
S e a t s eigh t 6 5
S icyon ri t ua l in 2 7 2
S ecrecy
n ot
ch ara c t erist ic o f t he Sil ence ob served in a n d a s t o t he
mys t eries 3 61
mys t eries 3 60 b ut a cciden t al 3 61
12
S elec t ion Supern at ur al 9 5 1 1 0
Sin b rings c al a mi t y 1 0 9
elli were t ab oo 63 7 8
S ind a i c a nni b a lism 2 0 2
S em ele 3 5 6
Skin for clo t hing im ages 2 5 2 ; used
for m aking idol s 28 5 for wr a pping
swine
S emi t es t o t emism o f 1 2 7 ff
6;
represen t a t ive o f t he g o d in 2 8 5
a mongs t
1 1 8 ; d a sh ed b lood o n t he
for clo t hing idols a n d novices 3 38
al t a r 1 3 2
h a ir o ff ering 1 7 1 blood
o fferin g zb fa mil y gods 1 8 6 ; t heir Sk y spiri t known t o I ndo E uropea ns
resis t s syncre t ism
n a t ion a l c al a mi t ies 3 2 8
polyt heis t s
2 2 8 ; ri t es 2 3 9
38 4
3 85
t heir
239
t heir
B a a l im
3

t endency t o
mono t heism 3 8 5 6 Sl ave beat en 2 9 2
3 90
Sl a ve C o a s t
S ee Ar a bi a A shera Assyri a
S ee Ewe spe ak ing peopl es
A s t a r t e At arg at is B aal B a albek
b a spe aking peoples
an d Y or u
,

'

I N D EX

8
43

S l a vs , blood -fe ud an d coven an t , 9 8 , 9 9

S lee p , s av a ge t heory o f, 4 4
S n a il , as t o t em , 1 5 3
i G ra cc hus ,
S n a ke , t he geni us o f
dece ased a p pe a rs a s , 3 0 3
1 86
S oci a l blig a t ion a n d t a boo , 8 7 , 8 8
S ocie t y , it s e a rlies t form , 9 6, 9 7 , 9 9
S o il , of s a cred pl a ces t a boo , 63 , 6 4 ;
t ab ooed by b lood , 7 3 , 7 4 ; by n e w
born children , 7 5, 7 6 o f t a bo o
pl aces t a boo , 1 3 6
Sol ar ye a r, unknown t o I ndo - E urope ans ,
22 8
S o l omon , 2 24
S olon , 3 0 5 , 3 3 4
S ols t ices , 2 2 7 8
S om a , 3 1 0 , 3 1 1
S orcerer, an d pries t s , 2 4 , 3 5 mis use of
t h e word , 1 0 6 con fused wi t h pries t ,
2 89 ; dis t inc t ion , 2 8 9 ff
S orrow, doll o f, 4 9
S o ul , m an m ay h a ve severa l , 4 4 ;
depa rt s from body in sickne s s a n d
sleep , 4 4 m ay be m a de t o re t urn ,
4 5, 4 6 hole left in t omb t o fa cili t a t e
ret urn , 50 exis t e nce o f, denied by
B uddh a , 3 1 8 ; t h e child o f e a r t h
an d
s t a rry sky, 3 2 1 S ee Spiri t s ,

Tr nsmigra t ion

St oning , t o a void bloodshed , 7 3 , 7 4

t he mode of kil l ing a dop t ed t o
dis t ri b ut e t he gui lt e q ual ly, 2 5 5 ;
t he divine vic t im , t o divide re s po n s i
b il it y , 292
St o rl s , revered by t he
h ess alia ns ,
12
St ory t elling , h ow it a rose , 2 5 8
S t ra n g ers = en em ies , 5 4 , 3 2 7
St r a ngers , t a booed b ut n o t in h eren t ly
t ab oo , 7 1
St rea ms , s a cred , 2 3 7 , 2 4 2
S ee Wa t er
o

spirit s
S t ruggle for e xis t ence m a n s physic a l
inferiorit y t o a nim al s in 1 5 ; his
cons eq uen t developmen t of t he in
how religion
t ell ec t ual fa c ul t ies 2 1
a ided h im 2 1
Suah ili ordin a t ion 2 8 8
Subsis t en ce a r t ici a l an d n a t ural b asis

o f,

1 13
t t ut

es for blo od , 5 2 , 5 3
Subs i
Sudra c a s t e , m ut il at ion , 1 7 0
S uhm an , h ow it di ffers from o t her
deit ies , 1 65 , 1 67 modelled o n idol ,
1 6 9 , 1 7 5 s a crice o ff ered t o it , 1 83
S uicide , o f divine k in gs , 2 7 9 ff
S ii l ag ava s a crice , 1 4 6, 1 4 9
Sum a t r a , t iger s n a me t a boo , 6 1 s a cred
divine k ings , 2 7 5 ; m ay
t rees , 2 0 8
n o t b e seen b y t a boo persons , 69 ;
.

So um oo I ndi a ns , mo urning , 7 9
Sp a t a n s , sco urging a s b l ood -offering ,

gric ul t uris t s dependence o n 2 28 ;

rit es used in worship of 22 9 2 3 0 ;
Species n o t t he individ ua l worshipped
a s t o t em
h orses s a criced t o
res a s
21 1 21 2
myt hs a b o ut his
o ff erings t o 2 3 1
Spiri t t he H oly 2 8 4
2
S piri t s n o t necess a rily s upe rn at ura l
movemen t s 2 6 1
2 3 v a rious n ames for 4 3 friendly
Sun a s nex t worl d 2 9 8 ; dis a ppe a rs
below ground 3 0 6 hence bel ief in
rel at ions wi t h 5 4 t o b e dis

a
a
t
t
3
0
a h a ppy wes t ern world
7 8 res t
t in g uis he d from s upern ur l spiri s
ing pl a ce for t he dep a rt ed 3 1 0 S ee
5 5 ; un a t t a ched how wors h ipped
1 7 3 1 7 4 ; s uch worship dis l oy a l t o
H e a venly bodies
cl a n god I 7 7 famili a r 1 8 7 h um a n Sun ch arms 2 3 2
an d
supern a t ural 1 8 9 ; how t he Sund a y 6 5 6 6
former come t o h a ve supern a t ura l Sun god 1 2 8
powers 1 96 ; n o t al l s upern a t ur al Supern a t ur a l in t erference wit h l aws
3 95
G ods
o f n a t ure
1 8 2 3 5 5 ; m an be l ieved
S ee F a mily G ods
G ua rdi a n S piri t s S o ul
in t he from t he rs t 1 5 1 8 ff ;
Spiri t ua l regenera t ion an d mora li t y
ende a voured t o es t a blis h rela t ions
3 4 3 if
wi t h it 2 0 ff regarded it a s a
S piri t ualism 3 4 3
spirit h a ving a fnit y wi t h his o wn
Sra hm a n t in 1 6 4 1 7 4
21
b ut n ot al l spiri t s s upern a t ural
23
S t a t e does n o t exis t in e arly t imes
2 3 m a n seeks t o l oc a t e t he s
5 4 ; rs t a ppe ars in t he collec t ive
power origin a lly purely nega t ive
3
a c t ion o f a t o t em c l a n 1 0 9
2 3 ; on l y m a nifes t s i t sel f l a t er in
S t a t e cul t s conned t o ci t i z ens 3 5 9
n a t ur a l phenomen a 2 4 it s posi t ive
S t e rc ul in us 2 4 6
m an does
an d ne g a t ive a spec t s 2 5
St oics o n my t hs 2 67
n o t bel ieve h imself t o possess s uper
S t ones t heir
worship second ary o n
n a t ura l powers 2 6 fam ilia r se
1 3 9 ff
a l t a r worship
a n d h a s mis
as s upern a t ur al
reg
rded
u
en
es
n
o
t
c
q
l e d s t uden t s 1 4 1
incorpora t ed in t o
2 6 4 1 ; be l ief in dis t inc t from f e a r
higher rel igions 1 4 2 s uppressed by
or gr a t i t ude 4 1 ; us ually combined
t hem 1 4 2 1 4 3
wi t h a nimism ib m an s rel a t ions
1 1

I N D EX

44o

T lism ns
T m rind

323
a
a
as t te
,
Tam e ham eh a , t ab
a

mine

Tin nevell y worship

o m 21 0
ooed
,

diamond

72

1 7 4, 1 7 5, 1 7 6

Tiro l mode of conveying corpse

,

corpse t ab oo 7 6
1
T iryns 2 5 6
T i t a ns 3 50 ff ; myt h
Tl a l nep an t l a 1 4 2

50

Ta m m a ra c a , 1 8 4

T ndo 2 3 9
T nn corpse p int ed red
a

evil sp i ri t s

of

3 55- 6

food
n o t t o b e offered wi t h b a re h a nds
Tl a l oc a n 2 9 9
Tl a locs 2 1 7
2
7 0 ; p a in t for b l ood 1 9 1
Ta rt ars s a crici al meal 1 4 9 1 5 8 ; Tm u 3 8 4
s a cra men t 2 1 9 2 2 2 ; gr a nd L am a s T od as s a crice 1 5 6
275 ;
k ings
differen tia t ed fro m T omb s t ones carved in t ot em form
1 03
pries t s 2 7 8
Ta sm a ni a ns (ex t inc t ) n a m e o f dea d T onga king s gl a nce t a boos w h a t it
t a b oo 61
ligh t s o n 64 mut ila t ion 1 7 0
blood offerings t o t he de a d 1 9 2
Ta t t ooin g its origin 1 7 2 ; condi t ion
rs t fr ui t s 2 2 3 pries t s 2 8 7 h a ppy
of en t ering p a r a dise 1 7 3 m a rk s
o t her world 3 0 8
choice of a guardi a n spiri t 1 8 2 ;
forb idden t o t he H ebrews 1 93 ; in Ton q uin es e cover dying m a n s fa ce
ordin a t ion 2 8 8
wit h a clo t h 5 0 funer a l fe as t s 5 1
2
Tc ha rn ic a n 2 1 9
T ons ure 1 7 1
T eh ua n t epec choice o f individ ual Too it o n g a S ee Tuit o n g a
t o t em 1 8 5
To p a n t un uas u
S ec Cel eb es
T ehuelche s a crici a l me al 1 4 6 1 59 ; T orch ri t e 3 65 3 7 8
T orres St ra i t 3 0 6
s a crices t o t he dead 1 9 6
T ellies 3 4 9
To t emism ha s it s origin in t he t riba l
3
Ten
2 95 3 3 6
s ta ge o f socie t y 9 6 9 7 ; b a sed upon
a n d t he
T emples origi n o f 1 35 2 3 7
t he b lood coven an t 9 7 9 8
division of t hings in t o n a t ura l kinds
T enger M oun t ains S ee J a va
99 1 00
wit h which c l a ns c a n h a ve
T en ure of pries t l y o i c e 2 7 0
1
T era phim 1 8 6
b l ood feuds a n d blood covena n t s
1 00
a t o t em a l w a ys a species never
T e ut ons b irt h t re es 2 0 7 ; t heir M ay
a n in d ivid ual 1 0 1
pol e 2 0 8
it s life respec t ed
as
t he l i f
of a cla nsm a n 1 0 2 ;
Theb es ( G reece ) 2 5 57 3 0 4
b uried
when d ea d i b ; t o t emis t
Theb es (Egyp t ) 3 0 9
we ars a t o t em dress 1 0 2 1 0 3 e s
Theo d ore A rchb ishop denounces
s t one worship 1 4 3
p e c iall y a t grea t crises 1 0 3 ; rej o ins
9 2 d p
at h
t
h
e
o
t
em
a
t
de
i b ; men d c
w
t
i
1
8
7
pd
3
9
scended from t o t em a nces t or 1 0 4 ;
6
3 33
p
t h e t o t em a god 1 0 4 1 0 5 ; k illing
3 22
a c l a n s m an
k il li g t he g o d 1 0 7 ;
Thesmophoria 2 4 0 3 5 9 3 67 3 7 9
loya l t y t o t he t o t em god 1 0 7 1 0 8 ;
Thess a l ia ns worshipped s t orks 1 2 5 ;
w a r wi t h Phoci a ns 3 4 9
t o t em cl a n a re l igio us comm uni t y
1 1 3
29
109
Thi a si 3 3 4 6 3 3 8 4 2 3 52 3 7 1
S urviv a l s o f T
domes t ic a t ion o f a nim al s an d pl an t s
37 3 4

2
1
2
in
Eg
p
1
3 ;
in
1
1
3
t
t
a
1
Thibe s cricial m e al 1 4 8 1 4 9
;
y
t he
1 26 ;
amongs t
G reece
1 25
Thieves e a t en 2 0 2 2 0 3
Thlin k e t s
Semi t es 1 2 7 9 ; t o t e m ism world
t o t em dress
1 02
1 03
wide 1 1 7 ; b a sed on b lood re l a t ion
pries t s 2 8 8
Thurii 3 2 0
shi p 1 3 9 t he t o t em t aboo a s food
TI 3 0 9
a s t or al
t
o
emism
in
p
e t e a t en 1 5 4
t
y
a t es
1
d
re p s t o ra l t imes
55
an d
Tierra d el Fuego n ame o f de a d t aboo
;
p
61
from be fore p a s t ora l t imes 1 5 6
cl a nsm an reuni t ed t o t o t em in
Tik i P olynesi an for t o t em 1 8 5 ; g o d
o f t a t t ooing a n d o f wi l d p l a n t s t o
d e a t h 1 7 3 3 0 3 ; individ ua l t o t ems
Tree a n d Pla n t To t e m s
1 8 2 ff 1 8 5
Time in fec t ed b y t a boo 65 primi t ive
indivi d ual a ppropri
25
on e
comput a t ion o f 2 2 67
2 0 6
Tim m an e es offer food t o t he de a d
a t es t h e worship a ccorded origin a ll y
52
wo rship
t o t h e who l e species 2 0 8
no l onger conned t o t he cl a n
Timor t a booed persons m a y n o t feed
t hemse l ves 7 0 ; underworld 3 0 6
i b ; t ree t o t em a n t hropomorphise d
cl a n n ames i t self a ft er
Tin n eh 2 8 8
2 08
9 ;
a

a,

52 ;

'

e t/ c s

60

60

i o c,

ar

o r,

0 t,

'

I N D EX

em 2 0 9 b ra nch o r pl an t c arried
in ( s a cra men t al ) procession i b ;
dea d b uried in t o t em t ree 2 1 0 ;
t ree a ppe a rs in m a rri a ge ri t e ib ;
pla nt t o t ems t he so urce o f d o m e s t i
pl nt s 2 1 0 ff ; pla nt t ot ems
c a t ed
preserved for t heir supern a t ura l
pro t ect ion from o n e yea r t o t he
n ex t
2 1 1 ; a n d worshipped 2 1 2 ;
pla n t t o t em a n t hropomorph ised
2 1 3 pl a n t furnishes t he s a cr a men t l
me al 2 1 4 ; seeds e a t en sim p l iciter
2 1 4 2 1 5 ; m a de in t o a d oug h d ol l
2 1 5 6 u e o f do ug h dolls spre a d s t o
n on cere a l dei t ies 2 1 6 ; w a fers t ake
blood
t he pl a ce o f t he dol l s 2 1 8 9
ex t ended fro m a nim a l t o pl a n t
219
2 2 0 ; t wo modes of
t o t ems
comm union wit h t ree t o t em s 2 2 0
b y e at ing i b ; a n d by incorpor a t ion
o f t h e worshipper wi t h t he o bjec t
s urviva l
of his worship 2 2 0
2 ;
pl a n t t o t ems
o f origin a l t a boo o n
2 22 3 ; impor t at ion in t o
a s food
religion o f t he concept ion o f pro
consequen t gift
4 ;
pert y 2 23
degra d a
t heory
o f s a crice 2 24 5
2 2 4 ; erroneou s
t ion of religion
Vi ews o f his t ory o f religion 2 2 5
t o t em gods a bsorb ed b y syn cre t ism
2 36
se x t o t ems 2 3 9 ; how t o t em
gods were a ffec t ed by polyt heism
2 42 3
2 4 9 ; t o t emism in I ndi a
317
under wh t condi t ions a lone
it res ul t s in me t empsychosis 3 1 4
5
in Egypt in G raec o Rom a n t imes
3 1 6 ; p a sses in t o poly t heism 3 9 5 ;
t he e a rlies t form o f religion k nown
t o science m a y b e a rel a pse from a n
e arlier an d purer form 3 9 5 ; t o t em
s a crice a ims a t t he union of m an
2
wit h t h e divine 4 1 1
presupposes
a previo us s t a ge in religio us de ve l op
men t 4 1 3 ; a form o f mono t heism zb
T o t onacs do ugh a n d blood 2 1 9
Tragedy 3 52
to t

'

Tpd 'yo t , 3 5 1

T r nsform t ion of m e in t o be s t s
mongs t J o s B ushm ns in
a

ac o n

Kirchh a in , 1 6, 2 5 1 , 253 , 2 5 7 , 2 5 9 ;

44 1

di fference from t he I ndia n d oc t ri ne

3 2 1 ; it s resembl a nces t o t he Eg y p
t i a n 3 2 2 3 ; it s s l igh t a t t a chmen t
t o n a t ive
G reek b elie fs
323 4 ;
impossibil i t y o f it s b eing n a t ive
3 24
5 ; elemen t s o f t h e b elief in
a
fut ure s t at e 3 2 5 ; w hy t heir
syn t hesis before 6 00 B C was um
s at isfa c t ory t o t he religious con
,

s c io us n es s

326
S ee

Tr v ncore
t o t ems
Trees
a

Vedd ahs

de a d b uried in
210
in m arria ge ri t es 2 1 0 h um a n
g ure a t t a ched t o 2 1 5 6 2 5 5 ra g s
t ied on
2 21 ; hun g wi t h fr ui t s
( syncre t ism ) 2 35 ; s a cred 2 4 2 ;
clo t hed in hum a n dress 2 5 2
Tree buria l 20 4 2 1 0
Tree g ods presen t in lo t s 2 8 9
T renches o fferings m ade in 5 1 52
Tri angle t o t emis t ic 1 2 7 ff
Tron is blood o fferings 5 2
Troy 3 0 4
Ts c h ere m is s
fe a s t t he de ad 5 1
s acrici al me a l 1 5 0
T scherkess funeral fe a s t s 5 1 mut ila
t ion 1 7 0
Ts c huwa sc h funer a l fe a s t s 5 1
Tshi spea king peoples t emp t t he soul
o f t he dece a sed t o re t urn 4 5
funeral
l a men t a t ions 4 7 ; p urify m o urners
5 7 ; vessels t a boo 6 3 ; e a t fe t ish
6 4 ; t a b oo d ays 6 5 ; t a b oo colo urs
6 7 ; mo t her uncle a n a ft er child
b ir t h
puried 7 5 7 6 ;
74 75
corpses t a boo 7 6 ; mourners 7 7
7 9 ; t h e god gh t s for h is o wn
people 1 0 8 ; surviva l o f t o t emism
1 55
t heir dei t ies 1 6 3 ff ; p a in t fo r
bl ood 1 9 2 ; pl a n t t o t ems 2 0 7
func t iona l deit ies 2 4 7
as

207

'

Tuit on g a , 6 6, 7 9 , 2 2 3
Tum an an g , 1 0 1

Tup i

60
u t
Tupp in I m b a s ,
308
t
243
u tl , as t t
, 1 53 ,
la , 1 0 4
t
u tl
2
2 51
a

blood g il iness
-

nex life
T r e
o em
T r ec n
n,

2 92 ;

my h of origin

Tycoo

277

pos t humo us t r a nsform a t ion in t o

t o t em a nim a l 3 1 4
5 3 25 6
U
Transform a t ion C onict 3 5 5 if
Transmigra t ion o f So uls 3 1 4 2 6 ; U A AU P ES Va lley c annib alism 2 0 2
Uli a se I sl a nds c ure for dise a se 4 5
t o t emism does n o t a l w a ys res ul t in
Umbrell a s t o s a ve t he s un fro m being
3 1 4 ; condi t ions under which a l one
pol lut e d by t a boo persons 6 0
it does so res ul t 3 1 5 ; in Egyp t

Unc l ea n t hi n gs t r ansmit t heir t a b oo

2 0 ; B udd his t
1
in
ndi
a
3
I
3 1 5
7
7
62 ;
infec t t ime 6 5 ; uncl ea n
revol t a ga ins t B ra hminis t t ra n s m i

t
a nim a l
2
di
erences
be
ween
1
h
ff
t
e uncle a n for b idden
7
i
3
1
8
9
a
t
on
r
;
;
g
communic a t e 1 55
E gyp t ia n a n d I ndi a n doct rines 3 1 9
to
uncl e an
a nim als m ake a more po t en t s a c ri
3 2 0 ff ; it s
3 2 0 ; P y t h a gore a nism
-

I ND E X

2
44

nclea n might n o t
h a ve
do direc t l y o r indirect ly
wi t h
mys t eries 3 6 1 ; nor a p
proa ch s a cred she a f 3 6 4
Uncl e anness o f mo urners 5 7 58 69
an d of a ll who h a ve come in con t a c t
wi t h de a t h 7 6 8 0 o f t he shedder
o f mo t hers a ft er c h ild
o f b l ood 7 5
b irt h 7 5
o f new born children 7 6
Unconscious U t ili t aria nism 9 0
Undergro und worl d 2 99 ff 3 0 3 30 5
Uni formi t y o f N a t ure n o t proved by
science n o r disproved by t he errors
o f science 9 1 0
a ss umed in s a v a ge
a s well a s in scien t ic logic
28 ;
ex pression o f G od s will 4 0 2 ; o f
h um a n a c t ion o f m a n s free will
ib
a ss umed n o t proved 4 0 6
a c t ed
on b y primit ive m an 4 0 9
Union pol i t ic al implies religio us
union 2 3 9
Unle a vened B re a d 3 85
U n y ora b l ood coven a n t 98
Upa nish ads on s a crice 224 5
U t opia 3 0 5 3 1 2 3
c e ,

t he u

3 30 ;
to
t he

Vol un t a ry religious a ssociat ions

Vows t hose under fa s t an d are
,

3 31
ta

boo

1 55

W
WA F E R S s a cr a men t a l 2 1 8 9 ; in t he
priva t e mys t eries 3 4 0
Wal h all a 3 0 2
Waliah m a y n ot o ffer presen t s wi t h
his h a nds 7 1 7 2
3
Wa r a holy func t ion 1 55 24 2 2 95
,

349

Wa r c a pt ives
-

exec ut ed in pl a ce of

pries t 2 8 3 4
Wa r god h ow developed 2 42
Wa r king 2 7 7 2 95
\ Va r p a in t 3 49
Wa shing n ot permit t ed t o t aboo
persons 7 8 ; e g mo urners 7 8 7 9
a bs t a ined from 3 6 5 3 6 8
Wa t er used for ceremoni a l puric a t ion
5 7 7 5 7 6 8 0 2 2 9 ; for divin a t ion
ib 2 8 9 ; ordea l b y ib
sa cra men t a l
us e o f 2 2 9 ; w a t ers over t he e a r t h
ib
wa t er spiri t 2 3 0 ghos t s drink
3 2 2
for puric a t ion in mys t eri es
3
-

ec t ed by t he
fa c t t h a t it ha s been evolved o ut o f
somet hing else 1 0 ; o f religious
beliefs t o be discussed by philo
sophy o f religion ib
Va nco uver s I sl a nd 3 0 8
Va n Diem en s La nd s t ra ngers n ot
e a t en wi t h 7 1
Va nnu s 2 4 7
Ved a s 3 1 7
Ved d ahs o f Tra van c o ve fa t hers fa s t
a ft er chi l d b ir t h
75
Vege t a t ion pl a ced under pro t ec tion of
w a t er spirit 2 3 0
Veget at ion spiri t ce a ses t o be im
m a nen t in corn a n d becomes lord
o f t h e soil
2 2 3 ; syncre t ised wi t h
D ionys us 2 3 6 ; wit h w a t er spiri t s
237
omnipo t en t n o t dep ar t men t a l
2 4 4 ; c a rried in procession 2 5 5
re
presen t ed by a m a n in a shea f or
green lea ves 2 8 5 ; ent ers him w h o
e at s t he rs t fr ui t o f t ree 2 93
Venge ance f o r t he de a d 5 4
Vermin uncl e a n 62 ; s a cred 1 2 8
Vic t im t he rs t e at en join t ly by god
an d worshi pper
1 5 9 t hen resigned
whol l y t o t he god 1 60
Vic t ori a remn n ts o f food used t o
inj ure t he ea t er 1 51
Virgi l 2 7 4
Virg ini a 30 6
Vision spiri t ual 3 98 ff
Vit zilip uz t l i S ee Hui t z ilopoch t li
a ff

VALI D I TY of a b e l ief n ot

3 3 9, 3 4 8

Wa t er spirit s

22 1
l , a
, 2 2 1 , 2 32
W
a
b
a
l
2
2
0
f
t
,
,
V
V er- l , 1 0 2
t, 21 5
We rm l a n d , a a
a
al
t I
a
,
1 51
a
t , 1 96
W t , t ab
u , 65, 7 9, 3 4 9
W a , a
t
)
(t a
20 9
t
,
-

W el s s cred
ends c nni ism
li e ree 2 10
ge d
s cr men
W es ndies s crici me l 1 4 7
gr ve pos s
hi e
oo colo r
hyd h s cred boo py hon 60 ;
py hon procession
W idows an d widowers sh a ve t h eir
he a ds or c ut t heir h a ir 7 9 8 0
Wil l t he source of al l h uma n a c t ions
a n d believed t o be so urce o f a l l o t her
ch anges 2 2 4 0 9 4 1 1
W inds o n s a l e in Shet l ands a n d I sle
,

of

M an , 2 4

Wine

forbidden in

E l eusini a

t he

3 80 1
t
,

Wi ches ch anged int o a nim als 1 6 ;

u s e w a xen im a g es
2 9 ; see k t o do
mischief 1 7 7 ; t heir f milia rs 1 8 7 ;
ordea l b y wa t er 229 S ec Pries t
S orcerer
Wives t abooed 7 1 7 2 killed a t
h us b a nd s gra ve 2 0 0
Wol f cl a n a n d hero 1 2 6
W omen t ab oo 59 so we a r bro a d
b rimmed h a t s
60 ;
de b ased b y
a nces t or worship
a mongs t
1 99
s a vages generall y do t he a gric ul t ure
2 4 0 2 5 8 ; pro b bl y rs t c ul t iva t ed
pl n t s 2 4 0 2 5 8 hence cere a l
dei t ies feminine 2 4 1 2 5 8 3 7 9
,