T HE GO LDEN BO U G H

A S tudy in M agic an d Religion

SIR J AM E S G E ORG E FB AZER, F R S . . FB A

. . (

H on . Oxford ; Hon LITT D Cam b rid ge and Durh am

. .
;
H on
. LL D , Glasgow ; Doctor H onoris Caus e of the
. .

Univ ersities o f Pa ris an d S trasb ourg

1 VOLUME . A B RID GE D E D IT ION

1m m y ork
T H E M A C M ILLA N C OM PA N Y
192 5
 P R E FA C E

T H E p rim aryaim o f thi s b ook is to explain the remarkable rule which

regulate d the succession to the priesthoo d o f Diana at A ricia When .

I first set mysel f to solve the problem more than thirty years ago I ,

thought that the solution could be propounded very briefly but I soon ,

found that to render it probable or even intelli gible it was necessary

to discuss certain more general questions some o f which had har d ly
,

been broache d be fore In successive editions the discussion o f these

.

and kin d red topics has occupied more a nd more space the enquiry
,

has branche d out in mor e an d more d irections unt i l the two volumes
,

of the ori ginal work have expanded into twelve .Meantime a wish
has often been expressed that the book should be issued in a more
compen d i ous form . This abri dgment i s an attempt to meet the
wish and thereby to brin g the work within the ran ge o f a wi d er ci rcle
o f rea d ers . Whi le the bulk of the book has been greatly re d uced I ,

have endeavoured to retain its leadin g principles to gether with an

,

amount o f evi d ence sufficient to illustrate them clearly The lan guage
.

of the ori ginal has also for the most part been preserved thou gh ,

here and there the exposition has been somewhat condensed In .

order to keep as much o f the text as possible I have sacrificed all the
notes and with them all exact references to my authorities Rea d ers
, .

who desi re to ascertain the source o f any particular statement must

therefore consult the larger work which is fully documented and
,

provi d ed with a complete biblio graphy .

In the abri dgment I have neither added new m atter nor altered
the views expressed in the last edition ; for the evidence which has
come to my knowledge i n the meantime has on the whole serve d
either to confirm my former conclusions or to furni sh fresh illustra
tions of old principles Thus for example on the crucial questio n
.
, ,

of the practice o f puttin g kin gs to d ea th either at the end o f a fixed

period or whenever thei r health and stren gth be ga n to fail the bo d y ,

of evidence wh ich points to the wi d e prevalence o f such a custom has

vi P R EFA CE

been consi derably augm ente d in the i nterval A stri k ing instance o f .

a limited monarchy o f this sort i s furnished by the power ful mediaeval

kin gdom of the Khazars i n S outhern Russia where the kings were ,

liable to be put to death either on th e expiry o f a set term or whenever

some public calamity such as d rought dearth or defeat i n war , , , ,

seeme d to i ndicate a failure o f their natural powers The evidence .

fo r the systematic k illin g of the Khazar kin gs drawn from the accounts ,

o f old Arab travellers has been collected b y me elsewhe re 1 A frica , .

,

a gain has supplied several fresh examples o f a simila r practice of

,

re gici de Amon g them the most notable perhaps i s the custom

.

fo rmerly observ ed in Bunyoro o f choosing every year from a particu lar

clan a mock kin g who was supposed to incarnate the late king co , ,

habited with hi s wi dows at his temple tomb and a fter rei gning for a -
,

week was stran gled 2 The custom presents a close parallel to the ancient .

B abylonian festival o f the Sacaca at which a mock k in g was dressed in ,

’
the royal robes allowed to enj oy the real kin g s concubines and a fte r
, ,

rei gnin g for five days was stripped scour ged and put to death That , , .

festival in its turn has lately received fresh light from certain Assyrian
inscriptions “ which seem to confirm the inte rpretation which I formerly
,

gave o f the festival as a N ew Year celebration and the p arent o f the

Jewish festival o f Purim 4 Other recently di scovered parallels to .

the priestly k in gs o f A ricia are A frican p riests and kin gs who used to
be put to death at the end o f seven or o f two years a fter bein g liable ,

in the interval to be attac k ed and killed by a stron g man who there ,

upon succeeded to the p riesthoo d or the kingdom “ .

With these and other instances o f like custom s be fore us it i s no

lon ger possible to re gard the rule o f succession to the p ri esthood of
Diana at A ricia as exce ptional ; it clearly e x emplifies a widesprea d
institution o f which the m ost numerous and the most similar cases
,

have thus far been found i n A frica H ow far the facts p oint to an .

early infl uence of A frica on Italy or even to the existence o f an Afric an ,

population in Southern E urope I do not presume to say The pre , .

J G Fraz er T he K ill ing o f the Khaz ar K ings F olk lore x xviii

’
-
. .
, , , .

pp . 38 2- 40 7 .

Rev J Ro scoe, T he S ou l of C entra l A fri ca (London,

. .
p 200 Com pare . .

J G Fra z er T he M ack ie E thnologi cal Ex p ed ition to Central A frica, M a n xx

. .
,
, .

p . 18 1 .

H Zim m ern, Z um b ab ylonis chen N eujahrsfes t (Leip z ig,

.
C om p are
A H Sayce in J ournal of the Roya l A sia tic S oci ety, J uly 192 1, p p 440-442
. .
, .
.

The Golden B ough, Par t VI T he S capegoa t, pp 3 54 sqq , 412 s q q . . . .

P A m aury T al b ot in J ournal of the A fr i can S ociety, J uly 1916 p p 3 09 s

'

q
.
, .
.

id , in F o l k -lore, x x m pp 79 s q ; H R Pal m er , in J ourna l of the A frica n

’

. . . . . .

S oci ety, J uly 1912, pp 4 03 , 40 7 s q . .

 PRE FA CE

historic relatio ns between the two continent s are still obscure and
sti ll under investi gation .

Whether the explanation which I have offe red of the institution i s

o ect or not m ust be left to the future to determin e I shall always
c rr .

be ready to aban don it if a better can be suggested Meantime in .

c am m itting the bo ok in its new form to the j udgm ent of the public

I de sire to gu ard a gainst a misapprehension of its scope which a p pears

to be still ri fe thou gh I have sou ght to correct it be fore now
,
I f in
.

the present wor k I have dwelt at some len gth on the worship o f trees ,

it is not I t rust because I exa ggerate its im p ortance in the history o f

, ,

religion still less because I woul d deduce from it a whole syste m o f

,

mythology ; it i s simply because I could not i gnore the subj ect in

attemptin g to explai n the si gnificance of a p riest who bore th e title o f

King of the Wood and one of whose titles to o ffi ce was the plucki n g
—
o f a bough the Golden Bough—from a tree in the sacred grove
,

But I am so far from re gardin g the reverence for trees as o f supreme

importance for the evolution o f rel igion that I consider it to ha ve been
alto gether subordinate to other factors and in particular to the fea r
,

of the human dead which on the whole I believe to have been prob
, , ,

ably the most p owerful force in the makin g o f primitive reli gion I .

hope that a fter this e x plicit d isclaimer I shall no lon ger be taxed wit h
embracing a system o f m yt hology which I loo k upon not merely as
false b ut as preposterous an d absurd But I am too familiar wi th
.

the hydra o f erro r to ex pect that by lopping off one of the monster s ’

heads I can prevent a nother or even the same from sp routing a gain
, , .

I can only trust to the candour and intelli gence o f my readers to recti fy
this serious misconception o f my views by a comparison with my own
express declaration .

J G FRAZ E R
. . .

1 B RI CK COU RT , T E M PLE,
LO N DON, J une 1922 .
 CON T EN T S
am p.

I . T HE KING OF T H E WOOD
1 D ia na a n d Virb i us
.

2 . A rtem is an d H ip p olytus
3 . Recap itul ati on

II . PR I E STL Y K IN G S

SY M P A T H E T IC M A GIC
1 . T he Princip l es Of M agi c
2 . H om athi c or Im ita tiv e
oeop M agi c
3 . C ontagi ous M agi c
T he M agi cian s Progress
'
4 .

M A GIC AND RE LIGION

v . T HE M A GICA L CO NT ROL OF T H E W E AT H E R
l . T he Pub li c M agi cian
52 . T he M agical C on trol of Rain
3 . T he M agi cal C ontrol of the Sun
4 . T he M agical C ontro l of the Wind
M A GICIAN s AS KING S
VII . INCA RNATE H UMA N G OD S

VIII D E PA RT M E NTAL K ING S OF N AT U RE

TI IE W ORSH IP OF T RE E S
l T ree -sp irits
Tr sp irit
.

2 . B eneficent Powers of ee- s

RE L Ic s OF T REE -WORS H IP IN M ODE RN E U RO PE

xI . T HE I NFL U E NCE OF T II E SE X E S ON VE GE T AT I ON

XII T. IIE SA C RE D M A RRI A GE

5 1 . D iana as a G o ddess
Fertili ty
of

2 . T he M arri age of the G ods

xm . T HE KINGS OF ROM E A ND A LB A
1 . N um a an d E geri a
2 . T he Ki ng a s J up i ter
X C ON T E N TS
CRA P .

X IV . T H E SU CCESS I ON T o T H E KINGD OM IN A NC I E NT LATIU M

‘

T HE WORSH IP OF THE OA K

XVI . DIA N U S A ND D IA NA
X VII . T H E B U RD E N or ROYAL T Y
5 1 . Royal and Pri estly T ab oos
5 2 . D iv rc o e
of the Sp iri tual from the T em p oral Power

V II
X I . T HE PE R IL S OF T H E SO UL
§ l . T he Soul a s a M annik i n
2 . A b sence a n d Recall of the S oul
3 . T he S oul as a Shadow a nd a Re fl ection

XIX . T A B O OE D A CT S

§ 1 . T 4 b oos on Intercourse wi th S trangers

2 . T ab oos on E ating a nd D
ri nk i ng
33 . T ab oo s showi ng the Face
on

4 . T ab oos on q uitti ng the H ouse

5 . T ab o os o n l eaving Food over

T A B OOE D P E RSO NS
5 1 . C hiefs a nd Ki ngs tab ooed
2 . M ourners tab ooed
3 . W om en tab ooed a t M enstruati on a nd C hildb irth
4 . Warriors tab ooed
§ 5 . M anslayers a
t b ooed
§ 6 . Hun ters a nd Fishers tab ooed

T A B OOE D T H ING S
5l . T he M e aning of T ab oo
52 . Iron tab ooed
53 Sharp Weap ons o
ta b oed

54 . B l oo d tab ooed
55 . T he H ead tab ooed
56 H air tab ooed
.

57 C erem onies a t H air-cutting

.

5s D isp osal of C ut H air and N ails

.

59 Sp i ttle tab ooed

.

10 Food s tab ooed

.

1 1 Knots a nd Ri ngs tab ooed

.

T A B OOE D W ORDS
Personal N am es tab ooed
N am es Of Rel ations tab ooed
N am e s of the D ead tab ooed
N am e s of Ki ngs a n d other Sacre d Persons tab ooed
N am es of God s tab ooed
 C ONTE NTS xi

C HA P .
PA GE

XX III . OU R DE B T To T HE SA VA GE
XX IV . T HE KILLING OF T H E D IVINE KING
l . T he M orta li ty of the G od s
2 . Kings k illed when their Strength fails
3 . Kings k illed a t the E nd of a Fixed T erm
T E M P ORA RY KING S
XX VI . S AC R IF ICE OF T H E KING S ’
S ON

XX VII . S U CCE S S ION TO THE SOU L

XX VIII . T HE KILLING O F T HE T RE E -S P R I IT
1 . T he Whitsuntid e M um r
m e s

2 . B uryi ng the C arn i v al

3 . C arrying out D e a th

4 . B ringi ng i n Sum m e r
5 B attle of r and W inter
Sum m e

D eath an d Resurrecti on of K ostrub on

.

6 . ko
7 . D eath an d Revival of Vegetati on
8 . A nal ogou s Ri tes i n Ind i a
9 . T he M agi c Sp ri ng

XX X I . T H E M YT H OF A DO NI S
A DO NI S IN SYR IA
XXX I . A DO NI S IN C Y P RU S

XX X II . T H E RI T U AL OF A D ON IS
XXX III . T H E G A RDE NS OF A D ON IS
XXX IV . T H E M YT H A ND RI T U AL OF A T T Is

XXX V . AT T IS As A G OD OF VE G E T A T I ON
XXX VI . H U MA N RE P RE S E NT AT IVE S OF A TT Is

XXX VII . OR I E NT A L RE LIGI ONS IN TH E W E ST

XXX VIII . T H E M YT H OF OS I RI S
XX X I . T HE R IT U A L OF I IS
OS R
l . T he Pop ular Ri tes
2 . T he Offi ci al Rites

T H E N A T U RE OF OS RI IS
1 . Osiris a C orn god -

2 . Osiris a T ree Sp iri t-

3 . Osiris a G od of Ferti li ty
4 . Osiri s a G od of the D e ad
xi i C ONT E NT S
C H A P.

OS R I IS A ND T H E SU N

x L III . D I ONY SU S

DE M E T E R A ND P E RS E PH O NE

T H E C OR N M OT H E R A ND
-
THE C OR N M A IDE N I N
- N ORT H E RN E U ROPE

X LVI . T HE C OR N M OT H E R
-
IN M A NY L A ND S
T he C orn-m r i n A m erica
'

1 . othe

2 . T he Ri ce m o ther i n the E ast In dies

-

3 . T he Sp iri t of the C orn e m b o di e d i n H um an B e i ngs

§4 . T he D ou b le Personification of the C orn a s M othe r
D aughter

X LVII . L ITYE RS E S
1 . Songs of the C o rn Reap ers
2 . Ki llin g the C orn -
Sp i rit '

3 . H um an Sacrifices for the C ro p s

4 . T he C orn Sp i ri t slai n in hi s H um
- an Rep rese nta tives

XL VIII . T H E C OR N S PI RIT
-
As AN A NIM AL
1 . A ni m a l E m b o d im e nts of the C o rn -s r
p i it
2 . T he C orn -sp iri t as a Wolf or a D og
3 . T he C orn-sp irit a C ock as

4 . T he C orn sp irit a s a H are

-

5 . T he C orn sp irit a s a C a t
-

6 . T he C orn sp iri t as a G oa t
-

7 . T he C orn sp irit as a B u ll C ow o r Ox
-
, ,

8 . T he C orn Sp iri t as a H orse or M are

-

9 . T he C orn sp irit a s a Pig (B oar or Sow)

-

10 . On the A nim a l E m b o dim e nts of the C orn sp iri t -

A NCIE NT D E IT IE s OF VE GE T A T I ON As A NIM A L S
1 . Dionysu s, the G o t a a nd th e B u ll
2 . Dm tr
e e e , the Pi g and the H o rse
3 . A tti s , A d oni s , the Pi g a nd

4 . r
Osi i s , the Pi g a n d the B ul l
55 . r
Vi b i u s a n d the H o se
’

L . E AT ING TH E G OD
1 . T he S a cram e n t of Fi rst-Frui ts
2 . E ati ng the G o d am ong the A z tecs
3 M a ny M a nii at A ricia
'

LI . H OM OE O PA T H IC M A GIC OF A F L E SH D I ET
 CONT E NT S x ii i
CHA P .

L II . KILLI N G THE D IVINE A NIM AL

Ki lli n g th Sacred B uz z ard
1 . e

2 K illi n g th Sacre d Ra m
. e

3 Killin g th Sac d Serp ent

. e re

4 Ki lli n g the Sa cre d T urtle s

.

5 Killi ng the Sacred B ear

.

LIII T H E P ROPIT I AT I ON OF WILD A NIM A L S B Y H U NT E RS

.

LIV T Y E S OF A NI M A L S A C RA M E NT
.
P

I T he E gyp tian a nd the Ain o T yp es of Sacram ent

.

2 . Processi ons with Sa cre d A nim l

a s

V LV . T H E T RA NSFE RE NC E OF E VIL
l . T he T ra n sference to Inani m ate Ob j ects
2 . T he T ransference to A ni m l
a s

3 . T he T ra n sference to M en
4 . T he T ransfere nce of E v il i n E urop e

/
LVI . T HE PU B LIC E X PU L S I ONVIL S OF E
l . T he Om ni p rese n ce of D em o ns
2 . T he Occasi ona l E x p ul si on of E vi ls
3 . T he Peri od i c E xp ul si on Of E vil s

LVII . PU B LIC SCA P E GOA T S

1 T he E x p ul s io n o f E m b o di e d E vi ls
Vhi l
.

2 T he Occasi ona l E x p uls io n of E vil s In a M ate ri a l e c e

3 . T he P eri o di c E x p ul si on of E v i ls In a M a teria l Vehicl e

4 . On Scap e goats i n Ge n era l

LVIII . H U M A N SC A P E GOA T S IN C LA S S ICAL A N T IQ U ITY

1 . T he H u m a n Scap egoa t i n A n ci ent Rom e

2 . T he H um an Scap egoat i n A ncient G reece

3 . T he Rom an Saturna li a
L Ix . KIL LI N G TH E G OD IN M E x IC O
Lx . B E T WE E N H EA VE N AND E A RT H
1 . N ot to tOu ch the E arth
2 . N ot to see the S un
3 . T he S ecl usi on Of G irl s at P ub erty
4 . Rea sons for the Seclusi on Of Girls at Pub e rty

T H E M YT H OF B ALD E R

a . T HE F I RE FE ST IVAL S OF E U ROP E
l . T he Fire -fes tiva ls i n ge nera l
2 . T he Lenten Fires
3 . T he E aster Fi res
4 . T he B elta ne Fire s
5 . T h e M id sum m e r Fires
T he H a llowe
’
6 en Fire s
7 . T he M id wi nter Fire s
8 . T he N ee d fire
xiv CONT ENTS

L x I II . T HE I NTE RPRET A T ION OF T H E I

F RE - FE ST IVAL S
1 . On the Fire -festivals i n general
2 . T he Solar T heor y Of the Fire -festi vals
3 . T he Purificatory T heory Of the Fire-festivals

LX IV . T HE B U R NI NG OF H U MA N B E INGS IN TH E FI RE S
l . T he B urnin g of E ffigi es i n the Fires
52 . T he B ur ning of M en a n d A ni m a ls i n the Fire s

B ALD E R A ND T HE M I STL E TOE

LXVI . T H E E x T E RN AL SOU L IN FO L K TAL E S

-

LXVII . T H E E x T E RN AL SOU L IN L K CU S T OM
FO -

1 . T he E x ternal Soul i n Ina ni m ate T hings

2 . T he E x ternal Soul i n Pla nts
3 . T he E xternal Soul i n A ni m als
4 . T he Ri tual of D athe and Re surrection

v uI . T HE G O LDE N B OU GH
L XIX . FA RE W E LL To

T he Go l de n B ough
 CHA PT E R I

THE KI NG OF T H E W OOD

1 Dia na
. and Vir b ius .
—W ho does
not know Turner s picture o f the ’

Golden Bough ? The scene su ff use d wi th the golden glow o f imagina ,

tion in which the divine mind O f Turner steeped and tran s figured even
the fai rest natural landscape i s a dream like vision o f the li ttle w ood -

—
,
”
lan d lake O i N emi Diana s M irror as it was called by the ancients
“ ’
,
.

N 0 one who has seen tha t calm water lapped in a green hollow O f the ,

Alban hills can ever for get i t The two character istic I talian villages
,
.

which slumber on its banks and the equally Italian palace w hose ,

terraced gardens descend steeply to the lake har d ly break the stillness ,

and even the soli tar i ness o f the scene Diana hersel f mi ght still linger .

by this lonely shore still haunt these woo d lands wild

, .

In antiqui ty this sylvan lan d scape was the scene o f a stran ge and
recurrin g tragedy On the northern shore O f the lake ri ght under the
.
,

precipitous cli ff s on which the modern village o f Nemi is perched ,

s too d the sacre d grove and sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis o r Diana ,

of the Wood T h e lake and the grove were some ti mes known as the
.

lake and grove O f A rici a But the town o f A r i cia (the m odern La
.

Riccia ) was situate d about three miles O II at the foot o f the Alban ,
"

Mount and sepa ra ted by a steep d escent f rom the lake which lies in
, ,

a small crater like hollow on the mountain side In this sacred grove
-
.

there grew a certain t ree round which at any time o f the day a n d
,
‘

probably fa r into the night a grim fi gure mi ght be s een to p rowl In

, .

his han d he carrie d a drawn sword and he kept peer in g warily about ,

him as if a t every instant he expecte d to be set upon by an enemy H e .

was a priest and a murderer ; and the man for W hom he loo k ed was
sooner or later to mur d er him an d hol d the pries thood in hi s stead .

Such was the rule o f the sanctuary A can d ida te for the pries thood .

"
co uld only succeed to Ofii ce b y slaying the priest and having slai n him , ,

he retaine d Office till he was himsel f slain by a stronger or a cra ftier .

The post which he held by this precari ous tenure carried wi th it "

the title O f king ; but surely no crowned head ever lay uneasi er or ,

was vi sited by more evil d reams than his For year in year out in , .
, ,

summer and winter in fair weather and in foul he had to keep his
, ,

lonely watch an d whenever he snatche d a troubled slumber it was at

,

the peril o f his li fe The least relaxation Of his vi gilance the sm allest
.
,

abatement O f his strength O f limb or skill o f fence put him in j eopardy ; ,

grey hairs mi ght seal his d eath warrant To gentle and pious pil grims -
.

at the shrine the si ght o f him mi ght well seem to darken the fair land

sca pe a s wh en a cl oud suddenly blots the sun on a bri ght day T he

'
, .

1
l l g.
2 T HE KI N G O F T HE WO OD CH .

d reamy blue O f Italian skies the dappled shade Of summer woo d s , ,

and the sparkle o f waves in the sun can have accorded b ut ill with ,

that s tern and sinister figure Rather we picture to ourselves the .

scene as it may have been witnessed by a belated way farer on one o f

those wild autumn ni ghts when the d ead leaves are falling thick and ,

the winds seem to sing the dirge o f the dying year It is a sombre .

p icture set to melancholy music—the back ground o f fores t showing

,

bla ck and j agged against a lowering and stormy sky the si ghing of ,

the win d in the branches the rustle o f the withere d leaves under foot
. ,

the lapp in g o f the cold water on the shore and i n the foreground ? ,

pacin g to and fro now in twili ght a nd now in gloom a dark fi gure wi th
, ,

a glit ter O f steel at the shoulder whenever the pale moon ridin g clea r ,

of the cloud rack peers dow n at him through the matt ed b oughs
-
, .

T he strange rule o f this p riesthood has no p arallel in classical

antiquity a n d cannot b e e x plained from it To find an explanation
, .

we m ust go farther a field N O one will probably deny that such a

.

custom savours o f a barbarous age and surviving into imperial times , , ,

stands out i n strikin g isola tion f rom the polished Italian society O f the
day like a p rim aeval rock rising from a sm o oth -shaven lawn It is the
, .

v ery rudeness and barbarity o f the cus tom whic h allo w us a hop e o f
exp lainin g it For recent researches into the early history o f man
.

have reveale d the essential simila rity with which under many super ,

ficial di fferences the human m i n d has elaborated its first cru d e philos
,

ophy O f li fe A ccordin gly if we can show that a barbarous custom

“

,
.
,

like that O f the p riesthood o f N emi has existed elsewhere ; i f we can ,

detect the motives which led to i ts instituti on ; i f w e can prove that

these m otives have o p erated wi de ly p e rhap s universally in human , ,

s ociety p ro d ucing i n varied ci rcumstances a va ri ety o f insti tutions

,

specifically di ff erent but generically alike ; i f we can show lastly that , ,

these very m otives w ith some o f thei r derivative institutions were

, ,

actually at wor k in classical a n tiquity ; then w e may fai rly infer that
at a rem oter age the sam e motives gave bi rth to the priesthood Of
Nemi Such an in ference i n de fault O f direct evidence as to how the
.
,

pries thood di d actually arise can never amount to demonstration , .

B ut it w ill be m ore o r les s p robable accor din g to the de gree o f com

lete n e ss wi th which it fulfils the con d itions I have indicated The
p .

Obj ect O f thi s book is by meetin g these conditions t o O f

, f e r a fairly ,

probable ex planation of the pries thoo d of Nemi .

I be gin by setting forth the few facts and legends which have come
down to us on the subj ect A cc ording to one story the worship of
.

Diana at Nemi wa s instituted by O restes who a fter killing Thoas , , ,

K ing O f the Tauric Chersonese (the Crimea ) fl ed with his s i s te r to Italy , ,

brin gin g wi th him the image o f the Tauric Diana hidden in a fa ggot‘
o f sticks A fter his death his bones w ere t rans p orted from A ricia to
.

Rome and buried i n front Of the temple o f S aturn on the Capi toline ,

slop e beside the tem ple o f Concord The bloody ritual which le gend
,
.

ascribed to the Tauric Diana i s famili ar to classical readers ; it is said

that every s trange r who landed on the S hore was sacrificed On her,”
 DIANA AN D VIRB IU S 3

altar But transported to Italy the rite assum ed a milder form

. ,
.

Within the sanctuary at Nemi grew a certain tree O f which no branc h

might be broken Only a runaway slave was allowe d to break Off
. ,

if he coul d one of its boughs Success in the attempt ent itle d him
,
.

to fi ght the priest in sin gle combat and i f he slew him he rei gned in
,

his stead with the title O f King O f the Wood (Rex N em orensis ) A c .

cording to the public Opinion o f the ancien ts the fate ful branch was
that Golden B ough which at the S ibyl s bid d in g Aeneas plucked
’
, ,

be fore he essayed the perilous j ourney to the worl d o f the dea d The .

flight o f the slave represente d it was said the fli ght o f Orestes ; his
, ,

combat with the priest was a remini scence O f the human sacrifices once
o ffere d to the Tauric Diana This rule O f succession by the sword
.

was Observe d d own to imperial times ; for amon gst his othe r freaks
Cali gula think i n g that the pries t o f N emi ha d held Office too lon g
, ,

hire d a more stalwart ruffian to slay him ; and a Greek traveller who ,

Visited I taly in the age O f the A n tonines remarks that d own to his ,

time the pries thood was still the prize o f V ictory in a sin gle combat .

O f the worship o f Diana at N emi some leading features can still be

ma d e out Fr om the v ot ive Off erin gs which have been found on the
.

site it appears that she was conce ive d o f especially as a hun tress and
, ,

further as blessing men and women with O fI sp ring a n d grantin g ,

expectan t mo thers an easy delivery A gain fire seems to have played

.
,

a foremost pa rt in her ritual For during her annual fest ival held on
.
,

the thirteen th o f August at the ho ttest time O f the year her grove
, ,

shone w i th a mul ti tu d e o f torches whose ruddy glare was reflecte d by

,

the lake ; a nd throughout the len gth a nd bread th O f I taly the d ay was
kept with holy rites at every domestic hea rth B ronze sta tuettes .

found in her precinct represent the go d dess hersel f hol d ing a torch in
her rais e d ri ght hand ; and women whose prayers ha d been hear d by
her came crowned wi th wreaths and bearin g lighted torches to the
sanctuary i n fulfilmen t Of thei r vows S ome one unknown d e d icate d .

a perpetually burnin g lamp in a li ttl e shrine at N em i for the sa fe ty O f

the E m peror Claudius and his family The terra cotta lamps which .
-

have been d iscovered in the grove may perhaps have served a like
purpose for hum- bler perso ns I f so the analo gy O f the custom to the
.
,

Catholic practice o f dedica tin g holy candles in churches would b e

Obvious . Further the title o f Ves ta borne by Diana at Nem i points
,

clearly to the maintenance o f a perpetual holy fire in her sanctuary .

A large circular basement at the north east corner O f the temple raised-
,

on three steps an d bearing traces o f a m osaic pavement probably ,

supporte d a round temple O f Diana in her charac ter o f Ves ta like the ,

round temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum Here the sacred fire .

would seem to have been tended by Vestal Vir gins for the hea d O f a ,

Vestal in terra -cotta was found on the spot and the worship O f a ,

perpetual fire care d for by holy mai d ens appears to have been common
, ,

in Latium from the earlie st to the latest times Fur ther at the annual .
,

festi v al Of the goddess hun tin g do gs were crowne d and wild beas ts
,

were n ot molested youn g people went throu gh a p urificatory ceremony

4 T H E KI N G OF T H E WOO D CH .

in her honour ; wine was b rought forth and the feast consisted o f a
,

kid c akes s erved piping hot on plates of leaves and apples still hanging
, ,

in clusters on the boughs .

B ut Diana d id not rei gn alone in her grove at N emi Tw o l esser .

divinities share d her fores t sanctuary One was E geria the nymph
.
,

o f the clear water which bubbling from the basaltic rocks used to
, ,

fall i n graceful cascades into the lak e at the place called Le M ole ,

because here were established the mills O f the mo d ern village O f Nemi .

The purlin g o f the stream as it ran over the p ebbles is mentione d by

Ovi d who tells us that he ha d O ften drunk o f its water Women with
,
.

chil d use d to sacrifice to E geria because she was believed like Diana
, , ,

to be able to gr ant the m an easy delivery Tradi ti on ran that the .

nymph had been the wi fe or mistress o f the wi se kin g Numa that he ,

ha d consor ted with her in the secrecy O f the sacred grove and that the ,

laws which he gave the Romans ha d been inspired b y communion

wi th he r d ivinity Plutarch compares the le gend with other tales
.

o f the loves O f goddesses for mortal men such as the love o f Cybele
,

and the M oon for the fair youths Attis and E ndymion According .

to som e t he trystin g place O f the lovers was n ot i n the w oods Of Nemi

,
-

b ut i n a grove ou tside the drippin g Porta Capena at Rome where ,

a no ther sacred sp rin g o f E geri a gushed from a dark cavern E very .

day the Roman Vestals fetched water from th i s sprin g to wash the
temple o f Vesta carryin g it i n earthenwa re pitchers on thei r heads
, .

I n Juvenal s time the na tural rock ha d been encased in ma rble and

’

the hallowed spo t was pro fane d by gan gs O f poor J ews who were ,

s u ff ered to squat like gypsies in the grove We may suppose that

, , .

the sprin g which fell into the lake O f N emi was the true ori ginal E geria
-
,

a n d that when the fi rst s e ttlers moved down from the Alban hills to

the banks O f the Tiber they brought the nymph with them a n d found
a new hom e for her in a grove outside the gates The remains Of .

baths which have been discovered wi thi n the sacred precinct to gether ,

wi th many terra c otta models O f vari ous parts o f the human body
-
,

suggest that the waters o f E geria were used t o heal the sick who may ,

have signified the i r hopes or t estified their gratitude by dedicating

likenesses O f the diseased members to the goddess -in accor d ance with ,

a cust om which is still Observed in many parts o f E urope To this day .

it w ould s eem that the s prin g retains medicinal virtues .

The other O f the minor deities at N emi was V inb ius Legend had .

it th at Vi rbius was the youn g Greek hero H ippol ytus chaste and fair , ,

who learned the a rt O f venery fr om the cen taur Chiron and spent all ,

his d ays in the greenwood chasing wild beasts with the virgin huntress
A rtemis (the Greek counterpart o f Diana ) for his only comrade .

P roud o f her divine soci ety he spurned the love of women and this
, ,

proved his bane For Aphrodite stun g by his scorn inspi red his
. , ,

stepmother Phaedra wi th love O f him ; and when he d i s d aine d her

wicked advances she falsely accused him to his father Theseus The .

slander was believed and The s eus prayed to his sire Posei d on to
,

aven ge the ima gined wron g S o whil e H i ppolytu s dr ov e in a chari ot

.
5 THE KI N G OF T HE WO O D CH .

This t radit ion indeed speaks for the great age o f the sanctuary sm ce ,

it s eems to date its foundation some time be fore 49 5 B c the ye a r in . .

,

which Pom etia was sacke d by the Romans and disappears from h i story .

B ut we cannot suppose that so barbar ous a rule a s that o f the Arician

priesthoo d was deliberately ins tituted by a league o f civilised com
m un iti es such as the Lat i n cities undo ubtedly were It must have
,
.

been handed down from a time beyond the memory o f man when ,

Italy was still in a fa r ruder state than any known t o us in the historical
perio d The cre d it o f t he t radi tion i s rather shaken than co nfi rmed
.

by another story which ascribes the foundation of the sanctuary to a

“
certain M anius E geriu s who gave ri se to the sayin g There are m any
, ,

M an ii at A ricia . This proverb so me explained by allegin g that

Manius E gerius was the ancestor o f a long and distin guishe d line ,

whereas o thers though t i t meant that there were many u gly and
de form ed people a t A ricia and they deriv ed the nam e Manius from
,

M a ni a a bogey o r bu gbear t o fri ghten children

,
A Roman sa tirist .

uses the name Man i us as typical of the beggars who lay in wait for
pil grims on th e A rician 5 10 pes These di ff erences of opinion to gether
.
,

with the discrepancy between Manius E geriu s o f A ricia and E gerius

L aev ius o f Tusculum as well as the resemblance o f both names t o the
,

mythical E geria excite o u r suspicion

,
Yet the tradition recorde d .

by Cato se ems too circums tantial and its sponsor too respectable, to ,

allow us to d ismiss it as an i dle fiction Rather we may suppose that .

i t re fers to som e ancient restoration or reconstruc tion o f the sanctuary ,

which was actually carried out by the con fe d erate s tates At any .

rate it tes tifies to a belie f that the gr ove had been from early tim es a
common place o f worship for many o f the oldest cities o f the country ,

i f not for the whole La tin con fe d eracy

2 A r tem i s an d H ippolytus — I have said that the Arician legends
.
.

. .

o f Ores tes a n d H ippolytus thou gh worthless as hi story have a certain

, ,

value in so far as they may help us to understand the w orship at N emi

be tter by comparing it with the ritua l and myths o f other sanctuaries .

We must ask ourselves Why did the author o f these le gends pitch
,

upon Orestes a nd H ippoly tus in order to explain Virbius and the

Kin g of the Wo od ? In re gard to O restes the answer is obvious , .

H e a n d the i mage o f the T auric Diana which could only be a p peased ,

wi th human blood were d ragged in to render i ntelli gible the m urderous

,

rule o f succession to the Arician pri esthood In regard to H ippolytus .

the case is not so plain The manner o f his death suggests readily
.

enough a reason for the exclusion o f horses from the grove ; but this
by itsel f seems hardly enough to account for the i d entification We .

must try to probe deeper by examinin g the w orship a s well a s the '

legend or myth o f H ippoly tus .

H e had a famous sanctuary at hi s ancestral home o f T roez en ,

situated on that beauti ful almo st landlocked bay where groves o f

, ,

oranges and lemons with tall cypresses s oa ring like dark spi res above
,

the garden of Hesperides now clothe the strip o f fertile shore at

,

the foot o f the rugged mountains Across the blue water o f the .
 ART E M I S A N D H I PPO LYTU S 7
’
tranquil bay which it shelters from the op e n sea rises Poseidon s
, ,

sacred island its Peaks veiled in the sombre green o f the pines On
,
.

this fai r coast H i pp olytus was worshipped Within his sanct ua ry .

stood a tem ple with an anci ent image His service was per formed .

by a priest who held o ffice for li fe ; every year a sacr ificial festival
was held in his honour ; and hi s untimely fate was yea rly mourned ,

with weeping and doleful chants by unwedded maids Youths and , .

m aidens dedicated locks o f thei r hair in his tem p le before ma rria ge .

His grave existed at T roez en though the p eop le would not show it , .

It has been suggested with great plausibility that in the handsom e

, ,

Hi ppolytus beloved o f A rtem i s cut off in hi s yo uth ful prime and

, , ,

yearly mourned by dam sels we have one o f those mortal lovers o f

,

a goddess who appear so of ten in ancient religion and o f whom Adonis ,

is the most familia r type The rivalry of Artemis and Phaedra for
.

the a ff ection o f H ippolytus reproduces it is said un d er d ifferent , ,

names the rivalry o f Aphrodite and Proserpine for t he l ove o f A doni s

, ,

for Phaedra is merely a double o f Aphrodite The theory p robably .

does no inj ustice either to H ippolytus or to Artemis For Artemi s was .

originally a great goddess o f fertility and on the principles of early , ,

religion she who fe rtilises nature mus t hersel f be fertile a nd to be that

, ,

she mus t necessarily have a male consort On this view H ippolytus was .
,

the consort of A rtemis at T roez en and the shorn tresses o ff ere d to him ,

by the Troezenian youths and mai d ens before marria ge were d esi gned
to stren gthen his union with the go d dess and so t o promote the fruit ,

fulness o f the earth o f cattle and o f mankind It i s some confirm a

, ,
'
.

tion of this vi ew that within the p recinct of H ippolytus at T roez en

there were worship ped two femal e powers named Damia a nd A ux esia ,

whose connexion with the fertili ty o f the ground is unquestionable .

When E pi d auru s su ff ered fr om a dearth the peop le i n obe d i ence to , ,

an oracle carved ima ges o f Dam i a and A ux esia out o f sacred olive
,

wood and no sooner had they done so and set them up than the ea rth
,

bore frui t again M oreover at T roez en itsel f and appa rently wit h n
the precinct o f Hip p olytus a curious festival of stone—
.
, , i

, throw in g was
held in honour of these mai d ens as the Troezenians ca llecj afi nem ; ,

and i t is easy to show that simila r customs have been p ract sed in i

m any lands for the e x press purpose o f ensurin

g good crops I n the .

story of the tragic death o f the youthful H ippolytus w e m ay discern

an analogy wi th simila r tales o f other fai r but mortal youths w ho pa i d
with thei r lives for the brie f rapture of the love o f an immortal goddess .

These hapless lovers were probably not always mere myths and the ,

legends which traced thei r spilt blood in the purple bloom of the violet ,

the scarlet stain of the anemone or the crimson flu sh o f the rose were ,

no idle poetic emblems o f youth and beauty fl eetin g as the summer

flowers S uch fables contain a de eper philosophy o f the relation o f
the li fe o f man to the li f e o f nature—a sad philosophy which gave
.

birth to a tra gic practice What that philosophy and that practice
.

we re we shall l ear n lat e r on

—
.
,

3 Recapi tu lati on
. W e can n ow p erhap s unde rsta nd why the
.
8 T HE KI N G O F THE WOOD CH .

ancients ide nti fied H ipp olytus the consort o f A rtemis with Virbius
, , ,

who accor d i ng to Servius stood t o Diana as Adonis to Venus or

,
'

, ,

Attis to the M other of the Gods For Diana like A rtemis was a .
, ,

goddess o f fertility in general and o f childbirth i n particula r

,
As .

such she like her Greek counterpart needed a male partner That
, ,
.

par tner i f S ervius is ri gh t was Virbius I n his character o f the

, ,
.

founder o f the sacred grove and first kin g o f Nemi Virbius is clearly ,

the mythical predecessor or archetype o f the line o f p riests who served

Diana un d er the title o f Kin gs of the Wood and who came like him , , ,

one a f ter the o ther to a violent end It is natural therefor e to

,
.
, ,

conj ecture that they stood to the goddess o f the grove in the same
rela tion in which Vi rb ius stood to her ; in short that the mortal King ,

o f the Woo d had for his queen the woodland Dian a hersel f I f the .

sacre d t ree whi ch he guarde d with his li f e was supposed as seems ,

probable to be her special embodimen t her p riest may not only have
, ,

worshippe d it as his goddess but embrace d it as his wi fe There is .

at leas t no thing absur d in the supposition since even in the time o f

’

Pl i ny a nobl e Roman used thus to treat a beauti ful beech —

,

tree in
a n other sacre d grov e o f Diana o n the Alban h ills H e embraced it .
,

he kissed it he la y un d er its shadow he poured wine on its trunk

, , .

Apparently he took the tree for the goddess The cust om o f physically .

marryin g men and wom en to trees is still practised in I ndi a and o ther
par ts o f the E ast Why should it not have obtained i n a ncient
.

Latium ?
l
Revi ew ing the evidence as a whole w e may conclude that the ,

worship o f Diana in her sacred grove at N emi was o f great importance

a n d immemorial antiquity ; tha t she was revered as the goddess o f

woo d lan d s and of w ild creatures probably also o f d omestic cattle ,

and o f the frui ts o f the earth ; tha t she was believed to bless men and
wom en with ofi S p ring and to a id mothers i n chil d bed ; that her holy
’

R ae tended by chaste vir gins

, burned perpetually in a round
, temple
W i thin the precinc t ; tha t associated w i th her was a water nymph -

E geri a who dischar ged one o f Diana s own functions b y succouring

’ '

women in travail and w ho was popularly suppos e d to have mate d

,

with a nl old Roman kin g in the sacred grove ; further that Diana o f ,

the Wood hersel f had a male companion Virbius by name who was ,

to her w hat Adonis was to Venus or A tti s t o Cybele ; and lastly , , ,

that this mythical Virbius was represented i n his torical times by a

line of pri ests known as Kings o f the Wood who re gularly perished ,

by the swords o f their successors and whose lives were in a manner ,

bound up with a certain tree in the grove because so lon g as that ,

tree was uninj ured they w ere sa fe from attack .

Clearly these conclusions do not o f themselves suffice t o explain

the peculiar rule o f succession to the p riesthood But perhaps the .

survey o f a wi d er field may lead us to think that they contain i n germ

the solution o f the problem To that wider survey we must n ow
.

address ourselves It will be l on g a nd laborious b ut may posses s

.
,

somethin g o f the interest and charm o f a voyage o f discovery in W hi ch ,

 PRI E STLY K I N GS 9

we shall visit many strange fo rei gn lands with strange forei gn peoples , ,

and still stranger customs The wind i s i n the shro uds : we shake
.

out our s ails to it and leave the coast o f Italy beh i nd us for a t i m e
,
.

CHAPT E R I I

R
P I E ST L Y K I N GS

TH E questions which we have set ourselves to answe r are mai nly

two : firs t why ha d Diana s priest at N emi the Kin g o f the Wood
,
’
, ,

to slay his predecessor ? second why before doin g so had he to pluck ,

the branch o f a certain tree which the public opinion o f t he anci ent s
identified with V i r gil s Golden Bough ? ’

The first point on which we fas ten is the priest s title Why was ’
.

he called the King o f the Woo d ? Why was his o ffice spoken o f as a
kingdom ?
The union o f a royal title w ith priestly duties was common in
ancient I taly and Greece At Rom e and in other c ities o f Lat i um
.

there was a priest calle d the S acrificial Kin g or Kin g o f the Sac red
Rites an d his wi fe bore the title o f Queen o f the Sacre d R ites I n
,
'

.
‘

republican Athens the seco n d annual ma gi strate o f the s ta te was called

the King and his wi fe the Queen ; the functions o f both were reli gi ous
, .

Many o ther Greek democracies had t itular kin gs wh o se d uties so fa r a s

"

, ,

they ar e known seem to have been pries tly a n d to have centred roun d
, ,

the Common H earth o f the state Some Greek s tates ha d several .

of these titular kin gs who hel d o ffice simultaneously At Rom e the

, .

tradition was tha t the S acrificia l King ha d been appointe d a fter the
aboli tion o f the monarchy in order to o ff er the sacrifices which be fore
had been offere d by the kin gs
[
A similar view as to the origin o f
”
.

the pries tly k in gs a ppears to have prevailed i n Greece I n itsel f

’

the opinion is not improbable and it is borne out by the exam p le ,

of Sparta almost the only purely Greek state which re taine d the
,

kingly form o f government in historical times For i n S parta a ll

p .

state sacrifices were o ff ered by the kin gs as d escen d ants of the g od .

One of the two Spartan kin gs hel d the p ries thood o f Zeus Lacedaemo n ,

the other the pries thoo d o f Heavenly Zeus .

This combination o f pries tly functions with royal autho ri ty is

familiar to every one Asia M inor for example was the seat o f
.
, ,

Various great reli gious capitals peopled by thousands o f sacred slaves

“

and rule d by ponti ff s who wielded at once temporal a n d S pi ritual

authority like the p opes o f me diaeval Rome

, S uch priest ridden .
-

cities were Zela an d P es sinu s Teutonic kings a gain in the ol d .

, ,

heathen d ays seem to have stoo d in the p osi tion and to have exercised ,

the powers o f hi gh priests The E mperors o f Chin a o ff ered public

, .

Sacrifices the d eta ils o f which were re gul ated by the ritual bo oks
, .

The Kin g of Madagascar was hi gh-pri est o f the realm At the gr ea t; .

10 PRI E STL Y K I N GS CH .

festival of the new year when a bullock was sacri ficed fo r the good
,

o f the kin gdom the king stoo d over the sacrifice to o ff er prayer and
,

thank sgivin g while his attendants sl aughtere d the animal

,
I n the .

monarchical states which still maintain their independence among the

Gallas o f E as tern A frica the king sacrifices on the mountain tops and
,

re gu lates the im m olation o f human vic tims ; and the dim li ght o f
tra d ition reveals a similar union o f temporal a n d spi ritual p ower o f ,

royal a nd priestly du ties in the kings o f that delightful re gion of

,

Central America wh ose ancient capi tal now buried unde r the rank ,

growth o f the tropical fo rest is marked by the stately and mysterious

,

ruins o f Palenque .

When we have said that the ancient kings were comm only priests
also w e are far from having exhausted the reli gio us aspect o f their
,

offi ce I n thos e days the divinity that hedges a kin g was n o e mpty
.

form o f speech b ut the expression of a sober belief

, Kin gs were .

revered i n many cases not merely as priests that is as intercessors

, , ,

be tween man and god but as themselves gods a ble to bes tow upon
, ,

their subj ects and w orshippers thos e blessin gs which a re commonly

s upposed to be beyond the reach o f m ortals a n d are sou gh t i f at all , , ,

only by prayer and sacrifice o ffered to superhuma n and i nvisible

beings Thus kings are o ften expected t o give rain and sunshine in
.

due season t o make the crops grow and so on

,
Strange as t h is
, .

expectation ap pears to us it is quite o f a piece wi th e a rly mo des of

,

thou ght A savage hardly conceives the distinction commonly drawn

.

by more advance d peoples between the natural and the sup ern atural .

To him the world is to a great extent wo rked by supernatural agents ,

tha t is by p ersonal bei ngs actin g on impulses and m otives like his
,

own liable like him to b e moved by appeals to their pity thei r hopes
, , ,

a nd their fears I n a world so conceived he sees no lim it to hi s power

.

o f influencin g the course o f n ature to hi s own a dvanta ge Prayers .

,

p romises or threats may secure him fine weather and an abundant

,

crop f rom the gods ; and i f a god s hould happen as he some times ,

b elieves to become incarnate in his own p erson then he need ap p eal

, ,

to n o higher bein g ; he the sava ge possesses in himsel f all the po we rs

, ,

necessary to further his own well bein g and that o f hi s f ello w men
- -
.

This i s one way in which the idea o f a man -god is reached B ut .

there is another Along with the v iew o f the world as pervaded by

.

S pi ritual forces sava ge man has a d i ff e rent and pr obably still o lder
, , ,

conception i n which we may detect a germ o f the modern notio n o f

natural law or the view o f nature as a series o f events occurrin
g in an
invari abl e order wi thout the intervention o f personal a gency The .

germ o f which I speak is involved in that sympathetic ma gi c as it may ,

be called which plays a large part in most systems o f superstitio n

, .

I n early society the kin g is f requently a ma gician as w ell as a pri est ;

i n deed he appears to have o ften attained to power b y virtue o f his
s upp o sed p roficiency i n the black o r white a rt H ence in order to .

understand the evolutio n o f the kingship and the sacred character

with whic h the o ffice has commonly been investe d in the eyes of sava e
g
 III THE PRIN CI PLE S O F MAGI C 11

or barbarous peo p les it is essent ial to have some acq uaintance w ith
,

the principles o f magic and to form s ome conception o f the ex traord i nary
"

hold which that an cient system of superstitio n has had on the huma n
m ind in all a ges and all c ountries Acc or d i n gly I p rop ose to consi de r
.

the subj ect in some deta il .

CHAPT E R I I I

S Y M PA T H E T I C MA GI C

1 T he P rin ciples
. o f M agi c —If we analyse the p rinci p les o f thought
.

on which ma gic is base d they will probably be found to resolve them

,

selves into two : fi rst that like produces like o r that an e ff ect resembles
, ,

its cause ; an d secon d [that thin gs which have once been i n con tac t
, , _

with each other continue to act on each other at a distance a fter the
p hysical contact has been severed The former princ i ple may be .

called theM ila rity the la ttef -

the Law o f Contact or Contagion
m , .

From the fi rst of these p rinciples namel y the Law o f S imilar ity the , ,

magician in fers that he can pro d uce any e ff ect he des ires merely by
imitatin g it : from the second he infers that whatever he does to a
m aterial obj ect will a ff ect equally the person with whom the obj ect was
'

once in co ntact whether it formed part o f his body or not ‘ Charms

, .

based on the Law o f S imilari ty may be called H omoeopathic o r Imita

tive Magic Charm s based on the L a w of Contact or Con tagion may
.

be calle d Contagi ous Magic To d eno te the first o f these branches o f .

magic the term H omoeo pathic i s perhaps preferable for the alternative ,

term Imitative o r M im etic suggests i f it does not imply a conscious

-
, ,

agent who imitates thereby l imi ting the scop e o f ma gi c too narrowly
, .

For the s ame principles which the magician ap plies in the practice of
his art are implicitly believed by him to regulate the operations o f
inanimate na ture ; i n other words he tacitly assumes tha t the Laws ,

of Similari ty and Contact are o f universal ap lication and are not

p
li m i te d to human actions I n short ma gic is a s p urious system o f
natural law as well as a fallacious guide o f conduct ; it is a false science i
.
,

as well as an abortive art Regarde d as a sys tem o f natural law that

.
,

is as a stat ement o f the rules which d etermine the s equence of even ts

,

throughout the world it may be called Theoretical M agic : regarded

,

as a set of precepts which human beings observe in order to compass

their ends i t may be called P ractical Magic A t the same time it i s
, .

to be borne in m ind that the p rimi tive magician knows magic only on
i ts practical side
; he ne ver analyses the mental processes on which
hi s prac tice is based never re fl ec ts on the abstract principles involved
,

in his actions With him as wi th the vast ma j ority o f men lo gic is

.
, ,

m plicit not explicit : he reasons j us t as he di ests his f ood in complete

i ,
g
i gnorance o f the intellectual a n d physiolo ical
p rocess es which a re
-
g
essential to the one op era ion and to the o ther In short to him
t .
,
12 SYMPATH E TI C MAGI C cn .

magic is alway s an a rt never a science ; the very ide a o f s ci e nce is

,

lacking in his undeveloped min d It i s for the philos oph i c stu dent
.

’
to trace the train o f thought which underlies the ma gic ian s p ract i ce ;
to draw out the few simple threa d s o f which the tan gle d skein i s com
posed ; to disengage the abs tract princip les from thei r concrete
applica tions ; i n short to d iscern the spurious science behind the
,

bas tard a rt .

I f my analysis magic ian s logic is correct its two great ’

,

principles turn out merely two d ifferent misapplicati ons of '

the assoc i a ti on o f op athi c ma gi c i s founded on the

associa ti on o f i d eas gic is foun d ed on th

associa ti on o f i d eas by a thi c ma gi c commi ts
the mistake o f assumin g that thin gs which resemble each other are the
same : con tagious ma gic commits the mis take o f assumin g that things
which have once been i n contac t wi th each other are always in contact . .

B u t in prac tice the two bra n ches are o ften comb ine d ; o r to be more ,

exact wh ile homo e opathic or imitative magi c may be practised by

,

i tsel f con ta gi ous magic will generally be foun d to involve an applicati on

,

o f the homoeopath i c o r imi ta tive principle Thus generally s tate d .

the two th i n gs may b e a li ttle di fficult to grasp but they will rea d ily ,

become intelligible when they are illustrated by particular examples .

B o th trains o f thought are in fact extremely simple and elementary .

It could hardly b e o therwise since they are fam iliar i n the concrete
, ,

thou gh cer tainly n ot in the abstract to the crude in telli gence n ot only
,

o f the sava ge but o f i gno rant an d d ull wi tted people ever y where -
, .

Bo th branches o f magic the homoeopathic a n d the contagious may

, ,

convenien tly be comprehen d e d un d er the general name o f Sy m p athetic

Magic since bo th assume that thin gs act on each other at a d i stance
,

throu gh a secre t sympa thy the impulse bein g transmitted from one
,

to the o ther by means o f what we may conceive as a kind o f invisible

ether not unli ke that which i s pos tulate d by m odern science for a
,

precisely similar pu rpos e namely to explai n how thin gs can physically

, ,

a ff ect each o ther throu gh a sp a ce which appears to be empty .

It may be convenient to tabulate as follows the branches o f magic

acc ording to the laws of thought which un d erlie them :
Sy m p athetic M agic
(L aw of S ym pa thy )

eOp a thi c M agic C ontagi ous M a gi c

o f S i m i lari ty ) (La w of C onta ct)
illus trate thes e two gr eat branches o f sympa thetic ma gic
by examples beginnin g wi th homoeopa thic magic
2 H om oe opa thi c or Im i ta tiv e M agi c — P erli a p s the most familiar
.
,

.
.

applica tion o f the principle tha t like produces like is the attempt
which has been ma d e by many peoples in many a ges to inj ure or destroy
an enemy by inj uri ng or destroying an ima ge o f him in the belie f that , ,

j ust as the image suffers so does the man and that when it p erishe s
, ,
14 SY M PATH E TI C MA GI C CH .

I f h omoe opathic or im itative ma gic working by means o f ima ges ,

,

has commonly been p ractise d for the spi te ful p urpose o f putti ng
obnoxi ous people out o f the worl d it has also though fa r m ore rarely , , ,

been em ployed with the benevolen t i n ten tion o f hel p in g others i nto
it I n o ther words i t has Been use d to facili tate chil d bi r th and to
.
,

procure o ffspring for barren women T h us a m ong the B ataks o f .

S umatra a barren woman who woul d bec ome a mother will make a , ,

woo d en image o f a ch ild and hol d it in her lap believi ng that this ,

w ill lead t o the fulfilment o f her wi sh I n the Baba r Archipela go . ,

when a w oman de sires to have a chil d she inv ites a m a n who is ,

himsel f the fa ther o f a large family to pray on her behal f to U p ulero ,

the spiri t o f the sun A doll i s ma d e o f red co tton which the woman
.
,

clasps i n her arms as i f she would suckle it Then the father of

,
.

’
many children ta kes a fowl an d hol d s i t by the le gs to the woman s
hea d sayin g O U p ulero make us e o f the fowl ; let fall let descend
, ,
“
, ,

a child I beseech you I entreat you let a child fall and descend
, , ,
” “
i nto my han d s a n d on my lap Then he asks the woman Has . ,
” ”
the child com e she answers “
? an d Yes it is sucki ng already , ,
.

’
A fter that the man holds the fowl on the husban d s head a n d mumbles -
,

some form o f words Las tly the bir d is killed and laid to ge ther wi th
.
, ,

some betel on the domesti c place o f sacrifice When the ceremony is

,
.

over wor d goes about in the vil lage that the w oman has been brought
,

to bed a nd her friends come a n d con gratula te her

,
H ere the pre tence .

that a child has been b orn is a purely magical r ite d esi gne d to secure ,

by means o f im itation or mimicry that a child really shall be born ; ,

but an attemp t is made to add to the e fficacy o f the rite by means

o f prayer and sacrifice To put it otherwise ma gi c is here blent with
.
,

and rein forced by reli gion .

Amon g some o f the Dyaks o f B orneo when a woman i s in hard ,

labour a wiz ar d i s calle d in who essays to facili tate the d elivery in a

, ,

ra tional manner by manipulatin g the body o f the su ff erer M ea ntime .

another wizard outsi d e the room exerts himsel f to a tta in the same '

en d by m eans which we should regard as wh olly i rrational He in .

,

fac t preten d s to be the expectan t mother ; a la rge stone attached to

,

hi s stomach by a cloth w rapt round his body represents the child in

the womb a n d followin g the di rect i ons shou ted to hi m by hi s c o llea gue
o n the real scene o f operations he moves this make —
, ,

believe baby about ,

on his body i n exact imi tation o f the movemen ts o f the real baby till
the in fan t is born .

The same principle o f make believe so dear to chi ldren has led -
, ,

o ther peoples to employ a simulati on o f bir th as a form o f ad option ,

a n d even as a mode o f res torin g a supposed dead perso n to li fe If ,

you pre ten d to give bi r th to a boy or even to a grea t bearded man ,

who has not a drop o f your blood in his veins then in the eyes o f , ,

primi tive law a nd phi losophy that boy o r man is really your son to ,

all i n tents and purposes Thus Diodorus tells us that when Zeus
.

persua d ed his j ealo us wi fe H era to adopt H ercules the go d d ess got ,

i nto bed and clas p ing the burly her o to her bosom pushe d him through
, ,
III H OM O E O PATH I C OR I M ITATI VE MAGI C 15

her obes and let him fall to the ground in imitation o f a real bi rth
r
and the historian adds that i n his own d ay the same mode o f adopt in g
c hildren was p ractised by the barbarians At the p resent time it is .

said to be still in use in Bul garia and among the Bosnian Turk s A .

woman wi ll take a b oy whom she inten d s to ado pt and push or p ull

him through her clothes ; ever a fterwards he is regarded as her very
son and inherits the whole property o f hi s a do ptive parents Amon g
,
.

the Berawans o f Sarawak when a woman d esires to adopt a grown ,

up man or w oman a great many peopl e assemble and have a feast

, .

The adoptin g mothe r seated i n public on a raised and covered seat,

,

allows the adopted p erson to crawl from behind between her legs .

As soon as he appears in front he is stroked with the sweet-scented

blossoms o f the areca palm and tied to a woman Then the adoptin g
‘

mother and the adopted son or d aughter thus bound together waddle , ,

to the end o f the house and back a gain in front o f all the spectators .

The tie established be tween the two by this graphic imitation o f

childbirth i s very strict ; an o ff ence committed a gainst an ado pted
’

child is reckoned m ore heinous than one committed a gainst a real

child In anci ent Greece any m an w ho had been supposed erroneously
. .

to be dead and for whom in his ab sence funeral rites had been per
,

formed was treated as dea d to soci ety till he had gone through the
,
’
form of being born again H e was passed through a woman s lap .
,

then washed dressed i n swaddlin g clothes and put out to nurse

,
-
,
‘

Not until this ceremony ha d been punctually p er formed mi ght he

mix freely with living f olk In ancient I n d ia under similar circum .
,

stances the sup posed dead man ha d to pass the first ni ght after his
,

return in a tub filled with a mix tur e o f fat and w ater ; there he sat
'

with doubled up fists and wi thout utterin g a syllable like a child in

-
,

the womb while over him were per formed all the sacraments that
,

were wont to b e celebrated over a pregnant woman N ext m orning .

he got out o f the tub and went through once more all the other sacra
ments he had formerly partaken o f from his you th up ; in pa rticular ,

he married a wi fe or espouse d his old one over again wi th due solemnity .

Anothe r b eneficent us e o f homoeopathic magi c is to heal or p rey ent

si ckness The ancient H in d oos perf o rme d an elaborate ceremony
.
,

based on homoeopathic magic for the cure o f j aundice Its mai n , .

drift was to banish the yellow colour to yellow creatures and yellow
things such as the sun to which it properly belongs and to procure
, , ,

for the p atient a healthy red colour from a livin g vi gorous source , ,
nam ely a red bull
, With this in tentio n a p riest recited the followin g
.

s pell : U p to the sun shall go thy heart—

,
“
ache and thy j aundice :
ii n the colour o f the red b ull d o we envelop thee ! We envelop thee
n red tints unto long li fe M ay this person go unscathed and be
, .

free o f yellow colour ! The cows whose divinity i s Rohini they who
moreover are themselves red (r ohi m h ) —in their every form and
, ,
’

eve ry strength we do envelop thee In to the parrots into the thrush .

, ,

do we put thy j aundic e and furthermore into the yellow wagtail , , ,

”
do we put thy j aundice While he u ttered these words the p ri est
.
, ,
16 SYM PATH E TI C M A G I C cm .

in order to infus e the rosy hue o f heal th into the sallow patient gave ,

him water to sip which was mixed with the hair o f a red bu 11; he .

poured wa ter over the animal s back an d made the S i ck m a n d r i nk ’

it ; he seate d him on the ski n o f a red bull an d ti ed a p i ece of the

skin to him Then in order to improve his col our by thoroughly
.

era d i ca ting the yellow taint he procee d e d thus H e firs t d aubed hi m ,

.

from hea d to foo- t wi th a yellow porri dge ma d e o f t umer i c or curcuma

'

a yello plant set him on a bed tied hree yellow bi r d s to W i t a

( w ) t , , ,
,

parro t a thrush a n d a yellow wagta i l by means o f a yellow str i ng

, , ,

to the foot o f the bed ; then pourin g wa ter over the patien t he washed ,

of f the yellow porri dge a n d wi th it no doubt the j aundi ce from him

, ,

to the b i r d s A fter that by way o f givin g a final bloom to his com

.
,

plexion he took some hai rs o f a red b ull w rapt them in gol d lea f
, , ,

a nd glue d them to the pa tient s skin The ancien ts held tha t i f a ’

person su ff er in g from j aun di ce looke d sharply at a s tone —

.

curlew and ,
“
the bi r d looke d steadily at him he was cure d o f the di sease ‘

S uch ,
.

i s the na ture says Plu tarch a n d such the temperament

,
of the ,

creature tha t it d raws out an d receives the malady which i ssues like ,
”
a stream throu gh the eyes igh t So well reco gn i sed am on g bird
fanc i ers was th i s valuabl e property o f the stone—
.
,

curlew that when

they ha d one o f thes e bir d s fo r sale they kep t it care fully covered ,

lest a j aundice d person should look a t it an d be cured for no thing .

The vi rtue o f the bird lay not in its c olour but in its la rge gol den eye ,

wh i ch naturally d rew ou t the yellow j aun d i ce Pliny tells o f ano ther .

,

or perhaps the same bir d to which the Greeks gav e their name for
, ,

j aundice because i f a j aun d i ced man saw it the d i sease le ft him and
, ,

slew the bir d H e men tions also a s tone which was suppos ed to cure
.

j aundice becaus e its hue resembled that of a j aundiced skin

'

One o f the great merits o f homoeopathic magi c is that it enab les

the cure to b e per forme d on the person o f the doc tor instead o f on
'

tha t o f his victim who i s thus rel i eved o f all tro ub le and inconven i ence
, ,

while he sees his me d ical man writhe i n an guish be fore him For .

example the peasan ts o f Perche i n France labour un d er the impression

, , ,
"
tha t a prolon ged fit o f vomitin g is brought about by the pati ent s
stomach becom i ng unhooked as they call it and so fallin g d0 wn , ,
.

Accor d in gly a pract iti oner is called in to restor e the o r gan to its
,

proper place A fter heari ng the sym p toms he a t once throws himsel f
.

i nto the most horrible contortions for the purpose o f unhooking his ,

own stomach Having succee d ed in the e ffort he next hooks it up

.
,

again in another ser i es o f contortions and grimaces while the patient ,

experiences a correspon d in g relie f Fee five francs I n like manne r . .

a Dyak me d icine man who has been fetched in a case o f i llness wil
'

-
, ,

lie down a n d pretend to be dead H e is accordingly trea ted like .

corpse i s boun d up in mats taken out o f the house a n d d eposi ted or

, , ,

the groun d A fter about an hour the o ther me d icine men loose tht
.
-

pre tended dea d man and brin g him to li fe ; a n d as he rec overs tb t ,

sick person i s supposed to recover too A cure for a tumour b a sec .

,

on the p rinciple o f homoeopathic ma ic

g i s pr escribed by M arcellu ,
in H OM O E OPA T HIC OR IMIT A T IVE MA GI C 17

of Bordeaux c ourt physician to Theo d osius the Firs t in his curious

, ,

work on medic ine It is as follows Take a ro ot o f vervai n cut it

. .
,
’
across and h an g one end o f it round the patien t s neck and the o ther
,
”

in the smoke o f the fi re As the vervain dries up in the sm oke so

.
,

the tumour will also dry up and d i sappear I f the patient shoul d .

afterwar d s prove un grate ful to the goo d physician the man o f skill ,

can aven ge himsel f very easily by throw i ng the vervain in to wa ter ;

for as the root abs orb s the mo i sture once more the t umour will re turn ,
.

The same sapient writer recommends you if you are trouble d with ,

p imples to watch
,
for a fall i n g star a n d then ins tan tly while the star , ,

is st i ll shoo tin g fro m the sky to wip e the pimples wi th a cloth or ,

anything tha t comes to han d j us t as the s tar falls from the sky .
,

so the pimples will fall from your bo d y ; only you mus t be very car e ful
not to w i pe them wi th your bare han d o r the pimples will be trans ,

ferre d to it .

Fur ther hom gtg p atb ic an d in general sympathe tic ma gic pl ays a
w
,

gw m ea s ur s tak en by the ru d e hun ter or fisherman

e fi h

to secure an abun d an t On the principle that l ike

pro d uces d one by him and his friends in d elibera te
imitation o f the result wh ich he seeks to a ttain ; and on the other ,

hand many th i ngs are scrupul ously avoide d because they bear some
,

more or less fanci ful resemblance to o thers which woul d really be

disas trous .

Nowhere is the theory o f sympa thetic magic more s ystemat i cally

carrie d in to practi ce for the main tenance o f the fo od supply t han in
the barren regi ons o f Cen tral Aus tralia Here the tr ibes are d ivi d e d .

into a number o f to tem clans each o f which is charge d wi th the d uty

,

of mul tiplyin g their to tem for the go od o f the communi ty by means

o f ma gical ceremon i es Mos t o f the totems are edible animals and

.

plants and the general result supposed to be accomplishe d by these

,

ceremon ies is that o f supplyin g the tr ibe with food a n d o ther n eces
saries . O ften the ri tes consist o f an imi tat i on o f the e ff ec t which the
people d esire to produce ; in other words thei r ma gic is homoeopath i c ,

or imitative Thus among the Warramun ga the hea d man o f the white
.

cockatoo totem seeks to multiply whi te cock a to os by holdin g an e ffi gy -

o f the b i r d a n d mim i ckin

g its harsh cry Among the Arun ta the men .

of the witchet ty grub to tem per form cerem onies for mul tiplyin g the
grub which the o ther m embers o f the tribe use as foo d One o f the
ceremonies is a pantomime representing the fully—
.

d eveloped insec t in
the act of emer gin g from the chrysalis A lon g narrow struct ure o f .

branches is set up to imitate the Chrysali s cas e o f the gr ub In this .

s tructure a number o f men who have the grub for the i r totem s it a n d
, ,

sing of the crea ture in its various sta ges Then they shuffle out o f it in .

a squa ttin g pos ture and as they d o so they sin g o f the insect emergin g
,

from the chrysalis This is sup p ose d to multiply the numbers o f the
.

grubs . A gain in order to multiply emus which are an importan t

, ,

article o f food the men o f the emu totem paint on the ground the
,

sac red desi gn o f their t otem especially the parts o f the emu which
,
 SY M PA T H ET IC MA C
’
18 CH .

they like best to eat namely the fa t a nd the e ggs ,

Round this ,
.

paintin g the men sit and sing A fterwar d s per formers wear i ng head . ,

d resses to represen t the lon g neck and small hea d o f the emu m i m i c ,

the appearance o f the bird as it stands aimlessly peerin g about i n all

di rec tions .

The Indians o f B ritish Columbia live largely upon the fi sh which

aboun d in thei r seas an d rivers If the fish do not come i n; due seaso n . ,

and the Indians are hun gry a N ootka wizard will make an i ma ge of a,

swimmin g fish and put it into the water i n the direction fro m which
the fish generally appear This ceremony accompanied by a prayer. ,

to the fi sh to com e will cause them to arrive a t once

,
The islan d ers .

o f Torres S trai ts use mo d els o f du gong a n d turtle s to charm dugong

an d turtle to their d es truc tion The T oradj a s o f Cen tral Cel ebes .

believe that thi ngs o f the same sort attract each other by means of
the i r indwellin g spi ri ts or vital e ther H ence they han g up the j aw .

bones o f d eer and w i l d pi gs i n their houses i n order that the spirits ,

wh i ch anim ate these bones may d raw the livin g creatures o f the same
k i n d into the path o f the hun ter In the islan d o f N ias when a wild . ,

p ig has fallen into the pit prepared fo r it the animal is taken out and ,

i ts b ack is rubbed wi th nine fallen leaves in the belie f that this will ,

make n i ne more wil d pi gs fall in to the pit j ust as the nine leaves fell ,

from the tree I n the E ast I n d ia n islan d s o f Sapa roea H aroekoe

.
, ,

a n d N oes s a Laut when a fisherman i s about to set a t rap for fish in the
,

sea he looks out for a tree o f which the fru it has been much pecked
, ,

a t by bi rds From such a tree he cu ts a s tout branch and makes of it

the p r i nc ipal post i n his fis h—
.

trap ; for he believ es that j us t as the tree ,

lure d many bir d s to its fruit so the branch cut from that tree will lure
,

many fi sh to the trap .

The wes tern t r i bes o f B ri ti sh New Guinea employ a charm to aid

the hunter in spearin g d u gon g or turtle A small beetle which haunts .
,

coco nut trees is place d in the hole of the spear ha ft into which the
- -

spear—
,

hea d fits Thi s is suppo sed to make the spear head stick fast
.
-

i n the d u gon g or tur tle j us t as the bee tle s ticks fas t to a man s skin
,
’

when it b ites him When a Cambo d ian hunter has set his nets and
.

taken no thin g he strips himsel f nake d goes some way off then stroll s
, , ,

up to the net as i f he d id n ot see i t le ts h imsel f be caught in it and , ,

’ ” ’
cr i es Hillo l what s th i s
,
? I m a frai d I m cau ght A fter that the ’
.

net i s su re to catch game A pan tomim e o f the same sort has been
.

ac te d wi th i n the livin g memory in our S co ttish H i ghlands The Rev . .

James Macdonald now o f Reay i n Ca i-thn e ss tells us tha t in his boy

, ,

hoo d when he was fishin g wi th companions about Loch Al i ne and they

had had no bites for a lon g time they use d to make a pretence of ,

throw in g one o f their fello ws over b oar d a n d haul i n g him out o f thc
water as i f he were a fish ; afte r that the t rout or s illoch would b egig
,

to n ibb le accor d in g as the boat was on fresh or sal t water

, B e fof f .

a Carrier In di an goes out to snare martens he sleeps by himsel f fo; ,

abou t ten n igh ts beside the fi re with a little s tick presse d d own on hi
neck . Th i s naturally causes the fall -stick o f hi s trap to d rop down
in H OM OE OPAT HIC OR IMI TA T IVE MA GIC 19

on the neck o f the marten Among the Galelareese who inhabit a . ,

district in the northern pa rt of H alm a hera a lar ge i sland to the west ,

of New Guinea it i s a maxim th at when you are loa d in g your g

un to
,

o o ut shoo tin g you shoul d always put the bullet in your mouth be fore
g ,

you insert it in the gun ; for by so doin g you practically eat the game
that is to be hit by the bullet which there fore cannot possibly mi ss ,

the mark A Malay who has b ai ted a trap for crocodi les and is
.
‘
,

awaiting resul ts is careful in eating his curry always to gb egin by

,

s wallowin g three lumps of rice success ively ; fo r thi s helps the bait to
slide more easily down the crocodile s throa t H e i s equally scrup u ’
.

lous not to take any b ones out o f h i s curry ; fo r i f he d id it s ee ms clear

“
'

, ,

that the sharp-p ointe d st ick on which the bai t is skewered woul d
similarly work i tsel f loose a n d the crocodile would get off w ith the
,

bait Hence in these circums tances it is prudent fo r the hun ter

. ,

be fo re he be gins his meal to get som ebody els e to take the bones out
,

o f his curry o therwis e he may at any momen t have t o choose be tween

,

swallowing a bone a n d losing the croco d ile .

This last rule is an i ns tance of the th in gs which the—hua -a b s tains _ _ _

t
T p rin c ip l e that l ik é p rod uce s l ike they shoul d
‘ ’ '

fr te
‘ ‘
-

Spoil his u ck For it i s to be observe d that the sys tem o f sympa thetic
.

m agic is not merely com p osed o f pos i tive p recep ts ; it compr i ses a
very large number o f ne ga tive prece p ts that is pr oh i bi ti ons It tells
‘
.
, ,

you not merely what to do but a lso what to leave un d one The , .

positive precepts are charms : the nega tive precep ts are taboos I n .

fact the whole d oc trine o f taboo or at all events a large par t o f it , ,

woul d seem to be only a special appl ication of sympa the tic magic ,

with i ts two great la w s o f s imilar ity an d contact Though these laws .

are certainly not formula ted in s o many words nor even conceived in
the abstract b y the sava ge they are nevertheless impl i citly bel i eve d
,

b yghim to regulate the course o f nature qui te in d epen d en tly o f human

will He thinks th a t i f he acts i n a cer ta i n way certain conse quences
.
,

will inev itably follow in virtue o f one or other o f these laws ; and i f
the consequences o f a par ticular act app ear to him l i kely to prove
disagreeable or dan gerous he i s naturally care ful not to a ct in that
,

way lest he should incur them I n other words he abstains from .

,

doing that which in accor d ance wi th his mis taken no tions o f caus e
,

and e f f ect he falsely believes would inj ure him ; i n sh ort he subj ects
, ,

himsel f to a taboo Thus tabo o i s so far a ne gative application o f

.

practical ma gic Pos itive magic or sorcery says D o this i n order

.
,
“

”
that so and so may ha p pen
“
N egative ma gi c or taboo says Do.
,
”
not do this lest so and so should happen
,
The aim o f p ositive magic .

or sorcery is to produce a desired event ; the aim o f ne gative magic

or taboo is to avoi d an undesi rable one B ut both consequences the .
,

desir able an d the undesi rable are supposed to b e brought about in ,

accordance with the laws o f similari ty an d contact And j ust as the .

d esired consequence is n ot really e ff ected by the observance o f a

“

m agical ceremony so the dreaded consequence does not really result

,

from the vio lation o f a tab oo I f the su p posed evil necessarily f ollo wed
.
20 SY M PA T HE T IC MA GIC CH
‘

a breach o f taboo the taboo

,
but a precept of
morality or common sense I D O “ Q t put your
“
.

”
han d in the fi re ; it is a rule use the forb i dden
acti on entails a real n ,
rt those ne gative ,

pr ecep ts wh i ch we call e as those posit ive

precepts wh i ch we call sorcery . merely Opposite
s id es or poles of one great d i sas a mi staken conception
o f the association of ideas Of . sorcery i s the p ositive ,

a nd taboo the n e ga ti ve pole If . the gen eral name o f m agi c

to the whole erroneous system ,
theore tical and practical then ,

ta boo m ay be d efined as the ne ga ide o f practical magic To put .

this in tabular form :

T h eor etic al P ractical

( gic a s a p seud o- sc i ence )
M a -

I have made these remarks on taboo an d its relations to magic

because I am about to give some instances o f taboos obse rve d by
hunters fishermen and others and I wished to sh ow that they fall
, , ,

un d er the hea d o f Sym pathetic Ma gic bein g only particular applica ,

tions o f that general th eo ry Thus among the E squimaux boys a re

.
,
’
forbi d d en to play ca t s cradle because i f they d i d so thei r fin gers mi ght
,

i n later li fe become entangled i n the harpoon line H ere the tab oo -

.

is obviously an appl i cation o f the law o f similarity which is the basis ,

o f homoeopa thic ma gic : as the chil d s fin gers are entan gled b y the ’ '

s trin g in playin g cat s cra d le so they will be entangled by the harpoon

’

line whe n he is a man and hunts whales A gain am on g the H uz uls .

,

o f the Carpathian Moun tains the wi fe o f a hunter may not spin while

her husban d i s ea tin g or the game will turn an d wind like the spindle,
,

and the hunter will be unable to hit it H ere a gain the taboo i s clearly .

d erived from the law o f similari ty S o too i n m ost pa rts o f ancient

.
, ,

Italy w omen were forbid d en by law to spin on the highroads as they

walke d or even to carry thei r spin d les openly because any such ac
, ,

tion was believed to inj ure the crops Probably the notion was that the .

twirlin g o f the sp i ndle would tw i rl the co rn s ta lks a n d prev ent the m -

from growin g strai ght S o too amon g the Ai m os o f S agha li en a

.
, ,
'

pre gn ant woman may not spin nor twist ropes fo r two months before
her d elive ry becaus e they think that i f she did so the child s guts
,
’

mi ght be entan gled like the thr ead For a like reas on in B ilasp ore .
,

a dis trict o f I ndia when the chie f men o f a villa ge meet i n council
, ,

no one present should twirl a spin d le ; for they think that i f such a
thi ng were to happen the discussion like the s p i ndle woul d move in
, , ,
“
 22 SYM PATH E TIC M AGI C CH .

s o he avoids eating many other animals and plan ts lest he should

acquir e cer tain un d esirable qualities with wh i ch he believes them to
be in f ecte d I n eating the fo rmer he practises positive magi c ; in
.

abstaining from the la tter he practises negative magic M any ex .

amples -of s uch positive ma gic will meet us la ter on ; here I will gi ve a
few instances o f such ne gative ma gi c or taboo For example in Ma da . ,

gasca r soldiers are forbi dden to eat a number o f foods lest on the
principle o f homoe opathic magi c they shoul d be tainted by certain
dangerous or undesi rab le properties which a re sup posed to inhere in
these particular viands Thus they may not taste hedgeho g as
. ,

it is feared tha t this animal from its propensity of coi li n g up into a

,

ball when alarmed will impart a timid shrinking disp osition to those
’
who partake o f it A gain no sol d ier shoul d eat an ox s knee lest
.
, ,

like an o x he should become weak i n the knees and unable to march .

Fu rt her the warrior shoul d be careful to avoid par takin g o f a cock

,

tha t has die d fi ghtin g o r anything that ha s bee n speared to death ;

and no male animal may on any account be killed i n his house while
he is away at the wa rs For it seems obvious that i f he were to eat
.

a cock that had died fi ghti ng he would himsel f be slain on the field of ,

battle ; i f he were to par take of an animal that had been speared he ,

would be speared himsel f ; i f a male animal w ere killed i n hi s house

during hi s absence he woul d himsel f be killed in like manner and
,

perhaps at the same instant Further the M alagasy soldier must .

,

eschew kidneys because in the Malagasy lan gua ge the word for kidney
,
“
is the same as that f or sh ot s o shot he would ce rtainly be i f he
ate a kidney .

The reader may have observed that in som e o f the fore going
examples o f taboos the magical influence i s supposed to operate at
considerable d istances ; thus amon g the B lackfeet Indians the wives
and children o f an ea gle hun ter are forbidden to use an awl d uring his
absence lest the ea gles should scratch the dis tant husband and fa ther ;
,

and again no male animal may be ki lle d in the house o f a Malagasy

soldi er while he is away at the wars lest the killing o f the animal should ,

entail the killi n g o f the man This beli e f in the sympathetic influence
.

exerted on each other by p ersons or thin gs at a distance is o f the

essence o f magic Whatever d oubt s sci ence may entertain as to the
.

o ss ib ili ty o f ac tio n at a d istance ma gic has none ; fai th in telepathy

P
,

[ S one o f its firs t principles A m o d ern advocate o f the influence of

.

mind upon mind at a distance would have no di fficulty in co nvincing

a savage ; the sava ge believe d i n it lon g a go and what i s m ore he , ,

acted on his beli e f with a lo gical consistency such as hi s civilised brother

in the faith has not yet so far as I am aware exhibi te d in his conduct
'

, , .

For the sava ge i s convi nced n ot only that magical ceremoni es a ffect
persons an d thin gs a far off but that the simplest acts o f d aily li fe may
,

d o so too . H ence o n impo rtant o ccasions the behavi our o f friends

a n d relati ons at a d i stance is o ften re gula ted by a more or less elaborate

code o f rules the ne gl ect o f which by the on e set o f persons w ould it

,
,

i s supp osed entail mis for tune or eve n death on the ab sent ones In
, .
III H OM OE OPA TI—
IIC OR IMIT A T IVE MA GIC 23

particular when a party o f men are out hunting or fi ghtin g the i r ,

kins folk at home a re o ften expected to do certain thin gs or to absta i n

from d oing ce rtain others for the sake o f ensurin g the sa fety and ,

success of the dista nt hunters or warrio rs I will now give some .

instances of thi s magical telepathy both in its positive and in its

negative aspect .

In Laos when an elephant hunter i s star ting fo r the chase he ,

warns his wi fe n ot t o cut her hai r or oi l her body i n his absence ; for
if she cut her hair the elephant would burst the toils i f she oiled hersel f ,

it would slip through them When a Dyak village has turned out to .

hunt wil d pi gs in the j un gle the pe ople who stay at home may not
“

touch oil or water with thei r han d s during the absence o f their friends ;
for i f they di d so the hunters would all be
, butter fingered and the -

prey would slip through thei r hands .

E lephant hunters in E ast A fric a believe that i f thei r wiv es prove

-
,

unfaithful in their absence this gives the elephant power over his ,

pursuer who will accordin gly be killed o r s everely woun d ed H ence

, .

i f a hun ter hears o f his wi fe s misconduct he abandons the chase and ’

,

returns home I f a Wagogo hunter is unsuccess ful or is attacke d by

.
,

a lion he attributes it to his wi fe s mi sbehaviour at home an d returns

,
’
,

to her in great wra th While he i s away huntin g she may n ot l et

.
,

any one pass behind her or s tan d in front o f her a s she sits ; a n d she
must lie on her face in bed The M oxos In d ians o f B olivia thought .

’
that i f a hun ter s wi fe was un faith ful to hi m in his absence he would
be bitten by a serpent or a j aguar Accor d in gly i f such an acci d en t .
,

happene d to him it was sure to entail the pun ishment a n d o ften the
, ,

death of the Woman whether she was inn oc ent or guilty A n Aleu
, , .

tian hunter of sea otters thinks that he cannot kill a sin gle animal
-

i f durin g his absence from home his wi fe s hould be un faith ful or

his sister unchas te
—
.

The Hu i chol In d ians o f Mexico treat as a d emi god a species o f cac

tus which throws the ea ter in to a s ta te o f ecstasy The plan t d oes not ’

grow in their country an d has to b e fe tched every year by men who

make a j ourney of forty—
,

three d ays for the purpose M eanwh ile the .

wives a t home contribute to the sa fety o f their absent husban d s by never

walking fas t much less runnin g while the men are on the roa d They
, , .

also do their b est to ensure the benefi ts which in the shap e o f rain , ,

go od crops an d s o forth are expected to flow f rom the sacred mission

, , .

With this intention they subj ect themselves to severe restrictions like
those imposed upon their husbands During the whole o f the time .

which elapses till the fea iva l of the cactus is held n either party washes
‘ ,

except on certai n occasions and then only with water brought from ,

the distan t country where the holy plan-t gr ow s They also fast much .
,

ea t no salt a n d are boun d t o s tric t con tinence

, Any one who breaks .

this law is punished wi th illness a n d moreover j e opar d ises the result , , ,

which all are strivin g for H eal th luck and li fe are to be ga ined by
.
, ,

gatherin g the cactus the gourd of the God o f Fire ; but inasmuch a s
,

the pure fire cannot benefit the impure men and women must not only ,
24 SY M PATH E TI C MA GI C CR

remain chaste for the time being but must also pur ge themsel ve s ,

from the taint o f pa st sin H ence four days a fter the men have started
.

the women gather and con fess to Gran d fa ther F i re wi th what men
they have been in love from childhoo d till now They may not omit .

a s i ngle one fo r i f they d i d so the men would not find a sin gl e cactus
,
.

S o to re fresh thei r memories each one prepares a string w ith as many

kno ts as she has had lovers This she brin gs to the temple and . , ,

s tan d in g be fore the fire she mentions aloud all the men she has score d
,

on her s trin g name a fter name H avin g ended her con fession she
, .
,

t hrows the strin g into the fire and when the god has consumed it in ,

his pure flam e her sins are for given her and she departs i h peace
'

.
,

From now on the wome n are averse even to le ttin g men pass near
them . The cac tus —seeke rs themselves make in like m anner a clean
breast of all the i r fra il ties For every pecca d illo they tie a knot on a
.

”
str i n g a n d a fter they have talke d to all the five w in d s they delive r
,
“

the rosa ry o f their s i ns to the lead er who burns it in the fire ,

.

Many o f the in d i genous tribes of Sarawak a re fi rmly persuaded

tha t were the w ives to commi t adul tery while their husbands are
search in g for camphor in the j un gle the camphor obta i ned by the ,

men woul d evapora te H usban d s can di scover by certain knots in

.
,

the tree when the wives are un fai th ful ; a nd it is sai d that i n former
,

d ays many Women were kille d by j ealous husban d s on no better evi

d ence than that o f these kno ts Further the w ives dare not touch .
,

a comb while thei r husban d s are away collectin g the camphor ; for
i f they d i d so the interst i ces be tween the fibres o f the tree instead
, ,

o f bein g fille d wi th the precious crystals woul d be empty like the ,

spaces between the teeth o f a comb I n the Kei I slands to the south .
,

wes t o f N ew Guinea as soon as a vessel that is about to sail for a

,

dis tant por t has been launche d the part o f the beach on which it ,

lay is covered as spee d i ly as possible with palm b ranches and becomes ,

s acred N o one may thence forth cross that sp ot till the shi p comes
.

home To cross it sooner would cause the vessel to perish More

.
“

over all the tim e that the voyage lasts three o r four young girls
, ,

specially chosen for the duty are supposed to rem ain i n sympathetic,

connexi on wi th the mariners and to contr ibute b y thei r behaviour

to the sa fe ty an d success o f the voya ge On no account except for .
,

the mos t nec essary purpose may they quit the room that has been,

ass igne d to them M ore than that so lon g a s the vessel is bel ieved
.
,

to be at sea they mus t remain absolutely m o tionles s c rouched on ,

thei r ma ts wi th thei r hands clasped between thei r knees They may .

not turn thei r heads to the left or to the ri ght or m ake any other
movement whatsoeve r If they d id it would cause the boat to pitch
.
,

and toss ; and they may not eat any sticky s tuff such as rice boiled , .

in coco nut milk for the s tickiness o f the food w ould clo g the passage
-
,

o f the boa t throu gh the water When the sailors are supposed to .

have reached thei r dest i nation the strictness o f these rules i s some ,

what relaxed ; but d ur i n g the whole tim e that the v oyage lasts the
girls are forbi d d en to eat fi sh which have sharp bones or stin gs such ,
III H O MO E OPATH I C O R I M ITATIV E MAGI C 25

as the sting— ray lest their friends at sea should be involve d in sharp
,
,

stinging trouble .

Where belie fs like these prevail as to the sympathe tic connexion

between frien d s at a d is tance we need not won d er that above every ,

thing else war wi th its s tern yet s tirring appeal to som e o f the deepest
,

and tenderest o f human emo tions shoul d qu i cken in the anxious

.

relations le ft behind a d es i re to turn the sympathetic bond to the

utmost account for the b en efit o f the d ear ones who may at any -

moment be fi ghting and dyin g far away H ence to secure an en d so .

,

natural and laudable frien d s at home are a p t to resort to d evices

,

which will strike us as pathe tic or lu d icrous accor d in g as we consi d er ,

their o b j ect or the means adopte d to e ffect it Thus in s ome d istricts .

o f Borneo when a Dyak is out head hun tin g his w i fe or if he i s u n

-
, , ,

marrie d his sister mus t wear a swor d d ay and ni ght in or d er that

,

he may always be think i n g o f hi s weapons ; a n d she may n ot sleep

dur i ng the day nor go to b e d b e fore two i n the mornin g les t her ,

husban d or bro ther shoul d thereby be surpr ise d in his sleep by an

enemy Amon g the S ea Dyaks o f Ban tin g in Sarawak the wome n
.

str ictly ob serve an elaborate co d e o f rules while the men are a way fight
ing Some o f the rules are ne ga tive a n d some are posi tive b ut a ll al i ke
.
,

are based on the pr i nc i ples o f magical homoeopa thy a n d telepa thy .

Amongs t them are the followin g The women mus t wake very early i n .

the mornin g and open the win d ows as soon as it is l igh t ; otherwise thei r
absent husban d s will oversleep themselves The women may not oil .

their hair o r the men w i ll sl i p

,
The women may nei ther sleep nor .

do z e by day or the men will b e drowsy on the march

, The women .

must co ok a n d scatter popcorn on the veran d ah every morn i n g ; so

will the men be agile in the i r movemen ts The rooms mus t be kep t .

very tidy all b oxes bein g placed near the walls ; for i f any one were
,

to stumble over them the absen t husban d s woul d fall a n d be at the

,

m ercy o f the foe At every meal a l ittle r ice mus t be le ft in the p ot

.

and
p ut asi d e ; so w i ll the men far away always have something to
eat and nee d never go hun gry On no accoun t may the women s it .

at the loom till their le gs grow crampe d otherwi s e the i r husban d s ,

will likewise be s tiff in their j oints and unable to rise up quickly or

to run away from the foe S o in or d er to keep their husban d s j oin ts
.
’

supple the women o ften vary thei r labours a t the lo om by walkin

g
up and d own the veran d ah Fur ther they may n ot cover up their.
,

faces or the men would not to be able to find their way through the
, .

tall grass or j ungle A gain the women may not sew wi th a nee d le
.
, ,

or the men will trea d o n the sha rp spikes s et by the enemy i n the
path Shoul d a wi fe p rove un fai th ful while her husban d i s away
.

he will lose his li fe in the enemy s country S ome years a go all these ’
.

rul es a nd more were observed by the women o f Bantin g while the i r ,

husbands were fi gh ti ng for the E nglish agains t rebels B ut alas ! .

these tender precauti ons availe d them little ; for many a man whose ,

fai thful w i fe was keepin g wa tch and ward for him at home fo und a ,

Sol di er s gra ve
’
.
26 cu
'

S YM PATH E TI C MAGI C .

d —
In the island o f Timor , whi le wa r is b eing wage the hi gh p riest r
,

never quits the temple ; his food is brought to him o r cooke d ins i de ;
day and ni ght he must keep the fire burnin g for i f he were t o let it ,

die out, disaster w ould be fall the warriors and would continue so long
as the hear th was cold Moreover he must drink only hot water
.
,

during the tim e the a rmy is absent ; for every draught o f col d water
would damp the spir its o f the people so that they could not vanqui sh ,

the enemy I n the Kei Islands when the warriors have d epar ted the
.
, ,

women return in do ors a n d brin g out cer tain baskets con tainin g fruits
an d stones Thes e frui ts and s tones they anoint an d p lace on a boar d
. ,

murmuring as they do 5 0 O lord sun moon let the bullets rebound ,

“

, ,

from our husban d s b ro thers be trothe d and o ther relations j ust as

, , , ,
”
rain d rops reboun d from these o bj ects wh ich are smeared with oil .

As soon a s the first shot i s hear d the baske ts are p ut aside and the , ,

women sei z ing their fans rush out o f the houses

, Then waving
,
.
,

their fans in the d i rection o f the enemy they run through the village , ,

while they sin g O gol d en fans ! l et o ur bulle ts hit and those o f the
,
“
,
”
enemy miss In this cus tom the ceremony o f a nointin g stones
.
,

in or d er tha t the bullets may recoil from the m en like rain d rops from
the st ones i s a piece o f pure homo eopa thi c or i mitative ma gic ; but
,

the prayer to the sun that he will be pleas ed to giv e e ffect to the
, ,

charm is a reli gious and perhaps later a dd iti on The wavin g o f the
, .

fans seems to be a charm to direc t the bulle ts towards o r away from '

thei r ma rk acco r d in g as they are d ischar ged from the guns o f friends
,

or foes .

An old historian o f M a d a gascar i n forms us that while the men

are a t the wars a n d unti l thei r return the women and gi rls cease not
, ,

day and ni ght to dance and neither li e down nor take food in their
,

own houses And alth o u gh they are very v olupt uously inclined they
.
‘

would not for any thin g in the world have an in tri gue with another
man whil e th ei r hu sban d i s at the war beli evin g firmly that i f that ,

happ ened thei r husband would be either killed o r w ounded They

, .

believe that by dancin g they im part stren gth coura ge and good , ,

fortune to their husbands ; acc o rdin gly du rin g such times they give
themselves no rest a n d th i s cus tom they observe very reli giously
, .

A m on g the Ts hi speakin g peoples o f the G old Coast the wives of

-

men who are away w i th the army paint them selves white and adorn ,

thei r persons wi th beads and charms On the d ay when a battle is .

expected to take place they run about armed w ith guns or sticks
, ,

carve d to l o ok like guns and takin g green pa w paws (f ruits shaped

,
-

somewhat like a melon ) they hack them wi th k n ives as i f they were

, ,

choppin g off the hea d s o f the foe The pan tomim e i s no d oubt merely .
"

an imi ta tive cha rm to enable the men t o do t o the enemy as the

,

women do to the paw paws In the Wes t A fr ican town o f Framin

-
.
,

while the Ashan tee war was ragin g some years ago M r Fi tz ge ral d , . ,

Marriot t saw a d ance per forme d b y women whose husbands had gone
as carriers to the war They were painted white and wore nothi ng
.

b ut a short p ettic oat At thei r h ead w as a shriv ell ed ol d sorceres s in

.
III H O MO E OP A T H I C OR IM I T ATIV E MAGI C 27

a very short whi te petticoa t her black ha i r arran ged i n a sort o f lon g
,

proj ectin g ho rn a n d her black face breas ts arms and le gs pro fusely
, , , ,

adorne d wi th wh ite ci rcles an d crescen ts All carrie d long wh ite .

brushes ma d e o f buffalo or horse tai ls a nd as they danced they san g , ,

Our husban d s have gone to A sha nteelan d ; may they sweep their
”
enemies off the face o f the earth !
Among the Thompson Indians o f B ritish Columbia when the
men were on the war—
,

pa th the women per formed dances at frequent

,

i ntervals These dances were believe d to ensure the success o f the

.

expedit ion The dancers flourishe d thei r knives threw lon g sharp
.
,

pointed s ticks forwar d or drew st i cks with hooked ends repeate d ly

,

backwar d and forwar d Throw i n g the st icks forward was symbolic

.

of piercing or war d in g o ff the enemy and draw i n g them back was ,

symbol i c of drawin g thei r own men from dan ger The hook a t the .

end of the s tick was par ticularly well a d ap ted to s erve the purpo se
of a li fe savi ng appara tus The women always pointed their weapons
-
.

’
to war d s the enemy s country They pain ted their faces red an d .

sang as they dance d a n d they praye d to the weapons to preserve

,

the ir husban d s and help them to k ill m any foes S ome ha d eagle .

down stuck on the po i n ts o f th eir st i cks When the d ance was over .
,

these weapons were hi d den I f a woman who se husband was at the .

war though t she saw hair or a piece o f a scalp on the weapon when
she took it ou t she k new that her husban d ha d k i lle d an enemy
,
.

B ut if she saw a s tain o f blood on it she knew he was woun d e d Or d ea d , .

When the men o f the Yuk i tribe in Cal i fornia were away fi gh ti n g the ,

women at hom e d id not sleep ; they dance d con tinually i n a c i rcle ,

chariti ng an d wav i n g lea fy wands For they sa i d tha t i f they dance d .

all the time thei r husban d s woul d n ot grow ti re d Among the Hai da
,
.

In dians o f the Q ueen Charlotte I slan d s when the men ha d gone ,

to war the w omen at ho me woul d get up very early in the mo rning

,

and pretend to make war b y fallin g upon their ch i l d ren and fei gnin g
to take them for slaves Th i s was sup pose d to help their husbands
.

to go and d o likew i se I f a w i fe were un fai th ful to her husband

. .

while he was away on the war pa th he wo ul d pro bably be kille d -

,
.

For ten n ights all the w omen a t home lay wi th thei r heads towar d s
the point of the compass to which the w a r canoes ha d pa ddle d away -
.

Then they chan ge d about for the warr i ors were supposed to b e ,

coming ho me across the sea At Masset the Haida women .

dance d and sang war son gs all the time the ir hu sbands were away
-

at the wars an d they ha d to keep everythin g about them in a

,

cer tain order It was thought that a wi fe mi ght kill her husban d
.

by not obse rvin g these cus toms When a ban d o f Carib In d ians o f .

the Orinoco had gone on the war path thei r friends le ft in the village -
,

used to calculate as nearly as they could the exact moment when the
abs ent warr i ors woul d be a d vanci n g to attack the enemy Then they . ,

took two la d s lai d them down on a bench a n d inflic te d a most severe

, ,

scourgin g on th ei r bare backs Thi s the you ths subm itte d to without .

a murmur supp o rted in their su ff erin gs by the fi rm convic tion in

, ,
28 SY M PAT HE T I C MA GIC CH .

which they had been bred fr om chil d hood that on the constancy ,

an d fort i tu d e with which they bore the cruel or d eal depen d ed the

valour and success o f their comra d es in the battle .

Am on g the many b en eficent uses to which a mis taken in genui ty has

applie d the pr i nciple o f homoeopathic or imi ta tive ma gic i s that o f ,

causin g t rees and plants to bear frui t i n d ue season I n Thu rin gen the .

m an w ho sows flax carries the see d i n a lon

g b ag which reaches f rom
hi s shoulders to his knees and he walks with lon g str ides so that the , ,

b ag sways to and fro on his back It i s beli eve d that this will cause the .

flax to wave i n the w ind I n the in terior o f S umatra rice is sown .

by women who in sowing let their hair han g loose down their back
, , ,

in or d er that the rice m ay grow luxurian tly a n d have long s talks .

S imilarly in ancient M exico a festival was held in honour o f the god

,
”
d ess o f maize or the lon g haire d m o ther as she was called It began
“
-
.
,

a t the time when the plant ha d a ttained i ts full growth and fibres ,

shooting forth from the top o f the green ear indica ted that the grain
was fully formed During this fes tival the women wore their long hair
.

unbound shakin g a n d toss in g it in the dances which were the chief

,

fea ture in the cere m onial in o rder tha t the tassel o f the maize mi ght ,

grow in like p ro fusion that the grain mi gh t be correspondin ”

, gly lar ge
a n d fl a t an d that the people mi ght have abun d ance
, I n many parts .

o f E urope da n cin g or lea-

ping h igh in the air are approved hom oe o
pathic modes o f ma kin g the crops gro w high Thus in Franche Comté .
-

they say that you should dance a t the Carnival in order to make the
hemp grow tall .

The notion that a person can influence a plant homoeo pa thically

by his act o r condi tion co mes out clearly i n a remark made by a M al ay
w oman Bein g asked why she s tr ipped the upper part o f her body
.

nake d in reapin g the ric e she expla ine d tha t she d i d i t to make the ,

rice-husk s thinner a s she was ti red of pound in g thick husked rice

, .

Clearly she thought that the less clo thin g she w ore the less husk there
,

would be on the ri ce The ma gic vi rtue o f a pre gnan t woman to .

communica te fertili ty i s known to Bavarian a n d Aus trian peasan ts ,

who think that if you give the fi rst fruit o f a tree to a woman with chil d
to eat the tree will brin g forth abundantly nex t year On the o ther
, .

han d the Bagand a bel i eve that a barren w i fe in fects her husband s
,
’

gar d en w ith her own st erility and preven ts the trees f rom bearing
f rui t ; hence a childless w om an is generally d ivorced The Greeks .

and Ro mans sacrificed pre gnant victi ms to the go d desses o f the corn
and of the earth d oubtless i n order that the ear th m ight teem and the
,

corn swell in the ear Whe n a Catholic pries t remonstra te d wi th the

.

I n d ians o f the Orinoco on allowin g their women to sow the fiel d s in the
blaz i ng sun w ith infants a t the i r breas ts th e m en answere d Fat her
, , , ,

you don t understand these th i ngs an d that is why they vex you You
’
, .

know that women are accustome d to bear children an d that we m en

are not When the w omen sow the s talk o f the m a i ze bears two or
.
,

three ears the root o f the yucca yields two or three basket fuls and
, ,

every thing multiplies in proportion NOW why i s tha t ? S imply .

30 SYM PATH E T I C MA GIC CH
‘

H e had t o eat food coo k ed on a fi re which was fed with wood which
had grown out o f the stump o f a tree which had been cut down The .

recuperative po wer mani fes ted by such a tree would in due course be
communicated through the fire to the foo d a n d so to the p rince who , ,

ate the fo od which was cooked on the fi re which was fed with the wood
which grew out of the tree The Sudanese think that i f a house is
.

built o f the wood o f thorny trees the li fe o f the people who dwell in ,

that hous e will likewi se be thorny and full o f t rouble .

The re is a fruit ful branch o f homoeopathic magic which works by

means o f the dead ; fo r j ust as the d ea d can n ei ther see nor hear nor
speak so you may on homoeopathic principles render people blind
, ,
’
d ea f an d d umb by the use of d ea d me s bones or anythin g else that
is tainted by the in fection o f death Thus am on g the Galelareese when .
,

a youn g man goes a w ooing at night he takes a little ea rth f rom a grave
- -
,
’
and strews it on the roo f o f his sweetheart s house j ust above the place
“

where her parents sleep This he fancies will prevent them from
.
, ,

waking while he converses w ith his belov ed since the earth from the ,

grave will make them sleep as so und as the dead B urglars in all a ges .

a n d many lands have been pa trons o f this species o f magic which is ,

very use ful to them in the exercis e o f their p rofession Thus a South .

Slavonian housebreaker sometimes be gins operations by t hrowing a

’
dead man s bone o ver the house sayin g with pun gent sarcasm As , , ,
“

”
thi s bone may waken so m ay these people waken ; a fter that not a
,

soul in the hous e can keep his or her eyes ope n S imil a rly in Java .
,

the burgla r takes earth from a grave and sprinkles it round the house
which he intends t o rob ; this throws the inmates into a deep sleep .

Wi th the same inten tion a Hi n d oo will s trew ashes from a pyre at the ’

door o f the house ; I ndians o f Peru scat te r the du st o f d ead men s ’

bones ; and Ruthenian bur glars rem ov e the marrow from a human
shi n bone p o ur tallow i nto i t and having k indled the tall ow march
-
, , ,

thri ce round the house with this candle burnin g whi ch ca uses the
i nmates to sleep a death —
,

like sleep O r the Ruthenian will mak e a flut e .

out o f a human leg bone and play upon it ; whereupon all pers ons
-

within hearin g are overcome with drowsi ness The In d ians of M exico .

em ployed for this m a leficent purp ose the le ft fo re arm o f a woman who -

ha d d ied in giving bi rth to her firs t child ; but the arm had to be stolen .

Wi th it they beat the ground be fore they entered the house wh ich they '

d esi gne d to plunder ; this caused every one i n the house to i lose all
power o f speech an d motion ; they were as dea d hearin g and seeing ,

ever ythin g but per fectly powerless ; som e o f them ho wever really
, , ,

slep t an d even snore d In E urope sim ilar properties were ascribed to

.

the Han d o f Glory which was the drie d and pickle d hand o f a man w ho
,
'

had been han ged I f a can dle made o f the fat o f a m ale factor who had
.

also d ie d on the gallows was li ghte d and plac ed in the Hand o f Gl ory as ‘
‘

i n a candles tick it ren d ered mo tionless all p ersons to whom it was

'

presen ted ; they could not stir a fin ger any more than i f they were
'
dead Some tim es the d ead man s han d is its el f the ca ndle or ra th er
'
’
.
,
‘
bunch o f candles all its wi thered fin gers b eing set on fi re ; but sh oul d
, .
III H O MO E O P ATH I C OR I M ITATIV E MAGI C 31

any member o f the househol d be awake one o f the fin gers will not ,

kindle S uch ne farious li gh ts can only b e extin guished with milk

.
.

’
O ften it is prescribe d tha t the thie f s candle should be made o f the
finger o f a new born or s till be tter unb o rn child ; som etimes i t is
-
, ,

thought nee d ful th a t the thie f shoul d have one such candle fo r every
person in the ho use fo r i f he ha s one can d le too l ittle somebody in the
,

house will wake and c atch him Once these tapers begin to burn there .
,

is nothing but m ilk that will p ut them out [Ih the seventeenth century .
‘

robbers used to murder pregnant women in order thus to ex tract can d les
from their wombs An a ncient Greek ro b ber or burglar thou ght he
.

could silence and p ut to fli gh t the fiercest watchdo gs by carrying with

him a bran d plucke d from a funeral pyre A gai n S ervian a n d Bul gar .
,

ian women who cha fe at the res train ts of d omes tic li fe will take the
copper coins from the eyes o f a cor pse wash th em i n wine or water , ,

a nd give the liqui d to thei r husban d s to d rink A fter swallowi ng i t .

,

the hus b a nd will b e as b l i n d to hi s w i fe s pecca d illoes as the dea d man ’

was on whose eyes the co i ns were laid .

Further an imals are o ften conceive d to possess qualities o f p roper

,

ties which mi gh t be use ful to man and homoeopathic or imitative magic ,

seeks to commun ica te these p roper ti es to human bein gs in various

ways Thus some B echuanas wear a ferre t as a charm because being
.
, ,

very tenacious o f l i fe i t w i ll make them d i ff icult to kill Others wear

, .

a cer ta in insect mu tilate d b ut liv i n g for a similar purpose Yet o ther

, , , .

Bechuana warr i ors wea r the hair o f a hornless ox among thei r own
hair and the skin o f a fro g o n their man tle because a fro g i s slippery
, , ,

an d the ox havin g no horns is har d to catch ; so the man who is

, ,

provided with t hese charms bel i eves tha t h e w i ll be as har d to hold

as the 0 x and the fro g A ga in it seems p lain th at a S ou th A frican
.
,
’
warrior who tw i sts tu fts o f ra t s hair amon g his own curly black locks
will have j us t as many chances o f avoi d ing the ene m y s spear as the ’

nimble rat has o f avo id in g th i ngs thrown at i t ; hence in these regions

rats hair is in great deman d when wa r i s ex pecte d One o f the ancient
’
.

books of In d ia prescribes tha t when a sacrifice is o ff ere d for victory ,

the earth out o f which the al tar i s to be made shoul d be taken from a
place where a boa r has been wallo w in g since the strength o f the boar
will be in that earth When you are playin g the one—
,

. strin ged lute ,

and your fingers are s ti ff the thin g to do is to catch some lon g le gged
,
-

field spiders and roast them and then rub your fin gers with the ashes ;
,

that will make your fin gers as lithe and n imble as the spiders le s
’

g
at least so think the G alelareese To bring back a run a way slave an .

Arab wi ll trace a ma gic circle on the groun d stick a nail in the middle ,

o f it and atta ch a beetle by a threa d to the nail takin

,
g care tha t t he ,

sex of the beetle is that o f the fugi ti ve As the beetle crawls round .

and round it will coil the thread about the na il thus shortenin g its
, ,

tether and drawin g nearer to the centre at every ci rcuit S o by vir tue .

o f homoeopa thic ma ic the run a way slave will be drawn back to his
g
m aster .

Amon g the western tribes o f B ritis h N ew Guine a a m an who has ,

32 SYM PATH E TI C MA GI C CH .

kille d a snake will burn it a n d smear hi s legs with the ashes when he
goes into the fo rest ; fo r no snake will bi te him for some days a fter
“

war d s If a S ou th Slavon ian has a min d to p i l fer and s teal a t m arket

. ,

he has no thin g to do b ut to burn a blin d cat a n d then throw a pinch ,

o f its ashes over the person w i th whom he i s hi

ggl i n g ; a fter tha t he
can take what he likes from the boo th a n d the owner w i ll not b e a bit ,

the wise r havin g become as bl i nd as the d ecease d cat w ith whose

,
“
a s hes he has been sp rinkle d T -he thie f may eve n ask b ol d ly Did . ,
“
I pay fo r it a nd the delu d e d hucks te r will reply Why cer tainly , ,
.

E qually s i mple a nd e ff ec tual i s the expe d i ent a d op ted by na tives of

Cen tral A us trali a who des i re to cul tiva te their bear d s They p rick .

the chi n all over wit h a pointe d bone and then stroke it care fully wi th
'

.
,

a ma gi c s tick or s tone which represen ts a kin d o f rat tha t has very

,

long whiskers The v i r tue o f these whiskers na turally passes i nto the
.

rep resen ta tive s tick o r s tone a n d thence by an easy transition to the ,

chin which consequen tly is soon a d orne d w i th a r ich grow th of

, , ,

b eard The anc ien t Greeks thou gh t tha t to eat the flesh o f the wake ful
.

n ightin gale woul d prevent a man from sleepin g ; that to smear the
eyes o f a blear s ighte d perso n wi th the gall o f an ea gle would give him
-

the ea gle s vision ; and tha t a raven s e ggs would restore the blackness
’ '

of the raven to silvery ha ir Only the person who adopted this last .

mo de o f c oncealin g the rava ges o f time had to be most care ful to keep
hi s mouth full o f oil all the tim e he ap pl i ed the e ggs to his venerable
locks else hi s tee th as well as his ha i r woul d be dyed raven black and
, ,

no amount o f scrub bin g and sc ouri ng would av ail to whi ten them
a gain The hair res torer was in fact a sha d e too powe r ful and in
.
-
,

applyin g it you mi ght get more than you bar gai ne d for .

The H uicho l In d ians a d m ire the beauti ful m arkings on the backs
o f serpents H ence whe n a H uichol woman is about to weave or
.

embroi der her husband catches a la rge serpen t and holds i t in a cle ft
,

st i ck while the woman strokes the reptile w i th one hand down the
,

w hole len gth o f its b ack ; then she passes the sam e hand over her ,

forehea d and eyes that she may be able to work as beauti ful patterns
,

in the web as the ma rkin gs on the back o f the serpent .

On the p ri nciple o f homoeopa thi c magic i nanimate things as well , ,

as plants and an imals may d i ff use bless in g o r bane around them

, ,

accor d in g to their own in tr i nsic nature and the skill o f the wi z ard to
tap or dam as the case may b e the s tream o f weal or woe
, In Samara , .

cand w om en give a baby sugar candy to suck and put glue in the palm
o f its han d in order that when the child gr ows up hi s words may be
, , ,

sweet a n d precious things may s tick to his hands as if they w ere glue d .

The Greeks thought tha t a garm ent made from the fleece o f a sheep
that had been torn by a wol f would hurt the wearer settin g up an itch ,

or i rritation in his skin T hey were also o f opi nion that i f a stone
.

which had been bitten by a dog were droppe d in wi ne it woul d make ,

all who drank o f that wine to fall out amon g them selves Amon g .

the A r abs o f M oa a ch ildless woman o ften borrow s the robe o f a

w oma n who has had many chi ldren hoping wi th the robe to acqu i re ,
111 H O MO E O PATH I C OR I M ITAT IVE M AGI C 33

the frui tfulness o f its owner The Cafi r es o f So fala in E as t A frica

.
, ,

had a grea t d read of being struck with any thin g hollow such as a reed ,

or a straw and greatly pre ferre d bein g thrashe d wi th a goo d thick

,

cudgel or an iron bar even t hough it hur t very much

,
For they .

though t that i f a man were bea ten wi th anythin g hollow hi s insi d e ,

woul d was te away ti ll he d i e d I n ea stern seas there is a lar ge shell

.

”
wh ich the Bu gi nese o f Celebes call the o ld man (k a dj fiw o ) On “
.

”
Fridays they turn these ol d men upsi d e down and place them on
“

the threshol d s of their houses believin g tha t whoever then s teps over,

the threshold o f the house will live to be old At ini tiat i on a B rahman .

b oy is ma d e to tread wi th his ri gh t fo ot on a s tone while the wor d s are ,

”
repeate d Tread on thi s s tone ; l ike a s tone be fi rm ; and the same
,
“

ceremony is per form e d wi th the same words by a B rahman bri d e a t

, ,

her marr i age I n Ma d agascar a mo d e o f coun teractin g the levi ty o f

fortune is to bu ry a stone at the foo t o f the heavy house —
.

pos t The .

common cus tom o f swear i n g upon a s tone may be base d partly on a

belie f tha t the s trength a n d s tab il ity o f the s tone lend confi rm atio n
to an oa th Thus the old Danish his to ri an Saxo Gra m m a ticu s tells
.

us that the anc i en ts w hen they were to choose a king were wont to
“

, ,

s tand on stones plan ted in the groun d a n d to procla i m their vo tes in , ,

order to foreshadow from the s tea d fas tness o f the stones that the d ee d
”
woul d be las ting .

B ut wh i le a general ma gical efficacy may b e suppose d to res i d e in

all s tones by reason o f the ir c ommon proper ties o f we igh t a nd sol id ity ,

special ma gical vir tues are attribute d to par ti cular s tones o r k in d s o f ,

stone in accor d ance wi th th ei r in d iv id ual o r speci fic quali ti es o f shape

,

and colour .For exampl e the In d ians o f Peru employed certain

,

stones for the increase o f maize o thers for the increase o f potatoes , ,

a nd o thers a ain for the i ncrease o f ca ttle The stones use d to make
g .

mai z e grow were fashione d in the l ikeness o f cobs of maize a n d the ,

s tones d est ine d to mul tiply cattle had the shape o f sheep .

In some par ts of Melanesia a like belie f preva ils that cer ta in sacre d
s tones are en d owed wi th mi raculous powers wh ich correspon d in the i r
nature to the shape o f the stone Thus a piece o f wa ter— worn coral
on the be a ch o ften bears a surpr i sing l ikeness to a brea d —
.

fruit H ence .

in the Banks Islands a man who finds such a coral will lay it a t the
root o f one o f his bread frui t trees in the expectation that it w ill make
-

the tree bear well I f the resul t answers his expectation he w i ll then
for a proper remuneration take stones o f less —
.
, ,

m arke d character from

,

other men and let them lie near his in order to imb ue them wi th the
’

ma gic v i rtue which resi d es i n it S imi larly a stone with li ttle discs .
,

upon it is go o d to brin g in money ; a n d if a man found a lar ge s tone

wi th a number of small ones un d e r it like a sow among her litter he , ,

was sure that to o ff er money upon it would brin g him p igs I n these .

and similar cases the M elanesians ascr ibe the marvellous power not ,

to the stone i tsel f but to its in d wellin g spirit ; and some times as we
, ,

have j ust seen a man endeavours to pro p itiate the s p i rit by laying
,

down o ff erings on the stone But the conception o f s p irits th at must

.

D
34 SY M PATH E TI C MAGI C CH .

be p ropitiated lies outside the sphere o f magic and within that o f ,

religi on Where such a conception i s fo und a s here in conj unction

“

.
, ,

with purely magi cal ideas an d practices the l atter may generally be ,
/

assum ed t o b e the ori ginal stock on which the reli gious c oncepti o n has
b een at some later ti m e engra fted For there are st ron g groun d s for .

thinkin g that i n the evol ution o f thou ght ma gic has p receded reli gion
, , .

B ut to this p oint w e shall re turn presently .

The ancients set great store on the magi cal qualities o f precious
stones ; indeed it has been main tained with great show o f reason that , ,

such stones were used as amulets long befo re they w ere w orn as mere
ornaments Th us the Greeks gave the nam e o f tree agate to a stone
.
-

w hich exhibit s tree li ke m ark i n gs and they thou ght that i f two of
-
,

these gem s were tied to the horns o r necks o f oxen at the plou gh the ,

crop would be sure to be p lenti ful A gain they rec o gnised a mi lk .

,

stone whic h produced an abundant supply o f milk in women i f o nly

they d rank it di ssolved in honey— mead M ilk-stones are used for the .

same purp os e by Greek women in Crete and M elos at the p resent day ;
in Albania nursin g m others wea r the stones i n order t o ensure an
abundant flow o f m ilk A ga in the Greeks beli eved in a stone which
.
,

cured snake -bites and hence was named th e snake -stone ; to test its
,

efli cacy you had only to grind the sto ne t o pow der and sprinkle the

pow d er on the wound The wine c oloured amethyst received its

.
-

” “
name which m ea ns not drunken because it was supposed to keep
, ,

the wearer o f it sober ; and two b ro thers who desi red to live a t unity “

were advised to car ry ma gnets ab out with them which by drawing , ,

the twai n togethe r would clearly p revent them from fallin g out
, .

T he ancient books o f the H in d oos lay do wn a rule that a f ter sunset

on his marria ge ni ght a man should sit silent with his wi fe till the stars
begi n to twi nkle i n the sky When the p ole -sta r a pp ears he should.
,
“
point it out to her and addres sing the star say F irm art thou ; I
, , ,
"

see t hee the firm one Fi rm be thou wi th me O thriving one !

,
.
,

Then turni ng to hi s w i fe he should say To m e B rih as p ati has given

, , ,
“

thee ; obtainin g ofi sp ring through m e thy husband live with me a

'

, ,

hundred autumns The intenti on o f the ceremony i s plainly to guar d

.

a gainst the fick leness o f fortune and the instability o f ea rthly bliss by
the steadfast infl uence o f the constant star It is the wish e x p ressed .

in Ke ats s l ast sonnet :

’

B right s tar ! would I were s teadfas t as thou art

N ot i n lane s plend our hung a loft the night .

Dwellers by the sea cannot fail t o be im p res s ed by the si ght o f it s '

c easeless eb b and flow and are apt on the p rinciples o f t hat rude
, ,

p hilosophy o f symp athy and resemblance which here engages our

attention to t race a subtle rela tion a secre t harmony between its
, , ,

tides and the li fe o f man o f animals and o f plants In the flowing, , .

ti d e they see not merely a symbol but a caus e o f ex uberance of , ,

p rosp erity and o f li fe whil e in the ebbin g tide they di scern a real a gent
, ,

as well a s a melancholy emblem o f f ailure o f we ak nes s and o f de ath , , ,

III H O M O E O PATH I C OR I M ITAT IV E MAGI C 35

The Breton peasant fa ncies that clover sow n when the tide is comin g
in will grow well but that i f the plant be sown at low water o r when
,

the tide is goin g out it will never reach matur ity and that the cows
, ,

which fee d on it will burst H is wi fe believes that the best butter i s

.

ma d e when the ti d e has j ust turned and is beginning to flow that milk ,

which foams in the churn will go on foamin g till the hour o f high water
is pas t a n d tha t wate r drawn from the well or mi lk ext racted f rom the
,

cow while the tide is risin g will boil up i n the p ot or saucepan and
overflow into the fire Acco rd ing to some o f the ancients the skins
.
,

of seals even a fter they had been parte d from thei r bodies remained
, ,

in secret sympa thy with the sea and were obse rved to ru ff le when the ,

ti de was on the ebb Another ancien t belie f at tribu ted to Aristotle

.
, ,

wa s that no creature can d ie except at ebb tide The bel i e f i f we can “

.
,

trust Pliny was confirme d by experi ence s o fa r as regards human

, ,

b ein gs on the coast o f Fra n ce P hilostratu s als o assures us that at

'

.
,

Ca d iz dying people nev er yiel d ed up the ghost while the water was
hi gh A like fa ncy s till linge rs in some parts o f E urope On the
. .

Cantabrian coast they thi nk th a t persons who die o f chronic or acute

di seas e expire at the moment whe n the ti d e begins to r ecede In .

Portugal all along the coast o f Wales and on some parts of the coast
, ,

o f Bri ttany a be li e f is sai d to p revail that people are born when the
,

tide comes in and di e w hen it goes out Dickens at tes ts the exis tence
, .

“ ’
of the sam e supersti tion i n E n gland People c an t d ie along the .
,
” “ ’
coast said M r P egotty except when the tide s pret ty ni gh out
They can t be born unles s it s pretty nigh i n—not prop e rly born till
,
.
, .

’ ’
,
”
floo d The belie f that most deaths h appen at eb b ti d e i s sai d to be
.

hel d along the east coast o f E n glan d from N orthumberlan d to Kent .

Shakesp eare must have been familiar wi th it for he makes F als ta fl ,

t

’
die even j ust between twelv e and one e en at the turning o the t ide
“
,
’ ’

.
’

We me et the belie f a gain on the Pacific coast o f North Am erica among

the Ha idas Whenever a good Haida is about to die he sees a canoe
.

m anned by some o f his d ea d frien d s who com e w ith the ti d e to b i d ,

”
him welcome to the spirit land C ome wi th us now they say .
, ,

for the tide i s about to eb b an d we must dep art At Po rt S tephens .

,

in N ew S outh Wal es the natives always buried thei r dea d at flood

,

ti d e never at ebb lest the retirin g water should bea r the soul o f the
, ,

depa rted to som e distant count ry .

To ensure a long li f e the Chinese have recourse to certain compli

cated charms w hich concentrate i n themselves the magical essence
,

emanatin g on homoeopathic princi ples from times an d seasons from

, , ,

perso ns and from thin gs T he vehicles em p l oyed to transmit these .

happy influences are no other tha n grav e-clothes These are p rovide d .

by many Chinese i n thei r li fetime an d most people have them cut out ,

a nd sewn by an unmarried
gi rl or a ve ry youn g woman wisely calcula t ,

ing that since such a pers on is likely to liv e a great many years to come
, ,

a part o f her capacity to li ve lon g must surely pass into the clothes ,

and thus stave off fo r many yea- rs the ti m e when they shall be put to

their p roper use Further the garments are ma de by p reference in a

.
,
 36 SYM PATH E TI C M A GI C cn .

yea r whic h has an intercalary mon th ; for to the Chinese mind it seems
lai n that rave clothes ma d e in a year which is unusuall lon g W i ll
p y
-
g
p ossess the capac i ty o f prolon i
g gn li fe i n an unusually h i gh degree .

Amon gst t he clo thes there i s one robe in particular on which spec i al
pains have been lavished to imbue it wi th this priceless quality It is .

a long silken gown o f the de epest blue colour wi th the wor d ,

“
lon gevi ty embroi d ered all over it in thread o f gold T o p resent .

an a ge d parent wi th one o f these cos tly a n d splen d i d man-ti es known ,

”
as lon gev ity garm e nts i s es teeme d by the C hi nese an act o f filial
“
,

piety a nd a d el i cate ma rk o f at tention As the garmen t purports to .

prolon g the li fe o f its owner he o ften wears it especially on fes tive

, ,

occas ions in or d er to allow the influence o f longevi ty created by the

, ,

m any gol d e n let ters wi th which it is bespan gled to work their full ,

eff ect upon his person On his b i r th d ay above all he hardly ever
.
, ,

fails to d on it for in China comm on sense bids a man lay in a large

,

stock o f vital energy on his bir th d ay to be expen d ed in the form of ,

heal th a n d vigou r durin g the res t o f the yea r A ttired in the gorgeous .

pall and abso rbin g its blessed influence at every pore the happy
, ,

owner receives com p lacen tly the con gratulations o f friends and rela
tions who warmly exp ress thei r a d mira tion o f these ma gnificent cere
,

ments a nd o f the filial pie ty which promp ted the ch i ldren to bestow so
,

b eauti ful a nd use ful a present on the au thor o f their be i ng .

Another application o f the maxim that like pro d uces like is seen in
the Chines e belief that the fortunes o f a tow n are deeply a ff ected by
its shape and tha t they m ust vary accordin g to the character o f the
,

thin g which that shap e m o st nearly resembles Thus it is relate d that

long ago the town o f Tsuen — cheu—
.

fu the outlines o f which are like

“

th o se of a carp frequen tly fell a prey to the depre d ations o f the neigh
b ou r ing city o f Yun g chun wh i ch i s shaped like a fishing—
,

-
,
net until ,

the inhabitan ts o f the fo rmer town conceived the pla n o f erecting

two tall pa godas in th eir mi d st These pa godas which s till tower .
,

above the ci ty o f Tsuen cheu fu have ever since exercised the happiest
- -
,

influence over i ts d estiny by intercep tin g the ima ginary n et be fore it

could descend and entan gle in its meshes the ima ginary carp S ome .

forty years a go the wis e men o f Shan ghai were much exercised to
discover the cause o f a local rebellion O n care ful enquiry they .

ascertained that the r ebellion wa s due to the shape o f a large new

temple wh i ch had m ost un for tunately been built in the shape o f a
tortoise an animal o f the very wors t character The difficulty was
, .

serious the d an ge r was p ressin g ; fo r to pull d own the temple would

,

have been im p i ous and to let it stand as it was w oul d b e to court a

succession o f similar or worse disas ters H oweve r the geni us of the .
,

local pro fess ors o f geomancy risin g to the occasion triumphantly , ,

surmounte d the d i fficul ty a n d obvia te d the dan ger By fillin g up two .

wells which rep resented the eyes of the to rtoise they at once blin d ed
, ,

tha t disreputable animal and rendere d him incapable o f d oin g further

m ischi e f .

S ometimes homoeopathic o r imitative magic is called in to an nul

38 S Y M PATH E TI C MA GI C CH .

m ista k en association o f i deas ; its physical basis i f we may spea k o f ,

such a thing like the physical bas is of Ho moeopathic M a gic i s a

, ,

material me d ium o f some sor t which like the eth er o f m odern physics
, ,

is assumed to uni te distant obj ects a n d to convey impressions from

one to the other The mos t familiar example o f Con tagious Magic is
.

the magical sympathy which is suppos ed to exist b etween a m an and

any severed por tion o f his person as his ha i r or nails ; so that whoever
“

gets possession o f human hair or nails may work his will a t any distance , ,

upon the person from whom they were cut Th i s supersti tion is world .

wi d e ; instances o f it in re gar d to hair an d nails will be noticed later

on in this w ork .

Amon g the Australian tribes it was a common practic e to knock

out one o r more o f a boy s front teeth at tho se cerem onies o f in itiation
’

to which every male member had to submit be fore he could enj oy the
ri ghts a nd p rivileges o f a full grown m an The reason of the practice
-
.

is obscure ; all that concerns us here i s the belief that a sympat hetic
relation continued to exist between the la d and his teeth a fter the
latter ha d been ex trac te d from his gum s Thus amon g s ome o f the .

tribes about the river Darlin g in New South Wales the extracted
, ,

tooth was placed under the bark o f a tree near a river o r water hole ; -

i f the bark grew over the too th or i f the tooth fell into the water all
, ,

was well ; but i f it were expos ed and the an ts ran over it the natives ,

believed that the boy would su ff er from a disease o f the mouth .

Among the M u rring and other tri bes o f N ew S outh Wales the extracte d
too th was at fi rs t taken ca re o f by an old m an and then passed from ,

one headman to ano ther until it had gone all round the community
, ,
’
when it came ba ck t o the lad s f ather and finally to the lad himself ,
.

B ut howev er it was thus conveyed from han d to hand it mi ght on no ,

ac count be p laced in a b ag c on taini ng m a gical substa nces for to do so ,

would they believed put the owner o f the tooth in great danger The
, ,
.

late Dr H owitt once acted as cust odian o f the teeth whic h had been
.

extracted from som e novices at a ceremony o f initia tion and the old ,

men earnes tly besou gh t him n ot to carry them in a b ag in which they

knew tha t he had some quar tz crystals They declare d that i f he did .

so the m agic o f the crys tals would pass in to the teeth and so inj ure ,
’
the boys N ea rly a year a ft er D r H ow itt s return fom the ceremony
. .

he was visited by one o f the p rincipal men o f the M urring tribe who had ,

travelled some tw o hundre d a n d fi fty miles f ro m hi s hom e to fetch

back the tee th This man explained that he ha d been sent for them
.

because one o f the boys had f allen into ill health a n d i t was believed ,

that the teeth had receive d som e inj ury which ha d a ffec ted him He .

wa s assured that the teeth had been kept in a box apart f rom any
substances like quar tz crysta ls which could influence them ; and he
, ,

returned home bearin g the teeth with him care fully wrapt up and
concealed .

The B asutos a re careful to conceal their ex tracte d teeth lest ,

these should fall in to the hands o f certain m ythica l b eings who haunt .

gra ves and w ho could harm the owne r o f the toot h by working magic
,
m CON T A GIOU S MA GI C 39

on it I n Sussex some fi fty years ago a maid-servant remonst rated

.

’
strongly a gainst the throwing away o f children s cast teeth a ffirming ,
’
that should they be found and gnawed by any animal the child s ,

new tooth would be for all the worl d like the teeth of the animal
, ,

that had bitten the old one In proo f o f this she named old Ma ster
.

’
Simmons who had a very large pi g s tooth in hi s up p er j aw a personal
, ,

defect that he always averre d was caused by his mother who threw ,

away one o f hi s cast teeth by accident int o the h- og s t rou gh A ’

.

similar belie f has led to practices inten d ed on the princi p les o f hom oeo ,

pathic ma gic to r ep l a ce o ld teeth by new and better ones

, Thus i n .

many parts of the world it is customary to p ut ex trac ted teeth in som e

place where they wil l be found by a m ouse or a rat in the hope that , ,

through the sym p athy which con tinues to subsist between them and
their form er owner his other te eth may acquire the same fi rmness and
,

ex cellence as the teeth o f these roden ts For example in Germany it .

,

is said to be an almost universal maxim among the people that when

you have had a tooth taken out you shoul d insert it i n a mouse s hole ’
.

’
To do so with a child s milk too th which has fallen out w ill p revent
-

the child f rom having toothache O r you should go behind the stove .

“
and throw your tooth backwards over your head saying Mouse , ,
”
give me your iron to oth ; I will give you my bone tooth A fter that '
.

your other teeth will remain good Far away from E urope at Rara .
,
’
tonga in the Pa cific when a child s tooth was extracted the following
, , ,

prayer used to be recited :

B ig r a t! li ttle ra t!
H er e i s m y old to o th .

P ray gi ve m e a n ew on e .

Then the tooth was thrown on the thatch o f the hous e because rats ,

make thei r nes ts in the decaye d tha tch The reas on a s si gned for .

’
invoking the rats on these occasions was that rats teeth were the
strongest known to the natives .

Other parts which are commonl y believed to remain in a sym

pathetic union with the body a fter the physical connex ion has been ,

severed are the nav el string an d the a fterb i rth includin g the placenta
,
-
, .

So intimate indeed is the union conceived to b e that the fo rtunes

, , ,

of the individual for good o r evil t hroughout li fe are o ften sup po sed
to be bound up with one or other of these portions o f his person so ,

that i f his navel strin g or a fterbirth i s p reserved and prop erly treated
-
,

he will be p rosperous ; whereas i f it be inj ured or l ost he will su ff er ,

accordingly Thus certain tribes o f Western Australia believe that a

.

man swims well or ill acc ording as his m other at his birth threw the
,

navel -strin g in to water or n ot Among the natives on the Penn efather

.

River in Queensland it is believed tha t a part o f the child s spirit (cho-i ) ’

stays in the a fterbirth Hence the grandmothe r takes the a fterbirth

.

away and buries it in the san d S he marks the spot by a number o f .

twi gs which she sticks in the ground in a ci rcle tying their tops to gether ,

so that the st ructure res em bles a cone When A nj ea the b eing who .
,
 40 SYM PATH E TI C MAGI C CH .

c auses c oncep tion in women by putting m u d babies into their wombs ,

comes alon g a n d sees the place he takes out the spiri t a n d carr i es it ,

a way to one o f his haunts such as a tree a hole in a rock or a la oon

, g , ,

where it may remain fo r yea rs B ut some time or other he w ill p ut the .

S pi ri t a gai n in to a baby a n d i t will b e born once mo re into the worl d

,
'

I n Ponape one o f the Caroline Islan d s the navel s tring is place d i n a

, ,
-

shell and then d isposed o f in such a way as shall bes t a d apt the child
fo r the career whic h the paren ts have chosen fo r him ; fo r ex am ple ,

i f they w ish to make him a goo d climber they w ill han g the navel ,

strin g on a tree The Kei islanders regard the navel s trin g as the
.
-

bro ther or sister o f the chil d accor d in g to the sex o f the in fan t They
,
.

put i t in a p ot wi th ashes a n d set it in the branches o f a tree that it

, ,

may keep a watch ful eye on the for tunes o f i ts comra d e Among the .

Bataks o f S uma tra as among many oth e r p eoples o f the I ndian A rchi
,

pela go the placen ta passes f or the chi l d s youn ger brother or sis ter
,
’

the sex being d e termine d b y the sex o f the chil d a n d it is bur i e d under
'

the house Accor d ing to the Ba taks it is bound up wi th the chil d s

.
’

wel fare and seems i n fact to be the seat of the trans ferable soul o f
, , , ,

which we shall hea r s ome thin g later on The Karo Bataks even a ffirm .

’
tha t o f a man s two souls i t i s the true soul that lives with the placen ta
under the house ; that is the soul they say which begets chil d ren , , .

The Bagan d a believe th at every person i s b orn with a double and I

,

this d ouble they i d enti fy wi th the a fterbi r th which they regar d as a ,

secon d child The m other buries the a fterbirth at the root o f a plantain
.

tree which then becom es sacred un til the fruit has r ipene d when it is
”

, ,

plucked to furnish a s acred feas t fo r the family Among the Cherokees

the navel str in g o f a gi rl is buried under a corn —
.

-
mor tar in order that ,

the girl may grow U p to be a goo d 'baker ; b ut the navel stri n g o f a boy -

is hun g up on a tree in the w oods in order that he may be a hunter , .

The Inc as o f Peru preserve d the navel strin g w ith the greates t care -
,

a n d gave it to the chi ld to suck whenever it fell ill I n ancien t M exico “

they used to give a boy s navel —

.

string to sol d iers to be buried by

’
,

them on a fi el d o f bat tle i n order that the boy mi gh t thus acquir e

,

a passion for war B ut the navel strin g o f a girl was buried besi de
“

-
.

the dom es ti c he a r th because this was believed to inspire her with a

,

love o f home a n d taste fo r cookin g a n d bakin g .

E ven in E urope many people still believe that a person s destiny

’

13 more or less boun d up wi th tha t o f his navel strin

g or a fterbirth
-

Thus i n Rhenish Bavaria the n a v el —

.

strin g i s kept for a while wrapt

up in a piece o f old linen a n d then cut or pricke d to pi eces according
,

as th e child i s a boy or a gi rl i n order tha t he or she may grow up to ,

be a skil ful workman or a good semps tress In B erlin the midwi fe .

commonly d elivers the d ri ed navel s trin g to the fa ther w ith a s trict -

inj unction to preserve it care fully for so lon g as it is kept the chil d ,

wi ll live and thrive and be free from sickness I n B eauce a n d Perche

the peopl e a re ca re ful to throw the navel —
.

”
s trin g ne ither into water
nor into fi re b elievin g that i f that were d one the chil d woul d be d rowned
,

or burned .
mt CON TA GI OU S MA GIC 41

Thus 1n many parts o f the worl d the navel — string or more commonly ,

the a fterbi r th i s regarde d as a living bein g the bro ther or sister o f

, ,

the in fan t or as the material obj ec t in wh i ch the guardian sp i rit o f

,

the ch i l d or par t o f its soul res i d es l

Fu rther the sympathe tic con .
,

nex ion suppose d to exist between a pers on a n d his a fterbi r th or navel

s tring comes out very clearly in the wi d espread cus tom of treatin g
the a fterbir th or navel s trin g in ways whi ch are supposed to influence
-

fo r li fe the charac ter a n d career o f the person makin g him if it i s a , ,

m an a nimble cl imber a s tr on g swimmer a skil ful hun ter or a brave

, , , ,

sol dier an d making her if it is a woman a cunnin g semps tress a goo d

, , ,
‘
,

b aker an d so for th
,
Thus the b elie fs and usages concerne d with the
.

a fterb i r th or placenta , an d to a less ex ten t wi th the navel str i n g presen t -

,

a remarka b le parallel to the wi d esprea d d oct rine o f the trans ferable or

ex tern al s oul a n d the cus toms foun d e d on it H ence it is har d ly rash .

to conj ec ture tha t the resemblance is no mere chance coinc i d ence b ut ,

tha t i n the a fterb i r th or p lac e n ta we have a physical basis (n ot m eces

sarily the only one ) for the theory a n d p rac ti ce o f the ex ternal soul

The cons i d eration o f that s ubj ec t 15 rese rve d fo r a la ter par t o f this work .

A curious appl ica tion o f the d oc trine o f con tagious ma gic is the
relation commonly bel i eve d to exist b e tween a woun d e d man and the
agent o f the wound so tha t wha tever is subsequently d one by or to “
,
,

the agent mus t correspon d i n gly a ffect the pat i ent e i ther for goo d or
ev il Thus Pliny tells us that i f you have woun d e d a man a n d a re
.

sorry for it you have only to spit on the han d tha t gave the woun d
, ,

a nd the
p ain o f the su fferer w ill be ins tan tly allevia te d In Melanes ia .
,

i f a man s fr i en d s get possession o f the arrow which wounded him

’
,

they keep it in a dam p place or in cool leaves fo r then the i nflammat i on ,

‘

will be triflin g an d will soon subs i de M ean time the enemy who shot .

the arrow is har d a t work to a ggravate the woun d b y all the means
-

in his power For thi s purpose he an d his frien d s d rink hot and
.

burning j uices a n d chew i rrit ating leaves for this w i ll clearly inflame ,

and irri tate the wound Fur ther they keep the bow near the fi re .
,

to make the woun d wh ich i t has i nflic te d hot ; a n d for the same
rea s on the
y
'

put the arrow —hea d i f it has been recovered into the , ,

fire M o reover they are care ful to keep the bow st ring taut and
.
,

to twa n g i t occas i onally fo r th i s will cause the woun d e d man to su ff er

,

from tens ion o f the nerves and s p asms o f tetanus

“
It is constan tly .

received and avouche d says Bacon that the ano i ntin g o f the
, ,
‘

weapon that m ak eth the wound will heal the wound itsel f I n th i s
‘

experimen t upon the rela tion o f men of cred it (though mysel f as yet
, , ,

am not fully inclined to bel i eve i t), you shall note the poin ts follow i n g .

first the oin tment wherewi th this 13 d o ne 15 made o f divers in gredien ts

, ,

whereo f the strangest an d har d est to come by are the moss upon the
skull o f a d ea d man unbur i e d and the fats o f a boar an d a bear killed,
”
in the act o f generation The precious o i n tm en t compoun d e d out
.

of these a n d other in gre d ients was applie d as the philosopher explains , ,

not to the woun d b ut to the weapon a nd tha t even though the inj ure d ,

m an was at a gre at d istance and knew no thin g a bout it The ex peri ‘

.
42 SYM PATH E T I C M A GI C an .

ment he tells us had been tried o f wipin g the ointment off the weapo n
, ,

wi thout the knowledge o f the person hu rt wi th the result that he ,

was presently in a great ra ge o f pain until the weapon was a n om ted '

again M oreover it is affirme d that i f you ca nno t get the weapon

.
,
“
,

yet i f you p u t an ins trument o f i ron or wood rese m blin g the weapon
‘

into the w ound whereby it b leedeth the anoint i ng o f that i nstrument

, ,
”
will s erve a n d w ork the e ff ect Remedies o f the sor t which B acon .

deeme d worthy o f his atten ti on are still in vo gue in the eastern counties
o f E n glan d Thus in S u ff olk i f a man cu ts him sel f with a bill hook
.
—
or a scy the he always takes ca re to k eep the weap o n b ri ght and oils '

it to preven t the wound from fester i ng If he runs a tho rn or as he . ,

calls it a bush i n to his han d he oils or greas es the extracted thorn

, ,
.

A man came to a doctor with an i nflamed han d havin g run a thorn ,

into it while he was he dgin g On bein g tol d that the hand w as fester .

ing he rema rke d

,
Tha t d i dn t ou ght to for I gre ase d the bush well
,
“ ’
,
”
a fter I pulled it out If a horse wounds its foot by treading on a
.

na i l a S u ff olk groom w ill i nvar iab ly preserv e the nail clean it and
, , ,

grease it every d ay to prevent the foo t from festerin g , Similarly .

Cambr idgeshi re l ab ourers th i nk that i f a horse has run a n a il into its

foot i t is necessary to grease the nail wi th la rd or oil and put it away
,

in some sa fe place o r the horse will not re cov er A f ew years ago a

, .

veterinary s ur geon was sent for to atten d a ho r se w hich had ripped

its si d e open on the hin ge o f a farm ga tepos t On arrivin g at the farm .

he found that nothin g had been d one fo r the wounded horse but that ,

a man w as busy try i n g to pry the hin ge out o f the ga tepost in or der
that it mi ght be greased and p ut away which in the opinion o f the , ,

Cambridge w-isea cres w oul d con d uce to the recovery o f the animal
'

, .

S imilarly E ssex rus tics opine that i f a m an has been stabbed with a ,

kni fe i t is essen tial t o hi s recovery that the kni fe sh oul d be greased

,

and lai d across the bed on which the suff erer i s lyi ng S o in Bavaria .

you are di recte d to anoint a l i nen rag wi th grease and ti e it on the edge
o f the axe that cut you takin g c are to keep the sha rp edge upwards ,
.

As the grease on the axe d ries your wound heals S imila rly in the , .

H arz M oun tains they say that i f you cut yoursel f you ou ght to smear ,

the kni fe or the scissors wi th fat and put the instrum ent away in a dry
place in the name o f the Father o f the S on and o f the H oly Ghost , ,
.

As the kni fe d ries the wound heals Other people however in Ger
, .
, ,

many say tha t you should stick the kni fe in som e damp place in the
ground and that y o ur hurt will heal as the kni fe rusts
, Others again . ,

in B avaria recommend you to smear the a x e o r whatever it is with

,

bloo d a n d p u t it un d er the eaves .

The train o f r ea s oning wh ich thus comm ends itsel f to E ngli sh and
German rustics in common with the savages o f M elanesia and America
, ,

is carri ed a s tep further by the abori gines o f Central Australia who ,

conceive tha t under certain ci rcums tan ces the near rela ti ons of a
woun d ed man must grease themselves res trict their diet and regulate , ,

thei r b ehaviour in o ther ways in or d er to ensure his recovery Thus .

w hen a lad ha s been circumcised and the w ound is not yet h ea led his ,
m CONTA GIOUS MAGI C 43

mother may not eat o possum or a ce rtain k ind o f liz a rd or c a rp et

, ,

snak e o r any kind o f fat for otherwise she would retard the hea lm g o f
, ,

the boy s wound E very day she greases her diggin g sticks and never
’
.
-

lets them out o f her s ight ; at ni ght she sleeps with them cl ose to her
head N o one i s allowed to touch them E very day al so she rubs her
. .

’
body all over with greas e as in some way this is believed to help her son s
,

recovery Another refinement o f the same p rinciple i s due to the

.

ingenuity o f the German peasant It is said that when one o f h1s p 1gs .

or sheep breaks its leg a farmer o f Rhenish Bavaria or Hess e will bind
,

up the leg o f a chair with banda ges and splints in due form For some .

days therea fter no one may s it on that chair move it or knock up , ,

against it ; fo r to do so would pai n the inj ured p ig or sheep an d h i nder

the cure In this last cas e it i s clear that we have p assed wholly out
.

of the re gion o f conta gious magic and in to the re gion o f homoeopathic

or imi tative magic ; the chair leg which is treated instead o f the beas t s
-
,
’

leg in no sense belongs to the an i ma l and t he applicat i on o f bandages to

, ,

it is a mere s i mulation o f the treatment which a more ra tional s urgery

would bestow on the real patient .

The sympathetic connexion supposed t o exist between a man and

the weapon which has wounded him is p ro bably foun de d on the no tion
that the blood on the weapon con tinues to feel wi th the bloo d i n hi s
body For a like reason the Papuans o f Tumleo an island off New
.
,

Guinea are car e ful to throw in to the sea the bloody bandages with
,

which their wounds have been dresse d for they fear that i f these rags ,

fell into the hands o f an enemy he mi ght inj ure them magically thereby .

Once when a man with a woun d in his m outh whi ch ble d constantly , ,

came to the missionaries to be treate d his faithful wi fe took grea t p a m s ,

to collect all the blood an d cas t it i nto the sea Strained a n d unnatural .

as this i d ea may seem to us it is perhaps less so than the beli ef that

,

magic sympathy is maintaine d b etween a person and his clo thes so ,

that whatever i s done to the clothes Will be felt by the man h i msel f ,

even though he may be far away a t the tim e I n the W otj ob aluk tribe .

of Victo ria a wizard would som e ti mes get hol d o f a man s opossum rug ’

and roast it slowly in the fi re and as he did so the owner o f the rug ,

woul d fall sick I f the wizar d consen ted to undo the charm he would
.
,

give the rug b ack to the si ck man s f riends biddin g them put it i n
’

,
“ ”
water s o as to wash the fire out
, When that h app ened the suff erer .
,

woul d feel a re freshing co olness an d probably recover I n Tanna one .

,

of the N ew H ebrides a man who ha d a grudge at ano ther an d d esired

,

his dea th would try to get po ssession o f a cloth which had touched the
’
sweat of hi s enemy s body If he succeeded he rubbe d the cloth .
,

care fully over with the leaves and twi gs o f a certain tree ro lled and ,

boun d clo th twi gs and leaves into a long sausage shaped bundle and
, ,
-
,

burned it slowly in the fire A s the bundle was consumed the victim
.
,

fell ill a n d when it was reduce d to ashes he died I n thi s last fo rm

, , .

of enchan tment however the ma gical sympathy may be supposed to

, ,

ex ist n o t s o much be ween the man and the cloth as be tween the man
‘

and the swe at which issued from his body B ut in other cases o f the .
44 SYM PATH E TI C MAGI C CH .

sam e sort it seem s that the garment by itsel f is enou gh tO give the
sorcerer a hold upon his v i ctim The witch i n Theocritus wh i le she . ,

melted an image or lump of wax in order that her faithless l over m 1ght
melt wi th love o f her di d not forget to throw in to the fire a shred o f his
,

cloak which he had d roppe d in her house I n Prussia they say that i f .

you canno t catch a thie f the nex t best thin g you can do i s to get hold
,

of a
garm ent which he may have shed in his fli gh t ; for i f you beat it
soundly the thie f will fall sick This belie f is fi rmly rooted in the
, .

popular mi nd S ome ei ghty or ninety years a go in the nei ghbourhood

. ,

o f Beren d a man was de tecte d tryin g to steal honey and fled leaving
, , ,

hi s coa t behind him When he heard that the enraged owner o f the
.

honey was mauling his los t coat he was so alarmed that he took to his ,

bed and d i e d .

A ga i n ma gic may be wrough t on a man sympathetically not only

, ,

r o u gh his clo thes a n d seve r e d par ts o f himsel f b ut als o throu gh the

th ,

1m p ress io n s le ft by his bo d y in san d or earth I n par ticular it is a .

,

worl d w i d e supers ti ti on tha t by inj urin g footprints you inj ure the fee t
-

tha t m ade them Thus the natives o f S ou th —

. eastern Australia think
tha t they can lame a man by placin g sharp pieces o f quartz glass bone , , ,

or charcoal in hi s footprin ts Rheumatic pains a re o ften a ttributed by

.

them to thi s cause S eein g a T a tungolung man ve ry lame M r H owitt

.
, .

“
aske d him what was the ma tter H e sai d some fellow has put b ottle .
,
”
in my foo t H e was su ff ering from rheuma tism but believed that an
.
,

enemy had foun d his foot trac k and had burie d i t in a piece o f broken
-

bo ttle the ma gical influence o f wh i ch had en tered his foot

, .

Simila r p rac tices p revail in var i ous par ts o f E urope Thus in .

M ecklenburg i t i s thou ght that i f you d ri ve a nail into a man s footprint ’

he will fall lame ; so me times it is requi red tha t the nail should be taken
from a co ffin A l i ke m o d e o f inj uring a n enemy i s resorted to in some
.

p a r ts of France It i s said that there was an old woman who used to

.

frequen t Stow in S u ff olk a n d she was a w i tch I f while she walked

, .
, ,

any one wen t a fter her an d s tuck a nail o r a kni fe into her footprin t in
the d us t the dame coul d not s ti r a step till it was wi thdrawn Amo ng
, .

the S ou th Slavs a girl will d ig up the earth from the footprints o f the
man she loves a n d p ut it in a flow er pot Then she plants in the pot -
.

a mari gol d a flower that is thou ght to be fadeles s And as its golden
, .

blossom grows a n d blooms a n d never fades so shall her sweetheart s ,

’

love grow and bloom a n d never never fade: Thus the love spell acts
, ,
-

on the man through the ear th he trod on An old Danish mode of .

concludin g a trea ty was base d on the same i d ea o f the sympathetic

connexi on between a man a n d his footp rints : the c ovenan tin g parties
’
sprinkled each o ther s foo tprints with thei r own blood thus giving a ,

ple dge o f fi d eli ty I n ancien t Greece supers ti tions o f them

.
rt
seem t o have been curren t for it was thou gh t that if a horse s tepped on
,

the track o f a wo l f he was seize d wi th numbness and a max im ascribed

to Py tha goras forbade people to pierce a man s footprints wit h a nail
-
’

or a kni fe .

The s am e sup er stitio n is t urned to account by hunters in m any

 46 YM PA T H E T IC M A G I C on .

ca reer could offer cuter minds perceive how easy it i s to dupe

.
'

their weaker brot er and to play on his superstiti on for thei r own
a d vantage N ot tha t the sorcerer i s always a knave a n d impos tor ;
.
-

he is o ften sincerely convince d that he really possesses those wonder ful

powers which the cre d uli ty o f his fellow s ascribes to him B ut the .

more sagacious he is the more likely he i s to see through the fall acies
,

which impose on duller wi ts Thus the ablest m embers of the p ro

.

must ten d to be more or less consc i ous d ece ivers ; and it is

j ust these m en who in virtue o f thei r superio r ability will generally
come to the top and win for themselves posi tions o f the hi ghest di gnity
and the mos t commanding author ity The pi tfalls w hich beset the .

path o f the pro fessional s orcerer a re many and as a rule only the man ,

o f coolest he d and sharpest wit w ill be able to steer hi s way throu gh

them sa fely 7 For it mus t always be remembered that every single

.

pro fession an d claim put forward by the m agician as s uch i s false ;

not one o f them can be maintained without d eception conscious or ,

ngly the sorcerer who sincerely believes in his

own extrava gan t pretens ions is in fa r greater peril and is m uch more
likely to be cu t short i n his career than the deliberate impostor The .

honest wizard alw a ys expects that hi s charm s and incan ta tions will
‘

produce their supposed e ffect ; a n d when they fail not only really as , ,

they always do but consp icuously a nd disastrously as they o ften do

, , ,

he is taken aback : he i s not like his knavish c ollea gue ready with a
, ,

plausible excuse t o account for the failure an d befor e he can find one ,

he may be knocked on the head by his disappointed and an gry

_em p lo _y ers .

The general result is that at this stage o f social evolution the

supreme power tends to fall into the hands o f m en o f the keenes t
\in tell igence and the most unscrupulous character I f we could balance .

T he harm they do by thei r knavery a gainst the benefits they con fer
b y their superior sa gaci ty it mi ght well be found that the good greatly
,

ou tweighed the evil For mo re m ischie f has p robably been w rought

.

in the world by honest fools in hi gh places than by i ntelli gent rascals .

Once your shrew d ro gue has attaine d the height o f his ambitio n and ,

has no lon ger any selfi sh end to further he may and o ften does turn , , ,

his talents his experience his resources to the service o f the public
, , , .

Many m en who have been least scrupulous i n the acqui sition o f power
have been most b en eficent in the use o f i t w hether the power they ,

a imed at and won was that o f wealth political authority or what not , ,
.

In the fiel d o f politics the wily i ntri guer the ruthless vic to r may end by , ,

bein g a wise and ma gnanimous ruler blessed i n his li fetime lamented

, ,

at hi s dea th admi red and applau d ed by posterity

, S uch men to .
,

take two o f the m ost conspicuous instances were Julius Caesar and ,

Au gustus B ut once a fool always a fool and the greater the power
.
,

in hi s hands the more disastrous is likely to be the us e he makes o f it .

The heaviest calamity in E n glish history the breach wi th Ameri ca ‘ ,

migh t n ever have occurre d i f George the Third ha d not been a n

hone st dulla rd .
 THE
’
III MAGI CIA N S PRO GR E S S
Thus so far as the public pro fession o f magic a ff ected
,

stitution o f sava ge society it ten d e d to place the control o f,

the hands o f the ablest man : i t shi fte d the balance o f power
many to the one : it substitute d a monarchy f or a d emocracy o r ,

rather fo r an ol igarchy o f old m en ; for in gener a l the savage com

munity is rule d not by the whole bo dy o f ad ult males b ut by a council
, ,

of elders The change by whatever causes p roduced and whatever

.
, ,

the character o f the early rulers was on the whole very beneficial , .

For the rise o f monarchy appears to be an essential con d i tion o f the

emergence o f mankin d from sava gery No human b eing i s so hide .

b ound by custom and tra d iti on as your democratic sava ge ; i n no

state of society consequen tly is p ro gress so slow and d i fficult The .

old not i on that the savage is the frees t o f mank i nd is the reverse o f the

tru th. H e is a slave not i n d eed to a visible master but to the pas t
, , ,

to the spirits o f his dead fore fa thers who haunt hi s s teps from birth ,

to death and rul e hi m with a rod o f iron

, What they d i d is the pattern .

of r ight the unwrit ten law to which he yiel d s a blin d unquestionin g

,

obed ience The least possible scope is thus a ff or d ed to superior talen t

.

to chan ge old cus toms for the bet ter The ablest man i s d ragged .

down by the weakest a nd d ulles t who necessarily sets the stan d ard , ,

since he cannot rise while the other can fall The sur face o f such
, .

a society presents a u ni form d ead level so fa r as it is humanly possible ,

to reduce the na tural inequalities the immeasurable real di ff erences ,

of inborn capaci ty and temper to a false superficial appearance o f ,

equali ty From this low and stagnant condit i on o f a ff airs which

.
,

d emagogues a n d d reamers in later times have lau d e d as the i deal state ,

the Gol d en A ge o f humanity everythin g that helps to ra ise so cie ty

, ,

by opening a career to talen t and p roportionin g the d e grees o f authori ty

to men s natural abili ties deserves to b e welcome d by all who have
’
,

the real good o f their fello w s a t heart Once these eleva tin g i nfluences
have b egun to operate and they cannot b e for ever suppressed—the
.

progress o f civilisation becomes comparatively rapi d The rise o f .

one man to sup reme power enables him to carry through chan ges in a
single li fetime which prev iously many generations mi ght not have
sufficed t o e ff ect ; and if as will o f ten happen he is a man of i n tellect
‘

, ,

and ener gy above the common he will rea d ily avail himsel f o f the
,

oppor tuni ty E ven the whim s and caprices o f a tyran t m ay be o f

.

service in breaking the chain o f custom which lies so heavy on the

s avage A n d as s o on as the tribe ceases to be sw a y ed by the timid
.

and divi ded counsels o f the elder s and yields to the direction o f a ,

single stron g and resolute m in d it becomes formid able to i ts ne igh ,

bours and enters on a career o f aggrandisement which at an early ,

stage of his tory is o ften hi ghly favourable to social in d ustrial a nd , ,

intellec tual pro gress For ex ten d ing i ts sway pa rtly by force o f arms
.
, ,

partly by the voluntary submission o f weaker t ribes the community ,

soon acqui res w ea l th an d slaves both o f which by relievi ng some , ,

classes from the perpetual struggle for a bare subsistence a ff ord them ,

an o pp ortuni ty o f devo tin g thems elves to that disinterested

p ursuit
 48 SYM PATH E TI C MAGI C CH .

o f k nowled ge which i s the noblest a nd most power ful instrument to

ameli orate the lot o f man .

I ntellectual progress which reveals i tsel f in the gr ow th o f art and

,

science an d the sprea d o f more l iberal views canno t be dissociated from ,

indus trial or economic pro gress and that in its turn receives an i mmense
,

impulse from conques t a n d empire It is no mere a cci d en t that the.

most vehement ou tburs ts o f activi ty o f the human mind have followed

close on the heels o f victory a n d tha t the grea t conquerin g races of the
,

worl d have commonly d one mos t to advance and sp read civili sation ,

thus healin g in peace the wounds

M eted in war The Baby .

l onians the Greeks the Romans the A r abs are our w itnesses in the
, , ,

pas t : w e may yet live to see a si m ilar outburst in Japan N o r to .

,
‘

1 e 1n o un t the stream o f his tory to i ts sources is it a n accident that ,

all the fi rst grea t stri des towards civil i sation have been m a d e under
d espotic and theocratic governmen ts l i ke those o f E gypt B abylon , , ,

and Peru where the sup reme rule r claime d and receive d the servile
,

alle giance o f his subj ec ts in the d ouble charac ter o f a kin g and a god .

It i s har d ly too much to say that at this e a rly epoch d espo tism is the
bes t friend o f humani ty a n d paradoxical as it m ay sound o f liberty
For a fter all there is more liberty i n the bes t s ense—liber ty to think
, , .

our own though ts an d to fash i on our ow n des ti nies— un d er the most

absolute despo tism the most grindin g tyranny than under the apparent
, ,
’
free d om o f sava ge li fe where the in d iv i dual s lot is cast from the cra dle
,

to the grave i n the i ron mould o f hereditary custom .

S o fa r there fore as the pub l ic p ro fession o f magic has b een one of

, ,

the roads by which the ablest men have passed t o supreme power it ,

has contribu ted to emancipate mankind from the thraldom o f tradi tion
a n d to eleva te them in to a lar ger freer li fe wi th a broader outlook on
, ,

the worl d Th i s is no small service ren d ered to humanity And when

. .

we remember further that in another d irection magic has paved the

L way f or sci ence
,
we are forced to admi t that i f the black a rt has done
( much evil i t has also been the source o f much ood tha t i f it is the
, g ;
child o f error it has yet been the m other o f freedom and truth
, .

CHA PT E R I V

MA GI C AND RE LI G I O N

THE examples collected in the last chapter may su ffice to ill us trate the
general principles o f sympathe tic ma gic in i ts two branches to which ,

w e have given the nam es o f H om o pa thi c and Conta gious respectively .

I n s om e cases o f magic which hav e come be fore us w e have seen that

the o pera ti on o f spirits is assume d a n d that an a ttemp t is ma d e to win
,

their favour by prayer and sacrifice B ut thes e cases are on the w hole .

excep tional ; they exhibi t magic tinged an d alloyed w ith religio n .

W herever sympathetic ma gic occurs in its pure unadulterated f orm ,

IV MA GI C A ND RE LIGION 49

it assumes th at in nature one event follows another necessarily and

invariably with out the intervention o f any spi ritual or personal
agency Thus its fun d amen tal concep ti on is identical with tha t o f
.

mo d ern science ; un d erlying the whole system is a faith implici t but ,

real and firm in the order and uni formity o f nature The ma gician
, .

does not d oubt that the same causes will always produce the same
effects that the performance o f the pro p er ceremony accompan i e d
, ,

by the appro priate spell ; wi ll inevitably b e at tended by the desi red

result unless indee d hi s incanta tions should chance to be thwa rted
, , ,

and foiled by the more potent charms o f another sorcerer H e suppli .

ca tes no higher power : he sues the favour o f no fickle and wayward

being : he abases himsel f b e fore no aw ful deity Yet his power grea t .
,

as he beli eves it to be i s by no means arbitrary a nd unl imited H e

, .

can wield it only so long as he strictly c on forms to the rules o f his art ,

or to wha t may be calle d the laws o f nature as conceive d by him To .

neglect these rules to bre ak these laws in the smallest par ticular is to
, ,

incur failure and may even expose the unskil ful practi tioner himsel f
,

to the utmost peril I f he c laims a soverei gnty o ver nature i t is a

.
,

constitutional soverei gnty ri go rously limite d in its scope and exerc i sed
in exact con formi ty wi th ancien t usage Thus the analo gy be tween the
.

magical and the sci enti fic conceptions of the world i s close I n both .

of them the success ion o f even ts is assume d to be per fec tly regular an d
certain bein g determined b y immutable laws the operation o f which can
, ,

be foreseen and calculate d precisely ; the elem ents o f capr i ce o f chance , ,

and o f accident are banishe d from the course o f n a ture B o th o f them .

open up a seemin gly boun d less vista o f poss ibili ties to him w ho knows
the causes o f thin gs and can touch the secre t sprin gs that set in mo ti on
the vast and intrica te mechani sm o f the worl d H ence the s trong .

attraction w hich magic a n d science alike have exercise d on the human

mind ; hence the power ful stimulus tha t bo th have given to the pursuit
of knowle dge They lure the weary enquirer the footsore seeker on
.
, ,

through the wil d erness o f d i sappointment in the present by their

endless promises o f the future : they take him up to the top of an
exceedin g hi gh mountain and show him beyond the dark clouds and ,

rolling mists at his feet a vis i on of the celes tial city fa r off it may be
, , , ,

b ut ra d iant with u nearthly splendour bathed in the li ght o f dreams

, .

The fatal flaw o f ma gic lies not in its general assump tion o f a
.

sequence o f events d e termined by law but in its t otal misconcep tion

,

of the nature o f the

p ar ticular laws which govern that sequence If .

we analy se the vari ous cases o f sympathetic ma gic which have been
passed in review in the preceding pages and which may be t aken as ,

fair samples o f the bulk we shall find as I have already in d i ca te d

, , ,

that they are all m istaken appli ca tions o f one or o ther of two great
fundamen tal laws o f thou ght namely the associa tion o f ideas by
, ,

similarity and the association of ideas by con ti guity in space or time .

A mistaken association o f s imilar i deas pro d uces homoeopat hi c or

imitative ma gic : a mistaken association of conti guous idea s produces
conta gious magic The principles o f association are excellent in
.

E
50 MA GIC AN D RELIGI ON CH .

themselves and indeed ab s olutely essential to the working o f the human

,

mind Legitima tely appli e d they yiel d sci ence ; ille git ima tely appl i ed
.

they yiel d magic the bas tar d si s ter o f science It i s there fore a tru i sm
, . ,

alm os t a tautolo gy to say tha t all ma gic is necessarily false and barren ;
,

fo r were it ever to become t rue a n d frui tful it woul d no lon ger be ma gic ,

but science From the e a rl i es t times man has been en ga ged in a

.

s earch fo r general rules whereby to turn the or d er o f natural phenomena

to his own a d van ta ge a n d in the lon g search he has scraped to ge ther
,

a great hoar d o f such maxims some o f them golden and some o f them ,

mere dross The true or go ld en rules constitute the body o f applie d

.

science whi ch we call the ar ts ; the false a re magic .

I f ma gic is thus nex t o f kin to sc i ence we have still to enquire how ,

it stan d s rela te d to r eli gion B ut the v i ew we take of that relation .

will necessarily be coloure d by the i d ea which w e ha ve formed of the

nature o f religion i tsel f ; hence a wri ter may reasonably be expected
to d efine his concep tion o f reli gion be fore he proceeds to investi gate
i ts rela ti on to magic There is probably no subj ect in the world about
.

which opinions d i ffer so much as the na ture o f reli gion and to fram e ,

a d efini ti on o f it which would sati s fy every one must obviously be

i mpossible All that a writer can d o is first to say clearly wh at he
.
, ,

m eans by reli gion and a fterwards t o employ the word c onsistently in

,

that sens e throughou t hi s work B y reli gion then I understand a .

, ,

propi tiation or concilia tion o f powers superio r to man which are

believed to direct a n d control the course of n a ture an d o f human li fe .

Thus defined reli gion consists o f two elements a theoretical and a

, ,

practica l namely a belie f in powers hi gher than man and an attempt

, ,

to propitiate or please them O f the two belie f clearly comes first .

, ,

since we must beli eve i n the existence of a divine bein g be fo re we can

attempt to pleas e him B ut unl ess the belie f leads to a corresponding .

p ractice it is not a religion but merely a theolo gy ; in the language of

,
”
St James faith i f it hath not w o rks i s dead bein g alone
.
,
“
, In other , , .

wor d s no man i s r eli gious who does not govern his conduct in some
,

m easure by the fear or lov e o f God On the other hand mere prac tice .
, ,

d ives te d o f all reli gi ous beli ef is also not reli gion Two men may , .

behave in exactly the same way and yet one o f them may be reli gious ,

and the other n ot If the one acts fro m the love or fea r o f God he is
.
,

reli gious ; i f the o ther acts from the lov e or f ear o f man he is moral ,

or immoral accord i ng as his behaviou r comports o r conflicts with the

general good H ence belie f a n d p r actice or in theolo gical lan guage
.
, ,

faith and works are equally essen tial to reli gion which cannot exist ,

without bo th o f them But it i s not necessary that reli gious practice .

should always take the f orm of a ritual ; that i s it need not consist ,

in the o ff erin g o f sacrifice the recitation o f prayers and other outwar d , ,

cerem onies Its aim i s to please the deity and i f the deity is one who
.
,

d eli ghts in charity and mercy and purity more than in oblations of
blood the chantin g o f hymns and the fumes o f incense his worshippe rs
, , ,

will best please him n ot by pr o strating themselves before him b y , ,

intonin g his praises and by fillin g hi s tem p les with costly gi fts b ut
, ,
IV MAG IC A N D RE LI GI O N 51

by being pure and merci ful and chari table towards men for in so doin g ,

they will im itate so far as human i nfirmity allows the per fections o f
, ,

the d ivine na ture It was this ethical side o f reli gion which the
.

’
Hebrew prophets inspire d wi th a noble i deal o f God s goodness and
,
“
holiness were never weary o f inculca ting Thus M icah say s : H e
,
.

hath shewed thee O man what is good ; and wh at doth the Lord
, ,

require of thee but to do j ustly and to love m ercy and to walk humbly
, , ,

with thy God And at a later time much o f the force by which
Christianity conquered the w orld wa s drawn from the s ame high
conception o f God s m oral nature an d the d uty laid o n men o f con
’

“”
forming themselves to it Pure reli gion and un defiled says St
.
,
.

James before God and the Father is this To visi t the fa therless a n d
, ,

wi d ows in thei r a fflicti on and to keep himsel f unspot ted from the
,
”
world .

But i f reli gion i nvolves fi rs t a belie f in superhuman bein gs who

, ,

rule the world an d s econ d an attempt to win their favour it clearly

, , , ,

assumes that the cours e o f nature i s to some ex tent elastic or variable ,

and that we can persua d e or induce the m i ghty beings who con trol it

to d eflect for our ben efit the current o f events fr o m the channel in
, ,

which they would o therwis e flow Now this impli e d el a s tic ity or
.

v ariabili ty of nature is directly opposed to the princ iples o f magic as

well as o f science both o f w hich assume that the processe s o f nature
,

are ri gid and invariable in their operation and that they can as li ttle ,

be turned from thei r course by persuas i on and entrea ty as by threats

and in timi d ation The dis tinction between the two confl i ctin g view s
.

of the universe turns on their answer to the crucial question A re the ,

forces which govern the world conscious and personal or uncons cious ,

and impersonal ? Religion as a conci liation o f the superhum an powers

, ,

assumes the form er member of the alternative For all conciliation .

implies that the being conciliate d is a conscious or personal agent ,

that his con d uct i s i n some measure uncertain and that he can be ,

prevailed upon to vary it in the desired directio n by a j u d icious appeal

to his interests his appetites or his emo tions Concil i a tion is never
, , .

empl oye d towards things which are regarded as inanimate nor towards ,

persons whose behaviour in the par ticular circums tan ces is known to
be determine d wi th absolute cer tainty Thus in so far as religi on .

a ssumes the world to be d irected by conscious a ents who may be

g
turned from thei r purpose by persuasion it stan d s in fundamental ,

antagonism to magic as well as to science both o f which take for ,

grante d that the cours e o f na ture i s determine d n o t by the pass i ons or ,

ca pr i ce o f personal bein gs but by the operation o f immutable laws

,

acting mechanically : In ma gic in d ee d the assumption i s only impl i cit

, , ,

but in science it i s explicit It i s true th a t magic o ften d eals wit h

.

spirits which are personal agents of the kind assum ed by reli gion ; but
,

whenever it d oes so in its proper form i t treats them exactly i n the ,

same fashion as it treats inanimate a gen ts that is it constrains or , ,

coerces instead of concili ating or prop itiating them as reli gion would
do Thus i t assumes that all personal bein gs whether human or di vi ne
.
, ,
52 MA GI C A N D RELIGION ca .

a re in the last reso rt subj ect to those impersonal force s which cont rol
all things but which nevertheless can be turned to account by any one
,

who knows how to m anipula te them b y the approp riate ceremo nies; '

an d spells I n ancient E gypt fo r example the magic ians claimed thf

.
, ,

power o f comp elling even the highest gods to do thei r bidding and ,

actually threatened them w ith d estruct ion in cas e o f disobedience - .

Somet i mes without goin g qui te so far as that the wizard d eclared that
, ,

he woul d scatter the bones o f Osi ris or reveal his sacre d legend i f the ,

god p roved contumacious S imilarly in I ndia at the present d ay the

.

great H in d oo trinity i tself o f B rahma Vishnu and Siva i s subj ect to

‘
“

, ,

the sorcerers who by m eans o f thei r spells exercise such an ascendency

, , ,

over the mightiest deities that these are bound submissively to ex ecu te
,

on earth b elow or in heaven above whatever comman d s thei r masters

, ,

the magicians may please to issue There is a sayin g everywhere .

cur ren t i n India : The whole universe is s ubj ect to the gods ; the
“

go d s are subj ect to the sp el ls (m a n tra”s ) the sp ells to the B rahmans ;

there fore the B rahmans are our gods .

This radica l conflict o f princi ple between magic and religion suffi
ciently explains the relentless hostil ity with which i n his tory the p riest
has o ften p ursued the magi cian The haughty sel f sufficiency o f the
'

.
-

m agi c i an hi s arro gant demeanour towards the hi gher p owers and his
, ,

unabashe d claim to exercis e a swa y like theirs could not but revolt the
riest to whom with his aw ful sense o f the divine maj esty and his
p
, , ,

umble prostration in p resence o f it such claims and such a demeanour ,

must have appeared an impious and blasphem ous usurpation o f pre

ro gatives tha t belon g to God alone And sometimes we may sus pect .
, ,
’
lower motiv es concu rred to whet the edge o f the priest s hos tility He .

p ro fessed to be the prop er m edi um the true intercessor between God ,

and man a n d no doubt hi s interests a s well as his feelings were often

,

inj ure d by a rival p ractitioner who preached a surer and smoother road ,

to fortune than the rugged and s lippery path o f divine favour

'

Yet this a n ta gonism famili ar as it is to us seems to have made its

, ,

appearance comparatively late i n the hi story o f religio n At an earlier .

stage the functions o f priest and sorcerer were o ften combined or to ,

speak perhaps m ore correctly were not yet di fferentiated from each ,

other To serve his purpose man wooed the good -will o f gods or s p i rits
’

.
,

by prayer and sac rifi ce while at the sam e time he had recourse to
,

ceremonies and form s o f words which he hop ed Would of themselves

brin g about the desi red resul t without the help o f god o r devil In .

short he per formed reli gi ous and magical rites simultaneously ; he

,

uttered prayers and incantations almost i n the same breath knowing or '
,

r eckin g li ttle of the theoretical i ncons i stency o f his behav i our so l ong ,

as by hook or crook he contrived t o get what he wanted I nstances .

o f this fusion or con fusion o f ma gic with religion ha ve already met us

in the practices o f Melanesians and o f other peo ples .

The sam e con fusion o f ma gic and religion has survived among
p eoples that have risen to hi gher level s o f culture It was ri fe in ancient .

India and ancient E gyp t ; it i s by no means ex tinct among E urop ean

54 MA GI C AND RE L I GI ON en
.

so strained in consequence that the bishop has had to translate the

rector to another b enefice Agai n Gascon pe a sants bel ieve that to
.
,

reven ge themselves on thei r enemi es b a d men will som et1m es 1nduce

a pries t to say a mass called the Mass o f Sain t Sé ca ire Very few .

p ri ests know thi s mass and three four ths o f those who do know it
,
-
'

woul d not say it for love or money None b ut wicke d p r 1es ts dare to
.

per form the gruesome ceremony and you may be qui te sure that they
,

will hav e a very heavy accoun t to ren d er for it at the last day No .

curate or bishop not even the archbishop o f Auch can pardon them ;
, ,

tha t ri ght belon gs to the pope of Rome alone The Mass o f Saint .

Sé ca i re may be said only i n a ruined or d eserte d church where owls ,

mope a n d hoot where bats fl it in the gloaming where gypsies lodge of

, ,

n igh ts and where toads squat under the d esecrated altar Thither the
,
.

b a d pri est comes by ni gh t with his li ght 0 love and at the fi rs t stroke
’
,

o f eleven he begins to mumble the mass b a ckwards and ends j ust as ,

the clocks are knellin g the midni ght hour H i s leman acts as clerk
. .

The host he blesses is black and has three points ; he consecrates no

wine b ut ins tea d he drinks the water o f a well into which the bo dy of
,

an unbap tize d i n fant has been flung H e makes the si gn o f the cross
.
,

but it i s on the ground a n d wi th hi s left foot And many other things .

he does which no good Chris tian could look upon wi thout being s truck
blin d and deaf and dumb for the rest o f his li fe B ut th o man for who m .

the mass is sai d wi thers a way li ttle by little and nobody can say what
,

i s the m atter wi th him ; even the d oc tors can make nothin g of it ,

They do not kno w that he is slowly dyin g o f the Mass o f Saint Sé cai re .

Yet though magi c is thus foun d to fuse and amal gamate with
reli gion in many ages and in many lands there are some grounds for
,

thinkin g tha t thi s fusion is not p rim i tive and that there was a time
,

when man truste d to magic alone for the satis faction o f such wants as
transcended his imme d ia te animal cravings I n the fi rst place a con .

sideration o f the fundamental no tions o f magic and reli gion may incline
us to surmise that ma gic is ol d er than reli gion i n the hi story o f human
i ty We have seen that on the one hand magi c is nothing but a mis taken
.

applica tio n o f the very simplest and most elem entary processes o f the
mind n a mely the association o f i deas by virtue o f resemblance or
,

con ti gui ty ; a n d that on the other hand reli gion assumes the operation
o f conscious or personal a gents s uperio r to man behind the visible
, ,

screen o f na ture Obviously the concep tion o f personal agents i s more

.

complex than a s imple reco gnition o f the similarity o r conti guity of

ideas ; and a theory which assumes that the course o f nature is deter
mi ne d by consc i ous a gent s is more abstruse a nd recondi te and requires
'

for its apprehension a fa r hi gher d e gree o f intelli gence and reflection ,

than the view tha t th ings succee d each other simply by rea son o f their
con ti gui ty or resem b lance The very beasts associate the i deas of
.

thin gs that a re like each o ther o r tha t have been found to gether in their
experi ence ; an d they could hardly survive fo r a d ay i f they ceased to
d o so B ut who at tribu tes to the animals a belie f that the phenomen a
.

o f nature are w ork ed by a m ultitude o f invisible animals or by one

IV MAGI C A ND R E LI GIO N 55

enormous and prodi giously stron g animal behind the scenes ? It i s

probably no inj ustice to the brutes to assume that the honour o f
devising a theory o f this latter sort must be res erved for human reason .

Thus i f magic b e deduced imme d iately from elemen tary processes o f

,

reasoning and be in fac t an error i nto which the mind falls a lmos t
, , ,

spontaneously while r eli gion rests on concep tions which the merely
,

animal intelligence can hardly be supposed to have yet attained to ,

it becomes p robable that ma gi c arose be fore reli gion in the evolution

of our race and tha t man essayed to bend nat ure to his wi shes by the
,

sheer force o f spells a n d enchantmen ts be fore he s trove to coax a n d

molli fy a coy capricious o r i rascible d ei ty by the so ft i nsinua tion o f
, ,

prayer a nd s acr i fice .

The conclus ion which we have thus reache d d educ tively from a
consideration o f the fundamental i d eas o f ma gic a n d reli gion is con
firmed inductively by the observat i on that among the aborigines o f
Austral ia the rud est sava ges as to whom w e possess accurate in forma
,

tion ma gic i s un ivers ally practised whereas rel igion i n the sense o f a
, ,

prop itiation or concil iat ion of the hi gher powers seems to be ne a rly
unknown Roughly speaking all men in Australia are magicians but
.
, ,

not one is a priest ; everybo d y fancies he can i nfluen ce his fellows or

the course o f na ture by sympathe ti c ma gic b ut nobody d reams o f ,

prop itia ting gods by prayer a n d sacr ifice .

But i f in the mos t backwar d sta te o f human society now know n

to us we find ma gic thus conspicuously present a n d rel igi on consp i cu
ously absen t may we not reasonably conj ec ture tha t the civ i l i se d races
,

of the world have also at some per i o d o f their h i story passed throu gh

a similar intellectual phase tha t they attempte d to force the great ,

powers of nature to do the i r pleasure be fore they though t o f courting

their favour by o fferin gs and prayer—in short that j ust a s on the ,

ma terial si d e o f human cul ture there has everywhere been an A ge o f

Stone so on the intell ectual si d e there has everywhere been an A ge o f
,

Magic ? There are reasons for answer in g this question in the a ffirm a
tive When we survey the existin g races o f mankin d from Greenland
.

to Tierra del Fnego o r from Sco tlan d to S ingapore we observe that

, ,

they are d i st i n guished one from the other by a great varie ty o f reli gions ,

a nd that these dis tinc tions are not so to speak m erely co terminous , ,

w ith the broad dis tinctions o f race but descen d in to the minuter sub ,

d ivisions o i states and commonweal ths nay that they honeycomb the , ,

town the village a n d even the family so that the sur face o f s oc i ety all
, , ,

p ver the worl d i s cracked and seamed sappe d and mine d w ith ren ts and ,

fissures and yawnin g crevasses opene d up by the d is integra tin g influence

of reli gious d i ssension Yet when we have penetrated through these
.

di fferences which a ff ect mainly the intelli gent and thou ght ful part of
,

the communi ty we shall find underlying them all a solid stratum o f

,

intellectual a greement among the d ull the weak the i gnoran t and the , , ,

superstitious who cons titut e un fortunately the vast maj ority o f

, , ,

mankin d One o f the great achievements o f the nineteen th Century

.

was to run sha fts down into this low mental stratum in many par ts o f
56 M A G I C A N D RE L I G I ON on .

the wo rld and thus to discover its substantial identity everywhere

It is benea th our feet—and not very far benea th them—here i n E urope
.
,

at the present day an d it cr 0 ps up on the sur face in the hea r t o f the

,

Australian wilderness a n d wherever the adven t o f a hi gher Ci v ilisatio n

has not crushed it un d er groun d This universal faith thi s truly
. ,
.

Catholic creed is a belief in the e fficacy o f magic While rel i gious

,
.

sys tems di ff er not only in di ff eren t coun tr i es b ut in the same country ,

in d i ff erent a ges the sys tem o f sympa the tic ma gic remains everywhere
,

a n d a t all times substan tially al i ke in its principles a n d p ractice .

Among the ignorant an d supers titious classes o f modern E urope it is

very much what it was thousands o f years ago in E gypt a nd I ndia and ,

what it now is amon g the lowest savages survivin g in the remotest

corners o f the w o rld I f the test o f truth lay in a show of hands or a
.

coun tin g o f hea d s the sys tem o f magic m ight app eal wi th fa r more
'

, ,
“
r eason than the Ca thol i c Church to the proud m otto , Q ua d s em per -
, ,
”
q u od u bi q u e q u ad a b om ni b us
,
as the sure a n d certai n creden tial of its
,

own i n fallibili ty .

It is not our business here to consider what b earin g the permanent

exis tence o f such a solid layer o f s avage ry beneath the surface of
socie ty a n d una ff ected by the superficial chan ges o f reli gion and culture
, ,

has upon the fu ture o f human ity The dispassionate observer whose
.
,

stu d ies have led him to plumb its dep ths can hardly regard it other ,

wise than as a standin g menace to civ il isation We seem to move .

on a thin crust which may a t any moment be rent by the sub terranean
forces slumberin g below From t i me to time a hollow murmur under
.

ground or a su dd en S pi rt o f flam e into the air tells o f what is goin g on

beneath our feet N ow an d then the polite worl d is startled by a
.

paragraph in a newspaper which tells how in S cotlan d a n image has .

b een foun d stuck full o f pins fo r the purpose o f killing an obnoxious

v

laird or minis ter how a woman ha s been slowly roasted to dea th as a

,

wi tch in I relan d or how a girl has been murdered and chopped up in

,
-

Russia to make thos e can d les o f human tallow by whose l ight thieves
h 0 pe to pursue thei r mi d ni ght trade unseen B ut whether the in .

fl uen ce s tha t m ak e fo r further p ro gress or those that threaten to ,

undo what has al rea d y been accomplished will ultimately prevail ; ,

whether the impulsive energy o f the minority or the dead wei ght of
the maj ori ty o f mankin d will prove the stron ger force to carry us up
to hi gher he ights or to sink u s i n to lowe r depths are questions rather ,

fo r the sa ge the moral i st a nd the statesman whose ea gle vi sion scans

, , ,

the future than fo r the humble student o f the p res en t and the past
, .

H ere we are only concerned to ask how far the uni formi ty the univer ,

sal i ty and t he permanence o f a beli ef i n ma gic

,
compared with the ,

en d less var i ety and the shi ftin g character o f reli gious creeds raises ,

a p res umption tha t the former represents a ru d er and earlier phase of

the human min d t hrough which all the races o f mankind have passed
,

or a re passin g on thei r way to reli gion and science .

I f an A ge o f Reli gion has thus everywhere as I ven ture to surmi se ,

,

been prece d ed by an A ge o f M agi c it is natural that we s h ould enq ui re

,
~
 MAGI C AN D R E LIGI O N 57

what causes have led mankind or rather a portion o f them to abandon, ,

m agic as a p rinciple o f faith and p raotice and to betake themselves to

r eligion ins tead When we reflect upon the multitude the variety
. , ,

and the complex ity of the facts to be e xplained and the scantiness o f ,

our information r egarding them we shall be ready to acknowledge ,

that a full and satis factory solut i on o f so pro found a problem i s hardly
to be ho ped for and that the most we can do in the p resent state o f our
,

k nowledge is t o hazard a more or less plausible conj ecture With all .

due diffidence then I would suggest that a tardy recognition o f the

, ,

inherent f al sehood and barrenness o f ma gic set the more thoughtful '

part o f mankind to cast about for a tr uer theory o f nature and a m ore
“

fruitful method o f turn i ng her resources to account The shrewder .

intelli gences must in tim e have come to perceive that magica l cere
monies and incantatioh s did not really e ff ect the resul ts which they
were designed to p roduce a n d which the maj ority o f their simple r
,

fellows still believed that they di d ac tually produce This grea t .

discovery o f the inefficacy o f magic mus t have wrou ght a radical

though probably slow revolution in the minds o f those who had the
sagacity to make it
-
The d iscovery amoun te d to this that men for
.
,

the first time recognised their i nab ili ty to manipulate at pleasure

certain natural forces which hitherto they had beli eved to be com .

pletely withi n thei r control It was a con fession o f human i gnorance

.

and weakness Man saw that he had taken for causes wha t were no
.

causes and that all his e f

,
f orts to work by means o f these imaginary
causes had been vain H is pain ful to il had been wasted his curious
.
,

ingenuity had been squandere d to no purpose H e had been pullin g .

at strings to which nothing was attache d ; he had been marchin g ,

as he thought strai ght to the goal while in reality he had only been
, ,

treadin g in a narrow circle Not that the e ff ects which he had striven
.

so hard to p roduce di d not conti nue to mani fest themselves They ,

were still produced but not by him The rain s till fell on the thirs ty
,
.

ground : the sun still pursued his daily and the moon her ni ghtly , ,

j ourney across the sky : the silent process i on o f the seasons still m oved
in light and shadow in cloud and sunshine across the earth : men w ere
,

still born to labour and sorrow a n d still a fter a brief soj ourn here , , ,

were gathered to their fathers in the lon g home herea fter All things .

indeed went on as before yet all seeme d d i ff erent to him f rom whose
,

eyes the old scales had fallen For he coul d no longer cherish the .

pl easing illusion that it was he who guided the ear th and the heaven
in their courses and that they w oul d cease to per form thei r great
,

revolutions w ere h e to take his feeble han d from the wheel In the .

death o f his enemies and his friends he no lon ger saw a p roof o f the
resistless p otency o f his own or o f hos tile enchantments ; he now knew
that friends and foes alike had succumbed to a force stron ger than
any tha t he could wield and in o b e d ience to a destiny which he was
,

powerless to control
h
.

Thus C il l adri ft from his ancient moorings and le ft to toss on a

.

troubled s ea o f doubt and uncertain ty his ol d happ y con fidence i n

. ,
53 MA GI C A N D R E LI GI O N CH .

hims elf and his powers rudely shaken our primitive philosopher must ,

have been sadly perplexe d a n d a gi tate d till he came to rest a s i n a ,

quiet haven after a tempes tuous voya ge in a new system o f fa i th and ,

p ractice which seem ed to o ffer a solu tion o f his ha rassin g doubts and
, .

a subs titute however precarious for that soverei gn ty over n ature

, ,

w hich h e had reluctan tly ab d ica ted I f the grea t world went on its .

way wi thout the help o f him or his fellows it must surely be because ,

there were oth er bei n gs like himsel f but far stron ger who unseen
, , , ,

them selves d irected its course and brough t about all the varied series
,

o f events which he
ha d hi ther to beli eved to be dependent on his own
ma gic It wa s they as he now b elieve d and not he himsel f who made
.
, , ,

the s tormy w i nd to blow the li ghtning to flash and the thunder to roll ;
, ,

who had lai d the foun d a tions o f the soli d earth a n d s et bounds to the
res tless s ea that it mi ght not pass ; who cause d all the gl orious li ghts
o f heaven to shine ; who gave the fowls o f the ai r their meat a nd the
wild beas ts o f the desert thei r prey ; who bade the fruit ful lan d to
brin g for th in abun d ance the high hil ls to be clo the d with forests the
,
-
,

bubblin g sp rin gs to ris e under the rocks in th e valleys and green pas ,
’
tures to grow by s ti ll waters ; who brea the d in to m an s nostrils and
made him live o r turne d him to des truction by famine and pestilence
,

a n d wa r To these mi gh ty beings whose handiwo rk he trace d in all

.
,

the gorgeous and varie d pa gean try o f nature man n ow addressed ,

h imsel f humbly con fessing his d epen d ence on their invisible power
, ,

and beseechin g them o f their mercy to furnish him with all good things ,

to de fend him from the perils and d an gers by w hich our mortal li fe is
co mpas sed about on every hand a n d fi na lly to b ring hi s immortal ,

spirit f reed from the burden o f the bo dy to some happier world

, , ,

beyond the reach o f pain and sorrow w here he might rest with them ,

an d with the spirits o f goo d men in j oy an d felici ty for ever .

In this -or some such way as this the deepe r min d s may be con
, ,

ce iv e d to have made the great transition from ma gic to reli gion

,
But .

even i n them the change can hardly ever have been su d den ; p robably
it p rocee d e d very slowly and requ i red lon g a ges for i ts more or less
,
’
per fect accomplishment For the reco gni tion o f m a n s powerlessness
.

to influence the course o f nature on a gr a nd scale mus t have been

g ra d ual ; he cannot have been shorn o f the whole o f hi s fancied

dominion at a blow S tep by step he must have been driven back
.

from his proud position ; foo t by foot he must have yielded with a
si gh the ground which he had once viewed as his own N owit would
,

, .

be the wind now the ra in now the s unshine now th e thunder that he
, , , ,
'

con fessed himsel f unabl e to wi el d at w ill ; and as province a fter pro

vi nce o f nature thus fell from his grasp ti ll wha t ha d once seemed a ,

kin gdom threa tened to shrink in to a prison man m us t h ave been more ,

and more pro foundly impressed wi th a sense o f his own helplessness

and the might o f the i nvisible be i n gs by whom he bel ieve d himself
to be surroun d ed Thus reli gi on beginnin g as a sli gh t a n d partial
.
,

acknowle d gm ent o f p owers superi or to man tends with the growth of ,

’
knowledge to deepen i nto a confession o f man s entire and absolute
IV MAGI C AN D R E LI GIO N 59

dependence on the divine ; his old free be arin g i s exchanged for an

attitu d e of lowliest prostra ti on before the mysterious pow ers o f the
unseen and his hi ghes t virtue i s to submit his will to theirs : In la
,

s ua volom ad e é n os tm pac e
‘
But this d eepenin g sens e o f rel igion thi s
. ,

more per fect submi ssion to the d ivine will i n al l thin gs a ffects only ,

those hi gher intelli gences w ho have brea d th o f view enough to compre

hend the vastness o f the universe an d the littleness o f man Small .

minds cannot grasp great ideas ; to their narrow comprehens ion thei r ,

purblind vis i on no thin g seems really grea t a n d importan t but them

,

selves Such minds har d ly ris e into reli gio n at all They are indeed
. .
, ,

drille d by thei r betters into an outw ar d con formity wi th its precep ts

'

an d a verbal pro fession o f its tenets ; but at hear t they clin g to thei r
old magical superstitions which may be discountenance d and forbidden
, ,

but canno t be eradicated by reli gion so lon g as they have their ro o ts ,

deep d own in the mental framework and cons titution o f the great ma
j ority of mankin d .

The reader may well be tempted to ask H ow was it that intell igent ,

men did n ot sooner d e tec t the fallacy o f ma gic ? H ow could they

continue to cher i sh expectations that were invariably doomed to
disappoin tmen t ? W ith what hear t persist in play i n g venerable
antics that l ed to nothing a nd mumbl ing solemn balder d ash that
,

remained w ithout e ff ec t Why cl in g to belie fs which were so fla tly

contra d icte d by experi ence ? H ow dare to repea t exp erim ents that
had faile d so o ften ? The answer s e ems to be tha t the fallacy was far
from easy to de tect the fa i lure by no means obvious since in many
, , ,

perhaps in m os t cases the d es i re d event di d actually follow at a

, ,

longer or shor ter in terval the per formance o f the rite wh i ch was
,

des igned to br i ng i t about ; and a mind o f more than common acute

ness was needed to perce ive tha t even in thes e cases the ri te was , ,

not necessarily the cause o f the event A ceremony intended to .

m ake the w i n d blow or the ra i n fall or to work the d eath o f an enemy

, ,

will always be followe d sooner or lat er by the occurrence it is m eant

, ,

to bring to pass ; an d pr imi tive man may be excuse d for re gar d in g

the occurrence as a d i rec t resul t o f the cere m ony a nd the best possible
“

proo f o f its efficacy S imilarly ri tes observed in the mornin g to help

.
,

the sun to rise and in sprin g to wake the dre am in

, g earth from her
win ter sleep will invar iab ly appear t o be crown ed with success at
, ,

least wi th in the temperate zones ; for i n these regions the sun li gh ts

his golden lamp in the eas t every mornin g and year by year the ,

vernal earth decks hersel f a fresh wi th a rich man tle o f green H ence .

the practical savage wi th hi s conserva ti ve ins tincts m ight well turn

, ,

a dea f ear to the subtleties o f the theoretical d oub ter the p hiIOSOp hic ,

ra dical who presumed to h in t that sunrise and sprin g mi ght n ot

, ,

a fter all be direct consequenc es o f the punc tual performance o f

,

certain d aily or yearly cerem on ies and that the sun mi ght perhaps ,

continue to rise a n d trees to blossom thou gh the ceremonies were

Occa sionally in termitted or even d iscon tinue d alto gether
, These .

sceptical doubts w ould na tur a lly be repelled by the other wi th scorn

60 T HE MAGI CAL CO NTROL O F T H E W E ATH E R CH .

and in d i gnation as airy reveries subversive of the fa ith and mani festly
contra d i cted by experience Can any thin g be p la ine l
. he m i ght
“ '

,
“
say than that I l igh t my twopenny candle on eart h and that the
,

sun then ki n d les hi s grea t fi re in heaven ? I shoul d be glad to know

whether when I have put on my green robe in spring the t rees do
, ,

not a fterwards do the same ? Thes e are facts patent to eve rybody ,

an d on them I take my s tand I am a plain practical man not one of

.
,

your theorists an d spli tters o f hairs a nd choppers o f lo gic Theories .

an d speculation a n d all that may b e very w ell i n their way and I ,

have not the leas t obj ect i on to your indul gin g in them provided of , ,

course yo u d o n ot p ut them in prac tice B ut give m e leave to stick

, .

”
to facts ; then I know where I am The fallacy o f this reasoning .

is obvious to us because it happens to deal with facts about which

,

we have lon g made up our min d s B ut let an argu ment o f precisely .

the same calibre be applie d to matters w hich are s till under debate ,

and it may be questioned whether a B ritish audience would not applaud

it as sound and esteem t he speaker who used it a sa fe man—not

,

b rilliant or showy perhaps b ut thorou ghly s ensible and hard headed

, ,
-
.

If such reasonin gs coul d pass muster amon g ourselves need we wonder ,

that they lon g escaped detec tion by the savage ?

CHAPT E R V

T H E M A G CAI L C ON T ROL or T H E W EA T H E R

l T he P u b li c M agi ci a u —The r eader may remem b er that we were

. .

led to plun ge in to the labyrin th o f ma gic by a c onsiderati on o f two

d i ff eren t types o f m a n god T hi s is the clue whic h has guided our
-
.

devious steps throu gh the maze and brou ght us out at last on hi gher ,

ground whence , res tin g a

, little by the way w e can look back over ,

the path we h av e al ready t raversed and forward to the lon ger and
steeper road w e have still to climb .

As a result o f the fo regoin g discussion the two typ es o f human ,

gods may convenien tly be d istin guishe d as the religious and the
m a gi cal man —god respectively In the former a bei ng o f an order
.
,

di fferent from and superior to man i s supposed to become incarnate ,

for a longer o r a shor ter time in a human bo d y mani festing his super
, ,

human power and knowledge by miracles w rough t and prophecies

uttered through the me d ium o f the fl eshly tabernacle i n which he has
dei gned to take up his abode This may also appropr iately be called
.

the inspired o r incarnate type o f man god In it the human body is -

.

merely a frail earthly vessel filled with a divine a n d immo rtal spirit
On the o ther han d a man —
.

god o f th e ma gical sort i s nothin g but a

,

man who possesses in an unusually hi gh d egree powers w hich most ,

of hi s fellows arro gate to themselves on a smaller scale ; for in rude .

.

societ y there is h a rdly a person who does not dabble in ma gic Thus
“
‘

. ,
 62 T HE MA GI CAL CO NTROL O F THE W E ATH E R CH

thei r duty and t heir i ntere s t to know more th a n the i r fellows te ,

acquaint themselves with everything that could a i d man in his arduous

struggle with na ture every thing that coul d miti gate hi s su ff erings
,

and prolong his li fe The p roper ti es o f d rugs and minerals the cause s
. ,

o f rain an d d r o u h t o f thunder a n d li h tn i n the chan ges o f the

g g , g ,

seasons the phases o f the moon the daily a n d yearly j ourneys o f the
, ,

sun the mo tions o f the stars the mys tery o f li fe and the mystery of
, , ,

d eath all thes e thin gs must have exci ted the wonder o f thes e early
,

philosophers and s timula te d them to fi nd solu tions o f problems that

,

were d oubtless o ften thrus t on the i r at tention in the mos t practical

form by the importunate demands o f t heir clients who expec ted them ,

n ot m erely to un d ers tand but to re gula te the grea t processes o f na tur e

fo r t he good o f man That the i r fi rs t shots fell v ery far wide of the
.

mark coul d har d ly be helped The slow the never ending approach .
,
-

to truth co ns i sts in perpetually formin g a n d tes ti ng hypo theses ,

accep tin g thos e which at the tim e seem to fit the facts and rej ecting '

the o thers The vie ws o f natur al causa tion embraced by the savage
.

ma gician no doubt appear to us m a ni fes tly false and a bsurd ; yet

'
in their day they were legitima te hypo theses though t hey have not ,

s tood the test o f experience Ri d icule and blame a re the j ust mee d
.
,

n ot o f those who d evised these cru d e theories but o f those who ob sti ,

n ately a d here d to the m a fter better had been propounded ; Certa inly
no men ever had s tron ger incentives i n the pursui t o f trut h than these
sava ge sorcerers T o main tain at least a show o f knowledge was
.

absolut ely necessary ; a sin gle mis take de tected m i ght cos t them
the i r li fe This no d oubt led them to practise impos ture for the pur
.

pose o f concealing thei r i gnorance ; but it als o s upplied them with

the m os t power ful mo tive for subs ti tutin g a real fo r a sham knowle dge ,

since i f you woul d appear to know anything by far the best way
, ,

i s actually to know it Thus h o wever j us tly we may rej ect the

.
,

ex travagant pretensions o f magicians and condem n the deceptions

which they have prac tise d on manki nd the ori gi nal ins ti tution o f th is ,

class o f men has take it all i n all been p roductive o f incalculable

, ,

good to humani ty They were the direc t predecessors not merely of

.
,

our physicians a n d s urgeons but o f our investigators a n d d iscoverers

,

in every branch o f na tural sci ence They be gan the work which has .

s i nce been carried to such glorious and b en eficent issues by their

successors in a fter a ges ; a n d i f the be ginning wa s poor and feebl e ,

this is to be impu ted to the inevitable d i fficul ties which beset the
pa th o f knowle dge ra ther than to the n a tural incapacity or wilful
frau d o f the m en themselves
2 T he M a gi ca l C on fr ol of Ra iu — O f the thin gs which the public
.

. .

magi cian sets himsel f to do for the goo d o f the tr ib e one o f the chief ,

is to cont rol the wea ther and especially to ensure an adequate fall
o f rain Water i s an essential o f l i fe and i n mos t countrie s the
.
,

supply o f it depends upon showers Wi thout rain vegetation wi thers .

,

animals and men lan gu is h and die H ence i n savage communi ties the .

rai n maker i s a very important personage ; and o ften a special class

-
.
 MA GI CA L CONTROL O F RA I N
’
THE 62

of ma gicians exists for the purpos e -o f re gulatin g the heavenly wate r .

supply The m e thods by which they attempt to discharge the dutie s

.

of their o ffice are commonly thou gh not always base d on the principl e
, ,

of homoeopa thic or imi ta tive ma gic .

Aus tralia and some par ts o f E astern and S ou thern A fri ca where o fter , .

for mon ths to gether the p itiless sun bea ts down out o f a blue a n d
cloudless sky on the parche d a nd gap in g ear th They a re or used te .
,

be common enou gh amon g outwar d ly civ ilised fol k i n the m oi stei

,

clima te of E urope I will now illus tra te the m by i ns tances d ra w r

. .

from the prac tice b oth o f publ i c a n d privat e ma gic .

and the
v i llage o f Ploska are won t
of

to go nake d by ni gh t to the boundar i es o f the v i lla ge and there p ou r

water on the ground In Halmahera or G i lol o a lar ge islan d to the
.
, ,

west o f New Guinea a wizar d makes ra i n -

, b y d ippin g a branch o f a
par ticular kin d o f tree i n water an d then sca tterin g the mois ture fro rt .

the dr ippin g bou gh over the groun d I n New B ri tain the ra i n make r
.
-

wraps som e leaves o f a red and green s tr ipe d creeper in a banana lea f -

mo is tens the bun d le wi th wa ter an d bur i es it i n the groun d ; the n he

,

im itates wi th his m ou th the plash in g o f rain Amon gs t the Omah a .

Indians o f N orth America when the corn is w ither i n g fo r want o f rain

,

the members o f the sacre d Bu ffalo S oc i e ty fill a lar ge vessel w ith wate r
and dance four times roun d it One o f them d r i nks some o f the wate r
.

and spirts it in to the ai r mak in g a fine spray in i mita tion o f a mis t or

,

drizzl in g ra i n Then he upse ts the v e ssel sp illin g the water on the

/ ,

groun d ; whereupon the d ancers fall d own and drink up the wa ter
gettin g mud all over thei r faces Las tly th ey squir t the water in tc
the air makin g a fine mis t This saves the corn I n sp ring—
.
,

, . tim e the .

Natchez of Nor th America used to club toge ther to purchase favourabl e

wea ther for thei r crops from the wizards If rain was n eeded the .
,

wizards fasted and danced with p ipes full o f wa ter in thei r mou ths
The pipes were per forated like the nozzl e o f a watering can a nd througl -

the holes the rain—

,

maker ble w the water towar d s that par t o f the sk y

where the clouds hun g heaviest B ut i f fine weather was wanted he
.
,

mounted the roo f o f his hut a nd wi th extende d arms blowin g with al

, ,

his might he becko ne d to the clouds to pass by When the rains d e

, .

not come i n due season the people o f Central A ngonila n d repair te

64 T H E M A GICA L CONT RO L O F T H E W E ATH E R CH .

what is called the rain — temple H ere they clear a way the grass and . ,

the lea d er pours beer in to a p ot wh i ch i s bur i e d in the ground while ,

“
he says Mas ter Cha u ta you have hardene d you r h eart towards us
, , ,

what w ould you have us do ? We mus t per ish indeed Give your .

chil d ren the rains the r e is the beer we have given you ,
Then they .

all partake o f the beer that is le ft over even the children being made ,

to si p it N ext they take branches o f trees and dance an d sin g for rain
. .

When they return to the v illage they fin d a vessel o f water set at the
d oorway by an old woman ; so they d ip thei r branches in i t and wave
them alo ft so as to sca tter the d rops A fter that the rain is sure to
, .

come d rivin g up in heavy clou d s In thes e p rac tices we see a com

'
.

b ination o i reli gi on w i th ma gi c ; for while the sca tterin g o f the wa ter

drops by m eans o f branches is a purely ma gical ceremony the prayer ,

for ra i n a n d the o fferin g o f beer are purely rel igious ri tes In the M ara .

tribe of Northern Aus tralia the rain maker goes to a p ool and sin gs over -

it his ma gic s on g Then he takes som e o f the water in hi s hands

‘

.
,

d rinks it a n d spits it out in various d i rections

, A fter that he throws ,

wa ter all over himsel f sca tters it ab ou t and returns quie tly to the , ,

camp . Ra i n is supposed to follow The A rab h i storian M a k riz i ,

describes a method of s toppin g rain which i s sai d to have been resorted

t o by a tribe of noma d s calle d A lq am a r in Hadramaut They cut a .

branch from a cer tain tree in the desert set i t on fi re and then sprinkled , ,

the burnin g bran d w ith wa ter A fter that the vehemence of the rain .

aba te d j us t as the water vanished when it fell on the glowin g bran d

, .

S ome o f the E as tern Angam is o f Man i pur are sai d to p er form a some
what simila r ceremony for the opposi te purpose in or d er namely to , , ,

pro d uce r a in The head o f the villa ge puts a burnin g bran d on the
.

grave o f a man w ho has died o f burns and quenches the brand w ith ,

water while he prays th at ra i n may fall

, H ere the puttin g out the .

fire w ith w ater which i s an imitation o f rain , is re i n forced by the

,

iin fl uence o f the d ead man who havin g been burnt to d eath will , , ,

naturally be anxious for the descent o f ra i n to cool hi s scorche d body

and assua ge his pan gs .

Other p e ople bes i d es the Arabs have used fi re as a m eans o f stopping

rain Thus the Sulka o f N ew B r itain heat stones red hot i n the fire
.

and then put them out in the rain or they throw hot ashes in the air , .

They think tha t the rain will soon cease to fall for it does not like to ,

b e burne d by the hot s tones o r ashes The Telugus sen d a li ttle girl .

out naked i nto the rain with a burnin g p iece o f wood i n her hand ,

which she has to show to the rain That is supposed to stop the .

downpour At Port S tevens in N ew S out h Wales the medicine men -

us ed to d rive away rain by throwing fi re—

.

sticks into the ai r while at ,

the same t im e they pu ff e d a n d shouted A n y man of the A g ula tribe

—
.

“ N orther “ Aus tral i a ca nfl p p j a in b y S i mply wa rmin g a green su

in tme re a n d thefi gff imng i t a gainst the W111
F

,
.

f i
‘
ck
' '
'

— "

In time o f severe drou ght the Dieri o f Central Aus tralia loudly ,

lament in g the impoverished state o f the country an d thei r own half ‘

starved conditi on call upon the spi rits o f their remote pre d ecessors
, ,
 THE MA GI CA L CONTRO L O F RA IN
whom they call Mura-muras to grant them p ower to m ake a heavy rai ,

fall For they believe that the clouds are bodies in which rain i s generz
.

ed by their own ceremonies or those o f neighbouring tribes through t ,

infl uence o f the M ura-m ur as The way in which they set about dra wi t.

rain from the clouds is this A hole is dug about twelve feet long ai.

eight or ten broad and over this hole a conical hut o f lo gs and branch
,

is made Two wizards supposed to have receive d a special insp i rati

.
,
i

from the Mura -muras are bled by an old and influen tial man with
,

sharp flint ; and the bl ood drawn from their a rm s below the elb O
,
'

is made to flow o n the other men o f the tribe who sit huddled togeth ,

in the hut At the same time the two bleeding men throw han d ft
.

of down about some o f wh i ch a d heres t o the blood s tai ned b odies

,
-

their comrades while the rest floa ts in the a ir The blood is thoug
, .

to represent the rain and the down the clouds Durin g the cerem OJ
, .

two large s tones are p lac ed in the middle of the hut ; they stand f
gathering clou d s and presage rain Then the wizards who were bl .
.

ca rry away the two stones for about ten or fi fteen m iles and pla ,

them as high a s they can in the tallest tree M eanwhil e the oth .

men gather gy psum pound i t fine and throw it into a water-hofi

'

This the Mura—

, ,

muras see an d at once they cause clo uds to appear

,

the sky La stly the men young an d old surroun d the hut an
.
, , , ,

stooping down butt at it wi th the i r heads like so many rams Th

, , .

they force their way through it and reappear on the o t her side r ,

peal ing the p rocess till the hut is wrecked In doin g this they a .

forbidden to us e their hands or arms ; but when the heavy logs alo :
remain they are allowed to pull them out with thei r hands
, TI .
“

piercing o f the hut with thei r hea d s symbolises the piercing o f t ]

”
‘

clouds ; the fall o f the hut the fall o f the rain Obviously too tl
, .
, ,

act of pla cing hi gh up in trees the two stones which stand for clouc
’

is a way o f m ak i n g the real clouds to m ount up in the sky The Die .

also imagine that the for eski ns taken from lads at circumcision ha "

a great power o f producing rain H ence the Grea t Council o f the tri ] .

always keeps a small stock o f foreskins ready for use They are car .

fully concealed bein g wrapt up i n feathers w ith the fat o f the wi

,

dog and o f the carpet sn ake A woman may not see such a p are .

opened on any account When the ceremony is over the foreskin

.
,

buried its vi rtue being exhausted A fter the rains have fallen son
,
.
,

of the tribe always undergo a surgical operation which consists ,

cutting the ski n o f their chest and arms w ith a sha rp flint The woui .

is then tapped with a flat stick to increase the fl ow o f blood and rt ,

ochre is rubbe d into it Raise d scars are thus pro d uced The reas r
. .

alleged by the natives for this prac ti ce is tha t they are pleased with tl
rain and that there is a connexion between the rain and the sca r
,

Apparently the ope ration _is not very pa inful for the patient laug: ,
‘

and j okes while it is going on In d eed little chil d ren have been set .
,

to crowd roun d the operator a nd patiently take their turn ; then aft
being operated o n they ran away exp anding thei r lit tle chests at
, ,

singing for the rain t o beat upon them H owever they were not .
,

F
66 THE MA GI CA L CON TROL O F T HE W E ATH E R CH .

well pleased nex t d ay when they felt their wounds st iff a n d sore In
,
.

Java when rain i s wan ted tw o men w i ll some times thrash each other
, ,

wi th supple ro d s till the blood flo ws d own their backs ; the streaming

bl ood rep resents the rain and no d oub t is supposed to make it fall on
‘

the ground The people o f E gghi ou a district of Abyssinia used to

.
, ,

en ga ge in sanguinary conflicts w ith each o ther villa ge a gains t village , ,

for a week to gether every Janua ry for the p urp ose o f procurin g rain .

Some years a go the emperor Menelik forbade the cus tom H owever .
,

the followin g year the rain was d eficient and the po p ular out cry so ,

great that the empero r yiel d ed to i t a n d allowe d the murderous fi ghts

“

to be resume d b u t for tw o d ays a year only

,
The w riter who mentions .

the cus tom regards the bloo d she d on thes e occasions as a propitiatory
sacrifice o ffere d to spi r its who con trol the showers ; but perhaps as ,

in the A us tral ian a n d Javanese ceremon i es it i s an im itati on o f ra i n , .

The p rophets of Baal who sought to pro cure rain by cut ti n g themselves
,

wi th kn ives till the bloo d gushed out may have acte d on the s ame ,

principle .

There i s a wi d espread belie f tha t twin children possess magical

powers o ver nature e sp ecially over rain and the weather This curious
, ,

supersti tion prevails among s o me o f the I n d ian t ribes o f Bri tish

Columb i a an d has led them o ften to i mpose cer tain sin gula r restrictions
,

or taboos on the parents o f twins thou gh the exact m eanin g o f these ,

restric tions is generally obscure Thus the Tsimshian Indian s o f.

B ritish Columb i a believe that twins control the w e a ther ; therefore _

breath gu he twins ”
A

.
w k ‘

Furthe r they think that the wishes o f twi ns are a lways fulfiITeRl ;
m
‘

hence e a u se they can ha rm the rngn they hate_ m

m
u wh ‘ h
.

They can a lso call the salmon and the ola chen or can d le fishm -

“
they are known b y a name wh i ch m eans makin g plenti ful I n the .

opinion o f the Kwakiutl I ndians o f B ritish Columbi a twins are trans

formed salmon ; hence they may not go near water lest they should ,
‘

be chan ged back a gain into the fish I n thei r chil d ho od they can .

summon any win d by motions o f their ha nds and they can make fair ,

or foul weathe r a nd als o cure d iseases by swin ging a la rge wooden

,

rat tle The N oo tka Indians o f B riti sh C olumbi a als o beli ev e that
.

twins a re somehow rela ted to salm on H ence amon g them t wins may .

n ot catch salmon and they may n ot eat o r even handle the f resh fish

Wé
.
,

Th OM M i QM W SG -na im i m n by
p a irun g j i ig i a ces black and then w as hin g them which may represent ,

thé ra i n
'
r i ppin g from the d ark clouds The Shuswap In d ians like the .
,

Thompson Indians associate twins with the grizzly be a r for they call
, ,
“ ”
them young grizzly bears Acco rd in g to them twins remain
.
,

throughout li fe endowe d wi th superna tural powers In par ticular .

'

they can make good or b a d weather The y produce rai n by spilling .

wa ter from a basket i n the ai r ; they make fine wea ther by shaking a
small fl a t pi ece o f woo d a ttache d to a s tick by a s trin g ; they raise
storms by s trew i n g down on the ends o f spruce branches .

The same p ower o f influencing the weather is attribute d to twin s ,

 THE MA GI CAL CO NTRO L O F RAI N 6

by the Baron ga a tribe o f Bantu negroes who inhabit the shores o

, .

Delagoa Bay in S outh eas tern A frica They bes tow the n am e o f T i to
-

—on a woman who has given bir th to twins and th

.

that is the sky

, ,

in fan ts themselves are calle d the chil d ren o f the sky N ow when th .

storms which generally burst in t he mon ths o f Sep tember a n d O ctob e

have been looked for i n va in when a d rough t wi th i ts prospec t o ,

famine is threa tening and all na ture scorche d an d burn t up by

, ,

sun that has shone for s ix m on ths from a cloudless sky is pan tin g fo ,

the b eneficent showers o f the S ou th A frican sprin g the women p erforr ,

ceremonies to bring d own the lon ged for ra i n on the parche d ca r tl -

S tripping themselves o f all thei r garments they assume in their stea ,

girdles a nd head d resses o f grass or short pe tticoa ts made o f the leav e

-
,

o f a par ticular sort o f creeper Thus at tire d utterin g pecul i ar cr ies an.
,

singing ribal d songs they go abou t fr om well to well c leansin g them 0

, ,

the m ud and impurit i es which have accumula te d in them The well s .

it may be sa id a re merely hol es in the san d where a lit tle turbi

,

unwholesome water stagnates Fur ther the women mus t repair to th .

,

house of one o f their gossips who has given b irth to twins a nd m u s ,

d rench her wi th wa ter which they carry in l it tle pi tch e rs , H av i n . .

done so they go on thei r way shriekin g out thei r loose son gs a n ,

t

dancing immodest d ances N 0 man may see thes e lea f cla d wome : .
-

go in g their roun d s I f they mee t a man they maul him and th ru s

.
,

him aside When they have cleanse d the w ells they mus t go a n d pou
.
,

water on the graves o f thei r ances tors in the sacre d grove It o fte : .

happens too that at the bi dd in g o f the wizar d they go a n d pour wate

, ,

on the graves o f twins For they think th rav win on h

W
.

always to be m o istL L ea sQ n tw i ns
’
ear
lake
-
. e or ts to procure rai n prove a b ort ive they w il '

fenTefn b er that suc h a nd such a twin was burie d in a d ry place on th

'

”
si de of a hill N o wonder says the w izar d in such a cas e
. tha
, ,

the sky is fiery Take up hi s bo d y a n d d ig him a grave on the shor

.

”
o f the lake H is or d ers are a t once obeye d for this is s upposed to b
.
,

the only means o f brin gin g down the ra i n .

Some o f the fore goin g facts s tron gly suppor t an i n te rp reta tiOi
which Pro fessor Ol d enber g has given o f the rules to be observed by
Brahman who woul d learn a particular hymn o f the ancient I n d ia :
collection known as the Samaveda The hymn which bears the nam .
,

o f the
Sak va ri son g was believe d to embody the might o f I ndra
’
,

weapon the thunderbol t ; and hence on account o f the d rea d ful an

, ,
t

dangerous potency with wh i ch it was th us char ged the bold s tude n ,

who essayed to mas ter it ha d to b e i s olated f rom hi s fellow men an -

,

to retire from the villa ge into the forest H ere for a space o f tim e .

which mi ght vary accor d ing to d i ff erent doctors o f the law from on
, ,

to twelve years he had to observe certain rules o f li fe amon g w hic

'

, , .

were the followin g Thrice a d ay he had t o touch wa ter ; he m us

.

wear black garments and eat black foo d ; when it rained he m igh ,

not seek the shelter of a roo f b ut had to sit in the rain and say Wate ,
”
is the Sak va ri son g ; when the lightnin g flashed he sai d That i , ,
68 T HE MA GI CAL CONTR O L O F T HE WE ATH E R CH .

like the Sa k v ari son g when the thunder pealed he said The Great , ,
“

”
One is makin g a great nois e H e mi ght never cro ss a runni ng s tream .

wi thout touchin g water ; he might never set foot on a ship unless his
li fe were in d an ger a nd even then he must be sure to touch water when
,
“

“
he wen t on bo ar d ; for in water so ra n the sayin g li es t he vir tue
“
, ,

o f the Sa k va ri song When a t last he wa s allowed to learn the song

.

itsel f he ha d to d ip his han d s i n a vessel o f water in which plants o f all

,

sor ts had been placed If a man walke d in the way o f all thes e precepts
the ra i n —
.
,

god Parj anya it was said would sen d rain at the wish o f that
, ,

man It is clear as Pro fessor Oldenberg well p oints out that all
.
, ,

these rules are intended t o brin g the B rahman into union with water ,

to make him as i t were an ally o f the water p owers and to gua rd him
, , ,

a gainst their hos ti lity The black ga rments a n d the black foo d have
.

the same si gnificance ; no one will d o ub t tha t they re fer to the rain
clouds when he remembers that a black victim is sacrifice d to procure
rain ; it is black for such is the na ture o f rain
,
I n respect o f another .
’

rain charm it is said plainly He pu ts on a black garment edged with

-
,

black fo r such is the na ture o f rain

, We may there fore assume that .
’

here in the circle o f ideas and ordinances o f the Vedic sch oo ls there have
been preserved ma gical practices o f the most remo te antiqui ty which ,

were in tended to prepa re the rain maker for hi s o ffice and dedicate -

”
him to it .

It i s i nterestin g to observe that where an opposi te result is desired ,

primitive lo gic enj oins the weather doc to r to observe p recisely opposite -

rules o f conduct In the tropical islan d o f Java where the rich vegeta
.
,

tion a ttes ts the abundance o f the rainfall ceremonies for the making ,

of rain a re rare b ut ceremonies for the prevention o f it are not nu

,

common When a man i s about to give a great feas t in the rainy

.

season an d has invi te d many people he goes to a w eather doctor and ,

-

”
asks him to prop up the clou d s tha t may be low erin g I f the doctor .

consents to exert h i s professional po w ers he be gins to re gulate his ,

behaviour by cer tain rules as soon as his customer has departed He .

must observe a fas t a nd may neither drink nor ba the ; what little he
,

eats must be eaten dry and in no case may he touch water The hos t
,
.
,

on his si d e a n d his servan ts both mal e and female must neither wash
, , ,

clo thes nor bathe so long as the feast las ts and they have all during its ,

continuance to observe strict chastity The docto r sea ts himsel f on a .

new mat i n his be d room a nd be fore a small oil lamp he murmurs ,

-
,

shor tly be fore the feas t takes place the followin g prayer or incantation : ,
”
“
Grandfathe r and G randmother S roek oel (the name seems to be taken
a t ran d om ; o thers are sometimes use d ) re turn to your country , .

A k k em a t is your coun try Put down you r water-cask close it properly

.
, ,
”
that not a d rop may fall out While he utters this prayer the sorcerer .

looks upwards burnin g incense the while S o amon g the T ora dj a s the
,
.

rain doctor whose special business it is to drive aw ay rain takes care

-
, ,

not to touch wa ter before durin g or a f te r the dischar ge o f his pro , ,

fes siona l duties H e does not bathe he eats with unwashed h a nds
. , ,

he drinks nothin g but palm wine and i f he has to cross a stream he is ,

70 THE MA GI CAL CON TROL O F THE W E ATH E R CH .

an d through the village with a troop o f girl s They stop be fore

goes
every house the Do d ola keeps turn i n g hersel f round an d d ancing
, ,

while the o ther girls form a ring abou t her s in gin g one o f the Dodola
so ng s a n d the housewi fe pours a pail o f water over her
, One o f the .

songs they si ng ru n s thus :

We g o thr ough the vi llage ; F as ter g o the clouds ,

T he c louds g o in the s k y ; T hey ha v e over ta k e n us ,

We go fas ter ,
A n d w e tted th e cor n a nd the vine .

At Poona in India when rain is neede d the boys dress up one of , ,

their number in no thin g b ut leaves an d call hi m King o f Rain .

Then they go roun d to ever y house in the villa ge where the house ,

holder o r his wi fe sprinkles the Rain Kin g wi th wate r and gi ves ,

the party food o f var i ous k i nds When they have thus visite d all the .

hous es they strip the Rain K i ng o f his lea fy robes a nd feas t upon what
,

they have ga there d

B athin g i s prac tised as a rain —
.

charm i n some parts o f S outhern and

Wes tern Russia Som etim es a fter service in church the priest in his
.

robes has been thrown d own on the ground and drenched w i th water by
his parishi oners S om etim es i t i s the women who wi thout str ipping off
.
,

the i r clo thes ba the in crowds on the day o f S t John the Bap ti s t wh ile
, .
,

they dip i n the wa ter a fi gure ma d e o f branches grass and herbs wh ich , , ,

i s suppose d to represent the sa i nt In Ix u rsk a r ov 1n ce o f Southern

w w
w
.

Rt m
i
m ’g“
fi
m
an
W W OO t a er on
w 5 a l see that a p a ssm g stran ger 15 o ten ta en or a deity or the
personification o f some n a tural power It i s recorded 1n o fficial docu
W .

ments tha t durin g a d rought in 17 90 the peasants o f S cheroutz and

W erb outz collected all the women and compelled them to bathe in ,

order that rai n mi ght fall An Armenian rain charm is to th row the .

wi fe o f a priest in to the water and drench her The A rabs o f Nor th .

A frica flin g a holy man will y n illy i n to a sprin g as a reme d y for ,

-
,

drought In M inahassa a province o f N orth Celebes the p riest bathes as

.
, ,

a rai n charm I n Central Celebes when there has been no rain for a long
-

time a nd the rice—

.

stalk s begin to shrivel up many o f the villa gers espe

.
, ,

ci al ly the youn g folk go to a nei ghbourin g brook and S plash each other
,

with water shout in g no i sily or squi rt water on one another through

. ,

bamboo tubes S ometimes they imitate the plump o f rai n by smacking

.

the surface o f the water w ith their han d s or by placing an inverted ,

gourd on i t a n d drummin g on the gourd with their fin gers .

Wom en are sometim es supposed to be able to make ra in by plough

ing or p retend i ng to plou gh
, Thus the Pshaws a n d Chewsu rs o f the .

” “
Caucasus have a ceremony called plou ghin g the ra i n which they ,

observe i n time o f drou ght Girls yoke themselves to a plough and .

dra g it into a river wadin g i n the wat er up to their gi rdles I n the

,

same ci rcumstances A rm enian girls and women do the same The oldest .

’
w oman or the priest s wi fe wears the priest s d ress while the others
’

, , , ,

dressed as men drag the plough through the water against the s tream
, .
 T HE MA GI CA L CO NTROL O F RAI N
In the Caucasian p rovince o f Geo rgia when a drought has la sted lor ,

marriageable girls are yoked in couples with an ox yoke on the -

shoulders a priest holds the reins and thus harnessed they w a

, ,

through rivers puddles and marshes prayin g screamin g w eep ir

, , , , ,
.

and laughing I n a district o f Transylvania when the ground

.

parche d wi th drought some girls strip themselves naked and led I , , ,

an older woman who is also naked they steal a harrow and carry
, ,

across the fields to a brook where they set it afloat Next they sit 4 , .

the harrow and keep a tiny flame burning on each corner o f it for
hour Then they leave the ha rrow in the water and go home
. .

similar ra in charm i s resorted to in some parts o f India ; nake d wom

- .

drag a plough across a field by ni ght while the men keep care fully o ,

of the way for their presence woul d break the spell

, .

Some times the rain charm o pera tes through the dead Thus -
.

New Cale d oni a t he rain -makers blackened themselves all over di ,

up a d ead bo d y took the bones to a cave j ointed them and hun g t.

, , ,

skeleton over some taro leaves Water was poured over the sk eletc .

to run down on the l eaves They bel i eved that the soul o f the d eceas .
i

took up the water converted i t in to ra i n and showered i t d own a ga i

, ,

In Russ ia i f common report may be believed it is not long since tf

, ,

peasants o f any district that chance d to be a ffl icted with drou ght u s
to d ig up the corpse o f some one who had drunk himsel f to d ea th a i
sink it in the nearest swamp or lake fully persuaded that this wou ,

ensure the fall o f the needed rain I n 186 8 the prospec t o f a b : .

harves t caused by a prolon ged d rought induced the in hab itants o f

, ,

village in the T arashchansk dis tr i ct to dig up the bo d y o f a Ra sk olni

or Dissenter who had die d i n the p receding December S ome o f t ]
, .

party beat the corpse or wha t was le ft o f it about the head ex claim in
, , ,

Give us rain ! while others poure d water on it through a sieve H e .

the pour i ng o f water through a sieve seems plainly an im ita tion o f

shower and reminds us o f the manner in which Strep sia des i n A rist
,

phanes imagined that rain was ma d e by Zeus Sometimes in or d er .

,

procure rain the T orad j as make an appeal t o the pi ty o f the dea

,

Thus in the village o f K alingooa there is the grave of a famous chi e

, ,

the gr an d father o f the p resent ruler When the lan d su ff ers from u .

seasonable drought t he people go to this grave pour wa ter on it ai

, , ,
“
say O grandfather have pi ty on us ; i f it i s your will that thi s year 1
, ,
”
should eat then give rain A fter that they hang a bamboo full o f wat
,
. .

over the grave ; t here is a small hole in the lower end o f the bamboo ,

that the water drip s from it con tinually The bamboo i s always refill .
u

with water until rain drench es the ground H ere as in New Caledoni .
,

we find reli gion blen t with magic for the prayer to the dea d ch i e f whi , ,

is purely reli gious i s eked out wi th a magical imitation o f rain at l

,

grave We have seen that the Baron ga o f D elagoa Bay drench t

'

tombs o f their ancestors especially the tombs of twins as a rai , ,

charm Amon g some o f the In d ian tribes in the re gion o f the Orino
.

it was customary for the relations o f a deceased person to disinter l

bones a year a fter burial burn them and scatter the a she s to t , ,
72 T HE MA GI CAL CONTROL OF T HE W E ATH E R CH .

winds becaus e they believed that the ashes were chan ged into rain
, ,

which the d ead man sent in re turn for his obsequies The Chinese .

fl
'

fle
.
m

of the ir
'

late owners feel the discom fort o f rain j ust as livin g men would ,

do i f they w ere exposed without shelter to the inclemency o f the

weather These wretche d souls there fore do all i n their power t o pre
.
, ,

vent the rai n from falling and o ften their e fforts are only too success ful ,
.

Then drought ensues the most d reade d o f all calamities in China , ,

because bad h a rvests dear th a n d famine follow in its t rain H ence , ,

.

it has been a common p ractice o f the Chinese authori ties in time of

drought to inter the dry bones o f the unburied dead for the purpos e
o f pu ttin g an en d to the scour ge a n d conj urin g down the rain .

A n imals aga in o ften play an important par t in these weather

, ,

charm s The Anula tr ibe o f N orthern Australia ass ociat e the dollar
.

bird with rai n and call it the rain bird A man who has the bi rd for
,
-
.

his totem can make rain at a certai n po ol H e catches a snake puts “

.
,

it alive into the pool and a fter holdin g it under water for a time takes
,

i t out kills it and lays it down by the side o f the creek Then he makes
, , .

an arche d bun d le o f grass stalks i n im itation o f a rainbow and sets it ,

up over the snake A fter that all he does i s to sin g over the snake and
.

the mimic rainbow ; sooner or later the r a in will fall They explain .

this procedure by sayin g that l on g ago the dollar bird had as a mate -

at this spot a snake who lived i n the pool and use d to make rain by,

spitting up into the sky till a rainbow and clouds a p peared and rain
fell A common way o f makin g rain in many parts o f Java is to bathe
.

a cat or tw o eats a male and a female ; s ometimes the animals are

,

carrie d in p rocessi on with music E ven in Batavia you may from time .

to tim e see chil d ren go in g about w i th a cat fo r this pu rpose ; when they
have d ucke d it i n a pool they let it go , .

Among the Wam b ugwe of E as t A frica when the sorcerer desires ,

to make rain he takes a black sheep and a black cal f in b ri ght sun
,

shine and has them place d on the roo f o f the common hut i n which the
,

people live t ogether Then h e sli ts the stomachs o f the animal s and
.

sca tters thei r contents in all directions A fter that he pours wate r
.
.

and medicine into a vess el ; i f the charm has s uccee d ed the water boils ,

up a nd rain follows O n the o ther hand i f the sorcerer wishes to pre

.
,

vent rain from falling he withdraws into the int eri or o f the b ut and , ,

there heats a rock crysta 1 in a calabash I n orde r to procure rain the

~
.

Wago go sacrifice black fowls black sheep and black cattle at the , ,

graves o f d ead ancestors and the ra in maker w ears black clothes

-
,

durin g the rainy s eason Among the Matabele the rain charm em .
-

ployed by sorcerers was made from the blood and gall o f a black ox .

In a district o f S umatra in order to procure rain all the women o f the , ,

village scan tily clad go to the river w ade into it and splash each
, , , ,

other wi th the water A black cat is thrown i n to the stream and made .

to swim about for a while th en allowed to escape to th e bank pursued , ,

by the splashing o f the women The Garos o f Assam off er a black .

go at on the top of a very high mou ntai n in ti m e o f drought I n all .

 T HE MA GI CAL CO NT ROL OF RA I N 3

these cases the colour o f the animal i s par t o f the charm ; bein g black ,

i t will darken the sky w ith rai n clou d s S o the B echuanas burn the .

“
stomach o f an ox at evenin g because they say The black smoke will
, ,
”
gather the clouds and cause the rain to come The Timorese sacrifice .

a black p ig to the E arth goddess for rain a whi te or red one to the
-

Sun—
,

god for sunshine The Angoni sacrifice a black ox for rain a nd a

.

white one for fine weather Amon g the h igh moun tai ns of Japan there
.

is a d istrict in which i f rain has not fallen fo r a lon g t ime a party o f

, ,

villagers goes in p rocession to the bed o f a moun ta i n torrent heade d ,

by a pries t who leads a bl ack dog A t the chosen spot they tether
, .

the beast to a s tone and make it a target for their bullets and arrows
,
.

Whe n its li fe bloo d bespa tters the rocks the peasan ts thro w d own the i r
-
,

weapons a n d l i ft up their vo i ces in supplica tion to the dra gon d iv in ity

of the stream exhort in g him to send down for thw ith a shower to
,

cleanse the spot from its d efilem ent Cu st om has prescr ibed tha t on .

these occasions the colour o f the vict i m shall be black as an emblem

o f the wishe d for rain —
,

-
clou d s B ut i f fine wea ther is wante d the
.
,

vict im must be whi te w i thout a spot , .

The in tima te associa tion o f fro gs and toads with wa ter has earned
for these creatures a w i d esprea d reputa ti on as custo d i ans o f rain ;
and hence they o ften play a part in charms desi gne d to d raw nee d ed

showers from the sky S ome o f the I nd ians o f the Or i noco hel d the
.

toad to be the god or lor d o f the wa ters a n d for that reason feare d to ,

kill the creature They have been known to kee p fro gs un d er a p ot

.

and to beat them w ith ro d s when there was a d rough t It i s sai d that .

the Aymara Indians o ften make little ima ges o f fro gs an d other aqua tic
animals and place them on the tops o f the h ills as a means o f bringi n g
down rain T he T hom p s on I ndians o f B ritish Columb ia a n d some
'

people in E urope th i nk that to k i ll a fro g will cause rain to fall I n ,

order to procure ra i n people o f low cas te i n the Central Provinces o f

India will ti e a fro g to a rod covere d wi th green leaves and branches o f
the ni m tree (A z a dirachta l ndica ) and carry it from d oor to doo r s i n gi n g :
S end s oon, 0 fr og ,
the j ew el o f w a ter !
A nd ripen the w hea t a n d m ille t i n the field .

The K ap us or Red d is are a large caste o f cul tivators a n d landow n

ers in the Madras Presi d ency When rain fails women o f the caste w i ll
.
,

catch a fro g a nd tie it alive to a new winnowin g fa n made o f bamboo .

On th is fa n they spread a few mar gosa leaves and go from d oor to

door singin g Lady fro g must have her bath Oh ! rai n god give a
“ '

.
-
, ,
”
little water fo r her at leas t While the Kapu women sin g this son g
.
,

the woman o f the house pours wa ter over the fro g and gives an alms ,

convinced that by so doin g she will soon brin g rain down in torrents .

Sometim es when a d rought has lasted a lon g time people drop

the usual hocus —
, ,

pocus o f imitative ma gi c al to gether a n d being far ,

too angry to waste thei r brea th in prayer they seek by threats and
curses or even dow nri ght physical force to extort the waters o f heaven
from the supernat ur a l bein g who has so to say cut the m off at the , ,
74 T HE MA GI CAL CONTROL O F T H E W E ATH E R CH .

main . In a Japanes e village when the guardian d iv i nity had ,

10 m g been dea f to the peasants prayers fo r rain they at last ’

,

threw down hi s ima ge a nd wi th curses loud a n d lon g hurled it head

, ,
” “
foremos t into a stinkin g rice fi el d There th ey sai d you may “
-
. , ,

stay yoursel f for a while to see how you will feel a fter a few days
,
’

scorch i ng in th i s broilin g sun tha t is burning the l i fe from our cracking

”
fiel d s .I n the like ci rcumstances the F eloup es o f S enegambia cas t
d own thei r fetishes a n d d ra g them abou t the fields cursing them till ,

rain falls .

T h e Ch i nese are a d epts in the a rt o f tak i n g the kin gdom o f heav en

by s torm Thus when rain is wan ted they make a huge dra gon o f
paper or woo d to represen t the ra in —
.
,

go d a n d carry i t about in pro

cession ; b ut i f no ra i n follows the mock—
,

d ra gon i s execra ted a n d torn

,

to pieces A t o ther times they threate n a n d beat the god i f he do es not

.

give ra i n ; sometimes they publicly d epos e him from the rank of

d ei ty . On th e o ther han d i f the wished — for rain falls the go d is
, ,

promo ted to a h i gher rank by a n imper i al decree I n April 188 8 the .

m an d ar i ns o f Canton prayed to the god Lun g won g to stop the in -

cessan t d ownpour of ra i n ; an d when he turned a dea f ear to their

pet iti ons they a lock up fo r five da ys T his had a salu tary
-
.

e ff ec t The rai n cea ed and t e 0 was res tored to 1 erty ome

y ears be fore in time o f d rou ght th
-
. .

e same de i fy ha d Been Chained a nd

‘

, ,

exposed to the sun for days in the courtyar d o f hi s temple 1n order that
he m 1ght feéf fem
n '

fi rge nt nee d o f rain S o when the Siamese

i

nee d rain they set out their i d ols in the blaz in g s un ; but if they want
,

dry wea ther they unroo f the temples and let the rain pour down on the
,

i d ols They think tha t the inconvenience to which the gods are thus
.

subj ected w i ll in d uce them to grant the wishes o f their worshippers .

The rea d er may smile at the me teorolo gy o f the Far E as t ; but

rec i se ly simila r m o d es o f procurin
g rain have been reso rted to in
Chri s tian E urop e wi thin our ow n li fe time By the end o f Apr il 1893 .

there was great dis tress i n S icily for lack o f wa ter The drought had .

las ted six mon ths E very da y the sun rose a n d s et i n a sky o f cloud
.

less blue The gardens o i the Conca d O ro which surround Palermo

.
’

wi th a magnificent bel t o f verdure were wither in g Food was b ecom , .

i ng scarce The peopl e were in great ala rm All the most approv ed
. .

me tho d s o f p rocurin g rain had been t r i ed wi thout e ff ec t Processions .

ha d traverse d the stree ts and the fiel d s M en women and children .

, , ,

tellin g the i r beads had lain whole n i ghts be fore the h oly images
,
.

Consecra te d candles had burned day and ni ght in the churches Palm .

branches blessed on Palm S un d ay had been hun g on the t rees A t

, , .

S ola pa r uta in accor d ance wi th a v ery o ld cus tom the d ust swept
, ,

from the churches on Palm S unday had been sprea d o n the fields .

I n ordinary years these holy sweepin gs preserve the crops ; but that
yea r i f you w ill bel i eve m e they ha d no e ff ect whatever At N icosia
, , .

the i nhabitants bare hea d ed and bare foot carrie d the crucifix es
,
- -
,

through all the wards o f the town and scour ged each other with i ron
w hips It was all in vain E ven the great St Franci s o f Paol o
. . .
 T HE MAGI CAL CONTRO L OF RAI N 75
‘

himself who annually per fo rms the miracle o f rain a nd is ca rried

,

every spring through the market ga rdens either could not or woul d -
,

not help Masses vespers concerts illumi nations fire works

.
, , , ,
-

nothing could move him A t last the peasants began t o lose patience
. .

Mos t of the saints were banishe d A t Palermo they d umped S t . .

Joseph in a gar d en to see the state o f thin gs for himsel f a nd they ,

swore to leave him there in the sun till rain f ell O ther sai nts were .

turned like naugh ty chil d ren wi th thei r faces to the wall O th ers
, , ,

again strippe d o f their beauti ful robes were exiled far from their
, ,

parishes threa tene d grossly insul ted ducked in horse ponds

, ,
At ,
-
.

Cal tanisetta the golden win gs o f S t Michael the A rchangel were .

torn from hi s shoul d ers a n d replaced wi th win gs o f pasteboar d ; his

purple mantle was taken away and a clout wrapt about him
instea d A t Lica ta the patr on saint S t A ngelo fared even worse
.
, .
, ,

for he was left wi thou t any garmen ts at all ; he was revi led he ,

was put in i rons he was threatened w i th d rownin g or hangin g

,
.

”
“
Rain or the rope ! roa red the an gry p eople at him as they ,

shook their fists in his fac e .

Some times an appeal is made to the pity o f the gods When .

the i r corn is bein g burnt up by the sun the Zulus look out for a ,
“
heaven bird kill it a n d throw it i nto a pool Then the heaven
, , .

m el ts wi th tenderness fo r the d ea th o f the bi r d ; i t wails fo r i t b y '

”
raining wailing a funeral wail
,
In Zululand women some times .
'

bury their ch il d ren up to the neck in the ground a n d then re tiring ,

to a d is tance keep up a d i smal howl for a lon g ti me The sky is sup .

pose d to melt wi th p ity at the si ght Then the women dig the chil d ren .

out a nd feel sure tha t ra i n w ill soon follow They say tha t they call .

”
to the lor d above a n d ask him to send ra i n If i t comes they
“
.

”
declare tha t U sond o rains I n times o f drought the Guanches o f .

Teneri ff e led thei r sheep to sacred groun d a n d there they separate d ,

the la m bs from their dams that their pla i n tive blea ting mi ght ,

touch the heart o f the god I n Kumaon a way o f s topp i ng rai n .

is to pour hot oil in the le ft ear o f a d og The animal howls wi th .

pain his howls are hear d by In d ra and out o f pity fo r the beast s
, ,
’

sufferings the god stops the rain S ome times the T o ra dj a s attempt .

to procure rain as follows They plac e the stalks o f cer tain plan ts .

in water saying Go and ask for rain and so lon g as no rain fall s
, , ,
”
I will not plan t you a gain b ut there sh a ll you die Also they string
,
.

some fresh water snails on a cord and han g the cord on a tree and
-
, ,

say to the snails Go and ask for rain a n d so long as no rai n comes
, , ,
”
I will not t a ke you b ack to the water Then th e snails go and weep .
,

and the
go d s take pi ty and send rain H owever the fore going cere .
,

monies are reli gious ra ther than ma gical since they involve an appeal ,

to the compassion o f hi gher powers .

S tones are o ften suppose d to possess the property o f bringing on

rain provi d ed they be cl ippe d in water o r sprinkled w ith it or tr ea ted
, ,

in some o ther appro p ria te manner I n a Samoan villa ge a cer tai n . .

stone was care fully housed as the representative o f the rain making -
76 T HE MA GICAL CO NTROL O F T HE W E ATH E R CH .

god , a nd in time o f d rought his priests carried the s tone in p rocessi on

Among the Ta — ta —
l

a nd d ipped i t in a s tream thi tribe o f N ew S outh

“

Wales the rain —

.

, maker breaks o ff a piece of quar tz crystal and sp i ts -

i t towards the sky ; the rest o f the crystal he wraps in em u feathers,

soaks both crystal a n d feathers in wa ter and care fully h i des the m ,
.

In the Ke t amin tribe o f N ew S outh Wales the wizar d retires to the

b ed o f a creek d rops water on a round fl a t stone then covers up and
, ,

conceals it Amon g som e trib es o f Nor th western Australia the rain

.
-

maker repairs to a piece o f groun d which is set apar t for the purpose
o f rain makin g
-
Th ere he buil d s a he a p of s tones o r sand places on
. ,

the top o f i t hi s ma gic s tone and walks or d ances round the pile chant ,

i ng his incantations fo r hours till sheer exhaus tion obli ges him to ,

desis t when hi s place i s taken by hi s assis tant Water is sprinkled

,
“

on the stone a n d huge fi res are kin d le d N o layman may approach .

the sacre d spo t while the mys tic ceremony is bein g performed When .

the S ulka o f N ew B ri tai n wish to procure rain they blacken stones

w ith the ashes o f certai n fruits a nd set them out alon g wi th certain ,

other plan ts and buds in the sun Then a handful o f twi gs is dipped
, .

in wat er and wei ghted with stones while a spell i s chanted A fter ,
.

tha t rain should follow In Manipur on a lo fty hill to the east of .

,

the capi tal there is a s tone which the popular ima ginat ion l ikens to
,

an umbrella When rain is wan ted the raj ah fetches water from a
.
,

sprin g belo w and s prinkl es it on the stone At Sa gami in Japan .

there is a s tone which draw s down rain whenever wa ter is poure d on

When the W aleondyo a tribe o f Cen tral A frica desi re rain they
'

it
.
, , ,

send to the W a wa m b a who dwell at the foot o f snowy mountains , ,

and are the happy possessors o f a rain stone I n consideration -

.

o f a pro pe r payment the W a wa m b a wash the precious s tone

,
anoint ,

it w i th oi l a n d p ut it in a pot full o f water

,
A fter that the rain can .

not fail to come I n the arid was tes o f A rizona and N ew Mexico the
.

Apaches sought to make rain by carryin g water from a certain spring

and throwin g it on a particular point hi gh up on a rock ; a fter that
they ima gined that the clouds would soon ga ther and that rain would ,

be gin to fall .

B ut cus toms o f this sort are not confined to the w ilds o f A frica and
Asia or the torri d d eserts o f A ustralia and the N ew World They .

have been prac tise d in the cool ai r a nd under the grey skies o f E urope .

There is a fountain called B aren ton o f romantic fam e in those wild , ,

”
woods o f B rOcel ia nde where i f le gend be true the w iza rd Merl in
, , ,

still sleeps his magic slumber in the haw thorn sha d e Thither the .

B reton peasan ts use d to resort when they nee d ed ra i n They caught .

some o f the wate r in a tanka rd a nd threw i t on a slab near the spring .

On S now don there is a lonely tarn called D ulyn or the Black Lake , ,

lyin g in a d ismal din gle surroun d e d by h igh and dan gerous rock s
“ ”
.

A row o f s tepping stones runs out into the lake and i f any one steps
-
,

on the stones a nd throws water so as to w et the farthest stone which ,

i s calle d the Red Altar it is but a chance that you do not get rain
,
”
b e f ore ni ght even when it i s hot weather
, In these ca se s it appears .
78 THE MAGI CAL CON T R OL OF T H E W EAT H E R on .

lapis m a nolis I n time o f drought the stone was dra gged in to Rome,
.

a n d this was suppose d to brin down ra i n imm edia tely

s
g
.

3 T he M agi ca l Con trol of the S u m —As the magician th i nks he

.

ca n make rai n , so he fancies he can cause the sun to shine and can ,

hasten or stay its going down A t an eclipse the Oj eb ways used .

to ima gine tha t the sun was being ex tin gu i shed .

fire tipped arrows in the

-

clipse but apparen tly they d i d this n ot so much to relight

,

s to d r ive away a sava ge beas t wi th which they sup

pose d him to be s tru ggl ing Conversely dur in g an eclipse o f the .

moon some tribes o f the Or i noco use d to bury li ghted brands in the
ground because sai d they i f the moon were to b e extin gui shed all
'

, , ,

fi re on ear th w oul d be ex tingu i shed wi th her except such as was hidden ,

from her si gh t During an ecl ipse o f the sun the K a m tcha tk an s were
.

won t to bring out fi re from the i r huts and pray the great luminary to
shine as be fore But the prayer a d d resse d to the sun shows that this
.

ceremony was reli gious rather than ma gical Purely magical on the .
,

o ther hand was the ceremony observe d on similar occasions by the

,

Chilcotin I ndians M en and women tucked up their ro b es as they do

.
‘

in travelling a n d then leanin g on staves a s i f they were heavy laden

, , ,

they con tinued to walk in a circle t i ll th e eclips e was over Apparently .

they thou ght thus to support the failin g steps o f the sun as he trod his
weary round in the sky S imi larly in ancient E gypt the kin g as the
.
,

rep resen tative o f the sun walke d solemnly round the walls o f a temple
,

in order to ensure that the sun should per form his daily j ourney round
the sky wi thout the i nterruption o f an eclipse or o ther mishap And .

a fter the au tumnal equinox the ancient E gyptians held a festival called
”
“
the na tivi ty o f the sun s walkin g s tick because as the luminary ’
-
, ,

d eclined d aily in the sky and hi s li ght and hea t d imini shed he was, ,

supposed to -nee d a sta ff on which to lean I n N ew Caledonia when a .

wizard d esi res to make sunshine he takes som e plan ts and corals to the
burial —
,

groun d a n d fash i ons them i nto a bundle a dd ing two locks of

, ,

ha i r cut from a livin g child o f hi s family also two t eeth o r an entire ,

j awbone from the skeleton o f an ancestor H e then climbs a m ountain .

whose top ca tches the fi rst rays o f the mornin g sun H ere he deposi ts .

three sor ts o f plants on a flat s tone places a branch o f dry coral beside ,

them and han gs the bundle o f charms over the stone N ext mornin g
,
.

he re turns to the spot and sets fi re to the bun d le at the moment when
the sun rises from the sea As the smoke curls up he rubs the stone .
,

wi th the d ry coral invokes his ancestors a nd says : , S un ! I do this

”
that you may b e burni n g hot and ea t up all the clouds i n the sky , .

The same cerem ony i s repeated at sunse t The New Cale d onians also .

make a drought by means o f a d isc shaped s tone wi th a hole in it At -

.

the moment when the sun r i ses the wiza rd holds the stone i n his hand ,

a n d passes a burnin g bran d repeate d ly into the hole while he says : ,

I kin d le the sun in order that he may eat up the clouds an d d ry up

,
”
our land so that it may pro d uce noth i n g
, The B anks Islan d ers make .
 THE MA GI CAL CO NTROL OF T HE SUN 79

s unshine by means o f a mock sun They take a very round stone . ,

calle d a va t loa o r s unstone wind red braid about it and stick it wi th

, ,

owls feathers to rep resent rays singing the proper spell in a low voice
’
, .

Then they hang it on some high tree such as a banyan or a casuarina , ,

in a sacre d place .

The o ff er i n g ma d e by the B rahm an in the morn in g is suppose d to

produce the sun and w e are told tha t assure d ly i t woul d not rise
, ,

were he not to make tha t o ff erin g The ancient M exicans conce i ved
.

the sun as the source o f all vital force ; hence they name d him '

”
l palnem ohtJ a n i
‘

H e by whom men live

,
B ut i f he bes towe d li fe on .

the world he neede d also to rece i ve li fe from it

,
A n d as the hear t is .

the seat a n d symbol o f li fe blee d in g hear ts o f men and animals were

,

presente d to the s un to main tai n him in vi gour and enable him to run
his course across the sky Thus the Mexican sacrifices to the sun were
.

magical rather than rel igi ous b ein g d esi gne d not so much to please and
, ,

propi tiate him as physically to renew hi s ener gies o f heat l igh t a n d

, , ,

motion The cons tant d eman d for human victims to fee d the solar fire
.

was m et by waging war every year on the neigh b ourin g tri b es a n d br i n g

ing back troops o f captives to be sacrifice d on the al tar Thus the cease .

less wars o f the Mexicans a n d their cruel sys tem o f human sacrifices ,

the most monstrous on record sp rang in grea t measure from a m is ,

taken theory o f the solar sys tem N 0 more s trikin g illus trat i on coul d
.

b e given o f the d isas trous consequences tha t may flow in p rac tice from
a purely specula tive error The ancient Greeks bel ieve d tha t the sun
.

drove in a chariot a cross the sky ; hence the Rhodians who worshipped ,

the sun as their chie f d ei ty annually d e d i ca te d a char i o t a n d four horses

,

to him a n d flun g them into the sea fo r his use Doub tless they thou ght
,
.

that a fter a y ear s work his old horses a n d chario t would be worn ou t
’
.

From a l ike motive probab ly the i d olatrous k in gs o f Ju d ah d e d ica ted

, ,

chariots and horses to the sun a n d the Spar tans Persians a n d , , ,

M assagetae sacrificed horses to him The Spartans per forme d the .

sacrifice on the top o f M oun t T a ygetus the beauti ful range beh i n d ,

which they saw the great luminary set eve ry n igh t It was as na tural .

for the inhabitants o f the valley of Sparta to do thi s as it was for the
islanders o f Rho d es to throw the chario t a n d horses into the sea i nto .

which the sun seeme d to them to sink at evenin g For thus whe ther on .
,

the moun tain or in the sea the fresh horses stoo d ready for the weary
,

god where they would be most welcome at the en d o f his d ay s j ourney

’
.
,

As some people think they can li gh t up the sun or spee d him on his
way so others fancy they can re tard or s top him I n a pass o f the
, .

Peruvian Andes stan d tw o ruined towers on opposite hills I ron hooks .

are clamped into thei r walls for the purpose o f s tretchin g a net from one
tower to the other The net i s i n ten d e d to catch the sun Stories o f
. .

m en who have cau ht the sun in a noose are wi d ely sprea d When the
g .

sun is going sou thwar d in the autumn and sink in g lower and lower i n ,

the Arctic sky the E squimaux o f Iglulik play the game o f ca t s cra d le
,
’

in order to ca tch him in the m eshes o f the s trin g and so prevent his
disappearance On the contrary when the sun i s m ovi ng northward
.
,
 80 T HE MAGI CAL CONTROL OF T HE W E ATH E R CH .

in the spring they play the ga m e o f cup and ball to has ten his retur n
,
- - .

Wh en an A ustralian black fellow w ishes to s tay the sun from gom g

d own till he ge ts home he pu ts a sod in the fork o f a tree exac tly ra
, g ,
c in

the setting sun On the o ther hand to make it go d own fast er the
.
, ,

Australians throw sand into the air a nd blow wi th their mouths towards
the sun perha p s to wa ft the lin gerin
, g orb westward and bury it under
'

the sands into wh i ch it a p pears to sink at ni ght .

As s ome people ima gi ne they can has ten the sun so others fancy ,

s they can j og the tar d y moon The na tives o f N ew Guinea reckon

.

mon ths by the moon and some of them hav e bee n known to thro w
,

stones a nd spears at the m oon in o r d er to accelerate its pro gress and

,

s o to has ten the return o f the i r fri en d s who were away f rom home for ,

twelve months workin g on a toba cco planta tion The M alays think .

that a bri ght glow at sunset may throw a weak person into a fever .

H ence they attempt to extinguish the glow by spi ttin g out water and
throwin g ashes at it The Shus wap In d ians believe tha t they can bring
.

on col d wea ther by burning the wood o f a t ree that has been struck by
li gh tn i n g The belief may be b ased on the observa tion that in their
country cold foll ows a thunder —
.

storm H ence in sprin g when these .

,

Indians are travelling over the snow on hi gh ground they burn splinters ,

o f such wood in the fire in or d er that the crus t o f the snow may not
mel t .

§ 4. T he M a gi ca l C o n tr ol of the W i n d -
Once more the savage .
,

s thinks he can make the wind to blow or to be still When the day is .

ho t a n d a Yaku t has a long way to go he takes a s tone which he has ,

chanced to find in an animal or fish win d s a ho rse hair s everal times ,

-

roun d it and ties it to a st ick H e then waves the stick about uttering
, .
,

a spell S oon a cool breeze be gins to blow In or d er to procure a cool

. .

wind for ni ne d ays the stone should fi rst be dipped in the blood of a
bird or beas t and then presented to the sun while the sorcerer makes ,

three turns contra ry to the course o f the lumi na ry I f a H ottentot .

desi res the win d to drop he takes one o f his fattest skins and hangs it
,

on the end o f a pole in the belie f that by blowin g the skin down the
,

w i nd will lose all its force and m us t itsel f fall Fuegian wizards throw .

shells a gains t the win d to make it drop The natives o f the island of .

B ib ili off New Guinea are repute d to make wind by blowin g wi th

, ,

thei r mou ths I n stormy weather the B o gadj im people say

. T he ,
”
B b i i l i folk are at it a gain blowin g away Another way of making
win d which is practi sed in New Guinea is to s trike a wind—
, .

stone
li gh tly w ith a s tick ; to strike it ha rd woul d brin g on a hurricane So .

in S cotlan d witches used to rais e the win d by d ipping a ra g in water

and beating i t thrice on a stone saying : ,

I k n o k this r ag a p on e this s tone

r a i s e the w in d i n th e di velhs n a m
'

e,
I t s a ll n ot ly e ti ll I pleas e aga m e
"
.

Greenland a woman in child bed and for some time a fter delivery
-In -

i s supposed to p ossess the power o f layin g a storm S he has only to .

 T HE MAGICAL CONT RO L OF T H E WI N D 81

go out o f d oors fill her mouth with air and comin g back into the house
, ,

blow i t out again In antiquity there was a family at Corinth which

.

enjoye d the reputation o f being able to still the ra gin g wind ; but we
do not know in what manner its members exercised a use ful func tion ,

which probably earned for them a more soli d r ecompense than mere
repute among the sea farin g popula ti on o f the i s thmus E ven in .

Chris tian times un d er the re ign o f Constan tine a certain S opater

, ,

suff ere d death a t Constan tinople on a charge o f bind i n g the win d s by

m a gi c because it happened tha t the corn ships o f E gypt and Syria were
-
,

detaine d a far off by calms or head winds to the ra ge and disappoint -

,

men t of the hun gry By z antine rabble Finni sh w i zar d s used to sell .

win d to storm staye d mariners The win d was enclose d in three kno ts ;
-
.

if they un di d the first knot a mo d erate win d spran g up ; i f the secon d

, ,

it blew hal f a gale ; i f the thir d a hurr i cane In d ee d the E s thonians , .

,

whose country is d ivi d ed from Finlan d only by an arm o f the sea still ,

bel ieve in the magical powers o f the i r northern nei ghbours The bi tte r
winds tha t blow in spring from the nor th and nor th —
.

eas t b rin ging a gu e ,

and rheuma tic in fl a m m a tion s in the i r train are set down by the s i mple ,

E s thon ian peasan try to the machina tions o f the Finni sh w iz ar d s a nd

witches In par ticular they regard w i th special drea d three d ays in
.

spr ing to which they give the nam e o f Days o f the Cross ; one o f them
falls on the E v e o f A scension Day The people in the nei ghb ourhood .

o f Fellin fear to go o ut on these d ays les t the cruel w i nds from Lapp

lan d shoul d sm ite them d ea d A popular E s thon ian song runs : .

Wi ndf the Cr os s ! r us hing a n d m ig hty !

o
H ea vy the b low of thy w i ngs s w eepi ng pas t!
Wi ld w a i li ng wi n d of m isfor tun e a n d s or r ow ,

Wi z a rd s of F i n la nd ri d e b y on the b las t .

It is said too tha t sailors beatin g up aga inst the wind in the
, , ,

Gul f o f Fi nlan d some times see a s tran ge sail heave in si ght astern and
,

overhaul them han d over hand On she comes with a cloud o f canvas
—a ll her stu dding sails out—right in the teeth o f the w in d forging her
.

-
,

way th rou gh the foam i n g billows dash i n g back the spray in shee ts from ,

her cutwa ter every sail swollen to burs tin g every rope strained to
, ,

cracking Then the sailors know tha t she hails from Finlan d
.
.

The art o f tyin g up the win d in three kno ts so tha t the more knots ,

are loosed the stron ger w ill blow the win d has been attribute d to wi z ar d s ,

in Lapplan d an d to w itches in She tlan d Lewis and the I sle o f Man , , .

Shetland seamen still buy win d s in the shape o f knotted handkerchie fs

or threa d s from old women who claim to rule the storms There are .

sai d to be ancien t crones in Lerw i ck now who live by selling w in d .

Ulysses receive d the winds in a lea thern b ag from Aeolus Kin g o f the ,

Winds The M otumotu in New Guine a think that storms are sent by
.

an Q iabu sorcerer ; fo r each wind he has a bamboo which he opens at

pleasure On the top o f Moun t A gu in Togo a d i s trict o f Wes t A frica
.
, ,

resides a fetish called Ba gba who is suppose d to con trol the w ind and ,

the rai n IIi s priest is said to keep the winds shut up in great pot s
.
'
-
.

G
82 THE MAGI CAL CONTROL O F THE W E ATH E R CH .

O ften the stormy wind i s regarded as an evil bein g who may be

i ntim i da ted d riven away or kille d
,
When s torms a n d b a d weather
,
.

have las ted long and foo d is scarce wi th the Cen tral E squ i maux they ,

en d eavour to conj ure the tempest by makin g a lon g wh ip o f seawee d ,

a rme d wi th which they go down to the beach and s tr i ke out i n the

”
d i rec ti on o f the win d cryin g T a b a (it is enou gh ) l
,
Once when
n orth westerly winds had kep t the ice lon g on the coast and food was
-

becomin g scarce the E squimaux per forme d a ceremony to make a

,

c alm . A fire was kin d le d on the shore and the men gathered round ,

i t and chante d A n old man then s tepped up to the fi re and in a

.

coaxin g voice invi ted the demon o f the win d to com e under the fire
an d warm himsel f When he was suppose d to have arrived a ves sel
.
,

o f wat e r to which each man present ha d contributed was thrown

, ,

on the flames by an old man a n d imme d iately a fli ght o f arrows spe d ,

towards the sp ot where the fire ha d been They thought that the .

d emon woul d not stay where he ha d been so badly treated To com .

p l ete the e ffect guns were discharge d in various d i rect i ons a nd the
, ,

ca ptain o f a E uro p ean vessel was i nvi ted to fi re on the win d wi th

cannon On the twen ty—
. fi rst o f February 188 3 a simila r ceremony
was per forme d by the E squimaux o f Po i n t Barrow Alaska wi th the , ,

in ten ti on o f killin g the S p i r it o f the win d Women drove the d emon .

fro m their houses with clubs and knives wi th which they made pass es ,

in the air ; a n d the men gathering roun d a fi re shot him with their
, ,

rifles a n d crushe d him under a heavy s tone the moment tha t s team
rose i n a clou d from the smoulderin g embers on which a tub o f water ,

ha d j us t been thrown .

The Len gua In d i ans of the Gran Chaco ascribe the rush o f a whirl
w in d to the passage o f a spir i t a n d they flin g sticks at it to frighten
it away When the win d blows down their hu ts the Paya guas of
.
,

S ou th America sna tch up fi reb ra n d s a n d run a gains t the wind m e nac ,

i ng it w i th the blazin g brands wh i le others beat the ai r w ith the ir ,

fists to fri ghten the s torm When the Guaycurus are threatened by .

a severe storm the men go out arme d and the women and children
, ,

scream their loudes t to intimi date the demon '

Durin g a tempest .

the inhabitant s o f a B a ta k v i llage in S umatra have been seen to rush

from thei r houses arme d wi th sword a n d lance The raj ah placed .

himsel f at their head and with s h outs and yells they hewe d and
,

hacke d a t the i nvis ible foe A n old w oman was observed to be speci .
,

ally active i n the d e fence o f her house slashin g the air ri ght and left ,

w i th a long sabre I n a vi olent thunderstorm the p ee ls sounding

.
,

ve ry nea r the Kayans o f Borneo have been seen to draw their swords
,

threatenin gly hal f out o f thei r sca b bards as i f to fri hten away the
g ,

demons o f the storm I n Aus tral ia the hu ge columns o f red san d that
.

m ove rapi d ly across a d esert t ract are thought by the natives to be

spi ri ts passin g along Once an a thletic youn g black ran a fter one
.

o f these movin g columns to kill it w ith boom eran gs H e was away .

tw o or three hou rs a nd came back very weary sayin g he had killed

, ,

K oochee (the dem on ) but that K oochee had growled at him and he
v1 MA GI CIAN S A S KI N G S 83

m ust die O f the B edouins o f E astern A frica it is sa id that no whirl

.

wind ever swe eps across the path without bein g pursued by a doz er
savages wi th drawn creeses who stab into the centre o f the dusty
,

column in order to drive away the evil spiri t that is believe d to be

riding on the blast .

In the light o f these examples a story told by H erodotus which ,

his mo dern critics have trea te d as a fable i s perfectly cre d i b le He ,

.

says wi thout however vouching for the truth o f the tale that once
,
,

in the lan d o f the P sylli the modern Tri pol i the wind blowin g from
.
, ,

the Sahara ha d dr ied up all the water tanks S o the people took -
.

counsel and marche d in a body to make wa r on the south win d B ut .

when they en tere d the desert the simoo n swept d own on them and
buried them to a man The s tory m a y well have been told by one
.

who watche d them d i sappearin g i n battle array with d rums and

, ,

cymbals beating into the red cloud o f wh i rling sand

, .

CHAPT E R VI

MA GI C IA N S A S K I N GS

THE fo regoing eviden ce may sa tis fy us that in many lands and many
races magic has claime d to control the grea t forces o f na ture fo r the
goo d o f man If tha t has been so the practi ti oners o f the art mus t
.
,

necessar ily be personages o f i mpor tance a n d influence i n any society

which pu ts fai th in the ir ex trava gan t pre tens i ons a nd it woul d be ,

no matter for surpr i se if by vir tue o f the reputation which they enj oy
,

and of the awe wh i ch they i nsp i re some o f them shoul d a tta i n to the
,

h ighest pos ition o f au thori ty over the i r cre d ulous fellows In point .

f fact ma gicians appea r t o have o ften developed in to chi e fs and

kg '

m s .

Let us be gin by looking a t the lowest rac e o f men as to whom

we possess compara tively full a n d accurate in forma tion the abori gines
'

of Australia Thes e savages are rule d ne ither by chie fs nor k i n gs

. .

So far as thei r tribes can be sai d to have a poli ti cal cons titution it ,

i s a d emocracy or ra ther an ol i archy o f old and influen tial men who

g ,

m ee t in counc i l a n d deci d e on all measures o f importa n ce to the

practical exclus ion o f the younger men Their del ibera tive assembly .

answers to the senate o f la ter times : i f w e ha d to coi n a wor d for such

a gov ernmen t o f elders w e mi ght ca ll it a(Qer on tocr ac > The el d ers .

w o in abori ginal Australia thus meet and di rect the a ff airs o f thei r
h
trl b e appear to be fo r the mos t par t the h ea d men o f their respective
totem clans N ow in Central Austral ia where the desert nature o f
.
'

the country and the almost complete isolati on from forei gn i nfluences
have retarde d pro gress and preserved the n a tives on the whole in
thei r most primitive state the headmen o f the various totem cla n s
,

are ch ar ed with the important task o f performin

g g ma gical cerem onies
84 MA GI CIAN S A S K I N GS CE.

for the multiplica tion o f the totems and as the great maj ority of the ,

totems are e d ible animals or plants it follows tha t these men are ,

commonly expecte d to provi d e the people wi th foo d by means of

magic O thers have to make the rain to fall or to ren d er othe r se rvices
.

to the commun ity In short among the tribes o f Cen tral Australi a
.
,

the hea d men are public ma gic i ans Fur ther thei r most important .
,

func tion i s to take char ge o f the sacred s torehouse usually a cleft in ,

the rocks or a hole in the groun d where are kept the holy stones and ,

sticks (churi nga ) w i th wh i ch the souls o f all the people both living ,

and d ead are appa rently sup pose d to be in a manner bound up Thus
, .

while the hea d men have cer tainly to per fo rm what we should call
c ivil d uties such as to inflic t pun i shmen t for breaches o f tribal custom
, ,

their pr i ncipal func tions are sacr ed or ma gical .

When we pass from Australia to New Guinea we find that though .

,

the natives stand a t a fa r hi gher level o f cul ture than the Australian
aborigines the cons ti tu tion o f socie ty amon g them i s still essentially
,

d emocra ti c or oli garchic and ch i e ftainship exists only in embryo

,
.

Thus S ir Will iam M acG regor tells us that in B ritish New Guinea no
one has ever ar i sen wise enough bold enough and strong enough to , ,
“
become the despo t even o f a sin gle d is trict The n earest approach .

to this has been the very dis tan t one o f som e person becomin g a
renowned wi z ar d ; but that ha s only resulted in levying a certain
”
amoun t o f blackma il .

Accor d i ng to a native accoun t the origin o f the power o f M elanesian

,

ch ie fs lies en tirely in the belie f tha t they have communication with

mi gh ty ghos ts a n d wiel d that supernatural power whereby they can
,

bring the i nfluence o f the ghos ts to bear I f a chie f imposed a fine , ,

i t was pa i d because the people universally dre aded hi s ghostly power

’

a n d fi rmly bel i eve d tha t he coul d inflict calami ty and sickness upon

such as resiste d him A s soo n as any considerable nu m ber o f his

.

people be gan to d isbelieve in hi s influence with the ghosts his power ,

to levy fi nes was shaken A gain D r George B row n t ells us that in

.
, .

New Bri tai n a rul ing chie f was always supposed to exercise priestly
func tions that i s he p ro fessed to b e in constant c o mmunication with the
, ,

te b a r a n s (S pi ri ts ) a n d throu gh their influence he was enabled to br ing

,

rain or sunshine fair winds or foul ones sickness or health success or

, , ,

disaster in war a nd generally to p rocure any blessing o r curse for

,
”
wh i ch the applicant was willin g to pay a sufficient price .

S till risin g in the scal e o f cul ture w e come to A frica where both ,

the chie fta i nship a nd the kin gship are fully developed ; and here
the evi d ence for the evolution o f the chie f out o f th e magician and ,

especially out o f the rain maker i s comparatively plenti ful Thu s

-
, .

among the W a m b ugwe a Bantu people o f E ast A frica the ori ginal
, ,

form o f government was a family republic but the enormous power ,

o f the sorcerers transmitted by inheri tance

, soon raised them to the ,

rank o f petty lords or chiefs O f the three chie fs living in the country
.

in 18 94 tw o were m uch dreaded as ma gicians and the weal th o f cattle ,

they possessed came to them almost wholly in the shap e o f p re se nts

86 MA GI CIAN S AS KI N GS CH .

the Fans esteem the smi th s cra ft sacred and none but chie fs may ’

med d le with it .

As to the relation between the offices o f chie f and rain maker in -

Sou th A frica a well — in forme d wri ter observes : I n very old days the “

chie f was the grea t Rain maker o f the tribe S ome chie fs allowed no
-
.

one else to compe te wi th th em lest a success ful Rain maker should -

be chosen as chie f There was also another reason : the Rain —

,

. maker
was sure to become a rich man i f he gained a great reputa tion and it ,

woul d mani fes tly nev er do for the chie f to allow any one to be too
rich The Ra in maker exerts tremendous control over the people
.
-
,

and so it woul d be mos t impor tan t to keep this function connected

with royalty Tra d ition always places the power o f making rain as
.

the fundamental glory o f ancien t chie fs and her oes and it seems ,
'

probable that it may have been the ori gin o f chie ftainshi p The man .

who ma d e the rai n w ould na turally become the chi ef In the same .

way Chaka [the famous Zulu despo t] used to d eclare tha t he was the
only d iviner in the country for i f he allowed rivals his li fe would be
,
”
insecure Similarly speakin g of the S ou th A frican tribes in general
.
,

Dr Mo ff at says tha t the ra i n maker i s in the estimation o f the people

.
“
-

no mean persona ge possessing an influence over the minds of the

,

people superior even to that o f the king who is likewis e compelled ,

”
to yield to the d ictates o f this arch officia l -
.

The foregoing ev id ence ren d ers it probable that i n A frica the “

king has o ften been d eveloped out o f the public ma gician a nd especi ,

ally ou t of the rain maker The unboun d e d fea r which the magician
-
.

inspires a nd the weal th which h e amasses in the exercise o f his p ro fes

sion may both be suppose d to hav e contribu ted to his promotion
B ut i f the career o f a magician and especially o f a rain—
.

maker o ffers
grea t rewa r d s to the success ful p rac ti tioner o f the art it i s beset with ,

many pi tfalls i n to which the unskil ful or unlucky ar ti s t may fall .

The pos ition of the public sorcerer i s indeed a very precarious one ;
for where the people firmly believe that he has it in his power to
make the rai n to fall the sun to shine and the fruit s o f the e arth
, ,

to grow they naturally impu te drought a n d dearth to his culpable

,

negl igence or wil ful obs tinacy and they punish him accor d ingly ,
.

H ence in A frica the chie f who fails to procure rai n i s o ften exiled or
kille d Thus in some parts o f Wes t A frica when prayers and o fferings
.
, ,

p resen te d to the kin g have failed to p rocure rain his subj ects bind ,

him wi th ropes an d take him by force to the grave o f his fore fathers
tha t he may obtain from them the neede d rain The B anj a rs in West ,

A frica ascribe to their kin g the power o f causin g rain or fine weather .

So lon g as the weather i s fine they load him wi th pr esents of grain

a n d ca ttle B ut if lon g drought or rain threatens to spoil the crops
. .
,

they insul t a n d bea t him till the wea ther chan ges When the harvest .

fails or the sur f on the coas t is too heavy to allow o f fishin g the people ,
”
i
o f Loan go accuse the r kin g o f a bad heart a n d dep ose him On .

the Grain Coast the hi gh priest or fe tish ki ng who bears the title of ,

B odio is responsible for the health o f the community the fertility of

, ,
v1 MAGI CIA N S A S K I NG S 87

the ea rth a nd the a bundance o f fish i n the sea and river s ; and i f the
,

country suff ers i n any o f these respects the B odio is depose d from hi s
office In U s suk um a a grea t d istrict on the southern bank o f the
. ,

Victori a Nyanza the rain and locust ques tion is part and parcel o f
,
“

the Sultan s government H e too mus t know how to make rain

’
.
, ,

and dr ive away the locus ts I f he and hi s med icine men are unable .
-

to accomplish thi s his whole existence is at s take in times o f d istress

,
.

On a certain occasion when the rain so grea tly d esire d by the people
,

did not come the S ul tan was simply driven out (in Ututwa near
, ,

Nassa ) The people in fac t hol d that rulers must have power over
.
,

Nature and her phenomena A ga in we are tol d o f the natives o f .

,

the Nyanza region generally that they are persua d e d that rai n on ly “

falls as a result o f ma gic a n d the important d uty o f caus i n g it to ,

descen d d evolves on the chie f o f the tr ibe I f ra in d oes n ot com e at .

the proper time everybo dy compla ins M ore than one pe tty k ing
,
.

”
has been banishe d his country because o f d rou ght Amon g the .

Latuka o f the Upper N ile when the crops are w itherin g a n d all the , ,

efforts of the chie f to d raw d own r ai n have prove d frui tless the people ,

commonly attack him by n igh t rob him o f all he possesses and d rive , ,

him away B ut o ften they kill him

. .

In many other par ts o f the world kings have been expected to

regulate the course o f na ture for the goo d o f their people a nd have
been punishe d i f they faile d to do so It appears tha t the S cy thians .
'

when foo d was scarce use d to p ut their k ing in bonds In anc ient , .

Egypt the sacre d k i ngs w ere blamed for the failure o f the cro p s but ,

the sacre d beasts were also held responsible for the course o f nature .

When pest ilence and o ther calami ti es ha d fallen on the lan d in con ,

sequence o f a long a n d severe d rought the priests took the animals ,

by night and threatene d them but i f the ev i l d id not abate they slew ,

the b easts a On the coral islan d o f N iu e or Savage I slan d in the S outh

,

Pacific there formerly re igne d a line o f kin gs B ut as the kings w ere

, .

also hi gh pries ts a n d were suppose d to make the foo d grow the people
, ,

becam e angry w ith them in times o f scarcity a nd kille d them ; till at

last as one a fter ano ther was k illed no one w oul d be king a n d the
, , ,

monarchy came to an en d Anc ient C hinese writers in form us tha t .

in Corea the blame was laid on the k i n g whenever too much or too
little rain fell and the crops d id n ot ripen S ome sai d that he mus t be .

deposed others that he mus t be slain

, .

Among the American In d ians the furthest a d vance towards civil isa
tion was ma d e under the monarch ical a nd theocra tic governments o f
Mexico and Peru ; but we know too little o f the early hist ory o f these
countries to say whether the predecessors o f thei r deifie d kin gs were
m e dicine men or not -
Perhaps a trace o f such a succession may be
.

de tected in the oath which the M exican kin gs when they moun ted ,

the throne swore that they would make the sun to shine the clouds
, ,

to give rain the rivers to flow an d the ear th to bring forth fruits
, ,

in abundance Cer tainly in abori ginal Am erica the sorcerer or

.
,

m edici ne man surrounde d by a halo o f mys tery and an atmosphere o f

-
,
88 MA GI CIA N S A S K I N GS cu
.

awe was a persona ge o f grea t influence and importance and he may

, ,

well have developed into a chie f or kin g in many tribes though pos i ti ve ,

ev i dence o f such a developm ent appears to be lacking Thus Catlin .

tells us that in North America the medicine men are value d as -

dignitaries i n the tribe an d the greatest respect is paid to them by the

,

whole community ; not only for thei r skill in their m a teria m edi ca ,

b ut m ore especially for the i r tact in ma gic and mys teries in which
-
,

they all deal to a very great ex ten t I n all tribes their doctors
are conj urers—are magicians—are s ooth -sayers and I ha d like to have
.

sai d hi gh -pri ests inasmuch as they superintend and conduct all their
,

reli gious ceremonies ; they are looked upon by all as oracles o f the
nation I n all councils o f war an d peace they have a s ea t w ith the
.
,

chie fs are regularly consul ted be fore any public step i s taken and
, ,
”
the greatest de ference and respect is paid to thei r opinions Similarly .

“
i n Cali fornia the shaman was and s ti ll is perhaps the most important , ,

in d ividual amon g the Ma i du In the absence o f any definite system .

o f government the word o f a shaman has great wei ght : as a class they
,

are regarded with much awe a n d as a rul e are obeyed much more than,
”
the chi ef .

In S outh America also the magic i ans or medicine -men seem to have
been on th e hi ghroad to chie fta i nship or kin gshi p One o f the earliest .

se ttlers on the c oa st o f B ra z il the Frenchman Thevet rep orts that the

, ,

In d ians hold these pages (or me d icine men ) in such honour and
“ ‘
-

reverence that they ad ore or rather i d olis e them You may see the
, .

comm on folk go to meet them prostrate thems elves and pray to , ,

‘
them sayin g Grant that I be no t ill that I do not di e neither I nor
, , , ,
‘
my ch i l d ren or som e such request And he answers You shall not
, .
,

d ie you shall not be ill and such like replies

’
, ,
But sometimes if it .

happens that thes e pages do n ot tell the truth and thin gs turn out ,

otherwise than they p redicte d the people make no scrup le o f killing ,

th e m as unworthy o f the ti tle and d ignity o f pages Among the .

Lengu a Indians o f the Gran Chaco every clan has its cazique or chief ,

b ut he possesses little authority I n vi rtue o f his o ff ice he has to make .

many presents s o he seldom grow s rich and is generally m ore shabbily

,
“
cla d than any o f his subj ects A s a matter o f fact the ma gician is
.

the man who has most p ower in his hands and he i s accustomed to ,
”
receive presents instead o f to give them It i s the magician s d uty to .
’

br in g down mis fortune and pla gues on the enemies o f his tribe and to ,

guar d his own people a gainst hos tile ma gic For these services he is .

well paid and by them he acquires a position o f great influence and

,

authori ty .

Througho ut th e Malay re gion the raj ah or king is commonly

re garded with sup erstiti ous veneration as the possessor o f sup ernatural
powers and there are groun d s for thi nking that he too like apparently
, ,

so many A frican chi efs has been developed out o f a simple magi cian
, .

At the p resent day the Malays fi rmly believe that the king po ssesses a
personal influence over the works o f n ature such as the growth o f the ,

c rep s and the bearing o f fruit-trees The same p roli fic virtue is .

90 MAGI CIA N S A S KI N GS CH .

crops plenti ful the cat tle fruit ful the waters abounded wi th fish and
, , ,

the frui t trees had to be propped up on account o f the wei ght o f their
pro d uce A canon att ributed to St Patrick enumera tes amon g the
. .

blessings that at ten d the rei gn o f a j us t king fine wea ther cal m seas , ,

crops abundan t a n d trees la d en wi th fruit

,
On the other hand .
,

dearth d ryness o f cows bl ight o f frui t and scarcity o f cor n were

, , ,

regarded as in fall ible p roo fs that the rei gn in g kin g was bad .

Perhaps the las t relic o f such supers titi ons which lin gered about
our E nglish kings was the no tion that they coul d heal scro fula by their
touch The disease was accordin gly known as the King 3 E vil Queen
.
’
.

E l izabeth o ft en exercised this miraculous gi ft o f healing O n M id .

s um m er Day 163 3 Charles the Fi rs t cu red a hundre d pati ents at one

,

swoop i n the chape l royal at H olyrood B ut it was un d er his son .

Charles the Secon d that the practice seems to have attained its hi ghest
vogue It is sai d that in the cours e o f his reign Charles the Second
.

touched near a hun d red thousan d persons for scrofula The press to .

get near him wa s sometimes terrific On one occasi on s ix o r seven of .

those who came to be heale d were trampled to death The cool headed .
-

William the Thir d contemptuously re fused to lend himsel f to the hocus

pocus ; an d when his palace was besie ged by the usual unsavoury
crow d he or d ered them to be turned away with a dole O n the only
, .

occasion when he wa s importuned into layin g his hand on a patient ,

”
he said to him God give you better health and more sens e
,
“
How .

ever the prac tice was continued as m i ght have been expected by the
, , ,

dull bi got James the S econd and his d ull daughter Queen Anne .

The kings o f France also claimed to possess the same gi ft o f healing

by touch which they are sai d to have derive d from Clovis or from
,

S t L ouis while our E n glish kin gs inheri ted it from E dward the Con
. ,

fessor S imilarly the sava ge chie fs of T on ga were believed to heal

.

scro fula and cases o f indurate d liver by the touch o f their feet ; and
the cure was strictly homoeopathic for the dis eas e as well as the cure ,

was thought to be cause d by contact with the royal p erson or with

any thin g that belonged to it .

On the whol e then w e seem to be j ustified i n i nfe r ring that in

, ,

many parts o f the world the kin g i s the lineal successor of the old
magician or me d icine m a n When once a special class o f sorcerers has
-
.

been segre gated from the community and entrusted by it w i th the

d ischar ge o f du ties on which the public sa fety and welfare are believed
to depen d these men gradu a lly rise t o weal th an d p ower till their
, ,

leaders blossom out i n to sacred kings B ut the great social revolution .

which thus begins with democ racy and ends in despotism is attended
by an intellectual revolution which affects both the conception and the
functions o f royal ty For as time goes on the fallacy o f ma gic becomes
.
,

more and more apparent to the acuter min d s a n d i s slow ly displaced

by reli gion ; i n o ther wor d s the ma gi cian gives way to the priest who
, , ,

renouncin g the attempt to control directly the p rocesses o f nature for

t he good o f man seeks to attai n the same end i ndirectly by appe aling
,

to the gods to do for him what he no lon ger fancies he can do for him
vn I N CARNAT E HUMAN GOD S 91

s elf H ence the king startin g as a ma gician tends gradually to ex

.
, ,

change the practice o i magic for the priestly functions of prayer and
sacrifice And while the d istinc tion between the human an d the divine
.

is still imp er fectly drawn it is o ften ima gined that m en may themselves
,

attain to go d head n ot merely a fter their death but in their li f etime

, , ,

through the temporary or permanent possession of thei r whole nature by

a great and power ful spir i t
’

N o class o f the communi ty has benefit ed

.

so much as kings by this belief in the possible inca rnati on o f a god in

human form The doctrine o f that incarnati on and with i t the theory o f
. ,

the d ivini ty o f k i ngs in the strict sense o f the w ord will form the sub ,

j cet of the followin g chapter .

CHAPT E R VI I

I N CA RN A T E H UM A N GODS

THE instances which i n the p recedin g chapters I have drawn from the
belie fs and practices o f rude pe oples all over the worl d may suffice to ,

prove that the fails to reco gnise tli psg lim ita ti ons to bi s power
fl h
w
fi M M ' _ _ _

over

which man possesses nothin g com parable in degree and har d ly even in
kin d has been slowly evolved in the cours e o f
, B y _p rim itive -
.

peoplei thg sgp er n agi ral agents are not re gar d ed as greatly i f at all
-
f , ,

super i or to for; they may frig hten ed a n d coerced b y him i n to v

.

d o i ng£1§ will Atthigs ta ge o f thou gh t the world i s viewed a s a gr ea t

.
_ _

all b ein gs in it whe ther na tural o r supe rna tural are

, ,

sup p osed to —on a equality B ut w ith the .

grow th o f his kn ow la gffi nanlearn s to realise more Clearly the vastness

' "

of nature and hi s own littleness and feeblenes s in presence o f it The

'
.

recognition o f his helplessness does n ot however carry w i th it a , ,

corresponding belie f in the impotence o f those supernatural beings w i th

which his imagina tio n peoples the universe On the contrary it .
,

enhances his concepti on o f thei r power For the i dea o f the world as a
.

sys tem o f impersonal forces acting in accor d ance with fixed and inva ri
able laws has not yet fully dawned o r darkene d upon him The germ .

of the idea he certainly has and he acts upon it not only in magic a rt
, , ,

but in much o f the business o f daily li fe But the idea r emains un .

developed and so far as he attempts to explai n the world he lives in

, ,

he pictures it as the mani festation o f conscious will and personal a gency .

I f then he feels himsel f to be so frail and sli ght how vast and powerful ,

must he deem the beings who control the gi gantic machinery o f na ture !
Thus as his old sens e of equality w ith the gods slowly vani shes he ,

resi gns at the same time th e hop e o f directin

g the c o urse o f nature by
 92 I N CARN A T E HUMAN GODS CH
.

his own unaide d resources that is by ma gic a nd looks more and more
, , ,

to the go d s as the sole repos i tories o f those superna tural p owers wh i ch

he once claime d t o share wi th them With the advance o f knowledge . ,

there fore p rayer a n d sacrifice assume the leadin g place in reli gious
,

ri tual ; an d ma gic which once ranked wi th th em a s a le gitima te equal

, ,

is gradually relegated to the backgr oun d an d sinks to the level o f a

black art It i s not regar d e d as an encroachment at once vain and
.
,

impi ous on the do m ain o f the gods and as such encounters the steady
, ,

o p posi tion o f the pries ts whose reputat i on and influence rise or fall
,

with those o f thei r god s H ence when at a late period the distinction
.
,

between reli gion and superstition has emerge d w e find that sacrifice ,

and prayer are the resource o f the pious and enli gh tened portion of the
communi ty while ma gi c i s the refuge o f the superstitious and i gnorant
,
.

B ut when s till later the concepti on o f the elemental forces as personal

, ,

a gents is givin g way to the recogni tion o f natural law ; then magic ,

based as it implicitly is on the i dea of a necessary and invariabl e

sequence o f cause and e ff ec t in d ependent o f personal w ill reappea rs
, ,

from the obscurity and d iscredit into which it had fallen and by ,

investigatin g the causal sequences i n nature directly p repares the way ,

for sc i ence Alchemy lea d s up to chemistry

. .

The n otion o f a man god o r o f a human bein g endowed with divine

-
,

or superna tural powers belongs essen tially to that earlier p erio d of

,

religious his tory in which gods and men are still v iewed as bein gs of
much the same order and be fore they are divided by the impassable
,

gul f which t o l a ter th ou gh t o pens out between them

, , Strange .
,

there fore as may seem to us the idea o f a god incarnate in human form
, ,
,

6 has nothing very startlin g for early man who sees in a man god or a ,
-

god man only a h igher degree o f the same s u ernatu ral powers which
-

he a rr ogates in per fect good faith to himsel f N or does he draw any .

very sharp distinction between a god and a power ful sorcerer H is .

g o d s are o ften merely invisible ma gicians who behind the veil o f na ture
work the same so rt o f charm s and incantations which the human
magician works in a visible a nd bodily fbrm am o n g his fellows And .

a s the go d s are commonly beli eved to exhibit themselves in the likeness

o f men to their worshippers i t is easy for the ma gician w i th his sup
, ,

posed mi raculous powers to acquire the reputati on o f bein g an inca r

,

nate dei ty Thus be ginnin g as little more than a simple conj urer the
.
,

me d ic ine man or ma gician tends to blossom out into a full blown god
- -

a n d kin g in one Only in speakin g o f him as a god we must beware of

.

importing into the sava ge conception o f deity thos e very abst ract and
complex i d eas which we attach to the term Our i d eas on this p rofound .

subj ect are the fruit o f a lon g i ntellectual and moral evo lution and they ,

are so fa r from being shared by the sava ge that he cann ot e v en under

stand them when they a re explained t o him M uch o f the controversy .

which has rage d as to the reli gion o f the lower races has sprun g merely
from a mutual mi sunderstan d in g The savage do es not underst and the
.

d few civilised men un d er stand the

savage uses his word for god he has ,
 4 I N CARNAT E H U MAN GO DS
’

CH .

I slands the king p ersonatin g the god uttere d the responses o f the
oracle from his concealmen t in a frame o f w icker —
, , ,

work B ut in the .

southern islan d s o f the Pacific the god frequently entered the priest ,

who inflate d as it were w ith the d iv i ni ty cease d to act o r speak as a

, ,

v oluntary a gen t but move d a n d spoke as en ti rely under supernatural

,

influence I n this respect there was a str iking resemblance between

.

the ru d e oracles o f the Polynesians and those o f the celebra ted nations ,

o f ancient Greece A s soon as the god was suppose d to have entered .

the pries t the latter b eca m e v i olently a gitated an d worke d himsel f

, ,

up to the highest pi tch o f apparent frenzy the muscles o f the limbs ,

seeme d convulsed the bo dy s welled the coun tenance became terrific , , ,

the features distorted a n d the eyes wil d a n d s trained I n this state , .

he o ften rolle d on the earth foamin g at the mouth as if la b ouring , ,

under the influence o f the divini ty by whom he was possessed a nd , ,

in shrill cries an d violent and often indis tinct soun d s reveale d the
, ,

will of the god The pr i es ts who were atten d in g and verse d in the
.
, ,

mysteries receive d and r ep orte d to the people the declara tions which
, , ,

had been thus received When the priest had u ttere d the response .

o f the oracle the violent paroxysm gradually subside d a nd comparative

, ,

com posur e ensued The god d i d n ot however always leave him as .

, ,

soon as the communication had been ma d e

-
S ometim es the same .

tan ra or priest continued for two o r three days possesse d by the spirit
, ,

or d eity ; a piece o f a native cloth o f a peculiar kin d w orn roun d one , ,

arm was an in d ication o f inspiration or of the in d wellin g o f the god

, ,

w i th the individual who w ore it The acts o f the m an durin g this .

period were considered as those o f the god and hence the greatest ,

at tention was paid to his exp ressions a nd the whole o f his deportment , .

When n rn hi a (un d er the inspi ration o f the s p irit ) the priest was ,

a lwa y s considered a s sacre d as the god and wa s calle d durin g this , ,

p eriod a tn a god though at other tim es only denom inated ta nra or

, ,

pries t .

But examples o f such temporary inspiration are so common in

every par t o f the world and are now so familiar through books on
e thnolo gy that i t i s needless to mul tiply illus trations o f the general
p rinciple It may be well however to refer to two particular modes
.
, ,

o f pro d ucin g temporary inspiration b ecaus e they a re perhaps less ,

known than som e o thers and because we S ha ll have occasion to refer ,

to them later on One o f these m odes of producin g inspi ration is by

.

suck i n g the fresh blood o f a sacrificed victim In the temple o f Apollo .

D i ra d iotes at A r gos a lamb was sacrificed by ni ght once a mon th ; ,

a w oman who ha d to observe a rule o f chastity taste d the blood of

, ,

the lamb and thus bein g inspired by the god she prophesied or divined
, .

A t A egi ra in Achaia the priestess o f E arth drank the fresh blood of a

bull before she descende d into the cave to prophesy S imilarly among .

the K u ruv ik k ara ns a cla ss o f bird catche rs and beggars in S ou thern ,

-

I ndia the goddess Kali i s believe d to descen d upon the p riest and he
, ,

gives oracul a r replies a fter suckin g the blood which streams from
'

the cut throat o f a goat At a festival o f the A l foors o f M inahassa .

,
VII I N CARNAT E HUMAN GO DS 95

in Nor thern Celebes a fter a p ig has been killed the pri est rushes
,
‘

furiously at it thrusts hi s hea d into the carcase and drinks o f the

, ,

blood T hen he is dragged away from it by force a n d set on a chai r

. ,

whereupon he begins to prophesy how the r i ce crop will turn out that -

year A secon d time he runs a t the carcase a n d d rinks o f the blood ;

.

a secon d t ime he is forced int o the chai r and continues his predictions ’
.

It is though t that there is a spi rit in him which pos sesses the power
of prophecy .

The othe r mode o f p roducing temporary inspira tion to which I ,

shall here re fer consists in the use o f a sacre d tree or plant Thus in
, [
.

the Hin d oo K oosh a fire is k i n d le d wi th twi gs o f the sacre d c ed ar ;

and the Da inyal o r sibyl wi th a clo th over her head inhales the thi ck, ,

pungent smoke till she is se ize d wi th convuls ions a nd falls senseless to

the groun d Soon she rises and ra is es a shrill chant which is cau gh t
.
,

up and lou d ly repeate d by her au d i ence S o Apollo s prophe tess a te .

’

the sacre d laurel a n d was fum iga ted w i th it be fore she prophes i e d .

The Bacchanals ate ivy a n d the i r insp i red fury was by some b el ieve d
,

to be due to the exci tin g and i ntox i ca tin g propert i es o f the plan t In .

Uganda the priest in or d er to be insp i re d by hi s god smokes a pipe

, ,

of tobacco fiercely till he works himsel f in to a frenzy ; the lou d exc ite d
tones in which he then talks are reco gn ise d as the voice o f the god
speak ing through him I n M a d ura an island off the nor th coas t o f
.
,

Java each spiri t has its regular me d ium who is o ftener a woman than
, ,

a man To prepare hersel f for the reception o f the spi r it she inhales
.

the fumes o f incense s itti n g wi th her hea d over a smokin g censer

, .

Gradua lly she falls into a sor t o f t rance accompan ie d by shr i eks ,

grimaces a nd violent spasms

, The spiri t is now supposed to have .

entere d into her a nd when she grows calmer her wor d s are re gar d e d
,

as oracular being the utterances o f the indwelling spirit while her

, ,

own soul is temporarily absent .

The pe rson temporarily inspired is believe d to acqu i re n ot merely ,

divine knowledge but als o a t least occasio nally d ivine power

,
In , , .

Cambo d ia when an ep i d emic breaks out the inhabitants o f several

, ,

v illages uni te a n d go wi th a band o f musi c at the i r hea d to look for

the man whom the local god i s suppose d to have chosen for his tem
p orary incarnation When foun d the man is con d uc te d to the altar
.
,

of the
god where the mystery o f incarnation takes place
, Then the .

m an becomes an obj ect o f venera tion to his fellows who implore him
,

to pro tect the villa e a ains t the pla ue A certain ima ge o f Apollo
g g g .
,

which s tood in a sacred cave a t H yla e near Ma gnesia was though t to ,

impart superhuman s tren gth Sacre d men inspired by it leape d d own .

, ,

precipices tore up huge trees by the roots a nd carried them on their

, ,

backs along the narrowest d efiles The feats per formed by insp i re d .

dervishes belong to the same class .

Thus fa r we have seen that the sava ge failin g to d iscern the limits ,

of his abi lity to control nature ascribes to himsel f a n d to all men certain
,

powers which we should now call superna tural Fur ther we have .
,

seen that over and above this general supernaturalism some persons
, ,
96 I N CARNAT E HU MA N GOD S CH .

a re supposed to be insp i red for shor t periods by a d ivine sp irit an d thus ,

.

tempo rar ily to enj oy the knowle dge a n d p ower o f the in d well i n g deity .

From bel ie fs l ike these it is an easy s tep to the conviction that cer tain
“

m e n a re permanen tly possesse d by a d e ity or in some other undefined ,

way a re en d ue d w ith so h igh a d egree o f superna tural power as to be

ranke d a s go d s a n d to rece ive the h oma ge o f prayer and sacrifice .

S ome times these huma n go d s are res tr i c ted to purely superna tural
or spiri tual func tions Sometimes they exercise supreme political
.

power in a dd i tion In the lat ter case they are kin gs as well as go ds
.
,

a n d the government is a theocracy Thus in the Marquesas or Wash

.

i ngto n Islan d s there was a class o f men who were d eified in their
li fe time They were suppose d to wield a supernatu ral power over the
.

e lemen ts : they could giv e abun d an t harves ts or smite the ground

w ith barrenness ; an d they coul d inflic t d isease or d ea th Human .

sacr ifi ces w ere o ffere d to them to avert their w ra th There were not .

many o f them a t the mos t one or two i n ea ch i sland They lived in

, .

mys tic s eclusion Thei r powers were sometim es b ut n ot always

.
, ,

here d i ta ry A mis sionary has d escribe d one o f th e se human go ds

.

from personal observat i on The god was a very old man who lived
.

i n a lar ge house wi thin an enclosure In the house was a kin d o f al tar

.
,

a nd on the beams o f the hous e and on the tr ees roun d i t were hung

h uman skele tons head down N o one en tere d the enclosure except
, .

the persons d edica te d to the serv i ce o f the god ; only on days when
human vic tims were sacrificed m igh t o rd inary people pene trate into
the precinct Th i s human god received more sacrifices than all the
.

o the r go d s ; o ften he woul d s i t on a sor t o f sca ffol d in fron t o f his

house a n d call for tw o or three human victims a t a time The y were .

always brou gh t fo r the terror he inspire d was extreme He was

, .

i nvoked all over the island and o fferin gs were sent to him from every
,

s id e A ga i n o f the S outh S ea Islands in general we are told that each

.
,

islan d ha d a man who represented or personifie d the divinity Such .

men were calle d go d s a n d their s ubs tance was con foun d ed with that
,

o f the dei ty .The man god wa s som e times the kin g himsel f ; o ftener
-

he was a pri es t or subord ina te chie f .

The ancient E gyp tians fa r from restric tin g their adoration to cats
,

a n d d o gs a n d such small d eer very liberally extended it to men

, One .

o f these human d ei ties res i d e d a t the villa ge o f A n ab i s and burnt ,

sacrifices were o ffered to him on the al tars ; a fter wh ich says Porphyry , ,

he woul d eat his d i nner j ust as if he were an ordinary mortal In .

classical an tiqui ty the S ic il ian philosophe r E mpe d ocles gave himsel f

out to b e n ot merely a wizard b ut a god A d dressing his fellow citizens .
-

in verse he sai d :

0 fr i en d s i n this gr ea t ci ty tha t clim b s the yell ow s l ope

,

Of A g ri gen tu m s ci ta d e l w ho m a k e g o od w or k s y ou r s cope
’

Who ofier to the s tra ng er a hav en q ui e t a n d fa i r

,

A ll ha i l ! A m ong you h on our e d I w a lk wi th lofty air .

Wi th g a r la nd s b l oom i ng gar la nds you crown m y n ob le b r ow,

,

A m or ta l m a n n o longer, a d ea thless g odhea d n ow .

98 I N CARNAT E HU MA N GOD S CH .

a d ore i d ols or reco gni z e any god but instead they venerate and ,

honour thei r king whom they re gar d as a divini ty and they say
, ,

he is the greates t and best in the wo r ld And the sai d kin g says of .

himsel f that he alo ne 13 god o f the ea rth for wh ich reason i f it rains ,

when he d oes not wish it to d o so or is too hot he shoo ts arr ows at the
, ,

sky for not obeying him The Mashona o f S outhern A frica in formed
.

thei r bishop th at they had once ha d a

“
go d but th a t the Matabeles had ,

driven him away This last was in reference to a curious cus tom in
.

some villages o f keepin g a man they called thei r god H e seemed to .

be consulted by the people and had pres en ts give n to him There was .

one a t a village belon gin g to a chi e f M a gon di i n the old days We were , .

asked not to fire off any guns near the villa ge o r we should frighten ,

him away .This Mashona god was form erly bound to render an '

annual tribute to the kin g o f the Ma tabele i n the shape o f four black
oxen a n d one dance A m i ssionary has seen and described the deity
.

d ischargin g the la tter part o f his duty i n f ront o f the royal hut For .

three mo r tal hours without a break to the ban gin g o f a tambourine

, , ,

the click o f ca sta nettes and the drone o f a monotonous son g the
, ,

s war thy god en gaged in a frenzie d d ance crouching on his hams like ,

a tailor sweating like a p ig and b oun d in g about w i th an a gility w hich

, ,

testifie d to the s tren gth an d elas tic ity o f hi s divine legs .

The Ba ganda o f Cen tral A frica believed in a god o f Lake Nyanza ,

who some times took up his abo d e in a man or woman The incarna te '

go d was much feared by all th e people inclu d in g the king and the ,

chie fs When the mystery o f incarnation had taken place the man
.
, ,

o r ra ther the god r a noved abou t a mile and a hal f from the margin
,

o f the lake an d there awai te d the appearance o f the new m oon before
,

he en ga ge d in his sacred d u ti es From the moment that the crescent

.

moon appeare d fain tly in the sky the king and all his subj ects were at,

the comman d o f the divine m a n or L a b a r e (god ) as he was called who

, , ,

reigned sup rem e not o nly in matters o f faith and ritual but also in ,

ques tions o f war and s tate policy H e was consulted as an oracle ; .

by his word he could infl ict o r heal sickness withhold rain and cause , ,

famine La r ge p resents were made him when his advice was sought
. .

The chief o f Urua a large region to the west o f Lake Tanganyika

, ,
“
arro ga tes to himsel f d ivine honours and power and pretends to
abstai n f rom food for days without feeling its necessity ; and indeed , ,

d eclares that as a god he i s alto gethe r above requirin g fo o d and only

”
ea ts drinks and smokes for the pleasure it a ffo rds him
, , Amon g the .

Gallas when a woman grow s tired o f the cares o f housekeeping she

, ,

be gins to talk incoheren tly and to demean hers el f extravagantly This .

is a si gn o f the descent o f the holy spi ri t Callo upon her Immediately .

her husband p rostrates himsel f a n d adores her ; she ceases to bear the
humble title o f wi fe and i s called Lord “
dom esti c d uties have no
further claim on her and her will is a divin e law
, .

The kin g o f Loango is honoured by hi s people as though he were

a god ; and he i s called Sa m b ee and Pan go which mean go d They , .

believe that he can let th em h av e r ai n wh en he likes ; and once a year ,

VII I N CARNAT E HUMA N GO D S 99

in December which is the time they want rain the people come to
, ,
”
b eg o f him to grant it to them On this occasion the king standing
.
,

on his throne sho ots an a rrow into the ai r which is supposed to bring
, ,

on rain Much the sam e is sai d of the kin g o f M ombasa Dow n to a

. .

few years ago when hi s spiritual reign on earth was b rought to an

,

abrupt end by the carnal weapons o f E n glish marines a nd bluej ackets ,

the king o f B enin was the chief obj ect o f worship in hi s dominions .

“
He occupies a hi gher post here than the Pope does in Catho lic E urope ;
for he is not only Go d s vicegerent upo n earth but a go d himsel f whos e
’ ’

, ,

subj ects b oth obey and adore him as such alt hough I believe the i r ,

adoration to arise rather from fear than love The kin g of I ddah .

told the E n glish o fficers o f the Ni ger E xpedition G od ma d e me ,

“

af ter his own i mage ; I am all the same as God ; and he appointed m e
a king
A p eculia rly bloodthirsty m onarch o f B urma by nam e Bado n ,

sachen whose very coun tenance reflecte d the inbre d feroci ty o f his
,

nature and under whose rei gn more victims perished by the executioner
,

than by the comm on enemy conceived the no tion that he was som e ,

thing more than mortal and that this hi gh dis tinction had been granted
,

him as a reward for his numero us go od works Accor d i n gly he laid .

aside the title o f king and aimed at making h i msel f a god Wi th this .

view and in imita tio n o f B u d dha w ho be fore being advanced to the

, , ,

rank of a divinity ha d qui tte d his royal palace and seraglio and retired
,

from the worl d B a d onsachen with d rew from his palace to an imme n se
,

pago d a the largest i n the empire wh ic h he had been engaged in con

, ,

s tructing fo r many years H ere he held con ferences with the most
.

learne d monks in wh i ch he sought to p ersua d e them that the five

,

thousand years assi gne d for the observance o f the law o f B ud d ha were
no w elapsed a n d tha t he himsel f was the
, god who was d estined to
appear a fter that period and to abolish the old law by substituting
,

his own B ut to his great m ortification many o f the m onks un d er

.

took to d emons tra te the contra ry ; a nd this d i sap p ointment com ,

b ined wi th his love o f power and hi s impatience un d er the res traints of

an ascetic li fe quickly d isabused him o f his ima ginary go d head and
, ,

drove him back to hi s palace and his harem The kin g o f Siam is .
“

venerated equally with a divinity H is subj ect s ought not to loo k .

him in the face ; they pros tra te themselves before him when he passes ,

and appear b e fore him on their knees their elbows resting on the ,
”
ground There is a special language devote d to hi s sacred perso n
.

and a ttributes a n d it mus t be used by all who spe ak t o or o f him

,
-
.

Even the natives have d ifficulty in mas terin g this p eculiar vocabulary .

’
The hairs o f the monarch s head the soles o f his feet the breath of his , ,

body in d eed every single detail o f his person bo th outward and ia

, ,

ward have particular nam es When he eats or drinks sleeps o r walks

, .
, ,

a special word indic ates that these acts are bein g performe d by the
soverei gn and such wo r d s cannot possibly be applied to the acts o f any
,

o ther person whatever The re is no word in the Siamese language

.

by which any cr eature o f highe r r ank or gre ate r dignity than a mon a rch
 00 I N CARNAT E HU MAN GODS CH .

can be d escribed ; missionaries when they speak o f God are

an d the , ,

force d to us e the na ti ve wor d fo r k i n g .

B ut perhaps no coun try in the worl d has been so prolific o f human

gods as I n d ia ; nowhere has the d iv i ne grace been poured out i n a more
liberal measure on all classes o f soc i e ty from k i ngs down to milkmen .

Thus amon gs t the To das a pas toral people o f the N eilgherry H ills of
,

S outhern In d ia the d a iry i s a sanc tuary a n d the milkman who attends

, ,

to it has b een d escr ib e d as a god On b ein g aske d whe ther the To das .

salu te the sun one o f these d iv i ne m ilkmen replie d Those poor fel
, ,

lows d o so b u t I ,
tapp i n g his ches t ,
I a god ! why shoul d I ,
“

,
”
salute the sun ? E very one eve n his own fa ther pros tra tes himsel f , ,

be fore the m ilkman a n d no one woul d d a re to re fuse him any th ing

, .

N 0 human be in g except ano ther m i lkman may touch him ; an d he

, ,

gives oracles to all w ho consul t him speak i n g wi th the voi ce o f a god , .

Fur ther i n I n d ia every king is re gar d e d as li ttle shor t o f a present

,
”
god . The Hi n d oo law book o f Manu goes far ther and says tha t even
-
“

an i n fant kin g mus t not be d espise d from an idea that he is a mer e

”
m ortal ; for he is a grea t d ei ty in human fo rm There is sa i d to have .

been a sec t in Or i ssa some years a go w ho worshipped the la te Q ueen

Vic tor ia in her li fe time as thei r ch i e f d ivinity A n d to this da y in .

India all l ivin g persons rema rkable for great s tren gth or valour or for
supposed mi raculous powers run the risk o f being worshipped as go ds .

Thus a sect in the Punj aub wo rshipped a d e ity whom they calle d
"

N ik k a l Sen This N ik k al S en was no other than the redoub te d

.

General Nicholson a n d no thing that the general coul d d o o r say

,

dampe d the ardour of his adorers The more he punished them the .
,

greater grew the rel igious awe w ith which they worshippe d him At .

B enares not many years ago a celeb rate d d ei ty was incarna te in the
person o f a H indoo gentleman who rej oiced in the euphonious name o f
Swami B ha sk a ra na n d aj i Saraswati and looke d unco m m only like the ,

la te Cardinal Mannin g only more in genuous H is eyes beame d wi th

, .

kindly human in teres t a n d he took what is descri b e d as an innocen t

,

pleasure in the d ivine hon ours pai d him by hi s confid in g worshippers .

At Chinchva d a small town about ten m iles from Poona in \ Vestern

,
'

I n d ia there lives a family o f whom one in each gene ra tion is believe d

,

by a lar ge propor tion o f the Mahra ttas to be an incarna tion o f the

elephant — hea d e d god Gu np utty That celebra te d dei ty was firs t ma de .

flesh abou t the year 16 40 in the person o f a B rahman o f Poona by name ,

M oorab a Gos seyn who sou ght to work out his salva tion by abs ti nence
, ,

m orti fication a n d prayer ,

H is p i e ty ha d its reward The god h imself
. .

appeare d to hi m i n a v i s i on o f the n ight and promise d that a portion

o f his that is o f Gun p utty s holy spiri t shoul d abi de wi th him and
, ,
’

with his see d a fter him even to the seventh genera tion The d ivine .

p romise was fulfilled S even successive incarnations transmi tted

.
,

from fa ther to son mani fes ted the li gh t o f Gunp utty to a d a rk world
The last o f the direct line a heavy —
, .

loo kin g go d wi th very weak eyes

, ,

died in the year 18 10 B ut the cause o f truth was too sacre d and the
.
,

value o f the church property too considerable to allow the B rahmans ,

102 I N CARNAT E HUMA N GODS CH .

essence actually formed part o f the Godhead was the Son o f God in
, ,

the sam e sense a n d manner with Christ himsel f and enj oye d thereby ,

a glori ous immuni ty from the trammels o f all laws human and d ivine .

Inwar d ly transpor te d by th is b l i ss ful persuasion though outwardly ,

p resen tin g i n th e ir aspect a n d manners a shockin g air o f lunacy and

distraction the sectaries roame d from place to place a ttire d in the most
, ,

fantastic apparel a n d be ggin g their brea d with wild shou ts and clamour ,

S purning i nd ignan tly every kin d o f honest labour and industry as an

obs ta cle to divine contemplat ion and to the ascent o f the soul towards
the Father o f spiri ts I n all thei r excurs ions \ they we re followed by
.
~

women with whom they lived on t erm s o f the closest familiarity .

Thos e o f them who conceive d they ha d ma d e the greatest proficiency

in the hi gher spiri tual li fe d ispense d wi th the use o f clothes a lto gether
in thei r assem b lies lookin g upon decency a n d modesty as marks o f
,

i nward corrup tion characteris ti cs o f a soul that s till grovelled under

,

the d omini on o f the flesh a n d had no t yet been elevated into communion
wi th the divine spiri t its centre and source S ometimes their progress
, .

towa r d s thi s mystic communion wa s accelera te d by the Inquisi tion ,

and they expi re d in the flames n ot merely wi th unclou d ed serenity,

.

b ut with the most triumphant feeli n gs of cheer fulness and j oy ,

About the year 18 30 there a p peare d in one o f the S tates of the ,

American Union borderin g on Kentucky an impostor who declare d ,

that he was the S on of G od the Saviour o f ma nkind and that he had

, ,

reappeared on ear th to recall the impious the unbelievin g and sinners , ,

to thei r duty H e pro tes ted that i f they di d no t m en d their ways

.
-

within a certain tim e he w ould give the si gnal a n d in a moment the

, ,

worl d would crumb l e t o ruins These ex travagant pretensions were

.

receive d w ith favour even by persons o f wealth a n d pos iti on in society .

At las t a German humbly besough t the new M essiah to announce the

drea d ful catastrophe to his fellow coun trymen in the German lan gua ge -
,

a s they d i d n ot understand E n glish a n d it seemed a pity that they ,

shoul d be d amne d merely on th at account The woul d b e Saviour in .

-

reply con fesse d with great candour that he d i d not know German .

” ’
“
What ! reto rt ed the German‘

you the S on o f God and d on t

,
“
,

s p eak all lan gua ges a n d d on t even know German ? Come come
,
’

, ,

you are a knave a hypocrite and a madman B e d lam i s the place for
, , .

”
you . The spec tators laughed a n d went away ashamed o f their ,

creduli ty .

S ome times at the dea th o f the huma n incarnation the d ivine

, ,

spir it transm igr a tes into ano ther m an The B u d dhist Tartars bel ieve .

i n a great number o f liv i ng B uddhas w ho officia te as Grand Lamas at ,

the hea d o f the most impor ta nt monas teries When one o f these .

Gran d Lamas di es his di sciples do not so rrow fo r they know that he ,

will soon reappear bein g born i n the form o f an in fant Their only
, .

anxie ty is to d i scover the place o f his bir th If at this time they see a .

rainbow they take i t as a si gn sent them by the departe d Lama to guide

them to his cradle S ome times the divine in fant himsel f reveals his
.

“ ” “
identity . I am the Grand Lama he says the livin g Buddh a of , ,
 I N CARNAT E HUMA N GOD S

S uch and such a temple Take me to my old monaste ry I am it s . .

”
immortal hea d In whatever way the bir th-place o f the Buddha i s
.
‘

reveale d whether by the Buddha s own avowal or by the si gn in the

,
’

sky tents are struck and the j oy ful pil grims o ften headed by the king
, , ,

or one o f the most illustr i ou s of the royal family set for th to find and ,

bring home the infant god Generally he is born in Tibet the holy .
,

land and to reach him the caravan has o ften to traverse the most
,

fri gh tful deserts When at last they find the child they fall down and
.

worship him B e fore however he is ack n ow ledge d as the Grand

.
, ,

Lama whom they seek he mus t sa tis fy them o f his i d en tity H e i s .

asked the name o f the monast ery o f which he claims to be the head ,

how far o ff it is and how many monks live in 1t he must also d escribe
,
'

the habits o f the deceased Grand La ma a n d the manner o f his d ea th .

Then var i ous articles as prayer books tea pots and cups are place d
,
-
,
-
, ,

be fore him a nd he has to poin t out those use d by h imsel f in his previous
,

li fe If he does so w ithout a mistake his claims are a d mit ted and he

.
,

is conducted in tr iumph to the monas tery A t the head o f all the .

Lamas is the Dalai Lama o f Lhasa the Rome o f Tibet H e is regarded , .

as a living god a nd at d eath hi s d ivine and immor tal spir it is born

,

again in a child Accor d ing to some accoun ts the m od e o f d iscovering

.

the Dalai Lama is s imilar to the me thod alrea dy described o f d iscover , ,

ing an ordinary Gran d Lama Other accounts S peak o f an elec tion by .

drawing lo ts from a go ld en j a r Wherever he is born the trees a n d .

,

plants put forth green leaves ; a t his biddin g flowers bloom and sprin gs
of wa ter rise ; and his presenc e d i ffuse s heavenly b lessin gs .

But he is by no means the only man who pos es as a god i n these

regions A re gister o f all the incarnate gods in the Ch inese empire is
.

kept in the L i fan yi ian or Colonial O ffice at Pekin g The number o f .

gods who have thus taken out a license is one hundred a n d sixty .

Tibet is blessed with thirty o f them Nor thern M ongol i a rej oices in ,

nineteen an d S outhern Mon gol ia basks in the sunshine o f no less than

,

fi fty seven
-
The Chi nese government wi th a paternal -s ol i ci tu d e for
.
,

the wel fare o f its subj ects forbi d s the gods on the regis ter to be reborn
,

anywhere but in Tibet They fear l est the birth of a god in Mongoli a
.

should have serious politi cal consequen ces by stirri n g the dormant
patrio tism and warlike spirit o f the Mon gols who mi ght rally round ,

an ambi tious native d ei ty o f royal linea ge and seek to win for him ,

at the point o f the swo rd a temporal as well as a spiritual kin gd om , .

But besides these public o r license d go d s there are a great many little
private gods or unlicensed practitioners o f divinity who work miracles
, ,

and bless their people in holes an d corners ; and o f late years the

Chinese governmen t has w i nke d a t the rebir th o f these petti fo ggi n g

deities outsi d e o f Tibet H owever once they are born the govern
.
, ,

m ent keeps its eye o n them as well as on the re ula r practitioners

g ,

and i f any o f them misbehaves he is promptly d e graded bani she d t o ,

a di sta nt monastery a nd strictly forbidden ever to be born again in

,

the flesh .

From our survey o f the reli gious p osition occup ied by the k ing i n
104 I N CARNAT E HU MAN GOD S CH

rude societi es w e may in fer that the claim to divine and supernatural
p owers put forwar d by the monarchs o f great his tor i cal empires like
“

thos e o f E gypt M exico a n d Peru was n o t the simple ou tcome of in

, , ,

fla te d vanity or the emp ty exp ression o f a grovellin g adulation ; it

was merely a surv ival a n d extension o f the old savage apoth eosis of
living kin gs Thus fo r example as chil d ren o f the S un the I ncas of
.
, ,

Peru were revered l ike go d s ; they could do no wron g and no one ,

d reamed o f o ff en d i ng a gains t the person honour or property of the , ,

monarch o r o f any o f the royal race H ence too the I ncas did not .
, , ,

l ike mos t people look on sicknes s as an evil They considered it a

, .

messenger sen t fro m th ei r father the S un to call them to come and

rest wi th him in heaven There fo re the usual words in which an Inca
.

announce d his approachin g end were these : M y fa ther calls me to

”
come a nd rest with him They woul d not oppose their father s will
.
’

by o fferin g sac r i fice for recovery but openly declare d tha t he had called
,

them to hi s rest Issuing from the sul try valleys up on the lo f ty table
.

lan d o f the Colomb ian An d es the Spanish conquerors were as tonishe d

,

to fi nd in contrast to the sava ge hor d es they had left in the swel tering
,

j un gle s below a people enj oyin g a fai r degree o f civilisation practi sing
, ,

agr i cul ture a n d livin g un d er a government which H umboldt has

,

compare d to the theocracies o f Tibet and Japan These were the ‘

Chibchas M uyscas or M oz cas d ivided into two kin gdoms with

, , , ,

capi tals at B o go ta and Tunj a but united apparently in spiritual ,

allegiance to the hi gh ponti ff o f S oga m oz o or Iraca By a long and .

asce tic novi tiate this ghos tly ruler was reputed to have acquired such
,

sancti ty that the waters and the rain obeyed him and the weather ,

The M exican kings at their a cces s ion a s we have

'

d epen d ed on his will .

,

seen took an oath that they wo uld make the sun to shine the clouds
, ,

to give rain the rivers to flo w and the earth to brin g for th fruits in
, ,

abundance We are told that M on tezuma the last king of Mexico

.
, ,

was worshippe d by his people as a god /

The early Babylon ian kin gs from the time o f Sa rgon I till the , .

four th dynasty o f Ur or la ter claime d to be gods in their li fetime , .

The monarchs o f the four th dynasty o f Ur in particular had temples

buil t in thei r honour ; they set up thei r st a tues in various sanc tuaries
and commande d the people t o sacrifice to them ; the ei gh th month
was especially d e d ica te d to the kin gs and sacrifices were off ered to ,

them at the new moon a n d on the fi f teenth o f each month Again .

,

the Par thian monarchs o f the A rsacid house styled themselves brothers
o f the su n and moon and were worshipped as dei ties It was esteemed .

sacrile ge to strike even a private member o f the Arsacid family in a

braw l .

t
yoffered to them n d their worship was celebra te d in sp ecial emples
[ he kin gs o f E gyp t were d eified in their li fe tim e sacrifices were ,

a , t
and by special pries ts I n d eed the worship o f the kin gs sometimes
.

cas t tha t o f the go d s into the shade Thus in the rei gn o f M eren ra a .

hi gh o fficial d ecla re d tha t he had b u1 t many holy places in or d e r that

the spi rits o f the king the ever livin g M erenra mi ght be invoked
,
-
,
106 D E PA RTM E NTAL KI N GS OF NATUR E CH .

p ropo rtion as ma gic i s slowly ouste d by reli gion S till lat er a pa rtition . ,

i s e ff ec te d b etween the civil a n d the rel i gi ous a spect o f the kin gship ,

the temporal power bein g comm i tte d to one man and the spiritual to
a no ther M eanwhile the ma gic i ans who may be repressed but canno t
.
,

be ex tirpate d by the p re d om i nance o f reli gion s till addict themselves ,

to thei r old occult a rts in pre ference to th e newer ritual o f sacrifice

a nd prayer ; a n d in time the m o re sa gacious o f thei r number perceive

the fallacy o f ma gic an d hit upon a more e ff ectual mode o f manipulating

the forces o f nature for the good o f m an ; in short they abandon ,

sorcery for science I am fa r from a ffirmin g that the course o f develop

.

ment has everywhere ri gidly followed these lines : it has doubtless

varied greatly in d i ff erent societies I m er e ly mean to indicate in the .

broadest outline what I conceive to have been its general trend Re

"

garded from the in d us tr ial poin t o f view the evolut i on has been from
uni formity to diversity o f f unction : regarded from the political point
of view it has been from democracy to d espotism Wi th the la ter
, .

hi story o f mona rc hy especially with the d ecay o f despotism and its

,

displacement by forms of government better a d ap te d to the hi gher

nee d s o f humani ty we a re not concerned in this enquiry : o ur theme
,

i s the growth not the decay o f a great and i n its time b eneficent
, , , ,

i nstitutio n .

CHAPT E R VI I I

DEPA RT M E N T A L K I N GS OF N A T URE

THE precedin g i nvesti gation has p roved that the same union o f sacred
functions wi th a royal title which meets us in the Kin g o f the Wood at
N emi the S acrificia l King at Rome and the magistrat e calle d the
, ,

Kin g at Athens occurs frequen tly outside the limits o f classi cal
,

antiquity and is a common feature o f s oc ieties at all stages from

barbari sm to civilisati on Fur ther it appears that the royal priest
-
.
,

i s o ften a kin g not only in n ame but i n fact swayin g the sceptre as
, ,

well as the crosier All this confi rms the traditi onal view of the origin
.

o f the ti tular and pr i estly kin gs in the republics o f ancient Greece and
Italy At least by sh owin g that the combination o f spi ritual and
.

temporal power o f which Gra eco Italian tradition preserved the

,
-

mem ory has actually existed in many places we have obviated any
, ,

suspicion o f imp robabili ty that mi ght have attached to the tradition .

There fore we may n ow fai rly ask M ay n ot the King of the Wo od have ,

had an ori gin l ike that which a probable tradi tio n a ssi gns to the
S ac rifici al Ki ng o f Rome and the ti tular K in g o f Athens ? I n other
words may not his p redecessors in o ffice have been a li ne o f kings
,

whom a rep ublican revolu tion stripped o f thei r political power leaving ,

them only thei r reli gious functions and the shadow o f a crown ? There
are at least two reasons for answeri ng thi s question in the ne gative .

One r ea son is drawn from the ab od e o f the priest of Nemi ; the other
from his title the King o f the Wood
,
I f his predecessors had been .
VIII D E PARTM E NTAL KI N GS OF NATUR E 107

kings in the or d inary sense he would surely have been found residin g
, ,

like the fallen kings o f Rom e an d Athens in the city o f which the scep tre ,

had passed from him This ci ty must have been A ri cia for there was
.
,

none nearer B ut A ri cia was three m iles off from hi s forest sanctuary
“

by the lake shore I f he reigne d it was n ot in the city but in the

.
, ,

greenwood A gain his title Kin g o f the Wood hardly allows us to

.
, ,

suppose that he had ever been a king in the c ommon se n se o f the word .

More likely he was a kin g o f nature and o f a special side o f nature , ,

namely the woods fr om which he took his ti tle If we coul d fin d

, .

instances o f W ha t we may call depar tm ental kings o f nature that i s o f ,

persons suppose d to rule over par ticular elements or aspects o f nature ,

they woul d pr obably present a closer analo gy to the Kin g o f the Wood
than the d iv i ne k i n gs we have been hither to consi d erin g whose con trol ,

of na ture is general ra ther than special Ins tances o f such d epar t .

m ental kin gs a re not wan ti n g .

On a hill at Bomma near the mouth o f the C ongo d wells N am vulu

Vum u K in g o f the Ra in and Storm
, O f some o f the t ribes on the .

Upper Nile we a re told that they have no kin gs in the common sense ;
the only persons whom they acknowle dge as such are the Kings o f the
Rain M a ta K od ou who are cre d i te d w i th the power o f givin g ra i n
, ,

at the proper time tha t is the rainy season Be fo re the rains begin
, , .

to !all at the en d o f March the coun try i s a parche d a n d ari d d eser t ;

and the ca ttle which form the p e ople s ch i e f weal th per i sh fo r lack o f
’

, ,

grass So when the en d o f March d raws on each househol d er be takes

.
, ,

himse l f to the K in g o f the Rain a n d o ffers him a cow tha t he may make
the b le sse d wa ters o f heaven to d r ip on the brown a n d wi thered pas tures .

If no shower falls the pe ople assemble a n d d eman d tha t the k in g shall

,

give them ra in ; a n d i f the sky s ti ll con ti nues clou d less they r ip up ,

his belly in which he i s believe d to keep the s torms

,
Amon gst the .

B ari tribe one o f these Rain Kings ma d e rain by sprinkling wa ter on

the ground out of a han dbell .

Among tribes on the ou tski r ts o f Abyssinia a similar o ffice exists

and has been thus d escr ibe d by an observer : The pr ies thoo d o f “

the Al i ai as he is called by the Barea and Kunama is a remarkable

, ,

one ; he is believe d to be able to make ra in Th i s office formerly .

existe d amon g the A lged s a n d appears to be s till common to the N uba

negroes The A l fa i o f the Barea who is also consul ted by the northern
.
,

Kunama lives near T em b a d ere on a mountain alone w ith his family

,
.

The people brin g him tribu te in the form o f clo thes a n d fruits a n d ,

cul tivate for him a lar ge fiel d o f his own H e is a kind o f kin g and his .
,
’
office passes by inher itance to his brother or sis ter s son H e i s sup .

posed to conj ure down rain a nd to drive away the locus ts B ut i f he .

disappo i nts the p eople s expectation a n d a great d rou gh t arises in the

’

lan d the A lfa i is s tone d to death a n d his nearest rela ti ons are obli ge d
, ,

to cas t the fi rs t s tone at him When we pa ssed throu gh the coun try .
,

the o ffice o f Al i ai was s till hel d by a n old man ; but I heard that rain
m akin
g had proved too d angerous for him and tha t he had renounced
”
h s office
i .
108 D E PART M E NTAL KI N GS OF NATUR E CH .

In the backwoo d s o f Cambodia live two m ysteri o us soverei gns

known as the King o f the F i re and the Kin g o f the Wa ter Their fame .

is s pre a d all over the south o f the great Indo Chinese peninsula ; but -

only a fain t echo o f it has reached the Wes t Down to a few yea rs a go .

no E uropean so fa r as is known had ever seen ei ther o f them ; and

, ,

their very ex istence mi ght have pa sse d fo r a fa ble were it not that till ,

lately communica tio ns were regularly main tained between them and
the Ki ng o f Cambo d ia who y ea r by year exchan ged presents with them
,
.

Their royal funct ions a re o f a purely mys tic o r spiritual o rder ; they
have no political author ity ; they are simple peasants livin g by the ,

s wea t o f thei r brow and the o ff erin gs o f the fai th ful Accordin g to one .

account they live in absolute soli tude never mee tin g each other and ,

never seein g a human face They inhab i t success ively seven towers
.

perched upon seven mountains and every year they pass from one ,

tower to another People c ome furtively and cast wi thin their reach
.

wha t is nee d ful for thei r subsistence The kin gship lasts seven years .
,

the time necessary to i nhabit all the towers success ively ; but many die
be fore thei r time i s ou t The o ffices are here d i tary in one or (according
.

to others ) two royal families w ho enj oy hi gh considera tion have , ,

revenues assi gned to them and are exempt from the necessity of tilling
,

the ground B ut naturally the d igni ty is not covete d and when a

.
,

vacancy occurs all eli gible men (they mus t b e stron g an d have children )
,

flee a nd hide thems elves Ano ther accoun t admit ting the reluctance
.
,

o f the hereditary candidates to accept the crown d oes not countenance ,

the report o f thei r hermi t like s eclusion in the seven t owers For i t
-
.

represents the people as pros tra tin g themselves be fore the mystic kings
whenever they appea r in public it be i ng thought tha t a terrible ,

hurricane woul d burs t over the country if thi s mark o f h oma ge were
omi tted Like many other sacre d kings o f whom we shall read in the
.
,

sequel the Kin gs of Fi re an d Wa ter are not allowe d to die a natural

,

d ea th for tha t would lower thei r reputat ion Accordin gly when one of
,
.

them is seriously ill the el d ers hold a consulta tion a nd i f they think he
,

canno t recover they stab him to d eath His bo dy i s burned and the .

ashes are piously collected and publicly honoured for fiv e years Part .

of them is given to the wi d ow a n d she keeps them in an urn which she

, ,
’
mus t carry on her back when she goes to weep on her husband s grave .

We are told that the Fire Kin g the more imp or tan t o f the two , ,

whose supernatural powers have never -been questi oned offici ates at ,
‘

marr i a ges festivals a n d sacrifices in honour o f the Yon or spiri t On

, ,
.

these occa sions a s pecial place i s set apar t for him ; and the path by
which he approa ches is sprea d wi th white c otton cloths A reason for .

confinin g the royal digni ty to the same family i s that thi s family is in
posses sion o f ce rtain famous talismans which would lose their virtue or
dis appear i f they passed out o f the family These talismans a re three : .

the frui t o f a creeper call ed Cu i gathered ages ago at the tim e o f the last
,

deluge b ut s till fresh and green ; a rattan also ve ry old b ut bearin g

, ,

flower s that never fa d e ; and las tly a sword containing a Va n o r spirit , ,

who guards it cons tan tly and work s mi rac les with it The spi rit is s aid .
110 T HE WORSH I P O F TR E E S CH .

royal forests were sixty— ei ght i n number In the forest o f Arden it was .

sai d that d own to mo d ern times a squi rrel m igh t leap from tree to tree
fo r nearly the whole len gth o f Warw i ckshire The excavation o f ancient .

pile villa ges in the valley o f the Po has shown that long be fo re the rise
-

a n d probably the foun d a tion o f Rome the nor th o f I taly was covere d

w ith dense woo d s o f elms chestnuts a n d especially o f oaks A rcha eo

, ,
.

l ogy is here confirme d by hist ory ; for class i cal wri ters contain many
re ferences to Itali an forests whi ch have now d isappeared As late as .

the four th century be fore our era Rom e was d ivided from central
E truria by the dreaded C im i n ia n forest which Livy compares to the ,

woods o f Germany N o merchant i f we may trust the Roman historian

.
, ,

ha d ever penetrated its pa thless sol itu d es ; and it was deemed a mos t
daring feat when a Roman general a fter sendin g two scouts to explore ,

it s in tricacies led his army in to the forest and making his way to a
, ,

ri dge o f the woo d e d moun ta ins looke d down on the rich E trurian fields
,

sp rea d out below I n Greece beaut i ful woods of pine oak and o ther
.
, ,

trees still lin g er on the slopes o f the hi g h Arca d ian mountains sti ll adorn ,

wi th their verdure the deep gorge through which the Ladon hurries to
j oin the sacre d Al p heus and were still dow n to a few years ago
, , ,

mirrore d in the d ark bl ue waters o f the lonely lake o f Pheneus ; but

'

they are mer e fra gments o f the f o rests which clo thed grea t tracts in
an ti quity and which a t a m ore remote epoch may hav e spanned the
,

Greek peninsul a fr om sea to sea .

From an exam ination o f the Teutonic words for temple Grimm

has ma d e it p robable that amongst the Germans the oldes t sanctuaries
were natural woo d s H owever that may be tree worship is well
.
,
-

attested for all the great E uropean families o f the A ryan s tock .

Amon gst the Celts the oa k worship o f the Druids is familia r to every
-

one and thei r old word for sanctuary seems to be i d entical i n ori gin
,

a n d mean i n g with the Latin n em u s a grove or woo d land glade which , ,

s till survives i n the name o f N emi S acred groves w ere common among .

the ancien t Germans and tree worsh i p is har d ly ex tinct amon gst their
,
-

d escen da n ts at the present day H ow serious that worship was in

.

form e r ti mes may be ga thered from the ferocious penalty appointed by

the old German laws for such as dared to peel the bark o f a standing
tree The culprit s navel was to be c ut out and nailed to the p art of
.
’

the tree which he had peeled a n d he was to be driven round and roun d
,

the tree till all his guts were woun d a bout its trunk The intention .

o f the punishment clearly was to replace the dead bark by a living

subs ti tute taken from the culpri t ; it was a li fe for a l i fe the li fe of a ,

man fo r the li fe o f a tree At Upsala the old reli gious capital of

.
,

Sweden there was a sacred grov e in which every tre e was regarded as
,

d ivine . The hea then Slavs worshi pped trees and groves The .

L ithuanians were not converted to Chris tianity till towards the close
o f the fourteen th century and amongst them at the date of their
,

conversion the worship o f trees was prominent Some o f them revered .

remarkable oaks an d other great shady trees from which they received ,

o racula r responses S ome maintained holy groves about thei r villages

.
IX TR EE -S PIRIT S 111

or houses where even to break a twi g would have been a sin They
,
.

thought that he who cut a bough in s uch a grove either d ied suddenly or
was cripple d in one o f his l imbs Pr oo fs o f the prevalence o f tree .

worship in ancien t Greece a n d I taly are abundant In the sanctuary .

o f Aesculapius at Cos fo r example it was forbid d en to cut do w n the

cypress —
, ,

trees under a penal ty o f a thousan d dra chms B ut nowhere .

,

perh aps in the ancien t worl d was this ant ique form o f religion bette r
,

preserved than i n the hear t o f the grea t metropolis itsel f I n (t he .

Forum the busy cen tre o f Roman li fe the sacre d ri g tree o f Rom ulus
, ,
-

was worshipped d own to the d ays o f the emp e and the withering o f its i r
,

trunk was enough to spr e a d cons terna tion through the c ity A gain
on the slope of the Pala tine H ill grew a cornel —
.
,

tree which was esteeme d

one of the most sacred obj ec ts in Rome Whenever the tree appeare d
to a passer—
.

by to be d roop i ng he set up a hue a n d cry wh i ch was echoed

'

by the people i n the street a n d soon a crow d m i ght b e seen runni ng

,

hel ter skel ter from all s id e s w ith bucke ts o f wa ter as i f (s ays Plutarch )
-
,

they were ha s ten in g to p ut out a fi re

“

- .

Among the tribes o f the F i nn ish Ugria n s tock in E urope the heathen -

worship was per fo rmed for the mos t par t in sacre d groves which were ,

always enclosed with a fence Such a gr ove o ften c ons i sted merely o f .

a gla de or clear ing wi th a few trees d o tted about upon which in former ,

times the skins o f the sacrificial vic tims were hun g The cen tral point .

of the grove a t least among the tribes o f the Vo l ga was the sacre d tree
, , ,

besi de which everythin g else sank into i nsi gn ifican ce B e fore it the .

worshippers assemble d a n d the pries t o ff ere d his prayers a t its roo ts ,

the victim wa s sacrificed and its bou ghs some ti mes serve d as a pulpit
, .

No woo d mi ght be hewn and no branch broken i n the grove and ,

women were generally forbi dd en to enter it .

B ut it i s n ecessary to exam i ne i n some detail the not i ons on which

the worship o f trees and
p lants i s based To the savage the world .

in general i s animat e a n d trees a n d plan ts are no excep tio n to the

,

rule He think s tha t they ha ve souls like his own a n d he trea ts them
.
-
,

accor d ingly They say. wri tes the ancient ve ge tarian Porphyry
, ,
“
that prim i tive m en led a n unhappy li fe fo r the i r supersti tion d id ,

not s top at an imals but exten d e d even to plan ts For why shoul d .

the slaughter o f an ox or a sheep be a

greater wron g than the fell i n g
o f a fir or a n oak seein
g tha t a soul is imp lan ted i n these trees also ?
,

Similarly the H i datsa Indians o f N or th America believe tha t ever y

,

natural obj ect has its s piri t or to speak more properly its sha d e , , .

To these sha d es some considera tion or respec t i s due but not equally ,

to all For example the shade o f the cot tonwood the greatest tre e
.
, ,

in the valley o f the Upper M issouri is supposed to pos sess a n in ,

telligence which i f properly approached m a , y help the In d ians in ,

certain un d ertakin gs ; but the sha d es o f shrubs and grasses are o f

little account When the M issour i swollen b y a freshet i n sp ri ng
.
, ,

carries away part of its banks a nd sweeps s ome tall tree into its current ,

it is sai d that the spi rit o f the tree cries while the roots s till clin g ,

to the land a nd unt il the trunk falls wi th a splash into the stream .
112 THE WORSH I P O F TR E E S CH .

Formerly the Indians consi d ered i t wron g to fell one o f thes e giants ,

and when large lo gs were nee d e d they ma d e use only o f trees which
had fallen o f themselves T i ll la tely some o f the more credulous old
.

m en d eclare d tha t many o f the mis fo rtunes o f the ir people we re caused

by this m o d ern dis rega rd fo r the r igh ts o f the livin g cottonwood The .

I roquois believed that each species o f tree shrub plant and herb had , , ,

i ts own spiri t and to these sp i ri ts it was their cus tom to re turn thanks
,
.

T he Vva n ik a o f E astern A fri ca fancy tha t every tree and especially

'

, ,

every c oco nut tree has its S pi rit ; the d estruction o f a cocoa nut
-
,
“
-

tree is regar d e d as equ ivalen t to matrici d e because tha t tree gives ,

them li fe and nourishment as a mo ther d oes her c hild ,

S iamese .

monks believin g tha t there a re souls ever ywhere and that to destroy
, ,

any thin g whatever is forcibly to d ispossess a soul will not break a ,

branch o f a tree as they will n ot break the a rm o f an innocent

,
“

”
person . These monks o f course are B uddhists ,
But B uddhist , .

animism is n ot a philosophical theory It i s simply a common savage .

do gma incorpora te d in the system o f an historical religion To .

suppose wi th B en fey and others that the theories o f animism and

, ,

transmi gra tion current amon g rude pe oples o f Asia are derived from
B uddhism is to reverse the facts
,
.

S ometimes it i s only particular s orts of trees that are s upposed

to be tenan ted by spi rits At Grb alj in Dalmatia it is sai d that among
.

grea t beeches oaks and o ther trees there are some that a re en d owed
, ,

wi th shades or souls a n d whoever fells one o f them mus t d i e on the

,

spot or at lea st live an invalid fo r the rest o f his days I f a wood

, .

man fea rs tha t a tree which he has fe lled is one o f this sort he must ,

c ut off the head of a live hen on the s tump o f the tree wi th the very

same axe with which he cut down the tree This will protect him .

from all harm even if the tree be one o f the animated kin d
,
The silk .

cotton trees which rear thei r enormou s t runks to a stupendous height

fa r out —
, ,

toppin g all the o ther trees o f the f orest are re garded with ,

reverence throughout Wes t A frica from the S ene gal to the Ni ger , ,

and are believed to be the abode o f a god or spirit Amon g the Ewe .

speakin g peoples o f the Slave Coa s t the in d wellin g god o f this giant
o f the forest goes by the name of H un tin Trees in which he specially
dwells— for it i s not every silk— cotton tree that he thus honours —are
.

s urroun d e d by a gi r d le o f p alm leaves ; and sacrifices o f fowls and

-
,

occasionally o f human bein gs are fas tened to the trunk or lai d a gainst
,

the foot o f the tree A tree dis tin guished by a gi r d le of palm leaves
.
-

m a y not be cut down or inj ured in any way ; and even silk cotton -

trees which are not supp os e d to be animated by H untin may not be

felled unless the w oodman fi rst o ffers a sacrifice o f fowls an d palm oil -

to purge himsel f o f the proposed sacrilege To omit the sacrifice is .

an o ff ence which may be punished with dea th Among the Ka ngra .

moun tains o f the P unj aub a girl used to be annually sacrificed to an

old ce d ar tree the families o f the villa ge takin g it in turn t o supply
-
,

the victim The tree was cut down not very many y ears ago
. .

If tr ees are anima te they are necessarily sensitive and the cutti ng
,
114 THE WORS H I P O F T R EE S CH .

who had climbed a m angostin tree hard by (the durian— tree being
- '

“
unclimbable ) Yes I will now bear fruit ; I b eg of you not to fell me
, , .

S o in Japan to make trees bear fruit two men go into an orchard .

One o f th em climbs up a tree and the othe r stands at the foot W i th

an ax e The man with the axe asks the tree whether it will yiel d a
.

goo d cro p next year a n d threatens to cut it down i f it does not To .

thi s the man among the branches replies on behal f o f the tree that
it w ill bear abun d antly O d d as this mode of horticul ture may seem
.

to us it has its exact parallels i n E urope

, On Christmas E ve many .

a S outh Sla vonian and B ul garian pea sant swin gs an axe threateningly
against a barren fruit tree while ano ther man standing by intercedes
-
,

fo r the menaced tree sayin g Do not cut it do w n ; it will soon bear

, ,
”
fruit . Thrice the axe is swun g an d thrice the impendi ng blow is ,

arrested at th e entrea ty o f th e in tercesso r A fter that the frightened .

tree will certa inly bea r fruit next year .

The conception o f trees and plants a s animated beings naturally

results in trea ti ng them a s male a n d female who can be married to ,

each other in a real and not merely a fi gurative o r poetical sense of the
, ,

word The n otion is not purely fanci ful for plants like animals have
.
,

their sexes and rep roduce the i r kind by the unio n o f the m ale and
female elemen ts B ut whereas in all the hi gher animals the organs
.

o f the tw o sexes a re re gularly sepa rate d between different individuals ,

in m os t plants they ex i st to gether in every individual of the species .

This rule however is by no means universal and in many species the

, , ,

male plant is dis tinct from the f emale T he distinction a ppears to .

have been obse rve d by some sava ges for we are tol d that the Maoris ,

are a cq uainted with the sex o f trees etc and have distinct names , .
,
”
for the ma le and fem ale o f some trees The ancients kne w the .

d i ff erence between the male and the female date palm a nd fertilised -
,

them artificially by shakin g the pollen o f the male tree over the flowers
o f the female The fer tilisa tion took place i n spring Among the
. .

heathen o f Harran the m onth durin g which the p alms were fertilised
bore the name o f the Dat e M on th and at this tim e they celebrated ,

the marriage festival o f all the gods and goddes ses Di ff erent from .

this true a n d frui tful marria ge o f the palm are the false and barren
marr i ages o f plants which play a pa rt in H in d o o s uperstitio n For .

example i f a H indo o has planted a grove o f m an gos neither he nor his

,
'

w i fe may tas te o f the frui t unt il he has form a lly married o ne o f the
trees as a br i d e groom to a tree o f a di ffere nt sort commonly a tama
, , ,

rind tree which grows near it in the grove I f there is no tamarind

-
,
.

to act as bride a j asmine will s erve the turn The expenses o f such
, .

a marriage a re o ften considerable for the m ore B rahmans a re feasted ,

at i t the greater the glory o f the owner o f the grove A family has
, .

been known to sell its golden and silver trinkets and t o borrow all the ,

money they could in o rder to marry a man go -tree to a j asmine with

due pomp a nd ceremony On Christmas E ve Ge rman peas a nts used
.

to ti e fruit trees to gether with s traw ropes to mak e t hem b ear f ruit
-
,

saying that the trees were thus married .

xx TR EE S PIRITS - 115

In the Molucc a s when the clove trees are in blossom they a re

,
-
,

trea ted like pre gnant women

,
No noise may be made nea r them ;
.

no li ght or fi re may be carrie d past them at ni ght ; no one m a y approach

them with his hat on all m ust uncover in their p resence These
, .

precautions are observed les t the tree shoul d be alarmed and bea r no
fruit or should d rop its fruit too soon like the untimely d el i very o f a
, ,

woman w ho has be en frightened in her pre gnancy S o in the E as t .

the growin g rice crop is o ften treated wi th the same consi d erate re gard
-

as a bree d i ng woman Thus in Amboyna when the rice is in bloom

.
, ,

the people say tha t it is pre gna nt and fire no guns a n d make no other
no ises near the fiel d fo r fear lest i f the rice were thus d isturbe d it
, , ,

would miscarry a n d the crop would be all straw and no grain

, .

Sometimes i t i s the souls o f the d ea d which are bel ieve d to animate

trees .The Dieri tr ibe of Cen tral Australia regar d as very sacred certain
trees which are supposed to be their fathers trans forme d ; hence they
speak with reverence o f these trees an d are careful tha t they shall not be ,

cut down or burned I f the settlers requi re them t o hew down the trees
.
,

they earnestl y pr otest a gainst it asser tin g tha t were they to do so they ,

would have no luck and mi gh t be pun ished fo r n ot protec ti ng their

,

anc s tors Some o f the Ph ilippine Islanders believe that the souls
e .

o f the i r ances tors a re i n certa i n trees wh ich they there fore spare If , .

they are oblige d to fell one o f these trees they ex cuse themselves to ,

it by say i n g that it was the pr i es t who ma d e them d o i t The sp i ri ts .

take up the i r abo d e by p re fere n ce in tall and sta tely trees wi th great
, ,

spreading branches When the wind rus tles the leaves the na ti ves
.
,

fancy it is the voice o f the spiri t ; a n d they never pass nea r one o f
th ese trees w ithout bow i n g respect fully a n d askin g par d on o f the sp i rit ,

for disturbing his repose Among the Ign orrotes every vi llage ha s
.
,

its sacred tree in wh ich the souls o f the dead fore fathers o f the hamlet
,

res ide O ff erin gs are ma d e to the tre e a n d any inj ury done to it is
.
,

believe d to en tai l some mis for tune on the villa ge Were the tree cut .

down the villa ge a n d all its inha b i ta nts woul d i nevi tably perish
, .

In Corea the souls o f p e op l e w no d ie o f the pla gue or by the roa d

si de an d o f women who expire in ch il db ir th invariably take up the i r
, ,

abo de in trees To such sp i r its o ff erin gs o f cake wine a n d pork are

.
, ,

m a d e on heaps o f ston e s p i le d un d er the trees In Ch i na i t has been .

cus tomary from time i mmemorial to plant trees on graves in or d er

thereby to stren t hen the soul o f the deceased a n d thus to save his
g
bo dy from corruption ; and as the ever green cypress an d pine are
deeme d to be fuller o f v ital ity than o ther trees they have been chosen ,

by preference for th i s purpose H ence the tree s tha t grow on graves .

are sometimes identified wi th the souls of the d epar te d Amon g the .

Miao -Kia an abori ginal race o f Southern an d Western Chi na a sacre d

, ,

tree stands at the entrance o f every villa ge and the inhabitan ts believ e ,

that it is tenanted by the soul o f the i r first ancestor and that it rul e s
their des tiny S ome times there i s a sacred grove near a village where
.
,

the trees are su ff ered to rot an d die on the spot Thei r fallen branches ,

cumber the ground and no or e m ay remove them unless he has first

,
116 T HE WORS H I P OF TR EE S CH .

a sked leave o f the spiri t of the t ree a n d o ffered him a sa crifiCe Among .

the M a ra v es o f Sou thern A fri ca the bur ial groun d i s always re garded as - ,

a holy pla ce where ne i the r a tree may be felled no r a beast killed ,

beca use every th ing there is suppose d to be tenan ted by the souls of
the d ea d .

In most i f not all o f these cases the sp iri t i s v i ewe d as incorporate

, ,

in the tree ; it an imat es the tree a n d mus t su ffer a n d die with it But, .

a ccor d in g to ano ther a n d probably la ter op i nion the tree is not the ,

body b ut merely the ab od e o f the tree sp i r it wh ich can qu it it and

,
'
-
,

re turn to it at pleasure The inhab itan ts o f S i ao o an E as t In dian .

,
,

i slan d bel i eve in cer tain sylvan spi rits who d well in forests or in great
,

soli tary trees A t full moon the spi ri t comes fo rth from his lurking
.
-f

place a n d roams about H e ha s a b ig hea d very lon g arms and le gs .

, ,

and a pon d erous body I n order to propi tiate the w ood sp i ri ts people .
-

bri ng o fferin gs o f foo d fowls goats a n d so for th to the plac e s wh ich , , ,

th ey are Suppos e d to haunt The people o f Nias think that when a .

,

tree d i es its li b era te d sp i r it becomes a d emon which can kill a coco nut
, ,
-

palm by merely li gh ting on its branches and can cause the d eath of ,

al l the ch i ldren i n a house by perchin g on one o f the pos ts that support

it
. Fur ther they are o f op inion tha t cer tai n t rees are at all times
,

inhabi ted by roving demons who i f the trees were d ama ged would be , ,

set free to go about on erran d s o f m i sch i e f H ence the people respect .

these trees a n d a re care ful n o t to cut them down

,
.

N o t a few ceremoni es observe d at cut tin g down haunted tree s are

based on the belie f that the spiri ts have it in their power to qui t the
trees at pleasure or in case o f need Thus wh en the Pelew I slan ders .

a re fell i n g a t ee they conj ure the sp i rit o f the tree to leave it and
r ,

se ttle on ano th e r The wily ne gro o f the Slave Coast who wishes to
.
,

f ell an as hor i n tree but knows tha t he canno t do it so long as the spirit
,

rema i ns in the tree places a li ttle palm oi l on the ground as a bai t

,
-
,

a n d then when the unsuspect in g sp i rit has qui tte d the tree to par take
,

o f thi s d a i n ty has tens to cu t d own its la te a b o d e

,
When the T ob oong .

koos o f Celebes are about to clear a piece o f forest in order to plan t rice ,

they bui l d a ti ny house a n d furn i sh it wi th ti ny clo thes and some food

an d gol d Then they call to ge ther all the spirits o f the wood offer
.
,

them the li ttle house wi th its contents and beseech them to quit the ,

spot A fter that they may sa fely cut down the woo d withou t fear
.

in g to woun d them selves i n so d oi ng Be fore the Tomori another .

,

tr ibe o f C elebes fell a tall tree they lay a quid o f be tel at its foo t
, ,

a n d i nv ite the spiri t who d wells in the tree to chan ge hi s lod ging ;
moreover they set a li ttle la d d er a gains t the tru n k to enable him
,

to d escend wi th sa fe ty and com fort The M an d elings o f Sumatra .

endeavour to lay the blame o f all such misdee d s at the d oor of the
Du tch au thori ties Thus when a man i s cut ti ng a roa d through a
.

fores t and has to fell a tall tree which blocks the way he will not begin ,

to ply his axe unt i l he ha s sai d :

.
Sp i rit who lo dges t in thi s tree take “

,
.

it not ill that I cut down thy dwellin g; fo r i t is d one at no wish o f mine ,

but by order o f the Controller And w hen he wishes to clear a p iece .

,
1 18 TH E WORSH I P O F TR E E S CH .

tree -Sp irit The powers which he exercised as a tree -soul incorporate
.

in a tree he still con tinues to wiel d as a god o f trees This I shall n ow

, .

a ttemp t to prove i n d etail I shall s how first that trees consi dere d .
, ,

as animate bei ngs a re credited wi th the power o f maki ng the ra in to

fall the sun to shine flocks a n d her d s to mul tiply and women to bring
, , ,

for th eas i ly ; a nd second tha t the very same power s are attribu te d to
, ,

tree gods conceive d as an thropomorphi c beings or a s actually incarnate

-

in livin g men .

First then trees or tree spi ri ts are believed to give rain and sun
, ,
-

shine When the missionary ] erome o f Pra gue was persuadin g the
.

hea then Lithuanians to fell thei r sacre d groves a m ul titude o f women ,

besought the Princ e o f Li thuania to s top him s ayin g that wi th the ,

w oo d s he was d estroyin g the house o f god from wh ich they had been
wont to get rain and sunshine The M unda ris i n A ssam think that .

i f a tree in the sac red gr ove i s felle d the sylvan gods evince their dis
pleasure by withholdin g rain In orde r to procure rain the inhabi tants .

o f M onyo a villa ge in the Sa gaing district o f Upper B urma chose the

, ,

lar ges t tamarin d tree near the v i lla ge and name d it the haun t of the
-

spirit (no t) who c on trols the rain Then they o ffere d brea d coco .
,

nuts p lan tai ns and fowls to the guar d ian spirit o f the village and
, ,

to the spiri t who gives rain a n d they prayed O Lor d n ot have pi ty , ,

on us poor mortals and stay not the rain I nasmuch as our o ff ering
,
.

”
is given ungru d gin gly let the rain fall day and ni gh t A fterwards
, .

libations were made in honour o f the sp i ri t o f the tamarin d tree ; and -

still later three elderly w omen dressed in fine clothes and wearing ,

necklaces and ea rrings s ang the Rain S ong ,

.

A gain tree Spi ri ts make the crops to grow Amon gst the M undaris
,
-
.

“
every villa ge has its sacred grove and the grove deities are held ,

responsible for the crop s and a re especially honoured at all the great
'

,
”
a gr i cul tural fes tivals The ne groes o f the Gold Coast are in the habit
.

o f sac rificin g at the foot o f certain tall trees and they think that i f one ,

o f these were felled all the fruits o f the ear th would perish T he .

Gallas d ance in couples round sacre d trees prayin g for a good harvest , .

E very couple consists o f a man and woman who are linked to gether by ,

a s tick o f which each holds one end Under thei r arms they carry
, .

g reen corn or grass Swe d ish peasants s tick a lea fy branch in each
furrow o f the i r corn —
.

field s b elievin g that this will ensure an abun dant

,

crop The sam e idea comes out in the German and French custom
.

o f the Harves t May This i s a lar ge branch of a whole tree which is

-
.
,

decked wi th ea rs o f corn brought home on the last w aggon from the ,

harvest-field and fastene d on the roo f of the farmhous e or o f the barn

, ,

where it remains for a yea r Mannhardt has proved that this branch .

or tree embodies th e tree spiri t conceived as th e Spirit o f vegetation -

in ge neral whose vivi fyin g and fruc ti fyin g i nfluence i s thus brought
,

to bear upon the corn in particula r H ence in S wabia the H arvest-May .

is fastened am on gst the last stalks o f corn le ft standin g on the field ;

in other places it is planted on the corn — field and the last shea f cut is
a ttached to its trun k .
ix B E N E FIC E NT PO WE RS O F TR E E-SP IRIT S 119

A gain the tree — , spirit makes the herds to multiply and blesses
women with o ffsprin g In Northern India the E m b li ca afi ci nahs is
’

a sacre d tree On the eleventh o f the month Phalgun (February )

.

libations are poure d at the foot o f the tree a red or yellow strin g is ,

boun d abou t the trunk a n d prayers are o ff e r ed t o it for the frui-tfulness

,
‘

of women an imals a nd crops

, A ga in i n Northern I n d ia the coco nut
, .
,
-

is esteemed one o f the most sacred fru its a n d i s calle d S rip hala or , ,

the fru i t o f S ri the go dd ess o f prosper ity

,
It is the sym b ol o f fer ti l ity .
,

and all throu gh Upper In d ia i s kep t in shrines and presented by the

pries ts to women who desire to become mo thers In the town o f Q ua .
,

near Old Calabar there used to grow a palm tree wh i ch ensure d con
,
-

ception to any barren woma n who a te a nut from its branches In .

Europe the May tree or May pole is apparen tly suppose d to possess
- -

similar powers over bo th women and ca ttle Thus in some par ts o f .

Germany on the fi rst o f M ay the peasan ts set up M ay trees or M a y -

bushes a t the d oors o f s tables and byres on e for each horse and cow ; ,

this is though t to make the c ows y i eld much milk O f the I r i sh we .

“
are told that they fancy a green bough o f a tree fastened on M ay-day ,
”
agains t the house wi ll pro d uce plen ty o f m ilk that summer
, .

On the secon d o f July some o f the Wen d s used to set up an oak

tr ee in the m i ddle o f the v i lla ge w ith an i r on cock fas tened to i ts top ;
then they d anced round it an d d rove the ca ttle roun d i t to make them ,

thr ive The Circass ians regar d the pear tree as the protec tor o f ca ttle -

So they cut down a young pear —

. .

tree in the forest branch it a n d carry , ,

it home where it i s a d ore d as a d ivin ity Almost every house has one
, .

such pear tree In a u tumn on the d ay o f the fes tival the tree i s
-
.
, ,

carried into the house wi th grea t ceremony to the soun d o f music and
ami d the j oyous cries o f all the inmates who compliment it on i ts ,

fortunate arrival It is covere d wi th can d les and a cheese is fas tene d

.
,

to its top Roun d about it they eat d rink a n d s i ng Then they b i d

.
, , .

the tree good bye an d ta ke it b ack to the cour tyard where it rema i ns
-
,

for the rest o f the year set up a gainst the wall w ith out receiv i ng any
, ,

mark o f respect .

In the T uhoe tribe o f Maoris the power o f making women frui tful
is ascribed to trees These trees are assoc iated wi th the navel strings
.
-

of definite my thical ancestors a s in d ee d the navel strings o f all children,

-

used to be hung upon them down to qui te recent t imes A barren .

woman had to embrace such a tree wi th her arms and she received a ,

m ale or a female chil d accordin

g as she embraced the east or the
west side ” The common E uropean custom o f placin g a green bush
.

on May Day be fore or on the h ouse o f a beloved maiden probably

originated in the belief o f the fertilis i ng power o f the tree spirit In -
.

some parts of B avaria such bushes are set up also at the houses o f
newly married pairs and the practice i s only omi tte d i f the wi fe is
-
,

near her confinement ; for in that case they say that the husband has
”
set up a May bush for himsel f -
Amon g the Sou th Slavonians a .

barren woman who desires to have a child places a new chemise upon
, ,

a fruitful t ree on the eve o f St George s Day Next morn in g before .

’
.
120 R E LI CS O F TR E E WOR SH I P IN M OD E R N - E URO P E CH .

sunris e she exam ines the ga rment and i f she finds that s ome living ,

crea ture has crep t on it she h opes tha t her w ish w i ll be fulfilled w ithi n
,

the y e ar Then she pu ts on the chemise confi d ent that she will be
.
,

as fru itful a s the tree on wh i ch the garment has passed the night .

Among the Kara K i rgh i z barren women roll themselves on the ground
-

un d e r a sol itary apple tree in or d er to obta i n o ff sp rin g La s tly the

-
,
.
,

power o f gran ti n g to women an easy d elivery at chil d birth is ascribed -

to trees bo th i n Swe d en a n d A frica In some d is tricts o f Swe den

there was formerly a b a r d trci d or g uar d i an —
.

tree (l i me ash or elm ) i n the

’

, ,

neighbourhoo d o f every farm N o one would pluck a sin gle lea f of the .

sacre d tree any inj ury to which was punishe d by ill luck or sickness
,
-
.

Pregnant women use d to clasp the tree i n their arms in orde r to ensure
a n easy d el ivery In some negro trib es o f the Con go regi on pregnant
.

w omen make themselves garmen ts out o f the bark o f a certain sacred

tree because they bel i eve that th i s tree del ivers them from the d angers
,

tha t a ttend ch i ld bearin g The s tory tha t Le to clasped a palm tr ee

-
.
-

a n d an ol ive tree or tw o laur el —

-
trees when she was a b out to give birth ,

to the d ivine twins Apoll o and A r te m i s perhaps poin ts to a similar ,

Greek belie f in the efficacy o f cer ta i n trees to facilitate delivery .

CHAPT E R X

RE LI C S OF T RE E -
W OR S H I P IN MO E D RN E U ROP E
F ROM the foregoin g rev iew o f the b en eficen t qual ities commonly
ascribed t o tree — spiri ts it is easy to un d erstan d w hy cus toms like the
— ,

May tree or May pole have prevaile d so wi d ely and fi gured so promi
-

h en tly in the popular festivals o f E uropean peasants In sprin g or .

early summer or even o n M i dsummer Day i t was and still is in many ,

par ts o f E ur ope the custom t o go ou t to the woo d s cut d own a tree ,

a n d b r i n g it into the v i lla ge where it is set up ami d general rej o i cin gs ;

,

or the people cut branches in the woods and fa s ten them on every ,

house The in ten tion o f these cus toms i s to bring hom e to the village
. ,

a n d to each house the bless i n gs wh i ch the tree spirit has i n its power -
,

to bes tow H ence the custom i n some places of planting a May tree -

be fore every house or o f carryin g the villa ge May—

.

,
tree from door to
do or that every household may re ceiv e its share o f the blessi ng Out
,
.

o f the mass o f ev i d ence on thi s subj ec t a few exa mples may be selected .

S i r H enry Piers in hi s D es cri pti on of W es tm ea th wri ting in 1682

, ,

says : On M a y eve every family sets up be fore thei r door a green

“
-
,

bush s trewe d over w ith yellow flowers which the meadows yield
, ,

plenti fully I n coun tries where timber is plen ti ful they erect tall
.
,

slen d er trees wh ich s tan d hi gh and they con tinue almos t the whole
, ,

year ; s o as a s tran ger would go ni gh to imagi ne that they were a ll si gns

”
o f ale sellers and that all houses were ale houses
-
,
I n N or thampton -
.

shire a young tree ten or twelve feet hi gh used to be p lan te d before

12 2 R E LI CS OF TR E E —
WO RS H I P IN M OD E RN E URO P E CH .

which they take the dressed -up birch tree ca rry it home to their village -
,

with j oy ful d ance and son g and set it up in one o f the houses where it , ,

remains as an honoured guest till Whitsunday On the tw o i ntervening .

’
days they pay visits to the house where thei r gues t is ; but on the ‘

thir d day Whi tsun d ay they take her to a strea m and flin g her i nto its
, ,
”
waters thro win g thei r garlands a fter her In this Russi a n custom
, .

the d ressin g o f the bi rch i n woman s clothes shows how clearly the tree ’

is personifie d ; an d the throwing it i nto a stream i s most probably a rain

charm .

In some parts o f S weden on the eve o f M ay Day lads go about

carryin g each a bunch of fresh b i rch twi gs wholly or par tly in lea f .

With the village fi d d ler at thei r head they make the round o f the ,

houses s in gin g M ay s on gs ; the burden o f thei r son gs is a prayer for

fi ne wea ther a plenti ful harves t and w o rldly and spiritual blessings
, , .

One o f them carries a basket in which he collects gi f ts o f e ggs a nd the

like If they are well received they stick a lea fy twi g in the roo f over
.
,

the cotta ge door B ut in Sweden midsumm er is the season when these

.

ceremonies a re chiefly observed On the E ve o f St John (the twenty . .

thi rd o f June ) the houses are thorough ly cleansed and garnished wi th

green bou ghs and flowers Young fir t rees are rais ed at the doorway
.
-

and elsewhere about the homest ea d ; and ve ry o f ten small umbrageous

arbours are constructed i n the garden In Stockholm on this day a
lea f market i s held at which thousands o f M ay —
.

-
poles (M aj S tri nger ) ,

f rom six inches to twelve feet hi gh decora ted with leaves flowers
slips o f coloured paper gilt egg—
, , ,

shells strun g on reeds and so on are

, , ,

exposed for sale B on fires a r e lit on the hills an d the people dance
.
,

roun d them and j ump over them B ut the chie f event o f the day .

i s settin g up the May pole This consists o f a straight and tall spruce
-
.

gine tree stripped o f its branches

,
At times hoops and at others .

pieces o f wood placed crossw ise a re attached to it at intervals ;

, ,

whilst at others it is provided w ith bows representing so to say , , ,

a man with his arms akimb o From top t o bottom not only the .

‘
Maj St an g (May pole ) itsel f but the hoops bows etc are orna
’
-
, , , .
,

m ented with leaves flowers slips o f va rious cloth gil t egg shells
, , ,
-
,
”
etc ; and on the top of it is a large vane or it may be a fl ag
. The , .

raising o f the May pole the decora tion o f which is done by the village
-
,

maidens i s a n a ffai r o f much ceremony ; the people flock to it from

,

all quarters and dance round it i n a great rin g Mi dsummer customs

, ,

o f the sam e sort use d to be observed in some parts o f Germany Thus .

in the towns o f the Upper Harz M ountains tall fir trees with the bark -
,

peeled off thei r lower trunks were set up in open places and decked ,

with flowers a nd eggs which were pain ted yellow and red Round , .

these trees the youn g folk danced by day and the old folk in the evening
In some parts o f B ohemia also a May —
.

pole or midsummer tree is erected -

’
on St John s E v e The l a ds fetch a tall fi r or pine from the wood and
. .

set it up on a hei gh t where the gi rls deck it wi th nosegays garlands

, , ,

and red ribbons It i s a fterwards burned

. .

It would be needless to illust rate at le ngth the custom which has ,

x RELI CS O F T REE -WORS H I P IN M OD ERN EUROP E 123

prevailed in various parts o f E urope such as E n gland France and , , ,

Germany o f set tin g up a villa ge May tree or May pole on May Day
,
- -
.

A few examples will s uffice The puritani cal wri ter Ph illip S tub b es in .

his A na tom i e of A b us es first publishe d at Lon d on in 15 8 3 has d escribed

, ,

with mani fes t d is gust how they used to bring in the May pole in the -

days of goo d Queen Bess H is d escription a ff ords us a vivid glimpse o f

'

merry E ngland in the olden tim e A gainst May W hi tson day or .

“
, ,

other time all the yun g men and m a i d es old e men and wives run
, , ,

ga dding over ni gh t to the woods groves hils and moun tains whe re , , , ,

they spen d all the ni gh t in plesant pas times ; a n d in the morning they
re turn brin gi n g wi th them birch a n d branches o f trees to d eck their
, ,

assemblies withall A nd no m erv a ile for there i s a great Lor d present

.
,

amongst them as superin ten d ent and Lor d over thei r pas times an d
,

sportes namely Sa than prince o f hel B ut the chie fes t j ewel they
, , , ,

bring from thence i s the i r M a y pole which they bring home wi th grea t -
,

veneration as thus They have tw en ti e or fortic yoke o f oxen eve ry

oxe having a sweet nose —
, .
,

gay o f floners place d on the ti p o f hi s ho m e s ,

and these oxen d rawe home this M ay pole (thi s stink yng yd ol ra ther ) -
, ,

which is covere d all over w ith fl ou res and hearb s boun d roun d a b out ,

with s trings from the top to the bot tom e a n d some time painte d wi th
, ,

var iable colours wi th tw o or three hundred men women a n d ch ildren

, ,

following it w i th gr eat d ev o ti on A n d thus b eeing reare d up w ith .

,

handk e rchee fs a n d fla gs hoverin g on the top they straw the groun d ,

round e about bin d e green boughes about it set up sommer ha ul es

, , ,

bo wers and arbors har d by i t And then fall they to da un ce about i t

, .
,

like as the hea then people d id at the d e d i cation o f the I d ol s whereo f -

,

this is a per fec t pattern or rath er the thin g itsel f I have heard it
, .

cre dibly reporte d (and tha t v iv a v oce ) by men o f grea t gra v iti e and
reputa tion tha t o f fort i c threescore or a hun d re d m ai des going to the
, , ,

woo d over night there have sca resly the third part o f them re turned
,
”
home aga ine und efile d
In Swab ia on the first of May a tall fir—
.

tree use d to be fetche d into

the v illa ge where it was d ecke d w ith r ibb ons an d s et up ; then the
,

people danced roun d it merrily to music The tree s too d on the v illa ge .
_

green the whole year t hrough un til a fresh tree was brou ght i n next ,

May Day I n Saxony people were not content wi th brin ging the
.
“

summer symbol i cally (as kin g or queen ) into the villa ge ; th ey brought
the fresh
green itsel f from the woods even into the houses : tha t is the
May or Whitsuntide trees which a re mentioned in documents from the .

thirteenth cen tury onwar d s The fetching in o f the M ay tree was also .
-

a festival The people wen t out into the woods to seek the M ay (m aj a m
.

qnaer er e ) brou gh t youn g trees especially firs a nd bi rches to the villa ge

, , ,

and set them up be fore the d oors o f the houses or of the cat tle stalls or

i n the rooms Young fellows erecte d such May trees as we have already
.
,

said be fore the ch ambers o f the ir sweethearts Besi d es these house

, .

hol d Mays a great May tree or May pole which ha d also been b rou ght
,
-
,

i n solemn procession to the villa e

g was s et up in the m i d d le of the ,

village or in the market place of the town It ha d been chosen by the .

124 RE L ICS OF T R EE WOR SH I P I N M O DERN EU RO P E - CH .

whole commun i ty who watche d over it most carefully Generally the

,
"

tree was stripped o f its branches a n d leaves nothing b ut the crown ,

being le ft on wh i ch were displayed in a d di tion to ma ny coloured

, ,
-

ribbons and clo ths a varie ty o f victuals such as sausa ges cakes and
, , ,

eggs The youn g folk exer ted themselves to ob tain thes e prizes In
. ,

the greasy poles which are still to be seen a t our fairs we have a relic
o f these old May poles N ot uncommonly there was a race o n foot
-

or on horseback to the May tree—a Wh i tsunday pastime which in

.

course o f time has been d ives te d o f its goal and survives as a popular
”
custom to th i s day in m any parts o f Germany At B ordeaux on .

the first o f May the boys o f each street used to erect in it a May pole -
,

which they adorned wi th garlands and a great crown ; a n d every

evenin g d urin g the whole o f the mon th the youn g people of both
sexes danced sin gin g about the pole Down to the present day May .

trees decked w i th flower s a n d ribbons are set up on May Da y in every ‘

v illage and hamlet o f gay Provence Under them the young folk .

make merry and the old folk rest .

I n all thes e cases apparently the cus tom is or was to brin g in a

, ,

new M ay tree each year H owever in E n gland the villa ge May pole
-
.
,
-

seems as a rule at least i n later tim es to have been permanent not

, , ,

renewe d annually Villages o f Upper B avaria renew thei r May pole

.
-

once every three fou r or five years It i s a fir tree fe tched from the
, ,
.
-

forest a n d amid all the wrea ths fla gs a n d inscriptions with which it is

, , ,

bedecked an essential part is t he bunch o f dark green folia ge lef t at

,

the top as a memento that in it we have to do not with a dead pole , ,

but w ith a livm g tree from the greenwood We can har d ly doub t that .

ori g inally the pract ice everywhere was to set up a new May tree every -

year A s the obj ect o f the custom was to brin g i n the fructi fyin g spiri t
.

o f ve geta ti on newly awakened in sp rin g the end would have been

, ,

de feated i f instead o f a livin g tree green and sappy an old withered

, , ,

one had been erected yea r a fter yea r o r allowed to s tand permanen tly .

When however the meaning o f the custom had been for go tten a n d the
, , ,

May-t r ee was regarde d simply as a Centre for holiday merry making -

,

people saw no reason fo r fellin g a fresh tree every year and pre ferred ,

to let the same tree s tand permanently only d eckin g it wi th fresh ,

flowers on May Day B ut even when the M ay pole had thus become a
.
-

fix ture the nee d o f giving it the appearance o f bein g a green tree not a
, ,

dead pole was sometimes felt Thus at W ev erha m i n Chesh i re are

, .
“

two May-poles wh i ch are decorated on this day (May Day ) with all due
,

attention to the ancient solemnity ; the sides are hun g wi th garlands ,

and the top terminated by a birch or other tall slen d er tree with its
leaves on ; the bark being p eeled and the stem spliced to the pole so , ,

a s to give the ap p earance o f one t ree from the summ i t Thus the .

re n ewal o f the May tree is like the renewal o f the Ha rv est M ay ; each
- -

is i ntended to secure a fresh portion o f the fe rtilising spi rit o f vegetation ,

a nd to p res erve it throu ghout the year B ut whereas the efficacy o f the .

H arvest-May is restricted to promotin g the growth o f the crops that of ,

the M ay-tree or May branch exten d s also as we have seen to women

-
, ,
126 R E LI CS O F TR E E WORSH I P I N M OD E RN - E URO P E CH.

ters their tree no nuts their fiel d no corn ; the pro d uce o f the year is
, ,

suppose d to depen d on the gi fts o ffere d to these May singers Here .

a nd in the cases men tione d above where children go abou t with green ,

bou ghs or garlan d s on May Day sin gin g an d collectin g money the ,

meani ng i s that wi th the S pi rit o f ve getation they brin g plenty and

good luck to the house a n d they expect to be pai d fo r the service
, .

In Russian Li thuania on the first o f May they used to set up a green

, ,

tree befo re the villa ge Then the rusti c swains chos e the prettiest
.

girl crowned her swathed her in b i rch branches and se t her beside
the M a y—
, ,
“
tr ee where they danced san g an d shouted O May ! O
, , ,
”
May ! In B rie (I sle d e France ) a May tree is erected in the midst
"

o f the village ; its top i s crowned wi th flowers ; lower down it is

tw i ned with leaves and twi gs s till lower wi th hu ge green branches , .

The gi rls dance round it an d at the same t ime a lad wrapt in leaves
,

a nd calle d Father May is le d abou t In the small towns of the Franken .

Wald mountains in Nor thern Bavaria on the second o f M ay a Walb er

’

, ,

tree is erecte d be fore a tavern an d a man d ances round it enveloped , ,

i n str a w from head to foot in such a way that the ears o f corn unite
above his head to form a crown H e i s calle d the Wa l b er and use d .
,

to be led in procession through the s tree ts which were adorned with ,

spr igs o f birch .

Amon gst the S lavs o f Carinthia on S t George s Day (the twenty , .

’

third o f April ) the youn g people d eck wi th flowers a n d garlan d s a

,

tree which has been felled on the eve o f the fes tiv al The tree is then .

carrie d in procession accompani ed with music an d j oy ful acclama

,

tions the chief fi gure in the procession being the Green George a
, ,

youn g fellow cla d from head to foot in green bi rch branches At the .

close of the ceremoni es the Green Geor g e tha t i s an effigy o f him is , ,

thrown in to the water It is the aim o f the lad who acts Green George
.

to step out o f his leafy envelope and subs ti tute the e ffi gy so adroitly
that no one shall perceive the cha nge In many places however . .

, ,

the lad hl m sel f who plays the part o f Green Geor ge is d ucke d in a
river or pon d wi th the express i n ten tion o f thus ensurin g rain to
,

m ake the fields and mea d ows green in summer In some places the .

cattle are crowned and driven from their stalls to the accompaniment
o f a son g :
Gr een Ge org e w e b ri ng ,

Gr ee n Ge org e w e a ccom pany ,

M ay he feed our her ds w e ll .

If n ot to the w a ter wi th hi m
, .

Here w e see that the same powers o f makin g rain and fosterin g the
ca ttle which are ascr ibed to the tree spirit re garded as incorporate -

are also attributed t o the tree—

,

i n the ti c e ,
spi rit represented by a
livin g man .

Am on g the gypsies o f Transylvani a and Roumani a the fest ival

o f Green Geor ge i s the chief celebra tion o f sprin g Some o f them .

’
keep it on E as ter Monday others on St Geor ge s Day (the twenty ,
.

third oi April ) On the eve o f the festival a youn g willow tree is

.
x RE LI CS OF TR E E WOR SH I P I N M O D E RN - E UROP E 12 7

cut down adorned with garlan d s and leaves and s et up in the ground
, ,
.

Women wi th child place one o f their garments under the tree and ,

leav it there over n igh t ; i f nex t morn in g they find a lea f o f the tree
e
.

lying on the garment they know that their delivery will be easy ,
.

Sick and old people go to the tree in the evening sp it on it thr i ce , .

”
and say You w ill soon d ie b ut let us live Next mornin g the
“
.
, ,

gypsies gather about the willow The chie f fi gure o f the fest ival is .

Gr een George a la d who is conce a l ed from top to toe i n green leaves

,

and blossoms He throws a few hand fuls of grass to the beas ts o f

.

the tr ibe in order tha t they m ay have no lack o f fo d der thro ughou t
,

the yea r Then he takes three i ron na i ls wh ich have lai n fo r three
.
,

days an d n igh ts i n wa ter and knocks them in to the w i llow ; a fter ,

which he pulls them out an d fl in gs them into a runnin g stream to

'

prop itiate the water —sp ir its F inally a pre tence is ma d e o f throwin g .
,

Green Geor ge in to the water b ut in fact it i s only a puppet ma d e o f ,

b ranches a nd leaves wh ich is d ucked i n the stream In thi s version .

o f the cus tom the powers o f gran ti n g an easy delivery to women

and o f communica tin g vital ener gy to the s i ck and ol d are clearly

ascribe d to the w illow ; while Green Geor ge the human d ouble o f ,

the tr ee bes tows foo d on the ca ttle a n d fur ther ensures the favour
, ,

of the wa ter spir its b y pu ttin g them

-
i n in d irect communication wi th
the tr ee .

Wi thout citin g more examples to the same e ffect we may sum up ,

the resul ts of the prece d in g pa ges i n the wor d s o f M annhar d t : The “

cus toms quo te d su ffice to es tabl ish wi th cer ta i nty the conclus i on tha t
in these sprin g processions the sp i r it o f vege tation is o ften represente d
b oth b y the May tree a nd in a d di tion b y a man d resse d in green leaves
-

or flowers or b y a girl simil a rly a d orne d It is the same spiri t wh ich .

anima tes the tree a n d is ac tive in the i n fe rior plan ts a n d which w e

have recognise d in the M ay tree a n d the H arvest M ay Q u ite con - -
.

sistently the spir it i s also suppose d to man i fes t his presence i n the
firs t flower o f spr i n g a n d reveals h im sel f bo th in a girl represen tin g
a May rose a n d also as giver o f harves t in the person o f the W a lb er
-
, , , .

The procession wi th this represen tative o f the d iv inity was supposed

to pro duce the same ben eficial e ff ects on the fowls the fr uit trees ,
-
,

and the crops as the presence o f the d e i ty himsel f In o ther wor d s .

the mummer was e gar d e d not as an im a ge b ut as an ac tual rep re

'

sentativ e o f the sp i r it o f ve e ta ti on ; hence the w i sh expresse d by the

g
attendan ts on the May— ros e and the M ay tree t hat those who re fuse -

them gi fts o f e
ggs bacon a n d s o for th may have no share in the
, , ,

blessings which it is in the pow er o f the i tineran t spir it to be sto w .

We may conclude tha t these beggin g processions wi th May trees or -

May bou ghs from d oor to door (bri n gin g the May or the summer )
-
‘ ’

had everywhere or i ginally a serious an d so to speak sacramental , ,

significance ; people really believed that the god o f growth was present
unseen in the bough ; by the procession he was brou ght to each house
to bestow his blessin g The names May Father May May Lady .
, , ,

Queen o f the May by which the anthropomorphic spirit o f vegetation

,
12 8 R E LI CS OF TR E E VVO RS H IP I N M O D E RN - E URO P E CH .

i s o ften d enoted show that the i d ea o f the spiri t o f ve ge ta tion is blent

,

with a pers onifica tion o f the season at which his powers a re most
”
strikin gly man i feste d
S o fa r we have seen that the tree —
.

spirit or the spi ri t of vegeta

tion in general i s rep resen te d e ither in v egetable form alone as by a ,

tree bo u gh or flow er ; or in vegetable a n d hum an form s imul taneo usl y

, ,

as by a tree bough or flower in comb ina tion w i th a puppet or a living

, ,

person It remains to show that the represen ta ti on o f him by a tre e

.
,

bou gh or flower is s ometim es en tirely drop p ed while the representa

, ,

tion o f h im by a livin g person rema i ns In this case the representative .

chara cter o f the per s on i s genera lly marked by dressin g hi m or her in

l eaves o r fl owers ; sometimes too it is i n d ica ted b y the name he or , ,

she bears .

Thus in some parts o f Russia on St George s Day (the twenty third ’

-

o f Apr i l ) a you th is d r e ssed out l ike our Jack —

.

in the Green wi th leaves ,

- -
,

an d flo we rs The Slovenes ca ll him the Green Geor ge H olding a

. .

li ghted torch i n one hand and a p i e in the other he goes out to the ,

corn field s follow ed by girls sin gi ng appro p ria te son gs A c i rcle of

-
, .

brushw ood is nex t li ghte d in the mi d d le o f which is s et the pie All

, .

who take part in the ceremony then si t d ow rnaround the fire and divi de
the p i e amon g th em In thi s custom the Green George d ressed in
.

l eaves and flowers i s plainly i d en tical with the similarly dis guise d Green
George who is associated wi th a t ree i n the Carin thian Transylvan ian , ,

a n d Roumanian customs o bserved on the same day A gain we saw .

,
’
that in Russ ia at Whitsun ti d e a birch tree i s d ressed in woman s clothes -

and set up i n the ho us e Clearly equivalent to thi s is the custom

.

observed on Wh it M onday by Russian girls in the d istrict o f Pinsk

-
.

They cho ose the pre tt i est o f thei r number enve lop h er in a mass of
foliage taken from the birch —
,

trees and maples a nd ca rry her about , ,

through the vi lla ge .

I n Ruhl a as soon as the trees be gi n to grow green in spring the

“

-
,

children a ssemble on a S unday a n d go out into the woods where they ,

choose one o f their p layma tes to be the L ittle Lea f Man They break .

branch es from the trees and tw i ne them abo ut the child till only his
sh oe s peep o ut from the lea fy ma-n tle H oles are ma de in it for him .
'

to see through and two o f the ch il d ren lead the Li ttl e Lea f Man that
,

he may n ot stumble o r fall S i n gin g a n d d ancin g they take him fro m

.

house to house askin g for gi fts o f food such a s eggs cream sausages
, , , ,

and cakes Lastly they sprinkle the Lea f M an wi th water an d feast

.
,

on the foo d they have c ollected In the F rick tal S witzerland at

“

.
, ,

Wh itsun ti d e boys go out i n to a woo d and swathe o n e o f their number

in lea fy boughs H e i s called the Whit s untide lout and b ein g m ounted
.
‘

-
,

o n horseback wi th a green branch in his han d he is led back into the

village A t the villa ge-well a ha lt is called and the l ea f clad lou-t is
.
- -

dismounted and ducked in the trough Th e reby he acquires the right .

o f sprinklin g water on everybody and he exercises the ri ght specially ,

on gi rls and street u rchins The urchins ma rch bef o re him in ban ds .

b eggin g him to give them a Wh itsuntide wettin g .

130 R E LI CS OF TR E E WORS H I P I N M O D E RN -
E UROP E CH .

a nd the May King ge ts into it The rest go out and look fo r him and . ,

when they have found him they lea d him back into the villa ge to the
ma gis trate the clergyman a n d ot hers who have to guess who is in the
, , ,

verdurous frame If they guess wrong the May Kin g rings his bell
.
,

by shakin g his hea d a n d a for fe it o f beer or the l i ke mus t be paid

,

b y the unsuccess ful gu esser A t Wahrste dt the boys at Whi tsun tide
choose by lot a kin g a n d a h igh —
.

stewar d The la tter is completely .

conceale d in a May bush wears a w o oden crown wreathed wi th flowers

-
, ,

and carries a woode n sword The kin g on the ot her hand i s only
‘

.
, ,

distin guished by a nose gay in his cap an d a reed wi th a red ribbon tied , ,

to i t in his ha n d
,
They b eg for e ggs from house to house threa tening
.
,

tha t where none are given none will be lai d by the hens throughout
, ,

the year I n thi s cu stom the hi gh s tewa rd appears for some reason
.
-
, ,

to have usurpe d the insi gnia of the k in g At Hi ldesheim five or Six .

young fellows go about on the a ftern oon o f Wh it M on d ay cracking -

long wh ips in measure d time and collectin g eggs from the houses The .

chie f person o f the band i s the Lea f K i ng a la d swa thed so completely ,

in b i rchen twi gs that no th i ng o f him can be seen but his feet A huge
hea d—
.

dress o f birchen tw igs a dd s to his apparent s ta ture I n his hand .

he carries a l o ng crook wi th wh ich he tries to ca tch s tray do gs and

I n some par ts o f B ohemia on Whit —
,

chil d ren . M onday the young

fellows d is guise themselves i n tall caps o f b i rch bark adorned wi th
flowers One o f them i s d resse d as a kin g and dra gged on a sledge to
.

the vi lla ge green and i f on the way they pass a pool the S ledge i s always
,

over turne d into it A rrive d at the green they gather round the king ;
.

the cr i er j ump s on a stone or climbs up a tree a n d reci tes lampoons

about each house and its inmates A fterwards the dis guises o f bark .

are stripped off and they go about the village i n holiday attire carrying ,

a May tree a n d beggi n g Cakes e ggs and corn are sometimes given
-
.
, ,

them At Grossva rgula nea r Lan gensalza in the ei gh teenth century

.
, ,

a Grass King used to be l ed abou t in p rocession at Whitsunti d e He ,

wa s encased i n a pyramid o f poplar bra n ches the top o f which was ,

adorne d wi th a royal cr own o f branches and flowers H e ro de on .

horseback w ith the lea fy pyram id over him so that its lower end ,

touched the groun d a nd an openin g was left in it only fo r his face

,
.

S urroun d e d by a cavalcade o f youn g fellow s he rode in procession to ,

the town hall the par s ona ge a nd so on where they all got a drink of
, , ,

beer Then un d er the seven lindens o f the nei ghb ourin g Sommerberg
. ,

the Grass Kin g was s trippe d o f hi s green casin g ; the crown was hande d
to the Mayo r and the branches were s tuck in the flax fields in or d er
,

to make the flax grow tall I n this last trait the fertilising influence .

ascribe d to the represen ta tive o f the tree spi rit comes out clea rly In -
.

the nei ghbourhoo d o f Pilsen (B ohemia ) a conical hut o f green branches ,

wi thou t any d oo r i s erected at Whitsunti de in the midst of the village

,
.

To this b ut rides a troop o f villa ge lads with a kin g a t their head He

wears a sword at his side a n d a su ga r —
.

loa f hat o f rushes on his head .

In his tra in are a j u dge a crier a n d a persona ge called the Fro g fl ayer
, ,
-

or H an gma n This last i s a sort o f ra gged m erryandrew w earing a

.
,
1 R E LI CS o r TR EE WORSH IP -
IN M O D E R N E U R OPE 13 1

rusty old sword and bestridin g a sorry b ack On reachin g the hut the .

crier dismoun ts and goes round it lookin g for a door Findin g none .
,

he says Ah this is perhaps an enchanted cas tle ; the wi tches creep

,
“

through the leaves a nd nee d no door At last he draws his swor d .

and hews his way into the hut where there is a chair on which he seats , ,

himsel f a n d procee d s to cri ticise in rhyme the girls farmers and , ,

farm servants o f the nei ghbourhoo d

-
When this is over the F rog .
,

flayer steps forwar d and a fter exhib itin g a cage with fro gs i n it se ts
, ,

up a gallows on which he ha n gs the fro gs in a row I n the nei ghb our .

hood of Plas the ceremony di ff ers in some poi nt s The kin g and his
-
.

sol diers are comple tely c la d in bark adorne d wi th flowers a n d ribbons ; ,

they all carry swor d s and ri d e horses which are gay wi th green branch e s ,

and flowers Whil e the villa ge dames a nd girls a re being critici sed
.

at the arbour a fr og is secretly pinched a n d poked by the cr i er till it

,

quacks S entence o f dea th is passe d on the fro g by the king ; the

.

hangman beheads it and fl ings the bleedin g bo d y amon g the S pec ta tors .

Lastly the king i s d riven fr om the hut and pursued by the soldiers
, .

The pinch ing and beh eadin g o f the frog are doub tle ss as M annhar d t
observes a rain—
,

charm We have seen tha t some Indians o f the

, .

Orinoco beat fro gs for the express purpose o f producing rain a nd tha t ,

killin g a frog is a E uro p ean ra i n cha rm -

.

Of ten the spiri t o f ve geta tion in sprin g is represen ted by a queen

instea d o f a king In the nei ghbourhood o f Lib chow i c (Bohemia ) on the
.
,

fourth Sun d ay in Lent girls dresse d in white and wearing the fir st

, ,

Spring flowers a s violets a nd daisies in their hair lead about the v illag
, , ,

a girl who is calle d the Q ueen a nd is crowned with flo wers During the .

procession which is con d uc te d with great solemnity none o f the girls

, ,

may s tan d still but mus t kee p whirlin g ro und continually and sin ging
, .

In every house the Queen announces the arrival o f Spring a n d wishes

the inmates good luck and blessings for which she receives presen ts , .

In German Hun gary the girls choose the pre tties t girl to be their
Whi tsunti d e Q ueen fasten a towerin g wreath on her brow a n d carry
, ,

her singin g through the streets A t every house they s top sin g old .
,

ballads a n d rece ive presents In the south east o f I reland on May

, .
-

Day the prettiest girl used to be chosen Q ueen o f the dis tr i ct for twelve
m onths She was c rowned w ith wil d flowers ; feasting danc in g
. , ,

and rustic s ports followed and were closed by a gr an d procession in ,

the evening Durin g her year of o ffice she p resided over rural gather
.

ings of young people at dances and merry makin gs If she ma rried -

.

be fore next May Day her authori ty was at an end but her successor
, ,

was not elected till that day came round The May Queen i s common .

In France a n d familiar 1n E n gland .

A gain the spirit o f ve geta tion i s sometimes represented by a kin g

and queen a lord and lady or a bride groom and bri d e H ere aga : n
, ,
.

the parallelism holds between the anthrop omorphic and the ve getable
representation o f the tree spirit for we have seen above that trees are
-
,

som etimes married to each o ther At Hal for d in S ou th Wa rwickshire .

the children go from house to house on May Day walkin g two and two ,
13 2 R E LI CS O F TR E E WORS H I P I N M O D E RN -
E URO P E CH .

in procession and hea d ed by a Kin g and Queen T wo boys carr y a .

May pole some six or seven fee t h igh which is covered w ith fl owers
-
,

a n d greenery F a stened to it nea r the top a re two cross bars at right

.
-

an gles to each o ther These are also d ecked with flowers and from
.
,

the ends o f the bars han g hoops similarly a dorned A t the houses the .

chil d ren s in g M ay songs a n d rec e ive money which is used to provide ,

tea fo r them at the schoolhouse in the a fternoon In a B ohemian

villa ge near K oni ggr atz on Whit—
.

M on d ay the children play the king s ’

game at which a kin g and queen march about under a canopy the
, ,

queen wearin g a garland a nd the youn gest girl carrying tw o wreaths

,

on a plate behind them They are atten d ed by boys and girls calle d
.

groomsmen a n d bri d esmai ds a nd they go fro m hous e to house collecting

,

gi fts A re gular fea ture in the popula r celebration o f Whi tsuntide in

,

S ilesia use d to be and to som e extent still is th e con test for the king
, ,

ship This c on tes t took various forms but the mark or goal was
.
,

g enerally the May -tree or May pole S ometimes the youth who suc -
.

ceed e d in climb i n g the smoo th pole and brin gin g down the prize was

procla ime d the Wh itsun ti d e K in g a nd hi s sweethea r t the Whi tsunti de

Bri d e A fterwar d s the k in g carryi n g the May bush r epai re d with
.
,
-
,

the rest o f the company to the alehouse where a dance and a feast ,

en d ed the merry makin g O ften the youn g farmers and labourers

-
.

race d on horseback to the May pole whi ch was adorned wi th flowers -

, ,

r ibbons and a crown H e who fi rst reached the pole was the Whi tsun
. .

tide Kin g a n d the res t had to obey his o r d ers fo r that day
,
The worst .

r id er became the clown At the May tree all d ism ounted and hois ted
.
-

the k i n g on the ir shoul d ers He nimbly swa rmed up the pole and.

brou gh t d own the M a y bush a n d the crown which had been fas tened
-
,

to the top M eanwhile the clown hurried to the alehouse and proceeded
.

to bol t th irty rolls o f brea d a n d to sw ig four quart bottles of brandy

wi th the u tmost possible d espatch H e was followe d by the king who .
,

bore the M ay bush a nd crown a t the hea d o f the company If on their

-
.

arrival the clown had already d isposed o f the rolls and the brandy ,

and gree ted the king wi th a speech a n d a glass o f beer h is score was ,

paid by the k in g ; o therwise he had to settle it himsel f A fter church .

time the s ta tely processi on wound thr o u gh the villa ge At the head
o f it ro d e the kin g d ecke d w
.

ith flowers and carryin g the May bush

,
-
.

Next came the clown wi th his clo thes turne d inside out a great flaxen ,

hea rd on his chain and the Whitsuntide crown on his head

, Two .

ri d ers d i s guise d a s guards f ollowed The processi on drew up before .

every fa rmyar d ; the two guar d s dis mounte d shut the clown into the -
,

house a nd claimed a contribution from the housewi fe to buy soap

,
’
wi th which to wash the clown s beard Cus tom allowed them to .

carry off any vi ctuals which were not un d er lock and key Last o f all .

’
they came to the house in which the kin g s swee theart lived She was
ti d e Queen and received suitable presents—to wit
.

g ree te d as Whitsun ,

a many coloured sa sh a clo th and an apron The kin g got as a prize

-
, , .
,

a vest a neck cloth a nd so for th and ha d the righ t o f setting up the

,
-
, .

’
M ay bu sh or Whit su ntid e tre e be f ore his m aster s yard wh ere it
- -
,
13 4 R E LI CS OF TR EE WORSH IP I N M O D E RN
- E URO P E C‘l .

observe d in the dist ric t o f N e rechta on the Thurs d ay be fore Whit

sunday The girls go out into a birch w ood wind a gi r d le or band
.
-
,

roun d a s ta tely birch twi st its lower branches into a wrea th and kiss
, ,

each o ther in pa i rs throu gh the w rea th The girls who kiss through .

the wr eath call each o ther ossips

g Then one o f the gi rls steps forward
.
,

a n d m im i ckin
g a d runken man fl ings hersel f on the ground rolls on
, ,

the grass a nd fei gns to fall fast asleep Ano ther girl wakens the
, .

pretended sleep er a n d kisses him ; then the whole bevy tr i-p s singing
throu gh the woo d to tw i ne garlan d s which they throw i nto the water ,
.

I n the fate o f the garlan d s floatin g on the s tream they read their own .

H ere the par t o f the sleeper was pr obably at one time played by a lad .

I n these Fre nch a n d Russian cus tom s we have a forsaken br id egroom ,

in the follow i ng a forsaken bri d e On S hrove Tuesday the Slovenes .

o f O b erk ra in d ra g a s traw puppet wi th j oyous cries up an d down the

villa ge ; then they throw it int o the water o r burn it and from the ,

hei ght o f the fla mes they j u dge o f the abun d ance o f the next harves t .

The noisy crew i s followed by a femal e masker who dra gs a great ,

b oard by a strin g a nd gives out th at she is a f orsaken bride .

Viewe d in the li gh t o f wha t has gone be fore the awakenin g of the ,

forsaken sleepe r i n these ce remoni es probably represents the revival

o f ve geta tio n i n sp rin g B ut it is not easy to assi gn their respecti ve
.

parts to the forsake n br id e groom a n d to the girl who wakes him from
his slum be r I s t he S leeper the leafless forest o r the bare earth of
.

winter ? I s the girl who awakens him the fresh verdure or the genial
sunshine o f spri ng ? It is hardly possible on the evidence be fore us , ,

to ans wer thes e questions .

I n th e H i ghlands o f S cotland the revival o f vegetation in spring

use d to be graphically represe nted on St B ride s Day the firs t o f .
’

February Thus i n the Hebrides the mistress a nd s ervants of each

.

’
family take a shea f o f oats and dress it up in women s apparel put
, ,

it i n a la rge basket a nd lay a woo d en club by it and this they call ,

B ri id s bed ; an d then th e mistress a n d servants cry three times

’
,
’
‘
B ri id i s come B rii d i s welcome
,
Thi s they do j ust be fore goin g to
.

bed a nd when they rise in the mornin g they look amon g the ashes
, ,

expectin g to s ee the imp ression o f B riid s club there ; which i f they do ’

.

they reckon i t a true p resa ge o f a good cro p a n d p rosp erous year a nd

'

the con trary they take as an ill om e n The sam e custom is described .

“
by another witness thus : Upon the ni ght be fore Candlemas it is
usual to make a b ed with corn and hay over which s ome b lankets are ,

laid i n a part o f the house nea r the d oor When it i s ready a person
, , .
,

goes o u t and re p eats three times B rid get B ridget come in ; , , ,

thy bed i s ready One or mo re candles are le ft burning near it all

.
’

” “
ni ght . S imilarly in the I sle o f M an on the ev e o f the fi rst of
Fe brua ry a festival was fo rmerly kept called i n the M anks lan guage
, , , ,

Laa l B r ees hey in honour o f the I rish lady who went over to the Isle
’

o f Man to receive the veil from St Maughol d The cus tom was to . .

gather a bundle o f green rushes a n d standin g wi th them i n the hand

,

o n the threshold o f the doo r to invite the holy Sain t B ridget to come
,
xi THE I N FLU E N C E OF THE S E X E S ON VE GE TAT I O N 13 5

and lodge with them that ni ght In the Manks lan gua ge the invitatio n .
,

ran thus : B r ed e B r ed e tar gys m y l h/le tar dyn thi e aym s n aght
‘
, ,

Foshi l j ee yn d orrys d a B r ed e as lhig d a B r ed e e heet s tai gh I n E n gl i s h :

’
.
,

B ridget B r i d ge t come to my house come to my house to ni ght

l -
.
, , ,
’
Open the door for Br idget and let B ri dget come in A fter these
,
.

wo rds were repeated the rushes were strewn on the floor by way o f a
,

carpet or bed for S t B ridget A cust om very similar to this was also
. .

”
observed in some o f the Out Isles o f the ancient Kin gdom o f Man -
.

In these Manx and H ighlan d ceremonies it is obvious that S t B ri d e or .

,

St Bri dget is an old hea then go dd ess o f fer tili ty dis gui sed in a thread
.
, ,

bare Chris tian cloak Probably she is no o ther than B rigit the Celtic
.
,

god dess o f fire and apparently o f the crops .

Of ten the marriage o f the spi rit o f vegetat ion in spring though not ,

directly represented is implie d by naming the human represen tative o f

,
”
the spiri t the B ri de and dressing her i n we dd in g a ttire Thus in
“
, , .

some villa ges o f Al tma rk at Whitsun tide while the boys go about ,

carrying a M ay tree or lea d i ng a boy enveloped in leaves a nd flowers

-
,

the girls lea d about the May B ri d e a girl dressed as a b ri de w ith a great ,

nosegay in her hair Th ey go from hous e to hous e the M a y B ride

.
,

s inging a song in which S he asks for a p resent and tells the inma tes o f ,

each house that i f they give her somethi n g they w ill them selves have
some th in g the whole year throu gh ; b ut i f they g ive her nothin g they
will themselves have no thing I n s ome par ts o f Wes tphalia two girls.

lead a fl owe r crowne d girl calle d the Wh itsuntide B ride from do or to

-

door singing a son g in which they ask for e ggs

, .

CHAPT E R X I

THE I N FL U E N C E OF T H E S E X E S ON V EGET A T I ON
FROM the precedin g examination o f the S prin g a nd summer festivals o f
E urope we may in fer tha t our rude fore fathers personified the powers
o f ve getation as male and female a n d at tempted on the principle o f , ,

homoeopathi c or imitative magic to quicken the growth o f trees and ,

plants by representing the marr iage o f the sylvan d ei ties in the persons
o f a Kin
g and Q ueen o f May a Whi tsun B ri d e groom an d Bri d e and so , ,

forth Such representations w ere accor d i ngly no mere symbolic or

.

allegorical dramas pastoral plays de si gned to amus e or ins truct a rus tic
,

audience They were charms intended to ma ke the woods to gro w

.

green the fresh grass to sprout the corn to sho ot and the flowers to
, , ,

blow And it was natural to suppose that the more closely the mock
.

marria ge o f th e lea f clad or flower decke d m ummers ape d the real

- -

marriage o f the woodlan d sp rites the more e ff ective would be the ,

charm Acco rdingly we may assume w i th a hi gh degree o f p roba b ili ty

.

that the p rofl iga cy which notoriously a tten d e d these ceremonies was at
one time not an acci d ental excess but an e ssential part o f the rites and ,

that in the opinion o f those who per forme d th em the m arria e o f tree s
g
136 T H E IN F LU E N C E O F T H E S E X E S O N V E G E TATI O N CH .

and pl a nts could not be fertile without the real uni on o f the human s ex es .

At the present day it might perhaps be vain to look in civilised E urope

for customs o f this s ort observed for the explicit purpos e o f p romoting
the growth o f ve getation B ut ruder races in other parts o f the worl d
.

hav e c onsciously employed the in tercours e o f the sexes as a m eans to

ensure the fruit fulness o f the ear th ; and som e rites which are still or ,

were till lately kept up in E urope can be reasonably explai ned only as
,

stunted relics o f a similar p ra ctice The following facts will ma k e this

.

plain .

Fo r four days be fore they comm i tted the seed to the earth the
“
Pipile s of Central America kept apart from thei r wives in o rder that
on the ni ght be fore p lanting they m ight indulge their passions to the
fullest extent ; ce rtain persons a re even said to have been appointed
to per form the se x ual act at the very m omen t when the first seeds were
”
d eposited in the ground The use o f thei r wives at that time was
.

indeed enj oined upon the p eople by the priests as a reli gious duty in ,

d e fault o f which it wa s not law ful to sow the seed The only p ossible .

Cx planation o f this cus tom seems to be tha t the I ndians con fused the
p roces s by which human bein gs reproduce thei r kind wi th the proce ss
by which plants dischar ge the same fun ction and fancied that by ,

resorting to the former they were simultaneously forwardi ng the latter .

I n some parts o f Java ; at the s eason when the bloom will soon be on the
r ic e the husbandman and his wi fe visit thei r fi elds by ni ght and there
,

en gage in sexual inte rcourse for the purpose o f p romoting the growth
o f the crop I n the Leti S a rm ata and some other groups o f islands
.
, ,

which li e between the western end o f N ew Guinea and the northern

part o f Australia the heathen pop ulation regard the sun a s the male
,

principle by whom the earth o r female p ri ncipl e i s fertilis ed They call .

him U pu lera o r M r S un and represent him under the form o f a lamp

-
.
,

made o f coco nut leaves which may be seen hanging everywhere in

-
,

thei r houses and in the sacred fig tree Under the t ree lies a large flat
-
.

stone which serves as a sacrificial table On it the heads o f slain foes

,
.

were and are still placed in some o f the islands Once a year at the
beginnin g o f the rainy season M r S un comes down into the holy fig—
.
,

,
. tree
to fertilise the earth and to faci litate hi s descent a ladder with seven
,

run gs i s considerat ely placed at his disposa l It i s set up under the trce .

and is adorned with carve d fi gures o f the bi rds whos e shrill clarion
heralds the approach of the sun in the east On this occasion pi gs and .

d o gs are sacrifi ced i n p ro fusion ; m en and w omen alike indul ge in a

saturnalia and the mys tic union o f the sun and the ea rth is
dramatically represented in public am i d son g and dance by the real
, ,

uni on o f the sex es under the tree The obj ect o f the festival we are
.
,

t old i s to p rocure rain plenty o f food and drin k abundanc e o f cattle

, , ,

and children and riches f r om Grand fath er Sun They p ray that he may .

m ake every she goat to cast two or three youn g the p eople to m ul tipl y
-
, ,

the dead p i gs to be rep laced by livin g pi gs the empty rice-baskets to be

,

fi lled and so on A nd to in d uce hi m to grant thei r requests they offer

,
.

him pork and rice and liquor and invite him to fall to I n the B abar
, .
138 T H E I N FLU E N C E O F T H E S E X ES O N V E G E TA TI O N CH .

reso rted t o by t he Pipiles o f Central Am erica long ago and by the

cultivators o f rice i n Java at the present tim e ,

To the student who cares to track the devious course o f the human
m in d in its gropin gs a fter tru th i t is o f some interest to observe that
,

the same theore tical belie f in the sympa the tic influence of the sexes
on vege tation which has led some peoples to i ndul ge thei r passions
,

as a means o f fer til i sin g the ear th has le d others to seek the same end
,

by di rec tly opposite means From the moment that they sowed the
.

maize till the time that they reape d it the In d ians o f Nicaragua lived ,

chastely k eeping apart from thei r wives and sleepin g in a separate

,

place They ate n o sal t a nd d rank neither cocoa nor chi cha the
.
, ,

ferm ented liquo r ma d e from maize ; in short the season was for them ,

as the S panish h is torian observes a tim e o f abs tinence To this day

, .

some o f the Indian t ribes o f Cen tral Americ a p ra cti se continence for
the purpose o f thereby promotin g the growth o f the crops Thus .

w e are told that be fore sowin g the m a iz e the Kekchi I ndians sleep
apar t from their wives and eat no flesh for five d ays while among the
, ,

L a nq uine ros and C aj ab one ros the period o f abst inence from these
ca rnal pleasures extends to thi rteen days S o am on gst some o f the .

Germans of Transylvania it is a rule that no man may sleep with his

wi fe d urin g the whole o f the tim e that he is en gaged in sowin g his
fi elds The same rule is observed at Kalotasze g i n H un gary ; the
.

people think that i f the custom were not observed the corn wou i
be mil d ewed Similarly a Ce ntral Aus tralian headman o f the K a itish
.
‘

tribe strictly abstains from marital rel ations with his wi fe all the
t im e that he i s per fo rmi ng magical ceremonies to make the grass grow ;
fo r he believes that a breach o f this rule w ould p revent the grass seed
from sproutin g properly I n some o f the Melanesian islands when
.
,

the yarn vines are bein g trained the men slee p near the gardens and
,

never a pproach thei r wives ; shoul d they enter the gar d en a fter
breakin g thi s rule o f continence the fruits o f the gar d en would be
spoilt .

If we ask why it is that similar belie fs should lo gically lead amon g ,

d i fferent peoples to such opposi te mo d es o f c o nduc t a s strict chastity

,

a n d more or less open debauchery the reason as it presents itself

, ,

to the prim itive m ind is perhap s not very fa r to seek If ru d e man

, .

i den tifi es himsel f i n a manner wi th nature ; i f he fails to distinguish

, ,

the impulses and p rocesses in himsel f from the m ethods which nature
a d opts to ensure the reproduction o f plants and animals he may ,

leap to one o f two conclusions E i ther he may in fer that by yielding

.

to hi s appetites he will thereby assist i n the multipli cation o f plants

and animals ; or he may ima gine that the vi gour which he re fuses to
expend in reproducin g his own kind will form as it were a store of ,

energy whereby o ther crea tures whether vegetable or animal will, ,

someh ow benefit in propa gating thei r species Thus from the same .

c rude philosophy the same primitive notions o f na ture and li fe the

, .
,

sava ge may derive by di fferent channels a rule ei ther o f p rofligacy or

o f asceticism .
xi i THE I N FLU E N C E O F T H E S E X E S O N V E G E TATI O N 13 9
To reade rs bre d in reli gion which is sa turate d with the ascetic
idealism of the E as t the explanation wh i ch I have given o f the rule
,

of con tinence observe d un d er certain circumstances by rude or sava ge

peoples may seem fa r fetche d a n d improbable They may think
-
.

that mo ral puri ty which is so in timately associated in their min d s

,

wi th the observance o f such a rule furnishes a sufficient explanatio n ,

of it ; they may hold wi th M il ton that chas tity in i tsel f i s a noble

virtue and that the restraint which it imposes on one o f the stron gest
,

impulses o f our animal nature marks o ut those who can submi t to

it as men raised abo ve the common her d and therefore wor thy to ,

receive the seal of the divine approbation H owever natural this .

mode o f thought may seem to us it i s utterly forei gn and indeed in ,

comprehensible to the savage If he resists o n occasion the sexual

“

instinc t i t is from no hi gh idealism no ethereal aspira tion a fter moral

, ,

purity b ut for the sake o f some ulterior yet per fectly defini te and
,

concrete obj ect to gain which he is prepared to sacrifice the immediat e

,

gra tification o f hi s senses That thi s is o r may be so the exampl e s

.
,

I have ci te d are amply sufficient to prove Th ey show that where

the ins tinct o f sel f—
.

preserva tion which mani fes ts itsel f chiefly in the ,

search for food conflicts or appears to conflict wit h the insti nct wh ic h
,

cond uces to the p ropa gati on o f the species the f o rmer ins tinct as , ,

the primary and more fundamental is c apable o f overmaster i ng the ,

latter In shor t the savage is will i n g t o res train his sexual propensi ty
.
,

for the sake o f foo d Another obj ect for the sake o f which he con
sen ts to exercise the same sel f—
.

res train t is victory in war N ot only .

the warr i or in the fi el d but his friends at h ome w i ll o ften bri d le their
sensual appe tites from a belief that by s o d oin g they w ill the more
easily overcome thei r enemies The fallacy o f such a bel ie f l ike the .
,

belie f that the c has tity o f the sower con d uces to the grow th o f the
see d is plain enou gh to us ; yet perhaps the sel f restrain t which these
'

-
,

an d the l ike belie fs va i n a n d fals e as they are h ave impose d on man

, ,

kind has n ot been wi thou t its utili ty in bracing a nd stren gthenin g

,

the breed For s trengt h o f charac ter i n the race as in the in d ivi dual
.

cons is ts mainly in the power o f sacrificing the presen t to the future ,

of d isregardin g th e immediate temptations o f ephemeral pleasure for

more d is tant and las tin g sources o f satis fact ion The more the power .

is exercised the higher and st ron ger becomes the charac ter ; till the
height o f hero i sm i s reached in men who re nounce the pleasures of
li fe and even li fe itsel f for the sake o f keep in g or winning fo r others ,

perhaps in d istant ages the bless in gs o f free d om a nd truth

, .

CHAPT E R XI I

T H E SA C RED M A RRI A GE

1 D ia na
. as f a G od d ess
e have seen that acco rd o F er tili ty —W
in
g to a wi despread belief which i s not without a foundation in fact
, ,
140 T HE SACR E D MARRIAGE CH .

plants repro d uce their kin d s throu gh the sexual union of male and
female elements a n d tha t on the p rinc iple o f hom o p athic or imita
,

tive ma gic this repro d uc ti on is supposed to be s timulate d by the

real or mock marria ge o f m en a nd women who masquera d e for the ,

time b ein g as sp i rits o f ve geta ti on Such magical d ramas have played

.

a great part in the popular fes tivals o f E urope an d based as they are ,

on a very cru d e concep tion o f natural law it is clear that they must ,

have been han d e d d own from a remo te an tiquity We shall hardly .

,

there fore err in assum i n g tha t they d a te from a time when the fore
,

fa thers o f the civilise d na tions o f E urope were s till barbarians her ding ,

thei r ca ttle and cul tiva ti n g patches o f corn i n the clearin gs o f the vast
forests which then covere d the greater part o f the c on tin en t from
, ,

the Medi terranean t o the A rc tic Ocean B ut if th ese old spells and .

enchan tmen ts for the growth o f leaves and blossoms o f grass a nd ,

flowers and fruit have lin gered down to our o wn time in the shape of
,

pas toral plays and popular merry makin gs is it not reasonable to -

,

suppose that they su rvived in less attenuated form s som e two th ousan d
years a go am on g t he c i vi l i sed peoples o f ant iqu ity ? Or to put it ,

o therwise is it not likely that in certain fes tivals o f the anc i ents we
,

may be a b le to de tect the equivalents o f our May Day Wh itsuntide , ,

a n d M id summer celebrations wi th this d iff erence that in those days

, ,

the ceremonies had n ot yet d win d le d in to mere show s an d pageants ,

but we re st ill reli gious or magical ri tes in which the ac tors consciously
,

supported the hi gh part s o f gods a n d go d desses ? N ow in the fir st

chapter o f this book we foun d reason to bel i eve tha t the pries t who
b o re the ti tle o f King o f the Woo d at N em i ha d for hi s mate the goddess
o f the grove Diana hersel f
, May not he an d she as K in g and Q ueen
.
,

o f the Wood have been serious counterparts o f the merry mummers

,

who play the King and Queen o f May the Whitsun ti de B ridegroom ,

and B ride in mo d ern E urope ? a n d may not their un i on have been

yearly celebra te d i n a theoga m y or d ivine marria ge ? Such dramatic
we dd in gs o f gods and goddesses as we s hall see p resently we re carri ed
, ,

out as solem n religious rites i n many parts o f the ancient worl d ;

hence there i s no in trinsic imp robability in the supposition tha t the
sacred grove at Nemi may have been the scene o f an annual ceremony
o f this sort Direct evidence that it was so there is none b ut analo gy
.
,

pleads in favour o f the view as I shall n ow endeavour to sho w

,
.

Diana was essen tially a goddess o f the woo d lands as Ceres w as a ,

goddess o f the corn and Bacchus a god o f the vine H er sanctuaries .

were commonly i n groves indeed every grove was sacred to her and
, ,

she is o ften associa te d wi th the fores t god S ilvanus in dedica tions .

But wha tever her or igi n may have b e en D i ana was not always a me re
“

god d ess o f trees Like h er Greek sister Artemis she appears to have
.
,

developed in to a personifica tion o f the teem in g l i fe o f nature bo th ,

animal a n d ve getab le
.
A s m is tress o f the greenwoo d she woul d
.

naturally be thou gh t to own the beas ts whether w il d or tame that , ,

range d throu gh it lurkin g fo r their prey i n its gloomy d epths munchin g

, ,

the fre sh leaves and sh oo ts among the bou ghs or cropp i ng the herbage i n ,
 14 2 T HE SACR E D MARRIAG E CH .

i f the sacred nupti als were celebrated every year the parts o f th ,

d iv i ne br i d e a n d bri d egroom be i ng playe d e ither by thei r ima ges or

by livi n g perso ns N o ancient writer mentions that this was done in
.

the grove at Nemi ; b ut our knowle d e o f the A ric ian ritual is so scanty
g
tha t the want o f i n forma ti on on th i s head ca n har d ly count as a fatal
obj ection to the theory That the ory in the absence o f direct ev idenc
.
,

must necessarily be base d on the analo gy o f sim i lar custom s practise d

elsewhere S ome m odern examples o f such customs more or less
.
,

degenera te were descr ibe d in the las t chapter H ere we shall consi d er
, .

thei r ancient coun terparts .

2 T he M a rr iage of the Gods

. A t Babylon the imposin g sanc tuary
.
_

o f Bel rose like a pyra mi d above the ci ty in a s eries o f ei ght towers or

stories planted one on the top o f the o ther On the highest tower
, .
,

reached by an ascent which wound about all the res t there s tood a ,

spaci ous temple and i n the t emple a great bed ma gnificently drap ed
, ,

a n d cush i one d w ith a gol d en table beside it

, I n the temple no image .

was to be seen and no human bei ng passe d the ni ght there save a
, ,

sin gle woman whom according to the Chaldean pries ts the god chose
, , ,

from amon g all the women of Baby lon They sa id that the d ei ty him .

sel f cam e into the temple at night and slep t in the great b ed ; a n d the
w oman a s a consort o f the god mi gh t have no i ntercourse wi th mor tal
, ,

man .

A t Thebes i n E gypt a woman slept in the temple o f Ammon as the

consort o f the god an d like the human wi fe o f B el at Babylon she was
, , ,

said to have no commerce with a man I n E gyptian texts she is o ften .

“
men ti on ed as the divine consort and usually she was no less a ,

personage than the Queen o f E gypt hersel f For accordin g to the .

,

E gyp tians thei r monarchs were ac tually begot ten by the go d Ammon
, ,

who assume d for the tim e bei ng the form o f the rei gnin g k in g and in ,

tha t d is guise ha d in tercourse wi th the queen The di vine procrea tio n

'

is ca rve d and painted in great detail on the walls o f two o f the oldest
temples in E gyp t thos e of Deir el Bahari and Luxor ; and the inscrip
,

tions attac hed to the pai ntin gs leave no d oubt as to the meaning of
the scenes .

At Athens the god o f the vine Dionysus was annually marrie d to , ,

the Q ueen and it appears tha t the consumma ti on o f the d ivine union
, ,

as well as the espousals was enacted at the ceremony ; but whether

,

the par t o f the god was played by a man o r an image we do not kno w .

We learn from Ari s totle that the ceremony took place in the old o ffi cial
residence o f the Kin g kno wn as the Cat tl e s tall which stood near the
,
-
,

Prytaneum or T own hall on the nor th eastern slope o f the Acropolis

- -
.

The obj ect o f the marria ge can har d ly have been any other than that
o f ensu rin g the f er tility o f the vines and other fruit trees o f which -

Dionysus was the god Thus bo th i n form and in m eaning the.

cerem ony would answer to the nup tials o f the King and Queen o f May .

In the great mysteri es solemni se d at E leus i s i n the month of

September the union of the sky god Zeus with the c orn goddess - -

Dem eter appears to have been represented by the union o f the hiero
xn THE MARRIAGE OF THE GOD S 14 3

phant with the priestess o f Demeter who acted the pa rts o f god and ,

go ddess B ut their intercourse was only drama tic or symbolical fo r

.
,

the hie rophant had te m porarily deprive d h imsel f o f his virili ty by an

‘

application of hemlock The torches havin g been extinguished the

.
,

pair descended i nto a murky place while the thron g o f worshippers ,

awai ted in anx i ous suspense the result o f the mys tic con gress on wh ich ,

they believe d their own salvation to depend A fter a time the hiero .

phant reappeare d a nd in a blaze o f l igh t silen tly exhibi ted to the

,

assembly a reaped ear of corn the fruit o f the div ine marr iage Then
, .

“
in a loud voice he proclaimed Queen B rimo has brought forth a,
“
sacre d boy Brimos by wh i ch he mea nt The M i gh ty One has b r ou ght
, ,
”
forth the M i gh ty The corn mother i n fact had given birth to her
.
-

ch ild the corn a nd her travail pangs were enacted in the sacred
, ,
-

drama ,
This revelation o f the reape d corn appears to have been the
cro wning act of the mysteries Thus through the glamour shed round
.

these rites b y the poe try a n d philosophy o f later a ges there s ti ll looms ,

like a distant lan d scape thro ugh a sunlit haze a simple rus ti c fes tival ,

desi gne d to cover the wi d e E leusinian pla in with a plen teo us harves t
b y wed d in g the go dd ess o f the corn to the sky — go d who fer ti l i se d the ,

bare ear th with gen ial showers E very fe w years the pe ople o f Pla taea
.
,

ih Boeotia hel d a festival called the Lit tl e Daedala a t which they

'

, ,

felle d an oak tree in an ancient oak forest

-
O ut o f the tree they .

carved an image and havin g d ressed i t as a br id e they set it on a

, ,

bullock cart with a bri d esmaid beside it

-
The image seems th en .

to have been d rawn to the bank o f the river Asopus and back to the
town attende d by a pipin g and dancin g crow d
,
E very six ty years .

the festival o f the Grea t Daedala was celebra te d by all the people o f
Boeotia ; an d a t it a ll the images fo ur teen in number wh ich ha d , ,

accumulated at the lesser fes tivals were d ra gged on wains in pro ,

cession to the river Asopus an d then to the top o f Moun t Ci thae ron
'

where they were burn t on a great pyre The s tory tol d to explain the .

festivals sugges ts that they celebra te d the marria ge o f Zeus to H era ,

represented by the oaken ima ge in bri d al a rray In S we d en every .

year a li fe size image o f Frey the god o f fer til i ty bo th an imal a nd

-
, ,

vegetable was drawn about the country in a waggon a tten d ed by a

,
’
beauti ful girl who was c alled the go d s wi fe S he acted also as his .

priestess in his great temple at Upsala Wherever the wa ggon cam e .

wi th the ima ge o f the god a n d hi s bloomin g youn g bri d e the people ,

crow de d to mee t them and o ffere d sacrifices for a fru it ful year .

Thus the cus tom o f marryin g go d s e ither to images or to human

beings was widespread among the nations o f an tiquity The i d eas .

on which such a custom is based are too crude to allow us to doubt

that the civil i sed Babylonians E gyp tians an d Greeks inheri ted it
, ,

from their barbarous or sava ge fore fa thers This presumption i s .

strengthened when we find ri tes o f a similar kind in vo gue amon g the

lower races Thus for example we are told that once upon a time the
.
, ,

Wotyak s o f the M alm yz distric t in Russia were distresse d by a ser ies

of bad harve sts They d id not know what to do but at last concluded
.
,
[
144 THE SACR E D MARRIA G E CH .

that thei r pow erful but mischievi ous god K eremet must be an gry at
bein g unmarried S o a d eputation o f elders v i si ted the W otyak s of
.

Cura and cam e to an un d erstandin g with them on the subj e ct Then .

they re turne d home lai d in a large stock o f bran d y a nd havin g made

, ,

rea d y a ga ily d ecke d wa ggon a n d horses they drove in p rocession with ,

bells ri ngin g as they do when they are fe tchin g home a bride to the
, ,

sacre d grove a t Cura There they ate a n d drank merrily all night and
.
,

next m orning they cut a square piece o f tur f in the grove a nd took it
home wi th them A fter tha t though it fared well w ith the people of
.
,

M alm yz i t fare d ill wi th the people o f Cu ra ; for in M a lm yz the bread

,

was good but in Cura it was bad H ence the men o f Cur a who had
, .

consente d to the marria ge were blamed and roughly handled by their

in d ignant fellow v illa gers Wha t they m ean t by this marriage
-
.

“
cerem ony says the wri ter who reports it it is not easy to imagine
, , .

Perhaps a s B echt erew thinks they meant to marry Keremet to the

, ,

kin d ly a n d frui tful M uk ylcin the E ar th wi fe in order that she might ,

-
,

influence him fo r go o d When w ells are dug in B en gal a wooden

.
,

image o f a god is ma d e and ma rried to the go dd ess o f water .

O f ten the bride des ti ne d for the god is not a l og or a cloud but a ,

living woman o f flesh an d bloo d The Ind ians o f a v i llage in Peru have .

been known to marry a be auti ful girl abou t fo urt een yea rs o f a ge to a , ,

stone shaped like a human bein g wh i ch they regar d ed as a god (huaca ) , .

All the v i lla gers took pa r t in the marria ge ceremony which laste d three ,

d ays and was a ttende d wi th much revelry

,
The gi rl therea fter .

remained a vi r gin and sacrifi ced to the i dol for the peop le They .

showe d her the u tm os t reverence an d d eemed her d ivine E very year .

abou t the middle o f March when the season for fishin g with the drag ,

n et be gan the Al gonquins and H u ro ns married thei r nets to two young

,

gi rls a ge d six or seven

,
A t the we dd in g feast the n e t was placed
.

between the two mai dens an d was exhorted to take courage and catch
,

many fish The reason for choosing the b ri des so youn g was to make
.

sure tha t they were vir gins The ori gin o f the custom is sai d to have .

been th i s One year when the fishin g season came round the Al gon
.
, ,

qu ins cast their ne ts as usual but took nothin g S urprised at their , ,

wan t o f success they did n ot know what to m ake o f it till the soul or
, ,

enius (o k i l o f the net appeared to them in the likeness o f a tall well

g
buil t man w ho sai d to them i n a great passion
,
I have los t my wi fe ,

a nd I cannot find o n e who ha s known no other man but me ; that is

why you do not succeed and why you never wi ll succeed till you give
,
”
me satis fact on on thi s head
i S o the Al gonquins held a council and .

resolved to appease the spi rit o f the net by marryin g him to two such
very youn g gi rls that he could have no ground o f complaint o n that
score for the fu ture They d id so and the fishi n g turned out all that
.
,

could be w ishe d The thin g got wind amon g the i r nei ghbours the
.

H urons a n d they a d op te d the cus tom A shar e o f the catch was

,
.

always given to the families o f the two girls who a cted as brides of the
net for the year .

The Oraons o f B en gal wo rship the E arth as a goddess and annually .

146 THE KI N GS O F ROM E AN D ALBA ‘

CH .

him was to take a youn g vir gin a nd havin g a d orne d her to lead her
, , , ,

to a hea then temple that s too d on the shore with a window looking out ,

to sea There they le ft the damsel for the ni ght a n d when they came
.
,

b ack in the morni n g they found her a ma i d no more a n d d ead E very , .

m o n th they d rew lo ts a n d he upon w hom the lot fell gave up his

,

daughter to the j innee o f the sea The last o f the maidens thus .

o ff ered to the d em on was rescue d by a pious Berber who by reciting ,

the Koran succee d e d in driv i n g the j innee back in to the sea .

’
Ibn B a tutah s narra tive o f the demo n lover and his mortal brides
closely resembles a well known type o f folk tale o f which versions
- -
,

have been found from Japan an d Annam i n the E as t to S enegambia ,

S can d i navia and S co tlan d in the Wes t The s tory varies in details
, .

from pe ople to people but as commonly told it runs thus

,
A cer ta in .

coun try is in feste d by a many headed serpent dra gon or other -

, ,

m ons ter wh i ch woul d d estroy the whole peo p le i f a human victim

, ,

generally a vi rgin were no t d el ivered up to him periodically

,
Many .

v i ct im s have per i she d and a t last it has fallen to the lot of the
,
’
kin g s own d aughter to be sacrificed S he is exposed to t he monster .
,

b ut the hero o f the ta fe generally a youn g man o f humble bir th

, ,

interposes in her behal f slays the monster and receives the han d of
, ,

the pr i ncess as hi s rewar d I n many o f the tales the monster who is

.
,

sometimes descr ib e d as a serpen t inhabi ts the wa ter o f a sea a lake or , , ,

a fountain In o the r versions he is a serpent o r d ragon who takes

possess i on o f the springs o f water a n d only allo ws the water to flow or
.

the peo ple to make use o f it on conditi on o f receivi ng a human victim .

It woul d probably be a mis take to dismiss all these tales as pure

inven tions o f the s tory teller Rather we may suppose that they reflect
-
.

a real custom o f sa crificing girls or women to be the wives o f water

spirits who are ve ry o ften conceived as great serpents or dra gons
,
.

CH APT E R XI I I

THE K I N GS OF ROM E A N D A LB A

1 N um a a nd E geri a
.
—
From the foregoin g survey o f custom and
le gen d we may in fer tha t the sacre d marria ge o f the powers both of
ve ge tation and o f water has been celebra te d by many peoples for the
l
s ake o f prom o ti n g the fertili ty o f the ear th on which the li fe o f anima s ,

and men ultima tely d epen d s and that in such rites the p art of the ,

d ivine bri degroom or bride i s o ften sustained by a man o r wo man The .

evi d ence may there fore len d some coun tenance to the conj ecture that
, ,

i n the sacred gro ve at N emi where the powers o f ve getation and of ,

water mani fested them selves in the fai r forms o f shady woods tumbling ,

casca d es a nd glassy lake a ma rria ge like that o f our Kin g and Queen
, ,

o f May was annually celebrated be tween the mo rtal Kin g o f the Wood
and the immortal Queen o f the Wood Diana I n this co nnexion an , .
xm NU MA A N D E G E RIA 147

im portant fi gure in the grove was the water — nymph E geria who was ,

worshippe d by pregnant women because she like Diana could gra nt , ,

them an easy d elivery From this it seems fairly sa fe to conclude tha t

.
,

like many o ther spr i ngs the wat er o f E geria was cre d ited wi th a p ower
,

o f facil ita ti n g concep tion a s well as d elivery The vo tive o fferi ngs .

found on the spot w hi ch clea rly re fer to the be getting o f children m a y

, ,

possibly have been d e dicated to E geria ra ther than to Diana o r perhaps ,

we shoul d rather say that the wa ter nymph E geria i s only ano ther form
-

of the grea t nature go dd ess Diana hersel f the m i s tress o f soundin g

-
,

riv ers as well as o f umbra geous woods w ho ha d her home by the lake ,

and her mirro r in i ts calm wa ters a nd whose Greek coun terpar t Ar temi s
,

love d to haunt meres and spr i n gs T h e i d entifica tion o f E geria wi th

.

Diana is confirme d by a s ta temen t o f Plutarch tha t E geria was one o f

thet oak nymphs whom the Romans bel i eved to presi de over every green
-

oak— grove ; fo r while Diana was a go dd ess o f the woo d lan d s in general
, ,

she appears to have been intimately associate d wi th o aks in par ticula r ,

especially at her sacre d grove o f Nemi Perhaps then E geria was the
.
, ,

fairy o f a S pr i ng that flowe d from the roots o f a sacre d oak S uch a .

spring is sai d to have gushed from the foot -of the grea t oak at
Do dona a n d from its murmurous flow the prieste ss d rew oracles
, .

Amon g the Greeks a d rau gh t o f wa ter from cer ta i n sacre d sprin gs or

wells was suppose d to con fer prophetic powers This woul d explain .

the more than m o r tal wisdom wi th which acco r d ing to tra d ition
, ,

Eger i a insp i re d her royal husban d or lover Numa When we remem b er .

how very o ften in early soc i ety the kin g is hel d responsible for the fall
of rain and the fru it fulness o f the ear th it seems har d ly rash to conj e e
,

ture tha t in the le gen d o f the nuptials o f N uma and E geria we have a
reminiscence o f a sa cre d marriage wh i ch the old Roman kin gs re gu lar ly
contracte d wi th a go dd ess o f ve ge tation and wa ter for the purp o se o f
ena b l in
g hi m to d i schar ge hi s d ivine or ma gical functions In such a .

rite the part o f the go dd ess m igh t be playe d e ither by an image or a

woman an d i f b y a woman probably by the Q ueen
, ,
If there is any .

truth in this conj ec ture we may suppose tha t the K i n g a n d Q ueen o f

,

Rome masquera d e d as god and go dd ess a t thei r marria ge exactly as the ,

King an d Q ueen o f E gypt app e ar to have done The legen d o f Num a .

and E eria po i nts to a sacre d

g grove rather than to a house as the sc e ne
of the nup tial un i on which l ike the marria e o f the Kin
, , g g a n d Q ueen
of May or o f the vine
god a nd the Q ueen o f A thens may have been
-
, ,

annually celebra te d as a Charm to ensure th e fe rtil ity n ot only o f the “

earth b ut o f man and beast N ow accordin g to some accoun ts th

.
, ,

scene o f the marriage was no other than the sacred grove o f N emi a nd ,

on quite in depen d en t groun d s we have been led to suppose that i n tha t

same grove the King o f the Woo d was we d de d to Diana The con
-
.

vergence o f the two d is tinct l ines o f enqu i ry su gges ts that the le gen d ary
union o f the Roman kin g wi th E geria may have been a reflection or
duplicate o f the un ion o f the Kin g o f the Woo d with E geria or her
double Diana . Th is d oes n ot imply that the Roman kin gs ever served
as Kin gs o f the Wood in the Arician grove but only that they may ,
148 T H E K IN GS OF R OM E A N D AL B A CH .

ori gi nally have b e en i nv este d wi th a sacred charac ter o f the same gen
eral k i n d a n d may have hel d o ffice on s imilar term s To be more ex
, .

p li cit i t i s poss ibl e tha t they re igne d n ot b y r i gh t o f b i r th but in virtue

, , ,

o f their suppos e d d ivin ity as representa tives or embo d iments o f a god ,

an d tha t as such they ma te d w ith a

go d dess an d ha d to prove their fit
,

ness from time to ti me to d ischar ge the ir d ivine func ti ons by engaging

in a severe bo d ily s truggle wh i ch may o ften have proved fatal to th em
, ,

leav in g the crown to their vic tor io us a dversary Our knowledge o f the .

Roman k i n gship is fa r too scan ty to allow us to a ffirm any one o f these

p roposi ti ons w ith confi d ence ; b u t a t least there are some scattered
hin ts or in d ica tions o f a similari ty in all th ese respects between the
pr ie sts o f N em i a n d the kin gs o f Rome o r perhaps ra ther between the ir
,

remo te pre d ecessors in the d ark a ges wh i ch prece d ed the dawn o f legen d
2 T he K i ng as J u pi ter — In the first place then it would see m
.

.
, ,
.

that the Roman k in g personated no less a d ei ty than Jupit e r himsel f .

F o r d own to imperial times vict orio us generals celebra tin g a triumph ,

a n d m a gi s tra tes presi d i n g a t the gam es i n the Circus wo re the cos tum e ,

o f Jupi ter which was borrowed for the occasion from his great temple
,

on the Capitol ; a n d i t has been held wi th a hi gh degree o f probabil i ty

b oth by ancien ts a n d m o d erns that in s o doin g they copied the tra di
tion a ry a tt i re an d insi gn i a o f the Roman kin gs They rode a chariot
d rawn by four laurel —
.

crow ne d horses thro u gh the ci ty Where every ,

one else wen t on foo t : they wore purple robes embroi d ere d or S pan gled
with gol d : in the ri ght hand they bore a branch o f laur el an d in the ,

le ft han d an ivory scep tre to p ped wi th an ea gle : a wreath o f laur el

crowned their brows : their face was reddened with verm ilion ; and
over thei r hea d a slave held a heavy crown o f massy gol d fash ioned in
the likeness o f oak leaves I n this attire the assim ilation o f the man
.

to the god comes out above all in the ea gle toppe d sceptre the oaken -
,

crown a n d the reddened face For the ea gle was the bi r d o f Jove the
,
.
,

oak was hi s sacred tree and the face o f his image s tanding in his four
,

horse chariot on the Capi tol was in l ike manner regularly d yed red on
festivals ; indeed so impor tan t was it deem ed to keep the divine
,

fea tures properly rou ge d that one o f the first duti es o f the censors was
to contract for havin g thi s d one As the triumphal procession alway s
.

en d ed in the temple o f Jup iter on the Capitol i t was peculiarly appro ,

p ria te tha t the hea d o f the victor should be grace d by a crown of oak
leaves fo r not only was every oa k co nsecrated to Jupiter but the
, ,

Capi to l i ne temple o f the god was sa i d to have b een buil t by Romulus

b es i d e a sacred oak venerate d by shepherds to which the king attached
, ,

the spo i ls won by him from the enemy s general in battle We are
’
.

expressly tol d that the oak crown was sacred to Capitol ine Jupiter ;
a passa ge o f Ovi d proves th at it was regarded a s the god s special ’

emblem .

Accordin g to a t rad ition wh i ch w e have n o reason to rej ect Rome ,

was foun d e d by se ttlers from Alba Lon ga a city situated on the slope,

o f the Alban hills overlook in g the lake a nd the Campa gna Hence if
, .

the Rom an k ings cla i me d to be rep resentatives o r embodiments of

“
15 0 T HE KI N GS O F RO M E AN D ALBA C II .

to have been chan ged in to Latian Jupi ter a fter vanishin g from the
w orl d in the mys terious fashion charac teristic o f the old La tin kin gs .

The sanc tuary o f the god on the top o f the mountain was the religious
cen tre o f the La ti n League as A lba was i ts poli tical c a p ital till Rome
,

wreste d the supremacy from i ts ancient rival Appa ren tly no temple .
,

in our sense o f the word was ever erec ted to Jupi ter o n this his h oly
,

mountain ; a s god o f the sky a n d thun d er he appro priately received

the homage o f his worsh i ppers in the Open ai r The massive wall of .
,

which some remains s till enclose the old garden o f the Passionist
monas tery seem s to have been part o f the sacred p recinct which
,

Tarqui n the P ro ud the last kin g o f Rome marke d out fo r the solemn
, ,
’
annual assembly o f the La tin League The go d s oldest sanctuary on
thi s a iry moun tain—
.

top was a grove ; and bearing in m ind not merely

“

the special cons ecra ti on o f the oak to Jupite r but also the tradi tional ,

oak crown o f the Alban kings and the analo gy o f the Capitoline Jupiter
at Rome we may suppose tha t the tr ees i n the grove w ere oaks We
, .

know that in antiqui ty Mount A lgi du s an outlyin g group o f the Alban ,

hills was covere d wi th d ark fores ts o f oak ; and among the tribes who
,

belon ge d to the Lat in Lea gue in the earliest d ays a n d were entitle d ,

to share the flesh o f the wh ite bull s acrificed on the Alban M ount there ,

was one whose members s tyled themselves the Men o f the Oak doub ,
t

less on account o f the woo ds amon g which they dwel t ‘

B u t we shoul d err if we pic ture d to ourselves the country as covered

in his tor i cal times w ith a n unbroken forest o f oaks Theophrastus .

has le ft us a d escript ion o f the woods o f La tium as they were in the

four th cen tury be fore Chr i st H e says : The lan d o f the La tins is
.

all mo i st The plains produce laurels myrtles and won d erful beeches ;
.
, ,

for they fell trees o f such a siz e tha t a si n gle stem su ffices fo r the keel
o f a Tyrrhenia n ship Pines and firs grow in the moun tains What
. .

they call the land o f Circe is a lo fty headland thickly wooded wi th

oak myrtle and luxur i ant laurels The natives say that Ci rce dwelt
, , ,

there and they show the grave o f E lpenor from which grow myrtles
, ,

such as wreaths are mad e o f whereas the o ther myrtle trees a re tall
,
-
.
"

Thus the p rospect from the top o f the Alban M oun t in the early days
o f Rome mus t have been very di fferent i n some respects from what it
is to —d ay The purple Apennines i ndeed in their e ternal cal m on the
.
, ,

one han d a n d the shinin g M e d iterranean in its eternal unrest on the

,

other no d oubt looked then much as they look now whe ther bathed in
, ,

sunshine o r chequere d by the fleet i ng shadows o f clouds ; but instead

,

o f the desola te brown expanse o f the fever stricke n Campagn a spanned -

,

by i ts lon g l in e s o f ruine d aqueducts l ike the b roken arc hes of the ,

bri dge in the v ision o f M i rza the eye must hav e ranged over woodlands
,

tha t s tre tche d away m ile a fter m ile on all si d es t ill thei r va ried hues
, , ,

o f green or autumnal scarlet and gold melted insensibly into the blue

o f the d istan t m oun tains and sea .

B ut Jupi ter d id not rei gn alone on the t op o f his holy mountain

'

H e had his consor t with hi m the goddess Juno w ho was worshipped

, ,

here under the same title Mo neta as on the Capitol a t Rome As

, , .
xm T HE K I N G A S J U PIT ER 15 1

the oa k crown was sacred to Jupiter and Juno on the Cap itol so we ,

m ay su p pose it was on the Alban Mount from which the Capitoline ,

worsh ip was d erived Thus the oak god would have his oak goddess
.
- -

i n the sacre d oak grove So at Do d ona the oak god Zeus was coupled
.
-

wi th Dion e whose very n ame i s only a dialec ti cally d i fferent form o f

,

Juno ; a nd so on the top o f M ount Ci thaero n a s we have seen he , ,

appears to have been periodically wed d ed to an oaken ima ge o f H era .

It is probable though i t cannot be positively prove d tha t the sacre d

, ,

m arr ia ge o f Jupiter and Juno was annually celebra te d by all the

pe oples of the Latin s tock in the mon th which they named a fter the
go ddess the m i d summer mon th o f June
,
.

If at any time o f the yea r the Romans celebrated the sacred ma rria ge
of Jupiter a nd Juno as the Greeks commonly celebrated the corre
,

spondi ng marr i a ge o f Zeus a n d H era we may suppose tha t un d er the

,

Republic the ceremony was ei ther per forme d over images o f the divine
pair or acte d by the Flamen Diali s an d his wi fe the Flam in i ca For ,

the Flamen D ia li s was the pries t o f Jove ; in d ee d ancient a n d modern ,

writers have re garde d him w ith much probab il ity as a l iv i n g ima ge o f

Jupi ter a human embo d imen t o f the sky—
, ,

, god I n earlier times the .

Ro m an k ing as represen tat ive o f Jupi ter would na turally play the
, ,

part o f the heavenly br i d e groom at the sacre d marria ge wh i le his ,

queen would fi gure as the heavenly bri d e j ust as in E gypt the king ,

and queen masquera d e d in the charac ter o f d e iti es an d as at A thens ,

the queen annually we d d e d the v i ne go d D ionysus That the Roma n

-
.

king and queen shoul d act the parts o f Jupiter an d Juno woul d seem
all the mor e natural becaus e these dei ti es themselves bore the title
of K in g a nd Q ueen .

Whe ther tha t was so or not the legend o f Numa a n d E ger i a appears
,

to emb o dy a rem i n i scence o f a t ime when the pries tly k i n g h i msel f

playe d the par t o f the d iv ine b r i de groom ; an d as we have seen reason
to suppose tha t the Roman kin gs persona te d the oak god while E ger ia -
,

is expressly sa i d to have been an oak nymph the s to ry o f their union-

,

in the sacre d grove raises a presump ti on tha t a t Rome in the regal

perio d a ceremony was per io d ically per formed exac tly analo gous to
that which was annually celeb rate d a t Athens down to the time o f
Aristotle The marriage o f the K in g o f Rome to the oak god d ess
.
-
,

like the we dd ing o f the v ine god to the Q ueen o f A thens mus t have
-
,

been intended to quicken the growth o f vege ta tion by homoeopathic

m a gic
. O f the two forms o f the r i te we can hardly d ou b t tha t the
Roman was the ol d er a n d tha t lon g be fore the nor thern inva d ers
,

met with the vin e on the shores o f the M e d i terranean the i r fore fathers
had married the tree go d to the tree go dd ess in the vast oak forests
- -

of Ce ntral and N or thern E urope I n the E n gland o f our day the

.

forest s have mostly d isappeare d yet s till on many a villa ge gree n

.

and in many a coun try lane a fa d e d ima ge o f the sac red marria ge
ling ers in the rus tic pa gean try o f May Day
 152 SUC C E SS I ON TO K I N GDO M I N AN CI E NT LATI U M CH .

CH APT E R XI V

T H E S U C C ES S O N I TO TH E K I N GD OM I N A N C I E N T LA T I U M

IN re gar d to the Roman kin g whose pries tly functions were inherited ,

by hi s successor the k in g o f the Sacred R ites the fore go i ng discussion ,

has led us to the follow in g conclusions H e represented and indeed .

persona te d Jupi ter the grea t god o f the sky the thunder and the oak
, , , ,

a n d in that charac te r made ra i n thunder a n d li ghtnin g fo r the good , ,

o f his subj ec ts like many more k i n gs o f the wea ther in o ther parts of

Fur ther he no t only m imicked the oak—

,

the world .
, god by wearing
an oak w rea th an d o ther i nsi gnia o f d ivinity but he was marr i e d to an ,

oak nymph E geria who appears to have been merely a local form of
-
,

Diana i n her character o f a go dd e ss o f woo d s o f wa ters and o f chil d , ,

bir th All these conclusions which w e have reached mainly by a con

.
,

si d era tion o f the Roman evi d ence m ay wi th grea t p robab ili ty be ap ,

plie d to the other La ti n communiti es They too probably ha d o f old their .

d ivine o r priestly kin gs w ho transm i tte d their rel igious func tion s
, ,

w ithout their civi l powers to thei r successors the Kin gs o f the Sacre d
,

Rites .

B ut we have still t o ask What was the rule o f successi on to the

,

kin gdom amon g the old Latin tr ibes ? Accord in g to trad ition there ,

were in all e ight k in gs o f Rome and with re gard to the five las t o f them , ,

a t all even ts we can hardly doubt that they actually sat on the thron e
, ,

a n d tha t the tra d itional hi story o f their re igns i s in its main outlines , ,

correc t N ow it i s very remarkable that thou gh the firs t kin g o f Rome

. ,

Romulus is sai d to have been descen d e d from the royal house o f Alba
, ,

i n wh ich the kin gship i s represente d as here di tary in the male line not ,

one o f the Roman kin gs was imme d iately succee d e d by hi s son on the
throne Yet several le ft s ons or grandsons beh in d them On the
. .

other hand one o f them was descende d from a former king through hi s
,

m other n ot throu gh hi s fat her an d three of the kin gs nam ely Tatius
, , , ,

the elder Ta rquin and S ervius Tullius were succeeded by their sons
, ,

i n law who were all ei ther forei gners or o f forei gn descent

-
,
Th is .

suggests that the r igh t to the kin gsh ip was transmi tted in the female
line and was ac tually exercise d by forei gners who married the royal
,

p rincesses T o p ut it in technical lan gua ge the success i on to the

.
‘

kin gship at Rome an d probably i n Lat ium gene rally would seem to
have been d eterm ine d by certain rules which have m oulded early
so ciety in many par ts o f the worl d nam ely exo gamy b eena marr iage , , ,

a n d female kinsh i p or mo ther kin E xo gamy i s the rule which obli ges
-
.

a man to ma rry a woman o f a di fferen t clan from his own : b eena

m arr ia ge is the rule tha t he must leave the home o f his bi rth and live
w i th hi s wi fe s people ; a nd female kinship or mother kin is the system
’
-

o f trac in g relationship a n d transmi ttin g the family name throu gh

women instea d o f thro ugh men If these principles re gulated descent .

o f the kin gship amon g the ancient Latins the state of thin gs i n this ,
15 4 SUCC E S S I O N TO KI N GDO M I N A N CI E NT LATIUM CH .

Were marked by coarser features which were probably of the essence ,

o f the rites In d ee d among the ru d e E sthon ian peasantry these

.
,

features s ee m to have lin gere d d own to our own generation i f not to ,

the present day One o ther fea ture in the Roma n celebra ti on o f Mid
.

summer deserves to be specially no tice d The cus tom o f r owing in .

flower -d ecke d boats on the river on this day proves that it was to
som e extent a water fes tival ; and water has always down to modern ,

times playe d a conspicuous part in the r ites o f M idsummer Day which

, ,

expla i ns why the Church in throwin g its cloak over the old heathen ,

festiva l chose to de d icate it to St John the Baptist

, . .

The hypothesis that the Lati n kin gs may have been be gotten at an
annual fes tival o f love is necessar ily a mere conj ec ture though the ,

tra d ition a l birth o f Numa at the fes tival o f the Parilia when shepher ds ,

leaped acros s the Sp rin g bonfires as lovers leap across the Midsummer ,

fi res may perhaps be thought to lend i t a faint co lou r o f probab ili ty

, .

B ut it i s qu ite po s sible that the uncertainty a s to their fathers may not

have arisen till long a fter the de ath of the kings when thei r fi gures ,

bega n to melt away i nto the cloudland o f fable assumin g fantastic ,

shapes and go r geous colour i n g as they passed f rom ea rth to heaven “

If they were ali en immi grants s tran gers a n d pilgr i ms i n the land they ,

rule d over it woul d be natural enough that the people shoul d forget
,

thei r linea ge a nd forgettin g it should provide them with another

, ,

which made up in lustre what it lacked i n truth T he final apotheosis .

,

which repr e sen ted the kin gs no t merely as sprun g from gods b ut as
themselves deities incarnate would be much facili tated if in th eir ,

li fetime as we have seen reason to think th ey had actually l a id claim

, ,

to divi nity .

I f amo ng the Lati ns the women o f royal blood al ways stayed at

hom e and rec eived as thei r consorts men o f a no ther stock and o ften of ,

another co untry who reigned as kin gs in virtue o f thei r marria ge with

,

a n ative p r i ncess w e c an understand not only why fo reigners wore the

,

crown at Rome but also why forei gn names occur in the list of the
,

Alban kin gs In a state o f socie ty where nobility i s reckoned only

thro ugh w o men—in other words where d escent through the moth er
.

is everythin g and descent throu gh the father i s nothin g— no obj ection

,

w ill be felt to uniting girls o f the hi ghes t rank to men o f humble birth ,

even to ali e n s or slaves provide d that in themselves the men appear,

to be suitable m ates What really matters is that the royal stock on

. ,

which the p rosperity an d even the ex i stence o f the people is supposed

to depend s houl d be perpe tuate d in a vi gorous and e fficient form and
, ,

for this p urpose it i s neces sary that the women o f the royal family
should b c i r children to men who are physically and mentally fit ,

accor d i ng to the standard of early society to dischar ge the important ,

duty o f m o creation Thus the personal qualities of the kings at this

.

sta ge of social evolut ion are deemed of vital importance I f they . ,

like thei r consorts are o f royal and divine de s cent so much the better ;
, ,

b ut it i s not essential th a t they shoul d be so .

At A thens as at Rome w e find tr aces o f succession to the t hrone

. , .
x 1v SUCC E S S IO N TO K I NGDO M I N A N CI E NT LATIU M 15 5
by marria ge with a royal princess ; for two o f the most ancient kin gs
of Athens n a mely Cecrops and Amphictyon are s aid to have married
, ,

the daughters o f their predecessors This tradition i s to a cer tain ex .

tent confi rmed by evidence pointing to the conclusio n that at Athens

,

male k inship was preceded by female kinship .

Further i f I am ri ght in supposin g tha t in ancient Latium the

,

royal families kept thei r d au ghters at home an d sent forth their sons
to marry princesses and rei gn amon g their wives pe 0 p1e it will follow ’
,

that the male d escendants would rei gn in success ive generat i ons over
di ff erent kin gdoms Now this seems to have happened both i n anci ent
.

Greece and in ancient S weden ; from which we may le gitimately in fer

that it was a custom practise d by more than one branch o f the Aryan
stock in E urope Many Greek tr a dit i ons rela te how a prince le ft his
.

native lan d and going to a fa r country marrie d the k i n g s d au ghter

,
’

and succee d ed to the kin gdom Various reasons are ass igne d by .

anc ient Greek writers for these m igrations o f the pr inces A common .

one is that the k i n g s son had been banishe d for mur d er This woul d
’
.

explain very well why he fl ed hi s own lan d b ut it i s no reason at all ,

why he should become king o f another We may suspec t that such .

reasons are a fter thoughts d evise d by writers who accustome d to , ,

the rule that a son shoul d succee d to his fa ther s p rope rty and kin gdom
’
,

were har d put to it to account for so many tradi tions o f kin gs sons ’

who quit te d the l an d o f their bi rth to rei gn over a forei gn kin gdom .

In Scandinavian tra d i tion we mee t wi th traces o f similar customs .

’
For we read of daughters husbands who received a share o f the kin g
doms of thei r royal fathers in law even when these fa thers in law ha d
- -
,
- -

sons o f the i r own ; in particular d ur i n g the five genera tions which ,

preceded Harol d the F air haire d male members o f the Ynglin ga r fa m

-
,

i ly which is sai d to have come from S weden are r ep o rte d in the H ei m

, ,

s kringla or S a a s o
f the N orw egi an K i ngs to have obtaine d at least six
’

g
provinces in N orway by marria ge w ith the d au gh ters o f the local kin gs .

T hus it would seem that among s ome Aryan peoples at a certain ,

stage of their soc ial evolution it has been cus to m ary to regar d wom en
,

and not men as the channels in which royal bloo d fl ows a nd to bestow ,

the kingdom in each successive genera tion on a man o f another fam ily ,

and o ften o f another country w ho marries one o f the princesses a n d

,

rei gns over his wi fe s people A common type o f popular tale which
’
.
,

relates how an a d venturer coming to a s tran ge lan d w ins the han d of

, ,

the kin g s dau hter an d with her the hal f or the whole o f th e kin d om
’

g g ,

may well be a reminiscence o f a real cus tom .

Where usa ges and i deas o f this sort prevail it is obvious that the ,

ki ngship is merely an appana ge o f marria ge wi th a woman o f the blood

royal The old Danish historian Sax o Gra m m aticu s puts this view o f
.
-

the kin gship very clearly in the mouth o f H erm utrud e a le endary
g ,
“ ”
queen o f Scotlan d Indeed she was a queen says H erm utru d e
.
, ,

and but that her sex

.
gainsai d it mi ght be deemed a ki n g ; nay (a n d ,

thi s 18 yet truer ) whoms oever she thought worthy o f her bed was at
,

once a k i ng and she yielded her ki n d om with hersel f Thus her

, g .
156 SU CCE SS I O N T O K IN GDOM IN A N CI E NT LATI U M CH .

scep tre a n d her han d wen t to gether The st atement i s all the more .

si gnificant because it appears to reflect the ac tual practice of the

Pi ctish kin gs We know from the testimony o f Bede that whenever
. ,

a doubt arose as to the succession the Picts chose thei r kin gs from the ,

female rather than the male line .

The personal qualities which recommen d ed a man fo r a royal .

alliance and succession to the thro ne would naturally vary according

to the popular i deas of the time an d the character o f the king or his
substitu te but i t is rea sonable t o suppose that amon g them in early
,

soc ie ty physical stren gth a nd beauty would hold a prom inent place .

S om etimes ap p a rently the r igh t to the hand o f the p rincess and to

the throne has been determ ine d by a race The Ali-tem nia n Libyans .

a wa r d ed the kin gdom to the fl eetest runner Amon gst the old Prus .

sians can dida tes for nobility raced on horseback to the kin g and the
, ,

one who reache d him first was ennobled Accordin g to tradit i on the .

earliest games at Olympia w ere held by E ndymion who set his sons to ,

run a race for the kin gdom H is t om b was sai d to be at the point of the
.

racecourse fr om which the runners started T he famous story of Pelops .

and H ippodamia is p erhaps only ano ther version of the le gend that the
fi rst rac es at Olympi a were run for no less a prize than a kingdom .

These traditions may very well reflect a real custom o f racin g for
a bride for such a custom ap p ears to have prevailed among various
,

peoples though in p ractice it has de generated into a mere form or

,
‘ ’
pretence T hus there is one race called the Love Chase which
.
“
, ,

may be considered a part o f the form o f marria ge amon g the Kir ghiz .

I n this the bride armed wi th a formidable whip moun ts a fleet ho rse

, , ,

a n d i s pursued by all the youn g men w ho make any pretensions to b e

hand S he w ill be given as a priz e to the one who catches her but she
. ,

has the ri ght besi d es ur gin g on her horse to the utmost to use her whip
, , ,

often wi th n o mean force t o keep off those lovers who are unwelcome,

to her and she w i ll probably f avour the one whom she has already
,

chosen i n her hea rt The race for the b ri de is found also among the
K oryaks o f North —
.

eastern Asia It takes place in a lar ge tent round .

,

which many separate compartments called pol ogs are arran ged in a
continuous circle The gi rl gets a start and i s clear o f the marriage if
.

she can run through all the compar tmen ts without bein g caught by the
bride groom The women o f the encampment place every obstacle in
.

the man s way trippin g him up belabourin g him with switches and so
’

, , ,

forth so that he has li ttle chance o f succeedin g unless the gi rl wishes it

,

a n d wai ts for him S imila r cus tom s appea r to hav e been practised
by all the Teutonic peoples ; for the German An glo —
.

Saxon and Norse , ,

lan guages possess in common a w ord for marria ge which means simply
bride race
-
M oreover traces o f the custom survived into modern
.
,

times .

Thus it appears that the ri ght to ma rry a girl and especially a ,

princess has o f ten been conferred as a prize i n an athle tic contest

, .

T here would b e no reason there fore for surp rise i f the Roman kings , , ,

be fore bestowing their dau ghters in marriage should have resorted to ,

158 SU CC E S S IO N TO KI N GDO M I N A N CI E NT LAT I U M CH .

was a relic o f a time when the kin gship was an annual o ffice awarded ,

along with the han d o f a princess to the victorious a thlete o r gladiator

, ,

who thereaf ter fi gure d alon g with his bride a s a god and goddess at a
sacred marria ge desi gned to ensure the fertility o f the earth by hom oeo
pathic ma gic I f I am ri ght in supposin g that in very early times the
.

old Lati n kin gs personated a god a n d were regularly put to death in

that character w e can bet ter understand the mysterious or violent
,

ends to which so many o f them are sa i d to have come We have .

seen that accordin g to tra dition one of the kings of Alba was kille d
, ,

by a thunderbol t for impiously mimicking the thunder o f Jupiter

"

Romulus is sai d to have van i she d myster i ously li ke Aeneas or to ,

have been c u t to pi eces by the pat ricians whom he had o ff ended and ,

the seventh o f July the day on whi ch he perished was a festival

, ,

which bore som e resemblance to the Saturnalia For on that day the .

femal e slaves were allowed to take certain remarkable liber ties Th ey .

dressed up as free women in the at tire o f matrons and maids and in ,

this guise they went forth from the ci ty sco ff ed and j eered at all whom ,

they met and en gaged among themselves in a fi ght s triking and

, ,

throwin g s tones at each other Ano ther Roman kin g who perished by
.

violence was Tatius the Sabine colle ague o f Romulus It is said that
, .

he was at Lavinium o ffering a public sacr ifice to the ancestral gods ,

when som e m e n to whom he had given umbra ge despatched him with

, ,

the sacrificial knives a n d spits which they ha d sna tched from the altar .

The occasion and the manner o f his d eath suggest that the slaughter
may have been a sacrifice ra ther than an assassination A gain Tullus .
,

H os tiliu s the successor o f N uma was commonly sai d to have been

, ,

killed by li ghtnin g but many held that he was murdered at the insti ga
,

tion of A m ens Ma rcius who rei gne d a fter him Speakin g o f the more
, .

or less my thical N uma the typ e o f the pries tly king Plu tarch observes
, ,
“
that his fame was enhanced by the fortunes o f the la ter k ings For o f .

the five who rei gned a fter him the last was deposed and ended his
li fe in exile and o f the remainin g four not one d ied a natural death ;
,

fo r three o f them were assassinated and Tullus H ostilius was consumed

”
by thunderbolts .

The s e legends o f the violent ends o f the Roman kings suggest that
the contes t by wh ich they gained the throne may sometim es have
been a mortal combat ra ther than a race If that were so the analogy .
,

which w e have traced between Rome and N emi would be still closer .

A t both places the sacred kin gs the livin g representatives of the ,

go d head woul d thus be l i able to su ff er d epositi on an d death at the

‘

han d o f any resolute man who could p rove his divine ri ght to the
holy office by the stron g arm and the sharp sword It woul d not be .

surprisin g i f amon g the early Latins the claim to the kin gdom should
o ften have been settle d by sin gle combat ; for down to historical
t im es the Umbrians re gula rly submitted thei r private dis utes to
p
the ordeal o f battle and he who cut his adversary s throat was thou ght
,
’

ther eby to h ave pr oved the j ustice o f his cause beyond the reach of
cavil .
xv T HE W ORSH I P O F THE OAK 15 9

C HA PT E R XV

THE W ORS H I P OF T H E OA K

TH E worship o f the oa k tree o r o f the oak god ap p ears to have been

shared by all the branches of the Aryan stock in E urope Both Gre eks .

and Italians associated the tree with their hi ghest god Zeus or J upiter , ,

the divinity of the sky the rain and the thunder Perhaps the oldest
, , .

and certainly one o f the most famous sanctuaries i n G reece was that
of Dodona where Zeus was revered in the oracular oa k The thunde r
, .

storms which are sai d to ra ge at Do d ona more frequently than any

where else in E urop e would render the spot a fitting hom e for the god
—
,

whose voice was heard alike in the rustl i ng of the oak leaves and i n
l
r
the crash o f thunder P erhaps the bronze gongs w hich kept up a
.

humming in the wind round the sanctuary were meant to m im ick

the thunder that m i ght so o ften be hear d rollin g and rumblin g i n the
coombs o f the stern and barren mountains which shut in the gloomy
valley In B oeotia as we have seen the sacred marria ge o f Zeus
.
, ,

and Hera the oak god an d the oak go d dess appears to have been
J
, ,

cel ebrated with much pomp by a reli gious federation o f states And .

on Mount Lyca-eus in Arcadia the character o f Z eus as god b oth o f t he

oak and of the rain comes out c learly in the rain charm p ractised by
the priest o f Zeus who dipped an oak branch in a sacred s p rin g I n
, .

his latter cap acity Z eus was the god to whom the Greeks regularly
prayed for rain N othin g could be more natural ; for o ften though
.
,

not always he had his seat on the mountains wh ere the clouds gather
,

and the oaks grow On the Acropolis at A the ns there was an image
.

of Earth p rayin g to Zeus for rain And in t im e o f drought the .

“
Athenians themselves p raye d Ra i n rain O dear Zeus on the cornland
, , ,

of the Athenians and o n the plains .

Again Zeus wielded the thun d er a n d li ghtning as well as the rain

, .

At Olympia and elsewhere he was worshipped un d er the surname o f

Thunderbolt ; and at Athens there was a sac r i ficial hearth o f Lightning
Zeus on the city wall where s om e priestly o fficial s watched for li ghtning
,

over Mount Parnes at certain seasons o f the year Further spots .

,

which had been struck by li ghtnin g were re gularly fenced in by the

Greeks and consecrated to Zeus the Descender that i s to t he god , ,

who came down in the flash from heaven Alta rs were set up w ithin .

these enclosures and sacrifices o ffered on them S everal such p laces .

are known from inscriptions to have existe d in Athens .

Thus whe n a ncient Greek kin gs claime d to be descended from

Zeus and ev en to bear his name we may reasonably su ose that
,
pp ,

they also attempted to exercise his divine functions by makin g thunder

and rain for the good o f their people or the terror and confusion o f
their foes I n this respect the le gend o f S alm oneus p robably re fl ects
.

the pretensions o f a whole class o f pet ty sovere i gns who r ei ned o f

g
old each over his little canton in the oak clad highlands o f Greece
, ,
-
.
160 T HE WORS H I P O F T HE OAK cn .

Like thei r kinsmen the I rish kin gs they were expecte d to be a source ,

o f fer tili ty to the lan d an d o f fecun d ity to the cat tle ; a n d how coul d

they fulfil these expec ta tions bet ter than b

y ac tin g the par t of their
-

kinsman Zeus the great god o f the oak the thunder and the rain ?
, , ,

They personifi e d him apparently j ust as the Italian kings personified

, ,

Jupiter .

In ancient Italy every oak was sac re d to Jupi ter the Italian counte r ,

par t o i Zeus ; an d on the Capi tol at Rome the god was worshipp ed
as the dei ty not m erely o f the oak but o f the rai n and the thunder , .

Contrasti ng the pi ety o f the goo d old times w ith the scepticism of an
age when nobo dy thou ght that heaven was heaven or cared a fig ,

for Jupiter a Roman w riter tells us that in former days noble ma tro ns
,

use d to go wi th bare feet streamin g hai r and pure min d s up the long
, , ,

Capi toli ne slope p raying to Jupiter for rain A n d strai ghtway he

, .
,

goes on it raine d buckets ful then o r never and everybo dy returne d

, , ,
” “
d ripping like d rowne d rats But nowa d ays says he we are no
.
, ,
”
longer reli gious so the fields lie bakin g
, .

When we pass from S ou thern to Central E urope we still meet with

the grea t god o f the oak and the thunder among the barbarous Arya ns
who d wel t in the vast primaeval fores ts Thus am on g the Celts o f .

Gaul the Druids es teeme d noth in g more sacred than the mistletoe
a n d the oak on which it grew ; they chose groves o f o aks for the sce ne

o f thei r solemn service and they per formed none o f thei r rit es without
,
-

”
'

“
oak leaves The Cel ts says a G r eek w riter worship Zeus and
.
, ,
“

,
”
the Celtic i ma ge o f Zeus i s a tall oak The Celtic conquerors who .
,

settle d i n Asi a in the thi rd cen tury be fore our era appear to hav e ,

carrie d the worship o f the oak w ith them t o th eir new h ome ; for in
the heart o f Asia M in or the Gala tian senate m et in a place which bor
“

the p ure Celti c name o f D ryn em etum the sacre d o a k grove or ,

“

”
“
the temple o f the oak I ndeed the very name o f D ruids is be lieved
.

by good authori ties to mean no more than oak men “

.

I n the reli gion o f the ancient Germans the veneration for sacred
groves seems to have held the foremost place and accordin g to Grimm ,

the chie f o f their holy trees was the oak It appears to have be en .

espec ially de d icate d to the god o f thun d er Donar o r Thunar the , ,

equivalen t o f the N orse Thor ; for a sacred oak near Geismar in Hesse , ,

w hich B oni face cut d own in the ei ghth century wen t among the ,

heathen by the name o f Jupi ter s oak (r ob ur J ovi s ) which in old Ger ’

,
”
man woul d be D o na t es a h the oak o f Donar ,
“
That the Teutonic .

thun d er god Donar Thunar Thor was identifie d with the Italian
, ,

thu n d er go d Jup i ter appears from our wor d Thursday Thunar s day
’

, ,

which is m erely a ren d ering o f the Latin di es J am s Thus amon g the

'

ancient Teutons as am on g the Greeks and Italians the god o f the

, ,

oak was al so the god o f the thun d er M oreover he was re garded as .

,

the grea t fer tilisin g power who sen t rain and c aused the earth to
,

bea r fruit ; for A d am o f B remen t e lls us tha t Thor presi des in the
air ; he it i s who rules thunder and li ghtnin g wind and rains fin , ,
”
weather and cr eps I n these res p ects there fore the Teutonic
.
, ,
 162 DIA N U S AN D DIANA CH .

should d eem superhuman or divine The illusion has been fostere d .

an d ma intaine d by the same causes which b egot it nam ely the , ,

marvellous order a n d un i formi ty wi th which nature con d ucts her

operations the wheels o f her grea t machi ne revolvin g with a smo oth
,

ness and pr ecision which enable the pa ti ent observer to anticipate in

general the season if not the very hour when they wi ll brin g round the
, ,

fulfilment o f his h opes o r the accomplishmen t o f his fears The .

re gularly recurrin g events o f this great cycle or rather series o f cycles , ,

soon stamp themselves eve n on the d ull m i nd o f the savage He .

foresees them and foreseei n g them m is takes the desired recurrence

,

for an e ffec t o f his o w n will a n d the dreaded recurrence for an e ffect

,

o f the will o f hi s enemies Thus the sprin gs which set the vast machine
.

in mo tion though they lie far beyon d our ken shrouded i n a mystery
, ,

which we can never hope to penetrate appear to ignorant man to lie ,

wi thin his reach : he fanci es he can to uch the m a n d so work by ma gic

art all manner o f goo d to himsel f and evil to hi s foes In time the .

fallacy o f this belie f becomes apparent to him : he discovers tha t there

are thin gs he cannot d o pleasur es which he is unable o f himsel f to
,

procure pains whi ch even the m ost potent ma gician is p owerless to

,

avoi d The unat tainable good the inevita ble ill are now ascribed
.
, ,

by him to the action o f invisible powers whose favour is j oy and li fe , ,

whose an ger is misery a n d dea th Thus magic tends to be displaced

.

by reli gion a n d the so rcerer by the pries t At this stage o f thought

, .

the ultimate causes o f thin gs are conceive d to be personal bein gs many ,

in number a nd o ften discor d an t in charac ter who partake o f the nature ,

and even o f the frailty o f man though their m ight is greater than his
, ,

a n d thei r l i fe fa r excee d s the S pan o f his ephemeral exis tence Their

sharply ma rked in d ividualities their clear —
.

-
cut outlines have not yet
,

b e gun under the power ful solvent o f philosophy to melt and coalesce
, ,

i n to that single unknown substratum o f phenomena which according ,

to the qualities wi th wh ich our ima gina tion invests it goes by one or ,

o ther of the hi gh sounding names whic h the wit o f man has devised
-

to hi d e hi s i gnorance A ccordingly so lon g as men look on their gods

.
,

as bein gs akin to themselves and not raised to an unapproachable

hei ght above them they beli eve it to be possible for those o f their
,

own n umber who surpass their fellows to atta i n to the div ine rank
a fter d eath o r even in li fe Incarnat e huma n d eiti es o f this latter
.

sor t may be said to halt mi dway between the age o f ma gic and the
a ge o f reli gion If they bear the names and display the pomp of
.

d eities the powers which they are supposed to wield are commonl y
,

those o f thei r pre d ecessor the magician Like him they are exp ected to .
,

guard thei r people a gainst hostile enchantmen ts to heal them in ,

sickness to bless them with o ffspring an d to provide them with an

, ,

abundant supply o f food by re gula tin g the weather and per forming
the other cere m oni es which are deemed necessary to ensure the fertility
o f the earth and the multiplication o f animals Men who are credi ted .

with powers so lo fty and far reachin g naturally hold the highest place
-

i n the land and while the ri ft b etwe en the s p i ritual and the tem oral
,
p
 D IA N U S A ND D IANA 16 3
xv1

spheres has not yet widened too far they are supr em e in civil a s well
,

as religious mat ters : in a word th ey are kin gs as well as gods Thus

,
.

the divini ty which he dg es a kin g has its roo ts deep d own i

n human

history and long a ges pass be fore these are sapped by a pro founder
,

view of nature and man .

In the classical period o f Greek and Lat in an tiquity the re i gn o f -

kings was for the mos t part a th in g o f the pas t ; yet the s tor i es o f the i r
lineage titles and pre tens i ons s uffice to prove that they too clai med
, ,

to rule by divine ri gh t and to exercise superhuman p owers H enc e .

we may wi thout un d ue temerity assume that the Kin g of the Woo d

at Nemi thou gh shorn in la ter t i mes o f his glory a n d fallen on evil
,

days represen te d a lon g l i ne o f sacred kin gs who ha d once received

,

not only the homa ge b ut the a d orati on o f their subj ec ts in return for
the man ifol d bless i n gs wh i ch they were supposed to d ispense What .

little we know o f the funct i ons o f Diana in the Ar ician grove seems to
prove that she was here conceived as a go dd ess o f fer til ity and p articu ,

larly as a d iv i ni ty o f ch i l db i r th It is reasonable there fore to suppose

.
, ,

that in the discharge o f thes e importan t d uties she was assis ted by her
priest the tw o fi gur in g as Kin g a n d Q ueen o f the Woo d in a solemn
,

marriage which was in ten d e d to make the ear th gay with the blossoms
,

of sprin g a n d the fru its o f autu m n a nd to gla dd en the hear ts o f men

,

and women wi th heal th ful o ffspr i n g .

If the pries t o f Nemi pose d n ot merely as a k i n g but as a god o f ,

the grove we have s till to ask What d ei ty in pa rticular did he per

, ,

sonate ? The answer o f antiquity i s tha t he represen te d Virbius the ,

consort o r lover o f Diana But th i s d oes not help us much for o f

.
,

Virbius we know l i ttle more than the name A clue to the mystery .

is perhaps suppl i ed b y the V e s tal fire wh ich burned in the grove For .

the perpetual holy fires o f the Aryans in E urope appear to have been
commonly kin d l e d a n d fe d wi th oak woo d a nd i n Rome i tsel f n ot
-
, ,

many miles from Nemi the fuel o f the Vestal fire c onsisted o f oaken
,

sticks or lo gs as has been prove d by a microscopic analys is o f the

,

charre d embers o f the Ves tal fire which were d isco vere d by Com
,

m endatore G B oni in the course o f the memorable excava ti ons which

.

he con d ucte d in the Roman forum at the end o f the nine teen th century .

But the ri tual o f the various Latin towns seem s to have been marked
b y great un i formi ty ; hence it is reasonable to conclu de that wherever
i n Latium a Ves tal fire was maintaine d it was fed as at Rome with
, , ,

wood o f the sacre d oak If th i s was so at Nem i it becomes pro b able

.
,

that the hallowe d grove there cons i s te d o f a natural oak woo d a nd -

,

that there fore the tree wh ich the Kin g o f the Wood had to guar d at the
peril of his l ife was i tsel f an oak ; i n d ee d it was from an ever green oak
, ,

accor d ing to V i rgil that Aeneas plucke d the Golden B ou gh N ow the

, .

oak was the sacre d tree o f Jup iter the supreme god o f the Lati ns , .

Hence it follows that the Kin g o f the Woo d whose l i fe was boun d up ,

i n a fashion with an oak personated no less a dei ty than Jupiter

,

hi msel f At least the evi d e n ce sl ight as it is seems to point to thi s

.
, ,

conclusion The old Alban d ynas ty o f the S i lvii or Woods with thei r
.
,
164 DIA N U S AN D DIANA CH .

crown o f oak leaves apparently aped the s tyle and emulated the ,

p owers o f La tian Jup i ter who d wel t on the top o f the Alban Mount ,
.

It i s not impossi b le tha t the K i n g o f the Wood who guar d ed the ,

sacre d oak a l it tle lower d own the moun ta i n was the law ful successor ,

and representative o f th i s ancient l ine o f the S ilvii or Woo d s At all .

even ts if I am ri ght i n supposin g that he passed for a human Jupi ter

, ,

it woul d appear that Virb i us wi th whom le gend i d enti fied him was , ,

no thin g but a local form o f Jup i te r co ns i d ered perhaps in his ori ginal ,

aspect as a god o f the greenwood .

The hypo thesis tha t in later times at all events the Kin g o f the
Woo d playe d the part o f the oak go d Jupiter is confirmed by an ,

examinatio n o f his d ivine par tner D iana For two dis tinct lines of .

a rgu men t conver ge to show that i f Diana was a queen of the woo ds
in g eneral she was at N emi a go d d ess o f the oak in par ticular In the
, .

firs t place she bore the ti tle o f Ves ta and as such presi d e d over a
,
'

perpetual fire wh i ch we have seen reason to bel i eve was fed w ith oak
,

woo d B ut a goddess o f fire is n ot far removed from a god d ess o f the

.

fuel which burns in the fire ; prim itive thou ght perhaps d rew no sharp
l i ne o f distinc tion between the bla z e and the woo d that blaz es In the .

secon d place the nymph E geria at Nemi appears to have been merely
,

a form o f D i ana a n d E ge ria i s d efini tely sai d to have b een a Dryad

, ,

a nymph o f the oak E lsewhere in Italy the go dd ess had her ho m e

.

on oak clad moun tains Thus Mount A lgid u s a spur o f the Alban
-
.
,

hills was covere d in antiqui ty wi th d ark fores ts o f oak both o f the

, ,

ever green a n d the d eci d uous sort I n winter the snow lay lon g on
these col d h i lls an d their glo omy oak—
.

woo d s were bel i eved to be a

,

favour ite haunt o f Diana as they have been o f brigands in mo dern ,

times A gain Mount Ti fata the lon g abrupt ri dge of the Apennines
.
, ,

which looks d own on the Campanian plain behin d Capua was woo ded ,

o f old wi th ever green oaks amon g which Diana ha d a temple He re , .

Sulla thanked the go dd ess fo r his victory over the Marians in the plain
below attes ting his gra ti tu d e by inscr iptions wh i ch were long a fter
,

war d s to b e seen in the temple On the whole then we conclu de .

, ,

that at Nemi the Kin g o f the Woo d personated the oak god Jupi ter -

an d mated w ith the oak — go dd ess Diana in the sacre d grove An echo .

o f th ei r mys tic un i on has come down to us in the le gend o f the loves

o f N uma a n d E geria who accor d in g to some ha d their trys tin g place

,
-

i n these holy woo d s .

To this theory it may naturally be obj ec te d that the divine consort

o f Jupiter was n ot Diana but Juno a n d tha t i f Diana ha d a mate at ,

all he mi gh t be expec te d to bear the name not o f Jupiter b ut of Dianus ,

or Janus the latter o f the se form s be i n g merely a corruption o f the

,

former All this is true but the ob j ection may be parrie d by observing
.
,

that the two pairs o f d eities Jupiter a n d Juno on the one si d e and , ,

D ianu s and Dia na or Janus a n d Jana on the other si de are merely

, , ,

duplicates of each o ther their names and thei r functions bein g in ,

substanc e a n d ori gin i d entical With re gar d to their names all four .
,
”
f
of them come rom the same Aryan root DI meanin g bri ght which “

, ,
 166 DIA N U S AN D DIANA CH .

reli gion At least this appears to be a more p robable theory than the
.

Opinion , which has foun d fav our wi th some modern scholars that ,

Janus was ori ginally no thin g b ut the god o f doors T hat a deity of .

his d i gnity and impor tanc e whom the Romans revered as a god,

o f gods and the fa ther o f his people shoul d have started in li fe ,

as a humble though doubtless respectable doorkeeper appears very

, ,

unlikely S o lo fty an end har d ly consor ts w ith so lowly a be gin

.

nin g It is more probable that the d oor (j an ua ) got its name fro m
.

Janus than tha t he got his name fr om i t Thi s v iew is strengthen ed .

by a consi d eration o f the wor d j a nu a i tsel f The re gular word for door .

i s the same in all the lan guages of the Aryan fami ly from In d ia to Ire
land It i s d ur in Sanscri t thw a i n Greek tzir i n Germ a n d oor in
’

.
, , ,

E n glish d om s in o ld Irish a n d fan s in Latin Yet besi d es th i s ord inary

'

.
, ,

name fo r door which the La tins shared with all thei r Aryan brethren
.
,

they ha d also the name j a n u a to wh i ch there i s no corr e spon d in g term

,

in any In d o E uropean speech The wor d has the appearance o f bein g

-
.

an a d j ectival form d erive d from the noun J a nus I conj ecture that .

it may have been customary to set up an ima ge or symbol o f Janus at

the principal d oor o f the house in or d er to place the entrance un d er the
protection of the great god A d oor thus guarde d mi gh t be known as
.

a j an u a foris tha t i s a Ja m uan d oor a n d the phrase m ight in time be

, , ,

abrid ged into j an ua the noun forms be ing un d ers too d but not exp ressed
'

, .

From this to the use o f j a nu a to d es igna te a door in general whether ,

guarded by an ima ge o f Janus or no t w oul d be an easy and natural ,

transi tion .

I f there i s any truth in this conj ecture it may explain very simply ,

the ori gin o f the d ouble hea d o f Janus which has so lon g exercised the ,

ingenuity o f mytholo gi s ts When it had become customary to guar d

.

the en trance o f houses an d towns by an ima ge o f Janus it might well ,

be d eemed necessary to make the sen ti nel god look bo th ways before ,

and behind at the sam e time in order that no thing should escape his
, ,

vi gilant eye Fo r if the divine wa tchman always faced in one di rec

.

tion it is easy to ima gi ne what mischie f m ight have been wrought

,

wi th i mpun ity behind his back This explanation o f the double

.

hea d e d Janus at Rome is confirmed by the d ouble hea d ed idol which -

the B ush ne groes i n the inter i or o f Surinam re gularly set up as a

g uar d ian at the en trance o f a villa ge The idol consists o f a block of .

wood with a human face ru d ely carve d on each si d e ; it s tands under

a gateway compose d o f tw o upri gh ts and a cross bar B eside the -
.

i dol generally lies a whi te rag i n ten d ed to keep off the devil ; and
s ometimes there i s also a s tick which seems to represent a bludgeon
or weapon of some sor t Further from the cross bar han gs a small
.
,
-

log which serves the use ful purpose o f knocking on the head any evil
S pi rit who mi gh t a ttempt to pass throu gh the gateway Clearly .

this double heade d fe tish at the ga teway o f the ne gro villa ges in
-

S urinam bears a close resemblance to the double— headed ima ges of

Janus which graspin g a st ick in one ha n d and a key in the other stood
, ,

sentinel at Roman gates a n d doorways ; and we can hardly doubt that

x vr DIA N U S AN D DIANA
~ 167

in both cases the heads facing two ways are to be s imilarly explained
as expressive o f the vigilance of the guar d ian god who kept his eye on ,

spiritual foes behin d a nd be fore and stood ready to bludgeon them ,

on the spot We may therefore dispense with the tedious an d un

.
, ,

satisfactory explanations which i i we may t rust Ov i d the wily Janus , ,

himsel f fobbed off an anx i ous Roman enquirer ,

To apply these conclusions to the priest of N emi we may suppose ,

that as the mate o f Diana he rep res en ted ori ginally Dianus or Janus
rather than Jupiter but that the di fference between these deities was
,

of old merely superfic i al goin g l i ttle d eeper than the names and leavin g
, ,

practically una ff ected the essential functions o f the god as a power o f

the sky the thunder an d the oak
,
It was fittin g therefore that his
, .
, ,

human representative at Nemi should dwell as we have s een reason ,

to believe he d id in an oak grove ,

H is ti tle o f Kin g o f the Wood .

clearly indicates the sylvan character o f the dei ty whom he served ;

and since he could only be assailed by him who had plucked the bough
o f a certain tree in the grove his own li fe m ight be said to be bound
,

up with that o f the sacre d tree Thus he not only serve d but embo d ied
.

the great Aryan god of the oak ; and as an oak god he woul d mate -

with the oak go dd ess whether she went b y the name o f E geria or
-
,

Diana Their union however consummate d would be d eemed

.
, ,

essential to the fertil ity of the earth and the fecun d i ty o f man an d
beast Further as the oak god was also a god of the sky the thun d er
.
,
-
, ,

and the rain so his human representa tive woul d be requ i re d like man y
, ,

o ther d ivine kings to cause the clouds to ga ther the thun d er to peal
, , .

and the ra in to d escen d in d ue season that the fields an d orchar d s ,

migh t bear fruit an d the pastures be covered with luxuriant herbage .

The repute d possessor o f powers so exalte d must have been a very

impor tant persona ge ; and the remains o f buildin gs and o f vo tive
offerings which have been foun d on the site of the sanctuary combine
with the testimony o f classical w ri ters to prove that in later tim es it
was one o f the greates t an d most popular shr i nes in I taly E ven in .

the old days when the champai gn coun try around was still parcelled
,

out amon
g the petty tribes who composed the La tin Lea gue the sacre d ,

grove is known to have been an obj ec t o f thei r common reverence and

care And j ust as the kin gs o f Cambo d ia used to send off erings to the
.

mys tic kin gs o f Fire a n d Wat er far i n the dim depths of the tropical
forest so we may well believe from all si d es o f the broa d Latian plain
, , ,

the eyes a nd footsteps o f Italian pil grims turned to the quarter where ,

s tanding sharply out against the faint blue l ine of the Apennines or the
deeper blue o f the d is tan t sea the Alban Mountain rose before them
, ,

the h ome o f the mys ter i ous priest o f Nemi the Kin
g o f the Wood , .

There amon g the green woo d s a n d beside the s till wa ters o f the lonely
,

hills the ancient Aryan worsh ip of the god of the oak the thunder
, , ,

and the drippin

g sky lingered in its early almost Dru i d ical form lon g , ,

after a great political and in tellectu al revolution ha d shi fte d the capital
of Latin reli i on from the forest to the city fr om Nemi to Rome
g , .
168 T HE BURD E N O F ROYALT Y CH .

CHAPT E R XVI I

TH E B U RDE N OF ROYA LT Y
1 Royal
. P ri es tly T a b o os —A t a certain sta ge o f early society the
a nd .

kin g or pries t is o ften thou ght to be en d o w e d with supernatural powers

or to be an incarnation of a d e ity a n d consis ten tly wi th this bel ie f the ,

course o f na ture i s suppose d to be more o r less under his control , and

he is h eld responsible for b a d weather , failure o f the crops and similar ,

calami ti es To some ex tent it appears to be assume d that the king s

.
’

power over nature like tha t over his subj ec ts an d slaves , i s exerted
,

throu gh definite acts of will an d there fore i f d rou ght famine pes tilence , , ,

or s torms arise the people at tribu te the mi s for tune to the negligence or
,

guilt o f their k in g, a n d pun i sh hi m accor d in gly wi th s tripes an d bon ds ,

or i f he rema ins obdurate w ith deposition and d eath Sometimes
, , .
,

however the course o f nature , while re gar d e d as d epen d ent on the king
, ,

is suppose d to be par tly in d ependen t o f his w i ll H is person is con

-
.

si d e re d i f we may express it so , as the dynamical centre o f the un i verse ,

,

from which lines o f force ra d iate to all quarters o f the heaven ; so that
any m otion of his — the turnin g o f his head the li ftin g o f his hand ,

ins tantaneously a ffects and may seriously disturb som e part o f nature .

He is the point o f support on which hangs the balance o f the worl d and ,

the sli gh tes t i rre gular ity on hi s part may overthrow the del icate
equip oise The greatest care must , there fore be taken bo th by and of
.
,

him ; a n d hi s whole li fe down to it s m inutest d e tails must be so

,
'

regula te d that no act o f his voluntary or i nvoluntary , may di sarran ge

,

or ups et the es tablished or d er o f nature O f thi s class o f monarchs the .

M i ka d o or Da i ri the spiritual emperor of Japan is or ra ther use d to be

, ,

a typi cal example He is an incarnati on o f the sun go d d ess the deity

.
,

who rules the universe go d s a n d men inclu d ed ; onc e a year all the go ds
,

wait up o n him and spend a m onth at his court Dur in g that month .
,
”
the name o f which means without go d s no one frequents the temples ,
“

for they are believe d to be d eser ted The M ikado receives from his .

people an d assumes in hi s o fficial proclamations a n d decrees the title

”
of mani fes t or incarnate d eity
“
a n d he cla i ms a general authori ty over
,

the go d s o f Japan For exampl e in an o fficial decree of the year 646

.
,

the emperor is d escribe d as the incarnate god who governs the “

”
universe .

’
The followi ng description of the Mika d o s m ode o f li fe was written
about two hun d re d years a go :
E ven to this day the princes descended o f th i s family more
“
,

parti cularly those who sit on the throne are looked upon as persons ,

most holy in them selves an d as Popes by bi rth And in order to

, .
,

preserve these advan tageous not ions in the min d s of their subj ects they ,

are obli ged to take an uncommon care o f thei r sacre d persons an d to do ,

such things which examined according to the cus toms of other nations
, , ,

would b e thou gh t ri d iculous an d impertinent It w ill not be improper .

17 0 T HE BURD E N O F ROYALTY CH .

or spiri t call e d Bagba who i s o f great importance for the whole o f the
,

surroundin g country The pow er Of givin g or wi thholdin g rain is

.

a scribed to him an d he i s lord o f the winds inclu d in g the H armattan

, , ,

the d ry hot win d which blows from the interior Hi s priest d wells in a
, .

house on the highes t peak o f the mountain where he keeps the winds ,

bottled up in huge j ars Applications for rain too are made to him
.
, , ,

and he does a good business in amulets which consis t o f the teeth and ,

claws o f leopar d s Yet though his power is great and he is indeed the
.

real chie f o f the land the rule o f the fetish forbi d s him ever to leave the
,

mountain an d he must spen d the whole o f his li fe on its summit Only

,
.

once a year may he come d own t o make purchases in the market ; but
even then he may not set foot in the b ut o f any mor tal man and must ,

return to his place o f exile the same day The b usiness o f governme nt .

i n the villa ges is conduc ted by subordinate chie fs who are appointed by ,

him I n the Wes t A frican kin gd om o f Con go there was a supreme

.

pon tiff calle d C hi tom é or Chitomb e whom the negroes regar d ed as a god,

on earth and all power ful i n heaven H ence be fore they would taste
-

the new crops they o ffered him the fir st—

.

fru its fearin g that mani fold ,

mis fortunes woul d be fall them i f they broke this rule When he le ft .

his resi d ence to visit other places wi thi n his j urisdiction all married ,

people ha d to observe s trict continence the whole time he was out :

fo r it was suppose d that any act of incontinence would prove fatal to
him A n d if he were to d i e a natural death they thou ght that the
.
,

world woul d perish and the ear th which he alone sustained by his
, ,
"

power an d m er it woul d immediately be annihilated A m on gst the

, .

semi barbarous nati ons o f the N ew Worl d at the d ate of the Spanish
-
,

conques t there were foun d hiera rchies or theocraci es like those of

,

Japan ; in par tic ular the hi gh ponti ff o f the Zapotecs appears to have
,

p resented a close parallel to the M ikado A powerful rival to the king .

him sel f this spir itual lor d governed Yop a a one o f the chi ef cities of the
, ,

k ingdom w ith absolute d omin i on It is impossible we are tol d to

, .
, ,

overrate the reverence in wh i ch he was hel d H e was looked on as a .

god whom the ear th was not wor thy to ho l d nor the sun to shine upon .

H e pro fane d hi s sanc ti ty i f he even touche d the ground w ith his foot .

The o fficers who bore his palanquin on their shoulders were members of
the hi ghes t families : he hardly d ei gned to look on anythin g aroun d
him ; and all who m et him fell with their faces to the ear th fearin g that ,

d ea th would overtake them i f they saw even hi s sha d ow A rule of .

continenc e was regularly imposed on the Zapo tec priests espec ially ,

upon the h igh pon ti ff ; but on certai n d ays in each year which were
“
,

generally celebra te d with feasts and dances it was cus tomary for the ,

hi gh pr i est to become d runk While in this state seemin g to belong

.
,

n e ither to heaven nor to ear th one o f the most beau ti ful o f the vir gins
,
”
consecrated to the service o f the gods was brought to him I f the .

child she bore him was a son he was brou ght up as a prince o f the blood
, ,

a n d the eldest son succeeded his father on the p ontifical throne The .

supernatural powers a ttr i bute d to thi s pont iff are not specified b ut ,

p robably they resembled those o f the M ikad o and Chitom é .

xvrr ROYAL AN D PRI E STLY TA B OO S 17 1

Wherever as in Japan and Wes t A frica it i s supposed that the

, ,

order of nature and even the existence o f the world is boun d up with
, ,

the li fe o f the king or priest it is clea r tha t he must be re garded by his ,

subj ects as a source both o f infinite bless in g and o f infinite dan ger On .

the one hand the people have to thank him fo r the rai n an d sunshine
,

which foster the frui ts o f the earth for the w i n d which brin gs sh i ps to ,

their coasts and even for the solid groun d beneath thei r feet B ut
,
.

what he g ives he can re fuse ; and so close is the d ependence o f nature

on his person so delicate the balance o f the system o f forces whereo f he
,

is the centre that the least i rre gularity o n his part may set up a tr emor
,

which shall shake the earth to its foundations A n d i f nature may be .

disturbed by the sli ghtest involun tary act o f the kin g it i s easy to ,

conceive the convulsion wh ich hi s d eath mi gh t provoke The na tural .

death of the Chitom é as we have seen was thou ght to enta i l the
, ,

destructi on o f all things Clearly there fore out o f a regard for th eir
.
, ,

own sa fety which mi ght be imper ille d by any rash act o f the king an d
, ,

still more by his death the people w ill exact o f their kin g or pr i es t a
,

strict con formity to those rules the observance o f which is d e em ed ,

necessary for his own preservat i on a n d consequently fo r the preserva ,

tion o f his people and the w orld The i dea that early kin gd oms are .

despo tisms i n which the people ex i s t only fo r the sovere ign is wholly ,

inapplicable to the monarchies we are cons id er ing On the contrary .

,

the sovereign in them exists on ly for his subj ects ; his l i fe i s only
valuable so long as he d i scharges the d uties o f his position by or d erin g
’
the course o f nature for his people s benefit S o soon as he fails to d o .

so the care the d evot i on the reli gious homage which they ha d hi ther to
, , ,

lavishe d on him cease and are chan ge d into hatre d a n d contemp t ; he is

dismissed igno miniously a nd may be thank ful i f he escapes wi th his l ife
, .

Worshippe d as a god one day he i s kille d as a cr i mi nal the nex t B ut , .

in this changed behaviour o f the people there i s nothin g capricious or

incons istent On the contrary the i r con d uct is ent i rely o f a piece If
.
, .

the ir king is thei r god he is or shoul d be also thei r preserver ; a n d i f he

,

will not preserve them he must make room for ano ther who will So
,
.

long however as he answers their expecta tions there is no lim it to the

, , ,

care which they take of him and wh ich they compel him to take o f ,

himself A kin g o f th i s sort lives he dge d in by a ceremonious e tique tte

.
,

a network o f p rohibiti ons and Observances o f wh ich the in tention i s n ot ,

to con tribute to his dignity much less to his com fort b ut to res tra i n , ,

him from conduct which by disturbin g the harmony o f nature mi gh t , ,

involve himsel f his people and the universe in one common ca tas trophe
, ,
.

Far from ad din g to his com fort these Observances by trammelling hi s , ,

every act ann ihilate his free d om and o ften ren d er the very li fe which
, ,

it is their obj ect to preserve a burden a nd s orrow to him , .

O f the superna turally endowe d kings o f Loan go it is sai d tha t the

m ore power ful a kin
g is the more taboos is he boun d to observe ; they
,

regulate all his actions hi s walk in g a n d his s tan d in g his eat i n g a nd

, ,

drinkin g his sleep in g a nd waki ng To these rest raints the heir to the
,
.

throne is subj ect from in fancy ; but as he a d vances in l ife the number
17 2 THE BURD E N O F ROYALTY CH .

'

o f absti nences and ceremonies which he must observe increases until ,

at the m oment th at he ascends the throne he is lost in the ocean o f rites

”
and taboos In the crater o f an ex tinct volcano enclosed on all si des
.
,

by grassy slopes lie the sca ttered huts and yam field s o f Ria b b a the
,
-
,

capital o f the native kin g o f Fernan d o Po This mysterious being lives .

in the lowes t dep ths o f the c rater surrounded by a harem of forty ,

w omen and covered i t is said wi th old s ilver coins Naked savage as

, , ,
.

he is he yet exercises far more influence in the island than the S panish
,

g overnor a t S an ta I sa-
b e] I n him the conservative spi ri t o f the Boobi es
.

or abori ginal inhab itants o f the islan d is as it were incorpora te He , , .

has never seen a whi te man an d accor d in g to the fi rm conviction o f all ,

the B oobies the s igh t o f a pale face woul d cause his instan t d eath
, He .

canno t b ear to look upon the sea ; i ndee d it is sai d that he may never
see it even in the di s tance and that there fore he wears away his,

li fe wi th shackles on hi s le gs in the d im twili gh t of his hut Certain .

it i s tha t he has never set foo t on the beach Wi th the exception of .

his musk et a n d kni fe he uses no thi n g that c omes from the whites ;
,

E uropean clo th never touches his person a n d he scorns tobacco rum , , ,

and even salt .

Amon g the E w e speaking peoples o f the Slave Coast the king is

-

at the sam e time hi gh pries t I n this quality he was particularly in .

,

former times unapp roachable by hi s subj ects Only by ni ght was

, .

he allowe d to qu it hi s d wellin g in or d er to bathe a nd so forth None .

b u t his represen ta tive the s o calle d visible k i n g wi th three chosen ’

‘
-
, ,

elders mi gh t converse wi th him and even they ha d to s it on an ox hidc ,

-

wi th the i r backs turne d to him H e mi ght not see any E uropean no . .

any horse nor mi gh t he look upon the sea for which reason he was
, ,

not allowe d to quit his capital even for a few momen ts These rules .

”
have been d isregar d e d in recen t times The king of Dahomey h imsel f .

is subj ect to the prohibi tion o f beholdin g the sea and so are the kings ,

o f Loan go and Grea t Ar d ra in Gu i nea The sea i s the fe tish of the .

E yeo s to the north wes t o f Dahomey and they and thei r kin g are
,
-
,

threatened with d ea th by their priests i f ever they dare to look on it .

It is bel i eve d that the king o f Cayor in Sene gal woul d in fall ibly die
wi thi n the year i f he were to cross a river or an arm o f the sea In . .

Mashonalan d down to r ecen t times the chie fs would not cross certain
rivers par ticularly the Ru rik w i a n d the N ya d i ri ; and the custom
,

was s till s tric tly observe d by at leas t one chie f wi thin recent years .

On no account will the chie f cross the river If it is absolutely .

necessary for him to d o so he is bl in dfol d ed and carried across w ith

,

shoutin g a n d sin gin g Shoul d he walk across he will go blind or die

.
,
”
and cer tainly lose the chi e ftainship S o amon g the M a ha falys and .

S akalavas i n the sou th o f Ma d agascar some k in gs are forbidden to

sail on the sea or to cros s c er tain r ivers Amon g the Sakalavas the .

chie f i s re garde d as a sacre d be in g but he i s held i n leash ,

by a crow d o f res tric tions which re gulate hi s behaviour like that

,

o f the emperor o f China He can undertake no thin g whatever unless

.

the sorcerers h ave d eclared the o m ens favourable ; he may not eat
 17 4 T H E BURD E N OF ROYA LT Y on .

they set the ancient usages at naught the country would be vis ited ,

W i th pla gu e f am ine a nd bad weather

, , .

The kin gs o f E gyp t were worshipped as gods and the routine of th eir ,

daily li fe was re gula ted in every de ta i l -b y precise and unvarying rules .

The li fe of the kin gs of E gyp t says Diodoru s was not like that
,
"

o f o ther monarchs who a re i rresponsible and may d o j us t what the

“

y
choose ; on the contrary everything was fixed fo r them by law n ot
, ,

o nly thei r o fficial duties but even the details o f their daily li fe .
,

The hours both o f d ay an d n igh t were arran ge d at which the k ing had
to d o not wha t he pleased b ut what was p rescribed for him
, ,
.

For not only were the times appointe d a t which he should transact
public business or s it in j u dgmen t ; but the very hours for his walking
a n d bath i n
g and sleep i n g w ith hi s w i fe a n d in short per form in g , , ,

every act o f li fe were all se ttle d Cus tom enj oine d a simple d iet ; the
.

only fl esh he m igh t eat was veal a n d goose a n d he mi ght only d r ink ,
”
a prescribed quan ti ty o f w ine H owever there i s reason to think
.
,

tha t these rules were observe d not by the anc ien t Pharaohs but by , ,

the pries tly k i n gs who re igne d a t Thebes a n d E thiopia a t the close

o f the twent i e th d ynas ty .

O f the taboos impose d on priests we may see a striking example in

the rules of li fe p rescr ib e d fo r the Flamen D ia lis at Rome who has been ,

interpre te d as a liv i n g i mage o f Jupiter or a human embo d im ent of ,

the sky spirit They were such as the follow in g : The Flamen
-
.

Diali s mi ght not ride or even touch a horse nor see an army under ,

arm s nor wear a ri ng wh i ch was not broken nor have a knot on any
, ,

part o f his garments ; no fi re except a sacred fire mi ght be taken out

o f hi s house ; he mi ght not touch W hea ten flour or leavened bread ;

he mi ght n ot touch or even nam e a goat a dog raw meat beans and , , , ,

ivy ; he m i ght not walk un d er a v ine ; the feet of hi s bed ha d to be

d aubed wi th m u d ; his hair could be cut only by a free man a nd with a
bron z e kni fe and his hai r and nails when cut had to be buri ed un der
a lucky tree ; he mi ght not touch a dead bo d y no r enter a place where
one was burne d ; he mi gh t not see work being done on holy days ;
he mi ght not be uncovered in the o pen air ; i f a man in bonds were
taken i nto hi s house the captive ha d to be unbound a n d the cords
,

had to be d rawn up through a hole in the roo f and s o let down into the
stree t H i s wi fe the Flaminica ha d to observe nearly the same rules
.
, , ,

a n d others o f he r own besides S he mi ght not ascend more than three

.

s teps o f the kind o f s tai rcase called Greek ; at a certa in festival she
mi ght not comb her hair ; the lea ther o f her shoes mi ght not be made
.

from a beast that ha d d i e d a natural death but only from one that ,

ha d been slain or sacr ific ed ; if she heard thunder she was tabooed
till she had o ffered an expiatory sacrifice .

Amon g the Grebo p eople o f Si erra Leone there i s a ponti ff who

bears the title o f Bodia and has been compared on somewhat slen der ,

rounds to the hi h priest o f the Jews He i s appointe d in a ccor d a n ce

g , g .

with the behest o f an oracle At an elaborate ceremony o f installation

.

he i s anointed a ring is put on his ankle as a bad ge of o ffice and the

. ,
x vn S PI RITUAL A ND T E M PORAL POW E R 17 5

door pos ts o f hi s house are sprinkled wi th the blood o f a sacrificed

-

goat .H e has char ge o f the publ i c talismans a n d i d ols wh ich he fee d s ,

with rice a nd oil every n ew moon ; a n d he sacr ifices on behal f o f the

town to the dea d and to demons N om in ally hi s power i s very great .
,

b ut in prac ti ce it i s very limi te d ; fo he dare not d e fy publ i c opin i on r

,

and he is hel d responsible even w ith hi s li fe for any a d vers ity that
, ,

be falls the country It is expec te d o f him tha t he shoul d cause the

.

earth to bring forth abunda n tly the people to be heal thy war to b , ,

driven far away a nd witch cra ft to be kept i n ab eya n ce H i s li fe i s

,
-
.

trammelle d by the o b servance o f certa in res tr i cti ons or taboos Thus .

he may not sleep in any house b ut his o wn official res i d ence which is ,

calle d the anointe d house with re ference to the ceremony o f anoint

“

ing him at inau guration He may not d r ink water on the h ighway
. .

He may not eat wh ile a corpse i s in the town a n d he may n ot mourn ,

for the d ea d I f he d ies wh i le in o ffice he mus t b e buried at d ea d o f

.
,

night ; few may h ear o f hi s burial a nd none may mourn for him when ,

his dea th is ma d e public Shoul d he have fallen a v i c ti m to the poison

.

ordeal by d r inkin g a decoc tion of sassywoo d as it is calle d he must , ,

b e bur ie d un d er a running s tream o f wat er .

Among the To d as o f S outhern I n d ia the holy m i lkman who a c t s ,

as pr iest of the sacre d d a i ry i s subj ec t to a va r iety o f i rksome a n d

,

bur densome restr i ct i ons d ur ing the whole time o f hi s incumbency ,

which m ay las t many years Thus he must l ive at the sacre d d ai ry

.

and may never vis it hi s home or any or d inary v i lla e H e must b e

g .

cel ibate ; i f he i s marr ie d he mus t leave hi s wi fe On no account may .

any or dinary person touch the holy milkma n o r the holy d airy ; such
a touch woul d so d efile his holiness tha t he woul d for fei t hi s o ffice .

It is only on two days a week namely Mon d ays a n d Thurs days tha t, ,

a mere layman may even approach the m ilkman ; on o ther d ays i f

he has any bus iness wi th him he must s tan d a t a d is tance (s om e say
,

a quarter of a m ile ) and shout his message across the in tervenin g

space Further the holy m ilkman never cuts his hair or pares his
.
,

nails so lon g as he hol d s o ffice ; he never crosses a rive r by a bridge ,

but wa d es through a ford a n d only cer ta in for d s ; i f a d ea th occurs

in his clan he may not at ten d any o f the funera l ceremoni es unle ss
, ,

he firs t res igns hi s o ffice an d descen d s from the exal te d rank of m i lk

man to that o f a mere common mor tal Indeed it appears tha t in .

old days he had to res i n the seals or ra ther the pa ils o f o ffice whenever
g , ,

any member of his clan depar te d this li fe H owever these heavy .

,

r s train ts are lai d in their en ti rety only on milkm en o f the very h ighes t
ce ass
2 Div orce of the S pi ri tu a l fr o m the T em po ra l P ozoe r —
.

. The bur .

densom e observances a ttached to the royal or priestly office p ro d uced

their natural e ff ect E i ther men re fuse d to accep t the o ffice wh i ch
.
,

hence ten de d to fall in to a b eyance ; or accep tin g it they sank under ,

i ts wei ht into sp i ritless creatures clois tered recluses from whose

g , ,

nerveless fingers the reins o f government slippe d in to the fi rmer grasp

of men who were o ften content to wield the real ity of sovereignty
176 T HE BURD E N OF ROYALTY CH .

without its name In som e countries thi s ri ft in the supreme power

.

deepene d in to a to tal a n d permanen t separation o f the spiritual and

temporal powers the old royal house retaining thei r purely reli gious
,

functions while the civil government passe d in to the hands o f a

,

youn ger a n d more v igorous race .

To take examples In a previous part o f this work we saw that

.

in Cambodia i t is o ften necessary to force the kingships o f Fire and

Water upon the reluc tan t successors a n d that in Savage Island the ,

monarchy ac tually came to an en d because a t last no one coul d be

induce d to accep t the d an gerous d i s ti nction I n some parts o f West .

A frica when the kin g d ies a fam ily counc il i s secre tly hel d to d e ter
, ,

mine his successor H e on whom the choic e falls is su d denly seized

boun d and thrown in to the fe tish —
.
,

, house where he is kept in durance ,

till he consents to accep t the crown Sometim es the heir fin d s means

.

o f eva d in g the honour which it i s s ou ght to thrus t upon him ; a feroc ious
chie f has been known to go about cons tantly armed resolute to resist ,

by force any attempt t o s et him on the throne The sava ge T im m es .

o f S ierra Leone who elect thei r kin g reserve t o themselves the ri ght
, ,

o f beatin g him on the eve o f hi s coronat i on ; and they avail themselves

o f this constitu ti onal privile ge with such hea r ty goo d will that s om e
times the unhappy monarch does not lon g surviv e his elevation to
the throne H ence whe n the lea d ing chie fs have a Spi te a t a man
.

and wish to rid themselves o f him they elect him king Formerly ,
.
,

be fore a man was proclaime d ki ng o f S ierra Leone it used to be the ,

cus tom to load him w i th chains and thrash him T hen the fetter s .

were knocke d off the kingly robe was placed on him and he received
, ,

in his hands the symbol o f royal di gni ty which w as nothing but the ,

axe o f the executioner It is not there fore surprisin g to read that in

.

Sierra Leone where such customs have prevaile d

,
excep t amon g the ,

Mandingoes a n d S uz ees few kin gs are na tives o f the coun tries th ey

,

govern . S o d i fferen t are thei r i deas from ours that very few are
”
,

solicitous o f the honour and compe ti ti on is very seldom heard o f

,
.

The Mikados o f Japan seem early to have resorted to the expedient

o f trans ferrin g the honours and burd ens o f supreme power to their
in fan t chil d ren ; and the r i se o f the Tycoons lon g the temporal ,

soverei gns o f the coun try is traced to the abdication o f a certain

M ika d o in favour o f his three year —
,

old son The soverei gnty hav ing

-
.

b een wreste d by a usurper from the in fant prince the cause of the ,

Mika d o was champione d by Yor itom o a man o f spirit a nd con duct , ,

who over threw the usurper and res tored to the Mikado the shadow ,

wh ile he re tained for himsel f the substance o f power H e bequeath ed , .

to his descendan ts the di gnity he had won and thus became the ,

foun d er o f the l ine o f Tycoons Down to the la tter hal f o f the sixteenth
.

century the Tycoons were ac tive a n d efficien t rulers ; but the same
fa te ove rtook them which had be fallen the Mikados Immeshed in .

the same i nextricable web o f cus tom and law they de generated into ,

m ere puppe ts hardly s tirrin g from their palaces and occupied in a

,

perp etual round of emp ty cerem onies while the real business of .
17 8 T HE P E RIL S O F T H E S OU L cu .

be obtaine d be fore new lan d may be brought under cth ti vatl on and ,

he mus t per form certain necessary ceremoni es when the work is being
carrie d out If d rou ght or bli ght threatens the crops his help is
.
,

invo ke d to save them Though he ranks below the civil raj ah he

.
,

exercises a m omen tous influence on the course o f events for his secular ,

collea gue is bound to consul t him i n all impo rtant ma tters In some .

o f the nei ghbourin g islan d s such as Rotti and eas tern Flores a spiritual
, ,

ruler o f the sam e sor t i s reco gnise d under various native names which ,
”
all mean lord o f the groun d
“
S i milarly i n the M ekeo distric t of
.

B r itish New Guinea there is a double chie ft a inship The people are .
.

divide d into two groups accordi n g to families and each o f the groups ,

ha s its chie f One o f the tw o is the wa r chie f the other is the tab oo
.
,

chie f The o ffice of the latter is here d itary ; his duty i s to impose
.

a taboo on any of the crops such as the coco nuts and areca nuts ,
-
,

when ever he thinks it d esi r able to prohibit their use In his office .

we may perhaps d etect the beginnin g o f a pries tly d ynasty but as ,

yet his func tions appear to be more ma gical than reli gious being ,

concerned wi th the control o f the harvests ra the r than with the pro
pitiation o f hi gher powers .

CHA PT E R XVI I I

T H E PE RIL S OF T H E S OU L

l T he S ou l as a M a nni ki n — The fore goi n g examples h ave taught

. .

us that the o ffice o f a sacred kin g or priest is o ften hedged in by a

series o f bu r d ensome res tr ic tions or taboos o f which a principal purpose ,

appears to be to preserve the li fe o f the divine man for the good of his
people B ut i f the obj ect o f the taboos i s to sa ve his li fe , the question
.

arises H ow is their observan ce supposed t o e ff ect this end ? To

,

un d ers tan d this we must know the nature of the d an ger wh i ch threatens
the k i n g s li fe an d which it i s the intention o f these curious restrictions
’

to guard a ga i ns t We must there fore ask : What does early man

.
, ,

un d ers tan d by d ea th ? To wha t causes does he attribute it ? And

how d oes he think it may be gua rded a gainst ?
A s the savage commonly explains the processes o f ina nimate nature
by supposin g that they are pro d uced by living bein gs w orkin g in or
behind the phenomena , so he explains the phe n omena o f life itsel f .

I f an animal lives an d moves it can only be he thinks because there

, , ,

is a little animal inside which moves it : i f a m a n lives and moves it ,

can on ly be because he has a l ittle man or an i mal inside who moves him .

T he anim al insi d e the an i mal the man insi d e the man is the soul
, ,
.

A n d as the activ i ty o f an animal or man i s explained by the presence

o f the soul so the repose o f sleep or d ea th i s explained by its absence ;
,

sleep or trance be ing the tem p orary d eath bein g the permanent ,

absence o f the soul Hence i f death be the p ermane nt a bsence of the

.
xvm T HE SOU L A S A MAN N I KI N 17 9

soul the wa y to guard a gainst it i s ei ther to prevent the soul from

,

leaving the body or i f it does depart to ensure that it shall return

, , , .

The precautions adopted b y savages to secure one or other o f these

end s take the form o f certain p rohibi tions or taboos which are no thing ,

but rules intended to ensure either the continued presence or the

return o f the soul : In short they are li fe -preserve rs or li fe -guar d s , .

These general statements will now be illustrated by examples .

Add ressin g some Aus tra lian blacks a E uropean missionary sai d , ,

I am not one as you think but tw o , Upon this they laughed , . .

You may laugh as much as you like continued the missionary , ,

I tell you that I am two i n one ; this great body that you see is one ;
within that there is another l it tle one which is not visible The great .

bo dy d ies and is buried but the li ttle body flies away when t he grea t
, ,
”
one dies To this som e o f the blacks replied
. Yes yes We also , , .

”
are two we also have a little body w ithin the breast
, On bein g .

asked where the little body went a fter death some said it went behind ,

the b ush others sai d it wen t into the sea and some said they d id n ot
, ,

know The H urons thought tha t the soul had a head and bo d y
.
,

arms and legs ; in short that it was a complete little m odel o f the m an
,

himsel f The E squimaux believe that the soul exhibits the sam e
.
“

shape as the body it belongs to but i s o f a more subtle and e thereal ,

”
nature .Accordin g to the N ootk a s the soul has the shape o f a tiny
man ; its seat i s the crown o f the head 8 0 lon g as it stands erect
,
.
,

its owner i s hale and hearty ; but when from any cause it loses its
up ri ght position he loses his senses Amon g the I ndian tribe s o f the
,
.

Lower Fraser River man is hel d to have four souls of which the , ,

principal one has the form o f a mannikin while the other three are ,

shad ows o f it The Malays conce ive the human soul as a li ttle m an
.
,

mostly invisible and o f the b igness o f a thumb who correspon d s ,

ex actly in shape proportion a n d even in complexion to the man in

, ,

whose body h e resides Th i s mannik i n is of a thin unsubstantia l .

,

nature though not so impalpable b ut that it may cause displacemen t

,

on entering a physical obj ect an d it ca n fl it quickly from place to p la ce ;

,

it is temporarily absent from the body in sleep t rance and disease , , ,

a nd permanently absent a fter d eath .

So exact i s the resemblance o f the mannikin to the man in other ,

words of the soul to the bo dy that as there are fat bodies a n d thin
, , ,

b o di es so there are fat souls a n d thin souls ; as there are heavy bo di es

,

and l ight bodies lon

g bodies an d short bodies so there are heavy souls
, ,

and li ht souls lon

g g souls and short souls
,
The people of N ias think .

that every man be fore he is born i s asked how lon g or how heavy a
, ,

soul he wo uld like and a soul o f the d esire d wei ght or len gth is measured
,

out to him T he heaviest soul ever given out wei ghs abou t ten
.

grammes The len gth o f a man s li fe is proportioned to the length o f

.
’

his soul ; children who die youn g had short souls The Fij ian con .

cep tion o f the soul as a tiny human bei n

g comes clearly out i n the
customs observed at the death o f a chief among the Nakelo tribe
When a chie f dies ce rtain m en who are the hereditary undertakers
.

. . ,
180 THE P E RILS OF T HE S OUL CH .

call hi m a s he lies oil e d and ornamented on fin e mats sayi ng Rise

, , , , , ,
”
sir the chie f and let us b e goin g The day has come over the land
, , . .

Then they con d uc t him to the r iver si d e where the ghostly f erryman ,

comes to ferry N akelo ghos ts across the stream A s they thus a tten d .

the chie f on his las t j ourney they hold the i r grea t fans close to the
,

gro un d to shel ter him b ecause as one o f them explai ne d to a mission

, ,

”
ary H i s soul i s only a l ittle chi l d People in the Punj a ub who
“
.
,
“
ta ttoo themselves bel ieve that a t d ea th the soul the lit tle entire ,
”
m a n o r woman inside the m ortal frame w ill go t o heaven bla z oned ,

w ith the same tatt oo patterns which a d orned the bo d y in li fe Some .

tim es however as we shall see the human soul is conce ived not in
, , ,

human but in animal form

2 A b s en ce a n d Re cal l of th e S GML—The soul is commonly suppose d
.

to escape by the natural openin gs of the bo dy espec ially the m outh ,

a n d nos tr i ls H ence in Celebes they somet imes fas ten fish hooks to a -
.

sick man s nose navel and feet so th a t i f his soul shoul d try to escape
’
, , ,

i t may b e hooke d and hel d fast A Turik on the Baram River in .

,

B orneo re fuse d to part with some h ook like stones becau se the y as it
,
-
, ,

were hooke d his soul to his body a n d s o prevente d the spiritual

, ,

portion o f him from becomin g detache d from the ma terial When a .

Sea Dyak sorcerer or me d i cine man is initia ted his fin gers are supposed
-

to be furnished wi th fish—
,

hooks with which he will therea fter clutch ,

the hu m an soul i n the a ct o f flyin g away a n d restore it to the bo dy ,

o f the su fferer But hooks it is plain may be use d to catch the souls
.
, ,

o f enem ies as well as o f frien d s Ac ti ng on th i s pr inciple head hunter s

.
-

i n B orneo han g wooden hooks besi d e the skulls o f the i r sla in en emi e s
in the belief tha t this helps them on thei r forays to hook in fresh
heads One o f the implements o f a Haida me d icine man is a hollow
.
-

b one i n which he bo ttles up d epar ting souls and so restores them to

, ,

their owners When any one yawns in thei r presence the Hin d oos
.

always snap their thumbs bel ievin g that this w ill h i n d er the soul from
,

issuin g throu gh the open mo u th The Marquesa ns use d to hold the .

mou th and nose o f a dyin g man in order t o keep him in li fe by prevent ,

i ng his s oul fr om escapi ng ; the same custom i s rep orted o f the N ew

Caledon ians ; a n d w ith the l ike intention the Ba gobos o f the Philipp ine
I slan d s p u t rin gs o f brass wi re on the w ri sts or ankles o f their sick On .

the other han d the I to n amas o f S ou th America seal up the eyes nos e
, , ,

and m outh o f a d yin g per so n in case hi s ghost should get out and,

carry off o thers ; and for a sim ilar reason the people o f Nias who ,

fea r the spiri ts o f the recen tly deceased a n d i d en ti fy them wi th the

breath seek to confine the va grant soul in its ear thly ta bernacle by
,

bun gi n g up the nose or tyin g up the j aws of the corpse B e fore leaving .

a corp s e the W ak elb n ra o f Austral ia used to place hot coals in its

ears i n or d er to keep the ghost in the bo dy until they had got such ,

a good start that he could n ot over take them In S ou thern Celebe s .

,

to hinder the escape of a woman s soul in chil dbed the nurse ties a ’

band as ti ghtly as possible round the body o f the expectant mother .

The M inangk ab auers o f S um a tra observe a similar custom ; a s k ei n of

18 2 T H E PE RI LS OF T HE S OUL CH
.

next mornin g for his wan t o f consi d era tion in thus makin g a poor
invali d go out and toil during the ni ght The In d ians o f the Gran .

Chaco are o ften hear d to relate the mos t incre di ble s tories as thin gs
which they have themselves seen an d hear d ; hence stran gers who
d o not know them i n tima tely say in their has te tha t these In d ians are
liars I n point o f fa ct the In d ians are fi rmly convi nced o f the truth
.

o f what they rela te ; fo r these w on d er ful a d ventures a re simply their

dreams which they do not d is tin guish from wakin g realities

, .

N ow the absence o f the soul in sleep has its d an gers for if from ,

any cause the soul shoul d be permanently de tai n ed away from the
body the person thus d eprive d o f the vital principle m ust die There
, .

’
is a German belie f that the soul escapes from a sleeper s mou th in the
form o f a whi te mouse or a li ttle bird a n d that to prevent the re turn of
,

the bird or animal would be fatal to the sleeper H ence i n Transylvania .

they say tha t you shoul d not let a child sleep w ith its mouth Op en ,

or its soul will slip out in the shape o f a mouse a nd the chil d will never ,
’
wake Many causes may detain the sleeper s soul Thus his so ul
. .
,

may meet the soul o f ano ther sleeper a nd the tw o souls may fight ; if
a Guinea negro wakens wi th sore bones in the mornin g he thinks that ,

his soul has been thrashe d by another soul in sleep Or it may meet .

the soul o f a person j us t deceased and be carri e d o ff by it ; hence in

the A ru Islan d s the i n mates o f a house will not sleep the ni gh t after
a dea th has taken place in it because the soul o f the deceased is sup
,

pose d to be still in the house and they fear to mee t i t in a d rea m .

A gain the soul o f the sleeper may be prevente d by an accident or by

,

phys ical force from returnin g t o his bo d y When a Dyak d reams of .

fallin g i n to the wa ter he supposes that this acci d ent has really befallen
,

his spirit a nd he sen d s fo r a wizard who fishes for the spirit wi th a

, ,

han d net in a basin o f water till he catches it an d restores it to its

-

ow n er The San tals tell how a man fell asleep and growing very
.
,

thi rsty his soul in the form o f a li zar d le ft his body an d entered a
, , ,

pi tcher o f wa ter to d rink J us t then the owner o f the p itcher happened

.

to cover it ; so the soul could not return to the body and the man
d ie d . While his fr i ends were preparin g to burn the bo dy some one
uncovere d the pi tcher t o get wa ter The li z ard thus escaped and .

returned to the bo d y which imme d iately revived ; s o the m a n rose

,

up a n d aske d hi s friends why they were weepin g They told him .

they though t he was dea d and were about to burn hi s body He said .

he ha d been d own a well to get water but had found it hard to get out
and had j ust re turned S o they saw i t all. .

It i s a common rule w ith p rimitive people not to w aken a sleeper ,

because his soul i s away and mi ght not have time to get back ; so i f
t he man wakene d wi thou t hi s soul he woul d fall sick I f it is absolutely
, .

necessary to rouse a sleeper it m us t be d one very gradually to allo w

, ,

the soul time to re turn A Fij ian in M atuku su d denly wakene d fro m
. .

a nap by somebody treading on hi s foo t has been hear d bawlin g after ,

his soul and implori ng it to return H e had j us t been d reami ng tha t

.

he was fa r away in Tonga a nd great was his alarm on su d denly waken

,
XVIII AB S E NC E A N D RE CA LL l
OF T HE S OUL 18 3

ing to find his body in Matuku Death stared him in the face unles s .

his soul coul d be in d uce d to speed at once across the sea a nd reanim ate
its deserte d ten ement The man woul d probably have died o f fri ght
.

if a missionary ha d not been at hand to allay his terror “

Still more d an gerous i s it in the opinion o f primitive man to move

a sleeper or alter hi s appearance for i f th is were d one the soul on its ,

return migh t not be able to find or reco gn i se its bo dy a nd so the ,

person woul d d ie The M inangk ab a uers deem it hi ghly impr op er to

.

blacken or d ir ty the face o f a sleeper les t the absent soul shoul d ,

shrink from re enterin g a body thus d isfi gure d Patani Malays fancy
-
.

’
that if a person s face be pain ted while he sleeps the soul which has ,

gone out o f him w i ll not reco gnise him a n d he w i ll sleep on till his f ac e ,

is washed In Bombay it i s thou gh t equivalent to murder to change

.

the aspect o f a sleeper as by pain ti n g his face in fa n tastic colours o

,
r

giv in g moustaches to a sle epin g woman For when the soul returns .

it w ill not kn ow its own bo d y a n d the person will die , .

’
But in or d er that a man s soul shoul d qui t hi s body it is n ot n eces ,

sary tha t he sho ul d be asleep It may qu it him in his wakin g hour

'
' ‘

.
,

and then s i ckness insa ni ty or death w i ll be the resul t

, Thus a man , .

of the W u run j er i tribe i n Aus tral ia lay a t his last gasp because hi s

spiri t ha d d epar te d from him A me d ic ine man went in p ursu it .

-

and cau gh t the spirit by the mid d le j ust as it was abou t to plun e
g
into the sunset glow which i s the li ght cast by the souls o f the
dea d as they pass in an d out o f the un d er —
,

worl d where the sun ,

goes to res t Havin g cap ture d the vagrant sp i r it the d oc tor brough t
.
,

it back under his opossum rug lai d himsel f down on the d y ing ,

man and put the s oul back i n to him so that a fter a time b e
, ,

revived The Karens o f Burma are perpetually anx i ous about the ir
.

souls lest these shoul d go rovin g fro m thei r bo d ies l eaving the
, ,

owners to die When a man has rea s o n to fear that his soul i s
.

about to take this fa tal step a ceremony is per forme d to re ta i n o r ,

recall it in which the whole family mus t take part A meal is prepared
, .

consisting o f a cock a n d hen a spec ial kin d o f r i ce a n d a bunch o f , ,

bananas Then the head of the fam ily takes the bowl which is used
.

to skim rice a nd k n-ock ing with it thrice on the top o f the house
,
‘

ladder says : P rrrr oo ! Come back s oul d o not tarry outside !

“
, ,

If it ra i ns you will be wet, If the sun shines you will be hot The .
, .

gnats will s tin g you the leeches will bi te you the ti gers will devour you
, , ,

the thun d er will crush you P rrw oo ! Come back soul ! Here it .
,

will be well w ith you You shall want for nothin g Come and eat . .

”
under shel ter from the wind and the s torm A fter that the family .

partakes o f the meal and the ceremony ends wi th everybody tyin g,

thei r r ight wrist with a strin g whi ch has been charme d by a sorc erer .

Sim ilarly the Lolos o f South western Ch ina bel ieve that the soul -

leaves the body in chronic illness In that case they rea d a sor t .

of elabora te litany callin g on the soul by nam e and beseeching it

,

to return from the hills the vales the rivers the forests the fields , , , , ,

or from wherever it may be strayin g At the same t ime cups o f water .

,
18 4 T HE P E RIL S OF T H E SOUL CH .

w ine a nd ric e are set at the d oor for the

, re freshment o f the weary
wan d er in 2g3 spirit When the ceremony i s . over they tie a red cord
,

roun d the arm o f the s i ck man to tether the soul a n d th i s cor d is worn
,

by him until it decays an d drops off .

S ome o f the Con go tr ibes bel i eve that when a man i s ill his so ul ,

ha s le ft his bo dy and is wan d ering a t lar ge The ai d o f the sorcerer .

is then called in to capture the vagran t spirit and restore it to the

inval id Gene rally the physician d eclares that he has successfully
.

chase d the soul in to the branch o f a tree The whole town thereupon .

turns out a n d accom p an i es the d oc tor to the tree where the s tron gest ,

m en are d epu ted to break off the branch in wh i ch the soul o f the sick
man i s suppose d to be lo dge d Th i s they d o a n d carry the branch .

back to the town insinua tin g by their gestu res that the burden is h ea vy
,

a n d hard to bea r When the branch has been brou ght to the sick .

’
man s hut he i s placed in an upri gh t posi tion by its si d e and the
, ,

sorcerer per form s the enchantm ents by which the soul is believed to
be restore d to its owner .

P in in g si ckness great fri ght an d d eath are ascribed by the Bataks

, , ,

o f S uma tra to the absence o f the soul from the body At first they try .

to beckon the wan d erer back a n d to lure him like a fowl by strewing , , ,

rice . Then the followin g form o f words i s comm only repeated :

Com e back O soul whe ther thou art lingerin g in the wood or on
, , ,
.

the hill s or i n the d ale ,

S ee I call thee w ith a toem b a b ras w ith an .
, ,

egg o f the fowl Raj ah m oelij a with the eleven healin g leaves Detain , .

it n ot l et it c ome stra i ght here detain it not neither in the wood

, , , ,

nor on the hill nor in the da le Tha t may n ot be O co m e stra ight

,
. .

home ! Once when a popula r travell er was leaving a Kayan village ,

the mothers fearin g tha t thei r children s souls mi gh t follow him on his
,
’

j ourney brou ght hi m the boar d s on which they carry the i r in fants
,

an d be gged hi m to p ray that the souls o f the li ttle ones would r eturn

to th e fa miliar boards and not go away with him i nto the fa r country .

To each boar d was fastened a looped strin g for the purpose of tethering
the va gran t sp i rits a nd through the loop each baby was made to pass a
,

chubby fin ger to make sure that i ts tiny soul would not wander a way .

I n an I ndian s tory a k in g conveys hi s soul into the dead body o f

a B rahman a n d a hunchback conveys hi s soul into the deserted body
,

o f the k in g The hunchback is now kin g a n d the kin g 18 a Brahman

. .

H owever the hunchback is induced t o show hi s ski ll by trans ferring

,

his soul to the dea d bo dy o f a pa rrot and the kin g se i zes the oppor ,

tun ity to re gain possession o f hi s own body A tale o f the same type .
,

wi th vari a tions o f de tail reapp ears among the Malays A king has , .

i ncauti ously trans ferred hi s soul t o an ape upon which the vi z ier ,

ad roi tly i nser ts hi s own soul into the kin

’
g s body and so takes posses
s i on o f the queen an d the kin gd om wh ile the true kin g lan guishes at ,

court in the outwar d s emblance o f an ape But one day the false .

k in g who played fo r hi gh stakes was wat chin g a combat o f rams

, , ,

and it happene d th at the animal on wh ich he had laid his money

fell down dead A ll e fforts to restore animation prove d unavailing
.
18 6 T HE P E RI L S OF T HE S OUL CH .

O ften the abduction o f a man s soul is set d own to demons Thus ’

.

fits an d convulsions are g enerally ascribe d by the Chinese to the agency

o f certain mischie vous spiri ts who love to draw men s souls out of
’

their bo d ies A t Amoy the sp i rits who serve babies a n d children in

this way rej oice in the h igh —
.

soun d in g titles o f celestial a gencies “

”
bes tri d ing gallopin g horses an d l iterary graduates resi d ing hal f “

way up in the sky When a n infant i s wr ithin g in convulsions the

.
,

fri ghtene d mo ther hastens to the roo f o f the house a n d wavin g about , ,

a bamboo pole to which one o f the ch i l d s garments is attache d cries ’

out several times M y chil d S o and so come back return home !”

“
- -
, ,

M eantim e a no ther inmate o f the hous e ban gs away at a gong in the

,

hope o f a ttractin g the atten tion o f the straye d soul which is suppose d ,

to reco gnis e the familia r garment and to slip into it The garment ‘

containin g the soul is then place d on or besi de the child and i f the , .

ch il d d oes not di e recovery is sure to follow sooner or later Similarly , .

som e Indians ca tch a man s lost soul i n his boots and restore it to his
’

body by puttin g hi s fee t into them .

In the M oluccas when a man is unwell it is thought that some .

devil has carri ed away hi s soul to the tree m ountain or hill whet , ,

he (the devil ) resides A sorcerer having pointed out the devil s

.
’

abo d e the friends o f the patient carry thither cooke d rice fru it fish
, , , .

raw eggs a hen a chi cken a silken robe gold armlets and so forth
, , , , , .

Havi n g set out the foo d in or d er they pray sayin g : We come to ,

o ff er to you O devil this o ff erin g o f food clothes gold and so on ;

, , , , ,

take it a n d release the soul o f the patient fo r wh om we pray Let .

”
it return to hi s bo d y a n d he who now is sick shall be made whole
,
.

Then they eat a little and let the hen loos e as a ransom for the soul
o f the patien t ; also they put d own the raw e g s ; b ut the silken
g
robe the gold and the armlets they take home with them As soon
, , .

a s they are com e to the house they place a flat bowl containin g the
o fferin g s which have been brough t back at the sick man s hea d and ’
,

say to him : N ow is your soul released and you shall fare well and ,
”
l ive to grey ha i rs on the ea rth .

Demons are especially feared by persons who have j ust entered

a new house Hence at a house warming among the A l foors of Mina
.
-

hassa in Celebes the priest per forms a ceremony for the purpose of
res tor in g their souls to the inmates H e han gs up a b ag at the place .

o f sacr ifice a nd then goes throu gh a lis t o f the go d s There are so .

many o f them that this takes him the whole ni ght through without
stoppin g I n the mornin g he o ff ers the go d s an egg and so me rice
. .

By this time the souls o f the household are supposed to be gathered

in the b ag So the priest takes the b a g an d hol d in g it on the head
.
,

o f the mas te r o f the house says H ere you have your soul ; go (soul )
—
to morrow away a gain ”
,

H e then does the same sayin g the same

.
,

w ords to the housewi fe and all the other members o f the family
,
.

A m on gst the same A lfoo rs one way o f recoverin g a sick man s soul
’

is to let down a bowl by a belt out o f a wi ndow and fish for the so ul
till it is caugh t in the bowl and hauled up And am on g the same people .
,
x vm A B SE N C E A ND R E CALL OF T H E S OUL 18 7
’
when a priest is brin ging back a sick man s soul which he has caught
in a cloth he is prece d e d by a gi rl hol d in g the lar ge lea f o f a certain
,

palm over hi s hea d as an umbrella to keep him an d the soul from

getting wet in case it shoul d ra i n ; a n d he i s followe d by a man
,

bran d ish ing a swor d to d eter other souls from any attempt at rescuing
the captured spir it .

Sometimes the los t soul i s brought back in a visible shape The .

Salish or Flathead In d ians o f O regon believe that a man s soul may be ’

separate d fo r a time from his bo d y without causin g d eath and wi thout

the man bein g aware o f hi s loss It i s necessary however that the .
, ,

lost soul shoul d be soon foun d a n d res tore d to its o w ner or he will d ie .

The name o f the m a n who has los t his soul is reveale d in a dream to the
me dicine man who hastens to i n form the su fferer o f hi s loss Generally
-
, .

a number o f men have sus taine d a like loss at the same ti me ; all their
names are reveale d to the me d icine — man an d all employ him to recover ,

thei r souls The whole night lon g these soulless men go about the
.

village from lo dge to lo dge danc in g an d s in gin g Towar d s d aybreak

, .

they go i nto a separa te lod ge which i s close d up so as to be totall y dark

, .

A small hole i s then ma d e i n the roo f throu gh wh i ch the medi c ine man ,
-
,

with a bunch o f feathers brushes in the souls in the shape of bi ts o f bone

, ,

an d the like which he rece i ves on a p iece o f m at tin A fire is next

, g .

kindle d by the l igh t of which the me di c ine m a n sorts out the souls
'

-
, .

First he puts asi d e the souls of dea d people of which there a re usually ,

several for if he were to give the soul o f a d ead person to a living man ,

the man woul d d ie instan tly Nex t he p i cks out the souls o f all the .

persons presen t a n d making them all to sit d own be fore him he takes
, ,

the soul o f each in the shape o f a splin ter o f bone woo d or shell a n d
, , , ,

placin g it on the owner s head pats it wi th many prayers a n d con

’

tortions till it d esc en d s in to the heart and so resumes its proper place .

Again souls may be extracte d from their bo d ies or d etaine d on the i r

,

wan der i ngs not only by ghosts a n d d emons b ut also by men espec i ally ,

by sorcerers In Fij i i f a cr im inal re fuse d to con fess the ch i e f sent

.
, ,

for a scar f with wh i ch to ca tch away the soul o f the ro gue At the
“
.

sight or even at the mention o f the scar f the culprit generally ma d e a

clean breast For i f he did n ot the scar f woul d be wave d over his head
.
,

till his soul was cau gh t in it when i t would be care fully fol d e d up a nd
,

naile d to the end of a chie f s canoe a nd for want o f hi s soul the crimi nal
’

woul d pine an d d ie The sorcerers o f Danger Island use d to set snares

.

for souls The snares were made o f stou t cinet about fi fteen to thirty
.
,

feet long with loops on ei ther si de o f di fferent s i zes to su i t the d i ff erent

, ,

sizes of souls ; for fat souls there were large loops for thin souls there ,

were small ones When a man was sick against whom the sorcerers had
.

a gru dge they set up these soul snares near his house and watche d for
,
-

the fli ght o f his soul If in the shape o f a b i rd or an insec t it was cau ght
.

in the snare the man would in fallibly d ie In some parts of West A fri a
, .
c
,

indee d wizards are continually settin g traps to catch soul s that wan d er
,

from their bodies in sleep ; and when they have cau ght one they ti e it ,

up over the fire and as it shrivels in the heat the owner sickens
, This .
18 8 T H E PE RI LS O F T H E S OUL err
.

is d one not out of a ny grudge towards the su fferer but pur ely as a
, ,

matter of business The wiza rd d oes not care whose soul he has.

capture d and will rea d ily restore it to its owner i f only he is paid for
, ,

d oin g so Some sorcerers keep regular asylums fo r s trayed souls and

.
,

anybo d y who has lost or m islai d his own soul can always have another
one from the asylum on payment o f the usual fee No blame whatever .

attaches to men who keep these priv ate asylums o r set traps for passing
souls ; it is their pro fession an d i n the exerc ise of it they are actuated
,

by no harsh or unkin d ly feelin gs But there are also wretches who .

from pure spite or for the sake o f lucre set and bait traps with the
d elibera te purpose o f catch i ng the soul o f a particular man ; and in the
bottom o f the pot hi d den by the bait are knives and sharp hooks which
, ,

tea r and ren d the po or soul either k i llin g it outri ght or maulin g it so as
,

to impa i r the heal th of its owner when it succ eeds in escaping and
returnin g to him M iss Ki n gsley knew a Kruman who became very
.

anxious about his soul because fo r several ni ghts he had smelt in his
,

d reams the savoury smell o f s m oke d cra wfish seasoned w ith red pepper .

Clearly som e ill wisher had set a t rap baite d with thi s dainty for his
-

dream soul intendin g to d o him grievous bo d ily or rather sp iritual

-
, , ,

harm ; an d for the next few nights great pains were taken to keep his
soul from strayin g abroad in his sleep In the swelterin g heat of the .

trop i cal n ight he lay sweatin g and snortin g under a blanket h i s nose ,

a nd mouth ti ed up with a handkerchie f to prevent the escape o f his

prec i ous soul In Hawa i i there were sorcerers who caught souls of
.

livin g people shut them up in calabashes and gave them to people

, ,

to ea t. By squeezing a capture d soul in their han d s they discovered

the place where people ha d been secretly buried .

N owh ere perhaps i s the art of ab d uctin g human souls more care
fully cultivate d o r carried to hi gher perfection than in the Malay
Peninsula H ere the methods b y which the wizard w orks his will
.

are various and so too are his motives S ometimes he desires to

,
.

destroy an enemy som etimes to win the love of a cold or b a sh ful

,

beauty Thus to take an instance o f the latter sort o f charm the

.
, ,

followin g are the directions given fo r s ecuring the soul o f one who m
you wish to ren der d is traught When the moon j ust risen looks red .
, ,

above the eastern horizon go out and stan d in g in the moonli ght , ,
,

with the b ig toe of your r igh t foot on the b ig toe of your le ft make a ,

speakin g trumpet of your ri ght hand and recite through it the following
-

Words
OM I lo os e m y s haft I lo ose i t a nd the m oon clouds over,
.
,

I l oose i t a n d the s un i s ex ti nguis he d

, .

I l oos e i t a n d the s ta rs b ur n d i m
, .

B u t i t is n ot the s u n, m oon a n d s tars tha t I s hoot a t , ,

I t is the s ta lk of the hea rt of tha t chi ld of the congrega ti on,

S o- am d -s o .

C la ck ! cla ck ! s oul of S o-a nd-so com , e and w a lk wi th m e,

C om e a nd s i t wi th m e ,

C om e an d s leep and share m y pillow .

”
Cla ck ! cla ck ! s oul .
190 THE P E RI LS O F T HE S OUL CH .

the ai r . B ut as he moun te d up the Gran d Lama perceivin g his ,

sha d ow s wayin g a nd waver i n g on the groun d s truck hi s kni fe into it ,

an d d o wn fell Sankara a n d broke his neck .

I n the B anks Islan d s there are some s tones of a remarkably long

”
shape which go by the name o f eat i n g ghosts because certain “
,

power ful a n d d an gerous ghosts are believe d to lod ge i n them If a .

’
man s sha d ow falls on one o f these stones the ghos t will draw hi s soul ,

out from him so that he w ill d ie Such stones there fore are s et in
, .
, ,

a house to guar d it an d a messenger sen t to a house by the absent

owner will call out the n ame o f the sen d er les t the watch ful ghost in ,

the sto n e shoul d fancy that he came w ith ev i l i ntent an d should do

him a mi schie f At a funeral in Chi na when the lid is about to be
.
,

place d on the coffin m o st o f the bys tan d ers wi th the exception of the
, ,

nearest kin retire a few steps or even retreat to another room for a
, ,

person s hea l th i s bel i eve d to be en d an gere d by allow i n g his shad ow

’

to be enclose d in a co ffin A n d when the co ffin i s about to be lowere d

.

into the grave most o f the spectators recoil to a lit tle di stance lest the ir
sha d ows shoul d fall into the grave and h arm should thus be d one to
their persons The geomancer a nd hi s ass i s tants stand on the si de
.

o f the g rave which i s turned away from the sun ; and the grave

d i ggers a n d coffin — bearers attach their sha do ws firmly to their persons

by tyin g a str ip o f cloth ti ghtly round their waist s Nor is it human .

bein gs alone who are thus liable to be inj ure d by means of their shadows .

An imals are to some extent in the same pre d icament A small snail .
,

which frequents the n ei ghbourhood of the limestone hills in Perak is .

believe d to suck the bloo d of cat tle throu gh thei r sha d ows ; hence the
beasts grow lean and sometimes di e from loss o f bloo d The anc ients .

supposed tha t in Arabia i f a hyaena trod on a man s shadow it deprive d

,
’

him o f the power of speech an d motion ; and that i f a d og standin g on a ,

roo f in the moonli ght cast a sha d o w on the ground and a hyaena trod on
,

it the dog woul d fall down as i f d ra gge d w ith a rope

,
Clearly in these .

cases the sha d ow if not equivalent to the soul is at least re garde d as

, ,

a livi ng par t o f the man or the an imal s o that inj ury done to the ,

sha d ow i s felt by the person or animal as if it were d one to his bo dy .

Conversely if the shadow is a vital part of a man o r an animal

, ,

it may un d er c ertain circumstances be as hazardous to be touche d by

it as it woul d be to come into contact with the person or animal .

H ence the savage makes it a rule to shun the sha do w o f cer tain persons
whom fo r vari ous reasons he re gar d s as sources of dan gerous influence .

Amo n gst the d an gerous classes he commonly ranks mourners and

women in general but espec ially his mother in law The Shuswap
,
- -
.

Indians think that the sha d ow o f a mourner falling upon a person would
make him sick Amon gst the K urnai o f Victoria n ovices at initiation
.

’
were cautione d n ot to let a woman s shadow fall across them as this
.
,

woul d make them thin lazy and stupid An Australian native is , , .

s a i d to have o n ce nearly died of fri ght because the shadow of his

mother in law fell on hi s le gs as he lay asleep un der a tree The a we
- -
.

an d d rea d with which the untut o red sava ge con templates his mother
XVIII T HE S OUL A S S HADOW AN D R E FLE CT IO N 19 1

ih -law are amon gst the most familia r facts of anthropology In the .

Yuin tribes o f N ew S ou th Wales t he rule which forbade a man to

’
hol d any communication with his w ife s mo ther was very s tr i ct H e .

might not look at her or even in her direction It was a ground o f .

divorce if his shadow happene d to fall on his mo ther i n law : in that - -

case he ha d to leave hi s wi fe and she returne d to her parents In ,

.

N ew B ritain the na tive ima gina tion fails to conceive the extent and
nature o f the calam i ti es wh ich woul d result from a man s acci d entally ’

speakin g to hi s w ife s mo ther ; suici d e o f one or both woul d probably

’

be the only course open to them The mos t solemn form o f oath a .

New Bri ton can take is Si r i f I am not tellin g the truth I hop e I
, , ,
”
may shake hands with my mo ther in law - -
.

Where the sha d ow is regar d e d as so i n timately boun d up with the

l ife of the man that its loss enta ils d eb i li ty or d eath it i s natural to ,

expect that its d im i nu tion should be re gar d ed wi th sol icitu d e a nd

apprehension as betokening a correspon d ing d ecrease in the vital
,

energy o f its owner In Amboyna and Uliase two islands near

.
,

the equa tor where necessarily there i s li ttle or n o shadow cas t at

,

noon the people make it a rule not to go out o f the house at mid
,

day because they fancy that by do in g so a man may l ose the shado w
,

of his soul The M a nga i ans tell o f a mi ghty warrior T uk a itawa

.
, ,

whose s tren gth waxe d a n d waned with the length o f hi s sha d ow In .

the morn in g when his sha d ow fell lon gest his s trengt h was g reates t ;
, ,

b ut as the sha do w sh or tene d towa r d s noon his s tren gth ebbe d wi th

it till exactly at noon it reache d its lowest point ; then as the sha d ow
,
‘

stretche d out in the a fternoon his s tren gth re turned A certain hero
, .

’
di scovere d the secret o f T u k aita w a s stren gth a nd slew him at noon .

The savage B esi sis o f the Malay Pen insula fear to bury their dea d at
noon becaus e they fancy that the shortness o f thei r shadows at that
,
'

hour would sympathetically shor ten their own lives .

Nowhere perhaps d oes the equivalence o f the sha d ow to the li fe

, ,

or soul come out more clearly than in some cus tom s practise d to this
day in S ou th —eastern E urope I n mo d ern Greece when the foun d ation
.
,

of a new buil d i n g is bein g lai d it is the cus tom to k ill a cock a ram
, , ,

or a lamb an d to let its bloo d flow on the foun d ation s tone un d er

,
-
,

which the animal i s a fterwar d s buried The obj ect o f the sacrifice .

is to give s tren gth a nd stabil ity to the bu i l din g But somet i mes .
,

instea d of killin g an animal the buil d er en ti ces a man to the foun d ation
,

stone secretly measures his bo d y or a part o f it or hi s sha d ow and

, , , ,

buries the measure under the foundation stone ; or he lays the foun da -

tion stone upon the man s sha dow It is believed th at the man will
-
’
.

die within the year The Rouman ians o f Transylvan i a think that he
.

whose shadow i s thus immure d will d ie within forty d ays ; so persons

passing by a buil d in g which is in course o f erecti on may hear a warning
”
cry Beware lest they take thy shadow ! N ot long ago there were
,
“

still sha d ow tra d ers whose business it was to prov i de architects with
-

the sha d ows necessary fo r securin g their walls In thes e cases the .

measure o f the shadow is looke d on as equivalent to the shadow itsel f ,

192 T H E P E RIL S OF T H E SO U L CH .

and to bury it is to bury the li fe or soul o f the man who de p rived of , ,

it must die Thus the custom is a substitute for the old p ractice of
,
.

immuring a livin g pe rso n i n the walls o r crushing him under the ,

foundation stone o f a new buil d in g in order to give stren gth and

-
,

durability to the structure or more defini tely in order that the angry,

ghost may haunt the place and guar d it a gainst the intrus ion o f enemies .

A s some p eo ples believe a man s soul to be in his sha dow so othe r ’

,

(or the same ) peoples believe it to be in hi s reflection i n wate r or a

“
mirror Thus the Andamanese do n ot re gard thei r shadows but their
.

”
reflections (in any mirror ) as thei r souls When the M otumotu o f New
Guinea first saw their likenesses in a looking—
.

glas s they thou ght that ,

their reflections were thei r souls In New Cale d onia the old men are of .

’
op inion that a person s reflection in water or a mirror i s his soul ;
but the younger men tau ght by the Catholic priests maintain that
, ,

it is a reflection an d nothin g more j ust like the refl ection of palm-trees ,

in the water The refl ection-soul being external to the man is

.
, ,

ex p osed t o much the same dan gers as the shadow -soul The Zulus .

will not loo k into a dark pool becaus e they think there i s a beast in it
which will ta k e away their reflections s o that th ey die The Basut os , .

say that crocodiles have the power o f thus killin g a man by dragging
his reflection under water When one o f them dies suddenly and from.

no appa rent cause his relatives will alle ge that a c rocodile must have
,

taken his shadow some time when he crossed a stream I n Saddle .

Island Melanesia there i s a pool into which if any one looks he

, ,
“

dies ; the mali gnant spi rit takes hold upo n hi s li fe by means o f his
”
re fl ecti on on the water .

We can now understand why it was a maxim both in ancient

’
India and ancient Greece not to look at one s reflection in water and ,

why the Gree k s re garded it as an omen o f death i f a man dreamed of

seeing himsel f s o reflected They feared that the water spirits would .
-

dra g the p erson s re fl ec tion o r soul under water leavi ng him soulless
’
,

to perish Thi s was probab l y the ori gin o f the classical story o f the
.

beauti ful Narcissus who languished and died th rough seeing his
,

reflection i n the water .

Further we can now ex plain the w i des p read cu stom o f covering

,

up mi rrors or turnin g them to the wall a fter a death has t ak en place

in the house It i s feared that the soul proj ected out o f the p erson
.
,

in the shape o f his reflectio n in the mirror m ay be carried off by the ,

ghost o f th e departe d which is commonly suppose d to lin ger about

,

the house till the burial The custom is thus exactly parallel to the
.

Aru custom of not sleepin g in a house a fter a death for fea r that the
soul proj ect ed out of the body in a dream may meet the ghost and
, ,

be carried off by it The reason why sick people should not see them
.

selves in a mirror and why the mi rror i n a sick -room is therefore

,

cove red up is also plain ; in time o f sickness when the soul mi ght
, ,

take fli ght so easily it is particularly dangerous to proj ect it out of

,

the body by means o f the reflec ti on in a mir ror The rule is therefore .

precisely p arallel to the rule observed by some p eo ples o f not al lowing

194 TAB OO E D A CTS CH .

B elie fs o f the same sort still lin ger in various parts o f E urope .

N o t very many years ago some ol d women in the Greek i sland of

Ca rp a thus were very an gry at havin g the i r l i kenesses drawn thinkin
g ,

that i n consequence they woul d pine and die There are persons in .

the West of Scotlan d who re fuse to have their likenesses taken lest
“

it prove unlucky ; a n d give as ins tances the cases o f several o f their

friends who never had a day s heal th a fter bein g photo graphed
’
.

CHAPT E R XIX

TA B OOE D A CT S

1 T a b oos
. on In ter cours e wi th S tra ngers —S o much for the primitive
concept ions o f the soul a n d the d an gers to
which it i s expose d These .

concep ti ons a re not limited to one people or country ; with variations

o f detail they are foun d all over the world and survive a s we have , ,

seen in modern E urope Bel i efs so deep seated and so widespread

, .
-

must necessa rily have contribu ted t o shape the mould in which th
early kin gship was cast For i f every person was a t such pains to sa ve
'

hi s own soul from the perils which threatened it on so many si d es how ,

much mo re care fully must he have been guarded upon whose li fe hung
the wel fare a n d even the exis tence o f the whole people an d whom ,

there fore it was the c ommon interest o f all to preserve ? There fore
we should expect t o find the kin g s li fe protecte d by a system of pre
’

cau tions or sa feguards st ill more numerous and m i nute than those
wh i ch in pr i mitive society every man a d opts for the sa fety o f hi s own
soul Now in point o f fact the li fe o f the early kin gs i s re gulated as
.
,

we have seen a n d shall see more fully presently by a very exact co de ,

of rules M ay we not then conj ec ture that these rules are in fact the
.

very sa feguards which we shoul d expect to fin d adopte d for the pro

tection o f the kin g s life ? An examination o f the r ules them selves
’

confi rm s this conj ec ture For from th is it appears that some o f the
.

rules observe d by the kin gs are identical with thos e observe d by private
persons out o f re gard for the sa fety o f their souls ; and even of those
which seem peculiar to the kin g many i f not all are most readily , , ,

explaine d on the hypothesi s that they are no thin g b ut sa fe guards cr -

li feguards o f the king I will now enumerate some o f thes e royal rul es
.

or taboos o fferin g on each o f them s uch comments and explanations

,

as may serve to set the ori ginal in tention of the rule in i ts proper light .

A s th e obj ect o f the royal taboos is to isolate the king from all
sources o f d an ger thei r general e ffect is to compel him to live in a
,

state o f seclusion more or less complete accordin g to the number and

, ,

strin gency o f the rules he observes N ow of all sources of dan ger n one
.

are more d reade d by the sava ge than ma gic and witchcr a ft and he ‘

suspects all stran gers o f p racti si n g thes e black arts To guard against .

the bane ful influence exerte d volun tarily or involuntarily by stran gers
is there fore an elementary dict ate o f savage prudence H ence before .
XIX TAB OOS O N I NT E RCOURS E WITH STRANG E RS 19 5

strangers are allowe d to enter a distric t or at least be fore they a re ,

permitted to min gle freely with the inhabitants certain ceremoni es ,

are often per formed by the natives o f the country for the purpos e o f
disarmin g the s tran gers of their ma gical powers o f counteractin g the ,

baneful influence whi ch is believed to emanate from them or o f dis ,

infecting s o to speak the tainted atmosphere by which they ar e

, ,

suppos ed to be surrounde d Thus when the ambassadors sent by .

,

j ustin II E mperor o f the E ast to conclude a peace with the Turks

.
, ,

had reached thei r destination they were received by shamans who , ,

subj ected them to a ceremonial purification for the purpose o f ex orci s

ing all harm ful influence H avin g d eposited the goo d s brou ght by the
.

am bassa d ors in an open place these wizar d s carr i ed burnin g branches ,

of incense round them wh i le they ran g a bell and beat on a tambourine

, ,

snorting and falling into a state of frenzy in their e fforts to dispel

the powers o f evil A fterwards they purified the ambassadors them
.

selves by lea d ing them throu gh the flames In the island of Na numea .

(South Pacific ) str a ngers from ships or fro m other i slands were n ot
allowed to communicate with the people until they all or a few as rep ,

resentativ es of the rest ha d been taken to each o f the four temples

,

in the islan d and prayers o ff ere d that the god woul d avert any disease
,

or treachery which these s tran gers mi ght have brou ght wi th them .

Meat o fferin gs were also laid upon the altars accompanie d by son gs ,

and dance s in honour o f the god While these ceremonies were goin g .

on all the p cop le except the priests an d their atten d ants kept out of
,

sight Amon gs the Ot Dan om s of Borneo it i s the cus tom that s tran gers
.
t

entering the terr itory shoul d pay to the n atives a certain sum wh i ch i s ,

spent in the sacrifice o f bu ff aloes or p igs to the spiri ts of the lan d a n d

water in or d er to reconcile them to the presence o f the s tran gers an d
, ,

to in duce them not to with d raw their favour from the people o f the
country but to bless the rice harvest a n d so for th The m en o f a
,
-
, .

certain district in Borneo fearin g to look upon a E uropean traveller,

lest he should make them ill warne d thei r wives an d ch il d ren not to ,

go near him Those who coul d not restrain their cur i osity killed
.

fowls to appease the evil spirits a n d smeare d themsel ves with the
”
b lood . More drea d e d says a traveller in Central Borneo than
“
, ,

the evil spirits of the nei ghbourhood are the evil spirits from a d istance
which accompany travellers When a company from the m id d le .

Mahakam River visited me among the Blu u Kayans in the year 18 97 -

,

no woman showed hersel f outside her house without a burnin g bun d le

”
of plehi a i n
g bark the stinkin g smoke o f which d rives away evil spir its
’
.
,

When Crevaux was travelling in South America he entered a village

of the Apalai In d ians A few moments a fter his arrival some of the
.

Indians brou ght him a number o f large black ants of a speci es whose ,

bite is painful fastened on palm leaves Then all the peopl e o f the
,
.

Vi llage wi thout distinction o f age or sex presented themselves to him

, , ,

and he had to stin g them all with the ants on their faces thi ghs and , ,

other parts o f thei r bodies S ometimes when he applied the ants too .
,
”
tenderly they called out M ore ! more 1 and were not satisfied till
,
196 TAB OO E D A CTS cu .

their skin was thickly studded wi th t iny swellin gs like what mi ght
have been produced by whippin g them wi th nettles The obj ect of . .

th i s ceremony i s made plain by the custom observed in Amboyn a and

Uliase of sp r i nkl in g sick people wi th pun gent spices such as ginger ,

a n d cloves chewe d fine in or d er by the prickl i n g sensation to drive

, ,

away the d emon o f d i sease which may be clin gin g to thei r persons .

In Java a popular cure for gout or rheuma ti s m is to rub Spanish pepper

into the nai ls of the fin gers an d toes o f the su fferer ; the pungency of
the pepper is suppose d to be too mu ch for the gout or rheumatism ,

who accor di n gly d eparts in haste S o on the Slave Coast the mother .

o f a s i ck chil d sometimes believes tha t an evil spirit has taken possession

’
o f the chil d s bo d y a n d in or d er to d r i ve him out s he makes small cuts
, ,

in the bo d y o f the li ttle su fferer a n d inser ts green peppers or spices in

the wo u n d s beli evin g that she will thereby hurt the evil S pirit and
,

force hi m to be gone The poor child naturally screams with pain .

,

but the m other hardens her heart in the belie f that the d emon is
su ffer ing equally .

It is probab l e that the sam e dread o f strangers rather than any ,

d esire to d o them honour i s the motive o f certain ceremonies which ,

are some ti m es observe d at their recep tion but o f wh i ch the intent ion ,

is not d irectly state d In the O ngtong Java Islan d s which are in .

,

habite d by Polynesians the priests or sor cerers seem to w iel d great ,

i nfluence Thei r main business is to sum mon or exorci se spirits for

.

the purpose of avertin g or dispell ing sickness and o f p ro curing favour ,

able win d s a good catch of fish a nd so on When stran gers l an d on

, , .

the i slands they are first of all receive d by the sorcerers sprinkled
, ,

with water anointed w ith oil and girt with dried pan d anus leaves
, ,
. .

A t the sam e time san d an d wa ter are freely thrown about in all direc
ti ons a nd the newcomer and hi s boat are w iped with green leaves
,
.

A fter thi s ceremony the st ran gers are in troduc ed b y the sorcere rs to ,

the ch i e f In A fghani stan and in some parts o f Persia the tr aveller

. ,

be fore he en ters a village is frequen tly received wi th a sacrifice of ,

animal li fe or food or o f fire and incense The A f ghan Boundary,

.

Missi on in passin g by villa ges in A f gh a nistan was o ften met with

, ,

fi re and incense S ometim es a tray o f li ghted embers is thrown under

.

” ’ “
the hoo fs o f the traveller s horse with the words You are welcome , ,
.

On en teri n g a villa ge in Central A frica E min Pasha was received with

the sacrifice o f two goats ; their blood was sprinkled on the p ath and
the chie f stepped over the blood to greet E min Sometimes the dread .

o f stran gers a nd thei r ma gic is too great to allow of their reception on

any terms Thus when Speke arrive d at a certain village the natives
.
,

shu t their doors a gainst him because they had never before seen a ,
“

‘
whit e man nor the ti n boxes that the men we re carryin g : Who
‘
knows they sai d but that these very boxes -a re the plundering
,
’
, ;

W a tuta t rans forme d and come to kill us ? You cannot be admitt ed

‘ ’
. .

N o persuasion could avail w i th them and the party had t o p roceed to ,

.

”
the next village ,
.

T he fear thus entertained of alien vi s i to rs i s o ften m utu al E ntering -

.
198 TABO O E D A CTS CH

throu gh which the person to be re generate d i s to pass Such an .

ima ge o f pure gol d was made at the pr ince s command and his ambas ’
,

sa d o r s were born a ain by bein

g g dra gged throu gh i t .

Wh e n precautions like these are taken on behal f of the people in

general a gai nst the mali gnant influence suppos ed to be exercised b y
“

stran gers it i s no won d er that special measures are a d opte d to protect

,

the kin g from the same ins i d ious dan er I n the mi dd le a ges the
g .

envoys who visited a Tartar Khan were obl ige d to pass between two
fires be fore they were a d m itte d to his p resence a n d the gi fts they ,

brough t were al s o carried between the fi res The reason assi gned for .

the cus tom was that the fire pur ge d away any m agic influence which
the stran gers mi gh t mean to exercise over the Khan When subj ect .

chie fs come with their retinues to visit Kalamba (the most power ful
chief o f the Bashilan ge in the Con go Basin ) for the first time or a fter
bein g rebellious they have to bathe men and women to gether in two
, , ,

brooks on two succes s i ve d ays passin g the ni ghts under the open sky
,

in the m arket place A fter the secon d bath they procee d entirely
-
.
,

nake d to the house o f Kalamba who makes a long white mark on the
, ,

breast an d forehea d of each o f them Then they return to the market .

place a nd d ress a fter which they undergo the pepper or d eal Pepper
, .

i s d roppe d into the eyes o f each o f them and wh ile this is bein g d one ,

the su ff erer has to m ake a con fess i on of all his sins to answer all ,

ques tions that may be put to him an d to take certain vows This , .

en d s the ceremony and the stran gers are now free to take up their
,

quar ters i n the town for as long as they choose to remain

T a b oos on E a ting a nd Drin k i ng —In the opinion o f sava ges
.

2 .

the acts o f eating and drinkin g a re attended with special danger ; for
at these times the soul may escape from the mouth or b e extracted
'

by the ma gic arts o f an enemy present Amon g the E we speaking .

-

“
peoples o f the Slave Co ast the common b eli e f seems to be that the
i ndwelling S pi rit leaves the body a n d returns to it through the mouth ;
hence shoul d it have gone out it behoves a man to be care ful about
, ,

openin g his mouth lest a homeless spi ri t should take advanta ge of

,

the opportunity and enter his body This it appears is considered .

, ,
”
most l i kely to take place while the man i s eatin g Precaut ions are .

there fore a d op ted to guard against these dangers Thus of the Bataks .

it is sai d that since the soul can leave the body they always take
“
,

care to prevent their soul from stray i n g on occasions when they have
most need o f it But it is only pos sible to prevent the soul from stray
.

ing when one i s in the house At feasts one may find the whole house
.

shut up in order that the soul may stay and enj oy the good thin gs set
,
”
b e fore it The Za fim a nelo in Mada gascar lock thei r doors when they
.

eat and hardly any one ever sees them eati ng The Warua will not
, .

allow any one to see them eatin g and drinking bein g doubly particular ,
“
that no person of the opposite sex shall see them doin g so I had .

to pay a man to let me see him drink ; I could not make a man let
'

”
a woman see him drink When o ffered a drink they often ask that
.

a cloth m ay be held up to hide them whilst drin k in g .

x 1x TAB OO S ON S H OWI N G T H E FA C E 199

If these are the ordinary precautions taken by common people ,

the precautions taken by kings are extraordinary The k in g o f .

Loango m ay not be seen eating or drinking by man or beast un d er

pain of death A favourite dog having broken into the room where
.

the king was dining the kin g or d ered it to be killed on the spot Once
, .

the king s own son a boy o f twelve years old inadvertently saw the
’
, ,

king d rink Immediately the kin g or d ered him to be finely apparelled

.

and feasted a fter which he commanded hi m to be cut in qua rt ers a n d

, ,

carried about the city with a p roclama tion that he had seen the kin g
“
drink . When the kin g has a mind to drink he has a cup o f w ine ,

brought ; he that brin gs it has a bell in his hand and as soon as he ,

has delivered the cup to the king he turns his face from him a n d rin gs ,

the bell on which all present fall down with their faces to the groun d
, ,

and continue so till the kin g has drank His eating i s m uch i n .

the same style for which he has a house on purpose where his vic tuals
, ,

are set upon a bensa or table : which he goes to and shuts the d oor : ,

when he has done he knocks and comes out S o that none ever see
, .

the king ea t or -drink For it is believed that i f any one should the
.
,
”
king shall immediately die The remnants o f hi s food are burie d
.
,

doubtless to prevent them from fall i n g into the hands o f sorcerers ,

who by means o f thes e fra gments mi ght cast a fatal spell over the
m onarch The rules observed by the nei ghbourin g kin g o f Cacon go
.

were sim ilar ; it was thought tha t the king would die i f any o f his
sub j ects were to see him d rink It is a capital o ff ence to see the king
.

of Dah omey at his meals When he d rinks i n pub lic as he does on

.
,

extraor d inary occasions he hi d es himsel f behi nd a curtain or hand

, ,
~

kerch ie fs are held up round his hea d and all the people throw them ,

selves with their faces to the earth When the king of B unyoro in .

Central A frica went to drink milk in the dairy every man mus t leave ,

the royal enclosure and all the women had to cover their hea d s ti ll the
king re turned N o one mi gh t see him d rink One wi fe accompanied
. .

him to the dairy and han d e d him the mil k-pot but she tu rne d a w ay ,

her face while he drained it

3 T a b oos on S howing the F a ce —In some o f the prece d in g cases
.

the inten tion of eatin g and drinking in strict seclus ion may perhaps
be to hin d er evil influences from enterin g the body rather than to
prevent the escap e o f the soul This cer tainly is the motive o f some
.

drinking customs observed by n a tives o f the Con go re gion Thus .

“
we are tol d o f these p eopl e that there is hardly a native who would
dare to swallow a liqui d wi thout fi rs t conj uring the Spirits One o f .

them rin gs a bell all the time he is d rinkin g ; ano ther crouches d own
and places his left hand on the earth ; another vei'ls his head ; another
puts a stalk o f gra ss or a lea f in his hai r or marks his forehea d wi th ,

a line o f clay Thi s feti sh cus tom as sumes very varied fo rms To
. .

explain them the black i s satisfie d to say that they a re an energe ti c

,
”
m ode o f conj urin
g spirits I n thi s part o f the world a chie f will
.

commonly rin
g a bell at each d rau ght o f beer which he sw a llows ,

and at the same moment a lad s tationed in front of him bran d ishes
2 00 TAB OO E D ACT S CH

a spear to keep at bay the spirits which mi ght try to snea k into the
’
old chie f s body by the same road as the beer T he same motive of .

war d in g off ev il spi rits probably expla i ns the custom observed by

som e A frican sultans o f veilin g their faces The S ul tan o f Dar fur .

wraps up his face wi th a p i ece o f wh ite muslin which goes round his ,
’

head several times covering hi s mouth and nose first and then his
, ,

forehead so that only his eyes are visible

, The sam e custom o f veiling .

the face as a mark o f soverei gnty is s a i d to be observed in o ther parts

o f Cen tral A frica The S ul tan o f Wadai always speaks from behind
.

a curtain ; no one sees his face excep t his inti m ates an d a few favou re d
persons
4 T a b oos on Q ui tting the H ous e — B y an extension o f the like
.

. .

precaut i on ki n gs are some times forbi d d en ever to le ave their palaces ;

or if they are allowed to d o so thei r s ubj ects are f orbi dd en to see them
,
.

abroa d The fe tish kin g of Ben in who was worshippe d as a deity by

.
“

his subj ec ts mi ght not qui t hi s palace A fter hi s coronation the k ing
, .

o f Loan go is confined to hi s palace which he may not leave The , .

k in g o f On itsha does not step out o f his house into the town unless
“

a human sacr i fice is ma d e to propit i ate the go d s : on this account he .

”
never goes out beyon d the precincts of his premises Indee d we are .

tol d tha t he m n ot qui t his palace un d er pain o f death or o f giving

y
up one or mo fe slaves to be execute d in hi s presence As the wealth .

o f the coun try i s measure d i n s l aves t he k i n g takes goo d care not ,

to in fr in ge the la w Yet once a year at the Feast o f Yams the king is

.

allowe d and even requ i re d by cus tom to dance be fore his people
,
.

outsi d e the hi gh m u d wall o f the palace In dancin g he carr ies a .

great we ight generally a sack o f earth on his back to prove tha t he is

, ,

still able to support the bur de n and cares o f state Were he unable .

to d ischar ge this duty he woul d be immed i ately d epose d a nd perhaps

,

s tone d The ki n gs o f E th i opia were worsh i pped as gods but were

.
,

mostly kep t shu t up in thei r palaces On the mountainous coast of .

Pon tu s there d wel t in a n tiqu ity a rude a n d warl i ke p eople named the
M osyn i or M osyn oeci throu gh whose ru gge d count ry the Ten Thousan d
, ,

marche d on their famous retreat from Asia to E urope These bar .

b arian s kep t the i r kin g i n close custody at the top o f a hi gh tower from ,

which a fter his elec tion he was never more a llowe d to d escend Here .

he d ispense d j us tice to his people ; b ut if he o ffen d e d them they ,

pun i she d him b y s toppin g his rations for a whole d ay or even starvin g ,

him to d ea th The k ings o f S a b aea or Sheba the spice country

.
,

o f A rabia were not allowe d to go out of their palaces ; i f they did so

, ,

the mob stone d them to death But at the top of the palace there .

was a win d ow w ith a chain attache d t o it If any m a n deemed he .

ha d su ffere d wron g he pulle d the chain a n d the kin g perce ive d hi m

, ,

a n d calle d him i n a n d gave j ud gment

5 T a b oos on L eaving F ood ov er —

.

. A gain ma gic mischief may be .

,

w rought upon a man through the remains of the food he ha s partaken

o f or the dishes out o f which he has eaten On the principles o f
,
.

symp athetic m agic a real connex ion cont inues to subs ist between the
2 02 TA B OO E D P E R S ON S CII .

who enter tain it For it is obvious that no one who intends to har m
.

a ma n by working ma gic on the re fuse o f hi s foo d will himsel f par take

o f that food because i f he did so he woul d on the princi ples o f sym
, ,

pathe tic ma gic su ffer equally wi th hi s enemy f rom any inj ury done to
,

the re fus e Th i s is the i d ea which i n primitive soc i e ty lends sanctity

.

to the bond pro d uce d by eatin g to ge ther ; b y p a rticipa tion in the same
food tw o men give as it were hosta ges for their good behaviour ; each
, ,

guarantees the o ther that he will d ev i se no mischie f a gains t him since , ,

b ein g physically uni te d wi th him by the common foo d in their stomachs ,

any harm he mi ght do t o his fellow would recoil on his own head wi th
precise ly the same force with which it fell on the head o f his victi m .

In s trict lo gic however the sympathetic bon d lasts only so lon g as the
, ,

foo d is in the stomach o f each o f the par ties H ence the covenant .

forme d by ea tin g to ge ther is less solemn and durable than the covenant
form ed by trans fusin g the blood o f the covenanting parties into each
’
other s veins for this trans fusion seems to k nit them togethe r for life
, .

CHAPT E R XX

TA B OOED P E RS ON S

tab ooed —W e have seen that the Mikado s food

’
1 C hi efs a nd K i ngs
.

was cooke d every day in new pots a n d served up in new d ishes ; both
p ots a nd dishes were o f common clay i n order that they mi ght be ,

b roken or lai d asi d e a fter they ha d been once use d They were ,

generally broken for it was believed tha t i f any one else ate his food
,

ou t o f thes e sacred dishes his mou th and throat would become swollen ,

and inflame d The same ill e ff ect was thought to be experienced by

.

any one who shoul d wear the M ika d o s clo thes without his leave ; he ’

would have swellin gs and pains all over his bo dy I n Fij i there is .

a special name (k a n a la m a ) for the d isease supposed to be cause d by

“
eatin g out o f a ch i e f s d ishes or wearin g hi s clo thes ’
The throat .

and body swell and the impious person dies I had a fine mat giv en
, .

to me by a man who d urs t not use it because T ha k om b au s eldes t son

’

had sat upon it There was always a family or clan o f commoners

.

who were exempt from thi s dan ger I was talking about this once to .

T ha k om b a u
‘
Oh yes sai d he
. H ere S o an d so ! come and scratch
,
’
.
‘

,
- -

’
my back .The man scratche d ; he was one o f those who could do it
”
with impunity The nam e o f the men thus hi ghly privileged was Na
.

nd u k a h i or the dirt o f the chie f

, .

In the evil e ffects thus suppo sed to follow upon the use o f the vessels
or clo thes o f the Mikado and a Fij ian c h i e f we see that other side o f the
god man s character to which attention has been already called
’
-
T he .

divine person is a source o f danger as well as o f blessin g ; he must not

only be guarded he must also be guarded a gainst H is sacred or gan
, .

ism so delicate that a touch may disorder it i s also as it were

, , , ,
xx CH I E FS A ND KI N GS TAB O O E D 203

electrically char ged wi th a power ful ma gical or s p iritual force which

m ay dischar ge itsel f with fatal e ffect on w hatever comes in contact
with it Accor d ingly the isolation of the man god is qu ite as necessary
.
-

for the sa fety o f others as for his own His ma gical vi rtue i s i n the.

strictest sense o f the word con ta gious : his divin ity is a fire which , ,

under proper restrai n ts con fers en d less blessin gs but if rashly touched
, , ,

or allowed to break bounds burns and d estroys what it touches

, .

Hence the d isastrous e ff ects suppose d to atten d a breach o f taboo ; the

offender has thrust his han d into the divine fire which shrivels up and ,

consumes him on the spo t .

The Nubas for example who inhabit the woode d and fer ti le ran ge
, ,

of Jebel Nuba in E astern A frica believe that they woul d die i f th ey

,

entered the house o f their pries tly kin g ; however they can eva d e the ,

penal ty o f thei r in trusion by barin g the le ft shoul d er and gettin g

the kin g to lay his han d on it A n d were any man to sit on a stone
.

which the kin g has consecra ted to his own use the trans gressor ,

woul d d ie within the year The Ca z em b es o f An gola re gard their kin g

.

as so holy tha t no one can touch him wi thout be i n g kille d by the

m a gical power which pervades his sacred person B ut since contact .

with him is some times unavoi dable they have d evise d a me a ns whereby
,

the sinner can escape wi th hi s li fe Kneelin g down be fore the kin g he

.

touches the back o f the royal han d with the back o f his own then snap s ,

his fingers ; a fterwar d s he lays the palm o f his han d on the palm o f the
’
king s hand then snaps his fin gers again This ceremony is repeated
, .

four or five times and ave rts the imminent d an ger o f death
,
In .

Tonga it was believe d that if any on e fed himsel f wi th his own han d s
after touchin g the sacred person o f a superior chie f or any thin
g tha t
belo nged to him he woul d swell up a n d die ; the sanctity o f the ch ie f
, ,

like a virulent poison i n fecte d the han d s of his in ferior an d bein g

, , ,

communicate d through them to the foo d prove d fatal to the eater ,

.

A comm oner who had incurred this d anger could d i sin fect h i msel f
by per form ing a certain ceremony which consis te d in touching the ,

sole of a chie f s foot with the palm a n d back of each o f his han d s
’
,

and a fterwar d s rinsin

g his han d s in water If there was no water .

near he rubbe d his han d s wi th the j u icy stem o f a plantai n or banana .

After that he was free to fee d himsel f w ith his own hands w ithout
danger o f bein g attacke d by the mala d y which woul d otherw i se follow
from eatin g wi th tabooe d or sanct ified han d s B ut unt i l the ceremony .

of expiation or d isin fection had been per formed i f he wishe d to eat , ;

he had either to get so m e one to feed him or else to go d own on his ,

knees and pick up the food from the groun d with his mou th like a
beast He mi gh t not even use a toothpick himsel f but mi ght guide
.
,

the han d of another person hol d ing the toothp ick The Ton gans were .

subj ect to induration o f the liver a n d certain fo rms o f scro fula which ,

they o ften attributed to a failure to per form the requisite expiat i on

a fter having ina d vertently touche d a chie f or his belon gin gs H ence .

they o ften went throu gh the ceremony as a precau tion without know ,

in
g that they had done anythin g to call for it The kin g of Tonga .
204 TAB OO E D P E RS O N S C"

coul d n ot re fuse to play his part in the ri te by presen tin g hi s foot to

such as d esire d to touch it even when they appl i e d to him a t a n ih ,

convenie n t time A fat unwiel dy k i n g who perceive d hi s sub JeCtS

.
,
'

approachin g wi th th i s in ten tion wh i le he chance d to be taking his ,

walks abroa d has been some times seen to wa d d le as fast as his legs
,

coul d carry hi m out o f their way in order to escape the importunate ,

an d not wholly d i sin tereste d express i on o f the i r homa ge If any one .

fancie d he m igh t have alrea d y unw i tti n gly eaten with tabooed hands ,
’
he sat d own be fore the ch i e f a n d takin g the ch ie f s foo t pressed it , , ,

against hi s own stomach that the foo d in his belly m i ght not inj ure
,

him a n d tha t he m ight not swell up a n d d ie S ince scro fula was

, .

re gar d e d by the Ton gans as a result o f eat in g w ith tabooe d hands we ,

may conj ecture tha t pers on s who su ffere d from it amon g them o ften
resorte d to the touch or pres sure o f the k in g s foot as a cure for their ’

mala d y The an alo gy o f the cus tom wi th the old E n glish practice of
.

br i n ging scro fulous patients to the k in g to be heale d by his touch is

su ffic ien tly obvious a n d su ggests as I have alrea dy pointe d out else
, ,

where tha t am ong our own remo te ancestors scro fula may have
,

obtained its name o f the King s E vil from a beli e f like tha t o f the ’

, ,

Ton gans that it was caused as well a s cure d by con tac t with the divine
,

maj esty o f kin gs .

In New Zealand the dread o f the sanctity o f chiefs was at least as

great as in Ton ga Their ghostly power d erived from an ancestral
.
,

spi ri t d i ff used i tsel f by con tagion over every thin g they touched and
, ,

coul d s trike d ea d all who rashly or unwi ttin gly me dd led wi th i t For ,

ins tance it once happene d tha t a N ew Zealan d chie f o f h igh rank and
,

grea t sancti ty ha d le ft the remains o f his d inner by the waysi de A .

slave a stou t hungry fellow coming up a fter the chie f ha d gone saw
, , , ,

the unfinishe d d inner a n d ate it up wi thou t ask i ng quest i ons

,
Hardly .

had he finishe d when he was in formed by a horror s tricken spectator -

tha t the foo d o f which he had eaten was the chie f s I knew the ’
.
“

un for tuna te delinquent w ell H e was remarkable for coura ge and .

,

ha d si gnal i se d him sel f in the wars o f the tribe but no sooner did “
,

he hear the fatal news than he was seized by the most ex traordinary
convul sions an d cramp in the stomach which never ceased till he die d , .

abou t sundown the sam e day H e was a s tron g man i n the prime of .
,

li fe and i f any pakeha [E uropean ] freethinker sh ould have said h

,

wa s not killed by the tapu o f the chie f which had been communicated ,

to the food by con tact he would have been listened to wi th feelings of

,

contempt for his i gnorance and inability to un d ers tan d plain and d irect
evi d ence This is not a solitary case A Maori woman having eaten
. .

of some frui t and bein

g a fterwards told tha t the fruit ha d been taken
,

from a tabooe d place exclaim ed tha t the spi ri t o f the chie f who se
, ,

sanc ti ty had been thus pro faned would kill her This was in the ,
.

a f ternoon a nd nex t da y by twelve o clock she was de ad A Maori

,
’
.

’
chie f s tinder box was once the means o f killing several persons ; for
-
,

havin g been lost by him and foun d by some m en who use d it to ligh t
,

their p ipes they died o f fri ght on learning to who m it had belonged
,
.
206 TA B O O E D P E RS O N S CH .

communication with mankind H e could not en ter any house or . ,

come i nto contac t w ith any person or thing w ithout utterly b e ,

devilling them H e mi gh t n ot even touch foo d wi th his hands which

.
,

ha d become so fr igh tfully tabooe d or unclean as to be quite useless .

Foo d would be set for him on the ground an d he woul d then sit or ,

kneel d own a n d wi th hi s han d s care fully hel d behin d his back would
, , ,

gnaw at it as best he coul d I n some cases he woul d be fed by another.

person who w ith ou ts tre tche d a rm contr ive d to do it without touch ing
,

the tabooed man ; but the feeder was himsel f subj ecte d to many
severe res trictions , little less onerous than thos e which were impose d
up on the o ther In almost every populous villa ge there lived a
.

de graded wretch the lowes t o f the low who earne d a sorry pittance
, ,

by thus waitin g upon the d efiled Clad in ra gs daubed from head to .

,

foot wi th red ochre and sti nkin g shark oil always sol itary and silent , ,

generally old ha gga rd and wizened o f ten hal f c razed he mi ght be

, , , ,

seen sit ting motionless all day apar t from the common path or thorough
fare o f the villa ge gazin g wi th lack lus tre eyes on the busy doin gs in
,
-

which he mi gh t never take a part Twice a day a dole o f food would .

be thrown on the ground be fore him to munch as well as he coul d

w ithout the use o f his hands ; and at ni ght hu d dling hi s greasy tatters ,

abou t him he would crawl into some m iserable lair o f leaves a nd re fuse
, ,

where d irty cold and hun gry he passed in broke n ghost haunted
, , , , ,
-

slumbers a wretched ni ght a s a prelude to another wretche d day

,
.

’
S uch was the only human being deemed fit to associate at arm s length
wi th one who had pai d the last offices o f respec t and fr iendship to the
d ead . And when the d ismal term o f his seclusio n bein g over the
, ,

m ourner was about t o mix with his fellows once more all the dishes ,

he had used i n hi s seclusion were d ili gently smashe d and all the ,

garments he ha d worn were carefully thrown away lest they should ,

spread the contagion o f his d efilem en t among others j ust as the vessels ,

and clo thes o f sacred kin gs an d chie fs are destroyed or cast away for ”

a simila r reason S o complete in these respects i s the analo gy whic h

.

the sava ge traces between the spiritual influences that emanate from
diviniti es and from the dea d be tween the odour o f sancti ty and the ,

stench o f corruption .

The rule wh ich forbids persons who have bee n in contact with th
dead to touch food wi th thei r hands would seem to have been universal
in Polynesia Thus in S am oa those who a tten d ed the deceased were
.

most care ful not to handle food a nd for d ays were fed by others as i f ,

they were helpless in fants Bal d ness a n d the loss o f t eeth were .

supposed to be the punishmen t inflic ted by the household god i f they

”
violate d the rule A gain in Tonga no person can touch a dead
.
, ,
“

chie f without being tab oo d for ten lunar months except chie fs who ’
, ,

are only tab oo d for three four or five months accordin g to the
’

, , ,

superiority o f the dead chie f ; except a gain it be the body o f T ooitonga '

[the great divine chief ] and then even the greate st chief would be
’
,

tab oo d ten months

’
Durin g the time a man i s tab oo d he must not
.

feed himself with his own hand s but must b e fed by somebody else : ,
xx WOM E N TAB OO E D AT M E N STRUATIO N 207

he must not even use a too th pick himsel f b ut must gu i de another ,

person s hand hol d in g the too thpick If he is hun gry and there i s
’
.

no one to fee d him he must go d ow n upon hi s han d s and knees and

, ,

pick up his victuals with hi s mouth : and i f he in frin ges upon any of
”
these rules it is fi rmly expecte d that he will swell up and d ie
,
.

Among the Shuswap o f B ri tish Columbia wi d ows a n d wi dowers

in mournin g are seclu d e d an d forbi dd en to touch the i r own head
Or body ; the cups and cookin g vessels which they use may be -

used by no one else They m us t buil d a sweat house beside a

.
-

creek sweat there all ni ght a nd bathe re gularly a fter wh ich they
, ,

must rub the i r bo d ies wi th branches of spruce The branches .

may not be use d more than once and when they have serve d ,

their purpose they are stuck into the ground all roun d the hut No '

hunter woul d come near such mourners fo r the ir presence i s unlucky , .

If their sha d ow were to fall on any one he woul d be taken ill a t once , .

They employ thorn bushes for b ed and pillow in or d er to keep away ,

the ghost o f the d eceased ; a nd thorn bushes are als o lai d all aroun d
their beds This last precaution show s clearly what the spiritual
.

danger is which lea d s to the exclusion o f such persons from ordinary

society ; it is simply a fear o f the ghos t who i s suppose d to be hoverin g
near them In the M ekeo dis trict o f B ri tish N ew Guinea a widower
.

loses all his civil ri ghts and becomes a social outcas t an obj ect o f fear ,

and horror shunne d by all

,
He m ay not cultivate a gar d en nor show
.
,

himsel f in public nor traverse the village nor walk on the roa d s a nd
, ,

paths Like a wil d beast he mus t skulk in the long gras s a n d the
.

bushes ; and if he sees or hears any one comin g espec i ally a woman , ,

he must hi d e behin d a tree or a th icke t I f he wi shes to fi sh or hunt .

,

he mus t do it alone and at ni gh t If he woul d consult any one even

'

.
,

the missionary he does so by s teal th and at ni ght ; he seems to have

,

lost his voice and speaks only in whispers Were he to j oin a party .

of fishers or hunters hi s presence would br i n g mis for tune on them ;

,

the ghos t o f his dead wi fe woul d fri ghten away the fish or the game .

He goes about everywhere and at all times arme d w ith a tomahawk

to de fen d himsel f not only a gains t wild boars in the j un gle b ut a gains t
, ,

the drea d ed sp iri t o f his departe d spouse who woul d do him an ill tur n ,

if she coul d ; for all the souls o f the dead are mali gnant a nd thei r only
deli ght is to harm the livin g
3 Wom en ta b ooe d a t M ens trua ti on a nd C hi ldb ir th —In general
.

. .
,

we may say that the prohibi tion to use the vessels garments and so , ,

forth o f certain persons a n d the e ff ects suppose d to follow an in frac tion

,

of the rule a re exactly the same whether the persons to whom the
,

things belon g are sacred or what we might call unclean an d pollute d .

As the garments which have been touche d by a sacre d chie f kill those
who handle them so do the thin gs which have been touche d by a
,

m enstruous women An Aus tralian black fellow who d iscovere d

.
,

that his wi fe had lain on hi s blanket at her menstrual perio d kille d

'

her and died of terror h imsel f within a fortni gh t Hence Aus tral ian .

women at these times are forbidden under p ain of death to touch a ny

208 TAB OO E D PE RS ON S
”
CH .

thin g that men use or even to walk on a path that any man frequents
,
.

They are also secluded at ch i l d b i r th and all vessel s use d by them ,

durin g their seclusi on are burne d In U ganda the pots which a woman .

touches wh ile the impurity o f ch i l d b i rth o r o f menst ruat ion i s on her

, ,

shoul d be d estroyed ; spears an d shiel d s defiled by her touch are not

des troye d b ut only purified Amon g all the Dené a nd most other
'
“
, .

Amer i can tribes hardly any other bei n g was the obj ect of so much
,

d rea d as a m enstruatin g woman A s soon as si gns of that condition .

ma d e themselves apparent in a youn g gi rl she was care fully segre gated

from all but female company a n d ha d to live by hersel f i n a small hut ,

away from the gaze of the vil lagers or of the mal e members of the
rovin g ban d While in that aw ful state she had to abstain from
.
,

touchin g anythin g belon gin g to man or the spoils of any venison or ,

other animal lest she would thereby pollute the same and condemn
, ,

the hunters to failure owin g to the an ger o f the game thus sli ghted
,
.

Drie d fish formed her diet and col d water absorbed through a d r i nking
, ,

tube was her only beverage M oreover as the very si gh t of her was
, .
,

dangerous to society a special sk i n bonnet with frin ges falling over

, ,

her face down to her breast hid her from the public gaze even some , ,
”
time a fter she had recovered her normal state Amon g the Bribri .

In d ians o f Costa Rica a mens truous woman is regar d e d as unclean .

Th e only plates she may use for her food are banana leaves which ,
.

when she has done with them she throws away in some sequestered ,

spot ; for were a cow to find them and eat them the animal would ,

waste away and perish And she d r inks out of a special vessel for a
.

like reason ; because i f any one drank out of the sam e cup a fter her ,

he woul d surely die .

Amon g many peoples similar res trictions are imposed on women

in ch i l db e d and apparently for s i m ilar rea sons ; at such perio d s women
ar e suppose d to be in a dangerous con d i tion which woul d in fect any
person or thin g they mi ght touch ; hence they are put into quarantine
until w ith the recovery o f the i r health and stren gth the imaginary
, ,

dan ger has passed away Thus in Tahiti a woman a fter childbirth
.
,

was seclu d e d for a fortni ght or three weeks in a tem porary hut erected
on sacre d ground ; durin g the time of her seclusion she was d ebarred
from touchin g provisions and ha d to be fed by another Further i f
,
. ,

any one else touched the child at thi s period he was subj ecte d to the ,

same restr i c tions as the mother until the ceremony of her purificati on
had been per formed Similarly in the island of K adiak off Alaska a
. , ,

woman about to be delivered retires to a mi serable low hovel built of

reeds where she must rem ain fo r twen ty d ays a fter the b ir th of her
,

child whatever the season may be a n d she is considered so u nclean that

, ,

no one will touch her and foo d i s reached t o her on sticks The Br i bri
,
.

Indians re gard the pollution of chil d be d as much more d an gerous even

than that o f menstruation When a woman feels her time approach i n g
.
.

she in forms her husband who m akes haste to build a hut for her i n a
,

lonely spot There she must live alone holdin g no converse W i th

'

. ,

anybody save he r m other or another woman Afte r her d elivery the .

2 10 T A B OOE D PE RS ON S CH .

the bloo d They brin g it to us one mornin g If we w i sh to prepare

. .

me d icine with wh ich to sprinkle the whole country we crumble this ,

ear th to powder ; a t the en d o f five d ays we sen d little boys and little
girls girls that yet know noth i n g o f women s a ffairs and have not yet
’
,

had relations wi th men We p ut the medicine i n the horns of oxen

.
,

a nd these chil d ren go to all the for d s to all the entrances o f the country , .

A lit tle girl turns up the so i l with her mattock the others dip a branch ,

in the horn and S p rinkl e the ins i d e of the hole sayin g Rain ! rain ! ,
’

S o we remove the mis fortune which the women have brought on the
roa d s ; the rain will be able to come The coun try is purified !
4 Warri or s ta b oo ed —
,

. On ce more warriors are conceived by the

.
,

savage to move so to say in an atmosphere o f Spi ritual dan ger which

, ,

constrains them to practise a variety o f superstitious observances

quite di fferent in thei r nature from thos e rational precautions which ,

as a matter o f course they a d opt against foes of flesh an d bloo d The

, .

general e ff ect o f these observance s is to place the warrior both be fore ,

and a fter victory in the same state o f seclusion or sp iritual quarantine

,

in which for his own sa fety primi tive man puts his human gods
, ,

and other dan gerous characters T hus when the Maoris went out on
the war —
.

path they were sacred or taboo i n the h ighes t degree and they ,

a nd thei r frien d s at home had to o bserve stric tly many curious customs
over a n d above the numerous taboos o f or d i nary li fe They became .
,

i n the i rreverent langua ge o f E uropeans who knew them in the old

”
fi ghtin g d ays tabooed an i nch thick ; and as for the leader of the
,
“

expe d i tion he was quite unapproachable

, Similarly when the .
,

I sraelites marched fort h to war they w ere bound by cer tain rules of
ceremonial purity i d entical with rules observe d by Maoris and
Australian black fellow s on the war path The vessels they used were -
.

sacre d an d they ha d to practi se continence and a cus tom o f personal

,

cleanliness o f which the ori ginal mo tive if we may j udge from the ,

avowed m otive o f sava ges who con form to the same cus tom was a ,

fear lest the enemy shoul d obtain the re fuse o f the i r persons and thus ,

be enable d to work their d es truction by ma gic Among some Ind ian .

tribes o f North America a youn g warrior i n his fi rst campai gn had to

'

conform to certain customs o f which tw o were identical with the ,

observances imposed by the same Indians on girls at thei r first

m ens truation : the v essels he ate an d drank out o f mi gh t be touche d
by no other person and he was forbi dd en to scratch his head or any
,

other par t o f his body with his fingers ; i f he could not help scratching
himsel f he ha d to do it wi th a stick The latter rule like the one which
, .
,

forbids a tabooed person to fee d himsel f w ith hi s own fingers seem s ,

to rest on the supposed sancti ty or pollution whichever we choose to ,

call it of the tabooed hands Moreover am on g these Indian tribes

, .

the men on the war-path had always to sleep at ni ght w ith thei r faces
turned towards thei r ow n coun try ; however uneasy the pos ture they ,

mi ght not chan ge it They might not sit upon the ba re ground nor
. ,

w et thei r feet nor w a lk on a beaten path i f they coul d help it ; when

,

they had no choice but to walk on a p ath they s ought to counteract ,

xx WARRI OR S T A B O OE D 2 11

the ill effect o f d oin g so by d oc torin g th eir legs with certain me d icines
or charms which they carr ie d wi th them for the purpose N o member .

of the party was permi tte d to step over the le gs han d s or body o f any , ,

other member who chanced to be sit ti ng or lying on the groun d ; and

it was equally forb i d d en to step over hi s blanket gun tomahawk o r , , ,

anything that belonged to him If thi s rule was i na d verten tly broken
.
,

it became the duty o f the member whose person or proper ty ha d been

stepped over to knock the o ther member d own and it was s imi larly the ,

duty of that other to be knocke d d own peaceably an d wi thout resist

ance The vessels o ut of wh ich the warriors ate their foo d were
.

com monly small bowls o f woo d or birch bark w ith marks to di st in guish ,

the two s ides ; in marchin g from home the In di ans invariably d ran k
out of one s i d e o f the bowl a n d in return ing they d rank out of the
,

other When on their way home they came w ith i n a d ay s m arch o f

.
’

the v illa ge they hun g up all the i r bowls on trees or threw them away
, ,

on the prairie doub tless to pr even t the i r sanc tity or defilem ent from
,

be ing commun icate d wi th di sas trous e ffects to the i r fr i en d s j ust as ,

we have seen tha t the vessels a n d clothes of the sacre d M ikado o f .

wo m en at chil d bir th a n d m ens truat ion a n d o f persons d efiled by ,

contact w ith the d ea d are d estroye d or la i d asi d e for a sim i lar reason .

The fir st four times that an Apache Indian goes out on the war path -
,

he is boun d to re fra i n from scratch in g hi s hea d w ith hi s fin gers an d

from letting wa ter touch hi s lips Hence he scratches his hea d with
.

a stick an d d rinks throu gh a hollow ree d or cane Stick an d reed are

, .

attached to the warrior s belt a n d to each o ther by a lea thern thon g

’
.

The rule not to scratch the i r hea d s w ith their fin gers but to use a ,

stick for the purpose ins tea d was regularly observe d by O j eb w ays on
,

the war path -

.

Wi th regar d to the Creek Indians a n d kindred tribes we are tol d

they w ill n ot cohab it wi th women wh ile they are out at war ; they
“

reli giously abstain from every kind o f in tercourse even w i th the i r own
wives for the space o f three d ays an d ni ghts be fore they go to war
, ,
”
and so a fter they re turn home because they are to sancti fy themselves
,
.

Among the B a Pe di and B a Thon ga tr ib es o f Sou th A frica n ot only

- -

have the warriors to abs ta in from women but the people le ft behin d ,

in the villa ges are also boun d to con tinence ; they th ink that any
incon tinence on thei r part woul d cause thorns to grow on the groun d
traverse d by the warriors and that success woul d n ot a ttend the
,

expe dition .

Why exactly many sava ges have ma d e it a rule to re frai n from

women in time o f war we cannot say for certa i n but we m ay conj ec ture
, ,

that their mo ti ve was a supers ti tious fear les t on the princ i ples o f ,

sympatheti c magic close con tac t with women shoul d in fec t them wi th
,

fem in ine weakness a nd cowar d i ce Simi larly some savages im a gine

.

that contac t with a woman in chil db e d enervates warr iors an d en fe eb les

their weapons In d eed the Kayans o f Cen tr a l Borneo go so fa r as to
.

hol d that to touch a loom or women s clo thes woul d so weaken a man ’

that he woul d hav e no success in huntin g fishing and war Henc e , , .

2 12 T A B OOE D PE RSON S an .

it i s not merely sexual intercourse wi th wo m en that the sava ge warrior

some tim es shuns ; he i s care ful to avoi d the sex alto ge ther Thus .

am on g the h ill tr i bes of Assam not only are men forbi dd en to cohabit
,

w ith thei r w ives d ur in g or a fter a ra i d but they may not eat food cooked
,

by a woman ; nay they shoul d not a d d ress a wor d even to their own
,

w i ves Once a wo m an who unw ittin gly broke the rule b y speakin g
.
,

to her husban d wh i le he was un d er the war taboo sickened a n d die d ,

when she learne d the aw ful cr ime she ha d comm itted

5 M ans la yers ta b oo ed —I f the rea d er still doubts whether the
.

.
.

rules o f con d uct which we have j us t been consi de rin g are based 0 11
“

supers ti tious fears o r d icta ted by a ra tional prudence his doubts ,

will probably be dissipated when he learns that rules o f the same sort
are o ften imposed even more strin gen tly on warriors a fter the victory
has been won an d when all fear o f the l ivin g corporeal foe is at an end .

I n such cases one mo tive fo r the inconvenient restrictions laid on the

victors in thei r hour o f t riumph i s probably a drea d o f the an gry ghosts
o f the slain ; a n d that the fear of the v en ge ful ghosts does influence

the behaviour o f the slayers i s o ften expressly affirmed The general .

e ff ec t o f the taboos laid on sacred chi e fs mourners women at chil d

bi rth men o u the war—
, ,

,
path an d so on is to seclud e or isolate the
, ,

tabooe d persons from or d in ary socie ty this e ffect bein g attained by a

, .

vari ety o f rules which obl ige the men or women to live in separ ate
,

huts or in the open a i r to shun the commerce o f the sexes to avoi d

, ,

the use o f vessels employed by o thers and so fo rth Now the same, .

e ff ec t is p roduce d by sim i lar m eans in the case o f victorious warriors ,

par ti cularly such as have actually she d the bloo d of their enem ies .

In the islan d o f Timor when a warlike exped ition has returned in

,

triumph brin ging the heads o f the vanquishe d foe the leader o f the ,

expe d i ti on is forbi d den by reli gion and custom to return at once to his
own house A spec ial hut is prepared for him in which he has to
.
,

reside for two mon ths under goin g bodily and S pi ritual purificatio n
,
.

Durin g this t ime he may n ot go to his wi fe nor fee d himsel f ; the food
mus t be p u t into his mou th by another p erson That these observances .

a re d ic ta te d by fear o f the ghos ts o f the slain seems certa in ; for fro m

another account o f the ceremonies per formed on the return of a
success ful head— hun ter in the sam e islan d we learn that sacrifices are
o ffere d on th i s occasion to a p pease the soul of the man whose head
has been taken ; the people th i nk that some mi s fortune would be fall
the victor were such o fferin gs omitte d M oreover a part of the
.
,

ceremony consists o f a dance accom p a nied by a so n g in which the ,

death o f the slai n man i s lamented and his for giveness is entreated .

”
B e not an gry they say
,
because your head is here with us ; had
,
“

we be en less lucky our heads mi ght now have b een exposed in your
,

villa ge We have o ff ered the sacrifice to appease you Your spirit

.
.

may now res t and leave us at peace Why were you our enemy ? .

Woul d it not have b een better that we S houl d remai n frien d s ? Then
your blood would not have been spilt and your head w ould not have
b ee cut ff
”
The eo le o f Pa loo in Central C elebes take the hea d s
n o .
p p
2 14 TAB OO E D P E RS O N S CH .

unattractive to him they d ismantled it a n d clo the d it with everything

that to thei r i d ea s seemed mos t repulsive O n the evenin g o f the day .

on which they had tortured a prisoner to dea th the American In d ians ,

were won t to run through the villa ge w ith hi d eous yells beating with ,

sticks on the furniture the walls a n d the roo fs o f the hu ts to prevent

, ,

the an gry ghos t o f thei r v ictim fr om se ttlin there a n d takin ven eance
'

g g g
fo r the tormen ts tha t hi s bo dy had en d ure d at their han d s Once ” .
,

says a traveller on approachin g in the ni gh t a v illa ge o f O ttawas I

,
,

foun d all the inhabitan ts i n con fusion : they were all busily en a ed
g g
in ra i sin g noises o f the lou d est an d most inharmon i ous kin d Upon .

inquiry I found that a ba ttle had been lately fought between the
,

O ttawas and the Kickapoos a nd tha t the obj ect o f all this noise was ,

t o prevent the ghos ts o f the d epar te d combatants from en terin the

”
g
villa ge .

Amon g the Basutos ablution i s specially performed on return from

battle It is absolu tely necessary tha t the warriors shoul d rid them
.

s elves as soon as possible o f the blood they have she d or the sha des
, , ,

o f thei r vic tim s would pursue them incessan tly and disturb their ,

slumbers They go in a processi on and in full armour to the neares t

.

, ,

stream At the moment they enter the water a diviner place d hi gher
.
,

up throws some puri fyin g substances in to the current Th is is how

, .
,

ever not strictly necessary The j avelins a n d ba ttle axes also un dergo
, .
-

”
the process o f washin g Amon g the B ages hu o f E as t A frica a man who
.

has kille d another may not return to his own house on the same day ,

though he may enter the villa ge and spend the ni ght in a frien d s house ’
.

H e kills a sheep and smears hi s ches t his ri gh t arm and his head with , ,

the contents o f the animal s stomach H is ch il d ren are brough t to him

’
.

a nd he smears them in like manner The n he smears each side o f the .

doorway w ith the tripe and entrails and finally throws the rest of the ,

s tomach on the roo f o f his house For a whole day he may not touch .

foo d with his han d s b ut picks it up with two s ticks a nd so conveys

,

i t to hi s mouth Hi s wi fe i s not under any such r e s trictions She

. .

may even go to mourn for the man whom her husban d has killed ,

i f she wishes to do s o Amon g the An goni to the north o f the

.
,

Zambes i warriors who have slain foes on an expedition smear their

,

bo d i es a nd faces with ashes han g garments o f their vic tims on their ,

persons and tie bark ropes round thei r necks so tha t the ends hang
, ,

d own over thei r shoulders or breasts This costume they wear for .

three days a fter their return and risin g at break o f day they run
‘

through the villa ge utterin g fri gh tful yells to drive away the ghosts
o f the slain which i f they were not thus banished from the houses
, , ,

mi gh t brin g sickness and mis fortu n e on the inmates .

I n som e o f these accounts nothing is sai d o f an en forced seclusion ,

at least a fter the ceremonial cleansing b ut some S ou th A frican tribes ,

certainly requi re the slayer o f a very gallant foe in war to keep apart
from his wi fe and family for ten days a fter he has washed hi s b ody_1n
runnin g water H e also receives f rom the tribal doctor a m edicm e
.

which he chews wi th his food When a Nandi o f E ast A fri ca has killed .
xx MAN S LA Y E R S TA B OO E D 2 15

a member o f another t ribe he paints one side o f his body spear and
, , ,

s wor d red and the other si d e white For four days a fter the slaugh ter
, .

he is considered unclean and may not go hom e He has to bu i ld a small .

shelter by a river and live there ; he may not associate wi th hi s wi fe or

sweetheart and he may eat nothing but porri d ge bee f and go at s flesh
, , ,
’
.

At the end o f the fourth day he must puri fy himsel f by tak in g a stron g
purge made f rom the bark o f the s egetet t ree an d b y drinkin g goa t s ’

m ilk mixed with blood Among the Bantu tribes o f Kaviro n do when a
"

.
,

m an has kille d an enemy in warfare he S haves his head on his return

home and his frien d s rub a medicine which gene rally consist s o f
, ,

goat s dung over his body to prevent the spiri t o f the slain man from
’
,

troubling him E xac tly the same custom is prac tised for the sam e
.

reason by the W ageia o f E ast A frica Wi th the J a Luo of Kaviron d o .

-

the cus tom is somewhat di fferent Three days a fter his return from .

the fi gh t the warrior shaves his head But be fore he may enter hi s .

village he has to han g a live fowl head uppermost r oun d hi s neck ; , ,

then the bird i s d ecapitated and its head left han gin g roun d his neck .

Soon a fter his return a feast i s made for the slain man in or d er that ,

his ghost m ay not haun t his slayer I n the Pelew Islan d s when the .
,

m en return from a warlike expe d ition in which they have taken a li fe ,

the young warriors who have been out fi gh tin g for the fi rs t time and
all who han d le d the slain are shut up in the lar ge council —
,

, house an d
become tabooed They may not qui t the edifice nor ba the nor touch
.
, ,

a woman nor eat fish ; their food is limited to coco nu ts and syrup
,
-
.

They rub themselves with charme d leaves a n d chew charme d betel .

A fter three days they go to gether to bathe as near as possible to the

spot where the man was kille d .

Amo n g the Natchez I nd ians o f No rth America young braves w ho

had taken their fi rst scalps were obli ge d to observe certain rules o f
abs tinence for six months They m ight n ot sleep wi th thei r wives
.

nor eat flesh ; their only food was fish a nd hasty pudding If they -
.

broke these rules they believed tha t the soul o f the man they ha d
,

killed would work their death by ma gic that they would ga in no more ,

successes over the enemy an d that the leas t woun d inflic ted on them
,

woul d prove mortal When a Choctaw had k i lled an enemy and taken
.

his scalp he wen t into mournin g for a month d urin g which he mi ght
, ,

not comb his hair and if hi s head i tched he mi gh t not scratch it except
,

with a little stick which he wore fas tened to his wrist for the purpose .

This ceremonial mourning for the enemies they had sl ai n was not
uncommon amon g the North American I ndians ,

Thus we see that warriors who have taken the li fe o f a foe in battle
are temporarily cut off f rom f ree intercours e with their fellows and ,

especially with thei r wives and must under go certain rites o f p urifica
,

tion be fore they are readmitted to socie ty N ow i f the purpose o f .

their seclusion and o f the expia tory ri tes which they have to per form
18 as we have been led to believe no other than to shake off fri hten
,
g , , ,

or appease the an gry spirit o f the slain man we may sa fely conj ectur e ,

that the similar purification of homicides and murderers who h av e ,

2 16 TA B OO E D P ERS O N S ca .

imbrued their hands in the blood o f a fellow t ribesman had at first -

,

the sam e si gnificance and that the i d ea o f a moral or spiritual regenera

,

tio n symbolised by the wash in g the fas tin g and so on was merely
, , ,

a later interpreta tion put upon the old custom by men who had out
grown the p rimiti ve modes o f thou gh t in which the custom ori ginated .

The conj ecture will be confi rme d i f we can show that sava ges have actu
ally im p osed certain restrictions on the m urderer o f a fello w -tribesman
f rom a definite fear that he is haun ted by the ghost o f his victim This .

we can do with regard to the Omahas o f N o rt h America Among these .

I ndians the kinsmen o f a murdered man had the ri ght to put the
m urderer to death but sometimes they waived thei r ri ght in con
,

s ideration o f p resents which they consented to accept When the .

li fe of the m urderer was spared he had to observe certain stringent

,

rules for a p eriod which var i ed from two to four years H e must walk .

bare foot and he mi ght cat no warm food nor raise his voice nor look
, , ,

a round H e was compelled to pull his r obe about him and to have it
.

tied at the neck even in hot weather ; he might not let it han g loose or
fly o p en H e mi ght not move hi s hands about but ha d to keep them
.
,

close to his body H e might not comb his hair and it mi ght not be
.
,

blown about by the wind W hen the tribe went out huntin g he was
.
,

obli ged to p itch his tent about a q uarter o f mile from the rest o f the
p eop le lest the ghost o f his victim should rai se a hi gh wind which
”
,

mi ght cause dama ge Only one of his kindred was allowed to remain
.

w ith him at hi s tent N o one wishe d to eat with him for they said
.
, ,
”
I f we eat with him whom Wakanda hates Wak anda will hate us ,
.

S ometimes he wandered at ni ght cryin g and lamenting his o ff ence .

At the end o f his l on g i solation the kinsmen o f the murdered man

heard his crying and said It i s enough B e gone and wal k among
,
.
,
”
the crowd Put on m occasins a nd wear a good robe
. Here the .

reason alle ged fo r keeping the murderer at a considerable distance

from the hunters gives the clue to all the other r estrictions laid on
him : he was haunted and therefore dangerous The ancient Greek s .

believed that the soul o f a man who had j ust been killed was wroth
with his slayer and trouble d him ; where fore it was needful even for
the involuntary homicide to depart from hi s count ry for a year unti l
the an ger of the dead man ha d cooled down ; nor might the slaye r
return until sacrifice had been o ff ere d and ceremonies of purification
p erformed I f hi s victim chance d to be a fo reign e r the homicide had
.
,

to shun the native country of the dea d man as well as his own The
.
.

le gend of the matricide Orestes how he roamed from place to place

,

pursued by the Furies of hi s murdere d mother and none would Si t ,

at meat with him or take him in till he had been purified re fl ects
, , ,

faithfully the real Greek dread of such as were still haunted b y an

a n gry ghost
6 H unters and Fi s hers ta b ooed —In sava ge soci ety the hunte r
.

. .

a nd the fisherma n have o ften to observe rules o f abstinence and to

s ubmit to ceremonies of purification of the same sort as those which
are obli gatory on the warrior and the manslayer ; and thou gh we can
2 18 TAB OO E D P E RS ON S CH .

In the i sland o f U ap one o f the Caroline group every fisherman plying

, ,

his cra f t lies un d er a most s trict taboo durin g the whole o f the fishing
season which las ts for six or e i gh t weeks Whenever h e is on shore
, .

he must spend all his t ime in the men s clubhouse and under no ’

pretext Whatever may he visit his own hous e or s o much a s look upon
the faces o f his w i fe and womenkin d Were he but to steal a gla nce .

at them they think that fly i n g fish must inevitably bore out his eyes
,

at n igh t If his wi fe mother or daughter brings any gi ft for him or

.
, ,

wishes to talk wi th him she must s tan d down towards the shore with
'

,
’
her back turned to the men s clubhouse Then the fi she rm an m a y go .

out a n d S peak to her or with his b ack turned to her he may receive
,

what she has brought him ; a fter which he must return at once to
hi s ri gorous confinemen t I ndeed the fi shermen may n ot even j oin
.

in dance and son g w i th the other men o f the clubhouse i n the evening ;
they must keep to themselves a n d b e silent In M irzapur when the '
.
,

seed o f the silkworm i s brought in to the house the K O1 or Bhuiyar ,

puts it in a place which has been care fully plastered with holy cow
dun g to b rin g good luck From that time the o wner mus t be care ful
.

to avo i d ceremonial impuri ty H e must give up cohabitation with his

.

wi fe ; he may not sleep on a b ed nor shave hims el f nor cut his nails , , ,

nor anoint himsel f w i th oil nor eat food cooked with butter nor tell
, ,

lies nor do anything els e that he deems w rong H e vows to S inga rm ati
,
.

Devi that i f the worms are d uly born he will make her an o ffering
, , .

When t he cocoons o pen and the worms appear he assembles the ,

women o f the house a nd they sin g the same son g as at the birth of a
baby and red lea d i s smeare d on the partin g o f the hair of all the
,

m arri e d women o f the ne ighbourhoo d When the worms pair re .

,

j oicings a re made as a t a marriage Thus the S ilkworms are treated .

as far as poss ible like human bein gs H ence the custom which .

prohibit s the commerce o f the sexes w hile the worms are ha tching may
be only an extens i on by analo gy o f the rule which is observed by
, ,

many races that the husband m ay not cohabit with his wi fe during
,

pre gnancy and lactation .

In the island of N ias the hunters sometimes d ig pits cover them ,

lightly over w i th t wi gs grass a nd leaves and then d rive the game

, , ,

into them While they are en ga ge d in d igging the pits they have to
.
,

observe a number o f taboos They may not spi t or the game would
.
,

turn back in d is gus t from the pi ts They may not laugh or the sides .
,

o f the pit would fall i n They may eat no salt p repare no fodder for
.
,

swine a n d i n the p it they may not scratch themselves for i f they did
. , ,

the ear th would be loosened and would collapse And the ni ght after .

d i ggin g the p it they may have no intercourse w ith a woman or all ,

their labour would be in vain .

This practice o f observin g strict chastity as a condition o f success

in huntin g and fi shing is very common amon g rude races ; and the
-

i n stances o f it which have been ci te d ren d er it pr obable that the rule

i s always b a sed on a superstition rather than on a consideration of the
t em p orary we akness which a breach o f the cu stom m ay ent ail on the
xx HUNT E RS A N D FI S H E RS TA B OO E D 2 19

hunter or fisherman In general it appears to be supposed that the

.

evil e ffec t o f incont inence is not so much that it weakens him , as th at ,

for some reason or o ther , it o ff ends the animals , who in consequence
will not su ffer themselves to be caught A Carri er Indian o f B riti sh
.

Columbia use d to separate from his w i fe for a full month be fore he set
traps for bears , an d d urin g this t i me he mi ght not drink from the same
vessel as his wi fe , but had to use a special cup ma d e o f birch bark .

The neglec t of these precautions woul d cause the game to escape a fter
it had been snared B ut when he was about to snare martens , the
.

period of continence was cut down to ten days .

An examina tion o f all the many cases in which the sava ge bri d les
his passions an d remains chas te from motives o f superst ition woul d ,

be instructive but I canno t attemp t i t now I will only a d d a few

, .

m iscellaneo us examples o f the cus tom be fore passin g to the ceremonies

of purifica tion which are observed by the hunter a n d fisherman a fter

the chase and the fishin g are over T he workers in the sal t-pans
.

near Sip houm in Laos must abs tain from all sexual relations at the
, ,

place where they are at work ; a n d they may not cover their hea d s
nor shelter themselves un d er an umb rella from the burnin g rays o f the
sun Amon g the Kachins of Burma the ferment use d in makin g beer is
.

prepare d by tw o women chosen by lot who during the three d ays that
, ,

the process las ts may eat nothin g aci d a nd may have no conj u gal
relations wi th their husban d s ; o therwise it is suppose d that the
beer woul d be sour Among the Masai honey wine is brewed by a
.
-

man a nd a woman who live in a hut set apar t fo r them till the w i ne
is rea dy for d rinkin g But th ey are str i ctly forb i d d en to have sexual
.

intercourse with each other d uring this time ; it i s deeme d essen tial
that they shoul d be chaste for tw o days be fore they b e gin to brew a n d
for the whole o f the six days that the b rew in g lasts The M asai bel i eve .

that were the couple to commi t a breach o f chas tity not only would ,

the wine be un d r i nkable but the bees wh i ch made the honey woul d fly
away Similarly they requ i re that a man who i s making poison should
.

S leep alone an d observe o ther taboos wh i ch ren d e r him almos t an out

cast The W a n do rob b o a tr ibe o f the same re gion as the Masai bel ieve
.
, ,

that the mere presence o f a woman i n the nei gh b ourhoo d o f a man

who is brewing p oison would deprive the poison o f its venom and that ,

the same thin g woul d happen i f the wi fe o f the poison maker w ere to -

commit a dul tery wh ile her husban d was brewin g the po i son In this .

last case it is obvious that a ra tionalistic explanat i on o f the taboo i s

impossible H ow coul d the loss of vir tue in the po i son b e a phys ical
.

consequence of the loss o f vi r tue in the poison maker s wi fe ? Clearly -

’

the e ffect wh i ch the w i fe s a d ul tery i s supposed to have on the poison i s

’

a case o f sympathe ti c magi c ; her miscon d uct sy m pathetically a ff ects

her husban d and his work at a d istance We may accor d ingly in fer
'

. , ,

with some confidence that the rule o f continence imposed on the

poison maker himsel f is also a simple case o f sympathe tic magic a n d
-
,

not as a civilised rea d er mi ght be disposed to conj ecture a wise pre

, ,

caution d esi gned to preven t him from acc i dentally poisoning his wi fe .
220 TA B O OE D PE RSON S CH .

Amon g the B a Pedi an d B a Thonga tribes of Sou th A frica when

- -
,

the S i te o f a new v i lla e has been chosen a n d the houses are buil din
g g ,

all the marrie d people are fo rbi d d en to have conj u gal relations with
each o ther If it were d iscovere d tha t any couple had broken this
.

rule the work o f buil d in g woul d i mme d ia tely be stoppe d an d ano ther
,
,

si te chosen for the villa ge For they think that a breach o f chastity
.

woul d spoil the v i llage wh ich was

grow i n g up that the chie f would ,

gro w lean a n d perhaps d ie a n d that the gu i l ty woman would never

b ear ano ther chil d Amon g the Chams o f Cochin —
,

. China when a ,

dam is ma d e or r epai re d o n a r iver for the sake o f irrigation ,

the ch i e f who o ffers the tra dit i onal sacrifices a n d i mplores the
protec ti on o f the d eities o n the work has to stay all the t ime in a
wre tche d hovel o f straw takin g no part in the labour and observing
, ,

the stric test continence ; for the people believe tha t a breach o f his
chasti ty woul d en tail a breach o f the d arn H ere it i s plain there can .
, ,

be no idea o f main tainin g the mere bodily vi gour o f the chie f for the
accompl ishmen t o f a ta sk i n which he does n ot even bear a hand .

I f the taboos o r abs ti nences observ ed by hun ters and fishermen

be fore and d urin g the chase are dic tated as we have seen reason to ,

believe by supers ti tious mo tives and chiefly by a d read o f o ff ending

, ,

o r fr ightenin g the spir its o f the crea tures whom it is proposed to kill ,

we may expect tha t the restrain ts imposed a fter the slaugh ter has been
perpe tra te d will be a t leas t a s strin gent the slayer an d his friends ,

h avi n g now the a dd e d fea r o f the an gry ghosts o f hi s victims before

their eyes Whereas on the hypothesis that the abstinences in question
.
,

includin g those from foo d d rink and sleep are merely salutary pre
, , ,

cautions for maintainin g the men in heal th and s tren gth to do their
work i t is ob vious tha t the observance o f these abs tinences or taboos
,

a fter the work i s d one that is when the game i s kille d a n d the fish
, ,

caugh t mus t be wholly superfluous absur d a nd i nexplicable B ut

, , , .

as I shall now show these taboos o ften con tinue to be en force d or even
,

increased in s trin gency a f ter the dea th o f the animals in other words , ,

a fter the hun ter or fi sher has accompl i she d hi s obj ect by making his
b a g or lan d in g his fi sh The ra ti onalis tic theory o f th em therefore
.

breaks down en ti rely ; the hypothesis o f superstition i s clearly the

only one o p en to us .

Amon g the Inu it or E squimaux o f B erin g Strait the dead bodies of

var ious an imals must be t rea te d very care fully by the hunter who
obtains them so that their shades may not be o ffended a nd bring
,

b a d luck o r even d eath upon him or his people H ence the U nali t .

hun ter who has ha d a hand i n the killin g o f a white whale or even has ,

helpe d to take one from the net i s not allowed t o do any work for ,

the next four days that bein g the time d urin g which the sha d e or
,

ghos t o f the whale i s supposed t o stay wi th its body A t the sa me .

time no one in the villa ge may use any sharp or pointed instrument
for fear o f woundin g the whale s shade which is believed to be hovering
’
,

invisible in the nei ghbourhood ; and no loud noise may be made lest
’
it should f ri ghten or o ff end the ghos t Whoev e r cu ts at whale s body .
22 2 TAB OO E D P E RS ON S CH .

king o f beasts Nevertheless all the m en who take p art in the

.
,

slau ghter are re gar d ed as unclean a n d mus t live by themselves for ,

three d ays in a hut o r tent ma d e specially fo r them where they cut ,

up a n d cook the bear s carcase The rein deer which brought in the
’
.

carcase on a sl edge may not be driven b y a woman for a whole year ; '

in d eed a ccor d i n g to one account it may not be used by anybody for

, ,

tha t perio d B e fore the men go i n to the tent where they are to be
.

seclu d e d they s trip themselves o f the garments they had worn in

,

k i llin g the bea r a n d their wives spit the r ed j u i ce o f al d er bark in their

,

faces They en ter the tent n ot by the or d inary door but by an opening
.

at the back When the bear s flesh has been cooked a portion of it
' ’
.
,

i s sen t by the hands o f tw o m en to the women who may not approach ,

the men s ten t while the c o okin g i s goin g on

’
The men who convey .

the flesh to the women pre tend to be stran gers brin ging presents from
a forei gn lan d ; the women keep up the p retence an d promise to tie
re d threa d s roun d the le gs o f the s tran gers The bear s flesh may not ’
.

be passe d in to the women throu gh the door o f their tent but must ,

be thrust i n at a special openin g made by li ftin g up the hem of the

tent— cover Whe n the three d ays seclus i on is over and the men are
.
’

a t liberty to re turn to thei r wives they run one after the o ther round , , ,

the fi re hol d in g the chain by wh i ch pots are susp ended over it

,
This .

is re gar d ed as a fo rm o f purification ; they may now leave the tent

-

by the o r d i n ary d oor and rej oin th e women B ut the lea d er of the .

party must s till absta in from cohabitation wi th his wi fe fo r two days

m ore .

A gain the Ca ffres are sai d to dread gr eatly the b oa constrictor or

,
-

an enormous serpent resemblin g it ; and bein g influenced by certain “

supers ti tious no ti ons they even fear to kill it The man who happened
to p ut it to d eath whe ther in sel f—
.

de fence o r o therw i se was formerly

, ,

requi red to li e in a runnin g stream o f water durin g the day for several
weeks to gether ; and no beast wha tever was allow cd to be slau ghtered -

at the h amlet to which h e belon ged until this duty had been fully ,

per formed The bo d y o f the snake was then taken and carefully
.

burie d in a t rench d ug close to the cattle fold where its rema ins
,
-
, ,

l ike those o f a chi e f were h ence forward kept perfectly undisturbed

,
.

The peri od of penance as in the c a se of mournin g for the d ea d is now

, ,
”
happ ily reduce d to a fe w days I n Ma d ras it i s cons idered a great
.

sin to kill a cobra When thi s has happened the people generally
.
,

burn the bo d y o f the serpent j ust as they burn the bodies o f human ,

bei ngs The mur d erer d eems h imsel f pollute d for three days On
. .

the second d a y milk is poured on the rem ains o f the cobra On the .

thi rd day the guilty wre tch is free from pollution .

I n these last cases the an imal whose slau ghter has to be atoned for
is sacre d that i s it i s one whose li fe is comm only spare d from motives
, ,

o f superstition Yet the treatment o f the sacrile gi ous slayer seems to

.
-

resemble so closely the tre a tment o f hunters and fishermen who

have killed animals for food in the ordinary course of business that ,

the ideas on which both se ts o f customs are based may be assumed to

x xr T HE M E A N I N G O F TABOO 22 3

be substantially the same Those i deas i f I am ri ght are the respect .

, ,

which the savage feels for the souls o f beast s especially valuable o r ,

formidable beasts and the dread which he en tertains o f their ven ge ful
,

ghosts S ome confi rmation o f this view may be drawn from the
.

ceremonies observe d by fishermen o f Annam when the ca rcase o f a

whale is washed ashore These fisher folk w e are told worship the .
, ,

whale on account o f the benefits they d erive from it There is har d ly .

a village on the sea shore whi ch has not its small pagoda co ntainin g
-
,

the bones mo re or less authentic o f a whale When a dea d whale i s

, , .

washed ashore the people accord it a solemn burial

, The man who .

first caught si ght o f it acts as chief mourner performin g the rites which ,

as chie f mourner and he i r he would perform for a human kinsman .

He puts on all the ga rb of woe the straw ha t the white robe wi th lon g , ,

sleeves turned insi d e out and the other paraphernalia of full mournin g
, .

As next o f kin to the d eceased he p resi d es over the funeral ri tes Per .

fumes are burned sticks o f incense kindled leaves of gol d and silver
, ,

scattere d crackers let off When the flesh has b een cut o ff and the
,
.

oil extracte d the remains o f the carcase are buried in the sand
,
A fter .

war ds a she d is set up and off erin gs are made in it Usually some .

time a fter the burial the spiri t o f the d ea d whale takes possession o f
some person in the village and declares by his m outh whether he i s
a male or a female .

CHA PT E R XXI

TA B OOED T H I N GS

1 T he
.
f M eaning in primitiv e society the
o T a b oo —Thus
rules of ceremonial puri ty observed by d ivine kin gs ch ie fs and , ,

priests agree i n many respec ts with the rules observe d by homici d es ,

m ourners women in childbe d gi rls at pube rty hun ters an d fishermen

, , , ,

and so on To us these various classes o f persons appear to di ff er

.

totally i n character and con d ition ; some o f them we should call

holy others we mi ght pronounce unclean a n d polluted B ut the
,
.

savage makes no such moral d istinction between them ; the con

ceptions of holiness and pollu tion are not yet di ff erentiated in his

m ind To him the common feature of all these persons i s that they
.

are dangerous and in danger and the dan ger in which they s tand ,

and to which they expose others is what we should call spi ritual or

ghostly and there fore imaginary

,
The dan ger however i s n ot less .
, ,

real because it is imaginary ; ima gination acts upon man as really

as does gravitation and may kill him as certainly as a dose o f prussi c
,

acid To seclude thes e persons from the rest o f the world so that
.

the dreaded spi ritual dan ger shall neither reach them nor spread
from them is the obj ect o f the taboos which they have to observe
, .

These taboos act so to say as electrical insula tors to preserve the

, ,

spiritual force with which these persons are char ged from su ff ering
or inflicting harm by contact with the outer world .
224 TA BO O E D T H I N GS CH .

To the illustrations o f these general principles which have been

al ready given I shall now a d d some more drawing my examples , ,

fi rs t from the class o f tabooe d thin gs and secon d from the class
, , , ,

o f tabooe d wor d s ; fo r in the opin i on o f the sava e b o th thin s and

g g
wor d s may like persons be char ged or el ec trified either temporarily
, , ,

or permanen tly wi th the mysterious vi r tue o f taboo and may therefore

, ,

requi re to be banished for a lon ger or shor ter time from the familiar
usa ge o f common li fe And the examples will be chosen with special .

re ference to those sacre d chie fs kin gs and priests who more than , , ,

anybody else li ve fenced about by taboo as by a wall Tabooed

, .

thin gs will be illustrated in the present chapter and tabooed words ,

in the next
2 Ir on ta b ooed —
.

. In the first place we may observe that the .

aw ful sanctity o f kin gs naturally lea d s to a prohibi tion to touch

their sacred persons Thus it was unlaw ful to lay han d s on the
.

person of a Spartan k i n g : no one mi ght touch the bo dy o f the king

o r queen o f Tahit i : it is forbi dd en to touch the person of the k in
g
of S iam un d er pain o f d ea th ; an d no one may touch the k in g of
Cambo d ia for any purpose whatever wi thou t his express command
, , .

In July 18 7 4 the kin g was thrown from his carriag e and lay i n
sensible on the groun d but not one of his suite d are d to touch him ; a ,

E uropean comin g to the spot carrie d the inj ured m onarch to his palace .

Formerly no one mi gh t touch the k in g o f Corea ; and if he d eigned

to touch a subj ect the spot touche d becam e sacred and the person
, ,

thus honoured ha d to wear a vi s ible mark (generally a cord o f red

silk ) for the rest o f his li fe Above all no iron mi ght touch the king s ’

bo d y In 1800 Kin g Tien g—

.
,

. tson g tai oan g d ied o f a tumour in the - -

back no one dream in g o f employin g the lancet which would probably

, ,

have save d his li fe It is said that one kin g su ffered terr ibly from
.

an abscess in the lip till hi s physician called in a j ester whose pranks

, ,

ma d e the kin g lau gh heartily a n d so the abscess burst Roman , .

and S abine pries ts mi ght not be shaved with iron but only with
bronze razors or shears ; and whenever an i ron gravin g tool Was -

brou ght into the sacre d grove of the Arval Brothers at Rome for the
purpose o f cuttin g an inscrip tion i n stone an expiatory sacrifice of ,

a la m b and a p ig must be o ffered which was repeated when the ,

gravin g tool was removed fr om the grove As a general rule iron

- .

mi ght not be brou gh t into Greek sanctuaries In Crete sacrifices .

were o ff ered to Men edem u s without the use o f iron because the ,

le gend ran that M en edem us had been killed by an i ron weapon in

the Troj an war The Archon o f Plataea might not touch i ron ; but
.

once a yea r a t the annual commemora tion o f the men who fell at the
,

ba t tle o f Plataea he was allowed to carry a sword wherewith to sacrifice

,

a bull To thi s day a H otten tot priest never uses an iron kni fe but
. ,

always a sharp splint o f quartz in sacrificin g a n animal or circum cis ,

ing a lad Amon g the Ovambo o f S outh west A frica custom requires
.
-

that lads should be ci rcumcised with a sharp flin t ; i f none i s to hand ,

the op eration may be performed with iron but the iron must afterwards ,
2 26 TAB OO E D TH I N GS CH .

the obnoxious me tal iron may obv i ously b e emp loyed as a charm
,

for bannin g ghos ts an d o ther dan gerous spiri ts A n d o ften it is so .

used Thus in the Highlands o f S cotlan d the great sa feguard against

.

the elfin race is i ron or be tter yet steel The m etal in any form
, , , .
,

whether as a sword a kni fe a gun barrel or what n ot is all power ful

, ,
-
, ,
-

for thi s purpose Whenever you enter a fa i ry d welling you should

.

always rem ember to stick a piece o f s teel such as a kni fe a needle , , ,

or a fish hook in the door ; for then the elves will n ot be able to
-
,

shu t the d oor till you come out aga in S o too when you have shot .
, ,

a d eer and are brin gin g it hom e at ni ght be sure t o thrust a knife ,

into the carcase fo r tha t keeps the fa i ries from laying thei r weight
,

on it A kni f e or nai l in your pocket is quite enou gh to prevent

.

the fai ries f rom li ftin g you up at night Nails in the f ront o f a bed .

”
ward off elv es from women in the straw a n d from their babes ;
b ut to make q ui te sure it i s better to put the smoothi ng iron un der -

the bed a nd the reapin g hook in the wind ow

, I f a bull has fallen- -
.

over a rock and been killed a nail s tuck i nto it will preserve the ,

flesh from the fairies M usic discoursed on a Jew s harp keeps .

’

the elfin women away from the hunter because the ton gue of the ,

ins trument i s o f steel I n M orocco i ron is considered a great .

protection a gains t dem ons ; hence it i s usual to place a kni fe or

da gger un d er a sick man s pillow The S in ghalese believe that ’
.

they are co n stantly surroun d ed by evil spirits who lie in wait to ,

do them harm A peasant woul d not d are to carry goo d food such
.
,

as cakes or roast meat from one place to another wi thout put ting ,

an i ron nail on it to preven t a d emon from takin g possession o f the

viands and so maki ng the eater ill N o sick person whe ther m an .
,

o r woman woul d venture out of the house without a bunch of keys

,

or a kni fe in hi s han d fo r wi thou t such a talis m an he woul d fear that

,

some d evil mi ght take advanta ge o f hi s weak state to slip into his
b ody . And i f a m an has a lar ge sore on his body he tries to keep a
morsel o f iron on it as a protec tion against demons On the Slave Coas t .

when a mo ther sees her child gra d ually wastin g away she concludes ,

that a demon has entere d into the child and takes her measures ,

accord i n gly To lure the d emon out o f the bo dy o f her o ff spring

. ,

she o ffers a sacrifice o f food ; and while the devil is boltin g it she ,

attaches i ron rin gs an d small bells to her child s ankles and hangs ’

iron chains roun d his neck The j in glin g o f the iron and the tinkling .

o f the bells are supposed to prevent the demon when he has conclude d ,

hi s repast from en ter i n g a gain into the bo d y o f the li ttle su ff erer

,
.

H ence many children m ay be seen in thi s part o f A fric a weighed down

wi th iron ornam en ts
3 S harp W eapons ta b oo ed —
.

. There is a priestly kin g to the nor th .

o f Zengwih in Burma revere d by the Sotib as the hi ghest spiritual and

,

t emporal authority i nto whose house no weapon or cutti n g instrument

,

m ay be b rou ght
“

This rule may perhaps be explained b y a custom

.
'

observed by various peoples a fter a death ; they re frain from the use of
s harp instruments so lon g as the ghost o f the deceased is su p posed to b e
XXI SHARP W E A PON S TAB OO E D 22 7

near l est they should wound it Thus amon g the E squimaux o f B ering
,
.

Strait duri n g the day on which a person di es in the village no one i s

“

permitted to wo rk and the relatives mus t per form no labour dur in g the
,

three following days It is especially fo rbid d en durin g this period to

.

cut wi th any edged instrum ent such as a kni fe or an axe ; and the ,

use of pointed instruments like needles or bodkins is also forbidden , , .

This is said to be done to avoid cuttin g or inj urin g the shade which ,

m ay be present at any time durin g this period an d i f accidentally , ,

inj ured by any o f these thin gs it woul d bec ome very an gry a nd bring ,

sickness or d ea th to the people The relatives mus t also be very .

care ful at this time no t to m ake any lou d or harsh noises that may
sta rtle o r anger the s ha d e We have seen that in like manner a fter
’

kill in g a white whale these E squimaux abstain from the use o f cutting
or pointed instrumen ts for four days lest they should unwittin gly cut ,

or stab the whale s ghost The same taboo is sometimes observe d by

’
.

them when there is a sick person in the villa ge probably from a fear o f ,

inj urin g hi s sha d e which may be hoverin g outsi d e of his body A fter .

a death the Roumanians o f Transylvania are care ful not to leave a kni fe
lying w ith the sharp e d ge uppermos t so long as the co rpse remains in
”
the house or else the so ul will b e forced to ride on the blade
,
“
For .

seven days a fter a death the corpse bein g s till in the house the Chinese
, ,

abstain from the us e of knives and nee d les an d even o f chopsticks , ,

eating their foo d w ith their fin gers On the th i rd six th ninth and .
, , ,

fort ieth d ays a fter the funeral the old Pruss i ans an d Li thuani ans use d
to prepare a meal to which s tan d ing at the door they i nvi ted the
, , ,

soul of the d eceased At these meals they sat silent round the table
.

and use d no knives and the women who serve d up the foo d were als o
without knives If any morsels fell from the table they were le ft lyin g
.

there for the lonely souls that had no living relations or friends to fee d
them When the meal was over the pries t took a broom and swep t
.

the souls out o f the house sayin g Dear souls ye have eaten and
, , ,
”
drunk Go forth go forth
. We can now understand why no cutting
,
.

instr umen t may be taken into the house o f the B urmese pon ti ff Lik e .

so many priestly kin gs he is probably re gar d ed as d iv ine and it i s

, ,

therefore ri ght that his sacred spirit shoul d not be exposed to the ri sk
of bein g cut or wounde d whenever it quits his body t o hover i nvisibl e

in the ai r or to fly on some d i stan t missio n

4 B l ood ta b ooed —W e have seen that the Flamen Diali s was
.

. .

forbi dd en to touch or even name raw flesh At certain times a .

Brahman teacher i s enj oined not to look on raw flesh blood or persons , ,

whose hands have been cut o ff In U ganda the father o f twins is in .

a state o f tab oo for some t ime a fter birth ; amon g o ther rules h e
is forbidden to kill anythin g or to see bloo d In the Pelew Islan d s .

when a raid has been made on a villa ge and a head carried off the ,

relations o f the slain man are tabooe d a n d have to submit to certain

observ ances in order to escape the wra th o f his ghost They are shut .

up in the house touch no raw flesh and chew betel over which an
, ,

incantation ha s been uttered by the exorcist A fter this the gho st .

228 TA B OO E D TH I N GS CH .

of the slaughtered man goes away to the enemy s country in pursuit ’

o f his murderer The ta b oo i s probably base d on the common bel ief

.

tha t the s oul or spi rit o f the animal is in the blood A s tabooed
persons a re bel i eved to be in a per ilous sta te—for example the relations
.

o f the slain man are liable t o the a ttacks o f his in d i gnan t ghos t—
,

it
is especially necessary to i solate them from contact with spirits ;
hence the proh ib iti on to touch raw meat But as usual the taboo is .

only the special en forcement o f a general precep t ; in o ther words its ,

observance is par ticularly enj oine d in circumstances which seem

urgen tly to call for its applica tion b ut apart from such circums tances
,

the prohibition i s als o observed thou gh less strictly as a common

, ,

rule o f li fe Thus some o f the E sthonians will not taste blood because
.

they believe that it con tains the an imal s soul which would enter the ’

body o f the person who tas ted the bloo d Some Indian tribes of .

“
North America through a strong principle o f religion abstain in
, ,

the stric tes t manner fr om eatin g the bloo d o f any animal as it contains ,
”
the li fe and spirit o f the beast Jewi sh hunters poured out the
.

bloo d o f the game they had killed a nd covered it up wi th dust They .

w o ul d not taste the blood beli evin g that the soul or li fe o f the animal
,

wa s in the blood o r actually was the blood

,
.

It is a common rule that royal blood may n ot be shed upon the

ground H ence when a king or one o f hi s family is to be put to death
.

a mode o f execu tion i s d evise d by which the royal blood shall not be
S pil t upon the earth Abou t the year 168 8 the generalissimo of the
.

“
a rmy rebelled a gainst the kin g o f Siam and p ut him to death af ter
the manner o f royal crimi nals or as princes o f the blood are trea te d
,

when convicted of capi tal crim es which is by puttin g them in to a ,

large iron caldron a n d poun d in g them to pieces wi th wooden pestles

, ,

because none of thei r royal bloo d must be spilt on the ground it being , ,

by their reli gion thought great imp ie ty to contaminate the divine blood
,

by mixin g it w ith ear th When Kublai Khan de feated a n d took his

.

uncle Nayan who ha d rebelle d a gainst him , he caus ed Nayan to be

,

put to death by bein g wrap t in a carpet and tossed to and fro till he
die d because he would not have the bloo d o f his Line Imperial spilt
,

upon the groun d or ex p ose d in the eye o f H eaven and before the Sun .

“
Friar Ri cold mentions the Tartar m axim : One Khan will put ‘

another to d eath to get possessi on o f the throne b ut he takes great ,

care that the bloo d be n ot spil t For they say that it is hi ghly 1m
.

proper that the bloo d o f the Great Khan should be spilt upon the
’

groun d ; so they caus e the vic tim to be smothered somehow or other

.

The like feelin g prevails at the cour t of B urma where a peculiar mode ,
”
o i execu tion wi thou t bloo d shed is reserve d fo r princes o f the blood .

The reluctance to spill royal bloo d seems to be only a par ticular

case o f a general unwillingness to shed blood o r a t least to allow it to
fall on the ground Marco P olo tells us tha t in his day persons cau ght
.

in the streets o f Cam b aluc (Peking) a t unseason able hours were ar '

reste d and i f found guilty o f a m is demeanor were bea ten wi th a stick

,
.

Under this punishment people sometimes die but they adopt i t i n ,

.
2 30 T A B OOE D T H I N GS CH .

into the hands o f sorcerers who on the principles o f conta gious m a gic ,

coul d work him harm thereby .

The general explana ti on o f the relucta nce to shed blood on the

ground is probably to be found in the b elie f tha t the soul i s in the blood ,

an d tha t there fore any ground on which i t may fall necessarily becomes

taboo o r sacred I n N ew Zealan d anythin g upon which even a drop

.

o f a hi gh chi e f s blood cha nces to fall becomes taboo or sacred to him

’
.

For instance a party o f na tives havin g com e to visit a chie f in a fine

,

n ew c anoe the chie f go t into i t but in doin

, g so a splinte r entered his ,

f oot and the blood trickled on the canoe which at once became sacre d
, ,

t o him The owner j um ped out dragged the canoe ashore opposite
.
,
’
th e chief s hou se and left it there A gain a chief in entering a
,
'

.
,
’
missionary s house knocked hi s head a gains t a beam and the blood ,

fl owed The natives said that in former times the hous e w ould have
.

belon ged to the chie f A s usually happens wi th taboos o f universal

.

a pplication the prohibi tion to spill the blood o f a tribesman on the

,

ground applies wi th peculiar strin gency to chie fs and kin gs and is ,

observe d in their cas e lon g a fter it has ceased to be obser v ed in the case
o f others
5 T he H ead ta b ooed — Many peoples re gard the head as peculi arly
.

sacred ; the special sanctity attribute d to i t is some times explained

by a belief that it contains a spirit which is very sensitiv e to inj ury
o r disresp ect Thus the Yorubas hold that every man has three
.

spiri tual inmates o f whom the fi rst called Olori d wells in the head
, , ,
’
and i s the man s pro tector guardian a n d guide O ff erin gs are m ade , ,
.

t o this spiri t chiefly o f fowls a n d som e o f the blo od mixed with palm
, ,

o i l i s rubbe d on the forehead The Karens suppose that a being called .

the ts o resides in the upper part o f the head an d while it retains its seat ,

n o harm can be fall the person from the e fforts o f the seven K elahs or ,

personifi e d passions But i f the ts o becomes heedless or weak certain

.

evil to the p erson is the result H enc e the head is care fully attended .

to and all poss ible pai ns are taken to provide such dress and at tire
,
”
a s will b e pleasin g to the ts o The Siamese think that a spirit called .

k ha a n or k w nn dwells in the human head of whi ch it is the guardian ,

spirit The spirit m ust be carefully protecte d from inj ury o f every
.

kind ; hence the act o f shavin g or cuttin g the hai r is accompanied with
many cer em onies The k nown is very sensitive on point s o f honour
.
,

and woul d feel mortally insulted i f the head in which he resides were
touched by the hand o f a stran ger The Cambo d ia n s esteem it a grave .

o ff ence to touch a man s hea d ; some o f them will not enter a place ’

where anythin g w hatever is suspended over their heads ; and the

m eanest Cambodian would never consent to live under an inhabited
roo m H ence the houses a re built o f one story only ; and even the
.

Gov ernment respects the prej udice by never placin g a prisoner in the
s tocks under the floor o f a house thou gh the hous es are raised hi gh ,

above the ground The same superstition exists amon gst the Malays ;
.

for an early traveller reports that in Java people wear nothin g on

their heads and say tha t no thin g m ust b e on thei r heads
,
and i f '
xxx T HE H E AD TABO O E D 23 1

any person were to put his han d upon thei r head they would kill him ;
and they do not buil d houses with storeys in order that they may not ,
” ’
walk over each other s heads .

The same supers tition as to the head is found i n full force throu ghout
Polynesia Thus o f Gattanew a a Marquesan chi e f it i s said that to
.
, ,

touch the top of his hea d o r any thin g which had been on hi s head , ,

was sacrilege T o pass over hi s head was an indi gnity never to b e

.

”
forgo tten . The son o f a Marquesan high priest has bee n seen to roll
on the ground in an a gony o f rage and despair b egging for death ,
‘

because some one had d esecrat ed his head and dep rived him o f hi s
divinity by sprinklin g a few d rops o f water on his hair But it was not .

the Marquesan chie fs only whose heads were sacred The head o f .

every Marquesan was taboo and might neither be touched nor stepped ,

over by ano ther ; even a father mi ght not step over the head o f his
sleepin g ch il d ; women were forbi dd en to carry or touch anythin g that
had been in con tact wi th or ha d merely hun g over the hea d o f thei r
, ,

husband or father No one was allow ed to be over the head o f the

.

king o f Ton ga In Tahi ti any one who stood over the kin g o r queen
.
,

or passe d his hand over their heads m i ght b e put to death Un til , .

certain rites were per forme d over it a Tahi tian in fan t was especially “

,
’
tab oo ; whatever touche d the child s head wh ile it was in this state , ,

became sacred and was d eposite d in a consecrate d place railed i n for

the purpose at the child s house If a branch o f a t ree touched the
’
.

chil d s hea d the tree was c u t down ; and if i n its fall i t inj ure d anothe r
’
,

tree so as to pene trate the bark tha t t ree also was cut d own as unclean ,

and unfi t fo r use A fter the rites were per forme d these special taboos
.

ceased ; b ut the hea d o f a Tahi tian w as alway s sacre d he never carri ed ,

anythin g on it and to touch it was an o ffence S o sacre d was the hea d

,
.

of a Maori chie f tha t i f he only touched it w i th hi s fingers he was

“
,

obli ge d im mediatel y t o apply them to hi s nos e a n d snu ff up the sanctity ,

which they ha d acqui red by the touch a n d thus restore it to the part ,

from whence it was taken On ac count o f the sacredne ss of his head

.

a Maori ch i ef could not blow the fi re with hi s mouth for the breath ,

bein g sacred communicated his sanctity to it an d a bran d m i ght be

, ,

ta ken by a slave or a man of ano ther tribe or the fire m i ght b e us ed

, ,
”
for o ther pur p oses such as cookin g a n d so cause his d eath
6 H air ta b oo ed — When the hea d was considere d so sacred that
, , .

it mi ght not even be touched wi thout grave o ffence i t is obvious that ,

the cu tting o f the hai r mus t have been a d el icate and di fficul t operation .

The d i fficulties and dan gers which on the primitive view beset the , ,

operation are o f two kin d s There i s first the dan ger o f disturbing the
.

spirit o f the head which may be inj ure d in the process an d may revenge
,

itsel f upon the person who moles ts him S econdly there is the diffi .
,

culty o f disposin g o f the shorn locks For the savage bel ieves that the .

sym pathetic connex ion which exists between himsel f and eve ry part
of his b o dy con tinues to exist even a fter the physical connexion has
been broken an d that there fore he will suffer from any harm that may
,

b ef all the several parts o f his body such as the clippings o f his h ai r ,
23 2 TABOO E D TH I NG S CH .

or the parin gs of his nails Accordin gly he takes ca re that these .

severed por tions o f himsel f shall not be le ft in places where they mi ght
e i ther be exposed to acci d en tal inj ury o r fall i n to the hands o f malicious
persons who might work magi c on them to his d etriment or death .

S uch dan gers are common to all but sacre d persons have more to fear ,

from them than or d inary p eople so the precau tions taken by them are ,

p ropor tion a tely strin gen t The simples t way o f evadin g the peril
.

i s not to cut the hair at all ; and this is the expedient adopted where
the ri sk is thought to be m ore than usu ally great The Frankish kings .

were never allowe d to crop the i r hair ; from their ch i ldhoo d upwar ds
they had to keep it unshorn To poll the long locks that floated on .

their shoulders woul d have been to renounce their ri ght to the throne .

When the wi ck ed brothe rs Clota ire a nd Child eb ert cove ted the kingdom
o f their d ea d brother Clodom i r they invei gled into their power their ,

l ittle nephews the two sons o f Clodom ir ; and having done so they
, ,

c
e nt a messen ger bearin g scissors a n d a naked sword to the children s ’

grandmothe r Queen Cl otilde at Paris :

, The envoy showed the scissors
,

an d the sword to Clotilde and b a de her choose whe ther the children
,

should be shorn and live or remain unshorn and die The proud queen
-
.

replie d that i f her grandchildren were not to come to the throne she
woul d ra ther see them dead than shorn And murdered they were by .

their ruthless uncle Clota ire with his own hand The king o f Ponape . ,

one o f the Caroline I slands must wear his hai r lon g and so must his
, ,

gran d ees Am ong the H os a negro tribe of West A frica there are
.
, ,

priests on whose head no r a zor may come durin g the whole of their
lives The god w ho dwells i n the man fo rbids the cutting of his
.

hair on pa in o f death If the hair is at last too lon g the owner must
.
,

pray to hi s god to allow him at least to clip the tips o f it The hair .

is in fact conceived as the seat a n d lodgi n g place o f his god so that -

,
”
were it shorn the god woul d l ose hi s abo d e in the priest The .

m embers o f a Masai clan who are believed to possess the art o f making
,

rain may not pluck out their bear d s because the loss o f their beards
, . ,

would it is supposed en tail the loss o f thei r rain makin g p owers

, ,
- .

The head chie f a n d the sorcerers o f the Masai observe the same rule for
a like reason : they think tha t were they to pull out their beards their ,

supernatural gi fts would des ert them .

A gain men w ho have taken a vow o f venge a nce sometimes keep

,

thei r hai r unshorn till they have fulfilled their vow Thus of the .

“
Marquesans w e are told that occasionally they have the ir h ead
entirely shaved except one lock on the crown which i s worn loose or
, ,

p ut up in a kno t B u t the la tter mo d e o f wearin g the hai r is only

.

a d o p ted by them when they have a solemn vow as to reven ge the ,

death o f some near relat ion etc I n such case the lock is never cut ,
.

”
off un til they have fulfille d thei r promise A similar custom was .

some times observed by the ancient Ge rmans ; amon g the Cha tti the
yo un g wa rriors nev er clippe d thei r hai r or their beard till they had
’
slain an enemy Amon g the T oradj as when a child s hair is cut to
. ,

rid it of vermin som e locks are allowed to remain on the c rown of the
,
23 4 TAB O OE D TH I N G S CH .

a b ag woven o f thr eads or fibres which were k notted i n an intricate .

way The whol e was then buried with certain rites and thereupon
.
,

the victi m wasted away o f a languishin g sickness which lasted twenty

days H is li fe however mi ght b e saved by discoverin g and digging
.
, ,

up the buried hair s p ittle o r what n ot ; fo r as so on as this was done

, ,

the power o f the Charm ceased A M aori s orcerer intent on b ewitching .

s om ebody sou ght to get a tress o f hi s v ictim s hai r the p arin gs o f his
’
,

nails so m e o f his s p it tle or a shred o f his garment H aving ob tained

’

, , .

the obj ect whateve r it was he chanted cer tain spells and curses over
, ,

it i n a falsetto voice and buri ed it in the ground As the thing decayed .

,

the p erson t o whom it had belon ged was supposed t o waste away .

When a n Australian black fellow wishes to get rid o f his wi fe he cuts ,

of f a loc k o f her hair in her sleep ti es it to his s p ear -th rower and goes , ,

with it to a neighbouring tribe where he gives it to a friend His , .

fri end stick s the spear throw er up every night b e fore the camp fire
~

an d when it falls down it is a si gn that the wi fe is dead The way in .

which the charm operates was explained t o Dr H owitt by a Wiraj uri .

“ ” “
man . You see he said when a black fellow docto r get s hold of
, ,

somethin g belonging to a man and roasts it with thin gs and sings over ,
'

if6 1lo w
,t the fire catches hold o f the smell o f the man and that settles the poo r
.
,

’
The H uz uls o f the Carpa thians ima gine th at i f mice get a p erson s
sho rn hai r and ma k e a nest of it the person w ill suff er from headache ,

or even become idiotic Similarly in Germ any it i s a common notion

.

that i f birds fin d a p erson s cut hai r and build thei r nests with it the
’
, ,

p erson will su ff e r from headache ; sometimes it is thought that he

wi ll h ave an eruption on the head The same supe rstition prevails . ,

o r used to p revail i n West S ussex ,

.

A gain it i s thought that cut or comb ed out hair may disturb the -

weather by p roducin g rain and hail thun der and lightning We have ,
.

s een that in New Z ealand a spell was uttered at hair-cutting to avert

thunde r and li ghtnin g I n the Tyrol witches are s upp osed to use
. ,

cut o r combed out hair to make hailstones or thunderstorms with

- -
.

T hlink eet I ndians have been known to attribute stormy weather to

th e rash act o f a girl who had combed her hai r outs ide o f the house .

The Romans seem to have held similar view s for it was a maxim with , ,

t hem tha t no o n e on shi p board should cut hi s hai r or nails e x ce p t in

a storm that i s when the mischie f was already done

, ,
I n the H i gh .

lands o f Scotland it is sai d that no s ister shoul d comb her h ai r at ni ght

i f she have a brother at sea I n W est A frica when the Mani o f Chi . ,

tombe or J umba di ed the people used to run in crowds to the corpse

,

and tear out his hai r teeth and nails which they k ep t as a rain -Charm
, , ,
,

believin g that otherwise no rain would fall The Mak o k o of the .

A nz ik os be gged the m i ssionaries to give him hal f their be ards as a

rai n-cha rm .

I f cut hai r and nail s remain i n sympathet i c co nne x i on w1th the

0 0

e rson from whose body they have b een severed it i s clear that they
p , ,

can b e used as hosta ges for hi s good b ehav1our by any one w o may
h
xx x DI S PO SAL OF CU T HAI R A ND NAILS 23 5

chance to possess them ; for on the principles o f conta gious magic he

has only to inj ure the hair or na i ls in or d er to hurt s imultaneously their
original owner H ence when the Nan d i have taken a prisoner they
.
.

shave his head and kee p the shor n hai r as a sure ty that he w ill not
attemp t to escape ; b u t when the cap tive is ransomed they return his ,

shorn hai r with him to his own people .

To preserve the cut hair and nails from inj ury and from the
dangerous uses to which they may be p ut by sorcerers it is necessary ,

to deposit them in som e sa fe place The shorn locks o f a Maori chi e f

.

we re gathere d wi th much care and place d in an a d j o inin g cemetery .

The Tahit ians burie d the cu ttin gs o f thei r hair at the temples I n the .

stree ts o f Soku a mo d ern traveller observe d ca irns o f large s tones

piled against walls wi th tu fts o f hum an hai r inserte d in the crevices .

On ask in g the meaning o f this he was tol d that when any native o f
,

the place polle d hi s ha i r he care fully ga there d up the clippin gs and

deposite d them in one o f thes e ca i rns all o f which were sacred to the ,

fetish an d there fore inviolable These cairns o f sacre d s tones he

.
,

further learne d were simply a precau ti on a ga inst wi tchcra ft fo r i f a

, ,

man were not thus care ful in dispos in g o f hi s hair some o f it m igh t fall ,

into the hands o f hi s enemies who woul d by means o f it be able to

, , ,

cas t spells over him an d so compass hi s d es truction When the top .

knot o f a Siamese ch il d has been cut wi th great ceremo ny the short ,

hairs are p ut into a l it tle v ess el ma d e o f plan tai n leaves a nd set a d r i ft

'

on the nearest river or canal As they float away all that was wron g
.
,

or harm ful in the child s d ispos ition i s b el i eve d to d epar t w ith them
’
.

The long ha i rs are kept till the ch i l d makes a p il grima ge to the holy
Foo tprint o f B ud d ha on the sacred hill a t Praba t They are the n .

presente d to the pries ts who are suppose d to make them in to brushes

,

with wh ich they sweep the Foo tprint ; but in fac t so much ha i r is thus ,

offered every year that the pries ts canno t use it all so they qu i e tly ,

burn the sup erfl u ity as soon as the pil gr ims backs are turne d The ’
.

cut hair a n d na i ls o f the Flamen B ial i s were bur ie d un d er a lu ck y

tree The shorn tresses o f the Vestal Virgins were hung on an ancien t
.

lotus -tree .

O ften the clipped ha i r and nail s are stowe d away i n any secret
place not necessarily in a temple or cemetery or a t a tree as in the
, ,

cases already mentioned Thus in S wab ia you are recommen d e d to

.

deposit your clippe d hair in some spot where nei ther sun nor m oo n can
shine on it for example in the ear th or un d er a stone I n Danzi g it
,
.

is buried in a b a g un d er t he threshol d In U gi one o f the S olomon .

,

Islands men bury their hair lest it shoul d fall in to the han d s o f an
,

enemy who woul d make ma gic wi th it a nd so br in g sickness or calami ty

,

on them The same fear seems to be general in M elan e s ia a n d has led

. ,

to a regular practice of h i ding cut hai r an d nails The same practice .

prevails amon g many tribes o f S outh A frica from a fear lest w izards ,

shoul d get hold o f the severed par ticles and work evil wi th them .

The Caff res carry still fu rther this d rea d o f allowin g any por tion o f
themselves to fa ll into the hand s of an enemy ; for not only do they
23 6 TAB OO E D TH I NGS cn .

bu ry thei r Cut hair a nd nails in a secret spot but when one o f them ,

cleans the head o f ano ther he p reserves the verm i n which he catches
“
,

care fully d eliv er ing them to the person to whom they o ri ginally
apper ta i ned s upposin g accor d in g to their theory that as they derived
, , ,

the i r suppo rt from the bloo d o f the man from whom they were taken '

shoul d they be kille d by ano ther the bloo d o f his nei ghbour woul d be
,

i n hi s possession thus plac i n g i n his han d s the power o f some super

human influence .

Some times the severe d ha i r and na ils are preserve d not to p revent ,

them from fallin g into the han d s o f a ma gician but that the owner ,

m a y have them at the resurrection o f the body to which some races ,

look forwar d Thus the Incas o f Peru took extreme care to preserve
.
“

the nail parin gs and the hairs that were shorn off or torn out with
-

a comb ; placin g them in ho les or niches in the walls ; a n d i f they fell ,

out any other I n d ian that saw them picke d them up a nd p ut them
,

i n thei r places again I very o ften asked di ff erent Indians at various

.
,

times why they did this in order to see wha t they would say and
, , ,

they all replied in the same words sayin g Know that all persons ,
‘

w ho are born must return to li fe (they have no word to express ’

‘
resurrection ) and the souls mus t ris e out o f thei r tombs with all
,

tha t belon ge d to their bodies We there fore in order that we may

.
, ,

not have to search for ou r hai r and nails at a time when there will
be much hurry and confusion place them in one place that they , ,

may be brou gh t to gether more conveniently and whenever it is ,

possible we a re also care ful to spit i n one place

,
S imilarly the .

Turks never throw away the parings o f their na ils but care fully stow ,

them in cracks o f the walls o r of the boards i n the belief that they ,

w ill be nee d e d at the resurrecti on The A rmenians d o not throw .

away thei r cut hair a n d nails and extracted te eth but hide them in ,

places that are es teemed holy such as a crack in the church wall a
, ,

pilla r o f the house or a hollow tree They think that all these severed
, .

portions o f themselves will be wanted at the resurrection and that he ,

who has not s towed them away in a sa fe place will have to hunt about
,

for them on the great day In the village o f Drumconrath in Ireland

.

there used to b e some ol d women who havin g ascertained from Scrip ,

ture tha t the hairs of their heads were a ll numbered by the Almi ghty ,

expected to have to account for them at the day o f j udgment In order .

to be able to do so they stuffed the severed hair away in the thatch of

their cotta ges .

S om e people burn thei r loose hair to save it from fallin g into

the hands o f so rcerers This is d one by the Pa ta gonians and some of
.

the Victorian tribes I n the Upper Vos ges they say that you should
.

never leave the C lippin gs o f your hai r a n d nails lying about but burn ,

them to hinder the sorcerers from usin g them a gainst you For the .
'

same reason Italian women ei ther burn thei r loose hairs or throw
them in to a place where no one is likely to look for them The almost .

universal dread o f witchcra ft induces the West A frican ne groes the ,

M ak ololo o f South A frica and the T ahiti an s to bu rn or bury thei r

,
238 TAB OO E D TH I NG S CH .

the milk or beer and spit it into the other s m outh I n u rgent cases ’
.
,

when there is no time to spen d on ceremony the two will sim ply spit
.
,
’
into each other s mouth which seal s the covenant j ust as well
10 F oods ta b ooed —As m i gh t have been expected the supe r
.
,

.
,

s ti ti ons o f the sava ge clus ter th i ck abou t the subj ect o f food ; and

he abstains f rom eatin g many an i mals and plants wholesome enough ,

in themselves which for one reason or ano ther he fancies w ould prove
,

dan gerous or fatal to the eater E xamples o f such abstinence are .

too familiar and fa r too numerous to quo te B ut if the ordi nary man .

is thus deterred by sup ers titious fear from partaking o f various foods , ,

the restraints o f this kind w hich are laid upon sacred or tabooed
persons such as kin gs and pri es ts are s ti ll more numerous and stringent
, , .

We have al rea dy seen that the Flamen Diali s was forbidden to eat
o r even name several plants a n d animals and that the fl esh diet of ,

E gyptian kin gs w as restric te d to veal and goo se In antiquity many .

p riests and m any kin gs o f barbarous peoples abstained wholly from

a fl esh diet The Ga ngas o r fe tish priests o f the Loango Coast are
.

fo rb idden t o eat o r even see a variety o f an i mals and fish in con ,

sequence of which thei r flesh die t is ex tremely limited ; o ften they

live only on herbs and roots thou gh they may drink fresh blood,
.

The heir to the throne o f Lo an go is forbid d en from ,infancy to eat

p ork ; from early childhood he i s interdicted the use o f the cola fruit
i n com p any ; at puberty he i s tau gh t by a priest not to partake of
fowls except such as he has himsel f killed and cooked : and so the
number of taboos goes on increasin g with his years In Fernando Po .

the kin g a fter installation i s forbi dd en to eat cocco (arm n aeanle) ,

deer and p orcupine which are the o rdinary foods o f the people
, ,
.

The hea d chie f o f the M asai may eat no thin g but m ilk honey and , ,

the roasted livers o f goats for i f he partook o f any other food he

would lose his power o f soothsaying an d o f comp ounding charms .

11 K n ots and Ri ngs ta b oo ed —W e have seen that among the

.

many taboos which the Flamen Dial is at Rome had t o observe there ,

was one that forbade him to have a knot on any part o f his garments ,

. and another that obli ged him to w ear no rin g unless it were broken .

In like manner M oslem pil grims to Mecca are in a state of sancti ty

or taboo and may wear on thei r persons neither k not s nor rings .

These rules are probably o f kin d re d si gnificance and may conv en i ently ,

be considered to gether To be gi n with knots many people in d i ff erent

. ,

parts o f the worl d entertain a stron g obj ection t o havin g any k not
about thei r person at cer ta in critical seasons particularly ch i ldb i rth ,
,

marria ge and death ,

Thus amon g the S axons o f Transylvan i a
.
,

when a woman i s in travail all kno ts on her garments are unti ed ,

because it is believed that this will facilitate her delive ry and Wi th ,

the same intention all the locks in the house whether on doors or ,

bo x es are unlo ck ed The Lapps think that a lyin g-in woman should
,
.

have no knot on her garments becaus e a knot would have the e ffect
,

o f makin g the delivery di fficul t an d painful I n the E ast Ind i es thi s .

u erstition i s ext ended to the whole time o f re

p g na ncy ; the
s p
xxr KNOTS AN D RI N GS TAB OO E D 2 39

people believe that i f a pre gnant woman were to tie knots or braid , ,

or make anything fast the child would thereby b e cons tric te d o r

,
'

the woman woul d hersel f be

“
t ied up when her time came Nay .
,

some o f them en force the observance o f the rule on the father as well
as the mother o f the unb orn chil d Among the Sea Dyaks nei ther .

of the paren ts may bin d up anyth in g wi th a strin g or make any th i n

g
fast durin g the w i fe s pre gnancy
’
I n the T oum b uluh tribe o f Nor th
.

Celebes a ceremony i s per formed i n the fourth or fi fth month o f a

’
woman s pre gnancy an d a f ter it her husband is fo rbi dd en among
, ,

many o ther thin gs to tie any fast knots and to sit wi th his le gs crossed
,

over each other .

In all these cases the i d ea seems to be tha t the ty in g o f a k n ot

woul d as they say in the E ast In d ies
, tie up the woman in o ther , ,

words impede and perhaps preven t her d elivery or d elay her con
, ,

va lescence a fter the b i r th On the principles o f homoeopathic or

.

im itative ma gic the physical obs tacle or impe d imen t o f a knot on a cord
woul d create a correspon d in g o b s tacle or impe d imen t in the bo dy o f the
woman Tha t th is is really the explanation o f the rule appears from a
.

cus tom observe d b y the H os o f Wes t A frica at a d i fficul t b irth When .

a woman i s in hard labour and cannot bri ng for th they call in a ,

magician to her a i d H e looks at her and says

. The ch il d i s boun d ,

in the womb tha t is why she canno t be d elivere d

,
On the en treaties .

of her female r elations he then promises to l oosen the bo n d so that sh e

may brin g forth Fo r tha t purpose he or d ers them to fetch a tough
.

creeper from the fores t a n d w ith it he b i n d s the han d s a n d feet o f

,

the su ff erer on her back Then he takes a kni fe a n d calls out the
.

woman s name a nd when she answers he cuts through the creeper

’

with a kni fe say ing I cut throu gh to day thy bon d s and thy ch ild s
, ,
“
-
’

bon d s
. A fter tha t he chops up the creeper small pu ts the bi ts i n ,

a vessel o f w a ter and ba thes the woman w ith the wa ter H ere the
,
.

’
cutting o f the creeper wi th which the woman s han d s an d fee t are
boun d i s a simple piece o f homoeopa th ic or imi ta tive ma gi c : by
releasing her limbs from thei r bon d s the ma gician ima gines that he
simul taneously releases the chil d in her womb from the t rammel s
which impe d e its bir th The same tra in of thou gh t un d erlies a prac tice
.

observe d by some peoples o f openin g all locks d oors an d so on while , , ,

a birth is takin g place in the house We have seen that at such a .

time the Germans o f Transylvan ia open all the locks and the same ,

thing is done also in Voi gtland and Mecklenbur g In Nor th western‘

.
-

Argyllshire supersti tious people used to open every lock in the house
at childb i r th In the islan d o f Salset te near B ombay when a woma n
.
,

is in har d labour all locks o f d oors or d rawers are opene d wi th a key

,

to facili ta te her delivery Amon g the M a n del ings o f S umatra the li ds

.

o f all chests boxes pans

, an d so forth are opene d ; and i f th i s d oes
, ,

not pro d uce the d esire d e ffect the anxious husban d has to s tr ike the
,

proj ectin g ends o f some o f the house beams in order to loosen them ; -

for they think that everythin g must b e op en and loose to facilitate

“
.

”
the delivery . I n Ch i tta gon g when a woman cannot bring her child
,
240 TAB OO E D TH I N GS CH .

to the birth the midwi fe gives orders to throw all doors and windows
,

w ide open to unc ork all bo ttles to remove the bungs from all casks
, , ,

to unloose the cows in the s tall the horses in the stable the watch dog , ,

i n his kennel to set free sheep fowls ducks and so forth This
, , , , .

un iversal liberty acc or d e d to the an imals and even to inanimate things ,

i s accordin g to the pe 0 p 1e an in fall ib le means o f ensurin g the woman s

, ,
’

de l ivery and allowin g the bab e to be born I n the islan d of Saghalien .

,

when a woman i s in labour her husband undoes every thing that can ,

be un d one H e loosens the pla its o f hi s hair and the laces of his shoes
.
.

Then he unti es whatever is tied in th e house or its vicinity In the .

cour tyar d he takes the axe out o f the log in which it i s stuck ; he
un fastens the boa t i f it i s moore d to a tree he withdraws the ca rtridges
, ,

from his gun and the arrows from his crossbow

,

A gain we have seen that a T oum b uluh man abstains not only
,

from tyin g knots but also from si ttin g wi th crossed le gs d uring his
,
’
wi fe s p re gnancy The train o f thought is the sa m e in both cases
. .

W he the r you cross threads in tyin g a knot or only cross your legs in
sittin g at your case you are equally on the principles o f h om oeopathic
, ,

ma gi c cross i ng or thwar tin g the free course o f things a n d your action

, ,

cannot b ut check a nd impe d e wha tever may be going forward 1n your

nei ghb ourhood O f this impo rtant truth the Romans were fully aware
. .

To sit b eside a pregnant woman or a patien t under me d ical treatment

with clasped han d s sa vs the grave Pl i ny is to cast a mali gnan t spell
, ,

over the per son and it is worse still i f you nurse your leg or le gs with
,

your claspe d hands o r lay one leg over the other S uch postures
,
.

were regarded by the old Romans as a let and hindrance to business

o f every sort and at a council o f war or a meetin g o f ma gistrates at
, ,

prayers a n d sacrifices no man was suff ered to cr oss his legs or clasp
,

hi s hands The stock instance o f the dread ful consequences that

.

mi gh t flow from d o in g one or the other was tha t o f Alcmena who ,

travailed wi th H ercules for seven days and seven ni ghts because the ,

go d dess Luc i na s at in front o f the house wi th clasped hands and crossed

le gs and the child coul d not be born un til the goddess had been
,

beguiled into chan gin g her a tti tude It i s a B ul garian superstition .

tha t if a pre gnan t woman i s in the habi t o f si ttin g wi th crossed le gs

,
,

she will su ffer much in childbed I n some parts o f Bavaria when .

,

conversa tion comes to a stands till and silence ensues they say Surely , ,
”
someb ody has crossed his le gs .

The ma gical e ffec t o f knots in trammellin g and obstructin g human

activity was believed to be mani feste d at marriage n ot less than at
b i r th Durin g the Mi ddle A ges and down to the ei gh teenth century
.
, ,

it seems to have been c ommonly hel d in E urope tha t the consummation

o f marria ge could be prevented by any one who while the wedding ,

ceremony was tak in g place either locked a lock or tied a kn ot in a ,

cord and then threw the lock or the cor d away The lock or the
,
.

knotte d cord had to be flung into water ; and un til it had been found
a n d unlocked or un tied no real union o f the married pai r was possible
, ,
.

H e nce it was a grave o ff ence not only to cast such a spell but also to , ,
242 TA B OO E D TH I N GS CH .

Ifknots are suppose d to kill they are also supposed to cure This , ,

f ollow s from the bel i e f tha t to un d o the knots which are causin g sick
ness w ill brin g the su fferer relie f B ut a par t from this negative virtue .

o f m a lefice nt kno ts there are cer ta in b en eficen t kno ts to which a

,

posi tive power o f healin g i s ascr ibe d Pl i ny tells us that some folk .

cure d diseases o f the gro in by tak i ng a thread from a web tyin g seven ,

or nine knots on i t a n d then fas ten i n g it to the patien t s groin ; but

,
’

t o make the cure e ff ec tual it was necessary to name some wi d ow as

each knot was ti ed O D onov a n descr ibes a reme d y fo r fever employed
.
’

amon g the Turcomans The e n chanter takes some camel hair and .

S pins it in to a s tout threa d dron i ng a s p ell the while Next he ties , .

s even kno ts on the threa d blowin g on each knot be fore he pulls it ,

t ight Th i s kno tte d thread is then worn as a bracelet on his wrist by

.

the patien t E very day one o f the kno ts i s un ti e d and blown upon
.

a n d when the seven th knot i s undone the whole thread i s rolled up into

a ball a n d thrown into a river bearin g away (as they imagine ) the ,

f ever wi th it .

A gain knots may be use d by an enchan tres s to win a lover and

attach him fi rmly to hersel f Thus the love sick mai d in Virgil .
-

s eeks t o draw Daphnis to her from the c i ty by spells a nd by tying

three kno ts on each o f three s trin gs o f d ifferen t colours So an Arab .

maiden who ha d lost her heart to a certain man tried to gain his
, ,

love and bind him to hersel f by tyin g knots in hi s whip ; b ut her

j ealous rival un d id the kno ts On the same principle magic knots .

may be employed to stop a runaway I n S waz i ela nd you may o ften .

see grass tied in knots a t the si d e o f the footpa ths E very one of .

these knots tells o f a d o m es ti c tra gedy A wi fe has run away from .

her husb an d and he an d his frien d s have gone in pursu i t b in d ing up

, ,

the pa ths as they call it in thi s fashion to prevent the fu gitive from
, ,

doubling back over them A n et from its a ffluence of knots has .

, ,

always been consi d ere d in Russ i a very e fficacious a gainst sorcerers ;

hence in some places when a bride is bein g dresse d i n her we dding
att i re a fishing—
,
’

,
net i s flun g over her to keep her out o f harm s way .

Fo r a s imilar purpose the bride groom and his companions a re o ften

gi r t wi th pieces o f n et or at leas t with ti ght draw n girdles for before
-
, ,

a w iz ard can be gin to inj ure them he mus t un d o all the kno ts in the
net or take off the gi rdles B ut o ften a Russ ian amulet i s merely a
,
.

kno tted thread A skein o f red wool wound about the arms and legs
.

i s thought to wa r d off a gues an d fevers ; and nine skeins fastened ,

roun d a child s neck are deeme d a p reservative a gainst scarlatina

’
,
.

I n the Tver Government a b a g o f a special kin d is tied to the neck of

the cow which walks be fore the res t o f a her d in order to keep off ,

wolves ; its force b i n d s the maw o f the ravenin g beast On the same .

p rinciple a pa d lock i s carrie d thric e round a her d o f horses before

,

they go afiel d i n the sprin g and the bearer locks an d unl ocks it as he ,

goe s sayin g
,
I lock from my herd the mo u ths o f the grey wolves
,
“

”
with this steel lock .

K n ots and locks may serve to avert not only wizards and
xx 1 K NOT S A N D RIN GS TAB OO ED 243

wolves but death itsel f When they brought a w oman to the stake .

at St An d rews in 15 7 2 to burn her alive for a witch they found

.
,

on her a whi te cloth like a collar with strin gs a n d many knots on ,

the strings They took i t from her sorely a gainst her will fo r she
.
, ,

seemed to think that she could not die in the fire i f only the cloth ,

with the knot te d strings was on her When it was taken away she .
,

sai d Now I have no hope o f mysel f

,
“
In many parts o f E n gland it .

is thought that a person cannot d ie so long as any locks are locked or

b olts shot in the house It is there fore a very common p ractice to .

undo all locks an d bolts when the su fferer is plainly near his en d in ,

order that his agony may not be un d uly prolon ged For example i n ,
,

the year 18 63 at Taunton a child lay s i ck o f scarla tina and dea th

, ,
“
seemed inevitable A j ury o f matro ns was as it were empanelled
.
, , ,

and to prevent the child dying hard all the d oors in the h ouse all the ,

drawers all the boxes all the cupboar d s were throw n wi de open the
, , ,

keys taken out an d the body o f the chil d place d under a beam
,
'

whereby a sure certain an d easy passa ge in to e tern ity could be

, ,
”
secure d Strange to say the ch il d d ecl i ned to avail itsel f o f the
.
,

facilities for dyin g so obl igin gly placed at its d isposal by the sagacity
and experience o f the B ri tish ma trons o f Taunton ; it preferred to

live ra ther than give up the ghost j ust then .

The rul e which prescribes that at certain magical a nd reli gious

ceremonies the hair shoul d han g loose a nd the feet shoul d be bare i s
probably based on the same fea r o f trammell ing a n d impeding the
acti on in hand whatever i t may b e by the presence o f any knot or
, ,

constriction whethe r on the hea d or on the fee t o f the per former A

,
‘

similar power to bin d a nd hamper spir itual as well as bo d ily activi ties
is ascribe d by some people to rings Thus i n the island o f Ca rp athus .

people never bu tton the cl othes they put upon a d ea d bo d y a n d they

are care ful to remove all r in gs from i t ; fo r the spi rit they say can , ,

even be detained in the l ittle fin ger a n d cannot res t H ere it i s , .

plain that even i f the soul i s n ot d efinitely supposed to issue at d ea th

fr om the finge r tips yet the ring is conceive d to exercise a cer tain
-
,

constric tive influence which deta ins an d imprisons the immor tal sp i rit
in spite of its e fforts to escape from the tab ernacle o f clay ; in short
the ring like the kno t acts as a spiri tual fetter This may have bee n
, , .

the reason o f an ancient Greek maxim attributed to Pytha goras , ,

which forba d e people to wear rings Nobo d y mi ght enter the ancient .

Arcadian sanc tuary o f the Mistress at L ycosura with a rin g on his o r

her finger Persons who consulte d the orac le of Faunus had to b e
.

chaste to eat no flesh and to wear no rings

, ,
.

[ On the other hand the same cons tric tion which hinders the e gress
,

of the soul may prevent the entrance o f evil spiri ts ; hence we find
rings used as amule ts a gainst demons wi tches and ghosts In the “
, , .

Tyrol it is sai d that a woman in childb e d should never take off her
weddin g rin g or spiri ts an d witches will have power over her Amon g
-
, .

the Lapps the person who i s abou t to place a corpse in the co ffi n

,

receives from the husband wi fe or children o f the deceased a bras s , ,

244 TA B OO E D T H I N G S CH .

rin g which he must wear fastene d to hi s right arm until the corpse is
,

sa fely deposi te d i n the grave The r in g i s believe d to serve the person

.

as an amule t a gains t any harm wh ich the ghos t mi ght d o to him ,

H o w fa r the cus tom o f wear in g fin ge r rin gs may have been influenced-

by o r even have sprun g from a bel ie f in their efficacy as amulets to

, ,

keep the soul i n the bo dy or d emons out o f i t is a question which

, ,

seems wor th cons id ering H ere we are only concerned wi th the belief
.

in so fa r as it seems to throw li gh t on the rule that the Flamen Dialis

mi gh t n o t wear a r in g unless i t were broken Taken in conj unction .

with the rule which forba d e him to have a knot on hi s garments it ,

poin ts to a fear that the power ful sp i r it embodie d in him might be

tra mmelle d a n d hampered in its goin gs out and comin gs i n by such - -

corporeal and spiritua l fe tters as r i n gs and knots .

CHAPT E R XXI I

TA B OOED W ORDS

1 P ers onal N a m es ta b o oed —Unable to discrimin ate clearly between

. .

w or d s and thin gs the sava ge commonly fancies tha t the link between
,

a nam e and the person or thin g d enomina ted by it i s not a mere

a rbi trary an d i d eal associa tion b u t a real and subs tan tial bond which
,

unites the two in such a way tha t magic may be wrou ght on a man
j ust as eas ily throu gh hi s nam e as throu gh his hair his nails or any , ,

other ma terial par t o f his person I n fac t primitive man re gards his
.
,

name as a vi tal porti on o f himsel f a n d takes care o f it accordingly .

Thus for exam ple the N orth American In d ian re gar d s his name
, ,
“
,

n ot as a mere label b ut as a distinct par t o f his personality j ust as

, ,

much as are hi s eyes or his tee th a n d believes that i nj ury will result
,

as surely from the mali cious handl in g o f his name as from a wound
infl i cte d on any par t o f his phys i cal or ganism Thi s belie f was found .

amon g the var i ous tr ibes from the A tlan tic to the Pacific and has ,

occasione d a number o f curious re gulations in regard to the concealment

an d chan ge o f nam es S ome E squimaux take new names when they
.

are old h 0 p i ng thereby to get a new lease o f li fe The T olam poos

, .

o f Cele b es b el i eve th a t i f you w r ite a man s nam e down you can

’

carry off his soul alon g with it M any sava ges at the present day
.

regard their names as vital parts o f themselves and therefore take ,

grea t pains to conceal thei r real names les t these should give to ev1l ,

disposed persons a handle by which to inj ure thei r owners .

Thus to be gin wi th the sava ges who rank at the bottom of the
,

s ocial scale we are told that the secrecy wi th which amon g the
,

Australian abori gines personal nam es are o ften ke p t from general

knowle dge arises in great measure fro m the b elie f tha t an enem y
“
,

who knows your name has i n it somethi ng which he can use magically
” ”
to your detriment An Australian black
. says a nother writer , ,
246 TAB OO E D WORD S CH .

In this last case no scruple seems to be f e l t abo ut commun icating

’
a ma n s name to s tran gers a n d no ill e ff ects appear to be dreaded as
,

a cons equence o f d ivul gin g it ; harm is only d one when a name is

spoken by its owner : Why is th i s ? and why i n particula r should a
man be thought to stunt hi s grow th by utter ing hi s own name ? We
may conj ecture that to savages who a ct a n d think thus a person s ’

name only seems to be a pa r t o f himsel f when i t i s uttered with his

own breath ; u ttered by the breath o f o thers it has no vital connexion
with him and no harm can come to him through it Whereas so
,
.
,

these primi tive phi los ophers may have ar gued when a man lets his ,

own name pass his lips he is partin g wi th a livin g piece o f himself

, ,

a n d i f he persists i n so reckless a course he must certainly end by dis

sipating his ener gy and shatterin g his consti tution Many a br oken ’
.

d own deb a uchee many a feeble frame wasted wi th disease may have
, ,

been poin ted out by these simple moralis ts to thei r awe -struck disciples
a s a fearful example o f the fate tha t mus t s oo ner or later overtake
the p rofl iga te who indul ges immoderately in the seductive habit of
m enti oning his own name .

However we may explain it the fa ct is ce rtain that many a savage ,

evinces the stron ges t reluctance to pronounce his own name while at ,

the same time he makes n o obj ec tion at all to o ther people pronouncing
it a n d will even inv ite them to do so for him in or d er to satisfy the
,

cur i os ity o f an inquisi tive stran ger Thus in som e par ts o f Mada gascar .

i t is taboo for a person to tell his own name but a slave or at tendant ,

will answer for him The same curious inconsistency as it may seem
.
,

to us is recorded o f some tribes o f America n I n d ians

, Thus we are .

tol d that the name o f an American Indian is a sacred thing not to

“

be divul ge d by the owner hi msel f wi thout due consideration One .

may ask a warrior o f any tribe to give his name and the question will ,

be m et wi th either a point blank re fusal or the more diplomatic eva

-

si on tha t he canno t un d ers tand wha t is wanted o f him The moment a .

friend approaches the warrior first interro gated will whisper what is
,

wan ted and the fr ien d can tell the name receivin g a reciprocation of
, ,

the cou rtesy from the other Th i s general statemen t applies for
.
,

example to the I n d ian tribes o f B r itish Columbia as to who m it is

, ,

sai d tha t one o f the ir s tran ges t prej u d i ces which appears to pervade
all tribes alike is a d islike to tellin g their nam es—thus you never get
,

a man s r ight nam e from himsel f b ut they will tell each o ther s names
’ ’

wi thout hes itation I n the whole o f the E as t I ndian Archipelago

.

the etiqu ette i s the same A s a general rule no one will ut ter his own
.

”
nam e . To enquire What i s your name
,
? is a very in d elicate
question in na tive soci ety When in the course o f a d ministrative or
.

j u d icial busi ness a native i s aske d hi s name i ns tead of r eplyin g he will ,

look a t his com ra d e to in d ic ate tha t he is to ans wer for him or he will ,
”
say strai ght out Ask him , The supersti tion i s current all over the
.

E ast In d i es w ithou t except i on and it i s fo un d also am on g the Motu

,

and M o tu m otu tribes the Pap uans o f F insch H aven in N orth N ew

,

Guinea the N u foors of Dutch New Guinea and the Melanesians of the
, ,
xx n P E RS ONAL NA M E S TAB OO E D 24 7

Bismarck Archipela go Among many tribes o f South A frica men an d

.

w omen never men tion their names i f they can get any one else to do
-

it for them but they do not absolutely re fuse when it c anno t be avoided
,
.

Sometimes the embargo lai d on personal names is not permanent ;

it is conditional on ci rcumstances and when these change it ceases
to operate Thus when the Na nd 1 men are away on a foray nobo d y
.
,

at home may pronounce the names o f the absent warriors ; they must
be re ferred to as bi rds Shoul d a child so fa r forget itsel f as to mention
.

one of the distant ones by name the mother would rebuke it sayin g , , ,
”
Don t talk o f the bi r d s who are in the heavens Amon g the Ban gala
“ ’
.

of the Upper Con go while a man is fishin g and when he returns wi th

,

his catch his proper name i s in abeyance and nobody may mention it
, .

Whatever the fisherm a n s real name may be he is calle d m w ele without

’
,

distinction The reason is that the river is full o f spirits who i f they
.
, ,

heard the fisherm an s real name mi gh t so work a gains t him that he

’

would ca tch little or no thin g E ven when he has cau ght his fi sh and .

landed with them the buyer must still not ad d ress him by his proper
,

nam e but mus t only call him m w ele ; for even then i f the S pirits were to
, ,

hear his proper name they would ei ther bear i t i n m ind and serve him
,

out another day or they mi ght so mar the fish he had caught that he
,
'

would get very little for them H ence the fisherman can ex tract ,

heavy damages from anybody who mentions his name or can compel ,

the thoughtless sp ea ker to rel ieve him o f the fish at a good p rice so as
to restore his luck When the Sulka o f New Bri tai n are near th e terri
.

tory of their enemies the Ga-ktei they take care not to men tion them by ,

their proper name believin g that were they to do so their foes would
, ,

attack and slay them H ence in these circumstances they speak o f the
.

”
Gak tei as o lapsi ek that i s
“
the rotten tree trunks a n d they imagine
, ,
-
,

that by callin them that they make the limbs o f their drea d ed enemies
g
ponderous and clumsy l i ke lo gs This example illus trates the extrem el y .

m aterialistic view which these sava es take o f the na ture o f wor d s ;

g
they suppose that the mere ut terance o f a n expression S igni fyin g
clumsiness will homoeopa th ically a ffect with clumsiness the l imbs of
their dis tant foemen Ano ther i llus tra tion o f this curious m i scon cep
.

tion is furnishe d by a C a ff re superstition that the character o f a youn g

‘

thie f can be re forme d by shoutin g hi s name over a boilin g ke ttle o f

m edicated water then cla ppin g a lid on the kettle and leavin g the
,

nam e to steep i n the water for several days It i s not in the least .

necessary that the thie f should be aware of the use that is b eing mad e
of his name behind his back ; the m oral re formation will be eff ecte d
without his knowledge .

’
When it is deemed necessary that a man s real name should be
kept secret it is o ften cus tomary as we have seen to call him by a
, , ,

surname or nickname As distin guished from the real or p rimary.

names these secon d ary names are apparently held to be no part o f

,

the man himsel f so tha t they may be freely use d and divul ged to
,

everybody without en d an gerin g his sa fety thereby Sometimes in .

order to avoid the use o f his o wn name a man will be calle d after his
248 TAB O O E D WORDS CH .

child Thus w e are in formed that the Gippslan d blacks obj ected
.

s trongly to let any one ou ts i de the tribe know thei r names lest their ,

enemies learnin g them S houl d make them vehicles o f i ncantation

, , ,

and so charm the i r lives away As children were n ot thou ght to have .

enemies they use d to speak o f a man as the father uncle or cousin

,
‘
, ,
’
o f S o and s o -
naming a ch ild ; but on all occasions ab sta ined from
-

mentionin g the name of a grown—

,

up person The A l foo rs o f POSO in .

Cel ebes will not pronoun-cc their own nam es Amon g them accord .
,

i ngly if you wish to ascer tain a pe rson s name you ou ght not to ask the ’
, ,

man himsel f but Should e nquire o f o thers B ut i f this is impossible for

, .
,

example when there i s no one else near you s hould a sk him his child s
, ,
’

”
n ame and then address him a s the
, Father o f S o and so
- Nay these -
.
,

A lfoors a re shy o f u tterin g the names even o f children ; so when a

boy or girl has a nephew o r niece he or she i s addressed as Uncle ,
“

” ”
S o a d so
“
o f n -
or Aunt of S o and so
-
,I n pure Malay society we - -
.
,

are told a man i s never asked his name and the custom of naming
, ,

paren ts a ft er thei r chil d r en is adopted only as a means o f avoiding

the use o f the parent s own names The w ri ter who makes this ’
.

s tatemen t ad d s in confi rma tion o f it that chil dless persons are named
a fter their youn ger brothers Amon g the Land Dyaks children as .

they grow up are call e d accordin g to thei r sex the father or mother , ,

o f a child o f their father s or mother s youn ger b rother or sis ter that
’ ’
,

i s the y are c alled the father or mother o f what we should call their
,

first cousin The Ca ffres used to think it discourteous to call a

.

bri d e by her own name so they wo uld call her the M o ther o f S o and ,
-

so even when she was only be trothe d fa r less a wi fe and a mother

, ,
.

Amon g the Kukis and Zem i s or K a cb a N agas o f Assam parents drop

thei r names a fter the bi r th o f a child and are nam ed Father and Mo ther
“
o f S o a n d so -
Childless coupl es go by the n ame o f the childless
-
.

” ” ”
father
“
the childless m other
,
the father o f no Child the m other , ,
“

o f no chil d The widespread custom o f namin g a father a fter his child

.

’
has some times been supposed to sprin g from a desire o n the father s part
to asse rt his paterni ty apparen tly a s a m eans o f ob taining those ri ghts
,

over his chil d ren wh i ch had previously under a system o f mother -kin , ,

been possess e d by the mother B ut this explana tion does not account .

fo r the parallel custom o f naming the m other a fter her child which ,

s eems c ommonly to co exist with the practice o f namin g the father

- -

a fter the chil d Still less i f possible does it apply to the customs of
.
, ,

calling chil d less couples the father and mother o f children which do
n o t exist o f namin g p e op le a fter their youn ger brothers an d of
d esi gnatin g chil d ren as the u n cl es and aunts o f S o and—
,

so or as the — ,
,

fa thers an d mothers o f their fi rst c ousins B ut all these practices .

are explained in a simple and natural way i f w e suppose that they

ori gina te in a reluctance to utter the real names o f pe rsons addressed
o r direc tly re ferred to Th at relu ctance is prob ably based pa rtly on.

a fear o f attractin g the notice o f evil S pirits partly on a dread of ,

revealin g the name to sorcerers who woul d thereby o b tain a handle ,

for inj urin g the owner o f the name .

2 50 TAB OO E D WORD S CH .

that when any o f a m an s many fathers in law and mothers in law ’

- - - -

a re calle d by such names these comm on wor d s may not pass his lips , .

Amo ng the A lfoor s o f M in a hassa in Celebes the cust om i s ca rried still , ,

f ur ther so as to forb i d the use even o f words which m erely resemble the
per sonal names i n soun d It is esp ecially the name o f a father in law .
- -

which i s thus lai d under an i nter d ict I f b e for example is called .

, ,

Kalala his son in law may not speak o f a hors e by its comm on name
,
- -

k aw al o ; he must call it a ri d ing beast (s asa k aj a n ) S o among the -

.

A l foo rs o f the island o f B uru it i s taboo to m en tion the names o f parents

a nd pare n ts in law o r even to speak o f co m mon obj ects by words which
—
- -
,

resemble these nam es in soun d T hus i f your mother in law is called .

,
-

”
Dalu which means betel you may not ask for betel by its ordinary
, ,
”
nam e you must ask for red mouth ; i f you want betel -lea f you
, ,
’
may not say betel lea f (d alu m un ) you must say k ar on fenna In
-
, .

the same island it is also taboo to mention the name o f an elder brother ‘
-

i n his presence Trans gressions o f these rules are punished wi th

.

fines In S un d a it i s thou ght tha t a pa rticular crop would be spoilt

.

i f a man w ere to mention the names o f his father an d mother .

Amo n g the N u foors o f Dutch New Guinea persons who are related to
each other by marria ge are forbidden to mention ea ch other s names ’
.

Am on g the connexions whose names are thus tabooed are wife ,

’
mother in law father in law your wi fe s uncles an d aunts and also
- -
,
- -
,

her grand uncles a n d grand aunts and the who le o f your wi fe s or

- -
,
’

y our husband s family in the sam e generation as yoursel f

’
except ,

th at m en may m ention the names of thei r bro thers in law though - -

,

women may not The taboo comes into operation as soon as the
.

be tr othal ha s taken place and before the m a rria ge has been celebrated .

Families thus connected by the b etro thal o f two o f their members

’
are n ot only forbi d den t o pronounce each other s n ames ; they m ay
not even lo ok at each othe r and the rule gives rise to the most comical ,

scenes when they happen to meet unexp ec tedly And not merely .

the names themselves but any words tha t soun d like them are scrupu ,

l ou sly a voi d e d and other words used i n thei r place If it should .

chance that a person has inadver tently u ttere d a forb idden name ,
“
he must at once throw himsel f on the floor an d say I have mentioned ,

a wron g name I throw it throu gh the chinks o f the floor in order

.
.

that I may eat well .

In the western i sla nds o f Torres Straits a man never mentioned

the personal names o f his father — in law mother-in-law b r other in - -

law and si ster —

, ,

in law ; and a woman was subj ec t to the same restr1c

-

tions A brother in —
,

. law mi ght be s p oken o f as the husband or brother

-

o f some one wh os e na me i t was law ful to menti on ; and similarly a

sis ter i n law m i gh t be called the wi fe o f S o and so I f a man by
- - - -

chance used the personal nam e o f his brother—

.

i n law he was ashamed -

,

a n d hun g his head His S hame was o nly relieved wh en he had made
.

a present as compensation to the man whose name he had taken i n

va i n The same c ompensation was made to a si s ter —
. in law a father -
,

in law and a mother in law for the accidental mention o f their names
-
,
- - .
x xn N AM E S or R E LATI ON S TA B OO E D 25 1

Am on g the natives w ho inhabit the coast o f the Gazelle Peninsula in

New B ritain to me ntion the name of a brother in —law is the gross est -

possible a ffron t you c an o ffer to him ; it i s a crime punishable with

dea th In the Banks I slands M elanesia the taboo s l ai d on the names
.
’
, ,

of persons connected by marria ge are very s tr i ct A man will not

m ention the nam e o f his father in—
.

law much less the name o f hi s -

,

mother in law nor may he n am e his wi fe s bro ther ; b ut he may

- -
’

name his wi fe s sister—she is nothin g to him A woman m ay not

,
’
.

name her father-in law nor on any account her son in law Two
-
,
- -
.

people whose chil d ren have intermarrie d are also d ebarred from
men tioning each other s names A n d not only are all these persons
’
.

forbi dd en to utter each other s na mes ; they may not even pronounce
’

ordinary words which chance to be eithe r identical with these names

or to have any syllables in common wi th them Thus we hear o f a .

native o f these i slan d s w ho m ight n ot use the common words for

“ ” ”
p ig an d to d ie because these wor d s occurred in the polysyllabic
name o f his son i n—
,

la w ; a n d we are tol d o f ano ther un fortunate who

-

” ”
mi ght not pronounce the every d ay words for hand a nd hot “

on account o f his w i fe s bro ther s name and w ho was even debarred

’ ’
,
”
from mentionin g the number
“
one because the w or d for one ,
“

’
forme d par t o f the n am e o f his wi fe s cousin .

The reluctance to men ti on the names or even syllables of the names

o f persons connec te d w i th the sp e aker by marr i a ge can hardly be
separated from the reluctance ev ince d by so many people to utter
their own names or the names o f the dea d or o f chie fs and kin gs ;
and i f the re ticence as to these la tter names spr i n gs ma i nly from

superstition we may in fer tha t the reticence as to the form er has no

,

be tter foun d ati on That the sava ge s unwill in gness to men tio n hi s
.
’

own name i s based at least in par t on a supers ti tious fear o f the ill
, ,

use that mi ght be ma d e o f i t by his foes whe ther hu m an or sp i ri tual , ,

has alrea dy been shown It remains to examine the S imilar usage in

.

regard to the names o f the d ead and o f royal p ersona ges

3 N a m es of the D ea d ta b o oed —The cus tom o f abstainin g from all
.

m en tion o f the names o f the dea d was observed in ant iqui ty by the

Albanians of the Caucasus and at the present day it i s in full force ,

am ong many sava ge tribes Thus we a re tol d tha t one of the cus toms
.

m ost ri i d ly observe d a n d en forced amon s t the Australian abori ines

g g g
is never to mention the name o f a d ecease d person whether male or ,

female ; to name alou d one w ho ha s d epa r te d th i s li fe would be a gross

violat ion of their m ost sacr ed pr ej u d ices a n d they carefully abstain ,

from it The chie f motive for this abstinence appears to be a fear o f

.

evokin g the gho s t althou gh the n a tu ral unwillingness to revive past

,

sorrows undoub tedly operates also to draw the veil o f oblivion over
the names of the d ea d Once M r Oldfield so terrified a native by
. .

shouting out the name o f a deceased person that the man fairly took ,

to his heels and d id not venture to show himsel f a ain for several d ays
g
At their next me etin g he bitterly reproache d the rash whi te man for "

his indiscretion ; -
“
nor coul d 1 adds M r Ol d field induce him by , .
,
.
2 52 TA B OO E D WORD S CH

any means to utter the aw ful sound o f a d ead man s name for by so ’
,
”
d oin g he woul d have place d himsel f i n the p ow er o f the mali gn spirits .

Amon g the abori gines o f Victoria the d ead were very rarely spoken of ,

and then never by thei r names ; they were re ferred to in a subdued

“ ” ”
voice as the lost one o r the poor fello w that i s no more
“
To .

speak o f them by nam e woul d it was suppose d excite the mali gnity
, ,

o f Cou it gi l the sp i r it o f th e d epar ted which hovers on ea rth for a

-
, ,

t i me be fore it d eparts fo r ever towar d s the s e tting sun O f the tribes .

on the Lowe r Murray River we are told that when a person dies they
care fully avoi d mentionin g his name ; b ut if comp elle d to do so ,

they pronounce it i n a v ery low whisper so faint that they imagine ,

”
the spi rit cannot hea r the i r voice Amon gs t the tribes o f Central
.

Aus tralia no on e may u tter the nam e o f the d eceased d uring the perio d
o f mournin g unless it i s absolu tely necessary to do so and then it is
, ,

on ly done in a whisper for fear o f d i s turb i n g and annoying the man s ’

S piri t which is walkin g about in ghos tly form I f the gho st hears his .

name mentioned he concludes tha t hi s ki ns folk are not mourning

for him properly ; i f their gri e f w ere genuine they could not bear to
ban dy his nam e about Touche d to the quic k by thei r hard hearted
.
-

in d i fference the indi gnant ghost will come and trouble them in
dreams .

The same reluctance to utter the nam es o f the dead appears to

prev ai l amon g all the I ndian tribes o f Am erica fro m H udson s Bay ’

Terri tory to Pa ta gonia Amon g the Goaj i ros of Colombia to mention

.

the dea d be fore his kinsmen is a d readful o ffence which i s o ften ,

punished wi th death ; for i f it happens on the ra n cho o f the deceased .

i n presence o f his nephew or uncle they will assure d ly kill the o ff en der
,

on the spot if they can B ut i f he escapes the penalty resolves itsel f

.
,

in to a heavy fine usually o f tw o or more o xen

, .

A similar reluc tance to ment ion the names o f the dea d is reported
o f peoples so wi d ely s epara te d from each other as the Samoyeds of
S iberia a nd the To d as o f S outhern India ; the M ongols o f Tartary and
the Tuare gs o f the Sahara ; the A inos o f Japan and the A k am b a and
N an d i o f E as tern A fr ica ; the T inguia n es o f the Philippines and the
inhabitants o f the N icobar I slan d s o f B orneo o f Mada gascar and of
, , ,

Tasmania I n all cases even where it i s not expressly s tate d the

.
, ,

fun d am ental reason for this avoidance i s p robably the fear o f the ghost .

Tha t this i s the real m otive with the Tuare gs we are pos i tively in formed .

They dread the re turn o f the dea d man s spir it and do all they can to
’
,

avoi d it by shi ftin g thei r camp a fter a dea th ceasin g for ever to pro ,

nounce the name o f the departed an d eschewing everythin g that might

,

be re garded as an evocation or recall o f hi s soul H ence they do not . ,

like the A rabs d esi gnate ind ividuals by a d din g to their personal names
,

th e names o f thei r fathers ; they never speak o f S o and so son o f So - -

,

and-so ; they give to every man a nam e which will live and d ie with him .

S o amon g some o f the Victorian tribes in Australia per s onal nam es were
rarely perpetuated b ecause the n a tives believe d that any one who
, .

a do p ted the name o f a deceased p erson would not live lon g ; p robably
2 54 TAB OO E D WORD S CH .

of the ghost ; and fo r the same purpose they d is guis e themselves b y ‘

shavin g their heads so tha t the ghos t is unable to reco gnise them .

Further when the nam e o f the d ecease d happens to be that o f some

,

com m on o bj ec t such as a n animal o r plant or fire or water it is

, , , , ,

sometimes cons id ere d necessary to d rop that word i n ordinary speech

and replace i t by another A cus tom o f th i s sor t it is plain may
.
, ,

easily be a p oten t a gen t o f change in langua ge ; for where i t prevails .

t o any consi d erable extent many words must constantly become

obsole te a n d new ones sprin g up A n d th i s tendency has been re
.

marke d by observers who have recor d e d the cu stom in Aus tralia .

America and elsewhere For example wi th re ga rd to the Australian

,
.
,

abori gines it has been noted that the d ialec ts chan ge with almost “

every tribe S ome tribes name thei r chil d ren a fter natural obj ects ;
.

and when the person so named d i es the wor d is never agai n men tione d ;
,

another w or d has there fore to be invented for the obj ect a fter which
the ch il d was called . The wr iter gives as an ins tance the case of a
”
m a n whose name Karla si gnifie d fi re ; wh en Karla died a new ,
”
wo rd fo r fi re had to be i ntroduce d H ence a d ds the wri ter the
.
, .
“

”
lan guage is always changin g A gain in the E ncounter Bay tribe of
.
,

South Australia i f a man o f the nam e o f N gnk e which m eans water

, , ,

were to d ie the whole tribe woul d be obli ged to use som e o ther word
,

to express wa ter fo r a consi d erable tim e a fter his decease The writer .

who reco r d s this custom surmises that it may explain the presence of
a number o f synonyms i n the lan gua ge o f the tr ibe Th is conj ecture .

i s confirme d by what w e know o f some Victorian tribes whose speech

comprise d a re gular set o f synonym s to be used ins tea d o f the c ommon
terms by all members o f a t r ibe i n times o f mournin g For instance . .

i f a man called Waa crow departe d this l i fe durin g the perio d of ,

mournin g for him nobody mi gh t call a c ro w a waa everybody had to

speak of the bird as a na rrapor t When a person who rej oiced in the
.

title o f Rin gtail Opossum (w eeam ) ha d gone the way o f all flesh his ,

sorrowin g rel a tions a n d the tribe a t large were bo und fo r a time to

re fer to rin gtail opossums by the more sonorous nam e o f m anm m gk uurt .

I f the commun ity were plun ge d i n gri e f for the loss o f a respecte d
female who bore the honourable name o f Turkey Bustard the proper ,

name for turkey bustards which wa s b armm b arri m went out and
, , ,

ti lli t tillii ts h came in And so m u ta tis m uta ndis wi th the names of

.

Black Cocka too Grey Duck Gi gantic Crane Kan garoo E agle Din go
, , , , , .

a nd the rest .

A sim i lar custom used to be constantly trans formin g the langua ge

o f the A b ip on es o f Pa ra guay amon gst w hom however a word o nce
, , ,

abolished seems never t o have been revive d New words says the .
,

mi ssionary D ob riz hoffer spran g up every y ear like mushrooms in a

,

ni gh t because all wor d s that resemble d the names o f the dead were
.

abolishe d by proclama ti on a n d others coined in thei r place The mint .

o f wor d s was in the han d s o f the ol d wo men o f the tribe a n d whatever

term they stamped wi th thei r approv a l and put i n c i rcu lation was '

i mmediately accepted without a murm ur by hi gh and low alike and ,

xxn N A M E S O F T H E DE A D TABO O E D 25 5

spread like wildfi re throu gh every camp and settlement o f the tribe .

You would be astonishe d says the sam e missionary to see how meekly
, ,

the whole nation acquiesces in the decision o f a withered old hag and ,

how completely the old famil iar words fall instan tly out of use and are
never repeate d ei ther through force o f habi t o r for get fulness I n the .

seven years tha t Dob riz hoffer spent amon g these I ndians the native
word for j aguar was changed thrice and the wor d s for crocodile thorn , , ,

and the slaughter o f ca ttle un d erwent sim ilar though less va ried
vicissitudes As a resul t o f this habi t the vocabularies o f the mission
. .
,

aries teemed with erasures old words having constantly to be s truck ,

out as obsolete and new ones inserted in their place In many tribes .

of Briti s h New Guinea the names o f persons are also the names o f
comm on thin gs The people bel i eve that i f the name o f a d ecease d
.

person is pronounced hi s spiri t will re turn and as they have no wish

, ,

to see it back amon g them the mentio n o f his name i s tabooe d and a
new wor d is create d to take its place whenever the name happens to ,

be a common term of the lan gua ge Consequently many wor d s a re .

permanently lost or revive d wi th modifie d or new meanin gs I n the

N icobar Islan d s a sim ila r practice has sim i larly a ff ecte d the speech o f
”
the natives A most sin gular cus tom
.
“
says M r de R-oep storff , .
,

preva ils amon g them which one woul d sup po se must most e ffectually
hin der the makin g o f his tory or a t any ra te the transmission o f
‘
,
’
, ,

historical narrative By a s tr i ct rule wh ich has all the sanc tion o f

.
,

N icobar supers tition no man s name may be mentioned a fter hi s

,
’

death ! To such a len gth is this carried tha t when as very frequently ,

H at
’
happens the man rej oice d in the name o f Fowl
,
Fire ‘
,
’ ‘

,
’ ‘
,
‘
Roa d etc in its N icobarese equivalent the use o f thes e wor d s i s
,
’
.
, ,

care fully eschewe d for the fu ture not only as bein g the personal ,

desi gna tion o f the decease d b ut even as the names o f the common ,

things they represent ; the wor d s d ie out o f the language and e ither ,

new vocables are coine d to express the thing in ten d e d or a substitute ,

fo r the d i suse d wor d is foun d in other N icob a rese d ialec ts o r in some

fore ign tongue Th i s extraor d inary custom n ot only ad d s an element
.

of instabili ty to the lan ua ge but d es troys the con tinuity o f polit ical
g ,

li fe and renders the record o f p ast events precarious and vague i f not
, ,
”
i m possible .

That a supersti tion which suppresses the names o f the d ead must
cut at the very r oo t o f h i s toric al trad ition has been remark ed by other
”
workers in this fiel d The Klamath people observes M r A S
.
“
, . . .

Gatsche t possess no his toric tra d itions going fur ther back in time
“
,

than a century for the simple reason that th ere was a s tric t law pro
,

hib iting the mention o f the person or ac ts o f a deceased individual by

using his na m e This law was ri gi d ly observed amon g the Cali fornians
.

no less than amon g the Ore gonians and on its trans gression the death ,

penalty could be inflicted This is certainly enou gh to suppress all .

historical knowledge wi thin a people How can his tory be written .

”
without na mes ?
In many tribes however the power of this superstition to blot out
'

, ,
2 56 TAB O O E D WORD S CH .

the memory o f the past i s to som e exten t weakened and impaired by

a natural t en d ency o f the human mind Time wh ich wears out the .
,

d eepest impressi ons inevitably d ulls i f it d oes not wholly e ff ace the
, , ,

print left on the sava ge m in d by the mystery and horror o f death .

S ooner o r la ter as the memory o f hi s loved ones fa des slowly away

, ,

he becomes more w ill in g to speak o f them and thus thei r rude names ,

may s ome times be rescued by the philosophi c enquirer before they

have vanishe d l ike au tumn leaves or winter snows into the vast
, ,

un d istin gu i she d l im b o o f the past In some o f the Vi c torian tribes

.

the proh ib i ti on to men tion the names o f the dead remained in force
only d urin g the per i o d o f mourn in g ; in the Po rt Lincoln tribe of
Sou th Aus tralia it laste d many years Amon g the Chinook Indians .

o f N orth Amer ica custom forbids the mention o f a dead man s name ’
,
”
at least till many years have elapse d a fter the bereavement Among .

the Puyallup Ind ians the observance o f the tab oo is r el axed a fter
several years when the mourners have for gotten their grief ; and if
,

the d eceased was a famous warri or one o f his descen d ants for instance
a great —
, ,

gran d son may be na med a f ter him

,
I n this tribe the taboo .

i s not much observed a t any time excep t by the relations o f the d ead .

S imilarly the Je su it m iss ionary L a fita u tells us that the name o f the
departe d an d the s imilar names o f the survivo rs were so to sa y buried , ,

w ith the corp se unt i l the po ignancy o f their grie f bein g abate d it
, ,
”
please d the rela tions to li ft up the tree and raise the dead
“
By .

raising the (lea d they m ea nt bes towin g the name o f the departed upon
some one else who thus becam e to all i ntents a n d purposes a re incarna
,

tion of the d ecease d since on the p rinc iples o f sava ge philosop hy the
,

n ame is a v ital part i f not the soul o f the man

, , .

Amon g the Lapps when a woman was with child and near the
,

tim e o f her d elivery a d ec ea sed ancestor or rela tion used to appear

,

to her in a dream and in form her what dead person was to be bor n
a gain i n her in fan t and whose nam e the child was there fore to bear
,
.

I f the woman ha d no s uch dream it fell to the father o r the relatives

,

to determ i ne the name by d ivination or by consultin g a wizard Among .

the Khonds a bi r th is cel ebra te d on the seventh day a fter the event by
a feas t given to the p ri est an d to the whole villa ge To determine the .

chil d s name the pr i est d rops gra ins o f rice in to a cup o f water naming
’
,

w ith each grain a deceased ancestor From the m ovements of the .

s ee d in the water and from observa tions made o n the person of the
,

in fan t he pronounces whi ch o f his pro genitors has reappeared in him

, ,

a n d the ch i l d generally at least amon g the northern tr ibes receives

, ,

the name o f that ances tor Among the Yorubas soon a fter a child
.
,

has been born a priest o f Ifa the god o f d ivination appears on the
, , ,

scene to ascertain w hat ancestral soul has been reborn in the in fant .

A s soon a s thi s has been d eci d ed the parents a re told that the child
must con form in all respects to the manner o f li fe o f the ancestor who
n ow anima tes hi m o r her and i f as o ften happe n s they pro fess ign or
, , ,

ance the priest supplies the necessary in forma tion The child usually
,
.

receives the name of the ancestor who has been born again in him .
2 58 TAB OO E D WORD S CH .

d ifficult to understand the speech o f the royal wives as they trea t in ,

this fashi on the names n ot only o f the kin g and his fore fathers but ,

even o f his a nd their brothers back fo r generations When to these .

tribal a nd na tional taboos we a d d those family taboos on the names of

connexions by marri age which have been already described we can ,

easily understan d how it comes abou t that in Zululand every tribe has
wor d s peculiar to itsel f an d that the women have a considerable
,

vocabulary o f their own M embers to o of one fam ily may be debarred

.
, ,

from usin g words employe d by those of another The women of one .

kraal for instance may call a hyaena by its ordinary name

, ,
those
o f the nex t may use the comm on subs ti tute ; while in a third the
substi tute may also be unlaw ful and another term may have to be
invente d to supply its place H ence the Zulu lan gua ge at the present
.

day almost presents the appearance o f be in g a d ouble one ; in d eed ,

for multi tu d e s o f thin gs it possesses three or four synonyms which ,

throu gh the blen d ing o f tribes are known all over Zululan d .

In M a d agascar a similar cus tom everywhere prevails and has

resulted a s amon g the Zulus i n pro d ucing ce rtain dialectic d i fferences
, ,

i n the speech o f the various tribes There are no family names in .

Mada gascar a n d almost every personal name i s drawn from the

,

langua ge o f d aily l ife and si gnifies some common obj ect or action or
quality such as a bir d a beast a tree a plan t a colour and so on
, , , , , , .

Now whenever one o f these com m on wor d s forms the name or part
,

o f the name o f the ch i e f o f the tribe it becomes sacr ed a nd may no ,

lon ger be used in its o rd inary si gnification as the nam e of a tree an ,

insect or what not H ence a new name for the obj ect mus t be in
,
.

vente d to replace the one which has been d iscarded It is easy to .

conceive wha t co n fusion and uncer tainty may thus be intro d uced into
a lan gua ge when it is spoken by m any little local tribes each rule d by
a petty chie f wi th his own sacred name Yet there a re tribes and .

pe o ple who submit to this tyranny o f words as thei r fathers d id be fore

them from tim e immemorial The inconvenient resul ts o f the custom .

are especially marked on the wes tern coast o f the islan d where on , ,

account of the large numbe r of independent C hie ftains the names of ,

thin gs places a nd rivers have su ffere d so many changes that confusion

, ,

o ften ar i ses for when once common words have b e en banned by the
,

chie fs the natives w ill not acknowledge to have ever known them in
their old sense .

But it is not merely the names of livin g kings and chie fs which are
tabooe d in Ma d a gascar ; the names o f dea d soverei gns are equally
under a ban at leas t in some parts o f the island
,
Thus among the .

Saka lavas when a kin g has d ied the nobles and people meet in council
, ,

ro un d the d ea d bo dy and solemnly choose a new nam e by which the

decease d m on a rch shall be he nce forth known A fter the new name .

has been a dopte d the o ld nam e by which the kin g was known d uring
,

his li fe becomes sac re d a nd may not b e pronounce d under pain of

death Fu rther wor d s i n the common lan guage which bear any
.
,

resemblance to the forbidden name also become sacre d and have to

xx u NA M E S O F K IN GS TA B O O E D 2 59

be replaced by others Persons who ut tered these forbidden words

.

were lo oke d on not only a s grossly rude but even as felons ; they had
,

committe d a capital crime H owever these chan ges o f vocabulary

.
,

are confined to the district over which the decease d king rei gned ; in
the nei ghbourin g districts the old w ords con tinue to be employed in
the old sense .

T he sanctity attributed to the p ersons o f chiefs in Polynesia

naturally extended also to thei r names which on the p rimi tive v iew ,

are hardly separable from the personality o f their owners H ence in .

Polynesia we find the same systema tic prohibition to utter the names
o f chie fs or o f common wor d s resembling them which we ha v e alrea dy

m et wi th in Zululand and Ma d a gascar Thus in New Zealand the

.

name o f a chief i s hel d so sac red that when it happens to be a common

,

wor d it may not be use d in the lan gua ge and another has to be found
, ,

to replace it For example a chie f o f the southwar d of E ast Cape

.
,

bore the nam e o f Maripi which si gnified a kni fe hence a new wor d
, ,

(nekra ) for kni fe w as in tro d uce d and the old one became obsolete
, .

Elsewhere the wor d for water (w a i ) ha d to be chan ged because it ,

chance d to be the name of the ch ie f and woul d have been desecrate d

,

by being app lie d to the vul gar flui d as well as to his sacred person .

This taboo naturally pro d uced a plenti ful crop o f synonyms in the
Maori lan gua ge and travellers newly arrive d in the country were
,

so m etimes p uzzle d at findin g the s ame thin gs called by quite d i ff erent

names in nei ghbourin g tribes When a king comes to the throne in
.

Tahiti any words in the langua ge that resemble his n a m e in sound

,

must be chan ge d fo r others In former times i f any man wer e so

.
,

rash as to disregar d this custom and to use the forbidden wor d s n ot ,

only he but all his rela tions were imme d iately put to d eath But the .

changes thus intro d uce d were only temporary ; on the d eath o f the
king the new wor d s fell into d isuse a nd the ori ginal ones were revive d
, .

In ancient Greece the nam es o f the priests an d other h igh o ffi cials

who had to do with the per formance of the E leus i nian mysteries mi gh t

not be uttere d in thei r li fetime To pronounce them was a legal o ff ence

.

The pe dant in L ucian tells how he fell in wi th these au gust persona ges
halin g along to the police c o ur t a ribal d fellow who ha d dared to name
them thou gh well he knew that ever since their consecration it was
,

unlaw ful to d o so because they ha d become anonymous havin g lost

, ,

their old names an d acquire d new and sacre d ti tles From t wo i n .

scriptions found at E leusis it appears that the names o f the priests

were committed to the depths o f the sea ; probably they were en grave d
on tablets of bronze or lea d which were then thrown into deep water
,

in the Gul f o f Salamis The inten tion d oub tless was to keep the names
.

a pro foun d secret ; a n d how coul d that be d one more su rely than by
sinking them in the sea ? what human vision coul d spy them glimmer
ing far d own in the d im d epths o f the green water ? A clearer i llustra
tion of the con fusion between the incorporeal and the corporeal be tween ,

the name and its material embodiment coul d hardly be found than in
,

this practice of civilised Greece .

26 0 TA BOO E D WORD S CH .

5
f G o
.d sN am
ta b oo ed — Primitive man creates his gods in his
es o .

ow n ima ge Xenophanes remarke d lon g a go that the com p lexion of

.

negro go d s was black an d thei r noses fl at ; that Thracian gods were

ruddy and blue - eyed a n d that i f horses oxen , and lions only believed ,

in gods and ha d han d s wherewi th t o po rtray them , they would doubt

less f ashion their d eities in the form of horses , and oxen , and lions .

H ence j ust as the furtive savage conceals his real name because he fears
that sorcerers mi ght make an evil use o f it , so he fancies that his gods
'

must likewi se keep thei r true name secret lest other gods or even men ,

shoul d learn the mystic s ounds and thus be able to conj u re with them .

N owhere was this crude conception o f the secrecy and ma gical virtue of
the d ivine n ame more firmly held or more fully d eveloped than in
anc i ent E gypt where the superstitions o f a dateless past were embalmed
,

in the hearts o f the people h a rdly less e ff ectually than the bo d ies of cats
and croco d iles and the rest o f the divin e mena gerie i n thei r rock cut -

t ombs The conception i s well illustrated by a story which tells how

'
.

the sub tle Isi s w orme d his secret nam e from Ra the great E gy ptian god ,

o f the sun Is is s o runs the tal e was a woman mi ghty in words a nd she
.
, , ,

was weary o f th e world o f men and yearned a fter the world of the ,
“

gods A n d she meditate d in her heart sayin g Cannot I by virtue of the

.
, ,

great name o f Ra make m ysel f a goddess and reign like him in heaven
”
and earth ? Fo r Ra had m a ny nam es but the -great n ame which ,

gave him all power over gods a nd men was known to none but himsel f .

N ow the god was by this time grown old ; he slobbered at the mouth
and hi s spi ttle fell upon the ground So Isis g athered up the spit tle .

a nd the earth with it and kneade d thereo f a serpent an d lai d it in the

,

path where the great god passed every d ay to hi s double kingdom

a fter his heart s d esire And when he ca me fort h accordin g to his
’
.

w ont attended by all his company o f gods the sacred serpent stung
, ,

him and the god opene d his mou th an d cried and hi s cry went up to
, ,
“
heaven A nd the company o f gods c ried
. What aileth thee and ,
”
the gods shouted Lo and behold l But he could not answer ;
,
“

his j aws rat tled his limbs shook the poison ran throu gh his flesh as
, ,

the N ile fl oweth over the land When the great god had stilled his .

heart he crie d to his followers Come to me O my chil d ren o ffspring

, , , ,

o f my body I am a prince the son o f a prince the divine seed of a

.
, ,

go d . My father d evise d my n ame ; my father and my mother gave

m e my name and it remained hi dd en in m y b ody since my bi rth that
, ,

no ma gi cian mi ght have ma gi c power over me I went out to behold .

that which I have ma d e I walked in the tw o lands which I have ,

created and 10 ! somethin g stung me What it was I know not Was

, .
, .

it fire ? was it water ? My heart i s on fire my flesh trembleth all m y , ,

limbs do quake Brin g m e the children o f the gods with healing words
.

”
a n d un d erstandin g lip s whose powe r reacheth to he aven -
Then
,
.

came to him the chil d ren of the gods and they were very sorrow ful ,
.

A nd Isis cam e wi th her cra ft whose mouth is full o f the breath o f li fe , ,

whose spells chase pain away whose word maketh the dea d to live ,
.
.

She sai d What i s it divine Father what i s it

,
The holy god
,
2 62 OUR D E BT TO T HE SAVAG E CH.

been treate d in his old home H ence the name o f the guar d ian d eity
.

o f Rome was kep t a pro found secret lest the enemies o f th e re public ,

mi gh t lure him away even a s the Rom a ns themselv es had induced

,

m any go d s to deser t like rats the fallin g for tunes o f citi es that had
, ,

sh eltered them i n happier d ays Nay the real nam e not merely
.
, ,

o f its guar d ian deity but o f the city itsel f was wrapt i n mystery and
, ,

mi ght never be u ttere d not even in the sacre d rites A certain Valerius
,
.

S oranus who d are d to divul ge the priceless secret was put to death
, ,

or cam e to a b a d en d In like manner it seems the ancient Assyrians

.
, ,

were forbidden to mention the myst ic names o f thei r cities ; and down
to m odern time s the Cheremiss o f the Cauc a sus kee p the names of
thei r communal villages secret from m otives o f superstition .

If the rea d er has had the patience to f ollow this ex amination of

the superstitions attachin g to p ersonal names he will probably agree ,

that the mystery i n which the names o f royal persona ges are so o ften
shroude d i s no isolate d phenomenon no arbitrary expression o f courtly
,

servility a nd adulation but m erely th e particular applicatio n of a

,

general law o f primitive thou ght which includes within its scope ,

common folk and gods as well as kin gs and p riests .

CHAPT E R XX I I I

OU R DE B T T O T H E SA VA GE

IT w oul d be easy to extend the li st o f royal and priestly taboos but ,

the instances collected in the precedin g pa ges may suffice as specimens .

To conclude this part of our subj ect it only remains to state summarily
the general conclusions to whi ch our enquiries have thus far c onducted
us We have seen tha t in savage or barbarous society there are often
.

found men to who m the supe rstition o f their fellows ascribes a con
trollin g influence over the gene ral course o f nature Such men are .

accor d in gly adore d and treated as gods Whether these human .

d ivinities also hol d temporal sway over the lives and fortunes of
the i r adorers or whether thei r functions are purely s p iritual and
,

supe rn atural in other words whether they are kin gs as well as gods
, ,

or only the latter i s a d istinction which hardly concerns us here Their

,
.

supposed divinity is the essential fact with w hich we have to deal .

In virtu e o f it they are a ple dge and guarantee to thei r worshippers

o f the continuance a nd or d erly succession o f those physical phenomena
upon whi ch m ankin d depen d s for subsistence Naturally therefore
the li fe an d health o f such a god—
.
, ,

man are m a tters of anxious con

'

cern to the people whose wel fare an d even existence are bound up
with his ; n aturally he is constrained by them to con form to such
rules as the wit o f early m an has devise d for ave rtin g the ills to
whi ch flesh is hei r includin g the last ill death Thes e rules as an
, ,
.
,

examination o f them has shown are nothing but the maxims with ,
x x I II O UR D E BT T O T H E S A VA G E 2 63

which ,
on the primitive vi ew every man o f commo n prudence must ,

c omply i f he w ould live lon g in the lan d But while in the case o f .

ordinary men the observance of the rules is left to the choice o f the
i ndividual in the case o f the god m an it is en force d under penalty
,
-

.of dismissal from hi s hi gh station or even o f d ea th For his wor ,

.

shippers have far too great a stake in his li fe to allow him to play fast
a nd loose with it There fore all the quaint superstitions the old
.
,

.world maxims the venerable saws which the in genui ty of sava ge

,

hi losophers elaborate d lon ago and which o ld women at chimney

p g ,

corners still impart as treasures o f great price to thei r d escendants

g athere d round the cotta ge fire o n winter evenin gs — all these antique
fancies clustere d all these cobwebs of the brain were spun about the
,

path of the old kin g the human god who immeshed in them l ike a
, , ,

fly in the toils of a spi d er could hardly s tir a limb for the threads o f
,

custom li ght a s air but stron g as links o f iron that cr ossin g and
,
“
,

recrossing each other in an en d less maze bound him fast wi th in a

network o f observances fro m which dea th or d eposi tion alone could
release him .

Thus to s tudents o f the past the li f e of the old kin gs and priests
.
teems wit h instruction In it was summed up all that passed for
.

wis dom when the w o rld was young It was the per fect pattern a fter .

which e very man strove to shape his li fe ; a faul tless model con
'

structed with rigorous accuracy upon the lines lai d down by a barbar
ous ph ilosophy Cru d e and false as that ph i losophy may see m to us it
.
,

woul d be unj ust to d eny it the merit o f lo gical consis tency S tar tin g .

from a conception o f the v ital pr inci p le as a tiny bein g or soul exi s ti n g

in b ut di stinct a nd separable from the living bein g it deduces for
, , ,

the practi cal gui d ance o f li fe a sys tem of rules which in general hangs
—
well toge ther and forms a fai rly complete and harmon i ous wh o le
The flaw—a n d it is a fatal one o f the sys tem lies n ot i n its reasonin g
.

but in its premises ; in its concept i on o f the n a tu re o f li fe n ot in any ,

irrelevancy of the conclusions which it d raws fro m that concep tion .

But to sti gmati se these prem i ses a s ri d iculous because we can easily
detect their falseness woul d be un grate ful as well as unphilosophical
, .

We stan d upon the foun d ation reare d by the generations tha t hav
gone be fore a nd we can but dimly realise the p ain ful and prolon ge d
,

e fforts which it has cost humani ty to stru ggle up to the poin t no very ,

exalted one a fter all which we have reache d Ou r gratitu d e is d ue

, .

to the nameless an d forgotten toilers whose patient thou ght a n d ,

active exertions have lar gely made us wha t we are T he amount o f .

new knowledge which one age cer tainly which one man can ad d to , ,

the common st o re is small and it ar gues stupidi ty or dishonesty

, ,

besides ingratitude to i gnore the heap while vaun tin g the few gra ins
,

which it m ay have been our privilege to add to it T here i s indeed .

little dan ger at present o f un d ervaluin g the contributions which

modern times and even classical antiquity have m ade to the gene ral
a dvancement o f our race B ut when we pass these limits the case
.
,

i s di fferent Contempt a nd ridi cule o r abhorrence and denunciation

.
26 4 T H E K I LL I N G O F T H E D I V I N EK I N G on .

are too o ften the only recognition vouchsa fed to the sava ge a nd his
ways Yet o f the benefactors who m we are boun d thank fully to
.

commemorate many perha p s most w ere sava ges

, ,
For when all ,
.

is sai d a nd done ou r resemblanc es t o the sava ge a re still far more

numerous than our di ff erences from hi m ; and what w e have in
common w i th him and deliberately reta in as true a n d use ful we
, ,

owe to our sava ge fore fathers who slowly acquired by experience

and t ransmi tte d to us by inheritance those seemin gly fundamental
ideas w hich w e are apt to re gar d as ori ginal and in tuitive We are
.
.

like hei rs to a for tune wh i ch has been han d ed d own for so many ages
that the memory of those who built it up is lost and its possessors ,

for the time bein g re gard it as havin g been an original and unalterable
possessi on o f their race since the be ginnin g o f the worl d But reflection .

and enquiry shoul d sati s fy u s that to ou r predecessors we are indeb te d

for much o f what we thought most ou r own a nd that their errors ,

were n ot wil ful extravagances or the ravin gs of insanity but simply ,

hyp otheses j us tifiable as such at the tim e when they were p ropounded
, ,

but which a fuller experienc e has proved to b e ina d equate It is only . .

by the successive tes tin g o f hypotheses and rej ection o f the false that
truth is at last elicited A fter all w hat we call t ruth is only the
.
,

hyp othesi s which is found t o work best Therefore in reviewing the .

opinions and prac ti ces of ru d er ages and races we shall do well to look .

with leniency upon thei r errors as inevitable slips made in the search
for tru th and to give them the benefit o f that in d ul gence which we
,

ourselves may one day s tand in need of : cum ex cus a ti one i ta qne veteres
a n di end i s n n t .

CHAPT E R XXIV

THE K ILLI N G OF T H E DIVI N E K I N G

l T he M orta li ty of the Gods —M an has created gods in his own

. .

likeness an d bein g him self mortal he has naturally suppos ed his

c rea tures to be in the same sad pre d icament Thus the Greenlanders .

believe d that a win d coul d kill their m ost power ful god, and that he
woul d certainly die if he touched a d og When they heard of the .

Chris tian God they kept askin g i f he never died a nd being info rmed
, ,

that he d i d not , they were much surprised a n d s aid that he must be ,

a very great god indee d In answer to the enquiries of Colonel Dod ge

.
,

a N or th American Indian stated that the w orld was ma d e by the Great

Spirit B ein g aske d which Grea t Spirit he m eant the good one or the
.
,
”
b a d one , Oh neither o f them replie d he the Great Spi ri t that
“
, , ,

m ade the world i s dea d lon g a o H e coul d not possi b ly have lived
g .

as lo ng as this A tribe in the Philippine Isl a n d s told the Spanish

.

conquerors that the grave o f the Creator was upon the top o f Mount
Cab unian H eitsi-e ib ib , a go d or divine h ero o f the H ottentots , died
.

s everal times and came to li fe a gain His grav es are generally to be .

266 T HE KI LL ING O F T H E DIVIN E K I N G CH .

return or m ore commonly that it has been ex tracted or at least

, ,

detaine d in its wan d erin gs by a d emon o r sorcerer In any o f these

,
.

cases the s oul o f the man god is lost to hi s wor shippers and with it
-
,

thei r prosperity is gone a n d thei r very existence endangered Even .

i f they coul d arran ge to ca tch the soul o f the d yin g god as it left his
li p s or hi s nostrils a n d so trans fer it to a successor this would not e ffect ,

thei r purp ose ; for d ying o f d i sease his soul woul d necessarily leave
, ,

his bo dy i n the last sta ge o f weakness and exhaustion an d s o en feeble d ,

it woul d con tinue to d rag out a lan guid inert existence in any body ,

to which it mi ght be trans ferred Whereas by slayin g him his worship .

pers coul d in the fi rs t place make sure o f catchi n g his soul as it es

, ,

cape d and trans ferring it to a suitable successor ; and i n the second ,

place by pu ttin g him to d eath be fore his natural force was abated
, ,

they would secure that the world should not fall into d ecay with the
decay of the man god E very purpo se there fore was answered and
.
, , ,

all d an gers ave rte d by thus killin g the man god and t ransfer ring his
soul while yet at its prime to a vi gorous successor
, , .

The mys ti c kin gs o f Fi re and Water 1n Cambo d ia are not allowed

to d ie a natural d eath H ence when one o f them i s seriously ill and
.

the elders think that he canno t recover t hey stab him to death The , .

people o f Con go believed as w e hav e seen that if their ponti ff the

, ,

Chitom é were to die a na tural death the worl d would p erish and the , ,

earth which he alone sus tained by hi s power a n d merit would imme

, ,

diately be ann i hilate d Accordin gly when he fell ill an d seemed likely
.

to die the man w ho was des tined to be his successor en tere d the
,

ponti ff s house wi th a rope or a club and stran gle d or clubbe d him to

’

d eath The E thiopian kin gs o f M eroe were worshippe d as gods b ut

.

whenever the pries ts chose they sent a messen ger to the king ordering, ,

him to die and alle gin g an ora cle o f the gods as thei r au thority for
,

the comman d This comman d the kin gs always obeyed d own to the
.

rei gn o f E rgam en es a contemporary o f Ptolemy I I Kin g of Egypt

,
.
,
.

Havin g received a Greek education which emancipated him f rom the

superstitions o f his countrymen E r gam en es ventured to di sregard the ,

comman d o f the priests a nd enterin g the Golden Temple with a body

, ,

o f sol d iers p u t the pries ts to the swor d

, .

Customs o f the s ame sort appear t o have prevailed in this p ar t of

A frica d o w n to mo d ern times In some tr ibes o f Faz oql the king had .

to a d minister j us tice d aily under a cer tain tree If f rom sickness or .

any other cause he was unable to dischar ge thi s duty for three whole
days he was han ge d on the tree in a noose which contained two razors
, ,

so arran ge d tha t when the n oo se was dra wn ti ght by the wei ght of the
’
kin g s body they cut his throat .

A cus tom o f puttin g their divine kings to death at the first

symptoms o f infirmity o r old age prevaile d until lately i f indeed it is ,

even now extinct and not merely dormant amon g the Shilluk o f the ,

White Nile a nd in recen t years it has been care fully investi gated by
,

Dr C G Seli gman
. . . The reverence which the Shi lluk pay to their
.

k in g appears to ari se chiefly from the conviction that he i s a rein

x x 1v
- K INGS KILL E D WH E N STR E N GTH FA ILS 26 7

carnation o f the spi ri t o f Nyakan g the semi d ivine hero who founded ,
-

the dynas ty an d set tle d the tribe in thei r present territory It .

is a fun damental article o f the Shilluk cree d that the spirit o f

—
the divine or semi d ivine Nyakan g i s inc a rna te in the rei gnin g kin g ,

who is accor d ingly himsel f inves te d to some ex ten t wi th the character

of a d ivini ty B ut while the Shilluk hold thei r kin gs in hi gh indee d
.
,

religious revere nce an d take every precau tion a gains t their accidental
death never theless they cherish
,
the conv i c tion tha t the kin g must
not be allowe d to become ill or senile les t wi th hi s d iminishin g vigour ,

the cattle should sicken an d fail to bear their increase the crops shoul d ,

rot in the fiel d s an d man stricken with disease shoul d die in ever
, , ,

increasin g numbers To preven t these calam ities it use d to be the

.

regular custom wi th the Shilluk to put the king to d eath whenever

he showe d si gns o f ill health or failin g stren gth One o f the fatal
-
.

symp toms o f d ecay was taken to be an incapac ity to sa tis fy the sexual
passions o f his w ives o f whom he has very many distribute d in a
, ,

large number o f houses at Fasho d a When thi s ominous weakness .

manifeste d i tsel f the wives repor te d it to the ch i e fs who are popularly

, ,

sai d to have intimate d to the king his d oom by sprea d in g a whi te

cloth over his face an d knees as he lay slumberin g in the heat o f the
sultry a fternoon E xecution soon followe d the sentence o f d eath
. .

A b ut was specially buil t fo r the occasion : the king was led into it and
lay down with his head restin g on the lap o f a nubile vir gin : the d oor
o f the b ut was then walle d up ; and the couple were le ft w ithout foo d ,

water or fire to d ie o f hun ger a n d su ffoca tion This was the old
,
.

cus tom but it was abolishe d some five generations a go on account o f

, .

the excess ive su fferings of one o f the kin gs who perished in this way .

It is sai d that the chie fs announce his fate to the kin g and that a fter ,

war d s he is s tran gle d in a hut w hich has been speci ally built for the
Occasion .

From Dr Seli gman s enquiries i t appears that n ot only was the

.
’

Shilluk kin g l ia b le to b e kille d wi th d u e ceremony at the first symptoms

'

of inc ipient d ecay but even while he was yet in the prime o f health
,

and s trength he mi ght be attacke d a t any time by a rival a nd have to

de fen d his crown in a combat to the dea th Accor d ing to the common .

Sh illuk tra d ition any son o f a kin g had the ri gh t thus to fi gh t the kin g
in possession and if he succeede d in killin g him to rei gn in his stea d
, , .

As eve ry kin g ha d a lar ge harem an d many sons the number o f possible ,

can d i dates for the throne at any time may well have been not in .

considerable and the rei gnin g monarch must have carrie d his li fe in
,

his han d B ut the attack on him coul d only take place wi th any
.

prospect o f success at ni ght ; fo r during the day the kin g surroun de d

himsel f with his friends an d bo dyguar d s an d an aspi rant to the throne ,

coul d hardly hope to cut his way throu gh them and strike home It .

was otherwise at ni gh t For then the guar d s were dismisse d and the
.

king was alone i n hi s enclosure wi th his favouri te wives : and there was
no man near to de fend him except a few herdsmen whose huts stood ,

a little way o ff The hours o f d arkness were therefore the season of

.
2 68 T HE KIL L I N G OF T HE D IVI N E KI N G CH .

peril for the kin g It is sai d that he use d to pass them in co n stant
.

wa tchfulness prowlin g roun d hi s huts fully arme d peerin g into the

, ,

blackest sha d ow s or himsel f stan d in g silent and aler t like a sentinel

, ,

on d u ty in some d ark corner When at las t hi s rival appeare d the

, .
,

fi ght woul d take place in grim silence b roken only by the clash of ,

spears and s hiel d s for it was a point o f ho nour wi th the kin g not to
,

call the herd sm en to his assistance .

L ike N yakan g h imsel f the ir foun d er each of the Sh illuk kings , ,

a fter d eath is worshippe d at a shrine which is erecte d over his grave , ,

an d the grave o f a kin g is always in the villa ge where he was born . .

The to m b shrine o f a kin g resem b les the shr ine o f Nyakan g consisting
-
,

o f a few hu ts enclose d by a fence ; one o f the hu ts is buil t over the

king s grave the o thers are occupied by the guar d ians o f the shrine
’

, .

In d ee d the shrines o f Nyaka ng a n d the shrines o f the kin gs are scarcely

to be d i s tin gu ished from each other an d the reli gious r i tuals observe d ,

at all o f them are i dentical in form a n d vary only in ma tters o f detail ,

the variat i ons bein g du e apparently to the fa r greater sancti ty at tribute d

to the shri nes of Nyakan g The grave shrines o f the kin gs are tended .
-

by cer tain old m en or women who correspond to the guar d i ans of the ,

shrines o f N yakan g They are usually wi d ows or ol d men servants

.
-

o f the d eceased ki ng a n d when they die they are succee d e d in th eir

,

o ffice by their d escen d an ts M oreover ca ttle are d e d icate d to the .

,

grave shrines o f the kin gs and sacrifices are o ffered at them j ust as
-

a t the shrines o f N yakan g .

In general the principal element in the religi on o f the Shilluk

would seem to be the worship which they pay to their sacre d or divine
kin gs whether dea d or al ive These are believe d to be animate d
,
.

by a sin gle d ivine spiri t which has been transmitte d from the semi
,

mythical but probably in subs tance h i storical founder o f the dynasty

, ,

throu gh all his successors to the present d ay H ence re gar din g .

,

thei r kin gs as incarnate d ivinities on whom the wel fare of men of ,

c attle and o f the corn implici tly depends the Shilluk na turally pay
, ,

them the greates t respec t and take every care o f them ; a n d however .

stran ge it may seem to us thei r custom o f puttin g the d ivine king to ,

d eath as soon as he shows si gns o f ill health or fa ilin g s tren gth springs -

d irectly from their pro foun d venera ti on for him and from their
anxie ty to preserve him or rather the divine spiri t by which he is,

anim ate d in the mos t per fect state o f e fficiency : nay we may go
, ,

fu r ther a nd say tha t their p racti ce o f re gicide i s the best proof they .

can give o f the hi gh re gar d in which they hol d their kin gs For they .

bel ieve as we have seen that the kin g s li fe or spirit i s so sympathetic

, ,
’

ally bound u p with the prosperi ty of the whole country th at i f he ,

fell ill or grew senile the ca ttle would sicken and cease to multiply ,

the crops would rot in the fiel d s a n d men woul d perish o f widespread ,

disease H ence in thei r opinion the only way o f avertin g these

.
, ,

calamities is to put the kin g to dea th while he i s still hale and hearty ,

i n o r d er that the divi n e spirit wh i ch he has inheri te d from his pre

d ecessors may be t ransmitted in tu rn by him to his su cc ess or whil e
27 0 THE K ILLI N G OF THE DI VIN E K I N G C 11 .

day ; i n deed the men in authority whom travellers dub chiefs or

s heikhs a re in fact the actual or potential rain makers o f the tr 1b e or -

community E ach of them is believed to be animated by the spirit

.

o f a grea t rain maker which has come down to him throu gh a succes
-
,

sion o f rain makers ; a n d in vir tue o f thi s inspiration a successful

-

rain maker enj oys very great power a n d i s consul te d on all important
-

matters Yet i n spite or rather i n vir tue o f the hi gh honour in which

.
, ,

he i s held no Dinka rain maker is a llowe d to d ie a na tural d ea th of sick

,
-

ness or old a ge ; for the Dinka believe that if such an untoward e vent
were to happen the tribe woul d su ff er from d iseas e and famine and
, ,

the herds woul d not y iel d their increase S o when a rain maker feels .
-

tha t he is grow in g old and infirm he tells hi s children that he wishes ,

to d i e . Amon g the A gar Dinka a lar ge grave is dug a n d the rain

make r lies d own in it surroun d ed by hi s frien d s an d relatives Fro m
,
.

time to time he speaks to the people recallin g the past history of the ,

tribe remin d in g them how he has rule d and a dvised them and in
, ,

str uctin g them how they are to act in the future Then when he has .
,

concluded his admoni ti on he b ids them cover him up S o the earth ,

.

i s thrown down on him as he lies in the grave and he soon dies of ,

su ffocati o n Such wi th minor variations appears to be the re gular

.
, ,

en d o f the honourable career o f a ra i n maker in all the Dinka tribes -

.

The Khor A d ar D inka told Dr Seli gm an that when they have dug
-
.

the grave for thei r rain maker they s tran gle him in hi s house The
-
.

’
father and pa ternal uncle o f one o f Dr Seli gm an s in formants had
bo th been rain —
.

makers an d both had been kille d in the most re gular

and orthodox fashion E ven i f a rain maker is quite youn g he will
.
-

be put to d ea th should he see m likely to p erish o f di sease Further .

,

every precaution is taken to prevent a rain maker from d yin g an -

acci d ental death for such an end thou gh not nearly so serious a
, ,

ma tter as d eath from illness or ol d a ge woul d be sure to en tail sickness

on the tribe As soon as a rain —
,

. maker i s kille d his valuable spirit is ,

supposed to pass to a suitable successor whether a son or other near ,

blood relation .

In the Central A frican kingdom o f Bunyoro d own to recent years

custom require d that as soon as the kin g fell seriously ill or began to
break up from age he shoul d d i e by his own han d ; for according to
, ,

an old prophecy the throne woul d pass away from the dynasty i f
,

ever the kin g were to die a natural d ea th H e killed himsel f by drain .

ing a poisone d cup I f he faltered or were too i ll to ask for the cup
.
,

it was his wi fe s d uty to a d minister the poi son When the king of
’
.

Kiban ga on the Upper Co ngo seems near his end the s orcerers put
, , ,

a rope round hi s neck whi ch they draw gradually ti ghter t ill he d ies
, .

I f the kin g o f Gingi r o happens to be wounde d in war he i s put to ,

d eath by his comrades or i f they fail to kill him by his kins folk
, , , ,

however h a rd he may b eg for mercy They say they do it that he .

may not d i e by the hands of his enemies The Juk os are a heathen .

t ribe o f the Benue River a great tributary of the Ni ger In their , .

coun try the town of Gatri is ruled by a kin g who is elected by the
x x rv KI N GS KI LLE D WH E N STRE N GTH FAI LS 27 1

b ig men o f the tow-n as foll ow s When in the opinion o f the b ig .

m en the kin g has rei gned lon g enou gh they give out that the kin g ‘

i s sick —a formula understo od by all to mean tha t they a re going to

,

kill him though the i ntention i s never put mo re plainly They then
, ,

decide who is to be the nex t king H ow lon g he is to rei gn i s set tle d .

b y the i nfluential men at a meetin g ; the questi on is put a n d answere d

by each m an throwin g on the ground a lit tle piece o f stick for each
year he thinks the new kin g should rule The kin g is then told and .
,

a great feast prepare d at wh ich the king gets d runk on guinea corn
,
-

beer A fter that he is speare d and the man who was chosen becomes
.
,

king Thus each Juko kin g know s that he cannot have very many
.

more years to live and that he is ce rtain o f hi s predecessor s fate

,
’
.

This however d oes not seem to fri ghten candidates The same
custom of king—
.
, ,

killin g is said to prevail at Q uonde and Wukari as

well as at Gatri In the three H ausa kin gd oms o f Gobir K atsina
.
, ,

and Daura in N orthern N igeria as s oon as a king s howed si gns o f

, ,

failin g health or growin g infirmity an o fficial who bore the title o f ,

Killer o f the E lephan t appeared and throttled him .

The M a tia m vo is a grea t kin g or emperor in the interio r o f An gola .

One of the in ferior kin gs o f the coun try by name Challa gave to a , ,

Por tuguese ex pedition the followin g accoun t o f the manner in which

”
the M a tiam v o comes by hi s end It has been customary he sai d .
, ,
“
for our M atiam vos to die ei ther in war or by a violent death and ,

the present M atiam vo must meet this l a st fa te as in consequence , ,

of his great exactions he has l ive d lon g enough When we come to

, .

this un d erstandin g and d eci d e that he should be k illed we invite

, ,

him to make war with our enemies o n which occasion we all accompany ,

him and his family to the war when w e lose some o f our people I f , .

he escapes unhurt we return to the war a gain and fi ght for three or
,

four days We then suddenly abandon him a n d hi s family to thei r

.

fate leavin g him in the enemy s han d s S eein g himsel f thus d eserte d
’
.
, ,

he causes his throne to be erected and si ttin g down calls his family , , ,

aroun d him H e then or d ers his mother to approach ; she kneels

.

at hi s feet ; he fi rst cuts off her head then dec api ta tes his sons in ,

succession next his wives and relatives and last o f all his most
, , , ,

beloved wife called A nacullo This slau ghter bein g accompli she d
, .
,

the M atiam vo dresse d in all his pomp awaits his own dea th which
, , ,

immediately follows by an o fficer sen t by the p ower ful nei ghbourin g

,

chiefs Ca niq u inha and Canica Thi s o fficer firs t cuts off his legs
, .

and arms at the j oints a n d las tly he cu ts off his head ; a fter which
,

the head o f the o fficer is struck off All the potentates reti re f rom the .

encampment in or d er not to w itness his death

, It is my d u ty to .

re m ain and witness his dea th and to mark the place where the head ,

and ar m s have been d epos ited by the two great chie fs the enemi es ,

of the M atia m vo They al so take possession o f all the property

.

belon gin g to the d ecease d monarch and hi s family which they convey ,

to their own residence I then provide for the funeral o f the mutilated
.

remains o f the late M atiam vo a f ter which I reti re to his cap ital and ,
272 THE KI LLI N G O F THE DIVI N E K I N G CH .

proclaim the new government I then return to where the head

.
,

legs a n d arm s have been dep osited a n d fo r for ty slaves I ransom

, , , ,

them to ge ther wi th the merchandise and o ther proper ty belonging

,

to the d eceased which I give up to the new M a tia m v o who has been
, ,

proclaimed This is what has happened to many M atiam vos and

.
,
”
what must happen to the present one .

It appear s to have been a Zulu custom to put the ki ng to death

as soon as he began to have w rinkles o r grey hairs At least this .

seems implied in the followin g passa ge wri tten by one w ho resided

fo r some time at the court o f the notori ous Zulu tyran t Chaka in the ,

early part o f the nine teen th century : The ex traor d inary violence “

’
o f the kin g s ra ge w ith me was ma i nly occasioned by that absurd
nostrum the hai r oil wi th the noti on o f wh ich M r Farewell had
, , .

imp resse d him as bein g a specific for removin g all in d ications of age .

F rom the fi rst moment o f hi s havin g heard that such a preparation

was atta inable he evinced a solici tu d e to procure it and on every
, ,

occasion never for got to remind us o f hi s anxiety respecting it ; more

especially on o u r departure on the mission his inj un ctions were par
ticu la rly di rec ted to this obj ect It will be seen that it is one o f the
.

barbarous custom s o f the Zoola s in their choice or election o f their

kin gs that he must neither have w rinkles nor grey hairs as they are ,

bo th distinguishin g marks o f d isqualifica tion for becomin g a monarch

o f a warlike people It is also equally in d ispensable that their king
.

should never exh ibit those p roo fs o f havin g become unfit and incom
pe tent to rei gn ; it i s there fore important that they should conceal
these i n d i ca ti ons s o lon g as they possibly can Chak a had become .

grea tly appr e hensive o f the approach o f grey hairs ; which would
at once be the signal for him to prepare to make his ex it from this
sublunary world i t bein g alwa ys followed b y the death of the
,

monarch The writer to whom w e are i n deb t e d for this instructive

.

anec d o te o f the h air oil om its to speci fy the mode in which a grey
ha i re d an d w rinkle d Zulu chie f used to make his ex it from this
sublunary world but on analo gy we m ay conj ecture that he was
killed .

The cus tom o f pu ttin g kings to d eath as soon as they su ffered

from any p erson al de fe ct preva iled tw o cen turi es a go in the Ca ffre
kin gdom o f S o fala We have seen that these kin gs o f S ofala were
.

re garded as gods by thei r pe 0 p1e bein g entrea ted to give rain or sun ,

sh ine accord in g as each mi ght be wan ted

,
Nevertheless a sli ght .

bodily blemish such as the loss o f a toot h was consi dered a sufficient
,
,

cause fo r puttin g one o f these god men to d ea th as we learn from the -

,

followin g passa ge o f an ol d Por tu guese his torian : It was formerly

“

the custom o f the k i n gs o f this land to comm it suicide by takin g poison

when any disas ter or natural physical de fec t fell upon them such as ,

impotence in fectious di sease the loss o f thei r front tee th by which

, , ,

they were disfi gured or any o ther deformity or a ffl iction To p ut

, .

a n end to such de fects they kille d themselves sayi n g that the kin g ,

s hould be free from any blemish and i f not it was better for his ho nour
, ,
27 4 T H E K I LL IN G OF T H E DIVI N E K I N G CH .

them that he had no mi nd to take a nap but on the cont ra ry was ,

resolved to watch for the benefit o f his subj ects The ministers .
,

surp rise d and in d i gnant at his recalcitra ncy rai sed a rebellion but , ,

were d e feated wi th grea t slau ghter a n d thus by his sp irited conduct the
,

king freed him sel f from the tyranny o f his counc illors and establi shed
'

a new precedent for the gui d ance o f his successors H owever the old .
,

custom seems to hav e revived and persisted until late in the nineteenth
century for a Catholic m iss i onary writin g in 1884 sp eaks of the
, , ,

prac tice as i f it were s till in vo gue Another missionary writin g in .

,

188 1 thus describes the usa ge o f the E gbas and the Yorubas o f West
,
“
A frica : Among the customs o f the country one o f the most curious
i s unquesti onably that o f j ud gin g and punishin g the kin g Sh ould .

he have earned the hatred o f his people by exceedi ng hi s ri ghts one ,

o f his councillo rs on whom the heavy duty i s lai d requires of the

, ,
‘
p rince that he shall go to sleep which means simply take poison ,
’ ‘

’
and die I f hi s coura ge fails him at the supreme moment a friend
.
,

renders him this last service and quietly without betrayin g the secret
, , ,
’
they prepare the people fo r the news of the kin g s death In Yoruba .

the thin g is mana ged a li ttle di ff erently When a son is born to the .

’
kin g o f Oyo they m ake a model o f the i n fant s ri ght foot in clay and
,

keep it in the house o f the el d ers (ogb oni ) I f the kin g fails to observe .

the cus toms o f the country a messen ger without speakin g a word, , ,
’
shows him his child s foot The king knows what that means He . .

”
takes poison and goes to sleep The old Prussians acknowledged
.

a s thei r sup reme lord a ruler w- ho governed them in the name o f the
gods a n d was known a s
,
Go d s M outh When he felt himsel f
“ ’
.

weak and ill i f he wishe d to leave a good name behind him he had a
—
, ,

g reat heap made o f thorn bushes and straw o n which he mounted ,

a n d delivered a l on g sermon to the pe 0 p 1e exhor tin g them to serve ,

the gods and p romisin g to go to the gods and speak for the people .

Then he took some o f the perpetual fi re which burned in f ront of

th e holy oak tree and li gh tin g the p ile with it burned himsel f to d eath
-

3 K ings k i lled a t the E nd of a F i x ed T erm — In the cases hithert o

.
,

described the d ivin e king or priest is su ff ered by his people to retain

,

o ffice until som e ou tward de fect some visible symptom of failing ,

health or a d vancing age warns them th at he i s no lon ger equal to

,

the di schar ge o f his divine dut ies ; but not until such s ym ptoms
have made thei r appea rance is he put to death S ome peoples how .
,

ever appea r to have thou ght it unsa fe to wait for even the sli ghtest
,

symptom o f decay and have preferre d to kill the kin g while he was
s till in the full v igour o f l i fe Accordin gly they hav e fixed a term
.
,

beyond whi ch he mi ght not reign and at the close o f which he must ,

die the term fixed upon bein g short enough to exclude the probability
,

o f his degeneratin g physically in the interval In some parts of .

Sou thern I n d ia the period fixed was twelve years Thus according .
,
“
to an old traveller in the province o f Q uilacare
,
there is a Gentile ,

house o f prayer in which there i s an idol which they hold in great

,

a ccount and every tw elve y ears they celebrate a great f east to it

, ,
xx 1v KIN GS KIL LE D AT EN D OF FIX E D T ER M 27 5

whither all the Gentiles go as to a j ubilee This temple possesses .

many lands a n d much revenue : it is a very gre at a ffair Thi s province .

has a king over it who has not more than twelve years to rei gn from
,

jubilee to j ubi lee H i s manner o f l iv in g i s in this wise that is to say :

.
,

when the twelve years are complete d on the day o f th i s feas t there ,

assemble to gether innumera b le people and much money i s s p ent in ,

giving foo d to B ramans The kin g has a woo d en sca ffolding ma d e

.
,

spread over with silken hangings : and on that day he goes to ba the at
a tank wi th grea t ceremonies a n d soun d o f music a fter that he comes ,

to the idol a nd prays to it and moun ts on to the sca ffoldin g and

, ,

there be fore all the people he takes some very sha rp knives a nd be gins ,

to cut off his nose and then his ears and his li p s an d all his members
, , , ,

and as much flesh off himsel f as he can ; a n d he throws i t away very

hurrie d ly un til so much o f hi s blood is spille d that he begins to faint ,

and then he cuts his throat himsel f And he per forms this sacr ifice .

to the i dol an d whoever desires to re ign another twelve years a n d un d er

,

take this mar tyr d om fo r love o f the i d ol has to be p resen t loo k in g on at ,

”
this : and from that p lace they raise him up as kin g .

The king o f Calicut on the Malabar coast bears the ti tle o f Samorin ,

or Samory He pre ten d s to be o f a higher rank than the B rahmans

.
,

and to be i n ferior only to the i nv i sible gods ; a preten tion tha t was
acknowle dge d by his subj ec ts b ut wh ich i s held as absur d a n d ab om i n
,
”
able by the B rahmans by whom he i s o nly trea te d as a S udra
,
.

Formerly the Samorin ha d to cut m s throat in public at the end o f a

twelv e years re ign B ut to w ar d s the en d o f the seven teen th century
’
.

the rule ha d been mo d ifie d as follows : Many stran ge customs were

observe d in th i s coun try i n former times and some very odd ones a re ,

still continued It was an ancient cus tom fo r the Samorin to rei gn

.

but twelve years and no lon ger I f he d ied be fore hi s term was
,
.

expired it save d him a troublesome ceremony o f cutting hi s own throat

, ,

on a publick scaffold erecte d fo r the purpos e H e first m ade a feast .

for all hi s nobili ty and gen try who a re very numerous , A fter the .

feast he saluted his guests and wen t on the sca ff ol d a nd very d ecently
, ,

cut his own throat i n the view o f the assem b ly a nd his body was a , ,

little while a fter burne d wi th great pomp an d ceremony an d the

, ,

grandees elected a new Samorin Whe ther that cus tom was a reli gious
.

or a civil ceremony I know n o t b ut it i s now lai d aside

,
A n d a new
,
.

custom is followe d by the modern S a m o ri ns that j ubilee is proclaimed ,

throughout his d ominions at the en d o f twelve years a n d a tent i s

, ,

pitched for him in a spacious plain a n d a great feast is celebrate d for ,

ten or twelve days wi th m irth and j oll ity guns fir i n g ni gh t and day
, , ,

so at the end of the feast any four o f the gues ts that have a mind to
gai n a crown by a de spera te action in fi ghtin g thei r way throu gh 30 ,

or o f his guards an d kill the Samorin in his tent he tha t kill s

, ,

him succee d s him in his empire In anno 1695 one o f those j ubi l ees .
,

happened a nd the tent pitche d n ear P ennany a seaport o f his about

,
.
,

fi fteen leagues to the southward o f Calicut There were but three men .

that woul d v enture on that desperate action who fell in with sword , ,
2 76 T HE KI LLI N G OF T HE DIVI N E KI NG CH .

and tar get amon g the gu ard and a fter they ha d kille d a n d wounded
, , ,

many were themselves k i lle d One o f the despera d os ha d a nephew

, .

o f fi fteen or six teen years o f a e that kep t close by hi s uncle in the

g ,

a ttack on the guar d s a n d when he saw him fall the you th got through
, , ,
’
the guar d s into the ten t and ma d e a stroke at his M aj esty s head and
, ,

had cer tainly d espa tche d him if a lar ge brass lamp which was burning
over his hea d ha d not marred the blow ; but be fore he could make ,

ano ther he was k i lled by the guards a n d I bel i eve the same Samorin
, , ,

rei gns yet I chanced to come tha t time alon g the coast and heard
.

”
the guns for two or three d ays and ni gh ts successively .

The E nglish traveller whose account I have quoted d id not

, ,

hims el f wi tness the fes tival he describes though he hear d the sound ,

o f the fi rin g i n the d i s tance For tunately exact records o f these

.
,

festivals an d o f the number o f men who perished at them have been

prese rved in the archives o f the royal family at Calicut In the latter .

part o f the nine teen th c entury they were examined by M r W Logan . .

, .

with the personal assistance o f the rei gnin g kin g and from his work it ,

is possible to gain an accurate conception both of the tra ge dy and of

the scene where it was perio d ically enacte d down to 17 43 when the ,

ceremony took place for the last time .

The fes tiva l a t which the kin g o f Calicut s taked his crown and his
”
li fe on the issue o f ba ttle was known as the Gr eat Sacrifice It fell .

every twel fth year w hen the plane t Jup iter was in retro gra d e motion
,

i n the si gn o f the Crab an d it las te d twenty ei ght days culminating

,
-
,

at the ti me o f the ei gh th lunar asterism in the mon th o f M ak aram .

As the date o f the festival was d etermine d by the posit ion of Jupiter
i n the sky a n d the interval be tween two fest ivals was twelve years
, ,
’
which is rou ghly Jupiter s peri od o f revolut i on roun d the sun we ,

may conj ecture that the splend id plane t was supposed to be in a

special sense the k i ng s sta r and to rule his d es tiny the period of its
’

revolution i n heaven corresponding to the perio d o f his rei gn on earth .

H owever that may be the ceremony was observe d with great pomp
,

at the T i runav ayi temple on the nor th bank o f the Ponnani River
,
.

The spo t is clo se to the p resen t r a ilw ay line As the train rushes by '

.
,

you can j us t catch a gl impse o f the temple almost hi d den behind a ,

clump o f trees on the r iver bank From the western gateway o f the .

temple a per fec tly s trai gh t roa d hardly raised above the l evel of the ,

surroundin g rice field s and shaded by a fine avenue runs for hal f a
-
,

m i le to a h igh rid ge wi th a precipi tous bank on which the ou tlines of ,

three or four terraces can still b e traced On the topmost of these .

terraces the k i n g took his s tand on the eventful day The view which .

it commands i s a fine one A cross the flat expanse o f the rice-fields

. ,

w ith the broad placid river windin g throu gh them the eye ranges ,

eas tward to hi gh tabl elan d s thei r lower slopes embowered in woods

, ,

whil e a far off loom s the great chain o f the western Ghauts and in the ,

fur thes t distance the N e ilghe rri es or B lue Mountains hardly dis ,

tingu ishab le from the azure o f the sky above

‘

’
But it was not to the distant prospec t that the kin g s eyes naturall y
27 8 T HE KI LLI N G OF T HE DIVI N E KI N G CH .

day . This however the re gici d e d id not al ways succeed in do ing

, ,
.

When Fern ao Peres d A nd ra d e on a voya ge to Ch i na p u t in at Passier

’

, ,

fo r a car go o f spices two kin gs were massacre d a n d that in the most

, ,

peaceable a nd or d erly manne r wi thout the smalles t si gn o f tumult or

,

sedi tion in the ci ty where every thin g wen t on in its usual course as if
, ,

the murder or execution o f a kin g were a ma tter o f everyday occurrence .

I n d ee d on one occasi on three kin gs were raised to the dangerous

,

eleva tion and followed each o ther i n the d us ty road o f d eath in a

single day The p eople d e fen d ed the custom which they esteemed
.
,

very lau d able a n d even o f divine i nst itution by sayin g that God ,

would never allow so hi gh a n d migh ty a bein g as a k in g who rei gned ,

a s his vice gerent on earth to perish by V iolence unles s fo r his sins he

,

thorou ghly deserved it Far away from the tropical is lan d o f Sumatra
.

a rule o f the same sor t appe a rs to hav e ob taine d amon g the old Slavs .

When the cap tives Gunn and J a rm erik contrived to slay the kin g and ‘

q ueen o f the S lavs a n d ma d e their escape they were pursue d by the ,

barbarians who shoute d a fter them that i f they woul d only come
,

back they would rei gn instead of the murdered mo n arch since by a ,

public sta tute o f the ancients the success i on to the throne fell to the
’
kin g s assassi n B ut the flyin g re gici des turne d a d ea f ear to promises
.

which they re garde d as mere baits to lure them back to d estruction ;

they con tinued their fli gh t an d the shouts and clamour o f the bar
,

b a ria ns gradually d ie d away in the d i s tance .

When kin gs were bound to su ffer death whether at their own ,

hands or at the hands o f o thers on the expiration o f a fixe d term of,

years it was na tural tha t they should seek to delegate the pain ful
,

d uty alon g wi th som e o f the p rivileges o f soverei gn ty to a substi tute

, ,

who should suffer vi cariously in the i r s tea d This expedient appears .

to have been reso rte d to by some o f the pri nces o f Malabar Thus we .

“
are in formed by a na tive au thority on that country tha t in some
places all powers bo th executive and j udicial were delegated for a
fixe d perio d to na tives by the sovere ign Thi s ins titution was styled .

T ha lav e tti par othi a m or author ity obta i ned by decapita tion It
was an o ffice tenable for five years d urin g wh ich its bearer was invested
w ith supreme despo ti c powers wi thi n his j uri s d iction On the expiry .

’
o f the five ye a rs the man s head was cut off and throw n up in the air

a mon g s t a lar ge concourse o f villa gers each of whom vie d wi th the ,

other in tryin g to ca tch it in its course down H e who succeeded was .

nominated to the post for the next five years .

When once k in gs who had hitherto been bound to die a violent

,

death at the end o f a term o f years conceived the happy thought of ,

dyin g by deputy in the pers ons o f others they would very naturally ,

p ut it in pr a ct i ce ; and accordin gly w e need not wonder at finding so

p op ular an expe d ient or t races o f it in many lan d s S candinavian
, , .

t rad itions con tain some hints that o f old the S w e d ish kin gs rei gned
only for p eriods o f nine years after whi ch they were put to death or
,

had to find a subst itute to die in their stea d Thus Aun or On king .
,

o f Sweden is said to have sacrificed to Odin for length o f d ays and to

,
xx rv K I N GS KILL ED AT EN D OF FI XED T ERM 27 9

have been answered by the god that he shoul d live so lon g as he sacri
‘

ficed one o f his sons every ninth year H e sacrificed nine o f them in .

this manner and woul d have sacrifice d the tenth a nd last but the
, ,

Swedes would not allow him S o he d ie d and was bur ied in a mound
.

at Upsala Ano ther in d ica tion o f a similar tenure o f the crown occurs
.

in a curious le gen d o f the d eposition a nd bani shmen t o f O d in O ffende d .

at his misdee d s the other gods o utlawed an d exi led him but s et up
, ,

in his place a substitute Oller by name a cunn i n g wizar d to whom

, , ,

they accorde d the symbols both o f royal ty a nd o f go d head The .

deputy bore the name o f Odin and reigned for nearly ten years when , ,

he was driven from the throne wh ile the real O d in came to his own ,

again H i s d iscom fited rival retired to S we d en and was a fterwards

.

slain in an attempt to repair his shattere d for tunes As go d s are o ften .

m erely men who loom large throu gh the m i s ts o f tra d ition we may ,

conj ec ture that th i s Norse legen d preserves a con fused reminiscence

of ancien t Swedish kin gs who re igne d fo r n i ne o r ten ye a rs to ge ther ,

then ab dicated dele ga ti n g to others the pr ivile ge o f dyin g for their

,

country The great fes tival wh i ch was hel d at Upsala every ni ne

.

years may have been the occasion on wh i ch the kin g or his depu ty was
put to dea th We know that human sacr ifices forme d par t o f the ri tes
. .

There are som e grounds fo r believin g tha t the reign o f many

ancient Greek k in gs was lim ite d to e igh t y ears or at least tha t at the
‘
,

end of every perio d of ei gh t years a new consecra ti on a fresh out ,

pourin g o f the divine grace was regar d e d as necessary in order to enable

,

them to dischar ge their civil a n d rel igious du ties Thus it was a rule .

of the Spartan constitu ti on tha t every e igh th year the ephors should

choose a clear and moonless n ight a n d s ittin g d own observe the sky in
silence If d u rin g their vi gil they saw a meteor or shoo tin g s tar they
.
,

in ferre d that the k in g had sinne d agains t the d e ity a n d they suspen d e d ,

him from his functions un til the Delphic or Olympic oracle shoul d
re ins tate him i n them This custom which has all the a ir o f great
.
,

antiqui ty was not su ffered to remain a d ea d le tter even in the las t

,

period o f the Spartan monarchy ; fo r in the third century be fore our

era a king who ha d ren d ered himsel f obnox ious to the re formin g
,

party was actually d eposed on var ious trumpe d up char ges amon g
,
-
,

which the alle gation that the om i nous s ign had been seen in the sky
took a prominent place .

If the tenure o f the re gal o ffice was formerly limite d amo n g the
Spartans to e ight years we may naturally ask why was tha t precis e
, ,
’
perio d selected as the measure o f a k ing s rei gn ? The reason i s
probably to be found in those astronomical considerat i ons w hich
determ ine d the earl y Greek calendar The di ffi cul ty o f reconcilin g .

lunar wi th solar tim e is one o f the standin g puz z les which has taxed
the ingenuity of men who are emer ging from barbarism Now an .

octennial cycle is the shortest period at the end o f whi ch sun an d

moon really m ark time to gether a fter overlappin g so to say through , ,

out the whole o f the int erval Thus for example it is only once in .
, ,

every eight years that the full moon coincides with the lo n gest or
280 T H E KI LL IN G OF T H E D IVI N E K I N G CH .

shortest day ; and as this coincidence can b e observe d w i th the aid

o f a simple d i al the observa tion is na turally one o f the firs t to furnish
,

a base fo r a calen d ar wh ich shall br i n g lunar a nd solar times into

t ol era b l e thou gh not exact
,
harmony B ut in early days the proper , .

a d j us tment o f the calend ar i s a matter o f reli gious concern since on ,

i t d ep e n d s a knowle d ge o f the ri gh t seasons fo r prop i tia ti n g the dei ties

whose favour is in d i spensa b le to the wel fa re o f the community No .

w on d er there fore tha t the k i n g as the chie f p ri es t o f the sta te or

, , , ,

as h imsel f a god s houl d be l iable to d epos ition o r death at the end of

,

an as tronomical peri od \ Vhen the grea t lumina ries had run their .

cours e on h igh a n d were about to renew the heavenly race it mi ght

, ,

w ell be thou gh t tha t the k in g shoul d renew his divine ener gies or ,

prove th em u n aba te d un d e r pa in o f maki ng room for a m o re vi gorous

,

successor In S outhern In d ia as we have seen the kin g s reign and

.
, ,
’

li fe term i na te d wi th the revolu ti on o f the plane t Jupi ter round the

sun I n Greece on the other han d the kin g s fa te seems to have
.
, ,
’

hun g i n the balance at the en d o f every ei gh t years ready to fly up ,

a n d kick the beam as soon as the opposi te scale was loa d e d wi th a

fallin g s ta r .

Whatever its or igin may have been the cycle o f ei ght years appears ,

to have coincide d w ith the normal len gth o f the k i n g s rei gn i n other
’

par ts o f Greece bes i d es Spar ta Thus M inos kin g o f Cnossus in Crete .

, ,

whos e g reat pal ace has been unear the d in recen t years is said to have ,

hel d o ffice for perio d s o f ei ght years to gether At the en d of each .

perio d he retired for a season to the oracular cave on Mount I da and ,

there communed wi th his d iv i ne father Zeus givin g him an account ,

o f his kin gship in the years tha t were pas t and receivin g from him ,

instructi ons for his gu i d ance i n those which were to come The .

tra d i ti on pla i nly implies tha t at the end o f every e ight years the
kin g s sacre d pow e rs nee d e d to be renewe d by intercourse with the
’

go d hea d a n d tha t wi thout such a renewal he wou l d have for fei ted
,
.

his ri gh t to the throne .

Withou t be in g un d uly rash w e m ay surm i se that the tribute of

'

seven youths a nd seven ma i d ens whom the Athen ians were boun d
to sen d to M inos every e igh t year s had some connexion wit-h the
renewal o f the kin g s power fo r another octenn i al cycle Traditions
’
.

var i e d as to the fa te which awai te d the lads and d amsels on their '

a rr iv a l in Cre te ; b ut the common view appears to have been that

they were shut up in the labyrin th there to be devoured by the ,

Mino tau r or at leas t to be imprisoned for li fe Perha p s they were

,
.

sacrifice d by be in g roaste d alive in a b ronze image o f a bull or of ,

a bull hea d ed man in or d er to renew the stren gth o f the kin g and
-
,

o f the sun whom he persona ted This at all events i s su ggested

'

.
,

by the legen d o f Talos a bronze man who clutched pe ople to his ,

breas t a n d leaped wi th them into the fi re so tha t they were roasted ,

ali ve H e i s said to have been given by Zeus to E uropa or by

.
,

H ephaes tus to M i n os to guar d the island o f Crete which he patrolled

, ,

thrice daily Accor d in g to one account he was a bull according to

.
,
2 82 T HE KI LLI N G OF THE DIVI N E KI N G CH .

day o f the month Lous a nd lasted for five d ays d uring whi ch
, ,

masters and servants chan ged places the servants givin g orders ,

a n d the masters obeyin g them A p risoner condemned to death was .

dressed in the kin g s robes s ea te d on the kin g s thron e allowed to

’
,
’
,

issue wha tever commands he p leased to eat d rink and enj oy himself , , , ,

and to li e wi th the kin g s concub i nes But at the end o f the five
’
.

d ays he was strippe d of his royal robes scourge d and hanged or , ,

impaled Durin g his bri e f term o f o ffice he bore the ti tle o f Zoganes
.
.

This cus tom mi ght perhaps have been expla ine d as merely a grim j est
perpetrate d in a season of j oll ity at the expense of an unhappy criminal
But one ci rcumstance—the leave given to the mock kin g to enjoy
.

the kin g s concubines— is decisive a gai ns t this interpre tation Con

’
.

s i d ering the j ealous seclusion o f an oriental despo t s harem we may

’

be qui te cer tain tha t permi ssion to inva de it woul d never have been
grante d by the despo t least o f all to a con d emned criminal except
, ,

fo r the very graves t cause This cause could har d ly be other than
.

that the con d emned man was abou t to die i n the kin g s stead and
’
,

that to make the substi tution perfect it was necessary he should enj oy
the full ri ghts o f royal ty d urin g his brie f rei gn There is nothing .

surprisin g i n thi s substitution The rul e th at the king must be put .

to death either on the appearance o f any symp tom o f bodily d ecay

or at the end o f a fix ed period is certainly one which soo ner or later
.
, ,

the kin gs w oul d seek to aboli sh or m od i fy We have s een that in .

E thiop i a S o fala and E yeo the rule was bol d ly set aside by enli ghtened
, ,

monarchs ; a nd that in Calicut the old cus tom o f killin g the king at
the end o f twelve years was chan ged in to a permission gran ted to
’
any one at the e n d o f the t welve years period to attack the king ,

a nd in the event o f killin g him

,
to rei gn i n his stea d ; thou gh as the , ,

king took car e at these times to be surroun d ed by his guards the ,

permission was lit tle more than a form An other way o f modi fying .

the stern old rule is seen in the Babylonian custom j ust described .

When the time drew near for the kin g to be put to dea th (in Babylon
this appears to hav e been at the end o f a sin gle year s rei gn ) he
’

abd icated for a few days durin g which a temp orar y king reigned and
,

s u ffered in his stead A t firs t the temporary kin g may have been
.

an innocent person possibly a member o f the kin g s own family ;

,
’

b ut wi th the grow th o f civil i sa tion the sacrifice o f an innocent person

would be revol tin g to the publ i c sentiment a n d accordin gly a con ,

d em n ed cr i minal w ould be invested with the brie f and fatal soverei gnty .

I n the sequel we shall find o ther examples o f a dyin g criminal rep re

sentin g a dyin g god For we must not for get that as the case of the
.
,

Shilluk kin gs clearly shows the kin g i s slain in his character of a god
,

or a demi god his d eath and resurrection as the only means of per
, ,

p etuating the divi ne li fe unimpaired bein g deemed necessary for the ,

salva tion o f his people and the world

,
.

A vesti ge of a practice o f put tin g the kin g to death at the end of

a y ear s rei gn appears to have su rvived i n the festival called M acahity
’
,

which u sed to be celebrated in Hawaii during the last month of the

xx v T E M PORARY K I N GS 283

year About a hundred years ago a Russian v oyager described the

.

custom as follows : The taboo M a cahity is not unlike to our festival

“

of Christmas It conti nues a whole month during which the peopl e

.
,

amuse themselves with d ances plays a n d sham fights of every kind , ,

-
.

The king must open thi s festival wherever he i s On this occasion .

his maj es ty dresses himsel f in his richest clo ak and helmet and i s ,

paddled in a canoe along the shore followe d some times by many o f ,

his subj ects H e embarks early and m ust finish his excursion at
.
,

sunrise The stron gest and most expe rt o f the warriors i s chosen to
.

receive him on his lan d in g Thi s warrior watches the canoe alon g .

the beach ; and as soon as the kin g lan d s and has thrown off his ,

cl oak he dar ts hi s spear at him fr om a dis tance o f about thirty paces

, , ,

and the kin g must e ither catch the spear in his hand or su ff er from it : ,

there is no j esting in the bus i ness Havin g caugh t it he carries it under .

,

his arm wi th the sharp end d ownwards in to the temple or heav oo

, , .

On his entrance the assembled multitu d e be gin the i r sham fights

,
-
,

an d immediately the a i r i s obscured by clouds o f spears ma d e fo r the ,

occasion with blunted en d s H am am ea [the kin g] has been frequently

.

advised to abolish thi s r id iculous ceremony in which he risks his li fe ,

every year ; but to no e ff ect H i s answer always is that he is as able

.
,

to catch a spear as any one on the islan d i s to throw it at him During .

the M a cahity all punis hments are remitte d throu ghout the country ;
,

and no person can leave the place in which he commences these holi d ays ,
”
let the a ff ai r b e ever so impor tant .

That a kin g shoul d regularly have been put to death at the close
o f a year s rei g n will har d ly appear improbable when we learn tha t
’

to this d ay there i s s till a k in gd om in which the rei gn and the li fe o f

the sovere ign a r e limite d to a sin gle da y I n N goi o a province o f the .
,

ancien t kingdom o f Congo the rule obtains that the chief who assumes
,

the cap o f soverei gnty is always kille d on the ni ght a fter his coronation .

The right of succession lies with the chief o f the M u suron go but we
nee d not wonder that he d oes n ot exe rcise it an d that the throne ,

stand s vacant N o one likes to lose his li fe for a few hours gl orv
.
“ ’

”
on the N goio thro ne .

CHAPT E R XXV

TE M PORA RY K I N GS

IN some places the modified form o f the old custom o f regi cide which
appears to have prevailed at Babylon has been further so ftened d own .

The king still abdicates a nnually for a short time a n d his place is filled
by a more or less nominal soverei gn ; but at the close of hi s short rei gn
,

the latter is no longer k illed thou gh sometimes a mock execution still ,

survives as a memorial o f the time when he was actually put to d eath To .

take examples In the month o f M eao (F ebrua ry ) the kin g o f Cambodia

.
284 T E M P ORAR Y K I NGS CH .

annually abdicated for three days Dur in g this time he per forme d no .

a ct o f au thori ty he di d not to uch the seals he d id n ot even receive

, ,

the revenues wh i ch fell due In hi s s tea d there re igned a tem porary

.

kin g calle d S d ach M é ac that i s Kin g February ,

The o ffice of ,
.

temporary kin g was here d itary in a family d i s tantly connected with

the royal house the s ons succee d ing the fathers a n d the younger
,

brothers the elder brothers j ust a s in the succession to the real sove
reignty On a favourable d a y fixe d by the a strolo gers the temporary
.

kin g was con d ucte d by the mandarins in triumphal p rocession He .

ro d e one o f the royal elephants seate d in the royal p alanquin and , ,

escorte d by sol d iers who d resse d in appropriate costumes represente d

, ,
'

the ne ighbourin g peoples o f Siam Annam Laos a nd so on In place , , , .

o f the gol d en crown he wore a p eaked white cap and his regalia , ,

instead of bein g o f gol d encrus te d with d iamonds were of rough wood , .

A fter p ayin g h omage to the real kin g from whom he receive d the ,
-

sovere ign ty for three days to gether with all the revenues accruing
,

d urin g that time (thou gh this last cus tom has b een omitte d for some
time ) he moved in processio n roun d the palace and through the
,

stree ts of the capital On the thi rd d ay after the usual procession

.
, ,

the tempor a ry kin g gave or d ers that the elephants should trample
under foot the mountain o f rice which was a sca ff old o f bamboo ,

surroun ded by sheaves of rice The people gathered up the rice each .
,

man takin g home a little wi th him to secure a goo d harvest Some of .

it was also taken to the kin g who had it cooke d and presented to the ,

monks .

In Siam on the sixth day o f the mo on in the sixth month (the

end o f April ) a t empo rary kin g is a p pointed who for three days ,

enj oys the royal prero gat ives the real k in g remaining shu t up in ,

his palace This temporary kin g sends hi s numerous satellites in

.

all d irections to seize and confiscate whatever they can find in

the ba z aar and open shops ; even the ships a nd j unks which arrive
in harbour d urin g the three d ays are for fei te d to him and must
be re d eeme d H e goes to a fi el d in the mi d d le o f the city whi ther
.
,

they brin g a gil d e d plou gh drawn by gaily decked oxen Af ter -

.

the plou gh ha s been anointe d and the oxen rubbe d wi th incense the ,

mo ck king traces nine furrows wi th the plou gh followed by aged ,

dames o f the palace sca tterin g the fi rst see d o f the s eason As s oon .

as the nine furrows are drawn the crow d o f spectators rushes in and ,

scrambles for th e see d which has j ust been sown believin g that mixe d , ,

with the see d r i ce it will e nsure a plenti ful crop

-
,
Then the oxen are .

unyoked an d rice mai z e sesame sa go bananas su gar cane melons

, , , , , ,
-
, ,

a n d so on are set b e fore them ; whatever they eat firs t will it is

, ,

thou ght be dea r in the year followin g thou gh some people interpret
, ,

the omen in the opposite sense Durin g thi s time the temporary king .

stands leanin g a gains t a tree wi th his ri gh t foot res tin g on his left knee .

From standin g thus on one foot he is po p ularly known as Kin g Hop ;

”
b ut his o fficial ti tle is Phaya P hollathep Lord o f the Heavenly Hosts .

H e i s a sort o f M inister o f A griculture ; all disputes about fields rice , .

286 T E MPORARY KIN GS CH .

hit it had the ri ght to be ki ng for one day In Uppe r Egypt on the .

first d ay o f the sola r year by Coptic reckonin g that i s on the tent h of '

, ,
-

S eptember when the Nile has generally reache d its hi ghest point the
, ,

re gular government is su s pe n d e d for three d ays and every town chooses

’
its own ruler This temporary lord wears a sort of tall fo ol s cap and
.

a long flaxen bear d a n d is enveloped in a s tran ge mantle With a

,
.

wan d o f o ffice in hi s hand and atten d ed by men dis guised a s scribes ,

’
executioners and so forth he p roceeds to the Gover nor s house The
, , .

latter all o ws himsel f to be depos ed ; and the mock kin g mounting ,

the throne holds a tribunal to the decisi ons of which even the governor
, ,

an d his o fficials must bow A fter three days the mock king is con .

d em n e d to d ea th ; the envelope o r shell in which he was encased is

committe d to the flames and f rom its as hes the Fellah creeps forth
, .

The custom perhaps points to an old practice o f burnin g a real king

in grim earnest In Uganda the b rothers of the kin g used to be burned
.
,

because it was not law ful to shed the royal blood .

The M ohamme d an students o f Fez in Morocco a re allowed to , ,

appoint a sul tan o f their own who reigns for a few weeks and is known , ,

a s S u lta n t m lb a the Sultan o f the Scribes

-
,
Thi s brie f authority is .

p ut up fo r auc ti on a n d knocked down to the hi ghe st bi d der It brin gs . .

s ome substantial privile ges with it for the holder is freed from taxes ,

thence forward and he has the ri gh t o f askin g a favour f rom the real
,

sultan That favou r i s seldom re fused ; it usually consists in the

.

re lease o f a pri soner M oreover the a gents o f the stu d ent sul tan levy
.
,
-

fines on the shopkeepers and householders a gainst w hom they trump ,

up various humorous char ges The tempo rary sultan i s surrounded .

with the p omp o f a real court and para d es the streets in state with ,

musi c and shou tin g while a royal umbrella i s hel d over his head
, .

Wi th the so called fines and free will o fferings to which the real sultan
- -
,

adds a liberal supply o f provisions the s tudents have enough to ,

furnish for th a ma gnificent banquet ; and al to gether they enj oy them

selves thoroughly indul gin g in all kinds o f games and amusements
,
‘
.

For the first seven d ays the m od c sul tan remains in the college ; then
he goes about a mile out o f the town and encamps on the bank o f
the river at tende d by the students and not a few o f the citizens On
, .

the seven th day o f his stay outside the town he i s visited by the real
sultan who gra nts him hi s request and gives him seven more days to
,
” “
rei gn so that the re ign o f the S ultan o f the Sc rib es nominally lasts
,

three weeks B ut when six days of the last we ek have passed the
.

m ock sultan runs back to the town by ni ght This tempora ry sultan .

ship always fall s in sprin g about the be ginni ng o f April Its origin , .

i s said to have been as follows When Mulai Rashee d I I was fi ghting . .

for the throne in 166 4 or 166 5 a certain Jew usurp ed the royal authority ,

at Taza B ut the rebelli on was soon suppressed through the loyalty

.

an d devotion o f the students To e ffect their purpose they resorted .

to an in genious stratagem Forty of the m caused thems elves to be .

packed i n chest s which were sent as a present to the usurper In the .

dead o f ni ght while the unsus p ecting J ew was slumbering p eacefully

,
x xv T E M PORARY KI NGS 28 7

among the packing-cases the lids were s tealthily rai sed the brave
, ,

forty crept forth sle w the usurper and took possess ion o f the city i n
, ,

the name o f the real sultan who to mark hi s gratitude for the help
, ,

thus rendere d him in time o f need con ferred on the students the ri ght ,

of annually appointing a sultan o f their own The narrative has all .

the air o f a fic tion d evised to explain an old custom o f which the real ,

meanin g and ori gin had been for got ten .

A custom of annually appo i nting a mock king for a single da y was

observed at Lostwithiel in Cornwall down to the six teenth century .

”
On li ttle E aster Sunday the freeholders o f the town an d manor
“

assembled to gether either in person or by thei r depu ties and one amon g
, ,

them as it fell to his lot by turn ga ily atti red a n d gallantly moun ted
, , ,

wi th a crown on his head a sceptre in his hand a nd a swor d borne

, ,

be fore him ro d e through the principal s treet to the church duti fully
, ,

attended by all the res t on horseback The cler gyman in his best .

robes receive d him at the churchyar d s tile and con d ucted him to hear
div ine service On leaving the church he repaire d wi th the same
.
,

pomp to a house provide d for his reception H ere a feast awaite d

,
.

him and his sui te and being set at the hea d of the table he was se rve d
,

on ben d e d knees wi th all the rites d ue to the estate o f a prince The

, .

ceremony en d e d with the dinner and every man returned home , .

Some times the temporary kin g occupies the throne not annually , ,

but once for all a t the beginning of each re ign Thus in the kingdom o f .

Jambi in Sumatra it is the custom that a t the beginnin g o f a new reign

a man o f the people shoul d occ upy the throne and exercise the royal
prerogatives for a sin gle day The or igin o f the custom is explaine d by
.

a tradition that there were once five royal bro thers the four elder o f ,

whom all decline d the throne on the groun d of var i ous bo d ily d e fects ,

leaving it to their youn ges t bro ther But the el d es t occupie d the .

throne for one day a n d reserve d fo r hi s d escen d ants a s i milar pr i vile ge

,

at the be ginning o f every re ign Thus the o ffice o f temporary kin g is. .

hereditary in a family akin to the royal house I n B ilaspur it seems .

to be the custom a fter the d eath of a Raj ah for a Brahm an to eat

, ,

rice out of the dea d Raj ah s han d an d then to occupy the throne fo r
’

a year At the en d o f the year the B rahman receives presents and i s

.

dismissed from the territory being forb idd en apparently to return , .

The i d e a seems to be that the spiri t o f the R aj a en ters in to the

Brahman who eats the k hir (rice and milk ) out o f hi s hand when he
is dea d as the B rahman is apparently care fully wa tched durin g the
,
”
whole year a n d n ot allowed to go away
,
The same or a similar .

custom i s believed to obtain amon g the hill st ates about Kan gra .

The custom o f banishin g the B rahman who represents the kin g may
be a subs titute for putt i ng him to death At the installation o f a .

prince o f Carinthia a peasant in whose family the o ffice was hereditary

, ,

ascende d a marble stone which s tood surrounded by mea d ows in a

spacious valley ; on his ri ght sto od a black mother cow on his le ft -
,

a lean u ly mare
g A rust i c crowd gathered about hirri Then the
. .

future pri nce dressed a s a peasan t and carryin g a she p herd s sta ff
,
’
,
288 T E M PORARY KI N GS on .

drew nea r attended by courtiers and ma gistrate s

, On perceiving .

him the peasant calle d out Who is th i s whom I see com in g so proudly
,
”
alon g ? The people answere d The pr ince o f the land T he ,
“
.

peasant was then prevaile d on to surrender the marbl e sea t to the

p r i nce on con d ition o f receiv in g six ty p ence the cow and mare a nd , ,

exemp tion from taxes B u t be fore y iel d i n g hi s place he gave the

.

prince a li gh t blow on the cheek .

Some points abo ut these temporary k i ngs deserve to be specially

no tice d be fore we pass to the next b ranch o f the ev id ence In the first .

place the Cambo dian a nd S iamese examples show clearly that it is

,

especially the div ine or magical func tions o f the k i n g which are trans
ferre d to his temporary subs titu te Thi s appears from the belie f that .

by keepin g up his foot t he temporary kin g o f Siam gained a victory

over the ev i l spi ri ts whereas b y le ttin g i t d own he imperille d the
,

existence o f the state A gain the Cambodi an ceremony o f trampling

.
,
”
down the m ountain o f r i ce a n d the S iamese ceremony o f opening ,

the plou ghin g and sowin g are charm s to produce a plen ti ful harvest
, ,

as appears f rom the bel ie f tha t those who carry home some o f the
trampled rice or o f the see d sown w i ll thereby secure a goo d crop
, , .

M oreover when the S iamese represen tative o f the king i s guiding the
,

plou gh the people wa tch him anxiously not to see whether he d rives
, ,

a strai gh t furrow b ut to mark the exact point on hi s leg to which the

,

ski rt o f his si lken robe rea ches ; for on tha t i s supposed to hang the
state o f the wea ther a n d the c rops durin g the ensuin g season If the .

Lord o f the H eavenly H osts h itches up his garmen t above his kn ee ,

the wea ther will be w et and heavy rains will spo il the harvest If he .

lets it trail to hi s ankle a d rou gh t will b e the conse q uence But fine
, .

wea ther a n d h eavy crops will follow i f the hem o f his robe han gs
exactly hal f way down the cal f o f hi s leg S o closely is the course of
-
.

nature an d w ith it the weal or woe o f the peo p le de p endent on the

, ,

minutest act or gesture o f the king s representative But the task of ’

.

mak ing the crops grow thus d eputed to the temporary k in gs is one
, ,

o f the ma gical funct i ons re gularly suppose d to be dischar ge d by kin gs

in primitive soc ie ty The rule that the mock kin g must stand on one
.

foo t upon a raise d seat in the rice fiel d was perhaps ori ginally meant -

as a charm to make the crop grow hi gh ; at least thi s was the obj ect
o f a s i m i lar ceremony observe d by th e old Prussians The tallest girl . ,

s tan d in g on one foo t upon a seat wi th her lap full o f cakes a cup of , ,

bran d y in her ri ght hand and a piece o f elm bark or linden bark in her - -

le ft p raye d to the god W a iz ga nthos that the flax mi ght grow as hi gh

,

as she was standing Then a fter drainin g the cup she had it refille d
.
, , ,

an d poure d the bran d y on the groun d as an o fferin g to W a iz ga n thos ,

an d threw down the cakes for his a ttendant S pri tes I f she remained .

s teady on one foot throu ghout the ceremony i t was an omen that the ,

flax crop woul d be goo d ; b ut i f she let her foot down it was feared ,

that the cr op mi ght fail The sam e significance pe rhaps attaches to

.

the swin gin g o f the B rahmans which the Lord o f the H eavenly Hosts ,

had formerly to witness stan d in g on one f oot On the principles of .

2 90 T HE
’
SA CRIFI C E OF KI N G S S ON CH .

c ould so approp riately di e for the king a n d through him for the whole , ,

people as the k i ng s son

,
’
.

We h av e seen that accordin g to tradition Aun or On K ing of , ,

S we d en sacrifice d nine o f his sons to O d i n a t Upsala i n order that his

,

own li fe mi ght be spared A f ter he had sacrificed his second son he

.

received from the god an answer that he S houl d live so long as he gave
him one o f his sons every nin th year When he had sacrificed his .

seven th son he still lived but was s o f eeble that he could not walk
, ,

b ut ha d to be carrie d in a chair Then he o ffere d up hi s eighth son .

,

and live d nine yea rs more lyin g in his bed A fter that he sacrificed
, .

his nin th son and live d ano ther nine years b ut so that he drank out
, ,

o f a horn like a weaned child H e now w i shed to sacrifice his only

.

remainin g son to O d in b ut the S we d es would not allow him So he

, .

died and was burie d in a mound at Upsala .

I n anci en t Greece there seem s to have been at le ast one kingly

house o f great antiqu ity o f which the eldest sons were always liable to
be sacrificed i n room o f thei r royal si res When Xerxes was marching .

throu gh Thessaly at the head o f his mi ghty host to a ttack the Spartans ’

at Thermopylae he came to the town o f Alus H ere he was shown

,
.

the sanctuary o f L aphysti an Zeus about which his gui des told him a ,

stran ge tale It ran somewhat as follows On ce upon a time the king

. .

o f the country by name Athamas marri ed a wi fe Nephele and had

, , ,

by her a son called Phrixus and a dau ghter named H elle A fterwards .

he to o k to him sel f a second wi fe call ed Ino by whom he had two sons , ,

Learchus a nd M elicertes B ut his second w i fe was j ealous o f her step

.

children Phrixus a nd H elle and p lotte d their death She wen t about
, ,
.

very cunnin gly to compass her bad end First o f all she persuaded .

the women o f the country to roast the seed corn secretly before it was
commit te d to the ground S o next year n o crops came up a nd the
.

p eople died o f famine Then the kin g sent messengers to the oracle
.

at Delphi to enquire the cause o f the dear th B ut the wicked step .

mother br ibed the messen ger to give out a s the answer o f the god that
the dearth woul d never cease till the children o f Athamas by his first
wi fe ha d been sacrificed to Zeus When Athamas heard that he sent .
,

for the chil d ren who were with the sheep B ut a ram wi th a fleece
, .

o f gold opene d hi s lips and speakin g wi th the voice o f a man warned

,

the chil d ren o f their d an ger S o they m ounted the ram and fled wi th
.
-

him over lan d and sea As they flew over the sea the gi rl slipped
.
,

from the animal s back and fallin g into w ater was drowned
’

,
But .

her brother Phrixus was brou ght sa fe to the lan d o f Colchis where
“

rei gne d a child o f the sun Phrixus married the kin g s dau ghter and
.
’
,

she bore him a son Cytis orus And there he s a crificed the ram with .

the golden fleece to Zeus the God o f Fli ght ; but some will have it
that he sacrificed the animal to L a p hystia n Zeus The golden fleece .

itsel f he gave to his wi fe s father who nailed it to an oak tree guarded

’
, ,

by a sleepless dra gon in a sacre d grove o f A res M eanwhile at home .

an oracle had commande d tha t Kin g Athamas hims el f should be sacri

ficed as an expiatory o ff ering for the whole country S o the p eople .
XXV I SA CRI FI CE OF THE
’
KING S SON 2 91

decked him with garlands like a victim and led him to the altar where ,

they were j ust abou t to sacrifice him when he was rescued ei ther by
his grandson Cytiso rus who ar rived in the nick o f time from Colchis , ,
’
or by Hercules who brought tidin gs that the king s son Phrixus was
,

yet alive Thus Athamas was saved but afterward he went mad
. , ,

and mistaking his son Learchus for a wil d beas t sho t him d ea d Next ,
.

he attempted the li fe of his remainin g son M eli certes but the child ‘

was rescued by his m other Ino who ran and threw hersel f and him ,

from a high ro ck into the sea Mother and son were chan ged into .

m arine divinities and the son received special homa ge in the isle o f
,

Tene dos where b abes were sacrifice d to him Thus bere ft o f wi fe

,
.

and children the unhappy Athamas qui tte d his coun try a n d on ,

enquiring of the oracle where he sh oul d d well was told to take up his
abo d e wherever he should b e enter tained by wild beasts H e fell in
'

wi th a pack o f wolves devouring sheep an d when they saw him they ,

fled and le ft him the ‘b lee d i n g remnants o f their prey In this way .

the oracle was fulfille d B ut because King A thamas ha d not been .

sacrificed as a sin o ff erin g for the whol e coun try i t was divi nely d ecreed
-
,

that the el d es t male scion o f his family in each generati on should b e

sacrificed w ith out fail i f ever he set foot in the town—
-
hall w here the
, ,

offerings were made to Laphysti an Zeus by one o f the house o f Athamas .

Many o f the family Xerxes was in formed ha d fl ed to forei gn land s to

, ,

escape this doom ; but some o f them had returned long a fterwa r d s ,

and being caught by the sen tinels in the act o f enterin g the town hall -

were wreathe d as victims led forth in p rocession and sacrificed , ,

.

These instances appear to have been no torious i f n ot frequent ; fo r ,

the writer o f a d ialo gue at tribu ted to Pla to a fter speakin g o f the ,

i m molation of human vic tims by the Car tha ginians a dd s that such ,

pract ices were n ot unknown amon g the Greeks and he refers with ,

horror to the sacrifices o ff e red on Mount Lycaeus and by the descen d

ants oi Athamas .

The suspic ion tha t this barbarous custom by no means fell into
disuse even in later days i s s tren gthened by a case o f human sacrifice
which occurred in Plutarch s time at O rchom enus a very ancient city ’
,
’
of B oeotia dis tant only a few miles across the plain from the historian s
,

birthplace Here dwelt a family o f which the men went by the name
.

”
of Psoloeis or Sooty an d the women by the name o f O leae or ,
“ ”
Des tructive E ve ry year at the festival o f the A grionia the priest
.

of Dionysus pursued these women with a d rawn s w ord an d i f he over ,

’
took on e o f them he had the ri ght to slay her I n Plu tarch s li fetime .

the ri ght was actually exercised by a pri est Zoilus The family thus .

liable to furnish at least one human victim every year was o f royal
descent for they traced their linea ge to M inyas the famous old kin g
, ,

of Orchom en u s the monarch of fabulous wealth whose s ta tely treasury

, , ,

as it is called still s tands in ruins at the point where the lon g rocky
,

hill o f O rchom enus mel ts into the vast level expanse o f the C Opa ic
plain Tradi tion ran tha t the kin g s three dau gh ters lon g despised
.
’

the other women o f the coun try for yi eldin g to the B acchic frenzy ,
292
’
SA CRI FI C E OF THE KI N G S S ON CH .

and sat at home in the kin g s house scorn fully plying the dist aff and
’

the loom while the rest wreathe d wi th flowers the i r di shevelled locks
, , ,

streamin g to the wi nd roamed in ecs tasy the barren mountains that

,

ris e above Or chom enus makin g the soli tude o f the hills to ech o to the
,

wild music of cymbals a n d tam bourines B ut i n time the divine fury

'

in fecte d even the royal damsels in their quiet chamber ; they were
seized wi th a fi erce lon gin g to par take o f human flesh and cast lots ,

among themselves wh ich S houl d give up her ch il d to furnish a cannibal

feast The lot fell on Leucippe a n d she surren d ered her son H ippasus
.
, ,

who was torn limb from l imb by the three From these mis guided .

women spran g the Oleae and the P soloei s of whom the men were sai d ,

to be so calle d because they wore sad coloured raiment in token of -

their m ournin g and grief .

N ow this p ractice o f takin g human victims from a family o f royal

descent a t Orchom enus is all the more si gnificant because Athamas
himsel f i s said to have rei gned i n the lan d o f Orchom enus even be fore
the t ime o f Minyas and because over a gainst the city there ri ses Mount
,

Laphys tius on which as at Alus in T hessaly there was a sanctuary

, , ,

o f L ap hystia n Zeus where according to tra d i tion Athamas purposed

, , ,

to sacrifice his tw o ch ildren Phrixus a n d Helle On the whole com .

,

parin g the tradi tions about A thamas wi th the custom that obtained
with regar d to his d escen d ants in h i s tori cal times we may fairly in fer ,

that in Thessaly and p r obably in Boeo tia there rei gned o f old a dynasty
o f which the kin gs were liable to be sacrificed for the good o f the

coun try to the god called L ap hystia n Zeus but that they contrived ,

to shi ft the fatal respons ibili ty to thei r o ffsprin g o f whom the eldest ,

son was re gularly destine d to the al ta r As time went on the cruel .

,

custom was so fa r mitigated that a ram was accep te d as a vicarious

sacrifice in room o f the royal victim provided always that the prince ,

abstained f rom se ttin g foot in the town hall where the sacrifices were -

o ff ere d to Lap hystian Zeus by one o f hi s ki n sm en But i f he were .

rash enough to enter the place o f d oom to thrust himsel f wil fully as
it were on the no tice o f the god who ha d good—
, ,

, nature d ly winked at the

subs titution o f a ram the ancient obli gation which had been suffered
,

to lie in abeyance recovere d all its force and there was no help for it ,

b u t he mus t die The tra d ition which as sociated the sacrifice of the
.

king or his chil d re n wi th a great dea rth points clearly to the belief so ,

common amon g p rimitive folk that the ki ng is responsible for the,

weather and the crops and that he may j us tly pay with his li fe for the
,

inclemency o f the one or the failure o f the o ther Athamas and his .

line i n shori, appear to have united div ine or ma gical with royal
,

func tions ; a nd th i s view is stron gly supported by the clai m s to

divinity which Sa lm on eus the brother o f A thamas is said to have set
, ,

up We have seen that this presumptuous mortal pro fessed to be no

.

other than Zeus himsel f and to wi eld the thunder an d li ghtnin g of

, ,

w hich he made a trumpery imitation b y the hel p o f tinklin g kettles

and blaz in g to rches If we may j udge from analo gy hi s mo ck thunder
.
,

and lightnin g were no mere scenic exhibiti on designed to deceive and

294 SU CC E S S I O N T O T HE S OUL CH .

she killed it We need not wonder that thi s practice entirely destroyed
.

a branch o f the Mbaya nation who had been for many years the most
,

formidable enem ies o f the Spaniards Amon g the Len gua Indians of
.

the Gran Chaco the missionar i es d i scovered what they describe as a “

,

care fully planne d system o f racial suici d e b y the practice O f in fantici de ,

”
by ab or ion and o ther me tho d s
t , N or i s i n fanticide the only mode in
.

which a sava ge tribe commits su i cide A lav i sh use o f the poison ordeal
.

may be equally e ff ec tive S om e time ago a small tribe name d Uwet came
.

d own from the hill country and set tle d on the l e ft branch o f the Calabar
,

River in West A frica When the m issionaries firs t visited the place
.
,

they found the population consi d erable d i stributed into three villages , .

S ince then the constant use o f the poison ordeal has al most extinguished
the tribe On one occasion the whole p opulation took poi son to prove
.

their innocence About hal f perished on the spot and the remnant we
.
, ,

are told s till continuin g their supers titious practice must soon become
, ,

extinct . With such examples be fore u s w e nee d not hesitate to

believe that many tribes have fel t no scruple or delicacy in observing
'

a custom wh ich tends to wipe out a S in gle family To a ttribute such .

scruples to them is to comm it the common the perpetually repeated ,

mistake of j u dging the savage by the standar d o f E uropean civilisation .

If any o f my readers set out wi th the notion that all races of men
think and act much in the same way as educate d E nglishmen the ,

evidence o f superstiti ous belie f a nd custom collected in this work

shoul d su ffice to d isabuse him o f so erroneous a prepossession .

The explana tion here given o f the custom o f killing divine persons
a ssumes o r at least i s rea d ily combined with the i d ea that the soul of
, ,

the slain divinity i s transmi tte d to his successor O f this transmission .

I have no direct proo f except in the case o f the Shilluk among whom ,

the prac tice o f killin g the d ivine kin g prevails in a typical form and ,

with whom it i s a fundamental article o f faith that the soul o f the divine
founder o f the dynasty i s immanent in every one o f his slain successors .
.

B ut i f this i s the only actual example o f such a belief which I can

adduce analo gy seems to render it probable that a S imilar succession
,

to the soul of the slain god ha s been su p pose d to take place in other
instances though direc t evidence o f it is wantin g For it has been
, .

already shown that the soul o f the incarnate deity is o f ten supposed
t o t ransmi grate at d eath into ano ther incarnation ; and i f this takes
place when the dea th is a natural one there seems no reason why it ,

should not tak e place when the d ea th has been brou ght about by
vi olence Certainly the idea that the soul o f a d ying person may be
.

t ransmi tted to his successor is per fectly famil i ar to primitive peoples .

I n Nias the eldest son usually succee d s hi s fath er in the chie ftainship .

B ut i f from any bo d ily or mental defec t the eldes t son is disqualified

for rulin g the father determines in his li fetime which o f his sons shall
,

succeed him In order however to establish hi s right o f succession

.
, , ,

it i s necessary that the son upon whom his father s choice falls shall ’

catch i n his mouth or in a b ag the last breath and with it the soul of , ,

the dyin g chie f For whoever catches his last breath is chie f equally
.
xxvn SUCC E S S I ON TO T HE S OU L 295

wi th the appointed successor H ence the o ther brothers and sometimes

.
,

also stran gers crowd round the dying man to catch his soul a s it
,

passes The houses in Nias a re ra ised above the ground on po sts

.
,

and it has happened that when the d yin g man lay with his face on
the floor one o f the can d i d ates has bored a hole in the floor and sucke d
,

in the chie f s last brea th throu gh a bamboo tube When the chie f
’
.

has no son his soul i s cau gh t in a b a g which i s fastene d to an image

, ,

m ade to represent the deceased ; the soul is then believe d to p ass

into the image .

Some times it woul d appear that the S pi ritual link between a kin g
and the souls o f his pre d ecessors is formed by the possession o f som e
part of their persons In southern Celebes the re galia o ften consist
.

of corporeal portions o f d ecease d raj ahs wh i ch are treasured as sacred ,

relics and con fer the ri ght to the throne S imila rly amon g the Saka .

lavas o f southern Ma d agascar a ver tebra of the neck a nail and a , ,

lock of hair o f a deceased k i n g are placed i n a crocod ile s tooth and ’

carefully kept alon g with the S im ilar rel i cs o f hi s predecessors in a

house set apa rt for the purpose The possession o f these relics con
.

stitutes the ri ht to the throne A le itima te he i r who should be

g g .

deprive d of th em would lose all his au th o r ity over the people and on ,

the contrary a usurper who shoul d make h i msel f master o f the relics
woul d b e acknowle dge d kin g wi thout d i spute When the A lake or .

king of A'beoku ta i n West A frica d i es the principal men decapitate ,

his body and placin g the head in a lar ge ear then vessel d eliver i t to
,

the new so verei gn ; it becomes his fe tish a nd he is boun d to pay it

honours .Sometimes in order apparen tly that the new soverei gn
,

m ay inherit more surely the ma gi cal a n d o ther vi r tues o f the royal

line he is required to eat a piece o f his dea d p re d ecessor Thus at
, .

Abeokuta not only was the hea d o f the late kin g presented to his
successor but the ton gue was cut out a nd given him to eat Hence
, .
,

when the natives wish to s igni fy that the soverei gn rei gns they say , ,
”
He has eaten the kin g A custom o f the same sor t is st ill practised
.

at Ibadan a large town in the in terior o f La gos West A frica When

, , .

the kin g dies his head is cut off and sent to hi s nominal suzerain the ,

Alafin o f Oyo the paramoun t kin g o f Yoruba lan d ; b ut his heart is

,

eaten by his successor This ceremony was per formed not very
.

m any years a o at the access i on o f a new kin g o f Ibadan

g .

Takin g the whole of the precedin g evi d ence into account we m ay ,

fairly suppose that when the d ivine kin g or priest is p ut to death his
Spiri t is believe d to pass i n to hi s successor In poin t o f fact amon g .
,

the Shilluk of the White Nile who re gularly kill thei r divine kin gs
, ,

every king on his accession has to per form a ceremony which appears
designed to convey to him the same sacre d and worship ful S pirit which
animated all his predecessors one a fter the other on the thro n e
, , .
2 96 THE KILLI N G O F THE TR E E S PI RIT
- CH .

CHAPT E R XXVI I I

THE K ILLI N G OF THE T REE - S P IRI T

l . T he Whi ts un tid e M um — It remains
ask what li ght the
m er s to
custom o f killin g the d ivine k in g or pr i es t she d s upon the special
subj ect to our enqu i ry In an earl ier par t o f thi s work we saw reason
.

to suppose that the K i n g o f the “foo d at N emi was regarded as an

incarna tion o f a tree spiri t or o f the spiri t o f ve getation and that as
-
,

such he woul d be endowe d , in the bel i e f o f hi s worshippers with a ,

ma gical power o f making the trees to bear fruit the crops to grow , ,

and so on H is li fe must there fore have been hel d very precious by

.

his worshippers and was prob ably hedged in by a sys tem o f elaborate
,

precautions or taboos l ike those by which in so many places the li fe , ,

o f the man god has been guar d ed a gainst the mali gnant influence of
-

demons and sorcerers B ut we have seen that the very value attach ed
.

to the li fe o f the man -god necess itates hi s violent death as the only
means o f preservin g it from the inev itable d ecay o f age The sam e .

reasonin g woul d apply to the Kin g o f the Wo od ; he too had to be , ,

kille d in order that the div i ne Sp i ri t i nca rn ate in him mi gh t be trans

, ,

ferred in its integri ty to his successor The rule that he held o ffice .

till a stron ger shoul d slay him might be supposed to secure both the
preserva tion of hi s d ivine li fe in full vi gour a n d its t rans ference to a
suitable successor as soon as that v i gour be gan to be impaire d For ,

so lon g as he could main tain his pos ition by the s trong hand it might ,

be in ferred that his natural fo rce was not abate d ; whereas his de feat
a nd dea th at the han d s o f a no ther p roved tha t his s tren gth was begin

nin g to fa i l and that it was time his d ivine li fe shoul d b e lo dged in '

a less dilapi d a ted tabernacle This explana tion o f the rul e that the
.

Kin g o f the \ Vood had to be slain by his successor a t least renders

that rule per fec tly intell igible I t i s s tr ongly suppor te d by the theory
.

a n d practice o f the S hilluk who p ut thei r d ivine kin g to d eath at the

,

firs t si gns o f failin g heal th lest his d ecrepi tude shoul d entail a corre
,

s p o nd i ng fa ilure o f vi tal ener gy on the corn the cattle and men , ,

.

M oreover it i s countenanced by the a nalogy o f the Chitom é upon

, ,

whose li fe the existence o f the worl d was supposed t o hang and who ,

was there fore slain by his successor as soon as he showe d si gns of

breakin g up A ga i n the terms on whi ch in later times the King of
.
,

Calicut hel d o ffice are i d entical wi th those a ttached to the office of

K i n g o f the Wood excep t that whereas the former might be assailed
,

by a candi d ate at any time the Kin g o f Calicut mi ght only be attacked
,

once every twelve years B ut as the leave gran ted to the Kin g of
.

Calicut to rei gn so lon g as he could d e fend himsel f agains t all comers

was a mi ti gat ion o f the old rul e which set a fixed term to his li fe so ,

we may conj ecture tha t the s i milar permission gran ted to the King of
the Wood was a miti ga tion o f an older cus tom o f puttin g him to death
at the end o f a definite
p eriod I n both cases the new rule gave to the
.
298 THE KI LLI N G O F T HE TR E E —
S PI RI T CB .

In Saxony and Thurin gen there is a Whitsunti d e ceremony calle d

chasin g the Wild M a n out o f the bush or fe tchin g the Wild Man
”
,

out o f the wood A young fellow is envelope d in leaves or moss and

.

calle d the Wild M an H e hides i n the wood and the other l ads of the
.

village go ou t to seek him They find him lead him c aptive out of .
,

the wood a n d fire at him wi th blank muskets

, H e falls like dead to .

the groun d but a lad d ressed as a doctor bleeds him and he comes
, ,

to li fe a gain A t this they rej oi ce an d b indi n g him fast on a wa ggon

.
, , ,

take him to the vill age where they tell all the people how they have
,

caugh t the W i l d M a n A t every house they receive a gi ft In the

. .

E rz gebirge th e fo llowin g custom was annually ob se rve d at Shrovetide

about the beginnin g o f the seventeen th cen tury Tw o men d is guised .

a s Wild M en the one in brushwood an d m oss the o ther in straw

'

, , ,

were led about the streets and at last taken to the market place where ,
-
,

they were chased up a n d d ow n shot a n d stabbed Be f ore falling they , .

reeled about with stra n ge gestures and spirted blood on the people
from bladders which they carried When they were do wn the hunts .
,

men place d them on boar d s a n d carried them to the ale house the -
,

miners marchin g besi de them and windin g blasts on their min-ing

tools as i f they ha d taken a noble head o f game A v ery similar Shrove .

tide custom is still observed near Schluckenau in Bohemia A man .

dressed up as a Wild M an is chased throu gh several streets till he

comes to a narrow lane across which a cord is s tretched H e stumbles .

o ver the cord and fallin g to the groun d is overtaken an d caught by

, ,

his pursuers The execu tioner ru n s up and stabs with his swor d a
.

bla dd er filled with bloo d which the Wil d Man wears round his body ;
so the Wild Man dies while a s tream o f bloo d reddens the ground
, .

Next day a s traw man ma d e up to look like the Wil d Man is placed
-
, ,

on a litter and accompanied by a great crowd is taken to a pool

, , ,
'

i nto which it is thrown by the executioner The ceremony is called .

”
bu ryin g the Carnival .

In S emic (Bohem ia ) the custom o f beheading the Kin g is obse rved

on Whit M onday A troop o f youn g p eopl e dis guise themselves ;
-
.

each is gir t w ith a girdle o f bark and carries a wooden sword and a
trumpet o f willow— b ark The Kin g wears a robe of tr ee -bark adorned
.

w ith flowe rs on hi s head is a crown o f bark deck ed with flowers and

,

branches hi s feet a r e woun d about w ith ferns a mask hides his face
, , ,

and for a sceptre he has a hawthorn switch in his hand A lad leads .

him throu gh the villa ge b y a rope fa stened to his foot while the rest ,

dance about blow their trump ets and whistle In every farmhous e
, , .

the Kin g i s chased round the roo m a nd one of the troop amid much , ,
’
noise and o utcry strikes wi th hi s sw ord a blow on the King s robe of
,

bark till it rin gs a gain The n a gratuity is d emanded The ceremony

. .

o f decapitation which is here somew hat slurred over is carried out

, ,

with a grea te r sem b lance of reality in other par ts o f Bohemia Thus .

i n some villa ges o f the K oni ggr atz dis trict on Whit Monday the girls
'

a ssemble unde r one lime tree and the young men under anothe r all -
,

d ress cd in thei r best and tricked out with ribbons

-
The you ng m en .
 XXVIII T HE W H IT SU N T IDE MUM M E RS 299

twine a garland
for the Queen and the girls another for the Kin g ,
.

When they have chosen the King and Queen they all go in procession
,
—
two and two to the ale house from the balcony o f which the crier ,

roclaims the names o f the Kin g and Q ueen Both are then inves ted
p
.

wi th the insi gnia o f thei r o ffice an d are crowned wi th the garl a nds ,

while the music plays up Then s ome one ge ts on a bench and accuses '

the King o f various o ffences such as ill trea tin g the cattle The Kin g
,
-
.

appeals to witnesses and a trial ensues ,a t the close o f which the j u d ge ,

who carries a whi te wand as his b a dge o f office pronounces a ver d ic t ,

”
of
“
Guil ty or N ot guil ty
,
If the ver d ic t i s Guil ty the j u dge
.
,

b reaks his wand the K i n g kneels on a whi te clo th all hea d s are bared
, , ,

and a sol d ier sets three or four hats one ab ove the o ther on his , ,
”
Maje sty s head The j u d ge then pronounces the wor d “
’
. Gu il ty
thrice in a loud voice a n d orders the crier to behea d the Kin g The
,
.

crier obeys by strikin g off the King s hats wi th the woo d en swor d ’
.

But perhaps for our purpose the most ins tructive o f these m imic
, ,

executions is the followin g Bohemian one In some places o f the

Pilsen d istrict (Bohemia ) on Whi t—
.

Mon d ay the King is d resse d i n

bark ornamented wi th flowers and rib b ons ; he wears a crown o f gil t
,

paper and ri des a horse which is also decked wi th flowers A tten d e d

,
.

by a j u dge an execut i oner a nd other charac ters a n d follow e d by a

, , ,

train of sol d iers all mounte d he r i de s to the villa ge square where a

, , ,

hut or arb our o f gree n boughs has been erec ted un d er the May trees -
,

which are firs freshly cut peele d to the top a n d d resse d w i th flowers
, , ,

and ribbons A fter the d ames a nd mai d ens o f the v i lla ge have b een
.

cri ticise d and a fro g behea d e d the cavalca d e ri d es to a place prev iously
,

determined upon in a s tra i ght broad s tree t

,
H ere they d raw up in , .

two lines a nd the K in g takes to fl igh t H e is given a sho rt s tart and .

rides off at full speed pursue d by the whole troop I f they fail to
, ,

catch him he rema i ns King for ano ther year and his compan i ons mus t
pay his score at the ale —
,

house in the evening B u t i f they over take .

and catch him he is scourged with ha z el rods or beaten w ith the

wooden swor d s and compelle d to dismoun t Then the execu tioner .

asks Shall I behea d this Kin g ? The answer is given B ehea d ,

“

him the executioner bran d ishes his axe an d w ith the words , ,
”
One two three let the Kin g headless be ! he s trikes off the Kin g s
, , ,
’

crown Ami d the loud cries o f the bys tanders the K in g s inks to the
.

ground ; then he is laid on a bier and carr i e d to the nearest farmhouse .

In most o f the pe rsonages who are thus slai n in m imicry it is

im possible not to reco gnise represen ta tives o f the tree spirit or spi ri t -

of ve getation as he is supposed to mani fest himsel f in sprin The

, g .

bark leaves and fl ow ers in which the actors are dresse d and the
, ,
-
,

season of the year at which they appear show that they belon g to ,

the same class as the Grass Kin g Kin g o f the May Jack in t he Green , ,
- - -
,

and other representatives o f the vernal sp iri t o f vegeta tion wh ich

we examine d i n an earlier part o f thi s work A s i f to remove any .

possible doub t on this hea d w e find that in two cases these slain ,

m en are brou ht into direct connexion w i th May trees which are the
g
-
,
3 00 T HE KI L LIN G OF T HE TR E E SPIRIT - CH .

impersonal as the May Kin g Grass King an d so fo rth are the personal
, , , ,

represen tatives o f the tree spirit The d rench in g o f the P fings tl with
-
.

wa ter an d his wa d in g up to the m idd le into the brook a re there fore , ,

no d ou b t ra i n charm s like those which hav e been already described

-
.

B ut i f these persona ges represen t as they cer tainly do the spirit , ,

o f ve ge ta tion i n sprin g the ques ti on arises Why kill them ? What is

, ,

the obj ec t o f slay i n g the spi rit of v ege ta ti on a t any time and above
all in spring when hi s services are mos t wan te d ? The only probabl e
,

answer to this ques tion seems to be given in the explanatio n already

propose d o f the cus tom o f killin g the d ivine kin g or priest The divine .

li fe incarna te in a material a n d mor tal bo dy is liable to be tainted

, ,

a n d corrup te d by the weakness o f the frail me d ium in which it is for a

time enshr ined ; and if it i s to be save d from the inc reas in g en feeble
men t which it must necessarily share wi th its human incarnation as
he a d vances in years it must be de tached from him before o r at least
, ,

as soon as he exhibits si gns of d ecay in order to be trans ferred to a

, ,

vi gorous successor Thi s is done by killing the old representative of

.

the go d and c o nveyin g the d ivine S piri t from him to a new incarnation .

The k i llin g o f the god that is o f his human incarna tion is there fore
, , ,

merely a necessary s tep to his revival o r resurrec tion in a be tter form .

Fa r from bein g an ex tinction o f the d ivine s p i r it it is only the beginning ,

o f a purer and s tron ger mani festation O f it I f this explana tion holds .

goo d o f the custom o f k i ll i n g d ivine kin gs a n d p ri ests i n gen eral it is .

,

still more obv iously applicab le to the cus tom of annually killing the
representa tive o f the tree spiri t or sp i ri t o f ve geta tion in spring For
-
.

the d ecay o f plant l i fe in win ter i s rea d ily in terpre ted by primi tive
man as an en fee b lement o f the spi ri t o f ve ge ta ti on ; the spirit has ,

he thinks gro wn old a n d weak a n d must there fore b e renovated by

,

bein g slai n a n d brou gh t to l i fe in a younger and fresher form Thus .

the killin g o f the represen tative o f the tree spirit in s p rin g is re garde d -

as a means to promo te a n d quicken the grow th o f ve geta tion For ,

the killin g o f the t ree S pirit is associa ted always (we must suppose )
-

im p lici tly a nd some times expl ici tly also wi th a rev ivai or resurrection
, ,

O f him in a m ore youth ful a n d v igorous fo rm S o in the Saxon and .

Th uringen cus tom a fter the Wil d Man has been shot he is brou ght to
,

li fe a ga i n by a d octor ; and in the Wurmlin gen ceremony there fi gures

a Dr Iron Bear d who probab ly once played a s im i lar part ; certainly
.
-
,

in ano ther sprin g ceremony which will be describ e d presently Dr , ,

.

I ron Bear d pretends to res tore a d ea d man to li fe B ut o f this revival

-
.

or resurrection o f the go d we S hall have m ore to say anon .

The poin ts o f sim i larity between these Nor th E uropean personages

a nd the subj ec t o f our enquiry—the Kin g o f the Wood or priest of u

Nemi—are su fficiently striki ng In these n or thern maskers we see .

kin gs whose d ress o f bark and l eaves alon g w ith the b ut o f green
,

bou ghs and the fir trees un d er which they hold thei r court p roclai m
-
.
,

them unmi s takably as like their Italian counterpart Kin gs of the

, ,

Wood Like him they di e a v iolen t de a th b ut like him they may

.
,

escape from it for a time by their bodily stren gth and agility ; for in
 3 02 THE KI LLI N G OF T HE TR E E S PI RIT -
CH .

This I shall attempt to d o in the sequel a n d in the course o f the dis ,

cu ssi on I hop e to clear up some obscur ities which still remain and to ,

answer some ob j ec tions which may have su gges te d themselves to the

rea d er
We start from the point at which we le ft off— the sprin g custom s
.

of E uropean peasantry B esi d es the ceremonies a lrea dy describe d

.

there are two kindre d sets o f observances in which the simulated

death o f a divine or supernatural bein g i s a conspicuous feature In .

one o f them th e being whose death is drama tically represented is a

personificat ion o f the Carnival ; in the othe r it i s Death himsel f .

The former ceremony falls naturally at the en d o f the Carnival either ,

on the last day of that m erry season namely Shrove Tuesday or on , .

the fi rst d ay o f Lent namely Ash Wednesday The d a te o f the other

ceremony—the Carryin g or Driving out o f Death as it is commonly
.
,

called— is not so uni formly fixed Generally it is the four th Sunday

,

in Lent which hence goes by the name o f Dead S unday ; b ut in

,

some places the celebra tion falls a w eek earlier i n others as among , ,

the C z echs o f B ohemia a week later while i n certai n German villages

, ,

o f M oravi a it is held on the firs t S un d ay a fter E a ster Perhaps as .

,

has bee n su ggested the d a te may ori ginally have b een variab le de
, ,

pen d in g on the appearance o f the fi rst swallow or some o ther heral d

o f the spr i n g S ome writers re gar d the ceremony as Slavonic in its
.

o ri gin .Grimm thou gh t it was a fes tival o f the New Year with the
o l d S lavs who be gan thei r year in March
,
We shall firs t take examples .
,

o f the mim i c death o f the Carnival which always falls be fore the other ,

in the calendar .

At Frosinone in Lat ium ab out hal f way between Rome and

, ,
-

N aples the dull monotony o f l i fe in a provincial Italian town is a gree

,

a bly broken o n the last day o f the Carnival by the ancient festival
‘

known as the Ra di ca About four o clo ck in the a fternoon the town

.
’

b and , playin g lively tunes and followed by a great crowd proceeds to

the P i az z a del Plebisci to where i s the S ub —
,

Pre fecture as well as the

,

rest of the Government buildin gs H ere in the mi d dle o f the square

'

.
, ,

the eyes o f the expectan t multitude are greeted by the si ght o f an

i mm ense car decked with many coloured festoons and drawn b y four -

h orses .M ounted on the ca r is a huge chair on which sits enthroned ,

the maj estic fi gure o f the Carnival a man o f stucco about nine feet ,

hi gh wit h a rubicun d and smiling countenance E normous boots a .

,

tin helmet like those which grace the heads o f o fficers o f the Italian
m arine a n d a coat o f many colours embellished with stran ge devices
, ,

adorn the outward man o f this sta tely personage H is left hand
'

rests on the arm o f the chai r while w ith h is ri ght he grace fully Salutes
,

the crow d being moved t o this act of civility by a strin g which is

,

pulled by a man who modestly shrinks from publicity under the

m ercy seat And now the crowd surgin g excite d ly roun d the car
-
.
, ,

gives ven t t o its feel i n gs in wild cries o f j oy gentle and simple being ,

m ixed up to gether and all dancin g furiously the S altarello A special .

feature o f the festival i s that every one must carry in his hand what
XXVIII B U RYIN G T H E CARN IVAL 3 03

is calle d a radi ca root by which is m eant a hu ge lea f o f the aloe

or rather the agave Any one who ventured int o the crowd wi thou t
.

such a lea f would be unceremoniously hus tled out o f i t unless indeed ,

he bore as a substitute a large cabba ge a t the end o f a long stick or a

bunch of grass curiously plaited When the mul titu d e a fter a short .
,

turn has escorted the slow movin g car to the gate o f the Sub Pre fecture
,
- -
,

they halt and the car j olting over the un e ven groun d rumbles into
, ,
l

the courtyard A hush now falls on the crowd their subdue d voices
.
,

sounding acc ordin g to the descrip tion o f one who has heard them
, ,

like the murmur of a trouble d sea All eyes are turned anxiously to .

the door from which the Sub Pre fect himsel f a n d the o ther rep re -

sentativ es o f the maj esty o f the law are expected to issue and pay

their homa ge to the hero of the hour A few momen ts o f suspense .

and then a storm o f cheers and han d -clappin g salu tes the appearance

of the d igni taries as they file out and descend in g the s taircase
, , ,

take their place in the procession The hymn o f the Ca rn ival is now .

thundered out a fter wh i ch amid a dea fening roa r aloe leaves a n d

, , ,

cabbages are whirled alo ft and d escend impartially on the heads of

the j ust and the unj ust who lend fresh z est to the procee d in gs by
,

engaging in a free fi gh t When these prel im inaries have been con

.

cluded to the satis fact ion o f all concerned the procession gets un d er ,

weigh . The rear is brought up by a cart la d en with barrels o f wine

and policemen the la tter enga ge d in the con gen i al task o f serving
,

out wine to all who ask for it wh i le a most internecine stru ggle a ecom
, ,

panied by a C opious dischar ge o f yells b lows and blasphemy goes , , ,

on among the surgin g crow d a t the car t s tail in their anxie ty n ot ’

to miss the glorious oppor tunity o f intoxicating themse lves at the

public expense Finally a fter the procession has para d ed the p rinc ipal
.
,

stree ts in this maj es tic manner the e ffi gy o f Carnival is taken to the

,

m i ddle o f a public square s tr ipped o f hi s finery lai d on a pile o f wood

, , ,

and burn t ami d the cries o f th e mul titu d e who thun d er i n g out once
—
,
”
m ore the son
g o f the Carn ival flin g their s o called roots on the
pyre and give themselves up wi thout restra int to the pleasures o f
the dance .

In the Abruzzi a pasteboar d figure of the Ca rnival i s carrie d by

four grave di ggers wi th pipes in their mou ths and bo ttles o f wine
-

slung at their shoulder belts In front walks the wi fe o f the Carn iva l
-
.
,

dressed in mournin g and dissolved in tears From time to tim e the .

com pany hal ts a nd while the wi fe addresses the sympa thisin g pub lic
, ,

the grave di ggers re fresh the inner man with a pull at the bottle I n
-
.

the open square the mimic corpse is laid on a pyre and to the roll o f ,

drums the shrill screams o f the women and the gruff er cries o f the
, ,

m en a li ht i s set to it While the fi gure burns chestnu ts are thrown

g .
,

about a mon g the crowd Sometimes the Carnival is represented by

.

a straw man at the to p of a pole which is borne through the town by

-

a troop o f mummers in the course o f the a fternoon When evenin g .

comes on fo ur o f the mummers hold out a quilt o r sheet by the

,

corners and the fi gure o f the Carnival is made to tumble into it The
,
.
3 04 THE KI LLI N G OF T HE TR E E S P IRIT -
CH .

procession i s then resumed the performers weepin g crocodile tears and

,

emphasisi ng the poi gnancy o f their grie f by the help o f saucepans and
d inne r bells . S ometimes a gain in the Abruzz i the d ea d Carnival
, ,

i s personified by a livin g man who l i es i n a co ffin at ten d ed by another ,

who acts the priest a nd d ispenses holy water in great p rofusion from
a bathin g tub .

At Ler i d a in Catalonia the funeral o f the Carnival was witnes sed

, ,

by an E n gl ish traveller m 18 7 7 O n the las t S unday o f the Carnival

.

a gran d process ion o f in fan try cavalry and maskers o f many sorts , , ,

some on horseback and some i n carriages escorted the gran d car of ,

H is Grace Pau Pi as the e ffi gy was called i n triumph through the

, ,

princ i pal s treets For three days the revelry ran hi gh and then at
.
,

midni gh t on the last day o f the Carnival the same procession again
wound through the streets but under a di ff eren t aspec t and for a
,

d i fferent end The triumphal car was exchange d fo r a hearse in which

.
,

repose d the effigy o f his d ea d Grace : a troop o f maskers who in the ,

fi rs t procession ha d played the part o f S tu d ents o f Folly wi th many

a merry quip an d j est now robed as priests and bishops paced slowly
, , ,

along holdin g alo ft hu ge li ghte d tapers and S in gin g a dir ge All the .

mummers wore crape a n d all the horsemen carrie d blazin g flam b eaux
, .

Down the hi gh street between the lo fty many storeye d an d balconie d

, ,
-

houses where e very w indow every balcony every house top was
, , ,

crammed with a dense mass o f S pecta tors all dresse d and masked in ,

fantast i c gor geousness the procession took its melancholy way

,
Over .

the scene flashe d and played the shi ftin g cross li ghts and shadows -

from the m ovin g torches : red and blue B en gal li ghts flared up and
d ie d out a gain ; and above the tramplin g o f the horses and the
measure d trea d o f the marchin g mul ti tu d e rose the voices o f the priests
chan tin g the requiem while the mil itary ban d s struck in wi th the
,

solemn roll o f the mu ffle d d rums On reach in g the principal square .

the p rocession halted a burlesque funeral oration was pronounced

,

over the d e func t Pau P i and the li ght s were ex tin guished Im
, .

med ia tely the d evil and his an gel s darted from the crowd seized the ,

bo d y a nd fl ed away wi th it hotly pursued by the whole mul titude

, ,

yell in g screamin g and cheeri n g Naturally the fi ends were over

, , .

taken a n d d isperse d ; and the sham corpse rescue d from their clutches , ,

was la i d in a grave tha t had been m ade ready for its reception Thus .

the Ca rnival o f 18 7 7 at Lerida died and was buried .

A c eremony o f the same sort is observe d i n Provence on Ash

We d nes d ay An e ffi gy called Caram antran whim sically attired is
.
, ,

d rawn in a chariot or borne on a lit ter accompanied by the populace ,

in gro tesque cos tumes who ca rry gourds full o f wine and drain the m
,

wi th all the marks real o r a ffec ted o f i ntoxi cat ion At the head of
, , .

the procession are some m en d i s guised as j u dges a n d barri sters and ,

a tall gaun t persona ge who masquerades as Lent ; behind them follow

youn g people moun ted on miserable hacks a n d atti re d as mourners
who pre tend to bewail the fate that is in store for Ca ra m a ntran In .

the p rincipal squa re the procession halts the tribunal is co nstituted, ,

306 T HE K I LLIN G OF T H E TR E E -S P IRIT CH .

hea p of straw a torch was put to it and a great blaze shot up to the
, , ,

deli ght of the children who fr i ske d roun d it screamin g out some old
p op ular verses ab out the d ea th o f the Carnival S om etimes the .

e ffi gy was rolled down the slope o f a hill before b ein g b urnt At .

Saint LO the ra gged e ffigy o f Shrove Tuesday was followed b y his

-

widow a b ig burly lout d resse d as a woman wi th a crape veil who

, ,

emitted sounds o f lamentat i on a n d woe in a stent orian voice After .

bein g c arrie d about the s treets on a litter attended by a crowd of

maskers the figure was thrown in to the River Vire The final scene
, .

has been graphi cally des cribed by M adame O ctave Feuillet as she wit
“
n e ssed it i n her childh oo d some sixty years a o My parents invited
g .

friends to see f rom the top of the tower o f Jeanne Couillard the fu
,

neral procession passing It was there that q uaffing lemonade the

,

—
only refreshment allowed because o f the fas t—w e w itnessed at ni ghtfall
.
,

a spectacle o f w hich I shall always prese rve a lively recollection At .

our feet flowed the Vire under its old stone bridge On the middle .

o f the brid ge lay the fi gure of Shrove Tuesday on a litter of leaves ,

surrounded by scores o f maskers dancing sin gi n g and carryin g torches , , .

Some o f them in th ei r mo tley cos tumes ran alon g the parapet like
fiends The rest worn out with thei r revels sat on the posts and
.
, ,

dozed Soon the dancin g s to p ped and some o f the troop seizing a
.
, ,

torch set fire to the effi gy a fter which they flun g it into the river
, ,

with redoub led shouts and clamour The man of straw soaked with
-
.
,

resin fl oated away burning down the s tream o f the Vire li ghting up
, ,

with its funeral fires the woo d s on the ban k and the battlements
o f the old castle in which Louis X I and Francis I had slept When . . .

the last glimmer o f the bla z in g phantom had vanished like a falling ,

star at the end of the valley every one withdrew crowd and maskers
, , ,
”
alike and we quitted the ramparts wi th ou r guests
,
.

In the nei ghbourh oo d o f T ubingen on Shrove Tuesday a straw

man called the Shrovetide Bear is made up ; he is dressed in a pair
o f old trousers and a fresh black—
, ,

pudding o r two squi rts filled with

,

blood are i nserted in his neck A fter a formal condemnation he is .

beheaded laid in a co ffi n and on Ash Wednesday is buried in the

, ,
” “
churchyard This i s called Buryin g the Carnival
. Amon gst som e .

o f the Saxons o f Transylvani a the Carnival is hanged Thus at .

B raller on Ash Wednesday or Shr ove Tuesday two white and two
Chestnut horses draw a sle d ge o n which i s p laced a straw -m an swathed
in a white cloth beside him is a cart— wheel which is kept turnin g round
Two lads dis gui sed as ol d men follow the sled ge lamenting The .

rest o f the village lads m ounted on hors eback and decked with ribbons
, ,

a ccompany the p rocession which i s hea d ed by two girls crowne d

,

with ever green and drawn in a wa ggon or sled ge A trial is held under .

a tree at which lads dis gui sed as soldiers p ronounce sentence of death
T he two old men try to rescue the straw —
,

man and to fly with him ,

but to no p urpose ; he is cau ght by the two girls and handed ove r to
the executioner who hangs him on a tree In vai n the old men try
,
.

to clim b Up the tree and tak e him down ; they always tumble clown .
xx vm CARR Y I N G OUT DEAT H 3 07

and at last in desp ai r they throw themselves on the ground and weep
and howl for the han ge d man An o fficial then makes a speech in .

which he declares that the Ca rnival w as condem ned to death becau s e

he had done them harm by wearing out their shoes and making them ,

tired and sleepy At the Burial o f Carnival i n Lechr ai n a man

.
,

dressed a s a woman in black clothes is c a rrie d on a li tter or bier b y

four men ; he i s lamented over by men d is guise d as women in black
clothes then t hrown down be fore the village dung heap d renched
,
-
,

with water buried in the dung heap a n d co ver ed wi th s traw On

,
-
, .

the evening o f Shrove Tuesday the E sthon ians make a s traw fi gure
called m ets i k or woo d spiri t one year it i s d ressed with a man s-
’

coat and hat next year w ith a hood a n d a petticoat This fi gure i s
,
.

stuck on a lon g pole carried a cross the boun d ary o f the village w it h
,

loud cries o f j oy an d fastene d to the top o f a tree in the woo d The

, .

ceremony is bel i eve d to be a p r otect i on a gainst all kin d s o f m is fortune .

Sometimes at these S hrovetide or Le nten ceremonies the resur

rection o f the preten d ed dead person i s enac ted Thus in some parts .
,

of Swabi a on Shrove Tues d ay D r Iron Beard pro fesses to bleed a

- -
.

sick man who thereupon falls as d ea d to the groun d ; but the d octor
,

at last res tores him to li fe by blow i n g ai r in to him throu gh a tube .

In the Harz M ounta ins whe n C arnival i s over a man i s la i d on a b ak

, ,

ing trou gh and carried wi th dir ges to the grave ; b ut in the grave a glass
-

of bran dy is burie d instead o f the man A speech is d el ivered an d

then the people return to the village green or mee ting—
.
,

place where -
,

they smoke the lon g clay p ipes wh i ch are d istributed at funerals .

On the morn i ng o f Shrove Tues d ay in the foll o win g year the brandy
is dug up an d the fes tival be gins by every one tas tin g the sp i rit which ,

as the phrase goes has come to li fe a gain

3 Carrying ou t D ea th —The ceremony o f
.
,

. Carryin g out Dea th .

”
presents much the same features as Burying the C arnival ; except
that the carrying out o f Death is generally followe d by a ceremony ,

or at least accom pan ie d by a pro fession o f b rin ging in Summer , ,

Spring or Li fe Thus in M i dd le Franken a prov i nce o f Bavaria on

, .
, ,

the fourth Sun d ay i n Lent the village urch i ns u se d to make a stra w ,

effigy o f De ath wh i ch they carrie d about wi th burlesque pomp throu gh

,

the s treets a nd a fterwar d s burne d wi th loud cries beyon d the boun d s

, .

T he Frankish cust om is thus d escribe d by a writer o f the sixteent h

century : A t M id —Lent the season when the church bids us rej oi ce
“

, ,

the youn g people of my native coun try make a straw image of Death ,

and fastenin
g it to a pole carry it w ith S hou ts to the nei ghbourin g
villages By some they are kin d ly received a n d a fter being re freshed
.
,

wi th milk peas and drie d pears the usual foo d o f that season are
, , , ,

sent home a gain Others however treat them with anythin g but
.
, ,

hospitality ; for lookin g on them as harbin gers o f mi s fortune to wit

, ,

of death they d rive them from thei r boundaries Wi th wea po ns and

,

i nsults
. In the villages near E rlan gen when the fourth Sun d ay ,

i n Lent came a round the peasant

girls used to d ress themselve s in all
,

their finery with flowers in their hai r Thus attired they repai red .
3 08 T H E K ILLIN G OF T H E T RE E- S PIRI T CH .

to the nei ghbourin g town c a rryin g puppets whi ch were adorned with ,

leaves a n d covere d w ith wh ite clo ths These they took from house .

to hous e in pa i rs s toppin g at every door where they expected to receive

,

some thin g a n d sin gin g a few l i nes in wh ich they ann ounce d that it
,

was M i d Len t a n d that they were about to th row D eath into the
-

water When they had collec ted some trifl in g gra tu i ties they went
.

to the ri ver Re gnitz a n d flun g the puppe ts represent ing Death into
the s tream This was d one to ensure a fruit ful a n d p rosperous year ;
.

further it w a s cons i d ere d a sa fe guar d a ga ins t pes ti lence a nd sud den

,

d eath At Nuremb er g girls o f seven to e ighteen years o f a ge go

.

throu gh the streets bearin g a l ittle open coffin in which is a doll hi dden ,

und er a shrou d Others carry a beech bran ch w ith an apple fastene d

.
-
,

to it fo r a head in an open box They sing We car y De a th in to

,
.
,
r
”
the water it is well or We carry Death in to the water carry him
, , ,
”
in an d out again In som e par ts o f Bavari a d own to 17 80 it was
.

bel ieve d that a fa tal epi demi c would ensue if the cus tom o f Carrying
out Death were not observed .

In some villages o f Th urin gen on the four th Sunday of Lent the , ,

children use d to carry a puppe t o f birchen twi gs throu gh the v illage ,

a n d then threw it in to a pool while they sang We carry the old , ,

Dea th out behin d the her d man s old house ; we have got Summer ’

power i s d es troye d A t Debschwitz or Dob schwitz

’
a n d K r o den s .
,
“
near Gera t he ceremony of Drivi ng out Death is or was annually
,

observed on the firs t o f March The young people make up a .

fi gure of s traw or the like ma terials d ress it in old clo thes which they , ,

h a ve be gged from houses in the villa ge and carry it out a n d throw i t ,

in to the river On returnin g to the village they break the good news
.

to the pe 0 p 1e and receive e ggs and other victuals as a rewar d

,
T he .

ceremony is or was suppose d to puri fy the v i lla ge and to protect the

inhabi tants f rom s ickness and pla gue In other v i llages of Th uringen .
,

in which the popula tion was or iginally Slavonic the carryin g out of ,

the puppet is accompan ie d with the sin gin g o f a son g whi ch b e gi ns , ,

”
Now we carry Death out o f the village and Sprin g i nto the village .

At the end o f the sevent eenth and be ginn in g o f the ei ghteen th century
the custom was observed in Th urin gen as fo llows The boys and .

girls ma d e an e ffi gy o f straw or the like materi als but the shape of ,

the fi gure varied fro m year to yea r In one year it woul d repr esent .

an old man in the next an old woman in the third a youn g man and
, , ,

in the four th a m a i d en and the dress o f the fi gure varied with the ,

character it personated There used to be a sharp contest as to where .

the e ffigy was to be m a d e for the people thou gh t that the house from ,

which i t was carried for th would not be v isite d wi th death that yea r .

H aving been ma d e the pu p pet was fastened to a po l e and carried by

,

a gi rl if it represent ed an O ld m an but by a boy if it represented an ,

old woman Thus it was borne in procession the youn g people holding
.
,

sticks in thei r han d s and S in gin g that they were drivin g out De ath .

When they came to water they threw the effigy into it and ran hastily
back fearin g that it mi ght j um p on thei r sh oulder s and w rin g their
,
3 10 THE K I LLIN G O F T HE T R E E -SP IR IT CH .

In other p a rt s o f Bohemia they c arry Death to the end o f the

villa ge sin gin g
,

We ca rry D ea th ou t o f the villag e ,

D S pri ng w e b i d you w elcom e
ea r , ,
”
A nd the N ew Ye a r in to the v i llag e
. Gr een g ra s s , w e b i d y ou welcom e .

Behind the villa ge they erec t a pyre on which they burn the straw ,

figu re revilin g and s coffing a t it the while Then they return s inging
, .
,

We hav e ca r r ied aw ay D ea th, H e has ta k e n u p his q ua r ters i n the vi llage,

A nd b r ought Life b a ck . T her efo re s i ng oy ous s ongs j”
.

In some German villages o f Moravia as in Jassnitz and Seitendorf , ,

the youn g folk assemble on the thir d Sun d ay i n Lent and fashion a
straw man who i s general ly a d orne d wi th a fu r cap and a pai r of old
-
,

leathern hose i f such are to b e had The chi gy is then hoi sted on a
, .
’

pol e and carried by the la d s an d lasses ou t into the open fields On .

the way they sin g a son g i n which it is said that they are carrying ,

Death away and brin gin g dear Summer i nto the house and with ,

Summer the May and the flowers O n reachin g an appointed place .

they dance in a circle round the effi gy with lou d shouts and screams
'

then suddenly rush at it and tear it to p ieces wi th their hands Lastly .

,

the pieces are thrown to gether i n a heap the pole i s broken and fire , ,

i s set to the whole Wh i le it burns the troop d ances merrily round it

.
,

rej oicing at the victory won by Spr in g ; an d when the fire has nearly
died out they go to the househ ol d e r s to b eg for a present o f e ggs where
with to hold a feast takin g care to give as a reason for the request that
,

they have carri ed Death out and away .

The preceding evi d ence sh ows tha t the e ffigy of Death is often
re garded with fear and trea ted w ith marks o f hat red and abhorrence .

Thus the anxiety o f the vi lla gers to trans fer the fi gu re f rom their own
to their neighbours land a n d the reluctance o f the latter to receive
’
,

the omin ous guest are p roo f enough o f the drea d whi ch it inspires
,
.

Further in Lusatia and Silesia the puppet is sometimes made to look

,

in at the win d ow of a house a n d it is believed that some one in the ,

house will die within the yea r unless his li fe is rede em ed by the pay
ment o f money Aga in a fter throwin g the e ffi gy aw ay the bearers
.
, ,

sometimes run hom e lest De ath shoul d follow them and i f one of them ,

fall s in runnin g it is believe d that he will die within the year At

,
.

Chrudim in B ohemia the fi gure o f D eath i s made out of a cross W i th

, , ,

a head and mas k stuc k at the top and a shirt stretched out on it On
“

.
,

the fi fth Sunday i n Lent the boys take thi s effi gy t o the nearest brook
or pool and standin g in a line throw it in to the water Then they all
,
.

plun ge in a fter it ; but as soon as it i s cau ght no one more may enter
the water The boy who did not enter the water o r entered it last
.

will die within the year and he is obli ged to carry the Death back to
,

the villa ge The e ffigy is the n burned On the other hand it i s

. . ,

beli eved that no one will die within the year in the house out of whi ch
'

the fi gure o f Death has been carried ; and the vi lla ge out of whi ch
Death has be en driven is sometimes su p posed to be protected agai nst
xx vm BR IN GI N G I N SUM M E R 3 11

sickness and pla gue In some villages o f Austrian Silesia on the

.

Saturday be fore Dead Sunday an e ffigy is made o f old clothes hay and , ,

straw for the purpose o f d rivin g Death out of the villa ge

,
On .

Sunday the people armed wi th sti cks and st raps assemble be fore the
, ,

house where the fi gure i s lo d ged Four la d s then d raw the e ffigy by .

cor ds through the villa ge ami d exultant shouts while all the others ,

beat it wi th thei r sticks and strap s On reachin g a field which b elongs .

to a neighbourin g village they lay down the fi gure cud gel it soun d ly , ,

and sca tter the fra gm ents over the fiel d The peo p le believe tha t the .

village from which Death has been thus carrie d out will be sa fe from
any in fectious d isease for the whole year
4 B ringi ng i n S um m er — In the precedin g ceremonies the return
.

. .

of Sprin g Summer or L i fe as a sequel to the expulsion o f Death i s

, , , ,

only impl i ed or at most announce d In the followin g ceremonies i t i s .

plainly enacted Thus in some parts o f B ohemia the e ffigy o f Dea th

.

is drowned by bein g thrown into the water at sunset ; then the girls
go out into the wo od a n d cut d own a youn g tree wi th a green crown ,

hang a doll dresse d as a woman on it d eck the whole with green red , , ,

and white ribbons and march in procession with their L i to (Summer )

,

into the vill age collecti ng gi fts and sin gin g

,

D ea th s wi m
i n the wa ter, Wi th y ellow pa nca kes .

Spring com es to vi s i t u s, W e carri e d D ea th out of the vi llag e“

Wi th eggs tha t ar e red , We ar e ca r ryi ng S u m m er i n to the vi llag e .

In many Silesian villages the fi gure of Death a fter bein g treated ,

with respect is s tri pt o f its clo thes a nd flun g with cu rses into the
,

water or torn to p i eces in a fiel d T hen the youn g folk rep air to a
,
.
-

woo d cut down a small fir tree peel the trunk and deck it wi th
,
-
, ,

festoons o f evergreens paper roses pain ted egg shells mo tley bi ts o f

, ,
-
,

cloth and so for th The tree thus a d orne d is cal le d Summer or May
, . .

Boys carry it from hous e to house s in ging appropria te son gs and

begging for presents Amon g thei r son gs is the f ollowin g :
.

We ha ve ca rr i ed D ea th ou t, T he S u m m er a nd the M a y
We ar e b r i ng i ng the clear S um m er b ack, A nd a ll the flowers gay
”
.

Som etimes they also brin g back from the wood a prettily adorned
figure which goes by the name o f Summer M a y or the B ri de ; in the
, , ,

Polish distric ts it is calle d Dz iew ann a the god d ess of sprin g , .

At E isenach on the fourth Sunday in Lent young people used to

fasten a straw — man representing Death to a wheel w hich they trun
, , ,

dled to the top o f a hill Then se ttin g fire to the fi gure they allowed it
.

and the wheel to roll d own the S lope Next day they cut a tall fir tree .
-
,

tricked it out wi th ri b bons a n d s et it up in the plain The men then , .

climbe d the tree to fe tch d own the ribbons In Upper Lusatia the fi gure .

of Death made o f st raw and ra s is d ressed in a veil furni sh ed by the

, g ,

last bride a nd a shirt provi d e d by the house in which the las t death
took place Thus arrayed the fi gure is stuck on the end o f a long pole
.

and carr ie d at full spee d by the tallest a n d stron gest girl while the r est ,
3 12 TH E KIL L I N G OF T HE TR E E S P IRIT -
CH .

pelt the e ffigy wi th sti cks and stones Whoever hits it will be sure .

to live through the year In thi s way D eath i s carried out of the
.

villa ge and thr own in to the water o r over the boundary o f the next
villa ge O n thei r way home each one breaks a green branch and
.

carries it gaily wi th him till he rea ches the village whe n he throws it ,

away Sometimes the youn g peo p le of the n ext village upon whose
.
,

lan d the fi gure has been thrown run a fter them and hurl it back not , ,

wishin g to have Death amon g them H ence the two parties occasion .

ally come to blow s .

In these cases Death is represent ed by the puppet which is thrown

away Summer or Li fe by the bran ches o r t rees whi ch are brought
,

back But sometimes a new p otency o f li fe seems to be attributed

.

to the image o f D e a th itsel f and by a kind o f resurrection it becomes

,

the instrument o f the general revival Thus i n som e par ts of Lusatia .

women alone are c oncerned in carryin g out Death and su ffer no male ,

to me d dle with it Attired in mournin g which they wear the whole

.
,

d ay they mak e a puppe t o f straw clothe it in a whi te shirt and

, , ,

give it a broo m in one han d and a scythe in the other S in ging songs .

a nd pursued by urchins throwin g stones they carry the puppet to the ,

vil lage b oun d ary where they tear it in pieces

, Then they cut down .

a fine tree hang the shi rt on it and carry it home sin gin g On the
, ,
.

Feast o f Ascension the Saxons of B raller a villa ge o f Transylvania , ,

not far from H ermannstadt ob serve the ceremony o f Carryin g out

.
,
”
Death in the f ollowin g manner A fter mo rn in g se rv ice all the .

school girls repai r to the hous e o f one o f their number and there dress
-
,

up the De ath This i s d one by tyin g a threshed out shea f o f corn into
.
-

a rou gh se m b lance o f a hea d and body while the arms are simulated ,

by a broomstick thrust through it horizontally The fi gu re i s dressed .

i n the holi d ay attire o f a youn g peasant woman with a red hoo d silver , ,

brooches and a p ro fusion o f ribbons at the arm s a n d breast

,
The .

girls bus tle at thei r work for soon the bells will be rin gin g to vespers
, ,

and the Death must be ready in time to be placed at the op en window ,

that all the p eople m ay see it on their way to chu rch When vespers .

are over the l on ged for m oment has com e for the first p rocession
,
-

with the Death t o be gin ; it i s a privile ge that bel on gs to the school

girls alone T wo of the ol d e r girls seize the fi gu re by the arms and
.

walk in front : all the rest follow two and tw o B oys may take no .

part in the procession b ut they troop a fter it gazin g with open mouthed
,
-

a d miration at the beauti ful D eath “

S o the processi on goes through.

all the streets o f the villa ge the gi rls sin gin g the ol d hymn that begins
,

Go tt m ei n Va ter dei ne Li eb e ,

Rei cht s o w ei t d er H i m m el i s t ,

to a tune that di ffers from the ordi nary one When the procession .

has wound its way throu gh every s treet the girls go to another house , ,

and having shut the door a gains t the ea ger pryin g crowd o f boys who
follow at thei r heels they strip the D eath and pass the naked t russ of
,

s traw out o f the window to the boys w ho pounce on it run out o f the , ,
3 14 T H E K I LL I N G O F T H E TR E E S PIRIT -
CH .

beyon d a d oubt by the cu stom observed in some places o f taking , ,

pieces o f the s traw e ffi gy o f Death and placin g them in the fields to

make the crops grow or i n the man ger to make the cattle thrive
, .

Thus i n Spachen d or f a v i lla ge o f Aus trian Siles ia the fi gure o f Death

, , ,

ma d e o f s traw b rushwoo d a n d ra gs i s carried wi th wild s on gs to an

, , ,

open place outs i d e the village a n d there burne d and while it is burning ,

a general stru ggle takes place for the pieces whi ch are pulled out of ,

the flames with bare han d s E ach one who secures a fra gment o f the
.

effi gy ties it to a branch o f the lar gest t ree in his garden or buries it ,

i n his field in the belie f that this causes the crops to grow better In
, .

the Troppau distric t o f Aus trian S ilesia the stra w fi ure which the
g
boys make on the four th Sun d ay in Lent is d resse d by the girls in
’
woman s clothes and hun g with ribb ons necklace and garlands , , .

A ttached to a lon g pole i t is carried out o f the villa ge followed by a ,

troop of youn g people of both sexes who al te rnately froli c lament

A rrived at its des tination—a field outsi de the v illage
, , ,

a n d sin g son gs
—the fi gure is stripp ed o f its clothes and ornaments ; then the crowd
.

rushes at it an d tears it to bits s cuffling for the fra gm ents E ve ry , .

one tri es to get a wisp o f th e straw of which the effigy w as made ,

because such a wisp placed in the man ge r is believe d to make the

, ,
'

at tle thrive Or the straw is put in the hens nest it bein g suppose d
.
’
,

tha t this preven ts the hens from carry in g away their eg gs and makes ,

them broo d much bet ter The same at tributi on o f a fer tilising power
.

t o the fi gure o f Death appears in the beli e f that i f the bearers o f the
fi gure a fter throwi ng it away beat cat tle wi th their sticks this will
, , ,

render the beasts fa t or prolific Perhaps the s ticks had b een previously .

us ed to beat the Death a n d so had acquired the fer tilisin g power

,

ascribe d to the effi gy We have seen too that at Leipsic a straw

.
, ,

effi gy o f Death was shown to youn g wives to make them fruit ful .

It seems hardly possible to sepa rate from the May trees the trees
’

or bran ches which are brou ght into the villa ge a fter the destruc tion
o f the D eath The b earers who b rin g them i n pro fess to be brin ging
.

in the S ummer there fore the trees obvi ously represent the Summer ;
,

indee d in Silesi a th ey are commonly called the Summer or the May ,

a n d the d oll which i s some times a ttached to the Summer tree is a ~

duplicate represen tative o f the Summer j ust as the May is sometimes ,

represen ted at the same time by a May tree and a M ay La dy Further -

.
,

the S ummer trees are a d orne d l ike M ay trees wi th ribbons and so on ;

- -

like May trees when large they a re plante d in the groun d and climbed
-
, ,

up ; a n d like M ay trees when small they are ca rried f rom door to

-
, ,

d oor by boys or gi rls sin gin g s on gs and collectin g money A n d as i f .

to d em ons trate the iden tity o f the tw o sets o f customs the bearers of
the S ummer tree som e times announce that they are brin ging in the
-

Summer a n d the M ay The customs ther e fore o f brin gin g in the

.
, ,

May and brin gin g in the Summer are essentia lly the same ; and the
Summer tree i s m erely another form o f the May tree the only dis
- -
,

tinction (besides that o f name ) being in the time at which they are
resp ectively brou gh t in ; fo r while the May tree is usual ly fetched in -
xx vm B RI N GI NG IN SU M M E R 3 15

on the fi rst o f May o r at Whitsunti de the Summer tree is fetched in ,

-

on the fourth S urid a y in Lent There fore if the May tree is a n em .

,
-

bodiment o f the tree spirit or spi rit o f ve geta tion the Sum m er tree
-
,
-

m ust likewise be an embodiment o f the tree spirit or spirit o f ve geta

-

tion. But we have seen that the Summer tree is in some cases a -

rev iv ifica ti on o f the e ffi gy o f Dea th It follows there fore that in .

, ,

these cases the e ffi gy called Dea th mus t be an embo d imen t o f the

tree spirit or sp i rit o f ve getation This in ference is confirmed firs t .
, ,

by the vivi fying and fertili s ing influence which the fra gments o f the
effigy of Death are believed to exercise bo th on vegetable and on animal
li fe ; for this influence as we saw in an earlier part of this work i s
, ,

suppose d to be a speci al attribu te o f the tree sp i rit It is confirme d -

.
,

second ly by observing that the e ffi gy o f Death is sometimes d ecke d

with leaves or ma d e o f twi gs branches hemp or a threshed —
,

,
out shea f , ,

of corn ; and that some times i t is hun g on a li ttle tree and 8 0 carrie d
about by girls collecting money j us t as i s d one wi th the May tree an d ,
-

the May Lady a n d wit h the Summer tree and the d oll attached to it
,
-
.

In short we are dr iven to re gard the expuls io n o f Death a n d the

brin gi ng in of Summer as in some cases at least merely ano ther form
, ,

of that d ea th and revival o f the spir it o f ve geta tion in sprin g which

we saw enacte d in the killin g a nd resurrection o f the Wild Man T he .

bur ial and resurrec tion o f the Carnival is probably ano ther way o f
express i ng the same i d ea The in te rment of the represen tative o f the
.

Carnival under a d ung heap is natural if he is suppose d to possess a

-
,

quickenin g a n d fe rtilising influence l i ke that ascribe d to the e ffigy o f

Death The E s thonians in deed who carry the straw fi gure out of
.
, ,

the village in the usual way on Shrove Tuesday do n ot call it the ,

Carnival b ut the Wood spiri t (M ets i k ) a nd they clearly in d ica te the

-

identity o f the effi gy w ith the woo d —

, ,

spi ri t by fixing it to the top of

a tree in the wood where it r e m ains for a year and is besou gh t almos t
, ,

daily w ith prayers a n d o ffer i n gs to pro tec t the he rd s ; fo r l ike a true

woo d sp i ri t the M ets i k is a patron o f cattle So me times the M ets ile
-
.

is ma d e o f sheaves o f corn .

Thus we may fairly conj ecture that the names C arnival Dea th , ,

a nd Summer are compara ti vely late a n d ina d equa te expressions for

the bein gs p ersonified or embo d ie d in the cus toms w ith which w e have
been dealin g The very abs tractness o f the names bespeaks a mo d ern
.

origin ; for the personifica tion of times a n d s easons l ike the Carnival
and Summer or o f an abs tract no tion l ike d eath is n ot p ri mitive
, , .

But the ceremonies themselves bear the stamp o f a da teless antiquity

there fore we can har dly help supposin g that in the i r ori gin the i d eas
which they embo d ied were of a more simple and concrete order The .

notion o f a tree perhaps o f a par ticular kin d o f tree (fo r som e sava ges
,

have no wor d for tree in general ) or even o f an in d ivi d ual tree is , ,

sufficien tly concrete to supply a basis from which by a gi a dual process

of generalisa ti on the wi d er i d ea o f a spirit o f ve geta ti on mi ght be

reached But this general i d ea o f ve geta tion would rea dily be con found
.

ed with the season in which it mani fests itsel f ; hence the substitution
3 16 T HE KI LLI N G O F T HE TR E E S PIRIT -
CH .

of Spring Summer or May for the tree sp i rit o r spirit o f ve getation

, ,
~

woul d be easy and natural A gain the concrete no tion of the dying
.
,

tree or d y i n g ve getation would by a similar p rocess o f

generalisation
glide into a notion o f d ea th in general ; so that the prac tice o f carryin g
out the dyin g or dead v egetat i on in spring as a preliminary to its ,

revival would in time wi d en out into an attem p t to banish D eath in

,

gener a l from the vi lla ge or dis trict The vi ew that in thes e spring.

ceremonies Dea th meant ori gi nally the d yin g o r d ead v egetation of

winter has the hi gh suppor t o f W Mannhar d t ; a nd he confirms it .

b y the analo gy o f the name D eat h as applied to the spirit of the ripe
corn Commonly the Spi ri t of the ripe corn is conceived not as dead
.
, ,

but as old and hence it goes by the name o f the Old Man or the Old
,

Woman B ut in som e places the last shea f cut at harvest which is

.

generally believe d to be the seat o f the corn S pi rit is called the Dead ,
”
O ne : ch ildren a re warned a gainst enterin g the corn fields because -

Dea th si ts in the corn ; and in a game played by Saxon children in

,

Transylvania at the maiz e harvest Death is rep resented by a child ,

comple tely covered with mai z e leaves

5 B a ttle of S u m m er a nd Wi n ter —S ometimes i n the popular
.

cus toms o f the peasan try the con trast be tween the d orman t powers
o f ve getation i n winter and their awakenin g vi tal ity in spring takes
the form o f a d rama tic conte st between actors who play the parts
respectiv ely o f Winter an d S ummer Thus in the towns o f Sweden .

on M ay Day two troops o f youn g men on horseback use d to meet as

i f for mo rtal combat One of the m was led by a representative of
.

Win ter clad i n furs who threw snowballs and ice in order to prolong
,

the cold wea ther The o ther troop was comma nded by a representa
.

tive o f S ummer covered w ith fresh leaves and flowers In the sham .

fi ght which follow ed the party o f S ummer cam e off vic torious , and
the ceremony en d e d wi th a feast A gain in the re gion o f the mi ddle
.
,

Rhine a representa tive o f Summer clad in ivy combats a representa tive

,

o f Winter cla d i n straw or moss and finally gains a victory over him .

The vanquishe d foe is throw n to the groun d a n d s tripped o f his casing

o f straw which i s torn to pieces and sca ttered abou t while the youth ful
, ,

com rades o f the two champions sin g a son g to commemora te the defeat
o f Winter by S ummer A fterwards they carry about a summer
.

garland or branch and collect gi fts o f e ggs and bacon from house to
house S om etimes the champion who acts the part o f Summer i s
.

dressed in leaves and fl owers and wears a chaplet of flowers on his

head I n the Palatinate this mimic conflict takes place on the fourth
.

S un d ay in Lent All over Bavaria the same drama used to b e acted

.
'

on the same day and it was still kept up in some places down to the
,
-

middle of the nineteenth century or later While S ummer app eared .

clad all in green decked wi th flutterin g ribbo ns and carryin g a branch

, ,

in blossom or a little tree hun g with apples and pears W i nter was ,

m ufli ed up in cap and mantle o f fu r and bore in his hand a snow shov el -

or a fl ail Accompani ed by thei r respective retinue s dressed in corre

'
'

sp onding atti re they went throu gh all the streets o f the vill a ge halting
, ,
5 18 THE KI LLI N G OF T HE TR E E —
S PI RIT CH .

On the E v e o f St John (M i dsumme rE v e ) a fi gure o f Kupalo i s made

.

o f s traw a n d i s d resse d in woman s clo thes w ith a necklace a nd a ’

,

floral crown Then a tree i s felle d a nd a fter b ein g decked wi th

.
, ,

r ib b ons i s set up on some chosen spo t N ear thi s tree to which they
, .
,

give the nam e o f M arena [W i n ter or Dea th ] the straw fi gure is place d , ,

to ge ther with a table on which s tan d spir its a n d v i an d s ,

A f terwards .

a bonfire i s lit a nd the youn g men a n d ma i d ens j ump over it in couples

, ,

carryin g the fi gure wi th them O n the nex t day they strip the tree .

”
a n d the fi gure o f thei r ornamen ts a n d throw them bo th in to a s tream , .

’
On S t Pe ter s Day the twen ty ni n th o f June or on the following
.
,
-
,
“
Sun d ay the Funeral o f Kos troma or o f La d a or o f Yar ilo i s cele
,

b ra te d in Russia I n the Governm e nts o f Pen z a and Simbirsk the

.

funeral use d to be represen te d as follows A bonfi re was kin d le d on .

t he twen ty ei gh th o f June a n d on the next d ay the ma i d ens chose one

-
,

o f their number to play the par t o f Kos troma H er companions .

salute d her wi th d eep obeisances place d her on a boa r d an d carrie d , ,

her to the bank o f a stream There they ba the d her in the wa ter .
,

while the ol d est gi rl ma d e a b asket o f lim e tree bark a n d beat it like -

a d rum Then they returne d to the villa ge and en d e d the day w ith
.

process i ons games and d ances,

In the M urom dis trict Kos troma
,
.

was represente d by a straw fi gure d resse d in woman s clothes and ’

flowers Th i s was laid in a trou gh a n d carri e d wi th son gs to the bank

.

o f a lake or river H ere the crowd d iv ide d i n to tw o si d es o f wh ich

.
,

the one at tacke d a n d the o ther de fende d the fi gure At las t the .

assailan ts ga ine d the day s trippe d the fi gure o f its d ress a nd ornaments
, ,

tore it in pieces tro d the s traw o f which it was made un d er foo t and
, ,

fl ung it in to the stream ; while the de fen d ers o f the fi gure hid thei r
faces in the i r han d s a n d pre tende d to bewail the d ea th o f Kos troma .

In the d i s tr i ct o f Kos troma the burial o f Yar i lo was celebrated on the

twen ty nin th o r thir tie th o f J une
-
The people chose an ol d man and .

gave him a small co ffin con tainin g a Pr i apus like fi gure represen ting
-

Yarilo This he carried out o f the town followe d by wom en chan ting
.
,

d irges and expressin g by their ges tures grie f and d espai r In the .

op en fiel d s a grave was du g a n d in to it the fi gure was lowered amid ,

weep i n g and wai li ng a fter which games a n d da nces were be gun , ,

“
callin g to mind the funeral games celebra ted in ol d times by the
pagan Slavonians In Little Russ i a the fi gure o f Yarilo was lai d
.

i n a co ffin a n d carried through the s tree ts a fter sunset surroun ded by

drunken women who kep t repeatin g mourn fully ,
H e is d ead ! he ,
“

i s d ead ! The men l i fte d and shook the fi gure as i f they were try i ng
to recall the d ead man to l i fe Then they sai d to the women Women .
, ,
”
weep n ot I know what i s swee ter than hon ey
. B ut the women .

continued to la m en t a n d chant as they do a t funerals O f what , .

was he guil ty ? H e was so goo d H e will arise no more O how shall . .

we part from thee ? What is l i fe without thee ? A rise i f only for a ,

brie f hour B ut he rises not he rises n ot

. At last the Yarilo was ,
.

b uried in a grave
7 D ea th a nd Reviva l of Vegeta ti on — These Russian customs are
.

.
.
x x vm A NALOGOUS RIT E S I N I N DIA 3 19

plainly o f the same nature as those which in Aus tria and Germany are
k nown as Carryin g out Death There fore i f the interpretation here
.

adop ted o f the la tter is r ight the Russian K ostrub onk o Yarilo and
, , ,

the rest mus t also have be e n ori ginally embod imen ts o f the spi rit o f
vegeta tion and the i r death mus t have been re gar d e d as a necessary
,

preliminary to the i r rev ival The revival as a sequel to the d ea th is

.

enacted in the firs t o f the ceremonies describe d the dea th an d resur ,

rection o f K ostrub onk o The reason why in some o f these Russian

.

ceremonies the d ea th o f the spi rit o f vegetat i on i s celebra ted at m id

summer may b e tha t the d ecl i ne o f summer is da te d from M i dsummer
Day a fter which the d ays be gin to shor ten and the sun sets out on
, ,

his downward j ourney °

T o the d a r k s om e ho ll ow s
Wher e the fr os ts of wi nter li e .

Such a turn in g po in t o f the year when ve ge tati on mi ght b e th ou ght

-
,

to share the i nc ip ien t thou gh s till almos t i mpercep tible decay o f

summer m igh t very well b e chosen by primi tive man as a fit moment
,

for resor tin g to those ma gi c r ites by wh i ch he hopes to s tay the decline ,

or at leas t to ensure the revival o f plan t li fe , .

B ut wh i le the d ea th o f ve ge ta ti on appears to have b een rep re

sente d in all an d its revival in some o f these spr in g an d m i d summer
, ,

ceremon ies there are features i n some o f them wh i ch can har d ly be

,

explaine d on th i s hypo thes i s alone The solemn funeral the lamenta .

,

tions a n d the mourn i n g a tti re wh i ch o ften charac teri se these r ites

, , ,

are in d ee d appropr i ate a t the d ea th o f the b eneficen t spir it o f vege ta

tion B ut wha t shall we say o f the glee w ith wh i ch the effi gy is o ften
.

carrie d ou t o f the s ticks a n d s tones w ith wh ich it i s assa ile d and the
, ,

taun ts an d curses which are hurle d a t it ? Wha t shall we say o f the

dread o f the e ffi gy evince d by the has te w i th which the bearers scamper
home as soon as they have thrown it away a n d by the bel i e f tha t som e ,

one must soon d ie in any h ouse in to wh ich it has looke d ? This d read
mi ght perhaps be expla i ne d by a bel ie f tha t there i s a certain in fec tious
ness in the d ead sp irit o f vegeta ti on wh ich ren d ers i ts approach d an ger
ous B ut this explana ti on b es id es be ing ra ther straine d does not
.
, ,

cove r the rej oicings which o ften a tten d the carryin g out o f Death .

We mus t there fore reco gnise tw o d is tinct a nd seemin gly opposite

fea tures in these ceremonies : on the one han d sorrow for the d eath , ,

a nd a ff ection a n d respec t fo r the dea d ; on the other hand fear and ,

hatre d of the d ea d and rej oicings at his d eath H ow the former o f

, .

these features i s to be expla ine d I have attempte d to show : how the

latter came to be so closely associa te d with the former is a questio n
which I shall try to answer in the sequel
8 A na l ogou s Ri tes i n In di a — In the K a na gra dis tric t o f I ndia
.

there is a custom observe d by youn g girls in sprin g which closely

resembles some o f the E uropean sprin g ceremo n ies j ust described It ,

is calle d the Rali K a m eld or fai r of Rali the Rali bein g a small pa i nted
, ,

earthen image o f Siva or P arvati The custom is in vog ue all over the .
3 20 T HE KI LLI N G OF THE TR E E S PIRIT
-
CH .

K ana gra district and its celebration which i s entirely con fined to
, ,

young g irls las ts through mos t o f Chet (March April ) up to the San
,
-

kr ant o f B ais akh (April ) On a mornin g in March all the youn g gi rls of .

the vi llage take small baskets o f d ub g rass and flowers to an appointed

p lace where they throw them in a heap
, Round this heap they stand .

i n a circl e and sin g This goes on every day for ten days t i ll the heap
.
,

o f grass and flowers has reached a fair hei gh t Then they cut in the .

j un gl e two branches each w ith three pron gs at one end and place
, ,

t hem pron gs downwards over the heap o f flowers so as to make two

, , ,

t ripo d s o r pyrami ds O n the sin gle uppermost points o f these branches

.

they get an ima ge maker to construc t two clay ima ges one to represent
-
,

S iva and the o ther P arvat i The girls then divide themselves into
, .

two parties one fo r S iva and one fo r P arvati and marry the images in
, ,

the usual way leavin g out no part o f the ceremony A fter the marr iage
, .

they have a fe a st the cost o f which is de frayed by con tr ibutions

,

solici ted from their parents Then at the next S ank rant (Bais akh ) .

they all go to ge ther to the river side throw the images i nto a deep -
,

po ol and weep over the place as thou gh they were p er formin g funeral
, ,

o bsequies The b oys o f the nei ghbourhood o ften tease them by d iving
.
'

a fter the ima ges bringin g them up and wavin g them about while the
, ,

girls are cry in g over them The obj ect o f the fai r is said to be to secure
.

a good husband .

That in this I ndia n ceremony the deities Siva and P arvati are
conceived a s spiri ts o f v egetation seem s to be proved by the placing of
thei r images on branches ove r a heap o f grass and flowers Here as .
,

o ften in E uropean folk custom the divinities o f v ege tation are rep t e-
,

sen ted in duplicate by plants and by p uppets The marriage o f these

, .

I ndian dei ties in S prin g corresponds to the E uropean ceremonies in

which the marria ge o f the v ernal spirits o f ve geta tion i s represented
b y the Kin g and Queen o f May the May B ride B ri degroom of the , ,

M ay and so forth The throwin g o f the ima ges in to the water and
, .
,

the m ou rning fo r them are the equivalents o f the E uropean customs ,

o f throwin g the dead spirit o f ve getation under the n ame o f Dea th ,

Yarilo Kostroma and the rest into the water and lamentin g over it
, , ,
.

A gain in I ndia as o f ten in E urope the rite is p er formed exclusively

, , ,

by females The notion tha t the ceremony helps to procure husbands

,

for the girl s can be explained by the quickenin g and fer tilising influence
which the spiri t o f ve getation is believe d to exert upon the li fe of m an
a s well a s o f plants
9 T he M agi c S pri ng —
.

. The general explanation which we have .

been led to ado pt o f these a n d many similar ceremonies i s that they are ,

or were in thei r ori gin m agi cal rites intended to ensur e the revival of
,

nat ure in sp rin g The means by which they were supposed to e ffect
.

this end were imita tion and sympathy Led astray by his i gnorance .

o f the t rue causes o f thin gs primitiv e man believed that in order to ,

produce the great phenomena o f nature on which hi s li f e depended he

had only t o imitate them and that immediately by a secret sympathy ,

o r mystic i nfluence the little d rama which he acte d in forest glade or

3 22 THE K I LLI N G OF THE TR E E S PI RIT -
CH .

the ni p ping blast and he l ooked up at the bare boughs coul d he f eel
, ,
.

sure that they would ever b e green a gain ? As day by day the sun
sank lower an d l ower in the sky coul d he be cer tain that the lum inary
,

would ever retrace his heavenly road ? E ven the wani n g moon whose ,

pal e S i ckle rose thinner a n d thinner every ni ght over the rim o f the
eastern horiz on may have exci ted in his min d a fear lest whe n it had
, ,

wholly vanished there should b e moons no m ore

,
‘
.

Thes e and a thousand such mis givin gs may have thronged the
fancy and t roubled the peace o f the man who first began to reflect on
the mys teries o f the world he live d in and to take t hou ght fo r a more,

dis tan t future than t he m orrow It was natural there fore that with
.
, ,

such thoughts and fears he shoul d have done all that in him lay to
brin g back the fa d ed bloss o m to the bough to sw in g the low sun of ,

win ter up to hi s old place in the summer Sk y a n d t o res tore its orbed ,

fulness to the s ilver lamp o f the wanin g m oon We may smile at his .

vain endeavours i f w e please but it was only by makin g a lon g series

,

o f experiments o f which som e w ere almost inevitably doomed to

,

f a ilure that man learned from experi ence the futility o f some of his
,

attempted me tho d s and the fruit fulness o f others A fter al l magical .

,

ceremonies a re no thin g b ut experiments which have failed and which

continue to be repeated m erely because for reasons which have already ,

been indicated the operator i s unaware o f thei r failure Wi th the

, .

a dvance o f kno wle dge these ceremoni es either cease to be per formed
alto gether or are kept up from force o f habit l ong a fte r the intention
wi th which they were instituted ha s been for go tten Thus fallen from .

thei r high es tate n o longer re garded as solemn ri tes on the punctual

,

per formance o f which the wel fa re and even the li fe o f the community
depend they sink gra d ually to the level o f simple pageants mum
, ,

m er ies and pastim es

,
till in the final sta ge of de genera tion they are
,

wholly abandoned by older people and from havin g once been the , ,

most serious occupa tion o f the sa ge become at last the idle sport of,

children It is in this fi n al sta ge o f d ecay that most o f the old m agical

.

rites o f our E uropean fore fa thers lin ger on at the present day and even ,

from this thei r last retreat they are fast bein g swept away by the
ri sin g ti d e o f those mul ti tudinous forces moral intellectual a nd social , , , ,

which are bearin g mankind onward to a new and unknown goal We .

may feel som e na tural re gret at the disappearance o f quaint customs

and picturesque ceremonie s which have preserved to an age often
,

d eemed dull and p rosaic som ethin g o f the flavour and freshness of
the olden t ime some b rea th o f the sprin gtime o f the world ; yet our
,

re gret will be lessened when we rememb er that these pre tty pa geants ,

these now innocent diversi ons had thei r ori gin i n i gnorance and
,

supersti tion ; that i f they are a record of human endeavour they are ,

also a monument o f fruitless ingenuity o f w a sted labour and of

blighted hopes ; and that for all their gay trappin gs —
, ,

the i r flowers their

ribbons and thei r music—they pa rtake far more o f tragedy than o f
~

farce .

The in terp retation which followin g in the footstep s o f W Mann

, .
r
Xx vn r T HE MAGIC S PRI N G 3 23

hardt I h ave attempted to give o f these ceremoni es has been not a

,

li ttle confi rmed by the discovery made since this book was fi rs t wri tten
,
'
,

that the natives o f Central Australia regularly practi se magical cere

monies for the purpose o f awakenin g the d ormant energies o f na ture
at the approach o f what may be called the Australian sprin g N owhere .

apparen tly are the alternations o f the seasons more su dd en and the
contras ts be tween them more striking than in the d ese rts o f Cen tral
Australia where at the end o f a lon g period o f drou ght the sandy and
,

stony wilderness over which the silence and desolation o f death appear
,

to brood i s su d denly a fter a few d ays o f torrential rain trans forme d

, , ,

into a lan d scape smilin g wi th ver d ure an d peopled with teem ing
m ultitudes o f insects and lizards of fro gs and bir d s , The marvellous .

chan ge which passes over the face o f nature at such times has been
com pared even by E uropean observers to the e ff ect o f ma gic ; no
won d er then that the savage shoul d re ga r d it as such in very d eed
, , .

Now it is j us t when there is promise of the approach o f a good season

tha t the na tives o f Cen tral Aus tralia are wont especially to per form
those magical ceremonies o f whi ch the avowe d intention i s to multiply
the plan ts and animals they us e as food These ceremonies there fore
.
, ,

present a close analo gy to the spring customs o f our E uropean peasan try
not only in the tim e o f thei r celebration but also in their a im ; for we
,

can har d ly d o ubt that in ins titutin g ri tes d esi gne d to assist the revival
of plant li fe in spring our primitive fore fathers were m oved not by ,

any sen timental w ish to smell at early viole ts or pluck the ra the ,

primrose or watch yellow da ffo d ils d ancing in the breeze but b y the
, ,
'

very practical consi d eration cer tainly not formul ated in abs tract
,

terms that the l i fe o f man is inex tricably boun d up wi th tha t o f plan ts

, ,

and that i f they were to per i sh he coul d n ot survive And as the fai th .

of the Australian sava ge in the e fficacy o f his ma gic ri tes is confi rme d
by observing that their per formance i s invari ably followe d sooner or ,

later by tha t increase o f ve getable and animal l i fe wh i ch it is their

,

obj ect to produce so we may suppose it was wi th E uropean sava ges

, , ,

in the olden time The si ght o f the fresh green in brake and thicket
.
,

of vernal flowers blowin g on mossy banks o f swallows arr ivin g from ,

the south and o f the sun mount in g daily hi gher in the sky woul d be
, ,

welcomed by them as so m any vis ible si gns that their enchan tments
were in d eed taking e ff ect and would inspire them wi th a cheer ful
,

confi d ence tha t all was well wi th a worl d which they could thus moul d
to sui t their wi shes Only in au tumn days as summer slowly fa d e d
.
, ,

would thei r confi d ence again be dashed by dou b ts and m is givi ngs at
symptoms o f decay which tol d how vain were all their e ff orts to s tave
,

off for ever the appr oach of wi nte r and of dea th .

 CHAPT E R XXI X

THE M YT H OF A DO N I S
THE spec tacle o f the great chan ges which annually pass over the
face o f the earth has power fully impresse d the m inds o f men in all

a ges and stirre d them to me d itate on the causes of trans formations

,

so vast and won d erful Thei r curiosity has not been purely dis
.

i nteres te d ; for even the savage cannot fa il to perceive how intimately

his own li fe i s boun d up wi th the li fe o f nature and how the same ,

processes which freeze the s tream and strip the earth o f vegetation
menace him with extinc tion At a certain stage o f development
.

men seem to have ima gined that the means o f averting the threatened
calami ty were i n their own han d s and that they could hasten or
'

retard the fli gh t o f the seasons by ma gic art Accordin gly they peL;
'

. _
'

forme d ceremonies and reci ted spells to make the ra ifi to fall the sun ,

to shin e a n i mals tO m ulfip lyT andT he fr u its of the E

I
'

i
'
r

cours e o f tirfié thd éljci a dv an ce of knowled ge whi ch has d ispell ed

, ”
’ ’

, .

so many cherished illusi ons convinced at least the more thoughtful

, \

p o rtion o f mankind that the alternat ions o f summer and w i nter of ,

sprin g and au tumn were n ot merely the resul t of thei r own magical
,

r i tes b ut that some deeper caus e some mightier power w a s at work

, , ,

behind the shi f tin g scenes o f nature They now pic tured to themselves .

the growth and decay o f ve ge tation the birth and death of living ,

crea tures as e ffects o f the waxing or wani n g s trength o f divine beings

, ,

o f gods and goddesses who were born and died who married and
, ,

begot children on the pattern o f human l i fe

,
.

Thus the old magical theory o f the seasons was displaced or rather ,

suppleme nte d by a reli gious theory For although men now attributed
, .

the annual cycl e o f chan ge primarily to correspondin g chan ges in thei r

dei ties they still thought that by per formin g certain ma gical ri tes
,

they c ould a i d the god who was the principle o f li fe in his struggle ,

with the opposin g principle o f dea th They ima gined that they could .

recrui t his failing energies and even raise him from the dead The .

ceremonies which they observed for this purpose were in substance a

dramatic rep resenta tion o f the natural p rocesses which they wished to
facili ta te ; for it i s a familiar tenet o f m agic that you can produce any
d esired e ffect by merely imi tating it And as they now explained .

the fluctuation s o f grow th and decay o f reproduc ti on an d dissolution , ,

by the marria ge the death an d the rebi r th or revival of the gods

, , ,

thei r reli gious o r rather magical dramas turned in great measure on

these themes They set forth the fruit ful uni on of the powers of
.

fertil i ty the sad death o f one at l east o f the divine partners and his
, ,

j oy ful resurrect ion T hus a reli gious theory was blended with a
.

ma gical practice The comb ina tion i s familia r in history

. Indeed . ,

few reli gions hav e ever succeeded in wholly extricatin g themselves

f rom the ol d tramm els o f ma gic The inconsistency o f a ctin g on two .
3 26 T HE MYTH O F A DON I S CH .

bo th fra gmentary an d obscure but we gather from them that every ,

yea r Tammu z wa s believe d to die passin g away from the cheer ful earth ,

to the gloomy subterranean w orl d a n d tha t every year hi s divine ,

mis tress j ourneyed in quest o f him to the land from which there is
no re turnin g to the house o f darkness where dust lies on door and
, ,
”
bol t . Durin g her absence the passion of love ceased to operate :
m en a n d beasts al ike for got to reproduce their kin d s : a ll li fe was
threatened with ex tinc tion So in tima tely bound up wi th the goddess
.

were the sexual func tions o f the whole animal kin gdom that wi thout
her presence they coul d not be dischar ged A m essen ger o f the great .

go d E a was accor d in gly despa tche d to rescue the goddess on who m

so much d epende d The stern queen o f the in fernal re gions A llatu
.
,

or E resh-K igal by nam e reluc tantly all owe d I shta r to be spri nkled
,

w ith the Wa te r o f Li fe a n d to depart in company p robably with her ,

lover Tammuz that the two mi ght return to ge ther to the upper world
, ,

a n d tha t w ith thei r return all nature mi ght revive .

Lam ents for the d eparted Tammuz a re con tained in several Baby
Ionian hym ns which liken him to plants that quickly fade H e is
, .

A ta m i n the g ar d en has d r u n k n o w a ter

a r is k tha t ,

Whos e cr own i n the field ha s b r oug ht for th no b loss om .

A wi ll ow tha t r ej oi ced n o t b y the w a ter cours e,

A w il low wh os e r o ots w er e tor n up .

”
A h er b tha t i n the g a r d e n ha d d r un k n o w a ter .

H is death appears to have been annually mourned to the shrill music ,

o f flu tes by men and women abou t midsummer in the month name d

,

a fter him the month o f Tammuz The d i rges were seemin gly chante d
,
.

over an e ffi gy o f the dead god which was washe d wi th pure water , ,

anoin ted wi th oil and cla d in a red robe While the fumes o f incense
, ,

rose into the ai r as i f to sti r his dormant sens es by their pungen t

,

fra grance a n d wake him from the sleep o f death I n one o f these .

dir ges inscr ibe d L a m en t of the F lu tes for T am m uz w e seem still to

, ,

hear the voices o f the sin gers chantin g the sad re frain and to catch ,

like fa r away music the wa ilin g no tes o f the flutes :

-
,

A t hi s va n is hi ng a w a y s he
lifts up a la m en t,
Oh a t his va ni s hi ng a w a y s he lifts up a la m en t;
’
m y ch ild !
‘
D
M y am u ! a t his v a n is hi ng a way s he lifts up a la m en t .

M y e n cha n ter a n d pri es t! a t his van is hi ng a way s he lifts up a lam en t,

’

A t the s hi n ing ced ar r o o ted i n a s pa ci ous p la ce,

.
,

In E a nn a a b ov e a nd be l ow s he l ifts up a lam en t
, , .

L i k e the la m en t tha t a h ous e lifts up for i ts m as ter lifts s he up a la m en t , ,

L i k e the la m e n t tha t a ci ty lifts up for i ts l or d lifts s he up a la m en t ,

.

H er la m en t i s th e la m e n t for a he r b tha t g r ow s n o t i n the be d ,

H er la m en t i s the la m e n t fo r the corn tha t g r ow s n o t i n the ear .

H er cha m b er i s a pos s ess i o n tha t b r ings n ot for th a pos s es si on,

A w ea ry w om a n a w ea ry chi ld for spen t
, . .

H er la m e n t is for a g rea t r iver, where n o will ows g r ow,

H er la m e n t i s for a field wher e c or n a nd her b s g r ow n o t
, .

H er lam en t i s for a po ol, wher e fis hes gr ow n o t .

H er lam en t i s for a thi ck et of r ee ds, where n o r eeds g row .

xx x ADON I S I N SYRIA 3 27

H er lam en t i s for w oods wher e tam a r is k s g r ow n o t

,
.

H er la m en t is for a wi ld er n es s wher e n o cypr es s es (f ) g r ow .

H er la m en t is for the d ep th of a ga r d en of tr ees, w here h oney a nd wi n e

gr ow n ot .

H er lam e nt is for m ea d ows, wher e n o pla n ts gr ow .

H er la m ent i s for a pa la ce, wher e leng th of life gr ow s n o t .

The t ragical story and the melancholy rites o f Adonis are better
‘

known to uS from the descriptions of Greek writers than from the

fragments o f Babylonian li tera ture or the brie f re ference o f the prophe t
Ezek i el who saw the women o f Jerusalem weepin g for Tammuz at
,

the no rth gate o f the temple M irrore d in the gl a ss of Greek m ytho

.

logy the oriental deity appears as a comely youth beloved by Aphrodi te

, ,

In his infancy the godd ess hi d him in a ches t which she gave in charge ,

to Persephone queen o f the nether world

, But when Persephone .

opened the chest an d b eheld the beauty o f the babe she re fuse d to ,

give him back to Aphro d ite thou gh the go d dess o f love wen t d own
,

hersel f to hell to ransom her dear one from the power of the grave .

The dispute between the two god d esses of love and dea th was settled
by Zeus who d ecree d that A d on i s shoul d abi de wi th Persephone i n
,

the un der worl d for one part o f the year and with Aphrodi te in the ,

upper world fo r ano ther part A t last the fai r youth was killed in .

hunting by a wil d boar or by the j ealous Ares who turne d h imsel f

, ,

into the likeness o f a boar in or d er to compass the d ea th o f his rival .

Bi tterly d id Aphro d i te lament her loved and lost A d onis I n this .

for m of the my th the con tes t b e tween Aphro d ite an d Persephone

,

for the possession o f A d onis clearly reflec ts the s truggle between

Ishtar a nd A lla tu in the land o f the d ea d wh ile the d ec i si on o f Zeus ,

tha t Adon i s is to spen d one par t o f the year un d er groun d a n d ano ther
part above groun d i s me rely a Greek version o f the annual d isappear
ance and reappearance o f Tammu z .

CH APT E R XX X

A DO N I S I N SYRI A
TH E myth o f Adonis was localise d a n d his ri tes celebrated with much
solemn i ty a t two places in Wes tern Asia One o f these was B yb lu s .

on the coas t o f Syria the other was Paphos in Cyprus B o th were

, .

grea t seats o f the worship o f Aphro d i te or ra ther o f her Sem itic ,

counterpa rt Astarte ; and o f bo th i f we accep t the legen d s C i nyras

, , , ,

the father o f A d onis was kin g O f the two ci ti es B yb lus was the
,
.

more ancient ; in d ee d it claimed to be the ol d est city i n Phoenicia ,

and to have been founde d i n the early a ges o f the world by the great
god E l whom Greeks a n d Romans i d en tified wi th Cronus a n d Sa turn
,

respectively However tha t may have been in his tor ical times it
.
,

ranked as a holy place the reli gious capital o f the coun try the Mecca
, ,

or Jerusalem o f the Phoenicians The city stood on a hei ght besi d e .

3 28 AD O N I S I N SYRI A CH.

the sea and contai ned a great sanc tuary o f Asta rte w
, he re in the ,

midst of a sp acious Open court surrounded by cloisters and app roached ,

from below by stai rcases rose a tall cone or obelisk the holy image
, ,

o f the goddess I n this sanctuary the rites o f Adonis were celebrated

.
.

Indeed the whole city was sacre d to him and the river Nahr Ibrahim , ,

which falls into the sea a little t o the south o f B yb lu s bo re in antiquity ,

the name o f A donis Thi s was the kin gdom o f Cinyras Fro m the
. .

earliest to th e latest tim es the ci ty appears to hav e been ruled by

kin gs ass isted p erhaps by a senate or council o f elders
, .

The last k in g o f B yb lus bo re the anci ent nam e o f Cinyras and ,

was beheaded by Pompey the Great for hi s tyrannous ex cesses His .

le gendary namesake C i nyra s i s said to have founded a sanctuary of

Aphrodite that i s o f A starte at a place on Mount Lebanon distant
, , , ,
’
a day s j ourney f rom the ca pital T he spot was probably Aphaca .
,

at the source o f the river Adonis hal f way between B yb lus and Baal ,
-

bec ; for at Aphaca there was a fam ous grove and sanctuary of Astarte
'

w h ich Constantine des troyed on account o f the fl agitious character

o f the worship The site o f the temp l e has been discovered by modern
.

travellers near the miserable villa ge which still bears the name of
Af ka at the head o f the wil d romantic wooded gorge o f the Adonis, , .

The haml et stands among groves o f nob le walnut -trees on the brink
o f the lyn A little way off the river rushes from a cavern at the foot
.

o f a m ighty am p hithea tre o f towerin g cli ff s t o plun ge in a series of

cascades i nto the aw ful dep ths o f the glen The deep er it descends .
,

the ranker and denser grows the ve ge tation which s p routin g from , ,

the cranni es and fissures o f the rocks spreads a green veil over the ,

roarin g or murmurin g stream in the tremendous chasm below There .

is somethin g delicious almost in toxica tin g in the freshness o f these

, ,

tumblin g waters i n the sweetness and pur ity o f the mountain air in
, ,

the vivid green o f the vege tation The temple o f which some massive .
,

hewn blocks and a fine colum n o f Syenite granite still mark the site ,

occupied a terrace facin g the source o f the river and commanding a

magnificent prospect Across the foam and the roar o f the waterfalls
.

you look up to the cavern and away to the top o f the sublime precipices
above S o lo fty is the cli ff that the goats which creep alon g its ledges
.

to b rows e on the bushes appear like ants t o the s p ectator hundreds

o f feet below S eaward the v i ew is especially imp ressive when the
.

sun fl oods the p ro found gorge wi th golden li ght revealing all the ,

fantastic buttresses and roun d e d towers o f its mountain rampart and ,

fallin g so ftly on the varied green o f the woods which cl othe its depths .

It w as here that accordin g to the le gend A donis met A p hrodite for

, ,

the fi rst o r the last time and here his man gled body was buried A
, .

fairer s cene could har d ly be ima gine d for a story o f t ragic love and
death Yet sequestered as the valley i s and must always have been
.
, ,

it is not wholly deserted A convent or a v illa ge m ay be observed

.

here and there standin g out a gainst the sky on the top o f some beetling
cra g or clin gin g to the face o f a nearly perpendicular cli ff high above
,

the foam and the din o f the river ; and at evening the li ghts that
3 30 A DON I S I N CY PR U S CH .

the petty kingdom s into which Cyprus was divided f rom the earlie st
times until the end o f the fourth century before our era Pa phos must
have ranked with the best It is a land of hills and billowy ridges
.
,

diversified by fi elds and v ineyards and intersected by rivers w hich in ,

the course o f a ges have carved for them selves beds o f such t remendous ‘

depth that t ravellin g in the interior is di fficult a n d tedious The lofty .

ran ge o f M ount Olym p us (the modern T roodos ) ca pp ed with snow ,

the greater p art o f the year sc reens Pap hos from the northerly and
,

easterly winds and cuts it off f rom the rest o f the island On the .

slopes o f the range the last p ine w oo ds o f Cyprus lin ge r sheltering -

,

here an d there monasteries in scenery not unworthy of the Apennines .

The old city o f Papho s occup ie d the summit o f a hill about a mile
f rom the sea ; the newer city sp rang up at the harbour some ten
miles off The sanctuary o f Aphrodite at Old Pa p hos (the modern
.

K uk lia ) was one o f the most celebra ted shrines in th e ancient world .

A ccordin g to H erodotus it was founded by Phoenician colonists from

,

A scalon ; but it is possible that a native god d ess of fertility was

worshipped on the spot before the arrival o f the Phoenicians and that ,

the newcomers iden tified her with thei r own Baalath o r Astarte whom ,

she may have closely resemb le d I f two dei ties were thus fused in .

one we may suppose that they were both varieties o f that great goddess
,

o f motherhood and fertility whose worship appears to have been spread

all over Western A sia from a very early time The supposition is con .

firme d a s well by the archai c shap e o f her ima ge a s by the licentious

character o f her rites ; for both that shap e and those rites were shared
by her with other Asiatic deities H er image was simply a white cone .

o r pyramid In like man ner a cone wa s the emblem o f Asta rt e at

.
,

B yb lu s o f the native goddess whom the Greeks called Artemis at

,

Per ga i n Pamphylia an d o f the sun god H elio gabalus at E mesa in

,
-

Syria Conical stones which apparently served as idols have also

. .

, ,

been found at Gol gi in Cyp rus and in the Phoenician t emples o f Malta ;
,

and cones o f san d stone came to li ght at the shrine o f the Mis tress of
T orq uo ise among the ba rren hills and frowning precip ices of Sinai .

In Cyprus it appears that before marriage all women were formerly

obliged by custom to p rostitute themselves to stran gers at the sanctuary
o f the goddess whether she went by the name o f Aphrodite Asta rte
, , ,

o r wha t not S imilar customs preva iled in many pa rts o f Western

.

Asi a Whatever its motive the practice was clearly re ga rded not as
.
, ,

an orgy o f lust but as a solemn reli gious duty per formed in the se rvice
,

o f that great Mother Goddess o f Western A sia whose name varied ,

while her ty pe remained constant f rom p lace to p lace Thus at ,

.

B abylon ev ery woma n whether rich or p oo r had once i n her li fe to

, ,

submit to the embraces o f a stran ger at the temple o f Mylitta that ,

i s o f I shta r or A starte and to dedicate to the goddess the wa ges earned

, ,

by thi s sancti fied harlotry The sacred precinct wa s crowded with

.

women waitin g to observe the custom S ome o f them had to wai t .

there for years At H elio p olis or B aalb ec in Syria famous for the
.
,

im p osing grandeur o f its ruined temples the custom o f the country ,

XXXI ADON I S I N CY PRU S 33 1

required that every maiden should prostitute hersel f to a stranger at

the t emple of Astarte and matrons as well as maids testified thei r
,

devotion to the goddess in the same manner The emperor Constantine .

abolished the custom d estroye d the temple and buil t a church in its
, ,

stead In Phoenician temples women prostitut ed them selves for hi re

.

in the service of religion believin g that by this conduct they pro

,

itiated the goddess and won her favour It was a law of the
p .

Amorites that she who was about to marry should sit in fornication
,
”
seven days by the gate At B yb lus the people shaved thei r hea d s
.

in the annual mourning for Adonis Women who re fused to sacrifice .

their hair had to give themselves up to strangers on a certai n day o f

the festival and the money whic h they thus earned was d evot ed to the
,

goddess .A Greek insc ription found at Tralles in Ly d ia proves that

the practice of reli gious prostitutio n survived i n that coun try as late
as the second century o f our era It records o f a certain woman
'

.
,

Aurelia Aemilia by name not only that she hersel f served the god i n
,

the capacity o f a harlot a t his expres s command but that her mother ,

and other female ancestors had done the same be fore her ; an d the
publici ty o f the recor d en grave d on a marble column which suppo rte d
,

a votive o ff ering shows that no stai n a ttached to such a li fe and such

,

a parenta ge In A rmenia the no b lest fam i lies d e d ica ted thei r dau ghters
.

to the service of the go d des s Anaitis in her temple of A cili sen a where ,

the damsels acted as pros ti tutes for a lon g time b e fore they were given
in marr iage Nobo d y scrupled to take one o f these gi rls to wi fe when
.

her perio d of service was over A gain the god d ess Ma was serv ed by .
,

a multitu d e o f sacred harlots at Comana in Pon tus and crowds of men ,

and women flocked to her sanctuary from the nei ghbourin g ci ti es a nd

country to attend the bienn ial fes tivals or to pay their v ows to the
go d dess .

If we survey the whol e of the evidence on this subj ect some o f ,

which has s till to be laid be fore the rea d er we may conclude that a ,

great M other Goddess the personification o f all the reproductive

,

energies o f nature was worshipped under di ff erent names but wi th a

,

substantial similari ty o f myth and ri tual by many peoples o f Wes ter n

Asia ; that associate d with her was a lover or ra ther se r ies o f lovers , ,

divine yet mortal wi th whom she mate d year by year their commerce
, , .

being d eeme d essen tial to the propa gation o f animals and plants each ,

in thei r several kind ; and further that the fabulous u n ion o f the ,

divi ne pai r was simulate d and as it were mul tiplied on ear th by the, ,

real though temporary union o f the human sexes at the sanctuary o f

, ,

the goddess for the sake o f thereby ensurin g the fruit fulness o f the

groun d and the increase o f man an d beast .

At Pap hos the custom o f reli gious prostitution i s said to h a v e been

instituted by Kin g Cinyras and to have been practised by hi s dau ght ers
, ,

the sisters o f Adonis who havin g incurred the w rath o f Aphr o dite
, , ,

mated with stran gers and ended thei r days in E gyp t In this form o f .

the tradition the wrath o f Aphrodite is probably a f eature added by

a later authority who could only regard conduct which shocked his
,
3 32 A DON I S IN CY PRU S CH .

own moral sense as a puni shment i nfl icted by the goddess i nstead of

a s a sacrifice re gularly enj oined by her on all her devotees At all .

events the story indicates th a t the p ri ncesses o f Paphos had to conform

to the custom as well as wom en o f humble bir th .

Amon g the stories which were tol d o f Cinyras the ancestor of the ,

priestly kin gs o f Paphos and the father o f Adonis there ar e some that ,

deserve our a ttention In the firs t place he i s sai d to have begotten

.
,

his son A d onis in incestuous intercours e with his d aughter Myrrha at a

fes tival o f the corn goddess a t wh i ch women robe d in white were wont
-

to o ffer corn w reaths as first—

,

-
frui ts o f the harves t and to observe strict
chasti ty fo r nine d ays Similar cases o f i ncest wi th a d aughter are
.

reported of many ancient kin gs It seems unlikely that such reports .

are without founda tion a n d perhaps equally imp robable that they
,

re fer to m ere for tui tous outburs ts of unnatural lus t We may suspect .

tha t they are based on a prac tice actually observe d for a definite rea son
in certain S p ecial c i rcums tances Now in countries where the royal .

bloo d wa s trace d throu gh women only and where consequently the ,

kin g held o ffice merely in vi r tue o f his marria ge w ith an hereditary

princess who was the real sovere ign it appears to have o ften happene d
, ,

that a prince m a rri ed hi s own sister the princess royal in or der to , ,

ob tain with her han d the c rown which o therwise would have gone to
another man perhaps to a stran ger May n ot the same rule o f d escent
, .

have furni shed a motive for incest with a dau ghter ? For it seems a
n atural corollary from such a rule that the kin g was bound to vacate
the throne on the dea th o f his wi fe the queen since he occup i ed it , ,

only by vi rtue o f his marria ge with her When tha t ma rriage termin .

ated his ri ght to the throne terminated with it an d passe d at once to

,

his daughter s husb and H ence i f the kin g des i red to reign a fter his
’ '

wi fe s d eath the only way in which he could legitimately cont inue to

’
,

do so was by marryin g hi s daugh ter a n d thus prolon gin g through her ,

the title which had formerly been hi s through her m o ther .

Ciny ras is sa i d to hav e be en famed for his exquisite beauty and to

'

have been wooed by Aphrodi te hersel f Thus it woul d app ear as .

,

scholars have alrea d y observed tha t Cinyras was in a sense a d uplicate

,

o f hi s han d s om e son Adonis to whom the inflammable goddess also

,

los t her heart Further these stories o f the love of Aphro d ite for
.
,

two m embers o f the royal hous e o f Paphos ca n hardly be dissociated

from the correspondin g le gend told o f Py gmalion a Phoenician king ,

o f Cyp rus who is sa id to have fallen i n love with an image o f Aphrodi te

,

and taken it to hi s bed When w e cons i d er that Pygmalion was the

.

father in law of Cinyras tha t the son o f Cinyras was Adonis and that
- -
, ,

all three i n successive genera tions are sai d to have been concerned
in a love —
, ,

intri gue wi th Aphrodi te we can hardly help concludin g that ,

the early Phoenician kin gs o f Paphos or their sons regularly claimed , ,

to be not merely th e pr i es ts of the goddess but also her lovers in other ,

wor d s that in their o fficial capac i ty they personated A d onis At all

,
.

even t s Adonis is sai d to have rei gned in Cyprus and i t appears to be ,

certa in that the title o f Adoni s was regularly borne by the sons of all
3 34 A DO N I S I N C Y PRU S CH .

’
the title father of the god was borne not only by the k in g s real
father but also by hi s father ln law S imil a rly perhaps amon g the - - -
.
, ,

Semites any man who sent his daughter to swell the royal harem may
have been allowed to call himself the father o f the god “
.

I f we may j ud ge by his name the S emitic king who bore the name ,

o f Cinyras was l ike K in g Davi d a harp er ; f or the name o f Cinyras

, ,
” “
is clearly connected wi th the Greek cinyr a a lyre which in its turn , ,
”
comes from the S emitic k in nor a lyre the v ery word applied to the ,
“
,

instrument on which David played be fore Saul We shall probably .

not err in assumin g tha t at Paphos as at Jerusalem the music of the

lyre or harp was not a mere pa stime desi gned to while away an idle
hour but formed pa rt o f the service o f reli gion the movin g influence
, ,

o f its melodies bein g p erhaps set down like the e ff ect o f wine to the , ,

direc t inspirati on o f a deity Cer tainly at Jerusalem the regular .

cler gy o f the temple p rophesied to the musi c o f harps o f psalteries , ,

and o f cymbals ; and it appears that the irregular cler gy also as we ,

may call the prophe ts depended on some such stim ulus for inducing
,

the ecstatic s tate which they took for immediate convers e with the
d ivinity Thus we read of a band o f prophets com ing down from a
.

hi gh p lace with a psal tery a timbrel a pipe and a harp be fore them
, , , ,

a nd prophesyin g as they went A gain when the united forces of .

,

Ju d ah a n d E phrai m were traversin g the w il d erness o f Moab in pursuit

o f the enemy they coul d fin d no water fo r three days
, and w ere like ,

t o die of thirst they and the beasts o f burden In this emergency

, .

the pro p het E lisha who was wi th the army calle d for a m i nst rel and
, ,

ba d e him play Under the influence o f the music he orde red the
.

soldiers to d ig trenches in the san dy bed o f the waterless wa d dy through

which lay th e line o f march They did so and next morning the .
,

trenches were full of the water that had drained dow n into them
un d ergroun d from the desolate forb idd in g mountains on either hand ,
.

The p rophet s success in strikin g water in the wilderness resembles the

’

reported success o f mo d ern d owsers though his mode o f procedure was ,

d i ff erent I ncidentally he rendered anothe r service to his countrymen

. .

For the skulkin g Moabi tes from thei r lairs amon g the rocks saw the
re d sun o f the desert reflec ted in the wa te r a n d takin g it for the blood , ,

or perhaps rather for an omen o f the blood o f thei r enemi es they , ,

plucked up heart to attack the camp and were de feated w ith great '

slau ghter .

A gain j ust a s the cloud o f melancholy which from tim e to time

,

darkene d the moo d y mind o f Saul was v iewed as an evil spirit from
the Lor d vexin g him so on the o ther han d the solemn strains o f the
,

harp which soothed and composed his troubl ed thoughts may well
, ,

have seemed to the hag ri dden kin g the very voice o f God or o f his
-

good an gel whisperin g peace E ven in our own day a great reli gious
.

wri ter himsel f deeply s ensi tive to the wi tchery o f music has said that
, ,

musical notes with all thei r power to fi re the blood and m elt the
,

hea rt cannot be m ere empty sounds and nothing m ore ; no they have
, ,
‘

escap ed from some hi gher sphere they a re outpourings o f ete rnal ,

xx x n THE RITUAL OF ADO N I S 33 5

harmony the voice o f an gels the M agnificat of saints It is thus

, , .

that the rude imaginin gs of p rimitive man a re tran sfigured and his
feeble lispings echoed with a rolling reverberati on in the musical prose
of Newman Indeed the influence o f music 0 11 the devel opment o f
.

reli gion is a subj ect which would repay a sympathetic stu d y For .

we cannot doubt that this the most in timate and a ffectin g o f all the
,

arts has done much to create as well as to exp ress the religious
,

emotions thus mo d i fyin g more or less deeply the fabric o f belie f to

,

which at fi rst si ght it seems only to minister The musician has done .

his part as well as the prophet and the thinker in the making o f religion .

Every faith has its appropria te music and the d i ff erence between the
,

creeds mi ght almost be expresse d in musical no tation The interval .

,

for example which divides the wild revels o f Cybele from the stately
,

r itual of the Catholic Church is measure d by the gul f which severs the
dissonant clash o f cymbals and tambourines from the grave harm onies
of Palestrina and H andel A diflEerent spirit breathes in the di ff erence
.

of the music .

CHAPT E R XXXI I

THE RI T U A L OF A DON IS
AT the festivals o f Adonis which were held in Wester n Asia and in
,

Greek lan d s the death of the god was annually mourned w i th a bitter
, ,

wailing chiefly by women ; ima ges o f him d resse d to resemble corpses

, , ,

were carrie d out as to burial and then thrown in to the sea or into
springs ; and i n some places hi s revival was celebra te d on the following
day . But at di fferent places the ceremonies varie d somewhat in the
manner an d apparently also in the season o f their celebration At .

Alexandria ima ges o f Aphrodite and Adoni s were displayed on two

couches ; beside them were set ripe fruits o f all kinds cakes plants , ,

growin g in fl ower -pots and green b owers twined with anise The
,
.

m arria e o f the lovers was celebrated one day an d on the morrow

g ,

women a ttired as m ourners with streaming hair and bared breasts

, ,

bore the image o f the dead Adonis to the sea shore and comm itte d it -

to the waves Yet they sorrowed not without h 0 pe for they san g
.
,

that the lost one would com e back a ga i n The date at which thi s .

Alexandrian ceremony was observed i s not expressly stated ; b ut

from the ment i on o f the ripe fruits it has been inferred that it took
place in late summer In the great Phoenician sanctuary o f Astarte
at B yb lu s the death of Adonis was annually m ourned to the shrill ,

wailing notes o f the flute with weepin g lamentation and beating o f

, , ,

the breast ; but next day he was bel i eved to com e to li fe a gain a nd
ascend up to heaven in the presence o f hi s worshippers The dis .

consola te believers le ft behin d on earth shaved their h eads as the

, ,

Egyptians did on the dea th o f the divine bull Apis ; wom en who
could not brin g themselves to sacrifice their be auti ful tresses had t o
3 36 THE RITUAL O F A DO N I S CH .

give themselves up to s tran ge r s on a certain da y of the festival and ,

to d e d icate to Astar te the wages o f their shame .

Thi s Phoenician f estival appears to have been a vernal one for its ,

d ate was d e termined by the d i scoloration o f the ri ver Adonis and ,

this has been observed by mo d ern travellers to occur in spring At .

that seaso n th e red earth washe d d own from the m ountains by the
rain tinges the w ater o f the river and even the s ea for a great way , ,

with a blood red hue and the crimson s tain was believe d to be the
-
,

blood of A d onis annually w oun d ed to death by the boar on Mount

,

Lebanon A gain the sca rlet anemone is sa i d to have sprun g from the
.
,

bloo d o f A d onis or to have been stained by it ; and as the anemone

,

blooms in Syria about E aster this m a y be thou ght to show that the
,

festival o f A don i s o r at least one o f his festivals was held in spring

, , .

The name o f the flower i s probab ly d erived from Naaman

which seems to have b een an epi th et o f A d onis T he Arabs still call .

the anemone w o unds o f the N aaman The red rose als o w as sai d .

to owe its hue to the same sad occasion ; for Aphrodite hastenin g ,

to her wounded lover tro d on a bush o f whi te roses ; the cruel thorns
,

tore her tender flesh and her sacred bloo d d ye d the white roses for
,

ever red It would be i dle perhaps to lay much wei ght on evidence
.
, ,

draw n from the calenda r of flowe r s and i n particular to press an ,

a rgum ent so fra gile as the bl oom of the rose Yet so fa r as it counts .

at all the tale which links the damask rose with the death o f Adonis
,

poin ts to a summer rather than to a S prin g c elebration o f his passion .

In Attica ce rtainly the festival fell at the hei ght o f summer For
'

, , .

the fleet which Athens fitted out a gai n s t Syr a cuse and by the d estruc ,

tion o f which her power was per m anently cri pple d sailed at mid ,

summer a nd by an ominous coinci d ence the sombre rites o f Adonis

,

were bein g celebrated at the very time As the troops marched .

d own to the harbour to embark the streets throu gh which they passed ,

were lined with co ffins a nd co rpse like effigies a n d the air was rent -
,

with the noi se o f women wailing for the d ea d Adoni s The circum .

s tance cast a gloom over the sailin g o f the most splen d i d armament
that Athens ever sent to s ea M any a ges a fterw a r d s when the
.
,

E mperor Julian ma d e his fi rst ent ry into Antioch he found in like ,

manner the gay the luxurious capital of the E ast plun ge d in mimic
,

grie f fo r the annual dea th o f Adonis ; and if he had any presentiment

o f c omin g evil the voices of l amentation which struck upon his car
,

must have seemed to soun d his kn ell .

The resemb lance o f these ceremo n ies to the Indian and E uropean
ceremonies which I have described elsewhere is ob vious In par .

ticu lar apart from the som ewhat d oubtful d ate o f its celebr ation
, ,

the Alexandrian cer emony i s almost i d en tical with the Indian In .

both o f them the marriage o f two divine bein gs whos e affinity with ,

ve getation seem s indicated by the fresh plants with which they are
surroun d ed i s celebrated in effigy and the effigies are a fterwards
, ,

mourned over and thrown int o the water : From the similarity of
these customs to each other and to the spring and midsummer custom s
3 38 T HE RI T U A L OF A DO N I S CH .

other land s M oreover the explan ation i s countenanced by a con

.
,

s id e ra b le body o f opinion amon s t the ancients themselves who again

g ,

and a gain interp reted the dying and revivin g god as th e reaped and
sproutin g grain .

The character o f Tammuz or Adonis as a corn spirit comes out -

plainly in an account o f his festival given by an Arabic w riter o f the

tenth century In describin g the r ites and sacrifices observed at the
.

di ff erent seasons o f the year by the hea then Syrians o f H a rran he ,

says : Tammuz (July ) In the middle o f this month is the festival

.

o f el B ugat
-
that is o f the weepin g women and this is the T a-uz
, , ,

festival which is celebrated in honour o f the god T a uz

,
The women -
.

bewail him because hi s lord slew him s o c ruelly ground his bones in
, ,

a m ill and then scattered them to the wi nd The women (durin g this
,
.

fes tival ) eat nothin g which has been ground in a mill but limit their ,
”
diet to steeped wheat sweet vetches dates raisins and the like , , , , .

’
T a uz who i s no other than Tammuz is here like B urns s John
-
, ,

Barleycor n
T hey was ted o er a s corchi ng fla m
’ ’
e Bu t a m i ller d him w orst of all
us
b etween tw o
’
T he m a rr ow of hi s b ones ; F or he cr us h d him s tones .

This concentration so t o say o f the nature of Adonis upon the

, ,

cereal crops i s characteristic o f the sta ge o f cul ture reached by his

worshippers in historical times They had lef t the nomadic life of .

the wanderin g hunter and herdsman far behind them ; for a ges they
ha d been set tle d on the land and had depended for thei r subsistence ,

mai nly on the pro d ucts o f tilla ge The berries and roots of the wil der .

ness the grass o f the pastures which had bee n ma tters o f vital im
, ,

portance to their ruder fore fathers were now o f little moment to ,

them : more and mor e thei r thoughts and ener gies were en grossed
by the staple o f thei r li fe the corn ; more and more accordingly the
p ropitiation o f the dei ties o f fer tili ty in general and o f the corn—
,

spirit
in particula r tended to become the central feature o f thei r religion .

The aim they set be fore themselves in celebratin g the rites was
thoroughly practical It was no va gue poetical sentiment which
.

prompted them to hail wi th j oy the rebirth of ve getation and to

mourn i ts decline H un ger felt o r feared was the mainsprin g o f the
.
, ,

worship o f Adoni s .

It has been su ggested by Father Lagran ge that the mournin g for

Adoni s was essentially a harvest rite desi gned to propiti ate the corn
go d who was then either perishing under the s ickles o f the reapers
, ,

or bein g trodden to deat h under the hoo fs of the oxen on the threshing
floor Whi le the m en slew him the women wept crocodile tears at
.
,

hom e to appease his natural indi gnation by a show o f grief for his
death The theory fits i n well wi th th e dates o f the festivals which
.
,

fell in s p rin g or summer ; for sprin g and summer not autumn are , ,

the seasons o f the barley and wheat harvests in the lands which
w orshipped A donis Further the hypothesis is confi rmed by the
.
,

practice o f the E gyptian rea p ers who lamented callin g up o n I sis , , ,

xx x n T H E RITUAL OF A DON IS 39

when they cut the fi rst corn ; and it is recommended by the analo gous
cus toms o f many huntin g tribes who testi fy gre at respect for the ,

animals which they kill and eat .

Thus in terpreted the death o f Adonis is not the natural decay

,

of vegetation i n general under the summer heat or the winter cold ;

it is the violent destruction o f the corn by man who c ut s it down on ,

the field stamps it to p i eces on the threshing fl oor and grin d s i t to

,
-
,

powder in the mill That this was indeed the principal aspect i n
.

which Adonis presented himsel f in lat er times to the a gricultural

peoples o f the Levant may be admitted ; but whether from the
,

beginning he had b e en the corn and nothing but the corn may b e ,

doub ted A t an earlier per i od he may have been to the herdsman

.
,

above all the tender herbage which sprouts a fter rain o ff erin g rich
, ,

pasture to the lean a n d hungry cat tle E arlier st ill he may have .

embo d ied the spi rit o f the nuts an d berries which the autumn woods
yiel d to the savage hunter and hi s squaw A n d j ust as the husband .

m an must propi tiate the spiri t o f the cor n which he consumes so the ,

herdsman must appease the spirit o f the grass a nd leaves which hi s

cattle munch an d the hunter must soothe the sp i rit o f the roo ts
,

which he d igs and o f the fruits which he gathers from the b ough
‘

, .

In all cases the propi tiation of the inj ured an d an gry spri te woul d
naturally comprise elaborate excuses and apologies accompanie d by ,

loud lamentations at his d ecease whenever through some deplorable ,

accident or necess ity he happened to be murdered as well as robbed

, .

Only we must bear in m i n d tha t the sava ge hun ter a nd herdsman o f

those early days had pr obably n ot yet attained to the abstract i d ea o f
vegetation in general ; a n d that accordi n gly so fa r as A d onis existe d ,

for them at all he must have been the A d on or lor d o f each i n d ivi d ual
,

tree and plan t rather than a person ifica tion o f ve ge table li fe as a whole .

Thus there woul d be as m any A d onises as there were t rees and shrubs ,

and each o f them mi h t expec t to receive sa tis faction fo r any dama e

g g
done to his person or property And year by year when the trees .
,

were deci d uous every Adonis woul d seem to blee d to d eath with the
,

red leaves o f autumn a nd to come to l i fe a gain w i th the fresh

green
of spring .

There is some reason to think that in e arly times Adoni s was

sometimes personate d by a living man who d ie d a violen t d eath in
the character o f the go d Further there i s evidence which goes to .
,

show that among the a gricul tural peoples o f the E astern M editer
ramean the corn spirit b y whatever name he was known was o ften
,
-
,
'

represente d year by year by human victims slain on the harvest

, ,

field If that was so it seems likely tha t the prop itiation o f the corn
.
,

spirit would tend to fuse to some extent wi th the worship of the dead .

For the spiri ts o f these vict ims mi ght be thought to return to li fe i n

the ears which they had fattened with their blood and to d ie a s econd ,

death at the reaping o f the corn Now the ghosts o f those who have .

perished by violence are surly an d apt to wreak their ve ngean ce o n

thei r slayers w henev er an op p ortunity o ff ers H ence the attempt .
3 40 T H E RITUA L OF A DO N IS CH .

to appease the souls of the slaughtered victims would naturall y blend ,

at least in the popular concep tion w ith the attempt to p acl fy the
,

slain corn s p i rit And as the dead came back in the sp routl ng corn
-
.
,

so they mi gh t be thou ght to return in the spr in g flowers wake d from ,

their lon g sleep by the so ft vernal airs They had been lai d to their.

rest un d er the sod What more natural than to ima gi ne that the
.

violets and the hyacinths the roses an d the anemones spran g from
, ,

their dust were empurpled or i ncarnadined by thei r blood a nd con

, ,

ta in e d som e portion o f their spirit ?

“
I s om e ti m es thin k tha t n ev er b l ow s s o r ed
T he R os e as w her e s om e b uri e d Ca esa r b le d ;
T ha t ev er y H ya ci n th the Gar d e n w ear s
D r op t i n h er L ap fr om s om e on ce l ov ely H ead .

“
A n d thi s r evivi ng H e r b w h os e ten d er Green
F l edg es the Ri v er - L i p on w hi ch w e lea n
A h l ea n up on i t lig h tly for who k n ows
, ,

F r om wha t on ce l ov e ly L i p i t s pri ngs uns een ? ”

In the sum mer a fter the battle o f Landen the most san guinary ,

battle o f the seventeenth century in E urope the earth saturated , ,

with the bloo d o f twenty thousand slain broke forth into millions of ,

poppi es and the traveller who passe d that vast sheet o f scarlet mi ght
,

well fancy tha t the ear th had indeed given up her dead At Athens .

the great Commemora tion o f the D ead fell in sprin g about the middle
o f March when the early flowers a re in bloom
,
Then the dead were .

beli eved to rise from their graves a nd go about the streets vainly ,

endeavourin g to enter the temples and dwellin gs which were barred ,

a gainst these perturbed spi ri ts w ith ropes buckthorn and pitch , ,

.

The name o f the festival accor d ing to the most obvious and natural
,

interpre tati on means the Fes tival o f Fl owers an d the title would
, ,

fit well with the substance o f the ceremoni es i f a t that season the

poo r ghosts w ere in d ee d though t to creep from the narrow house with
the openi n g flowers There may there fore be a me a sure o f truth in
.

the theory o f Renan who saw in the Adoni s worship a drea m y volupt
,

n ous cul t o f death conce ived not as the Kin g o f Terrors but as an
, ,

insidious enchanter who lures hi s victims to himsel f and lulls them ,

into an eternal sleep The infin ite charm o f nature in the Lebanon
.
,

he thou ght lends itsel f to reli gious emotions o f this sensuous visionary
, ,

sor t hoverin g va guely between pain and pleasure between slumber

, ,

and tears It woul d doubtless be a mistake to attribute to Syrian

.

peasants the worship o f a concept ion so purely abstract as that of

death in general Yet i t may be true tha t i n their simple minds
.

the thou ght o f the revivin g sp i rit o f ve getation was blent wi th the
very concre te notion o f the ghosts o f the dead who come to li fe a gain ,

in spring days with the early flowers with the tender green of the
—
corn a n d the many tinte d blossoms o f the trees Thus thei r views
,

of the dea th and resurrection o f na ture woul d be coloure d by their

views of the d eath and resurrection o f man by thei r personal sorrows ,
3 42 T H E GARD E N S OF ADO N I S CH .

her has ten to throw water on her and two farm — servan ts are placed ,

at the d oor fo r the purpose ; for they b el i eve that i f th i s were not

d one the crops next yea r woul d per i sh from d rou ght
,
A t the spring .

plou gh ing i n Pruss ia when the ploughmen a n d sowers returned in the

,

even in g from their work in the fiel d s the farmer s wi fe and the servants ,
’

use d to splash wa ter over them The ploughmen and sowers retorted ,

by seizin g every one throwin g them in to the pond and duckin g the m
, ,

un d er the wa ter The farmer s wi fe m ight cla im exemp tion on pay

.
’

men t o f a for fei t but every one else had to be ducked By observing
,
.

this cus tom they hoped to ensure a d u e supply o f rai n fo r the seed .

The Opinion that the gar d ens o f Adonis are essentially charms to
promote the grow th o f vegeta tion especi ally of the crops a nd that , ,

they belon g to the same class o f customs as those sprin g and mid
summer folk— customs o f mo d ern E urope which I have d escribed else
where does n ot rest for its evidence merely on the intrinsic probability
,

o f the case Fortuna tely w e are able to show that gardens of Adonis
.

(i f we may us e the expression in a general sense ) are s till planted first , ,

by a pr imi tive race at thei r sowing s eason and second b y E uropean , , ,

p easants at mi d summer Amon gst the O raons and Mun d as of Bengal

.
,

when the time comes for planting out the rice which has been grown
in seed be d s a party o f youn g people o f both sexes go to the forest
-
,

a n d cut a youn g Karma tree or the branch o f one B ear i n g it in

-
,
.

triumph they re turn d ancin g sin ging and beatin g d rums and plant
, , ,

it in the mi d dl e o f the v i lla ge dancin g ground A sacrifice is o ff ered -

.

to the tree ; a n d next mornin g the youth o f both sexes linke d arm ia ,
-

arm d ance in a grea t ci rcle roun d the Karma tree wh i ch is decked

,
-
,

with strips o f coloured clo th and sham bracele ts and neckle ts o f plaited
straw As a prepara tion for the festival the d au gh ters o i the head
.
,
.

man o f the v illa ge cul tivate blades o f barley in a peculiar way The .

seed is sown in moi st san d y soil mixed w ith turmeric and the blades
, , ,

sprout a nd un fol d o f a pale yellow or p rim rose colour On the day of

-
.

the fes tival the girls take up these blades and carry them i n baskets
to the dancin g grou nd w here pros tratin g themselves reverentially
-
, , ,

they place some o f the plants be fore the Karma tree Finally the -
.
,

Karma tree is taken away and thrown into a stream or tank The
- .

meanin g o f plant in g these b a rley blades and then presentin g them to

the Karma tree is ha r d ly open to question
-
Trees are supposed to .

exerc i se a quickenin g influence upon the growth o f crops a nd amongst

th e very p eople in question— the M un d as or Mun d aris
,

the grove
d ei ties are held responsible for the crops There fore when at the .
, _

season fo r plantin g out the rice the M undas brin g in a tree and treat
it wi th so much respect their obj ect can only be to foster thereby the
,

g row th o f the rice wh ich i s abou t to be plan ted ou t ; and the custo m

o f causin g b arley bla d es to sprout rapi d ly an d then presen tin g the m

to the tree mus t be intended to subserve the same purpose perhaps ,

b y remindi ng the tree spir it o f his duty towards the crops and stim u
-
,

lati n g his ac tivity by th i s visible example of rapi d ve get able growth .

The throwin g o f the Karm a tree i nto the water is to be inter preted as
-
xx x m T H E GAR DE N S OF ADON I S 3 43

a rain-charm Whether the ba rley blades are also thrown into the
.

wa ter is not said ; but i f my interp re tation o f the cus tom is ri ght ,

probably they a re so A dist inction between this B en gal custom and

.

the Greek ri tes o f Adon i s is tha t in the former the tree sp i ri t appears
-

in his ori ginal form as a tree ; whereas i n the Adoni s worship he appears
in human form represente d as a dea d man though his ve getable nature
, ,

is in di cate d by the gardens o f A d onis which are so to say a secon d ary , , ,

m ani fes ta tion o f hi s ori gi nal power as a tree spi rit

-
,

Gar d ens o f Adonis a re cul tivated also by the Hi ndoos wi th the ,

intention apparently of ensur ing the fer ti l ity bo th o f the earth and o f
m ankind Thus at Ood eyp oo r in Raj pu tana a festival is hel d in honour
.

of Gouri or I sani ,
the go d d ess o f a b un d ance
,
The rites begi n when .

the sun enters the si gn o f the Ram the openin g o f the H in d oo year , .

An ima ge o f the go dd ess Gour i is made o f ear th and a smaller one o f ,

her husban d Iswara an d the two are place d to gether A small trench
, .

is nex t dug barley is sown in it a nd the groun d watered a n d heated

, ,

ar tificially till the grain sprouts when the women dance roun d it hand ,

in han d invoking the blessin g o f Gouri on their husbands A fter that

, .

the youn g corn is taken up and distribu ted by the w omen to the men ,

who wear it in thei r t urbans In these ri tes the d i s tribution o f the .

barley shoots to the men and the invocation o f a bless i ng on their ,

husban ds by the w ives po i n t clearly to the d es i re o f o ff spr in g as one

,

m o tive for observin g the custom T he same mo tive probably explains .

the use o f gar d ens o f A d on i s a t the ma rria ge o f B rahmans in the

Ma dras Pres id ency S ee d s o f five or n i ne sorts are mixe d a nd sown
.

in earthen po s wh ich are ma d e spec ially for the purpose and are fille d
t

wi th ear th B r i d e a n d bri d egroom water the see d s b oth mornin g an d

.

even ing for four d ays ; a n d on the fi fth d ay the see d l i n gs are thrown ,

like the real gardens o f A d on is into a tank or river , ,

In Sar d in ia the gar d ens o f A d on i s are s till plan ted in connex ior
with the grea t mi d summer fes tival which bears the name o f St John . .

A t the en d o f M arch or on the firs t o f Apr i l a youn g man o f the villa ge

presents h imsel f to a girl a n d asks her to be hi s com ar e (gossip or
,

sweethear t) o ff er in g to be her com par e The inv ita tion i s consi d ere d
,
.

as an honour by the girl s fam ily and i s gla d ly accep ted At the end
’

—
, .

of May the irl makes a o t o f the bark o f the cork t ree fills it wi th
g p ,

ear th and sows a han d ful o f whea t an d barley in i t The pot bein g
, .

placed in the sun and o ften watere d the corn sprou ts rapi d ly an d has ,

a goo d hea d by Midsummer E v e (S t John s E v e the twenty-third o f .

’

June ) The p o t is then calle d E r ni e or N en ne r i On St John s Da y

. . .
’

the young man a n d the girl dressed in their best accompani e d by a , ,

long re tinue and preceded by chil d r en gambollin g a n d frol ickin g move ,

in procession to a church ou tside the villa ge H ere they break the .

pot by throw in g it a ga i nst the door o f the church Then they sit .

down in a ring on the grass a n d eat e ggs and herbs to the music o f
flutes Wi ne is mixed in a cup and passe d round each one drinkin g
.
,

as it passes Then they j oin han d s and sing S weethearts o f St

.
“
.

John (Cam pare e com are di S a n Gi ovanni ) over and over a gain the ,
3 44 T HE GARD E N S OF A DON I S CH .

flutes playing the while When they tire o f sin gin g they stand up .

a n d d ance gaily in a rin

g till evenin g Thi s is the general Sardinian .

custom As p ractised a t Ozieri i t has som e special features In May

. .

the po ts are ma d e o f cork bark an d plan te d wi th corn as already -

,

describe d Then on the E v e o f S t John the window sill s are draped

. .
-

w ith rich cloths on wh i ch the pots are place d adorned w ith crimson
, ,

a n d blue s ilk and ribbons o f vari ous colours On each o f the po ts they .

use d formerly to place a s ta tue tte or clo th doll d resse d as a woman ,

or a Priapus like fi gure ma d e o f pas te ; b ut this custom ri gorously

-
,

forbid d en by the Church has fallen into d i suse The villa ge swains , .

go abou t i n a tr 0 0 p to look a t the po ts a nd the i r decorations a nd to

wa i t for the girls who assemble on the publ i c square t o celebrate the
,

fes tival H ere a great b onfire i s kin d le d round which they d ance
.

”
an d make merry Those who wi sh to be S wee thearts o f S t John
.
,

a ct as follows The youn g man s tan d s on one si d e o f the bonfire and

.

the girl on the other and they in a manner j oin hands by each grasp
, , ,

ing one en d o f a long s tick which they pass three times backwards and ,

forwar d s across the fire thus thrus ti ng the i r hands thrice rapidly into
,

the flames This seals the i r relationship to each other Dancin g and
. .

mus ic go on till late at ni ght The correspondence o f these Sard inian .

po ts o f grain to the gardens o f A d oni s seems comple te a nd the images ,

f ormerly place d in them answer to the ima ges o f Adoni s which aecom
p a nie d hi s gardens .

Cus toms o f the same sor t are observe d a t the same season in S icily .

Pai rs of boys an d girls become gossips o f St John on St John s Day . ,

’

by draw in g each a hair from hi s or her hea d a n d performing various

ceremoni es over them Thus they tie the hairs to gether and throw .

them up in the ai r or exchan ge them ove r a potsher d which they

, ,

a fterwar d s break in tw o preserv i n g each a fra gment wi th pious care,

.

The tie formed in the la tter way is supposed to last for li fe In some .

par ts o f S ic ily the gossips o f S t John presen t each o ther with plates .

o f sprou ti n g corn len tils and canary seed which have been planted
, , ,

forty d ays be fore the fes tival The one who receives the plate pulls .

a stalk o f th e youn g plan ts binds it w ith a ribbon and preserves it , ,

a mon g h i s or her grea tes t treasures restorin g the platter to the giver , ,

At Catania the gossips exchan ge pots o f basil and great cucumbers ;

the girls ten d the bas il a n d the th i cker it grows the more it i s prized
,

I n these mi dsummer custom s o f S a rdinia and S icily it i s possible

tha t as M r R Wunsch supposes S t John has replaced Adonis We
,
. .
, . .

have seen that the rites o f Tammuz or Adoni s were commonly cele
b ra ted about m id summer ; accordin g to J erome thei r date was June ,
.

I n S icily gardens o f Adoni s are still sown in sprin g as well as in

summer from which we may perhaps in fer that Sicily as well as Syria
,

celebrate d o f old a vernal festival o f the dead a nd ri sen god At the .

approach o f E aster Si cil ian women sow wheat len tils and c anary
, , ,

see d in pla tes which they keep in the dark and water every two days
, .

The plants soon shoot up ; the stalks are ti ed to ge ther with red ribbons ,

a nd the plates containin g them a re placed on the sepulchres which ,

3 46 T HE GARD E N S OF ADON I S CH .

o f death in the son i s one o f the finest composi tions in ma rble Ancient
,
.

Greek art has bequeathed to us few works so bea uti ful and none so ,

pathetic .

I n thi s connexion a well known statement o f Jerome may not be -

without si gnificance H e tells us that Bethlehem the traditio na ry

.
,

bi rthplace o f the Lord was shaded by a grove o f that st ill older Syrian
,

Lord Adonis a n d tha t where the in fant Jesus had wept the lover of
, , ,

Venus was bewailed Though he does not expressly say so Jero m e

.
,

seems to have thought that the grove o f Adoni s had been planted by
the heathen a fter the birth o f Christ for the purpose o f defiling the
sacre d spot I n this he may have b een mistaken If A d onis was
. .

indeed as I have ar gued the spirit o f the corn a more suitable name
, , ,

for hi s d wellin g place coul d hardly be foun d than Bethlehem

-
the ,
“

”
House o f B read and he may well hav e been worshipped there at his
,

H ouse o f B rea d lon g ages be fore the bi rth o f H im who said I am the ,
”
b read o f li fe E ven on the hypothesis that A donis followed rather
.

than preceded Christ at Be thlehem the choice o f his sad fi gure to ,

divert the alle giance of Christ i ans from their Lord cannot b ut strike
us as eminently approp riate when w e remember the similarity of the
ri tes which commemorated the dea th and resurrection o f the two .

One o f the earliest sea ts o f the worship of the new god was Antioch ,

a n d at An tioch as we have seen the death o f the old go d was annually

, ,

celebrated w ith great solemn ity A circumstance which attende d the .

entrance o f Julian into the ci ty at the time o f the Adonis festival ‘

may perhaps throw some li ght on the date o f its celebration When .

the emperor drew near to the ci ty he was receive d with public prayers
as i f he had been a god and he marvelled at th e voices of a great ,

multitude who cried that the Star o f S alvation ha d dawned upon them
in the E ast Thi s may doubtless have been no more than a fulsome
.

compliment pai d by an obsequious O riental crowd to the Roman

emperor B ut it is also poss ibl e that the risin g o f a bri ght star re gularly
.

gave the si gnal for the fes tival and that as chance would have it the ,

star emer ged above the rim of the eastern horizon at the very moment
’
o f the emperor s approach The coinci d ence i f it happened could .
, ,

hardly fail to strike the i magination of a superstiti ous and excited

m ultitude who mi ght thereupon hail the great man as the deity whose
,

comin g was announced by the si gn in the heavens O r the emperor .

may have mistaken for a greetin g to himsel f the shou ts which were
addressed to the star N ow Astarte the divine mistress o f Adonis
.
, ,

was i d en tified with the planet Venus and her chan ges from a morning ,

to an evenin g star were care fully no ted by the B abylonian astronomers ,

who drew omens from her al ternate appearance and disappearance .

H ence we may conj ecture that the festival o f Adonis was regularly
time d to coincide with the appearance o f Venus as the Morning or
E venin g Star B ut the s tar which the peopl e o f Antioch saluted at
.

the fes tival was seen in the E as t ; there fore i f it was indeed Venus , ,

it can only have been the M ornin g Star At Aphaca in Syria where .
,

there was a famous t emple o f A s tarte the si gnal fo r the celebration ,

XXXIV T H E M Y T H AN D R IT U A L OF A T TI S 3 47

of the rites was app arently given by the flashin g of a meteor which ,

on a certain d ay fell like a star from the top o f Mount Lebanon into
the river Adon i s The meteor was thought to be Astarte hersel f and
.
,

its fli ght throu gh the ai r mi ght naturally be interpreted as the descent

of the amorous goddess to the arms o f her lover At Antioch and .

elsewhere the appea rance o f the Mornin g Star on the day of the festival
may in like manner have been hailed as the coming of the goddess o f
love to wake her dead leman from his ea rthy bed I f that were so .
,

we may surmise that it was the Morn i n g Star which gui d ed the wise
men o f the E ast to Bethlehem the hallowed spot which heard in the
, ,

language o f Jerome the weeping o f the infant Christ and the lament
,

for Adonis .

CHAPT E R XXXIV

THE M YT H AND RI T UA L OF A T T S I
A N OT H E R o f those gods whose supposed d ea th and resurrection struck
such deep roots into the fai th an d r itual o f Western Asia is At ti s H e .

was to Ph rygia what A do n i s was to Syria Like Adoni s he appears .

,

to have been a god o f ve ge tation a nd his d ea th an d resurrection were

,

annually mourne d and rej oice d over at a fes tival in sprin g The ,

legends and rites o f the two gods were so much alike that the ancients
themselves sometimes i d entifie d them A ttis was sai d to have been
'

a fair young shepher d or her d sman belove d by Cybele the M o ther o f

'

the Go d s a great Asiatic god d ess o f fer til ity who had her ch ie f home
, ,

in Phrygia Some held tha t Attis was her son H i s bir th like that
. .
,

of many other heroes is said to have been miraculous

, H is mo ther .
,

Nana w a s a vir gin who conceive d by puttin g a ripe almond or a

, ,

pome granate in her bosom I nd e ed in the Phrygian cosmo gony an

.

almon d fi gured as the father o f all things perhaps because its delica te ,

lilac blossom is one o f the first heralds o f the sprin g appearin g on the ,

bare boughs b efore the leaves have Opened Such tales of vir gin .

mothers are relics o f an a ge o f chil d ish i gnor ance when men ha d not
yet recogni z ed the intercourse o f the sexes as the true cause o f off
Sprin g . Two di ff eren t accoun ts o f the d eath o f A ttis were curren t .

According to the one he was kille d by a bo ar lik e Adonis Accord i n g

to the o ther he unmanned himsel f un d er a pine —
, ,

tree and bled to d eath ,

on the spot The latter i s said to have been the local story told by the
.

people o f Pessinus a great seat o f the worshi p o f Cybele and the whole
, ,

legen d of which the story forms a part is stampe d wi th a charac ter o f

rudeness and sava gery that speaks s tron gly for its antiquity Both .

tales mi ght claim the support of custom or ra ther both were probably ,

i nvented to explain certain customs obs e rved by the worshippers .

The story o f the sel f mu tilation o f A ttis is clearly an attempt to account

-

for the sel f-mutilation o f his pries ts who re gularly castrat ed them
,

selves on enterin g the service o f the goddess The story o f his death .
3 48 T H E M YT H AN D RI T UAL OF AT T I S CH .

by the boa r may have been told to explain why his worshippers ,

especially the people o f Pess i nus absta i ned f rom eating swine In ,
.

like manner the wo rshippe rs o f A d onis abstaine d from pork because ,

a boar ha d killed their god A fter his death Attis i s said to have been
.

chan ge d into a p ine tree -

.

The worship o f the Phrygian Mother o f the Gods was adopted by

the Romans i n 2 04 B C towar d s the close o f their lon g stru ggle with
. .

Hannibal For thei r drooping sp i r its ha d been opportunely cheered by

.

a prophe cy alle ge d to be draw n from that convenient farrago of

,

nonsense the S ibylli ne Books t hat the forei gn invader would be

, ,

d riven from I taly i f the grea t Orien tal go dd ess w ere brought to Rome .

Accordin gly ambassadors were despa tched to her sacred city Pess inus
i n Phry gia The small black stone which embodied the m i ghty
.

d ivini ty was entruste d to them and conveyed to Rome where it ,

was receive d with great respect and installed in the temple o f Victory
on the Palatine H ill It was the mi d dle o f April when the goddess
.

arrive d a n d she went to work at once Fo r the harve st that year

, .

was such as had not been seen for many a lon g day and in the very ,

nex t yea r Hannibal and his veterans embarke d for A frica As he .

looke d his last on the coas t o f Italy fa d ing behind him in the distance , ,

he could not foresee that E urope which had repelled the arms would , ,

yet yield to the gods o f the Orient The vanguar d o f the conquerors
, .

had already encamped in the heart o f I taly be fore the rear guard of
the beaten army fell sullenly back from its shores .

We may conj ecture though w e are not told that the Mo ther of
, ,

the Gods brough t with her the worship o f her youth ful lover or son
to her new home in the Wes t Certainly the Romans were familiar
.

wi th the Galli the emascula ted priests o f A tti s before the close of
, ,

the Republic These unsexed bein gs i n their Oriental costume with

.
, ,

little images sus p ended on thei r breas ts appear t o have been a familiar ,

si ght in the streets o f Rome which they traverse d in procession , ,

carryin g the ima ge o f the god d ess and chantin g th e ir hymns to the
m usic of cymbals and tamb ourines flu tes and horns while the people , , ,

impressed by the fantastic show and moved by the wild strains flung ,

alms to them i n abun d ance a n d buried the ima ge and its bearers under
,

showers o f roses A further s tep was taken by the E mperor Claudius

.

when he incorpora ted the Phrygian worship o f the sacred tree and wi th ,

it probably the or gias tic rites o f Attis i n the established reli gion of ,

Rome The great sprin g festival o f Cybel e and A ttis i s best known
.

to u s in the form in which it was celebra ted at Rome ; b ut as we

are in formed that the Roman ceremo n ies were also Phrygian we may ,

assume that they di ffered har d ly i f at all from their Asiatic ori ginal , ,
.

The order o f the fes tival seems to h ave been a s follows .

On the twen ty second day o f March a pine t ree was cut in the
-
,
-

woo d s and brought into the sanctuary o f Cybele where it w as treated ,

as a great d ivini ty The d uty o f carryin g the sacred tree was entrusted
to a guild o f Tree bearers T he trunk was swathed li ke a corpse with
-
.

woollen bands an d decked with wreaths of violets for violets were said ,
3 50 THE MYTH AN D RITUAL O F ATTI S CH .

to the sanctuary from Syria a n d the re gions round about While the .

flutes played the drums beat a nd the eunuch p riests slashed them
, ,

selves w i th knives the religious exci tement gradually spread like a

,

wave amon g the crowd o f onlookers a n d many a one did that which ,

he little tho ught to do when he cam e as a holiday spectator to the

festival For man a fter man his veins throbbin g with the music his
. , ,

eyes fascinated by the s i ght o f the streaming blood flun g his garments ,

from him leape d forth wi th a shout and seizin g one o f the swords
, ,

which stood ready for the purpose cas trated himsel f on the spot , .

The n he ran through the ci ty holding the bloody pieces i n his hand
, ,

till he threw them int-o one of the houses which he passed in his mad
career The household thus honoured had to furnis h him with a
.

s uit o f femal e a ttire and f emale ornaments which he wore for the ,

rest o f his li fe When the tumult o f em otio n ha d subsided and the

.
,

man ha d come to himsel f a gain the irrevocable sacrifice must often ,

have been followed by passionate sor row and li felong re gret This .

revulsion o f na tural human feelin g a fter t he frenzies of a fanatical

religion is power fully depicted by Catullus in a celebrated poem .

The parallel o f these Syrian devotees confi rms the view that in
the similar worship o f Cybele the sacrifice o f virility took place on
the Day o f B lood at the vernal ri tes o f the goddess when the violets , ,

supposed to spring from the red drops o f her wounde d lover were in ,

bloom amon g the pines In d ee d the story that Attis unmanned

.

himsel f unde r a pine-tree was clearly d evise d to explain why his pr i es ts

di d the same besi de the sacred viol et -wreathed tree at his festival .

At all events we can har d ly doubt that the Day o f B lood witnessed
,

the mournin g for Attis over an effigy o f him which was a fterwards
buried The image thus laid i n the sepulchre was probably the same
.

which had hun g upon the tree Throu ghout the period o f mourning
.

the worshippers fasted from brea d nominally because Cybele had done ,

so in her gri ef for the death o f Attis but really perhaps for the same ,

reason which induced the women o f H arran to abstain from eating

anythin g ground in a mill while they wept for Tammuz To partake .

o f bread or flour at such a season mi gh t have been deemed a wanton

p ro fana tion of the bruised and broken body o f the god Or the fast .

m ay possibly have been a preparation for a sacramen tal meal .

But when ni ght had fallen the sorro w o f the worshippers was
,

turned to j oy For su d d enly a li ght shone in the darkness : the tomb

.

was op ened : the god had ri sen from the dead ; and as the p riest
touched the lips o f the weepin g mourners wi th balm he so ftly whispered ,

i n their e ars the glad tidin gs o f salvation T he resurrection o f the .

god wa s hailed by his disciples as a promise that they too w ould issue
t ri umphant from the corruption o f the grave On the morrow the .
,

twen ty fi fth day o f M arch which was reckoned the vernal equinox
-
, ,

the divine resurrection was celebrated wi th a wild outburst o f glee .

A t Rome and probably elsewhere the celebration took the fo rm of

, ,

a carn i val It was the Fes tival of Joy (H i lari a ) A universal licence
. .

p revailed E very man mi ght say and do wha t he pleased

. Peopl e .
x x x rv T HE MYTH AN D RITUAL OF ATTI S 351

went about the stree ts in dis guise No di gnity was too high or too.

sacred for the humblest ci ti z en to assume w ith impunity In the .

reign of Commo d us a band o f conspirators thought to take advantage

of the masquera d e by dressin g in the uni form of the Imperial Guard ,

and so min gling with the c rowd o f merrymakers to get w i thin

, ,

s tabbing distance o f the emperor B ut the plot miscarried E ven . .

the stern Alexander S everus used to relax so far on the j oyous day
as to admit a p heasant to his frugal b oard The next day the twenty .
,

sixth o f March was given t o repose which must have been much
, ,

needed a fter the varied excitements an d fa tigues o f the preced i ng

days Finally the Roman fes tival closed on the twenty —
. , seven th of
M arch with a procession to the b rook Almo The silver ima ge o f .

the goddess wi th i ts face o f j a gged black stone sat i n a wa ggon d rawn

, ,

by oxen Precede d by the nobles walking bare foot it moved slowly

.
, ,

to the loud music o f pipes and tambourines out by the Porta C apena , ,

and so down to the banks o f the Almo which flo ws i nto the Tiber
just b elo w the walls o f Rome There the hi gh —
,

. priest robed in purple , ,

washe d the wa ggon the ima ge and the o ther sacred obj ects in the
, ,

water of the stream On return in g from thei r bath the wain and the
.
,

oxen were s trewn with fresh sprin g flowers All wa s mirth and .

gaiety N o one thou ght of the blood tha t had flowe d so lately
. E ven .

the eunuch priests forgot thei r woun d s .

Such then appears to have been the annual solemnisation o f the

, ,

death and resurrection o f A tti s in sprin g B ut besi d es these publ i c .

ri tes his worship is known to have compr i sed cer tain secret or mys tic
,

ceremonies which proba bly aimed at br i n gin g the w orshipper and

, ,

especially the novice in to closer communica tion wi th his god Our

, .

in formation as to the na ture o f these mysteri es and the da te o f their

celebration is un for tunately very scan ty but they seem t o have ,

include d a sacramental meal a nd a baptism o f blo o d In the sacra .

ment the novice became a partaker o f the mysteries by eating out

o f a drum a n d drink i n
g o ut o f a cymbal tw o instruments o f music ,

wh ich fi gured prom i nently in the thrillin g orches tra of Attis The .

fast which accompanied the mourn in g for the d ead god may perhaps
have been d esi gne d to prepare the body o f the communicant fo r the
reception o f the blessed sacramen t by pur gin g it o f all that could d efile
by contact the sacred el ements I n the bapti sm the devo tee crowne d
.
,

with gold and wrea thed with fillets d escen d ed into a pit the mouth , ,

of which was covered wi th a wooden gra ting A bull adorne d wi th .

,

garlan d s of fl owers its forehea d glitterin g with gold lea f was then
, ,

driven on to the gra ting and there stabbed to death with a consecrated
spear Its hot reeking blood poured in torren ts through the apertures
.
,

and was received wi th devout eagerness by the worshipper on every

part o f his person and garments till he emer ge d from the p it drenched
, , ,

dr1pp ing and scarlet from hea d to f oot to receive the homa e nay
,
g , ,

the adora tion o f his fellows as one who had been born again to eternal
,

l ife and had washe d away his sins in the blood o f the bull For some .

t 1me a f terwa rds the ficti on o f a new birth was kept up by dietin g him
3 52 ATTI S A S A GOD OF V E GE TATI ON CH .

on milk like a new born babe The regeneration o f the worshipper

-
.

took place at the sam e time as the re generation o f his god namely ,

at the vernal equinox A t Rome the new bi r th and the remission

.

o f sins by the she d din g o f bull s bloo d appear to have been carried
’

out above all at the sanctuary o f the Phry gian goddess on the Vatican
H ill at o r near the spot where the great basilica o f St Peter s now
, .
’

s tands ; for many inscriptions rela tin g to the ri tes were foun d when
the church was bein g enlar ge d in 160 8 or 1609 From the Vatican as .

a centre this barbarous system o f superstition seem s to have spread

to o ther parts o f the Roman empire I nscript i ons found in Gaul and .

Germany prove tha t provincial sanctuari es mo d elled their ritual on

tha t o f the Vatican From the same source we learn that the tes ticles
.

as well as the blood o f the bull played an importan t par t in the

ceremonies Probably they were regar d ed as a power ful charm to
.

p romo te fertili ty a nd hasten the new birth .

CHAPT E R XXXV

I
A T T S A S A G OD OF V E GET A T ION

THE ori ginal cha rac ter o f Attis as a tree spirit is brought out plainly -

by the part which the pine tree plays in his le gen d his ritual and
-
, ,

his monume nts The story that he was a human bein g trans forme d
into a pine—
.

tree i s only one o f those transparent at tempts at ra tionalis

ing old belie fs which meet us so frequently in mytholo gy The brin ging .

in of the pine tree from the woods decked with violets a n d woollen
-
,

bands i s like brin ging i n the May-tree or S ummer-tree in mo dern

folk—
,

c ustom ; and the e ffi gy whic h was attached to the pine tree -

was only a duplicat e rep resentative o f the tree— spi rit Attis After .

bein g fastened to the tree the e ffigy was kep t for a year and then
,

burned The same thin g appears to have been sometimes done with
.

the May pole ; and i n like manner th e e ffi gy of the corn spirit made
- -
,

at harvest is O ften preserved till it is replaced by a new effigy at next

,

year s harvest The ori ginal in tention o f such customs w as n o doubt

’
.

to maintai n the spirit o f ve getation in li fe throu ghout the yea r Why .

the Phrygians shoul d have worshipped the pine above other trees we
can only guess Perhaps the si ght of its chan geless though sombre
.
, ,

green cres tin g the ridges O f the hi gh hills above the fadin g splendour
o f the autu m n woods in the valleys may have seemed t o their eyes

to mark it out as the seat o f a divin er li fe o f some thi n g exempt from ,

the sad vicissi tudes o f the seasons cons tant and e ter na l as the sky ,

which stooped to m eet it For the s a me reason perhaps ivy was.

, ,

sacred to Attis ; at all events we read that hi s eunuch pries ts were ,

t attooe d wi th a pattern o f ivy leaves Another reason for the sanctity .

o f the pine may have been its use fulness The cones o f the stone pine .
-

contain edible nut like seeds which have been used as food sinc e
-
,
3 54 H UMAN R E PR E S ENTATIV E S OF ATTI S CH .

a fterwards by an effi gy which i s then burned o r o therwise destroyed

,
.

Perhaps w e may go a step farther a nd conj ecture that this mimic

killin g o f the pries t accompanie d by a real e ffusion o f hi s blood was
, ,

i n Phrygia as it has been elsewhere a substitu te for a human sacrifice

, ,

which in earlier times was actually o ff ered .

A reminiscence o f the manner in which these ol d representatives

o f the deity were put to death is perhaps preserved i n the famous
sto ry o f Marsyas H e was sai d to be a Phry gian satyr or S ilenus
.
,

accordin g to o thers a shepherd o r herdsman who played sweetly on ,

the flute . A f riend o f Cybele he roame d the coun try with the dis
,

consolate goddess to soothe her grie f for the death o f Attis The .

composition o f the Mother s Ai r a tune played on the flute in honour

’
,

o f the Great M other Goddess was attributed to him by the people

,

o f Celaenae in Phrygia Vain o f hi s skill he challen ged Apollo to

.
,

a m usical contes t he to play on the flute and Apollo on the lyre

, .

Bein g vanquishe d Marsyas was tied up to a pine tree and flayed or

,
-

cut limb from limb ei ther by the victorious Apollo or by a Scythian

slave H is skin was show n at Celaenae i n historical times It hung
. .

a t the foot of the citadel in a cave from which the river Marsyas rushed

wi th an impetuous an d noisy tide to j o i n the Ma eander So the

Adonis bursts full —
.

born f rom the precipices o f the Lebanon ; so the

blue river o f Ib reez leaps in a crystal j et from the red rocks o f the
Taurus ; so the s tream which now rumbles d eep under ground used
, ,

to gleam for a momen t on its passage from darkness to darkness in

the dim li ght o f the Coryc ian cave I n all these copious fountains .
,

wi th thei r glad p romise o f fer tili ty a n d li fe men o f old saw the hand ,

o f God a n d worshippe d him besid e the rushin g river wi th the music

o f its tumblin g wa ters in their ears At Celaenae i f we can trust .

,

tra d iti on the pi p e r Marsyas han gin g in his cave ha d a soul for har
, , ,

m ony even in d eath ; for it is sai d that a t the sound o f hi s native

Phrygian mel odies th e skin o f the dead satyr used to thrill but that ,

i f the musician st ruck up an ai r in p raise o f Apollo it remained deaf

a n d motionless .

In this Phrygian satyr shepherd o r herdsman who enjo yed the

, ,

friendship o f Cybele p ractise d the mus ic so characteristic o f her rites

, ,

and died a vi olen t death on her sacred tree th e pi ne may we not , ,

detect a close resemblance to Attis the favourit e shepherd or herds ,

man o f the goddess who i s him sel f described as a piper is said to have
, ,

peri shed under a pine tree and was annually represented by an e ffi gy
-
,

hun g l i ke Marsyas upon a pine ? We may conj ecture that in old

, ,

days the pries t who bore the name and played the part of Attis at
the spring fes tival o f Cybele was re gularly han ged or otherwise slain
upon the sacred tree and that this barbarous custom was a fterwards
,

miti gated in to the form in which it is known to us in lat er times ,

when the priest merely drew blood from his body under the tree and
attached an e ffi gy instead o f himsel f to its t runk In the holy grove .

at Upsala men and animals were sacrificed by being han ged upon the
sacred trees The human victims d edicate d to Odi n were regularly
.
XXX VI HUMAN RE PR E S E NTATIVE S OF ATTI S 3 55

put to dea th by han gin g or by a combination o f han gin g and stabbin g ,

the man bein g strung up to a tree or a gallows and then wounded

with a spear H ence Odin was called the Lord o f the Gallows or
.

the God o f the Han ged and he is represented sittin g under a ga llows ,

tree Indeed he is said to have been sacrificed to himsel f i n the

.

ordinary way as we learn from the weird verses o f the H avam al i n

, ,

which the god describes how he acquired his divine power by learning
the magic runes :
I k n ow tha t I hung o n the wi ndy tree
“
.

F or n i n e w ho le n ig hts,
W ound ed w i th the spear d edi ca ted to Odi n , ,
”
M ys elf to m ys elf .

The Bagobos o f Min d anao one o f the Phil ippine Islands used annually , ,

to sacr ifice human victims for the goo d o f the crops i n a similar way .

Early in December when the cons tellati on Orio n appeared a t seven

,

o clock in the even i n g the people knew that the time had come to
’
,

clear thei r fiel d s for so w i n g and to sacrifice a slave The sacrifice .

was pres ented to cer tain power ful S piri ts as payment for the good
year which the people ha d enj oyed an d to ensure the favour o f the ,

Spirits for the comin

g season The victim was led to a great tree in .

the forest ; there he was tie d with his back to the t ree and his arms
stretched hi gh above his head in the attitude i n which anc i ent artists ,

portraye d Marsyas han gin g on the fatal tree While he thus hun g .

by the arms he was slain by a spear thrust throu gh hi s bo dy at the

,

level of the armp its A fterwar d s the body was cut clean through
.

the middle at the waist an d the upper par t was a pparently allowe d ,

to dangle for a little from the tree while the under part wallowe d in ‘
,

blood on the groun d The two porti ons were finally cast into a shallow
.

trench beside the tree Be fore th i s was d one anybo dy who wish ed . ,
“

might cut off a piece o f flesh or a lock o f hair from the corpse and
carry it to the grave o f some relation whose b ody was bein g consumed
by a ghoul A ttracte d by the fresh corpse the ghoul would leave
.
,

the moul d erin g old body in peace These sacrifices have been o ff ered .

by men now livin g .

In Greece the great go dd ess Artemi s hersel f appears to have been

annually hanged in e ffigy i n her sacre d grove o f Con dylea among the
Arca d ian hills and there accor d in gly she went by the name o f the
,

Hange d One In d eed a trace o f a S im ilar rite may perhaps be detect d

.

g
even at E phesus the mos t famous of her sanctuari es in the le ge n d
, ,

of a woman who han ed herself and was thereupon d ressed by the

g
compassionate god d ess in her own divine garb an d called by the name
of Hecate S imilarly at M elite in Ph thia a story was told o f a girl
.
, ,

named A sp ali s who han ged hersel f but who appears to have bee n ,

m erely a form o f Artemis For a fter her death her bo dy could not .

be found but an ima ge o f her was discovere d stan d in g beside the

,

image o f Ar tem is and the people bestowed on it the title o f H eca erge
,

or Far -shooter one o f the re gular epithets of the goddess E very

, .
3 56 ORI E N TAL R E LI GI ON S I N T HE W E ST CH .

y ear the vi rgins sacrificed a youn g goat to the ima ge by ha ngin g it ,

becaus e A sp alis was said to hav e hanged hersel f The sacrifice .

may have been a substitute fo r han gin g a n image o r a human rep re

s enta tiv e o f Artem is A gain in Rho d es the fair H elen was wor
.
,

shippe d un d er the ti tle o f H elen o f the Tree because the queen of ,

the islan d had caused her han d maids dis guise d as Furies to strin
g , ,

her up to a bou gh That the Asiati c G reeks sacrificed animals in

.

this fashion is p roved by coins o f I lium which represent an ox or ,

cow han gin g on a tree and stabbed w i th a kni fe by a man who sits ,

amon g the branches or o n the anim al s back At H ie rap ons a lso the ’
.

victim s were hun g on trees b e fore they were burnt With these .

Greek and S candinavian p a rallels be fore us we can hardly dismiss

as wholly improbable the conj ecture that i n Phry gi a a man god may -

have hun g year by year on the sacred but fat al tree .

CHAPT E R XXXVI I

RI E N T A L RE LI G I O N S
O IN T H E W E ST

THE worship o f the Great M other o f the Gods an d her lover or son was
very popular under the Roman E mpire I nscr iptions pro ve that the .

tw o received divine honours separa tely or conj ointly not only in Italy
, , ,

and especially a t Rome but also in the p rovinces particularly in A frica

, , ,

Spain Por tu gal France Germany and Bul garia Thei r worship
, , , , .

survived the establishment o f Christianity by C onstan tine ; for Sym

m a chus records the recurrence o f the festival o f the Great Mother and ,

i n the days o f Augus tine her e ffeminate pries ts still para d ed the s treets
and squares o f Cartha ge with whitened faces scented h a ir and mincing , ,

gait while like the men d icant fr i ars o f the M i dd le A ges they begged
, , ,

alms from the passers b y In Greece on the other hand the bloody
-
.
, ,

orgies o f the A sia tic go d dess and her consort appear to have found little
favour The barb arous and cruel character o f the worship with its
.
,

frantic excesses was do ubtless repu gnant to the good taste and
,

hum anity o f the Greeks who seem to have preferred the kindred but
,

gentler rites o f Adonis Yet the same features which shocked and
.

repelle d th e Greeks may have posi tively attracted the less refine d
Romans and barbarians o f the West The ecstati c f renzies wh ich .
,

were mistaken fo r d ivine inspira tion the man glin g o f the body the , ,

theory o f a new bi r th and the remission o f sins throu gh the shedding

o f bloo d have all thei r o ri gin in sava gery and they naturally appeale d
, ,

to peoples in whom the sava ge inst incts were still stron g Their true .

charac ter was indeed o ften d is gui sed under a decen t veil o f alle gorical
or philosophical interpreta tion which probably sufficed to impose upon
,

the rapt and en thusiastic worshippers reconcilin g even the more ,

cultivated o f them to things which o therwis e must have filled them

with horror and dis gust .

The reli gion o f the Great M other with its curious blending o f crude
,
3 58 ORI E NTAL R E LIGION S I N THE W E ST CH .

the old Persian dei ty M i thra The immens e popularity o f his worship
.

is attested by the monuments illustrative o f it which have been foun d

scat tered in p ro fusion all over the Roman E mpire I n respect both .

o f doctrines a n d o f rites the cult o f M ithra app ears to have presented

m any points o f resemblance not only to the rel igion o f the M other of
the Gods b ut also to Chris tian ity The similari ty s truck the Christian .

doctors themselves and was explained by them a s a work o f the devil ,

who sough t to seduce the souls o f men from the true faith by a false
a nd insidious imitation o f it S o to the Spanish conquerors o f Mexico
.

and Peru many o f the na tive heathen rites appeared to be diabolical

counter feits o f the Chri st ian sacraments Wi th more probability the .

mo d ern stu d ent o f comparative reli gion traces such resemblances to

the similar an d independent workin gs o f the mind o f man i n his sincere ,

i f cru d e attempts to fa tho m the secret o f the universe a n d to a djust

, ,

his little li fe to its aw ful mys teries However that may be there can .
,

be no doubt that the M ithraic reli gion prove d a formidable rival to

Ch ristiani ty combi n in g as it did a s olemn ritual with aspirations after
,

moral pur ity a n d a hope o f imm ortality Indeed the issue o f the .

conflict between the two faiths appears for a time to have hun g in the
balance An instruc tive relic o f the lon g struggle is preserved in our
.

festival o f Christmas which the Church seems to have b orrowed

,

di rectly from i ts heathen rival I n the Julian calendar the twenty .

fi fth o f December was reckone d the winter sols tice a n d it was regarded ,

as the Na tivity o f the S un because the day be gins to len gthen and the
,

power o f the sun to increase from that turnin g point o f the year The -
.

ri tual o f the nat ivity as it appears to have been celebrated in Syria and
,

E gypt was rema rkable

,
The celebrants reti red into certain inner
.

“
shrines from which at mi dni ght they issued wi th a loud cry The
, ,
”
Virgi n has brou ght for th ! The li ght is waxing ! The E gyptians
even represented the new born sun by th e ima ge o f an infant which on
-

his birthday the winter solstice they brough t forth and exhibited to
, ,

hi s worshippers N o doubt the Vir gin who thus conceived and bore
.

a son on the twenty fifth o f December was the great Oriental goddes s
-

whom the S emi tes calle d the H eavenly Vir gin or simply the H eavenly
Goddess ; in Semitic lands she was a form o f As tarte Now Mi thra was .

regularly i den tified by his worshippers with the Sun the Unconquered ,

S un as they calle d him ; hence his nativity also fell on the twenty fifth
,
-

’
o f D ecember The Gospels say nothin g a s t o the day o f Christ s birth
.
,

and accordin gly the early Church di d not celebrate it In time how .
,

ever th e Christians o f E gypt came to re gard the sixth o f J a nuagy as

,

the date o f the Nat ivity and the custom o f commemoratin g the birth
,

o f the S avi our on that day gradually spread until by the fourth century
i t was universally established in the E ast B ut at t he end o f the third .

or the beginnin g o f the fourth century the Western Church which had ,

never reco gni sed the sixth o f January as the day o f the N a tivity ,

a dopted the twenty fifth o f December as the true d ate and in time its
-
,

decision was accepted also by the E ast ern Church At Antioch the .

chan ge was not introduced till about the year 3 7 5 A D .

 XXXVII ORI E NTA L R E LI GIONS I N T HE W E ST 3 59

What considerations led the ecclesias tical authorities to i nstitute

the festival o f Chris tmas ? The motives for the innovation are s ta ted
with great frankness by a Syrian writer himsel f a Christian The ,
.

”
reason he tells us why the fathers trans ferred the celebration o f the
, ,

sixth of January to the twenty fifth o f December was this It was -

a cus tom o f the heathen to celebrate on the same twenty—

.

fifth o f
December the bir thday o f the Sun at which they kindle d li ghts in ,

token of festivity In these solemni ties and festivities the Christians

.

also took part Accor d ingly when the doctors o f the Church perceived
.

that the Christians had a leanin g to this festival they took counsel and ,

resolved that the true N a tivity shoul d be solemnised on that day and
the festival o f the E piphany on the sixth of January Accor d ingly .
,

along w ith this custom the p ractice has prevailed o f kindlin g fi r es till
,

the S ixth The heathen ori gin o f Chris tmas is plainly hin te d at i f
.
,

not tacitly a d mi tted by Au gustine w hen he exhorts his Christian

,

brethren not to celebra te that solemn day l i ke the heathen on account

of the sun but on account o f him who ma d e the sun In like manner
,
.

Leo the Great rebuke d the pestilent belie f that Chris tmas was solemn i se d
because o f the bi r th o f the new sun as it was called and not because o f , ,

the nativi ty o f Christ .

Thus it appears that th e Chris tian Church chose to celebrate the

birth day of its Foun d er on the twen ty— fifth o f December in or d er t o
transfer the devotion of the heathen from the Sun to him who was
called the Sun o f Ri gh teousness If tha t was so there can be no .
,

intrinsic i mprobabil i ty in the conj ec ture that mo tives o f the sam e

sort may have led th e ecclesias tical authoriti es to assimilate the E aster
festival of the death and resurrect ion of thei r Lord to the fes tival
of the death and resurrec tion o f ano ther Asia tic god wh i ch fell a t the

same season N ow the E aster ri tes still obse rve d in Greece Sicily
.
, ,

and Southern Italy bear in some respects a strikin g resemblanc e to

the rites o f Adonis and I have sugges ted that the Church may hav e
,

consciously adapte d the new festival to its heathen predecessor for

the sake of w i nn i n g souls to Christ But this adaptat ion probably
took place in the Greek speakin g rather than in the La tin —
.

speakin g
parts o f the ancient world ; for the worship o f A d onis while it flour i shed ,

among the Greeks appears t o have made little impression on Rome

,

and the West Ce rtainly it never formed part o f the official Roman
.

religion The place which it m i ght have tak en in the a ff ections o f

.

the vul gar was alrea d y occupied by the similar but more barbarous
worship o f Attis and the Great M o ther Now the death and resu rrec .

ti on of Attis were officially celebrate d at Rome on the twenty four th

and twenty fifth o f March the latter bein g re garded as the sprin g
-
,

equinox and there fore as the m os t appropriate d ay for the revival

,

of a
god o f vegetation who had been dea d or sleepin g throu ghout the
winter But accor d in g to an ancient and widespread tradition Christ
suffered on the twenty—
.

fi fth o f March a nd accor d in gly some Christians ,

regularly celebrated the Crucifixion on that day without any regard

to the state of the moon This custom was certainly observed in.

)
360 ORI E NTA L R E LI GI ON S I N THE W E ST CH.

Phrygia Cappadocia and Gaul and there seem to be grounds for

, , ,

thinkin g tha t at one time it was followed also in Rome Thus the .

tra d ition w hich pla ced the death o f Christ on the twenty-fi fth o f March
was ancient and d eeply rooted It is all the more remarkable because .

astronom i cal consi d era tions prove that it can have ha d no historical
foun d a tion The in ference appears to be inev itable that the passion
.

o f Ch ris t must have been arbitrarily re ferre d to that d ate in or d er to

harmonise with an ol d er fes tival o f the S pring equ i nox This i s the .

view o f the learned ecclesiastical historian M gr Duchesne who points .

,

out that the death of the Saviour was thus ma d e to fall upon the very
d ay on which accor d in g to a w i d esprea d belie f the worl d ha d been
, ,

created But the resurrecti on o f A ttis who combined in himself

.
,

the characters o f the divine Father and the d ivine S on was o fficially ,

celebrate d at Rom e on the same day When we remember that the .

fes tival o f St George in April has replace d the ancient pa gan festival
.

o f the Parilia ; that the festival o f S t John the Bapti st i n June has .

succe ed e d to a heathen m i dsummer fes tival of water : that the festival

o f the Assump tion o f the Vir gin in Au gust has ousted the festival

o f Diana ; that the feast o f All Souls in N ovember is a continuation

o f an old heathen feast o f the dea d ; and tha t the Nativi ty of Christ
himsel f was assi gned to the w i nter solsti ce in December because that
day was deemed the Nativity o f the S un ; we can hardly be thought
rash or un reasonable in conj ecturin g that the other cardinal festival
o f the Christian church—the solemnisation o f E aster—may have
been in like manner and from like m otives o f edification adapted
, ,

to a similar celebratio n o f the Phry gian god Attis at the vernal

equinox .

A t least it is a remarkable co i ncidence i f it i s nothin g more that , ,

the Christian a n d the heathen festivals o f the divine death and re

s urrection S houl d have been solemni sed at the sam e seaso n and in
the sam e places For the places which celebrate d the dea th o f Christ
.

at the sprin g equinox were Phry gia Gaul and apparently Rome , , ,

that is the very re gions in which the worship o f Attis either o ri ginated
,

o r struck deepest root It is d ifficul t to re gard the coincidence as

.

'

purely acci dental If the vernal equinox the season at which in

.
,

the temperate regions the whole face o f nature testifi es to a fresh

outburs t o f vital ener gy had been viewed from of old as the time when
,

the world was annually creat e d a fresh in the resurrection of a god .

,

nothin g could be more natural than to place the resurrection of the

new dei ty a t the same cardinal point of the year Only it is to be .

observed that i f the d eath o f Christ was date d on the twenty fi fth of -

March his resurrection accordin g to Christian t radition must have

, ,

—
happened on the twenty seven th o f M arch which i s j us t two days ,
,

la ter than the vernal equinox o f the Julian calendar and the resurrec
tion o f Attis A similar displacement o f tw o days in the adj ustment
.

o f Chri stian to heathen celebra tions occurs in the festivals o f St Geor ge .

and the A ssump tion o f the Vir gin H owever another Christian
.
.
,

tradition followed by L actantius and perhaps by the practice of the

,
3 62 T H E MY T H O F OS I RIS CH .

n ations o r even by the worl d it was essential that they s hould fir st

,

be modified or trans formed so as to accord in some measure with the

prej u d ices the passions the superstitions of the vulgar This process
, , .

o f accommodat ion was carrie d out in a fter a ges by followers who ,

made o f less ethereal stuff than thei r mas ters w ere for that reason ,

th e be tter fitted to mediate betw een them and the common herd .

Thus as tim e went on the two reli gions in exact pro portion to their
, ,

growin g popularity absorbed more and m ore o f those baser elements

,

which they had been instituted for the very pur p ose o f suppressing .

S uch sp iritual deca d ences a re ine vitable The w orld cannot live .

at the level o f its great men Yet it w o uld be un fair to the generality
.

o f our kind to ascribe wholly to thei r i ntellectual and moral weakness

the gra d ual divergence o f B uddhism and Ch ristianity from their
primitive patterns For it should never be forgotten that by their
.

glorification o f poverty and celibacy both these reli gions struck strai ght
at the root not merely of civ i l society but o f human existence The .

blow was parrie d by the wis d om or the folly o f the vast maj ority of
m ankind who refused to purchase a chance of saving their souls with
,

the certainty o f extin guishin g the s p ecies .

CH A PT E R XXXVI I I

THE M YT H OF OS IRI S
IN ancient E gypt the god whose death and resurrectio n we re annually
celebrated wi th alternate sorrow and j oy was Osiris the most popular ,

o f all E gyp tian deities ; and there are good grounds for classin g him
i n one o f his aspects with Adonis and Attis as a personification of the
great yearly vicissitudes o f nature especially of the corn , But the .

immense vogue which he enj oyed for many ages induced his devoted
Worshippers to heap upon him the attributes and powers o f many
other gods ; s o that it is not always easy to strip him so to say of , ,

his borrowed plumes and to res tore them to their p roper owners .

The story o f Osiris is told in a connected form only by Plutarch ,

whose narrative has been confirmed and to some extent a mplified in

modern times by the evidence o f the monum ents .

O si ri s was the o ff sprin g o f an intrigue between the earth god Seb -

(Keb or Geb as the name i s sometimes transliterated ) and the sky

,

goddess Nut Th e Greeks identified his parents with th eir own

deities Cronus and Rhea When the sun —
.

.
god Ra perceived that his
wi fe N ut had been un faith ful t o him he declared with a curse that she
,

should be del ivered Of the child in no m onth and no year B ut the .

goddess had another lover the go d Thoth or Hermes as the Greeks

, ,

called him and he playin g at drau ghts with the m oo n won from her
,

a seventy second part o f every d ay

-
and havin g compounded five
,

whole days out o f these parts he ad d ed them to the E gyp tian year
x x x vm T HE MYTH OF O S IRI S 3 63

of th re e hundred and sixty days This was the mythical ori gin o f .

the five supplementary days which the Egyptians annually inserted

at the end o f every year in order to establish a harmony b etween lunar
and solar time On these five days regarded as outside the year o f
.
,

t welve months the curse o f the sun -god did not res t and acco rdin gly
, ,

Osiris was born on the first o f them At his nativity a voice ran g .

out proclaimin g tha t the Lord o f All had come into the world S om e .

say that a certain Pam yles heard a voice from the temp le at Thebes
bidding him announce with a S hout that a great king the b en eficent ,

Osiris was born B ut Osiris was n ot the only child o f his mother
,
. .

On the second o f the supplementary days she gave birth to the elder
Horus on the thi r d to the god S et whom the Greeks call ed Typhon
, , ,

on the four th to the goddess Isis and on the fi fth to the go dd ess ,

Nephthys A fterwar d s S et married hi s sister Nephthys and O siris

.
,

m arrie d his sister Isis .

Rei gning as a k ing on earth Osiris reclaimed the E gy ptians from ,

savage ry gave them laws and tau ght them to w orship the gods
, , .

Before his time the E gyp tians ha d been cannibals B ut Isis the .
,

sister and wi fe o f Osi ris discovere d wheat and b a rley growin g wild
, ,

and Osiris intro d uce d the cultiva tion o f these grains amon gs t his
people who for thwi th aban d oned cannibal i sm a n d took kindly to
,

a corn di et Moreover Osiris is sai d to have been the fi rst to gather

.
,

frui t from trees to train the vine to poles an d to tread the grapes
, , .

Eager to communicate these b en eficen t d i scoveries to all mank ind ,

he commit te d the whole gov e rnmen t o f E gypt to his wi fe Isis and ,

travelled over the world di ffusin g the bless in gs o f c ivilisat i on and

,

agriculture wherever he went In countries where a harsh cl imate .

or niggar dly soil forbade the cultivation o f the v ine he taught the ,

inhabitants to console thems elves for the wan t o f wine by brewin g

beer from barley Loa d e d wi th the weal th that had been showere d
.

upon him by grate ful nations he re turne d to E gypt a nd on account , ,

of the benefits he had con ferred on mankin d he was unan i mously

hailed and worshippe d as a deity But his brother S et (whom the .

Greeks called Typhon ) with seventy tw o others plo tted a gainst him -
.

Having taken the measure o f his good brother s bo d y by stealth ’

the b ad brother Typhon fashioned and h ighly decora te d a co f e r o f

f
the same size a n d once when they were all d rinking a n d in ak ing merry
,

he brought in the co ff er and j estin gly pr omise d to give it to the on e

whom it should fit exactly Well they all tried one a fter the other , ,

b ut it fitted none o f them Last o f all Osiris s tepped into it and lay
.

down On that the conspi rators ran and S lamme d the lid down on
.

him nailed it fast sol d ered it with mol ten lead and flun g the co ff er
, , ,

into the Nile This happened on the seven teenth day of the month
.

Athyr when the sun is in the si gn o f the S corpion and in the ei ght
, ,

and twentieth year o f the rei n or the li fe o f Osiris

-
When Isis hear d
g .

of it she sheare d off a lock o f her hair put on a mournin g attire and , ,

wandered disconsolately up and down seekin g the body , .

By the advice o f the god o f wisdom she took re fuge in the p apyrus
3 64 T H E MYTH O F O S I RI S ca .

swamps o f the Delta S even scorpions accompanied her in her .

fl ight One evening when she was weary she came to the house of a
.

woman who alarmed a t the S i gh t o f the scorpions shut the door in

, , ,

her face Then one o f the scorpions crept under the door and stung
.

the child o f the woman that he died B ut when I si s heard the mother s ’
.

lamenta tion her heart w as touched and she laid her hands on the child
, ,

and uttere d her power ful spells ; so the poison was driven out of the
chil d a n d he live d A fterwar d s I sis hersel f gav e bir th to a son in
.

the swamps S he ha d conceived him wh i le she fluttered i n the form

.

o f a hawk over the corpse o f her d ead husband The in fant was the .

youn ger H orus who in his youth bore the name o f Harpocrates that
, ,

is the child H orus H im Buto the go dd ess of the north hid from the
, .
, ,

wrath o f hi s w icked uncle S et Yet she coul d n ot guard him from all .

mishap ; for one day when Isis came to her little son s hidin g place ’
-

she found him s tret ched li feless and ri gid on the ground : a scorpion
had stun g him T hen Isis prayed t o the sun god Ra for help The
.
-
.

go d hearkened to her and stai d his bark in the sky and sent down ,

Thoth to teach her the spell by w hich she mi gh t res tore her son to
li fe S he ut tered the wor d s o f power and straightway the poison
.
,

flowed from the body o f Horus ai r passe d into him and he lived , , .

Then Thoth ascen d ed up into the S k y and took his place once more
in the bark O i the sun and the bri ght pomp passed onward j ubilant
'
, .

M ean time the co ff er co ntainin g the body o f Osiris had floated

d own the river and away out to s ea till at last it dri fted ashore at ,

B yb lu s on the coast o f Syria

,
H ere a fine eri ca tree sho t up suddenly .
-

a n d enclose d the chest in its tru nk The king o f the country a dmiring .
,

the growth o f the tree had it cut down and m a d e into a pillar of his ,

house ; but he d i d not know that the co ff er with the dea d Osiris was
in it Wor d o f thi s came to Isis and she j ourneyed to B yb lus and
.
,

sat down by the well in humble guise her face w et with tears To , , .

none would she speak till the kin g s handmaidens came and them she ’
,

greete d k i n d ly a n d brai d e d thei r hair a n d breathe d on them from

, ,

her own divine body a won d rous perfume B ut whenthe queen beheld .

the bra i ds o f her handmai d ens hai r and smel t the sw ee t smell that
’

emana ted from them she sen t for the stran ge r woman and took her ,

in to her house and made her the nurse o f her child B ut I sis gave .

the babe her fin ger instea d o f her breast to suck and at ni ght she ,

be gan to burn all that was m ortal o f him away while she hersel f ,

in the likeness o f a swallow fl uttered round the pilla r that contained

her dead brother twitter in g mourn fully B ut the queen spied what
, .

she was doing and shrieked out when she saw her child in flames ,

and thereby she h i n d ered hi m from becomin g immortal Then the .

go dd ess revealed hersel f a nd be gge d fo r the pillar o f the roo f and ,

they gave it her and she cut the co ffer out o f it and fell upon it
, ,
’
and embraced it a n d lam en ted so loud that the younger o f the king s
children died o f fri ght on th e spot B ut the trunk o f the tree she .

wrapped i n fi ne linen an d poured ointment on it and gave it to the , , .

k ing and queen and the wood stands in a temple o f Isis and is
,
366 T H E M Y TH OF O S IRI S CH .

Mnevis w ere dedicated to Osiris and it was ordained that they should
, ,

be worshipped as go d s in common by all the E gyp tians since these ,

animals above all o thers had helpe d the discoverers o f corn in sowing
”
the s ee d a n d p rocurin g the universal benefi ts o f a griculture .

S uch is the myth or legen d o f Osiri s as tol d by Greek writers ,

a n d eke d out by more or less fra gmen tary no ti ces or allusions in

native E gyptian li terature A long inscrip tion in the temple at .

Den d erah has preserve d a list o f the go d s graves and o ther texts ’

men tion the par ts o f his bo dy wh i ch were treasured as holy relics

i n each o f the sanctuaries Thus his hear t was at A thribis his backbone
.
,

at Bus i ri s his neck at Le topolis a n d hi s hea d at M emphis As o ften

, ,
.

happens i n such cases som e o f hi s divine limbs were miraculously

,

mul tiplied H is hea d for example was at Abydos as well as at

.
, ,

M emphis and his le gs wh i ch were remarkably numerous would

, , ,

have sufficed for several or d inary mortals I n this respect however .

, ,

O si ris was no thin g to S t D enys o f whom no less than seven hea ds

.
, ,

all equally genuine are extant ,

.

A ccordin g to na tive E gypt ian accounts which supplement that ,

o f Plu tarch when Isi s had found the corpse o f her husband Osiris
, ,

she an d her sis ter N ephthys sat down beside it a nd uttere d a lament
which i n after a ges became the type of all E gyp tian lamentations for
the dead .Come to thy house they wai led Come to thy house ,
. .

O god On ! come to thy house thou who hast no foes O fair youth ,
.
,

come to thy house th a t thou mayest see me I am thy sister whom

,
.
,

thou loves t ; thou shalt not part from m e 0 fai r boy come to thy .
,

house . I see thee not yet d oth my hea rt yearn a fter thee and
,

m ine eyes desire thee Come to her who loves thee who loves thee
.
, ,

U nn e fer thou blesse d one ! C ome to thy sist er come to thy wi fe

, , ,

to thy wi fe thou whose heart stands still Come to thy housewi fe

, . .

I am thy sister by the sam e mo ther thou shalt not be fa r from me ,

.

'

Go d s a n d men have turned their faces t owar d s thee and weep for
thee to gether I call a fter thee and weep so that my cry is
.
,

heard to heaven but thou hearest n ot my voice ; yet am I thy sister

, ,

whom thou didst love on earth ; thou didst love none but me my ,
”
b ro ther ! my brother ! Thi s lament for the fai r youth cut off in
his prime remin d s us o f the laments for Adonis The title o f U nnefer .

”
or the Good Bein g bes towed on him marks the b eneficence which
“

t radition universally ascribed to Osiris ; it was at once his commonest

title an d one o f hi s names as kin g .

The lamentations of the two sad sisters were not i n vain In .

pity for her sorrow the sun god Ra sent down from heaven the j ackal
-
'

heade d god Anubis who with t he aid o f I sis a n d N ephthys o f Thoth

, , ,

a n d H orus piece d to gether the broken body o f the murdered god

, ,

swathed it in linen banda ges and observed all the other rites which ,

the E gyptians were wont to perform over the bodies o f the departed .

Then I sis fann e d the cold clay wi th her win gs : Osiris revived and ,

thence forth rei gned as kin g over the dead in the other world There .

he bore the titles o f Lord o f the Underworld Lord o f E ternity Rul er , ,

x x x vm THE MYTH O F O S IRI S 3 67

of the Dead There too in the great H all o f the Two Truths as si sted
.
, , ,

by forty two a ssessors one from each o f the principal di stricts o f

-
,

Egypt he presi d e d as j udge at the trial o f the souls o f the d eparted

, ,

who ma d e the i r solemn con fession be fore him and their hear t havin g , ,

been wei ghe d in the balance o f j ustice received the rewar d o f vir tue ,

in a li fe eternal o r the appropr iate uni shm ent o f their sins .

In the resurrection o f Osiris t e E gyp tians saw the pled ge o f a

life everlastin g for themselves beyond the grave They bel ieve d that .

every man woul d live eternally in the other worl d i f only his surv ivin g
friend s did for his bo dy wha t the go d s had done fo r the bo dy o f Osiris .

Hence the ceremonies observed by the E gyp tians over the human
dea d were an exac t copy o f those which Anub i s Horus and the rest , ,

had per formed over the d ea d god At every burial there was
.

enacted a representation o f the d ivine mys tery which had b een per
formed o f old over Osiris when his son his sisters his fr i en d s were
, , ,

gathered roun d his man gle d rema i ns a n d succee d ed by their S pells

and manipula ti ons in conver tin g hi s broken bo d y into the firs t mummy ,

wh ich they a fterwar d s reanima te d and furnished wi th the means o f

enterin g on a new in d ivi d ual li fe beyond the grave The mummy o f .

the deceased was Osir i s ; the p ro fessional female mourners were his
two sisters Isi s and Nephthys ; Anubis Horus all the gods o f the , ,

Osirian legen d ga there d abou t the corpse I n this way every dea d .

Egyp tian was identifie d wi th Os i r i s and bore his name From the .

M iddle K in gdom onwards it was the regular practice to a dd ress the

”
decease d as Os i ri s S o a n d S o as i f he were the god himsel f and to
- -
, ,
”
add the s tandin g epi the t true o f speech because true speech was ,

charac teristic o f Osi ris The thousan d s o f inscribed a n d pictured

.

tomb s that have been opene d in the valley o f the N i le prove th a t

the mystery o f the resurrec tion was per formed fo r the benefi t o f every
dea d E gyp tian ; as Osiris d ied and rose a ga i n from the d ea d so all ,

m en hope d to arise like him from de a th to l i fe eternal .

Thus accor d in g to what seems to have been the general na tiv e

tra di tion Osi ris was a good a n d belove d k i n g o f E gyp t who su ff ered
.
,

a violent death but rose from the dea d and was hence forth worshippe d
as a dei ty In harmony wi th this tra d it ion he was regularly rep re
.

sented by sculptors a n d pain ters in human a nd re gal form as a d ea d

king swathe d in the wrapp in gs o f a mummy but wear in g on hi s hea d
, ,

a kingly crown a nd graspin g in one o f his hands which were le ft free ,

from the banda ges a kin gly sceptre Two ci ties above all others were
,
.

associated with hi s myth or m emo ry One o f them was Busiri s in .

Lower E gyp t which claime d to possess his backbone ; the o ther was
,

Aby dos in Upper E gypt wh i ch glori e d in the possession o f his hea d

, .

Encircled by the n im b us o f the dead yet livin g god Aby d os or i gi nally , ,

an obscure place beca m e from the en d o f the Old Kin gd om the holies t
,

spot in E gypt ; his tomb there woul d seem to have been to the
Egyp tians what the Church o f the H oly S epulchre a t Jerusalem is to
Christians It was the wi sh o f every pious man tha t his d ead body
.

shoul d rest in hal lowed earth near the grave o f the glor ified Osiris .
3 68 THE RITUAL OF O S IRI S CH .

Few indeed were rich enough to enj oy this inestimable p rivilege ;

fo r apar t from the cost o f a tomb i n the sacre d city the mere transport
, ,

o f mummies from great dis tances was bo th di fficul t and expensive .

Yet so eager were many to absorb in death the blessed influence which
radiated f rom the holy sepulchre tha t they caused their surviving
friends to convey their mortal remains to Abydos there to tarry for a ,

short time and then to be brou ght back by river and interred in the
,

tombs which had been made ready for them in their native lan d .

O thers had cenotaphs built or memorial tablets erected for themselves

nea r the tomb o f their d ea d and ri sen L ord that they m i ght share ,

w ith him the bliss o f a j oy ful resurrection .

CHAPT E R X XXIX

THE RI T U A L OF OS IRI S

1 T he P opu lar Ri tes —A use ful clue to the ori gi nal nature of a
.

god or go dd ess is o ften furnished by the season at which his or her

festival is celebrate d Thus i f the festival falls at the new or the full
.
,

moon there is a certain presump tion that the deity thus honoured
,

either is the moon or a t leas t has lunar affinities If the festival is hel d .

a t the winter or summer sols tice we naturally surmise that the god ,

i s the sun or a t all even ts that he stan d s in some clos e relation to that
,

lum inary A gain i f the fes tival coinci d es with the time o f sowing or
.
,

harvest we are incli ne d to in fer tha t the d ivinity i s an embodiment

,

o f the ear th or o f the corn These presumptions o r i n ferences taken

.
,

by themselv es are by no means conclusive ; but if they happen to be

,

confirmed by other in d ica ti ons the evi d ence may be regarded as fairly
,

s tron g .

Unfortunately in dealin g wi th the E gyptian gods we are in a great

,

measure precluded from makin g use o f this clue The reason is not .

that the d a tes o f the fes tivals are always un k nown but that they ,

shi fted from year to year until a fter a lon g in terval they had revolved
,

throu gh the whole course o f the seasons This gradual revolution of .

the festal E gyp tian cycle resulted from the employment o f a calen dar
year whi ch nei ther corresponded exactly to the solar year nor was
perio d ically corrected by intercalat i on .

If the E gyp tian farmer o f the olden time could get no help excep t ,

a t the ra res t interva l s from the o ffic ial or sacerdotal calendar he

, ,

mus t have been compelle d to observe for himsel f those natural si gnals
which marked the t im es for the various operations o f husbandry In .

all a ges o f which we possess any records the E gyp tians have been an
a gricultural p eople dependent f or their subsis tence on the growth
,

o f the corn The cereals which they cultivated were wheat barley
.
, ,

and apparently sor ghum (H olcus s orghum Linnaeus ) the d oor a of the , ,

modern fellaheen Then as now the whole coun try with th e exception
.
,
3 70 TH E RITUAL O F O S IRI S CH .

of nature : the rites o f the pri est w ere unstable because they were
base d on a false calculation Yet many o f the priestly festivals may .

have been nothin g but the old rural festivals dis guised i n the course
o f ages by the pomp o f sacerdo talism and severe d by the error of the ,

calen d ar from the i r roots in the na tural cycle o f the seasons

, .

These conj ec tures are confirmed by the li ttle w e know both o f the
popula r and o f the o fficial E gyp tian reli gion Thus we are told that .

the E gyptians hel d a fes tival o f Isis a t the time when the N ile be gan
to rise They bel ieve d that the go dd ess was then mournin g for the
.

lost Osi ris and that the tears which d ropped from her eyes swelled the
,

i mpe tuous ti d e o f the river Now i f O si ris was in one o f his aspects
.

a god o f the corn no thing could be more natural th a n that he should

,

b e mourned at midsummer For by that time the harvest was past

.
,

the fields were bare the river ran low li fe seemed to be suspended
, , ,

the corn god was d ea d-

At such a mom ent pe ople who saw the han di
.

work o f divine bein gs i n all the operations of nature mi ght well trace
the swellin g of the sacred stream to the tears shed by the goddess at
the d eath o f the b eneficent corn — god her husband .

A n d the si gn o f the risin g wa ters on earth was accompanied by a

si gn in heaven For in the early days o f E gyptian history some three
.
,

or four thousand years be fore the be ginnin g o f our era the splendid ,

star o f Sirius the bri gh test o f all the fixed stars appeared at dawn
, ,

in the east j ust before sunri se abou t the time o f the summer solstice ,

When the N ile be gins to rise The E gyptians called it Sothis and .
,

regarde d it as the s tar o f Isis j ust as the Babylonians deemed the planet
,

Venus the sta r o f Astar te To bo th peoples apparently the brillian t

.

luminary in the mornin g sky seeme d the goddess o f li fe and love come
to mourn her d eparted lover or spouse and to wake him from the dead .

Hence the risin g o f Si rius marke d the be ginnin g o f the sacred E gyptian
year and was regularly celebrated by a festival which did not shi ft with
,

the sh i ftin g o fficial yea r .

The cu ttin g o f the dams and the admission o f the wate r into m
"

canal s and fiel d s i s a grea t event in the E gyptian year At Cairo the .

operation generally takes place b etween the sixth and the sixteenth
o f Au gust a n d t ill la tely was attended by ceremonies which deserve
,

to b e noticed because they were probably handed down from a ntiq uity
, . .

An ancient canal known by the name o f the Khalij formerly passed

, ,

throu gh the na tive town o f Cai ro N ear its entrance the canal was .

crosse d by a da m o f earth very broad at the bot tom an d diminishing

,

in bread th upwards which used to be constructed before or soon

,

a fter the N ile began to rise In front o f the dam on the side of the .
,

river was reared a truncated cone o f earth called the ar ooseh or

,
’

”
“
bri de on the top o f whi ch a little maize or millet was generally
,
“
sown Thi s bri d e was commonly washed down by the rising tide
.

a week or a fortni ght be fore the cut tin g o f the dam T radition runs .

that the old custom was to deck a young vi rgi n in gay apparel and
throw her into the river as a sacrifice to obtain a plenti ful inundation .

Whether th at w as so or n ot the intention o f the p ractice appears to ,

xxxrx T HE POPU LAR R IT ES 37 1

have been to marry the river conceived as a male power to his bride
, ,

the cornland which was so soon to be fertilised by his water The

,
.

ceremony was therefore a charm to ensure the growth o f the crops .

In modern times money used to be thrown i nto the canal on this

occasion and the populace d ived into the water a fter i t This p ractice
,
.

also woul d seem to have been ancient for S eneca tells us that at a
'

place called the Veins o f the N ile not fa r from Philae the priest s , ,

use d to cast money and o ff erings o f gold into the river at a festival
which apparently took place at the rising o f the water .

The next great operation o f the a gricul tural yea r in E gypt is the
sowing of the see d in Novembe r when the water o f the inundation ,

has retreated from the fields With the E gyptians as with many
.
,

peoples of antiquity the committin g o f the seed to the ea rth assume d

,

the character o f a solemn and mournful ri te On this subj ect I will .

”
let Plutarch speak for himsel f Wha t he asks . are w e to make , ,

of the gloomy j oyless and mournful sacrifices i f it is wron g ei ther

, , ,

to omit the established rites or to confuse and dis turb our conceptions
of the gods by absurd suspicions ? For the Greeks als o per form
m any rites which resemble those o f the E gyptians and are observed
about the same time Thus at the fes tival of the Thesmophoria i n
.

Athens women sit on the ground a nd fast And the Boeotians open .

the vaults o f the Sorrow ful One namin g tha t fes tival sorrow ful because
,

Demeter i s sorrowing for the descent o f the M ai den The mon th is .

the month o f sowing about the set ting o f the Pleia d es The E gyptia n s .

ca ll it A thyr the Athen ians P yan ep si on the Boeo tians the month o f
, ,

Demeter . For it was that time o f year when they saw some o f
the fruits vanishin g and failing from the trees while they sowed ,

others gru dgingly a n d with d i fficul ty scraping the ear th wi th their ,

han ds and hud d ling it up again on the uncer tain chance that what
,

they deposi ted i n the groun d wou ld ever ripen and come to maturity .

Thus they did in many respects like those who bury an d mourn their
dead.

The E gyptian harvest as we have seen falls not in autumn but

, ,

in spring in the mon ths o f March April and M a y To the husband

, , , .

m an the time o f harvest at leas t in a good year must necessarily b e

, ,

a season o f j oy : in brin gin g home his sheaves he is requited for hi s

long and anxious labours Yet if the old E gyptian farmer felt a
.

secret j oy at reaping and garnerin g the grain it was essential that he ,

should conceal the natural emo tion under an air of pro found dej ection
For was he not severing the body of the corn —
.

god with his sickle and

trampling it to pieces under the hoofs o f his ca ttle on the threshin g
floor ? Accordingly we are told that it was an ancient custom o f the
Egyptian corn reapers to beat their breasts and lament over the first
-

sheaf cut while at the same time they called upon Isis The invoca
, .

tion seems to have taken th e form o f a melancholy chant to which ,

the Greeks gave the name o f M a n eros S imilar plaintive strains

were chanted by corn —
.

reapers i n Phoenicia and other parts o f Western

Asia. Probab l y ali these dol eful ditties were lam en tati ons for the
3 72 T HE R IT U A L OF OSIR I S ca .

corn god killed by the sickles o f the reapers

-
In E gypt the slai n .

d e ity was Osiris a n d the name M an eros applied to the d i r ge appears

, , ,
”
to b e derive d from cer tain wor d s mean i n g Come to t y house h “
,

which o ften occur in the lamentations for the dead god .

Ceremonies of the same sor t have been observe d by o ther peoples ,

p robably for the same purpose Thus we are told that among all .

v e getables corn by which is apparently mean t ma ize holds the first

, ,

place in the househol d economy a n d the ceremonial observance of

the Cherokee I n d ians who invoke i t un d er the name o f
“

,
the Old
”
Woman in allus ion t o a myth that it sp ran g from the blood of
an old woman k i lle d by her d i sobe d ient sons A fter the las t working .

o f the crop a priest and hi s ass i stan t wen t i n to the fi eld and san g songs

o f i nvocation to the spi ri t o f the corn A fter tha t a loud ru stling .

woul d be heard which was thou ght to be caused by the Old Woman
,

b ringin g the corn into the field A clean trail was always kept from .

the fi el d to the house so that the corn mi ght be encoura ged to stay
,
”
a t home an d not go wan d erin g elsewhere Ano ther curious cere .

m ony o f which even the memory i s now almost for gotten was enacte d
, ,

a fter the fi rst workin g o f the corn when the owner or priest stood in ,

succession at each o f the four corners o f the fiel d and wep t and waile d
loudly E ven the priests are now unable t o give a reason for this
.

per formance which may have been a lament for the bloody death of
,
”
Selu the O ld Woman of the Corn In these Cherokee practices the
,
.

lamen tations and the invocat i ons o f the Old Woman o f the Corn
resembl e the ancien t E gyp tian custom s o f lamenting over the firs t
corn cu t a n d callin g upon I si s hersel f p robably in one o f her aspects
,

an Old Woman o f the Corn Further the Cherokee precaution of .

,

leavi ng a clear pa th from the field to the house resembles the E gyptian
”
invi tation to Osi ris Come to thy house
, S o in the E ast Indies to .

this d ay people observe elabora te ceremonies for the purpose o f bring

ing back the S oul o f the Rice from the fields to the ba rn The Nandi .

o f E as t A fr i ca per form a ceremony in S eptember when the eleusine

'

grain is ripenin g E very woman who owns a plantation goes out wi th

.

her d au ghters into the co rnfield s an d makes a bonfire o f the branches

and leav es o f certain t rees A fter that they plu ck some o f the eleusine
.
,

a n d each o f them puts one grain i n her necklace chews another and ,

rubs it on her foreh ead th r oat a n d breast , N o j oy is S hown by the

, .

womenfolk on th i s occasi on a n d they sorrow fully cut a basketful of

,

the corn which they take home w ith them and place i n the loft to
”
dry
The conception o f the corn —
.

spir it as old and dead at ha rvest is

very clearly embo d ied i n a custom observe d by the Arabs o f Moab .

Whe n the harvesters have nearly finished their task and only a small
corner o f the field remai ns to be reaped the owner takes a handful ,

o f wheat tied up in a shea f A hole is dug in the form o f a grave

.
,

and two stones a re set upri ght one at the head and the other at the ,

foot j ust as in an o rdinary burial Then the shea f o f wheat is laid

,
.

at the bottom o f the grave and the sheikh p ronounces these words
, ,
3 74 THE RITUAL OF O S IRI S ca .

may have been a ni ght o f All S oul s For it is a wi despread belief .

tha t the souls o f the d ead revisit their old homes on one ni ght o f the
yea r ; a n d on that solemn occasion people prepare for the reception
o f the ghos ts by layin o u t foo d fo r them to e at a n d li gh tin g lamps
g ,

to guide them on their d ark roa d from and to the grave H erodotus .
,

who briefly describes the festival omi ts to ment i on its dat e but we , ,

can d e termine it with some probability from o ther sources Thus .

Pl utarch tells us tha t O s i r i s was murdered on the seventeen th o f the

month A thyr and tha t the E gyptians accordin gly observed mourn ful
,

ri tes for four d ays from the seventeen th o f A thyr N ow in the Alex .

andr ian calenda r wh ich Plu tarch used these four days corresponded
, ,

to the thi rteenth fourteenth fi fteenth a n d S ixteen th o f N ovember and

, , , ,

this da te answers exactly to the o ther in d ica tions given by Plutarch ,

who says that at the tim e o f the festival the Nile was sinkin g the ,

n orth wi n d s dyin g away the ni gh ts len gtheni n g and the leaves falling
, ,

from the trees Durin g these four days a gilt cow swathed in a black
.

pall was exh ibi te d as an i m a ge o f Isis This no doubt was the image .
, ,

men tioned by H erodotus in his account o f the fes tival On the nine .

teenth day o f the mon th the people wen t down to the sea the priests ,

carryin g a Shri ne which con tained a golden casket I nto this casket .

they poured fresh wa ter and thereupon the s pec ta tors raised a shout
,

tha t Os i ris was foun d A fter that they took some ve ge table mould
.
,

moistened it with water mixed it with p recious S pices and incense

and moulde d the pas te in to a small m oon —
, ,

shaped image which was ,

then robed a n d ornamente d Thus it appears that the purpose of .

the ceremonies described by Plutarch was to represent dramatically ,

fi rst the sea rch for the d ead body o f Osi ris and second its j oyful
, , , ,

discovery followed by the resurrection o f the dead god who came to

,

li fe again in the new ima ge o f ve ge table moul d and spices L a ctantius .

tells us how on these occasions the pri ests wi th their shaven bodies , ,

beat their breas ts and lamen te d imi tatin g the sorrow ful search of ,

Isis for her los t son Osiris and how a fterwa rds their sorrow was turne d
to j oy when the j ackal —
,

hea d ed god Anubis or rather a mummer in ,

his s tea d pro d uced a small boy the l ivin g represen tative of the god
, ,

who was lost and was found Thus L actantius re gar d e d Osiris as the .

son ins tead o f the husband o f I sis and he makes no men tion of the ,

ima ge o f ve getable mould It is p robable that the boy who fi gured

.

in the sacre d dram a played the par t not o f O si ris but o f his son , ,

H orus ; but as the dea th and resurrection o f the god were celebrated
in many ci ties o f E gypt it i s also possible that i n some places the part
,

o f the god come to li fe was playe d b y a livin g actor instead o f by an

image Ano ther Chri s tian wri ter describes how the E gyptians wi th
.
,

shorn heads annually lamented over a burie d i d ol o f Osi ris smiting

, ,

thei r breasts slashin g their shoul d ers rippin g open their ol d wounds
, , ,

until a fter several days o f mournin g they pro fessed to find the
, ,

man gle d remains o f the god at which they rej oiced H owever the ,
.

d etails o f the ceremony may have varied in di fferent places the pre ,

tence o f findin g the god s bo dy and p robably o f restorin g it to life

’
, ,
XXXIX T HE O FFI CIA L RIT E S 3 75

was a great event in the festal year o f the E gyptians The shouts .

of joy which greete d it are described o r alluded t o by many ancient

writers .

The funeral rites o f Osiris as they were observed at his great ,

festival in the s ix teen provinces o f E gyp t are described in a lon g ,

inscription o f the P tolemaic period which is engraved on the walls ,

o f the go d s temple at Denderah the Ten tyra o f the Greeks a town

’
, ,

o f Upper E gypt s i tua ted on the wes tern bank o f the Nile about for ty

m iles nor th o f Thebes Un fortuna tely while the in fo rmation thus

.
,

furnished is remarkably full a n d minute on many po i nts the arrange ,

m ent adop ted in the inscrip tion is so con fuse d a nd the expression

o ften so Obscure that a clea r and consistent account o f the ceremonies

as a whole can har d ly be extracted from it M oreover we learn from .
,

the document that the ceremoni es varie d somewhat in the several

cities the ritual of Abydos for example d iff erin g from that o f B usiris
, , , .

Wi thout a ttempting to trace all the par ticulari ti es o f local usa ge I shall
briefly in dicate what seem to have been the lea d ing features o f the
festival so fa r as these can be ascertained with tolera b le certain ty
, .

The rites las te d e ighteen days from the twel fth to the thirtie th ,

o f the mon th Kh oiak and set for th the na ture of Osiri s in his triple
,

aspect as dead di smembered and finally reconstituted by the union

. ,

o f his sca ttere d limbs I n the fi rs t o f these aspect s he was called

.

Chent-Ament (Khenti Amenti ) i n the sec on d Osiris S ep a n d i n the

-
,
-
,

thir d Sokari (Seker ) Small ima ges o f the god were moulde d o f sand
.
‘

or vegetable earth and corn to wh i ch incense was sometimes a dde d ;

his face was painte d yellow a n d hi s cheek—
,

bones green These images ,

were cast in a mould o f pure gold which represented the god in the ,

form of a mummy wi th the whi te crown o f E gypt on his head

, The .

festival opene d on the twel fth day o f Khoiak wi th a ceremony o f

ploughing and sowin g Two black cows were yoke d to the plough
.
,

which was ma d e o f tamarisk wood while the share was o f black copper , .

A boy scattered the seed One end o f the field was sown wi th barley
.
,

the other wi th spelt and the mi dd le with flax D urin g the opera tion
,
.

“
the chie f celebrant reci ted the ri tual chap ter o f the sowin g o f the
”
fields
. A t Busiris on the twen ti eth o f Khoiak san d and barley were
”
put in the god s gar d en which appears t o have been a sort o f large
’

flower pot Th i s was done in the presence o f the cow goddess S henty
-
.
-
,

represente d seem in gly by the image o f a cow ma de o f gilt sycamore

woo d with a hea d less human image in its insi d e Then fresh in .
“

un dation wa ter was poured out o f a gol d en vase over both the godd ess
and the
gar d en and the barley w a s allowed to grow as the emblem
’
,

of the resurrection o f the

go d a fter his burial in the ea rth for the ‘
,

growth o f the gar d en i s the growth o f the div i ne substance On ’

.

the twenty second of Khoiak at the ei ghth hour the images o f Osiris
-
, , ,

attended by thirty four images o f d e ities per formed a mysterious

-

voya ge in thirty—
,

four tiny boats made o f papyrus which were illu ,

m inated by three hundre d a n d sixty fiv e li h ts On the twenty -

g .

fourth o f Kho iak a fter sunse t the effigy o f Osiris in a co ffin o f mulberry
, ,
3 76 T HE RIT U AL OF O S IRI S CH .

woo d was laid in the grav e a n d at the ninth hour o f the n i ght the
,

e ffi gy wh i ch ha d been ma d e a n d deposited the year be fore was removed

a n d place d upon bou ghs o f sycamore Las tly on the thi rtieth day
.
,

o f Kho i ak they repa i red to the holy sepulchre a subterranean chamber ,

over wh i ch appears to have grown a clump of Pers ea trees E ntering -

.

the vault by the wes tern d oor they lai d the coffined effi gy o f the dead
,

god reveren tly on a b e d o f san d in th e chamber S o they lef t him to .

his rest an d d epar te d from the sepulchre by the eas tern door Thus
, .

ende d the ceremon i es in the month o f Khoiak .

In the fore go i n g account o f the fes tival drawn from the great ,

inscr ip tion o f Den d erah the burial of Osiris fi gures p rominently

, ,

while his resurrection is implied rather than ex pressed Th is defect .

o f the d ocument however is amply compensa ted by a remarkable

, ,

series o f has relie fs which accompany a n d i llus tra te the inscription

-
.

These exhibit in a series o f scenes the dead god lyin g swa thed as a
mummy on his bier then gradually raisin g him sel f up hi gher and
,

h igh e r un til a t las t he has en tirely qui tte d the bier an d is seen erect
,

between the guardian win gs o f the faithful I si s who s tan d s beh in d ,

him while a male fi gure holds up b efore his eyes the crux a nsa ta
, ,

the E gyp tian symbol o f li fe The resurrection o f the god could

.

hardly be p or traye d more graphically E ven more instructive .

,

however is a nother represen ta tion o f the same event in a chamber

,

de dica ted to Osiris in the great temple o f I sis at Philae H ere we see .

the dea d body o f Osiris wi th stalks o f corn S pringi n g from it while ,

a pr i es t wa ters the stalks from a pi tcher which he hol d s in his hand .

“
The accompany i n g inscription se ts forth that this is the form of
him whom one may n ot nam e Osiris o f the mysteries who springs , ,
”
from the re turn i n g wa ters Taken to ge ther the picture and the
.
,

wor d s seem to leav e no doubt that Osi r i s was here conceived and
represen te d as a personifica tion o f the corn which sprin gs from the
fiel d s a fter they hav e been fertilised by the inun d ation This accord .
,

i ng to the i nscrip ti on was the kernel o f the mysteries the innermost

, ,

secret revealed to the ini tiated So in the ri tes o f Demeter at E leusis

.

a reape d ear o f corn was exhibi te d to the worshippers a s the central

mys tery o f thei r reli gion W e can now fully un d erstand why at the
.

grea t fes tival o f sowin g in the m on th o f Khoiak the priests used

to bury effigies o f Osiris made o f earth and corn When these effigies .

were taken up a gain at the end of a year or o f a shorter i nterval ,

the corn would be found to hav e sprouted from the body o f Osiris ,

an d thi s sprou tin g o f the grain w ould be hailed as an omen or rather ,

as the ca use o f the growth o f the crops The corn go d p roduced the
,
.
-

corn from himsel f : he gave his ow n body to feed the people : he died
tha t they mi gh t live .

And from the death and resurrection o f thei r great god the
E gyptians drew not only thei r suppor t and sus tenance in this life ,

b ut also thei r hope of a li f e eternal beyond the grave This hope i s .

indicated in the cleares t m anner by the very r emarkable effigies of

Osiris which have c ome to li g ht in E gyptian ceme te r ie s Thus 111 .
3 78 THE NATUR E O F O S IRI S CH .

wa s adopted an d tra nsfigu red by the priests i n the stately ritual of

the temple I n the mo d ern but doub tless ancien t A rab custom of
.
, ,

buryin g the O ld M an namely a shea f o f wheat in the harvest

“

, , ,

field a n d praying tha t he may re turn from the dead we see the germ
out o f wh i ch the worship o f the corn—
,

go d Osiris was probably developed .

The deta ils o f his my th fit in well w ith thi s i nterpretation of the

go d .H e wa s sai d to be the o ffspring o f Sky and E arth What more .

app ropriat e parenta ge could be invented for the corn which springs
from the groun d tha t has been fertilised by the water o f heaven ?
It is true that the lan d o f E gypt owed its fer tili ty directly to the Nile
and not to showers ; b ut the inhabitants must have known or guessed
that the great river in i ts turn was fe d by the rains whi ch fell in the
far in terior A gain the le gend that Osiri s was the first to teach
.
,

men the use o f corn woul d be most naturally told o f the corn god -

himsel f Further the story that his man gled remains were scattered
.
,

up a n d d own the land and buried i n di fferen t places may be a mythical

way o f expressin g either the sowin g or the winnowin g o f the grain .

The la tter interpretati on i s suppor ted by the tale that I sis place d
the severe d limbs o f Osi ris on a corn sieve O r more probably the -
.

le gend may be a reminiscence o f a custom o f slaying a human victim ,

perhaps a representative o f the corn spirit and d i stributing his flesh -

,

or scatter i n g hi s ashes over the fi elds to fer tilise them In modern .

E urope the fi gure o f Dea th is sometim es torn in pieces and the ,

fra gmen ts are then buried in the groun d to m ake the crops grow -

well and in o ther parts o f the w orld human vic tims a re treated in
'

the same way Wi th re gard to the ancient E gyptians we have it on

.

the authori ty o f Mane tho that they use d to burn red haired men and -

scat ter the i r ashes wi th winnowing fa n s and it is hi ghly si gnificant ,

that thi s barbarous sacrifice was o ffere d by the kings at the grave
o f Osiris We may conj ecture that the victims represen ted Osiris
.

himsel f who was annually slain d ismembered a nd buried in their

, , ,

persons tha t he mi ght quicken the see d in the earth .

Possibly in prehistor ic times the kin gs themselves played the part

o f the god a n d were slain a n d d ismembered in that character Set .

as well as Osi r i s i s sai d to have been torn in pieces a fter a rei gn of

e ighteen d ays which was commemorated by an annual festival of
,

the same len gth Accordin g to one story Romulus the first king of
.
,

Rome was cut in pieces by the senators who buri ed the fragments
, ,

o f him in the groun d ; and the trad iti onal day o f his d eath the seventh ,

o f July wa s celebra te d wi th certain curious ri tes which were apparently

, ,

connected with the artificial fert ilisa ti on o f the fig A gain Greek .

,

le gend told how Pentheus kin g o f Thebes and Lycur gus king of , , ,

the Thracian E don ia n s opposed the v ine god D i onysus and how
,
-
,

th e impious monarchs w ere rent in p ieces the one by the frenzied ,

Bacchanals the other by horses ,

The Greek tra d itions may well .

be distorted reminiscences o f a cus tom o f sacrificin g human beings ,

and especially divine kin gs in the character o f Dionysus a god who, ,

re sembled O s i ri s in many p oints and was sai d lik e hi m to h ave b een

xr
. O S I RIS A COR N -GOD 3 79

torn limb from limb We are told that in Chios men were rent in
,

pieces as a sacrifice to Dio nys u s ; and since they d i e d the same death
as their god it i s reasonable to suppose that they personated him
,
.

The story that the Thracian Orpheus was similarly torn limb from
limb by the Bacchanals seems to i ndica te that he too perished in
the character o f the god whose death he died It is si gnificant that .

the Thrac ian Lycurgus king o f the Ed onian s i s sa id to have been put
,
'
,

to death in order that the ground which had ceased to be fruit ful , ,

might regain its fertil ity .

Fur ther we read o f a Norwegian king Hal fdan the Black whose
, , ,

body was cut up and buried in d i fferen t parts o f his kin gdom for
the sake o f ensurin g the frui tfulness o f the earth He is sa i d to have .

been drowned at the a ge o f forty throu gh the breaking o f the ice in

sprin g What followe d his death is thus rela te d by the old Norse
.

“
historian S no rri S turluson : He ha d been the mos t prosperous
(li terally blesse d wi th abundance ) o f all k ings S o greatly d id men
, .

value him that when the news came that he was dead and his body
remove d to H ringa r ik i and inten d e d for burial there the chi e f men ,

from Raum arik i an d Wes tfol d a n d H e ithm ork came a n d all reques te d
that they mi gh t take his bo dy wi th them and bury it i n their various
provinces ; they thou ght that it would br i ng abundance to those
who o b taine d it E ven tually it was set tled that the bo d y was
,

distribute d in four places The hea d was la i d in a barrow at S teinn

.

in H ringarik i a n d each party took away thei r own share and buried
,

it All the se barr ows are calle d Hal fd an s barrows

. It should be
’
.

remembered tha t this H al fdan belon ged to the family o f the Ynglings ,

who trace d thei r descent from Frey the great S can d inavian god of ,

fer tility .

The natives o f Kiwai an islan d lyin g ofif the mou th of the Fly
,

River in Brit i sh New Gu inea tell o f a cer tain magi ci an name d Se gera
, ,

who ha d sa go for hi s totem When Se gera was ol d an d ill b e told

.
,

the people that he would soon d ie b ut tha t nevertheless he woul d , , ,

cause the i r gardens to thrive Accor d ingly he i ns tructe d them that

"

.
,

when he was dea d they should c ut him up and place p ieces o f his
flesh in their gar d ens but his hea d was to be bur i e d i n his own gar d en
‘

, ,

Of him it is said that he outlive d the or d inary age and that no man ,

knew his fa ther b ut tha t he ma d e the sa go good and no one was

,

hungry any more O ld men who were alive some years ago a ffirmed
.

that they had known S e gera in their youth and the general op inion ,

o f the K -iwai people s eems to be that S egera died not more than two
generations a go .

Taken all to gether these legen d s point to a w id esprea d practice

,

of d ismemberin
g the body o f a kin g or ma gician and buryin g
the pieces in d i fferent par ts o f the country in order to ensure the
f of the ground a n d probably also the fecund ity o f man and
l ertility
east .

To return to the human victims whose ashes the E gyptian s

scattere d with winnowin
g fans the red hai r o f these un fortunate s
'

-
,
380 T H E NATUR E O F O S I RI S CH .

was probably si gnificant For in E gypt the oxen which wer e sacrificed
.

had also to be red ; a sin gl e black or white hai r found on the beast
would have d isqualified it for the sacrifice If a s I conj ecture these .
, ,

human sacrifices w ere inten d e d to promo te the growth o f the crops

and the winnowin g o f their ashes seems to support thi s view—red
haired victims w ere perhaps selected as bes t fi tted to p ersonate the
S piri t o f the ru dd y grain For when a god is represented by a living
,

p erson it is natural that the human representative should be chosen

,

on the ground o f his supposed resemblance to the divine ori ginal .

H ence the ancien t M exicans conceiving the maize as a personal ,

bein g who went through the whole course o f li fe between seed time -

and harvest sacrifice d new —

,
born babes when the maize was sown ,

older children when i t had sproute d and s o on till it was fully ripe , ,
”
when they sacrificed ol d men A name for Osiri s was the crop .

”
o r harvest ; and the ancients sometimes explained him as a personi
fica ti on o f the corn
2 Osi r is a T r ee spi ri t — B ut Osi r i s was more than a spirit of
.

»
. .

th e corn ; he was al so a tree spirit and this may perhaps have been -
,

his primi tive character since the worship o f trees is naturally older i n
,

the hi s tory o f reli gi on than the worship o f the cereals The character .

o f Os i ris as a tree spirit was represen ted very graph i cally in a ceremony
-

described by Firmicus M a ternu s A pine tree havin g been cut d own .

-
,

the centre was hollowed o ut an d w i th the woo d thus excavated an ,

ima ge o f O si r i s was ma d e which was then buried like a corpse in ,

the hollow o f the tree It is har d to im agine how the conception of a

.

tree as tenan te d by a personal bein g could be more plainly expressed .

The image o f O si ris thus ma d e was kept for a yea r and then burne d ,

exactly as was d one wi th the ima ge o f Attis which was attached to

the pine-tree The c eremony o f cuttin g the tree as describe d by
.
,

Firmicus M a tern us appears to be alluded to by Plu tarch It was

, .

probably the ri tual coun terpar t of the mythical d iscove ry o f the body
o f Osiris enclosed i n the er i ca tre e In the hall o f Osi ri s at Denderah
r .

the c offin con tainin g the hawk hea d ed mummy o f the god is clearly -

depic ted as enclosed wi thin a tree apparently a coni fer the trunk , ,

and branches o f wh ich are seen above and below the co ffin The .

sc ene thus correspon d s closely both to the my th and to the ceremony

described by Firm i cus M ate rnu s .

It accords wi th the character o f Osiris as a tree spirit that his -

w orshippers were forb i dd en to inj ure fruit — trees and wi th his character ,

as a god o f ve geta tion in general tha t they were not allowed to stop
up wells o f wa ter which are so important for the i rri gation of hot
,

southern lan d s Accor d ing to one legen d he tau ght men to train
.
,

the vine to poles to prune its superfluous folia ge and to extract

, ,

the j uice o f the grape I n the papyrus of N eb s en i written about

.
,

15 5 0 B C Osi ri s is d epicted si ttin g in a shrine from the roo f o f which

. .
, ,

han g clu sters o f grapes and i n the papyrus o f the royal scribe N ek ht
we see the god enthroned in front o f a pool from the banks o f which ,

a l ux uri a nt vine with many bunches of grapes gro w s t owards the

, ,
38 2 ISIS CH .

effigies o f Osiris found in E gyptian tombs furnish an eloquent and nu

equivocal testimony They were at once an e mblem and an in stru
.

men t o f resurrection Thus from the spr outin g o f the grain the.

ancient E gyptians d rew an au gury o f human immortality They are .

not the only people who have built the same lo fty hopes on the
same slender foundation .

A god who thus fed his peopl e with his own broken body in this
l i fe an d who held out to the m a promise o f a bliss ful eternity in a
,

be tter world herea fter na turally rei gned supreme in thei r a ffections , .

\ Ve nee d not wonder there fore that in E gyp t th e worship o f the other
, ,

go d s was overshadowed by that o f Os i ris a n d that while they were ,

revered each in his own district he and his divine partner Isis were ,

adored in all .

CHAPT E R XLI

T H E ori ginal meanin g o f the goddess I sis is still more difficult to

d eterm i ne than tha t o f her brother an d husban d Osiris H er attributes .

and epithets were so numerous that in the hiero glyphics she is called
“
—
the ma ny name d
”
the thousand name d
-
”
and in Greek inscriptions
, ,

the myriad name d Yet in her complex nature it is perhaps still

-
.

possible to d e tect the ori ginal nucleus roun d which by a slow process
o f accretion the o ther elemen ts ga there d For i f her brother and
husba n d Osiris was in one o f his aspects the corn —
,

go d as we have seen ,

reason to believe she must surely have been the corn go dd ess There
,
-
.

are at leas t some groun d s for thinkin g so For i f we may trust Dio .

d oru s S ic ulus whose au thori ty appears to have been the E gyptian

,

hi s torian Mane tho the discovery o f wheat an d barley was attributed

,

to I sis and at her festivals stalks o f these grains were carried in pro
,

cessi on to commemorate the boon she had conferred on men A .

fur ther d e tail is added by Au gusti ne H e says that I si s made the .

d iscovery o f barley at the moment when she was sacrificing to the '

common ances tors o f her husband a nd hersel f all o f whom had been ,

kin gs and that she showed the n ewly d iscovered ears o f barley to
,

O siris and his councillor Thoth or M ercury as Roman writers c alled ,

him That is why a dd s Augus tine they i d enti fy Isi s wi th Ceres

'

.
.
, ,

Fur ther at harvest time when the E gyp tia r reapers had cut the first
,
-
,
‘

s talks they la i d them down a nd beat thei r breasts wailin g and calling
, ,

upon Isis The cus tom has been alrea d y explained as a lament for
.

the corn spi ri t slain un d er the sickle

-
Amon gst the epithets by which .

I s i s is desi gnate d in the inscriptions are Creatress o f green thi ngs .

Green go d dess whose green colour is like unto the greenness o f the
,
” ” ” ”
earth La d y o f B rea d
,
“
La dy o f Beer Lady o f Abundance ,
“
,
“
.

Accor d in g to B rugsch sh e i s not only the creatres s o f the fresh “

verdure o f ve getation which covers the earth but is actually the green ,
XLI ISIS 3 83

corn field itsel f which i s personified as a god dess

-
,
This is confirmed .

by her epithe t S ochi t or S ock et meaning a corn field a sense which

,
-
,

the word still re ta i ns in Coptic The Greeks conceived o f I sis as a .

corn goddess for they iden tifie d her with Demeter

-
,
I n a Greek .

epigram she is descr ibe d as she who has given bir th to the frui ts o f
“ ”
the earth and the mo ther o f the ears o f corn ; and in a hymn
,

composed in her honour she sp eaks o f hersel f as queen o f the wheat

”
field ,
and is described as char ged wi th the care o f the fruit ful
”
furrow s wheat rich pa th Accor d ingly Greek or Roman artists
’
-
.
,

o ften represented her wi th ears of corn on her hea d or in her hand .

Such we may suppose was Is is i n the ol d en time a rustic Corn

, , ,

Mother a d ored wi th uncou th rites by E gyptian swai ns But the .

homely features o f the clownish go d dess coul d har d ly be trace d in the

refined the sain tly form which spi ri tual i se d by a ges o f reli gious
, ,

evolu tion she presented to her worsh ippers of a fte r days as the true
,

wi fe the ten d er mo ther the b eneficent queen o f n ature enc i rcled wi th

, , ,

the nimbus o f moral puri ty o f immemorial and mysterious sanc tity

, .

Thus chas tene d and tran sfigu red she won many hear ts fa r beyon d the
b oundaries o f her na tive land I n that welter o f rel igions which
.

accompanie d the decline o f national li fe in antiqui ty her worship was

one of the mos t popular at Rome and throu ghou t the empire Some .

of the Roman emperors themselves w ere openly ad d icted to i t And .

however the rel igion o f Isis may l ike any o ther have been o ften worn , ,

as a cloak by men a nd women o f loose li fe her ri tes appear on the ,

whole to have been hono urably d istin gui shed by a d i gn ity a n d com
posure a solemni ty and d ecorum well fi tted to soothe the troubled
, ,

m in d to ease the burdened heart

,
They appealed there fore to gen tle .

Spiri ts and above all to women whom the bloo d y a n d licen ti ous rites
, ,

of other Orien tal go dd esses only shocke d a n d repelled We nee d not .

won d er then that in a perio d o f decadence when tra d i tional f a i ths

, , ,
’
were shaken when systems clashe d wh e n men s minds were dis
, ,

quiete d when the fabric o f empire itsel f on ce d eeme d e ternal be gan

, , ,

to show ominous ren ts a n d fissures the serene fi gure o f Isis wi th her ,

spiritual calm her gracious promise o f immor tality shoul d h av e

, ,

appeared to many like a s tar in a st ormy sky and shoul d have rouse d ,

in their breasts a rap ture of devo tion not unl ik e tha t which was paid
in the Mi d dle A ges to the Vi rgin M ary In d eed her s tately ritual .
,

with its shaven a n d tonsured p riests its matins a n d vespers its tinkl i n g , ,

mus ic its baptism a n d aspers ions o f holy water its solemn processions
, , ,

its j ewelled i ma ges o f the M o ther o f God presen ted many poin ts o f ,

similarity to the pomps and ceremonies o f Catholi cism The re .

semblance need n ot be purely accidental Ancient E gypt may have .

contributed its share to the gor geous symbolism o f the Catholic Church
as well as to the pale abstrac tions o f her theolo gy Certainly in art the .

figure o f Isis sucklin g the in fant H orus is so like tha t o f the Madonna
and c hild that it has sometimes received the adoration o f i gnorant
Christian s And to I sis i n her later character of patroness o f m a riners
'

the Vir gin Mary perhaps owes her beauti ful epithet o f S tella M aris ,
384 OS IR IS A N D T H E SU N CH .

Star o f the S ea un d er which she is adored by tempest tossed sail ors

,
-
.

The at tributes o f a ma rine d ei ty may have been bes towe d on I sis by

the sea — fari ng Greeks o f Alexandria They are quite forei gn to her
.

ori ginal character and to the habi t s o f the E gypti ans who had no love ,

o f the sea On this hypothesis S i rius the bri gh t star o f I sis which on
.
, ,

July mornin gs ri ses from the glassy waves o f the easter n M editerranean ,

a ha rbin ger o f halcyon weather to ma riners wa s the true S tella M aris

, ,
”
the Star o f the S ea .

CHAPT E R XLI I

OS IRI S A N D T H E SU N

O S IRI S has been sometimes interpreted as the sun -god and in modern ,

times this vi ew has been held by so many d is tin guished writers that it
deserves a brie f examination I f we enqui re on what e v idence Osiris
.

has been i d entified w ith the sun or the sun god it will be found on -
,

analysis to be minute i n quantity a n d d ubious where it i s not absolutely

,

worthless in quali ty The d ili gent Jablonski the first modern scholar
, .
,

t o collect a n d si ft the testimony o f classical w r i te rs on E gyptian

reli gion says that it can be shown in many ways that Osi ris is the sun
, ,

and tha t he coul d produce a cloud o f wi tnesses to prove it b ut that it is ,

nee d less to d o s o si nce no learned m an i s i gno rant o f the fact Of

, .

the ancient w riters whom he condescends to quote the only two who ,

expressly i denti fy Osiri s with the sun are D iod orus and Macrobius .

B ut little w ei ght can be attache d to their evidence ; for the statement

o f Diod o ru s is va gue an d rhe torical a n d the reasons which Macrobius
, ,

one o f the fathers o f solar mytholo gy assi gns for the identification
,

a re exceedin gly sli ght .

The ground upon which some modern writers seem chiefly to rely
for the identification o f Osiris wi th the sun is that the story o f his death
fits better with the solar phenomen a than with any o ther in nature .

It may readily be a d mi tted that the daily appearance and d isappearance

o f the sun m ight v ery n aturally be expressed by a myth o f his death
and resurrec tion ; and writers who re gard O siris as the sun are careful
to indicate that it i s the d iu rnal an d not the annual course of the
, ,

sun to whic h they un d erstan d the myth to apply Thus Renou f who .
,

identifie d Osiris with the sun adm itt ed that the E gyptian sun could
,

not with any show o f reason be describe d as dead in winter B ut i f his .

daily death was the theme o f the legend why was it celebrated by an
,

annual ceremony ? This fact alone seems fatal to the interpretation

o f the myth as d escrip tive o f sunset and sunrise A gain though the .
,

sun may be said to die daily i n what sens e can he be said to be torn in
,

pieces ?
In the course o f our enqui ry it has I trust been made clear that
, ,

there i s another natural phenomenon to which the conception of death

a nd resurrection is as applicable as t o sunset and sunrise and which , ,
3 86 DI O NYSUS CH .

and happy resurrec tion they celebra te d with dramatic rites of

al ternate lamentation and rej oicin g But if the celebration was in .

form dramat i c it was in substance ma gical ; that is to say it was

, ,

inten d e d on the p rinciples o f sympa the tic ma gic to ensure the vernal
, ,

re generation o f plant s a n d the multiplicat i on o f animals which had ,

seeme d to be menace d by the i nroads of win ter I n the ancient .

worl d however such i d eas a n d such ri tes were by no means confined

, ,

to the O rien tal peoples o f Babylon a nd Syria o f Phry gia an d E gypt ; ,

they were not a p roduct peculia r to the rel igi ous mysticism o f the
dreamy E ast b ut were shared by the races o f livelier fancy and more
,

mercurial temperament who inhabi te d the shores an d islands o f the

Aegean We need not with som e enqu irers in anci ent and mo dern
.
,

times suppose that these Western pe oples borrowe d from the o lder
,

civilisation of the Orien t the concep ti on o f the Dying and Reviving

God to ge ther wi th the solemn ritual i n which that conception was
, ,

drama tically set fo rth be fore the eyes o f the worshippers More .

probably the resemblance wh i ch may be traced in th i s respect between

the reli gio n s of the E as t and West i s no more than what we com
m o n ly thou gh incorrec tly
, call a fortuitous coincidence the e ff ect of, ,

simila r causes actin g alike on the similar const itu tion o f the human
mind in d i ff erent coun tri es a nd under di fferent skies The Greek .

had no nee d t o j ourney in to fa r countries to learn the vicissitu d es of

the seasons to mark the fleetin g beau ty o f the dam a sk rose the tran
, ,

sien t glory o f the golden corn the passing splen d our o f the purple ,

grapes Year by year in his own beau ti ful land he b eheld w ith
.
,

natural re gret the bri ght p omp o f summer fa d in g into the gloom
,

and s ta gnati on of win ter and year by year he hailed wi th natural ,

deli ght the outburst o f fresh li fe i n spr ing Accustomed to personi fy .

the forces o f na ture to tin ge he r cold abstracti ons wi th the warm

,

hues o f ima gination to clo the her naked reali ties wi th the gor geous
,

drapery o f a my thic fanc y he fashi one d for himsel f a tr ain of gods ,

an d god d ess es o f spi ri ts and el ves o u t o f the shi ftin g panorama o f the
, ,

seasons and followed the annual fluctuations o f their fortunes with

,

al terna te emo tions o f cheer fulness and d ej ec tion o f gladness and ,

sorrow which found thei r natur al expression i n alte rnate ri tes of

,

rej oicin g and lamen tation o f revelry and mournin g A consi d eration , .

o f som e o f the Greek d ivi ni ties who thus died and rose a gain from the
dead may furnish us wi th a series o f companion pictures to set side
by s ide w ith the sad fi gures o f Adonis A ttis and Osiris We begin , , .

w ith Dionysus .

The god Di onysus or Bacchus is best known to us as a p ersonifica

ti on o f the vine a n d o f the exhilar ation produce d by the j uice o f the
grape .H i s ecsta tic worship charac terise d by wild dances thrilling , ,

mus i c and tipsy excess appears to have ori gina ted amo n g the ru de
, ,

tribes o f Thrace who were notori ously a d di cted to drunkenness

,
.

Its mys tic doc trines and extrav agant rites were essentially forei gn
to the clea r intelli gence and sober temperamen t o f the Greek race .

Yet a p p ealin g as it did to that love o f mystery and that p ronenes s

XLIII DI ON YSU S 3 87

to revert to sava gery which seem to be innate in most men the reli gion ,

spread like wildfire through Greece until the god whom H omer hardly
deigned to notice had become the most popular fi gure o f the pantheon .

The resemblance which his s tory and his ceremonies present to those
of Osiris have led some enquirers bo th in ancient a n d modern times to
hold that Dionysus was merely a dis guised Osiris imported directly ,

from E gypt in to Greece But the grea t prepon d erance o f evidence

.

points to his Thracian ori gin and the simila ri ty o f the two worships
,

is sufficien tly explaine d by the similarity o f the ideas and customs on

which they were foun d e d .

While the vine with its clus ters was the most characteristic mani
festation o f Dionysus he was also a god o f trees in general
, Thus we .

are tol d that alm os t all the Greeks sacrific ed to D ionysus o f the
” ”
tree
. In Boeo tia one o f his ti tles was Dionysus in the tree H is .

im age was o ften merely an upri ght post without arms but draped in , ,

a mantle wi th a bea rd ed mask to represent the head and wi th lea fy

, ,

boughs proj ectin g from the head or bo dy to show the nature o f the
deity On a vase his rude e ffigy is depicted appearing out o f a low tree
'

or bush At Ma gnesia on the M aeander an image of Dionysus i s sa i d

.

to have been foun d in a plane tree which ha d been broken by the

-
,

wind H e was the patron of cul tiva te d trees : p rayers were o ffered
.

to him th at he woul d make the trees grow ; a n d he was especially

honoured by husbandm en chiefly frui t growers who set up an image
,
-
,

of him in the shape of a natural tree stump in thei r orchards H e

,
-
, .

was said to have discovered all tree fru its amon gst which apples -
,

and figs are particularly mentione d ; an d he was re ferred to as well

” ” “
frui ted
“
he o f the green fru it and mak ing the fruit to grow
, , .

One of his ti tles was teem in g or burs ting (as o f sa p or blossoms )

and there was a Flowery D i onysus i n A ttica an d at Patrae in Acha i a .

The Athenians sacrifice d to him for the prosperi ty o f the frui ts o f the
land Amongst the trees particularly sacred to him in a d di tion to
the vine was the pine —
.
,

,
tree The Delphic o racle commande d the
.

”
Corinthians to worship a par ticular pine tree equa lly wi th the god -
,

so they made two images o f Dionysus o ut o f it w i th red faces a nd gil t ,

bo dies In art a wand tippe d with a pine cone is commonly ca rried

.
,
-
,

by the god or his worshippers A gain the ivy and the fig tree were
.
,
-

especially assoc i ated with him In the A ttic township o f Acharnae

.

there was a Dionysus Ivy ; a t Lacedaemon there wa s a F ig D ionysus ;

and in Naxos where figs were calle d m ei li cha there was a Dionysus
, ,

Meilichios the face o f whose ima ge was ma d e o f fig-wood

,
.

Further there are i ndications few but s ign ifica nt that Dionysus
, , ,
,

was conceived as a dei ty o f a gr i cul ture and the corn H e is spoken .

of as himsel f doin
g the work o f a husbandman : he is reported to
have b een the first to yoke oxen to the plou gh whi ch be fore had been ,

dragge d by hand alone ; and some people found in this tradition the
clue to the bovine shape in wh i ch as we shall see the god was of ten
, ,

suppose d to present himsel f to hi s worshippers Thus guiding the .

ploughsh are and scattering the seed as he went Di onysus is said to ,

388 D ION YSUS ca .

have eased the labou r o f the husbandman Further we are tol d .

,

tha t in the lan d o f the Bisaltae a Thracian t rib e t h ere w a s a great , ,

and fa i r sanctuary o f Di onysus where at his festival a bri ght light ,

shone forth at n ight as a token o f an abun d ant harvest vouchsafed

by the d ei ty ; but i f the crops were to fail that year the mystic li ght ,

was not s een d arkness broo d ed over the sanctuary as at other times
, .

Moreover among the emblems o f Di onysus was the wi n n owing fan

,
-
,

that is the lar ge open shovel shape d baske t which down to m o der n -
,

times has been use d by fa rmers to s eparate the grain fr om the chaff
b y tossin g the corn in the a i r This sim p le agricultural inst rument
.

fi gured in the mystic rites o f Dionysus ; in d eed the god is tra ditionally
sai d to have been place d at bir th in a w i nnowin g fa n as in a cradle : -

in art he i s represented as an in fant so cra d le d ; and f rom these tra di

t ions and rep resentati ons he derived the epithet o f L i k ni tes that is
He o f the Winnowin g—
, ,

fan .

Like o ther go d s o f v egetation Dionysus was believe d to have

die d a violent death but to h ave been b rou ght to li fe a gain ;
,

and hi s su ff erings d eath a n d resurrection were enacted in his

, ,

sacred ri tes H is t ra gic s tory is thus told by the poet N onnus

. .

Z eus in the form o f a serpent vis ited Persephone and she bore ,

him Za greus that is Dionysus a horned in fant

, , Scarcely was , .

he born when the babe mounte d the throne of his father Zeus and
,

mimicke d the great god by brandishin g the li ghtnin g in his tiny

hand B ut he d i d not occupy the thron e lon g ; for the treacherous
.

Ti tans thei r faces whi tene d wi th chalk attacked him with knives
, ,

whil e he wa s looki ng a t himsel f in a mi rro r F or a tim e he eva de d .

thei r assaults by turnin g himsel f into various shapes assuming the ,

likeness successively o f Zeus and Cr onus of a young man of a lion , , ,

a horse and a se rpent Finally in the form o f a bull he was cut to

,
.
, ,

pieces by the mur d erou s kn ives o f hi s enemies His Cretan myth .

,

as rela te d by F i rmi cus M aternus ran thus H e was said to have , .

been the bastar d son o f Jupiter a Cretan king Going abroad Jupiter , .
,

trans ferred the throne and sceptre to the youth ful Dionysus but , ,

knowin g that hi s wi fe Juno che ri shed a j ealous dislike of the child ,

he en trusted Dionysus to the care o f guar d s upon whose fidelity he

believed he coul d rely Juno however bribed the guards and
.
, , ,

amusin g the ch i l d with rat tles and a cunnin gly wrou ght looking glass -

lured him i nto an ambush where her satelli tes the Titans rushed
, , ,

upon him cut him limb from l imb boiled his bo d y with various herbs
, , ,

a n d ate it But hi s sister M inerva w ho had shared in the deed kept

.
, ,

hi s heart an d gave it to Jup iter on his re turn revealin g to him the ,

whole his tory o f the crime In his rage Jupiter put the Ti tans to
.
,

death by tor ture and to soothe his grief for the loss of his son made
, , ,
’
an ima ge in which he enclose d the child s hea rt and then built a temple ,

in hi s honour In this version a E uhemeristi c tu rn has been given

.

to the myth by representing Jupi te r and Juno (Zeus a n d H era ) as a

king an d queen o f Cre te The guards re ferred to are the mythical
.

Cu retes who danced a war d ance round the infant Di onysus as they
-
,
390 DI ON Y SU S CH .

from the water by trumpet blasts while they threw a lamb into the ,

lake as an o ff eri ng to the warder o f the dead Whether this was a .

sprin g fes tival does not appe a r but the Lydians ce rtainly celebrated ,

the a d vent o f Di onysus in sprin g ; the god was suppose d to bring the
season w ith him Deities of ve getation who are believed to pass
.
,

a cer ta i n po rtion of each year un d erground naturally come to be ,

rega r d ed as gods o f the lower world or o f th e dead Both Dionysus .

and Osiris were so conc eived .

A feature i n the mythi cal character o f Dionysus which at first ,

si ght appears inconsistent wi th hi s nature as a deity o f vegetation ,

is that he was o fte n conceive d a n d represented in animal shape ,

especially in the form or at least with the h o rns of a bull Thus he , ,

.

” ” ”“ ” “ “ “
i s spoken o f as cow born bull bull shap ed
-
bull faced -
, ,
-
,
”
bull browed -
bull horned
-
,
horn bearin g
- two horned , ,
-
,
”
horne d H e was believed to appea r at l east occasionally as a
.
, ,

bull His ima ges were o ften as at Cyzicus made in bull shape or
.
, , ,

with bull horns ; and he was painted with ho rn s Types of the .

horne d Dionysus are found amongst the su rvivin g monuments of

antiquity On on e statuette he appears clad in a bull s hide the head
.
’
, ,

horns an d hoo fs han gin g d own behind A gain he is represented as

, .
,

a chil d with clusters o f grap es round his brow and a cal f s head with ,
’

Sproutin g horns attached t o the back o f his head,

On a red-figured .

’
vase the god is portrayed as a cal f headed chil d seated on a woman s -

lap The people o f Cynaetha held a festival o f Dionysus in winter

. ,

when men who had greased thei r bodies with oil for the occasion
, ,

used to pick out a bull from the herd and carry it to the sanctuary
of the god Dionysus was supposed to inspire their choice of the
.

parti cular bull which p ro b ably rep resented the deity himsel f ; for at
,

hi s festivals he was beli eved to app ear in bull form The women .

’
o f E lis hailed him as a bull and prayed him to come with his bull s ,

foot They san g

. Come hither D ionysus to thy holy temple b y
, , ,
’
the sea ; come with the Graces to thy temple rushin g with thy bull s ,
”
foot 0 goo d ly bull O goo d ly bull !
,
The Bacchanals o f Thrace
,

wore horns in imitation o f their go d Accordin g to the myth it was in .

,

the shape of a bull that he was torn to pieces by the Ti tans ; and the
Cretans when they acted the su ff erin gs and death o f Di onysus tore a
, ,

live bull to pieces with thei r teeth Indeed the rendin g and devourin g .
,

o f liv e bulls and c alves appea r to have been a regular feature of the
Dionysiac rites When w e consi d er the practi ce o f p ortraying the god
.

as a bull o r wi th some o f the fea tures o f the animal the belief that he ,

appeare d in bull form to his worshippers at the sacred ri tes and the ,

legend that i n bull form he had been t orn in pieces we cannot doubt ,

that in rendin g and devourin g a live bull at his festival the worship pers
o f Di onysus believed themselves to be killing the god ea ting his flesh , ,

and drinkin g hi s blood .

Another animal whose form Di onysus assumed was the goat One .

” “
o f his names was Kid At Athens and at H erm ion he was wor .

” “
shipped under the title o f the one of the Black Goatskin and a ,
XLIII DION YS U S 3 91

legend ran that on a certain occasion he had appeared clad in the skin
from whic h he took the ti tle In the wine growing district o f P hliu s
.
— ,

where in autumn the plain is still thickly mantled with the red a nd
gol den foliage o f the fading vines there stood o f old a bronze ima ge of ,

a goat which the husban d men plastered with gol d lea f as a means o f
,
-

protecting their vines against bli ght The image probably represented .

the vine god himsel f

-
To save him from the wr ath o f H era his fa ther
.
,

Zeus cha nged the you thful Dionysus into a k i d ; a n d when the gods
fled to Egypt to escape the fury o f Typhon Dionysus was turned into ,

a goa t Hence when his worshippers rent in pieces a l ive goa t a nd

.

devoured it raw they must have bel ieved tha t they were eating the
,

body and blood o f the god The custom of tearing in pieces the bodies
‘

of animals and o f men and then devouring them raw has been prac tised
as a reli gious rite by savages in mo d ern times We nee d n ot there fore .

dismiss as a fable the tes timony o f antiquity to the observance o f

sim ilar rites amon g the fren z ie d worsh ippers o f Bacchus .

The custom o f killin g a god in animal form wh i ch we shall examine ,

m ore in detail fu rther on belon gs to a very early s ta ge o f human

,

culture and i s ap t in la ter t imes to be m isun d erstoo d The a dvance

,
.

of thought ten d s to strip the old an imal and plant go d s o f the i r best i al
and vegetable husk a n d to leave thei r human attr ib utes (whi ch are
,

always the kernel o f the concep tion ) as the final an d sole res id uum .

In other words animal and plan t go d s tend to become purely an thropo

,

m orphic When they have become wholly or nearly so the animals

'

.
,

and plants which were at firs t the d ei ties themselves st ill re ta i n a ,

vague and ill unders tood connexion wi th the anthropomorph ic go d s

-

who have d eveloped out o f them The ori gin o f the relationship .

between the deity a n d the animal or plant hav i n g been for gotten ,

various s tories a re invented to explain it These explana tions may .

follow one o f tw o lines accor d ing a s they a re based on the hab itual or
on the excep tional treatment of the sacre d an im al or plant The .

sacred animal was hab itually spared and only exceptionally slain ; ,

and accor d in gly the myth m ight be d evised to expla i n e ither why it
was spared or why it was killed Devised for the forme r purpose the .
,

myth would tell o f some service ren d ered to the de ity by the animal ;
devised for the lat ter purpose the my th woul d tell o f some inj ury ,

inflicted by the animal on the god The reason given for sacrificing .

goats to Dionysus exemplifies a myth o f the latter sort They were .

sacrificed to him it was said because they inj ured the vine N ow
, , .

the goat as we have seen was ori ginally an embo d iment o f the god
, ,

himsel f But when the god had dives te d h imsel f o f his animal cha r
.

acter and ha d become essen tially anth ropomorph i c the killin g o f the ,

goat in his worship came to be regarded no lon ger as a slayin g o f the

deity himsel f b ut as a sacrific e o ff ered to him ; and since some reason
,

had to be assi gned why the goa t in p a r ticular shoul d be sacrificed it ,

was alle ged that this was a punishment inflicted on the goa t fo r inj ur
ing the vine the obj ect o f the god s especial care ’

, Thus we have the .

strange sp ectacle o f a go d sacrificed to himsel f on the ground that he

3 92 DI O NY SUS CH .

i s his own enemy And as the deity is supposed to pa rtake of the

.

victim o ff ered to him i t follows that when the victim is the god s
, ,
’

o ld sel f the god eats o f his own flesh H ence the goat god Di onysus is -
, .

rep resente d as eatin g raw goat s bloo d ; an d the bull god Dionysus is
’
-

”
calle d eater o f bulls On the analo gy o f these instances w e may
.

co n j ecture that wherever a d eity i s d escribed as the eater o f a par

ticula r animal the animal in ques tion was ori ginally nothin g but the
,

deity himsel f Later on w e shall find that some savages propitiate

.

dea d bears an d whales by o fferin g the m por tions o f their own bodies .

All thi s however d oes n ot ex p lain why a d eity o f ve getation should

, ,

appear in animal form B ut the consi d era ti on o f that point had

.

be tter be de ferre d till w e have discussed the character and attributes

o f Demeter M eantime it remains to men tion that i n some places
.
,

i nstea d o f an animal a human being was torn in pieces at the rites of

,

Dionysus . This was the practice in Chios and Tenedos ; and at

Potn ia e i n Boeotia the tradition ran that it had been formerly the
cus tom to sac rifice to the goat smi tin g Dionysus a child for whom a
-
,

goat was a fterwards substi tuted At Orchom enu s as we have seen

.
, ,

the human vict i m was taken fro m the women o f an old royal family .

As the slain bull or goat represented the slain god so w e may suppose , , ,

the human vict i m also represente d him .

The le gends o f the deaths of Pentheus and Lycur gus two kings ,

who are sai d to have been torn to pieces the one by Bacchanals the , ,

other by horses for their opposition to the rites o f Dionysus may be

, , ,

as I have alrea d y su ggeste d d i storte d remini scences o f a custom of

,

sacrificing d ivine kin gs in the character o f Dionysus and of dispersin g

the fra gmen ts o f thei r broken bodies over the fields for the purpose of
fert i l isin g them It is probably no mere coincidence tha t Di onysus
.

himsel f i s said to have been torn in pieces a t Thebes the very place ,

where accordin g to le gend the same fate be fell king Pentheus at the
hands o f the frenzi ed votaries o f the vine -god .

H owever a traditi on of human sacrifice may sometimes have been

,

a mere misinterpretation o f a sacr ifi cial ritual i n which an animal

victim was treated as a human bein g For example at Tenedos the .
,

new born c al f sacrifi ce d to Dionysus was sho d in buskins and the

-
,

mo ther cow was tended like a woman in child-bed At Rome a she .

goat was sacrificed to V e d ij ov is as i f it were a human victim Yet on .

the other hand it is equally possible and perhaps more probable that , ,

these curious rites were themselves m itigations o f an older and ruder

cus tom o f sacr ificin g hum an bein gs and that the later pretence of ,

treatin g the sacrificial victims as i f they were human beings was merely
pa rt o f a pi ous and merci ful fraud which palmed off on the dei ty less ,

p recious vict ims than livin g men and women This i nterpretation is .

suppor ted by many un d oubte d cases in which animals have bee n

substituted for human victims ,
3 94 DE M E T E R AN D PERS E PH O N E CH .

Vainly the oxen dra gge d the ploughs t o and f ro in the fields ; vainly
the sower d ropped the barley seed in the brown furrows ; nothing
cam e up from the parched and crumblin g soil E ven the Ra ria n plain .

near E leusis which was wont to wave with yellow harvests lay bare
, ,

and fallow Manki nd would have perishe d o f hun ger and the gods
.

woul d have been robbe d o f the sacrifices which were their due i f Zeus ,
-

i n alarm had not commanded Pluto to dis gor ge his prey to restore ,

his bri d e Persephone to her m other Demeter The grim lord of the .

Dea d smiled a n d obeyed but be fore he sent back his queen to the
,

upper ai r on a gol d en car he gave her the seed of a pome granate to

,

eat which ensured that she would return t o hi m

,
B ut Zeus stipulated .

tha t henc e for th Persephone should spend two thir d s o f every year
wi th her m other and the gods i n the upper world and one thi rd o f the
year with her husband in the nether world from which she was to ,

re turn year by year when the earth was gay w ith sprin g flowers .

Gla d ly the daugh ter then returned to the sunshine gladly her mother ,

received her and fell upon her neck ; and in her j oy at recovering the
lost one D eme ter ma d e the corn to sprou t from the clods of the
ploughed fi elds and all the broad earth to be heavy with leaves and
blossoms And strai ghtway she went and showe d thi s happy sight to
.

the princes o f E leusis to Trip tolemus E umolpu s Diocles and to the

, , , ,

kin g C eleus himsel f and moreover she revealed to them her sacred
,

rites and mysteries Blessed says the poet is the mortal man who
.
, ,

has seen thes e things but he who has had no share o f them in li fe will
,

never be happy in death when he has descended into the darkness of

the grave . S o the two goddesses departed to dwell i n bliss with the
go d s on Olympus ; a n d the bard ends the hymn with a p ious prayer
to Demeter and Persephone tha t they would be pleased t o grant him
a livel ihoo d in re turn for his song .

It has been generally reco gnised a nd indeed it seems sca rcely open ,

to d oubt that the main theme which the poet set be fore himsel f in
,

composin g this hymn was to d escr ibe the traditional foun d ation of
the E leusinian mysteries by the goddess Demeter The whole poem .

leads up to the t rans formati on sc ene in which the ba re le afless expanse

o f the E leusi nian plain i s suddenly turne d at the w ill o f the goddess , ,

int o a vast sheet o f ru dd y corn ; the b eneficent deity takes the

pri nces o f E leusis shows them wha t she has done teaches them her
, ,

mys tic ri tes a n d vanishes with her dau gh ter to heaven The revela
, .

tion o f the mys teries is the triumphal close o f the piece This con .

e lusion is confirmed by a more minute ex a mination o f the poem ,

which proves tha t the p oet has given not merely a general account of ,

the founda tion o f the mysteri es b ut also in m ore or less veiled lan gua ge
,

mythical explanati ons o f the ori gin o f particular rites which we have
good r ea son to believe forme d essential features o f the festival .

Amon gst the rites a s to whic h the poet thus drops si gnificant hin ts are
the preliminary fast o f the candidates for i n i tiation the torchli ght ,

rocession the all ni ght vi il

-
the sittin g o f the candidates veiled and
p , g , ,

en silence on stools covered with s hee p ski ns the u se o f scurrilous

, .
xLIv DE M E T E R AN D PE RS E P H O N E 3 95

language the b reakin g o f ribald j ests and the solemn communion with
the divini ty by participation in a draught o f barley—
, ,

water from a holy

chalice .

But there is yet another and a deeper secret of the mysteries which
the author o f the poem appears to have di vul ge d un d er cover o f hi s
narrative H e tells us how as soon as she ha d trans formed the
.
,

barren brown expanse o f the E leusinian plain into a field o f golden

g
rain she, g laddened the eyes of Triptolemus and the o ther E leusinian
princes by showin g them the growing or s tan d i ng corn When we .

compare this part o f the s tory wi th the statemen t o f a Christian wri ter
of the second centu ry Hippolytus that the very heart o f the mysteries
, ,

consis ted in showin g to the in itiated a reaped ear o f corn w e can hardly ,

doubt that the poe t o f the hymn was well a cquainted wi th this solemn
rite and that he delibera tely in tended to explain its ori gin in prec i sely
,

the same way as he explai ned o ther ri tes o f the mys ter ies namely by ,

representing Demeter as havin g set the example o f per formin g the

ceremony in her o wn person Th us my th a n d r i tual mutually explain
.

and confirm each other The poe t o f the seven th century be fore our
era gives us the my th—
.

he could not wi thou t sacrile ge have revealed

the ritual : the Chris tian fa ther reveals the ri tual and his revelati on ,

accor d s per fec tly w ith the veile d h int o f the old poet On the whole .
,

then we may wi th many mo d ern sch o lars co n fi d ently accept the

, , ,

sta temen t o f the learned Christ ian father Clement o f Alexan d ria that ,

the my th o f Demeter and Persephone w a s acte d as a sacred d rama in

the mys teries of E leusis .

But i f the my th was acted as a pa rt perhaps as the principal par t , ,

of the most famous and solemn rel igious rites o f ancient Greece we ,

have still to enquire What was a fter all stripped o f later accreti ons
, , , .
,

the ori gi nal kernel o f the my th which appears to la ter a ges su r roun d ed
and tra nsfigu re d by an aureole o f awe and mys tery li t up by som e ,

of the most brilliant rays o f Grecian li terature a n d art ? I f we follow

the ind ications given by our ol d est li terary au thority on the subj ect ,

the au thor o f the H omeric hymn to Demete r the r idd le is n ot har d ,

to rea d ; the fi gures of the two go dd esses the mother a n d the daugh ter , ,

resolve themselves in to p erson ificati on s o f the corn A t least thi s .

appears to be fairly certai n for the daughter Pers eph one T he goddess .

who spends three or ac cord in g to another version o f the my th six

, ,

m onths o f every year with the dea d un d er

groun d and the remain d er
of the year wi th the living above groun d ; in whose absence the barley
seed is hid d en in the ear th and the fiel d s li e bare and fallow ; on
whose return in sprin g to the upper world the corn shoo ts up from
'

the clods and the earth is heavy with l eaves a n d bloss oms—this

goddess can surely be no thin g else tha n a mythical embodiment o f

the ve geta tion and particularly of the corn which is buried under
, ,

the soil for some mon ths o f every w i n ter a n d comes to li fe a ain a s
g ,

from the grave in the sprouting cornstalks a n d the Openin flowers

,
g
and fo lia ge o f every sprin g No o ther reasonable and prob able ex
.

planation of Persep hone seems p ossible And i f the d au ghte r go ddess .

3 96 DE M E T E R AN D P E RS E PH O N E CH .

was a personification o f the youn g corn o f the present year may not ,

the mo ther god d ess be a personifica tion o f the old corn o f las t year ,

which has given bi r th to the new crops ? The only al ternative to

this view o f Demeter would seem to be to suppose th at she is a personi
fic a ti on o f the ear th from whose broad bos o m the corn and all o ther
,

plants sprin g up a nd of which accor d in gly they may appropriately

,

enough be re gar d e d as the d augh ters Thi s view o f the ori ginal .

na ture o f Dem eter has in d eed been taken by some writers bo th ancient ,

and modern and it is one which can be reasonably ma intaine d But

,
.

it appears t o have been rej ec te d by the author o f the H omeric hymn

to Deme ter for he not only d is tin gu i shes Demeter from the personified
,

E ar th but places the two in the sharpest opposi tion to each other .

H e tells us that it was E ar th who in accordance wi th the will o f Zeus

,

and to pleas e Pluto lured Persephone to her -doom by causing the

,

narcissuses to grow wh ich temp ted the youn g go dd ess to stray far
beyond the reach o f help in the lush meadow Thus Demeter of the .

hymn far from being identical with the E arth go d dess must have
,
-
,

re ga r d ed that divi n ity as her worst enemy since it was to her insi dious ,

wiles that she owe d the loss o f her d aughter B ut if the Dem eter of .

the hymn cannot have been a person i fica ti on o f the ear th the only ,

al terna tiv e apparen tly is to conclu d e that she w as a p ersonifica tion of

the corn .

The conclusion is confirmed by the monuments ; for in ancient

art Deme te r a n d Persephone are alike characterise d as go d d esses of
the corn by the crowns o f corn which they wear on their hea d s a n d by
the stalks o f corn wh i ch they hold in th e ir hands A gain it was .
,

Deme ter who fi rs t reveale d to the A thenians the secret o f the corn and
d i ffused the b en eficen t d i scovery fa r a n d wide throu gh the a gency
o f Triptolemus whom she sent forth as an i tineran t m issi onary to
,

comm unicate the boon to all mankin d On monuments o f art espe .

,

c ia lly i n vase pain tin g s he is constan tly re p resen ted alon g with Demeter
-
,

i n this capaci ty holdin g corn-s talks in his hand and s i ttin g i n his car
, ,

which is some times w i nged and somet imes drawn by d ra gons and ,

from which he i s said to have sowed the see d down o n the whole world
as he sped through the air I n gra ti tude for the priceless boon many
.

Greek citie s lon g con tinue d to send the first fruits o f thei r barley and -

wheat ha rvests as thank— o fferin gs to the Two Go dd esses Demeter and ,

Persephone at E leusis where subterranea n granaries were built to

, ,

s tore the overflowin g contributions Theocri tus tells how in the

.

island o f Cos in the sweet scented summer time the farmer brou ght
-

the firs t—
, ,

fru its o f the harvest t o Dem ete f w ho had filled his threshing
’

floor wi th barley and whose rustic i mage held sheaves and poppies
,

in her hands Many of the epi thets bestowed by the an ci en ts on

.

Demeter mark her in timate association wi th the corn in the clearest

manner .

How d eeply implan te d in the mind o f the ancient Greeks was this
faith in Deme ter as go d dess o f the cor n may be j udged by the circum
st anc e th at the f ait h actually p er si sted am on g th ei r Chri st ia n de sce nd ants
3 98 D E M E T E R AN D P E RS E PH ON E CH .

militates deci de d ly a gainst the view that the tw o goddesses are mythical
embodiments o f two thin gs so di fferent an d so eas ily distin guishable
from each other as the ear th and the v e ge tation whi ch springs from
i t H a d Greek artists accepted that view o f Demeter and Persephone
.
,

they coul d su rely have d evised types of them which would have
brought out the deep dis tinc tion between the go dd esses A nd if .

Demeter di d not personi fy the e arth can there be any reasonable ,

doubt that like her daugh ter she person ified the corn which was so
, ,

commonly c a lled by her name from the time o f H omer downwards ?

The essential iden tity o f mo ther and daughte r is suggested not only ,

by the Clos e resemblance o f thei r artistic types but also by the official ,

title of
“
the Two God d esses which was regularly applie d to them
i n the great sanc tuary at E leusis wi thout any specification of their
indivi dual attributes an d titles as i f thei r separate in d ividualities
'
,

had almost merged in a sin gle divine substance .

S urveying the evidence as a whole we are fairly entitled to con

,

elu d e that in th e m ind o f the ordinary Greek the two god d esses were
essentially p erson ification s o f the corn and that in thi s germ the whole
’
,

effl or e scence o f thei r rel igi on finds implicitly its explanation But to .

maintain this is not to deny tha t in the long course o f reli gious evolu
tion hi gh moral and spiritual concep tions were gra fted on this simple
ori ginal stock and blossomed out into fai rer flowers th an the bloom of
the barley and the wheat Abov e all the thought o f the see d buried
.
,

in the ear th in order to spri n g up to new and h igher li fe readily sug

ges te d a comparison wi th human destiny and stren gthened the h 0 pe ,

that for man too the grave may be but the b eginnin g of a better and
happier exi stence in some b ri gh ter world unknown This simple and .

natural reflection seems perfectly sufficient to explain the association

o f the Corn Goddess at E leusis with the mystery o f dea th and the
hope o f a bliss ful immortality For that th e ancients re garded initia
.

tion in the E leusinian mysteries as a key to unlock the gates of Para dise
appears to be proved by the allusions which well informed writers
amon g them drop to the happiness l n s tore for the initiated hereafter .

N o d oubt it is easy for us to discern the flim siness o f the logical founda
tion on w hich s u ch hi gh hopes were built B ut drownin g men clutch
.

a t straws and w e need not won d er that the Greeks like ourselves
, , ,

with death be fo re them and a great love o f li f e in thei r hearts should ,

n ot hav e stopped to wei gh wi th too nice a hand the a r guments that

told for and against the prospect o f hum an imm ortality The reason .

ing that sati sfi ed Sai nt Paul and has b rou ght com fort to untold
thousands o f sorrowin g Christians standin g by the deathbed or the
,

o pen grave of thei r loved ones was good enou gh to pa ss muster with
,

ancient pagans when they too bowed their heads u nder the burden
,

o f grie f and with the taper o f li fe burning low in the socket looke d
, , ,

forward int o the darkness o f the unknow n Therefore we do no

indi gnity to the myth o f Demeter and Perseph one— one o f the few
.

my ths in which the sunshine and cla rity o f the Greek genius are
cro ssed by the shadow and mystery o f death—when we trace its
XLV T HE CORN M OTH E R I N N ORTH E RN
- E UROP E 3 99

origin to some o f the most familiar yet eternally a ffectin g aspects ,

of nature to the melancholy gloom and decay of autumn and to the

,

freshness the bri gh tness a nd the verdure o f spring

, , ,

CHAPT E R XLV

T H E CO RN -
M OT H E R AND TH E RN
CO -
M A DE I N IN N O T H E R RN E U ROPE

IT has been argued by W Mannhardt that the first part o f Demeter s .

’

”
name is derived from an alleged Cret an wor d d eai ba rley and , ,

that a ccor d ingly Deme ter means nei ther more nor less than Barley
”
m other or Corn-mo ther for the root o f the word seems to have
been applied to d ifferen t kinds o f grain by di fferent branches o f the
Aryans As Crete appears to hav e been one o f the most ancient
.

seats of the worship o f Demeter it would not be surpri sin g if her ,

name were of Cretan origin But the etymolo gy is open to se rious .

ob j ec tions and it i s sa fer there fore to lay no s tress on it B e that as

,
-
.

it may we have found indepen d en t reasons for i den ti fyin g Deme ter
,

as the Corn mother and o f the two species o f co rn associated with her
-
,

in Greek reli gion namely barley a n d whea t the barley has perhaps
, ,

the better claim to be her ori ginal element ; for not only would it
seem to have been the staple foo d o f the Greeks in the H omer i c age ,

b ut there are grounds for believing that it is one o f the ol d est i f not ,

the very oldest cereal cul tivate d by the Aryan race Certainly the
, .

use of barley in the reli gious ritual o f the ancien t Hi n d oos as well as
of the ancient Greeks furnishes a stron g ar gum ent in favour of the
great antiquity o f its cul tivation which is known to have been ,

practise d by the lak e dwellers o f the Stone A ge in E ur ope

-

Analo gies to the Corn —

.

mo ther or Barley mo ther o f ancient Greece -

have been collected in great abun d ance by W M annhar dt from the .

folk lore of mo d ern E urope The following may serve as specime ns

-
. .

In Germany the corn is very commonly person ifie d un d er the

name o f the Corn mother Thus i n sprin g when the corn waves in
-
.
,
”
the wind the peasants say There comes the Corn mother o r The
, ,
-
,
”
Corn mother is runnin g over the field or The Corn mother is going
-
,
-

”
through the corn When children wish to go into the fields to pull
.

the blue corn fl owers or the red poppies they are told n ot to do so
-
, ,

because the Corn mother is sitting in the corn and will c atc h them
-
.

Or again she is called accordin g to the crop the Rye mo ther or the Pea
, ,
-

m other and children are wa rned against strayin g in the rye o r amon
the peas by threats o f the Rye mo ther or the Pea —
, g
mother A gain -
.

the Corn mother is believed to make the crop gro w Thus in the
-
.

“
nei ghbourhood of Magd eburg it is sometimes said It will be a go od
—
,
”
year for flax ; the Flax mother has been seen I n a village o f Styria .

it is said that the Corn m other in the shape o f a female puppet made out
-
,

of the l ast shea f o f corn and dressed in white may be s een at mi d ,

400 T HE CORN M OTH E R I N N ORTH E RN
-
E URO P E CH .

ni ght in the corn -fields which she fer tilises by p assin g through them
,

b ut i f she i s an gry with a farmer she wi thers up all his corn ,

.

Fur ther the Corn -mother plays an important part in harvest

,

customs S he is believed to be presen t i n the handful o f corn which

.

is le ft standing last on the fiel d ; and with the cuttin g o f this last
handful she is caught or driven away or killed In the first o f these
, ,
.

cases the last shea f i s carried j oyfully home and honoured as a d ivine
,

being It is placed in the barn a n d at threshin g the corn spirit

.
,
—
appears again I n the H anover ian d istrict o f H a deln the reapers
.

'

stand round the last she a f and beat it wi th stick s in order to d rive the
Corn mo the r out o f it They call to each other
-
. There she is ! hit ,
” ’
her ! Take care she doesn t catch you !
, The beati ng goes on till
the grain is completely threshed out ; then the Corn-m other is believed
t o be driven away I n the nei ghbourhoo d o f Danzi g the person who
.

cuts the last ears o f corn m akes them i nto a doll which is called the
Corn—
,

m other o r the Old Woman and i s brought home on the last

w aggon In som e p arts o f H olstein the last sheaf is dresse d in woman s
.
’

clothes and called the Corn mo ther It i s carried home on the last -
.

wa ggon and then thoroughly drenched with water The drenching

, .

with water is doubtless a rain charm I n the district o f B ruck in -

.

Styria the last shea f called the Corn mother i s made up into the
,
-
,

shap e o f a w oman by the oldest married woma n in the villa ge of an ,

age from fi fty to fifty fiv e years The fi nest ears are plucked out of
-
.

it and made int o a wreath which twined with flowers is carried on , , ,

her hea d by the p rettiest girl o f the villa ge to the farmer or squire ,

while the Corn m other is laid dow n in the barn to keep off the mice
-
.

In other villa ges o f the same d i stric t the Corn mother at the close -
,

o f harvest is carried by two lads at the top o f a p ole They march

, .

’
be hin d the gi rl who wears the wreath to the squire s house and while
he receives the w reath and han gs it up in the hall the Corn—
,

mother ,

i s p laced on the top o f a p ile o f woo d where she i s the cen tre of the ,

harvest supper and dance A f terwar d s sh e i s hung up i n the barn and

.

remains there till the t hreshin g i s over The man w ho gives the last .

stroke at threshi n g i s called the son o f the Corn-mother ; he i s tied

up in the Corn -mother beaten a n d car ried through the villa ge The
, , .

wreath i s dedicated i n church on the followin g S un d ay ; and on

E as ter E v e the grai n i s rubbed o ut o f it by a seven-year— old girl
and scat tered amongst the young corn At C hristm as the straw of .

the wreath is p laced i n the manger t o make the ca ttle thrive Here the .

fe rt i lising power o f the Corn-mother i s p lainly brought out by scatteri ng

the seed taken from her body (for the wreath is made out o f the Com
mother ) amon g the new co rn ; and her influence over animal li fe is
indicated by p lacin g the straw i n the man ger Amon gst the Slavs
also the l ast shea f is k nown as the Rye mother the Whea t—
.

mothe r -
, ,

the Oa ts m other the Barley mother and so on accor d in g to the

-
,
-
, ,

crop I n the district o f Tarnow Galicia the wreath made out of the
last stalks is called the Wheat mother Rye -mother or Pea —
. , ,

mother -
, , .

’
It is p l a ce d on a gi rl s he ad and kept till s prin g when s om e of the ,
402 T H E CORN - MOT H ER IN N ORT H ERN EU RO P E CH .

O ften the last sheaf is called the Old Woman or the Old Man .

In Germany it i s frequently shaped a n d d r esse d as a woman and the \ ,

”
person who cuts it or binds i t i s sai d to get the Old Woman At .

Altisheim in S wabia when all the corn o f a fa r m has been cut except
, ,

a sin gle strip all the reapers s tand in a ro w be fore the st rip each
, ,

cuts his sha re rapi d ly and he who gives the last cut has the Old
,
”
Woman . When the sheaves are be ing set up in heaps the person ,

who gets hold o f the O ld Woman wh i ch is the largest and thickest ,

o f all the sheaves is j eere d at b y the res t who call out to him He “

, , ,
”
ha s the O ld Woman and mus t keep her The woman who binds the .

last shea f is sometimes hersel f called the Old Wo m an and it is said ,

that she w ill b e marrie d in the next year In N eus a ass Wes t Prussia '

both the last shea f— which i s d ressed up in j acket hat a n d ribbons

.
, ,

, ,

a nd the woman who binds it are called the Old Woman Together
“

they are brou gh t home on the las t wa ggon and are d renched wi th water .

In various par ts o f North Germany the last shea f at harvest is made

”
up into a human effi gy and calle d the Old Man ; and the woman
who bound i t i s sai d to have the Old Man .

In West P russia when the last rye is b ein g raked together the
, ,

women and gi rls hurry wi th the work for n one o f them likes to be ,
” “
the last a n d to get the O ld Man that is a pu p pet made out o f the , ,

last shea f which must be carried be fore the o ther reapers by the
,

person who was the last to finish In Silesi a the last shea f i s called .

the Old Woman or the Old Man an d i s the theme o f many j ests ; it
i s made unusually lar ge an d is some times wei ghte d with a stone .

Amon g th e Wen d s the man or woman who binds the last sheaf at
” “
wheat harvest is said to have the O ld Man A pup p et is ma d e out .
-

o f the W hea ten straw and ears in the likeness o f a man a nd decke d
w ith flowers The person who boun d the last shea f must carry the
.

Old Man home while the rest lau gh a n d j eer at him The puppet is
,
.

hung up i n the farmhouse and remains till a new Old Man is ma de at

the next harvest .

I n some o f these customs as Mannhard t has remarke d the person , ,

who is calle d by the same name a s the last shea f and si ts beside it on
the last wa ggon is obviously i d en tified with it ; he or she represents
'

the corn spirit whi ch has been caught in the last shea f ; in other
-

word s the corn spi r it is represented in duplicate by a human being

,
-
,

a n d by a shea f The i d entification o f the person wi th the sheaf is

.

m a d e still clearer by the cus tom o f wrappin g up in the last shea f the

person who cu ts or bin d s it Thus at Hermsdor f in Silesi a it used to

.

be the re gular practice to tie up in the last sheaf the woman who
had boun d it At We i den in Bavaria it is the cutter not the binder
.
, , , ,

o f the last shea f who 15 tied up in it H ere the perso n wrapt up in .

the corn rep resents the corn S pirit exactly as a person wrapt in ,

bra nches or leaves represen ts the tree S pir i t -

.

The last sheaf desi gn ated as the Old Woman is o ften distinguished
, ,

from the other sheaves by its size and wei ght Thus 1n some villa ges of .

West Prussia the O ld Woman is made twice as lon g an d thick as a

v T H E CO R N -MOT H ER IN N OR T HER N EU R OP E 403

common shea f and a stone is fastened in the middle of it S ometimes

it is made so heavy that a man can barely li ft it At Alt—
, .

Pillau in .
,

Samland eight or nine sheaves are o ften tied to gether to make the
,

Old Woman and the man who sets it up grumbles at its weight At
, .

Itz grund in Saxe -Coburg the last shea f called the Old Woman is
, , , ,

made large with the express intent ion o f thereby securin g a good
crop next year Thus the cus tom o f makin g the last shea f unusually
.

large or heavy is a charm workin g by sympathetic magic to ensure a

, ,

large and heavy crop at the followin g harvest .

In Scotland when the last corn was cut after H allowmas the
, ,

female fi gure made out o f it was some times calle d the Carlin o r Carline ,

that is the Old Woman But i f cut be fore Hallowmas it was called
,
.
,

the Mai d en ; i f cut a fter sunset it was called the Witch bein g suppose d
, ,

to brin g bad luck Among the H i ghlan d ers o f Scotland the las t corn
.

cut at harvest is known either as the Old Wif e (Caillea ch ) o r as the

Ma id en ; on the whole the former name seems to prevail in the wes tern
and the latter in the central an d eas tern districts Of the Ma id en .

we shall speak p resently ; here we are d ealing w ith the Old Wi fe .

The followin g general account o f the custom is given by a care ful

and well — in formed enquirer the Rev J G Campbell minister o f , . . .
,

the remote Hebridean island of Tiree : The Harvest Old Wi fe (a

Caillea ch ) —In harvest there was a struggle to escape from bein g
.
~

the last done with the shearing a n d when tilla ge in common exi ste d , ‘
,

instances were known o f a ri dge being left unshorn (no person would
claim it) because of it bein g beh i nd the rest The fear en ter tained .

’
was that of havin g the fami ne o f the farm (gor t a bhai le ) in the
‘
,

shape o f an ima ginary old woman (caill ea ch) to feed till next harvest , .

M uch emulation and amusement arose f rom the fear o f this old woman .

The first done made a doll o f some blades o f corn which was called ,
‘
the old wi fe and sent it to hi s nearest nei ghbour He in tu rn
,
’
.
,

when ready passed it to another s ti ll less expe ditious and the person
, ,
”
it last remained with had the old woman to keep for that year .

In the i sland o f Islay the las t corn cut goes by the name o f the
Old Wi fe (Caillea ch ) and when she has d one her duty at harves t she
,

is hung up on the wall and stays there till the time comes to plough
’
the fiel d s for the next year s crop The n she is taken down an d on .
,

the firs t day when the men go to plou gh she is divided amon g them
by the mistress o f the hous e They take her in their p o cke ts and .

give her t o the horses to eat when they reach the field This .

is supposed to s ecure good luck for the next harvest and i s under ,

stoo d to be the proper end o f the O ld Wi fe .

Usa ges of the same sort are repor ted from Wales Thus in North ,

Pembrokeshire a tu ft of the last corn cut from six to twelve inches ,

'

long is p laited and goes by the name o f the H ag (wrach ) an d quaint

,

old customs used to be practised wi th it within the m emory o f m any

persons still alive Great was the excitement among the reapers
.

when the last p atch of stan din g corn was reached All in turn threw .

their sickles at it and the one who succeeded in cutting it received a

,
404 T HE COR N MOTHER IN NOR THER N EU R OPE-
ca .

jug o f home brew e d ale The H ag (wra ch ) was then hurrie d ly made
-
.

and tak en to a ne ighbouring farm where the reapers were still busy ,

at thei r work This was generally d one by the plou ghm e n ; but
.

he ha d to be very care ful n ot to be observe d b y his nei ghbours for if ,

they saw him comin g a n d ha d the least suspicion o f his errand they
woul d soon make hi m re trace hi s s teps Creepin g stealthily up behind .

a fence he wai te d till the foreman o f his nei ghbour s reapers was just ’

opposi te him a nd wi th in easy reach Then he sud d enly threw the .

H ag over the fence a n d i f p o ssible upon the foreman s sickle

’

,
On , .

that he took to his heels an d made o ff as fast as he coul d run and .

,

he was a lucky man i f he escape d w ithout be i n g cau ght or cut by the

fly i n g s ickles wh i ch the in furia te d reapers hurled a fter him In other .

cases the H ag was brou ght hom e to the fa rmhouse by one of the
reapers He d i d his b es t to bri n g it home d ry and wi thout being
.

observed ; b ut he was ap t to b e rou ghly han d led by the people of

the house i f they suspected his erran d
,
Sometimes they s tripped .

him o f most o f his clo thes some ti mes they would drench him with ,

water wh ich ha d been care fully s tored in bucke ts an d pans for the
purpose I f however he succee d ed in brin gin g the H a g in dry and
.
, ,

unobse rved the master o f the hous e had to pay him a small fine ;
,
”
or some times a j ug of beer from the cas k next to the wall which ,

seems to have commonly hel d the b es t beer would be deman d e d by the ,

b earer The H ag was then care fully hung on a na il in the hall or

.

el sewhere a n d kept there all the yea r The cus tom o f bringing in .

the H a g (w ra c h ) into the hous e an d han gin g it up s till exis ts in some

farm s o f N orth Pembrokeshire b u t the anci ent ceremonies which ,

have j us t been d es cribe d are now discontinued .

In Coun ty An trim d own to some y ears ago when the sickle was
, ,

finally expelled by the reapin g machine the few s talks o f corn left ,

stan d in g last on the fiel d were plai te d to ge ther ; then the reapers ,

bl in d fol d e d threw their sickles at the plai ted corn a nd whoever

, ,

h a pp ene d to cut i t throu gh took i t home wi th him a nd p ut it over

his door Th i s bun ch o f corn was calle d the Carley—probably the
.
-

same wor d as Carlin .

Sim ilar cus tom s a re observe d by Slavonic peoples Thus in .

Polan d the last shea f i s commonly calle d the B ab a tha t is the Old ,
'

Woman
” “
I n the las t shea f it is sai d
.
si ts the B aba The , , .

s hea f itsel f is also calle d the B a b a a n d is sometimes composed o f twelve ,

smaller S heaves lashed to ge ther In some parts o f B ohemia the .

Baba ma d e ou t o f the las t shea f has the fi gure o f a woman with a

the las t ha rvest—
, ,

g rea t s traw h a t It is carried home . on waggon and

d elivere d alon g with a garland to the farmer b y two girls In bin ding
, ,
.

the sheaves the women s trive n ot to be last for she who binds the ,

las t shea f will have a child nex t yea r Some times the harvesters .

”
call out to the woman who b in d s the las t shea f S he has the Baba , ,
”
or She is the Baba In the d i s tr ict of Cracow when a man binds
.
,
”
the las t shea f they say The Gran d father is sittin g in it ; when a
, ,

wom an binds it they say

“
The Baba i s si tti ng in it and the woman
, , ,
406 THE CORN -M OTH E R I N N ORTH E RN E URO P E CH .

village and set d own at last on the dun ghill or taken to the threshing
, ,

fl oo r o f a nei ghbourin g farmer w ho has not finishe d hi s threshin g .

I n Poland the man who gives the las t stroke at threshin g is called
Baba (O ld Woman ) ; he is wrapt in corn a n d wheele d throu gh the
v illage .Sometimes i n Li thuania the last sheaf i s not threshed but ,

is fashione d into femal e shape a n d carried to the b arn o f a nei ghbour

w ho has not finishe d his threshin g .

In some parts o f Swe d en when a stranger woman appears on the ,

threshin g fl oor a flail is put round her bo d y stalks of corn are wound
-
, ,

round her neck a crown o f ears is placed on her hea d and the threshers
, ,
“
call out B ehol d the Corn -woman
, Here the stran ger woman .
.

thus sud d enly appearin g i s taken to be the co rn spirit w ho has j ust

,
-

been expelled by the flails from the cor n stalks In other cases the -
.

farmer s wi fe represen ts the corn spir it

’
Thus in the Commune of -
.

S a li gné (Vend ee ) the farmer s wi fe alon g with the las t shea f is tied
’

, , ,

up in a sheet pl aced on a litter an d carried to the threshin g machine

, , ,

un d er which she is shoved Then the woman is d rawn out a n d the .

shea f i s threshed by i tsel f b ut the woman is tosse d in the sheet as , ,

i f she were bein g winnowe d It woul d be impossible to express more .

clearly the identi fica tion o f the woman with the corn than by this
graphic imi tation of threshing and winnowin g her .

In these customs the spirit o f the ripe corn is re garded as old or ,

at least as o f mature age Hence the names o f Mother Gran dmother .

, ,

O ld Woman a n d so forth , B ut in other cases the corn -spi rit is con

.

ceive d as you ng Thus at S aldern near Wol fenbuttel when the rye
.
, ,

has been reaped three sheaves are tie d to gether with a rope so as
,

t o make a puppe t with the corn ears for a head This puppet is .

calle d the Ma i den or the Corn mai d en Some tim es the corn spiri t -
.
-

i s conceive d as a ch il d who i s separated from its mo ther by the s troke

o f the s ickle Thi s last v iew appears in the Polish custom of calling
.

out to the man who cuts the l ast hand ful o f corn You have cut
—
,
”
the n a vel s tr i n g In some d i stricts o f West Prussia the fi gure made
.

ou t o f the last shea f is called the Bastard and a boy i s wrapt up in ,

it. The woman who binds the last shea f and represents the Corn
mo ther is told that she i s abou t to b e brou ght to bed ; she cries like
a woman i n travail a nd an old woman in the charac ter o f grandmother
,

a cts as m idw i fe A t last a cry is raise d that the child is born ; where
.

upon the boy who i s tie d up in the shea f whimpers a n d squalls like
an in fant The gran d mother wraps a sack in imi tation o f swa ddling
.
,

ban d s round the preten d e d baby who is carried j oy fully to the barn
, , .

les t he shoul d catch col d i n the open air In other parts of North .

Germa ny the las t shea f or the puppet ma d e out o f it is called the

Chi l d the Harvest —
, ,

,
Chi l d a n d so on and they call out to the woman
, ,
”
who bin d s the las t shea f you are gettin g the chil d , .

In som e parts o f Scotland as well as in the north o f E n gland , ,

the last handful o f corn cut on the harvest field was calle d the k irn -
,
“
and the person who car ri ed it off was sai d to win the kirn It .

was then dressed up like a child s doll and went by the name of the ’
XLV THE CORN -MOTH E R I N N ORTH E RN EUROP E 407

k irn-baby the kirn doll or the Maiden In B erwickshire down to

,
-
,
.

about the midd le o f the nineteenth century there was an ea ger

competition amon g the reapers to cut the last bunch o f standin g
corn They gathere d round it at a little distance and threw their
.

sickles in turn at it and the man who succee d e d in cuttin g it throu gh

,

gave it to the girl he pre ferre d She ma d e the corn so cut in to a .

kirn dolly a nd dressed it and the doll was then taken to the farm
-
,

house and hun g up there till the nex t harvest when its place was ,

taken by the new kirn dolly At Spo ttiswoo d e i n B erwickshire the

-
.

reaping o f the l ast corn at harvest was called c uttin g the Queen
” “
almost as o ften as cutting the kirn The mode o f cuttin g it was .

not by throwi ng sickles One o f the reapers consente d to be blind

.

folded and hav in g been given a s i ckle in his hand and turne d twice
,

or thr ice about by his fellows he was bi d d en to go a nd cut the kirn , .

His gro p ing abou t and makin g wil d s trokes in the a ir wi th his sickle
excite d much h ilarity When he had tired himsel f out in vain and
.

given up the task as hopeless ano ther reaper was blin d fol d ed a nd ,

pursued the quest and so on one a fte r the o ther till at last the ki rn
, , ,

was cut The success ful reaper was tosse d u p in the ai r with three
.

cheers by his bro ther harvesters To decorate the room in which .

the kirn supper was hel d a t Spo ttiswoo d e as well as the g ranary
-
,

where the d an cin g took place two women ma d e kirn dollies or Queens ,
-

every year ; and many o f these rus ti c effigi es of the corn spi rit mi gh t -

be seen han ging up toge ther .

In some par ts o f the Hi ghlands o f S cotlan d the last handful o f

corn that is cut by the reapers on any par ticular farm i s calle d the
Ma iden or in Gael i c M a i dhd ea n b uai n l iterally
, the shorn M ai d en ”
, ,
“
.

Superstitions attach to the w inning o f the M aiden If i t is got by a .

youn g person they think it an omen that he or she will be married

,

be fore another harvest For that or other reasons there is a stri fe

.

b e tween the reapers as to w ho shall get the M a i d en an d they resor t ,

to various s tra ta gems for the purpose o f securin g it One o f them .

,

for example will o ften leave a hand ful o f co rn uncu t a n d cover it

,

up with ear th to hi de it from the o ther reapers till all the rest o f ,

the corn on the field i s cu t down Several may try to play the same .

tr ick and the one who is coolest and holds out longes t obtains the
,

covete d d i stinction When it has been cut the Mai d en is d resse d

.
,

with r ibbons in to a sort o f d oll a n d affixe d to a wall o f the farmhouse .

In the north o f S cotlan d the Maiden is care fully preserve d till Yule
“
morning when i t is divide d amon g the cattle to make them thr ive
,

all the year roun d In the nei ghbourhoo d o f Balquhi dd er Per th

.
,

shire the las t han d ful o f corn is cut by the youn gest girl on the field
, ,

and is ma d e in to the ru d e form o f a female d oll clad in a paper d ress , ,

and decke d wi th ribbons It is calle d the Mai den a n d is kept in

.
,

the fa rmhouse generally above the chimney fo r a goo d while some

, , ,

times till the Ma i d en o f the next year is brou ght in The writer o f this .

book witnesse d the ceremony o f cuttin g the Maiden at Balquhidder

in September 188 8 A la d y friend in forme d me that as a youn g girl
.
408 T H E C ORN M OTH ER IN N ORTH E RN E URO-
PE -
CH .

she cut the M ai d en several times at the request o f the reapers in the
nei gh b ourhoo d of Per th The name o f the M ai d en was given to the .

la st han d ful o f stan d in g corn ; a reaper hel d the top o f the bunch
while she cut it A fterwar d s the bunch was plaited d ecked with
.
,

r ibbons a n d hung up in a consp i cuous place on the wall o f the kitchen

,

till the nex t M ai d en was b rou gh t in The harves t supper in this .

-

ne ighbourhoo d was also calle d the M a i d en ; the reapers danced at it .

On some fa rm s on the Ga reloch in Dumbar tonshire abou t the , ,

year 18 3 0 the l a s t hand ful o f s tan d in g corn was called the Maiden
, .

It was d ivi d ed in two plai te d a n d then cu t wi th the sickle by a girl

, , ,

who it w a s thou gh t woul d be lucky a n d woul d soon be married

, , .

When it was cu t the reapers ga there d to gether an d threw their sickles

in the air The Ma i d en was dressed w ith ribbons and hun g in the
.

ki tchen near the roo f where it was kept for several years w ith the ,

date attache d Some tim es five or six Maidens mi gh t be seen han ging
.

a t once on hooks The harvest supper was calle d the Kirn In

.
-
.

o ther farms on the Gareloch the las t hand ful o f corn was calle d the
M a id enhea d or the H ea d ; it was nea tly plaited some times d ecked ,

with ribbons a n d hun g in the ki tchen for a year when the grain was
, ,

given to the poult ry .

In Aberdeenshire the last shea f cut or Mai d en is carrie d home ,

‘

,
’

in m erry p rocess i on by the har vesters It is then prese n te d to the .

m istress o f the house who d resses i t up to be preserved till the firs t,

mare foals The M aiden i s then taken d own a nd presen ted to the
.

mare as its fi rs t food The neglect of this would have untoward e ffects
.

upon the foal and disastrou s consequences u p on farm operations

,
”
enerally for the season In the nor th eas t o f Aber d eenshire the -

g .

las t shea f i s commonly calle d the clya ck shea f It used to be cut by .

the youn ges t gi rl pr esen t a n d was d resse d as a woman Being brought .

home in triumph it was kept t i ll Chr i s tmas mornin g and then given
, ,

to a mare i n foal i f there was one on the farm or if there was not
. , , ,

to the ol d es t cow in cal f E lsewhere the shea f was divi d ed between .

all the cow s and thei r calves or between all the horses an d the cattle of
the farm In Fi feshire the last han d ful o f corn kn own as the Maiden
. , ,

i s cut by a youn g girl a n d made into the ru d e fi gure o f a doll tied w ith .
,

ribbo n s by which it is hun g on the wall o f the farm ki tchen till the
,
-

nex t sprin g The cus tom o f cuttin g the M aiden at harves t was also
.

observe d in Inverness shi re an d S u therlan d shire - .

A somewha t maturer but s till you th ful age is assi gned to the corn
spiri t b y the appella ti ons o f Bri d e Oats bride a n d Wheat bri d e which ,
-
,
-
,

in Germany are some times bestowe d b o th on the last shea f and on the
woman who bin d s it A t wheat harvest near M ii glitz in Moravia a
.
-
, ,

small port i on o f the whea t is left s tan d in g a fter all the rest has been
reape d Thi s remnan t is then cut amid the rej oicing o f the reapers
. , ,

by a young girl who wears a wrea th o f wheaten ears on her head and
oes by the name o f the Wheat — bride It i s supposed that she W i ll
g
.

be a real bri d e that same year N ear Roslin and Stonehaven in .

,
‘ ’

S cotland the last handful o f corn cut

, got the name o f the b ride ,
4 10 T HE CORN -M OTH E R IN N ORTH E RN E UROP E CH .

thou ght to be doomed to pover ty or to be un d er the obli gation of

providin g for the d earth o f the townsh ip in the ensuin g season .

S imilarly we saw tha t in Pembrokeshire where the last corn cut is ,

called not the M aiden but the H ag she i s passed on hastily to a

, , ,

nei ghbour who is s ti ll at work in his fiel d s and who receives his age d
visitor wi th any thin g but a transport o f j oy If the O ld Wi fe rep re .

sen ts the corn spi ri t o f the pas t year as she probably does wherever
-
,

she i s contraste d with and o p posed to a M aiden it i s natural enough ,

tha t her fa d e d charms shoul d have less a ttrac tions for the husbandman
than the buxom form o f her daughter who may be expected to become ,

i n her turn the mother o f the golden gra i n when the revolv ing year has
b rought round ano ther au tumn The same desire to get rid of the .

ef f e te M other o f the Corn by palming her off on o ther people c omes

out clearly i n some o f the cus tom s observed at the close o f threshing ,

particularly in the pract i ce o f passin g on a h i d eous straw puppet to a

nei ghbour farmer who i s still threshin g his corn .

The har ves t cus toms j us t d escribe d are s tr ikin gly analo gous to the
s p rin g customs which we reviewed in an earlier par t o f this work .

(1 ) As i n the spring customs the tree spiri t is represen te d both by a tree -

an d by a person so i n the har v est cus toms the corn -spirit is represente d
,

b oth by the last shea f and by the person who cuts or bin d s or threshes
it The equivalence o f the person to the shea f is shown by givin g him
.

or her the sam e name as the shea f ; by wrappin g him or her in it ; and
by the rule observed in some places tha t when the shea f is calle d the ,

Mother it mus t be made up in to human shape by the oldest marr ied

,

woman but tha t when it is calle d the Mai d en it mus t be cut by the
, ,

youn ges t girl H ere the age o f the pers onal representa tive of the
.

corn spi ri t corresponds with that o f the supposed a ge o f the corn

-

S pi ri t j us t as the human victims o ff ered by the M exicans to promote

,

the growth o f the maize varied wi th the age o f the maize For in the .

M exican as in the E uropean cus tom the h uman bein gs were probably
, ,

representatives o f the corn spi rit rather than victims o ff ered to it

-
.

(2 ) A gain the same ferti lis i n g i nfluence which the tree spiri t i s sup -

posed to exert over ve getation ca ttle and even women is ascribed to , ,

the corn S pirit Thus its suppose d influence on ve geta tion i s shown by
-
.
,

the prac tice o f takin g some o f the g rain o f the las t shea f (in which the
corn spi ri t i s re gularly supposed to be presen t) and scatterin g it among
-
,

the youn g corn in sprin g or m ix i n g it wi th the see d corn Its influence -

.

on animals i s shown by givin g the las t shea f to a mare i n foal to a cow ,

in cal f a n d to horses at the first ploughin g Lastly its influence on

, .
,

women i s indicated by the cus tom o f delivering the Mother -shea f ,

ma d e in to the likeness o f a pre gnan t woman to the fa rmer s wi fe ; ,

’

by the belie f that the woman who binds the last shea f will have a
child next year ; perhaps too by the idea that the person who gets
, ,

it will soon be married .

Plainly there fore t hese sprin g and harvest customs are based on
, ,

the same ancient modes o f thou ght and form parts o f the same primi ,

tive heathendom whi ch was d oub tless p racti sed by our forefathers long
,
XLV T HE CORN MOTH E R I N N ORTH E RN
- E URO P E 4 11

before the d awn o f history Amongst the m a rks o f a p rimitive ritual .

we may note the followin g :

1 No special class o f persons is set apart for the per formance o f
.

the r ites ; in o ther words there are no priests The rites may be
,
.

performed by any one as occ asion demands ,

.

2 No special places are set apart fo r the per formance of the rites ;
.

in other wor d s there are no temple s The r ites may be p e r fo rmed

,
.

anywhere as occasio n d emands

,
.

3 Spirits not go d s are reco gnised

.
, (a ) As d istinguished from
,
.

gods spirits are res tricted in thei r operations to d efin ite d epartments
,

of na ture The i r names are general not proper Their attributes are
.
, .

generi c rather than in d ividual ; in other w or d s there i s an in d efini te

, ,

numbe r of s p iri ts of each class and the individuals o f a class are all ,

much alike ; they have no d efinitely marked in d ivi d uali ty ; no

accepte d tr ad i tions are current as to thei r ori gin li fe ad ventures a n d , , ,

character (b ) On the o ther hand gods as d i s tin guished from spir its
.
, ,

are not restricte d to definite d epa rtmen ts o f nature It i s true that .

there is generally some one d epartm ent over wh i ch they presi d e as

their special province ; b ut they are not rigorously confine d to it ;
they can exe rt thei r power for good or evil in many other spher es o f
nature an d li fe A gain they bear in d iv i dual or proper names such
.
, ,

as Demeter Perse p hone Dionysus ; and thei r in d iv i dual characters a n d

, ,

histories are fixe d by curren t my ths and the re presentati ons o f a rt .

4 The ri tes are ma gical rather than prop iti atory

. In o ther words .
,

the d esired obj ects are atta ine d not by pro p itiating the favour o f ,

divine beings throu gh sacrifice prayer a nd pr ai se b ut by ceremonies , , ,

wh ich as I have alrea d y expla ine d are believe d to influence the course
, ,

o f nature direc tly throu h a phys i cal sympa thy or resemblan ce be tween
g
the rite and the e ffect which it is the in ten tion o f the ri te to pro d uce .

Judged by these tests the sp ring an d harvest cus toms o f our ,

~

European peasantry d eserve to rank as prim itive For no special .

class o f persons an d no special places are set exclusively apart for their
per fo rmance ; they may be per formed by any one mas ter or man , ,

mistress or maid boy or gi rl ; they are practi se d not i n temples or

, ,

churches b ut in the woods a nd meadows besi d e brooks in barns on

, , , ,

harves t fiel d s an d cot tag e floors The supernatural bein gs whose .

existence is taken for grante d in them are s p i rits ra ther th an d ei ties :

their functions are limite d to cer ta i n well defin ed departmen ts o f -

nature : their names are general l i ke the Barley mo ther the Old -
,

Woman the Maiden not proper names like Deme ter Persephone
, , , ,

Dionysus Their generic a ttributes are known but thei r individual

.
,

historie s and characters are n ot the subj ect of myths For they exist .

in classes rather than as in d ividuals a n d the members o f each class ,

are in distin guishable For example every farm has its Co rn mother -

or its Old Woman o r its M aiden ; but every Cor n—

.
, ,

,
mother is much like
every other Co rn mother and so with the Old Women and Maidens
-
, .

Lastly in these harvests as in the sprin g cus toms the ritual is ma gical
, ,
'
,

rather than
p r o pi tiatory This i s shown by throwm g the Corn mo ther
.
-
4 12 T HE CORN MOT HER IN MANY LAN D S
- CH.

in to the river in or d er to secure rain and dew for the crops ; by making
the O ld Woman heavy in o rder to get a heavy cro p next year ; by
strewin g gra i n from the las t shea f amon gst the young crops in spring ;
and by gi vin g the las t shea f to the cattle to make them thrive .

CHAPT E R XLVI

THE COR N -
M OT H E R I N MA NY L A N DS

1 . T he C orn -
m other in A m eri ca —E uropean peoples ancient , and
modern have not been sin gular in personi fyi ng the corn as a mother
,

go d d ess The same simple i d ea has su gges ted itsel f to other agri
.

cul tural races in d istant par ts of the world a nd has been applied by ,

them to o ther i ndi genous cereals than barley a n d wheat I f E urope

has i ts Wheat —
.

mo ther a n d its B arley mo ther America has i ts Maize -

,

mother and the E ast In d ies thei r Rice mother These p ersoni fications -
.

I will now illustrate be ginning with the American personification of the

,

ma i ze .

We have seen tha t amon g E uropean peoples it is a common custom

to keep the plai ted corn s talks o f the last shea f or the puppet which
-
,

is formed out o f them in the farm house from harvest to harvest

,
-
.

The in ten ti on no doub t i s or r ather or iginally was by p reservin g the

, ,

represen ta tive o f the corn s p i rit to main tain the spi rit i tsel f in li fe and
-

ac tivi ty throughout the yea r in order that the corn may grow and the
,

crops be good This interpretation o f the custom i s at all events

.

ren d ere d hi ghly probable by a s imilar c us tom observed by the ancien t

Peruvians an d thus d escr ib ed by the ol d Spanish historian Acosta :
,

They take a cer tain portion o f the mos t fru it ful o f the mai z e that
grows in their farms the which they put in a ce rtain granary which
,

they d o call P i ru a with certai n ceremonies watchin g th ree nights ;

, ,

they put thi s maize i n the riches t garments they have and bein g thus ,

wrappe d a n d d resse d they worship th is P ira o and hol d it in great

,
'

veneration sayin g it is the mo ther o f the mai z e o f thei r inheri tances

, ,

an d that by th i s m eans the ma i ze au gments an d i s preserved In .

thi s mon th [the sixth month answerin g to May ] they make a particular
,

sac rifice a nd the witches d em and o f this Pi rua i f it hath strength

,

suffic i ent to continue un til the next year ; and if it answers no then ,

they carry th i s maize to the farm to burn whence they b roug” ,

accor din g to every man s power ; then they make another Pi rua wi th
’
,

the same ceremonies sayin g that they renew it to the end the seed
, ,

o f m a ize may not perish and i f it answers that it hath force sufh
,

cien t to last lon ger they leave it un til the next year This foolish
,
.

vani ty con tinueth to th i s d ay and it is very common amongst the ,

”
Indians to have these P irua s .

In thi s descripti on o f the custom there see ms to be some error .

Probably it was the d ressed up bunch o f maize not the granary -

,
4 14 T HE CORN MOTH E R I N MANY LAN D S
- CH .

d ecay and death in the rice on the same principles on which they
,

explain the correspon d in g phenomena in human bein gs They .

ima gine tha t in the fibres o f the plant as in the body o f a man there is , ,

a certain v ital element which is so fa r indepen d ent o f the plant that

,

i t may for a time be completely separated from it wi thout fatal e ff ects ,

thou gh if its absence be prolon ge d beyon d certain limits the plant will
withe r an d die Thi s vital yet s eparable element i s what for the want
.
,

of a better wor d w e m ust call the soul o f a plant j ust as a similar

, ,

vital a n d separable elemen t is com monly supposed to cons titute the

soul o f man ; an d on this theory o r myth o f the plant soul i s built -

the whole worsh i p o f the cereals j ust as on the theory or myth of the
human soul i s buil t the whole worship o f the d ead —a towering super
,

structure reared on a slender and precarious foundation .

Bel i eving the rice to be anima ted by a soul like that o f a man the ,

Indonesians naturally treat it with the d eference and the considera

tion which they show to their fellows Thus they behave towards the .

rice in bloom as they behave towar d s a pre gnant woman ; they abstain
from fi r i n g guns or making loud noi ses in the field lest they should so ,

fri ghten the soul o f the rice tha t i t would miscarry and bear no grain ;
a n d for the same reason they will not talk o f corps es or demons in the
rice field s
-
Moreover they feed the bloomin g rice with foods of
.
,

var ious kinds which are believed to be wholesome for women with
chil d ; b ut when the rice ears are j ust beginnin g to form they are
-
,

looke d upon as in fants a nd women go through the fiel d s feeding them

,

wi th rice pap as i f they were human babes

-
I n such natural and .

obvious comparisons o f the breedin g plant to a breedin g woman and ,

o f the youn g grain to a youn g ch i ld is to be s ou ght the ori gin of the

,

kindred Greek conception o f the C orn mother and the Corn daugh ter - -
,

Demeter a nd Persephone But if the timorous fem inine soul of the

.

rice can be fri ghtened into a miscarriage even by loud noises it is easy ,

to ima gine what her feelin gs m ust be at harvest when people are ,

under the sa d necessi ty o f cut tin g down the rice wi th the kni fe At so .

critical a season every precaution must be use d to ren d er the necessary

sur gical operation o f reap ing as i nconspicuous and as painless as
l

possible For that reason the reaping o f the seed rice is d one with
.
-

knives o f a peculia r pa ttern such that the blades are hidden in

,

the reapers han d s a n d do n ot fr igh ten the rice spi rit till the very
’
-

las t moment when her head i s sw ept ofl? almost be fore she is a ware ;
,

a n d from a l i ke delicate motive the reapers at work i n the fields

employ a sp ecial form o f speech which the rice Spirit c a nnot be ,

-

expec te d t o un d erstan d so that she has no warnin g or inklin g of

,

what i s goin g forward till the heads o f rice are sa fely deposite d in the
basket .

Among the Indonesian peoples who thus personi fy the rice we m ay

take the Kayans or Ba b a n s o f Central B orneo as typical I n order to ,

secure and detain the volatile soul o f the rice the Kayans resort to a
number o f devices Am on g the instruments employed for this pur
.

p ose are a m iniature ladder a spatula and a basket containi ng hook s

, , ,
XLVI THE R IC E M OTH E R IN
- T H E E A ST I ND I E S 4 15

thorns and cor d s With the spatula the priestess strokes the soul o f
,
.

the rice down the little ladd er int o the basket where it is naturally ,

held fast by the hoo ks the thorn and the cord ; and havin g thus
, ,

captured and imprisone d the soul she conveys i t into the rice granary -
.

Sometimes a b amboo box and a net are used for the same pu rpose .

And in or d er to ensure a good ha rve st for the followin g year it is

necessary not only to d etain the soul o f all the grai ns o f r ic e which
are safely store d in the gran ary but also to a ttract a nd recover the ,

soul of all the rice that has been l ost th rou gh f all in g to the earth or
be ing ea ten by deer apes an d pi gs For this purpose instrumen ts of
, , .

various sorts have been invente d by the pri ests One for example is .
, ,

a b amboo vessel prov i d e d w ith four hooks made from the woo d o f a
fruit tree by means o f which the absent rice soul may be hooke d and
-
,
-

drawn back into the vessel which i s then hun g up in the house S ome
times two h an d s carve d out o f the wood o f a fruit—
.
,

tree are used for

the same purpose And eve ry t ime that a Kayan housewi fe fetches
.

rice from the granary fo r the use o f her househol d she must propitiate ,

the souls of the rice in the grana ry lest they shoul d be an gry at bein g ,

robbe d of their substance .

The same nee d o f securing the soul o f the ri ce i f the cr0 p is to ,

thrive i s keenly felt by the Karens o f Bur m a When a rice field does
, .
-

not flourish they sup pose that the soul (k ela h) o f the ri ce is in s ome
,

way detaine d from the rice If the soul cannot be called back the .
,

crop will fa i l The followin g formula is used in recalling the k elah

.

(soul ) o f the rice :

“
O come ric e Come to the fiel d , .

Come to the rice With see d of each gen d e r come C ome from the
.
, .

river Kho come from the river Kaw ; from the place where they meet
, ,

come Come from the Wes t come from the E ast From the throa t
.
, .

of the bird from the maw of the ape fr om the throat o f the elephan t
, , .

Come from the sources o f rivers a nd their mou ths Come from the .

country o f the Shan a nd Burman From the d is tant ki n gd oms come . .

”
From all granaries come O rice k ela h come to the rice -

The Co rn—
. .
,

mother o f our E uropean peasan ts has her match in the

Rice -mo ther o f the M inangk a b auers of Sumatra The M inan gk a .

bauers d efini tely attribute a soul to rice and will som etimes asse rt ,

that rice pounded in the usual way t astes be tter than rice groun d in a
mill because in the m ill the b o d y o f the r ice was so bruise d and
,

battered that the soul has fl ed from it L ike the Javanese they think .

that the rice is under the special guard ianship o f a female spirit called
Saning Sari who is conceived as so closely kni t up with the plant that
,

the rice o ften goes by her name as with the Romans the corn mi h t
g ,

be called Ceres In particular Sanin g Sari is represented by certain

.

”
stalks or grains calle d i nd oea padi that is literally Mother o f Rice , , , ,

a name that is o f ten given to the guardi an spiri t hersel f This so .

called Mother o f Rice i s the occasio n o f a num ber of ceremonies

observed at the plan ting and harve sting of the rice as well as d urin g
i ts preserva ti on in the barn When the seed o f the rice is about to be
sown in the nur sery or bed d in g—
.

out groun d where under the wet ,

4 16 T HE CORN M OTH E R I N MA NY L A N D S
- CH .

system of cultivation it i s re gularly allowe d to sprou t be fore being

transplante d to the fiel d s the best rains are p i cke d out to form the
g ,

Ri ce mo ther These are then sown in the mi d d le o f the b ed a nd the

-
.
,

common see d is plan ted roun d abo u t them The sta te o f the Rice .

mo-the r is su p pose d to exer t the grea tes t i nfluence on the growth of

the r i ce ; i f she d roops o r p ines away the harves t will be b a d in co use ,

q u en ce The woman who sows the R i ce mother in the nursery lets

.
-

her h ai r han g loose an d a fterwar d s b athes as a means o f ensur in g an ,

abun d ant ha rves t When the tim e comes to transplan t the rice from
.

the nursery to the fiel d the R i ce — mo ther rece ives a spec ial place e ither
,

in the m i d d le or in a corner o f the field an d a praye r or charm is ,

u tte fe d as follows : S an in g Sar i may a measure o f rice come from a ,

stalk o f r ice an d a ba ske tful from a roo t ; may you be fr ightene d

neither by li gh tn in g nor by passers — by l Sunshine make you gla d ;
wi th the s to rm m ay you be a t peace ; and may rai n serve to wash
yo ur fa ce 1 While the r i ce is growin g the par ticul a r plant which ,

was thus trea te d as the Rice mo ther is lost s igh t o f ; b ut be fore -

ha rves t another Rice mothe r i s foun d When the cr 0 p i s ripe for

-
.

cut tin g the ol d est woman o f the family o r a sorcerer goes out to look
,

fo r her The fi rst stalks seen to bend un d er a passin g bree z e are the
.

Rice mother and they are ti e d to gether but not cut until the first
-
,

frui ts o f the fiel d have been carrie d home to serve as a fes tal meal for
the family a n d their frien d s nay even for the d omes tic animals ; since
,

it is S aning Sari s pleasure that the bea sts also shoul d partake of her
’

good gi fts A fter the meal has been eaten the Rice mo ther is fe tched -
.
,

home by persons in gay attire who carry her very care fully un der an ,

umbrella i n a nea tly wo r k ed b a g to the barn where a place in the ,

mi d d l e i s assi gne d to her E very one believes th at she takes care of

.

the rice in the barn a n d even multiplies it not uncommonly .

When the To-mori of Central Celebes are about to plan t the rice ,

they bury in the fi eld s ome betel as an o ff e rin g to the spiri ts who
c au se the rice to grow The rice that is plante d roun d this spot is the
.

las t to be rea p e d at harvest A t the commencemen t o f the reaping .

the s talks o f this patch o f rice are tie d to ge ther i n to a shea f which ,

is calle d the M o ther of the Rice (i n en o pa e ) a n d o fferin gs in the ,

shape o f rice fowl s liver e ggs and other thin gs are laid down be fore
,
’

, ,
“
it
. When all the rest o f the rice in the fi el d has been re aped the ,

M o ther o f the Rice is cut down and carried wi th due honour to the
r ice —
b arn where it i s lai d on the floor and all the other sheaves are
, ,

pile d upon it T he To mori we are told re ga rd the M other o f the

.
, ,

Rice as a special o ffering made to the rice spi r it Om onga who dwel ls -
,

in the moon I f th at spiri t is not treate d wi th proper respect for

.
,

example i f the people who fe tch rice from the barn are not d ecently
clad he i s angry an d punishes the o ffe nd ers by ea tin g up twice as much
,

r ice i n the barn as they have taken out o f it ; some people have heard
him smackin g his lips in the barn as he devoured the rice On the , .

o ther han d the T ora dj a s o f Central Cel eb es who also p ractice the -
,

custom o f the Rice mother at harvest re gar d her as the actual mothe r
-
,
4 18 T HE CORN —
M OTH E R I N MANY LAN D S CH
.

in the double form o f bride and b ride groom has its parallel in a
ceremony observe d at the rice ha rvest in Java B e fore the reapers - .

begin to cut the rice the pries t or sorcerer picks out a number o f ears
,

o f rice whi ch are tie d to ge ther smea red wi th oi n tment and adorned
, , ,

wi th flowers Thus d ecked out the ears are called the pa d i peh ga ntén -
'

the Rice — bri d e a nd the R ice—

.
, ,

that is , bri d e groom ; thei r wedding

feast is celebrated an d th e cuttin g o f the rice be gins immediately
,

a fterwar d s La ter on when the rice i s be i n g got in a bridal chamber

.
, ,

is par ti ti oned off in the barn a n d furni she d with a new mat a lamp and , , ,

all kinds o f toilet articles S heaves o f rice to represent the wed ding .
,

gues ts are placed besi de the Rice bride and the Rice bride groo m
- -
, .

N ot till this has been d one may the whole harvest be housed in the barn .

A nd for the firs t forty days a fter the rice has bee n house d no ,

one may enter the barn for fear o f d i sturbing the newly wedded ,
-

I BM
”
.

I n the i slands o f B ali and Lombok when the time o f harvest has ,

c ome the owner o f the field himsel f makes a be ginnin g by cutting

,

the principal rice with his own hands a nd b indin g it in to two

“

sheaves each composed o f one hun d red and ei ght s talks w ith their
,

l eaves attached to them One o f the sheaves represents a man and .

” “
the other a woman and they are called husband a d wi fe ,
n The .

male shea f i s wound about wi th thr ead so that none o f the leaves are
visible whereas the female shea f has its leaves bent over and tied so
,
’
as to resemble the roll o f a w oman s ha ir S ometimes for further '

distinction a necklac e o f rice —

.
,

,
straw is tied round the female shea f .

When the rice i s brou ght home from the field the two sheaves rep re ,

sentin g the husban d and wi fe are carr ied by a woman on her head and ,

are the las t o f all to be deposited in the barn There they are laid to .

rest on a small erection or on a cushion o f rice straw The whole -

.

a rrangement we are in formed has for its obj ect to induce the rice
, ,

to increase and mul tiply in the granary so that the owner may get ,

more out o f it than he put in H ence when the people o f Bali bring .

the two sheaves the husban d and wi fe i nto the barn they say
, , , ,
”
“
Increas e ye an d multiply without ceas in g When all the rice in the .

barn has been used up the tw o sheaves represent i ng the husb an d and
,

wi fe remain in the empty building till they have gra d ually d isappeared
or been d evoured by mice The pinch o f hun ger sometimes drives .

in d ividu als to eat up the rice o f these two sheaves but the wretches ,

who do so are viewed w ith dis gust by their fellows and branded as pi gs
and do gs Nobody would ever sell these holy sheaves w ith the rest
.

o f their pro fane brethren .

The sam e no tion o f the pr opa gatio n o f the rice by a male and
female power finds expression amon gst the S z is o f Uppe r Burma .

When the paddy that is the rice wi th the husks still on it has been
, , ,

dri ed and piled in a heap for threshin g all the friends o f the household ,

are invi te d to the threshin g-fl oor and food and d rink a re brought out ,
.

The heap of pa d dy i s divided and one hal f sp read out for threshing ,

while the other h al f i s left p iled up On the pile food and sp irits are .
 XLVI T HE S PIRIT OF T HE CORN I N HUMAN B E I N GS 4 19

set, and one o f the elders addressin g the father and mother o f the
,

paddy plan t prays for plenteous harvests in future and be gs th at the

-
, ,

see d may bear many fold Then the whole party eat drink a n d m ake
—
.
, ,

m erry Th i
.
s ceremony at the threshin g fl oo r i s the only occasion when
”
these people invoke the father and mother o f the pa dd y
'

3 The S piri t of the C orn em b odi ed i n H um a n B ei ngs —Thus the

.

— —
. .

theory which reco gnises in the E uro pean Corn mother Corn maiden , ,

and so forth the embodi ment in vegetable form o f the animating

,

spiri t of the crops i s amply confirmed by the evidence o f peoples i n

other parts of the worl d who becaus e they have lagged behind the
, ,

European races in mental developmen t re ta i n for that very reason ,

a keener sense o f the original m o tives for observin g thos e rustic rites
which amon g ourselves have su nk to the level o f mean i ngles s survivals .

The rea d er may however remember that accor d in g to Mannha rdt

, , ,

whose theory I am expoundi ng the spiri t o f the corn man i fes ts i tsel f ,

not merely in ve getable but also in human form ; the person who cuts
the last shea f or gives the last s troke at threshing passes for a temporary
em bo dimen t o f the corn spi ri t j ust as much as the bunch o f corn
-
.

which he reaps or threshes N ow in the parallels which have been .

hi ther to a d duce d from the cust oms o f peoples outsi d e E urope the
spiri t of the crops appears only in vegetable form It rema i ns there .
,

fore to prove that other races besi d es our E uropean peas antry hav e
,

conceive d the spirit o f the crops as incorporate in or represente d by

living men an d wome n Such a pro o f I may remind the reader is
.
, ,

germane to the theme o f th i s book ; for the more i nstances we d i s

cover o f human be in gs represen tin g i n themselves the l i fe or animatin g
spir it of plants the less d ifficul ty wi ll be felt at clas sin g amon gst them
,

the Kin g o f the Woo d at Nemi .

The M andans a n d M i nn ita rees o f Nor th America used to hol d a

festival in spring wh ich they called the corn me d icine fes tival o f the -

women They thought that a cer ta i n Old Woman who N ever Dies
.

m a de the crops to grow a n d that li vin g somewhere in the south she

, , ,

sent the mi gratory water fowl in spring as her tokens and represe nta
tives . E ach sort o f bird represen te d a spec i al ki nd o f c rop cul tivated
b y the In d ians : t he wil d goose s too d for the m a ize the wild swan ,

for the gour d s a n d the wil d duck fo r the beans

,
So when the feathere d .

m essen ers o f the O ld Woman be gan to arrive in sprin g the Ind i ans
g
celebrate d the corn me d ic ine fest ival o f the women S cafl olds were
-
.

set up on which the people hun g d r i ed meat a n d o ther thin s by way o f

, g
offerings to the Old Woman ; a n d on a certain day the old women o f
the tr ibe as represen ta tives o f the Old Woman who N ever Dies
, ,

assembled at the sca ffol d s each b earin g in her hand an ear o f maize
fastened to a s tick They first pla n-ted thes e sticks in the ground then
.
,

dance d round the sca ffo lds and finally took up the sticks a gain in th ei r
,

arms Meanwhi le ol d men beat d rums an d shook rattles as a music al

.

accompanimen t to the performan ce o f the old women Further .

,

youn g women came a n d put drie d flesh into the mouths o f the old
wom en for which they receiv ed in return a grai n o f the consecrated
,
420 THE —
CORN M OTH E R I N MANY LAND S CH .

mai z e to eat Three or four grains of the holy corn were also placed
.

in the dishes o f the youn g women to b e a fterwar d s c are fully mixe d ,

with the see d corn which they were suppose d to fer tili s e The d ried
-
,
.

flesh hun g on the sca ff ol d belon ge d to the old wom en because they ,

rep resen te d the Old Woman who Never D i es A simila r corn medic ine .
-

festival wa s hel d in autumn fo r the purpose o f at trac tin g the her ds of

bu ff aloes a n d securing a supply o f mea t A t that tim e every woman .

carr ie d in her arms an uproo te d plant o f ma ize They gave the name .

o f the Old Woma n who N ever D i es bo th to the mai ze and to those

birds which they regar d ed as symbols o f the frui ts of the earth and ,

they praye d to them in au tumn sayin g M o ther have p ity on us ! , ,

send us n ot the bitter col d too soon lest we have not mea t enough ! ,

l et not all the gam e d epart that we m ay have some thin g for the
,
”
winter ! In au tumn when the bir d s were flyin g south the In d ians
, ,

thought tha t they w ere goin g hom e to the O ld Woman a n d taking to

her the o ff erin gs that had been hun g up on the sca ffol d s espec ially ,

the d ried meat which she ate H ere then we have the spir it or d ivinity
, .

o f the corn conceived as an Old Woman an d represen ted in bo d i ly for m

by old women who i n their capaci ty o f representa tives receive some at
,

l east o f the o ff erings wh ich are i n ten d ed for her .

In some p arts o f India the harves t goddess Gauri is represented -

at onc e by an unmarried gi rl and by a bundle o f w i ld balsam pla nts ,

which is made up i n to the fi gure o f a woman and d ressed as such with

mask garments and o rnamen ts Both the human a nd the ve getable
, ,
.

representative o f the go d dess are wors hipped a n d the inten tion of the ,

whole ceremony appears to be to ensure a good crop of rice .

4 T he D ou b le P ers onifica ti on of the C orn as M o ther an d D augh

ter —
.

. Com pare d with the Corn mother o f Germany and the Harves t -

m ai d en of S co tland the Deme ter and Persephone o f Gre ece are late
,

products o f reli gious grow th Yet as members o f the A ryan family the
.

Greeks m ust at one time or ano ther have observe d harvest cus toms like
thos e whi ch are s till practised by Celts Teu tons and Slavs a n d wh ich , , , ,

far beyond the limits o f the Aryan world have been practised by the
I n d ians o f Peru a n d many peoples o f the E ast In d ies —a sufficient
,

proo f that the ideas on whi ch these customs rest are not confined to
any one race b ut naturally sugges t themselves to all un tu tored peoples
,

en ga ged in a gr i culture It i s p robable therefore that Deme ter and

.
, ,

Persephone those s tat ely and bea uti ful fi gures o f Greek my thology
, ,

grew o ut o f the same s imple belie fs and prac tices which s till prevail
amon g our modern peasan try a n d that they we re represen te d by rude
dolls made out o f the yellow sheaves on many a harvest field long
,

—
before thei r b reathin g images were w rought in bronze and marble by
the master hands o f Phidias and Pra x i teles A reminiscence o f that
olden time—a scent so to say o f the harves t field—l ingere d to the last
.

-
, ,

in the title o f the M aiden (K or e ) by which Persephone was commonly

known Thus i f the pr ototype o f Demeter i s the Corn mother of
.
-

Germany the pro totype o f Persephone is the Harvest maide n which

,
-
,

autumn a fter autumn is still ma d e f rom the last shea f on the B raes
,
422 T HE CORN M OTH E R I N MANY LA ND S
-
CH .

the seed-corn taken from it and sown i n au tumn to reappear in s pring , .

The d escen t o f Persephone in to the lower worl d woul d thus be a

'

my thical expression fo r the sowin g o f the seed ; her reappearance in

sprin g would si gni fy the sprou ti ng o f the youn g corn In this way .

the Persephone o f one year becomes the Demeter o f the next and this ,

m ay very well have been the or iginal fo rm o f the my th But when

'

with the advance o f reli gious thou ght the corn came to be personified
no lon ger as a bein g that w ent through the whole cycle of birth ,

growth reproduction and dea th within a year but as an immortal

, , ,

goddess cons i s tency requi red that one o f the tw o p e rson ifications
, ,

the mother or the dau gh ter should be sacrificed ,

H owever the .
,

double con-cep tion o f the corn as mother a nd d au ghter may have been
too old and too deeply rooted in the popular m in d to be eradicated
by lo gic and so room ha d to be found in the re formed myth both for
,

mother an d d au gh ter This was d one by assi gning to Persephone

.

the character o f the corn sown in autumn and sproutin g in spring ,

while Demeter was le ft to play the som ewhat va gue part o f the heavy
mother o f the corn who laments i ts annual disappearance underground
, ,

and rej oices over its reappearance in sprin g Thus instead of a regular .

succession o f divine bein gs each livin g a year and then giving birth
,

to her succes sor the re formed myth exhibi ts the concep tion of two
,

d ivi ne and immortal beings one o f whom annually d isappears into and
,

reappears from the ground while the other has l it tle to do but to weep
,

a nd rej oice a t the app ropriate seasons .

This theory o f the double personification o f the cor n in Greek myth

assumes that both p erson ification s (Demeter and Persephone ) are
original But i f we suppose that the Greek myth star te d with a
.

sin gle personifica tion the a f tergrow th o f a second personification

,

may perhaps be explained as follows On looking over the harvest .

customs which hav e been passed un d er review it may be noticed that ,

they involve two d is tinc t concep tions o f the corn spirit For whereas -
.

i n some o f the custom s the corn Spirit i s treated as immanent in the

- .

corn i n others it is re ga rded as ex ternal to it Thus when a pa rticular

,
.

shea f i s called by the name o f the corn spi rit and i s dressed in clothes -
,

an d handle d w i th reverence the spirit is clearly re garded as immanent

,

in the corn B ut when the spiri t i s said to make the crops grow by
.

passing th rou gh them or to bli ght the grain o f those a gainst whom
,

she has a gru dge she is apparen tly conceived as distinct from though
, ,

exercising power over the corn C onceived in the lat ter mode the
,
.

corn spi rit is in a fair way to become a deity o f the corn i f she has
-
,

not become s o already O f these two conceptions that o f the corn

.
,

S pirit as immanent in the corn is doub tless the older since the vie w ,

o f nature as anima ted by indwellin g spi rits appe ars to have generally
preceded the view o f it as controlle d by external deities ; to put it
sho rtly anim ism precedes deism
,
In the harvest cus toms o f our
.

E uropean peasantry the corn spi rit seems to be conceived now as

-

immanent in the corn and now as exter nal to i t I n Greek m ythology , ,

on the other hand Deme ter i s viewed rather as the deity o f the corn
,
XLVI DOUBLE P E RS ON I FI CATION OF T HE CORN 423

than as the spi rit immanent -in it The process o f thought which .

leads to the change from the one mode o f conception to the other is
anthropomorphism or the gradual investment o f the immanent spi rits
,

wi th more and more o f the a ttributes o f humanity As men em erge .

from sava gery the ten d ency to humanise thei r divinities ga ins stren gth ;
and the more huma n these bec ome the wider is the breach which severs
them from the na tural obj ects o f which they were at first merely the
anim ating Sp i rits or souls But in the progress upwards from savagery
.

m en o f the same generation d o not march abreast ; and thou gh the

new anthropomorph ic gods may satis fy the religious wants o f the
m ore develope d in telli gences the backwar d members o f the community
,

will cling by pre ference to the old animistic notions N ow when .

the spirit o f any natural obj ect such as the corn has been i nvested
wi th human qu a li ties detache d from the obj ect a nd converted into a
, ,

deity controll i ng it the obj ec t i tsel f is by the withdrawal o f its S pirit

, , ,

le ft inanimate ; it becomes so to say a spiritual vac uum B ut the, , .

popular fancy in tolerant o f such a vacuum in other words unable

, , ,

to conceive any th i ng as inanima te imme d iately crea tes a fresh mythical ,

being w ith which i t peoples the vacant obj ect Thus the same na tural
, .

obj ect comes to be represente d in my tholo gy by two d is tinct bein gs :

firs t by the old spirit now separated from it a n d raise d to the rank of
a dei ty ; secon d by the new spiri t freshly create d by the popular
, ,

fancy to supply the place v acated by the old spir it on its elevation
to a hi gher sphere I n such cases the problem for my tholo gy is
.
,

having got two d is tinc t p erson ifica tion s o f the same obj ect what t o ,

do w ith them ? H ow are the ir rela ti ons to each o ther to be adj uste d ,

and room foun d fo r bo th i n the my tholo gi cal sys tem ? When the old
spir it or new d ei ty is conceive d as crea ting or pro d ucin g the obj e ct in
ques tion the problem i s easily solve d S ince the obj ect is bel i eved
, .

to be pro duce d by the old spiri t and an ima ted by the new one the , ,

l atter as the soul o f the obj ect must also owe its exis te n ce to the
, ,

former ; thus the old sp i rit w i ll stand to the new one as producer to
produce d that is in mythology as parent to chil d a n d i f both spi rits
, , , ,

are conceived as female th e i r rela tion w ill be tha t o f mo ther and

,

daughter In this way start in g from a sin gle personifica tion o f the
.
,

corn as female myth ic fancy mi gh t in time re ach a double personi

,

fication o f it as mo ther an d dau gh ter It w oul d be very rash to a ffirm .

that this was the way in wh ich the my th o f Demeter a n d Persephone

actually took shape ; but it seems a le gitimate conj ecture that the
reduplica tion o f d e ities o f wh ich Deme ter and Persephone furnish
,

an example may sometimes have arisen in the way in d icated For

, .

example amon g the pairs o f dei ties d ealt with in a former par t o f
,

this work it has been shown that there are grounds for re ar d in bo th
, g g
Isis and her companion god Osiris as p ersonification s o f the corn On .

the hypothesis j ust su ggeste d Isi s would be the old corn spirit and ,
-
,

Osiris woul d be the newer one whose relationship to the old spirit ,

was variously explained as that o f brother husband and son ; for o f , ,

course mythology would always be free to account for the coex i stence
424 LITY E RS E S CH .

o f the two divinities in more ways than one I t mus t not however . , ,

be forgo tten tha t this propose d explanation o f such pairs o f deities as

Demeter an d Persephone or Isis and Osiris is purely conj ectural and ,

is only given for what it is worth .

CHAPT E R XLVI I

LI T YE RS E S

1 S ongs
.
f o the C or n Reapers — In the precedi n g pages an attempt
has been made to show tha t in the Corn mother and Harves t mai den - -

o f N or thern E urope we have the proto types o f Demeter and Perse

phone B ut an essential fea ture is s till wanti ng to complete the resem

.

blance A lea d in g incident i n the Greek my th is the d eath an d resurrec

.

tion o f Persephone ; it i s this inciden t whi ch coupled wi th the na ture of ,

the go d des s as a dei ty o f ve ge tation l ink-s the myth wi th the cul ts of ,

A d onis A ttis Osi ri s a nd Dionysus ; an d it is in vi rtue o f this inci dent

, , ,

that the myth fin d s a place in our discussion o f the Dyin g God It .

remains there fore to see whe ther the concep tion of the annual death
, ,

and resurrection o f a god which fi gures so p rominen tly in these great

,

Greek a nd Orien tal worships has not also i ts ori gin or its analogy in
the rus tic ri tes observed by reapers and v ine—
,

d ressers amongst the

corn shocks and the vines
-
.

Our general i gnorance of the popular supers ti tions and c us to m s

o f the ancien ts has alrea d y been con fessed B ut the obscur ity which .

thus han gs over the fi rs t beginnin gs o f ancient rel igion is fortunately

d i s sipa te d to some extent i n the presen t case The worsh ips of .

Osiris A d oni s and A tt is had their respec tive seats as we have s een
, , , ,

in E gyp t Syria an d Phry gia ; and in ea Ch of these coun tr i es ce rtain

, ,

harvest a nd vin ta ge cus toms are known to have been observe d the ,

resemblance o f which to each o ther a n d to the national ri tes struck

the ancien ts themselves and compare d wi th the harvest cus toms of
, ,

modern peasan ts a n d barbarians seems t o throw some li ght on the ,

ori gin of the rites in q u es tion .

It has been alrea d y mentioned on the authority o f D io d orus that , ,

in ancien t E gyp t the reapers were won t to lament over the firs t
shea f cut invokin g I sis as the goddess to whom they owe d the dis
,

cov ery o f corn To the plain tive son g or cry sun g or uttered by
.

E gyp tian reapers the Greeks gave the nam e o f M a n eros and explained ,

the name by a s tory tha t M a n e ros the only son o f the first E gyp tia n ,

kin g inven te d a griculture and d yin g an untimely d eath was thus

, , , ,

lamente d by the people It ap pears however that the name M aneros

.
, ,
“
i s due to a mi sun d ers tandin g o f the formula m aa n e hra Come to - -
,
”
the house which has been d iscovered in various E gyptian wri tings
, ,

for example in the d i rge o f I sis in the Book o f the Dead Hence
we may suppose that the cry m aa—
.

ne hra was chanted by the reapers -

426 LITY E RS E S CH .

into the rive r Acc or d in g to ano ther versio n o f the story Lityerses
.
, ,

a son o f M i das was wont to challenge p eop le to a reapin g match

,

with him and i f he vanquished them he used to thrash them ; but

,

one day he met with a stron ger reaper who slew him ,
.

There a re some groun d s fo r supposin g that in these stories of

Lityerses w e have the descri ption o f a Phry gian harvest custo m in
accordance w ith whi ch cer tain persons especially stran ge rs passing ,

the harvest fi eld were regularly re gar d ed as embodiments of the

corn —
,

sp i ri t and as such were seized by the reapers w rapt in sheaves

, , ,

a n d beheade d thei r bodies boun d up in the corn stalks bein g after

, ,
-
,

wa r d s thrown in to water as a rain charm The grounds for this -

.

supposition are fi rst the resemblance o f the Lityerses story to the

, ,

ha rvest customs of E uropean peasantry and second the frequency , , ,

o f human sacrifices o ff ered by sava ge races to p rom ote the fertility

o f the fields We will examine these grounds successively beginning
.
,

with the fo rmer .

I n comparin g the story with the harvest custom s o f E urope three ,

points deserve special a tten tion namely : I the reapi ng match and , .

the bin d in g o f persons i n the sheaves ; I I the ki llin g o f the corn .

sp i rit or his rep resentatives ; I I I the treatment o f visitors to the .

harvest field or o f s tran gers passing it .

I I n re gard to the first head we have seen that in modern E urope

.
,

the person who cuts or bin d s or threshes the last shea f is o ften exposed
to rough treatment at the han d s o f his fellow labourers For example -
.
,

he is boun d up in the last shea f and thus encased i s car ri ed or carted , , ,

abou t beaten drenched with water thrown on a dunghill and so

O r i f he is spared this horse —
, , , ,

for th .
, play he is at least the subject ,

o f ridicule or is thou ght to be destined t o su f f er some mis fortune in

the course o f the year H ence the ha rvesters are naturally reluctant.

to give the last cut a t reapin g or the l as t stroke at threshin g or to

bind the last shea f and t owards the close o f the work this reluctance
,

p roduces an emulat ion amon g the labourers each strivin g to finish ,

his task as fast as possible i n or d er that he may escape the invidious , .

d istinction o f bein g last Fo r exampl e in the M ittelmark district of

.
,

Prussia when the rye has been reaped a nd the last sheaves are about
, ,

to be ti e d up the binders s tand in two rows facing each other every

, ,

woma n with her sheaf and her straw rope be fore her A t a given .

si gnal they all tie up their sheaves and the one who is the last to ,

fi nish i s ridiculed by the res t N ot only so but her shea f is made .

,

up into human shape and called the Old M an and she must carry i t ,

hom e to the farmyard where the harvesters dance in a circle round ,

her an d it Then they take the Old Man to the farmer and deliver
.

it to him with the words W e brin g the O ld Man to the Master ,

“
.

H e may keep him till he gets a new one A fter that the Old Man 18 .

s et up agai nst a t ree where h e remains for a long time the butt of
, ,

many j ests At Aschbach in Bavaria when the reapin g i s nearly

.
,

fini shed the reapers say

,
Now w e wi ll drive out the Old Man , ,
.

Each o f them sets himsel f to rea p a p atch o f corn a s fast as he can ;

v n KI LLI N G T HE CORN S PI RIT -
42 7

he who cuts the last handful or the last stalk is greeted by the rest
”
with an exulting cry You have the Old Man , S ometimes a black .

’
m ask is fastened on the reaper s face a nd he is dressed in woman s
’

clothes ; or i f the reaper is a woman she is dressed in man s clothes ,

’
.

A dance fol lows At the supper the Old Man gets twice as lar ge a
.

port ion o f the food as the o thers The proceedings are similar at .

threshi ng ; the person who gives the last stroke is sai d to have the
Old Man At the supper given to the thre shers h e has to eat out o f
—
.

the cream la d le and to d rink a great d eal M oreover he is quizzed .

, .

and teased in all sorts o f ways till he frees himsel f from fur ther
annoyance by treatin g the others to bran dy or beer .

These examples illustrate the con tests in reapin g threshin g a n d , ,

binding wh ich take place amon gs t the harves ters from their unw illing ,

ness to su ff er the ri dicule and discom fort incurre d by the one w ho

happens to finish his work last It will be remembere d that the .

person who is last at reapin g bindin g or threshin g is regarded as , , ,

the representative o f the corn spiri t and thi s i d ea is more fully -

,

expresse d by bindin g him or her i n corn stalks The latter cus tom -
.

has been already i llus trated b ut a few more instances may be adde d
, .

At Kloxin near Stettin the harve sters call out to the w oman who
, ,
”
binds the last shea f You have the Old M an an d must keep him
, , .

As late as the first hal f o f the nine teenth century the custom was
to tie up the woman hersel f in pease straw a nd br i n g her wi th mus ic -
,

to the farmhouse where the harvesters d ance d with her till the
,

pease straw fell off In other v illa ges roun d S tet tin w hen the last
-
.
,

harvest waggon i s being loa d e d there is a regular race amongs t the

-
,

women each strivin g not to be las t For she who places the las t .

shea f on the waggon is calle d the Old Man a nd is completely swathe d ,

in corn stalks ; she is also decke d w ith flowers and flowers a n d a

-
,

helmet o f s traw are placed on her hea d I n solemn p rocess ion she .

carries the harves t crown to the squire over whose hea d she hol d s i t
-
,

while she utters a strin g o f goo d w i shes At the d ance which follows .
,

the Old Man has the ri ght to choose his or ra ther her pa rtner ; it , ,

is an honour to dance wi th him A t G ommern near Ma gdebur g the .

'

, ,

reaper who cuts the last ears o f corn i s o ften wrapt up in corn s talks -

so completely that i t is hard to see whether there is a man in the bundle

or not Thus wrapt U p he is taken by another stalwa rt reaper on
.

his back an d carried round the fiel d ami d st the j oyous cries o f the
,

harvesters At Neuhausen near M ersebur g the person who bin d s

.
, ,

the last shea f is wrapt in ears o f oats an d saluted as the Oa tsm an ,

whereupon the others d ance roun d him A t B rie Isle d e France .

, ,

the farmer himsel f is tie d up in the firs t shea f A t Dingelstedt i n .

,

the district o f E r furt down to the first hal f o f the nineteen th cen tury
,

it was the custom to tie up a man in the last shea f H e was called .

the Old Man and was brought home on the last waggon ami d huzzas
, ,

and m usic On reachin g the farmyar d he was rolled roun d the barn
.

and drenched wi th water A t N ordl in gen in B avaria the man who

.

gives the l ast stroke at threshing is wrapt in straw and rolled on the
42 8 LITY E RS E S CH .

threshing fl oor In some parts o f Oberp falz Bavaria he i s s aid to

-
.
, ,
”
get the Old Man is wrapt in s traw an d carried to a nei ghbour
“
, ,

who has not yet finished his threshin g In Silesia the woman who ,

binds the last shea f has to submi t to a good deal o f horse-play She .

is pushe d knocke d down a n d tie d up in the shea f a fter which she

, , ,

is called the corn puppet (K or npopel ) -

I n all these cases the i d ea is that the spiri t o f the corn—the

.

O ld Man o f ve ge tati on—i s d r iven out o f the corn las t cut or last
threshed and l ives in the barn d urin g the win ter At sowing—
,
time .

he goes out a gain to the fields to r esume his ac tivity as animating

force among the sprou tin g corn .

I I Pas sing to the second poin t of comparison between the Lityerses

.

s tory and E uropean harvest cus toms we have now to see that in the ,

latter the corn spiri t is o ften believed to be kille d a t reapin g or thresh

-

ing I n the Rom sdal a nd o ther par ts o f N orway when the haymaking
.
,
”
i s ov er the people say tha t the Old Hay man has been killed
, In -
.

some p a rts o f B avaria the man who gives the last stroke at threshing
is sai d to have killed the Corn man the Oa ts man or the Wheat man -
,
-
,
-
,

accor d i ng to the crop In the Can ton of T illot in Lorraine at.

'

, ,

threshin g the last corn the m en keep time wi th their fl a ils calling ,

out as they t hresh We are killin g the Old Woman ! We are killing
the O ld Woman ! If there is an o ld woma n in the house she is
warned to save hersel f or she will be struck d ead Near Ragnit , .
,

i n Lithuania the la s t hand ful o f corn is le ft stan d in g by i tsel f with the

, ,

wor d s The O ld Woman (B a b a ) is sitting in there

,
Then a young .

reaper whe ts his scythe and with a stron g sweep cu ts down the , ,
’
hand ful It is now said o f him that he has cut off the Boba s head
.

a n d he receives a gratuity from the farmer a nd a j u gful o f water over

his head from the farmer s wi fe Accor d in g to another accoun t every ’
.
,

Li thuanian r eaper makes haste to fini sh his task ; for the Old
Rye woman lives in the las t stalks a n d whoever cuts the las t stalks
-
,

kills the Old Rye woman a nd by killing her he brin gs trouble on

-
,

himsel f I n VVilk i schk en in the d is trict o f Tilsi t the man who cuts
.
, ,
“ "
the last corn goes by the name o f the killer o f the Rye woman -
.

I n Lithuania again the corn S pi r it is believe d to be killed at threshing

, ,
-

as well as at reapin g When only a s ingle pile o f corn remains to be

.

threshed all the threshers su dd enly step back a few paces as i f at the
, ,

word o f command Then they fall to work plying their fl ails with the
.
,

u tmos t rapi d ity an d v ehemence till they come to the last bundle ,
.

Upon this th ey flin g themselves wi th almost fran tic fury straining ,

”
every nerve a n d rainin g blows on it till the word Hal t ! rings out
,

sharply from the lea d er The man whose flail is the last to fall after .

the command to stop has been given i s immediately surrounded by

all the rest cryin g out that he has struck the Old Rye woman
,
-

”
d ea d . H e ha s to expiate the dee d by treatin g them to brandy ;
a nd, like the man who cuts the last cor n he i s known as the killer ,
“

”
o f the Old Rye woman S ometimes in Lithuania the slain corn spirit
-
.
-

was re p rese nted by a puppet Thus a female fi gure was ma de out of .

43 0 LITY E RS E S CH .

in the last shea f o f wheat is still practised or at lea st was still practi sed ,

some quar ter o f a century a go The task falls to the women alone . .

They throw themselves on the proprietor seize him by the arm 3 ,

-
,

the legs and the bo dy throw him to the ground a nd str etch him on
, , ,

the las t shea f Then a show i s ma d e o f bin d in g him and the conditions
.
,

to be observed at the harves t supper a re d ic tat ed to him When he -

.

has accepted them he is release d and allowe d to get up At Bri e

, .
,

I sle d e France when any one w ho does not b elong to the farm passes
,

by the harvest fiel d the reapers give chase I f they ca tch him they
-
, .
,

bin d him in a shea f an db ite him one a fter the other in the forehead , , ,
“ ”
cryin g You shall carry the key o f the field
,
To have the key ” .

i s an expression use d by harvesters elsewhere in the sense of to cut or '

bind or thresh the las t shea f ; hence it is equivalent to the phras es ,

”
You have the Old Man You are the Old M an wh i ch are ad
,
“

dressed to the cutter b in d er o r thresher o f the last shea f There fore

, , .
,

when a s tran ger a s at B rie i s tie d up in a shea f and told that he will
, ,
”
carry the key o f the fi el d it is as much as to say that he is the Old ,

Man that is an embo d iment o f the corn spiri t In hop picking i f a -

well d ressed stran ger passes the hop —

-
, , .
,

-
yar d he is seized b y the women , ,

tumbled in to the bin covered with leaves and not released till he has
, ,

p aid a fine .

Thus like the ancient Lityerses modern E uropean reape rs have

, ,

been wont t o lay hol d o f a passin g stran ger and tie him up in a sheaf .

It is not to be expected that they shoul d complete the parall el by

cuttin g off hi s hea d ; b ut i f they d o not take such a strong s tep their ,

lan gua ge a n d ges tures are at least indicative o f a des i re to do so .

For ins tance in M ecklenbur g on the firs t day o f reapin g i f the master
, ,

or m is tress or a stran ger enters the field or merely passes by it all , ,

the mowers face t owa rds him and sharpen their scythes cla shing ,

thei r whet stones a ga inst them i n unison as i f they were making

~

rea d y to mow Then the woman who leads the mowers steps up to
.

him an d ties a band round his le ft arm H e mus t ransom himself .

by payment o f a for feit Near Ratzeburg when the master or other .

,

person o f mark en ters the field or passes b y it all the harvesters stop ,

work and march towards him in a body the men wi th their scythes ,

in front On m eetin g him they form up in line men and women

.
,
.

The men stick the poles o f thei r scy thes in the ground as they do in ,

whe tting them ; then they take off thei r caps and hang them on the
scy thes while their lea d e r stan d s forward a n d makes a speech When
, .

he has done they all whe t thei r scythes in measured time very loudly
, .
,

a fter which they put on their caps Two o f the women b inders then .

com e forward ; one of them ties the mas ter or stranger (as the case
may be ) w ith corn — ears o r with a silken band ; the other delivers a
rhym i n g address The following are specimens o f the s peeches made
.

by the reaper on these occasions I n some par ts o f Pomerania every

—
.

passer b y i s stoppe d his way bein g barred with a corn rope The
-
, .

reapers form a ci rcle round him and sharpen their scythes while their ,

leader says :
XLVII KILLI N G T HE CORN S PIRIT - 43 1

The m en a re r ea dy, T he cor n i s g rea t a n d s m a ll,

The scy thes ar e b en t, T he g en tlem a n m us t b e m ow e d .

Then the process o f whettin g the scythes i s repeated At Ramin .

,

in the distric t o f Stettin the stranger standin g encircled by the , ,

reapers is thus addressed :,

We ll s trok e the g en tlem an

’
If the g entlem a n wi ll s tand b eer
Wi th our na k ed s w or d ,
a n d b ra n dy

Wher ewi th we s hear m ea d ows an d j

T he ok e wi ll s oon b e over .

fields . B u t i f our prayer he d oes n ot li k e

,

We s hea r pri nces and l or d s . T he s w or d has a r ig ht to s tri k e

”
.

La b ourers ften
ar e o a thi rs t;

On the threshing fl oor strangers are also re garded as embodiments -

of the corn spirit and are t reated accordin gly At W iedingha rd e i n

-
, .

Schleswi g when a stran ger comes to the thr eshing fl oor he i s asked -
,
”
Shall I teach you the fl a il d ance ? If he says yes they put the -
,

arm s of the thresh i ng fla il roun d his neck as i f he were a shea f o f -

corn and press them to gether so ti gh t that he is nearly ch oke d In

,
.

some parishes o f W erm lan d (Swe d en ) when a s tranger enters the ,

thresh in g fl oo r where the threshers are at work they say that

-
they ,

will teach him the thresh i n g son g Then they put a flail round his -
.

neck and a straw rope about his bo d y Also as we have seen i f a .

, ,

stranger woman enters the thre shin g fl oo r the threshers put a fla il -

,

round her bo dy an d a wrea th o f c orn s talks roun d her neck a n d call -

,

out See the Corn woman ! S ee ! tha t is how the Corn maiden looks !
- -

Thus in these harves t—

,

cus toms o f mo d ern E urope the person who

cuts bin ds or threshes the last corn is trea te d as an embo d iment
, ,

of the corn spiri t by bein g wrapt up in sheaves -

k i lle d in mim icry ,

by agr icul tural impl ements a n d thrown in to the water Th ese , .

coinci d ences with the Lityerses s tory seem to prove that the la tter
is a genu ine d escrip tion o f an ol d Phry gian harvest custom B ut -
,

since in the modern par allels the k illing o f the personal rep resen ta tive
of the corn spir i t is necessarily om itte d or at mos t enacte d only i n
-

m imicry it is des i ra b le to show that in ru d e socie ty human bein gs

,

have been commonly killed as an a gricul tural ceremony to promote

the fertility o f the fi el d s The followin g examples will make this .

plain
3 H um a n S a cr ifices for the Cr ops —The I n d ians o f Guayaquil
.

.
,

in Ecua d or use d to sacrifice human bloo d and the hearts o f men

,

when they sowe d the i r fiel d s T he p eop le o f Ca har (now Cuenca .

_

in E cuador ) used to sacrifice a hun d re d children annually at ha rvest .

The kings o f Q uito the Incas o f Peru a n d for a lon g time the Span
, ,

iards were unable to suppress the b loody r ite At a M exican harvest .

festival when the fi r st fruits o f the s eason w ere o ff ered to the sun a
,
-
,

criminal was placed be tween two immense stones balance d opposite ,

each other and was crushed by them as they fell together H is remains
,
.

were buried a n d a feas t a n d dance followe d Th is sacrifice was known

,
.
43 2 LITY E RS E S CH .

as the meetin g o f the s tones We h a ve s een that the ancient

.

Mexicans also sacrifice d human bein gs a t all the various sta ges in the
growth o f the maize the a ge o f the vic tims correspondin g to the age
,

o f the corn ; fo r they sacr i ficed new born babes at sowin g older children
-
,

w hen the grain ha d sprouted a n d so on t i ll it was fully ripe when they

, ,

sacrifice d old men No doub t the cor respon d ence between the ages
.

o f the vic tims a n d the sta te o f the corn was supposed to enhance the

e fficacy o f the sacrifice .

The Pawnees annually sacrificed a human victim in spring when

they sowe d their fiel d s The sacrifice was believe d to have b een
.

enj oined on them by the M ornin g S tar or by a certain bi rd which the ,

M ornin g Star ha d sent to them as its messen ger The bird was stuffed .

and pr e served as a power ful talisman They thought that an omission .

o f this sacrifice would b e followed by the total failure o f the crops of

maize beans and pumpkins The victim was a captive o f either sex
, , . .

H e was clad i n the gayes t and most costly attire was fat tene d on the ,

ch oicest f ood a n d care fully kept in i gnorance o f his doom When

, .

he was fat enou gh they bound him to a cross i n the presence o f the
,

mul ti tude dance d a solemn dance then cle ft his hea d with a tomahawk
, ,

and s hot him with arrows According to one trader the squaws
, ,

then cut pieces o f flesh from the victim s body wi th which they ’
,

greased thei r hoes ; but t his was denied by ano ther trader who had
been p resent at the ceremony Immedia tely a fter the sacrifice the
.

people proceeded to plant thei r fields A par ticular account has .

been preserved o f the sacrifice o f a Sioux girl by the Pawnees in April

183 7 or 18 38 The girl was fourteen or fi f teen years old and had
.

been kept for six months and well treate d Two days be fore the .

sacrifice she was led from W i gwam to W i gwam accompanied by the ,

whole council o f chie fs and warriors A t each lo dge she received a .

small bille t o f wood a n d a li ttle p aint which she handed to the warrior ,

next to her I n this way she calle d a t every W i gwam receiving at

.
,

each the same presen t o f wood and paint On the twenty second of .
-

April she was taken out to be sacrifice d at tended by the warriors , ,

each of whom ca rr ied two pieces o f wood which he had received from
her hands H er body havin g been pain ted hal f red an d hal f black
.

'
,

she was at tached to a sor t o f gib b et a n d roasted for some time over
a slow fire then shot to death with arrows
, The chie f sacrificer .

next tore out her hear t a nd d evoured it While h er flesh was still .

warm it was cut i n small pieces from the bones put i n little baskets , ,

and taken to a nei ghbourin g corn fiel d There the head chie f took -
.

a pi ece o f the flesh from a basket an d squeezed a drop of blood upon

the newly deposited grains o f corn
-
H i s example was f ollowed by
.

the rest till all the seed had b een sprinkled wi th the blood ; it was
,

then covered up with earth Accordin g to one account the body of

.

the victim was r educed to a kind of paste which was rubbed or ,

sprinkled not only on the m aize but also on the potatoes the beans , ,

and other seeds to fertilis e them By thi s sacrifice they ho ped to .

obtain p lenti ful crops .

43 4 LIT Y E R SE S CH .

procession one o f the la d s was slain by being punctured with a

,

poisoned arrow Hi s b lood was then sprinkled over the ploughed

.

fiel d or the ripe crop a n d his flesh was devoure d The Oraons or , .

U raon s o f Chota N agpur worship a goddess calle d Anna Kuari who ,

can give goo d crops a n d make a man ri ch b ut to induce her to do so it ,

is necessary to o ffer human sacrifi ces In spite o f the vi gilance o f the .

Bri tis h Government these sacrifices a re sai d to be s till secretly perpe

trate d The vi ctims are poor wai fs and strays whose dis appearance
.

at tracts no n o tice April and M ay are the mon ths when the catch
.

p oles are out on the prowl At that time s tran gers will not go about .

the coun try al one and paren ts will not let their children enter the
,

j ungle or her d th e cattle Whe n a catchpole has found a victim .

,

he cuts hi s throat and carri es away the upper pa rt o f the ring finger
a n d the nose T he god d ess take s up her abode in the house o f any m an
.

who has o ffere d her a sacrifice and from that time his fiel d s yiel d a ,

double harves t The form she assumes in the house is that o f a sm all
.

chil d When the ho usehol d er brin gs in his unhusked rice he takes

.
,

the go dd ess an d rolls her over the heap to double its size But she .

soon grows res tless and can only be pa cified with the blood of fresh
human vic tims .

But the bes t known case o f human sacrifices systematically o ffered ,

to ensure good crops is supp lie d by the Khonds or K andhs another, ,

Dravidian race i n Ben gal Our knowle dge o f them is d erived from .

the accoun ts wri tten b y B ritish o fficers who abou t the mi d dle of the ,

nineteenth century w ere engaged in pu tting them d own The sacrifices

, .

were o ffere d to the E arth Go dd es s Tari P ennu or B era Pennu and , ,

were be l i eve d to ensure goo d crops and immunity from all disease
and acci d ents In par ticular they were considere d necessary in the
.
,

cul tivation o f turmeric the Khonds arguin g that the turmeric coul d ,

n ot have a d eep r e d colour wi thout the she d ding o f bloo d The victi m .

or M eriah as he was calle d was acceptable to the go d dess only i f he

,

had been purchased or had been bo rn a victim that i s the son of

,
,

— ,

a vic tim fa ther or had been d evote d as a chil d by his fa ther or guar dian
,
.

Khon d s in d istress o ften sold their children fo r vic tims considering ,

the b ea ti fication o f thei r souls ce rtain and their death for the b enefit , ,

o f mankind the mos t honour a bl e po ss ible

,
A man of the Panua .

tribe was once seen to loa d a Kho nd wi th curse s and finally to spit ,

in his face because the Khond had sol d for a victim his own chil d
, ,

whom; the Panua ha d wi shed to m arry A pa rty o f Khonds who .

,

saw this immediately pressed forward to co m fo r t the seller of his

,

chil d saying You r chil d has d ied that all the wo rld may live and
, ,
'

the E arth Goddess hersel f will wipe that spittle from your face .

The vic tims were o ften kept for years be fore they were sacrificed .

B ein g re garde d as consecra ted bein gs they were treated with extrem e ,

a ff ection min gled wi th deference and were welcomed wherever they

, ,

w ent . A Meriah youth on attainin g maturity was generally given , ,

a w i fe who was hersel f u sually a M eriah or victim ; and with her

he rec eived a po rtion o f land and farm —
,

stock Thei r o ffspring were .

XLVII HU MA N SA CRIFIC E S FOR T H E C RO PS 43 5

also victims Human sacrifices were o ffere d to the E arth Godde s s

.

by tribes branches o f tri bes or villa ges b oth at periodical festivals

'

, , ,

and on extraor d inary o ccasions The periodical sacrifices were .

enerally so arra n ge d by tribes and d ivisions o f t ribes that each hea d

g
of a fami ly wa s enable d at leas t once a year to procure a shred o f , ,

flesh for his fields generally a bout the time when his chief crop was
,

laid down .

The mo d e o f per forming these tribal sacrifices was as follows .

Ten or twelve d ays be fore the sacrifice the v i c tim was d evote d by ,

cutting off his ha i r which until then ha d b een kept unshorn Crow d s
, , , .

of men a n d women assem b le d to wi tnes s the sacr i fice ; none mi gh t

be exclu d e d s ince the sacrifice was d eclare d to be for all mankin d
, .

It was p rece d ed by several d ays o f w il d revelry a n d gross d ebauche ry .

On the day be fore the sacrifice the victim dresse d in a new garmen t , ,

was led for th from the villa ge in solemn procession with music and ,

dancing to th e Mer i ah grove a clump o f h igh fores t trees s tandin g

, ,

a little way from the villa ge a n d untouche d b y the axe There they .

tie d him to a pos t which was some times place d be tween two plants
,

of the s an k issa r shrub H e was the n anoin ted with oil ghee and .
, ,
“
turmeric an d a d orne d with flowers ; an d a species of reverence
, .

”
which it is no t easy to d is tin gu i sh from ad oration was paid to h im ,

throughout the day A great struggle now arose to ob ta in the smallest

.

relic from his person ; a parti cle o f the tu rm eric pas te w ith which
he was smeare d or a drop o f his s p ittle was esteeme d of sovere ign
, ,

virtue especially by the women The crow d d a nce d round the pos t
,
.

to m usic an d a dd ress ing the ear th sai d O God we o ff er this sacrifice

, , , , ,

to you ; give us goo d crops seasons and heal th then speakin g to the , ,

victim they sa id We b ough t you w ith a price an d did not seize you
, ,

now we sacrifice you accor d in g to cus tom a nd no sin res ts wi th us , .

On the las t mornin g the orgies which ha d been scarcely interrupte d ,

during the ni ght were resume d an d continue d till n oo n when they

, , ,

ceased a nd the a ssembly procee d e d to consumma te the sacrifice

, .

The vic tim was again anoin te d with oil and each person touche d ,

the anointe d part an d w ipe d the oil on hi s own he a d In some places

, .

they took the vic tim in process io n roun d the v i llage from d o or to ,

door where some plucke d ha i r from hi s hea d a n d o thers be gged for

, ,

a drop o f his spi ttle wi th wh ich they ano inte d the i r hea d s As the
, .

victim mi gh t not be boun d nor mak e any show o f resistance the bones ,

of his arms a n d i f necessary his le gs were bro ken ; but often thi s
, ,

precaution was rendered unnecessary by stu pe fying him wi th opium '

.

The mode o f puttin g him to dea th varie d in d i fferent places On e .

of the commones t mo d es seems to have been stran ulation or s ueez

g q ,

ing to death The branch o f a green tree was cle ft several feet down
.
“

the mid dle ; the vic tim s neck (in o ther places hi s chest ) was inse rte d
’

i n the cle ft which the priest a id ed by his assistants strove with all
, , ,

his force to close Then he woun d ed the victim sli ghtly wi th his
.

ax e whereupon the crowd rushed at the wretch a nd hewed the flesh

,

from the bones leaving the head an d bowels untouched

, S om eti m es .
436 LIT Y ER SE S CH
.

he was cut up alive In Chinna K im e dy he was d ra gged along the

.

fiel d s surroun d e d by the crowd who avoi ding his hea d and intes tines
, , , ,

b ack ed the fl e sh from his bo dy w i th the i r knives t i ll he d ie d Another .

very common mo d e o f sacr ifi ce in the same d ist rict was to fasten

the vic ti m to the probosc is o f a woo d en elephant which revolved ,

on a s tou t post a n d as it wh i rled roun d the crow d cut the flesh from
, , ,

the v i ctim wh i le l i fe rema i ne d In some villa ges Maj or Campbell .

foun d as many a s four teen o f these woo d en elephants which had been ,

use d at sacr ifices In one d i s trict the victi m w as put to d eath slowly
.

by fire A low sta ge was formed 5 10 pin g on e ither si d e like a roo f ;

.
,

upon it they lai d the victim his lim b s wound roun d wi th cords to ,

confine his st ru ggles Fi res were then li gh te d a n d hot bran d s applied

.
,

to m ake him roll up and d own the slopes of the stage as lon g as pos
s ible ; for the more tears he shed the more abundan t woul d be the sup
ply o f rain N ext day the bo d y was cut to pieces
. .

The flesh cut from the vic tim w as instantly taken home by the
persons who ha d been d ep ute d by each village to brin g it To secure .

its rap i d arr iv al it was s ometimes forwarde d by relays o f men and

, ,

c onveye d w ith postal fl eetn es s fi fty or s ix ty miles In each village .

all who staye d at home faste d ri gi d ly unt i l the flesh a rrive d T he .

b e a rer d eposi ted it in the place of p ublic assembly where it was ,

receive d by the p riest a n d the hea d s of families The p riest divided .

it in to two po rtions one o f which he o ffere d to the E ar th Goddess

,

by buryin g it in a hole i n the grou nd wi th his back turne d and w ithout ,

l ook in g Then each man adde d a li ttle earth to bury it and the
.
,

pr iest poure d water on the spo t from a hill gou rd The other portion .

o f flesh he d ivi d ed into as many shares as there were he a ds of houses

presen t E ach hea d o f a house rolle d his shred o f flesh in leaves

.
,

a n d burie d it in his favourite fiel d placin g it in the ear th behind his ,

back wi tho ut l ookin g In s ome places each man carried his portiom
.

o f flesh to the s tream which wa tere d his fiel d s and there hung it on ,

a pole For three d ays therea fte r no house was swept ; and in one
.
,

d is trict s tric t s i lence wa s obse rved no fire mi gh t be given out no

, , ,

woo d cut an d n o st an gers re ceived The remains o f the human

,
r .

vic ti m (namely the head b ow els a nd b ones ) were watche d by strong

, , ,

p ar ties the n igh t a fter the sacrifice ; an d next morn i n g they were
burned along wi th a whole sheep on a funeral p ile The ashes were
, , .

scattered over the fiel ds lai d as pas te over the house s and granaries
, ,

or mixed wi th the new corn to preserve i t from insects Sometimes .

,

however the hea d and bones w ere buried n ot bu rnt

, A fter the , .

suppression o f the human sacrifices in ferior victims were substitute d ,

Pn some places ; for instance in the ca p ital o f Chinna K i m e d

y a goat
,

took the place o f the human victim O thers sacr ifice a b ufl a lo They . .

ti e it to a woo d en post in a sacre d grove dance wildly round it with ,

b ran d ished knives then fall in g on the livin g a nimal hack it to shreds
, , ,

a nd tatters in a fe w m i nu tes fi htin

g g and st ru gglin g with each other ,

for every pa rticle of flesh A s soon as a man has secured a p iece he .

m akes off with it at full s pe ed t o bury it in his fields acc ording to ,

43 8 LITY E RS E S CH .

The same custom o f killing the representative o f a god o f which ,

stron g traces app ear in the Khond sacrifices may p erha p s b e detected ,

in some o f the other human sacrifices described above Thus the .

ashes o f the slaughtere d M a rim o were scattered over the fields ; the
blood o f the B rahman lad was put on the crop and field ; the flesh of
the sl ain Na ga was stowe d in the corn bin ; and the blood of the -

S ioux girl was allowed to trickle on the see d A gain the identification .
,

of the victim w ith the corn i n o ther wor d s the view that he is an
, ,

e m bodimen t or spi rit o f the corn is brou ght out in the pains which
,

seem to be taken to secure a physical correspondence between him

and the natural obj ect which he emb odies or represents Thus the .

Mexicans kille d young vi ctims for the young corn and old ones for
”
the ri p e co rn ; the M arim os sacrifice as seed a short fat man ,
“
, , ,

the shortness o f his stature correspondin g to that of the young corn ,

hi s fatness to the con d ition which it is desired that the crops may
attain ; and the Pawnees fattened their vi ctims p robably with the
sam e view A gain the i d entificatio n o f the vi ctim with the corn
.
,

comes out in the A frican custom o f killin g him with spades and hoes ,

a nd the M exican custom of grindin g him like co rn between two st ones , ,

.

One m ore poin t in these savage customs dese rves to be noted .

The Pawnee chie f d evoured the heart o f the Sioux girl and the Mari ,
’
mos an d Gonds ate the vic tim s flesh If as we sup-pose the victim .
, ,

was re gar d ed as divine it follows that in eating his flesh his worship
,

pers believed themselves to be partakin g o f the bo d y o f their god

4 T he Corn spiri t s lai n i n his H um an Represen ta tives —The
.

-
.

b arbarous rites j us t desc ribe d o ffer analo gies to the ha rv est customs
o f E uro pe
. Thus the fertilisin g virtue ascribed to the corn spiri t is -

shown equally in the sava ge cus to m o f mixin g the vi cti m s blood or ’

ashes with the s eed corn a n d the E uropean custo m o f mixin g the
-

grain from the last shea f with the young corn in spring A gain the .
,

i d entification o f the person w ith the co rn appears alike in the savage

custom of adaptin g the age and s tature o f the victim to the age and
s tature whethe r actual or exp ecte d o f the cro p ; i n the Scotch and
, ,

Styrian rules that when the corn spirit is conceived as the Maiden
-

the la s t corn shall be cut b y a y o ung mai den but whe n it is conceived
as the Corn —
,

mother it sh all be cut by an old woman ; in the warning

given to old women in Lor raine to save themselves when the Old
Woman i s being killed that is when the last c orn is bein g threshed ; and
, ,

in the Tyrolese expectation that i f the man who gives the last stroke
’
at threshin g is tall the next year s corn will be tall also Further
,
. ,

the sam e i d entificati on is i m plied in the sava ge custom o f killing the

representative of the corn s p irit with hoes or spades or by grinding
-

him between stones and in the E uropean custom o f pretendin g to

,

ki ll him with the scythe or the fl ail Once more the Khond custom
.

o f pourin g water on the buried flesh o f the victim is p a r a llel t o the

E uropean cu stoms of pourin g water on the perso n al representative
o f the corn spirit or p lun gin g him into a stream Both the Khond
-
.

and the E uropean cu stoms are r a i n ch a rm s -

.
XLVII CO RN S PIRIT SLA I N I N R E PR E SE NTAT I VES
-
439

To return now to the Lityerses sto ry It has been shown that .

in rude society human bein gs have been commonly killed to promote

the growth o f the crops There is there fore no improbability in the
.

supposition that they may once h ave been killed for a like purpo se
in Phrygia and E urope ; and when Phry gian le gend and E uropean
folk— custom closely agreeing with each other point to the conclusion
, ,

that men were so slain we are bound p rovisionally at least to accept

, , ,

the conclusion Further both the Lityerses story a nd E uropean

.
,

harvest customs a gree in indicatin g that the victim was put to d eath
-

as a representative of the corn spirit and thi s in d ication is in harmony

-
,

with the view which some s avages appear to take of the victim slain
to make the crops flouri sh On the whole then we may fai rly suppose
.
, ,

that both in Phry gia and in E urope the represen tative o f the corn
spirit was annually killed upon the harves t field Groun d s have been -
.

already shown f or believin g that similarly in E urope the representa

tive of the tree spirit was annually slain The proo fs of these two
-
.

remarkable and closely analo gous custom s are entirely in d epen d en t

of each other Their coincidence seems to furnish fresh presumption
.

in favour of both .

To the question H ow was the representative o f the corn spi rit

,
-

chosen ? one answer has been alrea d y given Both the Lityerses .

story and E uropean folk custom show that passin g s tr a ngers were
-

regarded as mani festations o f the corn spirit escapin g from the cut -

or threshed corn a n d as such were seize d an d slain B ut this is not

,
.

the only answer which the evi d ence su gges ts According t o the .

Phrygian legend the victims o f Lityerses were not simply passin g

strangers but pe rsons whom he had vanquishe d in a reaping contes t
,

and a fterwar d s wra pt up in corn sheaves and behea d e d This suggests-

.

that the representative o f the corn spirit may hav e been selecte d -

by means o f a competition on the ha rvest field in whi ch the van -

,

quished c omp etitor was compelled to accept the fatal honour The .

supposition is countenance d by E uropean harvest cus toms We have -

.

seen that in E urope there is some times a contest a m ongst the reapers
to avoid being last a nd that the p erson who i s vanquished in th i s
,

competition that is who cuts the last corn i s o ften roughly handled
, , , .

It is true we ha ve not found th at a pretence is m a de o f killing him ;

but on the other hand we have found that a pretence is made of k illin g
the man who gives the last stroke at threshing that is w ho i s va n , ,

quished in the thresh in g contest Now since it i s in the character .

,

of r ep resentative of the corn spirit th at the thresher of the last corn

-

is slain in mimic ry and since the s ame representative character

,

attaches (as we have seen ) to the cutter and binder as well as to the
thresher o f the las t corn and since the same repu gnance i s evince d
,

by harvesters to be last in any one of these labours we may conj ecture ,

that a pretence has been commonl y ma d e of ki llin g the reaper a n d

!

b inder as well as the thresher o f the last corn and tha t in ancient times ,

this k illin g was actually carried out Th is conj ecture i s corroborate d .

by the common superstition that whoever cuts the last corn mus t
440 LITY E RS E S CH .

di e soon Sometimes it is thou ght that the person who bind s the
.

la s t shea f on the field wi ll die i n the course of next year The reason .

for fixin g on the reaper binder o r thresher o f the last corn as the
, ,

represen tative o f the corn spirit m ay be thi s The corn spirit is

-
.
-

supposed to lurk as lon g as he can in the c orn retreatin g be fore the ,

reapers the b in d ers and the threshers at their w ork But when
, , .

he is forcib ly expelle d from hi s re fuge in the last corn cut o r the last
shea f bound o r the last grain threshed he necessarily assumes some ,

o ther form than tha t o f the com stalks which had hithert o been his -
,

garmen t or body A n d what form can the expelled c o rn s p irit assume -

.

m ore naturally than tha t o f the person who stan d s nearest to the
corn from which he (the corn — s p iri t ) has j ust been expelle d ? But the
perso n i n question is necessa rily the reaper binder or thresher of , ,

the last corn H e o r she therefore is seiz ed and treate d as the corn
.
, ,

spiri t himsel f .

Thus the pe rson who was killed on the ha rvest field as the rep t e -

s en tative o f the corn spiri t may have been ei ther a passin g stran ger or
-

the ha rvester who w as last at reapin g bindin g or threshin g But , , .

there i s a third possibili ty to which ancient le gend and modern,

folk custom alike point

-
L ityerses not only p ut stran gers to d eath ;
.

he was h imsel f slain and apparently in the same way as he had slain
,

o thers namely, by bein g w rapt in a corn shea f beheaded and cast

,
-
, ,

i nto the river ; a n d it i s impl ied that this happened to Lityerses on

his ow n land Similarly in modern harvest customs the pretence of
.
-

ki llin g appears to b e carrie d out quite as o ften on the person of the

master (farmer or squire ) as on that o f stran gers Now when we .

remember that Lityerses was sai d to have been a son o f the King of
Phry gia an d that in one account he i s himsel f called a king and
, ,

when we combine with this the tradition that he was p ut to death ,

apparently as a represen tative of the corn spirit we a re led to conj e e -

,

ture that we have here another trace o f the custom o f annually slaying
one o f those divine or priestly kings who are known to have held
ghostly sway in many parts o f Western Asi a and p articularly in
Phry gia The custom appears a s we have seen to have been so
.
, ,
’
fa r modified in places tha t the king s son was slain in the kin g s stead
’
.

O f the cus tom thus m odified the story of Lityerses would be in one ,

versi on at least a reminiscence , .

Turning now to the relati on o f the Phry gian Lityerses to the

Phrygian A ttis it may be remembere d that at P essin us—the seat of
a priestly kin gshi p —the hi gh priest appea rs to have been annually
,

slain in the character o f At tis a god o f vegetation and that Attis was
, ,
” “
describe d by an anc i ent au thori ty as a reaped ea r of corn Thus .

Attis as an em b od im en t o f the corn spirit annually slain in the

,
.
-
,

person o f hi s representative mi ght be thou ght to be ultimately ,

identical with Lityerses the latter being simply the rustic prototype
,

out of which the state reli gion o f Attis was d eveloped It may have .

been so ; but on the othe r hand the analo gy o f E u ropean fol k

, ,

custom warns us that amongst the same peo p le two di s inct deitiry t -
442 LITY E RS E S CH .

B orm us whose de ath or rather disa p pearance w as a nnually mourned

,

b y the reapers in a plaintive song, was , like Lityerses a kin g’s son 0 1
'

a t least the son o f a weal thy and d istin uishe d man The reapers
g .

whom he watched were at work on hi s own fiel d s and he disappeared ,

in goin g to fe tch water fo r them ; accor d in g to one version of the

story he was carrie d off by the nymphs , d oubtless the nymphs of the
sprin g o r pool or river w hi ther he went to d raw w ater Viewed in .

the li ght of the Li tyerses s tory and of E uropean folk-custom, this

disap pe arance o f B orm u s may be a reminiscence o f the custom of
bin d in g the farmer him sel f in a corn - shea f an d throwin g him into the
w ater The m ourn ful s train whic h the reapers sang was probably a
.

lamenta tion over the death o f the co rn sp i r i t , slain either in the cut
corn or in the person o f a human representative and the c all which ,

they a d d resse d to him may have been a prayer that he mi ght return
in fresh vi gour next year .

The Phoeni cian L inus song was sun g at the vintage at least in ,

the west o f Asia Minor as we learn from H omer ; and thi s combined
, ,

with the le gend of Syleus suggests that in ancient times passing

,

s tran gers were han d led by vin tagers and vine di ggers in much the -

same way as they are said to have been han d led by the reaper
Li tyerses The Ly d ian Syleus so ran the legend com pe lled passers —
.
, by ,
'

to d ig for him in his vineyard till Hercules came a n d kille d him and
,

d ug up his vines by the roo ts This seems to be the outline of a .

le gen d like tha t o f Lityerses ; but neither anci ent wri ters nor mo dern
'

folk cus tom en a ble us to fill in the d etails

-
But fur ther the Linus .
, ,

son g was probably sun g also by Phoenician reapers for Hero dotus ,

compares it to the M a n er os son g which as we have seen was a lament , , ,

raise d by E gyptian reapers over the cut corn Fu rther Linus was .
,

identifie d wi th A d onis a nd A d onis has some claims to be re garded

,

as especially a corn d ei ty Thus the Linus lament as sun g at harvest

-
.
, ,

woul d be i dentical wi th the A d oni s lament ; each woul d be the

lam en ta tion ra i sed by reapers over the dea d spirit o f the corn But .

whereas Adonis like A ttis grew into a stately fi gure o f my thology

, , ,

a d ore d and mourne d i n splendid cities fa r beyon d the limits of his

Phoenician home Linus appea rs to have remaine d a simple ditty
,

sung by reapers a nd vintagers amon g the corn sheaves and the vines -
.

The analo gy of Li tyerses and o f folk cus tom both E uropean and -

sava ge su ggests that in Phoenicia the slain corn spirit—the dead

,

Adonis—may formerly have been represented by a human victim ;

,

and this su ggesti on i s possibly supporte d by the Harran le gen d that

Tammuz (Adonis ) was sla in by hi s cruel lord who ground his bones ,

in a mill and scat tered them to the win d For i n M exico as we have .
,

seen the hum an vic tim at harvest was crushed between two stones ;
,

and bo th in A frica an d In d i a the a shes or other remains o f the victi m

were scattered over the fi elds B ut the Harran le gen d may be only
.

a mythical way o f expressing the grin d ing o f corn in the m ill and the
sca tterin g o f the see d It seems wo rth su ggestin g that the mock
.

kin g who was annually killed at the B abylonia n festival of the S ac aca
XLvn COR N SPIR IT SLA IN IN R EPR ESENT AT IV E S
- 443

on the sixteenth day o f the month Lous may have represented Tammuz
himself For the historian Berosus who records the festival and its
. ,

date probably used the Macedonian calenda r since he de d icated his

, ,

history to Antiochus Soter ; and in hi s day the Macedonian month

Lous appears to have correspon d ed to the Babylonian month Tammuz .

If this conj e cture i s ri ght the view that the mock kin g at the S aca ea
,

was slain in the character o f a god woul d be establishe d .

There is a goo d d eal more evi d ence that in E gy pt the slain co rn

spirit— the dea d Os i ris —was represented by a human vic tim whom ,

the reapers slew on the harves t field mourning his death in a dirge -
, ,

to which the Greeks throu gh a v erb al m i s un d ersta n d ing gave the

, .
,

name of M an eros For the legen d o f Busiri s seems to preserve a

'

reminiscence o f human s acrifices once o ffered by the E gyptians in

connexion with the worsh ip o f Osiris B usiris was said to have been .

an Egyptian kin g who sacrifice d all stran gers on the altar o f Zeus .

The ori gin o f the custom was trace d to a d earth which a fflicte d the
land of E gypt for nine years A Cypria n seer in formed Busir i s that
.

the d earth woul d cease i f a man wer e an n ually sacrificed to Zeus So .

Busir is ins titute d the sacrifice But when Hercules came to E gypt .
,

and was bein g d ra gge d to the al tar to be sacr ifice d he burs t hi s bon d s ,

and slew Busir i s a n d his son H ere then is a le gen d that in E gypt a
.

human victim was annually sacrificed to p revent the failure o f the

crops and a belie f is impl ie d tha t an omi ss ion o f the sacr i fice woul d
,

have entaile d a recurrence o f that in fert il ity which it was the obj ect
of the sacr i fice to prevent S o the Pawn ees as we have seen believe d
.
, ,

that an omission o f the human sacrific e at plan tin g woul d have bee n
followe d by a to tal failure o f thei r c ro p s The name B usiris was in .

”
real ity the name o f a ci ty pe A s ar the house o f Os i ris
,
-
the city ,
“

being so calle d because it con taine d the grave o f Osiris Indee d some .

hi gh mo dern authori ti es b elieve that Bus i r i s was the ori ginal home o f
Osir is from which his worship spread to o ther parts o f E gyp t The
,
.

human sacrifice were sai d to have been o ff ered at his grave and the ,

victims were r ed haire d men whose ashes were scattere d abroad by

-
,

m eans o f winnow in g fans This tra diti on o f human sacrifices o ff ere d

-
.

at the tomb o f Osiris is confirmed by the evi dence o f the monuments .

In the li ght o f the forego in g di scuss i on the E gyp tian tradition of

B usiris adm its o f a consisten t a n d fai rly probable explanation O siris .
,

the corn spiri t was annually represen te d at harvest by a stran ger

-
, ,

whose red hai r made him a sui table re p resentative o f the ripe corn .

This man in his representative character was slain on the ha rvest

, ,

field an d mourned by the reapers who prayed at the same time tha t
, ,

the corn spirit mi ght revive an d return (m ad n e r ha M a neros ) with

- - -
,

renewe d vi gour in the followi n g year Finally the victim or some .

, ,

part o f him was burned and the ashes scattered by winnowing fans
, ,
-

over the fiel d s to fertilise them Here the choice o f the vi ctim on the .

ground o f his resemblance to the corn which he was t o represent agrees

with the Mexican and A f rican cus tom s already desc ribe d Sim ilarly .

the woman who d ie d in the character of the Corn mother at the Mexica n -
444 L ITY E R S E S en
.

midsumm er s ac ri fice had her f ace painted red and yello w in to k e n of

the colours o f the corn and she wore a p asteboar d mitre surmounted ,

by w avin g p lumes in imita tion o f the tassel o f the maize O n the .

other han d at the festival of the Goddess o f the White Maize the
,

Mexicans sacrificed lepers The Romans sac ri ficed red haired pu ppies .
-

in spring to avert the supposed bli ghtin g influence o f the Dog star ‘
-
,

believin g that the crops woul d thus gro w ripe and ruddy The heathen .

o f H arran offered to the sun m oon and planets human victi ms who , ,

were chosen on the groun d o f their sup p osed resemblance to the

heavenly bodies to which they were sacrificed ; for example the ,

priests clothed in red and smeared with blood o ff ered a red haire d
, ,
-
,
”
red che cke d man to the red planet Ma rs in a temple which was
-

painte d red and draped with red han gin gs These and the like case s .

o f assimil ating the victim to the god or to the natural phenomenon ,

which he rep resents are based ultimately on the principle of hom oeo
,

pathic or imi tative ma gic the notion being that the obj ect aimed at ,

will be m ost re ad i ly attained by means o f a s acrifice which resembles

the e ffect that it is desi gne d to bring about .

’
The s tory that the fr agments o f Osiris s bod y w ere scattered up
a n d down the land an d buried by Isis on the spots where they lay
, ,

may very well be a reminiscence o f a custom like that observed by the ,

Khon d s of d ividin g the human victim in pieces and bu ryin g the pieces
, ,

o ften at intervals o f many miles f rom each other in the fields , .

Thus i f I am right the key to the mysteries of Osiris is furnished

, ,

by the melancholy cry o f t he E gyptian reapers which down to Rom an ,

times could be hea r d year a fter year soundin g across the fiel d s announ ,

cin g the death o f the corn spirit the rustic prototype o f Osiris Similar-
, .

cries as we have seen were als o heard on all the harvest-fields of

, ,

Western Asia By the anci ents they are sp oken o f as son gs ; but to
.

j udge from the analysis o f the nam es Linus and M aneros they prob ,

ably co n sis ted only o f a few w ords uttered i n a prolon ged musical note
w hi ch could be heard at a great distance Such sonorous and long .

drawn cries rai sed by a number o f stron g voices in concert must have
, ,

had a striking e ffect and coul d hardly fail to arrest the attention of
,

any way farer who happened to be within hearin g The sounds .

,

r epeated a ga in and a gain could probably b e distinguished with ,

t olerable ease even at a distance ; but to a Greek traveller in Asia or

Egypt the forei gn wo rd s w ould c ommonly convey no meanin g and he ,

mi ght t ake them not unnaturally for the name o f some one (M aneros
, , ,

Li nus Lityerses B orm us ) upon whom the reapers were calling And
, , .

i f his j ourney led him throu gh more c ountries than one as Bithynia ,

a n d Phry gia or Phoenicia and E gyp t while the corn was bein g r eaped
, , ,

he would have an opportu nity o f com p a rin g the vari ous harvest cries
of the di ffe rent peoples Thus we can re adily understand why these
.

ha rvest cries were so o ften noted an d com p ared with each other by
the Greeks Whereas i f they had been regula r son gs they could not
.
, ,

ha ve been hea rd at such distances and there fore could not have ,

att racted the atte ntio n of s o m any travelle rs ; and m oreove r e ven if , ,
446 L ITY E RS E S CH .

considerable distance sometimes A gain M rs Br ay tells how .

, .
,

travelli ng in Devonshire she saw a party of reapers standin g in a ,

circle on a ri sin g groun d hol d in g thei r sickles alo ft One in the middle ,
.

held up some c ars o f corn tied to gethe r w ith flowers and the party ,

shouted three times (what she w rites a s ) A rn ack arna ck a rna ck we , , ,

haven we hav en we ha v en They wen t home ac companied by women ’

, , ,
.

and children carryi ng boughs o f flowers shouting and sin gin g The , .

manservant who attende d M rs Bray said it was only the people .

‘

makin g thei r games as they always d id to the s pir i t of harves t , , .

’

‘
H ere as Mi ss Bu rne remarks
, arnack w e haven ! is obviously in , ,
’

the Devon dialect a neck (or nack ) ! w e have un ! ,

’

Another account o f this old custom written at T ru ro in 18 3 9 runs , ,

thus : Now when all the corn was cut at H eligan the fa rming men
, ,

and maidens com e i n front o f the house a n d br i n g wi th them a small ,

shea f o f corn the last that has been cut an d fi ns is adorned with
, ,

ribbons and flowers and one part is tied quite ti ght so as to look like
, ,

a neck Then they cry out Our (my ) si d e my side as loud as they
.
, ,
’

can ; the n the dai rymai d gives the neck to the head farmin g man -
.

H e takes it and says very loudly three times I have him I have
, , ,
‘

,
’
him I have him
,
Then another farming man shouts very loudly
.
-
,
‘
What have ye ? what have ye ? what have ye Then the first
‘ ’
says A neck a n eck a neck
,
And when he has said thi s all the
, ,
.
,

pe ople make a very great shouting This they do three times and .
,

a fter one famou s shout go away and eat supper and dance and sing , ,
”
songs According to ano ther account
. all w ent out to the field ,
’
when the last corn was cut the neck was ti ed with ribbons and ,

plaited a nd they danced roun d it and carried it to the great kitchen

, , ,

where b y and b y the su p per was The wor d s were as given in the
- -
.

previous account and H ip hip hack heck I have ee I have ee

,
‘

, , , ,
’
,
’
,
”
I have cc It was hun g up in the hall
’
.
’
Another account relates .

that one o f the men rushed from the field with the l ast shea f while ,

the rest pursued him with vessels o f wa ter whic h they tried to throw ,

over the shea f be fore it could be brought into the barn .

In the fo re going customs a particular bunch o f ears generally the ,

last left standin g is conceive d a s the neck o f the corn spi rit who is
,
-
,

consequently beheaded when the bunch i s cut down Similarly in .

” “ ’
Shropshire the name neck or the gander s neck use d to be , ,

commonly given to the last han d ful o f ears le ft standing in the middle
o f the fiel d when all the rest o f the corn was cut It was plaited .

to gether and the reapers standin g ten or twenty paces off threw their
, , ,

sickles at it Whoever cut it throu gh was said to have cut off the
.

gander s neck The neck was taken to the fa rmer s wife who was
’
.
,

supposed to keep it in the house for good luck till the next harvest
came round Near T r eves the man who reaps the last st a ndin g corn
.
,
”
cu ts the goa t s neck off A t Fa sla n e on the Ga reloch (Dumbarton
“ ’
.
,

shire ) the las t handful o f standin g corn was sometimes called the
,
“
head At Aurich in E ast F riesland the m an who reaps the last
.
, ,
’
corn cuts the hare s tail off In mowing down the last corner of a .
XLVIII AN IMAL E M BO D I M E NT S OF T HE C ORN SPIRIT 447
-

field French reapers sometimes call out We have the cat by the ,

tail ” In B resse (Bourgo gne ) the las t she a f represente d the fox
.
.

Beside it a score o f ears were le ft stan d in g to form the ta i l a n d each ,

reaper go ing back some paces threw hi s sickle at it He who suc

, ,
.

”
ceeded in severin g it cut off the fox s tail and a cry o f You con ’
,

con !
”
was raise d in his honour These examples leave no room to .

“
doubt the mean in g o f the Devonshi re and Cornish expression the
neck a s applied to the last shea f The corn spirit is conceived in
,
.
-

human or animal form and the last standin g corn is part of its body
,

its neck its hea d or its tail Some tim es as we have seen the last cor n
is regar d e d as the navel —
, ,
.
, ,

s trin g Las tly the Devonshi re custom o f .

,

drenchin g with water the person who brin gs in the neck is a r a in

charm such as we have ha d many examples o f Its parallel in the
,
.

m ysteries of Os iris was the custom o f pourin g water on the ima ge o f

Osiris or on the person w ho represented him .

CHAPT E R XLVI I I

T H E C OR N -
I I
SP R T A S A N A N I M A L

1 A nim al E m b od im en ts of the C or n s piri t — In some o f the exam ples

.
-
.

”
which I have cite d to es tablish the meanin g o f the ter m “
neck a s
applied to the l a st shea f, the corn spir it appears in animal form as a -

gan d er a goat a hare , a ca t a n d a fox

, ,
This intro d uces us to a ne w , .

aspect of the corn - sp irit , wh i ch we must now exam ine By d o in g so .

we shall not only ha ve fresh examples of k illin g the god , b ut may

hope also to clea r up some poin ts which remain obscure in the myths
and worship o f A d onis , Attis Osiris Dionysus , Demeter and Virbius , , , .

Amongst the many an imals whose forms the corn -spiri t i s supposed
to take are the wol f, dog hare fox , cock goose quai l cat goat cow , , , , , , ,

(ox bull ) p ig and horse In one or o ther o f these shapes the corn
, , , .

spir it is o ften believed to be presen t in the corn , an d to be caught or

kille d in the last shea f As th e corn is bein g cut the anim al flees
.

be fore the reapers and if a reaper is taken ill on the fiel d he is sup
, ,

posed to hav e stumble d unwi ttingly on the corn - spirit who has thus ,
“
punished the pro fane intruder It i s sai d the Rye -wol f has got hol d .

” “ ”
of him the Harves t goat has given him a push
,
-
The person .

who cuts the last corn or binds the last shea f gets the name o f the
animal as the Rye -wol f the Rye sow the Oats -goa t a n d so for th
, ,
-
, , ,

and retains the name somet imes for a year Also the animal is fre .

quently represented by a puppet ma d e out o f the last sheaf or o f

wood flowers and so on whi ch i s carried home am i d rej oicings on
the last harvest —
, , ,

wa ggon E ven where the last shea f is not ma d e up

.

in animal shape it is o ften called the Rye -wol f, the Har e Goat and
, , ,

so forth Generally each kin d o f crop is suppose d to have its special

.

animal which is cau ght in the last sheaf , and called the Rye -wol f
, .
448 THE CORN S PI RIT A S AN AN I MAL
- CH .

the Barley wol f the Oats — -

wol f the Pea wol f or the Potato wolf
, ,
-
,
-
,

accor d ing to the crop ; but sometimes the fi gure of th e animal is

only ma d e u p once for all at gett in g in the last crop o f the whole
harvest S ometimes the creature is believe d to b e killed by the last
.

stroke o f the s i ckle or scy the But o ftener it i s thou ght to live so .

long as there is co m still un threshed a n d to be cau ght in the last ,

shea f threshe d H ence the man who gives the last stroke with the
.

fla i l i s tol d that he has got the Corn sow the Threshing dog or the -
,
-
,

like When the threshin g i s finishe d a puppet is made in the form of

.
,

the animal an d th i s is carrie d by the thresher o f the last shea f to a

,

nei ghbour in g farm w here the threshin g i s s till going on This again
,
.

shows that the corn spirit is bel ieved to live wherever the corn is still -

being threshed Some times the thresher o f the last shea f himsel f
.

rep resents the animal ; an d i f the people o f the nex t farm who are ,

still thresh in g catch him they treat him like the animal he represents
, , ,

by shuttin g him up in the p ig sty callin g him with the cries commonly -
,

a d dressed to p igs a n d so forth These general statements will now

, .

b e illus trate d by exam p les

2 T he C or n s pi ri t as a Wolf or a D og —
.

. W e be gin with the corn

-
.
a

spiri t conce ive d as a w ol f or a d og Th is concept ion i s common in .

France Germany and Slavonic coun tri es Thus when the win d sets
, , .
,

the corn in wave like mo ti on the peasants o ften say -

The Wol f is ,
”
goin g over or throu gh the corn the Rye wol f i s rushin g over the
“
-
, , ,
” ” ”
fiel d ,the Wol f is in the cor n
“
the mad Dog i s in the corn the , ,
“

b ig D og is there When ch i ldren wi sh to go into the corn fields to

.
-

pluck ears or ga ther the blue corn fl ow ers they are warne d not to -
,
”
do so for the b ig Dog sits in the corn or the Wol f si ts in the “
, ,
”
c orn a n d w i ll tear you in pieces the Wolf will eat you The “
.
, ,

w ol f a gains t whom the childre n are warned is not a common wol f ,

for he i s o ften spoken o f as the Corn wol f Rye wol f or the like -
,
-
,

thus they say The Rye wol f will come and eat you up children
,
-
, ,
“ ”
the Rye wol f w ill carry you off and s o for th S till he has all the
-
, .

outwar d appea rance o f a wol f Fo r i n the nei ghbourhood o f Feilenhof .

(E as t Pruss i a ) when a wol f was seen runnin g throu gh a field the

, ,

peasan ts used to wa tch whether he carried his ta i l in the ai r or dragge d

it on the ground I f he d ra gge d it on the ground they went a fter
.
,

him and tha nked him for brin gin g them a blessin g and even set
, ,

tit bits be fore him

-
B ut i f he carried his tail hi gh they cursed him
.
,

and t ried to k ill hi m H ere the wol f is the corn spirit whose fertilising .
-

power is in hi s tail
Both dog a nd wol f appear as embodiments o f the corn —
.

s pirit in
ha rvest custom s Thus in some par ts o f Silesia the person who cuts
-
.

or binds the last shea f is called the Wheat dog or the P eas p ug But - -
.

it is in the harves t customs o f the no rth eas t o f France tha t the i dea
- -

o f the Corn d og comes out m ost clearly

-
Thus when a ha rvester .
,

throu gh sickness w eariness or la z iness canno t or will not keep up

, , ,

with the reaper in front o f him they say The Wh ite Dog passed , ,
”
near him he has the White Bitch or the White B itc h has
, ,
4 50 THE CORN S PIRIT A S A N A N I MAL
- CH .

used to take a hand ful o f stalks out o f it and make the Wheat wol f -

w ith them ; i t w as the fi gure o f a wol f about tw o fee t long and half
a foot hi gh the legs o f the anim al b eing represen ted by sti ff stalks
,

an d its tail a nd mane by wheat ears This Wheat wol f she carried - -
.

back at the head o f the harvesters t o the village where it was set ,

up on a hi gh place i n the parlour of the farm a n d remained there for

a long time I n many places the shea f calle d the Wol f is made up
.

in human form a nd dressed in clothes This i ndicates a confusion .

o f idea s between the corn spirit conceived in human and in animal -

form Generally the Wol f i s brou gh t home on the last waggon with
j oyful cries H ence the last wa ggon —
.

loa d itsel f receives the name of

.

the Wol f .

Again the Wol f is supposed to hide h imsel f amon gst the cut corn
,

in the granary until he i s driven out o f the las t bundle by the strokes
,

o f the flail Hence at Wanzleben near Ma gdeburg a fter the threshing

.
, ,

the peasant s go in p rocession leadin g by a chain a man who is enveloped ,

in the threshed out straw and i s called the “ l ol f H e represents the

-
.

corn spirit w ho has bee n caugh t escaping from the threshe d corn
-

In the district o f T reves it is believed that the Corn —

.

wol f is kille d
at threshin g The men thresh the las t shea f till it i s re d uc e d to chopped
.

straw I n thi s way they think tha t the Corn wol f who was lurking
.
-
,

in the last shea f has been certainly killed

In France also the Corn —
, ,

wol f appears a t harves t Thus they .

You will ca tch the Wol f

“
call ou t to the reaper o f the last corn ,
.

N ear Chamb ery they form a rin g round the last stan d i ng corn and ,
”
cry,
The Wol f i s i n there
“
In Finis terre when the reap in g d raws .
,

nea r an end the harves ters cry There i s the Wol f ; w e will catch
, ,

him . E ach takes a swath to reap and he who finishes first calls ,

out,
I v e cau ght the Wol f
“ ’
I n Guyenne when the last corn has .
,

been reape d they lead a wether all roun d the field It i s calle d the
,
.
“

Wol f o f the fiel d Its horns a re decked wi th a w reath o f flowers and

corn —
.

ears an d its neck an d body a re also encircled wi th garlands and

,

ribbons All the reapers march singin g behind it Then it is killed

.
, , .

on the fi el d I n th is part o f France the las t shea f is calle d the couj on

.

lage which in the pa tois m eans a we ther

, ,
H ence the k illing of the , .

wether represents the death o f the corn S piri t considered as pr esent -

,

in the last shea f ; b ut two d i fferent conceptions o f the corn spirit -

as a wol f and as a wether—are mixed up toge ther .

S ometimes it appears to be thou ght that the Wol f caught in the ,

la st corn lives d urin g the wi nter i n the farmhouse ready to renew

, ,

his activi ty as corn S piri t in the sprin g H ence at m idwinter when the-
.
,

len gthenin g days begin to herald the approach o f sprin g the Wolf ,
’
makes his appearance once more In Polan d a man wi th a wol f s .
,

skin thrown over his head is led about at Chri stmas ; or a stu ffed wolf ,

is carried about by persons who collect money There are facts which .

point to an ol d custom of leadin g about a man envelo ped in leaves and

calle d the Wol f while his conductors collected money
3 T he C or n spiri t as a C o ck —Another form whi ch the corn
, .

-
. .
m m T HE CORN S PI RIT A S A COCK-
45 1

spirit often assumes is that o f a cock In Austria children are wa rned .

against straying in the corn field s because the Corn cock si ts there -
,
-
,

and will peck thei r eyes out I n North Germany they say that the .

”
Cock sits in the las t shea f ; and at cuttin g the last corn the reapers
”
cry Now we will chase out the Cock
,
When it is cut they say .
,
”
“
We have cau ght the Cock A t B ra ller in Transylvania when the .
, ,

reapers come to the last patch o f corn they cry Here we shall catch , ,
”
the Cock At Furstenwal d e when the last shea f is about to be
.
,

bound the mas ter releases a cock which he has brou ght i n a basket
, , ,

and le ts i t run over the field All the harvesters chase it till they .

catch it E lsewhere the harvesters all try to sei ze the last corn cut ;
.

he who succee d s in graspin g it must crow and is called Cock Amon g , .

the Wends it is or used to b e customary fo r the farmer to hide a live

cock under the last shea f as i t lay on the field ; and when the corn
was being gathered up th e harvester who li ghte d upon this shea f ,

had a ri ght to keep the cock provi d e d he could catch it This formed ,
.

the close o f the harvest-fes tival an d was known as the Cock catching -
,

and the beer which was served out to the reapers at this time went
” “
by the name o f Cock beer The las t shea f i s called Cock Co ck-

sheaf Harvest cock Harvest — hen Autumn —

.
,

,
-
hen A distinction is
, , .

m ade between a Wheat cock B ean cock a nd so on accor d ing to the

-
,
-
, ,

crop At W ii n schensuhl in T hii ringen the last shea f i s ma d e in to

.
, ,

the shape o f a cock a n d calle d the Harvest-cock A fi gure o f a cock

, .
,

m a de of wood pasteboar d ears o f corn or flowers is borne in front o f

the harves t—
, , , ,

waggon espec ially in Westphalia where the c ock carries

, ,

in his beak fruits o f the ear th o f all kinds S ometimes the image o f .

the cock is fas tene d to the top o f a May tree on the las t harvest waggon - -
.

Elsewhere a live cock or a fi gure o f one is attached to a harvest , ,

crown and carried on a pole I n Galicia and elsewhere thi s live cock .

is fastene d to the garlan d o f corn ears or flow ers wh ich the lea d er -
,

o f the women reapers carries on her hea d as she marches in front

-

of the harvest p rocession In S ilesia a live cock i s presen ted to the .

m as ter on a plate The harvest supper is called Harvest cock

.
- -
,

Stubble cock etc and a chie f d ish at it at least i n some places is a

-
, .
,
'

, ,

cock If a wa ggoner upsets a harvest wa ggon it is sai d that he has

.
-
,
”
Spil t the Harves t cock
- and he l oses the cock tha t i s the harvest
, , ,

supper The harvest wa ggon with the fi gure o f the cock on it is

.
-
, ,

driven round the farmhouse be fore it is taken to the barn Then the .

cock is nailed over or at the side o f the house d oor or on the gable -
, ,

and remains there till next harvest In E ast Frieslan d the person .

who gives the last stroke at threshin g is called the Clucking-hen and ,

grain is strewed be fore him as if he were a hen .

Again the corn spirit is kille d in the form o f a cock In parts

,
-
.

of Germany H un ary Poland and Picardy the reapers place a live

g , , ,

cock in the corn which is to be cut las t and chase it over the field , ,

or bury it up to the neck in the ground ; a fterwards they strike off

its head with a sickle or scy the In many parts o f Wes tphalia when .
,

the harvesters bring the wooden c ock to the farmer he gives th em a ,

4 52 T HE CORN S PIRIT A S AN ANI MAL
-
CH .

live cock which they kill with whips or s ticks or behead wi th an old
, ,

sword or throw into the barn to the gi rls o r give to the m istress to
cook It the Harvest cock has not been sp ilt—that i s i f no waggon
, ,

has been upset—the harvesters have the r igh t to kill the farm yard
.
,

cock b y throwin g stones a t it o r behea d ing it Where thi s custom .

’
has fallen into d isuse it is still common for the farmer s wi fe to make
,

cockie le ckie for the harvesters and to show them the head of the
-
,

cock which has bee n killed for the soup I n the nei ghbourhood of .

Klause nburg Transylvania a cock is burie d on the harvest field in

, ,
-

the ear th so that only its hea d appears

, A youn g man then takes a .

scy the and cuts off the cock s head at a single sweep I f he fails to ’
.

do this he is called the Red Cock for a whole year and people fear
, ,
’
tha t nex t year s crop will be bad Near U dva rhely i n Transylvania .
, ,

a live cock is bound up i n the last shea f and killed wi th a spit It is .

then sk inne d The flesh is thrown away but the skin and feathers
.
,

a re kept till next year ; and in spring the grain from the last sheaf is
mixe d wi th the fea thers o f the cock and scattered on the field which
is to be tille d N othin g could set in a clearer li gh t the identification
.

o f the cock with the spirit o f the corn By being tied up in the last .

shea f and killed the cock is i dentified w ith the corn and its death
, ,

wi th the cuttin g o f the corn By keepin g its feathers till spring .

,

then mixin g them with the seed-corn taken from the very sheaf in
which the bird had been boun d and scatterin g the feathers together ,

with the s eed over the field the i d entity o f the bird with the corn ,

is a gain emphasised and its quickenin g a n d fertilisin g power as an

, ,

embo d i ment o f the corn spi rit is intimate d in the plainest manner-
,
.

Thus the corn spirit in the form o f a cock is killed at harvest but rises
-
, , ,

to fresh l i fe and activity in S prin g A gai n the equivalence o f the .

,

cock to the corn is expressed har d ly less plainly in the cus tom of , ,

buryin g the bir d i n the ground and cuttin g off its head (like the ears ,

o f corn ) wi th the scythe

4 T he C or n—s piri t a s a H ar e —Another common embodiment
.

o f the corn spi rit is the hare

-
I n Galloway the reapin g o f the last .

”
stan d ing corn i s called cu ttin g the Hare The mode of cutting it .

i s as follows When the res t of the corn has been reaped a handful is
.
,

le ft standin g to fo rm the H are It is divi ded into three parts and .

plaited a n d the ears are tie d in a knot The reapers then retire a
,
.

few yards and each throws his or her sickle i n turn at the Hare to cut
,

it down It must be cut below the knot and the reapers continue
.
,

to throw their s i ckles at it one a fter the other un til o n e o f the m , ,

succeeds in severin g the stalks below the knot The Hare is then .

carrie d home and given to a mai d servan t i n the ki tchen who places
it over the kitchen—
,

door on the inside S ometim es the H are used to .

be thus kept till the nex t harvest In the parish o f M inni ga ff when the .
,

H are was c ut the unmarried reapers ran home with all speed and the
, ,

on e who arrive d fi rst was the first to be married In Germany also .

one o f the names fo r the last shea f is the H are Thus in some parts .

o f Anhalt when the cor n has been rea p ed and only a few stalks are
,
45 4 THE CORN S PI RIT A S AN A NI MAL
- CH .

T he C orn-spi ri t as a Goa t — Further the corn spirit often

6 .
,
—
appears in the form o f a goat In some parts o f Prussia when the corn . ,
”
b en d s be fore the win d, they say The Goats are chasin g each other, ,
” “
the wind is drivin g the Goats throu gh the corn the Goats are ,
”
browsin g there an d they expec t a very goo d harvest A gain they
—
.
,
” “
say “
The Oats goa t is si tting i n the oa ts field
- -
the Corn goat is
—
, ,
”
si tt in g i n the rye field Chil d ren are warned not to go i n to the corn
.

field s to pluck the blue corn fl ow ers or amon gst the beans to pluck
—
-
,

po d s because the Rye -goat the Corn goat the Oats goat or the Bean
, ,
-
, ,

goat i s sittin g or lyin g there and will carry them away or kill them , .

When a harves ter is taken sick or la gs behind his fellows at their

”
work they call out The H arvest goat has pushed him
, ,
he has been -
,
”
pushed by the Corn goat I n the nei ghbourhood o f B raunsberg
-
.

(E as t Prussia ) at bin d in g the oats every harvester makes haste lest

“

the Corn — goat push him At O e foten in Norway each reaper has .
, ,

his allotted patch to reap When a reaper in the mi d dle has not .

fini shed reap i n g his piece a f ter his nei ghbours have finished theirs ,
”
they say of him H e remains on the island
,
And i f the laggard
“
.

is a man they im itate the cry with which they call a he goat ; if a
,
-

w oman the cry with which they call a she goat Near Straubing
,
-
.
,

i n Lower B avaria it is sai d o f the man who cuts the last corn that
—
,
”
he has the Corn goa t or the Wheat goat or the Oats goa t according ,
-
,
-
,

to the crop Moreover tw o horns are set up on the last heap of corn
.
, ,
”
and it is calle d the horned Goat At K reutz b urg E ast Prussia
“
.
, ,

they call out to the woman who i s bindin g the last shea f The Goat ,
”
i s sittin g in the shea f At Gablingen i n Swabia when the last fiel d
.
, ,

o f oats upon a farm is bein g reaped the r eapers carve a goat out of ,

wood E ars o f oats are inserte d in its nostrils and mouth and it is
.
,

a d orned wi th garlands o f flowers It is set up on the field and calle d .

the Oats goat When the reapin g approaches an end each reaper
-
.
,

hastens to finish his piece fi rst ; he who is the last to fini sh gets the
Oats goat A gain the last shea f is itsel f called the Goat Thus in
-
.
, , ,

the valley o f the Wiesent Bavaria the last shea f bound on the field , ,

i s called the Goat a nd they have a proverb The field must bear a
, ,

goa t . At Spachbrucken in H esse the last ha n dful o f corn which is , ,

cut is called the Goat a n d the man who cuts it is much ridiculed At,
.

D ii r renb ii chig and about M osbach in Baden the last shea f is also called
the Goat S ometimes the last shea f i s made up i n the fo rm o f a goat
.
,
”
and they say The Goat is sitting i n it ,
A gain the person who cuts .
,

or bin d s the last shea f i s called the Goat Thus in par ts o f M eck len .
,

bur g they call out to the woman who binds the last shea f You are
the Harvest goat —
N ear Uelzen in H anover the harvest festival
,

be gins with the brin gin g o f the Harvest —

.
, ,
“

goat that is the woman ,

who bound the last shea f is wrapt in straw crowned with a harvest ,

wrea th and brough t in a wheel barrow to the villa ge where a round

,
-
,

dance takes p lace About Lunebur g also the woman who binds the
.
, ,

last corn is d ecked with a crown of corn ears and is called the Corn -

goat . At M unzesheim in Baden the rea p er who cuts the last handful
XLVIII T HE CORN S PI RIT A S A GOAT -
45 5

of corn or oats is called the Corn — goat or the Oats —

goat In the Canton .

St Gall Switzerlan d the person who cuts the last handful o f corn on
. , ,

the fiel d or drives the last harvest waggon to the barn is called the -

Corn—
, ,

goat or the Rye goat or simply the Goat I n the Canton Thurgau
-
.
,

he is called Corn goat ; like a goat he has a bell hun g round hi s neck
-
,

is led in tr i umph and d renched with liquor In par ts o f Styria also

— ,
.
, ,

the man who cuts the last corn is called Corn goat Oats goat or the
-
, ,

like As a rule the man who thus gets the name o f Corn goa t has to
. ,
-

bear it a whole year till the next harvest .

Accordin g to one view the corn-spirit who has been caught in the
, ,

fo rm of a goa t or o therwise lives in the farmhouse or barn over win ter

,
.

Thus each farm has its own embo d imen t o f the corn spi rit B ut
,
-
.
,

according to ano ther view the corn spiri t is the genius or d eity not
,
-
,

of the corn o f one farm only but o f all the corn Hence when the , .

corn on one farm i s all cut he flees to ano ther where there is s till cor n
,

left stan ding This idea is brou ght out in a harvest cus tom which was
.
-

formerly observed in Skye The farmer who first fini shed reaping.

sent a man or woman wi th a shea f to a nei ghbouring farmer who had

not fini she d ; the latter in his turn when he ha d finishe d sen t on the , ,

shea f to his neghb our who was s till reapin g ; an d so the shea f ma d e
the roun d o f the farms till all the corn was cut The shea f was called .

the goa bb i r bhacagh that i s the Cripple Goat

,
The cus tom appears , ,

not to be extinct a t the present d ay fo r it was reporte d from Skye ,

not very many years ago The corn spirit was probably thus re .
-

presented as lame because he had been cripple d by the cuttin g o f the

corn Sometimes the old woman who brings home the last shea f must
.

limp on one foot .

But sometimes the corn spirit in the form o f a goat is b elieve d to

-
, ,

be sla in on the harves t field by the s i ckle or scythe-

Thus in the .
,

neighbourhoo d o f Bernkas tel on the Moselle the reapers d etermine , ,

by lot the order in which they shall follow each o ther The first is .

called the fore reaper the las t the tail bearer I f a reaper over takes
-
,
-
.

the man in fron t he reaps past him bendin g roun d so as to leave the ,

slower reaper in a pa tch by h imsel f This patch is calle d the Goa t ; .

and the man for whom the Goa t is cut i n this way i s laughe d a n d
jeered at by his fellows for the res t o f the day When the ta il —
,

bearer .

”
cuts the last ears of corn it is said H e i s cu tting the Goa t s neck off
, ,
’
.

In the ne ighbourhoo d o f Grenoble be fore the end of the reapin g a , ,

live goat is a d orne d with flowers and ribbons and allowe d to run ab out
the field The reapers chas e it and try to ca tch it When it is caught
. .
,

the farmer s wi fe hol d s i t fast while the farmer cuts off its head The
’
.

’
goat s flesh serves to furnish the harvest supper A pi ece o f the flesh -
.

is pickled and kept till the nex t harves t when ano ther goat is killed , .

Then all the harvesters eat of the flesh On the same day the skin o f .

the goat is ma d e i n to a cloak which the farmer who works wi th his , ,

men must always wear at harves t time if rain or bad weather sets in
,
-
.

But i f a reaper gets pains i n his back the fa rmer gives him the goat ,

sk in to wear The reason for this seems to b e that the oa ins i n the
.
45 6 T HE CORN S P IRIT A S A N AN I MAL
-
CH .

back being inflic ted by the corn spi rit can also be healed by it
,
-
, .

Similarly we saw that elsewhere when a reaper i s wounde d at reaping

a cat as the represen tative o f the corn—
, , ,

, S pirit is made to lick the ,

wound E s thonian reapers o f the islan d o f M on think that the man

.

who cuts the first ears o f corn at harvest will get pains in his back ,

probably becaus e the corn spiri t i s believe d to resent especially the -

firs t woun d ; a n d in or d er to escape pains in the back S axon reapers

, ,

in Transylvania gir d the i r loins with the first han dful of ears which
they cu t H ere a gain the corn sp i rit is applied to for healin g or
.
, ,
-

protection but in his ori ginal vegetable form not in the form of a goat
, ,

or a cat .

Further the corn Spiri t under the form o f a goat is sometimes

,
-

conceive d as lurkin g amon g the cut corn i n the barn till he is driven
from it by the threshin g—
,

fl a il Thus i n B aden the last shea f to be .

threshed i s called the Corn goat the S pe lt goat o r the Oats goat -
,
-
,
-

accordin g to the kind o f grain A gain near Marktl in Upper Bavaria .

, , ,

the sheaves are called St raw goats or simply Goats They are laid -
.

in a grea t heap on the Open fi eld and threshed by two rows o f m en

standing opposite each o ther who as they ply their fl a ils sing a song
in which they say that they see the S traw goat amon gst the corn
, ,

— ,

stalks The last Goat that i s the last shea f is adorned wi th a wreath
.
, , ,

o f violets and other flowers and with cakes strun g to gether It is .

place d ri ght in the mi ddle o f the heap Some o f the threshers rush .

at it and tear the bes t o f it out ; others lay on wi th the i r flails so

recklessly that hea d s are somet imes broken At Oberinntal in the .
,

Tyrol the last thresher is called Goa t S o at H as elber g in West

,
.
,

B ohemia the man who gives the las t stroke at threshing oats is called
,

the O a ts goat At Tet tnang in W ii rtem b u rg the thresher w ho gives

-
.
, ,

the las t stroke to the last bundle o f corn be fore it is turned goes by
the name o f the H e goat a nd i t is said He has d riven the H e goat
-
, ,
-

”
away The person who a fter the bun dle has been turned gives
the las t stroke o f all is called the She—
.
, ,

goat I n this custom it is

,
.

implie d tha t the corn is inhabited by a pai r o f corn spirits male and -
,

female .

Fur ther the corn spirit captured in the form o f a goat at threshing
,
-
, ,

is passe d on to a nei ghbour whose threshin g i s not yet finished In .

Franche Comt é as soon as the threshi ng is over the youn g people

, ,

set up a s traw fi gure o f a goat on the farmyard o f a nei ghbour who

i s still threshin g H e must give them wine or money in return At

. .

E llwan gen in Wurtembur g the e ffigy o f a goat is made out o f the last
, ,

bun d le o f corn a t threshing ; four sticks form its le gs and two its ,

horns The man who gives the last stroke with the flail must carry
.

the Goat to the barn o f a nei ghbour who is still threshin g and throw
it d own on the floor ; i f he is cau ght in the act they tie the Goat on ,

his back A similar cus tom is observed at Inders d or f in Upper

.
,
’
B avaria ; the man who throws the straw Goat into the neighbour s
barn imitates the bleating o f a goat ; i f they catch him they blacke n ,

his face and tie the Go at on his bac k At Saverne in Alsace when .
, ,
 4 58 T HE COR N S PI RIT A S A N A N I M AL
'

- CH .

when the last ea rs o f corn are about to be cut an ox adorned with ,

ribbons flowers a n d ears o f corn i s led all roun d the fiel d followed
, , ,

by the whole troop o f reapers dancin g Then a man dis guised as .

the Devil cu ts the las t ears o f corn a n d imme d ia tely slaughters the
ox Part o f the flesh o f the an imal is eaten at the ha rvest supper ;
.
-

pa rt i s pickle d a n d kept till the fi rs t d ay o f sowin g in spring At .

Pont a M ousson and elsewhere on the evening o f the last day o f reaping ,

a cal f adorne d with flowers a n d ears o f corn i s led thrice round the
farmyard bein g allure d by a ba it or d r iven by men with sticks or
, ,

con d uc ted by the farm er s wi fe w ith a rope The cal f chosen for
’
.

thi s ceremony is the cal f which was b orn firs t on the farm in the sprin
g
o f the year It is followe d by all the reapers with thei r tools
. Then .

it is allowed to run free ; the reapers chase it and whoever catches ,

i t i s calle d Kin g o f the Cal f Lastly it i s solemnly killed ; at Luné

.
,

ville the man who acts as bu tcher is the Jewish merchant o f the villa ge .

S ometimes a gain the corn S pir it hides him sel f amon gst the cut -

corn in the barn to reappea r in bull or cow form a t threshing Thus .

at Wurmlin gen in Th urin gen the man who gives the last stroke at
, ,

threshin g is calle d the Cow or ra ther the Barley cow Oats cow ,
-
,
-
,

Peas cow or the like accordin g to the crop H e is en tirely enveloped

-
, , .

in straw ; his head is s urmoun te d by sticks in im itation o f horns ,

a n d two la d s lead him by ropes to the well to drink On the way .

thither he mus t low like a cow a n d fo r a lon g time a fterwards he ,

goes by the nam e o f the Cow A t Oberme d lin gen in S wabia w hen .
, ,

the threshin g draws near an end each man i s care ful to avoid giving ,
“
the las t stroke H e who d o es give it gets the Cow which is a
.
,

straw fi gure dressed in an old r agged petticoat hood and stockings , ,

.

It i s ti ed on his back w ith a straw rope ; his face is blackened and -

,

bein g boun d wi th straw ropes to a wheelbarrow he i s wheele d round

-

the villa ge H ere a gain we mee t w i th tha t con fusion between the
human and animal shap e o f the corn —
.
, ,

S pi rit which we have noted in

o ther cus toms I n Can ton S c ha ffhausen the man who threshes the
.

last corn i s calle d the Cow ; in Can ton Thur gau the Corn bull ; in ,
-

Can ton Zurich the Thres her cow I n the last mentioned district he
,
-
.
-

i s wrap t i n straw a n d boun d to one o f the trees in the orchard At .

A ra d in H un gary the man who gives the l ast stroke at threshin g is

, ,

enveloped in straw and a cow s hi d e wi th the horns attached to it ’

.

A t P essn itz in the d is tric t o f D res d en the man who gives the last
. ,

stroke wi th the flail i s called B ull H e m ust make a s traw man and .
-

’
set it up be fore a nei ghbour s window H ere apparently as in so .
, ,

many cases the corn S pirit i s passed on to a nei ghbour who has not
,
-

finished threshin g S o at H erbrechtin gen in Th urin gen the e ffi gy

.
, ,

o f a ra gged old woman is flun g in to the barn o f the farmer who is last
with his threshin g The man who throws it in cri es. There is the ,
“

Cow for you I f the threshers catch him they d etain him over
.

n i gh t and puni sh him by keepi ng him from the harvest supper In -

.

these la tte r customs the con fusion between the human and the animal
shape o f the corn sp i rit meets us a gain-
.
m m THE CORN S PIRIT A S A H ORS E OR MAR E
-
4 59

Further the corn spi ri t in bull form is sometimes beli eved to be

,
-

killed at threshing At Auxerre in threshing the last bundle o f corn

.
, ,

they call out twelve times We are killi ng the B ull In the nei gh ,
.

bourhood o f Bordeaux where a bu tcher kills an ox on the field i m ,

m ediately a fter the close o f the reapin g it i s sai d o f the man who ,
”
gives the last s troke at threshin g that he has kille d the B ull At .

Cham b é ry the last shea f is call ed the shea f o f the Youn g Ox and a ,

race takes place to it in whic h all the reapers j oin Whe n the last .

“
stroke is given at threshing they say that the Ox is killed and
im mediately thereup on a real ox is slaughtered by the reaper who
cut the last corn The flesh o f the ox is eaten by the threshers a t
.

supper .

We have seen that s om etim es the young corn sp i rit whose task -
,

it is to quicken the corn o f the comin g yea r is believed to be born ,

as a Corn baby on the harves t field S im i larly in Berry the youn g

- -
.

corn spiri t is some times supposed to be born on the field in cal f form ;
-

for when a b in d er has n ot rope enough to b i n d all the corn in sheaves ,

he puts aside the whea t tha t remains over and imi tates the lowing o f
” “
a cow The m eanin g is that the shea f has given b i rth to a cal f
. .

In Puy de D ome whe n a b i n d er canno t keep up wi th the reaper whom

- -

”
he or she follows they say H e (o r she ) i s givin g birth to the Cal f
, .

In some par ts o f Prussia in sim ilar circumstances they call out to , ,

”
the woman The Bull is comin g a n d imi tate the bellowin g o f a
,
“
,

bull In these cases the woman is conceive d as the Corn cow or old
.
-

corn spiri t wh ile the suppose d cal f is the Corn cal f or young cor n
-
,
-

spiri t In some par ts o f Austr i a a myth ical cal f (M uhk alb chen ) i s
'

b elieve d to be seen amon gs t the sprou tin g corn in sprin g a n d to push

the children ; when the corn waves in the win d they say The Cal f ,
”
is going abou t Clea rly a s Mannhardt observes th i s cal f o f the
.
h ,

spr ing time is the sam e animal which is a fterwar d s b el i eve d to be

-

kille d at reap ing

8 T he C orn — —
.

.s pir i t as a H ors e or M are S om e times the corn spirit .

-

appears in the shape of a horse or mare B e tween K a lw a n d S tu ttgart .

when the corn ben d s b e fore the wind they say There runs the H orse , , .

At Bohlin gen near Radol fzell in Ba d en the las t shea f o f oats is called
. ,

the Oa ts s tallion In Her tfordshire a t the end o f the reap in g there

-
.
, ,

”
is or used to be observed a ceremony called cryin g the Mare The .

last bla des o f corn le ft stand i n g on the field a re tied to gether and
called the Mare The reapers s tand at a d is tance a n d throw their
.

sickles at it ; he who cuts i t throu gh has the prize wi th acclamations ,

”
and good cheer A fter it i s cu t the reapers cry thrice wi th a loud
.

” “
voice I have her !
“
O thers answer thrice What have you ?
— A Mare ! a Mare ! a M are ! ” Whose is she ? ” is next asked
, ,
“ “

thrice A
. naming the owner thrice
“
. Wh ither w ill you .

send her ? To C namin g some ne ighbour who has not reaped

.

all his corn In this custom the corn spirit in the form of a mare
.
-

is passe d on from a farm where the corn is all cut to ano ther farm
where it is still standing and where therefore the Corn-spirit may b e ,
460 THE CORN S PI RIT A S A N ANI MAL
-
CH .

suppose d naturally to take re fuge I n Shropshire the custom is similar . ,

The farmer who finishes his harvest las t and who there fore cannot ,
”
sen d the M are to any one else is said to keep her all winter The ,
.

mockin g o ff er o f the Mare t o a la ggard nei ghbour was sometimes

‘

respon d e d to by a mockin g accep tance o f her help Thus an old .

man tol d an inquirer While we wun at supper a mon cum m d wi

, ,
’ ’

”
a au tar [halter ] to fatch her away At one place a real mare used to .

be sen t but the man who ro d e her wa s subj ecte d t o some rough
,

trea tmen t at the fa r mhouse to which he pai d his unwelcome visit .

I n the nei ghbourhood o f L ille the i d ea of the corn spirit in horse -

form is clearly preserved When a harvester grows weary at his .

”
work it is said
, H e has the fati gue o f the Horse
,
The first sheaf .
,
”
called the Cross o f the Horse i s placed on a cr oss o f boxwoo d in ,

the barn a n d the youn gest horse on the farm m u st trea d on it

,
The .

reapers d ance round the last bla d es O f corn crying S ee the remains , ,

of the Horse The shea f ma d e out o f these las t blades i s given to

.

the youn gest horse O f the parish (com m u n e ) to eat This youngest .

horse o f the parish clearly represents as Mannha r d t says the corn spirit , ,
-

o f the followin g year the Corn foal which absorbs the spiri t of the
,
-
,

old Corn horse by ea tin g the last corn cut ; for as usual the old
-
, ,

corn spirit takes his final re fuge in the las t shea f The thresher of
-
.

“
the las t shea f i s sai d to beat the H orse
9 T he C or n s pi ri t a s a P ig (B oar or S ow ) — The last animal
.

embo d iment o f the corn—

. .

spirit wh i ch we shall no tice is the p ig (boar

or sow ) In Th ur in gen when the w in d se ts the young corn in motion
.
, ,
”
they sometimes say The B oar is rushing through the corn , Amongst .

the E s thonians O f the islan d O f Oesel the las t shea f is called the Rye
boar a n d the man who gets it is saluted with a cry o f You have
.
“

the Rye boar on your back !

-
I n rep ly he strikes up a son g in which ,

he prays for plen ty At K ohlerwink el near Augsburg a t the close

.
, ,

o f the harves t the las t bunch o f stan d ing corn is cut down stalk by
, ,

s talk by all the reapers in turn H e who cuts the last stalk gets
,
.
“

”
the S ow a n d is lau ghed a t
,
In other Swabian villa ges also the .

” ”
man who cuts the las t corn has the S ow or has the Rye sow ,
“
-
.

At Bohlin gen near Ra d ol fzell in Ba d en the last shea f is called the

Rye —
, ,

sow or the Wheat sow accor d ing to the crop ; and at R ohrenbach -
,

in Ba d en the person who brin gs the last arm ful for the last shea f is
calle d the Corn sow or the Oats sow At Fried in gen in Swabia
- - -

the thresher who gives the last stroke is calle d S ow— Barley —
.
, ,

sow ,

Corn sow or the like accordin g to the crop At Onstme ttin gen the
-
, , .

”
man who gives the las t s troke a t threshin g has the S ow ; he is
O ften boun d u p in a shea f and dra gged by a rope alon g the ground .

A nd generally in Swabia the man who gives the last stroke with the
, ,

flail i s calle d Sow H e may however rid himsel f o f thi s invidious

.
, ,

dis tinction by passin g on to a nei ghbour the s traw rope which is the -
,

b ad ge o f his posi tion as S ow S o he goes to a house and throws the

straw —
.

rope in to it c ryin g There I brin g you the Sow

, All the, , .

inm ates give chase ; and i f they c at ch him they b eat him s hut him ,
462 T H E CORN -S PIRIT A S AN AN I M A L CH
.

the corn -spirit immanent i n the last shea f appears at mi d winter in

, ,

the form o f a boar made from the corn o f the las t shea f ; and his
quicken in g influence on the corn i s shown b y mix in g part o f the Yule
B oa r wi th the seed corn a n d givin g par t o f it to the ploughman and
-
,

his ca ttle to eat S imilarly we saw tha t the Corn wol f makes his
.
-

appearance at mi d win ter the time when the year begins to verge
~

towar d s sprin g Formerly a real boar was sacrificed a t Chris tm as

.
,

a n d apparen tly also a man in the charac ter o f the Yule B oar This .
,

a t leas t may perhaps be in ferred from a Christmas cus tom still

,

observed in S we d en A man i s wrap t up i n a skin and carries a

.
,

wisp o f straw in his m ou th so tha t the p roj ecting straws look like ,

the bristles o f a boar A kni fe is brou gh t and an old woman with

.
, ,

her face blackene d pre tends to sacrifice him , .

On Chris tman E v e i n some par ts o f the E s thonian island of Oesel

they bake a lon g cake wi th the two ends turned up It i s called the .

Christmas Boar and s tan d s on the table till the mornin g o f N ew

,

Year s Day when i t i s distr i bu ted amon g the cattle I n o ther parts
’
.
,

o f the island the Chris tmas B oar i s not a c ake but a li ttle p ig born in
M arch which the housewi fe fa ttens secretly o ften without the know
, ,

le dge o f the o ther m embers o f the family O n Christmas Ev e the .

little p ig is secre tly killed then roas ted in the oven and set on the , ,

table standin g on all fours where it remains in this posture for several ,

days In other parts o f the island a gain though the Christmas cake
.
, ,

has nei ther the n ame nor the shape o f a boar it i s kept till the N ew ,

Year when hal f o f it is divide d a mon g all the members and all the
,

qua d rupeds o f the family The other half o f the cake is kept till .

sow in g time comes roun d when it i s similarly distributed in the

-
,

mornin g among human bein gs and beasts In o ther parts o f E sthonia .

,

a gain the Christmas B oar as it is called i s baked o f the first rye cut
, ,

a t harves t ; i t has a con i cal shape a n d a cross is impressed on it

’
wi th a pig s bone or a key or three d ints are made in it with ,

a buckle or a piece o f cha rcoal It stands wi th a li ght beside it on .

the table all through the fes tal season On N ew Year s Day and .
’

Epiphany be fore sunrise a li ttle o f the cake is crumbled with sal t

’

, ,

an d given to the ca ttle The rest i s kept till the day when the cat tle
.

are d riven out to pasture fo r the fi rst time in sprin g It is then put .

’
in the herdsman s b ag and at evenin g is divi d ed amon g the cattle to
,

guard them from ma gic and harm In some places the Christmas .

B oar is pa rtaken o f by farm servan ts and cattle at the t ime of the -

barley sowin g for the purpose o f thereby produc in g a heavier crop

10 On the A n i m a l E m b odim en ts of the Corn s pi ri t —S o much for
.
,

-
. .

the animal embo d imen ts o f the corn spiri t as they are presen ted to us -

in the folk customs o f N orthern E urope These customs bring out

-
.

clea rly the sacramental characte r o f the harves t-supper The corn .

s p i ri t i s conceived as embodied in an animal ; thi s divine animal is

slai n and its fl esh and blood are p a rtaken o f by the har v esters Thus
, .

the cock the hare the cat the goa t and the ox are eaten
, , , ,

sac ramentally by the harvester and the p ig is eaten sacramentally ,

’
XLVIII ANI MAL E M B ODI M E NT S OF T HE CORN —
S PIRIT 46 3

by plou ghmen in sprin g A gain as a subs ti tu te for the real flesh o f .

,

the divine being bread or dumplin gs are ma d e in his im age and eate n
,

sacramentally thus p ig shape d d umplin gs are ea ten by the harvesters ,

-
,

and loaves made in boar shape ( the Yule Boar ) are eaten in spring b y -

the ploughman a nd his cattle .

The reader has probably remarke d the complete parallelism

between the conceptions o f the corn — spiri t in human and in animal
form The parallel may be here briefly resumed When the cor n
. .

waves in the wind it is sai d ei ther tha t the C orn mo ther or that the -

Corn wol f etc is passing throu gh the corn

-
, .
,
Chil d ren are warned .

against s trayin g in corn field s ei ther because the Corn mother or - -

because the Corn wol f etc is there In the last corn cut or the las t
-
,
.
,
.

shea f threshe d ei ther the Corn mother or the Corn wol f etc is - -
, .
,

supposed to be presen t The las t shea f is i tsel f calle d e ither the .

Corn mo ther or the Corn wol f etc an d is ma de up in the shape

- -
,
.
,

ei ther of a woman or o f a wol f e tc The per on who cuts b in d s or ,

. s
, ,

threshes the las t shea f is called ei ther the O ld Woman or the Wol f ,

etc
. accor ding to the name bes towed on the shea f i tsel f A s in some
, .

places a shea f ma d e in human form a n d calle d the Mai d en t h e M o ther ,

of the Maize etc is kept from one harves t to the nex t in or d er to

, .
,

secure a cont inuance o f the corn S piri t s blessin g so in some places -

’
,

the Harvest cock a n d in o thers the flesh o f the goat i s kept fo r a similar
-

purpose from one harvest to the next As in some places the grain
taken from the Corn —
.
,

mother is mixe d wi th the see d corn in sprin g to -

m ake the crop abundan t so in some places the fea thers o f the cock , ,

and in Swe d en the Yule Boar are kept till spr ing a n d m ixe d w i th the ,

seed corn for a like purpose As par t o f the Corn mo ther or Mai d en
-
.
-

is given to the cattle at Christmas or to the horses at the fi rst plou gh

ing so part o f the Yule Boar is given to the plou ghin g horses or oxe n
,

in sprin g Las tly the d ea th o f the corn spir it is represen te d b y

.
,
-

killing or preten d in g to kill ei ther hi s human or his animal represen ta

tive ; and the worshippers partake sacramen tally e ither o f the ac tua l
bo dy and blood of the representative o f the d ivini ty or of brea d ma d e ,

in his likeness .

Other animal forms assume d -b y the corn sp i ri t are the fox s ta g roe -
, , ,

sheep bear ass mouse quail s tork swan an d ki te If it is aske d why

, , , , ,
.
,
.

the corn spir it should be thou ght to appear in the form o f an animal
-

and of so many d i fferent an imals we may reply that to pr imi tive ,

m an the simple appearanc e o f an an i mal or b i r d amon

g the corn i s
probably enou gh to su ggest a mysterious link be tween the crea ture
and the corn ; and when we remember that in the old d ays b efore ,

field s were fenced in all kin d s o f an imals must have been free to roam ,

over them we nee d not won d er that the corn spirit shoul d have been
,
-

identifie d even w ith lar ge animals like the horse and cow which nowa
‘

days could not excep t by a rare acci d ent b e found strayin g in an

, ,

English corn -field Thi s explanation applies with peculiar force to the
.

very common case in which the animal embo d iment o f the corn spirit O
-

ts believed to lurk in the last standin

g corn For at ha rvest a number .
464 AN CI E NT D E ITI E S OF V E G ETAT IO N A S A N I MAL S CH
.

of wild animals such a s hares rabb i ts and partr i d ges are commonly
, , , ,

d riven b y the progress o f the rea p in g into the las t pa tch o f s tanding
corn a nd m ake thei r escape from it as i t i s b ein g cut down So
, .

regula rly d oes this happen that reapers a n d o thers o ften stan d round
the las t patch of corn arme d wi th s ticks or guns wi th which they kill ,

the animals as they dart ou t o f the i r last re fu ge amon g the stalks .

N ow primi tive man to whom magical chan ges o f shape seem per
, ,

fe ctly cre d ible fin d s it mos t natural that the spiri t o f the corn driven
, ,

from hi s home in the ripe gra i n should make hi s esc pe in the form , a

o f the animal which is s een to rush out o f the last pa tch of corn as it

falls un d er the scythe o f the reaper Thus the i d en tifica tion of the .

corn spiri t with an animal is analo gous to the i d entification of him

-

wi th a passin g s tran ger A s the su dd en appearance of a str anger

.

near the harvest field or threshin g fl o or is to the primitive mind

- -
, ,

enou gh to i denti fy him as the spiri t o f the corn escaping f rom the cut
or threshed corn so the su dd en appearance o f an animal issuing from
,

the cut corn i s enou gh to iden ti fy i t w ith the corn spiri t escapi ng from -

his ruine d home The two i d entificati ons a re so analo gous that they
.

can har d ly be dissociate d in any attemp t to explain them Those .

who look to some other principle than the one here sugges ted for the
explanation o f the latter i d en tifica tion are bound to show that their
theory covers the form er identification also .

CHA PT E R XLIX

ANC E I N T DE I T I E S OF V E GE T A T I O N AS A N I MALS

l Di onys us the Goa t a n d the B ull — H owever

we may explain it the
fact remains th at in peasant folk—
.
,
.
,

lore the corn spirit is very commonly -

conceive d and represen te d in animal form May not this fac t explain .

the relation in which certain animals stood to the ancient deities of

ve getation Dionysus Demeter Adonis Atti s and Osiris ?
, , , , ,

To be gin with Dionysu s We have seen that he was represented

.

sometimes as a goat an d sometimes as a bull As a goat he can .

har d ly be separated f rom the minor divinities the Pans Satyrs and , , ,

Silenu ses all o f whom are closely associated with him and are rep t e
,

sen te d more or less completely in the form o f goats Thus Pan was .
,

re gularly por trayed in sculp ture and pain tin g with the face a nd legs
o f a goat The Satyrs were d epicted with pointed goat ears and
.
-
,

sometimes wi th sproutin g horns and shor t tails They were some .

times spoken o f simply as goats ; and in the d rama their par ts were
played by men dresse d in goa tskins S ilenus i s re p resen te d in art .

cla d in a goatskin Further the Fauns the I talian counterpart of

.
, ,

the Greek Pans and Satyrs are described as be in g hal f goats with
—
, ,

g oat feet and goat horns A ga in all these minor goat formed
-
.
,
-

d ivinities p arta k e m ore or le ss cle arly of the ch aracter o f woodland

466 A N CI EN T DEIT IES OF V EGET AT ION A S A N I MA LS CH .

bull form mus t have been only another ex p ression for his character as
a d eity of ve ge tati on especially as the bull is a common embodi m ent
,

o f the corn spiri t in N or thern E urope ; an d the close associ ation of

-

D ionysus w ith Deme ter a nd Persephone in the mys teries of Eleusis

show s th at he ha d at least stron g agricultural a fli niti es .

T he pro b abili ty o f thi s view will be somewhat increased if it can

be shown that in other r ites than those o f Dionysus the ancien ts slew
a n ox as a rep resen tat i ve o f the spiri t o f ve etation This they appear
g .

to have d one i n the A thenian Sacrifice known as

“
the murder of the
ox It took place ab ou t the en d o f June o r begi nning
o f July tha t is about the time when the threshin g is nearly over in
, ,

Attica A ccor d in g to tra d iti on the sacrifice was i ns tituted to procure

.

a cessation o f d rou ght and d earth which ha d afflicted the land The .

ritual was as follows Barley mixed with wheat or cakes made of

.
,

them were lai d upon the bronz e altar o f Zeus Polieus on the Acropolis
, .

Oxen were d riven roun d the al tar and the ox which went up to the
,

alta r and ate the o ffering on it was sacrificed The axe and kni fe with .

whic h the beas t was sla in had been previously wetted with water
”
brought by mai d ens called wa ter carriers The weapons were then
-
.

sharpene d a nd han d e d to the butchers one o f whom felle d the ox with

,

the axe and another cut its throat wi th the kni fe As soon as he .

ha d felle d the ox the former threw the axe from him and fl ed ; and
,
’
the man who cut the beas t s throat apparently imitated his example .

Meant ime the ox was skinned and all presen t partook o f its flesh .

Then the hi de was stu ffe d w ith straw and sewed up ; next the stu ffed
animal was set on its feet and yoked to a plough as if it were ploughing .

A trial then took place in an ancient law court preside d over by the -

King (as he was called ) to determine who had murdered the ox The .

maidens who ha d brou ght the w ater accuse d the men who had sharpened
the axe and kni fe ; the men who had sharpened the axe and knife
blame d the men who had handed these implement s to the butchers ;
the men who had han d e d the implements to the butchers blamed the
butchers ; an d the bu tchers lai d the blame on the axe and knife ,

whi ch were accor d in gly found guilty con d emned and cast into the , ,

sea
the m ur d er o f the ox —the pains
.

The n am e of this sacr ifice , ,

taken by ea ch person who had a hand in the slau ghter to lay the blam e
on some one else to ge ther with the formal trial and punishment of
,

the axe or kni fe or both prove that the 0 x was here regar d ed not merely
,

a s a victim o ffered to a god but as its el f a sacred creature the slau ghter
, ,

o f which wa s sacrile ge or murder This is b orne out by a statement

.

o f Varro tha t to kill an ox was formerly a capital crime in At tica The .

mo d e o f selectin g the victim suggests that the ox w hich taste d the co rn

was view e d as the co rn — deity takin g possession o f his own This .

interpretation i s su ppo rted by the followin g custom In Beauce i n . ,

the d istrict o f O rleans on the twenty fourth or twenty -fifth of Apr i l

,
-

”
they make a straw man called the great m on dar d “
For t hey say .

that the old m ondard is now dead and it i s nec essary to m ake a new
XLIX DION Y SU S T H E GOAT AN D T HE BU LL ,
467

one .
The straw man is carried in solem n p rocession up a nd down
the village a n d at las t i s placed upon the oldes t apple tree There he -
.

rem ains till the apples are gathere d when he is taken down a nd thrown ,

into the wa ter or he i s burne d a nd his ashes cast into water But the
,
.

person who plucks the firs t fruit from the tree succee d s to the title o f
”
the great m onda r d H ere the s traw fi gure calle d . the great ,

m ondard and place d on the oldest ap p le tree in sprin g represents the -

,

spirit of the tree who dea d in win ter revives when the apple blossoms
, , ,
-

appear on the bou ghs Thus the person who plucks the fi rs t fruit
.
.

from the tree a nd thereby receives the name o f the grea t m on dard
“

m ust be re gar d e d as a rep resen tative o f the tree spirit Primitive -

.

peoples are usually reluctant to taste the annual fir st frui ts o f any -

crop until some ceremony has been per forme d which makes it sa fe
,

and pious for them to do so The reason of thi s relu ctance appears .

to be a bel ie f that the fir st fru its e ither belong to or actually contain a -

divinity Th ere fore when a man or animal i s seen bol d ly to appropriate

.

the sacre d first fru its he or it i s na turally re gar d e d as the divinity

-
,

himsel f in human or a nimal form taking possession o f his own The .

tim e o f the A thenian sacrifice wh i ch fell about the close o f the thresh ,

ing suggests th a t the wheat and barley lai d upon the altar were a ha r
,

ves t o ffering ; a nd the sacramental charac ter o f the subsequent repast

all partaking o f the flesh o f the d iv ine an imal — woul d make it parallel
to the harvest suppers o f mo d ern E u rOp e in which as we have seen
.
-
, , ,

the flesh o f the animal which s tan d s for the corn spir it i s eaten b y the -

harvesters A ga in the tra d it i on that the sacrifice was ins ti tute d in

.
,

order to p ut an en d to d rou ght and fam ine i s in favour of taking it as

a harves t fes tival The resurrection o f the corn sp i ri t enacte d by
.
-
,

setting up the s tu ff e d ox an d yok in g it to the plou gh m ay be compared ,

with the resurrec tion o f the tree sp ir it in the person o f hi s representa -

tive the Wil d Man

, .

The ox appears as a representa tive o f the corn spirit in other parts -

of the worl d A t Great Bassam i n Guinea tw o oxen are sla i n annu a lly
.
, ,

to procure a good harvest I f the sa cr ifice i s to be e ff ec tual it is .

,

necessa ry that the oxen should weep So all the women o f the village .

sit in front o f the beas ts chan tin g The ox will weep ; yes he will , , ,
”
weep l From time to time one o f the women walks roun d the beas ts ,

throwing manioc meal or palm wine upon them especially into their ,

eyes When tears roll down from the eyes o f the oxen the people
.
,
”
dance sin gi ng , The ox weeps ! the ox w eeps !
,
“
Then two men
seize the t ails o f the beasts a nd cut them off at one blow It is believe d .

that a great mis fo rtune will happen in the course o f the year i f the
tails are not severe d at one blow The oxen are a fterwar d s kille d .
,

and their flesh i s ea ten by the chie fs Here the tears of the oxen like .
,

those of the human vi ctims amon st the Khonds and the Aztecs are
g ,

probably a ra i n charm We have alrea d y seen tha t the virtue o f the

-
.

corn spi rit embodied in an imal form is sometimes suppose d to reside

-
, ,

m the tail and tha t the last hand ful of co rn is sometimes conceived
,

as the tail of the co rn spirit In the Mi thraic religion thi s conceptio n-

.
468 A N CI E NT D E ITI E S OF V E GETATIO N A S AN IMA L S CH .

i s graphically set forth in some o f the numerous sculptures which

represen t M ithras kneelin g on the back o f a bull a n d plun ging a kni fe
in to its flank ; for on certain o f these monum ents the tail of the bull
en d s in three stalks o f corn a nd in one o f them corn stalks instea d of
,
-

bloo d are seen issuin g from the woun d i nflicte d by the knife Such .

representations certainly su ggest that the bull whose sacrifice appears ,

to have forme d a lea d ing feature in the Mi thrai c ritual was conceived , ,

in one at leas t o f its aspec ts as an incarnation o f the corn spirit

,
-
.

Still m ore clearly does the ox appear as a personification o f th e

corn spirit i n a ceremony which is observe d in all the provinces and
-

districts o f China to welcome the approach o f spring On the first .

day o f sprin g usually on the third o r fou rth o f February which is also
, ,

the beginnin g of the Chinese New Year the governor or pre fect of the ,

city goes in processio n to the east gate o f the city and sacrifices to the ,

Divine H usban d man who i s represented w ith a bull s hea d on the

,
’

bo d y of a man A lar ge effi gy o f an ox cow or bu ffalo has been

.
, ,

p repared for the occasion and stands ou tside of the east gate w ith
, ,

ag ricultu ral im plem ents beside it The fi gu re is ma d e o f di fferently

.

coloure d pieces o f paper pasted on a framework either by a blin d man

or according to the d i rections o f a necromancer The colours of the .

paper pro gnosticate the charac ter o f the coming year ; if r ed prevails ,

there will be many fi res ; i f whi te there will be floo d s and rain ; and ,

so wi th the other colours The mandarins walk slowly roun d the ox

.
,

beatin g it severely at each step with ro d s o f vari ous hues It is fille d .

wi th five kinds o f gr ain which pour forth when the effigy is broken
,

by the blows o f the rods The paper fra gm en ts are then set on fire
.
,

an d a scr amble takes place f or the burn i n g fra gments because the ,

people believe that whoever gets one o f them i s sure to be fortunate

throu ghout the year A live bu ffalo is nex t killed a nd its flesh is
.
,

divide d amon g the man d arins Accordin g to one accoun t the effi gy
.
,

o f the ox is ma d e o f clay and a f ter bein g beaten by the governor is

, , ,

stoned by the people till they break it in p ieces from whi ch they ,

expec t an abun d an t yea r H ere the corn spi ri t appears to be plainly

.
-

represent e d by the corn —filled ox whose fra gments may therefore be ,

supposed to brin g fertil ity wi th them .

On the whole we may perhaps conclu d e that both as a goat and as

a bull Dionysus was essentially a god of vegetation The Chinese and .

E uropean cus toms which I have ci ted may perhap s she d li ght on the
cus tom of rendin g a live bull or goa t at the rites of Di onysus The .

animal was torn in fra gment s as the Khond victim was cut in pieces
, ,

i n or d er that the w orshippers mi ght ea ch secure a portion o f the life

givin g and fertilisin g influence o f the go d The flesh was eaten raw .

as a sacrament and we may conj ecture tha t some o f it was taken home
,

to be buri ed in the fi elds or o the rwi s e employed so as to convey to the

,

f ruits o f the ear th the q ui ckenin g influence o f the god o f ve getation .

The resurrection o f Dionysus related in his myth may have been , ,

enacte d in his rites by stu ffi n g and settin g up the slain ox a s was done
'
,

at the Athenian b ouphom a .

47 0 A N CI E NT D E IT I E S OF V E G E TAT I O N A S AN IM A L S CH .

thrown in we may in fer that the d escent o f the pi gs was not so much
,

an accompaniment o f her descent as the d escent i tsel f in short that , ,

the p igs were Persephone A fterwar d s when Persephone or Demeter

.

(for the two are equivalent ) took on human form a re ason had to ,

be foun d for the cus tom o f throwin g pi gs i n to caverns at her festival ;

a n d thi s was d one by sayin g that when Pluto carried of f P ersephone
there happene d to be some swine browsin g near which were swallowed ,

up alon g wi th her The story is obviously a forced and awkward

.

a ttempt to bri d ge over the gulf between the ol d conception o f the

corn spi rit as a p ig an d the n ew conception of her a s an anthropo

-

morphic goddess A trace o f the older conception survived in the

.

legen d that when the sad mother was searchin g for traces o f the
vanished Persephone the footprin ts o f the lost one were obliterated
,

by the footprints of a p ig ; ori ginal ly we may conj ecture the foot , ,

prin ts of the p ig were the foo tprin ts o f P ersephone and o f Demeter

hersel f A consciousness o f the intimate connexion of the p ig with
.

the corn lurks in the le gend that the swineher d E ubuleus was a brother
o f Tr iptolemus to whom Deme ter first imparte d the secret of the
,

corn Indee d accordin g to one version o f the story E ubuleus himself

.
, ,

receive d j oin tly wi th his brother Triptolemus the gi ft o f the corn

, ,

from Demeter as a rewar d for revealin g to her the fate o f Persephone .

Fur ther it i s to b e not e d that at the Thesmophoria the women appear

,

to have ea ten swine s flesh The m eal i f I am ri ght must have

’
.
, ,

been a s olemn sacramen t or communion the worshippers pa rtaking ,

o f the body o f the god .

As thus explained the Thesmophoria has its analo gies in the

,

folk customs o f N or thern E u rOp e wh i ch have been alrea dy d escribed

-

J ust as at the Thesmophoria—an autumn fest ival in honour of the

.

corn goddess — swine s flesh was partly eaten pa rtly kept in caverns
-
’

till the following year when it was taken up to be sown wi th the

,

see d corn in the fiel d s fo r the pu rpose o f securing a good crop ; so

-

in the nei ghbourhoo d o f Grenoble the goat killed on the ha rvest

fiel d i s par tly ea ten at the ha rvest — supper partly pi ckled and kept ,

ti ll the nex t harvest ; so at Pouilly the ox kille d on the harvest field -

i s par tly eaten by the ha rvesters partly pickle d and kept t ill the ,

first day o f sowing in spring p robably to lb e then mixed with the seed
, ,

or eaten by the ploughmen or bo th ; so at U dv arhely the feathers ,

o f the cock which is killed in the last shea f at harvest are kept till
sprin g and then sown with the seed on the fiel d ; so in Hesse and
,

M einin gen the flesh o f pi gs i s ea ten on A sh We d nesday or Candlemas ,

an d the bones a re kept till sowin g time whe n they are put into the -
,

fiel d sown or mixe d wi th the seed in the b ag ; so lastly the corn , ,

from the last shea f is kep t till Christmas ma de into the Yule Boar and , ,

a fterwards broken and mixe d with the see d corn at sowi n g in spring - .

Thus to put it generally the corn s p irit is killed in animal form in

, ,
-

a utumn ; pa rt o f hi s flesh i s eaten as a sacrament by his worshippers :

and part o f it is kept till next sowin g tim e or harvest as a pledge and -

’
s ecurity for the continuance or renewal o f the corn S pirit s ener gies
-
.
xLIx A T T IS A DON IS A N D T H E PIG
, ,
47 1

If persons o f fastidious taste shoul d obj ect that the Greeks never
could have conceive d De meter an d Persephone to be embodied i n
the form of pigs it may be answere d that in the cave o f Phigalia in
, ,

Arcadia the Black De meter was portrayed with the hea d and mane
of a horse on the body o f a woman Between the por traits o f a go d dess .

as a p ig an d the portrait o f her as a woman with a horse s head

,
’
,

there is li ttle to choose in respect o f barbarism

.
The le gend told o f .

the Phi galian Demeter indicates that the horse was one o f the animal
forms assumed in ancient Greece as in mo d ern E urope b y the corn , ,

spirit It was sai d that in her search for her daught er Demeter
.
,

assumed the form of a mare to escape the addresses o f Posei d on ,

and that o ffende d at his importun ity she wi thdrew in d u dgeon to

, ,

a cave not far from Phigali a in the hi ghlan d s o f Wes tern A rca d ia .

There robe d in black she tarri e d so lon g that the fruits o f the earth
, ,

were pe rishin g a nd mankind would have d ied o f famine i f Pan had

,

not soothed the an gry go d dess and persuade d her to qui t the cave .

In memory of thi s event the Ph igalians set up an image o f the Black

,

Demeter in the cave ; it represented a woman dresse d in a lon g rob e ,

with the head and mane o f a horse The Black Deme ter in whose .
,

absence the frui ts o f the ea rth perish i s plainly a my thical express i on ,

for the bare w intry earth stripped o f its summer man tle of green
3 A tti s A d onis a n d the P ig — Passin g n ow to A ttis an d Adon i s
.

. .
, , ,

we may note a few facts which seem to show that these deities o f
vegetation had also like o the r deities of the sam e class their animal
, ,

e m bodiments The worsh ippers o f Attis abs tained from eatin g the
.

flesh of swine This a p pears to in d icate tha t the p ig was re gar d ed

.

as an embodiment o f A ttis And the le gen d that Attis was kille d .

by a boar points in the same direc tion For a fter the examples o f .

the goat Dionysus an d the p i g Demeter it may almos t be la id d own

as a rule that an an i mal wh ich i s sai d to have inj u red a god w a s
originally the god himsel f Perhaps the cry o f Hyes A ttes ! Hyes .

Attes ! which was ra i se d by the worshippers o f At ti s may be nei ther

—
,
”
m ore nor
l ess than P i g A tti s ! Pi g A tti s ! hyes bein g poss ibly a
”
Phrygian form o f the Greek hi s a p ig ,
“
.

In regard to A d oni s his connexion with the boar was not always
,

explaine d by the story that he had been killed by the animal Accor d in g .

to another s tory a boar ren t with his tusk the bark o f the tree in which
,

the in fant Adonis was born Accor d ing to yet ano ther story he perished
.
,

at the hands o f H e phaestus on M ount Lebanon while he was huntin g

wil d boars These var iations in the le gend serve to show that while
.
,

the connexion of the boar with Adon is was certain the reason of the ,

connexion was not un d erstood an d that consequently di ff erent stori es ,

were devised to explain it Ce rtainly the p ig ranked as a sacred .

animal amon g the Syrians At the great reli gi ous metropoli s o f

.

Hierapolis on the E uphrates p i gs were neither sacrifice d no r eaten ,

and i f a man touche d a

p i g he wa s unclean for the rest o f the day .

Some peo p le sai d thi s was becau se the pi gs were un clean ; other s
sai d it was becau se the p i gs were sacred This di fference o f opinion .
472 A NCI E NT D E ITI E S O F V E GE TATI O N A S A N I MALS CH .

points to a hazy s tate of reli gious thou ght in which the i d eas o f sanctity
a n d uncleanness are not yet sharply dis tin gu i she d both being blent ,

in a sort of vaporous solution to whi ch we give the name o f taboo .

It i s qui te consisten t w ith this that the p ig shoul d have been hel d
to b e an em b o d iment o f the d iv i ne A d onis an d the analo gies of ,

Di onysus a n d Demete r make it probab le that the story of the hostili ty

o f the a n imal to the god was only a late misapprehension o f the old
view o f the god a s embodie d in a p ig The rul e that pi gs were not .

sacr i ficed or eaten by worshippers o f A ttis and presumably o f Adonis ,

does not exclu d e the poss ibil ity that in these rituals the p ig was
slain on solemn occasions as a representative o f the god a n d consumed
sacramentally by th e worsh ippers In d eed the sacramental killing
.
,

a n d ea tin g of an animal implies that the animal is sacred and that , ,

as a general rule it i s spared , .

The a ttitu d e o f the J ews to the p ig was as ambi guous as that of

the heathen Syrians towards the same animal The Greeks could not .

deci d e whe ther the Jews worshipped s w ine or abominated them On .

the one hand they mi gh t n ot eat swine ; but on the other han d they
mi gh t not kill them A n d i f the form er rule speaks for the uncleanness
.
,

the lat ter speaks s till more stron gly for the sancti ty o f the animal .

Fo r whereas both rules may an d one rule mus t be explai ned on the
, ,

supposition that the p ig was sacre d ; nei ther rule must and one rul e ,

c annot be explaine d on the supposition that the p ig was unclean

, .

If there fore we pre fer the former supposi tion we must conclu de
, , ,

tha t ori ginally at least the p ig was revere d ra ther than abhorred
, ,

by the Is raelites We are confirmed in thi s opinion by ob servin g

.

that d own to the time o f I saiah som e o f the Jews use d to meet secretly
in gardens to eat the flesh of swine and mice a s a religious rite .

Doub tless this was a very ancient ceremony dat in g from a time ,

when bo th the p ig and the mouse were venerated as divine and ,

when thei r flesh was partaken of sacrament ally on ra re and solemn

occas ions as the bo d y a nd blood o f go d s And in general it may
.

perhaps be said that all so— calle d unclean animals were ori ginally
sacre d ; the reason for not ea tin g them was that they w ere d ivine
—
.

§ 4 O
. s i r i s,
the P i g a n d the B u l l In ancien t E gy pt wi thin
.
,

historical times the p ig occupied the s ame dubious p osition as in

,

Syria an d Palestine thou gh at first si ght its uncleanness is more

,

prominent than its sancti ty The E gyptians are generally said by

.

Greek w ri ters to have abhorred the p ig as a foul and loathsome animal .

I f a man so much as t ouched a p ig in passin g he step p ed into the ,

’
river with all his clo thes on to wash off the taint To drink pig s
, .

milk was beli eved to cause leprosy t o the drinker S wineherds

'
.
,

thou gh natives o f E gypt were fo rbi d d en to enter any temple and

, ,

they were the only men who were thus exclude d N o one would .

give his d au gh ter in marria ge to a swineherd or marry a swineherd s ,

dau gh ter ; the swineherds married amon g themselves Yet once a .

year the E gyp tians sacrificed pi gs to the moon and to Osiris and ,

not only sac rificed t h em b ut ate of their flesh though on any othe r
.
,
47 4 A N CI E NT D E IT I E S O F VE G E TAT I ON A S AN I MALS CH .

otherwise it was believed that he would swell up and die or at least ,

be afflicte d wi th scro fula or some o ther d isease We h a ve seen too .

, ,

wha t fa tal e ffects are suppose d to follow and d o actually follow from , ,

con tact wi th a sacre d obj ect in N ew Zealand In sho rt primitive .

,

man believes tha t what i s sacre d i s d an gerous ; it is perva d e d by a

sort o f electri cal sanctity whi ch communicates a shock to even i f it ,

d oes n ot kill whateve r comes in contac t with it

, Hence the savage .

is unwillin g to touch or even to see that which he deems peculiarly

holy Thus B echuanas o f the Croco d ile clan think it hate ful and
.
, ,
“

”
unlucky to m ee t or se e a croco d ile ; the si ght is thou ght to cause
inflammation o f the eyes Yet the croco d ile is thei r most sacre d
.

obj ect ; they call it their father swear by it an d celebrate it in their

, ,

festivals The goat is the sacre d animal o f the M a dena s sana Bushmen ;
.

yet to look upon it woul d be to render the mari for the time impure
“

,
”
as well as to cause him undefined uneasiness The E lk clan among .
,

the Omaha Indians b elieve that even to touch the male elk woul d Ib e
,

followed by an erup tion o f boi ls and whi te spots on the bo d y Members .

o f the Rep tile clan in the same tribe think that i f one o f them touches
or smells a snake it will make his hair white In Samoa people whos e
,
.

go d was a bu tterfly believed tha t i f they cau gh t a but terfly it would

strike them dea d A gain in Samoa the red d ish —
.
, seare d leaves of the
banana tree were commonly use d as plates for han d in g food ; but i f
-

any member o f the Wil d Pi geon family had used banana leaves for
this purpos e it was supposed that he would su ffer from rheumatic
swellin gs or an eruption all over the body like chicken —
,

pox The .

Mori clan of the Bhils in Cen tral In d ia w orship the peacock as their
to tem and make o fferin gs o f grain to it ; yet members o f the clan
believe that were they even to set foo t on the tracks o f a peacock they
would a fterwar d s su ffer from some disease and i f a woman sees a ,

peacock she must veil her face and look a way Thus the primitive .

m in d seem s to conceive of holiness as a sort o f dan gerous virus ,

whi ch a prudent man will shun as far as poss ible an d o f which if he , ,

should chance to be in fected by it he will care fully disinfect himself

,

by some form o f ceremonial purifica tion .

In the li ght of these parallels the beliefs and customs o f the

Egyptians touching the p ig are probably to be explained as based upon
an opini on o f the extreme sanctity rather than o f the extreme um '

cleanness o f the animal ; o r rather to put i t more correctly they, ,

imply that the animal was looked on not simply as a filthy and dis ,

gustin g creatu re b ut as a bei ng endowed w ith hi gh supernatural

,

powers an d that as such it was re gar d e d with that primitive sen timent
,

o f reli gious awe a n d fear in wh i ch the feelin gs o f reverence and abhor

rence are almost equally blende d The ancients themselves seem to
.

have been aware that there was another si d e to the horror with which
swine s e emed to inspire the E gyp tians For the Greek astronomer .

and mathematician E udoxus who resided fourteen months in E gypt

,

a nd conversed with the priests w a s o f opinion that the E gyptians

,

sp a red the p ig not out o f abho rrence but from a re gard to its utility
, ,
xu x O S IRI S T H E PI G A N D ,
THE BULL 47 5

in agriculture ; for according to him when the Nile had subsided

, , ,

herds of swine were turned loose over the fiel d s to tread the seed down
into the mois t earth But when a being is thus the obj ec t o f m ixed
.

and implic itly contra d ic tory feelin gs he may be said to occupy a ,

position o f uns table equilibrium In course o f time one of the con .

trad ictory feelin gs is likely to prevail over the o ther and accordin g ,

as the feeling which finally pre d om inates is that o f reverence or ab

horrence the bein g who is the o b j ec t o f it will rise into a god or sink
,

into a devil The la tter on the whole was the fate o f the p ig in E gypt
.
, ,
.

For in historical times the fear and horror of the p ig seem certainly to
have outweighe d the reverence an d worship o f which he may once
have been the obj ec t and of which even in his fallen state he nev er, , ,

quite los t trace He came to be looke d on as an embo d iment o f S et

.

or Typhon the E gyptian d evil an d enemy of Osiris For it was in

, .

the shape o f a black p ig that Typhon inj ured the eye o f the god H orus
who burne d him a n d ins tituted the sacrifice o f the p ig the sun —
,

go d ,

Ra having declared the beas t abominable A gain the s tory that .

,

Typhon was hunting a boar when he discovere d and man gled the bo dy
of Osiris and that this was the reason why pi gs were sacrificed once a
,

year is clearly a mo d ernised vers ion o f an ol d er story that Osiris like

, ,

Adonis and A tt is was slain or man gle d b y a boar o r by Typhon i n

, ,

the form of a boar Thus the annual sacr i fice o f a p ig to Osiris mi gh t

.
,

naturally be interprete d as vengeance inflicte d on the hos tile animal

that ha d slain or man gle d the go d B ut in the firs t place when an .
, ,

animal is thus killed as a solemn sacrifice once and once only in the
year it generally or always means that the animal is d ivine that he is
, ,

spared a nd respecte d the rest of the year as a god an d slain when he ,

is sla in also in the charac ter o f a god I n the second place the
,
.
,

examples o f Di onysus and Demeter if not o f Attis and A d onis have , ,

taugh t us that the animal which is sacr ifice d to a god on the ground
that he i s the go d s enemy may have been and probably was ori ginally
’
, ,

the god himsel f There fore the annual sacrifice of a p ig to Osir i s

.
, ,

couple d with the alle ge d hostili ty of the animal to the god ten d s to ,

show first that ori ginally the p ig was a god an d secon d that he was
, , , , ,

Osiris At a later age whe n Osiris became anthropomorphic and his

.
,

original relation to the pi g had been for go tten the animal was fi rst
“

distingu i shed from him and a fterwards oppose d as an enemy to him ,

by mythologists who could think o f no reason for killing a beast in

connexion with the worship o f a god except that the beast was the
’
god s enemy ; or as Plutarch puts it not that which is d ear to the
, ,

gods but that which i s the contrary i s fit to be sacrifice d

, At this , .

later stage the havoc which a wild boar notoriously ma kes amongs t
the corn would supply a plausible reason for re gardin g him as the foe
of the corn spirit thou gh ori ginally i f I am ri ght the very free d om
-
, , ,

with whi ch the bo a r ran ge d at will throu gh the corn led people to
identi fy him with the corn -spiri t to whom he was a fterwards opposed ,

as an enemy .

T he view which ide ntifies the p ig with O siris derives not a little
476 A N CI E NT D E ITI E S O F V EGE TA T ION A S AN I M AL S CH
.

support from the s a crifice o f pigs to him on the very day on which ,

accor d in g to tra d i ti on Osi ris him sel f was kille d ; for thu s the killing
,

o f the p ig was the annual represen ta tion o f the k illin g o f O si ris j ust ,

as the throwin g of the pi gs in to the caverns at the Thesmophoria

was an annual representa tion o f the descent o f Persephone into the
lower world ; an d bo th customs are parallel to the E uropean prac tice
o f kill i n g a goat cock a n d so forth at harvest as a representative
, , ,

o f the corn spi ri t -

.

A gain the theory that the p ig originally Osiris himsel f a fterwards

, , ,

came to b e re gar d e d a s an embo d iment of his enemy Typhon is sup ,

por te d by the similar rela tion o f red hai re d men an d r ed oxen to T y -

phon For in re gar d to the r ed haired men who were burne d an d whose
.
-

ashes were scattered w ith winnowin g fans we have seen fair groun ds -
,

fo r bel ievin g that or iginally like the r ed hai red puppies k i lled at
,
-

Rom e in sprin g they were representatives of the corn spirit himself

,
-

that is o f Osiris a n d were slain for the express purpose o f making

, ,

the corn turn red or gol d en Yet at a later time these men were .

explained to b e represen tatives not o f Osiris but o f his enemy Typhon , , ,

and the killin g o f them was regar d e d as an act o f ven geance inflicte d
on the enemy o f the god S imilarly the red oxen sacr ificed by the
.
,

E gyp ti ans were said to be o ffere d on the ground o f their resemblance

to Typhon ; thou gh it is more likely that ori ginally they were slain
on the groun d o f thei r res emblance to the corn sp irit O siri s We have -
.

se en tha t the ox is a common representa tive o f the corn spirit and is -

slain as such on the harvest field -

.

O siris was regularly i d entifie d with the bull Apis o f M emphis and
the bull Mnevi s o f Heli o p oli s B ut it i s har d to say whether these
.

bulls were embo d iments o f him as the corn spirit as the red oxen -
,

appear to have been o r whether they were not in origin enti rely
,

d is tinc t d eit ies who came to be fused with Osiris at a later time The .

universali ty o f the worship o f these tw o bulls seems to put them on

a d i fferent footin g from the or d inary sacre d a n imals whose worships
were purely lo cal But whatever the ori ginal rela tion o f Apis to
.

Osiris may have been there is one fact about the former which ought
,

no t to be passed over in a d i squis i tion on the cus tom o f killin g a god .

Althou gh the bull Ap is was worshippe d as a god wi th much pomp

an d pro foun d reverence he was not su ffered to live beyond a certain
,

len gth o f time which was prescribe d by the sacred books an d on the ,

expiry o f wh i ch he was drowne d in a holy spr in g The limi t accord .

,

ing to Plutarch was twenty fiv e years ; but it cannot always have

,
-

been en force d for the tombs o f the Apis bulls have b een discovered
,

in modern times and from the inscriptions on them it appears that

,

in the twen ty second dynasty two o f the holy steers lived more than
-

twenty six years

-

5 Vir b i us a n d the H ars e —W e are now in a position to hazard

.

a conj ec ture as to the meaning o f the tra d ition that Virbiu s the first ,

o f the d ivine Ki n gs o f the Woo d at A ri cia had been k illed in the ,

character o f Hippolytus by horses Having found first th at Spi rit s .

, ,
47 8 A N CI E NT DE IT I E S OF V E G E TAT IO N A S A NI MA L S CH .

a n exception that we need not won d er at fin d ing the rule o f the A rician
g r ove rec orde d without any men tion o f an exception such as I suppose .

If w e had ha d only the s tatements o f Athenaeus an d Pliny w e should ,

have known only the rule which forba d e the sacrifice o f goats to Athena
and excluded them fr om the Acropoli s wi thout bein g aware o f the ,

i mpor tant e xception which the for tunate prese rvation o f Varro s work
’

has reveale d to us .

T he conj ectu re that once a year a horse may have been sacrificed
i n the Ari cian grove a s a representative o f the dei ty o f the grove
derives som e support from the similar sacrifice o f a horse which took
p lace once a year at Rome On the fi fteenth o f O ctober in each year
.

a cha riot race was run on the Field o f Mars S tabbe d with a spear
-
.
,

the ri gh t han d horse o f the victoriou s team was then sacrificed to

-

Mars for the purpose o f ensurin g good cro p s and its head was cut ,

o ff and a d orne d with a strin g o f loaves Thereupon the inhabitants

of two wards—the Sacred Way and the Subura— con tended with each
.

other w ho should get the head If the people o f the Sacred Way
.

got it they fastened it to a wall o f the kin g s house ; i f the people

’
,

o f the Subura got it they fa stened it to the M am ilian tower The

, .

’
horse s tail was cut off and carried to the kin g s house with such speed ’

that the blood d ripped on the hea rth of the house Further it appears .
,

that the b lood o f the hors e was caught and preserved till the twenty
first o f April when the Vestal Vir gins mixed it with the blood o f the
,

unborn calves which had been sacrifice d six days before The mixture .

was then d i stributed to shepherds and used by them for fumigating,

thei r flocks .

’
In t his ceremony the decoration of the horse s head with a string
o f loaves and the alle ged obj ect o f the sacrifice namely to procure
, , ,

a good ha rvest se em to in d icate that the ho rse was killed as one of

,

those animal representatives of the corn spirit o f which we have found -

so many examples T he cu stom of cutting off the horse s tail is like

. .
’

the A frican custom o f cutting off the tails o f the oxen a nd sacrificing
them to obtai n a good crop In both the Roman and the African
.

custom the animal apparently stands for the corn s p iri t and its -
,

fructi fyin g pow er i s supp osed to reside especially in its tail The .

latter idea occu rs as we have seen in E uropean folk lore Again

, ,
-
.
,

the practic e of fumi gati ng the cattle in sprin g with the blood of the
horse m ay be compared wi th the practice o f givin g the Old Wife ,

the Mai d en or the clyack shea f as fo d de r to the horses in spring or

,

the cattle at Christmas and givin g the Yule B oa r to the p lou ghing
,

oxen or horses to eat in sprin g All these usages aim at ensurin g

the blessin g o f the corn —
.

spi rit on the homestead and its inm ates and

storin g it up for another year .

The Roman sacrifice of the O ctober horse as it was called carries , ,

u s ba ck to the early days when the Subura a fterwards a low and ,

s qualid quarter o f the great metro p olis was still a separate village , ,

w hose inhabitants en ga ged i n a f riendly contest on th e harvest field -

with their nei ghbours o f Rome the n a little rura l town The Field
, .
 VIRBIU S AN D T H E H ORS E 4 79

of Mars on which the ce remony took place lay b eside the Tiber and ,
’
formed part o f the kin g s domain d own to the abolition of the mon
archy For tradition ran that att he tim e when the last of the kin gs was
.

driven from Rome the corn stood rip e for the sickle on the crown
,

lands beside the river ; but no one would eat the accursed grain and
it was flung in to the river i n such heaps that the water being low ,

with the summer heat it formed the nucleus of an i slan d The hors e
, .

sacrifice was thus an old autum n custom observe d upon the king s ’

corn fields at the end of the harvest T he tail and blood o f the horse
- .
,
’
as the chief pa rts o f the corn S pirit s representative were taken to
-
,
’
the king s house and kept there ; j ust as in Germany the harvest
cock is nailed on the gabl e or over the door of the farmhouse ; and
as the las t shea f in the form o f the Maiden i s carried home and kept
, ,

over the fireplace in the H i ghlan d s o f Sco tlan d Thus the blessin g .

of the corn spirit was brou gh t to the kin g s house and hear th a n d
’
-
,

through them to the communi ty of which he was the head Similarly

, .

in the sprin g a n d autumn cus toms o f Northern E urope the May pole -

is some times set up in front o f the house o f the mayor or bur gomaster ,

and the last shea f at harvest is b rou ght to him as the head o f the
village But while the tail and blood fell to the kin g the nei ghbour in g
.
,

village of the Subura which no d oubt once had a similar ceremony

,

of its own was gratified by bein g allowed to compete fo r the prize o f

,

the h orse s head The M am ilian tower to which the S ub urans nailed
’
.
,

the horse s hea d when they succeede d i n car rying it off appears to
’

have been a peel —

,

tower or keep o f the old M am ili an family the m ag ,

nates of the v illage The ceremony thus per forme d on the kin g s fiel d s
.
’

and at his house on behal f o f the whole town a n d o f the nei ghbour in g
village presupposes a time when each townsh i p per forme d a similar
ceremony on its own fiel d s In the rural d is tri cts o f Latium the
.

villages may have c ontinued to observe the c us tom each on its own ,

land lon g a fter the Roman hamlets had m erge d their separate harvest
,
’
homes in the common celebration on the kin g s lan d s There is no .

intrinsic impr obab i l ity in the su p posi tion that the sacre d grove of
A ri cia like the Fiel d o f Mars a t Rome may have been the scene of
, ,

a common harvest celebration at wh ich a horse was sacrifice d with,

the sam e ru d e rites on behal f o f the nei ghbourin g villages The hors e .

woul d represent the fructi fying spirit bo th o f the tree and of the corn ,

for the two ideas melt into e ach other as we see in custom s like the ,

Harvest -M ay .

C HA PT E R L

EAT I NG T H E GOD

l . T he S acram
f en t o F irs t-Frui ts —W e
have now s een that the .

corn spi rit is represented sometimes in human some times in animal

-
,

fo rm and th at in bo th cases he is killed in the person of his rep re

.
480 E AT IN G T H E GOD CH .

sen tative and eaten sacramentally T o find exam p les o f actually

killing the human representative o f the corn —
.

spiri t we ha d naturally
to go to savage races ; b ut the harvest suppers o f our E uropean -

peasants have furnishe d unmistakable examples o f the sacramental

eat in g o f animals as represen tatives o f the corn spirit But further -
.
,

as mi gh t have been antic ipa te d the new corn i s itsel f eaten sacra ,

men tally tha t is as the bo d y o f the corn spiri t In W erm land

, ,
-
.
,

Swe d en the farm er s wi fe uses the gra in o f the las t shea f to bake a
,
’

loa f in the shape o f a little gi rl ; this loa f i s divided amon gst the whole
hou sehol d a nd ea ten by them H ere the loa f represents the corn .

spiri t conceive d as a mai d en ; j us t as in Scotlan d the corn spirit is -

sim i larly conceived an d represente d by the l a st shea f made up in the

form o f a woman a nd b earin g the name o f the M a id en A s usual the
corn —
.
,

spi rit i s believe d to res i d e in the las t shea f ; an d to eat a loa f

ma d e from the las t shea f i s there fore to eat the corn spir it itsel f
, ,
-
.

S i milarly at La Pal isse in France a man made o f d ou gh is hun g upon

, ,

the fir tree which i s carried on the last harvest wa ggon The tree
- -
.

and the d ou gh man are taken to the mayor s house and kept there till
-
’

the vintage is over Then the close o f the ha rves t is c eleb r ated by a
.

feas t a t which the mayor breaks the dou gh man i n pieces and gives -

the pieces to the people to eat .

In these examples the corn sp i rit is represente d and eaten in human -

shap e In o ther cases thou gh the new corn is n ot bake d in loaves of

.
,

human shape s till the solemn ceremonies w ith which it is eaten suffice
,

to in d icate that it i s par taken o f sacramentally tha t i s as the bo dy , ,

o f the corn spiri t -

For ex ample the followin g ceremonies use d to b e
.
,

observe d by Li thuanian peasants at ea tin g the new corn Abou t the .

t ime o f the au tumn sowin g when all the corn had been got in and the
,

threshin g ha d be gun each farmer hel d a fes tival called Sab ari os that
, ,

is,
the m ix in g or throwin g to gether He took nine good han d fuls .

o f each kin d o f c 1 op wheat barley oa ts flax beans lentils a nd the

'
-
, , , , , ,

rest ; and each han dful he d ivi d e d into three parts The t wenty .

seven portions o f each gra i n were then thrown on a heap a n d all m ixed
up to gether The gra i n use d ha d to be that which was first threshe d
.

an d winnowe d a n d wh ich ha d been set aside an d kept fo r th i s purpose .

A par t of the grain thus mixe d was employed to bake li ttle loaves ,

on e fo r each o f the househol d ; the res t was mixe d with more barley
or oats an d made i n to beer The first beer brewe d from this mixture.

was for the drinkin g o f the farmer his wi fe and children ; the second , ,

brew was for the servants The beer bein g ready the farmer chose .
,

an evenin g when no stran ger was expec te d Then he knelt down .

before the barrel of beer drew a j u gful o f the liquor an d poured it on

,

the bun g o f the barrel sayin g O fru it ful earth make rye an d barley
, , ,

and all kinds o f corn to flour i sh N ext he took the j ug to the parlour .

where his wi fe a nd chil d ren awaite d him ; On the floor o f the parlour
lay bound a black or white or speckled (not a red ) cock and a hen of
the same colour and o f the same brood which must have been hatched ,

within the year Then the farmer knelt down with the j ug in his
.
,
48 2 E ATI N G T H E GOD CH .

thou divine cereal do thou nourish the people I now p artake o f thee
, . .

I worship thee an d give thee thanks A fter havin g thus prayed they .
’
, ,

the worshippers take a cake and eat it and f rom thi s t ime the people
, ,

may all partake o f the new m illet And so with many gestures of .

homage and words o f prayer thi s kin d o f foo d is dedicated to the well
bein g o f the Ainu N o doubt the cereal o fferin g is re garded as a tribute
.

pai d to a god but that god is no other than the seed i tsel f ; and it is
,

only a god in so far as it is beneficial to the human body .

At the close o f the rice harvest in the E ast Indian island o f Buru ,

each clan mee ts at a common sacramental m eal to which every member ,

o f the clan i s b oun d to contribute a little o f the new rice This meal .

”
is called eatin g the soul o f the rice a name w hich clearly indicates
“

the sacramental character o f the repast S ome o f the rice i s also set .

apart a n d o ffere d to the spir its Amon gst the A lfoors o f Minahassa in
.
,

Celebes the priest sows the first rice seed and plucks the first ripe rice
,
-

in each field This rice he roasts a nd grinds into meal a n d gives some
.
,

o f it to each o f the househol d Shor tly be fore the rice harvest in Bolang
.
-

M on gondo another d istrict of Celebes an o ff erin g is made of a small

, ,

p ig or a fowl Then the priest plucks a lit tle rice first on his own
.
,

field a n d next on those o f hi s nei ghbours All the rice thus plucked .

by him he dries alon g with his own and then gives it b a ck to the re ,

sp ectiv e owners who have it groun d and boiled When it is boiled

, .

the women take it back with an egg to the priest who o ffers the egg
, , ,

in sacrifice and returns the rice to the women O f this rice every .

member o f the family d own to the youn gest chil d must partake
, , .

A fter thi s ceremony every one is free to get in his rice .

Amon gst the Burghers or Ba d a gas a tribe o f the N eilgherry Hills ,

in S ou thern India the first hand ful o f see d i s sown and the first sheaf
,

reaped by a Cu rum b a r a m an o f a d i ff erent tribe the m embers of

, ,

which the Bu rghers re gard as sorcerers The grain contained in the .

first sheaf is that day re d uced to m eal made into cakes and being , , ,

o ff ere d as a firs t fruit oblation i s together with the remainder of

-
, ,

the sacr ificed animal partaken o f by the Burgher and the whole of
,

his family as the meat o f a federal o ff ering a n d sacrifice

,
Among .

the H in d oos o f S outhern In d ia the eatin g o f the new rice is the occasion
o f a family fes tival called Pon gol The new r i ce i s boiled in a new .

p ot on a fire which is kindled at noon on the day when according to ,

Hin d oo astrolo gers the sun enters the tropic of Capricorn The
, .

boilin g o f the pot is watched with great anxiety by the whole family ,

for as the milk boils so will the comin g year b e , I f the milk boils .

rapidly the year will be prosperous ; b ut it will be the reverse i f the

,

milk boil s slowly Some o f the new boiled rice is offere d to the image
.
“

o f Ganesa ; then every one partakes o f it In some par ts o f Northern .

I n d ia the festival of the new cro p i s known as N at/am that is new , ,

grain . When the crop i s ripe the owner takes the omens goes to , ,

the field plucks five o r six ears o f barley in the sp rin g c ro p and one
,

o f the mille ts in the autumn ha rvest This i s brou ght home parched .
,
,

a n d mixe d with coarse su gar butte r and curds Some o f it is thrown

, ,
.
B T HE SACRAM E NT OF FIRST FRU IT S -
483 ,

on the fi re in the name o f the vill age gods a nd dece ased ancestors ;
the rest is eaten by the family .

The cere m ony of eating the new yams at Onitsha on the N i ge r , ,

is thus describe d : E ach headman brought out six yarn s and cut ,

down young branches o f palm leaves and place d them be fore his gate -
,

roasted three o f the ya rn s and got some kola nuts and fish A fter ,
-
.

the yarn is ro asted the Li b ia or country doctor takes the yarn

, , , ,

scrapes it into a sort o f meal an d d ivi d es it into halves ; he then ,

takes one piece and places it on the lips of the person who is goin g
,

to eat the new yam The eater then blows up the steam from the
.

hot yarn and a fterwards pokes the whole into his mouth and says
, , ,
‘
I thank God for bein g permi tted to ea t the new yam he then begins
”
to chew it heartily with fish likewise , .

Among the Nan d i of British E ast A frica when the eleusine grain ,

is ripening in autumn every woman who owns a corn field goes out
,
-

into it with her daughters and they all pluck some o f the ripe grain , .

Each o f the women then fixes one grain in her necklace and che w s
another which she rubs on her forehea d throat a n d breast No
, , , .

m ark o f j oy escapes them ; sorrow fully they cut a baske tful of the
new corn and carrying it home place it in the loft to dry A s the
, .

ceiling is of wickerwork a goo d d eal o f the gra in drops through the

,

crevices an d falls in to the fire where it explo d es with a crackling ,

noise The peo p le make no attempt to prevent this waste ; for they
.

regard the cracklin g of the grain in the fire as a si gn that the souls
of the d ea d are partakin
g o f it A few d ays later porr idge is ma d e .

from the new grain an d served up with m i lk at the even i ng meal .

All the members o f the family take some o f the porri d ge an d da b it

on the walls an d roo fs of the huts ; also they put a l ittle in thei r
m ouths and spit it out tow ards the eas t an d on the outside o f the
huts Then hol d ing up some o f the grain i n his hand the head o f
.
, ,

the family prays to God for health a n d strength and l ikewise for ,

m ilk and everybo d y present repeats the wor d s o f the prayer a fter
,

him .

Amongst the Ca ff res o f Natal and Zululand no one may eat o f ,

the new frui ts till after a festival which marks the be ginnin g o f the
Caffre year and falls at the en d o f December or the be ginnin g o f
’
January All the pe ople assemble at the king s kraal where they
. ,

feast and dance Be fore they separate the de d i cation o f the people
.

takes place Various fruits o f the ear th a s corn meal ies a nd

.
, , ,

pumpkins mixed with the flesh o f a sacrificed animal an d w ith

,
”
m e d icine are b oiled in great pots and a li ttle of thi s food is placed
, ,

in each man s mouth by the kin g himsel f A fter thus partaking o f

’
.

the sanctified fruits a man is himsel f sanctifie d for the whole year
, ,

and may imme d iately get in his crops It is believe d that i f any .

m an were to partake o f the new fruits be fore the festival he would ,

die ; i f he were detected he would be put to death or at leas t all, ,

his cattle would be taken from him The holiness o f the new fruits .

18 well m arked by the rule that they must be coo k ed in a special pot
484 E AT IN G T H E GOD CH
.

which i s used only for th i s purpose a n d on a new fire kindled by a ,

magic ian through the friction o f two s ticks wh ich are called husband
a n d wi fe .

Amon g the Bechuanas it i s a rule that be fore they partake of the

new crop s they must pur i fy themselves The purification takes .

place at the commencement o f the new year on a d ay in January

wh ich i s fixe d by the chie f It begins i n the great kraal o f the tribe
.
,

wh e re all the a d ult males assemble E ach o f them takes in his hand
.

leaves o f a gour d calle d b y the na tiv es ler ots e (d escr ibe d as something
be tween a pumpk i n a n d a ve getable marrow ) ; an d havin g crushed
the leaves he anoin ts with the expresse d j uice hi s b ig toes and his
navel ; many people in d eed apply the j uice to all the j oi nts o f their
b o d y b ut the be tter in forme d say that this is a vul gar d epart ure
,
-

from anc i e nt custom A fter this ceremony in the grea t kraal every
.

man goes home to his own kraal assembles all the members of his,

family men wom en and chil d r en and smears them all with the
, , , ,

j uice o f the l er ots e leaves Som e o f the leaves are also pounde d
.
,

mixe d wi th milk in a large woo d en d ish an d given to the dogs to ,

lap up Then the porri dge pla te o f each member o f the family is
.

rubbe d with the ler otse leaves When this purification has been
.

complete d b ut not be fore the people are free to ea t of the new crops
, ,
.

The Bororo Indians o f B raz il think that it would be cer tain death
to eat the new m ai z e be fore it has been blesse d by the me d icine man -
.

The ceremony o f bless i ng it is as follows The hal f ripe husk is washed .

-

and place d be fore the medicine man who by dancin g and sin ging for
-
,

several hours an d by incessant smoking works himsel f up into a

, ,

s tate o f ecs tasy whereupon he bites i nto the husk trembling in every
, ,

l imb a n d utterin g shr i eks from t i me to time A similar ceremony .

is per formed whenever a lar ge animal or a lar ge fish is kille d The .

Bororo are firmly persuaded that w ere any man to touch unconsecrated
mai z e or mea t b e fore the ceremony had been complete d he and his
, ,

whole tribe woul d pe rish .

Amon gst the Creek In d ians o f N orth A m erica the b us h or festival ,

o f fi rs t fruits was the chie f ceremony o f the year

-
It was held in .

July or August when the corn was ripe a n d marked the end of the
, ,

old year an d the be ginnin g o f the new one Be fore it took place . ,

none o f the In d ians would eat or even handle any part o f the new
harvest Sometimes each to w n had its own busk ; sometimes several
.

towns uni te d to hol d one in common Be fore cel ebratin g the busk . ,

the people provi d e d themselves wi th n ew clothes and new househol d

utensils a n d furni ture ; they collec te d their old clo thes and rubbish ,

together wi th all the rema inin g grain a n d o ther old provisions cast ,

them to gether in one common heap a nd consume d them with fire ,

.

As a preparation for the cerem ony all the fires in the village were ,

ex tin gu i she d and the ashes swept clean away In particular the
,
. ,

h earth or al ta r o f the temple was dug up and the ashes carried out .

Then the chie f pries t put some roots o f the button — snake plant with ,

some green toba cco leaves and a lit tle o f the new f ruits at the bottom ,
486 EAT IN G T HE GOD CB .

lest the divine fire should spoil both them and the peo p le Som e .

o f the new fi re was then set d own outsi d e the holy square ; the women
carried it home j oy fully an d laid it on their unpolluted hearths
, .

When several towns had united to celebr ate the festival the new fire ,

mi ght thus be carried for several miles The new fruits were then .

dressed on the n ew fires and eaten wi th bear s oil which was deemed ’
,

indispensable . At one point o f the festival the men rubbed the

new corn between their hands then on their faces and breasts During , .

the festival whi ch follow ed the warriors dress ed in their wil d martial
, ,

array thei r heads covere d with white down an d carrying white

,

feathers in thei r hands danced round the sacred arb o ur under which
, ,

burned the new fire The ceremonies lasted ei ght days during which
.
,

the strictest continence was practised Towa rds the conclusion of .

the festival the warriors fou gh t a mock battle ; then the m en and
women to gether in three circles danced round the sacred fire
, , .

Lastly all the people smeared themselves w ith white clay a nd bathed
,

in ru nning water They came out o f the water beli eving that no
.

evil could now befall them for what they had done amiss in the past .

S o they departed i n j oy and peace .

To this day also the remnant o f the Seminole Indians of Florida

, , ,

a people o f the same stock as the Creeks h old an annual purification ,

and festival called the Green Corn Dance at which the new corn is ,

eaten On the evening o f the first day of the festival they qua ff a
.

”
nauseou s Black Dr ink as it i s calle d which acts both as an emetic
, ,

and a pur gative ; they believe that he who does not drink of this
liquor cannot sa fely eat the new green corn and besides that he will ,

b e sic k at some time in the year While the liquor is bein g d runk .
,

the dancin g beg ins and the m edicine -men j oin in it N ext day they
, .

eat of the green corn ; the followin g day they fast probably from ,

fear of p ollutin g the sacred f ood in thei r stomachs by contact with

common food ; but the third day they hold a great f east .

E ven tribes which do not till the gr ou n d sometime s observe

analo gous ceremonies when they gather the first wild fruits or dig the
first roots o f the season Thus among the Salish and T inneh Indians
.

of N orth West America before the youn g people eat t he first berries
-
,

or roots o f the season they always addressed the f ruit or plant and
, ,

begged for its favou r and ai d In some tribes re gular First fruit .
-

ceremonies were annually held at the time o f pi cking the wild fruit or
g atherin g the roots and also amon,g the salmon —eating tribes when the
’
run o f the sockeye salmon began These ceremonies were not so .

much than k s givings a s performances to ensure a p lenti ful crop or

,

supply o f the particul ar obj ect desired for i f they were not p roperly ,

and reverently carried out there was dan ge r of givin g o ffe nce to the
‘ ”
s pirits o f the obj ects and bein g deprived o f them
, For ex ample . ,

these Indians are fond of the youn g shoots or suckers o f the wil d
raspberry and they observe a solemn ceremony at e ating the fir st of
,

them in season The shoots are cooked in a new p ot : the people

.

a sse m ble a nd st and in a great circle with cl osed eyes while the pre ,
 T HE SACRAM E NT O F FI RST -FRUITS 48 7

siding chief or medicine man invokes the spirit o f the plant beggin g
-
,

that it will be propi tious to the m and grant them a goo d supply o f
suckers After this part o f the ceremony is over the cooked suckers
.

are handed to the presi d in g officer in a newly carved d ish a nd a small ,

portion is given to each person present who reverently and decorously ,

eats it .

The Thompson Indians of British Columbia cook and eat the sun
flower root (B a lsa m orrhiz a sagi tta ta but they used to regard
,

it a s a mysterious bein g and observed a number o f taboos in con

,

nex ion with it ; for ex am ple women who were en gaged in d i ggin g or
,
,

cooking the root must practice continence a nd no man mi ght come ,

near the oven where the women were baking the root When young .

people ate the first berries roo ts or o ther pro d ucts of the s eason they
addresse d a prayer to the S unfl ow er—
, , ,

Root as follows : I in form the e

that I intend to eat thee Mayest thou always help me to ascend so
.
,

that I may always be able to reach the tops of mountains and may I ,

never be clum sy ! I ask this from thee Sunflower Root Thou art ,
-
.

the greatest of all i n mystery To omit thi s p rayer would make the
.

eater lazy and cause him to sleep long in the mornin g .

These customs of the Thompson and other Indian tribes o f North

West America are instructive because they clearly in dicate the motive
, ,

or at least one of the motives which underlies the ceremonies obse rve d
,

at eating the first fruits o f the season That m otive in the case o f .

these Indians is simply a belie f that the plant itsel f i s animated by a

conscious and more or less power ful spi rit who must be propitiated ,

be fore the people can safely p ar take o f the fruits or roots which are
suppose d to be part o f his body Now i f this is true o f w ild f ruits an d
.

roots we may infer with some probabil ity that it is also true of culti
,

vated fruits and rOots such as yams a n d in particular that it hol d s

, ,

good of the cereals such as wheat barley oats rice and maize
, ,
In , , , .

all cases it seems reasonable to in fer that the scruples which savages
m ani fest at eatin
g the first fruits o f any crop and the ceremonies which
-
,

they observe be fore they overcome thei r scruples are due at least in ,

large measure to a notion tha t the plant or tree is animated by a spirit

or even a deity whose leave must be obtaine d or whose favour must
, ,

be sought before it is possible to partake with sa fety o f the new crop

, .

This in dee d is plainly affirmed o f the Aino : they call the m illet the “

”
divine cereal the cereal deity and they pray to an d worship him
,
“
,

be fore they will eat of the cakes made fro m the new millet And even .

where the indwelling div inity o f the first fruits is not expressly affi rmed ,

it appears to be implied both by the solemn preparations ma d e for

eating them and by the d anger supposed t o be incurre d by persons
who venture to partake of them wi thout observin g the prescribe d
ritual In all such cases accordin gly we may not improperly describe
.
, ,

the eating of the new fruits a s a sacrament or communion with a deity ,

or at all events w ith a p owerful spirit .

Among the usages which point to this conclusion are the custom o f
em ploying eithe r new or specially reserved vessels to hold the new
48 8 E AT IN G T H E GOD CH .

frui ts and the practice o f puri fyin g the persons of the communicants
,

be fore it is law ful to en gage in the solemn act o f communion with the
divinity O f all the modes o f purification a d opted on these occasions
.

none perhaps brin gs out the sacram ental virtue o f the rite so clearly
as the Creek an d S eminole practice o f takin g a pur ga tive be fore
swallowin g the new corn The intention is thereby to prevent the
.

sacred foo d from bein g pollute d by contact with common food in the
s tomach of the eater For the same reason Ca tholics pa rtake of the
.

E ucharist fa stin g ; a n d amon g the pastoral M asai of E astern A frica

the youn g warriors who live on meat and milk exclusively are obliged
, ,

to eat no thin g but milk for so many days an d then n othing but meat
fo r so many more a n d be fore they pass from the one food to the other
,

they must make sure that none o f the old food remains in their
stomachs ; thi s they do by swallowin g a very powerful pu rgative and
emetic .

In some of the f estivals which w e have examined the sacrament

o f first—
,

fruits is combined with a sacrifice or pres entation o f them to

go d s or spirits an d in course o f time the sacrifice o f first fruits ten ds
-
,

to throw the sacrament into the sha d e i f not to supersede it The , .

m ere fact o f o ff erin g the first fruits to the go d s or spirits comes now to
-

be thou ght a su ffici ent preparation for ea tin g the new corn ; the hi gher
powers havin g received their sha re man is free to enj oy the rest , .

Th i s mode o f vi ewin g the new fru its implies that they are regarded
no lon ger as themselves instinct wi th divine li fe but merely as a gi ft ,

bes towed by the gods upon man who is bound to express his gra titude,

and homage to his divine benefactors by returning to them a portion

of thei r boun ty
2 E a ting the G od a m ong the A z tecs —The custom o f eating
.

bread sacramentally as the bo d y o f a god was practised by the Aztecs

be fore the d iscovery and conquest o f M exi co by the Spaniar d s Twice .

a year in May and December an image o f the great M exican god Huit
, ,

z ilop ochtli or Vitz ili p u z tli was m ade of dou gh then broken in pieces , ,

and solemnly eaten by his worshippers The May ceremony is thus .

“
described by the historian Acosta : The Mexicans in the month of
May ma d e thei r principal feast to their god Vitz ilip u z tli and two days ,

be fore this feast the vi r gins whereo f I have spoken (the which were
,

shut up and seclu d ed in the same temple an d were as it were reli gious
women ) d i d m in gle a quantity o f the seed o f beets with roasted maize ,

and then they d id mould it with honey makin g an idol o f that paste ,

in bigness like to that o f wood put tin g instead o f eyes grains o f green
,

glass o f blue or white ; an d for tee th grains of maize set forth wi th all
,

the orn ament and furniture tha t I have said This bein g finishe d .
,

all the noblem en came and brought it an exquisite an d rich garment ,

like unto th at of the i d ol wherewith they di d attire it B eing thus

,
.

clad an d deckt they d id set it in an azure d chair and in a litter to carry

,

it on thei r shoulders The mornin g o f th is feast bein g com e an hour

.
,

before day all the maidens came for th attired in white wi th new ,

orn am ents the which that day were calle d the Si sters of their god
,
490 EAT IN G T H E GOD CH .

ornaments it had and ma de many pi eces as well o f the idol itsel f as

, ,

o f the t runcheons which they consec rate d and then they gave them ,

to the people in manner of a communion beginnin g with the greater , ,

a nd continuin g unto the rest both men wom en and little children , , , ,

who received it with such tears fear and reverence as it was an admi t , ,

able thin g say in g tha t they d id eat the flesh and bones of God where
, ,

with they were grieve d Such as ha d any sick folks demanded thereof
.

for them and carrie d it with great reverence and veneration

, .

From this interes ting passa ge we learn that the anc ient M exicans ,

even before the arrival o f Christian missionaries were fully acquainted ,

w ith the d oc trine o f transubs tan tiation and acted upon it in the
solemn rites o f their reli gion They believed that by consecrating .

bread their pries ts coul d tu rn it into the very bo d y of their god so ,

t hat all who thereupon partook o f the consecrated bread entered into
a mysti c communion with the deity by receivin g a portion of his
divine substance into themselves The doctrine of t ransubstantiation .
,

or the ma gical convers ion o f bread in to flesh was also familiar to the ,

Aryans o f ancient India lon g be fore the sprea d an d even the rise of
Christianity The B rahmans tau ght that the rice cakes o ff ered in
.
-

sacrifice were substitutes for human beings and that they were actually ,

converted into the real bodi es o f men by the manipulation of the

priest We read that when it (the rice cake ) still consi sts o f rice
.
-

meal it is the hai r When he pours water on it it becomes skin

, .
,
.

When he mixes it it becomes flesh : fo r then it becomes consistent ;

,

and consistent also is the flesh When it i s baked it becomes bone : .

,

for then it becomes som ewhat hard ; and hard is the bone And .

when he is about to take it off (the fire ) and sp rinkles it with butter ,

he chan ges it into marrow This is the completeness whi ch they call
.

the five fold animal sacri fice .

Now too we can per fe ctly understand why on the day of their
, ,

solemn communion wi th the d eity the M exicans refused to eat any

o ther food than the consecrate d b rea d which they revered as the very
flesh and bones o f thei r God and why up till noon they might drink ,

nothing at all not even water They f eared no doubt to defile the
, .

portion o f God in thei r stomachs by contact with common things .

A simila r pious fear led the Creek and S eminole Indians as we saw , ,

to adopt the more thorou gh goin g e x pedient o f rinsi ng out their bodies
by a strong purgative be fore they dared to partake o f the sacrament
of first fruits-
.

At the festival o f the winter solstice in December the Aztecs killed

their god Huitzilopochtli in e ffi gy first and ate him aft erwards As a .

prepa ratio n for this solemn ceremony an ima ge o f the deity in the
likenes s of a m an was fashioned out of seeds o f va rious sorts which ,

were k ne a ded into a dou gh w ith the blood o f children The bones of .

the god we re rep resented by pieces o f acacia wood This im age was .

p l a ced on the chief alt ar o f the temple and on the day o f the fest i v al
,

the ki ng off e red i ncense to it Ea rly nex t day it was t aken down .

and set on its feet in a great hall The n a p riest who b ore the nam e .
,
 MANY M A N II AT A RICIA 49 1

and acted the pa rt of the god Quetzalcoatl took a flint-tip p ed da rt and ,

hurled it into the breast of the dough image piercin g it through and -
,

through This was called killin g the god Huitzilopochtli s o that his
.

”
body might be eaten One o f the priests cut out the heart o f the
.

im age and gave it to the k ing to eat The rest o f the image was '
.

divided into minute pieces o f which every man great and small do wn , ,

to the male children in the cradle receive one to eat B ut no woman , .

m ight taste a morsel The ceremony was called teoqual o that i s

.
, ,
”
god is eaten
“
.

At another festival the M exicans made little images like m en ,

which stood for the clou d capped m ountains T hese ima ges we re -
.

m oulded of a paste of var i ous see d s a nd were dressed in paper orna

m ents Some p eople fash ioned five others ten others as many as
. , ,

fifteen of them Having been made they were placed in the oratory
.
,

of each house and worshippe d Four times in the cours e of the ni ght .

offerings of food were brought to them in tiny vessels ; and people

sang and played the flute be fore them throu gh all the hours o f dark
ness At break of day the priests s tabbed the images with a weaver s
.
’

instrument cut off their heads an d tore out their hea rts w hich they
, , ,

presented to the master o f the hou se on a green s aucer The bodies .

of the images were then ea ten by all the family especially by the ,
“
servants in order that by ea tin g them they mi ght be preserved from
,

certain distempers to which those persons who were negli gent of

,

worship to those deities conceive d themselves to be subj ect

3 M an M anii a t A ri ci a —W e are now able to suggest an ex p la
.

y . ~

nation of the proverb There are many M an ii at A ricia “

Certai n .

loaves made in the shape of men were called by the Romans m a niae ,

and it a ppe ars that this kind o f loa f was especially made at A ri ci a .

Now Mania the name o f one of these loaves was also the name o f
, , ,

the Mother or Grandmother o f Ghosts to whom woollen efli gies o f ,

m en and women were de d icated at the festival o f the Com italia

p .

These efii gies were hun g at the doors o f all the houses in Rome ;
one effigy was hun g up for eve ry free person in the house and one ,

effi gy of a diff erent kind for eve ry slave

, The reason was that , .

on this day the ghosts o f the dead wer e believed to be goin g about ,

and it was hoped that either out of goo d nature or through s imple
,

inadvertence they would carry off the efli gi es at the doo r instead of
,

the livi ng people in the house According to tradition these woollen .

,

figures were substitutes for a former cu stom o f sacrificin g human

beings Up o n data so fragmentary a n d u ncertain it i s impossibl e
.
,

to build with confidence ; b ut i t seems wor th su ggesting that the

loaves in human form which appear to have been baked at A ricia
, ,

were sacramental bread and that in the old days when the divine , ,

King of the Wood was annually slain loaves were made in his ima ge , ,

like the paste fi gures of the gods in Mexi co and were eaten sacra ,

m entally by his worshippers The Mexican sacraments in honour of .

Huitzilopochtli were also accompanied by the sacrifice of human

Vi ctim s T he traditi on that the founder of the sac red grove at A ricia
.
4 92 E ATIN G T H E GOD CH .

was a man named Manius from whom many Man n were descended , ,

would thus be an etymolo gical myth inven ted to explain the nam e
m a ni a e as applied to these sacramen tal loaves A d im recollection of .

the ori ginal connexion o f the loaves wi th human sacrifices may perhaps
be traced in the story tha t the effigies d e d ica te d to M ani a at the Corn
p italia were substi tu tes fo r human vict ims The s to ry itsel f however .
, ,

is probably devoid o f foun d a tion since the practice o f pu tting up ,

d ummies to d ivert the a tten tion o f ghosts or d emons from livin

g
people i s not uncommon .

For example the Tibetans stan d in fear o f i nnumerable earth de

,
-

mons all o f whom a re un d er the authority o f O ld Mo ther Khon m a This

,
-
.

god d ess who may be compare d to the Roman M ania the Mother or
, ,

Grand m other o f Ghosts is dressed in golden yellow robes hol d s a gol d

,
-
,

en noose in her hand a n d ri d es on a ram I n or d er to bar the dwell

, .

i ng house a ga i ns t the foul fien d s of whom Old Mother Khon ma is

-
,
-

mi s tress an elaborate structure somewhat resemblin g a chan d elier is

,

fixe d above the door on the outsi d e o f the house It con ta ins a ram s .
’
-

skull a varie ty o f precious obj ects such as gol d lea f silver and tur
,
-
, ,

q u ois e also some d ry food such as rice whea t and pulse a nd finally
, , , , ,

images or pictures o f a man a woman a n d a house The obj ect of

, , .

these fi gures o f a man wi fe an d house is to deceive the demons shoul d

, ,

they s till come in sp ite o f this o fferin g and to mislea d them into the b e ,

lie f that the fore going pic tures are the inmates o f the house so that ,

they may w reak their wrath on these bits o f wood a n d to save the real
”
human occupants When all is ready a priest prays to Old Mother
.
,

Kh on ma that she would be please d to accept thes e d ainty o ffer ings and
-

to close the open doors o f th e earth in or d er that the demons may not ,

come for th to in fest and inj ure the household .

A gain effigies are o ften employe d as a m eans of preventin g or

,

cu ring sickness ; the d emons o f disease ei ther mistake the effigies for
living people or are persuaded or compelled to en ter them leaving the ,

real men and women well a nd whole Thus the A l foors o f M inahassa .
,

in Celebes will somet imes transport a sick man to another house

, ,

while they leave on hi s bed a d ummy ma d e up of a pillow a n d clothes .

This dummy the d emon is supposed to mistake for the sick man who ,

consequently recovers C ure or preven tion o f this sort seems to find

.

especial favour with the natives o f Borneo Thus when an epi d emic is .
,

ragin g amon g them the Dyaks o f the K atoengou w River set up woo den
,

ima ges at their doors in the hope that the demons o f the pla gue may
be d elu d ed into carryin g off the effigies instead o f the people Among .

the Oloh N ga d j u o f Borneo when a sick man is supposed to be su ffer

,

i ng from the as saults of a ghost puppets o f dou gh or ri ce meal are ,

-

made and thrown un d er the house as substitutes for the patient who ,

thus rids himsel f of the ghost In certain o f the western d istricts of

.

Borneo i f a man is taken su dd enly and violently sick the physician who , ,

in th i s pa rt o f the w orld is generally an old woman fashions a wooden ,

ima ge and brings it seven times into cont a ct with the su ff erer s head ’
,

while she says : This image serves to take the p lac e of the sic k man ;
494 HO M O EO PAT H IC MAGI C O F A FLE SH DIE T CH .

by the evi d ence o f Plutarch who spe ak s o f the ceremony , as the

”
greatest o f p urifications .

CHAPT E R LI

H O M OE OPA T H C M A I GI C OF A FL E S H DI ET
THE practice o f killing a god has now been traced amongst peoples
who have reache d the a gricul tural s ta ge o f soci ety We have seen .

that the spirit o f the corn or o f other cul tivate d plants i s commonly
, ,

represente d either in human or i n animal form an d that in some places ,

a custom has prevailed of kill i n g annually ei ther the human or the

animal representat ive o f the god O n e reason for thus killing the .

corn spiri t in the person o f his representative has been given implic itly
-

in an earlier part of this work : we may suppose that the intention

was to guar d him or her (for the corn spi rit is o ften feminine ) from -

the en feeblement o f old age by trans ferrin g the spirit while still hale ,

and hearty to the person o f a you th ful and vi gorous successor Apart
, .

from the desi rability o f renewin g his divine ener gies the d eath of the ,

corn spirit may have been deeme d inevitable under the sickles or the
-

knives of the reapers and his worshippers may accordin gly have felt
,

boun d to acquiesce in the sa d necessity But fur the r we have found .

, ,

a widesprea d custom o f eatin g the god sacramentally either in the ,

shape o f the man or animal who represents the god or in the sh ape of ,

brea d made in human or animal form The reasons for thus partaking .

o f the body o f the god a r e from the primitive stan d point simpl e
, ,

enough The sava ge comm only believes that by eatin g the flesh of an
.

animal or man he acquires n ot only the physical but even the moral ,

and in tellectual quali ties w hich w ere characteristi c o f that animal or

‘

man ; so when the creature i s d eemed divine our simple savage ,

naturally expects to absorb a portion o f its divinity along with its

material substance It may be well to illustrate by instances this
.

common faith in the acquisiti on o f virtues or vices o f many kin ds

throu gh the me d ium o f animal foo d even when there is no pretence ,

that the viands consist of the body or blood o f a god The d octrine .

forms part o f the widely ra m ified system of sympathetic or hom oeo

pathic ma gic .

Thus for example the Creeks Cherokee and kindred tribes of

, , , ,
“
North American In d ians believe that nature is p ossest o f such a
property as to trans fuse into men and animals the qualities either of ,

the food they use or o f thos e obj ects that are presented to their
,

senses ; he who feeds on venison is accordin g to thei r physical system , ,

swi fter and m ore sa gacious than the man who lives on the flesh of the
clumsy bear o r helpless dun ghill fowls the slow foote d tame cattle
, ,
— ,

or the heavy wallowin g swine This is the reason that s everal of their
.

old men recommend and say that formerly their greatest chieftains
, ,

Ob served a co nstant rule in thei r diet and seldom ate o f any animal ,
u HOM O E OPATH IC MAGI C O F A FL E SH DI E T 495

of a gross quality or heavy motion o f body fancyin g it conveyed a

, ,

dullness through the whole system and disabled them from exertin g ,

themselves with proper vi gou r in their martial civil and reli gious , ,

duties ” The Zaparo Indians of E cuador will unless from necessity

. , ,

in most cases not eat any heavy meats such as tapir and peccary but , ,

confine themselves to birds m onkeys d eer fish etc principally , , , , .

,

because they ar gue that the heavier meats make them unwieldy like ,

the animals who supply the flesh impe d in g their agility an d un fitting , ,

them for the chase Similarly some of the B razilian In d ians would
.

eat no beast bird or fish that ran flew or swam slowly lest by
, , , , ,

partakin g o f its flesh they should lose thei r ability and be unable to
escape from their enemies The Caribs abstaine d from the flesh o f .

pigs lest it should cause them to have small eyes like pi gs ; and they
re fused to pa rtake of tor toises from a fear that i f they did s o they
would become heavy and stupid like the animal Amon g the Fans o f .

West A frica men in the prime of li fe never eat to rtoises for a similar
reason ; they ima gine that if they d id so their vi gou r and fieetness o f ,

foot woul d be gone But old men may eat tor toises f reely because
.
,

having al rea d y lost the power o f runnin g they can take no harm from
the flesh of the slow foote d creature -
.

While many savages thus fear to eat the flesh o f slow footed -

animals lest they should themselves become slow — footed the Bushmen ,

of South Africa purposely ate the flesh o f such creatures an d the ,

reason which they gave for d oin g so exhibi ts a curious refinement of

savage philosophy They ima gined that the game which they pursue d
.

would be influenced sympathetically by the foo d in the bo d y o f the

hunter so that i f he had eaten of swi ft footed animals the quar ry
,
-
,

would be swi ft foote d also and would escape him ; whereas i f he ha d

-

eaten of slow footed animals the quarry woul d also be slow foote d
-
,
-
,

and he would be able to overtake and kill it For that reason hunters .

of gemsbok par ticularly avoided eating the flesh of the swi ft and agil
sprin gbok ; indee d they woul d not even touch it with thei r han d s ,

because they believe d the sprin gbok to be a very lively creature whi ch
di d not go to sleep at ni ght and they thou ght that i f they ate spring ,

bok the gemsbok which they hunte d would likewise not be willing to
,

g o to sleep even, a t ni ght H ow then coul d they catch it ?.

, ,

The N am aq uas a bstain from eatin g the flesh o f hares because

they think it would make them faint —
,

hea rte d as a hare But they .

eat the flesh o f the lion or drink the blood o f the leopard or lion to
, ,

get the courage and stren gth o f these beasts T he B ushmen will not .

give their children a j ackal s heart to eat lest it should make them
’

timi d like the j ackal ; but they give them a leo p ar d s heart to eat ’

to make them brave like the leopard When a Wagogo man of .

East A fric a kills a lion he eats the h eart i n order to becom e ,

brave like a lion ; but he thinks that to eat the hea rt o f a hen would
m ake him timid When a serious disease has attacked a Zulu k raal
.
,

the medicine man takes the bone of a very old dog or the bone of
-
,

an old cow bull or other very old animal and a dministers it to the
, ,
-
,
496 H O M O E O PA T H IC
-
MAGIC OF A FLE SH D I E T CH .

healthy as well a s to the sick pe 0 p 1e in order that they may live to ,

be as old as the animal of whose b o n e they have partaken So to .

res tore the age d A eson to youth the wi tch Me d ea in fused into his
veins a d e coction o f the liver o f the lon g—
,

lived deer and the head

o f a crow tha t had ou tlive d nine generations of men .

Amon g the Dyaks o f N or th VVes t Borneo youn g men and warriors

-

may not eat venison b ecause it would make the m as timid as deer ;
,

b ut the women and very old men are free to eat it Ho wever among .
,

the Kayans o f the sam e re gion who share the same view as to the ill
,

e ffect o f eating ven i son men will par take of the dan gerous vian d
,

provi d e d it is cooked in the open air for then the timi d spirit of the ,

animal is suppose d to escape at once into the j un gle and not to enter
in to the e a ter The Aino believe that the hear t of the water ousel
.
-

is excee d in gly wise an d that in speech the bird i s m ost eloquent

, .

Therefore whenever he is kille d he shoul d be at once torn open and,

his hear t wrenched out a n d swallowe d before it has time to grow

col d or su ffer d ama ge of any kind I f a man swall ows it thus he will .
,

become very fluent and wise an d will be able to ar gue down all his
,

a d versaries In Northern In d ia people fancy tha t i f you eat the

.

eyeballs o f an owl you will be able like an owl to see in the d ark .

When the Kansas In d ians were goin g to war a feast use d to be ,

hel d i n the chie f s hut and the principal dish was d o g s flesh because
’

,
’

, ,

sai d the In d ians the animal who is so b rave that he will let himself
,

be cut in pieces in d e fence o f his m a ster must needs inspire valour ,

.

M en o f the B u rn and Aru Islands E ast Indies eat the flesh of do gs , ,

i n or d er to b e bol d an d nimbl e in war Amon gs t the Papuans of the .

Port M oresby and M otumotu distri cts New Guinea youn g la d s eat , ,

stron g p ig wallaby a n d l ar ge fish in or d er to acquire the strength

, , ,

o f the animal or fish S ome of the natives o f No rthern Australia

.

fancy that by eat in g the flesh o f the kan garoo or emu they are enabled
’
to j ump or run fas ter than be fore The Miris of Assam pri z e tiger s .

“
flesh as food for men ; it gi ves them stren gth and courage But it
—
.

”
is not suite d for women ; it would make them too stron g min d ed .

In Corea the bones o f ti gers fetch a hi gher price than those o f leopards '

as a me ans of inspirin g coura ge A Chinaman in Seoul bou ght and .

ate a whole tiger to make himsel f b rave and fi erce In N orse le gend . ,

Ingiald son o f Kin g A un un d was timi d in his you th but after eating
, , ,

the heart o f a wol f he became very bold ; H ia lto gained stren gth and
coura ge by ea tin g the heart o f a bea r and d rinkin g its blood .

In M orocco le thar gi c pa tients are given ants to swallow an d to ,

eat lion s flesh w ill make a cowa rd brave ; b ut people abs tain from
’

eatin g the hear ts of fowls lest thereby they shoul d be ren d ered timid
,
.

When a child is late in learnin g to speak the Turks o f Central Asia ,

will give it the ton gues o f ce rtain birds to eat A North American .

In d ian thou gh t that bran d y must b e a decoction o f hearts and ton gues ,

”
“
because said he
,
af te r drinkin g it I fear nothin g a nd I talk
,
“
,
”
wonderfully In Java there is a tiny earthwor m which now and
.

then utters a shrill sound like that o f the alarum o f a sm all clock .
498 H O MO EO PAT H IC MA GIC OF A F LESH DIET CH
.

as we have already seen the only pa rt o f the body which is consumed

,

for this purpos e Thus warriors o f the T hedd ora a nd N ga rigo tribes
.

o f South E astern A ustralia use d to eat the hands and feet of their
-

slain enemies believin g that in thi s way they acquired some o f the
,

q uali ties and coura ge o f the dead The Kamilaroi o f N ew South .

Wales ate the liver as well as the hea rt of a brave man to get his
coura ge In Tonquin also there is a popular superstiti on that the
.

l iver o f a brave man makes brave any who partake o f it With a .

like intent the Chinese s wallow the bile o f notorious bandits who
have been executed The Dyaks o f Sarawak used t o eat the palm s
.

o f the hands and the fl esh o f the knees o f the slain in or d er to steady
their own han d s and stren gthen their own knees The T olalaki .
,

n otorious head hunters o f Central Celebes

-
d rink the bloo d and eat ,

the b rains o f their victims that they may become brave The Italones .

o f the Phil ippine Islands drink the bloo d o f thei r slain enemies and ,

eat part of the back o f their heads and o f thei r entrails raw to acquire
thei r coura ge For the sam e reason the E fugaos another tribe of
.
,

the Philippines suck the brains o f their foes In like m anner the
,
.

Kai o f German New Guinea eat the brains o f the enemies they kill
in order to acquire their strength Amon g the Kimbunda of Western .

A frica when a new king succeeds to the throne a brave prisoner of

, ,

war is killed in order that the kin g a nd nobles may eat his flesh and ,

so acquire his s tren gth a n d courage The no torious Zulu chief .

M atuana drank the gall of thi rty chiefs whose people he had d estroye d , ,

in the belie f that it woul d make him s tron g It i s a Zulu fancy that .

by eatin g the cen tre of the forehead and the eyebrow o f an enemy
they acquire the power o f looking stea d fastly at a foe Before every .

warlike expedition the people o f Minahassa in Celebes used to take

the locks of hair o f a slain foe and dabble them i n boilin g water to
extract the coura ge ; th is in fusion o f bravery was then drunk by the
warriors In New Zealand the chie f was an a tua [god ] but there
.
“
,

were power ful and powerless gods ; each naturally sought to make
himsel f one o f the former ; the plan there fore adopted was to in
co rpora te the spirits o f others with their own ; thus when a warrior ,

slew a chief he imme d iately gou ged out his eyes and swallowed them
, ,

the a tua tonga or divinity bein g supp osed to reside in that organ ;
, ,

thus he not only kille d the body but also possessed himsel f o f the soul
,

o f his enemy and consequently the more chiefs he slew the greater
,
”
did his d ivinity become .

It is n ow easy to understand why a sava ge should desire to partake ‘

o f the flesh o f an animal o r man whom he regards as divine By .

eatin g the body of the god he shares in the god s attributes and ’

powers And when the god is a corn god the corn is his proper body ;
.
-
,

when he is a vine god the j uice o f the grape i s his bloo d ; and so by
-
,

e atin g the bread and drinki ng the wine the worshipper partakes of
the real body and blood o f his god Thus the drinkin g o f wine in .

the rites o f a vine god like Di onysus is not an act o f revelry it is a

-
,

solemn sacrament Yet a time comes when r ea sona ble men find it
.
LII K I LL IN G T HE SAC RE D BUZZA R D 499

hard to understan d how any one in his senses can suppose that by
eating bread or drinkin g wine he consumes the body or blood o f a
”
deity When we call corn Ceres and wine Bacchus says Cicero
.
“
, ,

we use a common fi gure of speech ; but do you imagine that any

”
body is so insane a s to believe th at the thing he feeds u po n is a god ?

CHA PT E R LI I

K I LLI N G THE DIVI N E A NIM AL

1 Ki lling the S ate red B uz z ard

.
— In
precedin g chapters we saw the
that ma ny communities which have pro gresse d so fa r as to sub sist
m ainly by a griculture have been in the habit o f killin g and eatin g

the ir farinaceous dei ties either in the i r proper form o f corn rice a n d , ,

so forth or in the borrowed shapes o f animals and men It remains

,
.

to show that huntin g and pastoral tribes as well as a gricultural peoples , ,

have been in the habit o f killin g the bein gs whom they worship .

Among the worship ful beings or gods i f in d eed they deserve to be ,

dignified by that name whom hunters and shepherds adore and kill
,

are animals pure and simple not animals re ga rded as embodiments

,

of other superna tural be i n gs Our first example is drawn from the

.

Indians of Cali fornia who livin g in a fer tile country un d er a serene

,

and temperate sky nevertheless rank near the bot tom o f the savage
,

scale The A ca gchem em tribe a d ore d the grea t bu z zar d and once a
year they celebrated a great fes tival called P an es or bir d —
.
,

feast in its ,

honour The day selected for the festival was made known to the
.

public on the evening be fore its celebration and preparations were

.

at once made for the erection o f a special temple (v an q uech ) which

seems to have been a circular or oval enclosure o f s takes W i th the
stuffe d skin of a coyote or pra i rie wol f set up on a hur d le to represen t
-

the go d Chin igchin ich When the temple was ready the bir d was
.
,

carried into it i n solemn

p rocession a n d laid on an altar erected for
the purpose Then all the youn g women whether married or sin gle
.
, ,

began to run to and fro as i f d is tracte d some in one direction and

, ,

some in another while the el d ers o f bo th sexes remaine d silent spec

,

tators o f the scene and the cap tains tricke d out in paint and feathers
, , ,

danced round thei r a d ored bir d These ceremon i es bein g concluded

.
,

they seize d upon the bird and carrie d it to the principal temple al l ,

the assembly unitin g in the grand d isplay and the ca ptains d ancin g ,

and sin gin g a t the head of the procession Arrive d at the temple .
,

they kille d the bird withou t losing a drop o f its blood The skin .

was removed entire and preserve d with the feathers as a relic or for
the purpose o f makin g the festal garment or pa el t The carcase was .

buried in a hole in the temple and the old women ga ther ed round
,

the grave weepin g and moanin g bitterly while they threw various ,

ki nds o f seeds or p ieces o f food on it cryin g out Why did you run . ,
500 K ILLI N G T H E D IVIN E A N I M A L CH.

aw ay ? Would you not have been bet ter with us ? you would have
made pin ole (a kind o f gruel ) as we do and if you had not run away , ,

you woul d not have becom e a P an es a nd so on When this cere ,

.

mony was conclud e d the d ancin g was resumed and kept up for three
,

days and ni ghts They said that the P anes was a woman who had
.

run o ff to the m ountains a n d there been chan ged i nto a bir d by the
go d Chinigchinich They believe d that though they sacrificed the
.

b i r d annually she came to li fe again and returned to her home in

,

zhe moun tains M oreover they though t that as often as the bird
’
.
,

wa s killed it became mul tiplie d ; because every year all the di fferent
,

Capitanes celebrate d the same f east o f P a nes an d were firm in the ,

opini on that the birds sacrificed w ere but one and the same female .

The uni ty i n mul tiplicity thus postulate d by the Cali fornians is

very noti ceable and helps to ex p lain thei r motive for killing the divine
bir d The notion o f the li fe o f a species as distinc t from that of an
.

in d ivi d ual easy a nd obvious as it seems to us appears to be one which

, ,

the Cali fornian savage cannot grasp H e is unable to conceive the .

li fe o f the speci es otherwise than as an indivi dual li fe and there fore ,

as expo sed to the same dan gers and calamities which menace and
finally des troy the li fe o f the in d ivi d ual Apparently he imagines .

that a species left to itsel f will grow old and die like an individual ,

an d that there fore some s tep must be taken to save from extinction

the parti cular species which he regards as divine The only means .

he can think o f to avert the catastrophe i s to kill a member of the

species in whose veins the t id e o f li fe i s still runnin g strong and has
not yet sta gnated amon g the fens o f old age The li f e thus diverted .

from one channel will flow he fancies more f reshly a nd freely in a , ,

new one ; i n other w ords the slain an imal will revive and enter on
,

a new term o f li fe with all the sprin g and ener gy of youth To us .

-

this reasonin g is transparently absurd but so too i s the custom A ,

.

similar con fusion it may be note d be tween the individual li fe and the
, ,

li fe o f the species was made by the Samoans E ach family had for .

its god a par ticular species o f animal ; yet the death of one of these
animals for example an owl was not the death of the god he was
, , ,
”
suppose d to be yet alive an d incarnate in all the owls in existence .

2 K i llin g the S acr ed Rani —The ru d e Cali forn i an rite which we

,

have j us t cons i dere d has a clos e parallel in the reli gi on o f ancient

E gypt The Thebans and all other E gy ptians who worshipped the
.

Theban god Ammon held rams to be sacre d and would not sacrifice ,

them But once a yea r at the fest ival of Ammon they killed a ram
. ,

skinne d it and clothed the ima ge o f the god in the skin Then they
,
.

mourned over the ram a n d buried it in a sacred tomb The custom .

was explained by a story that Zeus had once exhibited himself to

H ercules clad in the fleece and wearin g the head o f a ram Of course .

the ram i n thi s c a se was simply the beast god o f Thebes as the wolf -
,

was the b east god o f Lycopolis an d the goat was the beast -god of
-
,

M endes In other words the ram was Amm on himsel f On the

.
,
.

m onuments it is true Ammon appears in semi hum an

, , for m with -
5 02 K I LL IN G T H E DIVI N E A N IMAL CH ,

tree is an annual ceremony As soon as the ceremony is over all .

,

chil d re n born wi thin the past year are carried out and their hands
made to touch the tail o f the serpe nt s skin The latter custom is ’
.

clearly a way o f plac in g the in fants under the protection o f the tribal
go d . S im ilarly in Sene gambia a py thon is expecte d to visit every child
o f the Py thon clan withi n ei ght d ays a fter bir th ; and the P sylli a Snake , .

clan o f ancien t A frica used to expose their in fan ts to snakes in the ,

belie f that the snakes woul d not harm true born children of the clan
—
-
.

4 K i lli ng the S a cr ed T u r tles

. In the Cali forn i an E gyptian and , ,

Fernan d o Po customs the w orship of the animal seems to have no

relation to agricul ture a n d may there fore be presumed to date from ,

the huntin g o r pastoral s ta ge o f society The same may be said of .

the following custom thou gh the Zuni Indian s o f New M exico who , ,

practise it are now se ttled in walled villa ges o r towns of a peculiar

,

type and practis e a gricul ture and the ar ts o f pot tery and weaving
, .

B u t the Z uni custom i s mark e d by certain fea tures which appear to

place it in a somewh at d i ff erent clas s from the precedin g cases It .

may be well there fore to describe it at full len gth in the words of an
eye wi tness
-
.

“
With midsummer the heat became intense My brother [i e . . .

a d op ted Indian brother ] and I sa t day a f ter day in the cool under
rooms of our house —the latter [si c ] busy wi th his quaint forge and
, ,

crude appliances working Mexican coins over into b a ngles girdles

, , ,

ear rin gs but tons and what not for savage ornamen t Though his
-
, , ,
.

tools were won d er fully rude the w ork he turne d out by dint of com ,

b ine d pa tience a nd in genui ty was remarkably beauti ful One day as I .

s a t watchin g him a processi on o f fi fty men went hastily down the hill
, ,

and off wes twar d over the plain They were solemnly led by a painted .

a nd shell bedecke d priest-

a n d followed by the tor ch bearin g Shu ln ,
- -

wit si or G od o f Fire
-
A fter they had vani shed I asked old brother
.
,

what it all mean t .

They a re going said he to the ci ty o f K a k a and the home

‘

,
’
,
‘
-

’
o f our o thers .

Fou r days a fter towards sunset costumed and m asked in the , ,

‘ ’
beauti ful paraphernalia o f the K a k ok shi or Good Dance they -
’
-
, ,

returne d in file up the same pathway each be a rin g in hi s arms a ,

baske t filled with livin g squirmin g tu rtles which he re gar d e d and , ,

carried as ten d erly as a mother woul d her in fant Some o f the .

w retched reptiles were care fully w rapped in so ft blankets their heads

and forefee t pro tru d in g —and moun ted on the backs o f the plum e
,

, ,

be d ecke d pil grims m ad e lud icrous but solemn caricatures o f littl e

,

chil d ren in the same posi tion While I was at supper upstairs that .

evenin g the governor s brother ln law came in He was welcomed by

,
’
- -
.

the family as if a messen ger from heaven He bore in his tremulous .

fin gers one of the much abused and reb elliou s tu rtles Paint still .

a dhere d to his hands an d bare feet which led m e to in fe r that he had ,

formed one o f the sacred embassy .

’
So y ou went to K a thlu el lon d id you ? I asked - - -
,
.
Ln KILLIN G T H E SA CR E D T U RT LE S 503

replied the w eary man in a voice husky with lon g chant ,

ing as he sank almost exhausted on a roll o f skins which had been

, , ,

p
laced for him an d tenderly laid the turtle on the floor
,
N o sooner did .

the creature find itsel f at liberty than i t made off as fast as its lame
legs would take it O f one accord the family forsook dish spoon and
.
, , ,

drinking cup and grabbin g from a sacre d meal bowl whole hand fuls
-
,
-

of the contents hurrie d ly f ollowed the turtle about the room in to

dark corners aroun d water — j ars behind the grin d in g—
, ,

,
trou ghs a nd out , ,

into the middle of the floor again prayin g and scatterin g meal on its ,

back as they went At last stran ge to say it approached the foot sore
.
, .
-

m an who had brou ght it .

“
Ha l he exclaimed with emotion ; see it comes to me a gain ;
‘ ‘

ah wh at great favours the fathers o f all grant me th i s day and

, ,
’
,

passing his hand gently over the sprawlin g animal he inhale d from his ,

pal m d eeply and lon g at the same time invokin g the favour o f the
,

gods Then he leane d his chin upon his hand an d wi th lar ge wis tful
.
, ,

eyes regar d ed his u gly captive as it sprawle d about blinkin g its meal ,

bedimmed eyes and clawing the smooth floor in memory o f its n ative
,

elemen t A t this j uncture I venture d a question :

.

‘
Why do you n ot let him go or give him som e water ? ,
’

Slowly the man turne d his eyes toward me an od d mixture o f ,

pain ind ignation a n d pi ty on his face while the worship ful family
, , ,

stared at me with holy horror .

“ ‘
Poor youn ge r brother ! he said at last know you not how ’
,
‘

recious i is I die It will n ot di e ; I tell you it cannot die ’

t ? t ?
p , .

’
But it will die i f you don t fee d it an d give it wa ter .
’

I tell you it ca nnot die ; it will only change houses to morrow -

,

and go back to the home o f its brothers Ah well ! How shoul d you .
,

k no w ? he muse d Turning to the blinde d tu rtle again : Ah ! my

’ ‘
.

poor dear lost chil d o r parent my sister or brother to have been ! ,

Who knows which ? Maybe my own great grand father or mo ther -

And wi th thi s he fell to weepin g mos t pa thetically a nd tremulous wi th , ,

sobs which were echoe d by the women and chil d ren he buried his face
'

, ,

in his hands Fille d with sympathy for hi s gri e f however mistaken

.
, ,

I raised the turtle to my lips a n d kissed its cold shell ; then d eposi tin g
it on the floor hastily le ft the grie f— ,
stri cken family to the ir sorrows .

Next day with prayers and ten d er beseechin gs plumes and o ff erin gs
, , , ,

the poor turtle was killed and its flesh and bones were remove d an d ,

deposite d in the little river that it mi ght return once more to eternal ,

li fe amon g its comrades in the d a rk w aters o f the lake of the d ead .

’

The shell care fully scraped and dried was made into a d ance rattle
, ,
-
,

and covered by a piece of buckskin

, it s till han gs from the smoke ,

stained ra fters o f my brother s house Once a Navaj o tried to buy it ’

.

for a la d le ; loaded with indi gnant reproaches he was turne d out o f ,

the house Were any one to venture the su gges tion that the turtle no
.

longer l ived his remark woul d cause a floo d o f tears and he would be
, ,

rem inde d that it had only chan ged houses and gone to live for eve r
”
i n the home o f our lost others .
504 K IL LI N G T H E DIVI N E A N I MAL CH
.

In this custom we find exp res se d in the clearest way a belief in the
transmi gration o f human souls into the bo d ies o f tur tles The theory .

o f transmi gration is hel d by the M oqui Indians who belong to the ,

same race as the Zuni s The M oquis are d ivi d ed in to totem clans
.

the Bear clan Deer clan Wol f clan Hare clan a n d so on ; they beli eve
, , , ,

that the ances tors o f the clans were bears d eer wolves hares and so , , , ,

for th ; a n d that at d eath the members o f each clan become bears ,

d eer a n d so on accordin g to the par ticular clan to which they belon ed

,
g .

The Zuni are also divi d e d into clans the totems o f whi ch a gree closely
,

wi th those o f the M oquis an d one o f thei r totems is the tur tle Thus
, .

thei r beli ef in trans m i grat ion into the turtle is prob ably one of the
re gular articles of their totem fai th What then i s the meaning of
.

killin g a turtle in which the soul o f a kinsman is believe d to be present?

Apparently the obj ect is to keep up a communica tion wi th the other
worl d in which the souls of the d eparte d are believe d to be assembled
in the form o f turtles It is a common belie f that the spiri ts of the
.

d ea d return occasionally to their old homes ; and accor d in gly the

unseen visitors are welcomed and feasted by the living an d then sent ,

upon the i r way In the Zuni ceremony the d ead are fe tche d ho m e in
.

the form of tur tles a n d the killin g o f the turtles i s the way of sending
back the souls to the spiri t—
,

land Thus the general explanation given

.

above o f the custom o f killing a god seems ina p plicable to the Zuni
,

cus tom the true meanin g o f which is somewhat obscure Nor is the
, .

obscurity which han gs over the subj ect enti rely dissipated by a later
an d fuller a ccount w hich we possess o f the ceremony From it we .

learn that the ceremony forms part o f the elaborate ritual which these
Indians observe at the mi d summer solstice for the purpose of ensuring
a n abu ndant supply o f rai n for the c rops E nv oys are despatched to
'

”
b rin g thei r otherselves the tortoises from the sacred lake K othlu
“

, ,

walawa to which the souls o f the d ead are believe d to repair When
, .

the creatures have thus been solemnly brought to Zuni they are placed ,

in a bowl o f water and dances are per formed besi de them by men in
costume who personate gods and go dd esses
, A fter the ceremonial .

the tortoises a re tak en hom e by those who cau ght them and are hung
by thei r necks to the ra fters till morning when they are thrown into ,

pots o f boilin g water The e ggs are consi d ere d a great delicacy The
. .

meat i s sel d om touche d excep t as a medicine which i s curative for ,

cu taneous d iseas es Part o f the m eat i s deposite d in the river wi th

.

k é ha k w a (whi te shell beads ) a n d tur q uoise b ea d s as o fferings to Coun

”
cil of the Gods Thi s account at all events confirms the in fere nce
.

that the tortoi ses are su p posed to be reincarnatio n s o f the human dead ,

for they are called the others elves o f the Zuni ; i ndeed what el se ,

should they be than the s ouls o f the dead in the bodies of tortoises
seein g that they come from the haunted lake ? As the principal object
of the prayers uttered and o f the dances p er formed at these mi d su m mer

cer em o n ies appears to be t o procure rain for the crops it may be that ,

the intention o f bringin g the tortoises to Zuni and dancin g b e fore them
i s to intercede w ith the ancestral s pi rit incarnate in the animals that, ,
506 KI LLI N G T H E DIVI N E AN I MAL C H.

for me I am a child of the god o f the mountains ; I am descended

,
” “
from the divine one who rules i n the mountains meanin g by the ,

go d o f the mountains no other than the bear It i s there fore possible .

that as ou r principal authority the Rev J Batchelor believes the

, ,
. .
, ,

bear m ay have been the totem o f an Aino clan ; but even i f that were
so it would not explain the respect shown for the animal by the whole
Aino people .

But it i s the bear -festival of the Aino which concerns us here .

Towards the end o f winter a bear cub is cau ght and brou ght into the
v i llage I f it is very small it is suckle d by an Aino woman but should
.
, ,

there be no woman able to suckle it the little animal is fed from the ,

han d or the mouth D uri ng the d ay it plays about in the b ut with

.

the children and is treated with great a ffection But when the cub .

grows b ig enou gh to pain p eople by hu ggin g or scratching them he ,

is shut up in a strong wooden cage where he stays generally for two ,

or thre e years fe d on fish and millet porridge till it is time for him
, ,

to b e killed and eaten B ut it is a pe culiarly strikin g fact that the

.
“

youn g bea r is n ot k e p t merely to furnish a good meal ; rather he is

re gar d ed and honou red a s a fetish or even a s a sort of hi gher being , .
"

In Yezo the festival is generally celeb rated in September or October .

Be fore it takes place the Aino apolo gis e to thei r gods alleging that ,

they have treated the bear kindly as lon g as they could now they can ,

feed him no lon ger and are obli ged to kill him ,
A man who gives a .

bear feast invites his relati ons and friends ; in a small village nearly
-

the w hole community takes part in the feast ; indeed guests from ,

d istant villa ges are invited an d generally come allured by the prospect ,

o f gettin g drunk for nothing The form o f invitation runs somewhat .

as follow s : I so and so am about to sacrifice the clear little d ivine

, ,

thin g who res ides among the m ountains My friends and masters .
,

come ye to the feast ; we will then uni te in the great pleasure of sending
”
the god away Com e When all the people are assembled in front
. .

o f the ca ge an orato r chosen for the p urpos e addresses the bear and
,

tells it that they a re about to send it forth to its ance stors He craves .

par d on for what they are about to d o to it hopes it will not be angry , ,

an d com forts it by assurin g the animal that many o f the sacred whittled

s ticks (ina o ) and plenty o f cakes and w ine will be sent with it on the
lon g j ourney One speech of this sort which Mr Batchelor heard ran
. .

as follows : O thou d ivine one thou wast sent into the world for us ,

to hunt O thou precious little divinity w e worshi p thee ; pray hear

.
,

our prayer We have nourished thee and brought thee up with a deal
.

o f pains and trouble all because w e love thee so , Now as thou hast .
,

grown b ig w e are about to sen d thee to thy f ather and m other When
, .

thou comest to them please speak well o f u s and tell them how kind ,

we have been ; please come to us again and we will sacrifice thee .

H avin g been secured with ropes the bear is then let out of the cage ,

an d assailed with a shower o f blunt arrows in o rder to arouse it to fu ry .

When it has spent itsel f in vain stru ggles it i s tied up to a stake gagged , ,

and stra ngled its nec k being p l aced between two p oles whic h are then
, ,
Ln KILLING T HE SA CR ED BEAR 507
violently com p res sed all the people eagerly helping to squeeze the
,

animal to death An arrow i s also d ischar ged into the bea st s heart
.
’

by a good marksman but so a s not to sh ed blood for they think that

, ,

it woul d be very unluc k y i f any o f the blood were to d rip on the

ground However the men sometimes drink the warm blood o f the
.
,

bear that the courage and other virtues it possesses may pass into
“

them and sometimes they besmear themselves and their clothes with
the blood in order t o ensure succes s in huntin g When the animal ha s .

been strangled to death it i s skinne d and its head is cut off and set
,

in the east window o f the house where a piece o f its o wn flesh i s placed ,

under its snout together with a cup of its own meat boiled some millet
, ,

dumplings and dried fish Prayers are then addressed to the d ea d

,
.

animal ; amongst other things it is sometimes invited a fter going ,

away to its father and mother to retur n int o the world in order tha t ,

it may a gain be reared for sacrifice When the b ear is suppose d to .

have finished eatin g its own flesh the man who presides at the feas t ,

takes the cup containin g the boiled mea t salutes it and divi d es the , ,

contents be tween all the company present : every person young and ,
“
old alike must taste a little
, The cup i s called the cup of o ffering .

because it has j ust been o ff ere d to the d ead bear When the res t o f .

the flesh has been cooke d it i s share d out in like manner amon g all the
,

people everybody partaki ng o f a t least a morsel ; not to partake of

,

the feast would be equivalen t to excommunication it woul d be to ,

place the recreant outside the pale o f Aino fellowship Formerly .

every part icle o f the bear except the bones had to be eaten up at the '
, ,

banque t but this rule is now relaxe d The head on being d etached
, .
,

from the skin is set up on a lon g pole beside the sacred wan d s (i n ao )
,

outsi de o f the house where i t remains till nothin g but the bare whi te
,

skull is le ft Skulls so set up are worshipped not only at the time of

.

the festival but very o ften as long as they last The Aino assured
,
.

Mr Batchelor that they really do believe the spirits o f the worship ful
.

animals to reside in the skulls ; that is why they a ddress them as

“ ”
div ine preservers and precious divinities .

The ceremony o f killing the bear was wi tnessed by Dr B S cheub e . .

on the tenth o f August at Kunnui which is a villa ge on Vo lcano Bay ,

in the island o f Yezo or Yesso A s hi s description of the ri te con tains .

some interestin g parti culars not mentioned in the fore going account ,

it may be worth while to summarize it .

On entering the b ut he foun d about thirty Aino p resent men , ,

wo m en and children all dresse d in thei r best The master o f the

, ,
.

house first o ff ered a libation on the fireplace to the god o f the fire ,

and the
T
guests followed his example hen a l ibation was o ff ere d to .

the house od in hi s sac red corner o f the hut

-
M eanwhile the house
g .

wi fe who had nursed the bear sat by hersel f silent and sad burstin g
, , , ,

now and then into tears Her grie f was obviously una ffected and it .
,

deepened as the festival went on Next the master of the house and .
,

some of the guests went out o f the b ut and o ff ered libations be fore the
bear s cage
’
A few dro p s were presented to the bear in a saucer
.
,
508 K ILL I N G T H E DI VI N E A N I MAL CH .

which he at once upset Then the women and girls danc ed round the .

cage thei r faces turned towar d s it their knees slightly bent rising and
, , ,

hopping on their toes As they d a nce d they clappe d thei r hands and .

sang a mono tonous song The housewi fe and a f ew old women who .
,

might have nurs ed many bea rs dance d tear fully stretchin g out their , ,

arms to the bear a n d a d dressin g it i n term s of endearment The

, .

youn g folks were less a ff ecte d ; they lau ghe d as well as san g Dis .

tu rb ed by the noise the bear be gan to rush about his cage and howl
,

lamentably Next libations were o ffere d at the i na o (ina b os ) or sacred

.

wan d s which s tan d outside o f an Aino hut These wands are about a .

couple o f feet hi gh and are whi ttled at the top into spiral shavings
, .

Five new wan d s wi th bamboo leaves attache d to them had been set
u p for the festival This is regularly done when a bear is killed ; the
.

leaves mean that the animal may come to li fe again Then the bear .

was let out o f his cage a rope was thrown round hi s neck and he was , ,

le d abou t in the nei ghbourhood o f the hut While this was being .

done the men hea d ed by a chief s hot at the beast with arrows tipped
, ,

with wooden buttons D r Scheub e ha d to do so al so Then the bear . . .

was taken be fore the sacre d wands a stick was put in his mouth nine , ,

m en knel t on him an d p ressed hi s neck against a beam In five .

m inu tes the animal ha d exp i re d wi thout utterin g a sound Meantime .

the women and gi rls had taken post behind the m en where they ,

d ance d lamentin g and beatin g the m en who were killing the bear
, , .

The bear s carcase was next place d on the m at before the sacred wands ;
’

a n d a swor d a n d qu i ver taken from the wands were hun g round the , ,
’
beast s neck Being a she bear it was also adorne d with a necklace
.
-
,

an d ear r in gs Then food and drink were o ff ere d t o it in the shape

-

o f m ille t—
.
,

bro th millet cakes and a pot o f s a k e The men now sat

,
-
, .

d own on mats be fore the d ea d bear o ff ere d libations to i t an d drank , ,

deep M eanwhile the women and girls had lai d aside all marks of
.

sorrow and d anced merrily none more merrily than the old women
, ,
.

When the mirth was at its hei ght two youn g Aino who ha d let the bear ,

out o f his cage mounted the roo f o f the hut and threw cakes o f millet
,

amon g the company who all scrambled for them without dis tinction ,

o f a ge or sex The bear was next skinned and disembowelle d and

.
,

the trunk severed f rom the head to which the ski n was left han ging ,
.

The bloo d cau ght in cups was e a gerly s wallowed by the men None
, , .

o f the women or chil d ren appeared to drink the blood th ough custom ,

d id not forbi d them to do so The liver was cut in small pieces and .

eaten raw with s alt the women an d children gettin g thei r share The
, , .

flesh and the rest o f the V itals were taken into the house to be kept till
the next d ay but one and then to be divided amon g the persons who ,

had been p resent a t the feast B lood and liver were o ff ered to Dr . .

S cheub e While the bea r was being d isembowelle d the women and
.
,

girls danced the same dance whic h they had d ance d at the be ginning
n ot however roun d the ca ge but in f ront o f the sacre d wands
, ,
At , .

this dance the old wome n who had been me rry a moment before again , ,
’
she d tears f reely A fter the bra i n had been e x tr acted f rom the bear s
.
5 10 KILLIN G T HE D IVIN E A N I MA L CH .

of hi s l ast meal ami d the general emot ion o f the spectators the old ,

w omen weepin g a fresh and the men ut teri ng stifled cries he is s trapped , ,

not wi thou t d i fficulty a nd d a nger a nd being let out o f the cage is ,

led on leash or d ra gged accor d in g to the s tate of his temper thrice

, ,

roun d his ca ge then roun d hi s master s house and lastly roun d the
,
’
,

house o f the orato r Thereupon he i s tied up to a tre w hich is

.
e
,

d ecked wi th sacre d whit tled sticks (i n a o ) o f the usual s ort ; and the
orator a gain a d d resses him in a lon g haran gue which sometimes lasts ,
”
till the d ay i s be ginnin g to break Remember he cries remember ! .
“

, ,
“

I remin d you o f your whole li fe a nd o f the services we have rendere d

you It is now for you to do your d u ty Do not for get what I have
. .

asked o f you You will tell the go d s to give us r iches that our hun ters
. .

may return fro m the forest la d en wi th rare furs and animals good
to eat ; th at our fishers may find troops o f seals on the shore and in
the sea and that thei r ne ts may crack under the weight of the fish
, .

We have no hope but in you The evil S pirits lau gh at us and too .
,

o ften they are un favourable and malignant t o us but they will b ow ,

be fore you We have given you foo d and j oy a n d health ; now we

.

kill you in order that you may in re turn sen d riches to us and to our
”
chi l d ren To this discour se the bea r more a n d more surly and
.
,

agi tate d listens wi thout convi ction ; roun d a n d round the tree he
,

paces and howls l amentably till j ust a s the first beams o f the , ,

ri sin g sun li ght up the scene an archer spee d s an arrow to his heart , .

No sooner has he d one so than the m arksman throws away his bow ,

an d flings himself on the ground and the old m en an d women do the ,

same weepin g and sobbin g Then they o ff er the dead beast a repast
,
.

o f rice a n d w ild po tatoes an d havin g spoken to him in terms of pity

,

a n d thanke d him for what he has done and su ffere d they cut off ,

his he a d a n d paw s and keep the m as sacr ed thin gs A banquet on .

the flesh and blood o f the bea r follo w s Women were formerly .

excluded from it but now they share with the men The bloo d is
, .

drunk warm by all present ; the flesh is boile d custom forbids it to ,

be roasted A n d as the reli cs o f the bea r may not enter the house
.

by the door and Aino houses in Sa ghalien have no win d ows a man
, ,

gets up on the roo f and lets the flesh the head and the skin down , ,

throu gh the smoke hole Rice and wild pota toes are then o ffered
-
.

t o the head and a pipe tobacco and ma tches are consi d erately
, , ,

p laced bes i d e it Custom requires that the guests shoul d eat up the
.

whole ani mal be fore they depart ; the u s e o f sal t an d pepper a t the
m eal is forbidden ; and no morsel o f the flesh may be given to the '

d o gs When the ban quet i s over the head is carrie d away in to the
.
,

d ep th o f the forest and deposi te d on a heap o f bears skulls the

’
,

bleache d a nd moulderin g relics o f similar festivals in the past .

The G ilyak s a T unguz ian people o f E as tern S iberia hold a bear

, ,

f estival o f the same sort once a year in January The bear is the .
“

obj ect o f the most refined solicitu d e o f an enti re villa ge and plays
”
the chie f part in thei r reli gious ceremonies An old she be a r is shot .
-

and her cub is reared but not suckle d in the villa ge When the
, , .
LII KILLIN G T H E SACR E D B E AR 5 11

bear is b ig enough he is taken f rom his cage and d ra gged throu gh the
village B ut firs t they lead him to the bank o f the river for thi s is
. ,

b elieved to ensure abund a nce o f fish to each family H e is then .

taken into every house in the villa ge where fish brandy an d so , , ,

forth are o ffere d to him Som e people pros trate them selves be fore the
.

b eas t
. His entrance into a house i s supposed to bring a blessing ;
and if he snu ffs at the foo d o ffered to him this also i s a blessin g , .

Nevertheless they tease and worry poke and tickle the animal ,

continually so that he is surly an d sna ppish A fter being thus

,
.

taken to every house he is t ied to a p eg an d shot d ea d wi th arrows

,
.

His hea d is then cut o ff d ecked wi th shavin gs an d placed on the , ,

table W here the feas t i s set out H ere they b eg p a rdon of the beast .

and worship him Then his flesh i s roasted and eaten in special
.

vessels of w ood finely carved They do n ot eat the flesh raw no r .

drink the blood as the Aino d o ,

The brai n and entrails are eat en .

last ; an d the skull still d ecke d with shavin gs i s place d on a tree

, ,

near the house Then the people si ng an d both sexes dance in ranks
.
,

as bears .

One o f these bear festivals was wi tnesse d by the Russian traveller

-

L von Schrenck an d his companions at the Gilyak village o f T eb ach

.

in January 18 5 6 From hi s d etaile d repor t o f the ceremony we may

.

gather some par ti culars wh i ch are n ot not i ce d in the br i e fer accounts

which I have j ust summari se d The b ear he tells us plays a great .
, ,

part in the li fe o f all the peoples inhabitin g the re gion o f the Amoor
and Siberia as fa r as K a m tchatk a b ut among none o f them is his ,

i m portance greater than among the Gilyak s The immense size .

which the animal attains in the valley o f the Amoor his ferocity ,

whetted by hunger an d the frequency o f his appearance all combi n e

, ,

to make him the mos t d rea d e d be a st o f prey in the country No .

won der there fore tha t the fancy o f the G ilyak s is busied wi th him
, ,

and surroun d s him bo th in li fe an d in death wi th a sor t o f halo o f

, ,

superst itious fear Thus for example it i s thou ght that i f a Gilyak
.
, ,

falls in combat wi th a bear his soul transm igrates into the bo dy o f ,

the beas t Nevertheless his flesh has an irresis tible attraction for
.

the Gilya k palate especially when the an imal has been kept in
,

capt ivi ty for some time a n d fattened on fish which gives the flesh , ,

in the op in ion of the Gilyak s a peculiar ly d elicious flavour But in

'

,
.

or der to enj oy th is d ainty w ith impun ity they d eem it nee dful to
per form a long series of ceremon ies o f wh ich the in tention is to d elu d e ,

the living bear by a show o f resp ec t and to appeas e the an ger o f the ,

dea d an imal by the homa ge pai d to his departed spirit The marks .

of respect be in as soon as the beas t is captured H e is brou ght home

g .

in triumph and kept in a ca ge where all the villagers take it in turns ,

to fee d him For although he may have been capture d or purchased

.

by one man he belon gs in a manner to the whole village H is flesh

,
.

will furni sh a common feas t a n d hence all must contribute to suppo rt ,

him in his li fe The len gth of time he i s kept in captivity d epends

.

on his age O ld bears are kept only a few months ; cubs are kept
.
5 12 K I LLI N G T H E DIVIN E A N I MAL ca .

till they are full grown A th ick layer o f fat on the captive bear
-
.

gives the s ignal fo r the fes tival wh i ch is always held in winter , ,

generally i n December but so m et i mes in January or February At .

the festival wi tnessed by the Russ i an travellers which lasted a good ,

many d ays three b ears were k ille d and eaten M ore than once the
, .

animals were led abou t in procession and compelled to enter every

hous e in the v illa ge where they were fed as a mark o f honour and to
, ,

show that they were welcom e guests But bef ore the beasts set out .

on this roun d o f visi ts the Gilyak s played at skippin g rope in presence

,
-
,

and perhaps as L von S chr en ck incline d to beli eve in honour of

, .
,

the animals The ni gh t b e fore they were kille d the three bears
.
,

were led by moonli ght a long way on the ice of the frozen river That .

ni ght no one in the village mi ght sleep N ext d ay a fter the animals .
,

ha d been a gain led down the steep bank to the river and con ducted ,

t hrice round the hol e in the ice from which the women o f the village
d rew th ei r wa ter they were taken to an app ointed place not far from
,

the villa ge and shot to d eath wi th arrows

, The place of sacrifice .

o r execu tion was marked as holy by bein g surroun d e d wi th whittled

sti cks from the top s o f which shavings hung in curls Such sticks
, .

are with the Gilya k s as with the Aino the re gular symbols that ac
, ,

company all reli gious ceremonies .

When the house has been arranged a n d decora te d for their reception ,

the skins o f the bears wi th their hea d s attached to them are brought
, ,

into it not however by the d oor but th rou gh a win d ow and then hung
, , , , ,

on a sor t o f sc a ffold opposite the hearth on which the flesh is to be

c oo ked The boiling o f the bears flesh among the Gi lyak s i s done only
.
’

by the oldest men whose hi gh privile ge it i s ; women and chil d ren

, ,

youn g men and boys have no part i n it The task is per formed .

slowly and deliberately with a cer tain solemn ity On the occasion ,
.

described by the Rus sian travellers the ke ttle was first of all surrounded
with a thick wre ath o f shavin gs an d then filled w ith snow for the , ,
’
use of wa ter to cook bear s flesh is forbidden Meanwhile a large .

woo d en trou gh richly a d orne d with arabesques and carvin gs o f all

,

sor ts was hun g imm ediately under the snouts o f the bears ; on one
,

si d e of the trough was carved in relie f a bear on the o ther si d e a toad ,

.

When the carcases wer e being cut up each leg was laid on the ,

ground in fron t o f the bears as i f to ask their leave be fore being , ,

place d in the ke ttle ; an d the bo i led flesh was fished out o f the kettle
wi th an i ron hook an d s et in the trough be fore the bears in order
, ,

that they m i gh t be the fi rs t to taste o f thei r own flesh As fast . ,

too as the fa t was cut in strips it was hun g up in front o f the bears
, ,

and a fterwards lai d in a small wooden trou gh on the ground before

them . Last of all the inner or gans o f the beas ts were cut up and
placed in small vessels A t the same time the women m ade bandages .

out of parti coloure d ra gs an d a fter sunset these bandages were tied

-
,

round the bears snouts j ust below the eyes in order to dry the tears
’

”
that flow e d from them .

’
A s soon as the cerem ony o f wi p in g away poor bruin s tears had
5 14 K I LLI N G T H E DIVI N E A N I MAL CH .

for the consumptio n of the a s sembled people a portion i s placed in a

“
special vessel an d s et be fore the bear s head : this i s called feeding ’

the hea d A fter the bear has b een k ille d do gs are sacrifice d in couples
.
,

o f male an d female Be fore bein g thro ttle d they a re fed a nd invited

.
,

t o go to thei r lord on the hi ghest mounta i n to chan ge thei r skins and , ,

to re turn next year i n the form o f bears The soul o f the dea d bear .

departs to the same lord who is also lord o f the primaeval forest ; it,

goes away la d en wi th the o fferin gs that have been made to it and ,

attende d by the souls of the d o gs a n d also by the souls o f the sacre d

whi ttle d s ticks which fi gure prominen tly at the fes tival
, .

The Gol d i nei ghbours o f the Gilyak s treat the bear in much the
, ,

same way They hunt and k i ll it ; but som e times they capture a live
.

bear and keep him i n a ca ge fee d in g him well an d callin g him their ,

son and brother Then at a g reat festival he is taken from his cage
.
,

paraded about with marked consi d eration and a fterwar d s kille d and ,

eaten .The skull j aw bones an d ears are then suspen d e d on a tree

,
-
, ,

as an anti d ote a gai nst evil spi ri ts ; but the flesh is eaten a nd much
reli shed fo r they believe that all who par take of it acqui re a zest for
,
”
the chase and become coura geous
, .

The O rotchi s another T ungu z ia n people o f the re gion of the

,

Am oor hold bear fes tivals o f the same general character Any one
,
-
.

who catches a bear cub considers it his boun d en duty to rear it in a

ca ge for about three years in or d er at the end o f that time to kill it ,

publicly an d eat the flesh with his friends The feasts bein g pub lic .
,

thou gh or ganised by indivi d uals the people try to have one in each ,

O rotchi villa ge every year in turn When the bear i s taken out of his .

cage he is led abou t by means o f ropes to all the huts accompanied

, ,

by people arme d with lances bows and arrows At each hut the bear , , .

and bear lea d ers are treated to somethin g good to eat and drink This
-
.

goes on for several d ays unt i l all the hu ts n ot only in that village b ut ,

also in the next have been visited The days are given up to sport
,
.

and noisy j ollity Then the bear is ti ed to a tree or woo d en pillar and
.

shot to d eath by the arro ws o f the crowd a fter which its flesh is roaste d ,

and eaten Amon g the O rotchi s o f the T un dj a River women take part
.

i n the bear feas ts while amon g the O rotchi s o f the River Vi the women
-
,
’
will not even touch bear s flesh .

I n the trea tment o f the captive bear by these tribes there are
features which can har d ly be d is tin guishe d from w orship Such for .
,

example are the prayers o ffere d to it both al ive and d ead ; the o fferings
,

o f foo d includin g portions o f its own flesh laid be fore the animal s
, ,
’

skull ; an d the Gi lyak custom o f lead in g the livin g beast to the river
in or d er to ensure a supply o f fish an d o f conduc tin g him from house ,

to house in or d er that every family may receive his blessin g j ust as in ,

E urope a M ay tree or a personal representa tive o f the tree spiri t used

- -

to be taken from door to d oor in sprin g for the sake o f di ffusin g amon g
all and sun d ry the fresh ener gies o f revivin g nature A gain the solemn .
,

participa tion in hi s flesh an d bloo d and particularly the A ino custo m ,

o f sharin g the contents o f the cup which had b een consecrated by bein
g
Ln K ILLI N G T H E SA CR E D B EAR 5 15

set be fore the d ea d beast are stron gly su ggestive o f a sacramen t and
, ,

the suggestion is confirmed by the Gilyak p ractice o f reservin g special

vessels to hol d the fle sh and cook ing it on a fire kin d le d by a sacre d
apparatus which is never employe d except on these reli gious occasi ons .

Indee d our pri ncipal author ity on Aino reli gion the Rev John Batchelor , .
,

frankly d escribes as worship the ceremonious respect which th e Aino

pay to the bear an d he affirms that the animal i s un d ou b te d ly one
,

of their gods Certainly the A i no appear to apply their name for god
.

(kam ui ) freely to the b ear ; but as M r Batchelor h imsel f points out

, .
,

that wor d i s use d wi th many d i fferent sha d es o f mean i n g an d i s applie d

to a great variety o f obj ec ts so that from its applicat i on to the bear
,

We cannot sa fely ar gue that the an imal i s ac tually re gar d e d as a dei ty .

Indee d we are expressly tol d tha t the A ino of Sa ghalien do not consi d er
the bear to be a god but o nly a m essen ger to the gods and the messa ge ,

with which they char ge the animal a t its d eath b ears out the statemen t .

Apparently the Gilya k s also look on the bear in the l ight o f an envoy
despatche d with presents to the Lord o f the Mounta i n on whom the ,

wel fare o f the people d epen d s A t the same time they treat the animal
.

as a being o f a hi gher or d er than man in fact as a minor d e ity whose, ,

presence in the v i lla ge so lon g as he is kept an d fed d i ffuses blessin g s

, , ,

especially by keepin g at bay the swarms of evil spirits who are con
stantly ly i n g i n wai t for people s tealing thei r goo d s an d d es troyin g
,

their bo d ies by sickness an d di sease Moreover b y partakin g o f the

.
,

flesh bloo d or broth o f the bear the Gi lyak s the Aino a n d the Gol d i
, , , , ,

are all o f opinion that they acqu i re some por tion o f the animal s ’

m i h ty powers par ticularly hi s coura ge an d s tren gt h No won d er

g , .
,

there fore that they shoul d trea t so great a bene fac tor with marks o f
,

the hi ghest respect a n d a ffection .

Some light may be thrown on the amb i guous att itu d e of the Aino
to bears by comparin g the similar t reatment wh i ch they accord to o ther
creatur es For example they regar d the eagle owl as a goo d d eity
.
,
-

who by his hoo ti ng warns men o f threatene d ev i l and de fends them

against it ; hence he i s loved truste d and devou tly worshippe d as a
, ,

divine me d iator be tween men an d the Creator The various names .

applied to him are si gnificant b o th o f his d ivinity a n d o f hi s me d iator

ship Whenever an oppor tun ity o ff ers one o f these d ivine b i r d s i s
.
,

capture d a nd kept in a cage where he i s greete d wi th the en d earin g

,
“ ”
ti tles o f Beloved god an d Dear lit tle d ivinity “
Nevertheless the .

time comes when the dear li ttle d ivini ty is thro ttle d an d sent away in
his capaci ty o f me d i ator to take a messa ge to the superior go d s or to
the Creator himsel f The followin g i s the form o f prayer addressed to
.

the eagle owl when it is about to be sacrifice d : B elove d d eity we

-
,

have brought you up because we loved you and now we are about to ,

Sen d you to your fathe r We herewith o ff er you food i na o wine and

.
, , ,

cakes ; take them to your paren t a n d he will be very pleased When

, .

you come to him say I have lived a lon g time amon g the Ainu where
,
‘

an Ainu father a nd an Ainu mother reared me I now come to thee .

.

I have brou ght a variety of good thin gs I saw while li vin g in Ai nu .

5 16 K ILLIN G T H E DIVIN E AN I MAL CH .

land a gr eat d eal of di st ress I ob served that some o f the people were
.

possesse d by d em ons some were wounde d by w ild animals some were

, ,

hurt by lan d sli d es o thers su ff ere d shipwreck an d many were attacked

, ,

by d isease The people are in great s traits My father hear me and

. . , ,

has ten to look upon the Ai nu an d help them I f you do this your .
’

,
”
father will help us .

A gain the A ino k eep ea gles in ca ges worship them as divinities

, , ,

and ask them to de fen d the people from evil Yet they o ff er the bir d .

in sacrifice a n d when they are abou t to d o so they pray to him saying :

, ,
“
O precious d ivinity O thou d ivine b ir d pray li s ten to my wor ds
, , .

Thou d ost not belon g to thi s world for thy home is wi th the Creator ,

a n d hi s gol d en ea g les This bein g so I presen t thee with these i nao

.
,

a nd cakes and other precious th i n gs Do thou ri d e upon the ina o .

and ascend to thy ho m e in the glorious heavens When thou arrivest .

,

assemble the dei ti es of thy own kind to gether a nd thank them for us
fo r havin g g overned the world Do thou com e a gain I beseech thee .
, ,

and rule over us O my precious on e go thou quietly

. Once more ,
.
,

the A i no revere hawks keep the m in ca ges an d o ffer them in sacrifice

, , .

At the time o f k ill i n g one o f them the followin g prayer shoul d be

“
a d dressed to the bir d : O d ivine hawk thou a rt an expert hunter , .

”
please cause thy cleverness to d escend on me If a hawk is well .

treated i n captivi ty a n d praye d to a fter this fashion when he i s about

t o be killed he will surely sen d help to the hunter
, .

Thus the Aino hopes to profi t in various ways by slau ghtering the
crea tures which neve rtheless he trea ts as d ivine H e expects them
, , , .

to carry m essa ges for him to their kin d re d or to the go d s in the upper
worl d ; he hopes to partake o f their vi rtues by swallowin g parts of their
bo d ies or in o ther ways ; a n d apparently he looks forward to their
bod i ly resurrection in thi s world which will enab le him again to catch ,

an d kill them and a gain to reap all the bene fi ts which he has already
,

d erive d fro m the i r slau gh ter For i n the prayers addressed to the .

worship ful bear and the worship ful ea gle be fore they are knocke d on
the head the creatures are invi ted to come a gain whic h seems clearly ,

to point to a faith in thei r future resurrection If any d oubt coul d .

exist on this head it would be d ispelled by the evidence of Mr Batchelor

, .
,
“
who tells us that the Aino are firmly convinced tha t the spirits of
bir d s and animals kille d in huntin g or o ffere d in sacrifice come and live
again upon the earth clothe d with a bo d y ; and they believe further , ,

that they appear here for the special benefi t o f men particularly Ainu ,

hunters . The Aino M r Batchelor tells us con fessedly slays and

, .
,
“

eats the beast that another may come in its place an d be treated in like
m anner and at the time o f sacrifici n g the creatures prayers are “

sai d to them which form a request that they will come a gain and
furnish viands for another feas t as i f it were an honour to them to be ,

t hus kille d and eaten and a pleasure as well In d eed such is the
, .

’ ”
people s idea These last observations as the context shows re fer
.
, ,

especially to the sacrifice o f bears .

Thus amon g the benefits whi ch the A ino antici pate s from the
5 18 P ROP ITIATI O N O F WILD AN I MALS B Y HUNT E R S CH .

with th e facts o f hi s limited experience Thi s I propose to illustrate .

in the follow in g chapter where I shall a ttempt to show that the

solemn ceremoni al o f the bear —
,

festival amon g the A i no s and other

t ribes o f Nor th eastern Asia i s only a par ticularly s trikin g example of
-

the respect which on the pr i nc i ples o f hi s ru d e philosophy the sava e

g
habitually p ay s to the animals which he k ills and eat s .

CHA PT E R LI I I

TH E R
P OP T A T O I I I N OF W ILD A N I M A LS BY HU N T E RS
THE explanation of li fe by the theory of an indwellin g and practically
immor tal soul is one which the sava ge d oes not confine to hum an b eings
b ut exten d s to the anima te crea ti on in g eneral In so doin g he is . .

more liberal and perhap s m ore lo g ical than the civilised man who ,

commonly d enies to animals tha t privile ge o f immortality which he

claim s for him sel f The sava ge i s not so proud ; he commonly believes
.

tha t an imals are en d owe d w ith feel in gs a n d intelli gence like those of
men and that like men they possess souls which survive the d eath
, , ,

o f thei r bo d i es ei ther to wan d er about as disembo d ie d spi rits or to be

born again i n animal form .

Thus to the sava ge who re gards all livin g creatures as practically

,

on a foo tin g o f e q uali ty w ith man the act o f killin g and eatin g an ,

animal must wear a very di fferent aspect from that which the same act
p resents to us who re gar d the intelli g ence o f animals as far in ferior to
,

our own a n d d eny them the possession o f immortal souls Hence on .

the principles o f hi s rude philosophy the primitive hunter who slays

an animal believes him sel f expose d to the ven geance either of its
d isembodi e d spirit or o f all the o ther animals of the same species whom ,

he consi d er s as kni t to ge ther like men by the ties o f kin and the, ,

obli gations o f the blood feud a n d therefore as bound to resent the ,

inj ury done to one o f thei r number Accordin gly the savage makes .

it a rule to spare the li fe o f those animals whic h he has no pressing

m o tive fo r kill i n g at leas t such fierce and dan gerous animals as are
,

likely to exac t a bloody ven geance fo r the slaughter of one o f their

kin d Croco d iles are animals o f this sort They are only found in
. .

hot coun tries where as a rule food is abundant and primitive man
, , ,

has there fore l ittle reason to kill them for the sake o f their tough and
u n pala table flesh H ence it i s a custom wi th som e sava ges to spare
.

croco d iles or ra ther only to kill th em i n obe d ience to the law of bloo d
,

feu d that i s as a retal i ation fo r the slau ghter o f men by crocodiles

, ,
.

For example the Dyaks o f Borneo will not kill a crocodile unless a
,

croco d i le has first k illed a man For why say they should they .
, ,

commi t an act o f a gg ression when he and his kindre d can so easily

,
,

repay them ? B ut shoul d the alli gator take a human li fe revenge ,

becomes a sacred duty o f the livin g relatives who will trap the m an
LIII PROPITIATIO N OF WILD AN I MALS B Y HUNT E R S 5 19

eater in the spirit o f an o fficer o f j us tice pu rsuing a criminal Others . ,

even then han g back reluctant to embroil themselves in a quarrel

, ,

which d oes not concern them The man eatin g alli gator is supposed
.
-

to be pursue d by a ri ghteous Nemesis ; a n d whenever one i s cau ght

they have a pro found convic tion that it must be the guilty one or hi s ,
”
accomplice .

Like the Dyaks the natives o f M a d agascar never k i ll a crocodile

,

except in re tal ia tion for one o f thei r friends who has been d estroyed
by a croco d ile They believe that the wan ton d estruction o f one o f
.

these rept iles will be followe d by the loss o f human li fe in accor d ance ,

wi th the principle o f le r ta li onis The people who live near the lake
. .

I tasy in Ma da gascar make a yearly proclamation to the croco d iles ,

announcing that they will reven ge the d eath o f som e o f their frien d s
by killin g as many croco d iles in return a n d warnin g all well d isposed ,
-

croco diles to keep out o f the way as they have no quarrel wi th them , ,

but only with the i r evil min d ed relations who have taken human li fe
-
.

Various tribes o f Ma d agascar beli eve themselves to be descen d e d from

croco diles a n d accor d ingly they vie w the scaly reptile a s to all inten ts
, ,

and purposes a man an d a brother If one o f the an imals shoul d

, .

so far for get h i msel f as to d evour one o f hi s human kins folk the chie f ,

of the tr ib e or in hi s ab sence an old man famil iar w ith the tr ibal

,

customs repairs at the hea d o f the people to the e dge o f the water
, ,

and summons the family o f the culpri t to del i ver him up to the arm

of j us tice A hook is then b a ite d a n d cast into the r iver or lake

. .

N ext day the gu i lty brother or one o f his family i s dra gged ashore
, , ,

and a fter his crime has been clearly b rou ght home to him by a s tr ic t
interro gation he i s sen tence d to d eath a n d execute d The claim s
,
.

of j us tice be i n g thus satisfie d a n d the maj es ty o f the law fully v i n d i

cated the d eceased croco di le is lamen te d a n d bur i e d l i ke a kinsman ;
,

a mound is ra i sed over hi s rel ics and a stone m arks the place o f hi s
head .

A gain the ti ger i s ano ther o f those dan gerous beasts whom the
,

savage pre fers to leave alone lest b y ki llin g one o f the species he
,

shoul d exc ite the hos tility o f the rest No consi d erati on w i ll in d uce .

a Sumatran to catch or wound a ti ger except in sel f d e fence or i m -

m ediately a fter a ti ger has destroye d a frien d or relat i on When a .

European ha s set traps fo r ti gers the people o f the nei ghbourhood ,

have been known to go by ni gh t to the place a nd explain to the animals

that the traps are not set b y them nor w ith their consent The i n .

habitants o f the hills near Raj am ahall in Ben gal are very averse to , ,

killing a t iger unless one o f the i r kins folk has b een carrie d off by one
,

of the beas ts In that case they go out for the purpose o f huntin g
.

and slayin
g a ti ger ; a n d wh e n they have succeede d they lay thei r
bows an d arrows on the carcase an d invoke Go d d eclaring that they ,

slew the animal in retaliation for the loss o f a kinsman Vengeance .

having been thus taken , they swear not to attack another ti ger except
under similar provoca tion .

The In d ians o f Caroli na woul d not molest snakes when they cam e
5 20 PRO PITIATI O N O F WI LD AN I MAL S '

BY HUNT E R S CH .

upon them but would pass by on the other side o f the path believing
, ,
’
that i f they were to ki ll a serpent the reptile s kindred would destroy ,

some o f thei r brethren fri en d s or rela tions i n return S o the Seminole

, ,
.

Indians spared the rattlesnake because they feared that the soul of ,

the dead rattlesnake woul d inci te its kins folk to take ven geance The .

Cherokee re gard the rattlesnake as the chief o f the snake tribe and
fear and respect him accor d i n gly Few Cherokee will venture to k ill .

a rattlesnake unless they canno t help it and even then they must
, ,
’
atone for the crim e by cravin g par d on o f the snake s ghost eithe r in
thei r own person or th rou gh the me d iation o f a priest accordin g to ,

a set formula If these precauti ons are ne glected the kinsfolk of

.
,

the dead snake will sen d one o f their number as an aven ger o f blood ,

who will t rack down the mu rderer and stin g him to death No ordinary .

Cherokee dares to kill a wol f i f he can possibly help it ; for he believes

,

that the kindred o f the slai n beast woul d surely avenge its death ,

and that the weapon with which the d eed had been done would be
quite useless for the future unless it were cleaned and exorcised by
,

a medicine -man However certain persons who know the proper

.
,

rites o f atonement for such a crime can kill wolves with impunity ,

and they are sometimes hired to d o so by people who have su ffered

from the raids o f the wolves on their cattle or fish-traps In Jebel .

N uba a district o f the E astern Sudan it i s forbidden to touch the

, ,

ne sts or remove the youn g o f a species o f blac k birds resembling our ,

blackbi rds because the people believe that the parent birds would
,

aven ge the wron g by causin g a s tormy wind to blow which would ,

d estroy the harvest .

But the sava ge clearly cannot a ffor d to spare all animals He .

must either eat some o f them or s tarve and when the question thus ,

comes t o be whether he o r the animal must perish he i s forced to ,

overcome hi s superstitious scruples and take the li fe o f the beast .

At th e same time he does all he can to appease his victims and their
kinsfolk E ven in the act of killin g them he testifies hi s respect for
.

them endeavours to excuse or even conceal his share in procuring

,

their death an d promises that their remai ns will be honourably treated

, .

By thus robbin g death o f its terrors he hopes to reconcile his victims ,

to thei r fate and to in d uce thei r fellows to come and be killed also .

For example it was a principle with the K am tchatk ans never to kill
,

a land or sea animal without first makin g excuses to it and beggi ng

that the animal would not take it ill Also they o ff ered it cedar .

nuts and so forth to make it think that it was not a victim but a
,

gu est at a feast They believe d that this hindered other animals of

.

the same species from growin g shy For instance a fter they had .
,

killed a bear and feasted on it s flesh the host would brin g the bear s ,
’

head before the company wrap it i n grass an d present it with a variety

, ,

o f trifl es Then he would lay the blame o f the bear s death on the ’
.

Russians and bid the beast wreak his wrath upon them Also he
, .

would ask the bear to in form the o ther bears how well he had been
tr eated that they too m ight come without fear
, S eals sea -lions, .
,
522 PR OPIT IA T ION OF WILD A N IMA LS B Y HU NT ER S CH .

had succeeded in killin g a bear with impunity they thanked him for ,

not hur tin g them a n d for n ot breakin g the clubs and spears which
had given him his d ea th woun d s ; an d they prayed that he woul d
not v i sit hi s d eath upon them b y sen d in g storm s or i n any other way .

H is flesh then furnishe d a feas t .

The reverence o f hunters fo r the bear whom they regularly kill

an d eat may thus be trace d all alo n g the northern r egion o f the Old
World from Ber i n g s Straits to Lappland It reappears in similar
’
.

forms in N orth America Wi th the Am e rican Indians a bear hunt

.

w a s an importan t event for wh ich they prepare d by lon g fasts and

pur gations Be fore set ti ng out they o ffere d expiatory sacrifices to
.

the souls o f bears slain in previous hunts an d besou ght them to be ,

favourable to the hunt ers When a be a r was kille d the hunter lit
.

’
his pipe a nd puttin g the mouth o f it between the bear s lips blew
, ,
’
in to the bowl filli ng the beast s mouth wi th smoke Then he be gged
,
.

the bear not to be an gry at havin g been kille d a n d not to thwart ,

him a fterward s in the chase The carcase was roaste d whole and
.

eaten ; not a morsel of the flesh mi ght be le ft over The hea d painte d .
,

red and blue was hun g on a post a n d a dd ressed by orators who

, ,

heape d prai se on the d ead beast Wh en men o f the Bear clan in the .

O ttawa tribe killed a bear they made him a feast o f hi s own fl esh and
, ,

ad d ressed him thus : Cherish us no gru dge because we have killed

you You have sense ; you see that ou r chil d ren are hun gry They
. .

love you a n d wish to take you i nto the i r bodies I s it n ot glorious .

”
to be eaten by the ch i l d ren o f a chie f ? Amon gst the Nootka
In d ians o f B r itish Columbia when a bear had been ki lle d it was
, ,

brou gh t in an d seate d be fore the hea d chie f in an upri gh t posture ,

with a chi e f s bonnet wrou gh t in fi gures on its hea d and its fur
’

, , ,

pow d ere d over with white d own A tray of provisions was then set .

b e fore it a n d it was invite d by wor d s and ges tures to eat

,
A fter .

that the animal was skinne d bo i led and eaten , , .

A like respect is testified for othe r dan gerous creatures by the

hu nters who re gularly t rap a nd kill them When Ca ff re hunters are .

“ ’
i n the act o f showerin g spears on an elephant they call out Don t
'
, ,

kill us g reat captain ; d on t strike or trea d upon us mi gh ty chie f

, , .

When he i s dea d they make thei r excuses to him pretendin g that his ,

d eath was a pure acci d en t A s a mark o f respect they bury his trunk
.

with much solemn ceremony ; for they say that the elephant is a “

”
great lord ; his trunk is hi s han d B e fore the A m ax osa Ca ff res attack
.

an elephan t they shout to the animal an d b eg him to par d on them for

the slau ghter they are about to perpetrate pro fessin g great submission ,

to hi s person and explainin g clearly the nee d they have o f hi s tusks to

enable them to procure beads an d supply thei r wants When they have .

killed him they bury i n the groun d alon g with the en d o f his trunk a , ,

few of the a rticles they have obtai ne d fo r the ivory thus hopin g to ,

avert some mi shap that woul d o therwise be fall them Amon gst some .

tribes of E astern A frica when a lion i s killed the carcase i s brought

, ,

be fore the ki n g who does homa ge to it by prostratin g himsel f on the

,
LIII PROPIT IATION O F WILD AN I MAL S B Y HUNT ERS 523

g round and rubbin g his face on the m uzzle o f the beast In some .

parts of Western A frica if a negro kills a leopard he is boun d fast

and brou ght be fore the chie fs for havin g killed one o f thei r peers .

The man d e fen d s himsel f on the plea that the leopard i s chie f o f
the forest an d there fore a stran ger He is then set at li b erty and .

rewarded But the d ead leopar d adorned wi th a chie f s bonnet i s

.
,
’
,

set up in the village wh ere ni ghtly dances are hel d in its honou r
, .

The Bagan d a greatly fear the ghosts o f bu ffaloes which they have
killed and they always appease thes e dan gerous spi ri ts
,
On no .

account will they br i n g the hea d o f a slain b uff alo into a village or i nto
a gar den of plantains : they always eat the flesh o f th e head in the
open country A fterwar d s they place the skull in a small hut bu ilt
.

for the purpose where they pour out beer as an o fferin g a nd pray to the
,

ghost to s tay where he i s an d n ot to harm them .

Another formi d able beast whose li fe the savage hunter takes with
joy yet wi th fear a nd tremblin g i s the whale A fter the slau ghter
, , .

of a whale the maritim e Koryak o f N orth eastern Si b eria hol d a com -

“
m unal festival the essential part o f which
, i s based on the concep ti on
that the whale kille d has come on a visit to the villa ge ; that it is s tayi ng
for some time durin g which it i s treate d w i th great respec t ; that it
,

then returns to the sea to repeat its v i si t the followin g year ; that it
will in duce its relatives to come alon g tell ing them of the hospitable ,

reception that has been accor d e d to it Accor d in g to the Koryak .

i deas the whales like all o ther anima ls cons titute one tribe or rather
, , , ,

family of related in d i v i d uals who l ive i n villa ges l i ke the Koryak

, , .

They aven ge the mur d er o f one o f thei r num b er a nd are grate ful ,
”
for kin dnesses tha t they may have rece iv ed When the inhabitants .

o f the Isle o f S t Mary to the north o f M a da gascar go a whalin g

.
, ,
-
,

they sin gle o ut the youn g whales for a ttack a nd humbly b eg the “

’
m other s par d on stat i n g the necessi ty that d r ives them to kill her
,

pro geny a nd request i n g that she will be please d to go below while

,

the dee d is d oin g tha t her ma ternal feel i n gs may not b e ou tra ged by
,

witnessin g what mus t cause her so much uneasiness An A j umba .

hunter havin g kille d a female hippopotamus on Lake A z yingo

in West A frica the animal was d ecap itated an d its quarters a n d
,

bowels remove d Then the hunter nake d s teppe d into the hollow
.
, ,

o f the ri b s and kneeli ng d own in the bloo dy pool washe d hi s whole

,

body with the bloo d a n d excretions of the animal while he praye d to ,

the soul o f the hippopo tamus not to bear him a gru dge for havin g kille d
her and so bli ghted her hopes o f futur e ma terni ty ; a n d he fur ther
entreate d the ghost not to sti r up other hippopotamuses to aven ge
her death by buttin g at a nd capsizin g his canoe .

The ounce a leopard like creature is d rea d ed for its d epre d ations
,
-
,

by the Indians o f Brazil When they have cau ght one o f these .

animals in a snare they kill it and carry the bo dy home to the vi llage
, .

There the women d eck the carcase with fea thers o f many colours put ,

b racelets on its le gs and weep over it sayin g I pray thee not to take
, , ,
“

vengeance on our lit tl e one s for having been cau ght and k illed through
5 24 PRO PITIATI ON O F WILD A N I MAL S BY HUNT E RS CH .

thine own i gnorance For it was not we who deceive d thee it was
. ,

thysel f Our husban d s only set the trap to catch animals that are good
.

to eat ; they never thou ght to take thee in i t There fore let not . ,
”
thy soul counsel thy fellows to aven ge thy d ea th on our little ones !
When a B lackfoo t In d ian has cau ght eagles in a trap a nd killed
’
them he takes them home to a special lo dge calle d the ea gles lo dge
, , ,

wh ich has been prepare d for their reception ou tsi d e o f the camp .

Here he sets the bir d s in a row on the g roun d a n d proppin g up their ,

hea d s on a s tick pu ts a piece o f d r ie d meat in each o f the i r mouths

,

i n or d er that the spirits o f the d ea d ea gles may go and tell the other
ea gles how well they are bein g treated by the In d ians So when .

In d ian hunters o f the Orinoco re gion have kille d an animal they open ,

i ts mou th a n d pour i nto it a fe w drops o f the liquo r they generally

carry with them i n or d er that the soul o f the d ea d beast may in form
,

its fellows of the welcom e it has met with a n d tha t they too cheered , ,

by the prospect o f the same kin d recep tion may come wi th alacrity ,

to be kille d When a Teton Indian i s on a j ourney and he meets a

.
,

g rey spi d er or a spider wit h yellow le gs he kills it because some evil , ,

woul d be fall hi m i f he d i d n ot B u t he is very care ful not to let .

the spi d er know that he kills it for if the spider knew hi s soul woul d , ,

go a n d tell the other spi d ers and one o f them woul d be sure to aven ge ,

the d ea th o f hi s rela tion So in crushing the insect the In d ian says

.
, ,
“
O Gran dfather Spider the Thunder bein gs kill you , And the -
.

spi d er i s crushe d at once and believes what is tol d him His soul .

probably runs and t ells the o ther spi ders that the Thun d er-beings
have kille d him ; but no harm comes o f that For what can grey .

or yellow le gge d spi d ers d o to the Thun d er bein gs ?

- -

B ut it i s not merely d an gerous creatures wi th whom the savage

desires to keep on goo d term s It i s true that the respect which he
'

pays to wil d beasts is in some measure proportioned to their strength

a n d feroci ty Thus the sava ge S tiens o f Cambodia believin g that all
.
,
’
animals have souls which roam about a fter thei r d ea th b eg an animal s ,

par d on when they kill it lest its soul shoul d com e and torment them
, .

Also they o ffer it sacrifices but these sacrifices are proporti oned to the ,

size a n d s trength o f the ani mal The ceremonies which they observe at .

the death o f an elephan t are con d uc ted w i th much pomp and las t seven
days . S imila r d i s tinctions are d rawn by Nor th American Indians .

The bear the bu ffalo and the beaver are mani d os [diviniti es ] which
, ,

furni sh foo d The b ear is formi dable an d goo d to eat They render
.
, .

cere m onies to him be ggin g him to allow him sel f to be eaten although
, ,

they know he has no fanc y for it We ki ll you but you are not .
,

annih ilate d H is hea d a nd paws are obj ects o f homage

. Other .

animals are treated sim i larly f om simi lar reaso n s Many of the r

animal manidos not bein g d an gerous are o ften t rea ted with contempt
—the terrapi n the weasel polecat etc ” The d istinction i s inst ructive
, ,

, , , . .

Animals which are feare d or are good to eat or bo th are treated with , , ,

ceremoni ous respect ; those which are neither formidable n o r good to

eat are d espise d We have had example s o f r eve re nce paid to ani m al s
.
5 26 PROP ITIAT IO N OF WILD A N I MAL S B Y HUNT E R S CH .

animals were believed to see what was d one to the i r bo d i es a nd to tell

i t to the o ther beasts l ivin g a n d d ea d, Hence i f their bo di es were ill .
,
~

use d the an imals o f th at spec i es woul d not allow themselves to be taken

, ,

nei ther i n this world nor in the worl d to come Amon g the Chiq uites .

o f Para guay a sick man woul d be aske d by the me d i cine man whether
-

he ha d n ot thrown away some o f the flesh o f the d eer or tur tle and if
he answere d yes the me d i cine —
,
“

,
man woul d say That i s what is ,

kill i n g you T he soul o f the d eer or turtle has entere d into your bo dy
.

”
to aven ge the w ron g you did it The Cana d ian Indians woul d not .

e a t the embryos o f the elk unless at the close o f the hunt i n g season ;
,

otherwi se the mo ther elks woul d be shy a n d re fuse to be cau ght

-
.

In the Timor laut i slan d s o f the In d ian Arch i pela go the skulls o f all
-

the tur tles whic h a fisherman has cau ght are hun g up un d er his house .

B e fore he goes out to catch ano ther he a d dresses h imsel f to the skull ,

o f the las t tur tle that he k i lle d a n d havin g inser te d be tel be tween its
,

j aws he prays the spiri t o f the d ead animal to en tice its kins folk in the
,

sea to come and be cau ght In the POS O di st rict o f Central Celebes.

hunters keep the j awbones o f deer an d wil d pi gs which they have killed '

a n d han g them up in their houses near the fire Then they say to the .

j a wbones Ye cry a fter your comra d es that your grand fathers or

, , ,

nephews or ch i l d ren may not go away

,
Thei r notion i s that the .

souls o f the d e a d deer a n d pi gs tarry near their j awbones and attract

the souls o f livin g d eer a n d pi gs which are thus d rawn in to the toils ,

o f the hun ter Thus the wily sava ge employs d ead ani m als a s decoys
.

to lure livin g animals to thei r doom .

The Le ngua Indians o f the Gran Chaco love to hunt the ostrich ,

but when they have k ille d one o f these birds a n d are brin gin g hom e
the carcase to the villa ge they take steps to outwit the resent ful
,

gh ost o f thei r victim They thi nk that when the firs t natural shock
.

o f d ea th i s passed the ghost o f the ostrich pulls himsel f to gether

,

and makes a fter his bo d y Act i n g on thi s sage calcula tion the In dians
.
,

pluck fea thers from the b reast o f the bird a nd strew them at intervals
alon g the track A t every bunch o f feathers the ghost s tops to con
.

”
si d er I s this the who l e o f my body or only a part o f it
,
“
? The ~

d oubt gives hi m pause an d when at last he has made up his mind

,

fully at all the bunches a n d has fur ther was ted valuable time by the
,

z igza g course wh ich he invar iably pursues in goin g from one to another ,

the hunters are sa fe at home a nd the bilked ghos t may stalk in vain ,

roun d about the villa ge which he i s too t imi d to enter

, .

The E s q u imaux about Berin g Strait beli eve that the souls of
dea d sea beasts such as seals walrus a n d whales remain attache d
-
, , , ,

to thei r blad d ers and tha t by retu rnin g the blad d ers to the sea they
,

can cause the souls to be reincarnated i n fresh bodi es and so multiply

the game wh i ch the hunters pursue an d kill Actin g on this belie f .

every hun ter care fully removes and preserves the bla dd ers of all the
sea beast s that he kills ; an d at a solemn festival hel d once a year
-

i n winter these bladders containin g the souls o f all the sea beasts
,
-

that have been killed throu ghout the year are honoured with dances ,
LIII PROPITIATI ON O F WI LD A N I MAL S B Y HU N T E RS 5 27

and o fferin gs o f food in the public assembly room a fter which they -
,

are taken out on the ice an d thrus t throu gh holes in to the water :
for the simple E squima ux ima gine that the souls o f the animals in ,

high good humour at the kin d treatment they have exper i enced will ,

therea fter be born a gain as seals walrus a n d whales a n d in that

, , ,

form will flock willin gly to be a gain spea red harpooned or otherwise , ,

done to death by the hunters .

For like reasons a tribe which depen d s fo r its subsistence chiefly

, ,

or in part upon fishin g is care ful to treat the fish with e very mark
,

of honour an d respec t The In dians o f Peru adore d the fish that “

.

they caugh t in g re a tes t ab un d ance ; for they sa i d tha t the firs t fish
that was ma d e in the world above (for so they name d Heaven ) gave
birth to all o ther fish o f that species an d took care to sen d them ,

plenty of its chil d ren to sustain their tribe For this reason they .

worshipped sar dines in o n e region where they killed more o f the m ,

than of any o ther fish ; in o thers the skate ; in o thers the dogfish ;
, ,

in others the gol d en fish for its beauty ; in o thers the crawfish ; in
, ,

others for wan t o f larger go d s the crabs where they had no other
, , ,

fish or where they knew not how to catch an d kill them In shor t
, .

they had whate ver fish was mos t serviceable to them as their go d s .

The Kwakiutl In d ians o f B r it i sh Columbia think that when a salmo n

is kille d its soul returns to the salmon country H ence they take .

care to throw the bones a n d o ffal into the sea i n or d er that the soul ,

m ay reanima te them a t the resurrec tion o f the salmon Wh ereas i f .

they burne d the bones the soul woul d be los t a n d so it woul d be qui te ,

imposs i ble for that salmon to rise from the d ea d In like manner the .

Ottawa Ind ians o f Cana d a bel i eving tha t the souls o f d ea d fish passe d
,

into other bo d ies o f fish never b urne d fish b ones for fear o f di spleasin g
, ,

the souls o f the fish who woul d come no more to the nets
, The H urons .

also re frained from throwin g fish bones in to the fire lest the souls ,

of the fish shoul d

go an d warn the other fish not to let themselves
b e caught since the Hurons woul d b urn their b ones
, Moreover they .
,

had men who preached to the fish an d persua d e d them to come and
b e cau ght A goo d preacher was much sou ght a fter for they thou ght
.
,

that the exhorta tions o f a clever man had a grea t e ff ec t in d rawin

g
the fish to the ne ts In the H uron fishin g v i lla ge where the French
.

missionary Sagar d s taye d the preacher to the fish pri d e d himself

,

very much on his eloquence wh ich was o f a flori d or d er E very

, .

evening a fter supper havin g seen that all the people were in thei r
,

places and that a s trict silence was observe d he preached to the fish , .

His text was that the Hurons di d not burn fish bones Then en .
“

larging on this theme wi th extraord inary unc tion he exhor te d and ,

conj ure d and invi te d and implore d the fish to come an d be cau gh t
and to be o f
goo d coura ge and to fear no th in g fo r it was all to serve ,
”
their frien d s who honoure d them an d di d n ot burn their bones The .

natives o f the Duke o f York Islan d annually d ecorate a canoe with

flowers and ferns la d e it or are supposed to lade it wi th shell money
, , ,
-
,

and set it adri ft to compensate the fish for their fellows who h ave
5 28 PR O P ITIATI O N O F WILD A N I MALS BY HUNT ER S CH .

been cau gh t a n d eaten It is especially necessary to treat the first

.

fish cau ght wit h consi derat i on i n or d er t o conc i liate the rest o f the
fish whose con d uct may be suppose d to b e influenced by the recep
,

tion given to those o f their ki n d which were the first to be taken .

Accor d in gly the Maori s always put back i nto the sea the first fish
cau gh t with a prayer that it may tempt other fish to come and be
,
“

cau ght .

S till more strin gent are the precautions taken when the fish are
the first o f the season On sal m on rivers when the fish be gin to run
.
,

up the s tream i n sprin g they are rece i ved with much de fere nce by
,

tribes who like the In d ians o f the Pacific Coast o f North America
, ,

s ubsi s t lar gely upon a fish d iet In B ri ti sh Columbia the Indians .

use d to go out to meet the first fish as they came up the river : They “

pai d court to them and woul d a d dress the m thus : You fish you
,
‘

fish ; you are all chie fs you are ; you are all chi e fs , Amongst .
’

the Tlin git o f Alaska the first halibut o f the season is care fully handled
and ad d ressed as a chie f and a fes tival i s given in his honour a fter
, ,

which the fishin g goes on In sprin g when the w in d s blow so ft from .

,

the south and the salmon be gin to run up the Klamath river the ,

K a rok s o f Cali fornia dance for salm on to ensure a good catch One , .

o f the In d ians called the Kareya or Go d man reti res to the mountains
,
-
,

a n d fasts fo r ten d ays On his return the people flee while he goes
.
,

t o the r iver takes the fi r st salmon o f the catch eats some of it and
, , ,
“
wi th the res t kin d les the sacred fire in the sweatin g house No .

In d ian may take a salmon be fore this dance i s hel d nor for ten days ,
”
a fter it even i f hi s family are starvin g
,
The K arok s also believe .

that a fisherm an will take no salmon i f the poles o f which hi s spearing

b ooth i s m a d e were gathere d on the river si de where the salmon
' -
,

mi ght have seen them The poles must be brou ght from the top of
.

the hi ghes t m ountain Th e fisherman will also labour in vain if he

.

uses the same poles a secon d year in booths o r wei rs because the ,
“

old salmon will have told the youn g one s about them There is a .

favouri te fish o f the Aino which appears in their rivers about May
a n d June They prepare for th e fishin g by observin g rules of cere
.

monial puri ty a nd when they have g one out to fish the women at
, ,

home must keep strict silence or the fish would hear them an d dis
appear When the first fish i s cau ght he is brou ght home and passed
.

throu gh a small openin g at the end o f the hut but not throu gh the
door ; for if he were passed throu gh the door the other fish would ,

certainly see him and d isappear This may partly explain the .

custom observed by other sava ges o f brin gin g game in certain cases
i nto their huts not by the door but b y the window the smoke hole
, , ,
-
,

or by a special openin g at the back o f the hut .

With som e sava ges a special reason for respectin g the bones of
game a n d generally o f the animals which they eat i s a belief that
, , ,

i f the bones are preserve d they will in course o f t im e be reclothed ,

with flesh a n d thus the animal will com e to li fe a gain It is there

, .
,

fore clearly for the i nterest o f the hunter to leave the !b one s i ntact
, ,
5 3 0 PR OPI TIA T ION OF W ILD A N IMA LS B Y HU NT ER S CH .

adopts fo r the sake of disablin g the ghost o f hi s vict im In old days .

,

when the Aino went o ut huntin g a nd kille d a fox first they took care ,

to ti e its mouth up ti ghtly in order to prevent the ghost o f the animal

from sallyin g forth a n d warnin g its fellows a gains t the approach of
the hunter The Gilyak s o f the Amoor River put out the eyes of the
.

seals they have killed lest the ghosts o f the slain animals should kno w
,

thei r slayers and aven ge thei r d eath by spoilin g the seal hunt -
.

B esi d es the animals which prim itive man d rea d s fo r their strength
and feroci ty a n d those which he reveres on account o f the benefits
,

which he expects from them there i s ano ther class o f creatures which
,

he some times deems i t necessary to conciliate by worship and sacrifice .

These are the vermin that in fest his crops and his cattle To rid him .

sel f o f these deadly foes the farmer has recourse to m any superstitious
d evices o f which thou gh some are m eant to d estroy or intimi d a te the
, ,

vermin o thers aim at propi tiatin g them and persua d in g them by fair
,

means to spare the fruits of the ear th and the herds Thus E sthonian .

peasants in the i sland o f Oesel stand in great awe o f the weevil an

, , ,

insect which i s excee d i n gly d es tructive to the grain They give it a .

’
fine name and i f a child is about to kill a weevil they say Don t do
, ,
”
it ; the more we hurt him the m ore he hur ts us If they find a
,
.

weev i l they bury it in the earth instead o f killin g it Some even put .

the we evil under a stone in the fiel d an d o ffer corn to it They thi nk .

that thus i t i s appeased an d d oes less harm Amon gst the Saxons of .

Transylvania in order to keep sparrows from the corn the sower begins
, ,

by throwin g the firs t han d ful of see d backwards over his head saying , ,
”
That i s fo r you sparrows To guard the corn against the attacks
, .

o f lea f fli e s he shuts his eyes an d scatters three hand fuls o f oats in

-

di fferent di rectio n s Ha vin g made thi s o ff erin g to the leaf flies he

.
-

feels sure tha t they will spare the co m A Transylvanian way of .

securin g the crops a gainst all birds beasts and insects is this : a fter , , ,

he has finishe d sowin g the sower goes once m ore from end to end of
, .

the fiel d imitati ng the gesture o f sowin g b ut with an empty hand ,

.

A s he d oes so he says I sow th i s for the animals ; I sow it for every

,
“

thin g that fl ies and creep s that walks and stands that sin gs a nd springs
, , .

”
i n the name o f God the Father etc The followin g is a German way
, .

o f freein g a garden from caterpillars A fter sunset or at midni ght the .

mistress o f the house or another female member o f the family walks

, ,

all round the gar d en draggin g a broom a fter he r She may not look .

behi nd her and must keep murmuring

, Good evenin g Mother ,
“

Caterpillar you shall come wi th your husband to church

, The .

garde n gate is le ft open till the followin g morni ng .

Sometimes in d ealin g with vermin the farmer a i m s at hitting a

happy mean between excessive ri gour on the one hand and weak
indul gence on the other ; kin d but firm he tempers severity with ,

mercy An ancie nt Greek treatise on farmin g advises the husband

.

“
man who would ri d his lands o i mice to act thus : Take a sheet of
‘
paper and write on it as follows : I ad j ure you ye mice here present , .

that ye neither inj ure me nor su ff er another mouse to do so I give .

tm PROPITIAT ION OF WI LD A N IMA LS BY HU NT ER S 5 3 1

‘
you yo nder field (here you speci fy the field ) ; but i f ever I catc h
’

you her e again by the Mother of the Go d s I will rend you i n seve n
,

pieces . Write this a n d stick the paper on an unhewn stone in the

’
,
”
fiel d be fore sunrise takin g care to keep the written si d e up
,
In the .

Ardennes they say that to get ri d o f rats you shoul d repeat the followin g
words : B ra t v er b um a pud D eum v es tm m Male rats and female
“
.
,

rats I conj ure you by the great God to go out o f my house out o f
, , , ,

all my hab itations an d to betake yourselves to such and such a place

, ,

there to en d your d ays D e cr e ti s r evers is et d es em b ar assi s vi rg o pa tens

.
, ,

Clem ens j us ti ti a e
,
Then write the same wor d s on pieces o f paper
.
,

fold them up and place one o f them un d er the d oor by which the rats
,

are to go for th a nd the other on the roa d wh ich they are to take
, .

This exorc ism shoul d b e per forme d at sunr i se Some years ago an .

Am erican farmer was repor te d to have writ ten a civi l letter to the rats ,

tell in g them that hi s crops were short tha t he coul d not a ffor d to keep ,

them through the winter that he ha d been very kind to them an d that , ,

for their own good he thou ght they ha d be tter leave him a nd go to .

som e o f his nei gh b ours who had more grain This document he pinne d .

to a post in his barn for the rat s to rea d .

Some tim es the d es i re d ob j ect is supposed to be at tained by treating

wi th h igh d is tinction one or two chosen i n d ivi d uals o f the obnoxious
species wh ile the rest are pursue d with relen tless ri gour In the E as t
, .

Indian islan d of Bali the m ice which ravage the rice field s are cau gh t
,
-

in great num b ers and b urne d in the same way that corpses are burne d
, .

But two o f the cap ture d m i ce are allowed to l ive a n d receive a l ittle ,

packet of white linen Then the people bow d own be fore them as .
,

b e fore go d s and let them go

, When the farms o f the S ea Dyaks or .

Ibans of Sarawak are much pestere d by b i rds and insects they catch a ,

specimen o f each k i n d o f vermin (one sparrow one grasshopper an d , ,

so on ) p ut them in a tiny boat o f bark well stocke d with provisions

,
-
,

and then allow the li ttle vessel with its obnoxious passen ers to floa t
g
down the r i v er If tha t d oes not dr i ve the pests away the Dyaks
.
,

resort to wha t they dee m a more e ffectual mo d e o f accomplishin g the

sam e purpose They make a clay croco dile as lar ge as li fe an d set it
.

up in the fiel d s where they o ffer it foo d r ice spiri t and clo th and
, ,
-
, ,

sacrifice a fowl a n d a pi g be fore it M ollified by these at ten tions the .

,

ferocious animal very soon gobbles up all the creatures that d evour
the crops In Albania if the fiel d s or vineyar d s are ravage d by locusts
.
,

or beetles some o f the women will assemble w ith d ishevelled ha i r

, ,

catch a few of the insects and march with them in a funeral processio n ,

to a sprin
g or stream in which they drown the creatures ,
Then one
”
.

of the women sin s O locusts and beetles who have le ft us b ereaved

“

g , ,

and the d ir e i s taken u

g p and repeated by all the women in chorus .

Thus by celebratin g the obsequies o f a few locusts an d beetles they ,

hope to brin g abou t the death o f them all When caterpillars invaded .

a vineyard or fiel d in Syria the virgins were gathere d a nd one o f the , ,

caterpillars was taken an d a girl m a d e its mo ther Then they bewailed .

and buried it
“
Therea fter they conducted the mother to the p lace
.
53-2 T Y P E S O F AN I MAL SA CRA M E NT CH
.

where the caterp i llars were consolin g her in order that all the cater , ,

pillars mi ght leave the garden .

CHA PT E R LIV

T YP E S OF A N IMA L SA C RA M E N T
I . T he E gyptia n A i no T ypes of S acram ent —W e are now
an d the
perhaps in a posi ti on to un d ers ta n d the amb iguous behaviour of the
Aino and Gilya k s towar d s the b ear It has been shown that the .

s harp line o f d emarcation which we d raw between mankind and the

lower an i mals d oes n ot exist for the sava ge To him many of the .

other animals appear as his equals or even his superiors not merely ,

in bru te force b ut i n in tell i gence an d if choice o r necessity leads ,

him to take their lives he feels b ouh d out o f re gar d to his own sa fety
, , ,

to d o it in a way which will be as ino ffensive as possible not merely to

the livin g animal b ut to its d eparte d spi rit a n d to all the other animals
,

o f the same species which woul d resen t an a ff ront put upon one of
,

their kin d much as a tribe o f sava ges woul d reven ge an inj ury or insult
o ff ered t o a tribesman We have seen that amon g the many devices
.

by which the sava ge seeks to atone for the wron g d one by him to his
animal vic tim s one i s to show marke d d e ference to a few chosen
in d ividuals of the species for such behavi our is apparently re garded
,

as enti tl i n g him to exterminate wi th impun ity all the rest o f the species
upon which he can lay han d s Th i s pr inciple perhaps explains the .

atti tu d e at first s ight puzzlin g a n d contra d ictory o f the Aino towards

, ,

the bear The flesh a nd skin o f the bear re gularly a ff or d them foo d
.

an d clo thin g ; but s i nce the bear i s an i ntelli gent and power ful animal ,

it is necessary to o ffer some satis faction or atonement to the bear

spec i es for th e loss which it sus tains in the death of so many of its
members Thi s sa tis fac ti on o r atonement is ma d e by rearin g young
.

b ears treatin g them so lon g as they live with respect and killing
, , , ,

them with extraor d i nary marks o f sorrow and d evotion So the other .

bears are appeased and d o not resent the slau gh ter of their kind by
,

attackin g the slayers or deser tin g the country which would d eprive ,

the Aino o f one o f their means of subsis tence .

Thus the primi tive worship o f an imals con forms to two types which ,

are i n some respects the converse o f each o ther On the one hand . ,

a nimals are worshippe d and are there fore n either kille d nor eaten
,
.

On the other han d animals are worshipp ed because they are habitually
,

kille d and eaten In both types o f worship the animal is revere d on

.

account o f som e benefit pos it ive or n e gative which the sava ge hopes
, ,

to receive from it In the former worship the benefit comes ei ther in

.

the posi tive shape o f protection advice a nd help which the ani m al ,

a ffor d s the m an or in the ne gat i ve shape o f abstinence from injuries

,

which it i s in the power o f the animal to inflict In the latter worshi p .

the benefit takes the ma terial form o f the animal s flesh and skin ’
.

The two types o f wo rship are in some measure antithetical : in the

5 34 TYP E S O F A N I MAL SACRA M E N T CH .

i s d eemed to be pai d to all Such family meals are found among .

vari ous peoples especi ally those o f the Caucasus When amon gst the
,
.

A b chases the shepher d s i n sprin g ea t their common meal wi th their

loins gi r t and their s taves in their han d s this may be looke d upon ,

b oth as a sacrament a n d as an oath o f mu tual help a n d support For .

the stron gest o f all oaths i s that wh i ch i s accompanied with the eating
of a sacre d substance since the perj u re d person cannot possibly escape
,
”
"

d
the aven gin g go d whom he has taken i nto his bo y and assimilated .

Thi s kind o f sacram ent i s o f the Aino or exp i atory type since it is ,

meant to atone to the speci es fo r th e possible i ll usa ge of in d ivi duals -

.

An expiati on sim i lar i n principle but d i fferent in d etails is o ffered by

, ,

the Kalmucks to the sheep whose flesh i s one o f their staple foods
, .

Rich Kalmucks are i n the habit o f consecra ti ng a whi te ram un der the
”
title of the ram o f heaven or the ram o f the spirit
“
The animal .

i s never shorn a n d never sol d ; but when it grows old and its owner
wi shes to consecrate a new one the old ram must be ki lled an d eaten ,

at a feast to which the nei ghbours are invited On a lucky day .

,

g enerally in au tumn when the sheep are fat a sorcerer kills the old ,

ram a fter spr i nklin g it wi th milk Its flesh i s eaten ; the skeleton
,
.
,

wi th a por tion of the fa t i s burne d on a tur f altar ; and the skin with
, ,

the head a n d feet i s hun g up , .

An example o f a sacrament o f the E gy ptian type is furnishe d by

the Todas a pastoral people of S ou thern I nd ia who subsist lar gely
, ,
“
upon the milk o f their bu ffaloes Amon gst them the bu ff alo is to a .

”
certain d eg ree held sacre d and i s treated wi th great kin d ness even ,

with a d e gree o f a d oration by the people They n ever eat the flesh
,
.

o f the cow bu ffalo and as a rule abstain from the flesh of the male
,
.

But to the latter rule the re i s a si n gle exception Once a year all the .

adult males o f the villa ge j oin in the ceremony of killin g a nd eatin g a

very youn g male cal f—seemin gly under a mon th old They take the .

animal into the dark recesses o f the villa ge woo d where it is killed ,

w ith a club made from the sacred tree o f the Todas (the M i lli ngtonia ) .

A sacred fire having been ma d e by the rubbin g o f s ticks the flesh of ,

the cal f i s roasted on the embers o f certain trees a n d is eaten by the ,

men alone women bein g exclu d e d from the assembly This is the
, .

only occasion on which the To d as eat bu ff alo flesh The Madi or .

Moru tribe of Central A frica whose ch i e f wealth i s thei r cattle thou gh

, ,

they also practise a gricul ture appear to kill a lamb sacramen tally on
,

cer tain solemn occasions The custom i s thus described by Dr Felk in :

A remarkable custom i s obser ved at stated times—o nce a year I am
. .

“
,

led to beli eve I have not been able to ascertain what exact meaning
.
'

i s a ttached to it It appears however to reli eve the people s minds

.
, ,
’
,

for be forehand they evince much sadness an d seem very j oy ful when ,

the ceremony i s duly accomplished The followin g i s what takes .

place : A large co ncourse o f people of all a ges assemble and sit down ,

r ound a circle o f s tones which i s erecte d by the side o f a road (

, really
a narrow path ) A very choice lamb i s t hen fet che d by a boy who
.
,

l e ad s it four time s round the a ssembled people A s it passes they .

LIV PR O CESS IO N S W IT H SA CR ED A N I MA LS 5 35

p
luck off little bit s of its fleece and place them i n thei r hai r or on to ,

som e other part o f their body The la m b is then led up to the stones
. ,

and there kille d by a man belon gin g to a kin d o f pries tly order who ,

takes some of the bloo d and sprinkles it four times over the people .

He then applies it ind ivi d ually On the chil d ren he makes a small
.

ring of blood over the lower end o f the breast bone on women and ,

girls he makes a mark above the breasts a n d the men he touches on ,

each shoul d er He then proceeds to expla i n the ceremony and to

. ,

exhort the people to show kindn e ss When this d iscourse which ,

is at times o f great len gth is over the people rise each places a leaf
, , ,

on or by the circle o f s tones a n d then they d epart wi th si gns o f great

,

joy The lamb s skull is hun g on a tree near the s tones and its flesh
.
’
,

is eaten by the poor This ceremony is observe d on a small scale at

.

oth er times If a family i s in any grea t trouble through illness or

.
,

bereavem ent their friends an d nei ghbours come to ge ther and a lamb
,

is killed ; th i s is thou ght to aver t fur ther evil The same cus tom .

prevails at the grave o f d eparte d frien d s and also on j oy ful occasions ,

such as the re turn o f a son home a fter a very prolon ge d absence .

The sorrow thus mani fested by the people at the annual slau ghter o f
the lamb seems to show that the lamb slain is a sacre d or divine
animal whose death i s mourne d b y hi s worshippers j ust as the d eath
, ,

of the sacre d bu z z ar d was mourne d by the Cal i forn i ans a n d the d eath
of the Theban ram by the E gyptians The smearing each of the .

worshippers w ith the bloo d o f the lamb is a form o f communion with

the divin ity ; the vehicle o f the d ivine li fe is applie d externally instea d
of bein g taken internally as when the bloo d is d runk c r the flesh eaten
—
, .

§ 2 P r o.ces si o n s w i th S ac r e d A ni m a ls The form o f communion

in which the sacre d animal i s taken from house to house that all may ,

enjoy a share o f its d ivine influence has been exemplifie d by the G ilyak ,

custom o f promena d in g the b ear throu gh the v illa ge b e fore it i s sla in .

A similar form o f communion wi th the sacre d snake i s observe d by a

Snake tr ib e i n the Punj aub Once a year i n the month o f September
.

the snake i s worshippe d b y all castes a nd reli gions fo r nine d ays only .

At the end o f Au gus t the M i ra sans especially those o f the Snake ,

tribe make a snake o f d ough which they pa in t black an d red an d

, ,

place on a winnowi n g basket Th i s basket they carry roun d the .

village an d on enterin g any house they say : God be with you all !
,
“

May every ill be fa r ! May our pa tron s (Gugga s ) wor d thrive ! ’ ’

Then they present the baske t wi th the snake sayin g : A small ,

cake of flour : a little bit of butter : if you obey the snake you an d ,

yours shall thrive ! S trictly speakin g a cake a n d butter should be ,

given but it i s sel d om d one

, E very one however gives somethin g
.
, , ,

generally a han dful o f d ough or some co r n In houses where there .

is a new bri d e or whence a bri d e has gone or where a son has been ,

born it is usual to give a rupee and a qua ter or some cloth S o m e

, r
, .

ti m es the bearers o f the snake als o sin g :

“
Give the m a ke a pi ece o f cloth, and he unll send a lively b ride !
”
5 36 T Y P E S OF A N I MAL SA CRA M E N T CH .

Whe n every house has been thus visite d the d ou gh snake i s b uried ,

an d a small g rave i s erec te d over it Thither d ur in g the nine days .

o f S eptember the women come to worsh i p They brin g a basi n of .

’
cur d s a smal l port i on of which they o ffer a t the snake s grave kneeling
, ,

on the gro un d a n d touc hi ng the ear th w ith the i r forehea d s Then .

they go home a n d d ivi d e the rest o f the curds amon g the chil dren .

Here the d ou gh snake i s clearly a subst itute fo r a real snake Indee d .

,

i n d istric ts where snakes a b oun d the worship i s o ffere d not at the ,

grave o f the d ou gh snake b ut in the j un gles where snakes are kno wn ,

to be . B es i des th is yearly worship per forme d by all the people the , ,

members o f the Snake tr ibe wors hip in the same way every morni ng
a fter a new moo n The Snake tr i be i s n ot uncommon i n the Punj aub
. .

Members o f it w ill n ot kill a snake a n d they say that its bite does not ,

hurt them If they fin d a d ea d snake they put clothes on it and give

.
,

it a re gular funeral .

Cerem onies closely analo gous to this Indian worship o f the snake
have survive d i n E urope into recent times and d oubtless d ate from a ,

very primitive pa ganism The bes t known example i s the hunti ng -

“

By many E uropean peoples—the ancient Greeks and

.

”
o f the w ren .

Romans the m o d ern I tal i ans Spaniar d s French Germans Dutch

Danes S we d es E n glish an d Welsh —
, , , , , ,

, , the wren has been d esig nated

,

the kin g the li ttle kin g the kin g o f bir d s the hed ge kin g and so
, , , ,

forth a n d has been reckone d amon gst those bir d s which it i s extre m ely
,

unlucky to kill In E n gla n d it i s s uppose d t ha t i f any one kills a wren

.

o r harr ie s its n es t he w ill in fallibly break a bone or mee t wi th some

,

drea dful mis fortune w ithi n the year ; somet i mes it is thought that
the cows will give bloo d y milk In Scotlan d the wren i s called the .

” ’
Lady o f Heaven s hen and boys say : ,

M ali s ons w a lisom m ai r

“
, , than ten,
f H eaven s hen !
’
T ha t harr y the Ladye o

At Saint Donan in Bri ttany people believe that if children touch the
, ,

youn g wrens in the nest they will su ffer from the fire o f St Lawrence, . ,

that i s from pimples on the face le g s an d so on

,
In other parts of , , .

France it is thought that i f a person k ills a wren or harries its n est ,

hi s house w i ll be s truck by li ghtnin g or that the fin gers with which ,

he di d the d ee d will shrivel up and d rop off or at least be maime d or , ,

that his cattle wi ll su ffer in thei r feet .

N o twi ths tan d i n g such bel i e fs the custom o f annually killin g the ,

wren has prevaile d widely both in thi s coun try a n d in France In .

the Isle o f M an down to the e igh teenth century the custom was observed
on Christmas E v e or ra ther Christmas mornin g On the twen ty fourth
, .
-

o f December towards eveni n g all the servants got a holiday ; the y

, ,

di d n ot go to b e d all ni ght but rambled about till the bells ran g in ,

all the churches at midni ght When prayers were over they went to .
,

hunt the wren a nd havin g found one of these bi rds they killed it and
,

fastened it to the top o f a lon g pole with its wi ngs extended Thus .
 538 T HE TRA N S FE R E N C E O F EVIL CH .

A fter hearin g hi gh mass i n the pari sh church o f St Vincent surrounded .

,

by his o fficers a n d guar d s the Kin g visi te d the bishop the mayor
, , ,

the magi stra tes an d the chi e f inhabi tan ts collect in g money to de fray
, ,

the expenses o f the royal banque t which took place in the evening
an d woun d up wi th a dance .

The parallelism between this custom of huntin g the wren and

some o f those wh ich w e have considere d especially the Gilyak pro ,

cession with the bear and the In d ian one wi th t he snake seems too
, ,

close to allow us to d oubt that they all belon g to the same circle of
i d eas The worsh i p ful animal i s kille d wi th special solemnity once a
.

year ; and be fore or imme d ia tely a fter d eath he i s promena d e d from

d oor to d oor that each o f his worshippers may receive a port i on o f the
,

d ivine virtues that are supposed to emanate from the d ead or dying
Reli gious processions o f th i s sort mus t have had a great place
'

god .

in the ri tual o f E uropean peoples i n prehi storic tim e s if we may j u dge ,

from the numerous traces o f them which have survive d in folk cus to m -
.

For example on the last da y o f the year or H o gmanay as it was call ed

, , ,

it used to be customary i n the Hi ghlan d s o f Sco tlan d for a man to dress

’
himsel f up i n a cow s hi d e and thus a ttire d to go from house to house ,

attend ed by youn g fellows each o f them arme d with a s ta ff to which

, ,

a bit o f raw hi d e was t i e d Round every house the hi d e clad man used
.
-

to run thrice d eis ea l that is accor d in g to the course o f the sun so as to

, , ,

keep the house on hi s r ight han d ; while the o thers pursue d him ,

b eating the hide wi th thei r staves and thereb y making a lou d noise like
the bea tin g o f a drum In thi s d isor d erly procession they also struck
.

the walls o f the house On bein g a d mi tted one o f the par ty standing
.
, ,

with i n the threshol d pro n ounce d a b lessin g on the fam i ly in these

,

wor d s : May God bless the house and all that belon gs to it cat tle , .

stones a nd timber !
, In plenty o f m ea t o f bed a n d bo dy clothes and
, ,
”
health o f men may it ever abound ! Then e a ch of the party singed
in the fire a l i ttle b it o f the hi d e wh ich was tied to his sta ff ; and having
,

d one so he appl i e d the sin ge d hi d e to the nose o f every person and o f

every domest i c animal belon gin g to the house This was imagined to .

secure them from diseases a n d o ther mis fort unes par ticularly from ,

wi tchcra ft throu ghout the ensuin g year The whol e ceremony was
, .

calle d ca llui nn because o f the grea t noise ma de in bea tin g the hi de .

It was observe d i n the Hebrides inclu d in g S t Kilda d own to the , .

,

secon d hal f o f the ei ghteenth cen tury at least a nd it seems to have ,

survived well into the nineteenth century .

CHA PT E R LV

TH E T RA N S F ERE N CE OF E VI L
1. T he T ransfer enc e to Inanim a te O bj e cts W e have now trace d .
—
the practice o f killin g a god amo ng peoples in the hunti n g pastoral , ,

and agricult ur al sta ges of socie ty ; and I have attem ted to ex lai n
p p
Lv THE T R A N SF EREN CE T O IN A N IMAT E OB J ECT S 539

the motives which led men to adopt so curious a custom One aspect .

of the c ustom s till remains to be n o ice

t d The accumulated mi s .

fortunes an d sins o f the whole people are sometimes lai d upon the
dying god who is supposed to bear them away for ever leavin g the
,
,

people innocent and h appy The no ti on that we can trans fer our
.

uil t and su f
f erin to some other bein g who W l ll bear them for us
g gs
is familiar to the sava ge mind It ar i ses from a very obvious con .

fusion between the physical and the mental between the material ,

and the immaterial Because it i s possible to shi ft a loa d o f wood

. ,

stones or what not fro m our own back to the back o f another the
, , ,

savage fanc ies that it i s equally possi b le to sh i ft the b urd en o f his

pains and sorrows to ano ther who will su ffer them in his stead Upon
,
.

this i dea he ac ts an d the resul t is an en d less number o f very unamiable

,

devices for palm i n g o ff upon some one else the trouble which a man
shrinks from bearin g h i m sel f In short the principle of vicar i ous
.
,

suffer in g i s commonly un d erstoo d an d prac tise d by races who stan d

on a low level o f soc ial a nd i ntellectual cul ture In the followin g .

pages I shall illustra te the theory and the practice as they are foun d
am ong savages in all their nake d simplicity un di s guise d by the refin e ,

m ents o f me taphysics a n d the sub tleties o f theolo gy .

The dev ices to which the cunn i n g and selfish savage resorts for the
sake of easing h i msel f at the expense o f his nei ghbour are man i fol d ;
only a few typi cal examples out o f a mul titu d e can be cite d A t the
outse t it is to be ob served that the evil of which a man seeks to rid
himsel f nee d n ot be trans ferred to a person ; it may equally well be
trans ferre d to an animal or a thin g though in the las t case the thi n g ,

is o ften only a veh icle to convey the troub le to the first person who
touches it In some of the E ast In d ian islands they think that ep ilepsy
.

can be cure d by striking the patient on the face w i th the leaves o f

certain trees and then throwing them away Th e d isease i s believe d .

to have passe d i n to the leaves a n d to have been thrown away w ith

,

them To cure toothache some o f the Australian b lacks apply a heate d

.

spear thrower to the cheek The spear -thrower i s then cas t away a n d
-
.
,

the toothache goes wi th i t in the shape of a black stone calle d k a rm tch .

S tones of this kin d are foun d i n old mounds an d san d hills They are .

care fully collecte d an d thrown in the d irection o f e n emies in or d er to

give them toothache The B ahima a pastoral people o f Ugan d a
.
, ,

o ften suff er from d eep seate d abscesses : the i r cure for th i s i s to

-
“

trans fer the disease to some o ther person by ob tainin g herb s from the
m e di cine man rubbin
g them over the place where the swell i n g i s an d
-
, ,

buryin g them in the roa d where people continually pass ; the first
person who steps over these b urie d herbs con tracts the d isease a n d ,
”
the ori ginal patient recovers .

Some times in case o f sickness the malady is trans ferred to an e ffi gy

as a prelim inary to passin g it on to a human bein g Thus amon g the .

B agan d a the me d icine man woul d sometimes make a mo d el o f his

-

p a tient i n clay ; then a relative o f the sick man woul d rub the image
’
over the su ff erer s body a nd either bury it in the roa d hi de it in
5 40 T HE T R ANSF ER EN CE OF EVI L ca .

the gra ss by the wayside The first perso n who ste pp ed ov er the
.

ima ge or passe d by it woul d ca tch the d i sease Somet i mes the effigy
was m a d e out o f a plantain fl ower t i e d up so as to look like a person ;
-

it was used in the same way as the clay fi gure B ut the use o f images .

fo r this m aleficent purpose was a cap i tal crime ; any person caught
in the act o f buryin g one o f them i n the pu b l i c roa d woul d surely have
been put to d eath .

In the we s tern d istrict of the islan d o f Timor when men or women ,

are maki n g lon g and ti r i n g j ourneys they fan themselves with lea fy ,

branches wh i ch they a fterwar d s throw away on par ticular spots where

,

thei r fore fathers d id the same be fore them The fatigue which they .

fel t i s thus suppose d to have passe d in to the leaves an d to b e le ft

behi n d Others use s tones ins tea d o f leaves Sim i larly in the Babar
. .

A rch i pela go tired people will str i ke them selves w ith stones believing ,

that they thus trans fer to the s tones the weariness wh i ch they felt in
thei r own bo d ies They then throw away the stones in places which
.

are spec i ally set apart for the purpose A like belie f and practice in .

many d i stant parts o f the worl d have give n rise to those cairns or
heaps o f s ticks an d leaves which travellers o ften observe besi de the
path a nd to which every passi n g native a d d s his contribution in the
,

shape o f a stone or s ti ck or lea f Thus i n the Solomon a nd Banks

,
“
, .
’

I slan d s the natives are wont to throw sticks stones or leaves upon , ,

a heap at a place o f steep d escent or where a d ifficult path be gins , ,

”
say ing There goes my fati gue
,
“
The act is not a reli gious rite
.
,

for the th i n g thrown on the heap is not an o fferin g to spir i tual powers ,

and the wor d s which accompany the act are not a prayer It is nothing .

b u t a ma gical ceremony for gettin g ri d o f fati gue which the sim ple ,

sava ge fanci es he can embo dy i n a stick lea f or stone and so cast it , , ,

from him
2 T he T ra ns fer en ce to A ni m a ls —Animals are o ften employe d as
.

. .

a vehicle for carryin g away or trans ferrin g the evil When a Moor has .

a headache he wi ll sometimes take a lamb or a goat a n d b ea t it till it

fa lls down beli evin g that the headache will thus be trans ferred to the
,

anim al In Morocco most weal thy M oors keep a wi ld boar in their

.

stables in order that the j inn an d evil spi ri ts may be d iverted from the
,

horses a nd enter in to the boar Amon gs t the Ca ffres of Sou th A frica

.
,
“
when other reme d ies have faile d na tives sometimes adopt the ,

cus tom o f taki ng a goat i nto the presence o f a sick man and con fess ,

the sins o f the kraal over the animal Some times a few d rops of bloo d.

from the sick man are allowed to fall on the head o f the goat which ,

i s turned out in to an un i nhabi te d par t o f the vel d t The sickness is .

suppose d to be trans ferre d to the animal and to become lost in the ,

desert . In Ara b ia when the plague is ra gin g the peo ple Will some ,

times lead a camel throu gh all the quarters o f the town i n order that
the animal may take the pes tilence on itsel f Then they stran gle it
in a sacred place a n d ima gine that they have ri d themselves o f the
camel and of the pla gue at On e blow It i s sai d that when smallpox .

i s ra gin g the sava ges o f Formosa will drive the demon o f dise ase into
5 42 T HE TRAN S FE R E N C E O F E VI L CH .

line a fter him The con fession o f sins i s thrice repeated

. By a .

conventional mode o f expression the sum to tal of si ns a man may do ,

is sai d to be thir teen hun d re d Admittin g tha t the deceased has .

‘
comm itte d them all the per former cries alou d Stay not thei r fli ght ,
’
to Go d s pure feet As he closes the whole assembly chants aloud
.
,
‘
Stay not their fli ght A gain the per former en ters i nto details and
.
’

,
’
cries H e kille d the crawli n g snake I t is a sin
,
‘
In a moment the . .

last wor d i s caught up a n d all the people cry It i s a si n As they ,

‘
.
’

shout the per former lays his han d upon the cal f The sin is trans
, .

ferred to the cal f Thus the whole catalo gue is gone throu gh in this
.

‘
impressive way B ut thi s i s not enough As the last shout Let all
. .

be well dies away the per former g ives place t o anothe r and again
’

, ,
‘
con fession i s ma d e a n d all the people shout It i s a sin
, A third .

t i m e it is d one Then still in solemn silence the cal f i s let loose

.
, , .

”
f
Like the Jewi sh scape goat it m ay never be used or secular work , .

A t a Bada ga funeral witnessed by the Rev A C Clayton the bu ffalo . . .

’
cal f was led thrice roun d the bi er a n d the d ea d man s hand was lai d ,
“
on its hea d By thi s act the cal f was suppose d to receive all the ,

sins o f the d ecease d It was the n d riven away to a great d istance

.
,

that it mi gh t contam ina te no one and it was sai d that it would never ,

be sold but looke d on as a d edicate d sacred animal

, The idea of .

this ceremony is that the sins o f the deceased enter the cal f or that
, ,

the task o f hi s absolu tion i s lai d on it They say that the cal f very .

”
soon d i sappears an d that it i s never heard of
3 T he T r a nsfer en ce to M en — A gain m en sometimes play the
, .

.
.
,

part o f scape goat by d ivertin g to themselves the evils that threaten

o thers When a Cin galese i s d an gerously ill and the phys icians can
.
,

d o no thin g a d ev i l d ancer i s called i n who by makin g o ff erings to

,
-
,

the d evils and d ancin g in the masks appropriate to them conj ures
, ,
’
these demons o f d isease one a fter the o ther out o f the sick man s , ,

bo d y a n d into his own Havin g thus success fully extracte d the cause .

o f the mala d y the artful d ancer lies down on a bier

, and shamming ,

death i s carrie d to an open place outs i d e the villa ge Here being .

,

le ft to him sel f he soon comes to l i fe a gain a n d has tens back to clai m

, ,

hi s reward In 15 90 a Scotch w itch o f the n ame o f A gnes Sampson

.

was convicte d o f curi ng a cer tain Robert Kers of a d isease laid upon
him by a westlan d warlock when he was at Dum fries whilk sickness ,

she took upon hersel f a n d kep t the same with great gro aning and ,

torment till the morn at whilk time there was a great di n heard in ,

the house The noise was ma d e by the witch in he r e ffor ts to shi ft

.

the disease by means o f clo thes from hersel f to a cat or d og U m

, , .

fortunately the a ttemp t par tly miscarrie d The di sease misse d the .

animal and hit Alexander Dou glas o f Dalkeith who d wined and died ,

o f i t while the ori ginal pat i en t Rober t Kers was ma d e whole

, , , .

I n one part o f New Ze a land an expiati on fo r sin was felt to be

necessary ; a service was per formed over an indivi d ual by which all ,

the sins o f the tribe were supposed to be trans ferred to him a fern ,

s talk was previously tie d to his person with which he j um p ed into ,

 IN T HE TRAN S F ER E NC E TO M E N 5 43

the river and there unbindin g allowed it to float away to the sea
, , ,

bearing their sins with it In great emer gencies the sins of the
.

Rajah o f Manipur used to be trans ferred to somebody else usually ,

to a criminal who earned his pard on by hi s vicarious su fferin gs To

, .

effect the trans ference the Raj ah an d his wi fe cla d in fine robes , ,

bathe d on a sca ffold erected in the b az aar while the criminal crouched ,

beneath it With the water which d ripped fro m them on him thei r
.

sins also were washe d away and fell on the huma n scapegoat To .

complete the trans ference the Raj ah and his wi fe made over thei r
fine robes to their substitu te while they themselves clad in new , ,

raiment mixe d with the people till even in g In Travancore when

, .
,

a Raj ah is n ear hi s end they seek out a holy Brahman who

, ,

consents to take upon h imsel f the sins o f the dying man in

consi deration of the sum o f ten thousan d rupees Thus prepare d .

to immolate himsel f on the al tar of duty the saint i s intro d uce d ,

into the chamber of d e ath a n d closely em b races the d yin g Raj ah

, ,

saying to him O K i ng I un d ertake to bear all your sins and

, ,
”
diseases May your H ighness live lon g an d rei gn happily
. Havin g .

thus taken to himsel f the sins o f the su ff erer he is sent away from ,

the country and never more allowe d to return A t Utch Kur gan i n .

Turkestan Mr Schuyler saw an old m a n who was sai d to get his

.

living by takin g on himself the s i ns o f the dead a n d thence forth ,

devoting his li fe to prayer for thei r souls .

In Ugan d a when an army had re turned from war and the go d s

, ,

warned the kin g by their oracles that som e ev i l had attache d i tsel f
to the sol d iers it was cus tomary t o pick out a woman sl ave from the
,

captives together w ith a cow a goat a fowl a n d a dog from the

, , , ,

booty and to sen d them back un d er a stron g guard to the borders

'
,

of the coun try from wh i ch they had come There thei r limbs were .

broken an d they were le ft to die ; for they were too cripple d to crawl
back to Ugan d a In or d er to ensure the trans ference o f the evi l to
.

these substi tutes bunch es o f grass were rubbe d over the people a n d
,

cattle and then tie d to the vict ims A fter that the army was pro .

nounced clean and was a llowed to return to the capital So on his .

accession a new kin g of U gan d a use d to woun d a man and sen d him
away as a scape goat to Bunyoro to carry away any uncleanliness that
m i ght a ttach to the kin
g or q ueen
4 T he T r ans fer e n ce of E vi l i n E ur ope —The examples o f the
.

trans ference o f evil h itherto a d d uce d have been mostly d rawn from
the customs o f sava ge or barbarous peoples But similar attempts .

to shi ft the burden of d isease mi s fortune and sin from one s sel f to
, ,
’

another person or to an animal or thin g have been common also

, ,

am on g the civilised nations of E urope both in ancient and mo d ern ,

tim es A Roman cure for fever was to pare the patient s na ils and
.
’

,
’
stick the parings with wax on a nei ghbour s door be fore sunrise ;
the fever then passe d from the sick man to hi s nei ghbour Similar .

devices must have been resorte d to by the Greeks ; for i n layin g

down laws fo r his i d eal state Plato thinks it too much to expect that
,
5 44 T HE TRA N S F E R E N C E O F E VIL on .

men should n ot be alarme d at findin g certain wax fi gures a dhering

to the i r d oors or to the tombs tones o f thei r paren ts or lyin g at cross ,

roa d s In the four th century of our era Marcellus o f B ordeaux pre

.

scri b ed a cure for war ts which has s till a great vo gue amon g the
,

supers ti ti ous in various par ts o f E urope You are to touch yo ur .

warts with as many little stones as you have warts ; then wrap
the s tones in an ivy lea f a nd throw them away i n a thorou gh fare
, .

Whoever picks them up will get the war ts and you will be rid of ,

them People i n the O rkney I slan d s will sometimes wash a sick man
.
,

a n d then throw the water d own at a ga teway in the bel i e f that the ,

s i ckness will leave the patient a n d be trans ferred to the first person
who passes throu gh the gate A Bavarian cure for fever is to write
.

”
upon a pi ece o f paper Fever s tay away I am not at home and
,
“

, , ,

to put the paper in somebo dy s pocket The latter then catches the
’
.

fever a n d the pa tient is ri d o f i t

,
A B ohem ian prescription for the .

same mala d y is th i s Take an empty pot go with it to a cross road

.
,
-
,

throw it d own and run away

, The first person who kicks against .

the p ot will c a tch your fever and you will be cure d , .

O ften in E urope as amon g sava ges an at tempt i s made to trans fer

, ,

a pai n or mal a dy from a man to an animal Grave wr iters of antiquity .

recommen d e d that if a man be stun g by a scorpion he shoul d

, ,

s it upon an ass wi th hi s face to the tail or whisper in the animal s ’

,
”
ear A scorpion has stun g me ; in either case they thought the
,
“
, ,

pain would be trans ferre d from the man to the ass Many cures of .

thi s sort are recor d e d by Marcellus For example he tells us that .

,

the following is a remedy for too thache Stan d in g booted un der the .

open sky on the groun d you catch a fro g by the head spit into its
, ,

mouth ask it to carry away the ache a n d then let it go But the
, , .

ceremony must be per forme d on a lucky day and at a lucky hour .

In Cheshire the ai lment known as aphtha or thrush wh i ch a ffects ,

the mouth or throat o f i n fants i s not uncommonly treate d in much ,

the same manner A youn g fro g i s hel d for a few moments with its
. ,

hea d inside the mou th o f the su fferer whom it is suppose d to relieve ,

”
by taki ng the mala dy to itsel f I assure you sai d an old wom an .
,
“
who had o ften superinten d ed such a cure we use d to hear the poor ,

fro g whoopi ng a n d cou ghin g mortal b ad for days a fter ; it woul d

, ,

have ma d e your heart ache to hear the poo r creature coughin g as it

d i d about the gar d en A Northamptonshi re Devonshi re an d Welsh
.
, ,

cure for a cou gh is to put a hai r o f the patient s hea d between two ’

slices o f bu ttere d bread a nd give the sandwich to a d og The animal .

will the reupon catch the cou gh a n d the patient will lose it Some .

times an ailment is trans ferred to an animal by sharin g foo d with it .

Thus i n Ol d en b ur g if you are sick o f a fever you set a bowl of sweet

,
“
milk be fo re a dog an d say Go od luck you houn d ! may y ou be
, ,
”
sick an d I be soun d ! Then when the d og has lapped some of the
milk you take a swi g at the bowl ; an d then the dog must lap again
, ,

and then you must swi g a gain ; an d when you a nd the dog have
done it the third time he will have the fever and you will be quit of it
,
.
5 46 T HE PUBLI C E XP U LS I ON OF E VI L S CH .

thee the cold ; goo d -morrow Ol d One then t urn and run away , ,

wi thout lookin g round I n S onnenber g i f you woul d rid yoursel f

—
.
,

o f g out you shoul d g o to a youn fi tree a n d tie a knot in one of its

g r

tw i gs sayin g God greet thee noble fi r

, ,
“
I brin g thee my gout , . .

”
Here will I tie a knot a nd bin d my gout into it I n the name etc .
, .

Another way o f trans ferrin g gout from a man to a tree is this .

’
Pare the nails o f the su ff erer s fin gers a n d clip some hairs from his
le gs Bore a hole in an oak stu ff the nails and hair in the hole stop
.
, ,

up the hole ag ain an d smear it with cow s d un g If for three months

,
’
.
,

therea fter the patient is free o f gou t you may be sure the oak has
, ,

it i n his stea d In Cheshire i f you woul d be rid o f warts you have

.
,

only to rub them wi th a piece o f bacon cut a slit in the bark of an ,

ash tree and slip the bacon un d er the bark Soon the warts will
-
, .

d isappear from your han d only however to reappear in the shape ,

o f rou gh excrescences or knobs on the bark o f the tree At Berk .

hamps tead in H ert for d shire there use d to be certain oak trees which
, ,
-

were lon g celebrate d for the cure o f a gue The trans ference of the .

malady to the tree was simple but pain ful A lock o f the sufferer s .
’

hair was pegged into an oak ; then by a sudden wrench he left his
hair a nd hi s ague behind him in the tree .

CHAPT E R LV I

THE P U BLI C EXP U L S I ON OF E VIL S

1 . T he Om nipres en ce chapter the

of D em ons .
-
In the fore going
primitive principle of the trans ference of ills to another person ,

animal or thin g was explained a n d illustrate d But similar means

, .

have been adop te d to free a whole communi ty from diverse evils

that afflict it Such attempts to d ismiss at once the accumulated
.

sorrows o f a people are by no means rare or exceptional ; on the

contra ry they have b een ma d e in many lan d s an d from bein g occasional ,

they tend to become periodic a n d annual .

It nee d s some e ffort on our part to reali se the frame o f mind

which prompts these attempts B red in a philosophy which strips .

nature o f personality and reduces it to the unknown cause of an

orderly series o f impressions on our senses w e find it hard to put ,

ourselves in the place o f the savag e to whom the same impressions ,

appear in the gui se o f spirits or the han d iwork o f spirits For a ges .

the army o f spir it s once so near has been recedin g farther and
, ,

far ther from u s banished by the ma gic wand o f sci ence from hearth
,

a n d home from ruin e d cell and ivied tower from haunted gla de and
, ,

lonely mere from the riven murky clou d that belche s forth the
,

li gh tnin g a n d from those fai rer clouds that pillow the silvery moon
,

or fret wi th flakes of burnin g red the golden eve The spirits are .

g one ev en f rom th ei r la st stron ghold i n the sky whos e bl ue a rch no ,

v T HE O CCA SI O NAL E XPULSI O N OF EV ILS 547

longe r passe s ex cept wit h chi ldren for the s cree n that h id es from
, ,

m ortal eyes the glories of the celestial World

’
Only in poets dreams
’

or im passioned fli ghts of oratory is it given to catch a glimpse o f the

last fl utter o f the standards o f the retrea tin g host to hear the beat ,

of their invisible wings the sound o f thei r mocking laughter or the

, ,

swell of angel music dyin g away in the distance Far otherwise i s .

it with the savage To hi s imagination the world sti ll teems with

.

those motley bein gs who m a more sober philosophy has d iscarded .

Fairies and goblins ghosts and demons still hover about him both
, ,

waking and sleepin g They dog hi s footsteps dazzle his senses enter
.
, ,

into him harass and deceive and torment him in a thousand freakish
,

and mischievous ways The mishaps that befall him the losses he
.
,

sustains the pains he has to en d ure he commonly sets down i f not

, , ,

to the ma gic o f his enemies t o the spite or an ge r or caprice o f the ,

spirits Thei r consta nt p resence wearies him their sleepless mali gnity
.
,

exasperates him ; he longs with an unsp eakable longi ng to be rid of

them alto gether and f rom time to time d riven to bay his patience
, , ,

utterly exhausted he turns fiercely on his persecutors and makes a

,

desperate e ffort to chase the whole pack of them from the lan d to ,

clear the air of thei r swarmin g multitud es that he may breathe more ,

freely and go on hi s way unmolested at least for a time Thus it , .

comes about that the en d eavour of primitive people to make a clean

sweep of all their troubles generally takes the form o f a grand hunting
out and expulsion of devils or ghosts They think that i f they can .

only shake off these thei r accurse d tormentors they will make a ,

fresh start in li fe happy and i nnocent ; the tales o f E de n and the old
,

poetic gol d en age will come t rue a ga in

2 T he Occasi onal E x pulsi on of E vi ls —
.

. W e can therefore under

stand why those general clearances of ev i l to which from time to ti me ,

the savage resorts should commonly take the form of a forcib le ex p ulsion
,

of devils In these evil spirits primitive m an sees the cause of many

.

if not o f most of hi s troubles and he fanci es that i f he can only d eliver

,

himsel f from them thin gs will go better with him The publi c
,
.

attempts to expel the accumulate d ills o f a whole community may

be divi d e d into two classes accord in g as the expelled evils are im
,

m aterial and invisible or are embodied in a material vehicle or scape

goat. The former may be called the direct or immediate expulsio n

of evils ; the latter the indirect or me d iate expulsion or the expulsion ,

by scapegoat We begi n with examples of the forme r

. .

In the island o f Rook between New Guinea and New Britain , ,

when any misfortune has happened all the people run to gether , ,

scream curse b owl and beat the air with sticks to drive away the
, , ,

devil who i s supposed to be the author o f the mishap From the

, .

spot where the mishap took place they drive him step by step to
the sea and on reachin g the shore they redouble thei r shouts and
,

blows in order to expel him from the island He generally retire s .

to the sea or to the island o f Lottin The natives of N ew B ritain .

asc ribe sic k ness drought the f ailure of crops and in sho rt all mis
, , ,
5 48 THE PUBLI C E XPUL S I O N OF E VIL S CH .

for tunes , to the influence of wicked spiri ts So at times when many .

people sicken a n d die as at the beginni ng o f the rainy season , ,

all the inhabitants o f a d is trict arme d w ith branches an d clubs , ,

go out by moonli ght to the fields where they beat an d s tamp on .

,

the groun d wi th wil d howls till morn i n g believin g that this drives ,

away the d evils ; a n d fo r the same purpose they rush through the
village w ith burnin g torches The na tives o f N ew Cale d onia are sai d .

to believe that all evils are caused b y a power ful an d mali gnant
spir i t ; hence in or d er to ri d them selves o f him they will from ti m e
to time di g a g rea t p it roun d which the whole tribe ga thers , A fter .

cursin g the d emon they fill up the p it w ith ear th an d trample on

, ,

the to p w ith lou d shou ts Thi s they call buryin g the evil spirit
. .

Amon g the Dieri tribe o f Cen tral Aus tralia when a serious illness ,

occurs the m edicin e m en expel Cootchie or the d evil by beatin g the

,
~

groun d i n an d outside o f the camp with the stu ff e d tail o f a kan garoo ,

un til they have chase d the d emon away to some d i stance from the
camp .

When a village has been visi te d by a series o f di sasters or a severe

e pi d emic the inhabitants o f Minahassa in Celebes lay the blame
,

upon the d evils who are i n fes ti ng the villa ge and who must be expelled
from it Accor d in gly early one mornin g all the people men women
.
, , , ,

and children quit their homes carryin g thei r househol d goo d s with
, ,

them and take up thei r quarters in temporary huts wh i ch have been

,

erected outsi d e the villa ge Here they spen d several d ays o ffering.
,

sacrifices a n d preparin g for the final cerem ony A t las t the men .
,

some wearin g masks o thers with thei r faces blackene d and so on

, , ,

b ut all armed wi th swor d s gu n s pikes o r brooms steal caut iousl y , , , ,

and silently back to the deser ted villa ge Then at a si gnal from the .
,

pri est they rush furiously up and d own the s treets and into and
,

under the houses (which are raised on piles above the groun d ) yelling ,

an d s trikin g on walls d oors a n d w i ndows to d rive away the devils

, , ,
.

Next the priests a n d the rest o f the people come with the holy fire
,

and march nine tim es roun d e ach house and thrice round the la dder
that lea d s up to i t carryin g the fire with them
, Then they take the .

fire i nto the ki tchen where it must b urn for three d ays con tinuousl y
,
.

The d evils are now dr i ven away an d great a n d general is the joy ,
.

The A l foor s o f Halmahera attr ibu te epidemics to the d evil who

comes from o ther villa ges to carry them off So in order to rid the .
,

villag e o f the d i sease the sorcerer d riv es away the d evi l From all the
, .

villa gers he rece ives a cos tly garment and places it on four vessels .

Which he takes to the fores t and leaves at the spot where the devil is
suppose d to be Then wi th mockin g wor d s he bi d s the d emon abandon
.

the place In the Kei Islands to the south we st o f N ew Guinea

.
-
,

the evi l spi rits who are q ui te d i stinct from the souls o f the dead
, ,

form a mi ghty host Almos t every tree an d every cave i s the lodging
.

place o f one of these fiends who are moreover extremely irascible ,

an d apt to fly out on the smallest provoca tion They mani fest .

their displeasure by sendin g sickness and other cal a mities Hence .

550 T HE PUB LI C EX PU LSION OF EVIL S CH .

the house s the thre shol d of every h ous e was s we pt with the m o nk ey s
’

tail a nd the fien d was a d j ured to d epart

, .

When an epi d em i c is ragin g on the Gold Coas t o f West Africa ,

the people will sometimes turn o ut arme d with clubs and torches to , ,

d rive the evil spiri ts away At a given si gnal the whole populatio n
.

be gin with fri ght ful yells to beat in every corner o f the houses then ,

rush li ke m ad into the streets waving torches and s trikin g frantically

in the empty ai r The uproar g oes on till somebo d y reports that the
.

cowe d a n d d aunte d dem ons have m a d e good their escape by a gate

o f the town or village ; the people stream out a fter them pursue them ,

fo r some d i stance into the forest a nd warn them never to return The , .

expulsion o f the d evils is followed by a general massacre o f all the cocks

in the village or town l est by their unseasonable crowing they should
,

betray to the banished demons the d irection they must take to return
to their old homes When sickness was prevalent in a Huron village
.
,

and all other remedies ha d been trie d i n vain the In d ians ha d recourse ,
“
to the ceremony called L on ouyr oya which is the principal inven tion ,

and most proper m eans so they say to expel from the town or village
, ,

the d evils and evi l spiri ts which cause induce and import all the , ,
”
maladies a n d i nfirm ities which they su ff er in bo d y and min d Accor d .

i ngly one evenin g the men woul d be gi n to rush like madmen about the
,

villa ge breakin g an d upset tin g whatever they came across in the

,

wi gwams They threw fire and burnin g bran d s about the streets and
.
,

a ll ni gh t lon g they ran howlin g a n d sin gin g wi thout cessation Then .

they all d reamed o f some thing a kni fe d og skin or whatever it might

, , , ,

be a n d when mornin g came they went from W i gwam to W i gwam asking

,

for presents These they received silently till the particular thing
.
,

was given them which they had d reamed about On receivin g it they .

uttere d a cry o f j oy and rushe d from the hut ami d the congratulations ,

o f all present The health o f those who receive d what they had
.

d reame d o f was beli eve d to be assured ; whereas those who did not
get what they had set thei r hearts upon re gar d ed their fate as sealed .

Sometim es ins tead o f chasin g the demon o f d isease from their

,

homes sava ges pre fer to leave him in peaceable possession while they
, ,

themselves take to fli ght and attempt to prevent hi m from following

i n thei r tracks Thus when the Pata gonians were a ttacke d by small
.

p ox which they attributed to the machinations o f an evi l spirit they

, ,

used to abandon thei r sick and flee slashi n g the air with their weapons ,

and throwin g water about in or d er to keep off the d read ful pursuer ;
’
a n d when a fter several days march they reached a place where they
hoped to be beyond hi s reach they use d by way of precaution to plant
,

a ll their cuttin g w eapons with the sharp e d ges turned towards the
quarter from which they had com e as i f they were repellin g a charge of ,

cavalry Similarly when the Lules or T onocotes Indians of the Gran

.
,

Chaco w ere attacked by an epidemic they re gularly sou ght to evade ,

it by fli ght but in so doin g they always followe d a sinu ou s n ot a strai ght

, ,
'

course ; because they sai d that when the disease made a fter them
'

h e would be so exh auste d by the turnin gs and wi ndings o f the route

LVI T H E PE RIO DI C E XPULS I ON OF EVIL S 551

that he would never be able to come up with them When the Indians .

of New Mexico were d ecimate d by smallpox or other infectious di sease ,

they use d to shi ft their quarters every day retreating into the most ,

sequestered parts o f the mountains and choosin g the thorni est thickets
they coul d find in the hope that the smallpox woul d be too a frai d o f
,

scratching himsel f on the thorns to follow them When some Chins .

on a visit to Ran goon were at tacke d by cholera they went about ,

with drawn swor d s to scare away the demon an d they spent the ,

day hidin g un d er bushes so that he mi ght not be abl e to find them

3 T he P eri odi c E x pu lsi on of E vils —The expulsion o f evils from
.

. ,

b eing occasional ten d s to become periodic

,
It comes to be thought .

desirable to have a general ri d dance o f evil spiri ts at fixe d times ,

usually once a year in or d er that the people may make a fresh start
,

in li fe freed from all the mal ignant influences whi ch have been lon g
,

accumulatin g about them Some of the Aus tralian blacks annually

.

expelled the ghos ts o f the d ea d from thei r terri tory The ceremony .

was wi tnesse d by the Rev W Ri d ley on the banks o f the River Barwan
. . .

“
A chorus o f twenty o ld an d youn g were sin ging a n d beatin g time with
, ,

boomeran gs . Su d d enly from un d er a sheet of bark d arted a

,

m an wi th his bo d y whitened by pipeclay hi s head an d face coloure d ,

wi th l i nes o f red a n d yellow a n d a tu ft o f fea thers fixe d by means o f

,

a stick two fee t above the crown o f hi s hea d H e s too d twen ty minutes .

per fectly s till ga z in g upwar d s

, A n abori ginal who s tood by tol d me
.

he was looking for the ghos ts of d ead men A t last he be gan to move .

very slowly and soon rushed to an d fro at full spee d flourish i n g

, ,

a branch as i f to dr i ve away some foes invi s ible to us When I thou ght .

this pan tomime must b e almost over ten more sim i larly a d orne d , , ,

suddenly appeare d from behin d the trees an d the whole party j oine d ,

in a brisk conflic t with their mysterious assailants A t las t a fter .

,

some rapi d evolutions in w hich they p ut for th all thei r stren gth they ,

reste d from the excitin g toil which they ha d kept up all ni ght an d for
some hours a fter sunrise ; they seeme d satisfie d that the ghos ts were
driven away for twelve months They were per formin g the same .

ceremony at every sta tion alon g the r iver and I am told it is an annual ,
”
custom .

Ce rtain seasons o f the year mark themselves naturally out as

appropriate moments for a gene ral expulsion of d evils Such a .

m omen t occurs towar d s the close o f an Arctic winter when the sun ,

reappears on the hori z on a fter an absence o f weeks or months Accor d .

ingly at Point B arrow the mos t northerly ex tremity o f Alaska a n d

, , ,

nearly o f America the E squimaux choose the moment of the sun s

’
,

reappearance to hunt the mischievous spi ri t Tuha from every house .

The ceremony was w itnesse d b y the members o f the Unite d States

Polar E xpe d it i on who w i ntered at Poin t Barrow A fire was built
, .

in front o f the council house and an old wom an was posted at the
-

entrance to every house The men gathered round the council —

,

. house
while the youn g women and girls drove the spirit out of every house
with their knives stabbi ng viciously under the bun k and deer skins
,
-
,
5 52 T H E P U B L I C E X PUL SI O N o r E VI LS cn .

an d callin g upon T tui a to be gone When they thou ght he had been
'

d riven o ut o f every hole a n d corner they thrus t him d own throu gh the ,

hole i n the floor a n d chase d him i n to the open a i r wi th loud cries and
frantic ges tures M eanwhile the old woman at the entrance of the
.

house ma d e passes wi th a lon g kn i fe in the air to keep him from return

ing. E ach par ty d rove the spiri t towar d s the fire a nd invi te d him to
go in to i t All were b y th i s ti m e d rawn up in a sem ic i rcle round
.

the fire when several o f the lea d in g men ma d e specific char ges a gainst
.

the spir i t ; an d each a fte r hi s speech brushe d hi s clothes violently ,

call i n g on the sp i r i t to leave him a n d go in to the fire Two men now .

s teppe d forwar d w ith r ifles loa d e d wi th b lank car trid ges while a third ,

brou gh t a vessel o f ur i ne a n d flun g it on the flames At the same tim e .

one o f the men fire d a shot into the fire ; a nd as the clou d o f s team
rose it receive d the o ther sho t wh i ch was suppose d to finish Tuna ,

fo r the time b ein g .

In late au tumn when s torm s ra ge over the lan d an d break the

,

icy fe tters b y wh ich the frozen sea i s as yet but sli gh tly boun d when ,

the loosene d floes are d riven agains t each o ther a n d b reak wi th loud
crashes a n d when the cakes o f ice are pile d i n w ild d isor d er one upon
,

ano ther the E squimaux o f Baffin Lan d fancy they hear the voices of
,

the spir i ts who people the mi schi e f la d en air Then the ghosts of the -
.

d ea d knock w ildly at the hu ts wh ich they canno t en ter an d woe to , ,

the hapless wi gh t whom they ca tch ; he soon s i ckens an d dies Then .

the phan tom o f a hu ge hairless d og pursues the real d o g s wh ich expire ,

in convulsions a n d cramps at s i gh t o f him All the countl ess spirits .

o f evil are abroa d strivin g to brin g sickness a n d d ea th

,
foul weather ,

and failure i n huntin g on the E s q uimaux Most d rea d e d o f all these .

spec tral vi s itan ts are Se d na mis tress o f the nether world an d her
, ,

fa ther to whose share d ea d E squ i m aux fall

,
While the o ther spirits .

fill the air a n d the wa ter she rises from under ground It is then a
, .

b usy season fo r the wi z ar d s In e very house you may hear them

.

sin gin g a n d pray in g while they conj ure the spir its seate d i n a mystic
, ,

gloo m at the back o f the hut which i s d imly lit b y a l a mp burni ng,

low The har d es t task o f all is to d rive away Se d na a n d this is

.
,

reserved for the mos t power ful enchan ter A rope i s coiled on the .

floor o f a lar ge hut in such a way as to leave a small openin g at the

top which represen ts the b rea thin g hole o f a seal
,
Two enchanters .

stan d besi d e it one of them grasp in g a spear as i f he were watching

,

a seal — hole in w inter the o ther hol d in g the harpoo n line A third
,
-
.

sorcerer sits at the b ack of the hut chantin g a ma gic son g to lure
Sedna to the spo t Now she i s heard approach in g under the floor of
.

the hut brea thi ng heav i ly ; now she emer ges at the hole ; now she is
,

harpoone d and s inks away in an gry haste d ra ggin g the harpoon with ,

her wh i le the tw o men hold on to the l i ne wi th all their mi gh t T he

,
.

s tru ggle i s severe but at las t by a desperate w rench she tears hersel f
,

away an d returns to her d wellin g in A dliv un When the harpoon is .

drawn up out o f the hole i t is foun d to be splashe d with blood which the ,

e nchanters proudly exhibit as a proo f o f their prowe s s Thus Sedna .

554 T HE PU BLIC E XPUL S I ON O F EVIL S CH .

anointed the th resh old with the sam e paste and le ft it there as a to ken ,

that the inmates of the house had per formed their ablutions and
cleansed their bo d ies Meantime the H i gh Priest performed the same
.

ceremonies in the temple o f the S un A s soon as the Sun rose all .

,

the people worshipped an d besought him to d rive all evils out of the
city and then they broke thei r fast with the paste that had been
,

knea d ed without blood When they had paid thei r worship and .

broken their fast which they did at a state d hou r in order that all
, ,

mi ght a d ore the Sun as one man an I nca o f the blood royal came ,

forth from the fortress as a m essen ger o f the Sun richly dresse d with
, , ,

his mantle girde d roun d hi s body an d a lance in his hand The lance , .

was decke d with feathers o f many hues extending from the blade to ,

the socket an d fas tened wi th rin gs o f gold He ran d own the hill
, .

from the fortress bran d ishin g hi s lance till he reached the centre of ,

the great square where stoo d the gol d en urn like a fountain that was
, , ,

use d fo r the sacrifice o f the fermen ted j uice o f the maize Here four .

other Incas o f the blood royal awaited him each with a lance in his ,

hand and hi s mantle gi r d e d up to run The messenger touched their

,
.

four lances wi th hi s lance and told them that the S un bade them as , ,

his messen gers drive the evils out of the city The four Incas then
,
.

separated and ran d own the four royal roa d s which led out of the city
to the four quarters o f the world While they ran all the people .
, ,

great a nd small cam e to the doors o f thei r houses an d with great

, ,

shou ts o f j oy and gladness shook their clo thes a s i f they were shaking ,
“
o ff dust while they crie d Let the evils be gone
, H ow greatly , .

desired has this fes tival been by us 0 Creator o f all things permit us .
,
”
to reach ano ther year that we may see another feast like this
,
After .

they had shaken their clothes they passe d their han d s over their heads , ,

faces arms and le gs as if in the act o f washin g All this was done
, , , .

to drive the evi ls out o f their houses that the messen gers of the Sun ,

m i ght banish them from the city ; a n d it was done not only in the
streets throu gh which the Incas ran but generally in all quarters of ,

the city Moreover they all d anced the Inca himself amongst them
.
, , ,

an d bathe d in the rivers and fountains sayin g that their maladies ,

woul d come out of them Then they took great torches of straw . ,

boun d round with cor d s These they li ghted and passed from one .
,
“
to the other strikin g each other with them and sayin g Let all harm
, , ,

go away Meanwhile the runners ran with their lances for a quarter
.

o f a lea gue outside the city where they found fou r other Incas ready , ,

who receive d the lances from thei r han d s and ran with them Thus .

the lances were carrie d by relays o f runners fo r a d istance o f five or

six leagues at the end o f which the runners washed themselves and
,

their weapons in rivers and set u p the lances in si gn of a boundary , ,

within which the banished evils mi ght not return .

T he n e groes o f Guinea annually bani sh the devil from all their

town s with m uch ceremony at a time set apart for the purpose At .

A x im on the Gold Coast this annual ex pulsion i s preceded by a feast

, ,

of ei ght days d urin g w hi ch m i rth and j ollity skippin g d ancing and

, , , ,
 LVI T H E P E RI O DI C E XPULS I O N O F E VI L S 555

s inging prevail and a perf ect lampoonin g liberty i s allowed a nd

, ,

scandal so hi ghly exalte d that they may freely si ng of all the faults , ,

villanies and frau d s o f the i r superiors as well as in feriors without

, ,

punishment or so much as the leas t in terruption

, On the ei ghth .

day they hunt out the d evil wi th a d ismal cry runnin g a fter him and ,

pelting him with s ticks s tones and whatever comes to hand When , , .

they have d riven him far enou gh out o f the town they all return In , .

this way he is expelled from more than a hun d re d towns a t the same
tim e To make sure that he d oes not return to their houses the women
.
,

wash an d scour all their woo d en a nd earthen vessels to free them ,

”
from all uncleanness an d the devil .

A t Cape Coas t Cas tle on the Gold Coas t the ceremony was wit , ,

messe d on the n i n th o f Oc tober 18 44 by an E n glishman who has , , ,

describe d it as follows : To ni ght the an n ual custom o f d rivin g the

“
-

evil spir it A b on sa m out of the town has taken place A s soon as

, , .

’
the eight o cloc k gun fire d in the for t the people be gan firin g muskets
in their houses turnin g all the i r furn iture out of d oors beati n g ab out
, ,

in every corner o f the room s w i th s ti cks etc a nd screami n g as lou d ly , .

,

as poss ib le in order to fri ghten the d evil Bein g d riven out of the
, .

houses as they ima gine they sallie d forth into the stree ts throwin g
, , ,

li ghte d torch e s a b out shouti n g scream i n g beating sticks to ge ther

, , , ,

rattl ing old pans maki ng the mos t horr i d noise in or d er to d r ive him
, ,

out of the town i nto the sea The custom is prece d e d b y four weeks .
’

dead silence ; no gun is allowe d to b e fire d no d rum to be beaten no , ,

palaver to be ma d e between m an an d man If d urin g these weeks .

, ,

two natives shoul d d isa g ree a n d make a no i se in the town they are ,

im me diately taken be fore the kin g an d fined heav ily If a dog or .

pig sheep or goa t be foun d at lar ge in the stree t it may be k i lle d or

, , ,

taken by anyone the former owner not b e i n g allowe d to d eman d any

,

com pensation Th i s silence i s desi gne d to d eceive A b on sa m that

.
, ,

b eing off his guar d he may be taken by surprise a n d fri gh tene d out
, ,

of the place If anyone di e d urin g the s i lence his rela tives are not
.
,
”
allowe d to weep until the four weeks have been comple te d .

Sometimes the d ate of the annual expul sion o f d ev i ls i s fixe d wi th

re ference to the a gricultural seasons Thus amon g the Hos o f To go .

land in West A frica the expulsion is per forme d annually be fore the
, ,

people partake o f the new yam s The chie fs summon the pri ests a n d .

m agicians a nd tell them tha t the people are now to eat the new yarns
and be merry there fore they must cleanse the town a n d remove the
,

evils Accor d in gly the evil spi rits w itches an d all the ills that in fest
.
, ,

the people are conj ure d in to bun d les o f leaves a n d creepers fastene d to ,

poles which are carr i ed away an d set up in the ear th on various roa d s
,

outside the town Durin g the followin g ni ght no fire may be lit a n d
.

no foo d ea ten Next mornin g the women sweep out thei r hearths
.

and houses and deposit the sweepi ngs on broken woo d en pla tes
, .

“
Then the people pray sayin g All ye s i cknesses that are in our bo dy , ,
”
and pla ue us we are come to day to throw you out Thereupo n
g
-
, .

they run as fa st a s they can in the direc tion of Mount Adaklu smitin g ,
5 56 T HE PUB LI C E XPULS I O N O F E VILS CH
.

thei r mou ths and screamin g Out to -day ! Out to d ay ! That ,

-

which kills anybody out to day ! Ye evil spirits out to day ! and all
,
-
,
-

that causes our heads to ache out to d ay ! A nlo and A d aklu are the ,
-

”
places whi ther all ill shall bet ake i tself ! When they have come to
a certain tree on Mount A d aklu they throw everything away and ,

return home .

A t Kiriwina i n S outh E as tern N ew Guinea when the new yam s

,
-
,

ha d been harvested the people feaste d and danced for many d ays and
, ,

a great deal of property such as armlets native money and so forth , , , ,

was d isplaye d conspicuously on a plat form erected for the purpose .

When the fes tiviti es were over all the people gathered to gether and ,

expelle d the spirits from the villa ge by shoutin g beatin g the posts of ,

the houses a n d overtur nin g every thin g under which a wily spiri t mi ght
,

be suppose d to lurk The explana ti on which the people gave to a

.

mi ssionary was that they had entertained and feasted th e spirits and
provide d them with riches and it was now time for them to take their ,

departure Had they not seen the dances and heard the songs and
.
, ,

g orge d themselves on the souls o f the yarns and appropriate d the souls ,

o f the money and all the other fine thin gs set out on the platform ?
What more could the spi rits want ? So out they must go .

Amon g the Hos o f N orth E as tern India the great fes tival of the -

year is the harvest home held i n January when the granar i es are full, ,

o f grain an d the people to use their own expression are full o f d evilry
, , , .

“
They have a stran ge notion tha t at thi s period men and women are ,

so overchar ged with vicious propens ities that it is absolu tely necessary ,

for the sa fety o f the person to let o ff s team by allowing for a time full
ven t to the passions The ceremon i es open with a sacrifice to the
.

villa ge god o f three fowls a cock a n d two hens one of wh ich must be , ,

black Alon g with them are o ff ered fl owers of the palas tree (B utea “

—
.

fr ond osa ) b read made

,
from rice fl o u r and sesamum see d s These , .

o fferin gs are presented by the village p ri est who prays that during ,

the yea r about to be gin they an d the i r children m ay be preserved from

all mi s fortune and sic k ness a n d that they may have seasonable rain ,

and goo d crops Prayer i s also ma d e in some places for the souls of
'

the d ead At this time an evil sp i ri t is supposed to in fes t the place

.
,

and to get ri d o f it men wom en and children go in procession round

, ,

a nd throu gh every part o f the villa ge w ith sticks in thei r han ds as if .

,

beatin g fo r game si ngin g a wild chan t and shouti ng voci ferously till
, , ,

they feel assure d that the ev i l spirit must have fled Then they give .

them selves up to feastin g and d rinkin g rice -beer till they are in a ,

fit state for the wild d ebauch which follows The festival now .

becomes a saturnale durin g which servants forget thei r duty to

,

thei r masters children thei r revere nce for parents men their respect
, ,

for women and women all n o tions o f modesty d elicacy and gentle
, , ,

ness ; they become ra gin g bacchantes Usually the Hos are quiet .

and reserve d in manner decorous a n d gentle to women B ut during , .

thi s festival their natures appear to un d er go a temporary change

“
.

S on s and daughters revile their parents in gross lan gua ge and p arents ,
5 58 T HE PU BLI C EXP U LSI ON OF EVI L S CH .

thei r share i n the expulsio n of devils Thus chase d from the houses .
,

the fien d s flee to the banquet which has been set out fo r them ; b ut
here the priest receives them wi th curses which finally drive them from
the d istric t When the las t d evi l has taken hi s departure the uproar
. ,

i s succee d e d b y a d ea d s i lence which lasts durin g the next day also , .

The d ev ils it is thou ght are anxious to return to thei r old homes
, , ,

a n d in or d er to make them think that Bali i s n ot Bali but some d esert

i slan d no one may sti r from his own abo d e for twenty four hours
,
-
.

E ven or d inary househol d work inclu d in g cookin g is d iscontinued , , .

Only the wa tchmen may show themselves i n the streets Wreaths of .

thorns and leaves are hun g at all the entrances to warn stran gers fro m
en terin g N ot till the thir d day i s this state of sie ge raised and even
.
,

t hen it is forbi dd en to work at the rice fields or to buy a nd sell in the -

market Mos t people still stay at home whilin g away the time with
.
,

car d s a nd d ice .

In Tonquin a theck ydaw or general expulsion of malevolent spirits

commonly took place once a year especially if there was a great ,

mor tality amon gst men the elephants or horses o f the general s stable
,
’

or the ca ttle o f the country the cause o f which they at tribute to the ,
“

mal icious spir its o f such m en as have been put to d eath for treason ,

reb ellion a n d conspirin g the death o f the kin g general or princes

, , , ,

and that in reven ge o f the punishment they have su ffere d they are ,
.

bent to d estroy everything a n d commit horrible violence To prevent .

which their supers ti tion has suggested to them the institution of this
thec k yd aw as a proper means to d rive the d evil away and pur ge the
, ,
”
coun try o f evil spir its The day appointed for the ceremony was
.

gen erally the t wenty fifth o f February one month a fter the b e ginning
-
,

o f the new year which fell on the twenty fi fth o f January

,
The inter -
.

me d ia te month was a season of feastin g merry makin g o f all kinds ,

-
,

and general licence Durin g the whole m onth the great seal was kept
.

shut up i n a box face d ownwards and the law was as it were laid
, , , ,

asleep All courts o f j ustice were closed ; d ebtors could n ot be seize d ;

.

small crimes such as pe tty larceny fi ghtin g and assault escaped with
, , , ,

impunity ; only treason and murder were taken account of and the
male factors d etained ti ll the great seal should come into operation
again At the close o f the saturnalia the wicked spirits were driven
.

away Great masses o f troops and artillery havin g been d rawn up

.

wi th flyin g colours a nd all the pomp o f war the genera l b eginneth ,

“

then to o ffer meat o fferin g s to the criminal devils and malevol ent
spiri ts (for it i s usual an d cus tomary likewise amon gst them to feast
the con d emne d be fore their execution ) inviting them to eat and drink , ,

when presen tly he accuses them in a stran ge lan gua ge by characters ,

a n d fi gures etc of many o ffences and crimes committed by them

,
.
, ,

as to th eir havi ng disquieted the land killed hi s elephants and horses , ,

etc for all which they j ustly d eserve to be chastise d and banished the
.
,

country Whereupon three great guns are fire d as the last signal ;
.

upon which all the artillery a nd m usq uets are d ischar ged that by
.
, ,

their most terrible noise the devils may be driven away ; and they are
 LVI T HE PE R IO DI C E XPULSI ON OF E VIL S 5 59

so blind as to believe for certain that they really and e ff ectually put ,

them to flight .

In Cambodia the expulsion of evil spirits took place in March B its .

of broken sta tues a nd stones consi dered as the abo d e of the d emons
, ,

were collected an d brou ght to the capi tal Here as many elephants .

were collected as could be got to gether On the evenin g o f the full .

m oon volleys of m usketry were fire d a n d the elephants char ged furiously
to put the d evils to fli ght The ceremony was per formed on three
.

successive days In Siam the banishment o f d emons i s annually carried

.

into e ffect on the last day of the old year A s ignal gun is fire d from .

the palace ; it is answere d from the next s tation a n d so on from station ,

to s tation till the fir i n g has r eache d the outer gate o f the city
, Thus .

the demons are d riven out step b y s tep As soo n as this is done a .

consecrate d rope i s fastene d roun d the circui t o f the ci ty walls to p reven t

the banishe d d emons from re turnin g The rope i s ma d e o f tough .

couch grass an d is pain ted in al terna te stripes o f red yellow an d blue

-
, , .

Annual expulsions o f d emons wi tches or evil influences appear , ,

to have been common amon g the heathen o f E urope i f we may j u d ge ,

from the relics o f such cus toms amon g the i r d escendan ts at the presen t
day Thus amon g the hea then W otyak s a Finnish people o f E as tern
.
,

Russia all the youn g gi rls o f the v i lla ge assem b le on the last day o f
,

the year or on N ew Year s Day armed wi th sticks the ends o f which

’

, ,

are spli t in nine places W ith these they b eat every corner o f the
.

”
house and yar d sayin g We are d riving Satan out o f the villa ge
, , .

Afterwar d s the s ticks are thrown in to the river below the villa ge and ,

as they float d own stream Satan goes wi th them to the next v i lla ge ,

from wh i ch he must b e d r iven out in turn In some villages the .

expulsion i s mana ge d otherwise The unmarrie d men receive from .

every house in the villa ge groats flesh a n d bran dy These they , , .

take to the fields li ght a fire under a fir tree b o i l the groa ts and eat
,
-
, ,

of the foo d they have brou ght wi th them a fter pronouncin g the ,
”
wor ds Go away into the w il d erness come not in to the house
,
“
, .

Then they return to the villa ge a n d enter every house where there
are youn g women They take hol d o f the youn g women and throw
.

“ ”
them into the snow sayin g May the spiri ts o f d isease leave you
, , .

The remai n s o f the groats an d the other foo d are then dis tr ib u te d
am on g all the houses in proportion to the amoun t that each con
tribute d an d each fam ily consumes its share Accor d in g to a W otyak
,
.

of the M a lm
yz d i s trict the youn g m en throw into the snow whomever ” “
they fin d in the houses a nd th i s is calle d d r ivin g out Satan ;
,

moreover some o f the boiled groats are cas t in to the fire wi th the
,

words O god affli ct u s not wi th sickness a n d pes tilence give us not

,
“

, ,
”
up as a prey to the spiri ts o f the woo d But the most antique .

form of the ceremony i s that observe d by the W otyak s o f the Kasan

Governmen t Firs t o f all a sacrifice is o ffered to the Devil at noon
. .

Then all the men assemble on horseback in the centre o f the

y illa e and deci d e wi th which house they shall be i n When this
g , g .

question which o ften gi ves rise to hot d i sputes i s settle d they tet he r
, , ,
 5 60 T HE PUB LI C E XPUL S I O N OF E VILS CH
.

their horses to the palin g a n d arm themselves w ith whips clubs of , ,

lime woo d an d bun d les o f li gh te d twi gs

-
The li ght e d twi gs are .

believed to have the grea tes t terrors fo r Satan Thus arme d they .
,

procee d with fr igh tfu l cries to beat every corner o f the house and
yar d then shu t the door a n d spi t at the ej ecte d fiend So they go
, ,
.
.

from house to house ti ll the Dev has been d r i ven from every one
i
’

, .

Then they moun t the i r horses a nd ri d e out o f the village yelling ,

wil d ly an d bran d i sh i n g their club s in every d i rection Outside of .

the villa ge they fl i n g away the clubs and sp i t once more at the Devil .

T he Cherem i ss ano ther F i nn i sh people o f E as tern Russia chas e

, ,

Sa tan from their d well in gs by b eatin g the walls with cud gels o f li m e
woo d For the same purpose they fire gun s stab the g round with
.
,

knives and insert burnin g chips o f woo d in the crevices Also they
, .

leap over bonfires shak i n g out the i r garments as they d o so ; and

,

in som e d is tr i cts they blow on lon g trumpets o f l i me tree bark to -

fr i gh ten him away When he has fl ed to the woo d they pelt the
.
,

trees with some o f the cheese cakes and e ggs which furnished the -

feas t .

In Christian E urope the old hea then cus tom o f expellin g the powers
o f ev i l at cer tain times o f the year has survive d to mo d ern times .

Thus in some villa ges of Calabria the m on th o f March is inau gurate d

with the expulsion o f the witches It takes place a t ni gh t to the .

soun d o f the church bells the people runnin g about the s treets and
cryin g March i s come
, They say that the witches roam ab out
.

in March a nd the ceremony is repea ted every Fri d ay even i ng during

,

the mon th O ften as mi ght have been anticipated the ancient

.
, ,

pa gan r ite has attache d itsel f to church fes ti vals In Albania on .

E aster E v e the you ng people li gh t torches o f resinous woo d and march

in procession swin gin g them throu gh the villa ge
, At last they , .

throw the torches in to the river cryin g Ha Kore ! we throw you , ,

“

in to the river like these torche s that you may never return
, Silesian ,
.

peasants believe that on Goo d Fri d ay the wi tches go thei r rounds

an d have g rea t power for m i sch i e f H ence abou t Oels near S trehlitz .
, ,

the people on that day arm them selves wi th old b rooms an d drive
the wi tches from house a nd home from farmyar d and cattle stall ,
-
,

makin g a great uproar a n d cla tter as they d o so .

In Cen tral E urope the favou r ite t i me for expellin g the wi tches
is or was Walpur gi s Ni ght the E ve o f May Day when the bale ful
, , , ,

powers o f these mischievo u s bei n gs were suppose d to be at their hei ght .

In the Tyrol for example as in o ther places the expulsion of the

, , ,

powers o f evil at th i s season goes b y the name of Burnin g out the “

Witches It takes place on May Day b u t people have been busy

.
,

with thei r prepara ti ons fo r d a ys be fore On a Thursday at mi dn ight .

bun d les are m ad e up o f res i nous splin ters black a n d r ed spotte d ,

hemlock cap ersp u rge rosemary an d twi gs o f the sloe These are
, , , .

kept a n d burned on M ay Day by men who mus t first have received

plenary absolutio n from the Church On the last three d ays of April .

all the houses a re cleans ed a n d fumi gated with j uniper berries and
H i

L
5 62 PU BLI C SCAP EGOA T S CH
.

CHAPT E R LVI I

P U BLI C S C A PE OA T S G
l . T he E x pu lsi on of E m b odi ed E vils Thus far we have dealt with —
that class o f the general expulsion o f evils which I have called direct
or immediate I n this class the evils are invisible at least to common
.
,

eyes and the mo d e o f deliverance consis ts for the most part in beating
,

the empty air and ra i sin g such a hub bub as may scare the mi schievous
spirits a n d put them to fl igh t It rema i ns to illustrate the second .

class o f expulsions i n which the evil influences are embodie d in a

,

visible form or are at least suppose d to be loade d upon a material

me d ium which acts as a vehicle to d raw them off from the people
, ,

villa ge or town ,
.

The Pomos o f Cali fornia celebrate an expulsion o f d evils every

seven years at wh i ch the devils are represented by d is guised men
, .

“
Twen ty or th i rty m en array themselves in harlequin rig and barbaric
p aint and put vessels o f pi tch on their heads ; then they secretly go
,

out in to the surroun d in g mountains These are to personi fy the .

devils A heral d goes up to the top o f the assembly house and

.
-
,

m akes a speech to the multitu d e At a si gnal a greed upon in the .

even i n g the m asquera d ers come in from the mountains wi th the ,

vessels of pitch flamin g on thei r hea d s and with all the fri ght ful ,

accessories o f no i se motion and costume which the savage mind can

, ,

d evi se in representation o f demons The t errified women a n d ch il dren .

flee fo r li fe the men hu dd le them insi d e a circle and on the principle

, , ,

o f fi ghtin g the d evil with fire they swin g blazing fireb rands in the ,

ai r yell whoop and make frantic dashes at the marau d ing and
, , ,

bloo dthi rsty d ev i ls so creatin g a terrific spectacle and striking great

, ,

fear into the hearts o f the assemble d hundreds o f wom en who are ,

screamin g an d faintin g a n d cl i n gi ng to their valorous protectors .

Finally the d evils succee d in getti n g into the assembly house and -
,

the bravest o f the men enter and hol d a parley with them As a .

conclusi on o f the whole farce the men summon coura ge the d evils , ,

are expelle d from the assembly house and with a prodi gious row and -
,
”
racket o f sham fi gh tin g are chase d away into the mountains In
spri n g as soon as the w i llow —
.

,
leaves were full grown on the banks of
the r iver the M andan In d ians celebrated their great annual festival
, ,

one o f th e features of which was the expulsion of the d evil A man . ,

painted black to represent the d evil entered the villa ge from the ,

p rai rie chased an d fri ghtened the women and acted the part of a
, ,

b u ffalo bull in the bu ffalo dance the obj ect o f which was to ensure a ,

plenti ful supply o f bu ffaloes during the ensuin g year Finally he .

was chased from the village the women pursuing him with hisses ,

an d gibes beatin g him with st icks an d pel tin g him wi th d irt

, , .

S ome o f the native tribes of Central Queenslan d believe in a noxious

being called Molo nga who p rowls unseen and would kill men and ,
LVII T H E OC CA S IO N A L E X PU LSION O F EV ILS 563

viol ate women i f ce rtain ceremonies were not performed These .

ceremonies last for five ni ghts and consist o f dances in which only ,

m en ,
fant a stically painte d a n d a d orned take part On the fi fth , .

ni ght Molon ga him sel f personifie d by a man tricke d out with red
,

ochre an d feathers a n d carryin g a lon g feather -tippe d spear rushe s ,

forth from the darkness at the spectators an d makes as i f he woul d

run them throu gh Great is the excitement lou d are the shrieks
.
,

and shouts but a fter ano ther fei gned at tack the d emon vanishes in
s

the gloom On the last ni ght o f the year the palace of the Kin g s
.

of Cambodia i s pur ge d o f d ev i ls M en painted as fien d s are chase d

.

by elephants about the palace courts When they have been expelle d .
,

a consecrate d threa d of co tton is s tretche d roun d the palace to keep

them out In M un z erab a d a d i strict of Mys ore in Southern In di a
.
, ,

when cholera or smallpox has broken out in a pari sh the inhabitants ,

assemble and conj ure the d emon o f the d iseas e into a woo d en ima ge ,

which they carry generally at midni ght into the next parish The
, ,
.

inhabitants of that parish in l ike manner pass the image on to their

neighbours an d thus the d emon is expelle d fro m one village a fter
,

another until he comes to the bank o f a river into wh ich he i s finally

,

thrown .

O ftener however the expelled d emons are not represente d at

, ,

all b ut are un d erstoo d to be presen t invis i bly i n the material and

,

visible veh icle which conveys them away Here again i t w i ll be .

, ,

convenient to d is tin gui sh between occasional an d perio d ical expuls i ons .

We begin with the former .

T he Occas i on a l E x pulsi on o f E vils i n a M a teri a l Vehi cle

2 . .

The vehicle wh i ch conveys away th e d emons may be of various ki n d s .

A common one is a l ittle ship or boat Thus , in the southern d istrict .

of the islan d o f Ceram , when a whole v i lla e su f f ers from sickness , a

g
small ship is ma d e an d fille d with rice , tobacco , e ggs , a n d so forth ,
which have been contribu te d by all the people A l ittle sail is hoiste d .

on the ship When all i s ready , a man calls out in a very lou d voice ,
.

0 all ye sicknesses ye smallpoxes a gues measles etc who have

, , , , .
,

visite d us so lon g a n d wasted us so sorely b ut who now cease to plague ,

us we have ma d e rea dy this ship fo r you and we have furnishe d you

, ,

with provender suffic i ent for the voya ge Ye shall have no lack o f .

food nor o f betel leaves nor o f areca nuts nor o f tobacco

-
Depart .
,

and sail away from us d irectly ; never come near us a a i n ; but

g go
to a lan d which is far from here L et all the ti d es and win d s waft .

you spee d ily thi ther and so convey you thi ther tha t fo r the time to
,

come we may live soun d a n d well an d that we may never see the sun ,
”
rise on you again Then ten or twelve men carry the vessel to the
.

shore and let it d ri ft away wi th the lan d bree z e feelin g convince d

,
-
,

that they are free from sickness for ever or at leas t t i ll the next time , .

If sickness attacks them a gain they are sure i t is not the same sickness
, ,

but a di fferent one which i n d ue time they d i sm i ss in the same manner ;

,

When the d emon la d en bark i s lost to si ght the bearers return to the
-
,

village whereupon a man cries out The sicknesses are now gone
, ,
“
,
S64 PU BLIC SCAP EGOA TS CH .

vanished e x pelled an d sailed away

, At this all the p eople co m e
, .

runni ng out of thei r houses passin g the word from one to the other ,

w ith great j oy beatin g on gon gs a n d on ti nklin g instruments

, .

S imilar ceremonies a re commonly resorte d to in other E ast Indian

i slan d s Thus in Timor lau t to mi slead the demons who are causin g
.
-
,

sickness a small proa containi ng the ima ge of a man a n d provisione d

, ,

fo r a lon g voya ge i s allowed to dri ft away with w in d and tide

,
.

A s it i s be i n g launche d the people cry O sickness go from here ; , ,

“
,

turn b ack ; what d o you here i n thi s poor lan d Three days
a fter this ceremony a p i g is kille d a n d par t o f the flesh is o ffere d to ,

Du d i la a who l ives in the sun

“
, One o f the ol d est men says Old .
,

sir I beseech you make well the gran d chil d ren chil d ren women
,
-
, , ,

a n d men that we may be able to eat pork a n d rice and to d rink palm
,

wine I w ill keep my prom i se E a t your share a n d make all the

. .
,
”
people i n the vill a ge well If the proa is st ran d e d at any inhabite d
.

spot the s ickness will break out there Hence a s trand ed proa excites
, .

m uch alarm amon gs t the coas t populat i on an d they imme d iately ,

burn i t because d em ons fl y from fire In the islan d of B urn the proa
, .

which carries away the d emons o f disease i s about twenty feet lon g ,

ri gge d out wi th sa i ls oars anchor a n d so on a n d well stocke d with

, , , ,

prov i s i ons For a clay and a n i gh t the people beat gon gs an d d rums
.
,

and rush about to fri ghten the d emons Next mornin g ten stalwart .

you ng men s trike the people wi th branches which have been pre ,

vio u sly d i ppe d in an earthen p ot o f wa ter A s soon as they have .

d one so they run d own to the beac h p ut the branches on boar d the
, ,

proa launch ano ther b oat i n great haste a n d tow the d isease bur d ened
, ,
-

bark fa r out to sea There they cast it off a nd one of them calls
out Grand father Smallpox go away—go w illin gly away—go visit
.
,
“

, ,

a nother lan d ; we have ma d e you foo d rea d y fo r the voya ge we have ,

”
now no thin g more to give When they have lande d all the people .
,

bathe to gether in the sea In this ceremony the reason fo r striking .

the people wi th the b ranches i s clearly to rid them o f the d isease

d emons which are then suppose d t o be trans ferred to the branches
, .

H ence the has te with wh ich the branches are d eposite d in the proa
a n d towe d away to sea So in the inlan d d istric ts o f Ceram when
.
,

smallpox or o ther sickness i s ra gin g the pri es t strikes all the houses ,

with consecrate d branches which are then thrown into the river to , ,

be carri e d d own to the sea ; exactly as amon gst the W otyak s o f

Russia the s ticks which have been used for expellin g the devils from
the villa ge are thrown into the river that the current may sweep ,

the bale ful burden away The plan o f puttin g puppets in the boat .

to represent sick persons in order to lure the d emons after them is , ,

not uncommon For example most o f the pa gan tribes on the coast
.
,

o f Borneo seek to drive away epi d emic d i sease as follows They .

carve one or m ore rou gh human ima ges from the pith o f the sa go
p alm and place them on a small ra ft or boat or full ri gged Malay
-

ship to gether with rice and other food The boat i s decke d with .

blossom s o f the arec a p alm and with ribbons made from its leaves .
5 66 PUB LI C S CA P E GOAT S CH .

Som e of the abori gin a l tri b es of China as a protection a gainst ,

pestilence select a man o f great muscular stren gt h to act the part

,

o f scape goat H avin g besmeare d his fa ce with pain t he per forms

.
,

many antics with the vi ew o f e nticin g all pes tilen tial a n d noxious
i nfluences to at tach themselves to him only He is assist e d by a .

priest . Finally the scape goat hotly pursue d by men an d women ,

beatin g gon gs an d tom tom s is d riven wi th great haste out o f the -

,

town or villa ge I n the P un j a ub a cure for the murrain i s to hire a

.

man o f the Chamar caste turn hi s face away from the villa ge brand , ,

him with a red hot sickle and let him go out into the j un gle taking
-
,

the m urr a i n with him He must not look back

3 T he P er i odi c E x pu lsi on of E vi ls i n a M a teria l Vehi cle —The
. .

. .

m e d iate exp ulsion of evils by mean s o f a scape goat or other material

vehicle like the imme d iate expulsi on o f them i n invisible form ten d s
, ,

to become periodic and for a like reason Thus every year generally
, .
,

i n March the people of Leti M oa and Lakor islan d s o f the Indian

, , , ,

A rchipela go sen d away all their diseases to sea They make a proa
, .

about si x feet lon g rig it with sails oars ru d der and other gear
, l , , , ,

a n d every family d eposi ts in it some rice fruit a fowl two e ggs , , , ,

insects that rava ge the fiel d s an d so on Then they let it dri ft away , .

“
to sea sayi ng Take away from here all kin d s o f sickness take them
, , ,

to other i slan d s to other lan d s d istribute them in places that lie

, ,
”
eastward where the sun ri ses
, The B i a j as o f Borneo annually sen d .

to sea a litt le bark la d en with the sins a n d mis for tunes o f the people
The crew o f any ship that falls i n with the ill —
.

omened bark at sea

will su ffer all the sorrows wi th which it is la d en A like cus tom i s .

annually observe d by the Dusuns o f the Tuaran district in Bri tish

N orth Borneo The ceremo n y i s the most impor tant o f the whole
.

year Its aim i s to brin g goo d luck to the village d urin g the ensuing
.

year by solemnly expelli ng all the evil spirits that may have collected
in or abou t the houses throu ghou t the last twelve months The .

task o f routin g out the d emons a n d banishin g them devolves chiefly

on women Dresse d i n thei r finest array they go in procession
.
,

throu gh the vi lla ge One o f them carries a small suckin g p ig in a

.

basket on her back ; a nd all o f them bear wan d s with which they ,

belabour the l i ttle p ig at the appropriate moment ; its squeals help

to attract the v agran t spirits At every house the women d ance .

and sin g clashing cas tane ts or cymbals of brass and j in glin g bunches
,

o f lit tle brass bells i n both hands When the per formance has been .

repeated at every house i n the village the processi on defiles down ,

to the r i ver and all the evil sp i rits which the per formers have chased
, ,

fro m the houses follow them to the e d ge o f the water , There a raft .

has bee n ma d e ready an d m oore d to the bank It contains o ff erin gs .

o f food cloth cooki ng pots and swor d s ; a n d the d eck i s crowded

, ,
-
,

with fi gures of m en women animals a n d bir d s all ma d e out o f the

, , , ,

leaves o f the sa go palm The evil spirits now embark on the ra ft .

,

and when they are all aboar d it i s pushe d off and allowed to float ,
'

down with the current carryin g the demons with it Should the ra ft , .
LVII T H E PER IO DI C E X PU L SI ON or E VILS 67

run agroun d near the villa ge it is shove d off with all speed lest the , ,

invisi b le passen gers shoul d se ize the opportunity o f la n di n g and re

turnin g to the v i lla ge Finally the su ff erin gs o f the li ttle p ig whose
.
, ,

squeals serve d to decoy the d emons from their lurkin g places are -
,

term inate d by d eath for it i s kille d and its carcase thrown away
,
.

E very ye a r at the be ginnin g o f the dry season the N icobar Islanders

, ,

carry the model o f a ship throu gh thei r villa ges The d evils are .

chased out of the huts and d riven on boar d the l ittle ship which
, ,

is then launched and su ffered to sail away w i th the win d The cere .

mony has been d escribe d by a catech i st who witnesse d it at Car

“

Nicoba r in July 18 97 For three days the people were b usy preparin g
two very lar ge floatin g cars shaped l i ke canoes fi tte d wi th sa i ls, , ,

and loade d wi th cer tain leaves wh ich possesse d the valuable proper ty ,

of expellin g d ev i ls While the youn g people were thus en ga ge d the

.
,

exorc i s ts an d the elders sat in a house si ngin g son gs by turns ; b ut

o ften they would come for th pace the beach a rm ed wi th ro d s , ,

and forbi d the d evil to en ter the villa ge The four th d ay o f the .

solemnity bore a name wh i ch means E xpellin g the Dev i l by

”
Sails .In the even in g all the villa gers assem b led the women b rin g ,

ing baskets of ashes a n d bunches o f d evi l expell i n g leaves These -

.

leaves were then dis tribute d to every b o dy old an d youn g When , .

all was rea d y a ban d o f ro b us t m en atten d e d b y a guar d o f exorci s ts

, , ,

carrie d one o f the cars d own to the sea on the ri gh t s i d e o f the villa ge
graveyard an d s et it floa tin g in the wa ter
,
As soon as they ha d .

returned ano ther ban d o f men carrie d the o ther car to the beach
,

and floated it similarly i n the sea to the le ft o f the graveyar d The .

demon la d en barks be i ng now launche d the women threw ashes from

-
,

the shore a n d the whole crow d shou te d sayin g

,
Fly away d ev il , , , ,
”
fly away never come aga in ! The w in d an d the t i d e b e in g favour
,

able the canoes sa ile d qu ickly away ; a nd that ni ght all the people
,

feas te d to gether w ith grea t j oy because the d evil had d epar te d in ,

the d irect i on of Chowra A s im i lar expulsion o f d evil s takes place

.

once a year in o ther N ico b ar v i llages ; b ut the cerem on i es are hel d

at di fferent times in d i fferent places .

Amon gst many o f the ab or iginal tribes o f China a great fes tival ,

is celebrate d i n the third mon th o f every year It is hel d by way .

o f a general rej oicin g over what the people bel i eve to be a to tal a nn ihi

lation o f the ills of the past twelve mon ths The d e s truction i s sup .

pos ed to b e e ffec te d in the follow in g way A lar ge ear thenware j ar .

fille d wi th gunpow d er stones a n d bi ts of iron is b ur ie d in the ear th

, , .

A train o f gunpowder , communicatin g wi th the j ar is then lai d ; ,

and a match be in
g applie d the j ar a n d its contents are blown up
, .

The stones an d bi ts o f i ron represen t the i lls a n d di sasters o f the past

year a n d the d ispersion o f them by the explosion is bel i eve d to remove
,

the ills and d isasters themselves The fes tival i s atten d e d wi th much .

revellin g a nd drun kenness .

At Old Calabar on the coas t of Guinea the d evils a n d ghosts are ,

,

or used to be publ icly expelle d once in two years Amon g the spirits
, .
5 68 PUBLIC S CAP E GOAT S CH .

thus driv en fro m th ei r h au nts are the souls o f all the p eopl e who die d
since the last lustrat i on o f the town About three weeks or a month .

be fore the expulsion which accor di n g to one account takes place in

,

the month of N ovember ru d e effigies representin g men and animals

, ,

such as crocodiles leopar d s elephant s bullocks and birds are made

, , , , ,

o f wicker -work or woo d a n d bein g hun g with strips o f cloth and

,

be dizened with gew gaws are set be fore the d oor of every house
-
, .

’
Abou t three o clock in the mornin g o f the day appointed for the
ceremony the whole population turns out into the st reets and procee ds ,

with a d ea fenin g uproar and in a state o f the wil d est excitement to

d rive all lurkin g d evils and ghos ts into the effigies in order that they ,

may be banishe d wi th them from the abo d es o f men For thi s purpose .

ban d s o f people roam throu gh the streets knockin g on d oors firin g ,

guns beatin g drums blowin g on horns rin gin g bells clatterin g pots
, , , ,

a n d pans ,
shoutin g an d hallooin g with mi ght a n d main in short ,

maki n g all the noise i t i s possible for the m to raise The hubbub .

goes on till the app roach o f d awn when it gra d ually subsi d es and ,

ceases al to gether at sunrise By this time the houses have been

.

thorou ghly swept an d all the fr ightened spiri ts are supposed to have
,

hu d d le d into the effigi es or thei r flutterin g drapery In these wicker .

fi gures are also d epos ited the sweepin g s of the houses and the ashes
’
o f yes ter d ay s fires Then the d emon laden ima ges are hastily snatche d
.
-

up carried i n tumul tuous procession d own to the brink o f the river

, ,

a n d thrown in to the wa ter to the tuck o f drums The ebb ti d e bears .

-

them away seawar d a n d thus the town i s swe p t clean o f ghos ts a nd

,

d evils fo r another two years .

Similar annual expulsions o f embodied evils are not unknown in

E urope On the evenin g o f E aster Sun d ay the gypsies o f Southern
E urope take a woo d en vessel like a ban d — box which rests cra d le —
.

wise ,

on two cross pieces o f woo d I n th i s they place herbs and simples

.
,

to ge ther w ith the dri ed carcase o f a snake or lizard which every , ,

person present must first have touche d with hi s fin gers The vessel .

is then wrapt in white and red wool carrie d by the ol d est man from ,

tent to tent an d finally thrown in to runnin g water not however

, , , ,

be fore every m ember o f the band has spat into it once and the ,

sorceress has ut tere d some spells over it They beli eve that by .

p er formin g thi s ceremony they dispel all the illnesses that woul d
o therwise have affl icte d them in the course o f the year ; and that i f any
one fin d s the vessel and opens it out of curiosity he and his will be ,

visite d by all the mala d ies which the others have escaped .

The scape goat by means o f which the accumulated ills o f a whole

year are publicly expelle d i s sometimes an animal For example . ,
“
amon g the Garos o f Assam besi d es the sacrifices for in d ividual
,

cases of illness there are certain ceremonies which are observed once
,

a year by a whole commun ity or villa ge a n d are inten d e d to sa fe ,

uard its members from d an ers o f the forest and from sickness and
g g ,

m i shap d urin g the comin g twelve months The principal o f these .

i s the A songta ta ceremony Close to the outski rts o f every b ig

.
57 0 PUB LI C S CAP E GOAT S CH .

—
able crimes one for the lan d a n d one for the r i ver A man from a .

nei ghbour i n g town was hi re d to put them to d eath On the twenty .

seven th o f February 18 5 8 the Rev J C Taylor wi tnessed the sacrifice . . .

o f one o f these victims The su fferer was a woman about nineteen

.
,

or twen ty years o f a ge They d ra gged her alive alon g the groun d

.
,

fac e d ow nwards from the ki n g s house to the river a distance o f

’

, ,

two miles the crow d s who accompanie d her cryin g Wickedness !

, ,

wicke d ness ! The intention was to take away the i niquities of “

the lan d The bo d y was dragged alon g i n a merciless manner as if

.
,
”
the weight o f all their wicke dn ess was thus carried away Similar .

customs are said to be s till secretly practise d every year by many

tribes in the d elta o f the N i ger in spite o f the vi gilance o f the B ritish
Gov ernmen t Amon g the Yoruba ne groes of West A frica the human
.
“

vic tim chosen for sacrifice a n d who may be either a freeborn or a ,

slave a person o f noble or weal thy paren ta ge or one of humble birth

, , ,

is a fter he has been chosen a nd marke d out for the purpose calle d
, ,

a n Ol u w o H e is always well fed an d nouri shed and supplie d wi th what

’

e ver he shoul d d esire d urin g the period o f his confinement When the .

occasion arrives for hi m to be sacrificed an d o ffered up he is commonly ,

led about an d para d ed throu gh the streets o f the town or city o f the
Soverei gn who would sacrifice him for the well bein g o f hi s governm en t -

and of every family and in d ivi d ual un d er it in or d er tha t he mi ght ,

carry o ff the sin guilt mis for tune a n d death o f all wi thout exception
, ,
.

A shes and chalk woul d be employe d to hi de his i d en tity by the one

bein g freely thrown over his hea d an d his face painte d with the ,

la tter wh i lst in d ivi d uals woul d o ften rush out o f their houses to lay
,

their han d s upon him tha t they m i ght thu s trans fer to him their _

sin guil t trouble a n d d eath

, ,
This parade over he i s taken to an
,
.
,

inner sanc tuary an d behea d e d H i s last words or d yin g groans are .

the si gnal for an ou tburst o f j oy amon g the people assemb led outside ,

who believe that the sacrifice has been a ccepte d and the divine wrath
appease d .

In Siam it used to be the custom On one day o f the year to sin gle
out a woman b roken down by debauchery and carry her on a litter ,

through all the street s to the music of drums and hautboys The mob .

insulted her an d pelte d her with di rt ; and a fter havin g carried her
throu gh the whole city they threw her on a d u nghill or a he dge of
,

thorns out si de the rampar ts forbi dd in g her ever to enter the walls ,

a gain They bel i eve d that the woman thus d rew upon hersel f all
.

the mali gn infl uences o f the ai r and o f evil spirits The Bataks o f .

Suma tra o ffer either a red horse o r a bu ff alo as a public sacrifice to

puri fy the lan d an d obtain the favour o f the gods Formerly it is .
,

sai d a man was bound to the same s take as the bu ff alo a nd when
, ,

they killed the animal the man was d riven away ; no one m ight ,

receive him converse wi th him or give him foo d Doubtless he was

, ,
.

supposed to carry away the sins and mis fortunes of the people .

Som etimes the scape goat i s a divine animal The peopl e o f .

M alab ar sh ar e the H in d o o reverence for the cow to k ill an d eat which ,

mm T HE PER IODIC EX PU LSION or EVIL S 57 1

they esteem to be a crime as heinous as homici de or wil ful murder .

N evertheless the Bramans trans fer the sins o f the people in to one
“

’
or more Cows which are then ca rry d away both the Cows and the
, ,

Sins wherewith these B eas ts are char ge d to wha t place the B raman ,

shall appoint When the ancient E gyptians sacrifice d a bull they

.
,

invoked upon its hea d all the evils that mi gh t otherwise be fall them
'
selves and the lan d o f E gyp t an d thereupon they either sol d the bull s
,

hea d to the Greeks or cast it into the river N ow it cannot be said .

,

that in the times known to us the E gyptians worshippe d bulls in

general fo r they seem to have commonly kille d and eaten them
,
.

B ut a goo d many ci rcum s tances point to the conclusion that ori ginally
all ca ttle bulls as well as cows
, were hel d sacred by the E gyptians
,
.

For not only were all cows esteeme d holy by them and never sacr ifice d ,

b ut even bulls mi ght n ot b e sacr ifice d unless they ha d cer tain na tural
marks ; a pries t examine d every b ull be fore it was sacrifice d ; i f it
had the proper marks he put hi s seal on the an imal in token that i t
,

m i ght be sacrifice d ; a n d i f a man sacr i ficed a bull whic h ha d not b ee n

seale d he was put to d eath Moreover the worsh ip o f the b lack bulls
, .
,

Api s and Mnevi s especially the former played an important part

, ,

in E gyptian reli gion ; all bulls that di e d a natural d eath were care full y
burie d in the su b urbs o f the c iti es a n d their b ones were a fterwar d s ,

collecte d from all par ts o f E gyp t a n d interre d in a sin gle spot ; an d

at the sacrifice o f a bull in the great rites o f I s i s all the worshippers

beat the i r breasts and mourne d On the whole then w e are perhaps .
, ,

ent itle d to in fer tha t bulls were ori gi nally as cows were always , ,

es teeme d sacre d by the E gyptians and that the slain bull upon whose ,

head they lai d the mi s fortunes o f the people was once a d iv i ne scape
goat . It seems not impro b able that the lamb annually slain by the
Mad is of Central A frica is a div ine scape goa t an d the same suppos ition ,

may par tly explain the Zuni sacrifice o f the tur tle .

Lastly the scape goat may be a d ivine man T hus in November

, .
,

the Gon d s of In d ia worship Ghan syam Deo the pro tector o f the crops , ,

and at the festival the god himsel f is sai d to d escen d on the head o f

one of the worshippers who is su d d enly se ize d with a kin d o f fit and

, ,

a fter s taggering about rushes off into the j un gle where it is believe d
, ,

that i f le ft to himsel f he woul d die m a d However they brin g him

, ,
.
,

b ack but he does not recover hi s senses for one or two days
, The .

people th i nk that one man is thus s i ngled out as a scape goat for the
sins of the rest o f the v illage In the temple o f the Moon the Albanians
.

of the E as tern Caucasus kept a num b er o f sacred slaves o f whom ,

many were inspire d an d prophes i e d When one of these men exhibite d .

more than usual symptoms o f inspiration or insani ty and wandere d ,

solitary up an d d own the woo d s l ike the Gond in the j un gle the , ,

hi gh priest had him bound with a sacre d chain and mai ntained him
in luxury for a year At the en d of the year he was anointe d with
.

unguents an d led forth to be sacrificed A man whose business it .

was to slay these human victi m s an d to who m p ractice had given

d exterity advance d from the crow d and thr us t a sacre d spear i nt o
,
5 72 PUBLI C S CAP E GOAT S CH .

’
the victim s side piercin g his heart , From the manner in which .

the sla i n man fell omens were d rawn as to the wel fare o f the common
,

wealth Then the b o dy was carr i e d to a certain spo t where all the
.

people stoo d u po n it as a p u rifica to ry ceremony This last ci rcum .

stance clearly i n d icates tha t the sins o f the people were trans ferred
to the victim j ust as the Jewish pr i es t trans ferred the sins of the
,
’
people to the scape goat by lay in g his han d s on the animal s head ;
a n d since the man was beli eve d to b e possessed by the d ivi ne spirit ,

we have here an un d oubte d example of a man god slain to take away -

the sins and mis fortunes o f the people .

In Tibet the ceremony o f the scapegoat presents some remarkable

features The T ib etan new year be gins with the new moon which
.

appears abou t the fi fteenth o f February For twenty three days .

-

a fterwar d s the governmen t of Lhasa the capital is taken out o f the , ,

han d s o f the or d inary rulers and entruste d to the monk o f the Deb ang
monas tery who o ff ers to pay the h ighest sum for the privile ge The .

success ful bi d der is calle d the Ja ln o an d he announces hi s accession ,

to power in person goin g throu gh the stree ts of Lhasa w ith a silver

,

stick i n hi s han d Monks from all the nei ghbourin g monasteries and
.

temples assemble to pay him homa ge The J alno exercises his .

authori ty in the most arb itrary manner for his own benefit as all the ,

fines which he exacts are hi s by purchase The profit he makes is .

about ten times the amount of the purchase money His men go .

abou t the s treets in or d er to d iscover any conduct on the part o f the

inhabi tants that can be found fault with E very house in Lhasa is .

taxe d at this time a n d the sl ightest o ffence i s punished wi th unsparin g

,

ri gour by fines Th is sever ity o f the J aln o drives all workin g classes
.

ou t o f the ci ty till the twenty three d ays are over But i f the laity
-
.

go out the cler gy come in

,
All the Bud d hist monasteries o f the
.

country for mile s roun d about open their gates and di s gor ge their
i nma tes All the roa d s tha t lead d own in to Lhasa from the nei ghbour
.

i ng mountai n s are full o f monks hurryin g to the capital some on foot , ,

some on horseback some ri d in g asses or lowing oxen all carryin g their

, ,

prayer books and culinary u te n s ils In such multitudes do they come

-
.

that the stree ts and squares o f the c ity are encumber ed with their
swarms and incarna d ined w ith the i r red cloaks The d isor d er and
,
.

con fusi on are in d escribable B an d s o f the holy men t rav erse the
.

s treets chantin g prayers or ut terin g wild cri es They meet they

, .
,

j ostle they quarrel they fi ght ; bloo dy noses black eyes and broken
, , , ,

hea d s are freely given a n d received All d ay lon g too from before .
, ,

the peep o f d awn till a fter d arkness has fallen these red cloake d monks ,
-

hol d services in the dim incense la d en ai r of the great M achind ranath -

temple the cathe d ral o f Lhasa ; and thi ther they crowd thrice a day
,

to receive their d oles of tea an d soup an d money The cathedral is a .

vas t buildin g s tan d in g in the centre o f the city an d surrounded by

, ,
'

bazaars and shops The i d ols in it are richly inlai d with gold and
.

p recious stones .

Twenty -fou r days a fter the J alno has ceased to have auth ority.
5 74 PUBLI C S CAP E GOAT S CH .

strai ni ng d iscern a successor of those temporary kin gs those mo rtal ,

gods who purchase a short lease o f power and glory at the price of
,

thei r lives That he i s the temporary substitute of the Gran d Lama

.

i s certain ; that he is or was o nce lia ble to act as scapegoat for the
, ,

people is ma d e nearly certain by hi s o ff er to chan ge place s with the

real scape goat—the Kin g o f the Years i f the arbitrament o f the dice —
should go a gainst him It i s true that the conditions under which
.

the ques tion i s now put to the ha z ar d have reduced the o ff er to an idle
form But such forms are no mere mushroom growths sprin gin g up
.
,

o f themselves i n a ni ght I f they are now li feless formalities empty

.
,

husks d evoi d of si gnificance w e may be sure that they once had a ,

li fe and a meanin g ; i f at the present d ay they are blind alleys leadin g

nowhere we may be certain that in former days they were paths that
,

led somewhere i f only to death That death was the goal to which
, .

o f old the Tibetan scape goat passe d af ter hi s brief p erio d o f licence in
the market place i s a conj ecture that has much to commend it
-
, .

Analogy suggest s it ; the blank shots fired a fter him the s tatement ,

that the ceremony often proves fatal the belie f that hi s d eath is a ,

happy omen all confirm it We nee d not wonde r then that the Jalno
, .
,

after payin g so dear to act as d eputy d eity for a few weeks should -
,

have pre ferred to die by deputy rather than in hi s own person when
his time was up The painful but necessary duty was accordin gly
.

lai d on some poor devil some social outcast some wretch with whom
, ,

the world ha d gone hard who readily a greed to throw away his life
,

at the en d o f a few days i f only he mi ght have his flin g in the meantime
For observ e that while the time allowed t o the ori ginal deputy—the
.

—
J alno was measured by weeks the time allow ed to the d eputy s ,
’

deputy was cut down to days ten days accordin g to one auth ority , ,

seven d ays accordin g to ano ther S o short a rope was doubtless .

thou gh t a lon g enough tether for so black or sickly a sheep ; so few

san d s in the hour -glass slippin g so fast away suffi ced for one who had
, ,

waste d so many precious years Hence in the j ack pu dd in g who now .

-

masquerades with motley counten a nce in the market place o f Lhasa -

,
’
sweepi ng up mis fortune with a black yak s tail we may fairly see the ,

subs titute o f a substitute the vicar o f a vicar the proxy on whose

, ,

back the heavy burden was lai d when it had been li fted from nobler
shoulders But the clue i f we have follow ed it ari ght does not stop
.
, ,

at the J alno ; it leads strai ght back to the pope o f Lhasa himsel f the ,

Gran d Lama o f whom the J alno i s merely the temporary vicar The
, .

analo gy of m any custom s in many lands points to the conclusion that ,

i f this hum an divinity stoops to resi gn hi s ghostly power for a time into
the hands of a substitute it i s o r rather was once for no other reason
, , ,

than that the substitute mi ght di e in hi s stead Thus throu gh the m ist .

o f a ges unillumined by the lamp of history the tra gic fi gure o f the
pope o f Bu dd hism—God s vicar on earth for Asia—loom s dim and
,
’

’
sad as the man god who bore hi s people s sorrows the Good Shepherd
-
,

who l ai d d own his li fe for the sheep

4 On S capegoats i n General —
.

. The foregoing survey o f the custom .

LVII ON S CA P E GOAT S I N GE N ERAL 575

of publicly expelling the accumulated evils o f a village or town or

country su gges ts a few general observations .

In the first place it will not be d ispute d that what I have ca lled
,

the imme d iate and the me di ate expulsions of evil are i d entical i n
intention ; in other words that whe ther the evils are conceived o f as
,

invis ible or as embo d ie d in a material form is a circums tance entirely ,

sub or d inate to the ma i n o b j ect o f the ceremony wh i ch i s simply to ,

effect a total clearance o f all the ills that have been i n fes tin g a people .

If any link were wan ti n g to connec t the tw o k i n d s o f expuls i on it ,

would be furn i she d by such a practice as that o f send ing the evil s
away in a litter or a b oat For here on the one hand the ev i ls are
.
, ,

invisible an d in tan gible ; a n d on the other han d there i s a vis ible, ,

and tangible vehicle to convey them away A n d a scape goat is .

nothin g more than such a vehicle .

In the secon d place when a general clearance of evils i s resorted

,

to perio dically the interval between the celebrations o f the ceremony

,

is commonly a year and the time of year when the ceremony takes
,

place usually coinci d es with some well marked change o f season such -
,

as the be ginnin g or end o f w i nter in the arctic a n d temperate zones ,

and the be ginnin g or end o f the ra i ny season in the tropics The .

increased mor tali ty wh ich such climatic chan ges are apt to pro d uce ,

especially amon gst ill fed ill—clothed an d i ll house d sava ges is set
-
, ,
-
,

down by primi tive man to the a gency o f d emons who must accor d i n gly ,

be expelle d Hence in the tropical regions o f New Britain and Peru

.
, ,

the d evils are or were d r iven out at the be gi nnin g o f the rainy season ;
hence on the d reary coasts o f Ba ffin Lan d they are banished at the
, ,

approach o f the b i tter Arctic winter When a tribe has taken to .

husbandry the time fo r the general expuls i on o f d evils is n aturally

,

made to a gree w ith one of the great epochs o f the a gr icul tural year ,

as sowin g or harvest ; b ut as these epochs themselves naturally

, ,

coinci d e wi th chan ges o f season it d oes not follow that the trans ition ,

from the huntin g or pastoral to the a gricultural l i fe involves any

alteratio n in the time o f celebrat i ng this great annual r ite S ome o f .

the agricul tural communi ties o f In d ia an d the H i n d oo Koosh as we ,

have seen hol d the i r general clearance of d emons at harvest others

, ,

at sowin g t i me B ut at whatever season o f the year it i s hel d the

-
.
, ,

general expuls i on o f d ev i ls commonly marks the be ginn i n g o f the new

year For be fore en terin g on a new yea r people are anxious to r id
.
, ,

themselves o f the troubles that have harasse d them in the past ;

hence it comes about that in so many communities the be ginnin g o f
the new year is i nau gurate d with a solemn an d public banishment of
evil spi rits .

In the third place it is to be observed that this public and periodic

,

expulsion of d evils i s commonly precede d or followe d by a period

of general license d urin g which the or d inary restraints o f society
,

are thrown aside a nd a ll o ff ences short o f the grayest are allowed to

, ,

pass unpunishe d In Guinea and Tonquin the period o f license pre

.

cedes the p ublic expulsion o f d emons ; and the suspension of the

5 76 PU BLI C SCAP EGOAT S CH .

or d ina ry government i n Lhasa prev i ous to the expulsion o f the sca pe

goa t is perhaps a rel i c o f a similar perio d o f universal l i cense Amon gst .

the Hos o f India the peri o d o f license follows the expulsion o f the devi l .

Amon gst the I roquo i s it har d ly appears whe ther it prece d e d or followe d
the b anishmen t o f ev i ls In any case the extraor d i nary relaxation of
.
,

all or d inary rules o f con d uct on such occasions is d oubtless to be

expla ined by the general clearance o f ev i ls wh ich prece d es or follows it .

On the one han d when a g eneral r i d d ance o f evil a n d absolution from

,

all s in is in imme di ate prospect men are encoura ge d to give the rein
,

to their passions trusting tha t the comin g ceremony w i ll wipe out

,

the score which they are runnin g up so fas t On the o ther han d when .
,

the ceremony has j us t taken place men s min d s are free d from the
'

oppressive sense un d er which they generally labour o f an atmosphere

, ,

surchar ge d wi th d evils ; and in the firs t revulsion o f j oy they overleap

the limi ts comm only imposed by custom a n d morali ty When the
ceremony takes place at harvest —
.

time the elation o f feelin g which it ,

exci tes i s fur ther s timulate d by the sta te o f physical wellbeing pro d uce d
b y an abun d an t supply o f foo d .

Fou rthly the employment o f a divine man or an imal as a scapegoat

,

i s especially to be no te d ; i n d ee d w e are here d i rec tly concerne d with

,

the custom o f banishin g evils only i n so fa r as these evils are b elieve d

to be trans ferred to a go d who is a fterwar d s slain It may be suspecte d .

tha t the custom o f employin g a divine man or animal as a public scape

g oat i s much more wi d ely d i ffuse d than appears from the examples
c ited For as has already been po i n ted out the cus tom o f k illin g a
.
, ,

go d d a tes from so early a perio d o f human h i story that in later ages ,

even when the custom con tinues to be practis ed it is liable to be mis ,

interprete d The d iv ine character of the animal or man is for gotten

.
,

a n d he comes to be re gar d e d merely as an or d inary vic tim This is .

especially li kely to be the case when it i s a d ivine man who is killed .

For when a nation becomes civili se d i f it d oes not drop human sacrifices
,

alto gether i t at least selects as victims only such w re tches as woul d be

,

put to d eath at any rate Thus the killin g o f a god may sometimes
.

come to be con foun d e d wi th the execu tion o f a criminal .

If we ask why a dyin g go d shoul d be chosen to take upon himself

a n d carry away the sins a n d sorrows o f the people it may be su gges te d ,

that in the practice o f usin g the divinity as a scape goat we have a

combination o f two customs which were at one time d ist inct and
i n d epen d ent On the one han d we have seen tha t it has been customary
.

to k ill the human or an imal god i n or d er to save hi s d ivine li fe from

b eing weakene d by the i nroa d s o f age On the other hand we have .

seen that it has been cus tomary to have a general expulsion o f evils
a n d sins once a year N ow i f it occurre d to people to combine these
.
,

two customs the result woul d be the employment o f the d yin g god as
,

a scape goat H e was killed not ori ginally to take away si n but to
.
, ,

save the d ivine l i fe fro m the de generacy o f old age ; b ut since he had ,

to be killed at any ra te people may have thou ght tha t they mi ght as
,

w ell s eize the opportunity to lay upon him the bur d en o f their su fferings
578 HUMA N S CAP E GOAT S I N CLA S S I CA L ANT I Q UIT Y CH .

ori gin ally n ot a god of war but o f ve getation For it was to Mars .

tha t the Roman husban d man prayed fo r the prosperi ty o f his corn
an d hi s v i nes his fruit trees a n d hi s copses ; it was to Mars that the
,
-

pri estly college o f the Arval B rothers whose bus iness it was to sacrifice ,

fo r the grow th o f the crops a d dresse d their pe titions almost exclusively ;

,

a n d it was to Mars as we saw that a horse was sacrificed in Oc tober

, ,

to secure an abun d ant harves t Moreover it was to M ars un d er his .

, ,
”
title of Mars o f the woo d s (M ar s S ilva nus ) that farmers o ff ere d
“
,

sacrifice for the wel fare o f their cattle We have already seen that .

cat tle are commonly suppose d to be under the special patronage of

tree go d s Once more the consecration o f the vernal month o f March
-
.
,

to Mars seem s to point him out as the d ei ty o f the sproutin g ve getation .

Thus the Roman cus tom o f expellin g the old M ars at the be ginnin g
of the new year in sprin g is i d en tical wi th the Slavonic cus tom of
”
carryin g out Death i f the vi ew here taken o f the latter cus tom is
,

correct The similari ty of the Roman and S lavonic customs has been
.

already remarked by scholars who appear however to have taken , , ,

Mamurius V etu ri us a n d the correspon d in g fi gures in the Slavonic

ceremonies to be representatives o f the old year ra ther than o f th e ol d
god o f ve ge tation It i s possible tha t ceremo n ies o f thi s kin d may have
.

come to be thus interprete d in later times even by the people who

practised them But the personification of a period o f time is too
.

abstract an i d ea to be primi ti ve H owever in the Roman as in the .

, ,

Slavonic ceremo ny the representative o f the god appears to have been

, ,

treated not only as a d ei ty o f ve getati on but also as a scape goat His .

expulsion implies this ; fo r there i s no reason why the god o f ve ge tation ,

as such shoul d be expelle d the ci ty B ut it i s otherwise i f he is also

,
.

a scape goat ; it then becomes necessary to drive him beyond the

boun d aries that he may carry hi s sorrow ful bur d en away to o ther
,

lan d s A n d in fact Mamurius Vetur ius appears to have been driven

.
, ,

away to the land o f the O scans the enemi es o f Rome ,

.

2 T he H um a n S ca pegoa t i n A n ci e nt Gre ece — The ancient Greeks

. .

’
were also fam iliar with the use of a human scape goat In Plutarch s .

native town o f Chaeronea a ceremony o f this kind was per formed by

the chie f ma gi st ra te at the Town Hall a n d by each househol der at ,
” “
his own home It was calle d the expulsion of hun ger
. A slave .

was bea ten wi th rod s o f the agn us cas tus and turne d out o f d oors with ,
”
the wor d s
“
Out w ith hun ger and in wi th wealth a n d health
, When
, .

Plutarch hel d the o ffice o f chie f ma gi strate o f his native town he per
forme d thi s ceremony a t the Town Hall a n d he has recorded the ,

discussion to which the custom a fterwards gave ri se .

B ut in civili se d Greece the custom o f the scape goat took darker

forms than the innocent ri te over which the amiable a n d pious Plutarch
presi d e d Whenever Marseilles one o f the busiest a n d most brilliant
.
,

o f Greek coloni es was rava g ed by a pla gue a man o f the po orer classes
, ,

use d to o ffer him sel f as a scape goat For a whole year he was main .

fained at the public expense bein g fe d on choice a n d pure food , At .

the expi ry o f the year he was dressed in sacred garments decked wi th ,

 m u THE HUMA N S CA P EGOAT IN A N CI E NT GR E E C E 57 9

holy bran ches and led thr ough the whole ci ty whi le prayers were
, ,

uttered tha t all the evils o f the people m igh t fall on hi s hea d He was .

then cast out o f the ci ty or s tone d to d eath by the people outside o f

the walls The Athen ians re gularly ma intaine d a num b er o f d e gra d e d
.

and useless bein gs at the public expense ; an d when any calami ty ,

such as plague d rou gh t or famine be fell the city they sacrificed two
, , , ,

of these ou tcast scapegoats One o f the vic tims was sacrifice d for
.

the men and the o ther fo r the women The former wore round his .

neck a strin g o f black the latter a s tr in g o f wh ite figs Some times

, .
,

it seems the victim slain on b ehal f of the women was a woman The y
, .

were led about the ci ty a n d then sacrifice d apparently by b ein g stone d ,

to death outsi d e the city B ut such sacrifices were not confined to.

extraor dinary occasions of public calam ity ; it appears that every year ,

at the festival o f the Thar gelia i n May two victims one for the men , ,

and one for the women were led out o f A thens and s toned to d eath
, .

The city of Ab d era in Thrace was publicly pur ifie d once a year an d ,

one o f the bur ghers set apart for the purpose was stone d to d eath as
, ,

a scape goat or vicari ous sacr ifice for the li fe o f a ll the o thers ; six days
be fore his execution he was excommunicated in or d er that he alone ,
“

”
m i gh t b ear the sins o f all the people .

From the Lover s Leap a wh ite b lu ff at the southern end o f their

’

island the Leuca d ians use d annually to hurl a cr iminal in to the sea as
,

a scape goat B u t to ligh ten hi s fall they fas tene d live b ir d s and
.

feathers to him an d a flo tilla o f small boa ts wa ite d below to catch him

,

and convey him beyon d the b oun dary Proba b ly these humane pre .

cautions were a miti ga tion o f an earl i er cus tom o f fl in gi n g the scape goat
into the sea to d rown The Leucad i an ceremony took place at the
.

time of a sacrifice to Apollo who ha d a temple or sanc tuary on the spo t

, .

Elsewhere it was customary to cas t a youn g man every year in to the

”
sea with the prayer B e thou our o ffscourin g
, ,
“
Th i s ceremony was .

suppose d to ri d the people o f the ev i ls b y which they were bes et or ,

accor din g to a somewhat d iff eren t in terpretation it redeemed them by

payin g the d ebt they owe d to the sea god A s prac ti se d b y the Greeks -
.

of Asia Minor in the sixth century be fore our era the cus tom o f the ,

scape goat was as follows When a ci ty su ffere d from pla gue famine
.
, ,

or o ther public calami ty an u gly or d e forme d person was chosen to

,

take upon him sel f all the evi ls which affl ic te d the communi ty H e .

was brou ght to a sui tab le place where d rie d figs a b arley loa f an d , , ,

cheese were put in to hi s han d These he ate Then he was bea ten . .

seven times upon his geni tal or gans w ith squills a n d branches of the
wild fig an d o ther w il d trees while the flutes played a part icular tune , .

A fterwar d s he was burne d on a pyre b u i lt o f the wood o f forest trees ;

and his ashes were cast into the sea A sim i lar cus tom appears to have .

been an nually celeb rate d by the Asiatic Greeks at the harvest festival
of the Thar gelia .

In the ri tual j us t d escribe d the scour gin g o f the victim wit h squills .

branches o f the wild fig a n d so for th can ot have been inten d e d to

2
, ,

aggravate his su ff erin gs otherwise any sti k would have been good
,
5 80 HUMA N S CAP E GOAT S IN CLA S S I CAL ANT IQUITY CH .

enough to beat him with The true meanin g o f thi s par t o f the cere
.

mony has been explaine d by W Mannhar d t H e po i nts out that the

. .

anci e n ts attribu te d to squills a magi cal power o f aver tin g evi l influences ,

a nd that accordin gly they hu n

g them up at the d oors o f thei r houses
a n d ma d e use o f them in
p u r ifica to ry r i tes H ence the Arcad ian .

custom o f whipping the ima ge o f Pan w ith squills at a festival or ,

whenever the hun ters re turne d empty han d e d must have been meant
.
-
, ,

not to punish the god b ut to pur i fy him from the harm ful influences
,

which were i mpe d ing him in the exercise o f hi s d ivine functions as a

go d who shoul d supply the hunter with game S imilarly the obj ect .

o f bea tin g the human scape g oa t on the geni tal or gans wi th squills and

so on must have been to release his repro d uctive ener gies from any
,

res train t or spell un d er which they m i ght be lai d by d emoniacal or other

mali gnan t agency ; and as the Thar gelia at which he was annually
sacr ifice d was an early harvest fes tival celebrate d in May we must ,

reco gni se in him a representative o f the creative and fe rtilisin g god of

ve getati on The representative o f the god was annually slain for the
.

purpose I have in d icate d that o f maintainin g the d ivine li fe in per

,

p etu a l v i gour un taint e d by the weakness o f a ge ; and b e fore he was

,

p ut to d ea th it was not unna tural to s timula te hi s repro d uc tive powers

i n or d er tha t these mi ght be t ransm itted in full activi ty to his successor ,

the new go d or new embo d iment o f the old god who was d oubtless ,

suppose d imme d iately to take the place o f the one sla i n Similar .

reason in g woul d lea d to a similar trea tment o f the scapegoat on special

occasions such as d rou ght or famine I f the crops di d not answer to
, .

the expectation o f the husban d man this woul d b e at tr ibute d to some ,

fa i lure in the genera ti ve powers o f the god whose func tion it was to
produce the fruits o f the earth It mi gh t be thou ght that he was un der
.

a spell or was growin g old and feeble Accor d in gly he was slain in the .

person o f his represen tative w i th all the ceremonies alrea d y d escribe d

, ,

i n or de r that b orn youn g a gain he mi ght in fuse his own youth ful
, ,

vi gour into the sta gnant ener gi es o f nature On the same principle '

we can unders tan d why Mamurius Veturiu s was beaten wi th ro d s why ,

the slave at the C haero n ea n ceremony was beaten wi th the agnus cas tus
(a tree to which magi cal properties were ascribed ) why the effi gy of ,

Death in som e par ts o f E urope i s assaile d wit h sticks and s tones and ,

why at Babylon the criminal who played the god was scour ged be fore
he was crucified The purpose o f the scour gin g was not to intensi fy
.

the a gony o f the divine su fferer but on the contrary to dispel any ,

mal ignan t i nfluences by which at the supreme momen t h e m ight con

ce iv a b ly be beset .

Thus far I have assume d that the human vic tim s at the Thar gelia
represented the spiri ts o f ve ge ta tion in general but it has been well ,

remarked by M r W R Pat on that these poor wre tches seem to have

. . .

masquera d e d as the spi ri ts o f fig tree s i n particular He points out -

.

that the process o f cap r ifica ti on as it is called that is the artificial

, , ,

fertili sa tion o f the cult i vated fig-trees by han gin g strin gs o f wil d fig
amon g the bou ghs takes place in Greece and Asia Minor in J une about
,
5 82 HUMA N S CA P E GOAT S I N CLA S S I CA L A NTIQUITY CPI .

repro d uc tive ener gies o f the men or women e ither by communicating

to them the frui tfulness o f the plants an d branches or by ri d ding ,

them o f the m a leficen t influences ; a n d thi s interpre ta tion is confirme d

by the observa ti on that the two vict i ms represen te d the two sexes ,

one o f them stan d in g for the men in general a n d the other for the
women The season o f the Year when the ceremony was per formed
.
,

namely the time o f the corn harves t tallies well with the t heory that
,

the ri te had an a gricul tural si gn i ficance Fur ther that it was above .
,

all in ten d ed to fer ti lise the fig trees i s stron gly su ggested by the strings
-

o f black a n d white figs which were hun g roun d the necks o f the

victims as well as by the blows which were given their genital organs
,

with the branches o f a wi l d fig tree ; since this proce d ure closely

-

resembles the proce d ure wh ich ancient and modern husban d men in
Greek lan d s have re gularly resorte d to for the purpose of actually
fertil i sin g thei r fig trees -
When we remember what an important
.

part the ar tificial fer ti lisation of the date palm tree appears to have -

playe d of old not only i n the husbandry but in the rel igion o f Meso
po tamia there seems no reason to d oubt that the art ificial fer tilisation
,

o f the fig tree may in like manner have vindicate d for i tsel f a place
-

i n the solemn ritual o f Greek reli gion .

If these consi d era tions are j us t we must apparently conclude

,

that while the human victim s at the Thar gelia certainly appear in
later classical times to have fi gure d chiefly as public scape goats who ,

carrie d away wi th them the sins mis for tunes a nd sorrows o f the
, ,

whole people a t an earlier time they may have been looked on as

,

embo d iments of ve getation perhaps o f the corn but particularly of

,

the fig trees ; an d that the beatin g which they received and the death
-

which they die d were in ten d ed primarily to brace an d re fresh the

powers o f ve getation then be ginnin g to droop a n d lan guish un d er the
torri d heat o f th e Greek summer .

The view here taken of the Greek scape goat i f it is correct obviates , ,

an obj ection which mi ght otherwise be brou ght against the main
ar gument o f this b ook To the theory that the priest o f A ricia was
.

slain as a representative o f the spi rit o f the g rove it mi ght have been ,

obj ecte d that such a custom has no analo gy in classical an tiquity .

But reasons have now been given fo r bel i ev i n g that the human being
p erio di cally a n d occas i onally slai n by the Asiatic Greeks was re gularly
treated as an em b o di men t o f a d ivinity o f ve getati on Probably .

the persons whom the Atheni ans kept to be sacrificed were similarly
treate d as d ivine .That they were social ou tcasts di d not matter .

On the prim i tive V iew a man i s not chosen to be the mouth piece or -

embodiment o f a god on account o f hi s hi gh moral quali ties or social

rank The divine afflatus descends equally on the good and the bad
.
,

the lo fty and the lowly If then the civili sed Greeks o f Asia and
.

Athen s ha b itually sacrifice d men whom they re garded as incarnate

go d s there can be no inherent improbability in the supposition that
,

at the d awn of hi st ory a similar custom was observed by the semi

b ar b arous Latins in the A rician Grove .
LVIII T HE RO MA N SATURNALIA 58 3

But to clinch the ar gument it i s clearly desirable to prove that the

,

custom o f puttin g to d eath a human representative o f a god was

known and practised in ancient Italy elsewhere than in the Arician
Grove This proo f I now propose to ad d uce
3 T he Rom a n S a turna li a —W e have seen that many peoples
. .

have been used to observe an annual perio d of license when the ,

customary restraints o f law and morali ty are thrown asi d e when ,

the whole popula tion g ive themselves up to extrava gant mi r th

and j olli ty and when the d arker passions find a vent which woul d
,

never be allowe d them i n the more staid and sober course o f

ordinary li fe Such ou tburs ts o f the pent up forces o f human
.
-

nature too o ften d e generati n g i nto wil d or gies o f lus t a n d crime

, ,

occur most commonly at the end o f the year an d are frequently ,

associated as I have had occasion to point out with one or o ther of

, ,

the agricul tural seasons espec i ally w ith the time o f sowin g or o f
,

harvest Now o f all these perio d s o f license the one which i s best
.
,

known an d which in modern lan gua ge has given its name to the res t ,

is the Saturnalia Thi s famous festival fell in December the last

.
,

m onth o f the Roman year an d was popularly suppose d to commemorate

,

the merry rei gn o f Sa turn the go d o f sow i n g an d o f husbandry who

, ,

lived on earth lon g ago as a r i ghteous and b eneficent kin g o f Italy ,

drew the ru d e a n d scattere d d wellers on the mountains to gether ,

taught them to t ill the groun d g ave the m laws an d ruled in peace , , .

Hi s rei gn was the fabled Gol den A ge : the earth brou ght forth
abun dantly : no sound o f war or d iscor d troubled the happy worl d :
no bale ful love o f lucre worke d l i ke poison in the blood o f the
in dus trious and conten te d peasantry Slavery and private proper ty .

were alike unknown : all men had all thin gs in common At last the .

goo d god the kin d ly k i n g vani she d su d d enly ; but hi s memory was
, ,

cherished to d i s tan t a ges shrines were reare d in his honour and

, ,

m any hills and hi gh places in Italy bore his name Yet the bri ght .

trad iti on of his rei gn was crossed b y a d ark sha d ow : his altars are
sai d to have been staine d wi th the bloo d o f human vict i ms for whom ,

a more merci ful age a fterwar d s substi tuted effigies O f thi s gloomy .

si de o f the go d s reli gion there i s li ttle or no trace in the descriptions

’

which anci ent writers have le ft us of the Saturnal i a Feas tin g a nd .

revelry a n d all the mad pursuit o f pleasure are the features that seem
to have especially marked this carnival of antiquity a s it went on ,

for seven d ays i n the s treets a nd public squares and houses of ancient
Rome from the seventeenth to the twen ty thir d o f December -
.

But no feature o f the fest ival is more remarkable nothin g in it ,

seems to have struck the ancients themselves more than the license
granted to slaves at this time The d is tinction between the free
.

and the servile classes was temporarily abolishe d The s lave mi ght .

rail at his master intoxicate himsel f like his bet ters sit down at
, ,

table with them a nd not even a word o f reproo f woul d be administered

.
,

to him for conduct which at any other season mi ght have been punishe d
with stripes imprisonment or death
, Nay more masters actually
, .
, ,
5 84 HUMA N S CA P E GOAT S I N CLA S S I CAL ANT IQUIT Y CH .

change d places wi th their slaves and waited on them at table ; and

not till the ser f ha d d one eatin g an d d rinkin g was the board cle ared
an d d inner set for hi s mas ter So far was this inversion o f ranks .

carried that each household became fo r a time a mimic republic i n

,

which the hi gh offices of state were dischar ged by the slaves who ,

gave their or d ers and laid d own the law as if they were indeed invested
with all the d i gnity o f the consulship the praetorship and the bench , , .

Like the pale reflec tion o f power thus accor d e d to bon d smen at the
Saturnalia was the mock kin gship for which freemen cast lot s at the
same season The person on whom the lot fell enj oyed the title of
.

king a nd issue d commands o f a play ful and ludicrous n ature to his

,

temporary sub j ects One o f them he mi ght or d er to mix the wine

.
,

another to d rink another to sin g another to dance another to speak

, , ,

in his own dispraise another to carry a fl ute girl on hi s back round

,
-

the house .

N ow when w e remember that the liberty allowed to slaves at

,

thi s fes tive season was suppo sed to be an imitation o f the state of
’
society in Saturn s time and that i n general the Saturnalia passed
,

for nothing more or less than a temporary revival o r restoration of

the rei gn o f that merry monarch we are tempte d to surmise that ,

the mock kin g who p resi d ed over th e revels may have ori ginally
represented Saturn him sel f The conj ecture i s stron gly confirmed
.
,

i f not establishe d by a very curious and interestin g account o f the

,

way i n which the Saturnalia was celebrated by the Roman soldiers

st atione d on the Danube in the rei gn of M ax im ian and Diocletian .

The account is prese rved in a narrative o f the martyrdom o f St Da sius .

,

which was unear the d from a Greek manuscript in the Paris library ,

a n d publishe d by Pro fessor Franz Cumont o f Ghent Two brie fer .

descriptions o f the event and o f the custom are con tained in manu
scripts at Milan an d Berlin ; one o f them ha d already seen the li ght
i n an obscure volume printe d at Urbino in 17 2 7 b ut it s importance ,

fo r the hi story o f the Roman reli gion both ancient a n d modern , ,

appears to have been overlooked un til Pro fessor Cumont drew t he

attention of scholars to all three narratives by publi shing them together
some years ago Accordin g t o thes e narratives which have all the
.
,

appearance of bein g a uthen tic and o f which the lon gest is probably ,

based on o ffi cial d ocuments the Roman sol d iers at Du ro storum in

,

Lower M oesia celebrated the Saturnalia year by year in the followin g

manner Thirty days be fore the festival they c hose by lot from
.

amon gst themselves a youn g and han d som e man who was then ,

clo the d in royal attire to resemble S aturn Thus arrayed and attended .

by a multitud e o f sol d iers he went about in public wi th full license

to indul ge his passi ons and to taste o f every pleasure however base ,

and shame ful B ut i f hi s rei gn was merry it was short and ended
. ,

tra gically ; for when the thirty d ays were up and the festival o f Saturn
had com e he cut hi s own throat on the altar o f the go d whom he
,

personated In the year A D 3 03 the lot fell upon the Chri stian
. .

soldier B asi ns but he refused to play the part of the heathen god
,
586 H U MA N SCA P EGOAT S IN CLA SSI CAL A N T IQU IT Y CH .

time to a violen t d eath we can har d ly doubt that in the Kin g o f the
,

Sa turnalia at Rome as he i s d epicte d by classical w riters we see only

, , ,

a feeble emasculate d copy o f tha t ori ginal whose s trong features have ,

been for tunately preserve d fo r u s by the o b scure author o f the M ar tyr

alo ni of S t D as i u s
’
. In o ther wor d s the m artyrolo gi st s account o f the
.
,

Saturnal i a a grees so closely wi th the accounts o f similar rites elsewhere

wh ich coul d not poss ibly have b een known to him that the substantial ,

accuracy o f his d escri p tion may be re gar d e d as established ; and

fur ther since the cus tom o f pu ttin g a mock kin g to dea th as a rep re
,

sen ta ti v e o f a go d canno t have g rown out o f a practice o f appointin

g
him to pres i d e over a holi d ay rev el whereas the reverse may very well ,

have happene d we are j us tifie d i n assumin g that in an earlier and more

,

barbarous a ge it was the univers a l prac tice in ancient Italy wherever ,

the worship o f Satu rn prevailed to choose a man who played the part ,

and enj oye d all the tra ditionary pr ivile ges o f Saturn for a season ,

and then d ie d whether by hi s own o r another s han d whether by the

,
’

kn i fe or the fire or on the gallows t r ee in the character o f the good -

,

go d w ho gave hi s li fe fo r the worl d In Rome itsel f a n d o ther great .

towns the grow th o f civilisation ha d proba b ly miti ga te d this cruel

custom lon g be fore the Au gustan age a n d trans forme d it into the ,

innocent shape it wear s i n the writin gs of the few classical writers who
bes tow a pass i n g n o tice on the holi d ay Kin g o f the Sa turnalia But .

i n remo ter d is tric ts the ol d er a n d ster n er practice may lon g have

survive d ; a n d even i f a fter the unifica tion o f Italy the barbarous
usa ge was suppressed by the Roman government the memory of it ,

woul d be han d e d d own by the peasants an d would ten d from t ime to

time as still happens wi th the lowest form s o f supers ti tion among
,

ourselves to lead to a recru d escence o f the practice especially amon g

, ,

the ru d e sol d iery on the outski r ts o f the empire over whom the once
iron han d o f Rome wa s be gi nnin g to relax its grasp .

The resem b lance between the Saturnali a o f ancient and the Carnival
o f mo d ern I taly has o ften been remarke d ; but in the li ght o f all the

facts that have come be fore us we may well ask whe ther the r esem ,

blance d oes not amount to i d entity We have seen that in Italy . ,

Spa i n a n d France that i s in the coun tri es where the influence o f Rome
, , ,

has been deepest a n d mos t lastin g a conspicuous feature o f the Carnival ,

i s a burlesqu e fi gure personi fyin g the fest ive season which a fter a sho rt ,

career o f glory an d d issipation i s publ i cly shot burnt or otherwise

.
, ,

d es troyed to the fei gne d g rie f or genuine deli ght o f the populace
,
If .

the v i ew here su ggeste d o f the Carnival is correct this grotesque , .

persona ge is no other than a d i r ect successor o f the old Kin g o f the .

Saturnalia the master o f the r evels the real man who personated
, ,

Saturn an d when the revels were over su ffered a r eal death in his
, , ,

assume d character T he King o f the B ean on Twel fth Ni gh t a nd the

. ,

me di aeval Bishop o f Fools A b b ot o f U nreason or Lord o f Misru le are

, , ,

fi gures o f the sam e sor t and may perhaps h ave ha d a similar ori gin .

Whe ther that was so or no t we may con clude wi th a fair de gree of

,
,

pro b ability that i f the Kin g o f the Wood at Ari cia lived an d died as
l K ILLIN G T H E GO D I N M E XI CO 58 7

an incarnation o f a sylva n deity he had of old a parallel at Rome in ,

the men who year by year were slain in the character o f Kin g Saturn
, , ,

the god of the sown and sproutin g seed .

CHAPT E R LIX

K ILLI N G THE GOD IN M E X CO I

BY no people does the custom o f sacrificin g the human representative

of a god appear to have been observed so commonly a n d with so much
solemnity as by the A z tecs o f ancient Mexico With the ri tual o f .

these remarkable sacr ifices we are well acquain te d fo r it has been ,

fully describe d by the Spaniar d s who conquere d Mex i co in the sixteen th

century a nd whose curiosi ty was naturally excite d by the d iscovery
,

in this d is tan t re gi on o f a bar b arous an d cruel reli gion which presen ted
m any curious po i nts o f analo gy to the d oc trine an d ri tual o f their own
”
church
“
. They took a cap tive says the Jesui t Acosta such as , ,
“

they thou gh t good ; a nd a fore they d i d sacrifice him unto their i d ols ,

they gave him the name o f the i d ol to whom he shoul d b e sacrifice d , ,

and apparelle d him wi th the same ornaments like the i r i d ol sayin g , ,

that he d id represent the same i d ol A nd d u rin g the ti m e that thi s .

representation laste d which was for a year in some feas ts i n o thers

, ,

six months and in o thers less they reverence d a n d worshipped him

, ,

in the same manner as the proper i d ol ; a n d in the mean time he did

eat d rink
, and was merry When he went throu gh the s tree ts the
,
.
,

people came forth to worsh i p him an d every one brou gh t hi m an alms , ,

with ch i l d ren an d sick folks tha t he mi ght cure them a n d bless them
, , ,

suffering him to do all th in gs at hi s pleasure only he was accompanie d ,

with ten or twelve men lest he shoul d fly A nd he (to the end he mi ght .

be reverence d as he passe d ) some times soun d e d upon a small flute ,

that the people mi gh t prepare to worsh i p him The feast bein g come .
,

and he grown fat they kille d him ,

opened him a nd ate him makin g , , ,
”
a solemn sacrifice o f him .

This general d escripti on o f the custom may now be illustrated by

par ticular examples Thus at the fes tival calle d Toxcatl the greatest
.
,

fes tival o f the Mexican year a youn g man was annually sacrificed in ,
”
the charac ter o f Te z ca tlipoca the god o f go d s a fter havin g been
, ,

m aintaine d an d worsh i ppe d as that

grea t d ei ty i n person fo r a whole
year Accor d in g to the old Franciscan monk Saha gun our best
.
,

authority on the Az tec reli gi on the sacrifice o f the human go d fell at ,

Easter or a fe w d ays la ter so that i f he is ri ght it would correspond

, , ,

in date as well as in character to the Chris tian festival o f the d eath

’

and resurrection o f the Re d eemer More exactly he tells us that the .

sacrifice took place on the fi rst day o f the fi fth Aztec month which ,

accor d in g to him began on the twenty thi rd or twenty seventh day - -

of A p ril .
58 8 KILLIN G T H E GO D I N M E XI CO CH .

At thi s festival the great god d ie d in the person o f one human

represen tative and came to li fe a gain in the person o f another who ,

was d es tine d to enj oy the fatal honour o f d iv i n ity for a year and to
perish like all hi s pre d ecessors at the en d o f it The young m an
, , .

sin gle d out fo r th i s hi gh d i gni ty was care fully chosen from amon g the
cap tives on the groun d o f hi s personal b eauty H e had to be of um .

blemi she d bo d y slim as a ree d an d s trai gh t as a pillar nei ther too tall
, ,

no r too short If throu gh hi gh l i vin g he grew too fat he was obli ged
.
,

to re d uce h i msel f by d rinkin g salt wa ter And in order that he mi ght .

behave in hi s lo fty station w ith becom in g grace and di gni ty he was

care fully t rained to comport himself like a gentleman o f the first
q uali ty to speak correctly a n d ele gantly to play the flu te to smoke
, , ,

ci gars and to snu ff at flowers with a d an dified air He was honourably .

lo d ge d in the temple where the nobles waite d on him and pai d him
,

homa ge brin gin g him meat and servin g him like a pri nce The king
, .

himsel f saw to it that he was apparelled in gor geou s atti re for alrea dy ,
”
he es teeme d hi m as a god E a gle d own was gummed to his head and
.

’
white cock s feathers were stuck in his hair which d roope d to his girdle , .

A wreath o f flowers like roas ted maize c rowned his brows and a gar ,

land o f the same flowers passed over hi s shoulders and under his arm
pits Golden ornaments hun g from his nose golden a rmlets a dorned
.
,

hi s arms golden bells j ingled on hi s le gs at every step he took ; earrings

,

o f turquoise dan gle d from his ears bracelet s o f tur q uoise bedecked his ,

w rists ; necklaces of shells encircled hi s neck and depended on his

breast ; he wore a mantle of networ k and round his m id dle 3 rich ,

waistcloth When this bej ewelled exquisite loun ge d throu gh the

.

streets playin g on hi s flute pu ffin g at a ci gar and smellin g at a nose , ,

gay the people whom he m et threw them selves on the e arth be fore him
,

a n d prayed to hi m wi th si ghs and tears takin g up the d ust i n their ,

han d s and puttin g it in their m ou ths in token of the deepest humiliation

and subj ection Women came forth wi th chil d ren in thei r arms and
.

“
presented them to him salutin g him as a god For he passed for , .

our Lor d God ; the people acknowledge d him as the Lord All who .

thus worshipped him on hi s passage he saluted gravely and courteously .

Lest he should flee he was everywhere atten d ed by a guar d o f ei ght

,

pa ges in the royal livery four o f them with shaven crowns like the ,

palace slaves and four o f them wi th the flowin g loc k s of warriors ;

-
,

and i f he contrived to escape the captain o f the guard had to take his ,

place as the representative o f the god and to di e in hi s stead Twenty .

days before he was to die his cos tume was chan ged and four damsels
d elicately nurtured a n d bearin g the names o f four go dd esses—the
, ,

God d ess of Flowers the God d ess o f the Youn g Mai z e the Goddess
Our Mo ther am o ng the Water and the Goddess of Salt— were given
, ,
“ ”
,

him to be hi s bri d es a nd wi th them he consorte d Durin g the last

, .

five days divine honours were showered on the destined victim The .

kin g remained in his palace w hile the whole court went a fter the
human god S olem n banquets and dances followed each other in
.

re gular succession and at appointed places On the last day the young .
590 K ILLI N G T H E GOD IN M EX ICO CH
.

her mount the framework where she stoo d upri gh t on the maize and
,

peppers a nd pumpkins with which it was strewe d her han d s resting ,

on t wo bannisters to keep her from fallin g Then the priests swung .

the smokin g censers round her ; the mus i c struck up a gain and while ,

it playe d a great di gnitary o f the temple su dd enly stepped up to her

,

with a razor in hi s han d a n d a d roi tly shore off the green feather she
wore on her hea d to ge ther wi th the hair i n which it was fastened
, ,

snippin g the lock o ff b y the root The feather and the hair he then .

presen te d to the wooden ima ge o f the goddess with great solemnity

a n d ela b ora te ceremonies weepin g a nd g ivin
, g her thanks for the fruits
o f the earth a nd the abun d ant crops which she had bestowed on the

people tha t year ; and as he wep t and prayed all the people standing , ,

in the courts o f the temple wept and praye d with him When that
, .

ceremony was over the girl d escended from the framework and was
,

escorte d to the place where she was to spend the rest o f the ni ght .

B ut all the people kept watch in the courts o f the temple by the light
o f torches t i ll break o f day .

The mornin g bein g come and the courts o f the temple bein g still
,

crowde d by the m ul ti tude who woul d have deemed it sacrile ge to

,

quit the precincts the priest s a ga i n brou ght for th the d amsel attired
,

in the costume of the g od d ess with the mi tre on her head an d the cobs
,

o f maize about her neck A gain she mounted the portable framework
.

or palanquin and stoo d on it supportin g hersel f by her hands on the

,

bannis ters Then the elders o f the temple l i fted it on their shoul ders
.
,

and wh i le some swung burnin g censers and others playe d on instru

ments or san g they carrie d it i n procession through the great courtyard
,

to the hall o f the god H uit z ilopoch tli and then back to the chamber ,

where stood the wooden ima ge o f the Maize Goddess whom the girl ,

personated There they caused the damsel to d escend from the

.

palanquin and to stan d on the heaps o f corn and ve getables that had
been sprea d in pro fusion on the floor of the sacred chamber While .

she stood there all the e l d ers and nobles came in a li ne one behind the ,

other carryin g saucers full of dry and clotted bloo d which they had
,
’
d rawn from thei r ears by way o f penance d urin g the seven days fast .

One by one they squatted on their haunches be fore her which was the ,

equivalent o f fallin g on their knees wi th us and scraping the crust of ,

blood from the saucer cast it down be fore her as an o ff erin g in return
for the benefits which she as the embodiment o f the Maize God d ess
, ,

ha d con ferre d upon them When the m en had thus humbly o ff ere d
.

thei r blood to the human representative o f the god d ess the women , ,

formin g a lon g line d id so likewise each o f them d roppi ng on her hams

, ,

be fore the g irl and scrapin g her blood from the saucer The ceremony .

lasted a lon g time for great and small youn g and old all wi tho ut
, , ,

exception had to pass before the incarnate d eity and make their
o fferi n g When it was over the people returned home wi th glad
.
,

hearts to feast on flesh and viands o f every sort as merrily we are told , ,

as goo d Chri sti ans at E aster partake of meat an d othe r carnal mercies
a fter the lon g abstine n ce o f Lent And when they had eate n and .
 l KILLI NG T HE GO D I N M E XICO 59 1

drunk th eir fill and reste d a fter the ni gh t watch they returned quite ,

re freshed to the temple to see the en d o f the fes tival And the end o f .

the festi val was this The multi tu d e being assemble d , the pri es ts
.

solemnly incensed the gi rl who personate d the go dd ess ; then they

threw her on her back on the heap o f corn and see d s cut o ff her hea d , ,

caught the gushin g bloo d in a tub and sprinkle d the bloo d on the
,

woo den imag e of the god d ess , the walls o f the chamber, and the o ff er
ings o f corn peppers , pumpkins , see d s and ve ge tab les wh i ch cumbered
, ,

the floor A fter that they flaye d the head less trunk and one of the
. ,

pries ts made shi ft to squee z e himsel f into the bloo dy skin Having done .

so they clad him in all the robes which the girl ha d worn ; they put the
m itre on his hea d , the necklace o f gol d en m ai z e cobs about his neck
-
,

the mai z e -cobs o f feathers a nd gol d in his han d s ; a n d thus arrayed

they led him forth i n publ i c, all o f them dancin g to the tuck o f drum ,

while he acted as fu gleman , skipp in g a n d pos turi n g at the hea d o f the

process ion as bri skly as he coul d b e expec te d to do incommode d as he ,

was by the ti ght and clammy skin of the girl and by her clothes , which
m ust have been much too small for a grown man .

In the fore goin g custom the i d en tifica tion o f the young girl wi th
the Maize Go d d ess appears to be complete The gol d en mai z e cobs .
-

which she wore round her neck the ar tificial ma iz e cobs which she
,
-

carrie d in her han d s the green feather wh ich was s tuck in her hai r in
,

imitation (we are tol d ) of a green ear o f mai z e all set her for th as a ,

personification of the corn sp i rit ; a n d we are expressly in formed t hat

-

she was specially chosen as a youn g girl to represen t the youn g maize ,

which at the time of the fes tival had not yet fully ripened Fur ther .
,

her identification with the corn a nd the corn go d dess was clearly -

announced by maki n g her s tan d on the heaps o f ma i ze a n d there receive

the homa ge an d blood o ff erin gs o f the whole people who thereby
-
,

returned her thanks for the benefits wh i ch in he r character o f a d ivini ty

she was suppose d to have con ferre d upon them Once more the .
,

practice of behead in g her on a heap of corn a n d seeds an d spr i nklin g

her blood not only on the image o f the Mai ze Go d d ess but on the p iles
, ,

of maize peppers pumpkins see d s a n d ve getables can seemin gly have

, , , , ,

had no o ther obj ect b ut to quicken and s tren gt hen the crops o f corn
and the fruits o f the ear th in general by in fusin g into their representa

tives the bloo d o f the Corn Go dd ess hersel f The analo gy o f thi s .

Mexican sacrifice the meanin g o f which appears to be in d i sputable

, .

may be allowed to stren gt hen the interpre ta tion which I have given of
other human sacrifices o ff ered for the crops If the Mexican girl .
,

whose blood was spr i nkle d on the maize in d eed personate d the Mai z e
,

Go ddess it becomes more than ever probable that the girl whose bloo d
,

the Pawnees similarly sprinkle d on the see d corn personated i n li ke

manner the female Spirit o f the Corn ; and so with the other human
beings whom o ther r a ces have slaughtered for the sake o f promotin g
the growth o f the crops .

Lastly the conclu di n g act of the sacred drama in which the body
, ,

of the d ead Maize God d ess was flayed an d her skin worn to gether ,
5 92 B E TW E E N H E AV E N AN D E ARTH CH .

wi th all her sacre d insi gnia by a man who d ance d be fore the people
,

in this grim atti re seems to be best explaine d on the hypo thesis that
,

it was inten d e d to ensure that the d ivi ne d eath s houl d be imme d iately
followe d by the divine resurrection If that was so we may in fer wi th
.
,

some de gree o f probabil ity that the practi ce o f killing a human repre
senta ti ve of a d eity has commonly perhaps always been regarded
, ,

merely as a means o f perpetuating the d ivine energi es in the fulness of

youth ful vi gour untainted by the weakness and frailty o f a ge from
, ,

which they m ust have su ff ered i f the d ei ty had been allowed to die a
n a tural d eath .

These M exican rites suffice to prove that human sacrifices of the

sort I suppose to have preva i led at A rici a were as a matter of fact , ,

regularly o ffered by a people whose level o f culture was probably not

in ferior i f in d eed it was not d i s ti nctly superior to that occupied by
, ,

the I talian races at the early perio d to which the ori gin o f the Arician
pries thood must be re ferred The posi tive and in d ubi table evidence
.

o f the prevalence o f such sacrifices in one part o f the world may

reasonably be allowe d to stren gt hen the probability o f their prevalence
in places fo r which the evi d ence is less full and trustworthy Taken .

all to gether the facts which we have passed in review seem to show
,

that the cus tom o f killi ng men whom their worshippers regard as
divine has prevailed i n m any parts o f the world .

CHAPT E R LX

B ET W E E N H EA VE N A N D EA RT H

1 N ot to tou ch the E ar th - A t the outset o f this book two questions

.

were propose d for answer : Why ha d the priest of A rici a to slay his
p redecessor ? A n d why , be fore d oing so , had he to pluck the Golden
Bou gh ? Of these two questions the first has now been answered .

The priest o f A ricia if I am ri ght was one o f those sacred kin gs or

, ,

human d ivinities on whose li fe the wel fare o f the community and even
the course of nature in ge n eral are believed to be in timately dependent .

It d oes not appear that the subj ects or worshippers o f such a spiritual
potentate form to themselves any very clear noti on o f the exact relation
ship in which they stand to him ; probably thei r ideas on the poin t
are va gue and fluctuatin g and we should err i f we attempted to define
,

the relationship with lo gical preci sion All that the people know or .
,

rather ima gine i s that somehow they themselves their cattle and
, , ,

thei r crops are myste ri ously bound up with their divine kin g so that ,

accordi ng as he is well or ill the community i s heal thy or sickly the ,

fl ocks an d h erds thrive or lan guish with disease and the fields yield ,

an abundant or a scanty harvest The worst evil which they can .

conceive of i s the natural death o f their ruler whether he succumb to ,

sickness or old age for in the opinion o f his followers such a death
,
594 B ET W EEN HEA V EN A N D EA R T H CH .

the burden The k i ng sat astride the b earer s nec k with a leg over
.
’

’
each shoulder and his feet tucke d under the bearer s arms When .

one of these royal carriers grew tire d he shot the kin g onto the shoulders
o f a second man without allowin g the royal feet to touch the ground .

I n this way they went at a g reat pace a n d travelled lon g distances in

a day when the kin g was on a j o urney The bearers had a special
,
.

’
hut in the kin g s enclosure i n or d er to be at hand the moment they
were wanted Among the B akuba or rather B ushon go a nation in
.
, ,

the southern region o f the Con go down to a few yea rs ago persons of ,

the royal bloo d were forbi d d en to touch the gro und ; they must sit
on a hide a chair or the back o f a slave who crouched on hands and
, , ,

feet ; their feet rested on the feet o f others When they travelled .

they were carried on the backs o f men ; but the king j ourneyed in a
litter supported on shafts Am on g the Ibo people about A wka in .
,

Southern N i geria the priest o f the E arth has to observe many taboos ;
,

fo r example he may not see a corpse a nd if he m eets fone on the road

, ,

he must hide his eyes wi th his w ristlet H e must abstai n from many .

foods such as e gg s bir d s o f all sorts mutton dog bush -buck and
, , , , , ,

so forth H e may nei ther wear nor touch a mask and no masked
.
,

man may enter his house If a dog enters his house it is killed and .
,

thrown out A s priest o f the E arth he may not sit on the bare groun d
.
,

no r eat thin gs that have fallen on the groun d nor may earth be thrown ,

at him Accordin g to ancient B rahm anic ritual a kin g at his inaugura

.
“

’
tion trod on a ti ger s skin an d a gol d en plate ; he was shod with shoes
’
o f boar s skin and so lon g as he live d thereafter he mi ght not stand on
,

the earth with his bare feet .

B ut besi des persons who are permanently sacred or tabooed and -

are there fore permanently forbid d en to touch the ground with their
feet there are others who enj oy the character o f sanctity or taboo
,

only on certain occasions and to whom accordin gly the prohibition ,

in question only applies at the d efin i te seasons during which they

exhale the odour of sanctity Thus amon g the Kayans or B ahaus of .

Central B orneo while the pries tesses are en ga ged in the performance
,

of certain rites they may not step on the ground and boards are laid ,

for them to tread on Warriors again on the war -path are surrounded
.
, , ,

so to say by an atmosphere of taboo ; hence some Indians of North

,

America mi ght not sit on the bare g round the whole time they were
out on a warlike expedition In Laos the huntin g o f elephants gives .

rise to many taboo s ; one o f them i s that the chi e f hunter may not
touch the earth with hi s foo t Accor d in gly when he ali ghts from hi s .
,

elephant the others sprea d a carpet o f leaves for him to step upon
,
.

Apparently holiness ma gi cal virtue taboo or whatever we may , , ,

call that mysterious quali ty which i s supposed to pe rvade sacred or .

tabooed persons is conceive d by the primi tive philosophe r as a phys i cal

,

substance or fluid with which the sacred man i s char ged j ust as a
, .

Leyden j ar i s char ged with electricity ; and exactly as the electr i ci ty

i n the j ar can be di schar ge d by contact W i th a good conductor 5 0 the ,
.

h oliness or ma gic al vi rtue in the man can be d i sch arg ed and d ra i ned
.x
x N OT TO S EE T H E SUN 595

away by co nt act with the earth which on this theo ry serve s as an ,

excellent con d uctor for the ma gical fl ui d Hence in or d er to preserve .

the charge from runnin g to waste the sacre d or tabooed persona ge ,

m ust be care fully prevented from touchin g the ground ; in electrical

language he must be insulate d if he is not to be emptied o f the precious
,

substance or flui d with which he as a vial is fille d to the brim And , ,

.

in many cases apparen tly the insulation o f the tabooed person is

recommen d ed as a precaution not merely for his own sake but for the
sake of others ; for since the v i r tue o f holiness or taboo is so to say a , ,

power ful explosive which the smalles t touch may d e tonate it i s ,

necessary in the in teres t o f the general sa fety to keep it wi th i n narrow

bound s lest break in g out it should blas t bli ght an d d estroy wha tever
, , ,

it comes i nto contac t wi th

2 N ot to s ee the S u n — The secon d rule to be here note d is that
.

the sun may not shine upon the di vi ne person Th i s rule was observed .

both by the Mika d o a n d b y the pon ti ff o f the Zapo tecs The latte r .

was looke d upon as a god whom the ear th was not worthy to hold ,

nor the sun to shine upon The Japanese woul d not allow that the
.

Mikad o shoul d expose his sacre d p e rson to the open air a n d the sun ,

was not thou gh t wor thy to shine on his h ea d The In d ians o f Grana d a . ,

in South Amer ica kept those who were to be rulers or comman d ers
, ,

whether men or women locke d up fo r several years when they were

,

children some o f them seven years and thi s so close tha t they were
, ,

not to see the sun fo r i f they shoul d happen to see it they for feited
,

their lor d ship eatin g certain sorts o f foo d appoin ted ; an d those who
,

were their keepers at certain t imes went into the i r retreat or prison
and scour ged them severely Thus for example the heir to the
.
, ,
’
throne of Bo go ta who was not the son but the s i ster s son o f the king
, ,

had to un d ergo a ri gorous trainin g from his in fancy ; he lived in

complete re tirement in a temple where he m ight not see the sun nor ,

eat salt nor converse wi th a woman ; he was surroun d e d by guar d s

who observed his con d uct an d note d all his actions ; i f he broke a
single one o f the rules la id d own fo r him he was d eemed in famous a nd ,

for feite d all his ri ghts to the throne So too the heir to the kingd om .
, ,

of So gamoso be fore succee d i n g to the crown had to fast fo r seven

, ,

years in the temple be i n g shu t up in the d ark an d n ot allowe d to

,

see the sun or li gh t The prince who was to become Inca o f Peru
.

had to fast fo r a mon th wi thout seein g li ght

3 T he S eclus i on of Gi rls a t P u b er ty — Now it is remarkable that
.

the fore goin g two rules—not to touch the groun d and n ot to see the
.

sun—are observed ei ther separa tely or conj ointly by gi rls at puberty

in many parts o f the worl d Thus amon gst the negroes of Loan go
.

girls at puberty are confine d in separate huts an d they may not touch ,

the ground with any part o f their bare bo dy Amon g the Zulus and .

kin dre d tribes of Sou th A frica when the first si gns of puberty show
,

themselves while a gi rl is walking gathering wood or workin g in the , ,

fiel d she runs to the river a nd hi d es hersel f amon g the reeds for the
, .

day so as not to be seen by men She covers her head care fully with
, .
 B ETW EEN HEAVEN A ND EART H
’

596 ca:

her bl anket that the sun may not shi ne on it an d shriv e l her up into a
’
withere d skele to n a S w ould result from exposure to the sun s beam s
,
'

”
A fter d ark she returns to her home a n d i s seclude d i n a hut for some
time With the Awa nkon d e a tribe at the northern en d o f Lake
.
-
,
’
Nyassa it is a rule that a fter her first menstruation a girl must be kept
,

apar t with a few companions o f her own sex i n a d arkened house

, , .

The floor is covere d wi th d ry banana leaves but no fire may be lit in ,

”
the house which i s calle d the house o f the A wa sungu that is of
, , ,

mai d ens who have no hearts .

I n N ew Ireland gi rls are confine d for four or five years in small

cages bein g kept in, the d ark and not allowed to set foot on the groun d
, .

The custom has been thus describe d by an eye witness I hear d -

.

from a teacher ab ou t some stra n ge cus tom connecte d wi th some of

the youn g girls here so I aske d the chie f to take me to the house where
,

they were The house was about twenty fiv e feet in len gth and
.
-
,

stoo d in a ree d an d bamboo enclosure across the en trance to which a ,

bun d le o f d ri e d grass was suspende d to show that i t was s trictly tabu .

’

Inside the house were three conical structures about seven or ei ght
fee t in hei ght a n d about ten or twelve feet in ci rcum ference at the
,

bottom a n d for about four feet from the g round at which poin t they
, ,

tapere d o ff to a point at the top These ca ges were made of the broa d .

leaves o f th e pandanus tree sewn q ui te close to gether so that no li ght

-
,

a nd little or no air coul d enter On one si d e of each is an openin g .

whi ch i s close d by a d ou b le door o f plai te d cocoa nut tree a n d pan danus -

t ree leaves Abou t three feet from the groun d there is a sta ge of bam
.

boos which form s the floor In each o f these ca ges we were told there
.

w as a youn g woman confine d each o f whom had to remain for at least ,

fou r or five years w i thout ever bein g allowe d to go ou tside the house
,
.

I coul d scarcely credit the story when I hear d it ; the whole thing
seeme d too horrible to be true I spoke to the chie f and tol d him .
,

that I wishe d to see th e insi d e of the ca ges and al so to see the girls ,

that I mi ght make them a present o f a few bea d s He tol d me that it .

was ta b u forbi d d en for an y men but thei r own rela tions to look at
‘

,
’

them ; but I suppose the promi sed bea d s acted as an in d ucemen t ,

an d so he sent away for some old lady who ha d char ge a nd who alo ne ,

is allowe d to open the doors While w e were waitin g we could hear .

the girls talkin g to the chie f i n a querulous way as i f obj ectin g to some
thin g or expressin g thei r fea rs The old woman came at len gth and .

certainly she did not seem a very pleasant j ailor or guardian ; nor did
she seem to favour the re q uest o f the chie f to allow us to see the girls as ,

she regar d ed us with anythin g but pleasant looks However she had .
,

to un d o the d oor when the chie f told her to do so and then the girls ,

peeped out at us an d when tol d to do so they hel d out their hands

, , ,

for the beads I however purposely sat at some d ista nce away
.
, ,

a n d merely held out the beads to them as I wished to d raw them quite ,

outsi d e that I mi ght inspect the inside o f the cages Thi s desi re of
,
.

mine gave rise to another d i ffi culty as these girls w ere not allowed to ,

put their feet to the groun d all the time they were confined in these
5 98 B E TWE E N H EAV E N A N D E ART H CH .

shut up by themselves i n a hut which was kept dark In Yap one of . ,

the Caroline Islan d s should a gi rl be overtaken by her first menstrua

,

tion on the public roa d she m ay not s it down on the earth but must
, ,

b eg for a coco nut shell to p ut under her

-
She is shut up for several .

’
d ays in a small b ut at a d istance from her parents house and a fter ,

wards she i s boun d to sleep for a hundre d days i n one o f the special
houses which are provi de d for the use o f menstruous women .

In the i sland o f Mabuiag Torres St rai ts when the si gns of puberty

, ,

appear on a girl a ci rcle o f bushes i s ma d e i n a dark corner o f the

,

house H ere d ecked with shoul d er bel ts armlets le glets j ust below
.
,
-
, ,

the knees an d anklets wearin g a chaplet on her head and shell orna
, , ,

m ent s i n her ears on her chest an d on her back she squats in the midst
, , ,

o f the bushes which are piled so hi gh round about her that only her
,

hea d i s visible In thi s state o f seclusi on she must remain for three
.

m onths All this time the sun may not shine upon her but at ni ght
.
,

she i s allowe d to slip out o f the hut and the bushes that hedge her in ,

are then chan ge d She may not fee d hersel f or han d le foo d but is fed
.
,

by one or two old women her maternal aunts who are especially , ,

appointe d to look a fter her One o f these women cooks foo d for her
.

at a special fire in the forest The girl i s forbidden to eat turtle or .

turtle e ggs d urin g th e season when the turtles are bree d in g ; but no
ve getable foo d i s re fuse d her No man n ot even her own father .
, ,

may come in to the house while her seclusion lasts ; for i f her father
saw her at thi s time he would certainly have b a d luck in his fishing ,

a n d would probably smash hi s canoe the very next time he went out

in it At the end o f the three months she is carried down to a fresh

.

water creek by her at ten d ants han gin g on to thei r shoul d ers in such ,

a way that her feet d o not touch the ground while the women of the ,

t ribe form a r i n g roun d her and thus escort her to the beach Arrived
, .

at the shore she i s strippe d o f her ornaments and the bearers stagger
, ,

wi th her into the creek where they immerse her a nd all the other
, ,

women j oin in splashin g water over both the girl and her bearers .

When they come out of the water one o f the two attendants makes a
heap o f grass for her char ge to squat upon The o ther runs to the reef . ,

catches a small crab tears off its claws and hastens back with them
, ,

to the creek Here i n the meantime a fire has been kindled and the
.
,

claws are roasted at it The girl i s then fed by her attendants with
.

the roasted claws A fter that she i s freshly decorated and the whole
.
,

party marches back to the villa ge in a sin gle rank the girl walking in ,

the centre between her two old aunts who hol d her by the wrists T he ,
.

husban d s of her aunts now receive her and lead her into the house of
one o f them where all partake o f foo d and the gi rl is allowed once more
, ,

t o feed hersel f in the usual manner A dance follows in which the .

,

gi rl takes a prominent par t d ancin g between the husbands o f the two

,

aunts who had char ge o f her in her retirement .

Amon g the Yarai k anna tribe o f Cape York Peninsula in N o rthern ,

Queensland 3 girl at puberty i s sai d to live by hersel f for a month

,

or six w ee k s ; no man may see her thou gh any woman may She , .
Lx T H E S E CLUS I ON OF GIRLS AT PUB E RT Y 599

stays in a hut o r s helter specially made for her on the floo r of wh ich ,

she lies supine She may not see the sun a n d towards sunset she
.
,

m ust keep her eyes shut unt i l the sun has gone down otherwise it ,

is thought that her nose will be diseased Durin g her seclusi o n she .

m ay eat nothin g that lives in salt water or a snake woul d kill her , .

An old woman waits upon her a nd supplies her wi th roots yarns , ,

and water Some Aus tralian tribes are wont to bury their g irls at
.

such seasons more or less deeply in the groun d perhaps in order to ,

hide them from the li ght of the sun .

Amon g the In d ians o f Cali fornia a girl at her first menstruation

was thou ght to be possessed o f a par ticular d e gree o f supernatural
power and this was not always re gar d ed as entirely defiling or male
,

volent O ften however there was a s tron g feelin g o f the power o f

.
, ,

evil inherent in her con d ition Not only was she seclu d e d from her .

family and the community but an attempt was ma d e to seclu d e the

“

world from her One o f the inj unctions most strongly laid upon her
.

was not to look about her She kept her hea d bowe d and was for.

bi dden to see the world an d the sun Some tribes covered her with .

a blanket Many o f the cus tom s in thi s connec tion resemb le d those
.

of the North Pacific Coast most stron gly such as the prohibi tion to ,

the girl to touch or scratch her hea d wi th her hand a special im p le ,

m ent bein
g furnishe d her fo r the purpose Sometimes she could eat
”
.

only when fed a n d in o ther cases faste d alto gether .

Amon g the Chinook In d ians who inhabite d the coast o f Washin gton
State when a chie f s d au gh ter attai ned to puberty she was h i d den for
,
’

five days from the view o f the people ; she mi ght n ot look at them nor
at the sky nor mi ght she pick berr ies It was b el i eve d that i f she were
, .

to look at the sky the weather woul d b e b a d ; that i f she p i cke d b erries
, ,

it woul d ra i n ; and that when she hun g her towel o f ce d ar bark on a -

spruce tree the t ree w ithered up at once She went out o f the house by
-
, .

a separate d oor a nd bathe d in a creek fa r from the v i lla ge She faste d .

for some days a n d for many d ays more she mi ght not eat fresh food
, .

Amon gst the A b t or Noo tka Ind ians o f Vancouver Islan d when ,

girls reach puberty they are place d i n a sort o f gallery in the house
“
and are there surroun d ed co m pletely with mats so that nei ther the ,

sun nor any fire can be seen In this cage they remain for several .

days. Water is given them but no food The lon ger a gi rl remains ,
.

in this retiremen t the greater honour is it to the parents ; but she i s

dis grace d fo r li fe i f it i s known tha t she has seen fire or the sun durin g
this initiatory or d eal
”
Pictures o f the mythical thun d er —
. bird are
painte d on the screens beh i n d which she hi d es Durin g her seclusion .

she may neither move nor li e d own b ut must always sit in a squatting ,

posture She may not touch her hair with her han d s but is allowed
. ,

to scratch her head wi th a co m b or a p i ece o f bone provi d e d for the

purpose To scratch her bo d y is also forbi d d en as it is bel i eve d that
. ,

every scratch would leave a scar For ei ght months a fter reaching .

m aturity she may not eat any fresh food particularly salmon ; more ,

over she must eat b y hersel f a n d use a cup and dish of her own
, ,
.
600 B ETW EE N H EAV EN AN D EA R T H cH
‘

In the T setsaut tr i be o f B ri ti sh Columbia a girl at puberty we ars

a lar ge hat o f skin wh ich comes d own over her face an d screens it
from the sun It i s bel i eve d that if she were to expose her face to
.

the sun or to the sky rain woul d fall The hat protects her face also
, .

a gainst the fire which ou ght not to strike her skin ; to shield her
,

hands she wears m it tens In her mouth she carr i es the tooth o f an
.

animal to prevent her own teeth from becomi ng hollow For a whole .

year she m ay not see bloo d unless her face is blackene d ; o therwise
she woul d grow bl in d For tw o years she wears the hat an d lives
.

in a hut by hersel f althou gh she i s allowed to see other people At

, .

the en d o f tw o years a man takes the hat from her head an d throws
it away In the B ilq ula or Bella Coola tribe o f B riti sh Columbia
’

.
,

when a girl at tains puberty she must s tay in the shed which serves
as her be d room where she has a separate fireplace She i s not allowed
, .

to descend to the main par t o f the house an d may not sit by the ,

fire o f the family For four d ays she is boun d to rema i n mo tionless
.

in a si tti ng posture She fas ts d urin g the day but i s allowe d a little
.
,

food an d d r i nk very early in the mornin g A fter the four days ’

.

seclusion she may leave her room but only throu gh a separate openin g ,

cut in the floor for the houses are ra i se d on p i les She may not
, .

yet com e in to the chie f room In leavin g the house she wears a large
.

hat which protects her face a gains t the rays o f the sun It is b elieve d .

tha t i f the sun were to shine on her face her eyes woul d su ff er She .

may pick berrie s on the hills b ut may n ot come near the river or ,

sea fo r a whole year Were she to eat fresh salmon she woul d lose
.

her senses or her mou th woul d be chan ge d into a lon g beak

, .

Amon gs t the Tlin git (T hli nk eet ) o r Kolosh I n d ians o f Alaska ,

when a gi rl showe d si gns of womanhood she use d to b e confine d to

a little hut or ca ge wh ich was comple tely blocked up wi th the exception
,

o f a small ai r hole -
In this d ark a n d fil thy abode she had to remai n
.

a year without fi re exerc i se or associates Only her m other and a

, , , .

female slave mi ght supply her with nourishment Her foo d was put .

in at -the little w i n d ow ; she had to d rink out o f the win g bone of a -

white hea d e d eagle The t im e o f her seclus ion was a fterwards re duce d
-
.

in som e places to six or three months or even less She had to wear .

a sort o f hat with lon g flaps that her gaze mi ght not pollute the sky ; ,

for she was thou ght unfi t for the s u n to sh i ne upon and i t was ima gined ,

that her look woul d d estroy the luck o f a hunter fisher or gambler , , ,

turn thin gs to stone an d do o ther mischie f At the en d o f her con

, .

fin e m ent her old clothes were burn t new ones were ma d e and a feast , ,

was given at which a sl it was cut i n her un d er lip parallel to the

,

m outh a n d a piece o f wood or shell was inser te d to keep the aperture

,

open Amon g the K oniags an E squimau people o f Alaska a girl at

.
, ,

puberty was place d in a small hut in which she had to remain on her
hand s and feet fo r six months ; then the hut was enlar ge d a little so
as to allow her to strai ghten her back but in thi s posture she had to ,

remain for six mo nths m ore All this time she was re garded as an .

unclean bein g with whom no one m i ght hol d intercou rse .

602 B E TW EE N H E AV E N A N D E ART H CH .

Wh en a Hindoo maiden reaches maturity she is k ept in a dark

room for four d ays a n d is forbi dd en to see the sun She is re garded
,
.

as unclean ; no one may touch her Her di et i s restricte d to boiled .

rice milk su gar curd an d tamarind wi thout salt On the morning

, , , , .

o f the fi fth d ay she g oes to a nei ghbourin g tank accompanied by ,

five women whose husbands are alive Smeared wi th turmeric water .

,

they all ba the and return hom e throwin g away the mat and other ,

things that w ere in the room The Rarhi B rahmans o f Ben gal compel .

a gi rl at puberty to live alone an d do not allow her to see the face of ,

any male For three d ays she remains shut up in a dark room and
.
,

has to under go certa i n penances Fish flesh and sweetmeats are .

, ,

forbi d d en her ; she must live upon rice and ghee Among the T iyans .

o f Malabar a girl i s thou gh t to be pollute d for four d ays from the

be ginnin g of her firs t mens truation Durin g this t i me she mus t .

keep to the no rth side o f the house where she sleeps on a grass mat ,

o f a particular kin d in a room festooned with garlan d s o f young

,

c oco nut leaves

-
Ano ther gi rl keeps her company and sleeps with
.

her but she may not touch any other person tree or plant Further
, , .
,

she may not see the sky an d woe beti d e her i f she catches si gh t o f a
,

crow or a cat ! Her d iet must be strictly ve getarian without salt , ,

tamari n d s or ch i llies She is arme d a gainst evil spiri ts by a kni fe

, .
,

which i s place d on the mat or carried on her person .

In Cambodia a girl at puberty is p ut to bed u n d er a mosquito

curtai n where she should stay a hundred d ays Usually however
, .
, ,

four five ten or twen ty days are thou ght enou gh ; a nd even this
, , , ,

in a hot climate and under the close meshes o f the curtain i s sufficiently ,

tryin g Accordin g to another account a Cambodian mai den at

.
,
” “
puberty is said to enter in to the sha d e Durin g her retirement .
,

which accor d in g to the rank and position of her fam i ly may last
, ,

any time from a few d ays to several years she has to observe a number ,

o f rules such as not to be seen by a stran ge man not to eat flesh or

, ,

fish a n d so on She goes nowhere n ot even to the pa go d a But

,
.
, .

thi s state o f seclusion is di scon tinue d d uri ng eclipses ; at such times

she goes forth a n d pays her d evotions to the mo n ster who is supposed
to cau se eclipses by ca tchin g the heavenly bodies between hi s teeth .

Thi s permi ssion to break her rule o f retirement and appear abroa d
durin g an eclipse seems to show how li terally the inj unction is inter
p reted which forbi d s maidens enterin g on womanhoo d to look upon
the sun .

A superstition so wi dely d i ffused as this mi ght be expected to

leave traces in le gends and folk tales A n d it has done so The -
. .

o ld Greek s tory o f Danae who was confine d by her father in a sub,

terranean chamber or a brazen tower b ut impre gnate d by Zeus who , ,

reached her in the shape o f a shower o f gold perhaps belon gs to ,

thi s class of tales It has its counterpart in the le gen d which the
.

Kir ghiz o f Siberia tell o f thei r ancestry A certain Khan ha d a fair .

daughter whom he kept in a dark i ron house that no man mi ght

, ,

see her A n old w oma n tend ed her ; and wh en the gi rl was grown
.
LX R EA S ON S FOR T H E SECLU S IO N O F GIR LS 603

to maide nhoo d she aske d the old woman Where do you go so o fte n “
,

“
My c hil d sai d the old dame ,
there i s a bri ght world In that , .

bri ght worl d your father a nd mother live a n d all sorts o f people ,
“
live there That is where I go. The maiden said Goo d mother .
, ,
”
I will tell nobo d y but show me that bri ght world
,
So the old woma n .

took the girl out o f the iron house But when she saw the bri gh t .

world the girl tottered an d fainte d ; and the eye o f God fell upon
,

her and she conceive d H er an gry father put her in a gol d en chest
,
.

and sent her floatin g away (fa i ry gol d can floa t i n fairylan d ) over the ‘

wi de sea The shower o f gol d i n the Greek story and the eye o f God
.
,

in the Kir ghiz le gend pro b ab ly stan d for sunl i gh t and the sun The
, .

i dea that women may be impre gnate d by the sun is not uncommon
in legen d s a n d there are even traces o f it in marria ge customs
4 Reas on s for the S ecl us i on of Gir ls a t P u b er ty — T he mo tive
.
,

for the restraints so commonly impose d on gi rls at puberty is the

deeply en grained d rea d which primi ti ve man universally entertains
of menstruous bloo d H e fears it a t all times but especially on its
.

firs t appearance ; hence the restr i c ti ons un d er which women li e at

their first menstruation are usually more strin gen t than those which
they have to observe at any subsequen t recurrence o f the mys terious
flow Some evidence o f the fear a n d o f the customs base d on it has
.

b een cited in an earl i er par t o f th i s work ; b ut as the terror for it i s ,

nothin g less which the phenomenon perio dically s trike s into the
,

mind of the sava ge has d eeply influence d hi s l i fe an d i nsti tuti ons it ,

may be well to illus trate the sub j ect w ith some fur ther examples .

Thus in the E ncoun ter Bay tribe of South Australia there i s or ,

use d to be a supers ti ti on wh ich obl i ges a woman to separate

,
“

herself from the camp at the t ime o f her mon thly i llness when i f a ,

young man or boy shoul d approach she calls out and he imme d iately , ,

makes a ci rcu it to avoi d her If she is ne glectful upon th i s poin t .

,

she expos es hersel f to scol d in g a n d sometimes to severe beatin g by ,

her husband or neares t rela tion because the boys are tol d from their ,

in fancy tha t i f they see the b loo d they will early become grey hea d e d
,
-
,
”
and the i r stre n th will fa i l prema turely The D ier i o f Cen tral
g .

Australia b elieve that i f women at the se times were to eat fish or

bathe in a river the fish woul d all die a n d the water woul d d ry up
, .

The Arunta o f the same re gion forbid mens truous women to g a ther
the irria k ur a bulbs which form a s taple ar ti cle o f d iet for both m en
,

and women They think that were a woman to break thi s rule the
.
,

supply of bulbs woul d fail .

In some Austral i an tribes the seclusion o f menstruous women

was even more ri gi d a n d was en forced by severer penal ties than a
, ,

scol d in g or a beating Thus there is a re gulation relatin g to camps

.
“ ‘

i n the W ak elb u ra tribe which forbi d s the women comin

g into the
e ncampment by the same path as the men Any violation of this .

rule woul d in a lar ge camp be puni she d with death The reason .

for this i s the d rea d with w hich they re gar d the menstrual period o f
/

wo m en Du rin g such a time a woman is kept entirel y away from

.
,
6 04 B E TW EE N H E AVE N AN D EARTH CH .

the camp h al f a mile at lea st A wom an in such a condition has

, .

bou ghs o f some tree o f her totem t ied round her loins an d i s constantly ,

watche d an d guar d e d for it is thou ght that shoul d any male be so

,

unfortunate as to see a woman in such a con d ition he woul d die , .

If such a woman were to let herself be seen by a man she woul d ,

probably be put to death When the woman has recovered she is

.
,

painte d red and whi te her head covere d wi th feathers an d returns

, ,
”
to the camp .

In M uralug one o f the Torres Straits Islands a menstruous

, ,

woman may not eat anythi n g that lives in the sea else the natives ,

believe that the fisheries woul d fa i l In Galela to the west of New .

,

Guinea women at their monthly periods may not enter a tobacco

,

field or the plants would be a ttacke d by d i sease The M inangk a

, .

bauers of Su m atra are persuad ed that i f a woman in her unclean s tate

were to go near a rice field the crop woul d be spoiled -
, .

The B ushmen o f South A frica think that by a glance o f a girl s ,

’

eye at the time wh en she ou ght to be kept in strict retirement men ,

become fixed i n whatever positions they happen to occupy with ,

whatever they were hol d in g i n the i r han d s an d are chan ge d into

~
,

trees that talk ? Cattle rearin g tribes of S outh A frica hol d that their
-

cattle woul d d ie i f the milk were d runk by a menstruous woman ;

a n d they fear the sa m e disaster i f a drop o f her blood were to fall

on the groun d a n d the oxen were to pass over it To prevent such .

a calami ty women in general not menstruous women onl y are forbidden

, ,

to enter the cattle enclosure and m ore than that they may not use '

the or d inary paths in en terin g the villa ge or in passin g from one b ut

t o another They are obli ge d to make ci rcuitous tracks at the back
.

o f the huts in or d er to avoid the groun d in the mid d le of the village

where the cattle s tand or lie down These women s tracks may be .
’

seen at every Ca ffre villa ge Amon g the B a ganda in like manner .

, ,

n o menstruous woman mi ght drink milk or come into contac t wi th

any milk vessel ; an d she mi ght not touch anythin g that belonged
-

to her husband nor sit on hi s mat nor cook hi s food If she touched
, ,
.

any thin g o f hi s at such a time it was deemed equivalent to wishing

him d ea d or to ac tually workin g ma gic for his d es truction Were , .

she to h a n d le any article o f his he would surely fall ill ; were she to ,

touch his weapons he woul d certa i nly be kill ed i n the next battle
,
.

Further the B a gan d a would not su ffer a menstruous woman to Vi s i t

,

a well ; i f she did so they feare d that the water would d ry up and
, ,

that she hersel f woul d fall sick and d ie unless she con fessed her fault ,

a n d the me d icine man made atonement for her

- Amon g the A k ik uyu .

o f British E ast A frica i f a new hut is built in a villa ge and the wi fe

,

chances to menstruate in it on the day she li ghts the first fire there ,

the b ut must be broken do wn and demolishe d the very next day .

.
The wom an may on no account sleep a second ni ght in it ; there is a
curse b oth on her an d on it .

Accordin g to the Talmud i f a woman at the beginni ng o f her ,

eriod passes between two men she t hereby ki lls one o f the m Peasant s
p
.
,
6 06 B E TW EE N H E AV E N AN D E ART H CH .

have lately been carried either on a sled ge or on the back To be guilty ,

.

o f a violat i on o f thi s custom is consi d ere d as of the greatest importance ;

because they firmly believe that it would be a m eans of preventing
the hunter from havin g an equal success i n hi s future excursions .

S o the Lapps forbi d women at menstruation to walk on that part of

the shore where the fishers are i n the habit o f settin g out their fish ;
and the E squimaux o f B erin g Strai t believe that if hunters were to
come near women in thei r courses they would catch no game For a .

like reason the Carri er I n d ians will not su ffer a m enstruous woman to
cross the tracks of animals ; if nee d be she is carr i ed over them They , .

think that i f she waded in a st ream or a lake the fish would die , .

Amon gst the civilised nations o f E urope the superstitions which

clus ter roun d this mysterious aspect o f woman s nature are not less ’

extravagant than th ose which prevail amon g sava ges In the ol dest
existin g cyclopae d ia—the N a tural H is tory of Pliny—the list o f dan gers
.

apprehen d e d from menstruation i s lon ger than any furnished by

mere barbarians Accordin g to Pli ny the touch of a menstruous
.
,

woman turned wine t o vinegar bli ghted crops kille d seedlin gs , , ,

blas te d ga rd ens brou ght d own the frui t from trees d immed mirrors
, , ,

blunte d razors rusted i ron an d brass (especially at the waning o f the

,

moon ) kille d bees or at least d rove them from thei r hives cause d
, , ,

m ares to miscarry and so for th Similarly in vari ous parts of E urope

, .
, ,

it i s still believe d that i f a woman in her courses enters a brewery the

beer will turn sou r ; i f she touches beer wine vine gar or milk it will , , , ,

go bad ; i f she makes j am it will not keep ; i f she mounts a mare it , ,

will miscarry ; i f she touches bu d s they will wi ther ; i f she climbs ,

a cherry tree it wi ll die In B runswick people think that i f a men

,
.

struou s woman assists at the killi ng o f a p i g the pork will putre fy , .

I n the Greek island o f Calym n os a woman at such times may not

go to the w ell to draw water no r c ross a running s tream nor enter , ,

the sea . H er presence in a boat is said to raise storms .

Thus the obj ect of seclu d ing women at menstruation i s to neutralise

the dan gerous influences which are supposed to emanate from them at
such times That the d an ger is believe d to be especially great at the
.

first menst ruation appears from the unusua l precautions taken to

isolate girls at this cri sis Two o f these precautions have been illus .

trated above namely the rules that the girls m a y not touch the groun d
, ,

nor see the sun The general e ffect o f these rules i s to keep
.

her suspended so to say between heaven and earth Whether

, ,
.

enveloped in her hammoc k and slu ng up to the roo f as in South ,

America o r rai sed above the g round in a dark and narrow cage as in
, ,

New Ireland she may be considered to be out o f the way o f doin g mis
,

chief since bein g shu t off both from the earth and from the sun
, , ,

she can poi son neither o f these great sources o f li fe by her deadl y
conta gion In short she is ren d ere d harmless by bein g in electrical
.
, ,

lan gua ge insulated

,
But the precautions thus taken to isolate or
.

insulate the girl are dictated by a regar d for her own safety as well as
for the sa fety o f others For it is thou ght th at she hersel f w ould.
 LXI T HE MYTH O F BALD ER 607

suffer if she were to ne glect the prescribed regimen Thus Zulu girls .
,

as we have seen believe that they would shrivel to skeletons i f the sun
,

were to shine on them at puberty and the Macusis ima gine that i f , ,

a young woman were to trans gress the rules she would su ffer from sores ,

on various parts o f her bo dy In short the girl is viewed as charged

.
,

with a power ful force which if not kept within boun d s may prove , ,

destructive both to hersel f and to all with whom she comes in contact .

To repress thi s force within the limits necessary for the safety o f all
concerne d is the obj ect o f the taboos in question .

The same explanation applies to the observance of the same rule s

by divine kin gs an d priests The uncleanness as it is called o f girls
.
, ,

at puberty and the sanc tity o f holy men d o not to the primitive ,

m ind ,di ffer materially from each other They are only di fferent .

m ani festa tions o f the same mysterious ener gy which like ener gy in ,

general i s in itsel f neither goo d nor b ad b ut becomes b enefice nt or

, ,

m aleficent accor d in g to its application Accor d in gly i f like girls at .

, ,

puber ty divine personages may neither touch the ground nor see the
,

sun the reason is on the one han d a fear lest their d ivinity mi ght at
, , , ,

contact with earth or heaven d ischarge itsel f wi th fatal v i olence on

,

either ; and on the other han d an apprehens i on that the divine

, ,

bein g thus drained of his e thereal v i rtue mi ght thereby be incapaci

, ,

tated for the future per formance o f those ma gical func tions upon the ,

proper d ischar ge o f which the sa fety o f the people an d even of the

worl d i s believe d to han g Thus the rules in ques tion fall under the
.

head of the taboos which we examine d in an earlier part o f this book ;

they are inten ded to preserve the li fe o f the d i vine person and with it
the li fe o f his subj ects and worsh i ppers Nowhere it i s thou ght .
, ,

can his precious yet d an gerous li fe be at once so sa fe and so harmless

as when it i s nei ther in heaven nor in earth but as far as possible , , ,

suspended between the two .

CHAPT E R LXI

TH E M YT H OF B A LDER

A DE I T Y whose li fe mi ght in a sense be sai d to be neithe r i n heaven

nor on earth but between the two was the Norse Bal d er the goo d an d , ,

beauti ful god the son o f the great god O d in and himsel f the wisest
, , ,

mil d est best beloved o f all the immortals The story o f his d eath
,
.
,

as it i s tol d in the younger or prose E d da r u n s thus Once on a time ,

.

Bal der d reamed heavy d reams which seeme d to forebo d e hi s d eath .

Thereupon the gods held a council and resolved to make him secure
against every d an ger So the go d dess Fri gg took an oath from fire
.

and water iron and all metals stones and ear th from trees sicknesses
, , , ,

and poisons an d from all four footed beasts birds an d creepin

g thin gs
‘
-
, , , ,

that they would not hurt Balder W hen this was done B alde r was .
608 T H E M YTH OF BALD ER CH;

deemed invulnerable ; so the gods amused themselves by settin g him

in their mi d st while some shot at him others hewed at him and others
, , ,

threw stones at him B ut whatever they did nothin g could hurt

.
,

him ; and at this t he y were all gla d Only Loki the mischie f maker . ,
-
,

was d i spleased an d he went in the gui se o f an old woman to Fri gg

, ,

who told him that the weapons o f the go d s could not wound Bald er ,

since she ha d made them all swear not to hurt him Then Loki .

asked ,
Have all things sworn to spare Bal d er ?
“
She answere d ,

E ast o f Walhalla grows a plant calle d mistletoe ; it seemed to me

“

too youn g to swear So Loki went a nd pulled the mistletoe and took
.

it to the assembly o f the gods There he foun d the blin d god H other
.

“
s tan d in g at the outside o f the circle Loki asked him Why do you .
,
”
H other answered
“
n ot shoo t at Balder ? B ecause I do not see ,
”
w here he stands ; besi des I have no weapon Then said Loki .
,
“
Do like the rest and show Bal d er honour as they all do I will , .

show you where he s tands an d do you shoot at him with this tw ig

, .

H other took the mistle toe a n d threw it at B alder as Loki d irected ,

him . The mis tletoe struck B alder and pierced him throu gh and
throu gh an d he fell d ow n dea d And that was the greatest mis fortune
, .

that ever be fell gods and men For a while the gods stood speechless
.
,
’
then they li fte d up thei r vo ice s an d wept bitterly They took Balder s .

’
bo dy and brought it to the sea shore There stood Balder s ship ; -
.

it was calle d Ringhorn an d was the hu gest of all ships The gods
,
.

’
wi she d to launch the ship and to burn Balder s body on it but the ship ,

woul d not stir S o they sent for a giantess called H yrrock in She
. .

came ri d in g on a wol f a n d gave the ship such a push that fire flashed
’
from the rollers a n d all the earth shook Then Balder s body was taken .

a n d placed on the funeral pile upon his ship When hi s wi fe Nanna .

sa w th at her heart burst for sorrow and she died So she was lai d
, .

’
on the funeral pile wi th her husban d and fire was put to it Balder s , .

horse too with all its trappin gs was burned on the pile
, , ,
.

Whether he wa s a real or m erely a mythical persona ge Bal der ,

was worshipped in N orway On one o f the bays of the beauti ful.

So gne Fior d which penet rates far i nto the depths o f the solemn
,

N orwe gian mountains with their sombre pine forests and their lo fty
,
-

casca d es d i ssolvin g i nto spray before they reach the dark water o f the
’
fio r d fa r below Balder ha d a great sanctuary
, It was called B alder s .

Grove A palisa d e enclosed the hallowed ground and within it stood

.
,

a spacious temple w ith the ima ges of many gods but none o f them was ,

worshipped with such devotion as B al d er So great was the awe .

with which the heathen re gar d ed the place that no man mi ght harm
another there nor steal hi s cattle nor defile himsel f with women But
, ,
.

women cared for the ima ges o f the gods in the temple ; they wa rm e zl
them at the fire anointed them with oil and dried them with cloths
, , .

Whatever may be thou ght of an historical ke rnel underlyin g a

mythical husk in the le gend of Balder the details of the story su ggest ,

that it belon gs to that class o f myths which have been d ramatised

m ritual or to p ut it otherwise which have been per formed as
, , ,
6 10 T HE FIR E F E STIVAL S O F E URO P E
-
CH .

or a fortn ight be fore the d ay o f the great fire as it is called child ren , ,

g o a b ou t from farm to farm collec tin g fuel At Gran d Halleux any

"

one who re fuses the i r request i s pursue d next day by the children ,

who try to blacken his face with the ashes o f the ext i nct fire When .

the day has come they cu t d own bushes especi ally j uniper and
, ,

broom and in the evenin g great bonfires blaze on all the hei ghts
, .

It is a common sayin g that seven bonfires should be seen i f the villa ge

i s to be sa fe from confl agrations If the Meuse happens to be frozen .

har d at the time bonfires are lit also on the ice At Grand Halleux
,
.

“
they set up a pole called m a k ral or the witch in the mi dst of the , ,

pi le and the fire is kin dled by the man who was last married in the
,

vi lla ge In the nei ghbourhoo d o f M orlanwelz a straw man is burnt

.

in the fire Young people and chil d ren dance a n d sin g round the
.

bonfires and leap ove r the embers to secure goo d crops or a happy
,

m arria ge w ithin the ye a r or as a means o f guar d in g themselves a gainst,

col i c I n B rabant on the same Sun d ay down to the be ginning of

.
,

the nine tee n th cen tury women and men d i s guised i n female a ttire ,

used to go wi th burnin g torches to the fiel d s where they dance d ,

a n d san g comic son gs for the purpose as they alle ge d o f d rivin g , ,

”
away the wicked sower who is men tione d in the Gospel for the
“
,

d ay. At P atura ges in the province o f Hainaut down to about 1840

, ,

the custom was observe d un d er the name o f E sconw on or S couvion

’

E very year on the fi rs t Sunday o f Lent w hich was calle d the Day o f the ,

Little S couv ion youn g folks and chil d ren use d to run with li ghted
,

torches throu gh the gardens and orchards As they ran they cried .

at the pitch o f thei r voices :

and cherri es a ll b lack

“
B ear a pples b ear” pears
, ,

T o S couvi on !

At these words th e torch beare r whirled his blazin g brand and hurled -

it amon g the branches o f the apple trees the pear trees and the -
,
-
,

cherry trees The n ext Sunday was called the Day of the Great
-
.

S co uv i on and the same race wi th li ghted torches amon g the trees of

,

the orchards was repeate d in the a fternoon till darkness fell .

In the French department o f the Ardennes the whole village used

to dance and sin g aroun d the bonfires which w ere li ghted on the first
Sun d ay i n Lent H ere too it was the person last marrie d sometimes
.
, , ,

a m an and sometimes a woman who put the match to the fire The ,
.

custom i s still kept up very commonly in the district Cats use d to be .

burnt i n the fire or roaste d to death by be i n g hel d over it ; an d while

they were burni ng the shepherds d rove their flocks throu gh the smoke
a n d flames as a sure means o f guardin g them a gains t sickness and

witchcraft In some communes it was believed that the livelier the

.

dance round the fir e the bet ter woul d be the crops that year, .

In the French province o f Franche Comt é to the west o f the Jura -

,

M ountains the first Sunday o f Len t is known as the Sunday of the

,

F ireb ra n ds (B ra n d ons ) on accoun t of the fires which it is customary

,

to kindle on that day On the Saturday or the Sunday the village

.
a T HE L E NT E N FIR E S 11

lads harne ss themselves to a cart and dra g it bout the streets stoppin g a ,

at the doors o f the houses where there are girls a n d be ggin g fo r a fa ggot .

When they have got enough they cart the fuel to a spot at some little ,

distance from the villa ge pile it up an d set it on fire , All the people , .

of the parish come out to see the bonfire In some villa ges when the .
,

bells have run g the An gelus the si gnal for the observance i s given by
,
”
cries o f To the fire ! to the fire ! La d s lasses and chil d ren d ance
,
“
, ,

roun d the blaz e a nd when the flames have d ie d d own they vie with
,

each o ther in leapin g over the red em b ers He or she who d oes so .

withou t singein g his or her garmen ts w i ll be marrie d wi thin the year .

Young folk also carry l igh te d torches about the streets or the fields ,

and when they pass an orchar d they cry out M ore fruit than leaves !
”
,

Down to recent years at Laviron in the d epar tment o f Doubs it , ,

was the youn g married couples o f the year who ha d char ge o f the
b onfires In the midst o f the bonfire a p ole was plante d wi th a woo d en
.

figure o f a cock fas tene d to the top Then there were races a nd the .
,

winner rece ive d the cock as a pr ize .

In Auver gne fires are everywhere kin d led on the evenin g o f the
first Sun day in Lent E very v i llage every hamlet even every war d
.
, , ,

every isolate d farm has its bonfire or figo as i t is calle d which blazes , ,

up as the shades o f ni ght are fallin g The fires may be seen flar i n g .

on the heigh ts an d in the plai n s ; the people d ance an d sin g round ab out
them an d leap throu gh the flames Then they proce ed to the ceremony
of the Gran nas —
.

m i as A gra n no m i o i s a torch o f straw fas tened to the

.
-

top of a pole When the pyre i s hal f consume d the b y stan d ers kin d le
.
,

the torches at the expirin g flames and carry them in to the nei ghbourin g
orchar d s fiel d s an d gar d ens wherever there are frui t trees A s
, , ,
-
.

they march they sin g at the top o f the i r vo i ces

“
G ra nno my frien d , ,
”
Grauno my father Gran no my mother ,
Then they pass the burnin g .

torches un d er the branches of every tree s in gin g : ,

”
b r ants o in plan panel !
'

B r and o , b r and oun c z ts aq ne ,

that is Firebrand burn ; every branch a basketful ! In som e

,

villages the people also run across the sown fiel d s a nd shake the ashes
of the torches o n the groun d ; also they put some o f the ashes in the
fowls nests in or d er that the hens may lay plen ty o f e ggs throu ghout
’
,

the year When all these ceremon i es have been per forme d everybody
.
,

goes home a nd feasts ; the special d ishes o f the evening are fri tters
and pancakes Here the applica tion o f the fire to the frui t—
. trees ,

to the sown fiel d s an d to the nes ts o f the poul try i s clearly a charm
,

inten ded to ensure fer tility ; and the Gra un o to whom the i nvocation s
are a dd resse d an d who gives hi s name to the torches may poss ibly be
, , ,

as Dr P om m erol su gges ts no other than the anc ient Cel tic god Gr ann us
.
, ,

whom the Romans id entified w ith Apollo and whose worsh ip is attested ,

by inscript i ons foun d not only in Fran ce but in Sco tlan d a n d on the
Danube .

The custom o f carryin g li ghte d torches o f straw (b r a n d ons ) about

the orchards and fields to fertilise them on the firs t S unday of Lent
6 12 T HE FIR E F E STIVAL S OF -
E UROP E CH .

s eem s to h ave been common in France whether it w a s accompanied ,

w ith the prac tice o f k i n d lin g b onfires or n ot Thus i n the province .

“
o f P i cardy on the firs t Sun d ay o f Lent people carr ie d torches throu gh
the fiel d s e x orcisin g the field —
, mice the darnel and the smut They , , .

ima gine d that they did much goo d to the gar d en s and caused the
onions to grow lar ge Children ran about the fields torch in hand
.
, ,
”
t o make the lan d m ore fer tile At Ver ges a village between the .
,

Jura a nd the Combe d A in the torches at this season were kindled

’

on the top o f a m oun tain a n d the bearers went to every house in the
,

villa ge d eman din g roaste d peas and obli gi ng all couples who had been
,

marrie d within the year to dance In B erry a di strict of Cent ral France .
, ,

it appears that bonfires are not li ghte d on this day but when the sun ,

has set the whol e popula tion o f the vill ages armed w ith blaz ing torches ,

o f s traw d isperse over the country a n d scour the fields the vineyards
, , ,

a n d the orchar d s S een from a far the mul ti tu d e o f movin g li ghts

.
, ,
’
twinklin g in the d arkness appear l ike will o the wi sps chasin g each,
- - -

other across the plains alon g the h i llsi d es and d own the valleys While
, , .

the men wave the i r fl am b eau s about the branches o f the fru it trees -
,

the women a n d chil d ren tie bands o f wheaten s traw round the tree -

t runks The e ffect o f the cere m ony i s suppose d to be to avert the

.

various pla gues from w hich the frui ts o f the earth are apt to su ffer ;
an d the ban d s o f straw fastene d roun d the stems o f t he trees are believed
to render them frui tful .

In Germany Aus tria and S witzerlan d at the same season similar

, ,

customs have preva i le d Thus i n the E i fel Mountains Rhenish

.
,

Prussia on the first S unday in Lent youn g people use d to collect

,

s traw and brushwood from house to house These they carried to .

an eminence and piled up round a tall slim beech —tr ee to which a , ,

piece o f wood was fas tene d at ri gh t angles to form a cross The .

” “
structure was known as the hut or cas tle Fire was set to it “
.

” “
and the youn g people marche d round the blazin g castle bar e
hea d e d each carry i n g a li ghte d torch and prayi n g aloud Sometimes
,
.

”
a straw man was burne d in the hut
- People o b serve d the d irection “
.

i n wh i ch the smoke blew from the fire If it blew towards the corn .

fiel d s it was a si gn that the harvest would be abundant

,
On the .

same d ay in some parts of the E i fel a great wheel was made o f straw
, ,

an d dra gge d by three horses to the top o f the hill Thither the village .

boys m arche d at n igh tfall set fire to the wheel an d sent it rolling , ,

down the slope A t Ob erstattfeld the wheel ha d to be provided by

.

the youn g man who was last married About E chternach in Luxem .

”
bur g the same ceremony is called bu rnin g the witch At Voralb erg “
.

i n the Tyrol on the first Sunday in Len t a slender youn g fir tree is

, ,
-

surrou n de d with a p ile o f s traw and firewood To the top of the .

tree is fas tene d a human fi gure calle d the wi tch ma d e o f old clothes “
,

an d stu ffed wi th gunpow d er A t ni gh t the whole i s set on fire and boys

.

and gi rls dance roun d it swin gin g torches and sin gi n g rhymes in which
,

the words corn in the wi nnowin g basket the plou gh in the ear th
“
-
,

m ay be di stin gui shed In Sw abia on the first Sunday in Lent a figure

.
6 14 T HE FIR E F E STIVAL S OF
-
E UROP E CH .

out D eath We have seen that at Spachendor f in Austrian Silesi a

.
, ,

o n the mornin g o f Ruper t s Day Shrove a straw -man

’

( ,

d resse d i n a fu r coat an d a fu r cap is lai d i n a hole outsi d e the village ,

a n d there b urne d and tha t while it i s blaz i n g every one seeks to

,

snatch a fra gmen t o f it which he fas tens to a b ranch o f the hi ghest ,

tree i n his gar d en or buries in his fiel d bel i evin g that this will make ,

the crops to grow better The ceremony i s known as the burying .

“

o f Dea th E ven when the s traw man i s not des ignated as Death
.
-
,

the mean i n g o f the observance is probably the same ; for the name
Dea th as I have trie d to show d oes n o t express the original intention
, ,

o f the ceremony At Cobern in the E i fel M oun tains the la d s make

up a s traw —
.

man on Shrove Tuesday The e ffi gy is formally tried and .

accused o f havin g perpetrated all the the fts that have been com
m itted i n the n e i ghbourhood throu ghou t the year Bein g condemned .

to death the straw man i s le d throu gh the villa ge shot and burned
,
-
, ,

upon a pyre They dance roun d the blazin g pile a n d the last bri de
.
,

m ust leap over it In Ol d enbur g on the evenin g of Shrove Tues day

.

people use d to make lon g bun d les o f straw which they set on fire , ,

an d then ran abou t the fiel d s wavin g them shriekin g and sin ging
wild son gs Finally they burne d a s traw —
, ,

man on the fiel d In the

dis trict o f Dii s seldo r f the straw —
. .

man burne d on Shrove Tuesday was

m ade o f an unthreshe d shea f o f corn On the first Mon d ay a fter .

tm e sprin g e q uinox the urch i ns o f Zurich d ra g a straw man on a lit tle -

cart throu gh the st reet s while at the same t ime the girls carry about
a May tree When vespers rin g the straw —
,

-
. m a n i s burned In the , .

d istrict o f Aachen on Ash We d nes d ay a man used to be encased in ,

peas straw an d taken to an appointe d place Here he slipped quietly

-
.

o ut o f hi s straw casin g which was then burned the chil d ren thi nking
, ,

th a t it was the man who was bei n g burne d In the Val di Ledro .

(Tyrol ) on the last d ay o f the Carnival a fi gure i s made up o f s traw

a n d brushwoo d and then burned The fi gure i s called the Old Woman .
,
”
and the ceremony burnin g the Old Woman
3 T he E as ter F i res —Another occasion on which these fire
.

fes tivals are held i s E aster E v e the Satur d ay be fore E aster Sun day ,
.

On tha t d ay it has been customary in Catholic countries to extinguish

all the li ghts in the churches and then to make a new fire sometimes , ,

w ith flint a n d steel sometimes with a burni n g-glass At this fire , .

is lit the grea t Paschal or E aster can d le which i s then used to rekindle ,

all th e ex tin guishe d li gh ts in the church In many parts of Germany .

a bonfire i s also kindle d by means o f the new fire on some open space , ,

n ear the church It is consecrate d and the people brin g sticks of

.
,

oak walnut and beech which they char in the fire and then take
, , , ,

home wi th them Some o f these charre d st icks are thereupon burned

.

at home in a newly kin d le d fire with a prayer that God will preserve
-
,

the homes tead from fire li gh tnin g and hail Thus every house , , .

”
receives new fire “
Some o f the sticks are kept throu ghout the
.

year and laid on the hearth fire durin g heavy thunder storms to - -

prevent the house from bein g struc k by li ghtnin g or they are inse rted ,
a T H E E A ST E R FIR E S 6 15

in the roof with the like i nt enti on Oth ers are pl aced in the fields .
,

ardens and mea d ows with a prayer that G od w i ll ke ep them f rom

g , ,

b li gh t a nd hai l Such fiel d s and gardens are thou ght to thrive more
.

than others ; the corn and the plants that grow in them are not beaten
down by hail nor devoured by m i ce verm in and beetles ; no witc h
, , ,

harms them and the ears o f corn s tan d close and full The charred
, .

sticks are also appl i ed to the plough The ashes of the E aster bonfire .
,

together wi th the ashes of the consecrated palm branches are mixe d -

,

wi th the see d at sowin g A wooden fi gure called Ju d as i s some times

.

b urne d in the consecrate d bonfire an d even where this cus tom has ,

been abolished the bonfire itsel f in some places goes b y the name o f
the burnin g o f Judas .

The essen tially pagan character o f the E aster fire festival appears
plainly bo th from the mo d e in wh ich it is celebra ted by the peasants
and from the supers ti tious belie fs which they associate wi th it All .

over Northern an d Central Germany from Altmark a nd Anhalt on ,

the east throu gh B runswick Hanover Ol den b ur g the Har z d is trict

, , , , ,

and Hesse to Wes tphalia the E as ter bonfires s ti ll b laze s i mul taneously

on the h ill tops As many as for ty may sometimes be coun te d w ithin

-
.

s ight at once Lon g be fore E aster the youn g people have been b usy
.

collectin g firewoo d ; every far m er con tri b utes a n d tar barrels pe tro ,
-
,

leum cases an d so for th go to swell the pile Nei ghbour i n g v i lla ges
, .

vie wi th each o ther as to wh ich shall sen d up the grea tes t bla z e The .

fires are always kin d le d year a fter year on the same h ill wh ich
, , ,

accor din gly o ften takes the name o f E as ter Moun tain It is a fine .

spectacle to watch from some eminence the b onfires flarin g up one

a fter another on the nei ghbourin g hei gh ts As far as their li gh t .

reaches so fa r in the belie f o f the peasants the fiel d s will be frui tful
, , , ,

and the houses on wh i ch they shine will be sa fe from co nfl agra ti on

or s ickness At Volkm a rsen a n d o ther places in Hesse the people

.

use d to observe which way the wind blew the flames an d then they ,

sowe d flax seed in that di rection confident that it wo uld grow well . ,

Brands taken from the bonfires preserve houses from be in g s truck

by li ght nin g ; a nd the ashes increase the fer til ity o f the fields protect ,

them from mice a n d mixe d wi th the d rinkin g water of cattle make

,
-

the animals thrive and ensure them agains t plague As the flames .

die down youn g and old leap over them and cattle are sometimes
, ,

driven throu gh the smoul d erin g embers In some places tar b arrels .
-

or wheels wrap t in st raw used to be set on fire an d then sent rollin g ,

down the hillside In others the boys li gh t torches a n d wisps o f

.

straw at the bonfires a n d rush about brandishin g them in the i r han d s .

In M ii n ste rlan d these E aster fires are a l ways kin d le d upon cer tain
defini te h i lls which are hence k n own as E aster or Paschal Moun tains
, .

The whole communi ty assembles about the fire The youn g men an d .

m aid ens sin i n

, g g E as ter hymns march round a n d round the fire t i ll , ,

the bla z e d ies down Then the girls j ump ove r the fire in a line one
.
‘

a fter the o ther each supported by two young men who hol d her han d s
,

and run be s i d e her In the twilight boys with bla zing bun d les of str aw
.
 6 16 T HE F IRE-F EST IVALS O F E UROP E CH .

run over the fiel d s to make them fruitful At Delmenhorst in Olden .

,

bur g it use d to be the custom to cut d own two trees plant them in the
—
, ,

g round s i d e by side and p i le twelve tar barrels a gai nst each Brush
, .

wood was then heaped about the trees and on the evenin g o f E aster ,

Satur day the boys a fter rushin g about with blazin g bean poles in their
,
-

hands set fire to the whole At the en d of the ceremony the urchins
, .

trie d to b lacken each o ther an d the clothes o f grown up people In -

.

the Al tmark it is believe d tha t as far as the blaze o f the E aster bonfire
i s visible the corn will grow well throu ghout the year and no con
, ,

fla grati on will break o u t A t Braunr od e i n the Har z Mountains it

.
, ,

was the custom to burn squirrels in the E aster bonfire In the Alt .

mark b ones were burne d in it

,
.

Near Forchh eim in Upper Franken a straw man called the Judas
, ,
-

used to b e b urned in the churchyar d s on E as ter Satur d ay T he whole .

village contributed wood to the pyre on which he perished an d the ,

charred s ticks were a fterwar d s kept an d plante d in the fields on

Walpur gi s Day (the first of May ) t o preserve the whea t from bli ght and
m i l d ew Abou t a hundre d years a go or more the custom at A lthenne
.

ber g i n Upper Bavaria used to be as follows On the a fternoon of

, , .

E aster Satur day the lads collec te d woo d wh i ch they piled in a corn ,

fiel d while i h the mi dd le of the pile they set up a tall woo d en cross all
,

swathe d in s traw A fter the evenin g serv ice they li ghted their lanterns
.

at the consecrated can d le in the church a nd ran with them at full ,

speed to the pyre each strivin g to get there first The firs t to arrive
, .

set fire to the he ap No woman o r girl mi ght come near the bonfire
.
,

but they were allowe d to watch it from a di stance As the flames .

rose the men a n d la d s rej oice d and ma d e merry shoutin g We are , ,

“

”
burnin g the Ju d as ! The man who ha d been the firs t to reach the
pyre an d to ki n dle it was rewar d e d on E as ter Sun d ay by the women ,

who gave him coloure d e ggs at the church door The obj ec t o f the .

whole ceremony was to keep o ff the hail At o ther villa ges of Upper .

B avari a the ceremony which took place between nine and ten at ni ght
,
” “
on E as ter Satur d ay was called burnin g the E as ter Man , On a .

hei ght about a mile from the villa ge the youn g fellows set up a tall
cross enveloped i n straw so that it looked like a man with his arms ,

stre tche d out This was the E aster Man No la d un d er ei ghteen

. .

years of age mi ght take part in the ceremony One of the youn g m en .

statione d him sel f besi d e the E as ter Man hol d in g in his hand a con ,

secr a ted taper which he had brou ght from the church and li ghted .

The rest s tood at equal in tervals in a great c i rcle roun d the cross .

A t a given si gnal they race d thrice round the ci rcle and then at a
'

secon d si gnal ran strai ght at the cross a n d at the lad with the lighted
taper besi d e it ; the one who reache d the goal first had the ri ght
o f settin g fire to the E aster Man Grea t was the j ubilation while he .

was burnin g When he had been consumed i n the flames three

.
,
.

la d s were chosen from amon g the rest and each of the three drew a ,

circle on the g round wi th a stick thrice round the ashes Then they .

all left the spot On E aster M onday the villa gers gathered the ashes
. .
 6 18 THE FIR E-F E STIVAL S O F EUROP E CH .

The n i ght be fore all the fi res in the country were carefully ,

extin guishe d a nd nex t mornin g the m aterials fo r excitin g this sacred

,

fire were prepare d The most primitive me thod seems to be that which
was use d in the islan d s o f Skye M ull and Ti ree A well —
.

seasoned , , .

plank o f oak was procure d in the mi d st o f which a hole was bored A , .

wimble o f the sam e timber was then applie d the end of which they ,

fitted to the hole B ut in some parts o f the mainland the machinery

.

was di fferent They use d a frame o f gre en wood o f a s q uare form

in the centre o f which was an axle —
.
, ,

tree In some places three times .

three persons in o thers three times nine were required for turning
, ,

roun d by turns the axle tree or wimble If any o f them ha d been -

.

g uil ty o f mur d er a d ultery the ft or other a trocious crime it was

, , , ,

ima gined ei ther that the fire would not kin d le or that it woul d be d evoi d ,

o f i ts usual vi rtue S o soon as any sparks were emitted by means of

.

the violen t friction they appl i ed a species o f a garic which grows on

,

ol d b i rch trees and i s very combustible

-
, Thi s fire had the appearance .

o f bein g immediately d erive d from heaven an d mani fol d were the ,

vir tues ascribed to i t They e steeme d it a preser vative a gainst witch

.

cra ft a n d a soverei gn reme dy against mali gnant diseases both in the

, ,

hum an species an d in cattle ; and b y it the s tron gest po i sons were

supposed to have their nature chan ged .

A fter kin d lin g the bonfire with the tei n eigi n the company -

prepare d the i r vic tuals A n d as soon as they ha d finishe d the ir meal.

,

they amuse d themselve s a while in sin gin g and dancin g roun d the fire .

Towards the close o f the enter ta i nment the person who o fficiate d as ,

master o f the feast pro d uce d a lar ge cake bake d with e ggs and scalloped
round the edge called am b on na ch b eal ti n e ,
the B el tane cake -
.

It was divi d e d i nto a number o f pieces a n d d istribute d in great for m ,

to the company There w as one parti cular piece which whoever got
was called cai llea ch b ea l—
.

ti n e the Bel tane ca rli n e a term of great ,

reproach Upon hi s bein g known par t of the company laid hold of

.
,

him an d ma d e a show o f puttin g him into the fire ; but the maj ori ty
interposin g he was rescue d A n d in some places they lai d him flat
, .

on the groun d makin g as i f they would q uar ter him A fterwards he

was pelte d with egg—
, . ,

shells a n d retained the o d ious appellation during ,

’
the whole year And wh i le the feast was fresh in people s memory
—
.
,
”
they a ffec ted to speak o f the ca i llea ch b ea l ti n e as dea d .

In the parish of Callander a beau ti ful d is trict o f Wes tern Perthshire , ,

the B eltane custom was still in vo gue towards the en d of the ei ghteenth
century It has been described as follows by the parish minister of
.

the time : Upon the first d a y o f May which i s calle d B elta n or B al , ,

tein day all the boys in a township or hamlet m eet in the moors
, They , .

cu t a table in the g r e en s od o f a roun d fi g ure by castin g a trench in , ,

the g round o f such ci rcum ference as to hold the whole company

,
.

They kin d le a fire and dress a repas t o f e ggs and milk i n the con
,

sistence o f a custard T hey knead a cake o f oatmeal which i s toasted

.
,

at the embers a gainst a stone A fter the custar d is eaten up they .

,

d ivide the cake into so many portions as similar as possible to one ,

a T HE B E LTAN E FIRE S 6 19

a nother in size and shape as there are pe rsons in the company They , .

daub one o f these portions all over with charcoal until it be per fectly ,

bl ack They put all the bits o f the cake into a bonnet E very one
.
.
,

blin dfold draws out a portion He who holds the bonne t i s entitled
,
.
,

to the last bit Whoever draws the black bit is the d evoted person who
.
,

is to be sacrificed to B aal whose favour they mean to implore in , ,

rendering the year productive of the sustenance o f man a n d beast .

There is little doubt of these inhuman sacrifices havi n g been once

offere d in this country as well as in the east althou gh they now pass, ,

from the act of sacrificin g and only compel the d ev oted pe r son to leap ,

three times throu gh the flames ; w ith which the ceremonies of this
festival are closed .

Thomas Pennant who travelled in Perthshire in the year 17 69

, ,

tells us that on the first of May the her d smen of every villa ge hold
“
,

their Bel t ien a rural sacrifice They cut a square trench on the
-
, .

ground leaving the turf in the m i dd le ; on that they m ake a fire o f

,

wood on whi ch they dress a lar ge ca u d le o f eggs butter oatmeal and

, , ,

m ilk ; an d brin g besides the in gre di ents of the cau d le plenty o f ,

beer and wh i sky ; for each of the company must contribute someth i n g .

The rite s begin with spilling some o f the caudle on the groun d by way ,

of libat i on : on that every one takes a cake o f oatmeal upon which ,

are raise d nine square knobs each de di cated to some par ticular bein g , ,

the suppose d preserver o f their flocks a nd herds or to some par ticular ,

animal the real dest royer o f them : each person then turns hi s face to
,

the fire b reaks off a knob a nd flingi ng it over his shoul d ers says
, , , ,
‘
This I give to thee preserve thou my horses ; this to thee preserve
, ,
’
thou my sheep ; and so on A fter that they use the same ceremony .
,
‘
to the noxious animals : This I give to thee O fox ! spare thou my ,

lambs ; th i s to thee O hoode d crow ! thi s to thee O eagle

,
When ,

the ceremony i s over they d ine on the cau d le ; and a fter the feast is
,

finishe d what is le ft i s hid by tw o persons depute d for that purpose ;

,

but on the next Sun d ay they reassemble and finish the rel i ques of the ,
”
first enter tai nment .

Another writer of the ei ghteenth century has describe d the Beltane

festival as it was held in the parish o f Lo gierait in Per thsh i re He .

says : On the first o f May O S a festival called B elta n i s annually , . .

,

held here It i s chiefly celebra ted b y the cow her d s who assemble by
.
-
,

scores in the fiel d s to d ress a d i nner fo r themselves o f bo i le d m i lk and

, ,

eggs These di shes they eat with a sort o f cakes b aked for the
.

occasion and having small lumps in the form o f nipples rai se d all over
, ,
”
the sur face In this last accoun t no mention i s made o f bonfires but
.
,

they were probably lighted for a contemporary writer in forms us that ,

i n the parish o f Kirkmichael which a d j oins the parish o f Logierait ,

on the east the custom o f l ightin g a fire in the fields and b akin g a
,

consecrate d cake on the first o f May was not quite obsolete i n hi s

time We may conj ecture that the cake with knobs was formerly
.

use d for the purpose o f determinin g who should be the Beltane “

”
carline or victi m doomed t o the flames A trace o f this custom .
620 T HE FIR E -F E STI V AL S O F EUROP E CH .

survived perh aps in the custom o f bakin g o atmeal cakes of a special

, ,

kind and rolling them down h i ll about noon on the first o f May ; for
it was thou ght that the pe rson whose cake broke as it rolled woul d
die or be un fortunate wi th i n the year These cakes or bannocks .
,

as we call them in Scotlan d were bake d in the usual w ay but they , ,

were washed over with a thi n batter composed of whipped egg milk ,

or cream and a little oatmeal This cus tom appears to have prevailed
at or near Kin gussie in Inverness —
, .

shire .

In the north east o f Sco tlan d the B eltane fires were still kindle d
-

i n the latter hal f of the ei ghteenth century ; the herdsmen of several

farm s used to gather dry woo d k i n d le it and dance three times , ,
“ ”
southw ays about the burning pile B ut i n this re gion accor ding .
,

to a later authority the B eltane fires were lit not on the first but on
,

the second o f May Old S tyle They were called bone fires The
, .
-
.

people beli eved that on tha t evenin g and ni ght the witches were
abroa d and busy castin g spells on cattle and stealin g cows milk To ’
.

counteract thei r machinati ons pieces of rowan tree and woodbine ,

-
,

but especially o f rowan -tree were place d over the d oors o f the cow,

houses and fires were kin d led by every farmer and cottar
, Old .

thatch straw furze o r broom was pi l e d in a heap and set on fire a little
, , ,

after sunset While some o f the b ys tan d ers kept tossin g the blazing
.

mass others hoi sted portions o f it on p itch forks or poles and ran hither
,

and thi ther holding them as hi gh as they coul d Meantime the young
, .

people danced round the fire or ran throu gh the smoke shoutin g Fire ! ,
”
blaze and burn the wi tches ; fire ! fire ! burn the witches In som e .

districts a lar ge round c ak e of oat or barley meal was rolled through

the ashes When all the fuel was consumed the people scattered the
.
,

ashes far and wide an d till the n igh t grew quite dark they continued
,
“
to run through them cryin g Fire ! burn the witches , , .

I n the Hebrides the Beltane bannock is smaller than that made

“

'
’
at St Michael s but i s ma d e in the same way ; it is no lon ger made
.
,

in Uist but Father Allan remembers seein g hi s grandmother make one

,

about twenty five years ago There was also a cheese made generally
-
.
,

on the first o f M ay which was kept to the next B eltane as a sort

,

of charm a gainst the bewitchin g o f milk pro d uce The B eltane customs -
.

seem to have been the same as elsewhere E very fire was put out .

and a large one lit on the top o f the hill and the cattle driven round it ,

sunwards (d essil ) to keep o ff murrai n all the year Each man would
,
.

”
take home fire wherewith t o kin d le hi s own .

In Wales also the custom o f li gh tin g Beltane fires at the beginning

o f May used to be observed but the d ay on which they were kindle d ,

varied from the eve of M ay Day to the third o f May The flame was .

sometimes elicited by the fr ic tion o f two pieces of oak as appear s ,

from the followin g descript ion The fire was done i n this way .
“
.

Nine men would turn thei r pockets i nside out and see that every ,

piece of money and all metals were off their persons Then the men .

went into the nearest woods an d collected sticks o f nine di fferent ,

k i nd s of t rees These were c arried to the spot where the fire had
.
62 2 T H E FIR E -F E ST IVAL S OF E URO P E CH .

place s an effigy repre se ntin g a witch u sed to be burnt in the bonfire .

We have to remem b er that the eve o f M ay Day i s the notorious

Walpur gis N i ght when the wi tches are everywhere speedi n g unseen
,

throu gh the ai r on the i r hellish errands On this W itchin g ni ght .

children in Vo igtlan d also li ght bonfires on the hei gh ts and leap over
them Moreover they wave burn i n g brooms or toss them into the
.
,

ai r So fa r as the li ght o f the bonfire reaches so far will a blessing

.
,

res t on the fiel d s The kin d l i n g o f the fires on Walpur gis Ni ght is
.

calle d d rivi ng away the witches The custom of kindlin g fires.

on the eve o f M ay Day (Walpur gi s Ni ght ) fo r the purpose o f burning

the wi tches is or used to be w i d espread in the Tyrol Moravia
, , , ,

Saxony a n d Siles ia
5 T he M i d s u m m er F ir es —But the season at which these fire
.

fes tivals have been most g enerally hel d all over E urope is the summ er
solstice tha t i s M id summer E ve (the twenty thir d o f June ) or Mid
,
-

summer day (the t wenty fourth o f June ) A faint tin ge o f Chr i stianity
-
.

has been given to them by namin g M i d summer Day a fter St John .

the B apti st but we canno t d oubt that the celebration d ates from a
,

time long b e fore the be ginnin g o f our era The summ er solstice or
M i dsummer Da y is the great turnin g—
.
,

, point in the sun s career when ’

, ,

a ft er climbin g hi gher and h igher day by d ay in the sky the luminary ,

stops a n d thence forth retraces his steps d own the heavenly road .

S uch a m omen t could not but be re gar d ed wi th anxiety b y p rimitive

man so soon as he be gan t o observe and ponder the courses of di e
great li ghts across the celestial vaul t ; a n d havin g st i ll to learn his
own powerlessness in face o f the vas t cyclic chan ges o f nature he ,

may have fanc i e d that he could help the sun in hi s seemin g d ecline
coul d prop hi s fa i l in g steps and rekin d le the sinkin g flame o f the red
lamp in hi s feeble hand In some such thou ghts as these the mid
.

summer festivals o i our E uropean peasantry may perhaps have

taken thei r rise Whatever their ori gin they have prevailed all over
.
,

thi s quarter o f the globe from I relan d on the west to Russia on the
,

east an d from Norway an d Swe d en on the north to Spai n and Greece

,

on the south Accor d in g to a medi aeval writer the three great

.
,

features o f the mi d summer celebrati on were the bonfires the procession ,

with torches roun d the fields and the custom o f rollin g a wheel He
,
.

tells us that boys burne d bones and filth o f various kin d s to make a
foul smoke and that the smoke drove away certain noxious dra gons
,

which a t this time exci te d by the summer heat copulated in the air
, ,

and poi soned the wells and rivers by droppin g thei r see d into them ;
a n d he explains the custom o f t rundlin g a wheel to m ean that the sun
'

havin g now reache d the hi ghest point in the ecliptic be gins thence ,

forwar d to d escend .

The mai n fe a tures o f the mi d summer fire festival resemble those -

which we have found to characterise the vernal festivals o f fire The .

similarity o f the two sets o f ceremonies will plainly appear from the
followin g examples .

A writer o f the firs t hal f of the sixteenth cen tury in forms us that
Lx u T HE M ID SU M M E R FIR E S 6 23

in almost every village and town of Germ any p ublic bonfire s were
kindle d on the E ve o f St John and youn g and old o f both sexes
.
, , ,

athered about the m and passe d the time in dancin g and sin gin g
g
.

People on th i s occasio n wore chaplets of mu gwort and vervain an d ,

they looke d at the fire throu gh bunches o f larkspur which they hel d
in their han d s believin g tha t this woul d preserve thei r eyes in a
,

healthy state throu ghou t the year As each d epar te d he threw the
.
,

m ugwor t a n d vervain into the fire sayin g “

May all my ill luck
, ,
-

depart a n d b e burnt up with these At Lower Konz a villa ge

.
,

situated on a hillsi d e overlookin g the Moselle the m i d summer festival ,

use d to be cele b rate d as follows A quan ti ty of straw was collecte d

.

on the top o f the steep Stromber g H ill E very inhab itan t or at

.
,

least every househol d er had to con tribute his share o f s traw to the
,

pile At n ight fall the whole male population men and boys mustered
.
, ,

on the top o f the hill ; the women and girls were n ot allowe d to j o i n
them but ha d to take up thei r pos ition at a cer tai n sprin g hal f way
,
-

down the slope . On the summi t s too d a hu ge whe el comple tely

encased in some o f the straw which ha d been j o i ntly contribute d b y
the villa gers ; the res t o f the s traw was ma d e i n to torch es From .

each si de o f the wheel the axle tree proj ecte d about three feet thus
-
,

furnishin g han d les to the la d s who were to gui d e it i n i ts d e scen t .

The mayor o f the ne ighbourin g town o f Si erck who always receive d ,

a basket o f cherries for hi s serv i ces gave the s ignal ; a li ghted torch
,

was appl i e d to the wheel a n d as it b urst i nto flame tw o young fello w s

, , ,

stron g l imbe d a n d swi ft o f foo t se iz e d the han d les an d b e gan runnin g

-
,

wi th it d own the slope A great shou t wen t up E ve ry man a n d

. .

boy waved a bla z i n g torch in the a i r a n d took care to keep it al i ght

,

so long as the wheel was t run d l i n g d own the hill The great o b j ect .

of the youn g men who gui d e d the wheel was to plun ge i t bla z in
g
into the wa ter o f the Moselle ; b ut they rarely succee d e d in their
efforts for the vineyar d s which cover the greater par t o f the d eclivity
,

im pe de d the i r pro gress a nd the wheel was o ften b urned out be fore it
,

reache d the river As it rolled pas t the women a n d gi rls a t the

.

spring they raised cr i es o f j oy wh ich were answere d by the men on

,

the top o f the mountain ; a n d the shouts were echoe d by the inha b i tants
of ne i hbour i n
g g villa ges who watched the spec tacle from the i r hills
on the oppos ite bank o f the Moselle If the fiery wheel was success fully
.

conveye d to the bank o f the river and ex tin gu i she d in the water ,

the people looke d fo r an abun d ant vi ntage that year a n d the i h ,

habitants o f Konz ha d the r ight to exact a waggon loa d o f white -

wine from the surroun d in g vineyar d s On the other han d they.

,

believe d that i f they ne glecte d to per form the ceremony the cattle
, ,

woul d be attacke d by gi d diness an d convuls i ons and would d ance

in their s talls.

Down a t least to the mi d dle o f the nineteenth century the m id

sum mer fires use d to blaze all over Upper Bavaria They were ki n d led .

especially on the mountains b ut also fa r and wi d e in the lowlan d s a nd

, ,

we are tol d t hat in the d arkness and stillness o f ni ght the movin
g
 6 24 T HE FIR E FE STIVALS OF
- E UROP E CH .

roup lit up by the flickerin low o f the fl ames present ed an im

g s , g g ,

press ive spectacle Cattle were d riven throu gh the fire to cure the
.

s ick animals an d to guar d such as were soun d a gainst pla gue and harm
o f every kin d throu ghout the year Many a househol d er on that day .

put out the fire on the d ome s ti c hear th a n d rekin d le d it by means of a

br a n d ta ken from the m id summer bonfire The people j udged of the .

he igh t to which the flax woul d grow in the year by the hei ght to which
the flam e s o f the b onfire rose ; and whoever leaped over the burning
pile w a s sure n ot to su ffer from ba ckache in reapi ng the corn a t harvest .

In m a ny par ts o f Bavar i a it was believed that the flax would grow

as h igh as the youn g people leape d over the fire I n o thers the old .

folk use d to plant three charre d s ticks from the bonfire in the fields ,

believin g that th i s woul d make the flax grow tall E lsewhere an .

extin gui shed bran d was put in the roo f o f the house to protect it
agains t fire I n the towns about Wurzbur g the bonfires used to be
.

kindled in the market places a n d the youn g people who j umped over
-
,

them wore garlan d s o f flowers especially o f m u gwort and vervain , ,

an d carr i e d s pri gs o f larkspur in their han d s They thou ght that

’

such as looke d a t the fire hol d in g a bit of larkspur be fore their face
woul d b e trouble d by no mala d y o f the eyes throu ghout the year .

Fur ther it w as cus tomary at W ur z b ur g in the six teenth century for

, , ,

the bi shop s followers to throw burn in g d iscs of woo d i nt o the ai r from

’

a mountain wh ich overhan gs the town The d i scs were discharged .

by means o f fle x i b le ro d s and in their flight throu gh the d arkness

,

pre sente d the appearance o f fiery dragons .

S i mi larly in S wabia la d s an d lasses han d in han d leap over the

, , ,

m i d summer bonfire pray i n g tha t the hemp may grow three ells h igh
, ,

and they set fire to wheels of straw a nd sen d them roll in g down the
hill Som etimes as the people spran g over the mi d summer bonfire
.

they cri e d o ut Flax flax ! may the flax thi s year grow seven ells
, ,

hi gh ! At Ro tten b ur g a ru d e e ffigy in human form called the Angel ,

man us ed to be e n veloped in flowers and then burnt in the mi d summer

,

fire b y b oys wh o a fterwar d s leape d over the glowin g embers

, .

S o in Ba d en the chil d ren collecte d fuel from house to house for

’
the mi d summ er bonfire on St John s Day ; a n d lads and lasses leaped .

over the fire in couples Here as elsewhere a close connexion was

.
, ,

traced between these bonfires and the harves t I n som e pl aces it was .

thou ght that those who leape d over the fires woul d not su ffer from
backache at reapin g Sometimes as the youn g folk spran g over the
.
,
”
flames they crie d Grow that the hemp may be three ells hi gh !
, , ,

This notion that the hemp or the corn would grow as h igh as the flames
bla z e d or as the people j umpe d over them seems to have been wi de ,

sprea d in Ba d e n It was hel d that the parents o f the youn g people

.

who boun d ed highes t ov e r the fire would have the most abundant
harves t ; and on the o ther han d if a man contributed nothin g to the ,

bonfire it was ima gi n e d th at there woul d be no blessin g on his crops

, ,

an d that hi s hemp i n par ticular woul d never

grow A t E dersleben .
,

n ear S an gerhausen a hi h pole was planted in the

g , ground and a tar .
626 T HE FIR E F E ST IVAL S O F EUROP E
-
CH .

and the boys cap er roun d them bran d i shin g li ghted torches drenched ,

in pitch Whoever j umps thrice across the fire w i ll not su ffer fro m
.

fever wi thin the year Car t wheels are o ften smeare d wi th pitch
.
-
,

i gni te d a nd sent rolli n g and bla z in g d own the hillsi d es

,
.

A ll over Bohemia b onfires s ti ll burn on Midsummer E ve In the .

a fternoon boys go about w ith han d carts from house t o house collecting
fuel and threatenin g with evil consequences the curmud geons who
re fuse them a dole S ome times the youn g men fell a tall s trai ght fir
.

in the w oo d s an d set it up on a he ight where the girls d eck it with ,

nose gays wreaths of leaves an d re d ri b bons Then brushwoo d is

, ,
.

pile d a b out it an d at ni ght fall the whole i s set on fire While the
,
.

fl ames break o ut the youn g men climb the tree and fetch d own the
,

wreaths wh ich the girls ha d place d on it A fter that la d s a n d lasses .

stand on oppos ite s i d es o f the fire a n d look at one ano ther throu gh the
Wreaths to see whether they will be true to each othe r and marry within
the year Also the g irls throw the wreaths across the flames to the
.

m en ,
and woe to the awkward swain who fails to catch the wreath
thrown him by his sweetheart When the bla ze has d ie d down each .
,

c ouple takes han d s a n d leaps thrice across the fire He or she who .

does so will be free from a gue throu ghout the year a nd the flax will ,

g row as hi gh as the youn g folks leap A girl who sees nine bonfires on .

Mi d summer E v e will marry be fore the year is out The sin ged wreaths .

are carrie d home a nd care fully preserved throu ghout the year During .

thun d erstorms a bit o f the wrea th is burned on the hearth with a

p rayer ; some o f it i s given t o kine tha t are sick or calvin g and som e ,

o f it serves to fumi ga te house and cattle stall that man a n d beast may -
,

keep hale an d well Some times an old cart wheel i s smeare d wi th

.
-

resin i gnite d a nd sent roll i n g d own the hi ll O ften the boys collect
, , .

all the worn out besom s they can get hold o f dip them in pi tch and
-
, ,

having set them on fire wave them about or throw them hi gh into the
air Or they rush d own the hi llsi d e in troops brandi shin g the flaming
.
,

broom s and shouting The s tumps o f the brooms an d embers from

.

th e fire are preserved an d stuck i n cabba ge gardens to protect the

cabba ges from caterpillars an d gnats Some people insert charre l .
'

s ticks and ashes from the mi dsummer bonfire in their sown fields and
meadows in their gardens and the roo fs of thei r houses as a tal i s m an
, ,

a gainst li ghtnin g a n d foul weather ; or they fancy that the ashes place d
in the roo f w i ll prevent any fire from breakin g out i n the house In .

some di s tricts they crown or gir d themselves wi th mugwort while the

mi dsumm er fire is burni ng for thi s i s supposed to b e a protection ,

a gainst ghosts witches and sickness ; i n part i cular a wreath of m ug

, , ,

wort i s a sure preven tive o f sore eyes Sometimes the girls look at .

the bonfires throu gh garlands o f wil d flowers prayin g the fire to ,

s tre ngthen thei r eye s and eyeli d s She who d oes thi s thrice will have .

n o sore eyes all that year In some parts o f Bohemia they used to
.

d rive the cows throu gh the midsummer fire to guard them a gainst
witchcra ft .

In S lavonic countries also the mi d summer festival i s celebrated

, ,
txn T HE MIDSU MMER F IR ES 62?

with similar rites We have alrea d y seen that in Ru ssi a on the Eve
.

of St J ohn .
youn g men and maidens j ump over a bonfire in couple s
carrying a straw e ffi gy o f Kupalo i n their arms In some parts of .

Russia an ima ge o f Kupalo i s burnt or throw n into a stream on St .

John s Ni gh t A gain in some di stricts o f Russia the young folk wear

’
.
,

g arlands of flowers and gir d les o f holy herbs when they sprin g throu gh
the smoke or flames ; and sometimes they d rive the cattle also throu gh
the fire in or d er to protect the a nimals a ga i nst wi z ards and witches .

who are then rave n ous a fter milk In Little Russia a stake i s d riven .

’
into the ground on St John s Ni gh t wrapt in straw an d set on fire .
, , .

As the flames rise the peasant women throw b i rchen boughs into them ,

saying May my flax be as tall as this bou gh ! In Ruthenia the

,
“ ”

bonfires are li gh te d by a flame procure d by the friction o f woo d .

While the el d ers of the party are en ga ge d in thus churnin g the ” “

fire the res t maintain a respect ful silence ; but when the flame b urst s
,

from the woo d they break forth into j oyous son gs

, A s soon as the .

bonfires are kin d le d the youn g people take hands an d leap i n pairs
,

through the smoke i f not throu gh the flames ; an d a fter that the
,

cattle in the i r turn are d riven throu gh the fire .

In many par ts of Prussia and Li thuania great fires are kin d le d on

Mi dsummer E ve All the he ights are ablaze wi th them as far as the
.
,

eye can see The fires are supposed to be a pro tection agains t w itch
.

cra ft thun de r hail and cattle d isease especially if next mornin g the
, , , ,

cattle are d riven over the places where the fires b urne d A b ove all .
,

the bonfires ensure the farmer a gains t the arts o f witches who try ,

to steal the milk from his cows b y charms and spells That is why .

next mornin g you may see the young fellows who lit the bonfire goin g
from house to h ouse and receivin g j u fu ls o f m i lk A n d fo r the same fr
.

reason they s tick burs a n d mu gwor t on the gate or the he dge throu gh
which the cows go to pasture b ecause that is suppose d to b e a preserva ,

tive against witchcra ft In Masuren a d is trict o f E astern Pruss i a .

,

inhabi ted by a branch o f the Polish family it i s the custom on the ,

evening o f Mi d summer Day to p ut out all the fires in the villa ge Then .

an oaken stake is d riven i nto the groun d and a wheel is fixe d on it as on

an axle This wheel the villa gers workin g b y rel ays cause to revolve
.
, ,

wi th great rap i d i ty till fire is pro d uce d by friction E very one takes .

home a li ghte d bran d from the new fire and wi th it rek i n d les the fire
on the d omestic hearth In Serbia on Mi d summer E ve herdsmen l igh t
.

torches o f birch bark a nd march roun d the sheep fol d s and cat tle stalls ; -

t hen they climb the hills and there allow the torches to burn out .

Amon g the Ma gyars in Hun gary the mi d summer fire-fest i val i s

m arke d by the same features tha t mee t us in so many parts o f E urope
‘

On Mi d summer E v e in many places it i s customary to k i n d le bonfires

on hei ghts a nd to leap over them a nd from the manner i n wh i ch the ,

young people leap the bys tanders pre d ict whether they will marry
soon . On this day also many Hungarian swineher d s make fire by
rotating a wheel roun d a woo d en axle wrapt in hemp a nd through the ,

fire thus m ade they drive their pi gs to preserve them from sic knes s .
628 T HE F IRE -
FEST IVA LS OF EU ROP E CH .

The E sthonians o f Russia who like the Magyars belon g to the , , ,

great T u fani an family o f mank i n d also celeb rat e the summer solstice ,

in the usual way They think that the St John s fire keeps witches
. .
’

from the cat tle and they say th at he who d oes not com e to it will have
.

hi s barley full o f thi stles an d his oa ts full o f wee d s In the E sthonian .

i slan d o f Oesel while they throw fuel into the m i dsummer fire they
, ,
“ ”
c a ll out Weeds to the fire flax to the fiel d or they flin g three
, , ,
”
b i lle ts in to the flames sayin g Flax grow lon g ! And they take “
, ,

charred sticks from the bonfire home with them and keep them to
make the cattle thrive In some parts o f the island the bonfire is
.

forme d by p i lin g brushwoo d a n d other combustibles roun d a tree at ,

the top of which a fl ag flies Whoever succee d s in knockin g d own the .

fl a g w ith a pole be fore it b e gins to burn will have good luck Formerly .

the fest iv iti es laste d ti ll d aybreak and en d e d i n scenes o f d e b auchery ,

whi ch looke d d ou b ly hi deous by the growin g l ight o f a summer morning .

When we pass from the east to the wes t o f E urope we still fin d the
summer sols tice celebrate d wi th ri tes of the same general character .

Down to a b out the mi d d le o f the n ine teenth century the custom of

li gh tin g bonfires a t mi d summer preva i le d so commonly in France that
there was hard ly a town or a village we are told where they were not , ,

kin d led People d anced roun d a nd leaped over them an d took charre d
.
,

sticks from the bonfire home with them to protect the houses against
li ghtnin g con fl agra ti on s an d spells
, , .

In B rittany apparently the cus tom of the mi d summer bonfires

, ,

i s kep t up to thi s day When the flames have d ie d d own the whole
.
,

assembly kneels roun d abou t the bonfire a nd an old m a n prays alou d .

Then they all ri se and march thrice roun d the fire ; a t the third turn
they stop an d every one p icks up a pebble a n d throws it on the burn in g
pile A fter that they d isperse In B rit tany a nd Berry it i s be lieve d
. .

that a girl who d ances roun d n i ne mi d summer bonfires will marry

withi n the year In the valley of the Orne the custom was to kin dl e
.

the bonfire j us t at the moment when the sun was about to dip below
the horizon ; a n d the peasants d rove thei r cattle throu gh the fires
to pro tec t them a gains t wi tchcra ft e specially a gainst the spells of ,

wi tches a nd wizards who a ttempte d to steal the milk and butter .

A t Jum i e ges in N orman d y d own to the firs t hal f o f the nineteenth,

century the midsummer festival was marked by certain sin gular

,

features which bore the stamp o f a very hi gh antiqui ty Every .

year on the twenty thi r d o f June the E v e o f S t John the Brother

-
, , .
,

hood o f the Green Wol f chose a new ch i e f or master who ha d always ,

to be taken from the h a mlet o f Conihout On bein g elected the .

,

n e w hea d o f the brotherhood assume d the title o f the Green Wolf ,

a n d d onne d a peculiar costume consis tin g o f a lon g green mantle and a

very tall green hat of a conical shape and w ithout a brim Thus .

a rrayed he stalked sole m nly at the head o f the brothers chantin g the ,

hymn o f St John the crucifix an d holy banner lea d in g the way

.
, ,

t o a place calle d Chouq u et Here the procession was met by the .

p r ie st precentors
,
and choi r who conducted
,
the brotherhood to th
,e
 63 0 T HE FIR E F E STIVAL S O F
- E URO P E CH .

tall tree stu ffin g the crevice wi th shavin gs and i gnitin g the whol e
, , .

A garla nd of flowers i s fas tene d to the top o f the tree an d at the moment ,

when t he fire i s li ghted the man who was last married has to climb up a
la d der a n d brin g the fl owers d own In the fl at parts o f the sam e .

d istrict the materials o f the mi d summer bonfires consist o f fuel piled in

the usual way ; b ut they mus t be put to gether by men who have been
marr i e d since the las t mi d summer fes tival and each o f these benedicts ,

is obli ge d t o lay a w reath o f flowers on the top o f the pile .

In Prove nce the mi d summer fires are still popular Chil d ren go .

from d oor to door be ggin g for fuel a n d they are seldom sent empty ,

away Form erly the pri est the mayor a n d the al d ermen used to
.
, ,

walk i n procession to the bonfire a nd even d ei gned to li ght it ; a fter ,

which the assembly marche d thrice round the bur n in g pile At .

A ix a nominal kin g chosen from amon g the youth for his skill in
,

shootin g at a popinj ay preside d over the mi d summer festival

,
He .

selecte d his own o fficers a n d escorted by a brillian t train marched

,

to the bonfire kin d le d it and was the first to d ance round it Next
, , .

day he d i stributed lar gesse to hi s followers His rei gn las te d a year .

,

d urin g which he enj oye d cer tain privile ges He was allowe d to attend .

the mass celebra te d by the comman d er o f the Kni ghts of St John .

on S t John s Day ; the ri gh t of huntin g was accor d e d to him and

.
’

sol d iers mi gh t not be quartered i n his house At Marseilles also on this .

d ay one o f the guil d s chose a k i n g o f the b ad ache or d ouble axe ; b ut

i t d oe s not appear that he kin d led the bonfire which is sai d to have
'

been li ghte d w ith great ceremony by the pr é fet and other authorities .

In B el gium the custom o f ki n d lin g the mi d summer bonfires has

lon g disappeare d from the g rea t c ities b ut it i s st i ll kept up in rural ,

d is tric ts a n d sm a ll towns In that coun try the E ve o f St Peter s ’

. .

Day (the twenty n in th o f June ) i s celebrated by bonfires and dances

-

exac tly like those w hich commemorate St John s E ve Some people .

’
.

say that the fires o f S t Peter like those o f St John are lighte d in
.
, .
,

order to d rive away dra gons In French Flan d ers down to 17 89 a

.

straw fi gure represen tin g a man was always burne d in the mi d summer
bonfire and the fi gure o f a woman was burned on St Peter s Day the
, .
’

twen ty ninth o f June

-
In B el giu m people j ump ov er the mi d summer
.

bonfires as a prevent ive o f colic and they keep the ashes at home to ,

hin d er fire from breaki ng out .

The cus tom o f li ghti n g bonfires at midsummer ha s been observed

in many parts o f our own country and as usual people danced round ,

an d leaped over them In Wales three or nine d i fferent kinds of woo d

.

a n d charre d fa ggots care fully preserved from the last m idsummer

were deeme d necessary to buil d the bonfire which was generally done ,

on risi ng groun d In the Vale o f Glamor gan a cart wheel swathed in

.
-

straw used to be i gnite d an d sent rollin g down the hill If it kept .

ali ght all the way d own an d blaze d for a lon g time an abundant ,

harvest was expected On Mi d summer E ve people in the Isle o f Man

.

were wont to li ght fires to the w in d war d o f every field so that the ,

smoke mi ght p ass over the corn ; and they folded their cattle and
t I T H E M ID SU M M ER FI RES 63 1

carried blazin g furze or gorse round them several times In Ireland .

cattle especially barren cattle were d riven throu gh the mid summer
, ,

fi res and the ashes were thrown on the fields to fertilise them or live
, ,

coals were carrie d into them to prevent bli gh t In Sco tlan d the traces .

of m idsummer fires are few ; b ut at tha t season in the hi ghlan d s o f

Perthshire cowher d s use d to go round thei r fol d s thrice in the d i recti on ,

of the sun with li ghte d torches

,
Thi s they did to puri fy the flocks .

and her d s and to keep them from fallin g sick .

The practice of li ghtin g bonfires on Midsummer E v e a n d d ancin g

or leapin g over them is or was till recently common all over Spain
, ,

and in some parts o f Italy a nd Sicily In Mal ta great fires are kin dle d .

in the stree ts and squares o f the towns and v i lla ges on the E ve o f St .

John (Mi d summer E ve ) formerly the Gran d Mas ter o f the Or d er o f

St John used on that evenin g to set fire to a heap o f p itch b ar re ls
.

placed in front o f the sacred Hospi tal In Greece too the custom o f .
, ,

kindling fires on S t John s E v e and j umpin g over them is sai d to be

’

still universal One reason ass igne d for it is a w i sh to escape from the
.

fleas Accord in g to ano ther account the women cry out as they
.
, ,
”
leap over the fire I leave my sins behin d me ,
“
In Lesbos the fires .

on St John s E ve are usually li ghte d by threes a nd the people sprin g

.
’

thrice over them each w ith a stone on hi s hea d sayin g

“
,
I j ump the , ,
”
hare s fire my head a s tone ! In Ca lym nos the mi d summer fire is
’

suppose d to ensure abun d ance in the comin g year as well as d el i verance

from fleas The people d ance roun d the fires s ingin g wi th s tones on
.
,

their heads a n d then j ump over the blaze or the glowin g embers
, .

When the fire i s burn in g low they throw the s tones into it ; an d when ,

it is nearly out they make crosses on thei r le gs an d then go strai gh tway

,

and bathe in the sea .

The custom o f k indlin g bonfires on Mi d summer Day or on M id

summer Eve is wi d ely sprea d amon g the Mohamme d an peoples of
North A frica particularly in Morocco and Al geria ; it i s common
,

both to the Berbers an d to many o f the Arabs or Arabic speaki ng tribes -

.

In these countr i es Mi d summer Day (the twen ty four th o f June O l d -

,

Style ) is calle d l dns dra

’
The fires are lit in the courtyar d s at cross
.
,

roa ds in the fiel d s and some times on the threshin g fl oors Plants
, ,
-
.

which in burnin g give out a thick smoke a nd an aromatic smell are much
sought a fter for fuel on these occas ions ; amon g the plants use d for the
p urpose are g iant fennel t hyme rue cherv i l —
seed camomile geranium
-
, , , , , ,

and penn
y royal People expose themselves and especially their
-
.
,

children to the smoke an d drive it towards the orchar d s and the

, ,

crops Also they leap across the fires ; in some places everybo d y
.

ought to repeat the leap seven times Moreover they take burning .

bran ds from the fires a nd carry them throu gh the houses in order
to fumi gate them They pass thin gs throu gh the fire and brin g the
.
,

sick into contact with it wh i le they utter prayers fo r thei r recovery

, .

The ashes o f the bonfires are also repute d to possess beneficial prop
erties ; hence in some places people rub their hair or their bodies

with them In some places they think that by leaping over the fires
.
63 2 T HE FI RE FE ST IVA L S OF EU RO P E
’

-
CH .

they rid them selves o f all mis fortune and that childless couples thereby ,

obtain o ffsprin g B erbers of the Ri f province in N or thern Morocco

.
, ,

make g rea t use o f fires at midsummer for the goo d o f themselves their ,

cattle a n d thei r frui t trees They j ump over the b onfires in the b elie f
,
-
.

that this will preserve them i n goo d health a n d they li ght fires under ,

fruit trees to keep the fru i t from fallin g untimely

-
A nd they imagine .

that by rubbin g a pas te o f the ashes on their hair they prevent the hair
from fallin g o ff the i r hea d s In all these Moroccan customs we are told
.
, ,

the b enefic i al e ff ec t is at tri b ute d wholly to the smoke which i s supposed ,

to be endue d wi th a ma gical quality that removes mi sfortune fro m

men animals fruit trees a n d crops
, ,
~

The celebration o f a mi d summ er festival by Mohammedan peoples

is particularly remarkable bec ause the Mohammedan calendar being , ,

purely lunar a n d uncorrecte d by in tercalation necessarily takes no ,

note o f festivals which occupy fixe d points i n the solar year ; all
s trictly Mohamme dan feas ts b ein g p inne d to the moo n sl i d e grad ually , ,

wi th that luminary throu gh the whole perio d o f the ear th s revolution ’

about the sun This fac t o f i tsel f seems to prove that amon g the
.

Mohamme d an peoples o f N orthern A fr ica as amon g the Christi an ,

peoples o f E urope the midsummer fes tival i s quite in d ependent of the

,

reli gion which the people publicly pro fess and is a relic o f a far older ,

pagani sm
6 T he H a ll owe en F i r es — From the fore goin g survey we may
.

’
.

in fer that amon g the heathen fore fathers o f the E uropean peoples the
most popular a n d wi d espread fire fest i val o f the year was the great -

celebration o f Mi dsummer E v e or Mi d summer Day The coinci dence .

o f the festival with the summer solstice can har d ly be acci d ental .

Rather w e must suppose that our pa gan ancestors purposely time d the
,

ceremony of fire on earth to coinci d e wi th the arrival o f the sun at the

hi ghes t point of hi s course in the sky If that was so it follows that .
,

the o ld foun d ers o f the midsummer rites ha d observed the solstices or

tur n in g poin ts o f the sun s apparent pat h in the sky and that they
-
’

accor d in gly re gula te d their festal calendar to some extent by astro

n om ica l consi d erati ons .

B ut whi le this may be re gar d ed as fai rly certain for what we may
call the abor igines throu ghout a lar ge par t of the continen t it appears ,
’
n ot to have been true o f the Celtic peoples who inhabi te d the Land s
E n d o f E urope the i slan d s an d promontorie s th at stretch out into the
,

Atlantic Ocean on the N orth West The pri ncipal fir e festivals of the -
.
-

Celts which have survive d thou gh i n a restricted area and with

, ,

d imini she d pomp to modern times a nd even to our own day were
, ,

seemin gly time d wi thou t any re ference to the posi tion o f the sun in
the heaven They were two in number and fell at an interval of SIX
.
,

months one bein g celebrated on the eve of May Day and the other
,

on Allhallow E ven or H allowe en as it i s now commonly calle d that ’

, ,

i s on the thi rty —fir st o f October the day precedin g A ll Saints or

’

, ,

Allhallows Da y These dates coincide with none o f the four great

’
.

hin ges on which the solar year revolves to wit the solstices and the , ,
“
63 4 T HE FIR E F E ST IVAL S OF
-
E UROP E CH .

M anx la ngu age a sort o f Ho gm anay song which be gan To -ni ght is
'
,

New Year s N i ght H ogunna a ! In ancient I relan d a new fire use d

, ,

to be kin d le d every year on H allowe en or the E ve o f Samhain and

’

from this sacre d flame all the fires i n Ireland were rekindle d Such a .

’
custom points stron gly to Samhain or All Saints Day (the first of
’
November ) as N ew Year s Day ; since the annual kindling of a new
fire takes place most naturally at the be ginnin g o f the year in order ,

tha t the blesse d influence o f the fresh fire may last throu ghout the
whole perio d of twelve months Another confirmation of the view .

tha t the Celts d a ted their year from the first o f November is furnished
by the mani fol d mo d es o f d ivination which were commonly resorte d
’
to by Cel tic peoples on Hallowe en for the purpose o f ascertai nin g their
d estiny especi ally their fortune in the coming year ; for when coul d
,

these d evices fo r pryin g in to the future be more reasonably p ut in

p ractice than at the beginnin g o f the year ? A s a season o f omens
’
a n d au guries Hallowe en seems to have fa r surpassed Beltane in the

imagination o f the Cel ts ; from which we may with some probabili ty

in fer that they reckoned the i r year from Hallowe en rather than ’

Bel tane Another ci rcumstance o f great moment which points to the

.

sam e conclusion i s the association o f the d ead wi th Hallowe en N ot ’

.

only amon g the Cel ts but throu ghout E urope Hallowe en the ni ght ,
’

which marks the transi tion from autumn to win te r seems to have ,

been o f old the tim e o f year when the souls o f the departe d were
supposed to revisi t the i r old homes in order to warm themselves by
the fi re a n d to com for t themselves with the goo d cheer provi d ed for
them in the kitchen or the parlour by their a ff ectiona te kins folk It .

was perhaps a na tural though t that the approach o f winter should

, ,

d rive the poor shiveri ng hun gry ghosts from the bare fields an d the
lea fl ess woodlan d s to the shelter o f the cottage with its familiar fireside .

Di d not the lowin g kine then troop back from the summer pas tures in
the fores ts and on the hills to be fed and cared for in the stalls while ,

the bleak winds whi s tle d amon g t he sway i n g bou ghs and the snow
d ri f ts d eepened in the hollows ? a n d coul d the good man a nd the good -

wi fe deny to the spirits o f thei r d ead the welcome w hich they gave to
the cows ?
But it i s not only the souls o f the d eparte d who are supposed to be
ho verin g unseen on the day when autumn to winter resi gns the pale
”
year . Wi tches then spee d on thei r e rrands o f mischi e f some sweep ,

ing throu gh the air on besom s o thers gallopin g alon g the roads on ,

tabby cats which fo r that evenin g are turne d into coal -black stee ds
-
,
.

The fai rie s too are all let loose and hob goblins of every sort roam
, , ,

freely abou t .

Yet wh i le a glamou r o f mystery and awe has always clu ng to

’
Hallowe en in the min d s o f the Celtic peasan try the popular celebra ,

tion o f the festival has been at least in modern times by no means

, ,

o f a prevailin g gloomy cast ; on the contra ry it has been attende d

by picturesque features and merry pastimes which rendered it the ,

gayest ni ght o f all the year Amongst the thin gs which in the Hi gh
.
a T HE HA LLOWE E N F IRES 63 5

lands of Scotland contributed to invest the festi val with a rom antic
beauty were the bonfires which use d to blaze at frequent intervals
on the hei ghts On the las t day of autumn children gathered ferns
.
,

tar barrels the lon g thin stalks called gaini sg and everythin g suitable
-
, ,

for a bonfire These were place d in a heap on some eminence near

.

the house and in the evenin g set fire to

,
The fires were calle d .

Sam hnagan There was one for each house and it was an obj ect
.
,

of ambition who should have the bi ggest Whole districts were .

brilliant with bonfires an d thei r glare across a Hi ghlan d loch and , ,

from many em i nences forme d an exceedin gly pic turesque scene , .

Like the Beltane fires on the first of May the Hallowe en bonfires ,
’

seem to have been kin d le d mos t commonly i n the Perthshire H ighlands .

In the parish o f Calland er they s till blaze d d own to near the en d o f

the ei ghteen th century When the fire ha d d ied d own the ashes .
,

were care fully collec te d in the form o f a circle and a stone was p ut ,

in near the c i rcum ference for every person o f the several families
, ,

intereste d in the b onfire Nex t mornin g i f any o f these stones was .

,

found to be d i splace d or inj ure d the people ma d e sure that the person ,

represente d by it was fey or d evo te d a nd that he coul d not live twelve ,

m on ths from tha t d ay A t B alquhi dd er down to the latter par t o f the

.

nineteen th century each househol d kin d le d its bonfire a t Hallowe en ’

b ut the custom was chiefly o b serve d by chil d ren The fires were .

lighted on any h igh knoll near the house ; there was no d ancin g roun d
them Hallowe en fires were also li gh te d in some d istric ts o f the nor th
’
.

east of Scotlan d such as Buchan V i llagers an d farmers al i ke must

, .

have their fire In the villa ges the boys wen t from house to house
.

and begge d a pea t from each househol d er usually with the wor d s , ,
“ ’
Ge s a peat t b urn the witches When they ha d collecte d enough
’
.

peats they pile d them in a heap to gether with straw furze a n d other
, , , ,

combus tible materials a n d set the whole on fire Then each o f the , .

youths one a fter anothe r lai d h imsel f d own on the groun d as near to
, ,

the fire as he coul d wi thout b e in g scorched a n d thus lyi n g allowed the ,

sm oke to roll over him The o thers ran through the smoke an d .

jum ped over thei r prostrate comra d e When the heap was burned .

down they sca ttere d the ashes vyin g wi th each other who shoul d
, ,

scatter them mos t .

In the nor thern part of W ales it used to be cus tomary for every
fam ily to make a great bonfire calle d C oel Coe th on Hallowe en
’
The .

fire was kin d le d on the most conspicuous spot near the house ; a n d
when it ha d nearly gone o ut every one threw into the ashes a white ,

stone which he ha d first marke d Then havin g said their prayers

,
.

roun d the fire they went to bed Nex t mornin g as soon as they
,
.
,

were up they came to search out the stones an d if any one o f them
, ,

was found to be missin g they ha d a noti on that the person who threw ,

it woul d die be fore he saw another Hallowe en

’
According to Si r .

’
John Rhys the habit of celebra ting Hallowe en by l ightin g bonfires
,

on the hills is perhaps not yet extinct in Wales a nd men still living ,

can remember how the people who assi sted at the bonfires woul d
63 6 THE FIR E F E STIVAL S OF EU ROP E
-
CH .

wait ti ll the last spark was out and the n would sud d enly tak e to their
heels shoutin g at the top of their vo i ces The croppe d black sow
, ,
”
seize the hin d mos t ! The sayin g as S ir John Rhys j ustly remarks , ,

i mplies that ori gi nally one o f the company becam e a victim in d ead
earnest Down to the present time the sayin g is current in Carnarvon
.

shi re where allusions to the cutty black sow are still occasionally
,

m a d e to fri gh ten children We can now un d erstan d why in Lower

.

B rit tany every person throws a pebble in to the mi d summer bonfire .

Doub tless there as in Wales a n d the Hi ghlands o f Scotlan d omens

, ,

o f li fe a n d d ea th have at one time or o ther b een d rawn from the position

an d sta te o f the pebbles on the mornin g o f All Saints Day The ’

.

cus tom thus foun d am on g three separate branches o f the Celtic stock
, ,

probably dates from a perio d b e fore their d ispersion or at least from ,

a time when al ie n races ha d not yet d riven home the wedges of separa
tion between them .

In the I sle o f M an also another Celtic country Hallowe en was , ,

’

celebrate d d own to modern times by the kin d lin g o f fires accompan ie d ,

with all the usual ceremonies des igne d to preven t the bane ful influence
o f fai r i es an d witches
7 T he M idw i n ter Fi r es — If the hea then o f ancient E urope
.

cele b ra ted as we have goo d reason to b el i eve the season o f M i dsummer

, .

wi th a grea t fes tival of fire o f wh i ch the traces have survive d in many

,

places d own to our ow n time it i s natural to suppose that they shoul d ,

have observe d wi th similar r ites the correspond in g season of M id

win ter ; for Mi d summer a n d M i d winter or i n more technical lan guage , , ,

the s ummer sols tice a n d the w i n ter sols ti ce are the tw o great turn in g ,

poin ts in the sun s apparent course throu gh the sky an d from the
’

s tand point of primit ive man nothin g mi ght seem more appropriate
than to kin d le fires on earth at the two moments when the fire and
heat o f the grea t lum in ary in heaven be gin to wane or to wax .

In mo d ern Chr i s ten d om the ancien t fire fes tival o f the winter -

sols tice appears to survive or to have survive d d own to recent years

, ,

in the old cus tom o f the Yule log clo g or block as it was va riously , , ,

calle d in E n glan d The cus tom was w id esprea d in E urope but seems
.
,

to have flourished especially in E n gland France and amon g the , ,

Sou th Slavs ; at lea st the fullest accounts o f the cus tom come fro m
these quarters That the Yule log was only the winter counterpart
.

o f the mi d summer bo nfire ki n d le d within doors ins tea d o f in the

,

open air on account o f the cold an d incleme nt weather o f the season ,

was poin te d out lon g a go by our E n glish antiquary John Brand ;

and the v i ew is suppor te d by the many quaint supers titions at tach ing
to the Yule log supers titions which have no apparent connexi on
,

with Chri stiani ty b ut carry their hea then ori gin plainly stamped
upon them B ut while th e two solsti tial celebratio n s were both
.

festival s o f fire the necessity or d e s i rability o f hol d in g the winter

,

celebration within d oors le nt it the charac ter o f a private or domesti c

festivi ty which contrasts st a ngly with the publicity o f the summer
,

e
cel b ration at which
,
the people g athered on som e open s p ace or
638 T HE FIR E F E STIVALS O F
-
E UROP E CH .

called a Yule clo g or Christmas block to illuminate the house and as

- -
, , ,

it were to turn ni ght in to d ay

,
The old custom was to li ght the Yule
.

log with a fra gmen t o f its pre d ecessor which had been kept throu ghout ,

the year for the purpose ; where it was so kept the fiend could do no ,

mischie f The remai n s o f the log were also supposed to guar d the
.

house a gainst fire a n d li ghtnin g .

To th i s day the ritual o f brin gi ng in the Yule log i s observed with

m uch solemnity amon g the S outhern Slavs especially the Serbians , .

The log i s usually a block o f oak but sometimes o f olive or beech , .

They seem to think that they will have as many calves lambs pi gs , , ,

a nd ki d s as they s trike sparks ou t o f the burnin g lo g Some people .

carry a piece o f the log out to the fiel d s to pro tect them a ga ins t hail .

In Albania d own to recent years it was a common cus tom to burn a

Yule log at Christmas an d the ashes o f the fire were scattere d on the
,

fiel d s to make them fer tile The H uz uls a Slavonic people of the
.
,

Carpathians kin d le fire by the friction o f woo d on Chris tmas Eve

,

(Old S tyle the fi fth of January ) an d keep it burnin g till Twel fth Ni ght
, .

It i s remarkable how common the belie f appears to have b een

that the remains o f the Yule log i f kep t throu ghout the year had , ,

power to protect the house a gainst fire an d especially a gains t lightning .

A s the Yule log was frequen tly o f oak it seem s possi b le that this ,

belie f may be a relic o f the old Aryan cree d which assoc iate d the
oak tree with the go d of thunder Whether the curative an d fer tilising
-
.

virtues ascribed to the ashes of the Yule log which are suppose d to ,

heal cattle as well as men to enable cows to calve and to promote

, ,

the fruit fulness o f the ear th may not be derived fro m the same ancient
,

source i s a question which deserves to be considere d

, .

8 T he N eed fire — The fire festivals h itherto d escribed are all

.
-
.
-

celebrate d peri odically at certain state d times o f the year But .

besides these re gularly recurrin g celebrations the peasan ts in many

parts o f E urope have been wont from time immemor ial to resort to
a ritual o f fire at irre gular intervals i n seasons o f d i s tress and calamity ,

above all when their cattle were a ttacke d by epidemic d isease No .

account o f the popular E uropean fire fest ivals woul d be complete -

without some n o tice o f these remarka ble rites wh ich have all the ,

greater claim on our a ttention because they may perhaps be re garded

as the source and ori gin of all the other fi re festivals ; certainly they -

mus t d a te from a very remote antiqui ty The general name by which .

the y are known amon g the Teutonic peoples is need fire Sometimes -
.

“
the need fire was known as wild fire to d i s tin guish it no doubt
-
,

from the tame fire pro d uce d by more or d inary metho d s Among .

” “
Slavonic peoples it is called l ivin g fire .

The hi story o f the cus tom can be traced from the early Middle
A ge s when it was denounce d by the Church as a heathen supers tition
, .

down to the first hal f o f the nineteenth century when it was still ,

occasionally prac ti sed in various parts o f Germany E n gland Scotland , , .

and I relan d Amon g Slavonic peoples it appears to have lin gered

.

even lon ger The usual occasion for per forming the rite was an
.
a T HE N EE D FIR E -
639

outbreak of pla gue or cattle disease

— fo r which the need fire wa s ,
-

believe d to be an in fall i b le reme dy The animals which were subj ected

.

to it inclu ded cows p i g s horses an d sometimes geese

, , , As a necessary .

preliminary to the ki n d l ing o f the nee d fire all other fires an d li ghts -

i n the ne ighbourhoo d were extin gui shed so that not so much as a ,

spark remaine d ali gh t ; fo r so lon g as even a ni ght li gh t burne d in

a house it was ima gine d tha t the nee d fire coul d not kin d le Some
,
.

ti m es i t was d eeme d enou gh to p ut o ut all the fires in the villa ge ;

b ut sometimes the exti nction ex ten d e d to nei ghbourin g villa ges or
to a whole parish In some parts o f the Hi ghland s o f Scotlan d the
.

rule was that all househol d ers who dwel t within the two neares t
runnin g s treams shoul d put out their li ghts an d fires on the d ay
appointe d Usually the n ee d fire was ma d e in the open air but in
.
-
,

some parts of Serbia it was kin d led i n a d ark room ; sometimes the
place was a cross way or a hollow in a roa d
-
In the Hi ghlan d s o f .

Scotlan d the proper places fo r per formin g the ri te seem to have been .

knolls or small i slan d s in rivers .

The re gular metho d o f pro d ucin g the need fire was by the friction -

of two pieces o f woo d ; it m igh t n ot b e s truck by flin t a n d s teel .

Very excep ti onally among so m e Sou th Slavs we read of a practice

of k in d lin g a nee d fire by strik i n g a piece o f iron on an anvil
-
Where .

the woo d to b e employe d i s spec ifie d it i s generally sai d to be oak ;

,

but on the Lower Rhine the fire was kindle d by the friction o f oak
woo d or fir woo d -
In Slavon i c coun tries we hear o f poplar pear
.
, ,

and co m e ] woo d bein

g used fo the purpose rO ften the material i s .

simply describe d as two pieces o f d ry woo d Sometimes nine di ff erent .

kin ds of wood were d eeme d necessary but rather perhaps to be burne d ,

in the bonfire than to b e ru b b e d to gether for the pro d ucti on o f the

nee d fire The particular mo d e o f ki nd l in g the nee d fire varie d in
-
.
-

differen t d istricts ; a very common one was this Two poles were .

driven i nto the g roun d abou t a foo t and a hal f from each other .

Each pole had in the s i d e fac in g the o ther a socket into which a smooth
cross piece or roller was fitte d The socke ts were stu ff e d wi th linen
-
.
,

and the two en d s o f the roller were ramme d ti gh tly in to the socke ts .

To make i t more i nflamma b le the roller was o ften coate d with ta r .

A rope was then wound roun d the roller an d the free en d s at both ,

si des were gr ippe d by two or more persons who by pull i n g the rope ,

to and fro cause d the roller to revolve rap i d ly till throu gh the fr iction ,

the linen in the sockets took fire The sparks were imme d iately .

caught in tow or oakum a n d wave d abou t in a circle un til they b urst

into a bri ght glow when s traw was appl i e d to it an d the blazing s traw
, ,

used to kin d le the fuel tha t ha d been stacke d to make the bonfire
Often a wheel some times a c a rt wheel or even a spinning—
.

,
-
wheel ,

forme d par t of the mechani sm ; in Aber d eenshire it was called the “

m uckle wheel in the i sland o f Mull the wheel was turne d from east
to west over nine spin d les o f oak woo d Sometimes we are merely -
.

told that two woo d en planks were rubbe d to gether Sometimes it .

was prescribed that the cart wheel used for fire making a n d the axle
- -
640 T HE FIR E F E STIVAL S O F
-
E URO P E CH .

on which it turned should both be n ew Similarly it was said that

the rope which turned the roller shoul d be new if possible it shoul d
be woven o f stran d s taken from a gallows rope wi th which people
ha d been han ged but this was a counsel o f per fection rather than a
,

s trict necessity .

Various rules were also lai d d own as to the ki nd o f persons who

mi ght or should make the nee d fire Sometimes it was sai d that the
-
.

tw o perso n s who pulle d the rope which twirle d the roller shoul d
always be brothers or at least bear the same baptismal name ; some
times it w as d eeme d su fficient i f they were bo th chaste youn g men .

I n some villa ges o f B runswick people thou ght that i f everybo dy

who len t a han d in kindlin g the nee d fire d id not bear the same Christian
-

name they woul d labour in vai n In S i lesia the tree employe d to pro
, .

d uce the nee d fire use d to be felled by a pair o f twin bro thers
-
In the .

western islan d s o f Scotlan d the fire was k i n d led by ei ghty one married -

m en who rubbe d two g reat planks against each other workin g in relays
, ,

o f nine ; i n N or th U i s t the n ine tim es nine who ma d e the fire were all
first be go tten sons but we are not tol d whether they were married or
-
,

sin gle Amon g the Serb i ans the nee d fire is some times kin d led by a
.
-

boy and girl be tween eleve n an d four teen years o f age who work stark ,

nake d i n a d ark room ; some time s it i s ma d e by an old man an d an old

woman also in the d ark In B ul garia too the makers o f need fire
.
, ,
-

s trip themselves o f thei r clothes ; in Caithness they d ives te d themselves

o f all kin d s o f metal If a fter lon g rubbin g o f the woo d no fire was
.

elicite d they conclu d e d that some fire must still be burning in the
v i lla ge ; so a strict search was made from house to house any fire ,

that mi ght be fou nd was put out an d the negli gent householder ,

punishe d or upbrai d e d ; i ndee d a heavy fine m ight be inflicte d on him

When the nee d—
.

fire w a s at last kindled the bonfire was lit from it , ,

a n d as soon as the blaze had somewhat d i e d d own the sick animals ,

were driven over the glowin g embers sometimes in a re gular or der ,

o f prece d ence first the p i gs next the cows an d last o f all the horses
, , ,
.

S ometimes they w ere d riven twice or thrice throu gh the smoke and
fl ames so that occasionally some o f them were scorched to death
,
.

A s soon a s all the beasts were through the youn g folk woul d ,

rush wil d ly at the ashes and cinders sprinklin g a nd blackening

'

each o ther with them ; those who were most blackene d would march
in triumph behin d the cat tle into the villa ge a nd woul d not wash
themselves for a lon g time From the bonfire people carried live
.

embers hom e and use d them to rekin d le the fires i n their houses .

These brands a fter bein g extin gui she d i n water they sometimes
, ,

put in the man gers at which the cattle fed and kept them there for ,

a whi le A shes fro m the n ee d-fire were also strewed on the fields
.

to protect the crop s against vermin ; sometimes they were taken

home to be employe d as remedies in sickness bein g sprinkle d on the ,

ai lin g part or mixe d in water a nd d runk by the pat i ent In the .

western islands o f Scotlan d a n d on the adj oinin g mainlan d as soon ,

a s the fire on the domestic hearth had been rekin d led from the need
642 T H E INT E RPR E TATIO N O F T H E FIR E-F E ST IVALS CH .

the fire festivals at all times of the year and in all p laces i s tolerably
-

close A n d as the ceremonies them selves resemble each o ther so do

.
,

the benefits which t he people expect to reap from them Whether .

applie d i n the form o f bonfires blaz in g at fixed points or o f torches ,

carrie d about from place to place or of embers and ashes taken from ,

the smoul d ering heap of fuel the fire i s believed to promote the growth ,

o f the crops and the w el fare of man and beast either positively by ,

stimulatin g them or ne gatively by averti ng the dan gers and calamities

,

which threaten them from such causes as thunder and li ghtnin g con ,

flagration bli ght mildew vermin sterility disease an d not least of

, , , , , ,

all wi tchcra ft .

B ut we naturally ask H ow did it come about that benefits so great

,

and mani fold were supposed to be attained by means so simple ? In

what way did people ima gine that they could procure so many goods
or avoi d so many ills by the application o f fire and smoke o f embers ,

and ashes ? Tw o di fferent explanations o f the fire festivals have been -

given by modern enquirers On the one hand it has been hel d that
.

they are sun charms or ma gical ceremonies inte nde d on the principle
-
,

of imitative ma gic to ensure a nee d ful supply o f sunshine for men

, ,

animals and plant s by ki ndlin g fires which m imic on earth the great
,

source o f li ght and heat in the sky Thi s was the vie w o f Wilhelm .

Mannhardt It may be called the solar theory On the o ther hand

. .

it has been maintained that the ceremonial fires have no necessary

re ference to the sun but are simply p urificatory in intention being ,

desi gne d to burn up and destroy all harm ful influences whether these ,

are conceived in a personal form a s witches demons a nd monsters , , ,

or in an impersonal form as a sort o f pervading taint or cor ruption of

the ai r Th i s is the view of Dr E d ward Westermarck a n d apparently
. .

o f Pro fessor E u gen M ogk It may be called the p ur ificatory theory

. .

Obviously the two theorie s postulate two very d i ff erent conceptions

o f the fire which plays the princ i pal part in the rites On the one view .
,

the fire like sunshine in our lati tu d e i s a genial creative power which
, ,

fosters the growth o f plants a n d the development o f all that makes for
heal th and happiness ; on the other view the fire is a fierce d estructive
,
,

power which blasts and consumes all the noxious elements whether ,

spir itual or m aterial that m enace the li fe of men o f animals and of

, , ,

plants Accor d in g to the one theory the fire i s a stimulant a ccording

.
,

to the o ther it i s a disin fectant ; on the one view its virtue is positive ,

on the other it i s ne gative .

Yet the two explanations di ff erent as they are in the character ,

which they attribute to the fire are perhaps not wholly i rreconci lable , .

I f we assume that the fires ki n d le d at these festivals were primarily

’
inten d e d to imitate the sun s li ght an d heat may we not re gard the ,

p urificato ry and disi nfectin g q ualities which popular opinion certainly ,

appears to have ascribed to them as attributes derived directly from ,

the p urificatory and di sin fectin g q ualities of sunshine ? In this way

we mi gh t conclude that while the im itation of sunshine in these
,

ceremonies was prima ry and ori ginal the p u ri ficati on attributed to ,

Lxm SOLAR TH E OR Y O F FIR E -F E ST IVAL S 643

them was secondary and derivative Such a conclusion occupyin g

.
,

an intermediate positi on between the two opposin g theories and

reco gnising an ele ment o f truth i n bo th of them was adopted by me ,

in earlier editions of this work ; b ut in the meantime Dr Wester .

m arck has ar gued power fully in favour o f the p urificato ry theory alone ,

and I am bound to say that his ar gumen ts carry great wei ght and ,

that on a fuller review of the fac ts the balance o f evidence seem s t o

m e to incline decidedly in hi s favour H owever the case i s not so
.
,

clear as to j usti fy u s i n dismi ssin g the solar theory without di scussion ,

and accordin gly I propose to a d d uce the consi d erations which tell for
it before proceedin g to no tice those which tell against it A theory .

which had the support o f so learne d a n d sa gacious an investi gator as

W Mannhardt is entitled to a respect ful hearin g
2 T he S olar T heory of the F i r e— —
. .

.
fes ti v als In an earlier part o f
this work we saw thatj s av ages resort to charms for makin g sunshine
'

and it would be no won d er i f prim it i ve man in E urope did the same .

Indeed when we consi d er the col d a nd cloudy climate o f E urope

,

during a great pa rt of the year we shall find it natural that sun charms
,
-

should have played a much more prominent part among the super
stitious practices o f E uropean peoples than amon g those o f savages
who live nearer the equator an d who consequently are apt to get in
the course o f nature more sunshine than they want This view of .

the festivals may be supporte d by various ar guments d rawn partly

from their dates partly from the nature o f the rites and partly from
, ,

the influence which they are believed to exert upon the weather and
on vegetation .

First in re gard to the d ates o f the fes tivals it can be no mere

,

accident that two o f the mos t importan t an d widely spread o f the

festivals are timed to coinc id e more or less exactly wi th the summer
and winter solstices that is w ith the tw o turnin g-points in the sun s
’
, ,

apparent course in the sky when he reaches respectively hi s hi ghest

and his lowest elevation at noon Indee d with respect to the mid
.

winter celebration o f Christmas we are not le ft to conj ecture ; we

know from the express tes timony o f the ancients that it was instituted
by the church to superse d e an old heathen festival of the birth o f the
sun which was apparently conce ive d to be born a gain on the sho rtest
,

day of the year a fter which his li gh t a n d heat were seen to grow ti ll
,

they attai ned their full maturity a t mi d summ er Therefore it is no .

very far -fetched conj ecture to suppose that the Yule log which figu res ,

so prominently in the popular celebra tion o f Christmas was ori gi nally .

desi gned to help the labour i n g sun of mi d winter to rekindle hi s seem

ingly expirin g li ght .

Not only the date o f som e o f the festivals but the manner o f thei r
celebration su ggests a conscious imita tion of the sun The custom o f .

rollin g a burnin g wheel down a hill which i s often observed at these

,
’
ceremonies mi ght well pass for an imi tation of the sun s course in the
,

sky and the imitation would be especially appropriate on Midsummer

,
’
Day when the sun s annual d eclensi on be gins Indeed the custom .
644 T H E I NT E RPR E TATI O N O F T HE F IRE F E STIVALS
-
CH .

has been thus interpreted by some of those who have recorded it .

N o t less g raphic it may be sai d i s the mimicry o f hi s apparent re

, ,

volution b y swin gin g a burnin g tar b arrel roun d a pole A gain the -
.
,

common practice o f throw ing fiery d iscs some times expressly sai d to ,

be shape d like suns in to the air at the festivals may well be a piece
,

o f imi tative ma gic In these as in so many cases the ma gic force may
.
, ,

b e suppose d to take e ffect throu gh mimicry or sympathy : by imi tatin

g
the d es i re d resul t you ac tually pro d uce it : by counter feitin g the sun s ’

pro gress throu gh the heavens you really help the luminary to pursue
hi s celes tial j ourney wi th punctuali ty a nd d espatch The name .

”
fire o f heaven by which the mi d summer fire is sometimes popularly
,

known clearly i mplies a consciousness o f a connexion between the

,

earthly and the heavenly flame .

A gain the man ner in which the fire appears to have been ori ginally
,

kindled on these occasions has been alle ged in suppor t o f the view that
it was in ten d e d to be a mock sun A s some scholars have perceive d -
.
,

it i s hi ghly probable that at the perio d ic festivals in former times fire

was universally obtained by the friction of two pieces o f woo d It is .

still so procured in some places both at the E aster and the Mi d summer
fest i vals a n d it i s expressly sai d to have been formerly so procured
,

at the B el tane celebration bo th in Sco tlan d an d Wales But what .

makes it nearly certain tha t thi s was once the invariable mode of
kindl i n g the fire at these perio d ic fe stivals i s the analo gy o f the nee d
fire which has almost always been pro d uced by the fr i c tion o f wood
, ,

an d some times by the revolution o f a wheel It i s a plausible con .

j ectu re tha t the wheel employed for this purpose represents the sun ,

a n d i f the fires a t the re gularly recurrin g celebrations were formerly

produced in the same way it m i gh t be re gar d e d as a confirmation of ,

the view tha t they were ori ginally sun charm s In point o f fact there -
.

i s as Ku hn has i n d icated some evi d ence to show that the mi d summer

, ,

fire was ori ginally thus pro d uce d We have seen that many Hun garian .

swine her d s make fire on Mi d summer E v e by ro tating a wheel round

-

a wooden axle wrapt in hemp a n d that they drive their pi gs through ,

“
the fire thus ma d e At Oberme d lin gen in Swabia the fire o f heaven
.
, , ,

as it was calle d was ma d e on S t Vi tus s Day (the fi fteenth o f June )

, .
’

by i gni ti ng a cart wheel which sm eare d wi th p itch and plai ted with
-
, ,

s traw was fas tene d on a pole twelve feet hi gh the top o f the pole
, ,

bein g inserte d in the n ave of the wheel This fire was made on the .

summ i t o f a moun tain and as the flame ascende d the people uttered
, ,

a set form o f words wi th eyes and arms d i recte d heavenward Here

, .

the fixin g o f a wheel on a pole a nd i gnitin g it su gges ts that ori ginally

the fire was produce d as in the case o f the need fire by the revolu tion
,
-
,

o f a wh e el The d ay on which the ceremony takes place (the fi fteenth

.

o f Ju n e ) i s n ear midsummer ; a n d we have seen that in Masuren fire

i s or use d to be actually ma d e on Midsummer Day by turnin g a wheel
, ,

rapi dly about an oaken pole thou gh it i s not sai d that the new fire so ,

obtaine d i s used to li gh t a bonfire H owever we m us t bear in min d .

,

that in all such cases the us e o f a wheel may be m erely a mechanical .

64 6 T H E I N T ERP RET AT IO N O F T H E FIR E - F E ST IVAL S CH .

hel d that the suc e ss ful p er form ance of the cere m ony entitl ed the
c

villagers to levy a ta x upon the owners o f the nei ghbourin g vineyards .

Here the unextin gui she d wheel mi ght be taken to represent an um

cloude d sun which in tur n woul d portend an abundant vinta ge So
, .

the wa ggon load o f white wine which the villa gers received from the
-

v i neyards round about mi ght pass for a paymen t for the sunshine
which they ha d procure d fo r the g rapes Similarly in the Vale of .

Glamor gan a blazin g wheel used to be trun d led down hill on M id

summer Day a nd if the fire were ex tin guished be fore the wheel reached
,

the foot o f the hill the people expec ted a b a d harvest ; whereas i f the
,

wheel kept ali ght all the way d own a n d continued to blaze for a long
time the farmers looke d forward to heavy crops that summer Here
, .
,

a ga i n i t i s natural to suppose that the rustic mind t raced a direct

,

connexion between the fire o f the wheel and the fire of the sun on ,

which the crops are depen d ent .

But in popular belie f the quickenin g and fertili sin g influence of the
bonfires i s not lim ite d to the ve ge table worl d ; it extends also to
animals This plainly appears from the Irish cus tom o f d r ivin g barren
.

cattle throu gh the mi d summer fires from the French belie f that the,

Yule log s teeped i n water helps cows to calve from the French and ,

S erbian no tion that there w i ll be as many chickens calves lambs , , ,

and kids as there are sparks struck out of the Yule log from the ,
’
French custom o f puttin g the ashes of the bonfires in the fowls nests
to make the hens lay e ggs a n d from the German practice o f mixing
,

the ashes of the bonfires wi th the d ri nk o f cattle in order to make the

animals thrive Further there are clear in d ications that even human
.
,

fecun d ity i s suppose d to be promote d by the genial heat of the fires .

I n M orocco the people think that ch i l d less couples can obtain o ffspring
by leapin g over the mi d summer bonfire It i s an Irish belief that a .

gi rl who j umps thrice over the mi d summer bonfire will soon marry
a nd become the mother o f many children ; i n Flan d ers women leap
over the mi d summ er fires to ensu re an easy delivery ; in various parts
o f France they th i nk that i f a gi rl d ances round nine fires she will be sure
to marry within the year a n d in Bohemia they fancy that she will do so
,

i f she merely sees nine o f the bonfires On the other han d in Lechrain
.
,

people say that i f a young man a n d woman leapin g over the mid ,

summer fi re to gether escape unsmi rched the youn g woman will not
, ,

become a mo ther wi th i n twelve months ; the flames have not touched

a n d fer tilised her In par ts o f S wi tzerland an d France the li ghting
.

o f the Yule lo g is accompanied by a prayer that the women may bear

chil d ren the she -goats bring forth k i d s and the ewes d rop lambs The
, ,
.

rule observe d i n som e places that the bonfires should be kindled

by the person who was last marr i e d seem s to belon g to the same
class o f i d eas whether it be that such a person is suppose d to receive
,

from or to impart to the fire a genera tive and fertilisin g influence

, ,
.

The common practice o f lovers leapin g over the fires hand in han d
may very well have ori ginated i n a notion that thereby their marria ge
would be blessed with o ffspring ; and the like motive would explai n
Lx m PURI FI CATORY TH E ORY O F FIR E FE STIVAL S -
647

the custom which obli ges couple s m arried within the year to d ance
to the li ght o f torches A nd the scene s of p rofligacy which appear
.

to have marked the mi d summer celebra tion amo ng the E sthonians ,

as they once marke d the celebration o f May Day amon g ourselves ,

m ay have sprun g not from the mere licence o f holi d ay mak e rs

, but -
,

from a cru d e notion that such or gies were j ustifie d if n ot required by , ,

some mysterious bon d which linke d the li fe o f man to the courses o f

the heavens at this turnin g poin t o f the year -
.

At the fes tivals which we are consi d erin g the cus tom o f kindlin g
bonfires i s commonly associated wi th a cus tom of carryin g li ghte d
torches a b out the fiel d s the orchar d s the pas tures the flocks a n d the
, , ,

herds ; an d we can har d ly d oub t that the two cus toms are only t wo
di fferent ways of attaini ng the same obj ect namely the benefi ts which , ,

are believed to flow from the fire whe ther it be s tationary or por table
, .

Accor d in gly i f we accept the solar theory o f the b onfires we seem ,

boun d to apply it also to the torches ; we must suppose tha t the prac tice
of marchin g or runn i n g with b lazin g torches abou t the country i s simply

a means o f d i ffusin g far an d wi d e the genial influence o f the sunshine

of which these flickerin g flames are a feeble imi ta ti on In favour o f .

this view it may b e sai d that sometimes the torches are carr i e d abou t
the fiel d s fo r the express purpose o f fert i li s i n g them a nd wi th the same ,

intent ion live coals from the bonfires are some times place d in the fiel d s
to prevent bli ght On the eve o f Twel fth Day i n Norman dy men
. .

women an d chil d ren run wil d ly throu gh the fields and orchar d s wi th
,

li ghte d torches which they wave a b out the b ranches an d d ash a ga i ns t

,

the trunks o f the frui t trees for the sake o f burnin g the moss a n d drivin g
-

away the moles a n d field mice They b elieve that the ceremon y
-
.
“

fulfills the d ou b le o b j ec t o f exorcisin g the vermin whose mul tiplica ti on

woul d be a real calamity an d o f i mpar tin g fecun d ity to the trees the
, ,
”
fiel d s a nd even the ca ttle ; an d they ima gine that the more the
,

ceremony i s prolonge d the grea ter w i ll b e the crop of fruit next autumn
,
.

In Bohemia they say that the corn w ill grow as hi gh as they fl i n g the
blaz in g besoms in to the ai r Nor are such no ti ons confine d to E urope
. .

In Corea a few d ays be fore the New Year festival the eunuchs o f
, ,

the palace sw i n g burnin g torches chanting i nvocati ons the while a n d

, ,

this is supposed to ensure boun ti ful crops fo r the next season The .

custom of trun d lin g a burnin g wheel over the fiel d s which use d to be ,

observed in Poitou for the express purpose of fer tilisin g them may ,

be thou gh t to embody the same i d ea i n a s till more graphic form ;

since in this way the mock sun i tsel f n ot merely i ts li ght a n d hea t
-
,

represente d by torches i s made actually to pass over the ground

,

which i s to rece ive its q u icken i ng and kin d ly influence Once more .
,

the cust om o f carry i n g li ghte d b ran d s round cattle is plainly equivalen t

to drivin g the animals throu gh the bonfire ; and i f the bonfire i s a sun
charm the torches must be so also
3 T he P u rifica tory T heory of the F ire fes tiva ls —Thus far we
.
,

-
.

have consi de red what may be said for the theory that at the E uropean
fire-fes tival s the fire is kindle d as a charm to ensure an abundant supply
648 T H E I N T E RPR E TATI O N O F T H E FIR E -F E ST IVAL S CH.

of su nshi ne for m an and beast for c or n and f ruits It r em ai ns to

,
.

consi d er what may be sai d a gainst this theory a nd in favour of the view
that in these rites fire is e m ploye d not as a crea tive but as a cleansin
g
a gen t which purifies m en animals and plants by burning up and
, , ,

consumin g the noxious elements whether material or spiritual which

, ,

menace all living thin gs wi th d isease a n d death .

First then it i s to be observe d that the people who practise the

, ,

fire customs appear never to alle g e the solar theory in explanation

-

o f them while on the con trary they d o frequently an d emphatically

,

put forwar d the p urificato ry theory This is a s tron g ar gument in .

favour o f the p u rificato ry and a gainst the solar theory ; for the popular
explanation o f a popular cus tom is never to be rej ected ex cept for ‘

g rave cause A n d in the present case there seems to be no adequate

.

reason for rej ectin g it The conception o f fire as a destructive agent

.
,

which can be turne d to account for the consumption of evi l things is ,

so simple and obvious tha t it coul d har d ly escape the min d s even of the
rude peasantry wi th whom these fes tivals ori ginated On the other .

han d the conception o f fire as an e m anation of the sun or at all events ,

as linked to it by a bond o f physical sympathy i s far less simple and ,

obv i ous ; and thou gh the use o f fire as a charm to produce sunshine
appears to be un d eniable nevertheless in attemptin g to explain popular
,

custom s w e should never have recourse to a m o e recondite idea l

when a simpler one lies to han d an d i s supporte d by the explicit testi

mony o f the people themselves Now in the case o f the fire festivals
.
-

the d estructive aspect of fire is one upon which the people d well again
an d a gain ; and it is hi ghly s ignificant that the great evil a gainst
which the fire i s d irecte d appears to be witchcra ft A gain and again .

we are tol d that the fires are in tended to burn or repel the witches ; and
the inten tion is sometimes graphically expressed by burnin g an e ffi gy
of a witch in the fire Hence when we rem ember the great hold which
.
,

the dre ad o f witchcra ft has had on the popular E uropean mind in all
a ges we may suspect that the primary intention o f all these fire
,

festivals was simply to destroy or at all events get rid o f the witches ,

who were regarde d as the causes o f nearly all the mis fortunes and
calamiti es that be fall men thei r cattle a n d thei r crops
, , .

This suspicion is confirmed when we examine the evils for which

the bonfires and torches were suppose d to provide a remedy Fore .

most perhaps amon g these evils we may reckon the diseases o f cattle ;
, ,

and o f all the ills that witches are bel i eve d to work there is probably
none which is so constantly insisted on as the harm they do to the
herds particularly by steali n g the milk from the cows Now it is
,
.

si gnificant that the nee d -fire which may perhaps be re garded as the
,

parent o f the periodic fire festivals i s kin d led above all as a remedy
-
,

for a murrain or other disease o f ca ttle ; a nd the circums tance su ggests ,

what on general groun d s seem s probable that the custom o f kin d ling ,

the need -fire goes back to a time when the ancest ors o f the E uropean
peoples subsi sted chiefly on the pro d ucts of thei r herds and when ,

agriculture as yet played a subordinate part in their lives Witches .

650 T HE B U RNIN G OF HU MA N B E I N GS IN T HE F IR ES CH .

and wormwoo d to m ake a smoke T he fumes are supposed to ascend

.

to the clou d s and stupe fy the witches so that they tumble down to ,

ear th A n d in or d er that they may not fall so ft but may hurt them
.
,

selves very much the yoke ] has tily brin gs out a chair a nd tilts it
,

bottom up so that the w itch in fallin g may break her le gs on the le gs

o f the chair Worse than tha t he cruelly lays scythes bill hooks
.
, ,
-
,

a n d o ther formi d able weapons e d ge upwar d s so as t o cut an d man le

g
the poor wre tches when they d rop plump upon them from the clou ds .

On thi s view the fer ti li ty suppose d to follow the applicati on of

fire in the form o f bonfires torche s di scs rollin g wheels and so forth
, , , , ,

i s not concei ve d as resul tin g d irec tly from an increase o f solar heat
which the fire has m a gically genera te d ; it i s merely an in d irect resul t
obtained by freein g the repro d uctive powers o f plants a n d animals
from the fa tal obs truc tion o f wi tchcra ft A n d what is t rue o f the .

reproduc tion o f plants an d animals may hol d goo d also o f the ferti lity
o f the human sexes The bonfires are suppose d to promote marriage
.

and to procure o ffsprin g for chil d less couples This happy e ffect .

need n ot flow directly from any quickenin g or ferti li sin g ener gy in

the fire ; it may follow in d i rec tly from the power o f the fire to remove
those obs tacles which the spells o f witches and w izards no toriously
present to the union o f m a n a n d wi fe .

On the whole then the theory o f the p u rificatory virtue of the

, ,

ceremonial fires appears more pro b a b le and more in accor d ance with
the evi d ence than the Opposin g theory o f their connex i on with the sun .

CHAPT E R LXIV

TH E B U RN I N G OF HU MA N B E I N GS I N TH E FIRES
l T he B urni ng of E fii gi es i n the Fir es — W e have still to ask , What
. .

i s the m eanin g of burnin g effigies in the fire at these fest ivals ? A fter
the prece d in g i nvesti gation the ans wer to the quest ion seems obvious .

A s the fires are o ften alle ged to be kindle d for the purpose o f burnin g
the witches a n d as the e ffi gy burnt in them is some times calle d the
,
“

”
Witch we mi ght naturally be d ispose d to conclude that all the effigies
,

consume d i n the flames on these occas i ons represent witches or warlocks ,

a nd that the custom o f burnin g them i s merely a subs ti tute for burning

the wicke d men an d women themselves , since on the principle of

homoeopa thic or imitative ma gic you practically destroy the witch
hersel f in destroyin g her e ffigy On the whole this explanation of
.

the burnin g o f straw fi gures in human shape at the festivals is perhaps

the most probable .

Yet it may be that this explanation d oes not apply to all the cases ,

an d that certain o f them may admit and even require another inter

p retation For the effigies so burne d as I have al rea d y remarked

.
, ,

can har d ly be separated from the effi gie s of Death which are bu r ned
 m v BURN I N G OF E FFI GI E S I N T H E FIRE S 65 1

or otherwise d estroyed in sp ri ng ; and groun d s h ave been already

iven fo r re gard in g the so called e fli gie s o f Death as reall y re p re senta
-
g
tives o f the tree spirit or spirit o f ve ge tation
-
Are the o ther effigies .
,

which are burne d in the spring and midsummer bonfires suscep tible ,

o f the same explana tion ? It woul d seem so For j ust as the fra g .

m ents of the so calle d Death are stuck in the fiel d s to make the crops
~

d
grow so the charre d embers o f the fi gure burne in the sprin g bonfires
,

are sometimes lai d on the fields in the b elie f tha t they will keep vermin ,

from the crop A gain the rule tha t the last married bri d e must leap
.
,

over the fire in which the s traw -man is b urne d on Shrove Tuesday
’

is probably inten d e d to make her fruit ful B ut as we have seen .

, ,

the power o f blessin g women with offsprin g i s a special a ttribute o f

tree spiri ts ; it i s there fore a fair pre su mption that the burnin g e ffi gy
-

over which the bri d e mus t leap is a representat i ve o f the fer tilisin g
tree spirit or spi ri t of ve getation This charac ter o f the e ffi gy as
-
.
,

representative o f the spirit o f ve ge ta tion is almos t unmi stakable when ,

the figure is composed o f an unthreshed shea f o f corn or is covere d

from hea d to foo t w ith flowers A gain it is to be note d that instea d
'

.
, ,

of a puppet trees e ither l ivin g or felle d are sometimes b urne d bo th

, , ,

in the sprin g and mi d summer bonfires N ow cons i d erin g the frequency

wi th which the tree —
.
,

spiri t i s represente d in human shape it is har d ly ,

rash to suppose tha t when sometimes a tree a nd some times an e ffigy

is burne d in these fires the e ffi gy an d the tree are re gard e d as equi valent
,

to each o ther each b e i n g a represen ta tive o f the tree spir it

,
This -
.
,

again is confirme d by observin g first that some times the e ffi gy which

, , ,

is to be burne d is carrie d abou t simul taneously w ith a May tree the -

,

former bein g carr i e d by the boys the lat ter by the girls ; a n d secon d , , ,

that the e ffi gy i s some times tie d to a l iv in g tree a n d burne d wi th it .

In these cases we can scarcely d oub t the tree -spi ri t is represen te d

.
, , ,

as we have foun d it represente d be fore in d uplicate bo th b y the tre e , ,

and by the e ffi y That the true charac ter o f the e ffi gy as a rept e

g .

sentativ e o f the b eneficent spirit o f ve eta tion shoul d some times b

g
forgotten i s natural
, The custom o f b urnin g a b eneficen t go d is too
.

forei gn to later modes o f thou ght to escape misin terpreta tion Na tu .

rally enou gh the people who con tinued to burn his image came i n
time to i d enti fy it as the effi gy o f persons whom on v ario u s
ground s , , ,

they regar d ed wi th aversion such as Ju d as Iscario t Lu ther and a , , ,

witch .

The general reasons for killin g a god or his represen tative have
been exam i ned in a precedin g chap ter But when the god happens .

to be a d ei ty o f ve getation there are special reasons why he shoul d,

die by fire For li ght and heat are nec essary to ve ge table growth ;
.

and on the principle o f sympathe tic m a ic by subj ec tin

, g g the personal ,

represen ta tive o f ve geta tion to their influence you secure a supply ,

of these necessaries for trees a n d crops In o ther words by burnin g .

,

the spiri t o f ve ge tation in a fire which represents the sun you make ,

sure that for a time a t least ve ge tation shall have plenty of sun
, , .

It may b e obj ected that i f the intenti on i s sim ply to secur e enough
,
6 52 T H E BUR NI N G O F HU MA N B E I N GS I N T HE

sunshine for ve getati o n this end would be better atta ,

pr inc iples o f sympa the tic magic by merely pass i n g the r ,

o f ve g e ta tion throu gh the fire ins tea d o f burnin g him .

fact this i s some times d one In Russ ia as we have seen .

, ,

fi gure o f Kupalo i s not b urne d in the mi d summer fire but merely ,

carrie d backwar d s an d forwar d s across it B ut for the reasons .

,

alrea dy given it is necessary that the god shoul d die ; so next day
,

Kupalo is s tripped o f her ornamen ts a n d thrown into a stream In .

this Russian cus tom the passa ge of the ima ge throu gh the fire i f it is
not simply a purification may possibly be a sun —
,

charm ; the killing

o f the go d i s a separate act an d the m o d e o f killin g him—
,

— ,
b y d ro wning
i s probably a rain charm B ut usually people have not thought it
-
.

necessary to d raw this fine d is tinction ; for the various reasons already
a ss igne d it is a d van ta geous they think to expose the god o f ve geta
, , ,

tion to a consi d erable de gree of heat an d it is also a d vantageous to ,

kill him and they combi n e these a d v antages in a rou gh -and ready
,
-

way by burnin g him

2 T he B u rni n g of M en a nd A nim a ls i n the F ires — In the popular
.

customs connected with the fire festivals o f E urope there are certain -

features which appear to point to a former p ractice o f human sacrifice .

We have seen reasons for believi ng that i n E urope livin g pe rsons have
o ften acte d as representatives of the tree spirit a nd corn — spirit and -

have su ffere d dea th as such There is no reason there fore why .

, ,

they should not have been burne d i f any special a d van ta ges were ,

likely to b e attaine d by pu tt in g them to death i n that way The .

consideration o f human su ff erin g is not one which enters into the

calculations o f primi tive man Now in the fire festivals which we .
,
-

are d i scussi ng the pre tence of burnin g people i s some times carried
,

so far tha t it seems reasonable to regar d it as a miti ga te d survival

o f an ol d er custom o f actually burni n g them Thus in Aachen as .
,

we saw the man clad in peas straw acts so cleverly that the children
,
-

really believe he i s bein g burne d A t Jum i e ges in Normandy the man .

cla d all in green who bore the ti tle o f the Green Wol f was pursue d
, ,

by hi s comrades an d when they cau gh t him they fei gned to fling

,

him upon the midsummer bonfire Similarly at the Beltane fires in .

Scotlan d the pretende d v ictim was seize d a nd a show ma d e o f throw: ,

ing him into the flames and fo r some time a fterwar d s people a ff ected
,

to speak o f hi m as d ea d A gain in the Hallowe en bonfires of North

'

.
,

eas tern Sco tlan d w e may perhaps d e tec t a similar pretence i n the
custom observe d by a lad o f lyin g d own as close to the fire as possible
a n d allowin g the other la d s to leap over him The ti tular kin g at .

Aix who rei gne d fo r a year a n d d anced the first d a nce round the
,

mi d summer bonfire may perh a ps in d ays o f old have d ischar ged the
,

less a greeable duty o f serv in g as fuel for tha t fire which i n la ter times
he only kin d le d In the followi ng cus toms Mannhar d t i s probably
.

ri ght in reco gni si ng traces o f an old custom o f burnin g a lea f clad -

representative o f the spi rit o f ve geta tion At W elfeck in Austria .

, ,

on Mi dsumm er Day a b oy com pletel y c lad in green fir b ran ch es

,
.
 654 T H E B U RN IN G OF HU MA N B EIN GS IN T HE FIRES CH.

p ries ts S ome they shot dow n with arrow s som e they im pal ed and
.
, ,

some they burned alive in the followin g manner Colossal images of .

wicker work or of wood and g rass were constructe d ; these were

-

filled w i th live m en cattle a nd animals o f other ki nds ; fire was then

, ,

applied to the i mages and they were burned with their livi ng contents
, .

Such were the great fes tivals hel d once every five years But .

besides these quinquennial festivals celebrated on so g rand a scale , .

and with apparently so large an expen d iture o f human li fe it seems

, , ,

reasonable to suppose that festivals o f the sam e sort o nly on a lesser ,

scale were held annually and that from these annual festivals are
, ,

lineally descen d ed some at le ast o f the fire-festivals which with their ,

traces o f human sacrifices are still celebrated year by year in many ,

parts o f E urope The gigantic ima ges constructed of osiers or covered

.

with grass in which the Druids enclosed thei r victim s remind us of

the lea fy framework in which the human representative o f the tree
spirit i s s till so o ften encased H ence seein g that the fertility of the .
,

land was apparently supposed to depen d upon the due per formance of
these sacrifices Mannhardt interprete d the Celtic victims cased in
, ,

osiers a nd grass as representatives of the t ree -spi rit or spirit of

,

v ege tation .

These wicker giants o f the Drui ds seem to have had till lately i f ,

not d own to the present time their representatives at the spring ,

and midsummer festiv als o f mo d ern E urope At Douay d own at .

,

least to the early part o f the ninetee nth century a procession took ,

place annually on the S unday nearest to the seventh of July The .

g reat feature o f the processi on was a colossal fi gure some twenty ,

”
or thi rty feet hi gh made o f osiers and called the giant which
, ,
“
,

was move d throu gh the streets by means o f rollers and ropes worked
by men who were enclosed within the effigy The fi gure was armed .

a s a kn i ght with lance an d sword helmet and shiel d Behind , .

him marche d hi s wi fe and his three children all constructed of osiers ,

on the sam e principle but on a smaller scale At Dunkirk the

, .

procession o f the giants took place on M idsumme r Day the twenty ,

fourth o f June The festival which was known as the Follies of

.
,

Dunki rk attracted multitudes o f spectators The giant was a huge

, .

fi gure o f wicker -work occa si onally as much as forty five feet high
,
'
-
,

dresse d i n a lon g blue r obe with g old stripes which reache d to hi s feet , ,

concealin g the dozen or more men who made it dance and bob its
hea d to the spectators This colossal effi gy went by the name o f Papa
.

Reuss and carried in its pocket a bouncin g in fant o f B robdingnagian

,

proportions The rear was brou ght up by the dau ghter of the giant
.
,

constructe d li ke her si re o f wicker work and little i f at all in ferior

, ,
-
, , ,

to him in size M ost towns and even vi lla ges o f B rabant and Flanders
.

have or used to have similar wicker giants which were annually led
, ,

about to the deli ght of the populace who loved these grotes q ue fi gures , ,

spoke o f them with patriotic enthusiasm and never wearied of gazin g at ,

them At Antwerp the giant was so b ig that no gate in the city was
.

large e nough to let him go throu gh ; he nce he could not vi sit his
 m v BUR N I NG OF M EN A N D A N I MA LS IN T HE FIR E S 6 5 5

brother gi ant s in nei ghb ourin g town s as the othe r Bel gian giants ,

used to do on solemn occasions .

In E n gland artificial giants seem to have been a standing feature

of the midsummer festival A writer of the sixteenth century speaks .

of M idsom m er pa gean ts in Lon d on where to make the people wonder , .

are set forth great and uglie gya nts marchin g as i f they were alive ,

and armed at all points b ut wi thin they are stu ff ed full of browne ,

paper and tow which the shrew d boyes underpeering do guilefully

, , ,
”
discover and turne to a greate derision
,
At Chester the annual .

pageant on Mi d summer E ve included the efli gies o f four giants with ,

animals hobby -horses a n d other fi gures At Coventry it appears

, , .

’
that the gi ant s wife fi gure d b esi d e the gi ant At Burford in Oxford .
,

shire Midsummer E ve use d to be celeb rated with great j ollity by the

,

carryin g o f a giant an d a d ra gon up and down the town The last .

survivor o f these perambulatin g E n glish giants lin gered at Salisbury ,

where an antiq ua ry foun d him moulderin g to decay in the neglected

’
hall of the Tailors Company ab out the year 1844 His bodily frame .

work was a lath and hoop l ike the one which used to be worn by ,

Jack-in-the-Green on May Day .

In these cases the giants merely figure d in the processions But .

sometimes they were burne d in the summer bonfires Thus the people .

of the Rue aux Ours in Paris use d annually to make a great wicker
work fi gure dressed as a sol d ier which they promenaded up and
, ,

down the streets for several d ays and solemnly burned on the third
'

of July the crowd o f spectators s i n gi ng S alve Regina A personage

, .

who bore the title o f kin g presi d ed over the ce remony with a li ghted
torch in his hand The burnin g fra gments of the ima ge were scattered
.

among the people who ea gerly scramble d fo r them ,The custom .

was abolished in 17 43 I n Brie Isle de France a wicker work giant .

, ,
-
,

eighteen feet hi gh was annually burne d on Midsumme r E ve , .

Again the Drui dical custom of burning live animals enclosed in

, ,

wi cker-work has its counterpart at the spring and midsummer festivals .

At Luchon m the Pyrenees on Mi d summer E ve a hollow column “

composed of stron g wicker —

.

work i s raised to the hei ght o f about sixty ,

feet in the centre o f the princi pal suburb a n d in terlaced with green foli ,

age up to the ve ry top ; while the mos t beau ti ful flowers and shrub s

procurable are artistically arran ge d in groups below so as to form a ,

sort o f background to the sce n e The column is then filled with com
—
.

b ustible materials ready for i gn i ti on At an appointed hour about

—
.
,

8 PM a grand procession
. . compose d of the cler gy followed by , ,

young men and maidens i n holiday atti re pour for th from the town ,

chantin g hymns and take up thei r position around the column

, .

Meanwhile bonfires are lit wi th beauti ful eff ect in the surroundin g
, , ,

hills As many living serpents as coul d be collected are now thrown

.

into the column which is set on fire a t the base by m eans o f torches
,
,

armed with which about fi fty boys a nd men dance around with frantic
gestures The serpents to avoid the flames wriggle their way to the
.
, ,

top whe nce they a re seen lashin g out latera lly until finally obli e d to
,
g
6 5 6 T HE BURN I N G O F HU MAN B E IN GS I N T HE FIR E S CH .

drop thei r st ruggle s for li f e givin g ri se to enthusiasti c d eli ght among

,

the surroundin g spec tators This is a favourite annual ceremony

.

fo r the inhabitan ts o f Luchon a n d its nei ghbourhood an d local tradi tion ,

assi gns it to a heathen or igin In the mi d summer fires formerly .

kindled on the Place d e Greve at P aris it was the custom to burn a

basket barrel or sack full o f live cats which was hun g from a tall
, , ,

mast i n the mi d st o f the b onfire ; sometimes a fox was burned The .

people collec te d the e m bers a n d ashes o f the fire an d took them home ,

believin g that they brou ght goo d luck The French kin gs o ften .

witnessed these spectacles a nd even lit the bo nfire with their own hands ,

In 1648 Louis the Fourteenth crowned wi th a wreath o f roses and ,

carryin g a bunch o f roses in hi s han d kin d led the fire d anced at it , ,

a n d par took o f the banquet a fterwar d s 1n the town hall B ut this was .

the las t occasion when a monarch presi d ed at the mi d summer bonfire

in P aris At Metz mi d summer fires were lig hte d wi th great pomp
.

on the esplanade and a d ozen cats enclose d i n wicker ca ges were

, , ,

burned alive i n them to the amusement o f the people Similarly at

, .

Gap in the d epartment o f th e Hi gh Alps cats use d to be roaste d over

, ,

the midsummer bonfire In Russia a whi te cock was sometimes burned

.

i n the mi d summer bonfire ; in Meissen or Thurin gia a horse s head ’

use d to be thrown in to it Sometimes animals are burned in the .

sprin g bonfires In the Vos ges cats were burne d on Shrove Tues day ;
. .

in Alsace they were thrown into the E as ter bonfire In the d epart .

men t o f the Ar d ennes cats were flun g into the bonfires k in d led on the
first Sunday in Lent ; some times by a refi nement o f cruelty they were , ,

hun g over the fire from the end o f a pole and roasted alive The .

cat which represented the dev il

,
could never su ffer enoug While ,

the crea tures were peri shin g in the flames the shepher d s guarde d ,

their flocks and force d them to leap over the fire es teemin g this an ,

in fallible means of preservin g them from d isease and witchcraft We .

have seen that squi rrels were sometimes burne d in the E aster fire .

Thus it appears that the sacrificial rites o f the Celts o f ancient Gaul
can be trace d i n the popular festivals o f mo d ern E urope Na turally .

it is i n France or rather in the wider area comprised within the limits

,

o f ancient Gaul tha t these rites have le ft the clearest traces in the
,

custom s o f burnin g giants of wicker work a nd animals enclosed in

, -

wicker work or baskets The e customs it will have been remarked

-
.
s
, ,

are generally observe d at or ab out mi d summer From thi s we may .

in fer that the ori ginal rites o f which these are the d e generate s uccessors
were solem n ise d at mi dsummer Thi s in ference harmon ises with the
co n clusion su gge ste d by a general survey of E uropean folk—
.

cus tom ,
that the mi dsummer festival must on the whole have been the most
wi d ely di ffused and the most solemn o f all the yearly festivals celebrated
by the primitive Aryans in E urope A t the same time we must .

bear i n m ind that amon g the British Celts the chie f fire festivals of -

the year appear certainly to have been those o f B eltane (May Da y)

and H a llowe en (the last day o f October ) ; a nd this su ggests a doubt
’

wh et her the Celt s o f Gaul also may not have celebrated t hei r p rinci pal
.
65 8 BALDER AND THE MISTLETOE CH .

principal cau ses whi ch paralyse the effort s and bl ast the h opes o f the
husbandman .

The Drui d ical sacrifices which we are considerin g w ere explained

in a d i ff erent way by W Mannhardt He supposed that the men
. .

whom the Drui d s burne d in wicker work ima ges represented the spirits
-

o f ve getation a n d a ccor d in gly that the custom o f burnin g them was

,

a magical ceremony intende d to secure the necessary sunshine for the

crops . Similarly he seem s to have incline d to the view that the
,

animals which used to be burnt in the bonfires represented the corn

spiri t which as we saw in an earlier part o f this wor k i s o ften supposed
, , ,

to assume the shape o f an animal Thi s theory i s no doubt tenable .

i
,

and the g reat authority o f W Mannhardt entitles it to care ful con

.

si d e ration I a d opte d it in former editions o f thi s book ; but on

.

reconsi d eration it seems to me on the whole to be less probable than

the theory that the men and animals burnt in the fires perished in the
character o f witches Thi s latter view i s stron gly supporte d b y the
.

testimony of the people who celebrate the fire festivals since a popular -
,
”
name for the custom o f kindlin g the fires is burnin g the witches ,

efifigie s o f witches are sometimes consumed in the flames and the fires , ,

their embers or thei r ashes are supposed to furnish protection against

,

witchcra ft On the other hand there i s little to show that the effigies
.

or the animals burnt in the fires are re gar d ed by the people as rep re

sentatives o f the ve getation spi rit and that the bonfires are sun charms
-
,
-
.

With re gard to serpents in particular which used to be burnt in the ,

midsummer fire at Luchon I am not aware o f any certain evi d ence

,

th a t in E urope s nakes have been regarded as embodiments o f the tree

spirit or corn spirit thou gh in other parts o f the world the conception
-
,

appears to be not unknown Whereas the popular faith in the trans

.

formation o i witches into animals is so general and deeply rooted ,

and the fear of these uncanny beings is so stron g that it seems safer
'

to suppose that the cats and other animals which were burnt in the
fire su ff ered death as embo d iments o f witche s th an that they peri shed
as r ep resentatives of ve getation -spirit s .

CHAPT E R LXV

B A LDER A N D T H E M ST I L ETOE

T H E re a der m ay remember that the precedi ng acc ount o f the popula r

fire- festivals o f E urope was su ggested by the myth o f the Norse god
Bal d er who i s sai d to have been slain by a branch o f mistletoe and
,

burnt in a great fire We have now to enquire how far the customs
.

which have been passed in review help to shed li ght on the myth In .

this enquiry it may be convenient to be gin with the mistletoe the ,

’
i n strument o f Balder s d eath .

From time immemorial the mistletoe has bee n the obj ect of super ~
v BALDER AND TH E MI STLETOE 659

stitious venera tion in E urope It was worshipped by the Dr uids as

.
,

we lea rn from a famous passa ge of Pliny A fter enumeratin g the .

di fferent k i n d s o f mi stletoe he proceeds : ,

In treatin g o f thi s subj ect ,

the admiration in which the mis tletoe is held throu ghout Gaul ou ght
not to pass unno tice d The Drui d s for so they call their wizards
.
, ,

esteem nothin g more sacred than the mistletoe an d the tree on whi ch
it grows prov i de d only that the tree is an oak
,
But apart from this .

they choose oak woo d s fo r the i r sacre d groves a n d per form no sac red
ri tes wi thout oak —
-

leaves so that the very name o f Drui d s may b e

regar d e d as a Greek a pp ei lation d erived from the i r worship o f the oak .

For they bel i eve that wha tever grows on these trees i s sent from heaven ,

and i s a si gn that the tree has been chosen by the go d himsel f The .

m istle toe i s very rarely to be met wi th ; b ut when i t i s foun d they ,

gather it wi th solemn ceremony Thi s they do a b ove all on the sixth

.

day of the moon from whence they d a te the b e gi nn i n gs o f their mon ths
, ,

of the i r years a n d o f their thir ty years cycle b ecause by the sixth

'

, ,

day the moon has plen ty o f vi gour and has not run hal f its course .

A fter d ue prepara tions have been ma d e fo r a sacrifice a nd a feas t

un der the tree they ha il it as the universal healer and brin g to the
,

spot two whi te bulls whose horns have never b een boun d be fore A
, .

priest cla d in a white ro b e cl imb s the tree and w ith a gol d en s ickle cuts
the mi s tletoe wh i ch is cau ght in a wh i te clo th
,
Then they sacrifice .

the vic ti ms prayin g that G o d may make his own gi ft to prosper wi th

,

those upon whom he has bes towe d it They believe that a pot i on
.

prepare d from m istletoe w ill make b arren an imals to b ring forth a nd ,

”
that the plant is a reme d y a gainst all po i son .

In ano ther passa ge Pliny tells us tha t in me dicine the mi stletoe

which grows on an oak was esteemed the most efficacious and that ,

its efficacy was by some supers titious people supposed to b e i ncrease d

i f the plan t was ga there d on the firs t d ay o f the moon without the use
of iron a n d i f when ga there d it was not allowe d to touch the earth ;
,

oak mistletoe thus obta ine d was deeme d a cure for epilepsy ; carrie d
-

about by women it ass i ste d them to conceive ; a nd it heale d ulcers

most e ffectually if only the su ff erer chewe d a piece o f the plant an d
,

laid another piece on the sore Yet a gain he says that mi stletoe
.
, ,

was suppose d like vine gar and an egg to be an excellent means o f

, ,

extinguish in g a fire .

If in these latter pa ssa ges Pliny re fers as he apparently does to , ,

the bel i e fs current amon g hi s contemporaries in Italy it will follo w ,

that the Drui d s and the I talians were to some extent agree d as to the
valuable proper ties possesse d by mistletoe which grows on an oak ;
both o f them d eeme d it an e ff ec tual remedy for a number o f ailments ,

and both o f them ascribed to it a quickenin g vi rtue the Druids believin g ,

that a potion prepared from m i stle toe would fertilise barren cattle ,

and the Italians hol d in

g tha t a p i ece o f mistle toe carried about by a
woman woul d help her to conceive a chil d Further both peoples .
,

thou ght that i f the plant were to exert its medicinal properti es it must
be gathered in a certain way and at a cer tain time It mi ght not b e .
660 B ALD ER A N D THE M I ST LETO E CH .

cut with i ron hence the Druids cut it with gold ; an d it m i ght not
,

touch the earth hence the Drui d s cau ght it i n a whi te cloth In
, .

choosin g the time for gatherin g the plant bo th peoples were d eter ,

mine d by observation o f the moon ; only they d i ffere d as to the

par ticular d ay o f the moon the Italians pre ferr i ng the first and the
, ,

Drui d s the sixth .

With these belie fs o f the ancient Gauls a nd Italians as to the

won d er ful m e d icinal properties of mi stletoe we may compare the
s imilar belie fs o f the m o d ern Aino o f Japan We read that they .
,
“
like many nations o f the Northern ori gin hol d the mistletoe in ,

peculiar veneration They look upon it as a medicine good in almost

.
,

every d isease a nd i t i s some times taken in foo d and at others separately

,

as a decoction The leaves are use d in pre ference to the berries the
.
,

latter being o f too sticky a nature for general purposes But .

many too suppose thi s plant to have the power o f makin g the gardens
, ,

bear p lenti fully When use d for this purpose the leaves are cut up
.
,

into fine pi eces an d a fter havin g been praye d over are sown with
, , ,

the millet and o ther see d s a little also bein g eaten with the food
, .

Barren women have also been known to eat the mistletoe in order to ,

be ma d e to bear ch i l d ren That mistletoe which grows upon the

.

willow i s supposed to have the greatest e fficacy Thi s is because the .

”
willow is looke d upon by them as bein g an especially sacre d tree .

Thus the Aino a gree with the Drui d s in re gar d in g mi stletoe as a

cure for almos t every d isease and they a gree w ith the ancient Ital ians
,

that applied to women it helps them to bear chil d ren A gain the .
,

Drui d ical notion that the mistletoe was an all healer or panacea -

may be compare d with a notion entertained by the W alos of Sene

gambia . These people have much veneration for a sort of mistletoe ,

which they call tob they carry leaves o f it on their persons when they
‘

go to wa r as a preservative a gainst woun d s j us t as if the leaves were ,

real talismans (gris The French writer who records this prae
tice ad d s : Is it not very curious that the m istletoe shoul d be in this
part of A frica what it was in the supersti tions o f the Gauls ? This
prej udice common to the two countries m ay have the same origin ;
, ,

blacks and whi tes will doubtless have seen each of them for them ,

s elves somethin g superna tural i n a plant which grows and flourishes

,

without havin g roo ts in the earth May they not have believed in . ,

fact that it was a plant fallen from the sky a gi ft o f the divinity ?
, ,

Thi s su ggestion as to the ori gin o f the superstition is strongly

confirmed by the Drui dical belie f reported by Pliny that whatever , ,

g rew on an oak was sen t from heaven and was a si gn that the tree
ha d been chosen by the god himsel f Such a belie f explains why the .

Drui d s cut the mi stle toe not with a common kni fe but with a gol den
, ,

sickle a nd why when cut it was not su ffere d to touch the earth ;
, , ,

probably they thou ght that the celestial plant woul d have b een
pro fane d and its marvellous vi rtue lost by contact with the ground .

With the ritual observe d by the Drui d s in cuttin g the mistletoe we

m ay compare the ritual which in Cambodia is p rescribe d in a simil ar
66 2 BALD E R A N D T H E M I STLE TO E CH .

Originally perhaps the oil of St John was simply the mi stletoe

, , . ,

or a d ecoc tion ma d e from it For i n Holstein the mistle toe especially

. ,

oak m istletoe i s still re gar d e d as a panacea for green wounds and as

-
,

a sure charm to secure success i n huntin g ; a n d at Lacaune in the ,

south o f France the old Drui d ical bel i e f in the mi s tletoe as an anti dote
,

to all poi sons still surviv es amon g the peasantry ; they apply the plant
to the stomach o f the su fferer or give him a decoct i on o f it to drink .

A gain the ancient belie f that mistle toe i s a cure for epilepsy has
,

survived in mo d ern times not only amon g the i gnorant but amon g the
learned Thus in Swe d en persons affl icted wi th the fallin g sickness
.

think they can ward off attacks o f the malady by carryin g about with
them a kni fe which has a han d le o f oak mistletoe ; and in Germany
for a similar purpose pi eces o f mistletoe used to b e hun g round the
necks o f chil d ren In the French province o f B ourbonnai s a popular
.

remedy for epilepsy i s a d ecoction o f mi stletoe which has been gathered

on an oak on S t John s Day and boi led wi th rye fl ou r S o at Bottes
.
’
-
.

for d in Lincolnshire a d ecoc tion o f mistletoe i s supposed to be a

palliative fo r this terrible d i sease Indeed mis tletoe was recommended .

as a remedy for the fallin g sickness by hi gh medical authorities in

E nglan d and Hollan d down to the ei ghteenth century .

Howeve r the opinion o f the me d i cal pro fessi on as to the curative

,

virtues o f mis tle toe has under gone a ra d ical alteration Whereas the .

Druids thou ght that mi stletoe cure d everythin g modern d octors appear ,

to th i nk that it cures no thin g If they are ri gh t we mus t conclu de

.
,

that the anc i ent and W i despread faith in the me d icinal vi rtue o f
mis tletoe i s a pure supers tition base d on no thin g better than the
fa nci ful in ferences which i gnorance has drawn from the parasitic
nature o f the plant its position hi gh up on the branch o f a tree seeming
,

to protect i t from the d an gers to which plant s and animals are subj ect
on the sur face o f the ground From this point o f V iew we can perhaps
.

understand why mistletoe has so lon g and so persistently been pre

scribed as a cure for the fallin g sickness As mis tletoe can not fall to .

the groun d because it i s roote d on the branch o f a tree hi gh above the

earth it seem s to follow as a necessary conseq uence that an epileptic
,

patient cannot possibly fall down in a fit so lon g as he carries a piece

o f mi stletoe in hi s pocket or a d ecoction o f mistletoe in his s tomach .

S uch a train o f reasonin g would p robably be re garded even now as

co gent by a lar ge portion o f the human speci es .

A gai n the ancient Italian opinion that mi stletoe extin guishes fire
appears to be share d by S we d i sh peasants who han g up bunches of ,

oak m istletoe on the ceilin gs o f thei r rooms as a protection a gainst

-

harm in general and confl agrati on i n particular A hint as to the way .

in which mistletoe comes to be possessed of thi s property is furnished .

by the epithet thunder besom wh i ch people o f the Aar gau canton

-
,

i n Swi tzerlan d a pply to the plant For a thun d er besom i s a shaggy .

-
,

bushy excrescence on branches o f trees which is popularly believed to ,

b e pro d uced by a fl ash o f li ghtnin g ; hence i n Bohemia a thunder

b esom burnt i n the fire protect s the hous e a gainst bein g struck by
v B A LDER A ND T HE M I ST LET OE 663

a thunder b olt B ein g itsel f a p roduct of li ghtning it naturally serves

-
.
,

on homoeopathic principles as a protection a gainst li ghtnin g in fact , ,

as a kind o f li ghtnin g con d uctor Hence the fire which mistletoe in -

.

Sweden i s d esi gned especially to avert fro m houses may be fire kin d le d
by lightning ; though no doubt the plant i s equally e ff ective a gainst
confla gration in g eneral .

A gain mi stletoe acts as a master k ey as well as a li ghtnin g con

,
- -

ductor ; for it i s sai d to open all locks B ut perhaps the mos t precious
. .

of all the virtues o f mistle toe is that it a ffor d s e fficient protec tion a gainst
sorcery a nd wi tchcra ft That no doub t is the reason why in Austria .
, ,

a twig of m i stle toe i s laid on the threshold as a preventive o f ni ght

m are ; and it may be the reason why i n the north o f E n glan d they

say that i f you w i sh your d airy to thrive you shoul d give your bunch
’
of mistletoe to the firs t cow that calves a fter New Year s Day for it i s ,

well known that noth in g is so fatal to milk an d butter as wi tchcra ft .

Similarly in Wale s for the sake o f ensurin g good luck to the dairy
, ,

people used to give a b ranch o f mistletoe to the first cow that gave
birth to a cal f a fter the firs t hou r o f the New Year ; an d in rural d i str i ct s
of Wales where mistletoe aboun d e d there was always a pro fusion o f
, ,

it in the farmhouses When mistle toe was scarce Welsh farmers .

,

used to say N o mi stletoe no luck

, but i f there was a fine crop ,

of mistletoe they expecte d a fine crop o f corn

, I n S we d en mi stletoe i s .

’
diligently sou gh t a fter on St John s E ve the people believin g it to be .
, ,

in a hi gh d e gree possessed of mystic qual ities ; a nd that i f a spri g o f it

be attache d to the ceilin g o f the d wellin g—
,

house the horse s stall or the ,

’

,
’ ”
cow s crib the Troll will then be powerless to inj ure either man or beast
, .

With re gar d to the time when the mi stletoe shoul d be gathered

opinions have varie d The Drui d s gathered i t above all on the sixth
.

day o f the moon the ancient Ital i ans apparently on the first day o f
,

the moon In mo d ern times some have pre ferred the full moon o f
.

March an d o thers the wanin g moon o f winter when the sun i s in Sagit
tarins But the favour ite t i me woul d seem to be M i dsummer E ve
.

or Mi d summer Day We have seen that bo th in France a n d Swe d en

.

special v i rtues are ascr ibed to m i stletoe gathere d at Mi d summer .

The rule in S we d en i s that mis tle toe must be cut on the ni ght o f “

Mi d summer E ve when sun an d moon s tand in the si gn of thei r mi ght .

A gain in Wales it was believe d that a spri g of mistletoe gathere d on

,

St John s E v e (Mi d summer E ve ) or at any t i me be fore the berries

.
’

appeare d would i n d uce d reams o f omen bo th goo d an d b ad if it were

, , ,

place d un d er the pillow o f the sleeper Thus mis tletoe is one o f the .

many plants whose magical or m e d icinal vir tues are believe d to

culmina te with the culm i nat i on o f the sun on the lon gest day of the
year Hence it seems reasonable to conj ec ture tha t in the eyes o f
.

the Drui d s also who revere d the plan t so hi ghly the sacred mistletoe
, , ,

may have acquire d a d ouble portion o f its mystic qualities at the

solstice in J une and that accor din gly they may have regularly cut
,

i t with solemn ceremony on Midsummer E ve .

Be that as it may cer tain it i s that the mi stletoe the instrument

'

, ,
664 BALD E R AN D T H E M I STL ETO E CH .

’
of B alder s death has been re gularly gathered for the sake o f its mystic
,

qualities on Mi d summer E ve in Scan d inavia B al d er s home The plant ,

’
.

i s foun d commonly growin g on pear trees oaks and other trees in -

, ,

thick d am p woods throu ghout the more temperate parts o f Sweden .

Thus one o f the two main inci d ents o f B al d er s myth i s repro duced ’

i n the grea t mi d summer fes tival o f Scandinavia But the other main .

incid en t o f the myth the burnin g o f Bal d er s body on a pyre has also
,
’

its counte rpar t i n the bonfires which still blaze o r blazed till lately , ,

in Denmark Norway an d Sweden on Mi d summ er Eve It d oes not

, , .

appear in d ee d tha t any e ffi gy i s burned in these bonfires ; but the

, ,

burnin g o f an e ffigy i s a fea ture which mi ght easily d rop out a fter its
m eanin g was for gotten A n d the name o f Bal d er s b alefires (B alder s
’ '
.

B dla r ) by wh i ch these m i d summer fires were formerly known in

,

S we d en pu ts their connex i on with Bal d er beyond the reach o f doubt

, ,

a n d makes it probable that i n former times either a livin

g representa
tive or an e ffi gy o f B al d er was annually burne d i n them M id summer .

was the season sacre d to Bal d er and the S we di sh poet Te gner in plac
, ,

i n g the burnin g o f B al d er at midsummer m ay very well have followed ,

an old tra d ition that the summer solstice was the time when the good
god came to hi s unt imely end .

Thus it has been shown that the leadin g i ncide nts of the Balder
myth have their counterparts in those fire festivals o f our E uropean -

peasantry which un d oubte d ly d ate from a time lon g pr ior to the

in tro d uction o f Christianity The pretence o f throwin g the v ictim
.

chosen by lot into the B eltane fire an d the similar treatment of the ,

man the future Green Wol f at the mi d summer bonfire in Normandy

, , ,

m ay naturally be in terprete d as traces o f an older custom of actually

burnin g human bein gs on these occasions ; and the green dress of the
Green Wol f couple d wi th the lea fy envelope of the youn g fellow who
,

t ro d out the mi d summer fire at Moosheim seems t o hint that the ,

persons who perishe d a t these festivals did so in the character of tree

spi rits or deiti es of vegetation From all this we may reasonably
.

in fer that i n the Bal d er myth on the one han d and the fire-festivals ,

a n d cus tom o f gatherin g m i s tletoe on the other han d we have as it , ,

were the two broken and dissevered halves o f an ori ginal whole In
, .

other wor d s we may assume with some de gree o f probabili ty that

,
’
the myth o f Bal d er s d eath was not merely a myth that i s a d escri ption , ,

o f physical phenomena in ima gery borrowed from human li fe but that ,

it was at the same t im e the story which people tol d to explain why they
annually burne d a human represen tative o f the god an d cut the
’
mi stletoe with solemn ceremo ny If I am ri ght the story o f Balder s
.
,

tra gic en d forme d so to say the text o f the sacre d drama which was
, ,

acted year by year as a ma gical rite to cause the sun to shine trees ,

to g row crop s to thrive an d to guard man a n d beast from the baleful

, ,

arts o f fai ries an d trolls o f witches a nd warlocks The tale belon ged
, .
,

in short to that class o f nature myths w hich are meant to be supple

,

m e nted by ritual ; here as so o ften myth stood to ma ic i n the relation

, g ,

o f theory to practice .
66 6 B ALD E R A N D T H E M I STL E TO E CH .

is so a rranged th at
it smoulders slowly and is not fin ally r educ ed
to charcoal till the expiry o f a yea r Then upon next Midsummer .

Day the charred embers of the old log are remove d to make room
fo r the new one a n d are mixe d wi th the see d corn or scattere d about
,
-

the gar d en Thi s is believe d to guar d the foo d cooked on the hearth
.

from witchcraft to preserve the luck o f the house to promote the

, ,

g rowth o f the crops a nd to keep them from bli ght a n d vermin

, .

Thus the custom is almost exactly parallel to that of the Yule log -
,

which i n par ts o f Germany France E n gland S erbia and other Slavonic

lan d s was commonly o f oak—
, , , ,

wood The general conclusion is that .

,

a t those perio d ic or occasi onal ce remonies the anci ent A ryans both

kindle d an d fed the fire wi th the sacre d oak wood -

.

B ut i f at these solemn rites the fire was re gularly ma d e of oak

wood it follows that any man who was burned in it as a personification
,

o f the tree spiri t coul d have represente d no tree but the oak
-
The .

sacre d oak was thus burned in dupl i cate ; the woo d o f the tree was
consume d in the fire an d alon g wi th it was consume d a livin g man
,

as a personification of the oak spirit The conclusion thus d rawn for-

.

the E uropean Aryans in general i s confirme d in its special application

to the Scan d inav i ans by the relation i n which amo ngst them the
mis tle toe appears to have stoo d to the burnin g of the victim in the
midsummer fire We have seen that amon g Scan d inavians it has
.

been customary to ga ther the mis tletoe at m i d summer But so far .

as appears on the face of this cus tom there i s no thin g to connect it ,

wi th the mi d summer fires in which human victims or effigi es o f them

’

were burne d E ven if the fire as seems pro b able was ori ginally
.
, ,

always ma d e wi th oak woo d why should it have been necessary to

-
,

pull the m istletoe ? The last link between the mi d summer cus toms
o f gatherin g the m istletoe an d l i gh tin g the bonfires is supplie d by
’
B al d er s myth which can har d ly be d i sj o i ne d from the customs in
,

question The myth su ggests that a vi tal connexion may once have
.

been believed to subsist be tween the mi stletoe and the human repre
sentativ e o f the oak who was burne d in the fire Accordin g to the .

myth B alder coul d be kille d by no thin g i n heaven or earth except

,

the m istletoe ; and so lon g as the mis tletoe remaine d on the oak ,

he was not only immortal but invulnerable N ow i f w e suppose ,

,

that Bal d er was the oak the ori gin o f the myth becomes intelli gible
,
.

The mi stletoe was viewed as the seat o f li fe o f the oak a n d so lon g ,

as it was uninj ured nothin g could kill or even wound the oak The .

concepti on o f the m istletoe as the seat of li fe o f the oak would naturally

be su ggeste d to primitive people by the observation that while the
oak i s deciduous the mi stletoe which g rows on it i s ever green In
,
.

w inter the si ght o f its fresh foliage amon g the bare bra nches must
have been hailed by the worshippers o f the tree as a si gn that the
d ivine li fe which ha d cease d to animate the branches yet survived
i n the mi stletoe as the hea r t of a sleeper still beats when his body
i s moti onless H ence when the go d had to be killed—whe n the sacred
,

tree had to b e b ur nt—it wa s ne cessary to begin by breakin g o ff the

.
LXVI T HE EX T ER NAL SOU L IN FOLK -TALES 667

m istletoe For so lon g as the mistletoe remained intact the oak (so
.
,

people mi ght think ) was invulnerable ; all the blows o f their knive s
and axes woul d glance harmless from its sur face But once tear from
the oak its sacre d heart—the mistletoe—and the t ree no d ded to its
.

fall . A nd when in later t i mes the spiri t o f the oak came to be rep re
sente d by a l iv in g man it was lo gically necessary to suppose that
, ,

like the tree he personate d he could nei ther be kille d nor woun d e d
,

so lon g as the m i s tletoe remained uninj ure d The pulling o f the .

mistletoe was thus at once the si gnal a n d the cause o f his d eath .

On this v iew the invulnerable Bal d er i s neither more nor less than
a person ifica tion o f a mistletoe bear i n g oak The i nterpretation is
-
.

confirme d by what seems to have b een an ancient I talian belie f that ,

the mistle toe can b e d estroye d neither by fire nor water ; fo r i f the
parasi te is thus d eeme d in d estructi b le it mi ght easily be suppose d
,

to communicate its own in d es truc tibility to the tree on which it g rows ,

so lon g as the two remain in conj unction Or to put the same i d ea .

,

in mythical form we might tell how the kin d ly god of the oak ha d
,

his l ife securely d epos ite d in the imperi shable mi s tletoe wh ich grew
amon g the b ranches ; how accor d in gly so lon g as the m i s tletoe kept
its place there the d eity himsel f remained invulnerable ; an d how
,

at last a cunn i n g fo e let in to the secre t o f the go d s invulnerabil i ty

’

, ,

tore the mis tletoe from the oak thereby killing the oak god a n d ,
-

a fterwards burn i n g his bo dy in a fire wh i ch coul d have ma d e no im

pression on him so long as the incombustible parasite re tained its
seat amon g the bou ghs .

But since the i d ea o f a be in g whose l i fe i s thus in a sense outsi d e , ,

himsel f mus t be s tran ge to many rea d ers a n d has in d ee d not yet

, , , ,

been reco gn i se d in its full bearin g on primi tive supersti tion it will ,

be wor th wh i le to i llus trate it by examples d rawn both from story

and custom The resul t will be to show that in assumin g thi s i de a
.
,
’
as the explanati on o f Bal d er s relati on to the mistletoe I assume a ,

principle which is deeply engraved on the min d of primitive man .

CHAPT E R LXVI

T H E EXT E RN A L SOU L I N FO L K TA
-
L ES

IN a former part o f this work we saw that in the opinion of primitive ,

people the soul may temporarily absent itsel f from the body without
,

causing d eath Such temporary absences of the soul are o ften believed
.

to involve considerable r i sk s ince the wan derin g soul is liable to a

,

variety o f mishaps at the han d s o f enemies an d so forth But there , .

is another aspect to this power o f d isen ga gin g the soul from the body .

If only the sa fety o f the soul can be ensured d urin g its absence there ,

i s no reason why the soul should not continue absent for an indefinite
time ; indeed a man may on a pure calculation o f personal sa fety
, ,
66 8 T HE EXT ER N A L SOU L IN F OL K T A LES - CH .

desire that hi s soul should never return to his body U nab le to con .

ceive o f li fe abstrac tly as a permanent possibil ity o f sensat i on or

a continuous a d j us tment o f i nternal arran gement s to external
”
relati ons the sava ge thinks o f it as a concrete material thin g of a
,

d efin i te b ulk capable o f bein g seen an d han d led kept i n a box or jar
, , ,

and liable t o be bruised fractured or smashed i n pieces

,
It is not
,
.

nee dful that the li fe so conceived should b e in the man ; it may be

, ,

absent from his body an d s till continue to animate him by vi rtue of

a sort o f sympathy o r act i on at a d i stance So lon g as this obj ect .

which he calls hi s li fe or soul remains unharm e d the man is well ; ,

i f it is inj ured he su ff ers ; if it i s d estroyed he d ies

, O r to put it , .
,

othe rwise when a man i s ill or di es the fact is explained by sayin g

, ,

that the material obj ect called hi s li fe or soul whether it be in his ,

bo d y or out of it has either sustained inj ury or been destroyed But

,
.

there may be ci rcum stances i n which i f the li fe or soul remains in ,

the man it stan d s a greater chance of sustainin g inj u ry than if it

,

were stowe d away i n some sa fe an d secret place Accordin gly in .

,

suc h ci rcum stances pr im itive man takes hi s soul out o f his body
,

an d d epo si ts it for security i n some s nu g spot intendin g to replace ,

i t in hi s bo dy when the d an ger i s past Or i f he should d iscover .

some place o f absolute security he may be content to leave his soul

,

there permanently The advantage o f thi s i s that so lon g as the soul

.
,

r emains unharme d in the place where he has d eposited it the man him ,

s el f i s immortal ; nothin g can kill hi s body since hi s li fe is n ot in it ,

.

E vi d ence o f this primitive belie f i s furn i shed by a class o f folk

tales of which the N orse story o f The giant who had no heart in his
”
bo dy i s perhaps the best known example Stories o f this kin d are
-
.

widely di ffuse d over the worl d and from thei r number a nd the variety
,

o f inci d ent and o f details in which the lead in g i d ea is embodied we ,

may in fer that the conception of an external soul i s one which has had
a powerful hol d on the minds of men at an early sta ge o f history .

For folk tales are a faith ful reflection o f the worl d as it appeared to
-

the prim itive min d ; an d we may be sure that any i d ea which commonly
occurs in them however absurd it may seem to us must once have
, ,

been an or d inary article o f belie f Th i s assurance so far as it concerns

.
,

the supposed power o f disen ga gin g the soul from the body for a lon ger
o r shorter time i s amply corroborated by a comparison of the folk
,

tales i n question with the actual belie fs and practices o f savages To .

thi s w e shall return a fte r some specimens o f the tales have been given .

The specim ens will be selected with a vi ew o f illustratin g both the

characteri stic features an d the wide d i ffusion of this class o f tales .

In the first place the story o f the external soul i s told in various
, ,

forms by all Aryan peoples from H i nd oostan to the H ebri d es A

, .

very commo n form o f it i s this : A warlock giant o r other fairyland , ,

bein g i s invulnerable a n d immortal because he keeps his soul hidden

far away in some secre t place ; but a fair princess whom he holds ,

e nthralled in hi s enchanted castle wiles his secret from him and reveals
,
’
it to the hero who seeks out the warlock s soul he art li fe or death
, , , ,
6 70 T HE E X TERNAL S OUL I N FOLK -TAL E S CH .

by m agi c art to t ake his soul out of his b od y and le ave it in a box
at home while he went to the wars Thus he was invulnerable in
, .

bat tle When he was about to give battle to Rama he d eposited

.
,

his soul with a hermit called Fire eye who was to keep it sa fe for him -
, .

So in the fi ght Rama was astoun d e d to see that hi s arrows struck

the kin g wi thout woundin g him But one o f Rama s allies knowing ’
.
,

the secret o f the kin g s invulnerabil ity trans forme d him sel f by magic
’

into the likeness o f the king a nd goi n g to the hermit asked back his ,

soul On receivin g i t he soared up into the ai r and flew to Rama

.
,

bran d ishin g the box an d squeezin g it so har d that all the breath le ft
’
the Kin g o f Ceylon s bo d y a n d he died In a B engalee story a prince , .

goin g into a fa r count ry plante d with hi s own hands a tree in the court
’
yar d of his fa ther s palace and sai d to hi s parents This tree i s my , ,

li fe When you see the tree green and fresh then know that it is well
.
,

with me ; when you see the tree fade in some parts then know that I ,

am in an ill case ; and when you see the whole tree fa d e then know that ,
”
I am d ea d and gone In another Indian tale a prince settin g forth
.
,

on his travels le ft behind him a barley plant with instructions that it

, ,

should be care fully ten d ed and watche d ; for if it flourishe d he would ,

be alive a nd well but i f it droope d then some mischance was about to

, ,

happen to him And so it fell out For the prince was beheaded and
. .
,

as his hea d rolled off the barley plant snapped in two and the ear ,

o f barley fell to the ground .

In Greek tales ancient a n d modern the idea o f an external soul is

, ,

not uncommon When Meleager was seven d ays old the Fates
.
,

appeare d to his mother an d tol d her that Meleager would die when
the brand which was blazin g on the hearth ha d burnt down So his .

mother snatche d the brand from the fire and kept it in a box But
in a fter —
.

years being enra ge d at her son for slayin g her bro thers she
, ,

burnt the brand i n the fire and M eleager expire d in a gonies as if ,

flames were preyin g on hi s V i tals A gai n Nisus Kin g o f Megara .

,

had a purple or gol d en hair on the mi d dle o f hi s hea d an d it was fated ,

that whenever the hai r was pulled out the kin g shoul d die When .

Me gara was besie ged by the Cre tans the kin g s d au gh ter Scylla fell ,
’

in love with Minos their kin g a n d pulle d out the fatal hai r from her
, ,

father s hea d
’
So he died In a modern Greek folk tale a man s
. .
-
’

stren gth lies i n three golden hairs on his hea d When his mo ther .

pulls them out he grow s weak and timi d an d is slain by hi s enemies

, .

In another m o d ern Greek st ory the life o f an enchanter is bound up

with three doves which are in the belly o f a wi ld boar When the first .

dove is kille d the ma gician grows sick ; when the secon d i s killed he
, ,

grows very sick ; an d when the thi r d is killed he d ies In another

’
, .

Greek story o f the sam e sort an o gre s stren gt h i s in three sin ging
bi r d s which are in a wil d boar The hero kills two o f the birds and .
,
’
then comin g to the o gre s house finds him lying on the ground in
g reat pain He shows the thir d bird to the o gre who be gs that the
. ,

hero will either let it fly away or give it to him to eat But the hero .

wrings the bird s ne ck an d the o gre dies on the spot

’

,
.
LXVI T HE EXT E RNAL SOUL I N FOLK -TAL E S 67 1

In a modern Roman version of Ala d din and the Won d er ful

”
Lamp the ma gician tells the princess whom he holds captive in a
, ,

floating rock in m id ocean that he will never d ie The princess reports

-
,
.

this to the prince her husband who has come to rescue her The ,

prince replies
“
It i s impossible but that there should be some one
,

thing or o ther that i s fatal to him ; ask him what that one fatal thin g
”
is . So the princess aske d the ma gician an d he told her that in the ,

wood was a hyd ra wi th seven hea d s ; i n the mid dle head o f the hy d ra
was a leveret i n the head o f the leveret was a bir d in the bir d s hea d
’

, , ,

was a precious stone an d i f this stone were p ut un d er his pillow he

,

woul d die The prince procured the stone and the princess lai d it
.
,
’
under the ma gician s pi llow No sooner di d the enchan ter lay his .

head on the pillow than he gave three terrible yells turne d h i msel f ,

roun d an d roun d three times an d die d , .

Stories of the same sort are current amon g Slavonic peoples .

Thus a Russian s tory tells how a warlock called K oshchei the Deathless
carrie d off a princess a nd kept her prisoner i n his gol d en castle How .

ever a prince ma d e up to her one day as she was walkin g alone and
,

disconsolate in the cas tle garden an d cheered by the prospect o f escap ,

ing w ith him she went to the warlock a nd coaxed him wi th false a nd
flatterin g wor d s say i n g My d eares t frien d tell me I pray you
, , , , ,
”
will you never die ? Certainly not says he Well says she , .
, ,
“
and where i s your death ? is it in your d wellin g ? To be sure
” ”
it is says he
, it i s in the broom un d er the threshol d
,
“
There .

upon the princess seized the broom an d threw it on the fire but ,

althou gh the broom burne d the deathless K oshchei remaine d alive ; ,

in dee d n ot so much as a hai r o f him was sin ge d Balke d in her first .

“
attempt the art ful hussy poute d an d sai d
, You do not love me ,

true fo r you have not tol d me where your de

,
a th is yet I am not ,
”
an gry but love you w ith all my heart
, With these fawnin g word s
she besou ght the warlock to tell her truly where hi s death was So .

he laughe d and sai d Why do you wish to know ? Well then out
, ,

of love I w i ll tell you where it l i es In a certain fiel d there stand .

three green oaks and under the roo ts o f the largest oak is a worm
, ,
”
and if ever this worm is foun d an d crushe d that instan t I shall die , .

When the princess heard these wor d s she went strai ght to her lover ,

and tol d him all ; and he searche d till he foun d the oaks and d ug up
the worm and crushed it Then he hurrie d to the warlock s castle but .
’
,

only to learn from the princess that the warlock was s ti ll alive Then .

she fell to whee d li ng and coaxing K oshchei once more an d this time , ,

overcome by her wiles he opene d his heart to her an d told her the truth
,
’

”
My d eath sai d he i s fa r from here an d hard to find on the wi d e
, , ,

ocean In that sea is an i sland and on the islan d there grows a green
.
,

oak and beneath the oak is an i ron chest and in the chest is a small
, ,

basket and in the basket is a hare and in the hare i s a duck and in
, , ,

the d uck i s an egg ; a nd he who finds the egg and breaks it kills me ,

at the same time The prince naturally procured the fate ful egg an d
.

with it in hi s hands he con fronted the deathless warloc k The monster .

67 2 T HE E XT ERNAL SOUL I N FO LK -TAL E S CH .

would have k illed him but the prince be gan to squee z e the egg At ,
.

that the warlock shr i eke d with pain and turnin g to the false princess ,

who s too d by smi rkin g and sm i lin g Was it n ot out o f love for you ,
“
,

sai d he that I tol d you where my d eath was ? And is this the
,
”
return you make to me ? With that he grabbe d at hi s sword which ,

hun g from a p eg on the wall ; b ut b e fore he coul d reach it the prince ,

ha d crushe d the egg a n d sure enou gh the d ea thless warlock found his
,

d eath at the same momen t I n one o f the d escript i ons o f K oshchei s .

’

d eath he is sai d to be kille d b y a b low on the forehead inflicte d by the

mys terious egg—that last l ink in the ma gic chain by which his li fe
,

i s d arkly boun d In an o ther version o f the same s tory b ut tol d of

.
,

a snake the fatal blow i s s truck by a small stone foun d in the yolk
,

of an egg which i s insi d e a d uck which i s i n side a hare which is inside

, , ,
”
a stone which is on an i slan d
, .

Amon g st peoples o f the Teutonic stock storie s o f the external

soul are not wan tin g In a tale told by the Saxons of Transylvania
.

it i s sai d that a youn g m an sho t at a witch a gain and a gain The .

bullets went clean throu gh her but d i d her no harm and she only ,
” “
lau ghe d a nd mocke d at him S i lly earthworm she cri e d shoot .
“

, ,

as much as you l i ke It doe s m e n o harm For know that my li fe

. .

resi d es not i n m e but fa r fa r away In a mountain is a pon d on the , .

,

pon d swims a d uck in the d uck is an egg in the egg burn s a li ght
, , ,

that li gh t is my l i fe If you coul d put out that li ght my li fe would be

.
,

at an en d B ut that can never never be

. Ho wever the youn g man , .
,

go t hold o f the egg smashe d it and put out the li ght and w ith it the
, , ,

witch s li fe went out also In a German story a cannibal called Bo dy

’
.

without Soul o r Soulless keeps his soul in a box which stan d s on a rock ,

in the middle o f the Red S ea A sol d ier gets possession of the box .

an d goes with it to Soulless who be gs the soldier to give him back his ,

soul B ut the soldier opens the box takes out the soul and flin gs it
.
, ,

backward over his hea d At the same moment the cann ibal d rops .

dea d to the ground .

In another German story an old warlock live s with a d amsel all

alone in the mi d st o f a vast and gloomy wood S he fears that bein g .

old he may d i e a n d leave her alone in the forest But he reassures .

”
her . Dear chil d he sai d I can not di e and I have no heart in
, ,
“
,
”
my breast But she importuned him to tell her where his heart was
. .

So he sai d Far far from here in an unknown and lonesome land

,
“
,

stands a great church The church is well secure d with i ron doors .
,

a n d roun d about it flows a broad d eep moat In the church flies a .

bird and in the bi rd is my heart S o lo n g as the bird lives I live It .

,
.

cannot die o f itsel f a n d no one can catch it ; there fore I cannot die
, ,
”
and you need have no anxiety However the youn g man whose .
,

bri d e the d am sel was to have been be fore the warlock spi rited her away ,

contr ived to reach the church a nd catch the bi rd He brou ght it to .

the d a m sel who stowe d him a n d it away un d er the warlock s bed

,
’
.

S oon the old warlock came home He was ailin g a n d sai d so The .
, .

girl wept and said A las daddy i s dyin g ; he has a heart in his breast
, ,
67 4 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FOLK -TAL E S CH .

With the help o f some obli gin g animals the hero made himself master ,

o f the precious egg and slew the giant by merely strikin g it against
the mole on his ri ght breast Similarly i n a Breton story there fi gures
.

a giant whom neither fire nor water nor steel can harm He tells .

his seventh wi fe whom he has j ust marrie d after murderin g all her
,
“
predecessors I am immor tal an d no one can hurt me unless he
, ,

crushes on my breast an egg which i s in a p igeon which is in the belly

, ,

o f a hare ; thi s hare i s i n the belly o f a wol f and this wolf i s in the .

belly of my brother who dwells a thousand leagues from here So I

, .

”
am quite easy on that score A soldier contrived to obtain the egg
.

and crush it on the breas t o f the gi ant who immediately expired In , .

another B reton tale the li fe o f a giant resi des i n an old box -tree which
g rows in hi s castle garden ; an d t o kill him it i s necessary to sever
the tap root o f the tree at a sin gle blow of an axe without inj uring
-

any of the lesser roots Thi s task the hero as usual successfully
.
, ,

accomplishes and at the same moment the giant drops dead

,
.

The notion o f an external soul has now been traced in folk-tales

told by A ryan peoples from In d ia to Ireland We have still to show .

that the s am e ide a occurs commonly in the popular stories o f peoples

w ho do not belon g to the Aryan stock In the ancient E gy ptian tale .

”
o f The Two Brothers which was written down in the rei gn of
,

Rameses I I about 1300 B C we read how one of the brothers en

.
,
. .
,

chanted his heart and placed it in the flower of an acacia tree and how , ,

when the flower was cut at the insti gation o f his wi fe he immediately ,

fell down dead but revive d when hi s brother found the lost heart in the
,

berry of the acaci a and threw it into a cup of fresh water .

In the story o f Sey f el M ulook in the A ra bi an N ights the j 1nnee

-

“
t ells the captive dau ght er o f the Kin g of India When I was born , ,

the astrolo gers declared that the d estructi on o f my soul would be

e ffected by the hand o f one o f the sons o f the human kings I therefo re .

took my soul and put it into the crop o f a sparrow and I i mprisoned
, ,

the sparrow i n a little box an d put thi s into another small b ox and
, ,

this I put withi n seven other small boxes and I put these within seven ,

C hests and the chests I put into a co ff er of marble within the ver ge of
,

this ci rcumambient ocean ; for this part i s remote from the countries
o f mankind and none of mankind can gain access to it
, But Seyf .

el-M ulook got possession o f the sparrow and stran gled it and the ,

j innee fell upon the groun d a heap o f black ashes I n a Kabyle story .

an o gre declares that hi s fate i s far away i n an egg which is in a pi geon , ,

which is in a camel which i s i n the sea The hero p rocures the egg
, .

and crushes it between his hands a n d the o gre dies In a Ma gya r , .

folk-tale an old witch detains a youn g prince called Ambrose in the

,

bowels of the earth At last she confi d ed to him that she kept a wild
.

boar in a silken mea dow and i f it were killed they would find a hare
, ,

inside and inside the hare a pi geon a n d inside the pi geon a small b ox
, , ,

and inside the box one black a n d one shinin g beetle : the shinin g beetle
held her li fe and the black one held her power ; i f these two beetles
,

di ed , t hen her li fe w oul d com e to an end al so When the old hag w ent .
v 1 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FOL K TAL E S -
67 5

out Ambrose killed the wild boar and too k out the hare ; from the
, ,

hare he took the pi geon from the pi geon the b ox and from the b ox
, ,

the two beetles ; he k illed the black beetle but kept the shinin g one ,
’
alive So the witch s power le ft her immediately and when she cam e
.
,

home she had to take to her bed

, Having learned from her how t o .

escape from his prison to the upper ai r Ambrose kille d the shining ,
’
beetle and the old hag s spirit le ft her at once I n a Kalmuck tale
, .

we read how a certai n k han challen ge d a wise man to show hi s s k ill

’
by stealin g a preci ous stone on which the khan s li fe depen d ed The .

sage contrive d to purloi n the talisman while the khan an d hi s gu ards

slept ; but not content with this he gave a further proof o f his d exterity
by bonnetin g the slumberin g poten tate with a bladder This was too .

m uch fo r the khan Ne x t mornin g he in formed the sage that he could

.

overlook everything else but that the i ndi gnity o f bein g bonneted ,

with a bla d der was more than he could bear ; and he or d ered hi s
facetious friend to instant execution Pai ned at thi s exhibiti on o f .

royal ingratitu d e the sa ge cla shed to the ground the talisman which
,

he still hel d i n hi s h and ; and at the same instant bloo d flowed from
the nostrils o f the khan and he ga ve up the ghost , .

In a Tartar poem two heroes name d A k Molot and Bulat enga ge

in mortal combat A k Molot pi erces his foe through and through
.

with an arrow grapples with him a n d dashes him to the ground

, , ,

but all i n vain B ulat could not die At last when the combat has
,
.

laste d three years a friend of A k Molot sees a gol d en casket han gin g
,

by a white thread from the sky an d bethinks him that perhaps thi s ,
’
casket contains B ulat s soul S o he shot through the wh ite thread .

with an arrow and down fell the casket He opened it a nd i n the

,
.
,

casket sat ten white birds an d one o f the birds was B ulat s soul ,
’
.

Bulat wept when he saw that his soul was found in the casket But .

one a fter the other the bir d s were killed and then A k Molot easily ,

slew hi s foe In another Tartar poem two brothers goin g to fi ght

.
,

two o ther brothers take out their souls and hide them i n the form
of a white herb with six stalks in a deep pit B ut one o f their foes .

sees them doin g so and di gs up thei r souls which he puts i nto a golden ,
’ ’
ram s horn and then sticks the ram s horn in his quiver The two
, .

warriors whose souls have thus been stolen know that they have no
chance of victory and accor d in gly make peace with their enemies
, .

In another Tartar poem a terrible demon sets all the gods a nd heroes
at d efiance At last a valiant youth fi ghts the demon bin d s hi m
.
,

han d and foot and slices him with his sword But still the d emon
,
.

“
is not slain S o the youth asked him Tell me where is your soul
. , ,

hidden ? For if your soul had been hi dden i n your bo d y you must ,
“
have been dead lon g ago The demon repli ed On the sad d le o f .
,

m y horse is a b a
g In the b ag i s a serpent with twelve hea d s In
. .

the serpent is my soul When you have killed the serpent you have.
,
”
kille d me also So the youth took the saddle -b ag from the horse
.

and killed the twelve -headed serpent whereupon the d em on expi red , .

In anothe r T arta r poem a hero called K ok Chan deposits with a maiden

6 76 T H E E XT E RNA L S OUL I N FOLK TAL E S - CH .

a golde n ri ng in whi ch is h al f hi s stren gth A fterwards when Kok

, .

Chan is wrestlin g lon g wi th a hero a n d cannot kill him a woman drops ,

into hi s mou th the ri n g which conta i ns hal f hi s s trength Thus inspired .

with fresh force he slays hi s enemy .

In a M on golian s tory the hero Joro g ets the be tter of his enemy
the lama T schoridong in the followin g way The lama who is an .
,
’
enchanter sen d s out hi s soul in the form o f a wasp to stin g Joro s
,

eyes B u t Joro catches the wasp in hi s han d a n d by al ternately

. ,

shu tti ng an d openin g hi s han d he causes the lama alternately to lose

and recover consciousness In a Tar tar poem two youths cut open .
.

the bo d y o f an o ld wi tch and tear out her b owels but all to no purpose , ,

she s till lives On be in g aske d where her soul i s she answers that
.
,

it is in the mi d dle o f her shoe sole in the form o f a seven hea d ed speckled - -

snake S o one o f the youths slices her shoe sole wi th hi s swor d takes
.
-
,

out the speckle d snake and cuts off i ts seven hea d s Then the witch , .

dies Another Tartar poem d escribes how the hero K artaga grappled
.

with the S wan wom an Lon g they wrestle d

-
Moons waxe d and . .

wane d an d s till they w re stle d ; years came an d went and still the ,

struggle went on B ut the piebal d horse and the black horse knew
.

that the S wan woman s soul was not in her Un d er the black earth
-
’
.

fl ow nine seas ; where the seas meet a nd form one the sea comes to ,

the sur face o f the ear th A t the mouth o f the nine seas rises a rock .

o f copper ; it ri ses to the sur face o f the groun d it rises up be tween ,

heaven and earth this rock o f copper At the foot o f the copper
, .

rock i s a black chest i n the black chest i s a gol d en caske t a n d in the

, ,

golden casket i s the soul o f the S wan wom a n S even li ttle birds are -

the soul o f the Swan —

.

woman i f the bir d s are kille d the Swan woman -

will di e strai gh tway So the horses ran to the foot o f the copper .

rock opened the black chest a n d brou gh t back the golden casket
, ,
.

Then the piebal d horse turne d himsel f into a bald heade d man opened -
,

the golden casket an d cut off the heads o f the seve n birds So the
, .

Swan woman died In another Tartar poem the hero pursuin g his
-
.
,

sister who has d riven away hi s cattle i s warned to desist from the ,

pursui t because hi s si ster has carried away his soul in a golden sword
a n d a golden arrow an d if he pursues her she will kill him by throwin g
,

the gol d en sword or shootin g the golden arrow at him .

A Malay poem relates how o n ce upon a time in the city o f Indra

poora there was a certai n merchant who was rich and prosperous ,

but he ha d no children One day as he walked with his wi fe by the .

river they found a baby girl fai r as an an gel S o they adopted the ,
.

chil d an d calle d her B id a sa ri The merchant caused a golden fish .

to be ma d e a n d in to thi s fish he trans ferre d the soul of hi s adopted

,

dau gh ter Then he put the golden fish in a golden box full of water
. ,

an d hi d it i n a pon d in the midst o f hi s garden I n tim e the girl .

g rew to be a lovely woma n

'

N ow the Kin g o f In d rap oo ra had a fair .

youn g q ueen who live d in fear that the kin g mi ght take to himself
,

a second wi fe S o hearin g o f the charms of B id asa ri the q ueen

.
, ,

resolved to put her out of the way She lured the girl to the palace .
67 8 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FOLK-TAL E S CH .

satis fy her but the cat So at last she carrie d it o ff with her and
.

shut it up in a place where nobo d y saw it ; even her husband knew

n othin g ab out it One d a y when she went to work in the fields
.
, ,

the cat escape d from its place o f concealment en tere d the hut put , ,

on the warlike trappin g s o f the husband an d d anced and san g Some ,

.

C hil d ren attracted by the noi se discovere d the cat at its antics and
, , ,

when they expresse d thei r astonishment the animal only capere d ,

the more an d i nsulte d them besid es S o they went to the owner .

a n d sai d
“
There i s somebo d y dancin g in your house a n d he insulted
, ,
“ “ ’
us . Hol d your ton gues sai d he I ll soon put a stop to your , ,

lies S o he went an d hid behind the door and peepe d in and there
.
,

sure enou gh was the cat prancin g about and sin gin g H e fire d at .

it a n d the animal d ropped down d ead At the sam e moment his

, .

wi fe fell to the ground in the field where she was at work ; said she ,
“
I have been kille d at hom e But she had stren gth enough le ft .

’
to ask her husband to go w ith her to her parent s village takin g with ,

him the dead cat wrapt up i n a mat All her relatives assembled .
,

and bitterly they reproache d her for having insisted on takin g the
’
animal with her to her husban d s village A s soon as the mat was .

unrolled and they s aw the dead cat they all fell do wn li feless one ,

a fte r the other S o the Clan of the Cat was destroye d ; and the
.

bereaved husband closed the gate of the village with a branch and ,

returned home a nd t ol d his friends how in ki llin g the cat he had

,

kille d the whole clan because their lives depen d ed on the li fe o f the cat
,
.

I d eas o f the same sort meet us in stories tol d by the N orth American
In d ians Thus the Navaj oes tell o f a certain mythical bein g called
.

”
the Mai d en that becomes a Bear who learne d the art of turning ,

hersel f into a bear from the prairie wol f She was a great warrior .

an d quite invulnerable ; for when she went to war she took out her

vital or gans and hid them so that no one could kill her ; and when ,

the battle was over she put the or gans back in their places again .

The Kwakiutl In d ians o f B ritish Columbia tell of an o gress who ,

coul d not be killed because her li fe was i n a hemlock branch A .

brave boy met he r i n the woods smashed her head with a stone , ,

scattered her brains broke her bones and threw them into the water
, ,
.

Then thinkin g he had d isposed o f the o gress he wen t into her house
, ,
.

There he saw a woman rooted to the floor who warne d him saying , , ,
“
N ow do not stay lon g I know that you have trie d to kill the o gress
.
.

It i s the fourth time that somebo d y has tried to kill her She never .

di es ; she has n early come to li fe There i n that covered hemlock .

branch is her li fe Go there and as soon as you see her enter shoot
.
, ,

her li fe Then she will be dea d

. H ar d ly had she fini shed speaking .

when sure enou gh in came the o gre ss sin gin g as she walked B ut , .

the boy shot at her li fe and she fell dead to the floor , .
v 11 T H E E XT E RNAL S OU L I N I NA N I MAT E T HI NGS 67 9

CHAPT E R LXVI I

T H E EXT E RN A L SO U L I N F OL K -C U ST OM

l T he E x ternal S oul in Inanim a te T hings

. Thus the idea that the .
—
soul may be d eposite d for a lon ger or shorter time in some place of
security outside the bo d y , or at all events in the hair i s found in the ,

popular tales o f many races It remains to show that the i d ea i s not

.

a mere figment devised to adorn a tale , but i s a real article o f primitive

faith , which has given ri se to a correspon din g set o f customs .

We have seen that in the tales the hero as a preparation for ba ttle , ,

sometimes removes hi s soul from his bo dy in order that his body may ,

b e invulnerable a n d immortal in the combat With a like i ntention .

the sava ge removes hi s soul from hi s bo d y on var i ous occasions o f real

or ima ginary peril Thus amon g the people of Minahassa in Celebes
.
,

when a family moves into a new house a priest collects the souls o f ,

the whole family in a b a g and a fterwards restores them to their owners

, ,

because the moment o f enterin g a new house i s supposed to be frau gh t

with supernatural d anger In Southern Celebes , when a woman is
.

b rought to bed the messeng er who fetches the d octor or the mi d wi fe

,
.

always carr i es with him somet hin g ma d e o f iron such as a choppin g ,

kni fe , which he d elivers to the doctor The d octor mus t keep the .

thing in his house t i ll the confinement is over when he gives it back , ,

receivin g a fixe d sum o f money for d o i n g so The choppin g kni fe .

-
,
’
or whatever it is , represents the woman s soul which at th i s critical ,

time is believe d to be sa fer out o f her b o dy than in it H ence the .

doctor must take great care o the obj ect ; for were it lost the woman s
f
’
,

soul woul d assure d ly , they think be lost w ith it , .

Amon g the Dyaks o f Pino ch , a d istric t of South - eastern Borneo ,

when a ch il d is born a medicine man i s sent fo r , who conj ures the

,
-

soul o f the infant into hal f a coco -n ut, which he thereupon covers with
a cloth and places on a square platter or Char ger suspended by cor d s
from the roo f This ceremony he repeats at every new moon for a year
. .

The inten tion o f the ceremony i s not explained by the writer who
describes it , but we may conj ecture that it is to place the soul o f the
chil d in a sa fer place than its own frail little bo dy Thi s conj ecture .

15 confirmed by the reason assi ne d for a similar custom observe d

g
elsewhere in the In d ian Archipela o In the Kei Islands when there
g .
,

is a newly -born Chil d in a house an empty coco -n ut spl it and spliced

, ,

together again may sometimes be seen han gin g beside a rou gh wooden
,

i m age of an ancestor The soul o f the in fant i s believed to be tem p or

.

arily d eposite d in the coco nut in order that it may be sa fe from the
-

attacks o f evi l spirits ; but when the child grows bi gger a n d stronger ,

the soul will take up its permanent abode in its own body Simil arly .

am ong the E squimaux of Alaska when a child i s sick the medicine , ,

m an will sometimes extract its soul from its bo d y and place it for safe
k eeping in an amulet which for further security he depo sits in his own
,
68 0 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FOLK CUSTO M - CH .

me d icine b ag It seems prob able that many amul ets have been
-
.

s im ilarly re gar d e d as soul b oxes tha t is as sa fes in which the souls

-
, ,

o f the owners are kept for greater secur ity An old M ang a n j e woman
’

in the W es t Sh i re d i s tr ic t o f Bri ti sh Cen tral A frica use d to wear

roun d her neck an ivory ornamen t hollow an d about three inches , ,

lon g which she Called her li fe or soul

, N aturally she would not .
,

part wi th it ; a planter trie d to buy it o f her b ut in vain When ,

.

M r James Mac d onal d was one da y s i tti n g in the house o f a Hlubi chie f
.
,

awai tin g the appearance o f tha t grea t man who was busy d ecoratin g his ,

person a native poin te d to a pa ir o f ma gnificen t ox horns and said

,
-
, ,

N ta m e has hi s soul i n these horns The horns were those o f an .

animal wh i ch ha d been sacr ifice d a n d they were held sacred A ,

.

ma gician ha d fas tene d them to the roo f to protect the house and its
“
inmates from the thunder bolt The i d ea a dd s Mr Macdonal d is
-
.
“
, .
,
’
in no way forei gn to Sou th A fr ican thou ght A man s soul there may .

d well in the roo f o f his house in a tree by a sprin g o f water or on , , ,

”
some m oun tain scaur Amon g the na tives o f the Gazelle Peninsul a
.

in N ew B r ita i n there is a secret society which goes by the name of

Ingniet or In gi et On hi s en trance into it every man receives a stone
.

i n the shape ei ther o f a human bein g or o f an animal a n d hence forth ,

hi s soul i s believe d to be kni t up in a ma nner wi th the s tone If it .

breaks it i s an evil omen for him ; they say that the thunder has
,

s truck the stone an d that he who owns it will soon d ie If nevertheles s .

the man survives the breakin g o f his soul s tone they say tha t it was -

n ot a proper soul —
,

stone a n d he ge ts a new one ins tea d The emperor .

Romanus L eca p en u s was once in forme d by an as tronomer that the

l i fe o f Simeon prince o f B ul garia was boun d up wi th a cer tain column
, ,

i n Constan ti nople , so tha t i f the cap ital o f the column were removed ,

S i meon woul d imme dia tely die The emperor took the hint and .

remove d the capital a n d at the same hour as the emperor learned by

, ,

enquiry S imeon d ie d o f heart d i sease i n Bul garia

, .

’
A gain we have seen tha t in folk tales a man s soul or stren gth is
,
-

somet im e s represente d as bound up with hi s ha i r a n d that when his ,

hair i s cut off he d i es or grows weak So the nat ives o f Amboyna used .

to think tha t the i r s tren gth was in the i r hai r and would d esert them
i f it were shorn A crimi nal under torture in a Dutch Court of that
.

islan d persis te d in d e n yi n g hi s gui lt till his hair was cut o ff when he ,

imme d iatel y con fess e d One man who wa s tried fo r mur d er endure d
.
, ,

without flin ching the utm ost in genui ty of hi s torturers ti ll he saw the
sur geon standin g wi th a pair o f shears On askin g what thi s was for
'

. ,

and bein g tol d th at it was to cut his ha i r he be gge d they would not do ,

i t and ma d e a clean breast

, In subsequent C ases when tor ture failed
.
,

to wrin g a con fession from a pri soner the Du tch au thorities made a ,

practice o f cu tti n g o ff hi s ha i r .

Here i n E u rope it use d to be thou ght tha t the m aleficent powers of

wi tches a n d wi z ar d s resi d ed i n thei r hair and that nothin g coul d make ,

any impression on the mi screants so lon g as they kept their hair on .

Hence in France it was custom ary to shave the whole bo d ies o f persons
682 T HE E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FO LK CU STO M -
CH .

Som the Papuan s unite the li fe of a new bor n b abe sym

e of -

patheti cally w ith that oi a tree by d rivin g a pebble into the bark of
the tree This is suppose d to give them complete mastery over the
.

’
chil d s li fe ; i f the tree i s cut down the child wi ll d ie A fter a birth ,
.

the Maoris used to bury the navel strin g i n a sacred place and plant -

a youn g saplin g over it A s the tree grew it was a tohn aranga or si gn

.
,

o f li fe fo r the chil d ; i f it flourished the ch i ld would prosper ; i f it ,

withered a n d d ie d the paren ts au gured the worst for the little one In
, .

s ome parts o f Fij i the navel strin g o f a male i n fant is planted to gether -

’
wi th a coco nut or the slip of a breadfruit tree an d the child s li fe is
- -
,

supposed to be intimately connecte d with that o f the tree Amongst .

the Dyaks o f Landa k and Taj an di stricts o f Dutch B orneo it is , ,

customary to plant a fruit t ree fo r a baby and hence forth in the -

,

popular belie f the fate o f the Child is boun d up with that o f the tree .

If the tree shoots up rapi d ly it will go well w ith the child ; but i f the ,

tree i s dwar fed or shrivelled nothin g but mis fortune can be expected ,

for its human counterpart .

It i s sai d that there are sti ll families in Russia German y E ngland , , ,

France a nd Italy who are accustomed to plant a tree at the b irth of a

,

chil d The tree it is hoped will grow wi th the chil d an d it is ten ded
.
, , ,

with special care The custom is still p retty g eneral in the canton of
.

Aargau in Switzerland ; an apple tree is planted for a boy and a pear

tree for a gi rl and the people think that the child w i ll flourish or
,

d windle with the tree In Mecklenbur g the a fterbirth is thrown out

.

at the foot o f a young tree and the chil d i s then believed to grow wi th ,

the tree N ear the Castle o f Dalhousie not far from E d inburgh
.
, ,

there grows an oak tree called the E dgewell Tree which is popularly , ,

believed to be linked to the fate o f the family by a mysterious tie ;

fo r they say that when one o f the f amily dies or i s about to die a , ,

branch falls from the E dgewell Tree Thus on seein g a great bough .
,

drop from the tree on a quiet still day in July 18 7 4 an old forester , ,
“ ” ’
exclaime d The laird s deid noo l and soon a fter news came that
,

Fox Maule eleve nth E arl o f Dalhousie was d ead

, , .

I n E n gland chil d ren are some times passed th rough a cleft ash tree -

as a cure for rupture or rickets a nd thence forward a sympathetic ,

connexion i s suppose d to e x ist between them and the tree An ash .

tree which had b een used for this purpose grew at the edge of Sh irley
H eath on the roa d fro m H ock ly H ouse to Birmin gham
,
Thomas .

Chillingworth son o f the owner o f an a d j oinin g farm now about

, ,

thi rty four was when an in fan t o f a year o ld passed throu gh a similar
-
, , ,

tree now per fectly soun d which he preserves with so much care that
, ,

he will not su ffer a sin gle branch to be touched for it i s believed the ,

li fe of the patient depends on the li fe of the tree and the moment that ,

i s cut down be the p atient ever so distant the rupture returns and a ll
'

, , ,

m ortificati on ensues and terminates i n d eath as wa s the case in a

, ,

man d rivin g a waggon on the very road in question It is not .

“

“
uncommon however adds the writer for persons to survive for a
, , ,
”
ti me the fellin g of the tree The ordinary mode of e ff ectin g the cure
.
v 11 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N A N I MAL S 68 3

is to split a young ash -saplin g lon gitudinally for a few feet a n d pass
the child , nake d , either three times or three times three throu gh the
fissure at sunrise In the West o f E n gland it is said that the passage
.

“ ”
shoul d be against the sun A s soon as the ceremony has been .

per forme d the tree is bound ti ghtly up and the fissure plas tered over
,

wi th m u d or C lay The belie f is that j ust as the cle ft in the tree Closes
.

’
up so the rupture in the chil d s body will be heale d ; b ut tha t i f
,

the r i ft in the tree rema i ns open the rupture in the chil d will remain ,

too an d i f the t ree were to die , the death o f the child would surely
,

follow .

A similar cure for various diseases but especially for rupture a nd ,

rickets has been commonly practi sed in other parts o f E urope as

, ,

Germany France Denmark and S weden ; but in these countries

, , ,

the tr ee employed for the purpose is usually not an ash but an oak ;
sometimes a will ow tree is allowe d or even prescribe d instea d In
-
.

Mecklenbur g as in E n glan d the sympathetic rela tion thus es tablishe d

, ,

between the tree and the C h il d i s believe d to be so C lose that i f the tree
is cut down the C hil d will die
3 T he E x ter na l S ou l i n A nim a ls —B ut in practice as in folk tales
.

-
. .
, ,

it i s not merely wi th inanimate obj ects an d plants that a person is

occasionally believed to be unite d by a bond o f physical sympathy .

The same bon d it is suppose d may exist between a man a n d an

, ,

animal so that the wel fare o f the one depen d s on the wel fare o f the
,

other and when the animal d ies the man di es al so The analo gy
, .

between the custom a nd the tales is all the closer b ecause in both o f
them the power o f thus removin g the soul from the b o dy a n d s towin g it
away in an ani mal is o ften a special privile ge o f wizar d s an d witches .

Thus the Yakuts o f Siberia bel i eve that every shaman or wi z ar d keeps
his soul or one o f hi s souls incarnate in an animal which i s care fully
, ,

concealed from all the worl d Nobo dy can fin d my external soul .

“

said one famous wizard it lies hidden fa r away in the s tony moun tains
,
“

”
of Edz higan sk Only once a year when the las t snows mel t an d the
.
,

earth turns black do these external souls o f w izards appear in the

,

shape of animals amo ng the d well in gs o f men They wan d er every .

where yet none but wizar d s can see them The s trong ones sweep
,
.

roarin g a nd noisily alon g the weak s teal about quietly a nd furtively

, .

Often they fi gh t and then the wizard whose external soul i s beaten
, ,

falls ill or d ies The weakest a nd mos t cowar d ly wizards are they whose
.

souls are incarnate in the shape o f d o gs fo r the dog gives his human ,

double no peac e but gnaws hi s heart and tears his body The most
,
.

power ful wizar d s are they whose external souls have the shape o f
stallions elks black bears ea gles or boars A gain the Samoyeds o f
, , , ,
.
,

the T uru khin sk re gion hol d that every shaman has a familiar spirit
in the shape of a boar wh ich he leads about by a magi c belt On, .

the dea th of the boar the shaman himsel f d ies ; a n d s tories are told o f
b attles between wizar d s who sen d thei r s p ir its to fi gh t be fore they
,

encounter each o ther in person The Malays bel i eve that the soul .
“

of a person may pas s i nt o an other p erson or into an anim al or rath er ,

68 4 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FOLK CUSTO M -
CH .

that such a mysteri ous relation can arise between the two that the fate
o f the one i s wholly depen d en t on that o f the o ther .

Amon g the M elanesians o f M ota one o f the N ew H ebri d es islan ds

, ,

the conception o f an external soul is carrie d o ut in the practice o f daily

“
li fe In the Mota lan gua ge the word tam ania si gnifies something
.

an i mate or i nanima te which a m an has come to beli eve to have an

existence intimately connecte d with his own It was not every .

one in M ota who ha d hi s tam a ni n ; only some men fancied that they
ha d this relation to a lizard a snake o r i t m i ght be a stone ; sometimes
, ,

the thin g was sou ght for and foun d by d rinkin g the in fusion o f certain
leaves an d heapin g to gether the d re gs ; then whatever livin g thin g
w as firs t seen in or upon the heap was the tam a nin It was watched .

b ut not fe d or worshippe d ; the natives believe d tha t it came at call ,

and that the li fe o f the man was boun d up with the li fe o f hi s tarnanin ,

i f a living thin g or with its sa fety ; should it di e or i f not livin g get

, ,

broken or be lost the man would die H ence in case of sickness

, .

”
they would send to see if the tam ania was sa fe an d well .

The theory o f an external soul deposite d in an animal appears

to be very prevalent i n West A frica particularly in Ni geria the , ,

Came roons and the Gaboon Amon g the Fans o f the Gaboon every
, .

wizard i s believe d at i nitiation to uni te hi s li fe with that of some

particula r wil d animal by a rite o f blood brotherhood ; he draws -

blood from the ear o f the animal and from his own arm a nd inoculates ,

the animal wi th his own blood and himsel f wi th the blood o f the
,

beast . Hence forth such an intima te union i s establ i shed between

the two that the death o f the one entails the death o f the other The .

alliance is thou ght to brin g to the wiz ard or sorcerer a great accession
o f power which he can turn to hi s advantage in various ways In
,
.

the first place l i ke the warlock in the fairy tales who has d eposited
,

hi s li fe outsi d e o f him sel f in some sa fe place the Fan w izar d now d eems ,

himsel f invulnerable Moreover the animal with which he has

.
,

exchan ge d bloo d has become hi s familiar an d will obey any or ders ,

he m ay C hoose to give it ; s o he makes use o f it to inj ure and kill his

enemies For that reason the creature with whom he establis hes
.

the relation of blood bro therhood i s never a tame or domestic animal

-
,

but always a ferocious and dan gerous wild beast such as a leopard , ,

a black serpent a C roco d ile a hippopotamus a wi ld boar or a vulture

, , , ,
.

O f all these creatures the leopar d i s by far the commonest familiar

o f Fan wizards and next to it comes the black serpent ; the vulture
,

is the rares t Witches as well as wizards have thei r familiars ; but

.

the animals with which the liv e s o f women are thus bound up generally
di ff er from those to which men commit thei r external so uls A witch .

never has a panther for her familiar but o ften a venomous species ,

o f serpent sometimes a horned viper sometimes a black se rpent

, , ,

sometimes a green one that lives in banana trees ; or it may be a -

vulture an owl or other bird of n i ght In every case the beast or

, ,
.

bird wi th which the wi tch or wi zard has contracted this mystic alliance
i s an indivi dual never a species ; and when the individual animal
,
6 86 T HE EXT E RNAL S OUL I N FOL K -CU ST OM CH .

admin ister the ma gical d rug to his enemy in his food and havin g thus ,

smu ggle d the o ther s soul in to an an imal will destroy the creature
’

a n d wi th it the man whose soul i s lo d ge d i n i t .

The ne groes o f Calabar at the mou th o f the N i ger believe that

, ,

every person has four souls one o f which always lives outside of his ,

or her body in the form o f a w i ld beast in the forest Th i s external .

soul or bush soul as Mi ss Ki n gsley calls it may be almost any animal

, , , ,

for example a leopar d a fish or a tortoise ; but it i s never a domestic

, , ,

anim al a n d never a plant Unless he i s gi fted with second si ght a

.
,

m an ca nno t see his own bush soul but a diviner will o ften tell him ,

what sor t of creature hi s bush soul is a n d a fter that the man will be ,

care ful n ot to ki ll any animal of that species an d will strongly obj ect ,

to any one else d oin g so A man and his sons have usually the same
.

sor t o f animals for their bush souls and so with a mother and her ,

dau gh ters B ut som etimes all the chil d ren of a fam i ly take a fter the
.

bush soul o f thei r father ; for example if hi s external soul is a leopard , ,

all his sons a n d d au ghters will have leopar d s for their external souls .

A n d on the other han d some times they all take a fter their mother ;
,

fo r instance i f her external soul is a tortoise all the external souls

, ,

o f her sons a n d d au ghters w i ll b e tortoises too S o intimately bound .

up i s the li fe of the man with that of the an imal which he re gards as

his external or b ush soul that the d eath or inj ury o f the animal
,

necessarily entails the d eath or inj ury o f the man And conversely .
, ,

when the man d ies his bush soul can no lo nger find a place o f rest
, ,

b ut goes mad and rushes i nto the fire or ch a r ges people and i s knocked
on the hea d a n d that is an en d o f it
, .

Near E ket in North Calabar there is a sacre d lake the fish of ,

which are care fully preserved because the people believe that their
own souls are lo d ge d in the fish a n d tha t wi th every fish kille d a ,

human li fe would be simultaneously extin guished In the Calabar .

River not very many years ago there use d to be a hu ge old croco dile ,

p opularly supposed t o contain the external soul of a chie f vVho resided

'

in the flesh at Duke Town Sporting vice consuls used from t ime to .
-

t ime to hun t the animal a n d once an o fficer contrive d to hit it Forth

, .

with the chie f was laid up with a woun d in his leg He gave out that .

a dog ha d bitten him but no d oubt the wise shook their heads and
,

re fused to be p ut off with so flimsy a pretext A gain amon g several .

,

tribes on the banks o f the N i ger between Lokoj a and the d elta there
prevails a belie f i n the possibility o f a m an possessin g an a lter ego
“

i n the form o f some animal such as a croco d ile or a hippopotamus .

It i s believe d that such a person s li fe i s bound up with that of the ’

animal to such an exten t that whatever a ff ec ts the one produces a ,

correspondi ng impress i on upon the o ther and that i f one dies the ,

o ther mus t S peed i ly do so too It happene d not very lon g ago that .

a n E n glishman shot a hippopotamus close to a native villa ge ; the

fr i en d s o f a woman who d i e d the same ni ght in the villa ge demanded

a n d eventually obtaine d five pounds as compensation for the murde r
”
o f the woman .
v 11 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N A N I MALS 68 7

Amo ngst the Zapotecs o f Central America when a woman was ,

about to be confine d her relations assembl e d in the hut and be gan

, ,

to draw on the floor fi gures o f d i ff erent animals rubbin g each one ,

out as soon as it was completed Thi s wen t on till the moment o f .

birth and the fi gure tha t then remaine d sketche d upon the ground
,
’
was called the chil d s l and or second sel f When the chil d grew old .

enough he procure d the animal that represente d him an d took care

,

of it ,
as it was believe d tha t heal th a n d exis tence were bound up
with that o f the animal s in fact tha t the d ea th o f bo th would occur
’

,
”
sim ul taneously or rather that when the animal d ie d the man woul d
,

die too .Amon g the In d ians of Guatemala and Hon d uras the n agnal
“
or nana l is that animate or inanimate obj ect generally an an i mal , ,

which stands in a parallel relation to a particular man so that the

'

weal and woe o f the man d epen d on the fa te o f the na gu a l Accor d .

ing to an old wri ter m a ny In d i ans o f Guatemala are d elu d e d b y “

the devi l to believe that their l i fe d ep en deth upon the li fe o f such

and such a beast (which they take unto them as their familiar spirit ) ,

and th i nk that when that beast d ie th they mus t die ; when he i s chased ,

their hearts pant ; when he is fain t they are fa i n t ; n ay it happene th , ,

that by the d ev il s d elusion they appear i n the shape o f that b eas t

’

(which commonly by the i r Choice i s a buck or doe a lion or ti gre , , , ,

or dog or ea gle ) a n d in tha t shape have been shot at an d woun d e d

,
.
"

The In dians were persua d e d that the d eath o f thei r na gna l woul d
enta il their own Le gend affirms that in the first battles wi th the
.

Spaniards on the plateau o f Q ue tz altenan go the nagna ls o f the In d ia n

chie fs fou ght in the form o f serpents The nagua l o f the hi ghes t .

chie f was especially conspicuous because it had the form o f a great ,

b ir d resplen d en t in green pluma ge

,
The Spani sh general Pe d ro d e .

Alvara d o kille d the b i r d wi th his lance and at the same moment the ,

Indian ch i e f fell d ea d to the groun d .

In many tribes o f Sou th E as tern Australia each sex use d to re gar d

-

a par ticular species o f animals in the same way that a Central American
In dian re gar d ed his nagna l but w ith this d i fference that whereas the
, ,

In dian apparently knew the indivi d ual animal With wh ich hi s li fe

was boun d up the Aus tralians only knew that each o f their lives was
,

bound up with some one animal o f the species but they coul d not say ,

with which The result naturally was that every man spare d a nd
.

protecte d all the animals o f the species wi th which the lives o f the
m en were boun d up ; and every woman spared and protecte d all the

animals o f the species with which the lives of the women were boun d
up ; because no one knew but that the d eath o f any animal o f the
respective species mi ght entail hi s or her own ; j us t as the killin g o f
the green bi r d was i mmed ia tely followed by the d ea th o f the In dian
chie f and the killin g o f the parro t by the d eath o f Pun chk in in the
,

fairy tale Thus fo r example the W otj ob a luk tribe o f South-E astern
.
, ,

Australia held that the li fe of N gii ni ngii nii t (the B at ) i s the li fe

of a man a nd the li fe o f Yartat ii rk (the Ni ghtj ar ) i s the li fe o f a
’
, g
wom an and that when either o f these creatures is killed the li fe of
,
688 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FOLK CUSTO M -
CH

some man or o f some woman i s shor tene d In such a case every m an .

or every wo m an in the ca mp feare d that he or she mi ght be the ‘

v ic tim a n d from thi s cause great fi ghts arose in thi s tri b e I learn
,
.

tha t in these fi gh ts men on o ne si de a n d women on the o ther it was

, ,

not at all cer ta i n which woul d be vic toriou s fo r a t times the women ,

ga ve the men a severe d ru b b i n g wi th the i r ya m stick s while of ten ,

women were i nj ure d or k ille d b y spears The W otj ob a luk said that .

the b a t was the man s

’
bro ther a n d that the ni gh tj ar was his “

“
wi fe The part icular speci e s o f animals with wh ich the lives of
.

the sexes were b elieve d t o be respec tively boun d up vari ed somewhat

from tribe to tribe Thus whereas amon g the W otj ob aluk the b at
.

was the animal o f the men at Gunbower Creek on the Lower Murray ,

the bat seem s to have been the animal o f the women for the natives ,

woul d not k ill it for the reason tha t i f it was killed one o f thei r “

,
”
lubras [women ! woul d be sure to d ie in consequence But whatever .

the part i cular sorts o f crea ture w it h which the live s o f men and
women were believe d to be bound up the belie f itsel f and the fi ghts ,

to which it gave rise are known to have prevaile d over a lar ge par t of
South E astern A ustralia a n d proba b ly they ex ten d e d much farther
-
, .

The belie f was a very serious one and so co n sequently were the fi ghts ,

which spran g from it Thus amon g some tr ib es o f Victoria the .

common b at belon gs to the men who protect it a gainst inj ury even , ,

to the half killin g o f their wives for its sake The fern owl or large
-
.
,

goa tsucker belon gs to the women a n d althou gh a bird o f evil omen

, , , ,

creatin g terror a t n igh t by its cry it is j ealously protec te d by them ,

.

If a man kills one they are as much enra ged as if it was one o f their
,
”
chil d ren an d will strike hi m with their lon g poles
,
.

The j ealous protect ion thus a fforde d by A ustralian m en a nd women

to ba ts a n d owls respec tively (for b ats an d owls seem to be the creature s
usually allo tted to the two sexes ) i s not based upon purely selfish
consi d erations For each man believes tha t n ot only hi s own li fe b ut
.

the lives of hi s father bro thers so ns and so on are bound up with , , ,

the lives o f par ticular ba ts and that therefore in protecti ng the bat ,

species he i s protec tin g the lives o f all hi s male relations as well as his
own S imilarly each woman believes that the l ives of her mo ther
.
, ,

si sters d au ghters a n d so forth equally with her ow n are b oun d up

, , , ,

with the lives o f par ticular owls an d that in guar d i ng the owl species ,

she is guar d in g the lives of all her female relations b esides her own .

’
N ow when men s lives are thus supposed to be con tained in certain
,

animals it is obvious that the animals can har d ly be d i stin guishe d

,
’

from the men or the men from the ani m als,

If my brother John s .

li fe i s in a bat then on the one han d the bat i s my bro ther as well as
, , ,

John ; an d on the other hand John is in a sense a bat since his l i fe

, , ,

’
is in a bat Similarly i f my si ster Mary s li fe is in an owl then the
.
, ,

ow l i s my sister a n d Mary i s an owl Thi s is a natural enou gh con .

clu sio n and the Australia n s have not faile d to d raw it When the
, .

b at i s the man s animal it is calle d his brother ; a n d when the owl

’

,
’
i s the w om an s an im al , it is called her si ster And conversely a m an .
 690 T H E EXTERNAL SOU L TN FOLK-CU ST OM CH
.

n a gu al causes the death o f a Central American Indian the killing of ,

his bush soul causes the death o f a Calabar ne gro the killin g of his
’
,

tam a m u causes the d eath o f a Banks I slan d er and the killin g of the ,

animal in which hi s l i fe is stowe d away causes the d eath of the giant

or warlock in the fa i ry tale .

Thus it appears that the s tory o f The giant who had no heart in
his bo dy may perhaps furn i sh the key to the rela tion which is supposed
[i s s imply the receptacle in which a man keeps hi s li fe as Punchkin
t o subsist b etween a man a n d his t o tem The totem on this theory .
,

,
,

ep t his li fe i n a parrot a n d B id asa ri kept her soul in a golden fish

, .

It is no vali d obj ection to thi s V iew that when a sava ge has both a
sex to tem an d a clan to tem his li fe must be bound up with two di f ferent
animals the death o f e ither o f wh i ch would entail his own I f a m an
, .

has more v ital places than one in his bo d y why the savage may think , , ,

shoul d he not have more vital places than one outsi d e it ? Why ,

since he can put hi s li fe outsi d e himsel f should he not trans fer one ,
'

por tion of it to one animal and another to another ? The divisibility

o f li fe or to put it otherwise the plurali ty o f souls is an idea su ggested
, , , ,

by many familiar facts a n d has commended itsel f to philosophers

,

like Plato as well as to sava ges It is only when the notion o f a soul
, .
,

from bein g a quasi scien tific hypo thesi s becomes a theolo gical d o gm a
-
,

that its unity and in d ivisibility are insisted upon as essential The .

sava ge unshackled by do gma i s free to explain the facts of li fe by

, ,

the assumption o f as many souls as he thinks necessary Hence for .

,

exam ple the Caribs supposed that there was one soul in the head
, ,

ano ther in the heart and other souls at all the places where an artery
,

i s felt pulsatin g Some o f th e H i d atsa In d ians explai n the phenomena

.

o f g radual death when the ex tremities appear d ead first by supposing

, ,

tha t man has four souls and that they quit the body not simul
, ,

ta n eou sly but one a fter the other d issol uti on bein g o n ly complete
, ,

when all four have departe d S om e o f the Dyaks o f Borneo and the .

Malays o f the Peni nsula beli eve that every man has seven souls The .

A l foor s o f P 0 5 0 in Celebes are o f opinion that he has three The natives .

o f Laos suppose that the bo d y i s the seat o f thi rty spirits which reside ,

i n the han d s the feet the m outh the eyes and so on Hence from
, , , ,
.
,

the p rimitive point of V iew it i s perfectly possible that a sava ge shoul d

,

have one soul i n his sex totem an d another in his cl a n totem How .

ever as I have observed sex totem s have been found nowhere but in
, ,

Australia ; so that as a rule the savage who practi ses totemism need
not have m ore than one soul out o f his bo d y at a time .

If this explana tion o f the totem as a receptacle i n which a m an

keeps his soul or one o f hi s souls i s correct we shoul d expect to find ,

some totemic people o f whom it i s expressly sai d that every man

amon gst them is believed to keep at least one s oul permanently out
o f hi s body an d that the destruction o f thi s ex ternal soul i s supposed
,

to entail the death o f its owner S uch a people are the Bataks of .

Sumat ra The Bataks are d ivi d ed into exo gamous clans (m argas )
.

with d esce nt in the male l in e ; a nd each clan i s forbi d den to eat the
 LXVII THE EX TER NAL SOU L IN A NIMALS 691

flesh of a p articular animal One clan may not eat the ti ge r anothe r
.
,

the ape another the crocodile another the dog another the cat
, , , ,

another the d ove another the whi te bu ff alo and another the locust
, , .

The reason given by members o f a clan for abstainin g from the flesh
of the particular an imal i s ei ther that they are d escended fr om anim als l

of that species an d that their souls a fter death may transmi grate
,

into the animals or that they or thei r fore fathers have been under
,

certain obli gations to the creatures Sometimes but not always l he

— W
.
,

clan bears the name of the animal W W

-

— totemis m
"

W
.
"

t fufa ief f ea ch B ata k believes tha t he has seven or

,
on a , .

m ore mo d erate compu tation three souls One of these souls i s always
, .

outside the bo d y but never theless whenever it d i es however fa r away

, ,

it may be at the time that same momen t the man dies also
, The .

writer who mentions this b elie f says no thin g about the Batak totems ;
b ut on the analo gy o f the Australian Central American and A frican , ,

evidence we m ay conj ecture that the external soul whose d eath entails ,

the death of the man is house d in the t otemic animal or plant

,
.

Against thi s vi e w it can har d ly be thou ght to militate that the

Batak does not in set terms a ffirm his external soul to be i n his totem ,

but alle ges o ther groun d s for respectin g the sacre d animal or plan t of
his clan For if a sava ge seriously believes that his li fe is bound up
.

with an external obj ec t it is in the last d e gree unlikely that he will

,

let any stran ge r into the secret In all that touches hi s inmost li fe
.

and belie fs the sava ge is excee di n gly suspicious a n d reserve d ; E uro

peans have resi d e d amon g sava ges for years without discoverin g some
of thei r capi tal articles o f faith a n d in the en d the d iscovery has o ften
'

been the result o f acci d ent Above all the sava ge l ives i n an intense
.
,

and perpe tual dread o f assassination by sorcery ; the most trifling

relics o f his person—the clippin gs of hi s hair and nails his spittle the
remnants o f hi s foo d hi s very nam e all these may he fancies be
,
— ,
, ,

turne d by the sorcerer to hi s d estruction and he i s there fore anxiously ,

care ful to conceal or d estroy them But i f in matt ers such as these .
,

which are but the ou tposts an d outworks o f hi s li fe he is so shy and ,

secretive how close mus t be the concealmen t how im penetrable the

"

, ,

reserve in which he enshrou d s the inner k eep an d ci ta d el o f his bein g !

When the pr i ncess i n the fa i ry tale asks the giant where he keeps hi s
soul he o ften gives false or evasive answers a nd it is only a fter much
, ,

coaxin g and whee d lin g that the secret i s at last wrun g from him I n .

his j ealous reticence the gian t resembles the timid an d furtive savage ;
but whereas the exi gencies o f the s tory d emand that the giant should
at last reveal his secret no such obli gation is lai d on the savage ; and
,

no in d ucement that can be o ff ere d is likely to tempt him to im peril

his soul by revealin g its hi d in g-place to a stran ger It i s there fore .

no m atter for surpr ise that the central myste ry o f the savage s li fe ’

shoul d so lon g have remaine d a secret and that we should be le ft to ,

piece it to gether from scattere d hint s an d fra gments a n d from the

recollections o f it which lin ger in fairy tales
4 T he Ri tual of D ea th a nd Res urr ecti on —This view o f totemi s m
.

.
692 T H E EXT ERN A L S OUL IN FOL K- CU ST O M ca ll
throws li ght on a class o f reli gious rites of which no adequate explana
’

tion so fa r as I am aware has yet been o ffere d Amon gst m an

, ,
“ .

sava ge tribes especially such as are known to pract i ce totem i sm it 4

‘

, ,

is customary for la d s a t puber ty to un d ergo cer tain ini tiatory rites .

of w hich one o f the commo n es t i s a pretence o f killin g the lad and

\

bri ngin g him to li fe a gain Such r ites b ecome intelli gible i f we suppose
.

’
that their substance consists i n ex tract i n g the youth s soul in order
to trans fer it to hi s totem For the extract i on o f hi s soul would .

throw him into

a d eath — like trance which the sava ge hardly di st i n gu ishes from death
, .

H is recovery woul d the n b e attributed ei ther to the gradual recovery

o f his sys tem from the v i olent shock which it had received or more , ,

probably to the i n fusion into him of fresh li fe drawn from the totem
, .

Thus the essence o f these ini tiatory ri tes so far as they consist in a ,

simulation o f death an d resurrection woul d be an exchan ge of li fe ,

or souls between the m a n an d hi s totem The primitive belief in .

the possibility o f such an exchan g e of souls com es clearly out in a

story o f a Basque hun ter who affirmed that he ha d been killed by a
bear but that the bear ha d after k illin g him bre athed its own soul
, , ,
’
into him so that the bear s body was now dea d but he himself was
, ,
’
a bear bein g animate d by the bear s soul This reviv al o f the dead
, .

hunter as a bear i s exactly analo gous to what on the theory here ,

su ggested i s suppose d to take place in the ceremony o f killin g a lad

,

at puberty and brin gin g him to li fe again The lad dies as a man .

’
a n d comes to li f e a gain as an a nimal ; the animal s soul i s now in

him an d hi s human soul i s i n the animal Wit h good ri ght therefore

, .
, ,

d oes he call him sel f a B ear or a Wol f etc accordin g to his totem ; , .
,

an d with goo d ri gh t d oes he treat the bears or the wolves etc as his , .
,

brethren since in these animals are lo d ged the souls of himself and
,

his kin d red .

E xamples o f this s upposed d eath and resurrection at initiation

are as follows In the Won gb i or W onghib on tribe of New South
.

Wales the youths on approachin g manhood are initi ated at a secret

ceremony which n one but initiate d m en may witness Part of the
, .

procee di n gs consists i n knocki ng out a tooth and givin g a new name

to the novice i ndicative o f the chan ge from youth to manhoo d Whil e
, .

the tee th are bei ng knocked out an i nstrument known as a bull roarer -
,

which consis ts o f a flat piece o f woo d with serrate d ed ges tied to the
en d o f a strin g is swun g round so as to pr oduce a loud hummin g
,

noi se The uninitiated are not allowed to see thi s i nstrument Women
. .

a re forbidden to witness the ceremonies un d er pai n o f d eath It is .

given out that the youths are each met i n turn by a mythical being ,

c alle d T hurem lin (more comm only known as Daram ulun ) who takes
the youth to a d i stance kills him an d in some i nstances cuts him
, ,

up a fter which he restores him to li fe a n d knocks out a tooth Thei r

, .

beli ef i n the power o f T hu rem lin is sai d to be undoubted .

The U ala roi o f the Up p er Darlin g River sai d that at initiation the
b o m et a g host who killed him and brou ght him to li fe a gain as a
v
,
6 94 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FOL K -CU STO M CH .

S ome tribes o f Northern New Guinea the Yabim Bukaua Kai —

a n d Tami— l i ke many Austral ian tri b es
, , ,

require every male member

,

o f the tribe to b e circumcise d b e fore he ranks as a full g rown man ; -

and the tribal ini tiation o f which c i rcumcision is the cen tral feature
, ,

i s conceive d b y them as by some Aus tralian tribes as a process of

, ,

bein g swallow e d a n d d i s gor ged by a my thical monster whose voice ,

is heard i n the hummin g sound o f the bull roarer In d ee d the New -

.

Guinea tribes n ot only impress thi s belie f on the min d s of women

a n d chil d ren but enact it in a dramatic form at the actual rites of
,

ini tia tion at which no woman or un i nitiated person may be presen t

, .

For this purpose a hut about a hun d re d feet lon g is erected either
in the vi llage or in a lonely part o f the fores t It i s mo d elled in the .

shape o f the mythical monster ; at the end which represen ts his head
it is hi gh and it tapers away at the o ther en d
,
A b etel palm grubbed .
-
,

up wi th the roots stands for the backbone o f the g reat bein g and
,

its clusterin g fibres for hi s hair ; and to complete the resem b lance
the bu tt e n d o f the build i n g i s a d orne d by a nat i ve arti s t wi th a pair
o f go ggle eyes a n d a gapin g mou th When a fter a tear ful parting
.

from the i r mothers an d women folk who b elieve or preten d to believe

,

in the mons ter that swallows thei r dear ones the awe struck novices ,
-

are brou gh t face to face w ith this imposi ng s truc ture the hu ge creature ,

emi ts a sullen growl which is in fac t no o ther than the humming

,

note o f bull roarers swun g by men conceale d in the mons ter s be lly
-
’
.

The actual process o f d e glu tition is variously enacted Among the .

Tami it is represen te d by causin g the can d idates to d efile past a row

o f men who hold b ull roarers over thei r hea d s ; amon g the Kai it is
-

more graphically set forth b y makin g them pass un d er a sca ffold on

which s tan d s a man who makes a gesture o f swallowin g and takes in
,

fact a gulp o f wa ter as each trem b lin g nov ice passes beneath him .

But the present o f a p ig oppor tunely o ffered for the re demption o f

,

the youth in d uces the mons ter to rele nt and d is gor ge his victim ;
,

the man who represen ts the mons ter accepts the gi ft vicariously a ,

gur glin g soun d i s hear d a nd the wa ter wh i ch had j ust been swallowe d
,

descen d s in a j et on the nov i ce Thi s si gnifies that the youn g man

.

ha s been released from the monster s belly

’
However he has now .
,

to under go the mo re pain ful and d an gerous ope ration o f circumcision .

It follows imme d iately an d the cut made by the kni fe o f the operator
,

is explaine d to b e a bi te or scratch which the monster in flicted on the

novice in spewin g him out o f hi s capacious maw While the operation .

is procee d in g a pro d i gious noise is ma d e by the swi ngi ng of bull

,

roarers to represent the roar o f the d rea d ful b ein g who is in the act
o f s wallowin g the youn g man .

When as some times happens a lad dies from the e ff ect o f the
, ,

operation he is buri e d secre tly in the for e s t and hi s sorrowin g mother

, ,
’
i s tol d tha t the monster ha s a pi g s s tomach as well as a human s tomach ,

a n d tha t un fortunately her son slippe d into the w ron g stomach from ,

which it was impossible to extrica te him A fter they have been .

circumcise d the l ads m ust remain for some m onths in seclusion shun ,
v 11 T HE R IT U AL O F DEAT H A N D RE SURR E CTI O N 695

n ing all contact with women a nd even the si ght o f them They live .

in the long hut which represents the monster s belly When at last ’
.

the lads now rankin g as initiated men are brought back wi th great
, ,

pomp and ceremony to the villa ge they are receive d with sobs a n d ,

tears o f j oy by the women as i f the g rave had given up its dea d , At .

first the youn g men keep their eyes ri gi d ly close d or even seale d with
a plas ter of chalk and they appear not to u nd erstan d the wor d s o f
,

comman d wh ich are given them by an el d er Gra d ually however .

, ,

they come to themselves as i f aw a kenin g from a s tupor and next day ,

they bathe an d wash off the crust o f whi te chalk wi th which their
bo dies ha d been coate d .

It is hi ghly si gnificant that all these tribes of New Gu inea apply

the same wor d to the bull roarer an d to the monster who i s suppose d
-
,

to swallow the novices at ci rcumc i sion and whose fear ful roar i s ,

represente d by the hum o f the harmless wooden ins trumen ts Further .

,

it deserves to be note d that in three lan gua ges out o f the four the
same wor d which is applie d to the bull roarer and to the mons ter -

m eans also a ghost or spirit o f the d ead while in the four th lan gua ge ,
” “

(the Kai ) it si gnifies gran d fa ther From th i s it seems to follow .

that the bein g who swallows an d d is gor ges the novices at i nitiat i on
is believe d to be a power ful ghos t or ancestral spiri t and that the ,

bull roarer which b ears his name i s his mater ial representative
-
, , .

That woul d explain the j ealous secrecy with which the sacre d im p le
m ent i s kept from the s ight o f women Wh i le they are n ot in use
the bull —
.
,

roarers are s towed away in the men s club houses wh ich no ’

-
,

woman may enter ; i n d ee d no woman or uniniti ate d person may set

eyes on a bull roarer un d er pain o f death
-
S i milarly amon g the .

Tugeri or Kaya Kaya a lar ge Papuan tri b e on the south coast o f

-
,

Dutch New Guinea the name o f the bull roarer wh ich they call s os om
,
-
, ,

is given to a mythical gian t who i s suppose d to appear every year ,

with the south eas t monsoon When he comes a fes tival is hel d in
-
.
,

his honour and bull roarers are swun g Boys are presente d to the
-
.

gia nt and he kills them b ut consi d erately b rin gs them to l i fe a gain

, , .

In cer tain d istricts o f Vi ti Levu the lar ge st o f the Fij ian Islan d s , ,

the d rama o f d eath a n d resurrec tion used to be acte d wi th much

solemn ity be fore the eyes o f youn g men at initia tion In a sacre d .

enclosure they were shown a row o f d ea d or seem i ngly dea d m en

lyin g on the groun d their bo d ies cut open and covere d with bloo d
, ,

their entrails protrudin g B ut at a yell from the hi gh pr i es t the

.

counter feit d ea d men s tarted to their feet a n d ran d own to the river
to cleanse them selves from the bloo d and guts of pi gs with which
they were beslobb ere d Soon they marche d back to the sacred en
.

closure as i f come to li fe clean fresh a n d garlan d e d sway in g thei r

, , , ,

bodies in time to the music o f a solemn hymn a n d took thei r ,

places i n front o f the novices Such was the d rama of d ea th and .

resurrection .

The people o f Rook an i sland be tween New Guinea and New

,

B rita in hol d festivals at which one or two d is guise d men their head s
, ,
696 T H E E XT E RNAL S OUL I N FOLK -CU STO M CH .

cover ed with woo d en masks go d anc in g through the villa ge followed , ,

by all the other men They d eman d tha t the circumc i se d boys who
.

have n ot yet been swallowe d by M arsa b a (the d evil ) shall be given

up to them The boys tremblin g a n d shriek i n g are delivered to
.
, ,

them a nd mus t creep b etween the le gs o f the d is guised men Then

,
.

the procession moves throu gh the villa ge a g ain a n d announces that ,

Marsaba has eaten up the boys a n d will n ot dis gor ge them till he ,

receives a presen t o f p ig s taro a n d so forth S o all the villagers , ,

.
,

accor d i n g to the i r means con tri b ute prov i sions which are then con
, ,

sume d in the name o f Marsaba .

In the wes t o f Ceram boys at puber ty are a d mi tted to the Kakian

association Mo d ern wr iters have commonly re gar d ed this association
.

as pr imar ily a pol itical lea gue i nsti tuted to resis t fore ign d omination .

I n re a lity its obj ects are purely reli gious and social thou gh it is p ossible ,

tha t the pr i ests may have occasionally use d their power ful influence
fo r pol itical en d s The society i s in fact merely one o f those wi dely
.

d i ff use d primi tive ins ti tu tions o f which a chie f obj ect i s the ini tiation ,

o f you n g men In recen t years the true nature o f the association

.

has b een d uly reco gn i se d b y the d istin gu i shed Dutch ethnolo gist
J G F R ie d el The Kak ian house is an o b lon g woo d en shed si tuate d
. . . .
,

un d er the d arkes t trees in the d ep th o f the forest and i s b uilt to a dm it ,

so li ttle l igh t th a t i t i s imposs i ble to see W hat goes on in it Every .

villa ge has such a house Thi ther the boys who are to be initiated .

are con d uc te d blin d fold followe d by their parents an d relations

,
.

E ach b oy i s led by the han d o f two men who act as his sponsors or ,

guardians looki n g a fter him dur in g the per i o d o f i nitia tion

,
When .

all a re assemble d be fore the shed the hi gh priest calls aloud upon ,

the d evils Imme d iately a hi d eous uproar is hear d to proceed fro m

.

the shed It i s ma d e by men wi th bamboo trumpets who have been

.
,

secretly intro d uced into the buil d in g by a back d oor but the women ,

a n d chil d ren think it is ma d e by the d evils and are much terrifie d ,

.

Then the priests enter the she d followe d by the boys one at a time , ,
.

A s soon as each boy has d isappeare d wi thin the precincts a d ull chop ,

pin g soun d is heard a fear ful cry ri ngs out and a sword or spear
,
.

, ,

d rippin g wi th bloo d i s thrus t throu gh the roo f o f the shed

,
This is .

a token that the boy s head has been cut off and that the devil has
’

carri e d him away to the other worl d there to re generate a n d trans form ,

him So at si ght o f the bloo d y swor d the mothers weep an d wail

. ,

cryin g that the d evil has mur d ere d thei r children In some places .
,

it w ould seem the boys are pushe d throu gh a n openin g made in the
,
’
shape o f a crocodile s j aws or a cassowary s beak an d it is then said
’

that the devil has swallowe d them The boys remain in the shed .

for five or nine d ays S ittin g in the d ark they hear the blas t of the
.
,

bam boo trumpets and from tim e to time the soun d o f musket shots
,

and the clash o f swor d s E very da y they bathe a n d thei r faces

.
,

a n d bo d ies are smeared with a yellow dye to give them the appearance ,

o f havin g been swallowed b y the dev il Dur i n g his stay in the Kakian .

house each boy has one or two crosses ta ttooe d with thorns on his
698 T H E E XT ERN A L S OU L IN FOLK -CU ST OM CH .

masticate food and friends have to p er form th at o ffice for them

,
.

They want every thin g nice that any one un initia ted may have and ,

beat them if it is not g ran te d or even stran gle a nd kill people They ,
.

do not get into trouble for th i s because i t i s thou ght that they do not ,

know bet ter Some ti mes they carry on the pretence o f talkin g gib
.

berish an d behav in g as i f they had returne d from the spirit-world

A fter this they are kno wn b y ano ther name peculiar to those who
.
,

have di e d N d embo We hear o f the custom far alon g on the

’

”
upper river as well as i n the cataract re g ion
,
.

Amon g some o f the In d ian tribes o f N orth America there exist

certain reli gious associati ons which are only open to candi d ates who
have gone throu gh a pretence o f b ein g kille d an d brou ght to li fe again .

In 17 66 or 17 6 7 Cap tain Jona than Carver witnesse d the admission of

the frien d ly socie ty o f the
“
a can d i d ate to an association calle d
Spir it (Wa k on K i tchew a h ) amon g the N a u dow es sies a Siouan or
-
,

Dacotan tribe in the re gion o f the great lakes The candi date knelt .

“
be fore the chie f who tol d him that he himsel f was now agitated
,

by the same spiri t which he shoul d in a few moments communicate

to him ; that it woul d strike him d ead but that he would ins tantly ,

be restore d again to li fe ; to this he a dd ed that the communication , ,

however terri fyin g was a necessary intro d uc tion to the advantages

,

enj oye d by the community into wh ich he was on the point of bein g
a dmitte d As he spoke thi s he appeared to be greatly a gitated ;
.
,

till at last his emot i ons became so violent that his countenance was ,

d istorte d a n d his whole fram e convulsed

,
At this j uncture he threw .

some thin g that appeare d both in shape a nd colour like a small bean ,

a t the youn g man which seemed to en ter his mou th and he ins tantly
, ,

fell as mo tionless as i f he ha d b een sho t For a time the man lay .

like dea d b ut under a shower o f blows he showed s igns o f conscious

,

ness a n d finally d i schar gin g from his mouth the bean or whatever
, , ,

it was tha t the chie f ha d thrown at him he came to li fe In other , .

tribes for example the Oj eb ways Winneba goes a n d Dacota s or

, , , ,

S ioux the ins trument by which the candi d ate i s apparently sla in is
,

the m e d icine b a g The b a g i s ma d e o f the skin o f an a nimal (such

-
.

as the ot ter wil d cat serpent bear raccoon wol f owl weasel ) of
, , , , , , , ,

which it rou ghly preserves the shape E ach member o f the society .

has one o f these ba gs in which he keeps the odds and en d s that make
,
”
up his me d icine or charms They bel i eve that from the m iscel .

la n eou s contents in the belly o f the skin b a g or animal there issues

a spi rit or breath which has the power not only to knock d own and
, ,
”
kill a man b ut also to s et him up and restore him to li fe
,
The mode .

o f killin g a man wi th one o f these me d icine ba gs i s to thrust it at him ;

-

he falls like dea d b ut a secon d thrus t o f the b a g restores him to li fe

, .

A ceremony wi tnessed by the cas taway John R Jewitt durin g .

hi s cap ti vity amon g the In d ians o f Nootka Soun d d oubtless belongs

to this class o f customs The In d ian k in g or chie f di scharged a
.

’
pi stol close to hi s son s ear who immediately fell d own as if killed , ,

u p on whi ch all the w om en of the hou se set up a m ost lam ent able cry ,
v n THE R IT UAL OF DEAT H A ND R ESU R REC T I ON 699

tearin g hand fuls o f hai r from thei r hea d s and exclaimin g that the ,

prince was d ea d ; at the same time a g reat number of the i nhabitan ts

rushe d into the house arme d wi th their daggers muskets etc enq ui r , , .
,

ing the cause o f their outcry These were imme d iately followe d by .

two others dresse d in wol f skins wi th masks over their faces rep re-
,

senting the hea d o f that animal The latter came in on thei r hands .

and feet in the manner o f a beast and taking up the prince carri ed , ,

him off upon their backs re tiring in the same manner they entere d
In another place Jewitt mentions that the youn g prince—a lad o f
, .

—
about eleven years o f age wore a mask in imi tation o f a wol f s hea d ’
.

Now as the In d ians o f thi s part o f America are d ivide d in to totem

,

clans o f which the Wol f clan i s one o f the principal and as the mem
, ,

b ers o f each clan are in the habi t o f wearin g some portion o f the totem
animal about their person it is probable that the prince belon ge d to
,

the Wol f clan and that the ceremony describe d by Jewitt represented
,

the killing o f the la d in or d er that he mi ght be born anew as a wol f ,

m uch in the same way tha t the Basque hunter supposed himsel f to

have been kille d an d to have come to li fe a gain as a bear .

This conj ectural explanation o f the ceremony has since it was first ,

put forwar d been to some exten t confirmed b y the researches of Dr

, .

Franz B oas amon g these In d ians ; thou gh it would seem that the com
’
m unity to which the chie f s son thus ob taine d a d mission was not so

m uch a totem clan as a secret soc i ety calle d T lok oala whose members ,

imi tate d wolves E ve ry new member o f the society must be init iate d
.

by the wolves At ni ght a pack o f wolves personated by In d ians

.
,

dresse d in wol f ski ns a n d wear i n g wol f masks make their appea rance
- -
, ,

sei z e the novice a n d carry him into the woo d s When the wolves
, .

are hear d ou ts i de the villa ge com in g to fe tch away the novice a ll , ,

the members o f the society blacken thei r faces a nd sin g Amon g all ,

the tribes is great excitement because I am T lok oala Next day , .

the wolves brin back the novice d ea d a n d the members o f the soci ety
have to revive Tu
,

m The wolves are supposed to h ave put a m agi c

.

stone into hi s body which mus t be remove d be fore he can come to

,

li fe Till this is d one the pre ten d e d corpse is le ft lyin g ou tsi d e the
.

house Two wi z ar d s go an d remove the stone which appears to be

.
,

quar tz an d then the nov i ce is resuscitate d Among the Niska Indians

,
.

of Bri tish Columbia who are d ivi d e d into four principal clans with
,

the raven the wol f the eagle an d the bear for their respective totems
, , , ,

the novice at ini tia tion i s always brou ght back by an ar tificial totem
animal Thus when a m an wa s abou t to be initiated into a secret
.
.

society called Olala his friends d rew their knives and preten d ed to
,

kill him In reali ty they let him slip away while they cut off the
.
,

hea d o f a d ummy which had been adroitly substituted fo r him Then .

they lai d the d ecapitated d ummy d own and covered it over and the ,

women be gan to mourn and wail His relations gave a funeral banquet .

and solemnly burnt the e ffi gy In short they held a re gular funeral .

, .

For a whole year the novice remained absent and was seen by none
b ut members o f the secret society But at the en d of that time he .
7 00 T H E EXT ERNAL SOUL I N FOL K -CUSTO M CH
.

cam e b ack alive carrie d by an ar tificial animal which represented

,

hi s totem .

In these ceremonies the essence o f the ri te appears to be the killing

o f the novice in his char a c ter o f a man a n d hi s res toration to li fe in

the form o f the an i mal which i s thence forwar d to be i f not his guardian ,

spiri t at leas t l i nke d to him in a peculiarly intimate relation It

, .

i s to be remembere d tha t the In d ians o f Gua temala whose li fe was ,

.

boun d up wi th an animal were suppose d to have the power of appear

,

ing in the shape o f the particular creatu re wi th which they were thus
sympathetically united Hence it seems n ot unreasonable to con
.

j ecture that in like manner the In d ians o f B ritish Columbia may

i ma gine that the i r li fe d epen d s on the li fe o f some one o f that species
o f crea ture to which they assimila te themselves by their costum e .

At least i f that is not an ar ticle of belie f wi th the Columbian Indians

o f the present d ay it may very well have been so with thei r ancestors
,

in the pas t and thus may have helpe d to moul d the rites a nd cere
,

moni es b oth of the totem clans and o f the secret societ i es For though .

these two sorts o f communi ties d i ffer in respect o f the mode in which
membership o f them i s obta ine d—a man being born into his totem
clan but a d mitte d into a secret society later in li fe—we can hardly
d oub t tha t they are near aki n and have their root in the same mode
o f thou gh t That thou ght i f I am ri ght i s the possibility o f es tab
.
, ,

li shin g a sympa the tic relat i on with an animal a s p iri t or other mi ghty
bein g with whom a man d eposits for sa fe —
, ,

,
keepin g his soul or so m e
par t o f it and from whom he receives in return a gi ft o f magical
,

p owers .

Thus on the theory here su ggested wherever totemism i s found

,
-
, ,

an d wherever a pretence i s made o f killin g and brin g in g to li fe a gain

the novice at initiation there may exist or have exis ted not only a
,

belie f in the possibili ty o f permanently d epositin g the soul in som e

external obj ect— animal plant or what not—but an actual intention
, ,

o f so d oin g If the ques ti on i s put why do men desire to d eposit

.
,

thei r li fe outsi d e their bodies ? the answer can only be that like the ,

gian t in the fairy tale they think it sa fer to do so than to carry i t

,

about with them j us t as people d eposit thei r money with a banker

,

rather than carry it on their persons We have seen that at critical .

periods the li fe or soul is some times temporarily stowed away in a

sa fe place till the dan ger i s past B ut ins ti tu tions like to temism are .

not resorted to merely on special occasions o f d an ger ; they are systems

into which every one or at least every male is o b li ged to be initiated
, ,

at a certain period of li fe Now the perio d o f li fe at which initiation

.

t akes place i s re gularly puberty ; and this fact su gges ts that the special
dan ger which to temi sm an d sys tems like it are inten d e d to obviate
i s supposed not to arise t ill sexual m aturi ty has been attained in
-
,

fact tha t the dan ger a pprehended is believe d to atten d the relation
,

o f the sexes to each o ther It would be easy to prove by a lon g array

.

of f act s th at the sexual relation i s associated in the primitive mind

with m any se rious perils ; but the exact nature o f the dan ge r appre
7 02 T HE GOLD E N B OUGH CH .

swore to the demon N am uci that he woul d slay him neither by day
nor by ni ght neither with s ta ff nor with bow ne ither w ith the palm
, ,

o f the hand nor wi th the fist nei ther w ith the w et nor wi th the d r
, y .

But he kille d him in the morn in g twili gh t by spr i nklin g over him
the foam o f the sea The foam o f the sea is j ust such an obj ect as
.

a sava ge mi ght choose to put hi s li fe in because it occupies that ,

sor t o f in terme d iate or non d escr i pt position be tween ear th and sky
or s ea and sky in which primi tive man sees sa fe ty It i s there fore .

not surpri sin g that the foam o f the river shoul d be the totem of a
clan in In d ia .

A gain the view that the mis tle toe owes i ts mystic character
,

partly to its not grow in g on the groun d is confirme d by a parallel

supersti tio n abou t the moun tain ash or rowan tree In Jutlan d a
- -
.

rowan that i s foun d growing out o f the top o f ano ther tree i s es teeme d
“
excee d in gly e ffective a gainst wi tchcra ft : since it d oes not grow
on the groun d wi tches have no power over it ; if it is to have its full
”
e ff ect it mus t be cut on Ascension Day Hence it i s place d over .

d oors to preven t the in gress o f wi tches In Swe d en an d Norway .

,

also ma gical proper ties are ascribe d to a fl yin g rowan (dogr an a )

,
-
,

tha t is to a rowan which is foun d g rowin g n ot in the ordinary fashion

on the ground but on ano ther tree or on a roo f or in a cle ft o f the , ,

rock where it has sprouted from see d scat tered by b i rds They say
,
.

“
that a man who i s out in the d ark shoul d have a b it o f fl ying rowan -

wi th him to chew ; else he runs a risk o f bein g bewitche d a nd o f b eing

unable to stir from the spot Just as in Scan d inavia the parasi tic
.

rowan is d eem e d a countercharm to sorcery so i n Germany the parasi tic ,

mis tle toe is s till commonly consi d ered a pro tec tion a gains t w itch
cra ft and in S we d en as we saw the mi stletoe wh ich is gathered on
, , ,
’
M i d summer E v e i s attache d to the ceilin g o f the house the horse s ,

stall or the cow s crib in the belie f that thi s ren d ers the Troll power
’
,

less to inj ure man or beast .

The view tha t the m i s tletoe was not merely the ins trument o f
Balder s death b ut that it contained hi s li fe i s countenanced by
’
, ,

the analo gy o f a Scottish supersti tion Tra d ition ran that the fate
.

o f the H ays o f E rrol an esta te i n Per thshire near the Firth o f Tay
, , ,

was boun d up w ith the mistletoe that grew on a certain great oak .

A m ember of the H ay family has recor d e d the old belie f as follows :

'

“
Amo ng the low count ry famil ies the ba dges are now almost generally
for go tten ; but it appears by an ancient M S and the tradition of a .
,

few old people in Per thshire tha t the ba dge o f the Hays was the
,

m is tletoe There was formerly in the nei ghbourhood o f E rrol and

. ,

not fa r from the Falcon s tone a vast oak o f an unknown age and
, ,

upon which grew a pro fusion o f the plan t : many charms an d le gends
w ere consi d ere d to be connected w ith the tree and the duration ,

o f the family o f Hay was said to be u n ited with its exi stence It .

was beli eve d that a spri g o f the m istletoe cut by a Hay on Allhallow
mas eve with a new d i rk and a fter surround i n g the tree three times
, ,

sunwi se an d pronouncin g a certain spell

,
was a sur e charm a gainst ,
v 111 T H E GOLD E N B OUGH 703

all glamour or witch ery and an in fallible guard in the day of battle
,
.

A spray gathere d in the same manner was placed in the cra d le o f

in fants a nd thou gh t to de fen d them from being chan ge d for elf
,

bairns by the fair i es Fi nally it was affirme d tha t when the root
.
, ,
‘
of the oak had per i shed the g rass shoul d grow in the hearth o f
,

Errol and a raven shoul d sit in the falcon s nest

’
,
The two most ’
.

unlucky dee d s which could be d one by one o f the name o f Hay was ,

to kill a white falcon a n d to cut d own a limb from the oak o f E rrol
, .

When the old t ree was d estroye d I coul d never learn The estate .

has been sold out o f the family o f H ay an d o f course it is sai d that ,

”
the fatal oak was cut d own a shor t time be fore The old supers tition .

is recor d e d in verses which are tra d iti onally ascribe d to Thomas the
Rhymer :
Whi le the m is tle toe b a ts on E r r ol s aik ,
'

A nd tha t atk s ta nd s fas t,

T he H ays s ha ll fl our i s h and their g ood gr ey hawk,

S hall n ocht fli nch b efor e the b las t .

B u t w hen the r oo t of the ai k d ecays ,

A nd the m i s tle toe d wi nes on i ts wi ther ed b r ea s t

'
,
’
The gr ass s ha ll g r o w on E r r ol s hea r ths tone ,
'
A nd the cor b i e r oup i n the fa lcon s nes t .

It is not a new opinion that the Gold en B ou gh was the mistletoe o .

True Vir gi l d oes not i d enti fy b u t only compares it wi th m i stletoe

, .

But th i s may b e only a poe tical d ev ice to cast a mys tic glamour
over the humble plant Or more probably hi s d escription was
.
, ,

base d on a popular supers tition that at cer tain t imes the mi stletoe
blaz e d out in to a supernatural gol d en glory The poet tells how .

—
two d oves gui d in g Aeneas to the gloomy vale in whose d ep th grew
,

the Golden Bou gh ali ghte d upon a tree whence shone a flickerin g
, ,

gleam o f gol d As i n the woo d s i n winter col d the mis tletoe a

plant n ot na ti ve to its tre e—is green w ith fresh leaves an d twines
.

its yellow berries about the holes ; such seeme d upon the sha d y
holm oak the lea fy gol d so rus tle d in the gen tle b reeze the gol d en
-
,
”
lea f Here Vir gi l d efinitely d escr ibes the Gol d en Bou gh as growin g
on a holm —
.

oak a nd compares it w ith the m i s tletoe The in ference

,
.

is almos t ine vi table tha t the Gol d en B ough was no th in g b ut the

mis tletoe seen throu gh the haze o f poetry or o f popular supersti tion .

N ow groun d s have been shown for b eliev in g that the priest o f

the Arici an grove—the Kin g o f the Woo d— person ified the tree on
which grew the Golden Bou gh Hence i f that tree was the oak .
,

the K i n g o f the Woo d mus t have been a person ification o f the oak
spirit It i s there fore easy to un d erstand why be fore he coul d be
,
, , ,

slain it was necessary to break the Golden Bou gh As an oak spi rit
,
.
-
,

his li fe or d eath was in the mistletoe on the oak an d so lon g as the ,

m i s tletoe remaine d intac t he like Bal d er coul d not di e To slay

, , , .

him there fore it was necessary to break the mi s tle toe a n d probably
, , , ,

as in the case o f Bal d er to throw it at him A nd to complete the

.
.
7 04 T HE GOLDE N B OUGH CH .

paralle l it i s only necessary to suppose that the Kin g o f the Wood

'

was formerly burne d d ea d or al ive a t the m i d summer fire fes tival

, ,

which as we have seen was annually cele b rate d i n the A r i cian grove
, , .

The perpetual fire wh ich burne d in the grove l i ke the perpetual fire ,

wh i ch burne d in the temple o f Vesta at Rome a n d un d er the oak

at Rom ove was probably fed w ith the sacre d oak wood ; an d thus
,
-

i t woul d be i n a great fire o f oak that the K i n g o f the Wood formerly

m et hi s e n d At a later time as I have su gges te d his annual tenure
.
, ,

o f o ffice was len gthene d or shortene d as the case mi ght be by the , ,

rule wh ich allowe d hi m to l ive so lon g as he could prove his d ivine

ri ght by the s tron g han d But he only escape d the fire to fall by
.

the sword .

Thus it seems that a t a remo te age in the hear t o f Italy beside ,

the swee t Lake o f N emi the same fiery tra gedy was annually enacted
,

which I talian merchants an d sol d iers were a fterwar d s to wi tness

amon g their rude kin d re d the Celts o f Gaul an d which i f the Roman
, , ,

ea gles ha d ever swoope d on Norway m i ght have b een foun d repeate d ,

with little d i fference amon g the barbarous Aryans o f the North The .

rite was probably an essen tial feature in the ancient Aryan worship
o f the oak .

It only remains to ask Why was the mistle toe calle d the Gol den
,

B ou gh ? The whit i sh yellow o f the m i s tletoe b err ies is har d ly enough

-

to account for the nam e for Vir gil says tha t the bou gh was alto gether
,

gol d en s tem s as well as leaves Perhaps the name may be d erived

'

, .

from the r i ch gol d en yellow which a bou gh o f m i s tletoe assumes

when it has been cut an d kept for some months ; the br ight tint is
not confine d to the leaves but sprea d s to the stalks as well so that
, ,

the whole branch appears to be in d eed a Gol d en Bou gh B reton .

peasan ts han g up g reat bunches o f mis tletoe in front o f the i r co tta ges ,

a n d in the month o f June these bunches are co n spicuous fo r the br ight

gol d en tin ge o f thei r fol i a ge I n some parts o f B ri ttany especially

.
,

about Morbihan branches o f mi s tletoe are hun g over the doors o f

,

stables and b yt es to protect the horses and cattle probably a gainst ,

W itchcra ft .

The yellow colour o f the withered bou gh may partly explain why
the mi stletoe has been someti mes suppose d to posses s the property o f
disclosin g treasures in the earth ; for on the principles o f homoeopathic
m agic there i s a na tural a ffinity between a yellow bough and yellow
gold . This su gges tion is confirme d by the analo gy o f the marvellous
prope rti es popularly ascr ibe d to the mythical fern see d which is -
,

popularly suppose d to bloom like gol d or fire on M id summ er Eve .

Thus in B ohemi a i t i s said that on St John s Day fern see d blooms “

.
’
-

with gol d en blossoms that gleam li ke fi

thi s myth i cal fern -see d tha t whoever has it or wil ,

holdin g it in his hand on Midsummer E v e will d is ,

o r w i ll see the t re a sures o f the earth shinin g w ith

Russia they say that i f you succeed in catchin g the
the fern a t mi d nigh t on Midsummer
7 06 T HE GOLD E N B OUGH CH .

a simp le a ffirmative We have seen that the old Aryans perhaps kindled
.

the solstitial a n d other ceremonial fires in part as sun charms that is -

, ,

with the intention o f supplyin g the sun w ith fresh fire ; an d as these
fires were usually made by the friction or combustion o f oak wood it -
,

m a y have appeare d to the ancien t Aryan that the sun was periodically

recruite d from the fire which resi d e d in the sacre d oak In other .

wor d s the oak may have seeme d to him the ori ginal storehouse or
,

reservoi r o f the fire which was from ti me to time d rawn out to feed
the sun B ut i f the l i fe o f the oak was conceive d to be in the mistletoe
.
,

the mi s tle toe mus t on that view have containe d the see d or germ o f the
fire which was elici te d by fr ict i on from the woo d o f the oak Thus .
,

i ns tead o f sayin g that the m i stletoe was an emana tion o f the sun s ’

fire it mi ght b e m ore correct to say that the sun s fire was re gar de d
’

as an emana tion o f the m istle toe N o won d r then that the m i s tletoe . e , ,

shone wi th a gol d en splendour an d was calle d the Gol d en Bou gh

Probably however like fern — seed i t w
, .

, as thou ght to assume its gol d en

, ,

aspect only at those state d times especially mi d summer when fire , ,

was d rawn from the oak to li ght up the sun A t Pulverbatch in .

,

Shropshi re it was believe d wi thin livi n g memory that the oak tree
,
-

bloom s on M i d summer E v e a n d the blos som wi thers be fore daylight .

A mai d en who wishes to know her lot in marria ge shoul d sprea d a

white cloth un d er the tree at ni gh t a nd in the mornin g she will find ,

a little dust which is all tha t remains o f the flower She should place
, .

the pinch o f d us t under her pillow an d then her future husban d will ,

appear to her in her d reams This fleetin g bloom o f the oak i f I am .

,

ri ght was proba b ly the m istletoe in it s character o f the Gol d en Bough

, .

The conj ecture is confirme d by the observation that in Wales a real

spri g o f mistle toe gathe re d on Midsummer E ve is similarly place d
under the pillow to i n d uce prophet i c d ream s ; an d further the mo de
o f catchin g the ima g inary bloom o f the oak in a white cloth i s exac tly
"

that which was employed by the Drui d s to catch the real mistletoe
when it d ropped from the bough o f the oak severe d by the golden ,

sickle As Shropshire borders on Wales the belie f that the oak blooms
.
,

on Midsummer E ve may be Welsh in its immediate or i gin though ,

probably the belie f is a fra gment o f the pri mi tive Aryan cree d In .

some parts o f Italy as we saw peasants s till go out on Midsummer

, ,
“
mornin g to sea rch the oak trees for the oil of St John which like
-
.
, ,

the mi s tletoe heals all woun d s a n d i s perhaps the mistletoe i tsel f

, , , ,

in i ts glorifie d aspect Thus it i s easy to un d ers tan d how a ti tle like

.

the Golden B ou gh so li ttle d escriptive o f its usual appearance on

,

the tree shoul d have been applie d to the seemin gly insi gnificant
,

parasite Further we can perhaps see why in a ntiqui ty mistletoe

.
,

was bel i eve d to possess the remarkable property o f extin gui shin g .

fire and why in Swe d en it i s still kept i n houses as a sa fe guar d a gainst

,

confl a gra tio n Its fiery na ture marks it out on homoeopathic prin
.
,

cip les as the best possible cure or preventive o f inj ury by fire
, .

These consi d era tions may partially explain why Vi r gil makes
A eneas carry a glorified bou gh o f mistletoe with him on hi s desce nt
v 111 T HE GOLD E N B OUGH 707

into the gloomy subterranean w orl d The poet d esc ribes how at the .

very gates o f hell there s tretched a vast and gloomy woo d and how ,

the hero followin g the fli ght o f two d oves that lured him on wandered
, ,

into the depths o f the immemorial forest til l he saw a far off throu gh
the sha d ows o f the trees the flickerin g li ght o f the Gol d en B ou gh
illumina tin g the matted boughs overhead I f the mis tletoe as a .
,

yellow withere d bough i n the sa d autumn woods was conceived to ,

contain the seed of fire what better companion could a forlorn wanderer
,

in the ne ther shades take with him than a bou gh that woul d be a
lamp to hi s feet as well as a ro d and sta ff to his hands ? A rmed with
it he mi ght bol d ly con front the d read ful spectres that woul d cross his
path on hi s adventurous j ourney Hence when Aeneas emerg in g .
,

from the forest comes to the banks of Styx win di n g slow with
, ,

sluggish s tream through the in fernal marsh and the surly ferryman ,

refuses him passage in his boat he has but to d raw the Gol d en B ou gh ,
.

from his bosom and hold it up and straightway the blusterer quails ,

at the si ght and meekly receives the hero into hi s crazy bark which ,

sinks deep in the water un d er the unusual wei ght of the livi n g man .

Even in recent times as we have seen mistletoe has been d eemed a

, ,

protection against witches and trolls and the ancients may well have ,

credite d it w ith the sam e magical vi rtue And i f the parasi te can as .
,

some o f our peasants b elieve open all locks why sho uld i t n ot have
, ,
”“
served as an open S esame in the hands o f Aeneas to unlock the
gates o f d eath ?
Now too w e can conj ecture why Vi rbius at Nemi came to be
, ,

con found e d with the sun If Virbius was as I have trie d to show
.
, ,

a tree spirit he must have bee n the spirit o f the oak on which grew
-
,

the Gol d en B ough ; for trad ition represented him as the first of the
Kin gs o f the Wood A s an oak spirit he must ha ve been suppose d
.
-

’
periodically to rekindle the sun s fire and mi ght there fore eas i ly be ,

con foun d e d with the sun itsel f S imilarly we can explain why Balder .
,

an oak S pirit was d escribe d as so fair of face an d so sh in i n g that

-
,
“

”
a li gh t went fo rth from him a n d why he shoul d have b een so o ften
,

taken to be the sun And in general we may say that in primitive

.

soc i e ty when the only known way o f makin g fire i s by the fr i ction
,

of wood the sava ge must n ece ssarily conceive o f fire as a property

,
s

store d away like sap or j uice in trees from which he has laboriously
, , ,

to ext ract it The Senal In d ians o f Cali fornia pro fess to believe
.

that the whole world was once a globe of fire whence that eleme n t ,

passe d up i nto the trees and now comes out whenever two pi eces
,

of woo d are rubbed to gether Similarly the Mai d u In d ians o f Ca li

.

fornia hol d that the ea rth was primarily a globe o f molten matter
“

and from that the principle of fire ascended throu gh the roo ts into
the trunk a n d branches o f trees whence the Indians can extract it ,

by means o f their drill In N a m oluk one of the Caroline I slands

.
, ,

they say that the art of maki n g fire was taught men by the gods .

O lo faet the cunnin g master o f flames gave fire to the bi r d m wi and

, ,

bade him carry it to earth in his bill So the bi rd fl ew from tr ee to .

708 T HE GOLD E N B OU G H CH .

tree a n d stored away the slumbering force o f the fire in the wood ,

from which m en can e lici t it by fric ti on In the anci ent Vedic hymns
“

o f India the fi re go d A gni

-
is spoken o f as b orn i n woo d as the embryo
“

o f plant s or as d i stribute d i n plants

, H e i s also sai d to have entered
.

i n to all plants or to strive a fter them When he i s calle d the embryo

.

o f trees or o f tre es as well as plan ts there may be a side glance at

,
-

”
the fire pro d uced in forests by the friction o f the bou ghs o f trees .

A tree which has been s truck by li ghtnin g i s naturally re garde d

by the sava ge as char ge d wi th a double or tr i ple po rtion o f fire ; for
has he not seen the mi ghty flas h enter into t he trunk with hi s own
eyes ? Hence perhaps we may explain som e of the many super
stitious belie fs concernin g trees that have been struck by li ghtning .

When the Thompson In d ians of Bri tish Columbia wis he d to set fire
to the houses o f their enemi es they shot at them arrows which were
,

either ma d e from a tree that had been s truck by li ghtnin g or had

splinters o f such wood attache d to them Wen d i sh peasants of
'

Saxony re fuse to burn in their stoves the wood o f trees that have
been struck by li ghtnin g ; they say that with such fuel the house
woul d be burnt d own In like manner the Thong a of South Africa
.

will not use such wood as fuel nor warm themselves at a fire which
has been ki n d le d with it On the contrary when li ghtning sets fire
.
,

to a tree the W inam wanga o f N orthern Rhodesia put out all the
,

fires in the village and plaster the fireplaces a fresh while the head ,

men convey the li ghtnin g kindle d fire to the chie f who prays over
-
,

it The chie f then sen d s out the new fire to all his villages and the
.
,

villa gers reward his messen gers for the boon Thi s shows that they .

look upon fire kin d led by li ghtnin g with reverence and the reverence ,

i s intelli gible for they speak o f thund e r an d li ghtnin g as God himsel f

,

comin g d own to earth S imilarly the Mai d u Indians of Cali fornia

.

believe that a Great Man created the world and all its inhabitants ,

an d that li ghtnin g i s nothin g but the Great M an himself descen d in g

swi ftly out of heaven and rendi ng the trees with hi s flamin g arm s .

It is a plausible theory that the reverence which the ancient peoples

o f E urope paid to the oak and the connexion which they traced
,

between the tree and thei r sky god were derive d from the much
-
,

greater frequency with which the oak appears to be struck by li ghtning ,

than any other tree of our E uropean forest s Thi s peculiarity o f the .

tree has seemin gly been establi shed by a series of obse rvations in
s ti tute d wi thin recent years by scientific enqui rers who have no
mytholo gical theory to maintain H owever we may explain it
.
,

whether by the easier passa ge o f electricity throu gh oak wood than -

throu gh any o ther timber or in some other way the fact itsel f may
, ,

well have attracted the no tice o f our ru d e fore fathers who dwelt ,

i n the vast forests which then covere d a lar ge part o f E urope ; and
they m ight naturally account for it in their simple reli gious way by
supposin g that the great sky god who m they worshipped an d whose
-
,

aw ful voice they heard in the roll of thunde r loved the oak above ,

all th e tr ees o f the wood and o ften d escended into it from the m urk v
7 10 T HE GOLD E N B OUGH CH .

If there i s any tru th in th i s conj ecture the real reason why the ,

Drui d s worsh ippe d a m is tletoe bearin g oak above all o ther trees of
-

the fore st wa s a b elie f that every such oak ha d n ot only been s truck
b y l ightnin g b u t b ore amon g its b ranches a v i s i ble emanation o f the
celes ti al fire ; so that in cuttin g the mi s tletoe with mystic ri tes they
were securin g fo r themselves all the ma gical properties o f a thun der
bol t If tha t was so we must apparently conclu d e that the mistletoe
.
,

wa s d eeme d an emanat i on o f the li ghtnin g rather than as I have ,

thus fa r ar gue d o f the mi d summer sun

, Perhaps in deed we mi ght .
, ,

com b ine the two seemin gly d iver gen t views by supposin g that in the
o l d A ryan cree d the mi s tletoe d escen d e d from the sun on Mi d summer

Day in a flash of li gh tnin g B ut such a com b ination is artificial and

.

unsupporte d so fa r as I know by any posit i ve evi d ence Whether

, , .

on my thical pr i nciples the two i nterpretations can really be reconcile d

wi th each other or not I will not presume to say ; but eve n should
,

they prove to be di screpan t the inconsi stency n eed not have prevented
,

our ru d e fore fathers from embracin g both o f them a t the same time
'

w ith an equal fervour o f conviction ; for like the great maj ority of
mankin d the sava ge i s above bein g hi d ebound b y the trammels of a
pedan tic lo gic In at tempting to track his devious thou ght through
.

the j un gl e o f crass i gn orance a nd blind fear we must always remember ,

that we are trea d in g enchanted ground and must beware o f taking ,

fo r soli d reali ties the clou d y shapes that cross our path or hover and
gibb e r a t us throu gh the gloom We can never com p le tely replace
.

ourselves at the s tandpoi n t o f primi tive man see thin gs with hi s eyes , ,

a nd feel our hearts beat wi th the emotions that stirred his All our .

theori es concern i n g him an d hi s ways must there fore fall far short of
certainty ; the u tmost we can aspire to i n such matters i s a reasonab le
de gree o f probabili ty .

To conclud e these enquiries we may say that if Bal d er was indeed ,

as I have conj ectured a personification o f a mistletoe-bearin g oak

, ,

his death by a blow o f the mistletoe mi ght on the new theory be ex

plaine d as a d ea th by a stroke o f l ightn i n g So lon g as the mi s tletoe .
,

in which the flame o f the lightnin g smoul d ered was su ffere d to remain ,

amon g the b ou ghs so long no harm could be fall the good an d kindly
,

go d o f the oak who kept hi s li fe stowe d away fo r sa fety between

,

ea rth a nd heaven in the mysterious parasite ; but when once that

seat of his l i fe or o f hi s d eath was torn from the branch and hurled
—the god d ie d—smitten by a thunderbolt
, ,

at the t runk the tree fell

,
.

A n d what we have sai d o f Balder in the oak forests o f Scan dinavia

may perhaps with all due diffidence i n a question so obscure and
,

uncertain b e applie d to the priest o f Diana the Kin g o f the Wood

, , ,

at A ricia in the oak fores ts o f I taly He may have persona ted in .

flesh and b lood the great Ital ian god of the sky Jupiter who had , ,

kin d ly come down from heaven in the li gh tnin g flash to d well amon g
m en in the mi stletoe—the thun d er besom—the Gol den B ou gh—gro w -

i ng on the sacre d oak in the dells o f N emi If that was so we need .

,
'

not wonder that the priest guarde d with drawn sword the mystic
 LXI X FAR E WE LL T O N E M I 7 11

bough which contained the go d s li fe and his own The goddes s ’

.

whom he serve d and marri ed was hersel f i f I am ri ght no other , ,

than the Queen o f Heaven the t rue wi fe o f the s ky god For she
.
-
.
,

too loved the solitude of the woods an d the lonely hills and sailin g
, ,

overhead on clear ni ghts in the likeness o f the silver moon looked

down with pleasure on her own fai r ima ge re fl ected on the calm the ,
’
burnished su rface o f the lake Diana s Mi rro r , .

CHAPT E R LXIX

FA RE W E LL TO NEM I

WE are at the end of our enquiry but as o ften happens in the search ,

after truth i f we have answere d one q uestion we have rai sed many
, ,

more ; i f we have followe d one track hom e we have had to pass by ,

others that opened off it an d led or seeme d to lead to far other goals , ,

than the sacred g rove at N em i Som e o f these paths we have followed

.

a little way ; others i f fortune shoul d be kind the writer an d the

, ,

reader may one day pursue to ge ther For the present we have .

journeyed far enough to gether an d it is time to part Yet before we , .

do so we may well ask ourselves whether there is not some more

,

general conclusion some lesson if possible o f hope and encoura ge

, , ,

ment to be drawn from the melancholy record o f hum an error and

,

folly which has en ga ged our atten tion i n this book .

I f then we consider on the one hand the essential similarity o f

, ,

man s chief wants everywhere a nd at all times and on the other hand
’
, ,

the wide d i ff erence between the means he has a dopted to satis fy them
in di ff erent a ges we shall perhaps be d ispose d to conclude that the
,

movement of the hi gher thou ght so fa r as we can trace it has on the , ,

whole been from ma gic throug h reli gion to science In magic man .

depends on hi s own stren gt h t o meet the d i ffi cul ties and dan gers that
beset -him on every side He bel i eves in a certain established or d er o f
.

nature on which he can surely count and whi ch he can manipulate for ,

his own ends When he d iscovers his m i sta ke when he reco gnises
. ,
"

sadly that both the order of nature which he had assumed and the
control which he had beli eved himsel f to exercise over it were purely
imaginary he ceases to rely on hi s own intelli gence and his own unaided
,

e fforts and throws himself humbly on the mercy of certain great

,

invisible bein gs behind the veil o f nature to whom he now ascribes all ,

those far-reachin g powers which he once arro gated to himsel f Thus .

in the acuter minds ma gic i s gra d ually supersede d by reli gion which ,

explains the succession of natural phenomena as re gulated by the

will the passion or the caprice o f spiri tual bein gs like man in kind
, , ,

thou gh vastly superior to him in power .

B ut as time goes on this explana tion in its t urn proves to be um

satis factory For it assumes that the succession o f natural events
.
7 12 FAR E W E LL TO N E M I CH .

is not determined by immutable laws but i s to some e x tent variable ,

a n d i rre gular and this assump tion i s not borne out b y closer observa
,

tion On the contrary the more we scrutin i se that succession the

.
,

more we are struck by the ri gi d uni formity the punc tual precision with ,

which wherever we can follow them the operations o f nature are

, ,

carried on E very grea t a d vance in knowledge has exten d ed the

.

sphere o f order a n d correspon dingly res tricted the sphere of apparent

d isorder in the world till now we are rea d y to anticipate that even in
,

re gions where chance a n d con fusion appear s till to rei gn a fuller know ,

le dge woul d everywhere reduce the seemin g chaos to cosmos Thus the .

keener min d s still pressin g forward to a d eeper solution o f the mysteries

,

o f the un i verse come to rej ec t the reli g ious theory o f na ture as i m ade
,

q ua te a n d to rever t in a measure to the older standpoint o f ma gic by

,

pos tulatin g explicitly what in ma gic had only been implici tly assumed
, ,

to wit an inflexible re gularity in the order o f natural events which

, , ,

i f care fully observe d enables us to foresee their course wi th certainty

,

a n d to act accord i n gly I n short reli gion regar d e d as an explanation

.
, ,

o f na ture i s d i splace d by science

, .

But wh ile science has this much i n common with ma gic that both
res t on a fai th in or d er as the un d erlyin g p rinciple of all thin gs rea d ers ,

o f this work will har d ly nee d to be remin d ed that the or d er presupposed

by ma gic di ffers wi d ely from that which forms the basi s o f science .

T he d i fference flows naturally from the di ff erent modes in which the

tw o or d ers have been reache d For whereas the order on which magic
.

reckons i s merely an ex tens i on by false analo gy o f the or d er in which

, ,

i d eas presen t them selves to our minds the or d er laid down by science ,

i s d erived from patient and exact observation o f the phenomena

themselves The abundance the soli di ty and the splen d our of the
.
, ,

results alrea d y ach i eve d by science are well fit ted to inspi re us with a
cheer ful confidence in the soundness o f its m ethod Here at last a fter .
,

g ropin g abou t in the d ark fo r countless a ges man has hit upon a clue to ,

the labyrin th a gol d en key tha t opens many locks in the treasury of
,

nature It is pro b a b ly not too much to say that the hope o f pro gress
—moral a nd in tellec tual as well as ma terial— in the future is bound up
.

with the fortunes o f science and tha t every obs tacle place d in the way
,

o f scientific discovery i s a wron g to humanity .

Yet the history o f thou gh t should warn us a gainst concludin g that

because the scientific theory o f the worl d is the best that has yet been
formulate d it is necessarily complete and final
, We must remember .

that at bot tom the general i sa tions o f science or in common parlance , ,

the laws o f na ture are merely hypo theses d evise d to explain that ever
shi ftin g phantasma goria of thou ght which we di gni fy with the hi gh
soun d in g n am es o f the worl d a nd the universe In the last analysi s .

ma gic reli gion a n d science are nothin g but theories o f thou gh t ; and
, ,

as sc i ence has supplanted its pre d ecessors so it may herea fter be itself ,

superse ded by some more per fect hypothesis perhaps by some totally
d i ff erent way o f lookin g at the phenomena—o f re gistering the shadows
,

on the screen- o f which we in this generation can form no i d ea The .

7 14 F AR EWE LL T O N EMI cu m
‘

. x

cannot tell . A faint glimme rin g l i ght i llumines the backward portion
o f the web . Clou d s an d th i ck d arkness hi d e the o ther en d .

Our lon g voya ge o f discovery i s ove r an d our bark has drooped

her weary sai ls in por t a t last Once more we take the roa d to Nemi
. .

It i s evenin g a n d as we clim b the lon g slope o f the Appian Way up

,

to the Alban H ills we look back and see the sky afl am e with sunset
, ,

its gol d en glory restin g li ke the aureole o f a dyin g saint over Rome
’
an d touchin g wi th a crest o f fire the d om e o f St Peter s The si ght
. .

once seen can never be forgo tten but we t urn from it a nd pursue
,

our way d arklin g alon g the moun tain si d e till we come to Nemi and
,

look down on the lake in its deep hollow now fast d i sappearin g in
,

the evenin g sha d ows The place has chan ge d b ut little since Diana
. .

receive d the homag e o f her worshippers in the sacred grove The

‘

temple o f the sylvan go dd ess in d eed has vanishe d and the King o f
, ,

the Wood no lon ger stands sentinel over the Gol d en Bou gh But .

’
N em i s woods are still green a n d as the sunset fades above them in
,

the w es t there comes to us b orne on the swell o f the wind the soun d
, , ,

o f the church bells o f A ricia rin g in g the An gelus A ve M ari a ! Sweet

.

a n d solemn they chime out from the d is tant town a n d d ie l in gerin gly

away across the wide Campagnan marshes L e r oi es t m ar t viz/e le rozI

'

.
,

A ve M am a !
 I N D E X
Ab b as the Great. Shah of Persi a 28 9 , A frica . N ort h . c harm to rend er b ri d egr oom
Ab b ot of U nm son , 5 8 6 i m p ot en t i n , 24 1; M id sum m er fires in .
Ab chases of the Caucasus 5 3 4 . 63 1
Abd uction of souls b y d e m on s 18 6 S ou th . rat s hair as a cha rm in . 3 1
'
,

k
Ab eo u ta the A la e of 29 5
. k
Abi p onea of Paraguay 2 5 4
Ab onsa m an evi l sp irit 5 5 5
, .
Ab ruz zi . the C a rniv al in the 3 0 3
Ab sces scs . c ure for. $ 3 9
Ab sence and recall o f the so ul 18 0
. con ti n e n ce i n wa r i n . 2 11 ; se cl usion o f
. m a n -s l a y e rs i n . 2 14 ; d isp osal of cut ha i r
a n d n a il s i n . 2 3 5 ; m agi c us e o f s p ittle
, i n . 2 3 7 ; p erson al n a m es tab ooed i n , 2 47 ;
rites o f i n i ti ation i n . 497 ; s ecl us ion of
, girls a t p u b erty in 5 9 5 ; d rea d o f m en
.

Ab stin ence 13 6 , 13 8 . stru o u s wo m e n in . 604 ; story of th e ex tern al

Ab yd os , 3 66 ; s p eciall y a ssoci a te d with sou l i n , 6 7 7

Osiris 3 6 7 West functions of chiefs i n .

m a gi cal
k k
.

Ab y ssin i a , ra in-m a ing in 6 6 ; ra in -m a in g . 85 ; re ve ren ce for sil -cotton trees i n k

k
.

p riests on the b ord ers of 10 7 . 1 12 ; in gs forced to a ccep t ofi ce i n

k
.

Acagchem em trib e of California , 4 99 1 7 6 ; fetish ings i n , 17 7 ; tra p s set for

B k
Acaill . oo of 2 7 3 , so u ls in , 18 7 ; p u ri ca tion afterfi a
Acosta . J
de 5 8 7. . j o u rn ey i n , 19 7 ; c us to m as to b l ood
Acts tab ooed , 194 -202
. sh e d on the ground . 2 2 9 ; ra in -cha rm s .
Ad a m of rem en 16 0 B , 23 4 ; n egroes of. 2 3 6 ; hum a n sacri ces fi
Ad an a Sem itic titl e 3 2 5 . in . 4 3 3 5 70;
. p rop iti ati on of d ead
Ad am s . an d Ap hrod ite ( en u s) , 7 8 3 2 8 ; V , , leo p a rd i n 5 2 3 ; the extern al soul i n
. .

the m y th of. 3 24 -7 ; in Sy ri a 3 2 7 -9 ; i n , 6 84 ; ri tual of d ea th a nd res u rrection

Cyp rus 3 29-3 5 ; ritu al of 3 3 5 -4 1 ; th e
. . i n , 69 7
ga rd ens of, 3 4 1-7 ; in rel a tio n to the Afterb irth con ta gi ous m agi c of. 3 9-4 1
k
.

p ie 4 7 1
. Aga r D in a . the. 2 7 0
Ad onis the river. 3 2 8 3 3 6
. . Aga ric su p ers tition s as to 6 1 8
. .

Ad op tion . p reten ce of b irth a t 14 . A gd estis a m a n-m ons ter . 3 49

,

Ad ultery of wife thought to sp oil the l uc of k A ge of m a gi c . 5 5 . 5 6

ab se nt hus b an d 23 24 . , A gn i . I
n di a n fi re -god . 7 0 8
Aegira p riestess of E arth at . 94
. A gri cul tura l y ea r, ex p uls ion of d em ons
A egi s Athena a nd the 4 7 7
. . ti m ed t o coin c id e with sea so ns of the .
Aen eas and the. old en G
om b . 3 . 163 7 03 B . . 5 75
7 06 . 7 0 7 ; hi s v is ion of the glori es of A gri on ia festiva l at Orch om enus . 2 9 1
,

R om e . 14 9 A gu . M oun t, i n T ogo , wind -fet is h on . 8 1 ;

Aeolus, K
ing of the Wind s, 8 1 fetis h p ries t on . 16 9
Aescul ap ius . 5 . 1 11. 3 0 1 A gu e cu re for. 5 4 5 . 5 46
,

A fgha nistan . cere m on y at the recep tion of Ah t of N ootk a n di a n s . 5 99 I

strangers i n . 19 6 Ai n os . 4 8 1 4 96 . 5 15 . 5 2 8 . 5 3 0 . 5 3 2 ; of
.

Africa . m agicia ns, esp eciall y rain-m a ers as k , J ap an 2 5 2 . 5 0 5 . $ 0 6 , 6 6 0 ; of S agha li en .

.

chiefs a nd k
in gs in . 8 4 -6 ; hu m a n god s 20 5 09
.

in . 98 ; rules of l ife or ta b oos o b serve d Ak i k u y u of B

ritish E as t Africa . 14 5 . 6 0 4

k
b y in gs i n, 16 9-7 2 ; relucta n ce o f p eo p le Al a d d in a n d the W on d erful am p . om a n L R
to tel l thei r own n a m es in 24 7 ; s eclu s ion . v e rs io n o f, 6 7 1
of gi rls i a t p ub erty in . 5 95 ; d rea d a n d k
Ala e . the , of Ab eo uta . 295 k
seclus ion of m e nstruous wo m en in , 6 0 4 ; k
Al as a resp ect of hunters for d ea d sab les
.

b irth-trees i n , 6 8 1 a n d b ear s i n . 5 2 5 ; e x p ul sion of evil s in .

B
Africa . ri ti sh C entral . heart of l ion ea ten to 555 ; s eclu s i o n of girl s at p ub erty in .
k
m a e eater b ra ve i n . 4 9 5 6 00
E ast. secl usion and p uri cation of m a n fi A lb a L
on ga . 14 8 ; in gs of. 14 9 k
slay er; in . 2 14 ; infa ntic id e i n , 293 ; p ro A lb a n d y n asty , 14 9 ; hill s , 14 8 ; la k e, 149 ;
p itiation of d ead lions in. 5 2 2 m ountai n , 14 9 . 15 0 , 167
7M I N DE X
Alb a n ia m il -sto n es in . 3 4 ; m oc
. k la m e n k A n d es . the Peru vi a n. 7 9 ; the C olo m b ian,
ta ti on s for l oc u sts a n d b eetl es i n . 5 3 1 ; 104
e x p u ls i o n o f o re on E aster E ve i n . 5 6 0 K ; A ne m the sca rlet. 3 3 6
o ne .
the Y
u le l o g i n , 6 3 8 A n ga m is . E astern . of M an ip u r . 6 4
Alb a n ia n s o f t he C a u casus. 25 1. 5 7 1 A n go la . th e M atia m vo of. 2 7 1
A lb i gen ses w o rshi p p ed eac h other. 10 1 A n go n i the . 7 3 . 2 14
.

Alche m y l ea d s u p to che m istry . 9 2 A n gon ila nd . ra in-m a i ng i n , 6 3 k

Al eu ts o f Ala s a 2 2 1 k . k
A n go y . in g of. 2 7 3
A le xa n d ria festi v a l of A d o n is at . 3 3 5
. A nh o u ri . E gy p tia n god . 2 6 5
Alexa n d ri a n ca l en d a r 3 7 4 ; y ear. 3 7 3 A ni m al k
i lling the d ivine . 4 9 9 -5 18 ; a nd m a n.
k
.

Al fa i ra in -m a i n g p ri est . 10 7
. s y m p a th etic rel a ti on b etwe en . 7 00

Alfoors o f th e
. i s l a n d of uru . 25 0 ; of B A ni m hom eop athic m a gic o f 3 1 ; asso
a ls . .

Cen tr a l C eleb es 18 1 69 0 ; of H a l m a hera . . . c i a ti on of i d eas com m on to the 54

k j
.

5 4 8 ; o f M i n a h a ssa 9 4 . 95 . 18 6 . 4 8 2 . 4 9 2 ; . r a i n -m a i ng b y m ean s of 7 2 ; in ured .

of PO S O 24 8 , th ro u gh thei r sha d ows , 19 0 ; p ro p itiation

Al geria M i d s u m m er res i n , 6 3 1
,
’

fi o f th e s p iri ts of sla in . 2 17 2 2 0 ; torn to ,

Al gi d u s M ou n t 15 0 . 16 4
, , p ieces a nd d evoured i n religiou s rites .
q
A l gon u in s 144 . 3 90 .3 9 1; so-ca lle d un cl ea n . origin ally
A ll -hea l er na m e . a p p l ie d to m is tl etoe , sacred . 472 ; b elief i n the d e scent of
6 5 9-6 1 m en from 473 ; . resu rrection o f. 5 16 .
Al l S a in ts D a y 6 3 4 6 3 6
'
, .
5 28 5 29 ;
, wild . p rop itia ti on of 5 18 -3 2 .

A ll Sou ls fea st o f 3 6 0 t wo form s of the wors h ip of. 5 3 2 ; p ro

J
. .

A ll an . oh n H a y o n th e H a y s of E rro l 7 02 .
ces si ons with sacred . 5 3 5 ; tra n sference
B
.

Alla tu a b y l oni an go dd e ss . 3 2 6 . 3 2 7
.
o f e vi l to. 5 4 0 -4 2 ; as sc a p e goa ts . 5 40 .

A ll -H all ows (All S a i n ts D a y ) . 1 7 3 5 65 5 6 8 . 5 7 0 , 5 7 6 ; b urn t a t fe stivals.

'
.

Al m on d c a u ses v i rgi n t o conceive. 3 4 7 ; th e

,
6 5 5 . 6 5 6 ; p erha p s d eem e d e m b o di m en ts
fa ther of al l thin gs 3 4 7 .
o f w itches 65 7 . 65 8 ;
. ex ter n a l s oul in .

A l p he u s the sa cr e d 1 10
, .
6 8 3 -9 1
A l q a m ar tri b e o f n o m a d s . 64
. A n i m i s m . the B
u dd h is t . n ot a p hil os op hi cal
A ls ace M a y -tr e e s i n 12 1 ; the
. ittl e M a y . L th eo ry . 1 12 ; p assing i n to p ol ythei sm .
R os e i n 1 2 5 ; stu f e d goa t or fox at th res h 1 17
fi
.

i n g i n 4 5 7 ; c a ts b urnt in E aster b on r es
, j
A n ae m y thical b eing. 3 9
.

in 6 5 6
. A nn a K
u ari . a n Ora on go dd e ss . 4 3 4
A ltm a r k
th e M a y rid e a t Wh itsun ti d e B A n n a m . cerem oni es ob serv ed when a whale
fi
,

i n t he 1 3 5 ; E aster b on res in t h e 6 15
. . , i s was hed as hore i n . 2 23
6 16 A n o inting stone s. i n ord er to a v ert b ullets
Al v ara d o Ped ro d e Sp a nis h gen era l . 6 8 7
. . fro m a b sent warriors . 2 6 ; i n a ra in
A m a x os a C a fi res 5 22 . ch arm . 7 6
A m a z on I
n d ia n s at th e m ou th of the . 5 8 1
A n o in tm ent . of wea p on which c a u se d wound .
k
.

A m b oyn a ri ce i n b l oom trea ted li e a 4 1; of p riest at i n stall ation . 17 4

. .

p regn a nt w o m a n 1 15 ; cerem on y to fertil ise A n throp om orp his m of the sp i ri ts of n a ture .

,

cl o v e -trees i n 1 3 7 ; fear t o l os e the sh a d o w

4 23
k k
.

a t n oon i n 19 1 ; sic p eop l e sp rin l ed w ith

p u n gen t s p ic es i n . 196 ;
.

sup erstii i on re
A nti go nus , ing . 9 7K
A n ti och , festiv a l of A d o n is a t 3 3 6 . 3 4 6
gard in g ha i r i n . 6 8 0
.

A n tri m , h arvest cu stom s i n 4 04

A m er i c a p ow e r of m ed ici ne m en i n
. orth N .
A nts . b ites of. u sed in p u rifica tory cere
.

8 7 ; c o n ti n e n ce i n C en tral . 13 8 ; the C orn

m o n ies . 19 5 . 6 0 1 ; for l etha rgic p a tients.
M oth e r in 4 12 ; p erson i cation of m a i z e
. fi 4 96
in No rth . 4 19 ; first-frui t cere m on ie s i n .

A n u b is . the j k
a c al -hea d e d
486 . 4 8 7 go d . 3 6 6 367 . .

3 74
Am e ri c a n I di 29 6 3 8 2 8 7
n an s . . . . . 1 11 . 13 6 .
A n ul a trib e of N
orthern A u stra lia 6 4. 7 2.
13 8 . 2 14 2 4 4 2 4 6 2 5 2 2 5 3 2 5 6
. . . . . . 2 64 . 5 22 .
,

S ee a sol N th A i I d i or m er c a n n a ns
6 93
A p a che s . the . 7 6 . 2 1 1
A m ethy sts a s cha rm s . 3 4 . 8 5
A m m o n the go d . 14 2 4 7 7 . 5 00
I
A p a l a i n d ians . 19 5
.

A m oy . S p ir its who d ra w a wa y the

.

sou ls of
A p e, a a ta B k
tote m . 6 9 1
A p hrod ite . 4 ; a n d A d o n is . 7 . 3 27 . 3 3 5
c hild re n a t 18 6
A m p hicty on ing of A thens 15 5 ,
,

k .
th e m ourn ing . of the eb a n o n . 3 29 . L
sa n ctu a ry of. 330; a nd C i n y ras and
A m ulets 109 . 24 2 . 243 . 6 7 9 . 6 8 0
h er b l ood d y es white
.
P y g m a l i on . 3 3 2 ;
A m u liu s S il vi u s . 14 9
rose s re d . 3 3 6
A n a b i s h u m a n g o d at . 9 6
,

An a itis Per s i a n god d ess , 3 3 1 A p is . sacred E gy p tia n b ull . 3 3 5 . 3 6 5 . 47 6 .

.

A n a tom i c 501
o f A b us es 1 2 3 .

A n ces tor . woo d en i m age of. 6 79 A p oll o . p rop hetess of. 95 ; im a ge of. in
A n cestors p ra y ers to . 7 1 ; sacri ces to . 7 2 ; fi sacre d ca ve at H y l ae
A rtem . 95 ; a nd is.
D
.

sou l s of. in t rees . 115 ; n a m es of. b esto wed 12 0 ; a t el p hi . 26 5 ; his m u s ical con test

on th ei r r ein c a rnation s . 2 5 6 w ith M arsy as . 3 5 4 ; id en ti ed with the fi

A n cu s M arc i us om a n i n g. 15 8 , R k C eltic G rannu s , 6 11
A n d a m a n sla n d ers . 19 2 I A p ollo D ira d iotes. i nsp ire d p ries te ss at
A nd eri d a . forest of. 109 te m p le of. 94
7 18 IN DEX
A ustra lia . N o rthe rn . ho m oe op athic m a g i c of B ali . i sla n d of r ice p ers on ified a s husb and .

fl d i et i n . 4 96
esh a n d w ife i n 4 18 ; ex p u lsio n of d e v ils in
. .

S ou th-e a stern c on ta gi ou s m a gic of 557

B ll p l y h
.

footp rints i n 4 4 a n d of b od ily i m p ress io ns

. . .
a -
p thi a h e rs .pl y d o m oeo a c c a rm s e m o e

4 5 ; sex tote m s i n 6 8 7 -9 b y 29 .

B ll g ld d i l t i it t th
,

Western . b elief as to the p l acen ta in . 3 9 a s. o dan s v er . o m a e e su n a n

A u s tra l ia n a b ori gi n es (b l a c s) 38 39 55 k . . . .
a on
12 1
m oon .

B l g f th C 685
o e a m eroon s .
8 0 17 9 . 19 0 2 0 5 2 0 7 2 2 9 2 3 4 . 2 4 4 . 2 5 1 .
.

25 3 . 25 4 . 3 49 . 5 3 3 . 5 3 9 , 5 5 1
. . , .
B g l f th U p p C g 24 7
an a a o e er on o.
B j i W t Af i 86
A us tria . cha r m to m a e fru it trees b ea r i n k .
an ars
B k Il d
an s gi
'
l t
n
i
s anth 33
es
s. m a
r ca .

ca s on e s n e.
2 8 ; b elief i n the sen s i ti v en e ss of trees
1 13 ; ha rv es t custo m s i n 4 0 5 ; chi ld ren
.
ki g
m a hi i th n 7 8 9 ; gh t i
s uns ne n e. - os s n
.
s ton e s in the 19 0 ; cerem on y for getting
w a rn e d a ga ins t the C orn -coc in . 4 5 1 ; k r id of fa ti gu e i n the . 5 4 0
.

m y th ic al c a lf i n th e c orn i n 4 5 9 ; M id
s u m m er fi
res i n . 6 25 ; th e m i s tl e to e i n 6 63
.

.
B k
a n tin g i n S ara wa . ru les ob serv e d d u ri ng

a b se n c e of w arri ors a t 25 .
Au tu m en l a st sh ea f ca lle d . 4 5 1
h
A u v er gn e e n te n
n-
L
re s i n 6 1 1
.

fi B a n tu t ri b es 2 09 . 2 15 .
.

A u xerre h arv est c u sto m s i n . 4 0 1. 4 5 9

.
B a n y oro . th e 8 5 . 5 6 5 .

A u xe sia a n d
,

a m ia 7 D B a re a of E ast A fri ca 10 7

Awa -n on d e the 5 96 k
.
B are nton t he fou n tai n of. 7 6 . 7 7
.

"
A wa su n gu ho u se of th e 5 96
. .
B U
a ri of the N
p p er il e 8 5 .

A x e . tha t sl ew ox co n d e m n ed 4 6 6
.

.
.

.
B a rl ey . old e st cerea l cu l tiv a ted b y the
A ry a n s 3 99
A x o-m a m a (Pota to -m oth er) 4 13 .

A y m a ra n d i a n s 7 3 5 6 5 I . ,
.

B a r ley -co w 4 5 7 . 4 5 8 ; -m other 3 99 ; -sow

. . ,

4 6 0 ; -wolf. 4 4 8 . 4 4 9
A z a di ra chta I n d i ca 7 2
B
.

A z tec s , 4 8 8 5 8 7 . 6 8 1 a ron ga . the . of S o u th Afri ca 6 7 71

B
. .
,

a rre n w o m e n S ee u n d er W om e n .

B j
—
B a -Ped i o f S ou th A fri ca 2 09 2 11 . 2 20 . .
a shil a n ge re c ep ti o n o f the s u b ec t c hi e fs b y
.

B a Ron ga of S outh Afri ca . 6 7 7 hea d c h ief a m on g the . 19 8

B a -T hon ga of Sou th A frica 2 11 . 2 2 0 . B q a s u e h u nter tran sfo rm e d i n to b ea r . 6 9 2 .

B a a l . p h ro p h e ts o f. 6 6 6 99
B a b a , n a m e gi v e n to l a st sh ea f. 4 0 4 B t d
a s ar gi t l t h f 4 06
na m e v en o as s ea
B
. .

a b a r A rc hi p el a go . c e re m o n y to ob ta i n a B ti A d l f 5 3 3
as an . o .

c hild for b a rre n w o m a n i n the . 14 ; sa tur B t 3 8 192 2 14

a su os . . .

n a li a at m a rri a ge of S un a n d E a rth . B t k f S t 14 4 0 8 2 18 4 19 8 5 4 1
a a s o u m a ra . . . . . . .

13 6 -7 ; fa tigu e tra n sferr ed to stones i n th e . 5 7 0 6 90 6 9 1. .

S4 0 Bt i i ki g i 7 2
a a v a . ra n -m a n n.
B ab y lon the ocra tic d es p o ti s m of a ncient . 4 8 ;
. B t h l R J 5 06 5 15 5 16
a c e or . ev . . .

sa n c tu a ry o f B e l a t , 14 2 ; m o rta li ty of t he B thi g
a n i h 70
as a ra n-c ar m .

high god s of 2 6 5 ; fes ti v al of Za gm uk a t . B t th li

a s. f i e 6 87 688 ve s o m en n.
fi
. .

2 8 1 ; festiv a l o f Sa ca ea a t 2 8 2 ; sa nc ti e d . B i h
a va r a . i 28 ; c gi i 29 4 0
arm s n. m a c n. . .

ha rl otry a t . 3 3 0 42 4 3 ; gre as in g wea p on i n stea d of woun d

.

B a b y l o n i a . d i v i n ity of th e e a rl y i n gs . 104 ; k i n . 4 2 ; green b u shes p l ac ed a t d oors of

worsh ip of A d o n is i n 3 2 5 . n e wl y m a rried p a irs i n . 1 19 ; the M a y
B a cch an a ls T hra ce i vy e a ten b y . 9 5 ;
of . p ole i n . 12 4 ; the Wa l b er i n . 126 ; s a y ing
tor e P en th eu s in p i ece s . 3 7 8 . 3 92 ; w ore a s to c ross e d l e gs in 2 4 0 ; W hitsun tid e .

horn s 3 9 0 .
m u m m ers in ower . 29 7 ; ca rry i ng out L
B a cc hic fren z y 2 9 .
D e a th i n 3 0 7 ; con tes ts b etwe e n S u m m er
.

Winter i n 3 16 ; the c orn-sp irit i n .

B a cc hu s or D
i on y s u s . 3 8 6 S ee ion y su s . D a nd .

B a d a ga s of th e N e il gh erry H il ls . 4 8 2 . 5 4 1 .
4 0 2 ; harv est c usto m s in . 4 05 4 26 -8 . 4 5 4
4 5 6 . 4 5 7 . 4 6 1; c u re for fe v e r in . 5 44
.

5 42
B a d on sachen . in g of u rm a . 99 k B e x p ul s i on o f wi tc he s i n . 5 6 1 ; E aster res fi
B a d u w i s of J a v a . 2 2 5
in . 6 16 ; M id s u m m er res i n 6 23 . 6 5 3 fi .

B a fli n L
a n d ex p ul s ion of S e d n a i n 5 5 2
B ea n . K
in g of the 5 8 6 .
.

B a g soul s of p erson s d e p osite d in a . 1 8 6 6 7 5

.
B ea n -coc k
4 5 1 ; -goa t 45 4
.
.

s ou l o f d y i n g c h i ef c a u gh t i n
.
B ea r . ta b oo s con cern i n g 2 2 1 ; cu sto m oh .
679;
29 4 . 29 5
a ,
serv ed a fter k ill ing a . 2 2 2 ; illin g the k
sac re d . 5 0 5
B a ga n d a of C e n tra l Afri ca . 4 0 . 9 8 . 13 7 . 14 5 .
B ea rd s . m a gic t o p ro m ote gro w th of 3 2 .

5 2 3 5 3 9 . 6 04
.
B ea sts sa cre d . hel d re sp on s ib l e for th e c ourse
B gb wi d f ti h 8 1 17 0
a a, a n - e s . .
.

o f na tu re i n a n c ie n t E gy p t 8 7 .

B g h
a f E t Af i
es 2 14
u o as r ca . B ea ti n g a m a n s ga r m en t i n s tea d of the m an .
'

B g b f M i d 18 0 3 5 5 4 3 3
a o os o nan a o. . .
44 ; with ro d s i n ra in -m a in g . 6 6 ; frogs . k
B h a S
a u s.K y ee a a ns a s a ra i n-ch a rm 73
B hi
a f C t l Af i
m a, 25 7 ;
o f Ug d e n ra r ca . o an a.
B e a u c e a n d Perc he . 4 0
.

5 39 B e ch ua n a s . the . of S o uth A fric a . 3 1 . 7 3 . 19 7 .

B illy J S F h t
a . . 337 re n c a s ro n o m er. 4 7 4 . 48 4
B ld th y th f 6 0 7 9 ; d th i tl
a er. e m o .
- an e m s e B ed -cloth es . contagiou s m a gi c of b od il y i m
t 6 0 8 6 5 8 6 7 7 0 1 7 0 2 7 10
oe . .
-
. . . p ress ions o n . 4 5
B l d B l fi 6 25 6 64
a er s
'
a e res . .
B ed e . on the s ucce ssio n of Pictish k in gs . 15 6
 IND E X 7 19
Bd i
e ou ns attac k whi lwi r nd s . 83 on p ers on a s a 2 2 1 ; ta b ooed p u ri fi c a tion . .

B h
e ec es o f L tia um 15 0 2 2 7 -3 0 ; ro y a l . n ot to b e sh e d on th e
B ht Di
.

eec - ree . i n sa cre d gro v e of ana . 8 gro u n d 2 2 8 ; u n w illi n gn ess to shed 2 28 ;

L t fi
.

k k
.

b u rn t i n b on re 6 12 e n en . rece i v ed o n b o d i e s o f in s fol 2 29 ; d ro p s .

B erna m a rr ia ge 15 2 . of e fi a ce d . 2 29 ; o f c hie f sa c re d 230 ;

B
. .

eer. con ti n e n ce o b serv e d a t b re wi n g 2 19 . fetish p ries ts allo we d to d ri n fresh 2 3 8 ; k

B
.

eetle . in m a g ic 3 1 ; s u p ers titi ou s p r e ca u

. D a y of in the festiv a l of A tt is 3 4 9 3 5 3 ;
. . ,

tion s a ga i n st b eetles 5 3 1 ; ex tern a l sou l i n b ath of b u ll s i n the ri tes o f A ttis 3 5 1 ;

'
. .

a 6 74 re m is s io n of s nn s th ro u gh th e s he d d i n g o f
B L fi
. .

el giu m . e n te n re s i n . 6 0 9 ; M id s u m m e r k
3 5 6 ; s p ri n led o n seed a n d s c a tt ere d o n
fi res i n . 6 3 0 field 4 3 2 . 4 3 4 4 3 8 ; of sac ri c i a l h orse 4 7 8 ; fi
B I
. .

k q q
.

ella C ool a n d ia n s 6 00 . of m e n d r u n to a c u i r e th ei r u a l ities .

B ells . u se d i n e x orc is m 19 5 . 5 6 8 ; to con u re . j 49 7 4 9 8 ; a s a m ea n s o f co m m u n ion w ith a

.

sp irits . 199 ; wo r n a s a m u le ts 2 26 ; r un g . d eity 5 3 5 ; o f c h il d ren u sed t o

. n ead a k
a s a p ro tec ti o n a ga i n s t wi tche s . 5 6 0 56 1 p a ste 5 5 3 ; gi rl s a t p u b er ty forb id d en to
B fi k
. .

eltan e res . 6 17 -2 2 6 5 3 ; c a es . 6 18 -2 1 ; . s e e . 6 00 ; m e n stru ou s 6 0 3 . 6 0 4 ,

carl i n e . 6 18 Bl oo d -b roth erhood . 1 13 ; -co v e n a n t , 2 02

B en ares H in d oo gen tle m a n wors h ip p e d a s a
, B lu -u K
a y a n s of or n e o 19 5 B .

god a t 100
'
. B oa -c on stri c tor . C a fi res d rea d of 2 22
B
.

enga l m arri a ge c ere m o n y a t the di ggi n g of

. B oar in m a gic 3 1 ; a n d A d on is 3 25 4 7 1
k k
.
. . ,

wells . 14 4 ; ru le of s u cce ssi on of in gs of A ttis ill ed b y a 3 4 7 4 7 1 ; c or n -sp i ri t a s

K
, .
.

Y
.

2 7 7 ; cere m o n y o v er a a r m a -tree i n 342; 4 6 0 ; th e ul e 4 6 1 4 6 2 ; C h r i s tm a s 4 6 2

fi
. .
. .

hu m a n s a c r i ce s i n 4 3 4 ; secl u s i on of gir ls .
B D F
oa s . 6 99 r. ra n z .
a t p ub ert y i n 6 02 ; s tories of th e ex tern a l
.
Bb o gi
a . na m e th l t h f 4 05 v en t o e as s ea .

sou l i n 6 7 0 .
B d i f ti h k i g 8 6
o o. e s n
B i ki g f w hip p d B ti th 14 3 3 7 1
.

en n . n g d 9 9 200 ;
o ors e as a o . . oeo a ns e.
fi i 433 B gt g
.

h u m a n sac ri ces n. o o a . ri t i i g f th h i t th
orous ra n n o e e r o e
B P era E th g dd
en n u . 43 4 ar o es s. th f 5 95
ron e o
w k 15
.

B eraw fSa ns o a ra a .
B h i M id
o em t
a. b d i 12 2 s u m m er ree ur n e n.
;

B b f N th A f i 6 3 1
er e rs o or r ca .
th wi g D
ro th i t th
n w t i 125 ea n o e a er n.
B li t t t f
er n. l t i g i
rea m e n 40 o n a ve -s r n n.
M y Ki g
a d Q i 13 0 3 2 ; Whit
n an u ee n n. -

B i i f th M l y P i
es s s o l 19 1 e a a en n su a .
t id
s un i 2 98 299 ; yi g
m u m m e rs n. c arr n
i g fl k e
B esom s .b g i t th i t
ur n n . un n o e a r o m a e
t D
ou th i 3 09 3 10 ; b i gi g i
ea S n. .
.

r n n n um
corn g w 6 47 ro . m er i n 3 1 1 ; the la st sh ea f i n 4 04 ; ha r v est
B thl h th St f 3 4 7
. .

e e em . e ar o . cu stom s i n 4 2 9 4 5 6 4 5 7 ; c u re for fev er

B t il f M d g
, . .

e s eo o 2 29 a a asca r. in . 5 4 4 ; e x p ul si on of w itc hes i n 561

Bh f I di 5 6 5 k
,

a rs o n a. fi
b on res i n 6 2 1 6 26 ; cha r m to m a e corn
Bh tiy f J h 5 6 9 J
. .

oh n s
'
u
grow hi gh i n 6 4 7 ; fern see d o n S t
o as o ar , -

fB n
.
.

Bi j a as o th 5 66 or eo . e. D a y in 7 04 7 0 5
f N w G i
. .

B i b ili .

k wi d 8 0
o th ti p t d
e u n ea . e na v es re u e
B il 4 7 3
o s.
t o m a e n . B li i
o v a . sec us o n o f gir ls a t p u b e rty
l i in 6 0 1
.

B id as a ri a n d the gold en fish . M a la y s tory of. B b y b li f

am a , e e a s to a b se n c e o f s l ee p er s so u l
'

676 i 18 3
n.
B ilasp u r or B ila sp ore . tw ir ling S p in d les for B f d d
o n es . o ea in m a gic . 3 0. 7 1 ; hu m an .
b id d en i n 2 0 ; t e m p ora r y ra a h i n 2 8 7 j . b uried a s a ra i n -ch a rm 7 2 ; d e p a rti n g so ul s
B
. .

B ilq ula S ec ella C ool a

. b ottl ed u p i n holl ow 18 0 ; u sed a s c h a r m s .

N k k
.

Binb in ga trib e of orth ern A u s tra li a . 6 9 3 2 0 1 4 95 ; c a es b a ed in th e sh a p e of 4 8 9 ;

B tr eatm en t of 5 2 5 —
. ,

irch-tree s 1 2 1. 12 8 . 6 2 7 . o f a n i m al s 9 ; b u r nt in
B
. .

i rd so ul c on ceiv ed a s a 18 1
. b on res . 6 16fi
B
.

ird s . c a u se head ache thro u gh cl ip p ed ha ir .

B onfires . M i d sum m er 12 2 6 22 6 29 645 . . . .

warriors ca lled
'

23 4 23 7 ;
. a b se n t 24 7 ; .
lea p in g o v er 3 18 6 10 ; s u p p o se d to p r o . .

ton gu es o f e aten 4 96 ; as . sca p e goa ts . .

teet a ga i n st c on fia gratio n 6 10 ; li t b y ,

5 41 5 45 ; ex tern a l s oul s in 6 70 6 7 2. a p rot ec ti o n

p ers on s la st m a rr i ed 6 10 ;
. . .

k
.

6 7 5 -7 a ga i n st s ic n ess wi tchcr a ft a n d s o rcery .

B
.

fl
.

i rth p retence of 14 15 197 4 06 4 2 1 ; a

. . . . . , 6 10 6 2 0 6 2 1 ; fertilis i n g in u en ce o f 6 4 5 . .

fi
. .

m a n s fort un e d e term i n ed b y the d a y a n d 6 4 6 ; p rotect eld s a ga in st h a il a nd hom e

‘

hou r o f his 3 7 ; ne w. 3 5 1 . 69 7 . stea d s a ga in s t th un d e r a nd lig htn i n g 6 4 9 .

Birth-trees . in Afri ca . 6 8 1 ; i n E u ro p e 6 8 2 . B on i . C om m end a tore G 16 3

Bitch l a st sheaf ca ll ed the 4 4 9
. . B on toc th e n a ti v es o f 4 3 3 .

B
.

ithy n i a son g o f rea p ers i n 4 25 B orm u s or B ori m u s 4 25 4 4 2

B k k D k
.

B
. . .

lac col o ur in ra in -m a in g cere m on ies 6 7 . orne o . the y a s o f. 14 ; ru l es ob serv ed

an i m a ls i n ra in -ch a rm s 7 2 16 1 . . b y c a m p hor-hun ters i n 2 1 ; telep a thy i n .

k
Bl ac foot nd ia n s 2 1 2 2 5 2 4 I . . .
wa r i n 2 5 ; b oo k s to c a tch s ou l s i n 18 0
. .

Bli nd n ess. cha rm to ca u se 3 0 . rice u se d to p re v e n t so ul fro m w a n d erin g .

Bl ood . sy m p a theti c c onn ectio n b e tw e e n a 18 1 ; p reca u tio n s a ga in s t stra n gers i n 19 5 ; .

wound ed p erso n a n d his shed 4 3 ; hu m a n . u se of p u p p e ts a s su b stitu tes fo r liv i n g

k
.

in ra i n -m a i n g c ere m on ies k
65 ; as a . p e rs ons 4 92 ; s ic n e s s ex p ell e d i n a s h i p
.

m ea n s of in s p ira ti on . 94 ; s m e a re d on fro m . 5 6 4 ; ex p uls ion of ev il s i n . 5 6 6 ;

woodwor of h o u se . 1 17 ; k p ut o n d o or
‘

sec lu s i on of gi rl s at p ub e rty i n 5 9 7 ; b i rt h .

oosts 17 5 ; of c hil db irth . 2 0 9 . 2 29 ; s m e a re d c u sto m i n 6 7 9 ; tree a s li fe i n d ex in 6 8 2

- .
. .
mm I ND E X
B fB
ororos o il 18 1 484 ra z . B u ffa l oe s . d ead . 5 23 ; the
p rop it iation of
B i n T u k 15
.

osn a r s. r es u rrect i o n of. 5 29 ; re vered b y the

B gh th G ld n S G ld B gh
ou . e o e . ee o en ou T od as 5 3 4 ; a s sca p egoats . 5 6 5
,

B up h
o A th i
om a .
‘

ifi 466 en an sacr ce . B u gi n ese of C e le b e s . 3 3

B y t i iti ti 6 9 2 6 96
o s. a n a on . . B u ild i n g c o n ti ne n ce d urin g 2 2 0 .

B k G
,

B h ra Vi h u
m a. d Si th Hi d
s n . an va . e n oo u a ua of N e w u inea 5 9 7 . 6 94
t i ity 5 2
r n . B u l ga ria 1 5 ; char m s i n . 3 0 . 3 1 ; p easants
.

B h ra 3 3 6 7 7 9 100 2 2 7 24 5 2 8 5 2 8 8
m a ns . . . . . . . . .
thre aten fruit trees to m a e them b ear. k
3 4 3 4 90 .
1 14 ; s u p ers ti tio n s i n . 240 ; harvest c us

B in f
ra s o i t 4 98
e nem es ea en .
t om s i n 4 0 5 ; c ure for fev er in . 5 4 5 ; need
.

B h ra nc d i
es . i h 63
u se 64 ; i n ra n-c ar m . n
B
fi re i n . 6 4 0
u ll i n rela tion to Di ony s us . 3 8 9.3 90 ;
exorcis m . 19 7 fatigu e
'
a nd S i ck n ess tra n s
.

c orn -s p iri t as . 45 7 . 46 5 ; at threshing.

ferred to.
.

5 40 . 5 6 4
45 8 . 45 9
B J
ran d . ohn . 6 3 6 . 6 3 7
B u ll s
’
b loo d . b ath of. in rites of A ttis . 3 5 1
B ra n d y . N
orth A m eri ca n I n dia n theory of.
B u ll-roa rers . 6 92 -5
496
B ray . M rs . . 446
B u l le t s m a gi c al treatm ent of. 19 ;
. m a gi cal
m od es o f a v ertin g . 26
B ra z il . I ndi an s of. 8 8 . 18 1. 4 95 . 5 23 . 581
B k
ulloc s as sc a p e goats . 5 4 1
sec l us i on of girl s at p u b erty in . 60 1 B ull s . s acre d . of A n cient E gy p t . 4 7 6
B rea d . l eavened . la m en D ia lis for b i d d en to F B un y o ro k
ing of. 199 . 2 7 0
touch . 17 4 ; fa st from . in m o u rni n g for
.

A ttis . 3 5 0 ; com m uni on . 4 8 1 ; eaten sacra

B u rghe rs or B
a d a ga s S ee ad a gas . B .

m en tall y 488 . 49 8
B u rgla rs cha rm s e m p loy e d b y . 3 0
.

B
.
B u ria l c us to m s . 3 5 . 17 5 . 18 5 . 190
rea d -frui t 3 3 .
B ur m a . p ri es tly k
i ng in . 2 2 6 . 2 27 ;
'
ing s k
B rea th. of chi ef sa cre d . 2 0 5 2 3 1 ; cau ght b y . n a m e ta b ooe d i n . 25 7 ; c us tom of thresh
his successor. 2 94 in g i n . 4 18 ; ex p u lsi on of dem ons in . 5 4 9
B rethren a n d S isters of the ree S p i ri t 10 1 F .
B um e . M iss C S 4 46
B reton s u p ers titions as to tid es . 3 5 ; p eas a n ts
'

B u ru . I
.

E a st n d i a n i slan d . gi rl sacri ced to fi

wa y of getti ng ra in . 7 6 ; stor ies of the
c ro cod i le i n 14 5 ; eati ng the soul of the
ex tern al soul . 6 7 4 ; p ea sants a n d th e m istle
.

toe 7 0 4
r i ce i n 4 8 2 ; d o g s
.
'
esh eaten i n . 4 96fl
B
.

rewi n g. conti ne nc e ob serv ed at. 2 19

B ury i n g the C a rn i va l . 3 0 1-7

B ib i I di th B u sh n e gr oe s of S urin am . 16 6 . 47 3
r r n a ns . e. 2 08 . 6 05 B u sh m e n of South Africa . 4 9 5 . 6 04
B id th Wh it
r e. e suntid e . 13 2 . 13 5 ; the M ay . B us i ri s k
b a c b one of Osiri s at. 3 6 7 ; ritual
,

13 5 ; for a . 15 6 ; fis hin g-n et thrown

races o f Osi ri s at. 3 7 5 ;
“
the house of Osiris .
"

ov e r 2 42 ; of th e
. il e . 3 7 0 ; n a m e gi v en N 443
to last sheaf. 40 8 B u s iri s .
'
ki g f E gy p t 443
n o
B
.

rid e a nd b rid e groom . the Wh itsun tid e 1 3 3 ; . B utter. ti fm e ki g 3 5

or m a n
the M id su m m er. 13 3 ; a l l n ots o n their k B uz z a r d k illi g th
. d n e sacre
.

. 4 99
gar m e nts un loos e d , 2 4 1 B y b lu s . A d on i s at . 3 27 ; Osiri s a nd I iss at.
B rid egroom . the Wh its un tid e . 13 3 ; o f M a y . 3 64
13 3 . 3 20
B ri d get in Sc otla nd a nd the sl e of M a n . 13 4 I C ac on go ing of. 19 9
. k
B ri gi t a C eltic godd ess . 13 5
,
C actus t he sac re d . 23
.

B B
ri m o a nd ri m os in the m y steri es of E le u sis Ca diz . d e ath a t l ow tid e at. 3 5
J
.

143 Ca e sar . uli u s 4 6 . 6 5 3 .

B iti h C l b i
r s S ee C olu m b i a . ritish
o um a. B C affres . the . 2 2 2 . 2 3 5 . 2 4 7 -9 . 5 22 ; of Sofala .
B itt y b li f
r an e e a s to d ea th a t e b b -tid e in . 3 5 ;
3 3 ; of N
a tal an d ul ula n d . 4 8 3 Z
C a i lleach (Ol d Wife) . na m e given to last
.

th eM th o her -s eaf i n p p er . 4 0 1 ; M id U
fi i
su m m er res a . 6 2 8 ; m istl e to e as a p ro corn c ut . 409
tecti on aga inst wi tchcra ft i n 7 04 ; fem . C a i ro . cerem on y o f cutting the d a m s at. 3 7 0
seed on M id su m m er E v e in 7 0 5 . I
Ca j a b on eros n di an s . the . 13 8
B roo e . k Rj
a a h . of Sa ra wa 89 k . C a lab a r . ex p ulsi on of d em on s at Old . 4 9 2
B rotherhood of the reen Wolf 6 2 8 G . 5 6 7 ; soul of chief i n sacred grove at . 6 8 1
B rothers . childl ess p ers o ns na m ed after the ir b eli ef of n egroes regarding extern al souls .
y o unger. 2 4 8 ; a ncien t E gyp ti a n story of 686
the T wo. 6 7 4 C a l a b as hes . souls shut up in . 18 8
an d sisters . m arr ia ge of 3 3 2 .
Ca la b ria E a ster custom in . 3 45 ; annual
B roth ers-ia -l a w . th eir n a m es n ot to b e p ro e x p u ls i on of witches i n . 5 6 0
n ounce d . 2 5 0 . 2 5 1 C a len d a r the an cient
. ree . 2 7 9 ; regula G k
B rown Dr . eorge 8 4 . G . tion o f the earl y a n afi a ir of religion .
.

B ud d ha . i m a ges of. d ren c he d as a ra i n 2 8 0 ; the E gy p tia n . 3 6 8 ; the Alexa nd rian .

charm . 7 7 ; t he ootp rint of. 23 5 F 373 ; o f E sne . 3 7 3 ; the M oham m ed an.
B u d dhas . l iv in g. 102 63 2
B u d d hism . 1 12 ; a n d Chri stia n ity 3 6 1 .
C a lf . k
ill e d at harv est . 4 5 8 ; m ythical . in
fi
B ufi alo . sacri ced for hu m a n v ictim . 4 3 6 ; the corn . 4 5 9
a B at a kt ote m . 69 1 C al icut . rule of succession ob serv ed b y the
B ufi alo-b ull. l a st sheaf ca lled . 45 7 kings of . 2 7 5 -7 . 2 96
722 INDEX
C hi ldb irth . p reca u tions ta en with m other k C ob ra . cerem on y a fter illin g a 222 k .

a t. 18 0 . 18 1 ; w om en t a b oo ed a t . 2 07 . C oca -m other a m on g t he Peruv ia n s . 4 13

.

20 8 ; k n ots u n tie d at . 23 8 ; h om oeo p ath i c C oco-n u ts sa cred in o r th ern n d ia . 1 19 N I

m a gi c to fa ci l i tat e . 2 3 9 C oc k .c orn -s p irit a s 4 5 0 ; n a m e g iv en to
.

C h ild ren . t a b oos o b serv ed b y . 2 1 2 2 ; b u ried l as t s hea f. 4 5 1

k
.

t o th e n e c a s a ra i n -c h ar m . 7 5 ; p aren ts k
C o c a toos m a gi ca l m u ltip lication of. 17
fi
.

n a m ed a fter the i r . 2 4 8 ; s acri ce d . 2 8 1. C ost Goeth H a ll owe en b on re . 6 3 5

'
fi
2 93 . 3 8 0 . 4 3 1 ; b l oocl of. u se d to k n ea d
.

C o in s fro m the e y es of co rp se s 3 1 ; p ortraits

k
. .
a p aste . 5 5 3
of in gs n o t s ta m p ed on 193
Chilote I nd ia ns . 23 7
C olu m b ia . ritish B u se of m a gica l i m a ges
.

Chi n a . em p eror s of. 9; ch ar m s in 35 ;

.

to p roc u re fi sh i n 1 8 ; ta b oos i m p osed on

,

geom in 3 6 ; m od e s o f c o m p el l in g
an cy
.

p aren ts of tw i ns in 6 6 ; b elief regardin g a

.

t he ra in-god to giv e ra i n i n . 7 4 ; trees ,

p h y si c i a n a n d his p a tien t s s oul

p l a n ted o n gr a v es in
a ttri b ute d to the a ctio n o f d e m on s i n
'
18 9 ;
1 15 ; co n v ul si on s
I k
.
. ’
n d i a n s di sli e of te llin g th e ir o wn n a m es
2 4 6 ; secl usion of girls a t p ub erty i n . 6 0 0
.

18 6 ; c u sto m a s to sha d ows a t fu n era ls

r ite s o f i n i ti a ti o n i n 6 99
in . 19 0 ; cerem o n y a t th e b eginn i n g of .

C o m b s . when n ot o b e u sed 24 . 17 4 . 2 15
s p ri n g i n . 4 6 8 ; p op ul a r s up er stitio n s i n . t . .

4 9 8 ; hu m a n sca p egoa ts i n . 5 6 6 ; ex p u l 2 16
s ion of e v ils in 567 .
C om m a gn y , the p r io ry of. 7 7
Chin ese em p i re i n carn ate hu m a n go d s in
. Com m un i on with d eity b y ea tin g n e w fru its .
the . 10 3 48 7
Chin igchin ich C a l iforn ian god 4 99 5 00
. . . C om m un i on b rea d 4 8 1
I
.

Chinn a Ki m ed y i n n dia 4 3 6 . C o m p ita lia . festiv al of the 49 1

kI
. .

C hin oo n d ia n s . 2 5 6 . 5 99 C on cep ti on i n w om en c a u se d b y trees . 1 19

Chin s . the 5 5 1 . C on go . reca ll of s tra y soul s a m on g the
Chip p ew a y n di an s 6 05 I . j
trib es 1 8 4 ; c on urin g sp i rits b efore d rin k
I
.

Chi q ui tes n dia n s of Para gu a y . 5 26 in g i n the 199 ; ro y a l p er so n s forb idd en

.

Chirigu a n os of S ou th A m erica 6 0 1 . to tou c h the groun d . 5 9 4 ; rites of in itia

C hitom e or Chito m b e a p on tifi of C on go , . tio n o n the ow e r . 6 9 7 L
1 7 0 . 2 6 6 . 296 Co nn a ught t ab oos ob se rve d b y the a n cient
.

Chitt agon g. 2 3 9
Chocta ws . the . 2 15
k in gs o f 17 3 .

C o n so rt the d i v in e
. 14 2 .
Ch ole ra d e m o n of 5 4 9 5 5 1 5 63 ; sen t a wa y . . .
C on sta n tin e th e E m p eror 3 3 1
. .
i n a n i m al sca p e goa ts 5 6 5
C o n s u m p tion cure for. 5 4 5
N fi
.

Christ his
.
. a ti v ity . 3 5 8 ; hi s cru ci xi on .
C onta ct or c on ta gi on i n m a gic l aw of 11
3 5 9 ; hi s res u rrecti on 3 5 9 . 3 6 0 . .

C hri s tian festiv a l s dis p l a ce hea then festiv a ls

.

.
C on tin e n ce re u ire d
. q
d uri n g s e arch for
sa cre d c a c tu s . 2 3 ; p rac tise d b efore fertility
3 60
c ere m on ie s 13 6 ; p ractis ed i n or der to
C hr i stian ity its con ict with the M ithra ic
. fl k
m a e c ro p s grow
.

13 8 ; e n o in ed o n p eop l e j
re li gi on . 3 5 8 ; a n d ud d his m 36 1 B .
d uri n g rou nd s of sa cred p on ti fi . 17 0 ; o f
.

Chri stia n s p retend ers to d iv in it y a m ong

p ries ts . 17 0 ; o n ev e of p eri od o f ta b oo.
. .

10 1 17 3 ; d u ri n g wa r. 2 10 . 2 1 1 ; a fter v ictory .
Chri stm a s festival of b orr owe d fro m the
. . 2 12 ; b y hun ters a n d shers . 2 17 ; by fi
M ithra i c religion 3 5 8 ; h eathen ori gin o f . . k
wor ers in sa l tp a n s. 2 19 ; a t b rew in g. 2 19 ;
359 at house-b u ild in g 2 20 ; at m a in g an d k
B
.

C hri stm a s oa r 4 6 2 ; c an dl es . 6 3 7
. re p a i ri n g d a m s 2 20 ; b y lion - illers a n d k
k
.

C hu rch b el ls . a p ro tectio n a ga in st witch b ea r- i llers . 2 2 1 . 2 2 2 ; a t festiv al of first

cra ft 5 6 0 .
fru its 4 8 6
.

Ci m i n i a n fores t the 1 10 . .
k
C ord s . notted . i n m a gic 2 4 1 .

Cin ga l ese c u re b y m ea n s of d evi l -d a n ce rs . k

C orea . in gs res p on si b le for rain a n d crop s .

5 42 8 7 ; offerin gs to so u ls of the d e a d i n tre es

Cin y ras father of A d onis 3 2 7 3 2 8 . 3 3 2
. . .
in . 1 15 ; k
in g n ot to b e t ou ched . 2 24
C i rcassi a c us to m a s to p ear-tree s in . 1 19 m ea n s of i n s p i rin g c ou ra ge i n . 4 9 6 ; us e of
.

C i rc e . the l a nd of. 1 5 0 torches t o e n su re good c ro p s in 6 4 7 .

C i rcu m c is i on 2 29 6 94 . .
k
Cori nthia n s m a e i m a ges of iony sus out of D
Cl a ud i u s t he E m p eror 3 . 3 4 8
.
a p in e -tree . 3 8 7

C la y ton . Rev A C 5 4 2 . . C orm ac M a c A rt k

in g of rel a nd 2 7 3
. I .

Cl othes m a gic s y m p athy b etween a p erson C orn . s p irit of the . e m b od ie d i n hu m an

"

a n d his . 4 3 44 . b ein gs . 4 19 ; d o u b le p erson i cati on of. a s fi

C lotild e Q u een 2 3 2
, . m oth e r a nd d a ughte r 4 20 .

Cl ov e tree s tr eated l i e p regn a n t wo m en . k C orn-b ab y 4 5 9 ; -b ull . 45 8 ; -c at. 45 3 ; -coc

. k .

1 15 45 1 ; -cow 4 5 7 ; -foal . 4 6 0 ; -goat 45 4

°

. .

C l ov e s . cerem on y to m a k e the m grow. p g. 4 49 ; -so w . 4 4 8 . 4 6 0 ; -steer . 4 5 7

- u

-wolf. 4 5 0
13 7
k
C l uc ing-hen at thres hing. 4 5 1 -god . A d on i s a s a . 3 3 8
; A ttis a s a 3 5 3 ; .

C lya ck shea f 408 ; 4 25 .

Osiris a s a . 3 7 6
C oast M urrin g trib e of N ew So u th Wa les .
-m othe r
. 14 3 3 99 . 4 12 .

693 -rea p e rs. son gs of the . 4 24

 IN DEX 723
Corn-Sp irit . Adonis as a. 33 8 ; re p r esented D a nc e s . of wom en whil e m en are a wa y
b y hu m a n v ictim s 3 3 9 ; rep resen ted a s a . fighti n g. 26 h e m p g r ow .
27 : to m a k e
d ea d ol d m a n . 3 7 2 ; illin g the . 4 2 5 -4 3 1 k '
28 ; for ram 64 ; ro u n d s a cre d
. tre es .

sla in in h i s h u m a n re p rese n ta ti v e s 4 3 8 -4 7 . 1 18 ; roun d the M a y -p o le 12 2 12 4 1 2 6 ;

fi
. .

ho w re p resen ta t iv e w a s chosen . 4 3 9 ; a s rou nd b on res 12 2 6 10 - 12 6 14

. 6 20 . . .

a n a n i m a l 4 4 7 -6 4 . . 62 1 6 25
. 6 2 8 -3 0 ; to fert i li se ga rd en s .
.

Corn-m ed ici n e fes tiv al . 4 19 4 2 0 .

13 7 ; of k
i n g 2 00 ; o f s u c ce ss fu l h ea d
.

Cornwa ll te m p orary in g in 2 8 7
. k .
h u n ters 2 12 ; to p r op iti a te so u ls of sla i n
.

foe s 2 12 ; of v i cto ry 2 13 ; of ha rv esters .

Cos. s an ctuar y of A esc u l a p i u s in . 1 11; . .

4 0 1. 4 2 7 4 60 ; a t fes ti va l o f fi rs t-fru its

harv est-h o m e i n 3 9 6 .

k
.
.
4 8 6 ; a t b uri a l of t he w re n 5 3 7 ; m as ed .
Costa Ri ca . 6 05
542
.

Cotton wood t re es . the sh ad e s or S p i ri ts of.

I
D a n ger sl a n d . sn a r e s for so u ls in 1 8 7
D
.
1 1 1. 1 12 a n i sh m a gi c o f footp ri n ts 4 4 .

Cou rla n d c usto m of sow in g i n 4 6 1

. . D a nz i g d isp os al of cu t ha i r a t 2 3 5 ; l as t
, .

Co w cer em on y o f reb i rth fr om a g o ld en

. . sh ea f a t h a rv e st a t 4 00
I
.

197 ; sa cred t o s is 3 7 3 ; c orn -s p i r it a s . . D ara m u l u n a m y thic a l b ein g . 6 92 6 9 3

.

D
.

4 5 7 ; a s sca p egoa t. 5 6 5 5 7 1 ; witc hes s tea l a rfu r . S u lta n of 2 0 0 ; p eo p le o f. b el ie ve

k
. .

m il fro m 6 4 8 ; m istletoe g i v en t o . 6 6 3
, the l i v er t o b e the sea t of th e s ou l 4 97
D fi
.

Crea or the gra v e o f th e 2 6 4

t ate -p a l m a rti c i a l fe rtilis a ti o n of th e
. 5 82 .

kI B
. .

Cree n d ian s . 2 1 1 4 8 4 . 6 05 .
Da y of lood in ri tes o f A ttis 3 5 0 ; of. .

Cretan festi v a l of i o n y su s . 3 8 9 3 9 0 D A ton e m ent 5 6 9

B
. .

Crete m il -s to n es i n . 3 4 k D e a rros P ortu gu ese h i s tor i a n 2 7 7

, .

D
.

Creva u x . J 19 5 e ad . th e hom oeo p a t hic m a gic of

. 30;
k
.

Cri m i n a ls s h orn to m a e them c on fe s s . 6 8 0 k s p irits of 4 7 ; m a i n g ra i n b y m e a n s of

.

Crip p l e G
oa t la st s hea f c a l l e d 4 5 5 7 1 ; tr ees a n i m a te d b y th e s ou l s o f 1 15
fi
. . .

Croco dile . g irl sa cri c ed to a 14 5 fi .

sac r i ce s to 17 5 ; ta b oos on p erso n s who
.

C roco dil es M a l a y c h arm

. to ca tc h 19 .
ha v e ha n d l ed 205 ; n a m es o f ta b ooed .
. .

sp a re d b y s a v a ge s ou t of res p ec t 5 18 ,
2 5 1-6 ; a p p ea r to the li v in g i n d r ea m s .

Cronu s his sa cri ce o f hi s son . 2 9 3

. fi 2 5 6 ; festiv a l of 3 7 3 63 3 ; worship of. . .

4 14 ; ghosts o f. 5 5 1
Crop s cha rm s to p rom ote the gro wth of
the 28
.

28 8 6 10 . 6 13 . 6 14 6 24 645 ;
D ea d S un d a y . 3 02
. .

i n tercours e o f the sex es to p r om ote the

. . .
D ea th . p reten ce of. 16 ; c a rr y i ng ou t .
'

125 3 0 2 3 0 7 -16 5 7 7 6 13 6 14 ; a t eb b
growt h of th e . 13 6 ; hu m a n v icti m s . . . . .

fi
s a cri ce d for the 3 5 5 . 4 3 1 ; s u p ers ti ti ou s .
tid e 16 7 16 8 ; m ou rn e rs fo rb i d d en t o sl eep
. .

i n a hou s e a fter a . 18 2 ; cu st om o f co v eri n g

d ev ices to get ri d of v erm i n i n th e 5 3 0 ; .
u p m irrors a fter a 19 2 ; fr o m i m a gi na tio n
s up p osed t o b e S p oi l ed b y m en s tru ou s . .

204 ; r itu a l of a n d res urr ecti o n . 6 9 1-7 1 1

wo m en 6 0 4 . 6 06 .

C ros s of
.

the H orse . fi D e i r el B
a ha r i p a i n ti n gs a t . 14 2
.

C d fev e r d ep os ited a t
rs t sh ea f c a ll e d . 4 60
D e iti e s d u p li ca te d thro u gh d i a l e c ti ca l d i fi er

—
-roa 5 44 ; o ffer
ross . ,
e n ces i n th e i r n a m es 1 6 4 . 16 5 ; o f v ego .
i ngs at . 5 5 7 ; cere m o n i es a t . 5 6 1; M id tati on as a n i m a l s 4 6 4 7 9
s u m m er fi res li gh te d a t 6 25 .
D eit y sa v a ge co n ce p ti o n of. 9 2
.
.

Cry in g th e M a r e in H ertfor d shire 4 5 9

"
, D e m ete r m a rr i e d to eu s a t E l e u s i s 14 2 Z
k D
. .

C ry in g th e n ec " i n e v on s hi re . 4 4 5 a nd Persep hon e 3 9 3 -8 4 2 0 ; ety m ol o gy , .

Cry stal s m a gic of. 3 8 . 7 6 8 5 of h er n a m e 3 99 ; i n rela ti on to the p ig

.

B k
. . .

C u m a n u s . t he i n u i s itor 6 8 1 q .
4 6 9 ; hor se-hea d ed of Ph i g a li a 4 7 1 ; l ac . . .

Cum on t . Professor F ra n z . 5 84
D
47 1
e m e tr i u s Pol i orcetes . d ei fi ed . 97
i
Cup -a n d -b a ll a s a ch ar m . 80
D em o n s of trees 1 16 ; a b d u ction of s ou ls
C yb ele M other . of the G od s . 347 ; wor s h ip .

b y , 18 6 ; a n d gh osts a v er se to i r on . 2 26 ;
.

of 3 4 8
.
d ecei v ed b y e m gies . 4 9 2 ; o f d isea se ex or
Cyn a etha festiv al of D i on y s u s a t 3 9 0
c ised 5 42; o m n i p rese n ce of 5 46 ; of
. .
. .

Cy p rus . s a cred p rostituti on i n 3 3 0 .

chol e ra . 5 4 9 5 5 1 ; m en d i s gu ised a s . 5 6 2 ;
.

C y tisoru s s on of Phr i x u s 2 9 0 29 1
. . . j
co n u re d i n to i m a ge s 5 6 8 .

Cy zi cu s c oun cil cha m b er a t . 2 2 5

. De e I di
n n ans . t he . 208
D k
en m a r Whits u ntid e c u s to m s in . 13 3 ;
Yl B
.
‘

Dacotas 5 2 9 . u e oar in . 4 6 1 ; M id s u m m er fi res in .

D aed ala fe s t iv a l . of th e . 14 3 6 25
D h y th ki g f 17 2 199 2 5 7
a om e . e n o . . . D e p a rtm e nta l ings of n atu re 10 6 -9 k .

D i th
a ri , M ik d f J p 16 8 16 9
e . or a o o a an . D ep il a tion . 6 8 1
D
.

D d f th T d
ai ri e s . sa c re 17 5 . o e o as .
D
ep uty ex p e d i e n t o f d y i n g b y . 2 7 8
. 2 89 .

DliL f Lh
a a - am a o 103 as a .
D
e v il -d a n ce r s ,

ev ils . S ee D
542

D l ti b l i f t th
a m a a. l f t ei e as o e s ou s o ree s n,
D e v on sh ire h arv est cu sto m s in 4 4 5
.
e m on s

. .

1 12
Dhar m e. the S un -god 14 5
D i dA i 7
am a an u x es s ,
D I . A ry a n root m ea n in g b right . 16 4
.

D s ti
am .
t ki g 2 2 0 ; i E gyp t
co n n en ce a m a n . n . D ia n a 1 3 8 ; th e T au ric. 2 3 6 ; go d d ess
. . . .

3 69. 3 7 0 of chil db i rth . 3 . 14 1 ; god d ess of fert il it .

y
: Danae . the story of. 6 02 13 9-4 2 163 : a nd Dian u s . 16 1-7
.
 ZM I N D EX
Di an a s
'
M i rr or . 1 . 7 11 D id i
ru cal fes ti va l s . s o-call e d . 61 7
Di an u s a n d D ia na . 16 1-7 D idru s. 1 10 2 4 9 6 5 3 . 6 5 4 . 6 5 7 . 6 5 9 ; of
Di i I l
. .

er o f C e n tra l A u s tra l i a . th e . 6 4 . 6 5 . 1 15 . re a nd . 6 2 1 ; a n d th e m i stl e toe . 7 09 . 7 10

5 48 . 6 03 D h uc esn e , M gr 3 60
Di k
.

n as, th e . 2 6 9 . 5 6 5 D u go n g fi hi
s ng, ta b oo s in con nection with.
D iod oru s S iculu s 3 6 5 , 2 17
Di on e . w i fe of Z eu s at D od on a . 15 1 ; th e D ul y n . the ta rn of. o n S n owd on . 7 6
ld
o c on sort o f Z e us . 16 5 D un ir k k th e F olli es of. 65 4
Di y
.

on 14 2 . 2 6 5 . 3 7 8 ; go d of th e v in e .
su s .
D ur i a n -tree . th e . 1 13
3 8 6 ; god of tre es . 3 8 7 ; th e l owery . 3 8 7 ; F u s u n s of B or n e o . the . 2 2 5 . 5 6 6
god o f a gricu l tu re a n d th e corn . 3 8 7 ; a n d
the win n o win g fa n . 3 8 8 ; h or n ed . 3 90 ;
Dy k a s. o f B
14 . 16 . 2 5 . 18 2 . 2 4 8 . 2 49.
orn eo .

li v e a n i m a l s re nt i n the rites o f. 3 9 0
4 13 . 4 96 . 5 18 ; of a n d a . 6 8 2 ; of Pi no ch, L k
3 9 1; 3 90 4 6 4 ; hu m an sa cri
.
6 7 9 ; of S a ra wa . 4 9 8 ; S ea . 2 3 9 . 5 3 1 ; of k
as a goa t .
fices i n h is rites . 3 9 2 ; to rn i n p ieces at
.
j
T a an , 6 8 2

T h eb es . 3 9 2 ; a s a b u ll . 4 6 4 . 4 6 5 ; rel a
tio n s t o P a ns . S aty rs . a n d S il en u ses , 4 64 ; E a gle . the b ird oi J ove 149 .

h is res u rrecti on p erha p s e n ac te d in his E a gle-hun ters . 2 1 2 2

V .

ri tes 468 .
E a gl e-owl worshi p p ed b y the Ai n os . 5 15
Di se a s e .d em on s of. ex p ell ed 19 6 . 5 4 2 ; .
E arth . i n sp ired p riestess of 9 4 ; m arr ia ge of .
tra n s ferred t o oth er p eop le a n d to e fi gi es
the S un a n d . 14 5 ; i m a ge c f. p ray i ng to
.

5 3 9 ; s en t a w ay i n l ittl e ship s . 5 6 3 Zeu s for ra i n . 15 9 ; ithu a n i a n p ra y ers to L

D i i ti 2 5 6 6 3 4 6 3 5
v na on . . .
th e . 4 8 0 ; th e p ri est of. 5 9 4
Di i v ne i l k ill i g th
an m a 4 99 ; . n e. as sc a p e
E a rth d e m o n s 49 2 ; go dd es s 3 96 4 3 4 -7
. . .

g at 5 7 0 5 7 6
o . .
E a rthwor m s e at en b y d a n ci n g gir l 4 97
Di i C v ne t th 14 2 on sor . e.
E ast a scetic i d ea l is m o f t he. 13 9
.

Di i H b d
v ne i Chi us 46 8 an m an, n na .
.

I I
E a st n d i a n s la n d s m a gi c i n the . 18 . 2 1
Di i i g d 7 05
.
v n n ro s.
e p i l ep sy tran sferre d to l e av es i n the
D i i i ti h
v n b d by
es . y l
um an . oun m an ru e s . 26 2
k
5 3 9;
d em o n s o f s i c n es s ex p ell ed i n little ship s.
.

D i i ity f ki g 16 2 ; g wth f th
v n o n s. ro o e co n
5 64
p ti
ce f th 16 2 16 3
on o e.
I
.

Di v orce f p i it l f o t p Sl p r ua ro m em ora o wer .

E a st n d i es. p regn a nt wo m en forb id d en to
k
17 5 8 - tie n ot s 23 8 ; rel u cta n ce o f p erson s to
.

D b i h fi F th M 2 5 4 25 5 tell thei r ow n n a m es 2 4 6 ; b rin gi n g b ac . k

Dd
o r z o er .

t 14 7 ; Z
a er .

a nd
the S ou l of th e Ri ce 3 72 ; the ice . R
o l p i g
on a . or a c u a r S r n a . eu s
m oth er i n th e . 4 13
Di t 15 1 ;
o ne a l k t 15 9 ora c u a r oa a .

E a ster. rese m b l a n ce o f the festiv a l of to

D d w ll E 3 9 7
o e .
the r ites o f A d on is 3 4 5 ; a ssi m ilated to
.

D g bl k ifi d f
.

o ac i 73 ; sa cr ce or ra n . u se d to
the S p ri n g fes tiv a l of A ttis 3 5 9 ; c ontro
. .
.
s to p ra i n . 7 5 ; p rohib iti on to tou ch or n a m e .
v ersy a s to th e origin o f. 3 6 1
17 4 ; corn-S p irit a s 4 4 8 ; of the h a rv es t . .

449 E a ster E v e . c ere m o n i e s o n . 4 00 . 5 6 0 ; S atur

D og s c row n e d . 3 d ay new fi re on 6 14 ; S un d a y cere m o ny

D oll a r-b i rd a s so ci a ted with ra in . 72 ob serv e d by gy p s ies on . 568; M on d a y .

D on ar or T hun a r , G erm a n thun d er-go d . 16 0 festiv al on . 1 26 ; ca n d l e. 6 14 ; fi re s . 6 14

D oors op e n e d to facili t a te c hil db irth . 23 9 ; E ati n g. o ut of sa cre d ve s sel s . 169 ; together.

to fac il i ta te d e a th 2 4 3 .
202 ; and d rin ing. t ab oos k on . 19 8 ; eating

the god . 4 7 9-9 4 . 4 9 8 ; the soul of the ri ce.

D os S a n tos J . .
. 97
D ki g f 5 93
osu m a . n o .
482
E b b tid e . d eath
D t l S l i
ov e s . e x er n a 670; A l d t ou n. en ea s e o
at. 35

th G ld e B gh b y 7 0 3
o en ou
E cli p se c ere m o n ies a t a n 7 8
. .

D g ra i g d
on. p t d
ra n- o 74 ; re
.

rese n e as. or
E cu a d or . h u m a n s acr i ces i n . 4 3 1 fi
ser t f w t
en 14 6 ; t M ido a er . a s u m m er . E d ge well T ree the . 6 8 2
p .

ffi gy f 6 5 5
e o , E fii gies . 4 6 8 . 4 9 1. 4 9 2 5 3 9 5 6 8 6 09 . 6 12 . . .

D gi l 14 0 3 2 4 ;
ra m a s . m a d 374 ca sa cre 6 14 6 2 2 . 6 2 4 6 2 5 . 6 3 0 . 6 48 . 6 5 0 . 6 5 5 .
. .

D b f l i 18 1 ; b li f f
se nce
.

o s ou
.

n.
.

e e o
6 5 8 ; of C arn iv al . 3 0 2 ; of ea th. 3 07 . D
rea m s .
J K K
a

i n the re a lit y of. 18 1 ; festiv a l o f. 3 1 1 ; of u d a s . 6 15 ; of u p al o . ostrom a .

sa v a ge s

553
a nd a ri l oY3 18 ; o f Os ir is . 3 7 6 . 3 8 2 ; of
.

Sh ro v e T u esd a y . 3 0 5
D hi g p p l with w t
re n c n eo e a er as a ra i n
E fuga os , the . of
the Phili p p in es. 4 9 8
h c 69 7 0 3 4 1 3 4 2
a rm . .

of We st Afric a . 2 7 3
. .

D i k Bl k
r n . ti 486 ac .
"
a n em e c.
E gb as the . .

D i k i g d ti g t b
r n n an ea n a oos on . 198 . 19 9 ; E geria . wa ter-n y m p h . 4 . 8 . 14 7 . 15 1 . 15 2 .

f d i ki g f
.

d t b oo ed
164
m o es o r n n or a p ers on s .
199 2 0 8 2 1 1 2 19 E geriu s B aeb ius or Laev ius 5 .

k
. . .

D ght p p d t b
rou su b y the ose o e c a u se d E gg-shells . the b rea i n g of 2 0 1 .

k N
.

u n b u r ie d d ea d 72; c hi efs a nd in gs E gy p t . the a ti v i ty of th e S un a t the wi nte r

J
.

s olst i ce i n . 3 5 8 ; in ea rl y
p uni shed for . 8 6 ; su p p osed t o b e c a u sed une . 3 6 9 ; th e

b y a conceal ed m iscarri a ge . 209 god s flee into. 3 9 1 ; the corn-S p irit i n . 4 4 3

7 26 I N DE X
Fel k in Dr W . 534
. . R . . Fi h t b d 2 16
s ers a ooe
Fi h i g h
.

Felou p es o f S enega m b i a 7 4 . s n p th i gi i
o m oeo a c m a c n. 18
Fl D i l i th 15 1 23 5
.

Fe m a le k
i n s hip or m ot her-k i n d e ned . 15 2 ; fi a m en a a. e. . . 24 4 ; ru l es of
‘

i n d ifiere nce to p at er nity o f i ngs u nd er k l if p e ib d f 17 4

re sc r e or .
Fl i i th 15 1 ; l b
.

15 4 ; a t A then s . 15 5 ; a m on g the A r y a n s . am n ca , e. ru es o serv e d by 17 4,

15 5 Fl d M i d
an ers . fi i s u m m er res n. 63 0 . 6 4 6 ; the
F ern -seed 7 04 7 05 Y l l g i 63 7
u e o n.
Fl h
. .

F d
e rn a n P t b b
o d b y th ki g
o. a oos o ser v e e n s ax . p thi gi
om oe o a 28 c m a c at s ow i n g .

f 17 2 2 3 8
o . .
p ra y ers of ol d P ru ssia ns for th e growth
F tili ti ti fi i l 1 14 3 7 8 5 80 5 8 2;
of. 2 8 8 ; gi d d in ess t ra n sferre d to. 5 4 5 ;
er

f b
o w
sa

a rren581
on . ar
om en .
c a . . . .
lea p ing ov e r b on re s to m a e i t gro w tall . fi k
6 13 . 6 2 4 . 6 26
F tili ty D i
er g dd
. f 8; fw
a n a as a o e ss o . o o m en .
Fl th
ax-m o 3 99 e r.
gi l i d ig d t th 14 o e nsure
m a g ca

F ti h ki g in W t A f i 17 7
m a es es ne e.
Flight f th k i g t R
o 15 7
e n . a om e .
e

F i ll t M d
s n s es r ca .
Fl w g d d f 5 8 8
o ers. o e ss o .
eu e O t
. 3 06 a am e c a ve .
Fl t gi
u e. m a l d f hu
ca l g b m a e r om m an e - one.
F f
e v er . c u re s 3 43 5 or . -
3 0 ; kill f Ms y n th o 354
.

a rs as o e.
Fi g ti fi i l f tili ti
. ar f th 3 7 8 ; h
c a er sa on o e. um a n F lk t
o th
-cu s om s t l li 6 7 8 701 e e x ern a s ou n. -
.

sc a p e goa t

wil d . 5 7 9
b eaten wi th b ra nch es of th e
F lk t l th t n l l i 6 6 7 7 8
o - a es. e e x er a s ou n, -

Fig-tree . the s ac red . 13 6 ; a rti ci al fertili s a fi F d h

oo . p th i
om oeogi f p p ly da 17 c m a c or su .

eatend ry . 2 1. 2 9 6 8 ; ta b ooed 2 1 2 2 . 23 8 . . . .
t ion of t he . 5 8 0 . 5 8 2
tab oos on l ea v i n g fo od over 2 00
Fj I
i i sla n d s. t he. c on cep ti on of the soul i n .
Fools . B
ishop of. 5 8 6
.

17 9 ; n otion of the a b s e n ce of the s oul i n

d re a m s i n . 18 2 ; ca tchi n g a wa y souls i n
Footp rints . c o n ta gi o u s m a gic of. 44 4 5 ,

.
F k
ores ins u s e d i n ra in -m a i ng . 6 5 k
s u p p osed us i n g c hi e f s
F
’
18 7 ; e fi e ct of
o wler . W W a rd e 7 09 . .
d is h es or clothes i n 2 0 2 ; cu st om a t cutti n g
a ch i ef s ha i r i n . 2 3 3 ; b i rth -tre es i n
’
682;
.
Foxes . b urnt i n M i d su m m er res 6 5 6 . 65 7 ; fi .

witches turn in to . 6 5 7
.

d ra m a of d ea th a nd r esu rrection i n . 6 9 5
Fra m in in West Africa . d a nce of w om en at.
Finla n d ca ttle p rot ected b y the wood la n d
.
26
S p iri ts i n . 14 1

F U
i n n ish- gri a n p eop l es sa cred groves of the
F ra nce . con ta giou s m agic in , 44 ; p ea s ants
ascrib e m a gi ca l p o wers to p rie sts . 5 3 . 5 4 ;
, .

lll
i m a ges of sa i n ts d ip p ed i n water a s a ra in
Fi i h wi d nd wit h 8 1
nn s zar s a c es .
ch arm i n . 7 7 ; k
i n gs of. touch for scrofula .
Fi 5 2 1
nn s . 90 ; custom o f the H arv est-M a y i n 1 18 ;
Fi th g d f 23 ; k p t b rni g f th
.

re . e o o . e u n or e M ay custom s in 12 1 ; the M a y -p ol e i n .
k f b t w i 26 ; pp d t
.

sa e o a sen a rr ors . su os e o 12 4 ; ha rv est c u s to m s i n . 3 4 1. 44 8 -5 0 . 4 5 3 .

b bj t t
e su C th li p i t ec53 ; d o a o c r es s . u se 4 5 5 . 4 5 7 -9 ; the C o rn m ot her i n 4 0 1 ; the o

ki dl
.

t t p
o i 64;
s o h t ra n . as a c ar m o re n e d ou gh m a n i n . 4 8 0 ; h un ting the wre n i n.
th e 78; d W t
su n . ki g f 10 8 an a er . n s o . . 5 3 7 ; the i n g o f the K ea n in 5 8 6 ; ex B
1 7 6 2 6 6 ; k i d l d b y f i ti
.

. 16 1 5 3 4 n e r c on . . .
p ul s ion of wi tches i n . 5 6 1 ; ente n res i n. L fi
6 17 6 1 8 . 6 20 . 6 2 7 . 6 3 9 . 6 4 4
. 707 ; p urifi 6 10 ; M id su m m er res i n . 6 2 8 -3 0 . 6 4 5 fi
ca ti on b y . 19 7 . 198 . 2 13 648 °
n ew. 4 8 5 . the Y
ul e l o g i n 6 3 7 ; wic er-wor gia nts
. k k
l ivi ng.
"
6 14 ; sacred . 4 86 . 5 34 638 ; b urn t i n . 6 5 5 ; m is tl etoe i n . 6 6 2 ; b irth
wild f a wh eel .
m ad e
"
. 63 8 ; by m ea n s o trees i n . 6 8 2
639 ; of hea ve n . 6 44 ; e x tin guished by F nh C
ra c e- om té . d a n ce s in . to m a e hem p k
m ist le toe . 6 5 9 . 6 6 2 7 06 ; p ri m i ti ve i d ea s the goa t a t thresh ing i n . 45 6
.
g w 28 ;ro .

a s to th e origin of. 7 07

F ires ee d -fire N
S ee a lso B onfi res . .
F y th S
re . e god of fert ility . 14 3
ca n d i na v i a n

F
, .

Fri ck tal . S witz erla n d . the Whitsun tid e out L

ire-fes ti v a ls of E u rop e the . 6 09 ; i nt er .
in . 12 8 ; the Whits u nti d e as e t i n . 12 9 B k
p r etati on of. 6 4 1 ; sol a r theory of. 6 4 2 .
F i ti fi ki dl d b y S nd Fi
r c on . re n e ee u er re
6 4 3 ; p u rificatory theory of. 6 4 2 . 6 47 ; a t
.

the sol st ices . 6 4 3 ; a p rotection a gai nst

F i l nd E t th l ki g h t th hi g
r es a . as . e c uc n en a res n

w itchc ra ft . 6 48 ; their rela tio n to ru id is m D i 45 1

n.

65 4
.

F i g g th N
r . eg dd d B ld
orse 6 07 o es s . a n a er.

Fires . p erp etual . 3 16 1 16 3 6 6 5 . 7 04 ; the . . .

F gi
ro gi
n m a 7 3 13 1 ;c. l di t . m a a es ra ns

L
e n te n 6 09 ; E a ster 6 14 ; elta n e . 6 17 ; B f d t f g 5 44
e rre o ro s .
,

M id s u m m e r. 6 2 2 ; H a llowe en . 6 3 2 . 6 3 5 ;
.
'
F g fi y th i Whit tid p g t 13 0
ro - a er. e. n sun e a ea n .

M id win te r. 6 3 6 ; ex tin gu ished b efore li ght F i ros none i L ti bn i g afii gy umf . urn n an e o

in g the n eed-fire . 6 3 9 ; b u rn ing of efi gies th C e i l t 3 02

arn va a .

in the 6 5 0 ; b urni n g of m en and wom en in

. F it t
ru f tili d b y f itf l w
- rees . er se 28 ru u om en .
'

th e 65 2 ;. the solstiti a l . p erhap s su n h om o p thi gi ai l ti

c t m a 29 c n re a on o.
ch a r m s 7 0 6 th t d t
rea en e k th b f uit 113
o m a e em ear r . ,

i j
.

Firs t -frui ts 17 0 . 17 7 . 3 96 . 4 3 1. 46 7 . 4 7 9 . 4 8 2 .
.
w h ip p
ors f O i i f b idd
ers o t s rs or en o n ure .

48 7 3 80 ; w pt i t w
ra p n ti s ra as a reca u on

im sacre d . g i t
a a ns i l p i itev 5 6 1; fi Slit d r s. res un er.
Fis h m a gic a l a ge to p roc u re .
473 ;
.

t re a ted with resp ect b y fi hi s ng 63 2 ; f ig t d with

um k f dfi
a e sm o e o n ee - re
.

extern a l s o u l i n a 6 4 1 ; f tili d b y b u i g t
er se h 64 7 rn n orc
gold e n .
es .
tr i b es . 5 27 ;
676 F gi n h t
ue a c k th wi d d p 8 0
arm o m a e e n ro .
 IN DEX 727
Fum igatio n with la urel 95 . ; of fl k 478 ;
oc s. Gi lr s. m arri e d to nets . 144 ; used in ra i n
j
.

with u n ip er a n d 5 60;
r ue . o f fru i t-tr ee s m a ki n g. 2 10 ; secl u si o n of at , p u b ert y .
a n d n et s . 6 4 1 ; o f cro p s . 6 4 5 5 9 5 -6 0 7
F unera l c u st o m s . 18 5 . 19 0 . 2 2 7 . 542 ; ri te s . Gl or y the H an d of 3 0
. .

367 , 3 75 G n a b a ia a n A u stra lia n s p iri t. 6 93

j
,

G oa i ros o f C olom b ia 2 5 2 .

Gb th eory of th e ex te r n a l so u l i n th e G oa t b l oo d of s uc e d b y p ri est a s m ea n s of
. . k
a

68 4
oon . .

i ns p ira tio n 9 4 ; sacri ced 3 5 6 3 9 1 4 3 6 ; fi

D
. . . .

i n r e l a t io n t o ion y su s 3 90 46 4 ; com
Gbi a r el . the a rch a n gel . 13 . 24 1
s p i ri t a s 4 5 4 ; l ast s hea f in form of a 4 5 4 ;
. .

Gll a e a, d rea d of m e n st ru o u s wo m en in 6 04 .
k
.

illed o n h a rv est-field . 4 5 5 ; effi gy o f a

.

Galel areese of H a lm a h e ra . 19 . 29 -3 1 4 5 6 ; sac red a n i m a l of a u shm a n tr ib e B

G li i h
.

a c a. in. 4 5 1
a r v e st c u s to m s 4 7 4 ; rel a ti on of to A the n a . 4 7 7 ; ev il s .

G ll 9 8
a as . 1 18 ; i n gs o f the 10 k tra n sferre d to 5 4 0 ; a s sca p egoa t . 5 6 5
k
. . .

G ll i t h
a e e m a sc u l a te d p r i ests of A tti s . 3 4 8 G o d s a v a ge i d e as of. 9 2 ; the
. ill in g a n d

C am
,

the i m a ge of. 4 8 2
re s u r re c t io n of a 3 0 1 5 3 8 ; the y in g . D
R kill
.
esa .
an d ev iv in g . 3 86 ; ed in a n i m al for m
G ard e n s o f A d on i s 3 4 . 1-7
3 9 1; the a n im a l en e m o f. o ri gi n a ll y
.

G aros of A ss a m . 7 2 5 68.
id e n ti ca l wi th th e god 39 1
y
46 9 475 ;
G
. . .

ascon p ea sa n ts . their b el ief in th e m a gi ca l ea tin g the 4 7 9-94 4 98 ; d y ing a s scap e

. . .

p ower of p riests . 5 4 goa t 5 3 9 5 7 6 ; illi n g of the . i n M ex ic o k

G
. . .

Gatsch et A S , . 25 5 5 8 7 -9 2 S ee a lso od s
.

G o d -m a n a s o u rce o f d an ger 20 2
G a u l . a n c i e nt . hu m a n sacri fi ce s in . 6 5 3 ; the
G o d d esses . o f
.

fertili ty ser ved b y e u nu ch

.

m istletoe i n 6 5 9
p ries ts 3 4 9 ; p erson a ted b y wo m en 5 8 9
,

G G
. .

a uri . harv est god d ess . 4 2 0 od s a p p ea l t o th e p i ty o f a s a ra in -c h arm

. . .

G a y os of Su m a tra . 14 1 7 5 ; i n ca rn a te hu m a n 9 1- 106 1 6 2 ; con . .

ce p ti o n o f s lo wly ev olv e d 9 1 ; a n d god

G a z ell e Pe n i n su l a . 2 5 1 ; the In gn iet soc i e ty
.

d e sses d ra m a tic wed d in gs of 14 0 ; the

.
.

.
in th e . 6 8 0 m a rri a ge of th e 14 2 -5 ; crea ted b y m e n in
G
.

eom a n c y i n Chi n a 3 6 , their o wn li enes s 2 60 ; k

thei r n a m es .

G erm a n y . c on t a g i ou s
in . 3 9 4 2 . 4 5 ; m a g ic .
ta b ooed 2 6 0 -6 2 ; m orta lity o f the 26 4 -5
. .

worshi p o f wo m en i n a n c ient 9 7 ; t ree .

d eath a n d resu r rectio n of 3 8 5 -6 . 3 8 8 ; d i s .

worshi p i n 1 10 ; H a rv est -M a y i n 1 18 ; tin gu ish ed from s p i ri ts 4 1 1 .

use o f M a y t re e s i n . 1 19 ;
.

M i d su m m er
.

G old C oa st n egroes of th e 1 18 ; ex p ul s ion

. .

trees i n 12 2 ; races a t Whits u ntid e i n . of d e m on s on the 5 5 0 5 5 4 5 5 5 . . .

124 ; worsh ip of the oa k i n

.

16 0 ; b el ief G B
ol d e n ou gh 3 . 5 9 3 7 0 1-1 1 . .

as to th e e sca p e of th e s ou l i n 18 2 ; s u p e r
.

F lee ce ra m with 29 0
G
. .
.

stit i on a s t o c u t h a i r i n o l d i b ea r-festi va ls o f th e 5 14
23 4 ; th e C orn . .

G
.

m oth er i n 3 9 9 ; th e Old W o m a n i n , 4 00
.
oli a th stra w m a n sta b b e d a t Whi tsunti d e
. .

n a m e s gi v e n t o t he l as t s h ea f i n 4 0 1; ,
13 3
harv est cu sto m s 4 0 2 . 4 08 . 4 27 44 9 4 5 1 . . , . G d f I di th 4 3 3 5 7 1
on s o n a. e. .

4 5 3 4 5 4 4 5 8 -60 ; the C orn s p irit i n 4 4 8 ;

. .
~
G d F id y
oo r y i G k h h
a c ere m o n n ree c u rc es
k
. .

i n 4 5 1 . 4 7 9 ; p i g s b on e s
'
the h a r v est c oc f wi t h
3 45 ;
on . p l i 5 60
ex u s on o c e s on .
L
.

in con n ect io n w ith so wi n g i n 4 6 1 ;

fi res i n
e n te n

6 14 ; M id fi
.
G ill li
or as. f p b d
v es p wi th o er s o n s ou n u
6 12 ; E a ster re s i n
th f 6 85 o
Y
.
ose
fi
,
.

su m m er r es i n 6 2 3 ; th e ul e l o g i n , 6 3 7
G ip f St J h 3 44
'

.
oss s o . o n.
n ee d -fi re i n 6 4 1 ; m istl etoe i n 6 6 2 7 0 2
oa k -wood for c o tta ge
.

re s a t M i d s u m m e r fi
. .
G i I d i g d d f f til ity 3 43
o ur . n an o ess o er .

in 6 6 5 ; stor ies of th e e x ter n a l sou l i n 6 7 2 ;

, .
G t ou . dy f 19 6 ; t
re m e f d t t or . ra n s erre o re es .

b irth-tr ees i n . 6 8 2 5 46

Gerontocra cy i n A u stra li a 8 3 G Ch I d i
ra n f 18 2 6 0 1
a co . n ans o ,

G d
.
.
thf l l l d d i
Gt e ae . hu m an go d a m on g th e . 9 7
ra n a
G d th
a.

gi t
y ou 5 95
l t h f 40 1
er . na m e
u ru ers sec u
v en
e n.

Gha n s y a m Deo , a d ei ty of th e G on d s . 571

G
ra n

ra nn as-mi t
m o
h 6 1l as. orc es .
o as s ea .

Gh 8 4 18 5 . 190 . 2 0 7 2 16 2 2 6 2 5 3 4 9 1
os ts , . . . . . .
G C l ti d i ty 6 1 1
ra n n u s , a e c e

G ki g th 13 0 299
.

5 5 1 ; of the s la in 2 12 - 15 2 2 7 ; of a n i m a ls . . .
rass n e.

G k tt d
. .

d rea d of 2 23 5 2 0-2 4 . 5 2 6
. .
ra ss noh 24 2 e as a c a rm
G
.

ia n t who ha d n o hea rt i n his b o d y s tori e s G h pp

ra s s io h p hi
ers . gi 37 ; n om oeo at c m a c.
k
.

of th e . 6 6 8 6 7 3 ; m y th i c a l s u p p ose d to ill . ifi
sa cr f 541 ce o .

a n d resu sci ta te l a d s a t i n iti a ti o n 6 95 .

G l f t h d f
ra v e . sou 18 5 ; f Z e c 26 5 ; e rom o eu s .
Gi t an s. wic k e r-w o r k , 65 4 . 65 5 of D io n y su s 26 5 3 8 9 ; of Os iri s . 3 6 5
.

378;
Gid d i
. . .

n ess . c u re for . 5 4 5 d a nce a t i n itia t i on i n a 6 93 .

Gil y a k s of th e A m oor . 5 10 - 14 . 5 17 . 5 3 0 G l th
r a v e-c o h es . o m oeop a th i c m a gi c of. in
Gin giro k
i n g of 2 7 0
, .
Chi 35 ; b
n a. no u tto n s in . 2 43
Gi p p s l a n d b l ac s 2 4 8 k .
G i h
r a v e s . ra n -c ar m s a t . 6 7 . 7 1 ; trees p l anted
Girl a n nu a lly sa cr i ce d fi t o ce d a r tre e , 1 12 ; 1 15
on .

fi fi df G i g th w p
.

s a c ri ce d to a c ro c o il e 14 5 ; sa cr i ce or r ea s n e ea on i n stea d of woun d . 4 1
ki d l d G t M th l t
.

the c ro p s . 43 2 ; an b oy . n eed -fir e n e r ea o er. as s hea f ca lle d 40 1

G b p p l f Si
.

b y. 6 4 0 re o eo e o erra L
e on e . 17 4
KB IN D E X
G reec e. p ri estl y k in gs i n . 9 ; cere m on y p er H a n d s . ta b ooed 2 04 -6 2 0 8 2 10 . . . . 2 1 2 2 14 , ,

form ed b y p er son s su p p ose d to h a v e b ee n 2 3 3 ; n o t t o b e cl asp ed . 24 0 ; O f e n e m ies

d ea d . 15 ; h o m oe op athic m a gic i n . 16 . 3 4 eaten . 4 98

sac r i ce fi o f p regn ant v ic ti m s t o e n su re H a n n i b a l . h is reti rem en t fro m ta ly 3 4 8 I .

fert ili ty i n . 2 8 ; c o nt a gi ou s m a gi c i n . 4 4 ; H a n o v e r . h a r v est c u stom s i n . 4 00 4 0 1 45 4 ;

k k
. .

ra n - m a i n g i n . 6 9 . 7 7 ; sa n cti ty o f in gs E a ster b on res i n . 6 15 fi

a n d c h i efs i n H om eri c . 8 9 ; fores ts o f 1 10 ; . H a re c orn -sp ir i t a s . 4 5 2
k
.

tree worshi p i n . 1 1 1 ; c u stom a s to fo u n d a H a re s n ot e a te n l es t th e y m a e the ea ters

tion s of n e w b u i l d in gs i n , 1 9 1 ; cu stom a s ti m id 49 5 ; witches c ha n ged i nto . 6 5 7
.

t o m a n -sla y ers i n . 2 16 ; n a m e s o f the p ri es ts k

H aroe oe , E a st n d i an i sl a n d . fisherm an's I
of the E l e u sin ia n m y ste r i es n ot t o b e m a gi c i n . 18
m e nti on e d i n 2 5 9 ; the e i ght y e a r s c y cl e
'
.
H a rp ocra tes , the y o u n ger H orus 3 6 4
i n 2 7 9 ; h u m a n sa c ri ces i n 2 90 ; m o d e o f fi H a n -a n m ou r n in g for T a m m u z in 338 ;
.

fi
. .
. .

ri d d i n g th e e ld s o f m i c e i n 5 3 0 ; s ca p e l egen d of T a m m u z i n . 4 4 2 h u m a n sacri
fi
.

goa ts i n . 5 4 1. 5 7 8 ; M i d su m m er res i n . fi ces i n 4 4 4 .

6 3 1 ; s tor i es of the ex tern a l so u l i n . 6 7 0 H a rv e st ra in -char m a t 3 4 1 ; c u s tom of the

k
. .

G ree b eli ef tha t the s u n rod e i n a c h a r iot . A ra b s of M oab a t 3 7 2 . 3 7 8 ; ex p u lsion of .

7 9 ; cal en d a r 2 7 9 ; c h a rm s 3 1 3 2 ; Chu rch

. d ev il s a fter . 5 5 7 5 7 5
G
. .

F
.

cere m o n i es o n o od ri d a y i n th e 3 45 . H arv est chil d 4 06 ; c oc 4 5 1 ; c ustom s

. k . .

d iv i n ities wh o d ied a n d rose a ga in . 3 8 6 ; 4 0 0 - 10 ; goa t 4 5 4 ; h en 4 5 1 ; M a y . 118 .

k fl
. .

a t o n e s re ecti on i n
'
m ax i m n ot to l oo 12 4 ; m other 4 0 1 .

wa ter 19 2 ; m a x i m n ot to w e ar rin gs 2 43
. . H arz M ou n ta in s 4 2 ; C ar n iva l i n the 3 07 . .

m y tho l o gy A d on is i n 3 25 3 2 7 ; ri tu a l of .
H a wa ii ca p tu re of so u ls b y sorcerers i n , 18 8 ;
fi
. ,
.

ex p i ator y s a c ri ce s 4 7 3 ; s a n ctu ar ies iron . fe sti v a l o f M a ca h ity i n 2 8 2 2 8 3

k I
. .

n ot to b e b rou ght i nto 2 24 ; s u p erstiti o n s . Haw si s i n th e fo r m of a 3 6 4

. .

a s to cer ta in wool e n ga r m e n ts a n d st on es

32
.
k
H a w s rev ered b y th e A i n os 5 16 .

H a w th or n a t d oors on M a y Da y 12 1
G D
.

r ee n C orn a n ce . 486 H a y s o f E rro l . 7 02

G g 126
eor e. . 12 8 H ea d . p roh ib itio n to to u ch the 207 23 0 23 1 ;
W lf B th
. . .

o ro erh ood o f th e . 6 2 8 . 6 6 4 re gard e d a s sac re d 2 3 0 ; t ab ooed 23 0-3 1 ;

G
.
. .

reen l a n d w o m a n i n child b ed th ou gh t to
.
-
s u p p ose d t o b e th e res id e n ce of s p i ri ts 2 3 0 ;

R fi
.

co n tr ol th e w in d i n 8 0 ; b eli ef i n the m or of h ors e i n

.
om a n s acr i ce 4 7 8 S ee a lso . .

ta l it y of th e god s i n . 2 6 4 H ea d s
G y Si G g 6 8 9
re r e or e .
H ea d -hu nters 4 3 3
J b 7 09
.
.

G i r m m a co
H e a d a ch e c a used by cl ip p ed h a ir . 2 3 4 . 23 7 ;
. .

G A i i
rov e . 5 16 3 3 0 1 ; B ld
r c an . 6 08 . . a
'
er s . ; tra n sferred to
.

a n im al. 5 40
l f th
s ou o hi f i d 681
e c e n a s ac re
H ea d s of cl ea nse d .
.
l ac ga therers to b e
n ot
G d 1 10 1 1 1 t D i
ro v es . sa cre . 14 0 . ; o a na .
2 1;
.

o f m a n -sl a y ers s h a v e d ; 2 15 ; d ead

of
G h f T iff 7 5
ua nc es o e n er e.
ki rem ov ed an d k ep t . 295 S ee a lso
G i I di
u a ra n 29 60 1
n a ns . .
n gs
H ea d
.

G t l th I d i
ua e m a a . f 687 e n ans o
j k
G y q il I d i D io n y s u s 3 8 8 3 8 9 ; of a c al not
.

H ea rt . of
f 43 1
k
. .
ua a u . n a ns o .
e a t e n l es t i t m a e th e e a t er ti m id . 4 95 ;
G y ua th
c u rus .82 e.
o f l i o n or l eo p a rd e a te n 4 95 ; of water
G yq i i f th O i 6 05
q
.
ua u r es o e r n oc o .
ou z el e a te n t o ac u ire w isd o m a n d el o
Gi I di
u a na . f 18 1 6 0 1
n ans o .

Gi p i tl y k i g
.

i f q u en ce . 4 96 ; of wol f a n d of b ea r ca ten to
169 ; b li f
u ne a .

g i
n e r oe s d
r es

18 2 ; h
n ifi
rea m s .
n s n.
u m an
e

s acr
e o
ces
ac q u i re cou ra ge , 4 96

i 43 3 ;
n. l ifi f
an nua t G t s ac r ce o ox e n a r ea
H ea rts . of m en a nd a ni m als o ffere d to the
B assa m46 7 ; p l i f th d il i ex u s on o e ev n. s un . 7 9 . 5 8 9 ; of d ea d i n gs eaten b y their k
554;
,

secl us ion of girl s at p u b e rty i n . 5 9 7

s u ccessors 2 95 ; of m en sa cri ced . 4 3 1 ;
. fi
G unp u tty el ep h a n t—hea d ed g od 1 00
o f m e n e a te n to a c u i re th e i r u a li tie s . 49 7 q q
G G G
. .

th e H ea v e n b e tw een a nd e ar th . 5 9 2 -6 0 7 ; fire
y p s ie s ree n e orge a m ong 126 ; .

Q
.
. .

of 6 4 4 ; u ee n of. 7 11
a n nu a l cere m on y p erform e d b y th e 5 68 .
.

H eb re w p rop hets thei r eth ical religi on 5 1

—
, .

H e itsi eib ib H otten tot go d or hero . 264

.

H a g (wra ch) . n a m e giv e n to th e l a st cor n cu t

H el en of the T ree 3 5 6
i n W a l es 4 03 . 4 0 4
.

H el iogab alu s su n -go d a t E m esa 3 3 0

I
.
.

K
.

H a id a n d ia n s 2 7 . 3 5 .
H ell e a n d Phrixu s c h ild re n of in g A tham as .

H ai r u sed i n m a gi c 13 2 3 3 -5 ; ch ar m s 2 8
. . . .
290
2 9 3 2 ; ta b ooed 2 3 1 ; d i sp osal of cu t 2 3 3
H em p p r om otin g the g ro w th of. 2 8 . 6 2 4
. . .

ex tern a l sou l i n . 6 7 0 ; s tre n gth b oun d u p

.

with 6 80 ;
. of c ri m i na l s . wiz ar d s and .
H en . fi
d b y w ood m a n a fter fell in g tree.
sac r i ce

1 12 ; h e art of n ot ea te n 4 95
w itches s horn . 6 8 1 . .

H a ir— c utt i n g cere m oni es a t. 23 3 .

H era a d o p tion of H ercu les b y . 14 ; a nd eus.
. Z
H a lfd a n the l ac B k N
or we gi a n i ng 3 7 9 . k .
their m a rria ge 14 3 .

H a ll owe e n 6 09 ;
'
. fi
re s 6 3 2 -6 ; d i v in a ti on s a t . . H erc ul es 14 4 2 5 4 4 3 . . .

6 3 4 ; witches . fa ir ies a n d h ob gob l in s l et .

H e rcy n i a n forest 109 .

loose at . 6 3 4 ; a n d elta n e . th e tw o c hie f B H erd s m en d rea d witches a n d wolv es . 6 4 9

fire festi v a ls of the ritish C e lts . 6 5 6 B H erm oti m u s of C la z om ena e 18 5 .

H al m ahera d ri vi n g a wa y d ev ils i n 5 4 8
. . H erm utrud e . l eg en d a ry u e en of S cotla nd . q
H a n d of G
lory . 3 0 15 5
zm I N DE X
I nd ia . C entral Provi nces of ra i n-char m s i n . . I q ro uo is . the.
1 12 . 5 5 3
7 3 ; s acred trees i n . 119 ; p eacoc w or k I ht
s ar. great B
ab y loni an god d ess. 3 25 . 3 3 0
s h ip p ed a m on g the B
hils of. 4 7 4 ; e x p ul s i on Ii
s s .how she d iscovered the n a m e
'
of Rs .
of d i seas e in . 5 6 5 2 6 0 ; s ister a n d w ife of Osi ris . 3 6 3 . 3 8 2
N
orth-eastern . h arv est ho m e festi v al i n , her m a ny n a m es 3 8 2 ; a corn-god d es s 3 8 2 . .

her d iscovery of whea t and b arl ey . 3 8 2

N orthern . the E m bli ca oj fici n a li s sa cr ed i d en ti e d with fi e m eter . 3 8 3 ; D
p op ul a rity
in . 119 ; coco-nuts sacred i n . 1 19 ; ey es of of h er worsh ip in th e om a n E m p ire . 3 8 3 ; R
owl ea ten i n 4 97 . rese m b l an ce to the V
irgi n M ary . 3 8 3 ; d irge
South-eastern p reca utions a ga i n st
. of. 4 2 4

d e m on of s m allp ox i n 5 49 , Is la y . th e isl an d of. 4 03

S ou thern insp ired p riest i n

. 94 ; . Isl e d e F
ra nce . th e M a y -tree a n d a ther M a y F
hu sb and s n am e ta b ooed i n . 2 4 9 ;
'
i n gs k in 126 ; harv est cus tom s in . 4 2 7 . 4 3 0 ;
.

k
form erly illed a fter a twel v e y ea rs rei gn
'
M i d s u m m er gia nt b urnt in . 6 5 5
in 2 7 4 ; cere m on i es a t eating th e n ew rice
. Isl e of M a n the . 8 1 ; St rid ge t in
. 13 5 . B .

i n . 48 2 ; exp ulsion of d em on in 5 6 3 . hun tin g the wre n i n . 5 3 6 ; M id sum m er

I n d ia n cerem on ies a nal ogous to th e rites of fi re s i n . 63 0 . 6 45 ; old N ew ear s Day in . Y '

A d on is . 3 3 6 ; legend p arallel to a ld er B 6 3 3 ; H ogm a n a y song i n . 63 4 ; H all owe en

’

m y th . 7 0 1 in . 6 3 6
A rchi p elago . the hea d-hun tin g i n 44 1 . . Isra e l i tes . 2 10 . 4 7 2

exp uls ion of d isea se s i n . 5 6 6 ; b irth -c u s to m Issa p oo negroes of. 5 0 1 .

in 6 7 9. Ita l o n es the. 4 98
In d on es ia n i d e as of th e rice sou l 4 14 ; trea t . Ita ly . d i sp osal of loose ha i r b y wom en in.
m e nt of the gro wi ng r ice a s a b ree d in g 23 6 ;
"
k
illing the H are a t harv est in . 45 3 ;
wom an . 4 14 rese m b la nce b etween the C arn ival of
In dr a . g rea t I
nd ian go d . 6 7 . 7 0 1 m o d ern a nd the S aturn a li a o f a ncien t. 5 8 6
Ind u s trial p rogres s e ss e ntia l to i n te llectu a l M id su m m er res i n 6 3 1; the m is tletoe fi .

p rogress. 4 8 ; e vol ution from u n iform ity t o i n . 6 5 9 ; b irth-trees in . 6 8 2

d i versity of fun ction . 106 a n cie nt . s p i nn i n g on highroad s for
In fa ntici de . 2 9 3 b idd en t o wo m en . 20 ; forests of. 1 10 ;
Infa nt s. exp osed to attac s of d e m o ns . 2 2 6 k . tree-worship in . 1 11 ; oa s sacred to up iter k J
2 4 5 ; tab ooed . 2 3 1 i n . 16 0
I fi
n d el ity of wife thou ght to i n ur e a b se nt j Iton a m a s of South A m erica . 180
husb a nd . 2 3 2 5 . Iv y . ea ten b y accha nal s . 95 ; B
p rohib ition
Ingial d . s on of i ng A unund 4 9 6 K , to tou ch or n a m e . 17 4 ; sa cried to A ttis .
In gn ie t or Ingiet a secret s ociety . 6 8 0
. 3 5 2 ; sa c red to Os iris . 3 8 1 ; associa ted with
In iti a tion . ri tes of. 6 9 2 . 6 93 D ion y s u s . 3 8 7
In n ov a tion s the sa va ge d istrust of. 2 2 5
.

Inc a nd M el icertes. 2 90 29 1 .
J a -L u o trib es of K a v irond o . 2 15
I q
n u is ition . the . 10 1. 10 2 J a b lonsk i . P E 3 84
I
.

n sec ts ho m oeo p a th ic m a gic of. 3 1 ; ch arm s

.
J ab m e -A i m o. a b od e of the d ea d . 5 2 9
fi
to p rotect the el d s aga i nst. 5 3 0 . 5 3 1 J k in th -G
ac - - e ree n . 12 9 . 299
Ins p ira tion . 9 3 ; two m od es of p ro d u c in g J kl h t
ac a
'
s ea r not ea ten lest i t m a k e the
tem p ora ry . 94 ; p rop hetic 3 3 4 ; sa v a ge . ea ter ti m id . 4 9 5
theory of. 3 5 6 J a gas , a tri b e of A ngola . 2 93
Intell ectua l p rogress d ep en d ent on eco nom i c J am b i i n Su m a tra . te m p orary ki n gs i n. 2 8 7
p ro gres s 4 8 J a n a . a n oth erform of ian a . 16 4 -5 D
J
.

In vu ln e ra b ili ty . conferre d b y d ecocti o n of a nu s 16 4 16 5 . 16 7 ; as a god of d oors. 166

. .

a p a rasitic orchi d . 6 6 0 ; of a l d er . 6 6 7 ; B ex p la na tio n of th e two -hea d ed . 16 6

a tta i n ed t hrough b lood b rotherhoo d w i th J a p an b la c . k

d og s acr i ced for ra in i n the fi
a ni m al . 6 8 4 m oun ta i ns o f. 7 3 ; ra in-m a in g b y m ea ns k
In v ul nera b le warloc k
or giant. s torie s of th e . o f a s to ne i n . 7 6 ; cere m ony to m a e tre es k
6 68 b ea r fru it i n . 1 14 ; the M i ado of. 16 8 ; k
I rel a nd . b urnt a s a witch i n 5 6 ;
wo m an .
b ea r fes ti val of the A ino i n . 5 0 5 ; the m is
m a gi cal p owers of k
ings i n . 8 9 ; b elief a s tletoe in . 6 6 0

to g reen b oughs on M a y D a y i n 1 19 ; J a r the ev ils of a whole y ear shut up in a . 5 6 7

.

k
.

M a y Da y in . 12 1 ; M a y uee n i n 13 1 ; Q J a rs wi n d. ep t b y p riests i n . 17 0
J
.

t ab oos ob served b y i ngs i n a n cie n t 17 3 ; k a un d i c e . 15 . 16

J
.

cu t ha ir p reserv ed a ga inst the d a y of ava 3 0 ; r a in-ch arm s in . 6 6 . 6 8 . 7 2 ; sex ual

.

j
ud gm ent in . 2 3 6 ; old ings of. m i gh t n ot k i nterc ou rs e to p rom ote the growth of rice
ha v e a n y b lem ish 2 7 3 ; harv est cu stom s.
in 13 6 ; cu s tom when chil d i s rst set on
. fi
i n 4 0 4 ; hunting the wren i n . 5 3 7 ;
.
elt a n e B the grou n d . 18 1 ; rem ed y for gout or
fi
re s i n 6 2 1 ; H al lowe en in 6 3 4 ; M id
.
'
.
rh e u m a ti s m i n . 19 6 ; sup erstitions a s to
s um m er fires in . 6 46 ; story of the e xterna l th e h ea d i n . 2 3 0 ; cere m ony at ri ce-harvest
s o u l in 6 73 .
i n 4 18 ; ea rthwor m s ea ten b y d a ncing girls
.

Iro n tab ooed . 2 2 1. 2 2 4 ; used as a cha r m i n 49 6 .

J
.

a ga in st sp iri ts . 2 25 48 1 ; m i stletoe ga the re d

.
a wb on es . m a gical u s e of. 18 . 7 8 ; of sl ai n

wi thout the use of 6 6 0 a n i m al s p rop i ti a te d b y hu n ters . 5 2 6

J
.

B
Iron - eard . Dr . a Whi tsun ti d e m u m m er
. . a ws of c orp s e tied up to p re vent the escap e
29 7 . 3 00 . 3 0 7 of the soul . 180
 IN D-EX 73 1
J ay b lue a s scap e goa t . S45 Kh or-A d a r Di k n a. the . 2 7 0
Kib ki g
.

fi
.

J eo ud b y his fath er 29 3
s acri c ed a n ga , n of. 270
Ki k I di
.

J
.

ero m e o n th e wo rsh ip of A d on i s 3 4 6 . c a p oo n a ns . 2 14
o f P ra gu e 1 18 K id . s u rn a m e o f Di o n y su s . 3 90
J
.

eru sa lem the T em p l e a t 2 2 5 ; m ou rn i n g fo r . K id n e y s t a b oo e d to M a l a ga s y s old iers . 22

K ill
.

T a m m u z a t 3 26 ; r el igi ou s m u s ic a t 3 3 4 . er . of the E lep ha n t .

who thro ttles o ffi c i a l

kk
.

Jewi sh hun ters . 2 2 8 s ic in gs 2 7 1 ; o f the Ry e-w o m a n . 4 2 8

K
.

Je wi tt . oh n R J 698 ill in g th e S p i ri t of the win d 8 2 ; th e d iv i ne

Jews . a ttitu d e of to the p i g 4 7 2 ; thei r . . k ing 2 6 4 -8 3 ; the t ree-S p i ri t 2 9 6 -3 2 3 ; th e
. ,

ab lution s 473 ; use o f sca p egoa ts . 5 6 9

. . d iv in e a n i m a l . 4 99 -5 18 ; a god . 5 3 3 5 3 8 . .

572 5 8 7 -9 2
Jinn 145 . 5 4 0 Ki m b un d a the of W es t A frica . 4 9 8
J
. . .

inn ee of th e sea v i rgin s m arr i ed to a 14 6 .

King th e k illi
d iv i n e 2 6 4 -8 3 ; his
n g of the
J
.

u d a h . i d ol a trou s in gs of 7 9 k .

l ife sy m p a thetic a lly b o u n d u p w ith th e

.

J
.

ud as . e fii gi es o f b u r n t 6 15 . 6 16
p rosp eri ty o f the co un try 2 6 7 26 8 . 5 9 2 ;
k
.

In os th e of i ge ria 2 7 0 N . fi
sac r i ce o f h i s so n 2 8 9 -93 ; resp o n si b le
. .

J
, .
.

uli a n th e E m p eror. 1 09 . 3 3 6 3 4 6 fo r w e a the r a nd c ro p s 292 S ee a lso

J
. .
. .

J
u ni p er b err i e s ho uses fu m i ga te d w i th 5 6 0 . ,
K i n gs

J
uno . 15 0 15 1 16 4 1 6 5 ; M on e ta , 15 0
up i ter om an R
. .

in gs i n th e ch aracter o f k
.
Ki n g a ndQ t A th 9 t W hit
u ee n . a en s . ; a su n
. .
ti d 13 2 2 99
e. f M 13 2 299 3 20
. ; o ay . . .

14 8 . 15 2 ; a s go d o f the o a k th e r a i n
an d th e th u n d er 16 0 ; a n d un o d ou b l e s J
. .
K i g th G
n 13 0 2 99
e th L f 13 0 ;
ra ss , . ; e ea .

J p it 14 8
.

th R
J
. .
e om a n . a s u er.
of (D i a nu s ) a n d D ia n a 16 4 ; a n d
a nu s

D i on y s u s 3 8 8
.

Ki g f th B
n o 5 86 f h e C lf 4 5 8 ea n . ; o t e a .

f Fi f R i
.
o 10 8 17 6 26 6 ;
re . 70; f o a n, o
C a p i t ol i n e 14 8 15 0 ; E lici u s . 149 ; . .

R i d Ri
. .

L at i a n 15 0 ; i b er te m p l e of 2 25 L t R
a n d St 107 ;
an f S
f W t
or m . o ac re te s

J
. . .
a 9 10 6 15 2
om e . 15 7 ; o a er .
utla n d s u p er stition s a b o ut a p a ra sitic ro w a n
. . .

f th W t N
.
108 17 6 26 6 ; d i 1 o e oo a em
i n 7 02 .
. . .
.
1 06 . 1 4 0 . 14 7 16 3 . 1 6 4 . 16 7 26 9 .
Jutu rn a . a w a ter ny m p h 16 5 .
3. 8 .

296 3 00 3 0 1. 5 8 6 . 5 93 7 0 3 . 7 10 ; of the
. .

Y
,

L
. .

ea rs a t h assa 5 7 3 . 5 7 4
K ab y le story o f th e e x te rn a l so u l 6 74
.
Ki g H in S i a m
.

2 84. 28 5
K ac hi n s of B2 19 u rm a .
K ing
n
'
op

s e v il . 90 . 2 0 4
.

K a d ia k i s l a n d ofi A l a s
a k 208
Ra c e W h itsu n t id e 12 9
G at
. ,
.
K a i tr ib e i n N e w u i n ea . 49 8 5 8 1 6 94
Kk
.

a ia n a ssoc i a ti on i n Cera m 6 96 .
. .
Ki n gs . p r ies tl y
9 16 9 . 2 0 3 ; T e u to n i c . 9 ;
. .

K ala m b a a C o n go c h i ef 19 8 .
m a gic ia ns a s 8 3 -9 1 ; to u ch for s cro fu l a .
9 0 ; d iv in i ty of 9 1 ; a s god s i n
,

n d ia I
K I
.

a li n d i a n god d ess 9 4
.

K k te m p l e s b u il t i n h o n ou r of
. .
10 0 ; 104
al m u c s the 5 3 4 ; sto ry of the ex ter n a l
fi
.

104 ; of n a tu re . 1 06 -9 ; of
. .
s a cri c e s t o .
sou l a m o n g th e 6 7 5

K a m ila r o i th e 4 98
.
ra i n . 108 ; o f fi re a n d w a ter . 108 ; om an . R
. .
14 7 -9 15 1 . 1 5 2 ; s u p e r na tu ra l p o wers a t
.
K a m t ch a tk a n s th e 7 8 5 20 5 2 9
trib u ted to . 14 9 . 16 8 ; p a te rn i ty of 1 5 4
K k
. . . .
.

a n ga r oo ea ten to m a e ea te r s w ift-foote d
thei r li v es regul a t e d b y s tr i ct r ul es . 16 8 .
. .

496
19 4 ; t a b oos o b serv e d b y . 1 7 1 ; b e a te n
K a nsa s I n d ia ns . 4 96 b e fore p or tra i ts o f. n ot
c oro n a t io n . 17 6 ;
K ap u s or Re d d i s i n M a d r as Pr e sid en cy 7 3 .
o n co in s . 19 3 ; gu a rd e d a ga i n s t th e m a gi c
K Ki gh i th 12 0
a ra - r z. e. o f stra n ge rs 19 8 ; n ot t o b e seen ea ti n g
K f B k
.

a re n s o 18 3 1 8 5 2 3 0 4 15 u rm a . a n d d ri n i ng . 198 ; fo rb i d d e n to lea v e t he i r
K
. . .

t
arm a - re e . c e re m o n 3 42 o v er a .
y p a l a ce s . 200 ; ta b ooe d . 2 0 2 ; foo d s ta b ooed
K B t k f S t 4 0 18 5 23 3
a r o- a a s o u m a ra . . .
to . 23 8 ; n a m es o f. ta b ooed . 2 5 7 9 ; il led — k
K k I di
aro f C l if i 5 28
n ans o a o rn a . w h en s tren gth fa ils . 2 6 5 ; a tta c s o n . p er k
K p th i l d
ar a os . s an m i tted w o rsh ip p e d a te r d e a th
26 7 . 2 7 5 ; f ,

k fi
.

K t j li
a a a A t li an p i it 6 93
na . an u s ra s r .
26 8 ; illed a t th e e n d of a x e d t e rm ,
K i d t ib f p i fi ti
a v ro n o. f r es o . ur ca on o m an
2 7 4 ; d y i ng b y d ep u ty . 2 7 8 ; te m p o ra ry .
l y
s a g th 2 15
er s a m on e. 28 3 -9 ; to rn i n p i eces t ra d i tio ns of 3 7 8 ;
Ky fB
. .

a ans o 8 2 1 17 2 1 1 2 2 1 4 14 orn e o . . . . . . 4 96 tra ce o f the cus to m o f sla yi n g th em in

z

K i I l
e d th s an
gi l t l p th y i s. e. m a ca e e a n. 24 n u a l ly . 4 40
26 ; trea t m e nt of th e n a v el-stri n g i n . 40 K ing h ip s , e vol u tio n of the ‘
sa c re d . 10 5 ;
e x p ul s i o n o f d em on s i n . 5 4 8 ; b irth c u sto m d e scen t of th e i n the fem a le l i n e 15 2 , . .

in 6 7 9. 15 4 15 5 ;
. b u rd e n s a n d res tr ic tion s a t
K k hi I di
e c f G t l n13 8 a ns o ua e m a a , tachi n g to the ea rly . 16 8 1 7 5 ; tenu re o f .

K i t ib
er a m f N w S n th W l r e o e ou a es . 76 th e 2 7 9 -S l
.

K t
ere m e g d f th W ty k a14 4 o o e o a s. K in gsley . M i s s o n sou l-tr a p s 1 8 8 .
'

K ttl K
. .

e d esi i th d
u se 77 to m m c un er . i n s h ip o f m en w i th cro c od ile s 5 19 .

K y f th fi ld 4 3 0
e o e e I
K io w a n d i a ns . 2 5 3
Ky b h f
.

e s. h un c 2 26 o as a c a rm K ir gh i z th e 15 6 2 4 9 6 02
K h li j l d
. . . . . .

a l t C i 370
o c a na a a ro . K im la s t c orn cu t 4 06 4 0 7
Kh
.

K
, , .

an . y i iti g T
c er e m o n t at v s n a a r ar. 19 8 ; iwa i n a tives o f 3 7 9
G t 228 K I
. .

th e r ea . la m a th n d i a ns o f Oreg on 2 5 5 .

t i n-m
' '

a. T i b eta n go d d ess . 4 9 2 K n ife a s c ha rm a ga i n st s p ir its . 2 2 6 n ot to

Khond s . the . 25 6 . 4 3 4 . 5 5 7 b e l eft e d ge u p w a rd s . 2 2 7

WE IN DEX
K niv es . n o t u se d at m ea l s a fter a fun era l L a ws o f M o na 89 10 0
Lk N
. . .

227 ; of s p ec i a l p a tte rn u se d in r ea p in g Le M ol e on the a e of em i 4 .

L L K
.

ri ce . 4 14 ea f M a n the i ttl e 128 ; i n g 13 0

’

L k
. .

K n o ts . ty in g u p the w in d i n . 8 1 ; p rc i ib itio n
d
'
e a p in g t o m a e cr o p s g row h igh 2 8 ; over .

fi
.

to w e a r . 1 7 4 ; u nti ed a t child b i rth . 2 3 8 .

b on re s 5 6 0 6 10 6 13 6 2 1. 6 2 4 -6 . 6 30 .
. . . ,

24 0 ; thou ght t o p rev e n t the c o n su m m a 6 3 1. 6 4 6 . 6 5 6

ti on of m a rri a ge . 2 40 ; thou ght to ca u se L earc h u s . s o n o f KiA th a m a s . 290 . 29 1
ng

s ic k n ess d i s ea se 2 4 1 ; u sed to cu r e
and .
L e a v es .d isea se tra n sferre d t o . 5 3 9 ; fa tigue
d i sea s e w in a l o v er or s to p a ru n a w a y
. . .
t ra n s ferre d to .5 4 0 ; 11 5 941 to e x p el d e m ons.
24 2 ; m a gi c al v i r tu e of 2 4 2 -3 ; ti e d i n .
567
b ra n ches o f tree s a s re m ed i es . 5 4 5 L ech ra i n 6 4 6 ; b u ry i n g the C a rn iv al in 3 0 7
L
. .

K on i a gs of A l as a 6 0 0 k e gs n o t to b e cro sse d . 2 3 9 . 2 4 0

L
.

K k
ora n on m a gi c a l n o ts 24 1 e in ster . t a b oos ob ser ved b y the a ncient
k
. .

K ore M a id e n . title o f P ersep hon e 4 20 in gs of 1 7 3 .

K L
. .

ore e x p ell e d on E a ster E v e i n A lb a n i a em on e x tern al s ou ls of ogres in a 6 69

L
. . . .

5 60 e n d u trib e of C e n tra l Afri c a . 8 5

K y k th 15 6 5 2 1
or a s. e. 5 23 L I
e n gu a n d ia n s . th e 8 2 . 8 8 . 2 5 3 2 9 4 . 5 26 . .

K h i th D thl
osc e e ea
. .

ess . s tory o f. 67 1 L fi
e n t p ers on i cati o n of. 3 04
.

K t f l f i
os rom a . u n er a o . n Russia 3 18 .
L t fi 6 09
en en res .

L th G
eo t 3 59 e re a
K ostru b o n k o d e a th a nd resu rr e c ti on o f.
.

3 17
,
L p d bl d d k
eo ar
’
h st t oo ru n or ea r e a en to

K i h t i L 5 29 k t b
m a 49 5
e e a er ra v e .
ou

K i h H i d g d 10 1
r s na .
un ers
n
n
oo
aos .

o
L p d 5 23 ; t l h
eo ar s. l ex ern a um an s ou s i n.
684 6
.
-
K b l i Kh 2 2 8
u a an .
Lp ifi d b y th M i 4 44
K h A d lb t 6 4 4
u n. a er .
e

L p y 473
e rs s a cr ce e ex ca n s .

K k l p i tly ki g 16 9
u u u, r es n .
e r os

L id i C t l i f
.

l f th C arni v al
K i f S th t I d i 5 49
um s o ou -eas e rn n a.
er

t 3 04
a n a a on a . u n era o e

K th
un a m a , 10 7 e.
L
a

l
.

d i p i fi ti
K p l y thi l b i g 3 17 18 6 2 7 6 5 2
u a o. m ca e n -
. .
t
ero se

L ti i l d f i g
484
e av es use n ur ca on .
a nd
K i f I di 565
. “

e , s an f th S o . m arr a e o e un
ur m s o n a.
E arth i n . 13 6 ; annu a l e x p ul s i on of dis
K i f Vi t i
u rn a 190 6 8 9
o c or a .
e a se s i n 5 6 6
.

K ik k
u ru v f S th I d i 94
a ra n s o ou ern n a.
L
.

K w ki tl I di
a u6 6 5 27 6 7 8 n a ns . . .
L
e to

e tts of
.12 0
u ssi a R
s wi n g to m a e the fl ax. k
gro w h i gh 2 8 9
L b y i th th C t 2 8 0
a r n . e re a n
L e u ca d ia n s. 5 7 9
.

L
Ld
t b
ac . b a d g th i g 2 1
oos o

R i 3 18
serv e in a er n .
L eu c ip p e d a u gh ter of M in y a s , 2 9 2
.
a

L dd f h
thi l b i g i
a. m y ca e n n u ss a .
L e w is th e i sla n d of 8 1
. .
a er . f t
or t p i i t 1 16 ; e u se o a ree -s r . to
L h ota a ga N
the 4 3 3
L
. .

fa c ilita te the d es cent of the s un . 13 6 ib y a n s th e A l item n ia n 15 6

J
. .

La fita u
Lg a W t Af i
os . i n
.

2 95 4 3 3
F
es
25 6
r ca .
L i cen ce p erio d s of 15 8 5 5 3 . 5 5 5 . 5 5 8 . 5 7 5 .
. . .

.
5 83
L g g F th 3 3 8
a ra n e. a er .
L ightn in g m a gica l i m i tati on of 6 3 ; i m ita
L k dw ll f E p 3 99
a e- e ers o u ro e.
tio n of. b y
.

i n gs k
ta lis m a n s
.

L k i l d f 5 66
a or , s an o .
a ga i n s t
7 7 . 14 9 ; .

L l b
a u th f th U p p
a, N il 8 5
e. o e er e.
re g a r d e d
6 14 6 15 .

go d
6 26 63 7 63 8
.

d esce n din g o u t of
6 49 ; . . . .

L f T i b t th G
as a
d 10 2 3
am a o

L b bl d f t t d by p i t t p
e . e ra n .
-
h ea v en 7 0 8 ; s tri es oa k often er th an a ny
. k
am
i p i ti
c u re
.

94 ;
ns
oo

pi t y i ti
ra
o .

on .
as e

as ex
r es ess

a or
o

v c
ro

m
o th er tree . 7 0 8 . 7 09 ; p l a ces s tr uc b y. k
e n c l osed a n d d ee m e d s acred , 7 09
.

2 2 4 ; th w i t l k ff i g 3 90 ;
kill d t lly 5 3 4
ro

sa c ra m e n a
n n o a e as an o er n .
L i m e-trees sa cre d 16 1 . .

L t f
a m en s T
e

3 26 ; f
or O i i 3 66 a m m uz .
.

or s r s.
Li nu s Ail i or nus . Phoen icia n v in ta ge song.

4 25 44 2
L p d d i ti f 3 ; t li ght gh t t
am s. e ca on o . o os s o
L i p ifi ti
on .
.

ur ca on of kill er of a . 2 2 1; fl esh
th i ld h 3 74
e r o

L d th b ttl fi ld f 3 4 0
om e s .
orh t t ea r ea e n to m a k e e a te r b r av e . 4 9 5
an en,

L g g p i l 99 ; h g f
an ua e. s
e

d byec a
a e e o

c
.

an e o cau se
Lith t
u a ni a 1 10 ;
ree -sacre d w o rshi p in .
. .
grov es i n . 1 18 ; M a y Da y in , 12 6 ; last
t a b oo . 2 5 4 . 2 5 5 25 7
s hea f i n . 4 0 5 ; h a r v e st cu s to m s i n . 4 06 .
.

La n q u in er os th e . . 13 8 4 2 8 ; cerem on ies ob serv ed a t eatin g the

L aos . i n Sia m . ta b oos ob serv e d at. 2 1. 2 3 . n e w c orn i n . 4 8 0 . 4 8 1 ; M id sum m er res fi
2 19 . 5 94 in. 62 7
La m s
'

m a n oli s u s e d in ra i n-m a ki n g ce r e m o n y Lith ua n ia n s .

16 1. 2 2 7 . 6 6 5
at R om e . 78 Lity e rses . 4 24 -4 7

L ap p l a n d . ty i n g u p the w in d i n 8 1 Li d z ar . so ul i n for m of. 1 8 2 ; or s na k e. in

L
.

a p p s . the 2 2 1 2 3 8 . 24 3 . 2 5 6 . 5 2 1 . 5 2 9 . 6 06 ce r e m o n yfor rid d a n ce o f ev ils 5 6 8

L L R
. . .

at i n e a gue . the . 1 5 0 . 16 7 Lj eschi e. u ssia n w ood -s p i rits 4 6 5

L k
.

L a ti nu s . in g . 149 K la m a b l ac .a s sca p e goa t 5 6 5 . .

L atiu m . a n c ie n t. th e wood s of. 15 0 ; s uc L oa n go . i n g of 8 6 k 98 199 -20 1 ; ta b oos

k i gd i k
. .

cess i on to the n om n. o b s erv e d b y i n g s of 17 1 ; foo d ta b ooed .

L a tu k a s of the Up p N i l er e. 8 5 . 8 7 . 2 29 to p r ies ts i n . 2 3 8 ; gi rls seclu d ed at p ub erty

Laurel . 9 5 . 14 8 in . 5 95
7 34 I N D EX
M ar q u e s as or Wa shi n gt on Il s and s . h um an M e la n esian s 5 2 2 4 6 . .

god s in th e . 96 M e licertes so n o f i n g A th a m a s 2 9 0 2 9 1 K . .

k
.

M a rri a ge . of m en a nd wo m en to t rees . 8 ; M el os m il -s to n es i n 3 4
. .

tre a d i n g on a s ton e a t. 33 ; the p ol e-s ta r M e m p h i s h e a d o f O si r i s a t 3 6 6

. .

at. 3 4 ; of the S un a n d E a rth . 13 6 . 14 5 ; M e n e v il tra n sferre d to 5 4 2 ; d isg u ised a s

the S acred 13 9 4 6 ; o f th e .
— G od s . 14 2 -5 ;
.

d e m on s . 5 6 2 5 63 ; as
.

sc a p e goa ts . 5 65 ;
k
.

co n s u m m a tio n of p rev en ted . by n ot s . d i v i n e . a s s c a p e go a t s 5 7 1. 5 7 6 ; d i sgui sed

k
.

2 40 ; m oc o r rea l o f h um . an vi cti m s . as wo m e n 6 10 .

581 M e n ed e m u s s a cri c es to 2 2 4 fi
F it g
.

k
.

M a rrio tt . z era ld . 26 M en el i . E m p eror of A b y ss in i a 6 6 .

M a rs . 5 77. 578 ; te m p l e of. 77 ; th e p l a n et . M en s tru a ti on . wo m en ta b ooed a t 20 7

F
,

4 44 ; i el d of. 4 7 8 secl u s i on o f gi rl s at 5 95 ; re ason s for .

M a rs S i l v a n u s 5 7 8 se cl u d i n g w o m en a t 6 0 6 .

fi
.

M a rsa b a a d ev il 6 9 6 M eri a hs . h u m a n v ic ti m s sa cri ced a m on g

K
. .

M a rse illes hu m a n s ca p e goa ts

. at 5 78 ; .
th e hon d s . 4 3 4 43 7 .

M id s u m m er i n g of the d ou b l e a x e a t k M erlin th e wiz ard 7 6

.

k
. .

63 0 M er oe. E thiop ia n i n gs o f 2 6 6 .

M a rsh m ari gold ,

h oop wrea th ed with 12 1 .
"
M esop ota m ia . a rti cia l fe rtili sa ti on of an fi
M ars ya s h is m usica l c on tes t with A p oll o .
.
d ate-p al m i n . 5 8 2 _
3 5 4 ; p erha p s a d ou b l e o f A tti s 3 5 4 .
M essi a h . p rete n d e d . i n A m eri ca . 10 2
M a rten s m a gic t o s n a re . 18 M etsik . a forest-sp irit 3 15
k
.
. '

M a sa i of E a s t Africa . 2 19 . 2 3 2 23 8 M ex ica n in gs . th eir o a th 8 7 104 ; sacra . ,

.

M as hon a of S ou th Afr ica . 9 8 m e n ts 4 8 8 ; te m p les 5 8 9

. .

M exi ca n s . the a nc ien t 7 9 3 8 0 43 2

M as k w orn b y
s d evi l-d a n cers 5 42 ; . at
M ex i co a n c ien t fes ti v al i n h on o u r of the
. . .

e x p u l si o n o f d e m o n s
5 48 . 5 5 3 ; b y m
. .
em
go d d es s of m a iz e . 2 8 ; tre a tm e nt of the
.

b ers of a secre t W olf society . 6 9 9

M a s p ero S ir a ston 5 3 G n a v e l -s tri n g i n . 4 0 ; h u m a n sa cr i ces i n fi
k
.
. .
3 8 0 43 1 . 4 3 2 ;
. illin g th e go d i n 5 8 7 -9 2
M a ss of th e H ol y S p irit
.
53 .
M ica h . th e p rop h et 5 1
M a ss o f S a in t S é ca ire 5 4
.

M a ssa ge ta e s acri ce h ors e s to the s u n 7 9 fi

.
M ice i n m a gi c . 3 9 ; ea ten b y the ews as
. J
a re l i gio us rite 4 7 2 ; s u p ers ti ti ous p re
.

M asset i n u ee n Cha rlo tte

. Q
sl a n d s d a n ces I .
c a uti on s of farm ers a ga in st . 5 3 0 53 1
.

.
of H a i d a w om e n a t 2 7 .
M i d s u m m er . d ea th o f th e s p irit of v egeta
M a ta b el e the 7 2 6 4 5 . . . tion c el eb rated a t 3 19 ; b on re a t ca lled . fi .

M a tac os or M ata gu ay os th e 6 0 1 , .
“
fir e of hea v en
"
6 4 4 ; p ro c e ssi on of gi a n ts
.

M a tia m v o a p oten ta te i n A n gol a

. . 27 1 a t . 6 5 4 ; sacred t o a l d er. 6 6 4 B
M a tu a n a ul u chi e f 49 8
. Z .
M id s u m m er b on res 12 2 6 22 fi
S ee a lso
M ay K i n g o f 12 9
. 13 0 Ki g d
2 99 ; . . . n an M i d s u m m er r es fi
. . .

Q f 15 7 3 2 0 ; Q
u ee n o f 12 9 13 1. . ueen o . . B
ri d e a n d rid e gr oo m 13 3 B
M y B id 13 5 3 17 3 2 0 ; B id g
.

a r e. 13 3 ; . . r e roo m . D a y . a n cien t Rom a n festi v al of 15 3

L d y i C b i d g 12 7 ; R th Littl J
. .

o hn s D a y
'
a . n am r e. ose . e e. S ee a lso St .

12 5 E v e i n Swe d en 12 2 ; in
. u ssia . 3 18 ; . R
Da y c el e b ra ti on of. 1 19-3 5 3 16 . tr olls a n d evil s p irits a b roa d on 6 25 ; oa k .

B
.

u rn i n g ou t of th e Witches on . 5 60 ; thou ght to b loo m on 7 06 S ee a lso St . . .

b on fi res on. 6 17 -2 2 Joh n s E v e

’

M a y -b u sh es 1 19 . 12 9 13 0 . 13 2 ; - a r1a n d s
g festiv a l . i n E u rop e 15 3 . 6 2 2 ; na m ed
J
.
. . .

12 1 ; -p ol es . 1 19 . 12 0 1 2 2 -4 . 13 2 . 4 7 9 ; a fter S t oh n 3 4 3 ; the m ost i m p ort ant

. .
.

-tr ees
. 1 19-2 1 . 123 . 124 . 29 7 . 2 9 9 . 3 11 . of th e y ea r a m on g the p ri m iti v e A ry a ns
.

3 14 . 6 14 . 6 5 1 o f E u rop e 6 5 6 .

M b a y a n d ia n s the 293I fi
res . 6 2 2 -3 2 ; a ni m a l s b u rnt i n 6 5 5 .

fi
. .

M B en ga s of the a b oon 6 8 1
'
G .
M id win ter res . 636
M ecca p il gri m s to 2 3 8
. , k
M i a d o of J a p an . 16 8 . 16 9 . 1 7 6 . 2 02 . 5 93 .
k
M ec le n b u rg m a gic i n 4 4 ; l oc . . k s un l oc e d k 5 95
at chil d b irth in . 23 9 ; harv est c ustom s M i k l u ch o- M a cl a y a ron 19 7 . B .

in 4 3 0 4 4 9
. tre a tm
. . 45 4 ; e n t of the a ft er M il k w om en s p ro m o te d b y
.
'
. m il k -ston es .

b i rt h i n 6 8 2 . 34 ; of cow s . thou ght to b e p rom oted b y

M ed ea a n d A eson . 4 9 6 gree n b ou ghs . 1 19 ; c u s to m s o b serve d

M ed ic in e b a g at i n itia tion 6 98 . .
when the i n g of k
u ny or o d r i n s 199 B k .
'

of p i g th ou g ht to c a u se l ep ros y . 4 7 2 . 4 7 3
m en . 64 85. 87
. . 88 . 92 , 105 . 18 0 . 18 3 -7 .
484 5 20. 6 7 9 . 6 93 om e n s fr o m b oil in g 4 8 2 ; tab oos referr in g .

M el an esia
.

h om oe op ath ic m a gi c of ston es
to . 4 8 8 ; n ot to b e d run b y m e nstruous k
wo m en 6 04 ; s tol en b y witches from cows
.

in . 3 3 ; wo un d s i n .
c on t a gi o u s m a gi c of
. .

620 6 27 . 6 28 64 8
4 1 ; confu s i on of m a gic a n d rel igion in
. .

5 2 ; s u p ern a tu ral p o wer of chiefs i n 8 4 ;

.

k
M il -s ton es . m agi ca l 3 4 .

M il k
.

con tin e n ce while y a m v in es a re b ei n g m e n of the T o d a s sa cre d or di v in e 1 00 ; .

tra i n ed i n . 13 8 ; m a li gn a n t s p i ri ts i n 19 2 ; .
ta b o os of. 17 5
d isp osa l of cu t ha ir a n d n a il s i n 2 3 5 ; . M ill et . h om oeop athic m a gi c o f. 29 ; the
n a m es o f re l a tio n s b y m arr i a ge ta b ooe d d e i ty of. 48 1
i n 2 5 1 ; c o n cep tio n of the e x tern a l sou l
. M in a n gk a b au ers of Sum a tra . 18 0 . 1 8 3 . 4 15 .
in 684. 6 04
 IN D E X 73 5
M inahassa insp ired . p ri ests i n . 95 ; c ere m o n y M ori cla n of the hils 4 7 4 B .

a t h ous e -w ar m in g i n . 18 6 . 6 7 9 ; na m e s o f M orn in g Sta r the 3 4 6 ; hu m . . an sacri fi ce

p a rents ih l a w tab ooe d i n . 2 5 0 ;

- - s owin g j
e n oi n e d by 43 2
k
.

a n d p l uc i n g th e n e w r ic e i n 4 8 2 ; dum . M or occo . iro n p rotection a ga in st d em o n s

a
m ies t o d ec ei v e d e m o n s i n . 4 92 ; ha ir o f in 2 26 ;
. a n nu a l te m p orary in g in . 2 8 6 ; k
sla in foe u se d to i m p art c ou ra ge i n . 4 9 8 ; ho m oeo p a thic m a gic i n 4 96 ; b oa rs u sed ,

ex p u ls i o n of d e v i l s i n , 5 4 8 to d iv e rt ev il s p iri ts i n 5 4 0 ; M i d s u m m er
I fi
.

M inn eta r ee n d ia n s , 4 19 . 5 29 re s i n 6 3 1 6 3 2 646 . .

k
.

M in os. in g o f C noss u s 2 8 0 . M oru tr ib e of C en tra l Afr ica 5 3 4 .

M in ota u r . th e l egen d of th e . 2 8 0 M osy n i or M osy n oeci the 2 0 0

k
. .

M in y a s , in g of Orcho m enu s . 29 1 M ota i n the N ew H e b ri d es . co n cep tio n of

.

M iracl es god -m a n e x p ected to wor . 93

. k the ex tern a l s o ul in 6 8 4 .

M iris of A ssa m 4 9 6 . M other of a god . 3 3 3 ; of the go d s 5 . 3 4 8

.

G
. .

M irrors . su p erstition s a s to . 19 2 356; th e r e at (C y b el e) 3 5 3 ; of the

k R G
.

M irz a p u r , rea rin g o f S il w or m s in . 2 1 8 M a i z e 4 13 ; of the . ice 4 15 ; or ra n d

G
.

M iscarria ge i n child b ed d re a d o f. 2 09 . m other of h osts 4 9 1-3 .

L
M isrul e. ord o f. 5 8 5 . 5 8 6 M oth er-corn 4 0 5 ; -shea f 4 0 1 .
'

G
.

M isso uri . th e cotton woo d trees in the v a lley o d d e s s of W es tern A s ia 3 30 3 3 1 . .

-k i n
of. 111 15 2 2 4 8 3 3 2 . . .

Mistletoe 16 0 6 5 8 . 6 5 9 . 7 0 1 ; a ld e r a n d B -i h -l a w s a v a ge s d r ea d o f hi s
. 19 0
'

G
. .
.

the . 6 08 . 6 5 8 -6 7 7 0 1 . 7 0 2 . 7 10 ; a n d the M otu of N ew uin ea 24 6 .

G B
.

old e n ou gh . 7 0 3 -4 M otu m otu the 8 1 19 2 . 2 4 6 .

~

. .

M istress sa n ctu ary of th e . at L y cos u ra .

M o ur n ers tab ooed 2 05 ; cha n ge thei r n a m es
. . .

24 3 ; of T ur q u oi se . 33 0
M ou se soul in form of 18 2
M ithra . Pers ia n d ei ty 358
. .

M ithra ic r eli gi on 4 6 7
.
I
M o x os n d ia n s of ol i v ia 23 B .

M ozca s the 104

.

M n evis sacred E gy p tia n b u ll 3 66. 476

, .
.

M oa b A ra b s o f 3 2 3 7 8 ;
. . .
.

ki ng o f. 2 93 ;
k
M u a sa go d of the , i ctoria V Ny a nz a la k e

wild erness of. 334

M u k y lc m the E a rth-wife the
M oc k su n . 7 9 ; e x ecu ti on 2 8 3 ; i n gs . k . 2 84 ;
W oty ak s
.

14 4
a m on g

of h u m a n vi c ti m s 5 8 1
.
m a rri a ge .
M ull ein u se d as a c h arm 6 29
M offa t D r . 86 . R u m m ers .
.

126 . 12 7 ;
.

the Whi tsun tid e

Il
.

M ogk Professor E u gen 6 4 2

. .
2 96 -3 0 1 ; at H a ll owe
'
en in s e of M an .

M oham m e d b ew itch ed b y a J ew 2 4 1 .

M oha m m ed a n c a le n d a r l u n a r 63 2 . .
M u n d a ris of A ssa m 1 18 5 5 7
B
. .

M oh a m m ed a n s c el eb ra ti on of M i d su m
. m er
M u n d a s of en ga l 3 4 2 .
fes ti v a l b y . 6 3 2
M un ster ta b oos ob se r ve d b y th e a n ci e n t
fi
M oloch sa cri ce o f chil d re n to 2 8 1 ki n gs o f.
.

17 3
Q
. ,

M olon ga a d e m o n of u een sl a n d; 5 6 2
.
M u ra -m u ras a p p ea led to for ra in 6 5
Molucca s th e c l ov e-tree s i n b l ossom trea ted
. .

M urd erers ta b oos i m p osed o n 2 16

k
. .

li e p regn a n t wo m en i n 1 15 ; fe ar of . .

o fi e n d in g forest s p i ri ts i n 1 17 ; a b d u ction .
.

M urrain n eed -fir e i n d le d a s a re m ed y for

. k .

of soul s i n . 18 6

Mom b as a i n g of 99
. k .
M u si c
33 4 ;
. as

a nd
a m ea n s
re l i gi on .
of p ro p he ti c
3 3 4 -5
in sp ira tion ,
M on i sl a n d of 4 5 6
I
. .

M onarch y i n a n c ien t G re ec e and R om e . 9; M u y sca n d ia n s of C olom b ia 104 .

ki
.

ri se of . e sse n ti al to e m erge n ce of m a n nd M u z i m b a s or Zi m b a s the 9 7 , .

from sa v a ger y . 47 M y rrh the m oth er o f A d on i s 3 3 7

. .

M on dar d the great. 4 6 6

.
M y s teri es E leus in ia n S ec E l eu s in ia n
. . m ys
M oney . m a gi ca l sto n es t o b ri n g . 3 3 teri es
M on gol ia . i n ca rna te h u m a n go d s i n . 10 3
story of th e ex tern a l s oul i n . 6 7 6 N aa m a n . woun d s of the . 336
M ongols 103 2 5 2 S2 9 N g a u a l . ex tern a l so ul 6 8 7 .

k fi
. . .

M on ey sacr i ce d for r id d a n ce of ev ils 5 6 9 . N ila s. u se d in m a gi c . 44 ; k n oc ki n toed

M onta nu s th e Phrygi a n 10 1 . trees . 12 7 ; u se d a s c ha r m s a g a i n s t fa iri es
k
.

M ontez u m a in g of M ex ico 1 04 5 9 3
. . .

M oon the a n d E n d y m io n 4 ; cerem o n y a t

. . . N a ils , p a rin gs of. u se d in m a g ic . 13 . 23 3 ;
an e cl ip se of. 78; ch a r m to hasten . 8 0 ; s w a llowe d by a tte n d a n ts . 2 29 ; d isp osa l
Di ana co n ce i v e d as. 14 1 ; cere m o ny at of. 2 3 3 -7
ne w . hu m a n v icti m s sa cri
17 5 ; fi ce d to . Nam a q u as . 495
4 4 4 ; p igs sa cri ce d t o 4 7 2 ; the fi “
d ar . k "

N ta b ooe d :
p ersonal . 2 44 -8 ; of re l a
fl D
.
a m es ~

i a na s
ki
'
5 5 7 ; te m p l e o f 5 7 1 ; re ected i n tio n s . 2 4 9-5 1 ; of the d ea d , 2 5 1-6 ; of
.
n gs
M i rror 7 1 1 a n d oth er sac r ed p e rso n s . 2 5 7 -9 ; of go d s .
.

M oora b a G ossey n a ra hm a n . 100 , B 26 0 -6 2

M oors of M orocco 5 4 0 .
N am uc7 a nd l egen d of 7 02 I n d ra .
q N
.

M o u i s of A r i z o n a 2 2 5 5 0 4 . . ana m oth er o f A ttis 3 4 7 .

M ora via c arry i n g

“
o ut D ea th in 3 10 . N a n d 1 of E a s t A fr i c a 2 14 2 3 5 24 7 3 7 2 4 8 3
fi
. . . .

N
. . .

3 13 ; h a r v est c u sto m s in . 4 0 8 ; re s to a n u m ea . i sl a n d of. p reca u ti on s a ga in st

b urn wi tch es i n . 6 2 2 stra n gers i n . 19 5
7 36 I N DEX
N i d hi
a rc ss u s a nfl ti 192 s re ec on . N ew South W al es. n a tiv es of b u ry their
N i y i f S th A t li 2 0 1
.

a rr n er o ou u s ra a. d ea d a t fl ood -ti d e . 3 5 ; tr ib es of 3 8 : way

N t l th C f
.

a a . f 483 e a re s o . of s to p p i n g ra i n in 6 4 ; the d ra m a Of
N t h I di f N th A
.

a c ez ni a ns o or m er ca . 63 2 15 r esurrecti on a t i n i ti a ti o n i n 692 69 3
N ti ity f th S
. .

Y
,

a v t th wi t
o e un a e n er so lstice . N ew ea r C hi nese 4 6 8 ; the C el tic. on
.

N fi
.

358 o ve m b er rst . 6 3 3

Nt a u re .p ti f th i
co n cet on o e m m u ab le l a ws N ew Y ea r s D a y . 5 5 8
'
5 6 9 ; E ve. 5 3 8 . 5 6 1
Z
.

of. n ot p ri m itiv e . 9 1-2 ; the ord er and N ew ea l a nd . s a n c ti ty of ch i efs in . 204

u n ifor m i ty o f. 16 2 sa cre d n ess of ch i e fs b loo d a n d hea d s in
'

N a ura s I n d i a n s of
N ew ra n a d a . 4 9 7 G 2 3 0 . 2 3 1 ; cus to m s a t ha i r-cu ttin g i n . 23 3
N j
a v a oes of N ew M ex i co 678 m a gic u se of s p it tl e i n 2 3 7 ; na m es of .

N
.

a v el -s trin g 3 9 -4 1 . 1 19 c hi e fs tab ooe d i n . 2 5 9 ; e ffe ct of con tact

N d em bo secr et society o n the

.
.

o w er C o n go L .
with a sa cre d ob ect i n 4 7 4 ; e y es of sla in j
697 ch ief s wa ll owed b y wa rri ors i n 49 8 ; hum an .

sca p e goa ts i n . 5 4 2
N eb sen i , the p a p y ru s of 3 8 0
N ga r igo trib e of N ew S outh Wal es 498
N k D
.
“ "
ec cry in g th e
. in ev on sh ire 44 5 .

N
. .

ee d -fi re 6 1 7
N goi o a p ro v i n ce of C on go ru le of succes
6 3 8 -4 1
s
, .
. .
s i on to th e chi efsh ip i n 283
N ek ht . the p a p y ru s of 3 8 0 .

N i l
em 4 5 8 ; p riest of ia n a a t . 1 8
.

D N i a s is la n d of. m a gi c in . 18 ; n ati ves of.

.

b eli ev e in d e m on s of trees 1 16 ; concep

. . . . .

k
.

106 16 1. 16 7 ; l a e of l . 7 0 4 ; s acre d
.

tion o f the s o ul i n . 1 7 9 ;
.
d eta ini n g the
.

gr ov e of l . 4 . 8 . 14 0 -4 2 14 7 ; a t ev en i n g
s o ul i n th e b od y i n . 1 8 0
. . .

7 14 ; t a b o os ob served
b y h u nters in . 2 18 ; s u p ers titio n as to
N e p h el e ,
w ife of i ng A tha m a s . 2 90 K p er so n a l n a m es in . 2 4 5 ; s ucces si on to the
N e p hth y s s i ster of Os i ris 3 6 3
. .
c hi efta i n shi p i n . 2 94 ; ex p ul s i on o f d em ons
N e t t o ca tch th e s un 79 i n . 5 4 9 ; story o f the ex ternal s o ul in.
N e ts m a rri a ge of g i rl s to . 14 4 ;
. to c a tch 677
so ul s 18 2 ; a s a m u l ets . 2 4 2 ; fu m i ga te d
.

k Ni g th I
c ara ua . e n d ia ns of. 13 8
w i th s m o e of nee d -fi re 6 4 1
N e w b irth thro u gh b l oo d in the rites of
.
Ni h l
c G o son . e n eral . wors hip p ed as a god .
. 10 0
A ttis . 3 5 1 ; s a v a ge th eory of 3 5 6 ; of . Ni k c 2 47 n a m es .
n ov ic es a t i n iti a tio n 6 97 . Ni b I l d
co ar hea v y ra in s a ttrib uted to
s an s.
N ew B
ri ta i n ra i n -m a in g i n
. 6 3 ; the S ul a k . k the wra th of s p i ri ts i n the . 2 25 ; custom
of .64 7 6 ; m agi ca l p owe r s a scri b ed to of m ourn ers i n the 253 ; cha nges in .

c h i e fs i n 8 4 ; a v oid a nce of wife s m othe r

'
. la n gua ge ca u se d b y fea r o f n a m in g the
in . 19 1 ; ex p u ls i o n of d e v i l s i n 5 4 7 -8 . d ea d . 2 5 5 ; ex p uls io n of d e m on s i n the .

secre t s oc i ety i n 6 80 . 567

N e w C al ed onia ra i n -m a in g b y m ea n s of . k N ig b lier . e ef ashu m a n souls
to ex terna l

a h u m a n s el eton i n . 7 1 ; km a i n g s un k l dg d i
o e n a n i m a ls o n the . 6 8 6
s hi n e a n d d rou gh t i n 7 8 ; d eta i n in g th e . N ig i Ner a orthe rn
. c u s to m of p uttin g
. ings k
s oul in the b od y i n . 18 0 ; i d eas as to t o d ea th i n . 2 7 1
fl
re ecti ons i n 19 2 ; b ur y in g the e v il s p irit
. S ou thern th e p riest of the E a rth in .
.

in . 5 4 8 ; t aro p la n ts b eaten to m a e them k 5 94 ; theory of the ex tern al s oul i n . 6 7 7 .

gro w in 5 8 1 . 684 . 6 8 5
N ew G
ui n ea charm to h as te n th e m oon in N ightin ga l e i n m a gic. 3 2
N j
.

k
.

8 0 ; charm for m a in g w in d i n 8 0 ; c on i ght a rs the li v es of w om en i n . 6 8 7

.

N
.

s ti tuti on of s oc ie ty i n 8 4 ; l ea v in gs of il e the r ise a n d fa l l of the 3 6 9 ; thought

.

I
. .

food d e stroy ed in 20 1 ; s eclu s i on a nd .

to b e s woll en b y the tears of sis . 3 7 0 ;
fi
p u ri ca tion of m a n sl a y ers i n 2 13 ; con ~
.
t he
“
b rid e
"
of the . 3 7 0 ; m o n ey and

tin ence o b serv e d d uri n g th e tu r tle seaso n ofi eri ngs of gold thro w n i nto th e 3 7 1 .

in 2 17 ; d r ea d of sorcery i n 2 2 9 t he U p p er m e di c in e-m e n .as chiefs

K
. .

B
ri ti sh c ha rm s u se d b y hu n ters i n
.

R
a m on g th e trib es of 85 ; in gs of the .

k
.

a i n on 10 7
18 ; cha rm a ga in st s n a e-b ite i n 3 1 ; n o .

t he White . 2 6 6 . 5 65
.

d esp ots i n 8 4 ; d oub l e chiefta in sh ip in

the M e eo d istrict of k
.

17 8 ; a w id o wer .
N i n e a n u m b er u sed i n m agical cerem onies.
,

a n ou tca s t in . 2 0 7 ; c h a n ges i n l a n gu a ge
e tc , 18 . 2 4 1 . 2 42 . 2 8 4 . 4 8 0
. 6 18 . 6 20 . 6 25 . .

ca used b y fea r of n a m in g th e d ea d i n
6 26 . 6 28 . 6 3 9
2 5 5 ; girls secl u d e d a t p ub erty i n 5 9 7
.

N k I
is a n di a n s of B
riti sh C ol um b ia . 69 9

D
u tch 2 13 ; n a m es o f rela tions b y
.

N k
i su s . in g of M ega ra stor y of. 6 7 0 .

m a rr i age ta b ooe d i n . 2 5 0
.

N L
oe s sa a u t. m a gi c in . 18
N orthern . r i te s of i n itia tion in 6 94 . N o nn u s . on d e a th of D i on y s u s . 3 88
N
.

oo n . f t l ea rth h d w t 19 1
o ose e s a o a .

S o u th-ea ster n . a nn u a l e x p u ls i o n of N tk I d i
oo a 66 n 17 9 2 17
a ns . 5 22 5 99 . . . .

dem on s i n 5 5 6 .
6 9 8 ; wi d 18 z ar .

N ew H eb rid es contagious m a gi c i n the . 4 3 N or m a n dy b i l f Sh . Tur a d y i o r ov e u es a n.

4 2 9 ; B th
.
'

m agi c of refu se of fo o d i n th e 2 0 1 ; c on 3 05 ; h t t ar vesi c us o m s n. ro er

G
.

ce p ti on of th e e x terna l soul i n th e 6 84 .
h d oo f th o W lf i 6 28 9 ; p
e reen o n. - ro

I
N ew rela n d . 5 9 6 i
cess ons o n th f T w lfth D y i 6 47
e e ve o e a n.

N e w M ex ico . the a ri d it y of. 7 6 ; the I n d ia ns N l d M id

orr a n . b fi i 6 25 su m m er on res n.
of. 5 02 . 5 5 1 N t i
orse s or es o f th t l l 673 e ex erna s ou .
7 38 IN D E X
fi
Pa c i c ora cul a r i nsp ir a tion o f p riests i n the
. k
P en theus . i n g of T heb es 3 7 8 . 3 9 2 .

S ou thern 9 4 . P ep p er a s a cure or exorcis m 1 96 ; d ro p p ed

k
.

Pa d d y (un h u s ed ri ce) . th e a th er an d F i n to e y es of s tr a n ge r s 19 8
F
.

M other of th e 4 19 . Perch e i n ra n ce . h o m o e o p a thi c c u re for

k
.

Pa d loc a s a m u let . 24 2 v o m itin g i n . 16

Pa ga nism a nd Ch ris tia n ity . resem b l a n ces P erils of the s oul . 17 8 -94
ex p la i n e d a s d i a b ol i c al co u nterfe i ts 3 58 , . Pe rk un as or P erk u n s the it hu a n ia n go d , L
36 1 of thun d er a n d l i ghtn i n g . 1 6 1

Pa la tin a te. m i m i c con test b etween Su m m er Persep h o n e 3 2 7 .3 9 3 -6 3 98 4 14 . 4 20 -2 4

. . . .

a n d W i nter i n th e . 3 16 469
the U p p er tre es a s ed for p a rd on o n . k P ersia . horses s a cri
to the S un in . 7 9 ; fi ce d

b e in g fell ed i n . 1 13 tem p ora ry k

i n gs i n . 2 8 9 ; in g of. 5 93 k
Pa la ti n e H ill a t om e 111 R . P erso n ifi cati on of a b s tra ct i d ea s n ot p ri m i
q
P al en u e i n C entra l A m eri ca ru ins of. 10 . tiv e . 3 15
Pa l m -b ra n ches . i n cer e m o n y t o p rocu re r a i n . Peru . I
n d ia n s of. 3 0 . 3 3 . 144 236 5 27 ; . .

7 4 ; a she s o f m ix ed with seed a t sow in g . theocra tic d es p oti s m o f a n c ien t 4 8

k
.

fi
.

6 15 ; stu c i n eld s to p ro tect them a ga i n st Peru n . the thun d er-go d of the Sl a v s 16 1 .

ha il 6 17 . Peru v ia n A n d es 7 9 .

S und a y . 7 4 12 5 7 0 5 . . Peruv ia ns . the a n cien t 4 12 .

-tree th ou h t t o e n s u re fertili t
g y 1 19 Pessin u s p r i estly k
i n gs a t 9 ; l oca l l e gen d
q
. .
. .

Pa n s i m a ge whip p e d with s u il ls . 5 8 0 of A ttis a t 3 4 7 ; i m a ge of the M other of

'

P a n es festi v a l o f 4 99
. . the G
od s a t . 3 4 8 ; h i gh-p ri est o f C y b el e
Pa ngo . ti tl e si gn ify in g go d 98 at. 3 5 3 ; high -p r iest p erha p s sl a in i n the
G k
.

P a n s ru stic
. ree d e i ti e s 4 6 4 . ch a ra c ter o f A ttis a t 4 4 0
k
.

Pa n ther c ere m on y a t th e ill in g of a 2 2 1 . Pha ed ra a n d H i p p oly tu s 4 7

K
. . .

P a n u a tri b e of
. ho n d s . 4 3 4 Pha laris a n d his b ra z en b u ll 2 8 1 .

Pa p hos i n C yp ru s 3 2 9 ; s a n ctu ar y of A p hro . Pha y a Pholla thep .

"
ord of the H ea v e nl y L
d ite a t 3 3 0 ; rel i gio u s p rostit utio n a t 3 3 1
. . H os ts
"
tem p or a ry
. i n g i n Si a m 2 8 4 k
k
.

Pa p u a n s the 4 3 4 96 6 8 2 ; of F in sch H a v e n .
. . . . Phen e us l a e o f 1 10
. .

2 46 Phil a e , the s culp t ures at 3 7 6 3 8 1

I
. .

Pa p y ru s o f N eb sen i , 3 8 0 ; of N ek ht 3 8 0 . Ph il ip p ine sl a n d s the b eli ef tha t so uls of

. .

Pa ren ts-in -la w th ei r n a m es n ot to b e p r o . a n ces tors ar e i n ce r ta in trees i n . 1 15

n ou n c e d 2 4 9 -5 0 . gra v e of the C rea tor i n . 26 4 ; hu m a n
Pa ril ia , the. Ro m a n festiv a l of shep her d s . fi
sacri c e s i n . 3 5 5 . 4 3 3 ; h ea d -hu n ti n g i n .
15 4 . 3 6 0 44 1
k
P a r i n s on . oh n . 2 8 1 J Philo of B y b l u s 2 93
k
.

P arrot . e x tern a l s ou l o f wa rl oc i n a 6 6 9 . Phil osop hy . a s a sol v en t of rel i gion . 16 2

Pa rrots e ggs . a si gn a l o f d e a th 2 7 3
’
. p ri m itiv e 2 6 3 .

P a rt h ia n m on archs b rothers o f the S un 104 . Phil ostra t u s o n d ea th a t lo w ti d e 3 5 .

L
.

P arv a ti a n d S iv a . m a rria ge of th e i m a g e s Phoe n icia . son g of i n u s i n . 4 25

of 3 2 0
. Ph oen i cia n te m p l es 3 3 0 . 3 3 1; in gs i n
. k
Pa s ch a l c a n d le . 6 14 C y p r u s 3 3 2 ; v i n ta ge so n g 4 25 4 4 2 .

fi
. .

M oun ta in s E a ster res o n the 6 15 . Phr i x u s a n d H elle child ren of i n g A tha m a s K .

k
. .

P a ss i er . i n S u m atra i n g of 2 7 7 . 2 90
Pa storal trib es a n i m a l sa cra m en ts a m o n g. . Phry gia . 3 4 7 . 3 5 4 ; L
ity ers es i n . 4 25 4 2 6 .

533 P hry gia n cos m ogon y . 3 4 7 ; c ap of A tti s .

Pata gon ia . 236 ; re m e d y for s m a ll p ox in . 353
350 P i ca r d y . h ar v est cu s tom s in . 45 1; L enten

Pa ta n i B a y . th e M al a y s o f 1 8 3 fire-cu sto m s i n 6 12 .

k
.

k
Pa ter n i ty of i ngs a m a tter of i n d i fferen ce Pi cts . fe m a l e d es cent of in gship a m on g
u n d e r fe m a l e in sh ip 15 4 k .
the 15 6
.

Pa ton W R 5 8 0 Pie rs S i r H e n r y . 12 0
.

fi
.
.

P a wn ees . the 2 2 5 4 3 2 Pi g . sa cri c ed for ra in or su n shin e . 7 3 ;

k
. .

Pa y a gu a s o f S o u th A m erica 8 2 .
b l ood of a d run a s a m ea n s o f i n s p i ra
.

Pea -m other . 3 99 4 00 ; -wolf 4 4 8 . .

ti on . 9 5 ; a n d l a m b a s ex p ia tory v i cti m s .

P ea coc k
a to te m
. o f th e hils 4 7 4 B .
2 2 4 ; c or n -sp i rit a s a 4 6 0 -6 2 ; i n rela tio n .

Pea r-tree a s p r otector of cattl e 1 19 ; a s l ife to D e m eter 4 6 9 . a n d A ttis 4 7 1 ; a ttitud e .

J
.
.

i n d ex of a girl 6 8 2 .
of e ws to th e 4 7 2 ; i n a n c i en t Egy p t .
.

Pea rl s i n ho m oeop ath ic m a gic. 3 7

.
4 7 2 ; u sed t o d ecoy d e m on s. 5 49 . 5 5 6 -7 .

P eas-cow 4 5 8 ; -p u g 4 4 8
. .
S ee a lso Pigs
Peb b l es thro wn i n to M i d su m m er res 6 2 8 fi .
Pige on fa m il y of Wild . i n S a m oa 4 7 4
. .

I
Pel ew sl an d s 1 16 ; secl u s i on o f m a n -sla y ers
. P igs m a gica l cerem o n i es to c a tch wil d 18 ;
. .

in 2 15 ; t a b oos o b ser v ed b y re l a tion s of

. m a gi ca l s to n es to b r eed . 3 3 ; s a cri ced fi
m u rd ered m a n i n th e 2 2 7 . a t th e m a rria ge of S un a n d E a rth . 13 6 ;
Pel op s a n d H ip p od a m i a 15 6 . at the T h es m o p hori a 46 9. 4 76 ; sac ri .

Pe n a n ce ob ser v ed a fte r b u ild i n g a n e w ficed to the m oon a n d to Os i ris . 4 7 2 ;

h o u se 1 17 ; for. ill in g a b oa -con stri ctor . k r e a so n s for n o t ea ti n g th e e s h of. 4 94 ; fl
222 d ri v en thr o u gh M i d su m m er fire . 6 2 7 .
Pe n n efa the r iv e r in u een sla n d th e R Q . a nd thro u gh the nee d -fire . 6 4 0 ; offere d
n a tiv e s of the . 3 9 to m on ster who s wa ll ows n ovi ces in i ni tia
Penn yroya l . b urnt in M id s um m er fire. 63 ] tio n . 6 9 4 . 6 9 6
 I ND E X 7 39
Pilla r fe ver tra nsferre d to a . 5 4 5
. Poor Wo m a n . na m e a p p lied to the co rn
Pin e-con es . s y m b ol s of fert il ity . 3 5 3 ; thrown sp iri t a fter h ar ves t. 4 6 5

in to v a ults o f e m e ter . 3 5 3 D Pop la r wo od used to ind l e n eed -fire 6 3 9 k .

-tree
. in the m y th an d ri tu a l o f A ttis . Porta C a p en a a t om e . 4 35 1 R .

3 4 7 . 3 48 . 3 5 0 . 3 5 2 ; in the ri tes of Osi ris . P ortra its . s ou ls i n . 19 3

3 8 0 ; sa cred to ion y su s . 3 8 7 D Port u gal . b eli ef a s to d ea th at e b b tid e i n .
Pip il es of C e ntra l A m e ri ca . 13 6 35
Pi rua gra n a ry of m a iz e . 4 1 2 Pose id on 9 7 . 4 7 1
K
. .

Pitteri Pennu . h on d god of in crea se 5 5 7 . Potato Wom a n the Old . 40 5 ; -m other. 4 13 ;

.

Placenta (a fterb irth) a nd n a v el -string. con -wo lf 4 48 4 4 9

. ; -d og. 4 49
.

ta gious m a gic o f. 3 9-4 1 Potatoes . m a gica l ston es for in crease o f. 3 3 ;

Plagu e tra n s ferred to ca m el . 5 4 0 ; sen t a wa y
. c u sto m a t e atin g ne w. 4 8 1
i n sca p egoa t. 5 6 5 Pra y ers to the su n 14 . 2 6 . 7 8 ; for ra i n 7 1
D
. .

D
.

Plane -tree. ion y s u s i n . 3 8 7 7 7 . 8 6 . 1 18 . 15 9 -6 1 ; to io n y su s 3 8 7 ; to

fi
.

Pla nets . h u m a n v i ctim s s acri ce d to 4 44 . d ea d a n i m als . 5 0 7 . 5 2 2 -4

Pla nta in-tree . a fterb irth b uri ed u n d er a . 4 0 ; P reci ous s ton e s . m a gic of 3 4 .

fertilised b y p a ren ts of twin s . 13 7 Pregn an cy 2 3 8 . 2 3 9

k
.

Plants . m a g ic to m a e them grow . 2 8

°
Preten d ers to d i v in ity a m o n g Chri stians .
fl
in uen ce p erson s hom oeop a thi call y . 2 9 10 1
sexe s of. 1 14 ; thou gh t to b e a n i m ated Priest . of Di
1. 8 . 7 10 ; of
an a . em i . 8 . 16 1 . N
b y sp i ri ts . 4 8 7 ; ex tern a l sou l in . 6 8 1 16 3 . 16 7 ; a n d m a gic i a n . their a n ta gon
Pla taea . festiv al of the ae d a l a at. 14 3 D ism . 5 2 ; d ren ch ed with w ater as a ra in
the A r chon o f. 2 24 char m 7 0 ; roll ed on
. el d s a s a fer ti l ity fi
Plough . i n relation to D io n y su s . 3 8 7 ; p i ece c h a r m . 13 9 ; of e u s . 15 9 ; Z
b rin gs b ac k
of Y ul e l o g in serted in th e . 6 4 5 l os t sou ls in a b a g . 18 6 ; of io ny sus . D
Ploughin g b y wo m en a s a rain -cha rm
. 70 . 29 1 ; so w s a n d p lu c s the rst ri ce 4 8 2 ; k fi .

cere m on y of. p erform ed b y tem p orary of A ri c ia 5 9 2 ; of the E a rth 5 9 4

k
. .

in g. 2 8 4 . 2 8 8 ; Prussia n cu s tom a t 3 4 2 ; . P ri estesses . 94 . 5 94

i n rites of Osiris . 3 7 5 P ri estl y k
in gs 9 .

Plurality of s ou ls . d octri ne of the 69 0 . Priests . m a gical p owers attri b uted to 5 3 .

fl
.

Pluto. c a m es ofi Perse p hon e. 3 93 . 4 6 9-7 0 i nsp ire d b y god s . 9 4 ; i n uen ce

’

54;
Plutu s b egotte n in thri ce-p l oughed
. el d fi . wield ed b y . 196 ; th ei r ha i r u nshorn .
421 23 2 ; foo d s t ab ooed to 23 8 ; of A tti s . .

Poison con tin e nce

. ob serv e d at b rewi ng . the em a sc ula te d . 3 4 7 ; sa cri ce h um a n fi
2 19 vi cti m s . 5 8 9 5 9 1 .

Poison ord eal . 29 4 Pri n ces ses m arried to foreign ers or m en of

j
Pola nd . o b ec tion t o iron p l ou ghshares i n .
l ow b i rth . 1 5 4
2 2 5 ; ha rvest c u s to m s i n 4 0 4 . 4 0 6 . 4 5 1 ; .
Pro ces sion s for r ain in S icily . 7 4 ; w ith
.

C hr i stm a s c us tom i n 4 5 0 ; ne ed -fire in . .

b ea rs fro m hou se to h ou se 5 1 2 ; with .

64 1 sacre d a n i m a l s 5 3 5 ; to the M i d su m m er
fi
.

Pole-sta r ho m oeo p a thi c m agic of th e 3 4 b on res . 6 2 8 6 3 0 ; of gi a nts (e ffi gi es) a t

.
. .

Pollu tion a n d hol in ess n ot d iffer en ti a ted b y p op u la r festiv a ls 6 5 4 .

Pro gress . the m a gici a n s 4 5 -8

'

s av a ge s . 2 23
.

Pro p hets . H eb rew . thei r ethi ca l re li gi o n . 5 1

Pol y n es ia . ta b oos i n 205 2 06 2 5 9 ; sacred . .

n ess o f the hea d i n . 2 3 1 ; i nfa n ti ci d e i n . P rop iti a tion . e ssen tia l to rel i gi o n . 50; of

2 93 the so uls of the sl a in . 2 12 ; of the s p irits

of sl a in a n i m a ls . 2 17 , 2 20 ; of th e sp ir i ts
Poly n es ian chiefs s acred 205 .
of p l a n t s . 4 8 7 ; of wil d a ni m a ls b y h unters
Pol y n es ia n s . ora c ul a r i n sp ira tion of p riests .

5 18 -3 2 ; in b y farm ers
of verm 530
a m on g the . 9 4 ; thei r w a y of rid d in g .

the m sel v es of sacred co nta gio n 4 7 3 .

Pros titution . s acred b efore m arriage 3 3 0 ; . .

s u ggeste d origi n of 3 3 1
Pol y theism ev olv ed o ut of a n i m is m . 1 17 .

Po m egra n ate c a u ses v irgin to co n cei ve 3 4 7 P rov en ce . p riests thought to p ossess the
.

Pom e gra n ates s p r ung from the b lood of p o wer of a v erti n g s tor m s in . 5 3 ; M a y
D iony sus 3 8 9 ; seed s of. n o t ea ten a t trees i n 124 ; m oc
. ex ecu tion of C a ra k
A sh W ed n es d a y i n
.

the T hes m op hori a . 3 8 9 m a n tra n on 3 04

Y
.

Pom era n ia ha rv es t c us tom in 4 3 0

. .
M id s u m m er res i n fi
6 3 0 ; th e u le l o g .

Pom etia sa c ed b y the k

om an s 6 R .
in. 6 3 7
Pruss ia . conta giou s m a gic in 44 ; cu s to m
Pom m erol D r . 6 11 . .
.

a t s p ri n g p l ou ghi n g i n . 3 4 2 ; ha rv est cu s
Po m os of C a liforn ia 5 6 2
G
.

to m s i n . 4 2 1 . 4 2 6 ; th e C orn goa t in 4 5 4 ;
Pom p ey the rea t. 3 2 8
~
.

Pon a p e on e of the C a roli ne sl an d s . trea t I the B

ull a t rea p i n g i n . 4 5 9 ; M id sum m er
,

m en t of the n a v el-s tri n g in . 4 0 ; in g of. k fi res i n 6 2 7 .

23 2 E a st . h arv es t custom s in 4 0 1 4 5 3 . . .

Pongol H i n d oo fa m il y festiv al . 48 2 4 5 4 . 45 7
R West . ha rv est custo m s in 4 0 2 4 5 7 ;
.

P om S ubli ci u s a t om e . 2 2 5
—k
. .

Poon a ra i n m a in g a t 7 0 ; i n carn a tion of p r eten ce of b ir th of ch il d on ha rv est

fi
. .

e le p ha n t-hea d e d go d a t . 100 eld i n . 4 0 6 42 1 .

Poo r M a n . n a m e a p p li ed to th e corn sp irit ~ Pru ssia n ru l er s form erl y b u rn t. 2 7 4

a fter ha rv est . 4 6 5 Prussia n s . th e ol d . their fun era l fea sts .
288 ;
Old Wo m a n . l a st sheaf l eft for. 4 6 5 2 2 7 ; s up rem e rul er of. 27 4
740 IN DEX
P sol oeis the . a t Orchom en us . 29 1 . 292
. of m a gi c . 87 ; Z eu s as the go d O f. 15 9
Psy ll i , a Sn a e cl an 8 3 . 5 0 2 k . p rev e n ted b y the b l ood of a wom an who:
Pta rm i ga n s a n d d u c s d ra m atic co n test of k ha s m iscarr i ed . 2 0 9
q R
.

th e a m on g th e E s ui m a u x 3 1 7
. . a i n -b i rd 7 2 ; -ch a rm . s. 7 1 . 13 1 . 2 10 . 23 4 .
P ub erty . girls secl ud ed at 5 95 ; i niti a tory . 3 00 . 3 4 1 . 4 00 d octo r a m ong
. 43 7 . 43 8 ; .

ri tes a t 6 92 th e T ora d j a s o f C eleb es . 6 8 ; -god s . 7 3 -5 ;

'

k k
.

Pun chk in a n d the p a r rot . story of. 6 6 9 . in g 7 0 10 7 ;

.
-m a ers
. 62 8 4 -6 . 10 7 . .

6 8 7 . 6 90 26 9 2 7 0 ; s on g s u n g b y w om e n
. 118 . .

Pu nj a u b th e . e n era l
. G
icholson worsh ip p ed N -s ton es 7 6 . 8 5 ; tem p l e in A n gonila nd .
. .

i n his l ifeti m e i n . 100 ; hu m a n sa cri ce fi 64

in . 1 12 ; b el ief a s t o tattooin g i n . 18 0 ; Rj
a ah te m p ora ry a fter d ea th of ra a h . 2 8 1’
. . j
k
S n a e trib e i n 5 3 5 5 3 6 ; hu m a n sca p e . . Rj
a a hs a m on g. the M a la y s . s u p ern atural
goa t i h 5 66 . p o w ers a ttrib u ted to . 8 8 ; two . i n T i m or.
Pup p ets of ru shes thrown i nto the T ib er 17 7
Rj
. .

4 9 3 ; u sed to a ttract d e m on s of s ic n ess k a p u ta n a . gard ens of A d onis i n 3 43

R I
.

fro m l iv in g p a tients . 5 6 4 ali the fa i r o f i n

. n d i a . 3 19 .

Pu p p ies re d -hai red s acri ced b y the om a n s

. . fi R Ra m with gold en eece . 2 90 ; as vi ca rious
. fl
to the D o g-st ar 4 44 sa cri ce fi
for hu m an v icti m sacri .

fi
.

Pu ri ca tion . of m a n -sl a y ers 2 12 . 2 15 ; of . ficed to A m m o n . 4 7 7 ; T ib et an godd ess

hu nt ers a n d sh ers . 2 16 ; a fte r fi
con tac t ri d i n g on a 4 92 ; ill i n g the s a cre d . 5 00 ;
. k
wi th a p i g 4 7 2 ; b y wa shin g 4 7 3 ; b efore
. . c on se c ra tio n of a whi te 534 .

k
p a rta in g of n ew fru its . 4 8 4 488 ; b y . Ra m s s u ll i n c h a r m
'
k to a v ert d e m ons . 4 9 2
em eti c s 4 8 5 48 8 ; b y stan d in g on sa cri
. . Ram a his b a ttle with the
. in g of C yl on. k e

ficed hum a n vi cti m 5 72; b y b ea tin g . . 67 0

6 02 Ra m a n ga a m on g the B etsil e J 2 2 9
. .

P u rifi catory cere m oni es . a t rec ep ti on o f Rara ton ga in the Pa ci c . 3 9 fi

R B B
.

stra n gers 19 5 ; on return from a ou rn e y j . arhi ra hm a n s of e n ga l. 6 0 2

R k k R D
.

19 7 as olni . u ss ia n is sente r , 7 1
theory of the r es of th e fire -festiv a ls . fi Ras p b erri es wil d cere m on y a t gathe rin g 6140
. .

6 4 2 64 7 ; m ore p ro b a b l e tha n the s ol a r fi rs t 4 86 .

R
.
'
theory 6 5 0 . a t s h a i r a s a char m 31 .

Puy all up n dia n s 2 5 6 I Rats . in m a gic 3 9 ; s u p ers titio u s p reca u .

k
.

P y gm a l ion . in g of C y p rus 3 3 2 . ti on s of far m ers a ga ins t 5 3 1 .

P yt ha gora s m a x i m s o f 4 4 4 5 . . . Rattl e w ood en . s wu ng b y twin s t o m a e

. k
Py thon cla n . in S en ega m b ia 5 02 . fa ir or foul weather . 6 6
Rattl esna es re sp ec ted b y k orth-A m erica n N
Q u a rtz u s ed
in ci rcu m cis ion . 2 24 I
n di a n s . 5 20
Q ua rt z -cry stal u sed in ra i n-m a in g. 7 6 k Ra v en s e ggs i n h om oeop a th i c m agi c
'
32 .

Q u ee n n a m e giv en to l a st c orn cu t a t h a r
, Rea p ers contests b e twe en . 4 0 1
. 4 0 3 . 404 .

k
.

v e st . 4 0 7 ; the H a rv e st . i n E n gl a nd . 4 05 ; 4 0 7 . 4 2 6 . 4 3 9 ; throw s ic l es a t th e l a st
of A th e n s m a rri ed to ion y su s 14 2 ; of
. D . s ta n d i n g co m . 40 1 4 03 4 04 . 4 0 7 4 46 . . . .

the C orn -ears . 4 05 ; of E gy p t . the wife o f 4 5 2 ; b li n dfo ld e d . 4 0 4 . 4 07 ; of rice d e

A m m on 14 2 ; of H ea v en . 3 3 7 . 7 1 1 ; of
. cei v i n g th e ri ce -s p i ri t . 4 14 ; p reten d to
M a y 12 7 12 9 13 1 3 20 . . m o w d o w n v i s i tors to th e h a rv est-field .

k
. .

Q ueen sl a n d b eli efs a s t o th e afterb irth i n

. . 43 0 ; rem ed ies for p a in s in the b ac .
3 9 ; n a m esa es of the d ea d cha n ge th ei r k 45 5
n a m es in so m e o f the trib es of 2 5 3 . E gy p tia n . their la m entati on s 3 3 8, .

e xp ul si on of a d e m on i n C en tra l 5 6 2 ; . 3 7 1 3 8 2 . 4 43 . 444
.

s ecl u s i on o f girl s a t p u b e rt y i n . 5 9 8 Rea p i n g-m a tch of ity erses 4 2 6 L .

Q uetza l coatl M e xi can go d . 4 9 1 . Reb irth from a gold en cow . 19 7 ; of a n

Q uil a care s u ici d e of the in gs of 2 7 4 -5 k . ces tors i n the i r d esce n d a nts . 2 5 6

Q
.

u ino a -m oth er . the 4 13 Recall of the so u l 18 0

Q k
. .

uite v e ti tle of in g of S ofa l a 2 7 3 . Red co lo u r i n m a gic 15 ; wool . 2 4 2

Q
. .

uito the k i n gs o f. 4 3 1 Red -ha ire d m en s a cri ced b y a ncient E gy p fi

N k k
.

Q uon d e i n i geria . i n g- ill in g a t . 2 7 1

. tia ns 3 7 8 3 8 0 443 . 4 7 6 ; p up p ies sacri
. . .

fi ced b y the o m a ns 444 4 7 6 R . .

Ra . the E gy p tia n sun -go d . 3 6 2 . 3 6 4 . 3 6 6 . Re dd e n i n g th e fa c e of a go d . 148

4 7 5 ; a nd si s . 2 6 0 I Radd i s or K
ap a s in M a d r a s Pres id e n cy 73 .

R ace . to d eter m i ne the Whitsun tid e in g . k Rfl

e ecti on . the sou l id e n ti e d with the . fi
12 9 ; s uccessi on to a i ngd om d eterm in ed k 19 2
b y a . 15 6 ; for a b ri d e . 15 6 ; of rea p ers Rfl
e ec tion s i n wa ter . su p p osed d a n gers of.
to last sh ea f. 45 9 19 2
R a ce s . a t Wh itsuntid e . 12 4 . 12 9 ; onhorse R g li
e a a. sanctity
i n Celeb es . 2 9 5 of.
b ac k
to the M a yp ole . 13 2 ; a t fire-festi Rg
e e n era tion fr om a go ld e n cow 19 7 .

va l s . 6 1 1 R gi i d
e c e a m on g t h e Sl a v s . 2 7 8 ; m od i ed fi
Ra di ca a festiv a l a t the en d of the C arni v a l
. cu stom o f 2 8 3
F
.

in ros i n o n e 3 02 . Regifugi u m a t o m e . 15 7 . 3 0 1 R
R a in . the m a gi ca l co n trol of. 6 2 -7 8 . 2 3 4 . Rein ca r n ation of a n im a l s 5 2 6 -7 .

6 2 9 . 6 4 5 ; p ra y ers for . 7 1. 7 7 . 8 6 . 1 18 . Rela ti ons n a m e s of ta b ooe d . 2 4 9 -5 1 ; of the

. .

15 9 -6 1 ; i n gs ex p ected to k gi v e . 8 5 -7 . k
d ea d ta e n ew n a m es for fea r of the ghost.
98 -9 ; sup p ose d to fa ll onl y as a resul t 25 3
Z9 I N DEX
fi
S acri ce of the . ing s son 2 8 9 ; of v iril ity k '
. k
Sa ala va s of M a d a ga sca r 17 2 25 8 2 95 . . .

I
.

3 4 9 3 5 0 ; n o t to b e touched . 4 7 3 ; an nual
. . S a k Va r i son g a n ci en t n d i a n h y m n . 6 7
. ,

o f a s a c red a n i m al . 4 7 5 ; o f fi rs t-frui ts . 4 8 8 ; S a l t ree 14 5

k F I
.

o f h eifer a t in d lin g n eed -fi re . 6 4 1 Sa li sh or l a thea d n d ia n s 1 8 7 4 8 6 . .

fi '

Sa cri ces ofi ere d to a n ces to rs 7 1 7 2 ; hu m a n . S al m o n . twi n s tho u gh t to b e 6 6 ; c erem on ies .

fi
, . .

1 1 2 . 1 1 7 146 2 7 9 2 8 1 . 29 0 . 3 5 4
1
a t ca tc hin g th e r s t of th e sea so n 5 28 .

k
. . . .

3 5 5 . 3 7 8 -8 0 . 4 3 1 5 69 . 5 7 1 5 7 9 5 8 7 6 09 . . Sa lm on eu s in g of E l is 7 7 14 9 . 15 9 . 2 9 2
. . .

k
. .

6 17 6 5 3 6 5 7 . 6 5 8 ; o fi ered to
. . i n gs 10 4 S a lt . a b stin e n ce from 23 . 13 8 ; n ot to b e .

G
.

o ffere d t o a sa cre d s wor d . 10 9 ; o fi ere d to e a ten . 2 18 . 5 10 5 95 . 6 0 2 ; M exi ca n od d ess

.

tre e s 1 12 . 1 13 115 . 1 16 . 1 18 ; on roof of . of 5 8 8

,

k
.

n e w h o use 1 17 ; t o wa ter-s p irits 14 6 ; to th e

. . Sa lt-p an s . c ontin en ce ob served b y wor ers
d ea d 1 7 5 ; a t foun d ation of b u ild i n gs . 19 1
. i n . 2 19
to s ou l s o f , s la in en e m ies . 2 12 ; vi c ari ous . S al v a tion of the i n d iv id u a l s oul . i m p ort ance
2 9 2 ; of ch il d ren a m on g the S em i tes . 2 9 3 ; a tta ch e d t o i n Ori en ta l reli gi on s . 3 5 7
.

o ffere d i n co n n ec tio n wi th irri ga ti on . 3 7 0 Sa m arca n d . hom oeop a thi c m a gic a p p lied to

S acrific ial i n g a t k
om e . 9 106 R . b a b i es in 3 2 ; N ew ea r cere m on y i n. 2 8 5
. Y
S a ga rd . G
a b ri el 5 2 7 S a m a v ed a . the . 6 7
fi
.

S a m hn agan . H all owe en b on res 6 3 5

'
S a gh a l ien fac ili ta ting childb i r th i n 24 0 . .

k
.

S aha gu n , B
d e. 5 8 7 . S a m oa . ra i n-m a i n g i n 7 5 ; tab oo on p erson s .

S t A n d rew s wi tch b ur n ed a t 2 4 3
. . . who ha v e ha ndl ed the d ea d i n 2 06 ; b utter .

S t A n gel o ill -treate d i n d ro u ght . 7 5

. . fl y god i n . 4 7 4 ; the Wild Pigeon fa m ily in .

St . Bri d e h er D a y i n th e H i ghl a n d s o f S cot 474

k
.

l a n d 1 3 4 ; a n ol d god d ess of fertility . 13 5

. S a m o ri n . ti tl e of the i n gs of C al icut 2 7 5
St . Bri d ge t 13 4 . S a m oy ed sha m a n s . thei r fa m il ia r s p i rits 6 8 3 .

S t Colu m b a 10 1
.
. S a m oy ed s o f Sib eria 2 5 2 .

S t D as i u s m a rt y r d om of 5 8 4 -5
. S a m p s on A gn es . a S cotch witch 5 4 2 .

L
. . .

St . D !

e n y s . h i s se v en h ea d s . 3 6 6 S a m y a s m on a s tery n ea r has a . 5 7 3 .

St . F ra n c i s of P a ol o . 7 4 S a n Pell egri n a ch urch of a t A n cona . 5 8 5 .

G k
.

St . e n s h i s i m a ge u s ed in ra in -m a i n g. 7 7
. Sa n ctity and u n cl ea n ne ss n ot cl ea rl y
St . G e orge festi va l of 3 6 0 d ifi eren ti a ted in the p ri m iti ve m ind . 6 07
'

G I k
. .

Da y fer tilisa tion o f b arre n Sa n dwi ch sl a n d s the in g p erson ated the

'
St . eorge s .

G
.

wom e n b y fru it-trees on 1 19 ; ree n . go d i n th e 93 . 94 ; p reca u tion a s to sp ittle

.

G e orge on 126 -8 ; cerem on y to ferti li se th e

. of chi efs i n th e . 23 7
fi el d s o n 1 3 7 S a n in g S a r i r i ce go d d e ss 4 15
G
. . .

St . erv a i s , s p rin g of. 7 7 S a nita tio n i m p ro v ed throu gh su p e rstition 2 0 1 .

St H i p p oly tu s. 5
.
k
S a n a r a a n d the ra n d a m a 18 9 G L
J
.

St . a m es 5 0 5 1 . . Sa ntal s thei r b eli ef i n the a b s en ce of the soul

J
.

St . oh n M i d su m m er fe sti v a l of. in S ardin ia .

. i n d r ea m s 1 8 2 .

3 4 3 ; S weeth ea rts o f 3 4 3 ; o il o f. foun d on .

S a p a roe a . E a s t n d i an i sla n d . fish er m s n
'
I
s
oa k l ea v es a t M id s u m m er 6 6 1-2 . 7 06 .
m a gic in 18
the B
a p t i st b a thi n g on hi s d a y . 7 0 ; h is
.
a ra wa . 15 k
.

2 5 8 9 ; tab oos ob serve d i n . 24

. .
c h a p el a t A th en s 5 4 5 ; a ssocia ted with
M i d s u m m e r D a y 6 22
.
S a rd i n es wor ship p e d b y n di an s of Peru 5 27 I .

K G
.

th e n i ghts of 6 3 0 ; ra n d M a s te r of S ard in ia . gard en s of A d on i s in . 3 4 3 ; S weet

the Ord er of. 6 3 1
.

hea rt s o i St . J
oh n a t M i d s u m m er i n 3 4 3 -4 ; .

St J o hn s D a y . s win gin g on 2 8 9 ; M id
'
M id su m m er res i n 3 4 4 fi ,

I
. .

s u m m er fi
r e s on 6 24 6 28 ; fern -see d b l oom s . .
S ar m ata sl an d s . m a rr i a ge of the Su n a nd

o n 7 04. S ee M i d s u m m er D a y
.
E a rth i n 13 6 .

St . J oh n s E v e . i n Swed en . 12 2 ;
'
u s sia n R Sata n a nnu a ll y ex p ell ed b y the Woty ak s 5 5 9
. . .

c e re m o n y on . 3 18 ; i n M a lta 6 3 1 . a n d b y th e C h ere m iss 5 6 0 ; p rea ches a .

J
St osep h . ill-trea ted i n d rought . 7 5
. s e rm o n i n ort h erwi c N
ch u rc h 6 8 1 B k .

St . La wre n ce fi re of 5 3 6 . . S aturn th e god of so wi n g. 5 8 3 ; his fes tiv al the

L
.

St . ou is 9 0 . Satu rn a li a 5 8 4
I
.

S t M a ry . sl e of 5 23
.
.
Sa tu rnal ia 13 6 . 1 5 3 5 5 3 5 7 5 ; the om a n . R
S t M a u ghold giv es v e il to St
. ri d ge t . 13 4
. . B 15 8 5 8 3 -7
.
. . .

S t M icha el , ill-trea ted in d rou ght. 7 5

Saty rs i n r el a ti on t o goats 4 6 4
.

S t Pa tri c
. k
ca n o n a ttri b u te d to . 9 0
.
S av a ge the . 4 7 ; his a we a n d d rea d of ev ery
.

S t P a u l o n i m m or t a l i t y 3 9 .

th in g n e w 2 2 5 ; ou r d eb t to . 2 6 2 -4 ; not to
.
.

S t Peter a s gi v er of ra in 7 7 .
.

S t Peter 3 Da y . 3 18 3 6 0
.
j
b e u d ge d b y E u rop ea n s ta n d a rd s 2 94 ; .

5 17 ; hi s b elief that a ni m a ls
. .

S t Pon s . his i m a ge u sed i n ra in -m a in g 7 7

. k .
n ot ill ogi cal .

ha v e so u ls . 5 18 ; u n a b l e to d iscri m i nate
St . R o ch u s 5 D a y n e e d -fi re
'
in dled on . 6 4 1 . k cle arly b etween m en a n d an i m a l s 5 3 2 ;
S a in t Sé ca ire M a ss of. 5 4
.

s ecre ti v e n e ss of 6 9 1 ; hi s d re a d of s orcer y
.
.
S t S tep hen 8 D a y . 5 3 7
' .
.

69 1
S t Sy l ves ter s D a y . 5 6 1
'
.

St T ecl a , fa ll ing sic ness cured in her church

. k S a v a ge sl a nd . I
ings ill ed k k on acc ou n t of

d ea rth i n . 8 7 ; c essa tion of m o narch y i n 17 6

at L
l a n d egla i n Wa les 5 4 5 .
,

St . Vi tu s s D a y 6 44
'
.
Sa v a ge p h il osop h y . 2 6 3
Sa ints . v iol ence d o n e to i m a ges of. to p rocure S a xo G ra m m ati c us . 3 3 . 15 5
ra i n . 7 5 ; i m a ges of. di p p ed i n wa ter a s a S axo n s of T ra n s y l v ani a . 2 3 8 . 23 9 . 3 0 6 . 3 12 .

ra in -cha rm . 7 7 3 16 . 4 5 6 5 3 0 6 7 2 . .
 IND E X 7 43
Saxo n y . M a y or Whi ts u ntid e trees in 12 3 ; . S erb i a n wo m e n s charm to hood w in
'
thei r k
Whitsu ntid e m u m m ers i n . 2 9 8 3 00 ; . h u sb a n d s 3 2
D
.
"
ca rr y i n g o u t ea th in 3 0 9 ; Oa ts b rid e
“
. S e rp e n ts . i n m a gic 3 2 ; cerem on ies ob serv e d
fi k
.

a n d b ri d egro om i n . 40 9 ; re s t o b u r n the a fter ill in g . 2 22 ; k illin g the sa cred . 5 0 1 ;

witches i n 6 2 2 b urn t a l i v e 6 5 5 6 5 8
k
.

k
, .

Scan d in a v i a fem ale d escen t of the i n gshi p

. Serv iu s T u ll iu s Rom a n in g. 15 2 ,

in . 15 5 S et or T y p hon . b rother of Osi ri s 3 6 3 . 3 6 5 .

Y B
. .

Sca n d i n a v ia n cu sto m o f the u le oa r 4 6 1 . 475

Scap egoa t . J
e w i sh u se of, 5 6 9 ; a m a te r i a l S ev en the n u m b er i n m a gical cer e m on ie s etc ,
. . .

v e hic le for ex p u l s i o n of e v il s 5 7 5 . 24 2 2 8 0 4 17 6 10 6 3 1
. . . .

Sca p egoa ts a n im a ls a s 5 4 0 5 6 5 . 5 6 8 ; b ird s

. . S ex totem s . 6 8 7 -8
a s . 5 4 1 ; p u b l ic . 5 6 2 -7 7 ; d i v in e a n i m a ls as . S e xes of p la nts reco gn ised b y so m e sa v a ges
. .

570 . 5 7 6 ; d i vi n e m en a s . 5 7 1 5 7 6 ; in . a n d b y th e a n c i e n ts 1 14 ; in u en ce of the . . fl
gen er a l . o n v e ge ta ti o n 1 3 5 -9 ; d a n ger a p p r ehen d e d
.

hu m a n 542 5 6 5 . 5 6 9 ; in cl a ssical fro m th e rel a ti on of the . 7 00

q k
. .

a nt i u i ty 5 7 7 -8 7 . S ex u a l i ntercou rse p ractise d to m a e the

Scheu b e . D r B 5 0 7 . c r op s a n d fru i t gr ow 13 5 -6 .

S chles wi g . cu sto m a t thresh i n g i n . 4 3 1 S e yf el- M u look a n d the in n e e story of. 6 7 4 j .

Schren ck v on 5 1 1
. L . Sh a d ow . th e soul i d en ti ed w ith the . 1 8 9 - 19 2 fi
Schuy le r E 5 43 Sha d ows of p eop le d ra w n ou t b y gh osts 190 ; .

j
. ,

Scien ce . a n d m a gic 4 8 7 1 1 ; a n d r eligio n . 7 12 . . a ni m al s in u r e d th rou gh th ei r 190 ; o f .

Sco rp ion s b ite p a i n tra n sferre d to a n a ss 5 44 cert a in p ers on s d a n gerou s 2 07 ; o f

'
. 19 0 . .

fi
.

Scorp io n s I
s i s a n d th e 3 6 4 p eop l e b u ilt i n to fo un d a tio n s of ed i ces . 19 1
k
.

Scotla nd m a gica l i m a ges i n . 5 6 ; w itch es ra i se Sh a esp ea re o n d ea tn a t eb b t id e. 3 5

win d i n 8 0 ; iron a s a sa fegu a r d a ga in st
. Sh a m a n s 8 8 6 8 3. .

fa i r i es i n . 2 2 6 ; w itch b u rn t in 24 3 ; h a rv est Sha n gha i ge om a n cy a t 3 6

. ,

B
.

c usto m s i n . 3 4 1 . 4 03 . 4 06 -8 4 5 2 ; n a m es Sha n s of ur m a 7 7
k
. .

giv en t o l a s t corn c ut i n 4 03 4 09 . 4 8 0 ; . . Sheb a or S a b a ea in gs of 200 . .

sa y i n g a s t o th e w r e n i n 5 3 6 ; wi tc hcra ft i n . . Sheep . torn b y w olf i n h o m o p a th i c m a gi c .

5 4 2 ; worship of G ra nn us i n 6 1 1 ; elta n e B 3 2 ; u sed i n p ur ifica tory c ere m on y 2 14 ; .

k fi
.

fi res i n 6 1 7 -6 20 ; fe w t ra ce s of M id s u m m er b l ac . sacri ced for ra i n 7 2 .

fi fi
.

in 6 3 1 ; H allowe e n in 63 5 Sh ell ca ll ed th e o ld m a n
'
re s . re s . . 33 .

n eed -fire in . 6 3 94 1 S ee a lso H i ghlan d s . Shen ty , E gy p ti an c ow -god d ess 3 7 5 .

S couvi on or E scouvi on . in el gi u m , 6 10 B Shetl a n d wi tch es i n 8 1

k k
, . .

S crofu la . 9 0 2 03 2 0 4 S h ill u the 2 6 6 294 ; thei r i n gs 29 5 .

k
. . . . .

S c y lla d a ught e r of i su s 6 7 0 N Sh oes of p ri e s te ss 1 7 4 ; of b oar s s i n worn

'

k
. . .
.

S cy th i a n s the 8 7 . .
b y in g a t in a u gu r ati on . 5 94
Shoot i n g s ta r su p erstiti on a s to 2 7 9
. .

S ea -god h u m a n s a cr i c e to 5 7 9
. fi Shro v e T u es d a y cu sto m s o n . 13 4 3 0 2 3 0 5 . . . .

k
.

S ea ls ca re ta en of the b la d d ers and b on e s 3 17 46 1 6 14 6 5 1 6 5 6

, . . .

B
.

o f. 5 26 S h rov eti d e c us to m s . 2 98 ; ear 3 06 .

k
S ea ls i n s i n sy m p a th y with the ti d es 3 5 I
Shu s wa p nd ia n s . 6 6 . 190 20 7 .

k j
.

S eas on s . m a gica l a n d rel igi ou s theor i es of S ia m in gs o f 9 9 2 2 4 2 5 7 . 5 93 ; ob ectio n to

k
. . . .

th e i n g s i m a ge o n coin s i n 193 ; m o d e of
'

the . 3 24 .

S eb (K eb or G eb ) E gy p ti a n ea rth-god . fa ther .
e x ec u ti n g ro y a l c ri m i n a l s i n 2 28 ; b eli ef .

of Osi ri s . 3 6 2 tha t a gu ard ia n sp irit dwells i n th e h ea d in .

23 0 ; c er em on y a t c utti n g a chil d s h a i r in
'

S ecretiv e ne ss of the s a va ge 6 9 1
k
. .

q
S e d n a E s u i m a u god d ess 5 5 2
. .
2 3 5 ; te m p ora ry i n gs i n . 2 8 4 2 8 9 ; a n n u a l .

Seed -cor n . 4 2 0 4 5 2 . 4 6 1 4 6 3 4 6 9 4 7 0 . 6 6 6. . . .
ex p u ls ion of d e m on s i n 5 5 9 ; h u m a n sc a p e .

-rice 2 8 4 ; -ti m e . a nnu a l ex p ul s ion of goa t i n 5 7 0

k
.
.

d e m on s a t . 5 5 7 S ia m ese m on s 1 12 ; s tory of th e ex tern al .

Segera a s a g o m a gi cia n of iw a i 3 7 9 K .
so ul . 6 6 9

k k
.

S e er (S o a ri) . ti tl e of Os ir is 3 7 5 .
Si a oo b el ief a s to s y l v a n S p i r its i n 1 16 .

S ela n gor ric e-cr o p s u p p osed to d ep en d o n

.
Si b er i a b ear-festi v a l in . 5 10 ; sa b l e-h u n ter s i n
. .

the d is tri ct ofi cer of 8 9 ; d uri a n-trees 5 2 5 ; ex tern a l s ou l s o f sha m a n s i n 6 8 3

G B
.
.

th reaten e d i n 1 13 Si b y l th e a n d the ol d e n ou gh 3 .

B k
. .
.

S i b y lli n e oo s t h e 3 4 8
Seligm a n Dr C G . 2 6 6 2 7 0
. .
.
S icil y a ttem p ts to c o m p el the sa in ts to giv e
. . .

D
.

S em ele m o th er of i on y su s 2 6 5 3 8 9 . .
.

7 S ; g a r d en s o f A d o n i s i n 3 4 4 ;
I F ra i n i n . 7 4
.

S e m i n ol e n d i a n s o f lo rid a 4 8 6 5 2 0
G F
. .

3 4 5 ; M id
.
c e re m on i es in
,

oo d rid a y
Se m ites . th e 2 93
.

B
.

k s u m m er fi
res i n 6 3 1
S em i ti c a a l 2 8 1 ; i n gs as here d ita ry d ei t i e s k
.

S ic ness h o m oeo p a thi c m a gi c for th e c u re of

. .
.

3 3 3 ; p erso n a l n a m es . i n d ica tin g rel a ti o n s hi p

.

15 ; ex p l a i n e d b y the ab sen ce o f th e s ou l .
to a d e ity 3 3 3 ; wo rship of A d on is . 3 2 5
.
18 3 ; a scrib ed to p osse s s i on b y d e m on s a n d
I
S en a l nd i a n s o f C a lifor n i a . 7 0 7 cu r e d b y e xorc i s m 196 5 4 7 ; c u red or p re . .

S en c i s of P eru the 7 8 . . v e nte d b y e fii gi es 4 9 2 ; tr a n sferred to .

S en e ga m b i a P y th on cl a n i n . 5 02 ; the m i stl e thi n gs 5 3 9 or p eop l e 5 4 0 . 5 4 4 or a n i m a l s . .

fi
. . . .

toe i n . 6 6 0 5 4 0 5 4 4 ; b on res a p rotection a ga in st 6 10

. .

S e rb ia ra i n -m a ki ng cer em o n y i n . 6 9 ; M id k
S i c n esses e xp ell ed in a ship 5 6 3
fi Y L k
, .

su m m e r res i n . 6 2 7 ; the u le l og in . 6 3 8 ; S i erra eo n e . 1 7 4 ; cu s to m of b e a ti n g a ing

n ee d -fire in . 640 o n th e e ve of h is coro n ati on i n . 1 7 6
7 44 I ND E X
Sieve wa ter p o ured thr ough . as a ra in
. S lov en es . 128 ; of Ob erk ra in , 13 4
ch ar m 71 . S m a ll p ox 4 93 ; d em on o f. tra n s ferre d t0 _ a
k
.

k
Si k i m fear of the ca m era i n 193 so w 5 4 0 ; b l ood o f m on e y used to ex orci se
fl
. . .

Sil enu ses , m in or d ei ti es a s socia ted with th e d e v il of 5 49 ; i ght fro m th e ev nl S p i rit

.

D i on y s us 4 6 4 .
o f 5 5 0 ; d e m o n o f e x p ell e d b y m ea n s of a n
. .

Siles ia . Wh itsun tid e i n g in 12 9 ; Wh i ts u n K .

i m a ge 5 6 3 ; e x p e lle d i n a b oa t . 5 6 4
.

tid e cu stom s i n . 13 2 ; ca rry i n g ou t D ea th

“
S m ith s cra ft sacred 8 6
" '

k k
.

in 3 0 9- 1 1 . 3 14 . 6 14 ; b r in gi n g i n S u m m er .
. S m o e i n ra i n -m a i n g 7 3 ; of ce d ar in haled
G
.

fi
.

3 11 ; the ra n d m othe r a t h arv est i n 40 1; . a s m ea n s o f i n sp ir a ti o n 9 5 ; of b on res 6 12 . , .

n a m es gi v e n to l ast sh ea f i n 4 0 2 ; th e W hea t 6 2 2 6 4 5 ; of n e e d -fir e 6 4 0 ; u sed to s tup efy

B
. . .

ri d e a t h a rv est i n 4 09 ; ha rv est c u sto m s . wi tches i n the cl ou d s 6 5 0 .

i n 4 2 8 4 49 . 4 5 1 4 5 3 4 5 7 ; e x p ul s i on of
. . . . k
S m o i n g a s a m ea n s of i n d u cin g a sta te of
wi t c hes a n d evi l s p i r its i n . 5 60 n ee d . ecsta s y 4 8 4 ; i n h o n ou r of sla in b ears 5 22
.

k
.

fire in 6 4 0 . S n a il s up p ose d to s uc b l ood of cattl e. 190

k
S il -cotton tr e es rev e ren ce d 1 12 k
S n a e used in ra in -ch ar m . 7 2 ; resp ected b y
k
. .

S il worm s t a b oos ob serv ed b y b reed ers of

. . I nd ia n s of C a rol i n a 5 19 ; w or shi p p e d. 5 3 5 ; .

2 18 sa id t o w o un d a girl a t p u b erty 6 0 1 ; se v en .

S i l v a n u s th e om a n w ood -go d R
14 0 14 1 hea d e d e x tern a l s oul of wi tch in a . 6 7 6
.

k
.

k
, .

Sil v i i fa m i ly n a m e of in gs of A lb a 149 16 3 S n a e-b i te ch a r m a ga in s t 3 2 ; cl a n . exp osed

. .

k
. . .

Si m eon p ri n ce of ul ga r i a 6 8 0
. B .
i nfa n ts t o s n a es 5 02 ; -god m arr ied to . .

S i m il ari ty i n m a gi c . l a w o f 1 1 .
wo m e n 14 5 ; -stone . 3 4 ; tri b e . i n the
.

S i n g a r m a ti eva D
n d i a n godd ess 2 18 . I .
Pun j a u b 5 3 5 .

Si n gh al ese the 2 26 . . S n ip e fev er t ra n sferred to a 5 4 5

. .

S i n s con fess ion of. 198 2 17 5 4 0 5 4 1-2 5 5 3

. . . . . . Sn orri S tu rl u s on . 3 7 9
5 6 9 ; the re m i ssi on of th r ou gh the shedd i n g . S ochi t or S ock et ep ithet of s i s 3 8 3 . I .

of b l ood 3 5 6 ; tra n sferre d t o a b u fi a l o ca lf

. . S oci ety u n ifor m i ty o f occ u p a ti on in p rim i
.

5 4 1 ; tra n s ferr ed v i car iousl y to hu m a n ti v e 6 1 ; a n ci en t b u ilt on the p r in cip l e of

I
. .

b ein gs . 5 4 2 ; of the C h il d ren of sra el tra n s su b or d i n a ti on of the in d ivi d u a l to the

ferred t o sc a p e go at 5 6 9 . co m m un ity . 3 5 7
I
S i ou x n d i a n s 4 9 7 , S ofa l a . k
i n gs of p u t to d e a th . 2 7 2 .

Siri us the D o g-star 3 7 0 3 84

, . , S o ga m os a or S o ga m oz a th e p onti f of. 104 ; .

Si sters tab oo s ob serv e d b y 2 3 2 5

, he ir t o th e thron e n ot all owed to see the
I
. .

Situ a . a nn u a l festiv al of the n ca s 5 5 3 . s un 5 9 5

.

Siv a a n d P arv a ti m a rri a ge of th e i m a ges of .

k k
S o a ri (S e e r ) . a titl e of Os ir is 3 7 5 .

k
3 20
S ea t W W 4 17
S ol a r th eory of the res o f th e fi r e-festi v al s . fi
, .
642 . 6 43
k
S el e ton d ren ch ed with w a ter a s a ra n -cha r m .
I
S ol om o n sl a n d s the dis p osa l of cu t ha ir in . . .
71
2 3 5 ; c er e m on y for gettin g r i d of fa ti gu e i n .
k
S in d i sease ca u sed b y e a ti n g a s a cre d
5 40
a n im a l 4 7 3 .
the su m m er . i ts i m p orta nce for
k
S in s of sa cri ced a n im a l s u ses m a d e of 4 6 6 fi . . .
S ols ti ce .

p ri m itiv e m a n 6 2 2 ; the win te r rec o ned k

4 7 7 4 99 -5 0 1 5 29 ; of hu m a n v ictim s 5 9 1
.

N
.
. .
b y th e a n c ien ts the a ti v it y o f th e S un 3 5 8
k
.

S ip p i n g-r op e p l a y ed a t b ear-festiv a l 5 12 .

k
S u ll s o f h ead -hu n ter s v i cti m s p reserv ed a s
.
'
.

S ol stiti a l fi re s p e rh a p s ra i n -ch a rm s , 7 06
rel i c s . 4 3 3 ; of b ears a n d fo x es wor sh i p p e d S on o f G o d a ll eged in ca rn a ti on of the . in
k fi
.

a n d co n s ul te d a s orac les . 5 0 5 ; of t urtle s A m e ri ca 10 2 ; of the in g sa cri

. . ced for h is
p rop i ti a ted . 5 2 6 fa ther 2 8 9 .

Sk y . twin s ca ll ed child ren of the 6 7 ; ob ser . S on gs of the c orn -rea p ers . 4 24

v a tion o f the for o m en s 2 7 9 S o p a te r a cc use d o f b in d in g the win d s . 8 ]
k
. .

S y e. l a st s hea f ca lled the C ri p p l e oa t i n , G S orcerer s 8 4 23 3 2 3 5 . 23 6 ; souls ex tra cted

. . .

4 5 5 ; the n ee d -fire i n 6 18 . or d e ta i n e d b y 1 8 7 . 18 8 ; in u en ce w ie ld ed fl
Sl a v e . cha rm t o b ri n g b ac a run a w a y 3 1 k j
b y . 19 6 ; i n u re m en throu gh their n a m es
.

N
. .

Sla v e p ri e st a t em i 3 . 2 4 5 ; e xorc i se d e m on s . 5 4 8
S l a v e C oa st of We st A fr ica n eg roes of the . .
S orc er y . the d rea d of. 2 3 3 . 69 1 ; p r otection s
1 16 ; e x orc is m of d em on s fro m ch il d ren on
a ga i n s t 6 2 1 . 6 2 9 6 6 3
. .
the . 196 2 2 6 ; p reca utio n s a s to th e sp i ttle
va ul ts o f th e . 3
.
S orrowfu l On e 71
of k
i n gs o n the 23 7 .

S othi s , E gy p ti a n n a m e for Siri us . 3 7 0

.

Sla v es. l icen se gra n ted t o a t the S a tu rn a li a . .

S ou l the p e ri ls of th e 1 7 8 ; a s a m a n ni in .
. . k
Sl a v on ia h arv es t cu st om s i n 4 0 4 ; the C orn 17 8 ; a b sen ce a n d recall of the 1 8 0 ; a s a .

S p i ri t i n
.

4 4 8 ; cu s to m of
“
c arr y i n g o u t
.

sh a d ow a n d a re ec ti on 18 9 -9 2 ; i n the fl
fi
.
.

D ea th
"
i n 5 7 8 ; the ul e l o g i n 6 3 8 ; n e e d
. Y .
b lood 2 28 . . i d en ti ed with the p er
fire in . 6 4 1 ; stories o f th e ex tern a l so u l i n s on a l n a m e . 2 4 4 ; of m a n -go d 2 6 5 ; su cces .
.

67 1 s i o n to th e . 293 -5 ; o f th e ri ce 4 13 . 4 15 ; .

Sla v on i a n s S o u th 3 0 3 2 . 1 14 1 19 . 6 4 9 S ee .
th o u ght to b e sea ted in the l i v er 4 9 7 ; the .
. . . .

a lso Sl a v s n otion of a . 6 9 0 ; th e u nity a n d i n d iv i sib ili ty

Sl a v s 1 10 . 16 1 2 7 8 . 3 02 4 00 6 4 9 6 6 5 ; of o f th e . 6 9 0 S ee a lso So ul s .

k
. . . . .

C ari nthia 1 2 6 ; S o u th 4 4 6 3 6 . . .
the i n fol -tal es . 6 6 7 -7 8 ; i n
e x terna l .

Sleep . cha rm s to ca u s e . 3 0 ; a b sen ce of the i n a n i m ate thi n gs . 6 7 9 ; i n p l a n ts . 6 8 1 ; i n

soul in 18 1-2 ; fo rb id d en i n hou se a fter a
.
a n i m a ls . 6 8 3 ; ep t i n tote m . 6 90 k
d eath . 18 2 ; sic p eo l? not a ll owed to. 19 3
p k Soul-b oxe s. a m ul ets a s . 6 7 9-8 0 ; -ston e . 6 8 0
M6 IN D E X
S um m er b ringin g i n the 3 11-16 ; a n d Win ter . Swin gi ng. p lou ghin g rite in Sia m . 2 8 5 .
at
k
. .

b a ttle o f 3 16 -17 . 2 8 8 ; to m a e th e fl a x grow h i gh . 2 8 9

S u m m er -tr ees 3 11 . 3 14 . S w itz erla n d . ha rv est c u s to m s i n . 4 5 5 . 45 7 .
S un p ra y e rs o fi ered t o th e 14 . 2 6 . 7 8 ; 4 5 8 ; frighten in g a w a y the s p irits of the
L fi
. .

m agi ca l c on t ro l o f th e . 7 8 -8 0 ; c ere m o n i e s wo od in . 5 6 1 ; e n te n r es i n . 6 13 ; the

a t ec l i p ses o f th e . 7 8 ; a n ci e n t E gy p ti a n nee d -fire i n . 6 4 1 6 4 5 ; the m istletoe i n
J N
. ,
'
cere m on y for th e re gula ti on o f th e . 7 8 ; 6 6 1 6 6 2 ; fern s e ed
.
- o n S t o h n s ight .

fi
sacri ces t o th e . 7 9 ; c hi e f d e i ty o f the in 7 0 5
.

R hodi a n s 79; s u p p ose d

. t o d ri v e i n a Sword . a m a gica l . 10 9
ch a ri o t . 7 9 ; c a u ght b y n et or stri ng 79; . S w ord s u sed to wa rd 0 6 o r e x p el d em ons.
fa the r of the n cas . 104 ; Pa rth i a n m o n I 5 49. 5 5 1
a rc h s the b rothers of th e 10 4 ; a n d . S y ca m o re a t d o ors o n M a y Da y 12 1 ; e fi gy .

E a r th m arri a ge
. o f the 13 6 14 5 ; n ot . . of Os iris p la c e d on b ou ghs of. 3 7 6
a ll o we d to s h i n e o n sa cre d p erson s 16 9 . . Sy l eu s , the l egen d of. 44 2
1 7 0 ; rep resen ted a s a m a n with a b u ll s S y lv an d e ities i n c la ssica l a rt. 1 17
'

hea d . A d on is a s th e 3 3 7 ; a ti vi ty , N Sy m p a thy . m a gica l 3 8 .

of the 3 5 8 ; the U n con u er ed M i th ra q . S y rian s their rel igio u s a ttitud e to p i gs . 4 7 1;

.

fi
.

id en ti e d w i th 3 5 8 ; Os iris a s the . 3 8 4 ; . estee m e d fi sh sacre d . 4 7 3

firs t-fru its o fi ere d to the 4 3 1 ; cer em o n y . S y ria . 2 4 1 ; A d o n is i n . 3 2 7 ; p reca ution

a t the re a p p e a r a n ce o f th e i n th e A rc tic . a ga i n s t c a terp ill a rs i n . 5 3 1

re gi on s . hearts of hu m a n v ic ti m s S z is . the . of p p er U
ur m a h 4 18 B .

o fi er e d to th e 5 8 9 ; r ul e n ot t o see the
—
. .

5 9 5 ; n o t to sh in e o n gir ls a t p u b erty . T a -ta thi trib e of N ew S ou th Wa l es 7 6 .

5 96 -6 00 . 60 2 ; sy m b oli z e d b y a wheel . 6 4 4 ; T a-u z (T a m m u z ) . 3 3 8

fe rn -seed p rocu red b y shoot in g a t th e 7 05 ; . T a b a li . chief of 23 7 .

th e u l ti m a te cool in g o f the 7 13 . T a b oo . o r n e ga tiv e m a gic . 19 -2 2 . 2 9 ; of

S un -go d . the 7 3 105 ; -god d es s 16 8 . chie fs a n d k
i n gs . 204 ; the m ean in g of.
fl
. .

S un ower r oots cere m on y a t e a ti n g 4 8 7 . . 22 3 ; co n ce iv ed a s a d a n ger ou s p hy sical

S un shin e u se o f fire a s a cha r m to p ro d u ce
, . s ub s ta n ce whi ch n e ed s to b e in s ula ted .
6 4 7 -8 594 . S ee a ls o T a b oos
S urin a m . the B
u sh n e groe s of. 16 6 . 4 7 3 j
T a b oo ra a h a nd ch ief 1 7 7 -8 .

S wa b i a the H a rv est- M ay i n , 1 18 ;
. M ay T a b oo ed a cts . 194 -20 2 ; h a n d s 204 -8 2 10 . . .

tre es in 123 ; d isp osa l o f cut ha ir i n

. . 2 14 . 2 3 3 ; p ers on s 2 0 2 -2 3 . 5 93 -S ; things .
.

23 5 ; Whits untid e m u m m ers i n 2 9 7 .

‘

2 2 3 -4 ; word s . 24 4 -6 2
Shrov e tid e or e n ten c e re m o n ie s i n L 3 07 . T a b oos . on food 2 1 2 3 8 ; o n p are n ts of . .

the Old W o m a n a t h arv es t i n 4 0 2 ; h ar . tw i n s 6 6 ; roy al a n d p r i es tly . 16 8 -7 5 ; on

.

v es t c u sto m s i n 4 5 4 4 5 7 4 5 8 4 6 0 ; e n te n . . . L i n ter cours e w ith stra n gers , 194 ; on eating

fi fi k
.

res i n 6 12 ; E a ster re s i n 6 17 ; M i d a n d d ri n i n g . 19 8 ; on s howi n g th e fa ce .

q
. .

s um m e r res i n fi
6 24 ; fire of hea v e n i n . , 199 ; on u i tti n g th e h o u se . 200 ; on
6 44 l ea v in g food o v e r 200 ; o n chiefs a n d
k
.

Swa llo ws a s sca p egoa ts . 5 4 1 in gs . 2 0 2 ; on m ou rn ers 20 5 ; on wo m en. .

S wa m i B ha sk a ra n a n d a j i S ara swa ti , 10 0 2 0 7 ; o n warriors . 2 10; on m a n -sla yers .

S w a n -wo m a n T a r ta r stor y of the 6 7 6 2 12 ; on h un ters a n d sh ers . 2 16 ; as fi
k
. .

S wa z iela n d n ot s a s c h ar m s i n . 2 4 2
. s p iri tu a l i n s ul a tors 2 23 ; on iron . 2 24 ; o n
.

S we a ri n g o n s to n es 3 3 . s ha rp wea p on s 2 26 ; o n b l ood . 2 2 7 ; t e
.

S wea t c o n ta g io u s m a gic o f. 4 3 l atin g t o the hea d . 2 3 0 ; o n ha ir . 23 1 ; on

k
.

S wea ting a s a p uri ca ti on 2 0 7 fi . sp i ttl e . 2 3 7 ; o n n ots a n d rin gs 2 3 8 ; on ,

S wed e n s a c re d gro v e i n 1 10 ; p ea sa n ts w ord s , 2 4 4 ; o n p ers on al n a m es 24 4 ; on .

k
, .

s tic lea fy b ra n ches i n co rnfield s i n 1 18 ; n a m es o f re la ti on s 2 4 9 ; on n a m es of the

k
. .

gu a rd i a n t re es i n 120 ; b irch t wigs o n . d ea d . 2 5 1 ; on n a m es o f in gs a n d other

the e v e o f M a y D a y in . 12 2 ; b o n res fi sa c re d p ersons . 2 5 7 ; on n a m e s of god s .
a nd M a y -p oles a t M i d s u m m er i n . 12 2 ; 26 0 ; reg ula tin g the li v e s o f div i n e i ngs. k
M id s u m m er rid e a nd B
r i d e gr o om in B S9 3
fi
.

13 3 ; F
r e y a n d h i s p r ies tess i n . 14 3 ; d ra o b serv e d i n shin g a n d h u ntin g . 2 0
m a tic co n test b e tw ee n S u m m er a n d W i n ter b y ch ild re n i n the a b sence of the ir fa thers .

o n M ay D a y i n 3 16 ; h a rv e st c u stom s i n . . 2 1. 2 2 . 2 6 ; b y w iv es i n the ab sence of

4 06 ; custom a t threshin g i n 4 3 1 ; u le . Y the ir hu sb a n d s 2 1-5 ; b y sis ters i n the
.

B oa r i n 4 6 1 ; C hris tm a s c u stom i n . 4 6 2 ; a b se n ce o f the i r b roth ers 25 ; a fter house .

fi k
.

E a ster b on res i n . 6 17 ; M a y D a y b on b uild in g 1 17 ; fo r th e sa e of the crop s .

k
.

fires i n 6 2 1 6 4 5 ; M id s u m m er re s in fi . 13 8 ; b y the M i a d o . 16 9 ; b y hea d m en

k I
. .

6 25 ; the n ee d -fi re i n 6 4 1 ; t he m i s tl etoe i n A ssa m 1 7 3 ; b y a n cien t in gs of rela n d .

F
.

B
.

a ld e r s b a le fire s i n . 6 6 4 ; 17 3 ; b y the la m en D ia l i s 1 7 4 ; b y the

'
i n. 6 6 1 663 ; .

B k
.

s u p ers ti ti on s a b o u t a p a ra s itic ro wa n i n . o d ia 1 7 5 ; b y s a cred m il m en a m on g

.

7 0 2 ; th e d i v in in g rod i n . 7 05 the T od a s 17 5 ; b y p riest of E a rth i n

.

Sw d e i s h i n g .
s tkr a c es o f n in e y ea rs
'
re i gn S o u thern N
i geria 5 94 .

o f. 2 7 8 T a hi ti . seclu sio n o f w om en a fter chil d b irth

Swee thea rts o f S t oh n 3 4 3 3 44 . J . i n . 20 8 ; ing a n d k u ee n o f. 2 24 . 5 93 ; q
fl
.

S win e s esh s ac ra m en tall y e a ten 4 7 0 4 7 2 sa n c ti ty o f th e h ea d i n . 2 3 1 ; n a m es of

'
,

k
. ,

not e a t en b y w orship p ers of A tti s . 4 7 1 i n gs n ot to b e p ro n ounced i n . 2 5 9

S win eherd s forb id d en to en ter E gyp tia n
‘

T a lis m a n s p ossessed b y the ire ing of F K .

tem p l es . 4 7 2 C am b od ia . 10 8
 IN D E X 747
T alm ud . the. on uous wom en 6 04 . T ho n ga . B
a n tu tri b e of S o uth A fri ca . 7 0 8
T alo s , l e gen d of. 2 8 0 T hor the . N
ors e thun d er-go d 16 0
k
.

T am arin d tree . sa cred 1 18 . T horn b ushes to eep off ghosts 20 7

I
.

T am m u z . or A d on i s . 3 2 5 ; the l over of shta r . T horn s w rea th s of h u n g u p a s a s ign to

. .

3 25 ; l a m en ts for . 3 26 ; m ourn ed for a t wa r n off s tr an gers . 5 5 8

J e ru salem . 3 27 ; as a corn -sp i ri t 3 3 8 ; hi s . T ho th . E gy p tia n god o f wisd om 3 6 2 3 6 4
D
. .

b on es gro u n d i n a m ill . 3 3 8 4 4 2 ; p erha p s T hrace w orsh ip of ion y s u s i n 3 8 6 ; the

kk
. . .

re p resented b y the m oc in g o f S aca ca . Ba c cha n al s of. 3 90 ; h u m a n s ca p e goa t i n .

442-3 5 79
T a na (T ann a) N e w H eb ri d es
. on e of th e . T hra cian god s rud d y a n d b lue-ey e d . 26 0
con ta giou s m a gic of clo th es in . 4 3 ; m a gic T hrea d . u se of in m a g ic 18 1 24 2 5 4 5 . . . .

p ra ctised on refus e of food i n . 2 0 1 T hresher of the la s t corn 4 00 4 05 -6 . 4 4 8 .

F
. .

T ap io. woodl an d god i n in la n d 14 1 . 45 6 4 5 8 . 4 6 0

.

T a r b arrel . b u rn i ng s wun g rou n d p ole a t . Thresher-cow i n the C a n ton o f ur ich 45 8

. Z .

M id su m m er. 6 25 T hreshin g cu sto m s a t . 4 00 4 0 5 4 18 4 2 8 -9

I
. . . . .

T ara . ca p ita l of a n cient rel a n d 1 7 3 2 7 3 . . 43 1 4 4 8 . 4 49 4 5 1. 4 5 3 4 5 6 4 5 8 . 4 6 0

. . . .

T ari Fonnu e arth go d d ess 43 4 . . T hreshin g-d og 4 48

k
.

T a ro p l a nts b ea ten to m a e the m grow 5 8 1 T hru m a l um . m y thical b ei n g i n A u stra lia .

q
.

T ar uin the Eld er . 1 5 2 693

the Prou d 15 0 . T h un ar or o na r D
e rm a n th un d e r-go d G
16 0
K k
. .

T arta r h a n . ce rem on y a t v i siti n g a 19 8 . T hun d er i m i ta tion of 6 3 ; i n gs e x p ecte d

k
. .

s tori e s o f th e ex tern al so u l 675 676 . . to m a e 149 ; e x p ia ti o n fo r h ea rin g. 17 4 ;

.

T a rta rs the ud d his t 10 2

. B . fi
M id su m m er res a p ro tec tio n a ga in s t 6 2 7 . .

T as m a n ia 2 5 2 6 29
k
.

T atius in g of
, om e 15 2 15 8 R T hun d er-b e in gs 5 24 ; -b e so m 662 7 09
k
. . . . .

T attoo m ar s of p ri ests of A ttis 3 5 2 .

-b i rd . the m
y thica l 5 99 ; -go d 16 1 .

Z
.

T a ttooin g i n the Pu nj a ub 1 8 0 . T hun d erb olt . eu s s urn a m ed th e . 15 9

T a u ri c D
ia n a her i m a ge b rou gh t b y Ores tes
, T hu re m l in . a m y th ica l b ei n g . 6 9 2
to I
tal y . 2 ; on ly to b e a p p ea se d wi th T huri n gen . ho m oeo p a th ic m a gic a t so win g
hu m a n b l ood . 6 fl a x in 2 8 ; M a y in g in 129 ; Whitsun K
fi
. .

T a ygetu s , M o unt sacri ces to the su n on 7 9 . ti d e m u m m ers i n . 2 9 8 3 0 0 ; ca rry in g o u t .

D
.

T ay lor Rev . C 570 . J . .

. ea th in 3 08 ; c u s to m s a t th re s hi n g m ,
k
.

T eeth . conta giou s m a gi c of. 3 8 -3 9 ; of r a ts 4 0 5 . 4 5 8 ; th e H a rv es t-coc in 4 5 1 ; th e

B
.
”
a nd m i ce i n m a gi c 3 9 ; of a n cesto r i n . o a r i n th e co rn i n 4 6 0 ; M id s u m m e r
k fi
,

m a gi c a l c ere m o n y 7 8 ; of s a cred i n gs . res i n . 6 5 6

p reserved a s a m ulets 10 9 ; l oss o f. s u p . T ib er . p u p p ets thro wn i n to th e 4 93

k G L
.

p osed e fi ect of b rea in g a ta b oo 2 06 ; a s T ib et th e ra n d a m a s of 102 ; i nc arn a te

k
. . .

a ra i n-c ha rm 23 4 ; e x tra cted e p t a ga in st , h u m a n god s i n 103 ; v ica r i o us u se

, of
the res u rrecti on 2 3 6 . i m a ges in . 4 9 2 ; hu m a n sca p egoa ts i n . 5 7 2
T egn er Swedish p oe t 6 6 4
, . T ib eta n n e w y ea r 5 7 2 .

T ei n -u gi n n eed -fire . i n S cotl a n d . 6 17 6 1 8 T id es hom oeop a th ic m a gi c of th e 3 4 . 3 5

'

. . . .

T elep a thy . m a gica l 2 2 2 4 . 2 5 . . T i gers r esp ec ted i n S u m a tra 5 19

L
.

T elugus thei r wa y of s top p i n g ra in 6 4

. T i m m es th e o f S ierra eo ne 17 6
J
. . .

T em p le at erusal e m . b u il t wi th out i ron . T i m or . i sla n d of tel ep a thy in . 2 6 ; fe ti sh or

.

2 25 j
ta b oo ra a h in 17 7 ; wa r c u s to m s i n . 2 12
k
.

T em p l es b uilt i n hon o ur of li v in g i n gs of tra n sfere n ce o f fa tig ue to l ea ves i n . 5 4 0

B a b y lo n a n d of E gy p t . 104 . T im orl a ut slan d s 5 26 5 6 4 I .

I N
.

T en ed os i sle of 29 1. 3 92
. . T i n n eh or D é n é n d ia ns 2 0 8 : o f orth-we s t .

T ep ehuanes o f M ex ico 19 3 A m eri ca 4 8 6

I k D
. .

T eton n d ia n s . 5 2 4 T ita n s ill ion y s us 3 8 8 .

T eu ton ic k
in gs a s p riests. 9 ; s tories of the T i y a n s of M al a b a r . 6 0 2
extern al s o u l 6 7 2 ; th un d er-god 16 0 T li n gi t or T hl in k eet n d ia n s 2 3 4 5 2 8 . 6 0 0 I . .

N k
. .

T ezcatl ip oca M ex ica n god . 5 8 7 Tl ok oa l a a secret soc ie ty of the oo t a

I
, .

T hargelia . ree G k
festiv a l of th e 5 7 9 5 8 2 . . n d ia n s . 6 99
T heb es . the B
o eoti a n . gr a v e of D i o n y s u s a t . T oa d s in re l a tio n to ra i n 7 3 .

3 89 T ob a cco . u sed a s a n e m etic 4 8 4 -5

k
.

Theb es i n E gy p t. 14 2 17 4 ;
. alle y of the . V T ob acco sm o e p ries t i n sp ired b y . 9 5 .

K in gs a t . 3 7 7 ; a n nu a l sa cri ce of ra m to fi T ob oon gk oo th e . of C en tra l C el eb es 1 16

. .

A m m o n a t 4 7 7 5 00 . . T od a s a tri b e of S ou th ern n d ia 100 . 1 7 5

. I . .

T hed d ora tri b e of S ou th-eas t A u stra li a 49 8 . 534

T heocr acies i n A m er ic a . 1 7 0 T ogol a n d . ex p ul s io n o f d e v ils i n 5 5 5 .

T heoga m y d iv i n e m a r ri a ge 140
. . T ola la k i the o f C en tra l C eleb es 4 9 8
, . .

T heology dis ti n gu i she d fro m rel igion 5 0 , T ola m p oos . the . o f C en tra l C eleb es 2 44 .

T heseu s a n d H i p p ol y tu s . 4 T om o ri . the . o f C en tra l C el eb es 1 16 . 4 16 .

T hes m o p hor i a a n cien t ree fes ti v a l 3 5 3 .

. G k .
T on a p oo the o f C en tra l C el eb es 1 17
. . .

T on ga chie f s tou ch tho u ght to h ea l s croful a

'
3 7 1 3 8 9 4 6 9 4 70
F
. . .

T h ev e t , A 88 . in . 9 0 ; v e n era t ion p a id to d i v in e c h ie fs
'
T hiev es ca n d le s 3 0 3 1 5 6 in 17 7 ; k
i n gs o f 2 03 23 1 ; ta b ooed p e r
I
. . . . .

T hl i n k eet or T lin git n d i a n s 2 3 4 5 2 8 6 0 0 so n s n ot a ll o we d to h a n d l e fo o d i n . 2 0 6

;
I B
, . .

Th o m p son n d i a ns of ri ti sh C olu m b ia . 2 7 . c e re m on y p erform e d a fter c o n tac t wi th a

45 . 4 3 7 . 7 0 8 sa cred chi e f i n , 4 7 3
N8 I N DEX
T on q u in .
d iv isi on of m ona rchy in 17 7 T rees worship of. 10 9 ; ora cul a r. 1 10 ; re
fi
. .

a nn ua l e xp u l s io n of d e m o n s i n 5 5 8 . ga r d ed a s a n i m a te 1 1 1 ; s ac ri ce s offered .

T ootha ch e tra nsferr e d

. to e n e m ies 5 39 ; .
to 1 12 1 13 . 1 15 1 16 1 18 ; sen s itiv e . 1 12 ;
. . . .

re m e d y for 5 4 4 . a p ologi es o ffere d to . for cu ttin g them

T orad j a s of C en tra l C eleb e s . 1 8 . 2 1 6 8 7 1 d o wn . 1 13 ; b leed ing 1 13 ; threa tened to
k
.
. . .

7 5 . 1 17 . 19 7 . 2 3 2 . 4 16 . 5 8 1 m a e th e m b ea r fru it 1 13 ; m a rri ed to .

T orches . ofi ere d b y w om en to ia n a 3 ; u sed D .

ea c h other 1 14 ; in b lossom treated l i e
. k
to m i m ic l i ghtn in g . 7 7 ; u se d i n e x p ul si on p regn a n t wo m en 1 15 ; a n i m a ted b y the
.

of d e m o n s . 5 4 8 . 5 5 0 . 5 5 4 5 5 5 . 5 5 7 . 5 60 sou l s o f th e d ea d 1 15 ; p l anted o n graves.

.
.

5 6 2 ; i n e xp u lsion of wi tche s . 5 6 0 . 5 6 1 1 15 ; d em on s i n . 1 16 : cere m onies at c ut

ti n g d o wn 1 16 ; g ra n t wo m en a n e as y
p rocess io n s wi th l ighted 6 10 . 6 1 1 6 4 7 ; . .
.

ca rri e d ro un d fol d s . 6 3 1 ; a p p lied t o fru i t d elive ry . 12 0 ; s acred 120 ; rep resented .

th e m o nu m ents of Osiri s. 3 8 0 ; in
‘

trees to fertil ise them . 6 4 7 on

I
T orre s S tra its sla n d s 6 0 4 ; m a gic i n th e rela ti o n to D
iony sus. 3 8 7 ; e vil s trans
18 ; p ers on a l n a m es t a b oo e d
.

in . 2 5 0 ;
.

ferr ed to 5 4 5 ; b u rn t i n b on res . 6 12 6 16 .
. fi .

secl u s i o n o f gi rls a t p u b e rt y i n 5 98 .
6 2 6 . 6 3 0 . 6 5 1 ; l iv es of p eop l e b ou nd up
T o rt oi se s i n m a gi c . 3 6 ; r ea s on s for not with 6 8 1 . 6 8 2 ; p a ssin g throu gh cleft trees
.

ea ti n g 49 5 a s a c ure for v a ri o us m al a di es . 6 8 2 -3 ; fire

.

k
T o te m . s i n d i sea se s u p p o sed to b e ca u se d thou gh t b y sa v a ge s to b e s tored l i e sa p k
k
‘

b y e a ti n g 4 7 3 ; s u p p osed e ffect of ill in g

. .
in . 7 06
6 8 9 ; rec ep tacle for a m a n s e x ter n a l s oul
’
.
T ri b u te o f y o u ths a n d m a id en s sen t to the
6 90 ; tra n sferen ce o f sou l to 6 9 2 . 7 00 .
M in ota u r 2 8 0 .

T ote m a n i m al . a rt i cia l 6 99 ; fi
cl a n s 17 , . .
T ri n ity . the H ind oo . 5 2
5 04 7 00. T ri p tol em u s . p rin ce of E l e us is . 3 9 4 3 96 . .

T otem i s m in A u s tra li a a n d A m eri ca . 5 3 3 ; 470

“

su ggeste d th eory o f 6 8 9 . T roez en . s a n c tuary of H ip p olytu s a t . 6

T o te m s m a gi ca l c er em o n i es for th e m ul ti T rolls . 6 17 . 6 2 5 . 6 6 3 . 7 07
p l ica ti on of the . 1 7 . 8 5 -6 I
T se tsa u t n d ia n s of r itish Col u m b ia 6 0 0 B
N
.

T ou m b u l u h trib e o f orth C e l eb e s . 2 3 9 24 . k
T shi-S p ea in g p eop l es of the old C oa st . 2 6 G
T ox ca tl old M ex i c a n fes ti v a l 5 8 7 . T s i m s h i a n n d ia n s o f I ri ti sh C olu m b i a B
66 .

T ra n s m i gr a tio n of hu m a n sou ls i n to t urtl es . . T su e n-che u -fu . i n Chin a . geo m a n cy a t . 3 6

5 04 ; i n to b e a rs. 5 11 ; in to totem a n i m a l s . T u a regs of th e S aha ra 2 5 2 .

69 1 T u b in gen . b u ry i n g the C a rnival near . 3 06

T ran sub sta n tiation 4 90 T uhoe tr ib e of M a oris 1 19
k
.

R
.

T ra n s y lv a n i a ra in -m a i n g i n . 7 1 ; festiv a l
. k T u llu s H ostil i u s , i ng o f om e . 14 1 15 8 .

of G
reen eor ge in . 12 6 ;G c on t i n e n c e a t
T u m leo , isl a n d of 4 3
T uh a a sp ir it . ex p ul sio n of 5 5 1
.

sowi n g i n 13 8 ; sa y in g. as to sl eep i n g . .

chil d i n . 18 2 ; harvest c u stom s in . 4 5 1 T urco m a n cu re for fe v er . 2 4 2

4 5 2 4 5 6 ; c u s to m s a t so win g i n 5 3 0 ; s tory
.

k
T u r es ta n . hu m a n sca p e go at i n 5 43 .
.

o f th e ex te rn a l s o ul i n . 6 7 2
,

k
T u r s . e x orcis m p rac tis ed b y the 195 .

T ra n sy l v a n i a . the er m a n s of. 23 9 ; G
the p re serv e thei r n ail-p a rin gs fo r u se a t the
re s u rre ctio n 23 6 ; of C e nt ral A sia . 4 9 6
Rou m a n ia n s of 19 1 2 2 7 3 4 1 ; th e Sa xo n s
. . .
T u r m eric cu lti va ted 4 3 4 . 4 3 7
of. 2 3 8 . 3 0 6 . 3 l 2 . 3 16 . 4 5 6 . 5 3 0 672 .

T ra v a n core the a ah of 5 43 Rj
.
T u r n er s p ictu re o f the
'
ol d en o u gh l G B .

T re e tha t h as b een stru c b y l ightn i n g 8 0 k

.
q
T u r u oi se . M istress o f. a t S in ai . 3 3 0
.
T u r tl e m a gica l m od el s of 18
k
.
.

k
.

7 08 ; d ec ed with s h a m b rac elets e tc .

T u rtles . ill i n g th e sacred . 5 0 2 ; tra nsm i
3 4 2 ; b u rn t i n the M i d sum m er b on re fi .
gra tio n of h u m a n s oul s i n to. 5 04
6 2 6 . 6 28 ; ex tern a l so ul i n a 6 7 0 . 6 8 0 . .
T wa n y irik a . a n A u stra l ia n s p iri t 6 93 .

S ee a lso T rees
T wel fth D a y . c erem o n y of the Ki ng a t
T ree-a ga tes . 3 4
C arca sson e on . 5 3 7 ; th e E ve of. 5 6 1. 6 09 .
-sp i ri t . rep resented si m u lta neously in
64 7
vegetab l e a n d h u m a n form 125 ; rep re .
N
i ght. ex p ulsio n of the p owers of ev il
se n ta ti v e o f. thro wn i n to w a te r to e n su re

ra i n . 12 6 ; k
illin g of the 2 96 -3 23 ; res ur
on . 5 6 1 ; th e in g of the K ea n on . 5 86 B
re cti o n o f th e . 3 0 0 ; i n rela tion to the
.
the Y
u le lo g o n . 6 3 7

ve geta tio n-sp i ri t 3 15 -16 ; A ttis a s a 352;

T wel v e D
a y s fro m C hris tm as to T welfth
Os iri s as a . 3 8 0 ; e fi gies of b u rnt i n b on
. .
N i ght p recau tion s a ga in s t wi tches d urin g
N Y
.

i ghts. re m a in s of u le l o g
.

fi re s . 6 5 1 ; h u m an rep res en ta ti v es o f. p u t
the . 5 6 1 ;
sca tte re d o v er the fi
e ld s d u ri n g the . 6 3 7
to d ea th 6 5 2 6 6 5 . .

T wi n s . 2 9 ta b oo s l a id on p arents of.
2 27 ;
-s i ri ts 109 -1 7 ; b en eficen t p o wers of
.
p
6 6 ; s u p p ose d to p o ssess m ag ical p owers
. .

1 17 -20 6 5 1 ; i n hu m a n for m or e m b odied

.

6 6 -7 ; a ssoci ated with sal m on . a n d the

.

in li v in g p eop l e . 125
gr iz z l y b ear . 6 6 ; c all ed child ren of the
-worshi p . 10 9 ; a m o ng the a n ci ent
sk y . 6 7 ; wa t er p ou red o n gra v es of. 6 7 ;
G erm a n s . 1 10 ; a m on g E u rop ea n fa m ilies
p a ren t of. thought to b e a b l e to fertilis e
k
s

of the A ry a n s toc 1 10 ; a m on g the

p la n ta in trees . 13 7
.

L ithua n ia n s 1 10 ; i n a nc ien t . r e e ce a n d G T wo B roth ers . T he . E gy p tia n tale of. 67 4

I ta ly . 1 l l a m on g the i nn ish-U gria n F
stoc k
i n E urop e . 1 1 1 ; no ti on s a t
th e
T y coons the . 17 6 .

ro ot of. 1 1 1 ; in m od ern E urop e. re li cs T y p hon . or S et the b rother . of Os iri s. 3 6 3 .

of 12 0 -3 5
.
3 6 5 . 475
7 50 I ND E X
Warlock the i nvu l nera b le stories of 6 6 8
. . Whi t-M on d ay c u sto m ob serv e d by R u ssia n
L Ki
. .

W a rra m un ga of C entral A us trali a 1 7 . gi rl s on . 12 8 ; th e ea f ng at H ild es

W a rriors ta b o oed 2 10 5 94 . . h ei m on . 13 0 ; the ki ng of B o he m ia on .
Wa rt s tra n sferred to a sh tree 5 4 6
.
-
. 13 0 ; th e ki ng s
’
ga m e on . 13 2 ; p retence
Wa rua the 19 8 . . b eh ea d in g a l ea f-cla d m a n on 2 9 7 ; p re
of

k
.

Washing forb id d en for m a gic a l reaso ns 2 1

. . . ten ce of b ehea d in g the in g o n 29 8 -9 .

23 . 68 ; p ra ctised as a cere m on i al p u ri ~
B
Whits un- rid e i n en m ar . 13 3 D k
fica tion b y the J e ws . a n d b y the G k ree s. W hits untid e rac es a t . 12 4 . 129 ; con tests
473 for the i ngship a t . 129k 13 2 ; d ra m a of .

Wa ta tu ru of E a st Africa 8 5 Su m m er a n d W in ter a t 3 1 7 .

B k B
.

Wa tchd ogs cha r m to sil ence 3 1 Whitsuntid e as et 129 ; ri d e . 13 2 13 3 .

B
. . .

Wa ter u sed i n cha rm s 26 6 3 6 7 71 341 13 5 ; rid e gr o o m 13 3 ; crow n 13 2 . 13 3 . .

ki ngs
.

of. festi v al
108 ; in
.

M i d su m
. .

m er
. .

c u s to m s 12 1 124 .128 -3 5 ; in g . 12 9 . . K .

k
.

15 4 . 6 2 5 ; of ife shta r s p ri n le d w ithL I 13 2 13 3

. 2 9 8 -9 ; -l ou t . 128 ; m u m m ers .

Q
.
. .

3 2 6 ; u se d to wa sh a w a y s in s . 5 4 3 296 -3 0 1 ; u ee n 13 1 13 2 299 . . .

Wa ter-ousel . hea rt o f. e a te n t o m a e eater k k

Wic e r giants a t p op ul a r festiv a l s in E urop e .
wis e a n d elo u en t 496 q 6 5 4 ; b u rn t i n s u m m er b on re s 6 5 5 fi .

-s iri ts
.
Wid ow s a n d wid owers . m ourning c ustom s
p p rop itia tion of. 12 7 ; w om en
.
ob serv e d b y 2 0 7
m a rr i ed to . 14 5 ; sacri ces t o . 146 ; d a n ger fi Wife the Ol d na m e giv en to the l a st corn
.
.

.
o f. 192
c ut . 4 0 3
Wa wa m b a of C en tra l Afri ca , 76 fi
Wife 's i n d elity th ought to i n ure her a b sent j
Wa x fi gures i n m agic . 5 4 3 -4 hu s b a n d . 2 3 . 2 5
Wea p on a n d woun d . co nta gi o us m a gi c of. Wild a ni m als . p rop itiated b y h unters 5 18 .

4 1-3 532
Wea p on s p ra y ers to . 2 7 ; of warri ors . p u ri
.
M a n a Wh itsu n tid e m u m m er 4 6 7 .

fic a tion of. 2 14 ; sharp . ta b ooed . 2 2 6 W illow m i stletoe growing on 6 6 0

.

G
.

Wea rin ess . tra n sferr e d to stone s. 5 40 Willow-tre e 6 8 3 ; a t festiv a l of . ree n

W ea ther . m a gi ca l con tr ol of the . 6 0-8 3

G
e orge a m on g the gyp s ie s 12 6 -7 .

We avi ng ch arm to ki l l in . 3 2
Wina m wa n ga of o rthern hod es ia 7 08 N R .

. e n s u re s
Wind th e m a gical control of the 8 0-8 3 ; of
We d d ing
, .

ri n g a m ule t a ga i n s t wi tchcra ft . the C ross . 8 1 ; i n the corn sa y i n gs a s to ,

24 3 the . 3 99 44 8 . 45 4 . 45 7 4 5 9 4 6 0 4 6 3
. . . .

Wee vils sp ared b y E sthonia n p ea sa nts . 530 Wi n d s . cha rm s to ca l m the . 8 0 ; sold to

Well s cl ea n sed as ra in char m 6 7 ;
.
- m en s a ilors . 8 1 ; tie d up i n n ots 8 1 ; ep t i n k . k
j
.

stru ou s wo m en k ep t fro m . 6 0 4 . 6 06 ars . 17 0

W end s the 1 19 4 0 2 45 1; of S ax o n y 7 08 Wine . the sa cra m e nta l use of 4 9 8

k k
.
. . . .

W inn ow in g b as et i m age of s n a e i n 5 3 5
.

We nnland in Swed e n tre a tm f str an ge rs

ent o
. .

on th e thresh in g-d oor

.

i n . 4 3 1 ; gr a in of fa n i n ra in -m a in g . 7 3 ; u sed to sc atter
. k
l ast sh ea f ba k ed in a girl-shap ed l oaf i n .
a sh es

e m b le m
o f hu m a n

of
vi ctim s
ion y sus 3 8 8
3 7 8 . 4 43 ; an
D
.

48 0 .

Westerm a rck D r E d wa rd 6 42 6 4 3 Winter c erem ony a t the end o f 5 5 1 ; gen

. .

e ra l cl ea ra n ce of ev il s a t the b e gi nn i n g or
. . . .

Wes tp h a l ia th e Whitsunti d e B rid e i n

. . 13 5 ;
.

e n d of. 5 7 5
the l a st s he af a t harv est i n . 40 1 ; the
a nd S u m m er. d ra m a ti c b a ttl e of 3 16
k
H a rv est-coc i n . 4 5 1 ; E a ster res i n . 6 15 ; fi 3 17
.

the Y
u le l o g i n . 6 3 7
Wi tch b urn t in rel a n d 5 6 ; b u rnt a t St I
I
.

Weta r
. .

E ast nd i a n i sl a n d s ta b b i n g p eo p le s
’
. . A n d re ws . 2 43 ; n a m e giv en to l a st co rn
s h a d o ws i n 18 9 ; b el ief regard i n g l ep rosy
. c u t a fter s un set 4 03 ; Old . b u r n i n g the. .

in 4 7 3
. 4 29 S ee a lso W itches
.

Wh a le s ol e m n b ur ia l of d ea d . 2 2 3
. W itch-s hots " 6 4 9 .

Wh a le s ghost fea r o f i n u ring. 2 2 0

'

. j Witchcraft .194 d rea d

23 6 ; stra ngers of. .

Wh a lers ta b oos ob serv ed b y . 2 17 2 2 0 2 2 1

. . .
s us p ec ted of p ra c ti s i n g 194 ; p ra ctised i n .

Wh a les ce rem on ies ob s erve d at the sla ughter

.
S cotl an d . 5 4 2 ; p rotectio n s a ga in st . 6 10 .
of 5 23.
6 20 . 6 2 6 -8 . 6 4 8 , 6 5 6 . 6 6 3 6 6 6 7 02 7 0 7 ; . . .

n ee d -fire . a sov ereign re m e d y for 6 4 1 ;

Wh ea t an d b arl ey . the cultiv a tion o f intro .

d u ced b y Osiri s . 3 6 3 ; di scov er ed b y sis .

.

I a il m e n ts a ttri b u te d to . 649 ; fa ta l to m il k
a n d b utter . 6 63
3 82
B
Wh e a t rid e . 40 8 ; -coc 4 5 1 ; -co w . 4 5 7 k Witches . 4 4 ; ra ise the wind 8 0 . 8 1 ; m a e . k
u se of c ut ha ir . 2 3 4 23 7 ; p rotections
.
.
-d o
g . 44 8 449 ; -goa t 45 4 ; -m a n 4 2 8 ;
. . .
a ga i n st 2 43 . 6 2 0 . 6 2 7 ; e x p u lsi on of 5 60 ;
. .
-m oth e r 4 00
. ; -p u g. 4 4 9 ; -sow . 4 6 0 ; -wolf. b u rn in g of 5 60 5 6 1 . 6 2 1 6 3 5 6 5 8 ; shoot
. . . .

4 4 9 45 0 .
i n g the . 5 6 1 ; e fi gies of. b u rn t i n b o n res fi
fi gy
.

Wh eel . d ea th a tta ched to a 3 1 1

ef of 6 10 6 12 . 6 13 . 6 4 8 6 5 8 ; char m to p rotect
k
.
. .

fire in d l ed b y the ro ta ti on of a . 6 2 7 . fie l d s a ga i n st 6 15 ; ca st S p e lls on c a ttle

. .

6 3 9 . 6 4 4 ; a s a sy m b ol of the sun 6 4 4 . 6 20 ; stea l m il k

fro m c o ws 6 20 . 6 2 7 . 6 28 . .

Wh eel s b u rnin g. rolled d ow n hill 6 12 . 6 13

. . . 6 48 ; a b roa d on Wal p u rgi s i gh t 6 2 2 ; N .

6 15 . 6 2 2 -4 6 2 6 6 4 1, 6 4 3 . 6 45 . 6 4 6 ; ro lle d
. . d ri v in g a wa y . 6 2 2 ; resort to the loc s B k
ov er fi
eld s a t M i d su m m e r to fe rt ilis e th e m . b erg , 6 25 ; stea l m il a nd b u tter 6 2 8 : k .

p erhap s i ntend ed to b ur n a b roa d a t H a llo we e n . 6 3 4 ; c a u s e ha il a n d

'
6 29 64 7 ;
.

witches. 649 thun d erstorm s. 6 49 ; b u r n in g m iss il es

 IN D EX 751
thro wn a t. 6 4 9 ; b rought d own from the Y bia m trib e of N ew G u in ea . 2 13 . 5 97 . 6 94
cl o u d s b y sho ts a n d s m o e 6 4 9 -5 0 ; thou gh t k Ykt a u sha m a ns an d th eir e x te r na l so u ls .
k
.

to ee p t he i r s tre n gth i n their h a i r . 6 8 0 -8 1 ; 6 83

tortu red i n n d ia . 6 8 1 ; I
a n i m a l fa m il i a rs Ykt a u s. 80
of. 6 8 4 Y a rn s .fea st of. 2 00 ; cere m on y a t e a ti n g

Witchetty g rub s 1 7 . the n ew 4 8 3 .

Wives . ta b oos o b serv ed b y . 2 1- 5 Ya p . o n e of th e C a rol i n e sl a n d s 5 98 I

F Y R
.

Wiz ard s . 4 3 ; inn i s h 8 1 ; ca p tu re hu m a n . a ri l o . th e . fu n e ra l o f. c el eb ra te d i n u ss i a .

s oul s . 18 7 . 1 8 8 ; th o u ght to ee p th ei r k 3 18
stre n gth i n the ir h a ir . 6 8 0 -8 1 ; a n i m a l Y ea r . the x ed fi
A le x a n d ri a n . 3 7 3 ; the
fa m il ia r s of. 6 8 3 . 6 8 4 C a ffr e . 4 8 3 ; the E gyp ti a n a v a gu e y ea r
k R
. .

Wolf. trac of. i n c o n ta gio u s m a gic . 44 ; 3 6 8 ; the old o m a n . 5 7 7 ; th e Sla v o n i c .

corn -sp i ri t as 4 4 8 ; l a st sh ea f a t ha rv est
. 5 77
ca ll e d . 4 4 9 . 45 0 ; b ea st-god o f y co p ol is L Y ea r s . c y c e o f e i ght .
l i n a n cien t G r eece . 279 ;
in E gyp t . 5 00 ; c e re m o n ie s a t il lin g a . k th K i ge n of th e . i n T ib et . 5 7 3 5 74
G
.

5 2 0 . 5 2 1 ; the ree n . 6 2 8 6 5 2 . 6 64 . Y ll w l
e o co o ur in m a gi c . 15
Wolf s ociety a m on g th e oot a n dia n s . N k I Y ez o Y or es so . J a p a n ese i sl a n d . the Ain o s
rite of i n it ia tio n i n to . 6 99 o f. 5 05 . 5 0 7
Wom en . tab oos ob serv ed b y . 20 2 5 . 2 6 ; .
Yn gli n ga r fa m ily 15 5
6 4 ; e m p loy ed to sow
.
d a n ces o f. 2 6 -8
fiel d s o n
.

the p rin cip l e o f h o m oeop a thic

Y k hi
or s re .
“
b u rn in g the Old Witch in .
m a gic . 2 8 ; p l ou gh a s a ra i n cha r m
- 70 .
; 4 29 ; clergy m a n c u ts th e fi rst corn in .
wors hi p p ed b y a n ci ent erm a n s . 97 G Y
48 1
orub a s of We st A fr i ca 23 0. 25 6 27 3 . 5 7 0
m a rri e d to god s . 14 2 -5 ; tab ooe d a t m e n
. .

stru a tion a nd c hil d b irth . 2 07 - 10 6 03 .

Y o u th s a nd m a id e n s . trib u te o f. sen t to
n ot a l lo wed to m e t o n i n h u sb a n d s
'
na m e s . M i n os . 280
2 49 ; fl
i n u en ce of co rn -sp irit o n . 4 10 ; Y i t ib
u n r e of N ew S ou th W a les . 19 1
thou ght to hav e n o soul 4 9 7 ; cere m on ies . Y ki I d i
u n ans of C a l iforn ia 27
fi
.

p erform ed b y . to ri d eld s o f v er m i n 5 3 1; . Y k Ri
u on v er . the L o wer . th e Es q u i m a ux
p u t to d eath i n th e character of go d d esses f 19 3
o .

in M ex i co. 5 8 9 ; i m p regn a ted b y the su n .

6 0 3 ; d rea d of m en stru ou s 6 03
Yl Bu e oa r . 4 6 1-2 . 4 7 8 ; log . 6 3 6 -8 . 64 1. 6 4 3 .
.
'
6 46
b arren . char m s to p rocure ofi sm in g .
14 ; ster ilisin g in uen ce a scri b ed to . 2 9 . fl Yur aca res of E a stern B ol i v ia . 60 1

13 7 ; tho u ght to con cei v e thr ou gh eatin g

nuts of a p al m -tree . 1 19 ; ferti l ised b y
Za fi m a n el o . the . of M a d a gasca r . 19 8

trees 1 19 . 120 ; th ought to b l i ght the Zagmu k . B a b y l o ni a n fe sti v a l 2 8 1 .

Z
.

fru its of the earth . 13 7 ; ferti lised b y a gr e u s . a form of D i o ny s u s 3 8 8 .

k
b ei ng s tru c with a c erta i n stic . 5 8 1 k Z a p a ro I n di a n s of E cua d or 495 .

p regna nt forb i d d en to s p i n or twist

. Z a p otec s of C en tr a l A m erica . 687 ; th e
ro p es 2 1 ; n ot to loi ter i n the d oorwa y s
.
p on tifi of the . 17 0 . 5 93 . 5 95
where there a re . 2 2 ; e m p loy ed to fert il i se Z a ra-m am a . M a iz e M other 4 13
.
crop s a n d fru it-trees . 2 8

Wongb i t rib e o f N ew S outh Wal es 6 9 2

Z em is of A ssa m . 248

W oo d . Ki ng of the . a t em i . l . 3 8 . 106 N
.
Z e u s . ra i n m a d e b y 7 1 ; the p ri est o f m a e s k
k
. .
. .

ra in b y a n oa k b ra n ch . 7 7 ; m im i c e d b y
140 14 7 . 16 3 16 4 . 16 7 . 2 6 9 . 2 9 6 3 00
.

3 0 1 . 5 8 6 . 5 9 3 . 7 0 3 . 7 10
. . .

Ki n g S a l m o n eu s 77 ; m a rr i a g e
. w ith
Wo od -S p irits i n goa t for m 4 6 5 D e m eter a t E le us i s 14 2 ; a n d H er a . 14 3 . .

Wood m en cere m on ies o b s erved b y a t fell ing

.
.

.
15 9 ; a n d D
i on e . 15 1. 16 5 ; a s go d of th e
oak the ra i n a n d the thun d er . 15 9 ; hi s
trees . “ 2 1 13
D
. .

k
.
ora cul ar oa k a t o d o na . 15 9 ; p ra y e d to
Word s . ta b ooed . 2 4 4 -6 2 ; sa v a ges ta e a
m a te ri a li stic v i ew o f. 2 4 7
for ra i n . 15 9 ; re e G k k
i n gs ca lle d 15 9 ; .

s urn a m e d T h un d erb ol t . 15 9 ; his re se m

World a s rega rd e d b y ea rly m a n 9 1
.

Wotj ob a luk trib e i n ictori a . 4 3 6 8 7 V

.

b la n ce t o on a r D
T hor Per un . a n d P er
. .

Woty a k s . the . of ussia 14 3 . 5 5 9 R

.
k
u n as . 16 0 -6 1 ; the gr a v e of 26 5 ; hi s .

M ou n t Id a 2 8 0 ; hi s
.
ora cu l a r c a v e on
Wo und a n d wea p o n . c onta gio us m a gic of .
.

i n tri gu e wi th Persep hon e 3 8 8 ; s a i d to .

4 1-3
ha v e tra n s ferred the sce p tre t o y ou n g
Wra t h (H a g) . na m e giv en to l as t c orn c ut D i ony s u s . 3 8 8 ; fa ther of i on y s u s b y D
i n Wa les 4 0 3 . 4 04 D his a p p ea ranc e to H er
e m eter. 3 8 9 ;
.

W ren huntin g the 5 3 6

,

. .
- 7 cu l e s i n th e s ha p e of a ra m . 5 00 ; and
Wunsch R 3 4 4 . Da n a e . 6 0 2
Wurte m b e rg b u shes se t . P a l m Sun d a y u p on Zeus th e D escen d er p laces s truc
. b y li gh t
, k
in 12 5 ; the th resher o f th e l a st corn a t
. n in g c on secra te d to 15 9 ; H ea v en ly at
.

L
.

T ettn a n g i n . 4 5 6 ; e ffi gy of goa t a t E 11 Sp a rta 9; a ce d a em o n at S p a rt a 9;

L fi
. . .

w a n ge n i n . 4 5 6 ; l ea f-cl a d m u m m er a t L a p h y s ti a n . 29 0 -9 2 ; i ghtn in g . sa cri ci a l

M id s u m m er i n 6 5 3 . hea rth of 1 5 9 ; P olieu s in C os 4 6 6
, .

Wurunj eri tri b e of Vi c tori a . 18 3 Zi m b a s , or M u z im b a s . of S outh-ea s t Afric a .

97
X erx es i n T hessa ly . 290 Zog a n es . tem p orary i ng a t ab y lon . p u t to k B
X nu m a y o trib e o f Z u lu s . 25 7 d ea th a fter a reign of fiv e d a y s 2 8 2 .
7 52 I N DE X
p ri est of Di ony sus at Orchom e n us . p ut to d e ath i n . 2 7 2 ; festiv al of
29 1 fruits in . 4 8 3 ; secl usion of gi rl s a t p ub erty
Zul lu a n gua ge . i ts diversity . 2 5 8 i n . 5 95 ; gard ens fu m iga ted wi th m edi
Z lul
u an d . ra in-m a ki
by ng
m ea n s of a k
cat ed sm o e i n . 64 5
2 0 111 8 . 19 2 . 4 95 . 4 93
"
he a v en-b ird i n . 7 5 ; child ren b urie d to
“

th e nec k
as a ra in-charm i n . 7 5 ; n am es Z uni I
n d i ans Of N ew M ex i cO . 5 0 2 . 5 04 . 5 7 !

of chiefs an d h ugs tab ooed in . 2 5 7 ; ings k Zy m i a m otk a . the C orn-m oth er . 42 1