_sqq._
M113 The external soul in Tartar poems.
391 Anton Schiefner, _Heldensagen der Minussinschen Tataren_ (St.
Petersburg, 1859), pp. 172-176.
392 A. Schiefner, _op. cit._ pp. 108-112.
393 A. Schiefner, _op. cit._ pp. 360-364; A. Castren, _Vorlesungen über
die finnische Mythologie_ (St. Petersburg, 1857), pp. 186 _sq._
394 A. Schiefner, _op. cit._ pp. 189-193. In another Tartar poem
(Schiefner, _op. cit._ pp. 390 _sq._) a boy’s soul is shut up by his
enemies in a box. While the soul is in the box, the boy is dead;
when it is taken out, he is restored to life. In the same poem (p.
384) the soul of a horse is kept shut up in a box, because it is
feared the owner of the horse will become the greatest hero on
earth. But these cases are, to some extent, the converse of those in
the text.
M114 The external soul in a Mongolian story and Tartar poems.
395 Schott, “Ueber die Sage von Geser-Chan,” _Abhandlungen der
königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin_, 1851, p. 269.
396 W. Radloff, _Proben der Volkslitteratur der türkischen Stämme
Süd-Sibiriens_, ii. (St. Petersburg, 1868), pp. 237 _sq._
397 W. Radloff, _op. cit._ ii. 531 _sqq._
398 W. Radloff, _op. cit._ iv. (St. Petersburg, 1872) pp. 88 _sq._
399 W. Radloff, _op. cit._ i. (St. Petersburg, 1866) pp. 345 _sq._
M115 The external soul in a Chinese story.
400 J. J. M. de Groot, _The Religious System of China_, iv. (Leyden,
1901) pp. 105 _sq._
M116 The external soul in a story told by the Khasis of Assam.
401 Major P. R. T. Gurdon, _The Khasis_ (London, 1907), pp. 181-184.
M117 The external soul in a Malay poem. Bidasari and the golden fish.
402 G. A. Wilken, “De betrekking tusschen menschen- dieren- en
plantenleven naar het volksgeloof,” _De Indische Gids_, November
1884, pp. 600-602; _id._, “De Simsonsage,” _De Gids_, 1888, No. 5,
pp. 6 _sqq._ (of the separate reprint); _id._, _Verspreide
Geschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), iii. 296-298, 559-561. Compare L. de
Backer, _L’Archipel Indien_ (Paris, 1874), pp. 144-149. The Malay
text of the long poem was published with a Dutch translation and
notes by W. R. van Hoëvell (“Sjaïr Bidasari, een oorspronkelijk
Maleisch Gedicht, uitgegeven en van eene Vertaling en Aanteekeningen
voorzien,” _Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van
Kunsten en Wetenschappen_, xix. (Batavia, 1843) pp. 1-421).
M118 The external soul in a story told in Nias.
403 J. T. Nieuwenhuisen en H. C. B. von Rosenberg, “Verslag omtrent het
eiland Nias,” _Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van
Kunsten en Wetenschappen_, xxx. (Batavia, 1863) p. 111; H.
Sundermann, “Die Insel Nias,” _Allgemeine Missions-Zeitschrift_, xi.
(1884) p. 453; _id._, _Die Insel Nias und die Mission daselbst_
(Barmen, 1905), p. 71. Compare E. Modigliani, _Un Viaggio a Nías_
(Milan, 1890), p. 339.
M119 The external soul in a Hausa story. The king whose life was in a
box. The helpful animals.
404 Major A. J. N. Tremearne, _Hausa Superstitions and Customs_ (London,
1913), pp. 131 _sq._ The original Hausa text of the story appears to
be printed in Major Edgar’s _Litafi na Tatsuniyoyi na Hausa_ (ii.
27), to which Major Tremearne refers (p. 9).
M120 The external soul in a South Nigerian story. The external soul in a
story told by the Ba-Ronga of South Africa. The Clan of the Cat.
405 Major A. G. Leonard, _The Lower Niger and its Tribes_ (London,
1906), pp. 319-321.
406 Henri A. Junod, _Les Chants et les Contes des Ba-ronga_ (Lausanne,
N.D.), pp. 253-256; _id._, _The Life of a South African Tribe_
(Neuchatel, 1912-1913), i. 338 _sq._
M121 The external soul in stories told by the North American Indians. The
ogress whose life was in a hemlock branch.
407 J. Curtin, _Myths and Folk-tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and
Magyars_ (London, 1891), p. 551. The writer does not mention his
authorities.
408 G. B. Grinnell, _Pawnee Hero Stories and Folk-tales_ (New York,
1889), pp. 121 _sqq._, “The Bear Man.”
409 Washington Matthews, “The Mountain Chant: a Navajo Ceremony,” _Fifth
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1887), pp.
406 _sq._
410 Franz Boas, “The Social Organization and the Secret Societies of the
Kwakiutl Indians,” _Report of the United States National Museum for
1895_ (Washington, 1897), p. 373.
M122 The external soul in folk-custom.
M123 The soul removed from the body as a precaution in seasons of danger.
Souls of people collected in a bag at a house-warming. Soul of a
woman put in a chopping-knife at childbirth.
_ 411 Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 63 _sq._
412 B. F. Matthes, _Bijdragen tot de Ethnologie van Zuid-Celebes_ (The
Hague, 1875), p. 54.
413 A. C. Kruijt, “Een en ander aangaande het geestelijk en
maatschappelijk leven van den Poso-Alfoer,” _Mededeelingen van wege
het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, xxxix. (1895) pp. 23 _sq._;
_id._, “Van Paloppo naar Posso,” _Mededeelingen van wege het
Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, xlii. (1898) p. 72. As to the
_lamoa_ in general, see A. C. Kruijt, _op. cit._ xl. (1896) pp. 10
_sq._
414 A. C. Kruijt, “Het koppensnellen der Toradja’s van Midden-Celebes,
en zijne beteekenis,” _Verslagen en Mededeelingen der koninklijke
Akademie der Wetenschappen_, Afdeeling Letterkunde, iv. Reeks, iii.
(Amsterdam, 1899) pp. 201 _sq._; _id._, “Het ijzer in
Midden-Celebes,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch- Indië_, liii. (1901) pp. 156 _sq._ Both the
interpretations in the text appear to be inferences drawn by Mr.
Kruijt from the statement of the natives, that, if they did not hang
up these wooden models in the smithy, “the iron would flow away and
be unworkable” (“_zou het ijzer vervloeien en onbewerkbaar
worden_”).
M124 Soul of a child put for safety in an empty coco-nut or a bag. Souls
of people in ornaments, horns, a column, and so forth. The souls of
Egyptian kings in portrait statues. A man’s life bound up with the
fire in his lodge.
415 A. H. B. Agerbeek, “Enkele gebruiken van de Dajaksche bevolking der
Pinoehlanden,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en
Volkenkunde_, li. (1909) pp. 447 _sq._
416 J. A. Jacobsen, _Reisen in die Inselwelt des Banda-Meeres_ (Berlin,
1896), p. 199.
417 In a long list of female ornaments the prophet Isaiah mentions (iii.
20) “houses of the soul” (בת הנפש) or (שפנה תב), which modern
scholars suppose to have been perfume boxes, as the Revised English
Version translates the phrase. The name, literally translated
“houses of the soul,” suggests that these trinkets were amulets of
the kind mentioned in the text. See my article, “Folk-lore in the
Old Testament,” _Anthropological Essays presented to E. B. Tylor_
(Oxford, 1907), pp. 148 _sqq._ In ancient Egyptian tombs there are
often found plaques or palettes of schist bearing traces of paint;
some of them are decorated with engravings of animals or historical
scenes, others are modelled in the shape of animals of various
sorts, such as antelopes, hippopotamuses, birds, tortoises, and
fish. As a rule only one such plaque is found in a tomb, and it lies
near the hands of the mummy. It has been conjectured by M. Jean
Capart that these plaques are amulets or soul-boxes, in which the
external souls of the dead were supposed to be preserved. See Jean
Capart, _Les Palettes en schiste de L’Égypte primitive_ (Brussels,
1908), pp. 5 _sqq._, 19 _sqq._ (separate reprint from the _Revue des
Questions Scientifiques_, avril, 1908). For a full description of
these plaques or palettes, see Jean Capart, _Les Débuts de l’Art en
Égypte_ (Brussels, 1904), pp. 76 _sqq._, 221 _sqq._
418 Miss Alice Werner, in a letter to the author, dated 25th September
1899. Miss Werner knew the old woman. Compare _Contemporary Review_,
lxx. (July-December 1896), p. 389, where Miss Werner describes the
ornament as a rounded peg, tapering to a point, with a neck or notch
at the top.
419 Rev. James Macdonald, _Religion and Myth_ (London, 1893), p. 190.
Compare Dudley Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), p. 83:
“The natives occasionally fix ox-horns in their roofs and say that
the spirit of the chief lives in these horns and protects the hut;
these horns also protect the hut from lightning, though not in
virtue of their spiritual connections. (They are also used simply as
ornaments.)” No doubt amulets often degenerate into ornaments.
420 R. Thurnwald, “Im Bismarckarchipel und auf den Salomo-inseln,”
_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xlii. (1910) p. 136. As to the
Ingniet, Ingiet, or Iniet Society see P. A. Kleintitschen, _Die
Küstenbewohner der Gazellehalbinsel_ (Hiltrup bei Münster, N.D.),
pp. 354 _sqq._; R. Parkinson, _Dreissig Jahre in der Südsee_
(Stuttgart, 1907), pp. 598 _sqq._
421 G. Cedrenus, _Historiarum Compendium_, p. 625B, vol. ii. p. 308, ed.
Im. Bekker (Bonn, 1838-1839).
422 Alexandre Moret, _Du caractère religieux de la Royauté Pharaonique_
(Paris, 1902), pp. 224 _sqq._ As to the Egyptian doctrine of the
spiritual double or soul (_ka_), see A. Wiedemann, _The Ancient
Egyptian Doctrine of the Immortality of the Soul_ (London, 1895),
pp. 10 _sqq._; A. Erman, _Die ägyptische Religion_ (Berlin, 1905),
p. 88; A. Moret, _Mystères Égyptiens_ (Paris, 1913), pp. 199 _sqq._
423 F. Mason, “Physical Character of the Karens,” _Journal of the
Asiatic Society of Bengal_, 1866, Part ii. No. 1, p. 9.
_ 424 A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner, during
Thirty Years’ Residence among the Indians_, prepared for the press
by Edwin James, M.D. (London, 1830), pp. 155 _sq._ The passage has
been already quoted by Sir John Lubbock (Lord Avebury) in his
_Origin of Civilisation_4 (London, 1882), p. 241.
M125 Strength of people supposed to reside in their hair.
425 François Valentijn, _Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën_ (Dordrecht and
Amsterdam, 1724-1726), ii. 143 _sq._; G. A. Wilken, “De Simsonsage,”
_De Gids_, 1888, No. 5, pp. 15 _sq._ (of the separate reprint);
_id._, _Verspreide Geschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), iii. 569 _sq._
426 J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen Selebes
en Papua_ (The Hague, 1886), p. 137.
M126 Witches and wizards shaved to deprive them of their power.
427 J. G. Dalyell, _The darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh,
1834), pp. 637-639; C. de Mensignac, _Recherches ethnographiques sur
la Salive et le Crachat_ (Bordeaux, 1892), p. 49 note.
428 W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India_
(Westminster, 1896), ii. 281.
429 W. Crooke, _op. cit._ ii. 281 _sq._
430 B. de Sahagun, _Histoire des choses de la Nouvelle Espagne_,
traduite par D. Journdanet et R. Siméon (Paris, 1880), p. 274.
M127 Life of a person supposed to be bound up with that of a tree or
plant. Birth-trees in Africa.
431 Above, pp. 102, 110, 117 _sq._, 135, 136.
432 Walter E. Roth, _North Queensland Ethnography, Bulletin, No. 5,
Superstition, Magic, and Medicine_ (Brisbane, 1903), p. 27.
433 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 202.
434 G. Duloup, “Huit jours chez les M’Bengas,” _Revue d’Ethnographie_,
ii. (1883), p. 223; compare P. Barret, _L’Afrique Occidentale_
(Paris, 1888), ii. 173.
435 Fr. Kunstmann, “Valentin Ferdinand’s Beschreibung der Serra Leoa,”
_Abhandlungen der histor. Classe der könig. Bayer. Akad. der
Wissenschaften_, ix. (1866) pp. 131 _sq._
436 Bruno Gutmann, “Feldbausitten und Wachstumsbräuche der Wadschagga,”
_Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xlv. (1913), p. 496.
437 C. Velten, _Sitten und Gebräuche der Suaheli_ (Göttingen, 1903), pp.
8 _sq._ In Java it is customary to plant a tree, for example, a
coco-nut palm, at the birth of a child, and when he grows up he
reckons his age by the age of the tree. See _Annales de la
Propagation de la Foi_, iii. (Lyons and Paris, 1830) pp. 400 _sq._
438 A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_ (Jena,
1874-1875), i. 165.
439 Rev. J. Macdonald, _Religion and Myth_ (London, 1893), p. 178.
440 H. Trilles, _Le Totémisme chez les Fân_ (Münster i. W., 1912), p.
570.
441 Rev. John H. Weeks, _Among Congo Cannibals_ (London, 1913), p. 295.
442 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), pp. 52, 54 _sq._
Compare _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 295 _sq._;
and for other examples of burying the afterbirth or navel-string at
the foot of a tree or planting a young tree over these remains, see
_id._, pp. 182 _sqq._ In Kiziba, a district to the west of Lake
Victoria Nyanza, the afterbirth is similarly regarded as a sort of
human being. Hence when twins are born the people speak of four
children instead of two, reckoning the two afterbirths as two
children. See H. Rehse, _Kiziba, Land und Leute_ (Stuttgart, 1910),
p. 117. The conception of the afterbirth and navel-string as
spiritual doubles of the child with whom they are born is held very
firmly by the Kooboos, a primitive tribe of Sumatra. We are told
that among these people “a great vital power is ascribed to the
navel-string and afterbirth; because they are looked upon as brother
or sister of the infant, and though their bodies have not come to
perfection, yet their soul and spirit are just as normal as those of
the child and indeed have even reached a much higher stage of
development. The navel-string (_oeri_) and afterbirth (_tĕm-boeni_)
visit the man who was born with them thrice a day and thrice by
night till his death, or they hover near him (‘_zweven voorbij hem
heen_’). They are the good spirits, a sort of guardian angels of the
man who came into the world with them and who lives on earth; they
are said to guard him from all evil. Hence it is that the Kooboo
always thinks of his navel-string and afterbirth (_oeri-tĕmboeni_)
before he goes to sleep or to work, or undertakes a journey, and so
on. Merely to think of them is enough; there is no need to invoke
them, or to ask them anything, or to entreat them. By not thinking
of them a man deprives himself of their good care.” Immediately
after the birth the navel-string and afterbirth are buried in the
ground close by the spot where the birth took place; and a ceremony
is performed over it, for were the ceremony omitted, the
navel-string and afterbirth, “instead of being a good spirit for the
newly born child, might become an evil spirit for him and visit him
with all sorts of calamities out of spite for this neglect.” The
nature of the ceremony performed over the spot is not described by
our authority. The navel-string and afterbirth are often regarded by
the Kooboos as one; their names are always mentioned together. See
G. J. van Dongen, “De Koeboe in de Onderafdeeling Koeboe-streken der
Residentie Palembang,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde
van Nederlandsch-Indië_, lxiii. (1910) pp. 229 _sq._
443 Franz Stuhlmann, _Mit Emin Pascha ins Herz von Afrika_ (Berlin,
1894), p. 653.
M128 Birth-trees among the Papuans, Maoris, Fijians, Dyaks, and others.
444 A. Bastian, _Ein Besuch in San Salvador_ (Bremen, 1859), pp. 103
_sq._; _id._, _Der Mensch in der Geschichte_ (Leipsic, 1860), iii.
193.
445 R. Taylor, _Te Ika a Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_2
(London, 1870), p. 184; Dumont D’Urville, _Voyage autour du monde et
à la recherche de La Pérouse sur la corvette Astrolabe_, ii. 444.
446 W. T. L. Travers, “Notes of the traditions and manners and customs
of the Mori-oris,” _Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand
Institute_, ix. (1876) p. 22.
447 The late Rev. Lorimer Fison, in a letter to me dated May 29th, 1901.
Compare _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 184.
448 N. Annandale, “Customs of the Malayo-Siamese,” _Fasciculi
Malayenses_, Anthropology, part ii. (a) (May, 1904), p. 5.
449 B. F. Matthes, _Bijdragen tot de Ethnologie van Zuid-Celebes_ (The
Hague, 1875), p. 59.
450 R. van Eck, “Schetsen van het eiland Bali,” _Tijdschrift voor
Nederlandsch Indië_, N.S., ix. (1880) pp. 417 _sq._
451 G. A. Wilken, “De Simsonsage,” _De Gids_, 1888, No. 5, p. 26 (of the
separate reprint); _id._, _Verspreide Geschriften_ (The Hague,
1912), iii. 562.
452 M. C. Schadee, “Het familieleven en familierecht der Dajaks van
Landak en Tajan,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch-Indië_, lxiii. (1910) p. 416.
453 F. Grabowsky, “Die Theogenie der Dajaken auf Borneo,”
_Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, v. (1892) p. 133.
454 J. Perham, “Manangism in Borneo,” _Journal of the Straits Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society_, No. 19 (Singapore, 1887), p. 97; _id._,
in H. Ling Roth, _The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo_
(London, 1896), i. 278.
M129 Birth-trees in Europe. Marriage oaks. Trees with which the fate of
families or individuals is thought to be bound up. The Edgewell oak.
The old tree at Howth Castle. The oak of the Guelphs.
455 Angelo de Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_ (Paris, 1878-1882),
i. pp. xxviii. _sq._
456 W. Mannhardt, _Baumkultus_, p. 50; H. Ploss, _Das Kind_2 (Leipsic,
1884), i. 79.
457 K. Bartsch, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_ (Vienna,
1879-1880), ii. p. 43, § 63.
458 F. S. Krauss, “Haarschurgodschaft bei den Südslaven,”
_Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, vii. (1894) p. 193.
459 Karl Haupt, _Sagenbuch der Lausitz_ (Leipsic, 1862-1863), ii. 129,
No. 207.
460 “Heilige Haine und Bäume der Finnen,” _Globus_, lix. (1891) p. 350.
Compare K. Rhamm, “Der heidenische Gottesdienst des finnischen
Stammes,” _Globus_, lxvii. (1891) p. 344.
461 Thomas Moore, _Life of Lord Byron_, i. 101 (i. 148, in the collected
edition of Byron’s works, London, 1832-1833).
462 J. G. Lockhart, _Life of Sir Walter Scott_ (First Edition), vi. 283
(viii. 317, Second Edition, Edinburgh, 1839).
463 Sir Walter Scott’s _Journal_ (First Edition, Edinburgh, 1890), ii.
282, with the editor’s note.
464 Letter of Miss A. H. Singleton to me, dated Rathmagle House, Abbey
Leix, Ireland, 24th February, 1904.
465 P. Wagler, _Die Eiche in alter und neuer Zeit_, ii. (Berlin, 1891)
pp. 85 _sq._
M130 The Life-tree of the Manchu dynasty.
_ 466 Die Woche_, Berlin, 31 August, 1901, p. 3, with an illustration
shewing the garden and the tree.
M131 The myrtle-trees of the patricians and plebeians at Rome. The oak of
the Vespasian family.
467 Pliny, _Natur. Hist._ xv. 120 _sq._
468 Suetonius, _Divus Vespasianus_, 5.
M132 Life of persons supposed to be bound up with that of the cleft trees
through which in their youth they were passed as a cure for rupture.
In England ruptured children are passed through cleft ash-trees.
_ 469 The Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1804, p. 909; John Brand, _Popular
Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), iii. 289.
470 Gilbert White, _The Natural History of Selborne_, Part II. Letter 28
(Edinburgh, 1829), pp. 239 _sq._; Francis Grose, _A Provincial
Glossary_ (London, 1811), p. 290; J. Brand, _op. cit._ iii. 287-292;
R. Hunt, _Popular Romances of the West of England_3 (London, 1881),
pp. 415, 421; W. G. Black, _Folk-medicine_ (London, 1883), pp. 67
_sq._; W. Wollaston Groome, “Suffolk Leechcraft,” _Folk-lore_, vi.
(1895) pp. 123 _sq._; E. S. Hartland, in _Folk-lore_, vii. (1896)
pp. 303-306; _County Folk-lore, Suffolk_, edited by Lady E. C.
Gurdon (London, 1893) pp. 26-28; Beatrix A. Wherry, “Miscellaneous
Notes from Monmouthshire,” _Folk-lore_, xvi. (1905) p. 65; Marie
Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London, 1909), p.
320. Sometimes the tree was an oak instead of an ash (M. Trevelyan,
_l.c._). To ensure the success of the cure various additional
precautions are sometimes recommended, as that the ash should be a
maiden, that is a tree that has never been topped or cut; that the
split should be made east and west; that the child should be passed
into the tree by a maiden and taken out on the other side by a boy;
that the child should always be passed through head foremost (but
according to others feet foremost), and so forth. In Surrey we hear
of a holly-tree being used instead of an ash (_Notes and Queries_,
Sixth Series, xi. Jan.-Jun. 1885, p. 46).
M133 The practice in Sussex.
471 “Some West Sussex superstitions lingering in 1868, collected by
Charlotte Latham, at Fittleworth,” _Folk-lore Record_, i. (1878) pp.
40 _sq._
M134 Sick children passed through cleft trees, especially oaks, as a cure
in Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, and Greece.
472 For the custom in Germany and Austria, see J. Grimm, _Deutsche
Mythologie_,4 ii. 975 _sq._; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche
Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 317, § 503; A. Kuhn und W.
Schwartz, _Nord-deutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche_ (Leipsic,
1848), pp. 443 _sq._; J. F. L. Woeste, _Volksüberlieferungen in der
Grafschaft Mark_ (Iserlohn, 1848), p. 54; E. Meier, _Deutsche Sagen,
Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_ (Stuttgart, 1852), p. 390, § 56;
F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),
ii. 301; _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern_,
ii. (Munich, 1863) p. 255; J. A. E. Köhler, _Volksbrauch,
Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande_
(Leipsic, 1867), pp. 415 _sq._; L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und
Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_ (Oldenburg, 1867), i. 72 _sq._,
§ 88; K. Bartsch, _Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_
(Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 290 _sq._, § 1447; J. Haltrich, _Zur
Volkskunde der Siebenbürger Sachsen_ (Vienna, 1885), p. 264; P.
Wagler, _Die Eiche in alter und neuer Zeit_, i. (Wurzen, 1891) pp.
21-23. As to the custom in France, see Marcellus, _De medicamentis_,
xxxiii. 26 (where the tree is a cherry); J. B. Thiers, _Traité des
Superstitions_ (Paris, 1679), pp. 333 _sq._; A. de Nore, _Coutumes,
Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_ (Paris and Lyons,
1846), p. 231; L. J. B. Bérenger-Féraud, in _Bullétins de la Société
d’Anthropologie de Paris_, iv. série, i. (1890) pp. 895-902; _id._,
_Superstitions et Survivances_ (Paris, 1896), i. 523 _sqq._ As to
the custom in Denmark and Sweden, see J. Grimm, _Deutsche
Mythologie_,4 ii. 976; H. F. Feilberg, “Zwieselbäume nebst
verwandtem Aberglauben in Skandinavien,” _Zeitschrift des Vereins
für Volkskunde_, vii. (1897) pp. 42 _sqq._ In Mecklenburg it is
sometimes required that the tree should have been split by lightning
(K. Bartsch, _l.c._). The whole subject of passing sick people
through narrow apertures as a mode of cure has been well handled in
an elegant little monograph (_Un Vieux Rite médical_, Paris, 1892)
by Monsieur H. Gaidoz, who rightly rejects the theory that all such
passages are symbols of a new birth. But I cannot agree with him in
thinking that the essence of the rite consists in the transference
of the disease from the person to the tree; rather, it seems to me,
the primary idea is that of interposing an impassable barrier
between a fugitive and his pursuing foe, though no doubt the enemy
thus left behind is apparently supposed to adhere to the further
side of the obstacle (whether tree, stone, or what not) through
which he cannot pass. However, the sympathetic relation supposed to
exist between the sufferer and the tree through which he has been
passed certainly favours the view that he has left some portion of
himself attached to the tree. But in this as in many similar cases,
the ideas in the minds of the persons who practise the custom are
probably vague, confused, and inconsistent; and we need not attempt
to define them precisely. Compare also R. Andree, _Ethnographische
Parallelen und Vergleiche_ (Stuttgart, 1878), pp. 31 _sq._; E. S.
Hartland, _The Legend of Perseus_ (London, 1894-1896), ii. 146
_sq._; L. J. B. Bérenger-Féraud, _Superstitions et Survivances_
(Paris, 1896), i. 523-540.
473 L. Strackerjan, _l.c._; K. Bartsch, _l.c._
474 E. Meier, _l.c._; _Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs
Bayern_, ii. 255; A. Wuttke, _l.c._
475 H. F. Feilberg, “Zwieselbäume nebst verwandtem Aberglauben in
Skandinavien,” _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, vii. (1897)
p. 44.
476 J. Theodore Bent, _The Cyclades_ (London, 1885), pp. 457 _sq._
M135 Sympathetic relation thought to exist between the child and the tree
through which it has been passed. The disease is apparently thought
to be left behind on the farther side of the cleft tree.
477 H. Ploss, _Das Kind_2 (Leipsic, 1884), ii. 221.
478 R. Baier, “Beiträge von der Insel Rügen,” _Zeitschrift für deutsche
Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, ii. (1855) p. 141.
M136 Creeping through cleft trees to get rid of spirits in Armenia and
Nias. Among the Bella Coola Indians mourners creep through cleft
trees to get rid of the ghost.
479 Manuk Abeghian, _Der armenische Volksglaube_ (Leipsic, 1899), p. 58.
480 Fr. Kramer, “Der Götzendienst der Niasser,” _Tijdschrift voor
Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xxxiii. (1890) pp. 478-480; H.
Sundermann, _Die Insel Nias und die Mission daselbst_ (Barmen,
1905), pp. 81-83. According to the latter writer the intention of
passing through the cleft stick is “to strip off from himself (_von
zich abzustreifen_) the last spirit that may have followed him.” The
notion that the sun causes death by drawing away the souls of the
living is Indian. See _The Satapatha Brâhmana_, ii. 3. 3. 7-8,
translated by Julius Eggeling, Part I. (Oxford, 1882) p. 343
(_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xii.): “Now yonder burning (sun)
doubtless is no other than Death; and because he is Death, therefore
the creatures that are on this side of him die. But those that are
on the other side of him are the gods, and they are therefore
immortal.... And the breath of whomsoever he (the sun) wishes he
takes and rises, and that one dies.”
481 Fr. Boas, in _Seventh Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_,
p. 13 (separate reprint from the _Report of the British
Association_, Cardiff meeting, 1891). The Shuswap Indians of the
same region also fence their beds against ghosts with a hedge of
thorn bushes. See _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, p. 142.
M137 The Madangs of Borneo creep through a cleft stick after a funeral in
order to rid themselves of the ghost.
482 C. Hose, “In the heart of Borneo,” _The Geographical Journal_, xvi.
(1900) pp. 45 _sq._ Compare C. Hose and W. McDougall, _The Pagan
Tribes of Borneo_ (London, 1912), ii. 36 _sq._, where, after
describing the ceremony of passing through the cloven stick, the
writers add: “In this way the Kayans symbolically prevent any of the
uncanny influences of the graveyard following the party back to the
house; though they do not seem to be clear as to whether it is the
ghosts of the dead, or the _Toh_ of the neighbourhood, or those
which may have contributed to his death, against whom these
precautions are taken.”
M138 The cleft stick or tree through which a person passes is a barrier
to part him from a dangerous foe; the closing of the cleft is like
shutting the door in the face of a pursuer. But combined with this
in the case of ruptured patients seems to be the idea that the
rupture heals sympathetically as the cleft in the tree closes.
Analogous Roman cure for dislocation.
483 Cato, _De agri cultura_, 159 (pp. 106 sq. ed. H. Keil, Leipsic,
1884): “_Luxum siquod est, hac cantione sanum fiet. Harundinem
prende tibi viridem P. III. aut quinque longam, mediam diffinde, et
duo homines teneant ad coxendices. Incipe cantare in alio s. f.
moetas vaeta daries dardaries asiadarides una petes, usque dum
coeant. Motas vaeta daries dardares astataries dissunapiter, usque
dum coeant. Ferrum insuper jactato. Ubi coierint et altera alteram
tetigerint, id manu prehende et dextera sinistra praecide, ad luxum
aut ad fracturam alliga, sanum fiet._” The passage is obscure and
perhaps corrupt. It is not clear whether “_usque dum coeant_” and
“_ubi coierint_” refer to the drawing together of the bones or of
the split portions of the reed, but apparently the reference is to
the reed. The charm is referred to by Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xvii.
267: “_Quippe cum averti grandines carmine credant plerique, cujus
verba inserere non equidem serio ausim, quamquam a Catone proditis
contra luxata membra jungenda harundinum fissurae._” Compare J.
Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 186, ii. 1031 _sq._
M139 Other examples of creeping through narrow openings after a death.
484 Pinabel, “Notes sur quelques peuplades dépendant du Tong-King,”
_Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_, Septième Série, v. (Paris,
1884) p. 430; A. Bourlet, “Funérailles chez les Thay,” _Anthropos_,
viii. (1913) p. 45.
485 S. Krascheninnikow, _Beschreibung des Landes Kamtschatka_ (Lemgo,
1766), pp. 268, 282.
486 N. Adriani en Alb. C. Kruijt, “Van Posso naar Parigi, Sigi en
Lindoe,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche
Zendelinggenootschap_, xlii. (1898) p. 502. The poles are of a
certain plant or tree called _bomba_.
487 Alb. C. Kruijt, “Eenige ethnografische aanteekeningen omtrent de
Toboengkoe en de Tomori,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche
Zendelinggenootschap_, xliv. (1900) p. 223.
M140 The intention of the custom probably is to escape from the ghost of
the dead.
488 For examples of these ceremonies I may refer to my article, “On
certain burial customs as illustrative of the primitive theory of
the soul,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xv. (1886)
pp. 64 _sqq._
M141 Passing through an archway in order to escape from demons. Crawling
under an arch of bramble as a cure for various maladies. Crawling
under arches of various sorts as a cure or preventive of sickness.
489 S. Krascheninnikow, _Beschreibung des Landes Kamtschatka_ (Lemgo,
1766), pp. 277 _sq._
490 W. H. Furness, _Folk-lore in Borneo, a Sketch_, p. 28 (Wallingford,
Pennsylvania, 1899, privately printed). Compare _id._, _The
Home-life of Borneo Head-hunters_ (Philadelphia, 1902), p. 28: “Here
a halt for final purification was made. An arch of boughs about five
feet high was erected on the beach, and beneath it a fire was
kindled, and then Tama Bulan, holding a young chicken, which he
waved and brushed over every portion of the arch, invoked all evil
spirits which had been accompanying us, and forbade them to follow
us further through the fire. The fowl was then killed, its blood
smeared all over the archway and sprinkled in the fire; then, led by
Tama Bulan, the whole party filed under the arch, and as they
stepped over the fire each one spat in it vociferously and
immediately took his place in the boats.”
491 T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _English Folk-lore_ (London, 1884), pp. 171
_sq._; W. G. Black, _Folk-medicine_ (London, 1883), p. 70; R. Hunt,
_Popular Romances of the West of England_, Third Edition (London,
1881), pp. 412, 415; Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of
Wales_ (London, 1909), p. 320.
492 A. de Nore, _Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France_
(Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 152; H. Gaidoz, _Un Vieux Rite médical_
(Paris, 1892), pp. 7 _sq._
493 A. Strausz, _Die Bulgaren_ (Leipsic, 1898), p. 414.
494 A. Strausz, _op. cit._ p. 404. As to the Bulgarian custom of
creeping through a tunnel in a time of epidemic, see above, vol. i.
pp. 282-284.
_ 495 Last Journals of David Livingstone in Central Africa_ (London,
1874), i. 60.
M142 Custom in Uganda of causing a sick man to pass through a cleft stick
or a narrow opening in the doorway.
496 Rev. J. Roscoe, _The Baganda_ (London, 1911), p. 343. Compare _id._,
“Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxi. (1901) p. 126; id., “Further Notes
on the Manners and Customs of the Baganda,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 42 _sq._
M143 Similar custom practised by the Kai of New Guinea and the Looboos of
Sumatra for the purpose of giving the slip to spiritual pursuers.
497 Ch. Keysser, “Aus dem Leben der Kaileute,” in R. Neuhauss’s _Deutsch
Neu-Guinea_, iii. (Berlin, 1911) pp. 141 _sq._
498 J. Kreemer, “De Loeboes in Mandailing,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal-
Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indie_, lxvi. (1912) p. 327.
M144 Passing through cleft sticks in connexion with puberty and
circumcision.
499 Hermann Tönjes, _Ovamboland, Land, Leute, Mission_ (Berlin, 1911),
pp. 139 _sq._ The writer was unable to ascertain the meaning of the
rite; the natives would only say that it was their custom.
500 A. Karasek, “Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Waschambo,”
_Baessler-Archiv_, i. (Leipsic and Berlin, 1911) p. 192.
M145 Crawling through a ring or hoop as a cure or preventive of disease.
Passing sheep through a hoop of rowan. Milking a cow through a
natural wooden ring or a “witch’s nest.” Passing sick persons or
animals through a ring of yarn. Passing diseased children through a
coil. Passing through a hemlock ring during an epidemic. Passing
through a ring of red-hot iron to escape an evil spirit.
501 H. F. Feilberg, “Zwieselbäume nebst verwandtem Aberglauben in
Skandinavien,” _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, vii. (1897)
pp. 49 _sq._
502 H. F. Feilberg, _op. cit._ p. 44.
503 J. G. Dalyell, _The Darker Superstitions of Scotland_ (Edinburgh,
1834), p. 121; Ch. Rogers, _Social Life in Scotland_ (Edinburgh,
1884-1886), iii. 239.
504 John Ramsay of Ochtertyre, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth
Century_, edited by A. Allardyce, (Edinburgh and London, 1888), ii.
454. Immediately after mentioning this custom the writer adds: “And
in Breadalbane it is the custom for the dairymaid to drive the
cattle to the sheals with a wand of that tree [the rowan] cut upon
the day of removal, which is laid above the door until the cattle be
going back again to the winter-town. This was reckoned a
preservative against witchcraft.” As to the activity of witches and
fairies on Hallowe’en and the first of May, see above, vol. i. pp.
226 _sqq._, 295; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 52
_sqq._; J. G. Campbell, _Superstitions of the Highlands and Islands
of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1900), p. 18; _id._, _Witchcraft and Second
Sight in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p.
270. As to the power of the rowan-tree to counteract their spells,
see W. Gregor, _Notes on the Folk-lore of the North-East of
Scotland_ (London, 1881), p. 188; J. C. Atkinson, _Forty Years in a
Moorland Parish_ (London, 1891), pp. 97 _sqq._; _The Scapegoat_, pp.
266 _sq._
505 L. Strackerjan, _Aberglaube und Sagen aus dem Herzogthum Oldenburg_
(Oldenburg, 1867), i. p. 364, § 241.
506 L. Strackerjan, _op. cit._ i. p. 364, § 240.
507 Lieutenant-Colonel H. W. G. Cole, “The Lushais,” in _Census of
India_, 1911, vol. iii. _Assam_, Part i. _Report_ (Shillong, 1912),
p. 140.
508 Franz Boas, in _Eleventh Report on the North-Western Tribes of
Canada_, pp. 3 _sq._ (separate reprint from the _Report of the
British Association for the Advancement of Science_, Liverpool
meeting, 1896).
509 Rev. G. E. White, Dean of Anatolia College, _Survivals of Primitive
Religion among the People of Asia Minor_, p. 12 (paper read before
the Victoria Institute or Philosophical Society of Great Britain, 6
Adelphi Terrace, Strand, London).
M146 Crawling through holed stones as a cure in Scotland and Cornwall.
510 John Ramsay, _Scotland and Scotsmen in the Eighteenth Century_,
edited by Alex. Allardyce (Edinburgh, 1888), ii. 451 _sq._
511 J. G. Campbell, _Witchcraft and Second Sight in the Highlands and
Islands of Scotland_ (Glasgow, 1902), p. 100.
512 Mr. James S. Greig, in a letter to me dated Lindean, Perth Road,
Dundee, 17th August, 1913.
513 W. Borlase, _Antiquities, historical and monumental, of the County
of Cornwall_ (London, 1769), pp. 177 _sq._
514 Robert Hunt, _Popular Romances of the West of England_, Third
Edition (London, 1881), pp. 176, 415.
M147 Crawling through holed stones as a cure in France.
515 Thomas-de-Saint-Mars, “Fête de Saint Estapin,” _Mémoires de la
Société Royale des Antiquaires de France_, i. (1817) pp. 428-430.
516 J. Deniker, “Dolmen et superstitions,” _Bulletins et Mémoires de la
Société d’Anthropologie de Paris_, v. série, i. (1900) p. 111.
Compare H. Gaidoz, _Un Vieux Rite médical_ (Paris, 1892), pp. 26
_sq._; G. Fouju, “Légendes et Superstitions préhistoriques,” _Revue
des Traditions Populaires_, xiv. (1899) pp. 477 _sq._
M148 Crawling through holed stones as a cure in Bavaria, Austria, and
Greece.
517 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_ (Munich, 1848-1855),
ii. 48 § 61.
518 F. Panzer, _op. cit._ ii. 431 _sq._
519 Marie Andree-Eysn, _Volkskundliches aus dem
bayrisch-österreichischen Alpengebiet_ (Brunswick, 1910), pp. 1, 9,
with the illustrations on pp. 10, 11.
520 F. Panzer, _Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie_, ii. 431.
521 J. Theodore Bent, _The Cyclades_ (London, 1885), p. 437.
M149 Crawling through holed stones as a cure in Asia Minor. Passing
through various narrow openings as a cure or preventive in India and
Ireland.
522 E. H. Carnoy et J. Nicolaides, _Traditions populaires de l’Asie
Mineure_ (Paris, 1889), p. 338.
523 Rev. George E. White (of Marsovan, Turkey), _Present Day Sacrifices
in Asia Minor_, p. 3 (reprinted from _The Hartford Seminary Record_,
February 1906).
_ 524 Central Provinces, Ethnographic Survey_, vii. _Draft Articles on
Forest Tribes_ (Allahabad, 1911), p. 46.
525 So my friend Dr. G. W. Prothero informs me in a letter.
_ 526 Census of India, 1911_, vol. xiv. _Punjab_, Part i. _Report_, by
Pandit Harikishan Kaul (Lahore, 1912), p. 302.
M150 Crawling through holes in the ground as a cure for disease. Passing
through the yoke of a chariot as a cure for skin disease.
527 H. Gaidoz, _Un Vieux Rite médical_ (Paris, 1892), p. 10.
528 H. Gaidoz, _op. cit._ p. 21.
529 H. Gaidoz, _Un Vieux Rite médical_ (Paris, 1892), p. 21. Compare J.
Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii. 975 _sq._
530 H. F. Feilberg, “Zwieselbäume nebst verwandtem Aberglaube in
Skandinavien,” _Zeitschrift des Vereins für Volkskunde_, vii. (1897)
p. 45.
531 H. Gaidoz, _Un Vieux Rite médical_ (Paris, 1892), pp. 22 _sq._,
referring to Nyrop, in _Dania_, i. No. 1 (Copenhagen, 1890), pp. 5
_sqq._
532 Rev. John Campbell, _Travels in South Africa, Second Journey_
(London, 1822), ii. 346. Among the same people “when a person is
ill, they bring an ox to the place where he is laid. Two cuts are
then made in one of its legs, extending down the whole length of it.
The skin in the middle of the leg being raised up, the operator
thrusts in his hand, to make way for that of the sick person, whose
whole body is afterwards rubbed over with the blood of the animal.
The ox after enduring this torment is killed, and those who are
married and have children, as in the other case, are the only
partakers of the feast.” (J. Campbell, _op. cit._ ii. 346 _sq._).
Here the intention seems to be not so much to transfer the disease
to the ox, as to transfuse the healthy life of the beast into the
veins of the sick man. The same is perhaps true of the Welsh and
French cure for whooping-cough, which consists in passing the little
sufferer several times under an ass. See J. Brand, _Popular
Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883), iii. 288; L. J.
B. Bérenger-Féraud, in _Bulletins de la Société d’Anthropologie de
Paris_, Quatrième Série, i. (1890) p. 897; _id._, _Superstitions et
Survivances_ (Paris, 1896), i. 526. The same cure for whooping-cough
“is also practised in Ireland; only here the sufferer is passed
round, that is, over and under, the body of an ass” (letter of Miss
A. H. Singleton to me, dated Rathmagle House, Abbey-Leix, Ireland,
24th February 1904). But perhaps the intention rather is to give the
whooping-cough to the animal; for it might reasonably be thought
that the feeble whoop of the sick child would neither seriously
impair the lungs, nor perceptibly augment the stentorian bray, of
the donkey.
533 H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_ (Berlin, 1894), p. 495.
According to a fuller account, Indra drew her through three holes,
that of a war-chariot, that of a cart, and that of a yoke. See W.
Caland, _Altindisches Zauberritual_ (Amsterdam, 1900), p. 31 note 5.
M151 Passing under a yoke or arch as a rite of initiation.
534 Dr. E. Werner, “Im westlichen Finsterregebirge und an der Nordküste
von Deutsch-Neuginea,” _Petermanns Mitteilungen_, lv. (1909) pp. 74
_sq._ Among some tribes of South-Eastern Australia it was customary
at the ceremonies of initiation to bend growing saplings into arches
and compel the novices to pass under them; sometimes the youths had
to crawl on the ground to get through. See A. W. Howitt, “On some
Australian ceremonies of Initiation,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) p. 445; _id._, _Native
Tribes of South-East Australia_ (London, 1904), p. 536.
M152 The ancient Roman custom of passing enemies under a yoke was
probably in origin a ceremony of purification rather than of
degradation.
535 Livy iii. 28, ix. 6, x. 36; Dionysius Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit.
Roman._ iii. 22. 7. The so-called yoke in this case consisted of two
spears or two beams set upright in the ground, with a third spear or
beam laid transversely across them. See Livy iii. 28; Dionysius
Halicarnasensis, _l.c._
536 Livy i. 26: “_Itaque, ut caedes manifesta aliquo tamen piaculo
lueretur, imperatum patri, ut filium expiaret pecunia publica. Is
quibusdam piacularibus sacrificiis factis, quae deinde genti
Horatiae tradita sunt, transmisso per viam tigillo capite adoperto
velut sub jugum misit juvenem. Id hodie quoque publice semper
refectum manet; sororium tigillum vocant_;” Festus, _s.v._ “Sororium
Tigillum,” pp. 297, 307, ed. C. O. Müller (Leipsic, 1839); Dionysius
Halicarnasensis, _Antiquit. Roman._ iii. 22. The position of the
beam is described exactly by the last of these writers, who had
evidently seen it. According to Festus, the yoke under which
Horatius passed was composed of three beams, two uprights, and a
cross-piece. The similarity of the ceremony to that which was
exacted from conquered foes is noted by Dionysius Halicarnasensis as
well as by Livy. The tradition of the purification has been rightly
explained by Dr. W. H. Roscher with reference to the custom of
passing through cleft trees, holed stones, and so on. See W. H.
Roscher, _Ausführliches Lexikon der griech. und röm. Mythologie_,
ii. (Leipsic, 1890-1897) col. 21. Compare G. Wissowa, _Religion und
Kultus der Römer_2 (Munich, 1912), p. 104.
M153 Similarly the passage of a victorious Roman army under a triumphal
arch may have been intended to purify the men from the stain of
bloodshed by interposing a barrier between the slayers and the angry
ghosts of the slain.
_ 537 Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 165 _sqq._
538 Pliny, _Natur. Histor._ xv. 135: “_Quia suffimentum sit caedis
hostium et purgatio_.”
539 Cicero, _In Pisonem_, xxiii. 55; Josephus, _Bellum Judaicum_, vii.
5. 4.
540 It was not till after I had given this conjectural explanation of
the “Sister’s Beam” and the triumphal arch at Rome that I read the
article of Mr. W. Warde Fowler, “Passing under the Yoke” (_The
Classical Review_, March 1913, pp. 48-51), in which he quite
independently suggests practically the same explanation of both
these Roman structures. I have left my exposition, except for one or
two trivial verbal changes, exactly as it stood before I was aware
that my friend had anticipated me in both conjectures. The closeness
of the coincidence between our views is a welcome confirmation of
their truth. As to the _Porta Triumphalis_, the exact position of
which is uncertain, Mr. Warde Fowler thinks that it was not a gate
in the walls, but an archway standing by itself in the Campus
Martius outside the city walls. He points out that in the oldest
existing triumphal arch, that of Augustus at Ariminum, the most
striking part of the structure consists of two upright Corinthian
pillars with an architrave laid horizontally across them; and he
ingeniously conjectures that we have here a reminiscence of the two
uprights and the cross-piece, which, if our theory is correct, was
the original form both of the triumphal arch and of the yoke.
M154 Belief in a sympathetic relation between a man and an animal such
that the fate of the one depends on that of the other. The external
souls of Yakut shamans in animals. Sympathetic relation between
witches and hares.
541 Professor V. M. Mikhailoviskij, “Shamanism in Siberia and European
Russia,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxiv. (1895)
pp. 133, 134.
542 Th. Parkinson, _Yorkshire Legends and Traditions_, Second Series
(London, 1889), pp. 160 _sq._
543 See above, vol. i. pp. 315 _sqq._
544 B. F. Matthes, _Makassaarsch-Hollandsch Woordenboek_ (Amsterdam,
1859), _s.v._ _soemāñgá_, p. 569; G. A. Wilken, “Het animisme bij de
volken van den Indischen Archipel,” _De Indische Gids_, June 1884,
p. 933; _id._, _Verspreide Geschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), iii. 12.
M155 Melanesian conception of the _tamaniu_, a person’s external soul
lodged in an animal or other object.
545 R. H. Codrington, D.D., _The Melanesians_ (Oxford, 1891), pp. 250
_sq._ Compare _id._, “Notes on the Customs of Mota, Banks Islands,”
_Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria_,
xvi. (1880) p. 136.
M156 Sympathetic relation between a man and his _tamaniu_ (external
soul).
546 W. H. R. Rivers, “Totemism in Polynesia and Melanesia,” _Journal of
the Royal Anthropological Institute_, xxxix. (1909) p. 177. Dr.
Rivers cites a recent case of a man who had a large lizard for his
_tamaniu_. The animal lived in the roots of a big banyan-tree; when
the man was ill, the lizard also seemed unwell; and when the man
died, the tree fell, which was deemed a sign that the lizard also
was dead.
M157 Soul of a Melanesian doctor in an eagle-hawk and a rat.
547 George Brown, D.D., _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), p.
177. The case was known to Dr. Brown, who made notes of it. The part
of Melanesia where it happened was probably the Duke of York Island
or New Britain.
548 “Totemismus auf den Marshall-Inseln (Südsee),” _Anthropos_, viii.
(1913) p. 251.
M158 The theory of an external soul lodged in an animal is very prevalent
in West Africa. The soul of a chief in a hippopotamus or a black
snake. Belief of the Fans that every wizard unites his life to that
of a wild animal by a rite of blood brotherhood.
549 Much of the following evidence has already been cited by me in
_Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 593 _sqq._
550 Herbert Ward, _Five Years with the Congo Cannibals_ (London, 1890),
p. 53.
_ 551 Notes Analytiques sur les Collections ethnographiques du Musée du
Congo_, i. (Brussels, 1902-1906) p. 150.
552 Father H. Trilles, “Chez les Fangs,” _Les Missions Catholiques_,
xxx. (1898) p. 322; _id._, _Le Totémisme chez les Fâṅ_ (Münster i.
W. 1912), pp. 473 _sq._
553 Father H. Trilles, _Le Totémisme chez les Fâṅ_ (Münster i. W. 1912),
pp. 167 _sq._, 438 _sq._, 484-489. The description of the rite of
blood-brotherhood contracted with the animal is quoted by Father
Trilles (pp. 486 _sq._) from a work by Mgr. Buléon, _Sous le ciel
d’Afrique, Récits d’un Missionnaire_, pp. 88 _sqq._ Father Trilles’s
own observations and enquiries confirm the account given by Mgr.
Buléon. But the story of an alliance contracted between a man or
woman and a ferocious wild beast and cemented by the blood of the
high contracting parties is no doubt a mere fable devised by wizards
and witches in order to increase their reputation by imposing on the
credulity of the simple.
M159 Belief of the natives of the Cross River that they stand in a vital
relation to certain wild animals, so that when the animal dies the
man dies also.
554 Alfred Mansfeld, _Urwald-Dokumente, vier Jahre unter den
Crossflussnegern Kameruns_ (Berlin, 1908), pp. 220 _sq._
M160 Similar belief of the Balong in the Cameroons.
555 J. Keller (missionary), “Ueber das Land und Volk der Balong,”
_Deutsches Kolonialblatt_, 1 Oktober 1895, p. 484; H. Seidel,
“Ethnographisches aus Nordost Kamerun,” _Globus_, lxix. (1896) p.
277.
M161 Belief of the Ibos in external human souls which are lodged in
animals.
556 John Parkinson, “Note on the Asaba People (Ibos) of the Niger,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxvi. (1906) pp. 314
_sq._
557 Charles Partridge, _Cross River Natives_ (London, 1905), pp. 225
_sq._
M162 Belief of the negroes of Calabar that every person has an external
or bush soul lodged in a wild beast.
558 Miss Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_ (London, 1897), pp.
459-461. The lamented authoress was kind enough to give me in
conversation (1st June 1897) some details which do not appear in her
book; among these are the statements, which I have embodied in the
text, that the bush soul is never a domestic animal, and that when a
man knows what kind of creature his bush soul is, he will not kill
an animal of that species and will strongly object to any one else
doing so. Miss Kingsley was not able to say whether persons who have
the same sort of bush soul are allowed or forbidden to marry each
other.
M163 Further particulars as to the Calabar belief in bush souls.
559 John Parkinson, “Notes on the Efik Belief in ‘Bush-soul,’ ” _Man_,
vi. (1906) pp. 121 _sq._, No. 80. Mr. Henshaw is a member of the
highest grade of the secret society of Egbo.
560 Rev. Hugh Goldie, _Calabar and its Mission_, New Edition (Edinburgh
and London, 1901), pp. 51 _sq._ Compare Major A. G. Leonard, _The
Lower Niger and its Tribes_ (London, 1906), p. 217: “When Efik or
waterside Ibo see a dead fish floating in the water of the kind
called _Edidim_ by the former and _Elili_ by the latter—a variety of
the electric species—they believe it to be a bad omen, generally
signifying that some one belonging to the house will die, the man
who first sees it becoming the victim according to Ibo belief. The
only reason that is assigned for this lugubrious forecast is the
fact that one of the souls of the departed is in the dead fish—that,
in fact, the relationship or affinity existing between the soul
essence that had animated the fish and that of one of the members of
the household was so intimate that the death of the one was bound to
effect the death of the other.”
M164 Belief of the Ekoi of Southern Nigeria in external souls lodged in
animals. Case of a chief whose external soul was in a buffalo.
561 P. Amaury Talbot, _In the Shadow of the Bush_ (London, 1912), pp.
80-87. The Ekoi name for a man who has the power of sending out his
spirit into the form of some animal is _efumi_ (_id._, p. 71 note).
A certain chief named Agbashan, a great elephant hunter, is believed
to have the power of transforming himself into an elephant; and “a
man of considerable intelligence, educated in England, the brother
of a member of the Legislative Council for one of the West African
Colonies, offered to take oath that he had seen Agbashan not only in
his elephant form, but while actually undergoing the metamorphosis”
(_id._, pp. 82 _sq._). In this case, therefore, the man seems to
have felt no scruples at hunting the animals in one of which his own
bush soul might be lodged.
M165 Belief of other tribes of Nigeria in external souls lodged in
animals.
562 Letter of Mr. P. Amaury Talbot to me, dated Eket, North Calabar,
Southern Nigeria, April 3d, 1913.
563 Miss Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_ (London, 1897), pp.
538 _sq._
564 C. H. Robinson, _Hausaland_ (London, 1896), pp. 36 _sq._
565 J. F. J. Fitzpatrick (Assistant Resident, Northern Nigeria), “Some
Notes on the Kwolla District and its Tribes,” _Journal of the
African Society_, No. 37, October, 1910, p. 30.
566 Extract from a Report by Captain Foulkes to the British Colonial
Office. My thanks are due to Mr. N. W. Thomas for sending me the
extract and to the authorities of the Colonial Office for their
permission to publish it.
_ 567 The Daily Graphic_, Tuesday, October 7th, 1902, p. 3.
M166 The conception of an external soul lodged in an animal appears to be
absent in South Africa.
568 Rev. W. C. Willoughby, “Notes on the Totemism of the Becwana,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxv. (1905) p. 300. The
writer adds that he found a similar belief as to the sympathetic
relation between a wounded crocodile and the man who wounded it very
general among the Wanyamwezi, who, in 1882, were living under
Mirambo about two hundred miles south of Lake Victoria Nyanza and a
hundred miles east of Lake Tanganyika.
569 F. Speckmann, _Die Hermannsburger Mission in Africa_ (Hermannsburg,
1876) p. 167. Compare David Leslie, _Among the Zulus and Amatongas_,
Second Edition (Edinburgh, 1875) pp. 47 _sq._; “The Kaffirs believe
that after death their spirits turn into a snake, which they call
_Ehlose_, and that every living man has two of these familiar
spirits—a good and a bad. When everything they undertake goes wrong
with them, such as hunting, cattle-breeding, etc., they say they
know that it is their enemies who are annoying them, and that they
are only to be appeased by sacrificing an animal; but when
everything prospers, they ascribe it to their good _Ehlose_ being in
the ascendant”; _id._, _op. cit._ p. 148: “When in battle two men
are fighting, their snakes (_Mahloze_) are poetically said to be
twisting and biting each other overhead. One ‘softens’ and goes
down, and the man, whose attendant it is, goes down with it.
Everything is ascribed to _Ehlose_. If he fails in anything, his
_Ehlose_ is bad; if successful, it is good.... It is this thing
which is the inducing cause of everything. In fact, nothing in Zulu
is admitted to arise from natural causes; everything is ascribed to
witchcraft or the _Ehlose_.”
It is not all serpents that are _amadhlozi_ (plural of _idhlozi_),
that is, are the transformed spirits of the dead. Serpents which are
dead men may easily be distinguished from common snakes, for they
frequent huts; they do not eat mice, and they are not afraid of
people. If a man in his life had a scar, his serpent after his death
will also have a scar; if he had only one eye, his serpent will have
only one eye; if he was lame, his serpent will be lame too. That is
how you can recognise So-and-So in his serpent form. Chiefs do not
turn into the same kind of snakes as ordinary people. For common
folk become harmless snakes with green and white bellies and very
small heads; but kings become boa-constrictors or the large and
deadly black _mamba_. See Rev. Henry Callaway, M.D., _The Religions
System of the Amazulu_, Part ii. (Capetown, London, etc., 1869) pp.
134 _sq._, 140, 196-202, 205, 208-211, 231. “The _Ehlose_ of Chaka
and other dead kings is the Boa-constrictor, or the large and deadly
black Mamba, whichever the doctors decide. That of dead Queens is
the tree Iguana” (David Leslie, _op. cit._ p. 213). Compare Rev.
Joseph Shooter, _The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulu Country_ (London,
1857), pp. 161 _sq._; W. R. Gordon, “Words about Spirits,” (_South
African_) _Folk-lore Journal_, ii. (Cape Town, 1880) pp. 101-103; W.
Grant, “Magato and his Tribe,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxxv. (1905) p. 270. A word which is sometimes
confounded with _idhlozi_ is _itongo_ (plural _amatongo_); but the
natives themselves when closely questioned distinguish between the
two. See Dudley Kidd, _Savage Childhood, a Study of Kafir Children_
(London, 1906), pp. 14 _sq._, 281-286. The notion that the spirits
of the dead appear in the form of serpents is widespread in Africa.
See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition, pp. 73 _sqq._ Dr. F. B.
Jevons has suggested that the Roman _genius_, the guardian-spirit
which accompanied a man from birth to death (Censorinus, _De die
natali_, 3) and was commonly represented in the form of a snake, may
have been an external soul. See F. B. Jevons, _Plutarch’s Romane
Questions_ (London, 1892) pp. xlvii. _sq._; _id._, _Introduction to
the History of Religion_ (London, 1896), pp. 186 _sq._; L. Preller,
_Römische Mythologie_3 (Berlin, 1881-1883), ii. 195 _sqq._; G.
Wissowa, _Religion und Kultus der Römer_2 (Munich, 1912), pp. 176
_sq._
M167 The conception of an external soul lodged in an animal occurs among
the Indians of Central America, some of whom call such a soul a
_nagual_.
570 H. H. Bancroft, _The Native Races of the Pacific Coast_ (London,
1875-1876), i. 661. The words quoted by Bancroft (p. 662, note),
“_Consérvase entre ellos la creencia de que su vida está unida à la
de un animal, y que es forzoso que mueran ellos cuando éste muere_,”
are not quite accurately represented by the statement of Bancroft in
the text. Elsewhere (vol. ii. p. 277) the same writer calls the
“second self” of the Zapotecs a “_nagual_, or tutelary genius,”
adding that the fate of the child was supposed to be so intimately
bound up with the fortune of the animal that the death of the one
involved the death of the other. Compare Daniel G. Brinton,
“Nagualism, a Study in American Folk-lore and History,” _Proceedings
of the American Philosophical Society held at Philadelphia_, vol.
xxxiii. No. 144 (Philadelphia, January, 1894), pp. 11-73. According
to Professor E. Seler the word _nagual_ is akin to the Mexican
_naualli_, “a witch or wizard,” which is derived from a word meaning
“hidden” with reference to the power attributed to sorcerers of
transforming themselves into animals. See E. Seler, “Altmexikanische
Studien, II.” _Veröffentlichungen aus dem Königlichen Museum für
Völkerkunde_, vi. heft 2/4 (Berlin, 1899), pp. 52-57.
571 Otto Stoll, _Die Ethnologie der Indianerstämme von Guatemala_
(Leyden, 1889), p. 57.
572 Thomas Gage, _A New Survey of the West Indies_, Third Edition
(London, 1677), p. 334. The same writer relates how a certain Indian
named Gonzalez was reported to have the power of turning himself
into a lion or rather a puma. Once when a Spaniard had shot a puma
in the nose, Gonzalez was found with a bruised face and accused the
Spaniard of having shot him. Another Indian chief named Gomez was
said to have transformed himself into a puma, and in that shape to
have fought a terrific battle with a rival chief named Lopez, who
had changed himself into a jaguar. See Gage, _op. cit._ pp. 383-389.
573 Antonio de Herrera, _General History of the Vast Continent and
Islands of America_, translated by Capt. John Stevens (London,
1725-1726), iv. 138 _sq._ The Spanish original of Herrera’s history,
a work based on excellent authorities, was first published at Madrid
in 1601-1615. The Indians of Santa Catalina Istlavacan still receive
at birth the name of some animal, which is commonly regarded as
their guardian spirit for the rest of their life. The name is
bestowed by the heathen priest, who usually hears of a birth in the
village sooner than his Catholic colleague. See K. Scherzer, “Die
Indianer von Santa Catalina Istlávacana (Frauenfuss), ein Beitrag
zur Culturgeschichte der Urbewohner Central-Amerikas,”
_Sitzungsberichte der philos. histor. Classe der kais. Akademie der
Wissenschaften_ (Vienna), xviii. (1856) p. 235.
574 Otto Stoll, _Die Ethnologie der Indianerstämme von Guatemala_
(Leyden, 1889), pp. 57 _sq._; _id._, _Suggestion und Hypnotism_2
(Leipsic, 1904), p. 170.
M168 In some tribes of South-Eastern Australia the lives of the two sexes
are thought to be bound up with the lives of two different kinds of
animals, as bats and owls.
575 A. W. Howitt, “Further Notes on the Australian Class Systems,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xviii. (1889) pp. 57
_sq._ Compare _id._, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_
(London, 1904), pp. 148, 150. It is very remarkable that among the
Kurnai these fights had a special connexion with marriage. When
young men were backward of taking wives, the women used to go out
into the forest and kill an emu-wren, which was the men’s “brother”;
then returning to the camp they shewed the dead bird to the men. The
result was a fight between the young men and the young women, in
which, however, lads who were not yet marriageable might not take
part. Next day the marriageable young men went out and killed a
superb warbler, which was the women’s “sister,” and this led to a
worse fight than before. Some days afterwards, when the wounds and
bruises were healed, one of the marriageable young men met one of
the marriageable young women, and said, “Superb warbler!” She
answered, “Emu-wren! What does the emu-wren eat?” To which the young
man answered, “He eats so-and-so,” naming kangaroo, opossum, emu, or
some other game. Then they laughed, and she ran off with him without
telling any one. See L. Fison and A. W. Howitt, _Kamilaroi and
Kurnai_ (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane, 1880), pp. 201
_sq._; A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp.
149, 273 _sq._ Perhaps this killing of the sex-totem before marriage
may be related to the pretence of killing young men and bringing
them to life again at puberty. See below, pp. 225 _sqq._
576 Gerard Krefft, “Manners and Customs of the Aborigines of the Lower
Murray and Darling,” _Transactions of the Philosophical Society of
New South Wales_, 1862-65, pp. 359 _sq._
577 A. W. Howitt, “Further Notes on the Australian Class Systems,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xviii. (1889) pp. 56
_sq._
578 A. W. Howitt, _op. cit._ p. 57; _id._, _Native Tribes of South-East
Australia_, p. 150.
579 A. W. Howitt, “On the Migrations of the Kurnai Ancestors,” _Journal
of the Anthropological Institute_, xv. (1886) p. 416.
580 C. W. Schürmann, “The Aboriginal Tribes of Port Lincoln,” in _Native
Tribes of South Australia_ (Adelaide, 1879), p. 241. Compare G. F.
Angas, _Savage Life and Scenes in Australia and New Zealand_
(London, 1847), i. 109.
581 A. W. Howitt, “Further Notes on the Australian Class Systems,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xviii. (1889) p. 58.
Compare _id._, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_ (London,
1904), pp. 148-151.
582 James Dawson, _Australian Aborigines_ (Melbourne, Sydney, and
Adelaide, 1881), p. 52.
M169 Bats regarded as the brothers of men, and owls as the sisters of
women.
583 See _Totemism and Exogamy_, i. 47 _sq._ It is at least remarkable
that both the creatures thus assigned to the two sexes should be
nocturnal in their habits. Perhaps the choice of such creatures is
connected with the belief that the soul is absent from the body in
slumber. On this hypothesis bats and owls would be regarded by these
savages as the wandering souls of sleepers. Such a belief would
fully account for the reluctance of the natives to kill them. The
Kiowa Indians of North America think that owls and other night birds
are animated by the souls of the dead. See James Mooney, “Calendar
History of the Kiowa Indians,” _Seventeenth Annual Report of the
Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1898) p. 237.
584 A. L. P. Cameron, “Notes on some Tribes of New South Wales,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xiv. (1885) p. 350 note
1; A. W. Howitt, “On the Migrations of the Kurnai Ancestors,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xv. (1886) p. 416;
_id._, “Further Notes on the Australian Class Systems,” _Journal of
the Anthropological Institute_, xviii. (1889) p. 57.
585 L. Fison and A. W. Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, pp. 194, 201,
_sq._, 215; _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xv. 416,
xviii. 56 _sq._; A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East
Australia_ (London, 1904), pp. 148-151.
586 The following suggestion as to the origin of totemism was made in
the first edition of this book (published in 1890) and is here
reprinted without any substantial change. In the meantime much
additional evidence as to the nature and prevalence of totemism has
come to light, and with the new evidence my opinions, or rather
conjectures, as to the origin of the institution have repeatedly
changed. If I here reprint my earliest conjecture, it is partly
because I still think it may contain an element of truth, and partly
because it serves as a convenient peg on which to hang a collection
of facts which are much more valuable than any theories of mine. The
reader who desires to acquaint himself more fully with the facts of
totemism and with the theories that have been broached on the
subject, will find them stated at length in my _Totemism and
Exogamy_ (London, 1910). Here I will only call attention to the
Arunta legend that the ancestors of the tribe kept their spirits in
certain sacred sticks and stones (_churinga_), which bear a close
resemblance to the well-known bull-roarers, and that when they went
out hunting they hung these sticks or stones on certain sacred poles
(_nurtunjas_) which represented their totems. See Baldwin Spencer
and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_ (London,
1899), pp. 137 _sq._, 629. This tradition appears to point to a
custom of transferring a man’s soul or spirit temporarily to his
totem. Conversely when an Arunta is sick he scrapes his _churinga_
and swallows the scrapings, as if to restore to himself the
spiritual substance deposited in the instrument. See Baldwin Spencer
and F. J. Gillen, _op. cit._ p. 135 note 1.
M170 Sex totems and clan totems may both be based on the notion that men
and women keep their external souls in their totems, whether these
are animals, plants, or what not.
587 (Sir) George Grey, _Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in
North-West and Western Australia_ (London, 1841), ii. 228 _sq._
588 L. Fison and A. W. Howitt, _Kamilaroi and Kurnai_, p. 169. According
to Dr. Howitt, it is a serious offence to kill the totem of another
person “with intent to injure him” (_Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xviii. (1889) p. 53). Such an intention seems to imply a
belief in a sympathetic connexion between the man and the animal.
Similarly the Siena of the Ivory Coast, in West Africa, who have
totemism, believe that if a man kills one of his totemic animals, a
member of his totemic clan dies instantaneously. See Maurice
Delafosse, “Le peuple Siéna ou Sénoufo,” _Revue des Études
Ethnographiques et Sociologiques_, i. (1908) p. 452.
M171 The savage may imagine his life to be bound up with that of more
animals than one at the same time; for many savages think that every
person has more souls than one.
589 According to Plato, the different parts of the soul were lodged in
different parts of the body (_Timaeus_, pp. 69C-72D), and as only
one part, on his theory, was immortal, Lucian seems not unnaturally
to have interpreted the Platonic doctrine to mean that every man had
more than one soul (_Demonax_, 33).
590 J. J. M. de Groot, _The Religious System of China_, iv. (Leyden,
1901) pp. 3 _sq._, 70-75.
591 Le sieur de la Borde, “Relation de l’Origine, Mœurs, Coustumes,
Religion, Guerres et Voyages des Caraibes sauvages des Isles
Antilles de l’Amerique,” p. 15, in _Recueil de divers Voyages faits
en Afrique et en l’Amerique_ (Paris, 1684).
592 Washington Matthews, _The Hidatsa Indians_ (Washington, 1877), p.
50.
593 H. Ling Roth, “Low’s Natives of Borneo,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxi. (1892) p. 117; W. W. Skeat, _Malay
Magic_ (London, 1900), p. 50.
594 A. C. Kruijt, “Een en ander aangaande het geestelijk en
maatschappelijk leven van den Poso-Alfoer,” _Mededeelingen van wege
het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, xxxix. (1895) pp. 3 _sq._
595 A. Bastian, _Die Völker des östlichen Asien_, iii. (Jena, 1867) p.
248.
596 In some tribes, chiefly of North American Indians, every man has an
individual or personal totem in addition to the totem of his clan.
This personal totem is usually the animal of which he dreamed during
a long and solitary fast at puberty. See _Totemism and Exogamy_, i.
49-52, iii. 370-456, where the relation of the individual or
personal totem (if we may call it so) to the clan totem is
discussed. It is quite possible that, as some good authorities
incline to believe, the clan totem has been developed out of the
personal totem by inheritance. See Miss Alice C. Fletcher, _The
Import of the Totem_, pp. 3 _sqq._ (paper read before the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, August 1887, separate
reprint); Fr. Boas, “The Social Organization and the Secret
Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians,” _Report of the United States
National Museum for 1895_ (Washington, 1897), pp. 323 _sq._,
336-338, 393. In the bush souls of the Calabar negroes (see above,
pp. 204 _sqq._) we seem to have something like the personal totem on
its way to become hereditary and so to grow into the totem of a
clan.
M172 The Battas of Sumatra, who have totemism, believe that every person
has a soul which is always outside of his body.
597 J. B. Neumann, “Het Pane- en Bila-stroomgebied op het eiland
Sumatra,” _Tijdschrift van het Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig
Genootschap_, Tweede Serie, dl. iii. Afdeeling, meer uitgebreide
artikelen, No. 2 (1886), pp. 311 _sq._; _id._, dl. iv. No. 1 (1887),
pp. 8 _sq._; Van Hoëvell, “Iets over ’t oorlogvoeren der Batta’s,”
_Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch Indië_, N.S., vii. (1878) p. 434; G.
A. Wilken, _Verspreide Geschriften_ (The Hague, 1912), i. 296, 306
_sq._, 309, 325 _sq._; L. de Backer, _L’Archipel Indien_ (Paris,
1874), p. 470; Col. Yule, in _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, ix. (1880) p. 295; Joachim Freiherr von Brenner, _Besuch
bei den Kannibalen Sumatras_ (Würzburg, 1894), pp. 197 _sqq._; P. A.
L. E. van Dijk, “Eenige aanteekeningen omtrent de verschillenden
stammen (_Margas_) en de stamverdeling bij de Battaks,” _Tijdschrift
voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xxxviii. (1895) pp. 296
_sq._; M. Joustra, “Naar het landschap Goenoeng,” _Mededeelingen van
wege het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_, xlv. (1901) pp. 80
_sq._; _id._, “Het leven, de zeden en gewoonten der Bataks,”
_Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche Zendelinggenootschap_,
xlvi. (1902) pp. 387 _sqq._; J. E. Neumann, “Kemali, Pantang, en
Rĕboe bij de Karo-Bataks,” _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en
Volkenkunde_, xlviii. (1906) p. 512. See further _Totemism and
Exogamy_, ii. 185 _sqq._
598 B. Hagen, “Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Battareligion,” _Tijdschrift
voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xxviii. (1883) p. 514. J.
B. Neumann (_op. cit._ dl. iii. No. 2, pp. 299) is the authority for
the seven souls. According to another writer, six out of the seven
souls reside outside of the body; one of them dwells in heaven, the
remaining five have no definite place of abode, but are so closely
related to the man that were they to abandon him his health would
suffer. See J. Freiherr von Brenner, _Besuch bei den Kannibalen
Sumatras_, pp. 239 _sq._ A different account of Batta psychology is
given by Mr. Westenberg. According to him, each Batta has only one
_tendi_ (not three or seven of them); and the _tendi_ is something
between a soul and a guardian spirit. It always resides outside of
the body, and on its position near, before, behind, above, or below,
the welfare of its owner is supposed in great measure to depend. But
in addition each man has two invisible guardian spirits (his _kaka_
and _agi_) whose help he invokes in great danger; one is the seed by
which he was begotten, the other is the afterbirth, and these he
calls respectively his elder and his younger brother. Mr.
Westenberg’s account refers specially to the Karo-Battas. See C. J.
Westenberg, “Aanteekeningen omtrent de godsdienstige begrippen der
Karo-Bataks,” _Bijdragen tot de Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van
Nederlandsch Indië_, xli. (1892) pp. 228 _sq._
M173 If a totem is the receptacle in which a man keeps his external soul,
it is no wonder that savages should conceal the secret from
strangers.
599 Compare Ch. Hose and W. McDougall, _The Pagan Tribes of Borneo_
(London, 1912), ii. 90 _sqq._: “An important institution among some
of the Ibans, which occurs but in rare instances among the other
peoples, is the _ngarong_ or secret helper. The _ngarong_ is one of
the very few topics in regard to which the Ibans display any
reluctance to speak freely. So great is their reserve in this
connection that one of us lived for fourteen years on friendly terms
with Ibans of various districts without ascertaining the meaning of
the word _ngarong_, or suspecting the great importance of the part
played by the notion in the lives of some of these people. The
_ngarong_ seems to be usually the spirit of some ancestor or dead
relative, but not always so, and it is not clear that it is always
conceived as the spirit of a deceased human being. This spirit
becomes the special protector of some individual Iban, to whom in a
dream he manifests himself, in the first place in human form, and
announces that he will be his secret helper.... When, as is most
commonly the case, the secret helper takes on the form of some
animal, all individuals of that species become objects of especial
regard to the fortunate Iban; he will not kill or eat any such
animal, and he will as far as possible restrain others from doing
so.” Thus the _ngarong_ or secret helper of the Ibans closely
resembles what I have called the individual or personal totem.
600 It is not merely the personal name which is often shrouded in
mystery (see _Taboo and the Perils of the Soul_, pp. 318 _sqq._);
the names of the clans and their subdivisions are objects of
mysterious reverence among many, if not all, of the Siouan tribes of
North America, and are never used in ordinary conversation. See J.
Owen Dorsey, “Osage Traditions,” _Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1888), p. 396. Among the Yuin of
South-Eastern Australia “the totem name was called _Budjan_, and it
was said to be more like _Joïa_, or magic, than a name; and it was
in one sense a secret name, for with it an enemy might cause injury
to its bearer by magic. Thus very few people knew the totem names of
others, the name being told to a youth by his father at his
initiation” (A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_,
London, 1904, p. 133).
M174 This view of totemism may help to explain the rite of death and
resurrection which forms part of many initiatory ceremonies among
savages.
601 Theodor Benfey, _Pantschatantra_ (Leipsic, 1859), i. 128 _sq._
Similarly a man of the Kulin tribe in Victoria was called Kurburu,
that is, “native bear,” because the spirit of a native bear was
supposed to have entered into him when he killed the animal, and to
have endowed him with its wonderful cleverness. This I learn from
Miss E. B. Howitt’s _Folklore and Legends of some Victorian Tribes_
(chapter vi.), which I have been privileged to see in manuscript.
Among the Chiquites Indians of Paraguay sickness was sometimes
accounted for by supposing that the soul of a deer or a turtle had
entered into the patient. See _Lettres Édifiantes et Curieuses_,
Nouvelle Édition, viii. (Paris, 1781) p. 339. We have seen (pp. 213
_sq._) that the Indians of Honduras made an alliance with the animal
that was to be their _nagual_ by offering some of their own blood to
it. Conversely the North American Indian kills the animal which is
to be his personal totem, and thenceforth wears some part of the
creature as an amulet (_Totemism and Exogamy_, i. 50). These facts
seem to point to the establishment of a blood covenant, involving an
interchange of life between a man and his personal totem or
_nagual_; and among the Fans of West Africa, as we saw (above, p.
201), such a covenant is actually supposed to exist between a
sorcerer and his _elangela_.
M175 The rite of death and resurrection among the Wonghi of New South
Wales.
602 A. L. P. Cameron, “Notes on some Tribes of New South Wales,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xiv. (1885) pp. 357
_sq._ Compare A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_
(London, 1904), pp. 588 _sq._
M176 Use of the bull-roarer at initiatory ceremonies in Australia. The
sound of the bull-roarer compared to thunder. Belief of the Dieri
that by sounding a bull-roarer a newly initiated young man produces
a supply of edible snakes and lizards.
603 Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central
Australia_ (London, 1899), pp. 213, 453.
604 A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_ (London,
1904), p. 538. As to Daramulun (of whose name Thuremlin is no doubt
only a dialectical variation) see _id._, pp. 407, 493, 494 _sq._,
497, 499, 500, 507, 523 _sq._, 526, 528, 529 _sq._, 535, 540, 541,
585 _sq._, 587; _id._, “On some Australian Ceremonies of
Initiation,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xiii.
(1884) pp. 442, 443, 446, 447, 448, 450, 451, 452, 455, 456, 459. On
the bull-roarer see Andrew Lang, _Custom and Myth_ (London, 1884),
pp. 29-44; J. D. E. Schmeltz, _Das Schwirrholz_ (Hamburg, 1896); A.
C. Haddon, _The Study of Man_ (London and New York, 1898), pp.
277-327; J. G. Frazer, “On some Ceremonies of the Central Australian
Aborigines,” _Proceedings of the Australasian Association for the
Advancement of Science for the Year 1900_ (Melbourne, 1901), pp.
317-322. The religious or magical use of the bull-roarer is best
known in Australia. See, for example, L. Fison and A. W. Howitt,
_Kamilaroi and Kurnai_ (Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane,
1880), pp. 267-269; A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East
Australia_, pp. 354, 509 _sq._, 514, 515, 517, 569, 571, 575, 578,
579, 582, 583, 584, 589, 592, 594, 595, 606, 659 _sq._, 670, 672,
696, 715; Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of
Central Australia_ (London, 1899), pp. 246, 344, 347; W. Baldwin
Spencer, _Introduction to the Study of Certain Native Tribes of the
Northern Territory_ (_Bulletin of the Northern Territory_, No. 2)
(Melbourne, 1912), pp. 19 _sq._, 23, 24, 31 _sq._, 37 _sqq._; A. R.
Brown, “Three Tribes of Western Australia,” _Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute_, xliii. (1913) pp. 168, 174; R.
Pettazzoni, “Mythologie Australienne du Rhombe,” _Revue de
l’Histoire des Religions_, lxv. (1912) pp. 149-170. But in the essay
just referred to Mr. Andrew Lang shewed that the instrument has been
similarly employed not only by savages in various parts of the
world, but also by the ancient Greeks in their religious mysteries.
In the Torres Straits Islands it is used both at the initiation of
young men and as a magical instrument. See _Reports of the Cambridge
Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904)
pp. 217, 218, 219, 328, 330-333, 346, 352. In various parts of New
Guinea it is sounded at the initiation of young men and is carefully
concealed from women; the sound is thought to be the voice of a
spirit. See Rev. J. Chalmers, _Pioneering in New Guinea_ (London,
1887), p. 85; _id._, “Toaripi,” _Journal of the Anthropological
Institute_, xxvii. (1898) p. 329; Rev. J. Holmes, “Initiation
Ceremonies of Natives of the Papuan Gulf,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxii. (1902) pp. 420, 424 _sq._; O.
Schellong, “Das Barlum-fest der Gegend Finsch-hafens,”
_Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, ii. (1889) pp. 150 _sq._,
154 _sq._; F. Grabowsky, “Der Bezirk von Hatzfeldthafen und seine
Bewohner,” _Petermanns Mitteilungen_, xli. (1895) p. 189; B. Hagen,
_Unter den Papua’s_ (Wiesbaden, 1899), pp. 188 _sq._; Max Krieger,
_Neu-Guinea_ (Berlin, preface dated 1899), pp. 168 _sqq._; J.
Vetter, in _Mitteilungen der Geographischen Gesellschaft zu Jena_,
xi. (1892) p. 105; K. Vetter, in _Nachrichten über Kaiser
Wilhelms-Land und den Bismarck-Archipel, 1897_ (Berlin), p. 93; R.
Neuhauss, _Deutsch Neu-Guinea_ (Berlin, 1911), pp. 36, 297, 403, 406
_sq._, 410-412, 494 _sqq._; Otto Reche, _Der Kaiserin-Augusta-Fluss_
(Hamburg, 1913), pp. 349 _sqq._ (_Ergebnisse der Südsee-Expedition
1908-1910_, herausgegeben von G. Thilenius). It is similarly used at
the circumcision-festivals in the French Islands, to the west of New
Britain (R. Parkinson, _Dreissig Jahre in der Südsee_, Stuttgart,
1907, pp. 640 _sq._), and it is employed at mysteries or mourning
ceremonies in Bougainville and other Melanesian Islands. See R.
Parkinson, _op. cit._ pp. 658 _sq._; _id._, _Zur Ethnographie der
Nordwestlichen Salomo Inseln_ (Berlin, 1899), p. 11; R. H.
Codrington, _The Melanesians_ (Oxford, 1891), pp. 98 _sq._, 342.
Among the Minangkabauers of Sumatra the bull-roarer (_gasiĕng_) is
used by a rejected lover to induce the demons to carry off the soul
of the jilt and so drive her mad. It is made of the frontal bone of
a brave or skilful man, and some of the intended victim’s hair is
attached to it. See J. L. van der Toorn, “Het animisme bij den
Minangkabauer in der Padangsche Bovenlanden,” _Bijdragen tot de
Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch Indië_, xxxix. (1890)
pp. 55 _sq._ Among the Yoruba-speaking negroes of the Slave Coast in
West Africa, particularly at Abeokuta, the sound of the bull-roarer
is supposed to be the voice of a great bogey named Oro, whose
votaries compose a secret society under the name of Ogboni. When the
sound of the bull-roarer is heard in the streets, every woman must
shut herself up in her house and not look out of the window under
pain of death. See R. F. Burton, _Abeokuta and the Cameroons
Mountains_ (London, 1863), i. 197 _sq._;, Missionary Chautard, in
_Annales de la Propagation de la Foi_, lv. (Lyons, 1883) pp.
192-198; Missionary Baudin, “Le Fétichisme,” _Les Missions
Catholiques_, xvi. (1884) p. 257; P. Bouche, _La Côte des Esclaves
et le Dahomey_ (Paris, 1885), p. 124; Mrs. R. B. Batty and Governor
Moloney, “Notes on the Yoruba Country,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xix. (1890) pp. 160-164; A. B. Ellis,
_The Yoruba-speaking Peoples of the Slave Coast of West Africa_
(London, 1894), pp. 110 _sq._; R. H. Stone, _In Afric’s Forest and
Jungle_ (Edinburgh and London, 1900), p. 88; L. Frobenius, _Die
Masken und Geheimbünde Afrikas_ (Halle, 1898), pp. 95 _sqq._ (_Nova
Acta, Abh. der Kaiserl. Leop.-Carol. Deutschen Akademie der
Naturforscher_, vol. lxxiv. No. 1). Among the Nandi of British East
Africa and the Bushongo of the Congo region bull-roarers are sounded
by men to frighten novices at initiation. See A. C. Hollis, _The
Nandi_ (Oxford, 1909), pp. 40, 56; E. Torday and T. A. Joyce, _Les
Bushongo_ (Brussels, 1910), p. 82. Among the Caffres of South Africa
and the Boloki of the Upper Congo the bull-roarer is a child’s toy,
but yet is thought to be endowed with magical virtue. See below, p.
232 note 3. Among the Koskimo Indians of British Columbia the sound
of the bull-roarers is supposed to be the voice of a spirit who
comes to fetch away the novices. See Franz Boas, “The Social
Organization and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians,”
_Report of the United States National Museum_ (Washington, 1897), p.
610. The bull-roarer is used as a sacred or magical instrument for
the making of rain by the Zuñi and other Pueblo Indians of Arizona
and New Mexico, also by the Navajos and Apaches of the same region,
and by the Utes of Nevada and Utah. See Dr. Washington Matthews,
“The Mountain Chant, a Navajo Ceremony,” _Fifth Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1887), pp. 435, 436; Captain J. G.
Bourke, “The Medicine-men of the Apache,” _Ninth Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1892), pp. 476-479; Mrs.
Matilda Coxe Stevenson, “The Zuñi Indians,” _Twenty-third Report of
the Bureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington, 1904), pp. 115, 117,
128 _sq._, 175, 177, 355. The Guatusos of Costa Rica ascertain the
will of the deity by listening to the humming sound of the
bull-roarer. See Dr. C. Sapper, “Ein Besuch bei den Guatusos in
Costarica,” _Globus_, lxxvi. (1899) p. 352; _id._, “Beiträge zur
Ethnographie des südlichen Mittelamerika,” _Petermanns
Mitteilungen_, xlvii. (1901) p. 36. The Caripunas Indians of the
Madeira River, in Brazil, sound bull-roarers in lamentations for the
dead. See Franz Keller, _The Amazon and Madeira Rivers_ (London,
1874), p. 124. The Bororo of Brazil also swing bull-roarers at their
festivals of the dead; the sound of them is the signal for the women
to hide themselves; it is believed that women and children would die
if they saw a bull-roarer. See K. von den Steinen, _Unter den
Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasilien’s_ (Berlin, 1894), pp. 497-499. The
Nahuqua and other Brazilian tribes use bull-roarers in their masked
dances, but make no mystery of them. See K. von den Steinen, _op.
cit._ pp. 327 _sq._ As to the magical use of the bull-roarer, see
pp. 230 _sqq._
605 A. W. Howitt, “The Dieri and other Kindred Tribes of Central
Australia,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xx. (1891)
p. 83; _id._, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 660. In
the latter passage Dr. Howitt omits the not unimportant particular
that the bull-roarer is swung for this purpose by the young man
_before his wounds are healed_.
606 On the desert nature of Central Australia and the magical-like
change wrought in its fauna and flora by heavy rain, see Baldwin
Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_
(London, 1899), pp. 4 _sq._; _Totemism and Exogamy_, i. 170 _sqq._,
316 _sqq._, 341 _sq._; J. G. Frazer, “Howitt and Fison,”
_Folk-lore_, xx. (1909) pp. 160, 162 _sq._, 164.
M177 The bull-roarer used by the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona to
procure rain. The bull-roarer used in Torres Straits Islands to
produce wind and good crops.
607 Captain J. G. Bourke, “The Medicine-men of the Apache,” _Ninth
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1892), pp.
476 _sq._
608 Mrs. Matilda Coxe Stevenson, “The Zuñi Indians,” _Twenty-third
Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_ (Washington,
1904), pp. 115, 355.
609 Mrs. Matilda Coxe Stevenson, _op. cit._ p. 175; compare _id._, pp.
128 _sq._, 177.
610 Dr. Washington Matthews, “The Navajo Chant,” _Fifth Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1887), p. 436; compare _id._,
p. 435, where the sound of the bull-roarer is said to be “like that
of a rain storm.”
611 Karl von den Steinen, _Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens_
(Berlin, 1894), p. 328.
_ 612 Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres
Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) p. 352.
613 G. McCall Theal, _Kaffir Folk-lore_ (London, 1886), pp. 222 _sq._;
_id._, _Records of South-Eastern Africa_, vii. (1901) p. 456; Dudley
Kidd, _The Essential Kafir_ (London, 1904), p. 333. For an analogous
reason among the Boloki of the Upper Congo the elders do not like
when boys play with bull-roarers, because the sound resembles the
growl of a leopard and will attract these ferocious animals. See
Rev. John H. Weeks, _Among Congo Cannibals_ (London, 1913), p. 157.
614 A. C. Haddon, _Head-hunters, Black, White, and Brown_ (London,
1901), p. 104; _Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition
to Torres Straits_, v. (Cambridge, 1904) pp. 218, 219; Rev. J.
Chalmers, “Notes on the Natives of Kiwai Island,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxxiii. (1903) p. 119.
615 H. Zahn, “Die Jabim,” in R. Neuhauss’s _Deutsch Neu-Guinea_ (Berlin,
1911), iii. 333.
M178 The whirling of bull-roarers by young men with bleeding backs in
Australia seems to have been a rain-making ceremony.
_ 616 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 256-258.
617 This appears to be the view also of Professor K. von den Steinen
(_Unter den Naturvölkern Zentral-Brasiliens_, pp. 327 _sq._), who is
probably right in thinking that the primary intention of the
instrument is to make thunder, and that the idea of making rain is
secondary.
M179 The sound of the bull-roarer at initiation is believed by Australian
women and children to be the voice of a spirit, who carries away the
novices.
618 A. W. Howitt, “On Australian Medicine Men,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xvi. (1887) pp. 47 _sq._; compare _id._,
_Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, p. 596.
619 Baldwin Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central
Australia_, p. 246 note 1; _id._, _Northern Tribes of Central
Australia_ (London, 1904), p. 497. According to the classificatory
system of relationship, which prevails among all the aborigines of
Australia, a man may have, and generally has, a number of women who
stand to him in the relation of mother as well as of sister, though
there need not be a drop of blood in common between them, as we
count kin. This explains the reference in the text to a boy’s
“mothers.”
M180 In some Australian tribes the women believe that lads at initiation
are killed and brought to life again by a spirit, whose voice is
heard in the sound of the bull-roarer.
620 B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_,
pp. 342 _sq._, 498.
621 Spencer and Gillen, _op. cit._ p. 498.
622 Spencer and Gillen, _op. cit._ pp. 366 _sq._, 501.
623 Spencer and Gillen, _op. cit._ pp. 373, 501.
M181 A drama of resurrection from the dead used to be shewn to novices at
initiation in some tribes of New South Wales. Dr. Howitt’s
description of the scene. The seeming dead man in the grave. The
resurrection from the grave.
624 A. W. Howitt, _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, pp. 554-556.
Compare _id._, “On some Australian Ceremonies of Initiation,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) pp. 453
_sq._
M182 In some Australian tribes a medicine-man at his initiation is
thought to be killed and raised again from the dead.
625 B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_,
pp. 523-525; _id._, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_, 480
_sq._, 484, 485, 487, 488; _id._, _Across Australia_ (London, 1912),
ii. 334 _sqq._
626 Spencer and Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_, pp. 480
_sq._
627 F. J. Gillen, “Notes on some Manners and Customs of the Aborigines
of the McDonnel Ranges belonging to the Arunta Tribe,” in _Report on
the Work of the Horn Scientific Expedition to Central Australia_,
Part iv. _Anthropology_ (London and Melbourne, 1896), pp. 180 _sq._;
B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Native Tribes of Central Australia_
(London, 1899), pp. 523 _sq._; _id._, _Across Australia_ (London,
1912), ii. 335.
M183 Notable features in the initiation of Australian medicine-men.
628 B. Spencer and F. J. Gillen, _Northern Tribes of Central Australia_,
pp. 487, 488; _id._, _Across Australia_, ii. 481 _sq._
M184 Rites of initiation in some tribes of German New Guinea. The novices
thought to be swallowed and disgorged by a monster, whose voice is
heard in the hum of the bull-roarers.
M185 The return of the novices after initiation.
629 As to the initiatory rites among the Yabim, see K. Vetter, in
_Nachrichten über Kaiser Wilhelms-Land und den Bismarck-Archipel_,
1897, pp. 92 _sq._; _id._, in _Mitteilungen der Geographischen
Gesellschaft zu Jena_, xi. (1892) p. 105; _id._, _Komm herüber und
hilf uns!_ ii. (Barmen, 1898) p. 18; _id._, cited by M. Krieger,
_Neu-Guinea_ (Berlin, preface dated 1899), pp. 167-170; O.
Schellong, “Das Barlum-fest der Gegend Finschhafens,”
_Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, ii. (1889) pp. 145-162;
H. Zahn, “Die Jabim,” in R. Neuhauss’s _Deutsch Neu-Guinea_ (Berlin,
1911), iii. 296-298. As to the initiatory rites among the Bukaua,
see S. Lehner, “Bukaua,” in R. Neuhauss’s _Deutsch Neu-Guinea_, iii.
402-410; among the Kai, see Ch. Keysser, “Aus dem Kai-Leute,”
_ibid._ pp. 34-40; among the Tami, see G. Bamler, “Tami,” _ibid._
pp. 493-507. I have described the rites of the various tribes more
in detail in _The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the
Dead_, i. 250-255, 260 _sq._, 290 _sq._, 301 _sq._ In the Bukaua and
Tami tribes the initiation ceremonies are performed not in the
forest but in a special house built for the purpose in the village,
which the women are obliged to vacate till the rites are over.
M186 The monster who is supposed to swallow the novices is apparently
conceived as a ghost or ancestral spirit.
_ 630 The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead_, i. 250,
251, 255, 261, 290 _sq._, 301. Among the Bukaua not only does the
bull-roarer bear the general name for a ghost (_balum_), but each
particular bull-roarer bears in addition the name of a particular
dead man, and varies in dignity and importance with the dignity and
importance of the deceased person whom it represents. And besides
the big bull-roarers with gruff voices there are little bull-roarers
with shrill voices, which represent the shrill-voiced wives of the
ancient heroes. See S. Lehner, “Bukaua,” in R. Neuhauss’s _Deutsch
Neu-Guinea_, iii. 410-412.
631 R. Pöch, “Vierter Bericht über meine Reise nach Neu-Guinea,”
_Sitzungsberichte der mathematischen-naturwissenschaftlichen Klasse
der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften_ (Vienna), cxv. (1906)
Abteilung i. pp. 901, 902.
M187 The drama of death and resurrection used to be enacted before young
men at initiation in some parts of Fiji.
632 Rev. Lorimer Fison, “The _Nanga_ or Sacred Stone Enclosure of
Wainimala, Fiji,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xiv.
(1885) p. 27. The _Nanga_ or sacred enclosure of stones, with its
sacred rites, was known only to certain tribes of Fiji (the Nuyaloa,
Vatusila, Mbatiwai, and Mdavutukia), who inhabited a comparatively
small area, barely a third, of the island of Viti Levu. As to the
institution in general, see Rev. Lorimer Fison, _op. cit._ pp.
14-31; A. B. Joske, “The Nanga of Viti-levu,” _Internationales
Archiv für Ethnographie_, ii. (1889) pp. 254-266; Basil Thomson,
_The Fijians_ (London, 1908), pp. 146-157. Compare _The Belief in
Immortality and the Worship of the Dead_, i. 427-438.
633 Rev. Lorimer Fison, _op. cit._ p. 26; Basil Thomson, _op. cit._ 147.
634 Rev. Lorimer Fison, _op. cit._ pp. 27 _sq._ The phrase “the
ancestral gods” is used by Mr. Fison, one of our best authorities on
Fijian religion. Mr. Basil Thomson (_op. cit._ p. 157) questions the
accuracy of Mr. Fison’s account of this vicarious sacrifice on the
ground that every youth was regularly circumcised as a matter of
course. But there seems to be no inconsistency between the two
statements. While custom required that every youth should be
circumcised, the exact time for performing the ceremony need not
have been rigidly prescribed; and if a saving or atoning virtue was
attributed to the sacrifice of foreskins, it might be thought
desirable in cases of emergency, such as serious illness, to
anticipate it for the benefit of the sufferer.
635 According to Mr. Fison, the enclosure was divided into three
compartments; Mr. Basil Thomson describes only two, though by
speaking of one of them as the “Middle Nanga” he seems to imply that
there were three. The structure was a rough parallelogram lying east
and west, about a hundred feet long by fifty feet broad, enclosed by
walls or rows of stone slabs embedded endwise in the earth. See
Basil Thomson, _op. cit._ pp. 147 _sq._
M188 Description of the rite. The mimic death. The mimic resurrection.
The sacramental meal. The intention of the rite.
636 A. B. Joske, “The Nanga of Vitilevu,” _Internationales Archiv für
Ethnographie_, ii. (1889) p. 259; Basil Thomson, _The Fijians_, pp.
150 _sq._ According to Mr. Fison (_op. cit._ p. 19) the initiatory
ceremonies were held as a rule only every second year; but he adds:
“This period, however, is not necessarily restricted to two years.
There are always a number of youths who are growing to the proper
age, and the length of the interval depends upon the decision of the
elders.” Perhaps the seeming discrepancy between our authorities on
this point may be explained by Mr. Joske’s statement (p. 259) that
the rites are held in alternate years by two different sets of men,
the Kai Vesina and the Kai Rukuruku, both of whom claim to be
descended from the original founders of the rites. The custom of
dating the New Year by observation of the Pleiades was apparently
universal among the Polynesians. See _The Spirits of the Corn and of
the Wild_, i. 312 _sq._
637 Rev. Lorimer Fison, _op. cit._ pp. 20-23; A. B. Joske, _op. cit._
pp. 264 _sq._; Basil Thomson, _The Fijians_, pp. 150-153. The
sacramental character of the meal is recognized by Mr. Fison, who
says (p. 23) that after the performance of the rites the novices
“are now _Vīlavóu_, accepted members of the _Nanga_, qualified to
take their place among the men of the community, though still only
on probation. As children—their childhood being indicated by their
shaven heads—they were presented to the ancestors, and their
acceptance was notified by what (looking at the matter from the
natives’ standpoint) we might, without irreverance, almost call the
_sacrament_ of food and water, too sacred even for the elders’ hands
to touch.”
M189 Initiatory rite in the island of Rook: pretence that the novices are
swallowed by the devil. Secret society of the Duk-duk in New
Britain. Novices supposed to be killed. The new birth.
638 Paul Reina, “Ueber die Bewohner der Insel Rook,” _Zeitschrift für
allgemeine Erdkunde_, N.F., iv. (1858) pp. 356 _sq._
639 R. Parkinson, _Im Bismarck Archipel_ (Leipsic, 1887), pp. 129-134;
_id._ _Dreissig Jahre in der Südsee_ (Stuttgart, 1907), pp. 567
_sqq._; Rev. G. Brown, “Notes on the Duke of York Group, New
Britain, and New Ireland,” _Journal of the Royal Geographical
Society_, xlvii. (1878) pp. 148 _sq._; H. H. Romilly, “The Islands
of the New Britain Group,” _Proceedings of the Royal Geographical
Society_, N.S., ix. (1887) pp. 11 _sq._; Rev. G. Brown, _ibid._ p.
17; _id._, _Melanesians and Polynesians_ (London, 1910), pp. 60
_sqq._; W. Powell, _Wanderings in a Wild Country_ (London, 1883),
pp. 60-66; C. Hager, _Kaiser Wilhelm’s Land und der Bismarck
Archipel_ (Leipsic, N.D.), pp. 115-128; Hubner, quoted by W. H.
Dall, “On masks, labrets, and certain aboriginal customs,” _Third
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1884), p.
100; P. A. Kleintitschen, _Die Küstenbewohner der Gazellehalbinsel_
(Hiltrup bei Münster, N.D.), pp. 350 _sqq._; H. Schurtz,
_Altersklassen und Männerbünde_ (Berlin, 1902), pp. 369-377. The
inhabitants of these islands are divided into two exogamous classes,
which in the Duke of York Island have two insects for their totems.
One of the insects is the _mantis religiosus_; the other is an
insect that mimics the leaf of the horse-chestnut tree very closely.
See Rev. B. Danks, “Marriage Customs of the New Britain Group,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xviii. (1889) pp. 281
_sq._; _Totemism and Exogamy_, ii. 118 _sqq._
M190 Initiatory rite in Halmahera: pretence of begetting the novices
anew.
640 J. G. F. Riedel, “Galela und Tobeloresen,” _Zeitschrift für
Ethnologie_, xvii. (1885) pp. 81 _sq._
M191 The Kakian association in Ceram. The rite of initiation: pretence of
killing the novices.
641 The Kakian association and its initiatory ceremonies have often been
described. See François Valentyn, _Oud en nieuw Oost-Indiën_
(Dordrecht and Amsterdam, 1724-1726), iii. 3 _sq._; Von Schmid, “Het
Kakihansch Verbond op het eiland Ceram,” _Tijdschrift voor Neérlands
Indië_ (Batavia, 1843), dl. ii. pp. 25-38; A. van Ekris, “Het
Ceramsche Kakianverbond,” _Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche
Zendelinggenootschap_, ix. (1865) pp. 205-226 (repeated with slight
changes in _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_,
xvi. (1867) pp. 290-315); P. Fournier, “De Zuidkust van Ceram,”
_Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde_, xvi. (1867)
pp. 154-156; W. A. van Rees, _Die Pionniers der Beschaving in
Neêrlands Indië_ (Arnheim, 1867), pp. 92-106; G. W. W. C. Baron van
Hoëvell, _Ambon en meer bepaaldelijk de Oeliasers_ (Dordrecht,
1875), pp. 153 _sqq._; Schulze, “Ueber Ceram und seine Bewohner,”
_Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie,
Ethnologie, und Urgeschichte_ (1877), p. 117; W. Joest, “Beiträge
zur Kenntniss der Eingebornen der Insel Formosa und Ceram,” _ibid._
(1882) p. 64; H. von Rosenberg, _Der Malayische Archipel_ (Leipsic,
1878), p. 318; A. Bastian, _Indonesien_, i. (Berlin, 1884) pp.
145-148; J. G. F. Riedel, _De sluik- en kroesharige rassen tusschen
Selebes en Papua_ (The Hague, 1886), pp. 107-111; O. D. Tauern,
“Ceram,” _Zeitschrift für Ethnologie_, xlv. (1913) pp. 167 _sq._ The
best accounts are those of Valentyn, Von Schmid, Van Ekris, Van
Rees, and Riedel, which are accordingly followed in the text.
M192 The resurrection of the novices.
M193 The secret society of _Ndembo_ in the valley of the Lowe Congo.
642 No reason is assigned for this curious choice of a president. Can it
have been that, because negro children are born pale or nearly
white, an albino was deemed a proper president for a society, all
the initiated members of which claimed to have been born again?
Speaking of the people of the Lower Congo the old English traveller
Andrew Battel observes that “the children of this country are born
white, but change their colour in two days’ time to a perfect black”
(“Adventures of Andrew Battel,” in J. Pinkerton’s _Voyages and
Travels_, xvi. London, 1814, p. 331).
M194 Pretence of death as a preliminary to resurrection.
M195 Seclusion of the novices.
M196 Resurrection of the novices. Pretence of the novices that they have
forgotten everything.
643 Rev. J. H. Weeks, “Notes on some Customs of the Lower Congo People,”
_Folk-lore_, xx. (1909) pp. 189-198; Rev. W. H. Bentley, _Life on
the Congo_ (London, 1887), pp. 78 _sq._; _id._, _Pioneering on the
Congo_ (London, 1900), i. 284-287. Mr. Weeks’s description of the
institution is the fullest and I have followed it in the text. The
custom was in vogue down to recent years, but seems to have been
suppressed chiefly by the exertions of the missionaries. Besides the
_ndembo_ guild there is, or was, in these regions another secret
society known as the _nkimba_, which some writers have confused with
the _ndembo_. The _nkimba_ was of a more harmless character than the
other; indeed it seems even to have served some useful purposes,
partly as a kind of freemasonry which encouraged mutual help among
its members, partly as a system of police for the repression of
crime, its professed object being to put down witchcraft and punish
witches. Only males were admitted to it. Candidates for initiation
were stupefied by a drug, but there was apparently no pretence of
killing them and bringing them to life again. Members of the society
had a home in the jungle away from the town, where the novices lived
together for a period varying from six months to two years. They
learned a secret language, and received new names; it was afterwards
an offence to call a man by the name of his childhood. Instead of
the red dye affected by members of the _ndembo_ guild, members of
the _nkimba_ guild whitened their bodies with pipe clay and wore
crinolines of palm frondlets. See Rev. W. H. Bentley, _Life on the
Congo_, pp. 80-83; _id._, _Pioneering on the Congo_, i. 282-284;
Rev. J. H. Weeks, _op. cit._ pp. 198-201; (Sir) H. H. Johnston, “A
Visit to Mr. Stanley’s Stations on the River Congo,” _Proceedings of
the Royal Geographical Society_, N. S. v. (1883) pp. 572 _sq._; E.
Delmar Morgan, “Notes on the Lower Congo,” _id._, N.S. vi. (1884) p.
193. As to these two secret societies on the Lower Congo, see
further (Sir) H. H. Johnston, “On the Races of the Congo,” _Journal
of the Anthropological Institute_, xiii. (1884) pp. 472 sq.; É.
Dupont, _Lettres sur le Congo_ (Paris, 1889), pp. 96-100; Herbert
Ward, _Five Years with the Congo Cannibals_ (London, 1890), pp. 54
_sq._; _id._ “Ethnographical Notes relating to the Congo Tribes,”
_Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxiv. (1895) pp. 288
_sq._; E. J. Glave, _Six Years of Adventure in Congo Land_ (London,
1893), pp. 80-83; L. Frobenius, _Die Masken und Geheimbünde Afrikas_
(Halle, 1898), pp. 43-54 (_Nova Acta. Abh. der Kaiserl. Leop. Carol.
Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher_, vol. lxxiv. No. 1); H.
Schurtz, _Altersklassen und Männerbünde_ (Berlin, 1902), pp.
433-437; _Notes Annalytiques sur les Collections Ethnographiques du
Musée du Congo_ (Brussels, 1902-1906), pp. 199-206; Ed. de Jonghe,
_Les Sociétés Secrètes au Bas-Congo_ (Brussels, 1907), pp. 15 _sqq._
(extract from the _Revue des Questions Scientifiques_, October
1907). Some of these writers do not discriminate between the two
societies, the _ndembo_ and the _nkimba_. According to our best
authorities (Messrs. Bentley and Weeks) the two societies are quite
distinct and neither of them has anything to do with circumcision,
which is, however, prevalent in the region. See Rev. J. H. Weeks,
“Notes on some Customs of the Lower Congo People,” _Folk-lore_, xx.
(1909) pp. 304 _sqq._ A secret society of the Lower Congo which
Adolf Bastian has described under the name of _quimba_ is probably
identical with the _nkimba_. He speaks of a “Secret Order of those
who have been born again,” and tells us that the candidates “are
thrown into a death-like state and buried in the fetish house. When
they are wakened to life again, they have (as in the Belliparo) lost
their memory of everything that is past, even of their father and
mother, and they can no longer remember their own name. Hence new
names are given them according to the titles or ranks to which they
are advanced.” See A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der
Loango-Küste_ (Jena, 1874-1875), ii. 15 _sqq._
M197 Bastian’s account of the ritual of death and resurrection in West
Africa.
644 A. Bastian, _Ein Besuch in San Salvador_ (Bremen, 1859), pp. 82
_sq._
M198 Acquisition of a patron animal or guardian spirit in a dream.
645 A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, ii. 183.
Elsewhere Bastian says that about San Salvador lads at puberty are
secluded in the forest and circumcised, and during their seclusion
“each of them is mystically united to the fetish by which his life
is henceforth determined, as the Brahman whispers the secret charm
in the ear of him who has been born again.” See A. Bastian, _Ein
Besuch in San Salvador_ (Bremen, 1859), pp. 85 _sq._
646 H. Trilles, _Le Totémisme chez les Fâṅ_ (Münster i. W., 1912), pp.
479 _sq._ The writer speaks of the guardian spirit as the individual
totem of the young warrior.
M199 Dapper’s account of the ritual of death and resurrection in the
Belli-Paaro society.
647 O. Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_ (Amsterdam, 1686), pp. 268
_sq._ Dapper’s account has been abridged in the text.
M200 Miss Kingsley on the rites of initiation into secret societies in
West Africa.
648 Miss Mary H. Kingsley, _Travels in West Africa_ (London, 1867), p.
531. Perhaps the smearing with clay may be intended to indicate that
the novices have undergone the new birth; for the negro child,
though born reddish-brown, soon turns slaty-grey (E. B. Tylor,
_Anthropology_, London, 1881, p. 67), which would answer well enough
to the hue of the clay-bedaubed novices.
M201 The _purra_ or _poro_, a secret society of Sierra Leone. The new
birth. The _semo_, a secret society of Senegambia. Death and
resurrection at initiation.
649 Thomas Winterbottom, _An Account of the Native Africans in the
Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone_ (London, 1803), pp. 135 _sq._ Compare
John Matthews, _A Voyage to the River Sierra-Leone_ (London, 1791),
pp. 82-85; J. B. L. Durand, _Voyage au Sénégal_ (Paris, 1802), pp.
183 _sq._ (whose account is copied without acknowledgment from
Matthews). The _purra_ or _poro_ society also exists among the
Timmes of Sierra Leone; in this tribe the novices are sometimes
secluded from their families for ten years in the wood, they are
tattooed on their backs and arms, and they learn a language which
consists chiefly of names of plants and animals used in special
senses. Women are not admitted to the society. See Zweifel et
Moustier, “Voyage aux sources du Niger,” _Bulletin de la Société de
Géographie_ (Paris), VI. Série, xv. (1878) pp. 108 _sq._
650 T. J. Alldridge, _The Sherbro and its Hinterland_ (London, 1901), p.
130. This work contains a comparatively full account of the _purra_
or _poro_ society (pp. 124-131) and of the other secret societies of
the country (pp. 131-149, 153-159). Compare L. Frobenius, _Die
Masken und Geheimbünde Afrikas_ (Halle, 1898), pp. 138-144 (_Nova
Acta, Abh. der Kaiserl. Leop.-Carol. Deutschen Akademie der
Naturforscher_, vol. lxxiv. No. 1).
651 Thomas Winterbottom, _An Account of the Native Africans in the
Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone_ (London, 1803), pp. 137-139. As to
the _semo_ or _simo_ society see further L. Frobenius, _op. cit._
pp. 130-138.
M202 Ritual of the new birth among the Akikuyu of British East Africa.
652 Extract from a letter of Mr. A. C. Hollis to me. Mr. Hollis’s
authority is Dr. T. W. W. Crawford of the Kenia Medical Mission.
653 W. Scoresby Routledge and Katherine Routledge, _With a Prehistoric
People, the Akikuyu of British East Africa_ (London, 1910), p. 152.
Compare C. W. Hobley, “Kikuyu Customs and Beliefs,” _Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute_, xl. (1910) p. 441.
654 Mr. A. W. McGregor, of the Church Missionary Society, quoted by W.
S. Routledge and K. Routledge, _With a Prehistoric People_, p. 151,
note. 1. Mr. McGregor “has resided amongst the Akikuyu since 1901.
He has by his tact and kindness won the confidence of the natives,
and is the greatest authority on their language” (_id._, p. xxi).
655 W. S. Routledge and K. Routledge, _op. cit._ p. 151.
M203 Rites of initiation among the Bondeis of East Africa. Rites of
initiation among the Bushongo of the Congo. The first ordeal. The
second ordeal. The last ordeal: the descent from the tree.
656 Rev. G. Dale, “An Account of the principal Customs and Habits of the
Natives inhabiting the Bondei Country,” _Journal of the
Anthropological Institute_, xxv. (1896) p. 189.
657 E. Torday et T. A. Joyce, _Les Bushongo_ (Brussels, 1910), pp.
82-85. As for the title “God on Earth,” applied to the principal
chief or king, see _id._, p. 53.
M204 Rites of initiation among the Indians of Virginia: pretence of the
novices that they have forgotten their former life.
658 (Beverley’s) _History of Virginia_ (London, 1722), pp. 177 _sq._
Compare J. Bricknell, _The Natural History of North Carolina_
(Dublin, 1737), pp. 405 _sq._
M205 Ritual of death and resurrection at initiation into the secret
societies of North America. The medicine-bag as an instrument of
death and resurrection. Ritual of death and resurrection at
initiation among the Dacotas.
659 J. Carver, _Travels through the Interior Parts of North America_,
Third Edition (London, 1781), pp. 271-275. The thing thrown at the
man and afterwards vomited by him was probably not a bean but a
small white sea-shell (_Cypraea moneta_). See H. R. Schoolcraft,
_Indian Tribes of the United States_ (Philadelphia, 1853-1856), iii.
287; J. G. Kohl, _Kitschi-Gami_ (Bremen, 1859), i. 71; _Seventh
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1891), pp.
191, 215; _Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_
(Washington, 1896), p. 101.
660 J. Carver, _op. cit._ pp. 277 _sq._; H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian
Tribes of the United States_, iii. 287 (as to the Winnebagoes), v.
430 _sqq._ (as to the Chippeways and Sioux); J. G. Kohl,
_Kitschi-Gami_, i. 64-70 (as to the Ojebways). For a very detailed
account of the Ojebway ceremonies, see W. J. Hoffman, “The Midewiwin
or Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibwa,” _Seventh Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1891), especially pp. 215
_sq._, 234 _sq._, 248, 265. For similar ceremonies among the
Menomini, see _id._, “The Menomini Indians,” _Fourteenth Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1896), pp. 99-102;
and among the Omahas, see J. Owen Dorsey, “Omaha Sociology,” _Third
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology_ (Washington, 1884), pp.
342-346. I have dealt more fully with the ritual in _Totemism and
Exogamy_, iii. 462 _sqq._ Compare also P. Radin, “Ritual and
Significance of the Winnebago Medicine Dance,” _Journal of American
Folk-lore_, xxiv. (1911) pp. 149-208.
661 G. H. Pond, “Dakota superstitions,” _Collections of the Minnesota
Historical Society for the year 1867_ (Saint Paul, 1867), pp. 35,
37-40. A similar but abridged account of the Dakota tradition and
usage is given by S. R. Riggs in his _Dakota Grammar, Texts, and
Ethnography_ (Washington, 1893), pp. 227-229 (_Contributions to
North American Ethnology_, vol. ix.).
M206 Ritual of mimic death among the Indians of Nootka Sound.
_ 662 Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt_
(Middletown, 1820), p. 119.
_ 663 Id._, p. 44. For the age of the prince, see _id._, p. 35.
664 H. J. Holmberg, “Ueber die Völker des russischen Amerika,” _Acta
Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae_, iv. (Helsingfors, 1856) pp. 292
_sqq._, 328; Ivan Petroff, _Report on the Population, Industries and
Resources of Alaska_, pp. 165 _sq._; A. Krause, _Die
Tlinkit-Indianer_ (Jena, 1885), p. 112; R. C. Mayne, _Four Years in
British Columbia and Vancouver Island_ (London, 1862), pp. 257
_sq._, 268; _Totemism and Exogamy_, iii. 264 _sqq._
M207 Rite of death and resurrection at initiation into the Nootka society
of human wolves. Novice brought back by an artificial totemic animal
among the Niska Indians.
665 Fr. Boas, in _Sixth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_,
pp. 47 _sq._ (separate reprint from the _Report of the British
Association_, Leeds meeting, 1890); _id._, “The Social Organization
and the Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians,” _Report of the
United States National Museum for 1895_; (Washington, 1897), pp. 632
_sq._ But while the initiation described in the text was into a wolf
society, not into a wolf clan, it is to be observed that the wolf is
one of the regular totems of the Nootka Indians. See Fr. Boas, in
_Sixth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_, p. 32.
666 Fr. Boas, in _Tenth Report on the North-Western Tribes of Canada_,
pp. 49 _sq._, 58 _sq._ (separate reprint from the _Report of the
British Association_, Ipswich meeting, 1895). It is remarkable,
however, that in this tribe persons who are being initiated into the
secret societies, of which there are six, are not always or even
generally brought back by an artificial animal which represents
their own totem. Thus while men of the eagle totem are brought back
by an eagle which rises from underground, men of the bear clan
return on the back of an artificial killer-whale which is towed
across the river by ropes. Again, members of the wolf clan are
brought back by an artificial bear, and members of the raven clan by
a frog. In former times the appearance of the artificial totem
animal, or of the guardian spirit, was considered a matter of great
importance, and any failure which disclosed the deception to the
uninitiated was deemed a grave misfortune which could only be atoned
for by the death of the persons concerned in the disclosure.
M208 In these initiatory rites the novice seems to be killed as a man and
restored to life as an animal.
667 See above, p. 213.
668 This is the opinion of Dr. F. Boas, who writes: “The close
similarity between the clan legends and those of the acquisition of
spirits presiding over secret societies, as well as the intimate
relation between these and the social organizations of the tribes,
allow us to apply the same argument to the consideration of the
growth of the secret societies, and lead us to the conclusion that
the same psychical factor that molded the clans into their present
shape molded the secret societies” (“The Social Organization and the
Secret Societies of the Kwakiutl Indians,” _Report of the United
States National Museum for 1895_, p. 662). Dr. Boas would see in the
acquisition of a _manitoo_ or personal totem the origin both of the
secret societies and of the totem clans; for according to him the
totem of the clan is merely the _manitoo_ or personal totem of the
ancestor transmitted by inheritance to his descendants. As to
personal totems or guardian spirits (_manitoos_) among the North
American Indians, see _Totemism and Exogamy_, iii. 370 _sqq._; as to
their secret societies, see _id._, iii. 457 _sqq._; as to the theory
that clan totems originated in personal or individual totems, see
_id._, iv. 48 _sqq._
M209 Honorific totems among the Carrier Indians. Initiatory rites at the
adoption of a honorific totem. Simulated transformation of a novice
into a bear. Pretence of death and resurrection at initiation.
669 A. G. Morice, “Notes, archaeological, industrial, and sociological,
on the Western Dénés,” _Transactions of the Canadian Institute_, iv.
(1892-93) pp. 203-206. The honorific totems of the Carrier Indians
may perhaps correspond in some measure to the sub-totems or
multiplex totems of the Australians. As to these latter see
_Totemism and Exogamy_, i. 78 _sqq._, 133 _sqq._
M210 Significance of these initiatory rites. Supposed invulnerability of
men who have weapons for their guardian spirits.
670 See above, pp. 153 _sq._
671 James Teit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, p. 357 (_The
Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of
Natural History_, April, 1900). Among the Shuswap of British
Columbia, when a young man has obtained his personal totem or
guardian spirit, he is supposed to become proof against bullets and
arrows (Fr. Boas, in _Sixth Report of the Committee on the
North-Western Tribes of Canada_, p. 93, separate reprint from the
_Report of the British Association_, Leeds meeting, 1890).
M211 Initiatory rite of the Toukaway Indians.
672 H. R. Schoolcraft, _Indian Tribes of the United States_
(Philadelphia, 1853-1856), v. 683. In a letter dated 16th Dec. 1887,
Mr. A. S. Gatschet, formerly of the Bureau of Ethnology, Washington,
wrote to me: “Among the Toukawe whom in 1884 I found at Fort Griffin
[?], Texas, I noticed that they never kill the big or grey wolf,
_hatchukunän_, which has a mythological signification, ‘holding the
earth’ (_hatch_). He forms one of their totem clans, and they have
had a dance in his honor, danced by the males only, who carried
sticks.”
M212 Traces of the rite of death and resurrection among more advanced
peoples.
_ 673 The Laws of Manu_, ii. 169, translated by G. Bühler (Oxford, 1886),
p. 61 (_The Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xxv.); J. A. Dubois,
_Mœurs, Institutions et Cérémonies des Peuples de l’Inde_ (Paris,
1825), i. 125; Monier Williams, _Religious Thought and Life in
India_ (London, 1883), pp. 360 _sq._, 396 _sq._; H. Oldenberg, _Die
Religion des Veda_ (Berlin, 1894), pp. 466 _sqq._
674 Lampridius, _Commodus_, 9; C. W. King, _The Gnostics and their
Remains_, Second Edition (London, 1887), pp. 127, 129. Compare Fr.
Cumont, _Textes et Monuments figurés relatifs aux mystères de
Mithra_, i. (Brussels, 1899) pp. 69 _sq._, 321 _sq._; E. Rohde,
_Psyche_3 (Tübingen and Leipsic, 1903), ii. 400 n. 1; A. Dieterich,
_Eine Mithrasliturgie_ (Leipsic, 1903), pp. 91, 157 _sqq._
M213 The motive for attempting to deposit the soul in a safe place
outside of the body at puberty may have been a fear of the dangers
which, according to primitive notions, attend the union of the
sexes.
M214 Balder’s life or death in the mistletoe.
675 Above, p. 110; compare pp. 107, 120 _sq._, 132, 133.
676 Above, p. 120.
677 Above, p. 106.
678 Above, p. 145. In the myth the throwing of the weapons and of the
mistletoe at Balder and the blindness of Hother who slew him remind
us of the custom of the Irish reapers who kill the corn-spirit in
the last sheaf by throwing their sickles blindfold at it. See
_Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i. 144. In Mecklenburg a cock
is sometimes buried in the ground and a man who is blindfolded
strikes at it with a flail. If he misses it, another tries, and so
on till the cock is killed. See K. Bartsch, _Sagen, Märchen und
Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg_ (Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 280. In England
on Shrove Tuesday a hen used to be tied upon a man’s back, and other
men blindfolded struck at it with branches till they killed it. See
T. F. Thiselton Dyer, _British Popular Customs_ (London, 1876), p.
68. W. Mannhardt (_Die Korndämonen_, Berlin, 1868, pp. 16 _sq._) has
made it probable that such sports are directly derived from the
custom of killing a cock upon the harvest-field as a representative
of the corn-spirit. See _Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild_, i.
277 _sq._ These customs, therefore, combined with the blindness of
Hother in the myth, suggest that the man who killed the human
representative of the oak-spirit was blindfolded, and threw his
weapon or the mistletoe from a little distance. After the Lapps had
killed a bear—which was the occasion of many superstitious
ceremonies—the bear’s skin was hung on a post, and the women,
blindfolded, shot arrows at it. See J. Scheffer, _Lapponia_
(Frankfort, 1673), p. 240.
M215 The view that the mistletoe contained the life of the oak may have
been suggested by the position of the parasite among the boughs.
Indian parallel to Balder and the mistletoe.
679 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxiv. 12; J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 ii.
1010. Compare below, p. 282.
_ 680 The Satapatha Brahmana_, xii. 7. 3. 1-3, translated by J. Eggeling,
Part v. (Oxford, 1900) pp. 222 _sq._ (_The Sacred Books of the
East_, vol. xliv.); Denham Rouse, in _Folk-lore Journal_, vii.
(1889) p. 61, quoting _Taittīrya Brāhmana_, I. vii. 1.
681 Col. E. T. Dalton, “The Kols of Chota-Nagpore,” _Transactions of the
Ethnological Society_, N.S. vi. (1868) p. 36.
M216 Analogous superstitions attaching to a parasitic rowan.
682 Jens Kamp, _Danske Folkeminder_ (Odense, 1877), pp. 172, 65 _sq._,
referred to in Feilberg’s _Bidrag til en Ordbog over Jyske
Almuesmål_, Fjerde hefte (Copenhagen, 1888), p. 320. For a sight of
Feilberg’s work I am indebted to the kindness of the late Rev.
Walter Gregor, M.A., of Pitsligo, who pointed out the passage to me.
683 E. T. Kristensen, _Iydske Folkeminder_, vi. 380, referred to by
Feilberg, _l.c._ According to Marcellus (_De Medicamentis_, xxvi.
115), ivy which springs from an oak is a remedy for stone, provided
it be cut with a copper instrument.
684 A. Kuhn, _Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Göttertranks_2
(Gütersloh, 1886), pp. 175 _sq._, quoting Dybeck’s _Runa_, 1845, pp.
62 _sq._
685 A. Kuhn, _op. cit._ p. 176.
686 Quoted by A. Kuhn, _op. cit._ pp. 180 _sq._ In Zimbales, a province
of the Philippine Islands, “a certain parasitic plant that much
resembles yellow moss and grows high up on trees is regarded as a
very powerful charm. It is called _gay-u-ma_, and a man who
possesses it is called _nanara gayuma_. If his eyes rest on a person
during the new moon he will become sick at the stomach, but he can
cure the sickness by laying hands on the afflicted part.” See W. A.
Reed, _Negritos of Zambales_ (Manilla, 1904), p. 67 (_Department of
the Interior, Ethnological Survey Publications_, vol. ii. part i.).
Mr. Reed seems to mean that if a man who possesses this parasitic
plant sees a person at the new moon, the person on whom his eye
falls will be sick in his stomach, but that the owner of the
parasite can cure the sufferer by laying his (the owner’s) hands on
his (the patient’s) stomach. It is interesting to observe that the
magical virtue of the parasitic plant appears to be especially
effective at the new moon.
687 A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 97 §
128; L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London, 1870), p. 269. See
above, p. 86.
M217 The fate of the Hays believed to be bound up with the mistletoe on
Errol’s oak.
688 John Hay Allan, _The Bridal of Caölchairn_ (London, 1822), pp. 337
_sq._
689 Rev. John B. Pratt, _Buchan_, Second Edition (Aberdeen, Edinburgh,
and London, 1859), p. 342. “_The corbie roup_” means “the raven
croak.” In former editions of this work my only source of
information as to the mistletoe and oak of the Hays was an extract
from a newspaper which was kindly copied and sent to me, without the
name of the newspaper, by the late Rev. Walter Gregor, M.A., of
Pitsligo. For my acquaintance with the works of J. H. Allan and J.
B. Pratt I am indebted to the researches of my learned friend Mr. A.
B. Cook, who has already quoted them in his article “The European
Sky-God,” _Folk-lore_, xvii. (1906) pp. 318 _sq._
M218 The life of the Lachlins and the deer of Finchra.
690 M. Martin, “Description of the Western Islands of Scotland,” in J.
Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_ (London, 1808-1814), iii. 661.
M219 The Golden Bough seems to have been a glorified mistletoe.
691 See James Sowerby, _English Botany_, xxi. (London, 1805), p. 1470:
“The Misseltoe is celebrated in story as the sacred plant of the
Druids, and the Golden Bough of Virgil, which was Aeneas’s passport
to the infernal regions.” Again, the author of the _Lexicon
Mythologicum_ concludes, “_cum Jonghio nostro_,” that the Golden
Bough “was nothing but the mistletoe glorified by poetical license.”
See _Edda Rhythmica seu Antiquior, vulgo Saemundina dicta_, iii.
(Copenhagen, 1828) p. 513 note. C. L. Rochholz expresses the same
opinion (_Deutscher Glaube und Brauch_, Berlin, 1867, i. 9). The
subject is discussed at length by E. Norden, _P. Vergilius Maro,
Aeneis Buch VI._ (Leipsic, 1903) pp. 161-171, who, however, does not
even mention the general or popular view (_publica opinio_) current
in the time of Servius, that the Golden Bough was the branch which a
candidate for the priesthood of Diana had to pluck in the sacred
grove of Nemi. I confess I have more respect for the general opinion
of antiquity than to dismiss it thus cavalierly without a hearing.
692 Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 203 _sqq._, compare 136 _sqq._ See Note IV. “The
Mistletoe and the Golden Bough” at the end of this volume.
M220 If the Golden Bough was the mistletoe, the King of the Wood at Nemi
may have personated an oak spirit and perished in an oak fire.
_ 693 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 40 _sqq._, ii. 378
_sqq._ Virgil (_Aen._ vi. 201 _sqq._) places the Golden Bough in the
neighbourhood of Lake Avernus. But this was probably a poetical
liberty, adopted for the convenience of Aeneas’s descent to the
infernal world. Italian tradition, as we learn from Servius (on
Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 136), placed the Golden Bough in the grove at
Nemi.
_ 694 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 12.
_ 695 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 186, 366 note 2.
M221 A similar tragedy may have been enacted over the human
representative of Balder in Norway.
696 A custom of annually burning or otherwise sacrificing a human
representative of the corn-spirit has been noted among the
Egyptians, Pawnees, and Khonds. See _Spirits of the Corn and of the
Wild_, i. 238 _sq._, 245 _sqq._, 259 _sq._ We have seen that in
Western Asia there are strong traces of a practice of annually
burning a human god. See _Adonis, Attis, Osiris_, Second Edition,
pp. 84 _sqq._, 98 _sq._, 137 _sq._, 139 _sqq._, 155 _sq._ The Druids
appear to have eaten portions of the human victim (Pliny, _Nat.
Hist._ xxx. 13). Perhaps portions of the flesh of the King of the
Wood were eaten by his worshippers as a sacrament. We have found
traces of the use of sacramental bread at Nemi. See _Spirits of the
Corn and of the Wild_, ii. 94 _sqq._
M222 The name of the Golden Bough may have been applied to the mistletoe
on account of the golden tinge which the plant assumes in withering.
697 It has been said that in Welsh a name for mistletoe is “the tree of
pure gold” (_pren puraur_). See J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4
ii. 1009, referring to Davies. But my friend Sir John Rhys tells me
that the statement is devoid of foundation.
698 Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 137 _sq._:—
“_Latet arbore opaca_
_ Aureus et foliis et lento vimine ramus._”
699 This suggestion as to the origin of the name has been made to me by
two correspondents independently. Miss Florence Grove, writing to me
from 10 Milton Chambers, Cheyne Walk, London, on May 13th, 1901,
tells me that she regularly hangs up a bough of mistletoe every year
and allows it to remain till it is replaced by the new branch next
year, and from her observation “the mistletoe is actually a golden
bough when kept a sufficiently long time.” She was kind enough to
send me some twigs of her old bough, which fully bore out her
description. Again, Mrs. A. Stuart writes to me from Crear Cottage,
Morningside Drive, Edinburgh, on June 26th, 1901: “As to why the
mistletoe might be called the Golden Bough, my sister Miss Haig
wishes me to tell you that last June, when she was in Brittany, she
saw great bunches of mistletoe hung up in front of the houses in the
villages. The leaves were _bright golden_. You should hang up a
branch next Christmas and keep it till June!” The great hollow oak
of Saint-Denis-des-Puits, in the French province of Perche, is
called “the gilded or golden oak” (_Chêne-Doré_) “in memory of the
Druidical tradition of the mistletoe cut with a golden sickle.” See
Felix Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_ (Paris,
1902), i. 97. Perhaps the name may be derived from bunches of
withered mistletoe shining like gold in the sunshine among the
branches.
700 H. Gaidoz, “Bulletin critique de la Mythologie Gauloise,” _Revue de
l’Histoire des Religions_, ii. (Paris, 1880) p. 76.
M223 The yellow hue of withered mistletoe may partly explain why the
plant is thought to disclose yellow gold in the earth. Similarly
fern-seed is thought to bloom like gold or fire and to reveal buried
treasures on Midsummer Eve. Sometimes fern-seed is thought to bloom
on Christmas night. The wicked weaver of Rotenburg.
701 See below, pp. 291 _sq._
702 See above, pp. 65 _sq._
703 J. V. Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_
(Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 97, § 673.
704 J. V. Grohmann, _op. cit._ p. 97, § 676; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche
Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 94, § 123; I. V. Zingerle,
_Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_2 (Innsbruck,
1871), p. 158, § 1350.
705 C. Russwurm, “Aberglaube in Russland,” _Zeitschrift für deutsche
Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, iv. (1859), pp. 152 _sq._; Angelo de
Gubernatis, _Mythologie des Plantes_ (Paris, 1878-1882), ii. 146.
706 P. Sébillot, _Traditions et Superstitions de la Haute-Bretagne_
(Paris, 1882), ii. 336; _id._, _Coutumes populaires de la
Haute-Bretagne_ (Paris, 1886), p. 217.
707 J. E. Waldfreund, “Volksgebräuche und Aberglauben in Tirol und dem
Salzburger Gebirg,” _Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und
Sittenkunde_, iii. (1855), p. 339.
708 H. Runge, “Volksglaube in der Schweiz,” _Zeitschrift für deutsche
Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, iv. (1859), p. 175.
709 O. Frh. von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, _Fest-Kalendar aus Böhmen_
(Prague, N.D.), pp. 311 _sq._ Compare Theodor Vernaleken, _Mythen
und Bräuche des Volkes in Oesterreich_ (Vienna, 1859), pp. 309
_sq._; M. Töppen, _Aberglauben aus Masuren_2 (Danzig, 1867), pp. 72
_sq._ Even without the use of fern-seed treasures are sometimes said
to bloom or burn in the earth, or to reveal their presence by a
bluish flame, on Midsummer Eve; in Transylvania only children born
on a Sunday can see them and fetch them up. See J. Haltrich, _Zur
Volkskunde der Siebenbürger Sachsen_ (Vienna, 1885), p. 287; I. V.
Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_2
(Innsbruck, 1871), p. 159, §§ 1351, 1352; K. Bartsch, _Sagen,
Märchen und Gebrauche aus Mecklenburg_ (Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 285,
§ 1431; E. Monseur, _Folklore Wallon_ (Brussels, N.D.), p. 6, §
1789; K. Haupt, _Sagenbuch der Lausitz_ (Leipsic, 1862-1863), i. 231
_sq._, No. 275; A. Wuttke, _Der deutsche Volksaberglaube_2 (Berlin,
1869), p. 76, § 92; F. J. Wiedemann, _Aus dem inneren und äusseren
Leben der Ehsten_ (St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 363.
710 I. V. Zingerle, _op. cit._ p. 103, § 882; _id._, in _Zeitschrift für
deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_, i. (1853), p. 330; W. Müller,
_Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren_ (Vienna and
Olmütz, 1893), p. 265. At Pergine, in the Tyrol, it was thought that
fern-seed gathered with the dew on St. John’s night had the power of
transforming metals (into gold?). See Ch. Schneller, _Märchen und
Sagen aus Wälschtirol_ (Innsbruck, 1867), p. 237, § 23.
711 I. V. Zingerle, _Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes_,2
pp. 190 _sq._, § 1573.
712 A. Schlossar, “Volksmeinung und Volksaberglaube aus der deutschen
Steiermark,” _Germania_, N.R., xxiv. (1891) p. 387.
713 Ernst Meier, _Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben_
(Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 242-244.
M224 The golden or fiery fern-seed appears to be an emanation of the
sun’s fire.
714 J. V. Grohmann, _Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren_,
p. 97, § 675; W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_,
Second Edition (London, 1872), p. 98; C. Russwurm, “Aberglaube in
Russland,” _Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde_,
iv. (1859) p. 152.
715 L. Bechstein, _Deutsches Sagenbuch_ (Leipsic, 1853), p. 430, No.
500; _id._, _Thüringer Sagenbuch_ (Leipsic, 1885), ii. pp. 17 _sq._,
No. 161.
M225 Like fern-seed the mistletoe is gathered at the solstices (Midsummer
and Christmas) and is supposed to reveal treasures in the earth;
perhaps, therefore, it too is deemed an emanation of the sun’s
golden fire. The bloom of the oak on Midsummer Eve.
716 For gathering it at midsummer, see above, pp. 86 _sq._ The custom of
gathering it at Christmas still commonly survives in England. At
York “on the eve of Christmas-day they carry mistletoe to the high
altar of the cathedral, and proclaim a public and universal liberty,
pardon and freedom to all sorts of inferior and even wicked people
at the gates of the city, toward the four quarters of heaven.” See
W. Stukeley, _The Medallic History of Marcus Aurelius Valerius
Carausius, Emperor in Britain_ (London, 1757-1759), ii. 164; J.
Brand, _Popular Antiquities of Great Britain_ (London, 1882-1883),
i. 525. This last custom, which is now doubtless obsolete, may have
been a relic of an annual period of license like the Saturnalia. The
traditional privilege accorded to men of kissing any woman found
under mistletoe is probably another relic of the same sort. See
Washington Irving, _Sketch-Book_, “Christmas Eve,” p. 147 (Bohn’s
edition); Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_
(London, 1909), p. 88.
717 A. A. Afzelius, _Volkssagen und Volkslieder aus Schwedens älterer
und neuerer Zeit_ (Leipsic, 1842), i. 41 _sq._; J. Grimm, _Deutsche
Mythologie_,4 iii. 289; L. Lloyd, _Peasant Life in Sweden_ (London,
1870), pp. 266 _sq._ See above, p. 69. In the Tyrol they say that if
mistletoe grows on a hazel-tree, there must be a treasure under the
tree. See J. N. Ritter von Alpenburg, _Mythen und Sagen Tirols_
(Zurich, 1857), p. 398. In East Prussia a similar belief is held in
regard to mistletoe that grows on a thorn. See C. Lemke,
_Volksthümliches in Ostpreussen_ (Mohrungen, 1884-1887), ii. 283. We
have seen that the divining-rod which reveals treasures is commonly
cut from a hazel (above, pp. 67 _sq._).
718 Above, pp. 90-92.
719 Fern-seed is supposed to bloom at Easter as well as at Midsummer and
Christmas (W. R. S. Ralston, _Songs of the Russian People_, pp. 98
_sq._); and Easter, as we have seen, is one of the times when fires
are ceremonially kindled, perhaps to recruit the fire of the sun.
720 Miss C. S. Burne and Miss G. F. Jackson, _Shropshire Folk-lore_
(London, 1883), p. 242.
721 Marie Trevelyan, _Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales_ (London,
1909), p. 88.
722 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvi. 251.
723 Above, pp. 82 _sq._
724 Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xxxiii. 94: “_Calx aqua accenditur et Thracius
lapis, idem oleo restinguitur, ignis autem aceto maxime et visco et
ovo._”
725 See above, p. 85.
M226 Aeneas and the Golden Bough. Orpheus and the willow.
726 Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 179-209.
727 Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 384-416.
728 Above, pp. 86, 282.
729 Above, p. 85.
730 Pausanias, x. 30. 6.
731 J. Six, “Die Eriphyle des Polygnot,” _Mittheilungen des kaiserlich
deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts, Athenische Abtheilung_, xix.
(1894) pp. 338 _sq._ Compare my commentary on Pausanias, vol. v. p.
385.
732 The sarcophagus is in the Lateran Museum at Rome. See W. Helbig,
_Führer durch die öffentlichen Sammlungen Klassischer Altertümer in
Rom_2 (Leipsic, 1899), ii. 468.
M227 Trees thought by the savage to be the seat of fire because he
elicits it by friction from their wood.
733 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, i. 19 _sqq._
_ 734 Die Edda_, übersetzt von K. Simrock8 (Stuttgart, 1882), p. 264.
735 S. Powers, _Tribes of California_ (Washington, 1877), p. 171.
736 S. Powers, _Tribes of California_, p. 287.
737 Max Girschner, “Die Karolineninsel Namöluk und ihre Bewohner,”
_Baessler-Archiv_, ii. (1912) p. 141.
738 A. A. Macdonell, _Vedic Mythology_ (Strasburg, 1897), pp. 91 _sq._,
referring to _Rigveda_, vi. 3. 3, x. 79. 7, ii. 1. 14, iii. 1. 13,
x. 1. 2, viii. 43. 9, i. 70. 4, ii. 1. 1. Compare H. Oldenberg, _Die
Religion des Veda_ (Berlin, 1894), pp. 120 _sq._
739 Edward M. Curr, _The Australian Race_ (Melbourne and London,
1886-1887), i. 9, 18.
M228 Trees that have been struck by lightning are deemed by the savage to
be charged with a double portion of fire.
740 James Mooney, “Myths of the Cherokee,” _Nineteenth Annual Report of
the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Part i. (Washington, 1900) p.
422, compare p. 435.
741 James Teit, _The Thompson Indians of British Columbia_, p. 346 (_The
Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Memoir of the American Museum of
Natural History_, April, 1900).
742 J. Teit, _op. cit._ p. 374.
743 The Shuswap Indians of British Columbia entertain a similar belief.
It has been suggested that the fancy may be based on the observation
that cold follows a thunder-storm. See G. M. Dawson, “Notes on the
Shuswap people of British Columbia,” _Transactions of the Royal
Society of Canada_, ix. (1891) Section ii. p. 38.
744 R. Wuttke, _Sächsische Volkskunde_2 (Dresden, 1901), p. 369.
745 Henri A. Junod, _The Life of a South African Tribe_ (Neuchatel,
1912-1913), ii. 291. The Thonga imagine that lightning is caused by
a great bird, which sometimes buries itself in the ground to a depth
of several feet. See H. A. Junod, _op. cit._ ii. 290 _sq._
746 Dr. James A. Chisholm (of the Livingstonia Mission, Mwenzo, N.E.
Rhodesia), “Notes on the Manners and Customs of the Winamwanga and
Wiwa,” _Journal of the African Society_, No. 36 (July, 1910), p.
363.
747 S. Powers, _Tribes of California_ (Washington, 1877), p. 287. The
dread of lightning is prominent in some of the customs observed in
Patiko, a district of the Uganda Protectorate. If a village has
suffered from lightning, ropes made of twisted grass are strung from
peak to peak of the houses to ward off further strokes. And if a
person has been struck or badly shaken, “an elaborate cure is
performed upon him. A red cock is taken, his tongue torn out, and
his body dashed upon the house where the stroke fell. Then the scene
changes to the bank of a small running stream, where the patient is
made to kneel while the bird is sacrificed over the water. A raw egg
is next given to the patient to swallow, and he is laid on his
stomach and encouraged to vomit. The lightning is supposed to be
vomited along with the egg, and all ill effects prevented.” See Rev.
A. L. Kitching, _On the Backwaters of the Nile_ (London, 1912), p.
263.
M229 Theory that the sanctity of the oak and the relation of the tree to
the sky-god were suggested by the frequency with which oaks are
struck by lightning.
748 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 349 _sqq._
749 W. Warde Fowler, “The Oak and the Thunder-god,” _Archiv für
Religionswissenschaft_, xvi. (1913) pp. 318 _sq._ My friend Mr.
Warde Fowler had previously called my attention to the facts in a
letter dated September 17th, 1912.
750 Dr. W. Schlich’s _Manual of Forestry_, vol. iv. _Forest Protection_,
by W. R. Fisher, Second Edition (London, 1907), pp. 662 _sq._ Mr. W.
Warde Fowler was the first to call the attention of mythologists to
this work.
751 Experiments on the conductivity of electricity in wood go to shew
that starchy trees (oak, poplar, maples, ash, elm, _sorbus_) are
good conductors, that oily trees (beech, walnut, birch, lime) are
bad conductors, and that the conifers are intermediate, the Scotch
pine in summer being as deficient in oil as the starchy trees, but
rich in oil during winter. It was found that a single turn of Holz’s
electric machine sufficed to send the spark through oakwood, but
that from twelve to twenty turns were required to send it through
beech-wood. Five turns of the machine were needed to send the spark
through poplar and willow wood. See Dr. W. Schlich, _Manual of
Forestry_, vol. iv. _Forest Protection_, Second Edition (London,
1907), p. 664. In the tropics lightning is said to be especially
attracted to coco-nut palms. See P. Amaury Talbot, _In the Shadow of
the Bush_ (London, 1913), p. 73.
752 As to the Greek belief and custom, see H. Usener, _Kleine
Schriften_, iv. (Leipsic and Berlin, 1913), “Keraunos,” pp. 471
_sqq._; _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 361. As to
the Roman belief and custom, see Festus, _svv._ _Fulguritum and
Provorsum fulgur_, pp. 92, 229, ed. C. O. Müller (Leipsic, 1839); H.
Dessau, _Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae_, vol. ii. pars i. (Berlin,
1902) pp. 10 _sq._, Nos. 3048-3056; L. Preller, _Römische
Mythologie_3 (Berlin, 1881-1883), i. 190-193; G. Wissowa, _Religion
und Kultus der Römer_2 (Munich, 1912), pp. 121 _sq._ By a curious
refinement the Romans referred lightning which fell by day to
Jupiter, but lightning which fell by night to a god called Summanus
(Festus, p. 229).
M230 This explanation of the Aryan worship of the oak is preferable to
the one formerly adopted by the author.
753 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 iii. 64, citing a statement that
lightning strikes twenty oaks for one beech. The statistics adduced
by Mr. W. Warde Fowler seem to shew that this statement is no
exaggeration but rather the contrary.
754 W. Warde Fowler, “The Oak and the Thunder-god,” _Archiv für
Religionswissenschaft_, xvi. (1913) pp. 317-320.
_ 755 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 356 _sqq._
756 The suggestion is Mr. W. Warde Fowler’s (_op cit._ pp. 319 _sq._).
M231 The sacredness of mistletoe was perhaps due to a belief that the
plant fell on the tree in a flash of lightning.
757 Pliny, _Natur. Hist._ xvi. 249.
758 See above, p. 85.
759 J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,4 i. 153. See above, p. 85.
M232 Hence the stroke of mistletoe that killed Balder may have been a
stroke of lightning.
760 This interpretation of Balder’s death was anticipated by W. Schwartz
(_Der Ursprung der Mythologie_, Berlin, 1860, p. 176), who cut the
whole knot by dubbing Balder “the German thunder-and-lightning god”
and mistletoe “the wonderful thunder-and-lightning flower.” But as
this learned writer nursed a fatal passion for thunder and
lightning, which he detected lurking in the most unlikely places, we
need not wonder that he occasionally found it in places where there
were some slight grounds for thinking that it really existed.
M233 The King of the Wood and the Golden Bough.
761 On the relation of the priest to Jupiter, and the equivalence of
Jupiter and Juno to Janus (Dianus) and Diana, see _The Magic Art and
the Evolution of Kings_, ii. 376 _sqq._
M234 Looking back at the end of the journey.
M235 The movement of human thought in the past from magic to religion.
M236 The movement of thought from religion to science.
M237 Contrast between the views of natural order postulated by magic and
by science respectively.
M238 The scientific theory of the world not necessarily final.
M239 The shadow across the path.
762 “I quite agree how humiliating the slow progress of man is, but
every one has his own pet horror, and this slow progress or even
personal annihilation sinks in my mind into insignificance compared
with the idea or rather I presume certainty of the sun some day
cooling and we all freezing. To think of the progress of millions of
years, with every continent swarming with good and enlightened men,
all ending in this, and with probably no fresh start until this our
planetary system has been again converted into red-hot gas. _Sic
transit gloria mundi_, with a vengeance” (_More Letters of Charles
Darwin_, edited by Francis Darwin, London, 1903, i. 260 _sq._).
763 Since this passage was written the hope which it expresses has been
to some extent strengthened by the discovery of radium, which
appears to prolong indefinitely the prospect of the duration of the
sun’s heat, and with it the duration of life on its attendant
planets. See (Sir) George Howard Darwin’s Presidential Address to
the British Association, _Report of the 75th Meeting of the British
Association for the Advancement of Science_ (South Africa, 1905),
pp. 28 _sq._; F. Soddy, _The Interpretation of Radium_, Third
Edition (London, 1912), pp. 240 _sqq._; E. Rutherford, _Radio-active
Substances and their Radiations_ (Cambridge, 1913), pp. 653-656. At
the same time it should be borne in mind that even if the atomic
disintegration and accompanying liberation of energy, which
characterize radium and kindred elements, should prove to be common
in different degrees to all the other elements and to form a vast
and till lately unsuspected store of heat to the sun, this enormous
reserve of fuel would only defer but could not avert that final
catastrophe with which the solar system and indeed the whole
universe is remorselessly threatened by the law of the dissipation
of energy.
M240 The web of thought.
M241 Nemi at evening: the _Ave Maria_ bell.
764 See above, vol. i. pp. 15 _sq._
M242 Snake Stones in the Highlands.
765 Alexander Carmichael, _Carmina Gadelica, Hymns and Incantations with
Illustrative Notes on Words, Rites, and Customs, dying and obsolete:
orally collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and
translated into English_ (Edinburgh, 1900), ii. 312.
M243 Witches as cats among the Oraons.
766 Above, vol. i. pp. 315 _sqq._
767 The late Rev. P. Dehon, S.J., “Religion and Customs of the Uraons,”
_Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. i. No. 9 (Calcutta,
1906), p. 141.
M244 African parallels to Balder.
M245 The worshipful ghost in the cave.
M246 The man who could only be killed by the stalk of a gourd.
768 “Every clan (_Familienstamm_) has a definite thing which is
forbidden to all the members of the clan, whether it be a particular
kind of meat, or a certain fish, or as here the stalk of a gourd.”
769 “The place in Nguu, where the ghost is said to dwell.”
770 “In Ukami.”
771 C. Velten, _Schilderungen der Suaheli_ (Göttingen, 1901), pp.
195-197.
M247 The man who could only be killed by a splinter of bamboo.
772 Miss Alice Werner, _The Natives of British Central Africa_ (London,
1906), p. 82. In a letter Miss Werner tells me that she learned
these particulars at Blantyre in 1893, and that the chief lived in
the neighbourhood of Mlanje.
773 Rev. Henry Rowley, _Twenty Years in Central Africa_ (London, N.D.),
pp. 36 _sqq._ For a reference to this and all the other works cited
in this Note I am indebted to the kindness of Miss Alice Werner.
774 Rev. David Clement Scott, _A Cyclopaedic Dictionary of the Mang’anja
Language spoken in British Central Africa_ (Edinburgh, 1892), p.
315.
M248 The man who could only be killed by a copper needle.
775 Edward Steere, _Swahili Tales_ (London, 1870), pp. 441-453. The
young man in the story is spoken of now as the nephew and now as the
son of the man he murdered. Probably he was what we should call a
nephew or brother’s son of his victim; for under the classificatory
system of relationship, which seems to prevail among the Bantu
stock, to whom the Swahili belong, a man regularly calls his
paternal uncle his father.
M249 These stories confirm the view that Balder may have been a real man
who was deified after death.
776 Above, vol. i. pp. 104 _sq._
M250 Two species of mistletoe, the _Viscum album_ and the _Loranthus
europaeus_. Common mistletoe (_Viscum album_).
777 Virgil, Aen. vi. 205 _sqq._:—
“_Quale solet silvis brumali frigore viscum_
_ Fronde virere nova, quod non sua seminat arbos,_
_ Et croceo fetu teretis circumdare truncos:_
_ Talis erat species auri frondentis opaca_
_ Ilice, sic leni crepitabat bractea vento._”
778 W. Schlich, _Manual of Forestry_, vol. iv. _Forest Protection_, by
W. R. Fisher, M.A., Second Edition (London, 1907), p. 412. French
peasants about Coulommiers think that mistletoe springs from birds’
dung. See H. Gaidoz, “Bulletin critique de la Mythologie Gauloise,”
_Revue de l’Histoire des Religions_, ii. (1880) p. 76. The ancients
were well aware that mistletoe is propagated from tree to tree by
seeds which have been voided by birds. See Theophrastus, _De Causis
Plantarum_, ii. 17. 5; Pliny, _Naturalis Historia_, xvi. 247. Pliny
tells us that the birds which most commonly deposited the seeds were
pigeons and thrushes. Can this have been the reason why Virgil
(_Aen._ vi. 190 _sqq._) represents Aeneas led to the Golden Bough by
a pair of doves?
779 James Sowerby, _English Botany_, xxi. (London, 1805) p. 1470.
780 C. Fraas, _Synopsis Plantarum Florae Classicae_ (Munich, 1845), p.
152.
781 H. O. Lenz, _Botanik der alten Griechen und Römer_ (Gotha, 1859), p.
597, quoting Pollini.
782 J. Lindley and T. Moore, _The Treasury of Botany_, New Edition
(London, 1874), ii. 1220. A good authority, however, observes that
mistletoe is “frequently to be observed on the branches of old
apple-trees, hawthorns, lime-trees, oaks, etc., where it grows
parasitically.” See J. Sowerby, _English Botany_, xxi. (London,
1805) p. 1470.
_ 783 Encyclopaedia Britannica_, Ninth Edition, x. 689, _s.v._
“Gloucester.”
784 H. Gaidoz, “Bulletin critique de la Mythologie Gauloise,” _Revue de
l’Histoire des Religions_, ii. (1880) pp. 75 _sq._
785 Angelo de Gubernatis, _La Mythologie des Plantes_ (Paris,
1878-1882), ii. 216 _sq._ As to the many curious superstitions that
have clustered round mandragora, see P. J. Veth, “De Mandragora,”
_Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, vii. (1894) pp. 199-205;
C. B. Randolph, “The Mandragora of the Ancients in Folk-lore and
Medicine,” _Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences_, vol. xl. No. 12 (January, 1905), pp. 487-537.
_ M251 Loranthus europaeus._
786 W. Schlich, _Manual of Forestry_, vol. iv. _Forest Protection_,
Second Edition (London, 1907), pp. 415-417.
787 E. B. Stebbing, “The Loranthus Parasite of the Moru and Ban Oaks,”
_Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, New
Series, v. (Calcutta, 1910) pp. 189-195. The _Loranthus vestitus_
“is a small branching woody plant with dirty yellowish green leaves
which are dark shining green above. It grows in great clumps and
masses on the trees, resembling a giant mistletoe. The fruit is
yellowish and fleshy, and is almost sessile on the stem, which it
thickly studs” (_ib._, p. 192). The writer shews that the parasite
is very destructive to oaks in India.
788 H. O. Lenz, _Botanik der alten Griechen und Römer_ (Gotha, 1859), p.
598, notes 151 and 152.
789 C. Fraas, _Synopsis Plantarum Florae Classicae_ (Munich, 1845), p.
152.
790 H. O. Lenz, _Botanik der alten Griechen und Römer_ (Gotha, 1859),
pp. 599 _sq._
M252 Both sorts of mistletoe known to the ancients and designated by
different words.
791 Theophrastus, _Historia Plantarum_, iii. 7. 5, iii. 16. 1, _De
Causis Plantarum_, ii. 17; Pliny, _Nat. Hist._ xvi. 245-247. Compare
Dioscorides, _De materia medica_, ii. 93 (103), vol. i. pp. 442
_sq._, ed. C. Sprengel (Leipsic, 1829-1830), who uses the form
_ixos_ instead of _ixia_. Both Dioscorides (_l.c._) and Plutarch
(_Coriolanus_, 3) affirm that mistletoe (_ixos_) grows on the oak
(δρῦς); and Hesychius quotes from Sophocles’s play _Meleager_ the
expression “mistletoe-bearing oaks” (ἰξοφόρους δρύας, Hesychius,
_s.v._).
M253 Doubts as to the identification of the ancient names for mistletoe.
792 Theophrastus, _Opera quae supersunt omnia_, ed. Fr. Wimmer (Paris,
1866), pp. 537, 545, 546, _s.vv._ ἰξία, στελίς, ὑφέαρ.
793 F. Fraas, _Synopsis Plantarum Florae Classicae_ (Munich, 1845), p.
152.
794 H. O. Lenz, _Botanik der alten Griechen und Römer_ (Gotha, 1859), p.
597, notes 147 and 148.
795 Theophrastus, _De Causis Plantarum_, ii. 17. 2, ἐπεὶ τό γε τὴν μὲν
ἀείφυλλον εἶναι τῶν ἰξιῶν (τὴν δὲ φυλλοβόλον) οὐθὲν ἄτοπον, κἂν ἡ
μὲν (ἐν) ἀιφύλλοις ἡ δὲ ἐν φυλλοβόλοις ἐμβιῴη.
M254 Did Virgil compare the Golden Bough to common mistletoe or to
_Loranthus_? Some enquirers decide in favour of _Loranthus_.
796 His letter is undated, but the postmark is April 28th, 1889. Sir
Francis Darwin has since told me that his authority is Kerner von
Marilaun, _Pflanzenleben_ (1888), vol. i. pp. 195, 196. See Anton
Kerner von Marilaun, _The Natural History of Plants_, translated and
edited by F. W. Oliver (London, 1894-1895), i. 204 _sqq._ According
to this writer “the mistletoe’s favourite tree is certainly the
Black Poplar (_Populus nigra_). It flourishes with astonishing
luxuriance on the branches of that tree.... Mistletoe has also been
found by way of exception upon the oak and the maple, and upon old
vines” (_op. cit._ i. 205).
797 Prof. P. J. Veth, “De leer der signatuur, III. De mistel en de
riembloem,” _Internationales Archiv für Ethnographie_, vii. (1894)
p. 105. The Dutch language has separate names for the two species:
mistletoe is _mistel_, and _Loranthus_ is _riembloem_.
798 His letter is dated 18th February, 1908.
M255 Reason for preferring common mistletoe. Perhaps Virgil confused the
two species.
799 But Sir Francis Darwin writes to me:—“I do not quite see why
_Loranthus_ should not put out leaves in winter as easily as
_Viscum_, in both cases it would be due to unfolding leaf buds; the
fact that _Viscum_ has adult leaves at the time, while _Loranthus_
has not, does not really affect the matter.” However, Mr. Paton
tells us, as we have just seen, that in winter the _Loranthus_
growing on the oaks of Mount Athos has no leaves, though its yellow
berries are very conspicuous.