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diff --git a/3623-0.txt b/3623-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..21d0d91 --- /dev/null +++ b/3623-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,37455 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 3623 *** + + + + +The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion + +by Sir James George Frazer + + + + +CONTENTS + +Preface + +Subject Index + + +Chapter 1. The King of the Wood + 1. Diana and Virbius + 2. Artemis and Hippolytus + 3. Recapitulation + +Chapter 2. Priestly Kings + +Chapter 3. Sympathetic Magic + 1. The Principles of Magic + 2. Homoeopathic or Imitative Magic + 3. Contagious Magic + 4. The Magician's Progress + +Chapter 4. Magic and Religion + +Chapter 5. The Magical Control of the Weather + 1. The Public Magician + 2. The Magical Control of Rain + 3. The Magical Control of the Sun + 4. The Magical Control of the Wind + +Chapter 6. Magicians as Kings + +Chapter 7. Incarnate Human Gods + +Chapter 8. Departmental Kings of Nature + +Chapter 9. The Worship of Trees + 1. Tree-spirits + 2. Beneficent Powers of Tree-Spirits + +Chapter 10. Relics of Tree Worship in Modern Europe + +Chapter 11. The Influence of the Sexes on Vegetation + +Chapter 12. The Sacred Marriage + 1. Diana as a Goddess of Fertility + 2. The Marriage of the Gods + +Chapter 13. The Kings of Rome and Alba + 1. Numa and Egeria + 2. The King as Jupiter + +Chapter 14. Succession to the Kingdom in Ancient Latium + +Chapter 15. The Worship of the Oak + +Chapter 16. Dianus and Diana + +Chapter 17. The Burden of Royalty + 1. Royal and Priestly Taboos + 2. Divorce of the Spiritual from the Temporal Power + +Chapter 18. The Perils of the Soul + 1. The Soul as a Mannikin + 2. Absence and Recall of the Soul + 3. The Soul as a Shadow and a Reflection + +Chapter 19. Tabooed Acts + 1. Taboos on Intercourse with Strangers + 2. Taboos on Eating and Drinking + 3. Taboos on Showing the Face + 4. Taboos on Quitting the House + 5. Taboos on Leaving Food over + +Chapter 20. Tabooed Persons + 1. Chiefs and Kings tabooed + 2. Mourners tabooed + 3. Women tabooed at Menstruation and Childbirth + 4. Warriors tabooed + 5. Manslayers tabooed + 6. Hunters and Fishers tabooed + +Chapter 21. Tabooed Things + 1. The Meaning of Taboo + 2. Iron tabooed + 3. Sharp Weapons tabooed + 4. Blood tabooed + 5. The Head tabooed + 6. Hair tabooed + 7. Ceremonies at Hair-cutting + 8. Disposal of Cut Hair and Nails + 9. Spittle tabooed + 10. Foods tabooed + 11. Knots and Rings tabooed + +Chapter 22. Tabooed Words + 1. Personal Names tabooed + 2. Names of Relations tabooed + 3. Names of the Dead tabooed + 4. Names of Kings and other Sacred Persons tabooed + 5. Names of Gods tabooed + +Chapter 23. Our Debt to the Savage + +Chapter 24. The Killing of the Divine King + 1. The Mortality of the Gods + 2. Kings killed when their Strength fails + 3. Kings killed at the End of a Fixed Term + +Chapter 25. Temporary Kings + +Chapter 26. Sacrifice of the Kings Son + +Chapter 27. Succession to the Soul + +Chapter 28. The Killing of the Tree-Spirit + 1. The Whitsuntide Mummers + 2. Burying the Carnival + 3. Carrying out Death + 4. Bringing in Summer + 5. Battle of Summer and Winter + 6. Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko + 7. Death and Revival of Vegetation + 8. Analogous Rites in India + 9. The Magic Spring + +Chapter 29. The Myth of Adonis + +Chapter 30. Adonis in Syria + +Chapter 31. Adonis in Cyprus + +Chapter 32. The Ritual of Adonis + +Chapter 33. The Gardens of Adonis + +Chapter 34. The Myth and Ritual of Attis + +Chapter 35. Attis as a God of Vegetation + +Chapter 36. Human Representatives of Attis + +Chapter 37. Oriental Religions in the West + +Chapter 38. The Myth of Osiris + +Chapter 39. The Ritual of Osiris + 1. The Popular Rites + 2. The Official Rites + +Chapter 40. The Nature of Osiris + 1. Osiris a Corn-god + 2. Osiris a Tree-spirit + 3. Osiris a God of Fertility + 4. Osiris a God of the Dead + +Chapter 41. Isis + +Chapter 42. Osiris and the Sun + +Chapter 43. Dionysus + +Chapter 44. Demeter and Persephone + +Chapter 45. Corn-Mother and Corn-Maiden in N. Europe + +Chapter 46. Corn-Mother in Many Lands + 1. The Corn-mother in America + 2. The Rice-mother in the East Indies + 3. The Spirit of the Corn embodied in Human Beings + 4. The Double Personification of the Corn as Mother and Daughter + +Chapter 47. Lityerses + 1. Songs of the Corn Reapers + 2. Killing the Corn-spirit + 3. Human Sacrifices for the Crops + 4. The Corn-spirit slain in his Human Representatives + +Chapter 48. The Corn-Spirit as an Animal + 1. Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit + 2. The Corn-spirit as a Wolf or a Dog + 3. The Corn-spirit as a Cock + 4. The Corn-spirit as a Hare + 5. The Corn-spirit as a Cat + 6. The Corn-spirit as a Goat + 7. The Corn-spirit as a Bull, Cow, or Ox + 8. The Corn-spirit as a Horse or Mare + 9. The Corn-spirit as a Pig (Boar or Sow) + 10. On the Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit + +Chapter 49. Ancient Deities of Vegetation as Animals + 1. Dionysus, the Goat and the Bull + 2. Demeter, the Pig and the Horse + 3. Attis, Adonis, and the Pig + 4. Osiris, the Pig and the Bull + 5. Virbius and the Horse + +Chapter 50. Eating the God + 1. The Sacrament of First-Fruits + 2. Eating the God among the Aztecs + 3. Many Manii at Aricia + +Chapter 51. Homeopathic Magic of a Flesh Diet + +Chapter 52. Killing the Divine Animal + 1. Killing the Sacred Buzzard + 2. Killing the Sacred Ram + 3. Killing the Sacred Serpent + 4. Killing the Sacred Turtles + 5. Killing the Sacred Bear + +Chapter 53. The Propitiation of Wild Animals By Hunters + +Chapter 54. Types of Animal Sacrament + 1. The Egyptian and the Aino Types of Sacrament + 2. Processions with Sacred Animals + +Chapter 55. The Transference of Evil + 1. The Transference to Inanimate Objects + 2. The Transference to Animals + 3. The Transference to Men + 4. The Transference of Evil in Europe + +Chapter 56. The Public Expulsion of Evils + 1. The Omnipresence of Demons + 2. The Occasional Expulsion of Evils + 3. The Periodic Expulsion of Evils + +Chapter 57. Public Scapegoats + 1. The Expulsion of Embodied Evils + 2. The Occasional Expulsion of Evils in a Material Vehicle + 3. The Periodic Expulsion of Evils in a Material Vehicle + 4. On Scapegoats in General + +Chapter 58. Human Scapegoats in Classical Antiquity + 1. The Human Scapegoat in Ancient Rome + 2. The Human Scapegoat in Ancient Greece + 3. The Roman Saturnalia + +Chapter 59. Killing the God in Mexico + +Chapter 60. Between Heaven and Earth + 1. Not to touch the Earth + 2. Not to see the Sun + 3. The Seclusion of Girls at Puberty + 4. Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty + +Chapter 61. The Myth of Balder + +Chapter 62. The Fire-Festivals of Europe + 1. The Fire-festivals in general + 2. The Lenten Fires + 3. The Easter Fires + 4. The Beltane Fires + 5. The Midsummer Fires + 6. The Halloween Fires + 7. The Midwinter Fires + 8. The Need-fire + +Chapter 63. The Interpretation of the Fire-Festivals + 1. On the Fire-festivals in general + 2. The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals + 3. The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals + +Chapter 64. The Burning of Human Beings in the Fires + 1. The Burning of Effigies in the Fires + 2. The Burning of Men and Animals in the Fires + +Chapter 65. Balder and the Mistletoe + +Chapter 66. The External Soul in Folk-Tales + +Chapter 67. The External Soul in Folk-Custom + 1. The External Soul in Inanimate Things + 2. The External Soul in Plants + 3. The External Soul in Animals + 4. The Ritual of Death and Resurrection + +Chapter 68. The Golden Bough + +Chapter 69. Farewell to Nemi + + + + +Preface + +THE PRIMARY aim of this book is to explain the remarkable rule which +regulated the succession to the priesthood of Diana at Aricia. When +I first set myself 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 intelligible it was +necessary to discuss certain more general questions, some of which +had hardly been broached before. In successive editions the +discussion of these and kindred topics has occupied more and more +space, the enquiry has branched out in more and more directions, +until the two volumes of the original work have expanded into +twelve. Meantime a wish has often been expressed that the book +should be issued in a more compendious form. This abridgment is an +attempt to meet the wish and thereby to bring the work within the +range of a wider circle of readers. While the bulk of the book has +been greatly reduced, I have endeavoured to retain its leading +principles, together with an amount of evidence sufficient to +illustrate them clearly. The language of the original has also for +the most part been preserved, though here and there the exposition +has been somewhat condensed. In order to keep as much of the text as +possible I have sacrificed all the notes, and with them all exact +references to my authorities. Readers who desire to ascertain the +source of any particular statement must therefore consult the larger +work, which is fully documented and provided with a complete +bibliography. + +In the abridgment I have neither added new matter nor altered the +views expressed in the last edition; for the evidence which has come +to my knowledge in the meantime has on the whole served either to +confirm my former conclusions or to furnish fresh illustrations of +old principles. Thus, for example, on the crucial question of the +practice of putting kings to death either at the end of a fixed +period or whenever their health and strength began to fail, the body +of evidence which points to the wide prevalence of such a custom has +been considerably augmented in the interval. A striking instance of +a limited monarchy of this sort is furnished by the powerful +mediaeval kingdom of the Khazars in Southern Russia, where the kings +were liable to be put to death either on the expiry of a set term or +whenever some public calamity, such as drought, dearth, or defeat in +war, seemed to indicate a failure of their natural powers. The +evidence for the systematic killing of the Khazar kings, drawn from +the accounts of old Arab travellers, has been collected by me +elsewhere.[1] Africa, again, has supplied several fresh examples of +a similar practice of regicide. Among them the most notable perhaps +is the custom formerly observed in Bunyoro of choosing every year +from a particular clan a mock king, who was supposed to incarnate +the late king, cohabited with his widows at his temple-tomb, and +after reigning for a week was strangled.[2] The custom presents a +close parallel to the ancient Babylonian festival of the Sacaea, at +which a mock king was dressed in the royal robes, allowed to enjoy +the real king's concubines, and after reigning for five days was +stripped, scourged, and put to death. That festival in its turn has +lately received fresh light from certain Assyrian inscriptions,[3] +which seem to confirm the interpretation which I formerly gave of +the festival as a New Year celebration and the parent of the Jewish +festival of Purim.[4] Other recently discovered parallels to the +priestly kings of Aricia are African priests and kings who used to +be put to death at the end of seven or of two years, after being +liable in the interval to be attacked and killed by a strong man, +who thereupon succeeded to the priesthood or the kingdom.[5] + +[1] J. G. Frazer, "The Killing of the Khazar Kings," _Folk-lore,_ +xxviii. (1917), pp. 382-407. + +[2] Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Soul of Central Africa_ (London, 1922), p. +200. Compare J. G. Frazer, &147;The Mackie Ethnological Expedition +to Central Africa," _Man,_ xx. (1920), p. 181. + +[3] H. Zimmern, _Zum babylonischen Neujahrsfest_ (Leipzig, 1918). +Compare A. H. Sayce, in _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,_ July +1921, pp. 440-442. + +[4] _The Golden Bough,_ Part VI. _The Scapegoat,_ pp. 354 _sqq.,_ +412 _sqq._ + +[5] P. Amaury Talbot in _Journal of the African Society,_ July 1916, +pp. 309 _sq.; id.,_ in _Folk-lore, xxvi._ (1916), pp. 79 _sq.;_ H. +R. Palmer, in _Journal of the African Society,_ July 1912, pp. 403, +407 _sq._ + +With these and other instances of like customs before us it is no +longer possible to regard the rule of succession to the priesthood +of Diana at Aricia as exceptional; it clearly exemplifies a +widespread institution, of which the most numerous and the most +similar cases have thus far been found in Africa. How far the facts +point to an early influence of Africa on Italy, or even to the +existence of an African population in Southern Europe, I do not +presume to say. The pre-historic historic relations between the two +continents are still obscure and still under investigation. + +Whether the explanation which I have offered of the institution is +correct or not must be left to the future to determine. I shall +always be ready to abandon it if a better can be suggested. Meantime +in committing the book in its new form to the judgment of the public +I desire to guard against a misapprehension of its scope which +appears to be still rife, though I have sought to correct it before +now. If in the present work I have dwelt at some length on the +worship of trees, it is not, I trust, because I exaggerate its +importance in the history of religion, still less because I would +deduce from it a whole system of mythology; it is simply because I +could not ignore the subject in attempting to explain the +significance of a priest who bore the title of King of the Wood, and +one of whose titles to office was the plucking of a bough--the +Golden Bough--from a tree in the sacred grove. But I am so far from +regarding the reverence for trees as of supreme importance for the +evolution of religion that I consider it to have been altogether +subordinate to other factors, and in particular to the fear of the +human dead, which, on the whole, I believe to have been probably the +most powerful force in the making of primitive religion. I hope that +after this explicit disclaimer I shall no longer be taxed with +embracing a system of mythology which I look upon not merely as +false but as preposterous and absurd. But I am too familiar with the +hydra of error to expect that by lopping off one of the monster's +heads I can prevent another, or even the same, from sprouting again. +I can only trust to the candour and intelligence of my readers to +rectify this serious misconception of my views by a comparison with +my own express declaration. + +J. G. FRAZER. + +1 BRICK COURT, TEMPLE, LONDON, +June 1922. + + + +I. The King of the Wood + + +1. Diana and Virbius + +WHO does not know Turner's picture of the Golden Bough? The scene, +suffused with the golden glow of imagination in which the divine +mind of Turner steeped and transfigured even the fairest natural +landscape, is a dream-like vision of the little woodland lake of +Nemi-- "Diana's Mirror," as it was called by the ancients. No one +who has seen that calm water, lapped in a green hollow of the Alban +hills, can ever forget it. The two characteristic Italian villages +which slumber on its banks, and the equally Italian palace whose +terraced gardens descend steeply to the lake, hardly break the +stillness and even the solitariness of the scene. Diana herself +might still linger by this lonely shore, still haunt these woodlands +wild. + +In antiquity this sylvan landscape was the scene of a strange and +recurring tragedy. On the northern shore of the lake, right under +the precipitous cliffs on which the modern village of Nemi is +perched, stood the sacred grove and sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis, +or Diana of the Wood. The lake and the grove were sometimes known as +the lake and grove of Aricia. But the town of Aricia (the modern La +Riccia) was situated about three miles off, at the foot of the Alban +Mount, and separated by a steep descent from the lake, which lies in +a small crater-like hollow on the mountain side. In this sacred +grove there grew a certain tree round which at any time of the day, +and probably far into the night, a grim figure might be seen to +prowl. In his hand he carried a drawn sword, and he kept peering +warily about him as if at every instant he expected to be set upon +by an enemy. He was a priest and a murderer; and the man for whom he +looked was sooner or later to murder him and hold the priesthood in +his stead. Such was the rule of the sanctuary. A candidate for the +priesthood could only succeed to office by slaying the priest, and +having slain him, he retained office till he was himself slain by a +stronger or a craftier. + +The post which he held by this precarious tenure carried with it the +title of king; but surely no crowned head ever lay uneasier, or was +visited by more evil dreams, than his. For year in, year out, in +summer and winter, in fair weather and in foul, he had to keep his +lonely watch, and whenever he snatched a troubled slumber it was at +the peril of his life. The least relaxation of his vigilance, the +smallest abatement of his strength of limb or skill of fence, put +him in jeopardy; grey hairs might seal his death-warrant. To gentle +and pious pilgrims at the shrine the sight of him might well seem to +darken the fair landscape, as when a cloud suddenly blots the sun on +a bright day. The dreamy blue of Italian skies, the dappled shade of +summer woods, and the sparkle of waves in the sun, can have accorded +but ill with that stern and sinister figure. Rather we picture to +ourselves the scene as it may have been witnessed by a belated +wayfarer on one of those wild autumn nights when the dead leaves are +falling thick, and the winds seem to sing the dirge of the dying +year. It is a sombre picture, set to melancholy music--the +background of forest showing black and jagged against a lowering and +stormy sky, the sighing of the wind in the branches, the rustle of +the withered leaves under foot, the lapping of the cold water on the +shore, and in the foreground, pacing to and fro, now in twilight and +now in gloom, a dark figure with a glitter of steel at the shoulder +whenever the pale moon, riding clear of the cloud-rack, peers down +at him through the matted boughs. + +The strange rule of this priesthood has no parallel in classical +antiquity, and cannot be explained from it. To find an explanation +we must go farther afield. No one will probably deny that such a +custom savours of a barbarous age, and, surviving into imperial +times, stands out in striking isolation from the polished Italian +society of the day, like a primaeval rock rising from a +smooth-shaven lawn. It is the very rudeness and barbarity of the +custom which allow us a hope of explaining it. For recent researches +into the early history of man have revealed the essential similarity +with which, under many superficial differences, the human mind has +elaborated its first crude philosophy of life. Accordingly, if we +can show that a barbarous custom, like that of the priesthood of +Nemi, has existed elsewhere; if we can detect the motives which led +to its institution; if we can prove that these motives have operated +widely, perhaps universally, in human society, producing in varied +circumstances a variety of institutions specifically different but +generically alike; if we can show, lastly, that these very motives, +with some of their derivative institutions, were actually at work in +classical antiquity; then we may fairly infer that at a remoter age +the same motives gave birth to the priesthood of Nemi. Such an +inference, in default of direct evidence as to how the priesthood +did actually arise, can never amount to demonstration. But it will +be more or less probable according to the degree of completeness +with which it fulfils the conditions I have indicated. The object of +this book is, by meeting these conditions, to offer a fairly +probable explanation of the priesthood of Nemi. + +I begin by setting forth the few facts and legends which have come +down to us on the subject. According to one story the worship of +Diana at Nemi was instituted by Orestes, who, after killing Thoas, +King of the Tauric Chersonese (the Crimea), fled with his sister to +Italy, bringing with him the image of the Tauric Diana hidden in a +faggot of sticks. After his death his bones were transported from +Aricia to Rome and buried in front of the temple of Saturn, on the +Capitoline slope, beside the temple of Concord. The bloody ritual +which legend ascribed to the Tauric Diana is familiar to classical +readers; it is said that every stranger who landed on the shore was +sacrificed on her altar. But transported to Italy, the rite assumed +a milder form. Within the sanctuary at Nemi grew a certain tree of +which no branch might be broken. Only a runaway slave was allowed to +break off, if he could, one of its boughs. Success in the attempt +entitled him to fight the priest in single combat, and if he slew +him he reigned in his stead with the title of King of the Wood (_Rex +Nemorensis_). According to the public opinion of the ancients the +fateful branch was that Golden Bough which, at the Sibyl's bidding, +Aeneas plucked before he essayed the perilous journey to the world +of the dead. The flight of the slave represented, it was said, the +flight of Orestes; his combat with the priest was a reminiscence of +the human sacrifices once offered to the Tauric Diana. This rule of +succession by the sword was observed down to imperial times; for +amongst his other freaks Caligula, thinking that the priest of Nemi +had held office too long, hired a more stalwart ruffian to slay him; +and a Greek traveller, who visited Italy in the age of the +Antonines, remarks that down to his time the priesthood was still +the prize of victory in a single combat. + +Of the worship of Diana at Nemi some leading features can still be +made out. From the votive offerings which have been found on the +site, it appears that she was conceived of especially as a huntress, +and further as blessing men and women with offspring, and granting +expectant mothers an easy delivery. Again, fire seems to have played +a foremost part in her ritual. For during her annual festival, held +on the thirteenth of August, at the hottest time of the year, her +grove shone with a multitude of torches, whose ruddy glare was +reflected by the lake; and throughout the length and breadth of +Italy the day was kept with holy rites at every domestic hearth. +Bronze statuettes found in her precinct represent the goddess +herself holding a torch in her raised right hand; and women whose +prayers had been heard by her came crowned with wreaths and bearing +lighted torches to the sanctuary in fulfilment of their vows. Some +one unknown dedicated a perpetually burning lamp in a little shrine +at Nemi for the safety of the Emperor Claudius and his family. The +terra-cotta lamps which have been discovered in the grove may +perhaps have served a like purpose for humbler persons. If so, the +analogy of the custom to the Catholic practice of dedicating holy +candles in churches would be obvious. Further, the title of Vesta +borne by Diana at Nemi points clearly to the maintenance of a +perpetual holy fire in her sanctuary. A large circular basement at +the north-east corner of the temple, raised on three steps and +bearing traces of a mosaic pavement, probably supported a round +temple of Diana in her character of Vesta, like the round temple of +Vesta in the Roman Forum. Here the sacred fire would seem to have +been tended by Vestal Virgins, for the head of a Vestal in +terra-cotta was found on the spot, and the worship of a perpetual +fire, cared for by holy maidens, appears to have been common in +Latium from the earliest to the latest times. Further, at the annual +festival of the goddess, hunting dogs were crowned and wild beasts +were not molested; young people went through a purificatory ceremony +in her honour; wine was brought forth, and the feast consisted of a +kid cakes served piping hot on plates of leaves, and apples still +hanging in clusters on the boughs. + +But Diana did not reign alone in her grove at Nemi. Two lesser +divinities shared her forest sanctuary. One was Egeria, the nymph of +the clear water which, bubbling from the basaltic rocks, used to +fall in graceful cascades into the lake at the place called Le Mole, +because here were established the mills of the modern village of +Nemi. The purling of the stream as it ran over the pebbles is +mentioned by Ovid, who tells us that he had often drunk of its +water. Women with child used to sacrifice to Egeria, because she was +believed, like Diana, to be able to grant them an easy delivery. +Tradition ran that the nymph had been the wife or mistress of the +wise king Numa, that he had consorted with her in the secrecy of the +sacred grove, and that the laws which he gave the Romans had been +inspired by communion with her divinity. Plutarch compares the +legend with other tales of the loves of goddesses for mortal men, +such as the love of Cybele and the Moon for the fair youths Attis +and Endymion. According to some, the trysting-place of the lovers +was not in the woods of Nemi but in a grove outside the dripping +Porta Capena at Rome, where another sacred spring of Egeria gushed +from a dark cavern. Every day the Roman Vestals fetched water from +this spring to wash the temple of Vesta, carrying it in earthenware +pitchers on their heads. In Juvenal's time the natural rock had been +encased in marble, and the hallowed spot was profaned by gangs of +poor Jews, who were suffered to squat, like gypsies, in the grove. +We may suppose that the spring which fell into the lake of Nemi was +the true original Egeria, and that when the first settlers moved +down from the Alban hills to the banks of the Tiber they brought the +nymph with them and found a new home for her in a grove outside the +gates. The remains of baths which have been discovered within the +sacred precinct, together with many terra-cotta models of various +parts of the human body, suggest that the waters of Egeria were used +to heal the sick, who may have signified their hopes or testified +their gratitude by dedicating likenesses of the diseased members to +the goddess, in accordance with a custom which is still observed in +many parts of Europe. To this day it would seem that the spring +retains medicinal virtues. + +The other of the minor deities at Nemi was Virbius. Legend had it +that Virbius was the young Greek hero Hippolytus, chaste and fair, +who learned the art of venery from the centaur Chiron, and spent all +his days in the greenwood chasing wild beasts with the virgin +huntress Artemis (the Greek counterpart of Diana) for his only +comrade. Proud of her divine society, he spurned the love of women, +and this proved his bane. For Aphrodite, stung by his scorn, +inspired his stepmother Phaedra with love of him; and when he +disdained her wicked advances she falsely accused him to his father +Theseus. The slander was believed, and Theseus prayed to his sire +Poseidon to avenge the imagined wrong. So while Hippolytus drove in +a chariot by the shore of the Saronic Gulf, the sea-god sent a +fierce bull forth from the waves. The terrified horses bolted, threw +Hippolytus from the chariot, and dragged him at their hoofs to +death. But Diana, for the love she bore Hippolytus, persuaded the +leech Aesculapius to bring her fair young hunter back to life by his +simples. Jupiter, indignant that a mortal man should return from the +gates of death, thrust down the meddling leech himself to Hades. But +Diana hid her favourite from the angry god in a thick cloud, +disguised his features by adding years to his life, and then bore +him far away to the dells of Nemi, where she entrusted him to the +nymph Egeria, to live there, unknown and solitary, under the name of +Virbius, in the depth of the Italian forest. There he reigned a +king, and there he dedicated a precinct to Diana. He had a comely +son, Virbius, who, undaunted by his father's fate, drove a team of +fiery steeds to join the Latins in the war against Aeneas and the +Trojans. Virbius was worshipped as a god not only at Nemi but +elsewhere; for in Campania we hear of a special priest devoted to +his service. Horses were excluded from the Arician grove and +sanctuary because horses had killed Hippolytus. It was unlawful to +touch his image. Some thought that he was the sun. "But the truth +is," says Servius, "that he is a deity associated with Diana, as +Attis is associated with the Mother of the Gods, and Erichthonius +with Minerva, and Adonis with Venus." What the nature of that +association was we shall enquire presently. Here it is worth +observing that in his long and chequered career this mythical +personage has displayed a remarkable tenacity of life. For we can +hardly doubt that the Saint Hippolytus of the Roman calendar, who +was dragged by horses to death on the thirteenth of August, Diana's +own day, is no other than the Greek hero of the same name, who, +after dying twice over as a heathen sinner, has been happily +resuscitated as a Christian saint. + +It needs no elaborate demonstration to convince us that the stories +told to account for Diana's worship at Nemi are unhistorical. +Clearly they belong to that large class of myths which are made up +to explain the origin of a religious ritual and have no other +foundation than the resemblance, real or imaginary, which may be +traced between it and some foreign ritual. The incongruity of these +Nemi myths is indeed transparent, since the foundation of the +worship is traced now to Orestes and now to Hippolytus, according as +this or that feature of the ritual has to be accounted for. The real +value of such tales is that they serve to illustrate the nature of +the worship by providing a standard with which to compare it; and +further, that they bear witness indirectly to its venerable age by +showing that the true origin was lost in the mists of a fabulous +antiquity. In the latter respect these Nemi legends are probably +more to be trusted than the apparently historical tradition, vouched +for by Cato the Elder, that the sacred grove was dedicated to Diana +by a certain Egerius Baebius or Laevius of Tusculum, a Latin +dictator, on behalf of the peoples of Tusculum, Aricia, Lanuvium, +Laurentum, Cora, Tibur, Pometia, and Ardea. This tradition indeed +speaks for the great age of the sanctuary, since it seems to date +its foundation sometime before 495 B.C., the year in which Pometia +was sacked by the Romans and disappears from history. But we cannot +suppose that so barbarous a rule as that of the Arician priesthood +was deliberately instituted by a league of civilised communities, +such as the Latin cities undoubtedly were. It must have been handed +down from a time beyond the memory of man, when Italy was still in a +far ruder state than any known to us in the historical period. The +credit of the tradition is rather shaken than confirmed by another +story which ascribes the foundation of the sanctuary to a certain +Manius Egerius, who gave rise to the saying, "There are many Manii +at Aricia." This proverb some explained by alleging that Manius +Egerius was the ancestor of a long and distinguished line, whereas +others thought it meant that there were many ugly and deformed +people at Aricia, and they derived the name Manius from _Mania,_ a +bogey or bugbear to frighten children. A Roman satirist uses the +name Manius as typical of the beggars who lay in wait for pilgrims +on the Arician slopes. These differences of opinion, together with +the discrepancy between Manius Egerius of Aricia and Egerius Laevius +of Tusculum, as well as the resemblance of both names to the +mythical Egeria, excite our suspicion. Yet the tradition recorded by +Cato seems too circumstantial, and its sponsor too respectable, to +allow us to dismiss it as an idle fiction. Rather we may suppose +that it refers to some ancient restoration or reconstruction of the +sanctuary, which was actually carried out by the confederate states. +At any rate it testifies to a belief that the grove had been from +early times a common place of worship for many of the oldest cities +of the country, if not for the whole Latin confederacy. + + + +2. Artemis and Hippolytus + +I HAVE said that the Arician legends of Orestes and Hippolytus, +though worthless as history, have a certain value in so far as they +may help us to understand the worship at Nemi better by comparing it +with the ritual and myths of other sanctuaries. We must ask +ourselves, Why did the author of these legends pitch upon Orestes +and Hippolytus in order to explain Virbius and the King of the Wood? +In regard to Orestes, the answer is obvious. He and the image of the +Tauric Diana, which could only be appeased with human blood, were +dragged in to render intelligible the murderous rule of succession +to the Arician priesthood. In regard to Hippolytus the case is not +so plain. The manner of his death suggests readily enough a reason +for the exclusion of horses from the grove; but this by itself seems +hardly enough to account for the identification. We must try to +probe deeper by examining the worship as well as the legend or myth +of Hippolytus. + +He had a famous sanctuary at his ancestral home of Troezen, situated +on that beautiful, almost landlocked bay, where groves of oranges +and lemons, with tall cypresses soaring like dark spires above the +garden of Hesperides, now clothe the strip of fertile shore at the +foot of the rugged mountains. Across the blue water of the tranquil +bay, which it shelters from the open sea, rises Poseidon's sacred +island, its peaks veiled in the sombre green of the pines. On this +fair coast Hippolytus was worshipped. Within his sanctuary stood a +temple with an ancient image. His service was performed by a priest +who held office for life; every year a sacrificial festival was held +in his honour; and his untimely fate was yearly mourned, with +weeping and doleful chants, by unwedded maids. Youths and maidens +dedicated locks of their hair in his temple before marriage. His +grave existed at Troezen, though the people would not show it. It +has been suggested, with great plausibility, that in the handsome +Hippolytus, beloved of Artemis, cut off in his youthful prime, and +yearly mourned by damsels, we have one of those mortal lovers of a +goddess who appear so often in ancient religion, and of whom Adonis +is the most familiar type. The rivalry of Artemis and Phaedra for +the affection of Hippolytus reproduces, it is said, under different +names, the rivalry of Aphrodite and Proserpine for the love of +Adonis, for Phaedra is merely a double of Aphrodite. The theory +probably does no injustice either to Hippolytus or to Artemis. For +Artemis was originally a great goddess of fertility, and, on the +principles of early religion, she who fertilises nature must herself +be fertile, and to be that she must necessarily have a male consort. +On this view, Hippolytus was the consort of Artemis at Troezen, and +the shorn tresses offered to him by the Troezenian youths and +maidens before marriage were designed to strengthen his union with +the goddess, and so to promote the fruitfulness of the earth, of +cattle, and of mankind. It is some confirmation of this view that +within the precinct of Hippolytus at Troezen there were worshipped +two female powers named Damia and Auxesia, whose connexion with the +fertility of the ground is unquestionable. When Epidaurus suffered +from a dearth, the people, in obedience to an oracle, carved images +of Damia and Auxesia out of sacred olive wood, and no sooner had +they done so and set them up than the earth bore fruit again. +Moreover, at Troezen itself, and apparently within the precinct of +Hippolytus, a curious festival of stone-throwing was held in honour +of these maidens, as the Troezenians called them; and it is easy to +show that similar customs have been practised in many lands for the +express purpose of ensuring good crops. In the story of the tragic +death of the youthful Hippolytus we may discern an analogy with +similar tales of other fair but mortal youths who paid with their +lives for the brief rapture of the love of an immortal goddess. +These hapless lovers were probably not always mere myths, and the +legends which traced their spilt blood in the purple bloom of the +violet, the scarlet stain of the anemone, or the crimson flush of +the rose were no idle poetic emblems of youth and beauty fleeting as +the summer flowers. Such fables contain a deeper philosophy of the +relation of the life of man to the life of nature--a sad philosophy +which gave birth to a tragic practice. What that philosophy and that +practice were, we shall learn later on. + + + +3. Recapitulation + +WE can now perhaps understand why the ancients identified +Hippolytus, the consort of Artemis, with Virbius, who, according to +Servius, stood to Diana as Adonis to Venus, or Attis to the Mother +of the Gods. For Diana, like Artemis, was a goddess of fertility in +general, and of childbirth in particular. As such she, like her +Greek counterpart, needed a male partner. That partner, if Servius +is right, was Virbius. In his character of the founder of the sacred +grove and first king of Nemi, Virbius is clearly the mythical +predecessor or archetype of the line of priests who served Diana +under the title of Kings of the Wood, and who came, like him, one +after the other, to a violent end. It is natural, therefore, to +conjecture that they stood to the goddess of the grove in the same +relation in which Virbius stood to her; in short, that the mortal +King of the Wood had for his queen the woodland Diana herself. If +the sacred tree which he guarded with his life was supposed, as +seems probable, to be her special embodiment, her priest may not +only have worshipped it as his goddess but embraced it as his wife. +There is at least nothing absurd in the supposition, since even in +the time of Pliny a noble Roman used thus to treat a beautiful +beech-tree in another sacred grove of Diana on the Alban hills. He +embraced it, he kissed it, he lay under its shadow, he poured wine +on its trunk. Apparently he took the tree for the goddess. The +custom of physically marrying men and women to trees is still +practised in India and other parts of the East. Why should it not +have obtained in ancient Latium? + +Reviewing the evidence as a whole, we may conclude that the worship +of Diana in her sacred grove at Nemi was of great importance and +immemorial antiquity; that she was revered as the goddess of +woodlands and of wild creatures, probably also of domestic cattle +and of the fruits of the earth; that she was believed to bless men +and women with offspring and to aid mothers in childbed; that her +holy fire, tended by chaste virgins, burned perpetually in a round +temple within the precinct; that associated with her was a +water-nymph Egeria who discharged one of Diana's own functions by +succouring women in travail, and who was popularly supposed to have +mated with an old Roman king in the sacred grove; further, that +Diana of the Wood herself had a male companion Virbius by name, who +was to her what Adonis was to Venus, or Attis to Cybele; and, +lastly, that this mythical Virbius was represented in historical +times by a line of priests known as Kings of the Wood, who regularly +perished by the swords of their successors, and whose lives were in +a manner bound up with a certain tree in the grove, because so long +as that tree was uninjured they were safe from attack. + +Clearly these conclusions do not of themselves suffice to explain +the peculiar rule of succession to the priesthood. But perhaps the +survey of a wider field may lead us to think that they contain in +germ the solution of the problem. To that wider survey we must now +address ourselves. It will be long and laborious, but may possess +something of the interest and charm of a voyage of discovery, in +which we shall visit many strange foreign lands, with strange +foreign peoples, and still stranger customs. The wind is in the +shrouds: we shake out our sails to it, and leave the coast of Italy +behind us for a time. + + + + +II. Priestly Kings + +THE questions which we have set ourselves to answer are mainly two: +first, why had Diana's priest at Nemi, the King of the Wood, to slay +his predecessor? second, why before doing so had he to pluck the +branch of a certain tree which the public opinion of the ancients +identified with Virgil's Golden Bough? + +The first point on which we fasten is the priest's title. Why was he +called the King of the Wood? Why was his office spoken of as a +kingdom? + +The union of a royal title with priestly duties was common in +ancient Italy and Greece. At Rome and in other cities of Latium +there was a priest called the Sacrificial King or King of the Sacred +Rites, and his wife bore the title of Queen of the Sacred Rites. In +republican Athens the second annual magistrate of the state was +called the King, and his wife the Queen; the functions of both were +religious. Many other Greek democracies had titular kings, whose +duties, so far as they are known, seem to have been priestly, and to +have centered round the Common Hearth of the state. Some Greek +states had several of these titular kings, who held office +simultaneously. At Rome the tradition was that the Sacrificial King +had been appointed after the abolition of the monarchy in order to +offer the sacrifices which before had been offered by the kings. A +similar view as to the origin of the priestly kings appears to have +prevailed in Greece. In itself the opinion is not improbable, and it +is borne out by the example of Sparta, almost the only purely Greek +state which retained the kingly form of government in historical +times. For in Sparta all state sacrifices were offered by the kings +as descendants of the god. One of the two Spartan kings held the +priesthood of Zeus Lacedaemon, the other the priesthood of Heavenly +Zeus. + +This combination of priestly functions with royal authority is +familiar to every one. Asia Minor, for example, was the seat of +various great religious capitals peopled by thousands of sacred +slaves, and ruled by pontiffs who wielded at once temporal and +spiritual authority, like the popes of mediaeval Rome. Such +priest-ridden cities were Zela and Pessinus. Teutonic kings, again, +in the old heathen days seem to have stood in the position, and to +have exercised the powers, of high priests. The Emperors of China +offered public sacrifices, the details of which were regulated by +the ritual books. The King of Madagascar was high-priest of the +realm. At the great festival of the new year, when a bullock was +sacrificed for the good of the kingdom, the king stood over the +sacrifice to offer prayer and thanksgiving, while his attendants +slaughtered the animal. In the monarchical states which still +maintain their independence among the Gallas of Eastern Africa, the +king sacrifices on the mountain tops and regulates the immolation of +human victims; and the dim light of tradition reveals a similar +union of temporal and spiritual power, of royal and priestly duties, +in the kings of that delightful region of Central America whose +ancient capital, now buried under the rank growth of the tropical +forest, is marked by the stately and mysterious ruins of Palenque. + +When we have said that the ancient kings were commonly priests also, +we are far from having exhausted the religious aspect of their +office. In those days the divinity that hedges a king was no empty +form of speech, but the expression of a sober belief. Kings were +revered, in many cases not merely as priests, that is, as +intercessors between man and god, but as themselves gods, able to +bestow upon their subjects and worshippers those blessings which are +commonly supposed to be beyond the reach of mortals, and are sought, +if at all, only by prayer and sacrifice offered to superhuman and +invisible beings. Thus kings are often expected to give rain and +sunshine in due season, to make the crops grow, and so on. Strange +as this expectation appears to us, it is quite of a piece with early +modes of thought. A savage hardly conceives the distinction commonly +drawn by more advanced peoples between the natural and the +supernatural. To him the world is to a great extent worked by +supernatural agents, that is, by personal beings acting on impulses +and motives like his own, liable like him to be moved by appeals to +their pity, their hopes, and their fears. In a world so conceived he +sees no limit to his power of influencing the course of nature to +his own advantage. Prayers, promises, or threats may secure him fine +weather and an abundant crop from the gods; and if a god should +happen, as he sometimes believes, to become incarnate in his own +person, then he need appeal to no higher being; he, the savage, +possesses in himself all the powers necessary to further his own +well-being and that of his fellow-men. + +This is one way in which the idea of a man-god is reached. But there +is another. Along with the view of the world as pervaded by +spiritual forces, savage man has a different, and probably still +older, conception in which we may detect a germ of the modern notion +of natural law or the view of nature as a series of events occurring +in an invariable order without the intervention of personal agency. +The germ of which I speak is involved in that sympathetic magic, as +it may be called, which plays a large part in most systems of +superstition. In early society the king is frequently a magician as +well as a priest; indeed he appears to have often attained to power +by virtue of his supposed proficiency in the black or white art. +Hence in order to understand the evolution of the kingship and the +sacred character with which the office has commonly been invested in +the eyes of savage or barbarous peoples, it is essential to have +some acquaintance with the principles of magic and to form some +conception of the extraordinary hold which that ancient system of +superstition has had on the human mind in all ages and all +countries. Accordingly I propose to consider the subject in some +detail. + + + +III. Sympathetic Magic + + +1. The Principles of Magic + +IF we analyse the principles of thought on which magic is based, +they will probably be found to resolve themselves into two: first, +that like produces like, or that an effect resembles its cause; +and, second, that things which have once been in contact with each +other continue to act on each other at a distance after the +physical contact has been severed. The former principle may be +called the Law of Similarity, the latter the Law of Contact or +Contagion. From the first of these principles, namely the Law of +Similarity, the magician infers that he can produce any effect he +desires merely by imitating it: from the second he infers that +whatever he does to a material object will affect equally the +person with whom the object was once in contact, whether it formed +part of his body or not. Charms based on the Law of Similarity may +be called Homoeopathic or Imitative Magic. Charms based on the Law +of Contact or Contagion may be called Contagious Magic. To denote +the first of these branches of magic the term Homoeopathic is +perhaps preferable, for the alternative term Imitative or Mimetic +suggests, if it does not imply, a conscious agent who imitates, +thereby limiting the scope of magic too narrowly. For the same +principles which the magician applies in the practice of his art +are implicitly believed by him to regulate the operations of +inanimate nature; in other words, he tacitly assumes that the Laws +of Similarity and Contact are of universal application and are not +limited to human actions. In short, magic is a spurious system of +natural law as well as a fallacious guide of conduct; it is a false +science as well as an abortive art. Regarded as a system of natural +law, that is, as a statement of the rules which determine the +sequence of events throughout the world, it may be called +Theoretical Magic: regarded as a set of precepts which human beings +observe in order to compass their ends, it may be called Practical +Magic. At the same time it is to be borne in mind that the +primitive magician knows magic only on its practical side; he never +analyses the mental processes on which his practice is based, never +reflects on the abstract principles involved in his actions. With +him, as with the vast majority of men, logic is implicit, not +explicit: he reasons just as he digests his food in complete +ignorance of the intellectual and physiological processes which are +essential to the one operation and to the other. In short, to him +magic is always an art, never a science; the very idea of science +is lacking in his undeveloped mind. It is for the philosophic +student to trace the train of thought which underlies the +magician's practice; to draw out the few simple threads of +which the tangled skein is composed; to disengage the abstract +principles from their concrete applications; in short, to discern +the spurious science behind the bastard art. + +If my analysis of the magician's logic is correct, its two great +principles turn out to be merely two different misapplications of +the association of ideas. Homoeopathic magic is founded on the +association of ideas by similarity: contagious magic is founded on +the association of ideas by contiguity. Homoeopathic magic commits +the mistake of assuming that things which resemble each other are +the same: contagious magic commits the mistake of assuming that +things which have once been in contact with each other are always in +contact. But in practice the two branches are often combined; or, to +be more exact, while homoeopathic or imitative magic may be +practised by itself, contagious magic will generally be found to +involve an application of the homoeopathic or imitative principle. +Thus generally stated the two things may be a little difficult to +grasp, but they will readily become intelligible when they are +illustrated by particular examples. Both trains of thought are in +fact extremely simple and elementary. It could hardly be otherwise, +since they are familiar in the concrete, though certainly not in the +abstract, to the crude intelligence not only of the savage, but of +ignorant and dull-witted people everywhere. Both branches of magic, +the homoeopathic and the contagious, may conveniently be +comprehended under the general name of Sympathetic Magic, since both +assume that things act on each other at a distance through a secret +sympathy, the impulse being transmitted from one to the other by +means of what we may conceive as a kind of invisible ether, not +unlike that which is postulated by modern science for a precisely +similar purpose, namely, to explain how things can physically affect +each other through a space which appears to be empty. + +It may be convenient to tabulate as follows the branches of +magic according to the laws of thought which underlie them: + + Sympathetic Magic + (Law of Sympathy) + | + ------------------------------- + | | + Homoeopathic Magic Contagious Magic + (Law of Similarity) (Law of Contact) + + +I will now illustrate these two great branches of sympathetic +magic by examples, beginning with homoeopathic magic. + + + +2. Homoeopathic or Imitative Magic + +PERHAPS the most familiar application of the principle that like +produces like is the attempt which has been made by many peoples in +many ages to injure or destroy an enemy by injuring or destroying an +image of him, in the belief that, just as the image suffers, so does +the man, and that when it perishes he must die. A few instances out +of many may be given to prove at once the wide diffusion of the +practice over the world and its remarkable persistence through the +ages. For thousands of years ago it was known to the sorcerers of +ancient India, Babylon, and Egypt, as well as of Greece and Rome, +and at this day it is still resorted to by cunning and malignant +savages in Australia, Africa, and Scotland. Thus the North American +Indians, we are told, believe that by drawing the figure of a person +in sand, ashes, or clay, or by considering any object as his body, +and then pricking it with a sharp stick or doing it any other +injury, they inflict a corresponding injury on the person +represented. For example, when an Ojebway Indian desires to work +evil on any one, he makes a little wooden image of his enemy and +runs a needle into its head or heart, or he shoots an arrow into it, +believing that wherever the needle pierces or the arrow strikes the +image, his foe will the same instant be seized with a sharp pain in +the corresponding part of his body; but if he intends to kill the +person outright, he burns or buries the puppet, uttering certain +magic words as he does so. The Peruvian Indians moulded images of +fat mixed with grain to imitate the persons whom they disliked or +feared, and then burned the effigy on the road where the intended +victim was to pass. This they called burning his soul. + +A Malay charm of the same sort is as follows. Take parings of nails, +hair, eyebrows, spittle, and so forth of your intended victim, +enough to represent every part of his person, and then make them up +into his likeness with wax from a deserted bees' comb. Scorch the +figure slowly by holding it over a lamp every night for seven +nights, and say: + + + "It is not wax that I am scorching, + It is the liver, heart, and spleen of So-and-so that I scorch." + + +After the seventh time burn the figure, and your victim will die. +This charm obviously combines the principles of homoeopathic and +contagious magic; since the image which is made in the likeness of +an enemy contains things which once were in contact with him, +namely, his nails, hair, and spittle. Another form of the Malay +charm, which resembles the Ojebway practice still more closely, is +to make a corpse of wax from an empty bees' comb and of the length +of a footstep; then pierce the eye of the image, and your enemy is +blind; pierce the stomach, and he is sick; pierce the head, and his +head aches; pierce the breast, and his breast will suffer. If you +would kill him outright, transfix the image from the head downwards; +enshroud it as you would a corpse; pray over it as if you were +praying over the dead; then bury it in the middle of a path where +your victim will be sure to step over it. In order that his blood +may not be on your head, you should say: + + + "It is not I who am burying him, + It is Gabriel who is burying him." + + +Thus the guilt of the murder will be laid on the shoulders of the +archangel Gabriel, who is a great deal better able to bear it than +you are. + +If homoeopathic or imitative magic, working by means of images, has +commonly been practised for the spiteful purpose of putting +obnoxious people out of the world, it has also, though far more +rarely, been employed with the benevolent intention of helping +others into it. In other words, it has been used to facilitate +childbirth and to procure offspring for barren women. Thus among the +Bataks of Sumatra a barren woman, who would become a mother, will +make a wooden image of a child and hold it in her lap, believing +that this will lead to the fulfilment of her wish. In the Babar +Archipelago, when a woman desires to have a child, she invites a man +who is himself the father of a large family to pray on her behalf to +Upulero, the spirit of the sun. A doll is made of red cotton, which +the woman clasps in her arms, as if she would suckle it. Then the +father of many children takes a fowl and holds it by the legs to the +woman's head, saying, "O Upulero, make use of the fowl; let fall, +let descend a child, I beseech you, I entreat you, let a child fall +and descend into my hands and on my lap." Then he asks the woman, +"Has the child come?" and she answers, "Yes, it is sucking already." +After that the man holds the fowl on the husband's head, and mumbles +some form of words. Lastly, the bird is killed and laid, together +with some betel, on the domestic place of sacrifice. When the +ceremony is over, word goes about in the village that the woman has +been brought to bed, and her friends come and congratulate her. Here +the pretence that a child has been born is a purely magical rite +designed to secure, by means of imitation or mimicry, that a child +really shall be born; but an attempt is made to add to the efficacy +of the rite by means of prayer and sacrifice. To put it otherwise, +magic is here blent with and reinforced by religion. + +Among some of the Dyaks of Borneo, when a woman is in hard labour, +a wizard is called in, who essays to facilitate the delivery in a +rational manner by manipulating the body of the sufferer. Meantime +another wizard outside the room exerts himself to attain the same +end by means which we should regard as wholly irrational. He, in +fact, pretends to be the expectant mother; a large stone attached to +his stomach by a cloth wrapt round his body represents the child in +the womb, and, following the directions shouted to him by his +colleague on the real scene of operations, he moves this +make-believe baby about on his body in exact imitation of the +movements of the real baby till the infant is born. + +The same principle of make-believe, so dear to children, has led +other peoples to employ a simulation of birth as a form of adoption, +and even as a mode of restoring a supposed dead person to life. If +you pretend to give birth to a boy, or even to a great bearded man +who has not a drop of your blood in his veins, then, in the eyes of +primitive law and philosophy, that boy or man is really your son to +all intents and purposes. Thus Diodorus tells us that when Zeus +persuaded his jealous wife Hera to adopt Hercules, the goddess got +into bed, and clasping the burly hero to her bosom, pushed him +through her robes and let him fall to the ground in imitation of a +real birth; and the historian adds that in his own day the same mode +of adopting children was practised by the barbarians. At the present +time it is said to be still in use in Bulgaria and among the Bosnian +Turks. A woman will take a boy whom she intends to adopt and push or +pull him through her clothes; ever afterwards he is regarded as her +very son, and inherits the whole property of his adoptive parents. +Among the Berawans of Sarawak, when a woman desires to adopt a +grownup man or woman, a great many people assemble and have a feast. +The adopting mother, seated in public on a raised and covered seat, +allows the adopted person to crawl from behind between her legs. As +soon as he appears in front he is stroked with the sweet-scented +blossoms of the areca palm and tied to a woman. Then the adopting +mother and the adopted son or daughter, thus bound together, waddle +to the end of the house and back again in front of all the +spectators. The tie established between the two by this graphic +imitation of childbirth is very strict; an offence committed against +an adopted child is reckoned more heinous than one committed against +a real child. In ancient Greece any man who had been supposed +erroneously to be dead, and for whom in his absence funeral rites +had been performed, was treated as dead to society till he had gone +through the form of being born again. He was passed through a +woman's lap, then washed, dressed in swaddling-clothes, and put out +to nurse. Not until this ceremony had been punctually performed +might he mix freely with living folk. In ancient India, under +similar circumstances, the supposed dead man had to pass the first +night after his return in a tub filled with a mixture of fat and +water; there he sat with doubled-up fists and without uttering a +syllable, like a child in the womb, while over him were performed +all the sacraments that were wont to be celebrated over a pregnant +woman. Next morning he got out of the tub and went through once more +all the other sacraments he had formerly partaken of from his youth +up; in particular, he married a wife or espoused his old one over +again with due solemnity. + +Another beneficent use of homoeopathic magic is to heal or prevent +sickness. The ancient Hindoos performed an elaborate ceremony, based +on homoeopathic magic, for the cure of jaundice. Its main 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 patient a healthy red colour from a living, vigorous source, +namely, a red bull. With this intention, a priest recited the +following spell: "Up to the sun shall go thy heart-ache and thy +jaundice: in the colour of the red bull do we envelop thee! We +envelop thee in red tints, unto long life. May this person go +unscathed and be free of yellow colour! The cows whose divinity is +Rohini, they who, moreover, are themselves red (_rohinih_)--in their +every form and every strength we do envelop thee. Into the parrots, +into the thrush, do we put thy jaundice, and, furthermore, into the +yellow wagtail do we put thy jaundice." While he uttered these +words, the priest, in order to infuse the rosy hue of health into +the sallow patient, gave him water to sip which was mixed with the +hair of a red bull; he poured water over the animal's back and made +the sick man drink it; he seated him on the skin of a red bull and +tied a piece of the skin to him. Then in order to improve his colour +by thoroughly eradicating the yellow taint, he proceeded thus. He +first daubed him from head to foot with a yellow porridge made of +tumeric or curcuma (a yellow plant), set him on a bed, tied three +yellow birds, to wit, a parrot, a thrush, and a yellow wagtail, by +means of a yellow string to the foot of the bed; then pouring water +over the patient, he washed off the yellow porridge, and with it no +doubt the jaundice, from him to the birds. After that, by way of +giving a final bloom to his complexion, he took some hairs of a red +bull, wrapt them in gold leaf, and glued them to the patient's skin. +The ancients held that if a person suffering from jaundice looked +sharply at a stone-curlew, and the bird looked steadily at him, he +was cured of the disease. "Such is the nature," says Plutarch, "and +such the temperament of the creature that it draws out and receives +the malady which issues, like a stream, through the eyesight." So +well recognised among birdfanciers was this valuable property of the +stone-curlew that when they had one of these birds for sale they +kept it carefully covered, lest a jaundiced person should look at it +and be cured for nothing. The virtue of the bird lay not in its +colour but in its large golden eye, which naturally drew out the +yellow jaundice. Pliny tells of another, or perhaps the same, bird, +to which the Greeks gave their name for jaundice, because if a +jaundiced man saw it, the disease left him and slew the bird. He +mentions also a stone which was supposed to cure jaundice because +its hue resembled that of a jaundiced skin. + +One of the great merits of homoeopathic magic is that it enables the +cure to be performed on the person of the doctor instead of on that +of his victim, who is thus relieved of all trouble and inconvenience, +while he sees his medical man writhe in anguish before him. For +example, the peasants of Perche, in France, labour under the +impression that a prolonged fit of vomiting is brought about by the +patient's stomach becoming unhooked, as they call it, and so falling +down. Accordingly, a practitioner is called in to restore the organ +to its proper place. After hearing the symptoms he at once throws +himself into the most horrible contortions, for the purpose of +unhooking his own stomach. Having succeeded in the effort, he next +hooks it up again in another series of contortions and grimaces, +while the patient experiences a corresponding relief. Fee five +francs. In like manner a Dyak medicine-man, who has been fetched in +a case of illness, will lie down and pretend to be dead. He is +accordingly treated like a corpse, is bound up in mats, taken out of +the house, and deposited on the ground. After about an hour the +other medicine-men loose the pretended dead man and bring him to +life; and as he recovers, the sick person is supposed to recover +too. A cure for a tumour, based on the principle of homoeopathic +magic, is prescribed by Marcellus of Bordeaux, court physician to +Theodosius the First, in his curious work on medicine. It is as +follows. Take a root of vervain, cut it across, and hang one end of +it round the patient's neck, and the other in the smoke of the fire. +As the vervain dries up in the smoke, so the tumour will also dry up +and disappear. If the patient should afterwards prove ungrateful to +the good physician, the man of skill can avenge himself very easily +by throwing the vervain into water; for as the root absorbs the +moisture once more, the tumour will return. The same sapient writer +recommends you, if you are troubled with pimples, to watch for a +falling star, and then instantly, while the star is still shooting +from the sky, to wipe the pimples with a cloth or anything that +comes to hand. Just as the star falls from the sky, so the pimples +will fall from your body; only you must be very careful not to wipe +them with your bare hand, or the pimples will be transferred to it. + +Further, homoeopathic and in general sympathetic magic plays a great +part in the measures taken by the rude hunter or fisherman to secure +an abundant supply of food. On the principle that like produces +like, many things are done by him and his friends in deliberate +imitation of the result which he seeks to attain; and, on the other +hand, many things are scrupulously avoided because they bear some +more or less fanciful resemblance to others which would really be +disastrous. + +Nowhere is the theory of sympathetic magic more systematically +carried into practice for the maintenance of the food supply than in +the barren regions of Central Australia. Here the tribes are divided +into a number of totem clans, each of which is charged with the duty +of multiplying their totem for the good of the community by means of +magical ceremonies. Most of the totems are edible animals and +plants, and the general result supposed to be accomplished by these +ceremonies is that of supplying the tribe with food and other +necessaries. Often the rites consist of an imitation of the effect +which the people desire to produce; in other words, their magic is +homoeopathic or imitative. Thus among the Warramunga the headman of +the white cockatoo totem seeks to multiply white cockatoos by +holding an effigy of the bird and mimicking its harsh cry. Among the +Arunta the men of the witchetty grub totem perform ceremonies for +multiplying the grub which the other members of the tribe use as +food. One of the ceremonies is a pantomime representing the +fully-developed insect in the act of emerging from the chrysalis. A +long narrow structure of branches is set up to imitate the chrysalis +case of the grub. In this structure a number of men, who have the +grub for their totem, sit and sing of the creature in its various +stages. Then they shuffle out of it in a squatting posture, and as +they do so they sing of the insect emerging from the chrysalis. This +is supposed to multiply the numbers of the grubs. Again, in order to +multiply emus, which are an important article of food, the men of +the emu totem paint on the ground the sacred design of their totem, +especially the parts of the emu which they like best to eat, namely, +the fat and the eggs. Round this painting the men sit and sing. +Afterwards performers, wearing head-dresses to represent the long +neck and small head of the emu, mimic the appearance of the bird as +it stands aimlessly peering about in all directions. + +The Indians of British Columbia live largely upon the fish which +abound in their seas and rivers. If the fish do not come in due +season, and the Indians are hungry, a Nootka wizard will make an +image of a swimming fish and put it into the water in the direction +from which the fish generally appear. This ceremony, accompanied by +a prayer to the fish to come, will cause them to arrive at once. The +islanders of Torres Straits use models of dugong and turtles to +charm dugong and turtle to their destruction. The Toradjas of +Central Celebes believe that things of the same sort attract each +other by means of their indwelling spirits or vital ether. Hence +they hang up the jawbones of deer and wild pigs in their houses, in +order that the spirits which animate these bones may draw the living +creatures of the same kind into the path of the hunter. In the +island of Nias, when a wild pig has fallen into the pit prepared for +it, the animal is taken out and its back is rubbed with nine fallen +leaves, in the belief that this will make nine more wild pigs fall +into the pit, just as the nine leaves fell from the tree. In the +East Indian islands of Saparoea, Haroekoe, and Noessa Laut, when a +fisherman is about to set a trap for fish in the sea, he looks out +for a tree, of which the fruit has been much pecked at by birds. +From such a tree he cuts a stout branch and makes of it the +principal post in his fish-trap; for he believes that, just as the +tree lured many birds to its fruit, so the branch cut from that tree +will lure many fish to the trap. + +The western tribes of British New Guinea employ a charm to aid the +hunter in spearing dugong or turtle. A small beetle, which haunts +coco-nut trees, is placed in the hole of the spear-haft into which +the spear-head fits. This is supposed to make the spear-head stick +fast in the dugong or turtle, just as the beetle sticks fast to a +man's skin when it bites him. When a Cambodian hunter has set his +nets and taken nothing, he strips himself naked, goes some way off, +then strolls up to the net as if he did not see it, lets himself be +caught in it, and cries, "Hillo! what's this? I'm afraid I'm +caught." After that the net is sure to catch game. A pantomime of +the same sort has been acted within the living memory in our +Scottish Highlands. The Rev. James Macdonald, now of Reay in +Caithness, tells us that in his boyhood when he was fishing with +companions about Loch Aline and they had had no bites for a long +time, they used to make a pretence of throwing one of their fellows +overboard and hauling him out of the water, as if he were a fish; +after that the trout or silloch would begin to nibble, according as +the boat was on fresh or salt water. Before a Carrier Indian goes +out to snare martens, he sleeps by himself for about ten nights +beside the fire with a little stick pressed down on his neck. This +naturally causes the fall-stick of his trap to drop down on the neck +of the marten. Among the Galelareese, who inhabit a district in the +northern part of Halmahera, a large island to the west of New +Guinea, it is a maxim that when you are loading your gun to go out +shooting, you should always put the bullet in your mouth before you +insert it in the gun; for by so doing you practically eat the game +that is to be hit by the bullet, which therefore cannot possibly +miss the mark. A Malay who has baited a trap for crocodiles, and is +awaiting results, is careful in eating his curry always to begin by +swallowing three lumps of rice successively; for this helps the bait +to slide more easily down the crocodile's throat. He is equally +scrupulous not to take any bones out of his curry; for, if he did, +it seems clear that the sharp-pointed stick on which the bait is +skewered would similarly work itself loose, and the crocodile would +get off with the bait. Hence in these circumstances it is prudent +for the hunter, before he begins his meal, to get somebody else to +take the bones out of his curry, otherwise he may at any moment have +to choose between swallowing a bone and losing the crocodile. + +This last rule is an instance of the things which the hunter +abstains from doing lest, on the principle that like produces like, +they should spoil his luck. For it is to be observed that the system +of sympathetic magic is not merely composed of positive precepts; it +comprises a very large number of negative precepts, that is, +prohibitions. It tells you not merely what to do, but also what to +leave undone. The positive precepts are charms: the negative +precepts are taboos. In fact the whole doctrine of taboo, or at all +events a large part of it, would seem to be only a special +application of sympathetic magic, with its two great laws of +similarity and contact. Though these laws are certainly not +formulated in so many words nor even conceived in the abstract by +the savage, they are nevertheless implicitly believed by him to +regulate the course of nature quite independently of human will. He +thinks that if he acts in a certain way, certain consequences will +inevitably follow in virtue of one or other of these laws; and if +the consequences of a particular act appear to him likely to prove +disagreeable or dangerous, he is naturally careful not to act in +that way lest he should incur them. In other words, he abstains from +doing that which, in accordance with his mistaken notions of cause +and effect, he falsely believes would injure him; in short, he +subjects himself to a taboo. Thus taboo is so far a negative +application of practical magic. Positive magic or sorcery says, "Do +this in order that so and so may happen." Negative magic or taboo +says, "Do not do this, lest so and so should happen." The aim of +positive magic or sorcery is to produce a desired event; the aim of +negative magic or taboo is to avoid an undesirable one. But both +consequences, the desirable and the undesirable, are supposed to be +brought about in accordance with the laws of similarity and contact. +And just as the desired consequence is not really effected by the +observance of a magical ceremony, so the dreaded consequence does +not really result from the violation of a taboo. If the supposed +evil necessarily followed a breach of taboo, the taboo would not be +a taboo but a precept of morality or common sense. It is not a taboo +to say, "Do not put your hand in the fire"; it is a rule of common +sense, because the forbidden action entails a real, not an imaginary +evil. In short, those negative precepts which we call taboo are just +as vain and futile as those positive precepts which we call sorcery. +The two things are merely opposite sides or poles of one great +disastrous fallacy, a mistaken conception of the association of +ideas. Of that fallacy, sorcery is the positive, and taboo the +negative pole. If we give the general name of magic to the whole +erroneous system, both theoretical and practical, then taboo may be +defined as the negative side of practical magic. To put this in +tabular form: + + + Magic + | + ---------------------- + | | + Theoretical Practical + (Magic as a (Magic as a +pseudo-science) pseudo-art) + | + ----------------- + | | + Positive Magic Negative Magic + or Sorcery or Taboo + + + +I have made these remarks on taboo and its relations to magic +because I am about to give some instances of taboos observed by +hunters, fishermen, and others, and I wished to show that they fall +under the head of Sympathetic Magic, being only particular +applications of that general theory. Thus, among the Esquimaux boys +are forbidden to play cat's cradle, because if they did so their +fingers might in later life become entangled in the harpoon-line. +Here the taboo is obviously an application of the law of similarity, +which is the basis of homoeopathic magic: as the child's fingers are +entangled by the string in playing cat's cradle, so they will be +entangled by the harpoonline when he is a man and hunts whales. +Again, among the Huzuls of the Carpathian Mountains the wife of a +hunter may not spin while her husband is eating, or the game will +turn and wind like the spindle, and the hunter will be unable to hit +it. Here again the taboo is clearly derived from the law of +similarity. So, too, in most parts of ancient Italy women were +forbidden by law to spin on the highroads as they walked, or even to +carry their spindles openly, because any such action was believed to +injure the crops. Probably the notion was that the twirling of the +spindle would twirl the corn-stalks and prevent them from growing +straight. So, too, among the Ainos of Saghalien a pregnant woman may +not spin nor twist ropes for two months before her delivery, because +they think that if she did so the child's guts might be entangled +like the thread. For a like reason in Bilaspore, a district of +India, when the chief men of a village meet in council, no one +present should twirl a spindle; for they think that if such a thing +were to happen, the discussion, like the spindle, would move in a +circle and never be wound up. In some of the East Indian islands any +one who comes to the house of a hunter must walk straight in; he may +not loiter at the door, for were he to do so, the game would in like +manner stop in front of the hunter's snares and then turn back, +instead of being caught in the trap. For a similar reason it is a +rule with the Toradjas of Central Celebes that no one may stand or +loiter on the ladder of a house where there is a pregnant woman, for +such delay would retard the birth of the child; and in various parts +of Sumatra the woman herself in these circumstances is forbidden to +stand at the door or on the top rung of the house-ladder under pain +of suffering hard labour for her imprudence in neglecting so +elementary a precaution. Malays engaged in the search for camphor +eat their food dry and take care not to pound their salt fine. The +reason is that the camphor occurs in the form of small grains +deposited in the cracks of the trunk of the camphor tree. +Accordingly it seems plain to the Malay that if, while seeking for +camphor, he were to eat his salt finely ground, the camphor would be +found also in fine grains; whereas by eating his salt coarse he +ensures that the grains of the camphor will also be large. Camphor +hunters in Borneo use the leathery sheath of the leaf-stalk of the +Penang palm as a plate for food, and during the whole of the +expedition they will never wash the plate, for fear that the camphor +might dissolve and disappear from the crevices of the tree. +Apparently they think that to wash their plates would be to wash out +the camphor crystals from the trees in which they are imbedded. The +chief product of some parts of Laos, a province of Siam, is lac. +This is a resinous gum exuded by a red insect on the young branches +of trees, to which the little creatures have to be attached by hand. +All who engage in the business of gathering the gum abstain from +washing themselves and especially from cleansing their heads, lest +by removing the parasites from their hair they should detach the +other insects from the boughs. Again, a Blackfoot Indian who has set +a trap for eagles, and is watching it, would not eat rosebuds on any +account; for he argues that if he did so, and an eagle alighted near +the trap, the rosebuds in his own stomach would make the bird itch, +with the result that instead of swallowing the bait the eagle would +merely sit and scratch himself. Following this train of thought the +eagle hunter also refrains from using an awl when he is looking +after his snares; for surely if he were to scratch with an awl, the +eagles would scratch him. The same disastrous consequence would +follow if his wives and children at home used an awl while he is out +after eagles, and accordingly they are forbidden to handle the tool +in his absence for fear of putting him in bodily danger. + +Among the taboos observed by savages none perhaps are more numerous +or important than the prohibitions to eat certain foods, and of such +prohibitions many are demonstrably derived from the law of +similarity and are accordingly examples of negative magic. Just as +the savage eats many animals or plants in order to acquire certain +desirable qualities with which he believes them to be endowed, so he +avoids eating many other animals and plants lest he should acquire +certain undesirable qualities with which he believes them to be +infected. In eating the former he practises positive magic; in +abstaining from the latter he practises negative magic. Many +examples of such positive magic will meet us later on; here I will +give a few instances of such negative magic or taboo. For example, +in Madagascar soldiers are forbidden to eat a number of foods lest +on the principle of homoeopathic magic they should be tainted by +certain dangerous or undesirable properties which are supposed to +inhere in these particular viands. Thus they may not taste hedgehog, +"as it is feared that this animal, from its propensity of coiling up +into a ball when alarmed, will impart a timid shrinking disposition +to those who partake of it." Again, no soldier should eat an ox's +knee, lest like an ox he should become weak in the knees and unable +to march. Further, the warrior should be careful to avoid partaking +of a cock that has died fighting or anything that has been speared +to death; and no male animal may on any account be killed in his +house while he is away at the wars. For it seems obvious that if he +were to eat a cock that had died fighting, he would himself be slain +on the field of battle; if he were to partake of an animal that had +been speared, he would be speared himself; if a male animal were +killed in his house during his absence, he would himself be killed +in like manner and perhaps at the same instant. Further, the +Malagasy soldier must eschew kidneys, because in the Malagasy +language the word for kidney is the same as that for "shot"; so shot +he would certainly be if he ate a kidney. + +The reader may have observed that in some of the foregoing examples +of taboos the magical influence is supposed to operate at +considerable distances; thus among the Blackfeet Indians the wives +and children of an eagle hunter are forbidden to use an awl during +his absence, lest the eagles should scratch the distant husband and +father; and again no male animal may be killed in the house of a +Malagasy soldier while he is away at the wars, lest the killing of +the animal should entail the killing of the man. This belief in the +sympathetic influence exerted on each other by persons or things at +a distance is of the essence of magic. Whatever doubts science may +entertain as to the possibility of action at a distance, magic has +none; faith in telepathy is one of its first principles. A modern +advocate of the influence of mind upon mind at a distance would have +no difficulty in convincing a savage; the savage believed in it long +ago, and what is more, he acted on his belief with a logical +consistency such as his civilised brother in the faith has not yet, +so far as I am aware, exhibited in his conduct. For the savage is +convinced not only that magical ceremonies affect persons and things +afar off, but that the simplest acts of daily life may do so too. +Hence on important occasions the behaviour of friends and relations +at a distance is often regulated by a more or less elaborate code of +rules, the neglect of which by the one set of persons would, it is +supposed, entail misfortune or even death on the absent ones. In +particular when a party of men are out hunting or fighting, their +kinsfolk at home are often expected to do certain things or to +abstain from doing certain others, for the sake of ensuring the +safety and success of the distant hunters or warriors. I will now +give some instances of this magical telepathy both in its positive +and in its negative aspect. + +In Laos when an elephant hunter is starting for the chase, he warns +his wife not to cut her hair or oil her body in his absence; for if +she cut her hair the elephant would burst the toils, if she oiled +herself it would slip through them. When a Dyak village has turned +out to hunt wild pigs in the jungle, the people who stay at home may +not touch oil or water with their hands during the absence of their +friends; for if they did so, the hunters would all be +"butter-fingered" and the prey would slip through their hands. + +Elephant-hunters in East Africa believe that, if their wives prove +unfaithful in their absence, this gives the elephant power over his +pursuer, who will accordingly be killed or severely wounded. Hence +if a hunter hears of his wife's misconduct, he abandons the chase +and returns home. If a Wagogo hunter is unsuccessful, or is attacked +by a lion, he attributes it to his wife's misbehaviour at home, and +returns to her in great wrath. While he is away hunting, she may not +let any one pass behind her or stand in front of her as she sits; +and she must lie on her face in bed. The Moxos Indians of Bolivia +thought that if a hunter's wife was unfaithful to him in his absence +he would be bitten by a serpent or a jaguar. Accordingly, if such an +accident happened to him, it was sure to entail the punishment, and +often the death, of the woman, whether she was innocent or guilty. +An Aleutian hunter of sea-otters thinks that he cannot kill a single +animal if during his absence from home his wife should be unfaithful +or his sister unchaste. + +The Huichol Indians of Mexico treat as a demi-god a species of +cactus which throws the eater into a state of ecstasy. The plant +does not grow in their country, and has to be fetched every year by +men who make a journey of forty-three days for the purpose. +Meanwhile the wives at home contribute to the safety of their absent +husbands by never walking fast, much less running, while the men are +on the road. They also do their best to ensure the benefits which, +in the shape of rain, good crops, and so forth, are expected to flow +from the sacred mission. With this intention they subject themselves +to severe restrictions like those imposed upon their husbands. +During the whole of the time which elapses till the festival of the +cactus is held, neither party washes except on certain occasions, +and then only with water brought from the distant country where the +holy plant grows. They also fast much, eat no salt, and are bound to +strict continence. Any one who breaks this law is punished with +illness, and, moreover, jeopardises the result which all are +striving for. Health, luck, and life are to be gained by gathering +the cactus, the gourd of the God of Fire; but inasmuch as the pure +fire cannot benefit the impure, men and women must not only remain +chaste for the time being, but must also purge themselves from the +taint of past sin. Hence four days after the men have started the +women gather and confess to Grandfather Fire with what men they have +been in love from childhood till now. They may not omit a single +one, for if they did so the men would not find a single cactus. So +to refresh their memories each one prepares a string with as many +knots as she has had lovers. This she brings to the temple, and, +standing before the fire, she mentions aloud all the men she has +scored on her string, name after name. Having ended her confession, +she throws the string into the fire, and when the god has consumed +it in his pure flame, her sins are forgiven her and she departs in +peace. From now on the women are averse even to letting men pass +near them. The cactus-seekers themselves make in like manner a clean +breast of all their frailties. For every peccadillo they tie a knot +on a string, and after they have "talked to all the five winds" they +deliver the rosary of their sins to the leader, who burns it in the +fire. + +Many of the indigenous tribes of Sarawak are firmly persuaded that +were the wives to commit adultery while their husbands are searching +for camphor in the jungle, the camphor obtained by the men would +evaporate. Husbands can discover, by certain knots in the tree, when +the wives are unfaithful; and it is said that in former days many +women were killed by jealous husbands on no better evidence than +that of these knots. Further, the wives dare not touch a comb while +their husbands are away collecting the camphor; for if they did so, +the interstices between the fibres of the tree, instead of being +filled with the precious crystals, would be empty like the spaces +between the teeth of a comb. In the Kei Islands, to the southwest of +New Guinea, as soon as a vessel that is about to sail for a distant +port has been launched, the part of the beach on which it lay is +covered as speedily as possible with palm branches, and becomes +sacred. No one may thenceforth cross that spot till the ship comes +home. To cross it sooner would cause the vessel to perish. Moreover, +all the time that the voyage lasts three or four young girls, +specially chosen for the duty, are supposed to remain in sympathetic +connexion with the mariners and to contribute by their behaviour to +the safety and success of the voyage. On no account, except for the +most necessary purpose, may they quit the room that has been +assigned to them. More than that, so long as the vessel is believed +to be at sea they must remain absolutely motionless, crouched on +their mats with their hands clasped between their knees. They may +not turn their heads to the left or to the right or make any other +movement whatsoever. If they did, it would cause the boat to pitch +and toss; and they may not eat any sticky stuff, such as rice boiled +in coco-nut milk, for the stickiness of the food would clog the +passage of the boat through the water. When the sailors are supposed +to have reached their destination, the strictness of these rules is +somewhat relaxed; but during the whole time that the voyage lasts +the girls are forbidden to eat fish which have sharp bones or +stings, such as the sting-ray, lest their friends at sea should be +involved in sharp, stinging trouble. + +Where beliefs like these prevail as to the sympathetic connexion +between friends at a distance, we need not wonder that above +everything else war, with its stern yet stirring appeal to some of +the deepest and tenderest of human emotions, should quicken in the +anxious relations left behind a desire to turn the sympathetic bond +to the utmost account for the benefit of the dear ones who may at +any moment be fighting and dying far away. Hence, to secure an end +so natural and laudable, friends at home are apt to resort to +devices which will strike us as pathetic or ludicrous, according as +we consider their object or the means adopted to effect it. Thus in +some districts of Borneo, when a Dyak is out head-hunting, his wife +or, if he is unmarried, his sister must wear a sword day and night +in order that he may always be thinking of his weapons; and she may +not sleep during the day nor go to bed before two in the morning, +lest her husband or brother should thereby be surprised in his sleep +by an enemy. Among the Sea Dyaks of Banting in Sarawak the women +strictly observe an elaborate code of rules while the men are away +fighting. Some of the rules are negative and some are positive, but +all alike are based on the principles of magical homoeopathy and +telepathy. Amongst them are the following. The women must wake very +early in the morning and open the windows as soon as it is light; +otherwise their absent husbands will oversleep themselves. The women +may not oil their hair, or the men will slip. The women may neither +sleep nor doze by day, or the men will be drowsy on the march. The +women must cook and scatter popcorn on the verandah every morning; +so will the men be agile in their movements. The rooms must be kept +very tidy, all boxes being placed near the walls; for if any one +were to stumble over them, the absent husbands would fall and be at +the mercy of the foe. At every meal a little rice must be left in +the pot and put aside; so will the men far away always have +something to eat and need never go hungry. On no account may the +women sit at the loom till their legs grow cramped, otherwise their +husbands will likewise be stiff in their joints and unable to rise +up quickly or to run away from the foe. So in order to keep their +husbands' joints supple the women often vary their labours at the +loom by walking up and down the verandah. Further, they may not +cover up their faces, or the men would not to be able to find their +way through the tall grass or jungle. Again, the women may not sew +with a needle, or the men will tread on the sharp spikes set by the +enemy in the path. Should a wife prove unfaithful while her husband +is away, he will lose his life in the enemy's country. Some years +ago all these rules and more were observed by the women of Banting, +while their husbands were fighting for the English against rebels. +But alas! these tender precautions availed them little; for many a +man, whose faithful wife was keeping watch and ward for him at home, +found a soldier's grave. + +In the island of Timor, while war is being waged, the high-priest +never quits the temple; his food is brought to him or cooked inside; +day and night he must keep the fire burning, for if he were to let +it die out, disaster would be fall the warriors and would continue +so long as the hearth was cold. Moreover, he must drink only hot +water during the time the army is absent; for every draught of cold +water would damp the spirits of the people, so that they could not +vanquish the enemy. In the Kei Islands, when the warriors have +departed, the women return indoors and bring out certain baskets +containing fruits and stones. These fruits and stones they anoint +and place on a board, murmuring as they do so, "O lord sun, moon, +let the bullets rebound from our husbands, brothers, betrothed, and +other relations, just as raindrops rebound from these objects which +are smeared with oil." As soon as the first shot is heard, the +baskets are put aside, and the women, seizing their fans, rush out +of the houses. Then, waving their fans in the direction of the +enemy, they run through the village, while they sing, "O golden +fans! let our bullets hit, and those of the enemy miss." In this +custom the ceremony of anointing stones, in order that the bullets +may recoil from the men like raindrops from the stones, is a piece +of pure homoeopathic or imitative magic; but the prayer to the sun, +that he will be pleased to give effect to the charm, is a religious +and perhaps later addition. The waving of the fans seems to be a +charm to direct the bullets towards or away from their mark, +according as they are discharged from the guns of friends or foes. + +An old historian of Madagascar informs us that "while the men are at +the wars, and until their return, the women and girls cease not day +and night to dance, and neither lie down nor take food in their own +houses. And although they are very voluptuously inclined, they would +not for anything in the world have an intrigue with another man +while their husband is at the war, believing firmly that if that +happened, their husband would be either killed or wounded. They +believe that by dancing they impart strength, courage, and good +fortune to their husbands; accordingly during such times they give +themselves no rest, and this custom they observe very religiously." + +Among the Tshi-speaking peoples of the Gold Coast the wives of men +who are away with the army paint themselves white, and adorn their +persons with beads and charms. On the day when a battle is expected +to take place, they run about armed with guns, or sticks carved to +look like guns, and taking green paw-paws (fruits shaped somewhat +like a melon), they hack them with knives, as if they were chopping +off the heads of the foe. The pantomime is no doubt merely an +imitative charm, to enable the men to do to the enemy as the women +do to the paw-paws. In the West African town of Framin, while the +Ashantee war was raging some years ago, Mr. Fitzgerald Marriott saw +a dance performed by women whose husbands had gone as carriers to +the war. They were painted white and wore nothing but a short +petticoat. At their head was a shrivelled old sorceress in a very +short white petticoat, her black hair arranged in a sort of long +projecting horn, and her black face, breasts, arms, and legs +profusely adorned with white circles and crescents. All carried long +white brushes made of buffalo or horse tails, and as they danced +they sang, "Our husbands have gone to Ashanteeland; may they sweep +their enemies off the face of the earth!" + +Among the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, when the men were on +the war-path, the women performed dances at frequent intervals. +These dances were believed to ensure the success of the expedition. +The dancers flourished their knives, threw long sharp-pointed sticks +forward, or drew sticks with hooked ends repeatedly backward and +forward. Throwing the sticks forward was symbolic of piercing or +warding off the enemy, and drawing them back was symbolic of drawing +their own men from danger. The hook at the end of the stick was +particularly well adapted to serve the purpose of a life-saving +apparatus. The women always pointed their weapons towards the +enemy's country. They painted their faces red and sang as they +danced, and they prayed to the weapons to preserve their husbands +and help them to kill many foes. Some had eagle-down stuck on the +points of their sticks. When the dance was over, these weapons were +hidden. If a woman whose husband was at the war thought she saw hair +or a piece of a scalp on the weapon when she took it out, she knew +that her husband had killed an enemy. But if she saw a stain of +blood on it, she knew he was wounded or dead. When the men of the +Yuki tribe in California were away fighting, the women at home did +not sleep; they danced continually in a circle, chanting and waving +leafy wands. For they said that if they danced all the time, their +husbands would not grow tired. Among the Haida Indians of the Queen +Charlotte Islands, when the men had gone to war, the women at home +would get up very early in the morning and pretend to make war by +falling upon their children and feigning to take them for slaves. +This was supposed to help their husbands to go and do likewise. If a +wife were unfaithful to her husband while he was away on the +war-path, he would probably be killed. For ten nights all the women +at home lay with their heads towards the point of the compass to +which the war-canoes had paddled away. Then they changed about, for +the warriors were supposed to be coming home across the sea. At +Masset the Haida women danced and sang war-songs all the time their +husbands were away at the wars, and they had to keep everything +about them in a certain order. It was thought that a wife might kill +her husband by not observing these customs. When a band of Carib +Indians of the Orinoco had gone on the war-path, their friends left +in the village used to calculate as nearly as they could the exact +moment when the absent warriors would be advancing to attack the +enemy. Then they took two lads, laid them down on a bench, and +inflicted a most severe scourging on their bare backs. This the +youths submitted to without a murmur, supported in their sufferings +by the firm conviction, in which they had been bred from childhood, +that on the constancy and fortitude with which they bore the cruel +ordeal depended the valour and success of their comrades in the +battle. + +Among the many beneficent uses to which a mistaken ingenuity has +applied the principle of homoeopathic or imitative magic, is that of +causing trees and plants to bear fruit in due season. In Thüringen +the man who sows flax carries the seed in a long bag which reaches +from his shoulders to his knees, and he walks with long strides, so +that the bag sways to and fro on his back. It is believed that this +will cause the flax to wave in the wind. In the interior of Sumatra +rice is sown by women who, in sowing, let their hair hang loose down +their back, in order that the rice may grow luxuriantly and have +long stalks. Similarly, in ancient Mexico a festival was held in +honour of the goddess of maize, or "the long-haired mother," as she +was called. It began at the time "when the plant had attained its +full growth, and fibres shooting forth from the top of the green ear +indicated that the grain was fully formed. During this festival the +women wore their long hair unbound, shaking and tossing it in the +dances which were the chief feature in the ceremonial, in order that +the tassel of the maize might grow in like profusion, that the grain +might be correspondingly large and flat, and that the people might +have abundance." In many parts of Europe dancing or leaping high in +the air are approved homoeopathic modes of making the crops grow +high. Thus in Franche-Comté they say that you should dance at the +Carnival in order to make the hemp grow tall. + +The notion that a person can influence a plant homoeopathically by +his act or condition comes out clearly in a remark made by a Malay +woman. Being asked why she stripped the upper part of her body naked +in reaping the rice, she explained that she did it to make the +rice-husks thinner, as she was tired of pounding thick-husked rice. +Clearly, she thought that the less clothing she wore the less husk +there would be on the rice. The magic virtue of a pregnant woman to +communicate fertility is known to Bavarian and Austrian peasants, +who think that if you give the first fruit of a tree to a woman with +child to eat, the tree will bring forth abundantly next year. On the +other hand, the Baganda believe that a barren wife infects her +husband's garden with her own sterility and prevents the trees from +bearing fruit; hence a childless woman is generally divorced. The +Greeks and Romans sacrificed pregnant victims to the goddesses of +the corn and of the earth, doubtless in order that the earth might +teem and the corn swell in the ear. When a Catholic priest +remonstrated with the Indians of the Orinoco on allowing their women +to sow the fields in the blazing sun, with infants at their breasts, +the men answered, "Father, you don't understand these things, and +that is why they vex you. You know that women are accustomed to bear +children, and that we men are not. When the women sow, the stalk of +the maize bears two or three ears, the root of the yucca yields two +or three basketfuls, and everything multiplies in proportion. Now +why is that? Simply because the women know how to bring forth, and +know how to make the seed which they sow bring forth also. Let them +sow, then; we men don't know as much about it as they do." + +Thus on the theory of homoeopathic magic a person can influence +vegetation either for good or for evil according to the good or the +bad character of his acts or states: for example, a fruitful woman +makes plants fruitful, a barren woman makes them barren. Hence this +belief in the noxious and infectious nature of certain personal +qualities or accidents has given rise to a number of prohibitions or +rules of avoidance: people abstain from doing certain things lest +they should homoeopathically infect the fruits of the earth with +their own undesirable state or condition. All such customs of +abstention or rules of avoidance are examples of negative magic or +taboo. Thus, for example, arguing from what may be called the +infectiousness of personal acts or states, the Galelareese say that +you ought not to shoot with a bow and arrows under a fruit-tree, or +the tree will cast its fruit even as the arrows fall to the ground; +and that when you are eating water-melon you ought not to mix the +pips which you spit out of your mouth with the pips which you have +put aside to serve as seed; for if you do, though the pips you spat +out may certainly spring up and blossom, yet the blossoms will keep +falling off just as the pips fell from your mouth, and thus these +pips will never bear fruit. Precisely the same train of thought +leads the Bavarian peasant to believe that if he allows the graft of +a fruit-tree to fall on the ground, the tree that springs from that +graft will let its fruit fall untimely. When the Chams of +Cochinchina are sowing their dry rice fields and desire that no +shower should fall, they eat their rice dry in order to prevent rain +from spoiling the crop. + +In the foregoing cases a person is supposed to influence vegetation +homoeopathically. He infects trees or plants with qualities or +accidents, good or bad, resembling and derived from his own. But on +the principle of homoeopathic magic the influence is mutual: the +plant can infect the man just as much as the man can infect the +plant. In magic, as I believe in physics, action and reaction are +equal and opposite. The Cherokee Indians are adepts in practical +botany of the homoeopathic sort. Thus wiry roots of the catgut plant +are so tough that they can almost stop a plowshare in the furrow. +Hence Cherokee women wash their heads with a decoction of the roots +to make the hair strong, and Cherokee ball-players wash themselves +with it to toughen their muscles. It is a Galelareese belief that if +you eat a fruit which has fallen to the ground, you will yourself +contract a disposition to stumble and fall; and that if you partake +of something which has been forgotten (such as a sweet potato left +in the pot or a banana in the fire), you will become forgetful. The +Galelareese are also of opinion that if a woman were to consume two +bananas growing from a single head she would give birth to twins. +The Guarani Indians of South America thought that a woman would +become a mother of twins if she ate a double grain of millet. In +Vedic times a curious application of this principle supplied a charm +by which a banished prince might be restored to his kingdom. He had +to eat food cooked on a fire which was fed with wood which had grown +out of the stump of a tree which had been cut down. The recuperative +power manifested by such a tree would in due course be communicated +through the fire to the food, and so to the prince, who ate the food +which was cooked on the fire which was fed with the wood which grew +out of the tree. The Sudanese think that if a house is built of the +wood of thorny trees, the life of the people who dwell in that house +will likewise be thorny and full of trouble. + +There is a fruitful branch of homoeopathic magic which works by +means of the dead; for just as the dead can neither see nor hear nor +speak, so you may on homoeopathic principles render people blind, +deaf and dumb by the use of dead men's bones or anything else that +is tainted by the infection of death. Thus among the Galelareese, +when a young man goes a-wooing at night, he takes a little earth +from a grave and strews it on the roof of his sweetheart's house +just above the place where her parents sleep. This, he fancies, will +prevent them from waking while he converses with his beloved, since +the earth from the grave will make them sleep as sound as the dead. +Burglars in all ages and many lands have been patrons of this +species of magic, which is very useful to them in the exercise of +their profession. Thus a South Slavonian housebreaker sometimes +begins operations by throwing a dead man's bone over the house, +saying, with pungent sarcasm, "As this bone may waken, so may these +people waken"; after that not a soul in the house can keep his or +her eyes open. Similarly, in Java the burglar takes earth from a +grave and sprinkles it round the house which he intends to rob; this +throws the inmates into a deep sleep. With the same intention a +Hindoo will strew ashes from a pyre at the door of the house; +Indians of Peru scatter the dust of dead men's bones; and Ruthenian +burglars remove the marrow from a human shin-bone, pour tallow into +it, and having kindled the tallow, march thrice round the house with +this candle burning, which causes the inmates to sleep a death-like +sleep. Or the Ruthenian will make a flute out of a human leg-bone +and play upon it; whereupon all persons within hearing are overcome +with drowsiness. The Indians of Mexico employed for this maleficent +purpose the left fore-arm of a woman who had died in giving birth to +her first child; but the arm had to be stolen. With it they beat the +ground before they entered the house which they designed to plunder; +this caused every one in the house to lose all power of speech and +motion; they were as dead, hearing and seeing everything, but +perfectly powerless; some of them, however, really slept and even +snored. In Europe similar properties were ascribed to the Hand of +Glory, which was the dried and pickled hand of a man who had been +hanged. If a candle made of the fat of a malefactor who had also +died on the gallows was lighted and placed in the Hand of Glory as +in a candlestick, it rendered motionless all persons to whom it was +presented; they could not stir a finger any more than if they were +dead. Sometimes the dead man's hand is itself the candle, or rather +bunch of candles, all its withered fingers being set on fire; but +should any member of the household be awake, one of the fingers will +not kindle. Such nefarious lights can only be extinguished with +milk. Often it is prescribed that the thief's candle should be made +of the finger of a new-born or, still better, unborn child; +sometimes it is thought needful that the thief should have one such +candle for every person in the house, for if he has one candle too +little somebody in the house will wake and catch him. Once these +tapers begin to burn, there is nothing but milk that will put them +out. In the seventeenth century robbers used to murder pregnant +women in order thus to extract candles from their wombs. An ancient +Greek robber or burglar thought he could silence and put to flight +the fiercest watchdogs by carrying with him a brand plucked from a +funeral pyre. Again, Servian and Bulgarian women who chafe at the +restraints of domestic life will take the copper coins from the eyes +of a corpse, wash them in wine or water, and give the liquid to +their husbands to drink. After swallowing it, the husband will be as +blind to his wife's peccadilloes as the dead man was on whose eyes +the coins were laid. + +Further, animals are often conceived to possess qualities of +properties which might be useful to man, and homoeopathic or +imitative magic seeks to communicate these properties to human +beings in various ways. Thus some Bechuanas wear a ferret as a +charm, because, being very tenacious of life, it will make them +difficult to kill. Others wear a certain insect, mutilated, but +living, for a similar purpose. Yet other Bechuana warriors wear the +hair of a hornless ox among their own hair, and the skin of a frog +on their mantle, because a frog is slippery, and the ox, having no +horns, is hard to catch; so the man who is provided with these +charms believes that he will be as hard to hold as the ox and the +frog. Again, it seems plain that a South African warrior who twists +tufts of rat's hair among his own curly black locks will have just +as many chances of avoiding the enemy's spear as the nimble rat has +of avoiding things thrown at it; hence in these regions rats' hair +is in great demand when war is expected. One of the ancient books of +India prescribes that when a sacrifice is offered for victory, the +earth out of which the altar is to be made should be taken from a +place where a boar has been wallowing, since the strength of the +boar will be in that earth. When you are playing the one-stringed +lute, and your fingers are stiff, the thing to do is to catch some +long-legged field spiders and roast them, and then rub your fingers +with the ashes; that will make your fingers as lithe and nimble as +the spiders' legs--at least so think the Galelareese. To bring back +a runaway slave an Arab will trace a magic circle on the ground, +stick a nail in the middle of it, and attach a beetle by a thread to +the nail, taking care that the sex of the beetle is that of the +fugitive. As the beetle crawls round and round, it will coil the +thread about the nail, thus shortening its tether and drawing nearer +to the centre at every circuit. So by virtue of homoeopathic magic +the runaway slave will be drawn back to his master. + +Among the western tribes of British New Guinea, a man who has killed +a snake will burn it and smear his legs with the ashes when he goes +into the forest; for no snake will bite him for some days +afterwards. If a South Slavonian has a mind to pilfer and steal at +market, he has nothing to do but to burn a blind cat, and then throw +a pinch of its ashes over the person with whom he is higgling; after +that he can take what he likes from the booth, and the owner will +not be a bit the wiser, having become as blind as the deceased cat +with whose ashes he has been sprinkled. The thief may even ask +boldly, "Did I pay for it?" and the deluded huckster will reply, +"Why, certainly." Equally simple and effectual is the expedient +adopted by natives of Central Australia who desire to cultivate +their beards. They prick the chin all over with a pointed bone, and +then stroke it carefully with a magic stick or stone, which +represents a kind of rat that has very long whiskers. The virtue of +these whiskers naturally passes into the representative stick or +stone, and thence by an easy transition to the chin, which, +consequently, is soon adorned with a rich growth of beard. The +ancient Greeks thought that to eat the flesh of the wakeful +nightingale would prevent a man from sleeping; that to smear the +eyes of a blear-sighted person with the gall of an eagle would give +him the eagle's vision; and that a raven's eggs would restore the +blackness of the raven to silvery hair. Only the person who adopted +this last mode of concealing the ravages of time had to be most +careful to keep his mouth full of oil all the time he applied the +eggs to his venerable locks, else his teeth as well as his hair +would be dyed raven black, and no amount of scrubbing and scouring +would avail to whiten them again. The hair-restorer was in fact a +shade too powerful, and in applying it you might get more than you +bargained for. + +The Huichol Indians admire the beautiful markings on the backs of +serpents. Hence when a Huichol woman is about to weave or embroider, +her husband catches a large serpent and holds it in a cleft stick, +while the woman strokes the reptile with one hand down the whole +length of its back; then she passes the same hand over her forehead +and eyes, that she may be able to work as beautiful patterns in the +web as the markings on the back of the serpent. + +On the principle of homoeopathic magic, inanimate things, as well as +plants and animals, may diffuse blessing or bane around them, +according to their own intrinsic nature and the skill of the wizard +to tap or dam, as the case may be, the stream of weal or woe. In +Samaracand women give a baby sugar candy to suck and put glue in the +palm of its hand, in order that, when the child grows up, his words +may be sweet and precious things may stick to his hands as if they +were glued. The Greeks thought that a garment made from the fleece +of a sheep that had been torn by a wolf would hurt the wearer, +setting up an itch or irritation in his skin. They were also of +opinion that if a stone which had been bitten by a dog were dropped +in wine, it would make all who drank of that wine to fall out among +themselves. Among the Arabs of Moab a childless woman often borrows +the robe of a woman who has had many children, hoping with the robe +to acquire the fruitfulness of its owner. The Caffres of Sofala, in +East Africa, had a great dread of being struck with anything hollow, +such as a reed or a straw, and greatly preferred being thrashed with +a good thick cudgel or an iron bar, even though it hurt very much. +For they thought that if a man were beaten with anything hollow, his +inside would waste away till he died. In eastern seas there is a +large shell which the Buginese of Celebes call the "old man" +(_kadjâwo_). On Fridays they turn these "old men" upside down and +place them on the thresholds of their houses, believing that whoever +then steps over the threshold of the house will live to be old. At +initiation a Brahman boy is made to tread with his right foot on a +stone, while the words are repeated, "Tread on this stone; like a +stone be firm"; and the same ceremony is performed, with the same +words, by a Brahman bride at her marriage. In Madagascar a mode of +counteracting the levity of fortune is to bury a stone at the foot +of the heavy house-post. The common custom of swearing upon a stone +may be based partly on a belief that the strength and stability of +the stone lend confirmation to an oath. Thus the old Danish +historian Saxo Grammaticus tells us that "the ancients, when they +were to choose a king, were wont to stand on stones planted in the +ground, and to proclaim their votes, in order to foreshadow from the +steadfastness of the stones that the deed would be lasting." + +But while a general magical efficacy may be supposed to reside in +all stones by reason of their common properties of weight and +solidity, special magical virtues are attributed to particular +stones, or kinds of stone, in accordance with their individual or +specific qualities of shape and colour. For example, the Indians of +Peru employed certain stones for the increase of maize, others for +the increase of potatoes, and others again for the increase of +cattle. The stones used to make maize grow were fashioned in the +likeness of cobs of maize, and the stones destined to multiply +cattle had the shape of sheep. + +In some parts of Melanesia a like belief prevails that certain +sacred stones are endowed with miraculous powers which correspond in +their nature to the shape of the stone. Thus a piece of water-worn +coral on the beach often bears a surprising likeness to a +bread-fruit. Hence in the Banks Islands a man who finds such a coral +will lay it at the root of one of his bread-fruit trees in the +expectation that it will make the tree bear well. If the result +answers his expectation, he will then, for a proper remuneration, +take stones of less-marked character from other men and let them lie +near his, in order to imbue them with the magic virtue which resides +in it. Similarly, a stone with little discs upon it is good to bring +in money; and if a man found a large stone with a number of small +ones under it, like a sow among her litter, he was sure that to +offer money upon it would bring him pigs. In these and similar cases +the Melanesians ascribe the marvellous power, not to the stone +itself, but to its indwelling spirit; and sometimes, as we have just +seen, a man endeavours to propitiate the spirit by laying down +offerings on the stone. But the conception of spirits that must be +propitiated lies outside the sphere of magic, and within that of +religion. Where such a conception is found, as here, in conjunction +with purely magical ideas and practices, the latter may generally be +assumed to be the original stock on which the religious conception +has been at some later time engrafted. For there are strong grounds +for thinking that, in the evolution of thought, magic has preceded +religion. But to this point we shall return presently. + +The ancients set great store on the magical qualities of precious +stones; indeed it has been maintained, with great show of reason, +that such stones were used as amulets long before they were worn as +mere ornaments. Thus the Greeks gave the name of tree-agate to a +stone which exhibits tree-like markings, and they thought that if +two of these gems were tied to the horns or necks of oxen at the +plough, the crop would be sure to be plentiful. Again, they +recognised a milkstone which produced an abundant supply of milk in +women if only they drank it dissolved in honey-mead. Milk-stones are +used for the same purpose by Greek women in Crete and Melos at the +present day; in Albania nursing mothers wear the stones in order to +ensure an abundant flow of milk. Again, the Greeks believed in a +stone which cured snake-bites, and hence was named the snake-stone; +to test its efficacy you had only to grind the stone to powder and +sprinkle the powder on the wound. The wine-coloured amethyst +received its name, which means "not drunken," because it was +supposed to keep the wearer of it sober; and two brothers who +desired to live at unity were advised to carry magnets about with +them, which, by drawing the twain together, would clearly prevent +them from falling out. + +The ancient books of the Hindoos lay down a rule that after sunset +on his marriage night a man should sit silent with his wife till the +stars begin to twinkle in the sky. When the pole-star appears, he +should point it out to her, and, addressing the star, say, "Firm art +thou; I see thee, the firm one. Firm be thou with me, O thriving +one!" Then, turning to his wife, he should say, "To me Brihaspati +has given thee; obtaining offspring through me, thy husband, live +with me a hundred autumns." The intention of the ceremony is plainly +to guard against the fickleness of fortune and the instability of +earthly bliss by the steadfast influence of the constant star. It is +the wish expressed in Keats's last sonnet: + + + Bright star! would I were steadfast as thou art-- + Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night. + + +Dwellers by the sea cannot fail to be impressed by the sight of its +ceaseless ebb and flow, and are apt, on the principles of that rude +philosophy of sympathy and resemblance which here engages our +attention, to trace a subtle relation, a secret harmony, between its +tides and the life of man, of animals, and of plants. In the flowing +tide they see not merely a symbol, but a cause of exuberance, of +prosperity, and of life, while in the ebbing tide they discern a +real agent as well as a melancholy emblem of failure, of weakness, +and of death. The Breton peasant fancies that clover sown when the +tide is coming in will grow well, but that if the plant be sown at +low water or when the tide is going out, it will never reach +maturity, and that the cows which feed on it will burst. His wife +believes that the best butter is made when the tide has just turned +and is beginning to flow, that milk which foams in the churn will go +on foaming till the hour of high water is past, and that water drawn +from the well or milk extracted from the cow while the tide is +rising will boil up in the pot or saucepan and overflow into the +fire. According to some of the ancients, the skins of seals, even +after they had been parted from their bodies, remained in secret +sympathy with the sea, and were observed to ruffle when the tide was +on the ebb. Another ancient belief, attributed to Aristotle, was +that no creature can die except at ebb tide. The belief, if we can +trust Pliny, was confirmed by experience, so far as regards human +beings, on the coast of France. Philostratus also assures us that at +Cadiz dying people never yielded up the ghost while the water was +high. A like fancy still lingers in some parts of Europe. On the +Cantabrian coast they think that persons who die of chronic or acute +disease expire at the moment when the tide begins to recede. In +Portugal, all along the coast of Wales, and on some parts of the +coast of Brittany, a belief is said to prevail that people are born +when the tide comes in, and die when it goes out. Dickens attests +the existence of the same superstition in England. "People can't +die, along the coast," said Mr. Pegotty, "except when the tide's +pretty nigh out. They can't be born, unless it's pretty nigh in--not +properly born till flood." The belief that most deaths happen at ebb +tide is said to be held along the east coast of England from +Northumberland to Kent. Shakespeare must have been familiar with it, +for he makes Falstaff die "even just between twelve and one, e'en at +the turning o' the tide." We meet the belief again on the Pacific +coast of North America among the Haidas. Whenever a good Haida is +about to die he sees a canoe manned by some of his dead friends, who +come with the tide to bid him welcome to the spirit land. "Come with +us now," they say, "for the tide is about to ebb and we must +depart." At Port Stephens, in New South Wales, the natives always +buried their dead at flood tide, never at ebb, lest the retiring +water should bear the soul of the departed to some distant country. + +To ensure a long life the Chinese have recourse to certain +complicated charms, which concentrate in themselves the magical +essence emanating, on homoeopathic principles, from times and +seasons, from persons and from things. The vehicles employed to +transmit these happy influences are no other than grave-clothes. +These are provided by many Chinese in their lifetime, and most +people have them cut out and sewn by an unmarried girl or a very +young woman, wisely calculating that, since such a person is likely +to live a great many years to come, a part of her capacity to live +long must surely pass into the clothes, and thus stave off for many +years the time when they shall be put to their proper use. Further, +the garments are made by preference in a year which has an +intercalary month; for to the Chinese mind it seems plain that +grave-clothes made in a year which is unusually long will possess +the capacity of prolonging life in an unusually high degree. Amongst +the clothes there is one robe in particular on which special pains +have been lavished to imbue it with this priceless quality. It is a +long silken gown of the deepest blue colour, with the word +"longevity" embroidered all over it in thread of gold. To present an +aged parent with one of these costly and splendid mantles, known as +"longevity garments," is esteemed by the Chinese an act of filial +piety and a delicate mark of attention. As the garment purports to +prolong the life of its owner, he often wears it, especially on +festive occasions, in order to allow the influence of longevity, +created by the many golden letters with which it is bespangled, to +work their full effect upon his person. On his birthday, above all, +he hardly ever fails to don it, for in China common sense bids a man +lay in a large stock of vital energy on his birthday, to be expended +in the form of health and vigour during the rest of the year. +Attired in the gorgeous pall, and absorbing its blessed influence at +every pore, the happy owner receives complacently the +congratulations of friends and relations, who warmly express their +admiration of these magnificent cerements, and of the filial piety +which prompted the children to bestow so beautiful and useful a +present on the author of their being. + +Another application of the maxim that like produces like is seen in +the Chinese belief that the fortunes of a town are deeply affected +by its shape, and that they must vary according to the character of +the thing which that shape most nearly resembles. Thus it is related +that long ago the town of Tsuen-cheu-fu, the outlines of which are +like those of a carp, frequently fell a prey to the depredations of +the neighbouring city of Yung-chun, which is shaped like a +fishing-net, until the inhabitants of the former town conceived the +plan of erecting two tall pagodas in their midst. These pagodas, +which still tower above the city of Tsuen-cheu-fu, have ever since +exercised the happiest influence over its destiny by intercepting +the imaginary net before it could descend and entangle in its meshes +the imaginary carp. Some forty years ago the wise men of Shanghai +were much exercised to discover the cause of a local rebellion. On +careful enquiry they ascertained that the rebellion was due to the +shape of a large new temple which had most unfortunately been built +in the shape of a tortoise, an animal of the very worst character. +The difficulty was serious, the danger was pressing; for to pull +down the temple would have been impious, and to let it stand as it +was would be to court a succession of similar or worse disasters. +However, the genius of the local professors of geomancy, rising to +the occasion, triumphantly surmounted the difficulty and obviated +the danger. By filling up two wells, which represented the eyes of +the tortoise, they at once blinded that disreputable animal and +rendered him incapable of doing further mischief. + +Sometimes homoeopathic or imitative magic is called in to annul an +evil omen by accomplishing it in mimicry. The effect is to +circumvent destiny by substituting a mock calamity for a real one. +In Madagascar this mode of cheating the fates is reduced to a +regular system. Here every man's fortune is determined by the day or +hour of his birth, and if that happens to be an unlucky one his fate +is sealed, unless the mischief can be extracted, as the phrase goes, +by means of a substitute. The ways of extracting the mischief are +various. For example, if a man is born on the first day of the +second month (February), his house will be burnt down when he comes +of age. To take time by the forelock and avoid this catastrophe, the +friends of the infant will set up a shed in a field or in the +cattle-fold and burn it. If the ceremony is to be really effective, +the child and his mother should be placed in the shed and only +plucked, like brands, from the burning hut before it is too late. +Again, dripping November is the month of tears, and he who is born +in it is born to sorrow. But in order to disperse the clouds that +thus gather over his future, he has nothing to do but to take the +lid off a boiling pot and wave it about. The drops that fall from it +will accomplish his destiny and so prevent the tears from trickling +from his eyes. Again, if fate has decreed that a young girl, still +unwed, should see her children, still unborn, descend before her +with sorrow to the grave, she can avert the calamity as follows. She +kills a grasshopper, wraps it in a rag to represent a shroud, and +mourns over it like Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to +be comforted. Moreover, she takes a dozen or more other +grasshoppers, and having removed some of their superfluous legs and +wings she lays them about their dead and shrouded fellow. The buzz +of the tortured insects and the agitated motions of their mutilated +limbs represent the shrieks and contortions of the mourners at a +funeral. After burying the deceased grasshopper she leaves the rest +to continue their mourning till death releases them from their pain; +and having bound up her dishevelled hair she retires from the grave +with the step and carriage of a person plunged in grief. Thenceforth +she looks cheerfully forward to seeing her children survive her; for +it cannot be that she should mourn and bury them twice over. Once +more, if fortune has frowned on a man at his birth and penury has +marked him for her own, he can easily erase the mark in question by +purchasing a couple of cheap pearls, price three halfpence, and +burying them. For who but the rich of this world can thus afford to +fling pearls away? + + + +3. Contagious Magic + +THUS far we have been considering chiefly that branch of sympathetic +magic which may be called homoeopathic or imitative. Its leading +principle, as we have seen, is that like produces like, or, in other +words, that an effect resembles its cause. The other great branch of +sympathetic magic, which I have called Contagious Magic, proceeds +upon the notion that things which have once been conjoined must +remain ever afterwards, even when quite dissevered from each other, +in such a sympathetic relation that whatever is done to the one must +similarly affect the other. Thus the logical basis of Contagious +Magic, like that of Homoeopathic Magic, is a mistaken association of +ideas; its physical basis, if we may speak of such a thing, like the +physical basis of Homoeopathic Magic, is a material medium of some +sort which, like the ether of modern physics, is assumed to unite +distant objects and to convey impressions from one to the other. The +most familiar example of Contagious Magic is the magical sympathy +which is supposed to exist between a man and any severed portion of +his person, as his hair or nails; so that whoever gets possession of +human hair or nails may work his will, at any distance, upon the +person from whom they were cut. This superstition is world-wide; +instances of it in regard to hair and nails will be noticed later on +in this work. + +Among the Australian tribes it was a common practice to knock out +one or more of a boy's front teeth at those ceremonies of initiation +to which every male member had to submit before he could enjoy the +rights and privileges of a full-grown man. The reason of the +practice is obscure; all that concerns us here is the belief that a +sympathetic relation continued to exist between the lad and his +teeth after the latter had been extracted from his gums. Thus among +some of the tribes about the river Darling, in New South Wales, the +extracted tooth was placed under the bark of a tree near a river or +water-hole; if the bark grew over the tooth, or if the tooth fell +into the water, all was well; but if it were exposed and the ants +ran over it, the natives believed that the boy would suffer from a +disease of the mouth. Among the Murring and other tribes of New +South Wales the extracted tooth was at first taken care of by an old +man, and then passed from one headman to another, until it had gone +all round the community, when it came back to the lad's father, and +finally to the lad himself. But however it was thus conveyed from +hand to hand, it might on no account be placed in a bag containing +magical substances, for to do so would, they believed, put the owner +of the tooth in great danger. The late Dr. Howitt once acted as +custodian of the teeth which had been extracted from some novices at +a ceremony of initiation, and the old men earnestly besought him not +to carry them in a bag in which they knew that he had some quartz +crystals. They declared that if he did so the magic of the crystals +would pass into the teeth, and so injure the boys. Nearly a year +after Dr. Howitt's return from the ceremony he was visited by one of +the principal men of the Murring tribe, who had travelled some two +hundred and fifty miles from his home to fetch back the teeth. This +man explained that he had been sent for them because one of the boys +had fallen into ill health, and it was believed that the teeth had +received some injury which had affected him. He was assured that the +teeth had been kept in a box apart from any substances, like quartz +crystals, which could influence them; and he returned home bearing +the teeth with him carefully wrapt up and concealed. + +The Basutos are careful to conceal their extracted teeth, lest these +should fall into the hands of certain mythical beings who haunt +graves, and who could harm the owner of the tooth by working magic +on it. In Sussex some fifty years ago a maid-servant remonstrated +strongly against the throwing away of children's cast teeth, +affirming that should they be found and gnawed by any animal, the +child's new tooth would be, for all the world, like the teeth of the +animal that had bitten the old one. In proof of this she named old +Master Simmons, who had a very large pig's tooth in his upper jaw, a +personal defect that he always averred was caused by his mother, who +threw away one of his cast teeth by accident into the hog's trough. +A similar belief has led to practices intended, on the principles of +homoeopathic magic, to replace old teeth by new and better ones. +Thus in many parts of the world it is customary to put extracted +teeth in some place where they will be found by a mouse or a rat, in +the hope that, through the sympathy which continues to subsist +between them and their former owner, his other teeth may acquire the +same firmness and excellence as the teeth of these rodents. 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 should +insert it in a mouse's hole. To do so with a child's milk-tooth +which has fallen out will prevent the child from having toothache. +Or you should go behind the stove and throw your tooth backwards +over your head, saying "Mouse, give me your iron tooth; I will give +you my bone tooth." After that your other teeth will remain good. +Far away from Europe, at Raratonga, in the Pacific, when a child's +tooth was extracted, the following prayer used to be recited: + + + "Big rat! little rat! + Here is my old tooth. + Pray give me a new one." + + +Then the tooth was thrown on the thatch of the house, because rats +make their nests in the decayed thatch. The reason assigned for +invoking the rats on these occasions was that rats' teeth were the +strongest known to the natives. + +Other parts which are commonly believed to remain in a sympathetic +union with the body, after the physical connexion has been severed, +are the navel-string and the afterbirth, including the placenta. So +intimate, indeed, is the union conceived to be, that the fortunes of +the individual for good or evil throughout life are often supposed +to be bound up with one or other of these portions of his person, so +that if his navel-string or afterbirth is preserved and properly +treated, he will be prosperous; whereas if it be injured or lost, he +will suffer accordingly. Thus certain tribes of Western Australia +believe that a man swims well or ill, according as his mother at his +birth threw the navel-string into water or not. Among the natives on +the Pennefather River in Queensland it is believed that a part of +the child's spirit (_cho-i_) stays in the afterbirth. Hence the +grandmother takes the afterbirth away and buries it in the sand. She +marks the spot by a number of twigs which she sticks in the ground +in a circle, tying their tops together so that the structure +resembles a cone. When Anjea, the being who causes conception in +women by putting mud babies into their wombs, comes along and sees +the place, he takes out the spirit and carries it away to one of his +haunts, such as a tree, a hole in a rock, or a lagoon where it may +remain for years. But sometime or other he will put the spirit again +into a baby, and it will be born once more into the world. In +Ponape, one of the Caroline Islands, the navel-string is placed in a +shell and then disposed of in such a way as shall best adapt the +child for the career which the parents have chosen for him; for +example, if they wish to make him a good climber, they will hang the +navel-string on a tree. The Kei islanders regard the navel-string as +the brother or sister of the child, according to the sex of the +infant. They put it in a pot with ashes, and set it in the branches +of a tree, that it may keep a watchful eye on the fortunes of its +comrade. Among the Bataks of Sumatra, as among many other peoples of +the Indian Archipelago, the placenta passes for the child's younger +brother or sister, the sex being determined by the sex of the child, +and it is buried under the house. According to the Bataks it is +bound up with the child's welfare, and seems, in fact, to be the +seat of the transferable soul, of which we shall hear something +later on. The Karo Bataks even affirm that of a man's two souls it +is the true soul that lives with the placenta under the house; that +is the soul, they say, which begets children. + +The Baganda believe that every person is born with a double, and +this double they identify with the afterbirth, which they regard as +a second child. The mother buries the afterbirth at the root of a +plantain tree, which then becomes sacred until the fruit has +ripened, when it is plucked to furnish a sacred feast for the +family. Among the Cherokees the navel-string of a girl is buried +under a corn-mortar, in order that the girl may grow up to be a good +baker; but the navel-string of a boy is hung up on a tree in the +woods, in order that he may be a hunter. The Incas of Peru preserved +the navel-string with the greatest care, and gave it to the child to +suck whenever it fell ill. In ancient Mexico they used to give a +boy's navel-string to soldiers, to be buried by them on a field of +battle, in order that the boy might thus acquire a passion for war. +But the navel-string of a girl was buried beside the domestic +hearth, because this was believed to inspire her with a love of home +and taste for cooking and baking. + +Even in Europe many people still believe that a person's destiny is +more or less bound up with that of his navel-string or afterbirth. +Thus in Rhenish Bavaria the navel-string is kept for a while wrapt +up in a piece of old linen, and then cut or pricked to pieces +according as the child is a boy or a girl, in order that he or she +may grow up to be a skilful workman or a good sempstress. In Berlin +the midwife commonly delivers the dried navel-string to the father +with a strict injunction to preserve it carefully, for so long as it +is kept the child will live and thrive and be free from sickness. In +Beauce and Perche the people are careful to throw the navel-string +neither into water nor into fire, believing that if that were done +the child would be drowned or burned. + +Thus in many parts of the world the navel-string, or more commonly +the afterbirth, is regarded as a living being, the brother or sister +of the infant, or as the material object in which the guardian +spirit of the child or part of its soul resides. Further, the +sympathetic connexion supposed to exist between a person and his +afterbirth or navel-string comes out very clearly in the widespread +custom of treating the afterbirth or navel-string in ways which are +supposed to influence for life the character and career of the +person, making him, if it is a man, a nimble climber, a strong +swimmer, a skilful hunter, or a brave soldier, and making her, if it +is a woman, a cunning sempstress, a good baker, and so forth. Thus +the beliefs and usages concerned with the afterbirth or placenta, +and to a less extent with the navel-string, present a remarkable +parallel to the widespread doctrine of the transferable or external +soul and the customs founded on it. Hence it is hardly rash to +conjecture that the resemblance is no mere chance coincidence, but +that in the afterbirth or placenta we have a physical basis (not +necessarily the only one) for the theory and practice of the +external soul. The consideration of that subject is reserved for a +later part of this work. + +A curious application of the doctrine of contagious magic is the +relation commonly believed to exist between a wounded man and the +agent of the wound, so that whatever is subsequently done by or to +the agent must correspondingly affect the patient either for good or +evil. Thus Pliny tells us that if you have wounded a man and are +sorry for it, you have only to spit on the hand that gave the wound, +and the pain of the sufferer will be instantly alleviated. In +Melanesia, if a man's friends get possession of the arrow which +wounded him, they keep it in a damp place or in cool leaves, for +then the inflammation will be trifling and will soon subside. +Meantime the enemy who shot the arrow is hard at work to aggravate +the wound by all the means in his power. For this purpose he and his +friends drink hot and burning juices and chew irritating leaves, for +this will clearly inflame and irritate the wound. Further, they keep +the bow near the fire to make the wound which it has inflicted hot; +and for the same reason they put the arrow-head, if it has been +recovered, into the fire. Moreover, they are careful to keep the +bow-string taut and to twang it occasionally, for this will cause +the wounded man to suffer from tension of the nerves and spasms of +tetanus. "It is constantly received and avouched," says Bacon, "that +the anointing of the weapon that maketh the wound will heal the +wound itself. In this experiment, upon the relation of men of credit +(though myself, as yet, am not fully inclined to believe it), you +shall note the points following: first, the ointment wherewith this +is done is made of divers ingredients, whereof the strangest and +hardest to come by are the moss upon the skull of a dead man +unburied, and the fats of a boar and a bear killed in the act of +generation." The precious ointment compounded out of these and other +ingredients was applied, as the philosopher explains, not to the +wound but to the weapon, and that even though the injured man was at +a great distance and knew nothing about it. The experiment, he tells +us, had been tried of wiping the ointment off the weapon without the +knowledge of the person hurt, with the result that he was presently +in a great rage of pain until the weapon was anointed again. +Moreover, "it is affirmed that if you cannot get the weapon, yet if +you put an instrument of iron or wood resembling the weapon into the +wound, whereby it bleedeth, the anointing of that instrument will +serve and work the effect." Remedies of the sort which Bacon deemed +worthy of his attention are still in vogue in the eastern counties +of England. Thus in Suffolk if a man cuts himself with a bill-hook +or a scythe he always takes care to keep the weapon bright, and oils +it to prevent the wound from festering. If he runs a thorn or, as he +calls it, a bush into his hand, he oils or greases the extracted +thorn. A man came to a doctor with an inflamed hand, having run a +thorn into it while he was hedging. On being told that the hand was +festering, he remarked, "That didn't ought to, for I greased the +bush well after I pulled it out." If a horse wounds its foot by +treading on a nail, a Suffolk groom will invariably preserve the +nail, clean it, and grease it every day, to prevent the foot from +festering. Similarly Cambridgeshire labourers think that if a horse +has run a nail into its foot, it is necessary to grease the nail +with lard or oil and put it away in some safe place, or the horse +will not recover. A few years ago a veterinary surgeon was sent for +to attend a horse which had ripped its side open on the hinge of a +farm gatepost. On arriving at the farm he found that nothing had +been done for the wounded horse, but that a man was busy trying to +pry the hinge out of the gatepost in order that it might be greased +and put away, which, in the opinion of the Cambridge wiseacres, +would conduce to the recovery of the animal. Similarly Essex rustics +opine that, if a man has been stabbed with a knife, it is essential +to his recovery that the knife should be greased and laid across the +bed on which the sufferer is lying. So in Bavaria you are directed +to anoint a linen rag with grease and tie it on the edge of the axe +that cut you, taking care to keep the sharp edge upwards. As the +grease on the axe dries, your wound heals. Similarly in the Harz +Mountains they say that if you cut yourself, you ought to smear the +knife or the scissors with fat and put the instrument away in a dry +place in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. +As the knife dries, the wound heals. Other people, however, in +Germany say that you should stick the knife in some damp place in +the ground, and that your hurt will heal as the knife rusts. Others +again, in Bavaria, recommend you to smear the axe or whatever it is +with blood and put it under the eaves. + +The train of reasoning which thus commends itself to English and +German rustics, in common with the savages of Melanesia and America, +is carried a step further by the aborigines of Central Australia, +who conceive that under certain circumstances the near relations of +a wounded man must grease themselves, restrict their diet, and +regulate their behaviour in other ways in order to ensure his +recovery. Thus when a lad has been circumcised and the wound is not +yet healed, his mother may not eat opossum, or a certain kind of +lizard, or carpet snake, or any kind of fat, for otherwise she would +retard the healing of the boy's wound. Every day she greases her +digging-sticks and never lets them out of her sight; at night she +sleeps with them close to her head. No one is allowed to touch them. +Every day also she rubs her body all over with grease, as in some +way this is believed to help her son's recovery. Another refinement +of the same principle is due to the ingenuity of the German peasant. +It is said that when one of his pigs or sheep breaks its leg, a +farmer of Rhenish Bavaria or Hesse will bind up the leg of a chair +with bandages and splints in due form. For some days thereafter no +one may sit on that chair, move it, or knock up against it; for to +do so would pain the injured pig or sheep and hinder the cure. In +this last case it is clear that we have passed wholly out of the +region of contagious magic and into the region of homoeopathic or +imitative magic; the chair-leg, which is treated instead of the +beast's leg, in no sense belongs to the animal, and the application +of bandages to it is a mere simulation of the treatment which a more +rational surgery would bestow on the real patient. + +The sympathetic connexion supposed to exist between a man and the +weapon which has wounded him is probably founded on the notion that +the blood on the weapon continues to feel with the blood in his +body. For a like reason the Papuans of Tumleo, an island off New +Guinea, are careful to throw into the sea the bloody bandages with +which their wounds have been dressed, for they fear that if these +rags fell into the hands of an enemy he might injure them magically +thereby. Once when a man with a wound in his mouth, which bled +constantly, came to the missionaries to be treated, his faithful +wife took great pains to collect all the blood and cast it into the +sea. Strained and unnatural as this idea may seem to us, it is +perhaps less so than the belief that magic sympathy is maintained +between a person and his clothes, so that whatever is done to the +clothes will be felt by the man himself, even though he may be far +away at the time. In the Wotjobaluk tribe of Victoria a wizard would +sometimes get hold of a man's opossum rug and roast it slowly in the +fire, and as he did so the owner of the rug would fall sick. If the +wizard consented to undo the charm, he would give the rug back to +the sick man's friends, bidding them put it in water, "so as to wash +the fire out." When that happened, the sufferer would feel a +refreshing coolness and probably recover. In Tanna, one of the New +Hebrides, a man who had a grudge at another and desired his death +would try to get possession of a cloth which had touched the sweat +of his enemy's body. If he succeeded, he rubbed the cloth carefully +over with the leaves and twigs of a certain tree, rolled and bound +cloth, twigs, and leaves into a long sausage-shaped bundle, and +burned it slowly in the fire. As the bundle was consumed, the victim +fell ill, and when it was reduced to ashes, he died. In this last +form of enchantment, however, the magical sympathy may be supposed +to exist not so much between the man and the cloth as between the +man and the sweat which issued from his body. But in other cases of +the same sort it seems that the garment by itself is enough to give +the sorcerer a hold upon his victim. The witch in Theocritus, while +she melted an image or lump of wax in order that her faithless lover +might melt with love of her, did not forget to throw into the fire a +shred of his cloak which he had dropped in her house. In Prussia +they say that if you cannot catch a thief, the next best thing you +can do is to get hold of a garment which he may have shed in his +flight; for if you beat it soundly, the thief will fall sick. This +belief is firmly rooted in the popular mind. Some eighty or ninety +years ago, in the neighbourhood of Berend, a man was detected trying +to steal honey, and fled, leaving his coat behind him. When he heard +that the enraged owner of the honey was mauling his lost coat, he +was so alarmed that he took to his bed and died. + +Again, magic may be wrought on a man sympathetically, not only +through his clothes and severed parts of himself, but also through +the impressions left by his body in sand or earth. In particular, it +is a world-wide superstition that by injuring footprints you injure +the feet that made them. Thus the natives of South-eastern Australia +think that they can lame a man by placing sharp pieces of quartz, +glass, bone, or charcoal in his footprints. Rheumatic pains are +often attributed by them to this cause. Seeing a Tatungolung man +very lame, Mr. Howitt asked him what was the matter. He said, "some +fellow has put _bottle_ in my foot." He was suffering from +rheumatism, but believed that an enemy had found his foot-track and +had buried it in a piece of broken bottle, the magical influence of +which had entered his foot. + +Similar practices prevail in various parts of Europe. Thus in +Mecklenburg it is thought that if you drive a nail into a man's +footprint he will fall lame; sometimes it is required that the nail +should be taken from a coffin. A like mode of injuring an enemy is +resorted to in some parts of France. It is said that there was an +old woman who used to frequent Stow in Suffolk, and she was a witch. +If, while she walked, any one went after her and stuck a nail or a +knife into her footprint in the dust, the dame could not stir a step +till it was withdrawn. Among the South Slavs a girl will dig up the +earth from the footprints of the man she loves and put it in a +flower-pot. Then she plants in the pot a marigold, a flower that is +thought to be fadeless. And as its golden blossom grows and blooms +and never fades, so shall her sweetheart's love grow and bloom, and +never, never fade. Thus the love-spell acts on the man through the +earth he trod on. An old Danish mode of concluding a treaty was +based on the same idea of the sympathetic connexion between a man +and his footprints: the covenanting parties sprinkled each other's +footprints with their own blood, thus giving a pledge of fidelity. +In ancient Greece superstitions of the same sort seem to have been +current, for it was thought that if a horse stepped on the track of +a wolf he was seized with numbness; and a maxim ascribed to +Pythagoras forbade people to pierce a man's footprints with a nail +or a knife. + +The same superstition is turned to account by hunters in many parts +of the world for the purpose of running down the game. Thus a German +huntsman will stick a nail taken from a coffin into the fresh spoor +of the quarry, believing that this will hinder the animal from +escaping. The aborigines of Victoria put hot embers in the tracks of +the animals they were pursuing. Hottentot hunters throw into the air +a handful of sand taken from the footprints of the game, believing +that this will bring the animal down. Thompson Indians used to lay +charms on the tracks of wounded deer; after that they deemed it +superfluous to pursue the animal any further that day, for being +thus charmed it could not travel far and would soon die. Similarly, +Ojebway Indians placed "medicine" on the track of the first deer or +bear they met with, supposing that this would soon bring the animal +into sight, even if it were two or three days' journey off; for this +charm had power to compress a journey of several days into a few +hours. Ewe hunters of West Africa stab the footprints of game with a +sharp-pointed stick in order to maim the quarry and allow them to +come up with it. + +But though the footprint is the most obvious it is not the only +impression made by the body through which magic may be wrought on a +man. The aborigines of South-eastern Australia believe that a man +may be injured by burying sharp fragments of quartz, glass, and so +forth in the mark made by his reclining body; the magical virtue of +these sharp things enters his body and causes those acute pains +which the ignorant European puts down to rheumatism. We can now +understand why it was a maxim with the Pythagoreans that in rising +from bed you should smooth away the impression left by your body on +the bed-clothes. The rule was simply an old precaution against +magic, forming part of a whole code of superstitious maxims which +antiquity fathered on Pythagoras, though doubtless they were +familiar to the barbarous forefathers of the Greeks long before the +time of that philosopher. + + + +4. The Magician's Progress + +WE have now concluded our examination of the general principles of +sympathetic magic. The examples by which I have illustrated them +have been drawn for the most part from what may be called private +magic, that is from magical rites and incantations practised for the +benefit or the injury of individuals. But in savage society there is +commonly to be found in addition what we may call public magic, that +is, sorcery practised for the benefit of the whole community. +Wherever ceremonies of this sort are observed for the common good, +it is obvious that the magician ceases to be merely a private +practitioner and becomes to some extent a public functionary. The +development of such a class of functionaries is of great importance +for the political as well as the religious evolution of society. For +when the welfare of the tribe is supposed to depend on the +performance of these magical rites, the magician rises into a +position of much influence and repute, and may readily acquire the +rank and authority of a chief or king. The profession accordingly +draws into its ranks some of the ablest and most ambitious men of +the tribe, because it holds out to them a prospect of honour, +wealth, and power such as hardly any other career could offer. The +acuter minds perceive how easy it is to dupe their weaker brother +and to play on his superstition for their own advantage. Not that +the sorcerer is always a knave and impostor; he is often sincerely +convinced that he really possesses those wonderful powers which the +credulity of his fellows ascribes to him. But the more sagacious he +is, the more likely he is to see through the fallacies which impose +on duller wits. Thus the ablest members of the profession must tend +to be more or less conscious deceivers; and it is just these men who +in virtue of their superior ability will generally come to the top +and win for themselves positions of the highest dignity and the most +commanding authority. The pitfalls which beset the path of the +professional sorcerer are many, and as a rule only the man of +coolest head and sharpest wit will be able to steer his way through +them safely. For it must always be remembered that every single +profession and claim put forward by the magician as such is false; +not one of them can be maintained without deception, conscious or +unconscious. Accordingly the sorcerer who sincerely believes in his +own extravagant pretensions is in far greater peril and is much more +likely to be cut short in his career than the deliberate impostor. +The honest wizard always expects that his charms and incantations +will produce their supposed effect; and when they fail, not only +really, as they always do, but conspicuously and disastrously, as +they often do, he is taken aback: he is not, like his knavish +colleague, ready with a plausible excuse to account for the failure, +and before he can find one he may be knocked on the head by his +disappointed and angry employers. + +The general result is that at this stage of social evolution the +supreme power tends to fall into the hands of men of the keenest +intelligence and the most unscrupulous character. If we could +balance the harm they do by their knavery against the benefits they +confer by their superior sagacity, it might well be found that the +good greatly outweighed the evil. For more mischief has probably +been wrought in the world by honest fools in high places than by +intelligent rascals. Once your shrewd rogue has attained the height +of his ambition, and has no longer any selfish end to further, he +may, and often does, turn his talents, his experience, his +resources, to the service of the public. Many men who have been +least scrupulous in the acquisition of power have been most +beneficent in the use of it, whether the power they aimed at and won +was that of wealth, political authority, or what not. In the field +of politics the wily intriguer, the ruthless victor, may end by +being a wise and magnanimous ruler, blessed in his lifetime, +lamented at his death, admired and applauded by posterity. Such men, +to take two of the most conspicuous instances, were Julius Caesar +and Augustus. But once a fool always a fool, and the greater the +power in his hands the more disastrous is likely to be the use he +makes of it. The heaviest calamity in English history, the breach +with America, might never have occurred if George the Third had not +been an honest dullard. + +Thus, so far as the public profession of magic affected the +constitution of savage society, it tended to place the control of +affairs in the hands of the ablest man: it shifted the balance of +power from the many to the one: it substituted a monarchy for a +democracy, or rather for an oligarchy of old men; for in general the +savage community is ruled, not by the whole body of adult males, but +by a council of elders. The change, by whatever causes produced, and +whatever the character of the early rulers, was on the whole very +beneficial. For the rise of monarchy appears to be an essential +condition of the emergence of mankind from savagery. No human being +is so hide-bound by custom and tradition as your democratic savage; +in no state of society consequently is progress so slow and +difficult. The old notion that the savage is the freest of mankind +is the reverse of the truth. He is a slave, not indeed to a visible +master, but to the past, to the spirits of his dead forefathers, who +haunt his steps from birth to death, and rule him with a rod of +iron. What they did is the pattern of right, the unwritten law to +which he yields a blind unquestioning obedience. The least possible +scope is thus afforded to superior talent to change old customs for +the better. The ablest man is dragged down by the weakest and +dullest, who necessarily sets the standard, since he cannot rise, +while the other can fall. The surface of such a society presents a +uniform dead level, so far as it is humanly possible to reduce the +natural inequalities, the immeasurable real differences of inborn +capacity and temper, to a false superficial appearance of equality. +From this low and stagnant condition of affairs, which demagogues +and dreamers in later times have lauded as the ideal state, the +Golden Age, of humanity, everything that helps to raise society by +opening a career to talent and proportioning the degrees of +authority to men's natural abilities, deserves to be welcomed by all +who have the real good of their fellows at heart. Once these +elevating influences have begun to operate--and they cannot be for +ever suppressed--the progress of civilisation becomes comparatively +rapid. The rise of one man to supreme power enables him to carry +through changes in a single lifetime which previously many +generations might not have sufficed to effect; and if, as will often +happen, he is a man of intellect and energy above the common, he +will readily avail himself of the opportunity. Even the whims and +caprices of a tyrant may be of service in breaking the chain of +custom which lies so heavy on the savage. And as soon as the tribe +ceases to be swayed by the timid and divided counsels of the elders, +and yields to the direction of a single strong and resolute mind, it +becomes formidable to its neighbours and enters on a career of +aggrandisement, which at an early stage of history is often highly +favourable to social, industrial, and intellectual progress. For +extending its sway, partly by force of arms, partly by the voluntary +submission of weaker tribes, the community soon acquires wealth and +slaves, both of which, by relieving some classes from the perpetual +struggle for a bare subsistence, afford them an opportunity of +devoting themselves to that disinterested pursuit of knowledge which +is the noblest and most powerful instrument to ameliorate the lot of +man. + +Intellectual progress, which reveals itself in the growth of art and +science and the spread of more liberal views, cannot be dissociated +from industrial or economic progress, and that in its turn receives +an immense impulse from conquest and empire. It is no mere accident +that the most vehement outbursts of activity of the human mind have +followed close on the heels of victory, and that the great +conquering races of the world have commonly done most to advance and +spread civilisation, thus healing in peace the wounds they inflicted +in war. The Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs are our +witnesses in the past: we may yet live to see a similar outburst in +Japan. Nor, to remount the stream of history to its sources, is it +an accident that all the first great strides towards civilisation +have been made under despotic and theocratic governments, like those +of Egypt, Babylon, and Peru, where the supreme ruler claimed and +received the servile allegiance of his subjects in the double +character of a king and a god. It is hardly too much to say that at +this early epoch despotism is the best friend of humanity and, +paradoxical as it may sound, of liberty. For after all there is more +liberty in the best sense--liberty to think our own thoughts and to +fashion our own destinies--under the most absolute despotism, the +most grinding tyranny, than under the apparent freedom of savage +life, where the individual's lot is cast from the cradle to the +grave in the iron mould of hereditary custom. + +So far, therefore, as the public profession of magic has been one of +the roads by which the ablest men have passed to supreme power, it +has contributed to emancipate mankind from the thraldom of tradition +and to elevate them into a larger, freer life, with a broader +outlook on the world. This is no small service rendered to humanity. +And when we remember further that in another direction magic has +paved the way for science, we are forced to admit that if the black +art has done much evil, it has also been the source of much good; +that if it is the child of error, it has yet been the mother of +freedom and truth. + + + + +IV. Magic and Religion + +THE examples collected in the last chapter may suffice to illustrate +the general principles of sympathetic magic in its two branches, to +which we have given the names of Homoeopathic and Contagious +respectively. In some cases of magic which have come before us we +have seen that the operation of spirits is assumed, and that an +attempt is made to win their favour by prayer and sacrifice. But +these cases are on the whole exceptional; they exhibit magic tinged +and alloyed with religion. Wherever sympathetic magic occurs in its +pure unadulterated form, it assumes that in nature one event follows +another necessarily and invariably without the intervention of any +spiritual or personal agency. Thus its fundamental conception is +identical with that of modern science; underlying the whole system +is a faith, implicit but real and firm, in the order and uniformity +of nature. The magician does not doubt that the same causes will +always produce the same effects, that the performance of the proper +ceremony, accompanied by the appropriate spell, will inevitably be +attended by the desired result, unless, indeed, his incantations +should chance to be thwarted and foiled by the more potent charms of +another sorcerer. He supplicates no higher power: he sues the favour +of no fickle and wayward being: he abases himself before no awful +deity. Yet his power, great as he believes it to be, is by no means +arbitrary and unlimited. He can wield it only so long as he strictly +conforms to the rules of his art, or to what may be called the laws +of nature as conceived by him. To neglect these rules, to break +these laws in the smallest particular, is to incur failure, and may +even expose the unskilful practitioner himself to the utmost peril. +If he claims a sovereignty over nature, it is a constitutional +sovereignty rigorously limited in its scope and exercised in exact +conformity with ancient usage. Thus the analogy between the magical +and the scientific conceptions of the world is close. In both of +them the succession of events is assumed to be perfectly regular and +certain, being determined by immutable laws, the operation of which +can be foreseen and calculated precisely; the elements of caprice, +of chance, and of accident are banished from the course of nature. +Both of them open up a seemingly boundless vista of possibilities to +him who knows the causes of things and can touch the secret springs +that set in motion the vast and intricate mechanism of the world. +Hence the strong attraction which magic and science alike have +exercised on the human mind; hence the powerful stimulus that both +have given to the pursuit of knowledge. They lure the weary +enquirer, the footsore seeker, on through the wilderness of +disappointment in the present by their endless promises of the +future: they take him up to the top of an exceeding high mountain +and show him, beyond the dark clouds and rolling mists at his feet, +a vision of the celestial city, far off, it may be, but radiant with +unearthly splendour, bathed in the light of dreams. + +The fatal flaw of magic lies not in its general assumption of a +sequence of events determined by law, but in its total misconception +of the nature of the particular laws which govern that sequence. If +we analyse the various cases of sympathetic magic which have been +passed in review in the preceding pages, and which may be taken as +fair samples of the bulk, we shall find, as I have already +indicated, that they are all mistaken applications of one or other +of two great fundamental laws of thought, namely, the association of +ideas by similarity and the association of ideas by contiguity in +space or time. A mistaken association of similar ideas produces +homoeopathic or imitative magic: a mistaken association of +contiguous ideas produces contagious magic. The principles of +association are excellent in themselves, and indeed absolutely +essential to the working of the human mind. Legitimately applied +they yield science; illegitimately applied they yield magic, the +bastard sister of science. It is therefore a truism, almost a +tautology, to say that all magic is necessarily false and barren; +for were it ever to become true and fruitful, it would no longer be +magic but science. From the earliest times man has been engaged in a +search for general rules whereby to turn the order of natural +phenomena to his own advantage, and in the long search he has +scraped together a great hoard of such maxims, some of them golden +and some of them mere dross. The true or golden rules constitute the +body of applied science which we call the arts; the false are magic. + +If magic is thus next of kin to science, we have still to enquire +how it stands related to religion. But the view we take of that +relation will necessarily be coloured by the idea which we have +formed of the nature of religion itself; hence a writer may +reasonably be expected to define his conception of religion before +he proceeds to investigate its relation to magic. There is probably +no subject in the world about which opinions differ so much as the +nature of religion, and to frame a definition of it which would +satisfy every one must obviously be impossible. All that a writer +can do is, first, to say clearly what he means by religion, and +afterwards to employ the word consistently in that sense throughout +his work. By religion, then, I understand a propitiation or +conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to direct +and control the course of nature and of human life. Thus defined, +religion consists of two elements, a theoretical and a practical, +namely, a belief in powers higher than man and an attempt to +propitiate or please them. Of the two, belief clearly comes first, +since we must believe in the existence of a divine being before we +can attempt to please him. But unless the belief leads to a +corresponding practice, it is not a religion but merely a theology; +in the language of St. James, "faith, if it hath not works, is dead, +being alone." In other words, no man is religious who does not +govern his conduct in some measure by the fear or love of God. On +the other hand, mere practice, divested of all religious belief, is +also not religion. Two men may behave in exactly the same way, and +yet one of them may be religious and the other not. If the one acts +from the love or fear of God, he is religious; if the other acts +from the love or fear of man, he is moral or immoral according as +his behaviour comports or conflicts with the general good. Hence +belief and practice or, in theological language, faith and works are +equally essential to religion, which cannot exist without both of +them. But it is not necessary that religious practice should always +take the form of a ritual; that is, it need not consist in the +offering of sacrifice, the recitation of prayers, and other outward +ceremonies. Its aim is to please the deity, and if the deity is one +who delights in charity and mercy and purity more than in oblations +of blood, the chanting of hymns, and the fumes of incense, his +worshippers will best please him, not by prostrating themselves +before him, by intoning his praises, and by filling his temples with +costly gifts, but by being pure and merciful and charitable towards +men, for in so doing they will imitate, so far as human infirmity +allows, the perfections of the divine nature. It was this ethical +side of religion which the Hebrew prophets, inspired with a noble +ideal of God's goodness and holiness, were never weary of +inculcating. Thus Micah says: "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is +good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and +to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" And at a later time +much of the force by which Christianity conquered the world was +drawn from the same high conception of God's moral nature and the +duty laid on men of conforming themselves to it. "Pure religion and +undefiled," says St. James, "before God and the Father is this, To +visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep +himself unspotted from the world." + +But if religion involves, first, a belief in superhuman beings who +rule the world, and, second, an attempt to win their favour, it +clearly assumes that the course of nature is to some extent elastic +or variable, and that we can persuade or induce the mighty beings +who control it to deflect, for our benefit, the current of events +from the channel in which they would otherwise flow. Now this +implied elasticity or variability of nature is directly opposed to +the principles of magic as well as of science, both of which assume +that the processes of nature are rigid and invariable in their +operation, and that they can as little be turned from their course +by persuasion and entreaty as by threats and intimidation. The +distinction between the two conflicting views of the universe turns +on their answer to the crucial question, Are the forces which govern +the world conscious and personal, or unconscious and impersonal? +Religion, as a conciliation of the superhuman powers, assumes the +former member of the alternative. For all conciliation implies that +the being conciliated is a conscious or personal agent, that his +conduct is in some measure uncertain, and that he can be prevailed +upon to vary it in the desired direction by a judicious appeal to +his interests, his appetites, or his emotions. Conciliation is never +employed towards things which are regarded as inanimate, nor towards +persons whose behaviour in the particular circumstances is known to +be determined with absolute certainty. Thus in so far as religion +assumes the world to be directed by conscious agents who may be +turned from their purpose by persuasion, it stands in fundamental +antagonism to magic as well as to science, both of which take for +granted that the course of nature is determined, not by the passions +or caprice of personal beings, but by the operation of immutable +laws acting mechanically. In magic, indeed, the assumption is only +implicit, but in science it is explicit. It is true that magic often +deals with spirits, which are personal agents of the kind assumed by +religion; but whenever it does so in its proper form, it treats them +exactly in the same fashion as it treats inanimate agents, that is, +it constrains or coerces instead of conciliating or propitiating +them as religion would do. Thus it assumes that all personal beings, +whether human or divine, are in the last resort subject to those +impersonal forces which control all things, but which nevertheless +can be turned to account by any one who knows how to manipulate them +by the appropriate ceremonies and spells. In ancient Egypt, for +example, the magicians claimed the power of compelling even the +highest gods to do their bidding, and actually threatened them with +destruction in case of disobedience. Sometimes, without going quite +so far as that, the wizard declared that he would scatter the bones +of Osiris or reveal his sacred legend, if the god proved +contumacious. Similarly in India at the present day the great Hindoo +trinity itself of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva is subject to the +sorcerers, who, by means of their spells, exercise such an +ascendency over the mightiest deities, that these are bound +submissively to execute on earth below, or in heaven above, whatever +commands their masters the magicians may please to issue. There is a +saying everywhere current in India: "The whole universe is subject +to the gods; the gods are subject to the spells (_mantras_); the +spells to the Brahmans; therefore the Brahmans are our gods." + +This radical conflict of principle between magic and religion +sufficiently explains the relentless hostility with which in history +the priest has often pursued the magician. The haughty +self-sufficiency of the magician, his arrogant demeanour towards the +higher powers, and his unabashed claim to exercise a sway like +theirs could not but revolt the priest, to whom, with his awful +sense of the divine majesty, and his humble prostration in presence +of it, such claims and such a demeanour must have appeared an +impious and blasphemous usurpation of prerogatives that belong to +God alone. And sometimes, we may suspect, lower motives concurred to +whet the edge of the priest's hostility. He professed to be the +proper medium, the true intercessor between God and man, and no +doubt his interests as well as his feelings were often injured by a +rival practitioner, who preached a surer and smoother road to +fortune than the rugged and slippery path of divine favour. + +Yet this antagonism, familiar as it is to us, seems to have made its +appearance comparatively late in the history of religion. At an +earlier stage the functions of priest and sorcerer were often +combined or, to speak perhaps more correctly, were not yet +differentiated from each other. To serve his purpose man wooed the +good-will of gods or spirits by prayer and sacrifice, while at the +same time he had recourse to ceremonies and forms of words which he +hoped would of themselves bring about the desired result without the +help of god or devil. In short, he performed religious and magical +rites simultaneously; he uttered prayers and incantations almost in +the same breath, knowing or recking little of the theoretical +inconsistency of his behaviour, so long as by hook or crook he +contrived to get what he wanted. Instances of this fusion or +confusion of magic with religion have already met us in the +practices of Melanesians and of other peoples. + +The same confusion of magic and religion has survived among peoples +that have risen to higher levels of culture. It was rife in ancient +India and ancient Egypt; it is by no means extinct among European +peasantry at the present day. With regard to ancient India we are +told by an eminent Sanscrit scholar that "the sacrificial ritual at +the earliest period of which we have detailed information is +pervaded with practices that breathe the spirit of the most +primitive magic." Speaking of the importance of magic in the East, +and especially in Egypt, Professor Maspero remarks that "we ought +not to attach to the word magic the degrading idea which it almost +inevitably calls up in the mind of a modern. Ancient magic was the +very foundation of religion. The faithful who desired to obtain some +favour from a god had no chance of succeeding except by laying hands +on the deity, and this arrest could only be effected by means of a +certain number of rites, sacrifices, prayers, and chants, which the +god himself had revealed, and which obliged him to do what was +demanded of him." + +Among the ignorant classes of modern Europe the same confusion of +ideas, the same mixture of religion and magic, crops up in various +forms. Thus we are told that in France "the majority of the peasants +still believe that the priest possesses a secret and irresistible +power over the elements. By reciting certain prayers which he alone +knows and has the right to utter, yet for the utterance of which he +must afterwards demand absolution, he can, on an occasion of +pressing danger, arrest or reverse for a moment the action of the +eternal laws of the physical world. The winds, the storms, the hail, +and the rain are at his command and obey his will. The fire also is +subject to him, and the flames of a conflagration are extinguished +at his word." For example, French peasants used to be, perhaps are +still, persuaded that the priests could celebrate, with certain +special rites, a Mass of the Holy Spirit, of which the efficacy was +so miraculous that it never met with any opposition from the divine +will; God was forced to grant whatever was asked of Him in this +form, however rash and importunate might be the petition. No idea of +impiety or irreverence attached to the rite in the minds of those +who, in some of the great extremities of life, sought by this +singular means to take the kingdom of heaven by storm. The secular +priests generally refused to say the Mass of the Holy Spirit; but +the monks, especially the Capuchin friars, had the reputation of +yielding with less scruple to the entreaties of the anxious and +distressed. In the constraint thus supposed by Catholic peasantry to +be laid by the priest upon the deity we seem to have an exact +counterpart of the power which the ancient Egyptians ascribed to +their magicians. Again, to take another example, in many villages of +Provence the priest is still reputed to possess the faculty of +averting storms. It is not every priest who enjoys this reputation; +and in some villages, when a change of pastors takes place, the +parishioners are eager to learn whether the new incumbent has the +power (_pouder_), as they call it. At the first sign of a heavy +storm they put him to the proof by inviting him to exorcise the +threatening clouds; and if the result answers to their hopes, the +new shepherd is assured of the sympathy and respect of his flock. In +some parishes, where the reputation of the curate in this respect +stood higher than that of his rector, the relations between the two +have been so strained in consequence that the bishop has had to +translate the rector to another benefice. Again, Gascon peasants +believe that to revenge themselves on their enemies bad men will +sometimes induce a priest to say a mass called the Mass of Saint +Sécaire. Very few priests know this mass, and three-fourths of those +who do know it would not say it for love or money. None but wicked +priests dare to perform the gruesome ceremony, and you may be quite +sure that they will have a very heavy account to render for it at +the last day. No curate or bishop, not even the archbishop of Auch, +can pardon them; that right belongs to the pope of Rome alone. The +Mass of Saint Sécaire may be said only in a ruined or deserted +church, where owls mope and hoot, where bats flit in the gloaming, +where gypsies lodge of nights, and where toads squat under the +desecrated altar. Thither the bad priest comes by night with his +light o' love, and at the first stroke of eleven he begins to mumble +the mass backwards, and ends just as the clocks are knelling the +midnight hour. His leman acts as clerk. The host he blesses is black +and has three points; he consecrates no wine, but instead he drinks +the water of a well into which the body of an unbaptized infant has +been flung. He makes the sign of the cross, but it is on the ground +and with his left foot. And many other things he does which no good +Christian could look upon without being struck blind and deaf and +dumb for the rest of his life. But the man for whom the mass is said +withers away little by little, and nobody can say what is the matter +with him; even the doctors can make nothing of it. They do not know +that he is slowly dying of the Mass of Saint Sécaire. + +Yet though magic is thus found to fuse and amalgamate with religion +in many ages and in many lands, there are some grounds for thinking +that this fusion is not primitive, and that there was a time when +man trusted to magic alone for the satisfaction of such wants as +transcended his immediate animal cravings. In the first place a +consideration of the fundamental notions of magic and religion may +incline us to surmise that magic is older than religion in the +history of humanity. We have seen that on the one hand magic is +nothing but a mistaken application of the very simplest and most +elementary processes of the mind, namely the association of ideas by +virtue of resemblance or contiguity; and that on the other hand +religion assumes the operation of conscious or personal agents, +superior to man, behind the visible screen of nature. Obviously the +conception of personal agents is more complex than a simple +recognition of the similarity or contiguity of ideas; and a theory +which assumes that the course of nature is determined by conscious +agents is more abstruse and recondite, and requires for its +apprehension a far higher degree of intelligence and reflection, +than the view that things succeed each other simply by reason of +their contiguity or resemblance. The very beasts associate the ideas +of things that are like each other or that have been found together +in their experience; and they could hardly survive for a day if they +ceased to do so. But who attributes to the animals a belief that the +phenomena of nature are worked by a multitude of invisible animals +or by one enormous and prodigiously strong animal behind the scenes? +It is probably no injustice to the brutes to assume that the honour +of devising a theory of this latter sort must be reserved for human +reason. Thus, if magic be deduced immediately from elementary +processes of reasoning, and be, in fact, an error into which the +mind falls almost spontaneously, while religion rests on conceptions +which the merely animal intelligence can hardly be supposed to have +yet attained to, it becomes probable that magic arose before +religion in the evolution of our race, and that man essayed to bend +nature to his wishes by the sheer force of spells and enchantments +before he strove to coax and mollify a coy, capricious, or irascible +deity by the soft insinuation of prayer and sacrifice. + +The conclusion which we have thus reached deductively from a +consideration of the fundamental ideas of magic and religion is +confirmed inductively by the observation that among the aborigines +of Australia, the rudest savages as to whom we possess accurate +information, magic is universally practised, whereas religion in the +sense of a propitiation or conciliation of the higher powers seems +to be nearly unknown. Roughly speaking, all men in Australia are +magicians, but not one is a priest; everybody fancies he can +influence his fellows or the course of nature by sympathetic magic, +but nobody dreams of propitiating gods by prayer and sacrifice. + +But if in the most backward state of human society now known to us +we find magic thus conspicuously present and religion conspicuously +absent, may we not reasonably conjecture that the civilised races of +the world have also at some period of their history passed through a +similar intellectual phase, that they attempted to force the great +powers of nature to do their pleasure before they thought of +courting their favour by offerings and prayer--in short that, just +as on the material side of human culture there has everywhere been +an Age of Stone, so on the intellectual side there has everywhere +been an Age of Magic? There are reasons for answering this question +in the affirmative. When we survey the existing races of mankind +from Greenland to Tierra del Fuego, or from Scotland to Singapore, +we observe that they are distinguished one from the other by a great +variety of religions, and that these distinctions are not, so to +speak, merely coterminous with the broad distinctions of race, but +descend into the minuter subdivisions of states and commonwealths, +nay, that they honeycomb the town, the village, and even the family, +so that the surface of society all over the world is cracked and +seamed, sapped and mined with rents and fissures and yawning +crevasses opened up by the disintegrating influence of religious +dissension. Yet when we have penetrated through these differences, +which affect mainly the intelligent and thoughtful part of the +community, we shall find underlying them all a solid stratum of +intellectual agreement among the dull, the weak, the ignorant, and +the superstitious, who constitute, unfortunately, the vast majority +of mankind. One of the great achievements of the nineteenth century +was to run shafts down into this low mental stratum in many parts of +the world, and thus to discover its substantial identity everywhere. +It is beneath our feet--and not very far beneath them--here in +Europe at the present day, and it crops up on the surface in the +heart of the Australian wilderness and wherever the advent of a +higher civilisation has not crushed it under ground. This universal +faith, this truly Catholic creed, is a belief in the efficacy of +magic. While religious systems differ not only in different +countries, but in the same country in different ages, the system of +sympathetic magic remains everywhere and at all times substantially +alike in its principles and practice. Among the ignorant and +superstitious classes of modern Europe it is very much what it was +thousands of years ago in Egypt and India, and what it now is among +the lowest savages surviving in the remotest corners of the world. +If the test of truth lay in a show of hands or a counting of heads, +the system of magic might appeal, with far more reason than the +Catholic Church, to the proud motto, "_Quod semper, quod ubique, +quod ab omnibus,_" as the sure and certain credential of its own +infallibility. + +It is not our business here to consider what bearing the permanent +existence of such a solid layer of savagery beneath the surface of +society, and unaffected by the superficial changes of religion and +culture, has upon the future of humanity. The dispassionate +observer, whose studies have led him to plumb its depths, can hardly +regard it otherwise than as a standing menace to civilisation. We +seem to move on a thin crust which may at any moment be rent by the +subterranean forces slumbering below. From time to time a hollow +murmur underground or a sudden spirt of flame into the air tells of +what is going on beneath our feet. Now and then the polite world is +startled by a paragraph in a newspaper which tells how in Scotland +an image has been found stuck full of pins for the purpose of +killing an obnoxious laird or minister, how a woman has been slowly +roasted to death as a witch in Ireland, or how a girl has been +murdered and chopped up in Russia to make those candles of human +tallow by whose light thieves hope to pursue their midnight trade +unseen. But whether the influences that make for further progress, +or those that threaten to undo what has already been accomplished, +will ultimately prevail; whether the impulsive energy of the +minority or the dead weight of the majority of mankind will prove +the stronger force to carry us up to higher heights or to sink us +into lower depths, are questions rather for the sage, the moralist, +and the statesman, whose eagle vision scans the future, than for the +humble student of the present and the past. Here we are only +concerned to ask how far the uniformity, the universality, and the +permanence of a belief in magic, compared with the endless variety +and the shifting character of religious creeds, raises a presumption +that the former represents a ruder and earlier phase of the human +mind, through which all the races of mankind have passed or are +passing on their way to religion and science. + +If an Age of Religion has thus everywhere, as I venture to surmise, +been preceded by an Age of Magic, it is natural that we should +enquire what causes have led mankind, or rather a portion of them, +to abandon magic as a principle of faith and practice and to betake +themselves to religion instead. When we reflect upon the multitude, +the variety, and the complexity of the facts to be explained, and +the scantiness of our information regarding them, we shall be ready +to acknowledge that a full and satisfactory solution of so profound +a problem is hardly to be hoped for, and that the most we can do in +the present state of our knowledge is to hazard a more or less +plausible conjecture. With all due diffidence, then, I would suggest +that a tardy recognition of the inherent falsehood and barrenness of +magic set the more thoughtful part of mankind to cast about for a +truer theory of nature and a more fruitful method of turning her +resources to account. The shrewder intelligences must in time have +come to perceive that magical ceremonies and incantations did not +really effect the results which they were designed to produce, and +which the majority of their simpler fellows still believed that they +did actually produce. This great discovery of the inefficacy of +magic must have wrought a radical though probably slow revolution in +the minds of those who had the sagacity to make it. The discovery +amounted to this, that men for the first time recognised their +inability to manipulate at pleasure certain natural forces which +hitherto they had believed to be completely within their control. It +was a confession of human ignorance and weakness. Man saw that he +had taken for causes what were no causes, and that all his efforts +to work by means of these imaginary causes had been vain. His +painful toil had been wasted, his curious ingenuity had been +squandered to no purpose. He had been pulling at strings to which +nothing was attached; he had been marching, as he thought, straight +to the goal, while in reality he had only been treading in a narrow +circle. Not that the effects which he had striven so hard to produce +did not continue to manifest themselves. They were still produced, +but not by him. The rain still fell on the thirsty ground: the sun +still pursued his daily, and the moon her nightly journey across the +sky: the silent procession of the seasons still moved in light and +shadow, in cloud and sunshine across the earth: men were still born +to labour and sorrow, and still, after a brief sojourn here, were +gathered to their fathers in the long home hereafter. All things +indeed went on as before, yet all seemed different to him from whose +eyes the old scales had fallen. For he could no longer cherish the +pleasing illusion that it was he who guided the earth and the heaven +in their courses, and that they would cease to perform their great +revolutions were he to take his feeble hand from the wheel. In the +death of his enemies and his friends he no longer saw a proof of the +resistless potency of his own or of hostile enchantments; he now +knew that friends and foes alike had succumbed to a force stronger +than any that he could wield, and in obedience to a destiny which he +was powerless to control. + +Thus cut adrift from his ancient moorings and left to toss on a +troubled sea of doubt and uncertainty, his old happy confidence in +himself and his powers rudely shaken, our primitive philosopher must +have been sadly perplexed and agitated till he came to rest, as in a +quiet haven after a tempestuous voyage, in a new system of faith and +practice, which seemed to offer a solution of his harassing doubts +and a substitute, however precarious, for that sovereignty over +nature which he had reluctantly abdicated. If the great world went +on its way without the help of him or his fellows, it must surely be +because there were other beings, like himself, but far stronger, +who, unseen themselves, directed its course and brought about all +the varied series of events which he had hitherto believed to be +dependent on his own magic. It was they, as he now believed, and not +he himself, who made the stormy wind to blow, the lightning to +flash, and the thunder to roll; who had laid the foundations of the +solid earth and set bounds to the restless sea that it might not +pass; who caused all the glorious lights of heaven to shine; who +gave the fowls of the air their meat and the wild beasts of the +desert their prey; who bade the fruitful land to bring forth in +abundance, the high hills to be clothed with forests, the bubbling +springs to rise under the rocks in the valleys, and green pastures +to grow by still waters; who breathed into man's nostrils and made +him live, or turned him to destruction by famine and pestilence and +war. To these mighty beings, whose handiwork he traced in all the +gorgeous and varied pageantry of nature, man now addressed himself, +humbly confessing his dependence on their invisible power, and +beseeching them of their mercy to furnish him with all good things, +to defend him from the perils and dangers by which our mortal life +is compassed about on every hand, and finally to bring his immortal +spirit, freed from the burden of the body, to some happier world, +beyond the reach of pain and sorrow, where he might rest with them +and with the spirits of good men in joy and felicity for ever. + +In this, or some such way as this, the deeper minds may be conceived +to have made the great transition from magic to religion. But even +in them the change can hardly ever have been sudden; probably it +proceeded very slowly, and required long ages for its more or less +perfect accomplishment. For the recognition of man's powerlessness +to influence the course of nature on a grand scale must have been +gradual; he cannot have been shorn of the whole of his fancied +dominion at a blow. Step by step he must have been driven back from +his proud position; foot by foot he must have yielded, with a sigh, +the ground which he had once viewed as his own. Now it would be the +wind, now the rain, now the sunshine, now the thunder, that he +confessed himself unable to wield at will; and as province after +province of nature thus fell from his grasp, till what had once +seemed a kingdom threatened to shrink into a prison, man must have +been more and more profoundly impressed with a sense of his own +helplessness and the might of the invisible beings by whom he +believed himself to be surrounded. Thus religion, beginning as a +slight and partial acknowledgment of powers superior to man, tends +with the growth of knowledge to deepen into a confession of man's +entire and absolute dependence on the divine; his old free bearing +is exchanged for an attitude of lowliest prostration before the +mysterious powers of the unseen, and his highest virtue is to submit +his will to theirs: _In la sua volontade è nostra pace._ But this +deepening sense of religion, this more perfect submission to the +divine will in all things, affects only those higher intelligences +who have breadth of view enough to comprehend the vastness of the +universe and the littleness of man. Small minds cannot grasp great +ideas; to their narrow comprehension, their purblind vision, nothing +seems really great and important but themselves. Such minds hardly +rise into religion at all. They are, indeed, drilled by their +betters into an outward conformity with its precepts and a verbal +profession of its tenets; but at heart they cling to their old +magical superstitions, which may be discountenanced and forbidden, +but cannot be eradicated by religion, so long as they have their +roots deep down in the mental framework and constitution of the +great majority of mankind. + +The reader may well be tempted to ask, How was it that intelligent +men did not sooner detect the fallacy of magic? How could they +continue to cherish expectations that were invariably doomed to +disappointment? With what heart persist in playing venerable antics +that led to nothing, and mumbling solemn balderdash that remained +without effect? Why cling to beliefs which were so flatly +contradicted by experience? How dare to repeat experiments that had +failed so often? The answer seems to be that the fallacy was far +from easy to detect, the failure by no means obvious, since in many, +perhaps in most cases, the desired event did actually follow, at a +longer or shorter interval, the performance of the rite which was +designed to bring it about; and a mind of more than common acuteness +was needed to perceive that, even in these cases, the rite was not +necessarily the cause of the event. A ceremony intended to make the +wind blow or the rain fall, or to work the death of an enemy, will +always be followed, sooner or later, by the occurrence it is meant +to bring to pass; and primitive man may be excused for regarding the +occurrence as a direct result of the ceremony, and the best possible +proof of its efficacy. Similarly, rites observed in the morning to +help the sun to rise, and in spring to wake the dreaming earth from +her winter sleep, will invariably appear to be crowned with success, +at least within the temperate zones; for in these regions the sun +lights his golden lamp in the east every morning, and year by year +the vernal earth decks herself afresh with a rich mantle of green. +Hence the practical savage, with his conservative instincts, might +well turn a deaf ear to the subtleties of the theoretical doubter, +the philosophic radical, who presumed to hint that sunrise and +spring might not, after all, be direct consequences of the punctual +performance of certain daily or yearly ceremonies, and that the sun +might perhaps continue to rise and trees to blossom though the +ceremonies were occasionally intermitted, or even discontinued +altogether. These sceptical doubts would naturally be repelled by +the other with scorn and indignation as airy reveries subversive of +the faith and manifestly contradicted by experience. "Can anything +be plainer," he might say, "than that I light my twopenny candle on +earth and that the sun then kindles his great fire in heaven? I +should be glad to know whether, when I have put on my green robe in +spring, the trees do not afterwards do the same? These are facts +patent to everybody, and on them I take my stand. I am a plain +practical man, not one of your theorists and splitters of hairs and +choppers of logic. Theories and speculation and all that may be very +well in their way, and I have not the least objection to your +indulging in them, provided, of course, you do not put them in +practice. But give me leave to stick to facts; then I know where I +am." The fallacy of this reasoning is obvious to us, because it +happens to deal with facts about which we have long made up our +minds. But let an argument of precisely the same calibre be applied +to matters which are still under debate, and it may be questioned +whether a British audience would not applaud it as sound, and esteem +the speaker who used it a safe man--not brilliant or showy, perhaps, +but thoroughly sensible and hard-headed. If such reasonings could +pass muster among ourselves, need we wonder that they long escaped +detection by the savage? + + + +V. The Magical Control of the Weather + + + +1. The Public Magician + +THE READER may remember that we were led to plunge into the +labyrinth of magic by a consideration of two different types of +man-god. This is the clue which has guided our devious steps through +the maze, and brought us out at last on higher ground, whence, +resting a little by the way, we can look back over the path we have +already traversed and forward to the longer and steeper road we have +still to climb. + +As a result of the foregoing discussion, the two types of human gods +may conveniently be distinguished as the religious and the magical +man-god respectively. In the former, a being of an order different +from and superior to man is supposed to become incarnate, for a +longer or a shorter time, in a human body, manifesting his +super-human power and knowledge by miracles wrought and prophecies +uttered through the medium of the fleshly tabernacle in which he has +deigned to take up his abode. This may also appropriately be called +the inspired or incarnate type of man-god. In it the human body is +merely a frail earthly vessel filled with a divine and immortal +spirit. On the other hand, a man-god of the magical sort is nothing +but a man who possesses in an unusually high degree powers which +most of his fellows arrogate to themselves on a smaller scale; for +in rude society there is hardly a person who does not dabble in +magic. Thus, whereas a man-god of the former or inspired type +derives his divinity from a deity who has stooped to hide his +heavenly radiance behind a dull mask of earthly mould, a man-god of +the latter type draws his extraordinary power from a certain +physical sympathy with nature. He is not merely the receptacle of a +divine spirit. His whole being, body and soul, is so delicately +attuned to the harmony of the world that a touch of his hand or a +turn of his head may send a thrill vibrating through the universal +framework of things; and conversely his divine organism is acutely +sensitive to such slight changes of environment as would leave +ordinary mortals wholly unaffected. But the line between these two +types of man-god, however sharply we may draw it in theory, is +seldom to be traced with precision in practice, and in what follows +I shall not insist on it. + +We have seen that in practice the magic art may be employed for the +benefit either of individuals or of the whole community, and that +according as it is directed to one or other of these two objects it +may be called private or public magic. Further, I pointed out that +the public magician occupies a position of great influence, from +which, if he is a prudent and able man, he may advance step by step +to the rank of a chief or king. Thus an examination of public magic +conduces to an understanding of the early kingship, since in savage +and barbarous society many chiefs and kings appear to owe their +authority in great measure to their reputation as magicians. + +Among the objects of public utility which magic may be employed to +secure, the most essential is an adequate supply of food. The +examples cited in preceding pages prove that the purveyors of +food--the hunter, the fisher, the farmer--all resort to magical +practices in the pursuit of their various callings; but they do so +as private individuals for the benefit of themselves and their +families, rather than as public functionaries acting in the interest +of the whole people. It is otherwise when the rites are performed, +not by the hunters, the fishers, the farmers themselves, but by +professional magicians on their behalf. In primitive society, where +uniformity of occupation is the rule, and the distribution of the +community into various classes of workers has hardly begun, every +man is more or less his own magician; he practises charms and +incantations for his own good and the injury of his enemies. But a +great step in advance has been taken when a special class of +magicians has been instituted; when, in other words, a number of men +have been set apart for the express purpose of benefiting the whole +community by their skill, whether that skill be directed to the +healing of diseases, the forecasting of the future, the regulation +of the weather, or any other object of general utility. The +impotence of the means adopted by most of these practitioners to +accomplish their ends ought not to blind us to the immense +importance of the institution itself. Here is a body of men +relieved, at least in the higher stages of savagery, from the need +of earning their livelihood by hard manual toil, and allowed, nay, +expected and encouraged, to prosecute researches into the secret +ways of nature. It was at once their duty and their interest to know +more than their fellows, to acquaint themselves with everything that +could aid man in his arduous struggle with nature, everything that +could mitigate his sufferings and prolong his life. The properties +of drugs and minerals, the causes of rain and drought, of thunder +and lightning, the changes of the seasons, the phases of the moon, +the daily and yearly journeys of the sun, the motions of the stars, +the mystery of life, and the mystery of death, all these things must +have excited the wonder of these early philosophers, and stimulated +them to find solutions of problems that were doubtless often thrust +on their attention in the most practical form by the importunate +demands of their clients, who expected them not merely to understand +but to regulate the great processes of nature for the good of man. +That their first shots fell very far wide of the mark could hardly +be helped. The slow, the never-ending approach to truth consists in +perpetually forming and testing hypotheses, accepting those which at +the time seem to fit the facts and rejecting the others. The views +of natural causation embraced by the savage magician no doubt appear +to us manifestly false and absurd; yet in their day they were +legitimate hypotheses, though they have not stood the test of +experience. Ridicule and blame are the just meed, not of those who +devised these crude theories, but of those who obstinately adhered +to them after better had been propounded. Certainly no men ever had +stronger incentives in the pursuit of truth than these savage +sorcerers. To maintain at least a show of knowledge was absolutely +necessary; a single mistake detected might cost them their life. +This no doubt led them to practise imposture for the purpose of +concealing their ignorance; but it also supplied them with the most +powerful motive for substituting a real for a sham knowledge, since, +if you would appear to know anything, by far the best way is +actually to know it. Thus, however justly we may reject the +extravagant pretensions of magicians and condemn the deceptions +which they have practised on mankind, the original institution of +this class of men has, take it all in all, been productive of +incalculable good to humanity. They were the direct predecessors, +not merely of our physicians and surgeons, but of our investigators +and discoverers in every branch of natural science. They began the +work which has since been carried to such glorious and beneficent +issues by their successors in after ages; and if the beginning was +poor and feeble, this is to be imputed to the inevitable +difficulties which beset the path of knowledge rather than to the +natural incapacity or wilful fraud of the men themselves. + + + +2. The Magical Control of Rain + +OF THE THINGS which the public magician sets himself to do for the +good of the tribe, one of the chief is to control the weather and +especially to ensure an adequate fall of rain. Water is an essential +of life, and in most countries the supply of it depends upon +showers. Without rain vegetation withers, animals and men languish +and die. Hence in savage communities the rain-maker is a very +important personage; and often a special class of magicians exists +for the purpose of regulating the heavenly water-supply. The methods +by which they attempt to discharge the duties of their office are +commonly, though not always, based on the principle of homoeopathic +or imitative magic. If they wish to make rain they simulate it by +sprinkling water or mimicking clouds: if their object is to stop +rain and cause drought, they avoid water and resort to warmth and +fire for the sake of drying up the too abundant moisture. Such +attempts are by no means confined, as the cultivated reader might +imagine, to the naked inhabitants of those sultry lands like Central +Australia and some parts of Eastern and Southern Africa, where often +for months together the pitiless sun beats down out of a blue and +cloudless sky on the parched and gaping earth. They are, or used to +be, common enough among outwardly civilised folk in the moister +climate of Europe. I will now illustrate them by instances drawn +from the practice both of public and private magic. + +Thus, for example, in a village near Dorpat, in Russia, when rain +was much wanted, three men used to climb up the fir-trees of an old +sacred grove. One of them drummed with a hammer on a kettle or small +cask to imitate thunder; the second knocked two fire-brands together +and made the sparks fly, to imitate lightning; and the third, who +was called "the rain-maker," had a bunch of twigs with which he +sprinkled water from a vessel on all sides. To put an end to drought +and bring down rain, women and girls of the village of Ploska are +wont to go naked by night to the boundaries of the village and there +pour water on the ground. In Halmahera, or Gilolo, a large island to +the west of New Guinea, a wizard makes rain by dipping a branch of a +particular kind of tree in water and then scattering the moisture +from the dripping bough over the ground. In New Britain the +rain-maker wraps some leaves of a red and green striped creeper in a +banana-leaf, moistens the bundle with water, and buries it in the +ground; then he imitates with his mouth the plashing of rain. +Amongst the Omaha Indians of North America, when the corn is +withering for want of rain, the members of the sacred Buffalo +Society fill a large vessel with water and dance four times round +it. One of them drinks some of the water and spirts it into the air, +making a fine spray in imitation of a mist or drizzling rain. Then +he upsets the vessel, spilling the water on the ground; whereupon +the dancers fall down and drink up the water, getting mud all over +their faces. Lastly, they squirt the water into the air, making a +fine mist. This saves the corn. In spring-time the Natchez of North +America used to club together to purchase favourable weather for +their crops from the wizards. If rain was needed, the wizards fasted +and danced with pipes full of water in their mouths. The pipes were +perforated like the nozzle of a watering-can, and through the holes +the rain-maker blew the water towards that part of the sky where the +clouds hung heaviest. But if fine weather was wanted, he mounted the +roof of his hut, and with extended arms, blowing with all his might, +he beckoned to the clouds to pass by. When the rains do not come in +due season the people of Central Angoniland repair to what is called +the rain-temple. Here they clear away the grass, and the leader +pours beer into a pot which is buried in the ground, while he says, +"Master _Chauta,_ you have hardened your heart towards us, what +would you have us do? We must perish indeed. Give your children the +rains, there is the beer we have given you." Then they all partake +of the beer that is left over, even the children being made to sip +it. Next they take branches of trees and dance and sing for rain. +When they return to the village they find a vessel of water set at +the doorway by an old woman; so they dip their branches in it and +wave them aloft, so as to scatter the drops. After that the rain is +sure to come driving up in heavy clouds. In these practices we see a +combination of religion with magic; for while the scattering of the +water-drops by means of branches is a purely magical ceremony, the +prayer for rain and the offering of beer are purely religious rites. +In the Mara tribe of Northern Australia the rain-maker goes to a +pool and sings over it his magic song. Then he takes some of the +water in his hands, drinks it, and spits it out in various +directions. After that he throws water all over himself, scatters it +about, and returns quietly to the camp. Rain is supposed to follow. +The Arab historian Makrizi describes a method of stopping rain which +is said to have been resorted to by a tribe of nomads called Alqamar +in Hadramaut. They cut a branch from a certain tree in the desert, +set it on fire, and then sprinkled the burning brand with water. +After that the vehemence of the rain abated, just as the water +vanished when it fell on the glowing brand. Some of the Eastern +Angamis of Manipur are said to perform a some-what similar ceremony +for the opposite purpose, in order, namely, to produce rain. The +head of the village puts a burning brand on the grave of a man who +has died of burns, and quenches the brand with water, while he prays +that rain may fall. Here the putting out the fire with water, which +is an imitation of rain, is reinforced by the influence of the dead +man, who, having been burnt to death, will naturally be anxious for +the descent of rain to cool his scorched body and assuage his pangs. + +Other people besides the Arabs have used fire as a means of stopping +rain. Thus the Sulka of New Britain heat stones red hot in the fire +and then put them out in the rain, or they throw hot ashes in the +air. They think that the rain will soon cease to fall, for it does +not like to be burned by the hot stones or ashes. The Telugus send a +little girl out naked into the rain with a burning piece of wood in +her hand, which she has to show to the rain. That is supposed to +stop the downpour. At Port Stevens in New South Wales the +medicine-men used to drive away rain by throwing fire-sticks into +the air, while at the same time they puffed and shouted. Any man of +the Anula tribe in Northern Australia can stop rain by simply +warming a green stick in the fire, and then striking it against the +wind. + +In time of severe drought the Dieri of Central Australia, loudly +lamenting the impoverished state of the country and their own +half-starved condition, call upon the spirits of their remote +predecessors, whom they call Mura-muras, to grant them power to make +a heavy rain-fall. For they believe that the clouds are bodies in +which rain is generated by their own ceremonies or those of +neighbouring tribes, through the influence of the Mura-muras. The +way in which they set about drawing rain from the clouds is this. A +hole is dug about twelve feet long and eight or ten broad, and over +this hole a conical hut of logs and branches is made. Two wizards, +supposed to have received a special inspiration from the Mura-muras, +are bled by an old and influential man with a sharp flint; and the +blood, drawn from their arms below the elbow, is made to flow on the +other men of the tribe, who sit huddled together in the hut. At the +same time the two bleeding men throw handfuls of down about, some of +which adheres to the blood-stained bodies of their comrades, while +the rest floats in the air. The blood is thought to represent the +rain, and the down the clouds. During the ceremony two large stones +are placed in the middle of the hut; they stand for gathering clouds +and presage rain. Then the wizards who were bled carry away the two +stones for about ten or fifteen miles, and place them as high as +they can in the tallest tree. Meanwhile the other men gather gypsum, +pound it fine, and throw it into a water-hole. This the Mura-muras +see, and at once they cause clouds to appear in the sky. Lastly, the +men, young and old, surround the hut, and, stooping down, butt at it +with their heads, like so many rams. Thus they force their way +through it and reappear on the other side, repeating the process +till the hut is wrecked. In doing this they are forbidden to use +their hands or arms; but when the heavy logs alone remain, they are +allowed to pull them out with their hands. "The piercing of the hut +with their heads symbolises the piercing of the clouds; the fall of +the hut, the fall of the rain." Obviously, too, the act of placing +high up in trees the two stones, which stand for clouds, is a way of +making the real clouds to mount up in the sky. The Dieri also +imagine that the foreskins taken from lads at circumcision have a +great power of producing rain. Hence the Great Council of the tribe +always keeps a small stock of foreskins ready for use. They are +carefully concealed, being wrapt up in feathers with the fat of the +wild dog and of the carpet snake. A woman may not see such a parcel +opened on any account. When the ceremony is over, the foreskin is +buried, its virtue being exhausted. After the rains have fallen, +some of the tribe always undergo a surgical operation, which +consists in cutting the skin of their chest and arms with a sharp +flint. The wound is then tapped with a flat stick to increase the +flow of blood, and red ochre is rubbed into it. Raised scars are +thus produced. The reason alleged by the natives for this practice +is that they are pleased with the rain, and that there is a +connexion between the rain and the scars. Apparently the operation +is not very painful, for the patient laughs and jokes while it is +going on. Indeed, little children have been seen to crowd round the +operator and patiently take their turn; then after being operated +on, they ran away, expanding their little chests and singing for the +rain to beat upon them. However, they were not so well pleased next +day, when they felt their wounds stiff and sore. In Java, when rain +is wanted, two men will sometimes thrash each other with supple rods +till the blood flows down their backs; the streaming blood +represents the rain, and no doubt is supposed to make it fall on the +ground. The people of Egghiou, a district of Abyssinia, used to +engage in sanguinary conflicts with each other, village against +village, for a week together every January for the purpose of +procuring rain. Some years ago the emperor Menelik forbade the +custom. However, the following year the rain was deficient, and the +popular outcry so great that the emperor yielded to it, and allowed +the murderous fights to be resumed, but for two days a year only. +The writer who mentions the custom regards the blood shed on these +occasions as a propitiatory sacrifice offered to spirits who control +the showers; but perhaps, as in the Australian and Javanese +ceremonies, it is an imitation of rain. The prophets of Baal, who +sought to procure rain by cutting themselves with knives till the +blood gushed out, may have acted on the same principle. + +There is a widespread belief that twin children possess magical +powers over nature, especially over rain and the weather. This +curious superstition prevails among some of the Indian tribes of +British Columbia, and has led them often to impose certain singular +restrictions or taboos on the parents of twins, though the exact +meaning of these restrictions is generally obscure. Thus the +Tsimshian Indians of British Columbia believe that twins control the +weather; therefore they pray to wind and rain, "Calm down, breath of +the twins." Further, they think that the wishes of twins are always +fulfilled; hence twins are feared, because they can harm the man +they hate. They can also call the salmon and the olachen or +candle-fish, and so they are known by a name which means "making +plentiful." In the opinion of the Kwakiutl Indians of British +Columbia twins are transformed salmon; hence they may not go near +water, lest they should be changed back again into the fish. In +their childhood they can summon any wind by motions of their hands, +and they can make fair or foul weather, and also cure diseases by +swinging a large wooden rattle. The Nootka Indians of British +Columbia also believe that twins are somehow related to salmon. +Hence among them twins may not catch salmon, and they may not eat or +even handle the fresh fish. They can make fair or foul weather, and +can cause rain to fall by painting their faces black and then +washing them, which may represent the rain dripping from the dark +clouds. The Shuswap Indians, like the Thompson Indians, associate +twins with the grizzly bear, for they call them "young grizzly +bears." According to them, twins remain throughout life endowed with +supernatural powers. In particular they can make good or bad +weather. They produce rain by spilling water from a basket in the +air; they make fine weather by shaking a small flat piece of wood +attached to a stick by a string; they raise storms by strewing down +on the ends of spruce branches. + +The same power of influencing the weather is attributed to twins by +the Baronga, a tribe of Bantu negroes who, inhabit the shores of +Delagoa Bay in South-eastern Africa. They bestow the name of +_Tilo_--that is, the sky--on a woman who has given birth to twins, +and the infants themselves are called the children of the sky. Now +when the storms which generally burst in the months of September and +October have been looked for in vain, when a drought with its +prospect of famine is threatening, and all nature, scorched and +burnt up by a sun that has shone for six months from a cloudless +sky, is panting for the beneficent showers of the South African +spring, the women perform ceremonies to bring down the longed-for +rain on the parched earth. Stripping themselves of all their +garments, they assume in their stead girdles and head-dresses of +grass, or short petticoats made of the leaves of a particular sort +of creeper. Thus attired, uttering peculiar cries and singing ribald +songs, they go about from well to well, cleansing them of the mud +and impurities which have accumulated in them. The wells, it may be +said, are merely holes in the sand where a little turbid unwholesome +water stagnates. Further, the women must repair to the house of one +of their gossips who has given birth to twins, and must drench her +with water, which they carry in little pitchers. Having done so they +go on their way, shrieking out their loose songs and dancing +immodest dances. No man may see these leaf-clad women going their +rounds. If they meet a man, they maul him and thrust him aside. When +they have cleansed the wells, they must go and pour water on the +graves of their ancestors in the sacred grove. It often happens, +too, that at the bidding of the wizard they go and pour water on the +graves of twins. For they think that the grave of a twin ought +always to be moist, for which reason twins are regularly buried near +a lake. If all their efforts to procure rain prove abortive, they +will remember that such and such a twin was buried in a dry place on +the side of a hill. "No wonder," says the wizard in such a case, +"that the sky is fiery. Take up his body and dig him a grave on the +shore of the lake." His orders are at once obeyed, for this is +supposed to be the only means of bringing down the rain. + +Some of the foregoing facts strongly support an interpretation which +Professor Oldenberg has given of the rules to be observed by a +Brahman who would learn a particular hymn of the ancient Indian +collection known as the Samaveda. The hymn, which bears the name of +the Sakvari¯ song, was believed to embody the might of Indra's +weapon, the thunderbolt; and hence, on account of the dreadful and +dangerous potency with which it was thus charged, the bold student +who essayed to master it had to be isolated from his fellow-men, and +to retire from the village into the forest. Here for a space of +time, which might vary, according to different doctors of the law, +from one to twelve years, he had to observe certain rules of life, +among which were the following. Thrice a day he had to touch water; +he must wear black garments and eat black food; when it rained, he +might not seek the shelter of a roof, but had to sit in the rain and +say, "Water is the Sakvari¯ song"; when the lightning flashed, he +said, "That is like the Sakvari¯ song"; when the thunder pealed, he +said, "The Great One is making a great noise." He might never cross +a running stream without touching water; he might never set foot on +a ship unless his life were in danger, and even then he must be sure +to touch water when he went on board; "for in water," so ran the +saying, "lies the virtue of the Sakvari¯ song." When at last he was +allowed to learn the song itself, he had to dip his hands in a +vessel of water in which plants of all sorts had been placed. If a +man walked in the way of all these precepts, the rain-god Parjanya, +it was said, would send rain at the wish of that man. It is clear, +as Professor Oldenberg well points out, that "all these rules are +intended to bring the Brahman into union with water, to make him, as +it were, an ally of the water powers, and to guard him against their +hostility. The black garments and the black food have the same +significance; no one will doubt that they refer to the rain-clouds +when he remembers that a black victim is sacrificed to procure rain; +'it is black, for such is the nature of rain.' In respect of another +rain-charm it is said plainly, 'He puts on a black garment edged +with black, for such is the nature of rain.' We may therefore assume +that here in the circle of ideas and ordinances of the Vedic schools +there have been preserved magical practices of the most remote +antiquity, which were intended to prepare the rain-maker for his +office and dedicate him to it." + +It is interesting to observe that where an opposite result is +desired, primitive logic enjoins the weather-doctor to observe +precisely opposite rules of conduct. In the tropical island of Java, +where the rich vegetation attests the abundance of the rainfall, +ceremonies for the making of rain are rare, but ceremonies for the +prevention of it are not uncommon. When a man is about to give a +great feast in the rainy season and has invited many people, he goes +to a weather-doctor and asks him to "prop up the clouds that may be +lowering." If the doctor consents to exert his professional powers, +he begins to regulate his behaviour by certain rules as soon as his +customer has departed. He must observe a fast, and may neither drink +nor bathe; what little he eats must be eaten dry, and in no case may +he touch water. The host, on his side, and his servants, both male +and female, must neither wash clothes nor bathe so long as the feast +lasts, and they have all during its continuance to observe strict +chastity. The doctor seats himself on a new mat in his bedroom, and +before a small oil-lamp he murmurs, shortly before the feast takes +place, the following prayer or incantation: "Grandfather and +Grandmother Sroekoel" (the name seems to be taken at random; others +are sometimes used), "return to your country. Akkemat is your +country. Put down your water-cask, close it properly, that not a +drop may fall out." While he utters this prayer the sorcerer looks +upwards, burning incense the while. So among the Toradjas the +rain-doctor, whose special business it is to drive away rain, takes +care not to touch water before, during, or after the discharge of +his professional duties. He does not bathe, he eats with unwashed +hands, he drinks nothing but palm wine, and if he has to cross a +stream he is careful not to step in the water. Having thus prepared +himself for his task he has a small hut built for himself outside of +the village in a rice-field, and in this hut he keeps up a little +fire, which on no account may be suffered to go out. In the fire he +burns various kinds of wood, which are supposed to possess the +property of driving off rain; and he puffs in the direction from +which the rain threatens to come, holding in his hand a packet of +leaves and bark which derive a similar cloud-compelling virtue, not +from their chemical composition, but from their names, which happen +to signify something dry or volatile. If clouds should appear in the +sky while he is at work, he takes lime in the hollow of his hand and +blows it towards them. The lime, being so very dry, is obviously +well adapted to disperse the damp clouds. Should rain afterwards be +wanted, he has only to pour water on his fire, and immediately the +rain will descend in sheets. + +The reader will observe how exactly the Javanese and Toradja +observances, which are intended to prevent rain, form the antithesis +of the Indian observances, which aim at producing it. The Indian +sage is commanded to touch water thrice a day regularly as well as +on various special occasions; the Javanese and Toradja wizards may +not touch it at all. The Indian lives out in the forest, and even +when it rains he may not take shelter; the Javanese and the Toradja +sit in a house or a hut. The one signifies his sympathy with water +by receiving the rain on his person and speaking of it respectfully; +the others light a lamp or a fire and do their best to drive the +rain away. Yet the principle on which all three act is the same; +each of them, by a sort of childish make-believe, identifies himself +with the phenomenon which he desires to produce. It is the old +fallacy that the effect resembles its cause: if you would make wet +weather, you must be wet; if you would make dry weather, you must be +dry. + +In South-eastern Europe at the present day ceremonies are +observed for the purpose of making rain which not only rest on the +same general train of thought as the preceding, but even in their +details resemble the ceremonies practised with the same intention +by the Baronga of Delagoa Bay. Among the Greeks of Thessaly and +Macedonia, when a drought has lasted a long time, it is customary +to send a procession of children round to all the wells and springs +of the neighbourhood. At the head of the procession walks a girl +adorned with flowers, whom her companions drench with water at +every halting-place, while they sing an invocation, of which the +following is part: + + + "Perperia all fresh bedewed, + Freshen all the neighbourhood; + By the woods, on the highway, + As thou goest, to God now pray: + O my God, upon the plain, + Send thou us a still, small rain; + That the fields may fruitful be, + And vines in blossom we may see; + That the grain be full and sound, + And wealthy grow the folks around." + + +In time of drought the Serbians strip a girl to her skin and clothe +her from head to foot in grass, herbs, and flowers, even her face +being hidden behind a veil of living green. Thus disguised she is +called the Dodola, and goes through the village with a troop of +girls. They stop before every house; the Dodola keeps turning +herself round and dancing, while the other girls form a ring about +her singing one of the Dodola songs, and the housewife pours a pail +of water over her. One of the songs they sing runs thus: + + + "We go through the village; + The clouds go in the sky; + We go faster, + Faster go the clouds; + They have overtaken us, + And wetted the corn and the vine." + + +At Poona in India, when rain is needed, the boys dress up one of +their number in nothing but leaves and call him King of Rain. Then +they go round to every house in the village, where the house-holder +or his wife sprinkles the Rain King with water, and gives the party +food of various kinds. When they have thus visited all the houses, +they strip the Rain King of his leafy robes and feast upon what they +have gathered. + +Bathing is practised as a rain-charm in some parts of Southern and +Western Russia. Sometimes after service in church the priest in his +robes has been thrown down on the ground and drenched with water by +his parishioners. Sometimes it is the women who, without stripping +off their clothes, bathe in crowds on the day of St. John the +Baptist, while they dip in the water a figure made of branches, +grass, and herbs, which is supposed to represent the saint. In +Kursk, a province of Southern Russia, when rain is much wanted, the +women seize a passing stranger and throw him into the river, or +souse him from head to foot. Later on we shall see that a passing +stranger is often taken for a deity or the personification of some +natural power. It is recorded in official documents that during a +drought in 1790 the peasants of Scheroutz and Werboutz collected all +the women and compelled them to bathe, in order that rain might +fall. An Armenian rain-charm is to throw the wife of a priest into +the water and drench her. The Arabs of North Africa fling a holy +man, willy-nilly, into a spring as a remedy for drought. In +Minahassa, a province of North Celebes, the priest bathes as a +rain-charm. In Central Celebes when there has been no rain for a +long time and the rice-stalks begin to shrivel up, many of the +villagers, especially the young folk, go to a neighbouring brook and +splash each other with water, shouting noisily, or squirt water on +one another through bamboo tubes. Sometimes they imitate the plump +of rain by smacking the surface of the water with their hands, or by +placing an inverted gourd on it and drumming on the gourd with their +fingers. + +Women are sometimes supposed to be able to make rain by ploughing, +or pretending to plough. Thus the Pshaws and Chewsurs of the +Caucasus have a ceremony called "ploughing the rain," which they +observe in time of drought. Girls yoke themselves to a plough and +drag it into a river, wading in the water up to their girdles. In +the same circumstances Armenian girls and women do the same. The +oldest woman, or the priest's wife, wears the priest's dress, while +the others, dressed as men, drag the plough through the water +against the stream. In the Caucasian province of Georgia, when a +drought has lasted long, marriageable girls are yoked in couples +with an ox-yoke on their shoulders, a priest holds the reins, and +thus harnessed they wade through rivers, puddles, and marshes, +praying, screaming, weeping, and laughing. In a district of +Transylvania when the ground is parched with drought, some girls +strip themselves naked, and, led by an older woman, who is also +naked, they steal a harrow and carry it across the fields to a +brook, where they set it afloat. Next they sit on the harrow and +keep a tiny flame burning on each corner of it for an hour. Then +they leave the harrow in the water and go home. A similar rain-charm +is resorted to in some parts of India; naked women drag a plough +across a field by night, while the men keep carefully out of the +way, for their presence would break the spell. + +Sometimes the rain-charm operates through the dead. Thus in New +Caledonia the rain-makers blackened themselves all over, dug up a +dead body, took the bones to a cave, jointed them, and hung the +skeleton over some taro leaves. Water was poured over the skeleton +to run down on the leaves. They believed that the soul of the +deceased took up the water, converted it into rain, and showered it +down again. In Russia, if common report may be believed, it is not +long since the peasants of any district that chanced to be afflicted +with drought used to dig up the corpse of some one who had drunk +himself to death and sink it in the nearest swamp or lake, fully +persuaded that this would ensure the fall of the needed rain. In +1868 the prospect of a bad harvest, caused by a prolonged drought, +induced the inhabitants of a village in the Tarashchansk district to +dig up the body of a Raskolnik, or Dissenter, who had died in the +preceding December. Some of the party beat the corpse, or what was +left of it, about the head, exclaiming, "Give us rain!" while others +poured water on it through a sieve. Here the pouring of water +through a sieve seems plainly an imitation of a shower, and reminds +us of the manner in which Strepsiades in Aristophanes imagined that +rain was made by Zeus. Sometimes, in order to procure rain, the +Toradjas make an appeal to the pity of the dead. Thus, in the +village of Kalingooa, there is the grave of a famous chief, the +grandfather of the present ruler. When the land suffers from +unseasonable drought, the people go to this grave, pour water on it, +and say, "O grandfather, have pity on us; if it is your will that +this year we should eat, then give rain." After that they hang a +bamboo full of water over the grave; there is a small hole in the +lower end of the bamboo, so that the water drips from it +continually. The bamboo is always refilled with water until rain +drenches the ground. Here, as in New Caledonia, we find religion +blent with magic, for the prayer to the dead chief, which is purely +religious, is eked out with a magical imitation of rain at his +grave. We have seen that the Baronga of Delagoa Bay drench the tombs +of their ancestors, especially the tombs of twins, as a raincharm. +Among some of the Indian tribes in the region of the Orinoco it was +customary for the relations of a deceased person to disinter his +bones a year after burial, burn them, and scatter the ashes to the +winds, because they believed that the ashes were changed into rain, +which the dead man sent in return for his obsequies. The Chinese are +convinced that when human bodies remain unburied, the souls of their +late owners feel the discomfort of rain, just as living men would do +if they were exposed without shelter to the inclemency of the +weather. These wretched souls, therefore, do all in their power to +prevent the rain from falling, and often their efforts are only too +successful. Then drought ensues, the most dreaded of all calamities +in China, because bad harvests, dearth, and famine follow in its +train. Hence it has been a common practice of the Chinese +authorities in time of drought to inter the dry bones of the +unburied dead for the purpose of putting an end to the scourge and +conjuring down the rain. + +Animals, again, often play an important part in these +weather-charms. The Anula tribe of Northern Australia associate the +dollar-bird with rain, and call it the rain-bird. A man who has the +bird for his totem can make rain at a certain pool. He catches a +snake, puts it alive into the pool, and after holding it under water +for a time takes it out, kills it, and lays it down by the side of +the creek. Then he makes an arched bundle of grass stalks in +imitation of a rainbow, and sets it up over the snake. After that +all he does is to sing over the snake and the mimic rainbow; sooner +or later the rain will fall. They explain this procedure by saying +that long ago the dollar-bird had as a mate at this spot a snake, +who lived in the pool and used to make rain by spitting up into the +sky till a rainbow and clouds appeared and rain fell. A common way +of making rain in many parts of Java is to bathe a cat or two cats, +a male and a female; sometimes the animals are carried in procession +with music. Even in Batavia you may from time to time see children +going about with a cat for this purpose; when they have ducked it in +a pool, they let it go. + +Among the Wambugwe of East Africa, when the sorcerer desires to make +rain, he takes a black sheep and a black calf in bright sunshine, +and has them placed on the roof of the common hut in which the +people live together. Then he slits the stomachs of the animals and +scatters their contents in all directions. After that he pours water +and medicine into a vessel; if the charm has succeeded, the water +boils up and rain follows. On the other hand, if the sorcerer wishes +to prevent rain from falling, he withdraws into the interior of the +hut, and there heats a rock-crystal in a calabash. In order to +procure rain the Wagogo sacrifice black fowls, black sheep, and +black cattle at the graves of dead ancestors, and the rain-maker +wears black clothes during the rainy season. Among the Matabele the +rain-charm employed by sorcerers was made from the blood and gall of +a black ox. In a district of Sumatra, in order to procure rain, all +the women of the village, scantily clad, go to the river, wade into +it, and splash each other with the water. A black cat is thrown into +the stream and made to swim about for a while, then allowed to +escape to the bank, pursued by the splashing of the women. The Garos +of Assam offer a black goat on the top of a very high mountain in +time of drought. In all these cases the colour of the animal is part +of the charm; being black, it will darken the sky with rain-clouds. +So the Bechuanas burn the stomach of an ox at evening, because they +say, "The black smoke will gather the clouds and cause the rain to +come." The Timorese sacrifice a black pig to the Earth-goddess for +rain, a white or red one to the Sun-god for sunshine. The Angoni +sacrifice a black ox for rain and a white one for fine weather. +Among the high mountains of Japan there is a district in which, if +rain has not fallen for a long time, a party of villagers goes in +procession to the bed of a mountain torrent, headed by a priest, who +leads a black dog. At the chosen spot they tether the beast to a +stone, and make it a target for their bullets and arrows. When its +life-blood bespatters the rocks, the peasants throw down their +weapons and lift up their voices in supplication to the dragon +divinity of the stream, exhorting him to send down forthwith a +shower to cleanse the spot from its defilement. Custom has +prescribed that on these occasions the colour of the victim shall be +black, as an emblem of the wished-for rain-clouds. But if fine +weather is wanted, the victim must be white, without a spot. + +The intimate association of frogs and toads with water has earned +for these creatures a widespread reputation as custodians of rain; +and hence they often play a part in charms designed to draw needed +showers from the sky. Some of the Indians of the Orinoco held the +toad to be the god or lord of the waters, and for that reason feared +to kill the creature. They have been known to keep frogs under a pot +and to beat them with rods when there was a drought. It is said that +the Aymara Indians often make little images of frogs and other +aquatic animals and place them on the tops of the hills as a means +of bringing down rain. The Thompson Indians of British Columbia and +some people in Europe think that to kill a frog will cause rain to +fall. In order to procure rain people of low caste in the Central +Provinces of India will tie a frog to a rod covered with green +leaves and branches of the _nîm_ tree (_Azadirachta Indica_) and +carry it from door to door singing: + + + "Send soon, O frog, the jewel of water! + And ripen the wheat and millet in the field." + + +The Kapus or Reddis are a large caste of cultivators and landowners +in the Madras Presidency. When rain fails, women of the caste will +catch a frog and tie it alive to a new winnowing fan made of bamboo. +On this fan they spread a few margosa leaves and go from door to +door singing, "Lady frog must have her bath. Oh! rain-god, give a +little water for her at least." While the Kapu women sing this song, +the woman of the house pours water over the frog and gives an alms, +convinced that by so doing she will soon bring rain down in +torrents. + +Sometimes, when a drought has lasted a long time, people drop the +usual hocus-pocus of imitative magic altogether, and being far too +angry to waste their breath in prayer they seek by threats and +curses or even downright physical force to extort the waters of +heaven from the supernatural being who has, so to say, cut them off +at the main. In a Japanese village, when the guardian divinity had +long been deaf to the peasants' prayers for rain, they at last threw +down his image and, with curses loud and long, hurled it head +foremost into a stinking rice-field. "There," they said, "you may +stay yourself for a while, to see how _you_ will feel after a few +days' scorching in this broiling sun that is burning the life from +our cracking fields." In the like circumstances the Feloupes of +Senegambia cast down their fetishes and drag them about the fields, +cursing them till rain falls. + +The Chinese are adepts in the art of taking the kingdom of heaven by +storm. Thus, when rain is wanted they make a huge dragon of paper or +wood to represent the rain-god, and carry it about in procession; +but if no rain follows, the mock-dragon is execrated and torn to +pieces. At other times they threaten and beat the god if he does not +give rain; sometimes they publicly depose him from the rank of +deity. On the other hand, if the wished-for rain falls, the god is +promoted to a higher rank by an imperial decree. In April 1888 the +mandarins of Canton prayed to the god Lung-wong to stop the +incessant downpour of rain; and when he turned a deaf ear to their +petitions they put him in a lock-up for five days. This had a +salutary effect. The rain ceased and the god was restored to +liberty. Some years before, in time of drought, the same deity had +been chained and exposed to the sun for days in the courtyard of his +temple in order that he might feel for himself the urgent need of +rain. So when the Siamese need rain, they set out their idols in the +blazing sun; but if they want dry weather, they unroof the temples +and let the rain pour down on the idols. They think that the +inconvenience to which the gods are thus subjected will induce them +to grant the wishes of their worshippers. + +The reader may smile at the meteorology of the Far East; but +precisely similar modes of procuring rain have been resorted to in +Christian Europe within our own lifetime. By the end of April 1893 +there was great distress in Sicily for lack of water. The drought +had lasted six months. Every day the sun rose and set in a sky of +cloudless blue. The gardens of the Conca d'Oro, which surround +Palermo with a magnificent belt of verdure, were withering. Food was +becoming scarce. The people were in great alarm. All the most +approved methods of procuring rain had been tried without effect. +Processions had traversed the streets and the fields. Men, women, +and children, telling their beads, had lain whole nights before the +holy images. Consecrated candles had burned day and night in the +churches. Palm branches, blessed on Palm Sunday, had been hung on +the trees. At Solaparuta, in accordance with a very old custom, the +dust swept from the churches on Palm Sunday had been spread on the +fields. In ordinary years these holy sweepings preserve the crops; +but that year, if you will believe me, they had no effect whatever. +At Nicosia the inhabitants, bare-headed and bare-foot, carried the +crucifixes through all the wards of the town and scourged each other +with iron whips. It was all in vain. Even the great St. Francis of +Paolo himself, who annually performs the miracle of rain and is +carried every spring through the market-gardens, either could not or +would not help. Masses, vespers, concerts, illuminations, +fire-works--nothing could move him. At last the peasants began to +lose patience. Most of the saints were banished. At Palermo they +dumped St. Joseph in a garden to see the state of things for +himself, and they swore to leave him there in the sun till rain +fell. Other saints were turned, like naughty children, with their +faces to the wall. Others again, stripped of their beautiful robes, +were exiled far from their parishes, threatened, grossly insulted, +ducked in horse-ponds. At Caltanisetta the golden wings of St. +Michael the Archangel were torn from his shoulders and replaced with +wings of pasteboard; his purple mantle was taken away and a clout +wrapt about him instead. At Licata the patron saint, St. Angelo, +fared even worse, for he was left without any garments at all; he +was reviled, he was put in irons, he was threatened with drowning or +hanging. "Rain or the rope!" roared the angry people at him, as they +shook their fists in his face. + +Sometimes an appeal is made to the pity of the gods. When their corn +is being burnt up by the sun, the Zulus look out for a "heaven +bird," kill it, and throw it into a pool. Then the heaven melts with +tenderness for the death of the bird; "it wails for it by raining, +wailing a funeral wail." In Zululand women sometimes bury their +children up to the neck in the ground, and then retiring to a +distance keep up a dismal howl for a long time. The sky is supposed +to melt with pity at the sight. Then the women dig the children out +and feel sure that rain will soon follow. They say that they call to +"the lord above" and ask him to send rain. If it comes they declare +that "Usondo rains." In times of drought the Guanches of Teneriffe +led their sheep to sacred ground, and there they separated the lambs +from their dams, that their plaintive bleating might touch the heart +of the god. In Kumaon a way of stopping rain is to pour hot oil in +the left ear of a dog. The animal howls with pain, his howls are +heard by Indra, and out of pity for the beast's sufferings the god +stops the rain. Sometimes the Toradjas attempt to procure rain as +follows. They place the stalks of certain plants in water, saying, +"Go and ask for rain, and so long as no rain falls I will not plant +you again, but there shall you die." Also they string some +fresh-water snails on a cord, and hang the cord on a tree, and say +to the snails, "Go and ask for rain, and so long as no rain comes, I +will not take you back to the water." Then the snails go and weep, +and the gods take pity and send rain. However, the foregoing +ceremonies are religious rather than magical, since they involve an +appeal to the compassion of higher powers. + +Stones are often supposed to possess the property of bringing on +rain, provided they be dipped in water or sprinkled with it, or +treated in some other appropriate manner. In a Samoan village a +certain stone was carefully housed as the representative of the +rain-making god, and in time of drought his priests carried the +stone in procession and dipped it in a stream. Among the Ta-ta-thi +tribe of New South Wales, the rain-maker breaks off a piece of +quartz-crystal and spits it towards the sky; the rest of the crystal +he wraps in emu feathers, soaks both crystal and feathers in water, +and carefully hides them. In the Keramin tribe of New South Wales +the wizard retires to the bed of a creek, drops water on a round +flat stone, then covers up and conceals it. Among some tribes of +North-western Australia the rain-maker repairs to a piece of ground +which is set apart for the purpose of rain-making. There he builds a +heap of stones or sand, places on the top of it his magic stone, and +walks or dances round the pile chanting his incantations for hours, +till sheer exhaustion obliges him to desist, when his place is taken +by his assistant. Water is sprinkled on the stone and huge fires are +kindled. No layman may approach the sacred spot while the mystic +ceremony is being performed. When the Sulka of New Britain wish to +procure rain they blacken stones with the ashes of certain fruits +and set them out, along with certain other plants and buds, in the +sun. Then a handful of twigs is dipped in water and weighted with +stones, while a spell is chanted. After that rain should follow. In +Manipur, on a lofty hill to the east of the capital, there is a +stone which the popular imagination likens to an umbrella. When rain +is wanted, the rajah fetches water from a spring below and sprinkles +it on the stone. At Sagami in Japan there is a stone which draws +down rain whenever water is poured on it. When the Wakondyo, a tribe +of Central Africa, desire rain, they send to the Wawamba, who dwell +at the foot of snowy mountains, and are the happy possessors of a +"rain-stone." In consideration of a proper payment, the Wawamba wash +the precious stone, anoint it with oil, and put it in a pot full of +water. After that the rain cannot fail to come. In the arid wastes +of Arizona and New Mexico the Apaches sought to make rain by +carrying water from a certain spring and throwing it on a particular +point high up on a rock; after that they imagined that the clouds +would soon gather, and that rain would begin to fall. + +But customs of this sort are not confined to the wilds of Africa and +Asia or the torrid deserts of Australia and the New World. They have +been practised in the cool air and under the grey skies of Europe. +There is a fountain called Barenton, of romantic fame, in those +"wild woods of Broceliande," where, if legend be true, the wizard +Merlin still sleeps his magic slumber in the hawthorn shade. Thither +the Breton peasants used to resort when they needed rain. They +caught some of the water in a tankard and threw it on a slab near +the spring. On Snowdon there is a lonely tarn called Dulyn, or the +Black Lake, lying "in a dismal dingle surrounded by high and +dangerous rocks." A row of stepping-stones runs out into the lake, +and if any one steps on the stones and throws water so as to wet the +farthest stone, which is called the Red Altar, "it is but a chance +that you do not get rain before night, even when it is hot weather." +In these cases it appears probable that, as in Samoa, the stone is +regarded as more or less divine. This appears from the custom +sometimes observed of dipping a cross in the Fountain of Barenton to +procure rain, for this is plainly a Christian substitute for the old +pagan way of throwing water on the stone. At various places in +France it is, or used till lately to be, the practice to dip the +image of a saint in water as a means of procuring rain. Thus, beside +the old priory of Commagny, there is a spring of St. Gervais, +whither the inhabitants go in procession to obtain rain or fine +weather according to the needs of the crops. In times of great +drought they throw into the basin of the fountain an ancient stone +image of the saint that stands in a sort of niche from which the +fountain flows. At Collobrières and Carpentras a similar practice +was observed with the images of St. Pons and St. Gens respectively. +In several villages of Navarre prayers for rain used to be offered +to St. Peter, and by way of enforcing them the villagers carried the +image of the saint in procession to the river, where they thrice +invited him to reconsider his resolution and to grant their prayers; +then, if he was still obstinate, they plunged him in the water, +despite the remonstrances of the clergy, who pleaded with as much +truth as piety that a simple caution or admonition administered to +the image would produce an equally good effect. After this the rain +was sure to fall within twenty-four hours. Catholic countries do not +enjoy a monopoly of making rain by ducking holy images in water. In +Mingrelia, when the crops are suffering from want of rain, they take +a particularly holy image and dip it in water every day till a +shower falls; and in the Far East the Shans drench the images of +Buddha with water when the rice is perishing of drought. In all such +cases the practice is probably at bottom a sympathetic charm, +however it may be disguised under the appearance of a punishment or +a threat. + +Like other peoples, the Greeks and Romans sought to obtain rain by +magic, when prayers and processions had proved ineffectual. For +example, in Arcadia, when the corn and trees were parched with +drought, the priest of Zeus dipped an oak branch into a certain +spring on Mount Lycaeus. Thus troubled, the water sent up a misty +cloud, from which rain soon fell upon the land. A similar mode of +making rain is still practised, as we have seen, in Halmahera near +New Guinea. The people of Crannon in Thessaly had a bronze chariot +which they kept in a temple. When they desired a shower they shook +the chariot and the shower fell. Probably the rattling of the +chariot was meant to imitate thunder; we have already seen that mock +thunder and lightning form part of a rain-charm in Russia and Japan. +The legendary Salmoneus, King of Elis, made mock thunder by dragging +bronze kettles behind his chariot, or by driving over a bronze +bridge, while he hurled blazing torches in imitation of lightning. +It was his impious wish to mimic the thundering car of Zeus as it +rolled across the vault of heaven. Indeed he declared that he was +actually Zeus, and caused sacrifices to be offered to himself as +such. Near a temple of Mars, outside the walls of Rome, there was +kept a certain stone known as the _lapis manalis._ In time of +drought the stone was dragged into Rome, and this was supposed to +bring down rain immediately. + + + +3. The Magical Control of the Sun + +AS THE MAGICIAN thinks he can make rain, so he fancies he can cause +the sun to shine, and can hasten or stay its going down. At an +eclipse the Ojebways used to imagine that the sun was being +extinguished. So they shot fire-tipped arrows in the air, hoping +thus to rekindle his expiring light. The Sencis of Peru also shot +burning arrows at the sun during an eclipse, but apparently they did +this not so much to relight his lamp as to drive away a savage beast +with which they supposed him to be struggling. Conversely during an +eclipse of the moon some tribes of the Orinoco used to bury lighted +brands in the ground; because, said they, if the moon were to be +extinguished, all fire on earth would be extinguished with her, +except such as was hidden from her sight. During an eclipse of the +sun the Kamtchatkans were wont to bring out fire from their huts and +pray the great luminary to shine as before. But the prayer addressed +to the sun shows that this ceremony was religious rather than +magical. Purely magical, on the other hand, was the ceremony +observed on similar occasions by the Chilcotin Indians. Men and +women tucked up their robes, as they do in travelling, and then +leaning on staves, as if they were heavy laden, they continued to +walk in a circle till the eclipse was over. Apparently they thought +thus to support the failing steps of the sun as he trod his weary +round in the sky. Similarly in ancient Egypt the king, as the +representative of the sun, walked solemnly round the walls of a +temple in order to ensure that the sun should perform his daily +journey round the sky without the interruption of an eclipse or +other mishap. And after the autumnal equinox the ancient Egyptians +held a festival called "the nativity of the sun's walking-stick," +because, as the luminary declined daily in the sky, and his light +and heat diminished, he was supposed to need a staff on which to +lean. In New Caledonia when a wizard desires to make sunshine, he +takes some plants and corals to the burial-ground, and fashions them +into a bundle, adding two locks of hair cut from a living child of +his family, also two teeth or an entire jawbone from the skeleton of +an ancestor. He then climbs a mountain whose top catches the first +rays of the morning sun. Here he deposits three sorts of plants on a +flat stone, places a branch of dry coral beside them, and hangs the +bundle of charms over the stone. Next morning he returns to the spot +and sets fire to the bundle at the moment when the sun rises from +the sea. As the smoke curls up, he rubs the stone with the dry +coral, invokes his ancestors and says: "Sun! I do this that you may +be burning hot, and eat up all the clouds in the sky." The same +ceremony is repeated at sunset. The New Caledonians also make a +drought by means of a disc-shaped stone with a hole in it. At the +moment when the sun rises, the wizard holds the stone in his hand +and passes a burning brand repeatedly into the hole, while he says: +"I kindle the sun, in order that he may eat up the clouds and dry up +our land, so that it may produce nothing." The Banks Islanders make +sunshine by means of a mock sun. They take a very round stone, +called a _vat loa_ or sunstone, wind red braid about it, and stick +it with owls' feathers to represent 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 sacred place. + +The offering made by the Brahman in the morning is supposed to +produce the sun, and we are told that "assuredly it would not rise, +were he not to make that offering." The ancient Mexicans conceived +the sun as the source of all vital force; hence they named him +Ipalnemohuani, "He by whom men live." But if he bestowed life on the +world, he needed also to receive life from it. And as the heart is +the seat and symbol of life, bleeding hearts of men and animals were +presented to the sun to maintain him in vigour and enable him to run +his course across the sky. Thus the Mexican sacrifices to the sun +were magical rather than religious, being designed, not so much to +please and propitiate him, as physically to renew his energies of +heat, light, and motion. The constant demand for human victims to +feed the solar fire was met by waging war every year on the +neighbouring tribes and bringing back troops of captives to be +sacrificed on the altar. Thus the ceaseless wars of the Mexicans and +their cruel system of human sacrifices, the most monstrous on +record, sprang in great measure from a mistaken theory of the solar +system. No more striking illustration could be given of the +disastrous consequences that may flow in practice from a purely +speculative error. The ancient Greeks believed that the sun drove in +a chariot across the sky; hence the Rhodians, who worshipped the sun +as their chief deity, annually dedicated a chariot and four horses +to him, and flung them into the sea for his use. Doubtless they +thought that after a year's work his old horses and chariot would be +worn out. From a like motive, probably, the idolatrous kings of +Judah dedicated chariots and horses to the sun, and the Spartans, +Persians, and Massagetae sacrificed horses to him. The Spartans +performed the sacrifice on the top of Mount Taygetus, the beautiful +range behind which they saw the great luminary set every night. It +was as natural for the inhabitants of the valley of Sparta to do +this as it was for the islanders of Rhodes to throw the chariot and +horses into the sea, into which the sun seemed to them to sink at +evening. For thus, whether on the mountain or in the sea, the fresh +horses stood ready for the weary god where they would be most +welcome, at the end of his day's journey. + +As some people think they can light up the sun or speed him on his +way, so others fancy they can retard or stop him. In a pass of the +Peruvian Andes stand two ruined towers on opposite hills. Iron hooks +are clamped into their walls for the purpose of stretching a net +from one tower to the other. The net is intended to catch the sun. +Stories of men who have caught the sun in a noose are widely spread. +When the sun is going southward in the autumn, and sinking lower and +lower in the Arctic sky, the Esquimaux of Iglulik play the game of +cat's cradle in order to catch him in the meshes of the string and +so prevent his disappearance. On the contrary, when the sun is +moving northward in the spring, they play the game of cup-and-ball +to hasten his return. When an Australian blackfellow wishes to stay +the sun from going down till he gets home, he puts a sod in the fork +of a tree, exactly facing the setting sun. On the other hand, to +make it go down faster, the Australians throw sand into the air and +blow with their mouths towards the sun, perhaps to waft the +lingering orb westward and bury it under the sands into which it +appears to sink at night. + +As some people imagine they can hasten the sun, so others fancy they +can jog the tardy moon. The natives of New Guinea reckon months by +the moon, and some of them have been known to throw stones and +spears at the moon, in order to accelerate its progress and so to +hasten the return of their friends, who were away from home for +twelve months working on a tobacco plantation. The Malays think that +a bright glow at sunset may throw a weak person into a fever. Hence +they attempt to extinguish the glow by spitting out water and +throwing ashes at it. The Shuswap Indians believe that they can +bring on cold weather by burning the wood of a tree that has been +struck by lightning. The belief may be based on the observation that +in their country cold follows a thunder-storm. Hence in spring, when +these Indians are travelling over the snow on high ground, they burn +splinters of such wood in the fire in order that the crust of the +snow may not melt. + + + +4. The Magical Control of the Wind + +ONCE more, the savage thinks he can make the wind to blow or to be +still. When the day is hot and a Yakut has a long way to go, he +takes a stone which he has chanced to find in an animal or fish, +winds a horse-hair several times round it, and ties it to a stick. +He then waves the stick about, uttering a spell. Soon a cool breeze +begins to blow. In order to procure a cool wind for nine days the +stone should first be dipped in the blood of a bird or beast and +then presented to the sun, while the sorcerer makes three turns +contrary to the course of the luminary. If a Hottentot desires the +wind to drop, he takes one of his fattest skins and hangs it on the +end of a pole, in the belief that by blowing the skin down the wind +will lose all its force and must itself fall. Fuegian wizards throw +shells against the wind to make it drop. The natives of the island +of Bibili, off New Guinea, are reputed to make wind by blowing with +their mouths. In stormy weather the Bogadjim people say, "The Bibili +folk are at it again, blowing away." Another way of making wind +which is practised in New Guinea is to strike a "wind-stone" lightly +with a stick; to strike it hard would bring on a hurricane. So in +Scotland witches used to raise the wind by dipping a rag in water +and beating it thrice on a stone, saying: + + + "I knok this rag upone this stane + To raise the wind in the divellis name, + It sall not lye till I please againe." + + +In Greenland a woman in child-bed and for some time after delivery +is supposed to possess the power of laying a storm. She has only to +go out of doors, fill her mouth with air, and coming back into the +house blow it out again. In antiquity there was a family at Corinth +which enjoyed the reputation of being able to still the raging wind; +but we do not know in what manner its members exercised a useful +function, which probably earned for them a more solid recompense +than mere repute among the seafaring population of the isthmus. Even +in Christian times, under the reign of Constantine, a certain +Sopater suffered death at Constantinople on a charge of binding the +winds by magic, because it happened that the corn-ships of Egypt and +Syria were detained afar off by calms or head-winds, to the rage and +disappointment of the hungry Byzantine rabble. Finnish wizards used +to sell wind to storm-stayed mariners. The wind was enclosed in +three knots; if they undid the first knot, a moderate wind sprang +up; if the second, it blew half a gale; if the third, a hurricane. +Indeed the Esthonians, whose country is divided from Finland only by +an arm of the sea, still believe in the magical powers of their +northern neighbours. The bitter winds that blow in spring from the +north and north-east, bringing ague and rheumatic inflammations in +their train, are set down by the simple Esthonian peasantry to the +machinations of the Finnish wizards and witches. In particular they +regard with special dread three days in spring to which they give +the name of Days of the Cross; one of them falls on the Eve of +Ascension Day. The people in the neighbourhood of Fellin fear to go +out on these days lest the cruel winds from Lappland should smite +them dead. A popular Esthonian song runs: + + + Wind of the Cross! rushing and mighty! + Heavy the blow of thy wings sweeping past! + Wild wailing wind of misfortune and sorrow, + Wizards of Finland ride by on the blast. + + +It is said, too, that sailors, beating up against the wind in the +Gulf of Finland, sometimes see a strange sail heave in sight astern +and overhaul them hand over hand. On she comes with a cloud of +canvas--all her studding-sails out--right in the teeth of the wind, +forging her way through the foaming billows, dashing back the spray +in sheets from her cutwater, every sail swollen to bursting, every +rope strained to cracking. Then the sailors know that she hails from +Finland. + +The art of tying up the wind in three knots, so that the more knots +are loosed the stronger will blow the wind, has been attributed to +wizards in Lappland and to witches in Shetland, Lewis, and the Isle +of Man. Shetland seamen still buy winds in the shape of knotted +handkerchiefs or threads from old women who claim to rule the +storms. There are said to be ancient crones in Lerwick now who live +by selling wind. Ulysses received the winds in a leathern bag from +Aeolus, King of the Winds. The Motumotu in New Guinea think that +storms are sent by an Oiabu sorcerer; for each wind he has a bamboo +which he opens at pleasure. On the top of Mount Agu in Togo, a +district of West Africa, resides a fetish called Bagba, who is +supposed to control the wind and the rain. His priest is said to +keep the winds shut up in great pots. + +Often the stormy wind is regarded as an evil being who may be +intimidated, driven away, or killed. When storms and bad weather +have lasted long and food is scarce with the Central Esquimaux, they +endeavour to conjure the tempest by making a long whip of seaweed, +armed with which they go down to the beach and strike out in the +direction of the wind, crying "_Taba_ (it is enough)!" Once when +north-westerly winds had kept the ice long on the coast and food was +becoming scarce, the Esquimaux performed a ceremony to make a calm. +A fire was kindled on the shore, and the men gathered round it and +chanted. An old man then stepped up to the fire and in a coaxing +voice invited the demon of the wind to come under the fire and warm +himself. When he was supposed to have arrived, a vessel of water, to +which each man present had contributed, was thrown on the flames by +an old man, and immediately a flight of arrows sped towards the spot +where the fire had been. They thought that the demon would not stay +where he had been so badly treated. To complete the effect, guns +were discharged in various directions, and the captain of a European +vessel was invited to fire on the wind with cannon. On the +twenty-first of February 1883 a similar ceremony was performed by +the Esquimaux of Point Barrow, Alaska, with the intention of killing +the spirit of the wind. Women drove the demon from their houses with +clubs and knives, with which they made passes in the air; and the +men, gathering round a fire, shot him with their rifles and crushed +him under a heavy stone the moment that steam rose in a cloud from +the smouldering embers, on which a tub of water had just been +thrown. + +The Lengua Indians of the Gran Chaco ascribe the rush of a +whirl-wind to the passage of a spirit and they fling sticks at it to +frighten it away. When the wind blows down their huts, the Payaguas +of South America snatch up firebrands and run against the wind, +menacing it with the blazing brands, while others beat the air with +their fists to frighten the storm. When the Guaycurus are threatened +by a severe storm, the men go out armed, and the women and children +scream their loudest to intimidate the demon. During a tempest the +inhabitants of a Batak village in Sumatra have been seen to rush +from their houses armed with sword and lance. The rajah placed +himself at their head, and with shouts and yells they hewed and +hacked at the invisible foe. An old woman was observed to be +specially active in the defence of her house, slashing the air right +and left with a long sabre. In a violent thunderstorm, the peals +sounding very near, the Kayans of Borneo have been seen to draw +their swords threateningly half out of their scabbards, as if to +frighten away the demons of the storm. In Australia the huge columns +of red sand that move rapidly across a desert tract are thought by +the natives to be spirits passing along. Once an athletic young +black ran after one of these moving columns to kill it with +boomerangs. He was away two or three hours, and came back very +weary, saying he had killed Koochee (the demon), but that Koochee +had growled at him and he must die. Of the Bedouins of Eastern +Africa it is said that "no whirl-wind ever sweeps across the path +without being pursued by a dozen savages with drawn creeses, who +stab into the centre of the dusty column in order to drive away the +evil spirit that is believed to be riding on the blast." + +In the light of these examples a story told by Herodotus, which his +modern critics have treated as a fable, is perfectly credible. He +says, without however vouching for the truth of the tale, that once +in the land of the Psylli, the modern Tripoli, the wind blowing from +the Sahara had dried up all the water-tanks. So the people took +counsel and marched in a body to make war on the south wind. But +when they entered the desert the simoon swept down on them and +buried them to a man. The story may well have been told by one who +watched them disappearing, in battle array, with drums and cymbals +beating, into the red cloud of whirling sand. + + + + +VI. Magicians as Kings + +THE FOREGOING evidence may satisfy us that in many lands and many +races magic has claimed to control the great forces of nature for +the good of man. If that has been so, the practitioners of the art +must necessarily be personages of importance and influence in any +society which puts faith in their extravagant pretensions, and it +would be no matter for surprise if, by virtue of the reputation +which they enjoy and of the awe which they inspire, some of them +should attain to the highest position of authority over their +credulous fellows. In point of fact magicians appear to have often +developed into chiefs and kings. + +Let us begin by looking at the lowest race of men as to whom we +possess comparatively full and accurate information, the aborigines +of Australia. These savages are ruled neither by chiefs nor kings. +So far as their tribes can be said to have a political constitution, +it is a democracy or rather an oligarchy of old and influential men, +who meet in council and decide on all measures of importance to the +practical exclusion of the younger men. Their deliberative assembly +answers to the senate of later times: if we had to coin a word for +such a government of elders we might call it a _gerontocracy._ The +elders who in aboriginal Australia thus meet and direct the affairs +of their tribe appear to be for the most part the headmen of their +respective totem clans. Now in Central Australia, where the desert +nature of the country and the almost complete isolation from foreign +influences have retarded progress and preserved the natives on the +whole in their most primitive state, the headmen of the various +totem clans are charged with the important task of performing +magical ceremonies for the multiplication of the totems, and as the +great majority of the totems are edible animals or plants, it +follows that these men are commonly expected to provide the people +with food by means of magic. Others have to make the rain to fall or +to render other services to the community. In short, among the +tribes of Central Australia the headmen are public magicians. +Further, their most important function is to take charge of the +sacred storehouse, usually a cleft in the rocks or a hole in the +ground, where are kept the holy stones and sticks (_churinga_) with +which the souls of all the people, both living and dead, are +apparently supposed to be in a manner bound up. Thus while the +headmen have certainly to perform what we should call civil duties, +such as to inflict punishment for breaches of tribal custom, their +principal functions are sacred or magical. + +When we pass from Australia to New Guinea we find that, though the +natives stand at a far higher level of culture than the Australian +aborigines, the constitution of society among them is still +essentially democratic or oligarchic, and chieftainship exists only +in embryo. Thus Sir William MacGregor tells us that in British New +Guinea no one has ever arisen wise enough, bold enough, and strong +enough to become the despot even of a single district. "The nearest +approach to this has been the very distant one of some person +becoming a renowned wizard; but that has only resulted in levying a +certain amount of blackmail." + +According to a native account, the origin of the power of Melanesian +chiefs lies entirely in the belief that they have communication with +mighty ghosts, and wield that supernatural power whereby they can +bring the influence of the ghosts to bear. If a chief imposed a +fine, it was paid because the people universally dreaded his ghostly +power, and firmly believed that he could inflict calamity and +sickness upon such as resisted him. As soon as any considerable +number of his people began to disbelieve in his influence with the +ghosts, his power to levy fines was shaken. Again, Dr. George Brown +tells us that in New Britain "a ruling chief was always supposed to +exercise priestly functions, that is, he professed to be in constant +communication with the _tebarans_ (spirits), and through their +influence he was enabled to bring rain or sunshine, fair winds or +foul ones, sickness or health, success or disaster in war, and +generally to procure any blessing or curse for which the applicant +was willing to pay a sufficient price." + +Still rising in the scale of culture we come to Africa, where both +the chieftainship and the kingship are fully developed; and here the +evidence for the evolution of the chief out of the magician, and +especially out of the rain-maker, is comparatively plentiful. Thus +among the Wambugwe, a Bantu people of East Africa, the original form +of government was a family republic, but the enormous power of the +sorcerers, transmitted by inheritance, soon raised them to the rank +of petty lords or chiefs. Of the three chiefs living in the country +in 1894 two were much dreaded as magicians, and the wealth of cattle +they possessed came to them almost wholly in the shape of presents +bestowed for their services in that capacity. Their principal art +was that of rain-making. The chiefs of the Wataturu, another people +of East Africa, are said to be nothing but sorcerers destitute of +any direct political influence. Again, among the Wagogo of East +Africa the main power of the chiefs, we are told, is derived from +their art of rain-making. If a chief cannot make rain himself, he +must procure it from some one who can. + +Again, among the tribes of the Upper Nile the medicine-men are +generally the chiefs. Their authority rests above all upon their +supposed power of making rain, for "rain is the one thing which +matters to the people in those districts, as if it does not come +down at the right time it means untold hardships for the community. +It is therefore small wonder that men more cunning than their +fellows should arrogate to themselves the power of producing it, or +that having gained such a reputation, they should trade on the +credulity of their simpler neighbours." Hence "most of the chiefs of +these tribes are rain-makers, and enjoy a popularity in proportion +to their powers to give rain to their people at the proper season. . +. . Rain-making chiefs always build their villages on the slopes of +a fairly high hill, as they no doubt know that the hills attract the +clouds, and that they are, therefore, fairly safe in their weather +forecasts." Each of these rain-makers has a number of rain-stones, +such as rock-crystal, aventurine, and amethyst, which he keeps in a +pot. When he wishes to produce rain he plunges the stones in water, +and taking in his hand a peeled cane, which is split at the top, he +beckons with it to the clouds to come or waves them away in the way +they should go, muttering an incantation the while. Or he pours +water and the entrails of a sheep or goat into a hollow in a stone +and then sprinkles the water towards the sky. Though the chief +acquires wealth by the exercise of his supposed magical powers, he +often, perhaps generally, comes to a violent end; for in time of +drought the angry people assemble and kill him, believing that it is +he who prevents the rain from falling. Yet the office is usually +hereditary and passes from father to son. Among the tribes which +cherish these beliefs and observe these customs are the Latuka, +Bari, Laluba, and Lokoiya. + +In Central Africa, again, the Lendu tribe, to the west of Lake +Albert, firmly believe that certain people possess the power of +making rain. Among them the rain-maker either is a chief or almost +invariably becomes one. The Banyoro also have a great respect for +the dispensers of rain, whom they load with a profusion of gifts. +The great dispenser, he who has absolute and uncontrollable power +over the rain, is the king; but he can depute his power to other +persons, so that the benefit may be distributed and the heavenly +water laid on over the various parts of the kingdom. + +In Western as well as in Eastern and Central Africa we meet with the +same union of chiefly with magical functions. Thus in the Fan tribe +the strict distinction between chief and medicine-man does not +exist. The chief is also a medicine-man and a smith to boot; for the +Fans esteem the smith's craft sacred, and none but chiefs may meddle +with it. + +As to the relation between the offices of chief and rain-maker in +South Africa a well-informed writer observes: "In very old days the +chief was the great Rain-maker of the tribe. Some chiefs allowed no +one else to compete with them, lest a successful Rain-maker should +be chosen as chief. There was also another reason: the Rain-maker +was sure to become a rich man if he gained a great reputation, and +it would manifestly never do for the chief to allow any one to be +too rich. The Rain-maker exerts tremendous control over the people, +and so it would be most important to keep this function connected +with royalty. Tradition always places the power of making rain as +the fundamental glory of ancient chiefs and heroes, and it seems +probable that it may have been the origin of chieftainship. The man +who made the rain would naturally become the chief. In the same way +Chaka [the famous Zulu despot] used to declare that he was the only +diviner in the country, for if he allowed rivals his life would be +insecure." Similarly speaking of the South African tribes in +general, Dr. Moffat says that "the rain-maker is in the estimation +of the people no mean personage, possessing an influence over the +minds of the people superior even to that of the king, who is +likewise compelled to yield to the dictates of this arch-official." + +The foregoing evidence renders it probable that in Africa the king +has often been developed out of the public magician, and especially +out of the rain-maker. The unbounded fear which the magician +inspires and the wealth which he amasses in the exercise of his +profession may both be supposed to have contributed to his +promotion. But if the career of a magician and especially of a +rain-maker offers great rewards to the successful practitioner of +the art, it is beset with many pitfalls into which the unskilful or +unlucky artist may fall. The position of the public sorcerer is +indeed a very precarious one; for where the people firmly believe +that he has it in his power to make the rain to fall, the sun to +shine, and the fruits of the earth to grow, they naturally impute +drought and dearth to his culpable negligence or wilful obstinacy, +and they punish him accordingly. Hence in Africa the chief who fails +to procure rain is often exiled or killed. Thus, in some parts of +West Africa, when prayers and offerings presented to the king have +failed to procure rain, his subjects bind him with ropes and take +him by force to the grave of his forefathers that he may obtain from +them the needed rain. The Banjars in West Africa ascribe to their +king the power of causing rain or fine weather. So long as the +weather is fine they load him with presents of grain and cattle. But +if long drought or rain threatens to spoil the crops, they insult +and beat him till the weather changes. When the harvest fails or the +surf on the coast is too heavy to allow of fishing, the people of +Loango accuse their king of a "bad heart" and depose him. On the +Grain Coast the high priest or fetish king, who bears the title of +Bodio, is responsible for the health of the community, the fertility +of the earth, and the abundance of fish in the sea and rivers; and +if the country suffers in any of these respects the Bodio is deposed +from his office. In Ussukuma, a great district on the southern bank +of the Victoria Nyanza, "the rain and locust question is part and +parcel of the Sultan's government. He, too, must know how to make +rain and drive away the locusts. If he and his medicine-men are +unable to accomplish this, his whole existence is at stake in times +of distress. On a certain occasion, when the rain so greatly desired +by the people did not come, the Sultan was simply driven out (in +Ututwa, near Nassa). The people, in fact, hold that rulers must have +power over Nature and her phenomena." Again, we are told of the +natives of the Nyanaza region generally that "they are persuaded +that rain only falls as a result of magic, and the important duty of +causing it to descend devolves on the chief of the tribe. If rain +does not come at the proper time, everybody complains. More than one +petty king has been banished his country because of drought." Among +the Latuka of the Upper Nile, when the crops are withering, and all +the efforts of the chief to draw down rain have proved fruitless, +the people commonly attack him by night, rob him of all he +possesses, and drive him away. But often they kill him. + +In many other parts of the world kings have been expected to +regulate the course of nature for the good of their people and have +been punished if they failed to do so. It appears that the +Scythians, when food was scarce, used to put their king in bonds. In +ancient Egypt the sacred kings were blamed for the failure of the +crops, but the sacred beasts were also held responsible for the +course of nature. When pestilence and other calamities had fallen on +the land, in consequence of a long and severe drought, the priests +took the animals by night and threatened them, but if the evil did +not abate they slew the beasts. On the coral island of Niue¯ or +Savage Island, in the South Pacific, there formerly reigned a line +of kings. But as the kings were also high priests, and were supposed +to make the food grow, the people became angry with them in times of +scarcity and killed them; till at last, as one after another was +killed, no one would be king, and the monarchy came to an end. +Ancient Chinese writers inform us that in Corea the blame was laid +on the king whenever too much or too little rain fell and the crops +did not ripen. Some said that he must be deposed, others that he +must be slain. + +Among the American Indians the furthest advance towards civilisation +was made under the monarchical and theocratic governments of Mexico +and Peru; but we know too little of the early history of these +countries to say whether the predecessors of their deified kings +were medicine-men or not. Perhaps a trace of such a succession may +be detected in the oath which the Mexican kings, when they mounted +the throne, swore that they would make the sun to shine, the clouds +to give rain, the rivers to flow, and the earth to bring forth +fruits in abundance. Certainly, in aboriginal America the sorcerer +or medicine-man, surrounded by a halo of mystery and an atmosphere +of awe, was a personage of great influence and importance, and he +may well have developed into a chief or king in many tribes, though +positive evidence of such a development appears to be lacking. Thus +Catlin tells us that in North America the medicine-men "are valued +as dignitaries in the tribe, and the greatest respect is paid to +them by the whole community; not only for their skill in their +_materia medica,_ but more especially for their tact in magic and +mysteries, in which they all deal to a very great extent. . . . In +all tribes their doctors are conjurers--are magicians--are +sooth-sayers, and I had like to have said high-priests, inasmuch as +they superintend and conduct all their religious ceremonies; they +are looked upon by all as oracles of the nation. In all councils of +war and peace, they have a seat with the chiefs, are regularly +consulted before any public step is taken, and the greatest +deference and respect is paid to their opinions." Similarly in +California "the shaman was, and still is, perhaps the most important +individual among the Maidu. In the absence of any definite system of +government, the word of a shaman has great weight: as a class they +are regarded with much awe, and as a rule are obeyed much more than +the chief." + +In South America also the magicians or medicine-men seem to have +been on the highroad to chieftainship or kingship. One of the +earliest settlers on the coast of Brazil, the Frenchman Thevet, +reports that the Indians "hold these _pages_ (or medicine-men) in +such honour and reverence that they adore, or rather idolise them. +You may see the common folk go to meet them, prostrate themselves, +and pray to them, saying, 'Grant that I be not ill, that I do not +die, neither I nor my children,' or some such request. And he +answers, 'You shall not die, you shall not be ill,' and such like +replies. But sometimes if it happens that these _pages_ do not tell +the truth, and things turn out otherwise than they predicted, the +people make no scruple of killing them as unworthy of the title and +dignity of _pages._" Among the Lengua Indians of the Gran Chaco +every clan has its cazique or chief, but he possesses little +authority. In virtue of his office he has to make many presents, so +he seldom grows rich and is generally more shabbily clad than any of +his subjects. "As a matter of fact the magician is the man who has +most power in his hands, and he is accustomed to receive presents +instead of to give them." It is the magician's duty to bring down +misfortune and plagues on the enemies of his tribe, and to guard his +own people against hostile magic. For these services he is well +paid, and by them he acquires a position of great influence and +authority. + +Throughout the Malay region the rajah or king is commonly regarded +with superstitious veneration as the possessor of supernatural +powers, and there are grounds for thinking that he too, like +apparently so many African chiefs, has been developed out of a +simple magician. At the present day the Malays firmly believe that +the king possesses a personal influence over the works of nature, +such as the growth of the crops and the bearing of fruit-trees. The +same prolific virtue is supposed to reside, though in a lesser +degree, in his delegates, and even in the persons of Europeans who +chance to have charge of districts. Thus in Selangor, one of the +native states of the Malay Peninsula, the success or failure of the +rice-crops is often attributed to a change of district officers. The +Toorateyas of Southern Celebes hold that the prosperity of the rice +depends on the behaviour of their princes, and that bad government, +by which they mean a government which does not conform to ancient +custom, will result in a failure of the crops. + +The Dyaks of Sarawak believed that their famous English ruler, Rajah +Brooke, was endowed with a certain magical virtue which, if properly +applied, could render the rice-crops abundant. Hence when he visited +a tribe, they used to bring him the seed which they intended to sow +next year, and he fertilised it by shaking over it the women's +necklaces, which had been previously dipped in a special mixture. +And when he entered a village, the women would wash and bathe his +feet, first with water, and then with the milk of a young coco-nut, +and lastly with water again, and all this water which had touched +his person they preserved for the purpose of distributing it on +their farms, believing that it ensured an abundant harvest. Tribes +which were too far off for him to visit used to send him a small +piece of white cloth and a little gold or silver, and when these +things had been impregnated by his generative virtue they buried +them in their fields, and confidently expected a heavy crop. Once +when a European remarked that the rice-crops of the Samban tribe +were thin, the chief immediately replied that they could not be +otherwise, since Rajah Brooke had never visited them, and he begged +that Mr. Brooke might be induced to visit his tribe and remove the +sterility of their land. + +The belief that kings possess magical or supernatural powers by +virtue of which they can fertilise the earth and confer other +benefits on their subjects would seem to have been shared by the +ancestors of all the Aryan races from India to Ireland, and it has +left clear traces of itself in our own country down to modern times. +Thus the ancient Hindoo law-book called _The Laws of Manu_ describes +as follows the effects of a good king's reign: "In that country +where the king avoids taking the property of mortal sinners, men are +born in due time and are long-lived. And the crops of the husbandmen +spring up, each as it was sown, and the children die not, and no +misshaped offspring is born." In Homeric Greece kings and chiefs +were spoken of as sacred or divine; their houses, too, were divine +and their chariots sacred; and it was thought that the reign of a +good king caused the black earth to bring forth wheat and barley, +the trees to be loaded with fruit, the flocks to multiply, and the +sea to yield fish. In the Middle Ages, when Waldemar I., King of +Denmark, travelled in Germany, mothers brought their infants and +husbandmen their seed for him to lay his hands on, thinking that +children would both thrive the better for the royal touch, and for a +like reason farmers asked him to throw the seed for them. It was the +belief of the ancient Irish that when their kings observed the +customs of their ancestors, the seasons were mild, the crops +plentiful, the cattle fruitful, the waters abounded with fish, and +the fruit trees had to be propped up on account of the weight of +their produce. A canon attributed to St. Patrick enumerates among +the blessings that attend the reign of a just king "fine weather, +calm seas, crops abundant, and trees laden with fruit." On the other +hand, dearth, dryness of cows, blight of fruit, and scarcity of corn +were regarded as infallible proofs that the reigning king was bad. + +Perhaps the last relic of such superstitions which lingered about +our English kings was the notion that they could heal scrofula by +their touch. The disease was accordingly known as the King's Evil. +Queen Elizabeth often exercised this miraculous gift of healing. On +Midsummer Day 1633, Charles the First cured a hundred patients at +one swoop in the chapel royal at Holyrood. But it was under his son +Charles the Second that the practice seems to have attained its +highest vogue. It is said that in the course of his reign Charles +the Second touched near a hundred thousand persons for scrofula. The +press to get near him was sometimes terrific. On one occasion six or +seven of those who came to be healed were trampled to death. The +cool-headed William the Third contemptuously refused to lend himself +to the hocuspocus; and when his palace was besieged by the usual +unsavoury crowd, he ordered them to be turned away with a dole. On +the only occasion when he was importuned into laying his hand on a +patient, he said to him, "God give you better health and more +sense." However, the practice was continued, as might have been +expected, by the dull bigot James the Second and his dull daughter +Queen Anne. + +The kings of France also claimed to possess the same gift of healing +by touch, which they are said to have derived from Clovis or from +St. Louis, while our English kings inherited it from Edward the +Confessor. Similarly the savage chiefs of Tonga were believed to +heal scrofula and cases of indurated liver by the touch of their +feet; and the cure was strictly homoeopathic, for the disease as +well as the cure was thought to be caused by contact with the royal +person or with anything that belonged to it. + +On the whole, then, we seem to be justified in inferring that in +many parts of the world the king is the lineal successor of the old +magician or medicine-man. When once a special class of sorcerers has +been segregated from the community and entrusted by it with the +discharge of duties on which the public safety and welfare are +believed to depend, these men gradually rise to wealth and power, +till their leaders blossom out into sacred kings. But the great +social revolution which thus begins with democracy and ends in +despotism is attended by an intellectual revolution which affects +both the conception and the functions of royalty. For as time goes +on, the fallacy of magic becomes more and more apparent to the +acuter minds and is slowly displaced by religion; in other words, +the magician gives way to the priest, who, renouncing the attempt to +control directly the processes of nature for the good of man, seeks +to attain the same end indirectly by appealing to the gods to do for +him what he no longer fancies he can do for himself. Hence the king, +starting as a magician, tends gradually to exchange the practice of +magic for the priestly functions of prayer and sacrifice. And while +the distinction between the human and the divine is still +imperfectly drawn, it is often imagined that men may themselves +attain to godhead, not merely after their death, but in their +lifetime, through the temporary or permanent possession of their +whole nature by a great and powerful spirit. No class of the +community has benefited so much as kings by this belief in the +possible incarnation of a god in human form. The doctrine of that +incarnation, and with it the theory of the divinity of kings in the +strict sense of the word, will form the subject of the following +chapter. + + + +VII. Incarnate Human Gods + +THE INSTANCES which in the preceding chapters I have drawn from the +beliefs and practices of rude peoples all over the world, may +suffice to prove that the savage fails to recognise those +limitations to his power over nature which seem so obvious to us. In +a society where every man is supposed to be endowed more or less +with powers which we should call supernatural, it is plain that the +distinction between gods and men is somewhat blurred, or rather has +scarcely emerged. The conception of gods as superhuman beings +endowed with powers to which man possesses nothing comparable in +degree and hardly even in kind, has been slowly evolved in the +course of history. By primitive peoples the supernatural agents are +not regarded as greatly, if at all, superior to man; for they may be +frightened and coerced by him into doing his will. At this stage of +thought the world is viewed as a great democracy; all beings in it, +whether natural or supernatural, are supposed to stand on a footing +of tolerable equality. But with the growth of his knowledge man +learns to realise more clearly the vastness of nature and his own +littleness and feebleness in presence of it. The recognition of his +helplessness does not, however, carry with it a corresponding belief +in the impotence of those supernatural beings with which his +imagination peoples the universe. On the contrary, it enhances his +conception of their power. For the idea of the world as a system of +impersonal forces acting in accordance with fixed and invariable +laws has not yet fully dawned or darkened upon him. The germ of the +idea he certainly has, and he acts upon it, not only in magic art, +but in much of the business of daily life. But the idea remains +undeveloped, and so far as he attempts to explain the world he lives +in, he pictures it as the manifestation of conscious will and +personal agency. If then he feels himself to be so frail and slight, +how vast and powerful must he deem the beings who control the +gigantic machinery of nature! Thus as his old sense of equality with +the gods slowly vanishes, he resigns at the same time the hope of +directing the course of nature by his own unaided resources, that +is, by magic, and looks more and more to the gods as the sole +repositories of those supernatural powers which he once claimed to +share with them. With the advance of knowledge, therefore, prayer +and sacrifice assume the leading place in religious ritual; and +magic, which once ranked with them as a legitimate equal, is +gradually relegated to the background and sinks to the level of a +black art. It is not regarded as an encroachment, at once vain and +impious, on the domain of the gods, and as such encounters the +steady opposition of the priests, whose reputation and influence +rise or fall with those of their gods. Hence, when at a late period +the distinction between religion and superstition has emerged, we +find that sacrifice and prayer are the resource of the pious and +enlightened portion of the community, while magic is the refuge of +the superstitious and ignorant. But when, still later, the +conception of the elemental forces as personal agents is giving way +to the recognition of natural law; then magic, based as it +implicitly is on the idea of a necessary and invariable sequence of +cause and effect, independent of personal will, reappears from the +obscurity and discredit into which it had fallen, and by +investigating the causal sequences in nature, directly prepares the +way for science. Alchemy leads up to chemistry. + +The notion of a man-god, or of a human being endowed with divine or +supernatural powers, belongs essentially to that earlier period of +religious history in which gods and men are still viewed as beings +of much the same order, and before they are divided by the +impassable gulf which, to later thought, opens out between them. +Strange, therefore, as may seem to us the idea of a god incarnate in +human form, it has nothing very startling for early man, who sees in +a man-god or a god-man only a higher degree of the same supernatural +powers which he arrogates in perfect good faith to himself. Nor does +he draw any very sharp distinction between a god and a powerful +sorcerer. His gods are often merely invisible magicians who behind +the veil of nature work the same sort of charms and incantations +which the human magician works in a visible and bodily form among +his fellows. And as the gods are commonly believed to exhibit +themselves in the likeness of men to their worshippers, it is easy +for the magician, with his supposed miraculous powers, to acquire +the reputation of being an incarnate deity. Thus beginning as little +more than a simple conjurer, the medicine-man or magician tends to +blossom out into a full-blown god and king in one. Only in speaking +of him as a god we must beware of importing into the savage +conception of deity those very abstract and complex ideas which we +attach to the term. Our ideas on this profound subject are the fruit +of a long intellectual and moral evolution, and they are so far from +being shared by the savage that he cannot even understand them when +they are explained to him. Much of the controversy which has raged +as to the religion of the lower races has sprung merely from a +mutual misunderstanding. The savage does not understand the thoughts +of the civilised man, and few civilised men understand the thoughts +of the savage. When the savage uses his word for god, he has in his +mind a being of a certain sort: when the civilised man uses his word +for god, he has in his mind a being of a very different sort; and +if, as commonly happens, the two men are equally unable to place +themselves at the other's point of view, nothing but confusion and +mistakes can result from their discussions. If we civilised men +insist on limiting the name of God to that particular conception of +the divine nature which we ourselves have formed, then we must +confess that the savage has no god at all. But we shall adhere more +closely to the facts of history if we allow most of the higher +savages at least to possess a rudimentary notion of certain +supernatural beings who may fittingly be called gods, though not in +the full sense in which we use the word. That rudimentary notion +represents in all probability the germ out of which the civilised +peoples have gradually evolved their own high conceptions of deity; +and if we could trace the whole course of religious development, we +might find that the chain which links our idea of the Godhead with +that of the savage is one and unbroken. + +With these explanations and cautions I will now adduce some examples +of gods who have been believed by their worshippers to be incarnate +in living human beings, whether men or women. The persons in whom a +deity is thought to reveal himself are by no means always kings or +descendants of kings; the supposed incarnation may take place even +in men of the humblest rank. In India, for example, one human god +started in life as a cotton-bleacher and another as the son of a +carpenter. I shall therefore not draw my examples exclusively from +royal personages, as I wish to illustrate the general principle of +the deification of living men, in other words, the incarnation of a +deity in human form. Such incarnate gods are common in rude society. +The incarnation may be temporary or permanent. In the former case, +the incarnation--commonly known as inspiration or +possession--reveals itself in supernatural knowledge rather than in +supernatural power. In other words, its usual manifestations are +divination and prophecy rather than miracles. On the other hand, +when the incarnation is not merely temporary, when the divine spirit +has permanently taken up its abode in a human body, the god-man is +usually expected to vindicate his character by working miracles. +Only we have to remember that by men at this stage of thought +miracles are not considered as breaches of natural law. Not +conceiving the existence of natural law, primitive man cannot +conceive a breach of it. A miracle is to him merely an unusually +striking manifestation of a common power. + +The belief in temporary incarnation or inspiration is world-wide. +Certain persons are supposed to be possessed from time to time by a +spirit or deity; while the possession lasts, their own personality +lies in abeyance, the presence of the spirit is revealed by +convulsive shiverings and shakings of the man's whole body, by wild +gestures and excited looks, all of which are referred, not to the +man himself, but to the spirit which has entered into him; and in +this abnormal state all his utterances are accepted as the voice of +the god or spirit dwelling in him and speaking through him. Thus, +for example, in the Sandwich Islands, the king, personating the god, +uttered the responses of the oracle from his concealment in a frame +of wicker-work. But in the southern islands of the Pacific the god +"frequently entered the priest, who, inflated as it were with the +divinity, ceased to act or speak as a voluntary agent, but moved and +spoke as entirely under supernatural influence. In this respect +there was a striking resemblance between the rude oracles of the +Polynesians, and those of the celebrated nations of ancient Greece. +As soon as the god was supposed to have entered the priest, the +latter became violently agitated, and worked himself up to the +highest pitch of apparent frenzy, the muscles of the limbs seemed +convulsed, the body swelled, the countenance became terrific, the +features distorted, and the eyes wild and strained. In this state he +often rolled on the earth, foaming at the mouth, as if labouring +under the influence of the divinity by whom he was possessed, and, +in shrill cries, and violent and often indistinct sounds, revealed +the will of the god. The priests, who were attending, and versed in +the mysteries, received, and reported to the people, the +declarations which had been thus received. When the priest had +uttered the response of the oracle, the violent paroxysm gradually +subsided, and comparative composure ensued. The god did not, +however, always leave him as soon as the communication had been +made. Sometimes the same _taura,_ or priest, continued for two or +three days possessed by the spirit or deity; a piece of a native +cloth, of a peculiar kind, worn round one arm, was an indication of +inspiration, or of the indwelling of the god with the individual who +wore it. The acts of the man during this period were considered as +those of the god, and hence the greatest attention was paid to his +expressions, and the whole of his deportment. . . . When _uruhia_ +(under the inspiration of the spirit), the priest was always +considered as sacred as the god, and was called, during this period, +_atua,_ god, though at other times only denominated _taura_ or +priest." + +But examples of such temporary inspiration are so common in every +part of the world and are now so familiar through books on ethnology +that it is needless to multiply illustrations of the general +principle. It may be well, however, to refer to two particular modes +of producing temporary inspiration, because they are perhaps less +known than some others, and because we shall have occasion to refer +to them later on. One of these modes of producing inspiration is by +sucking the fresh blood of a sacrificed victim. In the temple of +Apollo Diradiotes at Argos, a lamb was sacrificed by night once a +month; a woman, who had to observe a rule of chastity, tasted the +blood of the lamb, and thus being inspired by the god she prophesied +or divined. At Aegira in Achaia the priestess of Earth drank the +fresh blood of a bull before she descended into the cave to +prophesy. Similarly among the Kuruvikkarans, a class of +bird-catchers and beggars in Southern India, the goddess Kali is +believed to descend upon the priest, and he gives oracular replies +after sucking the blood which streams from the cut throat of a goat. +At a festival of the Alfoors of Minahassa, in Northern Celebes, +after a pig has been killed, the priest rushes furiously at it, +thrusts his head into the carcase, and drinks of the blood. Then he +is dragged away from it by force and set on a chair, whereupon he +begins to prophesy how the rice-crop will turn out that year. A +second time he runs at the carcase and drinks of the blood; a second +time he is forced into the chair and continues his predictions. It +is thought that there is a spirit in him which possesses the power +of prophecy. + +The other mode of producing temporary inspiration, to which I shall +here refer, consists in the use of a sacred tree or plant. Thus in +the Hindoo Koosh a fire is kindled with twigs of the sacred cedar; +and the Dainyal or sibyl, with a cloth over her head, inhales the +thick pungent smoke till she is seized with convulsions and falls +senseless to the ground. Soon she rises and raises a shrill chant, +which is caught up and loudly repeated by her audience. So Apollo's +prophetess ate the sacred laurel and was fumigated with it before +she prophesied. The Bacchanals ate ivy, and their inspired fury was +by some believed to be due to the exciting and intoxicating +properties of the plant. In Uganda the priest, in order to be +inspired by his god, smokes a pipe of tobacco fiercely till he works +himself into a frenzy; the loud excited tones in which he then talks +are recognised as the voice of the god speaking through him. In +Madura, an island off the north coast of Java, each spirit has its +regular medium, who is oftener a woman than a man. To prepare +herself for the reception of the spirit she inhales the fumes of +incense, sitting with her head over a smoking censer. Gradually she +falls into a sort of trance accompanied by shrieks, grimaces, and +violent spasms. The spirit is now supposed to have entered into her, +and when she grows calmer her words are regarded as oracular, being +the utterances of the indwelling spirit, while her own soul is +temporarily absent. + +The person temporarily inspired is believed to acquire, not merely +divine knowledge, but also, at least occasionally, divine power. In +Cambodia, when an epidemic breaks out, the inhabitants of several +villages unite and go with a band of music at their head to look for +the man whom the local god is supposed to have chosen for his +temporary incarnation. When found, the man is conducted to the altar +of the god, where the mystery of incarnation takes place. Then the +man becomes an object of veneration to his fellows, who implore him +to protect the village against the plague. A certain image of +Apollo, which stood in a sacred cave at Hylae near Magnesia, was +thought to impart superhuman strength. Sacred men, inspired by it, +leaped down precipices, tore up huge trees by the roots, and carried +them on their backs along the narrowest defiles. The feats performed +by inspired dervishes belong to the same class. + +Thus far we have seen that the savage, failing to discern the limits +of his ability to control nature, ascribes to himself and to all men +certain powers which we should now call supernatural. Further, we +have seen that, over and above this general supernaturalism, some +persons are supposed to be inspired for short periods by a divine +spirit, and thus temporarily to enjoy the knowledge and power of the +indwelling deity. From beliefs like these it is an easy step to the +conviction that certain men are permanently possessed by a deity, or +in some other undefined way are endued with so high a degree of +supernatural power as to be ranked as gods and to receive the homage +of prayer and sacrifice. Sometimes these human gods are restricted +to purely supernatural or spiritual functions. Sometimes they +exercise supreme political power in addition. In the latter case +they are kings as well as gods, and the government is a theocracy. +Thus in the Marquesas or Washington Islands there was a class of men +who were deified in their lifetime. They were supposed to wield a +supernatural power over the elements: they could give abundant +harvests or smite the ground with barrenness; and they could inflict +disease or death. Human sacrifices were offered to them to avert +their wrath. There were not many of them, at the most one or two in +each island. They lived in mystic seclusion. Their powers were +sometimes, but not always, hereditary. A missionary has described +one of these human gods from personal observation. The god was a +very old man who lived in a large house within an enclosure. In the +house was a kind of altar, and on the beams of the house and on the +trees round it were hung human skeletons, head down. No one entered +the enclosure except the persons dedicated to the service of the +god; only on days when human victims were sacrificed might ordinary +people penetrate into the precinct. This human god received more +sacrifices than all the other gods; often he would sit on a sort of +scaffold in front of his house and call for two or three human +victims at a time. They were always brought, for the terror he +inspired was extreme. He was invoked all over the island, and +offerings were sent to him from every side. Again, of the South Sea +Islands in general we are told that each island had a man who +represented or personified the divinity. Such men were called gods, +and their substance was confounded with that of the deity. The +man-god was sometimes the king himself; oftener he was a priest or +subordinate chief. + +The ancient Egyptians, far from restricting their adoration to cats +and dogs and such small deer, very liberally extended it to men. One +of these human deities resided at the village of Anabis, and burnt +sacrifices were offered to him on the altars; after which, says +Porphyry, he would eat his dinner just as if he were an ordinary +mortal. In classical antiquity the Sicilian philosopher Empedocles +gave himself out to be not merely a wizard but a god. Addressing his +fellow-citizens in verse he said: + + + "O friends, in this great city that climbs the yellow slope + Of Agrigentum's citadel, who make good works your scope, + Who offer to the stranger a haven quiet and fair, + All hail! Among you honoured I walk with lofty air. + With garlands, blooming garlands you crown my noble brow, + A mortal man no longer, a deathless godhead now. + Where e'er I go, the people crowd round and worship pay, + And thousands follow seeking to learn the better way. + Some crave prophetic visions, some smit with anguish sore + Would fain hear words of comfort and suffer pain no more." + + +He asserted that he could teach his disciples how to make the wind +to blow or be still, the rain to fall and the sun to shine, how to +banish sickness and old age and to raise the dead. When Demetrius +Poliorcetes restored the Athenian democracy in 307 B.C., the +Athenians decreed divine honours to him and his father Antigonus, +both of them being then alive, under the title of the Saviour Gods. +Altars were set up to the Saviours, and a priest appointed to attend +to their worship. The people went forth to meet their deliverer with +hymns and dances, with garlands and incense and libations; they +lined the streets and sang that he was the only true god, for the +other gods slept, or dwelt far away, or were not. In the words of a +contemporary poet, which were chanted in public and sung in private: + + + "Of all the gods the greatest and the dearest + To the city are come. + For Demeter and Demetrius + Together time has brought. + She comes to hold the Maiden's awful rites, + And he joyous and fair and laughing, + As befits a god. + A glorious sight, with all his friends about him, + He in their midst, + They like to stars, and he the sun. + Son of Poseidon the mighty, Aphrodite's son, + All hail! + The other gods dwell far away, + Or have no ears, + Or are not, or pay us no heed. + But thee we present see, + No god of wood or stone, but godhead true. + Therefore to thee we pray." + + +The ancient Germans believed that there was something holy in women, +and accordingly consulted them as oracles. Their sacred women, we +are told, looked on the eddying rivers and listened to the murmur or +the roar of the water, and from the sight and sound foretold what +would come to pass. But often the veneration of the men went +further, and they worshipped women as true and living goddesses. For +example, in the reign of Vespasian a certain Veleda, of the tribe of +the Bructeri, was commonly held to be a deity, and in that character +reigned over her people, her sway being acknowledged far and wide. +She lived in a tower on the river Lippe, a tributary of the Rhine. +When the people of Cologne sent to make a treaty with her, the +ambassadors were not admitted to her presence; the negotiations were +conducted through a minister, who acted as the mouthpiece of her +divinity and reported her oracular utterances. The example shows how +easily among our rude forefathers the ideas of divinity and royalty +coalesced. It is said that among the Getae down to the beginning of +our era there was always a man who personified a god and was called +God by the people. He dwelt on a sacred mountain and acted as +adviser to the king. + +According to the early Portuguese historian, Dos Santos, the Zimbas, +or Muzimbas, a people of South-eastern Africa, "do not adore idols +or recognize any god, but instead they venerate and honour their +king, whom they regard as a divinity, and they say he is the +greatest and best in the world. And the said king says of himself +that he alone is god of the earth, for which reason if it rains when +he does not wish it to do so, or is too hot, he shoots arrows at the +sky for not obeying him." The Mashona of Southern Africa informed +their bishop that they had once had a god, but that the Matabeles +had driven him away. "This last was in reference to a curious custom +in some villages of keeping a man they called their god. He seemed +to be consulted by the people and had presents given to him. There +was one at a village belonging to a chief Magondi, in the old days. +We were asked not to fire off any guns near the village, or we +should frighten him away." This Mashona god was formerly bound to +render an annual tribute to the king of the Matabele in the shape of +four black oxen and one dance. A missionary has seen and described +the deity discharging the latter part of his duty in front of the +royal hut. For three mortal hours, without a break, to the banging +of a tambourine, the click of castanettes, and the drone of a +monotonous song, the swarthy god engaged in a frenzied dance, +crouching on his hams like a tailor, sweating like a pig, and +bounding about with an agility which testified to the strength and +elasticity of his divine legs. + +The Baganda of Central Africa believed in a god of Lake Nyanza, who +sometimes took up his abode in a man or woman. The incarnate god was +much feared by all the people, including the king and the chiefs. +When the mystery of incarnation had taken place, the man, or rather +the god, removed about a mile and a half from the margin of the +lake, and there awaited the appearance of the new moon before he +engaged in his sacred duties. From the moment that the crescent moon +appeared faintly in the sky, the king and all his subjects were at +the command of the divine man, or _Lubare_ (god), as he was called, +who reigned supreme not only in matters of faith and ritual, but +also in questions of war and state policy. He was consulted as an +oracle; by his word he could inflict or heal sickness, withhold +rain, and cause famine. Large presents were made him when his advice +was sought. The chief of Urua, a large region to the west of Lake +Tanganyika, "arrogates to himself divine honours and power and +pretends to abstain from food for days without feeling its +necessity; and, indeed, declares that as a god he is altogether +above requiring food and only eats, drinks, and smokes for the +pleasure it affords him." Among the Gallas, when a woman grows tired +of the cares of housekeeping, she begins to talk incoherently and to +demean herself extravagantly. This is a sign of the descent of the +holy spirit Callo upon her. Immediately her husband prostrates +himself and adores her; she ceases to bear the humble title of wife +and is called "Lord"; domestic duties have no further claim on her, +and her will is a divine law. + +The king of Loango is honoured by his people "as though he were a +god; and he is called Sambee and Pango, which mean god. They believe +that he can let them have rain when he likes; and once a year, in +December, which is the time they want rain, the people come to beg +of him to grant it to them." On this occasion the king, standing on +his throne, shoots an arrow into the air, which is supposed to bring +on rain. Much the same is said of the king of Mombasa. Down to a few +years ago, when his spiritual reign on earth was brought to an +abrupt end by the carnal weapons of English marines and bluejackets, +the king of Benin was the chief object of worship in his dominions. +"He occupies a higher post here than the Pope does in Catholic +Europe; for he is not only God's vicegerent upon earth, but a god +himself, whose subjects both obey and adore him as such, although I +believe their adoration to arise rather from fear than love." The +king of Iddah told the English officers of the Niger Expedition, +"God made me after his own image; I am all the same as God; and he +appointed me a king." + +A peculiarly bloodthirsty monarch of Burma, by name Badonsachen, +whose very countenance reflected the inbred ferocity of his nature, +and under whose reign more victims perished by the executioner than +by the common enemy, conceived the notion that he was something more +than mortal, and that this high distinction had been granted him as +a reward for his numerous good works. Accordingly he laid aside the +title of king and aimed at making himself a god. With this view, and +in imitation of Buddha, who, before being advanced to the rank of a +divinity, had quitted his royal palace and seraglio and retired from +the world, Badonsachen withdrew from his palace to an immense +pagoda, the largest in the empire, which he had been engaged in +constructing for many years. Here he held conferences with the most +learned monks, in which he sought to persuade them that the five +thousand years assigned for the observance of the law of Buddha were +now elapsed, and that he himself was the god who was destined to +appear after that period, and to abolish the old law by substituting +his own. But to his great mortification many of the monks undertook +to demonstrate the contrary; and this disappointment, combined with +his love of power and his impatience under the restraints of an +ascetic life, quickly disabused him of his imaginary godhead, and +drove him back to his palace and his harem. The king of Siam "is +venerated equally with a divinity. His subjects ought not to look +him in the face; they prostrate themselves before him when he +passes, and appear before him on their knees, their elbows resting +on the ground." There is a special language devoted to his sacred +person and attributes, and it must be used by all who speak to or of +him. Even the natives have difficulty in mastering this peculiar +vocabulary. The hairs of the monarch's head, the soles of his feet, +the breath of his body, indeed every single detail of his person, +both outward and inward, have particular names. When he eats or +drinks, sleeps or walks, a special word indicates that these acts +are being performed by the sovereign, and such words cannot possibly +be applied to the acts of any other person whatever. There is no +word in the Siamese language by which any creature of higher rank or +greater dignity than a monarch can be described; and the +missionaries, when they speak of God, are forced to use the native +word for king. + +But perhaps no country in the world has been so prolific of human +gods as India; nowhere has the divine grace been poured out in a +more liberal measure on all classes of society from kings down to +milkmen. Thus amongst the Todas, a pastoral people of the Neilgherry +Hills of Southern India, the dairy is a sanctuary, and the milkman +who attends to it has been described as a god. On being asked +whether the Todas salute the sun, one of these divine milkmen +replied, "Those poor fellows do so, but I," tapping his chest, "I, a +god! why should I salute the sun?" Every one, even his own father, +prostrates himself before the milkman, and no one would dare to +refuse him anything. No human being, except another milkman, may +touch him; and he gives oracles to all who consult him, speaking +with the voice of a god. + +Further, in India "every king is regarded as little short of a +present god." The Hindoo law-book of Manu goes farther and says that +"even an infant king must not be despised from an idea that he is a +mere mortal; for he is a great deity in human form." There is said +to have been a sect in Orissa some years ago who worshipped the late +Queen Victoria in her lifetime as their chief divinity. And to this +day in India all living persons remarkable for great strength or +valour or for supposed miraculous powers run the risk of being +worshipped as gods. Thus, a sect in the Punjaub worshipped a deity +whom they called Nikkal Sen. This Nikkal Sen was no other than the +redoubted General Nicholson, and nothing that the general could do +or say damped the ardour of his adorers. The more he punished them, +the greater grew the religious awe with which they worshipped him. +At Benares not many years ago a celebrated deity was incarnate in +the person of a Hindoo gentleman who rejoiced in the euphonious name +of Swami Bhaskaranandaji Saraswati, and looked uncommonly like the +late Cardinal Manning, only more ingenuous. His eyes beamed with +kindly human interest, and he took what is described as an innocent +pleasure in the divine honours paid him by his confiding +worshippers. + +At Chinchvad, a small town about ten miles from Poona in Western +India, there lives a family of whom one in each generation is +believed by a large proportion of the Mahrattas to be an incarnation +of the elephant-headed god Gunputty. That celebrated deity was first +made flesh about the year 1640 in the person of a Brahman of Poona, +by name Mooraba Gosseyn, who sought to work out his salvation by +abstinence, mortification, and prayer. His piety had its reward. The +god himself appeared to him in a vision of the night and promised +that a portion of his, that is, of Gunputty's holy spirit should +abide with him and with his seed after him even to the seventh +generation. The divine promise was fulfilled. Seven successive +incarnations, transmitted from father to son, manifested the light +of Gunputty to a dark world. The last of the direct line, a +heavy-looking god with very weak eyes, died in the year 1810. But +the cause of truth was too sacred, and the value of the church +property too considerable, to allow the Brahmans to contemplate with +equanimity the unspeakable loss that would be sustained by a world +which knew not Gunputty. Accordingly they sought and found a holy +vessel in whom the divine spirit of the master had revealed itself +anew, and the revelation has been happily continued in an unbroken +succession of vessels from that time to this. But a mysterious law +of spiritual economy, whose operation in the history of religion we +may deplore though we cannot alter, has decreed that the miracles +wrought by the god-man in these degenerate days cannot compare with +those which were wrought by his predecessors in days gone by; and it +is even reported that the only sign vouchsafed by him to the present +generation of vipers is the miracle of feeding the multitude whom he +annually entertains to dinner at Chinchvad. + +A Hindoo sect, which has many representatives in Bombay and Central +India, holds that its spiritual chiefs or Maharajas, as they are +called, are representatives or even actual incarnations on earth of +the god Krishna. And as Krishna looks down from heaven with most +favour on such as minister to the wants of his successors and vicars +on earth, a peculiar rite called Self-devotion has been instituted, +whereby his faithful worshippers make over their bodies, their +souls, and, what is perhaps still more important, their worldly +substance to his adorable incarnations; and women are taught to +believe that the highest bliss for themselves and their families is +to be attained by yielding themselves to the embraces of those +beings in whom the divine nature mysteriously coexists with the form +and even the appetites of true humanity. + +Christianity itself has not uniformly escaped the taint of these +unhappy delusions; indeed it has often been sullied by the +extravagances of vain pretenders to a divinity equal to or even +surpassing that of its great Founder. In the second century Montanus +the Phrygian claimed to be the incarnate Trinity, uniting in his +single person God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. +Nor is this an isolated case, the exorbitant pretension of a single +ill-balanced mind. From the earliest times down to the present day +many sects have believed that Christ, nay God himself, is incarnate +in every fully initiated Christian, and they have carried this +belief to its logical conclusion by adoring each other. Tertullian +records that this was done by his fellow-Christians at Carthage in +the second century; the disciples of St. Columba worshipped him as +an embodiment of Christ; and in the eighth century Elipandus of +Toledo spoke of Christ as "a god among gods," meaning that all +believers were gods just as truly as Jesus himself. The adoration of +each other was customary among the Albigenses, and is noticed +hundreds of times in the records of the Inquisition at Toulouse in +the early part of the fourteenth century. + +In the thirteenth century there arose a sect called the Brethren and +Sisters of the Free Spirit, who held that by long and assiduous +contemplation any man might be united to the deity in an ineffable +manner and become one with the source and parent of all things, and +that he who had thus ascended to God and been absorbed in his +beatific essence, actually formed part of the Godhead, was the Son +of God in the same sense and manner with Christ himself, and enjoyed +thereby a glorious immunity from the trammels of all laws human and +divine. Inwardly transported by this blissful persuasion, though +outwardly presenting in their aspect and manners a shocking air of +lunacy and distraction, the sectaries roamed from place to place, +attired in the most fantastic apparel and begging their bread with +wild shouts and clamour, spurning indignantly every kind of honest +labour and industry as an obstacle to divine contemplation and to +the ascent of the soul towards the Father of spirits. In all their +excursions they were followed by women with whom they lived on terms +of the closest familiarity. Those of them who conceived they had +made the greatest proficiency in the higher spiritual life dispensed +with the use of clothes altogether in their assemblies, looking upon +decency and modesty as marks of inward corruption, characteristics +of a soul that still grovelled under the dominion of the flesh and +had not yet been elevated into communion with the divine spirit, its +centre and source. Sometimes their progress towards this mystic +communion was accelerated by the Inquisition, and they expired in +the flames, not merely with unclouded serenity, but with the most +triumphant feelings of cheerfulness and joy. + +About the year 1830 there appeared, in one of the States of the +American Union bordering on Kentucky, an impostor who declared that +he was the Son of God, the Saviour of mankind, and that he had +reappeared on earth to recall the impious, the unbelieving, and +sinners to their duty. He protested that if they did not mend their +ways within a certain time, he would give the signal, and in a +moment the world would crumble to ruins. These extravagant +pretensions were received with favour even by persons of wealth and +position in society. At last a German humbly besought the new +Messiah to announce the dreadful catastrophe to his +fellow-countrymen in the German language, as they did not understand +English, and it seemed a pity that they should be damned merely on +that account. The would-be Saviour in reply confessed with great +candour that he did not know German. "What!" retorted the German, +"you the Son of God, and don't speak all languages, and don't even +know German? Come, come, you are a knave, a hypocrite, and a madman. +Bedlam is the place for you." The spectators laughed, and went away +ashamed of their credulity. + +Sometimes, at the death of the human incarnation, the divine spirit +transmigrates into another man. The Buddhist Tartars believe in a +great number of living Buddhas, who officiate as Grand Lamas at the +head of the most important monasteries. When one of these Grand +Lamas dies his disciples do not sorrow, for they know that he will +soon reappear, being born in the form of an infant. Their only +anxiety is to discover the place of his birth. If at this time they +see a rainbow they take it as a sign sent them by the departed Lama +to guide them to his cradle. Sometimes the divine infant himself +reveals his identity. "I am the Grand Lama," he says, "the living +Buddha of such and such a temple. Take me to my old monastery. I am +its immortal head." In whatever way the birthplace of the Buddha is +revealed, whether by the Buddha's own avowal or by the sign in the +sky, tents are struck, and the joyful pilgrims, often headed by the +king or one of the most illustrious of the royal family, set forth +to find and bring home the infant god. Generally he is born in +Tibet, the holy land, and to reach him the caravan has often to +traverse the most frightful deserts. When at last they find the +child they fall down and worship him. Before, however, he is +acknowledged as the Grand Lama whom they seek he must satisfy them +of his identity. He is asked the name of the monastery of which he +claims to be the head, how far off it is, and how many monks live in +it; he must also describe the habits of the deceased Grand Lama and +the manner of his death. Then various articles, as prayer-books, +tea-pots, and cups, are placed before him, and he has to point out +those used by himself in his previous life. If he does so without a +mistake his claims are admitted, and he is conducted in triumph to +the monastery. At the head of all the Lamas is the Dalai Lama of +Lhasa, the Rome of Tibet. He is regarded as a living god, and at +death his divine and immortal spirit is born again in a child. +According to some accounts the mode of discovering the Dalai Lama is +similar to the method, already described, of discovering an ordinary +Grand Lama. Other accounts speak of an election by drawing lots from +a golden jar. Wherever he is born, the trees and plants put forth +green leaves; at his bidding flowers bloom and springs of water +rise; and his presence diffuses heavenly blessings. + +But he is by no means the only man who poses as a god in these +regions. A register of all the incarnate gods in the Chinese empire +is kept in the _Li fan yiian_ or Colonial Office at Peking. The +number of gods who have thus taken out a license is one hundred and +sixty. Tibet is blessed with thirty of them, Northern Mongolia +rejoices in nineteen, and Southern Mongolia basks in the sunshine of +no less than fifty-seven. The Chinese government, with a paternal +solicitude for the welfare of its subjects, forbids the gods on the +register to be reborn anywhere but in Tibet. They fear lest the +birth of a god in Mongolia should have serious political +consequences by stirring the dormant patriotism and warlike spirit +of the Mongols, who might rally round an ambitious native deity of +royal lineage and seek to win for him, at the point of the sword, a +temporal as well as a spiritual kingdom. But besides these public or +licensed gods there are a great many little private gods, or +unlicensed practitioners of divinity, who work miracles and bless +their people in holes and corners; and of late years the Chinese +government has winked at the rebirth of these pettifogging deities +outside of Tibet. However, once they are born, the government keeps +its eye on them as well as on the regular practitioners, and if any +of them misbehaves he is promptly degraded, banished to a distant +monastery, and strictly forbidden ever to be born again in the +flesh. + +From our survey of the religious position occupied by the king in +rude societies we may infer that the claim to divine and +supernatural powers put forward by the monarchs of great historical +empires like those of Egypt, Mexico, and Peru, was not the simple +outcome of inflated vanity or the empty expression of a grovelling +adulation; it was merely a survival and extension of the old savage +apotheosis of living kings. Thus, for example, as children of the +Sun the Incas of Peru were revered like gods; they could do no +wrong, and no one dreamed of offending against the person, honour, +or property of the monarch or of any of the royal race. Hence, too, +the Incas did not, like most people, look on sickness as an evil. +They considered it a messenger sent from their father the Sun to +call them to come and rest with him in heaven. Therefore the usual +words in which an Inca announced his approaching end were these: "My +father calls me to come and rest with him." They would not oppose +their father's will by offering sacrifice for recovery, but openly +declared that he had called them to his rest. Issuing from the +sultry valleys upon the lofty tableland of the Colombian Andes, the +Spanish conquerors were astonished to find, in contrast to the +savage hordes they had left in the sweltering jungles below, a +people enjoying a fair degree of civilisation, practising +agriculture, and living under a government which Humboldt has +compared to the theocracies of Tibet and Japan. These were the +Chibchas, Muyscas, or Mozcas, divided into two kingdoms, with +capitals at Bogota and Tunja, but united apparently in spiritual +allegiance to the high pontiff of Sogamozo or Iraca. By a long and +ascetic novitiate, this ghostly ruler was reputed to have acquired +such sanctity that the waters and the rain obeyed him, and the +weather depended on his will. The Mexican kings at their accession, +as we have seen, took an oath that they would make the sun to shine, +the clouds to give rain, the rivers to flow, and the earth to bring +forth fruits in abundance. We are told that Montezuma, the last king +of Mexico, was worshipped by his people as a god. + +The early Babylonian kings, from the time of Sargon I. till the +fourth dynasty of Ur or later, claimed to be gods in their lifetime. +The monarchs of the fourth dynasty of Ur in particular had temples +built in their honour; they set up their statues in various +sanctuaries and commanded the people to sacrifice to them; the +eighth month was especially dedicated to the kings, and sacrifices +were offered to them at the new moon and on the fifteenth of each +month. Again, the Parthian monarchs of the Arsacid house styled +themselves brothers of the sun and moon and were worshipped as +deities. It was esteemed sacrilege to strike even a private member +of the Arsacid family in a brawl. + +The kings of Egypt were deified in their lifetime, sacrifices were +offered to them, and their worship was celebrated in special temples +and by special priests. Indeed the worship of the kings sometimes +cast that of the gods into the shade. Thus in the reign of Merenra a +high official declared that he had built many holy places in order +that the spirits of the king, the ever-living Merenra, might be +invoked "more than all the gods." "It has never been doubted that +the king claimed actual divinity; he was the 'great god,' the'golden +Horus,' and son of Ra. He claimed authority not only over Egypt, but +over'all lands and nations,''the whole world in its length and its +breadth, the east and the west,''the entire compass of the great +circuit of the sun,''the sky and what is in it, the earth and all +that is upon it,''every creature that walks upon two or upon four +legs, all that fly or flutter, the whole world offers her +productions to him.' Whatever in fact might be asserted of the +Sun-god, was dogmatically predicable of the king of Egypt. His +titles were directly derived from those of the Sun-god." "In the +course of his existence," we are told, "the king of Egypt exhausted +all the possible conceptions of divinity which the Egyptians had +framed for themselves. A superhuman god by his birth and by his +royal office, he became the deified man after his death. Thus all +that was known of the divine was summed up in him." + +We have now completed our sketch, for it is no more than a sketch, +of the evolution of that sacred kingship which attained its highest +form, its most absolute expression, in the monarchies of Peru and +Egypt. Historically, the institution appears to have originated in +the order of public magicians or medicine-men; logically it rests on +a mistaken deduction from the association of ideas. Men mistook the +order of their ideas for the order of nature, and hence imagined +that the control which they have, or seem to have, over their +thoughts, permitted them to exercise a corresponding control over +things. The men who for one reason or another, because of the +strength or the weakness of their natural parts, were supposed to +possess these magical powers in the highest degree, were gradually +marked off from their fellows and became a separate class, who were +destined to exercise a most far-reaching influence on the political, +religious, and intellectual evolution of mankind. Social progress, +as we know, consists mainly in a successive differentiation of +functions, or, in simpler language, a division of labour. The work +which in primitive society is done by all alike and by all equally +ill, or nearly so, is gradually distributed among different classes +of workers and executed more and more perfectly; and so far as the +products, material or immaterial, of this specialised labour are +shared by all, the whole community benefits by the increasing +specialisation. Now magicians or medicine-men appear to constitute +the oldest artificial or professional class in the evolution of +society. For sorcerers are found in every savage tribe known to us; +and among the lowest savages, such as the Australian aborigines, +they are the only professional class that exists. As time goes on, +and the process of differentiation continues, the order of +medicine-men is itself subdivided into such classes as the healers +of disease, the makers of rain, and so forth; while the most +powerful member of the order wins for himself a position as chief +and gradually develops into a sacred king, his old magical functions +falling more and more into the background and being exchanged for +priestly or even divine duties, in proportion as magic is slowly +ousted by religion. Still later, a partition is effected between the +civil and the religious aspect of the kingship, the temporal power +being committed to one man and the spiritual to another. Meanwhile +the magicians, who may be repressed but cannot be extirpated by the +predominance of religion, still addict themselves to their old +occult arts in preference to the newer ritual of sacrifice and +prayer; and in time the more sagacious of their number perceive the +fallacy of magic and hit upon a more effectual mode of manipulating +the forces of nature for the good of man; in short, they abandon +sorcery for science. I am far from affirming that the course of +development has everywhere rigidly followed these lines: it has +doubtless varied greatly in different societies. I merely mean to +indicate in the broadest outline what I conceive to have been its +general trend. Regarded from the industrial point of view the +evolution has been from uniformity to diversity of function: +regarded from the political point of view, it has been from +democracy to despotism. With the later history of monarchy, +especially with the decay of despotism and its displacement by forms +of government better adapted to the higher needs of humanity, we are +not concerned in this enquiry: our theme is the growth, not the +decay, of a great and, in its time, beneficent institution. + + + +VIII. Departmental Kings of Nature + +THE PRECEDING investigation has proved that the same union of sacred +functions with a royal title which meets us in the King of the Wood +at Nemi, the Sacrificial King at Rome, and the magistrate called the +King at Athens, occurs frequently outside the limits of classical +antiquity and is a common feature of societies at all stages from +barbarism to civilisation. Further, it appears that the royal priest +is often a king, not only in name but in fact, swaying the sceptre +as well as the crosier. All this confirms the traditional view of +the origin of the titular and priestly kings in the republics of +ancient Greece and Italy. At least by showing that the combination +of spiritual and temporal power, of which Graeco-Italian tradition +preserved the memory, has actually existed in many places, we have +obviated any suspicion of improbability that might have attached to +the tradition. Therefore we may now fairly ask, May not the King of +the Wood have had an origin like that which a probable tradition +assigns to the Sacrificial King of Rome and the titular King of +Athens? In other words, may not his predecessors in office have been +a line of kings whom a republican revolution stripped of their +political power, leaving them only their religious functions and the +shadow of a crown? There are at least two reasons for answering this +question in the negative. One reason is drawn from the abode of the +priest of Nemi; the other from his title, the King of the Wood. If +his predecessors had been kings in the ordinary sense, he would +surely have been found residing, like the fallen kings of Rome and +Athens, in the city of which the sceptre had passed from him. This +city must have been Aricia, for there was none nearer. But Aricia +was three miles off from his forest sanctuary by the lake shore. If +he reigned, it was not in the city, but in the greenwood. Again his +title, King of the Wood, hardly allows us to suppose that he had +ever been a king in the common sense of the word. More likely he was +a king of nature, and of a special side of nature, namely, the woods +from which he took his title. If we could find instances of what we +may call departmental kings of nature, that is of persons supposed +to rule over particular elements or aspects of nature, they would +probably present a closer analogy to the King of the Wood than the +divine kings we have been hitherto considering, whose control of +nature is general rather than special. Instances of such +departmental kings are not wanting. + +On a hill at Bomma near the mouth of the Congo dwells Namvulu Vumu, +King of the Rain and Storm. Of some of the tribes on the Upper Nile +we are told that they have no kings in the common sense; the only +persons whom they acknowledge as such are the Kings of the Rain, +_Mata Kodou,_ who are credited with the power of giving rain at the +proper time, that is, the rainy season. Before the rains begin to +fall at the end of March the country is a parched and arid desert; +and the cattle, which form the people's chief wealth, perish for +lack of grass. So, when the end of March draws on, each householder +betakes himself to the King of the Rain and offers him a cow that he +may make the blessed waters of heaven to drip on the brown and +withered pastures. If no shower falls, the people assemble and +demand that the king shall give them rain; and if the sky still +continues cloudless, they rip up his belly, in which he is believed +to keep the storms. Amongst the Bari tribe one of these Rain Kings +made rain by sprinkling water on the ground out of a handbell. + +Among tribes on the outskirts of Abyssinia a similar office exists +and has been thus described by an observer: "The priesthood of the +Alfai, as he is called by the Barea and Kunama, is a remarkable one; +he is believed to be able to make rain. This office formerly existed +among the Algeds and appears to be still common to the Nuba negroes. +The Alfai of the Barea, who is also consulted by the northern +Kunama, lives near Tembadere on a mountain alone with his family. +The people bring him tribute in the form of clothes and fruits, and +cultivate for him a large field of his own. He is a kind of king, +and his office passes by inheritance to his brother or sister's son. +He is supposed to conjure down rain and to drive away the locusts. +But if he disappoints the people's expectation and a great drought +arises in the land, the Alfai is stoned to death, and his nearest +relations are obliged to cast the first stone at him. When we passed +through the country, the office of Alfai was still held by an old +man; but I heard that rain-making had proved too dangerous for him +and that he had renounced his office." + +In the backwoods of Cambodia live two mysterious sovereigns known as +the King of the Fire and the King of the Water. Their fame is spread +all over the south of the great Indo-Chinese peninsula; but only a +faint echo of it has reached the West. Down to a few years ago no +European, so far as is known, had ever seen either of them; and +their very existence might have passed for a fable, were it not that +till lately communications were regularly maintained between them +and the King of Cambodia, who year by year exchanged presents with +them. Their royal functions are of a purely mystic or spiritual +order; they have no political authority; they are simple peasants, +living by the sweat of their brow and the offerings of the faithful. +According to one account they live in absolute solitude, never +meeting each other and never seeing a human face. They inhabit +successively seven towers perched upon seven mountains, and every +year they pass from one tower to another. People come furtively and +cast within their reach what is needful for their subsistence. The +kingship lasts seven years, the time necessary to inhabit all the +towers successively; but many die before their time is out. The +offices are hereditary in one or (according to others) two royal +families, who enjoy high consideration, have revenues assigned to +them, and are exempt from the necessity of tilling the ground. But +naturally the dignity is not coveted, and when a vacancy occurs, all +eligible men (they must be strong and have children) flee and hide +themselves. Another account, admitting the reluctance of the +hereditary candidates to accept the crown, does not countenance the +report of their hermit-like seclusion in the seven towers. For it +represents the people as prostrating themselves before the mystic +kings whenever they appear in public, it being thought that a +terrible hurricane would burst over the country if this mark of +homage were omitted. Like many other sacred kings, of whom we shall +read in the sequel, the Kings of Fire and Water are not allowed to +die a natural death, for that would lower their reputation. +Accordingly when one of them is seriously ill, the elders hold a +consultation and if they think he cannot recover they stab him to +death. His body is burned and the ashes are piously collected and +publicly honoured for five years. Part of them is given to the +widow, and she keeps them in an urn, which she must carry on her +back when she goes to weep on her husband's grave. + +We are told that the Fire King, the more important of the two, whose +supernatural powers have never been questioned, officiates at +marriages, festivals, and sacrifices in honour of the _Yan_ or +spirit. On these occasions a special place is set apart for him; and +the path by which he approaches is spread with white cotton cloths. +A reason for confining the royal dignity to the same family is that +this family is in possession of certain famous talismans which would +lose their virtue or disappear if they passed out of the family. +These talismans are three: the fruit of a creeper called _Cui,_ +gathered ages ago at the time of the last deluge, but still fresh +and green; a rattan, also very old but bearing flowers that never +fade; and lastly, a sword containing a _Yan_ or spirit, who guards +it constantly and works miracles with it. The spirit is said to be +that of a slave, whose blood chanced to fall upon the blade while it +was being forged, and who died a voluntary death to expiate his +involuntary offence. By means of the two former talismans the Water +King can raise a flood that would drown the whole earth. If the Fire +King draws the magic sword a few inches from its sheath, the sun is +hidden and men and beasts fall into a profound sleep; were he to +draw it quite out of the scabbard, the world would come to an end. +To this wondrous brand sacrifices of buffaloes, pigs, fowls, and +ducks are offered for rain. It is kept swathed in cotton and silk; +and amongst the annual presents sent by the King of Cambodia were +rich stuffs to wrap the sacred sword. + +Contrary to the common usage of the country, which is to bury the +dead, the bodies of both these mystic monarchs are burnt, but their +nails and some of their teeth and bones are religiously preserved as +amulets. It is while the corpse is being consumed on the pyre that +the kinsmen of the deceased magician flee to the forest and hide +themselves, for fear of being elevated to the invidious dignity +which he has just vacated. The people go and search for them, and +the first whose lurking place they discover is made King of Fire or +Water. + +These, then, are examples of what I have called departmental kings +of nature. But it is a far cry to Italy from the forests of Cambodia +and the sources of the Nile. And though Kings of Rain, Water, and +Fire have been found, we have still to discover a King of the Wood +to match the Arician priest who bore that title. Perhaps we shall +find him nearer home. + + + +IX. The Worship of Trees + + + +1. Tree-spirits + +IN THE RELIGIOUS history of the Aryan race in Europe the worship of +trees has played an important part. Nothing could be more natural. +For at the dawn of history Europe was covered with immense primaeval +forests, in which the scattered clearings must have appeared like +islets in an ocean of green. Down to the first century before our +era the Hercynian forest stretched eastward from the Rhine for a +distance at once vast and unknown; Germans whom Caesar questioned +had travelled for two months through it without reaching the end. +Four centuries later it was visited by the Emperor Julian, and the +solitude, the gloom, the silence of the forest appear to have made a +deep impression on his sensitive nature. He declared that he knew +nothing like it in the Roman empire. In our own country the wealds +of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex are remnants of the great forest of +Anderida, which once clothed the whole of the south-eastern portion +of the island. Westward it seems to have stretched till it joined +another forest that extended from Hampshire to Devon. In the reign +of Henry II. the citizens of London still hunted the wild bull and +the boar in the woods of Hampstead. Even under the later +Plantagenets the royal forests were sixty-eight in number. In the +forest of Arden it was said that down to modern times a squirrel +might leap from tree to tree for nearly the whole length of +Warwickshire. The excavation of ancient pile-villages in the valley +of the Po has shown that long before the rise and probably the +foundation of Rome the north of Italy was covered with dense woods +of elms, chestnuts, and especially of oaks. Archaeology is here +confirmed by history; for classical writers contain many references +to Italian forests which have now disappeared. As late as the fourth +century before our era Rome was divided from central Etruria by the +dreaded Ciminian forest, which Livy compares to the woods of +Germany. No merchant, if we may trust the Roman historian, had ever +penetrated its pathless solitudes; and it was deemed a most daring +feat when a Roman general, after sending two scouts to explore its +intricacies, led his army into the forest and, making his way to a +ridge of the wooded mountains, looked down on the rich Etrurian +fields spread out below. In Greece beautiful woods of pine, oak, and +other trees still linger on the slopes of the high Arcadian +mountains, still adorn with their verdure the deep gorge through +which the Ladon hurries to join the sacred Alpheus, and were still, +down to a few years ago, mirrored in the dark blue waters of the +lonely lake of Pheneus; but they are mere fragments of the forests +which clothed great tracts in antiquity, and which at a more remote +epoch may have spanned the Greek peninsula from sea to sea. + +From an examination of the Teutonic words for "temple" Grimm has +made it probable that amongst the Germans the oldest sanctuaries +were natural woods. However that may be, tree-worship is well +attested for all the great European families of the Aryan stock. +Amongst the Celts the oak-worship of the Druids is familiar to every +one, and their old word for sanctuary seems to be identical in +origin and meaning with the Latin _nemus,_ a grove or woodland +glade, which still survives in the name of Nemi. Sacred groves were +common among the ancient Germans, and tree-worship is hardly extinct +amongst their descendants at the present day. How serious that +worship was in former times may be gathered from the ferocious +penalty appointed by the old German laws for such as dared to peel +the bark of a standing tree. The culprit's navel was to be cut out +and nailed to the part of the tree which he had peeled, and he was +to be driven round and round the tree till all his guts were wound +about its trunk. The intention of the punishment clearly was to +replace the dead bark by a living substitute taken from the culprit; +it was a life for a life, the life of a man for the life of a tree. +At Upsala, the old religious capital of Sweden, there was a sacred +grove in which every tree was regarded as divine. The heathen Slavs +worshipped trees and groves. The Lithuanians were not converted to +Christianity till towards the close of the fourteenth century, and +amongst them at the date of their conversion the worship of trees +was prominent. Some of them revered remarkable oaks and other great +shady trees, from which they received oracular responses. Some +maintained holy groves about their villages or houses, where even to +break a twig would have been a sin. They thought that he who cut a +bough in such a grove either died suddenly or was crippled in one of +his limbs. Proofs of the prevalence of tree-worship in ancient +Greece and Italy are abundant. In the sanctuary of Aesculapius at +Cos, for example, it was forbidden to cut down the cypress-trees +under a penalty of a thousand drachms. But nowhere, perhaps, in the +ancient world was this antique form of religion better preserved +than in the heart of the great metropolis itself. In the Forum, the +busy centre of Roman life, the sacred fig-tree of Romulus was +worshipped down to the days of the empire, and the withering of its +trunk was enough to spread consternation through the city. Again, on +the slope of the Palatine Hill grew a cornel-tree which was esteemed +one of the most sacred objects in Rome. Whenever the tree appeared +to a passer-by to be drooping, he set up a hue and cry which was +echoed by the people in the street, and soon a crowd might be seen +running helter-skelter from all sides with buckets of water, as if +(says Plutarch) they were hastening to put out a fire. + +Among the tribes of the Finnish-Ugrian stock in Europe the heathen +worship was performed for the most part in sacred groves, which were +always enclosed with a fence. Such a grove often consisted merely of +a glade or clearing with a few trees dotted about, upon which in +former times the skins of the sacrificial victims were hung. The +central point of the grove, at least among the tribes of the Volga, +was the sacred tree, beside which everything else sank into +insignificance. Before it the worshippers assembled and the priest +offered his prayers, at its roots the victim was sacrificed, and its +boughs sometimes served as a pulpit. No wood might be hewn and no +branch broken in the grove, and women were generally forbidden to +enter it. + +But it is necessary to examine in some detail the notions on which +the worship of trees and plants is based. To the savage the world in +general is animate, and trees and plants are no exception to the +rule. He thinks that they have souls like his own, and he treats +them accordingly. "They say," writes the ancient vegetarian +Porphyry, "that primitive men led an unhappy life, for their +superstition did not stop at animals but extended even to plants. +For why should the slaughter of an ox or a sheep be a greater wrong +than the felling of a fir or an oak, seeing that a soul is implanted +in these trees also?" Similarly, the Hidatsa Indians of North +America believe that every natural object has its spirit, or to +speak more properly, its shade. To these shades some consideration +or respect is due, but not equally to all. For example, the shade of +the cottonwood, the greatest tree in the valley of the Upper +Missouri, is supposed to possess an intelligence which, if properly +approached, may help the Indians in certain undertakings; but the +shades of shrubs and grasses are of little account. When the +Missouri, swollen by a freshet in spring, carries away part of its +banks and sweeps some tall tree into its current, it is said that +the spirit of the tree cries, while the roots still cling to the +land and until the trunk falls with a splash into the stream. +Formerly the Indians considered it wrong to fell one of these +giants, and when large logs were needed they made use only of trees +which had fallen of themselves. Till lately some of the more +credulous old men declared that many of the misfortunes of their +people were caused by this modern disregard for the rights of the +living cottonwood. The Iroquois believed that each species of tree, +shrub, plant, and herb had its own spirit, and to these spirits it +was their custom to return thanks. The Wanika of Eastern Africa +fancy that every tree, and especially every coco-nut tree, has its +spirit; "the destruction of a cocoa-nut tree is regarded as +equivalent to matricide, because that tree gives them life and +nourishment, as a mother does her child." Siamese monks, believing +that there are souls everywhere, and that to destroy anything +whatever is forcibly to dispossess a soul, will not break a branch +of a tree, "as they will not break the arm of an innocent person." +These monks, of course, are Buddhists. But Buddhist animism is not a +philosophical theory. It is simply a common savage dogma +incorporated in the system of an historical religion. To suppose, +with Benfey and others, that the theories of animism and +transmigration current among rude peoples of Asia are derived from +Buddhism, is to reverse the facts. + +Sometimes it is only particular sorts of trees that are supposed to +be tenanted by spirits. At Grbalj in Dalmatia it is said that among +great beeches, oaks, and other trees there are some that are endowed +with shades or souls, and whoever fells one of them must die on the +spot, or at least live an invalid for the rest of his days. If a +woodman fears that a tree which he has felled is one of this sort, +he must cut off the head of a live hen on the stump of the tree with +the very same axe with which he cut down the tree. This will protect +him from all harm, even if the tree be one of the animated kind. The +silk-cotton trees, which rear their enormous trunks to a stupendous +height, far out-topping all the other trees of the forest, are +regarded with reverence throughout West Africa, from the Senegal to +the Niger, and are believed to be the abode of a god or spirit. +Among the Ewespeaking peoples of the Slave Coast the indwelling god +of this giant of the forest goes by the name of Huntin. Trees in +which he specially dwells--for it is not every silk-cotton tree that +he thus honours--are surrounded by a girdle of palm-leaves; and +sacrifices of fowls, and occasionally of human beings, are fastened +to the trunk or laid against the foot of the tree. A tree +distinguished by a girdle of palm-leaves may not be cut down or +injured in any way; and even silk-cotton trees which are not +supposed to be animated by Huntin may not be felled unless the +woodman first offers a sacrifice of fowls and palm-oil to purge +himself of the proposed sacrilege. To omit the sacrifice is an +offence which may be punished with death. Among the Kangra mountains +of the Punjaub a girl used to be annually sacrificed to an old +cedar-tree, the families of the village taking it in turn to supply +the victim. The tree was cut down not very many years ago. + +If trees are animate, they are necessarily sensitive and the cutting +of them down becomes a delicate surgical operation, which must be +performed with as tender a regard as possible for the feelings of +the sufferers, who otherwise may turn and rend the careless or +bungling operator. When an oak is being felled "it gives a kind of +shriekes or groanes, that may be heard a mile off, as if it were the +genius of the oake lamenting. E. Wyld, Esq., hath heard it severall +times." The Ojebways "very seldom cut down green or living trees, +from the idea that it puts them to pain, and some of their +medicine-men profess to have heard the wailing of the trees under +the axe." Trees that bleed and utter cries of pain or indignation +when they are hacked or burned occur very often in Chinese books, +even in Standard Histories. Old peasants in some parts of Austria +still believe that forest-trees are animate, and will not allow an +incision to be made in the bark without special cause; they have +heard from their fathers that the tree feels the cut not less than a +wounded man his hurt. In felling a tree they beg its pardon. It is +said that in the Upper Palatinate also old woodmen still secretly +ask a fine, sound tree to forgive them before they cut it down. So +in Jarkino the woodman craves pardon of the tree he fells. Before +the Ilocanes of Luzon cut down trees in the virgin forest or on the +mountains, they recite some verses to the following effect: "Be not +uneasy, my friend, though we fell what we have been ordered to +fell." This they do in order not to draw down on themselves the +hatred of the spirits who live in the trees, and who are apt to +avenge themselves by visiting with grievous sickness such as injure +them wantonly. The Basoga of Central Africa think that, when a tree +is cut down, the angry spirit which inhabits it may cause the death +of the chief and his family. To prevent this disaster they consult a +medicine-man before they fell a tree. If the man of skill gives +leave to proceed, the woodman first offers a fowl and a goat to the +tree; then as soon as he has given the first blow with the axe, he +applies his mouth to the cut and sucks some of the sap. In this way +he forms a brotherhood with the tree, just as two men become +blood-brothers by sucking each other's blood. After that he can cut +down his tree-brother with impunity. + +But the spirits of vegetation are not always treated with deference +and respect. If fair words and kind treatment do not move them, +stronger measures are sometimes resorted to. The durian-tree of the +East Indies, whose smooth stem often shoots up to a height of eighty +or ninety feet without sending out a branch, bears a fruit of the +most delicious flavour and the most disgusting stench. The Malays +cultivate the tree for the sake of its fruit, and have been known to +resort to a peculiar ceremony for the purpose of stimulating its +fertility. Near Jugra in Selangor there is a small grove of +durian-trees, and on a specially chosen day the villagers used to +assemble in it. Thereupon one of the local sorcerers would take a +hatchet and deliver several shrewd blows on the trunk of the most +barren of the trees, saying, "Will you now bear fruit or not? If you +do not, I shall fell you." To this the tree replied through the +mouth of another man who had climbed a mangostin-tree hard by (the +durian-tree being unclimbable), "Yes, I will now bear fruit; I beg +of you not to fell me." So in Japan to make trees bear fruit two men +go into an orchard. One of them climbs up a tree and the other +stands at the foot with an axe. The man with the axe asks the tree +whether it will yield a good crop next year and threatens to cut it +down if it does not. To this the man among the branches replies on +behalf of the tree that it will bear abundantly. Odd as this mode of +horticulture may seem to us, it has its exact parallels in Europe. +On Christmas Eve many a South Slavonian and Bulgarian peasant swings +an axe threateningly against a barren fruit-tree, while another man +standing by intercedes for the menaced tree, saying, "Do not cut it +down; it will soon bear fruit." Thrice the axe is swung, and thrice +the impending blow is arrested at the entreaty of the intercessor. +After that the frightened tree will certainly bear fruit next year. + +The conception of trees and plants as animated beings naturally +results in treating them as male and female, who can be married to +each other in a real, and not merely a figurative or poetical, sense +of the word. The notion is not purely fanciful, for plants like +animals have their sexes and reproduce their kind by the union of +the male and female elements. But whereas in all the higher animals +the organs of the two sexes are regularly separated between +different individuals, in most plants they exist together in every +individual of the species. This rule, however, is by no means +universal, and in many species the male plant is distinct from the +female. The distinction appears to have been observed by some +savages, for we are told that the Maoris "are acquainted with the +sex of trees, etc., and have distinct names for the male and female +of some trees." The ancients knew the difference between the male +and the female date-palm, and fertilised them artificially by +shaking the pollen of the male tree over the flowers of the female. +The fertilisation took place in spring. Among the heathen of Harran +the month during which the palms were fertilised bore the name of +the Date Month, and at this time they celebrated the marriage +festival of all the gods and goddesses. Different from this true and +fruitful marriage of the palm are the false and barren marriages of +plants which play a part in Hindoo superstition. For example, if a +Hindoo has planted a grove of mangos, neither he nor his wife may +taste of the fruit until he has formally married one of the trees, +as a bridegroom, to a tree of a different sort, commonly a +tamarind-tree, which grows near it in the grove. If there is no +tamarind to act as bride, a jasmine will serve the turn. The +expenses of such a marriage are often considerable, for the more +Brahmans are feasted at it, the greater the glory of the owner of +the grove. A family has been known to sell its golden and silver +trinkets, and to borrow all the money they could in order to marry a +mango-tree to a jasmine with due pomp and ceremony. On Christmas Eve +German peasants used to tie fruit-trees together with straw ropes to +make them bear fruit, saying that the trees were thus married. + +In the Moluccas, when the clove-trees are in blossom, they are +treated like pregnant women. No noise may be made near them; no +light or fire may be carried past them at night; no one may approach +them with his hat on, all must uncover in their presence. These +precautions are observed lest the tree should be alarmed and bear no +fruit, or should drop its fruit too soon, like the untimely delivery +of a woman who has been frightened in her pregnancy. So in the East +the growing rice-crop is often treated with the same considerate +regard as a breeding woman. Thus in Amboyna, when the rice is in +bloom, the people say that it is pregnant and fire no guns and make +no other noises near the field, for fear lest, if the rice were thus +disturbed, it would miscarry, and the crop would be all straw and no +grain. + +Sometimes it is the souls of the dead which are believed to animate +trees. The Dieri tribe of Central Australia regard as very sacred +certain trees which are supposed to be their fathers transformed; +hence they speak with reverence of these trees, and are careful that +they shall not be cut down or burned. If the settlers require them +to hew down the trees, they earnestly protest against it, asserting +that were they to do so they would have no luck, and might be +punished for not protecting their ancestors. Some of the Philippine +Islanders believe that the souls of their ancestors are in certain +trees, which they therefore spare. If they are obliged to fell one +of these trees, they excuse themselves to it by saying that it was +the priest who made them do it. The spirits take up their abode, by +preference, in tall and stately trees with great spreading branches. +When the wind rustles the leaves, the natives fancy it is the voice +of the spirit; and they never pass near one of these trees without +bowing respectfully, and asking pardon of the spirit for disturbing +his repose. Among the Ignorrotes, every village has its sacred tree, +in which the souls of the dead forefathers of the hamlet reside. +Offerings are made to the tree, and any injury done to it is +believed to entail some misfortune on the village. Were the tree cut +down, the village and all its inhabitants would inevitably perish. + +In Corea the souls of people who die of the plague or by the +roadside, and of women who expire in childbirth, invariably take up +their abode in trees. To such spirits offerings of cake, wine, and +pork are made on heaps of stones piled under the trees. In China it +has been customary from time immemorial to plant trees on graves in +order thereby to strengthen the soul of the deceased and thus to +save his body from corruption; and as the evergreen cypress and pine +are deemed to be fuller of vitality than other trees, they have been +chosen by preference for this purpose. Hence the trees that grow on +graves are sometimes identified with the souls of the departed. +Among the Miao-Kia, an aboriginal race of Southern and Western +China, a sacred tree stands at the entrance of every village, and +the inhabitants believe that it is tenanted by the soul of their +first ancestor and that it rules their destiny. Sometimes there is a +sacred grove near a village, where the trees are suffered to rot and +die on the spot. Their fallen branches cumber the ground, and no one +may remove them unless he has first asked leave of the spirit of the +tree and offered him a sacrifice. Among the Maraves of Southern +Africa the burial-ground is always regarded as a holy place where +neither a tree may be felled nor a beast killed, because everything +there is supposed to be tenanted by the souls of the dead. + +In most, if not all, of these cases the spirit is viewed as +incorporate in the tree; it animates the tree and must suffer and +die with it. But, according to another and probably later opinion, +the tree is not the body, but merely the abode of the tree-spirit, +which can quit it and return to it at pleasure. The inhabitants of +Siaoo, an East Indian island, believe in certain sylvan spirits who +dwell in forests or in great solitary trees. At full moon the spirit +comes forth from his lurking-place and roams about. He has a big +head, very long arms and legs, and a ponderous body. In order to +propitiate the wood-spirits people bring offerings of food, fowls, +goats, and so forth to the places which they are supposed to haunt. +The people of Nias think that, when a tree dies, its liberated +spirit becomes a demon, which can kill a coco-nut palm by merely +lighting on its branches, and can cause the death of all the +children in a house by perching on one of the posts that support it. +Further, they are of opinion that certain trees are at all times +inhabited by roving demons who, if the trees were damaged, would be +set free to go about on errands of mischief. Hence the people +respect these trees, and are careful not to cut them down. + +Not a few ceremonies observed at cutting down haunted trees are +based on the belief that the spirits have it in their power to quit +the trees at pleasure or in case of need. Thus when the Pelew +Islanders are felling a tree, they conjure the spirit of the tree to +leave it and settle on another. The wily negro of the Slave Coast, +who wishes to fell an _ashorin_ tree, but knows that he cannot do it +so long as the spirit remains in the tree, places a little palm-oil +on the ground as a bait, and then, when the unsuspecting spirit has +quitted the tree to partake of this dainty, hastens to cut down its +late abode. When the Toboongkoos of Celebes are about to clear a +piece of forest in order to plant rice, they build a tiny house and +furnish it with tiny clothes and some food and gold. Then they call +together all the spirits of the wood, offer them the little house +with its contents, and beseech them to quit the spot. After that +they may safely cut down the wood without fearing to wound +themselves in so doing. Before the Tomori, another tribe of Celebes, +fell a tall tree they lay a quid of betel at its foot, and invite +the spirit who dwells in the tree to change his lodging; moreover, +they set a little ladder against the trunk to enable him to descend +with safety and comfort. The Mandelings of Sumatra endeavour to lay +the blame of all such misdeeds at the door of the Dutch authorities. +Thus when a man is cutting a road through a forest and has to fell a +tall tree which blocks the way, he will not begin to ply his axe +until he has said: "Spirit who lodgest in this tree, take it not ill +that I cut down thy dwelling, for it is done at no wish of mine but +by order of the Controller." And when he wishes to clear a piece of +forest-land for cultivation, it is necessary that he should come to +a satisfactory understanding with the woodland spirits who live +there before he lays low their leafy dwellings. For this purpose he +goes to the middle of the plot of ground, stoops down, and pretends +to pick up a letter. Then unfolding a bit of paper he reads aloud an +imaginary letter from the Dutch Government, in which he is strictly +enjoined to set about clearing the land without delay. Having done +so, he says: "You hear that, spirits. I must begin clearing at once, +or I shall be hanged." + +Even when a tree has been felled, sawn into planks, and used to +build a house, it is possible that the woodland spirit may still be +lurking in the timber, and accordingly some people seek to +propitiate him before or after they occupy the new house. Hence, +when a new dwelling is ready the Toradjas of Celebes kill a goat, a +pig, or a buffalo, and smear all the woodwork with its blood. If the +building is a _lobo_ or spirit-house, a fowl or a dog is killed on +the ridge of the roof, and its blood allowed to flow down on both +sides. The ruder Tonapoo in such a case sacrifice a human being on +the roof. This sacrifice on the roof of a _lobo_ or temple serves +the same purpose as the smearing of blood on the woodwork of an +ordinary house. The intention is to propitiate the forest-spirits +who may still be in the timber; they are thus put in good humour and +will do the inmates of the house no harm. For a like reason people +in Celebes and the Moluccas are much afraid of planting a post +upside down at the building of a house; for the forest-spirit, who +might still be in the timber, would very naturally resent the +indignity and visit the inmates with sickness. The Kayans of Borneo +are of opinion that tree-spirits stand very stiffly on the point of +honour and visit men with their displeasure for any injury done to +them. Hence after building a house, whereby they have been forced to +ill-treat many trees, these people observe a period of penance for a +year during which they must abstain from many things, such as the +killing of bears, tiger-cats, and serpents. + + + +2. Beneficent Powers of Tree-Spirits + +WHEN a tree comes to be viewed, no longer as the body of the +tree-spirit, but simply as its abode which it can quit at pleasure, +an important advance has been made in religious thought. Animism is +passing into polytheism. In other words, instead of regarding each +tree as a living and conscious being, man now sees in it merely a +lifeless, inert mass, tenanted for a longer or shorter time by a +supernatural being who, as he can pass freely from tree to tree, +thereby enjoys a certain right of possession or lordship over the +trees, and, ceasing to be a tree-soul, becomes a forest god. As soon +as the tree-spirit is thus in a measure disengaged from each +particular tree, he begins to change his shape and assume the body +of a man, in virtue of a general tendency of early thought to clothe +all abstract spiritual beings in concrete human form. Hence in +classical art the sylvan deities are depicted in human shape, their +woodland character being denoted by a branch or some equally obvious +symbol. But this change of shape does not affect the essential +character of the tree-spirit. The powers which he exercised as a +tree-soul incorporate in a tree, he still continues to wield as a +god of trees. This I shall now attempt to prove in detail. I shall +show, first, that trees considered as animate beings are credited +with the power of making the rain to fall, the sun to shine, flocks +and herds to multiply, and women to bring forth easily; and, second, +that the very same powers are attributed to tree-gods conceived as +anthropomorphic beings or as actually incarnate in living men. + +First, then, trees or tree-spirits are believed to give rain and +sunshine. When the missionary Jerome of Prague was persuading the +heathen Lithuanians to fell their sacred groves, a multitude of +women besought the Prince of Lithuania to stop him, saying that with +the woods he was destroying the house of god from which they had +been wont to get rain and sunshine. The Mundaris in Assam think that +if a tree in the sacred grove is felled the sylvan gods evince their +displeasure by withholding rain. In order to procure rain the +inhabitants of Monyo, a village in the Sagaing district of Upper +Burma, chose the largest tamarind-tree near the village and named it +the haunt of the spirit (_nat_) who controls the rain. Then they +offered bread, coco-nuts, plantains, and fowls to the guardian +spirit of the village and to the spirit who gives rain, and they +prayed, "O Lord _nat_ have pity on us poor mortals, and stay not the +rain. Inasmuch as our offering is given ungrudgingly, let the rain +fall day and night." Afterwards libations were made in honour of the +spirit of the tamarind-tree; and still later three elderly women, +dressed in fine clothes and wearing necklaces and earrings, sang the +Rain Song. + +Again, tree-spirits make the crops to grow. Amongst the Mundaris +every village has its sacred grove, and "the grove deities are held +responsible for the crops, and are especially honoured at all the +great agricultural festivals." The negroes of the Gold Coast are in +the habit of sacrificing at the foot of certain tall trees, and they +think that if one of these were felled all the fruits of the earth +would perish. The Gallas dance in couples round sacred trees, +praying for a good harvest. Every couple consists of a man and +woman, who are linked together by a stick, of which each holds one +end. Under their arms they carry green corn or grass. Swedish +peasants stick a leafy branch in each furrow of their corn-fields, +believing that this will ensure an abundant crop. The same idea +comes out in the German and French custom of the Harvest-May. This +is a large branch or a whole tree, which is decked with ears of +corn, brought home on the last waggon from the harvest-field, and +fastened on the roof of the farmhouse or of the barn, where it +remains for a year. Mannhardt has proved that this branch or tree +embodies the tree-spirit conceived as the spirit of vegetation in +general, whose vivifying and fructifying influence is thus brought +to bear upon the corn in particular. Hence in Swabia the Harvest-May +is fastened amongst the last stalks of corn left standing on the +field; in other places it is planted on the corn-field and the last +sheaf cut is attached to its trunk. + +Again, the tree-spirit makes the herds to multiply and blesses women +with offspring. In Northern India the _Emblica officinalis_ is a +sacred tree. On the eleventh of the month Phalgun (February) +libations are poured at the foot of the tree, a red or yellow string +is bound about the trunk, and prayers are offered to it for the +fruitfulness of women, animals, and crops. Again, in Northern India +the coco-nut is esteemed one of the most sacred fruits, and is +called Sriphala, or the fruit of Sri, the goddess of prosperity. It +is the symbol of fertility, and all through Upper India is kept in +shrines and presented by the priests to women who desire to become +mothers. In the town of Qua, near Old Calabar, there used to grow a +palm-tree which ensured conception to any barren woman who ate a nut +from its branches. In Europe the May-tree or May-pole is apparently +supposed to possess similar powers over both women and cattle. Thus +in some parts of Germany on the first of May the peasants set up +May-trees or May-bushes at the doors of stables and byres, one for +each horse and cow; this is thought to make the cows yield much +milk. Of the Irish we are told that "they fancy a green bough of a +tree, fastened on May-day against the house, will produce plenty of +milk that summer." + +On the second of July some of the Wends used to set up an oak-tree +in the middle of the village with an iron cock fastened to its top; +then they danced round it, and drove the cattle round it to make +them thrive. The Circassians regard the pear-tree as the protector +of cattle. So they cut down a young pear-tree in the forest, branch +it, and carry it home, where it is adored as a divinity. Almost +every house has one such pear-tree. In autumn, on the day of the +festival, the tree is carried into the house with great ceremony to +the sound of music and amid the joyous cries of all the inmates, who +compliment it on its fortunate arrival. It is covered with candles, +and a cheese is fastened to its top. Round about it they eat, drink, +and sing. Then they bid the tree good-bye and take it back to the +courtyard, where it remains for the rest of the year, set up against +the wall, without receiving any mark of respect. + +In the Tuhoe tribe of Maoris "the power of making women fruitful is +ascribed to trees. These trees are associated with the navel-strings +of definite mythical ancestors, as indeed the navel-strings of all +children used to be hung upon them down to quite recent times. A +barren woman had to embrace such a tree with her arms, and she +received a male or a female child according as she embraced the east +or the west side." The common European custom of placing a green +bush on May Day before or on the house of a beloved maiden probably +originated in the belief of the fertilising power of the +tree-spirit. In some parts of Bavaria such bushes are set up also at +the houses of newly-married pairs, and the practice is only omitted +if the wife is near her confinement; for in that case they say that +the husband has "set up a May-bush for himself." Among the South +Slavonians a barren woman, who desires to have a child, places a new +chemise upon a fruitful tree on the eve of St. George's Day. Next +morning before sunrise she examines the garment, and if she finds +that some living creature has crept on it, she hopes that her wish +will be fulfilled within the year. Then she puts on the chemise, +confident that she will be as fruitful as the tree on which the +garment has passed the night. Among the Kara-Kirghiz barren women +roll themselves on the ground under a solitary apple-tree, in order +to obtain offspring. Lastly, the power of granting to women an easy +delivery at child-birth is ascribed to trees both in Sweden and +Africa. In some districts of Sweden there was formerly a _bardträd_ +or guardian-tree (lime, ash, or elm) in the neighbourhood of every +farm. No one would pluck a single leaf of the sacred tree, any +injury to which was punished by ill-luck or sickness. Pregnant women +used to clasp the tree in their arms in order to ensure an easy +delivery. In some negro tribes of the Congo region pregnant women +make themselves garments out of the bark of a certain sacred tree, +because they believe that this tree delivers them from the dangers +that attend child-bearing. The story that Leto clasped a palm-tree +and an olive-tree or two laurel-trees, when she was about to give +birth to the divine twins Apollo and Artemis, perhaps points to a +similar Greek belief in the efficacy of certain trees to facilitate +delivery. + + + + +X. Relics of Tree Worship in Modern Europe + +FROM THE FOREGOING review of the beneficent qualities commonly +ascribed to tree-spirits, it is easy to understand why customs like +the May-tree or May-pole have prevailed so widely and figured so +prominently in the popular festivals of European peasants. In spring +or early summer or even on Midsummer Day, it was and still is in +many parts of Europe the custom to go out to the woods, cut down a +tree and bring it into the village, where it is set up amid general +rejoicings; or the people cut branches in the woods, and fasten them +on every house. The intention of these customs is to bring home to +the village, and to each house, the blessings which the tree-spirit +has in its power to bestow. Hence the custom in some places of +planting a May-tree before every house, or of carrying the village +May-tree from door to door, that every household may receive its +share of the blessing. Out of the mass of evidence on this subject a +few examples may be selected. + +Sir Henry Piers, in his _Description of Westmeath,_ writing in 1682 +says: "On May-eve, every family sets up before their door a green +bush, strewed over with yellow flowers, which the meadows yield +plentifully. In countries where timber is plentiful, they erect tall +slender trees, which stand high, and they continue almost the whole +year; so as a stranger would go nigh to imagine that they were all +signs of ale-sellers, and that all houses were ale-houses." In +Northamptonshire a young tree ten or twelve feet high used to be +planted before each house on May Day so as to appear growing; +flowers were thrown over it and strewn about the door. "Among +ancient customs still retained by the Cornish, may be reckoned that +of decking their doors and porches on the first of May with green +boughs of sycamore and hawthorn, and of planting trees, or rather +stumps of trees, before their houses." In the north of England it +was formerly the custom for young people to rise a little after +midnight on the morning of the first of May, and go out with music +and the blowing of horns into the woods, where they broke branches +and adorned them with nosegays and crowns of flowers. This done, +they returned about sunrise and fastened the flower-decked branches +over the doors and windows of their houses. At Abingdon in Berkshire +young people formerly went about in groups on May morning, singing a +carol of which the following are two of the verses: + + + "We've been rambling all the night, + And sometime of this day; + And now returning back again, + We bring a garland gay. + A garland gay we bring you here; + And at your door we stand; + It is a sprout well budded out, + The work of our Lord's hand." + + +At the towns of Saffron Walden and Debden in Essex on the first of +May little girls go about in parties from door to door singing a +song almost identical with the above and carrying garlands; a doll +dressed in white is usually placed in the middle of each garland. +Similar customs have been and indeed are still observed in various +parts of England. The garlands are generally in the form of hoops +intersecting each other at right angles. It appears that a hoop +wreathed with rowan and marsh marigold, and bearing suspended within +it two balls, is still carried on May Day by villagers in some parts +of Ireland. The balls, which are sometimes covered with gold and +silver paper, are said to have originally represented the sun and +moon. + +In some villages of the Vosges Mountains on the first Sunday of May +young girls go in bands from house to house, singing a song in +praise of May, in which mention is made of the "bread and meal that +come in May." If money is given them, they fasten a green bough to +the door; if it is refused, they wish the family many children and +no bread to feed them. In the French department of Mayenne, boys who +bore the name of _Maillotins_ used to go about from farm to farm on +the first of May singing carols, for which they received money or a +drink; they planted a small tree or a branch of a tree. Near Saverne +in Alsace bands of people go about carrying May-trees. Amongst them +is a man dressed in a white shirt with his face blackened; in front +of him is carried a large May-tree, but each member of the band also +carries a smaller one. One of the company bears a huge basket, in +which he collects eggs, bacon, and so forth. + +On the Thursday before Whitsunday the Russian villagers "go out into +the woods, sing songs, weave garlands, and cut down a young +birch-tree, which they dress up in woman's clothes, or adorn with +many-coloured shreds and ribbons. After that comes a feast, at the +end of which they take the dressed-up birch-tree, carry it home to +their village with joyful dance and song, and set it up in one of +the houses, where it remains as an honoured guest till Whitsunday. +On the two intervening days they pay visits to the house where their +'guest' is; but on the third day, Whitsunday, they take her to a +stream and fling her into its waters," throwing their garlands after +her. In this Russian custom the dressing of the birch in woman's +clothes shows how clearly the tree is personified; and the throwing +it into a stream is most probably a raincharm. + +In some parts of Sweden on the eve of May Day lads go about carrying +each a bunch of fresh birch twigs wholly or partly in leaf. With the +village fiddler at their head, they make the round of the houses +singing May songs; the burden of their songs is a prayer for fine +weather, a plentiful harvest, and worldly and spiritual blessings. +One of them carries a basket in which he collects gifts of eggs and +the like. If they are well received, they stick a leafy twig in the +roof over the cottage door. But in Sweden midsummer is the season +when these ceremonies are chiefly observed. On the Eve of St. John +(the twenty-third of June) the houses are thoroughly cleansed and +garnished with green boughs and flowers. Young fir-trees are raised +at the doorway and elsewhere about the homestead; and very often +small umbrageous arbours are constructed in the garden. In Stockholm +on this day a leaf-market is held at which thousands of May-poles +(_Maj Stanger_), from six inches to twelve feet high, decorated with +leaves, flowers, slips of coloured paper, gilt egg-shells strung on +reeds, and so on, are exposed for sale. Bonfires are lit on the +hills, and the people dance round them and jump over them. But the +chief event of the day is setting up the May-pole. This consists of +a straight and tall sprucepine tree, stripped of its branches. "At +times hoops and at others pieces of wood, placed crosswise, are +attached to it at intervals; whilst at others it is provided with +bows, representing, so to say, a man with his arms akimbo. From top +to bottom not only the 'Maj Stang' (May-pole) itself, but the hoops, +bows, etc., are ornamented with leaves, flowers, slips of various +cloth, gilt egg-shells, etc.; and on the top of it is a large vane, +or it may be a flag." The raising of the May-pole, the decoration of +which is done by the village maidens, is an affair of much ceremony; +the people flock to it from all quarters, and dance round it in a +great ring. Midsummer customs of the same sort used to be observed +in some parts of Germany. Thus in the towns of the Upper Harz +Mountains tall fir-trees, with the bark peeled off their lower +trunks, were set up in open places and decked with flowers and eggs, +which were painted yellow and red. Round these trees the young folk +danced by day and the old folk in the evening. In some parts of +Bohemia also a May-pole or midsummer-tree is erected on St. John's +Eve. The lads fetch a tall fir or pine from the wood and set it up +on a height, where the girls deck it with nosegays, garlands, and +red ribbons. It is afterwards burned. + +It would be needless to illustrate at length the custom, which has +prevailed in various parts of Europe, such as England, France, and +Germany, of setting up a village May-tree or May-pole on May Day. A +few examples will suffice. The puritanical writer Phillip Stubbes in +his _Anatomie of Abuses,_ first published at London in 1583, has +described with manifest disgust how they used to bring in the +May-pole in the days of good Queen Bess. His description affords us +a vivid glimpse of merry England in the olden time. "Against May, +Whitsonday, or other time, all the yung men and maides, olde men and +wives, run gadding over night to the woods, groves, hils, and +mountains, where they spend all the night in plesant pastimes; and +in the morning they return, bringing with them birch and branches of +trees, to deck their assemblies withall. And no mervaile, for there +is a great Lord present amongst them, as superintendent and Lord +over their pastimes and sportes, namely, Sathan, prince of hel. But +the chiefest jewel they bring from thence is their May-pole, which +they bring home with great veneration, as thus. They have twentie or +fortie yoke of oxen, every oxe having a sweet nose-gay of flouers +placed on the tip of his hornes, and these oxen drawe home this +May-pole (this stinkyng ydol, rather), which is covered all over +with floures and hearbs, bound round about with strings, from the +top to the bottome, and sometime painted with variable colours, with +two or three hundred men, women and children following it with great +devotion. And thus beeing reared up, with handkercheefs and flags +hovering on the top, they straw the ground rounde about, binde green +boughes about it, set up sommer haules, bowers, and arbors hard by +it. And then fall they to daunce about it, like as the heathen +people did at the dedication of the Idols, whereof this is a perfect +pattern, or rather the thing itself. I have heard it credibly +reported (and that _viva voce_) by men of great gravitie and +reputation, that of fortie, threescore, or a hundred maides going to +the wood over night, there have scaresly the third part of them +returned home againe undefiled." + +In Swabia on the first of May a tall fir-tree used to be fetched +into the village, where it was decked with ribbons and set up; then +the people danced round it merrily to music. The tree stood on the +village green the whole year through, until a fresh tree was brought +in next May Day. In Saxony "people were not content with bringing +the summer symbolically (as king or queen) into the village; they +brought the fresh green itself from the woods even into the houses: +that is the May or Whitsuntide trees, which are mentioned in +documents from the thirteenth century onwards. The fetching in of +the May-tree was also a festival. The people went out into the woods +to seek the May (_majum quaerere_), brought young trees, especially +firs and birches, to the village and set them up before the doors of +the houses or of the cattle-stalls or in the rooms. Young fellows +erected such May-trees, as we have already said, before the chambers +of their sweethearts. Besides these household Mays, a great May-tree +or May-pole, which had also been brought in solemn procession to the +village, was set up in the middle of the village or in the +market-place of the town. It had been chosen by the whole community, +who watched over it most carefully. Generally the tree was stripped +of its branches and leaves, nothing but the crown being left, on +which were displayed, in addition to many-coloured ribbons and +cloths, a variety of victuals such as sausages, cakes, and eggs. The +young folk exerted themselves to obtain these prizes. In the greasy +poles which are still to be seen at our fairs we have a relic of +these old May-poles. Not uncommonly there was a race on foot or on +horseback to the May-tree--a Whitsunday pastime which in course of +time has been divested of its goal and survives as a popular custom +to this day in many parts of Germany." At Bordeaux on the first of +May the boys of each street used to erect in it a May-pole, which +they adorned with garlands and a great crown; and every evening +during the whole of the month the young people of both sexes danced +singing about the pole. Down to the present day May-trees decked +with flowers and ribbons are set up on May Day in every village and +hamlet of gay Provence. Under them the young folk make merry and the +old folk rest. + +In all these cases, apparently, the custom is or was to bring in a +new May-tree each year. However, in England the village May-pole +seems as a rule, at least in later times, to have been permanent, +not renewed annually. Villages of Upper Bavaria renew their May-pole +once every three, four, or five years. It is a fir-tree fetched from +the forest, and amid all the wreaths, flags, and inscriptions with +which it is bedecked, an essential part is the bunch of dark green +foliage left at the top "as a memento that in it we have to do, not +with a dead pole, but with a living tree from the greenwood." We can +hardly doubt that originally the practice everywhere was to set up a +new May-tree every year. As the object of the custom was to bring in +the fructifying spirit of vegetation, newly awakened in spring, the +end would have been defeated if, instead of a living tree, green and +sappy, an old withered one had been erected year after year or +allowed to stand permanently. When, however, the meaning of the +custom had been forgotten, and the May-tree was regarded simply as a +centre for holiday merry-making, people saw no reason for felling a +fresh tree every year, and preferred to let the same tree stand +permanently, only decking it with fresh flowers on May Day. But even +when the May-pole had thus become a fixture, the need of giving it +the appearance of being a green tree, not a dead pole, was sometimes +felt. Thus at Weverham in Cheshire "are two May-poles, which are +decorated on this day (May Day) with all due attention to the +ancient solemnity; the sides are hung with garlands, and the top +terminated by a birch or other tall slender tree with its leaves on; +the bark being peeled, and the stem spliced to the pole, so as to +give the appearance of one tree from the summit." Thus the renewal +of the May-tree is like the renewal of the Harvest-May; each is +intended to secure a fresh portion of the fertilising spirit of +vegetation, and to preserve it throughout the year. But whereas the +efficacy of the Harvest-May is restricted to promoting the growth of +the crops, that of the May-tree or May-branch extends also, as we +have seen, to women and cattle. Lastly, it is worth noting that the +old May-tree is sometimes burned at the end of the year. Thus in the +district of Prague young people break pieces of the public May-tree +and place them behind the holy pictures in their rooms, where they +remain till next May Day, and are then burned on the hearth. In +Würtemberg the bushes which are set up on the houses on Palm Sunday +are sometimes left there for a year and then burnt. + +So much for the tree-spirit conceived as incorporate or immanent in +the tree. We have now to show that the tree-spirit is often +conceived and represented as detached from the tree and clothed in +human form, and even as embodied in living men or women. The +evidence for this anthropomorphic representation of the tree-spirit +is largely to be found in the popular customs of European peasantry. + +There is an instructive class of cases in which the tree-spirit is +represented simultaneously in vegetable form and in human form, +which are set side by side as if for the express purpose of +explaining each other. In these cases the human representative of +the tree-spirit is sometimes a doll or puppet, sometimes a living +person, but whether a puppet or a person, it is placed beside a tree +or bough; so that together the person or puppet, and the tree or +bough, form a sort of bilingual inscription, the one being, so to +speak, a translation of the other. Here, therefore, there is no room +left for doubt that the spirit of the tree is actually represented +in human form. Thus in Bohemia, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, young +people throw a puppet called Death into the water; then the girls go +into the wood, cut down a young tree, and fasten to it a puppet +dressed in white clothes to look like a woman; with this tree and +puppet they go from house to house collecting gratuities and singing +songs with the refrain: + + + "We carry Death out of the village, + We bring Summer into the village." + + +Here, as we shall see later on, the "Summer" is the spirit of +vegetation returning or reviving in spring. In some parts of our own +country children go about asking for pence with some small +imitations of May-poles, and with a finely-dressed doll which they +call the Lady of the May. In these cases the tree and the puppet are +obviously regarded as equivalent. + +At Thann, in Alsace, a girl called the Little May Rose, dressed in +white, carries a small May-tree, which is gay with garlands and +ribbons. Her companions collect gifts from door to door, singing a +song: + + + "Little May Rose turn round three times, + Let us look at you round and round! + Rose of the May, come to the greenwood away, + We will be merry all. + So we go from the May to the roses." + + +In the course of the song a wish is expressed that those who give +nothing may lose their fowls by the marten, that their vine may bear +no clusters, their tree no nuts, their field no corn; the produce of +the year is supposed to depend on the gifts offered to these May +singers. Here and in the cases mentioned above, where children go +about with green boughs or garlands on May Day singing and +collecting money, the meaning is that with the spirit of vegetation +they bring plenty and good luck to the house, and they expect to be +paid for the service. In Russian Lithuania, on the first of May, +they used to set up a green tree before the village. Then the rustic +swains chose the prettiest girl, crowned her, swathed her in birch +branches and set her beside the May-tree, where they danced, sang, +and shouted "O May! O May!" In Brie (Isle de France) a May-tree is +erected in the midst of the village; its top is crowned with +flowers; lower down it is twined with leaves and twigs, still lower +with huge green branches. The girls dance round it, and at the same +time a lad wrapt in leaves and called Father May is led about. In +the small towns of the Franken Wald mountains in Northern Bavaria, +on the second of May, a _Walber_ tree is erected before a tavern, +and a man dances round it, enveloped in straw from head to foot in +such a way that the ears of corn unite above his head to form a +crown. He is called the _Walber,_ and used to be led in procession +through the streets, which were adorned with sprigs of birch. + +Amongst the Slavs of Carinthia, on St. George's Day (the twentythird +of April), the young people deck with flowers and garlands a tree +which has been felled on the eve of the festival. The tree is then +carried in procession, accompanied with music and joyful +acclamations, the chief figure in the procession being the Green +George, a young fellow clad from head to foot in green birch +branches. At the close of the ceremonies the Green George, that is +an effigy of him, is thrown into the water. It is the aim of the lad +who acts Green George to step out of his leafy envelope and +substitute the effigy so adroitly that no one shall perceive the +change. In many places, however, the lad himself who plays the part +of Green George is ducked in a river or pond, with the express +intention of thus ensuring rain to make the fields and meadows green +in summer. In some places the cattle are crowned and driven from +their stalls to the accompaniment of a song: + + + "Green George we bring, + Green George we accompany, + May he feed our herds well. + If not, to the water with him." + + +Here we see that the same powers of making rain and fostering the +cattle, which are ascribed to the tree-spirit regarded as +incorporate in the tree, are also attributed to the tree-spirit +represented by a living man. + +Among the gypsies of Transylvania and Roumania the festival of Green +George is the chief celebration of spring. Some of them keep it on +Easter Monday, others on St. George's Day (the twentythird of +April). On the eve of the festival a young willow tree is cut down, +adorned with garlands and leaves, and set up in the ground. Women +with child place one of their garments under the tree, and leave it +there over night; if next morning they find a leaf of the tree lying +on the garment, they know that their delivery will be easy. Sick and +old people go to the tree in the evening, spit on it thrice, and +say, "You will soon die, but let us live." Next morning the gypsies +gather about the willow. The chief figure of the festival is Green +George, a lad who is concealed from top to toe in green leaves and +blossoms. He throws a few handfuls of grass to the beasts of the +tribe, in order that they may have no lack of fodder throughout the +year. Then he takes three iron nails, which have lain for three days +and nights in water, and knocks them into the willow; after which he +pulls them out and flings them into a running stream to propitiate +the water-spirits. Finally, a pretence is made of throwing Green +George into the water, but in fact it is only a puppet made of +branches and leaves which is ducked in the stream. In this version +of the custom the powers of granting an easy delivery to women and +of communicating vital energy to the sick and old are clearly +ascribed to the willow; while Green George, the human double of the +tree, bestows food on the cattle, and further ensures the favour of +the water-spirits by putting them in indirect communication with the +tree. + +Without citing more examples to the same effect, we may sum up the +results of the preceding pages in the words of Mannhardt: "The +customs quoted suffice to establish with certainty the conclusion +that in these spring processions the spirit of vegetation is often +represented both by the May-tree and in addition by a man dressed in +green leaves or flowers or by a girl similarly adorned. It is the +same spirit which animates the tree and is active in the inferior +plants and which we have recognised in the May-tree and the +Harvest-May. Quite consistently the spirit is also supposed to +manifest his presence in the first flower of spring and reveals +himself both in a girl representing a May-rose, and also, as giver +of harvest, in the person of the _Walber._ The procession with this +representative of the divinity was supposed to produce the same +beneficial effects on the fowls, the fruit-trees, and the crops as +the presence of the deity himself. In other words the mummer was +regarded not as an image but as an actual representative of the +spirit of vegetation; hence the wish expressed by the attendants on +the May-rose and the May-tree that those who refuse them gifts of +eggs, bacon, and so forth, may have no share in the blessings which +it is in the power of the itinerant spirit to bestow. We may +conclude that these begging processions with May-trees or May-boughs +from door to door ('bringing the May or the summer') had everywhere +originally a serious and, so to speak, sacramental significance; +people really believed that the god of growth was present unseen in +the bough; by the procession he was brought to each house to bestow +his blessing. The names May, Father May, May Lady, Queen of the May, +by which the anthropomorphic spirit of vegetation is often denoted, +show that the idea of the spirit of vegetation is blent with a +personification of the season at which his powers are most +strikingly manifested." + +So far we have seen that the tree-spirit or the spirit of vegetation +in general is represented either in vegetable form alone, as by a +tree, bough, or flower; or in vegetable and human form +simultaneously, as by a tree, bough, or flower in combination with a +puppet or a living person. It remains to show that the +representation of him by a tree, bough, or flower is sometimes +entirely dropped, while the representation of him by a living person +remains. In this case the representative character of the person is +generally marked by dressing him or her in leaves or flowers; +sometimes, too, it is indicated by the name he or she bears. + +Thus in some parts of Russia on St. George's Day (the twenty-third +of April) a youth is dressed out, like our Jack-in-the-Green, with +leaves and flowers. The Slovenes call him the Green George. Holding +a lighted torch in one hand and a pie in the other, he goes out to +the corn-fields, followed by girls singing appropriate songs. A +circle of brushwood is next lighted, in the middle of which is set +the pie. All who take part in the ceremony then sit down around the +fire and divide the pie among them. In this custom the Green George +dressed in leaves and flowers is plainly identical with the +similarly disguised Green George who is associated with a tree in +the Carinthian, Transylvanian, and Roumanian customs observed on the +same day. Again, we saw that in Russia at Whitsuntide a birch-tree +is dressed in woman's clothes and set up in the house. Clearly +equivalent to this is the custom observed on Whit-Monday by Russian +girls in the district of Pinsk. They choose the prettiest of their +number, envelop her in a mass of foliage taken from the birch-trees +and maples, and carry her about through the village. + +In Ruhla as soon as the trees begin to grow green in spring, the +children assemble on a Sunday and go out into the woods, where they +choose one of their playmates to be the Little Leaf Man. They break +branches from the trees and twine them about the child till only his +shoes peep out from the leafy mantle. Holes are made in it for him +to see through, and two of the children lead the Little Leaf Man +that he may not stumble or fall. Singing and dancing they take him +from house to house, asking for gifts of food such as eggs, cream, +sausages, and cakes. Lastly, they sprinkle the Leaf Man with water +and feast on the food they have collected. In the Fricktal, +Switzerland, at Whitsuntide boys go out into a wood and swathe one +of their number in leafy boughs. He is called the Whitsuntide-lout, +and being mounted on horseback with a green branch in his hand he is +led back into the village. At the village-well a halt is called and +the leaf-clad lout is dismounted and ducked in the trough. Thereby +he acquires the right of sprinkling water on everybody, and he +exercises the right specially on girls and street urchins. The +urchins march before him in bands begging him to give them a +Whitsuntide wetting. + +In England the best-known example of these leaf-clad mummers is the +Jack-in-the-Green, a chimney-sweeper who walks encased in a +pyramidal framework of wickerwork, which is covered with holly and +ivy, and surmounted by a crown of flowers and ribbons. Thus arrayed +he dances on May Day at the head of a troop of chimney-sweeps, who +collect pence. In Fricktal a similar frame of basketwork is called +the Whitsuntide Basket. As soon as the trees begin to bud, a spot is +chosen in the wood, and here the village lads make the frame with +all secrecy, lest others should forestall them. Leafy branches are +twined round two hoops, one of which rests on the shoulders of the +wearer, the other encircles his claves; holes are made for his eyes +and mouth; and a large nosegay crowns the whole. In this guise he +appears suddenly in the village at the hour of vespers, preceded by +three boys blowing on horns made of willow bark. The great object of +his supporters is to set up the Whitsuntide Basket on the village +well, and to keep it and him there, despite the efforts of the lads +from neighbouring villages, who seek to carry off the Whitsuntide +Basket and set it up on their own well. + +In the class of cases of which the foregoing are specimens it is +obvious that the leaf-clad person who is led about is equivalent to +the May-tree, May-bough, or May-doll, which is carried from house to +house by children begging. Both are representatives of the +beneficent spirit of vegetation, whose visit to the house is +recompensed by a present of money or food. + +Often the leaf-clad person who represents the spirit of vegetation +is known as the king or the queen; thus, for example, he or she is +called the May King, Whitsuntide King, Queen of May, and so on. +These titles, as Mannhardt observes, imply that the spirit +incorporate in vegetation is a ruler, whose creative power extends +far and wide. + +In a village near Salzwedel a May-tree is set up at Whitsuntide and +the boys race to it; he who reaches it first is king; a garland of +flowers is put round his neck and in his hand he carries a May-bush, +with which, as the procession moves along, he sweeps away the dew. +At each house they sing a song, wishing the inmates good luck, +referring to the "black cow in the stall milking white milk, black +hen on the nest laying white eggs," and begging a gift of eggs, +bacon, and so on. At the village of Ellgoth in Silesia a ceremony +called the King's Race is observed at Whitsuntide. A pole with a +cloth tied to it is set up in a meadow, and the young men ride past +it on horseback, each trying to snatch away the cloth as he gallops +by. The one who succeeds in carrying it off and dipping it in the +neighbouring Oder is proclaimed King. Here the pole is clearly a +substitute for a May-tree. In some villages of Brunswick at +Whitsuntide a May King is completely enveloped in a May-bush. In +some parts of Thüringen also they have a May King at Whitsuntide, +but he is dressed up rather differently. A frame of wood is made in +which a man can stand; it is completely covered with birch boughs +and is surmounted by a crown of birch and flowers, in which a bell +is fastened. This frame is placed in the wood and the May King gets +into it. The rest go out and look for him, and when they have found +him they lead him back into the village to the magistrate, the +clergyman, and others, who have to guess who is in the verdurous +frame. If they guess wrong, the May King rings his bell by shaking +his head, and a forfeit of beer or the like must be paid by the +unsuccessful guesser. At Wahrstedt the boys at Whitsuntide choose by +lot a king and a high-steward. The latter is completely concealed in +a May-bush, wears a wooden crown wreathen with flowers, and carries +a wooden sword. The king, on the other hand, is only distinguished +by a nosegay in his cap, and a reed, with a red ribbon tied to it, +in his hand. They beg for eggs from house to house, threatening +that, where none are given, none will be laid by the hens throughout +the year. In this custom the high-steward appears, for some reason, +to have usurped the insignia of the king. At Hildesheim five or six +young fellows go about on the afternoon of Whit-Monday cracking long +whips in measured time and collecting eggs from the houses. The +chief person of the band is the Leaf King, a lad swathed so +completely in birchen twigs that nothing of him can be seen but his +feet. A huge head-dress of birchen twigs adds to his apparent +stature. In his hand he carries a long crook, with which he tries to +catch stray dogs and children. In some parts of Bohemia on +Whit-Monday the young fellows disguise themselves in tall caps of +birch bark adorned with flowers. One of them is dressed as a king +and dragged on a sledge to the village green, and if on the way they +pass a pool the sledge is always overturned into it. Arrived at the +green they gather round the king; the crier jumps on a stone or +climbs up a tree and recites lampoons about each house and its +inmates. Afterwards the disguises of bark are stripped off and they +go about the village in holiday attire, carrying a May-tree and +begging. Cakes, eggs, and corn are sometimes given them. At +Grossvargula, near Langensalza, in the eighteenth century a Grass +King used to be led about in procession at Whitsuntide. He was +encased in a pyramid of poplar branches, the top of which was +adorned with a royal crown of branches and flowers. He rode on +horseback with the leafy pyramid over him, so that its lower end +touched the ground, and an opening was left in it only for his face. +Surrounded by a cavalcade of young fellows, he rode in procession to +the town hall, the parsonage, and so on, where they all got a drink +of beer. Then under the seven lindens of the neighbouring +Sommerberg, the Grass King was stripped of his green casing; the +crown was handed to the Mayor, and the branches were stuck in the +flax fields in order to make the flax grow tall. In this last trait +the fertilising influence ascribed to the representative of the +tree-spirit comes out clearly. In the neighbourhood of Pilsen +(Bohemia) a conical hut of green branches, without any door, is +erected at Whitsuntide in the midst of the village. To this hut +rides a troop of village lads with a king at their head. He wears a +sword at his side and a sugar-loaf hat of rushes on his head. In his +train are a judge, a crier, and a personage called the Frog-flayer +or Hangman. This last is a sort of ragged merryandrew, wearing a +rusty old sword and bestriding a sorry hack. On reaching the hut the +crier dismounts and goes round it looking for a door. Finding none, +he says, "Ah, this is perhaps an enchanted castle; the witches creep +through the leaves and need no door." At last he draws his sword and +hews his way into the hut, where there is a chair, on which he seats +himself and proceeds to criticise in rhyme the girls, farmers, and +farm-servants of the neighbourhood. When this is over, the +Frog-flayer steps forward and, after exhibiting a cage with frogs in +it, sets up a gallows on which he hangs the frogs in a row. In the +neighbourhood of Plas the ceremony differs in some points. The king +and his soldiers are completely clad in bark, adorned with flowers +and ribbons; they all carry swords and ride horses, which are gay +with green branches and flowers. While the village dames and girls +are being criticised at the arbour, a frog is secretly pinched and +poked by the crier till it quacks. Sentence of death is passed on +the frog by the king; the hangman beheads it and flings the bleeding +body among the spectators. Lastly, the king is driven from the hut +and pursued by the soldiers. The pinching and beheading of the frog +are doubtless, as Mannhardt observes, a rain-charm. We have seen +that some Indians of the Orinoco beat frogs for the express purpose +of producing rain, and that killing a frog is a European rain-charm. + +Often the spirit of vegetation in spring is represented by a queen +instead of a king. In the neighbourhood of Libchowic (Bohemia), on +the fourth Sunday in Lent, girls dressed in white and wearing the +first spring flowers, as violets and daisies, in their hair, lead +about the village a girl who is called the Queen and is crowned with +flowers. During the procession, which is conducted with great +solemnity, none of the girls may stand still, but must keep whirling +round continually and singing. In every house the Queen announces +the arrival of spring and wishes the inmates good luck and +blessings, for which she receives presents. In German Hungary the +girls choose the prettiest girl to be their Whitsuntide Queen, +fasten a towering wreath on her brow, and carry her singing through +the streets. At every house they stop, sing old ballads, and receive +presents. In the south-east of Ireland on May Day the prettiest girl +used to be chosen Queen of the district for twelve months. She was +crowned with wild flowers; feasting, dancing, and rustic sports +followed, and were closed by a grand procession in the evening. +During her year of office she presided over rural gatherings of +young people at dances and merry-makings. If she married before next +May Day, her authority was at an end, but her successor was not +elected till that day came round. The May Queen is common In France +and familiar in England. + +Again the spirit of vegetation is sometimes represented by a king +and queen, a lord and lady, or a bridegroom and bride. Here again +the parallelism holds between the anthropomorphic and the vegetable +representation of the tree-spirit, for we have seen above that trees +are sometimes married to each other. At Halford in South +Warwickshire the children go from house to house on May Day, walking +two and two in procession and headed by a King and Queen. Two boys +carry a May-pole some six or seven feet high, which is covered with +flowers and greenery. Fastened to it near the top are two cross-bars +at right angles to each other. These are also decked with flowers, +and from the ends of the bars hang hoops similarly adorned. At the +houses the children sing May songs and receive money, which is used +to provide tea for them at the schoolhouse in the afternoon. In a +Bohemian village near Königgrätz on Whit-Monday the children play +the king's game, at which a king and queen march about under a +canopy, the queen wearing a garland, and the youngest girl carrying +two wreaths on a plate behind them. They are attended by boys and +girls called groomsmen and bridesmaids, and they go from house to +house collecting gifts. A regular feature in the popular celebration +of Whitsuntide in Silesia used to be, and to some extent still is, +the contest for the kingship. This contest took various forms, but +the mark or goal was generally the May-tree or May-pole. Sometimes +the youth who succeeded in climbing the smooth pole and bringing +down the prize was proclaimed the Whitsuntide King and his +sweetheart the Whitsuntide Bride. Afterwards the king, carrying the +May-bush, repaired with the rest of the company to the alehouse, +where a dance and a feast ended the merry-making. Often the young +farmers and labourers raced on horseback to the May-pole, which was +adorned with flowers, ribbons, and a crown. He who first reached the +pole was the Whitsuntide King, and the rest had to obey his orders +for that day. The worst rider became the clown. At the May-tree all +dismounted and hoisted the king on their shoulders. He nimbly +swarmed up the pole and brought down the May-bush and the crown, +which had been fastened to the top. Meanwhile the clown hurried to +the alehouse and proceeded to bolt thirty rolls of bread and to swig +four quart bottles of brandy with the utmost possible despatch. He +was followed by the king, who bore the May-bush and crown at the +head of the company. If on their arrival the clown had already +disposed of the rolls and the brandy, and greeted the king with a +speech and a glass of beer, his score was paid by the king; +otherwise he had to settle it himself. After church time the stately +procession wound through the village. At the head of it rode the +king, decked with flowers and carrying the May-bush. Next came the +clown with his clothes turned inside out, a great flaxen beard on +his chain, and the Whitsuntide crown on his head. Two riders +disguised as guards followed. The procession drew up before every +farmyard; the two guards dismounted, shut the clown into the house, +and claimed a contribution from the housewife to buy soap with which +to wash the clown's beard. Custom allowed them to carry off any +victuals which were not under lock and key. Last of all they came to +the house in which the king's sweetheart lived. She was greeted as +Whitsuntide Queen and received suitable presents--to wit, a +many-coloured sash, a cloth, and an apron. The king got as a prize, +a vest, a neck-cloth, and so forth, and had the right of setting up +the May-bush or Whitsuntide-tree before his master's yard, where it +remained as an honourable token till the same day next year. Finally +the procession took its way to the tavern, where the king and queen +opened the dance. Sometimes the Whitsuntide King and Queen succeeded +to office in a different way. A man of straw, as large as life and +crowned with a red cap, was conveyed in a cart, between two men +armed and disguised as guards, to a place where a mock court was +waiting to try him. A great crowd followed the cart. After a formal +trial the straw man was condemned to death and fastened to a stake +on the execution ground. The young men with bandaged eyes tried to +stab him with a spear. He who succeeded became king and his +sweetheart queen. The straw man was known as the Goliath. + +In a parish of Denmark it used to be the custom at Whitsuntide to +dress up a little girl as the Whitsun-bride and a little boy as her +groom. She was decked in all the finery of a grown-up bride, and +wore a crown of the freshest flowers of spring on her head. Her +groom was as gay as flowers, ribbons, and knots could make him. The +other children adorned themselves as best they could with the yellow +flowers of the trollius and caltha. Then they went in great state +from farmhouse to farmhouse, two little girls walking at the head of +the procession as bridesmaids, and six or eight outriders galloping +ahead on hobby-horses to announce their coming. Contributions of +eggs, butter, loaves, cream, coffee, sugar, and tallow-candles were +received and conveyed away in baskets. When they had made the round +of the farms, some of the farmers' wives helped to arrange the +wedding feast, and the children danced merrily in clogs on the +stamped clay floor till the sun rose and the birds began to sing. +All this is now a thing of the past. Only the old folks still +remember the little Whitsun-bride and her mimic pomp. + +We have seen that in Sweden the ceremonies associated elsewhere with +May Day or Whitsuntide commonly take place at Midsummer. Accordingly +we find that in some parts of the Swedish province of Blekinge they +still choose a Midsummer's Bride, to whom the "church coronet" is +occasionally lent. The girl selects for herself a Bridegroom, and a +collection is made for the pair, who for the time being are looked +on as man and wife. The other youths also choose each his bride. A +similar ceremony seems to be still kept up in Norway. + +In the neighbourhood of Briançon (Dauphiné) on May Day the lads wrap +up in green leaves a young fellow whose sweetheart has deserted him +or married another. He lies down on the ground and feigns to be +asleep. Then a girl who likes him, and would marry him, comes and +wakes him, and raising him up offers him her arm and a flag. So they +go to the alehouse, where the pair lead off the dancing. But they +must marry within the year, or they are treated as old bachelor and +old maid, and are debarred the company of the young folks. The lad +is called the Bridegroom of the month of May. In the alehouse he +puts off his garment of leaves, out of which, mixed with flowers, +his partner in the dance makes a nosegay, and wears it at her breast +next day, when he leads her again to the alehouse. Like this is a +Russian custom observed in the district of Nerechta on the Thursday +before Whitsunday. The girls go out into a birch-wood, wind a girdle +or band round a stately birch, twist its lower branches into a +wreath, and kiss each other in pairs through the wreath. The girls +who kiss through the wreath call each other gossips. Then one of the +girls steps forward, and mimicking a drunken man, flings herself on +the ground, rolls on the grass, and feigns to fall fast asleep. +Another girl wakens the pretended sleeper and kisses him; then the +whole bevy trips singing through the wood to twine garlands, which +they throw into the water. In the fate of the garlands floating on +the stream they read their own. Here the part of the sleeper was +probably at one time played by a lad. In these French and Russian +customs we have a forsaken bridegroom, in the following a forsaken +bride. On Shrove Tuesday the Slovenes of Oberkrain drag a straw +puppet with joyous cries up and down the village; then they throw it +into the water or burn it, and from the height of the flames they +judge of the abundance of the next harvest. The noisy crew is +followed by a female masker, who drags a great board by a string and +gives out that she is a forsaken bride. + +Viewed in the light of what has gone before, the awakening of the +forsaken sleeper in these ceremonies probably represents the revival +of vegetation in spring. But it is not easy to assign their +respective parts to the forsaken bridegroom and to the girl who +wakes him from his slumber. Is the sleeper the leafless forest or +the bare earth of winter? Is the girl who awakens him the fresh +verdure or the genial sunshine of spring? It is hardly possible, on +the evidence before us, to answer these questions. + +In the Highlands of Scotland the revival of vegetation in spring +used to be graphically represented on St. Bride's Day, the first of +February. Thus in the Hebrides "the mistress and servants of each +family take a sheaf of oats, and dress it up in women's apparel, put +it in a large basket and lay a wooden club by it, and this they call +Briid's bed; and then the mistress and servants cry three times, +'Briid is come, Briid is welcome.' This they do just before going to +bed, and when they rise in the morning they look among the ashes, +expecting to see the impression of Briid's club there; which if they +do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop and prosperous +year, and the contrary they take as an ill omen." The same custom is +described by another witness thus: "Upon the night before Candlemas +it is usual to make a bed with corn and hay, over which some +blankets are laid, in a part of the house, near the door. When it is +ready, a person goes out and repeats three times, . . . 'Bridget, +Bridget, come in; thy bed is ready.' One or more candles are left +burning near it all night." Similarly in the Isle of Man "on the eve +of the first of February, a festival was formerly kept, called, in +the Manks language, _Laa'l Breeshey,_ in honour of the Irish lady +who went over to the Isle of Man to receive the veil from St. +Maughold. The custom was to gather a bundle of green rushes, and +standing with them in the hand on the threshold of the door, to +invite the holy Saint Bridget to come and lodge with them that +night. In the Manks language, the invitation ran thus: _'Brede, +Brede, tar gys my thie tar dyn thie ayms noght Foshil jee yn dorrys +da Brede, as lhig da Brede e heet staigh.'_ In English: 'Bridget, +Bridget, come to my house, come to my house to-night. Open the door +for Bridget, and let Bridget come in.' After these words were +repeated, the rushes were strewn on the floor by way of a carpet or +bed for St. Bridget. A custom very similar to this was also observed +in some of the Out-Isles of the ancient Kingdom of Man." In these +Manx and Highland ceremonies it is obvious that St. Bride, or St. +Bridget, is an old heathen goddess of fertility, disguised in a +threadbare Christian cloak. Probably she is no other than Brigit, +the Celtic goddess of fire and apparently of the crops. + +Often the marriage of the spirit of vegetation in spring, though not +directly represented, is implied by naming the human representative +of the spirit, "the Bride," and dressing her in wedding attire. Thus +in some villages of Altmark at Whitsuntide, while the boys go about +carrying a May-tree or leading a boy enveloped in leaves and +flowers, the girls lead about the May Bride, a girl dressed as a +bride with a great nosegay in her hair. They go from house to house, +the May Bride singing a song in which she asks for a present and +tells the inmates of each house that if they give her something they +will themselves have something the whole year through; but if they +give her nothing they will themselves have nothing. In some parts of +Westphalia two girls lead a flower-crowned girl called the +Whitsuntide Bride from door to door, singing a song in which they +ask for eggs. + + + +XI. The Influence of the Sexes on Vegetation + +FROM THE PRECEDING examination of the spring and summer festivals of +Europe we may infer that our rude forefathers personified the powers +of vegetation as male and female, and attempted, on the principle of +homoeopathic or imitative magic, to quicken the growth of trees and +plants by representing the marriage of the sylvan deities in the +persons of a King and Queen of May, a Whitsun Bridegroom and Bride, +and so forth. Such representations were accordingly no mere symbolic +or allegorical dramas, pastoral plays designed to amuse or instruct +a rustic audience. They were charms intended to make the woods to +grow green, the fresh grass to sprout, the corn to shoot, and the +flowers to blow. And it was natural to suppose that the more closely +the mock marriage of the leaf-clad or flower-decked mummers aped the +real marriage of the woodland sprites, the more effective would be +the charm. Accordingly we may assume with a high degree of +probability that the profligacy which notoriously attended these +ceremonies was at one time not an accidental excess but an essential +part of the rites, and that in the opinion of those who performed +them the marriage of trees and plants could not be fertile without +the real union of the human sexes. At the present day it might +perhaps be vain to look in civilised Europe for customs of this sort +observed for the explicit purpose of promoting the growth of +vegetation. But ruder races in other parts of the world have +consciously employed the intercourse of the sexes as a means to +ensure the fruitfulness of the earth; and some rites which are +still, or were till lately, kept up in Europe can be reasonably +explained only as stunted relics of a similar practice. The +following facts will make this plain. + +For four days before they committed the seed to the earth the +Pipiles of Central America kept apart from their wives "in order +that on the night before planting they might indulge their passions +to the fullest extent; certain persons are even said to have been +appointed to perform the sexual act at the very moment when the +first seeds were deposited in the ground." The use of their wives at +that time was indeed enjoined upon the people by the priests as a +religious duty, in default of which it was not lawful to sow the +seed. The only possible explanation of this custom seems to be that +the Indians confused the process by which human beings reproduce +their kind with the process by which plants discharge the same +function, and fancied that by resorting to the former they were +simultaneously forwarding the latter. In some parts of Java, at the +season when the bloom will soon be on the rice, the husbandman and +his wife visit their fields by night and there engage in sexual +intercourse for the purpose of promoting the growth of the crop. In +the Leti, Sarmata, and some other groups of islands which lie +between the western end of New Guinea and the northern part of +Australia, the heathen population regard the sun as the male +principle by whom the earth or female prínciple is fertilised. They +call him Upu-lera or Mr. Sun, and represent him under the form of a +lamp made of coco-nut leaves, which may be seen hanging everywhere +in their houses and in the sacred fig-tree. Under the tree lies a +large flat stone, which serves as a sacrificial table. On it the +heads of slain foes were and are still placed in some of the +islands. Once a year, at the beginning of the rainy season, Mr. Sun +comes down into the holy fig-tree to fertilise the earth, and to +facilitate his descent a ladder with seven rungs is considerately +placed at his disposal. It is set up under the tree and is adorned +with carved figures of the birds whose shrill clarion heralds the +approach of the sun in the east. On this occasion pigs and dogs are +sacrificed in profusion; men and women alike indulge in a +saturnalia; and the mystic union of the sun and the earth is +dramatically represented in public, amid song and dance, by the real +union of the sexes under the tree. The object of the festival, we +are told, is to procure rain, plenty of food and drink, abundance of +cattle and children and riches from Grandfather Sun. They pray that +he may make every she-goat to cast two or three young, the people to +multiply, the dead pigs to be replaced by living pigs, the empty +rice-baskets to be filled, and so on. And to induce him to grant +their requests they offer him pork and rice and liquor, and invite +him to fall to. In the Babar Islands a special flag is hoisted at +this festival as a symbol of the creative energy of the sun; it is +of white cotton, about nine feet high, and consists of the figure of +a man in an appropriate attitude. It would be unjust to treat these +orgies as a mere outburst of unbridled passion; no doubt they are +deliberately and solemnly organised as essential to the fertility of +the earth and the welfare of man. + +The same means which are thus adopted to stimulate the growth of the +crops are naturally employed to ensure the fruitfulness of trees. In +some parts of Amboyna, when the state of the clove plantation +indicates that the crop is likely to be scanty, the men go naked to +the plantations by night, and there seek to fertilise the trees +precisely as they would impregnate women, while at the same time +they call out for "More cloves!" This is supposed to make the trees +bear fruit more abundantly. + +The Baganda of Central Africa believe so strongly in the intimate +relation between the intercourse of the sexes and the fertility of +the ground that among them a barren wife is generally sent away, +because she is supposed to prevent her husband's garden from bearing +fruit. On the contrary, a couple who have given proof of +extraordinary fertility by becoming the parents of twins are +believed by the Baganda to be endowed with a corresponding power of +increasing the fruitfulness of the plantain-trees, which furnish +them with their staple food. Some little time after the birth of the +twins a ceremony is performed, the object of which clearly is to +transmit the reproductive virtue of the parents to the plantains. +The mother lies down on her back in the thick grass near the house +and places a flower of the plantain between her legs; then her +husband comes and knocks the flower away with his genital member. +Further, the parents go through the country performing dances in the +gardens of favoured friends, apparently for the purpose of causing +the plantain-trees to bear fruit more abundantly. + +In various parts of Europe customs have prevailed both at spring and +harvest which are clearly based on the same crude notion that the +relation of the human sexes to each other can be so used as to +quicken the growth of plants. For example, in the Ukraine on St. +George's Day (the twenty-third of April) the priest in his robes, +attended by his acolytes, goes out to the fields of the village, +where the crops are beginning to show green above the ground, and +blesses them. After that the young married people lie down in +couples on the sown fields and roll several times over on them, in +the belief that this will promote the growth of the crops. In some +parts of Russia the priest himself is rolled by women over the +sprouting crop, and that without regard to the mud and holes which +he may encounter in his beneficent progress. If the shepherd resists +or remonstrates, his flock murmurs, "Little Father, you do not +really wish us well, you do not wish us to have corn, although you +do wish to live on our corn." In some parts of Germany at harvest +the men and women, who have reaped the corn, roll together on the +field. This again is probably a mitigation of an older and ruder +custom designed to impart fertility to the fields by methods like +those resorted to by the Pipiles of Central America long ago and by +the cultivators of rice in Java at the present time. + +To the student who cares to track the devious course of the human +mind in its gropings after truth, it is of some interest to observe +that the same theoretical belief in the sympathetic influence of the +sexes on vegetation, which has led some peoples to indulge their +passions as a means of fertilising the earth, has led others to seek +the same end by directly opposite means. From the moment that they +sowed the maize till the time that they reaped it, the Indians of +Nicaragua lived chastely, keeping apart from their wives and +sleeping in a separate place. They ate no salt, and drank neither +cocoa nor _chicha,_ the fermented liquor made from maize; in short +the season was for them, as the Spanish historian observes, a time +of abstinence. To this day some of the Indian tribes of Central +America practise continence for the purpose of thereby promoting the +growth of the crops. Thus we are told that before sowing the maize +the Kekchi Indians sleep apart from their wives, and eat no flesh +for five days, while among the Lanquineros and Cajaboneros the +period of abstinence from these carnal pleasures extends to thirteen +days. So amongst some of the Germans of Transylvania it is a rule +that no man may sleep with his wife during the whole of the time +that he is engaged in sowing his fields. The same rule is observed +at Kalotaszeg in Hungary; the people think that if the custom were +not observed the corn would be mildewed. Similarly a Central +Australian headman of the Kaitish tribe strictly abstains from +marital relations with his wife all the time that he is performing +magical ceremonies to make the grass grow; for he believes that a +breach of this rule would prevent the grass seed from sprouting +properly. In some of the Melanesian islands, when the yam vines are +being trained, the men sleep near the gardens and never approach +their wives; should they enter the garden after breaking this rule +of continence the fruits of the garden would be spoilt. + +If we ask why it is that similar beliefs should logically lead, +among different peoples, to such opposite modes of conduct as strict +chastity and more or less open debauchery, the reason, as it +presents itself to the primitive mind, is perhaps not very far to +seek. If rude man identifies himself, in a manner, with nature; if +he fails to distinguish the impulses and processes in himself from +the methods which nature adopts to ensure the reproduction of plants +and animals, he may leap to one of two conclusions. Either he may +infer that by yielding to his appetites he will thereby assist in +the multiplication of plants and animals; or he may imagine that the +vigour which he refuses to expend in reproducing his own kind, will +form as it were a store of energy whereby other creatures, whether +vegetable or animal, will somehow benefit in propagating their +species. Thus from the same crude philosophy, the same primitive +notions of nature and life, the savage may derive by different +channels a rule either of profligacy or of asceticism. + +To readers bred in religion which is saturated with the ascetic +idealism of the East, the explanation which I have given of the rule +of continence observed under certain circumstances by rude or savage +peoples may seem far-fetched and improbable. They may think that +moral purity, which is so intimately associated in their minds with +the observance of such a rule, furnishes a sufficient explanation of +it; they may hold with Milton that chastity in itself is a noble +virtue, and that the restraint which it imposes on one of the +strongest impulses of our animal nature marks out those who can +submit to it as men raised above the common herd, and therefore +worthy to receive the seal of the divine approbation. However +natural this mode of thought may seem to us, it is utterly foreign +and indeed incomprehensible to the savage. If he resists on occasion +the sexual instinct, it is from no high idealism, no ethereal +aspiration after moral purity, but for the sake of some ulterior yet +perfectly definite and concrete object, to gain which he is prepared +to sacrifice the immediate gratification of his senses. That this is +or may be so, the examples I have cited are amply sufficient to +prove. They show that where the instinct of self-preservation, which +manifests itself chiefly in the search for food, conflicts or +appears to conflict with the instinct which conduces to the +propagation of the species, the former instinct, as the primary and +more fundamental, is capable of overmastering the latter. In short, +the savage is willing to restrain his sexual propensity for the sake +of food. Another object for the sake of which he consents to +exercise the same self-restraint is victory in war. Not only the +warrior in the field but his friends at home will often bridle their +sensual appetites from a belief that by so doing they will the more +easily overcome their enemies. The fallacy of such a belief, like +the belief that the chastity of the sower conduces to the growth of +the seed, is plain enough to us; yet perhaps the self-restraint +which these and the like beliefs, vain and false as they are, have +imposed on mankind, has not been without its utility in bracing and +strengthening the breed. For strength of character in the race as in +the individual consists mainly in the power of sacrificing the +present to the future, of disregarding the immediate temptations of +ephemeral pleasure for more distant and lasting sources of +satisfaction. The more the power is exercised the higher and +stronger becomes the character; till the height of heroism is +reached in men who renounce the pleasures of life and even life +itself for the sake of keeping or winning for others, perhaps in +distant ages, the blessings of freedom and truth. + + + +XII. The Sacred Marriage + + + +1. Diana as a Goddess of Fertility + +WE have seen that according to a widespread belief, which is not +without a foundation in fact, plants reproduce their kinds through +the sexual union of male and female elements, and that on the +principle of homoeopathic or imitative magic this reproduction is +supposed to be stimulated by the real or mock marriage of men and +women, who masquerade for the time being as spirits of vegetation. +Such magical dramas have played a great part in the popular +festivals of Europe, and based as they are on a very crude +conception of natural law, it is clear that they must have been +handed down from a remote antiquity. We shall hardly, therefore, err +in assuming that they date from a time when the forefathers of the +civilised nations of Europe were still barbarians, herding their +cattle and cultivating patches of corn in the clearings of the vast +forests, which then covered the greater part of the continent, from +the Mediterranean to the Arctic Ocean. But if these old spells and +enchantments for the growth of leaves and blossoms, of grass and +flowers and fruit, have lingered down to our own time in the shape +of pastoral plays and popular merry-makings, is it not reasonable to +suppose that they survived in less attenuated forms some two +thousand years ago among the civilised peoples of antiquity? Or, to +put it otherwise, is it not likely that in certain festivals of the +ancients we may be able to detect the equivalents of our May Day, +Whitsuntide, and Midsummer celebrations, with this difference, that +in those days the ceremonies had not yet dwindled into mere shows +and pageants, but were still religious or magical rites, in which +the actors consciously supported the high parts of gods and +goddesses? Now in the first chapter of this book we found reason to +believe that the priest who bore the title of King of the Wood at +Nemi had for his mate the goddess of the grove, Diana herself. May +not he and she, as King and Queen of the Wood, have been serious +counterparts of the merry mummers who play the King and Queen of +May, the Whitsuntide Bridegroom and Bride in modern Europe? and may +not their union have been yearly celebrated in a _theogamy_ or +divine marriage? Such dramatic weddings of gods and goddesses, as we +shall see presently, were carried out as solemn religious rites in +many parts of the ancient world; hence there is no intrinsic +improbability in the supposition that the sacred grove at Nemi may +have been the scene of an annual ceremony of this sort. Direct +evidence that it was so there is none, but analogy pleads in favour +of the view, as I shall now endeavour to show. + +Diana was essentially a goddess of the woodlands, as Ceres was a +goddess of the corn and Bacchus a god of the vine. Her sanctuaries +were commonly in groves, indeed every grove was sacred to her, and +she is often associated with the forest god Silvanus in dedications. +But whatever her origin may have been, Diana was not always a mere +goddess of trees. Like her Greek sister Artemis, she appears to have +developed into a personification of the teeming life of nature, both +animal and vegetable. As mistress of the greenwood she would +naturally be thought to own the beasts, whether wild or tame, that +ranged through it, lurking for their prey in its gloomy depths, +munching the fresh leaves and shoots among the boughs, or cropping +the herbage in the open glades and dells. Thus she might come to be +the patron goddess both of hunters and herdsmen, just as Silvanus +was the god not only of woods, but of cattle. Similarly in Finland +the wild beasts of the forest were regarded as the herds of the +woodland god Tapio and of his stately and beautiful wife. No man +might slay one of these animals without the gracious permission of +their divine owners. Hence the hunter prayed to the sylvan deities, +and vowed rich offerings to them if they would drive the game across +his path. And cattle also seem to have enjoyed the protection of +those spirits of the woods, both when they were in their stalls and +while they strayed in the forest. Before the Gayos of Sumatra hunt +deer, wild goats, or wild pigs with hounds in the woods, they deem +it necessary to obtain the leave of the unseen Lord of the forest. +This is done according to a prescribed form by a man who has special +skill in woodcraft. He lays down a quid of betel before a stake +which is cut in a particular way to represent the Lord of the Wood, +and having done so he prays to the spirit to signify his consent or +refusal. In his treatise on hunting, Arrian tells us that the Celts +used to offer an annual sacrifice to Artemis on her birthday, +purchasing the sacrificial victim with the fines which they had paid +into her treasury for every fox, hare, and roe that they had killed +in the course of the year. The custom clearly implied that the wild +beasts belonged to the goddess, and that she must be compensated for +their slaughter. + +But Diana was not merely a patroness of wild beasts, a mistress of +woods and hills, of lonely glades and sounding rivers; conceived as +the moon, and especially, it would seem, as the yellow harvest moon, +she filled the farmer's grange with goodly fruits, and heard the +prayers of women in travail. In her sacred grove at Nemi, as we have +seen, she was especially worshipped as a goddess of childbirth, who +bestowed offspring on men and women. Thus Diana, like the Greek +Artemis, with whom she was constantly identified, may be described +as a goddess of nature in general and of fertility in particular. We +need not wonder, therefore, that in her sanctuary on the Aventine +she was represented by an image copied from the many-breasted idol +of the Ephesian Artemis, with all its crowded emblems of exuberant +fecundity. Hence too we can understand why an ancient Roman law, +attributed to King Tullus Hostilius, prescribed that, when incest +had been committed, an expiatory sacrifice should be offered by the +pontiffs in the grove of Diana. For we know that the crime of incest +is commonly supposed to cause a dearth; hence it would be meet that +atonement for the offence should be made to the goddess of +fertility. + +Now on the principle that the goddess of fertility must herself be +fertile, it behoved Diana to have a male partner. Her mate, if the +testimony of Servius may be trusted, was that Virbius who had his +representative, or perhaps rather his embodiment, in the King of the +Wood at Nemi. The aim of their union would be to promote the +fruitfulness of the earth, of animals, and of mankind; and it might +naturally be thought that this object would be more surely attained +if the sacred nuptials were celebrated every year, the parts of the +divine bride and bridegroom being played either by their images or +by living persons. No ancient writer mentions that this was done in +the grove at Nemi; but our knowledge of the Arician ritual is so +scanty that the want of information on this head can hardly count as +a fatal objection to the theory. That theory, in the absence of +direct evidence, must necessarily be based on the analogy of similar +customs practised elsewhere. Some modern examples of such customs, +more or less degenerate, were described in the last chapter. Here we +shall consider their ancient counterparts. + + + +2. The Marriage of the Gods + +AT BABYLON the imposing sanctuary of Bel rose like a pyramid above +the city in a series of eight towers or stories, planted one on the +top of the other. On the highest tower, reached by an ascent which +wound about all the rest, there stood a spacious temple, and in the +temple a great bed, magnificently draped and cushioned, with a +golden table beside it. In the temple no image was to be seen, and +no human being passed the night there, save a single woman, whom, +according to the Chaldean priests, the god chose from among all the +women of Babylon. They said that the deity himself came into the +temple at night and slept in the great bed; and the woman, as a +consort of the god, might have no intercourse with mortal man. + +At Thebes in Egypt a woman slept in the temple of Ammon as the +consort of the god, and, like the human wife of Bel at Babylon, she +was said to have no commerce with a man. In Egyptian texts she is +often mentioned as "the divine consort," and usually she was no less +a personage than the Queen of Egypt herself. For, according to the +Egyptians, their monarchs were actually begotten by the god Ammon, +who assumed for the time being the form of the reigning king, and in +that disguise had intercourse with the queen. The divine procreation +is carved and painted in great detail on the walls of two of the +oldest temples in Egypt, those of Deir el Bahari and Luxor; and the +inscriptions attached to the paintings leave no doubt as to the +meaning of the scenes. + +At Athens the god of the vine, Dionysus, was annually married to the +Queen, and it appears that the consummation of the divine union, as +well as the espousals, was enacted at the ceremony; but whether the +part of the god was played by a man or an image we do not know. We +learn from Aristotle that the ceremony took place in the old +official residence of the King, known as the Cattle-stall, which +stood near the Prytaneum or Town-hall on the north-eastern slope of +the Acropolis. The object of the marriage can hardly have been any +other than that of ensuring the fertility of the vines and other +fruit-trees of which Dionysus was the god. Thus both in form and in +meaning the ceremony would answer to the nuptials of the King and +Queen of May. + +In the great mysteries solemnised at Eleusis in the month of +September the union of the sky-god Zeus with the corn-goddess +Demeter appears to have been represented by the union of the +hierophant with the priestess of Demeter, who acted the parts of god +and goddess. But their intercourse was only dramatic or symbolical, +for the hierophant had temporarily deprived himself of his virility +by an application of hemlock. The torches having been extinguished, +the pair descended into a murky place, while the throng of +worshippers awaited in anxious suspense the result of the mystic +congress, on which they believed their own salvation to depend. +After a time the hierophant reappeared, and in a blaze of light +silently exhibited to the assembly a reaped ear of corn, the fruit +of the divine marriage. Then in a loud voice he proclaimed, "Queen +Brimo has brought forth a sacred boy Brimos," by which he meant, +"The Mighty One has brought forth the Mighty." The corn-mother in +fact had given birth to her child, the corn, and her travail-pangs +were enacted in the sacred drama. This revelation of the reaped corn +appears to have been the crowning act of the mysteries. Thus through +the glamour shed round these rites by the poetry and philosophy of +later ages there still looms, like a distant landscape through a +sunlit haze, a simple rustic festival designed to cover the wide +Eleusinian plain with a plenteous harvest by wedding the goddess of +the corn to the sky-god, who fertilised the bare earth with genial +showers. Every few years the people of Plataea, in Boeotia, held a +festival called the Little Daedala, at which they felled an oak-tree +in an ancient oak forest. Out of the tree they carved an image, and +having dressed it as a bride, they set it on a bullock-cart with a +bridesmaid beside it. The image seems then to have been drawn to the +bank of the river Asopus and back to the town, attended by a piping +and dancing crowd. Every sixty years the festival of the Great +Daedala was celebrated by all the people of Boeotia; and at it all +the images, fourteen in number, which had accumulated at the lesser +festivals, were dragged on wains in procession to the river Asopus +and then to the top of Mount Cithaeron, where they were burnt on a +great pyre. The story told to explain the festivals suggests that +they celebrated the marriage of Zeus to Hera, represented by the +oaken image in bridal array. In Sweden every year a life-size image +of Frey, the god of fertility, both animal and vegetable, was drawn +about the country in a waggon attended by a beautiful girl who was +called the god's wife. She acted also as his priestess in his great +temple at Upsala. Wherever the waggon came with the image of the god +and his blooming young bride, the people crowded to meet them and +offered sacrifices for a fruitful year. + +Thus the custom of marrying gods either to images or to human beings +was widespread among the nations of antiquity. The ideas on which +such a custom is based are too crude to allow us to doubt that the +civilised Babylonians, Egyptians, and Greeks inherited it from their +barbarous or savage forefathers. This presumption is strengthened +when we find rites of a similar kind in vogue among the lower races. +Thus, for example, we are told that once upon a time the Wotyaks of +the Malmyz district in Russia were distressed by a series of bad +harvests. They did not know what to do, but at last concluded that +their powerful but mischievious god Keremet must be angry at being +unmarried. So a deputation of elders visited the Wotyaks of Cura and +came to an understanding with them on the subject. Then they +returned home, laid in a large stock of brandy, and having made +ready a gaily decked waggon and horses, they drove in procession +with bells ringing, as they do when they are fetching home a bride, +to the sacred grove at Cura. There they ate and drank merrily all +night, and next morning they cut a square piece of turf in the grove +and took it home with them. After that, though it fared well with +the people of Malmyz, it fared ill with the people of Cura; for in +Malmyz the bread was good, but in Cura it was bad. Hence the men of +Cura who had consented to the marriage were blamed and roughly +handled by their indignant fellow-villagers. "What they meant by +this marriage ceremony," says the writer who reports it, "it is not +easy to imagine. Perhaps, as Bechterew thinks, they meant to marry +Keremet to the kindly and fruitful Mukylcin, the Earth-wife, in +order that she might influence him for good." When wells are dug in +Bengal, a wooden image of a god is made and married to the goddess +of water. + +Often the bride destined for the god is not a log or a cloud, but a +living woman of flesh and blood. The Indians of a village in Peru +have been known to marry a beautiful girl, about fourteen years of +age, to a stone shaped like a human being, which they regarded as a +god (_huaca_). All the villagers took part in the marriage ceremony, +which lasted three days, and was attended with much revelry. The +girl thereafter remained a virgin and sacrificed to the idol for the +people. They showed her the utmost reverence and deemed her divine. +Every year about the middle of March, when the season for fishing +with the dragnet began, the Algonquins and Hurons married their nets +to two young girls, aged six or seven. At the wedding feast the net +was placed between the two maidens, and was exhorted to take courage +and catch many fish. The reason for choosing the brides so young was +to make sure that they were virgins. The origin of the custom is +said to have been this. One year, when the fishing season came +round, the Algonquins cast their nets as usual, but took nothing. +Surprised at their want of success, they did not know what to make +of it, till the soul or genius (_oki_) of the net appeared to them +in the likeness of a tall well-built man, who said to them in a +great passion, "I have lost my wife and I cannot find one who has +known no other man but me; that is why you do not succeed, and why +you never will succeed till you give me satisfaction on this head." +So the Algonquins held a council and resolved to appease the spirit +of the net by marrying him to two such very young girls that he +could have no ground of complaint on that score for the future. They +did so, and the fishing turned out all that could be wished. The +thing got wind among their neighbours the Hurons, and they adopted +the custom. A share of the catch was always given to the families of +the two girls who acted as brides of the net for the year. + +The Oraons of Bengal worship the Earth as a goddess, and annually +celebrate her marriage with the Sun-god Dharme¯ at the time when the +_sa¯l_ tree is in blossom. The ceremony is as follows. All bathe, +then the men repair to the sacred grove (_sarna_), while the women +assemble at the house of the village priest. After sacrificing some +fowls to the Sun-god and the demon of the grove, the men eat and +drink. "The priest is then carried back to the village on the +shoulders of a strong man. Near the village the women meet the men +and wash their feet. With beating of drums and singing, dancing, and +jumping, all proceed to the priest's house, which has been decorated +with leaves and flowers. Then the usual form of marriage is +performed between the priest and his wife, symbolising the supposed +union between Sun and Earth. After the ceremony all eat and drink +and make merry; they dance and sing obscene songs, and finally +indulge in the vilest orgies. The object is to move the mother earth +to become fruitful." Thus the Sacred Marriage of the Sun and Earth, +personated by the priest and his wife, is celebrated as a charm to +ensure the fertility of the ground; and for the same purpose, on the +principle of homoeopathic magic, the people indulge in licentious +orgy. + +It deserves to be remarked that the supernatural being to whom women +are married is often a god or spirit of water. Thus Mukasa, the god +of the Victoria Nyanza lake, who was propitiated by the Baganda +every time they undertook a long voyage, had virgins provided for +him to serve as his wives. Like the Vestals they were bound to +chastity, but unlike the Vestals they seem to have been often +unfaithful. The custom lasted until Mwanga was converted to +Christianity. The Akikuyu of British East Africa worship the snake +of a certain river, and at intervals of several years they marry the +snake-god to women, but especially to young girls. For this purpose +huts are built by order of the medicine-men, who there consummate +the sacred marriage with the credulous female devotees. If the girls +do not repair to the huts of their own accord in sufficient numbers, +they are seized and dragged thither to the embraces of the deity. +The offspring of these mystic unions appears to be fathered on God +(_ngai_); certainly there are children among the Akikuyu who pass +for children of God. It is said that once, when the inhabitants of +Cayeli in Buru--an East Indian island--were threatened with +destruction by a swarm of crocodiles, they ascribed the misfortune +to a passion which the prince of the crocodiles had conceived for a +certain girl. Accordingly, they compelled the damsel's father to +dress her in bridal array and deliver her over to the clutches of +her crocodile lover. + +A usage of the same sort is reported to have prevailed in the +Maldive Islands before the conversion of the inhabitants to Islam. +The famous Arab traveller Ibn Batutah has described the custom and +the manner in which it came to an end. He was assured by several +trustworthy natives, whose names he gives, that when the people of +the islands were idolaters there appeared to them every month an +evil spirit among the jinn, who came from across the sea in the +likeness of a ship full of burning lamps. The wont of the +inhabitants, as soon as they perceived him, was to take a young +virgin, and, having adorned her, to lead her to a heathen temple +that stood on the shore, with a window looking out to sea. There +they left the damsel for the night, and when they came back in the +morning they found her a maid no more, and dead. Every month they +drew lots, and he upon whom the lot fell gave up his daughter to the +jinnee of the sea. The last of the maidens thus offered to the demon +was rescued by a pious Berber, who by reciting the Koran succeeded +in driving the jinnee back into the sea. + +Ibn Batutah's narrative of the demon lover and his mortal brides +closely resembles a well-known type of folk-tale, of which versions +have been found from Japan and Annam in the East to Senegambia, +Scandinavia, and Scotland in the West. The story varies in details +from people to people, but as commonly told it runs thus. A certain +country is infested by a many-headed serpent, dragon, or other +monster, which would destroy the whole people if a human victim, +generally a virgin, were not delivered up to him periodically. Many +victims have perished, and at last it has fallen to the lot of the +king's own daughter to be sacrificed. She is exposed to the monster, +but the hero of the tale, generally a young man of humble birth, +interposes in her behalf, slays the monster, and receives the hand +of the princess as his reward. In many of the tales the monster, who +is sometimes described as a serpent, inhabits the water of a sea, a +lake, or a fountain. In other versions he is a serpent or dragon who +takes possession of the springs of water, and only allows the water +to flow or the people to make use of it on condition of receiving a +human victim. + +It would probably be a mistake to dismiss all these tales as pure +inventions of the story-teller. Rather we may suppose that they +reflect a real custom of sacrificing girls or women to be the wives +of waterspirits, who are very often conceived as great serpents or +dragons. + + + + +XIII. The Kings of Rome and Alba + + + +1. Numa and Egeria + +FROM THE FOREGOING survey of custom and legend we may infer that the +sacred marriage of the powers both of vegetation and of water has +been celebrated by many peoples for the sake of promoting the +fertility of the earth, on which the life of animals and men +ultimately depends, and that in such rites the part of the divine +bridegroom or bride is often sustained by a man or woman. The +evidence may, therefore, lend some countenance to the conjecture +that in the sacred grove at Nemi, where the powers of vegetation and +of water manifested themselves in the fair forms of shady woods, +tumbling cascades, and glassy lake, a marriage like that of our King +and Queen of May was annually celebrated between the mortal King of +the Wood and the immortal Queen of the Wood, Diana. In this +connexion an important figure in the grove was the water-nymph +Egeria, who was worshipped by pregnant women because she, like +Diana, could grant them an easy delivery. From this it seems fairly +safe to conclude that, like many other springs, the water of Egeria +was credited with a power of facilitating conception as well as +delivery. The votive offerings found on the spot, which clearly +refer to the begetting of children, may possibly have been dedicated +to Egeria rather than to Diana, or perhaps we should rather say that +the water-nymph Egeria is only another form of the great +nature-goddess Diana herself, the mistress of sounding rivers as +well as of umbrageous woods, who had her home by the lake and her +mirror in its calm waters, and whose Greek counterpart Artemis loved +to haunt meres and springs. The identification of Egeria with Diana +is confirmed by a statement of Plutarch that Egeria was one of the +oak-nymphs whom the Romans believed to preside over every green +oak-grove; for, while Diana was a goddess of the woodlands in +general, she appears to have been intimately associated with oaks in +particular, especially at her sacred grove of Nemi. Perhaps, then, +Egeria was the fairy of a spring that flowed from the roots of a +sacred oak. Such a spring is said to have gushed from the foot of +the great oak at Dodona, and from its murmurous flow the priestess +drew oracles. Among the Greeks a draught of water from certain +sacred springs or wells was supposed to confer prophetic powers. +This would explain the more than mortal wisdom with which, according +to tradition, Egeria inspired her royal husband or lover Numa. When +we remember how very often in early society the king is held +responsible for the fall of rain and the fruitfulness of the earth, +it seems hardly rash to conjecture that in the legend of the +nuptials of Numa and Egeria we have a reminiscence of a sacred +marriage which the old Roman kings regularly contracted with a +goddess of vegetation and water for the purpose of enabling him to +discharge his divine or magical functions. In such a rite the part +of the goddess might be played either by an image or a woman, and if +by a woman, probably by the Queen. If there is any truth in this +conjecture, we may suppose that the King and Queen of Rome +masqueraded as god and goddess at their marriage, exactly as the +King and Queen of Egypt appear to have done. The legend of Numa and +Egeria points to a sacred grove rather than to a house as the scene +of the nuptial union, which, like the marriage of the King and Queen +of May, or of the vine-god and the Queen of Athens, may have been +annually celebrated as a charm to ensure the fertility not only of +the earth but of man and beast. Now, according to some accounts, the +scene of the marriage was no other than the sacred grove of Nemi, +and on quite independent grounds we have been led to suppose that in +that same grove the King of the Wood was wedded to Diana. The +convergence of the two distinct lines of enquiry suggests that the +legendary union of the Roman king with Egeria may have been a +reflection or duplicate of the union of the King of the Wood with +Egeria or her double Diana. This does not imply that the Roman kings +ever served as Kings of the Wood in the Arician grove, but only that +they may originally have been invested with a sacred character of +the same general kind, and may have held office on similar terms. To +be more explicit, it is possible that they reigned, not by right of +birth, but in virtue of their supposed divinity as representatives +or embodiments of a god, and that as such they mated with a goddess, +and had to prove their fitness from time to time to discharge their +divine functions by engaging in a severe bodily struggle, which may +often have proved fatal to them, leaving the crown to their +victorious adversary. Our knowledge of the Roman kingship is far too +scanty to allow us to affirm any one of these propositions with +confidence; but at least there are some scattered hints or +indications of a similarity in all these respects between the +priests of Nemi and the kings of Rome, or perhaps rather between +their remote predecessors in the dark ages which preceded the dawn +of legend. + + + +2. The King as Jupiter + +IN THE FIRST place, then, it would seem that the Roman king +personated no less a deity than Jupiter himself. For down to +imperial times victorious generals celebrating a triumph, and +magistrates presiding at the games in the Circus, wore the costume +of Jupiter, which was borrowed for the occasion from his great +temple on the Capitol; and it has been held with a high degree of +probability both by ancients and moderns that in so doing they +copied the traditionary attire and insignia of the Roman kings. They +rode a chariot drawn by four laurel-crowned horses through the city, +where every one else went on foot: they wore purple robes +embroidered or spangled with gold: in the right hand they bore a +branch of laurel, and in the left hand an ivory sceptre topped with +an eagle: a wreath of laurel crowned their brows: their face was +reddened with vermilion; and over their head a slave held a heavy +crown of massy gold fashioned in the likeness of oak leaves. In this +attire the assimilation of the man to the god comes out above all in +the eagle-topped sceptre, the oaken crown, and the reddened face. +For the eagle was the bird of Jove, the oak was his sacred tree, and +the face of his image standing in his four-horse chariot on the +Capitol was in like manner regularly dyed red on festivals; indeed, +so important was it deemed to keep the divine features properly +rouged that one of the first duties of the censors was to contract +for having this done. As the triumphal procession always ended in +the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, it was peculiarly appropriate +that the head of the victor should be graced by a crown of oak +leaves, for not only was every oak consecrated to Jupiter, but the +Capitoline temple of the god was said to have been built by Romulus +beside a sacred oak, venerated by shepherds, to which the king +attached the spoils won by him from the enemy's general in battle. +We are expressly told that the oak crown was sacred to Capitoline +Jupiter; a passage of Ovid proves that it was regarded as the god's +special emblem. + +According to a tradition which we have no reason to reject, Rome was +founded by settlers from Alba Longa, a city situated on the slope of +the Alban hills, overlooking the lake and the Campagna. Hence if the +Roman kings claimed to be representatives or embodiments of Jupiter, +the god of the sky, of the thunder, and of the oak, it is natural to +suppose that the kings of Alba, from whom the founder of Rome traced +his descent, may have set up the same claim before them. Now the +Alban dynasty bore the name of Silvii or Wood, and it can hardly be +without significance that in the vision of the historic glories of +Rome revealed to Aeneas in the underworld, Virgil, an antiquary as +well as a poet, should represent all the line of Silvii as crowned +with oak. A chaplet of oak leaves would thus seem to have been part +of the insignia of the old kings of Alba Longa as of their +successors the kings of Rome; in both cases it marked the monarch as +the human representative of the oak-god. The Roman annals record +that one of the kings of Alba, Romulus, Remulus, or Amulius Silvius +by name, set up for being a god in his own person, the equal or +superior of Jupiter. To support his pretensions and overawe his +subjects, he constructed machines whereby he mimicked the clap of +thunder and the flash of lightning. Diodorus relates that in the +season of fruitage, when thunder is loud and frequent, the king +commanded his soldiers to drown the roar of heaven's artillery by +clashing their swords against their shields. But he paid the penalty +of his impiety, for he perished, he and his house, struck by a +thunderbolt in the midst of a dreadful storm. Swollen by the rain, +the Alban lake rose in flood and drowned his palace. But still, says +an ancient historian, when the water is low and the surface +unruffled by a breeze, you may see the ruins of the palace at the +bottom of the clear lake. Taken along with the similar story of +Salmoneus, king of Elis, this legend points to a real custom +observed by the early kings of Greece and Italy, who, like their +fellows in Africa down to modern times, may have been expected to +produce rain and thunder for the good of the crops. The priestly +king Numa passed for an adept in the art of drawing down lightning +from the sky. Mock thunder, we know, has been made by various +peoples as a rain-charm in modern times; why should it not have been +made by kings in antiquity? + +Thus, if the kings of Alba and Rome imitated Jupiter as god of the +oak by wearing a crown of oak leaves, they seem also to have copied +him in his character of a weather-god by pretending to make thunder +and lightning. And if they did so, it is probable that, like Jupiter +in heaven and many kings on earth, they also acted as public +rain-makers, wringing showers from the dark sky by their +enchantments whenever the parched earth cried out for the refreshing +moisture. At Rome the sluices of heaven were opened by means of a +sacred stone, and the ceremony appears to have formed part of the +ritual of Jupiter Elicius, the god who elicits from the clouds the +flashing lightning and the dripping rain. And who so well fitted to +perform the ceremony as the king, the living representative of the +sky-god? + +If the kings of Rome aped Capitoline Jove, their predecessors the +kings of Alba probably laid themselves out to mimic the great Latian +Jupiter, who had his seat above the city on the summit of the Alban +Mountain. Latinus, the legendary ancestor of the dynasty, was said +to have been changed into Latian Jupiter after vanishing from the +world in the mysterious fashion characteristic of the old Latin +kings. The sanctuary of the god on the top of the mountain was the +religious centre of the Latin League, as Alba was its political +capital till Rome wrested the supremacy from its ancient rival. +Apparently no temple, in our sense of the word, was ever erected to +Jupiter on this his holy mountain; as god of the sky and thunder he +appropriately received the homage of his worshippers in the open +air. The massive wall, of which some remains still enclose the old +garden of the Passionist monastery, seems to have been part of the +sacred precinct which Tarquin the Proud, the last king of Rome, +marked out for the solemn annual assembly of the Latin League. The +god's oldest sanctuary on this airy mountain-top was a grove; and +bearing in mind not merely the special consecration of the oak to +Jupiter, but also the traditional oak crown of the Alban kings and +the analogy of the Capitoline Jupiter at Rome, we may suppose that +the trees in the grove were oaks. We know that in antiquity Mount +Algidus, an outlying group of the Alban hills, was covered with dark +forests of oak; and among the tribes who belonged to the Latin +League in the earliest days, and were entitled to share the flesh of +the white bull sacrificed on the Alban Mount, there was one whose +members styled themselves the Men of the Oak, doubtless on account +of the woods among which they dwelt. + +But we should err if we pictured to ourselves the country as covered +in historical times with an unbroken forest of oaks. Theophrastus +has left us a description of the woods of Latium as they were in the +fourth century before Christ. He says: "The land of the Latins is +all moist. The plains produce laurels, myrtles, and wonderful +beeches; for they fell trees of such a size that a single stem +suffices for the keel of a Tyrrhenian ship. Pines and firs grow in +the mountains. What they call the land of Circe is a lofty headland +thickly wooded with oak, myrtle, and luxuriant laurels. The natives +say that Circe dwelt there, and they show the grave of Elpenor, from +which grow myrtles such as wreaths are made of, whereas the other +myrtle-trees are tall." Thus the prospect from the top of the Alban +Mount in the early days of Rome must have been very different in +some respects from what it is to-day. The purple Apennines, indeed, +in their eternal calm on the one hand, and the shining Mediterranean +in its eternal unrest on the other, no doubt looked then much as +they look now, whether bathed in sunshine, or chequered by the +fleeting shadows of clouds; but instead of the desolate brown +expanse of the fever-stricken Campagna, spanned by its long lines of +ruined aqueducts, like the broken arches of the bridge in the vision +of Mirza, the eye must have ranged over woodlands that stretched +away, mile after mile, on all sides, till their varied hues of green +or autumnal scarlet and gold melted insensibly into the blue of the +distant mountains and sea. + +But Jupiter did not reign alone on the top of his holy mountain. He +had his consort with him, the goddess Juno, who was worshipped here +under the same title, Moneta, as on the Capitol at Rome. As the oak +crown was sacred to Jupiter and Juno on the Capitol, so we may +suppose it was on the Alban Mount, from which the Capitoline worship +was derived. Thus the oak-god would have his oak-goddess in the +sacred oak grove. So at Dodona the oak-god Zeus was coupled with +Dione, whose very name is only a dialectically different form of +Juno; and so on the top of Mount Cithaeron, as we have seen, he +appears to have been periodically wedded to an oaken image of Hera. +It is probable, though it cannot be positively proved, that the +sacred marriage of Jupiter and Juno was annually celebrated by all +the peoples of the Latin stock in the month which they named after +the goddess, the midsummer month of June. + +If at any time of the year the Romans celebrated the sacred marriage +of Jupiter and Juno, as the Greeks commonly celebrated the +corresponding marriage of Zeus and Hera, we may suppose that under +the Republic the ceremony was either performed over images of the +divine pair or acted by the Flamen Dialis and his wife the +Flaminica. For the Flamen Dialis was the priest of Jove; indeed, +ancient and modern writers have regarded him, with much probability, +as a living image of Jupiter, a human embodiment of the sky-god. In +earlier times the Roman king, as representative of Jupiter, would +naturally play the part of the heavenly bridegroom at the sacred +marriage, while his queen would figure as the heavenly bride, just +as in Egypt the king and queen masqueraded in the character of +deities, and as at Athens the queen annually wedded the vine-god +Dionysus. That the Roman king and queen should act the parts of +Jupiter and Juno would seem all the more natural because these +deities themselves bore the title of King and Queen. + +Whether that was so or not, the legend of Numa and Egeria appears to +embody a reminiscence of a time when the priestly king himself +played the part of the divine bridegroom; and as we have seen reason +to suppose that the Roman kings personated the oak-god, while Egeria +is expressly said to have been an oak-nymph, the story of their +union in the sacred grove raises a presumption that at Rome in the +regal period a ceremony was periodically performed exactly analogous +to that which was annually celebrated at Athens down to the time of +Aristotle. The marriage of the King of Rome to the oak-goddess, like +the wedding of the vine-god to the Queen of Athens, must have been +intended to quicken the growth of vegetation by homoeopathic magic. +Of the two forms of the rite we can hardly doubt that the Roman was +the older, and that long before the northern invaders met with the +vine on the shores of the Mediterranean their forefathers had +married the tree-god to the tree-goddess in the vast oak forests of +Central and Northern Europe. In the England of our day the forests +have mostly disappeared, yet still on many a village green and in +many a country lane a faded image of the sacred marriage lingers in +the rustic pageantry of May Day. + + + + +XIV. The Succession to the Kingdom in Ancient Latium + +IN REGARD to the Roman king, whose priestly functions were inherited +by his successor the king of the Sacred Rites, the foregoing +discussion has led us to the following conclusions. He represented +and indeed personated Jupiter, the great god of the sky, the +thunder, and the oak, and in that character made rain, thunder, and +lightning for the good of his subjects, like many more kings of the +weather in other parts of the world. Further, he not only mimicked +the oak-god by wearing an oak wreath and other insignia of divinity, +but he was married to an oak-nymph Egeria, who appears to have been +merely a local form of Diana in her character of a goddess of woods, +of waters, and of child-birth. All these conclusions, which we have +reached mainly by a consideration of the Roman evidence, may with +great probability be applied to the other Latin communities. They +too probably had of old their divine or priestly kings, who +transmitted their religious functions, without their civil powers, +to their successors the Kings of the Sacred Rites. + +But we have still to ask, What was the rule of succession to the +kingdom among the old Latin tribes? According to tradition, there +were in all eight kings of Rome, and with regard to the five last of +them, at all events, we can hardly doubt that they actually sat on +the throne, and that the traditional history of their reigns is, in +its main outlines, correct. Now it is very remarkable that though +the first king of Rome, Romulus, is said to have been descended from +the royal house of Alba, in which the kingship is represented as +hereditary in the male line, not one of the Roman kings was +immediately succeeded by his son on the throne. Yet several left +sons or grandsons behind them. On the other hand, one of them was +descended from a former king through his mother, not through his +father, and three of the kings, namely Tatius, the elder Tarquin, +and Servius Tullius, were succeeded by their sons-in-law, who were +all either foreigners or of foreign descent. This suggests that the +right to the kingship was transmitted in the female line, and was +actually exercised by foreigners who married the royal princesses. +To put it in technical language, the succession to the kingship at +Rome and probably in Latium generally would seem to have been +determined by certain rules which have moulded early society in many +parts of the world, namely exogamy, _beena_ marriage, and female +kinship or mother-kin. Exogamy is the rule which obliges a man to +marry a woman of a different clan from his own: _beena_ marriage is +the rule that he must leave the home of his birth and live with his +wife's people; and female kinship or mother-kin is the system of +tracing relationship and transmitting the family name through women +instead of through men. If these principles regulated descent of the +kingship among the ancient Latins, the state of things in this +respect would be somewhat as follows. The political and religious +centre of each community would be the perpetual fire on the king's +hearth tended by Vestal Virgins of the royal clan. The king would be +a man of another clan, perhaps of another town or even of another +race, who had married a daughter of his predecessor and received the +kingdom with her. The children whom he had by her would inherit +their mother's name, not his; the daughters would remain at home; +the sons, when they grew up, would go away into the world, marry, +and settle in their wives' country, whether as kings or commoners. +Of the daughters who stayed at home, some or all would be dedicated +as Vestal Virgins for a longer or shorter time to the service of the +fire on the hearth, and one of them would in time become the consort +of her father's successor. + +This hypothesis has the advantage of explaining in a simple and +natural way some obscure features in the traditional history of the +Latin kingship. Thus the legends which tell how Latin kings were +born of virgin mothers and divine fathers become at least more +intelligible. For, stripped of their fabulous element, tales of this +sort mean no more than that a woman has been gotten with child by a +man unknown; and this uncertainty as to fatherhood is more easily +compatible with a system of kinship which ignores paternity than +with one which makes it all-important. If at the birth of the Latin +kings their fathers were really unknown, the fact points either to a +general looseness of life in the royal family or to a special +relaxation of moral rules on certain occasions, when men and women +reverted for a season to the licence of an earlier age. Such +Saturnalias are not uncommon at some stages of social evolution. In +our own country traces of them long survived in the practices of May +Day and Whitsuntide, if not of Christmas. Children born of more or +less promiscuous intercourse which characterises festivals of this +kind would naturally be fathered on the god to whom the particular +festival was dedicated. + +In this connexion it may be significant that a festival of jollity +and drunkenness was celebrated by the plebeians and slaves at Rome +on Midsummer Day, and that the festival was specially associated +with the fireborn King Servius Tullius, being held in honour of +Fortuna, the goddess who loved Servius as Egeria loved Numa. The +popular merrymakings at this season included foot-races and +boat-races; the Tiber was gay with flower-wreathed boats, in which +young folk sat quaffing wine. The festival appears to have been a +sort of Midsummer Saturnalia answering to the real Saturnalia which +fell at Midwinter. In modern Europe, as we shall learn later on, the +great Midsummer festival has been above all a festival of lovers and +of fire; one of its principal features is the pairing of +sweethearts, who leap over the bonfires hand in hand or throw +flowers across the flames to each other. And many omens of love and +marriage are drawn from the flowers which bloom at this mystic +season. It is the time of the roses and of love. Yet the innocence +and beauty of such festivals in modern times ought not to blind us +to the likelihood that in earlier days they were marked by coarser +features, which were probably of the essence of the rites. Indeed, +among the rude Esthonian peasantry these features seem to have +lingered down to our own generation, if not to the present day. One +other feature in the Roman celebration of Midsummer deserves to be +specially noticed. The custom of rowing in flower-decked boats on +the river on this day proves that it was to some extent a water +festival; and water has always, down to modern times, played a +conspicuous part in the rites of Midsummer Day, which explains why +the Church, in throwing its cloak over the old heathen festival, +chose to dedicate it to St. John the Baptist. + +The hypothesis that the Latin kings may have been begotten at an +annual festival of love is necessarily a mere conjecture, though the +traditional birth of Numa at the festival of the Parilia, when +shepherds leaped across the spring bonfires, as lovers leap across +the Midsummer fires, may perhaps be thought to lend it a faint +colour of probability. But it is quite possible that the uncertainty +as to their fathers may not have arisen till long after the death of +the kings, when their figures began to melt away into the cloudland +of fable, assuming fantastic shapes and gorgeous colouring as they +passed from earth to heaven. If they were alien immigrants, +strangers and pilgrims in the land they ruled over, it would be +natural enough that the people should forget their lineage, and +forgetting it should provide them with another, which made up in +lustre what it lacked in truth. The final apotheosis, which +represented the kings not merely as sprung from gods but as +themselves deities incarnate, would be much facilitated if in their +lifetime, as we have seen reason to think, they had actually laid +claim to divinity. + +If among the Latins the women of royal blood always stayed at home +and received as their consorts men of another stock, and often of +another country, who reigned as kings in virtue of their marriage +with a native princess, we can understand not only why foreigners +wore the crown at Rome, but also why foreign names occur in the list +of the Alban kings. In a state of society where nobility is reckoned +only through women--in other words, where descent through the mother +is everything, and descent through the father is nothing--no +objection will be felt to uniting girls of the highest rank to men +of humble birth, even to aliens or slaves, provided that in +themselves the men appear to be suitable mates. What really matters +is that the royal stock, on which the prosperity and even the +existence of the people is supposed to depend, should be perpetuated +in a vigorous and efficient form, and for this purpose it is +necessary that the women of the royal family should bear children to +men who are physically and mentally fit, according to the standard +of early society, to discharge the important duty of procreation. +Thus the personal qualities of the kings at this stage of social +evolution are deemed of vital importance. If they, like their +consorts, are of royal and divine descent, so much the better; but +it is not essential that they should be so. + +At Athens, as at Rome, we find traces of succession to the throne by +marriage with a royal princess; for two of the most ancient kings of +Athens, namely Cecrops and Amphictyon, are said to have married the +daughters of their predecessors. This tradition is to a certain +extent confirmed by evidence, pointing to the conclusion that at +Athens male kinship was preceded by female kinship. + +Further, if I am right in supposing that in ancient Latium the royal +families kept their daughters at home and sent forth their sons to +marry princesses and reign among their wives' people, it will follow +that the male descendants would reign in successive generations over +different kingdoms. Now this seems to have happened both in ancient +Greece and in ancient Sweden; from which we may legitimately infer +that it was a custom practised by more than one branch of the Aryan +stock in Europe. Many Greek traditions relate how a prince left his +native land, and going to a far country married the king's daughter +and succeeded to the kingdom. Various reasons are assigned by +ancient Greek writers for these migrations of the princes. A common +one is that the king's son had been banished for murder. This would +explain very well why he fled his own land, but it is no reason at +all why he should become king of another. We may suspect that such +reasons are afterthoughts devised by writers, who, accustomed to the +rule that a son should succeed to his father's property and kingdom, +were hard put to it to account for so many traditions of kings' sons +who quitted the land of their birth to reign over a foreign kingdom. +In Scandinavian tradition we meet with traces of similar customs. +For we read of daughters' husbands who received a share of the +kingdoms of their royal fathers-in-law, even when these +fathers-in-law had sons of their own; in particular, during the five +generations which preceded Harold the Fair-haired, male members of +the Ynglingar family, which is said to have come from Sweden, are +reported in the _Heimskringla_ or _Sagas of the Norwegian Kings_ to +have obtained at least six provinces in Norway by marriage with the +daughters of the local kings. + +Thus it would seem that among some Aryan peoples, at a certain stage +of their social evolution, it has been customary to regard women and +not men as the channels in which royal blood flows, and to bestow +the kingdom in each successive generation on a man of another +family, and often of another country, who marries one of the +princesses and reigns over his wife's people. A common type of +popular tale, which relates how an adventurer, coming to a strange +land, wins the hand of the king's daughter and with her the half or +the whole of the kingdom, may well be a reminiscence of a real +custom. + +Where usages and ideas of this sort prevail, it is obvious that the +kingship is merely an appanage of marriage with a woman of the blood +royal. The old Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus puts this view of +the kingship very clearly in the mouth of Hermutrude, a legendary +queen of Scotland. "Indeed she was a queen," says Hermutrude, "and +but that her sex gainsaid it, might be deemed a king; nay (and this +is yet truer), whomsoever she thought worthy of her bed was at once +a king, and she yielded her kingdom with herself. Thus her sceptre +and her hand went together." The statement is all the more +significant because it appears to reflect the actual practice of the +Pictish kings. We know from the testimony of Bede that, whenever a +doubt arose as to the succession, the Picts chose their kings from +the female rather than the male line. + +The personal qualities which recommended a man for a royal alliance +and succession to the throne would naturally vary according to the +popular ideas of the time and the character of the king or his +substitute, but it is reasonable to suppose that among them in early +society physical strength and beauty would hold a prominent place. + +Sometimes apparently the right to the hand of the princess and to +the throne has been determined by a race. The Alitemnian Libyans +awarded the kingdom to the fleetest runner. Amongst the old +Prussians, candidates for nobility raced on horseback to the king, +and the one who reached him first was ennobled. According to +tradition the earliest games at Olympia were held by Endymion, who +set his sons to run a race for the kingdom. His tomb was said to be +at the point of the racecourse from which the runners started. The +famous story of Pelops and Hippodamia is perhaps only another +version of the legend that the first races at Olympia were run for +no less a prize than a kingdom. + +These traditions may very well reflect a real custom of racing for a +bride, for such a custom appears to have prevailed among various +peoples, though in practice it has degenerated into a mere form or +pretence. Thus "there is one race, called the 'Love Chase,' which +may be considered a part of the form of marriage among the Kirghiz. +In this the bride, armed with a formidable whip, mounts a fleet +horse, and is pursued by all the young men who make any pretensions +to her hand. She will be given as a prize to the one who catches +her, but she has the right, besides urging on her horse to the +utmost, to use her whip, often with no mean force, to keep off those +lovers who are unwelcome to her, and she will probably favour the +one whom she has already chosen in her heart." The race for the +bride is found also among the Koryaks of North-eastern Asia. It +takes place in a large tent, round which many separate compartments +called _pologs_ are arranged in a continuous circle. The girl gets a +start and is clear of the marriage if she can run through all the +compartments without being caught by the bridegroom. The women of +the encampment place every obstacle in the man's way, tripping him +up, belabouring him with switches, and so forth, so that he has +little chance of succeeding unless the girl wishes it and waits for +him. Similar customs appear to have been practised by all the +Teutonic peoples; for the German, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse languages +possess in common a word for marriage which means simply bride-race. +Moreover, traces of the custom survived into modern times. + +Thus it appears that the right to marry a girl, and especially a +princess, has often been conferred as a prize in an athletic +contest. There would be no reason, therefore, for surprise if the +Roman kings, before bestowing their daughters in marriage, should +have resorted to this ancient mode of testing the personal qualities +of their future sons-in-law and successors. If my theory is correct, +the Roman king and queen personated Jupiter and his divine consort, +and in the character of these divinities went through the annual +ceremony of a sacred marriage for the purpose of causing the crops +to grow and men and cattle to be fruitful and multiply. Thus they +did what in more northern lands we may suppose the King and Queen of +May were believed to do in days of old. Now we have seen that the +right to play the part of the King of May and to wed the Queen of +May has sometimes been determined by an athletic contest, +particularly by a race. This may have been a relic of an old +marriage custom of the sort we have examined, a custom designed to +test the fitness of a candidate for matrimony. Such a test might +reasonably be applied with peculiar rigour to the king in order to +ensure that no personal defect should incapacitate him for the +performance of those sacred rites and ceremonies on which, even more +than on the despatch of his civil and military duties, the safety +and prosperity of the community were believed to depend. And it +would be natural to require of him that from time to time he should +submit himself afresh to the same ordeal for the sake of publicly +demonstrating that he was still equal to the discharge of his high +calling. A relic of that test perhaps survived in the ceremony known +as the Flight of the King (_regifugium_), which continued to be +annually observed at Rome down to imperial times. On the +twenty-fourth day of February a sacrifice used to be offered in the +Comitium, and when it was over the King of the Sacred Rites fled +from the Forum. We may conjecture that the Flight of the King was +originally a race for an annual kingship, which may have been +awarded as a prize to the fleetest runner. At the end of the year +the king might run again for a second term of office; and so on, +until he was defeated and deposed or perhaps slain. In this way what +had once been a race would tend to assume the character of a flight +and a pursuit. The king would be given a start; he ran and his +competitors ran after him, and if he were overtaken he had to yield +the crown and perhaps his life to the lightest of foot among them. +In time a man of masterful character might succeed in seating +himself permanently on the throne and reducing the annual race or +flight to the empty form which it seems always to have been within +historical times. The rite was sometimes interpreted as a +commemoration of the expulsion of the kings from Rome; but this +appears to have been a mere afterthought devised to explain a +ceremony of which the old meaning was forgotten. It is far more +likely that in acting thus the King of the Sacred Rites was merely +keeping up an ancient custom which in the regal period had been +annually observed by his predecessors the kings. What the original +intention of the rite may have been must probably always remain more +or less a matter of conjecture. The present explanation is suggested +with a full sense of the difficulty and obscurity in which the +subject is involved. + +Thus if my theory is correct, the yearly flight of the Roman king +was a relic of a time when the kingship was an annual office +awarded, along with the hand of a princess, to the victorious +athlete or gladiator, who thereafter figured along with his bride as +a god and goddess at a sacred marriage designed to ensure the +fertility of the earth by homoeopathic magic. If I am right in +supposing that in very early times the old Latin kings personated a +god and were regularly put to death in that character, we can better +understand the mysterious or violent ends to which so many of them +are said to have come. We have seen that, according to tradition, +one of the kings of Alba was killed by a thunderbolt for impiously +mimicking the thunder of Jupiter. Romulus is said to have vanished +mysteriously like Aeneas, or to have been cut to pieces by the +patricians whom he had offended, and the seventh of July, the day on +which he perished, was a festival which bore some resemblance to the +Saturnalia. For on that day the female slaves were allowed to take +certain remarkable liberties. They dressed up as free women in the +attire of matrons and maids, and in this guise they went forth from +the city, scoffed and jeered at all whom they met, and engaged among +themselves in a fight, striking and throwing stones at each other. +Another Roman king who perished by violence was Tatius, the Sabine +colleague of Romulus. It is said that he was at Lavinium offering a +public sacrifice to the ancestral gods, when some men, to whom he +had given umbrage, despatched him with the sacrificial knives and +spits which they had snatched from the altar. The occasion and the +manner of his death suggest that the slaughter may have been a +sacrifice rather than an assassination. Again, Tullus Hostilius, the +successor of Numa, was commonly said to have been killed by +lightning, but many held that he was murdered at the instigation of +Ancus Marcius, who reigned after him. Speaking of the more or less +mythical Numa, the type of the priestly king, Plutarch observes that +"his fame was enhanced by the fortunes of the later kings. For of +the five who reigned after him the last was deposed and ended his +life in exile, and of the remaining four not one died a natural +death; for three of them were assassinated and Tullus Hostilius was +consumed by thunderbolts." + +These legends of the violent ends of the Roman kings suggest that +the contest by which they gained the throne may sometimes have been +a mortal combat rather than a race. If that were so, the analogy +which we have traced between Rome and Nemi would be still closer. At +both places the sacred kings, the living representatives of the +godhead, would thus be liable to suffer deposition and death at the +hand of any resolute man who could prove his divine right to the +holy office by the strong arm and the sharp sword. It would not be +surprising if among the early Latins the claim to the kingdom should +often have been settled by single combat; for down to historical +times the Umbrians regularly submitted their private disputes to the +ordeal of battle, and he who cut his adversary's throat was thought +thereby to have proved the justice of his cause beyond the reach of +cavil. + + + +XV. The Worship of the Oak + +THE WORSHIP of the oak tree or of the oak god appears to have been +shared by all the branches of the Aryan stock in Europe. Both Greeks +and Italians associated the tree with their highest god, Zeus or +Jupiter, the divinity of the sky, the rain, and the thunder. Perhaps +the oldest and certainly one of the most famous sanctuaries in +Greece was that of Dodona, where Zeus was revered in the oracular +oak. The thunder-storms which are said to rage at Dodona more +frequently than anywhere else in Europe, would render the spot a +fitting home for the god whose voice was heard alike in the rustling +of the oak leaves and in the crash of thunder. Perhaps the bronze +gongs which kept up a humming in the wind round the sanctuary were +meant to mimick the thunder that might so often be heard rolling and +rumbling in the coombs of the stern and barren mountains which shut +in the gloomy valley. In Boeotia, as we have seen, the sacred +marriage of Zeus and Hera, the oak god and the oak goddess, appears +to have been celebrated with much pomp by a religious federation of +states. And on Mount Lycaeus in Arcadia the character of Zeus as god +both of the oak and of the rain comes out clearly in the rain charm +practised by the priest of Zeus, who dipped an oak branch in a +sacred spring. In his latter capacity Zeus was the god to whom the +Greeks regularly prayed for rain. Nothing could be more natural; for +often, though not always, he had his seat on the mountains where the +clouds gather and the oaks grow. On the Acropolis at Athens there +was an image of Earth praying to Zeus for rain. And in time of +drought the Athenians themselves prayed, "Rain, rain, O dear Zeus, +on the cornland of the Athenians and on the plains." + +Again, Zeus wielded the thunder and lightning as well as the rain. +At Olympia and elsewhere he was worshipped under the surname of +Thunderbolt; and at Athens there was a sacrificial hearth of +Lightning Zeus on the city wall, where some priestly officials +watched for lightning over Mount Parnes at certain seasons of the +year. Further, spots which had been struck by lightning were +regularly fenced in by the Greeks and consecrated to Zeus the +Descender, that is, to the god who came down in the flash from +heaven. Altars were set up within these enclosures and sacrifices +offered on them. Several such places are known from inscriptions to +have existed in Athens. + +Thus when ancient Greek kings claimed to be descended from Zeus, and +even to bear his name, we may reasonably suppose that they also +attempted to exercise his divine functions by making thunder and +rain for the good of their people or the terror and confusion of +their foes. In this respect the legend of Salmoneus probably +reflects the pretensions of a whole class of petty sovereigns who +reigned of old, each over his little canton, in the oak-clad +highlands of Greece. Like their kinsmen the Irish kings, they were +expected to be a source of fertility to the land and of fecundity to +the cattle; and how could they fulfil these expectations better than +by acting the part of their kinsman Zeus, the great god of the oak, +the thunder, and the rain? They personified him, apparently, just as +the Italian kings personified Jupiter. + +In ancient Italy every oak was sacred to Jupiter, the Italian +counterpart of Zeus; and on the Capitol at Rome the god was +worshipped as the deity not merely of the oak, but of the rain and +the thunder. Contrasting the piety of the good old times with the +scepticism of an age when nobody thought that heaven was heaven, or +cared a fig for Jupiter, a Roman writer tells us that in former days +noble matrons used to go with bare feet, streaming hair, and pure +minds, up the long Capitoline slope, praying to Jupiter for rain. +And straightway, he goes on, it rained bucketsful, then or never, +and everybody returned dripping like drowned rats. "But nowadays," +says he, "we are no longer religious, so the fields lie baking." + +When we pass from Southern to Central Europe we still meet with the +great god of the oak and the thunder among the barbarous Aryans who +dwelt in the vast primaeval forests. Thus among the Celts of Gaul +the Druids esteemed nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the +oak on which it grew; they chose groves of oaks for the scene of +their solemn service, and they performed none of their rites without +oak leaves. "The Celts," says a Greek writer, "worship Zeus, and the +Celtic image of Zeus is a tall oak." The Celtic conquerors, who +settled in Asia in the third century before our era, appear to have +carried the worship of the oak with them to their new home; for in +the heart of Asia Minor the Galatian senate met in a place which +bore the pure Celtic name of Drynemetum, "the sacred oak grove" or +"the temple of the oak." Indeed the very name of Druids is believed +by good authorities to mean no more than "oak men." + +In the religion of the ancient Germans the veneration for sacred +groves seems to have held the foremost place, and according to Grimm +the chief of their holy trees was the oak. It appears to have been +especially dedicated to the god of thunder, Donar or Thunar, the +equivalent of the Norse Thor; for a sacred oak near Geismar, in +Hesse, which Boniface cut down in the eighth century, went among the +heathen by the name of Jupiter's oak (_robur Jovis_), which in old +German would be _Donares eih,_ "the oak of Donar." That the Teutonic +thunder god Donar, Thunar, Thor was identified with the Italian +thunder god Jupiter appears from our word Thursday, Thunar's day, +which is merely a rendering of the Latin _dies Jovis._ Thus among +the ancient Teutons, as among the Greeks and Italians, the god of +the oak was also the god of the thunder. Moreover, he was regarded +as the great fertilising power, who sent rain and caused the earth +to bear fruit; for Adam of Bremen tells us that "Thor presides in +the air; he it is who rules thunder and lightning, wind and rains, +fine weather and crops." In these respects, therefore, the Teutonic +thunder god again resembled his southern counterparts Zeus and +Jupiter. + +Amongst the Slavs also the oak appears to have been the sacred tree +of the thunder god Perun, the counterpart of Zeus and Jupiter. It is +said that at Novgorod there used to stand an image of Perun in the +likeness of a man with a thunder-stone in his hand. A fire of oak +wood burned day and night in his honour; and if ever it went out the +attendants paid for their negligence with their lives. Perun seems, +like Zeus and Jupiter, to have been the chief god of his people; for +Procopius tells us that the Slavs "believe that one god, the maker +of lightning, is alone lord of all things, and they sacrifice to him +oxen and every victim." + +The chief deity of the Lithuanians was Perkunas or Perkuns, the god +of thunder and lightning, whose resemblance to Zeus and Jupiter has +often been pointed out. Oaks were sacred to him, and when they were +cut down by the Christian missionaries, the people loudly complained +that their sylvan deities were destroyed. Perpetual fires, kindled +with the wood of certain oak-trees, were kept up in honour of +Perkunas; if such a fire went out, it was lighted again by friction +of the sacred wood. Men sacrificed to oak-trees for good crops, +while women did the same to lime-trees; from which we may infer that +they regarded oaks as male and lime-trees as female. And in time of +drought, when they wanted rain, they used to sacrifice a black +heifer, a black he-goat, and a black cock to the thunder god in the +depths of the woods. On such occasions the people assembled in great +numbers from the country round about, ate and drank, and called upon +Perkunas. They carried a bowl of beer thrice round the fire, then +poured the liquor on the flames, while they prayed to the god to +send showers. Thus the chief Lithuanian deity presents a close +resemblance to Zeus and Jupiter, since he was the god of the oak, +the thunder, and the rain. + +From the foregoing survey it appears that a god of the oak, the +thunder, and the rain was worshipped of old by all the main branches +of the Aryan stock in Europe, and was indeed the chief deity of +their pantheon. + + + +XVI. Dianus and Diana + +IN THIS CHAPTER I propose to recapitulate the conclusions to which +the enquiry has thus far led us, and drawing together the scattered +rays of light, to turn them on the dark figure of the priest of +Nemi. + +We have found that at an early stage of society men, ignorant of the +secret processes of nature and of the narrow limits within which it +is in our power to control and direct them, have commonly arrogated +to themselves functions which in the present state of knowledge we +should deem superhuman or divine. The illusion has been fostered and +maintained by the same causes which begot it, namely, the marvellous +order and uniformity with which nature conducts her operations, the +wheels of her great machine revolving with a smoothness and +precision which enable the patient observer to anticipate in general +the season, if not the very hour, when they will bring round the +fulfilment of his hopes or the accomplishment of his fears. The +regularly recurring events of this great cycle, or rather series of +cycles, soon stamp themselves even on the dull mind of the savage. +He foresees them, and foreseeing them mistakes the desired +recurrence for an effect of his own will, and the dreaded recurrence +for an effect of the will of his enemies. Thus the springs which set +the vast machine in motion, though they lie far beyond our ken, +shrouded in a mystery which we can never hope to penetrate, appear +to ignorant man to lie within his reach: he fancies he can touch +them and so work by magic art all manner of good to himself and evil +to his foes. In time the fallacy of this belief becomes apparent to +him: he discovers that there are things he cannot do, pleasures +which he is unable of himself to procure, pains which even the most +potent magician is powerless to avoid. The unattainable good, the +inevitable ill, are now ascribed by him to the action of invisible +powers, whose favour is joy and life, whose anger is misery and +death. Thus magic tends to be displaced by religion, and the +sorcerer by the priest. At this stage of thought the ultimate causes +of things are conceived to be personal beings, many in number and +often discordant in character, who partake of the nature and even of +the frailty of man, though their might is greater than his, and +their life far exceeds the span of his ephemeral existence. Their +sharply-marked individualities, their clear-cut outlines have not +yet begun, under the powerful solvent of philosophy, to melt and +coalesce into that single unknown substratum of phenomena which, +according to the qualities with which our imagination invests it, +goes by one or other of the high-sounding names which the wit of man +has devised to hide his ignorance. Accordingly, so long as men look +on their gods as beings akin to themselves and not raised to an +unapproachable height above them, they believe it to be possible for +those of their own number who surpass their fellows to attain to the +divine rank after death or even in life. Incarnate human deities of +this latter sort may be said to halt midway between the age of magic +and the age of religion. If they bear the names and display the pomp +of deities, the powers which they are supposed to wield are commonly +those of their predecessor the magician. Like him, they are expected +to guard their people against hostile enchantments, to heal them in +sickness, to bless them with offspring, and to provide them with an +abundant supply of food by regulating the weather and performing the +other ceremonies which are deemed necessary to ensure the fertility +of the earth and the multiplication of animals. Men who are credited +with powers so lofty and far-reaching naturally hold the highest +place in the land, and while the rift between the spiritual and the +temporal spheres has not yet widened too far, they are supreme in +civil as well as religious matters: in a word, they are kings as +well as gods. Thus the divinity which hedges a king has its roots +deep down in human history, and long ages pass before these are +sapped by a profounder view of nature and man. + +In the classical period of Greek and Latin antiquity the reign of +kings was for the most part a thing of the past; yet the stories of +their lineage, titles, and pretensions suffice to prove that they +too claimed to rule by divine right and to exercise superhuman +powers. Hence we may without undue temerity assume that the King of +the Wood at Nemi, though shorn in later times of his glory and +fallen on evil days, represented a long line of sacred kings who had +once received not only the homage but the adoration of their +subjects in return for the manifold blessings which they were +supposed to dispense. What little we know of the functions of Diana +in the Arician grove seems to prove that she was here conceived as a +goddess of fertility, and particularly as a divinity of childbirth. +It is reasonable, therefore, to suppose that in the discharge of +these important duties she was assisted by her priest, the two +figuring as King and Queen of the Wood in a solemn marriage, which +was intended to make the earth gay with the blossoms of spring and +the fruits of autumn, and to gladden the hearts of men and women +with healthful offspring. + +If the priest of Nemi posed not merely as a king, but as a god of +the grove, we have still to ask, What deity in particular did he +personate? The answer of antiquity is that he represented Virbius, +the consort or lover of Diana. But this does not help us much, for +of Virbius we know little more than the name. A clue to the mystery +is perhaps supplied by the Vestal fire which burned in the grove. +For the perpetual holy fires of the Aryans in Europe appear to have +been commonly kindled and fed with oak-wood, and in Rome itself, not +many miles from Nemi, the fuel of the Vestal fire consisted of oaken +sticks or logs, as has been proved by a microscopic analysis of the +charred embers of the Vestal fire, which were discovered by +Commendatore G. Boni in the course of the memorable excavations +which he conducted in the Roman forum at the end of the nineteenth +century. But the ritual of the various Latin towns seems to have +been marked by great uniformity; hence it is reasonable to conclude +that wherever in Latium a Vestal fire was maintained, it was fed, as +at Rome, with wood of the sacred oak. If this was so at Nemi, it +becomes probable that the hallowed grove there consisted of a +natural oak-wood, and that therefore the tree which the King of the +Wood had to guard at the peril of his life was itself an oak; +indeed, it was from an evergreen oak, according to Virgil, that +Aeneas plucked the Golden Bough. Now the oak was the sacred tree of +Jupiter, the supreme god of the Latins. Hence it follows that the +King of the Wood, whose life was bound up in a fashion with an oak, +personated no less a deity than Jupiter himself. At least the +evidence, slight as it is, seems to point to this conclusion. The +old Alban dynasty of the Silvii or Woods, with their crown of oak +leaves, apparently aped the style and emulated the powers of Latian +Jupiter, who dwelt on the top of the Alban Mount. It is not +impossible that the King of the Wood, who guarded the sacred oak a +little lower down the mountain, was the lawful successor and +representative of this ancient line of the Silvii or Woods. At all +events, if I am right in supposing that he passed for a human +Jupiter, it would appear that Virbius, with whom legend identified +him, was nothing but a local form of Jupiter, considered perhaps in +his original aspect as a god of the greenwood. + +The hypothesis that in later times at all events the King of the +Wood played the part of the oak god Jupiter, is confirmed by an +examination of his divine partner Diana. For two distinct lines of +argument converge to show that if Diana was a queen of the woods in +general, she was at Nemi a goddess of the oak in particular. In the +first place, she bore the title of Vesta, and as such presided over +a perpetual fire, which we have seen reason to believe was fed with +oak wood. But a goddess of fire is not far removed from a goddess of +the fuel which burns in the fire; primitive thought perhaps drew no +sharp line of distinction between the blaze and the wood that +blazes. In the second place, the nymph Egeria at Nemi appears to +have been merely a form of Diana, and Egeria is definitely said to +have been a Dryad, a nymph of the oak. Elsewhere in Italy the +goddess had her home on oak-clad mountains. Thus Mount Algidus, a +spur of the Alban hills, was covered in antiquity with dark forests +of oak, both of the evergreen and the deciduous sort. In winter the +snow lay long on these cold hills, and their gloomy oak-woods were +believed to be a favourite haunt of Diana, as they have been of +brigands in modern times. Again, Mount Tifata, the long abrupt ridge +of the Apennines which looks down on the Campanian plain behind +Capua, was wooded of old with evergreen oaks, among which Diana had +a temple. Here Sulla thanked the goddess for his victory over the +Marians in the plain below, attesting his gratitude by inscriptions +which were long afterwards to be seen in the temple. On the whole, +then, we conclude that at Nemi the King of the Wood personated the +oak-god Jupiter and mated with the oak-goddess Diana in the sacred +grove. An echo of their mystic union has come down to us in the +legend of the loves of Numa and Egeria, who according to some had +their trysting-place in these holy woods. + +To this theory it may naturally be objected that the divine consort +of Jupiter was not Diana but Juno, and that if Diana had a mate at +all he might be expected to bear the name not of Jupiter, but of +Dianus or Janus, the latter of these forms being merely a corruption +of the former. All this is true, but the objection may be parried by +observing that the two pairs of deities, Jupiter and Juno on the one +side, and Dianus and Diana, or Janus and Jana, on the other side, +are merely duplicates of each other, their names and their functions +being in substance and origin identical. With regard to their names, +all four of them come from the same Aryan root _DI,_ meaning +"bright," which occurs in the names of the corresponding Greek +deities, Zeus and his old female consort Dione. In regard to their +functions, Juno and Diana were both goddesses of fecundity and +childbirth, and both were sooner or later identified with the moon. +As to the true nature and functions of Janus the ancients themselves +were puzzled; and where they hesitated, it is not for us confidently +to decide. But the view mentioned by Varro that Janus was the god of +the sky is supported not only by the etymological identity of his +name with that of the sky-god Jupiter, but also by the relation in +which he appears to have stood to Jupiter's two mates, Juno and +Juturna. For the epithet Junonian bestowed on Janus points to a +marriage union between the two deities; and according to one account +Janus was the husband of the water-nymph Juturna, who according to +others was beloved by Jupiter. Moreover, Janus, like Jove, was +regularly invoked, and commonly spoken of under the title of Father. +Indeed, he was identified with Jupiter not merely by the logic of +the learned St. Augustine, but by the piety of a pagan worshipper +who dedicated an offering to Jupiter Dianus. A trace of his relation +to the oak may be found in the oakwoods of the Janiculum, the hill +on the right bank of the Tiber, where Janus is said to have reigned +as a king in the remotest ages of Italian history. + +Thus, if I am right, the same ancient pair of deities was variously +known among the Greek and Italian peoples as Zeus and Dione, Jupiter +and Juno, or Dianus (Janus) and Diana (Jana), the names of the +divinities being identical in substance, though varying in form with +the dialect of the particular tribe which worshipped them. At first, +when the peoples dwelt near each other, the difference between the +deities would be hardly more than one of name; in other words, it +would be almost purely dialectical. But the gradual dispersion of +the tribes, and their consequent isolation from each other, would +favour the growth of divergent modes of conceiving and worshipping +the gods whom they had carried with them from their old home, so +that in time discrepancies of myth and ritual would tend to spring +up and thereby to convert a nominal into a real distinction between +the divinities. Accordingly when, with the slow progress of culture, +the long period of barbarism and separation was passing away, and +the rising political power of a single strong community had begun to +draw or hammer its weaker neighbours into a nation, the confluent +peoples would throw their gods, like their dialects, into a common +stock; and thus it might come about that the same ancient deities, +which their forefathers had worshipped together before the +dispersion, would now be so disguised by the accumulated effect of +dialectical and religious divergencies that their original identity +might fail to be recognised, and they would take their places side +by side as independent divinities in the national pantheon. + +This duplication of deities, the result of the final fusion of +kindred tribes who had long lived apart, would account for the +appearance of Janus beside Jupiter, and of Diana or Jana beside Juno +in the Roman religion. At least this appears to be a more probable +theory than the opinion, which has found favour with some modern +scholars, that Janus was originally nothing but the god of doors. +That a deity of his dignity and importance, whom the Romans revered +as a god of gods and the father of his people, should have started +in life as a humble, though doubtless respectable, doorkeeper +appears very unlikely. So lofty an end hardly consorts with so lowly +a beginning. It is more probable that the door (_janua_) got its +name from Janus than that he got his name from it. This view is +strengthened by a consideration of the word _janua_ itself. The +regular word for door is the same in all the languages of the Aryan +family from India to Ireland. It is _dur_ in Sanscrit, _thura_ in +Greek, _tür_ in German, _door_ in English, _dorus_ in old Irish, and +_foris_ in Latin. Yet besides this ordinary name for door, which the +Latins shared with all their Aryan brethren, they had also the name +_janua,_ to which there is no corresponding term in any +Indo-European speech. The word has the appearance of being an +adjectival form derived from the noun _Janus._ I conjecture that it +may have been customary to set up an image or symbol of Janus at the +principal door of the house in order to place the entrance under the +protection of the great god. A door thus guarded might be known as a +_janua foris,_ that is, a Januan door, and the phrase might in time +be abridged into _janua,_ the noun _foris_ being understood but not +expressed. From this to the use of _janua_ to designate a door in +general, whether guarded by an image of Janus or not, would be an +easy and natural transition. + +If there is any truth in this conjecture, it may explain very simply +the origin of the double head of Janus, which has so long exercised +the ingenuity of mythologists. When it had become customary to guard +the entrance of houses and towns by an image of Janus, it might well +be deemed necessary to make the sentinel god look both ways, before +and behind, at the same time, in order that nothing should escape +his vigilant eye. For if the divine watchman always faced in one +direction, it is easy to imagine what mischief might have been +wrought with impunity behind his back. This explanation of the +double-headed Janus at Rome is confirmed by the double-headed idol +which the Bush negroes in the interior of Surinam regularly set up +as a guardian at the entrance of a village. The idol consists of a +block of wood with a human face rudely carved on each side; it +stands under a gateway composed of two uprights and a cross-bar. +Beside the idol generally lies a white rag intended to keep off the +devil; and sometimes there is also a stick which seems to represent +a bludgeon or weapon of some sort. Further, from the cross-bar hangs +a small log which serves the useful purpose of knocking on the head +any evil spirit who might attempt to pass through the gateway. +Clearly this double-headed fetish at the gateway of the negro +villages in Surinam bears a close resemblance to the double-headed +images of Janus which, grasping a stick in one hand and a key in the +other, stood sentinel at Roman gates and doorways; and we can hardly +doubt that in both cases the heads facing two ways are to be +similarly explained as expressive of the vigilance of the guardian +god, who kept his eye on spiritual foes behind and before, and stood +ready to bludgeon them on the spot. We may, therefore, dispense with +the tedious and unsatisfactory explanations which, if we may trust +Ovid, the wily Janus himself fobbed off an anxious Roman enquirer. + +To apply these conclusions to the priest of Nemi, we may suppose +that as the mate of Diana he represented originally Dianus or Janus +rather than Jupiter, but that the difference between these deities +was of old merely superficial, going little deeper than the names, +and leaving practically unaffected the essential functions of the +god as a power of the sky, the thunder, and the oak. It was fitting, +therefore, that his human representative at Nemi should dwell, as we +have seen reason to believe he did, in an oak grove. His title of +King of the Wood clearly indicates the sylvan character of the deity +whom he served; and since he could only be assailed by him who had +plucked the bough of a certain tree in the grove, his own life might +be said to be bound up with that of the sacred tree. Thus he not +only served but embodied the great Aryan god of the oak; and as an +oak-god he would mate with the oak-goddess, whether she went by the +name of Egeria or Diana. Their union, however consummated, would be +deemed essential to the fertility of the earth and the fecundity of +man and beast. Further, as the oak-god was also a god of the sky, +the thunder, and the rain, so his human representative would be +required, like many other divine kings, to cause the clouds to +gather, the thunder to peal, and the rain to descend in due season, +that the fields and orchards might bear fruit and the pastures be +covered with luxuriant herbage. The reputed possessor of powers so +exalted must have been a very important personage; and the remains +of buildings and of votive offerings which have been found on the +site of the sanctuary combine with the testimony of classical +writers to prove that in later times it was one of the greatest and +most popular shrines in Italy. Even in the old days, when the +champaign country around was still parcelled out among the petty +tribes who composed the Latin League, the sacred grove is known to +have been an object of their common reverence and care. And just as +the kings of Cambodia used to send offerings to the mystic kings of +Fire and Water far in the dim depths of the tropical forest, so, we +may well believe, from all sides of the broad Latian plain the eyes +and footsteps of Italian pilgrims turned to the quarter where, +standing sharply out against the faint blue line of the Apennines or +the deeper blue of the distant sea, the Alban Mountain rose before +them, the home of the mysterious priest of Nemi, the King of the +Wood. There, among the green woods and beside the still waters of +the lonely hills, the ancient Aryan worship of the god of the oak, +the thunder, and the dripping sky lingered in its early, almost +Druidical form, long after a great political and intellectual +revolution had shifted the capital of Latin religion from the forest +to the city, from Nemi to Rome. + + + +XVII. The Burden of Royalty + + + +1. Royal and Priestly Taboos + +AT A CERTAIN stage of early society the king or priest is often +thought to be endowed with supernatural powers or to be an +incarnation of a deity, and consistently with this belief the course +of nature is supposed to be more or less under his control, and he +is held responsible for bad weather, failure of the crops, and +similar calamities. To some extent it appears to be assumed that the +king's power over nature, like that over his subjects and slaves, is +exerted through definite acts of will; and therefore if drought, +famine, pestilence, or storms arise, the people attribute the +misfortune to the negligence or guilt of their king, and punish him +accordingly with stripes and bonds, or, if he remains obdurate, with +deposition and death. Sometimes, however, the course of nature, +while regarded as dependent on the king, is supposed to be partly +independent of his will. His person is considered, if we may express +it so, as the dynamical centre of the universe, from which lines of +force radiate to all quarters of the heaven; so that any motion of +his--the turning of his head, the lifting of his +hand--instantaneously affects and may seriously disturb some part of +nature. He is the point of support on which hangs the balance of the +world, and the slightest irregularity on his part may overthrow the +delicate equipoise. The greatest care must, therefore, be taken both +by and of him; and his whole life, down to its minutest details, +must be so regulated that no act of his, voluntary or involuntary, +may disarrange or upset the established order of nature. Of this +class of monarchs the Mikado or Dairi, the spiritual emperor of +Japan, is or rather used to be a typical example. He is an +incarnation of the sun goddess, the deity who rules the universe, +gods and men included; once a year all the gods wait upon him and +spend a month at his court. During that month, the name of which +means "without gods," no one frequents the temples, for they are +believed to be deserted. The Mikado receives from his people and +assumes in his official proclamations and decrees the title of +"manifest or incarnate deity," and he claims a general authority +over the gods of Japan. For example, in an official decree of the +year 646 the emperor is described as "the incarnate god who governs +the universe." + +The following description of the Mikado's mode of life was written +about two hundred years ago: + +"Even to this day the princes descended of this family, more +particularly those who sit on the throne, are looked upon as persons +most holy in themselves, and as Popes by birth. And, in order to +preserve these advantageous notions in the minds of their subjects, +they are obliged to take an uncommon care of their sacred persons, +and to do such things, which, examined according to the customs of +other nations, would be thought ridiculous and impertinent. It will +not be improper to give a few instances of it. He thinks that it +would be very prejudicial to his dignity and holiness to touch the +ground with his feet; for this reason, when he intends to go +anywhere, he must be carried thither on men's shoulders. Much less +will they suffer that he should expose his sacred person to the open +air, and the sun is not thought worthy to shine on his head. There +is such a holiness ascribed to all the parts of his body that he +dares to cut off neither his hair, nor his beard, nor his nails. +However, lest he should grow too dirty, they may clean him in the +night when he is asleep; because, they say, that which is taken from +his body at that time, hath been stolen from him, and that such a +theft doth not prejudice his holiness or dignity. In ancient times, +he was obliged to sit on the throne for some hours every morning, +with the imperial crown on his head, but to sit altogether like a +statue, without stirring either hands or feet, head or eyes, nor +indeed any part of his body, because, by this means, it was thought +that he could preserve peace and tranquillity in his empire; for if, +unfortunately, he turned himself on one side or the other, or if he +looked a good while towards any part of his dominions, it was +apprehended that war, famine, fire, or some other great misfortune +was near at hand to desolate the country. But it having been +afterwards discovered, that the imperial crown was the palladium, +which by its immobility could preserve peace in the empire, it was +thought expedient to deliver his imperial person, consecrated only +to idleness and pleasures, from this burthensome duty, and therefore +the crown is at present placed on the throne for some hours every +morning. His victuals must be dressed every time in new pots, and +served at table in new dishes: both are very clean and neat, but +made only of common clay; that without any considerable expense they +may be laid aside, or broke, after they have served once. They are +generally broke, for fear they should come into the hands of laymen, +for they believe religiously, that if any layman should presume to +eat his food out of these sacred dishes, it would swell and inflame +his mouth and throat. The like ill effect is dreaded from the +Dairi's sacred habits; for they believe that if a layman should wear +them, without the Emperor's express leave or command, they would +occasion swellings and pains in all parts of his body." To the same +effect an earlier account of the Mikado says: "It was considered as +a shameful degradation for him even to touch the ground with his +foot. The sun and moon were not even permitted to shine upon his +head. None of the superfluities of the body were ever taken from +him, neither his hair, his beard, nor his nails were cut. Whatever +he eat was dressed in new vessels." + +Similar priestly or rather divine kings are found, at a lower level +of barbarism, on the west coast of Africa. At Shark Point near Cape +Padron, in Lower Guinea, lives the priestly king Kukulu, alone in a +wood. He may not touch a woman nor leave his house; indeed he may +not even quit his chair, in which he is obliged to sleep sitting, +for if he lay down no wind would arise and navigation would be +stopped. He regulates storms, and in general maintains a wholesome +and equable state of the atmosphere. On Mount Agu in Togo there +lives a fetish or spirit called Bagba, who is of great importance +for the whole of the surrounding country. The power of giving or +withholding rain is ascribed to him, and he is lord of the winds, +including the Harmattan, the dry, hot wind which blows from the +interior. His priest dwells in a house on the highest peak of the +mountain, where he keeps the winds bottled up in huge jars. +Applications for rain, too, are made to him, and he does a good +business in amulets, which consist of the teeth and claws of +leopards. Yet though his power is great and he is indeed the real +chief of the land, the rule of the fetish forbids him ever to leave +the mountain, and he must spend the whole of his life on its summit. +Only once a year may he come down to make purchases in the market; +but even then he may not set foot in the hut of any mortal man, and +must return to his place of exile the same day. The business of +government in the villages is conducted by subordinate chiefs, who +are appointed by him. In the West African kingdom of Congo there was +a supreme pontiff called Chitomé or Chitombé, whom the negroes +regarded as a god on earth and all-powerful in heaven. Hence before +they would taste the new crops they offered him the first-fruits, +fearing that manifold misfortunes would befall them if they broke +this rule. When he left his residence to visit other places within +his jurisdiction, all married people had to observe strict +continence the whole time he was out; for it was supposed that any +act of incontinence would prove fatal to him. And if he were to die +a natural death, they thought that the world would perish, and the +earth, which he alone sustained by his power and merit, would +immediately be annihilated. Amongst the semi-barbarous nations of +the New World, at the date of the Spanish conquest, there were found +hierarchies or theocracies like those of Japan; in particular, the +high pontiff of the Zapotecs appears to have presented a close +parallel to the Mikado. A powerful rival to the king himself, this +spiritual lord governed Yopaa, one of the chief cities of the +kingdom, with absolute dominion. It is impossible, we are told, to +overrate the reverence in which he was held. He was looked on as a +god whom the earth was not worthy to hold nor the sun to shine upon. +He profaned his sanctity if he even touched the ground with his +foot. The officers who bore his palanquin on their shoulders were +members of the highest families: he hardly deigned to look on +anything around him; and all who met him fell with their faces to +the earth, fearing that death would overtake them if they saw even +his shadow. A rule of continence was regularly imposed on the +Zapotec priests, especially upon the high pontiff; but "on certain +days in each year, which were generally celebrated with feasts and +dances, it was customary for the high priest to become drunk. While +in this state, seeming to belong neither to heaven nor to earth, one +of the most beautiful of the virgins consecrated to the service of +the gods was brought to him." If the child she bore him was a son, +he was brought up as a prince of the blood, and the eldest son +succeeded his father on the pontifical throne. The supernatural +powers attributed to this pontiff are not specified, but probably +they resembled those of the Mikado and Chitomé. + +Wherever, as in Japan and West Africa, it is supposed that the order +of nature, and even the existence of the world, is bound up with the +life of the king or priest, it is clear that he must be regarded by +his subjects as a source both of infinite blessing and of infinite +danger. On the one hand, the people have to thank him for the rain +and sunshine which foster the fruits of the earth, for the wind +which brings ships to their coasts, and even for the solid ground +beneath their feet. But what he gives he can refuse; and so close is +the dependence of nature on his person, so delicate the balance of +the system of forces whereof he is the centre, that the least +irregularity on his part may set up a tremor which shall shake the +earth to its foundations. And if nature may be disturbed by the +slightest involuntary act of the king, it is easy to conceive the +convulsion which his death might provoke. The natural death of the +Chitomé, as we have seen, was thought to entail the destruction of +all things. Clearly, therefore, out of a regard for their own +safety, which might be imperilled by any rash act of the king, and +still more by his death, the people will exact of their king or +priest a strict conformity to those rules, the observance of which +is deemed necessary for his own preservation, and consequently for +the preservation of his people and the world. The idea that early +kingdoms are despotisms in which the people exist only for the +sovereign, is wholly inapplicable to the monarchies we are +considering. On the contrary, the sovereign in them exists only for +his subjects; his life is only valuable so long as he discharges the +duties of his position by ordering the course of nature for his +people's benefit. So soon as he fails to do so, the care, the +devotion, the religious homage which they had hitherto lavished on +him cease and are changed into hatred and contempt; he is dismissed +ignominiously, and may be thankful if he escapes with his life. +Worshipped as a god one day, he is killed as a criminal the next. +But in this changed behaviour of the people there is nothing +capricious or inconsistent. On the contrary, their conduct is +entirely of a piece. If their king is their god, he is or should be +also their preserver; and if he will not preserve them, he must make +room for another who will. So long, however, as he answers their +expectations, there is no limit to the care which they take of him, +and which they compel him to take of himself. A king of this sort +lives hedged in by a ceremonious etiquette, a network of +prohibitions and observances, of which the intention is not to +contribute to his dignity, much less to his comfort, but to restrain +him from conduct which, by disturbing the harmony of nature, might +involve himself, his people, and the universe in one common +catastrophe. Far from adding to his comfort, these observances, by +trammelling his every act, annihilate his freedom and often render +the very life, which it is their object to preserve, a burden and +sorrow to him. + +Of the supernaturally endowed kings of Loango it is said that the +more powerful a king is, the more taboos is he bound to observe; +they regulate all his actions, his walking and his standing, his +eating and drinking, his sleeping and waking. To these restraints +the heir to the throne is subject from infancy; but as he advances +in life the number of abstinences and ceremonies which he must +observe increases, "until at the moment that he ascends the throne +he is lost in the ocean of rites and taboos." In the crater of an +extinct volcano, enclosed on all sides by grassy slopes, lie the +scattered huts and yam-fields of Riabba, the capital of the native +king of Fernando Po. This mysterious being lives in the lowest +depths of the crater, surrounded by a harem of forty women, and +covered, it is said, with old silver coins. Naked savage as he is, +he yet exercises far more influence in the island than the Spanish +governor at Santa Isabel. In him the conservative spirit of the +Boobies or aboriginal inhabitants of the island is, as it were, +incorporate. He has never seen a white man and, according to the +firm conviction of all the Boobies, the sight of a pale face would +cause his instant death. He cannot bear to look upon the sea; indeed +it is said that he may never see it even in the distance, and that +therefore he wears away his life with shackles on his legs in the +dim twilight of his hut. Certain it is that he has never set foot on +the beach. With the exception of his musket and knife, he uses +nothing that comes from the whites; European cloth never touches his +person, and he scorns tobacco, rum, and even salt. + +Among the Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast "the king is at +the same time high priest. In this quality he was, particularly in +former times, unapproachable by his subjects. Only by night was he +allowed to quit his dwelling in order to bathe and so forth. None +but his representative, the so-called 'visible king,' with three +chosen elders might converse with him, and even they had to sit on +an ox-hide with their backs turned to him. He might not see any +European nor any horse, nor might he look upon the sea, for which +reason he was not allowed to quit his capital even for a few +moments. These rules have been disregarded in recent times." The +king of Dahomey himself is subject to the prohibition of beholding +the sea, and so are the kings of Loango and Great Ardra in Guinea. +The sea is the fetish of the Eyeos, to the north-west of Dahomey, +and they and their king are threatened with death by their priests +if ever they dare to look on it. It is believed that the king of +Cayor in Senegal would infallibly die within the year if he were to +cross a river or an arm of the sea. In Mashonaland down to recent +times the chiefs would not cross certain rivers, particularly the +Rurikwi and the Nyadiri; and the custom was still strictly observed +by at least one chief within recent years. "On no account will the +chief cross the river. If it is absolutely necessary for him to do +so, he is blindfolded and carried across with shouting and singing. +Should he walk across, he will go blind or die and certainly lose +the chieftainship." So among the Mahafalys and Sakalavas in the +south of Madagascar some kings are forbidden to sail on the sea or +to cross certain rivers. Among the Sakalavas the chief is regarded +as a sacred being, but "he is held in leash by a crowd of +restrictions, which regulate his behaviour like that of the emperor +of China. He can undertake nothing whatever unless the sorcerers +have declared the omens favourable; he may not eat warm food: on +certain days he may not quit his hut; and so on." Among some of the +hill tribes of Assam both the headman and his wife have to observe +many taboos in respect of food; thus they may not eat buffalo, pork, +dog, fowl, or tomatoes. The headman must be chaste, the husband of +one wife, and he must separate himself from her on the eve of a +general or public observance of taboo. In one group of tribes the +headman is forbidden to eat in a strange village, and under no +provocation whatever may he utter a word of abuse. Apparently the +people imagine that the violation of any of these taboos by a +headman would bring down misfortune on the whole village. + +The ancient kings of Ireland, as well as the kings of the four +provinces of Leinster, Munster, Connaught, and Ulster, were subject +to certain quaint prohibitions or taboos, on the due observance of +which the prosperity of the people of the country, as well as their +own, was supposed to depend. Thus, for example, the sun might not +rise on the king of Ireland in his bed at Tara, the old capital of +Erin; he was forbidden to alight on Wednesday at Magh Breagh, to +traverse Magh Cuillinn after sunset, to incite his horse at +Fan-Chomair, to go in a ship upon the water the Monday after +Bealltaine (May day), and to leave the track of his army upon Ath +Maighne the Tuesday after All-Hallows. The king of Leinster might +not go round Tuath Laighean left-hand-wise on Wednesday, nor sleep +between the Dothair (Dodder) and the Duibhlinn with his head +inclining to one side, nor encamp for nine days on the plains of +Cualann, nor travel the road of Duibhlinn on Monday, nor ride a +dirty black-heeled horse across Magh Maistean. The king of Munster +was prohibited from enjoying the feast of Loch Lein from one Monday +to another; from banqueting by night in the beginning of harvest +before Geim at Leitreacha; from encamping for nine days upon the +Siuir; and from holding a border meeting at Gabhran. The king of +Connaught might not conclude a treaty respecting his ancient palace +of Cruachan after making peace on All-Hallows Day, nor go in a +speckled garment on a grey speckled steed to the heath of Dal Chais, +nor repair to an assembly of women at Seaghais, nor sit in autumn on +the sepulchral mounds of the wife of Maine, nor contend in running +with the rider of a grey one-eyed horse at Ath Gallta between two +posts. The king of Ulster was forbidden to attend the horse fair at +Rath Line among the youths of Dal Araidhe, to listen to the +fluttering of the flocks of birds of Linn Saileach after sunset, to +celebrate the feast of the bull of Daire-mic-Daire, to go into Magh +Cobha in the month of March, and to drink of the water of Bo +Neimhidh between two darknesses. If the kings of Ireland strictly +observed these and many other customs, which were enjoined by +immemorial usage, it was believed that they would never meet with +mischance or misfortune, and would live for ninety years without +experiencing the decay of old age; that no epidemic or mortality +would occur during their reigns; and that the seasons would be +favourable and the earth yield its fruit in abundance; whereas, if +they set the ancient usages at naught, the country would be visited +with plague, famine, and bad weather. + +The kings of Egypt were worshipped as gods, and the routine of their +daily life was regulated in every detail by precise and unvarying +rules. "The life of the kings of Egypt," says Diodorus, "was not +like that of other monarchs who are irresponsible and may do just +what they choose; on the contrary, everything was fixed for them by +law, not only their official duties, but even the details of their +daily life. . . . The hours both of day and night were arranged at +which the king had to do, not what he pleased, but what was +prescribed for him. . . . For not only were the times appointed at +which he should transact public business or sit in judgment; but the +very hours for his walking and bathing and sleeping with his wife, +and, in short, performing every act of life were all settled. Custom +enjoined a simple diet; the only flesh he might eat was veal and +goose, and he might only drink a prescribed quantity of wine." +However, there is reason to think that these rules were observed, +not by the ancient Pharaohs, but by the priestly kings who reigned +at Thebes and Ethiopia at the close of the twentieth dynasty. + +Of the taboos imposed on priests we may see a striking example in +the rules of life prescribed for the Flamen Dialis at Rome, who has +been interpreted as a living image of Jupiter, or a human embodiment +of the sky-spirit. They were such as the following: The Flamen +Dialis might not ride or even touch a horse, nor see an army under +arms, nor wear a ring which was not broken, nor have a knot on any +part of his garments; no fire except a sacred fire might be taken +out of his house; he might not touch wheaten flour or leavened +bread; he might not touch or even name a goat, a dog, raw meat, +beans, and ivy; he might not walk under a vine; the feet of his bed +had to be daubed with mud; his hair could be cut only by a free man +and with a bronze knife and his hair and nails when cut had to be +buried under a lucky tree; he might not touch a dead body nor enter +a place where one was burned; he might not see work being done on +holy days; he might not be uncovered in the open air; if a man in +bonds were taken into his house, the captive had to be unbound and +the cords had to be drawn up through a hole in the roof and so let +down into the street. His wife, the Flaminica, had to observe nearly +the same rules, and others of her own besides. She might not ascend +more than three steps of the kind of staircase called Greek; at a +certain festival she might not comb her hair; the leather of her +shoes might not be made from a beast that had died a natural death, +but only from one that had been slain or sacrificed; if she heard +thunder she was tabooed till she had offered an expiatory sacrifice. + +Among the Grebo people of Sierra Leone there is a pontiff who bears +the title of Bodia and has been compared, on somewhat slender +grounds, to the high priest of the Jews. He is appointed in +accordance with the behest of an oracle. At an elaborate ceremony of +installation he is anointed, a ring is put on his ankle as a badge +of office, and the door-posts of his house are sprinkled with the +blood of a sacrificed goat. He has charge of the public talismans +and idols, which he feeds with rice and oil every new moon; and he +sacrifices on behalf of the town to the dead and to demons. +Nominally his power is very great, but in practice it is very +limited; for he dare not defy public opinion, and he is held +responsible, even with his life, for any adversity that befalls the +country. It is expected of him that he should cause the earth to +bring forth abundantly, the people to be healthy, war to be driven +far away, and witchcraft to be kept in abeyance. His life is +trammelled by the observance of certain restrictions or taboos. Thus +he may not sleep in any house but his own official residence, which +is called the "anointed house" with reference to the ceremony of +anointing him at inauguration. He may not drink water on the +highway. He may not eat while a corpse is in the town, and he may +not mourn for the dead. If he dies while in office, he must be +buried at dead of night; few may hear of his burial, and none may +mourn for him when his death is made public. Should he have fallen a +victim to the poison ordeal by drinking a decoction of sassywood, as +it is called, he must be buried under a running stream of water. + +Among the Todas of Southern India the holy milkman, who acts as +priest of the sacred dairy, is subject to a variety of irksome and +burdensome restrictions during the whole time of his incumbency, +which may last many years. Thus he must live at the sacred dairy and +may never visit his home or any ordinary village. He must be +celibate; if he is married he must leave his wife. On no account may +any ordinary person touch the holy milkman or the holy dairy; such a +touch would so defile his holiness that he would forfeit his office. +It is only on two days a week, namely Mondays and Thursdays, that a +mere layman may even approach the milkman; on other days if he has +any business with him, he must stand at a distance (some say a +quarter of a mile) and shout his message across the intervening +space. Further, the holy milkman never cuts his hair or pares his +nails so long as he holds office; he never crosses a river by a +bridge, but wades through a ford and only certain fords; if a death +occurs in his clan, he may not attend any of the funeral ceremonies, +unless he first resigns his office and descends from the exalted +rank of milkman to that of a mere common mortal. Indeed it appears +that in old days he had to resign the seals, or rather the pails, of +office whenever any member of his clan departed this life. However, +these heavy restraints are laid in their entirety only on milkmen of +the very highest class. + + + +2. Divorce of the Spiritual from the Temporal Power + +THE BURDENSOME observances attached to the royal or priestly office +produced their natural effect. Either men refused to accept the +office, which hence tended to fall into abeyance; or accepting it, +they sank under its weight into spiritless creatures, cloistered +recluses, from whose nerveless fingers the reins of government +slipped into the firmer grasp of men who were often content to wield +the reality of sovereignty without its name. In some countries this +rift in the supreme power deepened into a total and permanent +separation of the spiritual and temporal powers, the old royal house +retaining their purely religious functions, while the civil +government passed into the hands of a younger and more vigorous +race. + +To take examples. In a previous part of this work we saw that in +Cambodia it is often necessary to force the kingships of Fire and +Water upon the reluctant successors, and that in Savage Island the +monarchy actually came to an end because at last no one could be +induced to accept the dangerous distinction. In some parts of West +Africa, when the king dies, a family council is secretly held to +determine his successor. He on whom the choice falls is suddenly +seized, bound, and thrown into the fetish-house, where he is kept in +durance till he consents to accept the crown. Sometimes the heir +finds means of evading the honour which it is sought to thrust upon +him; a ferocious chief has been known to go about constantly armed, +resolute to resist by force any attempt to set him on the throne. +The savage Timmes of Sierra Leone, who elect their king, reserve to +themselves the right of beating him on the eve of his coronation; +and they avail themselves of this constitutional privilege with such +hearty goodwill that sometimes the unhappy monarch does not long +survive his elevation to the throne. Hence when the leading chiefs +have a spite at a man and wish to rid themselves of him, they elect +him king. Formerly, before a man was proclaimed king of Sierra +Leone, it used to be the custom to load him with chains and thrash +him. Then the fetters were knocked off, the kingly robe was placed +on him, and he received in his hands the symbol of royal dignity, +which was nothing but the axe of the executioner. It is not +therefore surprising to read that in Sierra Leone, where such +customs have prevailed, "except among the Mandingoes and Suzees, few +kings are natives of the countries they govern. So different are +their ideas from ours, that very few are solicitous of the honour, +and competition is very seldom heard of." + +The Mikados of Japan seem early to have resorted to the expedient of +transferring the honours and burdens of supreme power to their +infant children; and the rise of the Tycoons, long the temporal +sovereigns of the country, is traced to the abdication of a certain +Mikado in favour of his three-year-old son. The sovereignty having +been wrested by a usurper from the infant prince, the cause of the +Mikado was championed by Yoritomo, a man of spirit and conduct, who +overthrew the usurper and restored to the Mikado the shadow, while +he retained for himself the substance, of power. He bequeathed to +his descendants the dignity he had won, and thus became the founder +of the line of Tycoons. Down to the latter half of the sixteenth +century the Tycoons were active and efficient rulers; but the same +fate overtook them which had befallen the Mikados. Immeshed in the +same inextricable web of custom and law, they degenerated into mere +puppets, hardly stirring from their palaces and occupied in a +perpetual round of empty ceremonies, while the real business of +government was managed by the council of state. In Tonquin the +monarchy ran a similar course. Living like his predecessors in +effeminacy and sloth, the king was driven from the throne by an +ambitious adventurer named Mack, who from a fisherman had risen to +be Grand Mandarin. But the king's brother Tring put down the usurper +and restored the king, retaining, however, for himself and his +descendants the dignity of general of all the forces. Thenceforward +the kings, though invested with the title and pomp of sovereignty, +ceased to govern. While they lived secluded in their palaces, all +real political power was wielded by the hereditary generals. + +In Mangaia, a Polynesian island, religious and civil authority were +lodged in separate hands, spiritual functions being discharged by a +line of hereditary kings, while the temporal government was +entrusted from time to time to a victorious war-chief, whose +investiture, however, had to be completed by the king. Similarly in +Tonga, besides the civil king whose right to the throne was partly +hereditary and partly derived from his warlike reputation and the +number of his fighting men, there was a great divine chief who +ranked above the king and the other chiefs in virtue of his supposed +descent from one of the chief gods. Once a year the first-fruits of +the ground were offered to him at a solemn ceremony, and it was +believed that if these offerings were not made the vengeance of the +gods would fall in a signal manner on the people. Peculiar forms of +speech, such as were applied to no one else, were used in speaking +of him, and everything that he chanced to touch became sacred or +tabooed. When he and the king met, the monarch had to sit down on +the ground in token of respect until his holiness had passed by. Yet +though he enjoyed the highest veneration by reason of his divine +origin, this sacred personage possessed no political authority, and +if he ventured to meddle with affairs of state it was at the risk of +receiving a rebuff from the king, to whom the real power belonged, +and who finally succeeded in ridding himself of his spiritual rival. + +In some parts of Western Africa two kings reign side by side, a +fetish or religious king and a civil king, but the fetish king is +really supreme. He controls the weather and so forth, and can put a +stop to everything. When he lays his red staff on the ground, no one +may pass that way. This division of power between a sacred and a +secular ruler is to be met with wherever the true negro culture has +been left unmolested, but where the negro form of society has been +disturbed, as in Dahomey and Ashantee, there is a tendency to +consolidate the two powers in a single king. + +In some parts of the East Indian island of Timor we meet with a +partition of power like that which is represented by the civil king +and the fetish king of Western Africa. Some of the Timorese tribes +recognise two rajahs, the ordinary or civil rajah, who governs the +people, and the fetish or taboo rajah, who is charged with the +control of everything that concerns the earth and its products. This +latter ruler has the right of declaring anything taboo; his +permission must be obtained before new land may be brought under +cultivation, and he must perform certain necessary ceremonies when +the work is being carried out. If drought or blight threatens the +crops, his help is invoked to save them. Though he ranks below the +civil rajah, he exercises a momentous influence on the course of +events, for his secular colleague is bound to consult him in all +important matters. In some of the neighbouring islands, such as +Rotti and eastern Flores, a spiritual ruler of the same sort is +recognised under various native names, which all mean "lord of the +ground." Similarly in the Mekeo district of British New Guinea there +is a double chieftainship. The people are divided into two groups +according to families, and each of the groups has its chief. One of +the two is the war chief, the other is the taboo chief. The office +of the latter is hereditary; his duty is to impose a taboo on any of +the crops, such as the coco-nuts and areca nuts, whenever he thinks +it desirable to prohibit their use. In his office we may perhaps +detect the beginning of a priestly dynasty, but as yet his functions +appear to be more magical than religious, being concerned with the +control of the harvests rather than with the propitiation of higher +powers. + + + + +XVIII. The Perils of the Soul + + + +1. The Soul as a Mannikin + +THE FOREGOING examples have taught us that the office of a sacred +king or priest is often hedged in by a series of burdensome +restrictions or taboos, of which a principal purpose appears to be +to preserve the life of the divine man for the good of his people. +But if the object of the taboos is to save his life, the question +arises, How is their observance supposed to effect this end? To +understand this we must know the nature of the danger which +threatens the king's life, and which it is the intention of these +curious restrictions to guard against. We must, therefore, ask: What +does early man understand by death? To what causes does he attribute +it? And how does he think it may be guarded against? + +As the savage commonly explains the processes of inanimate nature by +supposing that they are produced by living beings working in or +behind the phenomena, so he explains the phenomena of life itself. +If an animal lives and moves, it can only be, he thinks, because +there is a little animal inside which moves it: if a man lives and +moves, it can only be because he has a little man or animal inside +who moves him. The animal inside the animal, the man inside the man, +is the soul. And as the activity of an animal or man is explained by +the presence of the soul, so the repose of sleep or death is +explained by its absence; sleep or trance being the temporary, death +being the permanent absence of the soul. Hence if death be the +permanent absence of the soul, the way to guard against it is either +to prevent the soul from leaving the body, or, if it does depart, to +ensure that it shall return. The precautions adopted by savages to +secure one or other of these ends take the form of certain +prohibitions or taboos, which are nothing but rules intended to +ensure either the continued presence or the return of the soul. In +short, they are life-preservers or life-guards. These general +statements will now be illustrated by examples. + +Addressing some Australian blacks, a European missionary said, "I am +not one, as you think, but two." Upon this they laughed. "You may +laugh as much as you like," continued the missionary, "I tell you +that I am two in one; this great body that you see is one; within +that there is another little one which is not visible. The great +body dies, and is buried, but the little body flies away when the +great one dies." To this some of the blacks replied, "Yes, yes. We +also are two, we also have a little body within the breast." On +being asked where the little body went after death, some said it +went behind the bush, others said it went into the sea, and some +said they did not know. The Hurons thought that the soul had a head +and body, arms and legs; in short, that it was a complete little +model of the man himself. The Esquimaux believe that "the soul +exhibits the same shape as the body it belongs to, but is of a more +subtle and ethereal nature." According to the Nootkas the soul has +the shape of a tiny man; its seat is the crown of the head. So long +as it stands erect, its owner is hale and hearty; but when from any +cause it loses its upright position, he loses his senses. Among the +Indian tribes of the Lower Fraser River, man is held to have four +souls, of which the principal one has the form of a mannikin, while +the other three are shadows of it. The Malays conceive the human +soul as a little man, mostly invisible and of the bigness of a +thumb, who corresponds exactly in shape, proportion, and even in +complexion to the man in whose body he resides. This mannikin is of +a thin, unsubstantial nature, though not so impalpable but that it +may cause displacement on entering a physical object, and it can +flit quickly from place to place; it is temporarily absent from the +body in sleep, trance, and disease, and permanently absent after +death. + +So exact is the resemblance of the mannikin to the man, in other +words, of the soul to the body, that, as there are fat bodies and +thin bodies, so there are fat souls and thin souls; as there are +heavy bodies and light bodies, long bodies and short bodies, so +there are heavy souls and light souls, long souls and short souls. +The people of Nias think that every man, before he is born, is asked +how long or how heavy a soul he would like, and a soul of the +desired weight or length is measured out to him. The heaviest soul +ever given out weighs about ten grammes. The length of a man's life +is proportioned to the length of his soul; children who die young +had short souls. The Fijian conception of the soul as a tiny human +being comes clearly out in the customs observed at the death of a +chief among the Nakelo tribe. When a chief dies, certain men, who +are the hereditary undertakers, call him, as he lies, oiled and +ornamented, on fine mats, saying, "Rise, sir, the chief, and let us +be going. The day has come over the land." Then they conduct him to +the river side, where the ghostly ferryman comes to ferry Nakelo +ghosts across the stream. As they thus attend the chief on his last +journey, they hold their great fans close to the ground to shelter +him, because, as one of them explained to a missionary, "His soul is +only a little child." People in the Punjaub who tattoo themselves +believe that at death the soul, "the little entire man or woman" +inside the mortal frame, will go to heaven blazoned with the same +tattoo patterns which adorned the body in life. Sometimes, however, +as we shall see, the human soul is conceived not in human but in +animal form. + + + +2. Absence and Recall of the Soul + +THE SOUL is commonly supposed to escape by the natural openings of +the body, especially the mouth and nostrils. Hence in Celebes they +sometimes fasten fish-hooks to a sick man's nose, navel, and feet, +so that if his soul should try to escape it may be hooked and held +fast. A Turik on the Baram River, in Borneo, refused to part with +some hook-like stones, because they, as it were, hooked his soul to +his body, and so prevented the spiritual portion of him from +becoming detached from the material. When a Sea Dyak sorcerer or +medicine-man is initiated, his fingers are supposed to be furnished +with fish-hooks, with which he will thereafter clutch the human soul +in the act of flying away, and restore it to the body of the +sufferer. But hooks, it is plain, may be used to catch the souls of +enemies as well as of friends. Acting on this principle head-hunters +in Borneo hang wooden hooks beside the skulls of their slain enemies +in the belief that this helps them on their forays to hook in fresh +heads. One of the implements of a Haida medicine-man is a hollow +bone, in which he bottles up departing souls, and so restores them +to their owners. When any one yawns in their presence the Hindoos +always snap their thumbs, believing that this will hinder the soul +from issuing through the open mouth. The Marquesans used to hold the +mouth and nose of a dying man, in order to keep him in life by +preventing his soul from escaping; the same custom is reported of +the New Caledonians; and with the like intention the Bagobos of the +Philippine Islands put rings of brass wire on the wrists or ankles +of their sick. On the other hand, the Itonamas of South America seal +up the eyes, nose, and mouth of a dying person, in case his ghost +should get out and carry off others; and for a similar reason the +people of Nias, who fear the spirits of the recently deceased and +identify them with the breath, seek to confine the vagrant soul in +its earthly tabernacle by bunging up the nose or tying up the jaws +of the corpse. Before leaving a corpse the Wakelbura of Australia +used to place hot coals in its ears in order to keep the ghost in +the body, until they had got such a good start that he could not +overtake them. In Southern Celebes, to hinder the escape of a +woman's soul in childbed, the nurse ties a band as tightly as +possible round the body of the expectant mother. The Minangkabauers +of Sumatra observe a similar custom; a skein of thread or a string +is sometimes fastened round the wrist or loins of a woman in +childbed, so that when her soul seeks to depart in her hour of +travail it may find the egress barred. And lest the soul of a babe +should escape and be lost as soon as it is born, the Alfoors of +Celebes, when a birth is about to take place, are careful to close +every opening in the house, even the keyhole; and they stop up every +chink and cranny in the walls. Also they tie up the mouths of all +animals inside and outside the house, for fear one of them might +swallow the child's soul. For a similar reason all persons present +in the house, even the mother herself, are obliged to keep their +mouths shut the whole time the birth is taking place. When the +question was put, Why they did not hold their noses also, lest the +child's soul should get into one of them? the answer was that breath +being exhaled as well as inhaled through the nostrils, the soul +would be expelled before it could have time to settle down. Popular +expressions in the language of civilised peoples, such as to have +one's heart in one's mouth, or the soul on the lips or in the nose, +show how natural is the idea that the life or soul may escape by the +mouth or nostrils. + +Often the soul is conceived as a bird ready to take flight. This +conception has probably left traces in most languages, and it +lingers as a metaphor in poetry. The Malays carry out the conception +of the bird-soul in a number of odd ways. If the soul is a bird on +the wing, it may be attracted by rice, and so either prevented from +flying away or lured back again from its perilous flight. Thus in +Java when a child is placed on the ground for the first time (a +moment which uncultured people seem to regard as especially +dangerous), it is put in a hen-coop and the mother makes a clucking +sound, as if she were calling hens. And in Sintang, a district of +Borneo, when a person, whether man, woman, or child, has fallen out +of a house or off a tree, and has been brought home, his wife or +other kinswoman goes as speedily as possible to the spot where the +accident happened, and there strews rice, which has been coloured +yellow, while she utters the words, "Cluck! cluck! soul! So-and-so +is in his house again. Cluck! cluck! soul!" Then she gathers up the +rice in a basket, carries it to the sufferer, and drops the grains +from her hand on his head, saying again, "Cluck! cluck! soul!" Here +the intention clearly is to decoy back the loitering bird-soul and +replace it in the head of its owner. + +The soul of a sleeper is supposed to wander away from his body and +actually to visit the places, to see the persons, and to perform the +acts of which he dreams. For example, when an Indian of Brazil or +Guiana wakes up from a sound sleep, he is firmly convinced that his +soul has really been away hunting, fishing, felling trees, or +whatever else he has dreamed of doing, while all the time his body +has been lying motionless in his hammock. A whole Bororo village has +been thrown into a panic and nearly deserted because somebody had +dreamed that he saw enemies stealthily approaching it. A Macusi +Indian in weak health, who dreamed that his employer had made him +haul the canoe up a series of difficult cataracts, bitterly +reproached his master next morning for his want of consideration in +thus making a poor invalid go out and toil during the night. The +Indians of the Gran Chaco are often heard to relate the most +incredible stories as things which they have themselves seen and +heard; hence strangers who do not know them intimately say in their +haste that these Indians are liars. In point of fact the Indians are +firmly convinced of the truth of what they relate; for these +wonderful adventures are simply their dreams, which they do not +distinguish from waking realities. + +Now the absence of the soul in sleep has its dangers, for if from +any cause the soul should be permanently detained away from the +body, the person thus deprived of the vital principle must die. +There is a German belief that the soul escapes from a sleeper's +mouth in the form of a white mouse or a little bird, and that to +prevent the return of the bird or animal would be fatal to the +sleeper. Hence in Transylvania they say that you should not let a +child sleep with its mouth open, or its soul will slip out in the +shape of a mouse, and the child will never wake. Many causes may +detain the sleeper's soul. Thus, his soul may meet the soul of +another sleeper and the two souls may fight; if a Guinea negro +wakens with sore bones in the morning, he thinks that his soul has +been thrashed by another soul in sleep. Or it may meet the soul of a +person just deceased and be carried off by it; hence in the Aru +Islands the inmates of a house will not sleep the night after a +death has taken place in it, because the soul of the deceased is +supposed to be still in the house and they fear to meet it in a +dream. Again, the soul of the sleeper may be prevented by an +accident or by physical force from returning to his body. When a +Dyak dreams of falling into the water, he supposes that this +accident has really befallen his spirit, and he sends for a wizard, +who fishes for the spirit with a hand-net in a basin of water till +he catches it and restores it to its owner. The Santals tell how a +man fell asleep, and growing very thirsty, his soul, in the form of +a lizard, left his body and entered a pitcher of water to drink. +Just then the owner of the pitcher happened to cover it; so the soul +could not return to the body and the man died. While his friends +were preparing to burn the body some one uncovered the pitcher to +get water. The lizard thus escaped and returned to the body, which +immediately revived; so the man rose up and asked his friends why +they were weeping. They told him they thought he was dead and were +about to burn his body. He said he had been down a well to get +water, but had found it hard to get out and had just returned. So +they saw it all. + +It is a common rule with primitive people not to waken a sleeper, +because his soul is away and might not have time to get back; so if +the man wakened without his soul, he would fall sick. If it is +absolutely necessary to rouse a sleeper, it must be done very +gradually, to allow the soul time to return. A Fijian in Matuku, +suddenly wakened from a nap by somebody treading on his foot, has +been heard bawling after his soul and imploring it to return. He had +just been dreaming that he was far away in Tonga, and great was his +alarm on suddenly wakening to find his body in Matuku. Death stared +him in the face unless his soul could be induced to speed at once +across the sea and reanimate its deserted tenement. The man would +probably have died of fright if a missionary had not been at hand to +allay his terror. + +Still more dangerous is it in the opinion of primitive man to move a +sleeper or alter his appearance, for if this were done the soul on +its return might not be able to find or recognise its body, and so +the person would die. The Minangkabauers deem it highly improper to +blacken or dirty the face of a sleeper, lest the absent soul should +shrink from re-entering a body thus disfigured. Patani Malays fancy +that if a person's face be painted while he sleeps, the soul which +has gone out of him will not recognise him, and he will sleep on +till his face is washed. In Bombay it is thought equivalent to +murder to change the aspect of a sleeper, as by painting his face in +fantastic colours or giving moustaches to a sleeping woman. For when +the soul returns it will not know its own body, and the person will +die. + +But in order that a man's soul should quit his body, it is not +necessary that he should be asleep. It may quit him in his waking +hours, and then sickness, insanity, or death will be the result. +Thus a man of the Wurunjeri tribe in Australia lay at his last gasp +because his spirit had departed from him. A medicine-man went in +pursuit and caught the spirit by the middle just as it was about to +plunge into the sunset glow, which is the light cast by the souls of +the dead as they pass in and out of the under-world, where the sun +goes to rest. Having captured the vagrant spirit, the doctor brought +it back under his opossum rug, laid himself down on the dying man, +and put the soul back into him, so that after a time he revived. The +Karens of Burma are perpetually anxious about their souls, lest +these should go roving from their bodies, leaving the owners to die. +When a man has reason to fear that his soul is about to take this +fatal step, a ceremony is performed to retain or recall it, in which +the whole family must take part. A meal is prepared consisting of a +cock and hen, a special kind of rice, and a bunch of bananas. Then +the head of the family takes the bowl which is used to skim rice, +and knocking with it thrice on the top of the houseladder says: +"_Prrrroo!_ Come back, soul, do not tarry outside! If it rains, you +will be wet. If the sun shines, you will be hot. The gnats will +sting you, the leeches will bite you, the tigers will devour you, +the thunder will crush you. _Prrrroo!_ Come back, soul! Here it will +be well with you. You shall want for nothing. Come and eat under +shelter from the wind and the storm." After that the family partakes +of the meal, and the ceremony ends with everybody tying their right +wrist with a string which has been charmed by a sorcerer. Similarly +the Lolos of South-western China believe that the soul leaves the +body in chronic illness. In that case they read a sort of elaborate +litany, calling on the soul by name and beseeching it to return from +the hills, the vales, the rivers, the forests, the fields, or from +wherever it may be straying. At the same time cups of water, wine, +and rice are set at the door for the refreshment of the weary +wandering spirit. When the ceremony is over, they tie a red cord +round the arm of the sick man to tether the soul, and this cord is +worn by him until it decays and drops off. + +Some of the Congo tribes believe that when a man is ill, his soul +has left his body and is wandering at large. The aid of the sorcerer +is then called in to capture the vagrant spirit and restore it to +the invalid. Generally the physician declares that he has +successfully chased the soul into the branch of a tree. The whole +town thereupon turns out and accompanies the doctor to the tree, +where the strongest men are deputed to break off the branch in which +the soul of the sick man is supposed to be lodged. This they do and +carry the branch back to the town, insinuating by their gestures +that the burden is heavy and hard to bear. When the branch has been +brought to the sick man's hut, he is placed in an upright position +by its side, and the sorcerer performs the enchantments by which the +soul is believed to be restored to its owner. + +Pining, sickness, great fright, and death are ascribed by the Bataks +of Sumatra to the absence of the soul from the body. At first they +try to beckon the wanderer back, and to lure him, like a fowl, by +strewing rice. Then the following form of words is commonly +repeated: "Come back, O soul, whether thou art lingering in the +wood, or on the hills, or in the dale. See, I call thee with a +_toemba bras,_ with an egg of the fowl Rajah _moelija,_ with the +eleven healing leaves. Detain it not, let it come straight here, +detain it not, neither in the wood, nor on the hill, nor in the +dale. That may not be. O come straight home!" Once when a popular +traveller was leaving a Kayan village, the mothers, fearing that +their children's souls might follow him on his journey, brought him +the boards on which they carry their infants and begged him to pray +that the souls of the little ones would return to the familiar +boards and not go away with him into the far country. To each board +was fastened a looped string for the purpose of tethering the +vagrant spirits, and through the loop each baby was made to pass a +chubby finger to make sure that its tiny soul would not wander away. + +In an Indian story a king conveys his soul into the dead body of a +Brahman, and a hunchback conveys his soul into the deserted body of +the king. The hunchback is now king and the king is a Brahman. +However, the hunchback is induced to show his skill by transferring +his soul to the dead body of a parrot, and the king seizes the +opportunity to regain possession of his own body. A tale of the same +type, with variations of detail, reappears among the Malays. A king +has incautiously transferred his soul to an ape, upon which the +vizier adroitly inserts his own soul into the king's body and so +takes possession of the queen and the kingdom, while the true king +languishes at court in the outward semblance of an ape. But one day +the false king, who played for high stakes, was watching a combat of +rams, and it happened that the animal on which he had laid his money +fell down dead. All efforts to restore animation proved unavailing +till the false king, with the instinct of a true sportsman, +transferred his own soul to the body of the deceased ram, and thus +renewed the fray. The real king in the body of the ape saw his +chance, and with great presence of mind darted back into his own +body, which the vizier had rashly vacated. So he came to his own +again, and the usurper in the ram's body met with the fate he richly +deserved. Similarly the Greeks told how the soul of Hermotimus of +Clazomenae used to quit his body and roam far and wide, bringing +back intelligence of what he had seen on his rambles to his friends +at home; until one day, when his spirit was abroad, his enemies +contrived to seize his deserted body and committed it to the flames. + +The departure of the soul is not always voluntary. It may be +extracted from the body against its will by ghosts, demons, or +sorcerers. Hence, when a funeral is passing the house, the Karens +tie their children with a special kind of string to a particular +part of the house, lest the souls of the children should leave their +bodies and go into the corpse which is passing. The children are +kept tied in this way until the corpse is out of sight. And after +the corpse has been laid in the grave, but before the earth has been +shovelled in, the mourners and friends range themselves round the +grave, each with a bamboo split lengthwise in one hand and a little +stick in the other; each man thrusts his bamboo into the grave, and +drawing the stick along the groove of the bamboo points out to his +soul that in this way it may easily climb up out of the tomb. While +the earth is being shovelled in, the bamboos are kept out of the +way, lest the souls should be in them, and so should be +inadvertently buried with the earth as it is being thrown into the +grave; and when the people leave the spot they carry away the +bamboos, begging their souls to come with them. Further, on +returning from the grave each Karen provides himself with three +little hooks made of branches of trees, and calling his spirit to +follow him, at short intervals, as he returns, he makes a motion as +if hooking it, and then thrusts the hook into the ground. This is +done to prevent the soul of the living from staying behind with the +soul of the dead. When the Karo-Bataks have buried somebody and are +filling in the grave, a sorceress runs about beating the air with a +stick. This she does in order to drive away the souls of the +survivors, for if one of these souls happened to slip into the grave +and to be covered up with earth, its owner would die. + +In Uea, one of the Loyalty Islands, the souls of the dead seem to +have been credited with the power of stealing the souls of the +living. For when a man was sick the soul-doctor would go with a +large troop of men and women to the graveyard. Here the men played +on flutes and the women whistled softly to lure the soul home. After +this had gone on for some time they formed in procession and moved +homewards, the flutes playing and the women whistling all the way, +while they led back the wandering soul and drove it gently along +with open palms. On entering the patient's dwelling they commanded +the soul in a loud voice to enter his body. + +Often the abduction of a man's soul is set down to demons. Thus fits +and convulsions are generally ascribed by the Chinese to the agency +of certain mischievous spirits who love to draw men's souls out of +their bodies. At Amoy the spirits who serve babies and children in +this way rejoice in the high-sounding titles of "celestial agencies +bestriding galloping horses" and "literary graduates residing +halfway up in the sky." When an infant is writhing in convulsions, +the frightened mother hastens to the roof of the house, and, waving +about a bamboo pole to which one of the child's garments is +attached, cries out several times "My child So-and-so, come back, +return home!" Meantime, another inmate of the house bangs away at a +gong in the hope of attracting the attention of the strayed soul, +which is supposed to recognise the familiar garment and to slip into +it. The garment containing the soul is then placed on or beside the +child, and if the child does not die recovery is sure to follow, +sooner or later. Similarly some Indians catch a man's lost soul in +his boots and restore it to his body by putting his feet into them. + +In the Moluccas when a man is unwell it is thought that some devil +has carried away his soul to the tree, mountain, or hill where he +(the devil) resides. A sorcerer having pointed out the devil's +abode, the friends of the patient carry thither cooked rice, fruit, +fish, raw eggs, a hen, a chicken, a silken robe, gold, armlets, and +so forth. Having set out the food in order they pray, saying: "We +come to offer to you, O devil, this offering of food, clothes, gold, +and so on; take it and release the soul of the patient for whom we +pray. Let it return to his body, and he who now is sick shall be +made whole." Then they eat a little and let the hen loose as a +ransom for the soul of the patient; also they put down the raw eggs; +but the silken robe, the gold, and the armlets they take home with +them. As soon as they are come to the house they place a flat bowl +containing the offerings which have been brought back at the sick +man's head, and say to him: "Now is your soul released, and you +shall fare well and live to grey hairs on the earth." + +Demons are especially feared by persons who have just entered a new +house. Hence at a house-warming among the Alfoors of Minahassa in +Celebes the priest performs a ceremony for the purpose of restoring +their souls to the inmates. He hangs up a bag at the place of +sacrifice and then goes through a list of the gods. There are so +many of them that this takes him the whole night through without +stopping. In the morning he offers the gods an egg and some rice. By +this time the souls of the household are supposed to be gathered in +the bag. So the priest takes the bag, and holding it on the head of +the master of the house, says, "Here you have your soul; go (soul) +to-morrow away again." He then does the same, saying the same words, +to the housewife and all the other members of the family. Amongst +the same Alfoors one way of recovering a sick man's soul is to let +down a bowl by a belt out of a window and fish for the soul till it +is caught in the bowl and hauled up. And among the same people, when +a priest is bringing back a sick man's soul which he has caught in a +cloth, he is preceded by a girl holding the large leaf of a certain +palm over his head as an umbrella to keep him and the soul from +getting wet, in case it should rain; and he is followed by a man +brandishing a sword to deter other souls from any attempt at +rescuing the captured spirit. + +Sometimes the lost soul is brought back in a visible shape. The +Salish or Flathead Indians of Oregon believe that a man's soul may +be separated for a time from his body without causing death and +without the man being aware of his loss. It is necessary, however, +that the lost soul should be soon found and restored to its owner or +he will die. The name of the man who has lost his soul is revealed +in a dream to the medicine-man, who hastens to inform the sufferer +of his loss. Generally a number of men have sustained a like loss at +the same time; all their names are revealed to the medicine-man, and +all employ him to recover their souls. The whole night long these +soulless men go about the village from lodge to lodge, dancing and +singing. Towards daybreak they go into a separate lodge, which is +closed up so as to be totally dark. A small hole is then made in the +roof, through which the medicine-man, with a bunch of feathers, +brushes in the souls, in the shape of bits of bone and the like, +which he receives on a piece of matting. A fire is next kindled, by +the light of which the medicine-man sorts out the souls. First he +puts aside the souls of dead people, of which there are usually +several; for if he were to give the soul of a dead person to a +living man, the man would die instantly. Next he picks out the souls +of all the persons present, and making them all to sit down before +him, he takes the soul of each, in the shape of a splinter of bone, +wood, or shell, and placing it on the owner's head, pats it with +many prayers and contortions till it descends into the heart and so +resumes its proper place. + +Again, souls may be extracted from their bodies or detained on their +wanderings not only by ghosts and demons but also by men, especially +by sorcerers. In Fiji, if a criminal refused to confess, the chief +sent for a scarf with which "to catch away the soul of the rogue." +At the sight or even at the mention of the scarf the culprit +generally made a clean breast. For if he did not, the scarf would be +waved over his head till his soul was caught in it, when it would be +carefully folded up and nailed to the end of a chief's canoe; and +for want of his soul the criminal would pine and die. The sorcerers +of Danger Island used to set snares for souls. The snares were made +of stout cinet, about fifteen to thirty feet long, with loops on +either side of different sizes, to suit the different 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 grudge, they set up these soul-snares near his house and watched +for the flight of his soul. If in the shape of a bird or an insect +it was caught in the snare, the man would infallibly die. In some +parts of West Africa, indeed, wizards are continually setting traps +to catch souls that wander from their bodies in sleep; and when they +have caught one, they tie it up over the fire, and as it shrivels in +the heat the owner sickens. This is done, not out of any grudge +towards the sufferer, but purely as a matter of business. The wizard +does not care whose soul he has captured, and will readily restore +it to its owner, if only he is paid for doing so. Some sorcerers +keep regular asylums for strayed souls, and anybody who has lost or +mislaid his own soul can always have another one from the asylum on +payment of the usual fee. No blame whatever attaches to men who keep +these private asylums or set traps for passing souls; it is their +profession, and in the exercise of it they are actuated by no harsh +or unkindly feelings. But there are also wretches who from pure +spite or for the sake of lucre set and bait traps with the +deliberate purpose of catching the soul of a particular man; and in +the bottom of the pot, hidden by the bait, are knives and sharp +hooks which tear and rend the poor soul, either killing it outright +or mauling it so as to impair the health of its owner when it +succeeds in escaping and returning to him. Miss Kingsley knew a +Kruman who became very anxious about his soul, because for several +nights he had smelt in his dreams the savoury smell of smoked +crawfish seasoned with red pepper. Clearly some ill-wisher had set a +trap baited with this dainty for his dream-soul, intending to do him +grievous bodily, or rather spiritual, harm; and for the next few +nights great pains were taken to keep his soul from straying abroad +in his sleep. In the sweltering heat of the tropical night he lay +sweating and snorting under a blanket, his nose and mouth tied up +with a handkerchief to prevent the escape of his precious soul. In +Hawaii there were sorcerers who caught souls of living people, shut +them up in calabashes, and gave them to people to eat. By squeezing +a captured soul in their hands they discovered the place where +people had been secretly buried. + +Nowhere perhaps is the art of abducting human souls more carefully +cultivated or carried to higher perfection than in the Malay +Peninsula. Here the methods by which the wizard works his will are +various, and so too are his motives. Sometimes he desires to destroy +an enemy, sometimes to win the love of a cold or bashful beauty. +Thus, to take an instance of the latter sort of charm, the following +are the directions given for securing the soul of one whom you wish +to render distraught. When the moon, just risen, looks red above the +eastern horizon, go out, and standing in the moonlight, with the big +toe of your right foot on the big toe of your left, make a +speaking-trumpet of your right hand and recite through it the +following words: + + + "OM. I loose my shaft, I loose it and the moon clouds over, + I loose it, and the sun is extinguished. + I loose it, and the stars burn dim. + But it is not the sun, moon, and stars that I shoot at, + It is the stalk of the heart of that child of the congregation, + So-and-so. + + Cluck! cluck! soul of So-and-so, come and walk with me, + Come and sit with me, + Come and sleep and share my pillow. + Cluck! cluck! soul." + + +Repeat this thrice and after every repetition blow through your +hollow fist. Or you may catch the soul in your turban, thus. Go out +on the night of the full moon and the two succeeding nights; sit +down on an ant-hill facing the moon, burn incense, and recite the +following incantation: + + + "I bring you a betel leaf to chew, + Dab the lime on to it, Prince Ferocious, + For Somebody, Prince Distraction's daughter, to chew. + Somebody at sunrise be distraught for love of me + Somebody at sunset be distraught for love of me. + As you remember your parents, remember me; + As you remember your house and houseladder, remember me; + When thunder rumbles, remember me; + When wind whistles, remember me; + When the heavens rain, remember me; + When cocks crow, remember me; + When the dial-bird tells its tales, remember me; + When you look up at the sun, remember me; + When you look up at the moon, remember me, + For in that self-same moon I am there. + Cluck! cluck! soul of Somebody come hither to me. + I do not mean to let you have my soul, + Let your soul come hither to mine." + + +Now wave the end of your turban towards the moon seven times each +night. Go home and put it under your pillow, and if you want to wear +it in the daytime, burn incense and say, "It is not a turban that I +carry in my girdle, but the soul of Somebody." + +The Indians of the Nass River, in British Columbia, are impressed +with a belief that a physician may swallow his patient's soul by +mistake. A doctor who is believed to have done so is made by the +other members of the faculty to stand over the patient, while one of +them thrusts his fingers down the doctor's throat, another kneads +him in the stomach with his knuckles, and a third slaps him on the +back. If the soul is not in him after all, and if the same process +has been repeated upon all the medical men without success, it is +concluded that the soul must be in the head-doctor's box. A party of +doctors, therefore, waits upon him at his house and requests him to +produce his box. When he has done so and arranged its contents on a +new mat, they take the votary of Aesculapius and hold him up by the +heels with his head in a hole in the floor. In this position they +wash his head, and "any water remaining from the ablution is taken +and poured upon the sick man's head." No doubt the lost soul is in +the water. + + + +3. The Soul as a Shadow and a Reflection + +BUT the spiritual dangers I have enumerated are not the only ones +which beset the savage. Often he regards his shadow or reflection as +his soul, or at all events as a vital part of himself, and as such +it is necessarily a source of danger to him. For if it is trampled +upon, struck, or stabbed, he will feel the injury as if it were done +to his person; and if it is detached from him entirely (as he +believes that it may be) he will die. In the island of Wetar there +are magicians who can make a man ill by stabbing his shadow with a +pike or hacking it with a sword. After Sankara had destroyed the +Buddhists in India, it is said that he journeyed to Nepaul, where he +had some difference of opinion with the Grand Lama. To prove his +supernatural powers, he soared into the air. But as he mounted up +the Grand Lama, perceiving his shadow swaying and wavering on the +ground, struck his knife into it and down fell Sankara and broke his +neck. + +In the Banks Islands there are some stones of a remarkably long +shape which go by the name of "eating ghosts," because certain +powerful and dangerous ghosts are believed to lodge in them. If a +man's shadow falls on one of these stones, the ghost will draw his +soul out from him, so that he will die. Such stones, therefore, are +set in a house to guard it; and a messenger sent to a house by the +absent owner will call out the name of the sender, lest the watchful +ghost in the stone should fancy that he came with evil intent and +should do him a mischief. At a funeral in China, when the lid is +about to be placed on the coffin, most of the bystanders, with the +exception of the nearest kin, retire a few steps or even retreat to +another room, for a person's health is believed to be endangered by +allowing his shadow to be enclosed in a coffin. And when the coffin +is about to be lowered into the grave most of the spectators recoil +to a little distance lest their shadows should fall into the grave +and harm should thus be done to their persons. The geomancer and his +assistants stand on the side of the grave which is turned away from +the sun; and the grave-diggers and coffin-bearers attach their +shadows firmly to their persons by tying a strip of cloth tightly +round their waists. Nor is it human beings alone who are thus liable +to be injured by means of their shadows. Animals are to some extent +in the same predicament. A small snail, which frequents the +neighbourhood of the limestone hills in Perak, is believed to suck +the blood of cattle through their shadows; hence the beasts grow +lean and sometimes die from loss of blood. The ancients supposed +that in Arabia, if a hyaena trod on a man's shadow, it deprived him +of the power of speech and motion; and that if a dog, standing on a +roof in the moonlight, cast a shadow on the ground and a hyaena trod +on it, the dog would fall down as if dragged with a rope. Clearly in +these cases the shadow, if not equivalent to the soul, is at least +regarded as a living part of the man or the animal, so that injury +done to the shadow is felt by the person or animal as if it were +done to his body. + +Conversely, if the shadow is a vital part of a man or an animal, it +may under certain circumstances be as hazardous to be touched by it +as it would be to come into contact with the person or animal. Hence +the savage makes it a rule to shun the shadow of certain persons +whom for various reasons he regards as sources of dangerous +influence. Amongst the dangerous classes he commonly ranks mourners +and women in general, but especially his mother-in-law. The Shuswap +Indians think that the shadow of a mourner falling upon a person +would make him sick. Amongst the Kurnai of Victoria novices at +initiation were cautioned not to let a woman's shadow fall across +them, as this would make them thin, lazy, and stupid. An Australian +native is said to have once nearly died of fright because the shadow +of his mother-in-law fell on his legs as he lay asleep under a tree. +The awe and dread with which the untutored savage contemplates his +mother-in-law are amongst the most familiar facts of anthropology. +In the Yuin tribes of New South Wales the rule which forbade a man +to hold any communication with his wife's mother was very strict. He +might not look at her or even in her direction. It was a ground of +divorce if his shadow happened to fall on his mother-in-law: in that +case he had to leave his wife, and she returned to her parents. In +New Britain the native imagination fails to conceive the extent and +nature of the calamities which would result from a man's +accidentally speaking to his wife's mother; suicide of one or both +would probably be the only course open to them. The most solemn form +of oath a New Briton can take is, "Sir, if I am not telling the +truth, I hope I may shake hands with my mother-in-law." + +Where the shadow is regarded as so intimately bound up with the life +of the man that its loss entails debility or death, it is natural to +expect that its diminution should be regarded with solicitude and +apprehension, as betokening a corresponding decrease in the vital +energy of its owner. In Amboyna and Uliase, two islands near the +equator, where necessarily there is little or no shadow cast at +noon, the people make it a rule not to go out of the house at +mid-day, because they fancy that by doing so a man may lose the +shadow of his soul. The Mangaians tell of a mighty warrior, +Tukaitawa, whose strength waxed and waned with the length of his +shadow. In the morning, when his shadow fell longest, his strength +was greatest; but as the shadow shortened towards noon his strength +ebbed with it, till exactly at noon it reached its lowest point; +then, as the shadow stretched out in the afternoon, his strength +returned. A certain hero discovered the secret of Tukaitawa's +strength and slew him at noon. The savage Besisis of the Malay +Peninsula fear to bury their dead at noon, because they fancy that +the shortness of their shadows at that hour would sympathetically +shorten their own lives. + +Nowhere, perhaps, does the equivalence of the shadow to the life or +soul come out more clearly than in some customs practised to this +day in South-eastern Europe. In modern Greece, when the foundation +of a new building is being laid, it is the custom to kill a cock, a +ram, or a lamb, and to let its blood flow on the foundation-stone, +under which the animal is afterwards buried. The object of the +sacrifice is to give strength and stability to the building. But +sometimes, instead of killing an animal, the builder entices a man +to the foundation-stone, secretly measures his body, or a part of +it, or his shadow, and buries the measure under the +foundation-stone; or he lays the foundation-stone upon the man's +shadow. It is believed that the man will die within the year. The +Roumanians of Transylvania think that he whose shadow is thus +immured will die within forty days; so persons passing by a building +which is in course of erection may hear a warning cry, "Beware lest +they take thy shadow!" Not long ago there were still shadow-traders +whose business it was to provide architects with the shadows +necessary for securing their walls. In these cases the measure of +the shadow is looked on as equivalent to the shadow itself, and to +bury it is to bury the life or soul of the man, who, deprived of it, +must die. Thus the custom is a substitute for the old practice of +immuring a living person in the walls, or crushing him under the +foundation-stone of a new building, in order to give strength and +durability to the structure, or more definitely in order that the +angry ghost may haunt the place and guard it against the intrusion +of enemies. + +As some peoples believe a man's soul to be in his shadow, so other +(or the same) peoples believe it to be in his reflection in water or +a mirror. Thus "the Andamanese do not regard their shadows but their +reflections (in any mirror) as their souls." When the Motumotu of +New Guinea first saw their likenesses in a looking-glass, they +thought that their reflections were their souls. In New Caledonia +the old men are of opinion that a person's reflection in water or a +mirror is his soul; but the younger men, taught by the Catholic +priests, maintain that it is a reflection and nothing more, just +like the reflection of palm-trees in the water. The reflection-soul, +being external to the man, is exposed to much the same dangers as +the shadow-soul. The Zulus will not look into a dark pool because +they think there is a beast in it which will take away their +reflections, so that they die. The Basutos say that crocodiles have +the power of thus killing a man by dragging his reflection under +water. When one of them dies suddenly and from no apparent cause, +his relatives will allege that a crocodile must have taken his +shadow some time when he crossed a stream. In Saddle Island, +Melanesia, there is a pool "into which if any one looks he dies; the +malignant spirit takes hold upon his life by means of his reflection +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 +Greeks regarded it as an omen of death if a man dreamed of seeing +himself so reflected. They feared that the water-spirits would drag +the person's reflection or soul under water, leaving him soulless to +perish. This was probably the origin of the classical story of the +beautiful Narcissus, who languished and died through seeing his +reflection in the water. + +Further, we can now explain the widespread custom of covering up +mirrors or turning them to the wall after a death has taken place in +the house. It is feared that the soul, projected out of the person +in the shape of his reflection in the mirror, may be carried off by +the ghost of the departed, which is commonly supposed to linger +about the house till the burial. The custom is thus exactly parallel +to the Aru custom of not sleeping in a house after a death for fear +that the soul, projected 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 themselves in a mirror, and why the mirror in a sick-room is +therefore covered up, is also plain; in time of sickness, when the +soul might take flight so easily, it is particularly dangerous to +project it out of the body by means of the reflection in a mirror. +The rule is therefore precisely parallel to the rule observed by +some peoples of not allowing sick people to sleep; for in sleep the +soul is projected out of the body, and there is always a risk that +it may not return. + +As with shadows and reflections, so with portraits; they are often +believed to contain the soul of the person portrayed. People who +hold this belief are naturally loth to have their likenesses taken; +for if the portrait is the soul, or at least a vital part of the +person portrayed, whoever possesses the portrait will be able to +exercise a fatal influence over the original of it. Thus the +Esquimaux of Bering Strait believe that persons dealing in +witchcraft have the power of stealing a person's shade, so that +without it he will pine away and die. Once at a village on the lower +Yukon River an explorer had set up his camera to get a picture of +the people as they were moving about among their houses. While he +was focusing the instrument, the headman of the village came up and +insisted on peeping under the cloth. Being allowed to do so, he +gazed intently for a minute at the moving figures on the ground +glass, then suddenly withdrew his head and bawled at the top of his +voice to the people, "He has all of your shades in this box." A +panic ensued among the group, and in an instant they disappeared +helterskelter into their houses. The Tepehuanes of Mexico stood in +mortal terror of the camera, and five days' persuasion was necessary +to induce them to pose for it. When at last they consented, they +looked like criminals about to be executed. They believed that by +photographing people the artist could carry off their souls and +devour them at his leisure moments. They said that, when the +pictures reached his country, they would die or some other evil +would befall them. When Dr. Catat and some companions were exploring +the Bara country on the west coast of Madagascar, the people +suddenly became hostile. The day before the travellers, not without +difficulty, had photographed the royal family, and now found +themselves accused of taking the souls of the natives for the +purpose of selling them when they returned to France. Denial was +vain; in compliance with the custom of the country they were obliged +to catch the souls, which were then put into a basket and ordered by +Dr. Catat to return to their respective owners. + +Some villagers in Sikhim betrayed a lively horror and hid away +whenever the lens of a camera, or "the evil eye of the box" as they +called it, was turned on them. They thought it took away their souls +with their pictures, and so put it in the power of the owner of the +pictures to cast spells on them, and they alleged that a photograph +of the scenery blighted the landscape. Until the reign of the late +King of Siam no Siamese coins were ever stamped with the image of +the king, "for at that time there was a strong prejudice against the +making of portraits in any medium. Europeans who travel into the +jungle have, even at the present time, only to point a camera at a +crowd to procure its instant dispersion. When a copy of the face of +a person is made and taken away from him, a portion of his life goes +with the picture. Unless the sovereign had been blessed with the +years of a Methusaleh he could scarcely have permitted his life to +be distributed in small pieces together with the coins of the +realm." + +Beliefs of the same sort still linger in various parts of Europe. +Not very many years ago some old women in the Greek island of +Carpathus were very angry at having their likenesses drawn, thinking +that in consequence they would pine and die. There are persons in +the West of Scotland "who refuse to have their likenesses taken lest +it prove unlucky; and give as instances the cases of several of +their friends who never had a day's health after being +photographed." + + + + +XIX. Tabooed Acts + + + +1. Taboos on Intercourse with Strangers + +SO much for the primitive conceptions of the soul and the dangers to +which it is exposed. These conceptions are not limited to one people +or country; with variations of detail they are found all over the +world, and survive, as we have seen, in modern Europe. Beliefs so +deep-seated and so widespread must necessarily have contributed to +shape the mould in which the early kingship was cast. For if every +person was at such pains to save his own soul from the perils which +threatened it on so many sides, how much more carefully must _he_ +have been guarded upon whose life hung the welfare and even the +existence of the whole people, and whom therefore it was the common +interest of all to preserve? Therefore we should expect to find the +king's life protected by a system of precautions or safeguards still +more numerous and minute than those which in primitive society every +man adopts for the safety of his own soul. Now in point of fact the +life of the early kings is regulated, as we have seen and shall see +more fully presently, by a very exact code of rules. May we not then +conjecture that these rules are in fact the very safeguards which we +should expect to find adopted for the protection of the king's life? +An examination of the rules themselves confirms this conjecture. For +from this it appears that some of the rules observed by the kings +are identical with those observed by private persons out of regard +for the safety of their souls; and even of those which seem peculiar +to the king, many, if not all, are most readily explained on the +hypothesis that they are nothing but safeguards or lifeguards of the +king. I will now enumerate some of these royal rules or taboos, +offering on each of them such comments and explanations as may serve +to set the original intention of the rule in its proper light. + +As the object of the royal taboos is to isolate the king from all +sources of danger, their general effect is to compel him to live in +a state of seclusion, more or less complete, according to the number +and stringency of the rules he observes. Now of all sources of +danger none are more dreaded by the savage than magic and +witchcraft, and he suspects all strangers of practising these black +arts. To guard against the baneful influence exerted voluntarily or +involuntarily by strangers is therefore an elementary dictate of +savage prudence. Hence before strangers are allowed to enter a +district, or at least before they are permitted to mingle freely +with the inhabitants, certain ceremonies are often performed by the +natives of the country for the purpose of disarming the strangers of +their magical powers, of counteracting the baneful influence which +is believed to emanate from them, or of disinfecting, so to speak, +the tainted atmosphere by which they are supposed to be surrounded. +Thus, when the ambassadors sent by Justin II., Emperor of the East, +to conclude a peace with the Turks had reached their destination, +they were received by shamans, who subjected them to a ceremonial +purification for the purpose of exorcising all harmful influence. +Having deposited the goods brought by the ambassadors in an open +place, these wizards carried burning branches of incense round them, +while they rang a bell and beat on a tambourine, snorting and +falling into a state of frenzy in their efforts to dispel the powers +of evil. Afterwards they purified the ambassadors themselves by +leading them through the flames. In the island of Nanumea (South +Pacific) strangers from ships or from other islands were not allowed +to communicate with the people until they all, or a few as +representatives of the rest, had been taken to each of the four +temples in the island, and prayers offered that the god would avert +any disease or treachery which these strangers might have brought +with them. Meat offerings were also laid upon the altars, +accompanied by songs and dances in honour of the god. While these +ceremonies were going on, all the people except the priests and +their attendants kept out of sight. Amongst the Ot Danoms of Borneo +it is the custom that strangers entering the territory should pay to +the natives a certain sum, which is spent in the sacrifice of +buffaloes or pigs to the spirits of the land and water, in order to +reconcile them to the presence of the strangers, and to induce them +not to withdraw their favour from the people of the country, but to +bless the rice-harvest, and so forth. The men of a certain district +in Borneo, fearing to look upon a European traveller lest he should +make them ill, warned their wives and children not to go near him. +Those who could not restrain their curiosity killed fowls to appease +the evil spirits and smeared themselves with the blood. "More +dreaded," says a traveller in Central Borneo, "than the evil spirits +of the neighbourhood are the evil spirits from a distance which +accompany travellers. When a company from the middle Mahakam River +visited me among the Blu-u Kayans in the year 1897, no woman showed +herself outside her house without a burning bundle of _plehiding_ +bark, the stinking smoke of which drives away evil spirits." + +When Crevaux was travelling in South America he entered a village of +the Apalai Indians. A few moments after his arrival some of the +Indians brought him a number of large black ants, of a species whose +bite is painful, fastened on palm leaves. Then all the people of the +village, without distinction of age or sex, presented themselves to +him, and he had to sting them all with the ants on their faces, +thighs, and other parts of their bodies. Sometimes, when he applied +the ants too tenderly, they called out "More! more!" and were not +satisfied till their skin was thickly studded with tiny swellings +like what might have been produced by whipping them with nettles. +The object of this ceremony is made plain by the custom observed in +Amboyna and Uliase of sprinkling sick people with pungent spices, +such as ginger and cloves, chewed fine, in order by the prickling +sensation to drive away the demon of disease which may be clinging +to their persons. In Java a popular cure for gout or rheumatism is +to rub Spanish pepper into the nails of the fingers and toes of the +sufferer; the pungency of the pepper is supposed to be too much for +the gout or rheumatism, who accordingly departs in haste. So on the +Slave Coast the mother of a sick child sometimes believes that an +evil spirit has taken possession of the child's body, and in order +to drive him out, she makes small cuts in the body of the little +sufferer and inserts green peppers or spices in the wounds, +believing that she will thereby hurt the evil spirit and force him +to be gone. The poor child naturally screams with pain, but the +mother hardens her heart in the belief that the demon is suffering +equally. + +It is probable that the same dread of strangers, rather than any +desire to do them honour, is the motive of certain ceremonies which +are sometimes observed at their reception, but of which the +intention is not directly stated. In the Ongtong Java Islands, which +are inhabited by Polynesians, the priests or sorcerers seem to wield +great influence. Their main business is to summon or exorcise +spirits for the purpose of averting or dispelling sickness, and of +procuring favourable winds, a good catch of fish, and so on. When +strangers land on the islands, they are first of all received by the +sorcerers, sprinkled with water, anointed with oil, and girt with +dried pandanus leaves. At the same time sand and water are freely +thrown about in all directions, and the newcomer and his boat are +wiped with green leaves. After this ceremony the strangers are +introduced by the sorcerers to the chief. In Afghanistan and in some +parts of Persia the traveller, before he enters a village, is +frequently received with a sacrifice of animal life or food, or of +fire and incense. The Afghan Boundary Mission, in passing by +villages in Afghanistan, was often met with fire and incense. +Sometimes a tray of lighted embers is thrown under the hoofs of the +traveller's horse, with the words, "You are welcome." On entering a +village in Central Africa Emin Pasha was received with the sacrifice +of two goats; their blood was sprinkled on the path and the chief +stepped over the blood to greet Emin. Sometimes the dread of +strangers and their magic is too great to allow of their reception +on any terms. Thus when Speke arrived at a certain village, the +natives shut their doors against him, "because they had never before +seen a white man nor the tin boxes that the men were carrying: 'Who +knows,' they said, 'but that these very boxes are the plundering +Watuta transformed and come to kill us? You cannot be admitted.' No +persuasion could avail with them, and the party had to proceed to +the next village." + +The fear thus entertained of alien visitors is often mutual. +Entering a strange land the savage feels that he is treading +enchanted ground, and he takes steps to guard against the demons +that haunt it and the magical arts of its inhabitants. Thus on going +to a strange land the Maoris performed certain ceremonies to make it +"common," lest it might have been previously "sacred." When Baron +Miklucho-Maclay was approaching a village on the Maclay Coast of New +Guinea, one of the natives who accompanied him broke a branch from a +tree and going aside whispered to it for a while; then stepping up +to each member of the party, one after another, he spat something +upon his back and gave him some blows with the branch. Lastly, he +went into the forest and buried the branch under withered leaves in +the thickest part of the jungle. This ceremony was believed to +protect the party against all treachery and danger in the village +they were approaching. The idea probably was that the malignant +influences were drawn off from the persons into the branch and +buried with it in the depths of the forest. In Australia, when a +strange tribe has been invited into a district and is approaching +the encampment of the tribe which owns the land, "the strangers +carry lighted bark or burning sticks in their hands, for the +purpose, they say, of clearing and purifying the air." When the +Toradjas are on a head-hunting expedition and have entered the +enemy's country, they may not eat any fruits which the foe has +planted nor any animal which he has reared until they have first +committed an act of hostility, as by burning a house or killing a +man. They think that if they broke this rule they would receive +something of the soul or spiritual essence of the enemy into +themselves, which would destroy the mystic virtue of their +talismans. + +Again, it is believed that a man who has been on a journey may have +contracted some magic evil from the strangers with whom he has +associated. Hence, on returning home, before he is readmitted to the +society of his tribe and friends, he has to undergo certain +purificatory ceremonies. Thus the Bechuanas "cleanse or purify +themselves after journeys by shaving their heads, etc., lest they +should have contracted from strangers some evil by witchcraft or +sorcery." In some parts of Western Africa, when a man returns home +after a long absence, before he is allowed to visit his wife, he +must wash his person with a particular fluid, and receive from the +sorcerer a certain mark on his forehead, in order to counteract any +magic spell which a stranger woman may have cast on him in his +absence, and which might be communicated through him to the women of +his village. Two Hindoo ambassadors, who had been sent to England by +a native prince and had returned to India, were considered to have +so polluted themselves by contact with strangers that nothing but +being born again could restore them to purity. "For the purpose of +regeneration it is directed to make an image of pure gold of the +female power of nature, in the shape either of a woman or of a cow. +In this statue the person to be regenerated is enclosed, and dragged +through the usual channel. As a statue of pure gold and of proper +dimensions would be too expensive, it is sufficient to make an image +of the sacred _Yoni,_ through which the person to be regenerated is +to pass." Such an image of pure gold was made at the prince's +command, and his ambassadors were born again by being dragged +through it. + +When precautions like these are taken on behalf of the people in +general against the malignant influence supposed to be exercised by +strangers, it is no wonder that special measures are adopted to +protect the king from the same insidious danger. In the middle ages +the envoys who visited a Tartar Khan were obliged to pass between +two fires before they were admitted to his presence, and the gifts +they brought were also carried between the fires. The reason +assigned for the custom was that the fire purged away any magic +influence which the strangers might mean to exercise over the Khan. +When subject chiefs come with their retinues to visit Kalamba (the +most powerful chief of the Bashilange in the Congo Basin) for the +first time or after being rebellious, they have to bathe, men and +women together, in two brooks on two successive days, passing the +nights under the open sky in the market-place. After the second bath +they proceed, entirely naked, to the house of Kalamba, who makes a +long white mark on the breast and forehead of each of them. Then +they return to the market-place and dress, after which they undergo +the pepper ordeal. Pepper is dropped into the eyes of each of them, +and while this is being done the sufferer has to make a confession +of all his sins, to answer all questions that may be put to him, and +to take certain vows. This ends the ceremony, and the strangers are +now free to take up their quarters in the town for as long as they +choose to remain. + + + +2. Taboos on Eating and Drinking + +IN THE OPINION of savages the acts of eating and drinking are +attended with special danger; for at these times the soul may escape +from the mouth, or be extracted by the magic arts of an enemy +present. Among the Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast "the +common belief seems to be that the indwelling spirit leaves the body +and returns to it through the mouth; hence, should it have gone out, +it behoves a man to be careful about opening his mouth, lest a +homeless spirit should take advantage of the opportunity and enter +his body. This, it appears, is considered most likely to take place +while the man is eating." Precautions are therefore adopted to guard +against these dangers. Thus of the Bataks it is said that "since the +soul can leave the body, they always take care to prevent their soul +from straying on occasions when they have most need of it. But it is +only possible to prevent the soul from straying when one is in the +house. At feasts one may find the whole house shut up, in order that +the soul may stay and enjoy the good things set before it." The +Zafimanelo in Madagascar lock their doors when they eat, and hardly +any one ever sees them eating. The Warua will not allow any one to +see them eating and drinking, being doubly particular that no person +of the opposite sex shall see them doing 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 offered a drink they often ask that a cloth may be held +up to hide them whilst drinking. + +If these are the ordinary precautions taken by common people, the +precautions taken by kings are extraordinary. The king of Loango may +not be seen eating or drinking by man or beast under pain of death. +A favourite dog having broken into the room where the king was +dining, the king ordered it to be killed on the spot. Once the +king's own son, a boy of twelve years old, inadvertently saw the +king drink. Immediately the king ordered him to be finely apparelled +and feasted, after which he commanded him to be cut in quarters, and +carried about the city with a proclamation that he had seen the king +drink. "When the king has a mind to drink, he has a cup of wine +brought; he that brings 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 and +rings the bell, on which all present fall down with their faces to +the ground, and continue so till the king has drank. . . . His +eating is much in the same style, for which he has a house on +purpose, where his victuals are set upon a bensa or table: which he +goes to, and shuts the door: when he has done, he knocks and comes +out. So that none ever see the king eat or drink. For it is believed +that if any one should, the king shall immediately die." The +remnants of his food are buried, doubtless to prevent them from +falling into the hands of sorcerers, who by means of these fragments +might cast a fatal spell over the monarch. The rules observed by the +neighbouring king of Cacongo were similar; it was thought that the +king would die if any of his subjects were to see him drink. It is a +capital offence to see the king of Dahomey at his meals. When he +drinks in public, as he does on extraordinary occasions, he hides +himself behind a curtain, or handkerchiefs are held up round his +head, and all the people throw themselves with their faces to the +earth. When the king of Bunyoro in Central Africa went to drink milk +in the dairy, every man must leave the royal enclosure and all the +women had to cover their heads till the king returned. No one might +see him drink. One wife accompanied him to the dairy and handed him +the milk-pot, but she turned away her face while he drained it. + + + +3. Taboos on Showing the Face + +IN SOME of the preceding cases the intention of eating and drinking +in strict seclusion may perhaps be to hinder evil influences from +entering the body rather than to prevent the escape of the soul. +This certainly is the motive of some drinking customs observed by +natives of the Congo region. Thus we are told of these people that +"there is hardly a native who would dare to swallow a liquid without +first conjuring the spirits. One of them rings a bell all the time +he is drinking; another crouches down and places his left hand on +the earth; another veils his head; another puts a stalk of grass or +a leaf in his hair, or marks his forehead with a line of clay. This +fetish custom assumes very varied forms. To explain them, the black +is satisfied to say that they are an energetic mode of conjuring +spirits." In this part of the world a chief will commonly ring a +bell at each draught of beer which he swallows, and at the same +moment a lad stationed in front of him brandishes a spear "to keep +at bay the spirits which might try to sneak into the old chief's +body by the same road as the beer." The same motive of warding off +evil spirits probably explains the custom observed by some African +sultans of veiling their faces. The Sultan of Darfur wraps up his +face with a piece of white muslin, which goes round his head several +times, covering his mouth and nose first, and then his forehead, so +that only his eyes are visible. The same custom of veiling the face +as a mark of sovereignty is said to be observed in other parts of +Central Africa. The Sultan of Wadai always speaks from behind a +curtain; no one sees his face except his intimates and a few +favoured persons. + + + +4. Taboos on Quitting the House + +BY AN EXTENSION of the like precaution kings are sometimes forbidden +ever to leave their palaces; or, if they are allowed to do so, their +subjects are forbidden to see them abroad. The fetish king of Benin, +who was worshipped as a deity by his subjects, might not quit his +palace. After his coronation the king of Loango is confined to his +palace, which he may not leave. The king of Onitsha "does not step +out of his house into the town unless a human sacrifice is made to +propitiate the gods: on this account he never goes out beyond the +precincts of his premises." Indeed we are told that he may not quit +his palace under pain of death or of giving up one or more slaves to +be executed in his presence. As the wealth of the country is +measured in slaves, the king takes good care not to infringe the +law. Yet once a year at the Feast of Yams the king is allowed, and +even required by custom, to dance before his people outside the high +mud wall of the palace. In dancing he carries a great weight, +generally a sack of earth, on his back to prove that he is still +able to support the burden and cares of state. Were he unable to +discharge this duty, he would be immediately deposed and perhaps +stoned. The kings of Ethiopia were worshipped as gods, but were +mostly kept shut up in their palaces. On the mountainous coast of +Pontus there dwelt in antiquity a rude and warlike people named the +Mosyni or Mosynoeci, through whose rugged country the Ten Thousand +marched on their famous retreat from Asia to Europe. These +barbarians kept their king in close custody at the top of a high +tower, from which after his election he was never more allowed to +descend. Here he dispensed justice to his people; but if he offended +them, they punished him by stopping his rations for a whole day, or +even starving him to death. The kings of Sabaea or Sheba, the spice +country of Arabia, were not allowed to go out of their palaces; if +they did so, the mob stoned them to death. But at the top of the +palace there was a window with a chain attached to it. If any man +deemed he had suffered wrong, he pulled the chain, and the king +perceived him and called him in and gave judgment. + + + +5. Taboos on Leaving Food over + +AGAIN, magic mischief may be wrought upon a man through the remains +of the food he has partaken of, or the dishes out of which he has +eaten. On the principles of sympathetic magic a real connexion +continues to subsist between the food which a man has in his stomach +and the refuse of it which he has left untouched, and hence by +injuring the refuse you can simultaneously injure the eater. Among +the Narrinyeri of South Australia every adult is constantly on the +look-out for bones of beasts, birds, or fish, of which the flesh has +been eaten by somebody, in order to construct a deadly charm out of +them. Every one is therefore careful to burn the bones of the +animals which he has eaten, lest they should fall into the hands of +a sorcerer. Too often, however, the sorcerer succeeds in getting +hold of such a bone, and when he does so he believes that he has the +power of life and death over the man, woman, or child who ate the +flesh of the animal. To put the charm in operation he makes a paste +of red ochre and fish oil, inserts in it the eye of a cod and a +small piece of the flesh of a corpse, and having rolled the compound +into a ball sticks it on the top of the bone. After being left for +some time in the bosom of a dead body, in order that it may derive a +deadly potency by contact with corruption, the magical implement is +set up in the ground near the fire, and as the ball melts, so the +person against whom the charm is directed wastes with disease; if +the ball is melted quite away, the victim will die. When the +bewitched man learns of the spell that is being cast upon him, he +endeavours to buy the bone from the sorcerer, and if he obtains it +he breaks the charm by throwing the bone into a river or lake. In +Tana, one of the New Hebrides, people bury or throw into the sea the +leavings of their food, lest these should fall into the hands of the +disease-makers. For if a disease-maker finds the remnants of a meal, +say the skin of a banana, he picks it up and burns it slowly in the +fire. As it burns, the person who ate the banana falls ill and sends +to the disease-maker, offering him presents if he will stop burning +the banana skin. In New Guinea the natives take the utmost care to +destroy or conceal the husks and other remains of their food, lest +these should be found by their enemies and used by them for the +injury or destruction of the eaters. Hence they burn their leavings, +throw them into the sea, or otherwise put them out of harm's way. + +From a like fear, no doubt, of sorcery, no one may touch the food +which the king of Loango leaves upon his plate; it is buried in a +hole in the ground. And no one may drink out of the king's vessel. +In antiquity the Romans used immediately to break the shells of eggs +and of snails which they had eaten, in order to prevent enemies from +making magic with them. The common practice, still observed among +us, of breaking egg-shells after the eggs have been eaten may very +well have originated in the same superstition. + +The superstitious fear of the magic that may be wrought on a man +through the leavings of his food has had the beneficial effect of +inducing many savages to destroy refuse which, if left to rot, might +through its corruption have proved a real, not a merely imaginary, +source of disease and death. Nor is it only the sanitary condition +of a tribe which has benefited by this superstition; curiously +enough the same baseless dread, the same false notion of causation, +has indirectly strengthened the moral bonds of hospitality, honour, +and good faith among men who entertain it. For it is obvious that no +one who intends to harm a man by working magic on the refuse of his +food will himself partake of that food, because if he did so he +would, on the principles of sympathetic magic, suffer equally with +his enemy from any injury done to the refuse. This is the idea which +in primitive society lends sanctity to the bond produced by eating +together; by participation in the same food two men give, as it +were, hostages for their good behaviour; each guarantees the other +that he will devise no mischief against him, since, being physically +united with him by the common food in their stomachs, any harm he +might do to his fellow would recoil on his own head with precisely +the same force with which it fell on the head of his victim. In +strict logic, however, the sympathetic bond lasts only so long as +the food is in the stomach of each of the parties. Hence the +covenant formed by eating together is less solemn and durable than +the covenant formed by transfusing the blood of the covenanting +parties into each other's veins, for this transfusion seems to knit +them together for life. + + + + +XX. Tabooed Persons + + + +1. Chiefs and Kings tabooed + +WE have seen that the Mikado's food was cooked every day in new pots +and served up in new dishes; both pots and dishes were of common +clay, in order that they might be broken or laid aside after they +had been once used. They were generally broken, for it was believed +that if any one else ate his food out of these sacred dishes, his +mouth and throat would become swollen and inflamed. The same ill +effect was thought to be experienced by any one who should wear the +Mikado's clothes without his leave; he would have swellings and +pains all over his body. In Fiji there is a special name (_kana +lama_) for the disease supposed to be caused by eating out of a +chief's dishes or wearing his clothes. "The throat and body swell, +and the impious person dies. I had a fine mat given to me by a man +who durst not use it because Thakombau's eldest son had sat upon it. +There was always a family or clan of commoners who were exempt from +this danger. I was talking about this once to Thakombau. 'Oh yes,' +said he. 'Here, So-and-so! come and scratch my back.' The man +scratched; he was one of those who could do it with impunity." The +name of the men thus highly privileged was _Na nduka ni,_ or the +dirt of the chief. + +In the evil effects thus supposed to follow upon the use of the +vessels or clothes of the Mikado and a Fijian chief we see that +other side of the god-man's character to which attention has been +already called. The divine person is a source of danger as well as +of blessing; he must not only be guarded, he must also be guarded +against. His sacred organism, so delicate that a touch may disorder +it, is also, as it were, electrically charged with a powerful +magical or spiritual force which may discharge itself with fatal +effect on whatever comes in contact with it. Accordingly the +isolation of the man-god is quite as necessary for the safety of +others as for his own. His magical virtue is in the strictest sense +of the word contagious: his divinity is a fire, which, under proper +restraints, confers endless blessings, but, if rashly touched or +allowed to break bounds, burns and destroys what it touches. Hence +the disastrous effects supposed to attend a breach of taboo; the +offender has thrust his hand into the divine fire, which shrivels up +and consumes him on the spot. + +The Nubas, for example, who inhabit the wooded and fertile range of +Jebel Nuba in Eastern Africa, believe that they would die if they +entered the house of their priestly king; however, they can evade +the penalty of their intrusion by baring the left shoulder and +getting the king to lay his hand on it. And were any man to sit on a +stone which the king has consecrated to his own use, the +transgressor would die within the year. The Cazembes of Angola +regard their king as so holy that no one can touch him without being +killed by the magical power which pervades his sacred person. But +since contact with him is sometimes unavoidable, they have devised a +means whereby the sinner can escape with his life. Kneeling down +before the king he touches the back of the royal hand with the back +of his own, then snaps his fingers; afterwards he lays the palm of +his hand on the palm of the king's hand, then snaps his fingers +again. This ceremony is repeated four or five times, and averts the +imminent danger of death. In Tonga it was believed that if any one +fed himself with his own hands after touching the sacred person of a +superior chief or anything that belonged to him, he would swell up +and die; the sanctity of the chief, like a virulent poison, infected +the hands of his inferior, and, being communicated through them to +the food, proved fatal to the eater. A commoner who had incurred +this danger could disinfect himself by performing a certain +ceremony, which consisted in touching the sole of a chief's foot +with the palm and back of each of his hands, and afterwards rinsing +his hands in water. If there was no water near, he rubbed his hands +with the juicy stem of a plantain or banana. After that he was free +to feed himself with his own hands without danger of being attacked +by the malady which would otherwise follow from eating with tabooed +or sanctified hands. But until the ceremony of expiation or +disinfection had been performed, if he wished to eat he had either +to get some one to feed him, or else to go down on his knees and +pick up the food from the ground with his mouth like a beast. He +might not even use a toothpick himself, but might guide the hand of +another person holding the toothpick. The Tongans were subject to +induration of the liver and certain forms of scrofula, which they +often attributed to a failure to perform the requisite expiation +after having inadvertently touched a chief or his belongings. Hence +they often went through the ceremony as a precaution, without +knowing that they had done anything to call for it. The king of +Tonga could not refuse to play his part in the rite by presenting +his foot to such as desired to touch it, even when they applied to +him at an inconvenient time. A fat unwieldy king, who perceived his +subjects approaching with this intention, while he chanced to be +taking his walks abroad, has been sometimes seen to waddle as fast +as his legs could carry him out of their way, in order to escape the +importunate and not wholly disinterested expression of their homage. +If any one fancied he might have already unwittingly eaten with +tabooed hands, he sat down before the chief, and, taking the chief's +foot, pressed it against his own stomach, that the food in his belly +might not injure him, and that he might not swell up and die. Since +scrofula was regarded by the Tongans as a result of eating with +tabooed hands, we may conjecture that persons who suffered from it +among them often resorted to the touch or pressure of the king's +foot as a cure for their malady. The analogy of the custom with the +old English practice of bringing scrofulous patients to the king to +be healed by his touch is sufficiently obvious, and suggests, as I +have already pointed out elsewhere, that among our own remote +ancestors scrofula may have obtained its name of the King's Evil, +from a belief, like that of the Tongans, that it was caused as well +as cured by contact with the divine majesty of kings. + +In New Zealand the dread of the sanctity of chiefs was at least as +great as in Tonga. Their ghostly power, derived from an ancestral +spirit, diffused itself by contagion over everything they touched, +and could strike dead all who rashly or unwittingly meddled with it. +For instance, it once happened that a New Zealand chief of high rank +and great sanctity had left the remains of his dinner by the +wayside. A slave, a stout, hungry fellow, coming up after the chief +had gone, saw the unfinished dinner, and ate it up without asking +questions. Hardly had he finished when he was informed by a +horror-stricken spectator that the food of which he had eaten was +the chief's. "I knew the unfortunate delinquent well. He was +remarkable for courage, and had signalised himself in the wars of +the tribe," but "no sooner did he hear the fatal news than he was +seized by the most extraordinary convulsions and cramp in the +stomach, which never ceased till he died, about sundown the same +day. He was a strong man, in the prime of life, and if any pakeha +[European] freethinker should have said he was not killed by the +_tapu_ of the chief, which had been communicated to the food by +contact, he would have been listened to with feelings of contempt +for his ignorance and inability to understand plain and direct +evidence." This is not a solitary case. A Maori woman having eaten +of some fruit, and being afterwards told that the fruit had been +taken from a tabooed place, exclaimed that the spirit of the chief, +whose sanctity had been thus profaned, would kill her. This was in +the afternoon, and next day by twelve o'clock she was dead. A Maori +chief's tinder-box was once the means of killing several persons; +for, having been lost by him, and found by some men who used it to +light their pipes, they died of fright on learning to whom it had +belonged. So, too, the garments of a high New Zealand chief will +kill any one else who wears them. A chief was observed by a +missionary to throw down a precipice a blanket which he found too +heavy to carry. Being asked by the missionary why he did not leave +it on a tree for the use of a future traveller, the chief replied +that "it was the fear of its being taken by another which caused him +to throw it where he did, for if it were worn, his tapu" (that is, +his spiritual power communicated by contact to the blanket and +through the blanket to the man) "would kill the person." For a +similar reason a Maori chief would not blow a fire with his mouth; +for his sacred breath would communicate its sanctity to the fire, +which would pass it on to the pot on the fire, which would pass it +on to the meat in the pot, which would pass it on to the man who ate +the meat, which was in the pot, which stood on the fire, which was +breathed on by the chief; so that the eater, infected by the chief's +breath conveyed through these intermediaries, would surely die. + +Thus in the Polynesian race, to which the Maoris belong, +superstition erected round the persons of sacred chiefs a real, +though at the same time purely imaginary barrier, to transgress +which actually entailed the death of the transgressor whenever he +became aware of what he had done. This fatal power of the +imagination working through superstitious terrors is by no means +confined to one race; it appears to be common among savages. For +example, among the aborigines of Australia a native will die after +the infliction of even the most superficial wound, if only he +believes that the weapon which inflicted the wound had been sung +over and thus endowed with magical virtue. He simply lies down, +refuses food, and pines away. Similarly among some of the Indian +tribes of Brazil, if the medicine-man predicted the death of any one +who had offended him, "the wretch took to his hammock instantly in +such full expectation of dying, that he would neither eat nor drink, +and the prediction was a sentence which faith effectually executed." + + + +2. Mourners tabooed + +THUS regarding his sacred chiefs and kings as charged with a +mysterious spiritual force which so to say explodes at contact, the +savage naturally ranks them among the dangerous classes of society, +and imposes upon them the same sort of restraints that he lays on +manslayers, menstruous women, and other persons whom he looks upon +with a certain fear and horror. For example, sacred kings and +priests in Polynesia were not allowed to touch food with their +hands, and had therefore to be fed by others; and as we have just +seen, their vessels, garments, and other property might not be used +by others on pain of disease and death. Now precisely the same +observances are exacted by some savages from girls at their first +menstruation, women after childbirth, homicides, mourners, and all +persons who have come into contact with the dead. Thus, for example, +to begin with the last class of persons, among the Maoris any one +who had handled a corpse, helped to convey it to the grave, or +touched a dead man's bones, was cut off from all intercourse and +almost all communication with mankind. He could not enter any house, +or come into contact with any person or thing, without utterly +bedevilling them. He might not even touch food with his hands, which +had become so frightfully tabooed or unclean as to be quite useless. +Food would be set for him on the ground, and he would then sit or +kneel down, and, with his hands carefully held behind his back, +would gnaw at it as best he could. In some cases he would be fed by +another person, who with outstretched arm contrived to do it without +touching the tabooed man; but the feeder was himself subjected to +many severe restrictions, little less onerous than those which were +imposed upon the other. In almost every populous village there lived +a degraded wretch, the lowest of the low, who earned a sorry +pittance by thus waiting upon the defiled. Clad in rags, daubed from +head to foot with red ochre and stinking shark oil, always solitary +and silent, generally old, haggard, and wizened, often half crazed, +he might be seen sitting motionless all day apart from the common +path or thoroughfare of the village, gazing with lack-lustre eyes on +the busy doings in which he might never take a part. Twice a day a +dole of food would be thrown on the ground before him to munch as +well as he could without the use of his hands; and at night, +huddling his greasy tatters about him, he would crawl into some +miserable lair of leaves and refuse, where, dirty, cold, and hungry, +he passed, in broken ghost-haunted slumbers, a wretched night as a +prelude to another wretched day. Such was the only human being +deemed fit to associate at arm's length with one who had paid the +last offices of respect and friendship to the dead. And when, the +dismal term of his seclusion being over, the mourner was about to +mix with his fellows once more, all the dishes he had used in his +seclusion were diligently smashed, and all the garments he had worn +were carefully thrown away, lest they should spread the contagion of +his defilement among others, just as the vessels and clothes of +sacred kings and chiefs are destroyed or cast away for a similar +reason. So complete in these respects is the analogy which the +savage traces between the spiritual influences that emanate from +divinities and from the dead, between the odour of sanctity and the +stench of corruption. + +The rule which forbids persons who have been in contact with the +dead to touch food with their hands would seem to have been +universal in Polynesia. Thus in Samoa "those who attended the +deceased were most careful not to handle food, and for days were fed +by others as if they were helpless infants. Baldness and the loss of +teeth were supposed to be the punishment inflicted by the household +god if they violated the rule." Again, in Tonga, "no person can +touch a dead chief without being taboo'd for ten lunar months, +except chiefs, who are only taboo'd for three, four, or five months, +according to the superiority of the dead chief; except again it be +the body of Tooitonga [the great divine chief], and then even the +greatest chief would be taboo'd ten months. . . . During the time a +man is taboo'd he must not feed himself with his own hands, but must +be fed by somebody else: he must not even use a toothpick himself, +but must guide another person's hand holding the toothpick. If he is +hungry and there is no one to feed him, he must go down upon his +hands and knees, and pick up his victuals with his mouth: and if he +infringes upon any of these rules, it is firmly expected that he +will swell up and die." + +Among the Shuswap of British Columbia widows and widowers in +mourning are secluded and forbidden to touch their own head or body; +the cups and cooking-vessels which they use may be used by no one +else. They must build a sweat-house beside a creek, sweat there all +night and bathe regularly, after which they must rub their bodies +with branches of spruce. The branches may not be used more than +once, and when they have served their purpose they are stuck into +the ground all round the hut. No hunter would come near such +mourners, for their presence is unlucky. If their shadow were to +fall on any one, he would be taken ill at once. They employ thorn +bushes for bed and pillow, in order to keep away the ghost of the +deceased; and thorn bushes are also laid all around their beds. This +last precaution shows clearly what the spiritual danger is which +leads to the exclusion of such persons from ordinary society; it is +simply a fear of the ghost who is supposed to be hovering near them. +In the Mekeo district of British New Guinea a widower loses all his +civil rights and becomes a social outcast, an object of fear and +horror, shunned by all. He may not cultivate a garden, nor show +himself in public, nor traverse the village, nor walk on the roads +and paths. Like a wild beast he must skulk in the long grass and the +bushes; and if he sees or hears any one coming, especially a woman, +he must hide behind a tree or a thicket. If he wishes to fish or +hunt, he must do it alone and at night. If he would consult any one, +even the missionary, he does so by stealth and at night; he seems to +have lost his voice and speaks only in whispers. Were he to join a +party of fishers or hunters, his presence would bring misfortune on +them; the ghost of his dead wife would frighten away the fish or the +game. He goes about everywhere and at all times armed with a +tomahawk to defend himself, not only against wild boars in the +jungle, but against the dreaded spirit of his departed spouse, who +would do him an ill turn if she could; for all the souls of the dead +are malignant and their only delight is to harm the living. + + + +3. Women tabooed at Menstruation and Childbirth + +IN GENERAL, we may say that the prohibition to use the vessels, +garments, and so forth of certain persons, and the effects supposed +to follow an infraction of the rule, are exactly the same whether +the persons to whom the things belong are sacred or what we might +call unclean and polluted. As the garments which have been touched +by a sacred chief kill those who handle them, so do the things which +have been touched by a menstruous women. An Australian blackfellow, +who discovered that his wife had lain on his blanket at her +menstrual period, killed her and died of terror himself within a +fortnight. Hence Australian women at these times are forbidden under +pain of death to touch anything that men use, or even to walk on a +path that any man frequents. They are also secluded at childbirth, +and all vessels used by them during their seclusion are burned. In +Uganda the pots which a woman touches, while the impurity of +childbirth or of menstruation is on her, should be destroyed; spears +and shields defiled by her touch are not destroyed, but only +purified. "Among all the Déné and most other American tribes, hardly +any other being was the object of so much dread as a menstruating +woman. As soon as signs of that condition made themselves apparent +in a young girl she was carefully segregated from all but female +company, and had to live by herself in a small hut away from the +gaze of the villagers or of the male members of the roving band. +While in that awful state, she had to abstain from touching anything +belonging to man, or the spoils of any venison or other animal, lest +she would thereby pollute the same, and condemn the hunters to +failure, owing to the anger of the game thus slighted. Dried fish +formed her diet, and cold water, absorbed through a drinking tube, +was her only beverage. Moreover, as the very sight of her was +dangerous to society, a special skin bonnet, with fringes falling +over her face down to her breast, hid her from the public gaze, even +some time after she had recovered her normal state." Among the +Bribri Indians of Costa Rica a menstruous woman is regarded as +unclean. The 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 drinks out of a special +vessel for a like reason; because if any one drank out of the same +cup after her, he would surely die. + +Among many peoples similar restrictions are imposed on women in +childbed and apparently for similar reasons; at such periods women +are supposed to be in a dangerous condition which would infect any +person or thing they might touch; hence they are put into quarantine +until, with the recovery of their health and strength, the imaginary +danger has passed away. Thus, in Tahiti a woman after childbirth was +secluded for a fortnight or three weeks in a temporary hut erected +on sacred ground; during the time of her seclusion she was debarred +from touching provisions, and had to be fed by another. Further, if +any one else touched the child at this period, he was subjected to +the same restrictions as the mother until the ceremony of her +purification had been performed. Similarly in the island of Kadiak, +off Alaska, a woman about to be delivered retires to a miserable low +hovel built of reeds, where she must remain for twenty days after +the birth of her child, whatever the season may be, and she is +considered so unclean that no one will touch her, and food is +reached to her on sticks. The Bribri Indians regard the pollution of +childbed as much more dangerous even than that of menstruation. When +a woman feels her time approaching, she informs her husband, who +makes haste to build a hut for her in a lonely spot. There she must +live alone, holding no converse with anybody save her mother or +another woman. After her delivery the medicine-man purifies her by +breathing on her and laying an animal, it matters not what, upon +her. But even this ceremony only mitigates her uncleanness into a +state considered to be equivalent to that of a menstruous woman; and +for a full lunar month she must live apart from her housemates, +observing the same rules with regard to eating and drinking as at +her monthly periods. The case is still worse, the pollution is still +more deadly, if she has had a miscarriage or has been delivered of a +stillborn child. In that case she may not go near a living soul: the +mere contact with things she has used is exceedingly dangerous: her +food is handed to her at the end of a long stick. This lasts +generally for three weeks, after which she may go home, subject only +to the restrictions incident to an ordinary confinement. + +Some Bantu tribes entertain even more exaggerated notions of the +virulent infection spread by a woman who has had a miscarriage and +has concealed it. An experienced observer of these people tells us +that the blood of childbirth "appears to the eyes of the South +Africans to be tainted with a pollution still more dangerous than +that of the menstrual fluid. The husband is excluded from the hut +for eight days of the lying-in period, chiefly from fear that he +might be contaminated by this secretion. He dare not take his child +in his arms for the three first months after the birth. But the +secretion of childbed is particularly terrible when it is the +product of a miscarriage, especially _a concealed miscarriage._ In +this case it is not merely the man who is threatened or killed, it +is the whole country, it is the sky itself which suffers. By a +curious association of ideas a physiological fact causes cosmic +troubles!" As for the disastrous effect which a miscarriage may have +on the whole country I will quote the words of a medicine-man and +rain-maker of the Ba-Pedi tribe: "When a woman has had a +miscarriage, when she has allowed her blood to flow, and has hidden +the child, it is enough to cause the burning winds to blow and to +parch the country with heat. The rain no longer falls, for the +country is no longer in order. When the rain approaches the place +where the blood is, it will not dare to approach. It will fear and +remain at a distance. That woman has committed a great fault. She +has spoiled the country of the chief, for she has hidden blood which +had not yet been well congealed to fashion a man. That blood is +taboo. It should never drip on the road! The chief will assemble his +men and say to them, 'Are you in order in your villages?' Some one +will answer, 'Such and such a woman was pregnant and we have not yet +seen the child which she has given birth to.' Then they go and +arrest the woman. They say to her, 'Show us where you have hidden +it.' They go and dig at the spot, they sprinkle the hole with a +decoction of two sorts of roots prepared in a special pot. They take +a little of the earth of this grave, they throw it into the river, +then they bring back water from the river and sprinkle it where she +shed her blood. She herself must wash every day with the medicine. +Then the country will be moistened again (by rain). Further, we +(medicine-men), summon the women of the country; we tell them to +prepare a ball of the earth which contains the blood. They bring it +to us one morning. If we wish to prepare medicine with which to +sprinkle the whole country, we crumble this earth to powder; at the +end of five days we send little boys and little girls, girls that +yet know nothing of women's affairs and have not yet had relations +with men. We put the medicine in the horns of oxen, and these +children go to all the fords, to all the entrances of the country. A +little girl turns up the soil with her mattock, the others dip a +branch in the horn and sprinkle the inside of the hole saying, +'Rain! rain!' So we remove the misfortune which the women have +brought on the roads; the rain will be able to come. The country is +purified!" + + + +4. Warriors tabooed + +ONCE more, warriors are conceived by the savage to move, so to say, +in an atmosphere of spiritual danger which constrains them to +practise a variety of superstitious observances quite different in +their nature from those rational precautions which, as a matter of +course, they adopt against foes of flesh and blood. The general +effect of these observances is to place the warrior, both before and +after victory, in the same state of seclusion or spiritual +quarantine in which, for his own safety, primitive man puts his +human gods and other dangerous characters. Thus when the Maoris went +out on the war-path they were sacred or taboo in the highest degree, +and they and their friends at home had to observe strictly many +curious customs over and above the numerous taboos of ordinary life. +They became, in the irreverent language of Europeans who knew them +in the old fighting days, "tabooed an inch thick"; and as for the +leader of the expedition, he was quite unapproachable. Similarly, +when the Israelites marched forth to war they were bound by certain +rules of ceremonial purity identical with rules observed by Maoris +and Australian blackfellows on the war-path. The vessels they used +were sacred, and they had to practise continence and a custom of +personal cleanliness of which the original motive, if we may judge +from the avowed motive of savages who conform to the same custom, +was a fear lest the enemy should obtain the refuse of their persons, +and thus be enabled to work their destruction by magic. Among some +Indian tribes of North America a young warrior in his first campaign +had to conform to certain customs, of which two were identical with +the observances imposed by the same Indians on girls at their first +menstruation: the vessels he ate and drank out of might be touched +by no other person, and he was forbidden to scratch his head or any +other part of his body with his fingers; if he could not help +scratching himself, he had to do it with a stick. The latter rule, +like the one which forbids a tabooed person to feed himself with his +own fingers, seems to rest on the supposed sanctity or pollution, +whichever we choose to call it, of the tabooed hands. Moreover among +these Indian tribes the men on the war-path had always to sleep at +night with their faces turned towards their own country; however +uneasy the posture, they might not change it. They might not sit +upon the bare ground, nor wet their feet, nor walk on a beaten path +if they could help it; when they had no choice but to walk on a +path, they sought to counteract the ill effect of doing so by +doctoring their legs with certain medicines or charms which they +carried with them for the purpose. No member of the party was +permitted to step over the legs, hands, or body of any other member +who chanced to be sitting or lying on the ground; and it was equally +forbidden to step over his blanket, gun, tomahawk, or anything that +belonged to him. If this rule was inadvertently broken, it became +the duty of the member whose person or property had been stepped +over to knock the other member down, and it was similarly the duty +of that other to be knocked down peaceably and without resistance. +The vessels out of which the warriors ate their food were commonly +small bowls of wood or birch bark, with marks to distinguish the two +sides; in marching from home the Indians invariably drank out of one +side of the bowl, and in returning they drank out of the other. When +on their way home they came within a day's march of the village, +they hung up all their bowls on trees, or threw them away on the +prairie, doubtless to prevent their sanctity or defilement from +being communicated with disastrous effects to their friends, just as +we have seen that the vessels and clothes of the sacred Mikado, of +women at childbirth and menstruation, and of persons defiled by +contact with the dead are destroyed or laid aside for a similar +reason. The first four times that an Apache Indian goes out on the +war-path, he is bound to refrain from scratching his head with his +fingers and from letting water touch his lips. Hence he scratches +his head with a stick, and drinks through a hollow reed or cane. +Stick and reed are attached to the warrior's belt and to each other +by a leathern thong. The rule not to scratch their heads with their +fingers, but to use a stick for the purpose instead, was regularly +observed by Ojebways on the war-path. + +With regard to the Creek Indians and kindred tribes we are told they +"will not cohabit with women while they are out at war; they +religiously abstain from every kind of intercourse even with their +own wives, for the space of three days and nights before they go to +war, and so after they return home, because they are to sanctify +themselves." Among the Ba-Pedi and Ba-Thonga tribes of South Africa +not only have the warriors to abstain from women, but the people +left behind in the villages are also bound to continence; they think +that any incontinence on their part would cause thorns to grow on +the ground traversed by the warriors, and that success would not +attend the expedition. + +Why exactly many savages have made it a rule to refrain from women +in time of war, we cannot say for certain, but we may conjecture +that their motive was a superstitious fear lest, on the principles +of sympathetic magic, close contact with women should infect them +with feminine weakness and cowardice. Similarly some savages imagine +that contact with a woman in childbed enervates warriors and +enfeebles their weapons. Indeed the Kayans of Central Borneo go so +far as to hold that to touch a loom or women's clothes would so +weaken a man that he would have no success in hunting, fishing, and +war. Hence it is not merely sexual intercourse with women that the +savage warrior sometimes shuns; he is careful to avoid the sex +altogether. Thus among the hill tribes of Assam, not only are men +forbidden to cohabit with their wives during or after a raid, but +they may not eat food cooked by a woman; nay, they should not +address a word even to their own wives. Once a woman, who +unwittingly broke the rule by speaking to her husband while he was +under the war taboo, sickened and died when she learned the awful +crime she had committed. + + + +5. Manslayers tabooed + +IF THE READER still doubts whether the rules of conduct which we +have just been considering are based on superstitious fears or +dictated by a rational prudence, his doubts will probably be +dissipated when he learns that rules of the same sort are often +imposed even more stringently on warriors after the victory has been +won and when all fear of the living corporeal foe is at an end. In +such cases one motive for the inconvenient restrictions laid on the +victors in their hour of triumph is probably a dread of the angry +ghosts of the slain; and that the fear of the vengeful ghosts does +influence the behaviour of the slayers is often expressly affirmed. +The general effect of the taboos laid on sacred chiefs, mourners, +women at childbirth, men on the war-path, and so on, is to seclude +or isolate the tabooed persons from ordinary society, this effect +being attained by a variety of rules, which oblige the men or women +to live in separate huts or in the open air, to shun the commerce of +the sexes, to avoid the use of vessels employed by others, and so +forth. Now the same effect is produced by similar means in the case +of victorious warriors, particularly such as have actually shed the +blood of their enemies. In the island of Timor, when a warlike +expedition has returned in triumph bringing the heads of the +vanquished foe, the leader of the expedition is forbidden by +religion and custom to return at once to his own house. A special +hut is prepared for him, in which he has to reside for two months, +undergoing bodily and spiritual purification. During this time he +may not go to his wife nor feed himself; the food must be put into +his mouth by another person. That these observances are dictated by +fear of the ghosts of the slain seems certain; for from another +account of the ceremonies performed on the return of a successful +head-hunter in the same island we learn that sacrifices are offered +on this occasion to appease the soul of the man whose head has been +taken; the people think that some misfortune would befall the victor +were such offerings omitted. Moreover, a part of the ceremony +consists of a dance accompanied by a song, in which the death of the +slain man is lamented and his forgiveness is entreated. "Be not +angry," they say, "because your head is here with us; had we been +less lucky, our heads might now have been exposed in your village. +We have offered the sacrifice to appease you. Your spirit may now +rest and leave us at peace. Why were you our enemy? Would it not +have been better that we should remain friends? Then your blood +would not have been spilt and your head would not have been cut +off." The people of Paloo in Central Celebes take the heads of their +enemies in war and afterwards propitiate the souls of the slain in +the temple. + +Among the tribes at the mouth of the Wanigela River, in New Guinea, +"a man who has taken life is considered to be impure until he has +undergone certain ceremonies: as soon as possible after the deed he +cleanses himself and his weapon. This satisfactorily accomplished, +he repairs to his village and seats himself on the logs of +sacrificial staging. No one approaches him or takes any notice +whatever of him. A house is prepared for him which is put in charge +of two or three small boys as servants. He may eat only toasted +bananas, and only the centre portion of them--the ends being thrown +away. On the third day of his seclusion a small feast is prepared by +his friends, who also fashion some new perineal bands for him. This +is called _ivi poro._ The next day the man dons all his best +ornaments and badges for taking life, and sallies forth fully armed +and parades the village. The next day a hunt is organised, and a +kangaroo selected from the game captured. It is cut open and the +spleen and liver rubbed over the back of the man. He then walks +solemnly down to the nearest water, and standing straddle-legs in it +washes himself. All the young untried warriors swim between his +legs. This is supposed to impart courage and strength to them. The +following day, at early dawn, he dashes out of his house, fully +armed, and calls aloud the name of his victim. Having satisfied +himself that he has thoroughly scared the ghost of the dead man, he +returns to his house. The beating of flooring-boards and the +lighting of fires is also a certain method of scaring the ghost. A +day later his purification is finished. He can then enter his wife's +house." + +In Windessi, Dutch New Guinea, when a party of head-hunters has been +successful, and they are nearing home, they announce their approach +and success by blowing on triton shells. Their canoes are also +decked with branches. The faces of the men who have taken a head are +blackened with charcoal. If several have taken part in killing the +same victim, his head is divided among them. They always time their +arrival so as to reach home in the early morning. They come rowing +to the village with a great noise, and the women stand ready to +dance in the verandahs of the houses. The canoes row past the _room +sram_ or house where the young men live; and as they pass, the +murderers throw as many pointed sticks or bamboos at the wall or the +roof as there were enemies killed. The day is spent very quietly. +Now and then they drum or blow on the conch; at other times they +beat the walls of the houses with loud shouts to drive away the +ghosts of the slain. So the Yabim of New Guinea believe that the +spirit of a murdered man pursues his murderer and seeks to do him a +mischief. Hence they drive away the spirit with shouts and the +beating of drums. When the Fijians had buried a man alive, as they +often did, they used at nightfall to make a great uproar by means of +bamboos, trumpet-shells, and so forth, for the purpose of +frightening away his ghost, lest he should attempt to return to his +old home. And to render his house unattractive to him they +dismantled it and clothed it with everything that to their ideas +seemed most repulsive. On the evening of the day on which they had +tortured a prisoner to death, the American Indians were wont to run +through the village with hideous yells, beating with sticks on the +furniture, the walls, and the roofs of the huts to prevent the angry +ghost of their victim from settling there and taking vengeance for +the torments that his body had endured at their hands. "Once," says +a traveller, "on approaching in the night a village of Ottawas, I +found all the inhabitants in confusion: they were all busily engaged +in raising noises of the loudest and most inharmonious kind. Upon +inquiry, I found that a battle had been lately fought between the +Ottawas and the Kickapoos, and that the object of all this noise was +to prevent the ghosts of the departed combatants from entering the +village." + +Among the Basutos "ablution is specially performed on return from +battle. It is absolutely necessary that the warriors should rid +themselves, as soon as possible, of the blood they have shed, or the +shades of their victims would pursue them incessantly, and disturb +their slumbers. They go in a procession, and in full armour, to the +nearest stream. At the moment they enter the water a diviner, placed +higher up, throws some purifying substances into the current. This +is, however, not strictly necessary. The javelins and battle-axes +also undergo the process of washing." Among the Bageshu of East +Africa a man who has killed another may not return to his own house +on the same day, though he may enter the village and spend the night +in a friend's house. He kills a sheep and smears his chest, his +right arm, and his head with the contents of the animal's stomach. +His children are brought to him and he smears them in like manner. +Then he smears each side of the doorway with the tripe and entrails, +and finally throws the rest of the stomach on the roof of his house. +For a whole day he may not touch food with his hands, but picks it +up with two sticks and so conveys it to his mouth. His wife is not +under any such restrictions. She may even go to mourn for the man +whom her husband has killed, if she wishes to do so. Among the +Angoni, to the north of the Zambesi, warriors who have slain foes on +an expedition smear their bodies and faces with ashes, hang garments +of their victims on their persons, and tie bark ropes round their +necks, so that the ends hang down over their shoulders or breasts. +This costume they wear for three days after their return, and rising +at break of day they run through the village uttering frightful +yells to drive away the ghosts of the slain, which, if they were not +thus banished from the houses, might bring sickness and misfortune +on the inmates. + +In some of these accounts nothing is said of an enforced seclusion, +at least after the ceremonial cleansing, but some South African +tribes certainly require the slayer of a very gallant foe in war to +keep apart from his wife and family for ten days after he has washed +his body in running water. He also receives from the tribal doctor a +medicine which he chews with his food. When a Nandi of East Africa +has killed a member of another tribe, he paints one side of his +body, spear, and sword red, and the other side white. For four days +after the slaughter he is considered unclean and may not go home. He +has to build a small shelter by a river and live there; he may not +associate with his wife or sweetheart, and he may eat nothing but +porridge, beef, and goat's flesh. At the end of the fourth day he +must purify himself by taking a strong purge made from the bark of +the _segetet_ tree and by drinking goat's milk mixed with blood. +Among the Bantu tribes of Kavirondo, when a man has killed an enemy +in warfare he shaves his head on his return home, and his friends +rub a medicine, which generally consists of goat's dung, over his +body to prevent the spirit of the slain man from troubling him. +Exactly the same custom is practised for the same reason by the +Wageia of East Africa. With the Ja-Luo of Kavirondo the custom is +somewhat different. Three days after his return from the fight the +warrior shaves his head. But before he may enter his village he has +to hang a live fowl, head uppermost, round his neck; then the bird +is decapitated and its head left hanging round his neck. Soon after +his return a feast is made for the slain man, in order that his +ghost may not haunt his slayer. In the Pelew Islands, when the men +return from a warlike expedition in which they have taken a life, +the young warriors who have been out fighting for the first time, +and all who handled the slain, are shut up in the large +council-house and become tabooed. They may not quit the edifice, nor +bathe, nor touch a woman, nor eat fish; their food is limited to +coco-nuts and syrup. They rub themselves with charmed leaves and +chew charmed betel. After three days they go together to bathe as +near as possible to the spot where the man was killed. + +Among the Natchez Indians of North America young braves who had +taken their first scalps were obliged to observe certain rules of +abstinence for six months. They might not sleep with their wives nor +eat flesh; their only food was fish and hasty-pudding. If they broke +these rules, they believed that the soul of the man they had killed +would work their death by magic, that they would gain no more +successes over the enemy, and that the least wound inflicted on them +would prove mortal. When a Choctaw had killed an enemy and taken his +scalp, he went into mourning for a month, during which he might not +comb his hair, and if his head itched he might not scratch it except +with a little stick which he wore fastened to his wrist for the +purpose. This ceremonial mourning for the enemies they had slain was +not uncommon among the North American Indians. + +Thus we see that warriors who have taken the life of a foe in battle +are temporarily cut off from free intercourse with their fellows, +and especially with their wives, and must undergo certain rites of +purification before they are readmitted to society. Now if the +purpose of their seclusion and of the expiatory rites which they +have to perform is, as we have been led to believe, no other than to +shake off, frighten, or appease the angry spirit of the slain man, +we may safely conjecture that the similar purification of homicides +and murderers, who have imbrued their hands in the blood of a +fellow-tribesman, had at first the same significance, and that the +idea of a moral or spiritual regeneration symbolised by the washing, +the fasting, and so on, was merely a later interpretation put upon +the old custom by men who had outgrown the primitive modes of +thought in which the custom originated. The conjecture will be +confirmed if we can show that savages have actually imposed certain +restrictions on the murderer of a fellow-tribesman from a definite +fear that he is haunted by the ghost of his victim. This we can do +with regard to the Omahas of North America. Among these Indians the +kinsmen of a murdered man had the right to put the murderer to +death, but sometimes they waived their right in consideration of +presents which they consented to accept. When the life of the +murderer was spared, he had to observe certain stringent rules for a +period which varied from two to four years. He must walk barefoot, +and he might eat no warm food, nor raise his voice, nor look around. +He was compelled to pull his robe about him and to have it tied at +the neck even in hot weather; he might not let it hang loose or fly +open. He might not move his hands about, but had to keep them close +to his body. He might not comb his hair, and it might not be blown +about by the wind. When the tribe went out hunting, he was obliged +to pitch his tent about a quarter of mile from the rest of the +people "lest the ghost of his victim should raise a high wind, which +might cause damage." Only one of his kindred was allowed to remain +with him at his tent. No one wished to eat with him, for they said, +"If we eat with him whom Wakanda hates, Wakanda will hate us." +Sometimes he wandered at night crying and lamenting his offence. At +the end of his long isolation the kinsmen of the murdered man heard +his crying and said, "It is enough. Begone, and walk among the +crowd. Put on moccasins and wear a good robe." Here the reason +alleged for keeping the murderer at a considerable distance from the +hunters gives the clue to all the other restrictions laid on him: he +was haunted and therefore dangerous. The ancient Greeks believed +that the soul of a man who had just been killed was wroth with his +slayer and troubled him; wherefore it was needful even for the +involuntary homicide to depart from his country for a year until the +anger of the dead man had cooled down; nor might the slayer return +until sacrifice had been offered and ceremonies of purification +performed. If his victim chanced to be a foreigner, the homicide had +to shun the native country of the dead man as well as his own. The +legend of the matricide Orestes, how he roamed from place to place +pursued by the Furies of his murdered mother, and none would sit at +meat with him, or take him in, till he had been purified, reflects +faithfully the real Greek dread of such as were still haunted by an +angry ghost. + + + +6. Hunters and Fishers tabooed + +IN SAVAGE society the hunter and the fisherman have often to observe +rules of abstinence and to submit to ceremonies of purification of +the same sort as those which are obligatory on the warrior and the +manslayer; and though we cannot in all cases perceive the exact +purpose which these rules and ceremonies are supposed to serve, we +may with some probability assume that, just as the dread of the +spirits of his enemies is the main motive for the seclusion and +purification of the warrior who hopes to take or has already taken +their lives, so the huntsman or fisherman who complies with similar +customs is principally actuated by a fear of the spirits of the +beasts, birds, or fish which he has killed or intends to kill. For +the savage commonly conceives animals to be endowed with souls and +intelligences like his own, and hence he naturally treats them with +similar respect. Just as he attempts to appease the ghosts of the +men he has slain, so he essays to propitiate the spirits of the +animals he has killed. These ceremonies of propitiation will be +described later on in this work; here we have to deal, first, with +the taboos observed by the hunter and the fisherman before or during +the hunting and fishing seasons, and, second, with the ceremonies of +purification which have to be practised by these men on returning +with their booty from a successful chase. + +While the savage respects, more or less, the souls of all animals, +he treats with particular deference the spirits of such as are +either especially useful to him or formidable on account of their +size, strength, or ferocity. Accordingly the hunting and killing of +these valuable or dangerous beasts are subject to more elaborate +rules and ceremonies than the slaughter of comparatively useless and +insignificant creatures. Thus the Indians of Nootka Sound prepared +themselves for catching whales by observing a fast for a week, +during which they ate very little, bathed in the water several times +a day, sang, and rubbed their bodies, limbs, and faces with shells +and bushes till they looked as if they had been severely torn with +briars. They were likewise required to abstain from any commerce +with their women for the like period, this last condition being +considered indispensable to their success. A chief who failed to +catch a whale has been known to attribute his failure to a breach of +chastity on the part of his men. It should be remarked that the +conduct thus prescribed as a preparation for whaling is precisely +that which in the same tribe of Indians was required of men about to +go on the war-path. Rules of the same sort are, or were formerly, +observed by Malagasy whalers. For eight days before they went to sea +the crew of a whaler used to fast, abstaining from women and liquor, +and confessing their most secret faults to each other; and if any +man was found to have sinned deeply, he was forbidden to share in +the expedition. In the island of Mabuiag continence was imposed on +the people both before they went to hunt the dugong and while the +turtles were pairing. The turtle-season lasts during parts of +October and November; and if at that time unmarried persons had +sexual intercourse with each other, it was believed that when the +canoe approached the floating turtle, the male would separate from +the female and both would dive down in different directions. So at +Mowat in New Guinea men have no relation with women when the turtles +are coupling, though there is considerable laxity of morals at other +times. In the island of Uap, one of the Caroline group, every +fisherman plying his craft lies under a most strict taboo during the +whole of the fishing season, which lasts for six or eight weeks. +Whenever he is on shore he must spend all his time in the men's +clubhouse, and under no pretext whatever may he visit his own house +or so much as look upon the faces of his wife and womenkind. Were he +but to steal a glance at them, they think that flying fish must +inevitably bore out his eyes at night. If his wife, mother, or +daughter brings any gift for him or wishes to talk with him, she +must stand down towards the shore with her back turned to the men's +clubhouse. Then the fisherman may go out and speak to her, or with +his back turned to her he may receive what she has brought him; +after which he must return at once to his rigorous confinement. +Indeed the fishermen may not even join in dance and song with the +other men of the clubhouse in the evening; they must keep to +themselves and be silent. In Mirzapur, when the seed of the silkworm +is brought into the house, the Kol or Bhuiyar puts it in a place +which has been carefully plastered with holy cowdung to bring good +luck. From that time the owner must be careful to avoid ceremonial +impurity. He must give up cohabitation with his wife; he may not +sleep on a bed, nor shave himself, nor cut his nails, nor anoint +himself with oil, nor eat food cooked with butter, nor tell lies, +nor do anything else that he deems wrong. He vows to Singarmati Devi +that, if the worms are duly born, he will make her an offering. When +the cocoons open and the worms appear, he assembles the women of the +house and they sing the same song as at the birth of a baby, and red +lead is smeared on the parting of the hair of all the married women +of the neighbourhood. When the worms pair, rejoicings are made as at +a marriage. Thus the silkworms are treated as far as possible like +human beings. Hence the custom which prohibits the commerce of the +sexes while the worms are hatching may be only an extension, by +analogy, of the rule which is observed by many races, that the +husband may not cohabit with his wife during pregnancy and +lactation. + +In the island of Nias the hunters sometimes dig pits, cover them +lightly over with twigs, grass, and leaves, and then drive the game +into them. While they are engaged in digging the pits, they have to +observe a number of taboos. They may not spit, or the game would +turn back in disgust from the pits. They may not laugh, or the sides +of the pit would fall in. They may eat no salt, prepare no fodder +for swine, and in the pit they may not scratch themselves, for if +they did, the earth would be loosened and would collapse. And the +night after digging the pit they may have no intercourse with a +woman, or all their labour would be in vain. + +This practice of observing strict chastity as a condition of success +in hunting and fishing is very common among rude races; and the +instances of it which have been cited render it probable that the +rule is always based on a superstition rather than on a +consideration of the temporary weakness which a breach of the custom +may entail on the hunter or fisherman. In general it appears to be +supposed that the evil effect of incontinence is not so much that it +weakens him, as that, for some reason or other, it offends the +animals, who in consequence will not suffer themselves to be caught. +A Carrier Indian of British Columbia used to separate from his wife +for a full month before he set traps for bears, and during this time +he might not drink from the same vessel as his wife, but had to use +a special cup made of birch bark. The neglect of these precautions +would cause the game to escape after it had been snared. But when he +was about to snare martens, the period of continence was cut down to +ten days. + +An examination of all the many cases in which the savage bridles his +passions and remains chaste from motives of superstition, would be +instructive, but I cannot attempt it now. I will only add a few +miscellaneous examples of the custom before passing to the +ceremonies of purification which are observed by the hunter and +fisherman after the chase and the fishing are over. The workers in +the salt-pans near Siphoum, in Laos, must abstain from all sexual +relations at the place where they are at work; and they may not +cover their heads nor shelter themselves under an umbrella from the +burning rays of the sun. Among the Kachins of Burma the ferment used +in making beer is prepared by two women, chosen by lot, who during +the three days that the process lasts may eat nothing acid and may +have no conjugal relations with their husbands; otherwise it is +supposed that the beer would be sour. Among the Masai honey-wine is +brewed by a man and a woman who live in a hut set apart for them +till the wine is ready for drinking. But they are strictly forbidden +to have sexual intercourse with each other during this time; it is +deemed essential that they should be chaste for two days before they +begin to brew and for the whole of the six days that the brewing +lasts. The Masai believe that were the couple to commit a breach of +chastity, not only would the wine be undrinkable but the bees which +made the honey would fly away. Similarly they require that a man who +is making poison should sleep alone and observe other taboos which +render him almost an outcast. The Wandorobbo, a tribe of the same +region as the Masai, believe that the mere presence of a woman in +the neighbourhood of a man who is brewing poison would deprive the +poison of its venom, and that the same thing would happen if the +wife of the poison-maker were to commit adultery while her husband +was brewing the poison. In this last case it is obvious that a +rationalistic explanation of the taboo is impossible. How could the +loss of virtue in the poison be a physical consequence of the loss +of virtue in the poison-maker's wife? Clearly the effect which the +wife's adultery is supposed to have on the poison is a case of +sympathetic magic; her misconduct sympathetically affects her +husband and his work at a distance. We may, accordingly, infer with +some confidence that the rule of continence imposed on the +poison-maker himself is also a simple case of sympathetic magic, and +not, as a civilised reader might be disposed to conjecture, a wise +precaution designed to prevent him from accidentally poisoning his +wife. + +Among the Ba-Pedi and Ba-Thonga tribes of South Africa, when the +site of a new village has been chosen and the houses are building, +all the married people are forbidden to have conjugal relations with +each other. If it were discovered that any couple had broken this +rule, the work of building would immediately be stopped, and another +site chosen for the village. For they think that a breach of +chastity would spoil the village which was growing up, that the +chief would grow lean and perhaps die, and that the guilty woman +would never bear another child. Among the Chams of Cochin-China, +when a dam is made or repaired on a river for the sake of +irrigation, the chief who offers the traditional sacrifices and +implores the protection of the deities on the work has to stay all +the time in a wretched hovel of straw, taking no part in the labour, +and observing the strictest continence; for the people believe that +a breach of his chastity would entail a breach of the dam. Here, it +is plain, there can be no idea of maintaining the mere bodily vigour +of the chief for the accomplishment of a task in which he does not +even bear a hand. + +If the taboos or abstinences observed by hunters and fishermen +before and during the chase are dictated, as we have seen reason to +believe, by superstitious motives, and chiefly by a dread of +offending or frightening the spirits of the creatures whom it is +proposed to kill, we may expect that the restraints imposed after +the slaughter has been perpetrated will be at least as stringent, +the slayer and his friends having now the added fear of the angry +ghosts of his victims before their eyes. Whereas on the hypothesis +that the abstinences in question, including those from food, drink, +and sleep, are merely salutary precautions for maintaining the men +in health and strength to do their work, it is obvious that the +observance of these abstinences or taboos after the work is done, +that is, when the game is killed and the fish caught, must be wholly +superfluous, absurd, and inexplicable. But as I shall now show, +these taboos often continue to be enforced or even increased in +stringency after the death of the animals, in other words, after the +hunter or fisher has accomplished his object by making his bag or +landing his fish. The rationalistic theory of them therefore breaks +down entirely; the hypothesis of superstition is clearly the only +one open to us. + +Among the Inuit or Esquimaux of Bering Strait "the dead bodies of +various animals must be treated very carefully by the hunter who +obtains them, so that their shades may not be offended and bring bad +luck or even death upon him or his people." Hence the Unalit hunter +who has had a hand in the killing of a white whale, or even has +helped to take one from the net, is not allowed to do any work for +the next four days, that being the time during which the shade or +ghost of the whale is supposed to stay with its body. At the same +time no one in the village may use any sharp or pointed instrument +for fear of wounding the whale's shade, which is believed to be +hovering invisible in the neighbourhood; and no loud noise may be +made lest it should frighten or offend the ghost. Whoever cuts a +whale's body with an iron axe will die. Indeed the use of all iron +instruments is forbidden in the village during these four days. + +These same Esquimaux celebrate a great annual festival in December +when the bladders of all the seals, whales, walrus, and white bears +that have been killed in the year are taken into the assembly-house +of the village. They remain there for several days, and so long as +they do so the hunters avoid all intercourse with women, saying that +if they failed in that respect the shades of the dead animals would +be offended. Similarly among the Aleuts of Alaska the hunter who had +struck a whale with a charmed spear would not throw again, but +returned at once to his home and separated himself from his people +in a hut specially constructed for the purpose, where he stayed for +three days without food or drink, and without touching or looking +upon a woman. During this time of seclusion he snorted occasionally +in imitation of the wounded and dying whale, in order to prevent the +whale which he had struck from leaving the coast. On the fourth day +he emerged from his seclusion and bathed in the sea, shrieking in a +hoarse voice and beating the water with his hands. Then, taking with +him a companion, he repaired to that part of the shore where he +expected to find the whale stranded. If the beast was dead, he at +once cut out the place where the death-wound had been inflicted. If +the whale was not dead, he again returned to his home and continued +washing himself until the whale died. Here the hunter's imitation of +the wounded whale is probably intended by means of homoeopathic +magic to make the beast die in earnest. Once more the soul of the +grim polar bear is offended if the taboos which concern him are not +observed. His soul tarries for three days near the spot where it +left his body, and during these days the Esquimaux are particularly +careful to conform rigidly to the laws of taboo, because they +believe that punishment overtakes the transgressor who sins against +the soul of a bear far more speedily than him who sins against the +souls of the sea-beasts. + +When the Kayans have shot one of the dreaded Bornean panthers, they +are very anxious about the safety of their souls, for they think +that the soul of a panther is almost more powerful than their own. +Hence they step eight times over the carcase of the dead beast +reciting the spell, "Panther, thy soul under my soul." On returning +home they smear themselves, their dogs, and their weapons with the +blood of fowls in order to calm their souls and hinder them from +fleeing away; for, being themselves fond of the flesh of fowls, they +ascribe the same taste to their souls. For eight days afterwards +they must bathe by day and by night before going out again to the +chase. Among the Hottentots, when a man has killed a lion, leopard, +elephant, or rhinoceros, he is esteemed a great hero, but he has to +remain at home quite idle for three days, during which his wife may +not come near him; she is also enjoined to restrict herself to a +poor diet and to eat no more than is barely necessary to keep her in +health. Similarly the Lapps deem it the height of glory to kill a +bear, which they consider the king of beasts. Nevertheless, all the +men who take part in the slaughter are regarded as unclean, and must +live by themselves for three days in a hut or tent made specially +for them, where they cut up and cook the bear's carcase. The +reindeer which brought in the carcase on a sledge may not be driven +by a woman for a whole year; indeed, according to one account, it +may not be used by anybody for that period. Before the men go into +the tent where they are to be secluded, they strip themselves of the +garments they had worn in killing the bear, and their wives spit the +red juice of alder bark in their faces. They enter the tent not by +the ordinary door but by an opening at the back. When the bear's +flesh has been cooked, a portion of it is sent by the hands of two +men to the women, who may not approach the men's tent while the +cooking is going on. The men who convey the flesh to the women +pretend to be strangers bringing presents from a foreign land; the +women keep up the pretence and promise to tie red threads round the +legs of the strangers. The bear's flesh may not be passed in to the +women through the door of their tent, but must be thrust in at a +special opening made by lifting up the hem of the tent-cover. When +the three days' seclusion is over and the men are at liberty to +return to their wives, they run, one after the other, round the +fire, holding the chain by which pots are suspended over it. This is +regarded as a form of purification; they may now leave the tent by +the ordinary door and rejoin the women. But the leader of the party +must still abstain from cohabitation with his wife for two days +more. + +Again, the Caffres are said to dread greatly the boa-constrictor or +an enormous serpent resembling it; "and being influenced by certain +superstitious notions they even fear to kill it. The man who +happened to put it to death, whether in self-defence or otherwise, +was formerly required to lie in a running stream of water during the +day for several weeks together; and no beast whatever was allowed to +be slaughtered at the hamlet to which he belonged, until this duty +had been fully performed. The body of the snake was then taken and +carefully buried in a trench, dug close to the cattle-fold, where +its remains, like those of a chief, were henceforward kept perfectly +undisturbed. The period of penance, as in the case of mourning for +the dead, is now happily reduced to a few days." In Madras it is +considered a great sin to kill a cobra. When this has happened, the +people generally burn the body of the serpent, just as they burn the +bodies of human beings. The murderer deems himself polluted for +three days. On the second day milk is poured on the remains of the +cobra. On the third day the guilty wretch is free from pollution. + +In these last cases the animal whose slaughter has to be atoned for +is sacred, that is, it is one whose life is commonly spared from +motives of superstition. Yet the treatment of the sacrilegious +slayer seems to resemble so closely the treatment of hunters and +fishermen who have killed animals for food in the ordinary course of +business, that the ideas on which both sets of customs are based may +be assumed to be substantially the same. Those ideas, if I am right, +are the respect which the savage feels for the souls of beasts, +especially valuable or formidable beasts, and the dread which he +entertains of their vengeful ghosts. Some confirmation of this view +may be drawn from the ceremonies observed by fishermen of Annam when +the carcase of a whale is washed ashore. These fisherfolk, we are +told, worship the whale on account of the benefits they derive from +it. There is hardly a village on the sea-shore which has not its +small pagoda, containing the bones, more or less authentic, of a +whale. When a dead whale is washed ashore, the people accord it a +solemn burial. The man who first caught sight of it acts as chief +mourner, performing the rites which as chief mourner and heir he +would perform for a human kinsman. He puts on all the garb of woe, +the straw hat, the white robe with long sleeves turned inside out, +and the other paraphernalia of full mourning. As next of kin to the +deceased he presides over the funeral rites. Perfumes are burned, +sticks of incense kindled, leaves of gold and silver scattered, +crackers let off. When the flesh has been cut off and the oil +extracted, the remains of the carcase are buried in the sand. After +wards a shed is set up and offerings are made in it. Usually some +time after the burial the spirit of the dead whale takes possession +of some person in the village and declares by his mouth whether he +is a male or a female. + + + + +XXI. Tabooed Things + + + +1. The Meaning of Taboo + +THUS in primitive society the rules of ceremonial purity observed by +divine kings, chiefs, and priests agree in many respects with the +rules observed by homicides, mourners, women in childbed, girls at +puberty, hunters and fishermen, and so on. To us these various +classes of persons appear to differ totally in character and +condition; some of them we should call holy, others we might +pronounce unclean and polluted. But the savage makes no such moral +distinction between them; the conceptions of holiness and pollution +are not yet differentiated in his mind. To him the common feature of +all these persons is that they are dangerous and in danger, and the +danger in which they stand and to which they expose others is what +we should call spiritual or ghostly, and therefore imaginary. The +danger, however, is not less real because it is imaginary; +imagination acts upon man as really as does gravitation, and may +kill him as certainly as a dose of prussic acid. To seclude these +persons from the rest of the world so that the dreaded spiritual +danger shall neither reach them nor spread from them, is the object +of the taboos which they have to observe. These taboos act, so to +say, as electrical insulators to preserve the spiritual force with +which these persons are charged from suffering or inflicting harm by +contact with the outer world. + +To the illustrations of these general principles which have been +already given I shall now add some more, drawing my examples, first, +from the class of tabooed things, and, second, from the class of +tabooed words; for in the opinion of the savage both things and +words may, like persons, be charged or electrified, either +temporarily or permanently, with the mysterious virtue of taboo, and +may therefore require to be banished for a longer or shorter time +from the familiar usage of common life. And the examples will be +chosen with special reference to those sacred chiefs, kings and +priests, who, more than anybody else, live fenced about by taboo as +by a wall. Tabooed things will be illustrated in the present +chapter, and tabooed words in the next. + + + +2. Iron tabooed + +IN THE FIRST place we may observe that the awful sanctity of kings +naturally leads to a prohibition to touch their sacred persons. Thus +it was unlawful to lay hands on the person of a Spartan king: no one +might touch the body of the king or queen of Tahiti: it is forbidden +to touch the person of the king of Siam under pain of death; and no +one may touch the king of Cambodia, for any purpose whatever, +without his express command. In July 1874 the king was thrown from +his carriage and lay insensible on the ground, but not one of his +suite dared to touch him; a European coming to the spot carried the +injured monarch to his palace. Formerly no one might touch the king +of Corea; and if he deigned to touch a subject, the spot touched +became sacred, and the person thus honoured had to wear a visible +mark (generally a cord of red silk) for the rest of his life. Above +all, no iron might touch the king's body. In 1800 King +Tieng-tsong-tai-oang died of a tumour in the back, no one dreaming +of employing the lancet, which would probably have saved his life. +It is said that one king suffered terribly from an abscess in the +lip, till his physician called in a jester, whose pranks made the +king laugh heartily, and so the abscess burst. Roman and Sabine +priests might not be shaved with iron but only with bronze razors or +shears; and whenever an iron graving-tool was brought into the +sacred grove of the Arval Brothers at Rome for the purpose of +cutting an inscription in stone, an expiatory sacrifice of a lamb +and a pig must be offered, which was repeated when the graving-tool +was removed from the grove. As a general rule iron might not be +brought into Greek sanctuaries. In Crete sacrifices were offered to +Menedemus without the use of iron, because the legend ran that +Menedemus had been killed by an iron weapon in the Trojan war. The +Archon of Plataea might not touch iron; but once a year, at the +annual commemoration of the men who fell at the battle of Plataea, +he was allowed to carry a sword wherewith to sacrifice a bull. To +this day a Hottentot priest never uses an iron knife, but always a +sharp splint of quartz, in sacrificing an animal or circumcising a +lad. Among the Ovambo of South-west Africa custom requires that lads +should be circumcised with a sharp flint; if none is to hand, the +operation may be performed with iron, but the iron must afterwards +be buried. Amongst the Moquis of Arizona stone knives, hatchets, and +so on have passed out of common use, but are retained in religious +ceremonies. After the Pawnees had ceased to use stone arrow-heads +for ordinary purposes, they still employed them to slay the +sacrifices, whether human captives or buffalo and deer. Amongst the +Jews no iron tool was used in building the Temple at Jerusalem or in +making an altar. The old wooden bridge (_Pons Sublicius_) at Rome, +which was considered sacred, was made and had to be kept in repair +without the use of iron or bronze. It was expressly provided by law +that the temple of Jupiter Liber at Furfo might be repaired with +iron tools. The council chamber at Cyzicus was constructed of wood +without any iron nails, the beams being so arranged that they could +be taken out and replaced. + +This superstitious objection to iron perhaps dates from that early +time in the history of society when iron was still a novelty, and as +such was viewed by many with suspicion and dislike. For everything +new is apt to excite the awe and dread of the savage. "It is a +curious superstition," says a pioneer in Borneo, "this of the +Dusuns, to attribute anything--whether good or bad, lucky or +unlucky--that happens to them to something novel which has arrived +in their country. For instance, my living in Kindram has caused the +intensely hot weather we have experienced of late." The unusually +heavy rains which happened to follow the English survey of the +Nicobar Islands in the winter of 1886-1887 were imputed by the +alarmed natives to the wrath of the spirits at the theodolites, +dumpy-levellers, and other strange instruments which had been set up +in so many of their favourite haunts; and some of them proposed to +soothe the anger of the spirits by sacrificing a pig. In the +seventeenth century a succession of bad seasons excited a revolt +among the Esthonian peasantry, who traced the origin of the evil to +a watermill, which put a stream to some inconvenience by checking +its flow. The first introduction of iron ploughshares into Poland +having been followed by a succession of bad harvests, the farmers +attributed the badness of the crops to the iron ploughshares, and +discarded them for the old wooden ones. To this day the primitive +Baduwis of Java, who live chiefly by husbandry, will use no iron +tools in tilling their fields. + +The general dislike of innovation, which always makes itself +strongly felt in the sphere of religion, is sufficient by itself to +account for the superstitious aversion to iron entertained by kings +and priests and attributed by them to the gods; possibly this +aversion may have been intensified in places by some such accidental +cause as the series of bad seasons which cast discredit on iron +ploughshares in Poland. But the disfavour in which iron is held by +the gods and their ministers has another side. Their antipathy to +the metal furnishes men with a weapon which may be turned against +the spirits when occasion serves. As their dislike of iron is +supposed to be so great that they will not approach persons and +things protected by the obnoxious metal, iron may obviously be +employed as a charm for banning ghosts and other dangerous spirits. +And often it is so used. Thus in the Highlands of Scotland the great +safeguard against the elfin race is iron, or, better yet, steel. The +metal in any form, whether as a sword, a knife, a gun-barrel, or +what not, is all-powerful for this purpose. Whenever you enter a +fairy dwelling you should always remember to stick a piece of steel, +such as a knife, a needle, or a fish-hook, in the door; for then the +elves will not be able to shut the door till you come out again. So, +too, when you have shot a deer and are bringing it home at night, be +sure to thrust a knife into the carcase, for that keeps the fairies +from laying their weight on it. A knife or nail in your pocket is +quite enough to prevent the fairies from lifting you up at night. +Nails in the front of a bed ward off elves from women "in the straw" +and from their babes; but to make quite sure it is better to put the +smoothing-iron under the bed, and the reaping-hook in the window. If +a bull has fallen over a rock and been killed, a nail stuck into it +will preserve the flesh from the fairies. Music discoursed on a +Jew's harp keeps the elfin women away from the hunter, because the +tongue of the instrument is of steel. In Morocco iron is considered +a great protection against demons; hence it is usual to place a +knife or dagger under a sick man's pillow. The Singhalese believe +that they are constantly surrounded by evil spirits, who lie in wait +to do them harm. A peasant would not dare to carry good food, such +as cakes or roast meat, from one place to another without putting an +iron nail on it to prevent a demon from taking possession of the +viands and so making the eater ill. No sick person, whether man or +woman, would venture out of the house without a bunch of keys or a +knife in his hand, for without such a talisman he would fear that +some devil might take advantage of his weak state to slip into his +body. And if a man has a large sore on his body he tries to keep a +morsel of iron on it as a protection against demons. On the Slave +Coast when a mother sees her child gradually wasting away, she +concludes that a demon has entered into the child, and takes her +measures accordingly. To lure the demon out of the body of her +offspring, she offers a sacrifice of food; and while the devil is +bolting it, she attaches iron rings and small bells to her child's +ankles and hangs iron chains round his neck. The jingling of the +iron and the tinkling of the bells are supposed to prevent the +demon, when he has concluded his repast, from entering again into +the body of the little sufferer. Hence many children may be seen in +this part of Africa weighed down with iron ornaments. + + + +3. Sharp Weapons tabooed + +THERE is a priestly king to the north of Zengwih in Burma, revered +by the Sotih as the highest spiritual and temporal authority, into +whose house no weapon or cutting instrument may be brought. This +rule may perhaps be explained by a custom observed by various +peoples after a death; they refrain from the use of sharp +instruments so long as the ghost of the deceased is supposed to be +near, lest they should wound it. Thus among the Esquimaux of Bering +Strait "during the day on which a person dies in the village no one +is permitted to work, and the relatives must perform no labour +during the three following days. It is especially forbidden during +this period to cut with any edged instrument, such as a knife or an +axe; and the use of pointed instruments, like needles or bodkins, is +also forbidden. This is said to be done to avoid cutting or injuring +the shade, which may be present at any time during this period, and, +if accidentally injured by any of these things, it would become very +angry and bring sickness or death to the people. The relatives must +also be very careful at this time not to make any loud or harsh +noises that may startle or anger the shade." We have seen that in +like manner after killing a white whale these Esquimaux abstain from +the use of cutting or pointed instruments for four days, lest they +should unwittingly cut or stab the whale's ghost. The same taboo is +sometimes observed by them when there is a sick person in the +village, probably from a fear of injuring his shade which may be +hovering outside of his body. After a death the Roumanians of +Transylvania are careful not to leave a knife lying with the sharp +edge uppermost so long as the corpse remains in the house, "or else +the soul will be forced to ride on the blade." For seven days after +a death, the corpse being still in the house, the Chinese abstain +from the use of knives and needles, and even of chopsticks, eating +their food with their fingers. On the third, sixth, ninth, and +fortieth days after the funeral the old Prussians and Lithuanians +used to prepare a meal, to which, standing at the door, they invited +the soul of the deceased. At these meals they sat silent round the +table and used no knives and the women who served up the food were +also without knives. If any morsels fell from the table they were +left lying there for the lonely souls that had no living relations +or friends to feed them. When the meal was over the priest took a +broom and swept the souls out of the house, saying, "Dear souls, ye +have eaten and drunk. Go forth, go forth." We can now understand why +no cutting instrument may be taken into the house of the Burmese +pontiff. Like so many priestly kings, he is probably regarded as +divine, and it is therefore right that his sacred spirit should not +be exposed to the risk of being cut or wounded whenever it quits his +body to hover invisible in the air or to fly on some distant +mission. + + + +4. Blood tabooed + +WE have seen that the Flamen Dialis was forbidden to touch or even +name raw flesh. At certain times a Brahman teacher is enjoined not +to look on raw flesh, blood, or persons whose hands have been cut +off. In Uganda the father of twins is in a state of taboo for some +time after birth; among other rules he is forbidden to kill anything +or to see blood. In the Pelew Islands when a raid has been made on a +village and a head carried off, the relations of the slain man are +tabooed and have to submit to certain observances in order to escape +the wrath of his ghost. They are shut up in the house, touch no raw +flesh, and chew betel over which an incantation has been uttered by +the exorcist. After this the ghost of the slaughtered man goes away +to the enemy's country in pursuit of his murderer. The taboo is +probably based on the common belief that the soul or spirit of the +animal is in the blood. As tabooed persons are believed to be in a +perilous state--for example, the relations of the slain man are +liable to the attacks of his indignant ghost--it is especially +necessary to isolate them from contact with spirits; hence the +prohibition to touch raw meat. But as usual the taboo is only the +special enforcement of a general precept; in other words, its +observance is particularly enjoined in circumstances which seem +urgently to call for its application, but apart from such +circumstances the prohibition is also observed, though less +strictly, as a common rule of life. Thus some of the Esthonians will +not taste blood because they believe that it contains the animal's +soul, which would enter the body of the person who tasted the blood. +Some Indian tribes of North America, "through a strong principle of +religion, abstain in the strictest manner from eating the blood of +any animal, as it contains the life and spirit of the beast." Jewish +hunters poured out the blood of the game they had killed and covered +it up with dust. They would not taste the blood, believing that the +soul or life of the animal was in the blood, or actually was the +blood. + +It is a common rule that royal blood may not be shed upon the +ground. Hence when a king or one of his family is to be put to death +a mode of execution is devised by which the royal blood shall not be +spilt upon the earth. About the year 1688 the generalissimo of the +army rebelled against the king of Siam and put him to death "after +the manner of royal criminals, or as princes of the blood are +treated when convicted of capital crimes, which is by putting them +into a large iron caldron, and pounding them to pieces with wooden +pestles, because none of their royal blood must be spilt on the +ground, it being, by their religion, thought great impiety to +contaminate the divine blood by mixing it with earth." When Kublai +Khan defeated and took his uncle Nayan, who had rebelled against +him, he caused Nayan to be put to death by being wrapt in a carpet +and tossed to and fro till he died, "because he would not have the +blood of his Line Imperial spilt upon the ground or exposed in the +eye of Heaven and before the Sun." "Friar Ricold mentions the Tartar +maxim: 'One Khan will put another to death to get possession of the +throne, but he takes great care that the blood be not spilt. For +they say that it is highly improper that the blood of the Great Khan +should be spilt upon the ground; so they cause the victim to be +smothered somehow or other.' The like feeling prevails at the court +of Burma, where a peculiar mode of execution without bloodshed is +reserved for princes of the blood." + +The reluctance to spill royal blood seems to be only a particular +case of a general unwillingness to shed blood or at least to allow +it to fall on the ground. Marco Polo tells us that in his day +persons caught in the streets of Cambaluc (Peking) at unseasonable +hours were arrested, and if found guilty of a misdemeanor were +beaten with a stick. "Under this punishment people sometimes die, +but they adopt it in order to eschew bloodshed, for their _Bacsis_ +say that it is an evil thing to shed man's blood." In West Sussex +people believe that the ground on which human blood has been shed is +accursed and will remain barren for ever. Among some primitive +peoples, when the blood of a tribesman has to be spilt it is not +suffered to fall upon the ground, but is received upon the bodies of +his fellow-tribesmen. Thus in some Australian tribes boys who are +being circumcised are laid on a platform, formed by the living +bodies of the tribesmen; and when a boy's tooth is knocked out as an +initiatory ceremony, he is seated on the shoulders of a man, on +whose breast the blood flows and may not be wiped away. "Also the +Gauls used to drink their enemies' blood and paint themselves +therewith. So also they write that the old Irish were wont; and so +have I seen some of the Irish do, but not their enemies' but +friends' blood, as, namely, at the execution of a notable traitor at +Limerick, called Murrogh O'Brien, I saw an old woman, which was his +foster-mother, take up his head whilst he was quartered and suck up +all the blood that ran thereout, saying that the earth was not +worthy to drink it, and therewith also steeped her face and breast +and tore her hair, crying out and shrieking most terribly." Among +the Latuka of Central Africa the earth on which a drop of blood has +fallen at childbirth is carefully scraped up with an iron shovel, +put into a pot along with the water used in washing the mother, and +buried tolerably deep outside the house on the left-hand side. In +West Africa, if a drop of your blood has fallen on the ground, you +must carefully cover it up, rub and stamp it into the soil; if it +has fallen on the side of a canoe or a tree, the place is cut out +and the chip destroyed. One motive of these African customs may be a +wish to prevent the blood from falling into the hands of magicians, +who might make an evil use of it. That is admittedly the reason why +people in West Africa stamp out any blood of theirs which has +dropped on the ground or cut out any wood that has been soaked with +it. From a like dread of sorcery natives of New Guinea are careful +to burn any sticks, leaves, or rags which are stained with their +blood; and if the blood has dripped on the ground they turn up the +soil and if possible light a fire on the spot. The same fear +explains the curious duties discharged by a class of men called +_ramanga_ or "blue blood" among the Betsileo of Madagascar. It is +their business to eat all the nail-parings and to lick up all the +spilt blood of the nobles. When the nobles pare their nails, the +parings are collected to the last scrap and swallowed by these +_ramanga._ If the parings are too large, they are minced small and +so gulped down. Again, should a nobleman wound himself, say in +cutting his nails or treading on something, the _ramanga_ lick up +the blood as fast as possible. Nobles of high rank hardly go +anywhere without these humble attendants; but if it should happen +that there are none of them present, the cut nails and the spilt +blood are carefully collected to be afterwards swallowed by the +_ramanga._ There is scarcely a nobleman of any pretensions who does +not strictly observe this custom, the intention of which probably is +to prevent these parts of his person from falling into the hands of +sorcerers, who on the principles of contagious magic could work him +harm thereby. + +The general explanation of the reluctance to shed blood on the +ground is probably to be found in the belief that the soul is in the +blood, and that therefore any ground on which it may fall +necessarily becomes taboo or sacred. In New Zealand anything upon +which even a drop of a high chief's blood chances to fall becomes +taboo or sacred to him. For instance, a party of natives having come +to visit a chief in a fine new canoe, the chief got into it, but in +doing so a splinter entered his foot, and the blood trickled on the +canoe, which at once became sacred to him. The owner jumped out, +dragged the canoe ashore opposite the chief's house, and left it +there. Again, a chief in entering a missionary's house knocked his +head against a beam, and the blood flowed. The natives said that in +former times the house would have belonged to the chief. As usually +happens with taboos of universal application, the prohibition to +spill the blood of a tribesman on the ground applies with peculiar +stringency to chiefs and kings, and is observed in their case long +after it has ceased to be observed in the case of others. + + + +5. The Head tabooed + +MANY peoples regard the head as peculiarly sacred; the special +sanctity attributed to it is sometimes explained by a belief that it +contains a spirit which is very sensitive to injury or disrespect. +Thus the Yorubas hold that every man has three spiritual inmates, of +whom the first, called Olori, dwells in the head and is the man's +protector, guardian, and guide. Offerings are made to this spirit, +chiefly of fowls, and some of the blood mixed with palmoil is rubbed +on the forehead. The Karens suppose that a being called the _tso_ +resides in the upper part of the head, and while it retains its seat +no harm can befall the person from the efforts of the seven +_Kelahs,_ or personified passions. "But if the _tso_ becomes +heedless or weak certain evil to the person is the result. Hence the +head is carefully attended to, and all possible pains are taken to +provide such dress and attire as will be pleasing to the _tso._" The +Siamese think that a spirit called _khuan_ or _kwun_ dwells in the +human head, of which it is the guardian spirit. The spirit must be +carefully protected from injury of every kind; hence the act of +shaving or cutting the hair is accompanied with many ceremonies. The +_kwun_ is very sensitive on points of honour, and would feel +mortally insulted if the head in which he resides were touched by +the hand of a stranger. The Cambodians esteem it a grave offence to +touch a man's head; some of them will not enter a place where +anything whatever is suspended over their heads; and the meanest +Cambodian would never consent to live under an inhabited room. Hence +the houses are built of one story only; and even the Government +respects the prejudice by never placing a prisoner in the stocks +under the floor of a house, though the houses are raised high above +the ground. The same superstition exists amongst the Malays; for an +early traveller reports that in Java people "wear nothing on their +heads, and say that nothing must be on their heads . . . and if any +person were to put his hand upon their head they would kill him; and +they do not build houses with storeys, in order that they may not +walk over each other's heads." + +The same superstition as to the head is found in full force +throughout Polynesia. Thus of Gattanewa, a Marquesan chief, it is +said that "to touch the top of his head, or anything which had been +on his head, was sacrilege. To pass over his head was an indignity +never to be forgotten." The son of a Marquesan high priest has been +seen to roll on the ground in an agony of rage and despair, begging +for death, because some one had desecrated his head and deprived him +of his divinity by sprinkling a few drops of water on his hair. But +it was not the Marquesan chiefs only whose heads were sacred. The +head of every Marquesan was taboo, and might neither be touched nor +stepped over by another; even a father might not step over the head +of his sleeping child; women were forbidden to carry or touch +anything that had been in contact with, or had merely hung over, the +head of their husband or father. No one was allowed to be over the +head of the king of Tonga. In Tahiti any one who stood over the king +or queen, or passed his hand over their heads, might be put to +death. Until certain rites were performed over it, a Tahitian infant +was especially taboo; whatever touched the child's head, while it +was in this state, became sacred and was deposited in a consecrated +place railed in for the purpose at the child's house. If a branch of +a tree touched the child's head, the tree was cut down; and if in +its fall it injured another tree so as to penetrate the bark, that +tree also was cut down as unclean and unfit for use. After the rites +were performed these special taboos ceased; but the head of a +Tahitian was always sacred, he never carried anything on it, and to +touch it was an offence. So sacred was the head of a Maori chief +that "if he only touched it with his fingers, he was obliged +immediately to apply them to his nose, and snuff up the sanctity +which they had acquired by the touch, and thus restore it to the +part from whence it was taken." On account of the sacredness of his +head a Maori chief "could not blow the fire with his mouth, for the +breath being sacred, communicated his sanctity to it, and a brand +might be taken by a slave, or a man of another tribe, or the fire +might be used for other purposes, such as cooking, and so cause his +death." + + + +6. Hair tabooed + +WHEN the head was considered so sacred that it might not even be +touched without grave offence, it is obvious that the cutting of the +hair must have been a delicate and difficult operation. The +difficulties and dangers which, on the primitive view, beset the +operation are of two kinds. There is first the danger of disturbing +the spirit of the head, which may be injured in the process and may +revenge itself upon the person who molests him. Secondly, there is +the difficulty of disposing of the shorn locks. For the savage +believes that the sympathetic connexion which exists between himself +and every part of his body continues to exist even after the +physical connexion has been broken, and that therefore he will +suffer from any harm that may befall the several parts of his body, +such as the clippings of his hair or the parings of his nails. +Accordingly he takes care that these severed portions of himself +shall not be left in places where they might either be exposed to +accidental injury or fall into the hands of malicious persons who +might work magic on them to his detriment or death. Such dangers are +common to all, but sacred persons have more to fear from them than +ordinary people, so the precautions taken by them are +proportionately stringent. The simplest way of evading the peril is +not to cut the hair at all; and this is the expedient adopted where +the risk is thought to be more than usually great. The Frankish +kings were never allowed to crop their hair; from their childhood +upwards they had to keep it unshorn. To poll the long locks that +floated on their shoulders would have been to renounce their right +to the throne. When the wicked brothers Clotaire and Childebert +coveted the kingdom of their dead brother Clodomir, they inveigled +into their power their little nephews, the two sons of Clodomir; and +having done so, they sent a messenger bearing scissors and a naked +sword to the children's grandmother, Queen Clotilde, at Paris. The +envoy showed the scissors and the sword to Clotilde, and bade her +choose whether the children should be shorn and live or remain +unshorn and die. The proud queen replied that if her grandchildren +were not to come to the throne she would rather see them dead than +shorn. And murdered they were by their ruthless uncle Clotaire with +his own hand. The king of Ponape, one of the Caroline Islands, must +wear his hair long, and so must his grandees. Among the Hos, a negro +tribe of West Africa, "there are priests on whose head no razor may +come during the whole of their lives. The god who dwells in the man +forbids the cutting of his hair on pain of death. If the hair is at +last too long, the owner must pray to his god to allow him at least +to clip the tips of it. The hair is in fact conceived as the seat +and lodging-place of his god, so that were it shorn the god would +lose his abode in the priest." The members of a Masai clan, who are +believed to possess the art of making rain, may not pluck out their +beards, because the loss of their beards would, it is supposed, +entail the loss of their rain-making powers. The head chief and the +sorcerers of the Masai observe the same rule for a like reason: they +think that were they to pull out their beards, their supernatural +gifts would desert them. + +Again, men who have taken a vow of vengeance sometimes keep their +hair unshorn till they have fulfilled their vow. Thus of the +Marquesans we are told that "occasionally they have their head +entirely shaved, except one lock on the crown, which is worn loose +or put up in a knot. But the latter mode of wearing the hair is only +adopted by them when they have a solemn vow, as to revenge the death +of some near relation, etc. In such case the lock is never cut off +until they have fulfilled their promise." A similar custom was +sometimes observed by the ancient Germans; among the Chatti the +young warriors never clipped their hair or their beard till they had +slain an enemy. Among the Toradjas, when a child's hair is cut to +rid it of vermin, some locks are allowed to remain on the crown of +the head as a refuge for one of the child's souls. Otherwise the +soul would have no place in which to settle, and the child would +sicken. The Karo-Bataks are much afraid of frightening away the soul +of a child; hence when they cut its hair, they always leave a patch +unshorn, to which the soul can retreat before the shears. Usually +this lock remains unshorn all through life, or at least up till +manhood. + + + +7. Ceremonies at Hair-cutting + +BUT when it becomes necessary to crop the hair, measures are taken +to lessen the dangers which are supposed to attend the operation. +The chief of Namosi in Fiji always ate a man by way of precaution +when he had had his hair cut. "There was a certain clan that had to +provide the victim, and they used to sit in solemn council among +themselves to choose him. It was a sacrificial feast to avert evil +from the chief." Amongst the Maoris many spells were uttered at +hair-cutting; one, for example, was spoken to consecrate the +obsidian knife with which the hair was cut; another was pronounced +to avert the thunder and lightning which hair-cutting was believed +to cause. "He who has had his hair cut is in immediate charge of the +Atua (spirit); he is removed from the contact and society of his +family and his tribe; he dare not touch his food himself; it is put +into his mouth by another person; nor can he for some days resume +his accustomed occupations or associate with his fellow-men." The +person who cuts the hair is also tabooed; his hands having been in +contact with a sacred head, he may not touch food with them or +engage in any other employment; he is fed by another person with +food cooked over a sacred fire. He cannot be released from the taboo +before the following day, when he rubs his hands with potato or fern +root which has been cooked on a sacred fire; and this food having +been taken to the head of the family in the female line and eaten by +her, his hands are freed from the taboo. In some parts of New +Zealand the most sacred day of the year was that appointed for +hair-cutting; the people assembled in large numbers on that day from +all the neighbourhood. + + + +8. Disposal of Cut Hair and Nails + +BUT even when the hair and nails have been safely cut, there remains +the difficulty of disposing of them, for their owner believes +himself liable to suffer from any harm that may befall them. The +notion that a man may be bewitched by means of the clippings of his +hair, the parings of his nails, or any other severed portion of his +person is almost world-wide, and attested by evidence too ample, too +familiar, and too tedious in its uniformity to be here analysed at +length. The general idea on which the superstition rests is that of +the sympathetic connexion supposed to persist between a person and +everything that has once been part of his body or in any way closely +related to him. A very few examples must suffice. They belong to +that branch of sympathetic magic which may be called contagious. +Dread of sorcery, we are told, formed one of the most salient +characteristics of the Marquesan islanders in the old days. The +sorcerer took some of the hair, spittle, or other bodily refuse of +the man he wished to injure, wrapped it up in a leaf, and placed the +packet in a bag woven of threads or fibres, which were knotted in an +intricate way. The whole was then buried with certain rites, and +thereupon the victim wasted away of a languishing sickness which +lasted twenty days. His life, however, might be saved by discovering +and digging up the buried hair, spittle, or what not; for as soon as +this was done the power of the charm ceased. A Maori sorcerer intent +on bewitching somebody sought to get a tress of his victim's hair, +the parings of his nails, some of his spittle, or a shred of his +garment. Having obtained the object, whatever it was, he chanted +certain spells and curses over it in a falsetto voice and buried it +in the ground. As the thing decayed, the person to whom it had +belonged was supposed to waste away. When an Australian blackfellow +wishes to get rid of his wife, he cuts off a lock of her hair in her +sleep, ties it to his spear-thrower, and goes with it to a +neighbouring tribe, where he gives it to a friend. His friend sticks +the spear-thrower up every night before the camp fire, and when it +falls down it is a sign that the wife is dead. The way in which the +charm operates was explained to Dr. Howitt by a Wirajuri man. "You +see," he said, "when a blackfellow doctor gets hold of something +belonging to a man and roasts it with things, and sings over it, the +fire catches hold of the smell of the man, and that settles the poor +fellow." + +The Huzuls of the Carpathians imagine that if mice get a person's +shorn hair and make a nest of it, the person will suffer from +headache or even become idiotic. Similarly in Germany it is a common +notion that if birds find a person's cut hair, and build their nests +with it, the person will suffer from headache; sometimes it is +thought that he will have an eruption on the head. The same +superstition prevails, or used to prevail, in West Sussex. + +Again it is thought that cut or combed-out hair may disturb the +weather by producing rain and hail, thunder and lightning. We have +seen that in New Zealand a spell was uttered at hair-cutting to +avert thunder and lightning. In the Tyrol, witches are supposed to +use cut or combed-out hair to make hailstones or thunderstorms with. +Thlinkeet Indians have been known to attribute stormy weather to the +rash act of a girl who had combed her hair outside of the house. The +Romans seem to have held similar views, for it was a maxim with them +that no one on shipboard should cut his hair or nails except in a +storm, that is, when the mischief was already done. In the Highlands +of Scotland it is said that no sister should comb her hair at night +if she have a brother at sea. In West Africa, when the Mani of +Chitombe or Jumba died, the people used to run in crowds to the +corpse and tear out his hair, teeth, and nails, which they kept as a +rain-charm, believing that otherwise no rain would fall. The Makoko +of the Anzikos begged the missionaries to give him half their beards +as a rain-charm. + +If cut hair and nails remain in sympathetic connexion with the +person from whose body they have been severed, it is clear that they +can be used as hostages for his good behaviour by any one who may +chance to possess them; for on the principles of contagious magic he +has only to injure the hair or nails in order to hurt simultaneously +their original owner. Hence when the Nandi have taken a prisoner +they shave his head and keep the shorn hair as a surety that he will +not attempt to escape; but when the captive is ransomed, they return +his shorn hair with him to his own people. + +To preserve the cut hair and nails from injury and from the +dangerous uses to which they may be put by sorcerers, it is +necessary to deposit them in some safe place. The shorn locks of a +Maori chief were gathered with much care and placed in an adjoining +cemetery. The Tahitians buried the cuttings of their hair at the +temples. In the streets of Soku a modern traveller observed cairns +of large stones piled against walls with tufts of human hair +inserted in the crevices. On asking the meaning of this, he was told +that when any native of the place polled his hair he carefully +gathered up the clippings and deposited them in one of these cairns, +all of which were sacred to the fetish and therefore inviolable. +These cairns of sacred stones, he further learned, were simply a +precaution against witchcraft, for if a man were not thus careful in +disposing of his hair, some of it might fall into the hands of his +enemies, who would, by means of it, be able to cast spells over him +and so compass his destruction. When the top-knot of a Siamese child +has been cut with great ceremony, the short hairs are put into a +little vessel made of plantain leaves and set adrift on the nearest +river or canal. As they float away, all that was wrong or harmful in +the child's disposition is believed to depart with them. The long +hairs are kept till the child makes a pilgrimage to the holy +Footprint of Buddha on the sacred hill at Prabat. They are then +presented to the priests, who are supposed to make them into brushes +with which they sweep the Footprint; but in fact so much hair is +thus offered every year that the priests cannot use it all, so they +quietly burn the superfluity as soon as the pilgrims' backs are +turned. The cut hair and nails of the Flamen Dialis were buried +under a lucky tree. The shorn tresses of the Vestal Virgins were +hung on an ancient lotus-tree. + +Often the clipped hair and nails are stowed away in any secret +place, not necessarily in a temple or cemetery or at a tree, as in +the cases already mentioned. Thus in Swabia you are recommended to +deposit your clipped hair in some spot where neither sun nor moon +can shine on it, for example in the earth or under a stone. In +Danzig it is buried in a bag under the threshold. In Ugi, one of the +Solomon Islands, men bury their hair lest it should fall into the +hands of an enemy, who would make magic with it and so bring +sickness or calamity on them. The same fear seems to be general in +Melanesia, and has led to a regular practice of hiding cut hair and +nails. The same practice prevails among many tribes of South Africa, +from a fear lest wizards should get hold of the severed particles +and work evil with them. The Caffres carry still further this dread +of allowing any portion of themselves to fall into the hands of an +enemy; for not only do they bury their cut hair and nails in a +secret spot, but when one of them cleans the head of another he +preserves the vermin which he catches, "carefully delivering them to +the person to whom they originally appertained, supposing, according +to their theory, that as they derived their support from the blood +of the man from whom they were taken, should they be killed by +another, the blood of his neighbour would be in his possession, thus +placing in his hands the power of some superhuman influence." + +Sometimes the severed hair and nails are preserved, not to prevent +them from falling into the hands of a magician, but that the owner +may have them at the resurrection of the body, to which some races +look forward. Thus the Incas of Peru "took extreme care to preserve +the nail-parings and the hairs that were shorn off or torn out with +a comb; placing them in holes or niches in the walls; and if they +fell out, any other Indian that saw them picked them up and put them +in their places again. I very often asked different Indians, at +various times, why they did this, in order to see what they would +say, and they all replied in the same words saying, 'Know that all +persons who are born must return to life' (they have no word to +express resurrection), 'and the souls must rise out of their tombs +with all that belonged to their bodies. We, therefore, in order that +we may not have to search for our hair and nails at a time when +there will be much hurry and confusion, place them in one place, +that they may be brought together more conveniently, and, whenever +it is possible, we are also careful to spit in one place.'" +Similarly the Turks never throw away the parings of their nails, but +carefully stow them in cracks of the walls or of the boards, in the +belief that they will be needed at the resurrection. The Armenians +do not throw away their cut hair and nails and extracted teeth, but +hide them in places that are esteemed holy, such as a crack in the +church wall, a pillar of the house, or a hollow tree. They think +that all these severed portions of themselves will be wanted at the +resurrection, and that he who has not stowed them away in a safe +place will have to hunt about for them on the great day. In the +village of Drumconrath in Ireland there used to be some old women +who, having ascertained from Scripture that the hairs of their heads +were all numbered by the Almighty, expected to have to account for +them at the day of judgment. In order to be able to do so they +stuffed the severed hair away in the thatch of their cottages. + +Some people burn their loose hair to save it from falling into the +hands of sorcerers. This is done by the Patagonians and some of the +Victorian tribes. In the Upper Vosges they say that you should never +leave the clippings of your hair and nails lying about, but burn +them to hinder the sorcerers from using them against you. For the +same reason Italian women either burn their loose hairs or throw +them into a place where no one is likely to look for them. The +almost universal dread of witchcraft induces the West African +negroes, the Makololo of South Africa, and the Tahitians to burn or +bury their shorn hair. In the Tyrol many people burn their hair lest +the witches should use it to raise thunderstorms; others burn or +bury it to prevent the birds from lining their nests with it, which +would cause the heads from which the hair came to ache. + +This destruction of the hair and nails plainly involves an +inconsistency of thought. The object of the destruction is avowedly +to prevent these severed portions of the body from being used by +sorcerers. But the possibility of their being so used depends upon +the supposed sympathetic connexion between them and the man from +whom they were severed. And if this sympathetic connexion still +exists, clearly these severed portions cannot be destroyed without +injury to the man. + + + +9. Spittle tabooed + +THE SAME fear of witchcraft which has led so many people to hide or +destroy their loose hair and nails has induced other or the same +people to treat their spittle in a like fashion. For on the +principles of sympathetic magic the spittle is part of the man, and +whatever is done to it will have a corresponding effect on him. A +Chilote Indian, who has gathered up the spittle of an enemy, will +put it in a potato, and hang the potato in the smoke, uttering +certain spells as he does so in the belief that his foe will waste +away as the potato dries in the smoke. Or he will put the spittle in +a frog and throw the animal into an inaccessible, unnavigable river, +which will make the victim quake and shake with ague. The natives of +Urewera, a district of New Zealand, enjoyed a high reputation for +their skill in magic. It was said that they made use of people's +spittle to bewitch them. Hence visitors were careful to conceal +their spittle, lest they should furnish these wizards with a handle +for working them harm. Similarly among some tribes of South Africa +no man will spit when an enemy is near, lest his foe should find the +spittle and give it to a wizard, who would then mix it with magical +ingredients so as to injure the person from whom it fell. Even in a +man's own house his saliva is carefully swept away and obliterated +for a similar reason. + +If common folk are thus cautious, it is natural that kings and +chiefs should be doubly so. In the Sandwich Islands chiefs were +attended by a confidential servant bearing a portable spittoon, and +the deposit was carefully buried every morning to put it out of the +reach of sorcerers. On the Slave Coast, for the same reason, +whenever a king or chief expectorates, the saliva is scrupulously +gathered up and hidden or buried. The same precautions are taken for +the same reason with the spittle of the chief of Tabali in Southern +Nigeria. + +The magical use to which spittle may be put marks it out, like blood +or nail-parings, as a suitable material basis for a covenant, since +by exchanging their saliva the covenanting parties give each other a +guarantee of good faith. If either of them afterwards foreswears +himself, the other can punish his perfidy by a magical treatment of +the purjurer's spittle which he has in his custody. Thus when the +Wajagga of East Africa desire to make a covenant, the two parties +will sometimes sit down with a bowl of milk or beer between them, +and after uttering an incantation over the beverage they each take a +mouthful of the milk or beer and spit it into the other's mouth. In +urgent cases, when there is no time to spend on ceremony, the two +will simply spit into each other's mouth, which seals the covenant +just as well. + + + +10. Foods tabooed + +AS MIGHT have been expected, the superstitions of the savage cluster +thick about the subject of food; and he abstains from eating many +animals and plants, wholesome enough in themselves, which for one +reason or another he fancies would prove dangerous or fatal to the +eater. Examples of such abstinence are too familiar and far too +numerous to quote. But if the ordinary man is thus deterred by +superstitious fear from partaking of various foods, the restraints +of this kind which are laid upon sacred or tabooed persons, such as +kings and priests, are still more numerous and stringent. We have +already seen that the Flamen Dialis was forbidden to eat or even +name several plants and animals, and that the flesh diet of Egyptian +kings was restricted to veal and goose. In antiquity many priests +and many kings of barbarous peoples abstained wholly from a flesh +diet. The _Gangas_ or fetish priests of the Loango Coast are +forbidden to eat or even see a variety of animals and fish, in +consequence of which their flesh diet is extremely limited; often +they live only on herbs and roots, though they may drink fresh +blood. The heir to the throne of Loango is forbidden from infancy to +eat pork; from early childhood he is interdicted the use of the +_cola_ fruit in company; at puberty he is taught by a priest not to +partake of fowls except such as he has himself killed and cooked; +and so the number of taboos goes on increasing with his years. In +Fernando Po the king after installation is forbidden to eat cocco +(_arum acaule_), deer, and porcupine, which are the ordinary foods +of the people. The head chief of the Masai may eat nothing but milk, +honey, and the roasted livers of goats; for if he partook of any +other food he would lose his power of soothsaying and of compounding +charms. + + + +11. Knots and Rings tabooed + +WE have seen that among the many taboos which the Flamen Dialis at +Rome had to observe, there was one that forbade him to have a knot +on any part of his garments, and another that obliged him to wear no +ring unless it were broken. In like manner Moslem pilgrims to Mecca +are in a state of sanctity or taboo and may wear on their persons +neither knots nor rings. These rules are probably of kindred +significance, and may conveniently be considered together. To begin +with knots, many people in different parts of the world entertain a +strong objection to having any knot about their person at certain +critical seasons, particularly childbirth, marriage, and death. Thus +among the Saxons of Transylvania, when a woman is in travail all +knots on her garments are untied, because it is believed that this +will facilitate her delivery, and with the same intention all the +locks in the house, whether on doors or boxes, are unlocked. The +Lapps think that a lying-in woman should have no knot on her +garments, because a knot would have the effect of making the +delivery difficult and painful. In the East Indies this superstition +is extended to the whole time of pregnancy; the people believe that +if a pregnant woman were to tie knots, or braid, or make anything +fast, the child would thereby be constricted or the woman would +herself be "tied up" when her time came. Nay, some of them enforce +the observance of the rule on the father as well as the mother of +the unborn child. Among the Sea Dyaks neither of the parents may +bind up anything with a string or make anything fast during the +wife's pregnancy. In the Toumbuluh tribe of North Celebes a ceremony +is performed in the fourth or fifth month of a woman's pregnancy, +and after it her husband is forbidden, among many other things, to +tie any fast knots and to sit with his legs crossed over each other. + +In all these cases the idea seems to be that the tying of a knot +would, as they say in the East Indies, "tie up" the woman, in other +words, impede and perhaps prevent her delivery, or delay her +convalescence after the birth. On the principles of homoeopathic or +imitative magic the physical obstacle or impediment of a knot on a +cord would create a corresponding obstacle or impediment in the body +of the woman. That this is really the explanation of the rule +appears from a custom observed by the Hos of West Africa at a +difficult birth. When a woman is in hard labour and cannot bring +forth, they call in a magician to her aid. He looks at her and says, +"The child is bound in the womb, that is why she cannot be +delivered." On the entreaties of her female relations he then +promises to loosen the bond so that she may bring forth. For that +purpose he orders them to fetch a tough creeper from the forest, and +with it he binds the hands and feet of the sufferer on her back. +Then he takes a knife and calls out the woman's name, and when she +answers he cuts through the creeper with a knife, saying, "I cut +through to-day thy bonds and thy child's bonds." After that he chops +up the creeper small, puts the bits in a vessel of water, and bathes +the woman with the water. Here the cutting of the creeper with which +the woman's hands and feet are bound is a simple piece of +homoeopathic or imitative magic: by releasing her limbs from their +bonds the magician imagines that he simultaneously releases the +child in her womb from the trammels which impede its birth. The same +train of thought underlies a practice observed by some peoples of +opening all locks, doors, and so on, while a birth is taking place +in the house. We have seen that at such a time the Germans of +Transylvania open all the locks, and the same thing is done also in +Voigtland and Mecklenburg. In North-western Argyllshire +superstitious people used to open every lock in the house at +childbirth. In the island of Salsette near Bombay, when a woman is +in hard labour, all locks of doors or drawers are opened with a key +to facilitate her delivery. Among the Mandelings of Sumatra the lids +of all chests, boxes, pans, and so forth are opened; and if this +does not produce the desired effect, the anxious husband has to +strike the projecting ends of some of the house-beams in order to +loosen them; for they think that "everything must be open and loose +to facilitate the delivery." In Chittagong, when a woman cannot +bring her child to the birth, the midwife gives orders to throw all +doors and windows wide open, to uncork all bottles, to remove the +bungs from all casks, to unloose the cows in the stall, the horses +in the stable, the watchdog in his kennel, to set free sheep, fowls, +ducks, and so forth. This universal liberty accorded to the animals +and even to inanimate things is, according to the people, an +infallible means of ensuring the woman's delivery and allowing the +babe to be born. In the island of Saghalien, when a woman is in +labour, her husband undoes everything that can be undone. He loosens +the plaits of his hair and the laces of his shoes. Then he unties +whatever is tied in the house or its vicinity. In the courtyard he +takes the axe out of the log in which it is stuck; he unfastens the +boat, if it is moored to a tree, he withdraws the cartridges from +his gun, and the arrows from his crossbow. + +Again, we have seen that a Toumbuluh man abstains not only from +tying knots, but also from sitting with crossed legs during his +wife's pregnancy. The train of thought is the same in both cases. +Whether you cross threads in tying a knot, or only cross your legs +in sitting at your ease, you are equally, on the principles of +homoeopathic magic, crossing or thwarting the free course of things, +and your action cannot but check and impede whatever may be going +forward in your neighbourhood. Of this important truth the Romans +were fully aware. To sit beside a pregnant woman or a patient under +medical treatment with clasped hands, says the grave Pliny, is to +cast a malignant spell over the person, and it is worse still if you +nurse your leg or legs with your clasped hands, or lay one leg over +the other. Such postures were regarded by the old Romans as a let +and hindrance to business of every sort, and at a council of war or +a meeting of magistrates, at prayers and sacrifices, no man was +suffered to cross his legs or clasp his hands. The stock instance of +the dreadful consequences that might flow from doing one or the +other was that of Alcmena, who travailed with Hercules for seven +days and seven nights, because the goddess Lucina sat in front of +the house with clasped hands and crossed legs, and the child could +not be born until the goddess had been beguiled into changing her +attitude. It is a Bulgarian superstition that if a pregnant woman is +in the habit of sitting with crossed legs, she will suffer much in +childbed. In some parts of Bavaria, when conversation comes to a +standstill and silence ensues, they say, "Surely somebody has +crossed his legs." + +The magical effect of knots in trammelling and obstructing human +activity was believed to be manifested at marriage not less than at +birth. During the Middle Ages, and down to the eighteenth century, +it seems to have been commonly held in Europe that the consummation +of marriage could be prevented by any one who, while the wedding +ceremony was taking place, either locked a lock or tied a knot in a +cord, and then threw the lock or the cord away. The lock or the +knotted cord had to be flung into water; and until it had been found +and unlocked, or untied, no real union of the married pair was +possible. Hence it was a grave offence, not only to cast such a +spell, but also to steal or make away with the material instrument +of it, whether lock or knotted cord. In the year 1718 the parliament +of Bordeaux sentenced some one to be burned alive for having spread +desolation through a whole family by means of knotted cords; and in +1705 two persons were condemned to death in Scotland for stealing +certain charmed knots which a woman had made, in order thereby to +mar the wedded happiness of Spalding of Ashintilly. The belief in +the efficacy of these charms appears to have lingered in the +Highlands of Pertshire down to the end of the eighteenth century, +for at that time it was still customary in the beautiful parish of +Logierait, between the river Tummel and the river Tay, to unloose +carefully every knot in the clothes of the bride and bridegroom +before the celebration of the marriage ceremony. We meet with the +same superstition and the same custom at the present day in Syria. +The persons who help a Syrian bridegroom to don his wedding garments +take care that no knot is tied on them and no button buttoned, for +they believe that a button buttoned or a knot tied would put it +within the power of his enemies to deprive him of his nuptial rights +by magical means. The fear of such charms is diffused all over North +Africa at the present day. To render a bridegroom impotent the +enchanter has only to tie a knot in a handkerchief which he had +previously placed quietly on some part of the bridegroom's body when +he was mounted on horseback ready to fetch his bride: so long as the +knot in the handkerchief remains tied, so long will the bridegroom +remain powerless to consummate the marriage. + +The maleficent power of knots may also be manifested in the +infliction of sickness, disease, and all kinds of misfortune. Thus +among the Hos of West Africa a sorcerer will sometimes curse his +enemy and tie a knot in a stalk of grass, saying, "I have tied up +So-and-so in this knot. May all evil light upon him! When he goes +into the field, may a snake sting him! When he goes to the chase, +may a ravening beast attack him! And when he steps into a river, may +the water sweep him away! When it rains, may the lightning strike +him! May evil nights be his!" It is believed that in the knot the +sorcerer has bound up the life of his enemy. In the Koran there is +an allusion to the mischief of "those who puff into the knots," and +an Arab commentator on the passage explains that the words refer to +women who practise magic by tying knots in cords, and then blowing +and spitting upon them. He goes on to relate how, once upon a time, +a wicked Jew bewitched the prophet Mohammed himself by tying nine +knots on a string, which he then hid in a well. So the prophet fell +ill, and nobody knows what might have happened if the archangel +Gabriel had not opportunely revealed to the holy man the place where +the knotted cord was concealed. The trusty Ali soon fetched the +baleful thing from the well; and the prophet recited over it certain +charms, which were specially revealed to him for the purpose. At +every verse of the charms a knot untied itself, and the prophet +experienced a certain relief. + +If knots are supposed to kill, they are also supposed to cure. This +follows from the belief that to undo the knots which are causing +sickness will bring the sufferer relief. But apart from this +negative virtue of maleficent knots, there are certain beneficent +knots to which a positive power of healing is ascribed. Pliny tells +us that some folk cured diseases of the groin by taking a thread +from a web, tying seven or nine knots on it, and then fastening it +to the patient's groin; but to make the cure effectual it was +necessary to name some widow as each knot was tied. O'Donovan +describes a remedy for fever employed among the Turcomans. The +enchanter takes some camel hair and spins it into a stout thread, +droning a spell the while. Next he ties seven knots on the thread, +blowing on each knot before he pulls it tight. This knotted thread +is then worn as a bracelet on his wrist by the patient. Every day +one of the knots is untied and blown upon, and when the seventh knot +is undone the whole thread is rolled up into a ball and thrown into +a river, bearing away (as they imagine) the fever with it. + +Again knots may be used by an enchantress to win a lover and attach +him firmly to herself. Thus the love-sick maid in Virgil seeks to +draw Daphnis to her from the city by spells and by tying three knots +on each of three strings of different colours. So an Arab maiden, +who had lost her heart to a certain man, tried to gain his love and +bind him to herself by tying knots in his whip; but her jealous +rival undid the knots. On the same principle magic knots may be +employed to stop a runaway. In Swazieland you may often see grass +tied in knots at the side of the footpaths. Every one of these knots +tells of a domestic tragedy. A wife has run away from her husband, +and he and his friends have gone in pursuit, binding up the paths, +as they call it, in this fashion to prevent the fugitive from +doubling back over them. A net, from its affluence of knots, has +always been considered in Russia very efficacious against sorcerers; +hence in some places, when a bride is being dressed in her wedding +attire, a fishing-net is flung over her to keep her out of harm's +way. For a similar purpose the bridegroom and his companions are +often girt with pieces of net, or at least with tight-drawn girdles, +for before a wizard can begin to injure them he must undo all the +knots in the net, or take off the girdles. But often a Russian +amulet is merely a knotted thread. A skein of red wool wound about +the arms and legs is thought to ward off agues and fevers; and nine +skeins, fastened round a child's neck, are deemed a preservative +against scarlatina. In the Tver Government a bag of a special kind +is tied to the neck of the cow which walks before the rest of a +herd, in order to keep off wolves; its force binds the maw of the +ravening beast. On the same principle, a padlock is carried thrice +round a herd of horses before they go afield in the spring, and the +bearer locks and unlocks it as he goes, saying, "I lock from my herd +the mouths of the grey wolves with this steel lock." + +Knots and locks may serve to avert not only wizards and wolves but +death itself. When they brought a woman to the stake at St. Andrews +in 1572 to burn her alive for a witch, they found on her a white +cloth like a collar, with strings and many knots on the strings. +They took it from her, sorely against her will, for she seemed to +think that she could not die in the fire, if only the cloth with the +knotted strings was on her. When it was taken away, she said, "Now I +have no hope of myself." In many parts of England it is thought that +a person cannot die so long as any locks are locked or bolts shot in +the house. It is therefore a very common practice to undo all locks +and bolts when the sufferer is plainly near his end, in order that +his agony may not be unduly prolonged. For example, in the year +1863, at Taunton, a child lay sick of scarlatina and death seemed +inevitable. "A jury of matrons was, as it were, empanelled, and to +prevent the child 'dying hard' all the doors in the house, all the +drawers, all the boxes, all the cupboards were thrown wide open, the +keys taken out, and the body of the child placed under a beam, +whereby a sure, certain, and easy passage into eternity could be +secured." Strange to say, the child declined to avail itself of the +facilities for dying so obligingly placed at its disposal by the +sagacity and experience of the British matrons of Taunton; it +preferred to live rather than give up the ghost just then. + +The rule which prescribes that at certain magical and religious +ceremonies the hair should hang loose and the feet should be bare is +probably based on the same fear of trammelling and impeding the +action in hand, whatever it may be, by the presence of any knot or +constriction, whether on the head or on the feet of the performer. A +similar power to bind and hamper spiritual as well as bodily +activities is ascribed by some people to rings. Thus in the island +of Carpathus people never button the clothes they put upon a dead +body and they are careful to remove all rings from it; "for the +spirit, they say, can even be detained in the little finger, and +cannot rest." Here it is plain that even if the soul is not +definitely supposed to issue at death from the finger-tips, yet the +ring is conceived to exercise a certain constrictive influence which +detains and imprisons the immortal spirit in spite of its efforts to +escape from the tabernacle of clay; in short the ring, like the +knot, acts as a spiritual fetter. This may have been the reason of +an ancient Greek maxim, attributed to Pythagoras, which forbade +people to wear rings. Nobody might enter the ancient Arcadian +sanctuary of the Mistress at Lycosura with a ring on his or her +finger. Persons who consulted the oracle of Faunus had to be chaste, +to eat no flesh, and to wear no rings. + +On the other hand, the same constriction which hinders the egress of +the soul may prevent the entrance of evil spirits; hence we find +rings used as amulets against demons, witches, and ghosts. In the +Tyrol it is said that a woman in childbed should never take off her +wedding-ring, or spirits and witches will have power over her. Among +the Lapps, the person who is about to place a corpse in the coffin +receives from the husband, wife, or children of the deceased a brass +ring, which he must wear fastened to his right arm until the corpse +is safely deposited in the grave. The ring is believed to serve the +person as an amulet against any harm which the ghost might do to +him. How far the custom of wearing finger-rings may have been +influenced by, or even have sprung from, a belief in their efficacy +as amulets to keep the soul in the body, or demons out of it, is a +question which seems worth considering. Here we are only concerned +with the belief in so far as it seems to throw light on the rule +that the Flamen Dialis might not wear a ring unless it were broken. +Taken in conjunction with the rule which forbade him to have a knot +on his garments, it points to a fear that the powerful spirit +embodied in him might be trammelled and hampered in its goings-out +and comings-in by such corporeal and spiritual fetters as rings and +knots. + + + + +XXII. Tabooed Words + + + +1. Personal Names tabooed + +UNABLE to discriminate clearly between words and things, the savage +commonly fancies that the link between a name and the person or +thing denominated by it is not a mere arbitrary and ideal +association, but a real and substantial bond which unites the two in +such a way that magic may be wrought on a man just as easily through +his name as through his hair, his nails, or any other material part +of his person. In fact, primitive man regards his name as a vital +portion of himself and takes care of it accordingly. Thus, for +example, the North American Indian "regards his name, not as a mere +label, but as a distinct part of his personality, just as much as +are his eyes or his teeth, and believes that injury will result as +surely from the malicious handling of his name as from a wound +inflicted on any part of his physical organism. This belief was +found among the various tribes from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and +has occasioned a number of curious regulations in regard to the +concealment and change of names." Some Esquimaux take new names when +they are old, hoping thereby to get a new lease of life. The +Tolampoos of Celebes believe that if you write a man's name down you +can carry off his soul along with it. Many savages at the present +day regard their names as vital parts of themselves, and therefore +take great pains to conceal their real names, lest these should give +to evil-disposed persons a handle by which to injure their owners. + +Thus, to begin with the savages who rank at the bottom of the social +scale, we are told that the secrecy with which among the Australian +aborigines personal names are often kept from general knowledge +"arises in great measure from the belief that an enemy, who knows +your name, has in it something which he can use magically to your +detriment." "An Australian black," says another writer, "is always +very unwilling to tell his real name, and there is no doubt that +this reluctance is due to the fear that through his name he may be +injured by sorcerers." Amongst the tribes of Central Australia every +man, woman, and child has, besides a personal name which is in +common use, a secret or sacred name which is bestowed by the older +men upon him or her soon after birth, and which is known to none but +the fully initiated members of the group. This secret name is never +mentioned except upon the most solemn occasions; to utter it in the +hearing of women or of men of another group would be a most serious +breach of tribal custom, as serious as the most flagrant case of +sacrilege among ourselves. When mentioned at all, the name is spoken +only in a whisper, and not until the most elaborate precautions have +been taken that it shall be heard by no one but members of the +group. "The native thinks that a stranger knowing his secret name +would have special power to work him ill by means of magic." + +The same fear seems to have led to a custom of the same sort amongst +the ancient Egyptians, whose comparatively high civilisation was +strangely dashed and chequered with relics of the lowest savagery. +Every Egyptian received two names, which were known respectively as +the true name and the good name, or the great name and the little +name; and while the good or little name was made public, the true or +great name appears to have been carefully concealed. A Brahman child +receives two names, one for common use, the other a secret name +which none but his father and mother should know. The latter is only +used at ceremonies such as marriage. The custom is intended to +protect the person against magic, since a charm only becomes +effectual in combination with the real name. Similarly, the natives +of Nias believe that harm may be done to a person by the demons who +hear his name pronounced. Hence the names of infants, who are +especially exposed to the assaults of evil sprits, are never spoken; +and often in haunted spots, such as the gloomy depths of the forest, +the banks of a river, or beside a bubbling spring, men will abstain +from calling each other by their names for a like reason. + +The Indians of Chiloe keep their names secret and do not like to +have them uttered aloud; for they say that there are fairies or imps +on the mainland or neighbouring islands who, if they knew folk's +names, would do them an injury; but so long as they do not know the +names, these mischievous sprites are powerless. The Araucanians will +hardly ever tell a stranger their names because they fear that he +would thereby acquire some supernatural power over themselves. Asked +his name by a stranger, who is ignorant of their superstitions, an +Araucanian will answer, "I have none." When an Ojebway is asked his +name, he will look at some bystander and ask him to answer. "This +reluctance arises from an impression they receive when young, that +if they repeat their own names it will prevent their growth, and +they will be small in stature. On account of this unwillingness to +tell their names, many strangers have fancied that they either have +no names or have forgotten them." + +In this last case no scruple seems to be felt about communicating a +man's name to strangers, and no ill effects appear to be dreaded as +a consequence of divulging it; harm is only done when a name is +spoken by its owner. Why is this? and why in particular should a man +be thought to stunt his growth by uttering his own name? We may +conjecture that to savages who act and think thus a person's name +only seems to be a part of himself when it is uttered with his own +breath; uttered by the breath of others it has no vital connexion +with him, and no harm can come to him through it. Whereas, so these +primitive philosophers may have argued, when a man lets his own name +pass his lips, he is parting with a living piece of himself, and if +he persists in so reckless a course he must certainly end by +dissipating his energy and shattering his constitution. Many a +broken-down debauchee, many a feeble frame wasted with disease, may +have been pointed out by these simple moralists to their awe-struck +disciples as a fearful example of the fate that must sooner or later +overtake the profligate who indulges immoderately in the seductive +habit of mentioning his own name. + +However we may explain it, the fact is certain that many a savage +evinces the strongest reluctance to pronounce his own name, while at +the same time he makes no objection at all to other people +pronouncing it, and will even invite them to do so for him in order +to satisfy the curiosity of an inquisitive stranger. Thus in some +parts of Madagascar it is taboo for a person to tell his own name, +but a slave or attendant will answer for him. The same curious +inconsistency, as it may seem to us, is recorded of some tribes of +American Indians. Thus we are told that "the name of an American +Indian is a sacred thing, not to be divulged by the owner himself +without due consideration. One may ask a warrior of any tribe to +give his name, and the question will be met with either a +point-blank refusal or the more diplomatic evasion that he cannot +understand what is wanted of him. The moment a friend approaches, +the warrior first interrogated will whisper what is wanted, and the +friend can tell the name, receiving a reciprocation of the courtesy +from the other." This general statement applies, for example, to the +Indian tribes of British Columbia, as to whom it is said that "one +of their strangest prejudices, which appears to pervade all tribes +alike, is a dislike to telling their names--thus you never get a +man's right name from himself; but they will tell each other's names +without hesitation." In the whole of the East Indian Archipelago the +etiquette is the same. As a general rule no one will utter his own +name. To enquire, "What is your name?" is a very indelicate question +in native society. When in the course of administrative or judicial +business a native is asked his name, instead of replying he will +look at his comrade to indicate that he is to answer for him, or he +will say straight out, "Ask him." The superstition is current all +over the East Indies without exception, and it is found also among +the Motu and Motumotu tribes, the Papuans of Finsch Haven in North +New Guinea, the Nufoors of Dutch New Guinea, and the Melanesians of +the Bismarck Archipelago. Among many tribes of South Africa men and +women never mention their names if they can get any one else to do +it for them, but they do not absolutely refuse when it cannot be +avoided. + +Sometimes the embargo laid on personal names is not permanent; it is +conditional on circumstances, and when these change it ceases to +operate. Thus when the Nandi men are away on a foray, nobody at home +may pronounce the names of the absent warriors; they must be +referred to as birds. Should a child so far forget itself as to +mention one of the distant ones by name, the mother would rebuke it, +saying, "Don't talk of the birds who are in the heavens." Among the +Bangala of the Upper Congo, while a man is fishing and when he +returns with his catch, his proper name is in abeyance and nobody +may mention it. Whatever the fisherman's real name may be, he is +called _mwele_ without distinction. The reason is that the river is +full of spirits, who, if they heard the fisherman's real name, might +so work against him that he would catch little or nothing. Even when +he has caught his fish and landed with them, the buyer must still +not address him by his proper name, but must only call him _mwele;_ +for even then, if the spirits were to hear his proper name, they +would either bear it in mind and serve him out another day, or they +might so mar the fish he had caught that he would get very little +for them. Hence the fisherman can extract heavy damages from anybody +who mentions his name, or can compel the thoughtless speaker to +relieve him of the fish at a good price so as to restore his luck. +When the Sulka of New Britain are near the territory of their +enemies the Gaktei, they take care not to mention them by their +proper name, believing that were they to do so, their foes would +attack and slay them. Hence in these circumstances they speak of the +Gaktei as _o lapsiek,_ that is, "the rotten tree-trunks," and they +imagine that by calling them that they make the limbs of their +dreaded enemies ponderous and clumsy like logs. This example +illustrates the extremely materialistic view which these savages +take of the nature of words; they suppose that the mere utterance of +an expression signifying clumsiness will homoeopathically affect +with clumsiness the limbs of their distant foemen. Another +illustration of this curious misconception is furnished by a Caffre +superstition that the character of a young thief can be reformed by +shouting his name over a boiling kettle of medicated water, then +clapping a lid on the kettle and leaving the name to steep in the +water for several days. It is not in the least necessary that the +thief should be aware of the use that is being made of his name +behind his back; the moral reformation will be effected without his +knowledge. + +When it is deemed necessary that a man's real name should be kept +secret, it is often customary, as we have seen, to call him by a +surname or nickname. As distinguished from the real or primary +names, these secondary names are apparently held to be no part of +the man himself, so that they may be freely used and divulged to +everybody without endangering his safety thereby. Sometimes in order +to avoid the use of his own name a man will be called after his +child. Thus we are informed that "the Gippsland blacks objected +strongly to let any one outside the tribe know their names, lest +their enemies, learning them, should make them vehicles of +incantation, and so charm their lives away. As children were not +thought to have enemies, they used to speak of a man as 'the father, +uncle, or cousin of So-and-so,' naming a child; but on all occasions +abstained from mentioning the name of a grown-up person." The +Alfoors of Poso in Celebes will not pronounce their own names. Among +them, accordingly, if you wish to ascertain a person's name, you +ought not to ask the man himself, but should enquire of others. But +if this is impossible, for example, when there is no one else near, +you should ask him his child's name, and then address him as the +"Father of So-and-so." Nay, these Alfoors are shy of uttering the +names even of children; so when a boy or girl has a nephew or niece, +he or she is addressed as "Uncle of So-and-so," or "Aunt of +So-and-so." In pure Malay society, we are told, a man is never asked +his name, and the custom of naming parents after their children is +adopted only as a means of avoiding the use of the parents' own +names. The writer who makes this statement adds in confirmation of +it that childless persons are named after their younger brothers. +Among the Land Dyaks children as they grow up are called, according +to their sex, the father or mother of a child of their father's or +mother's younger brother or sister, that is, they are called the +father or mother of what we should call their first cousin. The +Caffres used to think it discourteous to call a bride by her own +name, so they would call her "the Mother of So-and-so," even when +she was only betrothed, far less a wife and a mother. Among the +Kukis and Zemis or Kacha Nagas of Assam parents drop their names +after the birth of a child and are named Father and Mother of +So-and-so. Childless couples go by the name of "the childless +father," "the childless mother," "the father of no child," "the +mother of no child." The widespread custom of naming a father after +his child has sometimes been supposed to spring from a desire on the +father's part to assert his paternity, apparently as a means of +obtaining those rights over his children which had previously, under +a system of mother-kin, been possessed by the mother. But this +explanation does not account for the parallel custom of naming the +mother after her child, which seems commonly to co-exist with the +practice of naming the father after the child. Still less, if +possible, does it apply to the customs of calling childless couples +the father and mother of children which do not exist, of naming +people after their younger brothers, and of designating children as +the uncles and aunts of So-and-so, or as the fathers and mothers of +their first cousins. But all these practices are explained in a +simple and natural way if we suppose that they originate in a +reluctance to utter the real names of persons addressed or directly +referred to. That reluctance is probably based partly on a fear of +attracting the notice of evil spirits, partly on a dread of +revealing the name to sorcerers, who would thereby obtain a handle +for injuring the owner of the name. + + + +2. Names of Relations tabooed + +IT might naturally be expected that the reserve so commonly +maintained with regard to personal names would be dropped or at +least relaxed among relations and friends. But the reverse of this +is often the case. It is precisely the persons most intimately +connected by blood and especially by marriage to whom the rule +applies with the greatest stringency. Such people are often +forbidden, not only to pronounce each other's names, but even to +utter ordinary words which resemble or have a single syllable in +common with these names. The persons who are thus mutually debarred +from mentioning each other's names are especially husbands and +wives, a man and his wife's parents, and a woman and her husband's +father. For example, among the Caffres a woman may not publicly +pronounce the birth-name of her husband or of any of his brothers, +nor may she use the interdicted word in its ordinary sense. If her +husband, for instance, be called u-Mpaka, from _impaka,_ a small +feline animal, she must speak of that beast by some other name. +Further, a Caffre wife is forbidden to pronounce even mentally the +names of her father-in-law and of all her husband's male relations +in the ascending line; and whenever the emphatic syllable of any of +their names occurs in another word, she must avoid it by +substituting either an entirely new word, or, at least, another +syllable in its place. Hence this custom has given rise to an almost +distinct language among the women, which the Caffres call "women's +speech." The interpretation of this "women's speech" is naturally +very difficult, "for no definite rules can be given for the +formation of these substituted words, nor is it possible to form a +dictionary of them, their number being so great--since there may be +many women, even in the same tribe, who would be no more at liberty +to use the substitutes employed by some others, than they are to use +the original words themselves." A Caffre man, on his side, may not +mention the name of his mother-in-law, nor may she pronounce his; +but he is free to utter words in which the emphatic syllable of her +name occurs. A Kirghiz woman dares not pronounce the names of the +older relations of her husband, nor even use words which resemble +them in sound. For example, if one of these relations is called +Shepherd, she may not speak of sheep, but must call them "the +bleating ones"; if his name is Lamb, she must refer to lambs as "the +young bleating ones." In Southern India wives believe that to tell +their husband's name or to pronounce it even in a dream would bring +him to an untimely end. Among the Sea Dyaks a man may not pronounce +the name of his father-in-law or mother-in-law without incurring the +wrath of the spirits. And since he reckons as his father-in-law and +mother-in-law not only the father and mother of his own wife, but +also the fathers and mothers of his brothers' wives and sisters' +husbands, and likewise the fathers and mothers of all his cousins, +the number of tabooed names may be very considerable and the +opportunities of error correspondingly numerous. To make confusion +worse confounded, the names of persons are often the names of common +things, such as moon, bridge, barley, cobra, leopard; so that when +any of a man's many fathers-in-law and mothers-in-law are called by +such names, these common words may not pass his lips. Among the +Alfoors of Minahassa, in Celebes, the custom is carried still +further so as to forbid the use even of words which merely resemble +the personal names in sound. It is especially the name of a +father-in-law which is thus laid under an interdict. If he, for +example, is called Kalala, his son-in-law may not speak of a horse +by its common name _kawalo;_ he must call it a "riding-beast" +(_sasakajan_). So among the Alfoors of the island of Buru it is +taboo to mention the names of parents and parents-in-law, or even to +speak of common objects by words which resemble these names in +sound. Thus, if your mother-in-law is called Dalu, which means +"betel," you may not ask for betel by its ordinary name, you must +ask for "red mouth"; if you want betel-leaf, you may not say +betel-leaf (_dalu 'mun_), you must say _karon fenna._ In the same +island it is also taboo to mention the name of an elder brother in +his presence. Transgressions of these rules are punished with fines. +In Sunda it is thought that a particular crop would be spoilt if a +man were to mention the names of his father and mother. + +Among the Nufoors of Dutch New Guinea persons who are related to +each other by marriage are forbidden to mention each other's names. +Among the connexions whose names are thus tabooed are wife, +mother-in-law, father-in-law, your wife's uncles and aunts and also +her grand-uncles and grand-aunts, and the whole of your wife's or +your husband's family in the same generation as yourself, except +that men may mention the names of their brothers-in-law, though +women may not. The taboo comes into operation as soon as the +betrothal has taken place and before the marriage has been +celebrated. Families thus connected by the betrothal of two of their +members are not only forbidden to pronounce each other's names; they +may not even look at each other, and the rule gives rise to the most +comical scenes when they happen to meet unexpectedly. And not merely +the names themselves, but any words that sound like them are +scrupulously avoided and other words used in their place. If it +should chance that a person has inadvertently uttered a forbidden +name, he must at once throw himself on the floor and say, "I have +mentioned a wrong name. I throw it through the chinks of the floor +in order that I may eat well." + +In the western islands of Torres Straits a man never mentioned the +personal names of his father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, +and sister-in-law; and a woman was subject to the same restrictions. +A brother-in-law might be spoken of as the husband or brother of +some one whose name it was lawful to mention; and similarly a +sister-in-law might be called the wife of So-and-so. If a man by +chance used the personal name of his brother-in-law, he was ashamed +and hung his head. His shame was only relieved when he had made a +present as compensation to the man whose name he had taken in vain. +The same compensation was made to a sister-in-law, a father-in-law, +and a mother-in-law for the accidental mention of their names. Among +the natives who inhabit the coast of the Gazelle Peninsula in New +Britain to mention the name of a brother-in-law is the grossest +possible affront you can offer to him; it is a crime punishable with +death. In the Banks' Islands, Melanesia, the taboos laid on the +names of persons connected by marriage are very strict. A man will +not mention the name of his father-in-law, much less the name of his +mother-in-law, nor may he name his wife's brother; but he may name +his wife's sister--she is nothing to him. A woman may not name her +father-in-law, nor on any account her son-in-law. Two people whose +children have intermarried are also debarred from mentioning each +other's names. And not only are all these persons forbidden to utter +each other's names; they may not even pronounce ordinary words which +chance to be either identical with these names or to have any +syllables in common with them. Thus we hear of a native of these +islands who might not use the common words for "pig" and "to die," +because these words occurred in the polysyllabic name of his +son-in-law; and we are told of another unfortunate who might not +pronounce the everyday words for "hand" and "hot" on account of his +wife's brother's name, and who was even debarred from mentioning the +number "one," because the word for "one" formed part of the name of +his wife's cousin. + +The reluctance to mention the names or even syllables of the names +of persons connected with the speaker by marriage can hardly be +separated from the reluctance evinced by so many people to utter +their own names or the names of the dead or of the dead or of chiefs +and kings; and if the reticence as to these latter names springs +mainly from superstition, we may infer that the reticence as to the +former has no better foundation. That the savage's unwillingness to +mention his own name is based, at least in part, on a superstitious +fear of the ill use that might be made of it by his foes, whether +human or spiritual, has already been shown. It remains to examine +the similar usage in regard to the names of the dead and of royal +personages. + + + +3. Names of the Dead tabooed + +THE CUSTOM of abstaining from all mention of the names of the dead +was observed in antiquity by the Albanians of the Caucasus, and at +the present day it is in full force among many savage tribes. Thus +we are told that one of the customs most rigidly observed and +enforced amongst the Australian aborigines is never to mention the +name of a deceased person, whether male or female; to name aloud one +who has departed this life would be a gross violation of their most +sacred prejudices, and they carefully abstain from it. The chief +motive for this abstinence appears to be a fear of evoking the +ghost, although the natural unwillingness to revive past sorrows +undoubtedly operates also to draw the veil of oblivion over the +names of the dead. Once Mr. Oldfield so terrified a native by +shouting out the name of a deceased person, that the man fairly took +to his heels and did not venture to show himself again for several +days. At their next meeting he bitterly reproached the rash white +man for his indiscretion; "nor could I," adds Mr. Oldfield, "induce +him by any means to utter the awful sound of a dead man's name, for +by so doing he would have placed himself in the power of the malign +spirits." Among the aborigines of Victoria the dead were very rarely +spoken of, and then never by their names; they were referred to in a +subdued voice as "the lost one" or "the poor fellow that is no +more." To speak of them by name would, it was supposed, excite the +malignity of Couit-gil, the spirit of the departed, which hovers on +earth for a time before it departs for ever towards the setting sun. +Of the tribes on the Lower Murray River we are told that when a +person dies "they carefully avoid mentioning his name; but if +compelled to do so, they pronounce it in a very low whisper, so +faint that they imagine the spirit cannot hear their voice." Amongst +the tribes of Central Australia no one may utter the name of the +deceased during the period of mourning, unless it is absolutely +necessary to do so, and then it is only done in a whisper for fear +of disturbing and annoying the man's spirit which is walking about +in ghostly form. If the ghost hears his name mentioned he concludes +that his kinsfolk are not mourning for him properly; if their grief +were genuine they could not bear to bandy his name about. Touched to +the quick by their hard-hearted indifference the indignant ghost +will come and trouble them in dreams. + +The same reluctance to utter the names of the dead appears to +prevail among all the Indian tribes of America from Hudson's Bay +Territory to Patagonia. Among the Goajiros of Colombia to mention +the dead before his kinsmen is a dreadful offence, which is often +punished with death; for if it happens on the _rancho_ of the +deceased, in presence of his nephew or uncle, they will assuredly +kill the offender on the spot if they can. But if he escapes, the +penalty resolves itself into a heavy fine, usually of two or more +oxen. + +A similar reluctance to mention the names of the dead is reported of +peoples so widely separated from each other as the Samoyeds of +Siberia and the Todas of Southern India; the Mongols of Tartary and +the Tuaregs of the Sahara; the Ainos of Japan and the Akamba and +Nandi of Eastern Africa; the Tinguianes of the Philippines and the +inhabitants of the Nicobar Islands, of Borneo, of Madagascar, and of +Tasmania. In all cases, even where it is not expressly stated, the +fundamental reason for this avoidance is probably the fear of the +ghost. That this is the real motive with the Tuaregs we are +positively informed. They dread the return of the dead man's spirit, +and do all they can to avoid it by shifting their camp after a +death, ceasing for ever to pronounce the name of the departed, and +eschewing everything that might be regarded as an evocation or +recall of his soul. Hence they do not, like the Arabs, designate +individuals by adding to their personal names the names of their +fathers; they never speak of So-and-so, son of So-and-so; they give +to every man a name which will live and die with him. So among some +of the Victorian tribes in Australia personal names were rarely +perpetuated, because the natives believed that any one who adopted +the name of a deceased person would not live long; probably his +ghostly namesake was supposed to come and fetch him away to the +spirit-land. + +The same fear of the ghost, which moves people to suppress his old +name, naturally leads all persons who bear a similar name to +exchange it for another, lest its utterance should attract the +attention of the ghost, who cannot reasonably be expected to +discriminate between all the different applications of the same +name. Thus we are told that in the Adelaide and Encounter Bay tribes +of South Australia the repugnance to mentioning the names of those +who have died lately is carried so far, that persons who bear the +same name as the deceased abandon it, and either adopt temporary +names or are known by any others that happen to belong to them. A +similar custom prevails among some of the Queensland tribes; but the +prohibition to use the names of the dead is not permanent, though it +may last for many years. In some Australian tribes the change of +name thus brought about is permanent; the old name is laid aside for +ever, and the man is known by his new name for the rest of his life, +or at least until he is obliged to change it again for a like +reason. Among the North American Indians all persons, whether men or +women, who bore the name of one who had just died were obliged to +abandon it and to adopt other names, which was formally done at the +first ceremony of mourning for the dead. In some tribes to the east +of the Rocky Mountains this change of name lasted only during the +season of mourning, but in other tribes on the Pacific Coast of +North America it seems to have been permanent. + +Sometimes by an extension of the same reasoning all the near +relations of the deceased change their names, whatever they may +happen to be, doubtless from a fear that the sound of the familiar +names might lure back the vagrant spirit to its old home. Thus in +some Victorian tribes the ordinary names of all the next of kin were +disused during the period of mourning, and certain general terms, +prescribed by custom, were substituted for them. To call a mourner +by his own name was considered an insult to the departed, and often +led to fighting and bloodshed. Among Indian tribes of North-western +America near relations of the deceased often change their names +"under an impression that spirits will be attracted back to earth if +they hear familiar names often repeated." Among the Kiowa Indians +the name of the dead is never spoken in the presence of the +relatives, and on the death of any member of a family all the others +take new names. This custom was noted by Raleigh's colonists on +Roanoke Island more than three centuries ago. Among the Lengua +Indians not only is a dead man's name never mentioned, but all the +survivors change their names also. They say that Death has been +among them and has carried off a list of the living, and that he +will soon come back for more victims; hence in order to defeat his +fell purpose they change their names, believing that on his return +Death, though he has got them all on his list, will not be able to +identify them under their new names, and will depart to pursue the +search elsewhere. Nicobarese mourners take new names in order to +escape the unwelcome attentions of the ghost; and for the same +purpose they disguise themselves by shaving their heads so that the +ghost is unable to recognise them. + +Further, when the name of the deceased happens to be that of some +common object, such as an animal, or plant, or fire, or water, it is +sometimes considered necessary to drop that word in ordinary speech +and replace it by another. A custom of this sort, it is plain, may +easily be a potent agent of change in language; for where it +prevails to any considerable extent many words must constantly +become obsolete and new ones spring up. And this tendency has been +remarked by observers who have recorded the custom in Australia, +America, and elsewhere. For example, with regard to the Australian +aborigines it has been noted that "the dialects change with almost +every tribe. Some tribes name their children after natural objects; +and when the person so named dies, the word is never again +mentioned; another word has therefore to be invented for the object +after which the child was called." The writer gives as an instance +the case of a man whose name Karla signified "fire"; when Karla +died, a new word for fire had to be introduced. "Hence," adds the +writer, "the language is always changing." Again, in the Encounter +Bay tribe of South Australia, if a man of the name of Ngnke, which +means "water," were to die, the whole tribe would be obliged to use +some other word to express water for a considerable time after his +decease. The writer who records this custom surmises that it may +explain the presence of a number of synonyms in the language of the +tribe. This conjecture is confirmed by what we know of some +Victorian tribes whose speech comprised a regular set of synonyms to +be used instead of the common terms by all members of a tribe in +times of mourning. For instance, if a man called Waa ( "crow") +departed this life, during the period of mourning for him nobody +might call a crow a _waa;_ everybody had to speak of the bird as a +_narrapart._ When a person who rejoiced in the title of Ringtail +Opossum (_weearn_) had gone the way of all flesh, his sorrowing +relations and the tribe at large were bound for a time to refer to +ringtail opossums by the more sonorous name of _manuungkuurt._ If +the community were plunged in grief for the loss of a respected +female who bore the honourable name of Turkey Bustard, the proper +name for turkey bustards, which was _barrim barrim,_ went out, and +_tillit tilliitsh_ came in. And so _mutatis mutandis_ with the names +of Black Cockatoo, Grey Duck, Gigantic Crane, Kangaroo, Eagle, +Dingo, and the rest. + +A similar custom used to be constantly transforming the language of +the Abipones of Paraguay, amongst whom, however, a word once +abolished seems never to have been revived. New words, says the +missionary Dobrizhoffer, sprang up every year like mushrooms in a +night, because all words that resembled the names of the dead were +abolished by proclamation and others coined in their place. The mint +of words was in the hands of the old women of the tribe, and +whatever term they stamped with their approval and put in +circulation was immediately accepted without a murmur by high and +low alike, and spread like wildfire through every camp and +settlement of the tribe. You would be astonished, says the same +missionary, to see how meekly the whole nation acquiesces in the +decision of a withered old hag, and how completely the old familiar +words fall instantly out of use and are never repeated either +through force of habit or forgetfulness. In the seven years that +Dobrizhoffer spent among these Indians the native word for jaguar +was changed thrice, and the words for crocodile, thorn, and the +slaughter of cattle underwent similar though less varied +vicissitudes. As a result of this habit, the vocabularies of the +missionaries teemed with erasures, old words having constantly to be +struck out as obsolete and new ones inserted in their place. In many +tribes of British New Guinea the names of persons are also the names +of common things. The people believe that if the name of a deceased +person is pronounced, his spirit will return, and as they have no +wish to see it back among them the mention of his name is tabooed +and a new word is created to take its place, whenever the name +happens to be a common term of the language. Consequently many words +are permanently lost or revived with modified or new meanings. In +the Nicobar Islands a similar practice has similarly affected the +speech of the natives. "A most singular custom," says Mr. de +Roepstorff, "prevails among them which one would suppose must most +effectually hinder the 'making of history,' or, at any rate, the +transmission of historical narrative. By a strict rule, which has +all the sanction of Nicobar superstition, no man's name may be +mentioned after his death! To such a length is this carried that +when, as very frequently happens, the man rejoiced in the name of +'Fowl,' 'Hat', 'Fire,' 'Road,' etc., in its Nicobarese equivalent, +the use of these words is carefully eschewed for the future, not +only as being the personal designation of the deceased, but even as +the names of the common things they represent; the words die out of +the language, and either new vocables are coined to express the +thing intended, or a substitute for the disused word is found in +other Nicobarese dialects or in some foreign tongue. This +extraordinary custom not only adds an element of instability to the +language, but destroys the continuity of political life, and renders +the record of past events precarious and vague, if not impossible." + +That a superstition which suppresses the names of the dead must cut +at the very root of historical tradition has been remarked by other +workers in this field. "The Klamath people," observes Mr. A. S. +Gatschet, "possess no historic traditions going further back in time +than a century, for the simple reason that there was a strict law +prohibiting the mention of the person or acts of a deceased +individual by _using his name._ This law was rigidly observed among +the Californians no less than among the Oregonians, and on its +transgression the death penalty could be inflicted. This is +certainly enough to suppress all historical knowledge within a +people. How can history be written without names?" + +In many tribes, however, the power of this superstition to blot out +the memory of the past is to some extent weakened and impaired by a +natural tendency of the human mind. Time, which wears out the +deepest impressions, inevitably dulls, if it does not wholly efface, +the print left on the savage mind by the mystery and horror of +death. Sooner or later, as the memory of his loved ones fades slowly +away, he becomes more willing to speak of them, and thus their rude +names may sometimes be rescued by the philosophic enquirer before +they have vanished, like autumn leaves or winter snows, into the +vast undistinguished limbo of the past. In some of the Victorian +tribes the prohibition to mention the names of the dead remained in +force only during the period of mourning; in the Port Lincoln tribe +of South Australia it lasted many years. Among the Chinook Indians +of North America "custom forbids the mention of a dead man's name, +at least till many years have elapsed after the bereavement." Among +the Puyallup Indians the observance of the taboo is relaxed after +several years, when the mourners have forgotten their grief; and if +the deceased was a famous warrior, one of his descendants, for +instance a great-grandson, may be named after him. In this tribe the +taboo is not much observed at any time except by the relations of +the dead. Similarly the Jesuit missionary Lafitau tells us that the +name of the departed and the similar names of the survivors were, so +to say, buried with the corpse until, the poignancy of their grief +being abated, it pleased the relations "to lift up the tree and +raise the dead." By raising the dead they meant bestowing the name +of the departed upon some one else, who thus became to all intents +and purposes a reincarnation of the deceased, since on the +principles of savage philosophy the name is a vital part, if not the +soul, of the man. + +Among the Lapps, when a woman was with child and near the time of +her delivery, a deceased ancestor or relation used to appear to her +in a dream and inform her what dead person was to be born again in +her infant, and whose name the child was therefore to bear. If the +woman had no such dream, it fell to the father or the relatives to +determine the name by divination or by consulting a wizard. Among +the Khonds a birth is celebrated on the seventh day after the event +by a feast given to the priest and to the whole village. To +determine the child's name the priest drops grains of rice into a +cup of water, naming with each grain a deceased ancestor. From the +movements of the seed in the water, and from observations made on +the person of the infant, he pronounces which of his progenitors has +reappeared in him, and the child generally, at least among the +northern tribes, receives the name of that ancestor. Among the +Yorubas, soon after a child has been born, a priest of Ifa, the god +of divination, appears on the scene to ascertain what ancestral soul +has been reborn in the infant. As soon as this has been decided, the +parents are told that the child must conform in all respects to the +manner of life of the ancestor who now animates him or her, and if, +as often happens, they profess ignorance, the priest supplies the +necessary information. The child usually receives the name of the +ancestor who has been born again in him. + + + +4. Names of Kings and other Sacred Persons tabooed + +WHEN we see that in primitive society the names of mere commoners, +whether alive or dead, are matters of such anxious care, we need not +be surprised that great precautions should be taken to guard from +harm the names of sacred kings and priests. Thus the name of the +king of Dahomey is always kept secret, lest the knowledge of it +should enable some evil-minded person to do him a mischief. The +appellations by which the different kings of Dahomey have been known +to Europeans are not their true names, but mere titles, or what the +natives call "strong names." The natives seem to think that no harm +comes of such titles being known, since they are not, like the +birth-names, vitally connected with their owners. In the Galla +kingdom of Ghera the birth-name of the sovereign may not be +pronounced by a subject under pain of death, and common words which +resemble it in sound are changed for others. Among the Bahima of +Central Africa, when the king dies, his name is abolished from the +language, and if his name was that of an animal, a new appellation +must be found for the creature at once. For example, the king is +often called a lion; hence at the death of a king named Lion a new +name for lions in general has to be coined. In Siam it used to be +difficult to ascertain the king's real name, since it was carefully +kept secret from fear of sorcery; any one who mentioned it was +clapped into gaol. The king might only be referred to under certain +high-sounding titles, such as "the august," "the perfect," "the +supreme," "the great emperor," "descendant of the angels," and so +on. In Burma it was accounted an impiety of the deepest dye to +mention the name of the reigning sovereign; Burmese subjects, even +when they were far from their country, could not be prevailed upon +to do so; after his accession to the throne the king was known by +his royal titles only. + +Among the Zulus no man will mention the name of the chief of his +tribe or the names of the progenitors of the chief, so far as he can +remember them; nor will he utter common words which coincide with or +merely resemble in sound tabooed names. In the tribe of the Dwandwes +there was a chief called Langa, which means the sun; hence the name +of the sun was changed from _langa_ to _gala,_ and so remains to +this day, though Langa died more than a hundred years ago. Again, in +the Xnumayo tribe the word meaning "to herd cattle" was changed from +_alusa or ayusa_ to _kagesa,_ because u-Mayusi was the name of the +chief. Besides these taboos, which were observed by each tribe +separately, all the Zulu tribes united in tabooing the name of the +king who reigned over the whole nation. Hence, for example, when +Panda was king of Zululand, the word for "a root of a tree," which +is _impando,_ was changed to _nxabo._ Again, the word for "lies" or +"slander" was altered from _amacebo_ to _amakwata,_ because +_amacebo_ contains a syllable of the name of the famous King +Cetchwayo. These substitutions are not, however, carried so far by +the men as by the women, who omit every sound even remotely +resembling one that occurs in a tabooed name. At the king's kraal, +indeed, it is sometimes difficult to understand the speech of the +royal wives, as they treat in this fashion the names not only of the +king and his forefathers, but even of his and their brothers back +for generations. When to these tribal and national taboos we add +those family taboos on the names of connexions by marriage which +have been already described, we can easily understand how it comes +about that in Zululand every tribe has words peculiar to itself, and +that the women have a considerable vocabulary of their own. Members, +too, of one family may be debarred from using words employed by +those of another. The women of one kraal, for instance, may call a +hyaena by its ordinary name; those of the next may use the common +substitute; while in a third the substitute may also be unlawful and +another term may have to be invented to supply its place. Hence the +Zulu language at the present day almost presents the appearance of +being a double one; indeed, for multitudes of things it possesses +three or four synonyms, which through the blending of tribes are +known all over Zululand. + +In Madagascar a similar custom everywhere prevails and has resulted, +as among the Zulus, in producing certain dialectic differences in +the speech of the various tribes. There are no family names in +Madagascar, and almost every personal name is drawn from the +language of daily life and signifies some common object or action or +quality, such as a bird, a beast, a tree, a plant, a colour, and so +on. Now, whenever one of these common words forms the name or part +of the name of the chief of the tribe, it becomes sacred and may no +longer be used in its ordinary signification as the name of a tree, +an insect, or what not. Hence a new name for the object must be +invented to replace the one which has been discarded. It is easy to +conceive what confusion and uncertainty may thus be introduced into +a language when it is spoken by many little local tribes each ruled +by a petty chief with his own sacred name. Yet there are tribes and +people who submit to this tyranny of words as their fathers did +before them from time immemorial. The inconvenient results of the +custom are especially marked on the western coast of the island, +where, on account of the large number of independent chieftains, the +names of things, places, and rivers have suffered so many changes +that confusion often arises, for when once common words have been +banned by the chiefs the natives will not acknowledge to have ever +known them in their old sense. + +But it is not merely the names of living kings and chiefs which are +tabooed in Madagascar; the names of dead sovereigns are equally +under a ban, at least in some parts of the island. Thus among the +Sakalavas, when a king has died, the nobles and people meet in +council round the dead body and solemnly choose a new name by which +the deceased monarch shall be henceforth known. After the new name +has been adopted, the old name by which the king was known during +his life becomes sacred and may not be pronounced under pain of +death. Further, words in the common language which bear any +resemblance to the forbidden name also become sacred and have to be +replaced by others. Persons who uttered these forbidden words were +looked on not only as grossly rude, but even as felons; they had +committed a capital crime. However, these changes of vocabulary are +confined to the district over which the deceased king reigned; in +the neighbouring districts the old words continue to be employed in +the old sense. + +The sanctity attributed to the persons of chiefs in Polynesia +naturally extended also to their names, which on the primitive view +are hardly separable from the personality of their owners. Hence in +Polynesia we find the same systematic prohibition to utter the names +of chiefs or of common words resembling them which we have already +met with in Zululand and Madagascar. Thus in New Zealand the name of +a chief is held so sacred that, when it happens to be a common word, +it may not be used in the language, and another has to be found to +replace it. For example, a chief of the southward of East Cape bore +the name of Maripi, which signified a knife, hence a new word +(_nekra_) for knife was introduced, and the old one became obsolete. +Elsewhere the word for water (_wai_) had to be changed, because it +chanced to be the name of the chief, and would have been desecrated +by being applied to the vulgar fluid as well as to his sacred +person. This taboo naturally produced a plentiful crop of synonyms +in the Maori language, and travellers newly arrived in the country +were sometimes puzzled at finding the same things called by quite +different names in neighbouring tribes. When a king comes to the +throne in Tahiti, any words in the language that resemble his name +in sound must be changed for others. In former times, if any man +were so rash as to disregard this custom and to use the forbidden +words, not only he but all his relations were immediately put to +death. But the changes thus introduced were only temporary; on the +death of the king the new words fell into disuse, and the original +ones were revived. + +In ancient Greece the names of the priests and other high officials +who had to do with the performance of the Eleusinian mysteries might +not be uttered in their lifetime. To pronounce them was a legal +offence The pedant in Lucian tells how he fell in with these august +personages haling along to the police court a ribald fellow who had +dared to name them, though well he knew that ever since their +consecration it was unlawful to do so, because they had become +anonymous, having lost their old names and acquired new and sacred +titles. From two inscriptions found at Eleusis it appears that the +names of the priests were committed to the depths of the sea; +probably they were engraved on tablets of bronze or lead, which were +then thrown into deep water in the Gulf of Salamis. The intention +doubtless was to keep the names a profound secret; and how could +that be done more surely than by sinking them in the sea? what human +vision could spy them glimmering far down in the dim depths of the +green water? A clearer illustration of the confusion between the +incorporeal and the corporeal, between the name and its material +embodiment, could hardly be found than in this practice of civilised +Greece. + + + +5. Names of Gods tabooed + +PRIMITIVE man creates his gods in his own image. Xenophanes remarked +long ago that the complexion of negro gods was black and their noses +flat; that Thracian gods were ruddy and blue-eyed; and that if +horses, oxen, and lions only believed in gods and had hands +wherewith to portray them, they would doubtless fashion their +deities in the form of horses, and oxen, and lions. Hence just as +the furtive savage conceals his real name because he fears that +sorcerers might make an evil use of it, so he fancies that his gods +must likewise keep their true name secret, lest other gods or even +men should learn the mystic sounds and thus be able to conjure with +them. Nowhere was this crude conception of the secrecy and magical +virtue of the divine name more firmly held or more fully developed +than in ancient Egypt, where the superstitions of a dateless past +were embalmed in the hearts of the people hardly less effectually +than the bodies of cats and crocodiles and the rest of the divine +menagerie in their rock-cut tombs. The conception is well +illustrated by a story which tells how the subtle Isis wormed his +secret name from Ra, the great Egyptian god of the sun. Isis, so +runs the tale, was a woman mighty in words, and she was weary of the +world of men, and yearned after the world of the gods. And she +meditated in her heart, saying, "Cannot I by virtue of the great +name of Ra make myself a goddess and reign like him in heaven and +earth?" For Ra had many names, but the great name which gave him all +power over gods and men was known to none but himself. Now the god +was by this time grown old; he slobbered at the mouth and his +spittle fell upon the ground. So Isis gathered up the spittle and +the earth with it, and kneaded thereof a serpent and laid it in the +path where the great god passed every day to his double kingdom +after his heart's desire. And when he came forth according to his +wont, attended by all his company of gods, the sacred serpent stung +him, and the god opened his mouth and cried, and his cry went up to +heaven. And the company of gods cried, "What aileth thee?" and the +gods shouted, "Lo and behold!" But he could not answer; his jaws +rattled, his limbs shook, the poison ran through his flesh as the +Nile floweth over the land. When the great god had stilled his +heart, he cried to his followers, "Come to me, O my children, +offspring of my body. I am a prince, the son of a prince, the divine +seed of a god. My father devised my name; my father and my mother +gave me my name, and it remained hidden in my body since my birth, +that no magician might have magic power over me. I went out to +behold that which I have made, I walked in the two lands which I +have created, and lo! something stung me. What it was, I know not. +Was it fire? was it water? My heart is on fire, my flesh trembleth, +all my limbs do quake. Bring me the children of the gods with +healing words and understanding lips, whose power reacheth to +heaven." Then came to him the children of the gods, and they were +very sorrowful. And Isis came with her craft, whose mouth is full of +the breath of life, whose spells chase pain away, whose word maketh +the dead to live. She said, "What is it, divine Father? what is it?" +The holy god opened his mouth, he spake and said, "I went upon my +way, I walked after my heart's desire in the two regions which I +have made to behold that which I have created, and lo! a serpent +that I saw not stung me. Is it fire? is it water? I am colder than +water, I am hotter than fire, all my limbs sweat, I tremble, mine +eye is not steadfast, I behold not the sky, the moisture bedeweth my +face as in summer-time." Then spake Isis, "Tell me thy name, divine +Father, for the man shall live who is called by his name." Then +answered Ra, "I created the heavens and the earth, I ordered the +mountains, I made the great and wide sea, I stretched out the two +horizons like a curtain. I am he who openeth his eyes and it is +light, and who shutteth them and it is dark. At his command the Nile +riseth, but the gods know not his name. I am Khepera in the morning, +I am Ra at noon, I am Tum at eve." But the poison was not taken away +from him; it pierced deeper, and the great god could no longer walk. +Then said Isis to him, "That was not thy name that thou spakest unto +me. Oh tell it me, that the poison may depart; for he shall live +whose name is named." Now the poison burned like fire, it was hotter +than the flame of fire. The god said, "I consent that Isis shall +search into me, and that my name shall pass from my breast into +hers." Then the god hid himself from the gods, and his place in the +ship of eternity was empty. Thus was the name of the great god taken +from him, and Isis, the witch, spake, "Flow away, poison, depart +from Ra. It is I, even I, who overcome the poison and cast it to the +earth; for the name of the great god hath been taken away from him. +Let Ra live and let the poison die." Thus spake great Isis, the +queen of the gods, she who knows Ra and his true name. + +From this story it appears that the real name of the god, with which +his power was inextricably bound up, was supposed to be lodged, in +an almost physical sense, somewhere in his breast, from which Isis +extracted it by a sort of surgical operation and transferred it with +all its supernatural powers to herself. In Egypt attempts like that +of Isis to appropriate the power of a high god by possessing herself +of his name were not mere legends told of the mythical beings of a +remote past; every Egyptian magician aspired to wield like powers by +similar means. For it was believed that he who possessed the true +name possessed the very being of god or man, and could force even a +deity to obey him as a slave obeys his master. Thus the art of the +magician consisted in obtaining from the gods a revelation of their +sacred names, and he left no stone unturned to accomplish his end. +When once a god in a moment of weakness or forgetfulness had +imparted to the wizard the wondrous lore, the deity had no choice +but to submit humbly to the man or pay the penalty of his contumacy. + +The belief in the magic virtue of divine names was shared by the +Romans. When they sat down before a city, the priests addressed the +guardian deity of the place in a set form of prayer or incantation, +inviting him to abandon the beleaguered city and come over to the +Romans, who would treat him as well as or better than he had ever +been treated in his old home. Hence the name of the guardian deity +of Rome was kept a profound secret, lest the enemies of the republic +might lure him away, even as the Romans themselves had induced many +gods to desert, like rats, the falling fortunes of cities that had +sheltered them in happier days. Nay, the real name, not merely of +its guardian deity, but of the city itself, was wrapt in mystery and +might never be uttered, not even in the sacred rites. A certain +Valerius Soranus, who dared to divulge the priceless secret, was put +to death or came to a bad end. In like manner, it seems, the ancient +Assyrians were forbidden to mention the mystic names of their +cities; and down to modern times the Cheremiss of the Caucasus keep +the names of their communal villages secret from motives of +superstition. + +If the reader has had the patience to follow this examination of the +superstitions attaching to personal names, he will probably agree +that the mystery in which the names of royal personages are so often +shrouded is no isolated phenomenon, no arbitrary expression of +courtly servility and adulation, but merely the particular +application of a general law of primitive thought, which includes +within its scope common folk and gods as well as kings and priests. + + + + +XXIII. Our Debt to the Savage + +IT would be easy to extend the list of royal and priestly taboos, +but the instances collected in the preceding pages may suffice as +specimens. To conclude this part of our subject it only remains to +state summarily the general conclusions to which our enquiries have +thus far conducted us. We have seen that in savage or barbarous +society there are often found men to whom the superstition of their +fellows ascribes a controlling influence over the general course of +nature. Such men are accordingly adored and treated as gods. Whether +these human divinities also hold temporal sway over the lives and +fortunes of their adorers, or whether their functions are purely +spiritual and supernatural, in other words, whether they are kings +as well as gods or only the latter, is a distinction which hardly +concerns us here. Their supposed divinity is the essential fact with +which we have to deal. In virtue of it they are a pledge and +guarantee to their worshippers of the continuance and orderly +succession of those physical phenomena upon which mankind depends +for subsistence. Naturally, therefore, the life and health of such a +god-man are matters of anxious concern to the people whose welfare +and even existence are bound up with his; naturally he is +constrained by them to conform to such rules as the wit of early man +has devised for averting the ills to which flesh is heir, including +the last ill, death. These rules, as an examination of them has +shown, are nothing but the maxims with which, on the primitive view, +every man of common prudence must comply if he would live long in +the land. But while in the case of ordinary men the observance of +the rules is left to the choice of the individual, in the case of +the god-man it is enforced under penalty of dismissal from his high +station, or even of death. For his worshippers have far too great a +stake in his life to allow him to play fast and loose with it. +Therefore all the quaint superstitions, the old-world maxims, the +venerable saws which the ingenuity of savage philosophers elaborated +long ago, and which old women at chimney corners still impart as +treasures of great price to their descendants gathered round the +cottage fire on winter evenings--all these antique fancies +clustered, all these cobwebs of the brain were spun about the path +of the old king, the human god, who, immeshed in them like a fly in +the toils of a spider, could hardly stir a limb for the threads of +custom, "light as air but strong as links of iron," that crossing +and recrossing each other in an endless maze bound him fast within a +network of observances from which death or deposition alone could +release him. + +Thus to students of the past the life of the old kings and priests +teems with instruction. In it was summed up all that passed for +wisdom when the world was young. It was the perfect pattern after +which every man strove to shape his life; a faultless model +constructed with rigorous accuracy upon the lines laid down by a +barbarous philosophy. Crude and false as that philosophy may seem to +us, it would be unjust to deny it the merit of logical consistency. +Starting from a conception of the vital principle as a tiny being or +soul existing in, but distinct and separable from, the living being, +it deduces for the practical guidance of life a system of rules +which in general hangs well together and forms a fairly complete and +harmonious whole. The flaw--and it is a fatal one--of the system +lies not in its reasoning, but in its premises; in its conception of +the nature of life, not in any irrelevancy of the conclusions which +it draws from that conception. But to stigmatise these premises as +ridiculous because we can easily detect their falseness, would be +ungrateful as well as unphilosophical. We stand upon the foundation +reared by the generations that have gone before, and we can but +dimly realise the painful and prolonged efforts which it has cost +humanity to struggle up to the point, no very exalted one after all, +which we have reached. Our gratitude is due to the nameless and +forgotten toilers, whose patient thought and active exertions have +largely made us what we are. The amount of new knowledge which one +age, certainly which one man, can add to the common store is small, +and it argues stupidity or dishonesty, besides ingratitude, to +ignore the heap while vaunting the few grains which it may have been +our privilege to add to it. There is indeed little danger at present +of undervaluing the contributions which modern times and even +classical antiquity have made to the general advancement of our +race. But when we pass these limits, the case is different. Contempt +and ridicule or abhorrence and denunciation are too often the only +recognition vouchsafed to the savage and his ways. Yet of the +benefactors whom we are bound thankfully to commemorate, many, +perhaps most, were savages. For when all is said and done our +resemblances to the savage are still far more numerous than our +differences from him; and what we have in common with him, and +deliberately retain as true and useful, we owe to our savage +forefathers who slowly acquired by experience and transmitted to us +by inheritance those seemingly fundamental ideas which we are apt to +regard as original and intuitive. We are like heirs to a fortune +which has been handed down for so many ages that the memory of those +who built it up is lost, and its possessors for the time being +regard it as having been an original and unalterable possession of +their race since the beginning of the world. But reflection and +enquiry should satisfy us that to our predecessors we are indebted +for much of what we thought most our own, and that their errors were +not wilful extravagances or the ravings of insanity, but simply +hypotheses, justifiable as such at the time when they were +propounded, but which a fuller experience has proved to be +inadequate. It is only by the successive testing of hypotheses and +rejection of the false that truth is at last elicited. After all, +what we call truth is only the hypothesis which is found to work +best. Therefore in reviewing the opinions and practices of ruder +ages and races we shall do well to look with leniency upon their +errors as inevitable slips made in the search for truth, and to give +them the benefit of that indulgence which we ourselves may one day +stand in need of: _cum excusatione itaque veteres audiendi sunt._ + + + +XXIV. The Killing of the Divine King + + + +1. The Mortality of the Gods + +MAN has created gods in his own likeness and being himself mortal he +has naturally supposed his creatures to be in the same sad +predicament. Thus the Greenlanders believed that a wind could kill +their most powerful god, and that he would certainly die if he +touched a dog. When they heard of the Christian God, they kept +asking if he never died, and being informed that he did not, they +were much surprised, and said that he must be a very great god +indeed. In answer to the enquiries of Colonel Dodge, a North +American Indian stated that the world was made by the Great Spirit. +Being asked which Great Spirit he meant, the good one or the bad +one, "Oh, neither of _them,_" replied he, "the Great Spirit that +made the world is dead long ago. He could not possibly have lived as +long as this." A tribe in the Philippine Islands told the Spanish +conquerors that the grave of the Creator was upon the top of Mount +Cabunian. Heitsi-eibib, a god or divine hero of the Hottentots, died +several times and came to life again. His graves are generally to be +met with in narrow defiles between mountains. When the Hottentots +pass one of them, they throw a stone on it for good luck, sometimes +muttering, "Give us plenty of cattle." The grave of Zeus, the great +god of Greece, was shown to visitors in Crete as late as about the +beginning of our era. The body of Dionysus was buried at Delphi +beside the golden statue of Apollo, and his tomb bore the +inscription, "Here lies Dionysus dead, the son of Semele." According +to one account, Apollo himself was buried at Delphi; for Pythagoras +is said to have carved an inscription on his tomb, setting forth how +the god had been killed by the python and buried under the tripod. + +The great gods of Egypt themselves were not exempt from the common +lot. They too grew old and died. But when at a later time the +discovery of the art of embalming gave a new lease of life to the +souls of the dead by preserving their bodies for an indefinite time +from corruption, the deities were permitted to share the benefit of +an invention which held out to gods as well as to men a reasonable +hope of immortality. Every province then had the tomb and mummy of +its dead god. The mummy of Osiris was to be seen at Mendes; Thinis +boasted of the mummy of Anhouri; and Heliopolis rejoiced in the +possession of that of Toumou. The high gods of Babylon also, though +they appeared to their worshippers only in dreams and visions, were +conceived to be human in their bodily shape, human in their +passions, and human in their fate; for like men they were born into +the world, and like men they loved and fought and died. + + + +2. Kings killed when their Strength fails + +IF THE HIGH gods, who dwell remote from the fret and fever of this +earthly life, are yet believed to die at last, it is not to be +expected that a god who lodges in a frail tabernacle of flesh should +escape the same fate, though we hear of African kings who have +imagined themselves immortal by virtue of their sorceries. Now +primitive peoples, as we have seen, sometimes believe that their +safety and even that of the world is bound up with the life of one +of these god-men or human incarnations of the divinity. Naturally, +therefore, they take the utmost care of his life, out of a regard +for their own. But no amount of care and precaution will prevent the +man-god from growing old and feeble and at last dying. His +worshippers have to lay their account with this sad necessity and to +meet it as best they can. The danger is a formidable one; for if the +course of nature is dependent on the man-god's life, what +catastrophes may not be expected from the gradual enfeeblement of +his powers and their final extinction in death? There is only one +way of averting these dangers. The man-god must be killed as soon as +he shows symptoms that his powers are beginning to fail, and his +soul must be transferred to a vigorous successor before it has been +seriously impaired by the threatened decay. The advantages of thus +putting the man-god to death instead of allowing him to die of old +age and disease are, to the savage, obvious enough. For if the +man-god dies what we call a natural death, it means, according to +the savage, that his soul has either voluntarily departed from his +body and refuses to return, or more commonly that it has been +extracted, or at least detained in its wanderings, by a demon or +sorcerer. In any of these cases the soul of the man-god is lost to +his worshippers, and with it their prosperity is gone and their very +existence endangered. Even if they could arrange to catch the soul +of the dying god as it left his lips or his nostrils and so transfer +it to a successor, this would not effect their purpose; for, dying +of disease, his soul would necessarily leave his body in the last +stage of weakness and exhaustion, and so enfeebled it would continue +to drag out a languid, inert existence in any body to which it might +be transferred. Whereas by slaying him his worshippers could, in the +first place, make sure of catching his soul as it escaped and +transferring it to a suitable successor; and, in the second place, +by putting him to death before his natural force was abated, they +would secure that the world should not fall into decay with the +decay of the man-god. Every purpose, therefore, was answered, and +all dangers averted by thus killing the man-god and transferring his +soul, while yet at its prime, to a vigorous successor. + +The mystic kings of Fire and Water in Cambodia are not allowed to +die a natural death. Hence when one of them is seriously ill and the +elders think that he cannot recover, they stab him to death. The +people of Congo believed, as we have seen, that if their pontiff the +Chitomé were to die a natural death, the world would perish, and the +earth, which he alone sustained by his power and merit, would +immediately be annihilated. Accordingly when he fell ill and seemed +likely to die, the man who was destined to be his successor entered +the pontiff's house with a rope or a club and strangled or clubbed +him to death. The Ethiopian kings of Meroe were worshipped as gods; +but whenever the priests chose, they sent a messenger to the king, +ordering him to die, and alleging an oracle of the gods as their +authority for the command. This command the kings always obeyed down +to the reign of Ergamenes, a contemporary of Ptolemy II., King of +Egypt. Having received a Greek education which emancipated him from +the superstitions of his countrymen, Ergamenes ventured to disregard +the command of the priests, and, entering the Golden Temple with a +body of soldiers, put the priests to the sword. + +Customs of the same sort appear to have prevailed in this part of +Africa down to modern times. In some tribes of Fazoql the king had +to administer justice daily under a certain tree. If from sickness +or any other cause he was unable to discharge this duty for three +whole days, he was hanged on the tree in a noose, which contained +two razors so arranged that when the noose was drawn tight by the +weight of the king's body they cut his throat. + +A custom of putting their divine kings to death at the first +symptoms of infirmity or old age prevailed until lately, if indeed +it is even now extinct and not merely dormant, among the Shilluk of +the White Nile, and in recent years it has been carefully +investigated by Dr. C. G. Seligman. The reverence which the Shilluk +pay to their king appears to arise chiefly from the conviction that +he is a reincarnation of the spirit of Nyakang, the semi-divine hero +who founded the dynasty and settled the tribe in their present +territory. It is a fundamental article of the Shilluk creed that the +spirit of the divine or semi-divine Nyakang is incarnate in the +reigning king, who is accordingly himself invested to some extent +with the character of a divinity. But while the Shilluk hold their +kings in high, indeed religious reverence and take every precaution +against their accidental death, nevertheless they cherish "the +conviction that the king must not be allowed to become ill or +senile, lest with his diminishing vigour the cattle should sicken +and fail to bear their increase, the crops should rot in the fields, +and man, stricken with disease, should die in ever-increasing +numbers." To prevent these calamities it used to be the regular +custom with the Shilluk to put the king to death whenever he showed +signs of ill-health or failing strength. One of the fatal symptoms +of decay was taken to be an incapacity to satisfy the sexual +passions of his wives, of whom he has very many, distributed in a +large number of houses at Fashoda. When this ominous weakness +manifested itself, the wives reported it to the chiefs, who are +popularly said to have intimated to the king his doom by spreading a +white cloth over his face and knees as he lay slumbering in the heat +of the sultry afternoon. Execution soon followed the sentence of +death. A hut was specially built for the occasion: the king was led +into it and lay down with his head resting on the lap of a nubile +virgin: the door of the hut was then walled up; and the couple were +left without food, water, or fire to die of hunger and suffocation. +This was the old custom, but it was abolished some five generations +ago on account of the excessive sufferings of one of the kings who +perished in this way. It is said that the chiefs announce his fate +to the king, and that afterwards he is strangled in a hut which has +been specially built for the occasion. + +From Dr. Seligman's enquiries it appears that not only was the +Shilluk king liable to be killed with due ceremony at the first +symptoms of incipient decay, but even while he was yet in the prime +of health and strength he might be attacked at any time by a rival +and have to defend his crown in a combat to the death. According to +the common Shilluk tradition any son of a king had the right thus to +fight the king in possession and, if he succeeded in killing him, to +reign in his stead. As every king had a large harem and many sons, +the number of possible candidates for the throne at any time may +well have been not inconsiderable, and the reigning monarch must +have carried his life in his hand. But the attack on him could only +take place with any prospect of success at night; for during the day +the king surrounded himself with his friends and bodyguards, and an +aspirant to the throne could hardly hope to cut his way through them +and strike home. It was otherwise at night. For then the guards were +dismissed and the king was alone in his enclosure with his favourite +wives, and there was no man near to defend him except a few +herdsmen, whose huts stood a little way off. The hours of darkness +were therefore the season of peril for the king. It is said that he +used to pass them in constant watchfulness, prowling round his huts +fully armed, peering into the blackest shadows, or himself standing +silent and alert, like a sentinel on duty, in some dark corner. When +at last his rival appeared, the fight would take place in grim +silence, broken only by the clash of spears and shields, for it was +a point of honour with the king not to call the herdsmen to his +assistance. + +Like Nyakang himself, their founder, each of the Shilluk kings after +death is worshipped at a shrine, which is erected over his grave, +and the grave of a king is always in the village where he was born. +The tomb-shrine of a king resembles the shrine of Nyakang, +consisting of a few huts enclosed by a fence; one of the huts is +built over the king's grave, the others are occupied by the +guardians of the shrine. Indeed the shrines of Nyakang and the +shrines of the kings are scarcely to be distinguished from each +other, and the religious rituals observed at all of them are +identical in form and vary only in matters of detail, the variations +being due apparently to the far greater sanctity attributed to the +shrines of Nyakang. The grave-shrines of the kings are tended by +certain old men or women, who correspond to the guardians of the +shrines of Nyakang. They are usually widows or old men-servants of +the deceased king, and when they die they are succeeded in their +office by their descendants. Moreover, cattle are dedicated to the +grave-shrines of the kings and sacrifices are offered at them just +as at the shrines of Nyakang. + +In general the principal element in the religion of the Shilluk +would seem to be the worship which they pay to their sacred or +divine kings, whether dead or alive. These are believed to be +animated by a single divine spirit, which has been transmitted from +the semi-mythical, but probably in substance historical, founder of +the dynasty through all his successors to the present day. Hence, +regarding their kings as incarnate divinities on whom the welfare of +men, of cattle, and of the corn implicitly depends, the Shilluk +naturally pay them the greatest respect and take every care of them; +and however strange it may seem to us, their custom of putting the +divine king to death as soon as he shows signs of ill-health or +failing strength springs directly from their profound veneration for +him and from their anxiety to preserve him, or rather the divine +spirit by which he is animated, in the most perfect state of +efficiency: nay, we may go further and say that their practice of +regicide is the best proof they can give of the high regard in which +they hold their kings. For they believe, as we have seen, that the +king's life or spirit is so sympathetically bound up with the +prosperity of the whole country, that if he fell ill or grew senile +the cattle would sicken and cease to multiply, the crops would rot +in the fields, and men would perish of widespread disease. Hence, in +their opinion, the only way of averting these calamities is to put +the king to death while he is still hale and hearty, in order that +the divine spirit which he has inherited from his predecessors may +be transmitted in turn by him to his successor while it is still in +full vigour and has not yet been impaired by the weakness of disease +and old age. In this connexion the particular symptom which is +commonly said to seal the king's death-warrant is highly +significant; when he can no longer satisfy the passions of his +numerous wives, in other words, when he has ceased, whether +partially or wholly, to be able to reproduce his kind, it is time +for him to die and to make room for a more vigorous successor. Taken +along with the other reasons which are alleged for putting the king +to death, this one suggests that the fertility of men, of cattle, +and of the crops is believed to depend sympathetically on the +generative power of the king, so that the complete failure of that +power in him would involve a corresponding failure in men, animals, +and plants, and would thereby entail at no distant date the entire +extinction of all life, whether human, animal, or vegetable. No +wonder, that with such a danger before their eyes the Shilluk should +be most careful not to let the king die what we should call a +natural death of sickness or old age. It is characteristic of their +attitude towards the death of the kings that they refrain from +speaking of it as death: they do not say that a king has died but +simply that he has "gone away" like his divine ancestors Nyakang and +Dag, the two first kings of the dynasty, both of whom are reported +not to have died but to have disappeared. The similar legends of the +mysterious disappearance of early kings in other lands, for example +at Rome and in Uganda, may well point to a similar custom of putting +them to death for the purpose of preserving their life. + +On the whole the theory and practice of the divine kings of the +Shilluk correspond very nearly to the theory and practice of the +priests of Nemi, the Kings of the Wood, if my view of the latter is +correct. In both we see a series of divine kings on whose life the +fertility of men, of cattle, and of vegetation is believed to +depend, and who are put to death, whether in single combat or +otherwise, in order that their divine spirit may be transmitted to +their successors in full vigour, uncontaminated by the weakness and +decay of sickness or old age, because any such degeneration on the +part of the king would, in the opinion of his worshippers, entail a +corresponding degeneration on manking, on cattle, and on the crops. +Some points in this explanation of the custom of putting divine +kings to death, particularly the method of transmitting their divine +souls to their successors, will be dealt with more fully in the +sequel. Meantime we pass to other examples of the general practice. + +The Dinka are a congeries of independent tribes in the valley of the +White Nile. They are essentially a pastoral people, passionately +devoted to the care of their numerous herds of oxen, though they +also keep sheep and goats, and the women cultivate small quantities +of millet and sesame. For their crops and above all for their +pastures they depend on the regularity of the rains: in seasons of +prolonged drought they are said to be reduced to great extremities. +Hence the rain-maker is a very important personage among them to +this day; indeed the men in authority whom travellers dub chiefs or +sheikhs are in fact the actual or potential rain-makers of the tribe +or community. Each of them is believed to be animated by the spirit +of a great rain-maker, which has come down to him through a +succession of rain-makers; and in virtue of this inspiration a +successful rain-maker enjoys very great power and is consulted on +all important matters. Yet in spite, or rather in virtue, of the +high honour in which he is held, no Dinka rain-maker is allowed to +die a natural death of sickness or old age; for the Dinka believe +that if such an untoward event were to happen, the tribe would +suffer from disease and famine, and the herds would not yield their +increase. So when a rain-maker feels that he is growing old and +infirm, he tells his children that he wishes to die. Among the Agar +Dinka a large grave is dug and the rain-maker lies down in it, +surrounded by his friends and relatives. From time to time he speaks +to the people, recalling the past history of the tribe, reminding +them how he has ruled and advised them, and instructing them how +they are to act in the future. Then, when he has concluded his +admonition, he bids them cover him up. So the earth is thrown down +on him as he lies in the grave, and he soon dies of suffocation. +Such, with minor variations, appears to be the regular end of the +honourable career of a rain-maker in all the Dinka tribes. The +Khor-Adar Dinka told Dr. Seligman that when they have dug the grave +for their rain-maker they strangle him in his house. The father and +paternal uncle of one of Dr. Seligman's informants had both been +rain-makers and both had been killed in the most regular and +orthodox fashion. Even if a rain-maker is quite young he will be put +to death should he seem likely to perish of disease. Further, every +precaution is taken to prevent a rain-maker from dying an accidental +death, for such an end, though not nearly so serious a matter as +death from illness or old age, would be sure to entail sickness on +the tribe. As soon as a rain-maker is killed, his valuable spirit is +supposed to pass to a suitable successor, whether a son or other +near blood relation. + +In the Central African kingdom of Bunyoro down to recent years +custom required that as soon as the king fell seriously ill or began +to break up from age, he should die by his own hand; for, according +to an old prophecy, the throne would pass away from the dynasty if +ever the king were to die a natural death. He killed himself by +draining a poisoned cup. If he faltered or were too ill to ask for +the cup, it was his wife's duty to administer the poison. When the +king of Kibanga, on the Upper Congo, seems near his end, the +sorcerers put a rope round his neck, which they draw gradually +tighter till he dies. If the king of Gingiro happens to be wounded +in war, he is put to death by his comrades, or, if they fail to kill +him, by his kinsfolk, however hard he may beg for mercy. They say +they do it that he may not die by the hands of his enemies. The +Jukos are a heathen tribe of the Benue River, a great tributary of +the Niger. In their country "the town of Gatri is ruled by a king +who is elected by the big men of the town as follows. When in the +opinion of the big men the king has reigned long enough, they give +out that 'the king is sick'--a formula understood by all to mean +that they are going to kill him, though the intention is never put +more plainly. They then decide who is to be the next king. How long +he is to reign is settled by the influential men at a meeting; the +question is put and answered by each man throwing on the ground a +little piece of stick for each year he thinks the new king should +rule. The king is then told, and a great feast prepared, at which +the king gets drunk on guinea-corn beer. After that he is speared, +and the man who was chosen becomes king. Thus each Juko king knows +that he cannot have very many more years to live, and that he is +certain of his predecessor's fate. This, however, does not seem to +frighten candidates. The same custom of king-killing is said to +prevail at Quonde and Wukari as well as at Gatri." In the three +Hausa kingdoms of Gobir, Katsina, and Daura, in Northern Nigeria, as +soon as a king showed signs of failing health or growing infirmity, +an official who bore the title of Killer of the Elephant appeared +and throttled him. + +The Matiamvo is a great king or emperor in the interior of Angola. +One of the inferior kings of the country, by name Challa, gave to a +Portuguese expedition the following account of the manner in which +the Matiamvo comes by his end. "It has been customary," he said, +"for our Matiamvos to die either in war or by a violent death, and +the present Matiamvo must meet this last fate, as, in consequence of +his great exactions, he has lived long enough. When we come to this +understanding, and decide that he should be killed, we invite him to +make war with our enemies, on which occasion we all accompany him +and his family to the war, when we lose some of our people. If he +escapes unhurt, we return to the war again and fight for three or +four days. We then suddenly abandon him and his family to their +fate, leaving him in the enemy's hands. Seeing himself thus +deserted, he causes his throne to be erected, and, sitting down, +calls his family around him. He then orders his mother to approach; +she kneels at his feet; he first cuts off her head, then decapitates +his sons in succession, next his wives and relatives, and, last of +all, his most beloved wife, called Anacullo. This slaughter being +accomplished, the Matiamvo, dressed in all his pomp, awaits his own +death, which immediately follows, by an officer sent by the powerful +neighbouring chiefs, Caniquinha and Canica. This officer first cuts +off his legs and arms at the joints, and lastly he cuts off his +head; after which the head of the officer is struck off. All the +potentates retire from the encampment, in order not to witness his +death. It is my duty to remain and witness his death, and to mark +the place where the head and arms have been deposited by the two +great chiefs, the enemies of the Matiamvo. They also take possession +of all the property belonging to the deceased monarch and his +family, which they convey to their own residence. I then provide for +the funeral of the mutilated remains of the late Matiamvo, after +which I retire to his capital and proclaim the new government. I +then return to where the head, legs, and arms have been deposited, +and, for forty slaves, I ransom them, together with the merchandise +and other property belonging to the deceased, which I give up to the +new Matiamvo, who has been proclaimed. This is what has happened to +many Matiamvos, and what must happen to the present one." + +It appears to have been a Zulu custom to put the king to death as +soon as he began to have wrinkles or grey hairs. At least this seems +implied in the following passage written by one who resided for some +time at the court of the notorious Zulu tyrant Chaka, in the early +part of the nineteenth century: "The extraordinary violence of the +king's rage with me was mainly occasioned by that absurd nostrum, +the hair oil, with the notion of which Mr. Farewell had impressed +him as being a specific for removing all indications of age. From +the first moment of his having heard that such a preparation was +attainable, he evinced a solicitude to procure it, and on every +occasion never forgot to remind us of his anxiety respecting it; +more especially on our departure on the mission his injunctions were +particularly directed to this object. It will be seen that it is one +of the barbarous customs of the Zoolas in their choice or election +of their kings that he must neither have wrinkles nor grey hairs, as +they are both distinguishing marks of disqualification for becoming +a monarch of a warlike people. It is also equally indispensable that +their king should never exhibit those proofs of having become unfit +and incompetent to reign; it is therefore important that they should +conceal these indications so long as they possibly can. Chaka had +become greatly apprehensive of the approach of grey hairs; which +would at once be the signal for him to prepare to make his exit from +this sublunary world, it being always followed by the death of the +monarch." The writer to whom we are indebted for this instructive +anecdote of the hair oil omits to specify the mode in which a +grey-haired and wrinkled Zulu chief used "to make his exit from this +sublunary world"; but on analogy we may conjecture that he was +killed. + +The custom of putting kings to death as soon as they suffered from +any personal defect prevailed two centuries ago in the Caffre +kingdom of Sofala. We have seen that these kings of Sofala were +regarded as gods by their people, being entreated to give rain or +sunshine, according as each might be wanted. Nevertheless a slight +bodily blemish, such as the loss of a tooth, was considered a +sufficient cause for putting one of these god-men to death, as we +learn from the following passage of an old Portuguese historian: "It +was formerly the custom of the kings of this land to commit suicide +by taking poison when any disaster or natural physical defect fell +upon them, such as impotence, infectious disease, the loss of their +front teeth, by which they were disfigured, or any other deformity +or affliction. To put an end to such defects they killed themselves, +saying that the king should be free from any blemish, and if not, it +was better for his honour that he should die and seek another life +where he would be made whole, for there everything was perfect. But +the Quiteve (king) who reigned when I was in those parts would not +imitate his predecessors in this, being discreet and dreaded as he +was; for having lost a front tooth he caused it to be proclaimed +throughout the kingdom that all should be aware that he had lost a +tooth and should recognise him when they saw him without it, and if +his predecessors killed themselves for such things they were very +foolish, and he would not do so; on the contrary, he would be very +sorry when the time came for him to die a natural death, for his +life was very necessary to preserve his kingdom and defend it from +his enemies; and he recommended his successors to follow his +example." + +The king of Sofala who dared to survive the loss of his front tooth +was thus a bold reformer like Ergamenes, king of Ethiopia. We may +conjecture that the ground for putting the Ethiopian kings to death +was, as in the case of the Zulu and Sofala kings, the appearance on +their person of any bodily defect or sign of decay; and that the +oracle which the priests alleged as the authority for the royal +execution was to the effect that great calamities would result from +the reign of a king who had any blemish on his body; just as an +oracle warned Sparta against a "lame reign," that is, the reign of a +lame king. It is some confirmation of this conjecture that the kings +of Ethiopia were chosen for their size, strength, and beauty long +before the custom of killing them was abolished. To this day the +Sultan of Wadai must have no obvious bodily defect, and the king of +Angoy cannot be crowned if he has a single blemish, such as a broken +or a filed tooth or the scar of an old wound. According to the Book +of Acaill and many other authorities no king who was afflicted with +a personal blemish might reign over Ireland at Tara. Hence, when the +great King Cormac Mac Art lost one eye by an accident, he at once +abdicated. + +Many days' journey to the north-east of Abomey, the old capital of +Dahomey, lies the kingdom of Eyeo. "The Eyeos are governed by a +king, no less absolute than the king of Dahomey, yet subject to a +regulation of state, at once humiliating and extraordinary. When the +people have conceived an opinion of his ill-government, which is +sometimes insidiously infused into them by the artifice of his +discontented ministers, they send a deputation to him with a present +of parrots' eggs, as a mark of its authenticity, to represent to him +that the burden of government must have so far fatigued him that +they consider it full time for him to repose from his cares and +indulge himself with a little sleep. He thanks his subjects for +their attention to his ease, retires to his own apartment as if to +sleep, and there gives directions to his women to strangle him. This +is immediately executed, and his son quietly ascends the throne upon +the usual terms of holding the reins of government no longer than +whilst he merits the approbation of the people." About the year +1774, a king of Eyeo, whom his ministers attempted to remove in the +customary manner, positively refused to accept the proffered +parrots' eggs at their hands, telling them that he had no mind to +take a nap, but on the contrary was resolved to watch for the +benefit of his subjects. The ministers, surprised and indignant at +his recalcitrancy, raised a rebellion, but were defeated with great +slaughter, and thus by his spirited conduct the king freed himself +from the tyranny of his councillors and established a new precedent +for the guidance of his successors. However, the old custom seems to +have revived and persisted until late in the nineteenth century, for +a Catholic missionary, writing in 1884, speaks of the practice as if +it were still in vogue. Another missionary, writing in 1881, thus +describes the usage of the Egbas and the Yorubas of West Africa: +"Among the customs of the country one of the most curious is +unquestionably that of judging, and punishing the king. Should he +have earned the hatred of his people by exceeding his rights, one of +his councillors, on whom the heavy duty is laid, requires of the +prince that he shall 'go to sleep,' which means simply 'take poison +and die.' If his courage fails him at the supreme moment, a friend +renders him this last service, and quietly, without betraying the +secret, they prepare the people for the news of the king's death. In +Yoruba the thing is managed a little differently. When a son is born +to the king of Oyo, they make a model of the infant's right foot in +clay and keep it in the house of the elders (_ogboni_). If the king +fails to observe the customs of the country, a messenger, without +speaking 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 as their supreme lord a ruler who governed them in the +name of the gods, and was known as "God's Mouth." When he felt +himself weak and ill, if he wished to leave a good name behind him, +he had a great heap made of thorn-bushes and straw, on which he +mounted and delivered a long sermon to the people, exhorting them to +serve the gods and promising to go to the gods and speak for the +people. Then he took some of the perpetual fire which burned in +front of the holy oak-tree, and lighting the pile with it burned +himself to death. + + + +3. Kings killed at the End of a Fixed Term + +IN THE CASES hitherto described, the divine king or priest is +suffered by his people to retain office until some outward defect, +some visible symptom of failing health or advancing age, warns them +that he is no longer equal to the discharge of his divine duties; +but not until such symptoms have made their appearance is he put to +death. Some peoples, however, appear to have thought it unsafe to +wait for even the slightest symptom of decay and have preferred to +kill the king while he was still in the full vigour of life. +Accordingly, they have fixed a term beyond which he might not reign, +and at the close of which he must die, the term fixed upon being +short enough to exclude the probability of his degenerating +physically in the interval. In some parts of Southern India the +period fixed was twelve years. Thus, according to an old traveller, +in the province of Quilacare, "there is a Gentile house of prayer, +in which there is an idol which they hold in great account, and +every twelve years they celebrate a great feast to it, whither all +the Gentiles go as to a jubilee. This temple possesses many lands +and much revenue: it is a very great affair. This province has a +king over it, who has not more than twelve years to reign from +jubilee to jubilee. His manner of living is in this wise, that is to +say: when the twelve years are completed, on the day of this feast +there assemble together innumerable people, and much money is spent +in giving food to Bramans. The king has a wooden scaffolding made, +spread over with silken hangings: and on that day he goes to bathe +at a tank with great ceremonies and sound of music, after that he +comes to the idol and prays to it, and mounts on to the scaffolding, +and there before all the people he takes some very sharp knives, and +begins to cut off his nose, and then his ears, and his lips, and all +his members, and as much flesh off himself as he can; and he throws +it away very hurriedly until so much of his blood is spilled that he +begins to faint, and then he cuts his throat himself. And he +performs this sacrifice to the idol, and whoever desires to reign +another twelve years and undertake this martyrdom for love of the +idol, has to be present looking on at this: and from that place they +raise him up as king." + +The king of Calicut, on the Malabar coast, bears the title of +Samorin or Samory. He "pretends to be of a higher rank than the +Brahmans, and to be inferior only to the invisible gods; a +pretention that was acknowledged by his subjects, but which is held +as absurd and abominable by the Brahmans, by whom he is only treated +as a Sudra." Formerly the Samorin had to cut his throat in public at +the end of a twelve years' reign. But towards the end of the +seventeenth century the rule had been modified as follows: "Many +strange customs were observed in this country in former times, and +some very odd ones are still continued. It was an ancient custom for +the Samorin to reign but twelve years, and no longer. If he died +before his term was expired, it saved him a troublesome ceremony of +cutting his own throat, on a publick scaffold erected for the +purpose. He first made a feast for all his nobility and gentry, who +are very numerous. After the feast he saluted his guests, and went +on the scaffold, and very decently cut his own throat in the view of +the assembly, and his body was, a little while after, burned with +great pomp and ceremony, and the grandees elected a new Samorin. +Whether that custom was a religious or a civil ceremony, I know not, +but it is now laid aside. And a new custom is followed by the modern +Samorins, that jubilee is proclaimed throughout his dominions, at +the end of twelve years, and a tent is pitched for him in a spacious +plain, and a great feast is celebrated for ten or twelve days, with +mirth and jollity, guns firing night and day, so at the end of the +feast any four of the guests that have a mind to gain a crown by a +desperate action, in fighting their way through 30 or 40,000 of his +guards, and kill the Samorin in his tent, he that kills him succeeds +him in his empire. In anno 1695, one of those jubilees happened, and +the tent pitched near Pennany, a seaport of his, about fifteen +leagues to the southward of Calicut. There were but three men that +would venture on that desperate action, who fell in, with sword and +target, among the guard, and, after they had killed and wounded +many, were themselves killed. One of the desperados had a nephew of +fifteen or sixteen years of age, that kept close by his uncle in the +attack on the guards, and, when he saw him fall, the youth got +through the guards into the tent, and made a stroke at his Majesty's +head, and had certainly despatched him if a large brass lamp which +was burning over his head had not marred the blow; but, before he +could make another, he was killed by the guards; and, I believe, the +same Samorin reigns yet. I chanced to come that time along the coast +and heard the guns for two or three days and nights successively." + +The English traveller, whose account I have quoted, did not himself +witness the festival he describes, though he heard the sound of the +firing in the distance. Fortunately, exact records of these +festivals and of the number of men who perished at them have been +preserved in the archives of the royal family at Calicut. In the +latter part of the nineteenth century they were examined by Mr. W. +Logan, with the personal assistance of the reigning king, and from +his work it is possible to gain an accurate conception both of the +tragedy and of the scene where it was periodically enacted down to +1743, when the ceremony took place for the last time. + +The festival at which the king of Calicut staked his crown and his +life on the issue of battle was known as the "Great Sacrifice." It +fell every twelfth year, when the planet Jupiter was in retrograde +motion in the sign of the Crab, and it lasted twenty-eight days, +culminating at the time of the eighth lunar asterism in the month of +Makaram. As the date of the festival was determined by the position +of Jupiter in the sky, and the interval between two festivals was +twelve years, which is roughly Jupiter's period of revolution round +the sun, we may conjecture that the splendid planet was supposed to +be in a special sense the king's star and to rule his destiny, the +period of its revolution in heaven corresponding to the period of +his reign on earth. However that may be, the ceremony was observed +with great pomp at the Tirunavayi temple, on the north bank of the +Ponnani River. The spot is close to the present railway line. As the +train rushes by, you can just catch a glimpse of the temple, almost +hidden behind a clump of trees on the river bank. From the western +gateway of the temple a perfectly straight road, hardly raised above +the level of the surrounding rice-fields and shaded by a fine +avenue, runs for half a mile to a high ridge with a precipitous +bank, on which the outlines of three or four terraces can still be +traced. On the topmost of these terraces the king took his stand on +the eventful day. The view which it commands is a fine one. Across +the flat expanse of the rice-fields, with the broad placid river +winding through them, the eye ranges eastward to high tablelands, +their lower slopes embowered in woods, while afar off looms the +great chain of the western Ghauts, and in the furthest distance the +Neilgherries or Blue Mountains, hardly distinguishable from the +azure of the sky above. + +But it was not to the distant prospect that the king's eyes +naturally turned at this crisis of his fate. His attention was +arrested by a spectacle nearer at hand. For all the plain below was +alive with troops, their banners waving gaily in the sun, the white +tents of their many camps standing sharply out against the green and +gold of the ricefields. Forty thousand fighting men or more were +gathered there to defend the king. But if the plain swarmed with +soldiers, the road that cuts across it from the temple to the king's +stand was clear of them. Not a soul was stirring on it. Each side of +the way was barred by palisades, and from the palisades on either +hand a long hedge of spears, held by strong arms, projected into the +empty road, their blades meeting in the middle and forming a +glittering arch of steel. All was now ready. The king waved his +sword. At the same moment a great chain of massy gold, enriched with +bosses, was placed on an elephant at his side. That was the signal. +On the instant a stir might be seen half a mile away at the gate of +the temple. A group of swordsmen, decked with flowers and smeared +with ashes, has stepped out from the crowd. They have just partaken +of their last meal on earth, and they now receive the last blessings +and farewells of their friends. A moment more and they are coming +down the lane of spears, hewing and stabbing right and left at the +spearmen, winding and turning and writhing among the blades as if +they had no bones in their bodies. It is all in vain. One after the +other they fall, some nearer the king, some farther off, content to +die, not for the shadow of a crown, but for the mere sake of +approving their dauntless valour and swordsmanship to the world. On +the last days of the festival the same magnificent display of +gallantry, the same useless sacrifice of life was repeated again and +again. Yet perhaps no sacrifice is wholly useless which proves that +there are men who prefer honour to life. + +"It is a singular custom in Bengal," says an old native historian of +India, "that there is little of hereditary descent in succession to +the sovereignty. . . . Whoever kills the king, and succeeds in +placing himself on that throne, is immediately acknowledged as king; +all the _amirs, wazirs,_ soldiers, and peasants instantly obey and +submit to him, and consider him as being as much their sovereign as +they did their former prince, and obey his orders implicitly. The +people of Bengal say, 'We are faithful to the throne; whoever fills +the throne we are obedient and true to it.'" A custom of the same +sort formerly prevailed in the little kingdom of Passier, on the +northern coast of Sumatra. The old Portuguese historian De Barros, +who informs us of it, remarks with surprise that no wise man would +wish to be king of Passier, since the monarch was not allowed by his +subjects to live long. From time to time a sort of fury seized the +people, and they marched through the streets of the city chanting +with loud voices the fatal words, "The king must die!" When the king +heard that song of death he knew that his hour had come. The man who +struck the fatal blow was of the royal lineage, and as soon as he +had done the deed of blood and seated himself on the throne he was +regarded as the legitimate king, provided that he contrived to +maintain his seat peaceably for a single day. This, however, the +regicide did not always succeed in doing. When Fernão Peres +d'Andrade, on a voyage to China, put in at Passier for a cargo of +spices, two kings were massacred, and that in the most peaceable and +orderly manner, without the smallest sign of tumult or sedition in +the city, where everything went on in its usual course, as if the +murder or execution of a king were a matter of everyday occurrence. +Indeed, on one occasion three kings were raised to the dangerous +elevation and followed each other in the dusty road of death in a +single day. The people defended the custom, which they esteemed very +laudable and even of divine institution, by saying that God would +never allow so high and mighty a being as a king, who reigned as his +vicegerent on earth, to perish by violence unless for his sins he +thoroughly deserved it. Far away from the tropical island of Sumatra +a rule of the same sort appears to have obtained among the old +Slavs. When the captives Gunn and Jarmerik contrived to slay the +king and queen of the Slavs and made their escape, they were pursued +by the barbarians, who shouted after them that if they would only +come back they would reign instead of the murdered monarch, since by +a public statute of the ancients the succession to the throne fell +to the king's assassin. But the flying regicides turned a deaf ear +to promises which they regarded as mere baits to lure them back to +destruction; they continued their flight, and the shouts and clamour +of the barbarians gradually died away in the distance. + +When kings were bound to suffer death, whether at their own hands or +at the hands of others, on the expiration of a fixed term of years, +it was natural that they should seek to delegate the painful duty, +along with some of the privileges of sovereignty, to a substitute +who should suffer vicariously in their stead. This expedient appears +to have been resorted to by some of the princes of Malabar. Thus we +are informed by a native authority on that country that "in some +places all powers both executive and judicial were delegated for a +fixed period to natives by the sovereign. This institution was +styled _Thalavettiparothiam_ or authority obtained by decapitation. +. . . It was an office tenable for five years during which its bearer +was invested with supreme despotic powers within his jurisdiction. +On the expiry of the five years the man's head was cut off and +thrown up in the air amongst a large concourse of villagers, each of +whom vied with the other in trying to catch it in its course down. +He who succeeded was nominated to the post for the next five years." + +When once kings, who had hitherto been bound to die a violent death +at the end of a term of years, conceived the happy thought of dying +by deputy in the persons of others, they would very naturally put it +in practice; and accordingly we need not wonder at finding so +popular an expedient, or traces of it, in many lands. Scandinavian +traditions contain some hints that of old the Swedish kings reigned +only for periods of nine years, after which they were put to death +or had to find a substitute to die in their stead. Thus Aun or On, +king of Sweden, is said to have sacrificed to Odin for length of +days and to have been answered by the god that he should live so +long as he sacrificed one of his sons every ninth year. He +sacrificed nine of them in this manner, and would have sacrificed +the tenth and last, but the Swedes would not allow him. So he died +and was buried in a mound at Upsala. Another indication of a similar +tenure of the crown occurs in a curious legend of the deposition and +banishment of Odin. Offended at his misdeeds, the other gods +outlawed and exiled him, but set up in his place a substitute, Oller +by name, a cunning wizard, to whom they accorded the symbols both of +royalty and of godhead. The deputy bore the name of Odin, and +reigned for nearly ten years, when he was driven from the throne, +while the real Odin came to his own again. His discomfited rival +retired to Sweden and was afterwards slain in an attempt to repair +his shattered fortunes. As gods are often merely men who loom large +through the mists of tradition, we may conjecture that this Norse +legend preserves a confused reminiscence of ancient Swedish kings +who reigned for nine or ten years together, then abdicated, +delegating to others the privilege of dying for their country. The +great festival which was held at Upsala every nine years may have +been the occasion on which the king or his deputy was put to death. +We know that human sacrifices formed part of the rites. + +There are some grounds for believing that the reign of many ancient +Greek kings was limited to eight years, or at least that at the end +of every period of eight years a new consecration, a fresh +outpouring of the divine grace, was regarded as necessary in order +to enable them to discharge their civil and religious duties. Thus +it was a rule of the Spartan constitution that every eighth year the +ephors should choose a clear and moonless night and sitting down +observe the sky in silence. If during their vigil they saw a meteor +or shooting star, they inferred that the king had sinned against the +deity, and they suspended him from his functions until the Delphic +or Olympic oracle should reinstate him in them. This custom, which +has all the air of great antiquity, was not suffered to remain a +dead letter even in the last period of the Spartan monarchy; for in +the third century before our era a king, who had rendered himself +obnoxious to the reforming party, was actually deposed on various +trumped-up charges, among which the allegation that the ominous sign +had been seen in the sky took a prominent place. + +If the tenure of the regal office was formerly limited among the +Spartans to eight years, we may naturally ask, why was that precise +period selected as the measure of a king's reign? The reason is +probably to be found in those astronomical considerations which +determined the early Greek calendar. The difficulty of reconciling +lunar with solar time is one of the standing puzzles which has taxed +the ingenuity of men who are emerging from barbarism. Now an +octennial cycle is the shortest period at the end of which sun and +moon really mark time together after overlapping, so to say, +throughout the whole of the interval. Thus, for example, it is only +once in every eight years that the full moon coincides with the +longest or shortest day; and as this coincidence can be observed +with the aid of a simple dial, the observation is naturally one of +the first to furnish a base for a calendar which shall bring lunar +and solar times into tolerable, though not exact, harmony. But in +early days the proper adjustment of the calendar is a matter of +religious concern, since on it depends a knowledge of the right +seasons for propitiating the deities whose favour is indispensable +to the welfare of the community. No wonder, therefore, that the +king, as the chief priest of the state, or as himself a god, should +be liable to deposition or death at the end of an astronomical +period. When the great luminaries had run their course on high, and +were about to renew the heavenly race, it might well be thought that +the king should renew his divine energies, or prove them unabated, +under pain of making room for a more vigorous successor. In Southern +India, as we have seen, the king's reign and life terminated with +the revolution of the planet Jupiter round the sun. In Greece, on +the other hand, the king's fate seems to have hung in the balance at +the end of every eight years, ready to fly up and kick the beam as +soon as the opposite scale was loaded with a falling star. + +Whatever its origin may have been, the cycle of eight years appears +to have coincided with the normal length of the king's reign in +other parts of Greece besides Sparta. Thus Minos, king of Cnossus in +Crete, whose great palace has been unearthed in recent years, is +said to have held office for periods of eight years together. At the +end of each period he retired for a season to the oracular cave on +Mount Ida, and there communed with his divine father Zeus, giving +him an account of his kingship in the years that were past, and +receiving from him instructions for his guidance in those which were +to come. The tradition plainly implies that at the end of every +eight years the king's sacred powers needed to be renewed by +intercourse with the godhead, and that without such a renewal he +would have forfeited his right to the throne. + +Without being unduly rash we may surmise that the tribute of seven +youths and seven maidens whom the Athenians were bound to send to +Minos every eight years had some connexion with the renewal of the +king's power for another octennial cycle. Traditions varied as to +the fate which awaited the lads and damsels on their arrival in +Crete; but the common view appears to have been that they were shut +up in the labyrinth, there to be devoured by the Minotaur, or at +least to be imprisoned for life. Perhaps they were sacrificed by +being roasted alive in a bronze image of a bull, or of a bull-headed +man, in order to renew the strength of the king and of the sun, whom +he personated. This at all events is suggested by the legend of +Talos, a bronze man who clutched people to his breast and leaped +with them into the fire, so that they were roasted alive. He is said +to have been given by Zeus to Europa, or by Hephaestus to Minos, to +guard the island of Crete, which he patrolled thrice daily. +According to one account he was a bull, according to another he was +the sun. Probably he was identical with the Minotaur, and stripped +of his mythical features was nothing but a bronze image of the sun +represented as a man with a bull's head. In order to renew the solar +fires, human victims may have been sacrificed to the idol by being +roasted in its hollow body or placed on its sloping hands and +allowed to roll into a pit of fire. It was in the latter fashion +that the Carthaginians sacrificed their offspring to Moloch. The +children were laid on the hands of a calf-headed image of bronze, +from which they slid into a fiery oven, while the people danced to +the music of flutes and timbrels to drown the shrieks of the burning +victims. The resemblance which the Cretan traditions bear to the +Carthaginian practice suggests that the worship associated with the +names of Minos and the Minotaur may have been powerfully influenced +by that of a Semitic Baal. In the tradition of Phalaris, tyrant of +Agrigentum, and his brazen bull we may have an echo of similar rites +in Sicily, where the Carthaginian power struck deep roots. + +In the province of Lagos, the Ijebu tribe of the Yoruba race is +divided into two branches, which are known respectively as the Ijebu +Ode and the Ijebu Remon. The Ode branch of the tribe is ruled by a +chief who bears the title of Awujale and is surrounded by a great +deal of mystery. Down to recent times his face might not be seen +even by his own subjects, and if circumstances obliged him to +communicate with them he did so through a screen which hid him from +view. The other or Remon branch of the Ijebu tribe is governed by a +chief, who ranks below the Awujale. Mr. John Parkinson was informed +that in former times this subordinate chief used to be killed with +ceremony after a rule of three years. As the country is now under +British protection the custom of putting the chief to death at the +end of a three years' reign has long been abolished, and Mr. +Parkinson was unable to ascertain any particulars on the subject. + +At Babylon, within historical times, the tenure of the kingly office +was in practice lifelong, yet in theory it would seem to have been +merely annual. For every year at the festival of Zagmuk the king had +to renew his power by seizing the hands of the image of Marduk in +his great temple of Esagil at Babylon. Even when Babylon passed +under the power of Assyria, the monarchs of that country were +expected to legalise their claim to the throne every year by coming +to Babylon and performing the ancient ceremony at the New Year +festival, and some of them found the obligation so burdensome that +rather than discharge it they renounced the title of king altogether +and contented themselves with the humbler one of Governor. Further, +it would appear that in remote times, though not within the +historical period, the kings of Babylon or their barbarous +predecessors forfeited not merely their crown but their life at the +end of a year's tenure of office. At least this is the conclusion to +which the following evidence seems to point. According to the +historian Berosus, who as a Babylonian priest spoke with ample +knowledge, there was annually celebrated in Babylon a festival +called the Sacaea. It began on the sixteenth day of the month Lous, +and lasted for five days, during which masters and servants changed +places, the servants giving orders and the masters obeying them. A +prisoner condemned to death was dressed in the king's robes, seated +on the king's throne, allowed to issue whatever commands he pleased, +to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, and to lie with the king's +concubines. But at the end of the five days he was stripped of his +royal robes, scourged, and hanged or impaled. During his brief term +of office he bore the title of Zoganes. This custom might perhaps +have been explained as merely a grim jest perpetrated in a season of +jollity at the expense of an unhappy criminal. But one +circumstance--the leave given to the mock king to enjoy the king's +concubines--is decisive against this interpretation. Considering the +jealous seclusion of an oriental despot's harem we may be quite +certain that permission to invade it would never have been granted +by the despot, least of all to a condemned criminal, except for the +very gravest cause. This cause could hardly be other than that the +condemned man was about to die in the king's stead, and that to make +the substitution perfect it was necessary he should enjoy the full +rights of royalty during his brief reign. There is nothing +surprising in this substitution. The rule that the king must be put +to death either on the appearance of any symptom of bodily decay or +at the end of a fixed period is certainly one which, sooner or +later, the kings would seek to abolish or modify. We have seen that +in Ethiopia, Sofala, and Eyeo the rule was boldly set aside by +enlightened monarchs; and that in Calicut the old custom of killing +the king at the end of twelve years was changed into a permission +granted to any one at the end of the twelve years' period to attack +the king, and, in the event of killing him, to reign in his stead; +though, as the king took care at these times to be surrounded by his +guards, the permission was little more than a form. Another way of +modifying the stern old rule is seen in the Babylonian custom just +described. When the time drew near for the king to be put to death +(in Babylon this appears to have been at the end of a single year's +reign) he abdicated for a few days, during which a temporary king +reigned and suffered in his stead. At first the temporary king may +have been an innocent person, possibly a member of the king's own +family; but with the growth of civilisation the sacrifice of an +innocent person would be revolting to the public sentiment, and +accordingly a condemned criminal would be invested with the brief +and fatal sovereignty. In the sequel we shall find other examples of +a dying criminal representing a dying god. For we must not forget +that, as the case of the Shilluk kings clearly shows, the king is +slain in his character of a god or a demigod, his death and +resurrection, as the only means of perpetuating the divine life +unimpaired, being deemed necessary for the salvation of his people +and the world. + +A vestige of a practice of putting the king to death at the end of a +year's reign appears to have survived in the festival called +Macahity, which used to be celebrated in Hawaii during the last +month of the year. About a hundred years ago a Russian voyager +described the custom as follows: "The taboo Macahity is not unlike +to our festival of Christmas. It continues a whole month, during +which the people amuse themselves with dances, plays, and +sham-fights of every kind. The king must open this festival wherever +he is. On this occasion his majesty dresses himself in his richest +cloak and helmet, and is paddled in a canoe along the shore, +followed sometimes by many of his subjects. He embarks early, and +must finish his excursion at sunrise. The strongest and most expert +of the warriors is chosen to receive him on his landing. This +warrior watches the canoe along the beach; and as soon as the king +lands, and has thrown off his cloak, he darts his spear at him, from +a distance of about thirty paces, and the king must either catch the +spear in his hand, or suffer from it: there is no jesting in the +business. Having caught it, he carries it under his arm, with the +sharp end downwards, into the temple or _heavoo._ On his entrance, +the assembled multitude begin their sham-fights, and immediately the +air is obscured by clouds of spears, made for the occasion with +blunted ends. Hamamea [the king] has been frequently advised to +abolish this ridiculous ceremony, in which he risks his life every +year; but to no effect. His answer always is, that he is as able to +catch a spear as any one on the island is to throw it at him. During +the Macahity, all punishments are remitted throughout the country; +and no person can leave the place in which he commences these +holidays, let the affair be ever so important." + +That a king should regularly have been put to death at the close of +a year's reign will hardly appear improbable when we learn that to +this day there is still a kingdom in which the reign and the life of +the sovereign are limited to a single day. In Ngoio, a province of +the ancient kingdom of Congo, the rule obtains that the chief who +assumes the cap of sovereignty is always killed on the night after +his coronation. The right of succession lies with the chief of the +Musurongo; but we need not wonder that he does not exercise it, and +that the throne stands vacant. "No one likes to lose his life for a +few hours' glory on the Ngoio throne." + + + + +XXV. Temporary Kings + +IN SOME places the modified form of the old custom of regicide which +appears to have prevailed at Babylon has been further softened down. +The king still abdicates annually for a short time and his place is +filled by a more or less nominal sovereign; but at the close of his +short reign the latter is no longer killed, though sometimes a mock +execution still survives as a memorial of the time when he was +actually put to death. To take examples. In the month of Méac +(February) the king of Cambodia annually abdicated for three days. +During this time he performed no act of authority, he did not touch +the seals, he did not even receive the revenues which fell due. In +his stead there reigned a temporary king called Sdach Méac, that is, +King February. The office of temporary king was hereditary in a +family distantly connected with the royal house, the sons succeeding +the fathers and the younger brothers the elder brothers just as in +the succession to the real sovereignty. On a favourable day fixed by +the astrologers the temporary king was conducted by the mandarins in +triumphal procession. He rode one of the royal elephants, seated in +the royal palanquin, and escorted by soldiers who, dressed in +appropriate costumes, represented the neighbouring peoples of Siam, +Annam, Laos, and so on. In place of the golden crown he wore a +peaked white cap, and his regalia, instead of being of gold +encrusted with diamonds, were of rough wood. After paying homage to +the real king, from whom he received the sovereignty for three days, +together with all the revenues accruing during that time (though +this last custom has been omitted for some time), he moved in +procession round the palace and through the streets of the capital. +On the third day, after the usual procession, the temporary king +gave orders that the elephants should trample under foot the +"mountain of rice," which was a scaffold of bamboo surrounded by +sheaves of rice. The people gathered up the rice, each man taking +home a little with him to secure a good harvest. Some of it was also +taken to the king, who had it cooked and presented to the monks. + +In Siam on the sixth day of the moon in the sixth month (the end of +April) a temporary king is appointed, who for three days enjoys the +royal prerogatives, the real king remaining shut up in his palace. +This temporary king sends his numerous satellites in all directions +to seize and confiscate whatever they can find in the bazaar and +open shops; even the ships and junks which arrive in harbour during +the three days are forfeited to him and must be redeemed. He goes to +a field in the middle of the city, whither they bring a gilded +plough drawn by gaily-decked oxen. After the plough has been +anointed and the oxen rubbed with incense, the mock king traces nine +furrows with the plough, followed by aged dames of the palace +scattering the first seed of the season. As soon as the nine furrows +are drawn, the crowd of spectators rushes in and scrambles for the +seed which has just been sown, believing that, mixed with the +seed-rice, it will ensure a plentiful crop. Then the oxen are +unyoked, and rice, maize, sesame, sago, bananas, sugar-cane, melons, +and so on, are set before them; whatever they eat first will, it is +thought, be dear in the year following, though some people interpret +the omen in the opposite sense. During this time the temporary king +stands leaning against a tree with his right foot resting on his +left knee. From standing thus on one foot he is popularly known as +King Hop; but his official title is Phaya Phollathep "Lord of the +Heavenly Hosts." He is a sort of Minister of Agriculture; all +disputes about fields, rice, and so forth, are referred to him. +There is moreover another ceremony in which he personates the king. +It takes place in the second month (which falls in the cold season) +and lasts three days. He is conducted in procession to an open place +opposite the Temple of the Brahmans, where there are a number of +poles dressed like May-poles, upon which the Brahmans swing. All the +while that they swing and dance, the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts has +to stand on one foot upon a seat which is made of bricks plastered +over, covered with a white cloth, and hung with tapestry. He is +supported by a wooden frame with a gilt canopy, and two Brahmans +stand one on each side of him. The dancing Brahmans carry buffalo +horns with which they draw water from a large copper caldron and +sprinkle it on the spectators; this is supposed to bring good luck, +causing the people to dwell in peace and quiet, health and +prosperity. The time during which the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts has +to stand on one foot is about three hours. This is thought "to prove +the dispositions of the Devattas and spirits." If he lets his foot +down "he is liable to forfeit his property and have his family +enslaved by the king, as it is believed to be a bad omen, portending +destruction to the state, and instability to the throne. But if he +stand firm he is believed to have gained a victory over evil +spirits, and he has moreover the privilege, ostensibly at least, of +seizing any ship which may enter the harbour during these three +days, and taking its contents, and also of entering any open shop in +the town and carrying away what he chooses." + +Such were the duties and privileges of the Siamese King Hop down to +about the middle of the nineteenth century or later. Under the reign +of the late enlightened monarch this quaint personage was to some +extent both shorn of the glories and relieved of the burden of his +office. He still watches, as of old, the Brahmans rushing through +the air in a swing suspended between two tall masts, each some +ninety feet high; but he is allowed to sit instead of stand, and, +although public opinion still expects him to keep his right foot on +his left knee during the whole of the ceremony, he would incur no +legal penalty were he, to the great chagrin of the people, to put +his weary foot to the ground. Other signs, too, tell of the invasion +of the East by the ideas and civilisation of the West. The +thoroughfares that lead to the scene of the performance are blocked +with carriages: lamp-posts and telegraph posts, to which eager +spectators cling like monkeys, rise above the dense crowd; and, +while a tatterdemalion band of the old style, in gaudy garb of +vermilion and yellow, bangs and tootles away on drums and trumpets +of an antique pattern, the procession of barefooted soldiers in +brilliant uniforms steps briskly along to the lively strains of a +modern military band playing "Marching through Georgia." + +On the first day of the sixth month, which was regarded as the +beginning of the year, the king and people of Samarcand used to put +on new clothes and cut their hair and beards. Then they repaired to +a forest near the capital where they shot arrows on horseback for +seven days. On the last day the target was a gold coin, and he who +hit it had the right to be king for one day. In Upper Egypt on the +first day of the solar year by Coptic reckoning, that is, on the +tenth of September, when the Nile has generally reached its highest +point, the regular government is suspended for three days and every +town chooses its own ruler. This temporary lord wears a sort of tall +fool's cap and a long flaxen beard, and is enveloped in a strange +mantle. With a wand of office in his hand and attended by men +disguised as scribes, executioners, and so forth, he proceeds to the +Governor's house. The latter allows himself to be deposed; and the +mock king, mounting the throne, holds a tribunal, to the decisions +of which even the governor and his officials must bow. After three +days the mock king is condemned to death; the envelope or shell in +which he was encased is committed to the flames, and from its ashes +the Fellah creeps forth. The custom perhaps points to an old +practice of burning a real king in grim earnest. In Uganda the +brothers of the king used to be burned, because it was not lawful to +shed the royal blood. + +The Mohammedan students of Fez, in Morocco, are allowed to appoint a +sultan of their own, who reigns for a few weeks, and is known as +_Sultan t-tulba,_ "the Sultan of the Scribes." This brief authority +is put up for auction and knocked down to the highest bidder. It +brings some substantial privileges with it, for the holder is freed +from taxes thenceforward, and he has the right of asking a favour +from the real sultan. That favour is seldom refused; it usually +consists in the release of a prisoner. Moreover, the agents of the +student-sultan levy fines on the shopkeepers and householders, +against whom they trump up various humorous charges. The temporary +sultan is surrounded with the pomp of a real court, and parades the +streets in state with music and shouting, while a royal umbrella is +held over his head. With the so-called fines and free-will +offerings, to which the real sultan adds a liberal supply of +provisions, the students have enough to furnish forth a magnificent +banquet; and altogether they enjoy themselves thoroughly, indulging +in all kinds of games and amusements. For the first seven days the +mock sultan remains in the college; then he goes about a mile out of +the town and encamps on the bank of the river, attended by the +students and not a few of the citizens. On the seventh day of his +stay outside the town he is visited by the real sultan, who grants +him his request and gives him seven more days to reign, so that the +reign of "the Sultan of the Scribes" nominally lasts three weeks. +But when six days of the last week have passed the mock sultan runs +back to the town by night. This temporary sultanship always falls in +spring, about the beginning of April. Its origin is said to have +been as follows. When Mulai Rasheed II. was fighting for the throne +in 1664 or 1665, a certain Jew usurped the royal authority at Taza. +But the rebellion was soon suppressed through the loyalty and +devotion of the students. To effect their purpose they resorted to +an ingenious stratagem. Forty of them caused themselves to be packed +in chests which were sent as a present to the usurper. In the dead +of night, while the unsuspecting Jew was slumbering peacefully among +the packing-cases, the lids were stealthily raised, the brave forty +crept forth, slew the usurper, and took possession of the city in +the name of the real sultan, who, to mark his gratitude for the help +thus rendered him in time of need, conferred on the students the +right of annually appointing a sultan of their own. The narrative +has all the air of a fiction devised to explain an old custom, of +which the real meaning and origin had been forgotten. + +A custom of annually appointing a mock king for a single day was +observed at Lostwithiel in Cornwall down to the sixteenth century. +On "little Easter Sunday" the freeholders of the town and manor +assembled together, either in person or by their deputies, and one +among them, as it fell to his lot by turn, gaily attired and +gallantly mounted, with a crown on his head, a sceptre in his hand, +and a sword borne before him, rode through the principal street to +the church, dutifully attended by all the rest on horseback. The +clergyman in his best robes received him at the churchyard stile and +conducted him to hear divine service. On leaving the church he +repaired, with the same pomp, to a house provided for his reception. +Here a feast awaited him and his suite, and being set at the head of +the table he was served on bended knees, with all the rites due to +the estate of a prince. The ceremony ended with the dinner, and +every man returned home. + +Sometimes the temporary king occupies the throne, not annually, but +once for all at the beginning of each reign. Thus in the kingdom of +Jambi in Sumatra it is the custom that at the beginning of a new +reign a man of the people should occupy the throne and exercise the +royal prerogatives for a single day. The origin of the custom is +explained by a tradition that there were once five royal brothers, +the four elder of whom all declined the throne on the ground of +various bodily defects, leaving it to their youngest brother. But +the eldest occupied the throne for one day, and reserved for his +descendants a similar privilege at the beginning of every reign. +Thus the office of temporary king is hereditary in a family akin to +the royal house. In Bilaspur it seems to be the custom, after the +death of a Rajah, for a Brahman to eat rice out of the dead Rajah's +hand, and then to occupy the throne for a year. At the end of the +year the Brahman receives presents and is dismissed from the +territory, being forbidden apparently to return. "The idea seems to +be that the spirit of the Rájá enters into the Bráhman who eats the +_khir_ (rice and milk) out of his hand when he is dead, as the +Brahman is apparently carefully watched during the whole year, and +not allowed to go away." The same or a similar custom is believed to +obtain among the hill states about Kangra. The custom of banishing +the Brahman who represents the king may be a substitute for putting +him to death. At the installation of a prince of Carinthia a +peasant, in whose family the office was hereditary, ascended a +marble stone which stood surrounded by meadows in a spacious valley; +on his right stood a black mother-cow, on his left a lean ugly mare. +A rustic crowd gathered about him. Then the future prince, dressed +as a peasant and carrying a shepherd's staff, drew near, attended by +courtiers and magistrates. On perceiving him the peasant called out, +"Who is this whom I see coming so proudly along?" The people +answered, "The prince of the land." The peasant was then prevailed +on to surrender the marble seat to the prince on condition of +receiving sixty pence, the cow and mare, and exemption from taxes. +But before yielding his place he gave the prince a light blow on the +cheek. + +Some points about these temporary kings deserve to be specially +noticed before we pass to the next branch of the evidence. In the +first place, the Cambodian and Siamese examples show clearly that it +is especially the divine or magical functions of the king which are +transferred to his temporary substitute. This appears from the +belief that by keeping up his foot the temporary king of Siam gained +a victory over the evil spirits, whereas by letting it down he +imperilled the existence of the state. Again, the Cambodian ceremony +of trampling down the "mountain of rice," and the Siamese ceremony +of opening the ploughing and sowing, are charms to produce a +plentiful harvest, as appears from the belief that those who carry +home some of the trampled rice, or of the seed sown, will thereby +secure a good crop. Moreover, when the Siamese representative of the +king is guiding the plough, the people watch him anxiously, not to +see whether he drives a straight furrow, but to mark the exact point +on his leg to which the skirt of his silken robe reaches; for on +that is supposed to hang the state of the weather and the crops +during the ensuing season. If the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts hitches +up his garment above his knee, the weather will be wet and heavy +rains will spoil the harvest. If he lets it trail to his ankle, a +drought will be the consequence. But fine weather and heavy crops +will follow if the hem of his robe hangs exactly half-way down the +calf of his leg. So closely is the course of nature, and with it the +weal or woe of the people, dependent on the minutest act or gesture +of the king's representative. But the task of making the crops grow, +thus deputed to the temporary kings, is one of the magical functions +regularly supposed to be discharged by kings in primitive society. +The rule that the mock king must stand on one foot upon a raised +seat in the rice-field was perhaps originally meant as a charm to +make the crop grow high; at least this was the object of a similar +ceremony observed by the old Prussians. The tallest girl, standing +on one foot upon a seat, with her lap full of cakes, a cup of brandy +in her right hand and a piece of elm-bark or linden-bark in her +left, prayed to the god Waizganthos that the flax might grow as high +as she was standing. Then, after draining the cup, she had it +refilled, and poured the brandy on the ground as an offering to +Waizganthos, and threw down the cakes for his attendant sprites. If +she remained steady on one foot throughout the ceremony, it was an +omen that the flax crop would be good; but if she let her foot down, +it was feared that the crop might fail. The same significance +perhaps attaches to the swinging of the Brahmans, which the Lord of +the Heavenly Hosts had formerly to witness standing on one foot. On +the principles of homoeopathic or imitative magic it might be +thought that the higher the priests swing the higher will grow the +rice. For the ceremony is described as a harvest festival, and +swinging is practised by the Letts of Russia with the avowed +intention of influencing the growth of the crops. In the spring and +early summer, between Easter and St. John's Day (the summer +solstice), every Lettish peasant is said to devote his leisure hours +to swinging diligently; for the higher he rises in the air the +higher will his flax grow that season. + +In the foregoing cases the temporary king is appointed annually in +accordance with a regular custom. But in other cases the appointment +is made only to meet a special emergency, such as to relieve the +real king from some actual or threatened evil by diverting it to a +substitute, who takes his place on the throne for a short time. The +history of Persia furnishes instances of such occasional substitutes +for the Shah. Thus Shah Abbas the Great, being warned by his +astrologers in the year 1591 that a serious danger impended over +him, attempted to avert the omen by abdicating the throne and +appointing a certain unbeliever named Yusoofee, probably a +Christian, to reign in his stead. The substitute was accordingly +crowned, and for three days, if we may trust the Persian historians, +he enjoyed not only the name and the state but the power of the +king. At the end of his brief reign he was put to death: the decree +of the stars was fulfilled by this sacrifice; and Abbas, who +reascended his throne in a most propitious hour, was promised by his +astrologers a long and glorious reign. + + + +XXVI. Sacrifice of the King's Son + +A POINT to notice about the temporary kings described in the +foregoing chapter is that in two places (Cambodia and Jambi) they +come of a stock which is believed to be akin to the royal family. If +the view here taken of the origin of these temporary kingships is +correct, we can easily understand why the king's substitute should +sometimes be of the same race as the king. When the king first +succeeded in getting the life of another accepted as a sacrifice +instead of his own, he would have to show that the death of that +other would serve the purpose quite as well as his own would have +done. Now it was as a god or demigod that the king had to die; +therefore the substitute who died for him had to be invested, at +least for the occasion, with the divine attributes of the king. +This, as we have just seen, was certainly the case with the +temporary kings of Siam and Cambodia; they were invested with the +supernatural functions, which in an earlier stage of society were +the special attributes of the king. But no one could so well +represent the king in his divine character as his son, who might be +supposed to share the divine afflatus of his father. No one, +therefore, could so appropriately die for the king and, through him, +for the whole people, as the king's son. + +We have seen that according to tradition, Aun or On, King of Sweden, +sacrificed nine of his sons to Odin at Upsala in order that his own +life might be spared. After he had sacrificed his second son he +received from the god an answer that he should live so long as he +gave him one of his sons every ninth year. When he had sacrificed +his seventh son, he still lived, but was so feeble that he could not +walk but had to be carried in a chair. Then he offered up his eighth +son, and lived nine years more, lying in his bed. After that he +sacrificed his ninth son, and lived another nine years, but so that +he drank out of a horn like a weaned child. He now wished to +sacrifice his only remaining son to Odin, but the Swedes would not +allow him. So he died and was buried in a mound at Upsala. + +In ancient Greece there seems to have been at least one kingly house +of great antiquity of which the eldest sons were always liable to be +sacrificed in room of their royal sires. When Xerxes was marching +through Thessaly at the head of his mighty host to attack the +Spartans at Thermopylae, he came to the town of Alus. Here he was +shown the sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus, about which his guides told +him a strange tale. It ran somewhat as follows. Once upon a time the +king of the country, by name Athamas, married a wife Nephele, and +had by her a son called Phrixus and a daughter named Helle. +Afterwards he took to himself a second wife called Ino, by whom he +had two sons, Learchus and Melicertes. But his second wife was +jealous of her stepchildren, Phrixus and Helle, and plotted their +death. She went about very cunningly to compass her bad end. First +of all she persuaded the women of the country to roast the seed corn +secretly before it was committed to the ground. So next year no +crops came up and the people died of famine. Then the king sent +messengers to the oracle at Delphi to enquire the cause of the +dearth. But the wicked stepmother bribed the messenger to give out +as the answer of the god that the dearth would never cease till the +children of Athamas by his first wife had been sacrificed to Zeus. +When Athamas heard that, he sent for the children, who were with the +sheep. But a ram with a fleece of gold opened his lips, and speaking +with the voice of a man warned the children of their danger. So they +mounted the ram and fled with him over land and sea. As they flew +over the sea, the girl slipped from the animal's back, and falling +into water was drowned. But her brother Phrixus was brought safe to +the land of Colchis, where reigned a child of the sun. Phrixus +married the king's daughter, and she bore him a son Cytisorus. And +there he sacrificed the ram with the golden fleece to Zeus the God +of Flight; but some will have it that he sacrificed the animal to +Laphystian Zeus. The golden fleece itself he gave to his wife's +father, who nailed it to an oak tree, guarded by a sleepless dragon +in a sacred grove of Ares. Meanwhile at home an oracle had commanded +that King Athamas himself should be sacrificed as an expiatory +offering for the whole country. So the people decked him with +garlands like a victim and led him to the altar, where they were +just about to sacrifice him when he was rescued either by his +grandson Cytisorus, who arrived in the nick of time from Colchis, or +by Hercules, who brought tidings 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 wild beast, shot him dead. Next he +attempted the life of his remaining son Melicertes, but the child +was rescued by his mother Ino, who ran and threw herself and him +from a high rock into the sea. Mother and son were changed into +marine divinities, and the son received special homage in the isle +of Tenedos, where babes were sacrificed to him. Thus bereft of wife +and children the unhappy Athamas quitted his country, and on +enquiring of the oracle where he should dwell was told to take up +his abode wherever he should be entertained by wild beasts. He fell +in with a pack of wolves devouring sheep, and when they saw him they +fled and left him the bleeding remnants of their prey. In this way +the oracle was fulfilled. But because King Athamas had not been +sacrificed as a sin-offering for the whole country, it was divinely +decreed that the eldest male scion of his family in each generation +should be sacrificed without fail, if ever he set foot in the +town-hall, where the offerings were made to Laphystian Zeus by one +of the house of Athamas. Many of the family, Xerxes was informed, +had fled to foreign lands to escape this doom; but some of them had +returned long afterwards, and being caught by the sentinels in the +act of entering the town-hall were wreathed as victims, led forth in +procession, and sacrificed. These instances appear to have been +notorious, if not frequent; for the writer of a dialogue attributed +to Plato, after speaking of the immolation of human victims by the +Carthaginians, adds that such practices were not unknown among the +Greeks, and he refers with horror to the sacrifices offered on Mount +Lycaeus and by the descendants of Athamas. + +The suspicion that this barbarous custom by no means fell into +disuse even in later days is strengthened by a case of human +sacrifice which occurred in Plutarch's time at Orchomenus, a very +ancient city of Boeotia, distant only a few miles across the plain +from the historian's birthplace. Here dwelt a family of which the +men went by the name of Psoloeis or "Sooty," and the women by the +name of Oleae or "Destructive." Every year at the festival of the +Agrionia the priest of Dionysus pursued these women with a drawn +sword, and if he overtook one of them he had the right to slay her. +In Plutarch's lifetime the right was actually exercised by a priest +Zoilus. The family thus liable to furnish at least one human victim +every year was of royal descent, for they traced their lineage to +Minyas, the famous old king of Orchomenus, the monarch of fabulous +wealth, whose stately treasury, as it is called, still stands in +ruins at the point where the long rocky hill of Orchomenus melts +into the vast level expanse of the Copaic plain. Tradition ran that +the king's three daughters long despised the other women of the +country for yielding to the Bacchic frenzy, and sat at home in the +king's house scornfully plying the distaff and the loom, while the +rest, wreathed with flowers, their dishevelled locks streaming to +the wind, roamed in ecstasy the barren mountains that rise above +Orchomenus, making the solitude of the hills to echo to the wild +music of cymbals and tambourines. But in time the divine fury +infected even the royal damsels in their quiet chamber; they were +seized with a fierce longing to partake of human flesh, and cast +lots among themselves which should give up her child to furnish a +cannibal feast. The lot fell on Leucippe, and she surrendered her +son Hippasus, who was torn limb from limb by the three. From these +misguided women sprang the Oleae and the Psoloeis, of whom the men +were said to be so called because they wore sad-coloured raiment in +token of their mourning and grief. + +Now this practice of taking human victims from a family of royal +descent at Orchomenus is all the more significant because Athamas +himself is said to have reigned in the land of Orchomenus even +before the time of Minyas, and because over against the city there +rises Mount Laphystius, on which, as at Alus in Thessaly, there was +a sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus, where, according to tradition, +Athamas purposed to sacrifice his two children Phrixus and Helle. On +the whole, comparing the traditions about Athamas with the custom +that obtained with regard to his descendants in historical times, we +may fairly infer that in Thessaly and probably in Boeotia there +reigned of old a dynasty of which the kings were liable to be +sacrificed for the good of the country to the god called Laphystian +Zeus, but that they contrived to shift the fatal responsibility to +their offspring, of whom the eldest son was regularly destined to +the altar. As time went on, the cruel custom was so far mitigated +that a ram was accepted as a vicarious sacrifice in room of the +royal victim, provided always that the prince abstained from setting +foot in the town-hall where the sacrifices were offered to +Laphystian Zeus by one of his kinsmen. But if he were rash enough to +enter the place of doom, to thrust himself wilfully, as it were, on +the notice of the god who had good-naturedly winked at the +substitution of a ram, the ancient obligation which had been +suffered to lie in abeyance recovered all its force, and there was +no help for it but he must die. The tradition which associated the +sacrifice of the king or his children with a great dearth points +clearly to the belief, so common among primitive folk, that the king +is responsible for the weather and the crops, and that he may justly +pay with his life for the inclemency of the one or the failure of +the other. Athamas and his line, in short, appear to have united +divine or magical with royal functions; and this view is strongly +supported by the claims to divinity which Salmoneus, the brother of +Athamas, is said to have set up. We have seen that this presumptuous +mortal professed to be no other than Zeus himself, and to wield the +thunder and lightning, of which he made a trumpery imitation by the +help of tinkling kettles and blazing torches. If we may judge from +analogy, his mock thunder and lightning were no mere scenic +exhibition designed to deceive and impress the beholders; they were +enchantments practised by the royal magician for the purpose of +bringing about the celestial phenomena which they feebly mimicked. + +Among the Semites of Western Asia the king, in a time of national +danger, sometimes gave his own son to die as a sacrifice for the +people. Thus Philo of Byblus, in his work on the Jews, says: "It was +an ancient custom in a crisis of great danger that the ruler of a +city or nation should give his beloved son to die for the whole +people, as a ransom offered to the avenging demons; and the children +thus offered were slain with mystic rites. So Cronus, whom the +Phoenicians call Israel, being king of the land and having an +only-begotten son called Jeoud (for in the Phoenician tongue Jeoud +signifies 'only begotten'), dressed him in royal robes and +sacrificed him upon an altar in a time of war, when the country was +in great danger from the enemy." When the king of Moab was besieged +by the Israelites and hard beset, he took his eldest son, who should +have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering on +the wall. + + + +XXVII. Succession to the Soul + +TO THE VIEW that in early times, and among barbarous races, kings +have frequently been put to death at the end of a short reign, it +may be objected that such a custom would tend to the extinction of +the royal family. The objection may be met by observing, first, that +the kingship is often not confined to one family, but may be shared +in turn by several; second, that the office is frequently not +hereditary, but is open to men of any family, even to foreigners, +who may fulfil the requisite conditions, such as marrying a princess +or vanquishing the king in battle; and, third, that even if the +custom did tend to the extinction of a dynasty, that is not a +consideration which would prevent its observance among people less +provident of the future and less heedful of human life than +ourselves. Many races, like many individuals, have indulged in +practices which must in the end destroy them. The Polynesians seem +regularly to have killed two-thirds of their children. In some parts +of East Africa the proportion of infants massacred at birth is said +to be the same. Only children born in certain presentations are +allowed to live. The Jagas, a conquering tribe in Angola, are +reported to have put to death all their children, without exception, +in order that the women might not be cumbered with babies on the +march. They recruited their numbers by adopting boys and girls of +thirteen or fourteen years of age, whose parents they had killed and +eaten. Among the Mbaya Indians of South America the women used to +murder all their children except the last, or the one they believed +to be the last. If one of them had another child afterwards, she +killed it. We need not wonder that this practice entirely destroyed +a branch of the Mbaya nation, who had been for many years the most +formidable enemies of the Spaniards. Among the Lengua Indians of the +Gran Chaco, the missionaries discovered what they describe as "a +carefully planned system of racial suicide, by the practice of +infanticide by abortion, and other methods." Nor is infanticide the +only mode in which a savage tribe commits suicide. A lavish use of +the poison ordeal may be equally effective. Some time ago a small +tribe named Uwet came down from the hill country, and settled on the +left branch of the Calabar River in West Africa. When the +missionaries first visited the place, they found the population +considerable, distributed into three villages. Since then the +constant use of the poison ordeal has almost extinguished the tribe. +On one occasion the whole population took poison to prove their +innocence. About half perished on the spot, and the remnant, we are +told, still continuing their superstitious practice, must soon +become extinct. With such examples before us we need not hesitate to +believe that many tribes have felt no scruple or delicacy in +observing a custom which tends to wipe out a single family. To +attribute such scruples to them is to commit the common, the +perpetually repeated mistake of judging the savage by the standard +of European civilisation. If any of my readers set out with the +notion that all races of men think and act much in the same way as +educated Englishmen, the evidence of superstitious belief and custom +collected in this work should suffice to disabuse him of so +erroneous a prepossession. + +The explanation here given of the custom of killing divine persons +assumes, or at least is readily combined with, the idea that the +soul of the slain divinity is transmitted to his successor. Of this +transmission I have no direct proof except in the case of the +Shilluk, among whom the practice of killing the divine king prevails +in a typical form, and with whom it is a fundamental article of +faith that the soul of the divine founder of the dynasty is immanent +in every one of his slain successors. But if this is the only actual +example of such a belief which I can adduce, analogy seems to render +it probable that a similar succession to the soul of the slain god +has been supposed to take place in other instances, though direct +evidence of it is wanting. For it has been already shown that the +soul of the incarnate deity is often supposed to transmigrate at +death into another incarnation; and if this takes place when the +death is a natural one, there seems no reason why it should not take +place when the death has been brought about by violence. Certainly +the idea that the soul of a dying person may be transmitted to his +successor is perfectly familiar to primitive peoples. In Nias the +eldest son usually succeeds his father in the chieftainship. But if +from any bodily or mental defect the eldest son is disqualified for +ruling, the father determines in his lifetime which of his sons +shall succeed him. In order, however, to establish his right of +succession, it is necessary that the son upon whom his father's +choice falls shall catch in his mouth or in a bag the last breath, +and with it the soul, of the dying chief. For whoever catches his +last breath is chief equally with the appointed successor. Hence the +other brothers, and sometimes also strangers, crowd round the dying +man to catch his soul as it passes. The houses in Nias are raised +above the ground on posts, and it has happened that when the dying +man lay with his face on the floor, one of the candidates has bored +a hole in the floor and sucked in the chief's last breath through a +bamboo tube. When the chief has no son, his soul is caught in a bag, +which is fastened to an image made to represent the deceased; the +soul is then believed to pass into the image. + +Sometimes it would appear that the spiritual link between a king and +the souls of his predecessors is formed by the possession of some +part of their persons. In southern Celebes the regalia often consist +of corporeal portions of deceased rajahs, which are treasured as +sacred relics and confer the right to the throne. Similarly among +the Sakalavas of southern Madagascar a vertebra of the neck, a nail, +and a lock of hair of a deceased king are placed in a crocodile's +tooth and carefully kept along with the similar relics of his +predecessors in a house set apart for the purpose. The possession of +these relics constitutes the right to the throne. A legitimate heir +who should be deprived of them would lose all his authority over the +people, and on the contrary a usurper who should make himself master +of the relics would be acknowledged king without dispute. When the +Alake or king of Abeokuta in West Africa dies, the principal men +decapitate his body, and placing the head in a large earthen vessel +deliver it to the new sovereign; it becomes his fetish and he is +bound to pay it honours. Sometimes, in order apparently that the new +sovereign may inherit more surely the magical and other virtues of +the royal line, he is required to eat a piece of his dead +predecessor. Thus at Abeokuta not only was the head of the late king +presented to his successor, but the tongue was cut out and given him +to eat. Hence, when the natives wish to signify that the sovereign +reigns, they say, "He has eaten the king." A custom of the same sort +is still practised at Ibadan, a large town in the interior of Lagos, +West Africa. When the king dies his head is cut off and sent to his +nominal suzerain, the Alafin of Oyo, the paramount king of Yoruba +land; but his heart is eaten by his successor. This ceremony was +performed not very many years ago at the accession of a new king of +Ibadan. + +Taking the whole of the preceding evidence into account, we may +fairly suppose that when the divine king or priest is put to death +his spirit is believed to pass into his successor. In point of fact, +among the Shilluk of the White Nile, who regularly kill their divine +kings, every king on his accession has to perform a ceremony which +appears designed to convey to him the same sacred and worshipful +spirit which animated all his predecessors, one after the other, on +the throne. + + + +XXVIII. The Killing of the Tree-Spirit + + + +1. The Whitsuntide Mummers + +IT remains to ask what light the custom of killing the divine king +or priest sheds upon the special subject to our enquiry. In an +earlier part of this work we saw reason to suppose that the King of +the Wood at Nemi was regarded as an incarnation of a tree-spirit or +of the spirit of vegetation, and that as such he would be endowed, +in the belief of his worshippers, with a magical power of making the +trees to bear fruit, the crops to grow, and so on. His life must +therefore have been held very precious by his worshippers, and was +probably hedged in by a system of elaborate precautions or taboos +like those by which, in so many places, the life of the man-god has +been guarded against the malignant influence of demons and +sorcerers. But we have seen that the very value attached to the life +of the man-god necessitates his violent death as the only means of +preserving it from the inevitable decay of age. The same reasoning +would apply to the King of the Wood; he, too, had to be killed in +order that the divine spirit, incarnate in him, might be transferred +in its integrity to his successor. The rule that he held office till +a stronger should slay him might be supposed to secure both the +preservation of his divine life in full vigour and its transference +to a suitable successor as soon as that vigour began to be impaired. +For so long as he could maintain his position by the strong hand, it +might be inferred that his natural force was not abated; whereas his +defeat and death at the hands of another proved that his strength +was beginning to fail and that it was time his divine life should be +lodged in a less dilapidated tabernacle. This explanation of the +rule that the King of the Wood had to be slain by his successor at +least renders that rule perfectly intelligible. It is strongly +supported by the theory and practice of the Shilluk, who put their +divine king to death at the first signs of failing health, lest his +decrepitude should entail a corresponding failure of vital energy on +the corn, the cattle, and men. Moreover, it is countenanced by the +analogy of the Chitomé, upon whose life the existence of the world +was supposed to hang, and who was therefore slain by his successor +as soon as he showed signs of breaking up. Again, the terms on which +in later times the King of Calicut held office are identical with +those attached to the office of King of the Wood, except that +whereas the former might be assailed by a candidate at any time, the +King of Calicut might only be attacked once every twelve years. But +as the leave granted to the King of Calicut to reign so long as he +could defend himself against all comers was a mitigation of the old +rule which set a fixed term to his life, so we may conjecture that +the similar permission granted to the King of the Wood was a +mitigation of an older custom of putting him to death at the end of +a definite period. In both cases the new rule gave to the god-man at +least a chance for his life, which under the old rule was denied +him; and people probably reconciled themselves to the change by +reflecting that so long as the god-man could maintain himself by the +sword against all assaults, there was no reason to apprehend that +the fatal decay had set in. + +The conjecture that the King of the Wood was formerly put to death +at the expiry of a fixed term, without being allowed a chance for +his life, will be confirmed if evidence can be adduced of a custom +of periodically killing his counterparts, the human representatives +of the tree-spirit, in Northern Europe. Now in point of fact such a +custom has left unmistakable traces of itself in the rural festivals +of the peasantry. To take examples. + +At Niederpöring, in Lower Bavaria, the Whitsuntide representative of +the tree-spirit--the _Pfingstl_ as he was called--was clad from top +to toe in leaves and flowers. On his head he wore a high pointed +cap, the ends of which rested on his shoulders, only two holes being +left in it for his eyes. The cap was covered with water-flowers and +surmounted with a nosegay of peonies. The sleeves of his coat were +also made of water-plants, and the rest of his body was enveloped in +alder and hazel leaves. On each side of him marched a boy holding up +one of the _Pfingstl's_ arms. These two boys carried drawn swords, +and so did most of the others who formed the procession. They +stopped at every house where they hoped to receive a present; and +the people, in hiding, soused the leaf-clad boy with water. All +rejoiced when he was well drenched. Finally he waded into the brook +up to his middle; whereupon one of the boys, standing on the bridge, +pretended to cut off his head. At Wurmlingen, in Swabia, a score of +young fellows dress themselves on Whit-Monday in white shirts and +white trousers, with red scarves round their waists and swords +hanging from the scarves. They ride on horseback into the wood, led +by two trumpeters blowing their trumpets. In the wood they cut down +leafy oak branches, in which they envelop from head to foot him who +was the last of their number to ride out of the village. His legs, +however, are encased separately, so that he may be able to mount his +horse again. Further, they give him a long artificial neck, with an +artificial head and a false face on the top of it. Then a May-tree +is cut, generally an aspen or beech about ten feet high; and being +decked with coloured handkerchiefs and ribbons it is entrusted to a +special "May-bearer." The cavalcade then returns with music and song +to the village. Amongst the personages who figure in the procession +are a Moorish king with a sooty face and a crown on his head, a Dr. +Iron-Beard, a corporal, and an executioner. They halt on the village +green, and each of the characters makes a speech in rhyme. The +executioner announces that the leaf-clad man has been condemned to +death, and cuts off his false head. Then the riders race to the +May-tree, which has been set up a little way off. The first man who +succeeds in wrenching it from the ground as he gallops past keeps it +with all its decorations. The ceremony is observed every second or +third year. + +In Saxony and Thüringen there is a Whitsuntide ceremony called +"chasing the Wild Man out of the bush," or "fetching the Wild Man +out of the wood." A young fellow is enveloped in leaves or moss and +called the Wild Man. He hides in the wood and the other lads of the +village go out to seek him. They find him, lead him captive out of +the wood, and fire at him with blank muskets. He falls like dead to +the ground, but a lad dressed as a doctor bleeds him, and he comes +to life again. At this they rejoice, and, binding him fast on a +waggon, take him to the village, where they tell all the people how +they have caught the Wild Man. At every house they receive a gift. +In the Erzgebirge the following custom was annually observed at +Shrovetide about the beginning of the seventeenth century. Two men +disguised as Wild Men, the one in brushwood and moss, the other in +straw, were led about the streets, and at last taken to the +market-place, where they were chased up and down, shot and stabbed. +Before falling they reeled about with strange gestures and spirted +blood on the people from bladders which they carried. When they were +down, the huntsmen placed them on boards and carried them to the +ale-house, the miners marching beside them and winding blasts on +their mining tools as if they had taken a noble head of game. A very +similar Shrovetide custom is still observed near Schluckenau in +Bohemia. A man dressed up as a Wild Man is chased through several +streets till he comes to a narrow lane across which a cord is +stretched. He stumbles over the cord and, falling to the ground, is +overtaken and caught by his pursuers. The executioner runs up and +stabs with his sword a bladder filled with blood which the Wild Man +wears round his body; so the Wild Man dies, while a stream of blood +reddens the ground. Next day a straw-man, made up to look like the +Wild Man, is placed on a litter, and, accompanied by a great crowd, +is taken to a pool into which it is thrown by the executioner. The +ceremony is called "burying the Carnival." + +In Semic (Bohemia) the custom of beheading the King is observed on +Whit-Monday. A troop of young people disguise themselves; each is +girt with a girdle of bark and carries a wooden sword and a trumpet +of willow-bark. The King wears a robe of tree-bark adorned with +flowers, on his head is a crown of bark decked with flowers and +branches, his feet are wound about with ferns, a mask hides his +face, and for a sceptre he has a hawthorn switch in his hand. A lad +leads him through the village by a rope fastened to his foot, while +the rest dance about, blow their trumpets, and whistle. In every +farmhouse the King is chased round the room, and one of the troop, +amid much noise and outcry, strikes with his sword a blow on the +King's robe of bark till it rings again. Then a gratuity is +demanded. The ceremony of decapitation, which is here somewhat +slurred over, is carried out with a greater semblance of reality in +other parts of Bohemia. Thus in some villages of the Königgrätz +district on Whit-Monday the girls assemble under one lime-tree and +the young men under another, all dressed in their best and tricked +out with ribbons. The young men twine a garland for the Queen, and +the girls another for the King. When they have chosen the King and +Queen they all go in procession two and two, to the ale-house, from +the balcony of which the crier proclaims the names of the King and +Queen. Both are then invested with the insignia of their office and +are crowned with the garlands, while the music plays up. Then some +one gets on a bench and accuses the King of various offences, such +as ill-treating the cattle. The King appeals to witnesses and a +trial ensues, at the close of which the judge, who carries a white +wand as his badge of office, pronounces a verdict of "Guilty," or +"Not guilty." If the verdict is "Guilty," the judge breaks his wand, +the King kneels on a white cloth, all heads are bared, and a soldier +sets three or four hats, one above the other, on his Majesty's head. +The judge then pronounces the word "Guilty" thrice in a loud voice, +and orders the crier to behead the King. The crier obeys by striking +off the King's hats with the wooden sword. + +But perhaps, for our purpose, the most instructive of these mimic +executions is the following Bohemian one. In some places of the +Pilsen district (Bohemia) on Whit-Monday the King is dressed in +bark, ornamented with flowers and ribbons; he wears a crown of gilt +paper and rides a horse, which is also decked with flowers. Attended +by a judge, an executioner, and other characters, and followed by a +train of soldiers, all mounted, he rides to the village square, +where a hut or arbour of green boughs has been erected under the +May-trees, which are firs, freshly cut, peeled to the top, and +dressed with flowers and ribbons. After the dames and maidens of the +village have been criticised and a frog beheaded, the cavalcade +rides to a place previously determined upon, in a straight, broad +street. Here they draw up in two lines and the King takes to flight. +He is given a short start and rides off at full speed, pursued by +the whole troop. If they fail to catch him he remains King for +another year, and his companions must pay his score at the ale-house +in the evening. But if they overtake and catch him he is scourged +with hazel rods or beaten with the wooden swords and compelled to +dismount. Then the executioner asks, "Shall I behead this King?" The +answer is given, "Behead him"; the executioner brandishes his axe, +and with the words, "One, two, three, let the King headless be!" he +strikes off the King's crown. Amid the loud cries of the bystanders +the King sinks to the ground; then he is laid on a bier and carried +to the nearest farmhouse. + +In most of the personages who are thus slain in mimicry it is +impossible not to recognise representatives of the tree-spirit or +spirit of vegetation, as he is supposed to manifest himself in +spring. The bark, leaves, and flowers in which the actors are +dressed, and the season of the year at which they appear, show that +they belong to the same class as the Grass King, King of the May, +Jack-in-the-Green, and other representatives of the vernal spirit of +vegetation which we examined in an earlier part of this work. As if +to remove any possible doubt on this head, we find that in two cases +these slain men are brought into direct connexion with May-trees, +which are the impersonal, as the May King, Grass King, and so forth, +are the personal representatives of the tree-spirit. The drenching +of the _Pfingstl_ with water and his wading up to the middle into +the brook are, therefore, no doubt rain-charms like those which have +been already described. + +But if these personages represent, as they certainly do, the spirit +of vegetation in spring, the question arises, Why kill them? What is +the object of slaying the spirit of vegetation at any time and above +all in spring, when his services are most wanted? The only probable +answer to this question seems to be given in the explanation already +proposed of the custom of killing the divine king or priest. The +divine life, incarnate in a material and mortal body, is liable to +be tainted and corrupted by the weakness of the frail medium in +which it is for a time enshrined; and if it is to be saved from the +increasing enfeeblement which it must necessarily share with its +human incarnation as he advances in years, it must be detached from +him before, or at least as soon as, he exhibits signs of decay, in +order to be transferred to a vigorous successor. This is done by +killing the old representative of the god and conveying the divine +spirit from him to a new incarnation. The killing of the god, that +is, of his human incarnation, is therefore merely a necessary step +to his revival or resurrection in a better form. Far from being an +extinction of the divine spirit, it is only the beginning of a purer +and stronger manifestation of it. If this explanation holds good of +the custom of killing divine kings and priests in general, it is +still more obviously applicable to the custom of annually killing +the representative of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation in +spring. For the decay of plant life in winter is readily interpreted +by primitive man as an enfeeblement of the spirit of vegetation; the +spirit has, he thinks, grown old and weak and must therefore be +renovated by being slain and brought to life in a younger and +fresher form. Thus the killing of the representative of the +tree-spirit in spring is regarded as a means to promote and quicken +the growth of vegetation. For the killing of the tree-spirit is +associated always (we must suppose) implicitly, and sometimes +explicitly also, with a revival or resurrection of him in a more +youthful and vigorous form. So in the Saxon and Thüringen custom, +after the Wild Man has been shot he is brought to life again by a +doctor; and in the Wurmlingen ceremony there figures a Dr. +Iron-Beard, who probably once played a similar part; certainly in +another spring ceremony, which will be described presently, Dr. +Iron-Beard pretends to restore a dead man to life. But of this +revival or resurrection of the god we shall have more to say anon. + +The points of similarity between these North European personages and +the subject of our enquiry--the King of the Wood or priest of +Nemi--are sufficiently striking. In these northern maskers we see +kings, whose dress of bark and leaves along with the hut of green +boughs and the fir-trees, under which they hold their court, +proclaim them unmistakably as, like their Italian counterpart, Kings +of the Wood. Like him they die a violent death, but like him they +may escape from it for a time by their bodily strength and agility; +for in several of these northern customs the flight and pursuit of +the king is a prominent part of the ceremony, and in one case at +least if the king can outrun his pursuers he retains his life and +his office for another year. In this last case the king in fact +holds office on condition of running for his life once a year, just +as the King of Calicut in later times held office on condition of +defending his life against all comers once every twelve years, and +just as the priest of Nemi held office on condition of defending +himself against any assault at any time. In every one of these +instances the life of the god-man is prolonged on condition of his +showing, in a severe physical contest of fight or flight, that his +bodily strength is not decayed, and that, therefore, the violent +death, which sooner or later is inevitable, may for the present be +postponed. With regard to flight it is noticeable that flight +figured conspicuously both in the legend and in the practice of the +King of the Wood. He had to be a runaway slave in memory of the +flight of Orestes, the traditional founder of the worship; hence the +Kings of the Wood are described by an ancient writer as "both strong +of hand and fleet of foot." Perhaps if we knew the ritual of the +Arician grove fully we might find that the king was allowed a chance +for his life by flight, like his Bohemian brother. I have already +conjectured that the annual flight of the priestly king at Rome +(_regifugium_) was at first a flight of the same kind; in other +words, that he was originally one of those divine kings who are +either put to death after a fixed period or allowed to prove by the +strong hand or the fleet foot that their divinity is vigorous and +unimpaired. One more point of resemblance may be noted between the +Italian King of the Wood and his northern counterparts. In Saxony +and Thüringen the representative of the tree-spirit, after being +killed, is brought to life again by a doctor. This is exactly what +legend affirmed to have happened to the first King of the Wood at +Nemi, Hippolytus or Virbius, who after he had been killed by his +horses was restored to life by the physician Aesculapius. Such a +legend tallies well with the theory that the slaying of the King of +the Wood was only a step to his revival or resurrection in his +successor. + + + +2. Burying the Carnival + +THUS far I have offered an explanation of the rule which required +that the priest of Nemi should be slain by his successor. The +explanation claims to be no more than probable; our scanty knowledge +of the custom and of its history forbids it to be more. But its +probability will be augmented in proportion to the extent to which +the motives and modes of thought which it assumes can be proved to +have operated in primitive society. Hitherto the god with whose +death and resurrection we have been chiefly concerned has been the +tree-god. But if I can show that the custom of killing the god and +the belief in his resurrection originated, or at least existed, in +the hunting and pastoral stage of society, when the slain god was an +animal, and that it survived into the agricultural stage, when the +slain god was the corn or a human being representing the corn, the +probability of my explanation will have been considerably increased. +This I shall attempt to do in the sequel, and in the course of the +discussion I hope to clear up some obscurities which still remain, +and to answer some objections which may have suggested themselves to +the reader. + +We start from the point at which we left off--the spring customs of +European peasantry. Besides the ceremonies already described there +are two kindred sets of observances in which the simulated death of +a divine or supernatural being is a conspicuous feature. In one of +them the being whose death is dramatically represented is a +personification of the Carnival; in the other it is Death himself. +The former ceremony falls naturally at the end of the Carnival, +either on the last day of that merry season, namely Shrove Tuesday, +or on the first day of Lent, namely Ash Wednesday. The date of the +other ceremony--the Carrying or Driving out of Death, as it is +commonly called--is not so uniformly fixed. Generally it is the +fourth Sunday in Lent, which hence goes by the name of Dead Sunday; +but in some places the celebration falls a week earlier, in others, +as among the Czechs of Bohemia, a week later, while in certain +German villages of Moravia it is held on the first Sunday after +Easter. Perhaps, as has been suggested, the date may originally have +been variable, depending on the appearance of the first swallow or +some other herald of the spring. Some writers regard the ceremony as +Slavonic in its origin. Grimm thought it was a festival of the New +Year with the old Slavs, who began their year in March. We shall +first take examples, of the mimic death of the Carnival, which +always falls before the other in the calendar. + +At Frosinone, in Latium, about half-way between Rome and Naples, the +dull monotony of life in a provincial Italian town is agreeably +broken on the last day of the Carnival by the ancient festival known +as the _Radica._ About four o'clock in the afternoon the town band, +playing lively tunes and followed by a great crowd, proceeds to the +Piazza del Plebiscito, where is the Sub-Prefecture as well as the +rest of the Government buildings. Here, in the middle of the square, +the eyes of the expectant multitude are greeted by the sight of an +immense car decked with many-coloured festoons and drawn by four +horses. Mounted on the car is a huge chair, on which sits enthroned +the majestic figure of the Carnival, a man of stucco about nine feet +high with a rubicund and smiling countenance. Enormous boots, a tin +helmet like those which grace the heads of officers of the Italian +marine, and a coat of many colours embellished with strange devices, +adorn the outward man of this stately personage. His left hand rests +on the arm of the chair, while with his right he gracefully salutes +the crowd, being moved to this act of civility by a string which is +pulled by a man who modestly shrinks from publicity under the +mercy-seat. And now the crowd, surging excitedly round the car, +gives vent to its feelings in wild cries of joy, gentle and simple +being mixed up together and all dancing furiously the _Saltarello._ +A special feature of the festival is that every one must carry in +his hand what is called a _radica_ ( "root"), by which is meant a +huge leaf of the aloe or rather the agave. Any one who ventured into +the crowd without such a leaf would be unceremoniously hustled out +of it, unless indeed he bore as a substitute a large cabbage at the +end of a long stick or a bunch of grass curiously plaited. When the +multitude, after a short turn, has escorted the slow-moving car to +the gate of the Sub-Prefecture, they halt, and the car, jolting over +the uneven ground, rumbles into the courtyard. A hush now falls on +the crowd, their subdued voices sounding, according to the +description of one who has heard them, like the murmur of a troubled +sea. All eyes are turned anxiously to the door from which the +Sub-Prefect himself and the other representatives of the majesty of +the law are expected to issue and pay their homage to the hero of +the hour. A few moments of suspense and then a storm of cheers and +hand-clapping salutes the appearance of the dignitaries, as they +file out and, descending the staircase, take their place in the +procession. The hymn of the Carnival is now thundered out, after +which, amid a deafening roar, aloe leaves and cabbages are whirled +aloft and descend impartially on the heads of the just and the +unjust, who lend fresh zest to the proceedings by engaging in a free +fight. When these preliminaries have been concluded to the +satisfaction of all concerned, the procession gets under weigh. The +rear is brought up by a cart laden with barrels of wine and +policemen, the latter engaged in the congenial task of serving out +wine to all who ask for it, while a most internecine struggle, +accompanied by a copious discharge of yells, blows, and blasphemy, +goes on among the surging crowd at the cart's tail in their anxiety +not to miss the glorious opportunity of intoxicating themselves at +the public expense. Finally, after the procession has paraded the +principal streets in this majestic manner, the effigy of Carnival is +taken to the middle of a public square, stripped of his finery, laid +on a pile of wood, and burnt amid the cries of the multitude, who +thundering out once more the song of the Carnival fling their +so-called "roots" on the pyre and give themselves up without +restraint to the pleasures of the dance. + +In the Abruzzi a pasteboard figure of the Carnival is carried by +four grave-diggers with pipes in their mouths and bottles of wine +slung at their shoulder-belts. In front walks the wife of the +Carnival, dressed in mourning and dissolved in tears. From time to +time the company halts, and while the wife addresses the +sympathising public, the grave-diggers refresh the inner man with a +pull at the bottle. In the open square the mimic corpse is laid on a +pyre, and to the roll of drums, the shrill screams of the women, and +the gruffer cries of the men a light is set to it. While the figure +burns, chestnuts are thrown about among the crowd. Sometimes the +Carnival is represented by a straw-man at the top of a pole which is +borne through the town by a troop of mummers in the course of the +afternoon. When evening comes on, four of the mummers hold out a +quilt or sheet by the corners, and the figure of the Carnival is +made to tumble into it. The procession is then resumed, the +performers weeping crocodile tears and emphasising the poignancy of +their grief by the help of saucepans and dinner bells. Sometimes, +again, in the Abruzzi the dead Carnival is personified by a living +man who lies in a coffin, attended by another who acts the priest +and dispenses holy water in great profusion from a bathing tub. + +At Lerida, in Catalonia, the funeral of the Carnival was witnessed +by an English traveller in 1877. On the last Sunday of the Carnival +a grand procession of infantry, cavalry, and maskers of many sorts, +some on horseback and some in carriages, escorted the grand car of +His Grace Pau Pi, as the effigy was called, in triumph through the +principal streets. For three days the revelry ran high, and then at +midnight on the last day of the Carnival the same procession again +wound through the streets, but under a different aspect and for a +different end. The triumphal car was exchanged for a hearse, in +which reposed the effigy of his dead Grace: a troop of maskers, who +in the first procession had played the part of Students of Folly +with many a merry quip and jest, now, robed as priests and bishops, +paced slowly along holding aloft huge lighted tapers and singing a +dirge. All the mummers wore crape, and all the horsemen carried +blazing flambeaux. Down the high street, between the lofty, +many-storeyed and balconied houses, where every window, every +balcony, every housetop was crammed with a dense mass of spectators, +all dressed and masked in fantastic gorgeousness, the procession +took its melancholy way. Over the scene flashed and played the +shifting cross-lights and shadows from the moving torches: red and +blue Bengal lights flared up and died out again; and above the +trampling of the horses and the measured tread of the marching +multitude rose the voices of the priests chanting the requiem, while +the military bands struck in with the solemn roll of the muffled +drums. On reaching the principal square the procession halted, a +burlesque funeral oration was pronounced over the defunct Pau Pi, +and the lights were extinguished. Immediately the devil and his +angels darted from the crowd, seized the body and fled away with it, +hotly pursued by the whole multitude, yelling, screaming, and +cheering. Naturally the fiends were overtaken and dispersed; and the +sham corpse, rescued from their clutches, was laid in a grave that +had been made ready for its reception. Thus the Carnival of 1877 at +Lerida died and was buried. + +A ceremony of the same sort is observed in Provence on Ash +Wednesday. An effigy called Caramantran, whimsically attired, is +drawn in a chariot or borne on a litter, accompanied by the populace +in grotesque costumes, who carry gourds full of wine and drain them +with all the marks, real or affected, of intoxication. At the head +of the procession are some men disguised as judges and barristers, +and a tall gaunt personage who masquerades as Lent; behind them +follow young people mounted on miserable hacks and attired as +mourners who pretend to bewail the fate that is in store for +Caramantran. In the principal square the procession halts, the +tribunal is constituted, and Caramantran placed at the bar. After a +formal trial he is sentenced to death amid the groans of the mob: +the barrister who defended him embraces his client for the last +time: the officers of justice do their duty: the condemned is set +with his back to a wall and hurried into eternity under a shower of +stones. The sea or a river receives his mangled remains. Throughout +nearly the whole of the Ardennes it was and still is customary on +Ash Wednesday to burn an effigy which is supposed to represent the +Carnival, while appropriate verses are sung round about the blazing +figure. Very often an attempt is made to fashion the effigy in the +likeness of the husband who is reputed to be least faithful to his +wife of any in the village. As might perhaps have been anticipated, +the distinction of being selected for portraiture under these +painful circumstances has a slight tendency to breed domestic jars, +especially when the portrait is burnt in front of the house of the +gay deceiver whom it represents, while a powerful chorus of +caterwauls, groans, and other melodious sounds bears public +testimony to the opinion which his friends and neighbours entertain +of his private virtues. In some villages of the Ardennes a young man +of flesh and blood, dressed up in hay and straw, used to act the +part of Shrove Tuesday (_Mardi Gras_), as the personification of the +Carnival is often called in France after the last day of the period +which he personates. He was brought before a mock tribunal, and +being condemned to death was placed with his back to a wall, like a +soldier at a military execution, and fired at with blank cartridges. +At Vrigne-aux-Bois one of these harmless buffoons, named Thierry, +was accidentally killed by a wad that had been left in a musket of +the firing-party. When poor Shrove Tuesday dropped under the fire, +the applause was loud and long, he did it so naturally; but when he +did not get up again, they ran to him and found him a corpse. Since +then there have been no more of these mock executions in the +Ardennes. + +In Normandy on the evening of Ash Wednesday it used to be the custom +to hold a celebration called the Burial of Shrove Tuesday. A squalid +effigy scantily clothed in rags, a battered old hat crushed down on +his dirty face, his great round paunch stuffed with straw, +represented the disreputable old rake who, after a long course of +dissipation, was now about to suffer for his sins. Hoisted on the +shoulders of a sturdy fellow, who pretended to stagger under the +burden, this popular personification of the Carnival promenaded the +streets for the last time in a manner the reverse of triumphal. +Preceded by a drummer and accompanied by a jeering rabble, among +whom the urchins and all the tag-rag and bobtail of the town +mustered in great force, the figure was carried about by the +flickering light of torches to the discordant din of shovels and +tongs, pots and pans, horns and kettles, mingled with hootings, +groans, and hisses. From time to time the procession halted, and a +champion of morality accused the broken-down old sinner of all the +excesses he had committed and for which he was now about to be +burned alive. The culprit, having nothing to urge in his own +defence, was thrown on a heap of straw, a torch was put to it, and a +great blaze shot up, to the delight of the children who frisked +round it screaming out some old popular verses about the death of +the Carnival. Sometimes the effigy was rolled down the slope of a +hill before being burnt. At Saint-Lô the ragged effigy of Shrove +Tuesday was followed by his widow, a big burly lout dressed as a +woman with a crape veil, who emitted sounds of lamentation and woe +in a stentorian voice. After being carried about the streets on a +litter attended by a crowd of maskers, the figure was thrown into +the River Vire. The final scene has been graphically described by +Madame Octave Feuillet as she witnessed it in her childhood some +sixty years ago. "My parents invited friends to see, from the top of +the tower of Jeanne Couillard, the funeral procession passing. It +was there that, quaffing lemonade--the only refreshment allowed +because of the fast--we witnessed at nightfall a spectacle of which +I shall always preserve a lively recollection. At our feet flowed +the Vire under its old stone bridge. On the middle of the bridge lay +the figure of Shrove Tuesday on a litter of leaves, surrounded by +scores of maskers dancing, singing, and carrying torches. Some of +them in their motley costumes ran along the parapet like fiends. The +rest, worn out with their revels, sat on the posts and dozed. Soon +the dancing stopped, and some of the troop, seizing a torch, set +fire to the effigy, after which they flung it into the river with +redoubled shouts and clamour. The man of straw, soaked with resin, +floated away burning down the stream of the Vire, lighting up with +its funeral fires the woods on the bank and the battlements of the +old castle in which Louis XI. and Francis I. had slept. When the +last glimmer of the blazing 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 with our guests." + +In the neighbourhood of Tübingen on Shrove Tuesday a straw-man, +called the Shrovetide Bear, is made up; he is dressed in a pair of +old trousers, and a fresh black-pudding or two squirts filled with +blood are inserted in his neck. After a formal condemnation he is +beheaded, laid in a coffin, and on Ash Wednesday is buried in the +churchyard. This is called "Burying the Carnival." Amongst some of +the Saxons of Transylvania the Carnival is hanged. Thus at Braller +on Ash Wednesday or Shrove Tuesday two white and two chestnut horses +draw a sledge on which is placed a straw-man swathed in a white +cloth; beside him is a cart-wheel which is kept turning round. Two +lads disguised as old men follow the sledge lamenting. The rest of +the village lads, mounted on horseback and decked with ribbons, +accompany the procession, which is headed by two girls crowned with +evergreen and drawn in a waggon or sledge. A trial is held under a +tree, at which lads disguised as soldiers pronounce sentence of +death. The two old men try to rescue the straw-man and to fly with +him, but to no purpose; he is caught by the two girls and handed +over to the executioner, who hangs him on a tree. In vain the old +men try to climb up the tree and take him down; they always tumble +down, and at last in despair they throw themselves on the ground and +weep and howl for the hanged man. An official then makes a speech in +which he declares that the Carnival was condemned to death because +he had done them harm, by wearing out their shoes and making them +tired and sleepy. At the "Burial of Carnival" in Lechrain, a man +dressed as a woman in black clothes is carried on a litter or bier +by four men; he is lamented over by men disguised as women in black +clothes, then thrown down before the village dung-heap, drenched +with water, buried in the dung-heap, and covered with straw. On the +evening of Shrove Tuesday the Esthonians make a straw figure called +_metsik_ or "wood-spirit"; one year it is dressed with a man's coat +and hat, next year with a hood and a petticoat. This figure is stuck +on a long pole, carried across the boundary of the village with loud +cries of joy, and fastened to the top of a tree in the wood. The +ceremony is believed to be a protection against all kinds of +misfortune. + +Sometimes at these Shrovetide or Lenten ceremonies the resurrection +of the pretended dead person is enacted. Thus, in some parts of +Swabia on Shrove Tuesday Dr. Iron-Beard professes to bleed a sick +man, who thereupon falls as dead to the ground; but the doctor at +last restores him to life by blowing air into him through a tube. In +the Harz Mountains, when Carnival is over, a man is laid on a +baking-trough and carried with dirges to the grave; but in the grave +a glass of brandy is buried instead of the man. A speech is +delivered and then the people return to the village-green or +meeting-place, where they smoke the long clay pipes which are +distributed at funerals. On the morning of Shrove Tuesday in the +following year the brandy is dug up and the festival begins by every +one tasting the spirit which, as the phrase goes, has come to life +again. + + + +3. Carrying out Death + +THE CEREMONY of "Carrying out Death" presents much the same features +as "Burying the Carnival"; except that the carrying out of Death is +generally followed by a ceremony, or at least accompanied by a +profession, of bringing in Summer, Spring, or Life. Thus in Middle +Franken, a province of Bavaria, on the fourth Sunday in Lent, the +village urchins used to make a straw effigy of Death, which they +carried about with burlesque pomp through the streets, and +afterwards burned with loud cries beyond the bounds. The Frankish +custom is thus described by a writer of the sixteenth century: "At +Mid-Lent, the season when the church bids us rejoice, the young +people of my native country make a straw image of Death, and +fastening it to a pole carry it with shouts to the neighbouring +villages. By some they are kindly received, and after being +refreshed with milk, peas, and dried pears, the usual food of that +season, are sent home again. Others, however, treat them with +anything but hospitality; for, looking on them as harbingers of +misfortune, to wit of death, they drive them from their boundaries +with weapons and insults." In the villages near Erlangen, when the +fourth Sunday in Lent came around, the peasant girls used to dress +themselves in all their finery with flowers in their hair. Thus +attired they repaired to the neighbouring town, carrying puppets +which were adorned with leaves and covered with white cloths. These +they took from house to house in pairs, stopping at every door where +they expected to receive something, and singing a few lines in which +they announced that it was Mid-Lent and that they were about to +throw Death into the water. When they had collected some trifling +gratuities they went to the river Regnitz and flung the puppets +representing Death into the stream. This was done to ensure a +fruitful and prosperous year; further, it was considered a safeguard +against pestilence and sudden death. At Nuremberg girls of seven to +eighteen years of age go through the streets bearing a little open +coffin, in which is a doll hidden under a shroud. Others carry a +beech branch, with an apple fastened to it for a head, in an open +box. They sing, "We carry Death into the water, it is well," or "We +carry Death into the water, carry him in and out again." In some +parts of Bavaria down to 1780 it was believed that a fatal epidemic +would ensue if the custom of "Carrying out Death" were not observed. + +In some villages of Thüringen, on the fourth Sunday of Lent, the +children used to carry a puppet of birchen twigs through the +village, and then threw it into a pool, while they sang, "We carry +the old Death out behind the herdman's old house; we have got +Summer, and Kroden's (?) power is destroyed." At Debschwitz or +Dobschwitz, near Gera, the ceremony of "Driving out Death" is or was +annually observed on the first of March. The young people make up a +figure of straw or the like materials, dress it in old clothes, +which they have begged from houses in the village, and carry it out +and throw it into the river. On returning to the village they break +the good news to the people, and receive eggs and other victuals as +a reward. The ceremony is or was supposed to purify the village and +to protect the inhabitants from sickness and plague. In other +villages of Thüringen, in which the population was originally +Slavonic, the carrying out of the puppet is accompanied with the +singing of a song, which begins, "Now we carry Death out of the +village and Spring into the village." At the end of the seventeenth +and beginning of the eighteenth century the custom was observed in +Thüringen as follows. The boys and girls made an effigy of straw or +the like materials, but the shape of the figure varied from year to +year. In one year it would represent an old man, in the next an old +woman, in the third a young man, and in the fourth a maiden, and the +dress of the figure varied with the character it personated. There +used to be a sharp contest as to where the effigy was to be made, +for the people thought that the house from which it was carried +forth would not be visited with death that year. Having been made, +the puppet was fastened to a pole and carried by a girl if it +represented an old man, but by a boy if it represented an old woman. +Thus it was borne in procession, the young people holding sticks in +their hands and singing that they were driving out Death. When they +came to water they threw the effigy into it and ran hastily back, +fearing that it might jump on their shoulders and wring their necks. +They also took care not to touch it, lest it should dry them up. On +their return they beat the cattle with the sticks, believing that +this would make the animals fat or fruitful. Afterwards they visited +the house or houses from which they had carried the image of Death; +where they received a dole of half-boiled peas. The custom of +"Carrying out Death" was practised also in Saxony. At Leipsic the +bastards and public women used to make a straw effigy of Death every +year at Mid-Lent. This they carried through all the streets with +songs and showed it to the young married women. Finally they threw +it into the river Parthe. By this ceremony they professed to make +the young wives fruitful, to purify the city, and to protect the +inhabitants for that year from plague and other epidemics. + +Ceremonies of the same sort are observed at Mid-Lent in Silesia. +Thus in many places the grown girls with the help of the young men +dress up a straw figure with women's clothes and carry it out of the +village towards the setting sun. At the boundary they strip it of +its clothes, tear it in pieces, and scatter the fragments about the +fields. This is called "Burying Death." As they carry the image out, +they sing that they are about to bury Death under an oak, that he +may depart from the people. Sometimes the song runs that they are +bearing Death over hill and dale to return no more. In the Polish +neighbourhood of Gross-Strehlitz the puppet is called Goik. It is +carried on horseback and thrown into the nearest water. The people +think that the ceremony protects them from sickness of every sort in +the coming year. In the districts of Wohlau and Guhrau the image of +Death used to be thrown over the boundary of the next village. But +as the neighbours feared to receive the ill-omened figure, they were +on the look-out to repel it, and hard knocks were often exchanged +between the two parties. In some Polish parts of Upper Silesia the +effigy, representing an old woman, goes by the name of Marzana, the +goddess of death. It is made in the house where the last death +occurred, and is carried on a pole to the boundary of the village, +where it is thrown into a pond or burnt. At Polkwitz the custom of +"Carrying out Death" fell into abeyance; but an outbreak of fatal +sickness which followed the intermission of the ceremony induced the +people to resume it. + +In Bohemia the children go out with a straw-man, representing Death, +to the end of the village, where they burn it, singing-- + + + "Now carry we Death out of the village, + The new Summer into the village, + Welcome, dear Summer, + Green little corn." + + +At Tabor in Bohemia the figure of Death is carried out of the town +and flung from a high rock into the water, while they sing-- + + + "Death swims on the water, + Summer will soon be here, + We carried Death away for you + We brought the Summer. + And do thou, O holy Marketa, + Give us a good year + For wheat and for rye." + + +In other parts of Bohemia they carry Death to the end of the +village, singing-- + + + "We carry Death out of the village, + And the New Year into the village. + Dear Spring, we bid you welcome, + Green grass, we bid you welcome." + + +Behind the village they erect a pyre, on which they burn the straw +figure, reviling and scoffing at it the while. Then they return, +singing-- + + + "We have carried away Death, + And brought Life back. + He has taken up his quarters in the village, + Therefore sing joyous songs." + + +In some German villages of Moravia, as in Jassnitz and Seitendorf, +the young folk assemble on the third Sunday in Lent and fashion a +straw-man, who is generally adorned with a fur cap and a pair of old +leathern hose, if such are to be had. The effigy is then hoisted on +a pole and carried by the lads and lasses out into the open fields. +On the way they sing a song, in which it is said that they are +carrying Death away and bringing dear Summer into the house, and +with Summer the May and the flowers. On reaching an appointed place +they dance in a circle round the effigy with loud shouts and +screams, then suddenly rush at it and tear it to pieces with their +hands. Lastly, the pieces are thrown together in a heap, the pole is +broken, and fire is set to the whole. While it burns the troop +dances merrily round it, rejoicing at the victory won by Spring; and +when the fire has nearly died out they go to the householders to beg +for a present of eggs wherewith to hold a feast, taking care to give +as a reason for the request that they have carried Death out and +away. + +The preceding evidence shows that the effigy of Death is often +regarded with fear and treated with marks of hatred and abhorrence. +Thus the anxiety of the villagers to transfer the figure from their +own to their neighbours' land, and the reluctance of the latter to +receive the ominous guest, are proof enough of the dread which it +inspires. Further, in Lusatia and Silesia the puppet is sometimes +made to look in at the window of a house, and it is believed that +some one in the house will die within the year unless his life is +redeemed by the payment of money. Again, after throwing the effigy +away, the bearers sometimes run home lest Death should follow them, +and if one of them falls in running, it is believed that he will die +within the year. At Chrudim, in Bohemia, the figure of Death is made +out of a cross, with a head and mask stuck at the top, and a shirt +stretched out on it. On the fifth Sunday in Lent the boys take this +effigy to the nearest brook or pool, and standing in a line throw it +into the water. Then they all plunge in after it; but as soon as it +is caught no one more may enter the water. The boy who did not enter +the water or entered it last will die within the year, and he is +obliged to carry the Death back to the village. The effigy is then +burned. On the other hand, it is believed that no one will die +within the year in the house out of which the figure of Death has +been carried; and the village out of which Death has been driven is +sometimes supposed to be protected against sickness and plague. In +some villages of Austrian Silesia on the Saturday before Dead Sunday +an effigy is made of old clothes, hay, and straw, for the purpose of +driving Death out of the village. On Sunday the people, armed with +sticks and straps, assemble before the house where the figure is +lodged. Four lads then draw the effigy by cords through the village +amid exultant shouts, while all the others beat it with their sticks +and straps. On reaching a field which belongs to a neighbouring +village they lay down the figure, cudgel it soundly, and scatter the +fragments over the field. The people believe that the village from +which Death has been thus carried out will be safe from any +infectious disease for the whole year. + + + +4. Bringing in Summer + +IN THE PRECEDING ceremonies the return of Spring, Summer, or Life, +as a sequel to the expulsion of Death, is only implied or at most +announced. In the following ceremonies it is plainly enacted. Thus +in some parts of Bohemia the effigy of Death is drowned by being +thrown into the water at sunset; then the girls go out into the wood +and cut down a young tree with a green crown, hang a doll dressed as +a woman on it, deck the whole with green, red, and white ribbons, +and march in procession with their _Líto_ (Summer) into the village, +collecting gifts and singing-- + + + "Death swims in the water, + Spring comes to visit us, + With eggs that are red, + With yellow pancakes. + We carried Death out of the village, + We are carrying Summer into the village." + + +In many Silesian villages the figure of Death, after being treated +with respect, is stript of its clothes and flung with curses into +the water, or torn to pieces in a field. Then the young folk repair +to a wood, cut down a small fir-tree, peel the trunk, and deck it +with festoons of evergreens, paper roses, painted egg-shells, motley +bits of cloth, and so forth. The tree thus adorned is called Summer +or May. Boys carry it from house to house singing appropriate songs +and begging for presents. Among their songs is the following: + + + "We have carried Death out, + We are bringing the dear Summer back, + The Summer and the May + And all the flowers gay." + + +Sometimes they also bring back from the wood a prettily adorned +figure, which goes by the name of Summer, May, or the Bride; in the +Polish districts it is called Dziewanna, the goddess of spring. + +At Eisenach on the fourth Sunday in Lent young people used to fasten +a straw-man, representing Death, to a wheel, which they trundled to +the top of a hill. Then setting fire to the figure they allowed it +and the wheel to roll down the slope. Next day they cut a tall +fir-tree, tricked it out with ribbons, and set it up in the plain. +The men then climbed the tree to fetch down the ribbons. In Upper +Lusatia the figure of Death, made of straw and rags, is dressed in a +veil furnished by the last bride and a shirt provided by the house +in which the last death took place. Thus arrayed the figure is stuck +on the end of a long pole and carried at full speed by the tallest +and strongest girl, while the rest pelt the effigy with sticks and +stones. Whoever hits it will be sure to live through the year. In +this way Death is carried out of the village and thrown into the +water or over the boundary of the next village. On their way home +each one breaks a green branch and carries it gaily with him till he +reaches the village, when he throws it away. Sometimes the young +people of the next village, upon whose land the figure has been +thrown, run after them and hurl it back, not wishing to have Death +among them. Hence the two parties occasionally come to blows. + +In these cases Death is represented by the puppet which is thrown +away, Summer or Life by the branches or trees which are brought +back. But sometimes a new potency of life seems to be attributed to +the image of Death itself, and by a kind of resurrection it becomes +the instrument of the general revival. Thus in some parts of Lusatia +women alone are concerned in carrying out Death, and suffer no male +to meddle with it. Attired in mourning, which they wear the whole +day, they make a puppet of straw, clothe it in a white shirt, and +give it a broom in one hand and a scythe in the other. Singing songs +and pursued by urchins throwing stones, they carry the puppet to the +village boundary, where they tear it in pieces. Then they cut down a +fine tree, hang the shirt on it, and carry it home singing. On the +Feast of Ascension the Saxons of Braller, a village of Transylvania, +not far from Hermannstadt, observe the ceremony of "Carrying out +Death" in the following manner. After morning service all the +school-girls repair to the house of one of their number, and there +dress up the Death. This is done by tying a threshed-out sheaf of +corn into a rough semblance of a head and body, while the arms are +simulated by a broomstick thrust through it horizontally. The figure +is dressed in the holiday attire of a young peasant woman, with a +red hood, silver brooches, and a profusion of ribbons at the arms +and breast. The girls bustle at their work, for soon the bells will +be ringing to vespers, and the Death must be ready in time to be +placed at the open window, that all the people may see it on their +way to church. When vespers are over, the longed-for moment has come +for the first procession with the Death to begin; it is a privilege +that belongs to the school-girls alone. Two of the older girls seize +the figure by the arms and walk in front: all the rest follow two +and two. Boys may take no part in the procession, but they troop +after it gazing with open-mouthed admiration at the "beautiful +Death." So the procession goes through all the streets of the +village, the girls singing the old hymn that begins-- + + + "Gott mein Vater, deine Liebe + Reicht so weit der Himmel ist," + + +to a tune that differs from the ordinary one. When the procession +has wound its way through every street, the girls go to another +house, and having shut the door against the eager prying crowd of +boys who follow at their heels, they strip the Death and pass the +naked truss of straw out of the window to the boys, who pounce on +it, run out of the village with it without singing, and fling the +dilapidated effigy into the neighbouring brook. This done, the +second scene of the little drama begins. While the boys were +carrying away the Death out of the village, the girls remained in +the house, and one of them is now dressed in all the finery which +had been worn by the effigy. Thus arrayed she is led in procession +through all the streets to the singing of the same hymn as before. +When the procession is over they all betake themselves to the house +of the girl who played the leading part. Here a feast awaits them +from which also the boys are excluded. It is a popular belief that +the children may safely begin to eat gooseberries and other fruit +after the day on which Death has thus been carried out; for Death, +which up to that time lurked especially in gooseberries, is now +destroyed. Further, they may now bathe with impunity out of doors. +Very similar is the ceremony which, down to recent years, was +observed in some of the German villages of Moravia. Boys and girls +met on the afternoon of the first Sunday after Easter, and together +fashioned a puppet of straw to represent Death. Decked with +bright-coloured ribbons and cloths, and fastened to the top of a +long pole, the effigy was then borne with singing and clamour to the +nearest height, where it was stript of its gay attire and thrown or +rolled down the slope. One of the girls was next dressed in the +gauds taken from the effigy of Death, and with her at its head the +procession moved back to the village. In some villages the practice +is to bury the effigy in the place that has the most evil reputation +of all the country-side: others throw it into running water. + +In the Lusatian ceremony described above, the tree which is brought +home after the destruction of the figure of Death is plainly +equivalent to the trees or branches which, in the preceding customs, +were brought back as representatives of Summer or Life, after Death +had been thrown away or destroyed. But the transference of the shirt +worn by the effigy of Death to the tree clearly indicates that the +tree is a kind of revivification, in a new form, of the destroyed +effigy. This comes out also in the Transylvanian and Moravian +customs: the dressing of a girl in the clothes worn by the Death, +and the leading her about the village to the same song which had +been sung when the Death was being carried about, show that she is +intended to be a kind of resuscitation of the being whose effigy has +just been destroyed. These examples therefore suggest that the Death +whose demolition is represented in these ceremonies cannot be +regarded as the purely destructive agent which we understand by +Death. If the tree which is brought back as an embodiment of the +reviving vegetation of spring is clothed in the shirt worn by the +Death which has just been destroyed, the object certainly cannot be +to check and counteract the revival of vegetation: it can only be to +foster and promote it. Therefore the being which has just been +destroyed--the so-called Death--must be supposed to be endowed with +a vivifying and quickening influence, which it can communicate to +the vegetable and even the animal world. This ascription of a +life-giving virtue to the figure of Death is put beyond a doubt by +the custom, observed in some places, of taking pieces of the straw +effigy of Death and placing them in the fields to make the crops +grow, or in the manger to make the cattle thrive. Thus in +Spachendorf, a village of Austrian Silesia, the figure of Death, +made of straw, brushwood, and rags, is carried with wild songs to an +open place outside the village and there burned, and while it is +burning a general struggle takes place for the pieces, which are +pulled out of the flames with bare hands. Each one who secures a +fragment of the effigy ties it to a branch of the largest tree in +his garden, or buries it in his field, in the belief that this +causes the crops to grow better. In the Troppau district of Austrian +Silesia the straw figure which the boys make on the fourth Sunday in +Lent is dressed by the girls in woman's clothes and hung with +ribbons, necklace, and garlands. Attached to a long pole it is +carried out of the village, followed by a troop of young people of +both sexes, who alternately frolic, lament, and sing songs. Arrived +at its destination--a field outside the village--the figure is +stripped of its clothes and ornaments; then the crowd rushes at it +and tears it to bits, scuffling for the fragments. Every one tries +to get a wisp of the straw of which the effigy was made, because +such a wisp, placed in the manger, is believed to make the cattle +thrive. Or the straw is put in the hens' nest, it being supposed +that this prevents the hens from carrying away their eggs, and makes +them brood much better. The same attribution of a fertilising power +to the figure of Death appears in the belief that if the bearers of +the figure, after throwing it away, beat cattle with their sticks, +this will render the beasts fat or prolific. Perhaps the sticks had +been previously used to beat the Death, and so had acquired the +fertilising power ascribed to the effigy. We have seen, too, that at +Leipsic a straw effigy of Death was shown to young wives to make +them fruitful. + +It seems hardly possible to separate from the May-trees the trees or +branches which are brought into the village after the destruction of +the Death. The bearers who bring them in profess to be bringing in +the Summer, therefore the trees obviously represent the Summer; +indeed in Silesia they are commonly called the Summer or the May, +and the doll which is sometimes attached to the Summer-tree is a +duplicate representative of the Summer, just as the May is sometimes +represented at the same time by a May-tree and a May Lady. Further, +the Summer-trees are adorned like May-trees with ribbons and so on; +like May-trees, when large, they are planted in the ground and +climbed up; and like May-trees, when small, they are carried from +door to door by boys or girls singing songs and collecting money. +And as if to demonstrate the identity of the two sets of customs the +bearers of the Summer-tree sometimes announce that they are bringing +in the Summer and the May. The customs, therefore, of bringing in +the May and bringing in the Summer are essentially the same; and the +Summer-tree is merely another form of the May-tree, the only +distinction (besides that of name) being in the time at which they +are respectively brought in; for while the May-tree is usually +fetched in on the first of May or at Whitsuntide, the Summer-tree is +fetched in on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Therefore, if the May-tree +is an embodiment of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation, the +Summer-tree must likewise be an embodiment of the tree-spirit or +spirit of vegetation. But we have seen that the Summer-tree is in +some cases a revivification of the effigy of Death. It follows, +therefore, that in these cases the effigy called Death must be an +embodiment of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. This +inference is confirmed, first, by the vivifying and fertilising +influence which the fragments of the effigy of Death are believed to +exercise both on vegetable and on animal life; for this influence, +as we saw in an earlier part of this work, is supposed to be a +special attribute of the tree-spirit. It is confirmed, secondly, by +observing that the effigy of Death is sometimes decked with leaves +or made of twigs, branches, hemp, or a threshed-out sheaf of corn; +and that sometimes it is hung on a little tree and so carried about +by girls collecting money, just as is done with the May-tree and the +May Lady, and with the Summer-tree and the doll attached to it. In +short we are driven to regard the expulsion of Death and the +bringing in of Summer as, in some cases at least, merely another +form of that death and revival of the spirit of vegetation in spring +which we saw enacted in the killing and resurrection of the Wild +Man. The burial and resurrection of the Carnival is probably another +way of expressing the same idea. The interment of the representative +of the Carnival under a dung-heap is natural, if he is supposed to +possess a quickening and fertilising influence like that ascribed to +the effigy of Death. The Esthonians, indeed, who carry the straw +figure out of the village in the usual way on Shrove Tuesday, do not +call it the Carnival, but the Wood-spirit (_Metsik_), and they +clearly indicate the identity of the effigy with the wood-spirit by +fixing it to the top of a tree in the wood, where it remains for a +year, and is besought almost daily with prayers and offerings to +protect the herds; for like a true wood-spirit the _Metsik_ is a +patron of cattle. Sometimes the _Metsik_ is made of sheaves of corn. + +Thus we may fairly conjecture that the names Carnival, Death, and +Summer are comparatively late and inadequate expressions for the +beings personified or embodied in the customs with which we have +been dealing. The very abstractness of the names bespeaks a modern +origin; for the personification of times and seasons like the +Carnival and Summer, or of an abstract notion like death, is not +primitive. But the ceremonies themselves bear the stamp of a +dateless antiquity; therefore we can hardly help supposing that in +their origin the ideas which they embodied were of a more simple and +concrete order. The notion of a tree, perhaps of a particular kind +of tree (for some savages have no word for tree in general), or even +of an individual tree, is sufficiently concrete to supply a basis +from which by a gradual process of generalisation the wider idea of +a spirit of vegetation might be reached. But this general idea of +vegetation would readily be confounded with the season in which it +manifests itself; hence the substitution of Spring, Summer, or May +for the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation would be easy and +natural. Again, the concrete notion of the dying tree or dying +vegetation would by a similar process of generalisation glide into a +notion of death in general; so that the practice of carrying out the +dying or dead vegetation in spring, as a preliminary to its revival, +would in time widen out into an attempt to banish Death in general +from the village or district. The view that in these spring +ceremonies Death meant originally the dying or dead vegetation of +winter has the high support of W. Mannhardt; and he confirms it by +the analogy of the name Death as applied to the spirit of the ripe +corn. Commonly the spirit of the ripe corn is conceived, not as +dead, but as old, and hence it goes by the name of the Old Man or +the Old Woman. But in some places the last sheaf cut at harvest, +which is generally believed to be the seat of the corn spirit, is +called "the Dead One": children are warned against entering the +corn-fields because Death sits in the corn; and, in a game played by +Saxon children in Transylvania at the maize harvest, Death is +represented by a child completely covered with maize leaves. + + + +5. Battle of Summer and Winter + +SOMETIMES in the popular customs of the peasantry the contrast +between the dormant powers of vegetation in winter and their +awakening vitality in spring takes the form of a dramatic contest +between actors who play the parts respectively of Winter and Summer. +Thus in the towns of Sweden on May Day two troops of young men on +horseback used to meet as if for mortal combat. One of them was led +by a representative of Winter clad in furs, who threw snowballs and +ice in order to prolong the cold weather. The other troop was +commanded by a representative of Summer covered with fresh leaves +and flowers. In the sham fight which followed the party of Summer +came off victorious, and the ceremony ended with a feast. Again, in +the region of the middle Rhine, a representative of Summer clad in +ivy combats a representative of Winter clad in straw or moss and +finally gains a victory over him. The vanquished foe is thrown to +the ground and stripped of his casing of straw, which is torn to +pieces and scattered about, while the youthful comrades of the two +champions sing a song to commemorate the defeat of Winter by Summer. +Afterwards they carry about a summer garland or branch and collect +gifts of eggs and bacon from house to house. Sometimes the champion +who acts the part of Summer is dressed in leaves and flowers and +wears a chaplet of flowers on his head. In the Palatinate this mimic +conflict takes place on the fourth Sunday in Lent. All over Bavaria +the same drama used to be 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 Summer appeared clad all in green, decked with +fluttering ribbons, and carrying a branch in blossom or a little +tree hung with apples and pears, Winter was muffled up in cap and +mantle of fur and bore in his hand a snow-shovel or a flail. +Accompanied by their respective retinues dressed in corresponding +attire, they went through all the streets of the village, halting +before the houses and singing staves of old songs, for which they +received presents of bread, eggs, and fruit. Finally, after a short +struggle, Winter was beaten by Summer and ducked in the village well +or driven out of the village with shouts and laughter into the +forest. + +At Goepfritz in Lower Austria, two men personating Summer and Winter +used to go from house to house on Shrove Tuesday, and were +everywhere welcomed by the children with great delight. The +representative of Summer was clad in white and bore a sickle; his +comrade, who played the part of Winter, had a fur-cap on his head, +his arms and legs were swathed in straw, and he carried a flail. In +every house they sang verses alternately. At Drömling in Brunswick, +down to the present time, the contest between Summer and Winter is +acted every year at Whitsuntide by a troop of boys and a troop of +girls. The boys rush singing, shouting, and ringing bells from house +to house to drive Winter away; after them come the girls singing +softly and led by a May Bride, all in bright dresses and decked with +flowers and garlands to represent the genial advent of spring. +Formerly the part of Winter was played by a straw-man which the boys +carried with them; now it is acted by a real man in disguise. + +Among the Central Esquimaux of North America the contest between +representatives of summer and winter, which in Europe has long +degenerated into a mere dramatic performance, is still kept up as a +magical ceremony of which the avowed intention is to influence the +weather. In autumn, when storms announce the approach of the dismal +Arctic winter, the Esquimaux divide themselves into two parties +called respectively the ptarmigans and the ducks, the ptarmigans +comprising all persons born in winter, and the ducks all persons +born in summer. A long rope of sealskin is then stretched out, and +each party laying hold of one end of it seeks by tugging with might +and main to drag the other party over to its side. If the ptarmigans +get the worst of it, then summer has won the game and fine weather +may be expected to prevail through the winter. + + + +6. Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko + +I RUSSIA funeral ceremonies like those of "Burying the Carnival" and +"Carrying out Death" are celebrated under the names, not of Death or +the Carnival, but of certain mythic figures, Kostrubonko, Kostroma, +Kupalo, Lada, and Yarilo. These Russian ceremonies are observed both +in spring and at midsummer. Thus "in Little Russia it used to be the +custom at Eastertide to celebrate the funeral of a being called +Kostrubonko, the deity of the spring. A circle was formed of singers +who moved slowly around a girl who lay on the ground as if dead, and +as they went they sang: + + + 'Dead, dead is our Kostrubonko! + Dead, dead is our dear one!' + + +until the girl suddenly sprang up, on which the chorus joyfully +exclaimed: + + + 'Come to life, come to life has our Kostrubonko! + Come to life, come to life has our dear one!'" + + +On the Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve) a figure of Kupalo is made of +straw and "is dressed in woman's clothes, with a necklace and a +floral crown. Then a tree is felled, and, after being decked with +ribbons, is set up on some chosen spot. Near this tree, to which +they give the name of Marena [Winter or Death], the straw figure is +placed, together with a table, on which stand spirits and viands. +Afterwards a bonfire is lit, and the young men and maidens jump over +it in couples, carrying the figure with them. On the next day they +strip the tree and the figure of their ornaments, and throw them +both into a stream." On St. Peter's Day, the twenty-ninth of June, +or on the following Sunday, "the Funeral of Kostroma" or of Lada or +of Yarilo is celebrated in Russia. In the Governments of Penza and +Simbirsk the funeral used to be represented as follows. A bonfire +was kindled on the twenty-eighth of June, and on the next day the +maidens chose one of their number to play the part of Kostroma. Her +companions saluted her with deep obeisances, placed her on a board, +and carried her to the bank of a stream. There they bathed her in +the water, while the oldest girl made a basket of lime-tree bark and +beat it like a drum. Then they returned to the village and ended the +day with processions, games, and dances. In the Murom district +Kostroma was represented by a straw figure dressed in woman's +clothes and flowers. This was laid in a trough and carried with +songs to the bank of a lake or river. Here the crowd divided into +two sides, of which the one attacked and the other defended the +figure. At last the assailants gained the day, stripped the figure +of its dress and ornaments, tore it in pieces, trod the straw of +which it was made under foot, and flung it into the stream; while +the defenders of the figure hid their faces in their hands and +pretended to bewail the death of Kostroma. In the district of +Kostroma the burial of Yarilo was celebrated on the twenty-ninth or +thirtieth of June. The people chose an old man and gave him a small +coffin containing a Priapus-like figure representing Yarilo. This he +carried out of the town, followed by women chanting dirges and +expressing by their gestures grief and despair. In the open fields a +grave was dug, and into it the figure was lowered amid weeping and +wailing, after which games and dances were begun, "calling to mind +the funeral games celebrated in old times by the pagan Slavonians." +In Little Russia the figure of Yarilo was laid in a coffin and +carried through the streets after sunset surrounded by drunken +women, who kept repeating mournfully, "He is dead! he is dead!" The +men lifted and shook the figure as if they were trying to recall the +dead man to life. Then they said to the women, "Women, weep not. I +know what is sweeter than honey." But the women continued to lament +and chant, as they do at funerals. "Of what was he guilty? He was so +good. He will arise no more. O how shall we part from thee? What is +life without thee? Arise, if only for a brief hour. But he rises +not, he not." At last the Yarilo was buried in a grave. + + + +7. Death and Revival of Vegetation + +THESE Russian customs are plainly of the same nature as those which +in Austria and Germany are known as "Carrying out Death." Therefore +if the interpretation here adopted of the latter is right, the +Russian Kostrubonko, Yarilo, and the rest must also have been +originally embodiments of the spirit of vegetation, and their death +must have been regarded as a necessary preliminary to their revival. +The revival as a sequel to the death is enacted in the first of the +ceremonies described, the death and resurrection of Kostrubonko. The +reason why in some of these Russian ceremonies the death of the +spirit of vegetation is celebrated at midsummer may be that the +decline of summer is dated from Midsummer Day, after which the days +begin to shorten, and the sun sets out on his downward journey: + + + "To the darksome hollows + Where the frosts of winter lie." + + +Such a turning-point of the year, when vegetation might be thought +to share the incipient though still almost imperceptible decay of +summer, might very well be chosen by primitive man as a fit moment +for resorting to those magic rites by which he hopes to stay the +decline, or at least to ensure the revival, of plant life. + +But while the death of vegetation appears to have been represented +in all, and its revival in some, of these spring and midsummer +ceremonies, there are features in some of them which can hardly be +explained on this hypothesis alone. The solemn funeral, the +lamentations, and the mourning attire, which often characterise +these rites, are indeed appropriate at the death of the beneficent +spirit of vegetation. But what shall we say of the glee with which +the effigy is often carried out, of the sticks and stones with which +it is assailed, and the taunts and curses which are hurled at it? +What shall we say of the dread of the effigy evinced by the haste +with which the bearers scamper home as soon as they have thrown it +away, and by the belief that some one must soon die in any house +into which it has looked? This dread might perhaps be explained by a +belief that there is a certain infectiousness in the dead spirit of +vegetation which renders its approach dangerous. But this +explanation, besides being rather strained, does not cover the +rejoicings which often attend the carrying out of Death. We must +therefore recognise two distinct and seemingly opposite features in +these ceremonies: on the one hand, sorrow for the death, and +affection and respect for the dead; on the other hand, fear and +hatred of the dead, and rejoicings at his death. How the former of +these features is to be explained I have attempted to show: how the +latter came to be so closely associated with the former is a +question which I shall try to answer in the sequel. + + + +8. Analogous Rites in India + +IN THE KANAGRA district of India there is a custom observed by young +girls in spring which closely resembles some of the European spring +ceremonies just described. It is called the _Ralî Ka melâ,_ or fair +of Ralî, the _Ralî_ being a small painted earthen image of Siva or +Pârvatî. The custom is in vogue all over the Kanagra district, and +its celebration, which is entirely confined to young girls, lasts +through most of Chet (March-April) up to the Sankrânt of Baisâkh +(April). On a morning in March all the young girls of the village +take small baskets of _dûb_ grass and flowers to an appointed place, +where they throw them in a heap. Round this heap they stand in a +circle and sing. This goes on every day for ten days, till the heap +of grass and flowers has reached a fair height. Then they cut in the +jungle two branches, each with three prongs at one end, and place +them, prongs downwards, over the heap of flowers, so as to make two +tripods or pyramids. On the single uppermost points of these +branches they get an image-maker to construct two clay images, one +to represent Siva, and the other Pârvatî. The girls then divide +themselves into two parties, one for Siva and one for Pârvatî, and +marry the images in the usual way, leaving out no part of the +ceremony. After the marriage they have a feast, the cost of which is +defrayed by contributions solicited from their parents. Then at the +next Sankrânt (Baisâkh) they all go together to the river-side, +throw the images into a deep pool, and weep over the place, as +though they were performing funeral obsequies. The boys of the +neighbourhood often tease them by diving after the images, bringing +them up, and waving them about while the girls are crying over them. +The object of the fair is said to be to secure a good husband. + +That in this Indian ceremony the deities Siva and Pârvatî are +conceived as spirits of vegetation seems to be proved by the placing +of their images on branches over a heap of grass and flowers. Here, +as often in European folk-custom, the divinities of vegetation are +represented in duplicate, by plants and by puppets. The marriage of +these Indian deities in spring corresponds to the European +ceremonies in which the marriage of the vernal spirits of vegetation +is represented by the King and Queen of May, the May Bride, +Bridegroom of the May, and so forth. The throwing of the images into +the water, and the mourning for them, are the equivalents of the +European customs of throwing the dead spirit of vegetation under the +name of Death, Yarilo, Kostroma, and the rest, into the water and +lamenting over it. Again, in India, as often in Europe, the rite is +performed exclusively by females. The notion that the ceremony helps +to procure husbands for the girls can be explained by the quickening +and fertilising influence which the spirit of vegetation is believed +to exert upon the life of man as well as of plants. + + + +9. The Magic Spring + +THE GENERAL explanation which we have been led to adopt of these and +many similar ceremonies is that they are, or were in their origin, +magical rites intended to ensure the revival of nature in spring. +The means by which they were supposed to effect this end were +imitation and sympathy. Led astray by his ignorance of the true +causes of things, primitive man believed that in order to produce +the great phenomena of nature on which his life depended he had only +to imitate them, and that immediately by a secret sympathy or mystic +influence the little drama which he acted in forest glade or +mountain dell, on desert plain or wind-swept shore, would be taken +up and repeated by mightier actors on a vaster stage. He fancied +that by masquerading in leaves and flowers he helped the bare earth +to clothe herself with verdure, and that by playing the death and +burial of winter he drove that gloomy season away, and made smooth +the path for the footsteps of returning spring. If we find it hard +to throw ourselves even in fancy into a mental condition in which +such things seem possible, we can more easily picture to ourselves +the anxiety which the savage, when he first began to lift his +thoughts above the satisfaction of his merely animal wants, and to +meditate on the causes of things, may have felt as to the continued +operation of what we now call the laws of nature. To us, familiar as +we are with the conception of the uniformity and regularity with +which the great cosmic phenomena succeed each other, there seems +little ground for apprehension that the causes which produce these +effects will cease to operate, at least within the near future. But +this confidence in the stability of nature is bred only by the +experience which comes of wide observation and long tradition; and +the savage, with his narrow sphere of observation and his +short-lived tradition, lacks the very elements of that experience +which alone could set his mind at rest in face of the ever-changing +and often menacing aspects of nature. No wonder, therefore, that he +is thrown into a panic by an eclipse, and thinks that the sun or the +moon would surely perish, if he did not raise a clamour and shoot +his puny shafts into the air to defend the luminaries from the +monster who threatens to devour them. No wonder he is terrified when +in the darkness of night a streak of sky is suddenly illumined by +the flash of a meteor, or the whole expanse of the celestial arch +glows with the fitful light of the Northern Streamers. Even +phenomena which recur at fixed and uniform intervals may be viewed +by him with apprehension, before he has come to recognise the +orderliness of their recurrence. The speed or slowness of his +recognition of such periodic or cyclic changes in nature will depend +largely on the length of the particular cycle. The cycle, for +example, of day and night is everywhere, except in the polar +regions, so short and hence so frequent that men probably soon +ceased to discompose themselves seriously as to the chance of its +failing to recur, though the ancient Egyptians, as we have seen, +daily wrought enchantments to bring back to the east in the morning +the fiery orb which had sunk at evening in the crimson west. But it +was far otherwise with the annual cycle of the seasons. To any man a +year is a considerable period, seeing that the number of our years +is but few at the best. To the primitive savage, with his short +memory and imperfect means of marking the flight of time, a year may +well have been so long that he failed to recognise it as a cycle at +all, and watched the changing aspects of earth and heaven with a +perpetual wonder, alternately delighted and alarmed, elated and cast +down, according as the vicissitudes of light and heat, of plant and +animal life, ministered to his comfort or threatened his existence. +In autumn when the withered leaves were whirled about the forest by +the nipping blast, and he looked up at the bare boughs, could he +feel sure that they would ever be green again? As day by day the sun +sank lower and lower in the sky, could he be certain that the +luminary would ever retrace his heavenly road? Even the waning moon, +whose pale sickle rose thinner and thinner every night over the rim +of the eastern horizon, may have excited in his mind a fear lest, +when it had wholly vanished, there should be moons no more. + +These and a thousand such misgivings may have thronged the fancy and +troubled the peace of the man who first began to reflect on the +mysteries of the world he lived in, and to take thought for a more +distant future than the morrow. It was natural, therefore, that with +such thoughts and fears he should have done all that in him lay to +bring back the faded blossom to the bough, to swing the low sun of +winter up to his old place in the summer sky, and to restore its +orbed fulness to the silver lamp of the waning moon. We may smile at +his vain endeavours if we please, but it was only by making a long +series of experiments, of which some were almost inevitably doomed +to failure, that man learned from experience the futility of some of +his attempted methods and the fruitfulness of others. After all, +magical ceremonies are nothing but experiments which have failed and +which continue to be repeated merely because, for reasons which have +already been indicated, the operator is unaware of their failure. +With the advance of knowledge these ceremonies either cease to be +performed altogether or are kept up from force of habit long after +the intention with which they were instituted has been forgotten. +Thus fallen from their high estate, no longer regarded as solemn +rites on the punctual performance of which the welfare and even the +life of the community depend, they sink gradually to the level of +simple pageants, mummeries, and pastimes, till in the final stage of +degeneration they are wholly abandoned by older people, and, from +having once been the most serious occupation of the sage, become at +last the idle sport of children. It is in this final stage of decay +that most of the old magical rites of our European forefathers +linger on at the present day, and even from this their last retreat +they are fast being swept away by the rising tide of those +multitudinous forces, moral, intellectual, and social, which are +bearing mankind onward to a new and unknown goal. We may feel some +natural regret at the disappearance of quaint customs and +picturesque ceremonies, which have preserved to an age often deemed +dull and prosaic something of the flavour and freshness of the olden +time, some breath of the springtime of the world; yet our regret +will be lessened when we remember that these pretty pageants, these +now innocent diversions, had their origin in ignorance and +superstition; that if they are a record of human endeavour, they are +also a monument of fruitless ingenuity, of wasted labour, and of +blighted hopes; and that for all their gay trappings--their flowers, +their ribbons, and their music--they partake far more of tragedy +than of farce. + +The interpretation which, following in the footsteps of W. +Mannhardt, I have attempted to give of these ceremonies has been not +a little confirmed by the discovery, made since this book was first +written, that the natives of Central Australia regularly practise +magical ceremonies for the purpose of awakening the dormant energies +of nature at the approach of what may be called the Australian +spring. Nowhere apparently are the alternations of the seasons more +sudden and the contrasts between them more striking than in the +deserts of Central Australia, where at the end of a long period of +drought the sandy and stony wilderness, over which the silence and +desolation of death appear to brood, is suddenly, after a few days +of torrential rain, transformed into a landscape smiling with +verdure and peopled with teeming multitudes of insects and lizards, +of frogs and birds. The marvellous change which passes over the face +of nature at such times has been compared even by European observers +to the effect of magic; no wonder, then, that the savage should +regard it as such in very deed. Now it is just when there is promise +of the approach of a good season that the natives of Central +Australia are wont especially to perform those magical ceremonies of +which the avowed intention is to multiply the plants and animals +they use as food. These ceremonies, therefore, present a close +analogy to the spring customs of our European peasantry not only in +the time of their celebration, but also in their aim; for we can +hardly doubt that in instituting rites designed to assist the +revival of plant life in spring our primitive forefathers were +moved, not by any sentimental wish to smell at early violets, or +pluck the rathe primrose, or watch yellow daffodils dancing in the +breeze, but by the very practical consideration, certainly not +formulated in abstract terms, that the life of man is inextricably +bound up with that of plants, and that if they were to perish he +could not survive. And as the faith of the Australian savage in the +efficacy of his magic rites is confirmed by observing that their +performance is invariably followed, sooner or later, by that +increase of vegetable and animal life which it is their object to +produce, so, we may suppose, it was with European savages in the +olden time. The sight of the fresh green in brake and thicket, of +vernal flowers blowing on mossy banks, of swallows arriving from the +south, and of the sun mounting daily higher in the sky, would be +welcomed by them as so many visible signs that their enchantments +were indeed taking effect, and would inspire them with a cheerful +confidence that all was well with a world which they could thus +mould to suit their wishes. Only in autumn days, as summer slowly +faded, would their confidence again be dashed by doubts and +misgivings at symptoms of decay, which told how vain were all their +efforts to stave off for ever the approach of winter and of death. + + + + +XXIX. The Myth of Adonis + +THE SPECTACLE of the great changes which annually pass over the face +of the earth has powerfully impressed the minds of men in all ages, +and stirred them to meditate on the causes of transformations so +vast and wonderful. Their curiosity has not been purely +disinterested; for even the savage cannot fail to perceive how +intimately his own life is bound up with the life of nature, and how +the same processes which freeze the stream and strip the earth of +vegetation menace him with extinction. At a certain stage of +development men seem to have imagined that the means of averting the +threatened calamity were in their own hands, and that they could +hasten or retard the flight of the seasons by magic art. Accordingly +they performed ceremonies and recited spells to make the rain to +fall, the sun to shine, animals to multiply, and the fruits of the +earth to grow. In course of time the slow advance of knowledge, +which has dispelled so many cherished illusions, convinced at least +the more thoughtful portion of mankind that the alternations of +summer and winter, of spring and autumn, were not merely the result +of their own magical rites, but that some deeper cause, some +mightier power, was at work behind the shifting scenes of nature. +They now pictured to themselves the growth and decay of vegetation, +the birth and death of living creatures, as effects of the waxing or +waning strength of divine beings, of gods and goddesses, who were +born and died, who married and begot children, on the pattern of +human life. + +Thus the old magical theory of the seasons was displaced, or rather +supplemented, by a religious theory. For although men now attributed +the annual cycle of change primarily to corresponding changes in +their deities, they still thought that by performing certain magical +rites they could aid the god who was the principle of life, in his +struggle with the opposing principle of death. They imagined that +they could recruit his failing energies and even raise him from the +dead. The ceremonies which they observed for this purpose were in +substance a dramatic representation of the natural processes which +they wished to facilitate; for it is a familiar tenet of magic that +you can produce any desired effect by merely imitating it. And as +they now explained the fluctuations of growth and decay, of +reproduction and dissolution, by the marriage, the death, and the +rebirth or revival of the gods, their religious or rather magical +dramas turned in great measure on these themes. They set forth the +fruitful union of the powers of fertility, the sad death of one at +least of the divine partners, and his joyful resurrection. Thus a +religious theory was blended with a magical practice. The +combination is familiar in history. Indeed, few religions have ever +succeeded in wholly extricating themselves from the old trammels of +magic. The inconsistency of acting on two opposite principles, +however it may vex the soul of the philosopher, rarely troubles the +common man; indeed he is seldom even aware of it. His affair is to +act, not to analyse the motives of his action. If mankind had always +been logical and wise, history would not be a long chronicle of +folly and crime. + +Of the changes which the seasons bring with them, the most striking +within the temperate zone are those which affect vegetation. The +influence of the seasons on animals, though great, is not nearly so +manifest. Hence it is natural that in the magical dramas designed to +dispel winter and bring back spring the emphasis should be laid on +vegetation, and that trees and plants should figure in them more +prominently than beasts and birds. Yet the two sides of life, the +vegetable and the animal, were not dissociated in the minds of those +who observed the ceremonies. Indeed they commonly believed that the +tie between the animal and the vegetable world was even closer than +it really is; hence they often combined the dramatic representation +of reviving plants with a real or a dramatic union of the sexes for +the purpose of furthering at the same time and by the same act the +multiplication of fruits, of animals, and of men. To them the +principle of life and fertility, whether animal or vegetable, was +one and indivisible. To live and to cause to live, to eat food and +to beget children, these were the primary wants of men in the past, +and they will be the primary wants of men in the future so long as +the world lasts. Other things may be added to enrich and beautify +human life, but unless these wants are first satisfied, humanity +itself must cease to exist. These two things, therefore, food and +children, were what men chiefly sought to procure by the performance +of magical rites for the regulation of the seasons. + +Nowhere, apparently, have these rites been more widely and solemnly +celebrated than in the lands which border the Eastern Mediterranean. +Under the names of Osiris, Tammuz, Adonis, and Attis, the peoples of +Egypt and Western Asia represented the yearly decay and revival of +life, especially of vegetable life, which they personified as a god +who annually died and rose again from the dead. In name and detail +the rites varied from place to place: in substance they were the +same. The supposed death and resurrection of this oriental deity, a +god of many names but of essentially one nature, is now to be +examined. We begin with Tammuz or Adonis. + +The worship of Adonis was practised by the Semitic peoples of +Babylonia and Syria, and the Greeks borrowed it from them as early +as the seventh century before Christ. The true name of the deity was +Tammuz: the appellation of Adonis is merely the Semitic _Adon,_ +"lord," a title of honour by which his worshippers addressed him. +But the Greeks through a misunderstanding converted the title of +honour into a proper name. In the religious literature of Babylonia +Tammuz appears as the youthful spouse or lover of Ishtar, the great +mother goddess, the embodiment of the reproductive energies of +nature. The references to their connexion with each other in myth +and ritual are both fragmentary and obscure, but we gather from them +that every year Tammuz was believed to die, passing away from the +cheerful earth to the gloomy subterranean world, and that every year +his divine mistress journeyed in quest of him "to the land from +which there is no returning, to the house of darkness, where dust +lies on door and bolt." During her absence the passion of love +ceased to operate: men and beasts alike forgot to reproduce their +kinds: all life was threatened with extinction. So intimately bound +up with the goddess were the sexual functions of the whole animal +kingdom that without her presence they could not be discharged. A +messenger of the great god Ea was accordingly despatched to rescue +the goddess on whom so much depended. The stern queen of the +infernal regions, Allatu or Eresh-Kigal by name, reluctantly allowed +Ishtar to be sprinkled with the Water of Life and to depart, in +company probably with her lover Tammuz, that the two might return +together to the upper world, and that with their return all nature +might revive. + +Laments for the departed Tammuz are contained in several Babylonian +hymns, which liken him to plants that quickly fade. He is + + + "A tamarisk that in the garden has drunk no water, + Whose crown in the field has brought forth no blossom. + A willow that rejoiced not by the watercourse, + A willow whose roots were torn up. + A herb that in the garden had drunk no water." + + +His death appears to have been annually mourned, to the shrill music +of flutes, by men and women about midsummer in the month named after +him, the month of Tammuz. The dirges were seemingly chanted over an +effigy of the dead god, which was washed with pure water, anointed +with oil, and clad in a red robe, while the fumes of incense rose +into the air, as if to stir his dormant senses by their pungent +fragrance and wake him from the sleep of death. In one of these +dirges, inscribed _Lament of the Flutes for Tammuz,_ we seem still +to hear the voices of the singers chanting the sad refrain and to +catch, like far-away music, the wailing notes of the flutes: + + + "At his vanishing away she lifts up a lament, + 'Oh my child!' at his vanishing away she lifts up a lament; + 'My Damu!' at his vanishing away she lifts up a lament. + 'My enchanter and priest!' at his vanishing away + she lifts up a lament, + At the shining cedar, rooted in a spacious place, + In Eanna, above and below, she lifts up a lament. + Like the lament that a house lifts up for its master, + lifts she up a lament, + Like the lament that a city lifts up for its lord, + lifts she up a lament. + Her lament is the lament for a herb that grows not in the bed, + Her lament is the lament for the corn that grows not in the ear. + Her chamber is a possession that brings not forth a possession, + A weary woman, a weary child, forspent. + Her lament is for a great river, where no willows grow, + Her lament is for a field, where corn and herbs grow not. + Her lament is for a pool, where fishes grow not. + Her lament is for a thickest of reeds, where no reeds grow. + Her lament is for woods, where tamarisks grow not. + Her lament is for a wilderness where no cypresses (?) grow. + Her lament is for the depth of a garden of trees, + where honey and wine grow not. + Her lament is for meadows, where no plants grow. + Her lament is for a palace, where length of life grows not." + + +The tragical story and the melancholy rites of Adonis are better +known to us from the descriptions of Greek writers than from the +fragments of Babylonian literature or the brief reference of the +prophet Ezekiel, who saw the women of Jerusalem weeping for Tammuz +at the north gate of the temple. Mirrored in the glass of Greek +mythology, the oriental deity appears as a comely youth beloved by +Aphrodite. In his infancy the goddess hid him in a chest, which she +gave in charge to Persephone, queen of the nether world. But when +Persephone opened the chest and beheld the beauty of the babe, she +refused to give him back to Aphrodite, though the goddess of love +went down herself to hell to ransom her dear one from the power of +the grave. The dispute between the two goddesses of love and death +was settled by Zeus, who decreed that Adonis should abide with +Persephone in the under world for one part of the year, and with +Aphrodite in the upper world for another part. At last the fair +youth was killed in hunting by a wild boar, or by the jealous Ares, +who turned himself into the likeness of a boar in order to compass +the death of his rival. Bitterly did Aphrodite lament her loved and +lost Adonis. In this form of the myth, the contest between Aphrodite +and Persephone for the possession of Adonis clearly reflects the +struggle between Ishtar and Allatu in the land of the dead, while +the decision of Zeus that Adonis is to spend one part of the year +under ground and another part above ground is merely a Greek version +of the annual disappearance and reappearance of Tammuz. + + + +XXX. Adonis in Syria + +THE MYTH of Adonis was localised and his rites celebrated with much +solemnity at two places in Western Asia. One of these was Byblus on +the coast of Syria, the other was Paphos in Cyprus. Both were great +seats of the worship of Aphrodite, or rather of her Semitic +counterpart, Astarte; and of both, if we accept the legends, +Cinyras, the father of Adonis, was king. Of the two cities Byblus +was the more ancient; indeed it claimed to be the oldest city in +Phoenicia, and to have been founded in the early ages of the world +by the great god El, whom Greeks and Romans identified with Cronus +and Saturn respectively. However that may have been, in historical +times it ranked as a holy place, the religious capital of the +country, the Mecca or Jerusalem of the Phoenicians. The city stood +on a height beside the sea, and contained a great sanctuary of +Astarte, where in the midst of a spacious open court, surrounded by +cloisters and approached from below by staircases, rose a tall cone +or obelisk, the holy image of the goddess. In this sanctuary the +rites of Adonis were celebrated. Indeed the whole city was sacred to +him, and the river Nahr Ibrahim, which falls into the sea a little +to the south of Byblus, bore in antiquity the name of Adonis. This +was the kingdom of Cinyras. From the earliest to the latest times +the city appears to have been ruled by kings, assisted perhaps by a +senate or council of elders. + +The last king of Byblus bore the ancient name of Cinyras, and was +beheaded by Pompey the Great for his tyrannous excesses. His +legendary namesake Cinyras is said to have founded a sanctuary of +Aphrodite, that is, of Astarte, at a place on Mount Lebanon, distant +a day's journey from the capital. The spot was probably Aphaca, at +the source of the river Adonis, half-way between Byblus and Baalbec; +for at Aphaca there was a famous grove and sanctuary of Astarte +which Constantine destroyed on account of the flagitious character +of the worship. The site of the temple has been discovered by modern +travellers near the miserable village which still bears the name of +Afka at the head of the wild, romantic, wooded gorge of the Adonis. +The hamlet stands among groves of noble walnut-trees on the brink of +the lyn. A little way off the river rushes from a cavern at the foot +of a mighty amphitheatre of towering cliffs to plunge in a series of +cascades into the awful depths of the glen. The deeper it descends, +the ranker and denser grows the vegetation, which, sprouting from +the crannies and fissures of the rocks, spreads a green veil over +the roaring or murmuring stream in the tremendous chasm below. There +is something delicious, almost intoxicating, in the freshness of +these tumbling waters, in the sweetness and purity of the mountain +air, in the vivid green of the vegetation. The temple, of which some +massive hewn blocks and a fine column of Syenite granite still mark +the site, occupied a terrace facing the source of the river and +commanding a magnificent prospect. Across the foam and the roar of +the waterfalls you look up to the cavern and away to the top of the +sublime precipices above. So lofty is the cliff that the goats which +creep along its ledges to browse on the bushes appear like ants to +the spectator hundreds of feet below. Seaward the view is especially +impressive when the sun floods the profound gorge with golden light, +revealing all the fantastic buttresses and rounded towers of its +mountain rampart, and falling softly on the varied green of the +woods which clothe its depths. It was here that, according to the +legend, Adonis met Aphrodite for the first or the last time, and +here his mangled body was buried. A fairer scene could hardly be +imagined for a story of tragic love and death. Yet, sequestered as +the valley is and must always have been, it is not wholly deserted. +A convent or a village may be observed here and there standing out +against the sky on the top of some beetling crag, or clinging to the +face of a nearly perpendicular cliff high above the foam and the din +of the river; and at evening the lights that twinkle through the +gloom betray the presence of human habitations on slopes which might +seem inaccessible to man. In antiquity the whole of the lovely vale +appears to have been dedicated to Adonis, and to this day it is +haunted by his memory; for the heights which shut it in are crested +at various points by ruined monuments of his worship, some of them +overhanging dreadful abysses, down which it turns the head dizzy to +look and see the eagles wheeling about their nests far below. One +such monument exists at Ghineh. The face of a great rock, above a +roughly hewn recess, is here carved with figures of Adonis and +Aphrodite. He is portrayed with spear in rest, awaiting the attack +of a bear, while she is seated in an attitude of sorrow. Her +grief-stricken figure may well be the mourning Aphrodite of the +Lebanon described by Macrobius, and the recess in the rock is +perhaps her lover's tomb. Every year, in the belief of his +worshippers, Adonis was wounded to death on the mountains, and every +year the face of nature itself was dyed with his sacred blood. So +year by year the Syrian damsels lamented his untimely fate, while +the red anemone, his flower, bloomed among the cedars of Lebanon, +and the river ran red to the sea, fringing the winding shores of the +blue Mediterranean, whenever the wind set inshore, with a sinuous +band of crimson. + + + +XXXI. Adonis in Cyprus + +THE ISLAND of Cyprus lies but one day's sail from the coast of +Syria. Indeed, on fine summer evenings its mountains may be descried +looming low and dark against the red fires of sunset. With its rich +mines of copper and its forests of firs and stately cedars, the +island naturally attracted a commercial and maritime people like the +Phoenicians; while the abundance of its corn, its wine, and its oil +must have rendered it in their eyes a Land of Promise by comparison +with the niggardly nature of their own rugged coast, hemmed in +between the mountains and the sea. Accordingly they settled in +Cyprus at a very early date and remained there long after the Greeks +had also established themselves on its shores; for we know from +inscriptions and coins that Phoenician kings reigned at Citium, the +Chittim of the Hebrews, down to the time of Alexander the Great. +Naturally the Semitic colonists brought their gods with them from +the mother-land. They worshipped Baal of the Lebanon, who may well +have been Adonis, and at Amathus on the south coast they instituted +the rites of Adonis and Aphrodite, or rather Astarte. Here, as at +Byblus, these rites resembled the Egyptian worship of Osiris so +closely that some people even identified the Adonis of Amathus with +Osiris. + +But the great seat of the worship of Aphrodite and Adonis in Cyprus +was Paphos on the south-western side of the island. Among the petty +kingdoms into which Cyprus was divided from the earliest times until +the end of the fourth century before our era Paphos must have ranked +with the best. It is a land of hills and billowy ridges, diversified +by fields and vineyards and intersected by rivers, which in the +course of ages have carved for themselves beds of such tremendous +depth that travelling in the interior is difficult and tedious. The +lofty range of Mount Olympus (the modern Troodos), capped with snow +the greater part of the year, screens Paphos from the northerly and +easterly winds and cuts it off from the rest of the island. On the +slopes of the range the last pine-woods of Cyprus linger, sheltering +here and there monasteries in scenery not unworthy of the Apennines. +The old city of Paphos occupied the summit of a hill about a mile +from the sea; the newer city sprang up at the harbour some ten miles +off. The sanctuary of Aphrodite at Old Paphos (the modern Kuklia) +was one of the most celebrated shrines in the ancient world. +According to Herodotus, it was founded by Phoenician colonists from +Ascalon; but it is possible that a native goddess of fertility was +worshipped on the spot before the arrival of the Phoenicians, and +that the newcomers identified her with their own Baalath or Astarte, +whom she may have closely resembled. If two deities were thus fused +in one, we may suppose that they were both varieties of that great +goddess of motherhood and fertility whose worship appears to have +been spread all over Western Asia from a very early time. The +supposition is confirmed as well by the archaic shape of her image +as by the licentious character of her rites; for both that shape and +those rites were shared by her with other Asiatic deities. Her image +was simply a white cone or pyramid. In like manner, a cone was the +emblem of Astarte at Byblus, of the native goddess whom the Greeks +called Artemis at Perga in Pamphylia, and of the sun-god +Heliogabalus at Emesa in Syria. Conical stones, which apparently +served as idols, have also been found at Golgi in Cyprus, and in the +Phoenician temples of Malta; and cones of sandstone came to light at +the shrine of the "Mistress of Torquoise" among the barren hills and +frowning precipices of Sinai. + +In Cyprus it appears that before marriage all women were formerly +obliged by custom to prostitute themselves to strangers at the +sanctuary of the goddess, whether she went by the name of Aphrodite, +Astarte, or what not. Similar customs prevailed in many parts of +Western Asia. Whatever its motive, the practice was clearly +regarded, not as an orgy of lust, but as a solemn religious duty +performed in the service of that great Mother Goddess of Western +Asia whose name varied, while her type remained constant, from place +to place. Thus at Babylon every woman, whether rich or poor, had +once in her life to submit to the embraces of a stranger at the +temple of Mylitta, that is, of Ishtar or Astarte, and to dedicate to +the goddess the wages earned by this sanctified harlotry. The sacred +precinct was crowded with women waiting to observe the custom. Some +of them had to wait there for years. At Heliopolis or Baalbec in +Syria, famous for the imposing grandeur of its ruined temples, the +custom of the country required that every maiden should prostitute +herself to a stranger at the temple of Astarte, and matrons as well +as maids testified their devotion to the goddess in the same manner. +The emperor Constantine abolished the custom, destroyed the temple, +and built a church in its stead. In Phoenician temples women +prostituted themselves for hire in the service of religion, +believing that by this conduct they propitiated the goddess and won +her favour. "It was a law of the Amorites, that she who was about to +marry should sit in fornication seven days by the gate." At Byblus +the people shaved their heads in the annual mourning for Adonis. +Women who refused to sacrifice their hair had to give themselves up +to strangers on a certain day of the festival, and the money which +they thus earned was devoted to the goddess. A Greek inscription +found at Tralles in Lydia proves that the practice of religious +prostitution survived in that country as late as the second century +of our era. It records of a certain woman, Aurelia Aemilia by name, +not only that she herself served the god in the capacity of a harlot +at his express command, but that her mother and other female +ancestors had done the same before her; and the publicity of the +record, engraved on a marble column which supported a votive +offering, shows that no stain attached to such a life and such a +parentage. In Armenia the noblest families dedicated their daughters +to the service of the goddess Anaitis in her temple of Acilisena, +where the damsels acted as prostitutes for a long time before they +were given in marriage. Nobody scrupled to take one of these girls +to wife when her period of service was over. Again, the goddess Ma +was served by a multitude of sacred harlots at Comana in Pontus, and +crowds of men and women flocked to her sanctuary from the +neighbouring cities and country to attend the biennial festivals or +to pay their vows to the goddess. + +If we survey the whole of the evidence on this subject, some of +which has still to be laid before the reader, we may conclude that a +great Mother Goddess, the personification of all the reproductive +energies of nature, was worshipped under different names but with a +substantial similarity of myth and ritual by many peoples of Western +Asia; that associated with her was a lover, or rather series of +lovers, divine yet mortal, with whom she mated year by year, their +commerce being deemed essential to the propagation of animals and +plants, each in their several kind; and further, that the fabulous +union of the divine pair was simulated and, as it were, multiplied +on earth by the real, though temporary, union of the human sexes at +the sanctuary of the goddess for the sake of thereby ensuring the +fruitfulness of the ground and the increase of man and beast. + +At Paphos the custom of religious prostitution is said to have been +instituted by King Cinyras, and to have been practised by his +daughters, the sisters of Adonis, who, having incurred the wrath of +Aphrodite, mated with strangers and ended their days in Egypt. In +this form of the tradition the wrath of Aphrodite is probably a +feature added by a later authority, who could only regard conduct +which shocked his own moral sense as a punishment inflicted by the +goddess instead of as a sacrifice regularly enjoined by her on all +her devotees. At all events the story indicates that the princesses +of Paphos had to conform to the custom as well as women of humble +birth. + +Among the stories which were told of Cinyras, the ancestor of the +priestly kings of Paphos and the father of Adonis, there are some +that deserve our attention. In the first place, he is said to have +begotten his son Adonis in incestuous intercourse with his daughter +Myrrha at a festival of the corn-goddess, at which women robed in +white were wont to offer corn-wreaths as first-fruits of the harvest +and to observe strict chastity for nine days. Similar cases of +incest with a daughter are reported of many ancient kings. It seems +unlikely that such reports are without foundation, and perhaps +equally improbable that they refer to mere fortuitous outbursts of +unnatural lust. We may suspect that they are based on a practice +actually observed for a definite reason in certain special +circumstances. Now in countries where the royal blood was traced +through women only, and where consequently the king held office +merely in virtue of his marriage with an hereditary princess, who +was the real sovereign, it appears to have often happened that a +prince married his own sister, the princess royal, in order to +obtain with her hand the crown which otherwise would have gone to +another man, perhaps to a stranger. May not the same rule of descent +have furnished a motive for incest with a daughter? For it seems a +natural corollary from such a rule that the king was bound to vacate +the throne on the death of his wife, the queen, since he occupied it +only by virtue of his marriage with her. When that marriage +terminated, his right to the throne terminated with it and passed at +once to his daughter's husband. Hence if the king desired to reign +after his wife's death, the only way in which he could legitimately +continue to do so was by marrying his daughter, and thus prolonging +through her the title which had formerly been his through her +mother. + +Cinyras is said to have been famed for his exquisite beauty and to +have been wooed by Aphrodite herself. Thus it would appear, as +scholars have already observed, that Cinyras was in a sense a +duplicate of his handsome son Adonis, to whom the inflammable +goddess also lost her heart. Further, these stories of the love of +Aphrodite for two members of the royal house of Paphos can hardly be +dissociated from the corresponding legend told of Pygmalion, a +Phoenician king of Cyprus, who is said to have fallen in love with +an image of Aphrodite and taken it to his bed. When we consider that +Pygmalion was the father-in-law of Cinyras, that the son of Cinyras +was Adonis, and that all three, in successive generations, are said +to have been concerned in a love-intrigue with Aphrodite, we can +hardly help concluding that the early Phoenician kings of Paphos, or +their sons, regularly claimed to be not merely the priests of the +goddess but also her lovers, in other words, that in their official +capacity they personated Adonis. At all events Adonis is said to +have reigned in Cyprus, and it appears to be certain that the title +of Adonis was regularly borne by the sons of all the Phoenician +kings of the island. It is true that the title strictly signified no +more than "lord"; yet the legends which connect these Cyprian +princes with the goddess of love make it probable that they claimed +the divine nature as well as the human dignity of Adonis. The story +of Pygmalion points to a ceremony of a sacred marriage in which the +king wedded the image of Aphrodite, or rather of Astarte. If that +was so, the tale was in a sense true, not of a single man only, but +of a whole series of men, and it would be all the more likely to be +told of Pygmalion, if that was a common name of Semitic kings in +general, and of Cyprian kings in particular. Pygmalion, at all +events, is known as the name of the king of Tyre from whom his +sister Dido fled; and a king of Citium and Idalium in Cyprus, who +reigned in the time of Alexander the Great, was also called +Pygmalion, or rather Pumiyathon, the Phoenician name which the +Greeks corrupted into Pygmalion. Further, it deserves to be noted +that the names Pygmalion and Astarte occur together in a Punic +inscription on a gold medallion which was found in a grave at +Carthage; the characters of the inscription are of the earliest +type. As the custom of religious prostitution at Paphos is said to +have been founded by king Cinyras and observed by his daughters, we +may surmise that the kings of Paphos played the part of the divine +bridegroom in a less innocent rite than the form of marriage with a +statue; in fact, that at certain festivals each of them had to mate +with one or more of the sacred harlots of the temple, who played +Astarte to his Adonis. If that was so, there is more truth than has +commonly been supposed in the reproach cast by the Christian fathers +that the Aphrodite worshipped by Cinyras was a common whore. The +fruit of their union would rank as sons and daughters of the deity, +and would in time become the parents of gods and goddesses, like +their fathers and mothers before them. In this manner Paphos, and +perhaps all sanctuaries of the great Asiatic goddess where sacred +prostitution was practised, might be well stocked with human +deities, the offspring of the divine king by his wives, concubines, +and temple harlots. Any one of these might probably succeed his +father on the throne or be sacrificed in his stead whenever stress +of war or other grave junctures called, as they sometimes did, for +the death of a royal victim. Such a tax, levied occasionally on the +king's numerous progeny for the good of the country, would neither +extinguish the divine stock nor break the father's heart, who +divided his paternal affection among so many. At all events, if, as +there seems reason to believe, Semitic kings were often regarded at +the same time as hereditary deities, it is easy to understand the +frequency of Semitic personal names which imply that the bearers of +them were the sons or daughters, the brothers or sisters, the +fathers or mothers of a god, and we need not resort to the shifts +employed by some scholars to evade the plain sense of the words. +This interpretation is confirmed by a parallel Egyptian usage; for +in Egypt, where the kings were worshipped as divine, the queen was +called "the wife of the god" or "the mother of the god," and the +title "father of the god" was borne not only by the king's real +father but also by his father-in-law. Similarly, perhaps, among the +Semites any man who sent his daughter to swell the royal harem may +have been allowed to call himself "the father of the god." + +If we may judge by his name, the Semitic king who bore the name of +Cinyras was, like King David, a harper; for the name of Cinyras is +clearly connected with the Greek _cinyra,_ "a lyre," which in its +turn comes from the Semitic _kinnor,_ "a lyre," the very word +applied to the instrument on which David played before Saul. We +shall probably not err in assuming that at Paphos as at Jerusalem +the music of the lyre or harp was not a mere pastime designed to +while away an idle hour, but formed part of the service of religion, +the moving influence of its melodies being perhaps set down, like +the effect of wine, to the direct inspiration of a deity. Certainly +at Jerusalem the regular clergy of the temple prophesied to the +music of harps, of psalteries, and of cymbals; and it appears that +the irregular clergy also, as we may call the prophets, depended on +some such stimulus for inducing the ecstatic state which they took +for immediate converse with the divinity. Thus we read of a band of +prophets coming down from a high place with a psaltery, a timbrel, a +pipe, and a harp before them, and prophesying as they went. Again, +when the united forces of Judah and Ephraim were traversing the +wilderness of Moab in pursuit of the enemy, they could find no water +for three days, and were like to die of thirst, they and the beasts +of burden. In this emergency the prophet Elisha, who was with the +army, called for a minstrel and bade him play. Under the influence +of the music he ordered the soldiers to dig trenches in the sandy +bed of the waterless waddy through which lay the line of march. They +did so, and next morning the trenches were full of the water that +had drained down into them underground from the desolate, forbidding +mountains on either hand. The prophet's success in striking water in +the wilderness resembles the reported success of modern dowsers, +though his mode of procedure was different. Incidentally he rendered +another service to his countrymen. For the skulking Moabites from +their lairs among the rocks saw the red sun of the desert reflected +in the water, and taking it for the blood, or perhaps rather for an +omen of the blood, of their enemies, they plucked up heart to attack +the camp and were defeated with great slaughter. + +Again, just as the cloud of melancholy which from time to time +darkened the moody mind of Saul was viewed as an evil spirit from +the Lord vexing him, so on the other hand the solemn strains of the +harp, which soothed and composed his troubled thoughts, may well +have seemed to the hag-ridden king the very voice of God or of his +good angel whispering peace. Even in our own day a great religious +writer, himself deeply sensitive to the witchery of music, has said +that musical notes, with all their power to fire the blood and melt +the heart, cannot be mere empty sounds and nothing more; no, they +have escaped from some higher sphere, they are outpourings of +eternal harmony, the voice of angels, the Magnificat of saints. It +is thus that the rude imaginings of primitive man are transfigured +and his feeble lispings echoed with a rolling reverberation in the +musical prose of Newman. Indeed the influence of music on the +development of religion is a subject which would repay a sympathetic +study. For we cannot doubt that this, the most intimate and +affecting of all the arts, has done much to create as well as to +express the religious emotions, thus modifying more or less deeply +the fabric of belief to which at first sight it seems only to +minister. The musician has done his part as well as the prophet and +the thinker in the making of religion. Every faith has its +appropriate music, and the difference between the creeds might +almost be expressed in musical notation. The interval, for example, +which divides the wild revels of Cybele from the stately ritual of +the Catholic Church is measured by the gulf which severs the +dissonant clash of cymbals and tambourines from the grave harmonies +of Palestrina and Handel. A different spirit breathes in the +difference of the music. + + + +XXXII. The Ritual of Adonis + +AT THE FESTIVALS of Adonis, which were held in Western Asia and in +Greek lands, the death of the god was annually mourned, with a +bitter wailing, chiefly by women; images of him, dressed to resemble +corpses, were carried out as to burial and then thrown into the sea +or into springs; and in some places his revival was celebrated on +the following day. But at different places the ceremonies varied +somewhat in the manner and apparently also in the season of their +celebration. At Alexandria images of Aphrodite and Adonis were +displayed on two couches; beside them were set ripe fruits of all +kinds, cakes, plants growing in flower-pots, and green bowers twined +with anise. The marriage of the lovers was celebrated one day, and +on the morrow women attired as mourners, with streaming hair and +bared breasts, bore the image of the dead Adonis to the sea-shore +and committed it to the waves. Yet they sorrowed not without hope, +for they sang that the lost one would come back again. The date at +which this Alexandrian ceremony was observed is not expressly +stated; but from the mention of the ripe fruits it has been inferred +that it took place in late summer. In the great Phoenician sanctuary +of Astarte at Byblus the death of Adonis was annually mourned, to +the shrill wailing notes of the flute, with weeping, lamentation, +and beating of the breast; but next day he was believed to come to +life again and ascend up to heaven in the presence of his +worshippers. The disconsolate believers, left behind on earth, +shaved their heads as the Egyptians did on the death of the divine +bull Apis; women who could not bring themselves to sacrifice their +beautiful tresses had to give themselves up to strangers on a +certain day of the festival, and to dedicate to Astarte the wages of +their shame. + +This Phoenician festival appears to have been a vernal one, for its +date was determined by the discoloration of the river Adonis, and +this has been observed by modern travellers to occur in spring. At +that season the red earth washed down from the mountains by the rain +tinges the water of the river, and even the sea, for a great way +with a blood-red hue, and the crimson stain was believed to be the +blood of Adonis, annually wounded to death by the boar on Mount +Lebanon. Again, the scarlet anemone is said to have sprung from the +blood of Adonis, or to have been stained by it; and as the anemone +blooms in Syria about Easter, this may be thought to show that the +festival of Adonis, or at least one of his festivals, was held in +spring. The name of the flower is probably derived from Naaman +("darling"), which seems to have been an epithet of Adonis. The +Arabs still call the anemone "wounds of the Naaman." The red rose +also was said to owe its hue to the same sad occasion; for +Aphrodite, hastening to her wounded lover, trod on a bush of white +roses; the cruel thorns tore her tender flesh, and her sacred blood +dyed the white roses for ever red. It would be idle, perhaps, to lay +much weight on evidence drawn from the calendar of flowers, and in +particular to press an argument so fragile as the bloom of the rose. +Yet so far as it counts at all, the tale which links the damask rose +with the death of Adonis points to a summer rather than to a spring +celebration of his passion. In Attica, certainly, the festival fell +at the height of summer. For the fleet which Athens fitted out +against Syracuse, and by the destruction of which her power was +permanently crippled, sailed at midsummer, and by an ominous +coincidence the sombre rites of Adonis were being celebrated at the +very time. As the troops marched down to the harbour to embark, the +streets through which they passed were lined with coffins and +corpse-like effigies, and the air was rent with the noise of women +wailing for the dead Adonis. The circumstance cast a gloom over the +sailing of the most splendid armament that Athens ever sent to sea. +Many ages afterwards, when the Emperor Julian made his first entry +into Antioch, he found in like manner the gay, the luxurious capital +of the East plunged in mimic grief for the annual death of Adonis; +and if he had any presentiment of coming evil, the voices of +lamentation which struck upon his ear must have seemed to sound his +knell. + +The resemblance of these ceremonies to the Indian and European +ceremonies which I have described elsewhere is obvious. In +particular, apart from the somewhat doubtful date of its +celebration, the Alexandrian ceremony is almost identical with the +Indian. In both of them the marriage of two divine beings, whose +affinity with vegetation seems indicated by the fresh plants with +which they are surrounded, is celebrated in effigy, and the effigies +are afterwards mourned over and thrown into the water. From the +similarity of these customs to each other and to the spring and +midsummer customs of modern Europe we should naturally expect that +they all admit of a common explanation. Hence, if the explanation +which I have adopted of the latter is correct, the ceremony of the +death and resurrection of Adonis must also have been a dramatic +representation of the decay and revival of plant life. The inference +thus based on the resemblance of the customs is confirmed by the +following features in the legend and ritual of Adonis. His affinity +with vegetation comes out at once in the common story of his birth. +He was said to have been born from a myrrh-tree, the bark of which +bursting, after a ten months' gestation, allowed the lovely infant +to come forth. According to some, a boar rent the bark with his tusk +and so opened a passage for the babe. A faint rationalistic colour +was given to the legend by saying that his mother was a woman named +Myrrh, who had been turned into a myrrh-tree soon after she had +conceived the child. The use of myrrh as incense at the festival of +Adonis may have given rise to the fable. We have seen that incense +was burnt at the corresponding Babylonian rites, just as it was +burnt by the idolatrous Hebrews in honour of the Queen of Heaven, +who was no other than Astarte. Again, the story that Adonis spent +half, or according to others a third, of the year in the lower world +and the rest of it in the upper world, is explained most simply and +naturally by supposing that he represented vegetation, especially +the corn, which lies buried in the earth half the year and reappears +above ground the other half. Certainly of the annual phenomena of +nature there is none which suggests so obviously the idea of death +and resurrection as the disappearance and reappearance of vegetation +in autumn and spring. Adonis has been taken for the sun; but there +is nothing in the sun's annual course within the temperate and +tropical zones to suggest that he is dead for half or a third of the +year and alive for the other half or two-thirds. He might, indeed, +be conceived as weakened in winter, but dead he could not be thought +to be; his daily reappearance contradicts the supposition. Within +the Arctic Circle, where the sun annually disappears for a +continuous period which varies from twenty-four hours to six months +according to the latitude, his yearly death and resurrection would +certainly be an obvious idea; but no one except the unfortunate +astronomer Bailly has maintained that the Adonis worship came from +the Arctic regions. On the other hand, the annual death and revival +of vegetation is a conception which readily presents itself to men +in every stage of savagery and civilisation; and the vastness of the +scale on which this ever-recurring decay and regeneration takes +place, together with man's intimate dependence on it for +subsistence, combine to render it the most impressive annual +occurrence in nature, at least within the temperate zones. It is no +wonder that a phenomenon so important, so striking, and so universal +should, by suggesting similar ideas, have given rise to similar +rites in many lands. We may, therefore, accept as probable an +explanation of the Adonis worship which accords so well with the +facts of nature and with the analogy of similar rites in other +lands. Moreover, the explanation is countenanced by a considerable +body of opinion amongst the ancients themselves, who again and again +interpreted the dying and reviving god as the reaped and sprouting +grain. + +The character of Tammuz or Adonis as a corn-spirit comes out plainly +in an account of his festival given by an Arabic writer of the tenth +century. In describing the rites and sacrifices observed at the +different seasons of the year by the heathen Syrians of Harran, he +says: "Tammuz (July). In the middle of this month is the festival of +el-Bûgât, that is, of the weeping women, and this is the Tâ-uz +festival, which is celebrated in honour of the god Tâ-uz. The women +bewail him, because his lord slew him so cruelly, ground his bones +in a mill, and then scattered them to the wind. The women (during +this festival) eat nothing which has been ground in a mill, but +limit their diet to steeped wheat, sweet vetches, dates, raisins, +and the like." Tâ-uz, who is no other than Tammuz, is here like +Burns's John Barleycorn: + + + "They wasted o'er a scorching flame + The marrow of his bones; + But a miller us'd him worst of all-- + For he crush'd him between two stones." + + +This concentration, so to say, of the nature of Adonis upon the +cereal crops is characteristic of the stage of culture reached by +his worshippers in historical times. They had left the nomadic life +of the wandering hunter and herdsman far behind them; for ages they +had been settled on the land, and had depended for their subsistence +mainly on the products of tillage. The berries and roots of the +wilderness, the grass of the pastures, which had been matters of +vital importance to their ruder forefathers, were now of little +moment to them: more and more their thoughts and energies were +engrossed by the staple of their life, the corn; more and more +accordingly the propitiation of the deities of fertility in general +and of the corn-spirit in particular tended to become the central +feature of their religion. The aim they set before themselves in +celebrating the rites was thoroughly practical. It was no vague +poetical sentiment which prompted them to hail with joy the rebirth +of vegetation and to mourn its decline. Hunger, felt or feared, was +the mainspring of the worship of Adonis. + +It has been suggested by Father Lagrange that the mourning for +Adonis was essentially a harvest rite designed to propitiate the +corngod, who was then either perishing under the sickles of the +reapers, or being trodden to death under the hoofs of the oxen on +the threshing-floor. While the men slew him, the women wept +crocodile tears at home to appease his natural indignation by a show +of grief for his death. The theory fits in well with the dates of +the festivals, which fell in spring or summer; for spring and +summer, not autumn, are the seasons of the barley and wheat harvests +in the lands which worshipped Adonis. Further, the hypothesis is +confirmed by the practice of the Egyptian reapers, who lamented, +calling upon Isis, when they cut the first corn; and it is +recommended by the analogous customs of many hunting tribes, who +testify great respect for the animals which they kill and eat. + +Thus interpreted the death of Adonis is not the natural decay of +vegetation in general under the summer heat or the winter cold; it +is the violent destruction of the corn by man, who cuts it down on +the field, stamps it to pieces on the threshing-floor, and grinds it +to powder in the mill. That this was indeed the principal aspect in +which Adonis presented himself in later times to the agricultural +peoples of the Levant, may be admitted; but whether from the +beginning he had been the corn and nothing but the corn, may be +doubted. At an earlier period he may have been to the herdsman, +above all, the tender herbage which sprouts after rain, offering +rich pasture to the lean and hungry cattle. Earlier still he may +have embodied the spirit of the nuts and berries which the autumn +woods yield to the savage hunter and his squaw. And just as the +husband-man must propitiate the spirit of the corn which he +consumes, so the herdsman must appease the spirit of the grass and +leaves which his cattle munch, and the hunter must soothe the spirit +of the roots which he digs, and of the fruits which he gathers from +the bough. In all cases the propitiation of the injured and angry, +sprite would naturally comprise elaborate excuses and apologies, +accompanied by loud lamentations at his decease whenever, through +some deplorable accident or necessity, he happened to be murdered as +well as robbed. Only we must bear in mind that the savage hunter and +herdsman of those early days had probably not yet attained to the +abstract idea of vegetation in general; and that accordingly, so far +as Adonis existed for them at all, he must have been the _Adon_ or +lord of each individual tree and plant rather than a personification +of vegetable life as a whole. Thus there would be as many Adonises +as there were trees and shrubs, and each of them might expect to +receive satisfaction for any damage done to his person or property. +And year by year, when the trees were deciduous, every Adonis would +seem to bleed to death with the red leaves of autumn and to come to +life again with the fresh green of spring. + +There is some reason to think that in early times Adonis was +sometimes personated by a living man who died a violent death in the +character of the god. Further, there is evidence which goes to show +that among the agricultural peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean, +the corn-spirit, by whatever name he was known, was often +represented, year by year, by human victims slain on the +harvest-field. If that was so, it seems likely that the propitiation +of the corn-spirit would tend to fuse to some extent with the +worship of the dead. For the spirits of these victims might be +thought to return to life in the ears which they had fattened with +their blood, and to die a second death at the reaping of the corn. +Now the ghosts of those who have perished by violence are surly and +apt to wreak their vengeance on their slayers whenever an +opportunity offers. Hence the attempt to appease the souls of the +slaughtered victims would naturally blend, at least in the popular +conception, with the attempt to pacify the slain corn-spirit. And as +the dead came back in the sprouting corn, so they might be thought +to return in the spring flowers, waked from their long sleep by the +soft vernal airs. They had been laid to their rest under the sod. +What more natural than to imagine that the violets and the +hyacinths, the roses and the anemones, sprang from their dust, were +empurpled or incarnadined by their blood, and contained some portion +of their spirit? + + + "I sometimes think that never blows so red + The Rose as where some buried Caesar bled; + That every Hyacinth the Garden wears + Dropt in her Lap from some once lovely Head. + + "And this reviving Herb whose tender Green + Fledges the River-Lip on which we lean-- + Ah, lean upon it lightly, for who knows + From what once lovely Lip it springs unseen?" + + +In the summer after the battle of Landen, the most sanguinary battle +of the seventeenth century in Europe, the earth, saturated with the +blood of twenty thousand slain, broke forth into millions of +poppies, and the traveller who passed that vast sheet of scarlet +might well fancy that the earth had indeed given up her dead. At +Athens the great Commemoration of the Dead fell in spring about the +middle of March, when the early flowers are in bloom. Then the dead +were believed to rise from their graves and go about the streets, +vainly endeavouring to enter the temples and dwellings, which were +barred against these perturbed spirits with ropes, buckthorn, and +pitch. The name of the festival, according to the most obvious and +natural interpretation, means the Festival of Flowers, and the title +would fit well with the substance of the ceremonies if at that +season the poor ghosts were indeed thought to creep from the narrow +house with the opening flowers. There may therefore be a measure of +truth in the theory of Renan, who saw in the Adonis worship a dreamy +voluptuous cult of death, conceived not as the King of Terrors, but +as an insidious enchanter who lures his victims to himself and lulls +them into an eternal sleep. The infinite charm of nature in the +Lebanon, he thought, lends itself to religious emotions of this +sensuous, visionary sort, hovering vaguely between pain and +pleasure, between slumber and tears. It would doubtless be a mistake +to attribute to Syrian peasants the worship of a conception so +purely abstract as that of death in general. Yet it may be true that +in their simple minds the thought of the reviving spirit of +vegetation was blent with the very concrete notion of the ghosts of +the dead, who come to life again in spring days with the early +flowers, with the tender green of the corn and the many-tinted +blossoms of the trees. Thus their views of the death and +resurrection of nature would be coloured by their views of the death +and resurrection of man, by their personal sorrows and hopes and +fears. In like manner we cannot doubt that Renan's theory of Adonis +was itself deeply tinged by passionate memories, memories of the +slumber akin to death which sealed his own eyes on the slopes of the +Lebanon, memories of the sister who sleeps in the land of Adonis +never again to wake with the anemones and the roses. + + + +XXXIII. The Gardens of Adonis + +PERHAPS the best proof that Adonis was a deity of vegetation, and +especially of the corn, is furnished by the gardens of Adonis, as +they were called. These were baskets or pots filled with earth, in +which wheat, barley, lettuces, fennel, and various kinds of flowers +were sown and tended for eight days, chiefly or exclusively by +women. Fostered by the sun's heat, the plants shot up rapidly, but +having no root they withered as rapidly away, and at the end of +eight days were carried out with the images of the dead Adonis, and +flung with them into the sea or into springs. + +These gardens of Adonis are most naturally interpreted as +representatives of Adonis or manifestations of his power; they +represented him, true to his original nature, in vegetable form, +while the images of him, with which they were carried out and cast +into the water, portrayed him in his later human shape. All these +Adonis ceremonies, if I am right, were originally intended as charms +to promote the growth or revival of vegetation; and the principle by +which they were supposed to produce this effect was homoeopathic or +imitative magic. For ignorant people suppose that by mimicking the +effect which they desire to produce they actually help to produce +it; thus by sprinkling water they make rain, by lighting a fire they +make sunshine, and so on. Similarly, by mimicking the growth of +crops they hope to ensure a good harvest. The rapid growth of the +wheat and barley in the gardens of Adonis was intended to make the +corn shoot up; and the throwing of the gardens and of the images +into the water was a charm to secure a due supply of fertilising +rain. The same, I take it, was the object of throwing the effigies +of Death and the Carnival into water in the corresponding ceremonies +of modern Europe. Certainly the custom of drenching with water a +leaf-clad person, who undoubtedly personifies vegetation, is still +resorted to in Europe for the express purpose of producing rain. +Similarly the custom of throwing water on the last corn cut at +harvest, or on the person who brings it home (a custom observed in +Germany and France, and till lately in England and Scotland), is in +some places practised with the avowed intent to procure rain for the +next year's crops. Thus in Wallachia and amongst the Roumanians in +Transylvania, when a girl is bringing home a crown made of the last +ears of corn cut at harvest, all who meet her hasten to throw water +on her, and two farm-servants are placed at the door for the +purpose; for they believe that if this were not done, the crops next +year would perish from drought. At the spring ploughing in Prussia, +when the ploughmen and sowers returned in the evening from their +work in the fields, the farmer's wife and the servants used to +splash water over them. The ploughmen and sowers retorted by seizing +every one, throwing them into the pond, and ducking them under the +water. The farmer's wife might claim exemption on payment of a +forfeit, but every one else had to be ducked. By observing this +custom they hoped to ensure a due supply of rain for the seed. + +The opinion that the gardens of Adonis are essentially charms to +promote the growth of vegetation, especially of the crops, and that +they belong to the same class of customs as those spring and +mid-summer folk-customs of modern Europe which I have described +else-where, does not rest for its evidence merely on the intrinsic +probability of the case. Fortunately we are able to show that +gardens of Adonis (if we may use the expression in a general sense) +are still planted, first, by a primitive race at their sowing +season, and, second, by European peasants at midsummer. Amongst the +Oraons and Mundas of Bengal, when the time comes for planting out +the rice which has been grown in seed-beds, a party of young people +of both sexes go to the forest and cut a young Karma-tree, or the +branch of one. Bearing it in triumph they return dancing, singing, +and beating drums, and plant it in the middle of the village +dancing-ground. A sacrifice is offered to the tree; and next morning +the youth of both sexes, linked arm-in-arm, dance in a great circle +round the Karma-tree, which is decked with strips of coloured cloth +and sham bracelets and necklets of plaited straw. As a preparation +for the festival, the daughters of the headman of the village +cultivate blades of barley in a peculiar way. The seed is sown in +moist, sandy soil, mixed with turmeric, and the blades sprout and +unfold of a pale-yellow or primrose colour. On the day of the +festival the girls take up these blades and carry them in baskets to +the dancing-ground, where, prostrating themselves reverentially, +they place some of the plants before the Karma-tree. Finally, the +Karma-tree is taken away and thrown into a stream or tank. The +meaning of planting these barley blades and then presenting them to +the Karma-tree is hardly open to question. Trees are supposed to +exercise a quickening influence upon the growth of crops, and +amongst the very people in question--the Mundas or Mundaris--"the +grove deities are held responsible for the crops." Therefore, when +at the season for planting out the rice the Mundas bring in a tree +and treat it with so much respect, their object can only be to +foster thereby the growth of the rice which is about to be planted +out; and the custom of causing barley blades to sprout rapidly and +then presenting them to the tree must be intended to subserve the +same purpose, perhaps by reminding the tree-spirit of his duty +towards the crops, and stimulating his activity by this visible +example of rapid vegetable growth. The throwing of the Karma-tree +into the water is to be interpreted as a rain-charm. Whether the +barley blades are also thrown into the water is not said; but if my +interpretation of the custom is right, probably they are so. A +distinction between this Bengal custom and the Greek rites of Adonis +is that in the former the tree-spirit appears in his original form +as a tree; whereas in the Adonis worship he appears in human form, +represented as a dead man, though his vegetable nature is indicated +by the gardens of Adonis, which are, so to say, a secondary +manifestation of his original power as a tree-spirit. + +Gardens of Adonis are cultivated also by the Hindoos, with the +intention apparently of ensuring the fertility both of the earth and +of mankind. Thus at Oodeypoor in Rajputana a festival is held in +honour of Gouri, or Isani, the goddess of abundance. The rites begin +when the sun enters the sign of the Ram, the opening of the Hindoo +year. An image of the goddess Gouri is made of earth, and a smaller +one of her husband Iswara, and the two are placed together. A small +trench is next dug, barley is sown in it, and the ground watered and +heated artificially till the grain sprouts, when the women dance +round it hand in hand, invoking the blessing of Gouri on their +husbands. After that the young corn is taken up and distributed by +the women to the men, who wear it in their turbans. In these rites +the distribution of the barley shoots to the men, and the invocation +of a blessing on their husbands by the wives, point clearly to the +desire of offspring as one motive for observing the custom. The same +motive probably explains the use of gardens of Adonis at the +marriage of Brahmans in the Madras Presidency. Seeds of five or nine +sorts are mixed and sown in earthen pots, which are made specially +for the purpose and are filled with earth. Bride and bridegroom +water the seeds both morning and evening for four days; and on the +fifth day the seedlings are thrown, like the real gardens of Adonis, +into a tank or river. + +In Sardinia the gardens of Adonis are still planted in connexion +with the great midsummer festival which bears the name of St. John. +At the end of March or on the first of April a young man of the +village presents himself to a girl, and asks her to be his _comare_ +(gossip or sweetheart), offering to be her _compare._ The invitation +is considered as an honour by the girl's family, and is gladly +accepted. At the end of May the girl makes a pot of the bark of the +cork-tree, fills it with earth, and sows a handful of wheat and +barley in it. The pot being placed in the sun and often watered, the +corn sprouts rapidly and has a good head by Midsummer Eve (St. +John's Eve, the twenty-third of June). The pot is then called _Erme_ +or _Nenneri._ On St. John's Day the young man and the girl, dressed +in their best, accompanied by a long retinue and preceded by +children gambolling and frolicking, move in procession to a church +outside the village. Here they break the pot by throwing it against +the door of the church. Then they sit down in a ring on the grass +and eat eggs and herbs to the music of flutes. Wine is mixed in a +cup and passed round, each one drinking as it passes. Then they join +hands and sing "Sweethearts of St. John" (_Compare e comare di San +Giovanni_) over and over again, the flutes playing the while. When +they tire of singing they stand up and dance gaily in a ring till +evening. This is the general Sardinian custom. As practised at +Ozieri it has some special features. In May the pots are made of +cork-bark and planted with corn, as already described. Then on the +Eve of St. John the window-sills are draped with rich cloths, on +which the pots are placed, adorned with crimson and blue silk and +ribbons of various colours. On each of the pots they used formerly +to place a statuette or cloth doll dressed as a woman, or a +Priapus-like figure made of paste; but this custom, rigorously +forbidden by the Church, has fallen into disuse. The village swains +go about in a troop to look at the pots and their decorations and to +wait for the girls, who assemble on the public square to celebrate +the festival. Here a great bonfire is kindled, round which they +dance and make merry. Those who wish to be "Sweethearts of St. John" +act as follows. The young man stands on one side of the bonfire and +the girl on the other, and they, in a manner, join hands by each +grasping one end of a long stick, which they pass three times +backwards and forwards across the fire, thus thrusting their hands +thrice rapidly into the flames. This seals their relationship to +each other. Dancing and music go on till late at night. The +correspondence of these Sardinian pots of grain to the gardens of +Adonis seems complete, and the images formerly placed in them answer +to the images of Adonis which accompanied his gardens. + +Customs of the same sort are observed at the same season in Sicily. +Pairs of boys and girls become gossips of St. John on St. John's Day +by drawing each a hair from his or her head and performing various +ceremonies over them. Thus they tie the hairs together and throw +them up in the air, or exchange them over a potsherd, which they +afterwards break in two, preserving each a fragment with pious care. +The tie formed in the latter way is supposed to last for life. In +some parts of Sicily the gossips of St. John present each other with +plates of sprouting corn, lentils, and canary seed, which have been +planted forty days before the festival. The one who receives the +plate pulls a stalk of the young plants, binds it with a ribbon, and +preserves it among his or her greatest treasures, restoring the +platter to the giver. At Catania the gossips exchange pots of basil +and great cucumbers; the girls tend the basil, and the thicker it +grows the more it is prized. + +In these midsummer customs of Sardinia and Sicily it is possible +that, as Mr. R. Wünsch supposes, St. John has replaced Adonis. We +have seen that the rites of Tammuz or Adonis were commonly +celebrated about midsummer; according to Jerome, their date was +June. + +In Sicily gardens of Adonis are still sown in spring as well as in +summer, from which we may perhaps infer that Sicily as well as Syria +celebrated of old a vernal festival of the dead and risen god. At +the approach of Easter, Sicilian women sow wheat, lentils, and +canaryseed in plates, which they keep in the dark and water every +two days. The plants soon shoot up; the stalks are tied together +with red ribbons, and the plates containing them are placed on the +sepulchres which, with the effigies of the dead Christ, are made up +in Catholic and Greek churches on Good Friday, just as the gardens +of Adonis were placed on the grave of the dead Adonis. The practice +is not confined to Sicily, for it is observed also at Cosenza in +Calabria, and perhaps in other places. The whole custom--sepulchres +as well as plates of sprouting grain--may be nothing but a +continuation, under a different name, of the worship of Adonis. + +Nor are these Sicilian and Calabrian customs the only Easter +ceremonies which resemble the rites of Adonis. "During the whole of +Good Friday a waxen effigy of the dead Christ is exposed to view in +the middle of the Greek churches and is covered with fervent kisses +by the thronging crowd, while the whole church rings with +melancholy, monotonous dirges. Late in the evening, when it has +grown quite dark, this waxen image is carried by the priests into +the street on a bier adorned with lemons, roses, jessamine, and +other flowers, and there begins a grand procession of the multitude, +who move in serried ranks, with slow and solemn step, through the +whole town. Every man carries his taper and breaks out into doleful +lamentation. At all the houses which the procession passes there are +seated women with censers to fumigate the marching host. Thus the +community solemnly buries its Christ as if he had just died. At last +the waxen image is again deposited in the church, and the same +lugubrious chants echo anew. These lamentations, accompanied by a +strict fast, continue till midnight on Saturday. As the clock +strikes twelve, the bishop appears and announces the glad tidings +that 'Christ is risen,' to which the crowd replies, 'He is risen +indeed,' and at once the whole city bursts into an uproar of joy, +which finds vent in shrieks and shouts, in the endless discharge of +carronades and muskets, and the explosion of fire-works of every +sort. In the very same hour people plunge from the extremity of the +fast into the enjoyment of the Easter lamb and neat wine." + +In like manner the Catholic Church has been accustomed to bring +before its followers in a visible form the death and resurrection of +the Redeemer. Such sacred dramas are well fitted to impress the +lively imagination and to stir the warm feelings of a susceptible +southern race, to whom the pomp and pageantry of Catholicism are +more congenial than to the colder temperament of the Teutonic +peoples. + +When we reflect how often the Church has skilfully contrived to +plant the seeds of the new faith on the old stock of paganism, we +may surmise that the Easter celebration of the dead and risen Christ +was grafted upon a similar celebration of the dead and risen Adonis, +which, as we have seen reason to believe, was celebrated in Syria at +the same season. The type, created by Greek artists, of the +sorrowful goddess with her dying lover in her arms, resembles and +may have been the model of the _Pietà_ of Christian art, the Virgin +with the dead body of her divine Son in her lap, of which the most +celebrated example is the one by Michael Angelo in St. Peters. That +noble group, in which the living sorrow of the mother contrasts so +wonderfully with the languor of death in the son, is one of the +finest compositions in marble. Ancient Greek art has bequeathed to +us few works so beautiful, and none so pathetic. + +In this connexion a well-known statement of Jerome may not be +without significance. He tells us that Bethlehem, the traditionary +birthplace of the Lord, was shaded by a grove of that still older +Syrian Lord, Adonis, and that where the infant Jesus had wept, the +lover of Venus was bewailed. Though he does not expressly say so, +Jerome seems to have thought that the grove of Adonis had been +planted by the heathen after the birth of Christ for the purpose of +defiling the sacred spot. In this he may have been mistaken. If +Adonis was indeed, as I have argued, the spirit of the corn, a more +suitable name for his dwelling-place could hardly be found than +Bethlehem, "the House of Bread," and he may well have been +worshipped there at his House of Bread long ages before the birth of +Him who said, "I am the bread of life." Even on the hypothesis that +Adonis followed rather than preceded Christ at Bethlehem, the choice +of his sad figure to divert the allegiance of Christians from their +Lord cannot but strike us as eminently appropriate when we remember +the similarity of the rites which commemorated the death and +resurrection of the two. One of the earliest seats of the worship of +the new god was Antioch, and at Antioch, as we have seen, the death +of the old god was annually celebrated with great solemnity. A +circumstance which attended the entrance of Julian into the city at +the time of the Adonis festival may perhaps throw some light on the +date of its celebration. When the emperor drew near to the city he +was received with public prayers as if he had been a god, and he +marvelled at the voices of a great multitude who cried that the Star +of Salvation had dawned upon them in the East. This may doubtless +have been no more than a fulsome compliment paid by an obsequious +Oriental crowd to the Roman emperor. But it is also possible that +the rising of a bright star regularly gave the signal for the +festival, and that as chance would have it the star emerged above +the rim of the eastern horizon at the very moment of the emperor's +approach. The coincidence, if it happened, could hardly fail to +strike the imagination of a superstitious and excited multitude, who +might thereupon hail the great man as the deity whose coming was +announced by the sign in the heavens. Or the emperor may have +mistaken for a greeting to himself the shouts which were addressed +to the star. Now Astarte, the divine mistress of Adonis, was +identified with the planet Venus, and her changes from a morning to +an evening star were carefully noted by the Babylonian astronomers, +who drew omens from her alternate appearance and disappearance. +Hence we may conjecture that the festival of Adonis was regularly +timed to coincide with the appearance of Venus as the Morning or +Evening Star. But the star which the people of Antioch saluted at +the festival was seen in the East; therefore, if it was indeed +Venus, it can only have been the Morning Star. At Aphaca in Syria, +where there was a famous temple of Astarte, the signal for the +celebration of the rites was apparently given by the flashing of a +meteor, which on a certain day fell like a star from the top of +Mount Lebanon into the river Adonis. The meteor was thought to be +Astarte herself, and its flight through the air might naturally be +interpreted as the descent of the amorous goddess to the arms of her +lover. At Antioch and elsewhere the appearance of the Morning Star +on the day of the festival may in like manner have been hailed as +the coming of the goddess of love to wake her dead leman from his +earthy bed. If that were so, we may surmise that it was the Morning +Star which guided the wise men of the East to Bethlehem, the +hallowed spot which heard, in the language of Jerome, the weeping of +the infant Christ and the lament for Adonis. + + + +XXXIV. The Myth and Ritual of Attis + +ANOTHER of those gods whose supposed death and resurrection struck +such deep roots into the faith and ritual of Western Asia is Attis. +He was to Phrygia what Adonis was to Syria. Like Adonis, he appears +to have been a god of vegetation, and his death and resurrection +were annually mourned and rejoiced over at a festival in spring. The +legends and rites of the two gods were so much alike that the +ancients themselves sometimes identified them. Attis was said to +have been a fair young shepherd or herdsman beloved by Cybele, the +Mother of the Gods, a great Asiatic goddess of fertility, who had +her chief home in Phrygia. Some held that Attis was her son. His +birth, like that of many other heroes, is said to have been +miraculous. His mother, Nana, was a virgin, who conceived by putting +a ripe almond or a pomegranate in her bosom. Indeed in the Phrygian +cosmogony an almond figured as the father of all things, perhaps +because its delicate lilac blossom is one of the first heralds of +the spring, appearing on the bare boughs before the leaves have +opened. Such tales of virgin mothers are relics of an age of +childish ignorance when men had not yet recognized the intercourse +of the sexes as the true cause of offspring. Two different accounts +of the death of Attis were current. According to the one he was +killed by a boar, like Adonis. According to the other he unmanned +himself under a pine-tree, and bled to death on the spot. The latter +is said to have been the local story told by the people of Pessinus, +a great seat of the worship of Cybele, and the whole legend of which +the story forms a part is stamped with a character of rudeness and +savagery that speaks strongly for its antiquity. Both tales might +claim the support of custom, or rather both were probably invented +to explain certain customs observed by the worshippers. The story of +the self-mutilation of Attis is clearly an attempt to account for +the self-mutilation of his priests, who regularly castrated +themselves on entering the service of the goddess. The story of his +death by the boar may have been told to explain why his worshippers, +especially the people of Pessinus, abstained from eating swine. In +like manner the worshippers of Adonis abstained from pork, because a +boar had killed their god. After his death Attis is said to have +been changed into a pine-tree. + +The worship of the Phrygian Mother of the Gods was adopted by the +Romans in 204 B.C. towards the close of their long struggle with +Hannibal. For their drooping spirits had been opportunely cheered by +a prophecy, alleged to be drawn from that convenient farrago of +nonsense, the Sibylline Books, that the foreign invader would be +driven from Italy if the great Oriental goddess were brought to +Rome. Accordingly ambassadors were despatched to her sacred city +Pessinus in Phrygia. The small black stone which embodied the mighty +divinity was entrusted to them and conveyed to Rome, where it was +received with great respect and installed in the temple of Victory +on the Palatine Hill. It was the middle of April when the goddess +arrived, and she went to work at once. For the harvest that year was +such as had not been seen for many a long day, and in the very next +year Hannibal and his veterans embarked for Africa. As he looked his +last on the coast of Italy, fading behind him in the distance, he +could not foresee that Europe, which had repelled the arms, would +yet yield to the gods, of the Orient. The vanguard of the conquerors +had already encamped in the heart of Italy before the rearguard of +the beaten army fell sullenly back from its shores. + +We may conjecture, though we are not told, that the Mother of the +Gods brought with her the worship of her youthful lover or son to +her new home in the West. Certainly the Romans were familiar with +the Galli, the emasculated priests of Attis, before the close of the +Republic. These unsexed beings, in their Oriental costume, with +little images suspended on their breasts, appear to have been a +familiar sight in the streets of Rome, which they traversed in +procession, carrying the image of the goddess and chanting their +hymns to the music of cymbals and tambourines, flutes and horns, +while the people, impressed by the fantastic show and moved by the +wild strains, flung alms to them in abundance, and buried the image +and its bearers under showers of roses. A further step was taken by +the Emperor Claudius when he incorporated the Phrygian worship of +the sacred tree, and with it probably the orgiastic rites of Attis, +in the established religion of Rome. The great spring festival of +Cybele and Attis is best known to us in the form in which it was +celebrated at Rome; but as we are informed that the Roman ceremonies +were also Phrygian, we may assume that they differed hardly, if at +all, from their Asiatic original. The order of the festival seems to +have been as follows. + +On the twenty-second day of March, a pine-tree was cut in the woods +and brought into the sanctuary of Cybele, where it was treated as a +great divinity. The duty of carrying the sacred tree was entrusted +to a guild of Tree-bearers. The trunk was swathed like a corpse with +woollen bands and decked with wreaths of violets, for violets were +said to have sprung from the blood of Attis, as roses and anemones +from the blood of Adonis; and the effigy of a young man, doubtless +Attis himself, was tied to the middle of the stem. On the second day +of the festival, the twenty-third of March, the chief ceremony seems +to have been a blowing of trumpets. The third day, the twenty-fourth +of March, was known as the Day of Blood: the Archigallus or +highpriest drew blood from his arms and presented it as an offering. +Nor was he alone in making this bloody sacrifice. Stirred by the +wild barbaric music of clashing cymbals, rumbling drums, droning +horns, and screaming flutes, the inferior clergy whirled about in +the dance with waggling heads and streaming hair, until, rapt into a +frenzy of excitement and insensible to pain, they gashed their +bodies with potsherds or slashed them with knives in order to +bespatter the altar and the sacred tree with their flowing blood. +The ghastly rite probably formed part of the mourning for Attis and +may have been intended to strengthen him for the resurrection. The +Australian aborigines cut themselves in like manner over the graves +of their friends for the purpose, perhaps, of enabling them to be +born again. Further, we may conjecture, though we are not expressly +told, that it was on the same Day of Blood and for the same purpose +that the novices sacrificed their virility. Wrought up to the +highest pitch of religious excitement they dashed the severed +portions of themselves against the image of the cruel goddess. These +broken instruments of fertility were afterwards reverently wrapt up +and buried in the earth or in subterranean chambers sacred to +Cybele, where, like the offering of blood, they may have been deemed +instrumental in recalling Attis to life and hastening the general +resurrection of nature, which was then bursting into leaf and +blossom in the vernal sunshine. Some confirmation of this conjecture +is furnished by the savage story that the mother of Attis conceived +by putting in her bosom a pomegranate sprung from the severed +genitals of a man-monster named Agdestis, a sort of double of Attis. + +If there is any truth in this conjectural explanation of the custom, +we can readily understand why other Asiatic goddesses of fertility +were served in like manner by eunuch priests. These feminine deities +required to receive from their male ministers, who personated the +divine lovers, the means of discharging their beneficent functions: +they had themselves to be impregnated by the life-giving energy +before they could transmit it to the world. Goddesses thus +ministered to by eunuch priests were the great Artemis of Ephesus +and the great Syrian Astarte of Hierapolis, whose sanctuary, +frequented by swarms of pilgrims and enriched by the offerings of +Assyria and Babylonia, of Arabia and Phoenicia, was perhaps in the +days of its glory the most popular in the East. Now the unsexed +priests of this Syrian goddess resembled those of Cybele so closely +that some people took them to be the same. And the mode in which +they dedicated themselves to the religious life was similar. The +greatest festival of the year at Hierapolis fell at the beginning of +spring, when multitudes thronged to the sanctuary from Syria and the +regions round about. While the flutes played, the drums beat, and +the eunuch priests slashed themselves with knives, the religious +excitement gradually spread like a wave among the crowd of +onlookers, and many a one did that which he little thought to do +when he came as a holiday spectator to the festival. For man after +man, his veins throbbing with the music, his eyes fascinated by the +sight of the streaming blood, flung his garments from him, leaped +forth with a shout, and seizing one of the swords which stood ready +for the purpose, castrated himself on the spot. Then he ran through +the city, holding the bloody pieces in his hand, till he threw them +into one of the houses which he passed in his mad career. The +household thus honoured had to furnish him with a suit of female +attire and female ornaments, which he wore for the rest of his life. +When the tumult of emotion had subsided, and the man had come to +himself again, the irrevocable sacrifice must often have been +followed by passionate sorrow and lifelong regret. This revulsion of +natural human feeling after the frenzies of a fanatical religion is +powerfully depicted by Catullus in a celebrated poem. + +The parallel of these Syrian devotees confirms the view that in the +similar worship of Cybele the sacrifice of virility took place on +the Day of Blood at the vernal rites of the goddess, when the +violets, supposed to spring from the red drops of her wounded lover, +were in bloom among the pines. Indeed the story that Attis unmanned +himself under a pine-tree was clearly devised to explain why his +priests did the same beside the sacred violet-wreathed tree at his +festival. At all events, we can hardly doubt that the Day of Blood +witnessed the mourning for Attis over an effigy of him which was +afterwards buried. The image thus laid in the sepulchre was probably +the same which had hung upon the tree. Throughout the period of +mourning the worshippers fasted from bread, nominally because Cybele +had done so in her grief for the death of Attis, but really perhaps +for the same reason which induced the women of Harran to abstain +from eating anything ground in a mill while they wept for Tammuz. To +partake of bread or flour at such a season might have been deemed a +wanton profanation of the bruised and broken body of the god. Or the +fast may possibly have been a preparation for a sacramental meal. + +But when night had fallen, the sorrow of the worshippers was turned +to joy. For suddenly a light shone in the darkness: the tomb was +opened: the god had risen from the dead; and as the priest touched +the lips of the weeping mourners with balm, he softly whispered in +their ears the glad tidings of salvation. The resurrection of the +god was hailed by his disciples as a promise that they too would +issue triumphant from the corruption of the grave. On the morrow, +the twenty-fifth day of March, which was reckoned the vernal +equinox, the divine resurrection was celebrated with a wild outburst +of glee. At Rome, and probably elsewhere, the celebration took the +form of a carnival. It was the Festival of Joy (_Hilaria_). A +universal licence prevailed. Every man might say and do what he +pleased. People went about the streets in disguise. No dignity was +too high or too sacred for the humblest citizen to assume with +impunity. In the reign of Commodus a band of conspirators thought to +take advantage of the masquerade by dressing in the uniform of the +Imperial Guard, and so, mingling with the crowd of merrymakers, to +get within stabbing distance of the emperor. But the plot +miscarried. Even the stern Alexander Severus used to relax so far on +the joyous day as to admit a pheasant to his frugal board. The next +day, the twenty-sixth of March, was given to repose, which must have +been much needed after the varied excitements and fatigues of the +preceding days. Finally, the Roman festival closed on the +twenty-seventh of March with a procession to the brook Almo. The +silver image of the goddess, with its face of jagged black stone, +sat in a waggon drawn by oxen. Preceded by the nobles walking +barefoot, it moved slowly, to the loud music of pipes and +tambourines, out by the Porta Capena, and so down to the banks of +the Almo, which flows into the Tiber just below the walls of Rome. +There the high-priest, robed in purple, washed the waggon, the +image, and the other sacred objects in the water of the stream. On +returning from their bath, the wain and the oxen were strewn with +fresh spring flowers. All was mirth and gaiety. No one thought of +the blood that had flowed so lately. Even the eunuch priests forgot +their wounds. + +Such, then, appears to have been the annual solemnisation of the +death and resurrection of Attis in spring. But besides these public +rites, his worship is known to have comprised certain secret or +mystic ceremonies, which probably aimed at bringing the worshipper, +and especially the novice, into closer communication with his god. +Our information as to the nature of these mysteries and the date of +their celebration is unfortunately very scanty, but they seem to +have included a sacramental meal and a baptism of blood. In the +sacrament the novice became a partaker of the mysteries by eating +out of a drum and drinking out of a cymbal, two instruments of music +which figured prominently in the thrilling orchestra of Attis. The +fast which accompanied the mourning for the dead god may perhaps +have been designed to prepare the body of the communicant for the +reception of the blessed sacrament by purging it of all that could +defile by contact the sacred elements. In the baptism the devotee, +crowned with gold and wreathed with fillets, descended into a pit, +the mouth of which was covered with a wooden grating. A bull, +adorned with garlands of flowers, its forehead glittering with gold +leaf, was then driven on to the grating and there stabbed to death +with a consecrated spear. Its hot reeking blood poured in torrents +through the apertures, and was received with devout eagerness by the +worshipper on every part of his person and garments, till he emerged +from the pit, drenched, dripping, and scarlet from head to foot, to +receive the homage, nay the adoration, of his fellows as one who had +been born again to eternal life and had washed away his sins in the +blood of the bull. For some time afterwards the fiction of a new +birth was kept up by dieting him on milk like a new-born babe. The +regeneration of the worshipper took place at the same time as the +regeneration of his god, namely at the vernal equinox. At Rome the +new birth and the remission of sins by the shedding of bull's blood +appear to have been carried out above all at the sanctuary of the +Phrygian goddess on the Vatican Hill, at or near the spot where the +great basilica of St. Peter's now stands; for many inscriptions +relating to the rites were found when the church was being enlarged +in 1608 or 1609. From the Vatican as a centre this barbarous system +of superstition seems to have spread to other parts of the Roman +empire. Inscriptions found in Gaul and Germany prove that provincial +sanctuaries modelled their ritual on that of the Vatican. From the +same source we learn that the testicles as well as the blood of the +bull played an important part in the ceremonies. Probably they were +regarded as a powerful charm to promote fertility and hasten the new +birth. + + + +XXXV. Attis as a God of Vegetation + +THE ORIGINAL character of Attis as a tree-spirit is brought out +plainly by the part which the pine-tree plays in his legend, his +ritual, and his monuments. The story that he was a human being +transformed into a pine-tree is only one of those transparent +attempts at rationalising old beliefs which meet us so frequently in +mythology. The bringing in of the pine-tree from the woods, decked +with violets and woollen bands, is like bringing in the May-tree or +Summer-tree in modern folk-custom; and the effigy which was attached +to the pine-tree was only a duplicate representative of the +tree-spirit Attis. After being fastened to the tree, the effigy was +kept for a year and then burned. The same thing appears to have been +sometimes done with the May-pole; and in like manner the effigy of +the corn-spirit, made at harvest, is often preserved till it is +replaced by a new effigy at next year's harvest. The original +intention of such customs was no doubt to maintain the spirit of +vegetation in life throughout the year. Why the Phrygians should +have worshipped the pine above other trees we can only guess. +Perhaps the sight of its changeless, though sombre, green cresting +the ridges of the high hills above the fading splendour of the +autumn woods in the valleys may have seemed to their eyes to mark it +out as the seat of a diviner life, of something exempt from the sad +vicissitudes of the seasons, constant and eternal as the sky which +stooped to meet it. For the same reason, perhaps, ivy was sacred to +Attis; at all events, we read that his eunuch priests were tattooed +with a pattern of ivy leaves. Another reason for the sanctity of the +pine may have been its usefulness. The cones of the stone-pine +contain edible nut-like seeds, which have been used as food since +antiquity, and are still eaten, for example, by the poorer classes +in Rome. Moreover, a wine was brewed from these seeds, and this may +partly account for the orgiastic nature of the rites of Cybele, +which the ancients compared to those of Dionysus. Further, +pine-cones were regarded as symbols or rather instruments of +fertility. Hence at the festival of the Thesmophoria they were +thrown, along with pigs and other agents or emblems of fecundity, +into the sacred vaults of Demeter for the purpose of quickening the +ground and the wombs of women. + +Like tree-spirits in general, Attis was apparently thought to wield +power over the fruits of the earth or even to be identical with the +corn. One of his epithets was "very fruitful": he was addressed as +the "reaped green (or yellow) ear of corn"; and the story of his +sufferings, death, and resurrection was interpreted as the ripe +grain wounded by the reaper, buried in the granary, and coming to +life again when it is sown in the ground. A statue of him in the +Lateran Museum at Rome clearly indicates his relation to the fruits +of the earth, and particularly to the corn; for it represents him +with a bunch of ears of corn and fruit in his hand, and a wreath of +pine-cones, pomegranates, and other fruits on his head, while from +the top of his Phrygian cap ears of corn are sprouting. On a stone +urn, which contained the ashes of an Archigallus or high-priest of +Attis, the same idea is expressed in a slightly different way. The +top of the urn is adorned with ears of corn carved in relief, and it +is surmounted by the figure of a cock, whose tail consists of ears +of corn. Cybele in like manner was conceived as a goddess of +fertility who could make or mar the fruits of the earth; for the +people of Augustodunum (Autun) in Gaul used to cart her image about +in a waggon for the good of the fields and vineyards, while they +danced and sang before it, and we have seen that in Italy an +unusually fine harvest was attributed to the recent arrival of the +Great Mother. The bathing of the image of the goddess in a river may +well have been a rain-charm to ensure an abundant supply of moisture +for the crops. + + + +XXXVI. Human Representatives of Attis + +FROM INSCRIPTIONS it appears that both at Pessinus and Rome the +high-priest of Cybele regularly bore the name of Attis. It is +therefore a reasonable conjecture that he played the part of his +namesake, the legendary Attis, at the annual festival. We have seen +that on the Day of Blood he drew blood from his arms, and this may +have been an imitation of the self-inflicted death of Attis under +the pine-tree. It is not inconsistent with this supposition that +Attis was also represented at these ceremonies by an effigy; for +instances can be shown in which the divine being is first +represented by a living person and afterwards by an effigy, which is +then burned or otherwise destroyed. Perhaps we may go a step farther +and conjecture that this mimic killing of the priest, accompanied by +a real effusion of his blood, was in Phrygia, as it has been +elsewhere, a substitute for a human sacrifice which in earlier times +was actually offered. + +A reminiscence of the manner in which these old representatives of +the deity were put to death is perhaps preserved in the famous story +of Marsyas. He was said to be a Phrygian satyr or Silenus, according +to others a shepherd or herdsman, who played sweetly on the flute. A +friend of Cybele, he roamed the country with the disconsolate +goddess to soothe her grief for the death of Attis. The composition +of the Mother's Air, a tune played on the flute in honour of the +Great Mother Goddess, was attributed to him by the people of +Celaenae in Phrygia. Vain of his skill, he challenged Apollo to a +musical contest, he to play on the flute and Apollo on the lyre. +Being vanquished, Marsyas was tied up to a pine-tree and flayed or +cut limb from limb either by the victorious Apollo or by a Scythian +slave. His skin was shown at Celaenae in historical times. It hung +at the foot of the citadel in a cave from which the river Marsyas +rushed with an impetuous and noisy tide to join the Maeander. So the +Adonis bursts full-born from the precipices of the Lebanon; so the +blue river of Ibreez leaps in a crystal jet from the red rocks of +the Taurus; so the stream, which now rumbles deep underground, used +to gleam for a moment on its passage from darkness to darkness in +the dim light of the Corycian cave. In all these copious fountains, +with their glad promise of fertility and life, men of old saw the +hand of God and worshipped him beside the rushing river with the +music of its tumbling waters in their ears. At Celaenae, if we can +trust tradition, the piper Marsyas, hanging in his cave, had a soul +for harmony even in death; for it is said that at the sound of his +native Phrygian melodies the skin of the dead satyr used to thrill, +but that if the musician struck up an air in praise of Apollo it +remained deaf and motionless. + +In this Phrygian satyr, shepherd, or herdsman who enjoyed the +friendship of Cybele, practised the music so characteristic of her +rites, and died a violent death on her sacred tree, the pine, may we +not detect a close resemblance to Attis, the favourite shepherd or +herdsman of the goddess, who is himself described as a piper, is +said to have perished under a pine-tree, and was annually +represented by an effigy hung, like Marsyas, upon a pine? We may +conjecture that in old days the priest who bore the name and played +the part of Attis at the spring festival of Cybele was regularly +hanged or otherwise slain upon the sacred tree, and that this +barbarous custom was afterwards mitigated into the form in which it +is known to us in later times, when the priest merely drew blood +from his body under the tree and attached an effigy instead of +himself to its trunk. In the holy grove at Upsala men and animals +were sacrificed by being hanged upon the sacred trees. The human +victims dedicated to Odin were regularly put to death by hanging or +by a combination of hanging and stabbing, the man being strung up to +a tree or a gallows and then wounded with a spear. Hence Odin was +called the Lord of the Gallows or the God of the Hanged, and he is +represented sitting under a gallows tree. Indeed he is said to have +been sacrificed to himself in the ordinary way, as we learn from the +weird verses of the _Havamal,_ in which the god describes how he +acquired his divine power by learning the magic runes: + + + "I know that I hung on the windy tree + For nine whole nights, + Wounded with the spear, dedicated to Odin, + Myself to myself." + + +The Bagobos of Mindanao, one of the Philippine Islands, used +annually to sacrifice human victims for the good of the crops in a +similar way. Early in December, when the constellation Orion +appeared at seven o'clock in the evening, the people knew that the +time had come to clear their fields for sowing and to sacrifice a +slave. The sacrifice was presented to certain powerful spirits as +payment for the good year which the people had enjoyed, and to +ensure the favour of the spirits for the coming season. The victim +was led to a great tree in the forest; there he was tied with his +back to the tree and his arms stretched high above his head, in the +attitude in which ancient artists portrayed Marsyas hanging on the +fatal tree. While he thus hung by the arms, he was slain by a spear +thrust through his body at the level of the armpits. Afterwards the +body was cut clean through the middle at the waist, and the upper +part was apparently allowed to dangle for a little from the tree, +while the under part wallowed in blood on the ground. The two +portions were finally cast into a shallow trench beside the tree. +Before this was done, anybody who wished might cut off a piece of +flesh or a lock of hair from the corpse and carry it to the grave of +some relation whose body was being consumed by a ghoul. Attracted by +the fresh corpse, the ghoul would leave the mouldering old body in +peace. These sacrifices have been offered by men now living. + +In Greece the great goddess Artemis herself appears to have been +annually hanged in effigy in her sacred grove of Condylea among the +Arcadian hills, and there accordingly she went by the name of the +Hanged One. Indeed a trace of a similar rite may perhaps be detected +even at Ephesus, the most famous of her sanctuaries, in the legend +of a woman who hanged herself and was thereupon dressed by the +compassionate goddess in her own divine garb and called by the name +of Hecate. Similarly, at Melite in Phthia, a story was told of a +girl named Aspalis who hanged herself, but who appears to have been +merely a form of Artemis. For after her death her body could not be +found, but an image of her was discovered standing beside the image +of Artemis, and the people bestowed on it the title of Hecaerge or +Far-shooter, one of the regular epithets of the goddess. Every year +the virgins sacrificed a young goat to the image by hanging it, +because Aspalis was said to have hanged herself. The sacrifice may +have been a substitute for hanging an image or a human +representative of Artemis. Again, in Rhodes the fair Helen was +worshipped under the title of Helen of the Tree, because the queen +of the island had caused her handmaids, disguised as Furies, to +string her up to a bough. That the Asiatic Greeks sacrificed animals +in this fashion is proved by coins of Ilium, which represent an ox +or cow hanging on a tree and stabbed with a knife by a man, who sits +among the branches or on the animal's back. At Hierapolis also the +victims were hung on trees before they were burnt. With these Greek +and Scandinavian parallels before us we can hardly dismiss as wholly +improbable the conjecture that in Phrygia a man-god may have hung +year by year on the sacred but fatal tree. + + + +XXXVII. Oriental Religions in the West + +THE WORSHIP of the Great Mother of the Gods and her lover or son was +very popular under the Roman Empire. Inscriptions prove that the two +received divine honours, separately or conjointly, not only in +Italy, and especially at Rome, but also in the provinces, +particularly in Africa, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, and +Bulgaria. Their worship survived the establishment of Christianity +by Constantine; for Symmachus records the recurrence of the festival +of the Great Mother, and in the days of Augustine her effeminate +priests still paraded the streets and squares of Carthage with +whitened faces, scented hair, and mincing gait, while, like the +mendicant friars of the Middle Ages, they begged alms from the +passers-by. In Greece, on the other hand, the bloody orgies of the +Asiatic goddess and her consort appear to have found little favour. +The barbarous and cruel character of the worship, with its frantic +excesses, was doubtless repugnant to the good taste and humanity of +the Greeks, who seem to have preferred the kindred but gentler rites +of Adonis. Yet the same features which shocked and repelled the +Greeks may have positively attracted the less refined Romans and +barbarians of the West. The ecstatic frenzies, which were mistaken +for divine inspiration, the mangling of the body, the theory of a +new birth and the remission of sins through the shedding of blood, +have all their origin in savagery, and they naturally appealed to +peoples in whom the savage instincts were still strong. Their true +character was indeed often disguised under a decent veil of +allegorical or philosophical interpretation, which probably sufficed +to impose upon the rapt and enthusiastic worshippers, reconciling +even the more cultivated of them to things which otherwise must have +filled them with horror and disgust. + +The religion of the Great Mother, with its curious blending of crude +savagery with spiritual aspirations, was only one of a multitude of +similar Oriental faiths which in the later days of paganism spread +over the Roman Empire, and by saturating the European peoples with +alien ideals of life gradually undermined the whole fabric of +ancient civilisation. Greek and Roman society was built on the +conception of the subordination of the individual to the community, +of the citizen to the state; it set the safety of the commonwealth, +as the supreme aim of conduct, above the safety of the individual +whether in this world or in the world to come. Trained from infancy +in this unselfish ideal, the citizens devoted their lives to the +public service and were ready to lay them down for the common good; +or if they shrank from the supreme sacrifice, it never occurred to +them that they acted otherwise than basely in preferring their +personal existence to the interests of their country. All this was +changed by the spread of Oriental religions which inculcated the +communion of the soul with God and its eternal salvation as the only +objects worth living for, objects in comparison with which the +prosperity and even the existence of the state sank into +insignificance. The inevitable result of this selfish and immoral +doctrine was to withdraw the devotee more and more from the public +service, to concentrate his thoughts on his own spiritual emotions, +and to breed in him a contempt for the present life which he +regarded merely as a probation for a better and an eternal. The +saint and the recluse, disdainful of earth and rapt in ecstatic +contemplation of heaven, became in popular opinion the highest ideal +of humanity, displacing the old ideal of the patriot and hero who, +forgetful of self, lives and is ready to die for the good of his +country. The earthly city seemed poor and contemptible to men whose +eyes beheld the City of God coming in the clouds of heaven. Thus the +centre of gravity, so to say, was shifted from the present to a +future life, and however much the other world may have gained, there +can be little doubt that this one lost heavily by the change. A +general disintegration of the body politic set in. The ties of the +state and the family were loosened: the structure of society tended +to resolve itself into its individual elements and thereby to +relapse into barbarism; for civilisation is only possible through +the active co-operation of the citizens and their willingness to +subordinate their private interests to the common good. Men refused +to defend their country and even to continue their kind. In their +anxiety to save their own souls and the souls of others, they were +content to leave the material world, which they identified with the +principle of evil, to perish around them. This obsession lasted for +a thousand years. The revival of Roman law, of the Aristotelian +philosophy, of ancient art and literature at the close of the Middle +Ages, marked the return of Europe to native ideals of life and +conduct, to saner, manlier views of the world. The long halt in the +march of civilisation was over. The tide of Oriental invasion had +turned at last. It is ebbing still. + +Among the gods of eastern origin who in the decline of the ancient +world competed against each other for the allegiance of the West was +the old Persian deity Mithra. The immense popularity of his worship +is attested by the monuments illustrative of it which have been +found scattered in profusion all over the Roman Empire. In respect +both of doctrines and of rites the cult of Mithra appears to have +presented many points of resemblance not only to the religion of the +Mother of the Gods but also to Christianity. The similarity struck +the Christian doctors themselves and was explained by them as a work +of the devil, who sought to seduce the souls of men from the true +faith by a false and insidious imitation of it. So to the Spanish +conquerors of Mexico and Peru many of the native heathen rites +appeared to be diabolical counterfeits of the Christian sacraments. +With more probability the modern student of comparative religion +traces such resemblances to the similar and independent workings of +the mind of man in his sincere, if crude, attempts to fathom the +secret of the universe, and to adjust his little life to its awful +mysteries. However that may be, there can be no doubt that the +Mithraic religion proved a formidable rival to Christianity, +combining as it did a solemn ritual with aspirations after moral +purity and a hope of immortality. Indeed the issue of the conflict +between the two faiths appears for a time to have hung in the +balance. An instructive relic of the long struggle is preserved in +our festival of Christmas, which the Church seems to have borrowed +directly from its heathen rival. In the Julian calendar the +twenty-fifth of December was reckoned the winter solstice, and it +was regarded as the Nativity of the Sun, because the day begins to +lengthen and the power of the sun to increase from that +turning-point of the year. The ritual of the nativity, as it appears +to have been celebrated in Syria and Egypt, was remarkable. The +celebrants retired into certain inner shrines, from which at +midnight they issued with a loud cry, "The Virgin has brought forth! +The light is waxing!" The Egyptians even represented the new-born +sun by the image of an infant which on his birthday, the winter +solstice, they brought forth and exhibited to his worshippers. No +doubt the Virgin who thus conceived and bore a son on the +twenty-fifth of December was the great Oriental goddess whom the +Semites called the Heavenly Virgin or simply the Heavenly Goddess; +in Semitic lands she was a form of Astarte. Now Mithra was regularly +identified by his worshippers with the Sun, the Unconquered Sun, as +they called him; hence his nativity also fell on the twenty-fifth of +December. The Gospels say nothing as to the day of Christ's birth, +and accordingly the early Church did not celebrate it. In time, +however, the Christians of Egypt came to regard the sixth of January +as the date of the Nativity, and the custom of commemorating the +birth of the Saviour on that day gradually spread until by the +fourth century it was universally established in the East. But at +the end of the third or the beginning of the fourth century the +Western Church, which had never recognised the sixth of January as +the day of the Nativity, adopted the twenty-fifth of December as the +true date, and in time its decision was accepted also by the Eastern +Church. At Antioch the change was not introduced till about the year +375 A.D. + +What considerations led the ecclesiastical authorities to institute +the festival of Christmas? The motives for the innovation are stated +with great frankness by a Syrian writer, himself a Christian. "The +reason," he tells us, "why the fathers transferred the celebration +of the sixth of January to the twenty-fifth of December was this. It +was a custom of the heathen to celebrate on the same twenty-fifth of +December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in +token of festivity. In these solemnities and festivities the +Christians also took part. Accordingly when the doctors of the +Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, +they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be +solemnised on that day and the festival of the Epiphany on the sixth +of January. Accordingly, along with this custom, the practice has +prevailed of kindling fires till the sixth." The heathen origin of +Christmas is plainly hinted at, if not tacitly admitted, by +Augustine when he exhorts his Christian brethren not to celebrate +that solemn day like the heathen on account of the sun, but on +account of him who made the sun. In like manner Leo the Great +rebuked the pestilent belief that Christmas was solemnised because +of the birth of the new sun, as it was called, and not because of +the nativity of Christ. + +Thus it appears that the Christian Church chose to celebrate the +birthday of its Founder on the twenty-fifth of December in order to +transfer the devotion of the heathen from the Sun to him who was +called the Sun of Righteousness. If that was so, there can be no +intrinsic improbability in the conjecture that motives of the same +sort may have led the ecclesiastical authorities to assimilate the +Easter festival of the death and resurrection of their Lord to the +festival of the death and resurrection of another Asiatic god which +fell at the same season. Now the Easter rites still observed in +Greece, Sicily, and Southern Italy bear in some respects a striking +resemblance to the rites of Adonis, and I have suggested that the +Church may have consciously adapted the new festival to its heathen +predecessor for the sake of winning souls to Christ. But this +adaptation probably took place in the Greek-speaking rather than in +the Latin-speaking parts of the ancient world; for the worship of +Adonis, while it flourished among the Greeks, appears to have made +little impression on Rome and the West. Certainly it never formed +part of the official Roman religion. The place which it might have +taken in the affections of the vulgar was already occupied by the +similar but more barbarous worship of Attis and the Great Mother. +Now the death and resurrection of Attis were officially celebrated +at Rome on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth of March, the latter +being regarded as the spring equinox, and therefore as the most +appropriate day for the revival of a god of vegetation who had been +dead or sleeping throughout the winter. But according to an ancient +and widespread tradition Christ suffered on the twenty-fifth of +March, and accordingly some Christians regularly celebrated the +Crucifixion on that day without any regard to the state of the moon. +This custom was certainly observed in Phrygia, Cappadocia, and Gaul, +and there seem to be grounds for thinking that at one time it was +followed also in Rome. Thus the tradition which placed the death of +Christ on the twenty-fifth of March was ancient and deeply rooted. +It is all the more remarkable because astronomical considerations +prove that it can have had no historical foundation. The inference +appears to be inevitable that the passion of Christ must have been +arbitrarily referred to that date in order to harmonise with an +older festival of the spring equinox. This is the view of the +learned ecclesiastical historian Mgr. Duchesne, who points out that +the death of the Saviour was thus made to fall upon the very day on +which, according to a widespread belief, the world had been created. +But the resurrection of Attis, who combined in himself the +characters of the divine Father and the divine Son, was officially +celebrated at Rome on the same day. When we remember that the +festival of St. George in April has replaced the ancient pagan +festival of the Parilia; that the festival of St. John the Baptist +in June has succeeded to a heathen midsummer festival of water: that +the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin in August has ousted +the festival of Diana; that the feast of All Souls in November is a +continuation of an old heathen feast of the dead; and that the +Nativity of Christ himself was assigned to the winter solstice in +December because that day was deemed the Nativity of the Sun; we can +hardly be thought rash or unreasonable in conjecturing that the +other cardinal festival of the Christian church--the solemnisation +of Easter--may have been in like manner, and from like motives of +edification, adapted to a similar celebration of the Phrygian god +Attis at the vernal equinox. + +At least it is a remarkable coincidence, if it is nothing more, that +the Christian and the heathen festivals of the divine death and +resurrection should have been solemnised at the same season and in +the same places. For the places which celebrated the death of Christ +at the spring equinox were Phrygia, Gaul, and apparently Rome, that +is, the very regions in which the worship of Attis either originated +or struck deepest root. It is difficult to regard the coincidence as +purely accidental. If the vernal equinox, the season at which in the +temperate regions the whole face of nature testifies to a fresh +outburst of vital energy, had been viewed from of old as the time +when the world was annually created afresh in the resurrection of a +god, nothing could be more natural than to place the resurrection of +the new deity at the same cardinal point of the year. Only it is to +be observed that if the death of Christ was dated on the +twenty-fifth of March, his resurrection, according to Christian +tradition, must have happened on the twenty-seventh of March, which +is just two days later than the vernal equinox of the Julian +calendar and the resurrection of Attis. A similar displacement of +two days in the adjustment of Christian to heathen celebrations +occurs in the festivals of St. George and the Assumption of the +Virgin. However, another Christian tradition, followed by Lactantius +and perhaps by the practice of the Church in Gaul, placed the death +of Christ on the twenty-third and his resurrection on the +twenty-fifth of March. If that was so, his resurrection coincided +exactly with the resurrection of Attis. + +In point of fact it appears from the testimony of an anonymous +Christian, who wrote in the fourth century of our era, that +Christians and pagans alike were struck by the remarkable +coincidence between the death and resurrection of their respective +deities, and that the coincidence formed a theme of bitter +controversy between the adherents of the rival religions, the pagans +contending that the resurrection of Christ was a spurious imitation +of the resurrection of Attis, and the Christians asserting with +equal warmth that the resurrection of Attis was a diabolical +counterfeit of the resurrection of Christ. In these unseemly +bickerings the heathen took what to a superficial observer might +seem strong ground by arguing that their god was the older and +therefore presumably the original, not the counterfeit, since as a +general rule an original is older than its copy. This feeble +argument the Christians easily rebutted. They admitted, indeed, that +in point of time Christ was the junior deity, but they triumphantly +demonstrated his real seniority by falling back on the subtlety of +Satan, who on so important an occasion had surpassed himself by +inverting the usual order of nature. + +Taken altogether, the coincidences of the Christian with the heathen +festivals are too close and too numerous to be accidental. They mark +the compromise which the Church in the hour of its triumph was +compelled to make with its vanquished yet still dangerous rivals. +The inflexible Protestantism of the primitive missionaries, with +their fiery denunciations of heathendom, had been exchanged for the +supple policy, the easy tolerance, the comprehensive charity of +shrewd ecclesiastics, who clearly perceived that if Christianity was +to conquer the world it could do so only by relaxing the too rigid +principles of its Founder, by widening a little the narrow gate +which leads to salvation. In this respect an instructive parallel +might be drawn between the history of Christianity and the history +of Buddhism. Both systems were in their origin essentially ethical +reforms born of the generous ardour, the lofty aspirations, the +tender compassion of their noble Founders, two of those beautiful +spirits who appear at rare intervals on earth like beings come from +a better world to support and guide our weak and erring nature. Both +preached moral virtue as the means of accomplishing what they +regarded as the supreme object of life, the eternal salvation of the +individual soul, though by a curious antithesis the one sought that +salvation in a blissful eternity, the other in a final release from +suffering, in annihilation. But the austere ideals of sanctity which +they inculcated were too deeply opposed not only to the frailties +but to the natural instincts of humanity ever to be carried out in +practice by more than a small number of disciples, who consistently +renounced the ties of the family and the state in order to work out +their own salvation in the still seclusion of the cloister. If such +faiths were to be nominally accepted by whole nations or even by the +world, it was essential that they should first be modified or +transformed so as to accord in some measure with the prejudices, the +passions, the superstitions of the vulgar. This process of +accommodation was carried out in after ages by followers who, made +of less ethereal stuff than their masters, were for that reason the +better fitted to mediate between them and the common herd. Thus as +time went on, the two religions, in exact proportion to their +growing popularity, absorbed more and more of those baser elements +which they had been instituted for the very purpose of suppressing. +Such spiritual decadences are inevitable. The world cannot live at +the level of its great men. Yet it would be unfair to the generality +of our kind to ascribe wholly to their intellectual and moral +weakness the gradual divergence of Buddhism and Christianity from +their primitive patterns. For it should never be forgotten that by +their glorification of poverty and celibacy both these religions +struck straight at the root not merely of civil society but of human +existence. The blow was parried by the wisdom or the folly of the +vast majority of mankind, who refused to purchase a chance of saving +their souls with the certainty of extinguishing the species. + + + +XXXVIII. The Myth of Osiris + +IN ANCIENT EGYPT the god whose death and resurrection were annually +celebrated with alternate sorrow and joy was Osiris, the most +popular of all Egyptian deities; and there are good grounds for +classing him in one of his aspects with Adonis and Attis as a +personification of the great yearly vicissitudes of nature, +especially of the corn. But the immense vogue which he enjoyed for +many ages induced his devoted worshippers to heap upon him the +attributes and powers of many other gods; so that it is not always +easy to strip him, so to say, of his borrowed plumes and to restore +them to their proper owners. + +The story of Osiris is told in a connected form only by Plutarch, +whose narrative has been confirmed and to some extent amplified in +modern times by the evidence of the monuments. + +Osiris was the offspring of an intrigue between the earth-god Seb +(Keb or Geb, as the name is sometimes transliterated) and the +sky-goddess Nut. The Greeks identified his parents with their own +deities Cronus and Rhea. When the sun-god Ra perceived that his wife +Nut had been unfaithful to him, he declared with a curse that she +should be delivered of the child in no month and no year. But the +goddess had another lover, the god Thoth or Hermes, as the Greeks +called him, and he playing at draughts with the moon won from her a +seventy-second part of every day, and having compounded five whole +days out of these parts he added them to the Egyptian year of three +hundred and sixty days. This was the mythical origin of the five +supplementary days which the Egyptians annually inserted at the end +of every year in order to establish a harmony between lunar and +solar time. On these five days, regarded as outside the year of +twelve months, the curse of the sun-god did not rest, and +accordingly Osiris was born on the first of them. At his nativity a +voice rang out proclaiming that the Lord of All had come into the +world. Some say that a certain Pamyles heard a voice from the temple +at Thebes bidding him announce with a shout that a great king, the +beneficent Osiris, was born. But Osiris was not the only child of +his mother. On the second of the supplementary days she gave birth +to the elder Horus, on the third to the god Set, whom the Greeks +called Typhon, on the fourth to the goddess Isis, and on the fifth +to the goddess Nephthys. Afterwards Set married his sister Nephthys, +and Osiris married his sister Isis. + +Reigning as a king on earth, Osiris reclaimed the Egyptians from +savagery, gave them laws, and taught them to worship the gods. +Before his time the Egyptians had been cannibals. But Isis, the +sister and wife of Osiris, discovered wheat and barley growing wild, +and Osiris introduced the cultivation of these grains amongst his +people, who forthwith abandoned cannibalism and took kindly to a +corn diet. Moreover, Osiris is said to have been the first to gather +fruit from trees, to train the vine to poles, and to tread the +grapes. Eager to communicate these beneficent discoveries to all +mankind, he committed the whole government of Egypt to his wife +Isis, and travelled over the world, diffusing the blessings of +civilisation and agriculture wherever he went. In countries where a +harsh climate or niggardly soil forbade the cultivation of the vine, +he taught the inhabitants to console themselves for the want of wine +by brewing beer from barley. Loaded with the wealth that had been +showered upon him by grateful nations, he returned to Egypt, and on +account of the benefits he had conferred on mankind he was +unanimously hailed and worshipped as a deity. But his brother Set +(whom the Greeks called Typhon) with seventy-two others plotted +against him. Having taken the measure of his good brother's body by +stealth, the bad brother Typhon fashioned and highly decorated a +coffer of the same size, and once when they were all drinking and +making merry he brought in the coffer and jestingly promised to give +it to the one whom it should fit exactly. Well, they all tried one +after the other, but it fitted none of them. Last of all Osiris +stepped into it and lay down. On that the conspirators ran and +slammed the lid down on him, nailed it fast, soldered it with molten +lead, and flung the coffer into the Nile. This happened on the +seventeenth day of the month Athyr, when the sun is in the sign of +the Scorpion, and in the eight-and-twentieth year of the reign or +the life of Osiris. When Isis heard of it she sheared off a lock of +her hair, put on a mourning attire, and wandered disconsolately up +and down, seeking the body. + +By the advice of the god of wisdom she took refuge in the papyrus +swamps of the Delta. Seven scorpions accompanied her in her flight. +One evening when she was weary she came to the house of a woman, +who, alarmed at the sight of the scorpions, shut the door in her +face. Then one of the scorpions crept under the door and stung the +child of the woman that he died. But when Isis heard the mother's +lamentation, her heart was touched, and she laid her hands on the +child and uttered her powerful spells; so the poison was driven out +of the child and he lived. Afterwards Isis herself gave birth to a +son in the swamps. She had conceived him while she fluttered in the +form of a hawk over the corpse of her dead husband. The infant was +the younger Horus, who in his youth bore the name of Harpocrates, +that is, the child Horus. Him Buto, the goddess of the north, hid +from the wrath of his wicked uncle Set. Yet she could not guard him +from all mishap; for one day when Isis came to her little son's +hiding-place she found him stretched lifeless and rigid on the +ground: a scorpion had stung him. Then Isis prayed to the sun-god Ra +for help. The god hearkened to her and staid his bark in the sky, +and sent down Thoth to teach her the spell by which she might +restore her son to life. She uttered the words of power, and +straightway the poison flowed from the body of Horus, air passed +into him, and he lived. Then Thoth ascended up into the sky and took +his place once more in the bark of the sun, and the bright pomp +passed onward jubilant. + +Meantime the coffer containing the body of Osiris had floated down +the river and away out to sea, till at last it drifted ashore at +Byblus, on the coast of Syria. Here a fine _erica_-tree shot up +suddenly and enclosed the chest in its trunk. The king of the +country, admiring the growth of the tree, had it cut down and made +into a pillar of his house; but he did not know that the coffer with +the dead Osiris was in it. Word of this came to Isis and she +journeyed to Byblus, and sat down by the well, in humble guise, her +face wet with tears. To none would she speak till the king's +handmaidens came, and them she greeted kindly, and braided their +hair, and breathed on them from her own divine body a wondrous +perfume. But when the queen beheld the braids of her handmaidens' +hair and smelt the sweet smell that emanated from them, she sent for +the stranger woman and took her into her house and made her the +nurse of her child. But Isis gave the babe her finger instead of her +breast to suck, and at night she began to burn all that was mortal +of him away, while she herself in the likeness of a swallow +fluttered round the pillar that contained her dead brother, +twittering mournfully. But the queen spied what she was doing and +shrieked out when she saw her child in flames, and thereby she +hindered him from becoming immortal. Then the goddess revealed +herself and begged for the pillar of the roof, and they gave it her, +and she cut the coffer out of it, and fell upon it and embraced it +and lamented so loud that the younger of the king's children died of +fright on the spot. But the trunk of the tree she wrapped in fine +linen, and poured ointment on it, and gave it to the king and queen, +and the wood stands in a temple of Isis and is worshipped by the +people of Byblus to this day. And Isis put the coffer in a boat and +took the eldest of the king's children with her and sailed away. As +soon as they were alone, she opened the chest, and laying her face +on the face of her brother she kissed him and wept. But the child +came behind her softly and saw what she was about, and she turned +and looked at him in anger, and the child could not bear her look +and died; but some say that it was not so, but that he fell into the +sea and was drowned. It is he whom the Egyptians sing of at their +banquets under the name of Maneros. + +But Isis put the coffer by and went to see her son Horus at the city +of Buto, and Typhon found the coffer as he was hunting a boar one +night by the light of a full moon. And he knew the body, and rent it +into fourteen pieces, and scattered them abroad. But Isis sailed up +and down the marshes in a shallop made of papyrus, looking for the +pieces; and that is why when people sail in shallops made of +papyrus, the crocodiles do not hurt them, for they fear or respect +the goddess. And that is the reason, too, why there are many graves +of Osiris in Egypt, for she buried each limb as she found it. But +others will have it that she buried an image of him in every city, +pretending it was his body, in order that Osiris might be worshipped +in many places, and that if Typhon searched for the real grave he +might not be able to find it. However, the genital member of Osiris +had been eaten by the fishes, so Isis made an image of it instead, +and the image is used by the Egyptians at their festivals to this +day. "Isis," writes the historian Diodorus Siculus, "recovered all +the parts of the body except the genitals; and because she wished +that her husband's grave should be unknown and honoured by all who +dwell in the land of Egypt, she resorted to the following device. +She moulded human images out of wax and spices, corresponding to the +stature of Osiris, round each one of the parts of his body. Then she +called in the priests according to their families and took an oath +of them all that they would reveal to no man the trust she was about +to repose in them. So to each of them privately she said that to +them alone she entrusted the burial of the body, and reminding them +of the benefits they had received she exhorted them to bury the body +in their own land and to honour Osiris as a god. She also besought +them to dedicate one of the animals of their country, whichever they +chose, and to honour it in life as they had formerly honoured +Osiris, and when it died to grant it obsequies like his. And because +she would encourage the priests in their own interest to bestow the +aforesaid honours, she gave them a third part of the land to be used +by them in the service and worship of the gods. Accordingly it is +said that the priests, mindful of the benefits of Osiris, desirous +of gratifying the queen, and moved by the prospect of gain, carried +out all the injunctions of Isis. Wherefore to this day each of the +priests imagines that Osiris is buried in his country, and they +honour the beasts that were consecrated in the beginning, and when +the animals die the priests renew at their burial the mourning for +Osiris. But the sacred bulls, the one called Apis and the other +Mnevis, were dedicated to Osiris, and it was ordained that they +should be worshipped as gods in common by all the Egyptians, since +these animals above all others had helped the discoverers of corn in +sowing the seed and procuring the universal benefits of +agriculture." + +Such is the myth or legend of Osiris, as told by Greek writers and +eked out by more or less fragmentary notices or allusions in native +Egyptian literature. A long inscription in the temple at Denderah +has preserved a list of the god's graves, and other texts mention +the parts of his body which were treasured as holy relics in each of +the sanctuaries. Thus his heart was at Athribis, his backbone at +Busiris, his neck at Letopolis, and his head at Memphis. As often +happens in such cases, some of his divine limbs were miraculously +multiplied. His head, for example, was at Abydos as well as at +Memphis, and his legs, which were remarkably numerous, would have +sufficed for several ordinary mortals. In this respect, however, +Osiris was nothing to St. Denys, of whom no less than seven heads, +all equally genuine, are extant. + +According to native Egyptian accounts, which supplement that of +Plutarch, when Isis had found the corpse of her husband Osiris, she +and her sister Nephthys sat down beside it and uttered a lament +which in after ages became the type of all Egyptian lamentations for +the dead. "Come to thy house," they wailed. "Come to thy house. O +god On! come to thy house, thou who hast no foes. O fair youth, come +to thy house, that thou mayest see me. I am thy sister, whom thou +lovest; thou shalt not part from me. O fair boy, come to thy house. +. . . I see thee not, yet doth my heart yearn after thee and mine +eyes desire thee. Come to her who loves thee, who loves thee, +Unnefer, thou blessed one! Come to thy sister, come to thy wife, to +thy wife, thou whose heart stands still. Come to thy housewife. I am +thy sister by the same mother, thou shalt not be far from me. Gods +and men have turned their faces towards thee and weep for thee +together. . . . I call after thee and weep, so that my cry is heard +to heaven, but thou hearest not my voice; yet am I thy sister, whom +thou didst love on earth; thou didst love none but me, my brother! +my brother!" This lament for the fair youth cut off in his prime +reminds us of the laments for Adonis. The title of Unnefer or "the +Good Being" bestowed on him marks the beneficence which tradition +universally ascribed to Osiris; it was at once his commonest title +and one of his names as king. + +The lamentations of the two sad sisters were not in vain. In pity +for her sorrow the sun-god Ra sent down from heaven the +jackal-headed god Anubis, who, with the aid of Isis and Nephthys, of +Thoth and Horus, pieced together the broken body of the murdered +god, swathed it in linen bandages, and observed all the other rites +which the Egyptians were wont to perform over the bodies of the +departed. Then Isis fanned the cold clay with her wings: Osiris +revived, and thenceforth reigned as king over the dead in the other +world. There he bore the titles of Lord of the Underworld, Lord of +Eternity, Ruler of the Dead. There, too, in the great Hall of the +Two Truths, assisted by forty-two assessors, one from each of the +principal districts of Egypt, he presided as judge at the trial of +the souls of the departed, who made their solemn confession before +him, and, their heart having been weighed in the balance of justice, +received the reward of virtue in a life eternal or the appropriate +punishment of their sins. + +In the resurrection of Osiris the Egyptians saw the pledge of a life +everlasting for themselves beyond the grave. They believed that +every man would live eternally in the other world if only his +surviving friends did for his body what the gods had done for the +body of Osiris. Hence the ceremonies observed by the Egyptians over +the human dead were an exact copy of those which Anubis, Horus, and +the rest had performed over the dead god. "At every burial there was +enacted a representation of the divine mystery which had been +performed of old over Osiris, when his son, his sisters, his friends +were gathered round his mangled remains and succeeded by their +spells and manipulations in converting his broken body into the +first mummy, which they afterwards reanimated and furnished with the +means of entering on a new individual life beyond the grave. The +mummy of the deceased was Osiris; the professional female mourners +were his two sisters Isis and Nephthys; Anubis, Horus, all the gods +of the Osirian legend gathered about the corpse." In this way every +dead Egyptian was identified with Osiris and bore his name. From the +Middle Kingdom onwards it was the regular practice to address the +deceased as "Osiris So-and-So," as if he were the god himself, and +to add the standing epithet "true of speech," because true speech +was characteristic of Osiris. The thousands of inscribed and +pictured tombs that have been opened in the valley of the Nile prove +that the mystery of the resurrection was performed for the benefit +of every dead Egyptian; as Osiris died and rose again from the dead, +so all men hoped to arise like him from death to life eternal. + +Thus according to what seems to have been the general native +tradition Osiris was a good and beloved king of Egypt, who suffered +a violent death but rose from the dead and was henceforth worshipped +as a deity. In harmony with this tradition he was regularly +represented by sculptors and painters in human and regal form as a +dead king, swathed in the wrappings of a mummy, but wearing on his +head a kingly crown and grasping in one of his hands, which were +left free from the bandages, a kingly sceptre. Two cities above all +others were associated with his myth or memory. One of them was +Busiris in Lower Egypt, which claimed to possess his backbone; the +other was Abydos in Upper Egypt, which gloried in the possession of +his head. Encircled by the nimbus of the dead yet living god, +Abydos, originally an obscure place, became from the end of the Old +Kingdom the holiest spot in Egypt; his tomb there would seem to have +been to the Egyptians what the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at +Jerusalem is to Christians. It was the wish of every pious man that +his dead body should rest in hallowed earth near the grave of the +glorified Osiris. Few indeed were rich enough to enjoy this +inestimable privilege; for, apart from the cost of a tomb in the +sacred city, the mere transport of mummies from great distances was +both difficult and expensive. Yet so eager were many to absorb in +death the blessed influence which radiated from the holy sepulchre +that they caused their surviving friends to convey their mortal +remains to Abydos, there to tarry for a short time, and then to be +brought back by river and interred in the tombs which had been made +ready for them in their native land. Others had cenotaphs built or +memorial tablets erected for themselves near the tomb of their dead +and risen Lord, that they might share with him the bliss of a joyful +resurrection. + + + +XXXIX. The Ritual of Osiris + + + +1. The Popular Rites + +A USEFUL clue to the original nature of a god or goddess is often +furnished by the season at which his or her festival is celebrated. +Thus, if the festival falls at the new or the full moon, there is a +certain presumption that the deity thus honoured either is the moon +or at least has lunar affinities. If the festival is held at the +winter or summer solstice, we naturally surmise that the god is the +sun, or at all events that he stands in some close relation to that +luminary. Again, if the festival coincides with the time of sowing +or harvest, we are inclined to infer that the divinity is an +embodiment of the earth or of the corn. These presumptions or +inferences, taken by themselves, are by no means conclusive; but if +they happen to be confirmed by other indications, the evidence may +be regarded as fairly strong. + +Unfortunately, in dealing with the Egyptian gods we are in a great +measure precluded from making use of this clue. The reason is not +that the dates of the festivals are always unknown, but that they +shifted from year to year, until after a long interval they had +revolved through the whole course of the seasons. This gradual +revolution of the festal Egyptian cycle resulted from the employment +of a calendar year which neither corresponded exactly to the solar +year nor was periodically corrected by intercalation. + +If the Egyptian farmer of the olden time could get no help, except +at the rarest intervals, from the official or sacerdotal calendar, +he must have been compelled to observe for himself those natural +signals which marked the times for the various operations of +husbandry. In all ages of which we possess any records the Egyptians +have been an agricultural people, dependent for their subsistence on +the growth of the corn. The cereals which they cultivated were +wheat, barley, and apparently sorghum (_Holcus sorghum,_ Linnaeus), +the _doora_ of the modern fellaheen. Then as now the whole country, +with the exception of a fringe on the coast of the Mediterranean, +was almost rainless, and owed its immense fertility entirely to the +annual inundation of the Nile, which, regulated by an elaborate +system of dams and canals, was distributed over the fields, renewing +the soil year by year with a fresh deposit of mud washed down from +the great equatorial lakes and the mountains of Abyssinia. Hence the +rise of the river has always been watched by the inhabitants with +the utmost anxiety; for if it either falls short of or exceeds a +certain height, dearth and famine are the inevitable consequences. +The water begins to rise early in June, but it is not until the +latter half of July that it swells to a mighty tide. By the end of +September the inundation is at its greatest height. The country is +now submerged, and presents the appearance of a sea of turbid water, +from which the towns and villages, built on higher ground, rise like +islands. For about a month the flood remains nearly stationary, then +sinks more and more rapidly, till by December or January the river +has returned to its ordinary bed. With the approach of summer the +level of the water continues to fall. In the early days of June the +Nile is reduced to half its ordinary breadth; and Egypt, scorched by +the sun, blasted by the wind that has blown from the Sahara for many +days, seems a mere continuation of the desert. The trees are choked +with a thick layer of grey dust. A few meagre patches of vegetables, +watered with difficulty, struggle painfully for existence in the +immediate neighbourhood of the villages. Some appearance of verdure +lingers beside the canals and in the hollows from which the moisture +has not wholly evaporated. The plain appears to pant in the pitiless +sunshine, bare, dusty, ash-coloured, cracked and seamed as far as +the eye can see with a network of fissures. From the middle of April +till the middle of June the land of Egypt is but half alive, waiting +for the new Nile. + +For countless ages this cycle of natural events has determined the +annual labours of the Egyptian husbandman. The first work of the +agricultural year is the cutting of the dams which have hitherto +prevented the swollen river from flooding the canals and the fields. +This is done, and the pent-up waters released on their beneficent +mission, in the first half of August. In November, when the +inundation has subsided, wheat, barley, and sorghum are sown. The +time of harvest varies with the district, falling about a month +later in the north than in the south. In Upper or Southern Egypt +barley is reaped at the beginning of March, wheat at the beginning +of April, and sorghum about the end of that month. + +It is natural to suppose that the various events of the agricultural +year were celebrated by the Egyptian farmer with some simple +religious rites designed to secure the blessing of the gods upon his +labours. These rustic ceremonies he would continue to perform year +after year at the same season, while the solemn festivals of the +priests continued to shift, with the shifting calendar, from summer +through spring to winter, and so backward through autumn to summer. +The rites of the husbandman were stable because they rested on +direct observation of nature: the rites of the priest were unstable +because they were based on a false calculation. Yet many of the +priestly festivals may have been nothing but the old rural festivals +disguised in the course of ages by the pomp of sacerdotalism and +severed, by the error of the calendar, from their roots in the +natural cycle of the seasons. + +These conjectures are confirmed by the little we know both of the +popular and of the official Egyptian religion. Thus we are told that +the Egyptians held a festival of Isis at the time when the Nile +began to rise. They believed that the goddess was then mourning for +the lost Osiris, and that the tears which dropped from her eyes +swelled the impetuous tide of the river. Now if Osiris was in one of +his aspects a god of the corn, nothing could be more natural than +that he should be mourned at midsummer. For by that time the harvest +was past, the fields were bare, the river ran low, life seemed to be +suspended, the corn-god was dead. At such a moment people who saw +the handiwork of divine beings in all the operations of nature might +well trace the swelling of the sacred stream to the tears shed by +the goddess at the death of the beneficent corn-god her husband. + +And the sign of the rising waters on earth was accompanied by a sign +in heaven. For in the early days of Egyptian history, some three or +four thousand years before the beginning of our era, the splendid +star of Sirius, the brightest of all the fixed stars, appeared at +dawn in the east just before sunrise about the time of the summer +solstice, when the Nile begins to rise. The Egyptians called it +Sothis, and regarded it as the star of Isis, just as the Babylonians +deemed the planet Venus the star of Astarte. To both peoples +apparently the brilliant luminary in the morning sky seemed the +goddess of life and love come to mourn her departed lover or spouse +and to wake him from the dead. Hence the rising of Sirius marked the +beginning of the sacred Egyptian year, and was regularly celebrated +by a festival which did not shift with the shifting official year. + +The cutting of the dams and the admission of the water into the +canals and fields is a great event in the Egyptian year. At Cairo +the operation generally takes place between the sixth and the +sixteenth of August, and till lately was attended by ceremonies +which deserve to be noticed, because they were probably handed down +from antiquity. An ancient canal, known by the name of the Khalíj, +formerly passed through the native town of Cairo. Near its entrance +the canal was crossed by a dam of earth, very broad at the bottom +and diminishing in breadth upwards, which used to be constructed +before or soon after the Nile began to rise. In front of the dam, on +the side of the river, was reared a truncated cone of earth called +the '_arooseh_ or "bride," on the top of which a little maize or +millet was generally sown. This "bride" was commonly washed down by +the rising tide a week or a fortnight before the cutting of the dam. +Tradition runs that the old custom was to deck a young virgin in gay +apparel and throw her into the river as a sacrifice to obtain a +plentiful inundation. Whether that was so or not, the intention of +the practice appears to 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 of the crops. In modern times money used to be +thrown into the canal on this occasion, and the populace dived into +the water after it. This practice also would seem to have been +ancient, for Seneca tells us that at a place called the Veins of the +Nile, not far from Philae, the priests used to cast money and +offerings of gold into the river at a festival which apparently took +place at the rising of the water. + +The next great operation of the agricultural year in Egypt is the +sowing of the seed in November, when the water of the inundation has +retreated from the fields. With the Egyptians, as with many peoples +of antiquity, the committing of the seed to the earth assumed the +character of a solemn and mournful rite. On this subject I will let +Plutarch speak for himself. "What," he asks, "are we to make of the +gloomy, joyless, and mournful sacrifices, if it is wrong either to +omit the established rites or to confuse and disturb our conceptions +of the gods by absurd suspicions? For the Greeks also perform many +rites which resemble those of the Egyptians and are observed about +the same time. Thus at the festival of the Thesmophoria in Athens +women sit on the ground and fast. And the Boeotians open the vaults +of the Sorrowful One, naming that festival sorrowful because Demeter +is sorrowing for the descent of the Maiden. The month is the month +of sowing about the setting of the Pleiades. The Egyptians call it +Athyr, the Athenians Pyanepsion, the Boeotians the month of Demeter. +. . . For it was that time of year when they saw some of the fruits +vanishing and failing from the trees, while they sowed others +grudgingly and with difficulty, scraping the earth with their hands +and huddling it up again, on the uncertain chance that what they +deposited in the ground would ever ripen and come to maturity. Thus +they did in many respects like those who bury and mourn their dead." + +The Egyptian harvest, as we have seen, falls not in autumn but in +spring, in the months of March, April, and May. To the husbandman +the time of harvest, at least in a good year, must necessarily be a +season of joy: in bringing home his sheaves he is requited for his +long and anxious labours. Yet if the old Egyptian farmer felt a +secret joy at reaping and garnering the grain, it was essential that +he should conceal the natural emotion under an air of profound +dejection. For was he not severing the body of the corn-god with his +sickle and trampling it to pieces under the hoofs of his cattle on +the threshing-floor? Accordingly we are told that it was an ancient +custom of 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 invocation seems to have taken the form of a melancholy +chant, to which the Greeks gave the name of Maneros. Similar +plaintive strains were chanted by corn-reapers in Phoenicia and +other parts of Western Asia. Probably all these doleful ditties were +lamentations for the corn-god killed by the sickles of the reapers. +In Egypt the slain deity was Osiris, and the name _Maneros,_ applied +to the dirge, appears to be derived from certain words meaning "Come +to thy house," which often occur in the lamentations for the dead +god. + +Ceremonies of the same sort have been observed by other peoples, +probably for the same purpose. Thus we are told that among all +vegetables corn, by which is apparently meant maize, holds the first +place in the household economy and the ceremonial observance of the +Cherokee Indians, who invoke it under the name of "the Old Woman" in +allusion to a myth that it sprang from the blood of an old woman +killed by her disobedient sons. After the last working of the crop a +priest and his assistant went into the field and sang songs of +invocation to the spirit of the corn. After that a loud rustling +would be heard, which was thought to be caused by the Old Woman +bringing the corn into the field. A clean trail was always kept from +the field to the house, "so that the corn might be encouraged to +stay at home and not go wandering elsewhere." "Another curious +ceremony, of which even the memory is now almost forgotten, was +enacted after the first working of the corn, when the owner or +priest stood in succession at each of the four corners of the field +and wept and wailed loudly. Even the priests are now unable to give +a reason for this performance, which may have been a lament for the +bloody death of Selu," the Old Woman of the Corn. In these Cherokee +practices the lamentations and the invocations of the Old Woman of +the Corn resemble the ancient Egyptian customs of lamenting over the +first corn cut and calling upon Isis, herself probably in one of her +aspects an Old Woman of the Corn. Further, the Cherokee precaution +of leaving a clear path from the field to the house resembles the +Egyptian invitation to Osiris, "Come to thy house." So in the East +Indies to this day people observe elaborate ceremonies for the +purpose of bringing back the Soul of the Rice from the fields to the +barn. The Nandi of East Africa perform a ceremony in September when +the eleusine grain is ripening. Every woman who owns a plantation +goes out with her daughters into the cornfields and makes a bonfire +of the branches and leaves of certain trees. After that they pluck +some of the eleusine, and each of them puts one grain in her +necklace, chews another and rubs it on her forehead, throat, and +breast. "No joy is shown by the womenfolk on this occasion, and they +sorrowfully cut a basketful of the corn which they take home with +them and place in the loft to dry." + +The conception of the corn-spirit as old and dead at harvest is very +clearly embodied in a custom observed by the Arabs of Moab. When the +harvesters have nearly finished their task and only a small corner +of the field remains to be reaped, the owner takes a handful of +wheat tied up in a sheaf. A hole is dug in the form of a grave, and +two stones are set upright, one at the head and the other at the +foot, just as in an ordinary burial. Then the sheaf of wheat is laid +at the bottom of the grave, and the sheikh pronounces these words, +"The old man is dead." Earth is afterwards thrown in to cover the +sheaf, with a prayer, "May Allah bring us back the wheat of the +dead." + + + +2. The Official Rites + +SUCH, then, were the principal events of the farmer's calendar in +ancient Egypt, and such the simple religious rites by which he +celebrated them. But we have still to consider the Osirian festivals +of the official calendar, so far as these are described by Greek +writers or recorded on the monuments. In examining them it is +necessary to bear in mind that on account of the movable year of the +old Egyptian calendar the true or astronomical dates of the official +festivals must have varied from year to year, at least until the +adoption of the fixed Alexandrian year in 30 B.C. From that time +onward, apparently, the dates of the festivals were determined by +the new calendar, and so ceased to rotate throughout the length of +the solar year. At all events Plutarch, writing about the end of the +first century, implies that they were then fixed, not movable; for +though he does not mention the Alexandrian calendar, he clearly +dates the festivals by it. Moreover, the long festal calendar of +Esne, an important document of the Imperial age, is obviously based +on the fixed Alexandrian year; for it assigns the mark for New +Year's Day to the day which corresponds to the twenty-ninth of +August, which was the first day of the Alexandrian year, and its +references to the rising of the Nile, the position of the sun, and +the operations of agriculture are all in harmony with this +supposition. Thus we may take it as fairly certain that from 30 B.C. +onwards the Egyptian festivals were stationary in the solar year. + +Herodotus tells us that the grave of Osiris was at Sais in Lower +Egypt, and that there was a lake there upon which the sufferings of +the god were displayed as a mystery by night. This commemoration of +the divine passion was held once a year: the people mourned and beat +their breasts at it to testify their sorrow for the death of the +god; and an image of a cow, made of gilt wood with a golden sun +between its horns, was carried out of the chamber in which it stood +the rest of the year. The cow no doubt represented Isis herself, for +cows were sacred to her, and she was regularly depicted with the +horns of a cow on her head, or even as a woman with the head of a +cow. It is probable that the carrying out of her cow-shaped image +symbolised the goddess searching for the dead body of Osiris; for +this was the native Egyptian interpretation of a similar ceremony +observed in Plutarch's time about the winter solstice, when the gilt +cow was carried seven times round the temple. A great feature of the +festival was the nocturnal illumination. People fastened rows of +oil-lamps to the outside of their houses, and the lamps burned all +night long. The custom was not confined to Sais, but was observed +throughout the whole of Egypt. + +This universal illumination of the houses on one night of the year +suggests that the festival may have been a commemoration not merely +of the dead Osiris but of the dead in general, in other words, that +it may have been a night of All Souls. For it is a widespread belief +that the souls of the dead revisit their old homes on one night of +the year; and on that solemn occasion people prepare for the +reception of the ghosts by laying out food for them to eat, and +lighting lamps to guide them on their dark road from and to the +grave. Herodotus, who briefly describes the festival, omits to +mention its date, but we can determine it with some probability from +other sources. Thus Plutarch tells us that Osiris was murdered on +the seventeenth of the month Athyr, and that the Egyptians +accordingly observed mournful rites for four days from the +seventeenth of Athyr. Now in the Alexandrian calendar, which +Plutarch used, these four days corresponded to the thirteenth, +fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth of November, and this date +answers exactly to the other indications given by Plutarch, who says +that at the time of the festival the Nile was sinking, the north +winds dying away, the nights lengthening, and the leaves falling +from the trees. During these four days a gilt cow swathed in a black +pall was exhibited as an image of Isis. This, no doubt, was the +image mentioned by Herodotus in his account of the festival. On the +nineteenth day of the month the people went down to the sea, the +priests carrying a shrine which contained a golden casket. Into this +casket they poured fresh water, and thereupon the spectators raised +a shout that Osiris was found. After that they took some vegetable +mould, moistened it with water, mixed it with precious spices and +incense, and moulded the paste into a small moon-shaped image, which +was then robed and ornamented. Thus it appears that the purpose of +the ceremonies described by Plutarch was to represent dramatically, +first, the search for the dead body of Osiris, and, second, its +joyful discovery, followed by the resurrection of the dead god who +came to life again in the new image of vegetable mould and spices. +Lactantius tells us how on these occasions the priests, with their +shaven bodies, beat their breasts and lamented, imitating the +sorrowful search of Isis for her lost son Osiris, and how afterwards +their sorrow was turned to joy when the jackal-headed god Anubis, or +rather a mummer in his stead, produced a small boy, the living +representative of the god who was lost and was found. Thus +Lactantius regarded Osiris as the son instead of the husband of +Isis, and he makes no mention of the image of vegetable mould. It is +probable that the boy who figured in the sacred drama played the +part, not of Osiris, but of his son Horus; but as the death and +resurrection of the god were celebrated in many cities of Egypt, it +is also possible that in some places the part of the god come to +life was played by a living actor instead of by an image. Another +Christian writer describes how the Egyptians, with shorn heads, +annually lamented over a buried idol of Osiris, smiting their +breasts, slashing their shoulders, ripping open their old wounds, +until, after several days of mourning, they professed to find the +mangled remains of the god, at which they rejoiced. However the +details of the ceremony may have varied in different places, the +pretence of finding the god's body, and probably of restoring it to +life, was a great event in the festal year of the Egyptians. The +shouts of joy which greeted it are described or alluded to by many +ancient writers. + +The funeral rites of Osiris, as they were observed at his great +festival in the sixteen provinces of Egypt, are described in a long +inscription of the Ptolemaic period, which is engraved on the walls +of the god's temple at Denderah, the Tentyra of the Greeks, a town +of Upper Egypt situated on the western bank of the Nile about forty +miles north of Thebes. Unfortunately, while the information thus +furnished is remarkably full and minute on many points, the +arrangement adopted in the inscription is so confused and the +expression often so obscure that a clear and consistent account of +the ceremonies as a whole can hardly be extracted from it. Moreover, +we learn from the document that the ceremonies varied somewhat in +the several cities, the ritual of Abydos, for example, differing +from that of Busiris. Without attempting to trace all the +particularities of local usage I shall briefly indicate what seem to +have been the leading features of the festival, so far as these can +be ascertained with tolerable certainty. + +The rites lasted eighteen days, from the twelfth to the thirtieth of +the month Khoiak, and set forth the nature of Osiris in his triple +aspect as dead, dismembered, and finally reconstituted by the union +of his scattered limbs. In the first of these aspects he was called +Chent-Ament (Khenti-Amenti), in the second Osiris-Sep, and in the +third Sokari (Seker). Small images of the god were moulded of sand +or vegetable earth and corn, to which incense was sometimes added; +his face was painted yellow and his cheek-bones green. These images +were cast in a mould of pure gold, which represented the god in the +form of a mummy, with the white crown of Egypt on his head. The +festival opened on the twelfth day of Khoiak with a ceremony of +ploughing and sowing. Two black cows were yoked to the plough, which +was made of tamarisk wood, while the share was of black copper. A +boy scattered the seed. One end of the field was sown with barley, +the other with spelt, and the middle with flax. During the operation +the chief celebrant recited the ritual chapter of "the sowing of the +fields." At Busiris on the twentieth of Khoiak sand and barley were +put in the god's "garden," which appears to have been a sort of +large flower-pot. This was done in the presence of the cow-goddess +Shenty, represented seemingly by the image of a cow made of gilt +sycamore wood with a headless human image in its inside. "Then fresh +inundation water was poured out of a golden vase over both the +goddess and the 'garden,' and the barley was allowed to grow as the +emblem of the resurrection of the god after his burial in the earth, +'for the growth of the garden is the growth of the divine +substance.'" On the twenty-second of Khoiak, at the eighth hour, the +images of Osiris, attended by thirty-four images of deities, +performed a mysterious voyage in thirty-four tiny boats made of +papyrus, which were illuminated by three hundred and sixty-five +lights. On the twenty-fourth of Khoiak, after sunset, the effigy of +Osiris in a coffin of mulberry wood was laid in the grave, and at +the ninth hour of the night the effigy which had been made and +deposited the year before was removed and placed upon boughs of +sycamore. Lastly, on the thirtieth day of Khoiak they repaired to +the holy sepulchre, a subterranean chamber over which appears to +have grown a clump of Persea-trees. Entering the vault by the +western door, they laid the coffined effigy of the dead god +reverently on a bed of sand in the chamber. So they left him to his +rest, and departed from the sepulchre by the eastern door. Thus +ended the ceremonies in the month of Khoiak. + +In the foregoing account of the festival, drawn from the great +inscription of Denderah, the burial of Osiris figures prominently, +while his resurrection is implied rather than expressed. This defect +of the document, however, is amply compensated by a remarkable +series of bas-reliefs which accompany and illustrate the +inscription. These exhibit in a series of scenes the dead god lying +swathed as a mummy on his bier, then gradually raising himself up +higher and higher, until at last he has entirely quitted the bier +and is seen erect between the guardian wings of the faithful Isis, +who stands behind him, while a male figure holds up before his eyes +the _crux ansata,_ the Egyptian symbol of life. The resurrection of +the god could hardly be portrayed more graphically. Even more +instructive, however, is another representation of the same event in +a chamber dedicated to Osiris in the great temple of Isis at Philae. +Here we see the dead body of Osiris with stalks of corn springing +from it, while a priest waters the stalks from a pitcher which he +holds in his hand. The accompanying inscription sets forth that +"this is the form of him whom one may not name, Osiris of the +mysteries, who springs from the returning waters." Taken together, +the picture and the words seem to leave no doubt that Osiris was +here conceived and represented as a personification of the corn +which springs from the fields after they have been fertilised by the +inundation. This, according to the inscription, was the kernel of +the mysteries, the innermost secret revealed to the initiated. So in +the rites of Demeter at Eleusis a reaped ear of corn was exhibited +to the worshippers as the central mystery of their religion. We can +now fully understand why at the great festival of sowing in the +month of Khoiak the priests used to bury effigies of Osiris made of +earth and corn. When these effigies were taken up again at the end +of a year or of a shorter interval, the corn would be found to have +sprouted from the body of Osiris, and this sprouting of the grain +would be hailed as an omen, or rather as the cause, of the growth of +the crops. The corn-god produced the corn from himself: he gave his +own body to feed the people: he died that they might live. + +And from the death and resurrection of their great god the Egyptians +drew not only their support and sustenance in this life, but also +their hope of a life eternal beyond the grave. This hope is +indicated in the clearest manner by the very remarkable effigies of +Osiris which have come to light in Egyptian cemeteries. Thus in the +Valley of the Kings at Thebes there was found the tomb of a royal +fan-bearer who lived about 1500 B.C. Among the rich contents of the +tomb there was a bier on which rested a mattress of reeds covered +with three layers of linen. On the upper side of the linen was +painted a life-size figure of Osiris; and the interior of the +figure, which was waterproof, contained a mixture of vegetable +mould, barley, and a sticky fluid. The barley had sprouted and sent +out shoots two or three inches long. Again, in the cemetery at +Cynopolis "were numerous burials of Osiris figures. These were made +of grain wrapped up in cloth and roughly shaped like an Osiris, and +placed inside a bricked-up recess at the side of the tomb, sometimes +in small pottery coffins, sometimes in wooden coffins in the form of +a hawkmummy, sometimes without any coffins at all." These +corn-stuffed figures were bandaged like mummies with patches of +gilding here and there, as if in imitation of the golden mould in +which the similar figures of Osiris were cast at the festival of +sowing. Again, effigies of Osiris, with faces of green wax and their +interior full of grain, were found buried near the necropolis of +Thebes. Finally, we are told by Professor Erman that between the +legs of mummies "there sometimes lies a figure of Osiris made of +slime; it is filled with grains of corn, the sprouting of which is +intended to signify the resurrection of the god." We cannot doubt +that, just as the burial of corn-stuffed images of Osiris in the +earth at the festival of sowing was designed to quicken the seed, so +the burial of similar images in the grave was meant to quicken the +dead, in other words, to ensure their spiritual immortality. + + + + +XL. The Nature of Osiris + + + +1. Osiris a Corn-god + +THE FOREGOING survey of the myth and ritual of Osiris may suffice to +prove that in one of his aspects the god was a personification of +the corn, which may be said to die and come to life again every +year. Through all the pomp and glamour with which in later times the +priests had invested his worship, the conception of him as the +corn-god comes clearly out in the festival of his death and +resurrection, which was celebrated in the month of Khoiak and at a +later period in the month of Athyr. That festival appears to have +been essentially a festival of sowing, which properly fell at the +time when the husbandman actually committed the seed to the earth. +On that occasion an effigy of the corn-god, moulded of earth and +corn, was buried with funeral rites in the ground in order that, +dying there, he might come to life again with the new crops. The +ceremony was, in fact, a charm to ensure the growth of the corn by +sympathetic magic, and we may conjecture that as such it was +practised in a simple form by every Egyptian farmer on his fields +long before it was adopted and transfigured by the priests in the +stately ritual of the temple. In the modern, but doubtless ancient, +Arab custom of burying "the Old Man," namely, a sheaf of wheat, in +the harvest-field and praying that he may return from the dead, we +see the germ out of which the worship of the corn-god Osiris was +probably developed. + +The details of his myth fit in well with this interpretation of the +god. He was said to be the offspring of Sky and Earth. What more +appropriate parentage could be invented for the corn which springs +from the ground that has been fertilised by the water of heaven? It +is true that the land of Egypt owed its fertility directly to the +Nile and not to showers; but the inhabitants must have known or +guessed that the great river in its turn was fed by the rains which +fell in the far interior. Again, the legend that Osiris was the +first to teach men the use of corn would be most naturally told of +the corn-god himself. Further, the story that his mangled remains +were scattered up and down the land and buried in different places +may be a mythical way of expressing either the sowing or the +winnowing of the grain. The latter interpretation is supported by +the tale that Isis placed the severed limbs of Osiris on a +corn-sieve. Or more probably the legend may be a reminiscence of a +custom of slaying a human victim, perhaps a representative of the +corn-spirit, and distributing his flesh or scattering his ashes over +the fields to fertilise them. In modern Europe the figure of Death +is sometimes torn in pieces, and the fragments are then buried in +the ground to make the crops grow well, and in other parts of the +world human victims are treated in the same way. With regard to the +ancient Egyptians we have it on the authority of Manetho that they +used to burn red-haired men and scatter their ashes with winnowing +fans, and it is highly significant that this barbarous sacrifice was +offered by the kings at the grave of Osiris. We may conjecture that +the victims represented Osiris himself, who was annually slain, +dismembered, and buried in their persons that he might quicken the +seed in the earth. + +Possibly in prehistoric times the kings themselves played the part +of the god and were slain and dismembered in that character. Set as +well as Osiris is said to have been torn in pieces after a reign of +eighteen days, which was commemorated by an annual festival of the +same length. According to one story Romulus, the first king of Rome, +was cut in pieces by the senators, who buried the fragments of him +in the ground; and the traditional day of his death, the seventh of +July, was celebrated with certain curious rites, which were +apparently connected with the artificial fertilisation of the fig. +Again, Greek legend told how Pentheus, king of Thebes, and Lycurgus, +king of the Thracian Edonians, opposed the vine-god Dionysus, and +how the impious monarchs were rent in pieces, the one by the +frenzied Bacchanals, the other by horses. The Greek traditions may +well be distorted reminiscences of a custom of sacrificing human +beings, and especially divine kings, in the character of Dionysus, a +god who resembled Osiris in many points and was said like him to +have been torn limb from limb. We are told that in Chios men were +rent in pieces as a sacrifice to Dionysus; and since they died the +same death as their god, it is reasonable to suppose that they +personated him. The story that the Thracian Orpheus was similarly +torn limb from limb by the Bacchanals seems to indicate that he too +perished in the character of the god whose death he died. It is +significant that the Thracian Lycurgus, king of the Edonians, is +said to have been put to death in order that the ground, which had +ceased to be fruitful, might regain its fertility. + +Further, we read of a Norwegian king, Halfdan the Black, whose body +was cut up and buried in different parts of his kingdom for the sake +of ensuring the fruitfulness of the earth. He is said to have been +drowned at the age of forty through the breaking of the ice in +spring. What followed his death is thus related by the old Norse +historian Snorri Sturluson: "He had been the most prosperous +(literally, blessed with abundance) of all kings. So greatly did men +value him that when the news came that he was dead and his body +removed to Hringariki and intended for burial there, the chief men +from Raumariki and Westfold and Heithmörk came and all requested +that they might take his body with them and bury it in their various +provinces; they thought that it would bring abundance to those who +obtained it. Eventually it was settled that the body was distributed +in four places. The head was laid in a barrow at Steinn in +Hringariki, and each party took away their own share and buried it. +All these barrows are called Halfdan's barrows." It should be +remembered that this Halfdan belonged to the family of the Ynglings, +who traced their descent from Frey, the great Scandinavian god of +fertility. + +The natives of Kiwai, an island lying off the mouth of the Fly River +in British New Guinea, tell of a certain magician named Segera, who +had sago for his totem. When Segera was old and ill, he told the +people that he would soon die, but that, nevertheless, he would +cause their gardens to thrive. Accordingly, he instructed them that +when he was dead they should cut him up and place pieces of his +flesh in their gardens, but his head was to be buried in his own +garden. Of him it is said that he outlived the ordinary age, and +that no man knew his father, but that he made the sago good and no +one was hungry any more. Old men who were alive some years ago +affirmed that they had known Segera in their youth, and the general +opinion of the Kiwai people seems to be that Segera died not more +than two generations ago. + +Taken all together, these legends point to a widespread practice of +dismembering the body of a king or magician and burying the pieces +in different parts of the country in order to ensure the fertility +of the ground and probably also the fecundity of man and beast. + +To return to the human victims whose ashes the Egyptians scattered +with winnowing-fans, the red hair of these unfortunates was probably +significant. For in Egypt the oxen which were sacrificed had also to +be red; a single black or white hair found on the beast would have +disqualified it for the sacrifice. If, as I conjecture, these human +sacrifices were intended to promote the growth of the crops--and the +winnowing of their ashes seems to support this view--redhaired +victims were perhaps selected as best fitted to personate the spirit +of the ruddy grain. For when a god is represented by a living +person, it is natural that the human representative should be chosen +on the ground of his supposed resemblance to the divine original. +Hence the ancient Mexicans, conceiving the maize as a personal being +who went through the whole course of life between seed-time and +harvest, sacrificed new-born babes when the maize was sown, older +children when it had sprouted, and so on till it was fully ripe, +when they sacrificed old men. A name for Osiris was the "crop" or +"harvest"; and the ancients sometimes explained him as a +personification of the corn. + + + +2. Osiris a Tree-spirit + +BUT Osiris was more than a spirit of the corn; he was also a +tree-spirit, and this may perhaps have been his primitive character, +since the worship of trees is naturally older in the history of +religion than the worship of the cereals. The character of Osiris as +a tree-spirit was represented very graphically in a ceremony +described by Firmicus Maternus. A pine-tree having been cut down, +the centre was hollowed out, and with the wood thus excavated an +image of Osiris was made, which was then buried like a corpse in the +hollow of the tree. It is hard to imagine how the conception of a +tree as tenanted by a personal being could be more plainly +expressed. The image of Osiris thus made was kept for a year and +then burned, exactly as was done with the image of Attis which was +attached to the pine-tree. The ceremony of cutting the tree, as +described by Firmicus Maternus, appears to be alluded to by +Plutarch. It was probably the ritual counterpart of the mythical +discovery of the body of Osiris enclosed in the _erica_-tree. In the +hall of Osiris at Denderah the coffin containing the hawk-headed +mummy of the god is clearly depicted as enclosed within a tree, +apparently a conifer, the trunk and branches of which are seen above +and below the coffin. The scene thus corresponds closely both to the +myth and to the ceremony described by Firmicus Maternus. + +It accords with the character of Osiris as a tree-spirit that his +worshippers were forbidden to injure fruit-trees, and with his +character as a god of vegetation in general that they were not +allowed to stop up wells of water, which are so important for the +irrigation of hot southern lands. According to one legend, he taught +men to train the vine to poles, to prune its superfluous foliage, +and to extract the juice of the grape. In the papyrus of Nebseni, +written about 1550 B.C., Osiris is depicted sitting in a shrine, +from the roof of which hang clusters of grapes; and in the papyrus +of the royal scribe Nekht we see the god enthroned in front of a +pool, from the banks of which a luxuriant vine, with many bunches of +grapes, grows towards the green face of the seated deity. The ivy +was sacred to him, and was called his plant because it is always +green. + + + +3. Osiris a God of Fertility + +AS A GOD of vegetation Osiris was naturally conceived as a god of +creative energy in general, since men at a certain stage of +evolution fail to distinguish between the reproductive powers of +animals and of plants. Hence a striking feature in his worship was +the coarse but expressive symbolism by which this aspect of his +nature was presented to the eye not merely of the initiated but of +the multitude. At his festival women used to go about the villages +singing songs in his praise and carrying obscene images of him which +they set in motion by means of strings. The custom was probably a +charm to ensure the growth of the crops. A similar image of him, +decked with all the fruits of the earth, is said to have stood in a +temple before a figure of Isis, and in the chambers dedicated to him +at Philae the dead god is portrayed lying on his bier in an attitude +which indicates in the plainest way that even in death his +generative virtue was not extinct but only suspended, ready to prove +a source of life and fertility to the world when the opportunity +should offer. Hymns addressed to Osiris contain allusions to this +important side of his nature. In one of them it is said that the +world waxes green in triumph through him; and another declares, +"Thou art the father and mother of mankind, they live on thy breath, +they subsist on the flesh of thy body." We may conjecture that in +this paternal aspect he was supposed, like other gods of fertility, +to bless men and women with offspring, and that the processions at +his festival were intended to promote this object as well as to +quicken the seed in the ground. It would be to misjudge ancient +religion to denounce as lewd and profligate the emblems and the +ceremonies which the Egyptians employed for the purpose of giving +effect to this conception of the divine power. The ends which they +proposed to themselves in these rites were natural and laudable; +only the means they adopted to compass them were mistaken. A similar +fallacy induced the Greeks to adopt a like symbolism in their +Dionysiac festivals, and the superficial but striking resemblance +thus produced between the two religions has perhaps more than +anything else misled enquirers, both ancient and modern, into +identifying worships which, though certainly akin in nature, are +perfectly distinct and independent in origin. + + + +4. Osiris a God of the Dead + +WE have seen that in one of his aspects Osiris was the ruler and +judge of the dead. To a people like the Egyptians, who not only +believed in a life beyond the grave but actually spent much of their +time, labour, and money in preparing for it, this office of the god +must have appeared hardly, if at all, less important than his +function of making the earth to bring forth its fruits in due +season. We may assume that in the faith of his worshippers the two +provinces of the god were intimately connected. In laying their dead +in the grave they committed them to his keeping who could raise them +from the dust to life eternal, even as he caused the seed to spring +from the ground. Of that faith the corn-stuffed effigies of Osiris +found in Egyptian tombs furnish an eloquent and un-equivocal +testimony. They were at once an emblem and an instrument of +resurrection. Thus from the sprouting of the grain the ancient +Egyptians drew an augury of human immortality. They are not the only +people who have built the same lofty hopes on the same slender +foundation. + +A god who thus fed his people with his own broken body in this life, +and who held out to them a promise of a blissful eternity in a +better world hereafter, naturally reigned supreme in their +affections. We need not wonder, therefore, that in Egypt the worship +of the other gods was overshadowed by that of Osiris, and that while +they were revered each in his own district, he and his divine +partner Isis were adored in all. + + + + +XLI. Isis + +THE ORIGINAL meaning of the goddess Isis is still more difficult to +determine than that of her brother and husband Osiris. Her +attributes and epithets were so numerous that in the hieroglyphics +she is called "the many-named," "the thousand-named," and in Greek +inscriptions "the myriad-named." Yet in her complex nature it is +perhaps still possible to detect the original nucleus round which by +a slow process of accretion the other elements gathered. For if her +brother and husband Osiris was in one of his aspects the corn-god, +as we have seen reason to believe, she must surely have been the +corn-goddess. There are at least some grounds for thinking so. For +if we may trust Diodorus Siculus, whose authority appears to have +been the Egyptian historian Manetho, the discovery of wheat and +barley was attributed to Isis, and at her festivals stalks of these +grains were carried in procession to commemorate the boon she had +conferred on men. A further detail is added by Augustine. He says +that Isis made the discovery of barley at the moment when she was +sacrificing to the common ancestors of her husband and herself, all +of whom had been kings, and that she showed the newly discovered +ears of barley to Osiris and his councillor Thoth or Mercury, as +Roman writers called him. That is why, adds Augustine, they identify +Isis with Ceres. Further, at harvest-time, when the Egyptian reapers +had cut the first stalks, they laid them down and beat their +breasts, wailing and calling upon Isis. The custom has been already +explained as a lamen for the corn-spirit slain under the sickle. +Amongst the epithets by which Isis is designated in the inscriptions +are "Creatress of green things," "Green goddess, whose green colour +is like unto the greenness of the earth," "Lady of Bread," "Lady of +Beer," "Lady of Abundance." According to Brugsch she is "not only +the creatress of the fresh verdure of vegetation which covers the +earth, but is actually the green corn-field itself, which is +personified as a goddess." This is confirmed by her epithet _Sochit_ +or _Sochet,_ meaning "a corn-field," a sense which the word still +retains in Coptic. The Greeks conceived of Isis as a corn-goddess, +for they identified her with Demeter. In a Greek epigram she is +described as "she who has given birth to the fruits of the earth," +and "the mother of the ears of corn"; and in a hymn composed in her +honour she speaks of herself as "queen of the wheat-field," and is +described as "charged with the care of the fruitful furrow's +wheat-rich path." Accordingly, Greek or Roman artists often +represented her with ears of corn on her head or in her hand. + +Such, we may suppose, was Isis in the olden time, a rustic +Corn-Mother adored with uncouth rites by Egyptian swains. But the +homely features of the clownish goddess could hardly be traced in +the refined, the saintly form which, spiritualised by ages of +religious evolution, she presented to her worshippers of after days +as the true wife, the tender mother, the beneficent queen of nature, +encircled with the nimbus of moral purity, of immemorial and +mysterious sanctity. Thus chastened and transfigured she won many +hearts far beyond the boundaries of her native land. In that welter +of religions which accompanied the decline of national life in +antiquity her worship was one of the most popular at Rome and +throughout the empire. Some of the Roman emperors themselves were +openly addicted to it. And however the religion of Isis may, like +any other, have been often worn as a cloak by men and women of loose +life, her rites appear on the whole to have been honourably +distinguished by a dignity and composure, a solemnity and decorum, +well fitted to soothe the troubled mind, to ease the burdened heart. +They appealed therefore to gentle spirits, and above all to women, +whom the bloody and licentious rites of other Oriental goddesses +only shocked and repelled. We need not wonder, then, that in a +period of decadence, when traditional faiths were shaken, when +systems clashed, when men's minds were disquieted, when the fabric +of empire itself, once deemed eternal, began to show ominous rents +and fissures, the serene figure of Isis with her spiritual calm, her +gracious promise of immortality, should have appeared to many like a +star in a stormy sky, and should have roused in their breasts a +rapture of devotion not unlike that which was paid in the Middle +Ages to the Virgin Mary. Indeed her stately ritual, with its shaven +and tonsured priests, its matins and vespers, its tinkling music, +its baptism and aspersions of holy water, its solemn processions, +its jewelled images of the Mother of God, presented many points of +similarity to the pomps and ceremonies of Catholicism. The +resemblance need not be purely accidental. Ancient Egypt may have +contributed its share to the gorgeous symbolism of the Catholic +Church as well as to the pale abstractions of her theology. +Certainly in art the figure of Isis suckling the infant Horus is so +like that of the Madonna and child that it has sometimes received +the adoration of ignorant Christians. And to Isis in her later +character of patroness of mariners the Virgin Mary perhaps owes her +beautiful epithet of _Stella Maris,_ "Star of the Sea," under which +she is adored by tempest-tossed sailors. The attributes of a marine +deity may have been bestowed on Isis by the sea-faring Greeks of +Alexandria. They are quite foreign to her original character and to +the habits of the Egyptians, who had no love of the sea. On this +hypothesis Sirius, the bright star of Isis, which on July mornings +rises from the glassy waves of the eastern Mediterranean, a +harbinger of halcyon weather to mariners, was the true _Stella +Maris,_ "the Star of the Sea." + + + +XLII. Osiris and the Sun + +OSIRIS has been sometimes interpreted as the sun-god, and in modern +times this view has been held by so many distinguished writers that +it deserves a brief examination. If we enquire on what evidence +Osiris has been identified with the sun or the sun-god, it will be +found on analysis to be minute in quantity and dubious, where it is +not absolutely worthless, in quality. The diligent Jablonski, the +first modern scholar to collect and sift the testimony of classical +writers on Egyptian religion, says that it can be shown in many ways +that Osiris is the sun, and that he could produce a cloud of +witnesses to prove it, but that it is needless to do so, since no +learned man is ignorant of the fact. Of the ancient writers whom he +condescends to quote, the only two who expressly identify Osiris +with the sun are Diodorus and Macrobius. But little weight can be +attached to their evidence; for the statement of Diodorus is vague +and rhetorical, and the reasons which Macrobius, one of the fathers +of solar mythology, assigns for the identification are exceedingly +slight. + +The ground upon which some modern writers seem chiefly to rely for +the identification of Osiris with the sun is that the story of his +death fits better with the solar phenomena than with any other in +nature. It may readily be admitted that the daily appearance and +disappearance of the sun might very naturally be expressed by a myth +of his death and resurrection; and writers who regard Osiris as the +sun are careful to indicate that it is the diurnal, and not the +annual, course of the sun to which they understand the myth to +apply. Thus Renouf, who identified Osiris with the sun, admitted +that the Egyptian sun could not with any show of reason be described +as dead in winter. But if his daily death was the theme of the +legend, why was it celebrated by an annual ceremony? This fact alone +seems fatal to the interpretation of the myth as descriptive of +sunset and sunrise. Again, though the sun may be said to die daily, +in what sense can he be said to be torn in pieces? + +In the course of our enquiry it has, I trust, been made clear that +there is another natural phenomenon to which the conception of death +and resurrection is as applicable as to sunset and sunrise, and +which, as a matter of fact, has been so conceived and represented in +folk-custom. That phenomenon is the annual growth and decay of +vegetation. A strong reason for interpreting the death of Osiris as +the decay of vegetation rather than as the sunset is to be found in +the general, though not unanimous, voice of antiquity, which classed +together the worship and myths of Osiris, Adonis, Attis, Dionysus, +and Demeter, as religions of essentially the same type. The +consensus of ancient opinion on this subject seems too great to be +rejected as a mere fancy. So closely did the rites of Osiris +resemble those of Adonis at Byblus that some of the people of Byblus +themselves maintained that it was Osiris and not Adonis whose death +was mourned by them. Such a view could certainly not have been held +if the rituals of the two gods had not been so alike as to be almost +indistinguishable. Herodotus found the similarity between the rites +of Osiris and Dionysus so great, that he thought it impossible the +latter could have arisen independently; they must, he supposed, have +been recently borrowed, with slight alterations, by the Greeks from +the Egyptians. Again, Plutarch, a very keen student of comparative +religion, insists upon the detailed resemblance of the rites of +Osiris to those of Dionysus. We cannot reject the evidence of such +intelligent and trustworthy witnesses on plain matters of fact which +fell under their own cognizance. Their explanations of the worships +it is indeed possible to reject, for the meaning of religious cults +is often open to question; but resemblances of ritual are matters of +observation. Therefore, those who explain Osiris as the sun are +driven to the alternative of either dismissing as mistaken the +testimony of antiquity to the similarity of the rites of Osiris, +Adonis, Attis, Dionysus, and Demeter, or of interpreting all these +rites as sun-worship. No modern scholar has fairly faced and +accepted either side of this alternative. To accept the former would +be to affirm that we know the rites of these deities better than the +men who practised, or at least who witnessed them. To accept the +latter would involve a wrenching, clipping, mangling, and distorting +of myth and ritual from which even Macrobius shrank. On the other +hand, the view that the essence of all these rites was the mimic +death and revival of vegetation, explains them separately and +collectively in an easy and natural way, and harmonises with the +general testimony borne by the ancients to their substantial +similarity. + + + +XLIII. Dionysus + +IN THE PRECEDING chapters we saw that in antiquity the civilised +nations of Western Asia and Egypt pictured to themselves the changes +of the seasons, and particularly the annual growth and decay of +vegetation, as episodes in the life of gods, whose mournful death +and happy resurrection they celebrated with dramatic rites of +alternate lamentation and rejoicing. But if the celebration was in +form dramatic, it was in substance magical; that is to say, it was +intended, on the principles of sympathetic magic, to ensure the +vernal regeneration of plants and the multiplication of animals, +which had seemed to be menaced by the inroads of winter. In the +ancient world, however, such ideas and such rites were by no means +confined to the Oriental peoples of Babylon and Syria, of Phrygia +and Egypt; they were not a product peculiar to the religious +mysticism of the dreamy East, but were shared by the races of +livelier fancy and more mercurial temperament who inhabited the +shores and islands of the Aegean. We need not, with some enquirers +in ancient and modern times, suppose that these Western peoples +borrowed from the older civilisation of the Orient the conception of +the Dying and Reviving God, together with the solemn ritual, in +which that conception was dramatically set forth before the eyes of +the worshippers. More probably the resemblance which may be traced +in this respect between the religions of the East and West is no +more than what we commonly, though incorrectly, call a fortuitous +coincidence, the effect of similar causes acting alike on the +similar constitution of the human mind in different countries and +under different skies. The Greek had no need to journey into far +countries to learn the vicissitudes of the seasons, to mark the +fleeting beauty of the damask rose, the transient glory of the +golden corn, the passing splendour of the purple grapes. Year by +year in his own beautiful land he beheld, with natural regret, the +bright pomp of summer fading into the gloom and stagnation of +winter, and year by year he hailed with natural delight the outburst +of fresh life in spring. Accustomed to personify the forces of +nature, to tinge her cold abstractions with the warm hues of +imagination, to clothe her naked realities with the gorgeous drapery +of a mythic fancy, he fashioned for himself a train of gods and +goddesses, of spirits and elves, out of the shifting panorama of the +seasons, and followed the annual fluctuations of their fortunes with +alternate emotions of cheerfulness and dejection, of gladness and +sorrow, which found their natural expression in alternate rites of +rejoicing and lamentation, of revelry and mourning. A consideration +of some of the Greek divinities who thus died and rose again from +the dead may furnish us with a series of companion pictures to set +side by side with the sad figures of Adonis, Attis, and Osiris. We +begin with Dionysus. + +The god Dionysus or Bacchus is best known to us as a personification +of the vine and of the exhilaration produced by the juice of the +grape. His ecstatic worship, characterised by wild dances, thrilling +music, and tipsy excess, appears to have originated among the rude +tribes of Thrace, who were notoriously addicted to drunkenness. Its +mystic doctrines and extravagant rites were essentially foreign to +the clear intelligence and sober temperament of the Greek race. Yet +appealing as it did to that love of mystery and that proneness to +revert to savagery which seem to be innate in most men, the religion +spread like wildfire through Greece until the god whom Homer hardly +deigned to notice had become the most popular figure of the +pantheon. The resemblance which his story and his ceremonies present +to those of Osiris have led some enquirers both in ancient and +modern times to hold that Dionysus was merely a disguised Osiris, +imported directly from Egypt into Greece. But the great +preponderance of evidence points to his Thracian origin, and the +similarity of the two worships is sufficiently explained by the +similarity of the ideas and customs on which they were founded. + +While the vine with its clusters was the most characteristic +manifestation of Dionysus, he was also a god of trees in general. +Thus we are told that almost all the Greeks sacrificed to "Dionysus +of the tree." In Boeotia one of his titles was "Dionysus in the +tree." His image was often merely an upright post, without arms, but +draped in a mantle, with a bearded mask to represent the head, and +with leafy boughs projecting from the head or body to show the +nature of the deity. On a vase his rude effigy is depicted appearing +out of a low tree or bush. At Magnesia on the Maeander an image of +Dionysus is said to have been found in a plane-tree, which had been +broken by the wind. He was the patron of cultivated trees: prayers +were offered to him that he would make the trees grow; and he was +especially honoured by husbandmen, chiefly fruit-growers, who set up +an image of him, in the shape of a natural tree-stump, in their +orchards. He was said to have discovered all tree-fruits, amongst +which apples and figs are particularly mentioned; and he was +referred to as "well-fruited," "he of the green fruit," and "making +the fruit to grow." One of his titles was "teeming" or "bursting" +(as of sap or blossoms); and there was a Flowery Dionysus in Attica +and at Patrae in Achaia. The Athenians sacrificed to him for the +prosperity of the fruits of the land. Amongst the trees particularly +sacred to him, in addition to the vine, was the pine-tree. The +Delphic oracle commanded the Corinthians to worship a particular +pine-tree "equally with the god," so they made two images of +Dionysus out of it, with red faces and gilt bodies. In art a wand, +tipped with a pine-cone, is commonly carried by the god or his +worshippers. Again, the ivy and the fig-tree were especially +associated with him. In the Attic township of Acharnae there was a +Dionysus Ivy; at Lacedaemon there was a Fig Dionysus; and in Naxos, +where figs were called _meilicha,_ there was a Dionysus Meilichios, +the face of whose image was made of fig-wood. + +Further, there are indications, few but significant, that Dionysus +was conceived as a deity of agriculture and the corn. He is spoken +of as himself doing the work of a husbandman: he is reported to have +been the first to yoke oxen to the plough, which before had been +dragged by hand alone; and some people found in this tradition the +clue to the bovine shape in which, as we shall see, the god was +often supposed to present himself to his worshippers. Thus guiding +the ploughshare and scattering the seed as he went, Dionysus is said +to have eased the labour of the husbandman. Further, we are told +that in the land of the Bisaltae, a Thracian tribe, there was a +great and fair sanctuary of Dionysus, where at his festival a bright +light shone forth at night as a token of an abundant harvest +vouchsafed by the diety; but if the crops were to fail that year, +the mystic light was not seen, darkness brooded over the sanctuary +as at other times. Moreover, among the emblems of Dionysus was the +winnowing-fan, that is the large open shovel-shaped basket, which +down to modern times has been used by farmers to separate the grain +from the chaff by tossing the corn in the air. This simple +agricultural instrument figured in the mystic rites of Dionysus; +indeed the god is traditionally said to have been placed at birth in +a winnowing-fan as in a cradle: in art he is represented as an +infant so cradled; and from these traditions and representations he +derived the epithet of _Liknites,_ that is, "He of the +Winnowing-fan." + +Like other gods of vegetation Dionysus was believed to have died a +violent death, but to have been brought to life again; and his +sufferings, death, and resurrection were enacted in his sacred +rites. His tragic story is thus told by the poet Nonnus. Zeus in the +form of a serpent visited Persephone, and she bore him Zagreus, that +is, Dionysus, a horned infant. Scarcely was he born, when the babe +mounted the throne of his father Zeus and mimicked the great god by +brandishing the lightning in his tiny hand. But he did not occupy +the throne long; for the treacherous Titans, their faces whitened +with chalk, attacked him with knives while he was looking at himself +in a mirror. For a time he evaded their assaults by turning himself +into various shapes, assuming the likeness successively of Zeus and +Cronus, of a young man, of a lion, a horse, and a serpent. Finally, +in the form of a bull, he was cut to pieces by the murderous knives +of his enemies. His Cretan myth, as related by Firmicus Maternus, +ran thus. He was said to have been the bastard son of Jupiter, a +Cretan king. Going abroad, Jupiter transferred the throne and +sceptre to the youthful Dionysus, but, knowing that his wife Juno +cherished a jealous dislike of the child, he entrusted Dionysus to +the care of guards upon whose fidelity he believed he could rely. +Juno, however, bribed the guards, and amusing the child with rattles +and a cunningly-wrought looking glass lured him into an ambush, +where her satellites, the Titans, rushed upon him, cut him limb from +limb, boiled his body with various herbs, and ate it. But his sister +Minerva, who had shared in the deed, kept his heart and gave it to +Jupiter on his return, revealing to him the whole history of the +crime. In his rage, Jupiter put the Titans to death by torture, and, +to soothe his grief for the loss of his son, made an image in which +he enclosed the child's heart, and then built a temple in his +honour. In this version a Euhemeristic turn has been given to the +myth by representing Jupiter and Juno (Zeus and Hera) as a king and +queen of Crete. The guards referred to are the mythical Curetes who +danced a war-dance round the infant Dionysus, as they are said to +have done round the infant Zeus. Very noteworthy is the legend, +recorded both by Nonnus and Firmicus, that in his infancy Dionysus +occupied for a short time the throne of his father Zeus. So Proclus +tells us that "Dionysus was the last king of the gods appointed by +Zeus. For his father set him on the kingly throne, and placed in his +hand the sceptre, and made him king of all the gods of the world." +Such traditions point to a custom of temporarily investing the +king's son with the royal dignity as a preliminary to sacrificing +him instead of his father. Pomegranates were supposed to have sprung +from the blood of Dionysus, as anemones from the blood of Adonis and +violets from the blood of Attis: hence women refrained from eating +seeds of pomegranates at the festival of the Thesmophoria. According +to some, the severed limbs of Dionysus were pieced together, at the +command of Zeus, by Apollo, who buried them on Parnassus. The grave +of Dionysus was shown in the Delphic temple beside a golden statue +of Apollo. However, according to another account, the grave of +Dionysus was at Thebes, where he is said to have been torn in +pieces. Thus far the resurrection of the slain god is not mentioned, +but in other versions of the myth it is variously related. According +to one version, which represented Dionysus as a son of Zeus and +Demeter, his mother pieced together his mangled limbs and made him +young again. In others it is simply said that shortly after his +burial he rose from the dead and ascended up to heaven; or that Zeus +raised him up as he lay mortally wounded; or that Zeus swallowed the +heart of Dionysus and then begat him afresh by Semele, who in the +common legend figures as mother of Dionysus. Or, again, the heart +was pounded up and given in a potion to Semele, who thereby +conceived him. + +Turning from the myth to the ritual, we find that the Cretans +celebrated a biennial festival at which the passion of Dionysus was +represented in every detail. All that he had done or suffered in his +last moments was enacted before the eyes of his worshippers, who +tore a live bull to pieces with their teeth and roamed the woods +with frantic shouts. In front of them was carried a casket supposed +to contain the sacred heart of Dionysus, and to the wild music of +flutes and cymbals they mimicked the rattles by which the infant god +had been lured to his doom. Where the resurrection formed part of +the myth, it also was acted at the rites, and it even appears that a +general doctrine of resurrection, or at least of immortality, was +inculcated on the worshippers; for Plutarch, writing to console his +wife on the death of their infant daughter, comforts her with the +thought of the immortality of the soul as taught by tradition and +revealed in the mysteries of Dionysus. A different form of the myth +of the death and resurrection of Dionysus is that he descended into +Hades to bring up his mother Semele from the dead. The local Argive +tradition was that he went down through the Alcyonian lake; and his +return from the lower world, in other words his resurrection, was +annually celebrated on the spot by the Argives, who summoned him +from the water by trumpet blasts, while they threw a lamb into the +lake as an offering to the warder of the dead. Whether this was a +spring festival does not appear, but the Lydians certainly +celebrated the advent of Dionysus in spring; the god was supposed to +bring the season with him. Deities of vegetation, who are believed +to pass a certain portion of each year underground, naturally come +to be regarded as gods of the lower world or of the dead. Both +Dionysus and Osiris were so conceived. + +A feature in the mythical character of Dionysus, which at first +sight appears inconsistent with his nature as a deity of vegetation, +is that he was often conceived and represented in animal shape, +especially in the form, or at least with the horns, of a bull. Thus +he is spoken of as "cow-born," "bull," "bull-shaped," "bull-faced," +"bull-browed," "bull-horned," "horn-bearing," "two-horned," +"horned." He was believed to appear, at least occasionally, as a +bull. His images were often, as at Cyzicus, made in bull shape, or +with bull horns; and he was painted with horns. Types of the horned +Dionysus are found amongst the surviving monuments of antiquity. On +one statuette he appears clad in a bull's hide, the head, horns, and +hoofs hanging down behind. Again, he is represented as a child with +clusters of grapes round his brow, and a calf's head, with sprouting +horns, attached to the back of his head. On a red-figured vase the +god is portrayed as a calf-headed child seated on a woman's lap. The +people of Cynaetha held a festival of Dionysus in winter, when men, +who had greased their 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 particular +bull, which probably represented the deity himself; for at his +festivals he was believed to appear in bull form. The women of Elis +hailed him as a bull, and prayed him to come with his bull's foot. +They sang, "Come hither, Dionysus, to thy holy temple by the sea; +come with the Graces to thy temple, rushing with thy bull's foot, O +goodly bull, O goodly bull!" The Bacchanals of Thrace wore horns in +imitation of their god. According to the myth, it was in the shape +of a bull that he was torn to pieces by the Titans; and the Cretans, +when they acted the sufferings and death of Dionysus, tore a live +bull to pieces with their teeth. Indeed, the rending and devouring +of live bulls and calves appear to have been a regular feature of +the Dionysiac rites. When we consider the practice of portraying the +god as a bull or with some of the features of the animal, the belief +that he appeared in bull form to his worshippers at the sacred +rites, and the legend that in bull form he had been torn in pieces, +we cannot doubt that in rending and devouring a live bull at his +festival the worshippers of Dionysus believed themselves to be +killing the god, eating his flesh, and drinking his blood. + +Another animal whose form Dionysus assumed was the goat. One of his +names was "Kid." At Athens and at Hermion he was worshipped under +the title of "the one of the Black Goatskin," and a legend ran that +on a certain occasion he had appeared clad in the skin from which he +took the title. In the wine-growing district of Phlius, where in +autumn the plain is still thickly mantled with the red and golden +foliage of the fading vines, there stood of old a bronze image of a +goat, which the husbandmen plastered with gold-leaf as a means of +protecting their vines against blight. The image probably +represented the vine-god himself. To save him from the wrath of +Hera, his father Zeus changed the youthful Dionysus into a kid; and +when the gods fled to Egypt to escape the fury of Typhon, Dionysus +was turned into a goat. Hence when his worshippers rent in pieces a +live goat and devoured it raw, they must have believed that they +were eating the body and blood of the god. The custom of tearing in +pieces the bodies of animals and of men and then devouring them raw +has been practised as a religious rite by savages in modern times. +We need not therefore dismiss as a fable the testimony of antiquity +to the observance of similar rites among the frenzied worshippers of +Bacchus. + +The custom of killing a god in animal form, which we shall examine +more in detail further on, belongs to a very early stage of human +culture, and is apt in later times to be misunderstood. The advance +of thought tends to strip the old animal and plant gods of their +bestial and vegetable husk, and to leave their human attributes +(which are always the kernel of the conception) as the final and +sole residuum. In other words, animal and plant gods tend to become +purely anthropomorphic. When they have become wholly or nearly so, +the animals and plants which were at first the deities themselves, +still retain a vague and ill-understood connexion with the +anthropomorphic gods who have developed out of them. The origin of +the relationship between the deity and the animal or plant having +been forgotten, various stories are invented to explain it. These +explanations may follow one of two lines according as they are based +on the habitual or on the exceptional treatment of the sacred animal +or plant. The sacred animal was habitually spared, and only +exceptionally slain; and accordingly the myth might be devised to +explain either why it was spared or why it was killed. Devised for +the former purpose, the myth would tell of some service rendered to +the deity by the animal; devised for the latter purpose, the myth +would tell of some injury inflicted by the animal on the god. The +reason given for sacrificing goats to Dionysus exemplifies a myth of +the latter sort. They were sacrificed to him, it was said, because +they injured the vine. Now the goat, as we have seen, was originally +an embodiment of the god himself. But when the god had divested +himself of his animal character and had become essentially +anthropomorphic, the killing of the goat in his worship came to be +regarded no longer as a slaying of the deity himself, but as a +sacrifice offered to him; and since some reason had to be assigned +why the goat in particular should be sacrificed, it was alleged that +this was a punishment inflicted on the goat for injuring the vine, +the object of the god's especial care. Thus we have the strange +spectacle of a god sacrificed to himself on the ground that he is +his own enemy. And as the deity is supposed to partake of the victim +offered to him, it follows that, when the victim is the god's old +self, the god eats of his own flesh. Hence the goat-god Dionysus is +represented as eating raw goat's blood; and the bull-god Dionysus is +called "eater of bulls." On the analogy of these instances we may +conjecture that wherever a deity is described as the eater of a +particular animal, the animal in question was originally nothing but +the deity himself. Later on we shall find that some savages +propitiate dead bears and whales by offering them portions of their +own bodies. + +All this, however, does not explain why a deity of vegetation should +appear in animal form. But the consideration of that point had +better be deferred till we have discussed the character and +attributes of Demeter. Meantime it remains to mention that in some +places, instead of an animal, a human being was torn in pieces at +the rites of Dionysus. This was the practice in Chios and Tenedos; +and at Potniae in Boeotia the tradition ran that it had been +formerly the custom to sacrifice to the goat-smiting Dionysus a +child, for whom a goat was afterwards substituted. At Orchomenus, as +we have seen, the human victim was taken from the women of an old +royal family. As the slain bull or goat represented the slain god, +so, we may suppose, the human victim also represented him. + +The legends of the deaths of Pentheus and Lycurgus, two kings who +are said to have been torn to pieces, the one by Bacchanals, the +other by horses, for their opposition to the rites of Dionysus, may +be, as I have already suggested, distorted reminiscences of a custom +of sacrificing divine kings in the character of Dionysus and of +dispersing the fragments of their broken bodies over the fields for +the purpose of fertilising them. It is probably no mere coincidence +that Dionysus himself is said to have been torn in pieces at Thebes, +the very place where according to legend the same fate befell king +Pentheus at the hands of the frenzied votaries of the vine-god. + +However, a tradition of human sacrifice may sometimes have been a +mere misinterpretation of a sacrificial ritual in which an animal +victim was treated as a human being. For example, at Tenedos the +new-born calf sacrificed to Dionysus was shod in buskins, and the +mother cow was tended like a woman in child-bed. At Rome a shegoat +was sacrificed to Vedijovis as if it were a human victim. Yet on the +other hand it is equally possible, and perhaps more probable, that +these curious rites were themselves mitigations of an older and +ruder custom of sacrificing human beings, and that the later +pretence of treating the sacrificial victims as if they were human +beings was merely part of a pious and merciful fraud, which palmed +off on the deity less precious victims than living men and women. +This interpretation is supported by many undoubted cases in which +animals have been substituted for human victims. + + + +XLIV. Demeter and Persephone + +DIONYSUS was not the only Greek deity whose tragic story and ritual +appear to reflect the decay and revival of vegetation. In another +form and with a different application the old tale reappears in the +myth of Demeter and Persephone. Substantially their myth is +identical with the Syrian one of Aphrodite (Astarte) and Adonis, the +Phrygian one of Cybele and Attis, and the Egyptian one of Isis and +Osiris. In the Greek fable, as in its Asiatic and Egyptian +counterparts, a goddess mourns the loss of a loved one, who +personifies the vegetation, more especially the corn, which dies in +winter to revive in spring; only whereas the Oriental imagination +figured the loved and lost one as a dead lover or a dead husband +lamented by his leman or his wife, Greek fancy embodied the same +idea in the tenderer and purer form of a dead daughter bewailed by +her sorrowing mother. + +The oldest literary document which narrates the myth of Demeter and +Persephone is the beautiful Homeric _Hymn to Demeter,_ which critics +assign to the seventh century before our era. The object of the poem +is to explain the origin of the Eleusinian mysteries, and the +complete silence of the poet as to Athens and the Athenians, who in +after ages took conspicuous part in the festival, renders it +probable that the hymn was composed in the far off time when Eleusis +was still a petty independent state, and before the stately +procession of the Mysteries had begun to defile, in bright September +days, over the low chain of barren rocky hills which divides the +flat Eleusinian cornland from the more spacious olive-clad expanse +of the Athenian plain. Be that as it may, the hymn reveals to us the +conception which the writer entertained of the character and +functions of the two goddesses; their natural shapes stand out +sharply enough under the thin veil of poetical imagery. The youthful +Persephone, so runs the tale, was gathering roses and lilies, +crocuses and violets, hyacinths and narcissuses in a lush meadow, +when the earth gaped and Pluto, lord of the Dead, issuing from the +abyss carried her off on his golden car to be his bride and queen in +the gloomy subterranean world. Her sorrowing mother Demeter, with +her yellow tresses veiled in a dark mourning mantle, sought her over +land and sea, and learning from the Sun her daughter's fate she +withdrew in high dudgeon from the gods and took up her abode at +Eleusis, where she presented herself to the king's daughters in the +guise of an old woman, sitting sadly under the shadow of an olive +tree beside the Maiden's Well, to which the damsels had come to draw +water in bronze pitchers for their father's house. In her wrath at +her bereavement the goddess suffered not the seed to grow in the +earth but kept it hidden under ground, and she vowed that never +would she set foot on Olympus and never would she let the corn +sprout till her lost daughter should be restored to her. Vainly the +oxen dragged the ploughs to and fro in the fields; vainly the sower +dropped the barley seed in the brown furrows; nothing came up from +the parched and crumbling soil. Even the Rarian plain near Eleusis, +which was wont to wave with yellow harvests, lay bare and fallow. +Mankind would have perished of hunger and the gods would have been +robbed of the sacrifices which were their due, if Zeus in alarm had +not commanded Pluto to disgorge his prey, to restore his bride +Persephone to her mother Demeter. The grim lord of the Dead smiled +and obeyed, but before he sent back his queen to the upper air on a +golden car, he gave her the seed of a pomegranate to eat, which +ensured that she would return to him. But Zeus stipulated that +henceforth Persephone should spend two thirds of every year with her +mother and the gods in the upper world and one third of the year +with her husband in the nether world, from which she was to return +year by year when the earth was gay with spring flowers. Gladly the +daughter then returned to the sunshine, gladly her mother received +her and fell upon her neck; and in her joy at recovering the lost +one Demeter made the corn to sprout from the clods of the ploughed +fields and all the broad earth to be heavy with leaves and blossoms. +And straightway she went and showed this happy sight to the princes +of Eleusis, to Triptolemus, Eumolpus, Diocles, and to the king +Celeus himself, and moreover she revealed to them her sacred rites +and mysteries. Blessed, says the poet, is the mortal man who has +seen these things, but he who has had no share of them in life will +never be happy in death when he has descended into the darkness of +the grave. So the two goddesses departed to dwell in bliss with the +gods on Olympus; and the bard ends the hymn with a pious prayer to +Demeter and Persephone that they would be pleased to grant him a +livelihood in return for his song. + +It has been generally recognised, and indeed it seems scarcely open +to doubt, that the main theme which the poet set before himself in +composing this hymn was to describe the traditional foundation of +the Eleusinian mysteries by the goddess Demeter. The whole poem +leads up to the transformation scene in which the bare leafless +expanse of the Eleusinian plain is suddenly turned, at the will of +the goddess, into a vast sheet of ruddy corn; the beneficent deity +takes the princes of Eleusis, shows them what she has done, teaches +them her mystic rites, and vanishes with her daughter to heaven. The +revelation of the mysteries is the triumphal close of the piece. +This conclusion is confirmed by a more minute examination of the +poem, which proves that the poet has given, not merely a general +account of the foundation of the mysteries, but also in more or less +veiled language mythical explanations of the origin of particular +rites which we have good reason to believe formed essential features +of the festival. Amongst the rites as to which the poet thus drops +significant hints are the preliminary fast of the candidates for +initiation, the torchlight procession, the all-night vigil, the +sitting of the candidates, veiled and in silence, on stools covered +with sheepskins, the use of scurrilous language, the breaking of +ribald jests, and the solemn communion with the divinity by +participation in a draught of barley-water from a holy chalice. + +But there is yet another and a deeper secret of the mysteries which +the author of the poem appears to have divulged under cover of his +narrative. He tells us how, as soon as she had transformed the +barren brown expanse of the Eleusinian plain into a field of golden +grain, she gladdened the eyes of Triptolemus and the other +Eleusinian princes by showing them the growing or standing corn. +When we compare this part of the story with the statement of a +Christian writer of the second century, Hippolytus, that the very +heart of the mysteries consisted in showing to the initiated a +reaped ear of corn, we can hardly doubt that the poet of the hymn +was well acquainted with this solemn rite, and that he deliberately +intended to explain its origin in precisely the same way as he +explained other rites of the mysteries, namely by representing +Demeter as having set the example of performing the ceremony in her +own person. Thus myth and ritual mutually explain and confirm each +other. The poet of the seventh century before our era gives us the +myth--he could not without sacrilege have revealed the ritual: the +Christian father reveals the ritual, and his revelation accords +perfectly with the veiled hint of the old poet. On the whole, then, +we may, with many modern scholars, confidently accept the statement +of the learned Christian father Clement of Alexandria, that the myth +of Demeter and Persephone was acted as a sacred drama in the +mysteries of Eleusis. + +But if the myth was acted as a part, perhaps as the principal part, +of the most famous and solemn religious rites of ancient Greece, we +have still to enquire, What was, after all, stripped of later +accretions, the original kernel of the myth which appears to later +ages surrounded and transfigured by an aureole of awe and mystery, +lit up by some of the most brilliant rays of Grecian literature and +art? If we follow the indications given by our oldest literary +authority on the subject, the author of the Homeric hymn to Demeter, +the riddle is not hard to read; the figures of the two goddesses, +the mother and the daughter, resolve themselves into +personifications of the corn. At least this appears to be fairly +certain for the daughter Persephone. The goddess who spends three +or, according to another version of the myth, six months of every +year with the dead under ground and the remainder of the year with +the living above ground; in whose absence the barley seed is hidden +in the earth and the fields lie bare and fallow; on whose return in +spring to the upper world the corn shoots up from the clods and the +earth is heavy with leaves and blossoms--this goddess can surely be +nothing else than a mythical embodiment of the vegetation, and +particularly of the corn, which is buried under the soil for some +months of every winter and comes to life again, as from the grave, +in the sprouting cornstalks and the opening flowers and foliage of +every spring. No other reasonable and probable explanation of +Persephone seems possible. And if the daughter goddess was a +personification of the young corn of the present year, may not the +mother goddess be a personification of the old corn of last year, +which has given birth to the new crops? The only alternative to this +view of Demeter would seem to be to suppose that she is a +personification of the earth, from whose broad bosom the corn and +all other plants spring up, and of which accordingly they may +appropriately enough be regarded as the daughters. This view of the +original nature of Demeter has indeed been taken by some writers, +both ancient and modern, and it is one which can be reasonably +maintained. But it appears to have been rejected by the author of +the Homeric hymn to Demeter, for he not only distinguishes Demeter +from the personified Earth but places the two in the sharpest +opposition to each other. He tells us that it was Earth who, in +accordance with the will of Zeus and to please Pluto, lured +Persephone to her doom by causing the narcissuses to grow which +tempted the young goddess to stray far beyond the reach of help in +the lush meadow. Thus Demeter of the hymn, far from being identical +with the Earth-goddess, must have regarded that divinity as her +worst enemy, since it was to her insidious wiles that she owed the +loss of her daughter. But if the Demeter of the hymn cannot have +been a personification of the earth, the only alternative apparently +is to conclude that she was a personification of the corn. + +The conclusion is confirmed by the monuments; for in ancient art +Demeter and Persephone are alike characterised as goddesses of the +corn by the crowns of corn which they wear on their heads and by the +stalks of corn which they hold in their hands. Again, it was Demeter +who first revealed to the Athenians the secret of the corn and +diffused the beneficent discovery far and wide through the agency of +Triptolemus, whom she sent forth as an itinerant missionary to +communicate the boon to all mankind. On monuments of art, especially +in vase-paintings, he is constantly represented along with Demeter +in this capacity, holding corn-stalks in his hand and sitting in his +car, which is sometimes winged and sometimes drawn by dragons, and +from which he is said to have sowed the seed down on the whole world +as he sped through the air. In gratitude for the priceless boon many +Greek cities long continued to send the first-fruits of their barley +and wheat harvests as thank-offerings to the Two Goddesses, Demeter +and Persephone, at Eleusis, where subterranean granaries were built +to store the overflowing contributions. Theocritus tells how in the +island of Cos, in the sweet-scented summer time, the farmer brought +the first-fruits of the harvest to Demeter who had filled his +threshingfloor with barley, and whose rustic image held sheaves and +poppies in her hands. Many of the epithets bestowed by the ancients +on Demeter mark her intimate association with the corn in the +clearest manner. + +How deeply implanted in the mind of the ancient Greeks was this +faith in Demeter as goddess of the corn may be judged by the +circumstance that the faith actually persisted among their Christian +descendants at her old sanctuary of Eleusis down to the beginning of +the nineteenth century. For when the English traveller Dodwell +revisited Eleusis, the inhabitants lamented to him the loss of a +colossal image of Demeter, which was carried off by Clarke in 1802 +and presented to the University of Cambridge, where it still +remains. "In my first journey to Greece," says Dodwell, "this +protecting deity was in its full glory, situated in the centre of a +threshing-floor, amongst the ruins of her temple. The villagers were +impressed with a persuasion that their rich harvests were the effect +of her bounty, and since her removal, their abundance, as they +assured me, has disappeared." Thus we see the Corn Goddess Demeter +standing on the threshing-floor of Eleusis and dispensing corn to +her worshippers in the nineteenth century of the Christian era, +precisely as her image stood and dispensed corn to her worshippers +on the threshing-floor of Cos in the days of Theocritus. And just as +the people of Eleusis in the nineteenth century attributed the +diminution of their harvests to the loss of the image of Demeter, so +in antiquity the Sicilians, a corn-growing people devoted to the +worship of the two Corn Goddesses, lamented that the crops of many +towns had perished because the unscrupulous Roman governor Verres +had impiously carried off the image of Demeter from her famous +temple at Henna. Could we ask for a clearer proof that Demeter was +indeed the goddess of the corn than this belief, held by the Greeks +down to modern times, that the corn-crops depended on her presence +and bounty and perished when her image was removed? + +On the whole, then, if, ignoring theories, we adhere to the evidence +of the ancients themselves in regard to the rites of Eleusis, we +shall probably incline to agree with the most learned of ancient +antiquaries, the Roman Varro, who, to quote Augustine's report of +his opinion, "interpreted the whole of the Eleusinian mysteries as +relating to the corn which Ceres (Demeter) had discovered, and to +Proserpine (Persephone), whom Pluto had carried off from her. And +Proserpine herself he said, signifies the fecundity of the seeds, +the failure of which at a certain time had caused the earth to mourn +for barrenness, and therefore had given rise to the opinion that the +daughter of Ceres, that is, fecundity itself, had been ravished by +Pluto and detained in the nether world; and when the dearth had been +publicly mourned and fecundity had returned once more, there was +gladness at the return of Proserpine and solemn rites were +instituted accordingly. After that he says," continues Augustine, +reporting Varro, "that many things were taught in her mysteries +which had no reference but to the discovery of the corn." + +Thus far I have for the most part assumed an identity of nature +between Demeter and Persephone, the divine mother and daughter +personifying the corn in its double aspect of the seed-corn of last +year and the ripe ears of this, and this view of the substantial +unity of mother and daughter is borne out by their portraits in +Greek art, which are often so alike as to be indistinguishable. Such +a close resemblance between the artistic types of Demeter and +Persephone militates decidedly against the view that the two +goddesses are mythical embodiments of two things so different and so +easily distinguishable from each other as the earth and the +vegetation which springs from it. Had Greek artists accepted that +view of Demeter and Persephone, they could surely have devised types +of them which would have brought out the deep distinction between +the goddesses. And if Demeter did not personify the earth, can there +be any reasonable doubt that, like her daughter, she personified the +corn which was so commonly called by her name from the time of Homer +downwards? The essential identity of mother and daughter is +suggested, not only by the close resemblance of their artistic +types, but also by the official title of "the Two Goddesses" which +was regularly applied to them in the great sanctuary at Eleusis +without any specification of their individual attributes and titles, +as if their separate individualities had almost merged in a single +divine substance. + +Surveying the evidence as a whole, we are fairly entitled to +conclude that in the mind of the ordinary Greek the two goddesses +were essentially personifications of the corn, and that in this germ +the whole efflorescence of their religion finds implicitly its +explanation. But to maintain this is not to deny that in the long +course of religious evolution high moral and spiritual conceptions +were grafted on this simple original stock and blossomed out into +fairer flowers than the bloom of the barley and the wheat. Above +all, the thought of the seed buried in the earth in order to spring +up to new and higher life readily suggested a comparison with human +destiny, and strengthened the hope that for man too the grave may be +but the beginning of a better and happier existence in some brighter +world unknown. This simple and natural reflection seems perfectly +sufficient to explain the association of the Corn Goddess at Eleusis +with the mystery of death and the hope of a blissful immortality. +For that the ancients regarded initiation in the Eleusinian +mysteries as a key to unlock the gates of Paradise appears to be +proved by the allusions which well-informed writers among them drop +to the happiness in store for the initiated hereafter. No doubt it +is easy for us to discern the flimsiness of the logical foundation +on which such high hopes were built. But drowning men clutch at +straws, and we need not wonder that the Greeks, like ourselves, with +death before them and a great love of life in their hearts, should +not have stopped to weigh with too nice a hand the arguments that +told for and against the prospect of human immortality. The +reasoning that satisfied Saint Paul and has brought comfort to +untold thousands of sorrowing Christians, standing by the deathbed +or the open grave of their loved ones, was good enough to pass +muster with ancient pagans, when they too bowed their heads under +the burden of grief, and, with the taper of life burning low in the +socket, looked forward into the darkness of the unknown. Therefore +we do no indignity to the myth of Demeter and Persephone--one of the +few myths in which the sunshine and clarity of the Greek genius are +crossed by the shadow and mystery of death--when we trace its origin +to some of the most familiar, yet eternally affecting aspects of +nature, to the melancholy gloom and decay of autumn and to the +freshness, the brightness, and the verdure of spring. + + + +XLV. The Corn-Mother and the Corn-Maiden in Northern Europe + +IT has been argued by W. Mannhardt that the first part of Demeter's +name is derived from an alleged Cretan word _deai,_ "barley," and +that accordingly Demeter means neither more nor less than +"Barley-mother" or "Corn-mother"; for the root of the word seems to +have been applied to different kinds of grain by different branches +of the Aryans. As Crete appears to have been one of the most ancient +seats of the worship of Demeter, it would not be surprising if her +name were of Cretan origin. But the etymology is open to serious +objections, and it is safer therefore to lay no stress on it. Be +that as it may, we have found independent reasons for identifying +Demeter as the Corn-mother, and of the two species of corn +associated with her in Greek religion, namely barley and wheat, the +barley has perhaps the better claim to be her original element; for +not only would it seem to have been the staple food of the Greeks in +the Homeric age, but there are grounds for believing that it is one +of the oldest, if not the very oldest, cereal cultivated by the +Aryan race. Certainly the use of barley in the religious ritual of +the ancient Hindoos as well as of the ancient Greeks furnishes a +strong argument in favour of the great antiquity of its cultivation, +which is known to have been practised by the lake-dwellers of the +Stone Age in Europe. + +Analogies to the Corn-mother or Barley-mother of ancient Greece have +been collected in great abundance by W. Mannhardt from the folk-lore +of modern Europe. The following may serve as specimens. + +In Germany the corn is very commonly personified under the name of +the Corn-mother. Thus in spring, when the corn waves in the wind, +the peasants say, "There comes the Corn-mother," or "The Corn-mother +is running 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-flowers or the red poppies, they are told not to do so, because +the Corn-mother is sitting in the corn and will catch them. Or again +she is called, according to the crop, the Rye-mother or the +Pea-mother, and children are warned against straying in the rye or +among the peas by threats of the Rye-mother or the Pea-mother. Again +the Corn-mother is believed to make the crop grow. Thus in the +neighbourhood of Magdeburg it is sometimes said, "It will be a good +year for flax; the Flax-mother has been seen." In a village of +Styria it is said that the Corn-mother, in the shape of a female +puppet made out of the last sheaf of corn and dressed in white, may +be seen at mid-night in the corn-fields, which she fertilises by +passing through them; but if she is angry with a farmer, she withers +up all his corn. + +Further, the Corn-mother plays an important part in harvest customs. +She is believed to be present in the handful of corn which is left +standing last on the field; and with the cutting of this last +handful she is caught, or driven away, or killed. In the first of +these cases, the last sheaf is carried joyfully home and honoured as +a divine being. It is placed in the barn, and at threshing the +corn-spirit appears again. In the Hanoverian district of Hadeln the +reapers stand round the last sheaf and beat it with sticks in order +to drive the Corn-mother out of it. They call to each other, "There +she is! hit her! Take care she doesn't catch you!" The beating goes +on till the grain is completely threshed out; then the Corn-mother +is believed to be driven away. In the neighbourhood of Danzig the +person who cuts the last ears of corn makes them into a doll, which +is called the Corn-mother or the Old Woman and is brought home on +the last waggon. In some parts of Holstein the last sheaf is dressed +in woman's clothes and called the Corn-mother. It is carried home on +the last waggon, and then thoroughly drenched with water. The +drenching with water is doubtless a rain-charm. In the district of +Bruck in Styria the last sheaf, called the Corn-mother, is made up +into the shape of a woman by the oldest married woman in the +village, of an age from fifty to fifty-five years. The finest ears +are plucked out of it and made into a wreath, which, twined with +flowers, is carried on her head by the prettiest girl of the village +to the farmer or squire, while the Corn-mother is laid down in the +barn to keep off the mice. In other villages of the same district +the Corn-mother, at the close of harvest, is carried by two lads at +the top of a pole. They march behind the girl who wears the wreath +to the squire's house, and while he receives the wreath and hangs it +up in the hall, the Corn-mother is placed on the top of a pile of +wood, where she is the centre of the harvest supper and dance. +Afterwards she is hung up in the barn and remains there till the +threshing is over. The man who gives the last stroke at threshing is +called the son of the Corn-mother; he is tied up in the Corn-mother, +beaten, and carried through the village. The wreath is dedicated in +church on the following Sunday; and on Easter Eve the grain is +rubbed out of it by a seven-year-old girl and scattered amongst the +young corn. At Christmas the straw of the wreath is placed in the +manger to make the cattle thrive. Here the fertilising power of the +Corn-mother is plainly brought out by scattering the seed taken from +her body (for the wreath is made out of the Corn-mother) among the +new corn; and her influence over animal life is indicated by placing +the straw in the manger. Amongst the Slavs also the last sheaf is +known as the Rye-mother, the Wheat-mother, the Oats-mother, the +Barley-mother, and so on, according to the crop. In the district of +Tarnow, Galicia, the wreath made out of the last stalks is called +the Wheat-mother, Rye-mother, or Pea-mother. It is placed on a +girl's head and kept till spring, when some of the grain is mixed +with the seed-corn. Here again the fertilising power of the +Corn-mother is indicated. In France, also, in the neighbourhood of +Auxerre, the last sheaf goes by the name of the Mother of the Wheat, +Mother of the Barley, Mother of the Rye, or Mother of the Oats. They +leave it standing in the field till the last waggon is about to wend +homewards. Then they make a puppet out of it, dress it with clothes +belonging to the farmer, and adorn it with a crown and a blue or +white scarf. A branch of a tree is stuck in the breast of the +puppet, which is now called the Ceres. At the dance in the evening +the Ceres is set in the middle of the floor, and the reaper who +reaped fastest dances round it with the prettiest girl for his +partner. After the dance a pyre is made. All the girls, each wearing +a wreath, strip the puppet, pull it to pieces, and place it on the +pyre, along with the flowers with which it was adorned. Then the +girl who was the first to finish reaping sets fire to the pile, and +all pray that Ceres may give a fruitful year. Here, as Mannhardt +observes, the old custom has remained intact, though the name Ceres +is a bit of schoolmaster's learning. In Upper Brittany the last +sheaf is always made into human shape; but if the farmer is a +married man, it is made double and consists of a little corn-puppet +placed inside of a large one. This is called the Mother-sheaf. It is +delivered to the farmer's wife, who unties it and gives drink-money +in return. + +Sometimes the last sheaf is called, not the Corn-mother, but the +Harvest-mother or the Great Mother. In the province of Osnabrück, +Hanover, it is called the Harvest-mother; it is made up in female +form, and then the reapers dance about with it. In some parts of +Westphalia the last sheaf at the rye-harvest is made especially +heavy by fastening stones in it. They bring it home on the last +waggon and call it the Great Mother, though they do not fashion it +into any special shape. In the district of Erfurt a very heavy +sheaf, not necessarily the last, is called the Great Mother, and is +carried on the last waggon to the barn, where all hands lift it down +amid a fire of jokes. + +Sometimes again the last sheaf is called the Grandmother, and is +adorned with flowers, ribbons, and a woman's apron. In East Prussia, +at the rye or wheat harvest, the reapers call out to the woman who +binds the last sheaf, "You are getting the Old Grandmother." In the +neighbourhood of Magdeburg the men and women servants strive who +shall get the last sheaf, called the Grandmother. Whoever gets it +will be married in the next year, but his or her spouse will be old; +if a girl gets it, she will marry a widower; if a man gets it, he +will marry an old crone. In Silesia the Grandmother--a huge bundle +made up of three or four sheaves by the person who tied the last +sheaf--was formerly fashioned into a rude likeness of the human +form. In the neighbourhood of Belfast the last sheaf sometimes goes +by the name of the Granny. It is not cut in the usual way, but all +the reapers throw their sickles at it and try to bring it down. It +is plaited and kept till the (next?) autumn. Whoever gets it will +marry in the course of the year. + +Often the last sheaf is called the Old Woman or the Old Man. In +Germany it is frequently shaped and dressed as a woman, and the +person who cuts it or binds it is said to "get the Old Woman." At +Altisheim, in Swabia, when all the corn of a farm has been cut +except a single strip, all the reapers stand in a row before the +strip; each cuts his share rapidly, and he who gives the last cut +"has the Old Woman." When the sheaves are being set up in heaps, the +person who gets hold of the Old Woman, which is the largest and +thickest of all the sheaves, is jeered at by the rest, who call out +to him, "He has the Old Woman and must keep her." The woman who +binds the last sheaf is sometimes herself called the Old Woman, and +it is said that she will be married in the next year. In Neusaass, +West Prussia, both the last sheaf--which is dressed up in jacket, +hat, and ribbons--and the woman who binds it are called the Old +Woman. Together they are brought home on the last waggon and are +drenched with water. In various parts of North Germany the last +sheaf at harvest is made up into a human effigy and called "the Old +Man"; and the woman who bound it is said "to have the Old Man." + +In West Prussia, when the last rye is being raked together, the +women and girls hurry with the work, for none of them likes to be +the last and to get "the Old Man," that is, a puppet made out of the +last sheaf, which must be carried before the other reapers by the +person who was the last to finish. In Silesia the last sheaf is +called the Old Woman or the Old Man and is the theme of many jests; +it is made unusually large and is sometimes weighted with a stone. +Among the Wends the man or woman who binds the last sheaf at wheat +harvest is said to "have the Old Man." A puppet is made out of the +wheaten straw and ears in the likeness of a man and decked with +flowers. The person who bound the last sheaf must carry the Old Man +home, while the rest laugh and jeer at him. The puppet is hung up in +the farmhouse and remains till a new Old Man is made at the next +harvest. + +In some of these customs, as Mannhardt has remarked, the person who +is called by the same name as the last sheaf and sits beside it on +the last waggon is obviously identified with it; he or she +represents the corn-spirit which has been caught in the last sheaf; +in other words, the corn-spirit is represented in duplicate, by a +human being and by a sheaf. The identification of the person with +the sheaf is made still clearer by the custom of wrapping up in the +last sheaf the person who cuts or binds it. Thus at Hermsdorf in +Silesia it used to be the regular practice to tie up in the last +sheaf the woman who had bound it. At Weiden, in Bavaria, it is the +cutter, not the binder, of the last sheaf who is tied up in it. Here +the person wrapt up in the corn represents the corn-spirit, exactly +as a person wrapt in branches or leaves represents the tree-spirit. + +The last sheaf, designated as the Old Woman, is often distinguished +from the other sheaves by its size and weight. Thus in some villages +of West Prussia the Old Woman is made twice as long and thick as a +common sheaf, and a stone is fastened in the middle of it. Sometimes +it is made so heavy that a man can barely lift it. At Alt-Pillau, in +Samland, eight or nine sheaves are often tied together to make the +Old Woman, and the man who sets it up grumbles at its weight. At +Itzgrund, in Saxe-Coburg, the last sheaf, called the Old Woman, is +made large with the express intention of thereby securing a good +crop next year. Thus the custom of making the last sheaf unusually +large or heavy is a charm, working by sympathetic magic, to ensure a +large and heavy crop at the following harvest. + +In Scotland, when the last corn was cut after Hallowmas, the female +figure made out of it was sometimes called the Carlin or Carline, +that is, the Old Woman. But if cut before Hallowmas, it was called +the Maiden; if cut after sunset, it was called the Witch, being +supposed to bring bad luck. Among the Highlanders of Scotland the +last corn cut at harvest is known either as the Old Wife +(_Cailleach_) or as the Maiden; on the whole the former name seems +to prevail in the western and the latter in the central and eastern +districts. Of the Maiden we shall speak presently; here we are +dealing with the Old Wife. The following general account of the +custom is given by a careful and well-informed enquirer, the Rev. J. +G. Campbell, minister of the remote Hebridean island of Tiree: "The +Harvest Old Wife (_a Cailleach_).--In harvest, there was a struggle +to escape from being the last done with the shearing, and when +tillage in common existed, instances were known of a ridge being +left unshorn (no person would claim it) because of it being behind +the rest. The fear entertained was that of having the 'famine of the +farm' (_gort a bhaile_), in the shape of an imaginary old woman +(_cailleach_), to feed till next harvest. Much emulation and +amusement arose from the fear of this old woman. . . . The first +done made a doll of some blades of corn, which was called the 'old +wife,' and sent it to his nearest neighbour. He in turn, when ready, +passed it to another still less expeditious, and the person it last +remained with had 'the old woman' to keep for that year." + +In the island of Islay the last corn cut goes by the name of the Old +Wife (_Cailleach_), and when she has done her duty at harvest she is +hung up on the wall and stays there till the time comes to plough +the fields for the next year's crop. Then she is taken down, and on +the first day when the men go to plough she is divided among them by +the mistress of the house. They take her in their pockets and give +her to the horses to eat when they reach the field. This is supposed +to secure good luck for the next harvest, and is understood to be +the proper end of the Old Wife. + +Usages of the same sort are reported from Wales. Thus in North +Pembrokeshire a tuft of the last corn cut, from six to twelve inches +long, is plaited and goes by the name of the Hag (_wrach_); and +quaint old customs used to be practised with it within the memory of +many persons still alive. Great was the excitement among the reapers +when the last patch of standing corn was reached. All in turn threw +their sickles at it, and the one who succeeded in cutting it +received a jug of home-brewed ale. The Hag (_wrach_) was then +hurriedly made and taken to a neighbouring farm, where the reapers +were still busy at their work. This was generally done by the +ploughman; but he had to be very careful not to be observed by his +neighbours, for if they saw him coming and had the least suspicion +of his errand they would soon make him retrace his steps. Creeping +stealthily up behind a fence he waited till the foreman of his +neighbour's reapers was just opposite him and within easy reach. +Then he suddenly threw the Hag over the fence and, if possible, upon +the foreman's sickle. On that he took to his heels and made off as +fast as he could run, and he was a lucky man if he escaped without +being caught or cut by the flying sickles which the infuriated +reapers hurled after him. In other cases the Hag was brought home to +the farmhouse by one of the reapers. He did his best to bring it +home dry and without being observed; but he was apt to be roughly +handled by the people of the house, if they suspected his errand. +Sometimes they stripped him of most of his clothes, sometimes they +would drench him with water which had been carefully stored in +buckets and pans for the purpose. If, however, he succeeded in +bringing the Hag in dry and unobserved, the master of the house had +to pay him a small fine; or sometimes a jug of beer "from the cask +next to the wall," which seems to have commonly held the best beer, +would be demanded by the bearer. The Hag was then carefully hung on +a nail in the hall or elsewhere and kept there all the year. The +custom of bringing in the Hag (_wrach_) into the house and hanging +it up still exists in some farms of North Pembrokeshire, but the +ancient ceremonies which have just been described are now +discontinued. + +In County Antrim, down to some years ago, when the sickle was +finally expelled by the reaping machine, the few stalks of corn left +standing last on the field were plaited together; then the reapers, +blindfolded, threw their sickles at the plaited corn, and whoever +happened to cut it through took it home with him and put it over his +door. This bunch of corn was called the Carley--probably the same +word as Carlin. + +Similar customs are observed by Slavonic peoples. Thus in Poland the +last sheaf is commonly called the Baba, that is, the Old Woman. "In +the last sheaf," it is said, "sits the Baba." The sheaf itself is +also called the Baba, and is sometimes composed of twelve smaller +sheaves lashed together. In some parts of Bohemia the Baba, made out +of the last sheaf, has the figure of a woman with a great straw hat. +It is carried home on the last harvest-waggon and delivered, along +with a garland, to the farmer by two girls. In binding the sheaves +the women strive not to be last, for she who binds the last sheaf +will have a child next year. Sometimes the harvesters call out to +the woman who binds the last sheaf, "She has the Baba," or "She is +the Baba." In the district of Cracow, when a man binds the last +sheaf, they say, "The Grandfather is sitting in it"; when a woman +binds it, they say, "The Baba is sitting in it," and the woman +herself is wrapt up in the sheaf, so that only her head projects out +of it. Thus encased in the sheaf, she is carried on the last +harvest-waggon to the house, where she is drenched with water by the +whole family. She remains in the sheaf till the dance is over, and +for a year she retains the name of Baba. + +In Lithuania the name for the last sheaf is Boba (Old Woman), +answering to the Polish name Baba. The Boba is said to sit in the +corn which is left standing last. The person who binds the last +sheaf or digs the last potato is the subject of much banter, and +receives and long retains the name of the Old Rye-woman or the Old +Potato-woman. The last sheaf--the Boba--is made into the form of a +woman, carried solemnly through the village on the last +harvest-waggon, and drenched with water at the farmer's house; then +every one dances with it. + +In Russia also the last sheaf is often shaped and dressed as a +woman, and carried with dance and song to the farmhouse. Out of the +last sheaf the Bulgarians make a doll which they call the Corn-queen +or Corn-mother; it is dressed in a woman's shirt, carried round the +village, and then thrown into the river in order to secure plenty of +rain and dew for the next year's crop. Or it is burned and the ashes +strew on the fields, doubtless to fertilise them. The name Queen, as +applied to the last sheaf, has its analogies in Central and Northern +Europe. Thus, in the Salzburg district of Austria, at the end of the +harvest a great procession takes place, in which a Queen of the +Corn-ears (_Ährenkönigin_) is drawn along in a little carriage by +young fellows. The custom of the Harvest Queen appears to have been +common in England. Milton must have been familiar with it, for in +_Paradise Lost_ he says: + + + "Adam the while + Waiting desirous her return, had wove + Of choicest flow'rs a garland to adorn + Her tresses, and her rural labours crown, + As reapers oft are wont their harvest-queen." + + +Often customs of this sort are practised, not on the harvest-field +but on the threshing-floor. The spirit of the corn, fleeing before +the reapers as they cut down the ripe grain, quits the reaped corn +and takes refuge in the barn, where it appears in the last sheaf +threshed, either to perish under the blows of the flail or to flee +thence to the still unthreshed corn of a neighbouring farm. Thus the +last corn to be threshed is called the Mother-Corn or the Old Woman. +Sometimes the person who gives the last stroke with the flail is +called the Old Woman, and is wrapt in the straw of the last sheaf, +or has a bundle of straw fastened on his back. Whether wrapt in the +straw or carrying it on his back, he is carted through the village +amid general laughter. In some districts of Bavaria, Thüringen, and +elsewhere, the man who threshes the last sheaf is said to have the +Old Woman or the Old Corn-woman; he is tied up in straw, carried or +carted about the village, and set down at last on the dunghill, or +taken to the threshing-floor of a neighbouring farmer who has not +finished his threshing. In Poland the man who gives the last stroke +at threshing is called Baba (Old Woman); he is wrapt in corn and +wheeled through the village. Sometimes in Lithuania the last sheaf +is not threshed, but is fashioned into female shape and carried to +the barn of a neighbour who has not finished his threshing. + +In some parts of Sweden, when a stranger woman appears on the +threshing-floor, a flail is put round her body, stalks of corn are +wound round her neck, a crown of ears is placed on her head, and the +threshers call out, "Behold the Corn-woman." Here the stranger +woman, thus suddenly appearing, is taken to be the corn-spirit who +has just been expelled by the flails from the corn-stalks. In other +cases the farmer's wife represents the corn-spirit. Thus in the +Commune of Saligné (Vendée), the farmer's wife, along with the last +sheaf, is tied up in a sheet, placed on a litter, and carried to the +threshing machine, under which she is shoved. Then the woman is +drawn out and the sheaf is threshed by itself, but the woman is +tossed in the sheet, as if she were being winnowed. It would be +impossible to express more clearly the identification of the woman +with the corn than by this graphic imitation of threshing and +winnowing her. + +In these customs the spirit of the ripe corn is regarded as old, or +at least as of mature age. Hence the names of Mother, Grandmother, +Old Woman, and so forth. But in other cases the corn-spirit is +conceived as young. Thus at Saldern, near Wolfenbuttel, when the rye +has been reaped, three sheaves are tied together with a rope so as +to make a puppet with the corn ears for a head. This puppet is +called the Maiden or the Corn-maiden. Sometimes the corn-spirit is +conceived as a child who is separated from its mother by the stroke +of the sickle. This last view appears in the Polish custom of +calling out to the man who cuts the last handful of corn, "You have +cut the navel-string." In some districts of West Prussia the figure +made out of the last sheaf is called the Bastard, and a boy is wrapt +up in it. The woman who binds the last sheaf and represents the +Corn-mother is told that she is about to be brought to bed; she +cries like a woman in travail, and an old woman in the character of +grandmother acts as midwife. At last a cry is raised that the child +is born; whereupon the boy who is tied up in the sheaf whimpers and +squalls like an infant. The grandmother wraps a sack, in imitation +of swaddling bands, round the pretended baby, who is carried +joyfully to the barn, lest he should catch cold in the open air. In +other parts of North Germany the last sheaf, or the puppet made out +of it, is called the Child, the Harvest-Child, and so on, and they +call out to the woman who binds the last sheaf, "you are getting the +child." + +In some parts of Scotland, as well as in the north of England, the +last handful of corn cut on the harvest-field was called the _kirn,_ +and the person who carried it off was said "to win the kirn." It was +then dressed up like a child's doll and went by the name of the +kirn-baby, the kirn-doll, or the Maiden. In Berwickshire down to +about the middle of the nineteenth century there was an eager +competition among the reapers to cut the last bunch of standing +corn. They gathered round it at a little distance and threw their +sickles in turn at it, and the man who succeeded in cutting it +through gave it to the girl he preferred. She made the corn so cut +into a kirn-dolly and dressed it, and the doll was then taken to the +farmhouse and hung up there till the next harvest, when its place +was taken by the new kirn-dolly. At Spottiswoode in Berwickshire the +reaping of the last corn at harvest was called "cutting the Queen" +almost as often as "cutting the kirn." The mode of cutting it was +not by throwing sickles. One of the reapers consented to be +blindfolded, and having been given a sickle in his hand and turned +twice or thrice about by his fellows, he was bidden to go and cut +the kirn. His groping about and making wild strokes in the air with +his sickle excited much hilarity. When he had tired himself out in +vain and given up the task as hopeless, another reaper was +blindfolded and pursued the quest, and so on, one after the other, +till at last the kirn was cut. The successful reaper was tossed up +in the air with three cheers by his brother harvesters. To decorate +the room in which the kirn-supper was held at Spottiswoode as well +as the granary, where the dancing took place, two women made +kirn-dollies or Queens every year; and many of these rustic effigies +of the corn-spirit might be seen hanging up together. + +In some parts of the Highlands of Scotland the last handful of corn +that is cut by the reapers on any particular farm is called the +Maiden, or in Gaelic _Maidhdeanbuain,_ literally, "the shorn +Maiden." Superstitions attach to the winning of the Maiden. If it is +got by a young person, they think it an omen that he or she will be +married before another harvest. For that or other reasons there is a +strife between the reapers as to who shall get the Maiden, and they +resort to various stratagems for the purpose of securing it. One of +them, for example, will often leave a handful of corn uncut and +cover it up with earth to hide it from the other reapers, till all +the rest of the corn on the field is cut down. Several may try to +play the same trick, and the one who is coolest and holds out +longest obtains the coveted distinction. When it has been cut, the +Maiden is dressed with ribbons into a sort of doll and affixed to a +wall of the farmhouse. In the north of Scotland the Maiden is +carefully preserved till Yule morning, when it is divided among the +cattle "to make them thrive all the year round." In the +neighbourhood of Balquhidder, Perthshire, the last handful of corn +is cut by the youngest girl on the field, and is made into the rude +form of a female doll, clad in a paper dress, and decked with +ribbons. It is called the Maiden, and is kept in the farmhouse, +generally above the chimney, for a good while, sometimes till the +Maiden of the next year is brought in. The writer of this book +witnessed the ceremony of cutting the Maiden at Balquhidder in +September 1888. A lady friend informed me that as a young girl she +cut the Maiden several times at the request of the reapers in the +neighbourhood of Perth. The name of the Maiden was given to the last +handful of standing corn; a reaper held the top of the bunch while +she cut it. Afterwards the bunch was plaited, decked with ribbons, +and hung up in a conspicuous place on the wall of the kitchen till +the next Maiden was brought in. The harvest-supper in this +neighbourhood was also called the Maiden; the reapers danced at it. + +On some farms on the Gareloch, in Dumbartonshire, about the year +1830, the last handful of standing corn was called the Maiden. It +was divided in two, plaited, and then cut with the sickle by a girl, +who, it was thought, would be lucky and would soon be married. When +it was cut the reapers gathered together and threw their sickles in +the air. The Maiden was dressed with ribbons and hung in the kitchen +near the roof, where it was kept for several years with the date +attached. Sometimes five or six Maidens might be seen hanging at +once on hooks. The harvest-supper was called the Kirn. In other +farms on the Gareloch the last handful of corn was called the +Maidenhead or the Head; it was neatly plaited, sometimes decked with +ribbons, and hung in the kitchen for a year, when the grain was +given to the poultry. + +In Aberdeenshire "the last sheaf cut, or 'Maiden,' is carried home +in merry procession by the harvesters. It is then presented to the +mistress of the house, who dresses it up to be preserved till the +first mare foals. The Maiden is then taken down and presented to the +mare as its first food. The neglect of this would have untoward +effects upon the foal, and disastrous consequences upon farm +operations generally for the season." In the north-east of +Aberdeenshire the last sheaf is commonly called the _clyack_ sheaf. +It used to be cut by the youngest girl present and was dressed as a +woman. Being brought home in triumph, it was kept till Christmas +morning, and then given to a mare in foal, if there was one on the +farm, or, if there was not, to the oldest cow in calf. Elsewhere the +sheaf was divided between all the cows and their calves or between +all the horses and the cattle of the farm. In Fifeshire the last +handful of corn, known as the Maiden, is cut by a young girl and +made into the rude figure of a doll, tied with ribbons, by which it +is hung on the wall of the farm-kitchen till the next spring. The +custom of cutting the Maiden at harvest was also observed in +Inverness-shire and Sutherlandshire. + +A somewhat maturer but still youthful age is assigned to the +corn-spirit by the appellations of Bride, Oats-bride, and +Wheat-bride, which in Germany are sometimes bestowed both on the +last sheaf and on the woman who binds it. At wheat-harvest near +Müglitz, in Moravia, a small portion of the wheat is left standing +after all the rest has been reaped. This remnant is then cut, amid +the rejoicing of the reapers, by a young girl who wears a wreath of +wheaten ears on her head and goes by the name of the Wheat-bride. It +is supposed that she will be a real bride that same year. Near +Roslin and Stonehaven, in Scotland, the last handful of corn cut +"got the name of 'the bride,' and she was placed over the _bress_ or +chimney-piece; she had a ribbon tied below her numerous _ears,_ and +another round her waist." + +Sometimes the idea implied by the name of Bride is worked out more +fully by representing the productive powers of vegetation as bride +and bridegroom. Thus in the Vorharz an Oats-man and an Oats-woman, +swathed in straw, dance at the harvest feast. In South Saxony an +Oats-bridegroom and an Oats-bride figure together at the harvest +celebration. The Oats-bridegroom is a man completely wrapt in +oats-straw; the Oats-bride is a man dressed in woman's clothes, but +not wrapt in straw. They are drawn in a waggon to the ale-house, +where the dance takes place. At the beginning of the dance the +dancers pluck the bunches of oats one by one from the +Oats-bridegroom, while he struggles to keep them, till at last he is +completely stript of them and stands bare, exposed to the laughter +and jests of the company. In Austrian Silesia the ceremony of "the +Wheat-bride" is celebrated by the young people at the end of the +harvest. The woman who bound the last sheaf plays the part of the +Wheat-bride, wearing the harvest-crown of wheat ears and flowers on +her head. Thus adorned, standing beside her Bridegroom in a waggon +and attended by bridesmaids, she is drawn by a pair of oxen, in full +imitation of a marriage procession, to the tavern, where the dancing +is kept up till morning. Somewhat later in the season the wedding of +the Oats-bride is celebrated with the like rustic pomp. About +Neisse, in Silesia, an Oats-king and an Oats-queen, dressed up +quaintly as a bridal pair, are seated on a harrow and drawn by oxen +into the village. + +In these last instances the corn-spirit is personified in double +form as male and female. But sometimes the spirit appears in a +double female form as both old and young, corresponding exactly to +the Greek Demeter and Persephone, if my interpretation of these +goddesses is right. We have seen that in Scotland, especially among +the Gaelic-speaking population, the last corn cut is sometimes +called the Old Wife and sometimes the Maiden. Now there are parts of +Scotland in which both an Old Wife (_Cailleach_) and a Maiden are +cut at harvest. The accounts of this custom are not quite clear and +consistent, but the general rule seems to be that, where both a +Maiden and an Old Wife (_Cailleach_) are fashioned out of the reaped +corn at harvest, the Maiden is made out of the last stalks left +standing, and is kept by the farmer on whose land it was cut; while +the Old Wife is made out of other stalks, sometimes out of the first +stalks cut, and is regularly passed on to a laggard farmer who +happens to be still reaping after his brisker neighbour has cut all +his corn. Thus while each farmer keeps his own Maiden, as the +embodiment of the young and fruitful spirit of the corn, he passes +on the Old Wife as soon as he can to a neighbour, and so the old +lady may make the round of all the farms in the district before she +finds a place in which to lay her venerable head. The farmer with +whom she finally takes up her abode is of course the one who has +been the last of all the countryside to finish reaping his crops, +and thus the distinction of entertaining her is rather an invidious +one. He is thought to be doomed to poverty or to be under the +obligation of "providing for the dearth of the township" in the +ensuing season. Similarly we saw that in Pembrokeshire, where the +last corn cut is called, not the Maiden, but the Hag, she is passed +on hastily to a neighbour who is still at work in his fields and who +receives his aged visitor with anything but a transport of joy. If +the Old Wife represents the corn-spirit of the past year, as she +probably does wherever she is contrasted with and opposed to a +Maiden, it is natural enough that her faded charms should have less +attractions for the husbandman than the buxom form of her daughter, +who may be expected to become in her turn the mother of the golden +grain when the revolving year has brought round another autumn. The +same desire to get rid of the effete Mother of the Corn by palming +her off on other people comes out clearly in some of the customs +observed at the close of threshing, particularly in the practice of +passing on a hideous straw puppet to a neighbour farmer who is still +threshing his corn. + +The harvest customs just described are strikingly analogous to the +spring customs which we reviewed in an earlier part of this work. +(1) As in the spring customs the tree-spirit is represented both by +a tree and by a person, so in the harvest customs the corn-spirit is +represented both by the last sheaf and by the person who cuts or +binds or threshes it. The equivalence of the person to the sheaf is +shown by giving him or her the same name as the sheaf; by wrapping +him or her in it; and by the rule observed in some places, that when +the sheaf is called the Mother, it must be made up into human shape +by the oldest married woman, but that when it is called the Maiden, +it must be cut by the youngest girl. Here the age of the personal +representative of the corn-spirit corresponds with that of the +supposed age of the corn-spirit, just as the human victims offered +by the Mexicans to promote the growth of the maize varied with the +age of the maize. For in the Mexican, as in the European, custom the +human beings were probably representatives of the corn-spirit rather +than victims offered to it. (2) Again the same fertilising influence +which the tree-spirit is supposed to exert over vegetation, cattle, +and even women is ascribed to the corn-spirit. Thus, its supposed +influence on vegetation is shown by the practice of taking some of +the grain of the last sheaf (in which the corn-spirit is regularly +supposed to be present), and scattering it among the young corn in +spring or mixing it with the seed-corn. Its influence on animals is +shown by giving the last sheaf to a mare in foal, to a cow in calf, +and to horses at the first ploughing. Lastly, its influence on women +is indicated by the custom of delivering the Mother-sheaf, made into +the likeness of a pregnant woman, to the farmer's wife; by the +belief that the woman who binds the last sheaf will have a child +next year; perhaps, too, by the idea that the person who gets it +will soon be married. + +Plainly, therefore, these spring and harvest customs are based on +the same ancient modes of thought, and form parts of the same +primitive heathendom, which was doubtless practised by our +forefathers long before the dawn of history. Amongst the marks of a +primitive ritual we may note the following: + +1. No special class of persons is set apart for the performance of +the rites; in other words, there are no priests. The rites may be +performed by any one, as occasion demands. + +2. No special places are set apart for the performance of the rites; +in other words, there are no temples. The rites may be performed +anywhere, as occasion demands. + +3. Spirits, not gods, are recognised. (_a_) As distinguished from +gods, spirits are restricted in their operations to definite +departments of nature. Their names are general, not proper. Their +attributes are generic, rather than individual; in other words, +there is an indefinite number of spirits of each class, and the +individuals of a class are all much alike; they have no definitely +marked individuality; no accepted traditions are current as to their +origin, life, adventures, and character. (_b_) On the other hand +gods, as distinguished from spirits, are not restricted to definite +departments of nature. It is true that there is generally some one +department over which they preside as their special province; but +they are not rigorously confined to it; they can exert their power +for good or evil in many other spheres of nature and life. Again, +they bear individual or proper names, such as Demeter, Persephone, +Dionysus; and their individual characters and histories are fixed by +current myths and the representations of art. + +4. The rites are magical rather than propitiatory. In other words, +the desired objects are attained, not by propitiating the favour of +divine beings through sacrifice, prayer, and praise, but by +ceremonies which, as I have already explained, are believed to +influence the course of nature directly through a physical sympathy +or resemblance between the rite and the effect which it is the +intention of the rite to produce. + +Judged by these tests, the spring and harvest customs of our +European peasantry deserve to rank as primitive. For no special +class of persons and no special places are set exclusively apart for +their performance; they may be performed by any one, master or man, +mistress or maid, boy or girl; they are practised, not in temples or +churches, but in the woods and meadows, beside brooks, in barns, on +harvest fields and cottage floors. The supernatural beings whose +existence is taken for granted in them are spirits rather than +deities: their functions are limited to certain well-defined +departments of nature: their names are general like the +Barley-mother, the Old Woman, the Maiden, not proper names like +Demeter, Persephone, Dionysus. Their generic attributes are known, +but their individual histories and characters are not the subject of +myths. For they exist in classes rather than as individuals, and the +members of each class are indistinguishable. For example, every farm +has its Corn-mother, or its Old Woman, or its Maiden; but every +Corn-mother is much like every other Corn-mother, and so with the +Old Women and Maidens. Lastly, in these harvests, as in the spring +customs, the ritual is magical rather than propitiatory. This is +shown by throwing the Corn-mother into the river in order to secure +rain and dew for the crops; by making the Old Woman heavy in order +to get a heavy crop next year; by strewing grain from the last sheaf +amongst the young crops in spring; and by giving the last sheaf to +the cattle to make them thrive. + + + +XLVI. The Corn-Mother in Many Lands + + + +1. The Corn-mother in America + +EUROPEAN peoples, ancient and modern, have not been singular in +personifying the corn as a mother goddess. The same simple idea has +suggested itself to other agricultural races in distant parts of the +world, and has been applied by them to other indigenous cereals than +barley and wheat. If Europe has its Wheat-mother and its +Barley-mother, America has its Maize-mother and the East Indies +their Rice-mother. These personifications I will now illustrate, +beginning with the American personification of the maize. + +We have seen that among European peoples it is a common custom to +keep the plaited corn-stalks of the last sheaf, or the puppet which +is formed out of them, in the farm-house from harvest to harvest. +The intention no doubt is, or rather originally was, by preserving +the representative of the corn-spirit to maintain the spirit itself +in life and activity throughout the year, in order that the corn may +grow and the crops be good. This interpretation of the custom is at +all events rendered highly probable by a similar custom observed by +the ancient Peruvians, and thus described by the old Spanish +historian Acosta: "They take a certain portion of the most fruitful +of the maize that grows in their farms, the which they put in a +certain granary which they do call _Pirua,_ with certain ceremonies, +watching three nights; they put this maize in the richest garments +they have, and being thus wrapped and dressed, they worship this +_Pirua,_ and hold it in great veneration, saying it is the mother of +the maize of their inheritances, and that by this means the maize +augments and is preserved. In this month [the sixth month, answering +to May] they make a particular sacrifice, and the witches demand of +this _Pirua_ if it hath strength sufficient to continue until the +next year; and if it answers no, then they carry this maize to the +farm to burn, whence they brought it, according to every man's +power; then they make another _Pirua,_ with the same ceremonies, +saying that they renew it, to the end the seed of maize may not +perish, and if it answers that it hath force sufficient to last +longer, they leave it until the next year. This foolish vanity +continueth to this day, and it is very common amongst the Indians to +have these _Piruas._" + +In this description of the custom there seems to be some error. +Probably it was the dressed-up bunch of maize, not the granary +(_Pirua_), which was worshipped by the Peruvians and regarded as the +Mother of the Maize. This is confirmed by what we know of the +Peruvian custom from another source. The Peruvians, we are told, +believed all useful plants to be animated by a divine being who +causes their growth. According to the particular plant, these divine +beings were called the Maize-mother (_Zara-mama_), the Quinoa-mother +(_Quinoa-mama_), the Coca-mother (_Coca-mama_), and the +Potato-mother (_Axo-mama_). Figures of these divine mothers were +made respectively of ears of maize and leaves of the quinoa and coca +plants; they were dressed in women's clothes and worshipped. Thus +the Maize-mother was represented by a puppet made of stalks of maize +dressed in full female attire; and the Indians believed that "as +mother, it had the power of producing and giving birth to much +maize." Probably, therefore, Acosta misunderstood his informant, and +the Mother of the Maize which he describes was not the granary +(_Pirua_), but the bunch of maize dressed in rich vestments. The +Peruvian Mother of the Maize, like the harvest-Maiden at +Balquhidder, was kept for a year in order that by her means the corn +might grow and multiply. But lest her strength might not suffice to +last till the next harvest, she was asked in the course of the year +how she felt, and if she answered that she felt weak, she was burned +and a fresh Mother of the Maize made, "to the end the seed of maize +may not perish." Here, it may be observed, we have a strong +confirmation of the explanation already given of the custom of +killing the god, both periodically and occasionally. The Mother of +the maize was allowed, as a rule, to live through a year, that being +the period during which her strength might reasonably be supposed to +last unimpaired; but on any symptom of her strength failing she was +put to death, and a fresh and vigorous Mother of the Maize took her +place, lest the maize which depended on her for its existence should +languish and decay. + + + +2. The Rice-mother in the East Indies + +IF THE READER still feels any doubts as to the meaning of the +harvest customs which have been practised within living memory by +European peasants, these doubts may perhaps be dispelled by +comparing the customs observed at the rice-harvest by the Malays and +Dyaks of the East Indies. For these Eastern peoples have not, like +our peasantry, advanced beyond the intellectual stage at which the +customs originated; their theory and their practice are still in +unison; for them the quaint rites which in Europe have long dwindled +into mere fossils, the pastime of clowns and the puzzle of the +learned, are still living realities of which they can render an +intelligible and truthful account. Hence a study of their beliefs +and usages concerning the rice may throw some light on the true +meaning of the ritual of the corn in ancient Greece and modern +Europe. + +Now the whole of the ritual which the Malays and Dyaks observe in +connexion with the rice is founded on the simple conception of the +rice as animated by a soul like that which these people attribute to +mankind. They explain the phenomena of reproduction, growth, decay, +and death in the rice on the same principles on which they explain +the corresponding phenomena in human beings. They imagine that in +the fibres of the plant, as in the body of a man, there is a certain +vital element, which is so far independent of the plant that it may +for a time be completely separated from it without fatal effects, +though if its absence be prolonged beyond certain limits the plant +will wither and die. This vital yet separable element is what, for +the want of a better word, we must call the soul of a plant, just as +a similar vital and separable element is commonly supposed to +constitute the soul of man; and on this theory or myth of the +plant-soul is built the whole worship of the cereals, just as on the +theory or myth of the human soul is built the whole worship of the +dead,--a towering superstructure reared on a slender and precarious +foundation. + +Believing the rice to be animated by a soul like that of a man, the +Indonesians naturally treat it with the deference and the +consideration which they show to their fellows. Thus they behave +towards the rice in bloom as they behave towards a pregnant woman; +they abstain from firing guns or making loud noises in the field, +lest they should so frighten the soul of the rice that it would +miscarry and bear no grain; and for the same reason they will not +talk of corpses or demons in the rice-fields. Moreover, they feed +the blooming rice with foods of various kinds which are believed to +be wholesome for women with child; but when the rice-ears are just +beginning to form, they are looked upon as infants, and women go +through the fields feeding them with rice-pap as if they were human +babes. In such natural and obvious comparisons of the breeding plant +to a breeding woman, and of the young grain to a young child, is to +be sought the origin of the kindred Greek conception of the +Corn-mother and the Corn-daughter, Demeter and Persephone. But if +the timorous feminine soul of the rice can be frightened into a +miscarriage even by loud noises, it is easy to imagine what her +feelings must be at harvest, when people are under the sad necessity +of cutting down the rice with the knife. At so critical a season +every precaution must be used to render the necessary surgical +operation of reaping as inconspicuous and as painless as possible. +For that reason the reaping of the seed-rice is done with knives of +a peculiar pattern, such that the blades are hidden in the reapers' +hands and do not frighten the rice-spirit till the very last moment, +when her head is swept off almost before she is aware; and from a +like delicate motive the reapers at work in the fields employ a +special form of speech, which the rice-spirit cannot be expected to +understand, so that she has no warning or inkling of what is going +forward till the heads of rice are safely deposited in the basket. + +Among the Indonesian peoples who thus personify the rice we may take +the Kayans or Bahaus of Central Borneo as typical. In order to +secure and detain the volatile soul of the rice the Kayans resort to +a number of devices. Among the instruments employed for this purpose +are a miniature ladder, a spatula, and a basket containing hooks, +thorns, and cords. With the spatula the priestess strokes the soul +of the rice down the little ladder into the basket, where it is +naturally held fast by the hooks, the thorn, and the cord; and +having thus captured and imprisoned the soul she conveys it into the +rice-granary. Sometimes a bamboo box and a net are used for the same +purpose. And in order to ensure a good harvest for the following +year it is necessary not only to detain the soul of all the grains +of rice which are safely stored in the granary, but also to attract +and recover the soul of all the rice that has been lost through +falling to the earth or being eaten by deer, apes, and pigs. For +this purpose instruments of various sorts have been invented by the +priests. One, for example, is a bamboo vessel provided with four +hooks made from the wood of a fruit-tree, by means of which the +absent rice-soul may be hooked and drawn back into the vessel, which +is then hung up in the house. Sometimes two hands carved out of the +wood of a fruit-tree are used for the same purpose. And every time +that a Kayan housewife fetches rice from the granary for the use of +her household, she must propitiate the souls of the rice in the +granary, lest they should be angry at being robbed of their +substance. + +The same need of securing the soul of the rice, if the crop is to +thrive, is keenly felt by the Karens of Burma. When a rice-field +does not flourish, they suppose that the soul (_kelah_) of the rice +is in some way detained from the rice. If the soul cannot be called +back, the crop will fail. The following formula is used in recalling +the _kelah_ (soul) of the rice: "O come, rice-_kelah,_ come! Come to +the field. Come to the rice. With seed of each gender, come. Come +from the river Kho, come from the river Kaw; from the place where +they meet, come. Come from the West, come from the East. From the +throat of the bird, from the maw of the ape, from the throat of the +elephant. Come from the sources of rivers and their mouths. Come +from the country of the Shan and Burman. From the distant kingdoms +come. From all granaries come. O rice-_kelah,_ come to the rice." + +The Corn-mother of our European peasants has her match in the +Rice-mother of the Minangkabauers of Sumatra. The Minangkabauers +definitely attribute a soul to rice, and will sometimes assert that +rice pounded in the usual way tastes better than rice ground in a +mill, because in the mill the body of the rice was so bruised and +battered that the soul has fled from it. Like the Javanese they +think that the rice is under the special guardianship of a female +spirit called Saning Sari, who is conceived as so closely knit up +with the plant that the rice often goes by her name, as with the +Romans the corn might be called Ceres. In particular Saning Sari is +represented by certain stalks or grains called _indoea padi,_ that +is, literally, "Mother of Rice," a name that is often given to the +guardian spirit herself. This so-called Mother of Rice is the +occasion of a number of ceremonies observed at the planting and +harvesting of the rice as well as during its preservation in the +barn. When the seed of the rice is about to be sown in the nursery +or bedding-out ground, where under the wet system of cultivation it +is regularly allowed to sprout before being transplanted to the +fields, the best grains are picked out to form the Rice-mother. +These are then sown in the middle of the bed, and the common seed is +planted round about them. The state of the Rice-mother is supposed +to exert the greatest influence on the growth of the rice; if she +droops or pines away, the harvest will be bad in consequence. The +woman who sows the Rice-mother in the nursery lets her hair hang +loose and afterwards bathes, as a means of ensuring an abundant +harvest. When the time comes to transplant the rice from the nursery +to the field, the Rice-mother receives a special place either in the +middle or in a corner of the field, and a prayer or charm is uttered +as follows: "Saning Sari, may a measure of rice come from a stalk of +rice and a basketful from a root; may you be frightened neither by +lightning nor by passers-by! Sunshine make you glad; with the storm +may you be at peace; and may rain serve to wash your face!" While +the rice is growing, the particular plant which was thus treated as +the Rice-mother is lost sight of; but before harvest another +Rice-mother is found. When the crop is ripe for cutting, the oldest +woman of the family or a sorcerer goes out to look for her. The +first stalks seen to bend under a passing breeze are the +Rice-mother, and they are tied together but not cut until the +first-fruits of the field have been carried home to serve as a +festal meal for the family and their friends, nay even for the +domestic animals; since it is Saning Sari's pleasure that the beasts +also should partake of her good gifts. After the meal has been +eaten, the Rice-mother is fetched home by persons in gay attire, who +carry her very carefully under an umbrella in a neatly worked bag to +the barn, where a place in the middle is assigned to her. Every one +believes that she takes care of the rice in the barn and even +multiplies it not uncommonly. + +When the Tomori of Central Celebes are about to plant the rice, they +bury in the field some betel as an offering to the spirits who cause +the rice to grow. The rice that is planted round this spot is the +last to be reaped at harvest. At the commencement of the reaping the +stalks of this patch of rice are tied together into a sheaf, which +is called "the Mother of the Rice" (_ineno pae_), and offerings in +the shape of rice, fowl's liver, eggs, and other things are laid +down before it. When all the rest of the rice in the field has been +reaped, "the Mother of the Rice" is cut down and carried with due +honour to the rice-barn, where it is laid on the floor, and all the +other sheaves are piled upon it. The Tomori, we are told, regard the +Mother of the Rice as a special offering made to the rice-spirit +Omonga, who dwells in the moon. If that spirit is not treated with +proper respect, for example if the people who fetch rice from the +barn are not decently clad, he is angry and punishes the offenders +by eating up twice as much rice in the barn as they have taken out +of it; some people have heard him smacking his lips in the barn, as +he devoured the rice. On the other hand the Toradjas of Central +Celebes, who also practice the custom of the Rice-mother at harvest, +regard her as the actual mother of the whole harvest, and therefore +keep her carefully, lest in her absence the garnered store of rice +should all melt away and disappear. + +Again, just as in Scotland the old and the young spirit of the corn +are represented as an Old Wife (_Cailleach_) and a Maiden +respectively, so in the Malay Peninsula we find both the Rice-mother +and her child represented by different sheaves or bundles of ears on +the harvest-field. The ceremony of cutting and bringing home the +Soul of the Rice was witnessed by Mr. W. W. Skeat at Chodoi in +Selangor on the twenty-eighth of January 1897. The particular bunch +or sheaf which was to serve as the Mother of the Rice-soul had +previously been sought and identified by means of the markings or +shape of the ears. From this sheaf an aged sorceress, with much +solemnity, cut a little bundle of seven ears, anointed them with +oil, tied them round with parti-coloured thread, fumigated them with +incense, and having wrapt them in a white cloth deposited them in a +little oval-shaped basket. These seven ears were the infant Soul of +the Rice and the little basket was its cradle. It was carried home +to the farmer's house by another woman, who held up an umbrella to +screen the tender infant from the hot rays of the sun. Arrived at +the house the Rice-child was welcomed by the women of the family, +and laid, cradle and all, on a new sleepingmat with pillows at the +head. After that the farmer's wife was instructed to observe certain +rules of taboo for three days, the rules being in many respects +identical with those which have to be observed for three days after +the birth of a real child. Something of the same tender care which +is thus bestowed on the newly-born Rice-child is naturally extended +also to its parent, the sheaf from whose body it was taken. This +sheaf, which remains standing in the field after the Rice-soul has +been carried home and put to bed, is treated as a newly-made mother; +that is to say, young shoots of trees are pounded together and +scattered broadcast every evening for three successive days, and +when the three days are up you take the pulp of a coco-nut and what +are called "goat-flowers," mix them up, eat them with a little +sugar, and spit some of the mixture out among the rice. So after a +real birth the young shoots of the jack-fruit, the rose-apple, +certain kinds of banana, and the thin pulp of young coco-nuts are +mixed with dried fish, salt, acid, prawn-condiment, and the like +dainties to form a sort of salad, which is administered to mother +and child for three successive days. The last sheaf is reaped by the +farmer's wife, who carries it back to the house, where it is +threshed and mixed with the Rice-soul. The farmer then takes the +Rice-soul and its basket and deposits it, together with the product +of the last sheaf, in the big circular rice-bin used by the Malays. +Some grains from the Rice-soul are mixed with the seed which is to +be sown in the following year. In this Rice-mother and Rice-child of +the Malay Peninsula we may see the counterpart and in a sense the +prototype of the Demeter and Persephone of ancient Greece. + +Once more, the European custom of representing the corn-spirit in +the double form of bride and bridegroom has its parallel in a +ceremony observed at the rice-harvest in Java. Before the reapers +begin to cut the rice, the priest or sorcerer picks out a number of +ears of rice, which are tied together, smeared with ointment, and +adorned with flowers. Thus decked out, the ears are called the +_padi-peengantèn,_ that is, the Rice-bride and the Rice-bridegroom; +their wedding feast is celebrated, and the cutting of the rice +begins immediately afterwards. Later on, when the rice is being got +in, a bridal chamber is partitioned off in the barn, and furnished +with a new mat, a lamp, and all kinds of toilet articles. Sheaves of +rice, to represent the wedding guests, are placed beside the +Rice-bride and the Rice-bridegroom. Not till this has been done may +the whole harvest be housed in the barn. And for the first forty +days after the rice has been housed, no one may enter the barn, for +fear of disturbing the newly-wedded pair. + +In the islands of Bali and Lombok, when the time of harvest has +come, the owner of the field himself makes a beginning by cutting +"the principal rice" with his own hands and binding it into two +sheaves, each composed of one hundred and eight stalks with their +leaves attached to them. One of the sheaves represents a man and the +other a woman, and they are called "husband and wife." The male +sheaf is wound about with thread so that none of the leaves are +visible, whereas the female sheaf has its leaves bent over and tied +so as to resemble the roll of a woman's hair. Sometimes, for further +distinction, a necklace of rice-straw is tied round the female +sheaf. When the rice is brought home from the field, the two sheaves +representing the husband and wife are carried by a woman on her +head, and are the last of all to be deposited in the barn. There +they are laid to rest on a small erection or on a cushion of +rice-straw. The whole arrangement, we are informed, has for its +object to induce the rice to increase and multiply in the granary, +so that the owner may get more out of it than he put in. Hence when +the people of Bali bring the two sheaves, the husband and wife, into +the barn, they say, "Increase ye and multiply without ceasing." When +all the rice in the barn has been used up, the two sheaves +representing the husband and wife remain in the empty building till +they have gradually disappeared or been devoured by mice. The pinch +of hunger sometimes drives individuals to eat up the rice of these +two sheaves, but the wretches who do so are viewed with disgust by +their fellows and branded as pigs and dogs. Nobody would ever sell +these holy sheaves with the rest of their profane brethren. + +The same notion of the propagation of the rice by a male and female +power finds expression amongst the Szis of Upper Burma. When the +paddy, that is, the rice with the husks still on it, has been dried +and piled in a heap for threshing, all the friends of the household +are invited to the threshing-floor, and food and drink are brought +out. The heap of paddy is divided and one half spread out for +threshing, while the other half is left piled up. On the pile food +and spirits are set, and one of the elders, addressing "the father +and mother of the paddy-plant," prays for plenteous harvests in +future, and begs that the seed may bear many fold. Then the whole +party eat, drink, and make merry. This ceremony at the +threshing-floor is the only occasion when these people invoke "the +father and mother of the paddy." + + + +3. The Spirit of the Corn embodied in Human Beings + +THUS the theory which recognises in the European Corn-mother, +Corn-maiden, and so forth, the embodiment in vegetable form of the +animating spirit of the crops is amply confirmed by the evidence of +peoples in other parts of the world, who, because they have lagged +behind the European races in mental development, retain for that +very reason a keener sense of the original motives for observing +those rustic rites which among ourselves have sunk to the level of +meaningless survivals. The reader may, however, remember that +according to Mannhardt, whose theory I am expounding, the spirit of +the corn manifests itself not merely in vegetable but also in human +form; the person who cuts the last sheaf or gives the last stroke at +threshing passes for a temporary embodiment of the corn-spirit, just +as much as the bunch of corn which he reaps or threshes. Now in the +parallels which have been hitherto adduced from the customs of +peoples outside Europe the spirit of the crops appears only in +vegetable form. It remains, therefore, to prove that other races +besides our European peasantry have conceived the spirit of the +crops as incorporate in or represented by living men and women. Such +a proof, I may remind the reader, is germane to the theme of this +book; for the more instances we discover of human beings +representing in themselves the life or animating spirit of plants, +the less difficulty will be felt at classing amongst them the King +of the Wood at Nemi. + +The Mandans and Minnitarees of North America used to hold a festival +in spring which they called the corn-medicine festival of the women. +They thought that a certain Old Woman who Never Dies made the crops +to grow, and that, living somewhere in the south, she sent the +migratory waterfowl in spring as her tokens and representatives. +Each sort of bird represented a special kind of crop cultivated by +the Indians: the wild goose stood for the maize, the wild swan for +the gourds, and the wild duck for the beans. So when the feathered +messengers of the Old Woman began to arrive in spring the Indians +celebrated the corn-medicine festival of the women. Scaffolds were +set up, on which the people hung dried meat and other things by way +of offerings to the Old Woman; and on a certain day the old women of +the tribe, as representatives of the Old Woman who Never Dies, +assembled at the scaffolds each bearing in her hand an ear of maize +fastened to a stick. They first planted these sticks in the ground, +then danced round the scaffolds, and finally took up the sticks +again in their arms. Meanwhile old men beat drums and shook rattles +as a musical accompaniment to the performance of the old women. +Further, young women came and put dried flesh into the mouths of the +old women, for which they received in return a grain of the +consecrated maize to eat. Three or four grains of the holy corn were +also placed in the dishes of the young women, to be afterwards +carefully mixed with the seed-corn, which they were supposed to +fertilise. The dried flesh hung on the scaffold belonged to the old +women, because they represented the Old Woman who Never Dies. A +similar corn-medicine festival was held in autumn for the purpose of +attracting the herds of buffaloes and securing a supply of meat. At +that time every woman carried in her arms an uprooted plant of +maize. They gave the name of the Old Woman who Never Dies both to +the maize and to those birds which they regarded as symbols of the +fruits of the earth, and they prayed to them in autumn saying, +"Mother, have pity on us! send us not the bitter cold too soon, lest +we have not meat enough! let not all the game depart, that we may +have something for the winter!" In autumn, when the birds were +flying south, the Indians thought that they were going home to the +Old Woman and taking to her the offerings that had been hung up on +the scaffolds, especially the dried meat, which she ate. Here then +we have the spirit or divinity of the corn conceived as an Old Woman +and represented in bodily form by old women, who in their capacity +of representatives receive some at least of the offerings which are +intended for her. + +In some parts of India the harvest-goddess Gauri is represented at +once by an unmarried girl and by a bundle of wild balsam plants, +which is made up into the figure of a woman and dressed as such with +mask, garments, and ornaments. Both the human and the vegetable +representative of the goddess are worshipped, and the intention of +the whole ceremony appears to be to ensure a good crop of rice. + + + +4. The Double Personification of the Corn as Mother and Daughter + +COMPARED with the Corn-mother of Germany and the Harvest-maiden of +Scotland, the Demeter and Persephone of Greece are late products of +religious growth. Yet as members of the Aryan family the Greeks must +at one time or another have observed harvest customs like those +which are still practised by Celts, Teutons, and Slavs, and which, +far beyond the limits of the Aryan world, have been practised by the +Indians of Peru and many peoples of the East Indies--a sufficient +proof that the ideas on which these customs rest are not confined to +any one race, but naturally suggest themselves to all untutored +peoples engaged in agriculture. It is probable, therefore, that +Demeter and Persephone, those stately and beautiful figures of Greek +mythology, grew out of the same simple beliefs and practices which +still prevail among our modern peasantry, and that they were +represented by rude dolls made out of the yellow sheaves on many a +harvest-field long before their breathing images were wrought in +bronze and marble by the master hands of Phidias and Praxiteles. A +reminiscence of that olden time--a scent, so to say, of the +harvest-field--lingered to the last in the title of the Maiden +(_Kore_) by which Persephone was commonly known. Thus if the +prototype of Demeter is the Corn-mother of Germany, the prototype of +Persephone is the Harvest-maiden which, autumn after autumn, is +still made from the last sheaf on the Braes of Balquhidder. Indeed, +if we knew more about the peasant-farmers of ancient Greece, we +should probably find that even in classical times they continued +annually to fashion their Corn-mothers (Demeters) and Maidens +(Persephones) out of the ripe corn on the harvest-fields. But +unfortunately the Demeter and Persephone whom we know were the +denizens of towns, the majestic inhabitants of lordly temples; it +was for such divinities alone that the refined writers of antiquity +had eyes; the uncouth rites performed by rustics amongst the corn +were beneath their notice. Even if they noticed them, they probably +never dreamed of any connexion between the puppet of corn-stalks on +the sunny stubble-field and the marble divinity in the shady +coolness of the temple. Still the writings even of these town-bred +and cultured persons afford us an occasional glimpse of a Demeter as +rude as the rudest that a remote German village can show. Thus the +story that Iasion begat a child Plutus ( "wealth," "abundance") by +Demeter on a thrice-ploughed field, may be compared with the West +Prussian custom of the mock birth of a child on the harvest-field. +In this Prussian custom the pretended mother represents the +Corn-mother (Zytniamatka_); the pretended child represents the +Corn-baby, and the whole ceremony is a charm to ensure a crop next +year. The custom and the legend alike point to an older practice of +performing, among the sprouting crops in spring or the stubble in +autumn, one of those real or mimic acts of procreation by which, as +we have seen, primitive man often seeks to infuse his own vigorous +life into the languid or decaying energies of nature. Another +glimpse of the savage under the civilised Demeter will be afforded +farther on, when we come to deal with another aspect of those +agricultural divinities. + +The reader may have observed that in modern folk-customs the +corn-spirit is generally represented either by a Corn-mother (Old +Woman, etc.) or by a Maiden (Harvest-child, etc.), not both by a +Corn-mother and by a Maiden. Why then did the Greeks represent the +corn both as a mother and a daughter? + +In the Breton custom the mother-sheaf--a large figure made out of +the last sheaf with a small corn-doll inside of it--clearly +represents both the Corn-mother and the Corn-daughter, the latter +still unborn. Again, in the Prussian custom just referred to, the +woman who plays the part of Corn-mother represents the ripe grain; +the child appears to represent next year's corn, which may be +regarded, naturally enough, as the child of this year's corn, since +it is from the seed of this year's harvest that next year's crop +will spring. Further, we have seen that among the Malays of the +Peninsula and sometimes among the Highlanders of Scotland the spirit +of the grain is represented in double female form, both as old and +young, by means of ears taken alike from the ripe crop: in Scotland +the old spirit of the corn appears as the Carline or _Cailleach,_ +the young spirit as the Maiden; while among the Malays of the +Peninsula the two spirits of the rice are definitely related to each +other as mother and child. Judged by these analogies Demeter would +be the ripe crop of this year; Persephone would be the seed-corn +taken from it and sown in autumn, to reappear in spring. The descent +of Persephone into the lower world would thus be a mythical +expression for the sowing of the seed; her reappearance in spring +would signify the sprouting of the young corn. In this way the +Persephone of one year becomes the Demeter of the next, and this may +very well have been the original form of the myth. But when with the +advance of religious thought the corn came to be personified no +longer as a being that went through the whole cycle of birth, +growth, reproduction, and death within a year, but as an immortal +goddess, consistency required that one of the two personifications, +the mother or the daughter, should be sacrificed. However, the +double conception of the corn as mother and daughter may have been +too old and too deeply rooted in the popular mind to be eradicated +by logic, and so room had to be found in the reformed myth both for +mother and daughter. This was done by assigning to Persephone the +character of the corn sown in autumn and sprouting in spring, while +Demeter was left to play the somewhat vague part of the heavy mother +of the corn, who laments its annual disappearance underground, and +rejoices over its reappearance in spring. Thus instead of a regular +succession of divine beings, each living a year and then giving +birth to her successor, the reformed myth exhibits the conception of +two divine and immortal beings, one of whom annually disappears into +and reappears from the ground, while the other has little to do but +to weep and rejoice at the appropriate seasons. + +This theory of the double personification of the corn in Greek myth +assumes that both personifications (Demeter and Persephone) are +original. But if we suppose that the Greek myth started with a +single personification, the aftergrowth of a second personification +may perhaps be explained as follows. On looking over the harvest +customs which have been passed under review, it may be noticed that +they involve two distinct conceptions of the corn-spirit. For +whereas in some of the customs the corn-spirit is treated as +immanent in the corn, in others it is regarded as external to it. +Thus when a particular sheaf is called by the name of the +corn-spirit, and is dressed in clothes and handled with reverence, +the spirit is clearly regarded as immanent in the corn. But when the +spirit is said to make the crops grow by passing through them, or to +blight the grain of those against whom she has a grudge, she is +apparently conceived as distinct from, though exercising power over, +the corn. Conceived in the latter mode the corn-spirit is in a fair +way to become a deity of the corn, if she has not become so already. +Of these two conceptions, that of the cornspirit as immanent in the +corn is doubtless the older, since the view of nature as animated by +indwelling spirits appears to have generally preceded the view of it +as controlled by external deities; to put it shortly, animism +precedes deism. In the harvest customs of our European peasantry the +corn-spirit seems to be conceived now as immanent in the corn and +now as external to it. In Greek mythology, on the other hand, +Demeter is viewed rather as the deity of the corn than as the spirit +immanent in it. The process of thought which leads to the change +from the one mode of conception to the other is anthropomorphism, or +the gradual investment of the immanent spirits with more and more of +the attributes of humanity. As men emerge from savagery the tendency +to humanise their divinities gains strength; and the more human +these become the wider is the breach which severs them from the +natural objects of which they were at first merely the animating +spirits or souls. But in the progress upwards from savagery men of +the same generation do not march abreast; and though the new +anthropomorphic gods may satisfy the religious wants of the more +developed intelligences, the backward members of the community will +cling by preference to the old animistic notions. Now when the +spirit of any natural object such as the corn has been invested with +human qualities, detached from the object, and converted into a +deity controlling it, the object itself is, by the withdrawal of its +spirit, left inanimate; it becomes, so to say, a spiritual vacuum. +But the popular fancy, intolerant of such a vacuum, in other words, +unable to conceive anything as inanimate, immediately creates a +fresh mythical being, with which it peoples the vacant object. Thus +the same natural object comes to be represented in mythology by two +distinct beings: first by the old spirit now separated from it and +raised to the rank of a deity; second, by the new spirit, freshly +created by the popular fancy to supply the place vacated by the old +spirit on its elevation to a higher sphere. In such cases the +problem for mythology is, having got two distinct personifications +of the same object, what to do with them? How are their relations to +each other to be adjusted, and room found for both in the +mythological system? When the old spirit or new deity is conceived +as creating or producing the object in question, the problem is +easily solved. Since the object is believed to be produced by the +old spirit, and animated by the new one, the latter, as the soul of +the object, must also owe its existence to the former; thus the old +spirit will stand to the new one as producer to produced, that is, +in mythology, as parent to child, and if both spirits are conceived +as female, their relation will be that of mother and daughter. In +this way, starting from a single personification of the corn as +female, mythic fancy might in time reach a double personification of +it as mother and daughter. It would be very rash to affirm that this +was the way in which the myth of Demeter and Persephone actually +took shape; but it seems a legitimate conjecture that the +reduplication of deities, of which Demeter and Persephone furnish an +example, may sometimes have arisen in the way indicated. For +example, among the pairs of deities dealt with in a former part of +this work, it has been shown that there are grounds for regarding +both Isis and her companion god Osiris as personifications of the +corn. On the hypothesis just suggested, Isis would be the old +corn-spirit, and Osiris would be the newer one, whose relationship +to the old spirit was variously explained as that of brother, +husband, and son; for of course mythology would always be free to +account for the coexistence of the two divinities in more ways than +one. It must not, however, be forgotten that this proposed +explanation of such pairs of deities as Demeter and Persephone or +Isis and Osiris is purely conjectural, and is only given for what it +is worth. + + + + +XLVII. Lityerses + + + +1. Songs of the Corn Reapers + +IN THE PRECEDING pages an attempt has been made to show that in the +Corn-mother and Harvest-maiden of Northern Europe we have the +prototypes of Demeter and Persephone. But an essential feature is +still wanting to complete the resemblance. A leading incident in the +Greek myth is the death and resurrection of Persephone; it is this +incident which, coupled with the nature of the goddess as a deity of +vegetation, links the myth with the cults of Adonis, Attis, Osiris, +and Dionysus; and it is in virtue of this incident that the myth +finds a place in our discussion of the Dying God. It remains, +therefore, to see whether the conception of the annual death and +resurrection of a god, which figures so prominently in these great +Greek and Oriental worships, has not also its origin or its analogy +in the rustic rites observed by reapers and vine-dressers amongst +the corn-shocks and the vines. + +Our general ignorance of the popular superstitions and customs of +the ancients has already been confessed. But the obscurity which +thus hangs over the first beginnings of ancient religion is +fortunately dissipated to some extent in the present case. The +worships of Osiris, Adonis, and Attis had their respective seats, as +we have seen, in Egypt, Syria, and Phrygia; and in each of these +countries certain harvest and vintage customs are known to have been +observed, the resemblance of which to each other and to the national +rites struck the ancients themselves, and, compared with the harvest +customs of modern peasants and barbarians, seems to throw some light +on the origin of the rites in question. + +It has been already mentioned, on the authority of Diodorus, that in +ancient Egypt the reapers were wont to lament over the first sheaf +cut, invoking Isis as the goddess to whom they owed the discovery of +corn. To the plaintive song or cry sung or uttered by Egyptian +reapers the Greeks gave the name of Maneros, and explained the name +by a story that Maneros, the only son of the first Egyptian king, +invented agriculture, and, dying an untimely death, was thus +lamented by the people. It appears, however, that the name Maneros +is due to a misunderstanding of the formula _maa-ne-hra,_ "Come to +the house," which has been discovered in various Egyptian writings, +for example in the dirge of Isis in the Book of the Dead. Hence we +may suppose that the cry _maa-ne-hra_ was chanted by the reapers +over the cut corn as a dirge for the death of the corn-spirit (Isis +or Osiris) and a prayer for its return. As the cry was raised over +the first ears reaped, it would seem that the corn-spirit was +believed by the Egyptians to be present in the first corn cut and to +die under the sickle. We have seen that in the Malay Peninsula and +Java the first ears of rice are taken to represent either the Soul +of the Rice or the Rice-bride and the Rice-bridegroom. In parts of +Russia the first sheaf is treated much in the same way that the last +sheaf is treated elsewhere. It is reaped by the mistress herself, +taken home and set in the place of honour near the holy pictures; +afterwards it is threshed separately, and some of its grain is mixed +with the next year's seed-corn. In Aberdeenshire, while the last +corn cut was generally used to make the _clyack_ sheaf, it was +sometimes, though rarely, the first corn cut that was dressed up as +a woman and carried home with ceremony. + +In Phoenicia and Western Asia a plaintive song, like that chanted by +the Egyptian corn-reapers, was sung at the vintage and probably (to +judge by analogy) also at harvest. This Phoenician song was called +by the Greeks Linus or Ailinus and explained, like Maneros, as a +lament for the death of a youth named Linus. According to one story +Linus was brought up by a shepherd, but torn to pieces by his dogs. +But, like Maneros, the name Linus or Ailinus appears to have +originated in a verbal misunderstanding, and to be nothing more than +the cry _ai lanu,_ that is "Woe to us," which the Phoenicians +probably uttered in mourning for Adonis; at least Sappho seems to +have regarded Adonis and Linus as equivalent. + +In Bithynia a like mournful ditty, called Bormus or Borimus, was +chanted by Mariandynian reapers. Bormus was said to have been a +handsome youth, the son of King Upias or of a wealthy and +distinguished man. One summer day, watching the reapers at work in +his fields, he went to fetch them a drink of water and was never +heard of more. So the reapers sought for him, calling him in +plaintive strains, which they continued to chant at harvest ever +afterwards. + + + +2. Killing the Corn-spirit + +IN PHRYGIA the corresponding song, sung by harvesters both at +reaping and at threshing, was called Lityerses. According to one +story, Lityerses was a bastard son of Midas, King of Phrygia, and +dwelt at Celaenae. He used to reap the corn, and had an enormous +appetite. When a stranger happened to enter the corn-field or to +pass by it, Lityerses gave him plenty to eat and drink, then took +him to the corn-fields on the banks of the Maeander and compelled +him to reap along with him. Lastly, it was his custom to wrap the +stranger in a sheaf, cut off his head with a sickle, and carry away +his body, swathed in the corn-stalks. But at last Hercules undertook +to reap with him, cut off his head with the sickle, and threw his +body into the river. As Hercules is reported to have slain Lityerses +in the same way that Lityerses slew others, we may infer that +Lityerses used to throw the bodies of his victims into the river. +According to another version of the story, Lityerses, a son of +Midas, was wont to challenge people to a reaping match with him, and +if he vanquished them he used to thrash them; but one day he met +with a stronger reaper, who slew him. + +There are some grounds for supposing that in these stories of +Lityerses we have the description of a Phrygian harvest custom in +accordance with which certain persons, especially strangers passing +the harvest field, were regularly regarded as embodiments of the +corn-spirit, and as such were seized by the reapers, wrapt in +sheaves, and beheaded, their bodies, bound up in the corn-stalks, +being after-wards thrown into water as a rain-charm. The grounds for +this supposition are, first, the resemblance of the Lityerses story +to the harvest customs of European peasantry, and, second, the +frequency of human sacrifices offered by savage races to promote the +fertility of the fields. We will examine these grounds successively, +beginning with the former. + +In comparing the story with the harvest customs of Europe, three +points deserve special attention, namely: I. the reaping match and +the binding of persons in the sheaves; II. the killing of the +corn-spirit or his representatives; III. the treatment of visitors +to the harvest field or of strangers passing it. + +I. In regard to the first head, we have seen that in modern Europe +the person who cuts or binds or threshes the last sheaf is often +exposed to rough treatment at the hands of his fellow-labourers. For +example, he is bound up in the last sheaf, and, thus encased, is +carried or carted about, beaten, drenched with water, thrown on a +dunghill, and so forth. Or, if he is spared this horse-play, he is +at least the subject of ridicule or is thought to be destined to +suffer some misfortune in the course of the year. Hence the +harvesters are naturally reluctant to give the last cut at reaping +or the last stroke at threshing or to bind the last sheaf, and +towards the close of the work this reluctance produces an emulation +among the labourers, each striving to finish his task as fast as +possible, in order that he may escape the invidious distinction of +being last. For example, in the Mittelmark district of Prussia, when +the rye has been reaped, and the last sheaves are about to be tied +up, the binders stand in two rows facing each other, every woman +with her sheaf and her straw rope before her. At a given signal they +all tie up their sheaves, and the one who is the last to finish is +ridiculed by the rest. Not only so, but her sheaf is made up into +human shape and called the Old Man, and she must carry it home to +the farmyard, where the harvesters dance in a circle round her and +it. Then they take the Old Man to the farmer and deliver it to him +with the words, "We bring the Old Man to the Master. He may keep him +till he gets a new one." After that the Old Man is set up against a +tree, where he remains for a long time, the butt of many jests. At +Aschbach in Bavaria, when the reaping is nearly finished, the +reapers say, "Now, we will drive out the Old Man." Each of them sets +himself to reap a patch of corn as fast as he can; he who cuts the +last handful or the last stalk is greeted by the rest with an +exulting cry, "You have the Old Man." Sometimes a black mask is +fastened on the reaper's face and he is dressed in woman's clothes; +or if the reaper is a woman, she is dressed in man's clothes. A +dance follows. At the supper the Old Man gets twice as large a +portion of the food as the others. The proceedings are similar at +threshing; the person who gives the last stroke is said to have the +Old Man. At the supper given to the threshers he has to eat out of +the cream-ladle and to drink a great deal. Moreover, he is quizzed +and teased in all sorts of ways till he frees himself from further +annoyance by treating the others to brandy or beer. + +These examples illustrate the contests in reaping, threshing, and +binding which take place amongst the harvesters, from their +unwillingness to suffer the ridicule and discomfort incurred by the +one who happens to finish his work last. It will be remembered that +the person who is last at reaping, binding, or threshing, is +regarded as the representative of the corn-spirit, and this idea is +more fully expressed by binding him or her in corn-stalks. The +latter custom has been already illustrated, but a few more instances +may be added. At Kloxin, near Stettin, the harvesters call out to +the woman who binds the last sheaf, "You have the Old Man, and must +keep him." As late as the first half of the nineteenth century the +custom was to tie up the woman herself in pease-straw, and bring her +with music to the farmhouse, where the harvesters danced with her +till the pease-straw fell off. In other villages round Stettin, when +the last harvest-waggon is being loaded, there is a regular race +amongst the women, each striving not to be last. For she who places +the last sheaf on the waggon is called the Old Man, and is +completely swathed in corn-stalks; she is also decked with flowers, +and flowers and a helmet of straw are placed on her head. In solemn +procession she carries the harvest-crown to the squire, over whose +head she holds it while she utters a string of good wishes. At the +dance which follows, the Old Man has the right to choose his, or +rather her, partner; it is an honour to dance with him. At Gommern, +near Magdeburg, the reaper who cuts the last ears of corn is often +wrapt up in corn-stalks so completely that it is hard to see whether +there is a man in the bundle or not. Thus wrapt up he is taken by +another stalwart reaper on his back, and carried round the field +amidst the joyous cries of the harvesters. At Neuhausen, near +Merseburg, the person who binds the last sheaf is wrapt in ears of +oats and saluted as the Oatsman, whereupon the others dance round +him. At Brie, Isle de France, the farmer himself is tied up in the +_first_ sheaf. At Dingelstedt, in the district of Erfurt, down to +the first half of the nineteenth century it was the custom to tie up +a man in the last sheaf. He was called the Old Man, and was brought +home on the last waggon, amid huzzas and music. On reaching the +farmyard he was rolled round the barn and drenched with water. At +Nördlingen in Bavaria the man who gives the last stroke at threshing +is wrapt in straw and rolled on the threshing-floor. In some parts +of Oberpfalz, Bavaria, he is said to "get the Old Man," is wrapt in +straw, and carried to a neighbour who has not yet finished his +threshing. In Silesia the woman who binds the last sheaf has to +submit to a good deal of horse-play. She is pushed, knocked down, +and tied up in the sheaf, after which she is called the corn-puppet +(_Kornpopel_). + +"In all these cases the idea is that the spirit of the corn--the Old +Man of vegetation--is driven out of the corn last cut or last +threshed, and lives in the barn during the winter. At sowing-time he +goes out again to the fields to resume his activity as animating +force among the sprouting corn." + +II. Passing to the second point of comparison between the Lityerses +story and European harvest customs, we have now to see that in the +latter the corn-spirit is often believed to be killed at reaping or +threshing. In the Romsdal and other parts of Norway, when the +haymaking is over, the people say that "the Old Hay-man has been +killed." In some parts of Bavaria the man who gives the last stroke +at threshing is said to have killed the Corn-man, the Oats-man, or +the Wheat-man, according to the crop. In the Canton of Tillot, in +Lorraine, at threshing the last corn the men keep time with their +flails, calling out as they thresh, "We are killing the Old Woman! +We are killing the Old Woman!" If there is an old woman in the house +she is warned to save herself, or she will be struck dead. Near +Ragnit, in Lithuania, the last handful of corn is left standing by +itself, with the words, "The Old Woman (_Boba_) is sitting in +there." Then a young reaper whets his scythe and, with a strong +sweep, cuts down the handful. It is now said of him that "he has cut +off the Boba's head"; and he receives a gratuity from the farmer and +a jugful of water over his head from the farmer's wife. According to +another account, every Lithuanian reaper makes haste to finish his +task; for the Old Rye-woman lives in the last stalks, and whoever +cuts the last stalks kills the Old Rye-woman, and by killing her he +brings trouble on himself. In Wilkischken, in the district of +Tilsit, the man who cuts the last corn goes by the name of "the +killer of the Rye-woman." In Lithuania, again, the corn-spirit is +believed to be killed at threshing as well as at reaping. When only +a single pile of corn remains to be threshed, all the threshers +suddenly step back a few paces, as if at the word of command. Then +they fall to work, plying their flails with the utmost rapidity and +vehemence, till they come to the last bundle. Upon this they fling +themselves with almost frantic fury, straining every nerve, and +raining blows on it till the word "Halt!" rings out sharply from the +leader. The man whose flail is the last to fall after the command to +stop has been given is immediately surrounded by all the rest, +crying out that "he has struck the Old Rye-woman dead." He has to +expiate the deed by treating them to brandy; and, like the man who +cuts the last corn, he is known as "the killer of the Old +Rye-woman." Sometimes in Lithuania the slain corn-spirit was +represented by a puppet. Thus a female figure was made out of +corn-stalks, dressed in clothes, and placed on the threshing-floor, +under the heap of corn which was to be threshed last. Whoever +thereafter gave the last stroke at threshing "struck the Old Woman +dead." We have already met with examples of burning the figure which +represents the corn-spirit. In the East Riding of Yorkshire a custom +called "burning the Old Witch" is observed on the last day of +harvest. A small sheaf of corn is burnt on the field in a fire of +stubble; peas are parched at the fire and eaten with a liberal +allowance of ale; and the lads and lasses romp about the flames and +amuse themselves by blackening each other's faces. Sometimes, again, +the corn-spirit is represented by a man, who lies down under the +last corn; it is threshed upon his body, and the people say that +"the Old Man is being beaten to death." We saw that sometimes the +farmer's wife is thrust, together with the last sheaf, under the +threshing-machine, as if to thresh her, and that afterwards a +pretence is made of winnowing her. At Volders, in the Tyrol, husks +of corn are stuck behind the neck of the man who gives the last +stroke at threshing, and he is throttled with a straw garland. If he +is tall, it is believed that the corn will be tall next year. Then +he is tied on a bundle and flung into the river. In Carinthia, the +thresher who gave the last stroke, and the person who untied the +last sheaf on the threshing-floor, are bound hand and foot with +straw bands, and crowns of straw are placed on their heads. Then +they are tied, face to face, on a sledge, dragged through the +village, and flung into a brook. The custom of throwing the +representative of the corn-spirit into a stream, like that of +drenching him with water, is, as usual, a rain-charm. + +III. Thus far the representatives of the corn-spirit have generally +been the man or woman who cuts, binds, or threshes the last corn. We +now come to the cases in which the corn-spirit is represented either +by a stranger passing the harvest-field (as in the Lityerses tale), +or by a visitor entering it for the first time. All over Germany it +is customary for the reapers or threshers to lay hold of passing +strangers and bind them with a rope made of corn-stalks, till they +pay a forfeit; and when the farmer himself or one of his guests +enters the field or the threshing-floor for the first time, he is +treated in the same way. Sometimes the rope is only tied round his +arm or his feet or his neck. But sometimes he is regularly swathed +in corn. Thus at Solör in Norway, whoever enters the field, be he +the master or a stranger, is tied up in a sheaf and must pay a +ransom. In the neighbourhood of Soest, when the farmer visits the +flax-pullers for the first time, he is completely enveloped in flax. +Passers-by are also surrounded by the women, tied up in flax, and +compelled to stand brandy. At Nördlingen strangers are caught with +straw ropes and tied up in a sheaf till they pay a forfeit. Among +the Germans of Haselberg, in West Bohemia, as soon as a farmer had +given the last corn to be threshed on the threshing-floor, he was +swathed in it and had to redeem himself by a present of cakes. In +the canton of Putanges, in Normandy, a pretence of tying up the +owner of the land in the last sheaf of wheat is still practised, or +at least was still practised some quarter of a century ago. The task +falls to the women alone. They throw themselves on the proprietor, +seize him by the arms, the legs, and the body, throw him to the +ground, and stretch him on the last sheaf. Then a show is made of +binding him, and the conditions to be observed at the harvest-supper +are dictated to him. When he has accepted them, he is released and +allowed to get up. At Brie, Isle de France, when any one who does +not belong to the farm passes by the harvest-field, the reapers give +chase. If they catch him, they bind him in a sheaf and bite him, one +after the other, in the forehead, crying, "You shall carry the key +of the field." "To have the key" is an expression used by harvesters +elsewhere in the sense of to cut or bind or thresh the last sheaf; +hence, it is equivalent to the phrases "You have the Old Man," "You +are the Old Man," which are addressed to the cutter, binder, or +thresher of the last sheaf. Therefore, when a stranger, as at Brie, +is tied up in a sheaf and told that he will "carry the key of the +field," it is as much as to say that he is the Old Man, that is, an +embodiment of the corn-spirit. In hop-picking, if a well-dressed +stranger passes the hop-yard, he is seized by the women, tumbled +into the bin, covered with leaves, and not released till he has paid +a fine. + +Thus, like the ancient Lityerses, modern European reapers have been +wont to lay hold of a passing stranger and tie him up in a sheaf. It +is not to be expected that they should complete the parallel by +cutting off his head; but if they do not take such a strong step, +their language and gestures are at least indicative of a desire to +do so. For instance, in Mecklenburg on the first day of reaping, if +the master or mistress or a stranger enters the field, or merely +passes by it, all the mowers face towards him and sharpen their +scythes, clashing their whet-stones against them in unison, as if +they were making ready to mow. Then the woman who leads the mowers +steps up to him and ties a band round his left arm. He must ransom +himself by payment of a forfeit. Near Ratzeburg, when the master or +other person of mark enters the field or passes by it, all the +harvesters stop work and march towards him in a body, the men with +their scythes in front. On meeting him they form up in line, men and +women. The men stick the poles of their scythes in the ground, as +they do in whetting them; then they take off their caps and hang +them on the scythes, while their leader stands forward and makes a +speech. When he has done, they all whet their scythes in measured +time very loudly, after which they put on their caps. Two of the +women binders then come forward; one of them ties the master or +stranger (as the case may be) with corn-ears or with a silken band; +the other delivers a rhyming address. The following are specimens of +the speeches made by the reaper on these occasions. In some parts of +Pomerania every passer-by is stopped, his way being barred with a +corn-rope. The reapers form a circle round him and sharpen their +scythes, while their leader says: + + + "The men are ready, + The scythes are bent, + The corn is great and small, + The gentleman must be mowed." + + +Then the process of whetting the scythes is repeated. At Ramin, in +the district of Stettin, the stranger, standing encircled by the +reapers, is thus addressed: + + + "We'll stroke the gentleman + With our naked sword, + Wherewith we shear meadows and fields. + We shear princes and lords. + Labourers are often athirst; + If the gentleman will stand beer and brandy + The joke will soon be over. + But, if our prayer he does not like, + The sword has a right to strike." + + +On the threshing-floor strangers are also regarded as embodiments of +the corn-spirit, and are treated accordingly. At Wiedingharde in +Schleswig when a stranger comes to the threshing-floor he is asked, +"Shall I teach you the flail-dance?" If he says yes, they put the +arms of the threshing-flail round his neck as if he were a sheaf of +corn, and press them together so tight that he is nearly choked. In +some parishes of Wermland (Sweden), when a stranger enters the +threshing-floor where the threshers are at work, they say that "they +will teach him the threshing-song." Then they put a flail round his +neck and a straw rope about his body. Also, as we have seen, if a +stranger woman enters the threshing-floor, the threshers put a flail +round her body and a wreath of corn-stalks round her neck, and call +out, "See the Corn-woman! See! that is how the Corn-maiden looks!" + +Thus in these harvest-customs of modern Europe the person who cuts, +binds, or threshes the last corn is treated as an embodiment of the +corn-spirit by being wrapt up in sheaves, killed in mimicry by +agricultural implements, and thrown into the water. These +coincidences with the Lityerses story seem to prove that the latter +is a genuine description of an old Phrygian harvest-custom. But +since in the modern parallels the killing of the personal +representative of the corn-spirit is necessarily omitted or at most +enacted only in mimicry, it is desirable to show that in rude +society human beings have been commonly killed as an agricultural +ceremony to promote the fertility of the fields. The following +examples will make this plain. + + + +3. Human Sacrifices for the Crops + +THE INDIANS of Guayaquil, in Ecuador, used to sacrifice human blood +and the hearts of men when they sowed their fields. The people of +Cañar (now Cuenca in Ecuador) used to sacrifice a hundred children +annually at harvest. The kings of Quito, the Incas of Peru, and for +a long time the Spaniards were unable to suppress the bloody rite. +At a Mexican harvest-festival, when the first-fruits of the season +were offered to the sun, a criminal was placed between two immense +stones, balanced opposite each other, and was crushed by them as +they fell together. His remains were buried, and a feast and dance +followed. This sacrifice was known as "the meeting of the stones." +We have seen that the ancient Mexicans also sacrificed human beings +at all the various stages in the growth of the maize, the age of the +victims corresponding to the age of the corn; for they sacrificed +new-born babes at sowing, older children when the grain had +sprouted, and so on till it was fully ripe, when they sacrificed old +men. No doubt the correspondence between the ages of the victims and +the state of the corn was supposed to enhance the efficacy of the +sacrifice. + +The Pawnees annually sacrificed a human victim in spring when they +sowed their fields. The sacrifice was believed to have been enjoined +on them by the Morning Star, or by a certain bird which the Morning +Star had sent to them as its messenger. The bird was stuffed and +preserved as a powerful talisman. They thought that an omission of +this sacrifice would be followed by the total failure of the crops +of maize, beans, and pumpkins. The victim was a captive of either +sex. He was clad in the gayest and most costly attire, was fattened +on the choicest food, and carefully kept in ignorance of his doom. +When he was fat enough, they bound him to a cross in the presence of +the multitude, danced a solemn dance, then cleft his head with a +tomahawk and shot him with arrows. According to one trader, the +squaws then cut pieces of flesh from the victim's body, with which +they greased their hoes; but this was denied by another trader who +had been present at the ceremony. Immediately after the sacrifice +the people proceeded to plant their fields. A particular account has +been preserved of the sacrifice of a Sioux girl by the Pawnees in +April 1837 or 1838. The girl was fourteen or fifteen years old and +had been kept for six months and well treated. Two days before the +sacrifice she was led from wigwam to wigwam, accompanied by the +whole council of chiefs and warriors. At each lodge she received a +small billet of wood and a little paint, which she handed to the +warrior next to her. In this way she called at every wigwam, +receiving at each the same present of wood and paint. On the +twenty-second of April she was taken out to be sacrificed, attended +by the warriors, each of whom carried two pieces of wood which he +had received from her hands. Her body having been painted half red +and half black, she was attached to a sort of gibbet and roasted for +some time over a slow fire, then shot to death with arrows. The +chief sacrificer next tore out her heart and devoured it. While her +flesh was still warm it was cut in small pieces from the bones, put +in little baskets, and taken to a neighbouring corn-field. There the +head chief took a piece of the flesh from a basket and squeezed a +drop of blood upon the newly-deposited grains of corn. His example +was followed by the rest, till all the seed had been sprinkled with +the blood; it was then covered up with earth. According to one +account the body of the victim was reduced to a kind of paste, which +was rubbed or sprinkled not only on the maize but also on the +potatoes, the beans, and other seeds to fertilise them. By this +sacrifice they hoped to obtain plentiful crops. + +A West African queen used to sacrifice a man and woman in the month +of March. They were killed with spades and hoes, and their bodies +buried in the middle of a field which had just been tilled. At Lagos +in Guinea it was the custom annually to impale a young girl alive +soon after the spring equinox in order to secure good crops. Along +with her were sacrificed sheep and goats, which, with yams, heads of +maize, and plantains, were hung on stakes on each side of her. The +victims were bred up for the purpose in the king's seraglio, and +their minds had been so powerfully wrought upon by the fetish men +that they went cheerfully to their fate. A similar sacrifice used to +be annually offered at Benin, in Guinea. The Marimos, a Bechuana +tribe, sacrifice a human being for the crops. The victim chosen is +generally a short, stout man. He is seized by violence or +intoxicated and taken to the fields, where he is killed amongst the +wheat to serve as "seed" (so they phrase it). After his blood has +coagulated in the sun, it is burned along with the frontal bone, the +flesh attached to it, and the brain; the ashes are then scattered +over the ground to fertilise it. The rest of the body is eaten. + +The Bagobos of Mindanao, one of the Philippine Islands, offer a +human sacrifice before they sow their rice. The victim is a slave, +who is hewn to pieces in the forest. The natives of Bontoc in the +interior of Luzon, one of the Philippine Islands, are passionate +head-hunters. Their principal seasons for head-hunting are the times +of planting and reaping the rice. In order that the crop may turn +out well, every farm must get at least one human head at planting +and one at sowing. The head-hunters go out in twos or threes, lie in +wait for the victim, whether man or woman, cut off his or her head, +hands, and feet, and bring them back in haste to the village, where +they are received with great rejoicings. The skulls are at first +exposed on the branches of two or three dead trees which stand in an +open space of every village surrounded by large stones which serve +as seats. The people then dance round them and feast and get drunk. +When the flesh has decayed from the head, the man who cut it off +takes it home and preserves it as a relic, while his companions do +the same with the hands and the feet. Similar customs are observed +by the Apoyaos, another tribe in the interior of Luzon. + +Among the Lhota Naga, one of the many savage tribes who inhabit the +deep rugged labyrinthine glens which wind into the mountains from +the rich valley of Brahmapootra, it used to be a common custom to +chop off the heads, hands, and feet of people they met with, and +then to stick up the severed extremities in their fields to ensure a +good crop of grain. They bore no ill-will whatever to the persons +upon whom they operated in this unceremonious fashion. Once they +flayed a boy alive, carved him in pieces, and distributed the flesh +among all the villagers, who put it into their corn-bins to avert +bad luck and ensure plentiful crops of grain. The Gonds of India, a +Dravidian race, kidnapped Brahman boys, and kept them as victims to +be sacrificed on various occasions. At sowing and reaping, after a +triumphal procession, one of the lads was slain by being punctured +with a poisoned arrow. His blood was then sprinkled over the +ploughed field or the ripe crop, and his flesh was devoured. The +Oraons or Uraons of Chota Nagpur worship a goddess called Anna +Kuari, who can give good crops and make a man rich, but to induce +her to do so it is necessary to offer human sacrifices. In spite of +the vigilance of the British Government these sacrifices are said to +be still secretly perpetrated. The victims are poor waifs and strays +whose disappearance attracts no notice. April and May are the months +when the catchpoles are out on the prowl. At that time strangers +will not go about the country alone, and parents will not let their +children enter the jungle or herd the cattle. When a catchpole has +found a victim, he cuts his throat and carries away the upper part +of the ring finger and the nose. The goddess takes up her abode in +the house of any man who has offered her a sacrifice, and from that +time his fields yield a double harvest. The form she assumes in the +house is that of a small child. When the householder brings in his +unhusked rice, he takes the goddess and rolls her over the heap to +double its size. But she soon grows restless and can only be +pacified with the blood of fresh human victims. + +But the best known case of human sacrifices, systematically offered +to ensure good crops, is supplied by the Khonds or Kandhs, another +Dravidian race in Bengal. Our knowledge of them is derived from the +accounts written by British officers who, about the middle of the +nineteenth century, were engaged in putting them down. The +sacrifices were offered to the Earth Goddess, Tari Pennu or Bera +Pennu, and were believed to ensure good crops and immunity from all +disease and accidents. In particular, they were considered necessary +in the cultivation of turmeric, the Khonds arguing that the turmeric +could not have a deep red colour without the shedding of blood. The +victim or Meriah, as he was called, was acceptable to the goddess +only if he had been purchased, or had been born a victim--that is, +the son of a victim father, or had been devoted as a child by his +father or guardian. Khonds in distress often sold their children for +victims, "considering the beatification of their souls certain, and +their death, for the benefit of mankind, the most honourable +possible." A man of the Panua tribe was once seen to load a Khond +with curses, and finally to spit in his face, because the Khond had +sold for a victim his own child, whom the Panua had wished to marry. +A party of Khonds, who saw this, immediately pressed forward to +comfort the seller of his child, saying, "Your child has died that +all the world may live, and the Earth Goddess herself will wipe that +spittle from your face." The victims were often kept for years +before they were sacrificed. Being regarded as consecrated beings, +they were treated with extreme affection, mingled with deference, +and were welcomed wherever they went. A Meriah youth, on attaining +maturity, was generally given a wife, who was herself usually a +Meriah or victim; and with her he received a portion of land and +farm-stock. Their offspring were also victims. Human sacrifices were +offered to the Earth Goddess by tribes, branches of tribes, or +villages, both at periodical festivals and on extraordinary +occasions. The periodical sacrifices were generally so arranged by +tribes and divisions of tribes that each head of a family was +enabled, at least once a year, to procure a shred of flesh for his +fields, generally about the time when his chief crop was laid down. + +The mode of performing these tribal sacrifices was as follows. Ten +or twelve days before the sacrifice, the victim was devoted by +cutting off his hair, which, until then, had been kept unshorn. +Crowds of men and women assembled to witness the sacrifice; none +might be excluded, since the sacrifice was declared to be for all +mankind. It was preceded by several days of wild revelry and gross +debauchery. On the day before the sacrifice the victim, dressed in a +new garment, was led forth from the village in solemn procession, +with music and dancing, to the Meriah grove, a clump of high forest +trees standing a little way from the village and untouched by the +axe. There they tied him to a post, which was sometimes placed +between two plants of the sankissar shrub. He was then anointed with +oil, ghee, and turmeric, and adorned with flowers; and "a species of +reverence, which it is not easy to distinguish from adoration," was +paid to him throughout the day. A great struggle now arose to obtain +the smallest relic from his person; a particle of the turmeric paste +with which he was smeared, or a drop of his spittle, was esteemed of +sovereign virtue, especially by the women. The crowd danced round +the post to music, and addressing the earth, said, "O God, we offer +this sacrifice to you; give us good crops, seasons, and health"; +then speaking to the victim they said, "We bought you with a price, +and did not seize you; now we sacrifice you according to custom, and +no sin rests with us." + +On the last morning the orgies, which had been scarcely interrupted +during the night, were resumed, and continued till noon, when they +ceased, and the assembly proceeded to consummate the sacrifice. The +victim was again anointed with oil, and each person touched the +anointed part, and wiped the oil on his own head. In some places +they took the victim in procession round the village, from door to +door, where some plucked hair from his head, and others begged for a +drop of his spittle, with which they anointed their heads. As the +victim might not be bound nor make any show of resistance, the bones +of his arms and, if necessary, his legs were broken; but often this +precaution was rendered unnecessary by stupefying him with opium. +The mode of putting him to death varied in different places. One of +the commonest modes seems to have been strangulation, or squeezing +to death. The branch of a green tree was cleft several feet down the +middle; the victim's neck (in other places, his chest) was inserted +in the cleft, which the priest, aided by his assistants, strove with +all his force to close. Then he wounded the victim slightly with his +axe, whereupon the crowd rushed at the wretch and hewed the flesh +from the bones, leaving the head and bowels untouched. Sometimes he +was cut up alive. In Chinna Kimedy he was dragged along the fields, +surrounded by the crowd, who, avoiding his head and intestines, +hacked the flesh from his body with their knives till he died. +Another very common mode of sacrifice in the same district was to +fasten the victim to the proboscis of a wooden elephant, which +revolved on a stout post, and, as it whirled round, the crowd cut +the flesh from the victim while life remained. In some villages +Major Campbell found as many as fourteen of these wooden elephants, +which had been used at sacrifices. In one district the victim was +put to death slowly by fire. A low stage was formed, sloping on +either side like a roof; upon it they laid the victim, his limbs +wound round with cords to confine his struggles. Fires were then +lighted and hot brands applied, to make him roll up and down the +slopes of the stage as long as possible; for the more tears he shed +the more abundant would be the supply of rain. Next day the body was +cut to pieces. + +The flesh cut from the victim was instantly taken home by the +persons who had been deputed by each village to bring it. To secure +its rapid arrival, it was sometimes forwarded by relays of men, and +conveyed with postal fleetness fifty or sixty miles. In each village +all who stayed at home fasted rigidly until the flesh arrived. The +bearer deposited it in the place of public assembly, where it was +received by the priest and the heads of families. The priest divided +it into two portions, one of which he offered to the Earth Goddess +by burying it in a hole in the ground with his back turned, and +without looking. Then each man added a little earth to bury it, and +the priest poured water on the spot from a hill gourd. The other +portion of flesh he divided into as many shares as there were heads +of houses present. Each head of a house rolled his shred of flesh in +leaves, and buried it in his favourite field, placing it in the +earth behind his back without looking. In some places each man +carried his portion of flesh to the stream which watered his fields, +and there hung it on a pole. For three days thereafter no house was +swept; and, in one district, strict silence was observed, no fire +might be given out, no wood cut, and no strangers received. The +remains of the human victim (namely, the head, bowels, and bones) +were watched by strong parties the night after the sacrifice; and +next morning they were burned, along with a whole sheep, on a +funeral pile. The ashes were scattered over the fields, laid as +paste over the houses and granaries, or mixed with the new corn to +preserve it from insects. Sometimes, however, the head and bones +were buried, not burnt. After the suppression of the human +sacrifices, inferior victims were substituted in some places; for +instance, in the capital of Chinna Kimedy a goat took the place of +the human victim. Others sacrifice a buffalo. They tie it to a +wooden post in a sacred grove, dance wildly round it with brandished +knives, then, falling on the living animal, hack it to shreds and +tatters in a few minutes, fighting and struggling with each other +for every particle of flesh. As soon as a man has secured a piece he +makes off with it at full speed to bury it in his fields, according +to ancient custom, before the sun has set, and as some of them have +far to go they must run very fast. All the women throw clods of +earth at the rapidly retreating figures of the men, some of them +taking very good aim. Soon the sacred grove, so lately a scene of +tumult, is silent and deserted except for a few people who remain to +guard all that is left of the buffalo, to wit, the head, the bones, +and the stomach, which are burned with ceremony at the foot of the +stake. + +In these Khond sacrifices the Meriahs are represented by our +authorities as victims offered to propitiate the Earth Goddess. But +from the treatment of the victims both before and after death it +appears that the custom cannot be explained as merely a propitiatory +sacrifice. A part of the flesh certainly was offered to the Earth +Goddess, but the rest was buried by each householder in his fields, +and the ashes of the other parts of the body were scattered over the +fields, laid as paste on the granaries, or mixed with the new corn. +These latter customs imply that to the body of the Meriah there was +ascribed a direct or intrinsic power of making the crops to grow, +quite independent of the indirect efficacy which it might have as an +offering to secure the good-will of the deity. In other words, the +flesh and ashes of the victim were believed to be endowed with a +magical or physical power of fertilising the land. The same +intrinsic power was ascribed to the blood and tears of the Meriah, +his blood causing the redness of the turmeric and his tears +producing rain; for it can hardly be doubted that, originally at +least, the tears were supposed to bring down the rain, not merely to +prognosticate it. Similarly the custom of pouring water on the +buried flesh of the Meriah was no doubt a rain-charm. Again, magical +power as an attribute of the Meriah appears in the sovereign virtue +believed to reside in anything that came from his person, as his +hair or spittle. The ascription of such power to the Meriah +indicates that he was much more than a mere man sacrificed to +propitiate a deity. Once more, the extreme reverence paid him points +to the same conclusion. Major Campbell speaks of the Meriah as +"being regarded as something more than mortal," and Major Macpherson +says, "A species of reverence, which it is not easy to distinguish +from adoration, is paid to him." In short, the Meriah seems to have +been regarded as divine. As such, he may originally have represented +the Earth Goddess or, perhaps, a deity of vegetation; though in +later times he came to be regarded rather as a victim offered to a +deity than as himself an incarnate god. This later view of the +Meriah as a victim rather than a divinity may perhaps have received +undue emphasis from the European writers who have described the +Khond religion. Habituated to the later idea of sacrifice as an +offering made to a god for the purpose of conciliating his favour, +European observers are apt to interpret all religious slaughter in +this sense, and to suppose that wherever such slaughter takes place, +there must necessarily be a deity to whom the carnage is believed by +the slayers to be acceptable. Thus their preconceived ideas may +unconsciously colour and warp their descriptions of savage rites. + +The same custom of killing the representative of a god, of which +strong traces appear in the Khond sacrifices, may perhaps be +detected in some of the other human sacrifices described above. Thus +the ashes of the slaughtered Marimo were scattered over the fields; +the blood of the Brahman lad was put on the crop and field; the +flesh of the slain Naga was stowed in the corn-bin; and the blood of +the Sioux girl was allowed to trickle on the seed. Again, the +identification of the victim with the corn, in other words, the view +that he is an embodiment or spirit of the corn, is brought out in +the pains which seem to be taken to secure a physical correspondence +between him and the natural object which he embodies or represents. +Thus the Mexicans killed young victims for the young corn and old +ones for the ripe corn; the Marimos sacrifice, as "seed," a short, +fat man, the shortness of his stature corresponding to that of the +young corn, his fatness to the condition which it is desired that +the crops may attain; and the Pawnees fattened their victims +probably with the same view. Again, the identification of the victim +with the corn comes out in the African custom of killing him with +spades and hoes, and the Mexican custom of grinding him, like corn, +between two stones. + +One more point in these savage customs deserves to be noted. The +Pawnee chief devoured the heart of the Sioux girl, and the Marimos +and Gonds ate the victim's flesh. If, as we suppose, the victim was +regarded as divine, it follows that in eating his flesh his +worshippers believed themselves to be partaking of the body of their +god. + + + +4. The Corn-spirit slain in his Human Representatives + +THE BARBAROUS rites just described offer analogies to the harvest +customs of Europe. Thus the fertilising virtue ascribed to the +corn-spirit is shown equally in the savage custom of mixing the +victim's blood or ashes with the seed-corn and the European custom +of mixing the grain from the last sheaf with the young corn in +spring. Again, the identification of the person with the corn +appears alike in the savage custom of adapting the age and stature +of the victim to the age and stature, whether actual or expected, of +the crop; in the Scotch and Styrian rules that when the corn-spirit +is conceived as the Maiden the last corn shall be cut by a young +maiden, but when it is conceived as the Corn-mother it shall be cut +by an old woman; in the warning given to old women in Lorraine to +save themselves when the Old Woman is being killed, that is, when +the last corn is being threshed; and in the Tyrolese expectation +that if the man who gives the last stroke at threshing is tall, the +next year's corn will be tall also. Further, the same identification +is implied in the savage custom of killing the representative of the +corn-spirit with hoes or spades or by grinding him between stones, +and in the European custom of pretending to kill him with the scythe +or the flail. Once more the Khond custom of pouring water on the +buried flesh of the victim is parallel to the European customs of +pouring water on the personal representative of the corn-spirit or +plunging him into a stream. Both the Khond and the European customs +are rain-charms. + +To return now to the Lityerses story. It has been shown that in rude +society human beings have been commonly killed to promote the growth +of the crops. There is therefore no improbability in the supposition +that they may once have been killed for a like purpose in Phrygia +and Europe; and when Phrygian legend and European folk-custom, +closely agreeing with each other, point to the conclusion that men +were so slain, we are bound, provisionally at least, to accept the +conclusion. Further, both the Lityerses story and European +harvest-customs agree in indicating that the victim was put to death +as a representative of the corn-spirit, and this indication is in +harmony with the view which some savages appear to take of the +victim slain to make the crops flourish. On the whole, then, we may +fairly suppose that both in Phrygia and in Europe the representative +of the corn-spirit was annually killed upon the harvest-field. +Grounds have been already shown for believing that similarly in +Europe the representative of the tree-spirit was annually slain. The +proofs of these two remarkable and closely analogous customs are +entirely independent of each other. Their coincidence seems to +furnish fresh presumption in favour of both. + +To the question, How was the representative of the corn-spirit +chosen? one answer has been already given. Both the Lityerses story +and European folk-custom show that passing strangers were regarded +as manifestations of the corn-spirit escaping from the cut or +threshed corn, and as such were seized and slain. But this is not +the only answer which the evidence suggests. According to the +Phrygian legend the victims of Lityerses were not simply passing +strangers, but persons whom he had vanquished in a reaping contest +and afterwards wrapt up in corn-sheaves and beheaded. This suggests +that the representative of the corn-spirit may have been selected by +means of a competition on the harvest-field, in which the vanquished +competitor was compelled to accept the fatal honour. The supposition +is countenanced by European harvest-customs. We have seen that in +Europe there is sometimes a contest amongst the reapers to avoid +being last, and that the person who is vanquished in this +competition, that is, who cuts the last corn, is often roughly +handled. It is true we have not found that a pretence is made of +killing him; but on the other hand we have found that a pretence is +made of killing the man who gives the last stroke at threshing, that +is, who is vanquished in the threshing contest. Now, since it is in +the character of representative of the corn-spirit that the thresher +of the last corn is slain in mimicry, and since the same +representative character attaches (as we have seen) to the cutter +and binder as well as to the thresher of the last corn, and since +the same repugnance is evinced by harvesters to be last in any one +of these labours, we may conjecture that a pretence has been +commonly made of killing the reaper and binder as well as the +thresher of the last corn, and that in ancient times this killing +was actually carried out. This conjecture is corroborated by the +common superstition that whoever cuts the last corn must die soon. +Sometimes it is thought that the person who binds the last sheaf on +the field will die in the course of next year. The reason for fixing +on the reaper, binder, or thresher of the last corn as the +representative of the corn-spirit may be this. The corn-spirit is +supposed to lurk as long as he can in the corn, retreating before +the reapers, the binders, and the threshers at their work. But when +he is forcibly expelled from his refuge in the last corn cut or the +last sheaf bound or the last grain threshed, he necessarily assumes +some other form than that of the corn-stalks, which had hitherto +been his garment or body. And what form can the expelled corn-spirit +assume more naturally than that of the person who stands nearest to +the corn from which he (the corn-spirit) has just been expelled? But +the person in question is necessarily the reaper, binder, or +thresher of the last corn. He or she, therefore, is seized and +treated as the corn-spirit himself. + +Thus the person who was killed on the harvest-field as the +representative of the corn-spirit may have been either a passing +stranger or the harvester who was last at reaping, binding, or +threshing. But there is a third possibility, to which ancient legend +and modern folk-custom alike point. Lityerses not only put strangers +to death; he was himself slain, and apparently in the same way as he +had slain others, namely, by being wrapt in a corn-sheaf, beheaded, +and cast into the river; and it is implied that this happened to +Lityerses on his own land. Similarly in modern harvest-customs the +pretence of killing appears to be carried out quite as often on the +person of the master (farmer or squire) as on that of strangers. Now +when we remember that Lityerses was said to have been a son of the +King of Phrygia, and that in one account he is himself called a +king, and when we combine with this the tradition that he was put to +death, apparently as a representative of the corn-spirit, we are led +to conjecture that we have here another trace of the custom of +annually slaying one of those divine or priestly kings who are known +to have held ghostly sway in many parts of Western Asia and +particularly in Phrygia. The custom appears, as we have seen, to +have been so far modified in places that the king's son was slain in +the king's stead. Of the custom thus modified the story of Lityerses +would be, in one version at least, a reminiscence. + +Turning now to the relation of the Phrygian Lityerses to the +Phrygian Attis, it may be remembered that at Pessinus--the seat of a +priestly kingship--the high-priest appears to have been annually +slain in the character of Attis, a god of vegetation, and that Attis +was described by an ancient authority as "a reaped ear of corn." +Thus Attis, as an embodiment of the corn-spirit, annually slain in +the person of his representative, might be thought to be ultimately +identical with Lityerses, the latter being simply the rustic +prototype out of which the state religion of Attis was developed. It +may have been so; but, on the other hand, the analogy of European +folk-custom warns us that amongst the same people two distinct +deities of vegetation may have their separate personal +representatives, both of whom are slain in the character of gods at +different times of the year. For in Europe, as we have seen, it +appears that one man was commonly slain in the character of the +tree-spirit in spring, and another in the character of the +corn-spirit in autumn. It may have been so in Phrygia also. Attis +was especially a tree-god, and his connexion with corn may have been +only such an extension of the power of a tree-spirit as is indicated +in customs like the Harvest-May. Again, the representative of Attis +appears to have been slain in spring; whereas Lityerses must have +been slain in summer or autumn, according to the time of the harvest +in Phrygia. On the whole, then, while we are not justified in +regarding Lityerses as the prototype of Attis, the two may be +regarded as parallel products of the same religious idea, and may +have stood to each other as in Europe the Old Man of harvest stands +to the Wild Man, the Leaf Man, and so forth, of spring. Both were +spirits or deities of vegetation, and the personal representatives +of both were annually slain. But whereas the Attis worship became +elevated into the dignity of a state religion and spread to Italy, +the rites of Lityerses seem never to have passed the limits of their +native Phrygia, and always retained their character of rustic +ceremonies performed by peasants on the harvest-field. At most a few +villages may have clubbed together, as amongst the Khonds, to +procure a human victim to be slain as representative of the +corn-spirit for their common benefit. Such victims may have been +drawn from the families of priestly kings or kinglets, which would +account for the legendary character of Lityerses as the son of a +Phrygian king or as himself a king. When villages did not so club +together, each village or farm may have procured its own +representative of the corn-spirit by dooming to death either a +passing stranger or the harvester who cut, bound, or threshed the +last sheaf. Perhaps in the olden time the practice of head-hunting +as a means of promoting the growth of the corn may have been as +common among the rude inhabitants of Europe and Western Asia as it +still is, or was till lately, among the primitive agricultural +tribes of Assam, Burma, the Philippine Islands, and the Indian +Archipelago. It is hardly necessary to add that in Phrygia, as in +Europe, the old barbarous custom of killing a man on the +harvest-field or the threshing-floor had doubtless passed into a +mere pretence long before the classical era, and was probably +regarded by the reapers and threshers themselves as no more than a +rough jest which the license of a harvest-home permitted them to +play off on a passing stranger, a comrade, or even on their master +himself. + +I have dwelt on the Lityerses song at length because it affords so +many points of comparison with European and savage folk-custom. The +other harvest songs of Western Asia and Egypt, to which attention +has been called above, may now be dismissed much more briefly. The +similarity of the Bithynian Bormus to the Phrygian Lityerses helps +to bear out the interpretation which has been given of the latter. +Bormus, whose death or rather disappearance was annually mourned by +the reapers in a plaintive song, was, like Lityerses, a king's son +or at least the son of a wealthy and distinguished man. The reapers +whom he watched were at work on his own fields, and he disappeared +in going to fetch water for them; according to one version of the +story he was carried off by the nymphs, doubtless the nymphs of the +spring or pool or river whither he went to draw water. Viewed in the +light of the Lityerses story and of European folk-custom, this +disappearance of Bormus may be a reminiscence of the custom of +binding the farmer himself in a corn-sheaf and throwing him into the +water. The mournful strain which the reapers sang was probably a +lamentation over the death of the corn-spirit, slain either in the +cut corn or in the person of a human representative; and the call +which they addressed to him may have been a prayer that he might +return in fresh vigour next year. + +The Phoenician Linus song was sung at the vintage, at least in the +west of Asia Minor, as we learn from Homer; and this, combined with +the legend of Syleus, suggests that in ancient times passing +strangers were handled by vintagers and vine-diggers in much the +same way as they are said to have been handled by the reaper +Lityerses. The Lydian Syleus, so ran the legend, compelled +passers-by to dig for him in his vineyard, till Hercules came and +killed him and dug up his vines by the roots. This seems to be the +outline of a legend like that of Lityerses; but neither ancient +writers nor modern folk-custom enable us to fill in the details. +But, further, the Linus song was probably sung also by Phoenician +reapers, for Herodotus compares it to the Maneros song, which, as we +have seen, was a lament raised by Egyptian reapers over the cut +corn. Further, Linus was identified with Adonis, and Adonis has some +claims to be regarded as especially a corn-deity. Thus the Linus +lament, as sung at harvest, would be identical with the Adonis +lament; each would be the lamentation raised by reapers over the +dead spirit of the corn. But whereas Adonis, like Attis, grew into a +stately figure of mythology, adored and mourned in splendid cities +far beyond the limits of his Phoenician home, Linus appears to have +remained a simple ditty sung by reapers and vintagers among the +corn-sheaves and the vines. The analogy of Lityerses and of +folk-custom, both European and savage, suggests that in Phoenicia +the slain corn-spirit--the dead Adonis--may formerly have been +represented by a human victim; and this suggestion is possibly +supported by the Harran legend that Tammuz (Adonis) was slain by his +cruel lord, who ground his bones in a mill and scattered them to the +wind. For in Mexico, as we have seen, the human victim at harvest +was crushed between two stones; and both in Africa and India the +ashes or other remains of the victim were scattered over the fields. +But the Harran legend may be only a mythical way of expressing the +grinding of corn in the mill and the scattering of the seed. It +seems worth suggesting that the mock king who was annually killed at +the Babylonian festival of the Sacaea on the sixteenth day of the +month Lous may have represented Tammuz himself. For the historian +Berosus, who records the festival and its date, probably used the +Macedonian calendar, since he dedicated his history to Antiochus +Soter; and in his day the Macedonian month Lous appears to have +corresponded to the Babylonian month Tammuz. If this conjecture is +right, the view that the mock king at the Sacaea was slain in the +character of a god would be established. + +There is a good deal more evidence that in Egypt the slain +corn-spirit--the dead Osiris--was represented by a human victim, +whom the reapers slew on the harvest-field, mourning his death in a +dirge, to which the Greeks, through a verbal misunderstanding, gave +the name of Maneros. For the legend of Busiris seems to preserve a +reminiscence of human sacrifices once offered by the Egyptians in +connexion with the worship of Osiris. Busiris was said to have been +an Egyptian king who sacrificed all strangers on the altar of Zeus. +The origin of the custom was traced to a dearth which afflicted the +land of Egypt for nine years. A Cyprian seer informed Busiris that +the dearth would cease if a man were annually sacrificed to Zeus. So +Busiris instituted the sacrifice. But when Hercules came to Egypt, +and was being dragged to the altar to be sacrificed, he burst his +bonds and slew Busiris and his son. Here then is a legend that in +Egypt a human victim was annually sacrificed to prevent the failure +of the crops, and a belief is implied that an omission of the +sacrifice would have entailed a recurrence of that infertility which +it was the object of the sacrifice to prevent. So the Pawnees, as we +have seen, believed that an omission of the human sacrifice at +planting would have been followed by a total failure of their crops. +The name Busiris was in reality the name of a city, _pe-Asar,_ "the +house of Osiris," the city being so called because it contained the +grave of Osiris. Indeed some high modern authorities believe that +Busiris was the original home of Osiris, from which his worship +spread to other parts of Egypt. The human sacrifices were said to +have been offered at his grave, and the victims were red-haired men, +whose ashes were scattered abroad by means of winnowing-fans. This +tradition of human sacrifices offered at the tomb of Osiris is +confirmed by the evidence of the monuments. + +In the light of the foregoing discussion the Egyptian tradition of +Busiris admits of a consistent and fairly probable explanation. +Osiris, the corn-spirit, was annually represented at harvest by a +stranger, whose red hair made him a suitable representative of the +ripe corn. This man, in his representative character, was slain on +the harvest-field, and mourned by the reapers, who prayed at the +same time that the corn-spirit might revive and return +(_mââ-ne-rha,_ Maneros) with renewed vigour in the following year. +Finally, the victim, or some part of him, was burned, and the ashes +scattered by winnowing-fans over the fields to fertilise them. Here +the choice of the victim on the ground of his resemblance to the +corn which he was to represent agrees with the Mexican and African +customs already described. Similarly the woman who died in the +character of the Corn-mother at the Mexican midsummer sacrifice had +her face painted red and yellow in token of the colours of the corn, +and she wore a pasteboard mitre surmounted by waving plumes in +imitation of the tassel of the maize. On the other hand, at the +festival of the Goddess of the White Maize the Mexicans sacrificed +lepers. The Romans sacrificed red-haired puppies in spring to avert +the supposed blighting influence of the Dog-star, believing that the +crops would thus grow ripe and ruddy. The heathen of Harran offered +to the sun, moon, and planets human victims who were chosen on the +ground of their supposed resemblance to the heavenly bodies to which +they were sacrificed; for example, the priests, clothed in red and +smeared with blood, offered a red-haired, red-cheeked man to "the +red planet Mars" in a temple which was painted red and draped with +red hangings. These and the like cases of assimilating the victim to +the god, or to the natural phenomenon which he represents, are based +ultimately on the principle of homoeopathic or imitative magic, the +notion being that the object aimed at will be most readily attained +by means of a sacrifice which resembles the effect that it is +designed to bring about. + +The story that the fragments of Osiris's body were scattered up and +down the land, and buried by Isis on the spots where they lay, may +very well be a reminiscence of a custom, like that observed by the +Khonds, of dividing the human victim in pieces and burying the +pieces, often at intervals of many miles from each other, in the +fields. + +Thus, if I am right, the key to the mysteries of Osiris is furnished +by the melancholy cry of the Egyptian reapers, which down to Roman +times could be heard year after year sounding across the fields, +announcing the death of the corn-spirit, the rustic prototype of +Osiris. Similar cries, as we have seen, were also heard on all the +harvest-fields of Western Asia. By the ancients they are spoken of +as songs; but to judge from the analysis of the names Linus and +Maneros, they probably consisted only of a few words uttered in a +prolonged musical note which could be heard at a great distance. +Such sonorous and long-drawn cries, raised by a number of strong +voices in concert, must have had a striking effect, and could hardly +fail to arrest the attention of any wayfarer who happened to be +within hearing. The sounds, repeated again and again, could probably +be distinguished with tolerable ease even at a distance; but to a +Greek traveller in Asia or Egypt the foreign words would commonly +convey no meaning, and he might take them, not unnaturally, for the +name of some one (Maneros, Linus, Lityerses, Bormus) upon whom the +reapers were calling. And if his journey led him through more +countries than one, as Bithynia and Phrygia, or Phoenicia and Egypt, +while the corn was being reaped, he would have an opportunity of +comparing the various harvest cries of the different peoples. Thus +we can readily understand why these harvest cries were so often +noted and compared with each other by the Greeks. Whereas, if they +had been regular songs, they could not have been heard at such +distances, and therefore could not have attracted the attention of +so many travellers; and, moreover, even if the wayfarer were within +hearing of them, he could not so easily have picked out the words. + +Down to recent times Devonshire reapers uttered cries of the same +sort, and performed on the field a ceremony exactly analogous to +that in which, if I am not mistaken, the rites of Osiris originated. +The cry and the ceremony are thus described by an observer who wrote +in the first half of the nineteenth century. "After the wheat is all +cut, on most farms in the north of Devon, the harvest people have a +custom of 'crying the neck.' I believe that this practice is seldom +omitted on any large farm in that part of the country. It is done in +this way. An old man, or some one else well acquainted with the +ceremonies used on the occasion (when the labourers are reaping the +last field of wheat), goes round to the shocks and sheaves, and +picks out a little bundle of all the best ears he can find; this +bundle he ties up very neat and trim, and plats and arranges the +straws very tastefully. This is called 'the neck' of wheat, or +wheaten-ears. After the field is cut out, and the pitcher once more +circulated, the reapers, binders, and the women stand round in a +circle. The person with 'the neck' stands in the centre, grasping it +with both hands. He first stoops and holds it near the ground, and +all the men forming the ring take off their hats, stooping and +holding them with both hands towards the ground. They then all begin +at once in a very prolonged and harmonious tone to cry 'The neck!' +at the same time slowly raising themselves upright, and elevating +their arms and hats above their heads; the person with 'the neck' +also raising it on high. This is done three times. They then change +their cry to 'Wee yen!'--'Way yen!'--which they sound in the same +prolonged and slow manner as before, with singular harmony and +effect, three times. This last cry is accompanied by the same +movements of the body and arms as in crying 'the neck.' . . . After +having thus repeated 'the neck' three times, and 'wee yen,' or 'way +yen' as often, they all burst out into a kind of loud and joyous +laugh, flinging up their hats and caps into the air, capering about +and perhaps kissing the girls. One of them then gets 'the neck' and +runs as hard as he can down to the farmhouse, where the dairymaid, +or one of the young female domestics, stands at the door prepared +with a pail of water. If he who holds 'the neck' can manage to get +into the house, in any way unseen, or openly, by any other way than +the door at which the girl stands with the pail of water, then he +may lawfully kiss her; but, if otherwise, he is regularly soused +with the contents of the bucket. On a fine still autumn evening the +'crying of the neck' has a wonderful effect at a distance, far finer +than that of the Turkish muezzin, which Lord Byron eulogises so +much, and which he says is preferable to all the bells of +Christendom. I have once or twice heard upwards of twenty men cry +it, and sometimes joined by an equal number of female voices. About +three years back, on some high grounds, where our people were +harvesting, I heard six or seven 'necks' cried in one night, +although I know that some of them were four miles off. They are +heard through the quiet evening air at a considerable distance +sometimes." Again, Mrs. Bray tells how, travelling in Devonshire, +"she saw a party of reapers standing in a circle on a rising ground, +holding their sickles aloft. One in the middle held up some ears of +corn tied together with flowers, and the party shouted three times +(what she writes as) 'Arnack, arnack, arnack, we _haven,_ we +_haven,_ we _haven._' They went home, accompanied by women and +children carrying boughs of flowers, shouting and singing. The +manservant who attended Mrs. Bray said 'it was only the people +making their games, as they always did, _to the spirit of +harvest._'" Here, as Miss Burne remarks, "'arnack, we haven!' is +obviously in the Devon dialect, 'a neck (or nack)! we have un!'" + +Another account of this old custom, written at Truro in 1839, runs +thus: "Now, when all the corn was cut at Heligan, the farming men +and maidens come in front of the house, and bring with them a small +sheaf of corn, the last that has been cut, and this is adorned with +ribbons and flowers, and one part is tied quite tight, so as to look +like a neck. Then they cry out 'Our (my) side, my side,' as loud as +they can; then the dairymaid gives the neck to the head farming-man. +He 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 neck, a neck.' And when he has said this, all the people make a +very great shouting. This they do three times, and after one famous +shout go away and eat supper, and dance, and sing songs." According +to another account, "all went out to the field when the last corn +was cut, the 'neck' was tied with ribbons and plaited, and they +danced round it, and carried it to the great kitchen, where +by-and-by the supper was. The words were as given in the previous +account, and 'Hip, hip, hack, heck, I have 'ee, I have 'ee, I have +'ee.' It was hung up in the hall." Another account relates that one +of the men rushed from the field with the last sheaf, while the rest +pursued him with vessels of water, which they tried to throw over +the sheaf before it could be brought into the barn. + +In the foregoing customs a particular bunch of ears, generally the +last left standing, is conceived as the neck of the corn-spirit, who +is consequently beheaded when the bunch is cut down. Similarly in +Shropshire the name "neck," or "the gander's neck," used to be +commonly given to the last handful of ears left standing in the +middle of the field when all the rest of the corn was cut. It was +plaited together, and the reapers, standing ten or twenty paces off, +threw their sickles at it. Whoever cut it through was said to have +cut off the gander's neck. The "neck" was taken to the farmer's +wife, who was supposed to keep it in the house for good luck till +the next harvest came round. Near Trèves, the man who reaps the last +standing corn "cuts the goat's neck off." At Faslane, on the +Gareloch (Dumbartonshire), the last handful of standing corn was +sometimes called the "head." At Aurich, in East Friesland, the man +who reaps the last corn "cuts the hare's tail off." In mowing down +the last corner of a field French reapers sometimes call out, "We +have the cat by the tail." In Bresse (Bourgogne) the last sheaf +represented the fox. Beside it a score of ears were left standing to +form the tail, and each reaper, going back some paces, threw his +sickle at it. He who succeeded in severing it "cut off the fox's +tail," and a cry of "_You cou cou!_" was raised in his honour. These +examples leave no room to doubt the meaning of the Devonshire and +Cornish expression "the neck," as applied to the last sheaf. The +corn-spirit is conceived in human or animal form, and the last +standing corn is part of its body--its neck, its head, or its tail. +Sometimes, as we have seen, the last corn is regarded as the +navel-string. Lastly, the Devonshire custom of drenching with water +the person who brings in "the neck" is a raincharm, such as we have +had many examples of. Its parallel in the mysteries of Osiris was +the custom of pouring water on the image of Osiris or on the person +who represented him. + + + + +XLVIII. The Corn-Spirit as an Animal + + + +1. Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit + +IN SOME of the examples which I have cited to establish the meaning +of the term "neck" as applied to the last sheaf, the corn-spirit +appears in animal form as a gander, a goat, a hare, a cat, and a +fox. This introduces us to a new aspect of the corn-spirit, which we +must now examine. By doing so we shall not only have fresh examples +of killing the god, but may hope also to clear up some points which +remain obscure in the myths and worship of Adonis, Attis, Osiris, +Dionysus, Demeter, and Virbius. + +Amongst the many animals whose forms the corn-spirit is supposed to +take are the wolf, dog, hare, fox, cock, goose, quail, cat, goat, +cow (ox, bull), pig, and horse. In one or other of these shapes the +corn-spirit is often believed to be present in the corn, and to be +caught or killed in the last sheaf. As the corn is being cut the +animal flees before the reapers, and if a reaper is taken ill on the +field, he is supposed to have stumbled unwittingly on the +corn-spirit, who has thus punished the profane intruder. It is said +"the Rye-wolf has got hold of him," "the Harvest-goat has given him +a push." The person who cuts the last corn or binds the last sheaf +gets the name of the animal, as the Rye-wolf, the Rye-sow, the +Oats-goat, and so forth, and retains the name sometimes for a year. +Also the animal is frequently represented by a puppet made out of +the last sheaf or of wood, flowers, and so on, which is carried home +amid rejoicings on the last harvest-waggon. Even where the last +sheaf is not made up in animal shape, it is often called the +Rye-wolf, the Hare, Goat, and so forth. Generally each kind of crop +is supposed to have its special animal, which is caught in the last +sheaf, and called the Rye-wolf, the Barley-wolf, the Oats-wolf, the +Pea-wolf, or the Potato-wolf, according to the crop; but sometimes +the figure of the animal is only made up once for all at getting in +the last crop of the whole harvest. Sometimes the creature is +believed to be killed by the last stroke of the sickle or scythe. +But oftener it is thought to live so long as there is corn still +unthreshed, and to be caught in the last sheaf threshed. Hence the +man who gives the last stroke with the flail is told that he has got +the Corn-sow, the Threshing-dog, or the like. When the threshing is +finished, a puppet is made in the form of the animal, and this is +carried by the thresher of the last sheaf to a neighbouring farm, +where the threshing is still going on. This again shows that the +corn-spirit is believed to live wherever the corn is still being +threshed. Sometimes the thresher of the last sheaf himself +represents the animal; and if the people of the next farm, who are +still threshing, catch him, they treat him like the animal he +represents, by shutting him up in the pig-sty, calling him with the +cries commonly addressed to pigs, and so forth. These general +statements will now be illustrated by examples. + + + +2. The Corn-spirit as a Wolf or a Dog + +WE begin with the corn-spirit conceived as a wolf or a dog. This +conception is common in France, Germany, and Slavonic countries. +Thus, when the wind sets the corn in wave-like motion the peasants +often say, "The Wolf is going over, or through, the corn," "the +Rye-wolf is rushing over the field," "the Wolf is in the corn," "the +mad Dog is in the corn," "the big Dog is there." When children wish +to go into the corn-fields to pluck ears or gather the blue +corn-flowers, they are warned not to do so, for "the big Dog sits in +the corn," or "the Wolf sits in the corn, and will tear you in +pieces," "the Wolf will eat you." The wolf against whom the children +are warned is not a common wolf, for he is often spoken of as the +Corn-wolf, Rye-wolf, or the like; thus they say, "The Rye-wolf will +come and eat you up, children," "the Rye-wolf will carry you off," +and so forth. Still he has all the outward appearance of a wolf. For +in the neighbourhood of Feilenhof (East Prussia), when a wolf was +seen running through a field, the peasants used to watch whether he +carried his tail in the air or dragged it on the ground. If he +dragged it on the ground, they went after him, and thanked him for +bringing them a blessing, and even set tit-bits before him. But if +he carried his tail high, they cursed him and tried to kill him. +Here the wolf is the corn-spirit whose fertilising power is in his +tail. + +Both dog and wolf appear as embodiments of the corn-spirit in +harvest-customs. Thus in some parts of Silesia the person who cuts +or binds the last sheaf is called the Wheat-dog or the Peas-pug. But +it is in the harvest-customs of the north-east of France that the +idea of the Corn-dog comes out most clearly. Thus when a harvester, +through sickness, weariness, or laziness, cannot or will not keep up +with the reaper in front of him, they say, "The White Dog passed +near him," "he has the White Bitch," or "the White Bitch has bitten +him." In the Vosges the Harvest-May is called the "Dog of the +harvest," and the person who cuts the last handful of hay or wheat +is said to "kill the Dog." About Lons-le-Saulnier, in the Jura, the +last sheaf is called the Bitch. In the neighbourhood of Verdun the +regular expression for finishing the reaping is, "They are going to +kill the Dog"; and at Epinal they say, according to the crop, "We +will kill the Wheat-dog, or the Rye-dog, or the Potato-dog." In +Lorraine it is said of the man who cuts the last corn, "He is +killing the Dog of the harvest." At Dux, in the Tyrol, the man who +gives the last stroke at threshing is said to "strike down the Dog"; +and at Ahnebergen, near Stade, he is called, according to the crop, +Corn-pug, Rye-pug, Wheat-pug. + +So with the wolf. In Silesia, when the reapers gather round the last +patch of standing corn to reap it they are said to be about "to +catch the Wolf." In various parts of Mecklenburg, where the belief +in the Corn-wolf is particularly prevalent, every one fears to cut +the last corn, because they say that the Wolf is sitting in it; +hence every reaper exerts himself to the utmost in order not to be +the last, and every woman similarly fears to bind the last sheaf +because "the Wolf is in it." So both among the reapers and the +binders there is a competition not to be the last to finish. And in +Germany generally it appears to be a common saying that "the Wolf +sits in the last sheaf." In some places they call out to the reaper, +"Beware of the Wolf"; or they say, "He is chasing the Wolf out of +the corn." In Mecklenburg the last bunch of standing corn is itself +commonly called the Wolf, and the man who reaps it "has the Wolf," +the animal being described as the Rye-wolf, the Wheat-wolf, the +Barley-wolf, and so on according to the particular crop. The reaper +of the last corn is himself called Wolf or the Rye-wolf, if the crop +is rye, and in many parts of Mecklenburg he has to support the +character by pretending to bite the other harvesters or by howling +like a wolf. The last sheaf of corn is also called the Wolf or the +Rye-wolf or the Oats-wolf according to the crop, and of the woman +who binds it they say, "The Wolf is biting her," "She has the Wolf," +"She must fetch the Wolf" (out of the corn). Moreover, she herself +is called Wolf; they cry out to her, "Thou art the Wolf," and she +has to bear the name for a whole year; sometimes, according to the +crop, she is called the Rye-wolf or the Potato-wolf. In the island +of Rügen not only is the woman who binds the last sheaf called Wolf, +but when she comes home she bites the lady of the house and the +stewardess, for which she receives a large piece of meat. Yet nobody +likes to be the Wolf. The same woman may be Rye-wolf, Wheat-wolf, +and Oats-wolf, if she happens to bind the last sheaf of rye, wheat, +and oats. At Buir, in the district of Cologne, it was formerly the +custom to give to the last sheaf the shape of a wolf. It was kept in +the barn till all the corn was threshed. Then it was brought to the +farmer and he had to sprinkle it with beer or brandy. At +Brunshaupten in Mecklenburg the young woman who bound the last sheaf +of wheat used to take a handful of stalks out of it and make "the +Wheat-wolf" with them; it was the figure of a wolf about two feet +long and half a foot high, the legs of the animal being represented +by stiff stalks and its tail and mane by wheat-ears. This Wheat-wolf +she carried back at the head of the harvesters to the village, where +it was set up on a high place in the parlour of the farm and +remained there for a long time. In many places the sheaf called the +Wolf is made up in human form and dressed in clothes. This indicates +a confusion of ideas between the corn-spirit conceived in human and +in animal form. Generally the Wolf is brought home on the last +waggon with joyful cries. Hence the last waggon-load itself receives +the name of the Wolf. + +Again, the Wolf is supposed to hide himself amongst the cut corn in +the granary, until he is driven out of the last bundle by the +strokes of the flail. Hence at Wanzleben, near Magdeburg, after the +threshing the peasants go in procession, leading by a chain a man +who is enveloped in the threshed-out straw and is called the Wolf. +He represents the corn-spirit who has been caught escaping from the +threshed corn. In the district of Treves it is believed that the +Corn-wolf is killed at threshing. The men thresh the last sheaf till +it is reduced to chopped straw. In this way they think that the +Corn-wolf, who was lurking in the last sheaf, has been certainly +killed. + +In France also the Corn-wolf appears at harvest. Thus they call out +to the reaper of the last corn, "You will catch the Wolf." Near +Chambéry they form a ring round the last standing corn, and cry, +"The Wolf is in there." In Finisterre, when the reaping draws near +an end, the harvesters cry, "There is the Wolf; we will catch him." +Each takes a swath to reap, and he who finishes first calls out, +"I've caught the Wolf." In Guyenne, when the last corn has been +reaped, they lead a wether all round the field. It is called "the +Wolf of the field." Its horns are decked with a wreath of flowers +and corn-ears, and its neck and body are also encircled with +garlands and ribbons. All the reapers march, singing, behind it. +Then it is killed on the field. In this part of France the last +sheaf is called the _coujoulage,_ which, in the patois, means a +wether. Hence the killing of the wether represents the death of the +corn-spirit, considered as present in the last sheaf; but two +different conceptions of the corn-spirit--as a wolf and as a +wether--are mixed up together. + +Sometimes it appears to be thought that the Wolf, caught in the last +corn, lives during the winter in the farmhouse, ready to renew his +activity as corn-spirit in the spring. Hence at midwinter, when the +lengthening days begin to herald the approach of spring, the Wolf +makes his appearance once more. In Poland a man, with a wolf's skin +thrown over his head, is led about at Christmas; or a stuffed wolf +is carried about by persons who collect money. There are facts which +point to an old custom of leading about a man enveloped in leaves +and called the Wolf, while his conductors collected money. + + + +3. The Corn-spirit as a Cock + +ANOTHER form which the corn-spirit often assumes is that of a cock. +In Austria children are warned against straying in the corn-fields, +because the Corn-cock sits there, and will peck their eyes out. In +North Germany they say that "the Cock sits in the last sheaf"; and +at cutting the last corn the reapers cry, "Now we will chase out the +Cock." When it is cut they say, "We have caught the Cock." At +Braller, in Transylvania, when the reapers come to the last patch of +corn, they cry, "Here we shall catch the Cock." At Fürstenwalde, +when the last sheaf is about to be bound, the master releases a +cock, which he has brought in a basket, and lets it run over the +field. All the harvesters chase it till they catch it. Elsewhere the +harvesters all try to seize the last corn cut; he who succeeds in +grasping it must crow, and is called Cock. Among the Wends it is or +used to be customary for the farmer to hide a live cock under the +last sheaf as it lay on the field; and when the corn was being +gathered up, the harvester who lighted upon this sheaf had a right +to keep the cock, provided he could catch it. This formed the close +of the harvest-festival and was known as "the Cock-catching," and +the beer which was served out to the reapers at this time went by +the name of "Cock-beer." The last sheaf is called Cock, Cock-sheaf, +Harvest-cock, Harvest-hen, Autumn-hen. A distinction is made between +a Wheat-cock, Bean-cock, and so on, according to the crop. At +Wünschensuhl, in Thüringen, the last sheaf is made into the shape of +a cock, and called the Harvest-cock. A figure of a cock, made of +wood, pasteboard, ears of corn, or flowers, is borne in front of the +harvest-waggon, especially in Westphalia, where the cock carries in +his beak fruits of the earth of all kinds. Sometimes the image of +the cock is fastened to the top of a May-tree on the last +harvest-waggon. Elsewhere a live cock, or a figure of one, is +attached to a harvest-crown and carried on a pole. In Galicia and +elsewhere this live cock is fastened to the garland of corn-ears or +flowers, which the leader of the women-reapers carries on her head +as she marches in front of the harvest procession. In Silesia a live +cock is presented to the master on a plate. The harvest-supper is +called Harvest-cock, Stubble-cock, etc., and a chief dish at it, at +least in some places, is a cock. If a waggoner upsets a +harvest-waggon, it is said that "he has spilt the Harvest-cock," and +he loses the cock, that is, the harvest-supper. The harvest-waggon, +with the figure of the cock on it, is driven round the farmhouse +before it is taken to the barn. Then the cock is nailed over or at +the side of the house-door, or on the gable, and remains there till +next harvest. In East Friesland the person who gives the last stroke +at threshing is called the Clucking-hen, and grain is strewed before +him as if he were a hen. + +Again, the corn-spirit is killed in the form of a cock. In parts of +Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Picardy the reapers place a live cock +in the corn which is to be cut last, and chase it over the field, or +bury it up to the neck in the ground; afterwards they strike off its +head with a sickle or scythe. In many parts of Westphalia, when the +harvesters bring the wooden cock to the farmer, he gives them a live +cock, which they kill with whips or sticks, or behead with an old +sword, or throw into the barn to the girls, or give to the mistress +to cook. It the Harvest-cock has not been spilt--that is, if no +waggon has been upset--the harvesters have the right to kill the +farmyard cock by throwing stones at it or beheading it. Where this +custom has fallen into disuse, it is still common for the farmer's +wife to make cockie-leekie for the harvesters, and to show them the +head of the cock which has been killed for the soup. In the +neighbourhood of Klausenburg, Transylvania, a cock is buried on the +harvest-field in the earth, so that only its head appears. A young +man then takes a scythe and cuts off the cock's head at a single +sweep. If he fails to do this, he is called the Red Cock for a whole +year, and people fear that next year's crop will be bad. Near +Udvarhely, in Transylvania, a live cock is bound up in the last +sheaf and killed with a spit. It is then skinned. The flesh is +thrown away, but the skin and feathers are kept till next year; and +in spring the grain from the last sheaf is mixed with the feathers +of the cock and scattered on the field which is to be tilled. +Nothing could set in a clearer light the identification of the cock +with the spirit of the corn. By being tied up in the last sheaf and +killed, the cock is identified with the corn, and its death with the +cutting of the corn. By keeping its feathers till spring, then +mixing them with the seed-corn taken from the very sheaf in which +the bird had been bound, and scattering the feathers together with +the seed over the field, the identity of the bird with the corn is +again emphasised, and its quickening and fertilising power, as an +embodiment of the corn-spirit, is intimated in the plainest manner. +Thus the corn-spirit, in the form of a cock, is killed at harvest, +but rises to fresh life and activity in spring. Again, the +equivalence of the cock to the corn is expressed, hardly less +plainly, in the custom of burying the bird in the ground, and +cutting off its head (like the ears of corn) with the scythe. + + + +4. The Corn-spirit as a Hare + +ANOTHER common embodiment of the corn-spirit is the hare. In +Galloway the reaping of the last standing corn is called "cutting +the Hare." The mode of cutting it is as follows. When the rest of +the corn has been reaped, a handful is left standing to form the +Hare. It is divided into three parts and plaited, and the ears are +tied in a knot. The reapers then retire a few yards and each throws +his or her sickle in turn at the Hare to cut it down. It must be cut +below the knot, and the reapers continue to throw their sickles at +it, one after the other, until one of them succeeds in severing the +stalks below the knot. The Hare is then carried home and given to a +maidservant in the kitchen, who places it over the kitchen-door on +the inside. Sometimes the Hare used to be thus kept till the next +harvest. In the parish of Minnigaff, when the Hare was cut, the +unmarried reapers ran home with all speed, and the one who arrived +first was the first to be married. In Germany also one of the names +for the last sheaf is the Hare. Thus in some parts of Anhalt, when +the corn has been reaped and only a few stalks are left standing, +they say, "The Hare will soon come," or the reapers cry to each +other, "Look how the Hare comes jumping out." In East Prussia they +say that the Hare sits in the last patch of standing corn, and must +be chased out by the last reaper. The reapers hurry with their work, +each being anxious not to have "to chase out the Hare"; for the man +who does so, that is, who cuts the last corn, is much laughed at. At +Aurich, as we have seen, an expression for cutting the last corn is +"to cut off the Hare's tail." "He is killing the Hare" is commonly +said of the man who cuts the last corn in Germany, Sweden, Holland, +France, and Italy. In Norway the man who is thus said to "kill the +Hare" must give "hare's blood," in the form of brandy, to his +fellows to drink. In Lesbos, when the reapers are at work in two +neighbouring fields, each party tries to finish first in order to +drive the Hare into their neighbour's field; the reapers who succeed +in doing so believe that next year the crop will be better. A small +sheaf of corn is made up and kept beside the holy picture till next +harvest. + + + +5. The Corn-spirit as a Cat + +AGAIN, the corn-spirit sometimes takes the form of a cat. Near Kiel +children are warned not to go into the corn-fields because "the Cat +sits there." In the Eisenach Oberland they are told "the Corn-cat +will come and fetch you," "the Corn-cat goes in the corn." In some +parts of Silesia at mowing the last corn they say, "The Cat is +caught"; and at threshing, the man who gives the last stroke is +called the Cat. In the neighbourhood of Lyons the last sheaf and the +harvest-supper are both called the Cat. About Vesoul when they cut +the last corn they say, "We have the Cat by the tail." At Briançon, +in Dauphiné, at the beginning of reaping, a cat is decked out with +ribbons, flowers, and ears of corn. It is called the Cat of the +ball-skin (_le chat de peau de balle_). If a reaper is wounded at +his work, they make the cat lick the wound. At the close of the +reaping the cat is again decked out with ribbons and ears of corn; +then they dance and make merry. When the dance is over the girls +solemnly strip the cat of its finery. At Grüneberg, in Silesia, the +reaper who cuts the last corn goes by the name of the Tom-cat. He is +enveloped in rye-stalks and green withes, and is furnished with a +long plaited tail. Sometimes as a companion he has a man similarly +dressed, who is called the (female) Cat. Their duty is to run after +people whom they see and to beat them with a long stick. Near Amiens +the expression for finishing the harvest is, "They are going to kill +the Cat"; and when the last corn is cut they kill a cat in the +farmyard. At threshing, in some parts of France, a live cat is +placed under the last bundle of corn to be threshed, and is struck +dead with the flails. Then on Sunday it is roasted and eaten as a +holiday dish. In the Vosges Mountains the close of haymaking or +harvest is called "catching the cat," "killing the dog," or more +rarely "catching the hare." The cat, the dog, or the hare is said to +be fat or lean according as the crop is good or bad. The man who +cuts the last handful of hay or of wheat is said to catch the cat or +the hare or to kill the dog. + + + +6. The Corn-spirit as a Goat + +FURTHER, the corn-spirit often appears in the form of a goat. In +some parts of Prussia, when the corn bends before the wind, they +say, "The Goats are chasing each other," "the wind is driving the +Goats through the corn," "the Goats are browsing there," and they +expect a very good harvest. Again they say, "The Oats-goat is +sitting in the oats-field," "the Corn-goat is sitting in the +rye-field." Children are warned not to go into the corn-fields to +pluck the blue corn-flowers, or amongst the beans to pluck pods, +because the Rye-goat, the Corn-goat, the Oats-goat, or the Bean-goat +is sitting or lying there, and will carry them away or kill them. +When a harvester is taken sick or lags behind his fellows at their +work, they call out, "The Harvest-goat has pushed him," "he has been +pushed by the Corn-goat." In the neighbourhood of Braunsberg (East +Prussia) at binding the oats every harvester makes haste "lest the +Corn-goat push him." At Oefoten, in Norway, each reaper has his +allotted patch to reap. When a reaper in the middle has not finished +reaping his piece after his neighbours have finished theirs, they +say of him, "He remains on the island." And if the laggard is a man, +they imitate the cry with which they call a he-goat; if a woman, the +cry with which they call a she-goat. Near Straubing, in Lower +Bavaria, it is said of the man who cuts the last corn that "he has +the Corn-goat, or the Wheat-goat, or the Oats-goat," according to +the crop. Moreover, two horns are set up on the last heap of corn, +and it is called "the horned Goat." At Kreutzburg, East Prussia, +they call out to the woman who is binding the last sheaf, "The Goat +is sitting in the sheaf." At Gablingen, in Swabia, when the last +field of oats upon a farm is being reaped, the reapers carve a goat +out of wood. Ears of oats are inserted in its nostrils and mouth, +and it is adorned with garlands of flowers. It is set up on the +field and called the Oats-goat. When the reaping approaches an end, +each reaper hastens to finish his piece first; he who is the last to +finish gets the Oats-goat. Again, the last sheaf is itself called +the Goat. Thus, in the valley of the Wiesent, Bavaria, the last +sheaf bound on the field is called the Goat, and they have a +proverb, "The field must bear a goat." At Spachbrücken, in Hesse, +the last handful of corn which is cut is called the Goat, and the +man who cuts it is much ridiculed. At Dürrenbüchig and about Mosbach +in Baden the last sheaf is also called the Goat. Sometimes the last +sheaf is made up in the form of a goat, and they say, "The Goat is +sitting in it." Again, the person who cuts or binds the last sheaf +is called the Goat. Thus, in parts of Mecklenburg they call out to +the woman who binds the last sheaf, "You are the Harvest-goat." Near +Uelzen, in Hanover, the harvest festival begins with "the bringing +of the Harvest-goat"; that is, the woman who bound the last sheaf is +wrapt in straw, crowned with a harvest-wreath, and brought in a +wheel-barrow to the village, where a round dance takes place. About +Luneburg, also, the woman who binds the last corn is decked with a +crown of corn-ears and is called the Corn-goat. At Münzesheim in +Baden the reaper who cuts the last handful of corn or oats is called +the Corn-goat or the Oats-goat. In the Canton St. Gall, Switzerland, +the person who cuts the last handful of corn on the field, or drives +the last harvest-waggon to the barn, is called the Corn-goat or the +Rye-goat, or simply the Goat. In the Canton Thurgau he is called +Corn-goat; like a goat he has a bell hung round his neck, is led in +triumph, and drenched with liquor. In parts of 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 of Corn-goat has to bear +it a whole year till the next harvest. + +According to one view, the corn-spirit, who has been caught in the +form of a goat or otherwise, lives in the farmhouse or barn over +winter. Thus, each farm has its own embodiment of the corn-spirit. +But, according to another view, the corn-spirit is the genius or +deity, not of the corn of one farm only, but of all the corn. Hence +when the corn on one farm is all cut, he flees to another where +there is still corn left standing. This idea is brought out in a +harvest-custom which was formerly observed in Skye. The farmer who +first finished reaping sent a man or woman with a sheaf to a +neighbouring farmer who had not finished; the latter in his turn, +when he had finished, sent on the sheaf to his neighbour who was +still reaping; and so the sheaf made the round of the farms till all +the corn was cut. The sheaf was called the _goabbir bhacagh,_ that +is, the Cripple Goat. The custom appears not to be extinct at the +present day, for it was reported from Skye not very many years ago. +The corn-spirit was probably thus represented as lame because he had +been crippled by the cutting of the corn. Sometimes the old woman +who brings home the last sheaf must limp on one foot. + +But sometimes the corn-spirit, in the form of a goat, is believed to +be slain on the harvest-field by the sickle or scythe. Thus, in the +neighbourhood of Bernkastel, on the Moselle, the reapers determine +by lot the order in which they shall follow each other. The first is +called the fore-reaper, the last the tail-bearer. If a reaper +overtakes the man in front he reaps past him, bending round so as to +leave the slower reaper in a patch by himself. This patch is called +the Goat; and the man for whom "the Goat is cut" in this way, is +laughed and jeered at by his fellows for the rest of the day. When +the tail-bearer cuts the last ears of corn, it is said, "He is +cutting the Goat's neck off." In the neighbourhood of Grenoble, +before the end of the reaping, a live goat is adorned with flowers +and ribbons and allowed to run about the field. The reapers chase it +and try to catch it. When it is caught, the farmer's wife holds it +fast while the farmer cuts off its head. The goat's flesh serves to +furnish the harvest-supper. A piece of the flesh is pickled and kept +till the next harvest, when another goat is killed. Then all the +harvesters eat of the flesh. On the same day the skin of the goat is +made into a cloak, which the farmer, who works with his men, must +always wear at harvest-time if rain or bad weather sets in. But if a +reaper gets pains in his back, the farmer gives him the goat-skin to +wear. The reason for this seems to be that the pains in the back, +being inflicted by the corn-spirit, can also be healed by it. +Similarly, we saw that elsewhere, when a reaper is wounded at +reaping, a cat, as the representative of the corn-spirit, is made to +lick the wound. Esthonian reapers of the island of Mon think that +the man who cuts the first ears of corn at harvest will get pains in +his back, probably because the corn-spirit is believed to resent +especially the first wound; and, in order to escape pains in the +back, Saxon reapers in Transylvania gird their loins with the first +handful of ears which they cut. Here, again, the corn-spirit is +applied to for healing or protection, but in his original vegetable +form, not in the form of a goat or a cat. + +Further, the corn-spirit under the form of a goat is sometimes +conceived as lurking among the cut corn in the barn, till he is +driven from it by the threshing-flail. Thus in Baden the last sheaf +to be threshed is called the Corn-goat, the Spelt-goat, or the +Oats-goat according to the kind of grain. Again, near Marktl, in +Upper Bavaria, the sheaves are called Straw-goats or simply Goats. +They are laid in a great heap on the open field and threshed by two +rows of men standing opposite each other, who, as they ply their +flails, sing a song in which they say that they see the Straw-goat +amongst the corn-stalks. The last Goat, that is, the last sheaf, is +adorned with a wreath of violets and other flowers and with cakes +strung together. It is placed right in the middle of the heap. Some +of the threshers rush at it and tear the best of it out; others lay +on with their flails so recklessly that heads are sometimes broken. +At Oberinntal, in the Tyrol, the last thresher is called Goat. So at +Haselberg, in West Bohemia, the man who gives the last stroke at +threshing oats is called the Oats-goat. At Tettnang, in Würtemburg, +the thresher who gives the last stroke to the last bundle of corn +before it is turned goes by the name of the He-goat, and it is said, +"He has driven the He-goat away." The person who, after the bundle +has been turned, gives the last stroke of all, is called the +She-goat. In this custom it is implied that the corn is inhabited by +a pair of corn-spirits, male and female. + +Further, the corn-spirit, captured in the form of a goat at +threshing, is passed on to a neighbour whose threshing is not yet +finished. In Franche Comté, as soon as the threshing is over, the +young people set up a straw figure of a goat on the farmyard of a +neighbour who is still threshing. He must give them wine or money in +return. At Ellwangen, in Würtemburg, the effigy of a goat is made +out of the last bundle of corn at threshing; four sticks form its +legs, and two its horns. The man who gives the last stroke with the +flail must carry the Goat to the barn of a neighbour who is still +threshing and throw it down on the floor; if he is caught in the +act, they tie the Goat on his back. A similar custom is observed at +Indersdorf, in Upper Bavaria; the man who throws the straw Goat into +the neighbour's barn imitates the bleating of a goat; if they catch +him, they blacken his face and tie the Goat on his back. At Saverne, +in Alsace, when a farmer is a week or more behind his neighbours +with his threshing, they set a real stuffed goat or fox before his +door. + +Sometimes the spirit of the corn in goat form is believed to be +killed at threshing. In the district of Traunstein, Upper Bavaria, +they think that the Oats-goat is in the last sheaf of oats. He is +represented by an old rake set up on end, with an old pot for a +head. The children are then told to kill the Oats-goat. + + + +7. The Corn-spirit as a Bull, Cow, or Ox + +ANOTHER form which the corn-spirit often assumes is that of a bull, +cow, or ox. When the wind sweeps over the corn they say at Conitz, +in West Prussia, "The Steer is running in the corn"; when the corn +is thick and strong in one spot, they say in some parts of East +Prussia, "The Bull is lying in the corn." When a harvester has +overstrained and lamed himself, they say in the Graudenz district of +West Prussia, "The Bull pushed him"; in Lorraine they say, "He has +the Bull." The meaning of both expressions is that he has +unwittingly lighted upon the divine corn-spirit, who has punished +the profane intruder with lameness. So near Chambéry when a reaper +wounds himself with his sickle, it is said that he has "the wound of +the Ox." In the district of Bunzlau (Silesia) the last sheaf is +sometimes made into the shape of a horned ox, stuffed with tow and +wrapt in corn-ears. This figure is called the Old Man. In some parts +of Bohemia the last sheaf is made up in human form and called the +Buffalo-bull. These cases show a confusion of the human with the +animal shape of the corn-spirit. The confusion is like that of +killing a wether under the name of a wolf. All over Swabia the last +bundle of corn on the field is called the Cow; the man who cuts the +last ears "has the Cow," and is himself called Cow or Barley-cow or +Oats-cow, according to the crop; at the harvest-supper he gets a +nosegay of flowers and corn-ears and a more liberal allowance of +drink than the rest. But he is teased and laughed at; so no one +likes to be the Cow. The Cow was sometimes represented by the figure +of a woman made out of ears of corn and corn-flowers. It was carried +to the farmhouse by the man who had cut the last handful of corn. +The children ran after him and the neighbours turned out to laugh at +him, till the farmer took the Cow from him. Here again the confusion +between the human and the animal form of the corn-spirit is +apparent. In various parts of Switzerland the reaper who cuts the +last ears of corn is called Wheat-cow, Corn-cow, Oats-cow, or +Corn-steer, and is the butt of many a joke. On the other hand, in +the district of Rosenheim, Upper Bavaria, when a farmer is later of +getting in his harvest than his neighbours, they set up on his land +a Straw-bull, as it is called. This is a gigantic figure of a bull +made of stubble on a framework of wood and adorned with flowers and +leaves. Attached to it is a label on which are scrawled doggerel +verses in ridicule of the man on whose land the Straw-bull is set +up. + +Again, the corn-spirit in the form of a bull or ox is killed on the +harvest-field at the close of the reaping. At Pouilly, near Dijon, +when the last ears of corn are about to be cut, an ox adorned with +ribbons, flowers, and ears of corn is led all round the field, +followed by the whole troop of reapers dancing. Then a man disguised +as the Devil cuts the last ears of corn and immediately slaughters +the ox. Part of the flesh of the animal is eaten at the +harvest-supper; part is pickled and kept till the first day of +sowing in spring. At Pont à Mousson and elsewhere on the evening of +the last day of reaping, a calf adorned with flowers and ears of +corn is led thrice round the farmyard, being allured by a bait or +driven by men with sticks, or conducted by the farmer's wife with a +rope. The calf chosen for this ceremony is the calf which was born +first on the farm in the spring of the year. It is followed by all +the reapers with their tools. Then it is allowed to run free; the +reapers chase it, and whoever catches it is called King of the Calf. +Lastly, it is solemnly killed; at Lunéville the man who acts as +butcher is the Jewish merchant of the village. + +Sometimes again the corn-spirit hides himself amongst the cut corn +in the barn to reappear in bull or cow form at threshing. Thus at +Wurmlingen, in Thüringen, the man who gives the last stroke at +threshing is called the Cow, or rather the Barley-cow, Oats-cow, +Peas-cow, or the like, according to the crop. He is entirely +enveloped in straw; his head is surmounted by sticks in imitation of +horns, and two lads lead him by ropes to the well to drink. On the +way thither he must low like a cow, and for a long time afterwards +he goes by the name of the Cow. At Obermedlingen, in Swabia, when +the threshing draws near an end, each man is careful to avoid giving +the last stroke. He who does give it "gets the Cow," which is a +straw figure dressed in an old ragged petticoat, hood, and +stockings. It is tied on his back with a straw-rope; his face is +blackened, and being bound with straw-ropes to a wheelbarrow he is +wheeled round the village. Here, again, we meet with that confusion +between the human and animal shape of the corn-spirit which we have +noted in other customs. In Canton Schaffhausen the man who threshes +the last corn is called the Cow; in Canton Thurgau, the Corn-bull; +in Canton Zurich, the Thresher-cow. In the last-mentioned district +he is wrapt in straw and bound to one of the trees in the orchard. +At Arad, in Hungary, the man who gives the last stroke at threshing +is enveloped in straw and a cow's hide with the horns attached to +it. At Pessnitz, in the district of Dresden, the man who gives the +last stroke with the flail is called Bull. He must make a straw-man +and set it up before a neighbour's window. Here, apparently, as in +so many cases, the corn-spirit is passed on to a neighbour who has +not finished threshing. So at Herbrechtingen, in Thüringen, the +effigy of a ragged old woman is flung into the barn of the farmer +who is last with his threshing. The man who throws it in cries, +"There is the Cow for you." If the threshers catch him they detain +him over night and punish him by keeping him from the +harvest-supper. In these latter customs the confusion between the +human and the animal shape of the corn-spirit meets us again. + +Further, the corn-spirit in bull form is sometimes believed to be +killed at threshing. At Auxerre, in threshing the last bundle of +corn, they call out twelve times, "We are killing the Bull." In the +neighbourhood of Bordeaux, where a butcher kills an ox on the field +immediately after the close of the reaping, it is said of the man +who gives the last stroke at threshing that "he has killed the +Bull." At Chambéry the last sheaf is called the sheaf of the Young +Ox, and a race takes place to it in which all the reapers join. When +the last stroke is given at threshing they say that "the Ox is +killed"; and immediately thereupon a real ox is slaughtered by the +reaper who cut the last corn. The flesh of the ox is eaten by the +threshers at supper. + +We have seen that sometimes the young corn-spirit, whose task it is +to quicken the corn of the coming year, is believed to be born as a +Corn-baby on the harvest-field. Similarly in Berry the young +corn-spirit is sometimes supposed to be born on the field in calf +form; for when a binder has not rope enough to bind all the corn in +sheaves, he puts aside the wheat that remains over and imitates the +lowing of a cow. The meaning is that "the sheaf has given birth to a +calf." In Puy-de-Dôme when a binder cannot keep up with the reaper +whom he or she follows, they say "He (or she) is giving birth to the +Calf." In some parts of Prussia, in similar circumstances, they call +out to the woman, "The Bull is coming," and imitate the bellowing of +a bull. In these cases the woman is conceived as the Corn-cow or old +corn-spirit, while the supposed calf is the Corn-calf or young +corn-spirit. In some parts of Austria a mythical calf +(_Muhkälbchen_) is believed to be seen amongst the sprouting corn in +spring and to push the children; when the corn waves in the wind +they say, "The Calf is going about." Clearly, as Mannhardt observes, +this calf of the spring-time is the same animal which is afterwards +believed to be killed at reaping. + + + +8. The Corn-spirit as a Horse or Mare + +SOMETIMES the corn-spirit appears in the shape of a horse or mare. +Between Kalw and Stuttgart, when the corn bends before the wind, +they say, "There runs the Horse." At Bohlingen, near Radolfzell in +Baden, the last sheaf of oats is called the Oats-stallion. In +Hertfordshire, at the end of the reaping, there is or used to be +observed a ceremony called "crying the Mare." The last blades of +corn left standing on the field are tied together and called the +Mare. The reapers stand at a distance and throw their sickles at it; +he who cuts it through "has the prize, with acclamations and good +cheer." After it is cut the reapers cry thrice with a loud voice, "I +have her!" Others answer thrice, "What have you?"--"A Mare! a Mare! +a Mare!"--"Whose is she?" is next asked thrice. "A. B.'s," naming +the owner thrice. "Whither will you send her?"--"To C. D.," naming +some neighbour who has not reaped all his corn. In this custom the +corn-spirit in the form of a mare is passed on from a farm where the +corn is all cut to another farm where it is still standing, and +where therefore the corn-spirit may be supposed naturally to take +refuge. In Shropshire the custom is similar. The farmer who finishes +his harvest last, and who therefore cannot send the Mare to any one +else, is said "to keep her all winter." The mocking offer of the +Mare to a laggard neighbour was sometimes responded to by a mocking +acceptance of her help. Thus an old man told an inquirer, "While we +wun at supper, a mon cumm'd wi' a autar [halter] to fatch her away." +At one place a real mare used to be sent, but the man who rode her +was subjected to some rough treatment at the farmhouse to which he +paid his unwelcome visit. + +In the neighbourhood of Lille the idea of the corn-spirit in horse +form is clearly preserved. When a harvester grows weary at his work, +it is said, "He has the fatigue of the Horse." The first sheaf, +called the "Cross of the Horse," is placed on a cross of boxwood in +the barn, and the youngest horse on the farm must tread on it. The +reapers dance round the last blades of corn, crying, "See the +remains of the Horse." The sheaf made out of these last blades is +given to the youngest horse of the parish (_commune_) to eat. This +youngest horse of the parish clearly represents, as Mannhardt says, +the corn-spirit of the following year, the Corn-foal, which absorbs +the spirit of the old Corn-horse by eating the last corn cut; for, +as usual, the old corn-spirit takes his final refuge in the last +sheaf. The thresher of the last sheaf is said to "beat the Horse." + + + +9. The Corn-spirit as a Pig (Boar or Sow) + +THE LAST animal embodiment of the corn-spirit which we shall notice +is the pig (boar or sow). In Thüringen, when the wind sets the young +corn in motion, they sometimes say, "The Boar is rushing through the +corn." Amongst the Esthonians of the island of Oesel the last sheaf +is called the Ryeboar, and the man who gets it is saluted with a cry +of "You have the Rye-boar on your back!" In reply he strikes up a +song, in which he prays for plenty. At Kohlerwinkel, near Augsburg, +at the close of the harvest, the last bunch of standing corn is cut +down, stalk by stalk, by all the reapers in turn. He who cuts the +last stalk "gets the Sow," and is laughed at. In other Swabian +villages also the man who cuts the last corn "has the Sow," or "has +the Rye-sow." At Bohlingen, near Radolfzell in Baden, the last sheaf +is called the Rye-sow or the Wheat-sow, according to the crop; and +at Röhrenbach in Baden the person who brings the last armful for the +last sheaf is called the Corn-sow or the Oats-sow. At Friedingen, in +Swabia, the thresher who gives the last stroke is called +Sow--Barley-sow, Corn-sow, or the like, according to the crop. At +Onstmettingen the man who gives the last stroke at threshing "has +the Sow"; he is often bound up in a sheaf and dragged by a rope +along the ground. And, generally, in Swabia the man who gives the +last stroke with the flail is called Sow. He may, however, rid +himself of this invidious distinction by passing on to a neighbour +the straw-rope, which is the badge of his position as Sow. So he +goes to a house and throws the straw-rope into it, crying, "There, I +bring you the Sow." All the inmates give chase; and if they catch +him they beat him, shut him up for several hours in the pig-sty, and +oblige him to take the "Sow" away again. In various parts of Upper +Bavaria the man who gives the last stroke at threshing must "carry +the Pig"--that is, either a straw effigy of a pig or merely a bundle +of straw-ropes. This he carries to a neighbouring farm where the +threshing is not finished, and throws it into the barn. If the +threshers catch him they handle him roughly, beating him, blackening +or dirtying his face, throwing him into filth, binding the Sow on +his back, and so on; if the bearer of the Sow is a woman they cut +off her hair. At the harvest supper or dinner the man who "carried +the Pig" gets one or more dumplings made in the form of pigs. When +the dumplings are served up by the maidservant, all the people at +table cry "Süz, süz, süz !" that being the cry used in calling pigs. +Sometimes after dinner the man who "carried the Pig" has his face +blackened, and is set on a cart and drawn round the village by his +fellows, followed by a crowd crying "Süz, süz, süz !" as if they +were calling swine. Sometimes, after being wheeled round the +village, he is flung on the dunghill. + +Again, the corn-spirit in the form of a pig plays his part at +sowing-time as well as at harvest. At Neuautz, in Courland, when +barley is sown for the first time in the year, the farmer's wife +boils the chine of a pig along with the tail, and brings it to the +sower on the field. He eats of it, but cuts off the tail and sticks +it in the field; it is believed that the ears of corn will then grow +as long as the tail. Here the pig is the corn-spirit, whose +fertilising power is sometimes supposed to lie especially in his +tail. As a pig he is put in the ground at sowing-time, and as a pig +he reappears amongst the ripe corn at harvest. For amongst the +neighbouring Esthonians, as we have seen, the last sheaf is called +the Rye-boar. Somewhat similar customs are observed in Germany. In +the Salza district, near Meiningen, a certain bone in the pig is +called "the Jew on the winnowing-fan." The flesh of this bone is +boiled on Shrove Tuesday, but the bone is put amongst the ashes +which the neighbours exchange as presents on St. Peter's Day (the +twenty-second of February), and then mix with the seedcorn. In the +whole of Hesse, Meiningen, and other districts, people eat pea-soup +with dried pig-ribs on Ash Wednesday or Candlemas. The ribs are then +collected and hung in the room till sowing-time, when they are +inserted in the sown field or in the seed-bag amongst the flax seed. +This is thought to be an infallible specific against earth-fleas and +moles, and to cause the flax to grow well and tall. + +But the idea of the corn-spirit as embodied in pig form is nowhere +more clearly expressed than in the Scandinavian custom of the Yule +Boar. In Sweden and Denmark at Yule (Christmas) it is the custom to +bake a loaf in the form of a boar-pig. This is called the Yule Boar. +The corn of the last sheaf is often used to make it. All through +Yule the Yule Boar stands on the table. Often it is kept till the +sowing-time in spring, when part of it is mixed with the seed-corn +and part given to the ploughman and plough-horses or ploughoxen to +eat, in the expectation of a good harvest. In this custom the +corn-spirit, immanent in the last sheaf, appears at midwinter in the +form of a boar made from the corn of the last sheaf; and his +quickening influence on the corn is shown by mixing part of the Yule +Boar with the seed-corn, and giving part of it to the ploughman and +his cattle to eat. Similarly we saw that the Corn-wolf makes his +appearance at mid-winter, the time when the year begins to verge +towards spring. Formerly a real boar was sacrificed at Christmas, +and apparently also a man in the character of the Yule Boar. This, +at least, may perhaps be inferred from a Christmas custom still +observed in Sweden. A man is wrapt up in a skin, and carries a wisp +of straw in his mouth, so that the projecting straws look like the +bristles of a boar. A knife is brought, and an old woman, with her +face blackened, pretends to sacrifice him. + +On Christmas Eve in some parts of the Esthonian island of Oesel they +bake a long cake with the two ends turned up. It is called the +Christmas Boar, and stands on the table till the morning of New +Year's Day, when it is distributed among the cattle. In other parts +of the island the Christmas Boar is not a cake but a little pig born +in March, which the housewife fattens secretly, often without the +knowledge of the other members of the family. On Christmas Eve the +little pig is secretly killed, then roasted in the oven, and set on +the table standing on all fours, where it remains in this posture +for several days. In other parts of the island, again, though the +Christmas cake has neither the name nor the shape of a boar, it is +kept till the New Year, when half of it is divided among all the +members and all the quadrupeds of the family. The other half of the +cake is kept till sowing-time comes round, when it is similarly +distributed in the morning among human beings and beasts. In other +parts of Esthonia, again, the Christmas Boar, as it is called, is +baked of the first rye cut at harvest; it has a conical shape and a +cross is impressed on it with a pig's bone or a key, or three dints +are made in it with a buckle or a piece of charcoal. It stands with +a light beside it on the table all through the festal season. On New +Year's Day and Epiphany, before sunrise, a little of the cake is +crumbled with salt and given to the cattle. The rest is kept till +the day when the cattle are driven out to pasture for the first time +in spring. It is then put in the herdsman's bag, and at evening is +divided among the cattle to guard them from magic and harm. In some +places the Christmas Boar is partaken of by farm-servants and cattle +at the time of the barley sowing, for the purpose of thereby +producing a heavier crop. + + + +10. On the Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit + +SO much for the animal embodiments of the corn-spirit as they are +presented to us in the folk-customs of Northern Europe. These +customs bring out clearly the sacramental character of the +harvest-supper. The corn-spirit is conceived as embodied in an +animal; this divine animal is slain, and its flesh and blood are +partaken of by the harvesters. Thus the cock, the hare, the cat, the +goat, and the OX are eaten sacramentally by the harvester, and the +pig is eaten sacramentally by ploughmen in spring. Again, as a +substitute for the real flesh of the divine being, bread or +dumplings are made in his image and eaten sacramentally; thus, +pig-shaped dumplings are eaten by the harvesters, and loaves made in +boar-shape (the Yule Boar) are eaten in spring by the ploughman and +his cattle. + +The reader has probably remarked the complete parallelism between +the conceptions of the corn-spirit in human and in animal form. The +parallel may be here briefly resumed. When the corn waves in the +wind it is said either that the Corn-mother or that the Corn-wolf, +etc., is passing through the corn. Children are warned against +straying in corn-fields either because the Corn-mother or because +the Corn-wolf, etc., is there. In the last corn cut or the last +sheaf threshed either the Corn-mother or the Corn-wolf, etc., is +supposed to be present. The last sheaf is itself called either the +Corn-mother or the Corn-wolf, etc., and is made up in the shape +either of a woman or of a wolf, etc. The person who cuts, binds, or +threshes the last sheaf is called either the Old Woman or the Wolf, +etc., according to the name bestowed on the sheaf itself. As in some +places a sheaf made in human form and called the Maiden, the Mother +of the Maize, etc., is kept from one harvest to the next in order to +secure a continuance of the corn-spirit's blessing, so in some +places the Harvest-cock and in others the flesh of the goat is kept +for a similar purpose from one harvest to the next. As in some +places the grain taken from the Corn-mother is mixed with the +seed-corn in spring to make the crop abundant, so in some places the +feathers of the cock, and in Sweden the Yule Boar, are kept till +spring and mixed with the seed-corn for a like purpose. As part of +the Corn-mother or Maiden is given to the cattle at Christmas or to +the horses at the first ploughing, so part of the Yule Boar is given +to the ploughing horses or oxen in spring. Lastly, the death of the +corn-spirit is represented by killing or pretending to kill either +his human or his animal representative; and the worshippers partake +sacramentally either of the actual body and blood of the +representative of the divinity, or of bread made in his likeness. + +Other animal forms assumed by the corn-spirit are the fox, stag, +roe, sheep, bear, ass, mouse, quail, stork, swan, and kite. If it is +asked why the corn-spirit should be thought to appear in the form of +an animal and of so many different animals, we may reply that to +primitive man the simple appearance of an animal or bird among the +corn is probably enough to suggest a mysterious link between the +creature and the corn; and when we remember that in the old days, +before fields were fenced in, all kinds of animals must have been +free to roam over them, we need not wonder that the corn-spirit +should have been identified even with large animals like the horse +and cow, which nowadays could not, except by a rare accident, be +found straying in an English corn-field. This explanation applies +with peculiar force to the very common case in which the animal +embodiment of the corn-spirit is believed to lurk in the last +standing corn. For at harvest a number of wild animals, such as +hares, rabbits, and partridges, are commonly driven by the progress +of the reaping into the last patch of standing corn, and make their +escape from it as it is being cut down. So regularly does this +happen that reapers and others often stand round the last patch of +corn armed with sticks or guns, with which they kill the animals as +they dart out of their last refuge among the stalks. Now, primitive +man, to whom magical changes of shape seem perfectly credible, finds +it most natural that the spirit of the corn, driven from his home in +the ripe grain, should make his escape in the form of the animal +which is seen to rush out of the last patch of corn as it falls +under the scythe of the reaper. Thus the identification of the +corn-spirit with an animal is analogous to the identification of him +with a passing stranger. As the sudden appearance of a stranger near +the harvest-field or threshing-floor is, to the primitive mind, +enough to identify him as the spirit of the corn escaping from the +cut or threshed corn, so the sudden appearance of an animal issuing +from the cut corn is enough to identify it with the corn-spirit +escaping from his ruined home. The two identifications are so +analogous that they can hardly be dissociated in any attempt to +explain them. Those who look to some other principle than the one +here suggested for the explanation of the latter identification are +bound to show that their theory covers the former identification +also. + + + + +XLIX. Ancient Deities of Vegetation as Animals + + + +1. Dionysus, the Goat and the Bull + +HOWEVER we may explain it, the fact remains that in peasant +folk-lore the corn-spirit is very commonly conceived and represented +in animal form. May not this fact explain the relation in which +certain animals stood to the ancient deities of vegetation, +Dionysus, Demeter, Adonis, Attis, and Osiris? + +To begin with Dionysus. We have seen that he was represented +sometimes as a goat and sometimes as a bull. As a goat he can hardly +be separated from the minor divinities, the Pans, Satyrs, and +Silenuses, all of whom are closely associated with him and are +represented more or less completely in the form of goats. Thus, Pan +was regularly portrayed in sculpture and painting with the face and +legs of a goat. The Satyrs were depicted with pointed goat-ears, and +sometimes with sprouting horns and short tails. They were sometimes +spoken of simply as goats; and in the drama their parts were played +by men dressed in goatskins. Silenus is represented in art clad in a +goatskin. Further, the Fauns, the Italian counterpart of the Greek +Pans and Satyrs, are described as being half goats, with goat-feet +and goat-horns. Again, all these minor goat-formed divinities +partake more or less clearly of the character of woodland deities. +Thus, Pan was called by the Arcadians the Lord of the Wood. The +Silenuses kept company with the tree-nymphs. The Fauns are expressly +designated as woodland deities; and their character as such is still +further brought out by their association, or even identification, +with Silvanus and the Silvanuses, who, as their name of itself +indicates, are spirits of the woods. Lastly, the association of the +Satyrs with the Silenuses, Fauns, and Silvanuses, proves that the +Satyrs also were woodland deities. These goat-formed spirits of the +woods have their counterparts in the folk-lore of Northern Europe. +Thus, the Russian wood-spirits, called _Ljeschie_ (from _ljes,_ +"wood"), are believed to appear partly in human shape, but with the +horns, ears, and legs of goats. The _Ljeschi_ can alter his stature +at pleasure; when he walks in the wood he is as tall as the trees; +when he walks in the meadows he is no higher than the grass. Some of +the _Ljeschie_ are spirits of the corn as well as of the wood; +before harvest they are as tall as the corn-stalks, but after it +they shrink to the height of the stubble. This brings out--what we +have remarked before--the close connexion between tree-spirits and +corn-spirits, and shows how easily the former may melt into the +latter. Similarly the Fauns, though wood-spirits, were believed to +foster the growth of the crops. We have already seen how often the +corn-spirit is represented in folk-custom as a goat. On the whole, +then, as Mannhardt argues, the Pans, Satyrs, and Fauns perhaps +belong to a widely diffused class of wood-spirits conceived in +goat-form. The fondness of goats for straying in woods and nibbling +the bark of trees, to which indeed they are most destructive, is an +obvious and perhaps sufficient reason why wood-spirits should so +often be supposed to take the form of goats. The inconsistency of a +god of vegetation subsisting upon the vegetation which he +personifies is not one to strike the primitive mind. Such +inconsistencies arise when the deity, ceasing to be immanent in the +vegetation, comes to be regarded as its owner or lord; for the idea +of owning the vegetation naturally leads to that of subsisting on +it. Sometimes the corn-spirit, originally conceived as immanent in +the corn, afterwards comes to be regarded as its owner, who lives on +it and is reduced to poverty and want by being deprived of it. Hence +he is often known as "the Poor Man" or "the Poor Woman." +Occasionally the last sheaf is left standing on the field for "the +Poor Old Woman" or for "the Old Rye-woman." + +Thus the representation of wood-spirits in the form of goats appears +to be both widespread and, to the primitive mind, natural. Therefore +when we find, as we have done, that Dionysus--a tree-god--is +sometimes represented in goat-form, we can hardly avoid concluding +that this representation is simply a part of his proper character as +a tree-god and is not to be explained by the fusion of two distinct +and independent worships, in one of which he originally appeared as +a tree-god and in the other as a goat. + +Dionysus was also figured, as we have seen, in the shape of a bull. +After what has gone before we are naturally led to expect that his +bull form must have been only another expression for his character +as a deity of vegetation, especially as the bull is a common +embodiment of the corn-spirit in Northern Europe; and the close +association of Dionysus with Demeter and Persephone in the mysteries +of Eleusis shows that he had at least strong agricultural +affinities. + +The probability of this view will be somewhat increased if it can be +shown that in other rites than those of Dionysus the ancients slew +an OX as a representative of the spirit of vegetation. This they +appear to have done in the Athenian sacrifice known as "the murder +of the OX" (_bouphonia_). It took place about the end of June or +beginning of July, that is, about the time when the threshing is +nearly over in Attica. According to tradition the sacrifice was +instituted to procure a cessation of drought and dearth which had +afflicted the land. The ritual was as follows. Barley mixed with +wheat, or cakes made of them, were laid upon the bronze altar of +Zeus Polieus on the Acropolis. Oxen were driven round the altar, and +the OX which went up to the altar and ate the offering on it was +sacrificed. The axe and knife with which the beast was slain had +been previously wetted with water brought by maidens called +"water-carriers." The weapons were then sharpened and handed to the +butchers, one of whom felled the OX with the axe and another cut its +throat with the knife. As soon as he had felled the OX, the former +threw the axe from him and fled; and the man who cut the beast's +throat apparently imitated his example. Meantime the OX was skinned +and all present partook of its flesh. Then the hide was stuffed with +straw and sewed up; next the stuffed 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 presided over by the King (as he was called) +to determine who had murdered the OX. The maidens who had brought +the water accused the men who had sharpened the axe and knife; the +men who had sharpened the axe and knife blamed the men who had +handed these implements to the butchers; the men who had handed the +implements to the butchers blamed the butchers; and the butchers +laid the blame on the axe and knife, which were accordingly found +guilty, condemned, and cast into the sea. + +The name of this sacrifice,-- "the _murder_ of the OX,"--the pains +taken by each person who had a hand in the slaughter to lay the +blame on some one else, together with the formal trial and +punishment of the axe or knife or both, prove that the OX was here +regarded not merely as a victim offered to a god, but as itself a +sacred creature, the slaughter of which was sacrilege or murder. +This is borne out by a statement of Varro that to kill an OX was +formerly a capital crime in Attica. The mode of selecting the victim +suggests that the OX which tasted the corn was viewed as the +corn-deity taking possession of his own. This interpretation is +supported by the following custom. In Beauce, in the district of +Orleans, on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth of April they make a +straw man called "the great _mondard._" For they say that the old +_mondard_ is now dead and it is necessary to make a new one. The +straw man is carried in solemn procession up and down the village +and at last is placed upon the oldest apple-tree. There he remains +till the apples are gathered, when he is taken down and thrown into +the water, or he is burned and his ashes cast into water. But the +person who plucks the first fruit from the tree succeeds to the +title of "the great _mondard._" Here the straw figure, called "the +great _mondard_" and placed on the oldest apple-tree in spring, +represents the spirit of the tree, who, dead in winter, revives when +the apple-blossoms appear on the boughs. Thus the person who plucks +the first fruit from the tree and thereby receives the name of "the +great _mondard_" must be regarded as a representative of the +tree-spirit. Primitive peoples are usually reluctant to taste the +annual first-fruits of any crop, until some ceremony has been +performed which makes it safe and pious for them to do so. The +reason of this reluctance appears to be a belief that the +first-fruits either belong to or actually contain a divinity. +Therefore when a man or animal is seen boldly to appropriate the +sacred first-fruits, he or it is naturally regarded as the divinity +himself in human or animal form taking possession of his own. The +time of the Athenian sacrifice, which fell about the close of the +threshing, suggests that the wheat and barley laid upon the altar +were a harvest offering; and the sacramental character of the +subsequent repast--all partaking of the flesh of the divine +animal--would make it parallel to the harvest-suppers of modern +Europe, in which, as we have seen, the flesh of the animal which +stands for the corn-spirit is eaten by the harvesters. Again, the +tradition that the sacrifice was instituted in order to put an end +to drought and famine is in favour of taking it as a harvest +festival. The resurrection of the corn-spirit, enacted by setting up +the stuffed OX and yoking it to the plough, may be compared with the +resurrection of the tree-spirit in the person of his representative, +the Wild Man. + +The OX appears as a representative of the corn-spirit in other parts +of the world. At Great Bassam, in Guinea, two oxen are slain +annually to procure a good harvest. If the sacrifice is to be +effectual, it is necessary that the oxen should weep. So all the +women of the village sit in front of the beasts, chanting, "The OX +will weep; yes, he will weep!" From time to time one of the women +walks round the beasts, throwing manioc meal or palm wine upon them, +especially into their eyes. When tears roll down from the eyes of +the oxen, the people dance, singing, "The OX weeps! the OX weeps!" +Then two men seize the tails of the beasts and cut them off at one +blow. It is believed that a great misfortune will happen in the +course of the year if the tails are not severed at one blow. The +oxen are afterwards killed, and their flesh is eaten by the chiefs. +Here the tears of the oxen, like those of the human victims amongst +the Khonds and the Aztecs, are probably a rain-charm. We have +already seen that the virtue of the corn-spirit, embodied in animal +form, is sometimes supposed to reside in the tail, and that the last +handful of corn is sometimes conceived as the tail of the +corn-spirit. In the Mithraic religion this conception is graphically +set forth in some of the numerous sculptures which represent Mithras +kneeling on the back of a bull and plunging a knife into its flank; +for on certain of these monuments the tail of the bull ends in three +stalks of corn, and in one of them corn-stalks instead of blood are +seen issuing from the wound inflicted by the knife. Such +representations certainly suggest that the bull, whose sacrifice +appears to have formed a leading feature in the Mithraic ritual, was +conceived, in one at least of its aspects, as an incarnation of the +corn-spirit. + +Still more clearly does the ox appear as a personification of the +corn-spirit in a ceremony which is observed in all the provinces and +districts of China to welcome the approach of spring. On the first +day of spring, usually on the third or fourth of February, which is +also the beginning of the Chinese New Year, the governor or prefect +of the city goes in procession to the east gate of the city, and +sacrifices to the Divine Husbandman, who is represented with a +bull's head on the body of a man. A large effigy of an ox, cow, or +buffalo has been prepared for the occasion, and stands outside of +the east gate, with agricultural implements beside it. The figure is +made of differently-coloured pieces of paper pasted on a framework +either by a blind man or according to the directions of a +necromancer. The colours of the paper prognosticate the character of +the coming year; if red prevails, there will be many fires; if +white, there will be floods and rain; and so with the other colours. +The mandarins walk slowly round the ox, beating it severely at each +step with rods of various hues. It is filled with five kinds of +grain, which pour forth when the effigy is broken by the blows of +the rods. The paper fragments are then set on fire, and a scramble +takes place for the burning fragments, because the people believe +that whoever gets one of them is sure to be fortunate throughout the +year. A live buffalo is next killed, and its flesh is divided among +the mandarins. According to one account, the effigy of the ox is +made of clay, and, after being beaten by the governor, is stoned by +the people till they break it in pieces, "from which they expect an +abundant year." Here the corn-spirit appears to be plainly +represented by the corn-filled ox, whose fragments may therefore be +supposed to bring fertility with them. + +On the whole we may perhaps conclude that both as a goat and as a +bull Dionysus was essentially a god of vegetation. The Chinese and +European customs which I have cited may perhaps shed light on the +custom of rending a live bull or goat at the rites of Dionysus. The +animal was torn in fragments, as the Khond victim was cut in pieces, +in order that the worshippers might each secure a portion of the +life-giving and fertilising influence of the god. The flesh was +eaten raw as a sacrament, and we may conjecture that some of it was +taken home to be buried in the fields, or otherwise employed so as +to convey to the fruits of the earth the quickening influence of the +god of vegetation. The resurrection of Dionysus, related in his +myth, may have been enacted in his rites by stuffing and setting up +the slain ox, as was done at the Athenian _bouphonia._ + + + +2. Demeter, the Pig and the Horse + +PASSING next to the corn-goddess Demeter, and remembering that in +European folk-lore the pig is a common embodiment of the +corn-spirit, we may now ask whether the pig, which was so closely +associated with Demeter, may not have been originally the goddess +herself in animal form. The pig was sacred to her; in art she was +portrayed carrying or accompanied by a pig; and the pig was +regularly sacrificed in her mysteries, the reason assigned being +that the pig injures the corn and is therefore an enemy of the +goddess. But after an animal has been conceived as a god, or a god +as an animal, it sometimes happens, as we have seen, that the god +sloughs off his animal form and becomes purely anthropomorphic; and +that then the animal, which at first had been slain in the character +of the god, comes to be viewed as a victim offered to the god on the +ground of its hostility to the deity; in short, the god is +sacrificed to himself on the ground that he is his own enemy. This +happened to Dionysus, and it may have happened to Demeter also. And +in fact the rites of one of her festivals, the Thesmophoria, bear +out the view that originally the pig was an embodiment of the +corn-goddess herself, either Demeter or her daughter and double +Persephone. The Attic Thesmophoria was an autumn festival, +celebrated by women alone in October, and appears to have +represented with mourning rites the descent of Persephone (or +Demeter) into the lower world, and with joy her return from the +dead. Hence the name Descent or Ascent variously applied to the +first, and the name _Kalligeneia_ (fair-born) applied to the third +day of the festival. Now it was customary at the Thesmophoria to +throw pigs, cakes of dough, and branches of pine-trees into "the +chasms of Demeter and Persephone," which appear to have been sacred +caverns or vaults. In these caverns or vaults there were said to be +serpents, which guarded the caverns and consumed most of the flesh +of the pigs and dough-cakes which were thrown in. +Afterwards--apparently at the next annual festival--the decayed +remains of the pigs, the cakes, and the pine-branches were fetched +by women called "drawers," who, after observing rules of ceremonial +purity for three days, descended into the caverns, and, frightening +away the serpents by clapping their hands, brought up the remains +and placed them on the altar. Whoever got a piece of the decayed +flesh and cakes, and sowed it with the seed-corn in his field, was +believed to be sure of a good crop. + +To explain the rude and ancient ritual of the Thesmophoria the +following legend was told. At the moment when Pluto carried off +Persephone, a swineherd called Eubuleus chanced to be herding his +swine on the spot, and his herd was engulfed in the chasm down which +Pluto vanished with Persephone. Accordingly at the Thesmophoria pigs +were annually thrown into caverns to commemorate the disappearance +of the swine of Eubuleus. It follows from this that the casting of +the pigs into the vaults at the Thesmophoria formed part of the +dramatic representation of Persephone's descent into the lower +world; and as no image of Persephone appears to have been thrown in, +we may infer that the descent of the pigs was not so much an +accompaniment of her descent as the descent itself, in short, that +the pigs were Persephone. Afterwards when Persephone or Demeter (for +the two are equivalent) took on human form, a reason had to be found +for the custom of throwing pigs into caverns at her festival; and +this was done by saying that when Pluto carried off Persephone there +happened to be some swine browsing near, which were swallowed up +along with her. The story is obviously a forced and awkward attempt +to bridge over the gulf between the old conception of the +corn-spirit as a pig and the new conception of her as an +anthropomorphic goddess. A trace of the older conception survived in +the legend that when the sad mother was searching for traces of the +vanished Persephone, the footprints of the lost one were obliterated +by the footprints of a pig; originally, we may conjecture, the +footprints of the pig were the footprints of Persephone and of +Demeter herself. A consciousness of the intimate connexion of the +pig with the corn lurks in the legend that the swineherd Eubuleus +was a brother of Triptolemus, to whom Demeter first imparted the +secret of the corn. Indeed, according to one version of the story, +Eubuleus himself received, jointly with his brother Triptolemus, the +gift of the corn from Demeter as a reward for revealing to her the +fate of Persephone. Further, it is to be noted that at the +Thesmophoria the women appear to have eaten swine's flesh. The meal, +if I am right, must have been a solemn sacrament or communion, the +worshippers partaking of the body of the god. + +As thus explained, the Thesmophoria has its analogies in the +folk-customs of Northern Europe which have been already described. +Just as at the Thesmophoria--an autumn festival in honour of the +corn-goddess--swine's flesh was partly eaten, partly kept in caverns +till the following year, when it was taken up to be sown with the +seed-corn in the fields for the purpose of securing a good crop; so +in the neighbourhood of Grenoble the goat killed on the +harvest-field is partly eaten at the harvest-supper, partly pickled +and kept till the next harvest; so at Pouilly the ox killed on the +harvest-field is partly eaten by the harvesters, partly pickled and +kept till the first day of sowing in spring, probably to be then +mixed with the seed, or eaten by the ploughmen, or both; so at +Udvarhely the feathers of the cock which is killed in the last sheaf +at harvest are kept till spring, and then sown with the seed on the +field; so in Hesse and Meiningen the flesh of pigs is eaten on Ash +Wednesday or Candlemas, and the bones are kept till sowing-time, +when they are put into the field sown or mixed with the seed in the +bag; so, lastly, the corn from the last sheaf is kept till +Christmas, made into the Yule Boar, and afterwards broken and mixed +with the seed-corn at sowing in spring. Thus, to put it generally, +the corn-spirit is killed in animal form in autumn; part of his +flesh is eaten as a sacrament by his worshippers; and part of it is +kept till next sowing-time or harvest as a pledge and security for +the continuance or renewal of the corn-spirit's energies. + +If persons of fastidious taste should object that the Greeks never +could have conceived Demeter and Persephone to be embodied in the +form of pigs, it may be answered that in the cave of Phigalia in +Arcadia the Black Demeter was portrayed with the head and mane of a +horse on the body of a woman. Between the portraits of a goddess as +a pig, and the portrait of her as a woman with a horse's head, there +is little to choose in respect of barbarism. The legend told of the +Phigalian Demeter indicates that the horse was one of the animal +forms assumed in ancient Greece, as in modern Europe, by the +cornspirit. It was said that in her search for her daughter, Demeter +assumed the form of a mare to escape the addresses of Poseidon, and +that, offended at his importunity, she withdrew in dudgeon to a cave +not far from Phigalia in the highlands of Western Arcadia. There, +robed in black, she tarried so long that the fruits of the earth +were perishing, and mankind would have died of famine if Pan had not +soothed the angry goddess and persuaded her to quit the cave. In +memory of this event, the Phigalians set up an image of the Black +Demeter in the cave; it represented a woman dressed in a long robe, +with the head and mane of a horse. The Black Demeter, in whose +absence the fruits of the earth perish, is plainly a mythical +expression for the bare wintry earth stripped of its summer mantle +of green. + + + +3. Attis, Adonis, and the Pig + +PASSING now to Attis and Adonis, we may note a few facts which seem +to show that these deities of vegetation had also, like other +deities of the same class, their animal embodiments. The worshippers +of Attis abstained from eating the flesh of swine. This appears to +indicate that the pig was regarded as an embodiment of Attis. And +the legend that Attis was killed by a boar points in the same +direction. For after the examples of the goat Dionysus and the pig +Demeter it may almost be laid down as a rule that an animal which is +said to have injured a god was originally the god himself. Perhaps +the cry of "Hyes Attes! Hyes Attes!" which was raised by the +worshippers of Attis, may be neither more nor less than "Pig Attis! +Pig Attis!"--_hyes_ being possibly a Phrygian form of the Greek +_hy¯s,_ "a pig." + +In regard to Adonis, his connexion with the boar was not always +explained by the story that he had been killed by the animal. +According to another story, a boar rent with his tusk the bark of +the tree in which the infant Adonis was born. According to yet +another story, he perished at the hands of Hephaestus on Mount +Lebanon while he was hunting wild boars. These variations in the +legend serve to show that, while the connexion of the boar with +Adonis was certain, the reason of the connexion was not understood, +and that consequently different stories were devised to explain it. +Certainly the pig ranked as a sacred animal among the Syrians. At +the great religious metropolis of Hierapolis on the Euphrates pigs +were neither sacrificed nor eaten, and if a man touched a pig he was +unclean for the rest of the day. Some people said this was because +the pigs were unclean; others said it was because the pigs were +sacred. This difference of opinion points to a hazy state of +religious thought in which the ideas of sanctity and uncleanness are +not yet sharply distinguished, both being blent in a sort of +vaporous solution to which we give the name of taboo. It is quite +consistent with this that the pig should have been held to be an +embodiment of the divine Adonis, and the analogies of Dionysus and +Demeter make it probable that the story of the hostility of the +animal to the god was only a late misapprehension of the old view of +the god as embodied in a pig. The rule that pigs were not sacrificed +or eaten by worshippers of Attis and presumably of Adonis, does not +exclude the possibility that in these rituals the pig was slain on +solemn occasions as a representative of the god and consumed +sacramentally by the worshippers. Indeed, the sacramental killing +and eating of an animal implies that the animal is sacred, and that, +as a general rule, it is spared. + +The attitude of the Jews to the pig was as ambiguous as that of the +heathen Syrians towards the same animal. The Greeks could not decide +whether the Jews worshipped swine or abominated them. On the one +hand they might not eat swine; but on the other hand they might not +kill them. And if the former rule speaks for the uncleanness, the +latter speaks still more strongly for the sanctity of the animal. +For whereas both rules may, and one rule must, be explained on the +supposition that the pig was sacred; neither rule must, and one rule +cannot, be explained on the supposition that the pig was unclean. +If, therefore, we prefer the former supposition, we must conclude +that, originally at least, the pig was revered rather than abhorred +by the Israelites. We are confirmed in this opinion by observing +that down to the time of Isaiah some of the Jews used to meet +secretly in gardens to eat the flesh of swine and mice as a +religious rite. Doubtless this was a very ancient ceremony, dating +from a time when both the pig and the mouse were venerated as +divine, and when their flesh was partaken of sacramentally on rare +and solemn occasions as the body and blood of gods. And in general +it may perhaps be said that all so-called unclean animals were +originally sacred; the reason for not eating them was that they were +divine. + + + +4. Osiris, the Pig and the Bull + +IN ANCIENT Egypt, within historical times, the pig occupied the same +dubious position as in Syria and Palestine, though at first sight +its uncleanness is more prominent than its sanctity. The Egyptians +are generally said by Greek writers to have abhorred the pig as a +foul and loathsome animal. If a man so much as touched a pig in +passing, he stepped into the river with all his clothes on, to wash +off the taint. To drink pig's milk was believed to cause leprosy to +the drinker. Swineherds, though natives of Egypt, were forbidden to +enter any temple, and they were the only men who were thus excluded. +No one would give his daughter in marriage to a swineherd, or marry +a swineherd's daughter; the swineherds married among themselves. Yet +once a year the Egyptians sacrificed pigs to the moon and to Osiris, +and not only sacrificed them, but ate of their flesh, though on any +other day of the year they would neither sacrifice them nor taste of +their flesh. Those who were too poor to offer a pig on this day +baked cakes of dough, and offered them instead. This can hardly be +explained except by the supposition that the pig was a sacred animal +which was eaten sacramentally by his worshippers once a year. + +The view that in Egypt the pig was sacred is borne out by the very +facts which, to moderns, might seem to prove the contrary. Thus the +Egyptians thought, as we have seen, that to drink pig's milk +produced leprosy. But exactly analogous views are held by savages +about the animals and plants which they deem most sacred. Thus in +the island of Wetar (between New Guinea and Celebes) people believe +themselves to be variously descended from wild pigs, serpents, +crocodiles, turtles, dogs, and eels; a man may not eat an animal of +the kind from which he is descended; if he does so, he will become a +leper, and go mad. Amongst the Omaha Indians of North America men +whose totem is the elk, believe that if they ate the flesh of the +male elk they would break out in boils and white spots in different +parts of their bodies. In the same tribe men whose totem is the red +maize, think that if they ate red maize they would have running +sores all round their mouths. The Bush negroes of Surinam, who +practise totemism, believe that if they ate the _capiaï_ (an animal +like a pig) it would give them leprosy; perhaps the _capiaï_ is one +of their totems. The Syrians, in antiquity, who esteemed fish +sacred, thought that if they ate fish their bodies would break out +in ulcers, and their feet and stomach would swell up. The Chasas of +Orissa believe that if they were to injure their totemic animal they +would be attacked by leprosy and their line would die out. These +examples prove that the eating of a sacred animal is often believed +to produce leprosy or other skin-diseases; so far, therefore, they +support the view that the pig must have been sacred in Egypt, since +the effect of drinking its milk was believed to be leprosy. + +Again, the rule that, after touching a pig, a man had to wash +himself and his clothes, also favours the view of the sanctity of +the pig. For it is a common belief that the effect of contact with a +sacred object must be removed, by washing or otherwise, before a man +is free to mingle with his fellows. Thus the Jews wash their hands +after reading the sacred scriptures. Before coming forth from the +tabernacle after the sin-offering, the high priest had to wash +himself, and put off the garments which he had worn in the holy +place. It was a rule of Greek ritual that, in offering an expiatory +sacrifice, the sacrificer should not touch the sacrifice, and that, +after the offering was made, he must wash his body and his clothes +in a river or spring before he could enter a city or his own house. +The Polynesians felt strongly the need of ridding themselves of the +sacred contagion, if it may be so called, which they caught by +touching sacred objects. Various ceremonies were performed for the +purpose of removing this contagion. We have seen, for example, how +in Tonga a man who happened to touch a sacred chief, or anything +personally belonging to him, had to perform a certain ceremony +before he could feed himself with his hands; otherwise it was +believed that he would swell up and die, or at least be afflicted +with scrofula or some other disease. We have seen, too, what fatal +effects are supposed to follow, and do actually follow, from contact +with a sacred object in New Zealand. In short, primitive man +believes that what is sacred is dangerous; it is pervaded by a sort +of electrical sanctity which communicates a shock to, even if it +does not kill, whatever comes in contact with it. Hence the savage +is unwilling to touch or even to see that which he deems peculiarly +holy. Thus Bechuanas, of the Crocodile clan, think it "hateful and +unlucky" to meet or see a crocodile; the sight is thought to cause +inflammation of the eyes. Yet the crocodile is their most sacred +object; they call it their father, swear by it, and celebrate it in +their festivals. The goat is the sacred animal of the Madenassana +Bushmen; yet "to look upon it would be to render the man for the +time impure, as well as to cause him undefined uneasiness." The Elk +clan, among the Omaha Indians, believe that even to touch the male +elk would be followed by an eruption of boils and white spots on the +body. Members of the Reptile clan in the same tribe think that if +one of them touches or smells a snake, it will make his hair white. +In Samoa people whose god was a butterfly believed that if they +caught a butterfly it would strike them dead. Again, in Samoa the +reddish-seared leaves of the banana-tree were commonly used as +plates for handing food; but if any member of the Wild Pigeon family +had used banana leaves for this purpose, it was supposed that he +would suffer from rheumatic swellings or an eruption all over the +body like chicken-pox. The Mori clan of the Bhils in Central India +worship the peacock as their totem and make offerings of grain to +it; yet members of the clan believe that were they even to set foot +on the tracks of a peacock they would afterwards suffer from some +disease, and if a woman sees a peacock she must veil her face and +look away. Thus the primitive mind seems to conceive of holiness as +a sort of dangerous virus, which a prudent man will shun as far as +possible, and of which, if he should chance to be infected by it, he +will carefully disinfect himself by some form of ceremonial +purification. + +In the light of these parallels the beliefs and customs of the +Egyptians touching the pig are probably to be explained as based +upon an opinion of the extreme sanctity rather than of the extreme +uncleanness of the animal; or rather, to put it more correctly, they +imply that the animal was looked on, not simply as a filthy and +disgusting creature, but as a being endowed with high supernatural +powers, and that as such it was regarded with that primitive +sentiment of religious awe and fear in which the feelings of +reverence and abhorrence are almost equally blended. The ancients +themselves seem to have been aware that there was another side to +the horror with which swine seemed to inspire the Egyptians. For the +Greek astronomer and mathematician Eudoxus, who resided fourteen +months in Egypt and conversed with the priests, was of opinion that +the Egyptians spared the pig, not out of abhorrence, but from a +regard to its utility in agriculture; for, according to him, when +the Nile had subsided, herds of swine were turned loose over the +fields to tread the seed down into the moist earth. But when a being +is thus the object of mixed and implicitly contradictory feelings, +he may be said to occupy a position of unstable equilibrium. In +course of time one of the contradictory feelings is likely to +prevail over the other, and according as the feeling which finally +predominates is that of reverence or abhorrence, the being who is +the object of it will rise into a god or sink into a devil. The +latter, on the whole, was the fate of the pig in Egypt. For in +historical times the fear and horror of the pig seem certainly to +have outweighed the reverence and worship of which he may once have +been the object, and of which, even in his fallen state, he never +quite lost trace. He came to be looked on as an embodiment of Set or +Typhon, the Egyptian devil and enemy of Osiris. For it was in the +shape of a black pig that Typhon injured the eye of the god Horus, +who burned him and instituted the sacrifice of the pig, the sun-god +Ra having declared the beast abominable. Again, the story that +Typhon was hunting a boar when he discovered and mangled the body of +Osiris, and that this was the reason why pigs were sacrificed once a +year, is clearly a modernised version of an older story that Osiris, +like Adonis and Attis, was slain or mangled by a boar, or by Typhon +in the form of a boar. Thus, the annual sacrifice of a pig to Osiris +might naturally be interpreted as vengeance inflicted on the hostile +animal that had slain or mangled the god. But, in the first 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 +divine, that he is spared and respected the rest of the year as a +god and slain, when he is slain, also in the character of a god. In +the second place, the examples of Dionysus and Demeter, if not of +Attis and Adonis, have taught us that the animal which is sacrificed +to a god on the ground that he is the god's enemy may have been, and +probably was, originally the god himself. Therefore, the annual +sacrifice of a pig to Osiris, coupled with the alleged hostility of +the animal to the god, tends to show, first, that originally the pig +was a god, and, second, that he was Osiris. At a later age, when +Osiris became anthropomorphic and his original relation to the pig +had been forgotten, the animal was first distinguished from him, and +afterwards opposed as an enemy to him by mythologists who could +think of no reason for killing a beast in connexion with the worship +of a god except that the beast was the god's enemy; or, as Plutarch +puts it, not that which is dear to the gods, but that which is the +contrary, is fit to be sacrificed. At this later stage the havoc +which a wild boar notoriously makes amongst the corn would supply a +plausible reason for regarding him as the foe of the corn-spirit, +though originally, if I am right, the very freedom with which the +boar ranged at will through the corn led people to identify him with +the corn-spirit, to whom he was afterwards opposed as an enemy. + +The view which identifies the pig with Osiris derives not a little +support from the sacrifice of pigs to him on the very day on which, +according to tradition, Osiris himself was killed; for thus the +killing of the pig was the annual representation of the killing of +Osiris, just as the throwing of the pigs into the caverns at the +Thesmophoria was an annual representation of the descent of +Persephone into the lower world; and both customs are parallel to +the European practice of killing a goat, cock, and so forth, at +harvest as a representative of the corn-spirit. + +Again, the theory that the pig, originally Osiris himself, +afterwards came to be regarded as an embodiment of his enemy Typhon, +is supported by the similar relation of red-haired men and red oxen +to Typhon. For in regard to the red-haired men who were burned and +whose ashes were scattered with winnowing-fans, we have seen fair +grounds for believing that originally, like the red-haired puppies +killed at Rome in spring, they were representatives of the +corn-spirit himself that is, of Osiris, and were slain for the +express purpose of making the corn turn red or golden. Yet at a +later time these men were explained to be representatives, not of +Osiris, but of his enemy Typhon, and the killing of them was +regarded as an act of vengeance inflicted on the enemy of the god. +Similarly, the red oxen sacrificed by the Egyptians were said to be +offered on the ground of their resemblance to Typhon; though it is +more likely that originally they were slain on the ground of their +resemblance to the corn-spirit Osiris. We have seen that the ox is a +common representative of the corn-spirit and is slain as such on the +harvest-field. + +Osiris was regularly identified with the bull Apis of Memphis and +the bull Mnevis of Heliopolis. But it is hard to say whether these +bulls were embodiments of him as the corn-spirit, as the red oxen +appear to have been, or whether they were not in origin entirely +distinct deities who came to be fused with Osiris at a later time. +The universality of the worship of these two bulls seems to put them +on a different footing from the ordinary sacred animals whose +worships were purely local. But whatever the original relation of +Apis to Osiris may have been, there is one fact about the former +which ought not to be passed over in a disquisition on the custom of +killing a god. Although the bull Apis was worshipped as a god with +much pomp and profound reverence, he was not suffered to live beyond +a certain length of time which was prescribed by the sacred books, +and on the expiry of which he was drowned in a holy spring. The +limit, according to Plutarch, was twenty-five years; but it cannot +always have been enforced, for the tombs of the Apis bulls have been +discovered in modern times, and from the inscriptions on them it +appears that in the twenty-second dynasty two of the holy steers +lived more than twenty-six years. + + + +5. Virbius and the Horse + +WE are now in a position to hazard a conjecture as to the meaning of +the tradition that Virbius, the first of the divine Kings of the +Wood at Aricia, had been killed in the character of Hippolytus by +horses. Having found, first, that spirits of the corn are not +infrequently represented in the form of horses; and, second, that +the animal which in later legends is said to have injured the god +was sometimes originally the god himself, we may conjecture that the +horses by which Virbius or Hippolytus was said to have been slain +were really embodiments of him as a deity of vegetation. The myth +that he had been killed by horses was probably invented to explain +certain features in his worship, amongst others the custom of +excluding horses from his sacred grove. For myth changes while +custom remains constant; men continue to do what their fathers did +before them, though the reasons on which their fathers acted have +been long forgotten. The history of religion is a long attempt to +reconcile old custom with new reason, to find a sound theory for an +absurd practice. In the case before us we may be sure that the myth +is more modern than the custom and by no means represents the +original reason for excluding horses from the grove. From their +exclusion it might be inferred that horses could not be the sacred +animals or embodiments of the god of the grove. But the inference +would be rash. The goat was at one time a sacred animal or +embodiment of Athena, as may be inferred from the practice of +representing the goddess clad in a goat-skin (_aegis_). Yet the goat +was neither sacrificed to her as a rule, nor allowed to enter her +great sanctuary, the Acropolis at Athens. The reason alleged for +this was that the goat injured the olive, the sacred tree of Athena. +So far, therefore, the relation of the goat to Athena is parallel to +the relation of the horse to Virbius, both animals being excluded +from the sanctuary on the ground of injury done by them to the god. +But from Varro we learn that there was an exception to the rule +which excluded the goat from the Acropolis. Once a year, he says, +the goat was driven on to the Acropolis for a necessary sacrifice. +Now, as has been remarked before, when an animal is sacrificed once +and once only in the year, it is probably slain, not as a victim +offered to the god, but as a representative of the god himself. +Therefore we may infer that if a goat was sacrificed on the +Acropolis once a year, it was sacrificed in the character of Athena +herself; and it may be conjectured that the skin of the sacrificed +animal was placed on the statue of the goddess and formed the +_aegis,_ which would thus be renewed annually. Similarly at Thebes +in Egypt rams were sacred and were not sacrificed. But on one day in +the year a ram was killed, and its skin was placed on the statue of +the god Ammon. Now, if we knew the ritual of the Arician grove +better, we might find that the rule of excluding horses from it, +like the rule of excluding goats from the Acropolis at Athens, was +subject to an annual exception, a horse being once a year taken into +the grove and sacrificed as an embodiment of the god Virbius. By the +usual misunderstanding the horse thus killed would come in time to +be regarded as an enemy offered up in sacrifice to the god whom he +had injured, like the pig which was sacrificed to Demeter and Osiris +or the goat which was sacrificed to Dionysus, and possibly to +Athena. It is so easy for a writer to record a rule without noticing +an exception that we need not wonder at finding the rule of the +Arician grove recorded without any mention of an exception such as I +suppose. If we had had only the statements of Athenaeus and Pliny, +we should have known only the rule which forbade the sacrifice of +goats to Athena and excluded them from the Acropolis, without being +aware of the important exception which the fortunate preservation of +Varro's work has revealed to us. + +The conjecture that once a year a horse may have been sacrificed in +the Arician grove as a representative of the deity of the grove +derives some support from the similar sacrifice of a horse which +took place once a year at Rome. On the fifteenth of October in each +year a chariot-race was run on the Field of Mars. Stabbed with a +spear, the right-hand horse of the victorious team was then +sacrificed to Mars for the purpose of ensuring good crops, and its +head was cut off and adorned with a string of loaves. Thereupon the +inhabitants of two wards--the Sacred Way and the Subura--contended +with each other who should get the head. If the people of the Sacred +Way got it, they fastened it to a wall of the king's house; if the +people of the Subura got it, they fastened it to the Mamilian tower. +The horse's tail was cut off and carried to the king's house with +such speed that the blood dripped on the hearth of the house. +Further, it appears that the blood of the horse was caught and +preserved till the twenty-first of April, when the Vestal Virgins +mixed it with the blood of the unborn calves which had been +sacrificed six days before. The mixture was then distributed to +shepherds, and used by them for fumigating their flocks. + +In this ceremony the decoration of the horse's head with a string of +loaves, and the alleged object of the sacrifice, namely, to procure +a good harvest, seem to indicate that the horse was killed as one of +those animal representatives of the corn-spirit of which we have +found so many examples. The custom of cutting off the horse's tail +is like the African custom of cutting off the tails of the oxen and +sacrificing them to obtain a good crop. In both the Roman and the +African custom the animal apparently stands for the corn-spirit, and +its fructifying power is supposed to reside especially in its tail. +The latter idea occurs, as we have seen, in European folk-lore. +Again, the practice of fumigating the cattle in spring with the +blood of the horse may be compared with the practice of giving the +Old Wife, the Maiden, or the _clyack_ sheaf as fodder to the horses +in spring or the cattle at Christmas, and giving the Yule Boar to +the ploughing oxen or horses to eat in spring. All these usages aim +at ensuring the blessing of the corn-spirit on the homestead and its +inmates and storing it up for another year. + +The Roman sacrifice of the October horse, as it was called, carries +us back to the early days when the Subura, afterwards a low and +squalid quarter of the great metropolis, was still a separate +village, whose inhabitants engaged in a friendly contest on the +harvest-field with their neighbours of Rome, then a little rural +town. The Field of Mars on which the ceremony took place lay beside +the Tiber, and formed part of the king's domain down to the +abolition of the monarchy. For tradition ran that at the time when +the last of the kings was driven from Rome, the corn stood ripe for +the sickle on the crown lands beside the river; but no one would eat +the accursed grain and it was flung into the river in such heaps +that, the water being low with the summer heat, it formed the +nucleus of an island. The horse sacrifice was thus an old autumn +custom observed upon the king's corn-fields at the end of the +harvest. The tail and blood of the horse, as the chief parts of the +corn-spirit's representative, were taken to the king's house and +kept there; just as in Germany the harvest-cock is nailed on the +gable or over the door of the farmhouse; and as the last sheaf, in +the form of the Maiden, is carried home and kept over the fireplace +in the Highlands of Scotland. Thus the blessing of the corn-spirit +was brought to the king's house and hearth and, through them, to the +community of which he was the head. Similarly in the spring and +autumn customs of Northern Europe the May-pole is sometimes set up +in front of the house of the mayor or burgomaster, and the last +sheaf at harvest is brought to him as the head of the village. But +while the tail and blood fell to the king, the neighbouring village +of the Subura, which no doubt once had a similar ceremony of its +own, was gratified by being allowed to compete for the prize of the +horse's head. The Mamilian tower, to which the Suburans nailed the +horse's head when they succeeded in carrying it off, appears to have +been a peel-tower or keep of the old Mamilian family, the magnates +of the village. The ceremony thus performed on the king's fields and +at his house on behalf of the whole town and of the neighbouring +village presupposes a time when each township performed a similar +ceremony on its own fields. In the rural districts of Latium the +villages may have continued to observe the custom, each on its own +land, long after the Roman hamlets had merged their separate +harvest-homes in the common celebration on the king's lands. There +is no intrinsic improbability in the supposition that the sacred +grove of Aricia, like the Field of Mars at Rome, may have been the +scene of a common harvest celebration, at which a horse was +sacrificed with the same rude rites on behalf of the neighbouring +villages. The horse would represent the fructifying spirit both of +the tree and of the corn, for the two ideas melt into each other, as +we see in customs like the Harvest-May. + + + + +L. Eating the God + + + +1. The Sacrament of First-Fruits + +WE have now seen that the corn-spirit is represented sometimes in +human, sometimes in animal form, and that in both cases he is killed +in the person of his representative and eaten sacramentally. To find +examples of actually killing the human representative of the +corn-spirit we had naturally to go to savage races; but the +harvest-suppers of our European peasants have furnished unmistakable +examples of the sacramental eating of animals as representatives of +the corn-spirit. But further, as might have been anticipated, the +new corn is itself eaten sacramentally, that is, as the body of the +corn-spirit. In Wermland, Sweden, the farmer's wife uses the grain +of the last sheaf to bake a loaf in the shape of a little girl; this +loaf is divided amongst the whole household and eaten by them. Here +the loaf represents the corn-spirit conceived as a maiden; just as +in Scotland the corn-spirit is similarly conceived and represented +by the last sheaf made up in the form of a woman and bearing the +name of the Maiden. As usual, the corn-spirit is believed to reside +in the last sheaf; and to eat a loaf made from the last sheaf is, +therefore, to eat the corn-spirit itself. Similarly at La Palisse, +in France, a man made of dough is hung upon the fir-tree which is +carried on the last harvest-waggon. The tree and the dough-man are +taken to the mayor's house and kept there till the vintage is over. +Then the close of the harvest is celebrated by a feast at which the +mayor breaks the dough-man in pieces and gives the pieces to the +people to eat. + +In these examples the corn-spirit is represented and eaten in human +shape. In other cases, though the new corn is not baked in loaves of +human shape, still the solemn ceremonies with which it is eaten +suffice to indicate that it is partaken of sacramentally, that is, +as the body of the corn-spirit. For example, the following +ceremonies used to be observed by Lithuanian peasants at eating the +new corn. About the time of the autumn sowing, when all the corn had +been got in and the threshing had begun, each farmer held a festival +called Sabarios, that is, "the mixing or throwing together." He took +nine good handfuls of each kind of crop--wheat, barley, oats, flax, +beans, lentils, and the rest; and each handful he divided into three +parts. The twentyseven portions of each grain were then thrown on a +heap and all mixed up together. The grain used had to be that which +was first threshed and winnowed and which had been set aside and +kept for this purpose. A part of the grain thus mixed was employed +to bake little loaves, one for each of the household; the rest was +mixed with more barley or oats and made into beer. The first beer +brewed from this mixture was for the drinking of the farmer, his +wife, and children; the second brew was for the servants. The beer +being ready, the farmer chose an evening when no stranger was +expected. Then he knelt down before the barrel of beer, drew a +jugful of the liquor and poured it on the bung of the barrel, +saying, "O fruitful earth, make rye and barley and all kinds of corn +to flourish." Next he took the jug to the parlour, where his wife +and children awaited him. On the floor of the parlour lay bound a +black or white or speckled (not a red) cock and a hen of the same +colour and of the same brood, which must have been hatched within +the year. Then the farmer knelt down, with the jug in his hand, and +thanked God for the harvest and prayed for a good crop next year. +Next all lifted up their hands and said, "O God, and thou, O earth, +we give you this cock and hen as a free-will offering." With that +the farmer killed the fowls with the blows of a wooden spoon, for he +might not cut their heads off. After the first prayer and after +killing each of the birds he poured out a third of the beer. Then +his wife boiled the fowls in a new pot which had never been used +before. After that, a bushel was set, bottom upwards, on the floor, +and on it were placed the little loaves mentioned above and the +boiled fowls. Next the new beer was fetched, together with a ladle +and three mugs, none of which was used except on this occasion. When +the farmer had ladled the beer into the mugs, the family knelt down +round the bushel. The father then uttered a prayer and drank off the +three mugs of beer. The rest followed his example. Then the loaves +and the flesh of the fowls were eaten, after which the beer went +round again, till every one had emptied each of the three mugs nine +times. None of the food should remain over; but if anything did +happen to be left, it was consumed next morning with the same +ceremonies. The bones were given to the dog to eat; if he did not +eat them all up, the remains were buried under the dung in the +cattle-stall. This ceremony was observed at the beginning of +December. On the day on which it took place no bad word might be +spoken. + +Such was the custom about two hundred years or more ago. At the +present day in Lithuania, when new potatoes or loaves made from the +new corn are being eaten, all the people at table pull each other's +hair. The meaning of this last custom is obscure, but a similar +custom was certainly observed by the heathen Lithuanians at their +solemn sacrifices. Many of the Esthonians of the island of Oesel +will not eat bread baked of the new corn till they have first taken +a bite at a piece of iron. The iron is here plainly a charm, +intended to render harmless the spirit that is in the corn. In +Sutherlandshire at the present day, when the new potatoes are dug +all the family must taste them, otherwise "the spirits in them [the +potatoes] take offence, and the potatoes would not keep." In one +part of Yorkshire it is still customary for the clergyman to cut the +first corn; and my informant believes that the corn so cut is used +to make the communion bread. If the latter part of the custom is +correctly reported (and analogy is all in its favour), it shows how +the Christian communion has absorbed within itself a sacrament which +is doubtless far older than Christianity. + +The Aino or Ainu of Japan are said to distinguish various kinds of +millet as male and female respectively, and these kinds, taken +together, are called "the divine husband and wife cereal" (_Umurek +haru kamui_). "Therefore before millet is pounded and made into +cakes for general eating, the old men have a few made for themselves +first to worship. When they are ready they pray to them very +earnestly and say: 'O thou cereal deity, we worship thee. Thou hast +grown very well this year, and thy flavour will be sweet. Thou art +good. The goddess of fire will be glad, and we also shall rejoice +greatly. O thou god, O thou divine cereal, do thou nourish the +people. I now partake of thee. I worship thee and give thee thanks.' +After having thus prayed, they, the worshippers, take a cake and eat +it, and from this time the people may all partake of the new millet. +And so with many gestures of homage and words of prayer this kind of +food is dedicated to the well-being of the Ainu. No doubt the cereal +offering is regarded as a tribute paid to a god, but that god is no +other than the seed itself; and it is only a god in so far as it is +beneficial to the human body." + +At the close of the rice harvest in the East Indian island of Buru, +each clan meets at a common sacramental meal, to which every member +of the clan is bound to contribute a little of the new rice. This +meal is called "eating the soul of the rice," a name which clearly +indicates the sacramental character of the repast. Some of the rice +is also set apart and offered to the spirits. Amongst the Alfoors of +Minahassa, in Celebes, the priest sows the first rice-seed and +plucks the first ripe rice in each field. This rice he roasts and +grinds into meal, and gives some of it to each of the household. +Shortly before the rice-harvest in Boland Mongondo, another district +of Celebes, an offering is made of a small pig or a fowl. Then the +priest plucks a little rice, first on his own field and next on +those of his neighbours. All the rice thus plucked by him he dries +along with his own, and then gives it back to the respective owners, +who have it ground and boiled. When it is boiled the women take it +back, with an egg, to the priest, who offers the egg in sacrifice +and returns the rice to the women. Of this rice every member of the +family, down to the youngest child, must partake. After this +ceremony every one is free to get in his rice. + +Amongst the Burghers or Badagas, a tribe of the Neilgherry Hills in +Southern India, the first handful of seed is sown and the first +sheaf reaped by a Curumbar, a man of a different tribe, the members +of which the Burghers regard as sorcerers. The grain contained in +the first sheaf "is that day reduced to meal, made into cakes, and, +being offered as a first-fruit oblation, is, together with the +remainder of the sacrificed animal, partaken of by the Burgher and +the whole of his family, as the meat of a federal offering and +sacrifice." Among the Hindoos of Southern India the eating of the +new rice is the occasion of a family festival called Pongol. The new +rice is boiled in a new pot on a fire which is kindled at noon on +the day when, according to Hindoo astrologers, the sun enters the +tropic of Capricorn. The boiling of the pot is watched with great +anxiety by the whole family, for as the milk boils, so will the +coming year be. If the milk boils rapidly, the year will be +prosperous; but it will be the reverse if the milk boils slowly. +Some of the new boiled rice is offered to the image of Ganesa; then +every one partakes of it. In some parts of Northern India the +festival of the new crop is known as _Navan,_ that is, "new grain." +When the crop is ripe, the owner takes the omens, goes to the field, +plucks five or six ears of barley in the spring crop and one of the +millets in the autumn harvest. This is brought home, parched, and +mixed with coarse sugar, butter, and curds. Some of it is thrown on +the fire in the name of the village gods and deceased ancestors; the +rest is eaten by the family. + +The ceremony of eating the new yams at Onitsha, on the Niger, is +thus described: "Each headman brought out six yams, and cut down +young branches of palm-leaves and placed them before his gate, +roasted three of the yams, and got some kola-nuts and fish. After +the yam is roasted, the _Libia,_ or country doctor, takes the yam, +scrapes it into a sort of meal, and divides it into halves; he then +takes one piece, and places it on the lips of the person who is +going to eat the new yam. The eater then blows up the steam from the +hot yam, and afterwards pokes the whole into his mouth, and says, 'I +thank God for being permitted to eat the new yam'; he then begins to +chew it heartily, with fish likewise." + +Among the Nandi of British East Africa, 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 of the ripe grain. +Each of the women then fixes one grain in her necklace and chews +another, which she rubs on her forehead, throat, and breast. No mark +of joy escapes them; sorrowfully they cut a basketful of the new +corn, and carrying it home place it in the loft to dry. As the +ceiling is of wickerwork, a good deal of the grain drops through the +crevices and falls into the fire, where it explodes with a crackling +noise. The people make no attempt to prevent this waste; for they +regard the crackling of the grain in the fire as a sign that the +souls of the dead are partaking of it. A few days later porridge is +made from the new grain and served up with milk at the evening meal. +All the members of the family take some of the porridge and dab it +on the walls and roofs of the huts; also they put a little in their +mouths and spit it out towards the east and on the outside of the +huts. Then, holding up some of the grain in his hand, the head of +the family prays to God for health and strength, and likewise for +milk, and everybody present repeats the words of the prayer after +him. + +Amongst the Caffres of Natal and Zululand, no one may eat of the new +fruits till after a festival which marks the beginning of the Caffre +year and falls at the end of December or the beginning of January. +All the people assemble at the king's kraal, where they feast and +dance. Before they separate the "dedication of the people" takes +place. Various fruits of the earth, as corn, mealies, and pumpkins, +mixed with the flesh of a sacrificed animal and with "medicine," are +boiled in great pots, and a little of this food is placed in each +man's mouth by the king himself. After thus partaking of the +sanctified fruits, a man is himself sanctified for the whole year, +and may immediately get in his crops. It is believed that if any man +were to partake of the new fruits before the festival, he would die; +if he were detected, he would be put to death, or at least all his +cattle would be taken from him. The holiness of the new fruits is +well marked by the rule that they must be cooked in a special pot +which is used only for this purpose, and on a new fire kindled by a +magician through the friction of two sticks which are called +"husband and wife." + +Among the Bechuanas it is a rule that before they partake of the new +crops they must purify themselves. The purification takes place at +the commencement of the new year on a day in January which is fixed +by the chief. It begins in the great kraal of the tribe, where all +the adult males assemble. Each of them takes in his hand leaves of a +gourd called by the natives _lerotse_ (described as something +between a pumpkin and a vegetable marrow); and having crushed the +leaves he anoints with the expressed juice his big toes and his +navel; many people indeed apply the juice to all the joints of their +body, but the better-informed say that this is a vulgar departure +from ancient custom. After this ceremony in the great kraal every +man goes home to his own kraal, assembles all the members of his +family, men, women, and children, and smears them all with the juice +of the _lerotse_ leaves. Some of the leaves are also pounded, mixed +with milk in a large wooden dish, and given to the dogs to lap up. +Then the porridge plate of each member of the family is rubbed with +the _lerotse_ leaves. When this purification has been completed, but +not before, the people are free to eat of the new crops. + +The Bororo Indians of Brazil think that it would be certain death to +eat the new maize before it has been blessed by the medicine-man. +The ceremony of blessing it is as follows. The half-ripe husk is +washed and placed before the medicine-man, who by dancing and +singing for several hours, and by incessant smoking, works himself +up into a state of ecstasy, whereupon he bites into the husk, +trembling in every limb and uttering shrieks from time to time. A +similar ceremony is performed whenever a large animal or a large +fish is killed. The Bororo are firmly persuaded that were any man to +touch unconsecrated maize or meat, before the ceremony had been +completed, he and his whole tribe would perish. + +Amongst the Creek Indians of North America, the _busk_ or festival +of first-fruits was the chief ceremony of the year. It was held in +July or August, when the corn was ripe, and marked the end of the +old year and the beginning of the new one. Before it took place, +none of the Indians would eat or even handle any part of the new +harvest. Sometimes each town had its own busk; sometimes several +towns united to hold one in common. Before celebrating the busk, the +people provided themselves with new clothes and new household +utensils and furniture; they collected their old clothes and +rubbish, together with all the remaining grain and other old +provisions, cast them together in one common heap, and consumed them +with fire. As a preparation for the ceremony, all the fires in the +village were extinguished, and the ashes swept clean away. In +particular, the hearth or altar of the temple was dug up and the +ashes carried out. Then the chief priest put some roots of the +button-snake plant, with some green tobacco leaves and a little of +the new fruits, at the bottom of the fireplace, which he afterwards +commanded to be covered up with white clay, and wetted over with +clean water. A thick arbour of green branches of young trees was +then made over the altar. Meanwhile the women at home were cleaning +out their houses, renewing the old hearths, and scouring all the +cooking vessels that they might be ready to receive the new fire and +the new fruits. The public or sacred square was carefully swept of +even the smallest crumbs of previous feasts, "for fear of polluting +the first-fruit offerings." Also every vessel that had contained or +had been used about any food during the expiring year was removed +from the temple before sunset. Then all the men who were not known +to have violated the law of the first-fruit offering and that of +marriage during the year were summoned by a crier to enter the holy +square and observe a solemn fast. But the women (except six old +ones), the children, and all who had not attained the rank of +warriors were forbidden to enter the square. Sentinels were also +posted at the corners of the square to keep out all persons deemed +impure and all animals. A strict fast was then observed for two +nights and a day, the devotees drinking a bitter decoction of +button-snake root "in order to vomit and purge their sinful bodies." +That the people outside the square might also be purified, one of +the old men laid down a quantity of green tobacco at a corner of the +square; this was carried off by an old woman and distributed to the +people without, who chewed and swallowed it "in order to afflict +their souls." During this general fast, the women, children, and men +of weak constitution were allowed to eat after mid-day, but not +before. On the morning when the fast ended, the women brought a +quantity of the old year's food to the outside of the sacred square. +These provisions were then fetched in and set before the famished +multitude, but all traces of them had to be removed before noon. +When the sun was declining from the meridian, all the people were +commanded by the voice of a crier to stay within doors, to do no bad +act, and to be sure to extinguish and throw away every spark of the +old fire. Universal silence now reigned. Then the high priest made +the new fire by the friction of two pieces of wood, and placed it on +the altar under the green arbour. This new fire was believed to +atone for all past crimes except murder. Next a basket of new fruits +was brought; the high priest took out a little of each sort of +fruit, rubbed it with bear's oil, and offered it, together with some +flesh, "to the bountiful holy spirit of fire, as a first-fruit +offering, and an annual oblation for sin." He also consecrated the +sacred emetics (the button-snake root and the cassina or +black-drink) by pouring a little of them into the fire. The persons +who had remained outside now approached, without entering, the +sacred square; and the chief priest thereupon made a speech, +exhorting the people to observe their old rites and customs, +announcing that the new divine fire had purged away the sins of the +past year, and earnestly warning the women that, if any of them had +not extinguished the old fire, or had contracted any impurity, they +must forthwith depart, "lest the divine fire should spoil both them +and the people." Some of the new fire was then set down outside the +holy square; the women carried it home joyfully, and laid it on +their unpolluted hearths. When several towns had united to celebrate +the festival, the new fire might thus be carried for several miles. +The new fruits were then dressed on the new fires and eaten with +bear's oil, which was deemed indispensable. At one point of the +festival the men rubbed the new corn between their hands, then on +their faces and breasts. During the festival which followed, the +warriors, dressed in their wild martial array, their heads covered +with white down and carrying white feathers in their hands, danced +round the sacred arbour, under which burned the new fire. The +ceremonies lasted eight days, during which the strictest continence +was practised. Towards the conclusion of the festival the warriors +fought a mock battle; then the men and women together, in three +circles, danced round the sacred fire. Lastly, all the people +smeared themselves with white clay and bathed in running water. They +came out of the water believing that no evil could now befall them +for what they had done amiss in the past. So they departed in joy +and peace. + +To this day, also, the remnant of the Seminole Indians of Florida, a +people of the same stock as the Creeks, hold an annual purification +and festival called the Green Corn Dance, at which the new corn is +eaten. On the evening of the first day of the festival they quaff a +nauseous "Black Drink," as it is called, which acts both as an +emetic and a purgative; they believe that he who does not drink of +this liquor cannot safely eat the new green corn, and besides that +he will be sick at some time in the year. While the liquor is being +drunk, the dancing begins, and the medicine-men join in it. Next day +they eat of the green corn; the following day they fast, probably +from fear of polluting the sacred food in their stomachs by contact +with common food; but the third day they hold a great feast. + +Even tribes which do not till the ground sometimes observe analogous +ceremonies when they gather the first wild fruits or dig the first +roots of the season. Thus among the Salish and Tinneh Indians of +North-West America, "before the young people eat the first berries +or roots of the season, they always addressed the fruit or plant, +and begged for its favour and aid. In some tribes regular +First-fruit ceremonies were annually held at the time of picking the +wild fruit or gathering the roots, and also among the salmon-eating +tribes when the run of the 'sockeye' salmon began. These ceremonies +were not so much thanksgivings, as performances to ensure a +plentiful crop or supply of the particular object desired, for if +they were not properly and reverently carried out there was danger +of giving offence to the 'spirits' of the objects, and being +deprived of them." For example, these Indians are fond of the young +shoots or suckers of the wild raspberry, and they observe a solemn +ceremony at eating the first of them in season. The shoots are +cooked in a new pot: the people assemble and stand in a great circle +with closed eyes, while the presiding chief or medicine-man invokes +the spirit of the plant, begging that it will be propitious to them +and grant them a good supply of suckers. After this part of the +ceremony is over the cooked suckers are handed to the presiding +officer in a newly carved dish, and 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 sunflower +root (_Balsamorrhiza sagittata,_ Nutt.), but they used to regard it +as a mysterious being, and observed a number of taboos in connexion +with it; for example, women who were engaged in digging or cooking +the root must practice continence, and no man might come near the +oven where the women were baking the root. When young people ate the +first berries, roots, or other products of the season, they +addressed a prayer to the Sunflower-Root as follows: "I inform thee +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 clumsy! I ask this from thee, Sunflower-Root. Thou art the +greatest of all in mystery." To omit this prayer would make the +eater lazy and cause him to sleep long in the morning. + +These customs of the Thompson and other Indian tribes of North-West +America are instructive, because they clearly indicate the motive, +or at least one of the motives, which underlies the ceremonies +observed at eating the first fruits of the season. That motive in +the case of these Indians is simply a belief that the plant itself +is animated by a conscious and more or less powerful spirit, who +must be propitiated before the people can safely partake of the +fruits or roots which are supposed to be part of his body. Now if +this is true of wild fruits and roots, we may infer with some +probability that it is also true of cultivated fruits and roots, +such as yams, and in particular that it holds good of the cereals, +such as wheat, barley, oats, rice, and maize. In all cases it seems +reasonable to infer that the scruples which savages manifest at +eating the first fruits of any crop, and the ceremonies which they +observe before they overcome their scruples, are due at least in +large measure to a notion that the plant or tree is animated by a +spirit or even a deity, whose leave must be obtained, or whose +favour must be sought, before it is possible to partake with safety +of the new crop. This indeed is plainly affirmed of the Aino: they +call the millet "the divine cereal," "the cereal deity," and they +pray to and worship him before they will eat of the cakes made from +the new millet. And even where the indwelling divinity of the first +fruits is not expressly affirmed, it appears to be implied both by +the solemn preparations made for eating them and by the danger +supposed to be incurred by persons who venture to partake of them +without observing the prescribed ritual. In all such cases, +accordingly, we may not improperly describe the eating of the new +fruits as a sacrament or communion with a deity, or at all events +with a powerful spirit. + +Among the usages which point to this conclusion are the custom of +employing either new or specially reserved vessels to hold the new +fruits, and the practice of purifying the persons of the +communicants before it is lawful to engage in the solemn act of +communion with the divinity. Of all the modes of purification +adopted on these occasions none perhaps brings out the sacramental +virtue of the rite so clearly as the Creek and Seminole practice of +taking a purgative before swallowing the new corn. The intention is +thereby to prevent the sacred food from being polluted by contact +with common food in the stomach of the eater. For the same reason +Catholics partake of the Eucharist fasting; and among the pastoral +Masai of Eastern Africa the young warriors, who live on meat and +milk exclusively, are obliged to eat nothing but milk for so many +days and then nothing but meat for so many more, and before they +pass from the one food to the other they must make sure that none of +the old food remains in their stomachs; this they do by swallowing a +very powerful purgative and emetic. + +In some of the festivals which we have examined, the sacrament of +first-fruits is combined with a sacrifice or presentation of them to +gods or spirits, and in course of time the sacrifice of first-fruits +tends to throw the sacrament into the shade, if not to supersede it. +The mere fact of offering the first-fruits to the gods or spirits +comes now to be thought a sufficient preparation for eating the new +corn; the higher powers having received their share, man is free to +enjoy the rest. This mode of viewing the new fruits implies that +they are regarded no longer as themselves instinct with divine life, +but merely as a gift bestowed by the gods upon man, who is bound to +express his gratitude and homage to his divine benefactors by +returning to them a portion of their bounty. + + + +2. Eating the God among the Aztecs + +THE CUSTOM of eating bread sacramentally as the body of a god was +practised by the Aztecs before the discovery and conquest of Mexico +by the Spaniards. Twice a year, in May and December, an image of the +great Mexican god Huitzilopochtli or Vitzilipuztli was made of +dough, 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 made their principal feast to their god +Vitzilipuztli, and two days before this feast, the virgins whereof I +have spoken (the which were shut up and secluded in the same temple +and were as it were religious women) did mingle a quantity of the +seed of beets with roasted maize, and then they did mould it with +honey, making an idol of that paste in bigness like to that of wood, +putting instead of eyes grains of green glass, of blue or white; and +for teeth grains of maize set forth with all the ornament and +furniture that I have said. This being finished, all the noblemen +came and brought it an exquisite and rich garment, like unto that of +the idol, wherewith they did attire it. Being thus clad and deckt, +they did set it in an azured chair and in a litter to carry it on +their shoulders. The morning of this feast being come, an hour +before day all the maidens came forth attired in white, with new +ornaments, the which that day were called the Sisters of their god +Vitzilipuztli, they came crowned with garlands of maize roasted and +parched, being like unto azahar or the flower of orange; and about +their necks they had great chains of the same, which went +bauldrick-wise under their left arm. Their cheeks were dyed with +vermilion, their arms from the elbow to the wrist were covered with +red parrots' feathers." Young men, dressed in red robes and crowned +like the virgins with maize, then carried the idol in its litter to +the foot of the great pyramid-shaped temple, up the steep and narrow +steps of which it was drawn to the music of flutes, trumpets, +cornets, and drums. "While they mounted up the idol all the people +stood in the court with much reverence and fear. Being mounted to +the top, and that they had placed it in a little lodge of roses +which they held ready, presently came the young men, which strewed +many flowers of sundry kinds, wherewith they filled the temple both +within and without. This done, all the virgins came out of their +convent, bringing pieces of paste compounded of beets and roasted +maize, which was of the same paste whereof their idol was made and +compounded, and they were of the fashion of great bones. They +delivered them to the young men, who carried them up and laid them +at the idol's feet, wherewith they filled the whole place that it +could receive no more. They called these morsels of paste the flesh +and bones of Vitzilipuztli. Having laid abroad these bones, +presently came all the ancients of the temple, priests, Levites, and +all the rest of the ministers, according to their dignities and +antiquities (for herein there was a strict order amongst them) one +after another, with their veils of diverse colours and works, every +one according to his dignity and office, having garlands upon their +heads and chains of flowers about their necks; after them came their +gods and goddesses whom they worshipped, of diverse figures, attired +in the same livery; then putting themselves in order about those +morsels and pieces of paste, they used certain ceremonies with +singing and dancing. By means whereof they were blessed and +consecrated for the flesh and bones of this idol. This ceremony and +blessing (whereby they were taken for the flesh and bones of the +idol) being ended, they honoured those pieces in the same sort as +their god. . . . All the city came to this goodly spectacle, and +there was a commandment very strictly observed throughout all the +land, that the day of the feast of the idol of Vitzilipuztli they +should eat no other meat but this paste, with honey, whereof the +idol was made. And this should be eaten at the point of day, and +they should drink no water nor any other thing till after noon: they +held it for an ill sign, yea, for sacrilege to do the contrary: but +after the ceremonies ended, it was lawful for them to eat anything. +During the time of this ceremony they hid the water from their +little children, admonishing all such as had the use of reason not +to drink any water; which, if they did, the anger of God would come +upon them, and they should die, which they did observe very +carefully and strictly. The ceremonies, dancing, and sacrifice +ended, the went to unclothe themselves, and the priests and +superiors of the temple took the idol of paste, which they spoiled +of all the ornaments it had, and made many pieces, as well of the +idol itself as of the truncheons which they consecrated, and then +they gave them to the people in manner of a communion, beginning +with the greater, and continuing unto the rest, both men, women, and +little children, who received it with such tears, fear, and +reverence as it was an admirable thing, saying that they did eat the +flesh and bones of God, where-with they were grieved. Such as had +any sick folks demanded thereof for them, and carried it with great +reverence and veneration." + +From this interesting passage we learn that the ancient Mexicans, +even before the arrival of Christian missionaries, were fully +acquainted with the doctrine of transubstantiation and acted upon it +in the solemn rites of their religion. They believed that by +consecrating bread their priests could turn it into the very body of +their god, so that all who thereupon partook of the consecrated +bread entered into a mystic communion with the deity by receiving a +portion of his divine substance into themselves. The doctrine of +transubstantiation, or the magical conversion of bread into flesh, +was also familiar to the Aryans of ancient India long before the +spread and even the rise of Christianity. The Brahmans taught that +the rice-cakes offered in sacrifice were substitutes for human +beings, and that they were actually converted into the real bodies +of men by the manipulation of the priest. We read that "when it (the +rice-cake) still consists of rice-meal, it is the hair. When he +pours water on it, it becomes skin. When he mixes it, it becomes +flesh: for then it becomes consistent; and consistent also is the +flesh. When it is baked, it becomes bone: for then it becomes +somewhat hard; and hard is the bone. And when he is about to take it +off (the fire) and sprinkles it with butter, he changes it into +marrow. This is the completeness which they call the fivefold animal +sacrifice." + +Now, too, we can perfectly understand why on the day of their solemn +communion with the deity the Mexicans refused to eat any other food +than the consecrated bread which they revered as the very flesh and +bones of their God, and why up till noon they might drink nothing at +all, not even water. They feared no doubt to defile the portion of +God in their stomachs by contact with common things. A similar pious +fear led the Creek and Seminole Indians, as we saw, to adopt the +more thoroughgoing expedient of rinsing out their bodies by a strong +purgative before they dared to partake of the sacrament of +first-fruits. + +At the festival of the winter solstice in December the Aztecs killed +their god Huitzilopochtli in effigy first and ate him afterwards. As +a preparation for this solemn ceremony an image of the deity in the +likeness of a man was fashioned out of seeds of various sorts, which +were kneaded into a dough with the blood of children. The bones of +the god were represented by pieces of acacia wood. This image was +placed on the chief altar of the temple, and on the day of the +festival the king offered incense to it. Early next day it was taken +down and set on its feet in a great hall. Then a priest, who bore +the name and acted the part of the god Quetzalcoatl, took a +flint-tipped dart and hurled it into the breast of the dough-image, +piercing it through and through. This was called "killing the god +Huitzilopochtli so that his body might be eaten." One of the priests +cut out the heart of the image and gave it to the king to eat. The +rest of the image was divided into minute pieces, of which every man +great and small, down to the male children in the cradle, receive +one to eat. But no woman might taste a morsel. The ceremony was +called _teoqualo,_ that is, "god is eaten." + +At another festival the Mexicans made little images like men, which +stood for the cloud-capped mountains. These images were moulded of a +paste of various seeds and were dressed in paper ornaments. Some +people fashioned five, others ten, others as many as fifteen of +them. Having been made, they were placed in the oratory of each +house and worshipped. Four times in the course of the night +offerings of food were brought to them in tiny vessels; and people +sang and played the flute before them through all the hours of +darkness. At break of day the priests stabbed the images with a +weaver's instrument, cut off their heads, and tore out their hearts, +which they presented to the master of the house on a green saucer. +The bodies of the images were then eaten by all the family, +especially by the servants, "in order that by eating them they might +be preserved from certain distempers, to which those persons who +were negligent of worship to those deities conceived themselves to +be subject." + + + +3. Many Manii at Aricia + +WE are now able to suggest an explanation of the proverb "There are +many Manii at Aricia." Certain loaves made in the shape of men were +called by the Romans _maniae,_ and it appears that this kind of loaf +was especially made at Aricia. Now, Mania, the name of one of these +loaves, was also the name of the Mother or Grandmother of Ghosts, to +whom woollen effigies of men and women were dedicated at the +festival of the Compitalia. These effigies were hung at the doors of +all the houses in Rome; one effigy was hung up for every free person +in the house, and one effigy, of a different kind, for every slave. +The reason was that on this day the ghosts of the dead were believed +to be going about, and it was hoped that, either out of good nature +or through simple inadvertence, they would carry off the effigies at +the door instead of the living people in the house. According to +tradition, these woollen figures were substitutes for a former +custom of sacrificing human beings. Upon data so fragmentary and +uncertain, it is impossible to build with confidence; but it seems +worth suggesting that the loaves in human form, which appear to have +been baked at Aricia, were sacramental bread, and that in the old +days, when the divine King of the Wood was annually slain, loaves +were made in his image, like the paste figures of the gods in +Mexico, and were eaten sacramentally by his worshippers. The Mexican +sacraments in honour of Huitzilopochtli were also accompanied by the +sacrifice of human victims. The tradition that the founder of the +sacred grove at Aricia was a man named Manius, from whom many Manii +were descended, would thus be an etymological myth invented to +explain the name _maniae_ as applied to these sacramental loaves. A +dim recollection of the original connexion of the loaves with human +sacrifices may perhaps be traced in the story that the effigies +dedicated to Mania at the Compitalia were substitutes for human +victims. The story itself, however, is probably devoid of +foundation, since the practice of putting up dummies to divert the +attention of ghosts or demons from living people is not uncommon. + +For example, the Tibetans stand in fear of innumerable earth-demons, +all of whom are under the authority of Old Mother Khön-ma. This +goddess, who may be compared to the Roman Mania, the Mother or +Grandmother of Ghosts, is dressed in golden-yellow robes, holds a +golden noose in her hand, and rides on a ram. In order to bar the +dwelling-house against the foul fiends, of whom Old Mother Khön-ma +is mistress, an elaborate structure somewhat resembling a chandelier +is fixed above the door on the outside of the house. It contains a +ram's skull, a variety of precious objects such as gold-leaf, +silver, and turquoise, also some dry food, such as rice, wheat, and +pulse, and finally images or pictures of a man, a woman, and a +house. "The object of these figures of a man, wife, and house is to +deceive the demons should they still come in spite of this offering, +and to mislead them into the belief that the foregoing pictures are +the inmates of the house, so that they may wreak their wrath on +these bits of wood and to save the real human occupants." When all +is ready, a priest prays to Old Mother Khön-ma that she would be +pleased to accept these dainty offerings and to close the open doors +of the earth, in order that the demons may not come forth to infest +and injure the household. + +Again, effigies are often employed as a means of preventing or +curing sickness; the demons of disease either mistake the effigies +for living people or are persuaded or compelled to enter them, +leaving the real men and women well and whole. Thus the Alfoors of +Minahassa, in Celebes, will sometimes transport a sick man to +another house, while they leave on his bed a dummy made up of a +pillow and clothes. This dummy the demon is supposed to mistake for +the sick man, who consequently recovers. Cure or prevention of this +sort seems to find especial favour with the natives of Borneo. Thus, +when an epidemic is raging among them, the Dyaks of the Katoengouw +River set up wooden images at their doors in the hope that the +demons of the plague may be deluded into carrying off the effigies +instead of the people. Among the Oloh Ngadju of Borneo, when a sick +man is supposed to be suffering from the assaults of a ghost, +puppets of dough or rice-meal are made and thrown under the house as +substitutes for the patient, who thus rids himself of the ghost. In +certain of the western districts of Borneo if a man is taken +suddenly and violently sick, the physician, who in this part of the +world is generally an old woman, fashions a wooden image and brings +it seven times into contact with the sufferer's head, while she +says: "This image serves to take the place of the sick man; +sickness, pass over into the image." Then, with some rice, salt, and +tobacco in a little basket, the substitute is carried to the spot +where the evil spirit is supposed to have entered into the man. +There it is set upright on the ground, after the physician has +invoked the spirit as follows: "O devil, here is an image which +stands instead of the sick man. Release the soul of the sick man and +plague the image, for it is indeed prettier and better than he." +Batak magicians can conjure the demon of disease out of the +patient's body into an image made out of a banana-tree with a human +face and wrapt up in magic herbs; the image is then hurriedly +removed and thrown away or buried beyond the boundaries of the +village. Sometimes the image, dressed as a man or a woman according +to the sex of the patient, is deposited at a cross-road or other +thoroughfare, in the hope that some passer-by, seeing it, may start +and cry out, "Ah! So-and-So is dead"; for such an exclamation is +supposed to delude the demon of disease into a belief that he has +accomplished his fell purpose, so he takes himself off and leaves +the sufferer to get well. The Mai Darat, a Sakai tribe of the Malay +Peninsula, attribute all kinds of diseases to the agency of spirits +which they call _nyani;_ fortunately, however, the magician can +induce these maleficent beings to come out of the sick person and +take up their abode in rude figures of grass, which are hung up +outside the houses in little bell-shaped shrines decorated with +peeled sticks. During an epidemic of small-pox the Ewe negroes will +sometimes clear a space outside of the town, where they erect a +number of low mounds and cover them with as many little clay figures +as there are people in the place. Pots of food and water are also +set out for the refreshment of the spirit of small-pox who, it is +hoped, will take the clay figures and spare the living folk; and to +make assurance doubly sure the road into the town is barricaded +against him. + +With these examples before us we may surmise that the woollen +effigies, which at the festival of the Compitalia might be seen +hanging at the doors of all the houses in ancient Rome, were not +substitutes for human victims who had formerly been sacrificed at +this season, but rather vicarious offerings presented to the Mother +or Grandmother of Ghosts, in the hope that on her rounds through the +city she would accept or mistake the effigies for the inmates of the +house and so spare the living for another year. It is possible that +the puppets made of rushes, which in the month of May the pontiffs +and Vestal Virgins annually threw into the Tiber from the old +Sublician bridge at Rome, had originally the same significance; that +is, they may have been designed to purge the city from demoniac +influence by diverting the attention of the demons from human beings +to the puppets and then toppling the whole uncanny crew, neck and +crop, into the river, which would soon sweep them far out to sea. In +precisely the same way the natives of Old Calabar used periodically +to rid their town of the devils which infested it by luring the +unwary demons into a number of lamentable scarecrows, which they +afterwards flung into the river. This interpretation of the Roman +custom is supported to some extent by the evidence of Plutarch, who +speaks of the ceremony as "the greatest of purifications." + + + + +LI. Homeopathic Magic of a Flesh Diet + +THE PRACTICE of killing a god has now been traced amongst peoples +who have reached the agricultural stage of society. We have seen +that the spirit of the corn, or of other cultivated plants, is +commonly represented either in human or in animal form, and that in +some places a custom has prevailed of killing annually either the +human or the animal representative of the god. One reason for thus +killing the corn-spirit in the person of his representative has been +given implicitly in an earlier part of this work: we may suppose +that the intention was to guard him or her (for the corn-spirit is +often feminine) from the enfeeblement of old age by transferring the +spirit, while still hale and hearty, to the person of a youthful and +vigorous successor. Apart from the desirability of renewing his +divine energies, the death of the corn-spirit may have been deemed +inevitable under the sickles or the knives of the reapers, and his +worshippers may accordingly have felt bound to acquiesce in the sad +necessity. But, further, we have found a widespread custom of eating +the god sacramentally, either in the shape of the man or animal who +represents the god, or in the shape of bread made in human or animal +form. The reasons for thus partaking of the body of the god are, +from the primitive standpoint, simple enough. The savage commonly +believes that by eating the flesh of an animal or man he acquires +not only the physical, but even the moral and intellectual qualities +which were characteristic of that animal or man; so when the +creature is deemed divine, our simple savage naturally expects to +absorb a portion of its divinity along with its material substance. +It may be well to illustrate by instances this common faith in the +acquisition of virtues or vices of many kinds through the medium of +animal food, even when there is no pretence that the viands consist +of the body or blood of a god. The doctrine forms part of the widely +ramified system of sympathetic or homoeopathic magic. + +Thus, for example, the Creeks, Cherokee, and kindred tribes of North +American Indians "believe that nature is possest of such a property +as to transfuse into men and animals the qualities, either of the +food they use, or of those objects that are presented to their +senses; he who feeds on venison is, according to their physical +system, swifter and more sagacious than the man who lives on the +flesh of the clumsy bear, or helpless dunghill fowls, the +slow-footed tame cattle, or the heavy wallowing swine. This is the +reason that several of their old men recommend, and say, that +formerly their greatest chieftains observed a constant rule in their +diet, and seldom ate of any animal of a gross quality, or heavy +motion of body, fancying it conveyed a dullness through the whole +system, and disabled them from exerting themselves with proper +vigour in their martial, civil, and religious duties." The Zaparo +Indians of Ecuador "will, unless from necessity, in most cases not +eat any heavy meats, such as tapir and peccary, but confine +themselves to birds, monkeys, deer, fish, etc., principally because +they argue that the heavier meats make them unwieldy, like the +animals who supply the flesh, impeding their agility, and unfitting +them for the chase." Similarly some of the Brazilian Indians would +eat no beast, bird, or fish that ran, flew, or swam slowly, lest by +partaking of its flesh they should lose their ability and be unable +to escape from their enemies. The Caribs abstained from the flesh of +pigs lest it should cause them to have small eyes like pigs; and +they refused to partake of tortoises from a fear that if they did so +they would become heavy and stupid like the animal. Among the Fans +of West Africa men in the prime of life never eat tortoises for a +similar reason; they imagine that if they did so, their vigour and +fleetness of foot would be gone. But old men may eat tortoises +freely, because having already lost the power of running they can +take no harm from the flesh of the slow-footed creature. + +While many savages thus fear to eat the flesh of slow-footed animals +lest they should themselves become slow-footed, the Bushmen of South +Africa purposely ate the flesh of such creatures, and the reason +which they gave for doing so exhibits a curious refinement of savage +philosophy. They imagined that the game which they pursued would be +influenced sympathetically by the food in the body of the hunter, so +that if he had eaten of swift-footed animals, the quarry would be +swift-footed also and would escape him; whereas if he had eaten of +slow-footed animals, the quarry would also be slow-footed, and he +would be able to overtake and kill it. For that reason hunters of +gemsbok particularly avoided eating the flesh of the swift and agile +springbok; indeed they would not even touch it with their hands, +because they believed the springbok to be a very lively creature +which did not go to sleep at night, and they thought that if they +ate springbok, the gemsbok which they hunted would likewise not be +willing to go to sleep, even at night. How, then, could they catch +it? + +The Namaquas abstain from eating the flesh of hares, because they +think it would make them faint-hearted as a hare. But they eat the +flesh of the lion, or drink the blood of the leopard or lion, to get +the courage and strength of these beasts. The Bushmen will not give +their children a jackal's heart to eat, lest it should make them +timid like the jackal; but they give them a leopard's heart to eat +to make them brave like the leopard. When a Wagogo man of East +Africa kills a lion, he eats the heart in order to become brave like +a lion; but he thinks that to eat the heart of a hen would make him +timid. When a serious disease has attacked a Zulu kraal, 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 administers it to the +healthy as well as to the sick people, in order that they may live +to be as old as the animal of whose bone they have partaken. So to +restore the aged Aeson to youth, the witch Medea infused into his +veins a decoction of the liver of the long-lived deer and the head +of a crow that had outlived nine generations of men. + +Among the Dyaks of North-West Borneo young men and warriors may not +eat venison, because it would make them as timid as deer; but the +women and very old men are free to eat it. However, among the Kayans +of the same region, who share the same view as to the ill effect of +eating venison, men will partake of the dangerous viand provided it +is cooked in the open air, for then the timid spirit of the animal +is supposed to escape at once into the jungle and not to enter into +the eater. The Aino believe that the heart of the water-ousel is +exceedingly wise, and that in speech the bird is most eloquent. +Therefore whenever he is killed, he should be at once torn open and +his heart wrenched out and swallowed before it has time to grow cold +or suffer damage of any kind. If a man swallows it thus, he will +become very fluent and wise, and will be able to argue down all his +adversaries. In Northern India people fancy that if you eat the +eyeballs of an owl you will be able like an owl to see in the dark. + +When the Kansas Indians were going to war, a feast used to be held +in the chief's hut, and the principal dish was dog's flesh, because, +said the Indians, the animal who is so brave that he will let +himself be cut in pieces in defence of his master, must needs +inspire valour. Men of the Buru and Aru Islands, East Indies, eat +the flesh of dogs in order to be bold and nimble in war. Amongst the +Papuans of the Port Moresby and Motumotu districts, New Guinea, +young lads eat strong pig, wallaby, and large fish, in order to +acquire the strength of the animal or fish. Some of the natives of +Northern Australia fancy that by eating the flesh of the kangaroo or +emu they are enabled to jump or run faster than before. The Miris of +Assam prize tiger's flesh as food for men; it gives them strength +and courage. But "it is not suited for women; it would make them too +strong-minded." In Corea the bones of tigers fetch a higher price +than those of leopards as a means of inspiring courage. A Chinaman +in Seoul bought and ate a whole tiger to make himself brave and +fierce. In Norse legend, Ingiald, son of King Aunund, was timid in +his youth, but after eating the heart of a wolf he became very bold; +Hialto gained strength and courage by eating the heart of a bear and +drinking its blood. + +In Morocco lethargic patients are given ants to swallow, and to eat +lion's flesh will make a coward brave; but people abstain from +eating the hearts of fowls, lest thereby they should be rendered +timid. When a child is late in learning to speak, the Turks of +Central Asia will give it the tongues of certain birds to eat. A +North American Indian thought that brandy must be a decoction of +hearts and tongues, "because," said he, "after drinking it I fear +nothing, and I talk wonderfully." In Java there is a tiny earthworm +which now and then utters a shrill sound like that of the alarum of +a small clock. Hence when a public dancing girl has screamed herself +hoarse in the exercise of her calling, the leader of the troop makes +her eat some of these worms, in the belief that thus she will regain +her voice and will, after swallowing them, be able to scream as +shrilly as ever. The people of Darfur, in Central Africa, think that +the liver is the seat of the soul, and that a man may enlarge his +soul by eating the liver of an animal. "Whenever an animal is killed +its liver is taken out and eaten, but the people are most careful +not to touch it with their hands, as it is considered sacred; it is +cut up in small pieces and eaten raw, the bits being conveyed to the +mouth on the point of a knife, or the sharp point of a stick. Any +one who may accidentally touch the liver is strictly forbidden to +partake of it, which prohibition is regarded as a great misfortune +for him." Women are not allowed to eat liver, because they have no +soul. + +Again, the flesh and blood of dead men are commonly eaten and drunk +to inspire bravery, wisdom, or other qualities for which the men +themselves were remarkable, or which are supposed to have their +special seat in the particular part eaten. Thus among the mountain +tribes of South-Eastern Africa there are ceremonies by which the +youths are formed into guilds or lodges, and among the rites of +initiation there is one which is intended to infuse courage, +intelligence, and other qualities into the novices. Whenever an +enemy who has behaved with conspicuous bravery is killed, his liver, +which is considered the seat of valour; his ears, which are supposed +to be the seat of intelligence; the skin of his forehead, which is +regarded as the seat of perseverance; his testicles, which are held +to be the seat of strength; and other members, which are viewed as +the seat of other virtues, are cut from his body and baked to +cinders. The ashes are carefully kept in the horn of a bull, and, +during the ceremonies observed at circumcision, are mixed with other +ingredients into a kind of paste, which is administered by the +tribal priest to the youths. By this means the strength, valour, +intelligence, and other virtues of the slain are believed to be +imparted to the eaters. When Basutos of the mountains have killed a +very brave foe, they immediately cut out his heart and eat it, +because this is supposed to give them his courage and strength in +battle. When Sir Charles M'Carthy was killed by the Ashantees in +1824, it is said that his heart was devoured by the chiefs of the +Ashantee army, who hoped by this means to imbibe his courage. His +flesh was dried and parcelled out among the lower officers for the +same purpose, and his bones were long kept at Coomassie as national +fetishes. The Nauras Indians of New Granada ate the hearts of +Spaniards when they had the opportunity, hoping thereby to make +themselves as dauntless as the dreaded Castilian chivalry. The Sioux +Indians used to reduce to powder the heart of a valiant enemy and +swallow the powder, hoping thus to appropriate the dead man's +valour. + +But while the human heart is thus commonly eaten for the sake of +imbuing the eater with the qualities of its original owner, it is +not, as we have already seen, the only part of the body which is +consumed for this purpose. Thus warriors of the Theddora and Ngarigo +tribes of South-Eastern Australia used to eat the hands and feet of +their slain enemies, believing that in this way they acquired some +of the qualities and courage of the dead. The Kamilaroi of New South +Wales ate the liver as well as the heart of a brave man to get his +courage. In Tonquin also there is a popular superstition that the +liver of a brave man makes brave any who partake of it. With a like +intent the Chinese swallow the bile of notorious bandits who have +been executed. The Dyaks of Sarawak used to eat the palms of the +hands and the flesh of the knees of the slain in order to steady +their own hands and strengthen their own knees. The Tolalaki, +notorious head-hunters of Central Celebes, drink the blood and eat +the brains of their victims that they may become brave. The Italones +of the Philippine Islands drink the blood of their slain enemies, +and eat part of the back of their heads and of their entrails raw to +acquire their courage. For the same reason the Efugaos, another +tribe of the Philippines, suck the brains of their foes. In like +manner the Kai of German New Guinea eat the brains of the enemies +they kill in order to acquire their strength. Among the Kimbunda of +Western Africa, when a new king succeeds to the throne, a brave +prisoner of war is killed in order that the king and nobles may eat +his flesh, and so acquire his strength and courage. The notorious +Zulu chief Matuana drank the gall of thirty chiefs, whose people he +had destroyed, in the belief that it would make him strong. It is a +Zulu fancy that by eating the centre of the forehead and the eyebrow +of an enemy they acquire the power of looking steadfastly at a foe. +Before every warlike expedition the people of Minahassa in Celebes +used to take the locks of hair of a slain foe and dabble them in +boiling water to extract the courage; this infusion of bravery was +then drunk by the warriors. In New Zealand "the chief was an _atua_ +[god], but there were powerful and powerless gods; each naturally +sought to make himself one of the former; the plan therefore adopted +was to incorporate the spirits of others with their own; thus, when +a warrior slew a chief, he immediately gouged out his eyes and +swallowed them, the _atua tonga,_ or divinity, being supposed to +reside in that organ; thus he not only killed the body, but also +possessed himself of the soul of his enemy, and consequently the +more chiefs he slew the greater did his divinity become." + +It is now easy to understand why a savage should desire to partake +of the flesh of an animal or man whom he regards as divine. By +eating 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 juice of the grape is his blood; and so +by eating the bread and drinking the wine the worshipper partakes of +the real body and blood of his god. Thus the drinking of wine in the +rites of a vine-god like Dionysus is not an act of revelry, it is a +solemn sacrament. Yet a time comes when reasonable men find it hard +to understand how any one in his senses can suppose that by eating +bread or drinking wine he consumes the body or blood of a deity. +"When we call corn Ceres and wine Bacchus," says Cicero, "we use a +common figure of speech; but do you imagine that anybody is so +insane as to believe that the thing he feeds upon is a god?" + + + +LII. Killing the Divine Animal + + + +1. Killing the Sacred Buzzard + +IN THE PRECEDING chapters we saw that many communities which have +progressed so far as to subsist mainly by agriculture have been in +the habit of killing and eating their farinaceous deities either in +their proper form of corn, rice, and so forth, or in the borrowed +shapes of animals and men. It remains to show that hunting and +pastoral tribes, as well as agricultural peoples, have been in the +habit of killing the beings whom they worship. Among the worshipful +beings or gods, if indeed they deserve to be dignified by that name, +whom hunters and shepherds adore and kill are animals pure and +simple, not animals regarded as embodiments of other supernatural +beings. Our first example is drawn from the Indians of California, +who living in a fertile country under a serene and temperate sky, +nevertheless rank near the bottom of the savage scale. The +Acagchemem tribe adored the great buzzard, and once a year they +celebrated a great festival called _Panes_ or bird-feast in its +honour. The day selected for the festival was made known to the +public on the evening before its celebration and preparations were +at once made for the erection of a special temple (_vanquech_), +which seems to have been a circular or oval enclosure of stakes with +the stuffed skin of a coyote or prairie-wolf set up on a hurdle to +represent the god Chinigchinich. When the temple was ready, the bird +was carried into it in solemn procession and laid on an altar +erected for the purpose. Then all the young women, whether married +or single, began to run to and fro, as if distracted, some in one +direction and some in another, while the elders of both sexes +remained silent spectators of the scene, and the captains, tricked +out in paint and feathers, danced round their adored bird. These +ceremonies being concluded, they seized upon the bird and carried it +to the principal temple, all the assembly uniting in the grand +display, and the captains dancing and singing at the head of the +procession. Arrived at the temple, they killed the bird without +losing a drop of its blood. The skin was removed entire and +preserved with the feathers as a relic or for the purpose of making +the festal garment or _paelt._ The carcase was buried in a hole in +the temple, and the old women gathered round the grave weeping and +moaning bitterly, while they threw various kinds of seeds or pieces +of food on it, crying out, "Why did you run away? Would you not have +been better with us? you would have made _pinole_ (a kind of gruel) +as we do, and if you had not run away, you would not have become a +_Panes,_" and so on. When this ceremony was concluded, the dancing +was resumed and kept up for three days and nights. They said that +the _Panes_ was a woman who had run off to the mountains and there +been changed into a bird by the god Chinigchinich. They believed +that though they sacrificed the bird annually, she came to life +again and returned to her home in the mountains. Moreover, they +thought that "as often as the bird was killed, it became multiplied; +because every year all the different Capitanes celebrated the same +feast of _Panes,_ and were firm in the opinion that the birds +sacrificed were but one and the same female." + +The unity in multiplicity thus postulated by the Californians is +very noticeable and helps to explain their motive for killing the +divine bird. The notion of the life of a species as distinct from +that of an individual, easy and obvious as it seems to us, appears +to be one which the Californian savage cannot grasp. He is unable to +conceive the life of the species otherwise than as an individual +life, and therefore as exposed to the same dangers and calamities +which menace and finally destroy the life of the individual. +Apparently he imagines that a species left to itself will grow old +and die like an individual, and that therefore some step must be +taken to save from extinction the particular species which he +regards as divine. The only means he can think of to avert the +catastrophe is to kill a member of the species in whose veins the +tide of life is still running strong and has not yet stagnated among +the fens of old age. The life thus diverted from one channel will +flow, he fancies, more freshly and freely in a new one; in other +words, the slain animal will revive and enter on a new term of life +with all the spring and energy of youth. To us this reasoning is +transparently absurd, but so too is the custom. A similar confusion, +it may be noted, between the individual life and the life of the +species was made by the Samoans. Each family had for its god a +particular species of animal; yet the death of one of these animals, +for example an owl, was not the death of the god, "he was supposed +to be yet alive, and incarnate in all the owls in existence." + + + +2. Killing the Sacred Ram + +THE RUDE Californian rite which we have just considered has a close +parallel in the religion of ancient Egypt. The Thebans and all other +Egyptians who worshipped the Theban god Ammon held rams to be +sacred, and would not sacrifice them. But once a year at the +festival of Ammon they killed a ram, skinned it, and clothed the +image of the god in the skin. Then they mourned over the ram and +buried it in a sacred tomb. The custom was explained by a story that +Zeus had once exhibited himself to Hercules clad in the fleece and +wearing the head of a ram. Of course the ram in this case was simply +the beast-god of Thebes, as the wolf was the beast-god of Lycopolis, +and the goat was the beast-god of Mendes. In other words, the ram +was Ammon himself. On the monuments, it is true, Ammon appears in +semi-human form with the body of a man and the head of a ram. But +this only shows that he was in the usual chrysalis state through +which beast-gods regularly pass before they emerge as full-blown +anthropomorphic gods. The ram, therefore, was killed, not as a +sacrifice to Ammon, but as the god himself, whose identity with the +beast is plainly shown by the custom of clothing his image in the +skin of the slain ram. The reason for thus killing the ram-god +annually may have been that which I have assigned for the general +custom of killing a god and for the special Californian custom of +killing the divine buzzard. As applied to Egypt, this explanation is +supported by the analogy of the bull-god Apis, who was not suffered +to outlive a certain term of years. The intention of thus putting a +limit to the life of the human god was, as I have argued, to secure +him from the weakness and frailty of age. The same reasoning would +explain the custom--probably an older one--of putting the beast-god +to death annually, as was done with the ram of Thebes. + +One point in the Theban ritual--the application of the skin to the +image of the god--deserves particular attention. If the god was at +first the living ram, his representation by an image must have +originated later. But how did it originate? One answer to this +question is perhaps furnished by the practice of preserving the skin +of the animal which is slain as divine. The Californians, as we have +seen, preserved the skin of the buzzard; and the skin of the goat, +which is killed on the harvest-field as a representative of the +corn-spirit, is kept for various superstitious purposes. The skin in +fact was kept as a token or memorial of the god, or rather as +containing in it a part of the divine life, and it had only to be +stuffed or stretched upon a frame to become a regular image of him. +At first an image of this kind would be renewed annually, the new +image being provided by the skin of the slain animal. But from +annual images to permanent images the transition is easy. We have +seen that the older custom of cutting a new May-tree every year was +superseded by the practice of maintaining a permanent May-pole, +which was, however, annually decked with fresh leaves and flowers, +and even surmounted each year by a fresh young tree. Similarly when +the stuffed skin, as a representative of the god, was replaced by a +permanent image of him in wood, stone, or metal, the permanent image +was annually clad in the fresh skin of the slain animal. When this +stage had been reached, the custom of killing the ram came naturally +to be interpreted as a sacrifice offered to the image, and was +explained by a story like that of Ammon and Hercules. + + + +3. Killing the Sacred Serpent + +WEST AFRICA appears to furnish another example of the annual killing +of a sacred animal and the preservation of its skin. The negroes of +Issapoo, in the island of Fernando Po, regard the cobra-capella as +their guardian deity, who can do them good or ill, bestow riches or +inflict disease and death. The skin of one of these reptiles is hung +tail downwards from a branch of the highest tree in the public +square, and the placing of it on the tree is an annual ceremony. As +soon as the ceremony is over, all children born within the past year +are carried out and their hands made to touch the tail of the +serpent's skin. The latter custom is clearly a way of placing the +infants under the protection of the tribal god. Similarly in +Senegambia a python is expected to visit every child of the Python +clan within eight days after birth; and the Psylli, a Snake clan of +ancient Africa, used to expose their infants to snakes in the belief +that the snakes would not harm true-born children of the clan. + + + +4. Killing the Sacred Turtles + +IN THE CALIFORNIAN, Egyptian, and Fernando Po customs the worship of +the animal seems to have no relation to agriculture, and may +therefore be presumed to date from the hunting or pastoral stage of +society. The same may be said of the following custom, though the +Zuni Indians of New Mexico, who practise it, are now settled in +walled villages or towns of a peculiar type, and practise +agriculture and the arts of pottery and weaving. But the Zuni custom +is marked by certain features which appear to place it in a somewhat +different class from the preceding cases. It may be well therefore +to describe it at full length in the words of an eye-witness. + +"With midsummer the heat became intense. My brother [_i.e._ adopted +Indian brother] and I sat, day after day, in the cool under-rooms of +our house,--the latter [_sic_] busy with his quaint forge and crude +appliances, working Mexican coins over into bangles, girdles, +ear-rings, buttons, and what not, for savage ornament. Though his +tools were wonderfully rude, the work he turned out by dint of +combined patience and ingenuity was remarkably beautiful. One day as +I sat watching him, a procession of fifty men went hastily down the +hill, and off westward over the plain. They were solemnly led by a +painted and shell-bedecked priest, and followed by the torch-bearing +Shu-lu-wit-si or God of Fire. After they had vanished, I asked old +brother what it all meant. + +"'They are going,' said he, 'to the city of Ka-ka and the home of +our others.' + +"Four days after, towards sunset, costumed and masked in the +beautiful paraphernalia of the Ka-k'ok-shi, or 'Good Dance,' they +returned in file up the same pathway, each bearing in his arms a +basket filled with living, squirming turtles, which he regarded and +carried as tenderly as a mother would her infant. Some of the +wretched reptiles were carefully wrapped in soft blankets, their +heads and forefeet protruding,--and, mounted on the backs of the +plume-bedecked pilgrims, made ludicrous but solemn caricatures of +little children in the same position. While I was at supper upstairs +that evening, the governor's brother-in-law came in. He was welcomed +by the family as if a messenger from heaven. He bore in his +tremulous fingers one of the much abused and rebellious turtles. +Paint still adhered to his hands and bare feet, which led me to +infer that he had formed one of the sacred embassy. + +"'So you went to Ka-thlu-el-lon, did you?' I asked. + +"'E'e,' replied the weary man, in a voice husky with long chanting, +as he sank, almost exhausted, on a roll of skins which had been +placed for him, and tenderly laid the turtle on the floor. No sooner +did the creature find itself at liberty than it made off as fast as +its lame legs would take it. Of one accord, the family forsook dish, +spoon, and drinking-cup, and grabbing from a sacred meal-bowl whole +handfuls of the contents, hurriedly followed the turtle about the +room, into dark corners, around water-jars, behind the +grinding-troughs, and out into the middle of the floor again, +praying and scattering meal on its back as they went. At last, +strange to say, it approached the foot-sore man who had brought it. + +"'Ha!' he exclaimed with emotion; 'see it comes to me again; ah, +what great favours the fathers of all grant me this day,' and, +passing his hand gently over the sprawling animal, he inhaled from +his palm deeply and long, at the same time invoking the favour of +the gods. Then he leaned his chin upon his hand, and with large, +wistful eyes regarded his ugly captive as it sprawled about, +blinking its meal-bedimmed eyes, and clawing the smooth floor in +memory of its native element. At this juncture I ventured a +question: + +"'Why do you not let him go, or give him some water?' + +"Slowly the man turned his eyes toward me, an odd mixture of pain, +indignation, and pity on his face, while the worshipful family +stared at me with holy horror. + +"'Poor younger brother!' he said at last, 'know you not how precious +it is? It die? It will _not_ die; I tell you, it cannot die.' + +"'But it will die if you don't feed it and give it water.' + +"'I tell you it _cannot_ die; it will only change houses to-morrow, +and go back to the home of its brothers. Ah, well! How should _you_ +know?' he mused. Turning to the blinded turtle again: 'Ah! my poor +dear lost child or parent, my sister or brother to have been! Who +knows which? Maybe my own great-grandfather or mother!' And with +this he fell to weeping most pathetically, and, tremulous with sobs, +which were echoed by the women and children, he buried his face in +his hands. Filled with sympathy for his grief, however mistaken, I +raised the turtle to my lips and kissed its cold shell; then +depositing it on the floor, hastily left the grief-stricken family +to their sorrows. Next day, with prayers and tender beseechings, +plumes, and offerings, the poor turtle was killed, and its flesh and +bones were removed and deposited in the little river, that it might +'return once more to eternal life among its comrades in the dark +waters of the lake of the dead.' The shell, carefully scraped and +dried, was made into a dance-rattle, and, covered by a piece of +buckskin, it still hangs from the smoke-stained rafters of my +brother's house. Once a Navajo tried to buy it for a ladle; loaded +with indignant reproaches, he was turned out of the house. Were any +one to venture the suggestion that the turtle no longer lived, his +remark would cause a flood of tears, and he would be reminded that +it had only 'changed houses and gone to live for ever in the home of +"our lost others."'" + +In this custom we find expressed in the clearest way a belief in the +transmigration of human souls into the bodies of turtles. The theory +of transmigration is held by the Moqui Indians, who belong to the +same race as the Zunis. The Moquis are divided into totem clans--the +Bear clan, Deer clan, Wolf clan, Hare clan, and so on; they believe +that the ancestors of the clans were bears, deer, wolves, hares, and +so forth; and that at death the members of each clan become bears, +deer, and so on according to the particular clan to which they +belonged. The Zuni are also divided into clans, the totems of which +agree closely with those of the Moquis, and one of their totems is +the turtle. Thus their belief in transmigration into the turtle is +probably one of the regular articles of their totem faith. What then +is the meaning of killing a turtle in which the soul of a kinsman is +believed to be present? Apparently the object is to keep up a +communication with the other world in which the souls of the +departed are believed to be assembled in the form of turtles. It is +a common belief that the spirits of the dead return occasionally to +their old homes; and accordingly the unseen visitors are welcomed +and feasted by the living, and then sent upon their way. In the Zuni +ceremony the dead are fetched home in the form of turtles, and the +killing of the turtles is the way of sending back the souls to the +spirit-land. Thus the general explanation given above of the custom +of killing a god seems inapplicable to the Zuni custom, the true +meaning of which is somewhat obscure. Nor is the obscurity which +hangs over the subject entirely dissipated by a later and fuller +account which we possess of the ceremony. From it we learn that the +ceremony forms part of the elaborate ritual which these Indians +observe at the midsummer solstice for the purpose of ensuring an +abundant supply of rain for the crops. Envoys are despatched to +bring "their otherselves, the tortoises," from the sacred lake +Kothluwalawa, to which the souls of the dead are believed to repair. +When the creatures have thus been solemnly brought to Zuni, they are +placed in a bowl of water and dances are performed beside them by +men in costume, who personate gods and goddesses. "After the +ceremonial the tortoises are taken home by those who caught them and +are hung by their necks to the rafters till morning, when they are +thrown into pots of boiling water. The eggs are considered a great +delicacy. The meat is seldom touched except as a medicine, which is +curative for cutaneous diseases. Part of the meat is deposited in +the river with _kóhakwa_ (white shell beads) and turquoise beads as +offerings to Council of the Gods." This account at all events +confirms the inference that the tortoises are supposed to be +reincarnations of the human dead, for they are called the +"otherselves" of the Zuni; indeed, what else should they be than the +souls of the dead in the bodies of tortoises seeing that they come +from the haunted lake? As the principal object of the prayers +uttered and of the dances performed at these midsummer ceremonies +appears to be to procure rain for the crops, it may be that the +intention of bringing the tortoises to Zuni and dancing before them +is to intercede with the ancestral spirit, incarnate in the animals, +that they may be pleased to exert their power over the waters of +heaven for the benefit of their living descendants. + + + +5. Killing the Sacred Bear + +DOUBT also hangs at first sight over the meaning of the +bear-sacrifice offered by the Aino or Ainu, a primitive people who +are found in the Japanese island of Yezo or Yesso, as well as in +Saghalien and the southern of the Kurile Islands. It is not quite +easy to define the attitude of the Aino towards the bear. On the one +hand they give it the name of _kamui_ or "god"; but as they apply +the same word to strangers, it may mean no more than a being +supposed to be endowed with superhuman, or at all events +extraordinary, powers. Again, it is said that "the bear is their +chief divinity"; "in the religion of the Aino the bear plays a chief +part"; "amongst the animals it is especially the bear which receives +an idolatrous veneration"; "they worship it after their fashion"; +"there is no doubt that this wild beast inspires more of the feeling +which prompts worship than the inanimate forces of nature, and the +Aino may be distinguished as bear-worshippers." Yet, on the other +hand, they kill the bear whenever they can; "in bygone years the +Ainu considered bear-hunting the most manly and useful way in which +a person could possibly spend his time"; "the men spend the autumn, +winter, and spring in hunting deer and bears. Part of their tribute +or taxes is paid in skins, and they subsist on the dried meat"; +bear's flesh is indeed one of their staple foods; they eat it both +fresh and salted; and the skins of bears furnish them with clothing. +In fact, the worship of which writers on this subject speak appears +to be paid chiefly to the dead animal. Thus, although they kill a +bear whenever they can, "in the process of dissecting the carcass +they endeavor to conciliate the deity, whose representative they +have slain, by making elaborate obeisances and deprecatory +salutations"; "when a bear has been killed the Ainu sit down and +admire it, make their salaams to it, worship it, and offer presents +of _inao_"; "when a bear is trapped or wounded by an arrow, the +hunters go through an apologetic or propitiatory ceremony." The +skulls of slain bears receive a place of honour in their huts, or +are set up on sacred posts outside the huts, and are treated with +much respect: libations of millet beer, and of _sake,_ an +intoxicating liquor, are offered to them; and they are addressed as +"divine preservers" or "precious divinities." The skulls of foxes +are also fastened to the sacred posts outside the huts; they are +regarded as charms against evil spirits, and are consulted as +oracles. Yet it is expressly said, "The live fox is revered just as +little as the bear; rather they avoid it as much as possible, +considering it a wily animal." The bear can hardly, therefore, be +described as a sacred animal of the Aino, nor yet as a totem; for +they do not call themselves bears, and they kill and eat the animal +freely. However, they have a legend of a woman who had a son by a +bear; and many of them who dwell in the mountains pride themselves +on being descended from a bear. Such people are called "Descendants +of the bear" (_Kimun Kamui sanikiri_), and in the pride of their +heart they will say, "As for me, I am a child of the god of the +mountains; I am descended from the divine one who rules in the +mountains," meaning by "the god of the mountains" no other than the +bear. It is therefore possible that, as our principal authority, the +Rev. J. Batchelor, believes, the bear may have been the totem of an +Aino clan; but even if that were so it would not explain the respect +shown for the animal by the whole Aino people. + +But it is the bear-festival of the Aino which concerns us here. +Towards the end of winter a bear cub is caught and brought into the +village. If it is very small, it is suckled by an Aino woman, but +should there be no woman able to suckle it, the little animal is fed +from the hand or the mouth. During the day it plays about in the hut +with the children and is treated with great affection. But when the +cub grows big enough to pain people by hugging or scratching them, +he is shut up in a strong wooden cage, where he stays generally for +two or three years, fed on fish and millet porridge, till it is time +for him to be killed and eaten. But "it is a peculiarly striking +fact that the young bear is not kept merely to furnish a good meal; +rather he is regarded and honoured as a fetish, or even as a sort of +higher being." In Yezo the festival is generally celebrated in +September or October. Before it takes place the Aino apologise to +their gods, alleging that they have treated the bear kindly as long +as they could, now they can feed him no longer, and are obliged to +kill him. A man who gives a bear-feast invites his relations and +friends; in a small village nearly the whole community takes part in +the feast; indeed, guests from distant villages are invited and +generally come, allured by the prospect of getting drunk for +nothing. The form of invitation runs somewhat as follows: "I, so and +so, am about to sacrifice the dear little divine thing who resides +among the mountains. My friends and masters, come ye to the feast; +we will then unite in the great pleasure of sending the god away. +Come." When all the people are assembled in front of the cage, an +orator chosen for the purpose addresses the bear and tells it that +they are about to send it forth to its ancestors. He craves pardon +for what they are about to do to it, hopes it will not be angry, and +comforts it by assuring the animal that many of the sacred whittled +sticks (_inao_) and plenty of cakes and wine will be sent with it on +the long journey. One speech of this sort which Mr. Batchelor heard +ran as follows: "O thou divine one, thou wast sent into the world +for us to hunt. O thou precious little divinity, we worship thee; +pray hear our prayer. We have nourished thee and brought thee up +with a deal of pains and trouble, all because we love thee so. Now, +as thou hast grown big, we are about to send thee to thy father and +mother. When thou comest to them please speak well of us, and tell +them how kind we have been; please come to us again and we will +sacrifice thee." Having been secured with ropes, the bear is then +let out of the cage and assailed with a shower of blunt arrows in +order to arouse it to fury. When it has spent itself in vain +struggles, it is tied up to a stake, gagged and strangled, its neck +being placed between two poles, which are then violently compressed, +all the people eagerly helping to squeeze the animal to death. An +arrow is also discharged into the beast's heart by a good marksman, +but so as not to shed blood, for they think that it would be very +unlucky if any of the blood were to drip on the ground. However, the +men sometimes drink the warm blood of 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 to +ensure success in hunting. When the animal has been strangled to +death, it is skinned and its head is cut off and set in the east +window of the house, where a piece of its own flesh is 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 dead +animal; amongst other things it is sometimes invited, after going +away to its father and mother, to return into the world in order +that it may again be reared for sacrifice. When the bear is supposed +to have finished eating its own flesh, the man who presides at the +feast takes the cup containing the boiled meat, salutes it, and +divides the contents between all the company present: every person, +young and old alike, must taste a little. The cup is called "the cup +of offering" because it has just been offered to the dead bear. When +the rest of the flesh has been cooked, it is shared out in like +manner among all the people, everybody partaking of at least a +morsel; not to partake of the feast would be equivalent to +excommunication, it would be to place the recreant outside the pale +of Aino fellowship. Formerly every particle of the bear, except the +bones, had to be eaten up at the banquet, but this rule is now +relaxed. The head, on being detached from the skin, is set up on a +long pole beside the sacred wands (_inao_) outside of the house, +where it remains till nothing but the bare white skull is left. +Skulls so set up are worshipped not only at the time of the +festival, but very often as long as they last. The Aino assured Mr. +Batchelor that they really do believe the spirits of the worshipful +animals to reside in the skulls; that is why they address them as +"divine preservers" and "precious divinities." + +The ceremony of killing the bear was witnessed by Dr. B. Scheube on +the tenth of August at Kunnui, which is a village on Volcano Bay in +the island of Yezo or Yesso. As his description of the rite contains +some interesting particulars not mentioned in the foregoing account, +it may be worth while to summarize it. + +On entering the hut he found about thirty Aino present, men, women, +and children, all dressed in their best. The master of the house +first offered a libation on the fireplace to the god of the fire, +and the guests followed his example. Then a libation was offered to +the house-god in his sacred corner of the hut. Meanwhile the +housewife, who had nursed the bear, sat by herself, silent and sad, +bursting now and then into tears. Her grief was obviously +unaffected, and it deepened as the festival went on. Next, the +master of the house and some of the guests went out of the hut and +offered libations before the bear's cage. A few drops were presented +to the bear in a saucer, which he at once upset. Then the women and +girls danced round the cage, their faces turned towards it, their +knees slightly bent, rising and hopping on their toes. As they +danced they clapped their hands and sang a monotonous song. The +housewife and a few old women, who might have nursed many bears, +danced tearfully, stretching out their arms to the bear, and +addressing it in terms of endearment. The young folks were less +affected; they laughed as well as sang. Disturbed by the noise, the +bear began to rush about his cage and howl lamentably. Next +libations were offered at the _inao_ (_inabos_) or sacred wands +which stand outside of an Aino hut. These wands are about a couple +of feet high, and are whittled at the top into spiral shavings. Five +new wands with bamboo leaves attached to them had been set up for +the festival. This is regularly done when a bear is killed; the +leaves mean that the animal may come to life again. Then the bear +was let out of his cage, a rope was thrown round his neck, and he +was led about in the neighbourhood of the hut. While this was being +done the men, headed by a chief, shot at the beast with arrows +tipped with wooden buttons. Dr. Scheube had to do so also. Then the +bear was taken before the sacred wands, a stick was put in his +mouth, nine men knelt on him and pressed his neck against a beam. In +five minutes the animal had expired without uttering a sound. +Meantime the women and girls had taken post behind the men, where +they danced, lamenting, and beating the men who were killing the +bear. The bear's carcase was next placed on the mat before the +sacred wands; and a sword and quiver, taken from the wands, were +hung round the beast's neck. Being a she-bear, it was also adorned +with a necklace and ear-rings. Then food and drink were offered to +it, in the shape of millet-broth, millet-cakes, and a pot of _sake._ +The men now sat down on mats before the dead bear, offered libations +to it, and drank deep. Meanwhile the women and girls had laid aside +all marks of sorrow, and danced merrily, none more merrily than the +old women. When the mirth was at its height two young Aino, who had +let the bear out of his cage, mounted the roof of the hut and threw +cakes of millet among the company, who all scrambled for them +without distinction of age or sex. The bear was next skinned and +disembowelled, and the trunk severed from the head, to which the +skin was left hanging. The blood, caught in cups, was eagerly +swallowed by the men. None of the women or children appeared to +drink the blood, though custom did not forbid them to do so. The +liver was cut in small pieces and eaten raw, with salt, the women +and children getting their share. The flesh and the rest of the +vitals were taken into the house to be kept till the next day but +one, and then to be divided among the persons who had been present +at the feast. Blood and liver were offered to Dr. Scheube. While the +bear was being disembowelled, the women and girls danced the same +dance which they had danced at the beginning--not, however, round +the cage, but in front of the sacred wands. At this dance the old +women, who had been merry a moment before, again shed tears freely. +After the brain had been extracted from the bear's head and +swallowed with salt, the skull, detached from the skin, was hung on +a pole beside the sacred wands. The stick with which the bear had +been gagged was also fastened to the pole, and so were the sword and +quiver which had been hung on the carcase. The latter were removed +in about an hour, but the rest remained standing. The whole company, +men and women, danced noisily before the pole; and another +drinking-bout, in which the women joined, closed the festival. + +Perhaps the first published account of the bear-feast of the Aino is +one which was given to the world by a Japanese writer in 1652. It +has been translated into French and runs thus: "When they find a +young bear, they bring it home, and the wife suckles it. When it is +grown they feed it with fish and fowl and kill it in winter for the +sake of the liver, which they esteem an antidote to poison, the +worms, colic, and disorders of the stomach. It is of a very bitter +taste, and is good for nothing if the bear has been killed in +summer. This butchery begins in the first Japanese month. For this +purpose they put the animal's head between two long poles, which are +squeezed together by fifty or sixty people, both men and women. When +the bear is dead they eat his flesh, keep the liver as a medicine, +and sell the skin, which is black and commonly six feet long, but +the longest measure twelve feet. As soon as he is skinned, the +persons who nourished the beast begin to bewail him; afterwards they +make little cakes to regale those who helped them." + +The Aino of Saghalien rear bear cubs and kill them with similar +ceremonies. We are told that they do not look upon the bear as a god +but only as a messenger whom they despatch with various commissions +to the god of the forest. The animal is kept for about two years in +a cage, and then killed at a festival, which always takes place in +winter and at night. The day before the sacrifice is devoted to +lamentation, old women relieving each other in the duty of weeping +and groaning in front of the bear's cage. Then about the middle of +the night or very early in the morning an orator makes a long speech +to the beast, reminding him how they have taken care of him, and fed +him well, and bathed him in the river, and made him warm and +comfortable. "Now," he proceeds, "we are holding a great festival in +your honour. Be not afraid. We will not hurt you. We will only kill +you and send you to the god of the forest who loves you. We are +about to offer you a good dinner, the best you have ever eaten among +us, and we will all weep for you together. The Aino who will kill +you is the best shot among us. There he is, he weeps and asks your +forgiveness; you will feel almost nothing, it will be done so +quickly. We cannot feed you always, as you will understand. We have +done enough for you; it is now your turn to sacrifice yourself for +us. You will ask God to send us, for the winter, plenty of otters +and sables, and for the summer, seals and fish in abundance. Do not +forget our messages, we love you much, and our children will never +forget you." When the bear has partaken of his last meal amid the +general emotion of the spectators, the old women weeping afresh and +the men uttering stifled cries, he is strapped, not without +difficulty and danger, and being let out of the cage is led on leash +or dragged, according to the state of his temper, thrice round his +cage, then round his master's house, and lastly round the house of +the orator. Thereupon he is tied up to a tree, which is decked with +sacred whittled sticks (_inao_) of the usual sort; and the orator +again addresses him in a long harangue, which sometimes lasts till +the day is beginning to break. "Remember," he cries, "remember! I +remind you of your whole life and of the services we have rendered +you. It is now for you to do your duty. Do not forget what I have +asked of you. You will tell the gods to give us riches, that our +hunters may return from the forest laden with rare furs and animals +good to eat; that our fishers may find troops of seals on the shore +and in the sea, and that their nets may crack under the weight of +the fish. We have no hope but in you. The evil spirits laugh at us, +and too often they are unfavourable and malignant to us, but they +will bow before you. We have given you food and joy and health; now +we kill you in order that you may in return send riches to us and to +our children." To this discourse the bear, more and more surly and +agitated, listens without conviction; round and round the tree he +paces and howls lamentably, till, just as the first beams of the +rising sun light up the scene, an archer speeds an arrow to his +heart. No sooner has he done so, than the marksman throws away his +bow and flings himself on the ground, and the old men and women do +the same, weeping and sobbing. Then they offer the dead beast a +repast of rice and wild potatoes, and having spoken to him in terms +of pity and thanked him for what he has done and suffered, they cut +off his head and paws and keep them as sacred things. A banquet on +the flesh and blood of the bear follows. Women were formerly +excluded from it, but now they share with the men. The blood is +drunk warm by all present; the flesh is boiled, custom forbids it to +be roasted. And as the relics of the bear may not enter the house by +the door, and Aino houses in Saghalien have no windows, a man gets +up on the roof and lets the flesh, the head, and the skin down +through the smoke-hole. Rice and wild potatoes are then offered to +the head, and a pipe, tobacco, and matches are considerately placed +beside it. Custom requires that the guests should eat up the whole +animal before they depart; the use of salt and pepper at the meal is +forbidden; and no morsel of the flesh may be given to the dogs. When +the banquet is over, the head is carried away into the depth of the +forest and deposited on a heap of bears' skulls, the bleached and +mouldering relics of similar festivals in the past. + +The Gilyaks, a Tunguzian people of Eastern Siberia, hold a +bear-festival of the same sort once a year in January. "The bear is +the object of the most refined solicitude of an entire village and +plays the chief part in their religious ceremonies." An old she-bear +is shot and her cub is reared, but not suckled, in the village. When +the bear is big enough he is taken from his cage and dragged through +the village. But first they lead him to the bank of the river, for +this is believed to ensure abundance of fish to each family. He is +then taken into every house in the village, where fish, brandy, and +so forth are offered to him. Some people prostrate themselves before +the beast. His entrance into a house is supposed to bring a +blessing; and if he snuffs at the food offered to him, this also is +a blessing. Nevertheless they tease and worry, poke and tickle the +animal continually, so that he is surly and snappish. After being +thus taken to every house, he is tied to a peg and shot dead with +arrows. His head is then cut off, decked with shavings, and placed +on the table where the feast is set out. Here they beg pardon of the +beast and worship him. Then his flesh is roasted and eaten in +special vessels of wood finely carved. They do not eat the flesh raw +nor drink the blood, as the Aino do. The brain and entrails are +eaten last; and the skull, still decked with shavings, is placed on +a tree near the house. Then the people sing and both sexes dance in +ranks, as bears. + +One of these bear-festivals was witnessed by the Russian traveller +L. von Schrenck and his companions at the Gilyak village of Tebach +in January 1856. From his detailed report of the ceremony we may +gather some particulars which are not noticed in the briefer +accounts which I have just summarised. The bear, he tells us, plays +a great part in the life of all the peoples inhabiting the region of +the Amoor and Siberia as far as Kamtchatka, but among none of them +is his importance greater than among the Gilyaks. The immense size +which the animal attains in the valley of the Amoor, his ferocity +whetted by hunger, and the frequency of his appearance, all combine +to make him the most dreaded beast of prey in the country. No +wonder, therefore, that the fancy of the Gilyaks is busied with him +and surrounds him, both in life and in death, with a sort of halo of +superstitious fear. Thus, for example, it is thought that if a +Gilyak falls in combat with a bear, his soul transmigrates into the +body of the beast. Nevertheless his flesh has an irresistible +attraction for the Gilyak palate, especially when the animal has +been kept in captivity for some time and fattened on fish, which +gives the flesh, in the opinion of the Gilyaks, a peculiarly +delicious flavour. But in order to enjoy this dainty with impunity +they deem it needful to perform a long series of ceremonies, of +which the intention is to delude the living bear by a show of +respect, and to appease the anger of the dead animal by the homage +paid to his departed spirit. The marks of respect begin as soon as +the beast is captured. He is brought home in triumph and kept in a +cage, where all the villagers take it in turns to feed him. For +although he may have been captured or purchased by one man, he +belongs in a manner to the whole village. His flesh will furnish a +common feast, and hence all must contribute to support him in his +life. The length of time he is kept in captivity depends on his age. +Old bears are kept only a few months; cubs are kept till they are +full-grown. A thick layer of fat on the captive bear gives the +signal for the festival, which is always held in winter, generally +in December but sometimes in January or February. At the festival +witnessed by the Russian travellers, which lasted a good many days, +three bears were killed and eaten. More than once the animals were +led about in procession and compelled to enter every house in the +village, where they were fed as a mark of honour, and to show that +they were welcome guests. But before the beasts set out on this +round of visits, the Gilyaks played at skipping-rope in presence, +and perhaps, as L. von Schrenck inclined to believe, in honour of +the animals. The night before they were killed, the three bears were +led by moonlight a long way on the ice of the frozen river. That +night no one in the village might sleep. Next day, after the animals +had been again led down the steep bank to the river, and conducted +thrice round the hole in the ice from which the women of the village +drew their water, they were taken to an appointed place not far from +the village, and shot to death with arrows. The place of sacrifice +or execution was marked as holy by being surrounded with whittled +sticks, from the tops of which shavings hung in curls. Such sticks +are with the Gilyaks, as with the Aino, the regular symbols that +accompany all religious ceremonies. + +When the house has been arranged and decorated for their reception, +the skins of the bears, with their heads attached to them, are +brought into it, not, however, by the door, but through a window, +and then hung on a sort of scaffold opposite the hearth on which the +flesh is to be cooked. The boiling of the bears' flesh among the +Gilyaks is done only by the oldest men, whose high privilege it is; +women and children, young men and boys have no part in it. The task +is performed slowly and deliberately, with a certain solemnity. On +the occasion described by the Russian travellers the kettle was +first of all surrounded with a thick wreath of shavings, and then +filled with snow, for the use of water to cook bear's flesh is +forbidden. Meanwhile a large wooden trough, richly adorned with +arabesques and carvings of all sorts, was hung immediately under the +snouts of the bears; on one side of the trough was carved in relief +a bear, on the other side a toad. When the carcases were being cut +up, each leg was laid on the ground in front of the bears, as if to +ask their leave, before being placed in the kettle; and the boiled +flesh was fished out of the kettle with an iron hook, and set in the +trough before the bears, in order that they might be the first to +taste of their own flesh. As fast, too, as the fat was cut in strips +it was hung up in front of the bears, and afterwards laid in a small +wooden trough on the ground before them. Last of all the inner +organs of the beasts were cut up and placed in small vessels. At the +same time the women made bandages out of parti-coloured rags, and +after sunset these bandages were tied round the bears' snouts just +below the eyes "in order to dry the tears that flowed from them." + +As soon as the ceremony of wiping away poor bruin's tears had been +performed, the assembled Gilyaks set to work in earnest to devour +his flesh. The broth obtained by boiling the meat had already been +partaken of. The wooden bowls, platters, and spoons out of which the +Gilyaks eat the broth and flesh of the bears on these occasions are +always made specially for the purpose at the festival and only then; +they are elaborately ornamented with carved figures of bears and +other devices that refer to the animal or the festival, and the +people have a strong superstitious scruple against parting with +them. After the bones had been picked clean they were put back in +the kettle in which the flesh had been boiled. And when the festal +meal was over, an old man took his stand at the door of the house +with a branch of fir in his hand, with which, as the people passed +out, he gave a light blow to every one who had eaten of the bear's +flesh or fat, perhaps as a punishment for their treatment of the +worshipful animal. In the afternoon the women performed a strange +dance. Only one woman danced at a time, throwing the upper part of +her body into the oddest postures, while she held in her hands a +branch of fir or a kind of wooden castanets. The other women +meanwhile played an accompaniment by drumming on the beams of the +house with clubs. Von Schrenk believed that after the flesh of the +bear has been eaten the bones and the skull are solemnly carried out +by the oldest people to a place in the forest not far from the +village. There all the bones except the skull are buried. After that +a young tree is felled a few inches above the ground, its stump +cleft, and the skull wedged into the cleft. When the grass grows +over the spot, the skull disappears from view, and that is the end +of the bear. + +Another description of the bear-festivals of the Gilyaks has been +given us by Mr. Leo Sternberg. It agrees substantially with the +foregoing accounts, but a few particulars in it may be noted. +According to Mr. Sternberg, the festival is usually held in honour +of a deceased relation: the next of kin either buys or catches a +bear cub and nurtures it for two or three years till it is ready for +the sacrifice. Only certain distinguished guests (_Narch-en_) are +privileged to partake of the bear's flesh, but the host and members +of his clan eat a broth made from the flesh; great quantities of +this broth are prepared and consumed on the occasion. The guests of +honour (_Narch-en_) must belong to the clan into which the host's +daughters and the other women of his clan are married: one of these +guests, usually the host's son-in-law, is entrusted with the duty of +shooting the bear dead with an arrow. The skin, head, and flesh of +the slain bear are brought into the house not through the door but +through the smoke-hole; a quiver full of arrows is laid under the +head and beside it are deposited tobacco, sugar, and other food. The +soul of the bear is supposed to carry off the souls of these things +with it on the far journey. A special vessel is used for cooking the +bear's flesh, and the fire must be kindled by a sacred apparatus of +flint and steel, which belongs to the clan and is handed down from +generation to generation, but which is never used to light fires +except on these solemn occasions. Of all the many viands cooked for +the consumption of the assembled people a portion is placed in a +special vessel and set before the bear's head: this is called +"feeding the head." After the bear has been killed, dogs are +sacrificed in couples of male and female. Before being throttled, +they are fed and invited to go to their lord on the highest +mountain, to change their skins, and to return next year in the form +of bears. The soul of the dead bear departs to the same lord, who is +also lord of the primaeval forest; it goes away laden with the +offerings that have been made to it, and attended by the souls of +the dogs and also by the souls of the sacred whittled sticks, which +figure prominently at the festival. + +The Goldi, neighbours of the Gilyaks, treat the bear in much the +same way. They hunt and kill it; but sometimes they capture a live +bear and keep him in a cage, feeding him well and calling him their +son and brother. Then at a great festival he is taken from his cage, +paraded about with marked consideration, and afterwards killed and +eaten. "The skull, jaw-bones, and ears are then suspended on a tree, +as an antidote against evil spirits; but the flesh is eaten and much +relished, for they believe that all who partake of it acquire a zest +for the chase, and become courageous." + +The Orotchis, another Tunguzian people of the region of the Amoor, +hold bear-festivals of the same general character. Any one who +catches a bear cub considers it his bounden duty to rear it in a +cage for about three years, in order at the end of that time to kill +it publicly and eat the flesh with his friends. The feasts being +public, though organised by individuals, the people try to have one +in each Orotchi village every year in turn. When the bear is taken +out of his cage, he is led about by means of ropes to all the huts, +accompanied by people armed with lances, bows, and arrows. At each +hut the bear and bear-leaders are treated to something good to eat +and drink. This goes on for several days until all the huts, not +only in that village but also in the next, have been visited. The +days are given up to sport and noisy jollity. Then the bear is tied +to a tree or wooden pillar and shot to death by the arrows of the +crowd, after which its flesh is roasted and eaten. Among the +Orotchis of the Tundja River women take part in the bear-feasts, +while among the Orotchis of the River Vi the women will not even +touch bear's flesh. + +In the treatment of the captive bear by these tribes there are +features which can hardly be distinguished from worship. Such, for +example, are the prayers offered to it both alive and dead; the +offerings of food, including portions of its own flesh, laid before +the animal's skull; and the Gilyak custom of leading the living +beast to the river in order to ensure a supply of fish, and of +conducting him from house to house in order that every family may +receive his blessing, just as in Europe a May-tree or a personal +representative of the tree-spirit used to be taken from door to door +in spring for the sake of diffusing among all and sundry the fresh +energies of reviving nature. Again, the solemn participation in his +flesh and blood, and particularly the Aino custom of sharing the +contents of the cup which had been consecrated by being set before +the dead beast, are strongly suggestive of a sacrament, and the +suggestion is confirmed by the Gilyak practice of reserving special +vessels to hold the flesh and cooking it on a fire kindled by a +sacred apparatus which is never employed except on these religious +occasions. Indeed our principal authority on Aino religion, the Rev. +John Batchelor, frankly describes as worship the ceremonious respect +which the Aino pay to the bear, and he affirms that the animal is +undoubtedly one of their gods. Certainly the Aino appear to apply +their name for god (_kamui_) freely to the bear; but, as Mr. +Batchelor himself points out, that word is used with many different +shades of meaning and is applied to a great variety of objects, so +that from its application to the bear we cannot safely argue that +the animal is actually regarded as a deity. Indeed we are expressly +told that the Aino of Saghalien do not consider the bear to be a god +but only a messenger to the gods, and the message with which they +charge the animal at its death bears out the statement. Apparently +the Gilyaks also look on the bear in the light of an envoy +despatched with presents to the Lord of the Mountain, on whom the +welfare of the people depends. At the same time they treat the +animal as a being of a higher order than man, in fact as a minor +deity, whose presence in the village, so long as he is kept and fed, +diffuses blessings, especially by keeping at bay the swarms of evil +spirits who are constantly lying in wait for people, stealing their +goods and destroying their bodies by sickness and disease. Moreover, +by partaking of the flesh, blood, or broth of the bear, the Gilyaks, +the Aino, and the Goldi are all of opinion that they acquire some +portion of the animal's mighty powers, particularly his courage and +strength. No wonder, therefore, that they should treat so great a +benefactor with marks of the highest respect and affection. + +Some light may be thrown on the ambiguous attitude of the Aino to +bears by comparing the similar treatment which they accord to other +creatures. For example, they regard the eagle-owl as a good deity +who by his hooting warns men of threatened evil and defends them +against it; hence he is loved, trusted, and devoutly worshipped as a +divine mediator between men and the Creator. The various names +applied to him are significant both of his divinity and of his +mediatorship. Whenever an opportunity offers, one of these divine +birds is captured and kept in a cage, where he is greeted with the +endearing titles of "Beloved god" and "Dear little divinity." +Nevertheless the time comes when the dear little divinity is +throttled and sent away in his capacity of mediator to take a +message to the superior gods or to the Creator himself. The +following is the form of prayer addressed to the eagle-owl when it +is about to be sacrificed: "Beloved deity, we have brought you up +because we loved you, and now we are about to send you to your +father. We herewith offer you food, _inao,_ wine, and cakes; take +them to your parent, and he will be very pleased. When you come to +him say, 'I have lived a long time among the Ainu, where an Ainu +father and an Ainu mother reared me. I now come to thee. I have +brought a variety of good things. I saw while living in Ainuland a +great deal of distress. I observed that some of the people were +possessed by demons, some were wounded by wild animals, some were +hurt by landslides, others suffered shipwreck, and many were +attacked by disease. The people are in great straits. My father, +hear me, and hasten to look upon the Ainu and help them.' If you do +this, your father will help us." + +Again, the Aino keep eagles in cages, worship them as divinities, +and ask them to defend the people from evil. Yet they offer the bird +in sacrifice, and when they are about to do so they pray to him, +saying: "O precious divinity, O thou divine bird, pray listen to my +words. Thou dost not belong to this world, for thy home is with the +Creator and his golden eagles. This being so, I present thee with +these _inao_ and cakes and other precious things. Do thou ride upon +the _inao_ and ascend to thy home in the glorious heavens. When thou +arrivest, assemble the deities of thy own kind together and thank +them for us for having governed the world. Do thou come again, I +beseech thee, and rule over us. O my precious one, go thou quietly." +Once more, the Aino revere hawks, keep them in cages, and offer them +in sacrifice. At the time of killing one of them the following +prayer should be addressed to the bird: "O divine hawk, thou art an +expert hunter, please cause thy cleverness to descend on me." If a +hawk is well treated in captivity and prayed to after this fashion +when he is about to be killed, he will surely send help to the +hunter. + +Thus the Aino hopes to profit in various ways by slaughtering the +creatures, which, nevertheless, he treats as divine. He expects them +to carry messages for him to their kindred or to the gods in the +upper world; he hopes to partake of their virtues by swallowing +parts of their bodies or in other ways; and apparently he looks +forward to their bodily resurrection in this world, which will +enable him again to catch and kill them, and again to reap all the +benefits which he has already derived from their slaughter. For in +the prayers addressed to the worshipful bear and the worshipful +eagle before they are knocked on the head the creatures are invited +to come again, which seems clearly to point to a faith in their +future resurrection. If any doubt could exist on this head, it would +be dispelled by the evidence of Mr. Batchelor, who tells us that the +Aino "are firmly convinced that the spirits of birds and animals +killed in hunting or offered in sacrifice come and live again upon +the earth clothed with a body; and they believe, further, that they +appear here for the special benefit of men, particularly Ainu +hunters." The Aino, Mr. Batchelor tells us, "confessedly slays and +eats the beast that another may come in its place and be treated in +like manner"; and at the time of sacrificing the creatures "prayers +are said to them which form a request that they will come again and +furnish viands for another feast, as if it were an honour to them to +be thus killed and eaten, and a pleasure as well. Indeed such is the +people's idea." These last observations, as the context shows, refer +especially to the sacrifice of bears. + +Thus among the benefits which the Aino anticipates from the +slaughter of the worshipful animals not the least substantial is +that of gorging himself on their flesh and blood, both on the +present and on many a similar occasion hereafter; and that pleasing +prospect again is derived from his firm faith in the spiritual +immortality and bodily resurrection of the dead animals. A like +faith is shared by many savage hunters in many parts of the world +and has given rise to a variety of quaint customs, some of which +will be described presently. Meantime it is not unimportant to +observe that the solemn festivals at which the Aino, the Gilyaks, +and other tribes slaughter the tame caged bears with demonstrations +of respect and sorrow, are probably nothing but an extension or +glorification of similar rites which the hunter performs over any +wild bear which he chances to kill in the forest. Indeed with regard +to the Gilyaks we are expressly informed that this is the case. If +we would understand the meaning of the Gilyak ritual, says Mr. +Sternberg, "we must above all remember that the bear-festivals are +not, as is usually but falsely assumed, celebrated only at the +killing of a house-bear but are held on every occasion when a Gilyak +succeeds in slaughtering a bear in the chase. It is true that in +such cases the festival assumes less imposing dimensions, but in its +essence it remains the same. When the head and skin of a bear killed +in the forest are brought into the village, they are accorded a +triumphal reception with music and solemn ceremonial. The head is +laid on a consecrated scaffold, fed, and treated with offerings, +just as at the killing of a house-bear; and the guests of honour +(_Narch-en_) are also assembled. So, too, dogs are sacrificed, and +the bones of the bear are preserved in the same place and with the +same marks of respect as the bones of a house-bear. Hence the great +winter festival is only an extension of the rite which is observed +at the slaughter of every bear." + +Thus the apparent contradiction in the practice of these tribes, who +venerate and almost deify the animals which they habitually hunt, +kill, and eat, is not so flagrant as at first sight it appears to +us: the people have reasons, and some very practical reasons, for +acting as they do. For the savage is by no means so illogical and +unpractical as to superficial observers he is apt to seem; he has +thought deeply on the questions which immediately concern him, he +reasons about them, and though his conclusions often diverge very +widely from ours, we ought not to deny him the credit of patient and +prolonged meditation on some fundamental problems of human +existence. In the present case, if he treats bears in general as +creatures wholly subservient to human needs and yet singles out +certain individuals of the species for homage which almost amounts +to deification, we must not hastily set him down as irrational and +inconsistent, but must endeavour to place ourselves at his point of +view, to see things as he sees them, and to divest ourselves of the +prepossessions which tinge so deeply our own views of the world. If +we do so, we shall probably discover that, however absurd his +conduct may appear to us, the savage nevertheless generally acts on +a train of reasoning which seems to him in harmony with the facts of +his limited experience. This I propose to illustrate in the +following chapter, where I shall attempt to show that the solemn +ceremonial of the bear-festival among the Ainos and other tribes of +North-eastern Asia is only a particularly striking example of the +respect which on the principles of his rude philosophy the savage +habitually pays to the animals which he kills and eats. + + + + +LIII. The Propitiation of Wild Animals By Hunters + +THE EXPLANATION of life by the theory of an indwelling and +practically immortal soul is one which the savage does not confine +to human beings but extends to the animate creation in general. In +so doing he is more liberal and perhaps more logical than the +civilised man, who commonly denies to animals that privilege of +immortality which he claims for himself. The savage is not so proud; +he commonly believes that animals are endowed with feelings and +intelligence like those of men, and that, like men, they possess +souls which survive the death of their bodies either to wander about +as disembodied spirits or to be born again in animal form. + +Thus to the savage, who regards all living creatures as practically +on a footing of equality with man, the act of killing and eating an +animal must wear a very different aspect from that which the same +act presents to us, who regard the intelligence of animals as far +inferior to our own and deny them the possession of immortal souls. +Hence on the principles of his rude philosophy the primitive hunter +who slays an animal believes himself exposed to the vengeance either +of its disembodied spirit or of all the other animals of the same +species, whom he considers as knit together, like men, by the ties +of kin and the obligations of the blood feud, and therefore as bound +to resent the injury done to one of their number. Accordingly the +savage makes it a rule to spare the life of those animals which he +has no pressing motive for killing, at least such fierce and +dangerous animals as are likely to exact a bloody vengeance for the +slaughter of one of their kind. Crocodiles are animals of this sort. +They are only found in hot countries, where, as a rule, food is +abundant and primitive man has therefore little reason to kill them +for the sake of their tough and unpalatable flesh. Hence it is a +custom with some savages to spare crocodiles, or rather only to kill +them in obedience to the law of blood feud, that is, as a +retaliation for the slaughter of men by crocodiles. For example, the +Dyaks of Borneo will not kill a crocodile unless a crocodile has +first killed a man. "For why, say they, should they commit an act of +aggression, when he and his kindred can so easily repay them? But +should the alligator take a human life, revenge becomes a sacred +duty of the living relatives, who will trap the man-eater in the +spirit of an officer of justice pursuing a criminal. Others, even +then, hang back, reluctant to embroil themselves in a quarrel which +does not concern them. The man-eating alligator is supposed to be +pursued by a righteous Nemesis; and whenever one is caught they have +a profound conviction that it must be the guilty one, or his +accomplice." + +Like the Dyaks, the natives of Madagascar never kill a crocodile +"except in retaliation for one of their friends who has been +destroyed by a crocodile. They believe that the wanton destruction +of one of these reptiles will be followed by the loss of human life, +in accordance with the principle of _lex talionis._" The people who +live near the lake Itasy in Madagascar make a yearly proclamation to +the crocodiles, announcing that they will revenge the death of some +of their friends by killing as many crocodiles in return, and +warning all well-disposed crocodiles to keep out of the way, as they +have no quarrel with them, but only with their evil-minded relations +who have taken human life. Various tribes of Madagascar believe +themselves to be descended from crocodiles, and accordingly they +view the scaly reptile as, to all intents and purposes, a man and a +brother. If one of the animals should so far forget himself as to +devour one of his human kinsfolk, the chief of the tribe, or in his +absence an old man familiar with the tribal customs, repairs at the +head of the people to the edge of the water, and summons the family +of the culprit to deliver him up to the arm of justice. A hook is +then baited and cast into the river or lake. Next day the guilty +brother, or one of his family, is dragged ashore, and after his +crime has been clearly brought home to him by a strict +interrogation, he is sentenced to death and executed. The claims of +justice being thus satisfied and the majesty of the law fully +vindicated, the deceased crocodile is lamented and buried like a +kinsman; a mound is raised over his relics and a stone marks the +place of his head. + +Again, the tiger is another of those dangerous beasts whom the +savage prefers to leave alone, lest by killing one of the species he +should excite the hostility of the rest. No consideration will +induce a Sumatran to catch or wound a tiger except in self-defence +or immediately after a tiger has destroyed a friend or relation. +When a European has set traps for tigers, the people of the +neighbourhood have been known to go by night to the place and +explain to the animals that the traps are not set by them nor with +their consent. The inhabitants of the hills near Rajamahall, in +Bengal, are very averse to killing a tiger, unless one of their +kinsfolk has been carried off by one of the beasts. In that case +they go out for the purpose of hunting and slaying a tiger; and when +they have succeeded they lay their bows and arrows on the carcase +and invoke God, declaring that they slew the animal in retaliation +for the loss of a kinsman. Vengeance having been thus taken, they +swear not to attack another tiger except under similar provocation. + +The Indians of Carolina would not molest snakes when they came upon +them, but would pass by on the other side of the path, believing +that if they were to kill a serpent, the reptile's kindred would +destroy some of their brethren, friends, or relations in return. So +the Seminole Indians spared the rattlesnake, because they feared +that the soul of the dead rattlesnake would incite its kinsfolk to +take vengeance. The Cherokee regard the rattlesnake as the chief of +the snake tribe and fear and respect him accordingly. Few Cherokee +will venture to kill a rattlesnake, unless they cannot help it, and +even then they must atone for the crime by craving pardon of the +snake's ghost either in their own person or through the mediation of +a priest, according to a set formula. If these precautions are +neglected, the kinsfolk of the dead snake will send one of their +number as an avenger of blood, who will track down the murderer and +sting him to death. No ordinary Cherokee dares to kill a wolf, if he +can possibly help it; for he believes that the kindred of the slain +beast would surely avenge its death, and that the weapon with which +the deed 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 of atonement for such a crime can +kill wolves with impunity, and they are sometimes hired to do so by +people who have suffered from the raids of the wolves on their +cattle or fish-traps. In Jebel-Nuba, a district of the Eastern +Sudan, it is forbidden to touch the nests or remove the young of a +species of black birds, resembling our blackbirds, because the +people believe that the parent birds would avenge the wrong by +causing a stormy wind to blow, which would destroy the harvest. + +But the savage clearly cannot afford to spare all animals. He must +either eat some of them or starve, and when the question thus comes +to be whether he or the animal must perish, he is forced to overcome +his superstitious scruples and take the life of the beast. At the +same time he does all he can to appease his victims and their +kinsfolk. Even in the act of killing them he testifies his respect +for them, endeavours to excuse or even conceal his share in +procuring their death, and promises that their remains will be +honourably treated. By thus robbing death of its terrors, he hopes +to reconcile his victims to their fate and to induce their fellows +to come and be killed also. For example, it was a principle with the +Kamtchatkans never to kill a land or sea animal without first making +excuses to it and begging that the animal would not take it ill. +Also they offered it cedarnuts and so forth, to make it think that +it was not a victim but a guest at a feast. They believed that this +hindered other animals of the same species from growing shy. For +instance, after they had killed a bear and feasted on its flesh, the +host would bring the bear's head before the company, wrap it in +grass, and present it with a variety of trifles. Then he would lay +the blame of the bear's death on the Russians, and bid the beast +wreak his wrath upon them. Also he would ask the bear to inform the +other bears how well he had been treated, that they too might come +without fear. Seals, sea-lions, and other animals were treated by +the Kamtchatkans with the same ceremonious respect. Moreover, they +used to insert sprigs of a plant resembling bear's wort in the +mouths of the animals they killed; after which they would exhort the +grinning skulls to have no fear but to go and tell it to their +fellows, that they also might come and be caught and so partake of +this splendid hospitality. When the Ostiaks have hunted and killed a +bear, they cut off its head and hang it on a tree. Then they gather +round in a circle and pay it divine honours. Next they run towards +the carcase uttering lamentations and saying, "Who killed you? It +was the Russians. Who cut off your head? It was a Russian axe. Who +skinned you? It was a knife made by a Russian." They explain, too, +that the feathers which sped the arrow on its flight came from the +wing of a strange bird, and that they did nothing but let the arrow +go. They do all this because they believe that the wandering ghost +of the slain bear would attack them on the first opportunity, if +they did not thus appease it. Or they stuff the skin of the slain +bear with hay; and after celebrating their victory with songs of +mockery and insult, after spitting on and kicking it, they set it up +on its hind legs, "and then, for a considerable time, they bestow on +it all the veneration due to a guardian god." When a party of Koryak +have killed a bear or a wolf, they skin the beast and dress one of +themselves in the skin. Then they dance round the skin-clad man, +saying that it was not they who killed the animal, but some one +else, generally a Russian. When they kill a fox they skin it, wrap +the body in grass, and bid him go tell his companions how hospitably +he has been received, and how he has received a new cloak instead of +his old one. A fuller account of the Koryak ceremonies is given by a +more recent writer. He tells us that when a dead bear is brought to +the house, the women come out to meet it, dancing with firebrands. +The bear-skin is taken off along with the head; and one of the women +puts on the skin, dances in it, and entreats the bear not to be +angry, but to be kind to the people. At the same time they offer +meat on a wooden platter to the dead beast, saying, "Eat, friend." +Afterwards a ceremony is performed for the purpose of sending the +dead bear, or rather his spirit, away back to his home. He is +provided with provisions for the journey in the shape of puddings or +reindeer-flesh packed in a grass bag. His skin is stuffed with grass +and carried round the house, after which he is supposed to depart +towards the rising sun. The intention of the ceremonies is to +protect the people from the wrath of the slain bear and his +kinsfolk, and so to ensure success in future bear-hunts. The Finns +used to try to persuade a slain bear that he had not been killed by +them, but had fallen from a tree, or met his death in some other +way; moreover, they held a funeral festival in his honour, at the +close of which bards expatiated on the homage that had been paid to +him, urging him to report to the other bears the high consideration +with which he had been treated, in order that they also, following +his example, might come and be slain. When the Lapps had succeeded +in killing a bear with impunity, they thanked him for not hurting +them and for not breaking the clubs and spears which had given him +his death wounds; and they prayed that he would not visit his death +upon them by sending storms or in any other way. His flesh then +furnished a feast. + +The reverence of hunters for the bear whom they regularly kill and +eat may thus be traced all along the northern region of the Old +World from Bering's Straits to Lappland. It reappears in similar +forms in North America. With the American Indians a bear hunt was an +important event for which they prepared by long fasts and +purgations. Before setting out they offered expiatory sacrifices to +the souls of bears slain in previous hunts, and besought them to be +favourable to the hunters. When a bear was killed the hunter lit his +pipe, and putting the mouth of it between the bear's lips, blew into +the bowl, filling the beast's mouth with smoke. Then he begged the +bear not to be angry at having been killed, and not to thwart him +afterwards in the chase. The carcase was roasted whole and eaten; +not a morsel of the flesh might be left over. The head, painted red +and blue, was hung on a post and addressed by orators, who heaped +praise on the dead beast. When men of the Bear clan in the Ottawa +tribe killed a bear, they made him a feast of his own flesh, and +addressed him thus: "Cherish us no grudge because we have killed +you. You have sense; you see that our children are hungry. They love +you and wish to take you into their bodies. Is it not glorious to be +eaten by the children of a chief?" Amongst the Nootka Indians of +British Columbia, when a bear had been killed, it was brought in and +seated before the head chief in an upright posture, with a chief's +bonnet, wrought in figures, on its head, and its fur powdered over +with white down. A tray of provisions was then set before it, and it +was invited by words and gestures to eat. After that the animal was +skinned, boiled, and eaten. + +A like respect is testified for other dangerous creatures by the +hunters who regularly trap and kill them. When Caffre hunters are in +the act of showering spears on an elephant, they call out, "Don't +kill us, great captain; don't strike or tread upon us, mighty +chief." When he is dead they make their excuses to him, pretending +that his death was a pure accident. As a mark of respect they bury +his trunk with much solemn ceremony; for they say that "the elephant +is a great lord; his trunk is his hand." Before the Amaxosa Caffres +attack an elephant they shout to the animal and beg him to pardon +them for the slaughter they are about to perpetrate, professing +great submission to his person and explaining clearly the need they +have of his tusks to enable them to procure beads and supply their +wants. When they have killed him they bury in the ground, along with +the end of his trunk, a few of the articles they have obtained for +the ivory, thus hoping to avert some mishap that would otherwise +befall them. Amongst some tribes of Eastern Africa, when a lion is +killed, the carcase is brought before the king, who does homage to +it by prostrating himself on the ground and rubbing his face on the +muzzle of the beast. In some parts of Western Africa if a negro +kills a leopard he is bound fast and brought before the chiefs for +having killed one of their peers. The man defends himself on the +plea that the leopard is chief of the forest and therefore a +stranger. He is then set at liberty and rewarded. But the dead +leopard, adorned with a chief's bonnet, is set up in the village, +where nightly dances are held in its honour. The Baganda greatly +fear the ghosts of buffaloes which they have killed, and they always +appease these dangerous spirits. On no account will they bring the +head of a slain buffalo into a village or into a garden of +plantains: they always eat the flesh of the head in the open +country. Afterwards they place the skull in a small hut built for +the purpose, where they pour out beer as an offering and pray to the +ghost to stay where he is and not to harm them. + +Another formidable beast whose life the savage hunter takes with +joy, yet with fear and trembling, is the whale. After the slaughter +of a whale the maritime Koryak of North-eastern Siberia hold a +communal festival, the essential part of which "is based on the +conception that the whale killed has come on a visit to the village; +that it is staying for some time, during which it is treated with +great respect; that it then returns to the sea to repeat its visit +the following year; that it will induce its relatives to come along, +telling them of the hospitable reception that has been accorded to +it. According to the Koryak ideas, the whales, like all other +animals, constitute one tribe, or rather family, of related +individuals, who live in villages like the Koryak. They avenge the +murder of one of their number, and are grateful for kindnesses that +they may have received." When the inhabitants of the Isle of St. +Mary, to the north of Madagascar, go a-whaling, they single out the +young whales for attack and "humbly beg the mother's pardon, stating +the necessity that drives them to kill her progeny, and requesting +that she will be pleased to go below while the deed is doing, that +her maternal feelings may not be outraged by witnessing what must +cause her so much uneasiness." An Ajumba hunter having killed a +female hippopotamus on Lake Azyingo in West Africa, the animal was +decapitated and its quarters and bowels removed. Then the hunter, +naked, stepped into the hollow of the ribs, and kneeling down in the +bloody pool washed his whole body with the blood and excretions of +the animal, while he prayed to the soul of the hippopotamus not to +bear him a grudge for having killed her and so blighted her hopes of +future maternity; and he further entreated the ghost not to stir up +other hippopotamuses to avenge her death by butting at and capsizing +his canoe. + +The ounce, a leopard-like creature, is dreaded for its depredations +by the Indians of Brazil. When they have caught one of these animals +in a snare, they kill it and carry the body home to the village. +There the women deck the carcase with feathers of many colours, put +bracelets on its legs, and weep over it, saying, "I pray thee not to +take vengeance on our little ones for having been caught and killed +through thine own ignorance. For it was not we who deceived thee, it +was thyself. Our husbands only set the trap to catch animals that +are good to eat; they never thought to take thee in it. Therefore, +let not thy soul counsel thy fellows to avenge thy death on our +little ones!" When a Blackfoot Indian has caught eagles in a trap +and killed them, he takes them home to a special lodge, called the +eagles' lodge, which has been prepared for their reception outside +of the camp. Here he sets the birds in a row on the ground, and +propping up their heads on a stick, puts a piece of dried meat in +each of their mouths in order that the spirits of the dead eagles +may go and tell the other eagles how well they are being treated by +the Indians. So when Indian hunters of the Orinoco region have +killed an animal, they open its mouth and pour into it a few drops +of the liquor they generally carry with them, in order that the soul +of the dead beast may inform its fellows of the welcome it has met +with, and that they too, cheered by the prospect of the same kind +reception, may come with alacrity to be killed. When a Teton Indian +is on a journey, and he meets a grey spider or a spider with yellow +legs, he kills it, because some evil would befall him if he did not. +But he is very careful not to let the spider know that he kills it, +for if the spider knew, his soul would go and tell the other +spiders, and one of them would be sure to avenge the death of his +relation. So in crushing the insect, the Indian says, "O Grandfather +Spider, the Thunder-beings kill you." And the spider is crushed at +once and believes what is told him. His soul probably runs and tells +the other spiders that the Thunder-beings have killed him; but no +harm comes of that. For what can grey or yellow-legged spiders do to +the Thunder-beings? + +But it is not merely dangerous creatures with whom the savage +desires to keep on good terms. It is true that the respect which he +pays to wild beasts is in some measure proportioned to their +strength and ferocity. Thus the savage Stiens of Cambodia, believing +that all animals have souls which roam about after their death, beg +an animal's pardon when they kill it, lest its soul should come and +torment them. Also they offer it sacrifices, but these sacrifices +are proportioned to the size and strength of the animal. The +ceremonies which they observe at the death of an elephant are +conducted with much pomp and last seven days. Similar distinctions +are drawn by North American Indians. "The bear, the buffalo, and the +beaver are manidos [divinities] which furnish food. The bear is +formidable, and good to eat. They render ceremonies to him, begging +him to allow himself to be eaten, although they know he has no fancy +for it. We kill you, but you are not annihilated. His head and paws +are objects of homage. . . . Other animals are treated similarly +from similar reasons. . . . Many of the animal manidos, not being +dangerous, are often treated with contempt--the terrapin, the +weasel, polecat, etc." The distinction is instructive. Animals which +are feared, or are good to eat, or both, are treated with +ceremonious respect; those which are neither formidable nor good to +eat are despised. We have had examples of reverence paid to animals +which are both feared and eaten. It remains to prove that similar +respect is shown to animals which, without being feared, are either +eaten or valued for their skins. + +When Siberian sable-hunters have caught a sable, no one is allowed +to see it, and they think that if good or evil be spoken of the +captured sable no more sables will be caught. A hunter has been +known to express his belief that the sables could hear what was said +of them as far off as Moscow. He said that the chief reason why the +sable hunt was now so unproductive was that some live sables had +been sent to Moscow. There they had been viewed with astonishment as +strange animals, and the sables cannot abide that. Another, though +minor, cause of the diminished take of sables was, he alleged, that +the world is now much worse than it used to be, so that nowadays a +hunter will sometimes hide the sable which he has got instead of +putting it into the common stock. This also, said he, the sables +cannot abide. Alaskan hunters preserve the bones of sables and +beavers out of reach of the dogs for a year and then bury them +carefully, "lest the spirits who look after the beavers and sables +should consider that they are regarded with contempt, and hence no +more should be killed or trapped." The Canadian Indians were equally +particular not to let their dogs gnaw the bones, or at least certain +of the bones, of beavers. They took the greatest pains to collect +and preserve these bones, and, when the beaver had been caught in a +net, they threw them into the river. To a Jesuit who argued that the +beavers could not possibly know what became of their bones, the +Indians replied, "You know nothing about catching beavers and yet +you will be prating about it. Before the beaver is stone dead, his +soul takes a turn in the hut of the man who is killing him and makes +a careful note of what is done with his bones. If the bones are +given to the dogs, the other beavers would get word of it and would +not let themselves be caught. Whereas, if their bones are thrown +into the fire or a river, they are quite satisfied; and it is +particularly gratifying to the net which caught them." Before +hunting the beaver they offered a solemn prayer to the Great Beaver, +and presented him with tobacco; and when the chase was over, an +orator pronounced a funeral oration over the dead beavers. He +praised their spirit and wisdom. "You will hear no more," said he, +"the voice of the chieftains who commanded you and whom you chose +from among all the warrior beavers to give you laws. Your language, +which the medicine-men understand perfectly, will be heard no more +at the bottom of the lake. You will fight no more battles with the +otters, your cruel foes. No, beavers! But your skins shall serve to +buy arms; we will carry your smoked hams to our children; we will +keep the dogs from eating your bones, which are so hard." + +The elan, deer, and elk were treated by the American Indians with +the same punctilious respect, and for the same reason. Their bones +might not be given to the dogs nor thrown into the fire, nor might +their fat be dropped upon the fire, because the souls of the dead +animals were believed to see what was done to their bodies and to +tell it to the other beasts, living and dead. Hence, if their bodies +were illused, the animals of that species would not allow themselves +to be taken, neither in this world nor in the world to come. Among +the Chiquites of Paraguay a sick man would be asked by the +medicine-man whether he had not thrown away some of the flesh of the +deer or turtle, and if he answered yes, the medicine-man would say, +"That is what is killing you. The soul of the deer or turtle has +entered into your body to avenge the wrong you did it." The Canadian +Indians would not eat the embryos of the elk, unless at the close of +the hunting season; otherwise the mother-elks would be shy and +refuse to be caught. + +In the Timor-laut islands of the Indian Archipelago the skulls of +all the turtles which a fisherman has caught are hung up under his +house. Before he goes out to catch another, he addresses himself to +the skull of the last turtle that he killed, and having inserted +betel between its jaws, he prays the spirit of the dead animal to +entice its kinsfolk in the sea to come and be caught. In the Poso +district of Central Celebes hunters keep the jawbones of deer and +wild pigs which they have killed and hang them up in their houses +near the fire. Then they say to the jawbones, "Ye cry after your +comrades, that your grandfathers, or nephews, or children may not go +away." Their notion is that the souls of the dead deer and pigs +tarry near their jawbones and attract the souls of living deer and +pigs, which are thus drawn into the toils of the hunter. Thus the +wily savage employs dead animals as decoys to lure living animals to +their doom. + +The Lengua Indians of the Gran Chaco love to hunt the ostrich, but +when they have killed one of these birds and are bringing home the +carcase to the village, they take steps to outwit the resentful +ghost of their victim. They think that when the first natural shock +of death is passed, the ghost of the ostrich pulls himself together +and makes after his body. Acting on this sage calculation, the +Indians pluck feathers from the breast of the bird and strew them at +intervals along the track. At every bunch of feathers the ghost +stops to consider, "Is this the whole of my body or only a part of +it?" The doubt gives him pause, and when at last he has made up his +mind fully at all the bunches, and has further wasted valuable time +by the zigzag course which he invariably pursues in going from one +to another, the hunters are safe at home, and the bilked ghost may +stalk in vain round about the village, which he is too timid to +enter. + +The Esquimaux about Bering Strait believe that the souls of dead +sea-beasts, such as seals, walrus, and whales, remain attached to +their bladders, and that by returning the bladders to the sea they +can cause the souls to be reincarnated in fresh bodies and so +multiply the game which the hunters pursue and kill. Acting on this +belief every hunter carefully removes and preserves the bladders of +all the sea-beasts that he kills; and at a solemn festival held once +a year in winter these bladders, containing the souls of all the +sea-beasts that have been killed throughout the year, are honoured +with dances and offerings of food in the public assembly-room, after +which they are taken out on the ice and thrust through holes into +the water; for the simple Esquimaux imagine that the souls of the +animals, in high good humour at the kind treatment they have +experienced, will thereafter be born again as seals, walrus, and +whales, and in that form will flock willingly to be again speared, +harpooned, or otherwise done to death by the hunters. + +For like reasons, a tribe which depends for its subsistence, chiefly +or in part, upon fishing is careful to treat the fish with every +mark of honour and respect. The Indians of Peru "adored the fish +that they caught in greatest abundance; for they said that the first +fish that was made in the world above (for so they named Heaven) +gave birth to all other fish of that species, and took care to send +them plenty of its children to sustain their tribe. For this reason +they worshipped sardines in one region, where they killed more of +them than of any other fish; in others, the skate; in others, the +dogfish; in others, the golden fish for its beauty; in others, the +crawfish; in others, for want of larger gods, the crabs, where they +had no other fish, or where they knew not how to catch and kill +them. In short, they had whatever fish was most serviceable to them +as their gods." The Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia think that +when a salmon is killed its soul returns to the salmon country. +Hence they take care to throw the bones and offal into the sea, in +order that the soul may reanimate them at the resurrection of the +salmon. Whereas if they burned the bones the soul would be lost, and +so it would be quite impossible for that salmon to rise from the +dead. In like manner the Ottawa Indians of Canada, believing that +the souls of dead fish passed into other bodies of fish, never +burned fish bones, for fear of displeasing the souls of the fish, +who would come no more to the nets. The Hurons also refrained from +throwing fish bones into the fire, lest the souls of the fish should +go and warn the other fish not to let themselves be caught, since +the Hurons would burn their bones. Moreover, they had men who +preached to the fish and persuaded them to come and be caught. A +good preacher was much sought after, for they thought that the +exhortations of a clever man had a great effect in drawing the fish +to the nets. In the Huron fishing village where the French +missionary Sagard stayed, the preacher to the fish prided himself +very much on his eloquence, which was of a florid order. Every +evening after supper, having seen that all the people were in their +places and that a strict silence was observed, he preached to the +fish. His text was that the Hurons did not burn fish bones. "Then +enlarging on this theme with extraordinary unction, he exhorted and +conjured and invited and implored the fish to come and be caught and +to be of good courage and to fear nothing, for it was all to serve +their friends who honoured them and did not burn their bones." The +natives of the Duke of York Island annually decorate a canoe with +flowers and ferns, lade it, or are supposed to lade it, with +shell-money, and set it adrift to compensate the fish for their +fellows who have been caught and eaten. It is especially necessary +to treat the first fish caught with consideration in order to +conciliate the rest of the fish, whose conduct may be supposed to be +influenced by the reception given to those of their kind which were +the first to be taken. Accordingly the Maoris always put back into +the sea the first fish caught, "with a prayer that it may tempt +other fish to come and be caught." + +Still more stringent are the precautions taken when the fish are the +first of the season. On salmon rivers, when the fish begin to run up +the stream in spring, they are received with much deference by +tribes who, like the Indians of the Pacific Coast of North America, +subsist largely upon a fish diet. In British Columbia the Indians +used to go out to meet the first fish as they came up the river: +"They paid court to them, and would address them thus: 'You fish, +you fish; you are all chiefs, you are; you are all chiefs.'" Amongst +the Tlingit of Alaska the first halibut of the season is carefully +handled and addressed as a chief, and a festival is given in his +honour, after which the fishing goes on. In spring, when the winds +blow soft from the south and the salmon begin to run up the Klamath +river, the Karoks of California dance for salmon, to ensure a good +catch. One of the Indians, called the Kareya or God-man, retires to +the mountains and fasts for ten days. On his return the people flee, +while he goes to the river, takes the first salmon of the catch, +eats some of it, and with the rest kindles the sacred fire in the +sweating house. "No Indian may take a salmon before this dance is +held, nor for ten days after it, even if his family are starving." +The Karoks also believe that a fisherman will take no salmon if the +poles of which his spearing-booth is made were gathered on the +river-side, where the salmon might have seen them. The poles must be +brought from the top of the highest mountain. The fisherman will +also labour in vain if he uses the same poles a second year in +booths or weirs, "because the old salmon will have told the young +ones about them." There is a favourite fish of the Aino which appears +in their rivers about May and June. They prepare for the fishing by +observing rules of ceremonial purity, and when they have gone out to +fish, the women at home must keep strict silence or the fish would +hear them and disappear. When the first fish is caught he is brought +home and passed through a small opening at the end of the hut, but +not through the door; for if he were passed through the door, "the +other fish would certainly see him and disappear." This may partly +explain the custom observed by other savages of bringing game in +certain cases into their huts, not by the door, but by the window, +the smoke-hole, or by a special opening at the back of the hut. + +With some savages a special reason for respecting the bones of game, +and generally of the animals which they eat, is a belief that, if +the bones are preserved, they will in course of time be reclothed +with flesh, and thus the animal will come to life again. It is, +therefore, clearly for the interest of the hunter to leave the bones +intact since to destroy them would be to diminish the future supply +of game. Many of the Minnetaree Indians "believe that the bones of +those bisons which they have slain and divested of flesh rise again +clothed with renewed flesh, and quickened with life, and become fat, +and fit for slaughter the succeeding June." Hence on the western +prairies of America, the skulls of buffaloes may be seen arranged in +circles and symmetrical piles, awaiting the resurrection. After +feasting on a dog, the Dacotas carefully collect the bones, scrape, +wash, and bury them, "partly, as it is said, to testify to the +dog-species, that in feasting upon one of their number no disrespect +was meant to the species itself, and partly also from a belief that +the bones of the animal will rise and reproduce another." In +sacrificing an animal the Lapps regularly put aside the bones, eyes, +ears, heart, lungs, sexual parts (if the animal was a male), and a +morsel of flesh from each limb. Then, after eating the remainder of +the flesh, they laid the bones and the rest in anatomical order in a +coffin and buried them with the usual rites, believing that the god +to whom the animal was sacrificed would reclothe the bones with +flesh and restore the animal to life in Jabme-Aimo, the subterranean +world of the dead. Sometimes, as after feasting on a bear, they seem +to have contented themselves with thus burying the bones. Thus the +Lapps expected the resurrection of the slain animal to take place in +another world, resembling in this respect the Kamtchatkans, who +believed that every creature, down to the smallest fly, would rise +from the dead and live underground. On the other hand, the North +American Indians looked for the resurrection of the animals in the +present world. The habit, observed especially by Mongolian peoples, +of stuffing the skin of a sacrificed animal, or stretching it on a +framework, points rather to a belief in a resurrection of the latter +sort. The objection commonly entertained by primitive peoples to +break the bones of the animals which they have eaten or sacrificed +may be based either on a belief in the resurrection of the animals, +or on a fear of intimidating other creatures of the same species and +offending the ghosts of the slain animals. The reluctance of North +American Indians and Esquimaux to let dogs gnaw the bones of animals +is perhaps only a precaution to prevent the bones from being broken. + +But after all the resurrection of dead game may have its +inconveniences, and accordingly some hunters take steps to prevent +it by hamstringing the animal so as to prevent it or its ghost from +getting up and running away. This is the motive alleged for the +practice by Koui hunters in Laos; they think that the spells which +they utter in the chase may lose their magical virtue, and that the +slaughtered animal may consequently come to life again and escape. +To prevent that catastrophe they therefore hamstring the beast as +soon as they have butchered it. When an Esquimau of Alaska has +killed a fox, he carefully cuts the tendons of all the animal's legs +in order to prevent the ghost from reanimating the body and walking +about. But hamstringing the carcase is not the only measure which +the prudent savage adopts for the sake of disabling the ghost of his +victim. In old days, when the Aino went out hunting and killed a fox +first, they took care to tie its mouth up tightly in order to +prevent the ghost of the animal from sallying forth and warning its +fellows against the approach of the hunter. The Gilyaks of the Amoor +River put out the eyes of the seals they have killed, lest the +ghosts of the slain animals should know their slayers and avenge +their death by spoiling the seal-hunt. + +Besides the animals which primitive man dreads for their strength +and ferocity, and those which he reveres on account of the benefits +which he expects from them, there is another class of creatures +which he sometimes deems it necessary to conciliate by worship and +sacrifice. These are the vermin that infest his crops and his +cattle. To rid himself of these deadly foes the farmer has recourse +to many superstitious devices, of which, though some are meant to +destroy or intimidate the vermin, others aim at propitiating them +and persuading them by fair means to spare the fruits of the earth +and the herds. Thus Esthonian peasants, in the island of Oesel, +stand in great awe of the weevil, an insect which is exceedingly +destructive to the grain. They give it a fine name, and if a child +is about to kill a weevil they say, "Don't do it; the more we hurt +him, the more he hurts us." If they find a weevil they bury it in +the earth instead of killing it. Some even put the weevil under a +stone in the field and offer corn to it. They think that thus it is +appeased and does less harm. Amongst the Saxons of Transylvania, in +order to keep sparrows from the corn, the sower begins by throwing +the first handful of seed backwards over his head, saying, "That is +for you, sparrows." To guard the corn against the attacks of +leaf-flies he shuts his eyes and scatters three handfuls of oats in +different directions. Having made this offering to the leaf-flies he +feels sure that they will spare the corn. A Transylvanian way of +securing the crops against all birds, beasts, and insects, is this: +after he has finished sowing, the sower goes once more from end to +end of the field imitating the gesture of sowing, but with an empty +hand. As he does so he says, "I sow this for the animals; I sow it +for every thing that flies and creeps, that walks and stands, that +sings and springs, in the name of God the Father, etc." The +following is a German way of freeing a garden from caterpillars. +After sunset or at midnight the mistress of the house, or another +female member of the family, walks all round the garden dragging a +broom after her. She may not look behind her, and must keep +murmuring, "Good evening, Mother Caterpillar, you shall come with +your husband to church." The garden gate is left open till the +following morning. + +Sometimes in dealing with vermin the farmer aims at hitting a happy +mean between excessive rigour on the one hand and weak indulgence on +the other; kind but firm, he tempers severity with mercy. An ancient +Greek treatise on farming advises the husbandman who would rid his +lands of mice to act thus: "Take a sheet of paper and write on it as +follows: 'I adjure you, ye mice here present, that ye neither injure +me nor suffer another mouse to do so. I give you yonder field' (here +you specify the field); 'but if ever I catch you here again, by the +Mother of the Gods I will rend you in seven pieces.' Write this, and +stick the paper on an unhewn stone in the field before sunrise, +taking care to keep the written side up." In the Ardennes they say +that to get rid of rats you should repeat the following words: +"_Erat verbum, apud Deum vestrum._ Male rats and female rats, I +conjure you, by the great God, to go out of my house, out of all my +habitations, and to betake yourselves to such and such a place, +there to end your days. _Decretis, reversis et desembarassis virgo +potens, clemens, justitiae._" Then write the same words on pieces of +paper, fold them up, and place one of them under the door by which +the rats are to go forth, and the other on the road which they are +to take. This exorcism should be performed at sunrise. Some years +ago an American farmer was reported to have written a civil letter +to the rats, telling them that his crops were short, that he could +not afford to keep them through the winter, that he had been very +kind to them, and that for their own good he thought they had better +leave him and go to some of his neighbours who had more grain. This +document he pinned to a post in his barn for the rats to read. + +Sometimes the desired object is supposed to be attained by treating +with high distinction one or two chosen individuals of the obnoxious +species, while the rest are pursued with relentless rigour. In the +East Indian island of Bali, the mice which ravage the rice-fields +are caught in great numbers, and burned in the same way that corpses +are burned. But two of the captured mice are allowed to live, and +receive a little packet of white linen. Then the people bow down +before them, as before gods, and let them go. When the farms of the +Sea Dyaks or Ibans of Sarawak are much pestered by birds and +insects, they catch a specimen of each kind of vermin (one sparrow, +one grasshopper, and so on), put them in a tiny boat of bark +well-stocked with provisions, and then allow the little vessel with +its obnoxious passengers to float down the river. If that does not +drive the pests away, the Dyaks resort to what they deem a more +effectual mode of accomplishing the same purpose. They make a clay +crocodile as large as life and set it up in the fields, where they +offer it food, rice-spirit, and cloth, and sacrifice a fowl and a +pig before it. Mollified by these attentions, the ferocious animal +very soon gobbles up all the creatures that devour the crops. In +Albania, if the fields or vineyards are ravaged by locusts or +beetles, some of the women will assemble with dishevelled hair, +catch a few of the insects, and march with them in a funeral +procession to a spring or stream, in which they drown the creatures. +Then one of the women sings, "O locusts and beetles who have left us +bereaved," and the dirge is taken up and repeated by all the women +in chorus. Thus by celebrating the obsequies of a few locusts and +beetles, they hope to bring about the death of them all. When +caterpillars invaded a vineyard or field in Syria, the virgins were +gathered, and one of the caterpillars was taken and a girl made its +mother. Then they bewailed and buried it. Thereafter they conducted +the "mother" to the place where the caterpillars were, consoling +her, in order that all the caterpillars might leave the garden. + + + +LIV. Types of Animal Sacrament + + + +1. The Egyptian and the Aino Types of Sacrament + +WE are now perhaps in a position to understand the ambiguous +behaviour of the Aino and Gilyaks towards the bear. It has been +shown that the sharp line of demarcation which we draw between +mankind and the lower animals does not exist for the savage. To him +many of the other animals appear as his equals or even his +superiors, not merely in brute force but in intelligence; and if +choice or necessity leads him to take their lives, he feels bound, +out of regard to his own safety, to do it in a way which will be as +inoffensive as possible not merely to the living animal, but to its +departed spirit and to all the other animals of the same species, +which would resent an affront put upon one of their kind much as a +tribe of savages would revenge an injury or insult offered to a +tribesman. We have seen that among the many devices by which the +savage seeks to atone for the wrong done by him to his animal +victims one is to show marked deference to a few chosen individuals +of the species, for such behaviour is apparently regarded as +entitling him to exterminate with impunity all the rest of the +species upon which he can lay hands. This principle perhaps explains +the attitude, at first sight puzzling and contradictory, of the Aino +towards the bear. The flesh and skin of the bear regularly afford +them food and clothing; but since the bear is an intelligent and +powerful animal, it is necessary to offer some satisfaction or +atonement to the bear species for the loss which it sustains in the +death of so many of its members. This satisfaction or atonement is +made by rearing young bears, treating them, so long as they live, +with respect, and killing them with extraordinary marks of sorrow +and devotion. So the other bears are appeased, and do not resent the +slaughter of their kind by attacking the slayers or deserting the +country, which would deprive the Aino of one of their means of +subsistence. + +Thus the primitive worship of animals conforms to two types, which +are in some respects the converse of each other. On the one hand, +animals are worshipped, and are therefore neither killed nor eaten. +On the other hand, animals are worshipped because they are +habitually killed and eaten. In both types of worship the animal is +revered on account of some benefit, positive or negative, which the +savage hopes to receive from it. In the former worship the benefit +comes either in the positive shape of protection, advice, and help +which the animal affords the man, or in the negative shape of +abstinence from injuries which it is in the power of the animal to +inflict. In the latter worship the benefit takes the material form +of the animal's flesh and skin. The two types of worship are in some +measure antithetical: in the one, the animal is not eaten because it +is revered; in the other, it is revered because it is eaten. But +both may be practised by the same people, as we see in the case of +the North American Indians, who, while they apparently revere and +spare their totem animals, also revere the animals and fish upon +which they subsist. The aborigines of Australia have totemism in the +most primitive form known to us; but there is no clear evidence that +they attempt, like the North American Indians, to conciliate the +animals which they kill and eat. The means which the Australians +adopt to secure a plentiful supply of game appear to be primarily +based, not on conciliation, but on sympathetic magic, a principle to +which the North American Indians also resort for the same purpose. +Hence, as the Australians undoubtedly represent a ruder and earlier +stage of human progress than the American Indians, it would seem +that before hunters think of worshipping the game as a means of +ensuring an abundant supply of it, they seek to attain the same end +by sympathetic magic. This, again, would show--what there is good +reason for believing--that sympathetic magic is one of the earliest +means by which man endeavours to adapt the agencies of nature to his +needs. + +Corresponding to the two distinct types of animal worship, there are +two distinct types of the custom of killing the animal god. On the +one hand, when the revered animal is habitually spared, it is +nevertheless killed--and sometimes eaten--on rare and solemn +occasions. Examples of this custom have been already given and an +explanation of them offered. On the other hand, when the revered +animal is habitually killed, the slaughter of any one of the species +involves the killing of the god, and is atoned for on the spot by +apologies and sacrifices, especially when the animal is a powerful +and dangerous one; and, in addition to this ordinary and everyday +atonement, there is a special annual atonement, at which a select +individual of the species is slain with extraordinary marks of +respect and devotion. Clearly the two types of sacramental +killing--the Egyptian and the Aino types, as we may call them for +distinction--are liable to be confounded by an observer; and, before +we can say to which type any particular example belongs, it is +necessary to ascertain whether the animal sacramentally slain +belongs to a species which is habitually spared, or to one which is +habitually killed by the tribe. In the former case the example +belongs to the Egyptian type of sacrament, in the latter to the Aino +type. + +The practice of pastoral tribes appears to furnish examples of both +types of sacrament. "Pastoral tribes," says Adolf Bastian, "being +sometimes obliged to sell their herds to strangers who may handle +the bones disrespectfully, seek to avert the danger which such a +sacrilege would entail by consecrating one of the herd as an object +of worship, eating it sacramentally in the family circle with closed +doors, and afterwards treating the bones with all the ceremonious +respect which, strictly speaking, should be accorded to every head +of cattle, but which, being punctually paid to the representative +animal, is deemed to be paid to all. Such family meals are found +among various peoples, especially those of the Caucasus. When +amongst the Abchases the shepherds in spring eat their common meal +with their loins girt and their staves in their hands, this may be +looked upon both as a sacrament and as an oath of mutual help and +support. For the strongest of all oaths is that which is accompanied +with the eating of a sacred substance, since the perjured person +cannot possibly escape the avenging god whom he has taken into his +body and assimilated." This kind of sacrament is of the Aino or +expiatory type, since it is meant to atone to the species for the +possible ill-usage of individuals. An expiation, similar in +principle but different in details, is offered by the Kalmucks to +the sheep, whose flesh is one of their staple foods. Rich Kalmucks +are in the habit of consecrating a white ram under the title of "the +ram of heaven" or "the ram of the spirit." The animal is never shorn +and never sold; but when it grows old and its owner wishes to +consecrate a new one, the old ram must be killed and eaten at a +feast to which the neighbours are invited. On a lucky day, generally +in autumn when the sheep are fat, a sorcerer kills the old ram, +after sprinkling it with milk. Its flesh is eaten; the skeleton, +with a portion of the fat, is burned on a turf altar; and the skin, +with the head and feet, is hung up. + +An example of a sacrament of the Egyptian type is furnished by the +Todas, a pastoral people of Southern India, who subsist largely upon +the milk of their buffaloes. Amongst them "the buffalo is to a +certain degree held sacred" and "is treated with great kindness, +even with a degree of adoration, by the people." They never eat the +flesh of the cow buffalo, and as a rule abstain from the flesh of +the male. But to the latter rule there is a single exception. Once a +year all the adult males of the village join in the ceremony of +killing and eating a very young male calf--seemingly under a month +old. They take the animal into the dark recesses of the village +wood, where it is killed with a club made from the sacred tree of +the Todas (the _Millingtonia_). A sacred fire having been made by +the rubbing of sticks, the flesh of the calf is roasted on the +embers of certain trees, and is eaten by the men alone, women being +excluded from the assembly. This is the only occasion on which the +Todas eat buffalo flesh. The Madi or Moru tribe of Central Africa, +whose chief wealth is their cattle, though they also practise +agriculture, appear to kill a lamb sacramentally on certain solemn +occasions. The custom is thus described by Dr. Felkin: "A remarkable +custom is observed at stated times--once a year, I am led to +believe. I have not been able to ascertain what exact meaning is +attached to it. It appears, however, to relieve the people's minds, +for beforehand they evince much sadness, and seem very joyful when +the ceremony is duly accomplished. The following is what takes +place: A large concourse of people of all ages assemble, and sit +down round a circle of stones, which is erected by the side of a +road (really a narrow path). A very choice lamb is then fetched by a +boy, who leads it four times round the assembled people. As it +passes they pluck off little bits of its fleece and place them in +their hair, or on to some other part of their body. The lamb is then +led up to the stones, and there killed by a man belonging to a kind +of priestly order, who takes some of the blood and sprinkles it four +times over the people. He then applies it individually. On the +children he makes a small ring of blood over the lower end of the +breast bone, on women and girls he makes a mark above the breasts, +and the men he touches on each shoulder. He then proceeds to explain +the ceremony, and to exhort the people to show kindness. . . . When +this discourse, which is at times of great length, is over, the +people rise, each places a leaf on or by the circle of stones, and +then they depart with signs of great joy. The lamb's skull is hung +on a tree near the stones, and its flesh is eaten by the poor. This +ceremony is observed on a small scale at other times. If a family is +in any great trouble, through illness or bereavement, their friends +and neighbours come together and a lamb is killed; this is thought +to avert further evil. The same custom prevails at the grave of +departed friends, and also on joyful occasions, such as the return +of a son home after a very prolonged absence." The sorrow thus +manifested by the people at the annual slaughter of the lamb seems +to show that the lamb slain is a sacred or divine animal, whose +death is mourned by his worshippers, just as the death of the sacred +buzzard was mourned by the Californians and the death of the Theban +ram by the Egyptians. The smearing each of the worshippers with the +blood of the lamb is a form of communion with the divinity; the +vehicle of the divine life is applied externally instead of being +taken internally, as when the blood is drunk or the flesh eaten. + + + +2. Processions with Sacred Animals + +THE FORM of communion in which the sacred animal is taken from house +to house, that all may enjoy a share of its divine influence, has +been exemplified by the Gilyak custom of promenading the bear +through the village before it is slain. A similar form of communion +with the sacred snake is observed by a Snake tribe in the Punjaub. +Once a year in the month of September the snake is worshipped by all +castes and religions for nine days only. At the end of August the +Mirasans, especially those of the Snake tribe, make a snake of dough +which they paint black and red, and place on a winnowing basket. +This basket they carry round the village, and on entering any house +they say: "God be with you all! May every ill be far! May our +patron's (Gugga's) word thrive!" Then they present the basket with +the snake, saying: "A small cake of flour: a little bit of butter: +if you obey the snake, you and yours shall thrive!" Strictly +speaking, a cake and butter should be given, but it is seldom done. +Every one, however, gives something, generally a handful of dough or +some corn. In houses where there is a new bride or whence a bride +has gone, or where a son has been born, it is usual to give a rupee +and a quarter, or some cloth. Sometimes the bearers of the snake +also sing: + + +"Give the snake a piece of cloth, and he will send a lively bride!" + + +When every house has been thus visited, the dough snake is buried +and a small grave is erected over it. Thither during the nine days +of September the women come to worship. They bring a basin of curds, +a small portion of which they offer at the snake's grave, kneeling +on the ground and touching the earth with their foreheads. Then they +go home and divide the rest of the curds among the children. Here +the dough snake is clearly a substitute for a real snake. Indeed, in +districts where snakes abound the worship is offered, not at the +grave of the dough snake, but in the jungles where snakes are known +to be. Besides this yearly worship, performed by all the people, the +members of the Snake tribe worship in the same way every morning +after a new moon. The Snake tribe is not uncommon in the Punjaub. +Members of it will not kill a snake, and they say that its bite does +not hurt them. If they find a dead snake, they put clothes on it and +give it a regular funeral. + +Ceremonies closely analogous to this Indian worship of the snake +have survived in Europe into recent times, and doubtless date from a +very primitive paganism. The best-known example is the "hunting of +the wren." By many European peoples--the ancient Greeks and Romans, +the modern Italians, Spaniards, French, Germans, Dutch, Danes, +Swedes, English, and Welsh--the wren has been designated the king, +the little king, the king of birds, the hedge king, and so forth, +and has been reckoned amongst those birds which it is extremely +unlucky to kill. In England it is supposed that if any one kills a +wren or harries its nest, he will infallibly break a bone or meet +with some dreadful misfortune within the year; sometimes it is +thought that the cows will give bloody milk. In Scotland the wren is +called "the Lady of Heaven's hen," and boys say: + + + "Malisons, malisons, mair than ten, + That harry the Ladye of Heaven's hen!" + + +At Saint Donan, in Brittany, people believe that if children touch +the young wrens in the nest, they will suffer from the fire of St. +Lawrence, that is, from pimples on the face, legs, and so on. In +other parts of France it is thought that if a person kills a wren or +harries its nest, his house will be struck by lightning, or that the +fingers with which he did the deed will shrivel up and drop off, or +at least be maimed, or that his cattle will suffer in their feet. + +Notwithstanding such beliefs, the custom of annually killing the +wren has prevailed widely both in this country and in France. In the +Isle of Man down to the eighteenth century the custom was observed +on Christmas Eve, or rather Christmas morning. On the twenty-fourth +of December, towards evening, all the servants got a holiday; they +did not go to bed all night, but rambled about till the bells rang +in all the churches at midnight. When prayers were over, they went +to hunt the wren, and having found one of these birds they killed it +and fastened it to the top of a long pole with its wings extended. +Thus they carried it in procession to every house chanting the +following rhyme: + + + "We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin, + We hunted the wren for Jack of the Can, + We hunted the wren for Robin the Bobbin, + We hunted the wren for every one." + + +When they had gone from house to house and collected all the money +they could, they laid the wren on a bier and carried it in +procession to the parish churchyard, where they made a grave and +buried it "with the utmost solemnity, singing dirges over her in the +Manks language, which they call her knell; after which Christmas +begins." The burial over, the company outside the churchyard formed +a circle and danced to music. + +A writer of the eighteenth century says that in Ireland the wren "is +still hunted and killed by the peasants on Christmas Day, and on the +following (St. Stephen's Day) he is carried about, hung by the leg, +in the centre of two hoops, crossing each other at right angles, and +a procession made in every village, of men, women, and children, +singing an Irish catch, importing him to be the king of all birds." +Down to the present time the "hunting of the wren" still takes place +in parts of Leinster and Connaught. On Christmas Day or St. +Stephen's Day the boys hunt and kill the wren, fasten it in the +middle of a mass of holly and ivy on the top of a broomstick, and on +St. Stephen's Day go about with it from house to house, singing: + + + "The wren, the wren, the king of all birds, + St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze; + Although he is little, his family's great, + I pray you, good landlady, give us a treat." + + +Money or food (bread, butter, eggs, etc.) were given them, upon +which they feasted in the evening. + +In the first half of the nineteenth century similar customs were +still observed in various parts of the south of France. Thus at +Carcassone, every year on the first Sunday of December the young +people of the street Saint Jean used to go out of the town armed +with sticks, with which they beat the bushes, looking for wrens. The +first to strike down one of these birds was proclaimed King. Then +they returned to the town in procession, headed by the King, who +carried the wren on a pole. On the evening of the last day of the +year the King and all who had hunted the wren marched through the +streets of the town to the light of torches, with drums beating and +fifes playing in front of them. At the door of every house they +stopped, and one of them wrote with chalk on the door _vive le roi!_ +with the number of the year which was about to begin. On the morning +of Twelfth Day the King again marched in procession with great pomp, +wearing a crown and a blue mantle and carrying a sceptre. In front +of him was borne the wren fastened to the top of a pole, which was +adorned with a verdant wreath of olive, of oak, and sometimes of +mistletoe grown on an oak. After hearing high mass in the parish +church of St. Vincent, surrounded by his officers and guards, the +King visited the bishop, the mayor, the magistrates, and the chief +inhabitants, collecting money to defray the expenses of the royal +banquet which took place in the evening and wound up with a dance. + +The parallelism between this custom of "hunting the wren" and some +of those which we have considered, especially the Gilyak procession +with the bear, and the Indian one with the snake, seems too close to +allow us to doubt that they all belong to the same circle of ideas. +The worshipful animal is killed with special solemnity once a year; +and before or immediately after death he is promenaded from door to +door, that each of his worshippers may receive a portion of the +divine virtues that are supposed to emanate from the dead or dying +god. Religious processions of this sort must have had a great place +in the ritual of European peoples in prehistoric times, if we may +judge from the numerous traces of them which have survived in +folk-custom. For example, on the last day of the year, or Hogmanay +as it was called, it used to be customary in the Highlands of +Scotland for a man to dress himself up in a cow's hide and thus +attired to go from house to house, attended by young fellows, each +of them armed with a staff, to which a bit of raw hide was tied. +Round every house the hide-clad man used to run thrice _deiseal,_ +that is, according to the course of the sun, so as to keep the house +on his right hand; while the others pursued him, beating the hide +with their staves and thereby making a loud noise like the beating +of a drum. In this disorderly procession they also struck the walls +of the house. On being admitted, one of the party, standing within +the threshold, pronounced a blessing on the family in these words: +"May God bless the house and all that belongs to it, cattle, stones, +and timber! In plenty of meat, of bed and body clothes, and health +of men may it ever abound!" Then each of the party singed in the +fire a little bit of the hide which was tied to his staff; and +having done so he applied the singed hide to the nose of every +person and of every domestic animal belonging to the house. This was +imagined to secure them from diseases and other misfortunes, +particularly from witchcraft, throughout the ensuing year. The whole +ceremony was called _calluinn_ because of the great noise made in +beating the hide. It was observed in the Hebrides, including St. +Kilda, down to the second half of the eighteenth century at least, +and it seems to have survived well into the nineteenth century. + + + + +LV. The Transference of Evil + + + +1. The Transference to Inanimate Objects + +WE have now traced the practice of killing a god among peoples in +the hunting, pastoral, and agricultural stages of society; and I +have attempted to explain the motives which led men to adopt so +curious a custom. One aspect of the custom still remains to be +noticed. The accumulated misfortunes and sins of the whole people +are sometimes laid upon the dying god, who is supposed to bear them +away for ever, leaving the people innocent and happy. The notion +that we can transfer our guilt and sufferings to some other being +who will bear them for us is familiar to the savage mind. It arises +from a very obvious confusion between the physical and the mental, +between the material and the immaterial. Because it is possible to +shift a load of wood, stones, or what not, from our own back to the +back of another, the savage fancies that it is equally possible to +shift the burden of his pains and sorrows to another, who will +suffer them in his stead. Upon this idea he acts, and the result is +an endless number of very unamiable devices for palming off upon +some one else the trouble which a man shrinks from bearing himself. +In short, the principle of vicarious suffering is commonly +understood and practised by races who stand on a low level of social +and intellectual culture. In the following pages I shall illustrate +the theory and the practice as they are found among savages in all +their naked simplicity, undisguised by the refinements of +metaphysics and the subtleties of theology. + +The devices to which the cunning and selfish savage resorts for the +sake of easing himself at the expense of his neighbour are manifold; +only a few typical examples out of a multitude can be cited. At the +outset it is to be observed that the evil of which a man seeks to +rid himself need not be transferred to a person; it may equally well +be transferred to an animal or a thing, though in the last case the +thing is often only a vehicle to convey the trouble to the first +person who touches it. In some of the East Indian islands they think +that epilepsy can be cured by striking the patient on the face with +the leaves of certain trees and then throwing them away. The disease +is believed to have passed into the leaves, and to have been thrown +away with them. To cure toothache some of the Australian blacks +apply a heated spear-thrower to the cheek. The spear-thrower is then +cast away, and the toothache goes with it in the shape of a black +stone called _karriitch._ Stones of this kind are found in old +mounds and sandhills. They are carefully collected and thrown in the +direction of enemies in order to give them toothache. The Bahima, a +pastoral people of Uganda, often suffer from deep-seated abscesses: +"their cure for this is to transfer the disease to some other person +by obtaining herbs from the medicine-man, rubbing them over the +place where the swelling is, and burying them in the road where +people continually pass; the first person who steps over these +buried herbs contracts the disease, and the original patient +recovers." + +Sometimes in case of sickness the malady is transferred to an effigy +as a preliminary to passing it on to a human being. Thus among the +Baganda the medicine-man would sometimes make a model of his patient +in clay; then a relative of the sick man would rub the image over +the sufferer's body and either bury it in the road or hide it in the +grass by the wayside. The first person who stepped over the image or +passed by it would catch the disease. Sometimes the effigy was made +out of a plantain-flower tied up so as to look like a person; it was +used in the same way as the clay figure. But the use of images for +this maleficent purpose was a capital crime; any person caught in +the act of burying one of them in the public road would surely have +been put to death. + +In the western district of the island of Timor, when men or women +are making long and tiring journeys, they fan themselves with leafy +branches, which they afterwards throw away on particular spots where +their forefathers did the same before them. The fatigue which they +felt is thus supposed to have passed into the leaves and to be left +behind. Others use stones instead of leaves. Similarly in the Babar +Archipelago tired people will strike themselves with stones, +believing that they thus transfer to the stones the weariness which +they felt in their own bodies. They then throw away the stones in +places which are specially set apart for the purpose. A like belief +and practice in many distant parts of the world have given rise to +those cairns or heaps of sticks and leaves which travellers often +observe beside the path, and to which every passing native adds his +contribution in the shape of a stone, or stick, or leaf. Thus in the +Solomon and Banks' Islands the natives are wont to throw sticks, +stones, or leaves upon a heap at a place of steep descent, or where +a difficult path begins, saying, "There goes my fatigue." The act is +not a religious rite, for the thing thrown on the heap is not an +offering to spiritual powers, and the words which accompany the act +are not a prayer. It is nothing but a magical ceremony for getting +rid of fatigue, which the simple savage fancies he can embody in a +stick, leaf, or stone, and so cast it from him. + + + +2. The Transference to Animals + +ANIMALS are often employed as a vehicle for carrying away or +transferring the evil. When a Moor has a headache he will sometimes +take a lamb or a goat and beat it till it falls down, believing that +the headache will thus be transferred to the animal. In Morocco most +wealthy Moors keep a wild boar in their stables, in order that the +jinn and evil spirits may be diverted from the horses and enter into +the boar. Amongst the Caffres of South Africa, when other remedies +have failed, "natives sometimes adopt the custom of taking a goat +into the presence of a sick man, and confess the sins of the kraal +over the animal. Sometimes a few drops of blood from the sick man +are allowed to fall on the head of the goat, which is turned out +into an uninhabited part of the veldt. The sickness is supposed to +be transferred to the animal, and to become lost in the desert." In +Arabia, when the plague is raging, the people will sometimes lead a +camel through all the quarters of the town in order that the animal +may take the pestilence on itself. Then they strangle it in a sacred +place and imagine that they have rid themselves of the camel and of +the plague at one blow. It is said that when smallpox is raging the +savages of Formosa will drive the demon of disease into a sow, then +cut off the animal's ears and burn them or it, believing that in +this way they rid themselves of the plague. + +Amongst the Malagasy the vehicle for carrying away evils is called a +_faditra._ "The faditra is anything selected by the sikidy [divining +board] for the purpose of taking away any hurtful evils or diseases +that might prove injurious to an individual's happiness, peace, or +prosperity. The faditra may be either ashes, cut money, a sheep, a +pumpkin, or anything else the sikidy may choose to direct. After the +particular article is appointed, the priest counts upon it all the +evils that may prove injurious to the person for whom it is made, +and which he then charges the faditra to take away for ever. If the +faditra be ashes, it is blown, to be carried away by the wind. If it +be cut money, it is thrown to the bottom of deep water, or where it +can never be found. If it be a sheep, it is carried away to a +distance on the shoulders of a man, who runs with all his might, +mumbling as he goes, as if in the greatest rage against the faditra, +for the evils it is bearing away. If it be a pumpkin, it is carried +on the shoulders to a little distance, and there dashed upon the +ground with every appearance of fury and indignation." A Malagasy +was informed by a diviner that he was doomed to a bloody death, but +that possibly he might avert his fate by performing a certain rite. +Carrying a small vessel full of blood upon his head, he was to mount +upon the back of a bullock; while thus mounted, he was to spill the +blood upon the bullock's head, and then send the animal away into +the wilderness, whence it might never return. + +The Bataks of Sumatra have a ceremony which they call "making the +curse to fly away." When a woman is childless, a sacrifice is +offered to the gods of three grasshoppers, representing a head of +cattle, a buffalo, and a horse. Then a swallow is set free, with a +prayer that the curse may fall upon the bird and fly away with it. +"The entrance into a house of an animal which does not generally +seek to share the abode of man is regarded by the Malays as ominous +of misfortune. If a wild bird flies into a house, it must be +carefully caught and smeared with oil, and must then be released in +the open air, a formula being recited in which it is bidden to fly +away with all the ill-luck and misfortunes of the occupier." In +antiquity Greek women seem to have done the same with swallows which +they caught in the house: they poured oil on them and let them fly +away, apparently for the purpose of removing ill-luck from the +household. The Huzuls of the Carpathians imagine that they can +transfer freckles to the first swallow they see in spring by washing +their face in flowing water and saying, "Swallow, swallow, take my +freckles, and give me rosy cheeks." + +Among the Badagas of the Neilgherry Hills in Southern India, when a +death has taken place, the sins of the deceased are laid upon a +buffalo calf. For this purpose the people gather round the corpse +and carry it outside of the village. There an elder of the tribe, +standing at the head of the corpse, recites or chants a long list of +sins such as any Badaga may commit, and the people repeat the last +word of each line after him. The confession of sins is thrice +repeated. "By a conventional mode of expression, the sum total of +sins a man may do is said to be thirteen hundred. Admitting that the +deceased has committed them all, the performer cries aloud, 'Stay +not their flight to God's pure feet.' As he closes, the whole +assembly chants aloud 'Stay not their flight.' Again the performer +enters into details, and cries, 'He killed the crawling snake. It is +a sin.' In a moment the last word is caught up, and all the people +cry 'It is a sin.' As they shout, the performer lays his hand upon +the calf. The sin is transferred to the calf. Thus the whole +catalogue is gone through in this impressive way. But this is not +enough. As the last shout 'Let all be well' dies away, the performer +gives place to another, and again confession is made, and all the +people shout 'It is a sin.' A third time it is done. Then, still in +solemn silence, the calf is let loose. Like the Jewish scapegoat, it +may never be used for secular work." At a Badaga funeral witnessed +by the Rev. A. C. Clayton the buffalo calf was led thrice round the +bier, and the dead man's hand was laid on its head. "By this act, +the calf was supposed to receive all the sins of the deceased. It +was then driven away to a great distance, that it might contaminate +no one, and it was said that it would never be sold, but looked on +as a dedicated sacred animal." The idea of this ceremony is, that +the sins of the deceased enter the calf, or that the task of his +absolution is laid on it. They say that the calf very soon +disappears, and that it is never heard of." + + + +3. The Transference to Men + +AGAIN, men sometimes play the part of scapegoat by diverting to +themselves the evils that threaten others. When a Cingalese is +dangerously ill, and the physicians can do nothing, a devil-dancer +is called in, who by making offerings to the devils, and dancing in +the masks appropriate to them, conjures these demons of disease, one +after the other, out of the sick man's body and into his own. Having +thus successfully extracted the cause of the malady, the artful +dancer lies down on a bier, and shamming death is carried to an open +place outside the village. Here, being left to himself, he soon +comes to life again, and hastens back to claim his reward. In 1590 a +Scotch which of the name of Agnes Sampson was convicted of curing a +certain Robert Kers of a disease "laid upon him by a westland +warlock when he was at Dumfries, whilk sickness she took upon +herself, and kept the same with great groaning and torment till the +morn, at whilk time there was a great din heard in the house." The +noise was made by the witch in her efforts to shift the disease, by +means of clothes, from herself to a cat or dog. Unfortunately the +attempt partly miscarried. The disease missed the animal and hit +Alexander Douglas of Dalkeith, who dwined and died of it, while the +original patient, Robert Kers, was made whole. + +"In one part of New Zealand an expiation for sin was felt to be +necessary; a service was performed over an individual, by which all +the sins of the tribe were supposed to be transferred to him, a fern +stalk was previously tied to his person, with which he jumped into +the river, and there unbinding, allowed it to float away to the sea, +bearing their sins with it." In great emergencies the sins of the +Rajah of Manipur used to be transferred to somebody else, usually to +a criminal, who earned his pardon by his vicarious sufferings. To +effect the transference the Rajah and his wife, clad in fine robes, +bathed on a scaffold erected in the bazaar, while the criminal +crouched beneath it. With the water which dripped from them on him +their sins also were washed away and fell on the human scapegoat. To +complete the transference the Rajah and his wife made over their +fine robes to their substitute, while they themselves, clad in new +raiment, mixed with the people till evening. In Travancore, when a +Rajah is near his end, they seek out a holy Brahman, who consents to +take upon himself the sins of the dying man in consideration of the +sum of ten thousand rupees. Thus prepared to immolate himself on the +altar of duty, the saint is introduced into the chamber of death, +and closely embraces the dying Rajah, saying to him, "O King, I +undertake to bear all your sins and diseases. May your Highness live +long and reign happily." Having thus taken to himself the sins of +the sufferer, he is sent away from the country and never more +allowed to return. At Utch Kurgan in Turkestan Mr. Schuyler saw an +old man who was said to get his living by taking on himself the sins +of the dead, and thenceforth devoting his life to prayer for their +souls. + +In Uganda, when an army had returned from war, and the gods warned +the king by their oracles that some evil had attached itself to the +soldiers, it was customary to pick out a woman slave from the +captives, together with a cow, a goat, a fowl, and a dog from the +booty, and to send them back under a strong guard to the borders of +the country from which they had come. There their limbs were broken +and they were left to die; for they were too crippled to crawl back +to Uganda. In order to ensure the transference of the evil to these +substitutes, bunches of grass were rubbed over the people and cattle +and then tied to the victims. After that the army was pronounced +clean and was allowed to return to the capital. So on his accession +a new king of Uganda used to wound a man and send him away as a +scapegoat to Bunyoro to carry away any uncleanliness that might +attach to the king or queen. + + + +4. The Transference of Evil in Europe + +THE EXAMPLES of the transference of evil hitherto adduced have been +mostly drawn from the customs of savage or barbarous peoples. But +similar attempts to shift the burden of disease, misfortune, and sin +from one's self to another person, or to an animal or thing, have +been common also among the civilised nations of Europe, both in +ancient and modern times. A Roman cure for fever was to pare the +patient's nails, and stick the parings with wax on a neighbour's +door before sunrise; the fever then passed from the sick man to his +neighbour. Similar devices must have been resorted to by the Greeks; +for in laying down laws for his ideal state, Plato thinks it too +much to expect that men should not be alarmed at finding certain wax +figures adhering to their doors or to the tombstones of their +parents, or lying at cross-roads. In the fourth century of our era +Marcellus of Bordeaux prescribed a cure for warts, which has still a +great vogue among the superstitious in various parts of Europe. You +are to touch your warts with as many little stones as you have +warts; then wrap the stones in an ivy leaf, and throw them away in a +thoroughfare. Whoever picks them up will get the warts, and you will +be rid of them. People in the Orkney Islands will sometimes wash a +sick man, and then throw the water down at a gateway, in the belief +that the sickness will leave the patient and be transferred to the +first person who passes through the gate. A Bavarian cure for fever +is to write upon a piece of paper, "Fever, stay away, I am not at +home," and to put the paper in somebody's pocket. The latter then +catches the fever, and the patient is rid of it. A Bohemian +prescription for the same malady is this. Take an empty pot, go with +it to a cross-road, throw it down, and run away. The first person +who kicks against the pot will catch your fever, and you will be +cured. + +Often in Europe, as among savages, an attempt is made to transfer a +pain or malady from a man to an animal. Grave writers of antiquity +recommended that, if a man be stung by a scorpion, he should sit +upon an ass with his face to the tail, or whisper in the animal's +ear, "A scorpion has stung me"; in either case, they thought, the +pain would be transferred from the man to the ass. Many cures of +this sort are recorded by Marcellus. For example, he tells us that +the following is a remedy for toothache. Standing booted under the +open sky on the ground, you catch a frog by the head, spit into its +mouth, ask it to carry away the ache, and then let it go. But the +ceremony must be performed on a lucky day and at a lucky hour. In +Cheshire the ailment known as aphtha or thrush, which affects the +mouth or throat of infants, is not uncommonly treated in much the +same manner. A young frog is held for a few moments with its head +inside the mouth of the sufferer, whom it is supposed to relieve by +taking the malady to itself. "I assure you," said an old woman who +had often superintended such a cure, "we used to hear the poor frog +whooping and coughing, mortal bad, for days after; it would have +made your heart ache to hear the poor creature coughing as it did +about the garden." A Northamptonshire, Devonshire, and Welsh cure +for a cough is to put a hair of the patient's head between two +slices of buttered bread and give the sandwich to a dog. The animal +will thereupon catch the cough and the patient will lose it. +Sometimes an ailment is transferred to an animal by sharing food +with it. Thus in Oldenburg, if you are sick of a fever you set a +bowl of sweet milk before a dog and say, "Good luck, you hound! may +you be sick and I be sound!" Then when the dog has lapped some of +the milk, you take a swig at the bowl; and then the dog must lap +again, and then you must swig again; and when you and the dog have +done it the third time, he will have the fever and you will be quit +of it. + +A Bohemian cure for fever is to go out into the forest before the +sun is up and look for a snipe's nest. When you have found it, take +out one of the young birds and keep it beside you for three days. +Then go back into the wood and set the snipe free. The fever will +leave you at once. The snipe has taken it away. So in Vedic times +the Hindoos of old sent consumption away with a blue jay. They said, +"O consumption, fly away, fly away with the blue jay! With the wild +rush of the storm and the whirlwind, oh, vanish away!" In the +village of Llandegla in Wales there is a church dedicated to the +virgin martyr St. Tecla, where the falling sickness is, or used to +be, cured by being transferred to a fowl. The patient first washed +his limbs in a sacred well hard by, dropped fourpence into it as an +offering, walked thrice round the well, and thrice repeated the +Lord's prayer. Then the fowl, which was a cock or a hen according as +the patient was a man or a woman, was put into a basket and carried +round first the well and afterwards the church. Next the sufferer +entered the church and lay down under the communion table till break +of day. After that he offered sixpence and departed, leaving the +fowl in the church. If the bird died, the sickness was supposed to +have been transferred to it from the man or woman, who was now rid +of the disorder. As late as 1855 the old parish clerk of the village +remembered quite well to have seen the birds staggering about from +the effects of the fits which had been transferred to them. + +Often the sufferer seeks to shift his burden of sickness or ill-luck +to some inanimate object. In Athens there is a little chapel of St. +John the Baptist built against an ancient column. Fever patients +resort thither, and by attaching a waxed thread to the inner side of +the column believe that they transfer the fever from themselves to +the pillar. In the Mark of Brandenburg they say that if you suffer +from giddiness you should strip yourself naked and run thrice round +a flax-field after sunset; in that way the flax will get the +giddiness and you will be rid of it. + +But perhaps the thing most commonly employed in Europe as a +receptacle for sickness and trouble of all sorts is a tree or bush. +A Bulgarian cure for fever is to run thrice around a willow-tree at +sunrise, crying, "The fever shall shake thee, and the sun shall warm +me." In the Greek island of Karpathos the priest ties a red thread +round the neck of a sick person. Next morning the friends of the +patient remove the thread and go out to the hillside, where they tie +the thread to a tree, thinking that they thus transfer the sickness +to the tree. Italians attempt to cure fever in like manner by +tethering it to a tree The sufferer ties a thread round his left +wrist at night, and hangs the thread on a tree next morning. The +fever is thus believed to be tied up to the tree, and the patient to +be rid of it; but he must be careful not to pass by that tree again, +otherwise the fever would break loose from its bonds and attack him +afresh. A Flemish cure for the ague is to go early in the morning to +an old willow, tie three knots in one of its branches, say, +"Good-morrow, Old One, I give thee the cold; good-morrow, Old One," +then turn and run away without looking round. In Sonnenberg, if you +would rid yourself of gout you should go to a young fir-tree and tie +a knot in one of its twigs, saying, "God greet thee, noble fir. I +bring thee my gout. Here will I tie a knot and bind my gout into it. +In the name," etc. + +Another way of transferring gout from a man to a tree is this. Pare +the nails of the sufferer's fingers and clip some hairs from his +legs. Bore a hole in an oak, stuff the nails and hair in the hole, +stop up the hole again, and smear it with cow's dung. If, for three +months thereafter, the patient is free of gout, you may be sure the +oak has it in his stead. In Cheshire if you would be rid of warts, +you have only to rub them with a piece of bacon, cut a slit in the +bark of an ash-tree, and slip the bacon under the bark. Soon the +warts will disappear from your hand, only however to reappear in the +shape of rough excrescences or knobs on the bark of the tree. At +Berkhampstead, in Hertfordshire, there used to be certain oak-trees +which were long celebrated for the cure of ague. The transference of +the malady to the tree was simple but painful. A lock of the +sufferer's hair was pegged into an oak; then by a sudden wrench he +left his hair and his ague behind him in the tree. + + + + +LVI. The Public Expulsion of Evils + + + +1. The Omnipresence of Demons + +IN THE FOREGOING chapter the primitive principle of the transference +of ills to another person, animal, or thing was explained and +illustrated. But similar means have been adopted to free a whole +community from diverse evils that afflict it. Such attempts to +dismiss at once the accumulated sorrows of a people are by no means +rare or exceptional; on the contrary they have been made in many +lands, and from being occasional they tend to become periodic and +annual. + +It needs some effort on our part to realise the frame of mind which +prompts these attempts. Bred in a philosophy which strips nature of +personality and reduces it to the unknown cause of an orderly series +of impressions on our senses, we find it hard to put ourselves in +the place of the savage, to whom the same impressions appear in the +guise of spirits or the handiwork of spirits. For ages the army of +spirits, once so near, has been receding farther and farther from +us, banished by the magic wand of science from hearth and home, from +ruined cell and ivied tower, from haunted glade and lonely mere, +from the riven murky cloud that belches forth the lightning, and +from those fairer clouds that pillow the silvery moon or fret with +flakes of burning red the golden eve. The spirits are gone even from +their last stronghold in the sky, whose blue arch no longer passes, +except with children, for the screen that hides from mortal eyes the +glories of the celestial world. Only in poets' dreams or impassioned +flights of oratory is it given to catch a glimpse of the last +flutter of the standards of the retreating host, to hear the beat of +their invisible wings, the sound of their mocking laughter, or the +swell of angel music dying away in the distance. Far otherwise is it +with the savage. To his imagination the world still teems with those +motley beings whom a more sober philosophy has discarded. Fairies +and goblins, ghosts and demons, still hover about him both waking +and sleeping. They dog his 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 endure, he commonly sets down, if not +to the magic of his enemies, to the spite or anger or caprice of the +spirits. Their constant presence wearies him, their sleepless +malignity exasperates him; he longs with an unspeakable longing to +be rid of them altogether, and from time to time, driven to bay, his +patience utterly exhausted, he turns fiercely on his persecutors and +makes a desperate effort to chase the whole pack of them from the +land, to clear the air of their swarming multitudes, that he may +breathe more freely and go on his way unmolested, at least for a +time. Thus it comes about that the endeavour of primitive people to +make a clean sweep of all their troubles generally takes the form of +a grand hunting out and expulsion of devils or ghosts. They think +that if they can only shake off these their accursed tormentors, +they will make a fresh start in life, happy and innocent; the tales +of Eden and the old poetic golden age will come true again. + + + +2. The Occasional Expulsion of Evils + +WE can therefore understand why those general clearances of evil, to +which from time to time the savage resorts, should commonly take the +form of a forcible expulsion of devils. In these evil spirits +primitive man sees the cause of many if not of most of his troubles, +and he fancies that if he can only deliver himself from them, things +will go better with him. The public attempts to expel the +accumulated ills of a whole community may be divided into two +classes, according as the expelled evils are immaterial and +invisible or are embodied in a material vehicle or scape-goat. The +former may be called the direct or immediate expulsion of evils; the +latter the indirect or mediate expulsion, or the expulsion by +scapegoat. We begin with examples of the former. + +In the island of Rook, between New Guinea and New Britain, when any +misfortune has happened, all the people run together, scream, curse, +howl, and beat the air with sticks to drive away the devil, who is +supposed to be the author of the mishap. From the spot where the +mishap took place they drive him step by step to the sea, and on +reaching the shore they redouble their shouts and blows in order to +expel him from the island. He generally retires to the sea or to the +island of Lottin. The natives of New Britain ascribe sickness, +drought, the failure of crops, and in short all misfortunes, to the +influence of wicked spirits. So at times when many people sicken and +die, as at the beginning of the rainy season, all the inhabitants of +a district, armed with branches and clubs, go out by moonlight to +the fields, where they beat and stamp on the ground with wild howls +till morning, believing that this drives away the devils; and for +the same purpose they rush through the village with burning torches. +The natives of New Caledonia are said to believe that all evils are +caused by a powerful and malignant spirit; hence in order to rid +themselves of him they will from time to time dig a great pit, round +which the whole tribe gathers. After cursing the demon, they fill up +the pit with earth, and trample on the top with loud shouts. This +they call burying the evil spirit. Among the Dieri tribe of Central +Australia, when a serious illness occurs, the medicine-men expel +Cootchie or the devil by beating the ground in and outside of the +camp with the stuffed tail of a kangaroo, until they have chased the +demon away to some distance from the camp. + +When a village has been visited by a series of disasters or a severe +epidemic, the inhabitants of Minahassa in Celebes lay the blame upon +the devils who are infesting the village and who must be expelled +from it. Accordingly, early one morning all the people, men, women, +and children, quit their homes, carrying their household goods with +them, and take up their quarters in temporary huts which have been +erected outside the village. Here they spend several days, offering +sacrifices and preparing for the final ceremony. At last the men, +some wearing masks, others with their faces blackened, and so on, +but all armed with swords, guns, pikes, or brooms, steal cautiously +and silently back to the deserted village. Then, at a signal from +the priest, they rush furiously up and down the streets and into and +under the houses (which are raised on piles above the ground), +yelling and striking on walls, doors, and windows, to drive away the +devils. Next, the priests and the rest of the people come with the +holy fire and march nine times round each house and thrice round the +ladder that leads up to it, carrying the fire with them. Then they +take the fire into the kitchen, where it must burn for three days +continuously. The devils are now driven away, and great and general +is the joy. + +The Alfoors of Halmahera attribute epidemics to the devil who comes +from other villages to carry them off. So, in order to rid the +village of the disease, the sorcerer drives away the devil. From all +the villagers he receives a costly garment and places it on four +vessels, which he takes to the forest and leaves at the spot where +the devil is supposed to be. Then with mocking words he bids the +demon abandon the place. In the Kei Islands to the south-west of New +Guinea, the evil spirits, who are quite distinct from the souls of +the dead, form a mighty host. Almost every tree and every cave is +the lodging-place of one of these fiends, who are moreover extremely +irascible and apt to fly out on the smallest provocation. They +manifest their displeasure by sending sickness and other calamities. +Hence in times of public misfortune, as when an epidemic is raging, +and all other remedies have failed, the whole population go forth +with the priest at their head to a place at some distance from the +village. Here at sunset they erect a couple of poles with a +cross-bar between them, to which they attach bags of rice, wooden +models of pivot-guns, gongs, bracelets, and so on. Then, when +everybody has taken his place at the poles and a death-like silence +reigns, the priest lifts up his voice and addresses the spirits in +their own language as follows: "Ho! ho! ho! ye evil spirits who +dwell in the trees, ye evil spirits who live in the grottoes, ye +evil spirits who lodge in the earth, we give you these pivot-guns, +these gongs, etc. Let the sickness cease and not so many people die +of it." Then everybody runs home as fast as their legs can carry +them. + +In the island of Nias, when a man is seriously ill and other +remedies have been tried in vain, the sorcerer proceeds to exorcise +the devil who is causing the illness. A pole is set up in front of +the house, and from the top of the pole a rope of palm-leaves is +stretched to the roof of the house. Then the sorcerer mounts the +roof with a pig, which he kills and allows to roll from the roof to +the ground. The devil, anxious to get the pig, lets himself down +hastily from the roof by the rope of palm-leaves, and a good spirit, +invoked by the sorcerer, prevents him from climbing up again. If +this remedy fails, it is believed that other devils must still be +lurking in the house. So a general hunt is made after them. All the +doors and windows in the house are closed, except a single +dormer-window in the roof. The men, shut up in the house, hew and +slash with their swords right and left to the clash of gongs and the +rub-a-dub of drums. Terrified at this onslaught, the devils escape +by the dormer-window, and sliding down the rope of palm-leaves take +themselves off. As all the doors and windows, except the one in the +roof, are shut, the devils cannot get into the house again. In the +case of an epidemic, the proceedings are similar. All the gates of +the village, except one, are closed; every voice is raised, every +gong and drum beaten, every sword brandished. Thus the devils are +driven out and the last gate is shut behind them. For eight days +thereafter the village is in a state of siege, no one being allowed +to enter it. + +When cholera has broken out in a Burmese village the able-bodied men +scramble on the roofs and lay about them with bamboos and billets of +wood, while all the rest of the population, old and young, stand +below and thump drums, blow trumpets, yell, scream, beat floors, +walls, tin pans, everything to make a din. This uproar, repeated on +three successive nights, is thought to be very effective in driving +away the cholera demons. When smallpox first appeared amongst the +Kumis of South-Eastern India, they thought it was a devil come from +Aracan. The villages were placed in a state of siege, no one being +allowed to leave or enter them. A monkey was killed by being dashed +on the ground, and its body was hung at the village gate. Its blood, +mixed with small river pebbles, was sprinkled on the houses, the +threshold of every house was swept with the monkey's tail, and the +fiend was adjured to depart. + +When an epidemic is raging on the Gold Coast of West Africa, the +people will sometimes turn out, armed with clubs and torches, to +drive the evil spirits away. At a given signal the whole population +begin with frightful yells to beat in every corner of the houses, +then rush like mad into the streets waving torches and striking +frantically in the empty air. The uproar goes on till somebody +reports that the cowed and daunted demons have made good their +escape by a gate of the town or village; the people stream out after +them, pursue them for some distance into the forest, and warn them +never to return. The expulsion of the devils is followed by a +general massacre of all the cocks in the village or town, lest by +their unseasonable crowing they should betray to the banished demons +the direction they must take to return to their old homes. When +sickness was prevalent in a Huron village, and all other remedies +had been tried in vain, the Indians had recourse to the ceremony +called _Lonouyroya,_ "which is the principal invention and most +proper means, so they say, to expel from the town or village the +devils and evil spirits which cause, induce, and import all the +maladies and infirmities which they suffer in body and mind." +Accordingly, one evening the men would begin to rush like madmen +about the village, breaking and upsetting whatever they came across +in the wigwams. They threw fire and burning brands about the +streets, and all night long they ran howling and singing without +cessation. Then they all dreamed of something, a knife, dog, skin, +or whatever it might be, and when morning came they went from wigwam +to wigwam asking for presents. These they received silently, till +the particular thing was given them which they had dreamed about. On +receiving it they uttered a cry of joy and rushed from the hut, amid +the congratulations of all present. The health of those who received +what they had dreamed of was believed to be assured; whereas those +who did not get what they had set their hearts upon regarded their +fate as sealed. + +Sometimes, instead of chasing the demon of disease from their homes, +savages prefer to leave him in peaceable possession, while they +themselves take to flight and attempt to prevent him from following +in their tracks. Thus when the Patagonians were attacked by +small-pox, which they attributed to the machinations of an evil +spirit, they used to abandon their sick and flee, slashing the air +with their weapons and throwing water about in order to keep off the +dreadful pursuer; and when after several days' march they reached a +place where they hoped to be beyond his reach, they used by way of +precaution to plant all their cutting weapons with the sharp edges +turned towards the quarter from which they had come, as if they were +repelling a charge of cavalry. Similarly, when the Lules or +Tonocotes Indians of the Gran Chaco were attacked by an epidemic, +they regularly sought to evade it by flight, but in so doing they +always followed a sinuous, not a straight, course; because they said +that when the disease made after them he would be so exhausted by +the turnings and windings of the route that he would never be able +to come up with them. When the Indians of New Mexico were decimated +by smallpox or other infectious disease, they used to shift their +quarters every day, retreating into the most sequestered parts of +the mountains and choosing the thorniest thickets they could find, +in the hope that the smallpox would be too afraid of scratching +himself on the thorns to follow them. When some Chins on a visit to +Rangoon were attacked by cholera, they went about with drawn swords +to scare away the demon, and they spent the day hiding under bushes +so that he might not be able to find them. + + + +3. The Periodic Expulsion of Evils + +THE EXPULSION of evils, from being occasional, tends to become +periodic. It comes to be thought desirable to have a general +riddance of evil spirits at fixed times, usually once a year, in +order that the people may make a fresh start in life, freed from all +the malignant influences which have been long accumulating about +them. Some of the Australian blacks annually expelled the ghosts of +the dead from their territory. The ceremony was witnessed by the +Rev. W. Ridley on the banks of the River Barwan. "A chorus of +twenty, old and young, were singing and beating time with +boomerangs. . . . Suddenly, from under a sheet of bark darted a man +with his body whitened by pipeclay, his head and face coloured with +lines of red and yellow, and a tuft of feathers fixed by means of a +stick two feet above the crown of his head. He stood twenty minutes +perfectly still, gazing upwards. An aboriginal who stood by told me +he was looking for the ghosts of dead men. At last he began to move +very slowly, and soon rushed to and fro at full speed, flourishing a +branch as if to drive away some foes invisible to us. When I thought +this pantomime must be almost over, ten more, similarly adorned, +suddenly appeared from behind the trees, and the whole party joined +in a brisk conflict with their mysterious assailants. . . . At last, +after some rapid evolutions in which they put forth all their +strength, they rested from the exciting toil which they had kept up +all night and for some hours after sunrise; they seemed satisfied +that the ghosts were driven away for twelve months. They were +performing the same ceremony at every station along the river, and I +am told it is an annual custom." + +Certain seasons of the year mark themselves naturally out as +appropriate moments for a general expulsion of devils. Such a moment +occurs towards the close of an Arctic winter, when the sun reappears +on the horizon after an absence of weeks or months. Accordingly, at +Point Barrow, the most northerly extremity of Alaska, and nearly of +America, the Esquimaux choose the moment of the sun's reappearance +to hunt the mischievous spirit Tuña from every house. The ceremony +was witnessed by the members of the United States Polar Expedition, +who wintered at Point Barrow. A fire was built in front of the +council-house, and an old woman was posted at the entrance to every +house. The men gathered round the council-house while the young +women and girls drove the spirit out of every house with their +knives, stabbing viciously under the bunk and deer-skins, and +calling upon Tuña to be gone. When they thought he had been driven +out of every hole and corner, they thrust him down through the hole +in the floor and chased him into the open air with loud cries and +frantic gestures. Meanwhile the old woman at the entrance of the +house made passes with a long knife in the air to keep him from +returning. Each party drove the spirit towards the fire and invited +him to go into it. All were by this time drawn up in a semicircle +round the fire, when several of the leading men made specific +charges against the spirit; and each after his speech brushed his +clothes violently, calling on the spirit to leave him and go into +the fire. Two men now stepped forward with rifles loaded with blank +cartridges, while a third brought a vessel of urine and flung it on +the flames. At the same time one of the men fired a shot into the +fire; and as the cloud of steam rose it received the other shot, +which was supposed to finish Tunña for the time being. + +In late autumn, when storms rage over the land and break the icy +fetters by which the frozen sea is as yet but slightly bound, when +the loosened floes are driven against each other and break with loud +crashes, and when the cakes of ice are piled in wild disorder one +upon another, the Esquimaux of Baffin Land fancy they hear the +voices of the spirits who people the mischief-laden air. Then the +ghosts of the dead knock wildly at the huts, which they cannot +enter, and woe to the hapless wight whom they catch; he soon sickens +and dies. Then the phantom of a huge hairless dog pursues the real +dogs, which expire in convulsions and cramps at sight of him. All +the countless spirits of evil are abroad striving to bring sickness +and death, foul weather and failure in hunting on the Esquimaux. +Most dreaded of all these spectral visitants are Sedna, mistress of +the nether world, and her father, to whose share dead Esquimaux +fall. While the other spirits fill the air and the water, she rises +from under ground. It is then a busy season for the wizards. In +every house you may hear them singing and praying, while they +conjure the spirits, seated in a mystic gloom at the back of the +hut, which is dimly lit by a lamp burning low. The hardest task of +all is to drive away Sedna, and this is reserved for the most +powerful enchanter. A rope is coiled on the floor of a large hut in +such a way as to leave a small opening at the top, which represents +the breathing hole of a seal. Two enchanters stand beside it, one of +them grasping a spear as if he were watching a seal-hole in winter, +the other holding the harpoon-line. A third sorcerer sits at the +back of the hut chanting a magic song to lure Sedna to the spot. Now +she is heard approaching under the floor of the hut, breathing +heavily; now she emerges at the hole; now she is harpooned and sinks +away in angry haste, dragging the harpoon with her, while the two +men hold on to the line with all their might. The struggle is +severe, but at last by a desperate wrench she tears herself away and +returns to her dwelling in Adlivun. When the harpoon is drawn up out +of the hole it is found to be splashed with blood, which the +enchanters proudly exhibit as a proof of their prowess. Thus Sedna +and the other evil spirits are at last driven away, and next day a +great festival is celebrated by old and young in honour of the +event. But they must still be cautious, for the wounded Sedna is +furious and will seize any one she may find outside of his hut; so +they all wear amulets on the top of their hoods to protect +themselves against her. These amulets consist of pieces of the first +garments that they wore after birth. + +The Iroquois inaugurated the new year in January, February, or March +(the time varied) with a "festival of dreams" like that which the +Hurons observed on special occasions. The whole ceremonies lasted +several days, or even weeks, and formed a kind of saturnalia. Men +and women, variously disguised, went from wigwam to wigwam smashing +and throwing down whatever they came across. It was a time of +general license; the people were supposed to be out of their senses, +and therefore not to be responsible for what they did. Accordingly, +many seized the opportunity of paying off old scores by belabouring +obnoxious persons, drenching them with ice-cold water, and covering +them with filth or hot ashes. Others seized burning brands or coals +and flung them at the heads of the first persons they met. The only +way of escaping from these persecutors was to guess what they had +dreamed of. On one day of the festival the ceremony of driving away +evil spirits from the village took place. Men clothed in the skins +of wild beasts, their faces covered with hideous masks, and their +hands with the shell of the tortoise, went from hut to hut making +frightful noises; in every hut they took the fuel from the fire and +scattered the embers and ashes about the floor with their hands. The +general confession of sins which preceded the festival was probably +a preparation for the public expulsion of evil influences; it was a +way of stripping the people of their moral burdens, that these might +be collected and cast out. + +In September the Incas of Peru celebrated a festival called Situa, +the object of which was to banish from the capital and its vicinity +all disease and trouble. The festival fell in September because the +rains begin about this time, and with the first rains there was +generally much sickness. As a preparation for the festival the +people fasted on the first day of the moon after the autumnal +equinox. Having fasted during the day, and the night being come, +they baked a coarse paste of maize. This paste was made of two +sorts. One was kneaded with the blood of children aged from five to +ten years, the blood being obtained by bleeding the children between +the eyebrows. These two kinds of paste were baked separately, +because they were for different uses. Each family assembled at the +house of the eldest brother to celebrate the feast; and those who +had no elder brother went to the house of their next relation of +greater age. On the same night all who had fasted during the day +washed their bodies, and taking a little of the blood-kneaded paste, +rubbed it over their head, face, breast, shoulders, arms and legs. +They did this in order that the paste might take away all their +infirmities. After this the head of the family anointed the +threshold with the same paste, and left it there as a token that the +inmates of the house had performed their ablutions and cleansed +their bodies. Meantime the High Priest performed the same ceremonies +in the temple of the Sun. As soon as the Sun rose, all the people +worshipped and besought him to drive all evils out of the city, and +then they broke their fast with the paste that had been kneaded +without blood. When they had paid their worship and broken their +fast, which they did at a stated hour, in order that all might adore +the Sun as one man, an Inca of the blood royal came forth from the +fortress, as a messenger of the Sun, richly dressed, with his mantle +girded round his body, and a lance in his hand. The lance was decked +with feathers of many hues, extending from the blade to the socket, +and fastened with rings of gold. He ran down the hill from the +fortress brandishing his lance, till he reached the centre of the +great square, where stood the golden urn, like a fountain, that was +used for the sacrifice of the fermented juice of the maize. Here +four other Incas of the blood royal awaited him, each with a lance +in his hand, and his mantle girded up to run. The messenger touched +their four lances with his lance, and told them that the Sun bade +them, as his messengers, drive the evils out of the city. The four +Incas then separated and ran down the four royal roads which led out +of the city to the four quarters of the world. While they ran, all +the people, great and small, came to the doors of their houses, and +with great shouts of joy and gladness shook their clothes, as if +they were shaking off dust, while they cried, "Let the evils be +gone. How greatly desired has this festival been by us. O Creator of +all things, permit us to reach another year, that we may see another +feast like this." After they had shaken their clothes, they passed +their hands over their heads, faces, arms, and legs, as if in the +act of washing. All this was done to drive the evils out of their +houses, that the messengers of the Sun might banish them from the +city; and it was done not only in the streets through which the +Incas ran, but generally in all quarters of the city. Moreover, they +all danced, the Inca himself amongst them, and bathed in the rivers +and fountains, saying that their maladies would come out of them. +Then they took great torches of straw, bound round with cords. These +they lighted, and passed from one to the other, striking each other +with them, and saying, "Let all harm go away." Meanwhile the runners +ran with their lances for a quarter of a league outside the city, +where they found four other Incas ready, who received the lances +from their hands and ran with them. Thus the lances were carried by +relays of runners for a distance of five or six leagues, at the end +of which the runners washed themselves and their weapons in rivers, +and set up the lances, in sign of a boundary within which the +banished evils might not return. + +The negroes of Guinea annually banish the devil from all their towns +with much ceremony at a time set apart for the purpose. At Axim, on +the Gold Coast, this annual expulsion is preceded by a feast of +eight days, during which mirth and jollity, skipping, dancing, and +singing prevail, and "a perfect lampooning liberty is allowed, and +scandal so highly exalted, that they may freely sing of all the +faults, villanies, and frauds of their superiors as well as +inferiors, without punishment, or so much as the least +interruption." On the eighth day they hunt out the devil with a +dismal cry, running after him and pelting him with sticks, stones, +and whatever comes to hand. When they have driven him far enough out +of the town, they all return. In this way he is expelled from more +than a hundred towns at the same time. To make sure that he does not +return to their houses, the women wash and scour all their wooden +and earthen vessels, "to free them from all uncleanness and the +devil." + +At Cape Coast Castle, on the Gold Coast, the ceremony was witnessed +on the ninth of October, 1844, by an Englishman, who has described +it as follows: "To-night the annual custom of driving the evil +spirit, Abonsam, out of the town has taken place. As soon as the +eight o'clock gun fired in the fort the people began firing muskets +in their houses, turning all their furniture out of doors, beating +about in every corner of the rooms with sticks, etc., and screaming +as loudly as possible, in order to frighten the devil. Being driven +out of the houses, as they imagine, they sallied forth into the +streets, throwing lighted torches about, shouting, screaming, +beating sticks together, rattling old pans, making the most horrid +noise, in order to drive him out of the town into the sea. The +custom is preceded by four weeks' dead silence; no gun is allowed to +be fired, no drum to be beaten, no palaver to be made between man +and man. If, during these weeks, two natives should disagree and +make a noise in the town, they are immediately taken before the king +and fined heavily. If a dog or pig, sheep or goat be found at large +in the street, it may be killed, or taken by anyone, the former +owner not being allowed to demand any compensation. This silence is +designed to deceive Abonsam, that, being off his guard, he may be +taken by surprise, and frightened out of the place. If anyone die +during the silence, his relatives are not allowed to weep until the +four weeks have been completed." + +Sometimes the date of the annual expulsion of devils is fixed with +reference to the agricultural seasons. Thus among the Hos of +Togoland, in West Africa, the expulsion is performed annually before +the people partake of the new yams. The chiefs summon the priests +and magicians and tell them that the people are now to eat the new +yams and be merry, therefore they must cleanse the town and remove +the evils. Accordingly the evil spirits, witches, and all the ills +that infest the people are conjured into bundles of leaves and +creepers, fastened to poles, which are carried away and set up in +the earth on various roads outside the town. During the following +night no fire may be lit and no food eaten. Next morning the women +sweep out their hearths and houses, and deposit the sweepings on +broken wooden plates. Then the people pray, saying, "All ye +sicknesses that are in our body and plague us, we are come to-day to +throw you out." Thereupon they run as fast as they can in the +direction of Mount Adaklu, smiting their mouths and screaming, "Out +to-day! Out to-day! That which kills anybody, out to-day! Ye evil +spirits, out to-day! and all that causes our heads to ache, out +to-day! Anlo and Adaklu are the places whither all ill shall betake +itself!" When they have come to a certain tree on Mount Adaklu, they +throw everything away and return home. + +At Kiriwina, in South-Eastern New Guinea, when the new yams had been +harvested, the people feasted and danced for many days, and a great +deal of property, such as armlets, native money, and so forth, was +displayed conspicuously on a platform erected for the purpose. When +the festivities were over, all the people gathered together and +expelled the spirits from the village by shouting, beating the posts +of the houses, and overturning everything under which a wily spirit +might be supposed to lurk. The explanation which the people gave to +a missionary was that they had entertained and feasted the spirits +and provided 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 gorged themselves on the souls of the yams, and appropriated the +souls of the money and all the other fine things set out on the +platform? What more could the spirits want? So out they must go. + +Among the Hos of North-Eastern India the great festival of the year +is the harvest home, held in January, when the granaries are full of +grain, and the people, to use their own expression, are full of +devilry. "They have a strange notion that at this period, men and +women are so overcharged with vicious propensities, that it is +absolutely necessary for the safety of the person to let off steam +by allowing for a time full vent to the passions." The ceremonies +open with a sacrifice to the village god of three fowls, a cock and +two hens, one of which must be black. Along with them are offered +flowers of the palas tree (_Butea frondosa_), bread made from +rice-flour, and sesamum seeds. These offerings are presented by the +village priest, who prays that during the year about to begin they +and their children may be preserved from all misfortune and +sickness, and that they may have seasonable rain and good crops. +Prayer is also made in some places for the souls of the dead. At +this time an evil spirit is supposed to infest the place, and to get +rid of it men, women, and children go in procession round and +through every part of the village with sticks in their hands, as if +beating for game, singing a wild chant, and shouting vociferously, +till they feel assured that the evil spirit must have fled. Then +they give themselves up to feasting and drinking rice-beer, till +they are in a fit state for the wild debauch which follows. The +festival now "becomes a saturnale, during which servants forget +their duty to their masters, children their reverence for parents, +men their respect for women, and women all notions of modesty, +delicacy, and gentleness; they become raging bacchantes." Usually +the Hos are quiet and reserved in manner, decorous and gentle to +women. But during this festival "their natures appear to undergo a +temporary change. Sons and daughters revile their parents in gross +language, and parents their children; men and women become almost +like animals in the indulgence of their amorous propensities." The +Mundaris, kinsmen and neighbours of the Hos, keep the festival in +much the same manner. "The resemblance to a Saturnale is very +complete, as at this festival the farm labourers are feasted by +their masters, and allowed the utmost freedom of speech in +addressing them. It is the festival of the harvest home; the +termination of one year's toil, and a slight respite from it before +they commence again." + +Amongst some of the Hindoo Koosh tribes, as among the Hos and +Mundaris, the expulsion of devils takes place after harvest. When +the last crop of autumn has been got in, it is thought necessary to +drive away evil spirits from the granaries. A kind of porridge is +eaten, and the head of the family takes his matchlock and fires it +into the floor. Then, going outside, he sets to work loading and +firing till his powder-horn is exhausted, while all his neighbours +are similarly employed. The next day is spent in rejoicings. In +Chitral this festival is called "devil-driving." On the other hand +the Khonds of India expel the devils at seed-time instead of at +harvest. At this time they worship Pitteri Pennu, the god of +increase and of gain in every shape. On the first day of the +festival a rude car is made of a basket set upon a few sticks, tied +upon the bamboo rollers for wheels. The priest takes this car first +to the house of the lineal head of the tribe, to whom precedence is +given in all ceremonies connected with agriculture. Here he receives +a little of each kind of seed and some feathers. He then takes the +car to all the other houses in the village, each of which +contributes the same things. Lastly, the car is conducted to a field +without the village, attended by all the young men, who beat each +other and strike the air violently with long sticks. The seed thus +carried out is called the share of the "evil spirits, spoilers of +the seed." "These are considered to be driven out with the car; and +when it and its contents are abandoned to them, they are held to +have no excuse for interfering with the rest of the seed-corn." + +The people of Bali, an island to the east of Java, have periodical +expulsions of devils upon a great scale. Generally the time chosen +for the expulsion is the day of the "dark moon" in the ninth month. +When the demons have been long unmolested the country is said to be +"warm," and the priest issues orders to expel them by force, lest +the whole of Bali should be rendered uninhabitable. On the day +appointed the people of the village or district assemble at the +principal temple. Here at a cross-road offerings are set out for the +devils. After prayers have been recited by the priests, the blast of +a horn summons the devils to partake of the meal which has been +prepared for them. At the same time a number of men step forward and +light their torches at the holy lamp which burns before the chief +priest. Immediately afterwards, followed by the bystanders, they +spread in all directions and march through the streets and lanes +crying, "Depart! go away!" Wherever they pass, the people who have +stayed at home hasten, by a deafening clatter on doors, beams, +rice-blocks, and so forth, to take their share in the expulsion of +devils. Thus chased from the houses, the fiends flee to the banquet +which has been set out for them; but here the priest receives them +with curses which finally drive them from the district. When the +last devil has taken his departure, the uproar is succeeded by a +dead silence, which lasts during the next day also. The devils, it +is thought, are anxious to return to their old homes, and in order +to make them think that Bali is not Bali but some desert island, no +one may stir from his own abode for twenty-four hours. Even ordinary +household work, including cooking, is discontinued. Only the +watchmen may show themselves in the streets. Wreaths of thorns and +leaves are hung at all the entrances to warn strangers from +entering. Not till the third day is this state of siege raised, and +even then it is forbidden to work at the rice-fields or to buy and +sell in the market. Most people still stay at home, whiling away the +time with cards and dice. + +In Tonquin a _theckydaw_ or general expulsion of malevolent spirits +commonly took place once a year, especially if there was a great +mortality amongst men, the elephants or horses of the general's +stable, or the cattle of the country, "the cause of which they +attribute to the malicious spirits of such men as have been put to +death for treason, rebellion, and conspiring the death of the king, +general, or princes, and that in revenge of the punishment they have +suffered, they are bent to destroy everything and commit horrible +violence. To prevent which their superstition has suggested to them +the institution of this _theckydaw,_ as a proper means to drive the +devil away, and purge the country of evil spirits." The day +appointed for the ceremony was generally the twenty-fifth of +February, one month after the beginning of the new year, which fell +on the twenty-fifth of January. The intermediate month was a season +of feasting, merry-making of all kinds, and general licence. During +the whole month the great seal was kept shut up in a box, face +downwards, and the law was, as it were, laid asleep. All courts of +justice were closed; debtors could not be seized; small crimes, such +as petty larceny, fighting, and assault, escaped with impunity; only +treason and murder were taken account of and the malefactors +detained till the great seal should come into operation again. At +the close of the saturnalia the wicked spirits were driven away. +Great masses of troops and artillery having been drawn up with +flying colours and all the pomp of war, "the general beginneth then +to offer meat offerings to the criminal devils and malevolent +spirits (for it is usual and customary likewise amongst them to +feast the condemned before their execution), inviting them to eat +and drink, when presently he accuses them in a strange language, by +characters and figures, etc., of many offences and crimes committed +by them, as to their having disquieted the land, killed his +elephants and horses, etc., for all which they justly deserve to be +chastised and banished the country. Whereupon three great guns are +fired as the last signal; upon which all the artillery and musquets +are discharged, that, by their most terrible noise the devils may be +driven away; and they are so blind as to believe for certain, that +they really and effectually put them to flight." + +In Cambodia the expulsion of evil spirits took place in March. Bits +of broken statues and stones, considered as the abode of the demons, +were collected and brought to the capital. Here as many elephants +were collected as could be got together. On the evening of the full +moon volleys of musketry were fired and the elephants charged +furiously to put the devils to flight. The ceremony was performed on +three successive days. In Siam the banishment of demons is annually +carried into effect on the last day of the old year. A signal gun is +fired from the palace; it is answered from the next station, and so +on from station to station, till the firing has reached the outer +gate of the city. Thus the demons are driven out step by step. As +soon as this is done a consecrated rope is fastened round the +circuit of the city walls to prevent the banished demons from +returning. The rope is made of tough couch-grass and is painted in +alternate stripes of red, yellow, and blue. + +Annual expulsions of demons, witches, or evil influences appear to +have been common among the heathen of Europe, if we may judge from +the relics of such customs among their descendants at the present +day. Thus among the heathen Wotyaks, a Finnish people of Eastern +Russia, all the young girls of the village assemble on the last day +of the year or on New Year's Day, armed with sticks, the ends of +which are split in nine places. With these they beat every corner of +the house and yard, saying, "We are driving Satan out of the +village." Afterwards the sticks are thrown into the river below the +village, and as they float down stream Satan goes with them to the +next village, from which he must be driven out in turn. In some +villages the expulsion is managed otherwise. The unmarried men +receive from every house in the village groats, flesh, and brandy. +These they take to the fields, light a fire under a fir-tree, boil +the groats, and eat of the food they have brought with them, after +pronouncing the words, "Go away into the wilderness, come not into +the house." Then they return to the village and enter every house +where there are young women. They take hold of the young women and +throw them into the snow, saying, "May the spirits of disease leave +you." The remains of the groats and the other food are then +distributed among all the houses in proportion to the amount that +each contributed, and each family consumes its share. According to a +Wotyak of the Malmyz district the young men throw into the snow +whomever they find in the houses, and this is called "driving out +Satan"; moreover, some of the boiled groats are cast into the fire +with the words, "O god, afflict us not with sickness and pestilence, +give us not up as a prey to the spirits of the wood." But the most +antique form of the ceremony is that observed by the Wotyaks of the +Kasan Government. First of all a sacrifice is offered to the Devil +at noon. Then all the men assemble on horseback in the centre of the +village, and decide with which house they shall begin. When this +question, which often gives rise to hot disputes, is settled, they +tether their horses to the paling, and arm themselves with whips, +clubs of lime-wood and bundles of lighted twigs. The lighted twigs +are believed to have the greatest terrors for Satan. Thus armed, +they proceed with frightful cries to beat every corner of the house +and yard, then shut the door, and spit at the ejected fiend. So they +go from house to house, till the Devil has been driven from every +one. Then they mount their horses and ride out of the village, +yelling wildly and brandishing their clubs in every direction. +Outside of the village they fling away the clubs and spit once more +at the Devil. The Cheremiss, another Finnish people of Eastern +Russia, chase Satan from their dwellings by beating the walls with +cudgels of lime-wood. For the same purpose they fire guns, stab the +ground with knives, and insert burning chips of wood in the +crevices. Also they leap over bonfires, shaking out their garments +as they do so; and in some districts they blow on long trumpets of +lime-tree bark to frighten him away. When he has fled to the wood, +they pelt the trees with some of the cheese-cakes and eggs which +furnished the feast. + +In Christian Europe the old heathen custom of expelling the powers +of evil at certain times of the year has survived to modern times. +Thus in some villages of Calabria the month of March is inaugurated +with the expulsion of the witches. It takes place at night to the +sound of the church bells, the people running about the streets and +crying, "March is come." They say that the witches roam about in +March, and the ceremony is repeated every Friday evening during the +month. Often, as might have been anticipated, the ancient pagan rite +has attached itself to church festivals. In Albania on Easter Eve +the young people light torches of resinous wood and march in +procession, swinging them, through the village. At last they throw +the torches into the river, crying, "Ha, Kore! we throw you into the +river, like these torches, that you may never return." Silesian +peasants believe that on Good Friday the witches go their rounds and +have great power for mischief. Hence about Oels, near Strehlitz, the +people on that day arm themselves with old brooms and drive the +witches from house and home, from farmyard and cattle-stall, making +a great uproar and clatter as they do so. + +In Central Europe the favourite time for expelling the witches is, +or was, Walpurgis Night, the Eve of May Day, when the baleful powers +of these mischievous beings were supposed to be at their height. In +the Tyrol, for example, as in other places, the expulsion of the +powers of evil at this season goes by the name of "Burning out the +Witches." It takes place on May Day, but people have been busy with +their preparations for days before. On a Thursday at midnight +bundles are made up of resinous splinters, black and red spotted +hemlock, caperspurge, rosemary, and twigs of the sloe. These are +kept and burned on May Day by men who must first have received +plenary absolution from the Church. On the last three days of April +all the houses are cleansed and fumigated with juniper berries and +rue. On May Day, when the evening bell has rung and the twilight is +falling, the ceremony of "Burning out the Witches" begins. Men and +boys make a racket with whips, bells, pots, and pans; the women +carry censers; the dogs are unchained and run barking and yelping +about. As soon as the church bells begin to ring, the bundles of +twigs, fastened on poles, are set on fire and the incense is +ignited. Then all the house-bells and dinner-bells are rung, pots +and pans are clashed, dogs bark, every one must make a noise. And +amid this hubbub all scream at the pitch of their voices: + + +"_Witch flee, flee from here, or it will go ill with thee._" + + +Then they run seven times round the houses, the yards, and the +village. So the witches are smoked out of their lurking-places and +driven away. The custom of expelling the witches on Walpurgis Night +is still, or was down to recent years, observed in many parts of +Bavaria and among the Germans of Bohemia. Thus in the Böhmer-wald +Mountains all the young fellows of the village assemble after sunset +on some height, especially at a cross-road, and crack whips for a +while in unison with all their strength. This drives away the +witches; for so far as the sound of the whips is heard, these +maleficent beings can do no harm. In some places, while the young +men are cracking their whips, the herdsmen wind their horns, and the +long-drawn notes, heard far off in the silence of night, are very +effectual for banning the witches. + +Another witching time is the period of twelve days between Christmas +and Epiphany. Hence in some parts of Silesia the people burn +pine-resin all night long between Christmas and the New Year in +order that the pungent smoke may drive witches and evil spirits far +away from house and homestead; and on Christmas Eve and New Year's +Eve they fire shots over fields and meadows, into shrubs and trees, +and wrap straw round the fruit-trees, to prevent the spirits from +doing them harm. On New Year's Eve, which is Saint Sylvester's Day, +Bohemian lads, armed with guns, form themselves into circles and +fire thrice into the air. This is called "Shooting the Witches" and +is supposed to frighten the witches away. The last of the mystic +twelve days is Epiphany or Twelfth Night, and it has been selected +as a proper season for the expulsion of the powers of evil in +various parts of Europe. Thus at Brunnen, on the Lake of Lucerne, +boys go about in procession on Twelfth Night carrying torches and +making a great noise with horns, bells, whips, and so forth to +frighten away two female spirits of the wood, Strudeli and +Strätteli. The people think that if they do not make enough noise, +there will be little fruit that year. Again, in Labruguière, a +canton of Southern France, on the eve of Twelfth Day the people run +through the streets, jangling bells, clattering kettles, and doing +everything to make a discordant noise. Then by the light of torches +and blazing faggots they set up a prodigious hue and cry, an +ear-splitting uproar, hoping thereby to chase all the wandering +ghosts and devils from the town. + + + + +LVII. Public Scapegoats + + + +1. The Expulsion of Embodied Evils + +THUS far we have dealt with that class of the general expulsion of +evils which I have called direct or immediate. In this class the +evils are invisible, at least to common eyes, and the mode of +deliverance consists for the most part in beating the empty air and +raising such a hubbub as may scare the mischievous spirits and put +them to flight. It remains to illustrate the second class of +expulsions, in which the evil influences are embodied in a visible +form or are at least supposed to be loaded upon a material medium, +which acts as a vehicle to draw them off from the people, village, +or town. + +The Pomos of California celebrate an expulsion of devils every seven +years, at which the devils are represented by disguised men. "Twenty +or thirty men array themselves in harlequin rig and barbaric paint, +and put vessels of pitch on their heads; then they secretly go out +into the surrounding mountains. These are to personify the devils. A +herald goes up to the top of the assembly-house, and makes a speech +to the multitude. At a signal agreed upon in the evening the +masqueraders come in from the mountains, with the vessels of pitch +flaming on their heads, and with all the frightful accessories of +noise, motion, and costume which the savage mind can devise in +representation of demons. The terrified women and children flee for +life, the men huddle them inside a circle, and, on the principle of +fighting the devil with fire, they swing blazing firebrands in the +air, yell, whoop, and make frantic dashes at the marauding and +bloodthirsty devils, so creating a terrific spectacle, and striking +great fear into the hearts of the assembled hundreds of women, who +are screaming and fainting and clinging to their valorous +protectors. Finally the devils succeed in getting into the +assembly-house, and the bravest of the men enter and hold a parley +with them. As a conclusion of the whole farce, the men summon +courage, the devils are expelled from the assembly-house, and with a +prodigious row and racket of sham fighting are chased away into the +mountains." In spring, as soon as the willow-leaves were full grown +on the banks of the river, the Mandan Indians celebrated their great +annual festival, one of the features of which was the expulsion of +the devil. A man, painted black to represent the devil, entered the +village from the prairie, chased and frightened the women, and acted +the part of a buffalo bull in the buffalo dance, the object of which +was to ensure a plentiful supply of buffaloes during the ensuing +year. Finally he was chased from the village, the women pursuing him +with hisses and gibes, beating him with sticks, and pelting him with +dirt. + +Some of the native tribes of Central Queensland believe in a noxious +being called Molonga, who prowls unseen and would kill men and +violate women if certain ceremonies were not performed. These +ceremonies last for five nights and consist of dances, in which only +men, fantastically painted and adorned, take part. On the fifth +night Molonga himself, personified by a man tricked out with red +ochre and feathers and carrying a long feather-tipped spear, rushes +forth from the darkness at the spectators and makes as if he would +run them through. Great is the excitement, loud are the shrieks and +shouts, but after another feigned attack the demon vanishes in the +gloom. On the last night of the year the palace of the Kings of +Cambodia is purged of devils. Men painted as fiends are chased by +elephants about the palace courts. When they have been expelled, a +consecrated thread of cotton is stretched round the palace to keep +them out. In Munzerabad, a district of Mysore in Southern India, +when cholera or smallpox has broken out in a parish, the inhabitants +assemble and conjure the demon of the disease into a wooden image, +which they carry, generally at midnight, into the next parish. The +inhabitants of that parish in like manner pass the image on to their +neighbours, and thus the demon is expelled from one village after +another, until he comes to the bank of a river into which he is +finally thrown. + +Oftener, however, the expelled demons are not represented at all, +but are understood to be present invisibly in the material and +visible vehicle which conveys them away. Here, again, it will be +convenient to distinguish between occasional and periodical +expulsions. We begin with the former. + + + +2. The Occasional Expulsion of Evils in a Material Vehicle + +THE VEHICLE which conveys away the demons may be of various kinds. A +common one is a little ship or boat. Thus, in the southern district +of the island of Ceram, when a whole village suffers from sickness, +a small ship is made and filled with rice, tobacco, eggs, and so +forth, which have been contributed by all the people. A little sail +is hoisted on the ship. When all is ready, a man calls out in a very +loud voice, "O all ye sicknesses, ye smallpoxes, agues, measles, +etc., who have visited us so long and wasted us so sorely, but who +now cease to plague us, we have made ready this ship for you, and we +have furnished you with provender sufficient for the voyage. Ye +shall have no lack of food nor of betel-leaves nor of areca nuts nor +of tobacco. Depart, and sail away from us directly; never come near +us again; but go to a land which is far from here. Let all the tides +and winds waft you speedily thither, and so convey you thither that +for the time to come we may live sound and well, and 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 drift away with the land-breeze, +feeling convinced that they are free from sickness for ever, or at +least till the next time. If sickness attacks them again, they are +sure it is not the same sickness, but a different one, which in due +time they dismiss in the same manner. When the demon-laden bark is +lost to sight, the bearers return to the village, whereupon a man +cries out, "The sicknesses are now gone, vanished, expelled, and +sailed away." At this all the people come running out of their +houses, passing the word from one to the other with great joy, +beating on gongs and on tinkling instruments. + +Similar ceremonies are commonly resorted to in other East Indian +islands. Thus in Timor-laut, to mislead the demons who are causing +sickness, a small proa, containing the image of a man and +provisioned for a long voyage, is allowed to drift away with wind +and tide. As it is being launched, the people cry, "O sickness, go +from here; turn back; what do you here in this poor land?" Three +days after this ceremony a pig is killed, and part of the flesh is +offered to Dudilaa, who lives in the sun. One of the oldest men +says, "Old sir, I beseech you make well the grand-children, +children, women, and men, that we may be able to eat pork and rice +and to drink palmwine. I will keep my promise. Eat your share, and +make all the people in the village well." If the proa is stranded at +any inhabited spot, the sickness will break out there. Hence a +stranded proa excites much alarm amongst the coast population, and +they immediately burn it, because demons fly from fire. In the +island of Buru the proa which carries away the demons of disease is +about twenty feet long, rigged out with sails, oars, anchor, and so +on, and well stocked with provisions. For a day and a night the +people beat gongs and drums, and rush about to frighten the demons. +Next morning ten stalwart young men strike the people with branches, +which have been previously dipped in an earthen pot of water. As +soon as they have done so, they run down to the beach, put the +branches on board the proa, launch another boat in great haste, and +tow the disease-burdened bark far out to sea. There they cast it +off, and one of them calls out, "Grandfather Smallpox, go away--go +willingly away--go visit another land; we have made you food ready +for the voyage, we have now nothing more to give." When they have +landed, all the people bathe together in the sea. In this ceremony +the reason for striking the people with the branches is clearly to +rid them of the disease-demons, which are then supposed to be +transferred to the branches. Hence the haste with which the branches +are deposited in the proa and towed away to sea. So in the inland +districts of Ceram, when smallpox or other sickness is raging, the +priest strikes all the houses with consecrated branches, which are +then thrown into the river, to be carried down to the sea; exactly +as amongst the Wotyaks of Russia the sticks which have been used for +expelling the devils from the village are thrown into the river, +that the current may sweep the baleful burden away. The plan of +putting puppets in the boat to represent sick persons, in order to +lure the demons after them, is not uncommon. For example, most of +the pagan tribes on the coast of Borneo seek to drive away epidemic +disease as follows. They carve one or more rough human images from +the pith of the sago palm and place them on a small raft or boat or +full-rigged Malay ship together with rice and other food. The boat +is decked with blossoms of the areca palm and with ribbons made from +its leaves, and thus adorned the little craft is allowed to float +out to sea with the ebb-tide, bearing, as the people fondly think or +hope, the sickness away with it. + +Often the vehicle which carries away the collected demons or ills of +a whole community is an animal or scapegoat. In the Central +Provinces of India, when cholera breaks out in a village, every one +retires after sunset to his house. The priests then parade the +streets, taking from the roof of each house a straw, which is burnt +with an offering of rice, ghee, and turmeric, at some shrine to the +east of the village. Chickens daubed with vermilion are driven away +in the direction of the smoke, and are believed to carry the disease +with them. If they fail, goats are tried, and last of all pigs. When +cholera rages among the Bhars, Mallans, and Kurmis of India, they +take a goat or a buffalo--in either case the animal must be a +female, and as black as possible--then having tied some grain, +cloves, and red lead in a yellow cloth on its back they turn it out +of the village. The animal is conducted beyond the boundary and not +allowed to return. Sometimes the buffalo is marked with a red +pigment and driven to the next village, where he carries the plague +with him. + +Amongst the Dinkas, a pastoral people of the White Nile, each family +possesses a sacred cow. When the country is threatened with war, +famine, or any other public calamity, the chiefs of the village +require a particular family to surrender their sacred cow to serve +as a scapegoat. The animal is driven by the women to the brink of +the river and across it to the other bank, there to wander in the +wilderness and fall a prey to ravening beasts. Then the women return +in silence and without looking behind them; were they to cast a +backward glance, they imagine that the ceremony would have no +effect. In 1857, when the Aymara Indians of Bolivia and Peru were +suffering from a plague, they loaded a black llama with the clothes +of the plague-stricken people, sprinkled brandy on the clothes, and +then turned the animal loose on the mountains, hoping that it would +carry the pest away with it. + +Occasionally the scapegoat is a man. For example, from time to time +the gods used to warn the King of Uganda that his foes the Banyoro +were working magic against him and his people to make them die of +disease. To avert such a catastrophe the king would send a scapegoat +to the frontier of Bunyoro, the land of the enemy. The scapegoat +consisted of either a man and a boy or a woman and her child, chosen +because of some mark or bodily defect, which the gods had noted and +by which the victims were to be recognised. With the human victims +were sent a cow, a goat, a fowl, and a dog; and a strong guard +escorted them to the land which the god had indicated. There the +limbs of the victims were broken and they were left to die a +lingering death in the enemy's country, being too crippled to crawl +back to Uganda. The disease or plague was thought to have been thus +transferred to the victims and to have been conveyed back in their +persons to the land from which it came. + +Some of the aboriginal tribes of China, as a protection against +pestilence, select a man of great muscular strength to act the part +of scapegoat. Having besmeared his face with paint, he performs many +antics with the view of enticing all pestilential and noxious +influences to attach themselves to him only. He is assisted by a +priest. Finally the scapegoat, hotly pursued by men and women +beating gongs and tom-toms, is driven with great haste out of the +town or village. In the Punjaub a cure for the murrain is to hire a +man of the Chamar caste, turn his face away from the village, brand +him with a red-hot sickle, and let him go out into the jungle taking +the murrain with him. He must not look back. + + + +3. The Periodic Expulsion of Evils in a Material Vehicle + +THE MEDIATE expulsion of evils by means of a scapegoat or other +material vehicle, like the immediate expulsion of them in invisible +form, tends to become periodic, and for a like reason. Thus every +year, generally in March, the people of Leti, Moa, and Lakor, +islands of the Indian Archipelago, send away all their diseases to +sea. They make a proa about six feet long, rig it with sails, oars, +rudder, and other gear, and every family deposits in its some rice, +fruit, a fowl, two eggs, insects that ravage the fields, and so on. +Then they let it drift away to sea, saying, "Take away from here all +kinds of sickness, take them to other islands, to other lands, +distribute them in places that lie eastward, where the sun rises." +The Biajas of Borneo annually send to sea a little bark laden with +the sins and misfortunes of the people. The crew of any ship that +falls in with the ill-omened bark at sea will suffer all the sorrows +with which it is laden. A like custom is annually observed by the +Dusuns of the Tuaran district in British North Borneo. The ceremony +is the most important of the whole year. Its aim is to bring good +luck to the village during the ensuing year by solemnly expelling +all the evil spirits that may have collected in or about the houses +throughout the last twelve months. The task of routing out the +demons and banishing them devolves chiefly on women. Dressed in +their finest array, they go in procession through the village. One +of them carries a small sucking pig in a basket on her back; and all +of them bear wands, with which they belabour the little pig at the +appropriate moment; its squeals help to attract the vagrant spirits. +At every house the women dance and sing, clashing castanets or +cymbals of brass and jingling bunches of little brass bells in both +hands. When the performance has been repeated at every house in the +village, the procession defiles down to the river, and all the evil +spirits, which the performers have chased from the houses, follow +them to the edge of the water. There a raft has been made ready and +moored to the bank. It contains offerings of food, cloth, +cooking-pots, and swords; and the deck is crowded with figures of +men, women, animals, and birds, all made out of the leaves of the +sago palm. The evil spirits now embark on the raft, and when they +are all aboard, it is pushed off and allowed to float down with the +current, carrying the demons with it. Should the raft run aground +near the village, it is shoved off with all speed, lest the +invisible passengers should seize the opportunity of landing and +returning to the village. Finally, the sufferings of the little pig, +whose squeals served to decoy the demons from their lurking-places, +are terminated by death, for it is killed and its carcase thrown +away. + +Every year, at the beginning of the dry season, the Nicobar +Islanders carry the model of a ship through their villages. The +devils are chased out of the huts, and driven on board the little +ship, which is then launched and suffered to sail away with the +wind. The ceremony has been described by a catechist, who witnessed +it at Car Nicobar in July 1897. For three days the people were busy +preparing two very large floating cars, shaped like canoes, fitted +with sails, and loaded with certain leaves, which possessed the +valuable property of expelling devils. While the young people were +thus engaged, the exorcists and the elders sat in a house singing +songs by turns; but often they would come forth, pace the beach +armed with rods, and forbid the devil to enter the village. The +fourth day of the solemnity bore a name which means "Expelling the +Devil by Sails." In the evening all the villagers assembled, the +women bringing baskets of ashes and bunches of devil-expelling +leaves. These leaves were then distributed to everybody, old and +young. When all was ready, a band of robust men, attended by a guard +of exorcists, carried one of the cars down to the sea on the right +side of the village graveyard, and set it floating in the water. As +soon as they had returned, another band of men carried the other car +to the beach and floated it similarly in the sea to the left of the +graveyard. The demon-laden barks being now launched, the women threw +ashes from the shore, and the whole crowd shouted, saying, "Fly +away, devil, fly away, never come again!" The wind and the tide +being favourable, the canoes sailed quickly away; and that night all +the people feasted together with great joy, because the devil had +departed in the direction of Chowra. A similar expulsion of devils +takes place once a year in other Nicobar villages; but the +ceremonies are held at different times in different places. + +Amongst many of the aboriginal tribes of China, a great festival is +celebrated in the third month of every year. It is held by way of a +general rejoicing over what the people believe to be a total +annihilation of the ills of the past twelve months. The destruction +is supposed to be effected in the following way. A large earthenware +jar filled with gunpowder, stones, and bits of iron is buried in the +earth. A train of gunpowder, communicating with the jar, is then +laid; and a match being applied, the jar and its contents are blown +up. The stones and bits of iron represent the ills and disasters of +the past year, and the dispersion of them by the explosion is +believed to remove the ills and disasters themselves. The festival +is attended with much revelling and drunkenness. + +At Old Calabar on the coast of Guinea, the devils and ghosts are, or +used to be, publicly expelled once in two years. Among the spirits +thus driven from their haunts are the souls of all the people who +died since the last lustration of the town. About three weeks or a +month before the expulsion, which according to one account takes +place in the month of November, rude effigies representing men and +animals, such as crocodiles, leopards, elephants, bullocks, and +birds, are made of wicker-work or wood, and being hung with strips +of cloth and bedizened with gew-gaws, are set before the door of +every house. About three o'clock in the morning of the day appointed +for the ceremony the whole population turns out into the streets, +and proceeds with a deafening uproar and in a state of the wildest +excitement to drive all lurking devils and ghosts into the effigies, +in order that they may be banished with them from the abodes of men. +For this purpose bands of people roam through the streets knocking +on doors, firing guns, beating drums, blowing on horns, ringing +bells, clattering pots and pans, shouting and hallooing with might +and main, in short making all the noise it is possible for them to +raise. The hubbub goes on till the approach of dawn, when it +gradually subsides and ceases altogether at sunrise. By this time +the houses have been thoroughly swept, and all the frightened +spirits are supposed to have huddled into the effigies or their +fluttering drapery. In these wicker figures are also deposited the +sweepings of the houses and the ashes of yesterday's fires. Then the +demon-laden images are hastily snatched up, carried in tumultuous +procession down to the brink of the river, and thrown into the water +to the tuck of drums. The ebb-tide bears them away seaward, and thus +the town is swept clean of ghosts and devils for another two years. + +Similar annual expulsions of embodied evils are not unknown in +Europe. On the evening of Easter Sunday the gypsies of Southern +Europe take a wooden vessel like a band-box, which rests cradle-wise +on two cross pieces of wood. In this they place herbs and simples, +together with the dried carcase of a snake, or lizard, which every +person present must first have touched with his fingers. The vessel +is then wrapt in white and red wool, carried by the oldest man from +tent to tent, and finally thrown into running water, not, however, +before every member of the band has spat into it once, and the +sorceress has uttered some spells over it. They believe that by +performing this ceremony they dispel all the illnesses that would +otherwise have afflicted them in the course of the year; and that if +any one finds the vessel and opens it out of curiosity, he and his +will be visited by all the maladies which the others have escaped. + +The scapegoat by means of which the accumulated ills of a whole year +are publicly expelled is sometimes an animal. For example, among the +Garos of Assam, "besides the sacrifices for individual cases of +illness, there are certain ceremonies which are observed once a year +by a whole community or village, and are intended to safeguard its +members from dangers of the forest, and from sickness and mishap +during the coming twelve months. The principal of these is the +Asongtata ceremony. Close to the outskirts of every big village a +number of stones may be noticed stuck into the ground, apparently +without order or method. These are known by the name of _asong,_ and +on them is offered the sacrifice which the Asongtata demands. The +sacrifice of a goat takes place, and a month later, that of a +_langur_ (_Entellus_ monkey) or a bamboo-rat is considered +necessary. The animal chosen has a rope fastened round its neck and +is led by two men, one on each side of it, to every house in the +village. It is taken inside each house in turn, the assembled +villagers, meanwhile, beating the walls from the outside, to +frighten and drive out any evil spirits which may have taken up +their residence within. The round of the village having been made in +this manner, the monkey or rat is led to the outskirts of the +village, killed by a blow of a _dao,_ which disembowels it, and then +crucified on bamboos set up in the ground. Round the crucified +animal long, sharp bamboo stakes are placed, which form _chevaux de +frise_ round about it. These commemorate the days when such defences +surrounded the villages on all sides to keep off human enemies, and +they are now a symbol to ward off sickness and dangers to life from +the wild animals of the forest. The _langur_ required for the +purpose is hunted down some days before, but should it be found +impossible to catch one, a brown monkey may take its place; a hulock +may not be used." Here the crucified ape or rat is the public +scapegoat, which by its vicarious sufferings and death relieves the +people from all sickness and mishap in the coming year. + +Again, on one day of the year the Bhotiyas of Juhar, in the Western +Himalayas, take a dog, intoxicate him with spirits and bhang or +hemp, and having fed him with sweetmeats, lead him round the village +and let him loose. They then chase and kill him with sticks and +stones, and believe that, when they have done so, no disease or +misfortune will visit the village during the year. In some parts of +Breadalbane it was formerly the custom on New Year's Day to take a +dog to the door, give him a bit of bread, and drive him out, saying, +"Get away, you dog! Whatever death of men or loss of cattle would +happen in this house to the end of the present year, may it all +light on your head!" On the Day of Atonement, which was the tenth +day of the seventh month, the Jewish high-priest laid both his hands +on the head of a live goat, confessed over it all the iniquities of +the Children of Israel, and, having thereby transferred the sins of +the people to the beast, sent it away into the wilderness. + +The scapegoat upon whom the sins of the people are periodically +laid, may also be a human being. At Onitsha, on the Niger, two human +beings used to be annually sacrificed to take away the sins of the +land. The victims were purchased by public subscription. All persons +who, during the past year, had fallen into gross sins, such as +incendiarism, theft, adultery, witchcraft, and so forth, were +expected to contribute 28 _ngugas,_ or a little over £2. The money +thus collected was taken into the interior of the country and +expended in the purchase of two sickly persons "to be offered as a +sacrifice for all these abominable crimes--one for the land and one +for the river." A man from a neighbouring town was hired to put them +to death. On the twenty-seventh of February 1858 the Rev. J. C. +Taylor witnessed the sacrifice of one of these victims. The sufferer +was a woman, about nineteen or twenty years of age. They dragged her +alive along the ground, face downwards, from the king's house to the +river, a distance of two miles, the crowds who accompanied her +crying, "Wickedness! wickedness!" The intention was "to take away +the iniquities of the land. The body was dragged along in a +merciless manner, as if the weight of all their wickedness was thus +carried away." Similar customs are said to be still secretly +practised every year by many tribes in the delta of the Niger in +spite of the vigilance of the British Government. Among the Yoruba +negroes of West Africa "the human victim chosen for sacrifice, and +who may be either a freeborn or a slave, a person of noble or +wealthy parentage, or one of humble birth, is, after he has been +chosen and marked out for the purpose, called an _Oluwo._ He is +always well fed and nourished and supplied with whatever he should +desire during the period of his confinement. When the occasion +arrives for him to be sacrificed and offered up, he is commonly led +about and paraded through the streets of the town or city of the +Sovereign who would sacrifice him for the well-being of his +government and of every family and individual under it, in order +that he might carry off the sin, guilt, misfortune and death of all +without exception. Ashes and chalk would be employed to hide his +identity by the one being freely thrown over his head, and his face +painted with the latter, whilst individuals would often rush out of +their houses to lay their hands upon him that they might thus +transfer to him their sin, guilt, trouble, and death." This parade +over, he is taken to an inner sanctuary and beheaded. His last words +or dying groans are the signal for an outburst of joy among the +people assembled outside, who believe that the sacrifice has been +accepted and the divine wrath appeased. + +In Siam it used to be the custom on one day of the year to single +out a woman broken down by debauchery, and carry her on a litter +through all the streets to the music of drums and hautboys. The mob +insulted her and pelted her with dirt; and after having carried her +through the whole city, they threw her on a dunghill or a hedge of +thorns outside the ramparts, forbidding her ever to enter the walls +again. They believed that the woman thus drew upon herself all the +malign influences of the air and of evil spirits. The Bataks of +Sumatra offer either a red horse or a buffalo as a public sacrifice +to purify the land and obtain the favour of the gods. Formerly, it +is said, a man was bound to the same stake as the buffalo, and when +they killed the animal, the man was driven away; no one might +receive him, converse with him, or give him food. Doubtless he was +supposed to carry away the sins and misfortunes of the people. + +Sometimes the scapegoat is a divine animal. The people of Malabar +share the Hindoo reverence for the cow, to kill and eat which "they +esteem to be a crime as heinous as homicide or wilful murder." +Nevertheless the "Bramans transfer the sins of the people into one +or more Cows, which are then carry'd away, both the Cows and the +Sins wherewith these Beasts are charged, to what place the Braman +shall appoint." When the ancient Egyptians sacrificed a bull, they +invoked upon its head all the evils that might otherwise befall +themselves and the land of Egypt, and thereupon they either sold the +bull's head to the Greeks or cast it into the river. Now, it cannot +be said that in the times known to us the Egyptians worshipped bulls +in general, for they seem to have commonly killed and eaten them. +But a good many circumstances point to the conclusion that +originally all cattle, bulls as well as cows, were held sacred by +the Egyptians. For not only were all cows esteemed holy by them and +never sacrificed, but even bulls might not be sacrificed unless they +had certain natural marks; a priest examined every bull before it +was sacrificed; if it had the proper marks, he put his seal on the +animal in token that it might be sacrificed; and if a man sacrificed +a bull which had not been sealed, he was put to death. Moreover, the +worship of the black bulls Apis and Mnevis, especially the former, +played an important part in Egyptian religion; all bulls that died a +natural death were carefully buried in the suburbs of the cities, +and their bones were afterwards collected from all parts of Egypt +and interred in a single spot; and at the sacrifice of a bull in the +great rites of Isis all the worshippers beat their breasts and +mourned. On the whole, then, we are perhaps entitled to infer that +bulls were originally, as cows were always, esteemed sacred by the +Egyptians, and that the slain bull upon whose head they laid the +misfortunes of the people was once a divine scapegoat. It seems not +improbable that the lamb annually slain by the Madis of Central +Africa is a divine scapegoat, and the same supposition may partly +explain the Zuni sacrifice of the turtle. + +Lastly, the scapegoat may be a divine man. Thus, in November the +Gonds of India worship Ghansyam Deo, the protector of the crops, and +at the festival the god himself is said to descend on the head of +one of the worshippers, who is suddenly seized with a kind of fit +and, after staggering about, rushes off into the jungle, where it is +believed that, if left to himself, he would die mad. However, they +bring him back, but he does not recover his senses for one or two +days. The people think that one man is thus singled out as a +scapegoat for the sins of the rest of the village. In the temple of +the Moon the Albanians of the Eastern Caucasus kept a number of +sacred slaves, of whom many were inspired and prophesied. When one +of these men exhibited more than usual symptoms of inspiration or +insanity, and wandered solitary up and down the woods, like the Gond +in the jungle, the high priest had him bound with a sacred chain and +maintained him in luxury for a year. At the end of the year he was +anointed with unguents and led forth to be sacrificed. A man whose +business it was to slay these human victims and to whom practice had +given dexterity, advanced from the crowd and thrust a sacred spear +into the victim's side, piercing his heart. From the manner in which +the slain man fell, omens were drawn as to the welfare of the +commonwealth. Then the body was carried to a certain spot where all +the people stood upon it as a purificatory ceremony. This last +circumstance clearly indicates that the sins of the people were +transferred to the victim, just as the Jewish priest transferred the +sins of the people to the scapegoat by laying his hands on the +animal's head; and since the man was believed to be possessed by the +divine spirit, we have here an undoubted example of a man-god slain +to take away the sins and misfortunes of the people. + +In Tibet the ceremony of the scapegoat presents some remarkable +features. The Tibetan new year begins with the new moon which +appears about the fifteenth of February. For twenty-three days +afterwards the government of Lhasa, the capital, is taken out of the +hands of the ordinary rulers and entrusted to the monk of the Debang +monastery who offers to pay the highest sum for the privilege. The +successful bidder is called the Jalno, and he announces his +accession to power in person, going through the streets of Lhasa +with a silver stick in his hand. Monks from all the neighbouring +monasteries and temples assemble to pay him homage. The Jalno +exercises his authority in the most arbitrary manner for his own +benefit, as all the fines which he exacts are his by purchase. The +profit he makes is about ten times the amount of the purchase money. +His men go about the streets in order to discover any conduct on the +part of the inhabitants that can be found fault with. Every house in +Lhasa is taxed at this time, and the slightest offence is punished +with unsparing rigour by fines. This severity of the Jalno drives +all working classes out of the city till the twenty-three days are +over. But if the laity go out, the clergy come in. All the Buddhist +monasteries of the country for miles round about open their gates +and disgorge their inmates. All the roads that lead down into Lhasa +from the neighbouring mountains are full of monks hurrying to the +capital, some on foot, some on horseback, some riding asses or +lowing oxen, all carrying their prayer-books and culinary utensils. +In such multitudes do they come that the streets and squares of the +city are encumbered with their swarms, and incarnadined with their +red cloaks. The disorder and confusion are indescribable. Bands of +the holy men traverse the streets chanting prayers, or uttering wild +cries. They meet, they jostle, they quarrel, they fight; bloody +noses, black eyes, and broken heads are freely given and received. +All day long, too, from before the peep of dawn till after darkness +has fallen, these red-cloaked monks hold services in the dim +incense-laden air of the great Machindranath temple, the cathedral +of Lhasa; and thither they crowd thrice a day to receive their doles +of tea and soup and money. The cathedral is a vast building, +standing in the centre of the city, and surrounded by bazaars and +shops. The idols in it are richly inlaid with gold and precious +stones. + +Twenty-four days after the Jalno has ceased to have authority, he +assumes it again, and for ten days acts in the same arbitrary manner +as before. On the first of the ten days the priests again assemble +at the cathedral, pray to the gods to prevent sickness and other +evils among the people, "and, as a peace-offering, sacrifice one +man. The man is not killed purposely, but the ceremony he undergoes +often proves fatal. Grain is thrown against his head, and his face +is painted half white, half black." Thus grotesquely disguised, and +carrying a coat of skin on his arm, he is called the King of the +Years, and sits daily in the market-place, where he helps himself to +whatever he likes and goes about shaking a black yak's tail over the +people, who thus transfer their bad luck to him. On the tenth day, +all the troops in Lhasa march to the great temple and form in line +before it. The King of the Years is brought forth from the temple +and receives small donations from the assembled multitude. He then +ridicules the Jalno, saying to him, "What we perceive through the +five senses is no illusion. All you teach is untrue," and the like. +The Jalno, who represents the Grand Lama for the time being, +contests these heretical opinions; the dispute waxes warm, and at +last both agree to decide the questions at issue by a cast of the +dice, the Jalno offering to change places with the scapegoat should +the throw be against him. If the King of the Years wins, much evil +is prognosticated; but if the Jalno wins, there is great rejoicing, +for it proves that his adversary has been accepted by the gods as a +victim to bear all the sins of the people of Lhasa. Fortune, +however, always favours the Jalno, who throws sixes with unvarying +success, while his opponent turns up only ones. Nor is this so +extraordinary as at first sight it might appear; for the Jalno's +dice are marked with nothing but sixes and his adversary's with +nothing but ones. When he sees the finger of Providence thus plainly +pointed against him, the King of the Years is terrified and flees +away upon a white horse, with a white dog, a white bird, salt, and +so forth, which have all been provided for him by the government. +His face is still painted half white and half black, and he still +wears his leathern coat. The whole populace pursues him, hooting, +yelling, and firing blank shots in volleys after him. Thus driven +out of the city, he is detained for seven days in the great chamber +of horrors at the Samyas monastery, surrounded by monstrous and +terrific images of devils and skins of huge serpents and wild +beasts. Thence he goes away into the mountains of Chetang, where he +has to remain an outcast for several months or a year in a narrow +den. If he dies before the time is out, the people say it is an +auspicious omen; but if he survives, he may return to Lhasa and play +the part of scapegoat over again the following year. + +This quaint ceremonial, still annually observed in the secluded +capital of Buddhism--the Rome of Asia--is interesting because it +exhibits, in a clearly marked religious stratification, a series of +divine redeemers themselves redeemed, of vicarious sacrifices +vicariously atoned for, of gods undergoing a process of +fossilisation, who, while they retain the privileges, have +disburdened themselves of the pains and penalties of divinity. In +the Jalno we may without undue straining discern a successor of +those temporary kings, those mortal gods, who purchase a short lease +of power and glory at the price of their lives. That he is the +temporary substitute of the Grand Lama is certain; that he is, or +was once, liable to act as scapegoat for the people is made nearly +certain by his offer to change places with the real scapegoat--the +King of the Years--if the arbitrament of the dice should go against +him. It is true that the conditions under which the question is now +put to the hazard have reduced the offer to an idle form. But such +forms are no mere mushroom growths, springing up of themselves in a +night. If they are now lifeless formalities, empty husks devoid of +significance, we may be sure that they once had a life and a +meaning; if at the present day they are blind alleys leading +nowhere, we may be certain that in former days they were paths that +led somewhere, if only to death. That death was the goal to which of +old the Tibetan scapegoat passed after his brief period of licence +in the market-place, is a conjecture that has much to commend it. +Analogy suggests it; the blank shots fired after him, the statement +that the ceremony often proves fatal, the belief that his death is a +happy omen, all confirm it. We need not wonder then that the Jalno, +after paying so dear to act as deputy-deity for a few weeks, should +have preferred to die by deputy rather than in his own person when +his time was up. The painful but necessary duty was accordingly laid +on some poor devil, some social outcast, some wretch with whom the +world had gone hard, who readily agreed to throw away his life at +the end of a few days if only he might have his fling in the +meantime. For observe that while the time allowed to the original +deputy--the Jalno--was measured by weeks, the time allowed to the +deputy's deputy was cut down to days, ten days according to one +authority, seven days according to another. So short a rope was +doubtless thought a long enough tether for so black or sickly a +sheep; so few sands in the hour-glass, slipping so fast away, +sufficed for one who had wasted so many precious years. Hence in the +jack-pudding who now masquerades with motley countenance in the +market-place of Lhasa, sweeping up misfortune with a black yak's +tail, we may fairly see the substitute of a substitute, the vicar of +a vicar, the proxy on whose back the heavy burden was laid when it +had been lifted from nobler shoulders. But the clue, if we have +followed it aright, does not stop at the Jalno; it leads straight +back to the pope of Lhasa himself, the Grand Lama, of whom the Jalno +is merely the temporary vicar. The analogy of many customs in many +lands points to the conclusion that, if this human divinity stoops +to resign his ghostly power for a time into the hands of a +substitute, it is, or rather was once, for no other reason than that +the substitute might die in his stead. Thus through the mist of ages +unillumined by the lamp of history, the tragic figure of the pope of +Buddhism--God's vicar on earth for Asia--looms dim and sad as the +man-god who bore his people's sorrows, the Good Shepherd who laid +down his life for the sheep. + + + +4. On Scapegoats in General + +THE FOREGOING survey of the custom of publicly expelling the +accumulated evils of a village or town or country suggests a few +general observations. + +In the first place, it will not be disputed that what I have called +the immediate and the mediate expulsions of evil are identical in +intention; in other words, that whether the evils are conceived of +as invisible or as embodied in a material form, is a circumstance +entirely subordinate to the main object of the ceremony, which is +simply to effect a total clearance of all the ills that have been +infesting a people. If any link were wanting to connect the two +kinds of expulsion, it would be furnished by such a practice as that +of sending the evils away in a litter or a boat. For here, on the +one hand, the evils are invisible and intangible; and, on the other +hand, there is a visible and tangible vehicle to convey them away. +And a scapegoat is nothing more than such a vehicle. + +In the second place, when a general clearance of evils is resorted +to periodically, the interval between the celebrations of the +ceremony is commonly a year, and the time of year when the ceremony +takes place usually coincides with some well-marked change of +season, such as the beginning or end of winter in the arctic and +temperate zones, and the beginning or end of the rainy season in the +tropics. The increased mortality which such climatic changes are apt +to produce, especially amongst ill-fed, ill-clothed, and ill-housed +savages, is set down by primitive man to the agency of demons, who +must accordingly be expelled. Hence, in the tropical regions of New +Britain and Peru, the devils are or were driven out at the beginning +of the rainy season; hence, on the dreary coasts of Baffin Land, +they are banished at the approach of the bitter Arctic winter. When +a tribe has taken to husbandry, the time for the general expulsion +of devils is naturally made to agree with one of the great epochs of +the agricultural year, as sowing, or harvest; but, as these epochs +themselves naturally coincide with changes of season, it does not +follow that the transition from the hunting or pastoral to the +agricultural life involves any alteration in the time of celebrating +this great annual rite. Some of the agricultural communities of +India and the Hindoo Koosh, as we have seen, hold their general +clearance of demons at harvest, others at sowing-time. But, at +whatever season of the year it is held, the general expulsion of +devils commonly marks the beginning of the new year. For, before +entering on a new year, people are anxious to rid themselves of the +troubles that have harassed them in the past; hence it comes about +that in so many communities the beginning of the new year is +inaugurated with a solemn and public banishment of evil spirits. + +In the third place, it is to be observed that this public and +periodic expulsion of devils is commonly preceded or followed by a +period of general license, during which the ordinary restraints of +society are thrown aside, and all offences, short of the gravest, +are allowed to pass unpunished. In Guinea and Tonquin the period of +license precedes the public expulsion of demons; and the suspension +of the ordinary government in Lhasa previous to the expulsion of the +scapegoat is perhaps a relic of a similar period of universal +license. Amongst the Hos of India the period of license follows the +expulsion of the devil. Amongst the Iroquois it hardly appears +whether it preceded or followed the banishment of evils. In any +case, the extraordinary relaxation of all ordinary rules of conduct +on such occasions is doubtless to be explained by the general +clearance of evils which precedes or follows it. On the one hand, +when a general riddance of evil and absolution from all sin is in +immediate prospect, men are encouraged to give the rein to their +passions, trusting that the coming ceremony will wipe out the score +which they are running up so fast. On the other hand, when the +ceremony has just taken place, men's minds are freed from the +oppressive sense, under which they generally labour, of an +atmosphere surcharged with devils; and in the first revulsion of joy +they overleap the limits commonly imposed by custom and morality. +When the ceremony takes place at harvest-time, the elation of +feeling which it excites is further stimulated by the state of +physical wellbeing produced by an abundant supply of food. + +Fourthly, the employment of a divine man or animal as a scapegoat is +especially to be noted; indeed, we are here directly concerned with +the custom of banishing evils only in so far as these evils are +believed to be transferred to a god who is afterwards slain. It may +be suspected that the custom of employing a divine man or animal as +a public scapegoat is much more widely diffused than appears from +the examples cited. For, as has already been pointed out, the custom +of killing a god dates from so early a period of human history that +in later ages, even when the custom continues to be practised, it is +liable to be misinterpreted. The divine character of the animal or +man is forgotten, and he comes to be regarded merely as an ordinary +victim. This is especially likely to be the case when it is a divine +man who is killed. For when a nation becomes civilised, if it does +not drop human sacrifices altogether, it at least selects as victims +only such wretches as would be put to death at any rate. Thus the +killing of a god may sometimes come to be confounded with the +execution of a criminal. + +If we ask why a dying god should be chosen to take upon himself and +carry away the sins and sorrows of the people, it may be suggested +that in the practice of using the divinity as a scapegoat we have a +combination of two customs which were at one time distinct and +independent. On the one hand we have seen that it has been customary +to kill the human or animal god in order to save his divine life +from being weakened by the inroads of age. On the other hand we have +seen that it has been customary to have a general expulsion of evils +and sins once a year. Now, if it occurred to people to combine these +two customs, the result would be the employment of the dying god as +a scapegoat. He was killed, not originally to take away sin, but to +save the divine life from the degeneracy of old age; but, since he +had to be killed at any rate, people may have thought that they +might as well seize the opportunity to lay upon him the burden of +their sufferings and sins, in order that he might bear it away with +him to the unknown world beyond the grave. + +The use of the divinity as a scapegoat clears up the ambiguity +which, as we saw, appears to hang about the European folk-custom of +"carrying out Death." Grounds have been shown for believing that in +this ceremony the so-called Death was originally the spirit of +vegetation, who was annually slain in spring, in order that he might +come to life again with all the vigour of youth. But, as I pointed +out, there are certain features in the ceremony which are not +explicable on this hypothesis alone. Such are the marks of joy with +which the effigy of Death is carried out to be buried or burnt, and +the fear and abhorrence of it manifested by the bearers. But these +features become at once intelligible if we suppose that the Death +was not merely the dying god of vegetation, but also a public +scapegoat, upon whom were laid all the evils that had afflicted the +people during the past year. Joy on such an occasion is natural and +appropriate; and if the dying god appears to be the object of that +fear and abhorrence which are properly due not to himself, but to +the sins and misfortunes with which he is laden, this arises merely +from the difficulty of distinguishing, or at least of marking the +distinction, between the bearer and the burden. When the burden is +of a baleful character, the bearer of it will be feared and shunned +just as much as if he were himself instinct with those dangerous +properties of which, as it happens, he is only the vehicle. +Similarly we have seen that disease-laden and sin-laden boats are +dreaded and shunned by East Indian peoples. Again, the view that in +these popular customs the Death is a scapegoat as well as a +representative of the divine spirit of vegetation derives some +support from the circumstance that its expulsion is always +celebrated in spring and chiefly by Slavonic peoples. For the +Slavonic year began in spring; and thus, in one of its aspects, the +ceremony of "carrying out Death" would be an example of the +widespread custom of expelling the accumulated evils of the old year +before entering on a new one. + + + + +LVIII. Human Scapegoats in Classical Antiquity + + + +1. The Human Scapegoat in Ancient Rome + +WE are now prepared to notice the use of the human scapegoat in +classical antiquity. Every year on the fourteenth of March a man +clad in skins was led in procession through the streets of Rome, +beaten with long white rods, and driven out of the city. He was +called Mamurius Veturius, that is, "the old Mars," and as the +ceremony took place on the day preceding the first full moon of the +old Roman year (which began on the first of March), the skin-clad +man must have represented the Mars of the past year, who was driven +out at the beginning of a new one. Now Mars was originally not a god +of war but of vegetation. For it was to Mars that the Roman +husbandman prayed for the prosperity of his corn and his vines, his +fruit-trees and his copses; it was to Mars that the priestly college +of the Arval Brothers, whose business it was to sacrifice for the +growth of the crops, addressed their petitions almost exclusively; +and it was to Mars, as we saw, that a horse was sacrificed in +October to secure an abundant harvest. Moreover, it was to Mars, +under his title of "Mars of the woods" (_Mars Silvanus_), that +farmers offered sacrifice for the welfare of their cattle. We have +already seen that cattle are commonly supposed to be under the +special patronage of tree-gods. Once more, the consecration of the +vernal month of March to Mars seems to point him out as the deity of +the sprouting vegetation. Thus the Roman custom of expelling the old +Mars at the beginning of the new year in spring is identical with +the Slavonic custom of "carrying out Death," if the view here taken +of the latter custom is correct. The similarity of the Roman and +Slavonic customs has been already remarked by scholars, who appear, +however, to have taken Mamurius Veturius and the corresponding +figures in the Slavonic ceremonies to be representatives of the old +year rather than of the old god of vegetation. It is possible that +ceremonies of this kind may have come to be thus interpreted in +later times even by the people who practised them. But the +personification of a period of time is too abstract an idea to be +primitive. However, in the Roman, as in the Slavonic, ceremony, the +representative of the god appears to have been treated not only as a +deity of vegetation but also as a scapegoat. His expulsion implies +this; for there is no reason why the god of vegetation, as such, +should be expelled from the city. But it is otherwise if he is also +a scapegoat; it then becomes necessary to drive him beyond the +boundaries, that he may carry his sorrowful burden away to other +lands. And, in fact, Mamurius Veturius appears to have been driven +away to the land of the Oscans, the enemies of Rome. + + + +2. The Human Scapegoat in Ancient Greece + +THE ANCIENT Greeks were also familiar with the use of a human +scapegoat. In Plutarch's native town of Chaeronea a ceremony of this +kind was performed by the chief magistrate at the Town Hall, and by +each householder at his own home. It was called the "expulsion of +hunger." A slave was beaten with rods of the _agnus castus,_ and +turned out of doors with the words, "Out with hunger, and in with +wealth and health." When Plutarch held the office of chief +magistrate of his native town he performed this ceremony at the Town +Hall, and he has recorded the discussion to which the custom +afterwards gave rise. + +But in civilised Greece the custom of the scapegoat took darker +forms than the innocent rite over which the amiable and pious +Plutarch presided. Whenever Marseilles, one of the busiest and most +brilliant of Greek colonies, was ravaged by a plague, a man of the +poorer classes used to offer himself as a scapegoat. For a whole +year he was maintained at the public expense, being fed on choice +and pure food. At the expiry of the year he was dressed in sacred +garments, decked with holy branches, and led through the whole city, +while prayers were uttered that all the evils of the people might +fall on his head. He was then cast out of the city or stoned to +death by the people outside of the walls. The Athenians regularly +maintained a number of degraded and useless beings at the public +expense; and when any calamity, such as plague, drought, or famine, +befell the city, they sacrificed two of these outcast scapegoats. +One of the victims was sacrificed for the men and the other for the +women. The former wore round his neck a string of black, the latter +a string of white figs. Sometimes, it seems, the victim slain on +behalf of the women was a woman. They were led about the city and +then sacrificed, apparently by being stoned to death outside the +city. But such sacrifices were not confined to extraordinary +occasions of public calamity; it appears that every year, at the +festival of the Thargelia in May, two victims, one for the men and +one for the women, were led out of Athens and stoned to death. The +city of Abdera in Thrace was publicly purified once a year, and one +of the burghers, set apart for the purpose, was stoned to death as a +scapegoat or vicarious sacrifice for the life of all the others; six +days before his execution he was excommunicated, "in order that he +alone might bear the sins of all the people." + +From the Lover's Leap, a white bluff at the southern end of their +island, the Leucadians used annually to hurl a criminal into the sea +as a scapegoat. But to lighten his fall they fastened live birds and +feathers to him, and a flotilla of small boats waited below to catch +him and convey him beyond the boundary. Probably these humane +precautions were a mitigation of an earlier custom of flinging the +scapegoat into the sea to drown. The Leucadian ceremony took place +at the time of a sacrifice to Apollo, who had a temple or sanctuary +on the spot. Elsewhere it was customary to cast a young man every +year into the sea, with the prayer, "Be thou our offscouring." This +ceremony was supposed to rid the people of the evils by which they +were beset, or according to a somewhat different interpretation it +redeemed them by paying the debt they owed to the sea-god. As +practised by the Greeks of Asia Minor in the sixth century before +our era, the custom of the scapegoat was as follows. When a city +suffered from plague, famine, or other public calamity, an ugly or +deformed person was chosen to take upon himself all the evils which +afflicted the community. He was brought to a suitable place, where +dried figs, a barley loaf, and cheese were put into his hand. These +he ate. Then he was beaten seven times upon his genital organs with +squills and branches of the wild fig and other wild trees, while the +flutes played a particular tune. Afterwards he was burned on a pyre +built of the wood of forest trees; and his ashes were cast into the +sea. A similar custom appears to have been annually celebrated by +the Asiatic Greeks at the harvest festival of the Thargelia. + +In the ritual just described the scourging of the victim with +squills, branches of the wild fig, and so forth, cannot have been +intended to aggravate his sufferings, otherwise any stick would have +been good enough to beat him with. The true meaning of this part of +the ceremony has been explained by W. Mannhardt. He points out that +the ancients attributed to squills a magical power of averting evil +influences, and that accordingly they hung them up at the doors of +their houses and made use of them in purificatory rites. Hence the +Arcadian custom of whipping the image of Pan with squills at a +festival, or whenever the hunters returned empty-handed, must have +been meant, not to punish the god, but to purify him from the +harmful influences which were impeding him in the exercise of his +divine functions as a god who should supply the hunter with game. +Similarly the object of beating the human scapegoat on the genital +organs with squills and so on, must have been to release his +reproductive energies from any restraint or spell under which they +might be laid by demoniacal or other malignant agency; and as the +Thargelia at which he was annually sacrificed was an early harvest +festival celebrated in May, we must recognise in him a +representative of the creative and fertilising god of vegetation. +The representative of the god was annually slain for the purpose I +have indicated, that of maintaining the divine life in perpetual +vigour, untainted by the weakness of age; and before he was put to +death it was not unnatural to stimulate his reproductive powers in +order that these might be transmitted in full activity to his +successor, the new god or new embodiment of the old god, who was +doubtless supposed immediately to take the place of the one slain. +Similar reasoning would lead to a similar treatment of the scapegoat +on special occasions, such as drought or famine. If the crops did +not answer to the expectation of the husbandman, this would be +attributed to some failure in the generative powers of the god whose +function it was to produce the fruits of the earth. It might be +thought that he was under a spell or was growing old and feeble. +Accordingly he was slain in the person of his representative, with +all the ceremonies already described, in order that, born young +again, he might infuse his own youthful vigour into the stagnant +energies of nature. On the same principle we can understand why +Mamurius Veturius was beaten with rods, why the slave at the +Chaeronean ceremony was beaten with the _agnus castus_ (a tree to +which magical properties were ascribed), why the effigy of Death in +some parts of Europe is assailed with sticks and stones, and why at +Babylon the criminal who played the god scourged before he was +crucified. The purpose of the scourging was not to intensify the +agony of the divine sufferer, but on the contrary to dispel any +malignant influences by which at the supreme moment he might +conceivably be beset. + +Thus far I have assumed that the human victims at the Thargelia +represented the spirits of vegetation in general, but it has been +well remarked by Mr. W. R. Paton that these poor wretches seem to +have masqueraded as the spirits of fig-trees in particular. He +points out that the process of caprification, as it is called, that +is, the artificial fertilisation of the cultivated fig-trees by +hanging strings of wild figs among the boughs, takes place in Greece +and Asia Minor in June about a month after the date of the +Thargelia, and he suggests that the hanging of the black and white +figs round the necks of the two human victims, one of whom +represented the men and the other the women, may have been a direct +imitation of the process of caprification designed, on the principle +of imitative magic, to assist the fertilisation of the fig-trees. +And since caprification is in fact a marriage of the male fig-tree +with the female fig-tree, Mr. Paton further supposes that the loves +of the trees may, on the same principle of imitative magic, have +been simulated by a mock or even a real marriage between the two +human victims, one of whom appears sometimes to have been a woman. +On this view the practice of beating the human victims on their +genitals with branches of wild fig-trees and with squills was a +charm intended to stimulate the generative powers of the man and +woman who for the time being personated the male and the female +fig-trees respectively, and who by their union in marriage, whether +real or pretended, were believed to help the trees to bear fruit. + +The interpretation which I have adopted of the custom of beating the +human scapegoat with certain plants is supported by many analogies. +Thus among the Kai of German New Guinea, when a man wishes to make +his banana shoots bear fruit quickly, he beats them with a stick cut +from a banana-tree which has already borne fruit. Here it is obvious +that fruitfulness is believed to inhere in a stick cut from a +fruitful tree and to be imparted by contact to the young banana +plants. Similarly in New Caledonia a man will beat his taro plants +lightly with a branch, saying as he does so, "I beat this taro that +it may grow," after which he plants the branch in the ground at the +end of the field. Among the Indians of Brazil at the mouth of the +Amazon, when a man wishes to increase the size of his generative +organ, he strikes it with the fruit of a white aquatic plant called +_aninga,_ which grows luxuriantly on the banks of the river. The +fruit, which is inedible, resembles a banana, and is clearly chosen +for this purpose on account of its shape. The ceremony should be +performed three days before or after the new moon. In the county of +Bekes, in Hungary, barren women are fertilised by being struck with +a stick which has first been used to separate pairing dogs. Here a +fertilising virtue is clearly supposed to be inherent in the stick +and to be conveyed by contact to the women. The Toradjas of Central +Celebes think that the plant _Dracaena terminalis_ has a strong +soul, because when it is lopped, it soon grows up again. Hence when +a man is ill, his friends will sometimes beat him on the crown of +the head with _Dracaena_ leaves in order to strengthen his weak soul +with the strong soul of the plant. + +These analogies, accordingly, support the interpretation which, +following my predecessors W. Mannhardt and Mr. W. R. Paton, I have +given of the beating inflicted on the human victims at the Greek +harvest festival of the Thargelia. That beating, being administered +to the generative organs of the victims by fresh green plants and +branches, is most naturally explained as a charm to increase the +reproductive energies of the men or women either by communicating to +them the fruitfulness of the plants and branches, or by ridding them +of the maleficent influences; and this interpretation is confirmed +by the observation that the two victims represented the two sexes, +one of them standing for the men in general and the other for the +women. The season of the year when the ceremony was performed, +namely the time of the corn harvest, tallies well with the theory +that the rite had an agricultural significance. Further, that it was +above all intended to fertilise the fig-trees is strongly suggested +by the strings of black and white figs which were hung round the +necks of the victims, as well as by the blows which were given their +genital organs with the branches of a wild fig-tree; since this +procedure closely resembles the procedure which ancient and modern +husbandmen in Greek lands have regularly resorted to for the purpose +of actually fertilising their fig-trees. When we remember what an +important part the artificial fertilisation of the date palm-tree +appears to have played of old not only in the husbandry but in the +religion of Mesopotamia, there seems no reason to doubt that the +artificial fertilisation of the fig-tree may in like manner have +vindicated for itself a place in the solemn ritual of Greek +religion. + +If these considerations are just, we must apparently conclude that +while the human victims at the Thargelia certainly appear in later +classical times to have figured chiefly as public scapegoats, who +carried away with them the sins, misfortunes, and sorrows of the +whole people, at an earlier time they may have been looked on as +embodiments of vegetation, perhaps of the corn but particularly of +the fig-trees; and that the beating which they received and the +death which they died were intended primarily to brace and refresh +the powers of vegetation then beginning to droop and languish under +the torrid heat of the Greek summer. + +The view here taken of the Greek scapegoat, if it is correct, +obviates an objection which might otherwise be brought against the +main argument of this book. To the theory that the priest of Aricia +was slain as a representative of the spirit of the grove, it might +have been objected that such a custom has no analogy in classical +antiquity. But reasons have now been given for believing that the +human being periodically and occasionally slain by the Asiatic +Greeks was regularly treated as an embodiment of a divinity of +vegetation. Probably the persons whom the Athenians kept to be +sacrificed were similarly treated as divine. That they were social +outcasts did not matter. On the primitive view a man is not chosen +to be the mouth-piece or embodiment of a god on account of his high +moral qualities or social rank. The divine afflatus descends equally +on the good and the bad, the lofty and the lowly. If then the +civilised Greeks of Asia and Athens habitually sacrificed men whom +they regarded as incarnate gods, there can be no inherent +improbability in the supposition that at the dawn of history a +similar custom was observed by the semibarbarous Latins in the +Arician Grove. + +But to clinch the argument, it is clearly desirable to prove that +the custom of putting to death a human representative of a god was +known and practised in ancient Italy elsewhere than in the Arician +Grove. This proof I now propose to adduce. + + + +3. The Roman Saturnalia + +WE have seen that many peoples have been used to observe an annual +period of license, when the customary restraints of law and morality +are thrown aside, when the whole population give themselves up to +extravagant mirth and jollity, and when the darker passions find a +vent which would never be allowed them in the more staid and sober +course of ordinary life. Such outbursts of the pent-up forces of +human nature, too often degenerating into wild orgies of lust and +crime, occur most commonly at the end of the year, and are +frequently associated, as I have had occasion to point out, with one +or other of the agricultural seasons, especially with the time of +sowing or of harvest. Now, of all these periods of license the one +which is best known and which in modern language has given its name +to the rest, is the Saturnalia. This famous festival fell in +December, the last month of the Roman year, and was popularly +supposed to commemorate the merry reign of Saturn, the god of sowing +and of husbandry, who lived on earth long ago as a righteous and +beneficent king of Italy, drew the rude and scattered dwellers on +the mountains together, taught them to till the ground, gave them +laws, and ruled in peace. His reign was the fabled Golden Age: the +earth brought forth abundantly: no sound of war or discord troubled +the happy world: no baleful love of lucre worked like poison in the +blood of the industrious and contented peasantry. Slavery and +private property were alike unknown: all men had all things in +common. At last the good god, the kindly king, vanished suddenly; +but his memory was cherished to distant ages, shrines were reared in +his honour, and many hills and high places in Italy bore his name. +Yet the bright tradition of his reign was crossed by a dark shadow: +his altars are said to have been stained with the blood of human +victims, for whom a more merciful age afterwards substituted +effigies. Of this gloomy side of the god's religion there is little +or no trace in the descriptions which ancient writers have left us +of the Saturnalia. Feasting and revelry and all the mad pursuit of +pleasure are the features that seem to have especially marked this +carnival of antiquity, as it went on for seven days in the streets +and public squares and houses of ancient Rome from the seventeenth +to the twenty-third of December. + +But no feature of the festival is more remarkable, nothing in it +seems to have struck the ancients themselves more than the license +granted to slaves at this time. The distinction between the free and +the servile classes was temporarily abolished. The slave might rail +at his master, intoxicate himself like his betters, sit down at +table with them, and not even a word of reproof would be +administered to him for conduct which at any other season might have +been punished with stripes, imprisonment, or death. Nay, more, +masters actually changed places with their slaves and waited on them +at table; and not till the serf had done eating and drinking was the +board cleared and dinner set for his master. So far was this +inversion of ranks carried, that each household became for a time a +mimic republic in which the high offices of state were discharged by +the slaves, who gave their orders and laid down the law as if they +were indeed invested with all the dignity of the consulship, the +praetorship, and the bench. Like the pale reflection of power thus +accorded to bondsmen at the Saturnalia was the mock kingship for +which freemen cast lots at the same season. The person on whom the +lot fell enjoyed the title of king, and issued commands of a playful +and ludicrous nature to his temporary subjects. One of them he might +order to mix the wine, another to drink, another to sing, another to +dance, another to speak in his own dispraise, another to carry a +flute-girl on his back round the house. + +Now, when we remember that the liberty allowed to slaves at this +festive season was supposed to be an imitation of the state of +society in Saturn's time, and that in general the Saturnalia passed +for nothing more or less than a temporary revival or restoration of +the reign of that merry monarch, we are tempted to surmise that the +mock king who presided over the revels may have originally +represented Saturn himself. The conjecture is strongly confirmed, if +not established, by a very curious and interesting account of the +way in which the Saturnalia was celebrated by the Roman soldiers +stationed on the Danube in the reign of Maximian and Diocletian. The +account is preserved in a narrative of the martyrdom of St. Dasius, +which was unearthed from a Greek manuscript in the Paris library, +and published by Professor Franz Cumont of Ghent. Two briefer +descriptions of the event and of the custom are contained in +manuscripts at Milan and Berlin; one of them had already seen the +light in an obscure volume printed at Urbino in 1727, but its +importance for the history of the Roman religion, both ancient and +modern, appears to have been overlooked until Professor Cumont drew +the attention of scholars to all three narratives by publishing them +together some years ago. According to these narratives, which have +all the appearance of being authentic, and of which the longest is +probably based on official documents, the Roman soldiers at +Durostorum in Lower Moesia celebrated the Saturnalia year by year in +the following manner. Thirty days before the festival they chose by +lot from amongst themselves a young and handsome man, who was then +clothed in royal attire to resemble Saturn. Thus arrayed and +attended by a multitude of soldiers he went about in public with +full license to indulge his passions and to taste of every pleasure, +however base and shameful. But if his reign was merry, it was short +and ended tragically; for when the thirty days were up and the +festival of Saturn had come, he cut his own throat on the altar of +the god whom he personated. In the year A.D. 303 the lot fell upon +the Christian soldier Dasius, but he refused to play the part of the +heathen god and soil his last days by debauchery. The threats and +arguments of his commanding officer Bassus failed to shake his +constancy, and accordingly he was beheaded, as the Christian +martyrologist records with minute accuracy, at Durostorum by the +soldier John on Friday the twentieth day of November, being the +twenty-fourth day of the moon, at the fourth hour. + +Since this narrative was published by Professor Cumont, its +historical character, which had been doubted or denied, has received +strong confirmation from an interesting discovery. In the crypt of +the cathedral which crowns the promontory of Ancona there is +preserved, among other remarkable antiquities, a white marble +sarcophagus bearing a Greek inscription, in characters of the age of +Justinian, to the following effect: "Here lies the holy martyr +Dasius, brought from Durostorum." The sarcophagus was transferred to +the crypt of the cathedral in 1848 from the church of San +Pellegrino, under the high altar of which, as we learn from a Latin +inscription let into the masonry, the martyr's bones still repose +with those of two other saints. How long the sarcophagus was +deposited in the church of San Pellegrino, we do not know; but it is +recorded to have been there in the year 1650. We may suppose that +the saint's relics were transferred for safety to Ancona at some +time in the troubled centuries which followed his martyrdom, when +Moesia was occupied and ravaged by successive hordes of barbarian +invaders. At all events it appears certain from the independent and +mutually confirmatory evidence of the martyrology and the monuments +that Dasius was no mythical saint, but a real man, who suffered +death for his faith at Durostorum in one of the early centuries of +the Christian era. Finding the narrative of the nameless +martyrologist thus established as to the principal fact recorded, +namely, the martyrdom of St. Dasius, we may reasonably accept his +testimony as to the manner and cause of the martyrdom, all the more +because his narrative is precise, circumstantial, and entirely free +from the miraculous element. Accordingly I conclude that the account +which he gives of the celebration of the Saturnalia among the Roman +soldiers is trustworthy. + +This account sets in a new and lurid light the office of the King of +the Saturnalia, the ancient Lord of Misrule, who presided over the +winter revels at Rome in the time of Horace and Tacitus. It seems to +prove that his business had not always been that of a mere harlequin +or merry-andrew whose only care was that the revelry should run high +and the fun grow fast and furious, while the fire blazed and +crackled on the hearth, while the streets swarmed with festive +crowds, and through the clear frosty air, far away to the north, +Soracte showed his coronal of snow. When we compare this comic +monarch of the gay, the civilised metropolis with his grim +counterpart of the rude camp on the Danube, and when we remember the +long array of similar figures, ludicrous yet tragic, who in other +ages and in other lands, wearing mock crowns and wrapped in sceptred +palls, have played their little pranks for a few brief hours or +days, then passed before their time to a violent death, we can +hardly doubt that in the King of the Saturnalia at Rome, as he is +depicted by classical writers, we see only a feeble emasculated copy +of that original, whose strong features have been fortunately +preserved for us by the obscure author of the _Martyrdom of St. +Dasius._ In other words, the martyrologist's account of the +Saturnalia agrees so closely with the accounts of similar rites +elsewhere which could not possibly have been known to him, that the +substantial accuracy of his description may be regarded as +established; and further, since the custom of putting a mock king to +death as a representative of a god cannot have grown out of a +practice of appointing him to preside over a holiday revel, whereas +the reverse may very well have happened, we are justified in +assuming that in an earlier and more barbarous age it was the +universal practice in ancient Italy, wherever the worship of Saturn +prevailed, to choose a man who played the part and enjoyed all the +traditionary privileges of Saturn for a season, and then died, +whether by his own or another's hand, whether by the knife or the +fire or on the gallows-tree, in the character of the good god who +gave his life for the world. In Rome itself and other great towns +the growth of civilisation had probably mitigated this cruel custom +long before the Augustan age, and transformed it into the innocent +shape it wears in the writings of the few classical writers who +bestow a passing notice on the holiday King of the Saturnalia. But +in remoter districts the older and sterner practice may long have +survived; and even if after the unification of Italy the barbarous +usage was suppressed by the Roman government, the memory of it would +be handed down by the peasants and would tend from time to time, as +still happens with the lowest forms of superstition among ourselves, +to lead to a recrudescence of the practice, especially among the +rude soldiery on the outskirts of the empire over whom the once iron +hand of Rome was beginning to relax its grasp. + +The resemblance between the Saturnalia of ancient and the Carnival +of modern Italy has often been remarked; but in the light of all the +facts that have come before us, we may well ask whether the +resemblance does not amount to identity. We have seen that in Italy, +Spain, and France, that is, in the countries where the influence of +Rome has been deepest and most lasting, a conspicuous feature of the +Carnival is a burlesque figure personifying the festive season, +which after a short career of glory and dissipation is publicly +shot, burnt, or otherwise destroyed, to the feigned grief or genuine +delight of the populace. If the view here suggested of the Carnival +is correct, this grotesque personage is no other than a direct +successor of the old King of the Saturnalia, the master of the +revels, the real man who personated Saturn and, when the revels were +over, suffered a real death in his assumed character. The King of +the Bean on Twelfth Night and the mediaeval Bishop of Fools, Abbot +of Unreason, or Lord of Misrule are figures of the same sort and may +perhaps have had a similar origin. Whether that was so or not, we +may conclude with a fair degree of probability that if the King of +the Wood at Aricia lived and died as an incarnation of a sylvan +deity, he had of old a parallel at Rome in the men who, year by +year, were slain in the character of King Saturn, the god of the +sown and sprouting seed. + + + + +LIX. Killing the God in Mexico + +BY NO PEOPLE does the custom of sacrificing the human representative +of a god appear to have been observed so commonly and with so much +solemnity as by the Aztecs of ancient Mexico. With the ritual of +these remarkable sacrifices we are well acquainted, for it has been +fully described by the Spaniards who conquered Mexico in the +sixteenth century, and whose curiosity was naturally excited by the +discovery in this distant region of a barbarous and cruel religion +which presented many curious points of analogy to the doctrine and +ritual of their own church. "They took a captive," says the Jesuit +Acosta, "such as they thought good; and afore they did sacrifice him +unto their idols, they gave him the name of the idol, to whom he +should be sacrificed, and apparelled him with the same ornaments +like their idol, saying, that he did represent the same idol. And +during the time that this representation lasted, which was for a +year in some feasts, in others six months, and in others less, they +reverenced and worshipped him in the same manner as the proper idol; +and in the meantime he did eat, drink, and was merry. When he went +through the streets, the people came forth to worship him, and every +one brought him an alms, with children and sick folks, that he might +cure them, and bless them, suffering him to do all things at his +pleasure, only he was accompanied with ten or twelve men lest he +should fly. And he (to the end he might be reverenced as he passed) +sometimes sounded upon a small flute, that the people might prepare +to worship him. The feast being come, and he grown fat, they killed +him, opened him, and ate him, making a solemn sacrifice of him." + +This general description of the custom may now be illustrated by +particular examples. Thus at the festival called Toxcatl, the +greatest festival of the Mexican year, a young man was annually +sacrificed in the character of Tezcatlipoca, "the god of gods," +after having been maintained and worshipped as that great deity in +person for a whole year. According to the old Franciscan monk +Sahagun, our best authority on the Aztec religion, the sacrifice of +the human god fell at Easter or a few days later, so that, if he is +right, it would correspond in date as well as in character to the +Christian festival of the death and resurrection of the Redeemer. +More exactly he tells us that the sacrifice took place on the first +day of the fifth Aztec month, which according to him began on the +twenty-third or twenty-seventh day of April. + +At this festival the great god died in the person of one human +representative and came to life again in the person of another, who +was destined to enjoy the fatal honour of divinity for a year and to +perish, like all his predecessors, at the end of it. The young man +singled out for this high dignity was carefully chosen from among +the captives on the ground of his personal beauty. He had to be of +unblemished body, slim as a reed and straight as a pillar, neither +too tall nor too short. If through high living he grew too fat, he +was obliged to reduce himself by drinking salt water. And in order +that he might behave in his lofty station with becoming grace and +dignity he was carefully trained to comport himself like a gentleman +of the first quality, to speak correctly and elegantly, to play the +flute, to smoke cigars and to snuff at flowers with a dandified air. +He was honourably lodged in the temple, where the nobles waited on +him and paid him homage, bringing him meat and serving him like a +prince. The king himself saw to it that he was apparelled in +gorgeous attire, "for already he esteemed him as a god." Eagle down +was gummed to his head and white cock's feathers were stuck in his +hair, which drooped to his girdle. A wreath of flowers like roasted +maize crowned his brows, and a garland of the same flowers passed +over his shoulders and under his armpits. Golden ornaments hung from +his nose, golden armlets adorned his arms, golden bells jingled on +his legs at every step he took; earrings of turquoise dangled from +his ears, bracelets of turquoise bedecked his wrists; necklaces of +shells encircled his neck and depended on his breast; he wore a +mantle of network, and round his middle a rich waistcloth. When this +bejewelled exquisite lounged through the streets playing on his +flute, puffing at a cigar, and smelling at a nosegay, the people +whom he met threw themselves on the earth before him and prayed to +him with sighs and tears, taking up the dust in their hands and +putting it in their mouths in token of the deepest humiliation and +subjection. Women came forth with children in their arms and +presented them to him, saluting him as a god. For "he passed for our +Lord God; the people acknowledged him as the Lord." All who thus +worshipped him on his passage he saluted gravely and courteously. +Lest he should flee, he was everywhere attended by a guard of eight +pages in the royal livery, four of them with shaven crowns like the +palace-slaves, and four of them with the flowing locks of warriors; +and if he contrived to escape, the captain of the guard had to take +his place as the representative of the god and to die in his stead. +Twenty days before he was to die, his costume was changed, and four +damsels delicately nurtured and bearing the names of four +goddesses--the Goddess of Flowers, the Goddess of the Young Maize, +the Goddess "Our Mother among the Water," and the Goddess of +Salt--were given him to be his brides, and with them he consorted. +During the last five days divine honours were showered on the +destined victim. The king remained in his palace while the whole +court went after the human god. Solemn banquets and dances followed +each other in regular succession and at appointed places. On the +last day the young man, attended by his wives and pages, embarked in +a canoe covered with a royal canopy and was ferried across the lake +to a spot where a little hill rose from the edge of the water. It +was called the Mountain of Parting, because there his wives bade him +a last farewell. Then, accompanied only by his pages, he repaired to +a small and lonely temple by the wayside. Like the Mexican temples +in general, it was built in the form of a pyramid; and as the young +man ascended the stairs he broke at every step one of the flutes on +which he had played in the days of his glory. On reaching the summit +he was seized and held down by the priests on his back upon a block +of stone, while one of them cut open his breast, thrust his hand +into the wound, and wrenching out his heart held it up in sacrifice +to the sun. The body of the dead god was not, like the bodies of +common victims, sent rolling down the steps of the temple, but was +carried down to the foot, where the head was cut off and spitted on +a pike. Such was the regular end of the man who personated the +greatest god of the Mexican pantheon. + +The honour of living for a short time in the character of a god and +dying a violent death in the same capacity was not restricted to men +in Mexico; women were allowed, or rather compelled, to enjoy the +glory and to share the doom as representatives of goddesses. Thus at +a great festival in September, which was preceded by a strict fast +of seven days, they sanctified a young slave girl of twelve or +thirteen years, the prettiest they could find, to represent the +Maize Goddess Chicomecohuatl. They invested her with the ornaments +of the goddess, putting a mitre on her head and maize-cobs round her +neck and in her hands, and fastening a green feather upright on the +crown of her head to imitate an ear of maize. This they did, we are +told, in order to signify that the maize was almost ripe at the time +of the festival, but because it was still tender they chose a girl +of tender years to play the part of the Maize Goddess. The whole +long day they led the poor child in all her finery, with the green +plume nodding on her head, from house to house dancing merrily to +cheer people after the dulness and privations of the fast. + +In the evening all the people assembled at the temple, the courts of +which they lit up by a multitude of lanterns and candles. There they +passed the night without sleeping, and at midnight, while the +trumpets, flutes, and horns discoursed solemn music, a portable +framework or palanquin was brought forth, bedecked with festoons of +maize-cobs and peppers and filled with seeds of all sorts. This the +bearers set down at the door of the chamber in which the wooden +image of the goddess stood. Now the chamber was adorned and +wreathed, both outside and inside, with wreaths of maize-cobs, +peppers, pumpkins, roses, and seeds of every kind, a wonder to +behold; the whole floor was covered deep with these verdant +offerings of the pious. When the music ceased, a solemn procession +came forth of priests and dignitaries, with flaring lights and +smoking censers, leading in their midst the girl who played the part +of the goddess. Then they made her mount the framework, where she +stood upright on the maize and peppers and pumpkins with which it +was strewed, her hands resting on two bannisters to keep her from +falling. Then the priests swung the smoking censers round her; the +music struck up again, and while it played, a great dignitary of the +temple suddenly stepped up to her with a razor in his hand and +adroitly shore off the green feather she wore on her head, together +with the hair in which it was fastened, snipping the lock off by the +root. The feather and the hair he then presented to the wooden image +of the goddess with great solemnity and elaborate ceremonies, +weeping and giving her thanks for the fruits of the earth and the +abundant crops which she had bestowed on the people that year; and +as he wept and prayed, all the people, standing in the courts of the +temple, wept and prayed with him. When that ceremony was over, the +girl descended from the framework and was escorted to the place +where she was to spend the rest of the night. But all the people +kept watch in the courts of the temple by the light of torches till +break of day. + +The morning being come, and the courts of the temple being still +crowded by the multitude, who would have deemed it sacrilege to quit +the precincts, the priests again brought forth the damsel attired in +the costume of the goddess, with the mitre on her head and the cobs +of maize about her neck. Again she mounted the portable framework or +palanquin and stood on it, supporting herself by her hands on the +bannisters. Then the elders of the temple lifted it on their +shoulders, and while some swung burning censers and others played on +instruments or sang, they carried it in procession through the great +courtyard to the hall of the god Huitzilopochtli and then back to +the chamber, where stood the wooden image of the Maize Goddess, whom +the girl personated. There they caused the damsel to descend from +the palanquin and to stand on the heaps of corn and vegetables that +had been spread in profusion on the floor of the sacred chamber. +While she stood there all the elders and nobles came in a line, one +behind the other, carrying saucers full of dry and clotted blood +which they had drawn from their ears by way of penance during the +seven days' fast. One by one they squatted on their haunches before +her, which was the equivalent of falling on their knees with us, and +scraping the crust of blood from the saucer cast it down before her +as an offering in return for the benefits which she, as the +embodiment of the Maize Goddess, had conferred upon them. When the +men had thus humbly offered their blood to the human representative +of the goddess, the women, forming a long line, did so likewise, +each of them dropping on her hams before the girl and scraping her +blood from the saucer. The ceremony lasted a long time, for great +and small, young and old, all without exception had to pass before +the incarnate deity and make their offering. When it was over, the +people returned home with glad hearts to feast on flesh and viands +of every sort as merrily, we are told, as good Christians at Easter +partake of meat and other carnal mercies after the long abstinence +of Lent. And when they had eaten and drunk their fill and rested +after the night watch, they returned quite refreshed to the temple +to see the end of the festival. And the end of the festival was +this. The multitude being assembled, the priests solemnly incensed +the girl who personated the goddess; then they threw her on her back +on the heap of corn and seeds, cut off her head, caught the gushing +blood in a tub, and sprinkled the blood on the wooden image of the +goddess, the walls of the chamber, and the offerings of corn, +peppers, pumpkins, seeds, and vegetables which cumbered the floor. +After that they flayed the headless trunk, and one of the priests +made shift to squeeze himself into the bloody skin. Having done so +they clad him in all the robes which the girl had worn; they put the +mitre on his head, the necklace of golden maize-cobs about his neck, +the maize-cobs of feathers and gold in his hands; and thus arrayed +they led him forth in public, all of them dancing to the tuck of +drum, while he acted as fugleman, skipping and posturing at the head +of the procession as briskly as he could be expected to do, +incommoded as he was by the tight and clammy skin of the girl and by +her clothes, which must have been much too small for a grown man. + +In the foregoing custom the identification of the young girl with +the Maize Goddess appears to be complete. The golden maize-cobs +which she wore round her neck, the artificial maize-cobs which she +carried in her hands, the green feather which was stuck in her hair +in imitation (we are told) of a green ear of maize, all set her +forth as a personification of the corn-spirit; and we are expressly +informed that she was specially chosen as a young girl to represent +the young maize, which at the time of the festival had not yet fully +ripened. Further, her identification with the corn and the +corn-goddess was clearly announced by making her stand on the heaps +of maize and there receive the homage and blood-offerings of the +whole people, who thereby returned her thanks for the benefits which +in her character of a divinity she was supposed to have conferred +upon them. Once more, the practice of beheading her on a heap of +corn and seeds and sprinkling her blood, not only on the image of +the Maize Goddess, but on the piles of maize, peppers, pumpkins, +seeds, and vegetables, can seemingly have had no other object but to +quicken and strengthen the crops of corn and the fruits of the earth +in general by infusing into their representatives the blood of the +Corn Goddess herself. The analogy of this Mexican sacrifice, the +meaning of which appears to be indisputable, may be allowed to +strengthen the interpretation which I have given of other human +sacrifices offered for the crops. If the Mexican girl, whose blood +was sprinkled on the maize, indeed personated the Maize Goddess, it +becomes more than ever probable that the girl whose blood the +Pawnees similarly sprinkled on the seed corn personated in like +manner the female Spirit of the Corn; and so with the other human +beings whom other races have slaughtered for the sake of promoting +the growth of the crops. + +Lastly, the concluding act of the sacred drama, in which the body of +the dead Maize Goddess was flayed and her skin worn, together with +all her sacred insignia, by a man who danced before the people in +this grim attire, seems to be best explained on the hypothesis that +it was intended to ensure that the divine death should be +immediately followed by the divine resurrection. If that was so, we +may infer with some degree of probability that the practice of +killing a human representative of a deity has commonly, perhaps +always, been regarded merely as a means of perpetuating the divine +energies in the fulness of youthful vigour, untainted by the +weakness and frailty of age, from which they must have suffered if +the deity had been allowed to die a natural death. + +These Mexican rites suffice to prove that human sacrifices of the +sort I suppose to have prevailed at Aricia were, as a matter of +fact, regularly offered by a people whose level of culture was +probably not inferior, if indeed it was not distinctly superior, to +that occupied by the Italian races at the early period to which the +origin of the Arician priesthood must be referred. The positive and +indubitable evidence of the prevalence of such sacrifices in one +part of the world may reasonably be allowed to strengthen the +probability of their prevalence in places for which the evidence is +less full and trustworthy. Taken all together, the facts which we +have passed in review seem to show that the custom of killing men +whom their worshippers regard as divine has prevailed in many parts +of the world. + + + +LX. Between Heaven and Earth + + + +1. Not to touch the Earth + +AT THE OUTSET of this book two questions were proposed for answer: +Why had the priest of Aricia to slay his predecessor? And why, +before doing so, had he to pluck the Golden Bough? Of these two +questions the first has now been answered. The priest of Aricia, if +I am right, was one of those sacred kings or human divinities on +whose life the welfare of the community and even the course of +nature in general are believed to be intimately dependent. It does +not appear that the subjects or worshippers of such a spiritual +potentate form to themselves any very clear notion of the exact +relationship in which they stand to him; probably their ideas on the +point are vague and fluctuating, and we should err if we attempted +to define the relationship with logical precision. All that the +people know, or rather imagine, is that somehow they themselves, +their cattle, and their crops are mysteriously bound up with their +divine king, so that according as he is well or ill the community is +healthy or sickly, the flocks and herds thrive or languish with +disease, and the fields yield an abundant or a scanty harvest. The +worst evil which they can conceive of is the natural death of their +ruler, whether he succumb to sickness or old age, for in the opinion +of his followers such a death would entail the most disastrous +consequences on themselves and their possessions; fatal epidemics +would sweep away man and beast, the earth would refuse her increase, +nay, the very frame of nature itself might be dissolved. To guard +against these catastrophes it is necessary to put the king to death +while he is still in the full bloom of his divine manhood, in order +that his sacred life, transmitted in unabated force to his +successor, may renew its youth, and thus by successive transmissions +through a perpetual line of vigorous incarnations may remain +eternally fresh and young, a pledge and security that men and +animals shall in like manner renew their youth by a perpetual +succession of generations, and that seedtime and harvest, and summer +and winter, and rain and sunshine shall never fail. That, if my +conjecture is right, was why the priest of Aricia, the King of the +Wood at Nemi, had regularly to perish by the sword of his successor. + +But we have still to ask, What was the Golden Bough? and why had +each candidate for the Arician priesthood to pluck it before he +could slay the priest? These questions I will now try to answer. + +It will be well to begin by noticing two of those rules or taboos by +which, as we have seen, the life of divine kings or priests is +regulated. The first of the rules to which I would call the reader's +attention is that the divine personage may not touch the ground with +his foot. This rule was observed by the supreme pontiff of the +Zapotecs in Mexico; he profaned his sanctity if he so much as +touched the ground with his foot. Montezuma, emperor of Mexico, +never set foot on the ground; he was always carried on the shoulders +of noblemen, and if he lighted anywhere they laid rich tapestry for +him to walk upon. For the Mikado of Japan to touch the ground with +his foot was a shameful degradation; indeed, in the sixteenth +century, it was enough to deprive him of his office. Outside his +palace he was carried on men's shoulders; within it he walked on +exquisitely wrought mats. The king and queen of Tahiti might not +touch the ground anywhere but within their hereditary domains; for +the ground on which they trod became sacred. In travelling from +place to place they were carried on the shoulders of sacred men. +They were always accompanied by several pairs of these sanctified +attendants; and when it became necessary to change their bearers, +the king and queen vaulted on to the shoulders of their new bearers +without letting their feet touch the ground. It was an evil omen if +the king of Dosuma touched the ground, and he had to perform an +expiatory ceremony. Within his palace the king of Persia walked on +carpets on which no one else might tread; outside of it he was never +seen on foot but only in a chariot or on horseback. In old days the +king of Siam never set foot upon the earth, but was carried on a +throne of gold from place to place. Formerly neither the kings of +Uganda, nor their mothers, nor their queens might walk on foot +outside of the spacious enclosures in which they lived. Whenever +they went forth they were carried on the shoulders of men of the +Buffalo clan, several of whom accompanied any of these royal +personages on a journey and took it in turn to bear the burden. The +king sat astride the bearer's neck with a leg over each shoulder and +his feet tucked under the bearer's arms. When one of these royal +carriers grew tired he shot the king onto the shoulders of a second +man without allowing the royal feet to touch the ground. In this way +they went at a great pace and travelled long distances in a day, +when the king was on a journey. The bearers had a special hut in the +king's enclosure in order to be at hand the moment they were wanted. +Among the Bakuba, or rather Bushongo, a nation in the southern +region of the Congo, down to a few years ago persons of the royal +blood were forbidden to touch the ground; they must sit on a hide, a +chair, or the back of a slave, who crouched on hands and feet; their +feet rested on the feet of others. When they travelled they were +carried on the backs of men; but the king journeyed in a litter +supported on shafts. Among the Ibo people about Awka, in Southern +Nigeria, the priest of the Earth has to observe many taboos; for +example, he may not see a corpse, and if he meets one on the road he +must hide his eyes with his wristlet. He must abstain from many +foods, such as eggs, birds of all sorts, mutton, dog, bush-buck, and +so forth. He may neither 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. As priest of the Earth he may not sit on the bare +ground, nor eat things that have fallen on the ground, nor may earth +be thrown at him. According to ancient Brahmanic ritual a king at +his inauguration trod on a tiger's skin and a golden plate; he was +shod with shoes of boar's skin, and so long as he lived thereafter +he might not stand on the earth with his bare feet. + +But besides persons who are permanently sacred or tabooed and are +therefore permanently forbidden to touch the ground with their feet, +there are others who enjoy the character of sanctity or taboo only +on certain occasions, and to whom accordingly the prohibition in +question only applies at the definite seasons during which they +exhale the odour of sanctity. Thus among the Kayans or Bahaus of +Central Borneo, while the priestesses are engaged 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 might not sit on the bare ground the whole time +they were out on a warlike expedition. In Laos the hunting of +elephants gives rise to many taboos; one of them is that the chief +hunter may not touch the earth with his foot. Accordingly, when he +alights from his elephant, the others spread a carpet of leaves for +him to step upon. + +Apparently holiness, magical virtue, taboo, or whatever we may call +that mysterious quality which is supposed to pervade sacred or +tabooed persons, is conceived by the primitive philosopher as a +physical substance or fluid, with which the sacred man is charged +just as a Leyden jar is charged with electricity; and exactly as the +electricity in the jar can be discharged by contact with a good +conductor, so the holiness or magical virtue in the man can be +discharged and drained away by contact with the earth, which on this +theory serves as an excellent conductor for the magical fluid. Hence +in order to preserve the charge from running to waste, the sacred or +tabooed personage must be carefully prevented from touching the +ground; in electrical language he must be insulated, if he is not to +be emptied of the precious substance or fluid with which he, as a +vial, is filled to the brim. And in many cases apparently the +insulation of the tabooed person is recommended as a precaution not +merely for his own sake but for the sake of others; for since the +virtue of holiness or taboo is, so to say, a powerful explosive +which the smallest touch may detonate, it is necessary in the +interest of the general safety to keep it within narrow bounds, lest +breaking out it should blast, blight, and destroy whatever it comes +into contact with. + + + +2. Not to see the Sun + +THE SECOND rule to be here noted is that the sun may not shine upon +the divine person. This rule was observed both by the Mikado and by +the pontiff of the Zapotecs. The latter "was looked upon as a god +whom the earth was not worthy to hold, nor the sun to shine upon." +The Japanese would not allow that the Mikado should expose his +sacred person to the open air, and the sun was not thought worthy to +shine on his head. The Indians of Granada, in South America, "kept +those who were to be rulers or commanders, whether men or women, +locked up for several years when they were children, some of them +seven years, and this so close that they were not to see the sun, +for if they should happen to see it they forfeited their lordship, +eating certain sorts of food appointed; and those who were their +keepers at certain times went into their retreat or prison and +scourged them severely." Thus, for example, the heir to the throne +of Bogota, who was not the son but the sister's son of the king, had +to undergo a rigorous training from his infancy; he lived in +complete retirement in a temple, where he might not see the sun nor +eat salt nor converse with a woman; he was surrounded by guards who +observed his conduct and noted all his actions; if he broke a single +one of the rules laid down for him, he was deemed infamous and +forfeited all his rights to the throne. So, too, the heir to the +kingdom of Sogamoso, before succeeding to the crown, had to fast for +seven years in the temple, being shut up in the dark and not allowed +to see the sun or light. The prince who was to become Inca of Peru +had to fast for a month without seeing light. + + + +3. The Seclusion of Girls at Puberty + +NOW it is remarkable that the foregoing two rules--not to touch the +ground and not to see the sun--are observed either separately or +conjointly by girls at puberty in many parts of the world. Thus +amongst the negroes of Loango girls at puberty are confined in +separate huts, and they may not touch the ground with any part of +their bare body. Among the Zulus and kindred tribes of South Africa, +when the first signs of puberty show themselves "while a girl is +walking, gathering wood, or working in the field, she runs to the +river and hides herself among the reeds for the day, so as not to be +seen by men. She covers her head carefully with her blanket that the +sun may not shine on it and shrivel her up into a withered skeleton, +as would result from exposure to the sun's beams. After dark she +returns to her home and is secluded" in a hut for some time. With +the Awa-nkonde, a tribe at the northern end of Lake Nyassa, it is a +rule that after her first menstruation a girl must be kept apart, +with a few companions of her own sex, in a darkened house. The floor +is covered with dry banana leaves, but no fire may be lit in the +house, which is called "the house of the Awasungu," that is, "of +maidens who have no hearts." + +In New Ireland girls are confined for four or five years in small +cages, being kept in the dark and not allowed to set foot on the +ground. The custom has been thus described by an eye-witness. "I +heard from a teacher about some strange custom connected with some +of the young girls here, so I asked the chief to take me to the +house where they were. The house was about twenty-five feet in +length, and stood in a reed and bamboo enclosure, across the +entrance to which a bundle of dried grass was suspended to show that +it was strictly '_tabu._' Inside the house were three conical +structures about seven or eight feet in height, and about ten or +twelve feet in circumference at the bottom, and for about four feet +from the ground, at which point they tapered off to a point at the +top. These cages were made of the broad leaves of the pandanus-tree, +sewn quite close together so that no light and little or no air +could enter. On one side of each is an opening which is closed by a +double door of plaited cocoa-nut tree and pandanus-tree leaves. +About three feet from the ground there is a stage of bamboos which +forms the floor. In each of these cages we were told there was a +young woman confined, each of whom had to remain for at least four +or five years, without ever being allowed to go outside the house. I +could scarcely credit the story when I heard it; the whole thing +seemed too horrible to be true. I spoke to the chief, and told him +that I wished to see the inside of the cages, and also to see the +girls that I might make them a present of a few beads. He told me +that it was '_tabu,_' forbidden for any men but their own relations +to look at them; but I suppose the promised beads acted as an +inducement, and so he sent away for some old lady who had charge, +and who alone is allowed to open the doors. While we were waiting we +could hear the girls talking to the chief in a querulous way as if +objecting to something or expressing their fears. The old woman came +at length and certainly she did not seem a very pleasant jailor or +guardian; nor did she seem to favour the request of the chief to +allow us to see the girls, as she regarded us with anything but +pleasant looks. However, she had to undo the door when the chief +told her to do so, and then the girls peeped out at us, and, when +told to do so, they held out their hands for the beads. I, however, +purposely sat at some distance away and merely held out the beads to +them, as I wished to draw them quite outside, that I might inspect +the inside of the cages. This desire of mine gave rise to another +difficulty, as these girls were not allowed to put their feet to the +ground all the time they were confined in these places. However, +they wished to get the beads, and so the old lady had to go outside +and collect a lot of pieces of wood and bamboo, which she placed on +the ground, and then going to one of the girls, she helped her down +and held her hand as she stepped from one piece of wood to another +until she came near enough to get the beads I held out to her. I +then went to inspect the inside of the cage out of which she had +come, but could scarely put my head inside of it, the atmosphere was +so hot and stifling. It was clean and contained nothing but a few +short lengths of bamboo for holding water. There was only room for +the girl to sit or lie down in a crouched position on the bamboo +platform, and when the doors are shut it must be nearly or quite +dark inside. The girls are never allowed to come out except once a +day to bathe in a dish or wooden bowl placed close to each cage. +They say that they perspire profusely. They are placed in these +stifling cages when quite young, and must remain there until they +are young women, when they are taken out and have each a great +marriage feast provided for them. One of them was about fourteen or +fifteen years old, and the chief told us that she had been there for +five years, but would soon be taken out now. The other two were +about eight and ten years old, and they have to stay there for +several years longer." + +In Kabadi, a district of British New Guinea, "daughters of chiefs, +when they are about twelve or thirteen years of age, are kept +indoors for two or three years, never being allowed, under any +pretence, to descend from the house, and the house is so shaded that +the sun cannot shine on them." Among the Yabim and Bukaua, two +neighbouring and kindred tribes on the coast of Northern New Guinea, +a girl at puberty is secluded for some five or six weeks in an inner +part of the house; but she may not sit on the floor, lest her +uncleanliness should cleave to it, so a log of wood is placed for +her to squat on. Moreover, she may not touch the ground with her +feet; hence if she is obliged to quit the house for a short time, +she is muffled up in mats and walks on two halves of a coco-nut +shell, which are fastened like sandals to her feet by creeping +plants. Among the Ot Danoms of Borneo girls at the age of eight or +ten years are shut up in a little room or cell of the house, and cut +off from all intercourse with the world for a long time. The cell, +like the rest of the house, is raised on piles above the ground, and +is lit by a single small window opening on a lonely place, so that +the girl is in almost total darkness. She may not leave the room on +any pretext whatever, not even for the most necessary purposes. None +of her family may see her all the time she is shut up, but a single +slave woman is appointed to wait on her. During her lonely +confinement, which often lasts seven years, the girl occupies +herself in weaving mats or with other handiwork. Her bodily growth +is stunted by the long want of exercise, and when, on attaining +womanhood, she is brought out, her complexion is pale and wax-like. +She is now shown the sun, the earth, the water, the trees, and the +flowers, as if she were newly born. Then a great feast is made, a +slave is killed, and the girl is smeared with his blood. In Ceram +girls at puberty were formerly shut up by themselves in a hut which +was kept dark. In Yap, one of the Caroline Islands, should a girl be +overtaken by her first menstruation on the public road, she may not +sit down on the earth, but must beg for a coco-nut shell to put +under her. She is shut up for several days in a small hut at a +distance from her parents' house, and afterwards she is bound to +sleep for a hundred days in one of the special houses which are +provided for the use of menstruous women. + +In the island of Mabuiag, Torres Straits, when the signs of puberty +appear on a girl, a circle of bushes is made in a dark corner of the +house. Here, decked with shoulder-belts, armlets, leglets just below +the knees, and anklets, wearing a chaplet on her head, and shell +ornaments in her ears, on her chest, and on her back, she squats in +the midst of the bushes, which are piled so high round about her +that only her head is visible. In this state of seclusion she must +remain for three months. All this time the sun may not shine upon +her, but at night she is allowed to slip out of the hut, and the +bushes that hedge her in are then changed. She may not feed herself +or handle food, but is fed by one or two old women, her maternal +aunts, who are especially appointed to look after her. One of these +women cooks food for her at a special fire in the forest. The girl +is forbidden to eat turtle or turtle eggs during the season when the +turtles are breeding; but no vegetable food is refused her. No man, +not even her own father, may come into the house while her seclusion +lasts; for if her father saw her at this time he would certainly +have bad luck in his fishing, and would probably smash his canoe the +very next time he went out in it. At the end of the three months she +is carried down to a freshwater creek by her attendants, hanging on +to their shoulders in such a way that her feet do not touch the +ground, while the women of the tribe form a ring round her, and thus +escort her to the beach. Arrived at the shore, she is stripped of +her ornaments, and the bearers stagger with her into the creek, +where they immerse her, and all the other women join in splashing +water over both the girl and her bearers. When they come out of the +water one of the two attendants makes a heap of grass for her charge +to squat upon. The other runs to the reef, catches a small crab, +tears off its claws, and hastens back with them to the creek. Here +in the meantime a fire has been kindled, and the claws are roasted +at it. The girl is then fed by her attendants with the roasted +claws. After that she is freshly decorated, and the whole party +marches back to the village in a single rank, the girl walking in +the centre between her two old aunts, who hold her by the wrists. +The husbands of her aunts now receive her and lead her into the +house of one of them, where all partake of food, and the girl is +allowed once more to feed herself in the usual manner. A dance +follows, in which the girl takes a prominent part, dancing between +the husbands of the two aunts who had charge of her in her +retirement. + +Among the Yaraikanna tribe of Cape York Peninsula, in Northern +Queensland, a girl at puberty is said to live by herself for a month +or six weeks; no man may see her, though any woman may. She stays in +a hut or shelter specially made for her, on the floor of which she +lies supine. She may not see the sun, and towards sunset she must +keep her eyes shut until the sun has gone down, otherwise it is +thought that her nose will be diseased. During her seclusion she may +eat nothing that lives in salt water, or a snake would kill her. An +old woman waits upon her and supplies her with roots, yams, and +water. Some Australian tribes are wont to bury their girls at such +seasons more or less deeply in the ground, perhaps in order to hide +them from the light of the sun. + +Among the Indians of California a girl at her first menstruation +"was thought to be possessed of a particular degree of supernatural +power, and this was not always regarded as entirely defiling or +malevolent. Often, however, there was a strong feeling of the power +of evil inherent in her condition. Not only was she secluded from +her family and the community, but an attempt was made to seclude the +world from her. One of the injunctions most strongly laid upon her +was not to look about her. She kept her head bowed and was forbidden +to see the world and the sun. Some tribes covered her with a +blanket. Many of the customs in this connection resembled those of +the North Pacific Coast most strongly, such as the prohibition to +the girl to touch or scratch her head with her hand, a special +implement being furnished her for the purpose. Sometimes she could +eat only when fed and in other cases fasted altogether." + +Among the Chinook Indians who inhabited the coast of Washington +State, when a chief's daughter attained to puberty, she was hidden +for five days from the view of the people; she might not look at +them nor at the sky, nor might she pick berries. It was believed +that if she were to look at the sky, the weather would be bad; that +if she picked berries, it would rain; and that when she hung her +towel of cedar-bark on a spruce-tree, the tree withered up at once. +She went out of the house by a separate door and bathed in a creek +far from the village. She fasted for some days, and for many days +more she might not eat fresh food. + +Amongst the Aht or Nootka Indians of Vancouver Island, when girls +reach puberty they are placed in a sort of gallery in the house "and +are there surrounded completely with mats, so that neither the sun +nor any fire can be seen. In this cage they remain for several days. +Water is given them, but no food. The longer a girl remains in this +retirement the greater honour is it to the parents; but she is +disgraced for life if it is known that she has seen fire or the sun +during this initiatory ordeal." Pictures of the mythical +thunder-bird are painted on the screens behind which she hides. +During her seclusion she may neither move nor lie down, but must +always sit in a squatting posture. She may not touch her hair with +her hands, but is allowed to scratch her head with a comb or a piece +of bone provided for the purpose. To scratch her body is also +forbidden, as it is believed that every scratch would leave a scar. +For eight months after reaching maturity she may not eat any fresh +food, particularly salmon; moreover, she must eat by herself, and +use a cup and dish of her own. + +In the Tsetsaut tribe of British Columbia a girl at puberty wears a +large hat of skin which comes down over her face and screens it from +the sun. It is believed that if she were to expose her face to the +sun or to the sky, rain would fall. The hat protects her face also +against the fire, which ought not to strike her skin; to shield her +hands she wears mittens. In her mouth she carries the tooth of an +animal to prevent her own teeth from becoming hollow. For a whole +year she may not see blood unless her face is blackened; otherwise +she would grow blind. For two years she wears the hat and lives in a +hut by herself, although she is allowed to see other people. At the +end of two years a man takes the hat from her head and throws it +away. In the Bilqula or Bella Coola tribe of British Columbia, when +a girl attains puberty she must stay in the shed which serves as her +bedroom, where she has a separate fireplace. She is not allowed to +descend to the main part of the house, and may not sit by the fire +of the family. For four days she is bound to remain motionless in a +sitting posture. She fasts during the day, but is allowed a little +food and drink very early in the morning. After the four days' +seclusion she may leave her room, but only through a separate +opening cut in the floor, for the houses are raised on piles. She +may not yet come into the chief room. In leaving the house she wears +a large hat which protects her face against the rays of the sun. It +is believed that if the sun were to shine on her face her eyes would +suffer. She may pick berries on the hills, but may not come near the +river or sea for a whole year. Were she to eat fresh salmon she +would lose her senses, or her mouth would be changed into a long +beak. + +Amongst the Tlingit (Thlinkeet) or Kolosh Indians of Alaska, when a +girl showed signs of womanhood she used to be confined to a little +hut or cage, which was completely blocked up with the exception of a +small air-hole. In this dark and filthy abode she had to remain a +year, without fire, exercise, or associates. Only her mother and a +female slave might supply her with nourishment. Her food was put in +at the little window; she had to drink out of the wing-bone of a +white-headed eagle. The time of her seclusion was afterwards reduced +in some places to six or three months or even less. She had to wear +a sort of hat with long flaps, that her gaze might not pollute the +sky; for she was thought unfit for the sun to shine upon, and it was +imagined that her look would destroy the luck of a hunter, fisher, +or gambler, turn things to stone, and do other mischief. At the end +of her confinement her old clothes were burnt, new ones were made, +and a feast was given, at which a slit was cut in her under lip +parallel to the mouth, and a piece of wood or shell was inserted to +keep the aperture open. Among the Koniags, an Esquimau people of +Alaska, a girl at puberty was placed in a small hut in which she had +to remain on her hands and feet for six months; then the hut was +enlarged a little so as to allow her to straighten her back, but in +this posture she had to remain for six months more. All this time +she was regarded as an unclean being with whom no one might hold +intercourse. + +When symptoms of puberty appeared on a girl for the first time, the +Guaranis of Southern Brazil, on the borders of Paraguay, used to sew +her up in her hammock, leaving only a small opening in it to allow +her to breathe. In this condition, wrapt up and shrouded like a +corpse, she was kept for two or three days or so long as the +symptoms lasted, and during this time she had to observe a most +rigorous fast. After that she was entrusted to a matron, who cut the +girl's hair and enjoined her to abstain most strictly from eating +flesh of any kind until her hair should be grown long enough to hide +her ears. In similar circumstances the Chiriguanos of South-eastern +Bolivia hoisted the girl in her hammock to the roof, where she +stayed for a month: the second month the hammock was let half-way +down from the roof; and in the third month old women, armed with +sticks, entered the hut and ran about striking everything they met, +saying they were hunting the snake that had wounded the girl. + +Among the Matacos or Mataguayos, an Indian tribe of the Gran Chaco, +a girl at puberty has to remain in seclusion for some time. She lies +covered up with branches or other things in a corner of the hut, +seeing no one and speaking to no one, and during this time she may +eat neither flesh nor fish. Meantime a man beats a drum in front of +the house. Among the Yuracares, an Indian tribe of Eastern Bolivia, +when a girl perceives the signs of puberty, her father constructs a +little hut of palm leaves near the house. In this cabin he shuts up +his daughter so that she cannot see the light, and there she remains +fasting rigorously for four days. + +Amongst the Macusis of British Guiana, when a girl shows the first +signs of puberty, she is hung in a hammock at the highest point of +the hut. For the first few days she may not leave the hammock by +day, but at night she must come down, light a fire, and spend the +night beside it, else she would break out in sores on her neck, +throat, and other parts of her body. So long as the symptoms are at +their height, she must fast rigorously. When they have abated, she +may come down and take up her abode in a little compartment that is +made for her in the darkest corner of the hut. In the morning she +may cook her food, but it must be at a separate fire and in a vessel +of her own. After about ten days the magician comes and undoes the +spell by muttering charms and breathing on her and on the more +valuable of the things with which she has come in contact. The pots +and drinking-vessels which she used are broken and the fragments +buried. After her first bath, the girl must submit to be beaten by +her mother with thin rods without uttering a cry. At the end of the +second period she is again beaten, but not afterwards. She is now +"clean," and can mix again with people. Other Indians of Guiana, +after keeping the girl in her hammock at the top of the hut for a +month, expose her to certain large ants, whose bite is very painful. +Sometimes, in addition to being stung with ants, the sufferer has to +fast day and night so long as she remains slung up on high in her +hammock, so that when she comes down she is reduced to a skeleton. + +When a Hindoo maiden reaches maturity she is kept in a dark room for +four days, and is forbidden to see the sun. She is regarded as +unclean; no one may touch her. Her diet is restricted to boiled +rice, milk, sugar, curd, and tamarind without salt. On the morning +of the fifth day she goes to a neighbouring tank, accompanied by +five women whose husbands are alive. Smeared with turmeric water, +they all bathe and return home, throwing away the mat and other +things that were in the room. The Rarhi Brahmans of Bengal compel a +girl at puberty to live alone, and do not allow her to see the face +of any male. For three days she remains shut up in a dark room, and +has to undergo certain penances. Fish, flesh, and sweetmeats are +forbidden her; she must live upon rice and ghee. Among the Tiyans of +Malabar a girl is thought to be polluted for four days from the +beginning of her first menstruation. During this time she must keep +to the north side of the house, where she sleeps on a grass mat of a +particular kind, in a room festooned with garlands of young coco-nut +leaves. Another girl 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, and woe betide her if she catches sight of a crow or a +cat! Her diet must be strictly vegetarian, without salt, tamarinds, +or chillies. She is armed against evil spirits by a knife, which is +placed on the mat or carried on her person. + +In Cambodia a girl at puberty is put to bed under a mosquito +curtain, where she should stay a hundred days. Usually, however, +four, five, ten, or twenty days are thought enough; and even this, +in a hot climate and under the close meshes of the curtain, is +sufficiently trying. According to another account, a Cambodian +maiden at puberty is said to "enter into the shade." During her +retirement, which, according to the rank and position of her family, +may last any time from a few days to several years, she has to +observe a number of rules, such as not to be seen by a strange man, +not to eat flesh or fish, and so on. She goes nowhere, not even to +the pagoda. But this state of seclusion is discontinued during +eclipses; at such times she goes forth and pays her devotions to the +monster who is supposed to cause eclipses by catching the heavenly +bodies between his teeth. This permission to break her rule of +retirement and appear abroad during an eclipse seems to show how +literally the injunction is interpreted which forbids maidens +entering on womanhood to look upon the sun. + +A superstition so widely diffused as this might be expected to leave +traces in legends and folk-tales. And it has done so. The old Greek +story of Danae, who was confined by her father in a subterranean +chamber or a brazen tower, but impregnated by Zeus, who reached her +in the shape of a shower of gold, perhaps belongs to this class of +tales. It has its counterpart in the legend which the Kirghiz of +Siberia tell of their ancestry. A certain Khan had a fair daughter, +whom he kept in a dark iron house, that no man might see her. An old +woman tended her; and when the girl was grown to maidenhood she +asked the old woman, "Where do you go so often?" "My child," said +the old dame, "there is a bright world. In that bright world your +father and mother live, and all sorts of people live there. That is +where I go." The maiden said, "Good mother, I will tell nobody, but +show me that bright world." So the old woman took the girl out of +the iron house. But when she saw the bright world, the girl tottered +and fainted; and the eye of God fell upon her, and she conceived. +Her angry father put her in a golden chest and sent her floating +away (fairy gold can float in fairyland) over the wide sea. The +shower of gold in the Greek story, and the eye of God in the Kirghiz +legend, probably stand for sunlight and the sun. The idea that women +may be impregnated by the sun is not uncommon in legends, and there +are even traces of it in marriage customs. + + + +4. Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty + +THE MOTIVE for the restraints so commonly imposed on girls at +puberty is the deeply engrained dread which primitive man +universally entertains of menstruous blood. He fears it at all times +but especially on its first appearance; hence the restrictions under +which women lie at their first menstruation are usually more +stringent than those which they have to observe at any subsequent +recurrence of the mysterious flow. Some evidence of the fear and of +the customs based on it has been cited in an earlier part of this +work; but as the terror, for it is nothing less, which the +phenomenon periodically strikes into the mind of the savage has +deeply influenced his life and institutions, it may be well to +illustrate the subject with some further examples. + +Thus in the Encounter Bay tribe of South Australia there is, or used +to be, a "superstition which obliges a woman to separate herself +from the camp at the time of her monthly illness, when if a young +man or boy should approach, she calls out, and he immediately makes +a circuit to avoid her. If she is neglectful upon this point, she +exposes herself to scolding, and sometimes to severe beating by her +husband or nearest relation, because the boys are told from their +infancy, that if they see the blood they will early become +grey-headed, and their strength will fail prematurely." The Dieri of +Central Australia believe that if women at these times were to eat +fish or bathe in a river, the fish would all die and the water would +dry up. The Arunta of the same region forbid menstruous women to +gather the _irriakura_ bulbs, which form a staple article of diet +for both men and women. They think that were a woman to break this +rule, the supply of bulbs would fail. + +In some Australian tribes the seclusion of menstruous women was even +more rigid, and was enforced by severer penalties than a scolding or +a beating. Thus "there is a regulation relating to camps in the +Wakelbura tribe which forbids the women coming into the encampment +by the same path as the men. Any violation of this rule would in a +large camp be punished with death. The reason for this is the dread +with which they regard the menstrual period of women. During such a +time, a woman is kept entirely away from the camp, half a mile at +least. A woman in such a condition has boughs of some tree of her +totem tied round her loins, and is constantly watched and guarded, +for it is thought that should any male be so unfortunate as to see a +woman in such a condition, he would die. If such a woman were to let +herself be seen by a man, she would probably be put to death. When +the woman has recovered, she is painted red and white, her head +covered with feathers, and returns to the camp." + +In Muralug, one of the Torres Straits Islands, a menstruous woman +may not eat anything that lives in the sea, else the natives believe +that the fisheries would fail. In Galela, to the west of New Guinea, +women at their monthly periods may not enter a tobacco-field, or the +plants would be attacked by disease. The Minangkabauers of Sumatra +are persuaded that if a woman in her unclean state were to go near a +rice-field, the crop would be spoiled. + +The Bushmen of South Africa think that, by a glance of a girl's eye +at the time when she ought to be kept in strict retirement, men +become fixed in whatever positions they happen to occupy, with +whatever they were holding in their hands, and are changed into +trees that talk. Cattle-rearing tribes of South Africa hold that +their cattle would die if the milk were drunk by a menstruous woman; +and they fear the same disaster if a drop of her blood were to fall +on the ground and the oxen were to pass over it. To prevent such a +calamity women in general, not menstruous women only, are forbidden +to enter the cattle enclosure; and more than that, they may not use +the ordinary paths in entering the village or in passing from one +hut to another. They are obliged to make circuitous tracks at the +back of the huts in order to avoid the ground in the middle of the +village where the cattle stand or lie down. These women's tracks may +be seen at every Caffre village. Among the Baganda, in like manner, +no menstruous woman might drink milk or come into contact with any +milk-vessel; and she might not touch anything that belonged to her +husband, nor sit on his mat, nor cook his food. If she touched +anything of his at such a time it was deemed equivalent to wishing +him dead or to actually working magic for his destruction. Were she +to handle any article of his, he would surely fall ill; were she to +touch his weapons, he would certainly be killed in the next battle. +Further, the Baganda would not suffer a menstruous woman to visit a +well; if she did so, they feared that the water would dry up, and +that she herself would fall sick and die, unless she confessed her +fault and the medicine-man made atonement for her. Among the Akikuyu +of British East Africa, if a new hut is built in a village and the +wife chances to menstruate in it on the day she lights the first +fire there, the hut must be broken down and demolished the very next +day. The woman may on no account sleep a second night in it; there +is a curse both on her and on it. + +According to the Talmud, if a woman at the beginning of her period +passes between two men, she thereby kills one of them. Peasants of +the Lebanon think that menstruous women are the cause of many +misfortunes; their shadow causes flowers to wither and trees to +perish, it even arrests the movements of serpents; if one of them +mounts a horse, the animal might die or at least be disabled for a +long time. + +The Guayquiries of the Orinoco believe that when a woman has her +courses, everything upon which she steps will die, and that if a man +treads on the place where she has passed, his legs will immediately +swell up. Among the Bri-bri Indians of Costa Rica a married woman at +her periods uses for plates only banana leaves, which, when she has +done with them, she throws away in a sequestered spot; for should a +cow find and eat them, the animal would waste away and perish. Also +she drinks only out of a special vessel, because any person who +should afterwards drink out of the same vessel would infallibly pine +away and die. + +Among most tribes of North American Indians the custom was that +women in their courses retired from the camp or the village and +lived during the time of their uncleanness in special huts or +shelters which were appropriated to their use. There they dwelt +apart, eating and sleeping by themselves, warming themselves at +their own fires, and strictly abstaining from all communications +with men, who shunned them just as if they were stricken with the +plague. + +Thus, to take examples, the Creek and kindred Indians of the United +States compelled women at menstruation to live in separate huts at +some distance from the village. There the women had to stay, at the +risk of being surprised and cut off by enemies. It was thought "a +most horrid and dangerous pollution" to go near the women at such +times; and the danger extended to enemies who, if they slew the +women, had to cleanse themselves from the pollution by means of +certain sacred herbs and roots. The Stseelis Indians of British +Columbia imagined that if a menstruous woman were to step over a +bundle of arrows, the arrows would thereby be rendered useless and +might even cause the death of their owner; and similarly that if she +passed in front of a hunter who carried a gun, the weapon would +never shoot straight again. Among the Chippeways and other Indians +of the Hudson Bay Territory, menstruous women are excluded from the +camp, and take up their abode in huts of branches. They wear long +hoods, which effectually conceal the head and breast. They may not +touch the household furniture nor any objects used by men; for their +touch "is supposed to defile them, so that their subsequent use +would be followed by certain mischief or misfortune," such as +disease or death. They must drink out of a swan's bone. They may not +walk on the common paths nor cross the tracks of animals. They "are +never permitted to walk on the ice of rivers or lakes, or near the +part where the men are hunting beaver, or where a fishing-net is +set, for fear of averting their success. They are also prohibited at +those times from partaking of the head of any animal, and even from +walking in or crossing the track where the head of a deer, moose, +beaver, and many other animals have lately been carried, either on a +sledge or on the back. To be guilty of a violation of this custom is +considered as of the greatest importance; because they firmly +believe that it would be a means of preventing the hunter from +having an equal success in his future excursions." So the Lapps +forbid women at menstruation to walk on that part of the shore where +the fishers are in the habit of setting out their fish; and the +Esquimaux of Bering Strait believe that if hunters were to come near +women in their courses they would catch no game. For a like reason +the Carrier Indians will not suffer a menstruous woman to cross the +tracks of animals; if need be, she is carried over them. They think +that if she waded in a stream or a lake, the fish would die. + +Amongst the civilised nations of Europe the superstitions which +cluster round this mysterious aspect of woman's nature are not less +extravagant than those which prevail among savages. In the oldest +existing cyclopaedia--the _Natural History_ of Pliny--the list of +dangers apprehended from menstruation is longer than any furnished +by mere barbarians. According to Pliny, the touch of a menstruous +woman turned wine to vinegar, blighted crops, killed seedlings, +blasted gardens, brought down the fruit from trees, dimmed mirrors, +blunted razors, rusted iron and brass (especially at the waning of +the moon), killed bees, or at least drove them from their hives, +caused mares to miscarry, and so forth. Similarly, in various parts +of Europe, it is still believed that if a woman in her courses +enters a brewery the beer will turn sour; if she touches beer, wine, +vinegar, or milk, it will go bad; if she makes jam, it will not +keep; if she mounts a mare, it will miscarry; if she touches buds, +they will wither; if she climbs a cherry tree, it will die. In +Brunswick people think that if a menstruous woman assists at the +killing of a pig, the pork will putrefy. In the Greek island of +Calymnos a woman at such times may not go to the well to draw water, +nor cross a running stream, nor enter the sea. Her presence in a +boat is said to raise storms. + +Thus the object of secluding women at menstruation is to neutralise +the dangerous influences which are supposed to emanate from them at +such times. That the danger is believed to be especially great at +the first menstruation appears from the unusual precautions taken to +isolate girls at this crisis. Two of these precautions have been +illustrated above, namely, the rules that the girls may not touch +the ground nor see the sun. The general effect of these rules is to +keep her suspended, so to say, between heaven and earth. Whether +enveloped in her hammock and slung up to the roof, as in South +America, or raised above the ground in a dark and narrow cage, as in +New Ireland, she may be considered to be out of the way of doing +mischief, since, being shut off both from the earth and from the +sun, she can poison neither of these great sources of life by her +deadly contagion. In short, she is rendered harmless by being, in +electrical language, insulated. But the precautions thus taken to +isolate or insulate the girl are dictated by a regard for her own +safety as well as for the safety of others. For it is thought that +she herself would suffer if she were to neglect the prescribed +regimen. Thus Zulu girls, as we have seen, believe that they would +shrivel to skeletons if the sun were to shine on them at puberty, +and the Macusis imagine that, if a young woman were to transgress +the rules, she would suffer from sores on various parts of her body. +In short, the girl is viewed as charged with a powerful force which, +if not kept within bounds, may prove destructive both to herself and +to all with whom she comes in contact. To repress this force within +the limits necessary for the safety of all concerned is the object +of the taboos in question. + +The same explanation applies to the observance of the same rules by +divine kings and priests. The uncleanness, as it is called, of girls +at puberty and the sanctity of holy men do not, to the primitive +mind, differ materially from each other. They are only different +manifestations of the same mysterious energy which, like energy in +general, is in itself neither good nor bad, but becomes beneficent +or maleficent according to its application. Accordingly, if, like +girls at puberty, divine personages may neither touch the ground nor +see the sun, the reason is, on the one hand, a fear lest their +divinity might, at contact with earth or heaven, discharge itself +with fatal violence on either; and, on the other hand, an +apprehension that the divine being, thus drained of his ethereal +virtue, might thereby be incapacitated for the future performance of +those magical functions, upon the proper discharge of which the +safety of the people and even of the world is believed to hang. Thus +the rules in question fall under the head of the taboos which we +examined in an earlier part of this book; they are intended to +preserve the life of the divine person and with it the life of his +subjects and worshippers. Nowhere, it is thought, can his precious +yet dangerous life be at once so safe and so harmless as when it is +neither in heaven nor in earth, but, as far as possible, suspended +between the two. + + + + +LXI. The Myth of Balder + +A DEITY whose life might in a sense be said to be neither in heaven +nor on earth but between the two, was the Norse Balder, the good and +beautiful god, the son of the great god Odin, and himself the +wisest, mildest, best beloved of all the immortals. The story of his +death, as it is told in the younger or prose _Edda,_ runs thus. Once +on a time Balder dreamed heavy dreams which seemed to forebode his +death. Thereupon the gods held a council and resolved to make him +secure against every danger. So the goddess Frigg took an oath from +fire and water, iron and all metals, stones and earth, from trees, +sicknesses and poisons, and from all four-footed beasts, birds, and +creeping things, that they would not hurt Balder. When this was done +Balder was deemed invulnerable; so the gods amused themselves by +setting him in their midst, while some shot at him, others hewed at +him, and others threw stones at him. But whatever they did, nothing +could hurt him; and at this they were all glad. Only Loki, the +mischief-maker, was displeased, and he went in the guise of an old +woman to Frigg, who told him that the weapons of the gods could not +wound Balder, since she had made them all swear not to hurt him. +Then Loki asked, "Have all things sworn to spare Balder?" She +answered, "East of Walhalla grows a plant called mistletoe; it +seemed to me too young to swear." So Loki went and pulled the +mistletoe and took it to the assembly of the gods. There he found +the blind god Hother standing at the outside of the circle. Loki +asked him, "Why do you not shoot at Balder?" Hother answered, +"Because I do not see where he stands; besides I have no weapon." +Then said Loki, "Do like the rest and show Balder honour, as they +all do. I will show you where he stands, and do you shoot at him +with this twig." Hother took the mistletoe and threw it at Balder, +as Loki directed him. The mistletoe struck Balder and pierced him +through and through, and he fell down dead. And that was the +greatest misfortune that ever befell gods and men. For a while the +gods stood speechless, then they lifted up their voices and wept +bitterly. They took Balder's body and brought it to the sea-shore. +There stood Balder's ship; it was called Ringhorn, and was the +hugest of all ships. The gods wished to launch the ship and to burn +Balder's body on it, but the ship would not stir. So they sent for a +giantess called Hyrrockin. She came riding on a wolf and gave the +ship such a push that fire flashed from the rollers and all the +earth shook. Then Balder's body was taken and placed on the funeral +pile upon his ship. When his wife Nanna saw that, her heart burst +for sorrow and she died. So she was laid on the funeral pile with +her husband, and fire was put to it. Balder's horse, too, with all +its trappings, was burned on the pile. + +Whether he was a real or merely a mythical personage, Balder was +worshipped in Norway. On one of the bays of the beautiful Sogne +Fiord, which penetrates far into the depths of the solemn Norwegian +mountains, with their sombre pine-forests and their lofty cascades +dissolving into spray before they reach the dark water of the fiord +far below, Balder had a great sanctuary. It was called Balder's +Grove. A palisade enclosed the hallowed ground, and within it stood +a spacious temple with the images of many gods, but none of them was +worshipped with such devotion as Balder. So great was the awe with +which the heathen regarded the place that no man might harm another +there, nor steal his cattle, nor defile himself with women. But +women cared for the images of the gods in the temple; they warmed +them at the fire, anointed them with oil, and dried them with +cloths. + +Whatever may be thought of an historical kernel underlying a +mythical husk in the legend of Balder, the details of the story +suggest that it belongs to that class of myths which have been +dramatised as ritual, or, to put it otherwise, which have been +performed as magical ceremonies for the sake of producing those +natural effects which they describe in figurative language. A myth +is never so graphic and precise in its details as when it is, so to +speak, the book of the words which are spoken and acted by the +performers of the sacred rite. That the Norse story of Balder was a +myth of this sort will become probable if we can prove that +ceremonies resembling the incidents in the tale have been performed +by Norsemen and other European peoples. Now the main incidents in +the tale are two--first, the pulling of the mistletoe, and second, +the death and burning of the god; and both of them may perhaps be +found to have had their counterparts in yearly rites observed, +whether separately or conjointly, by people in various parts of +Europe. These rites will be described and discussed in the following +chapters. We shall begin with the annual festivals of fire and shall +reserve the pulling of the mistletoe for consideration later on. + + + +LXII. The Fire-Festivals of Europe + + + +1. The Fire-festivals in general + +ALL over Europe the peasants have been accustomed from time +immemorial to kindle bonfires on certain days of the year, and to +dance round or leap over them. Customs of this kind can be traced +back on historical evidence to the Middle Ages, and their analogy to +similar customs observed in antiquity goes with strong internal +evidence to prove that their origin must be sought in a period long +prior to the spread of Christianity. Indeed the earliest proof of +their observance in Northern Europe is furnished by the attempts +made by Christian synods in the eighth century to put them down as +heathenish rites. Not uncommonly effigies are burned in these fires, +or a pretence is made of burning a living person in them; and there +are grounds for believing that anciently human beings were actually +burned on these occasions. A brief view of the customs in question +will bring out the traces of human sacrifice, and will serve at the +same time to throw light on their meaning. + +The seasons of the year when these bonfires are most commonly lit +are spring and midsummer; but in some places they are kindled also +at the end of autumn or during the course of the winter, +particularly on Hallow E'en (the thirty-first of October), Christmas +Day, and the Eve of Twelfth Day. Space forbids me to describe all +these festivals at length; a few specimens must serve to illustrate +their general character. We shall begin with the fire-festivals of +spring, which usually fall on the first Sunday of Lent +(_Quadragesima_ or _Invocavit_), Easter Eve, and May Day. + + + +2. The Lenten Fires + +THE CUSTOM of kindling bonfires on the first Sunday in Lent has +prevailed in Belgium, the north of France, and many parts of +Germany. Thus in the Belgian Ardennes for a week or a fortnight +before the "day of the great fire," as it is called, children go +about from farm to farm collecting fuel. At Grand Halleux any one +who refuses their request is pursued next day by the children, who +try to blacken his face with the ashes of the extinct fire. When the +day has come, they cut down bushes, especially juniper and broom, +and in the evening great bonfires blaze on all the heights. It is a +common saying that seven bonfires should be seen if the village is +to be safe from conflagrations. If the Meuse happens to be frozen +hard at the time, bonfires are lit also on the ice. At Grand Halleux +they set up a pole called _makral,_ or "the witch," in the midst of +the pile, and the fire is kindled by the man who was last married in +the village. In the neighbourhood of Morlanwelz a straw man is burnt +in the fire. Young people and children dance and sing round the +bonfires, and leap over the embers to secure good crops or a happy +marriage within the year, or as a means of guarding themselves +against colic. In Brabant on the same Sunday, down to the beginning +of the nineteenth century, women and men disguised in female attire +used to go with burning torches to the fields, where they danced and +sang comic songs for the purpose, as they alleged, of driving away +"the wicked sower," who is mentioned in the Gospel for the day. At +Pâturages, in the province of Hainaut, down to about 1840 the custom +was observed under the name of _Escouvion_ or _Scouvion._ Every year +on the first Sunday of Lent, which was called the Day of the Little +Scouvion, young folks and children used to run with lighted torches +through the gardens and orchards. As they ran they cried at the +pitch of their voices: + + + "Bear apples, bear pears, and cherries all black + To Scouvion!" + + +At these words the torch-bearer whirled his blazing brand and hurled +it among the branches of the apple-trees, the pear-trees, and the +cherry-trees. The next Sunday was called the Day of the Great +Scouvion, and the same race with lighted torches among the trees of +the orchards was repeated in the afternoon till darkness fell. + +In the French department of the Ardennes the whole village used to +dance and sing around the bonfires which were lighted on the first +Sunday in Lent. Here, too, it was the person last married, sometimes +a man and sometimes a woman, who put the match to the fire. The +custom is still kept up very commonly in the district. Cats used to +be burnt in the fire or roasted to death by being held over it; and +while they were burning the shepherds drove their flocks through the +smoke and flames as a sure means of guarding them against sickness +and witchcraft. In some communes it was believed that the livelier +the dance round the fire, the better would be the crops that year. + +In the French province of Franche-Comté, to the west of the Jura +Mountains, the first Sunday of Lent is known as the Sunday of the +Firebrands (_Brandons_), on account of the fires which it is +customary to kindle on that day. On the Saturday or the Sunday the +village lads harness themselves to a cart and drag it about the +streets, stopping at the doors of the houses where there are girls +and begging for a faggot. When they have got enough, they cart the +fuel to a spot at some little distance from the village, pile it up, +and set it on fire. All the people of the parish come out to see the +bonfire. In some villages, when the bells have rung the Angelus, the +signal for the observance is given by cries of, "To the fire! to the +fire!" Lads, lasses, and children dance round the blaze, and when +the flames have died down they vie with each other in leaping over +the red embers. He or she who does so without singeing his or her +garments will be married within the year. Young folk also carry +lighted torches about the streets or the fields, and when they pass +an orchard they cry out, "More fruit than leaves!" Down to recent +years at Laviron, in the department of Doubs, it was the young +married couples of the year who had charge of the bonfires. In the +midst of the bonfire a pole was planted with a wooden figure of a +cock fastened to the top. Then there were races, and the winner +received the cock as a prize. + +In Auvergne fires are everywhere kindled on the evening of the first +Sunday in Lent. Every village, every hamlet, even every ward, every +isolated farm has its bonfire or _figo,_ as it is called, which +blazes up as the shades of night are falling. The fires may be seen +flaring on the heights and in the plains; the people dance and sing +round about them and leap through the flames. Then they proceed to +the ceremony of the _Grannas-mias._ A _granno-mio_ is a torch of +straw fastened to the top of a pole. When the pyre is half consumed, +the bystanders kindle the torches at the expiring flames and carry +them into the neighbouring orchards, fields, and gardens, wherever +there are fruit-trees. As they march they sing at the top of their +voices, "Granno my friend, Granno my father, Granno my mother." Then +they pass the burning torches under the branches of every tree, +singing. + + +"_Brando, brandounci tsaque brantso, in plan panei!_" + + +that is, "Firebrand burn; every branch a basketful!" In some +villages the people also run across the sown fields and shake the +ashes of the torches on the ground; also they put some of the ashes +in the fowls' nests, in order that the hens may lay plenty of eggs +throughout the year. When all these ceremonies have been performed, +everybody goes home and feasts; the special dishes of the evening +are fritters and pancakes. Here the application of the fire to the +fruit-trees, to the sown fields, and to the nests of the poultry is +clearly a charm intended to ensure fertility; and the Granno to whom +the invocations are addressed, and who gives his name to the +torches, may possibly be, as Dr. Pommerol suggests, no other than +the ancient Celtic god Grannus, whom the Romans identified with +Apollo, and whose worship is attested by inscriptions found not only +in France but in Scotland and on the Danube. + +The custom of carrying lighted torches of straw (_brandons_) about +the orchards and fields to fertilise them on the first Sunday of +Lent seems to have been common in France, whether it was accompanied +with the practice of kindling bonfires or not. Thus in the province +of Picardy "on the first Sunday of Lent people carried torches +through the fields, exorcising the field-mice, the darnel, and the +smut. They imagined that they did much good to the gardens and +caused the onions to grow large. Children ran about the fields, +torch in hand, to make the land more fertile." At Verges, a village +between the Jura and the Combe d'Ain, the torches at this season +were kindled on the top of a mountain, and the bearers went to every +house in the village, demanding roasted peas and obliging all +couples who had been married within the year to dance. In Berry, a +district of Central France, it appears that bonfires are not lighted +on this day, but when the sun has set the whole population of the +villages, armed with blazing torches of straw, disperse over the +country and scour the fields, the vineyards, and the orchards. Seen +from afar, the multitude of moving lights, twinkling in the +darkness, appear like will-o'-the-wisps chasing each other across +the plains, along the hillsides, and down the valleys. While the men +wave their flambeaus about the branches of the fruit-trees, the +women and children tie bands of wheaten-straw round the tree-trunks. +The effect of the ceremony is supposed to be to avert the various +plagues from which the fruits of the earth are apt to suffer; and +the bands of straw fastened round the stems of the trees are +believed to render them fruitful. + +In Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at the same season similar +customs have prevailed. Thus in the Eifel Mountains, Rhenish +Prussia, on the first Sunday in Lent young people used to collect +straw and brushwood from house to house. These they carried to an +eminence and piled up round a tall, slim beech-tree, to which a +piece of wood was fastened at right angles to form a cross. The +structure was known as the "hut" or "castle." Fire was set to it and +the young people marched round the blazing "castle" bareheaded, each +carrying a lighted torch and praying aloud. Sometimes a straw-man +was burned in the "hut." People observed the direction in which the +smoke blew from the fire. If it blew towards the corn-fields, it was +a sign that the harvest would be abundant. On the same day, in some +parts of the Eifel, a great wheel was made of straw and dragged by +three horses to the top of the hill. Thither the village boys +marched at nightfall, set fire to the wheel, and sent it rolling +down the slope. At Oberstattfeld the wheel had to be provided by the +young man who was last married. About Echternach in Luxemburg the +same ceremony is called "burning the witch." At Voralberg in the +Tyrol, on the first Sunday in Lent, a slender young fir-tree is +surrounded with a pile of straw and firewood. To the top of the tree +is fastened a human figure called the "witch," made of old clothes +and stuffed with gunpowder. At night the whole is set on fire and +boys and girls dance round it, swinging torches and singing rhymes +in which the words "corn in the winnowing-basket, the plough in the +earth" may be distinguished. In Swabia on the first Sunday in Lent a +figure called the "witch" or the "old wife" or "winter's +grandmother" is made up of clothes and fastened to a pole. This is +stuck in the middle of a pile of wood, to which fire is applied. +While the "witch" is burning, the young people throw blazing discs +into the air. The discs are thin round pieces of wood, a few inches +in diameter, with notched edges to imitate the rays of the sun or +stars. They have a hole in the middle, by which they are attached to +the end of a wand. Before the disc is thrown it is set on fire, the +wand is swung to and fro, and the impetus thus communicated to the +disc is augmented by dashing the rod sharply against a sloping +board. The burning disc is thus thrown off, and mounting high into +the air, describes a long fiery curve before it reaches the ground. +The charred embers of the burned "witch" and discs are taken home +and planted in the flax-fields the same night, in the belief that +they will keep vermin from the fields. In the Rhön Mountains, +situated on the borders of Hesse and Bavaria, the people used to +march to the top of a hill or eminence on the first Sunday in Lent. +Children and lads carried torches, brooms daubed with tar, and poles +swathed in straw. A wheel, wrapt in combustibles, was kindled and +rolled down the hill; and the young people rushed about the fields +with their burning torches and brooms, till at last they flung them +in a heap, and standing round them, struck up a hymn or a popular +song. The object of running about the fields with the blazing +torches was to "drive away the wicked sower." Or it was done in +honour of the Virgin, that she might preserve the fruits of the +earth throughout the year and bless them. In neighbouring villages +of Hesse, between the Rhön and the Vogel Mountains, it is thought +that wherever the burning wheels roll, the fields will be safe from +hail and storm. + +In Switzerland, also, it is or used to be customary to kindle +bonfires on high places on the evening of the first Sunday in Lent, +and the day is therefore popularly known as Spark Sunday. The custom +prevailed, for example, throughout the canton of Lucerne. Boys went +about from house to house begging for wood and straw, then piled the +fuel on a conspicuous mountain or hill round about a pole, which +bore a straw effigy called "the witch." At nightfall the pile was +set on fire, and the young folks danced wildly round it, some of +them cracking whips or ringing bells; and when the fire burned low +enough, they leaped over it. This was called "burning the witch." In +some parts of the canton also they used to wrap old wheels in straw +and thorns, put a light to them, and send them rolling and blazing +down hill. The more bonfires could be seen sparkling and flaring in +the darkness, the more fruitful was the year expected to be; and the +higher the dancers leaped beside or over the fire, the higher, it +was thought, would grow the flax. In some districts it was the last +married man or woman who must kindle the bonfire. + +It seems hardly possible to separate from these bonfires, kindled on +the first Sunday in Lent, the fires in which, about the same season, +the effigy called Death is burned as part of the ceremony of +"carrying out Death." We have seen that at Spachendorf, in Austrian +Silesia, on the morning of Rupert's Day (Shrove Tuesday?), a +straw-man, dressed in a fur coat and a fur cap, is laid in a hole +outside the village and there burned, and that while it is blazing +every one seeks to snatch a fragment of it, which he fastens to a +branch of the highest tree in his garden or buries in his field, +believing that this will make the crops to grow better. The ceremony +is known as the "burying of Death." Even when the straw-man is not +designated as Death, the meaning of the observance is probably the +same; for the name Death, as I have tried to show, does not express +the original intention of the ceremony. At Cobern in the Eifel +Mountains the lads make up a straw-man on Shrove Tuesday. The effigy +is formally tried and accused of having perpetrated all the thefts +that have been committed in the neighbourhood throughout the year. +Being condemned to death, the straw-man is led through the village, +shot, and burned upon a pyre. They dance round the blazing pile, and +the last bride must leap over it. In Oldenburg on the evening of +Shrove Tuesday people used to make long bundles of straw, which they +set on fire, and then ran about the fields waving them, shrieking, +and singing wild songs. Finally they burned a straw-man on the +field. In the district of Düsseldorf the straw-man burned on Shrove +Tuesday was made of an unthreshed sheaf of corn. On the first Monday +after the spring equinox the urchins of Zurich drag a straw-man on a +little cart through the streets, while at the same time the girls +carry about a May-tree. When vespers ring, the straw-man is burned. +In the district of Aachen on Ash Wednesday, a man used to be encased +in peas-straw and taken to an appointed place. Here he slipped +quietly out of his straw casing, which was then burned, the children +thinking that it was the man who was being burned. In the Val di +Ledro (Tyrol) on the last day of the Carnival a figure is made up of +straw and brushwood and then burned. The figure is called the Old +Woman, and the ceremony "burning the Old Woman." + + + +3. The Easter Fires + +ANOTHER occasion on which these fire-festivals are held is Easter +Eve, the Saturday before Easter Sunday. On that day it has been +customary in Catholic countries to extinguish all the lights in the +churches, and then to make a new fire, sometimes with flint and +steel, sometimes with a burning-glass. At this fire is lit the great +Paschal or Easter candle, which is then used to rekindle all the +extinguished lights in the church. In many parts of Germany a +bonfire is also kindled, by means of the new fire, on some open +space near the church. It is consecrated, and the people bring +sticks of oak, walnut, and beech, which they char in the fire, and +then take home with them. Some of these charred sticks are thereupon +burned at home in a newly-kindled fire, with a prayer that God will +preserve the homestead from fire, lightning, and hail. Thus every +house receives "new fire." Some of the sticks are kept throughout +the year and laid on the hearth-fire during heavy thunder-storms to +prevent the house from being struck by lightning, or they are +inserted in the roof with the like intention. Others are placed in +the fields, gardens, and meadows, with a prayer that God will keep +them from blight and hail. Such fields and gardens are thought to +thrive more than others; the corn and the plants that grow in them +are not beaten down by hail, nor devoured by mice, vermin, and +beetles; no witch harms them, and the ears of corn stand close and +full. The charred sticks are also applied to the plough. The ashes +of the Easter bonfire, together with the ashes of the consecrated +palm-branches, are mixed with the seed at sowing. A wooden figure +called Judas is sometimes burned in the consecrated bonfire, and +even where this custom has been abolished the bonfire itself in some +places goes by the name of "the burning of Judas." + +The essentially pagan character of the Easter fire festival appears +plainly both from the mode in which it is celebrated by the peasants +and from the superstitious beliefs which they associate with it. All +over Northern and Central Germany, from Altmark and Anhalt on the +east, through Brunswick, Hanover, Oldenburg, the Harz district, and +Hesse to Westphalia the Easter bonfires still blaze simultaneously +on the hill-tops. As many as forty may sometimes be counted within +sight at once. Long before Easter the young people have been busy +collecting firewood; every farmer contributes, and tar-barrels, +petroleum cases, and so forth go to swell the pile. Neighbouring +villages vie with each other as to which shall send up the greatest +blaze. The fires are always kindled, year after year, on the same +hill, which accordingly often takes the name of Easter Mountain. It +is a fine spectacle to watch from some eminence the bonfires flaring +up one after another on the neighbouring heights. As far as their +light reaches, so far, in the belief of the peasants, the fields +will be fruitful, and the houses on which they shine will be safe +from conflagration or sickness. At Volkmarsen and other places in +Hesse the people used to observe which way the wind blew the flames, +and then they sowed flax seed in that direction, confident that it +would grow well. Brands taken from the bonfires preserve houses from +being struck by lightning; and the ashes increase the fertility of +the fields, protect them from mice, and mixed with the +drinking-water of cattle make the animals thrive and ensure them +against plague. As the flames die down, young and old leap over +them, and cattle are sometimes driven through the smouldering +embers. In some places tar-barrels or wheels wrapt in straw used to +be set on fire, and then sent rolling down the hillside. In others +the boys light torches and wisps of straw at the bonfires and rush +about brandishing them in their hands. + +In Münsterland these Easter fires are always kindled upon certain +definite hills, which are hence known as Easter or Paschal +Mountains. The whole community assembles about the fire. The young +men and maidens, singing Easter hymns, march round and round the +fire, till the blaze dies down. Then the girls jump over the fire in +a line, one after the other, each supported by two young men who +hold her hands and run beside her. In the twilight boys with blazing +bundles of straw run over the fields to make them fruitful. At +Delmenhorst, in Oldenburg, it used to be the custom to cut down two +trees, plant them in the ground side by side, and pile twelve +tar-barrels against each. Brush-wood was then heaped about the +trees, and on the evening of Easter Saturday the boys, after rushing +about with blazing bean-poles in their hands, set fire to the whole. +At the end of the ceremony the urchins tried to blacken each other +and the clothes of grown-up people. In the Altmark it is believed +that as far as the blaze of the Easter bonfire is visible, the corn +will grow well throughout the year, and no conflagration will break +out. At Braunröde, in the Harz Mountains, it was the custom to burn +squirrels in the Easter bonfire. In the Altmark, bones were burned +in it. + +Near Forchheim, in Upper Franken, a straw-man called the Judas used +to be burned in the churchyards on Easter Saturday. The whole +village contributed wood to the pyre on which he perished, and the +charred sticks were afterwards kept and planted in the fields on +Walpurgis Day (the first of May) to preserve the wheat from blight +and mildew. About a hundred years ago or more the custom at +Althenneberg, in Upper Bavaria, used to be as follows. On the +afternoon of Easter Saturday the lads collected wood, which they +piled in a cornfield, while in the middle of the pile they set up a +tall wooden cross all swathed in straw. After the evening service +they lighted their lanterns at the consecrated candle in the church, +and ran with them at full speed to the pyre, each striving to get +there first. The first to arrive set fire to the heap. No woman or +girl might come near the bonfire, but they were allowed to watch it +from a distance. As the flames rose the men and lads rejoiced and +made merry, shouting, "We are burning the Judas!" The man who had +been the first to reach the pyre and to kindle it was rewarded on +Easter Sunday by the women, who gave him coloured eggs at the church +door. The object of the whole ceremony was to keep off the hail. At +other villages of Upper Bavaria the ceremony, which took place +between nine and ten at night on Easter Saturday, was called +"burning the Easter Man." On a height about a mile from the village +the young fellows set up a tall cross enveloped in straw, so that it +looked like a man with his arms stretched out. This was the Easter +Man. No lad under eighteen years of age might take part in the +ceremony. One of the young men stationed himself beside the Easter +Man, holding in his hand a consecrated taper which he had brought +from the church and lighted. The rest stood at equal intervals in a +great circle round the cross. At a given signal they raced thrice +round the circle, and then at a second signal ran straight at the +cross and at the lad with the lighted taper beside it; the one who +reached the goal first had the right of setting fire to the Easter +Man. Great was the jubilation while he was burning. When he had been +consumed in the flames, three lads were chosen from among the rest, +and each of the three drew a circle on the ground with a stick +thrice round the ashes. Then they all left the spot. On Easter +Monday the villagers gathered the ashes and strewed them on their +fields; also they planted in the fields palmbranches which had been +consecrated on Palm Sunday, and sticks which had been charred and +hallowed on Good Friday, all for the purpose of protecting their +fields against showers of hail. In some parts of Swabia the Easter +fires might not be kindled with iron or steel or flint, but only by +the friction of wood. + +The custom of the Easter fires appears to have prevailed all over +Central and Western Germany from north to south. We find it also in +Holland, where the fires were kindled on the highest eminences, and +the people danced round them and leaped through the flames or over +the glowing embers. Here too, as often in Germany, the materials for +the bonfire were collected by the young folk from door to door. In +many parts of Sweden firearms are discharged in all directions on +Easter Eve, and huge bonfires are lighted on hills and eminences. +Some people think that the intention is to keep off the Troll and +other evil spirits who are especially active at this season. + + + +4. The Beltane Fires + +IN THE CENTRAL Highlands of Scotland bonfires, known as the Beltane +fires, were formerly kindled with great ceremony on the first of +May, and the traces of human sacrifices at them were particularly +clear and unequivocal. The custom of lighting the bonfires lasted in +various places far into the eighteenth century, and the descriptions +of the ceremony by writers of that period present such a curious and +interesting picture of ancient heathendom surviving in our own +country that I will reproduce them in the words of their authors. +The fullest of the descriptions is the one bequeathed to us by John +Ramsay, laird of Ochtertyre, near Crieff, the patron of Burns and +the friend of Sir Walter Scott. He says: "But the most considerable +of the Druidical festivals is that of Beltane, or May-day, which was +lately observed in some parts of the Highlands with extraordinary +ceremonies. . . . Like the other public worship of the Druids, the +Beltane feast seems to have been performed on hills or eminences. +They thought it degrading to him whose temple is the universe, to +suppose that he would dwell in any house made with hands. Their +sacrifices were therefore offered in the open air, frequently upon +the tops of hills, where they were presented with the grandest views +of nature, and were nearest the seat of warmth and order. And, +according to tradition, such was the manner of celebrating this +festival in the Highlands within the last hundred years. But since +the decline of superstition, it has been celebrated by the people of +each hamlet on some hill or rising ground around which their cattle +were pasturing. Thither the young folks repaired in the morning, and +cut a trench, on the summit of which a seat of turf was formed for +the company. And in the middle a pile of wood or other fuel was +placed, which of old they kindled with _tein-eigin_--_i.e.,_ +forced-fire or _need-fire._ Although, for many years past, they have +been contented with common fire, yet we shall now describe the +process, because it will hereafter appear that recourse is still had +to the _tein-eigin_ upon extraordinary emergencies. + +"The night before, all the fires in the country were carefully +extinguished, and next morning the materials for exciting this +sacred fire were prepared. The most primitive method seems to be +that which was used in the islands of Skye, Mull, and Tiree. A +well-seasoned plank of oak was procured, in the midst of which a +hole was bored. A wimble of the same timber was then applied, the +end of which they fitted to the hole. But in some parts of the +mainland the machinery was different. They used a frame of green +wood, of a square form, in the centre of which was an axle-tree. In +some places three times three persons, in others three times nine, +were required for turning round by turns the axle-tree or wimble. If +any of them had been guilty of murder, adultery, theft, or other +atrocious crime, it was imagined either that the fire would not +kindle, or that it would be devoid of its usual virtue. So soon as +any sparks were emitted by means of the violent friction, they +applied a species of agaric which grows on old birch-trees, and is +very combustible. This fire had the appearance of being immediately +derived from heaven, and manifold were the virtues ascribed to it. +They esteemed it a preservative against witch-craft, and a sovereign +remedy against malignant diseases, both in the human species and in +cattle; and by it the strongest poisons were supposed to have their +nature changed. + +"After kindling the bonfire with the _tein-eigin_ the company +prepared their victuals. And as soon as they had finished their +meal, they amused themselves a while in singing and dancing round +the fire. Towards the close of the entertainment, the person who +officiated as master of the feast produced a large cake baked with +eggs and scalloped round the edge, called _am bonnach +bea-tine_--_i.e.,_ the Beltane cake. It was divided into a number of +pieces, and distributed in great form to the company. There was one +particular piece which whoever got was called _cailleach +beal-tine_--_i.e.,_ the Beltane _carline,_ a term of great reproach. +Upon his being known, part of the company laid hold of him and made +a show of putting him into the fire; but the majority interposing, +he was rescued. And in some places they laid him flat on the ground, +making as if they would quarter him. Afterwards, he was pelted with +egg-shells, and retained the odious appellation during the whole +year. And while the feast was fresh in people's memory, they +affected to speak of the _cailleach beal-tine_ as dead." + +In the parish of Callander, a beautiful district of Western +Perthshire, the Beltane custom was still in vogue towards the end of +the eighteenth century. It has been described as follows by the +parish minister of the time: "Upon the first day of May, which is +called _Beltan,_ or _Baltein_ day, all the boys in a township or +hamlet, meet in the moors. They cut a table in the green sod, of a +round figure, by casting a trench in the ground, of such +circumference as to hold the whole company. They kindle a fire, and +dress a repast of eggs and milk in the consistence of a custard. +They knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the embers against +a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they divide the cake into so +many portions, as similar as possible to one another in size and +shape, as there are persons in the company. They daub one of these +portions all over with charcoal, until it be perfectly black. They +put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet. Every one, blindfold, +draws out a portion. He who holds the bonnet, is entitled to the +last bit. Whoever draws the black bit, is the _devoted_ person who +is to be sacrificed to _Baal,_ whose favour they mean to implore, in +rendering the year productive of the sustenance of man and beast. +There is little doubt of these inhuman sacrifices having been once +offered in this country, as well as in the east, although they now +pass from the act of sacrificing, and only compel the _devoted_ +person to leap three times through the flames; with which the +ceremonies of this festival are closed." + +Thomas Pennant, who travelled in Perthshire in the year 1769, tells +us that "on the first of May, the herdsmen of every village hold +their Bel-tien, a rural sacrifice. They cut a square trench on the +ground, leaving the turf in the middle; on that they make a fire of +wood, on which they dress a large caudle of eggs, butter, oatmeal +and milk; and bring besides the ingredients of the caudle, plenty of +beer and whisky; for each of the company must contribute something. +The rites begin with spilling some of the caudle on the ground, by +way of libation: on that every one takes a cake of oatmeal, upon +which are raised nine square knobs, each dedicated to some +particular being, the supposed preserver of their flocks and herds, +or to some particular animal, the real destroyer of them: each +person then turns his face to the fire, breaks off a knob, and +flinging it over his shoulders, says, 'This I give to thee, preserve +thou my horses; this to thee, preserve thou my sheep; and so on.' +After that, they use the same ceremony to the noxious animals: 'This +I give to thee, O fox! spare thou my lambs; this to thee, O hooded +crow! this to thee, O eagle!' When the ceremony is over, they dine +on the caudle; and after the feast is finished, what is left is hid +by two persons deputed for that purpose; but on the next Sunday they +reassemble, and finish the reliques of the first entertainment." + +Another writer of the eighteenth century has described the Beltane +festival as it was held in the parish of Logierait in Perthshire. He +says: "On the first of May, O.S., a festival called _Beltan_ is +annually held here. It is chiefly celebrated by the cow-herds, who +assemble by scores in the fields, to dress a dinner for themselves, +of boiled milk and eggs. These dishes they eat with a sort of cakes +baked for the occasion, and having small lumps in the form of +_nipples,_ raised all over the surface." In this last account no +mention is made of bonfires, but they were probably lighted, for a +contemporary writer informs us that in the parish of Kirkmichael, +which adjoins the parish of Logierait on the east, the custom of +lighting a fire in the fields and baking a consecrated cake on the +first of May was not quite obsolete in his time. We may conjecture +that the cake with knobs was formerly used for the purpose of +determining who should be the "Beltane carline" or victim doomed to +the flames. A trace of this custom survived, perhaps, in the custom +of baking oatmeal cakes of a special kind and rolling them down hill +about noon on the first of May; for it was thought that the person +whose cake broke as it rolled would die or be unfortunate within the +year. These cakes, or bannocks as we call them in Scotland, were +baked in the usual way, but they were washed over with a thin batter +composed of whipped egg, milk or cream, and a little oatmeal. This +custom appears to have prevailed at or near Kingussie in +Inverness-shire. + +In the north-east of Scotland the Beltane fires were still kindled +in the latter half of the eighteenth century; the herdsmen of +several farms used to gather dry wood, kindle it, and dance three +times "southways" about the burning pile. But in this region, +according to a later authority, the Beltane fires were lit not on +the first but on the second of May, Old Style. They were called +bone-fires. The people believed that on that evening and night the +witches were abroad and busy casting spells on cattle and stealing +cows' milk. To counteract their machinations, pieces of rowan-tree +and woodbine, but especially of rowan-tree, were placed over the +doors of the cow-houses, and fires were kindled by every farmer and +cottar. Old thatch, straw, furze, or broom was piled in a heap and +set on fire a little after sunset. While some of the bystanders kept +tossing the blazing mass, others hoisted portions of it on +pitchforks or poles and ran hither and thither, holding them as high +as they could. Meantime the young people danced round the fire or +ran through the smoke shouting, "Fire! blaze and burn the witches; +fire! fire! burn the witches." In some districts a large round cake +of oat or barley meal was rolled through the ashes. When all the +fuel was consumed, the people scattered the ashes far and wide, and +till the night grew quite dark they continued to run through them, +crying, "Fire! burn the witches." + +In the Hebrides "the Beltane bannock is smaller than that made at +St. Michael's, but is made in the same way; it is no longer made in +Uist, but Father Allan remembers seeing his grandmother make one +about twenty-five years ago. There was also a cheese made, generally +on the first of May, which was kept to the next Beltane as a sort of +charm against the bewitching of milk-produce. The Beltane customs +seem to have been the same as elsewhere. Every fire was put out and +a large one lit on the top of the hill, and the cattle driven round +it sunwards (_dessil_), to keep off murrain all the year. Each man +would take home fire wherewith to kindle his own." + +In Wales also the custom of lighting Beltane fires at the beginning +of May used to be observed, but the day on which they were kindled +varied from the eve of May Day to the third of May. The flame was +sometimes elicited by the friction of two pieces of oak, as appears +from the following description. "The fire was done in this way. Nine +men would turn their pockets inside out, and see that every piece of +money and all metals were off their persons. Then the men went into +the nearest woods, and collected sticks of nine different kinds of +trees. These were carried to the spot where the fire had to be +built. There a circle was cut in the sod, and the sticks were set +crosswise. All around the circle the people stood and watched the +proceedings. One of the men would then take two bits of oak, and rub +them together until a flame was kindled. This was applied to the +sticks, and soon a large fire was made. Sometimes two fires were set +up side by side. These fires, whether one or two, were called +_coelcerth_ or bonfire. Round cakes of oatmeal and brown meal were +split in four, and placed in a small flour-bag, and everybody +present had to pick out a portion. The last bit in the bag fell to +the lot of the bag-holder. Each person who chanced to pick up a +piece of brown-meal cake was compelled to leap three times over the +flames, or to run thrice between the two fires, by which means the +people thought they were sure of a plentiful harvest. Shouts and +screams of those who had to face the ordeal could be heard ever so +far, and those who chanced to pick the oatmeal portions sang and +danced and clapped their hands in approval, as the holders of the +brown bits leaped three times over the flames, or ran three times +between the two fires." + +The belief of the people that by leaping thrice over the bonfires or +running thrice between them they ensured a plentiful harvest is +worthy of note. The mode in which this result was supposed to be +brought about is indicated by another writer on Welsh folk-lore, +according to whom it used to be held that "the bonfires lighted in +May or Midsummer protected the lands from sorcery, so that good +crops would follow. The ashes were also considered valuable as +charms." Hence it appears that the heat of the fires was thought to +fertilise the fields, not directly by quickening the seeds in the +ground, but indirectly by counteracting the baleful influence of +witchcraft or perhaps by burning up the persons of the witches. + +The Beltane fires seem to have been kindled also in Ireland, for +Cormac, "or somebody in his name, says that _belltaine,_ May-day, +was so called from the 'lucky fire,' or the 'two fires,' which the +druids of Erin used to make on that day with great incantations; and +cattle, he adds, used to be brought to those fires, or to be driven +between them, as a safeguard against the diseases of the year." The +custom of driving cattle through or between fires on May Day or the +eve of May Day persisted in Ireland down to a time within living +memory. + +The first of May is a great popular festival in the more midland and +southern parts of Sweden. On the eve of the festival huge bonfires, +which should be lighted by striking two flints together, blaze on +all the hills and knolls. Every large hamlet has its own fire, round +which the young people dance in a ring. The old folk notice whether +the flames incline to the north or to the south. In the former case, +the spring will be cold and backward; in the latter, it will be mild +and genial. In Bohemia, on the eve of May Day, young people kindle +fires on hills and eminences, at crossways, and in pastures, and +dance round them. They leap over the glowing embers or even through +the flames. The ceremony is called "burning the witches." In some +places an effigy representing a witch used to be burnt in the +bonfire. We have to remember that the eve of May Day is the +notorious Walpurgis Night, when the witches are everywhere speeding +unseen through the air on their hellish errands. On this witching +night children in Voigtland also light bonfires on the heights and +leap over them. Moreover, they wave burning brooms or toss them into +the air. So far as the light of the bonfire reaches, so far will a +blessing rest on the fields. The kindling of the fires on Walpurgis +Night is called "driving away the witches." The custom of kindling +fires on the eve of May Day (Walpurgis Night) for the purpose of +burning the witches is, or used to be, widespread in the Tyrol, +Moravia, Saxony and Silesia. + + + +5. The Midsummer Fires + +BUT THE SEASON at which these firefestivals have been most generally +held all over Europe is the summer solstice, that is Midsummer Eve +(the twenty-third of June) or Midsummer day (the twenty-fourth of +June). A faint tinge of Christianity has been given to them by +naming Midsummer Day after St. John the Baptist, but we cannot doubt +that the celebration dates from a time long before the beginning of +our era. The summer solstice, or Midsummer Day, is the great +turning-point in the sun's career, when, after climbing higher and +higher day by day in the sky, the luminary stops and thenceforth +retraces his steps down the heavenly road. Such a moment could not +but be regarded with anxiety by primitive man so soon as he began to +observe and ponder the courses of the great lights across the +celestial vault; and having still to learn his own powerlessness in +face of the vast cyclic changes of nature, he may have fancied that +he could help the sun in his seeming decline--could prop his failing +steps and rekindle the sinking flame of the red lamp in his feeble +hand. In some such thoughts as these the midsummer festivals of our +European peasantry may perhaps have taken their rise. Whatever their +origin, they have prevailed all over this quarter of the globe, from +Ireland on the west to Russia on the east, and from Norway and +Sweden on the north to Spain and Greece on the south. According to a +mediaeval writer, the three great features of the midsummer +celebration were the bonfires, the procession with torches round the +fields, and the custom of rolling a wheel. He tells us that boys +burned bones and filth of various kinds to make a foul smoke, and +that the smoke drove away certain noxious dragons which at this +time, excited by the summer heat, copulated in the air and poisoned +the wells and rivers by dropping their seed into them; and he +explains the custom of trundling a wheel to mean that the sun, +having now reached the highest point in the ecliptic, begins +thenceforward to descend. + +The main features of the midsummer fire-festival resemble those +which we have found to characterise the vernal festivals of fire. +The similarity of the two sets of ceremonies will plainly appear +from the following examples. + +A writer of the first half of the sixteenth century informs us that +in almost every village and town of Germany public bonfires were +kindled on the Eve of St. John, and young and old, of both sexes, +gathered about them and passed the time in dancing and singing. +People on this occasion wore chaplets of mugwort and vervain, and +they looked at the fire through bunches of larkspur which they held +in their hands, believing that this would preserve their eyes in a +healthy state throughout the year. As each departed, he threw the +mugwort and vervain into the fire, saying, "May all my ill-luck +depart and be burnt up with these." At Lower Konz, a village +situated on a hillside overlooking the Moselle, the midsummer +festival used to be celebrated as follows. A quantity of straw was +collected on the top of the steep Stromberg Hill. Every inhabitant, +or at least every householder, had to contribute his share of straw +to the pile. At nightfall the whole male population, men and boys, +mustered on the top of the hill; the women and girls were not +allowed to join them, but had to take up their position at a certain +spring half-way down the slope. On the summit stood a huge wheel +completely encased in some of the straw which had been jointly +contributed by the villagers; the rest of the straw was made into +torches. From each side of the wheel the axle-tree projected about +three feet, thus furnishing handles to the lads who were to guide it +in its descent. The mayor of the neighbouring town of Sierck, who +always received a basket of cherries for his services, gave the +signal; a lighted torch was applied to the wheel, and as it burst +into flame, two young fellows, strong-limbed and swift of foot, +seized the handles and began running with it down the slope. A great +shout went up. Every man and boy waved a blazing torch in the air, +and took care to keep it alight so long as the wheel was trundling +down the hill. The great object of the young men who guided the +wheel was to plunge it blazing into the water of the Moselle; but +they rarely succeeded in their efforts, for the vineyards which +cover the greater part of the declivity impeded their progress, and +the wheel was often burned out before it reached the river. As it +rolled past the women and girls at the spring, they raised cries of +joy which were answered by the men on the top of the mountain; and +the shouts were echoed by the inhabitants of neighbouring villages +who watched the spectacle from their hills on the opposite bank of +the Moselle. If the fiery wheel was successfully conveyed to the +bank of the river and extinguished in the water, the people looked +for an abundant vintage that year, and the inhabitants of Konz had +the right to exact a waggon-load of white wine from the surrounding +vineyards. On the other hand, they believed that, if they neglected +to perform the ceremony, the cattle would be attacked by giddiness +and convulsions and would dance in their stalls. + +Down at least to the middle of the nineteenth century the midsummer +fires used to blaze all over Upper Bavaria. They were kindled +especially on the mountains, but also far and wide in the lowlands, +and we are told that in the darkness and stillness of night the +moving groups, lit up by the flickering glow of the flames, +presented an impressive spectacle. Cattle were driven through the +fire to cure the sick animals and to guard such as were sound +against plague and harm of every kind throughout the year. Many a +householder on that day put out the fire on the domestic hearth and +rekindled it by means of a brand taken from the midsummer bonfire. +The people judged of the height to which the flax would grow in the +year by the height to which the flames of the bonfire rose; and +whoever leaped over the burning pile was sure not to suffer from +backache in reaping the corn at harvest. In many parts of Bavaria it +was believed that the flax would grow as high as the young people +leaped over the fire. In others the old folk used to plant three +charred sticks from the bonfire in the fields, believing that this +would make the flax grow tall. Elsewhere an extinguished brand was +put in the roof of the house to protect it against fire. In the +towns about Würzburg the bonfires used to be kindled in the +market-places, and the young people who jumped over them wore +garlands of flowers, especially of mugwort and vervain, and carried +sprigs of larkspur in their hands. They thought that such as looked +at the fire holding a bit of larkspur before their face would be +troubled by no malady of the eyes throughout the year. Further, it +was customary at Würzburg, in the sixteenth century, for the +bishop's followers to throw burning discs of wood into the air from +a mountain which overhangs the town. The discs were discharged by +means of flexible rods, and in their flight through the darkness +presented the appearance of fiery dragons. + +Similarly in Swabia, lads and lasses, hand in hand, leap over the +midsummer bonfire, praying that the hemp may grow three ells high, +and they set fire to wheels of straw and send them rolling down the +hill. Sometimes, as the people sprang over the midsummer bonfire +they cried out, "Flax, flax! may the flax this year grow seven ells +high!" At Rottenburg a rude effigy in human form, called the +Angelman, used to be enveloped in flowers and then burnt in the +midsummer fire by boys, who afterwards leaped over the glowing +embers. + +So in Baden the children collected fuel from house to house for the +midsummer bonfire on St. John's Day; and lads and lasses leaped over +the fire in couples. Here, as elsewhere, a close connexion was +traced between these bonfires and the harvest. In some places it was +thought that those who leaped over the fires would not suffer from +backache at reaping. Sometimes, as the young folk sprang over the +flames, they cried, "Grow, that the hemp may be three ells high!" +This notion that the hemp or the corn would grow as high as the +flames blazed or as the people jumped over them, seems to have been +widespread in Baden. It was held that the parents of the young +people who bounded highest over the fire would have the most +abundant harvest; and on the other hand, if a man contributed +nothing to the bonfire, it was imagined that there would be no +blessing on his crops, and that his hemp in particular would never +grow. At Edersleben, near Sangerhausen, a high pole was planted in +the ground and a tarbarrel was hung from it by a chain which reached +to the ground. The barrel was then set on fire and swung round the +pole amid shouts of joy. + +In Denmark and Norway also midsummer fires were kindled on St. +John's Eve on roads, open spaces, and hills. People in Norway +thought that the fires banished sickness from among the cattle. Even +yet the fires are said to be lighted all over Norway on Midsummer +Eve. They are kindled in order to keep off the witches, who are said +to be flying from all parts that night to the Blocksberg, where the +big witch lives. In Sweden the Eve of St. John (St. Hans) is the +most joyous night of the whole year. Throughout some parts of the +country, especially in the provinces of Bohus and Scania and in +districts bordering on Norway, it is celebrated by the frequent +discharge of firearms and by huge bonfires, formerly called Balder's +Balefires (_Balder's Balar_), which are kindled at dusk on hills and +eminences and throw a glare of light over the surrounding landscape. +The people dance round the fires and leap over or through them. In +parts of Norrland on St. John's Eve the bonfires are lit at the +cross-roads. The fuel consists of nine different sorts of wood, and +the spectators cast into the flames a kind of toad-stool (_Bäran_) +in order to counteract the power of the Trolls and other evil +spirits, who are believed to be abroad that night; for at that +mystic season the mountains open and from their cavernous depths the +uncanny crew pours forth to dance and disport themselves for a time. +The peasants believe that should any of the Trolls be in the +vicinity they will show themselves; and if an animal, for example a +he or she goat, happens to be seen near the blazing, crackling pile, +the peasants are firmly persuaded that it is no other than the Evil +One in person. Further, it deserves to be remarked that in Sweden +St. John's Eve is a festival of water as well as of fire; for +certain holy springs are then supposed to be endowed with wonderful +medicinal virtues, and many sick people resort to them for the +healing of their infirmities. + +In Austria the midsummer customs and superstitions resemble those of +Germany. Thus in some parts of the Tyrol bonfires are kindled and +burning discs hurled into the air. In the lower valley of the Inn a +tatterdemalion effigy is carted about the village on Midsummer Day +and then burned. He is called the _Lotter,_ which has been corrupted +into Luther. At Ambras, one of the villages where Martin Luther is +thus burned in effigy, they say that if you go through the village +between eleven and twelve on St. John's Night and wash yourself in +three wells, you will see all who are to die in the following year. +At Gratz on St. John's Eve (the twenty-third of June) the common +people used to make a puppet called the _Tatermann,_ which they +dragged to the bleaching ground, and pelted with burning besoms till +it took fire. At Reutte, in the Tyrol, people believed that the flax +would grow as high as they leaped over the midsummer bonfire, and +they took pieces of charred wood from the fire and stuck them in +their flax-fields the same night, leaving them there till the flax +harvest had been got in. In Lower Austria bonfires are kindled on +the heights, and the boys caper round them, brandishing lighted +torches drenched in pitch. Whoever jumps thrice across the fire will +not suffer from fever within the year. Cart-wheels are often smeared +with pitch, ignited, and sent rolling and blazing down the +hillsides. + +All over Bohemia bonfires still burn on Midsummer Eve. In the +afternoon boys go about with handcarts from house to house +collecting fuel and threatening with evil consequences the +curmudgeons who refuse them a dole. Sometimes the young men fell a +tall straight fir in the woods and set it up on a height, where the +girls deck it with nosegays, wreaths of leaves, and red ribbons. +Then brushwood is piled about it, and at nightfall the whole is set +on fire. While the flames break out, the young men climb the tree +and fetch down the wreaths which the girls had placed on it. After +that lads and lasses stand on opposite sides of the fire and look at +one another through the wreaths to see whether they will be true to +each other and marry within the year. Also the girls throw the +wreaths across the flames to the men, and woe to the awkward swain +who fails to catch the wreath thrown him by his sweetheart. When the +blaze has died down, each couple takes hands and leaps thrice across +the fire. He or she who does so will be free from ague throughout +the year, and the flax will grow as high as the young folks leap. A +girl who sees nine bonfires on Midsummer Eve will marry before the +year is out. The singed wreaths are carried home and carefully +preserved throughout the year. During thunderstorms a bit of the +wreath is burned on the hearth with a prayer; some of it is given to +kine that are sick or calving, and some of it serves to fumigate +house and cattle-stall, that man and beast may keep hale and well. +Sometimes an old cart-wheel is smeared with resin, ignited, and sent +rolling down the hill. Often the boys collect all the worn-out +besoms they can get hold of, dip them in pitch, and having set them +on fire wave them about or throw them high into the air. Or they +rush down the hillside in troops, brandishing the flaming brooms and +shouting. The stumps of the brooms and embers from the fire are +preserved and stuck in cabbage gardens to protect the cabbages from +caterpillars and gnats. Some people insert charred sticks and ashes +from the midsummer bonfire in their sown fields and meadows, in +their gardens and the roofs of their houses, as a talisman against +lightning and foul weather; or they fancy that the ashes placed in +the roof will prevent any fire from breaking out in the house. In +some districts they crown or gird themselves with mugwort while the +midsummer fire is burning, for this is supposed to be a protection +against ghosts, witches, and sickness; in particular, a wreath of +mugwort is a sure preventive of sore eyes. Sometimes the girls look +at the bonfires through garlands of wild flowers, praying the fire +to strengthen their eyes and eyelids. She who does this thrice will +have no sore eyes all that year. In some parts of Bohemia they used +to drive the cows through the midsummer fire to guard them against +witchcraft. + +In Slavonic countries, also, the midsummer festival is celebrated +with similar rites. We have already seen that in Russia on the Eve +of St. John young men and maidens jump over a bonfire in couples +carrying a straw effigy of Kupalo in their arms. In some parts of +Russia an image of Kupalo is burnt or thrown into a stream on St. +John's Night. Again, in some districts of Russia the young folk wear +garlands of flowers and girdles of holy herbs when they spring +through the smoke or flames; and sometimes they drive the cattle +also through the fire in order to protect the animals against +wizards and witches, who are then ravenous after milk. In Little +Russia a stake is driven into the ground on St. John's Night, wrapt +in straw, and set on fire. As the flames rise the peasant women +throw birchen boughs into them, saying, "May my flax be as tall as +this bough!" In Ruthenia the bonfires are lighted by a flame +procured by the friction of wood. While the elders of the party are +engaged in thus "churning" the fire, the rest maintain a respectful +silence; but when the flame bursts from the wood, they break forth +into joyous songs. As soon as the bonfires are kindled, the young +people take hands and leap in pairs through the smoke, if not +through the flames; and after that the cattle in their turn are +driven through the fire. + +In many parts of Prussia and Lithuania great fires are kindled on +Midsummer Eve. All the heights are ablaze with them, as far as the +eye can see. The fires are supposed to be a protection against +witchcraft, thunder, hail, and cattle disease, especially if next +morning the cattle are driven over the places where the fires +burned. Above all, the bonfires ensure the farmer against the arts +of witches, who try to steal the milk from his cows by charms and +spells. That is why next morning you may see the young fellows who +lit the bonfire going from house to house and receiving jugfuls of +milk. And for the same reason they stick burs and mugwort on the +gate or the hedge through which the cows go to pasture, because that +is supposed to be a preservative against witchcraft. In Masuren, a +district of Eastern Prussia inhabited by a branch of the Polish +family, it is the custom on the evening of Midsummer Day to put out +all the fires in the village. Then an oaken stake is driven into the +ground and a wheel is fixed on it as on an axle. This wheel the +villagers, working by relays, cause to revolve with great rapidity +till fire is produced by friction. Every one takes home a lighted +brand from the new fire and with it rekindles the fire on the +domestic hearth. In Serbia on Midsummer Eve herdsmen light torches +of birch bark and march round the sheepfolds and cattle-stalls; then +they climb the hills and there allow the torches to burn out. + +Among the Magyars in Hungary the midsummer fire-festival is marked +by the same features that meet us in so many parts of Europe. On +Midsummer Eve in many places it is customary to kindle bonfires on +heights and to leap over them, and from the manner in which the +young people leap the bystanders predict whether they will marry +soon. On this day also many Hungarian swineherds make fire by +rotating a wheel round a wooden axle wrapt in hemp, and through the +fire thus made they drive their pigs to preserve them from sickness. + +The Esthonians of Russia, who, like the Magyars, belong to the great +Turanian family of mankind, also celebrate the summer solstice in +the usual way. They think that the St. John's fire keeps witches +from the cattle, and they say that he who does not come to it will +have his barley full of thistles and his oats full of weeds. In the +Esthonian island of Oesel, while they throw fuel into the midsummer +fire, they call out, "Weeds to the fire, flax to the field," or they +fling three billets into the flames, saying, "Flax grow long!" And +they take charred sticks from the bonfire home with them and keep +them to make the cattle thrive. In some parts of the island the +bonfire is formed by piling brushwood and other combustibles round a +tree, at the top of which a flag flies. Whoever succeeds in knocking +down the flag with a pole before it begins to burn will have good +luck. Formerly the festivities lasted till daybreak, and ended in +scenes of debauchery which looked doubly hideous by the growing +light of a summer morning. + +When we pass from the east to the west of Europe we still find the +summer solstice celebrated with rites of the same general character. +Down to about the middle of the nineteenth century the custom of +lighting bonfires at midsummer prevailed so commonly in France that +there was hardly a town or a village, we are told, where they were +not kindled. People danced round and leaped over them, and took +charred sticks from the bonfire home with them to protect the houses +against lightning, conflagrations, and spells. + +In Brittany, apparently, the custom of the midsummer bonfires is +kept up to this day. When the flames have died down, the whole +assembly kneels round about the bonfire and an old man prays aloud. +Then they all rise and march thrice round the fire; at the third +turn they stop and every one picks up a pebble and throws it on the +burning pile. After that they disperse. In Brittany and Berry it is +believed that a girl who dances round nine midsummer bonfires will +marry within the year. In the valley of the Orne the custom was to +kindle the bonfire just at the moment when the sun was about to dip +below the horizon; and the peasants drove their cattle through the +fires to protect them against witchcraft, especially against the +spells of witches and wizards who attempted to steal the milk and +butter. At Jumièges in Normandy, down to the first half of the +nineteenth century, the midsummer festival was marked by certain +singular features which bore the stamp of a very high antiquity. +Every year, on the twenty-third of June, the Eve of St. John, the +Brotherhood of the Green Wolf chose a new chief or master, who had +always to be taken from the hamlet of Conihout. On being elected, +the new head of the brotherhood assumed the title of the Green Wolf, +and donned a peculiar costume consisting of a long green mantle and +a very tall green hat of a conical shape and without a brim. Thus +arrayed he stalked solemnly at the head of the brothers, chanting +the hymn of St. John, the crucifix and holy banner leading the way, +to a place called Chouquet. Here the procession was met by the +priest, precentors, and choir, who conducted the brotherhood to the +parish church. After hearing mass the company adjourned to the house +of the Green Wolf, where a simple repast was served up to them. At +night a bonfire was kindled to the sound of hand-bells by a young +man and a young woman, both decked with flowers. Then the Green Wolf +and his brothers, with their hoods down on their shoulders and +holding each other by the hand, ran round the fire after the man who +had been chosen to be the Green Wolf of the following year. Though +only the first and the last man of the chain had a hand free, their +business was to surround and seize thrice the future Green Wolf, who +in his efforts to escape belaboured the brothers with a long wand +which he carried. When at last they succeeded in catching him they +carried him to the burning pile and made as if they would throw him +on it. This ceremony over, they returned to the house of the Green +Wolf, where a supper, still of the most meagre fare, was set before +them. Up till midnight a sort of religious solemnity prevailed. But +at the stroke of twelve all this was changed. Constraint gave way to +license; pious hymns were replaced by Bacchanalian ditties, and the +shrill quavering notes of the village fiddle hardly rose above the +roar of voices that went up from the merry brotherhood of the Green +Wolf. Next day, the twenty-fourth of June or Midsummer Day, was +celebrated by the same personages with the same noisy gaiety. One of +the ceremonies consisted in parading, to the sound of musketry, an +enormous loaf of consecrated bread, which, rising in tiers, was +surmounted by a pyramid of verdure adorned with ribbons. After that +the holy hand-bells, deposited on the step of the altar, were +entrusted as insignia of office to the man who was to be the Green +Wolf next year. + +At Château-Thierry, in the department of Aisne, the custom of +lighting bonfires and dancing round them at the midsummer festival +of St. John lasted down to about 1850; the fires were kindled +especially when June had been rainy, and the people thought that the +lighting of the bonfires would cause the rain to cease. In the +Vosges it is still customary to kindle bonfires upon the hill-tops +on Midsummer Eve; the people believe that the fires help to preserve +the fruits of the earth and ensure good crops. + +Bonfires were lit in almost all the hamlets of Poitou on the Eve of +St. John. People marched round them thrice, carrying a branch of +walnut in their hand. Shepherdesses and children passed sprigs of +mullein (_verbascum_) and nuts across the flames; the nuts were +supposed to cure toothache, and the mullein to protect the cattle +from sickness and sorcery. When the fire died down people took some +of the ashes home with them, either to keep them in the house as a +preservative against thunder or to scatter them on the fields for +the purpose of destroying corn-cockles and darnel. In Poitou also it +used to be customary on the Eve of St. John to trundle a blazing +wheel wrapt in straw over the fields to fertilise them. + +In the mountainous part of Comminges, a province of Southern France, +the midsummer fire is made by splitting open the trunk of a tall +tree, stuffing the crevice with shavings, and igniting the whole. A +garland of flowers is fastened to the top of the tree, and at the +moment when the fire is lighted the man who was last married has to +climb up a ladder and bring the flowers down. In the flat parts of +the same district the materials of the midsummer bonfires consist of +fuel piled in the usual way; but they must be put together by men +who have been married since the last midsummer festival, and each of +these benedicts is obliged to lay a wreath of flowers on the top of +the pile. + +In Provence the midsummer fires are still popular. Children go from +door to door begging for fuel, and they are seldom sent empty away. +Formerly the priest, the mayor, and the aldermen used to walk in +procession to the bonfire, and even deigned to light it; after which +the assembly marched thrice round the burning pile. At Aix a nominal +king, chosen from among the youth for his skill in shooting at a +popinjay, presided over the midsummer festival. He selected his own +officers, and escorted by a brilliant train marched to the bonfire, +kindled it, and was the first to dance round it. Next day he +distributed largesse to his followers. His reign lasted a year, +during which he enjoyed certain privileges. He was allowed to attend +the mass celebrated by the commander of the Knights of St. John on +St. John's Day; the right of hunting was accorded to him, and +soldiers might not be quartered in his house. At Marseilles also on +this day one of the guilds chose a king of the _badache_ or double +axe; but it does not appear that he kindled the bonfire, which is +said to have been lighted with great ceremony by the préfet and +other authorities. + +In Belgium the custom of kindling the midsummer bonfires has long +disappeared from the great cities, but it is still kept up in rural +districts and small towns. In that country the Eve of St. Peter's +Day (the twenty-ninth of June) is celebrated by bonfires and dances +exactly like those which commemorate St. John's Eve. Some people say +that the fires of St. Peter, like those of St. John, are lighted in +order to drive away dragons. In French Flanders down to 1789 a straw +figure representing a man was always burned in the midsummer +bonfire, and the figure of a woman was burned on St. Peter's Day, +the twenty-ninth of June. In Belgium people jump over the midsummer +bonfires as a preventive of colic, and they keep the ashes at home +to hinder fire from breaking out. + +The custom of lighting bonfires at midsummer has been observed in +many parts of our own country, and as usual people danced round and +leaped over them. In Wales three or nine different kinds of wood and +charred faggots carefully preserved from the last midsummer were +deemed necessary to build the bonfire, which was generally done on +rising ground. In the Vale of Glamorgan a cart-wheel swathed in +straw used to be ignited and sent rolling down the hill. If it kept +alight all the way down and blazed for a long time, an abundant +harvest was expected. On Midsummer Eve people in the Isle of Man +were wont to light fires to the windward of every field, so that the +smoke might pass over the corn; and they folded their cattle and +carried blazing furze or gorse round them several times. In Ireland +cattle, especially barren cattle, were driven through the midsummer +fires, and the ashes were thrown on the fields to fertilise them, or +live coals were carried into them to prevent blight. In Scotland the +traces of midsummer fires are few; but at that season in the +highlands of Perthshire cowherds used to go round their folds +thrice, in the direction of the sun, with lighted torches. This they +did to purify the flocks and herds and to keep them from falling +sick. + +The practice of lighting bonfires on Midsummer Eve and dancing or +leaping over them is, or was till recently, common all over Spain +and in some parts of Italy and Sicily. In Malta great fires are +kindled in the streets and squares of the towns and villages on the +Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve); formerly the Grand Master of the +Order of St. John used on that evening to set fire to a heap of +pitch barrels placed in front of the sacred Hospital. In Greece, +too, the custom of kindling fires on St. John's Eve and jumping over +them is said to be still universal. One reason assigned for it is a +wish to escape from the fleas. According to another account, the +women cry out, as they leap over the fire, "I leave my sins behind +me." In Lesbos the fires on St. John's Eve are usually lighted by +threes, and the people spring thrice over them, each with a stone on +his head, saying, "I jump the hare's fire, my head a stone!" In +Calymnos the midsummer fire is supposed to ensure abundance in the +coming year as well as deliverance from fleas. The people dance +round the fires singing, with stones on their heads, and then jump +over the blaze or the glowing embers. When the fire is burning low, +they throw the stones into it; and when it is nearly out, they make +crosses on their legs and then go straightway and bathe in the sea. + +The custom of kindling bonfires on Midsummer Day or on Midsummer Eve +is widely spread among the Mohammedan peoples of North Africa, +particularly in Morocco and Algeria; it is common both to the +Berbers and to many of the Arabs or Arabic-speaking tribes. In these +countries Midsummer Day (the twenty-fourth of June, Old Style) is +called _l'ánsara._ The fires are lit in the courtyards, at +cross-roads, in the fields, and sometimes on the threshing-floors. +Plants which in burning give out a thick smoke and an aromatic smell +are much sought after for fuel on these occasions; among the plants +used for the purpose are giant-fennel, thyme, rue, chervil-seed, +camomile, geranium, and penny-royal. People expose themselves, and +especially their children, to the smoke, and drive it towards the +orchards and the crops. Also they leap across the fires; in some +places everybody ought to repeat the leap seven times. Moreover they +take burning brands from the fires and carry them through the houses +in order to fumigate them. They pass things through the fire, and +bring the sick into contact with it, while they utter prayers for +their recovery. The ashes of the bonfires are also reputed to +possess beneficial properties; hence in some places people rub their +hair or their bodies with them. In some places they think that by +leaping over the fires they rid themselves of all misfortune, and +that childless couples thereby obtain offspring. Berbers of the Rif +province, in Northern Morocco, make great use of fires at midsummer +for the good of themselves, their cattle, and their fruit-trees. +They jump over the bonfires in the belief that this will preserve +them in good health, and they light fires under fruit-trees to keep +the fruit from falling untimely. And they imagine that by rubbing a +paste of the ashes on their hair they prevent the hair from falling +off their heads. In all these Moroccan customs, we are told, the +beneficial effect is attributed wholly to the smoke, which is +supposed to be endued with a magical quality that removes misfortune +from men, animals, fruit-trees and crops. + +The celebration of a midsummer festival by Mohammedan peoples is +particularly remarkable, because the Mohammedan calendar, being +purely lunar and uncorrected by intercalation, necessarily takes no +note of festivals which occupy fixed points in the solar year; all +strictly Mohammedan feasts, being pinned to the moon, slide +gradually with that luminary through the whole period of the earth's +revolution about the sun. This fact of itself seems to prove that +among the Mohammedan peoples of Northern Africa, as among the +Christian peoples of Europe, the midsummer festival is quite +independent of the religion which the people publicly profess, and +is a relic of a far older paganism. + + + +6. The Hallowe'en Fires + +FROM THE FOREGOING survey we may infer that among the heathen +forefathers of the European peoples the most popular and widespread +fire-festival of the year was the great celebration of Midsummer Eve +or Midsummer Day. The coincidence of the festival with the summer +solstice can hardly be accidental. Rather we must suppose that our +pagan ancestors purposely timed the ceremony of fire on earth to +coincide with the arrival of the sun at the highest point of his +course in the sky. If that was so, it follows that the old founders +of the midsummer rites had observed the solstices or turning-points +of the sun's apparent path in the sky, and that they accordingly +regulated their festal calendar to some extent by astronomical +considerations. + +But while this may be regarded as fairly certain for what we may +call the aborigines throughout a large part of the continent, it +appears not to have been true of the Celtic peoples who inhabited +the Land's End of Europe, the islands and promontories that stretch +out into the Atlantic Ocean on the North-West. The principal +fire-festivals of the Celts, which have survived, though in a +restricted area and with diminished pomp, to modern times and even +to our own day, were seemingly timed without any reference to the +position of the sun in the heaven. They were two in number, and fell +at an interval of six months, one being celebrated on the eve of May +Day and the other on Allhallow Even or Hallowe'en, as it is now +commonly called, that is, on the thirty-first of October, the day +preceding All Saints' or Allhallows' Day. These dates coincide with +none of the four great hinges on which the solar year revolves, to +wit, the solstices and the equinoxes. Nor do they agree with the +principal seasons of the agricultural year, the sowing in spring and +the reaping in autumn. For when May Day comes, the seed has long +been committed to the earth; and when November opens, the harvest +has long been reaped and garnered, the fields lie bare, the +fruit-trees are stripped, and even the yellow leaves are fast +fluttering to the ground. Yet the first of May and the first of +November mark turning-points of the year in Europe; the one ushers +in the genial heat and the rich vegetation of summer, the other +heralds, if it does not share, the cold and barrenness of winter. +Now these particular points of the year, as has been well pointed +out by a learned and ingenious writer, while they are of +comparatively little moment to the European husbandman, do deeply +concern the European herdsman; for it is on the approach of summer +that he drives his cattle out into the open to crop the fresh grass, +and it is on the approach of winter that he leads them back to the +safety and shelter of the stall. Accordingly it seems not improbable +that the Celtic bisection of the year into two halves at the +beginning of May and the beginning of November dates from a time +when the Celts were mainly a pastoral people, dependent for their +subsistence on their herds, and when accordingly the great epochs of +the year for them were the days on which the cattle went forth from +the homestead in early summer and returned to it again in early +winter. Even in Central Europe, remote from the region now occupied +by the Celts, a similar bisection of the year may be clearly traced +in the great popularity, on the one hand, of May Day and its Eve +(Walpurgis Night), and, on the other hand, of the Feast of All Souls +at the beginning of November, which under a thin Christian cloak +conceals an ancient pagan festival of the dead. Hence we may +conjecture that everywhere throughout Europe the celestial division +of the year according to the solstices was preceded by what we may +call a terrestrial division of the year according to the beginning +of summer and the beginning of winter. + +Be that as it may, the two great Celtic festivals of May Day and the +first of November or, to be more accurate, the Eves of these two +days, closely resemble each other in the manner of their celebration +and in the superstitions associated with them, and alike, by the +antique character impressed upon both, betray a remote and purely +pagan origin. The festival of May Day or Beltane, as the Celts +called it, which ushered in summer, has already been described; it +remains to give some account of the corresponding festival of +Hallowe'en, which announced the arrival of winter. + +Of the two feasts Hallowe'en was perhaps of old the more important, +since the Celts would seem to have dated the beginning of the year +from it rather than from Beltane. In the Isle of Man, one of the +fortresses in which the Celtic language and lore longest held out +against the siege of the Saxon invaders, the first of November, Old +Style, has been regarded as New Year's day down to recent times. +Thus Manx mummers used to go round on Hallowe'en (Old Style), +singing, in the Manx language, a sort of Hogmanay song which began +"To-night is New Year's Night, _Hogunnaa!_" In ancient Ireland, a +new fire used to be kindled every year on Hallowe'en or the Eve of +Samhain, and from this sacred flame all the fires in Ireland were +rekindled. Such a custom points strongly to Samhain or All Saints' +Day (the first of November) as New Year's Day; since the annual +kindling of a new fire takes place most naturally at the beginning +of the year, in order that the blessed influence of the fresh fire +may last throughout the whole period of twelve months. Another +confirmation of the view that the Celts dated their year from the +first of November is furnished by the manifold modes of divination +which were commonly resorted to by Celtic peoples on Hallowe'en for +the purpose of ascertaining their destiny, especially their fortune +in the coming year; for when could these devices for prying into the +future be more reasonably put in practice than at the beginning of +the year? As a season of omens and auguries Hallowe'en seems to have +far surpassed Beltane in the imagination of the Celts; from which we +may with some probability infer that they reckoned their year from +Hallowe'en rather than Beltane. Another circumstance of great moment +which points to the same conclusion is the association of the dead +with Hallowe'en. Not only among the Celts but throughout Europe, +Hallowe'en, the night which marks the transition from autumn to +winter, seems to have been of old the time of year when the souls of +the departed were supposed to revisit their old homes in order to +warm themselves by the fire and to comfort themselves with the good +cheer provided for them in the kitchen or the parlour by their +affectionate kinsfolk. It was, perhaps, a natural thought that the +approach of winter should drive the poor shivering hungry ghosts +from the bare fields and the leafless woodlands to the shelter of +the cottage with its familiar fireside. Did not the lowing kine then +troop back from the summer pastures in the forests and on the hills +to be fed and cared for in the stalls, while the bleak winds +whistled among the swaying boughs and the snow-drifts deepened in +the hollows? and could the good-man and the good-wife deny to the +spirits of their dead the welcome which they gave to the cows? + +But it is not only the souls of the departed who are supposed to be +hovering unseen on the day "when autumn to winter resigns the pale +year." Witches then speed on their errands of mischief, some +sweeping through the air on besoms, others galloping along the roads +on tabby-cats, which for that evening are turned into coal-black +steeds. The fairies, too, are all let loose, and hobgoblins of every +sort roam freely about. + +Yet while a glamour of mystery and awe has always clung to +Hallowe'en in the minds of the Celtic peasantry, the popular +celebration of the festival has been, at least in modern times, by +no means of a prevailing gloomy cast; on the contrary it has been +attended by picturesque features and merry pastimes, which rendered +it the gayest night of all the year. Amongst the things which in the +Highlands of Scotland contributed to invest the festival with a +romantic beauty were the bonfires which used to blaze at frequent +intervals on the heights. "On the last day of autumn children +gathered ferns, tar-barrels, the long thin stalks called _gàinisg,_ +and everything suitable for a bonfire. These were placed in a heap +on some eminence near the house, and in the evening set fire to. The +fires were called _Samhnagan._ There was one for each house, and it +was an object of ambition who should have the biggest. Whole +districts were brilliant with bonfires, and their glare across a +Highland loch, and from many eminences, formed an exceedingly +picturesque scene." Like the Beltane fires on the first of May, the +Hallowe'en bonfires seem to have been kindled most commonly in the +Perthshire Highlands. In the parish of Callander they still blazed +down to near the end of the eighteenth century. When the fire had +died down, the ashes were carefully collected in the form of a +circle, and a stone was put in, near the circumference, for every +person of the several families interested in the bonfire. Next +morning, if any of these stones was found to be displaced or +injured, the people made sure that the person represented by it was +_fey_ or devoted, and that he could not live twelve months from that +day. At Balquhidder down to the latter part of the nineteenth +century each household kindled its bonfire at Hallowe'en, but the +custom was chiefly observed by children. The fires were lighted on +any high knoll near the house; there was no dancing round them. +Hallowe'en fires were also lighted in some districts of the +north-east of Scotland, such as Buchan. Villagers and farmers alike +must have their fire. In the villages the boys went from house to +house and begged a peat from each householder, usually with the +words, "Ge's a peat t' burn the witches." When they had collected +enough peats, they piled them in a heap, together with straw, furze, +and other combustible materials, and set the whole on fire. Then +each of the youths, one after another, laid himself down on the +ground as near to the fire as he could without being scorched, and +thus lying allowed the smoke to roll over him. The others ran +through the smoke and jumped over their prostrate comrade. When the +heap was burned down, they scattered the ashes, vying with each +other who should scatter them most. + +In the northern part of Wales it used to be customary for every +family to make a great bonfire called _Coel Coeth_ on Hallowe'en. +The fire was kindled on the most conspicuous spot near the house; +and when it had nearly gone out every one threw into the ashes a +white stone, which he had first marked. Then having said their +prayers round the fire, they went to bed. Next morning, as soon as +they were up, they came to search out the stones, and if any one of +them was found to be missing, they had a notion that the person who +threw it would die before he saw another Hallowe'en. According to +Sir John Rhys, the habit of celebrating Hallowe'en by lighting +bonfires on the hills is perhaps not yet extinct in Wales, and men +still living can remember how the people who assisted at the +bonfires would wait till the last spark was out and then would +suddenly take to their heels, shouting at the top of their voices, +"The cropped black sow seize the hindmost!" The saying, as Sir John +Rhys justly remarks, implies that originally one of the company +became a victim in dead earnest. Down to the present time the saying +is current in Carnarvonshire, where allusions to the cutty black sow +are still occasionally made to frighten children. We can now +understand why in Lower Brittany every person throws a pebble into +the midsummer bonfire. Doubtless there, as in Wales and the +Highlands of Scotland, omens of life and death have at one time or +other been drawn from the position and state of the pebbles on the +morning of All Saints' Day. The custom, thus found among three +separate branches of the Celtic stock, probably dates from a period +before their dispersion, or at least from a time when alien races +had not yet driven home the wedges of separation between them. + +In the Isle of Man also, another Celtic country, Hallowe'en was +celebrated down to modern times by the kindling of fires, +accompanied with all the usual ceremonies designed to prevent the +baneful influence of fairies and witches. + + + +7. The Midwinter Fires + +IF THE HEATHEN of ancient Europe celebrated, as we have good reason +to believe, the season of Midsummer with a great festival of fire, +of which the traces have survived in many places down to our own +time, it is natural to suppose that they should have observed with +similar rites the corresponding season of Midwinter; for Midsummer +and Midwinter, or, in more technical language, the summer solstice +and the winter solstice, are the two great turningpoints in the +sun's apparent course through the sky, and from the standpoint of +primitive man nothing might seem more appropriate than to kindle +fires on earth at the two moments when the fire and heat of the +great luminary in heaven begin to wane or to wax. + +In modern Christendom the ancient fire-festival of the winter +solstice appears to survive, or to have survived down to recent +years, in the old custom of the Yule log, clog, or block, as it was +variously called in England. The custom was widespread in Europe, +but seems to have flourished especially in England, France, and +among the South Slavs; at least the fullest accounts of the custom +come from these quarters. That the Yule log was only the winter +counterpart of the midsummer bonfire, kindled within doors instead +of in the open air on account of the cold and inclement weather of +the season, was pointed out long ago by our English antiquary John +Brand; and the view is supported by the many quaint superstitions +attaching to the Yule log, superstitions which have no apparent +connexion with Christianity but carry their heathen origin plainly +stamped upon them. But while the two solstitial celebrations were +both festivals of fire, the necessity or desirability of holding the +winter celebration within doors lent it the character of a private +or domestic festivity, which contrasts strongly with the publicity +of the summer celebration, at which the people gathered on some open +space or conspicuous height, kindled a huge bonfire in common, and +danced and made merry round it together. + +Down to about the middle of the nineteenth century the old rite of +the Yule log was kept up in some parts of Central Germany. Thus in +the valleys of the Sieg and Lahn the Yule log, a heavy block of oak, +was fitted into the floor of the hearth, where, though it glowed +under the fire, it was hardly reduced to ashes within a year. When +the new log was laid next year, the remains of the old one were +ground to powder and strewed over the fields during the Twelve +Nights, which was supposed to promote the growth of the crops. In +some villages of Westphalia, the practice was to withdraw the Yule +log (_Christbrand_) from the fire so soon as it was slightly +charred; it was then kept carefully to be replaced on the fire +whenever a thunderstorm broke, because the people believed that +lightning would not strike a house in which the Yule log was +smouldering. In other villages of Westphalia the old custom was to +tie up the Yule log in the last sheaf cut at harvest. + +In several provinces of France, and particularly in Provence, the +custom of the Yule log or _tréfoir,_ as it was called in many +places, was long observed. A French writer of the seventeenth +century denounces as superstitious "the belief that a log called the +_tréfoir_ or Christmas brand, which you put on the fire for the +first time on Christmas Eve and continue to put on the fire for a +little while every day till Twelfth Night, can, if kept under the +bed, protect the house for a whole year from fire and thunder; that +it can prevent the inmates from having chilblains on their heels in +winter; that it can cure the cattle of many maladies; that if a +piece of it be steeped in the water which cows drink it helps them +to calve; and lastly that if the ashes of the log be strewn on the +fields it can save the wheat from mildew." + +In some parts of Flanders and France the remains of the Yule log +were regularly kept in the house under a bed as a protection against +thunder and lightning; in Berry, when thunder was heard, a member of +the family used to take a piece of the log and throw it on the fire, +which was believed to avert the lightning. Again, in Perigord, the +charcoal and ashes are carefully collected and kept for healing +swollen glands; the part of the trunk which has not been burnt in +the fire is used by ploughmen to make the wedge for their plough, +because they allege that it causes the seeds to thrive better; and +the women keep pieces of it till Twelfth Night for the sake of their +chickens. Some people imagine that they will have as many chickens +as there are sparks that fly out of the brands of the log when they +shake them; and others place the extinct brands under the bed to +drive away vermin. In various parts of France the charred log is +thought to guard the house against sorcery as well as against +lightning. + +In England the customs and beliefs concerning the Yule log used to +be similar. On the night of Christmas Eve, says the antiquary John +Brand, "our ancestors were wont to light up candles of an uncommon +size, called Christmas Candles, and lay a log of wood upon the fire, +called a Yule-clog or Christmas-block, to illuminate the house, and, +as it were, to turn night into day." The old custom was to light the +Yule log with a fragment of its predecessor, which had been kept +throughout the year for the purpose; where it was so kept, the fiend +could do no mischief. The remains of the log were also supposed to +guard the house against fire and lightning. + +To this day the ritual of bringing in the Yule log is observed with +much solemnity among the Southern Slavs, especially the Serbians. +The log is usually a block of oak, but sometimes of olive or beech. +They seem to think that they will have as many calves, lambs, pigs, +and kids as they strike sparks out of the burning log. Some people +carry a piece of the log out to the fields to protect them against +hail. In Albania down to recent years it was a common custom to burn +a Yule log at Christmas, and the ashes of the fire were scattered on +the fields to make them fertile. The Huzuls, a Slavonic people of +the Carpathians, kindle fire by the friction of wood on Christmas +Eve (Old Style, the fifth of January) and keep it burning till +Twelfth Night. + +It is remarkable how common the belief appears to have been that the +remains of the Yule log, if kept throughout the year, had power to +protect the house against fire and especially against lightning. As +the Yule log was frequently of oak, it seems possible that this +belief may be a relic of the old Aryan creed which associated the +oak-tree with the god of thunder. Whether the curative and +fertilising virtues ascribed to the ashes of the Yule log, which are +supposed to heal cattle as well as men, to enable cows to calve, and +to promote the fruitfulness of the earth, may not be derived from +the same ancient source, is a question which deserves to be +considered. + + + +8. The Need-fire + +THE FIRE-FESTIVALS hitherto described are all celebrated +periodically at certain stated times of the year. But besides these +regularly recurring celebrations the peasants in many parts of +Europe have been wont from time immemorial to resort to a ritual of +fire at irregular intervals in seasons of distress and calamity, +above all when their cattle were attacked by epidemic disease. No +account of the popular European fire-festivals would be complete +without some notice of these remarkable rites, which have all the +greater claim on our attention because they may perhaps be regarded +as the source and origin of all the other fire-festivals; certainly +they must date from a very remote antiquity. The general name by +which they are known among the Teutonic peoples is need-fire. +Sometimes the need-fire was known as "wild fire," to distinguish it +no doubt from the tame fire produced by more ordinary methods. Among +Slavonic peoples it is called "living fire." + +The history of the custom can be traced from the early Middle Ages, +when it was denounced by the Church as a heathen superstition, down +to the first half of the nineteenth century, when it was still +occasionally practised in various parts of Germany, England, +Scotland, and Ireland. Among Slavonic peoples it appears to have +lingered even longer. The usual occasion for performing the rite was +an outbreak of plague or cattle-disease, for which the need-fire was +believed to be an infallible remedy. The animals which were +subjected to it included cows, pigs, horses, and sometimes geese. As +a necessary preliminary to the kindling of the need-fire all other +fires and lights in the neighbourhood were extinguished, so that not +so much as a spark remained alight; for so long as even a +night-light burned in a house, it was imagined that the need-fire +could not kindle. Sometimes it was deemed enough to put out all the +fires in the village; but sometimes the extinction extended to +neighbouring villages or to a whole parish. In some parts of the +Highlands of Scotland the rule was that all householders who dwelt +within the two nearest running streams should put out their lights +and fires on the day appointed. Usually the need-fire was made in +the open air, but in some parts of Serbia it was kindled in a dark +room; sometimes the place was a cross-way or a hollow in a road. In +the Highlands of Scotland the proper places for performing the rite +seem to have been knolls or small islands in rivers. + +The regular method of producing the need-fire was by the friction of +two pieces of wood; it might not be struck by flint and steel. Very +exceptionally among some South Slavs we read of a practice of +kindling a need-fire by striking a piece of iron on an anvil. Where +the wood to be employed is specified, it is generally said to be +oak; but on the Lower Rhine the fire was kindled by the friction of +oak-wood or fir-wood. In Slavonic countries we hear of poplar, pear, +and cornel wood being used for the purpose. Often the material is +simply described as two pieces of dry wood. Sometimes nine different +kinds of wood were deemed necessary, but rather perhaps to be burned +in the bonfire than to be rubbed together for the production of the +need-fire. The particular mode of kindling the need-fire varied in +different districts; a very common one was this. Two poles were +driven into the ground about a foot and a half from each other. Each +pole had in the side facing the other a socket into which a smooth +cross-piece or roller was fitted. The sockets were stuffed with +linen, and the two ends of the roller were rammed tightly into the +sockets. To make it more inflammable the roller was often coated +with tar. A rope was then wound round the roller, and the free ends +at both sides were gripped by two or more persons, who by pulling +the rope to and fro caused the roller to revolve rapidly, till +through the friction the linen in the sockets took fire. The sparks +were immediately caught in tow or oakum and waved about in a circle +until they burst into a bright glow, when straw was applied to it, +and the blazing straw used to kindle the fuel that had been stacked +to make the bonfire. Often a wheel, sometimes a cart-wheel or even a +spinning-wheel, formed part of the mechanism; in Aberdeenshire it +was called "the muckle wheel"; in the island of Mull the wheel was +turned from east to west over nine spindles of oak-wood. Sometimes +we are merely told that two wooden planks were rubbed together. +Sometimes it was prescribed that the cart-wheel used for fire-making +and the axle on which it turned should both be new. Similarly it was +said that the rope which turned the roller should be new; if +possible it should be woven of strands taken from a gallows rope +with which people had been hanged, but this was a counsel of +perfection rather than a strict necessity. + +Various rules were also laid down as to the kind of persons who +might or should make the need-fire. Sometimes it was said that the +two persons who pulled the rope which twirled the roller should +always be brothers or at least bear the same baptismal name; +sometimes it was deemed sufficient if they were both chaste young +men. In some villages of Brunswick people thought that if everybody +who lent a hand in kindling the need-fire did not bear the same +Christian name, they would labour in vain. In Silesia the tree +employed to produce the need-fire used to be felled by a pair of +twin brothers. In the western islands of Scotland the fire was +kindled by eighty-one married men, who rubbed two great planks +against each other, working in relays of nine; in North Uist the +nine times nine who made the fire were all first-begotten sons, but +we are not told whether they were married or single. Among the +Serbians the need-fire is sometimes kindled by a boy and girl +between eleven and fourteen years of age, who work stark naked in a +dark room; sometimes it is made by an old man and an old woman also +in the dark. In Bulgaria, too, the makers of need-fire strip +themselves of their clothes; in Caithness they divested themselves +of all kinds of metal. If after long rubbing of the wood no fire was +elicited they concluded that some fire must still be burning in the +village; so a strict search was made from house to house, any fire +that might be found was put out, and the negligent householder +punished or upbraided; indeed a heavy fine might be inflicted on +him. + +When the need-fire was at last kindled, the bonfire was lit from it, +and as soon as the blaze had somewhat died down, the sick animals +were driven over the glowing embers, sometimes in a regular order of +precedence, first the pigs, next the cows, and last of all the +horses. Sometimes they were driven twice or thrice through the smoke +and flames, so that occasionally some of them were scorched to +death. As soon as all the beasts were through, the young folk would +rush wildly at the ashes and cinders, sprinkling and blackening each +other with them; those who were most blackened would march in +triumph behind the cattle into the village and would not wash +themselves for a long time. From the bonfire people carried live +embers home and used them to rekindle the fires in their houses. +These brands, after being extinguished in water, they sometimes put +in the mangers at which the cattle fed, and kept them there for a +while. Ashes from the need-fire were also strewed on the fields to +protect the crops against vermin; sometimes they were taken home to +be employed as remedies in sickness, being sprinkled on the ailing +part or mixed in water and drunk by the patient. In the western +islands of Scotland and on the adjoining mainland, as soon as the +fire on the domestic hearth had been rekindled from the need-fire a +pot full of water was set on it, and the water thus heated was +afterwards sprinkled upon the people infected with the plague or +upon the cattle that were tainted by the murrain. Special virtue was +attributed to the smoke of the bonfire; in Sweden fruit-trees and +nets were fumigated with it, in order that the trees might bear +fruit and the nets catch fish. In the Highlands of Scotland the +need-fire was accounted a sovereign remedy for witchcraft. In the +island of Mull, when the fire was kindled as a cure for the murrain, +we hear of the rite being accompanied by the sacrifice of a sick +heifer, which was cut in pieces and burnt. Slavonian and Bulgarian +peasants conceive cattle-plague as a foul fiend or vampyre which can +be kept at bay by interposing a barrier of fire between it and the +herds. A similar conception may perhaps have originally everywhere +underlain the use of the need-fire as a remedy for the murrain. It +appears that in some parts of Germany the people did not wait for an +outbreak of cattleplague, but, taking time by the forelock, kindled +a need-fire annually to prevent the calamity. Similarly in Poland +the peasants are said to kindle fires in the village streets every +year on St. Rochus's day and to drive the cattle thrice through them +in order to protect the beasts against the murrain. We have seen +that in the Hebrides the cattle were in like manner driven annually +round the Beltane fires for the same purpose. In some cantons of +Switzerland children still kindle a need-fire by the friction of +wood for the sake of dispelling a mist. + + + + +LXIII. The Interpretation of the Fire-Festivals + + + +1. On the Fire-festivals in general + +THE FOREGOING survey of the popular fire-festivals of Europe +suggests some general observations. In the first place we can hardly +help being struck by the resemblance which the ceremonies bear to +each other, at whatever time of the year and in whatever part of +Europe they are celebrated. The custom of kindling great bonfires, +leaping over them, and driving cattle through or round them would +seem to have been practically universal throughout Europe, and the +same may be said of the processions or races with blazing torches +round fields, orchards, pastures, or cattle-stalls. Less widespread +are the customs of hurling lighted discs into the air and trundling +a burning wheel down hill. The ceremonial of the Yule log is +distinguished from that of the other fire-festivals by the privacy +and domesticity which characterise it; but this distinction may well +be due simply to the rough weather of midwinter, which is apt not +only to render a public assembly in the open air disagreeable, but +also at any moment to defeat the object of the assembly by +extinguishing the all-important fire under a downpour of rain or a +fall of snow. Apart from these local or seasonal differences, the +general resemblance between the fire-festivals at all times of the +year and in all places is tolerably close. And as the ceremonies +themselves resemble each other, so do the benefits which the people +expect to reap from them. Whether applied in the form of bonfires +blazing at fixed points, or of torches carried about from place to +place, or of embers and ashes taken from the smouldering heap of +fuel, the fire is believed to promote the growth of the crops and +the welfare of man and beast, either positively by stimulating them, +or negatively by averting the dangers and calamities which threaten +them from such causes as thunder and lightning, conflagration, +blight, mildew, vermin, sterility, disease, and not least of all +witchcraft. + +But we naturally ask, How did it come about that benefits so great +and manifold were supposed to be attained by means so simple? In +what way did people imagine that they could procure so many goods or +avoid so many ills by the application of fire and smoke, of embers +and ashes? Two different explanations of the fire-festivals have +been given by modern enquirers. On the one hand it has been held +that they are sun-charms or magical ceremonies intended, on the +principle of imitative magic, to ensure a needful supply of sunshine +for men, animals, and plants by kindling fires which mimic on earth +the great source of light and heat in the sky. This was the view of +Wilhelm Mannhardt. It may be called the solar theory. On the other +hand it has been maintained that the ceremonial fires have no +necessary reference to the sun but are simply purificatory in +intention, being designed to burn up and destroy all harmful +influences, whether these are conceived in a personal form as +witches, demons, and monsters, or in an impersonal form as a sort of +pervading taint or corruption of the air. This is the view of Dr. +Edward Westermarck and apparently of Professor Eugen Mogk. It may be +called the purificatory theory. Obviously the two theories postulate +two very different conceptions of the fire which plays the principal +part in the rites. On the one view, the fire, like sunshine in our +latitude, is a genial creative power which fosters the growth of +plants and the development of all that makes for health and +happiness; on the other view, the fire is a fierce destructive power +which blasts and consumes all the noxious elements, whether +spiritual or material, that menace the life of men, of animals, and +of plants. According to the one theory the fire is a stimulant, +according to the other it is a disinfectant; on the one view its +virtue is positive, on the other it is negative. + +Yet the two explanations, different as they are in the character +which they attribute to the fire, are perhaps not wholly +irreconcilable. If we assume that the fires kindled at these +festivals were primarily intended to imitate the sun's light and +heat, may we not regard the purificatory and disinfecting qualities, +which popular opinion certainly appears to have ascribed to them, as +attributes derived directly from the purificatory and disinfecting +qualities of sunshine? In this way we might conclude that, while the +imitation of sunshine in these ceremonies was primary and original, +the purification attributed to them was secondary and derivative. +Such a conclusion, occupying an intermediate position between the +two opposing theories and recognising an element of truth in both of +them, was adopted by me in earlier editions of this work; but in the +meantime Dr. Westermarck has argued powerfully in favour of the +purificatory theory alone, and I am bound to say that his arguments +carry great weight, and that on a fuller review of the facts the +balance of evidence seems to me to incline decidedly in his favour. +However, the case is not so clear as to justify us in dismissing the +solar theory without discussion, and accordingly I propose to adduce +the considerations which tell for it before proceeding to notice +those which tell against it. A theory which had the support of so +learned and sagacious an investigator as W. Mannhardt is entitled to +a respectful hearing. + + + +2. The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals + +IN AN EARLIER part of this work we saw that savages resort to charms +for making sunshine, and it would be no wonder if primitive man in +Europe did the same. Indeed, when we consider the cold and cloudy +climate of Europe during a great part of the year, we shall find it +natural that sun-charms should have played a much more prominent +part among the superstitious practices of European peoples than +among those of savages who live nearer the equator and who +consequently are apt to get in the course of nature more sunshine +than they want. This view of the festivals may be supported by +various arguments drawn partly from their dates, partly from the +nature of the rites, and partly from the influence which they are +believed to exert upon the weather and on vegetation. + +First, in regard to the dates of the festivals it can be no mere +accident that two of the most important and widely spread of the +festivals are timed to coincide more or less exactly with the summer +and winter solstices, that is, with the two turning-points in the +sun's apparent course in the sky when he reaches respectively his +highest and his lowest elevation at noon. Indeed with respect to the +midwinter celebration of Christmas we are not left to conjecture; we +know from the express testimony of the ancients that it was +instituted by the church to supersede an old heathen festival of the +birth of the sun, which was apparently conceived to be born again on +the shortest day of the year, after which his light and heat were +seen to grow till they attained their full maturity at midsummer. +Therefore it is no very far-fetched conjecture to suppose that the +Yule log, which figures so prominently in the popular celebration of +Christmas, was originally designed to help the labouring sun of +midwinter to rekindle his seemingly expiring light. + +Not only the date of some of the festivals but the manner of their +celebration suggests a conscious imitation of the sun. The custom of +rolling a burning wheel down a hill, which is often observed at +these ceremonies, might well pass for an imitation of the sun's +course in the sky, and the imitation would be especially appropriate +on Midsummer Day when the sun's annual declension begins. Indeed the +custom has been thus interpreted by some of those who have recorded +it. Not less graphic, it may be said, is the mimicry of his apparent +revolution by swinging a burning tar-barrel round a pole. Again, the +common practice of throwing fiery discs, sometimes expressly said to +be shaped like suns, into the air at the festivals may well be a +piece of imitative magic. In these, as in so many cases, the magic +force may be supposed to take effect through mimicry or sympathy: by +imitating the desired result you actually produce it: by +counterfeiting the sun's progress through the heavens you really +help the luminary to pursue his celestial journey with punctuality +and despatch. The name "fire of heaven," by which the midsummer fire +is sometimes popularly known, clearly implies a consciousness of a +connexion between the earthly and the heavenly flame. + +Again, the manner in which the fire appears to have been originally +kindled on these occasions has been alleged in support of the view +that it was intended to be a mock-sun. As some scholars have +perceived, it is highly probable that at the periodic festivals in +former times fire was universally obtained by the friction of two +pieces of wood. It is still so procured in some places both at the +Easter and the Midsummer festivals, and it is expressly said to have +been formerly so procured at the Beltane celebration both in +Scotland and Wales. But what makes it nearly certain that this was +once the invariable mode of kindling the fire at these periodic +festivals is the analogy of the needfire, which has almost always +been produced by the friction of wood, and sometimes by the +revolution of a wheel. It is a plausible conjecture that the wheel +employed for this purpose represents the sun, and if the fires at +the regularly recurring celebrations were formerly produced in the +same way, it might be regarded as a confirmation of the view that +they were originally sun-charms. In point of fact there is, as Kuhn +has indicated, some evidence to show that the midsummer fire was +originally thus produced. We have seen that many Hungarian +swine-herds make fire on Midsummer Eve by rotating a wheel round a +wooden axle wrapt in hemp, and that they drive their pigs through +the fire thus made. At Obermedlingen, in Swabia, the "fire of +heaven," as it was called, was made on St. Vitus's Day (the +fifteenth of June) by igniting a cart-wheel, which, smeared with +pitch and plaited with straw, was fastened on a pole twelve feet +high, the top of the pole being inserted in the nave of the wheel. +This fire was made on the summit of a mountain, and as the flame +ascended, the people uttered a set form of words, with eyes and arms +directed heavenward. Here the fixing of a wheel on a pole and +igniting it suggests that originally the fire was produced, as in +the case of the need-fire, by the revolution of a wheel. The day on +which the ceremony takes place (the fifteenth of June) is near +midsummer; and we have seen that in Masuren fire is, or used to be, +actually made on Midsummer Day by turning a wheel rapidly about an +oaken pole, though it is not said that the new fire so obtained is +used to light a bonfire. However, we must bear in mind that in all +such cases the use of a wheel may be merely a mechanical device to +facilitate the operation of fire-making by increasing the friction; +it need not have any symbolical significance. + +Further, the influence which these fires, whether periodic or +occasional, are supposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may +be cited in support of the view that they are sun-charms, since the +effects ascribed to them resemble those of sunshine. Thus, the +French belief that in a rainy June the lighting of the midsummer +bonfires will cause the rain to cease appears to assume that they +can disperse the dark clouds and make the sun to break out in +radiant glory, drying the wet earth and dripping trees. Similarly +the use of the need-fire by Swiss children on foggy days for the +purpose of clearing away the mist may very naturally be interpreted +as a sun-charm. In the Vosges Mountains the people believe that the +midsummer fires help to preserve the fruits of the earth and ensure +good crops. In Sweden the warmth or cold of the coming season is +inferred from the direction in which the flames of the May Day +bonfire are blown; if they blow to the south, it will be warm, if to +the north, cold. No doubt at present the direction of the flames is +regarded merely as an augury of the weather, not as a mode of +influencing it. But we may be pretty sure that this is one of the +cases in which magic has dwindled into divination. So in the Eifel +Mountains, when the smoke blows towards the corn-fields, this is an +omen that the harvest will be abundant. But the older view may have +been not merely that the smoke and flames prognosticated, but that +they actually produced an abundant harvest, the heat of the flames +acting like sunshine on the corn. Perhaps it was with this view that +people in the Isle of Man lit fires to windward of their fields in +order that the smoke might blow over them. So in South Africa, about +the month of April, the Matabeles light huge fires to the windward +of their gardens, "their idea being that the smoke, by passing over +the crops, will assist the ripening of them." Among the Zulus also +"medicine is burned on a fire placed to windward of the garden, the +fumigation which the plants in consequence receive being held to +improve the crop." Again, the idea of our European peasants that the +corn will grow well as far as the blaze of the bonfire is visible, +may be interpreted as a remnant of the belief in the quickening and +fertilising power of the bonfires. The same belief, it may be +argued, reappears in the notion that embers taken from the bonfires +and inserted in the fields will promote the growth of the crops, and +it may be thought to underlie the customs of sowing flax-seed in the +direction in which the flames blow, of mixing the ashes of the +bonfire with the seed-corn at sowing, of scattering the ashes by +themselves over the field to fertilise it, and of incorporating a +piece of the Yule log in the plough to make the seeds thrive. The +opinion that the flax or hemp will grow as high as the flames rise +or the people leap over them belongs clearly to the same class of +ideas. Again, at Konz, on the banks of the Moselle, if the blazing +wheel which was trundled down the hillside reached the river without +being extinguished, this was hailed as a proof that the vintage +would be abundant. So firmly was this belief held that the +successful performance of the ceremony entitled the villagers to +levy a tax upon the owners of the neighbouring vineyards. Here the +unextinguished wheel might be taken to represent an unclouded sun, +which in turn would portend an abundant vintage. So the waggon-load +of white wine which the villagers received from the vineyards round +about might pass for a payment for the sunshine which they had +procured for the grapes. Similarly in the Vale of Glamorgan a +blazing wheel used to be trundled down hill on Midsummer Day, and if +the fire were extinguished before the wheel reached the foot of the +hill, the people expected a bad harvest; whereas if the wheel kept +alight all the way down and continued to blaze for a long time, the +farmers looked forward to heavy crops that summer. Here, again, it +is natural to suppose that the rustic mind traced a direct connexion +between the fire of the wheel and the fire of the sun, on which the +crops are dependent. + +But in popular belief the quickening and fertilising influence of +the bonfires is not limited to the vegetable world; it extends also +to animals. This plainly appears from the Irish custom of driving +barren cattle through the midsummer fires, from the French belief +that the Yule log steeped in water helps cows to calve, from the +French and Serbian notion that there will be as many chickens, +calves, lambs, and kids as there are sparks struck out of the Yule +log, from the French custom of putting the ashes of the bonfires in +the fowls' nests to make the hens lay eggs, and from the German +practice of mixing the ashes of the bonfires with the drink of +cattle in order to make the animals thrive. Further, there are clear +indications that even human fecundity is supposed to be promoted by +the genial heat of the fires. In Morocco the people think that +childless couples can obtain offspring by leaping over the midsummer +bonfire. It is an Irish belief that a girl who jumps thrice over the +midsummer bonfire will soon marry and become the mother of many +children; in Flanders women leap over the midsummer fires to ensure +an easy delivery; in various parts of France they think that if a +girl dances round nine fires she will be sure to marry within the +year, and in Bohemia they fancy that she will do so if she merely +sees nine of the bonfires. On the other hand, in Lechrain people say +that if a young man and woman, leaping over the midsummer fire +together, escape unsmirched, the young woman will not become a +mother within twelve months; the flames have not touched and +fertilised her. In parts of Switzerland and France the lighting of +the Yule log is accompanied by a prayer that the women may bear +children, the she-goats bring forth kids, and the ewes drop lambs. +The rule observed in some places that the bonfires should be kindled +by the person who was last married seems to belong to the same class +of ideas, whether it be that such a person is supposed to receive +from, or to impart to, the fire a generative and fertilising +influence. The common practice of lovers leaping over the fires hand +in hand may very well have originated in a notion that thereby their +marriage would be blessed with offspring; and the like motive would +explain the custom which obliges couples married within the year to +dance to the light of torches. And the scenes of profligacy which +appear to have marked the midsummer celebration among the +Esthonians, as they once marked the celebration of May Day among +ourselves, may have sprung, not from the mere licence of +holiday-makers, but from a crude notion that such orgies were +justified, if not required, by some mysterious bond which linked the +life of man to the courses of the heavens at this turning-point of +the year. + +At the festivals which we are considering the custom of kindling +bonfires is commonly associated with a custom of carrying lighted +torches about the fields, the orchards, the pastures, the flocks and +the herds; and we can hardly doubt that the two customs are only two +different ways of attaining the same object, namely, the benefits +which are believed to flow from the fire, whether it be stationary +or portable. Accordingly if we accept the solar theory of the +bonfires, we seem bound to apply it also to the torches; we must +suppose that the practice of marching or running with blazing +torches about the country is simply a means of diffusing far and +wide the genial influence of the sunshine of which these flickering +flames are a feeble imitation. In favour of this view it may be said +that sometimes the torches are carried about the fields for the +express purpose of fertilising them, and with the same intention +live coals from the bonfires are sometimes placed in the fields to +prevent blight. On the eve of Twelfth Day in Normandy men, women, +and children run wildly through the fields and orchards with lighted +torches, which they wave about the branches and dash against the +trunks of the fruit-trees for the sake of burning the moss and +driving away the moles and field-mice. "They believe that the +ceremony fulfills the double object of exorcising the vermin whose +multiplication would be a real calamity, and of imparting fecundity +to the trees, the fields, and even the cattle"; and they imagine +that the more the ceremony is prolonged, the greater will be the +crop of fruit next autumn. In Bohemia they say that the corn will +grow as high as they fling the blazing besoms into the air. Nor are +such notions confined to Europe. In Corea, a few days before the New +Year festival, the eunuchs of the palace swing burning torches, +chanting invocations the while, and this is supposed to ensure +bountiful crops for the next season. The custom of trundling a +burning wheel over the fields, which used to be observed in Poitou +for the express purpose of fertilising them, may be thought to +embody the same idea in a still more graphic form; since in this way +the mock-sun itself, not merely its light and heat represented by +torches, is made actually to pass over the ground which is to +receive its quickening and kindly influence. Once more, the custom +of carrying lighted brands round cattle is plainly equivalent to +driving the animals through the bonfire; and if the bonfire is a +suncharm, the torches must be so also. + + + +3. The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals + +THUS far we have considered what may be said for the theory that at +the European fire-festivals the fire is kindled as a charm to ensure +an abundant supply of sunshine for man and beast, for corn and +fruits. It remains to consider what may be said against this theory +and in favour of the view that in these rites fire is employed not +as a creative but as a cleansing agent, which purifies men, animals, +and plants by burning up and consuming the noxious elements, whether +material or spiritual, which menace all living things with disease +and death. + +First, then, it is to be observed that the people who practise the +fire-customs appear never to allege the solar theory in explanation +of them, while on the contrary they do frequently and emphatically +put forward the purificatory theory. This is a strong argument in +favour of the purificatory and against the solar theory; for the +popular explanation of a popular custom is never to be rejected +except for grave cause. And in the present case there seems to be no +adequate reason for rejecting it. The conception of fire as a +destructive agent, which can be turned to account for the +consumption of evil things, is so simple and obvious that it could +hardly escape the minds even of the rude peasantry with whom these +festivals originated. On the other hand the conception of fire as an +emanation of the sun, or at all events as linked to it by a bond of +physical sympathy, is far less simple and obvious; and though the +use of fire as a charm to produce sunshine appears to be undeniable, +nevertheless in attempting to explain popular customs we should +never have recourse to a more recondite idea when a simpler one lies +to hand and is supported by the explicit testimony of the people +themselves. Now in the case of the fire-festivals the destructive +aspect of fire is one upon which the people dwell again and again; +and it is highly significant that the great evil against which the +fire is directed appears to be witchcraft. Again and again we are +told that the fires are intended to burn or repel the witches; and +the intention is sometimes graphically expressed by burning an +effigy of a witch in the fire. Hence, when we remember the great +hold which the dread of witchcraft has had on the popular European +mind in all ages, we may suspect that the primary intention of all +these fire-festivals was simply to destroy or at all events get rid +of the witches, who were regarded as the causes of nearly all the +misfortunes and calamities that befall men, their cattle, and their +crops. + +This suspicion is confirmed when we examine the evils for which the +bonfires and torches were supposed to provide a remedy. Foremost, +perhaps, among these evils we may reckon the diseases of cattle; and +of all the ills that witches are believed to work there is probably +none which is so constantly insisted on as the harm they do to the +herds, particularly by stealing the milk from the cows. Now it is +significant that the need-fire, which may perhaps be regarded as the +parent of the periodic fire-festivals, is kindled above all as a +remedy for a murrain or other disease of cattle; and the +circumstance suggests, what on general grounds seems probable, that +the custom of kindling the need-fire goes back to a time when the +ancestors of the European peoples subsisted chiefly on the products +of their herds, and when agriculture as yet played a subordinate +part in their lives. Witches and wolves are the two great foes still +dreaded by the herdsman in many parts of Europe; and we need not +wonder that he should resort to fire as a powerful means of banning +them both. Among Slavonic peoples it appears that the foes whom the +need-fire is designed to combat are not so much living witches as +vampyres and other evil spirits, and the ceremony aims rather at +repelling these baleful beings than at actually consuming them in +the flames. But for our present purpose these distinctions are +immaterial. The important thing to observe is that among the Slavs +the need-fire, which is probably the original of all the ceremonial +fires now under consideration, is not a sun-charm, but clearly and +unmistakably nothing but a means of protecting man and beast against +the attacks of maleficent creatures, whom the peasant thinks to burn +or scare by the heat of the fire, just as he might burn or scare +wild animals. + +Again, the bonfires are often supposed to protect the fields against +hail and the homestead against thunder and lightning. But both hail +and thunderstorms are frequently thought to be caused by witches; +hence the fire which bans the witches necessarily serves at the same +time as a talisman against hail, thunder, and lightning. Further, +brands taken from the bonfires are commonly kept in the houses to +guard them against conflagration; and though this may perhaps be +done on the principle of homoeopathic magic, one fire being thought +to act as a preventive of another, it is also possible that the +intention may be to keep witch-incendiaries at bay. Again, people +leap over the bonfires as a preventive of colic, and look at the +flames steadily in order to preserve their eyes in good health; and +both colic and sore eyes are in Germany, and probably elsewhere, set +down to the machinations of witches. Once more, to leap over the +midsummer fires or to circumambulate them is thought to prevent a +person from feeling pains in his back at reaping; and in Germany +such pains are called "witch-shots" and ascribed to witchcraft. + +But if the bonfires and torches of the fire-festivals are to be +regarded primarily as weapons directed against witches and wizards, +it becomes probable that the same explanation applies not only to +the flaming discs which are hurled into the air, but also to the +burning wheels which are rolled down hill on these occasions; discs +and wheels, we may suppose, are alike intended to burn the witches +who hover invisible in the air or haunt unseen the fields, the +orchards, and the vineyards on the hillside. Certainly witches are +constantly thought to ride through the air on broomsticks or other +equally convenient vehicles; and if they do so, how can you get at +them so effectually as by hurling lighted missiles, whether discs, +torches, or besoms, after them as they flit past overhead in the +gloom? The South Slavonian peasant believes that witches ride in the +dark hail-clouds; so he shoots at the clouds to bring down the hags, +while he curses them, saying, "Curse, curse Herodias, thy mother is +a heathen, damned of God and fettered through the Redeemer's blood." +Also he brings out a pot of glowing charcoal on which he has thrown +holy oil, laurel leaves, and wormwood to make a smoke. The fumes are +supposed to ascend to the clouds and stupefy the witches, so that +they tumble down to earth. And in order that they may not fall soft, +but may hurt themselves very much, the yokel hastily brings out a +chair and tilts it bottom up so that the witch in falling may break +her legs on the legs of the chair. Worse than that, he cruelly lays +scythes, bill-hooks, and other formidable weapons edge upwards so as +to cut and mangle the poor wretches when they drop plump upon them +from the clouds. + +On this view the fertility supposed to follow the application of +fire in the form of bonfires, torches, discs, rolling wheels, and so +forth, is not conceived as resulting directly from an increase of +solar heat which the fire has magically generated; it is merely an +indirect result obtained by freeing the reproductive powers of +plants and animals from the fatal obstruction of witchcraft. And +what is true of the reproduction of plants and animals may hold good +also of the fertility of the human sexes. The bonfires are supposed +to promote marriage and to procure offspring for childless couples. +This happy effect need not flow directly from any quickening or +fertilising energy in the fire; it may follow indirectly from the +power of the fire to remove those obstacles which the spells of +witches and wizards notoriously present to the union of man and +wife. + +On the whole, then, the theory of the purificatory virtue of the +ceremonial fires appears more probable and more in accordance with +the evidence than the opposing theory of their connexion with the +sun. + + + + +LXIV. The Burning of Human Beings in the Fires + + + +1. The Burning of Effigies in the Fires + +WE have still to ask, What is the meaning of burning effigies in the +fire at these festivals? After the preceding investigation the +answer to the question seems obvious. As the fires are often alleged +to be kindled for the purpose of burning the witches, and as the +effigy burnt in them is sometimes called "the Witch," we might +naturally be disposed to conclude that all the effigies consumed in +the flames on these occasions represent witches or warlocks, and +that the custom of burning them is merely a substitute for burning +the wicked men and women themselves, since on the principle of +homoeopathic or imitative magic you practically destroy the witch +herself in destroying her effigy. On the whole this explanation of +the burning of straw figures in human shape at the festivals is +perhaps the most probable. + +Yet it may be that this explanation does not apply to all the cases, +and that certain of them may admit and even require another +interpretation. For the effigies so burned, as I have already +remarked, can hardly be separated from the effigies of Death which +are burned or otherwise destroyed in spring; and grounds have been +already given for regarding the so-called effigies of Death as +really representatives of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. +Are the other effigies, which are burned in the spring and midsummer +bonfires, susceptible of the same explanation? It would seem so. For +just as the fragments of the so-called Death are stuck in the fields +to make the crops grow, so the charred embers of the figure burned +in the spring bonfires are sometimes laid on the fields in the +belief that they will keep vermin from the crop. Again, the rule +that the last married bride must leap over the fire in which the +straw-man is burned on Shrove Tuesday, is probably intended to make +her fruitful. But, as we have seen, the power of blessing women with +offspring is a special attribute of tree-spirits; it is therefore a +fair presumption that the burning effigy over which the bride must +leap is a representative of the fertilising tree-spirit or spirit of +vegetation. This character of the effigy, as representative of the +spirit of vegetation, is almost unmistakable when the figure is +composed of an unthreshed sheaf of corn or is covered from head to +foot with flowers. Again, it is to be noted that, instead of a +puppet, trees, either living or felled, are sometimes burned both in +the spring and midsummer bonfires. Now, considering the frequency +with which the tree-spirit is represented in human shape, it is +hardly rash to suppose that when sometimes a tree and sometimes an +effigy is burned in these fires, the effigy and the tree are +regarded as equivalent to each other, each being a representative of +the tree-spirit. This, again, is confirmed by observing, first, that +sometimes the effigy which is to be burned is carried about +simultaneously with a May-tree, the former being carried by the +boys, the latter by the girls; and, second, that the effigy is +sometimes tied to a living tree and burned with it. In these cases, +we can scarcely doubt, the tree-spirit is represented, as we have +found it represented before, in duplicate, both by the tree and by +the effigy. That the true character of the effigy as a +representative of the beneficent spirit of vegetation should +sometimes be forgotten, is natural. The custom of burning a +beneficent god is too foreign to later modes of thought to escape +misinterpretation. Naturally enough the people who continued to burn +his image came in time to identify it as the effigy of persons, +whom, on various grounds, they regarded with aversion, such as Judas +Iscariot, Luther, and a witch. + +The general reasons for killing a god or his representative have +been examined in a preceding chapter. But when the god happens to be +a deity of vegetation, there are special reasons why he should die +by fire. For light and heat are necessary to vegetable growth; and, +on the principle of sympathetic magic, by subjecting the personal +representative of vegetation to their influence, you secure a supply +of these necessaries for trees and crops. In other words, by burning +the spirit of vegetation in a fire which represents the sun, you +make sure that, for a time at least, vegetation shall have plenty of +sun. It may be objected that, if the intention is simply to secure +enough sunshine for vegetation, this end would be better attained, +on the principles of sympathetic magic, by merely passing the +representative of vegetation through the fire instead of burning +him. In point of fact this is sometimes done. In Russia, as we have +seen, the straw figure of Kupalo is not burned in the midsummer +fire, but merely carried backwards and forwards across it. But, for +the reasons already given, it is necessary that the god should die; +so next day Kupalo is stripped of her ornaments and thrown into a +stream. In this Russian custom the passage of the image through the +fire, if it is not simply a purification, may possibly be a +sun-charm; the killing of the god is a separate act, and the mode of +killing him--by drowning--is probably a rain-charm. But usually +people have not thought it necessary to draw this fine distinction; +for the various reasons already assigned, it is advantageous, they +think, to expose the god of vegetation to a considerable degree of +heat, and it is also advantageous to kill him, and they combine +these advantages in a rough-and-ready way by burning him. + + + +2. The Burning of Men and Animals in the Fires + +IN THE POPULAR customs connected with the fire-festivals of Europe +there are certain features which appear to point to a former +practice of human sacrifice. We have seen reasons for believing that +in Europe living persons have often acted as representatives of the +tree-spirit and corn-spirit and have suffered death as such. There +is no reason, therefore, why they should not have been burned, if +any special advantages were likely to be attained by putting them to +death in that way. The consideration of human suffering is not one +which enters into the calculations of primitive man. Now, in the +fire-festivals which we are discussing, the pretence of burning +people is sometimes carried so far that it seems reasonable to +regard it as a mitigated survival of an older custom of actually +burning them. Thus in Aachen, as we saw, the man clad in peas-straw +acts so cleverly that the children really believe he is being +burned. At Jumièges in Normandy the man clad all in green, who bore +the title of the Green Wolf, was pursued by his comrades, and when +they caught him they feigned to fling him upon the midsummer +bonfire. Similarly at the Beltane fires in Scotland the pretended +victim was seized, and a show made of throwing him into the flames, +and for some time afterwards people affected to speak of him as +dead. Again, in the Hallowe'en bonfires of Northeastern Scotland we +may perhaps detect a similar pretence in the custom observed by a +lad of lying down as close to the fire as possible and allowing the +other lads to leap over him. The titular king at Aix, who reigned +for a year and danced the first dance round the midsummer bonfire, +may perhaps in days of old have discharged the less agreeable duty +of serving as fuel for that fire which in later times he only +kindled. In the following customs Mannhardt is probably right in +recognising traces of an old custom of burning a leaf-clad +representative of the spirit of vegetation. At Wolfeck, in Austria, +on Midsummer Day, a boy completely clad in green fir branches goes +from house to house, accompanied by a noisy crew, collecting wood +for the bonfire. As he gets the wood he sings: + + + "Forest trees I want, + No sour milk for me, + But beer and wine, + So can the wood-man be jolly and gay." + + +In some parts of Bavaria, also, the boys who go from house to house +collecting fuel for the midsummer bonfire envelop one of their +number from head to foot in green branches of firs, and lead him by +a rope through the whole village. At Moosheim, in Wurtemberg, the +festival of St. John's Fire usually lasted for fourteen days, ending +on the second Sunday after Midsummer Day. On this last day the +bonfire was left in charge of the children, while the older people +retired to a wood. Here they encased a young fellow in leaves and +twigs, who, thus disguised, went to the fire, scattered it, and trod +it out. All the people present fled at the sight of him. + +But it seems possible to go farther than this. Of human sacrifices +offered on these occasions the most unequivocal traces, as we have +seen, are those which, about a hundred years ago, still lingered at +the Beltane fires in the Highlands of Scotland, that is, among a +Celtic people who, situated in a remote corner of Europe and almost +completely isolated from foreign influence, had till then conserved +their old heathenism better perhaps than any other people in the +West of Europe. It is significant, therefore, that human sacrifices +by fire are known, on unquestionable evidence, to have been +systematically practised by the Celts. The earliest description of +these sacrifices has been bequeathed to us by Julius Caesar. As +conqueror of the hitherto independent Celts of Gaul, Caesar had +ample opportunity of observing the national Celtic religion and +manners, while these were still fresh and crisp from the native mint +and had not yet been fused in the melting-pot of Roman civilisation. +With his own notes Caesar appears to have incorporated the +observations of a Greek explorer, by name Posidonius, who travelled +in Gaul about fifty years before Caesar carried the Roman arms to +the English Channel. The Greek geographer Strabo and the historian +Diodorus seem also to have derived their descriptions of the Celtic +sacrifices from the work of Posidonius, but independently of each +other, and of Caesar, for each of the three derivative accounts +contain some details which are not to be found in either of the +others. By combining them, therefore, we can restore the original +account of Posidonius with some probability, and thus obtain a +picture of the sacrifices offered by the Celts of Gaul at the close +of the second century before our era. The following seem to have +been the main outlines of the custom. Condemned criminals were +reserved by the Celts in order to be sacrificed to the gods at a +great festival which took place once in every five years. The more +there were of such victims, the greater was believed to be the +fertility of the land. If there were not enough criminals to furnish +victims, captives taken in war were immolated to supply the +deficiency. When the time came the victims were sacrificed by the +Druids or priests. Some they shot down with arrows, some they +impaled, and some they burned alive in the following manner. +Colossal images of wicker-work or of wood and grass were +constructed; these were filled with live men, cattle, and animals of +other kinds; fire was then applied to the images, and they were +burned with their living contents. + +Such were the great festivals held once every five years. But +besides these quinquennial festivals, celebrated on so grand a +scale, and with, apparently, so large an expenditure of human life, +it seems reasonable to suppose that festivals of the same sort, only +on a lesser scale, were held annually, and that from these annual +festivals are lineally descended some at least of the fire-festivals +which, with their traces of human sacrifices, are still celebrated +year by year in many parts of Europe. The gigantic images +constructed of osiers or covered with grass in which the Druids +enclosed their victims remind us of the leafy framework in which the +human representative of the tree-spirit is still so often encased. +Hence, seeing that the fertility of the land was apparently supposed +to depend upon the due performance of these sacrifices, Mannhardt +interpreted the Celtic victims, cased in osiers and grass, as +representatives of the tree-spirit or spirit of vegetation. + +These wicker giants of the Druids seem to have had till lately, if +not down to the present time, their representatives at the spring +and midsummer festivals of modern Europe. At Douay, down at least to +the early part of the nineteenth century, a procession took place +annually on the Sunday nearest to the seventh of July. The great +feature of the procession was a colossal figure, some twenty or +thirty feet high, made of osiers, and called "the giant," which was +moved through the streets by means of rollers and ropes worked by +men who were enclosed within the effigy. The figure was armed as a +knight with lance and sword, helmet and shield. Behind him marched +his wife and his three children, all constructed of osiers on the +same principle, but on a smaller scale. At Dunkirk the procession of +the giants took place on Midsummer Day, the twenty-fourth of June. +The festival, which was known as the Follies of Dunkirk, attracted +multitudes of spectators. The giant was a huge figure of +wicker-work, occasionally as much as forty-five feet high, dressed +in a long blue robe with gold stripes, which reached to his feet, +concealing the dozen or more men who made it dance and bob its head +to the spectators. This colossal effigy went by the name of Papa +Reuss, and carried in its pocket a bouncing infant of Brobdingnagian +proportions. The rear was brought up by the daughter of the giant, +constructed, like her sire, of wicker-work, and little, if at all, +inferior to him in size. Most towns and even villages of Brabant and +Flanders have, or used to have, similar wicker giants which were +annually led about to the delight of the populace, who loved these +grotesque figures, spoke of them with patriotic enthusiasm, and +never wearied of gazing at them. At Antwerp the giant was so big +that no gate in the city was large enough to let him go through; +hence he could not visit his brother giants in neighbouring towns, +as the other Belgian giants used to do on solemn occasions. + +In England artificial giants seem to have been a standing feature of +the midsummer festival. A writer of the sixteenth century speaks of +"Midsommer pageants in London, where to make the people wonder, are +set forth great and uglie gyants marching as if they were alive, and +armed at all points, but within they are stuffed full of browne +paper and tow, which the shrewd boyes, underpeering, do guilefully +discover, and turne to a greate derision." At Chester the annual +pageant on Midsummer Eve included the effigies of four giants, with +animals, hobby-horses, and other figures. At Coventry it appears +that the giant's wife figured beside the giant. At Burford, in +Oxfordshire, Midsummer Eve used to be celebrated with great jollity +by the carrying of a giant and a dragon up and down the town. The +last survivor of these perambulating English giants lingered at +Salisbury, where an antiquary found him mouldering to decay in the +neglected hall of the Tailors' Company about the year 1844. His +bodily framework was a lath and hoop, like the one which used to be +worn by Jack-in-the-Green on May Day. + +In these cases the giants merely figured in the processions. But +sometimes they were burned in the summer bonfires. Thus the people +of the Rue aux Ours in Paris used annually to make a great +wicker-work figure, dressed as a soldier, which they promenaded up +and down the streets for several days, and solemnly burned on the +third of July, the crowd of spectators singing _Salve Regina._ A +personage who bore the title of king presided over the ceremony with +a lighted torch in his hand. The burning fragments of the image were +scattered among the people, who eagerly scrambled for them. The +custom was abolished in 1743. In Brie, Isle de France, a wicker-work +giant, eighteen feet high, was annually burned on Midsummer Eve. + +Again, the Druidical custom of burning live animals, enclosed in +wicker-work, has its counterpart at the spring and midsummer +festivals. At Luchon in the Pyrenees on Midsummer Eve "a hollow +column, composed of strong wicker-work, is raised to the height of +about sixty feet in the centre of the principal suburb, and +interlaced with green foliage up to the very top; while the most +beautiful flowers and shrubs procurable are artistically arranged in +groups below, so as to form a sort of background to the scene. The +column is then filled with combustible materials, ready for +ignition. At an appointed hour--about 8 P.M.--a grand procession, +composed of the clergy, followed by young men and maidens in holiday +attire, pour forth from the town chanting hymns, and take up their +position around the column. Meanwhile, bonfires are lit, with +beautiful effect, in the surrounding hills. As many living serpents +as could be collected are now thrown into the column, which is set +on fire at the base by means of torches, armed with which about +fifty boys and men dance around with frantic gestures. The serpents, +to avoid the flames, wriggle their way to the top, whence they are +seen lashing out laterally until finally obliged to drop, their +struggles for life giving rise to enthusiastic delight among the +surrounding spectators. This is a favourite annual ceremony for the +inhabitants of Luchon and its neighbourhood, and local tradition +assigns it to a heathen origin." In the midsummer fires formerly +kindled on the Place de Grève at Paris it was the custom to burn a +basket, barrel, or sack full of live cats, which was hung from a +tall mast in the midst of the bonfire; sometimes a fox was burned. +The people collected the embers and ashes of the fire and took them +home, believing that they brought good luck. The French kings often +witnessed these spectacles and even lit the bonfire with their own +hands. In 1648 Louis the Fourteenth, crowned with a wreath of roses +and carrying a bunch of roses in his hand, kindled the fire, danced +at it and partook of the banquet afterwards in the town hall. But +this was the last occasion when a monarch presided at the midsummer +bonfire in Paris. At Metz midsummer fires were lighted with great +pomp on the esplanade, and a dozen cats, enclosed in wicker cages, +were burned alive in them, to the amusement of the people. Similarly +at Gap, in the department of the High Alps, cats used to be roasted +over the midsummer bonfire. In Russia a white cock was sometimes +burned in the midsummer bonfire; in Meissen or Thuringia a horse's +head used to be thrown into it. Sometimes animals are burned in the +spring bonfires. In the Vosges cats were burned on Shrove Tuesday; +in Alsace they were thrown into the Easter bonfire. In the +department of the Ardennes cats were flung into the bonfires kindled +on the first Sunday in Lent; sometimes, by a refinement of cruelty, +they were hung over the fire from the end of a pole and roasted +alive. "The cat, which represented the devil, could never suffer +enough." While the creatures were perishing in the flames, the +shepherds guarded their flocks and forced them to leap over the +fire, esteeming this an infallible means of preserving them from +disease and witchcraft. We have seen that squirrels were sometimes +burned in the Easter fire. + +Thus it appears that the sacrificial rites of the Celts of ancient +Gaul can be traced in the popular festivals of modern Europe. +Naturally it is in France, or rather in the wider area comprised +within the limits of ancient Gaul, that these rites have left the +clearest traces in the customs of burning giants of wicker-work and +animals enclosed in wicker-work or baskets. These customs, it will +have been remarked, are generally observed at or about midsummer. +From this we may infer that the original rites of which these are +the degenerate successors were solemnised at midsummer. This +inference harmonises with the conclusion suggested by a general +survey of European folk-custom, that the midsummer festival must on +the whole have been the most widely diffused and the most solemn of +all the yearly festivals celebrated by the primitive Aryans in +Europe. At the same time we must bear in mind that among the British +Celts the chief fire-festivals of the year appear certainly to have +been those of Beltane (May Day) and Hallowe'en (the last day of +October); and this suggests a doubt whether the Celts of Gaul also +may not have celebrated their principal rites of fire, including +their burnt sacrifices of men and animals, at the beginning of May +or the beginning of November rather than at Midsummer. + +We have still to ask, What is the meaning of such sacrifices? Why +were men and animals burnt to death at these festivals? If we are +right in interpreting the modern European fire-festivals as attempts +to break the power of witchcraft by burning or banning the witches +and warlocks, it seems to follow that we must explain the human +sacrifices of the Celts in the same manner; that is, we must suppose +that the men whom the Druids burnt in wicker-work images were +condemned to death on the ground that they were witches or wizards, +and that the mode of execution by fire was chosen because burning +alive is deemed the surest mode of getting rid of these noxious and +dangerous beings. The same explanation would apply to the cattle and +wild animals of many kinds which the Celts burned along with the +men. They, too, we may conjecture, were supposed to be either under +the spell of witchcraft or actually to be the witches and wizards, +who had transformed themselves into animals for the purpose of +prosecuting their infernal plots against the welfare of their +fellow-creatures. This conjecture is confirmed by the observation +that the victims most commonly burned in modern bonfires have been +cats, and that cats are precisely the animals into which, with the +possible exception of hares, witches were most usually supposed to +transform themselves. Again, we have seen that serpents and foxes +used sometimes to be burnt in the midsummer fires; and Welsh and +German witches are reported to have assumed the form both of foxes +and serpents. In short, when we remember the great variety of +animals whose forms witches can assume at pleasure, it seems easy on +this hypothesis to account for the variety of living creatures that +have been burnt at festivals both in ancient Gaul and modern Europe; +all these victims, we may surmise, were doomed to the flames, not +because they were animals, but because they were believed to be +witches who had taken the shape of animals for their nefarious +purposes. One advantage of explaining the ancient Celtic sacrifices +in this way is that it introduces, as it were, a harmony and +consistency into the treatment which Europe has meted out to witches +from the earliest times down to about two centuries ago, when the +growing influence of rationalism discredited the belief in +witchcraft and put a stop to the custom of burning witches. Be that +as it may, we can now perhaps understand why the Druids believed +that the more persons they sentenced to death, the greater would be +the fertility of the land. To a modern reader the connexion at first +sight may not be obvious between the activity of the hangman and the +productivity of the earth. But a little reflection may satisfy him +that when the criminals who perish at the stake or on the gallows +are witches, whose delight it is to blight the crops of the farmer +or to lay them low under storms of hail, the execution of these +wretches is really calculated to ensure an abundant harvest by +removing one of the principal causes which paralyse the efforts and +blast the hopes of the husbandman. + +The Druidical sacrifices which we are considering were explained in +a different way by W. Mannhardt. He supposed that the men whom the +Druids burned in wicker-work images represented the spirits of +vegetation, and accordingly that the custom of burning them was a +magical ceremony intended to secure the necessary sunshine for the +crops. Similarly, he seems to have inclined to the view that the +animals which used to be burnt in the bonfires represented the +cornspirit, which, as we saw in an earlier part of this work, is +often supposed to assume the shape of an animal. This theory is no +doubt tenable, and the great authority of W. Mannhardt entitles it +to careful consideration. I adopted it in former editions of this +book; but on reconsideration 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 of witches. This latter view is strongly +supported by the testimony of the people who celebrate the +fire-festivals, since a popular name for the custom of kindling the +fires is "burning the witches," effigies of witches are sometimes +consumed in the flames, and the fires, their embers, or their ashes +are supposed to furnish protection against witchcraft. On the other +hand there is little to show that the effigies or the animals burnt +in the fires are regarded by the people as representatives of the +vegetation-spirit, and that the bonfires are sun-charms. With regard +to serpents in particular, which used to be burnt in the midsummer +fire at Luchon, I am not aware of any certain evidence that in +Europe snakes have been regarded as embodiments of the tree-spirit +or corn-spirit, though in other parts of the world the conception +appears to be not unknown. Whereas the popular faith in the +transformation of witches into animals is so general and deeply +rooted, and the fear of these uncanny beings is so strong, that it +seems safer to suppose that the cats and other animals which were +burnt in the fire suffered death as embodiments of witches than that +they perished as representatives of vegetation-spirits. + + + + +LXV. Balder and the Mistletoe + +THE READER may remember that the preceding account of the popular +fire-festivals of Europe was suggested by the myth of the Norse god +Balder, who is said to have been slain by a branch of 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 light on the myth. In +this enquiry it may be convenient to begin with the mistletoe, the +instrument of Balder's death. + +From time immemorial the mistletoe has been the object of +superstitious veneration in Europe. It was worshipped by the Druids, +as we learn from a famous passage of Pliny. After enumerating the +different kinds of mistletoe, he proceeds: "In treating of this +subject, the admiration in which the mistletoe is held throughout +Gaul ought not to pass unnoticed. The Druids, for so they call their +wizards, esteem nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the tree +on which it grows, provided only that the tree is an oak. But apart +from this they choose oak-woods for their sacred groves and perform +no sacred rites without oak-leaves; so that the very name of Druids +may be regarded as a Greek appellation derived from their worship of +the oak. For they believe that whatever grows on these trees is sent +from heaven, and is a sign that the tree has been chosen by the god +himself. The mistletoe is very rarely to be met with; but when it is +found, they gather it with solemn ceremony. This they do above all +on the sixth day of the moon, from whence they date the beginnings +of their months, of their years, and of their thirty years' cycle, +because by the sixth day the moon has plenty of vigour and has not +run half its course. After due preparations have been made for a +sacrifice and a feast under the tree, they hail it as the universal +healer and bring to the spot two white bulls, whose horns have never +been bound before. A priest clad in a white robe climbs the tree and +with a golden sickle cuts the mistletoe, which is caught in a white +cloth. Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God may make +his own gift to prosper with those upon whom he has bestowed it. +They believe that a potion prepared from mistletoe will make barren +animals to bring forth, and that the plant is a remedy against all +poison." + +In another passage Pliny tells us that in medicine the mistletoe +which grows on an oak was esteemed the most efficacious, and that +its efficacy was by some superstitious people supposed to be +increased if the plant was gathered on the first day of the moon +without the use of iron, and if when gathered it was not allowed to +touch the earth; oak-mistletoe thus obtained was deemed a cure for +epilepsy; carried about by women it assisted them to conceive; and +it healed ulcers most effectually, if only the sufferer chewed a +piece of the plant and laid another piece on the sore. Yet, again, +he says that mistletoe was supposed, like vinegar and an egg, to be +an excellent means of extinguishing a fire. + +If in these latter passages Pliny refers, as he apparently does, to +the beliefs current among his contemporaries in Italy, it will +follow that the Druids and the Italians were to some extent agreed +as to the valuable properties possessed by mistletoe which grows on +an oak; both of them deemed it an effectual remedy for a number of +ailments, and both of them ascribed to it a quickening virtue, the +Druids believing that a potion prepared from mistletoe would +fertilise barren cattle, and the Italians holding that a piece of +mistletoe carried about by a woman would help her to conceive a +child. Further, both peoples thought that if the plant were to exert +its medicinal properties it must be gathered in a certain way and at +a certain time. It might not be cut with iron, hence the Druids cut +it with gold; and it might not touch the earth, hence the Druids +caught it in a white cloth. In choosing the time for gathering the +plant, both peoples were determined by observation of the moon; only +they differed as to the particular day of the moon, the Italians +preferring the first, and the Druids the sixth. + +With these beliefs of the ancient Gauls and Italians as to the +wonderful medicinal properties of mistletoe we may compare the +similar beliefs of the modern Aino of Japan. We read that they, +"like many nations of the Northern origin, hold the mistletoe in +peculiar veneration. They look upon it as a medicine, good in almost +every disease, and it is sometimes taken in food and at others +separately as a decoction. The leaves are used in preference to the +berries, the latter being of too sticky a nature for general +purposes. . . . But many, too, suppose this plant to have the power +of making the gardens bear plentifully. When used for this purpose, +the leaves are cut up into fine pieces, and, after having been +prayed over, are sown with the millet and other seeds, a little also +being eaten with the food. Barren women have also been known to eat +the mistletoe, in order to be made to bear children. That mistletoe +which grows upon the willow is supposed to have the greatest +efficacy. This is because the willow is looked upon by them as being +an especially sacred tree." + +Thus the Aino agree with the Druids in regarding mistletoe as a cure +for almost every disease, and they agree with the ancient Italians +that applied to women it helps them to bear children. Again, the +Druidical notion that the mistletoe was an "all-healer" or panacea +may be compared with a notion entertained by the Walos of +Senegambia. These people "have much veneration for a sort of +mistletoe, which they call _tob;_ they carry leaves of it on their +persons when they go to war as a preservative against wounds, just +as if the leaves were real talismans (_gris-gris_)." The French +writer who records this practice adds: "Is it not very curious that +the mistletoe should be in this part of Africa what it was in the +superstitions of the Gauls? This prejudice, common to the two +countries, may have the same origin; blacks and whites will +doubtless have seen, each of them for themselves, something +supernatural in a plant which grows and flourishes without having +roots in the earth. May they not have believed, in fact, that it was +a plant fallen from the sky, a gift of the divinity?" + +This suggestion as to the origin of the superstition is strongly +confirmed by the Druidical belief, reported by Pliny, that whatever +grew on an oak was sent from heaven and was a sign that the tree had +been chosen by the god himself. Such a belief explains why the +Druids cut the mistletoe, not with a common knife, but with a golden +sickle, and why, when cut, it was not suffered to touch the earth; +probably they thought that the celestial plant would have been +profaned and its marvellous virtue lost by contact with the ground. +With the ritual observed by the Druids in cutting the mistletoe we +may compare the ritual which in Cambodia is prescribed in a similar +case. They say that when you see an orchid growing as a parasite on +a tamarind tree, you should dress in white, take a new earthenware +pot, then climb the tree at noon, break off the plant, put it in the +pot and let the pot fall to the ground. After that you make in the +pot a decoction which confers the gift of invulnerability. Thus just +as in Africa the leaves of one parasitic plant are supposed to +render the wearer invulnerable, so in Cambodia a decoction made from +another parasitic plant is considered to render the same service to +such as make use of it, whether by drinking or washing. We may +conjecture that in both places the notion of invulnerability is +suggested by the position of the plant, which, occupying a place of +comparative security above the ground, appears to promise to its +fortunate possessor a similar security from some of the ills that +beset the life of man on earth. We have already met with examples of +the store which the primitive mind sets on such vantage grounds. + +Whatever may be the origin of these beliefs and practices concerning +the mistletoe, certain it is that some of them have their analogies +in the folk-lore of modern European peasants. For example, it is +laid down as a rule in various parts of Europe that mistletoe may +not be cut in the ordinary way but must be shot or knocked down with +stones from the tree on which it is growing. Thus, in the Swiss +canton of Aargau "all parasitic plants are esteemed in a certain +sense holy by the country folk, but most particularly so the +mistletoe growing on an oak. They ascribe great powers to it, but +shrink from cutting it off in the usual manner. Instead of that they +procure it in the following manner. When the sun is in Sagittarius +and the moon is on the wane, on the first, third, or fourth day +before the new moon, one ought to shoot down with an arrow the +mistletoe of an oak and to catch it with the left hand as it falls. +Such mistletoe is a remedy for every ailment of children." Here +among the Swiss peasants, as among the Druids of old, special virtue +is ascribed to mistletoe which grows on an oak: it may not be cut in +the usual way: it must be caught as it falls to the ground; and it +is esteemed a panacea for all diseases, at least of children. In +Sweden, also, it is a popular superstition that if mistletoe is to +possess its peculiar virtue, it must either be shot down out of the +oak or knocked down with stones. Similarly, "so late as the early +part of the nineteenth century, people in Wales believed that for +the mistletoe to have any power, it must be shot or struck down with +stones off the tree where it grew." + +Again, in respect of the healing virtues of mistletoe the opinion of +modern peasants, and even of the learned, has to some extent agreed +with that of the ancients. The Druids appear to have called the +plant, or perhaps the oak on which it grew, the "all-healer"; and +"all-healer" is said to be still a name of the mistletoe in the +modern Celtic speech of Brittany, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. On +St. John's morning (Midsummer morning) peasants of Piedmont and +Lombardy go out to search the oak-leaves for the "oil of St. John," +which is supposed to heal all wounds made with cutting instruments. +Originally, perhaps, the "oil of St. John" was simply the mistletoe, +or a decoction made from it. For in Holstein the mistletoe, +especially oak-mistletoe, is still regarded as a panacea for green +wounds and as a sure charm to secure success in hunting; and at +Lacaune, in the south of France, the old Druidical belief in the +mistletoe as an antidote to all poisons still survives among the +peasantry; they apply the plant to the stomach of the sufferer or +give him a decoction of it to drink. Again, the ancient belief that +mistletoe is a cure for epilepsy has survived in modern times not +only among the ignorant but among the learned. Thus in Sweden +persons afflicted with the falling sickness think they can ward off +attacks of the malady by carrying about with them a knife which has +a handle of oak mistletoe; and in Germany for a similar purpose +pieces of mistletoe used to be hung round the necks of children. In +the French province of Bourbonnais a popular remedy for epilepsy is +a decoction of mistletoe which has been gathered on an oak on St. +John's Day and boiled with rye-flour. So at Bottesford in +Lincolnshire a decoction of mistletoe is supposed to be a palliative +for this terrible disease. Indeed mistletoe was recommended as a +remedy for the falling sickness by high medical authorities in +England and Holland down to the eighteenth century. + +However, the opinion of the medical profession as to the curative +virtues of mistletoe has undergone a radical alteration. Whereas the +Druids thought that mistletoe cured everything, modern doctors +appear to think that it cures nothing. If they are right, we must +conclude that the ancient and widespread faith in the medicinal +virtue of mistletoe is a pure superstition based on nothing better +than the fanciful inferences which ignorance has drawn from the +parasitic nature of the plant, its position high up on the branch of +a tree seeming to protect it from the dangers to which plants and +animals are subject on the surface of the ground. From this point of +view we can perhaps understand why mistletoe has so long and so +persistently been prescribed as a cure for the falling sickness. As +mistletoe cannot fall to the ground because it is rooted on the +branch of a tree high above the earth, it seems to follow as a +necessary consequence that an epileptic patient cannot possibly fall +down in a fit so long as he carries a piece of mistletoe in his +pocket or a decoction of mistletoe in his stomach. Such a train of +reasoning would probably be regarded even now as cogent by a large +portion of the human species. + +Again the ancient Italian opinion that mistletoe extinguishes fire +appears to be shared by Swedish peasants, who hang up bunches of +oak-mistletoe on the ceilings of their rooms as a protection against +harm in general and conflagration in particular. A hint as to the +way in which mistletoe comes to be possessed of this property is +furnished by the epithet "thunder-bosom," which people of the Aargau +canton in Switzerland apply to the plant. For a thunder-besom is a +shaggy, bushy excrescence on branches of trees, which is popularly +believed to be produced by a flash of lightning; hence in Bohemia a +thunder-besom burnt in the fire protects the house against being +struck by a thunder-bolt. Being itself a product of lightning it +naturally serves, on homoeopathic principles, as a protection +against lightning, in fact as a kind of lightning-conductor. Hence +the fire which mistletoe in Sweden is designed especially to avert +from houses may be fire kindled by lightning; though no doubt the +plant is equally effective against conflagration in general. + +Again, mistletoe acts as a master-key as well as a +lightning-conductor; for it is said to open all locks. But perhaps +the most precious of all the virtues of mistletoe is that it affords +efficient protection against sorcery and witchcraft. That, no doubt, +is the reason why in Austria a twig of mistletoe is laid on the +threshold as a preventive of nightmare; and it may be the reason why +in the north of England they say that if you wish your dairy to +thrive you should give your bunch of mistletoe to the first cow that +calves after New Year's Day, for it is well known that nothing is so +fatal to milk and butter as witchcraft. Similarly in Wales, for the +sake of ensuring good luck to the dairy, people used to give a +branch of mistletoe to the first cow that gave birth to a calf after +the first hour of the New Year; and in rural districts of Wales, +where mistletoe abounded, there was always a profusion of it in the +farmhouses. When mistletoe was scarce, Welsh farmers used to say, +"No mistletoe, no luck"; but if there was a fine crop of mistletoe, +they expected a fine crop of corn. In Sweden mistletoe is diligently +sought after on St. John's Eve, the people "believing it to be, in a +high degree, possessed of mystic qualities; and that if a sprig of +it be attached to the ceiling of the dwelling-house, the horse's +stall, or the cow's crib, the Troll will then be powerless to injure +either man or beast." + +With regard to the time when the mistletoe should be gathered +opinions have varied. The Druids gathered it above all on the sixth +day of the moon, the ancient Italians apparently on the first day of +the moon. In modern times some have preferred the full moon of March +and others the waning moon of winter when the sun is in Sagittarius. +But the favourite time would seem to be Midsummer Eve or Midsummer +Day. We have seen that both in France and Sweden special virtues are +ascribed to mistletoe gathered at Midsummer. The rule in Sweden is +that "mistletoe must be cut on the night of Midsummer Eve when sun +and moon stand in the sign of their might." Again, in Wales it was +believed that a sprig of mistletoe gathered on St. John's Eve +(Midsummer Eve), or at any time before the berries appeared, would +induce dreams of omen, both good and bad, if it were placed under +the pillow of the sleeper. Thus mistletoe is one of the many plants +whose magical or medicinal virtues are believed to culminate with +the culmination of the sun on the longest day of the year. Hence it +seems reasonable to conjecture that in the eyes of the Druids, also, +who revered the plant so highly, the sacred mistletoe may have +acquired a double portion of its mystic qualities at the solstice in +June, and that accordingly they may have regularly cut it with +solemn ceremony on Midsummer Eve. + +Be that as it may, certain it is that the mistletoe, the instrument +of Balder's death, has been regularly gathered for the sake of its +mystic qualities on Midsummer Eve in Scandinavia, Balder's home. The +plant is found commonly growing on pear-trees, oaks, and other trees +in thick damp woods throughout the more temperate parts of Sweden. +Thus one of the two main incidents of Balder's myth is reproduced in +the great midsummer festival of Scandinavia. But the other main +incident of the myth, the burning of Balder's body on a pyre, has +also its counterpart in the bonfires which still blaze, or blazed +till lately, in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden on Midsummer Eve. It +does not appear, indeed, that any effigy is burned in these +bonfires; but the burning of an effigy is a feature which might +easily drop out after its meaning was forgotten. And the name of +Balder's balefires (_Balder's Balar_), by which these midsummer +fires were formerly known in Sweden, puts their connexion with +Balder beyond the reach of doubt, and makes it probable that in +former times either a living representative or an effigy of Balder +was annually burned in them. Midsummer was the season sacred to +Balder, and the Swedish poet Tegner, in placing the burning of +Balder at midsummer, may very well have followed an old tradition +that the summer solstice was the time when the good god came to his +untimely end. + +Thus it has been shown that the leading incidents of the Balder myth +have their counterparts in those fire-festivals of our European +peasantry which undoubtedly date from a time long prior to the +introduction of Christianity. The pretence of throwing the victim +chosen by lot into the Beltane fire, and the similar treatment of +the man, the future Green Wolf, at the midsummer bonfire in +Normandy, may naturally be interpreted as traces of an older custom +of actually burning human beings on these occasions; and the green +dress of the Green Wolf, coupled with the leafy envelope of the +young fellow who trod out the midsummer fire at Moosheim, seems to +hint that the persons who perished at these festivals did so in the +character of tree-spirits or deities of vegetation. From all this we +may reasonably infer that in the Balder myth on the one hand, and +the fire-festivals and custom of gathering mistletoe on the other +hand, we have, as it were, the two broken and dissevered halves of +an original whole. In other words, we may assume with some degree of +probability that the myth of Balder's death was not merely a myth, +that is, a description of physical phenomena in imagery borrowed +from human life, but that it was at the same time the story which +people told to explain why they annually burned a human +representative of the god and cut the mistletoe with solemn +ceremony. If I am right, the story of Balder's tragic end formed, so +to say, the text of the sacred drama which was acted year by year as +a magical rite to cause the sun to shine, trees to grow, crops to +thrive, and to guard man and beast from the baleful arts of fairies +and trolls, of witches and warlocks. The tale belonged, in short, to +that class of nature myths which are meant to be supplemented by +ritual; here, as so often, myth stood to magic in the relation of +theory to practice. + +But if the victims--the human Balders--who died by fire, whether in +spring or at midsummer, were put to death as living embodiments of +tree-spirits or deities of vegetation, it would seem that Balder +himself must have been a tree-spirit or deity of vegetation. It +becomes desirable, therefore, to determine, if we can, the +particular kind of tree or trees, of which a personal representative +was burned at the fire-festivals. For we may be quite sure that it +was not as a representative of vegetation in general that the victim +suffered death. The idea of vegetation in general is too abstract to +be primitive. Most probably the victim at first represented a +particular kind of sacred tree. But of all European trees none has +such claims as the oak to be considered as pre-eminently the sacred +tree of the Aryans. We have seen that its worship is attested for +all the great branches of the Aryan stock in Europe; hence we may +certainly conclude that the tree was venerated by the Aryans in +common before the dispersion, and that their primitive home must +have lain in a land which was clothed with forests of oak. + +Now, considering the primitive character and remarkable similarity +of the fire-festivals observed by all the branches of the Aryan race +in Europe, we may infer that these festivals form part of the common +stock of religious observances which the various peoples carried +with them in their wanderings from their old home. But, if I am +right, an essential feature of those primitive fire-festivals was +the burning of a man who represented the tree-spirit. In view, then, +of the place occupied by the oak in the religion of the Aryans, the +presumption is that the tree so represented at the fire-festivals +must originally have been the oak. So far as the Celts and +Lithuanians are concerned, this conclusion will perhaps hardly be +contested. But both for them and for the Germans it is confirmed by +a remarkable piece of religious conservatism. The most primitive +method known to man of producing fire is by rubbing two pieces of +wood against each other till they ignite; and we have seen that this +method is still used in Europe for kindling sacred fires such as the +need-fire, and that most probably it was formerly resorted to at all +the fire-festivals under discussion. Now it is sometimes required +that the need-fire, or other sacred fire, should be made by the +friction of a particular kind of wood; and when the kind of wood is +prescribed, whether among Celts, Germans, or Slavs, that wood +appears to be generally the oak. But if the sacred fire was +regularly kindled by the friction of oak-wood, we may infer that +originally the fire was also fed with the same material. In point of +fact, it appears that the perpetual fire of Vesta at Rome was fed +with oak-wood, and that oak-wood was the fuel consumed in the +perpetual fire which burned under the sacred oak at the great +Lithuanian sanctuary of Romove. Further, that oak-wood was formerly +the fuel burned in the midsummer fires may perhaps be inferred from +the custom, said to be still observed by peasants in many mountain +districts of Germany, of making up the cottage fire on Midsummer Day +with a heavy block of oak-wood. The block is so arranged that it +smoulders slowly and is not finally reduced to charcoal till the +expiry of a year. Then upon next Midsummer Day the charred embers of +the old log are removed to make room for the new one, and are mixed +with the seed-corn or scattered about the garden. This is believed +to guard the food cooked on the hearth from witchcraft, to preserve +the luck of the house, to promote the growth of the crops, and to +keep them from blight and vermin. Thus the custom is almost exactly +parallel to that of the Yule-log, which in parts of Germany, France, +England, Serbia, and other Slavonic lands was commonly of oak-wood. +The general conclusion is, that at those periodic or occasional +ceremonies the ancient Aryans both kindled and fed the fire with the +sacred oak-wood. + +But if at these solemn rites the fire was regularly made of oakwood, +it follows that any man who was burned in it as a personification of +the tree-spirit could have represented no tree but the oak. The +sacred oak was thus burned in duplicate; the wood of the tree was +consumed in the fire, and along with it was consumed a living man as +a personification of the oak-spirit. The conclusion thus drawn for +the European Aryans in general is confirmed in its special +application to the Scandinavians by the relation in which amongst +them the mistletoe appears to have stood to the burning of the +victim in the midsummer fire. We have seen that among Scandinavians +it has been customary to gather the mistletoe at midsummer. But so +far as appears on the face of this custom, there is nothing to +connect it with the midsummer fires in which human victims or +effigies of them were burned. Even if the fire, as seems probable, +was originally always made with oak-wood, why should it have been +necessary to pull the mistletoe? The last link between the midsummer +customs of gathering the mistletoe and lighting the bonfires is +supplied by Balder's myth, which can hardly be disjoined from the +customs in question. The myth suggests that a vital connexion may +once have been believed to subsist between the mistletoe and the +human representative of the oak who was burned in the fire. +According to the myth, Balder could be killed by nothing in heaven +or earth except the mistletoe; and so long as the mistletoe remained +on the oak, he was not only immortal but invulnerable. Now, if we +suppose that Balder was the oak, the origin of the myth becomes +intelligible. The mistletoe was viewed as the seat of life of the +oak, and so long as it was uninjured nothing could kill or even +wound the oak. The conception of the mistletoe as the seat of life +of the oak would naturally be suggested to primitive people by the +observation that while the oak is deciduous, the mistletoe which +grows on it is evergreen. In winter the sight of its fresh foliage +among the bare branches must have been hailed by the worshippers of +the tree as a sign that the divine life which had ceased to animate +the branches yet survived in the mistletoe, as the heart of a +sleeper still beats when his body is motionless. Hence when the god +had to be killed--when the sacred tree had to be burnt--it was +necessary to begin by breaking off the mistletoe. For so long as the +mistletoe remained intact, the oak (so people might think) was +invulnerable; all the blows of their knives and axes would glance +harmless from its surface. But once tear from the oak its sacred +heart--the mistletoe--and the tree nodded to its fall. And when in +later times the spirit of the oak came to be represented by a living +man, it was logically necessary to suppose that, like the tree he +personated, he could neither be killed nor wounded so long as the +mistletoe remained uninjured. The pulling of the mistletoe was thus +at once the signal and the cause of his death. + +On this view the invulnerable Balder is neither more nor less than a +personification of a mistletoe-bearing oak. The interpretation is +confirmed by what seems to have been an ancient Italian belief, that +the mistletoe can be destroyed neither by fire nor water; for if the +parasite is thus deemed indestructible, it might easily be supposed +to communicate its own indestructibility to the tree on which it +grows, so long as the two remain in conjunction. Or, to put the same +idea in mythical form, we might tell how the kindly god of the oak +had his life securely deposited in the imperishable mistletoe which +grew among the branches; how accordingly so long as the mistletoe +kept its place there, the deity himself remained invulnerable; and +how at last a cunning foe, let into the secret of the god's +invulnerability, tore the mistletoe from the oak, thereby killing +the oak-god and afterwards burning his body in a fire which could +have made no impression on him so long as the incombustible parasite +retained its seat among the boughs. + +But since the idea of a being whose life is thus, in a sense, +outside himself, must be strange to many readers, and has, indeed, +not yet been recognised in its full bearing on primitive +superstition, it will be worth while to illustrate it by examples +drawn both from story and custom. The result will be to show that, +in assuming this idea as the explanation of Balder's relation to the +mistletoe, I assume a principle which is deeply engraved on the mind +of primitive man. + + + +LXVI. The External Soul in Folk-Tales + +IN A FORMER part of this work we saw that, in the opinion of +primitive people, the soul may temporarily absent itself from the +body without causing death. Such temporary absences of the soul are +often believed to involve considerable risk, since the wandering +soul is liable to a variety of mishaps at the hands of enemies, and +so forth. But there is another aspect to this power of disengaging +the soul from the body. If only the safety of the soul can be +ensured during its absence, there is no reason why the soul should +not continue absent for an indefinite time; indeed a man may, on a +pure calculation of personal safety, desire that his soul should +never return to his body. Unable to conceive of life abstractly as a +"permanent possibility of sensation" or a "continuous adjustment of +internal arrangements to external relations," the savage thinks of +it as a concrete material thing of a definite bulk, capable of being +seen and handled, kept in a box or jar, and liable to be bruised, +fractured, or smashed in pieces. It is not needful that the life, so +conceived, should be in the man; it may be absent from his body and +still continue to animate him by virtue of a sort of sympathy or +action at a distance. So long as this object which he calls his life +or soul remains unharmed, the man is well; if it is injured, he +suffers; if it is destroyed, he dies. Or, to put it otherwise, when +a man is ill or dies, the fact is explained by saying that the +material object called his life or soul, whether it be in his body +or out of it, has either sustained injury or been destroyed. But +there may be circumstances in which, if the life or soul remains in +the man, it stands a greater chance of sustaining injury than if it +were stowed away in some safe and secret place. Accordingly, in such +circumstances, primitive man takes his soul out of his body and +deposits it for security in some snug spot, intending to replace it +in his body when the danger is past. Or if he should discover some +place of absolute security, he may be content to leave his soul +there permanently. The advantage of this is that, so long as the +soul remains unharmed in the place where he has deposited it, the +man himself is immortal; nothing can kill his body, since his life +is not in it. + +Evidence of this primitive belief is furnished by a class of +folk-tales of which the Norse story of "The giant who had no heart +in his body" is perhaps the best-known example. Stories of this kind +are widely diffused over the world, and from their number and the +variety of incident and of details in which the leading idea is +embodied, we may infer that the conception of an external soul is +one which has had a powerful hold on the minds of men at an early +stage of history. For folk-tales are a faithful reflection of the +world as it appeared to the primitive mind; and we may be sure that +any idea which commonly occurs in them, however absurd it may seem +to us, must once have been an ordinary article of belief. This +assurance, so far as it concerns the supposed power of disengaging +the soul from the body for a longer or shorter time, is amply +corroborated by a comparison of the folk-tales in question with the +actual beliefs and practices of savages. To this we shall return +after some specimens of the tales have been given. The specimens +will be selected with a view of illustrating both the characteristic +features and the wide diffusion of this class of tales. + +In the first place, the story of the external soul is told, in +various forms, by all Aryan peoples from Hindoostan to the Hebrides. +A very common form of it is this: A warlock, giant, or other +fairyland being is invulnerable and immortal because he keeps his +soul hidden far away in some secret place; but a fair princess, whom +he holds enthralled in his enchanted castle, wiles his secret from +him and reveals it to the hero, who seeks out the warlock's soul, +heart, life, or death (as it is variously called), and by destroying +it, simultaneously kills the warlock. Thus a Hindoo story tells how +a magician called Punchkin held a queen captive for twelve years, +and would fain marry her, but she would not have him. At last the +queen's son came to rescue her, and the two plotted together to kill +Punchkin. So the queen spoke the magician fair, and pretended that +she had at last made up her mind to marry him. "And do tell me," she +said, "are you quite immortal? Can death never touch you? And are +you too great an enchanter ever to feel human suffering?" "It is +true," he said, "that I am not as others. Far, far away, hundreds of +thousands of miles from this, there lies a desolate country covered +with thick jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle of palm +trees, and in the centre of the circle stand six chattees full of +water, piled one above another: below the sixth chattee is a small +cage, which contains a little green parrot;--on the life of the +parrot depends my life;--and if the parrot is killed I must die. It +is, however," he added, "impossible that the parrot should sustain +any injury, both on account of the inaccessibility of the country, +and because, by my appointment, many thousand genii surround the +palm trees, and kill all who approach the place." But the queen's +young son overcame all difficulties, and got possession of the +parrot. He brought it to the door of the magician's palace, and +began playing with it. Punchkin, the magician, saw him, and, coming +out, tried to persuade the boy to give him the parrot. "Give me my +parrot!" cried Punchkin. Then the boy took hold of the parrot and +tore off one of his wings; and as he did so the magician's right arm +fell off. Punchkin then stretched out his left arm, crying, "Give me +my parrot!" The prince pulled off the parrot's second wing, and the +magician's left arm tumbled off. "Give me my parrot!" cried he, and +fell on his knees. The prince pulled off the parrot's right leg, the +magician's right leg fell off; the prince pulled off the parrot's +left leg, down fell the magician's left. Nothing remained of him +except the trunk and the head; but still he rolled his eyes, and +cried, "Give me my parrot!" "Take your parrot, then," cried the boy; +and with that he wrung the bird's neck, and threw it at the +magician; and, as he did so, Punchkin's head twisted round, and, +with a fearful groan, he died! In another Hindoo tale an ogre is +asked by his daughter, "Papa, where do you keep your soul?" "Sixteen +miles away from this place," he said, "is a tree. Round the tree are +tigers, and bears, and scorpions, and snakes; on the top of the tree +is a very great fat snake; on his head is a little cage; in the cage +is a bird; and my soul is in that bird." The end of the ogre is like +that of the magician in the previous tale. As the bird's wings and +legs are torn off, the ogre's arms and legs drop off; and when its +neck is wrung he falls down dead. In a Bengalee story it is said +that all the ogres dwell in Ceylon, and that all their lives are in +a single lemon. A boy cuts the lemon in pieces, and all the ogres +die. + +In a Siamese or Cambodian story, probably derived from India, we are +told that Thossakan or Ravana, the King of Ceylon, was able by magic +art to take his soul out of his body and leave it in a box at home, +while he went to the wars. Thus he was invulnerable in battle. When +he was about to give battle to Rama, he deposited his soul with a +hermit called Fire-eye, who was to keep it safe for him. So in the +fight Rama was astounded to see that his arrows struck the king +without wounding him. But one of Rama's allies, knowing the secret +of the king's invulnerability, transformed himself by magic into the +likeness of the king, and going to the hermit asked back his soul. +On receiving it he soared up into the air and flew to Rama, +brandishing the box and squeezing it so hard that all the breath +left the King of Ceylon's body, and he died. In a Bengalee story a +prince going into a far country planted with his own hands a tree in +the courtyard of his father's palace, and said to his parents, "This +tree is my life. 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 +fade, then know that I am dead and gone." In another Indian tale a +prince, setting forth on his travels, left behind him a barley +plant, with instructions that it should be carefully tended and +watched; for if it flourished, he would be alive and well, but if it +drooped, then some mischance was about to happen to him. And so it +fell out. For the prince was beheaded, and as his head rolled off, +the barley plant snapped in two and the ear of barley fell to the +ground. + +In Greek tales, ancient and modern, the idea of an external soul is +not uncommon. When Meleager was seven days old, the Fates appeared +to his mother and told her that Meleager would die when the brand +which was blazing on the hearth had burnt down. So his mother +snatched the brand from the fire and kept it in a box. But in +after-years, being enraged at her son for slaying her brothers, she +burnt the brand in the fire and Meleager expired in agonies, as if +flames were preying on his vitals. Again, Nisus King of Megara had a +purple or golden hair on the middle of his head, and it was fated +that whenever the hair was pulled out the king should die. When +Megara was besieged by the Cretans, the king's daughter Scylla fell +in love with Minos, their king, and pulled out the fatal hair from +her father's head. So he died. In a modern Greek folk-tale a man's +strength lies in three golden hairs on his head. When his mother +pulls them out, he grows weak and timid and is slain by his enemies. +In another modern Greek story the life of an enchanter is bound up +with three doves which are in the belly of a wild boar. When the +first dove is killed, the magician grows sick; when the second is +killed, he grows very sick; and when the third is killed, he dies. +In another Greek story of the same sort an ogre's strength is in +three singing birds which are in a wild boar. The hero kills two of +the birds, and then coming to the ogre's house finds him lying on +the ground in great pain. He shows the third bird to the ogre, who +begs that the hero will either let it fly away or give it to him to +eat. But the hero wrings the bird's neck, and the ogre dies on the +spot. + +In a modern Roman version of "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," the +magician tells the princess, whom he holds captive in a floating +rock in mid-ocean, that he will never die. The princess reports this +to the prince her husband, who has come to rescue her. The prince +replies, "It is impossible but that there should be some one thing +or other that is fatal to him; ask him what that one fatal thing +is." So the princess asked the magician, and he told her that in the +wood was a hydra with seven heads; in the middle head of the hydra +was a leveret, in the head of the leveret was a bird, in the bird's +head was a precious stone, and if this stone were put under his +pillow he would die. The prince procured the stone, and the princess +laid it under the magician's pillow. No sooner did the enchanter lay +his head on the pillow than he gave three terrible yells, turned +himself round and round three times, and died. + +Stories of the same sort are current among Slavonic peoples. Thus a +Russian story tells how a warlock called Koshchei the Deathless +carried off a princess and kept her prisoner in his golden castle. +However, a prince made up to her one day as she was walking alone +and disconsolate in the castle garden, and cheered by the prospect +of escaping with him she went to the warlock and coaxed him with +false and flattering words, saying, "My dearest friend, tell me, I +pray you, will you never die?" "Certainly not," says he. "Well," +says she, "and where is your death? is it in your dwelling?" "To be +sure it is," says he, "it is in the broom under the threshold." +Thereupon the princess seized the broom and threw it on the fire, +but although the broom burned, the deathless Koshchei remained +alive; indeed not so much as a hair of him was singed. Balked in her +first attempt, the artful hussy pouted and said, "You do not love me +true, for you have not told me where your death is; yet I am not +angry, but love you with all my heart." With these fawning words she +besought the warlock to tell her truly where his death was. So he +laughed and said, "Why do you wish to know? Well then, out of love I +will tell you where it lies. In a certain field there stand three +green oaks, and under the roots of the largest oak is a worm, and if +ever this worm is found and crushed, that instant I shall die." When +the princess heard these words, she went straight to her lover and +told him all; and he searched till he found the oaks and dug up the +worm and crushed it. Then he hurried to the warlock's castle, but +only to learn from the princess that the warlock was still alive. +Then she fell to wheedling and coaxing Koshchei once more, and this +time, overcome by her wiles, he opened his heart to her and told her +the truth. "My death," said he, "is far from here and hard to find, +on the wide ocean. In that sea is an island, and on the island there +grows a green oak, and beneath the oak is an iron chest, and in the +chest is a small basket, and in the basket is a hare, and in the +hare is a duck, and in the duck is an egg; and he who finds the egg +and breaks it, kills me at the same time." The prince naturally +procured the fateful egg and with it in his hands he confronted the +deathless warlock. The monster would have killed him, but the prince +began to squeeze the egg. At that the warlock shrieked with pain, +and turning to the false princess, who stood by smirking and +smiling, "Was it not out of love for you," said he, "that I told you +where my death was? And is this the return you make to me?" With +that he grabbed at his sword, which hung from a peg on the wall; but +before he could reach it, the prince had crushed the egg, and sure +enough the deathless warlock found his death at the same moment. "In +one of the descriptions of Koshchei's death, he is said to be killed +by a blow on the forehead inflicted by the mysterious egg--that last +link in the magic chain by which his life is darkly bound. In +another version of the same story, but told of a snake, the fatal +blow is struck by a small stone found in the yolk of an egg, which +is inside a duck, which is inside a hare, which is inside a stone, +which is on an island." + +Amongst peoples of the Teutonic stock stories of the external soul +are not wanting. In a tale told by the Saxons of Transylvania it is +said that a young man shot at a witch again and again. The bullets +went clean through her but did her no harm, and she only laughed and +mocked at him. "Silly earthworm," she cried, "shoot as much as you +like. It does me no harm. For know that my life resides not in me +but far, far away. In a mountain is a pond, on the pond swims a +duck, in the duck is an egg, in the egg burns a light, that light is +my life. If you could put out that light, my life would be at an +end. But that can never, never be." However, the young man got hold +of the egg, smashed it, and put out the light, and with it the +witch's life went out also. In a German story a cannibal called Body +without Soul or Soulless keeps his soul in a box, which stands on a +rock in the middle of the Red Sea. A soldier gets possession of the +box and goes with it to Soulless, who begs the soldier to give him +back his soul. But the soldier opens the box, takes out the soul, +and flings it backward over his head. At the same moment the +cannibal drops dead to the ground. + +In another German story and old warlock lives with a damsel all +alone in the midst of a vast and gloomy wood. She fears that being +old he may die and leave her alone in the forest. But he reassures +her. "Dear child," he said, "I cannot die, and I have no heart in my +breast." But she importuned him to tell her where his heart was. So +he said, "Far, far from here in an unknown and lonesome land stands +a great church. The church is well secured with iron doors, and +round about it flows a broad deep moat. In the church flies a bird +and in the bird is my heart. So long as the bird lives, I live. It +cannot die of itself, and no one can catch it; therefore I cannot +die, and you need have no anxiety." However the young man, whose +bride the damsel was to have been before the warlock spirited her +away, contrived to reach the church and catch the bird. He brought +it to the damsel, who stowed him and it away under the warlock's +bed. Soon the old warlock came home. He was ailing, and said so. The +girl wept and said, "Alas, daddy is dying; he has a heart in his +breast after all." "Child," replied the warlock, "hold your tongue. +I _can't_ die. It will soon pass over." At that the young man under +the bed gave the bird a gentle squeeze; and as he did so, the old +warlock felt very unwell and sat down. Then the young man gripped +the bird tighter, and the warlock fell senseless from his chair. +"Now squeeze him dead," cried the damsel. Her lover obeyed, and when +the bird was dead, the old warlock also lay dead on the floor. + +In the Norse tale of "the giant who had no heart in his body," the +giant tells the captive princess, "Far, far away in a lake lies an +island, on that island stands a church, in that church is a well, in +that well swims a duck, in that duck there is an egg, and in that +egg there lies my heart." The hero of the tale, with the help of +some animals to whom he had been kind, obtains the egg and squeezes +it, at which the giant screams piteously and begs for his life. But +the hero breaks the egg in pieces and the giant at once bursts. In +another Norse story a hill-ogre tells the captive princess that she +will never be able to return home unless she finds the grain of sand +which lies under the ninth tongue of the ninth head of a certain +dragon; but if that grain of sand were to come over the rock in +which the ogres live, they would all burst "and the rock itself +would become a gilded palace, and the lake green meadows." The hero +finds the grain of sand and takes it to the top of the high rock in +which the ogres live. So all the ogres burst and the rest falls out +as one of the ogres had foretold. + +In a Celtic tale, recorded in the West Highlands of Scotland, a +giant is questioned by a captive queen as to where he keeps his +soul. At last, after deceiving her several times, he confides to her +the fatal secret: "There is a great flagstone under the threshold. +There is a wether under the flag. There is a duck in the wether's +belly, and an egg in the belly of the duck, and it is in the egg +that my soul is." On the morrow when the giant was gone, the queen +contrived to get possession of the egg and crushed it in her hands, +and at that very moment the giant, who was coming home in the dusk, +fell down dead. In another Celtic tale, a sea beast has carried off +a king's daughter, and an old smith declares that there is no way of +killing the beast but one. "In the island that is in the midst of +the loch is Eillid Chaisfhion--the white-footed hind, of the +slenderest legs, and the swiftest step, and though she should be +caught, there would spring a hoodie out of her, and though the +hoodie should be caught, there would spring a trout out of her, but +there is an egg in the mouth of the trout, and the soul of the beast +is in the egg, and if the egg breaks, the beast is dead." As usual +the egg is broken and the beast dies. + +In an Irish story we read how a giant kept a beautiful damsel a +prisoner in his castle on the top of a hill, which was white with +the bones of the champions who had tried in vain to rescue the fair +captive. At last the hero, after hewing and slashing at the giant +all to no purpose, discovered that the only way to kill him was to +rub a mole on the giant's right breast with a certain egg, which was +in a duck, which was in a chest, which lay locked and bound at the +bottom of the sea. With the help of some obliging animals, the hero +made himself master of the precious egg and slew the giant by merely +striking it against the mole on his right breast. Similarly in a +Breton story there figures a giant whom neither fire nor water nor +steel can harm. He tells his seventh wife, whom he has just married +after murdering all her predecessors, "I am immortal, and no one can +hurt me unless he crushes on my breast an egg, which is in a pigeon, +which is in the belly of a hare; this hare is in the belly of a +wolf, and this wolf is 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 breast of +the giant, who immediately expired. In another Breton tale the life +of a giant resides in an old box-tree which grows in his castle +garden; and to kill him it is necessary to sever the tap-root of the +tree at a single blow of an axe without injuring any of the lesser +roots. This task the hero, as usual, successfully accomplishes, and +at the same moment the giant drops dead. + +The notion of an external soul has now been traced in folk-tales +told by Aryan peoples from India to Ireland. We have still to show +that the same idea occurs commonly in the popular stories of peoples +who do not belong to the Aryan stock. In the ancient Egyptian tale +of "The Two Brothers," which was written down in the reign of +Rameses II., about 1300 B.C., we read how one of the brothers +enchanted his heart and placed it in the flower of an acacia tree, +and how, when the flower was cut at the instigation of his wife, he +immediately fell down dead, but revived when his brother found the +lost heart in the berry of the acacia and threw it into a cup of +fresh water. + +In the story of Seyf el-Mulook in the _Arabian Nights_ the jinnee +tells the captive daughter of the King of India, "When I was born, +the astrologers declared that the destruction of my soul would be +effected by the hand of one of the sons of the human kings. I +therefore took my soul, and put it into the crop of a sparrow, and I +imprisoned the sparrow in a little box, and put this into another +small box, and this I put within seven other small boxes, and I put +these within seven chests, and the chests I put into a coffer of +marble within the verge of this circumambient ocean; for this part +is remote from the countries of mankind, and none of mankind can +gain access to it." But Seyf el-Mulook got possession of the sparrow +and strangled it, and the jinnee fell upon the ground a heap of +black ashes. In a Kabyle story an ogre declares that his fate is far +away in an egg, which is in a pigeon, which is in a camel, which is +in the sea. The hero procures the egg and crushes it between his +hands, and the ogre dies. In a Magyar folk-tale, an old witch +detains a young prince called Ambrose in the bowels of the earth. At +last she confided to him that she kept a wild boar in a silken +meadow, and if it were killed, they would find a hare inside, and +inside the hare a pigeon, and inside the pigeon a small box, and +inside the box one black and one shining beetle: the shining beetle +held her life, and the black one held her power; if these two +beetles died, then her life would come to an end also. When the old +hag went out, Ambrose killed the wild boar, and took out the hare; +from the hare he took the pigeon, from the pigeon the box, and from +the box the two beetles; he killed the black beetle, but kept the +shining one alive. So the witch's power left her immediately, and +when she came home, she had to take to her bed. Having learned from +her how to escape from his prison to the upper air, Ambrose killed +the shining beetle, and the old hag's spirit left her at once. In a +Kalmuck tale we read how a certain khan challenged a wise man to +show his skill by stealing a precious stone on which the khan's life +depended. The sage contrived to purloin the talisman while the khan +and his guards slept; but not content with this he gave a further +proof of his dexterity by bonneting the slumbering potentate with a +bladder. This was too much for the khan. Next morning he informed +the sage that he could overlook everything else, but that the +indignity of being bonneted with a bladder was more than he could +bear; and he ordered his facetious friend to instant execution. +Pained at this exhibition of royal ingratitude, the sage dashed to +the ground the talisman which he still held in his hand; and at the +same instant blood flowed from the nostrils of the khan, and he gave +up the ghost. + +In a Tartar poem two heroes named Ak Molot and Bulat engage in +mortal combat. Ak Molot pierces his foe through and through with an +arrow, grapples with him, and dashes him to the ground, but all in +vain, Bulat could not die. At last when the combat has lasted three +years, a friend of Ak Molot sees a golden casket hanging by a white +thread from the sky, and bethinks him that perhaps this casket +contains Bulat's soul. So he shot through the white thread with an +arrow, and down fell the casket. He opened it, and in the casket sat +ten white birds, and one of the birds was Bulat's soul. Bulat wept +when he saw that his soul was found in the casket. But one after the +other the birds were killed, and then Ak Molot easily slew his foe. +In another Tartar poem, two brothers going to fight two other +brothers take out their souls and hide them in the form of a white +herb with six stalks in a deep pit. But one of their foes sees them +doing so and digs up their souls, which he puts into 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 accordingly make peace with their enemies. In another +Tartar poem a terrible demon sets all the gods and heroes at +defiance. At last a valiant youth fights the demon, binds him hand +and foot, and slices him with his sword. But still the demon is not +slain. So the youth asked him, "Tell me, where is your soul hidden? +For if your soul had been hidden in your body, you must have been +dead long ago." The demon replied, "On the saddle of my horse is a +bag. In the bag is a serpent with twelve heads. In the serpent is my +soul. When you have killed the serpent, you have killed me also." So +the youth took the saddle-bag from the horse and killed the +twelve-headed serpent, whereupon the demon expired. In another +Tartar poem a hero called Kök Chan deposits with a maiden a golden +ring, in which is half his strength. Afterwards when Kök Chan is +wrestling long with a hero and cannot kill him, a woman drops into +his mouth the ring which contains half his strength. Thus inspired +with fresh force he slays his enemy. + +In a Mongolian story the hero Joro gets the better of his enemy the +lama Tschoridong in the following way. The lama, who is an +enchanter, sends out his soul in the form of a wasp to sting Joro's +eyes. But Joro catches the wasp in his hand, and by alternately +shutting and opening his hand he causes the lama alternately to lose +and recover consciousness. In a Tartar poem two youths cut open the +body of an old witch and tear out her bowels, but all to no purpose, +she still lives. On being asked where her soul is, she answers that +it is in the middle of her shoe-sole in the form of a seven-headed +speckled snake. So one of the youths slices her shoe-sole with his +sword, takes out the speckled snake, and cuts off its seven heads. +Then the witch dies. Another Tartar poem describes how the hero +Kartaga grappled with the Swan-woman. Long they wrestled. Moons +waxed and waned and still they wrestled; years came and went, and +still the struggle went on. But the piebald horse and the black +horse knew that the Swan-woman's soul was not in her. Under the +black earth flow nine seas; where the seas meet and form one, the +sea comes to the surface of the earth. At the mouth of the nine seas +rises a rock of copper; it rises to the surface of the ground, it +rises up between heaven and earth, this rock of copper. At the foot +of the copper rock is a black chest, in the black chest is a golden +casket, and in the golden casket is the soul of the Swan-woman. +Seven little birds are the soul of the Swan-woman; if the birds are +killed the Swan-woman will die straightway. So the horses ran to the +foot of the copper rock, opened the black chest, and brought back +the golden casket. Then the piebald horse turned himself into a +bald-headed man, opened the golden casket, and cut off the heads of +the seven birds. So the Swan-woman died. In another Tartar poem the +hero, pursuing his sister who has driven away his cattle, is warned +to desist from the pursuit because his sister has carried away his +soul in a golden sword and a golden arrow, and if he pursues her she +will kill him by throwing the golden sword or shooting the golden +arrow at him. + +A Malay poem relates how once upon a time in the city of Indrapoora +there was a certain merchant who was rich and prosperous, but he had +no children. One day as he walked with his wife by the river they +found a baby girl, fair as an angel. So they adopted the child and +called her Bidasari. The merchant caused a golden fish to be made, +and into this fish he transferred the soul of his adopted daughter. +Then he put the golden fish in a golden box full of water, and hid +it in a pond in the midst of his garden. In time the girl grew to be +a lovely woman. Now the King of Indrapoora had a fair young queen, +who lived in fear that the king might take to himself a second wife. +So, hearing of the charms of Bidasari, the queen resolved to put her +out of the way. She lured the girl to the palace and tortured her +cruelly; but Bidasari could not die, because her soul was not in +her. At last she could stand the torture no longer and said to the +queen, "If you wish me to die, you must bring the box which is in +the pond in my father's garden." So the box was brought and opened, +and there was the golden fish in the water. The girl said, "My soul +is in that fish. In the morning you must take the fish out of the +water, and in the evening you must put it back into the water. Do +not let the fish lie about, but bind it round your neck. If you do +this, I shall soon die." So the queen took the fish out of the box +and fastened it round her neck; and no sooner had she done so than +Bidasari fell into a swoon. But in the evening, when the fish was +put back into the water, Bidasari came to herself again. Seeing that +she thus had the girl in her power, the queen sent her home to her +adopted parents. To save her from further persecution her parents +resolved to remove their daughter from the city. So in a lonely and +desolate spot they built a house and brought Bidasari thither. There +she dwelt alone, undergoing vicissitudes that corresponded with the +vicissitudes of the golden fish in which was her soul. All day long, +while the fish was out of the water, she remained unconscious; but +in the evening, when the fish was put into the water, she revived. +One day the king was out hunting, and coming to the house where +Bidasari lay unconscious, was smitten with her beauty. He tried to +waken her, but in vain. Next day, towards evening, he repeated his +visit, but still found her unconscious. However, when darkness fell, +she came to herself and told the king the secret of her life. So the +king returned to the palace, took the fish from the queen, and put +it in water. Immediately Bidasari revived, and the king took her to +wife. + +Another story of an external soul comes from Nias, an island to the +west of Sumatra. Once on a time a chief was captured by his enemies, +who tried to put him to death but failed. Water would not drown him +nor fire burn him nor steel pierce him. At last his wife revealed +the secret. On his head he had a hair as hard as a copper wire; and +with this wire his life was bound up. So the hair was plucked out, +and with it his spirit fled. + +A West African story from Southern Nigeria relates how a king kept +his soul in a little brown bird, which perched on a tall tree beside +the gate of the palace. The king's life was so bound up with that of +the bird that whoever should kill the bird would simultaneously kill +the king and succeed to the kingdom. The secret was betrayed by the +queen to her lover, who shot the bird with an arrow and thereby slew +the king and ascended the vacant throne. A tale told by the Ba-Ronga +of South Africa sets forth how the lives of a whole family were +contained in one cat. When a girl of the family, named Titishan, +married a husband, she begged her parents to let her take the +precious cat with her to her new home. But they refused, saying, +"You know that our life is attached to it"; and they offered to give +her an antelope or even an elephant instead of it. But nothing would +satisfy her but the cat. So at last she carried it off with her and +shut it up in a place where nobody saw it; even her husband knew +nothing about it. One day, when she went to work in the fields, the +cat escaped from its place of concealment, entered the hut, put on +the warlike trappings of the husband, and danced and sang. Some +children, attracted by the noise, discovered the cat at its antics, +and when they expressed their astonishment, the animal only capered +the more and insulted them besides. So they went to the owner and +said, "There is somebody dancing in your house, and he insulted us." +"Hold your tongues," said he, "I'll soon put a stop to your lies." +So he went and hid behind the door and peeped in, and there sure +enough was the cat prancing about and singing. He fired at it, and +the animal dropped down dead. At the same moment his wife fell to +the ground in the field where she was at work; said she, "I have +been killed at home." But she had strength enough left to ask her +husband to go with her to her parents' village, taking with him the +dead cat wrapt up in a mat. All her relatives assembled, and +bitterly they reproached her for having insisted on taking the +animal with her to her husband's village. As soon as the mat was +unrolled and they saw the dead cat, they all fell down lifeless one +after the other. So the Clan of the Cat was destroyed; and the +bereaved husband closed the gate of the village with a branch, and +returned home, and told his friends how in killing the cat he had +killed the whole clan, because their lives depended on the life of +the cat. + +Ideas of the same sort meet us in stories told by the North American +Indians. Thus the Navajoes tell of a certain mythical being called +"the Maiden that becomes a Bear," who learned the art of turning +herself into a bear from the prairie wolf. She was a great warrior +and quite invulnerable; for when she went to war she took out her +vital organs and hid them, so that no one could kill her; and when +the battle was over she put the organs back in their places again. +The Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia tell of an ogress, who +could not be killed because her life was in a hemlock branch. A +brave boy met her in the woods, smashed her head with a stone, +scattered her brains, broke her bones, and threw them into the +water. Then, thinking he had disposed of the ogress, he went into +her house. There he saw a woman rooted to the floor, who warned him, +saying, "Now do not stay long. I know that you have tried to kill +the ogress. It is the fourth time that somebody has tried to kill +her. She never dies; she has nearly come to life. There in that +covered hemlock branch is her life. Go there, and as soon as you see +her enter, shoot her life. Then she will be dead." Hardly had she +finished speaking when sure enough in came the ogress, singing as +she walked. But the boy shot at her life, and she fell dead to the +floor. + + + +LXVII. The External Soul in Folk-Custom + + + +1. The External Soul in Inanimate Things + +THUS the idea that the soul may be deposited for a longer or shorter +time in some place of security outside the body, or at all events in +the hair, is found in the popular tales of many races. It remains to +show that the idea is not a mere figment devised to adorn a tale, +but is a real article of primitive faith, which has given rise to a +corresponding set of customs. + +We have seen that in the tales the hero, as a preparation for +battle, sometimes removes his soul from his body, in order that his +body may be invulnerable and immortal in the combat. With a like +intention the savage removes his soul from his body on various +occasions of real or imaginary peril. Thus among the people of +Minahassa in Celebes, when a family moves into a new house, a priest +collects the souls of the whole family in a bag, and afterwards +restores them to their owners, because the moment of entering a new +house is supposed to be fraught with supernatural danger. In +Southern Celebes, when a woman is brought to bed, the messenger who +fetches the doctor or the midwife always carries with him something +made of iron, such as a chopping-knife, which he delivers to the +doctor. The doctor must keep the thing in his house till the +confinement is over, when he gives it back, receiving a fixed sum of +money for doing so. The chopping-knife, or whatever it is, +represents the woman's soul, which at this critical time is believed +to be safer out of her body than in it. Hence the doctor must take +great care of the object; for were it lost, the woman's soul would +assuredly, they think, be lost with it. + +Among the Dyaks of Pinoeh, a district of South-eastern Borneo, when +a child is born, a medicine-man is sent for, who conjures the soul +of the infant into half a coco-nut, which he thereupon covers with a +cloth and places on a square platter or charger suspended by cords +from the roof. This ceremony he repeats at every new moon for a +year. The intention of the ceremony is not explained by the writer +who describes it, but we may conjecture that it is to place the soul +of the child in a safer place than its own frail little body. This +conjecture is confirmed by the reason assigned for a similar custom +observed elsewhere in the Indian Archipelago. In the Kei Islands, +when there is a newly-born child in a house, an empty coco-nut, +split and spliced together again, may sometimes be seen hanging +beside a rough wooden image of an ancestor. The soul of the infant +is believed to be temporarily deposited in the coco-nut in order +that it may be safe from the attacks of evil spirits; but when the +child grows bigger and stronger, the soul will take up its permanent +abode in its own body. Similarly among the Esquimaux of Alaska, when +a child is sick, the medicine-man will sometimes extract its soul +from its body and place it for safe-keeping in an amulet, which for +further security he deposits in his own medicine-bag. It seems +probable that many amulets have been similarly regarded as +soul-boxes, that is, as safes in which the souls of the owners are +kept for greater security. An old Mang'anje woman in the West Shire +district of British Central Africa used to wear round her neck an +ivory ornament, hollow, and about three inches long, which she +called her life or soul. Naturally, she would not part with it; a +planter tried to buy it of her, but in vain. When Mr. James +Macdonald was one day sitting in the house of a Hlubi chief, +awaiting the appearance of that great man, who was busy decorating +his person, a native pointed to a pair of magnificent ox-horns, and +said, "Ntame has his soul in these horns." The horns were those of +an animal which had been sacrificed, and they were held sacred. A +magician had fastened them to the roof to protect the house and its +inmates from the thunder-bolt. "The idea," adds Mr. Macdonald, "is +in no way foreign to South African thought. A man's soul there may +dwell in the roof of his house, in a tree, by a spring of water, or +on some mountain scaur." Among the natives of the Gazelle Peninsula +in New Britain there is a secret society which goes by the name of +Ingniet or Ingiet. On his entrance into it every man receives a +stone in the shape either of a human being or of an animal, and +henceforth his soul is believed to be knit up in a manner with the +stone. If it breaks, it is an evil omen for him; they say that the +thunder has struck the stone and that he who owns it will soon die. +If nevertheless the man survives the breaking of his soul-stone, +they say that it was not a proper soul-stone and he gets a new one +instead. The emperor Romanus Lecapenus was once informed by an +astronomer that the life of Simeon, prince of Bulgaria, was bound up +with a certain column in Constantinople, so that if the capital of +the column were removed, Simeon would immediately die. The emperor +took the hint and removed the capital, and at the same hour, as the +emperor learned by enquiry, Simeon died of heart disease in +Bulgaria. + +Again, we have seen that in folk-tales a man's soul or strength is +sometimes represented as bound up with his hair, and that when his +hair is cut off he dies or grows weak. So the natives of Amboyna +used to think that their strength was in their hair and would desert +them if it were shorn. A criminal under torture in a Dutch Court of +that island persisted in denying his guilt till his hair was cut +off, when he immediately confessed. One man, who was tried for +murder, endured without flinching the utmost ingenuity of his +torturers till he saw the surgeon standing with a pair of shears. On +asking what this was for, and being told that it was to cut his +hair, he begged they would not do it, and made a clean breast. In +subsequent cases, when torture failed to wring a confession from a +prisoner, the Dutch authorities made a practice of cutting off his +hair. + +Here in Europe it used to be thought that the maleficent powers of +witches and wizards resided in their hair, and that nothing could +make any impression on the miscreants so long as they kept their +hair on. Hence in France it was customary to shave the whole bodies +of persons charged with sorcery before handing them over to the +torturer. Millaeus witnessed the torture of some persons at +Toulouse, from whom no confession could be wrung until they were +stripped and completely shaven, when they readily acknowledged the +truth of the charge. A woman also, who apparently led a pious life, +was put to the torture on suspicion of witchcraft, and bore her +agonies with incredible constancy, until complete depilation drove +her to admit her guilt. The noted inquisitor Sprenger contented +himself with shaving the head of the suspected witch or wizard; but +his more thoroughgoing colleague Cumanus shaved the whole bodies of +forty-seven women before committing them all to the flames. He had +high authority for this rigorous scrutiny, since Satan himself, in a +sermon preached from the pulpit of North Berwick church, comforted +his many servants by assuring them that no harm could befall them +"sa lang as their hair wes on, and sould newir latt ane teir fall +fra thair ene." Similarly in Bastar, a province of India, "if a man +is adjudged guilty of witchcraft, he is beaten by the crowd, his +hair is shaved, the hair being supposed to constitute his power of +mischief, his front teeth are knocked out, in order, it is said, to +prevent him from muttering incantations. . . . Women suspected of +sorcery have to undergo the same ordeal; if found guilty, the same +punishment is awarded, and after being shaved, their hair is +attached to a tree in some public place." So among the Bhils of +India, when a woman was convicted of witchcraft and had been +subjected to various forms of persuasion, such as hanging head +downwards from a tree and having pepper put into her eyes, a lock of +hair was cut from her head and buried in the ground, "that the last +link between her and her former powers of mischief might be broken." +In like manner among the Aztecs of Mexico, when wizards and witches +"had done their evil deeds, and the time came to put an end to their +detestable life, some one laid hold of them and cropped the hair on +the crown of their heads, which took from them all their power of +sorcery and enchantment, and then it was that by death they put an +end to their odious existence." + + + +2. The External Soul in Plants + +FURTHER it has been shown that in folk-tales the life of a person is +sometimes so bound up with the life of a plant that the withering of +the plant will immediately follow or be followed by the death of the +person. Among the M'Bengas in Western Africa, about the Gaboon, when +two children are born on the same day, the people plant two trees of +the same kind and dance round them. The life of each of the children +is believed to be bound up with the life of one of the trees; and if +the tree dies or is thrown down, they are sure that the child will +soon die. In the Cameroons, also, the life of a person is believed +to be sympathetically bound up with that of a tree. The chief of Old +Town in Calabar kept his soul in a sacred grove near a spring of +water. When some Europeans, in frolic or ignorance, cut down part of +the grove, the spirit was most indignant and threatened the +perpetrators of the deed, according to the king, with all manner of +evil. + +Some of the Papuans unite the life of a new-born babe +sympathetically with that of a tree by driving a pebble into the +bark of the tree. This is supposed to give them complete mastery +over the child's life; if the tree is cut down, the child will die. +After a birth the Maoris used to bury the navel-string in a sacred +place and plant a young sapling over it. As the tree grew, it was a +_tohu oranga_ or sign of life for the child; if it flourished, the +child would prosper; if it withered and died, the parents augured +the worst for the little one. In some parts of Fiji the navel-string +of a male infant is planted together with a coco-nut or the slip of +a breadfruit-tree, and the child's life is supposed to be intimately +connected with that of the tree. Amongst the Dyaks of Landak and +Tajan, districts of Dutch Borneo, it is customary to plant a +fruit-tree for a baby, and henceforth in the popular belief the fate +of the child is bound up with that of the tree. If the tree shoots +up rapidly, it will go well with the child; but if the tree is +dwarfed or shrivelled, nothing but misfortune can be expected for +its human counterpart. + +It is said that there are still families in Russia, Germany, +England, France, and Italy who are accustomed to plant a tree at the +birth of a child. The tree, it is hoped, will grow with the child, +and it is tended with special care. The custom is still pretty +general in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland; an apple-tree is +planted for a boy and a pear-tree for a girl, and the people think +that the child will flourish or dwindle with the tree. In +Mecklenburg the afterbirth is thrown out at the foot of a young +tree, and the child is then believed to grow with the tree. Near the +Castle of Dalhousie, not far from Edinburgh, there grows an +oak-tree, called the Edgewell Tree, which is popularly believed to +be linked to the fate of the family by a mysterious tie; for they +say that when one of the family dies, or is about to die, a branch +falls from the Edgewell Tree. Thus, on seeing a great bough drop +from the tree on a quiet, still day in July 1874, an old forester +exclaimed, "The laird's deid noo!" and soon after news came that Fox +Maule, eleventh Earl of Dalhousie, was dead. + +In England children are sometimes passed through a cleft ash-tree as +a cure for rupture or rickets, and thenceforward a sympathetic +connexion is supposed to exist between them and the tree. An +ash-tree which had been used for this purpose grew at the edge of +Shirley Heath, on the road from Hockly House to Birmingham. "Thomas +Chillingworth, son of the owner of an adjoining farm, now about +thirty-four, was, when an infant of a year old, passed through a +similar tree, now perfectly sound, which he preserves with so much +care that he will not suffer a single branch to be touched, for it +is believed the life of the patient depends on the life of the tree, +and the moment that is cut down, be the patient ever so distant, the +rupture returns, and a mortification ensues, and terminates in +death, as was the case in a man driving a waggon on the very road in +question." "It is not uncommon, however," adds the writer, "for +persons to survive for a time the felling of the tree." The ordinary +mode of effecting the cure is to split a young ash-sapling +longitudinally for a few feet and pass the child, naked, either +three times or three times three through the fissure at sunrise. In +the West of England it is said that the passage should be "against +the sun." As soon as the ceremony has been performed, the tree is +bound tightly up and the fissure plastered over with mud or clay. +The belief is that just as the cleft in the tree closes up, so the +rupture in the child's body will be healed; but that if the rift in +the tree remains open, the rupture in the child will remain too, and +if the tree were to die, the death of the child would surely follow. + +A similar cure for various diseases, but especially for rupture and +rickets, has been commonly practised in other parts of Europe, as +Germany, France, Denmark, and Sweden; but in these countries the +tree employed for the purpose is usually not an ash but an oak; +sometimes a willow-tree is allowed or even prescribed instead. In +Mecklenburg, as in England, the sympathetic relation thus +established between the tree and the child is believed to be so +close that if the tree is cut down the child will die. + + + +3. The External Soul in Animals + +BUT in practice, as in folk-tales, it is not merely with inanimate +objects and plants that a person is occasionally believed to be +united by a bond of physical sympathy. The same bond, it is +supposed, may exist between a man and an animal, so that the welfare +of the one depends on the welfare of the other, and when the animal +dies the man dies also. The analogy between the custom and the tales +is all the closer because in both of them the power of thus removing +the soul from the body and stowing it away in an animal is often a +special privilege of wizards and witches. Thus the Yakuts of Siberia +believe that every shaman or wizard keeps his soul, or one of his +souls, incarnate in an animal which is carefully concealed from all +the world. "Nobody can find my external soul," said one famous +wizard, "it lies hidden far away in the stony mountains of +Edzhigansk." Only once a year, when the last snows melt and the +earth turns black, do these external souls of wizards appear in the +shape of animals among the dwellings of men. They wander everywhere, +yet none but wizards can see them. The strong ones sweep roaring and +noisily along, the weak steal about quietly and furtively. Often +they fight, and then the wizard whose external soul is beaten, falls +ill or dies. The weakest and most cowardly wizards are they whose +souls are incarnate in the shape of dogs, for the dog gives his +human double no peace, but gnaws his heart and tears his body. The +most powerful wizards are they whose external souls have the shape +of stallions, elks, black bears, eagles, or boars. Again, the +Samoyeds of the Turukhinsk region hold that every shaman has a +familiar spirit in the shape of a boar, which he leads about by a +magic belt. On the death of the boar the shaman himself dies; and +stories are told of battles between wizards, who send their spirits +to fight before they encounter each other in person. The Malays +believe that "the soul of a person may pass into another person or +into an animal, or rather that such a mysterious relation can arise +between the two that the fate of the one is wholly dependent on that +of the other." + +Among the Melanesians of Mota, one of the New Hebrides islands, the +conception of an external soul is carried out in the practice of +daily life. In the Mota language the word _tamaniu_ signifies +"something animate or inanimate which a man has come to believe to +have an existence intimately connected with his own. . . . It was +not every one in Mota who had his _tamaniu;_ only some men fancied +that they had this relation to a lizard, a snake, or it might be a +stone; sometimes the thing was sought for and found by drinking the +infusion of certain leaves and heaping together the dregs; then +whatever living thing was first seen in or upon the heap was the +_tamaniu._ It was watched but not fed or worshipped; the natives +believed that it came at call, and that the life of the man was +bound up with the life of his _tamaniu,_ if a living thing, or with +its safety; should it die, or if not living get broken or be lost, +the man would die. Hence in case of sickness they would send to see +if the _tamaniu_ was safe and well." + +The theory of an external soul deposited in an animal appears to be +very prevalent in West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, the +Cameroons, and the Gaboon. Among the Fans of the Gaboon every wizard +is believed at initiation to unite his life with that of some +particular wild animal by a rite of blood-brotherhood; he draws +blood from the ear of the animal and from his own arm, and +inoculates the animal with his own blood, and himself with the blood +of the beast. Henceforth such an intimate union is established +between the two that the death of the one entails the death of the +other. The alliance is thought to bring to the wizard or sorcerer a +great accession of power, which he can turn to his advantage in +various ways. In the first place, like the warlock in the fairy +tales who has deposited his life outside of himself in some safe +place, the Fan wizard now deems himself invulnerable. Moreover, the +animal with which he has exchanged blood has become his familiar, +and will obey any orders he may choose to give it; so he makes use +of it to injure and kill his enemies. For that reason the creature +with whom he establishes the relation of blood-brotherhood is never +a tame or domestic animal, but always a ferocious and dangerous wild +beast, such as a leopard, a black serpent, a crocodile, a +hippopotamus, a wild boar, or a vulture. Of all these creatures the +leopard is by far the commonest familiar of Fan wizards, and next to +it comes the black serpent; the vulture is the rarest. Witches as +well as wizards have their familiars; but the animals with which the +lives of women are thus bound up generally differ from those to +which men commit their external souls. A witch never has a panther +for her familiar, but often a venomous species of serpent, sometimes +a horned viper, sometimes a black serpent, sometimes a green one +that lives in banana-trees; or it may be a vulture, an owl, or other +bird of night. In every case the beast or bird with which the witch +or wizard has contracted this mystic alliance is an individual, +never a species; and when the individual animal dies the alliance is +naturally at an end, since the death of the animal is supposed to +entail the death of the man. + +Similar beliefs are held by the natives of the Cross River valley +within the provinces of the Cameroons. Groups of people, generally +the inhabitants of a village, have chosen various animals, with +which they believe themselves to stand on a footing of intimate +friendship or relationship. Amongst such animals are hippopotamuses, +elephants, leopards, crocodiles, gorillas, fish, and serpents, all +of them creatures which are either very strong or can easily hide +themselves in the water or a thicket. This power of concealing +themselves is said to be an indispensable condition of the choice of +animal familiars, since the animal friend or helper is expected to +injure his owner's enemy by stealth; for example, if he is a +hippopotamus, he will bob up suddenly out of the water and capsize +the enemy's canoe. Between the animals and their human friends or +kinsfolk such a sympathetic relation is supposed to exist that the +moment the animal dies the man dies also, and similarly the instant +the man perishes so does the beast. From this it follows that the +animal kinsfolk may never be shot at or molested for fear of +injuring or killing the persons whose lives are knit up with the +lives of the brutes. This does not, however, prevent the people of a +village, who have elephants for their animal friends, from hunting +elephants. For they do not respect the whole species but merely +certain individuals of it, which stand in an intimate relation to +certain individual men and women; and they imagine that they can +always distinguish these brother elephants from the common herd of +elephants which are mere elephants and nothing more. The recognition +indeed is said to be mutual. When a hunter, who has an elephant for +his friend, meets a human elephant, as we may call it, the noble +animal lifts up a paw and holds it before his face, as much as to +say, "Don't shoot." Were the hunter so inhuman as to fire on and +wound such an elephant, the person whose life was bound up with the +elephant would fall ill. + +The Balong of the Cameroons think that every man has several souls, +of which one is in his body and another in an animal, such as an +elephant, a wild pig, a leopard, and so forth. When a man comes +home, feeling ill, and says, "I shall soon die," and dies +accordingly, the people aver that one of his souls has been killed +in a wild pig or a leopard and that the death of the external soul +has caused the death of the soul in his body. A similar belief in +the external souls of living people is entertained by the Ibos, an +important tribe of the Niger delta. They think that a man's spirit +can quit his body for a time during life and take up its abode in an +animal. A man who wishes to acquire this power procures a certain +drug from a wise man and mixes it with his food. After that his soul +goes out and enters into an animal. If it should happen that the +animal is killed while the man's soul is lodged in it, the man dies; +and if the animal be wounded, the man's body will presently be +covered with boils. This belief instigates to many deeds of +darkness; for a sly rogue will sometimes surreptitiously administer +the magical drug to his enemy in his food, and having thus smuggled +the other's soul into an animal will destroy the creature, and with +it the man whose soul is lodged in it. + +The negroes of Calabar, at the mouth of the Niger, believe that +every person has four souls, one of which always lives outside of +his or her body in the form of a wild beast in the forest. This +external soul, or bush soul, as Miss Kingsley calls it, may be +almost any animal, for example, a leopard, a fish, or a tortoise; +but it is never a domestic animal and never a plant. Unless he is +gifted with second sight, a man cannot see his own bush soul, but a +diviner will often tell him what sort of creature his bush soul is, +and after that the man will be careful not to kill any animal of +that species, and will strongly object to any one else doing so. A +man and his sons have usually the same sort of animals for their +bush souls, and so with a mother and her daughters. But sometimes +all the children of a family take after the bush soul of their +father; for example, if his external soul is a leopard, all his sons +and daughters will have leopards for their external souls. And on +the other hand, sometimes they all take after their mother; for +instance, if her external soul is a tortoise, all the external souls +of her sons and daughters will be tortoises too. So intimately bound +up is the life of the man with that of the animal which he regards +as his external or bush soul, that the death or injury of the animal +necessarily entails the death or injury of the man. And, conversely, +when the man dies, his bush soul can no longer find a place of rest, +but goes mad and rushes into the fire or charges people and is +knocked on the head, and that is an end of it. + +Near Eket in North Calabar there is a sacred lake, the fish of which +are carefully preserved because the people believe that their own +souls are lodged in the fish, and that with every fish killed a +human life would be simultaneously extinguished. In the Calabar +River not very many years ago there used to be a huge old crocodile, +popularly supposed to contain the external soul of a chief who +resided in the flesh at Duke Town. Sporting vice-consuls used from +time to time to hunt the animal, and once an officer contrived to +hit it. Forthwith the chief was laid up with a wound in his leg. He +gave out that a dog had bitten him, but no doubt the wise shook +their heads and refused to be put off with so flimsy a pretext. +Again, among several tribes on the banks of the Niger between Lokoja +and the delta there prevails "a belief in the possibility of a man +possessing an _alter ego_ in the form of some animal such as a +crocodile or a hippopotamus. It is believed that such a person's +life is bound up with that of the animal to such an extent that, +whatever affects the one produces a corresponding impression upon +the other, and that if one dies the other must speedily do so too. +It happened not very long ago that an Englishman shot a hippopotamus +close to a native village; the friends of a woman who died the same +night in the village demanded and eventually obtained five pounds as +compensation for the murder of the woman." + +Amongst the Zapotecs of Central America, when a woman was about to +be confined, her relations assembled in the hut, and began to draw +on the floor figures of different animals, rubbing each one out as +soon as it was completed. This went on till the moment of birth, and +the figure that then remained sketched upon the ground was called +the child's _tona_ or second self. "When the child grew old enough, +he procured the animal that represented him and took care of it, as +it was believed that health and existence were bound up with that of +the animal's, in fact that the death of both would occur +simultaneously," or rather that when the animal died the man would +die too. Among the Indians of Guatemala and Honduras the _nagual_ or +_naual_ is "that animate or inanimate object, generally an animal, +which stands in a parallel relation to a particular man, so that the +weal and woe of the man depend on the fate of the _nagual._" +According to an old writer, many Indians of Guatemala "are deluded +by the devil to believe that their life dependeth upon the life of +such and such a beast (which they take unto them as their familiar +spirit), and think that when that beast dieth they must die; when he +is chased, their hearts pant; when he is faint, they are faint; nay, +it happeneth that by the devil's delusion they appear in the shape +of that beast (which commonly by their choice is a buck, or doe, a +lion, or tigre, or dog, or eagle) and in that shape have been shot +at and wounded." The Indians were persuaded that the death of their +_nagual_ would entail their own. Legend affirms that in the first +battles with the Spaniards on the plateau of Quetzaltenango the +_naguals_ of the Indian chiefs fought in the form of serpents. The +_nagual_ of the highest chief was especially conspicuous, because it +had the form of a great bird, resplendent in green plumage. The +Spanish general Pedro de Alvarado killed the bird with his lance, +and at the same moment the Indian chief fell dead to the ground. + +In many tribes of South-Eastern Australia each sex used to regard a +particular species of animals in the same way that a Central +American Indian regarded his _nagual,_ but with this difference, +that whereas the Indian apparently knew the individual animal with +which his life was bound up, the Australians only knew that each of +their lives was bound up with some one animal of the species, but +they could not say with which. The result naturally was that every +man spared and protected all the animals of the species with which +the lives of the men were bound up; and every woman spared and +protected all the animals of the species with which the lives of the +women were bound up; because no one knew but that the death of any +animal of the respective species might entail his or her own; just +as the killing of the green bird was immediately followed by the +death of the Indian chief, and the killing of the parrot by the +death of Punchkin in the fairy tale. Thus, for example, the +Wotjobaluk tribe of South-Eastern Australia "held that 'the life of +Ngunungunut (the Bat) is the life of a man, and the life of +Yártatgurk (the Nightjar) is the life of a woman,' and that when +either of these creatures is killed the life of some man or of some +woman is shortened. In such a case every man or every woman in the +camp feared that he or she might be the victim, and from this cause +great fights arose in this tribe. I learn that in these fights, men +on one side and women on the other, it was not at all certain which +would be victorious, for at times the women gave the men a severe +drubbing with their yamsticks, while often women were injured or +killed by spears." The Wotjobaluk said that the bat was the man's +"brother" and that the nightjar was his "wife." The particular +species of animals with which the lives of the sexes were believed +to be respectively bound up varied somewhat from tribe to tribe. +Thus whereas among the Wotjobaluk the bat was the animal of the men, +at Gunbower Creek on the Lower Murray the bat seems to have been the +animal of the women, for the natives would not kill it for the +reason that "if it was killed, one of their lubras [women] would be +sure to die in consequence." But whatever the particular sorts of +creature with which the lives of men and women were believed to be +bound up, the belief itself and the fights to which it gave rise are +known to have prevailed over a large part of South-Eastern +Australia, and probably they extended much farther. The belief was a +very serious one, and so consequently were the fights which sprang +from it. Thus among some tribes of Victoria "the common bat belongs +to the men, who protect it against injury, even to the half-killing +of their wives for its sake. The fern owl, or large goatsucker, +belongs to the women, and, although a bird of evil omen, creating +terror at night by its cry, it is jealously protected by them. If a +man kills one, they are as much enraged as if it was one of their +children, and will strike him with their long poles." + +The jealous protection thus afforded by Australian men and women to +bats and owls respectively (for bats and owls seem to be the +creatures usually allotted to the two sexes) is not based upon +purely selfish considerations. For each man believes that not only +his own life but the lives of his father, brothers, sons, and so on +are bound up with the lives of particular bats, and that therefore +in protecting the bat species he is protecting the lives of all his +male relations as well as his own. Similarly, each woman believes +that the lives of her mother, sisters, daughters, and so forth, +equally with her own, are bound up with the lives of particular +owls, and that in guarding the owl species she is guarding the lives +of all her female relations besides her own. Now, when men's lives +are thus supposed to be contained in certain animals, it is obvious +that the animals can hardly be distinguished from the men, or the +men from the animals. If my brother John's life is in a bat, then, +on the one hand, the bat is my brother as well as John; and, on the +other hand, John is in a sense a bat, since his life is in a bat. +Similarly, if my sister Mary's life is in an owl, then the owl is my +sister and Mary is an owl. This is a natural enough conclusion, and +the Australians have not failed to draw it. When the bat is the +man's animal, it is called his brother; and when the owl is the +woman's animal, it is called her sister. And conversely a man +addresses a woman as an owl, and she addresses him as a bat. So with +the other animals allotted to the sexes respectively in other +tribes. For example, among the Kurnai all emu-wrens were "brothers" +of the men, and all the men were emu-wrens; all superb warblers were +"sisters" of the women, and all the women were superb warblers. + +But when a savage names himself after an animal, calls it his +brother, and refuses to kill it, the animal is said to be his totem. +Accordingly in the tribes of South-Eastern Australia which we have +been considering the bat and the owl, the emu-wren and the superb +warbler, may properly be described as totems of the sexes. But the +assignation of a totem to a sex is comparatively rare, and has +hitherto been discovered nowhere but in Australia. Far more commonly +the totem is appropriated not to a sex, but to a clan, and is +hereditary either in the male or female line. The relation of an +individual to the clan totem does not differ in kind from his +relation to the sex totem; he will not kill it, he speaks of it as +his brother, and he calls himself by its name. Now if the relations +are similar, the explanation which holds good of the one ought +equally to hold good of the other. Therefore, the reason why a clan +revere a particular species of animals or plants (for the clan totem +may be a plant) and call themselves after it, would seem to be a +belief that the life of each individual of the clan is bound up with +some one animal or plant of the species, and that his or her death +would be the consequence of killing that particular animal, or +destroying that particular plant. This explanation of totemism +squares very well with Sir George Grey's definition of a totem or +_kobong_ in Western Australia. He says: "A certain mysterious +connexion exists between a family and its _kobong,_ so that a member +of the family will never kill an animal of the species to which his +_kobong_ belongs, should he find it asleep; indeed he always kills +it reluctantly, and never without affording it a chance to escape. +This arises from the family belief that some one individual of the +species is their nearest friend, to kill whom would be a great +crime, and to be carefully avoided. Similarly, a native who has a +vegetable for his _kobong_ may not gather it under certain +circumstances, and at a particular period of the year." Here it will +be observed that though each man spares all the animals or plants of +the species, they are not all equally precious to him; far from it, +out of the whole species there is only one which is specially dear +to him; but as he does not know which the dear one is, he is obliged +to spare them all from fear of injuring the one. Again, this +explanation of the clan totem harmonises with the supposed effect of +killing one of the totem species. "One day one of the blacks killed +a crow. Three or four days afterwards a Boortwa (crow) [_i.e._ a man +of the Crow clan] named Larry died. He had been ailing for some +days, but the killing of his _wingong_ [totem] hastened his death." +Here the killing of the crow caused the death of a man of the Crow +clan, exactly as, in the case of the sex-totems, the killing of a +bat causes the death of a Bat-man or the killing of an owl causes +the death of an Owl-woman. Similarly, the killing of his _nagual_ +causes the death of a Central American Indian, the killing of his +bush soul causes the death of a Calabar negro, the killing of his +_tamaniu_ causes the death of a Banks Islander, and the killing of +the animal in which his life is stowed away causes the death of the +giant or warlock in the fairy tale. + +Thus it appears that the story of "The giant who had no heart in his +body" may perhaps furnish the key to the relation which is supposed +to subsist between a man and his totem. The totem, on this theory, +is simply the receptacle in which a man keeps his life, as Punchkin +kept his life in a parrot, and Bidasari kept her soul in a golden +fish. It is no valid objection to this view that when a savage has +both a sex totem and a clan totem his life must be bound up with two +different animals, the death of either of which would entail his +own. If a man has more vital places than one in his body, why, the +savage may think, should he not have more vital places than one +outside it? Why, since he can put his life outside himself, should +he not transfer one portion of it to one animal and another to +another? The divisibility of life, or, to put it otherwise, the +plurality of souls, is an idea suggested by many familiar facts, and +has commended itself to philosophers like Plato, as well as to +savages. It is only when the notion of a soul, from being a +quasi-scientific hypothesis, becomes a theological dogma that its +unity and indivisibility are insisted upon as essential. The savage, +unshackled by dogma, is free to explain the facts of life by the +assumption of as many souls as he thinks necessary. Hence, for +example, the Caribs supposed that there was one soul in the head, +another in the heart, and other souls at all the places where an +artery is felt pulsating. Some of the Hidatsa Indians explain the +phenomena of gradual death, when the extremities appear dead first, +by supposing that man has four souls, and that they quit the body, +not simultaneously, but one after the other, dissolution being only +complete when all four have departed. Some of the Dyaks of Borneo +and the Malays of the Peninsula believe that every man has seven +souls. The Alfoors of Poso in Celebes are of opinion that he has +three. The natives of Laos suppose that the body is the seat of +thirty spirits, which reside in the hands, the feet, the mouth, the +eyes, and so on. Hence, from the primitive point of view, it is +perfectly possible that a savage should have one soul in his sex +totem and another in his clan totem. However, as I have observed, +sex totems have been found nowhere but in Australia; so that as a +rule the savage who practises totemism need not have more than one +soul out of his body at a time. + +If this explanation of the totem as a receptacle in which a man +keeps his soul or one of his souls is correct, we should expect to +find some totemic people of whom it is expressly said that every man +amongst them is believed to keep at least one soul permanently out +of his body, and that the destruction of this external soul is +supposed to entail the death of its owner. Such a people are the +Bataks of Sumatra. The Bataks are divided into exogamous clans +(_margas_) with descent in the male line; and each clan is forbidden +to eat the flesh of a particular animal. One clan may not eat the +tiger, another the ape, another the crocodile, another the dog, +another the cat, another the dove, another the white buffalo, and +another the locust. The reason given by members of a clan for +abstaining from the flesh of the particular animal is either that +they are descended from animals of that species, and that their +souls after death may transmigrate into the animals, or that they or +their forefathers have been under certain obligations to the +creatures. Sometimes, but not always, the clan bears the name of the +animal. Thus the Bataks have totemism in full. But, further, each +Batak believes that he has seven or, on a more moderate computation, +three souls. One of these souls is always outside the body, but +nevertheless whenever it dies, however far away it may be at the +time, that same moment the man dies also. The writer who mentions +this belief says nothing about the Batak totems; but on the analogy +of the Australian, Central American, and African evidence we may +conjecture that the external soul, whose death entails the death of +the man, is housed in the totemic animal or plant. + +Against this view it can hardly be thought to militate that the +Batak does not in set terms affirm his external soul to be in his +totem, but alleges other grounds for respecting the sacred animal or +plant of his clan. For if a savage seriously believes that his life +is bound up with an external object, it is in the last degree +unlikely that he will let any stranger into the secret. In all that +touches his inmost life and beliefs the savage is exceedingly +suspicious and reserved; Europeans have resided among savages for +years without discovering some of their capital articles of faith, +and in the end the discovery has often been the result of accident. +Above all, the savage lives in an intense and perpetual dread of +assassination by sorcery; the most trifling relics of his +person--the clippings of his hair and nails, his spittle, the +remnants of his food, his very name--all these may, he fancies, be +turned by the sorcerer to his destruction, and he is therefore +anxiously careful to conceal or destroy them. But if in matters such +as these, which are but the outposts and outworks of his life, he is +so shy and secretive, how close must be the concealment, how +impenetrable the reserve in which he enshrouds the inner keep and +citadel of his being! When the princess in the fairy tale asks the +giant where he keeps his soul, he often gives false or evasive +answers, and it is only after much coaxing and wheedling that the +secret is at last wrung from him. In his jealous reticence the giant +resembles the timid and furtive savage; but whereas the exigencies +of the story demand that the giant should at last reveal his secret, +no such obligation is laid on the savage; and no inducement that can +be offered is likely to tempt him to imperil his soul by revealing +its hiding-place to a stranger. It is therefore no matter for +surprise that the central mystery of the savage's life should so +long have remained a secret, and that we should be left to piece it +together from scattered hints and fragments and from the +recollections of it which linger in fairy tales. + + + +4. The Ritual of Death and Resurrection + +THIS view of totemism throws light on a class of religious rites of +which no adequate explanation, so far as I am aware, has yet been +offered. Amongst many savage tribes, especially such as are known to +practice totemism, it is customary for lads at puberty to undergo +certain initiatory rites, of which one of the commonest is a +pretence of killing the lad and bringing him to life again. Such +rites become intelligible if we suppose that their substance +consists in extracting the youth's soul in order to transfer it to +his totem. For the extraction of his soul would naturally be +supposed to kill the youth or at least to throw him into a +death-like trance, which the savage hardly distinguishes from death. +His recovery would then be attributed either to the gradual recovery +of his system from the violent shock which it had received, or, more +probably, to the infusion into him of fresh life drawn from the +totem. Thus the essence of these initiatory rites, so far as they +consist in a simulation of death and resurrection, would be an +exchange of life or souls between the man and his totem. The +primitive belief in the possibility of such an exchange of souls +comes clearly out in a story of a Basque hunter who affirmed that he +had been killed by a bear, but that the bear had, after killing him, +breathed its own soul into him, so that the bear's body was now +dead, but he himself was a bear, being animated by the bear's soul. +This revival of the dead hunter as a bear is exactly analogous to +what, on the theory here suggested, is supposed to take place in the +ceremony of killing a lad at puberty and bringing him to life again. +The lad dies as a man and comes to life again as an animal; the +animal's soul is now in him, and his human soul is in the animal. +With good right, therefore, does he call himself a Bear or a Wolf, +etc., according to his totem; and with good right does he treat the +bears or the wolves, etc., as his brethren, since in these animals +are lodged the souls of himself and his kindred. + +Examples of this supposed death and resurrection at initiation are +as follows. In the Wonghi or Wonghibon tribe of New South Wales the +youths on approaching manhood are initiated at a secret ceremony, +which none but initiated men may witness. Part of the proceedings +consists in knocking out a tooth and giving a new name to the +novice, indicative of the change from youth to manhood. While the +teeth are being knocked out an instrument known as a bull-roarer, +which consists of a flat piece of wood with serrated edges tied to +the end of a string, is swung round so as to produce a loud humming +noise. The uninitiated are not allowed to see this instrument. Women +are forbidden to witness the ceremonies under pain of death. It is +given out that the youths are each met in turn by a mythical being, +called Thuremlin (more commonly known as Daramulun) who takes the +youth to a distance, kills him, and in some instances cuts him up, +after which he restores him to life and knocks out a tooth. Their +belief in the power of Thuremlin is said to be undoubted. + +The Ualaroi of the Upper Darling River said that at initiation the +boy met a ghost, who killed him and brought him to life again as a +young man. Among the natives on the Lower Lachlan and Murray Rivers +it was Thrumalun (Daramulun) who was thought to slay and resuscitate +the novices. In the Unmatjera tribe of Central Australia women and +children believe that a spirit called Twanyirika kills the youth and +afterwards brings him to life again during the period of initiation. +The rites of initiation in this tribe, as in the other Central +tribes, comprise the operations of circumcision and subincision; and +as soon as the second of these has been performed on him, the young +man receives from his father a sacred stick (_churinga_), with +which, he is told, his spirit was associated in the remotest past. +While he is out in the bush recovering from his wounds, he must +swing the bull-roarer, or a being who lives up in the sky will swoop +down and carry him off. In the Binbinga tribe, on the western coast +of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the women and children believe that the +noise of the bull-roarer at initiation is made by a spirit named +Katajalina, who lives in an ant-hill and comes out and eats up the +boy, afterwards restoring him to life. Similarly among their +neighbours the Anula the women imagine that the droning sound of the +bull-roarer is produced by a spirit called Gnabaia, who swallows the +lads at initiation and afterwards disgorges them in the form of +initiated men. + +Among the tribes settled on the southern coast of New South Wales, +of which the Coast Murring tribe may be regarded as typical, the +drama of resurrection from the dead was exhibited in a graphic form +to the novices at initiation. The ceremony has been described for us +by an eye-witness. A man, disguised with stringy bark fibre, lay +down in a grave and was lightly covered up with sticks and earth. In +his hand he held a small bush, which appeared to be growing in the +soil, and other bushes were stuck in the ground to heighten the +effect. Then the novices were brought and placed beside the grave. +Next, a procession of men, disguised in stringy bark fibre, drew +near. They represented a party of medicine-men, guided by two +reverend seniors, who had come on pilgrimage to the grave of a +brother medicine-man, who lay buried there. When the little +procession, chanting an invocation to Daramulun, had defiled from +among the rocks and trees into the open, it drew up on the side of +the grave opposite to the novices, the two old men taking up a +position in the rear of the dancers. For some time the dance and +song went on till the tree that seemed to grow from the grave began +to quiver. "Look there!" cried the men to the novices, pointing to +the trembling leaves. As they looked, the tree quivered more and +more, then was violently agitated and fell to the ground, while amid +the excited dancing of the dancers and the chanting of the choir the +supposed dead man spurned from him the superincumbent mass of sticks +and leaves, and springing to his feet danced his magic dance in the +grave itself, and exhibited in his mouth the magic substances which +he was supposed to have received from Daramulun in person. + +Some tribes of Northern New Guinea--the Yabim, Bukaua, Kai, and +Tami--like many Australian tribes, require every male member of the +tribe to be circumcised before he ranks as a full-grown man; and the +tribal initiation, of which circumcision is the central feature, is +conceived by them, as by some Australian tribes, as a process of +being swallowed and disgorged by a mythical monster, whose voice is +heard in the humming sound of the bull-roarer. Indeed the New Guinea +tribes not only impress this belief on the minds of women and +children, but enact it in a dramatic form at the actual rites of +initiation, at which no woman or uninitiated person may be present. +For this purpose a hut about a hundred feet long is erected either +in the village or in a lonely part of the forest. It is modelled in +the shape of the mythical monster; at the end which represents his +head it is high, and it tapers away at the other end. A betel-palm, +grubbed up with the roots, stands for the backbone of the great +being and its clustering fibres for his hair; and to complete the +resemblance the butt end of the building is adorned by a native +artist with a pair of goggle eyes and a gaping mouth. When after a +tearful parting from their mothers and women folk, who believe or +pretend to believe in the monster that swallows their dear ones, the +awe-struck novices are brought face to face with this imposing +structure, the huge creature emits a sullen growl, which is in fact +no other than the humming note of bull-roarers swung by men +concealed in the monster's belly. The actual process of deglutition +is variously enacted. Among the Tami it is represented by causing +the candidates to defile past a row of men who hold bull-roarers +over their heads; among the Kai it is more graphically set forth by +making them pass under a scaffold on which stands a man, who makes a +gesture of swallowing and takes in fact a gulp of water as each +trembling novice passes beneath him. But the present of a pig, +opportunely offered for the redemption of the youth, induces the +monster to relent and disgorge his victim; the man who represents +the monster accepts the gift vicariously, a gurgling sound is heard, +and the water which had just been swallowed descends in a jet on the +novice. This signifies that the young man has been released from the +monster's belly. However, he has now to undergo the more painful and +dangerous operation of circumcision. It follows immediately, and the +cut made by the knife of the operator is explained to be a bite or +scratch which the monster inflicted on the novice in spewing him out +of his capacious maw. While the operation is proceeding, a +prodigious noise is made by the swinging of bull-roarers to +represent the roar of the dreadful being who is in the act of +swallowing the young man. + +When, as sometimes happens, a lad dies from the effect of the +operation, he is buried secretly in the forest, and his sorrowing +mother is told that the monster has a pig's stomach as well as a +human stomach, and that unfortunately her son slipped into the wrong +stomach, from which it was impossible to extricate him. After they +have been circumcised the lads must remain for some months in +seclusion, shunning all contact with women and even the sight of +them. They live in the long hut which represents the monster's +belly. When at last the lads, now ranking as initiated men, are +brought back with great pomp and ceremony to the village, they are +received with sobs and tears of joy by the women, as if the grave +had given up its dead. At first the young men keep their eyes +rigidly closed or even sealed with a plaster of chalk, and they +appear not to understand the words of command which are given them +by an elder. Gradually, however, they come to themselves as if +awakening from a stupor, and next day they bathe and wash off the +crust of white chalk with which their bodies had been coated. + +It is highly significant that all these tribes of New Guinea apply +the same word to the bull-roarer and to the monster, who is supposed +to swallow the novices at circumcision, and whose fearful roar is +represented by the hum of the harmless wooden instruments. Further, +it deserves to be noted that in three languages out of the four the +same word which is applied to the bull-roarer and to the monster +means also a ghost or spirit of the dead, while in the fourth +language (the Kai) it signifies "grandfather." From this it seems to +follow that the being who swallows and disgorges the novices at +initiation is believed to be a powerful ghost or ancestral spirit, +and that the bull-roarer, which bears his name, is his material +representative. That would explain the jealous secrecy with which +the sacred implement is kept from the sight of women. While they are +not in use, the bull-roarers are stowed away in the men's +club-houses, which no woman may enter; indeed no woman or +uninitiated person may set eyes on a bull-roarer under pain of +death. Similarly among the Tugeri or Kaya-Kaya, a large Papuan tribe +on the south coast of Dutch New Guinea, the name of the bull-roarer, +which they call _sosom,_ is given to a mythical giant, who is +supposed to appear every year with the south-east monsoon. When he +comes, a festival is held in his honour and bull-roarers are swung. +Boys are presented to the giant, and he kills them, but +considerately brings them to life again. + +In certain districts of Viti Levu, the largest of the Fijian +Islands, the drama of death and resurrection used to be acted with +much solemnity before the eyes of young men at initiation. In a +sacred enclosure they were shown a row of dead or seemingly dead men +lying on the ground, their bodies cut open and covered with blood, +their entrails protruding. But at a yell from the high priest the +counterfeit dead men started to their feet and ran down to the river +to cleanse themselves from the blood and guts of pigs with which +they were beslobbered. Soon they marched back to the sacred +enclosure as if come to life, clean, fresh, and garlanded, swaying +their bodies in time to the music of a solemn hymn, and took their +places in front of the novices. Such was the drama of death and +resurrection. + +The people of Rook, an island between New Guinea and New Britain, +hold festivals at which one or two disguised men, their heads +covered with wooden masks, go dancing through the village, followed +by all the other men. They demand that the circumcised boys who have +not yet been swallowed by Marsaba (the devil) shall be given up to +them. The boys, trembling and shrieking, are delivered to them, and +must creep between the legs of the disguised men. Then the +procession moves through the village again, and announces that +Marsaba has eaten up the boys, and will not disgorge them till he +receives a present of pigs, taro, and so forth. So all the +villagers, according to their means, contribute provisions, which +are then consumed in the name of Marsaba. + +In the west of Ceram boys at puberty are admitted to the Kakian +association. Modern writers have commonly regarded this association +as primarily a political league instituted to resist foreign +domination. In reality its objects are purely religious and social, +though it is possible that the priests may have occasionally used +their powerful influence for political ends. The society is in fact +merely one of those widely-diffused primitive institutions, of which +a chief object is the initiation of young men. In recent years the +true nature of the association has been duly recognised by the +distinguished Dutch ethnologist, J. G. F. Riedel. The Kakian house +is an oblong wooden shed, situated under the darkest trees in the +depth of the forest, and is built to admit so little light that it +is impossible to see what goes on in it. Every village has such a +house. Thither the boys who are to be initiated are conducted +blindfold, followed by their parents and relations. Each boy is led +by the hand of two men, who act as his sponsors or guardians, +looking after him during the period of initiation. When all are +assembled before the shed, the high priest calls aloud upon the +devils. Immediately a hideous uproar is heard to proceed from the +shed. It is made by men with bamboo trumpets, who have been secretly +introduced into the building by a back door, but the women and +children think it is made by the devils, and are much terrified. +Then the priests enter the shed, followed by the boys, one at a +time. As soon as each boy has disappeared within the precincts, a +dull chopping sound is heard, a fearful cry rings out, and a sword +or spear, dripping with blood, is thrust through the roof of the +shed. This is a token that the boy's head has been cut off, and that +the devil has carried him away to the other world, there to +regenerate and transform him. So at sight of the bloody sword the +mothers weep and wail, crying that the devil has murdered their +children. In some places, it would seem, the boys are pushed through +an opening made in the shape of a crocodile's jaws or a cassowary's +beak, and it is then said that the devil has swallowed them. The +boys remain in the shed for five or nine days. Sitting in the dark, +they hear the blast of the bamboo trumpets, and from time to time +the sound of musket shots and the clash of swords. Every day they +bathe, and their faces and bodies are smeared with a yellow dye, to +give them the appearance of having been swallowed by the devil. +During his stay in the Kakian house each boy has one or two crosses +tattooed with thorns on his breast or arm. When they are not +sleeping, the lads must sit in a crouching posture without moving a +muscle. As they sit in a row cross-legged, with their hands +stretched out, the chief takes his trumpet, and placing the mouth of +it on the hands of each lad, speaks through it in strange tones, +imitating the voice of the spirits. He warns the lads, under pain of +death, to observe the rules of the Kakian society, and never to +reveal what has passed in the Kakian house. The novices are also +told by the priests to behave well to their blood relations, and are +taught the traditions and secrets of the tribe. + +Meantime the mothers and sisters of the lads have gone home to weep +and mourn. But in a day or two the men who acted as guardians or +sponsors to the novices return to the village with the glad tidings +that the devil, at the intercession of the priests, has restored the +lads to life. The men who bring this news come in a fainting state +and daubed with mud, like messengers freshly arrived from the nether +world. Before leaving the Kakian house, each lad receives from the +priest a stick adorned at both ends with a cock's or cassowary's +feathers. The sticks are supposed to have been given to the lads by +the devil at the time when he restored them to life, and they serve +as a token that the youths have been in the spirit land. When they +return to their homes they totter in their walk, and enter the house +backward, as if they had forgotten how to walk properly; or they +enter the house by the back door. If a plate of food is given to +them, they hold it upside down. They remain dumb, indicating their +wants by signs only. All this is to show that they are still under +the influence of the devil or the spirits. Their sponsors have to +teach them all the common acts of life, as if they were newborn +children. Further, upon leaving the Kakian house the boys are +strictly forbidden to eat of certain fruits until the next +celebration of the rites has taken place. And for twenty or thirty +days their hair may not be combed by their mothers or sisters. At +the end of that time the high priest takes them to a lonely place in +the forest, and cuts off a lock of hair from the crown of each of +their heads. After these initiatory rites the lads are deemed men, +and may marry; it would be a scandal if they married before. + +In the region of the Lower Congo a simulation of death and +resurrection is, or rather used to be, practised by the members of a +guild or secret society called _ndembo._ "In the practice of Ndembo +the initiating doctors get some one to fall down in a pretended fit, +and in that state he is carried away to an enclosed place outside +the town. This is called 'dying Ndembo.' Others follow suit, +generally boys and girls, but often young men and women. . . . They +are supposed to have died. But the parents and friends supply food, +and after a period varying, according to custom, from three months +to three years, it is arranged that the doctor shall bring them to +life again. . . . When the doctor's fee has been paid, and money +(goods) saved for a feast, the _Ndembo_ people are brought to life. +At first they pretend to know no one and nothing; they do not even +know how to masticate food, and friends have to perform that office +for them. They want everything nice that any one uninitiated may +have, and beat them if it is not granted, or even strangle and kill +people. They do not get into trouble for this, because it is thought +that they do not know better. Sometimes they carry on the pretence +of talking gibberish, and behaving as if they had returned from the +spirit-world. After this they are known by another name, peculiar to +those who have 'died Ndembo.' . . . We hear of the custom far along +on the upper river, as well as in the cataract region." + +Among some of the Indian tribes of North America there exist certain +religious associations which are only open to candidates who have +gone through a pretence of being killed and brought to life again. +In 1766 or 1767 Captain Jonathan Carver witnessed the admission of a +candidate to an association called "the friendly society of the +Spirit" (_Wakon-Kitchewah_) among the Naudowessies, a Siouan or +Dacotan tribe in the region of the great lakes. The candidate knelt +before the chief, who told him that "he himself was now agitated by +the same spirit which he should in a few moments communicate to him; +that it would strike him dead, but that he would instantly be +restored again to life; to this he added, that the communication, +however terrifying, was a necessary introduction to the advantages +enjoyed by the community into which he was on the point of being +admitted. As he spoke this, he appeared to be greatly agitated; till +at last his emotions became so violent, that his countenance was +distorted, and his whole frame convulsed. At this juncture he threw +something that appeared both in shape and colour like a small bean, +at the young man, which seemed to enter his mouth, and he instantly +fell as motionless as if he had been shot." For a time the man lay +like dead, but under a shower of blows he showed signs of +consciousness, and finally, discharging from his mouth the bean, or +whatever it was that the chief had thrown at him, he came to life. +In other tribes, for example, the Ojebways, Winnebagoes, and Dacotas +or Sioux, the instrument by which the candidate is apparently slain +is the medicine-bag. The bag is made of the skin of an animal (such +as the otter, wild cat, serpent, bear, raccoon, wolf, owl, weasel), +of which it roughly preserves the shape. Each member of the society +has one of these bags, in which he keeps the odds and ends that make +up his "medicine" or charms. "They believe that from the +miscellaneous contents in the belly of the skin bag or animal there +issues a spirit or breath, which has the power, not only to knock +down and kill a man, but also to set him up and restore him to +life." The mode of killing a man with one of these medicine-bags is +to thrust it at him; he falls like dead, but a second thrust of the +bag restores him to life. + +A ceremony witnessed by the castaway John R. Jewitt during his +captivity among the Indians of Nootka Sound doubtless belongs to +this class of customs. The Indian king or chief "discharged a pistol +close to his son's ear, who immediately fell down as if killed, upon +which all the women of the house set up a most lamentable cry, +tearing handfuls of hair from their heads, and exclaiming that the +prince was dead; at the same time a great number of the inhabitants +rushed into the house armed with their daggers, muskets, etc., +enquiring the cause of their outcry. These were immediately followed +by two others dressed in wolf-skins, with masks over their faces +representing the head of that animal. The latter came in on their +hands and feet in the manner of a beast, and taking up the prince, +carried him off upon their backs, retiring in the same manner they +entered." In another place Jewitt mentions that the young prince--a +lad of about eleven years of age--wore a mask in imitation of a +wolf's head. Now, as the Indians of this part of America are divided +into totem clans, of which the Wolf clan is one of the principal, +and as the members of each clan are in the habit of wearing some +portion of the totem animal about their person, it is probable that +the prince belonged to the Wolf clan, and that the ceremony +described by Jewitt represented the killing of the lad in order that +he might be born anew as a wolf, much in the same way that the +Basque hunter supposed himself to have been killed and to have come +to life again as a bear. + +This conjectural explanation of the ceremony has, since it was first +put forward, been to some extent confirmed by the researches of Dr. +Franz Boas among these Indians; though it would seem that the +community to which the chief's son thus obtained admission was not +so much a totem clan as a secret society called Tlokoala, whose +members imitated wolves. Every new member of the society must be +initiated by the wolves. At night a pack of wolves, personated by +Indians dressed in wolf-skins and wearing wolf-masks, make their +appearance, seize the novice, and carry him into the woods. When the +wolves are heard outside the village, coming to fetch away the +novice, all the members of the society blacken their faces and sing, +"Among all the tribes is great excitement, because I am Tlokoala." +Next day the wolves bring back the novice dead, and the members of +the society have to revive him. The wolves are supposed to have put +a magic stone into his body, which must be removed before he can +come to life. Till this is done the pretended corpse is left lying +outside the house. Two wizards go and remove the stone, which +appears to be quartz, and then the novice is resuscitated. Among the +Niska Indians of British Columbia, who are divided into four +principal clans with the raven, the wolf, the eagle, and the bear +for their respective totems, the novice at initiation is always +brought back by an artificial totem animal. Thus when a man was +about to be initiated into a secret society called Olala, his +friends drew their knives and pretended to kill him. In reality they +let him slip away, while they cut off the head of a dummy which had +been adroitly substituted for him. Then they laid the decapitated +dummy down and covered it over, and the women began to mourn and +wail. His relations gave a funeral banquet and solemnly burnt the +effigy. In short, they held a regular funeral. For a whole year the +novice remained absent and was seen by none but members of the +secret society. But at the end of that time he came back alive, +carried by an artificial animal which represented his totem. + +In these ceremonies the essence of the rite appears to be the +killing of the novice in his character of a man and his restoration +to life in the form of the animal which is thenceforward to be, if +not his guardian spirit, at least linked to him in a peculiarly +intimate relation. It is to be remembered that the Indians of +Guatemala, whose life was bound up with an animal, were supposed to +have the power of appearing in the shape of the particular creature +with which they were thus sympathetically united. Hence it seems not +unreasonable to conjecture that in like manner the Indians of +British Columbia may imagine that their life depends on the life of +some one of that species of creature to which they assimilate +themselves by their costume. At least if that is not an article of +belief with the Columbian Indians of the present day, it may very +well have been so with their ancestors in the past, and thus may +have helped to mould the rites and ceremonies both of the totem +clans and of the secret societies. For though these two sorts of +communities differ in respect of the mode in which membership of +them is obtained--a man being born into his totem clan but admitted +into a secret society later in life--we can hardly doubt that they +are near akin and have their root in the same mode of thought. That +thought, if I am right, is the possibility of establishing a +sympathetic relation with an animal, a spirit, or other mighty +being, with whom a man deposits for safe-keeping his soul or some +part of it, and from whom he receives in return a gift of magical +powers. + +Thus, on the theory here suggested, wherever totemism is found, and +wherever a pretence is made of killing and bringing to life again +the novice at initiation, there may exist or have existed not only a +belief in the possibility of permanently depositing the soul in some +external object--animal, plant, or what not--but an actual intention +of so doing. If the question is put, why do men desire to deposit +their life outside their bodies? the answer can only be that, like +the giant in the fairy tale, they think it safer to do so than to +carry it about with them, just as people deposit their money with a +banker rather than carry it on their persons. We have seen that at +critical periods the life or soul is sometimes temporarily stowed +away in a safe place till the danger is past. But institutions like +totemism are not resorted to merely on special occasions of danger; +they are systems into which every one, or at least every male, is +obliged to be initiated at a certain period of life. Now the period +of life at which initiation takes place is regularly puberty; and +this fact suggests that the special danger which totemism and +systems like it are intended to obviate is supposed not to arise +till sexual maturity has been attained, in fact, that the danger +apprehended is believed to attend the relation of the sexes to each +other. It would be easy to prove by a long array of facts that the +sexual relation is associated in the primitive mind with many +serious perils; but the exact nature of the danger apprehended is +still obscure. We may hope that a more exact acquaintance with +savage modes of thought will in time disclose this central mystery +of primitive society, and will thereby furnish the clue, not only to +totemism, but to the origin of the marriage system. + + + + +LXVIII. The Golden Bough + +THUS the view that Balder's life was in the mistletoe is entirely in +harmony with primitive modes of thought. It may indeed sound like a +contradiction that, if his life was in the mistletoe, he should +nevertheless have been killed by a blow from the plant. But when a +person's life is conceived as embodied in a particular object, with +the existence of which his own existence is inseparably bound up, +and the destruction of which involves his own, the object in +question may be regarded and spoken of indifferently as his life or +his death, as happens in the fairy tales. Hence if a man's death is +in an object, it is perfectly natural that he should be killed by a +blow from it. In the fairy tales Koshchei the Deathless is killed by +a blow from the egg or the stone in which his life or death is +secreted; the ogres burst when a certain grain of sand--doubtless +containing their life or death--is carried over their heads; the +magician dies when the stone in which his life or death is contained +is put under his pillow; and the Tartar hero is warned that he may +be killed by the golden arrow or golden sword in which his soul has +been stowed away. + +The idea that the life of the oak was in the mistletoe was probably +suggested, as I have said, by the observation that in winter the +mistletoe growing on the oak remains green while the oak itself is +leafless. But the position of the plant--growing not from the ground +but from the trunk or branches of the tree--might confirm this idea. +Primitive man might think that, like himself, the oak-spirit had +sought to deposit his life in some safe place, and for this purpose +had pitched on the mistletoe, which, being in a sense neither on +earth nor in heaven, might be supposed to be fairly out of harm's +way. In a former chapter we saw that primitive man seeks to preserve +the life of his human divinities by keeping them poised between +earth and heaven, as the place where they are least likely to be +assailed by the dangers that encompass the life of man on earth. We +can therefore understand why it has been a rule both of ancient and +of modern folk-medicine that the mistletoe should not be allowed to +touch the ground; were it to touch the ground, its healing virtue +would be gone. This may be a survival of the old superstition that +the plant in which the life of the sacred tree was concentrated +should not be exposed to the risk incurred by contact with the +earth. In an Indian legend, which offers a parallel to the Balder +myth, Indra swore to the demon Namuci that he would slay him neither +by day nor by night, neither with staff nor with bow, neither with +the palm of the hand nor with the fist, neither with the wet nor +with the dry. But he killed him in the morning twilight by +sprinkling over him the foam of the sea. The foam of the sea is just +such an object as a savage might choose to put his life in, because +it occupies that sort of intermediate or nondescript position +between earth and sky or sea and sky in which primitive man sees +safety. It is therefore not surprising that the foam of the river +should be the totem of a clan in India. + +Again, the view that the mistletoe owes its mystic character partly +to its not growing on the ground is confirmed by a parallel +superstition about the mountain-ash or rowan-tree. In Jutland a +rowan that is found growing out of the top of another tree is +esteemed "exceedingly effective against witchcraft: since it does +not grow on the ground witches have no power over it; if it is to +have its full effect it must be cut on Ascension Day." Hence it is +placed over doors to prevent the ingress of witches. In Sweden and +Norway, also, magical properties are ascribed to a "flying-rowan" +(_flögrönn_), that is to a rowan which is found growing not in the +ordinary fashion on the ground but on another tree, or on a roof, or +in a cleft of the rock, where it has sprouted from seed scattered by +birds. They say that a man who is out in the dark should have a bit +of "flying-rowan" with him to chew; else he runs a risk of being +bewitched and of being unable to stir from the spot. Just as in +Scandinavia the parasitic rowan is deemed a countercharm to sorcery, +so in Germany the parasitic mistletoe is still commonly considered a +protection against witch-craft, and in Sweden, as we saw, the +mistletoe which is gathered on Midsummer Eve is attached to the +ceiling of the house, the horse's stall or the cow's crib, in the +belief that this renders the Troll powerless to injure man or beast. + +The view that the mistletoe was not merely the instrument of +Balder's death, but that it contained his life, is countenanced by +the analogy of a Scottish superstition. Tradition ran that the fate +of the Hays of Errol, an estate in Perthshire, near the Firth of +Tay, was bound up with the mistletoe that grew on a certain great +oak. A member of the Hay family has recorded the old belief as +follows: "Among the low country families the badges are now almost +generally forgotten; but it appears by an ancient MS., and the +tradition of a few old people in Perthshire, that the badge of the +Hays was the mistletoe. There was formerly in the neighbourhood of +Errol, and not far from the Falcon stone, a vast oak of an unknown +age, and upon which grew a profusion of the plant: many charms and +legends were considered to be connected with the tree, and the +duration of the family of Hay was said to be united with its +existence. It was believed that a sprig of the mistletoe cut by a +Hay on Allhallowmas eve, with a new dirk, and after surrounding the +tree three times sunwise, and pronouncing a certain spell, was a +sure charm against all glamour or witchery, and an infallible guard +in the day of battle. A spray gathered in the same manner was placed +in the cradle of infants, and thought to defend them from being +changed for elfbairns by the fairies. Finally, it was affirmed, that +when the root of the oak had perished, 'the grass should grow in the +hearth of Errol, and a raven should sit in the falcon's nest.' The +two most unlucky deeds which could be done by one of the name of Hay +was, to kill a white falcon, and to cut down a limb from the oak of +Errol. When the old tree was destroyed I could never learn. The +estate has been sold out of the family of Hay, and of course it is +said that the fatal oak was cut down a short time before." The old +superstition is recorded in verses which are traditionally ascribed +to Thomas the Rhymer: + + + While the mistletoe bats on Errol's aik, + And that aik stands fast, + The Hays shall flourish, and their good grey hawk + Shall nocht flinch before the blast. + + But when the root of the aik decays, + And the mistletoe dwines on its withered breast, + The grass shall grow on Errol's hearthstane, + And the corbie roup in the falcon's nest. + + +It is not a new opinion that the Golden Bough was the mistletoe. +True, Virgil does not identify but only compares it with mistletoe. +But this may be only a poetical device to cast a mystic glamour over +the humble plant. Or, more probably, his description was based on a +popular superstition that at certain times the mistletoe blazed out +into a supernatural golden glory. The poet tells how two doves, +guiding Aeneas to the gloomy vale in whose depth grew the Golden +Bough, alighted upon a tree, "whence shone a flickering gleam of +gold. As in the woods in winter cold the mistletoe--a plant not +native to its tree--is green with fresh leaves and twines its yellow +berries about the boles; such seemed upon the shady holm-oak the +leafy gold, so rustled in the gentle breeze the golden leaf." Here +Virgil definitely describes the Golden Bough as growing on a +holm-oak, and compares it with the mistletoe. The inference is +almost inevitable that the Golden Bough was nothing but the +mistletoe seen through the haze of poetry or of popular +superstition. + +Now grounds have been shown for believing that the priest of the +Arician grove--the King of the Wood--personified the tree on which +grew the Golden Bough. Hence if that tree was the oak, the King of +the Wood must have been a personification of the oakspirit. It is, +therefore, easy to understand why, before he could be slain, it was +necessary to break the Golden Bough. As an oak-spirit, his life or +death was in the mistletoe on the oak, and so long as the mistletoe +remained intact, he, like Balder, could not die. To slay him, +therefore, it was necessary to break the mistletoe, and probably, as +in the case of Balder, to throw it at him. And to complete the +parallel, it is only necessary to suppose that the King of the Wood +was formerly burned, dead or alive, at the midsummer fire festival +which, as we have seen, was annually celebrated in the Arician +grove. The perpetual fire which burned in the grove, like the +perpetual fire which burned in the temple of Vesta at Rome and under +the oak at Romove, was probably fed with the sacred oak-wood; and +thus it would be in a great fire of oak that the King of the Wood +formerly met his end. At a later time, as I have suggested, his +annual tenure of office was lengthened or shortened, as the case +might be, by the rule which allowed him to live so long as he could +prove his divine right by the strong hand. But he only escaped the +fire to fall by the sword. + +Thus it seems that at a remote age in the heart of Italy, beside the +sweet Lake of Nemi, the same fiery tragedy was annually enacted +which Italian merchants and soldiers were afterwards to witness +among their rude kindred, the Celts of Gaul, and which, if the Roman +eagles had ever swooped on Norway, might have been found repeated +with little difference among the barbarous Aryans of the North. The +rite was probably an essential feature in the ancient Aryan worship +of the oak. + +It only remains to ask, Why was the mistletoe called the Golden +Bough? The whitish-yellow of the mistletoe berries is hardly enough +to account for the name, for Virgil says that the bough was +altogether golden, stems as well as leaves. Perhaps the name may be +derived from the rich golden yellow which a bough of mistletoe +assumes when it has been cut and kept for some months; the bright +tint is not confined to the leaves, but spreads to the stalks as +well, so that the whole branch appears to be indeed a Golden Bough. +Breton peasants hang up great bunches of mistletoe in front of their +cottages, and in the month of June these bunches are conspicuous for +the bright golden tinge of their foliage. In some parts of Brittany, +especially about Morbihan, branches of mistletoe are hung over the +doors of stables and byres to protect the horses and cattle, +probably against witchcraft. + +The yellow colour of the withered bough may partly explain why the +mistletoe has been sometimes supposed to possess the property of +disclosing treasures in the earth; for on the principles of +homoeopathic magic there is a natural affinity between a yellow +bough and yellow gold. This suggestion is confirmed by the analogy +of the marvellous properties popularly ascribed to the mythical +fern-seed, which is popularly supposed to bloom like gold or fire on +Midsummer Eve. Thus in Bohemia it is said that "on St. John's Day +fern-seed blooms with golden blossoms that gleam like fire." Now it +is a property of this mythical fern-seed that whoever has it, or +will ascend a mountain holding it in his hand on Midsummer Eve, will +discover a vein of gold or will see the treasures of the earth +shining with a bluish flame. In Russia they say that if you succeed +in catching the wondrous bloom of the fern at midnight on Midsummer +Eve, you have only to throw it up into the air, and it will fall +like a star on the very spot where a treasure lies hidden. In +Brittany treasure-seekers gather fern-seed at midnight on Midsummer +Eve, and keep it till Palm Sunday of the following year; then they +strew the seed on the ground where they think a treasure is +concealed. Tyrolese peasants imagine that hidden treasures can be +seen glowing like flame on Midsummer Eve, and that fern-seed, +gathered at this mystic season, with the usual precautions, will +help to bring the buried gold to the surface. In the Swiss canton of +Freiburg people used to watch beside a fern on St. John's night in +the hope of winning a treasure, which the devil himself sometimes +brought to them. In Bohemia they say that he who procures the golden +bloom of the fern at this season has thereby the key to all hidden +treasures; and that if maidens will spread a cloth under the +fast-fading bloom, red gold will drop into it. And in the Tryol and +Bohemia if you place fern-seed among money, the money will never +decrease, however much of it you spend. Sometimes the fern-seed is +supposed to bloom on Christmas night, and whoever catches it will +become very rich. In Styria they say that by gathering fern-seed on +Christmas night you can force the devil to bring you a bag of money. + +Thus, on the principle of like by like, fern-seed is supposed to +discover gold because it is itself golden; and for a similar reason +it enriches its possessor with an unfailing supply of gold. But +while the fern-seed is described as golden, it is equally described +as glowing and fiery. Hence, when we consider that two great days +for gathering the fabulous seed are Midsummer Eve and +Christmas--that is, the two solstices (for Christmas is nothing but +an old heathen celebration of the winter solstice)--we are led to +regard the fiery aspect of the fern-seed as primary, and its golden +aspect as secondary and derivative. Fern-seed, in fact, would seem +to be an emanation of the sun's fire at the two turning-points of +its course, the summer and winter solstices. This view is confirmed +by a German story in which a hunter is said to have procured +fern-seed by shooting at the sun on Midsummer Day at noon; three +drops of blood fell down, which he caught in a white cloth, and +these blood-drops were the fern-seed. Here the blood is clearly the +blood of the sun, from which the fern-seed is thus directly derived. +Thus it may be taken as probable that fern-seed is golden, because +it is believed to be an emanation of the sun's golden fire. + +Now, like fern-seed, the mistletoe is gathered either at Midsummer +or at Christmas--that is, either at the summer or at the winter +solstice--and, like fern-seed, it is supposed to possess the power +of revealing treasures in the earth. On Midsummer Eve people in +Sweden make divining-rods of mistletoe, or of four different kinds +of wood one of which must be mistletoe. The treasure-seeker places +the rod on the ground after sundown, and when it rests directly over +treasure, the rod begins to move as if it were alive. Now, if the +mistletoe discovers gold, it must be in its character of the Golden +Bough; and if it is gathered at the solstices, must not the Golden +Bough, like the golden fern-seed, be an emanation of the sun's fire? +The question cannot be answered with a simple affirmative. We have +seen that the old Aryans perhaps kindled the solstitial and other +ceremonial fires in part as sun-charms, that is, with the intention +of supplying the sun with fresh fire; and as these fires were +usually made by the friction or combustion of oak-wood, it may have +appeared to the ancient Aryan that the sun was periodically +recruited from the fire which resided in the sacred oak. In other +words, the oak may have seemed to him the original storehouse or +reservoir of the fire which was from time to time drawn out to feed +the sun. But if the life of the oak was conceived to be in the +mistletoe, the mistletoe must on that view have contained the seed +or germ of the fire which was elicited by friction from the wood of +the oak. Thus, instead of saying that the mistletoe was an emanation +of the sun's fire, it might be more correct to say that the sun's +fire was regarded as an emanation of the mistletoe. No wonder, then, +that the mistletoe shone with a golden splendour, and was called the +Golden Bough. Probably, however, like fern-seed, it was thought to +assume its golden aspect only at those stated times, especially +midsummer, when fire was drawn from the oak to light up the sun. At +Pulverbatch, in Shropshire, it was believed within living memory +that the oak-tree blooms on Midsummer Eve and the blossom withers +before daylight. A maiden who wishes to know her lot in marriage +should spread a white cloth under the tree at night, and in the +morning she will find a little dust, which is all that remains of +the flower. She should place the pinch of dust under her pillow, and +then her future husband will appear to her in her dreams. This +fleeting bloom of the oak, if I am right, was probably the mistletoe +in its character of the Golden Bough. The conjecture is confirmed by +the observation that in Wales a real sprig of mistletoe gathered on +Midsummer Eve is similarly placed under the pillow to induce +prophetic dreams; and further the mode of catching the imaginary +bloom of the oak in a white cloth is exactly that which was employed +by the Druids to catch the real mistletoe when it dropped from the +bough of the oak, severed by the golden sickle. As Shropshire +borders on Wales, the belief that the oak blooms on Midsummer Eve +may be Welsh in its immediate origin, though probably the belief is +a fragment of the primitive Aryan creed. In some parts of Italy, as +we saw, peasants still go out on Midsummer morning to search the +oak-trees for the "oil of St. John," which, like the mistletoe, +heals all wounds, and is, perhaps, the mistletoe itself in its +glorified aspect. Thus it is easy to understand how a title like the +Golden Bough, so little descriptive of its usual appearance on the +tree, should have been applied to the seemingly insignificant +parasite. Further, we can perhaps see why in antiquity mistletoe was +believed to possess the remarkable property of extinguishing fire, +and why in Sweden it is still kept in houses as a safeguard against +conflagration. Its fiery nature marks it out, on homoeopathic +principles, as the best possible cure or preventive of injury by +fire. + +These considerations may partially explain why Virgil makes Aeneas +carry a glorified bough of mistletoe with him on his descent into +the gloomy subterranean world. The poet describes how at the very +gates of hell there stretched a vast and gloomy wood, and how the +hero, following the flight of two doves that lured him on, wandered +into the depths of the immemorial forest till he saw afar off +through the shadows of the trees the flickering light of the Golden +Bough illuminating the matted boughs overhead. If the mistletoe, as +a yellow withered bough in the sad autumn woods, was conceived to +contain the seed of fire, what better companion could a forlorn +wanderer in the nether shades take with him than a bough that would +be a lamp to his feet as well as a rod and staff to his hands? Armed +with it he might boldly confront the dreadful spectres that would +cross his path on his adventurous journey. Hence when Aeneas, +emerging from the forest, comes to the banks of Styx, winding slow +with sluggish stream through the infernal marsh, and the surly +ferryman refuses him passage in his boat, he has but to draw the +Golden Bough from his bosom and hold it up, and straightway the +blusterer quails at the sight and meekly receives the hero into his +crazy bark, which sinks deep in the water under the unusual weight +of the living man. Even in recent times, as we have seen, mistletoe +has been deemed a protection against witches and trolls, and the +ancients may well have credited it with the same magical virtue. And +if the parasite can, as some of our peasants believe, open all +locks, why should it not have served as an "open Sesame" in the +hands of Aeneas to unlock the gates of death? + +Now, too, we can conjecture why Virbius at Nemi came to be +confounded with the sun. If Virbius was, as I have tried to show, a +tree-spirit, he must have been the spirit of the oak on which grew +the Golden Bough; for tradition represented him as the first of the +Kings of the Wood. As an oak-spirit he must have been supposed +periodically to rekindle the sun's fire, and might therefore easily +be confounded with the sun itself. Similarly we can explain why +Balder, an oak-spirit, was described as "so fair of face and so +shining that a light went forth from him," and why he should have +been so often taken to be the sun. And in general we may say that in +primitive society, when the only known way of making fire is by the +friction of wood, the savage must necessarily conceive of fire as a +property stored away, like sap or juice, in trees, from which he has +laboriously to extract it. The Senal Indians of California "profess +to believe that the whole world was once a globe of fire, whence +that element passed up into the trees, and now comes out whenever +two pieces of wood are rubbed together." Similarly the Maidu Indians +of California hold that "the earth was primarily a globe of molten +matter, and from that the principle of fire ascended through the +roots into the trunk and branches of trees, whence the Indians can +extract it by means of their drill." In Namoluk, one of the Caroline +Islands, they say that the art of making fire was taught men by the +gods. Olofaet, the cunning master of flames, gave fire to the bird +_mwi_ and bade him carry it to earth in his bill. So the bird flew +from tree to tree and stored away the slumbering force of the fire +in the wood, from which men can elicit it by friction. In the +ancient Vedic hymns of India the fire-god Agni "is spoken of as born +in wood, as the embryo of plants, or as distributed in plants. He is +also said to have entered into all plants or to strive after them. +When he is called the embryo of trees or of trees as well as plants, +there may be a side-glance at the fire produced in forests by the +friction of the boughs of trees." + +A tree which has been struck by lightning is naturally regarded by +the savage as charged with a double or triple portion of fire; for +has he not seen the mighty flash enter into the trunk with his own +eyes? Hence perhaps we may explain some of the many superstitious +beliefs concerning trees that have been struck by lightning. When +the Thompson Indians of British Columbia wished to set fire to the +houses of their enemies, they shot at them arrows which were either +made from a tree that had been struck by lightning or had splinters +of such wood attached to them. Wendish peasants of Saxony refuse to +burn in their stoves the wood of trees that have been struck by +lightning; they say that with such fuel the house would be burnt +down. In like manner the Thonga of South Africa will not use such +wood as fuel nor warm themselves at a fire which has been kindled +with it. On the contrary, when lightning sets fire to a tree, the +Winamwanga of Northern Rhodesia put out all the fires in the village +and plaster the fireplaces afresh, while the head men convey the +lightning-kindled fire to the chief, who prays over it. The chief +then sends out the new fire to all his villages, and the villagers +reward his messengers for the boon. This shows that they look upon +fire kindled by lightning with reverence, and the reverence is +intelligible, for they speak of thunder and lightning as God himself +coming down to earth. Similarly the Maidu Indians of California +believe that a Great Man created the world and all its inhabitants, +and that lightning is nothing but the Great Man himself descending +swiftly out of heaven and rending the trees with his flaming arms. + +It is a plausible theory that the reverence which the ancient +peoples of Europe paid to the oak, and the connexion which they +traced between the tree and their sky-god, were derived from the +much greater frequency with which the oak appears to be struck by +lightning than any other tree of our European forests. This +peculiarity of the tree has seemingly been established by a series +of observations instituted within recent years by scientific +enquirers who have no mythological theory to maintain. However we +may explain it, whether by the easier passage of electricity through +oak-wood than through any other timber, or in some other way, the +fact itself may well have attracted the notice of our rude +forefathers, who dwelt in the vast forests which then covered a +large part of Europe; and they might naturally account for it in +their simple religious way by supposing that the great sky-god, whom +they worshipped and whose awful voice they heard in the roll of +thunder, loved the oak above all the trees of the wood and often +descended into it from the murky cloud in a flash of lightning, +leaving a token of his presence or of his passage in the riven and +blackened trunk and the blasted foliage. Such trees would +thenceforth be encircled by a nimbus of glory as the visible seats +of the thundering sky-god. Certain it is that, like some savages, +both Greeks and Romans identified their great god of the sky and of +the oak with the lightning flash which struck the ground; and they +regularly enclosed such a stricken spot and treated it thereafter as +sacred. It is not rash to suppose that the ancestors of the Celts +and Germans in the forests of Central Europe paid a like respect for +like reasons to a blasted oak. + +This explanation of the Aryan reverence for the oak and of the +association of the tree with the great god of the thunder and the +sky, was suggested or implied long ago by Jacob Grimm, and has been +in recent years powerfully reinforced by Mr. W. Warde Fowler. It +appears to be simpler and more probable than the explanation which I +formerly adopted, namely, that the oak was worshipped primarily for +the many benefits which our rude forefathers derived from the tree, +particularly for the fire which they drew by friction from its wood; +and that the connexion of the oak with the sky was an after-thought +based on the belief that the flash of lightning was nothing but the +spark which the sky-god up aloft elicited by rubbing two pieces of +oak-wood against each other, just as his savage worshipper kindled +fire in the forest on earth. On that theory the god of the thunder +and the sky was derived from the original god of the oak; on the +present theory, which I now prefer, the god of the sky and the +thunder was the great original deity of our Aryan ancestors, and his +association with the oak was merely an inference based on the +frequency with which the oak was seen to be struck by lightning. If +the Aryans, as some think, roamed the wide steppes of Russia or +Central Asia with their flocks and herds before they plunged into +the gloom of the European forests, they may have worshipped the god +of the blue or cloudy firmament and the flashing thunderbolt long +before they thought of associating him with the blasted oaks in +their new home. + +Perhaps the new theory has the further advantage of throwing light +on the special sanctity ascribed to mistletoe which grows on an oak. +The mere rarity of such a growth on an oak hardly suffices to +explain the extent and the persistence of the superstition. A hint +of its real origin is possibly furnished by the statement of Pliny +that the Druids worshipped the plant because they believed it to +have fallen from heaven and to be a token that the tree on which it +grew was chosen by the god himself. Can they have thought that the +mistletoe dropped on the oak in a flash of lightning? The conjecture +is confirmed by the name thunder-besom which is applied to mistletoe +in the Swiss canton of Aargau, for the epithet clearly implies a +close connexion between the parasite and the thunder; indeed +"thunder-besom" is a popular name in Germany for any bushy nest-like +excrescence growing on a branch, because such a parasitic growth is +actually believed by the ignorant to be a product of lightning. If +there is any truth in this conjecture, the real reason why the +Druids worshipped a mistletoe-bearing oak above all other trees of +the forest was a belief that every such oak had not only been struck +by lightning but bore among its branches a visible emanation of the +celestial fire; so that in cutting the mistletoe with mystic rites +they were securing for themselves all the magical properties of a +thunder-bolt. If that was so, we must apparently conclude that the +mistletoe was deemed an emanation of the lightning rather than, as I +have thus far argued, of the midsummer sun. Perhaps, indeed, we +might combine the two seemingly divergent views by supposing that in +the old Aryan creed the mistletoe descended from the sun on +Midsummer Day in a flash of lightning. But such a combination is +artificial and unsupported, so far as I know, by any positive +evidence. Whether on mythical principles the two interpretations can +really be reconciled with each other or not, I will not presume to +say; but even should they prove to be discrepant, the inconsistency +need not have prevented our rude forefathers from embracing both of +them at the same time with an equal fervour of conviction; for like +the great majority of mankind the savage is above being hidebound by +the trammels of a pedantic logic. In attempting to track his devious +thought through the jungle of crass ignorance and blind fear, we +must always remember that we are treading enchanted ground, and must +beware of taking for solid realities the cloudy shapes that cross +our path or hover and gibber at us through the gloom. We can never +completely replace ourselves at the standpoint of primitive man, see +things with his eyes, and feel our hearts beat with the emotions +that stirred his. All our theories concerning him and his ways must +therefore fall far short of certainty; the utmost we can aspire to +in such matters is a reasonable degree of probability. + +To conclude these enquiries we may say that if Balder was indeed, as +I have conjectured, a personification of a mistletoe-bearing oak, +his death by a blow of the mistletoe might on the new theory be +explained as a death by a stroke of lightning. So long as the +mistletoe, in which the flame of the lightning smouldered, was +suffered to remain among the boughs, so long no harm could befall +the good and kindly god of the oak, who kept his life stowed away +for safety between earth and heaven in the mysterious parasite; but +when once that seat of his life, or of his death, was torn from the +branch and hurled at the trunk, the tree fell--the god died--smitten +by a thunderbolt. + +And what we have said of Balder in the oak forests of Scandinavia +may perhaps, with all due diffidence in a question so obscure and +uncertain, be applied to the priest of Diana, the King of the Wood, +at Aricia in the oak forests of Italy. He may have personated in +flesh and blood the great Italian god of the sky, Jupiter, who had +kindly come down from heaven in the lightning flash to dwell among +men in the mistletoe--the thunder-besom--the Golden Bough--growing +on the sacred oak in the dells of Nemi. If that was so, we need not +wonder that the priest guarded with drawn sword the mystic bough +which contained the god's life and his own. The goddess whom he +served and married was herself, if I am right, no other than the +Queen of Heaven, the true wife of the sky-god. For she, too, loved +the solitude of the woods and the lonely hills, and sailing overhead +on clear nights in the likeness of the silver moon looked down with +pleasure on her own fair image reflected on the calm, the burnished +surface of the lake, Diana's Mirror. + + + +LXIX. Farewell to Nemi + +WE are at the end of our enquiry, but as often happens in the search +after truth, if we have answered one question, we have raised many +more; if we have followed one track home, we have had to pass by +others that opened off it and led, or seemed to lead, to far other +goals than the sacred grove at Nemi. Some of these paths we have +followed a little way; others, if fortune should be kind, the writer +and the reader may one day pursue together. For the present we have +journeyed far enough together, and 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, of hope and +encouragement, to be drawn from the melancholy record of human error +and folly which has engaged our attention in this book. + +If then we consider, on the one hand, the essential similarity of +man's chief wants everywhere and at all times, and on the other +hand, the wide difference between the means he has adopted to +satisfy them in different ages, we shall perhaps be disposed to +conclude that the movement of the higher thought, so far as we can +trace it, has on the whole been from magic through religion to +science. In magic man depends on his own strength to meet the +difficulties and dangers that beset him on every side. He believes +in a certain established order of nature on which he can surely +count, and which he can manipulate for his own ends. When he +discovers his mistake, when he recognises sadly that both the order +of nature which he had assumed and the control which he had believed +himself to exercise over it were purely imaginary, he ceases to rely +on his own intelligence and his own unaided efforts, and throws +himself humbly on the mercy of certain great invisible beings behind +the veil of nature, to whom he now ascribes all those far-reaching +powers which he once arrogated to himself. Thus in the acuter minds +magic is gradually superseded by religion, which explains the +succession of natural phenomena as regulated by the will, the +passion, or the caprice of spiritual beings like man in kind, though +vastly superior to him in power. + +But as time goes on this explanation in its turn proves to be +unsatisfactory. For it assumes that the succession of natural events +is not determined by immutable laws, but is to some extent variable +and irregular, and this assumption is not borne out by closer +observation. On the contrary, the more we scrutinise that succession +the more we are struck by the rigid uniformity, the punctual +precision with which, wherever we can follow them, the operations of +nature are carried on. Every great advance in knowledge has extended +the sphere of order and correspondingly restricted the sphere of +apparent disorder in the world, till now we are ready to anticipate +that even in regions where chance and confusion appear still to +reign, a fuller knowledge would everywhere reduce the seeming chaos +to cosmos. Thus the keener minds, still pressing forward to a deeper +solution of the mysteries of the universe, come to reject the +religious theory of nature as inadequate, and to revert in a measure +to the older standpoint of magic by postulating explicitly, what in +magic had only been implicitly assumed, to wit, an inflexible +regularity in the order of natural events, which, if carefully +observed, enables us to foresee their course with certainty and to +act accordingly. In short, religion, regarded as an explanation of +nature, is displaced by science. + +But while science has this much in common with magic that both rest +on a faith in order as the underlying principle of all things, +readers of this work will hardly need to be reminded that the order +presupposed by magic differs widely from that which forms the basis +of science. The difference flows naturally from the different modes +in which the two orders have been reached. For whereas the order on +which magic reckons is merely an extension, by false analogy, of the +order in which ideas present themselves to our minds, the order laid +down by science is derived from patient and exact observation of the +phenomena themselves. The abundance, the solidity, and the splendour +of the results already achieved by science are well fitted to +inspire us with a cheerful confidence in the soundness of its +method. Here at last, after groping about in the dark for countless +ages, man has hit upon a clue to the labyrinth, a golden key that +opens many locks in the treasury of nature. It is probably not too +much to say that the hope of progress--moral and intellectual as +well as material--in the future is bound up with the fortunes of +science, and that every obstacle placed in the way of scientific +discovery is a wrong to humanity. + +Yet the history of thought should warn us against concluding that +because the scientific theory of the world is the best that has yet +been formulated, it is necessarily complete and final. We must +remember that at bottom the generalisations of science or, in common +parlance, the laws of nature are merely hypotheses devised to +explain that ever-shifting phantasmagoria of thought which we +dignify with the high-sounding names of the world and the universe. +In the last analysis magic, religion, and science are nothing but +theories of thought; and as science has supplanted its predecessors, +so it may hereafter be itself superseded by some more perfect +hypothesis, perhaps by some totally different way of looking at the +phenomena--of registering the shadows on the screen--of which we in +this generation can form no idea. The advance of knowledge is an +infinite progression towards a goal that for ever recedes. We need +not murmur at the endless pursuit: + + + Fatti non foste a viver come bruti + Ma per seguir virtute e conoscenza. + + +Great things will come of that pursuit, though we may not enjoy +them. Brighter stars will rise on some voyager of the future--some +great Ulysses of the realms of thought--than shine on us. The dreams +of magic may one day be the waking realities of science. But a dark +shadow lies athwart the far end of this fair prospect. For however +vast the increase of knowledge and of power which the future may +have in store for man, he can scarcely hope to stay the sweep of +those great forces which seem to be making silently but relentlessly +for the destruction of all this starry universe in which our earth +swims as a speck or mote. In the ages to come man may be able to +predict, perhaps even to control, the wayward courses of the winds +and clouds, but hardly will his puny hands have strength to speed +afresh our slackening planet in its orbit or rekindle the dying fire +of the sun. Yet the philosopher who trembles at the idea of such +distant catastrophes may console himself by reflecting that these +gloomy apprehensions, like the earth and the sun themselves, are +only parts of that unsubstantial world which thought has conjured up +out of the void, and that the phantoms which the subtle enchantress +has evoked to-day she may ban to-morrow. They too, like so much that +to common eyes seems solid, may melt into air, into thin air. + +Without dipping so far into the future, we may illustrate the course +which thought has hitherto run by likening it to a web woven of +three different threads--the black thread of magic, the red thread +of religion, and the white thread of science, if under science we +may include those simple truths, drawn from observation of nature, +of which men in all ages have possessed a store. Could we then +survey the web of thought from the beginning, we should probably +perceive it to be at first a chequer of black and white, a patchwork +of true and false notions, hardly tinged as yet by the red thread of +religion. But carry your eye farther along the fabric and you will +remark that, while the black and white chequer still runs through +it, there rests on the middle portion of the web, where religion has +entered most deeply into its texture, a dark crimson stain, which +shades off insensibly into a lighter tint as the white thread of +science is woven more and more into the tissue. To a web thus +chequered and stained, thus shot with threads of diverse hues, but +gradually changing colour the farther it is unrolled, the state of +modern thought, with all its divergent aims and conflicting +tendencies, may be compared. Will the great movement which for +centuries has been slowly altering the complexion of thought be +continued in the near future? or will a reaction set in which may +arrest progress and even undo much that has been done? To keep up +our parable, what will be the colour of the web which the Fates are +now weaving on the humming loom of time? will it be white or red? We +cannot tell. A faint glimmering light illumines the backward portion +of the web. Clouds and thick darkness hide the other end. + +Our long voyage of discovery is over and our bark has drooped her +weary sails in port at last. Once more we take the road to Nemi. It +is evening, and as we climb the long slope of the Appian Way up to +the Alban Hills, we look back and see the sky aflame with sunset, +its golden glory resting like the aureole of a dying saint over Rome +and touching with a crest of fire the dome of St. Peter's. The sight +once seen can never be forgotten, but we turn from it and pursue our +way darkling along the mountain side, till we come to Nemi and look +down on the lake in its deep hollow, now fast disappearing in the +evening shadows. The place has changed but little since Diana +received the homage of her worshippers in the sacred grove. The +temple of the sylvan goddess, indeed, has vanished and the King of +the Wood no longer stands sentinel over the Golden Bough. But Nemi's +woods are still green, and as the sunset fades above them in the +west, there comes to us, borne on the swell of the wind, the sound +of the church bells of Aricia ringing the Angelus. _Ave Maria!_ +Sweet and solemn they chime out from the distant town and die +lingeringly away across the wide Campagnan marshes. _Le roi est +mort, vive le roi! Ave Maria!_ + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 3623 *** |