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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 9240304441 31

LECTURES ON THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE KINGSHIP

LECTURES ON THE

EARLY HISTORY OF THE

KINGSHIP

BY g:

J.

frazer

HON. D.C.L. OXFORD, HON, LL.D. GLASGOW, HON, UTT.D.

DURHAM

FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

IL0Ttlr0n

MACMILLAN AND NEW YORK

:

CO., Limited

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1905

All

rights reserved

TO

EDMUND

GOSSE

IN

GRATITUDE AND FRIENDSHIP

PREFACE The

were

lectures

following

delivered

Trinity

at

College, Cambridge, in the Lent term of this year,

under the

title

of "

The

Sacred Character and Magical

Functions of Kings in Early Society."

The

general

theory here sketched of the evolution of the Kingship

formed the subject of two Royal Institution

at the

May.

last

manuscript for the press

I

London

given in

lectures

In preparing the

have made a few unim-

portant changes, mostly verbal, and added references to

my

authorities.

were spoken.

as they

Substantially they consist of a

of extracts from the forthcoming third edition

series

of

Otherwise the lectures are printed

my

book The Golden Bough, which

fuller information

on many

Such prefatory remarks

will

contain

points. as I

may have

to

make

are

reserved for that work, but I cannot allow this volume to

go forth without an acknowledgment of the debt

owe

to

my

friend

Mr. A. B. Cook, Fellow and Lecturer

of Queens' College, Cambridge. to present

more

my

If

I

have been able

theory of the Arician kingship in a

probable, or at least a

before, I

I

owe the improvement

more

precise,

form than

chiefly to the stimulating

viii

PREFACE

influence of his criticisms,

the whole problem.

which obliged

Moreover,

in

me

to reconsider

working out

revised theory I have profited greatly

by

his learning

and acumen, which he has generously placed disposal in the spirit of the

good old maxim

J.

Trinity College, Cambridge, i6tA August 1905.

G.

my

at

my

Koiva

FRAZER.

to,

CONTENTS LECTURE I The of — Methods of the study — Reasons preferring the inductive method — King of the Wood Nemi — of Diana Nemi — Conversion of the of Diana of the Virgin Mary —Egeria — Virbius the mate of Diana— Summary of history

institutions

for

Characteristics

at

at

conclusions

into a feast

festival

.

.

Pages 1-27

.

LECTURE II antiquity— Relation of Spartan kings Castor and kings Pollux — Incarnate gods — Kings magicians — of magic Law of and Law of Contact — Homoeopathic and Contagious Magic — Both included under Sympathetic Magic — Examples of Homoeopathic Magic — Magical images — Cures based hunting on Homoeopathic Magic— Use of Homoeopathic Magic magical and — Negative Magic or taboo — Savage

Priestly

in

to

as

Principles

Similarity

fishing

telepathy

iVIagic

......

in

belief in

28-59

LECTURE III Magical telepathy war — Homoeopathic Magic and the dead— Homoeopathic Magic used animals, inanimate annul omens — Examples of Contagious Magic — Magical hurt him contact between wounded person and the weapon —Public magicians develop kingsMagical contact of in

in

relation

to

plants,

things,

to

evil

that

a

.......

into

footprints

Rise

of monarchy essential to

savagery

ix

the

emergence of mankind

from 60-88

CONTENTS

LECTURE The

order of magicians a great incentive

of a public

institution

IV to

regulate the weather — — Public magicians expected or calming wind — — Making — sunshine Making Making rain develop into kings in Australia, New Tendency of magicians Africa — Similar Guinea, and Melanesia—The evolution complete Europe —The divinity evolution among the Malays—Traces of to

research

to

in

it

of kings

in

Pages 89-128

.

.

LECTURE V —

Development of the magician into a god as well as a king- Incarnate human gods in Polynesia, Africa, and ancient Greece and Germany Worship of the Brahmans in India Human gods in Tibet and China Divinity of the emperors of China and Japan Worship of Summary of the evolution of the the kings of Babylon and Egypt

—

—

—

—

—

—

King of the Wood at Nemi again considered He seems have been the mate of Diana, the two being considered as King and Queen of the Wood Trees regarded as male and female Kingship to

—

Marriages of

trees

and plants

.129-159

.

LECTURE VI Germany Marriage of the powers of vegetation — May King and Queen ancient Babylon, Egypt, and and England — Marriage of the gods ancient Sweden and Gaul— Marriage of Greece — Similar water-gods human brides— of the Perseus and Andromeda Furthest. Romain and the type—The Slaying of the Dragon in

in

rites

in

to

Stories

at

Dragon of Rouen

.

LECTURE The

160-193

.

— Numa

VII

—

and Egeria Kings of Rome and Alba god of the oak and the thunder Sacred marriage of Jupiter and Juno perhaps enacted by the King and Queen of Rome Roman kings regarded as sons of the fire god by his wives the Vestal Virgins Sacred fires and Vestal Virgins in Sacred Marriage

personified

Jupiter,

—

Ireland and Peru

—

the

—

.

194-228

CONTENTS

LECTURE

xi

VIII

Succession to Latin kingship in female line through marriage with king's

daughter

—Indifference

to

—African — Succession king's widow — Evidence of

paternity of kings

parallels

Sons of kings go abroad and reign in their wives' country to

kingdom through marriage with

female kinship

indigenous race

among European

—Abolition of kingship

—Attempt of Tarquin male

line

late

peoples

— Roman

the

Proud

— Roman kings of plebeian or at

Rome a patrician revolution from female

to alter succession

Personal qualities required in candidates for kingship

and of crown determined by

princess at

Rome

athletic contest

Flight at

Rome

,

Wood

at

and Juno

King of Nemi

—He

Nemi

—Janus or — Reasons

with Diana

INDEX

— Human —Violent deaths of Roman

in relation to the Saturnalia

— Saturn and Jupiter— Summary of conclusions

of the

of

Flight

IX

sentatives of Saturn killed at the Saturnalia

kings

— Possession

— King's

Pages 229-264

.

LECTURE The King's

to

sovereignty partly hereditary, partly elective

Calicut an

repre-

as to the

King

represented Jupiter or Janus and mated

Dianus and Diana the equivalents of Jupiter putting the divine king to death The

—

for

Indian parallel to the .

King

Wood

of the .

at

.

265-297

.

299-309

LECTURE The

I

—Methods of the study—Reasons premethod — King of the Wood Nemi of Diana Nemi — Conversion of the of Diana of the Virgin Mary— Egeria — Virbius the mate of Diana — Summary of

history of institutions

for

ferring the inductive

at

Characteristics

at

festival

into a feast

conclusions.

The

subject of these lectures

" The Sacred Character

is

and Magical Functions of Kings I

must warn you

less

in

at the outset that

about kings than from the

But

Early Society."

title

you

will

hear

much

of the lectures you

might reasonably expect and perhaps wish to hear.

The

sacred character and magical functions of kings in

early society cannot be understood without

some know-

ledge of those general forms of superstition of which this aspect

above

all,

of the kingship

we must

is

a particular expression

;

acquaint ourselves with the elements

of primitive magic, since the ancient king was often little

more than the

chief magician of his tribe.

lectures will therefore be illustrating

the

I

devoted to explaining and

elements of magic, and during

discussion the king will entirely.

Several

mention

apparently be lost

this at the

prevent disappointment.

their

sight

of

beginning in order to

For the same reason,

I

wish

THE HISTORT OF INSTITUTIONS

2

lect.

to say that the greater part, though not the whole, of

examples or

the lectures will consist merely of fresh illustrations

of principles which

and exemplified elsewhere

;

have already stated

I

and,

^

lastly,

apart

that,

from a few introductory remarks, the substance of

all

that I shall say will be published before long in the

new

edition of

my

book, which

is

now

in the press.

Before addressing myself to the special subject of the lectures, I desire to

on the method

I

make

a hv^ general observations

have followed in them.

Anthropology, or the study of man, claims a place for itself

among

Of

the sciences.

that study or science

the history of institutions, with which cerned, forms an important branch.

we

tutions from the

aims at tracing

It

the growth, development, and decay of

are here con-

all

human

earliest to the latest times,

insti-

not merely

recording the facts in chronological order, but referring

them

to their general causes in the physical and mental

man and the influence of external nature. Now, if we are to pursue this study in a scientific spirit, we must endeavour to investigate the beliefs and customs constitution of

of mankind with the same rigorous impartiality with which,

for

example,

habits of bees

indeed

much

and

the

zoologist

To

ants.

the is

harder for the anthropologist than for the

zoologist, for the customs

and superstitions even of the

lowest savages touch us far

more nearly than the habits

even of the highest animals.

The

continuity of

development has been such that most, ^

investigates

attain that impartiality

The Golden Bough, a Study

in

Magic and

Religion,

2nd

if

not

edition,

all,

human of the

London, 1900.

THE SCIENTIFIC TEMPER

I

great institutions which civilised society

form the framework of

have their roots

down

been handed

still

new outward forms

core

unchanged.

substantially

in

remaining in their

of transmission, but

process

inmost

and have

in savagery,

to us in these later days through

countless generations, assuming

the

3

Such,

for

example, to take a few conspicuous instances, are the

of

institution

property,

private

the

institution

of

marriage, the institution of war, and the worship of Differences of opinion

a god.

may

and have

exist,

existed, as to the precise value of the inheritance

the fact of

there can be none.

it

of the rudest savages

keep our eyes fixed

human

inflexibly

For we seem

before us.

of

history,

and

Thus

not easy,

it is

as to

;

in treating

if I

may

even

say so, to

on the object immediately

to be standing at the sources

it is difficult

to exclude

from our

mind the thought of the momentous consequences which and other lands have flowed from these

in other ages

simple beginnings, often from these apparently harmless absurdities.

history,

And

the further

we descend

the stream of

and the nearer we approach to our own age and

country, the harder

it

becomes to maintain an impartial

attitude in the investigation of institutions which have

been fraught with

so

misery for mankind. inquiry,

much Yet,

we must endeavour

prejudice and to pursue

mind

if

that our

aim

is

it

happiness and so

we

are to succeed in the

to approach

still

less

it

without

without passion, bearing in

simply the ascertainment of truth,

not the apportionment of praise or blame

not judges,

much

;

that

we

are

advocates, but merely inquirers

;

THE 'DEDUCTIVE METHOD

4 that

is

it

actiones

lect.

humanas

for us, in the language of Spinoza,

non

ridere,

non

which

rests

neque

lugere,

sed

detestari,

intelligere}

A

science

on observation,

we may

Either

individual cases

in

one

illustrate it

on the contrary, we

or,

;

the

begin with a statement

and then proceed to

of general principles

all

may be taught

historical sciences necessarily do,

of two ways.

as

may

by

begin

with the individual cases and from a comparison of them

may endeavour in common parlance, The former is the

with each other

to elicit those general

laws which,

are said to

particulars. latter

is

deductive method, the

the inductive.

Both methods have,

method

is,

There

is

an

about

it

which

air

like

most other

and disadvantages.

respective advantages tive

govern the

things,

The deduc-

more

in appearance at least, the

their

scientific.

of completeness, symmetry, and precision is

very taking.

view of a subject which

is

It gives

easily

memory.

and retained by the

us a bird's-eye

grasped by the mind It is

thus admirably

adapted for exposition on the side of the teacher, and for learning it is

the best

on the

side of the pupil.

mode of imparting and

In other words,

acquiring informa-

tion,

whether for the sake of examinations or for higher

ends.

For such purposes the inductive method

nearly useless. ^

It

plunges us

Spinoza, Traclatus PoUtkuSj

nihil quod

nwum

"vel

iriauditum

est,

et indubitata ratione demonstrare^ et

ut ea,

i.

4

;

" Cum

at

is

once into such a sea of

igitur

sed tantum ea, quae

animum ad Politicam appiicuer'iTK^ cum praxi optime cotrvemunt^ certa

out ex ipsa /lumanae naturae conditione deducere intendi

;

quae ad hanc scientiam spectant, eadem animi Ubertate^ qua res Matkematicas

solemus, tnquirerem, sedulo curavi^ humanas actiones non ridere^ non lugere^ neque detestariy

sed intelligere.^^

THE INDUCTIVE METHOD

I

particulars that

that

reduce

this

seeming chaos to

common and wood

difficult at first to find

it is

Yet the

for the trees.

To

order.

expressive phrase,

it

our bearings,

which are to

to perceive the general principles

is,

5

hard to see the

is

serious disadvantage under

which the inductive method thus labours

more than compensated solid

advantage

sciences

which

—

perhaps

is

another direction by one

in

method of

the

it is

adopt a

In

discovery.

on observation, discovery must

rest

all

ulti-

mately proceed from the particular to the general, from the isolated observed instances to the abstract conception

which binds them together. are,

Apparent exceptions there

but on examination they will always,

found to conform to the

method

is

unsuited to the acquisition,

to the extension, of knowledge

student for examinations,

Apart from

it

him

is

well suited

does not train a for research.

advantage possessed by the

it

why

anthro-

In

at the present time.

a sound induction large collections of

facts are necessary is

if it

it

;

hence in the inductive sciences

essential that a period

Not

until great masses

the general laws which pervade

Now

so

much

to appear

anthropology in general and the

history of institutions collecting stage.

them begin

of

do

observations have been accumulated and classified

surface.

it

of collection should precede

a period of generalisation.

on the

be

I believe,

the inductive

if

a special reason

is

pology should adhere to

make

;

trains

this general

inductive method, there

order to

Thus

rule.

in

particular

The prime want of

theories as facts.

This

is

are

still

the study

in

the

is

not

especially true

of

STUDT OF THE SAVAGE

6

lect.

that branch of the study which treats of origins as I

have

said,

for,

;

most great institutions may be traced

back to savagery, and consequently for the early history of mankind the savage It is

is

the attention

it

deserves

ing under our eyes.

;

and unfortunately

Contact with

effacing the old beliefs is

our most precious document.

only of late years that the document has received perish-

it is

civilisation is rapidly

and customs of the savage, and

thereby obliterating records of priceless value for the

The most urgent need of

history of our race.

pology

at present

anthro-

to procure accurate accounts of the

is

existing customs and ideas of savages before they have

When

disappeared.

been obtained, when

these have

the records existing in our libraries have been fully

and when the whole body of information

scrutinised,

has been classified and digested, the philosophic historian will be able to formulate, with a fair degree probability, those general laws intellectual, social,

That

will

thinkers, the

come by

and moral evolution of mankind. be

after us.

It

is

collecting, sifting,

shall arise

done

in

The

our day.

great

Newtons and Darwins of anthropology,

that when, in

at

not

of

which have shaped the

will

our business to prepare for them

and arranging the records

the fulness of time, the

in

order

master-mind

and survey them, he may be able to detect '

once that unity in multiplicity, that universal in the

particulars,

which has escaped

together the

facts,

goes for them

The duty

us.

incumbent on the investigator

is

therefore

whether, like some of

at the peril

of his

at present

life

my

to

rake

friends,

he

to savage lands,

DREAM

ROUSSEAU'S

I

7

or merely unearths them at his ease from the dust of

The

libraries.

time has gone by when dreamers like

Rousseau could reconstruct the history of society out of their

own

as visions

minds, and their dreams could be accepted

of a golden age to come, their voices listened

to like angel trumpets heralding the advent of a

heaven and a new earth. pologist of to-day to

not for the anthro-

It is

blow these high

notes, to build

His task

these gay castles in the clouds.

new

is

the soberer,

duller one of laying, in the patient accumulation facts,

more

the foundations of a structure

solid

of

and

enduring than the glittering fantasies of Rousseau's dream.

Yet he too may prove

pioneer of revolution, a revolution

more

lasting because

Thus and

the

it

will

method of anthropology

is.

induction,

engaged in compiling

their materials rather than in evolving

Yet a

general theories out of them.

of preliminary generalisation

is

The work even of

necessary.

the surer and

all

be slow and peaceful.

at present its students are

and arranging

the end to be a

in

certain

amount

legitimate and indeed

observation can hardly

be accomplished without some intermixture of theory to- direct

the observer's attention to points which he

might otherwise overlook or regard cant to be worthy of record.

as too insignifi-

But these provisional

we must always be ready to modify or discard them when they The advance are found to conflict with fresh evidence. hypotheses

should

of knowledge in

be held very loosely

this, as in

every other

;

field, consists in

a progressive readjustment of theory to fact, of con-

OBSTACLES TO STUDT

8

lect.

ception to perception, of thought to experience

;

and

though more and more exact, can

as that readjustment,

never be perfect, the advance

is infinite.

These considerations may serve to

justify or at least

excuse two features of anthropological books of the

who might One of these

present day which are apt to repel students

otherwise be attracted to the subject. features

the apparently disproportionate space occu-

is

pied by the bare description and cataloguing of facts,

which soon

pall

monotony.

The

on the reader by other

is

their

number and

the unstable, shifting, dis-

cordant nature of the theories put forward to explain

Both features are to be regretted, but they

the facts.

can hardly be avoided at the present stage of inquiry.

The

bearing of these remarks

lies,

as Captain Cuttle

profoundly observed, in their application. I

have followed the inductive method, and

adhere to

it

in

my

lectures.

I

In I

my

book

intend to

started without

any

general theory of the nature and evolution of the king-

ship in early society.

The

kingship had long puzzled

rule of one particular Italian

me

till

I

happened to meet

with a similar rule in southern India which seemed to

throw

light

on the

to formulate

my

Italian custom.

explanation of the

As soon as I began two, many kindred,

but hitherto apparently disconnected, facts came crowding in upon me, offering, as

I

thought, the materials for

a fairly probable induction as to certain aspects of the

kingly

office

in early

society.

Thus what

I

at

first

intended to be merely an explanation of one particular kingship

gradually developed into

something like a

THE KING OF THE PFOOD

I

treatise

my

For

on the sanctity of the old kings purpose

and describe

it

was therefore

in detail the facts

most

induction, since for the

which

on which

based

by which

them

published before in facts

which

than

my

I

only

I

my

my

aware,

follow the

my lectures.

The

you

But the evidence

will for the

mean

book.

that

it

most part

has not been

you should

If

find the

on you even more tedious

shall inflict

theories,

am

I shall

some of you.

I shall illustrate

be new, by which

I

part, so far as I

discuss will generally be old,

I shall

trite to

general.

enumerate

same method for the same reasons in and may be

in

essential to

they had not been put together before.

principles

9

will

have the consolation of

remembering that they are incomparably more valuable.

The

particular

of a sacred kingship which

case

served as the starting-point of priesthood

of Diana

at

my

investigation

Nemi, which combined the

regal with the sacred character

for the priest bore the

;

was

called a

As my

kingdom.

into the early kingship thus centres invite

your attention to

it

shall

round Nemi,

I shall

field.

you long on what to some may be avoid as far as possible

all

his

general inquiry I shall

for a few minutes before

pass to the survey of a wider

I

Wood, and

of Rex Nemorensis or King of the

title

office

was the

we

not detain

familiar ground, repetition of

and

what

I

have already published.

The Alban

hills are

mountains which full

rise

a fine bold group of volcanic

abruptly from the

view of Rome, forming the

last

Campagna

in

spur sent out by

THE LAKE OF NEMI

lo

Two

the Apennines towards the sea. craters are

lake and

now

filled

of the extinct

by two beautiful waters, the Alban

Both

of Nemi.

lesser sister the lake

its

lect.

lie

far

below the monastery-crowned top of Monte Cavo,

the

summit of the range, but yet so high above the

that standing

crater, at Castel

on the rim of the larger

summer

Gandolfo, where the popes had their

you look down on the one hand

plain

into the

palace,

Alban

and on the other away across the

Campagna

on the western horizon, the sea

flashes like

lake,

to where, a

broad

sheet of burnished gold in the sun.

The

lake of

Nemi

is

still,

as

of old, embowered in

woods, where the wild flowers blow in spring as freshly as lies

no doubt they did two thousand springs ago. so deep

down

in the old crater that the

It

calm sur-

face of

its

ruffled

by the wind.

On

sides but one the banks, thickly

mantled with

ail

clear water

is

seldom

vegetation, descend steeply to the water's edge.

on the north a stretch of

flat

ground intervenes between

the lake and the foot of the

now

abrupt declivity the

crested

Latium.

the It

resort

more

exactly,

is,

by the

village

of pilgrims from

was known

Nemorensis, that

Here, under the

hills.

of Nemi,

Diana had an old and famous

sylvan goddess

sanctuary,

Only

as the sacred

all

parts of

grove of Diana

Diana of the Wood, or perhaps

Diana of the Woodland Glade.

Some-

times the lake and grove were called, after the nearest

town, the lake and grove of Aricia.

A

spacious terrace

or platform, some seven hundred feet long, contained the sanctuary.

On

the north and east

it

was bounded

DIANA'S SHRINE

I

ii

by great retaining walls which cut into the

hillsides

and

Semicircular niches sunk in

served to support them.

the walls and faced with columns formed a series of chapels,

which

in

modern times have yielded

Compared with

harvest of votive offerings.

of the sacred precinct, the temple but

ruins prove

its

built

a rich

the extent

was not large

itself

;

to have been neatly and solidly

it

of peperino and adorned with Doric columns.

Elaborate cornices of marble and friezes of terra-cotta contributed to the outward splendour of the edifice,

which appears to have been further enhanced by

tiles

of

bronze.^

gilt

The

great wealth and popularity of the sanctuary in

antiquity are attested by ancient writers as well as by

the remains which have

war

In the

civil

empty

coffers

its

of Octavian.^

But we

civilly as his

Capitoline

treated

to light in

modern

times.

sacred treasures went to replenish the

he treated Diana as once

come

Jupiter,

are not told that

uncle Julius Cassar

borrowing

three

thousand pounds weight of solid gold from the god

and scrupulously paying him back in the same weight of

gilt

recovered

from the drain on

centuries later

'

On

However, the sanctuary

copper.^

was

it

the excavations at

still

Nemi

see

its

at

Nemi

resources, for

two

reputed one of the richest in

Notizie degli

Scam

for 1885,

1887, 1888,

1895; Bulletim delV Inaituto di Corrispondaiza Archeohgica, 1885, pp. 149-157, 225-242; O. Rossbach, in Verhandlungm der iiitrzigsten f^ersammlmg Deutscker Philologen (Leipsic, 1890), pp. 147-164 ; G. H. Wallis, Illuitraud Catalogue 1889,

of Classical Antiquities from

the Site

1893). ^

Appian, Bellum

^

Suetonius, Divus yuUus, 54.

Civile^ v. 24.

of the Temple of Diana, Nemi,

Italy (preface dated

THE OFFERINGS OF PILGRIMS

12

Ovid has described the

Italy.^

and commemorative

tablets

;

walls

lect.

hung with

fillets

and the abundance of

^

cheap votive offerings and copper coins, which the

site

has yielded in our time, speaks volumes for the piety

and numbers,

if

not for the opulence and

of

of beggars used to stream

Swarms

the worshippers.

liberality,

forth daily from the slums of Aricia and take their

up which the labouring horses

stand on the long slope

dragged well-to-do pilgrims to the shrine

;

and accord-

ing to the response which their whines and importunities

met with they blew

or hissed curses after the

kisses

carriages as they swept rapidly

down

peoples and potentates of the East did

lady of the lake sanctuary

Even

hill again.^

homage

to the

by setting up monuments in her

and within the precinct stood shrines of the

;

Egyptian goddesses

Isis

and Bubastis, with a store of

gorgeous jewellery.*

The

retirement of the spot and the beauty of the

Roman lake.

day

some of the luxurious

naturally tempted

landscape

nobles to

Here Lucius

summer

their

fix

Cassar

by the

had a house to which, on a

summer, only two months

in early

residences

after the

murder

of his illustrious namesake, he invited Cicero to meet the assassin Brutus.^

The emperors themselves appear

to have been partial to a retreat where they could find ^

Appian,

2

Ovid, Fasti^

'

Juvenal, Sat.

loc, cit,

Martial, Efigr. *

W.

iii.

ii.

Henzen,

267

iv.

sq,

117 sq.;

Persius,

in Hermes, vi. (1872), pp.

xiv. 2215, 2216, 2218. ^

Cicero,

M

Sat.

vi.

56 with the scholiast's note;

19. 3, xii. 32. lo.

Atticum, xv. 4.

5.

6-12

;

Corpus Inscripthnum Latlnarum,

THE EMPERORS AT NEMI

I

13

repose from the cares of state and the bustle of the great city in the fresh air of the lake and the stillness of

Here

the woods.

but pulled

villa,

Here

mind.^

Julius Caesar built himself a costly

down

it

again because

it

was not to

Caligula caused two magnificent barges,

or rather floating palaces, to be launched for lake

;

^

and

it

his

him on the

was while dallying in the woods of Nemi

that the sluggard Vitellius received those tidings of

revolt which called

him

woke him from

his

dream of pleasure and

Vespasian had a

to arms.^

monument

dedi-

cated to his honour in the grove by the senate and

people of Aricia

:

Trajan condescended to

magistracy of the town taste for architecture

;

fill

the chief

and Hadrian indulged

by restoring

a structure

in his

which had

been erected in the precinct by a prince of the royal

house of Parthia.* Such, then, was the sanctuary of Diana at Nemi, a fitting

home

for the " mistress of

mountains and forests

green and lonely glades and sounding rivers," as Catullus calls her.*

Multitudes of her statuettes, appropriately clad in the short tunic and high buskins of a huntress, with the

quiver slung over her shoulder, have been found on the spot.

Some of them

hand or her hound

at

represent her with her

her side.

bow

in her

Bronze and iron spears,

and images of stags and hinds, discovered within the ^

Suetonius, Divus j^uiius, 46.

2

Notmie

degli

Scam, 1895, pp. 361-396, 461-474; pp. 205-214.

R. Lanciani,

New

Tales of

Old Same (London, 1901), *

Tacitus, Hhtor.

^

Catullus, xxxiv. 9 i^^.

iii.

36.

* C.l.L. liv.

2213, 2216, 4191.

THE HUNTRESS GODDESS

14 precinct,

may

lect.

have been the offerings of huntsmen to Similarly

the huntress goddess for success in the chase.

come

the bronze tridents, which have

to light at

who had maybe by hunters who had

were perhaps presented by fishermen fish in

the lake, or

For

boars in the forest.

the wild boar was

down to the end of The younger Pliny tells

the

Italy

in era.

first

speared stabbed

hunted

still

century of our

us how, with his usual

by the

pretty affectation, he sat meditating and reading nets, while

three fine boars

favourite pastime of

Indeed,

into them.^

fell

some fourteen hundred years

Nemi,

later

boar-hunting was a

Pope Leo the Tenth.^

A

few rude

images of cows, oxen, horses, and pigs dug up on the site

may perhaps

indicate that

Diana was here worshipped

of domestic animals as well as of the

as the patroness

In like manner her Greek

wild creatures of the wood.

counterpart, Artemis, was a goddess not only of

but of herds.

Thus her

game

sanctuary in the highlands of

north-western Arcadia, between Clitor and Cynasthae,

owned

sacred cattle which were driven off by Aetolian

freebooters on one of their forays.^

When Xenophon

returned from the wars and settled on his estate the

wooded

hills

among

and green meadows of the rich valley

through which the Alpheus flows past Olympia, he dedicated to Artemis a

little

temple on the model of her

great temple at Ephesus, surrounded

it

with a grove ot

kinds of fruit-trees, and endowed

it

not only with a

all

chase

but also with a '

^

W.

sacred

Pliny, Efist.

6.

Roscoe, Life and Pontificate of Leo the Tenth,^ ®

Polybius, Hist.

iv.

The

pasture.

i.

18 and 19.

iv.

376.

chase

ANCIENT ITALY

I

abounded

and game of

in fish

15

and the pasture

all sorts,

sufficed to rear swine, goats, oxen,

and horses

and

;

at

her yearly festival the pious soldier sacrificed to the

goddess a tithe both of the

game from

pasture and of the the people of

Hyampolis

and thought that no

worshipped Artemis

throve like those which they

Perhaps, then, the images of cattle

dedicated to her.^

found

Nemi were

in Diana's precinct at

by herdsmen to ensure her blessing on So to the

Again,

the sacred chase.^

in Phocis

cattle

from the sacred

cattle

of a few

in spite

last,

here and there among the

trees,

offered to her

their herds.

villas

peeping out

Nemi seems

to have

remained in some sense an image of what Italy had - off

been in the far sparsely

peopled with

days

when

tribes

of

land

the

was

still

savage hunters or

wandering herdsmen, when the beechwoods and oakwoods, with

their

autumn and bare the hand of man,

deciduous

in winter,

foliage,

reddening

had not yet begun, under

to yield to the evergreens of the south,

the laurel, the olive, the cypress, and the oleander, less

we

in

to those intruders of a later age,

still

which nowadays

are apt to think of as characteristically Italian, the

lemon and the orange.^ Kennst du das Land, wo

Im

die Citronen blilhn,

dunkeln Laub die Gold-Orangen gluhn,

Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht. Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht ? Kennst du ^

es

wohl?

Xenophon, Anabasis,

v. 3.

4-13.

2 Pausanias, x. 35. 7^

V. Hehn, Kulturpfianzen und Hausthkre^

(Berlin, 1902), pp.

520

sy.

THE PRIEST OF NEMI

1

But that

However, ings

that

modern

is

it

this

rather than ancient Italy.

surround-

was not merely

in its natural

ancient

of the sylvan goddess

shrine

continued to be a type or miniature

of

Down

was observed

to the decline of

which

here

bore

the

a custom

seems to transport

The

savagery.

to

civilisation

Rome

of king, and

title

kingdom, but

He

office

by slaying

was

runaway

a

combat against

all

of the goddess

was

office

who

slave,

called

make good

his

Any

assailants.

succeeded

and he held

his predecessor,

so long as he could

he killed him he reigned in

his

The Greek geographer

hand, always on the

who

as always

among

the

of Bering

Strait, is said to betray infallibly

of blood

for with that people

;

and the manslayer

Of

revenge

features of special importance

iii.

1.

55

sq.

;

;

if

appears

sword

in

Esquimaux the shedder

a sacred duty,

is

carries his life in his hand.^

the worship of Diana at

Strabo, v. 3. 12

in

His eyes probably acquired

alert.^

that restless, watchful look which,

Ovid, Fasti,

271

iii.

Suetonius, Caligula, 35

Servius,

on

Virgil, Aen. vi. 136,

2 E.

W.

Nelson, "

the

tree

Naturally,

stead.

Strabo,

him

to have seen him, describes

1

who

fugitive slave

watch and ward over that

therefore, the priest kept tree.

to

single

grove had the right to fight the priest, and

the

a

only

it

in

title

contrived to break a branch from a certain

Syl-u.

from

once

at

priest

his

past.

of the throne was a singular

his tenure

one.

us

the

The Eskimo

which

sq. ;

Nemi

;

id.,

I

Ars Am.

Solinus,

ii.

11

two

there are

would ask you

;

i.

259

sq.

Pausanias,

;

Statius,

ii.

27.4;

about Bering Strait," Eighteenth Annual Report of

Bureau of American Ethnology, Part

I.

(Washington, 1899),

p.

293.

I

DIANA'S FIRE

to bear in mind.

In the

17

the votive offerings

first place,

found on the spot prove that the goddess was believed to bless

men and women

with offspring and to grant

expectant mothers an easy delivery.^ place, fire

In the second

seems to have played a foremost part in

At

her ritual.

her annual festival of the thirteenth

of August her

women

grove was illuminated, and

whose prayers had been heard by her came crowned with

and

wreaths

bearing

lighted

to

torches

the

Some one

of their vows.^

sanctuary

in

unknown

dedicated a perpetually burning lamp in a

fulfilment

shrine at

little

Nemi

for the safety of the

The

Claudius and his family.^

terra-cotta lamps which

have been discovered in the grove

may

*

perhaps have

served a like purpose for humbler persons.

analogy of the

Moreover, the

holy

would be obvious.

of Vesta borne by Diana at

title

points clearly to the maintenance of a perpetual

fire in

her sanctuary.

and bearing

traces

A large

circular

basement

of the temple, raised on three

at the north-east corner

steps

If so, the

custom to the Catholic practice of

dedicating holy candles in churches

Nemi ^

Emperor

of a mosaic pavement, probably

supported a round temple of Diana in her character of ^

P

Graevius,

Thesaurus

Antiquitatum

Romanarum,

xii,

col.

808

;

Bulletino

del-

Arch. 1885, pp. 183 sq. ; Notixie degli Scavi, 1S85, pp. 160, 254 ; id., 1895, p. 424 ; O. Rossbach, of. cit. p. 160 ; G. H. Wallis, op. cit. pp. 4, 15, 17. ^ Statius, Syl-u. iii. i. 52-60 ; Gratius Faliscus, Cynegeticim, i. 484 sq. ; Ovid, Inst, di Corrisf.

Fasti,

iii.

August

as

269

sj,

;

Propertius,

24

iii.

Diana's day, see Festus,

Aasoams, De firiis Romanis,

5

sq.

;

(30), 9

sq., ed.

Paley,

As

to tlie 13th of

343, ed. C. O. MUUer ; Martial, xii. 67. 2 ; C.I.L. xiv. 21 12; W. Warde Fowler, Roman p.

Festivals '

of the period of the Republic, p. 198, Notizie degli Scam, 1888, pp. 193 sq. ; 0. Rossbach,

*

G. H. Wallis,

'

C.I.L. xiv. 2213.

op. cit. pp.

op.

cit. p.

164.

24-26.

C

DIANAS DAY

1

Vesta,

like the

lect.

round temple of Vesta

my

acute and

The

was

perceived and pointed out by

Mr. A.

learned friend

had taken

it

Previous writers

Cook.^

B.

The

for an altar or pedestal.

Nemi would seem

at

Roman

basement

forum.^ first

the

in

true character of this circular

sacred

fire

by Vestal

to have been tended

was

Virgins, for the head of a Vestal in terra-cotta

found on the cared

and the worship of a perpetual

by holy maidens,

for

common

spot,^

appears

Latium from the

in

earliest

fire,

have

been

to the

latest

to

For example, we know that among the ruins of Alba Longa the Vestal fire was kept burning by

times.*

Vestal Virgins to the end of the fourth century of our era.*

At

the annual festival of Diana, which was held

all

over Italy on the thirteenth of August, hunting dogs

were crowned and wild beasts were not molested

;

wine was brought forth, and the feast consisted of a kid, cakes,

and apples

boughs.*

The

still

hanging in clusters on the

Church

Christian

sanctified this great festival

converting

adroitly

to

the

festival

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin on the

The

of August.^ '

discrepancy of two days

Notizie degli Scam, 1885, p. 478

;

have

of the virgin goddess by

into

it

appears

O. Rossbach,

ef. cit. p.

158

;

of

the

fifteenth

between G. H. Wallis,

cp. cit, pp. 9 iq, ^ Classical ^ *

J. ^

^

iv.

60 jy.

;

376.

iii.

iii.^

Asconius, In Milonianem,

Epist. ix. 128

Statius, Sylvae, J.

p.

op. cit. p. 30.

Marquardt, RSmische Staatsverivaltung,

Juvenal,

Symmachus, '

Review, October 1902,

G. H. Wall is,

1.

and 129 55 sqq.

;

;

C.I.L.

vi.

^jG. p.

35, ed, Kiesseling and Schoell

2172, xiv. 4120.

Gratius Faliscus, Cynegeticon,

Rendel Harris, The Anmtators of the Codex

Besiac

\. 483-492. CLonAon, 1901), pp. 93-102.

ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN

I

the dates of the festivals their identity

not a

is

argument against

fatal

two days

for a similar displacement of

;

19

occurs in the case of St. George's festival on the twentythird of April, which

ancient first.^

most probably

is

identical with the

Roman festival of the Parilia on April twentyAs to the reasons which prompted this con-

version of the festival of the Virgin Diana into the festival

of the Virgin Mary some light

records

the

the Eastern

of

is

thrown by

Thus

Church.

the

in

my

Syriac text of the treatise called The Departure of

Lady Mary from

this

World an account

is

given of the

reasons which led to the institution of the festival of

Assumption of the Virgin

the

August.

in

In the

English version of the treatise the passage runs thus

"And a

the apostles ordered also that there should be

commemoration of the blessed one on the

of

Ab

[that

August

of

:

August

is,

Diana's

is

script or manuscripts

thirteenth

observe that the thirteenth

:

own

read

day

on the

;

another fifteenth

manuof Ab],

on account of the vines bearing bunches (of grapes), and on account of the hail,

trees

trees bearing fruit, that clouds

of

bearing stones of wrath, might not come, and the

be broken, and their

their

clusters."

festival

^

fruits,

Here you

will

and the vines with observe

of the Assumption of the Virgin

is

that

the

definitely

said to

have been fixed on the thirteenth or fifteenth of

August

for the sake of protecting the ripening grapes

'

The

evidence for this identification will be given in the third edition of The

Golden Rough. '^

The Journal of Sacred Literature,

New

Series, vii. (1865), p. 153.

THE FESTIVAL OF THE VINES

20

and other

This interesting passage was pointed

fruits.

me by my

out to

Since then

I

lect.

learned friend

Mr. Rendel Harris.

find that an inference of the

same

sort has

been drawn independently from this passage by the late

book published at where he reinforces the argument

Professor Lucius of Strasburg in a the end of last year,

by other evidence.^

Thus he

points out that in the

Church the

calendars of the Syrian

of August

fifteenth

repeatedly designated as the Festival of the

is

of

God for

the vines,

and that

On

apocryphal work

the

in the

Mother

Arabic text of the

passing of the Blessed Virgin

Mary, attributed to the Apostle John, there occurs the following passage instituted is,

:

on the

"Also

fifteenth

August], which

is

a festival in her

honour was

day of the month

the day of her passing

Ab from

[that this

world, the day on which the miracles were performed,

and the time when the

Now

fruits

we hear of vineyards and

of trees are ripening."

^

plantations dedicated to

Artemis, fruits offered to her, and her temple standing

Hence we may

an orchard.*

in

Italian sister

Diana was

conjecture that her

also revered as a patroness of and that on the thirteenth of

vines and fruit-trees,

August the owners of vineyards and orchards paid respects to her at

the ripening '

fruit.

Nemi

their

in order to ensure the safety of

We

have just seen that wine and

E. Lucius, Die jlnfStigc dei Heiligenkults in der christlichen Kirchc (Tflbingen, sq., 521. The writer appears to have overlooked the occurrence of

1904), pp. 488

Diana's day on the 13th of August. ^

Johanni

jiposioli

de transitu Beatac Mariae firginis Liter

:

ex recensione et

cum

interpretatione Maximiliani Engeri (Elberfeldae, 1854), pp. loi, 103. 3

Pauly

Pausanias,

-

Wissowa, Real SncyclcfUdie der clasmchen tVissemchaften,

vii.

18. 12

;

Xenophon,

Artabasis, v. 3. 12.

ii.

1342-

THE FESTIVAL OF ANAITIS

I

apples festal

21

hanging on the boughs were part of the

still

We

cheer on that day.

was believed to

know,

too, that

the husbandman's

fill

bounteous harvest/ and in a

series

Diana

barns with

of gems, she

is

a

repre-

sented with a branch of fruit in one hand, and a cup,

which

is

sometimes

full

of

fruit, in the

other .^

Even

in

Scandinavia a relic of the worship of Diana survived the custom of blessing the fruits of the earth of

in

every

which

sort,

observed at the

Catholic

in

was

times

annually

of the Assumption of the

festival

Virgin on the fifteenth of August.^

There

need hardly say, no intrinsic improb-

I

is,

ability in the

view that for the sake of edification the

Church may have converted a

My

into a nominal Christian one.

undoubted instance of such that in the

later,

September

learned friend

a transformation.

He

Armenian Church, " according

express evidence of the

700 and

heathen festival

Mr.

Oxford has furnished me with an

F. C. Conybeare of

me

real

Armenian

tells

to the

fathers of the year

the day of the Virgin was placed on

the fifteenth, because

that was the day of

Anahite, the magnificence of whose feast the Christian doctors hoped thereby to transfer to Mary."

Anahite or Anaitis,

Armenian

the

as

predecessor

great Oriental goddess

of

Greeks called

the

Virgin

the

adjoining

231, with plates xx. 66,

xxii. 18, 26, 30,

Catullus, xxxiv. 17 jyy,

^ Fnrtvrinsler,

Die

aittiken

Gemmen,

iii.

Mr. A. B. Cook, Classical Review, October 1902, p. 378, note 4. Olaus Magnus, Hisloria de Gentium Septentrionalium -variis conditiotiihus, xvi. 9.

32, all cited by '

the

Mary, was a

whose worship was exceedingly

popular not only in Armenia but in ^

her,

This

NTMPH EGERIA

THE

22

The

countries.

character of her

rites

lect. is

plainly in-

dicated by Strabo,^ himself a native of these regions.

A

mythical personage of some interest and import-

ance

Nemi was

at

purling of her stream as

tells

with

used to

child

was

she

because

Egeria,

to

sacrifice

is

us that he had often

Women

water.^

its

flowed over the pebbles

it

mentioned by Ovid, who

drunk of

The

water-nymph Egeria.

the

like

believed,

be able to grant them an easy delivery.^

Diana, to

Tradition ran that the mistress of the wise king

nymph had been the wife or Numa, that he had consorted

with her in the secrecy of the sacred grove, and that the laws which he gave the

by commune with her

Romans had been

inspired

Plutarch compares

divinity.*

the legend with other tales of the loves, of goddesses for

mortal

the

Moon

men, such

as

the

of Cybele and

loves

youths Attis and Endymion.

for the fair

According to some, the trysting-place of the lovers

Numa

and Egeria was not

woods of Nemi,

the

in

but at Rome, in a grove outside the dripping Porta Capena, where another sacred spring of Egeria gushed

from ^

Every day the Roman Vestals

a dark cavern.^

Strabo,

" Virgil,

12, xi. 14. 16, xii. 3. 37.

xi. 8.

Aen.

762

vii.

s^q.

Ovid, Fasti,

;

iii.

273

jyy.

;

Metam.

id.,

xv.

482

sqq.

;

Strabo, v. 3. 12.

i.

2

Festus, p. 77, ed. C. O. MiiUer.

*

Ovid, Fasti,

1.4; Livy,

i.

Antiquit. Roman,

Servius, ^

on

273

iii.

19. 5, ii.

i.

60

Virgil, Aen.

Juvenal, Sat.

iii.

sqq.

21. 3

id.,

Metam. xv. 482 sqq. Numa, 4, 8, 13, 15

Plutarch,

Juvenal, Sat.

sq. ;

vii.

;

;

iii.

12

;

342

ii.

sq.

;

Cicero,

De

Ugibus,

Dionysius Halicarn.

Lactantius, Di-vin. Inst.

i.

22

j

763.

10 sqq.

;

Livy,

i.

21. 3.

As

to the position of this grove

spring see O. Gilbert, Geschichte und Topografhie der Stadt sqq.,

;

152 sqq.; O. Richter, Tofographie der Stadt

and

Rom im Altertum, i. 109 Rom^ (Munich, 1902), pp.

THE WJTER OF EGERIA

I

23

fetched water from this spring to wash the temple of Vesta,

carrying

heads.^

it

earthenware pitchers on their

in

In Juvenal's time the natural rock had been

encased in marble, and the hallowed spot was profaned

by gangs of poor Jews, who were suffered to squat,

We

like gypsies, in the grove.

spring which

down from

into the lake

fell

original Egeria,

may suppose of Nemi was

and that when the

that the

the true

settlers

first

moved

the Alban hills to the banks of the Tiber

nymph

they brought the

with them and found a

new

home for her in a grove outside the gates. The remains of baths which have been discovered within the sacred precinct,^ together with many terracotta models of various parts of the human body, suggest that the waters of Egeria were perhaps to

heal the sick,

or

testified

who may have gratitude

their

used

declared their hopes

by dedicating

likenesses

of the diseased members to the goddess, in accordance with a practice which

To

Europe.

this

still

day

it

many

prevails in

would seem

parts

of

that the spring

of Egeria retains medicinal virtues.^

Here

I

may mention

a fine double bust in marble of

two water-gods which has been found

in the precinct at

Nemi.

Their heads are turned back to back.

of them

is

that of a bearded man, the other that of a

Their matted hair

beardless youth.

is

about and seems clogged with moisture ^

Plutarch,

One

Numa,

13

;

compare Propertius,

v.

4.

15

11-14. ^

O. Rossbach,

'

R. Lanciani, in

op. cit. p.

151

;

compare C.I.L.

Athmaum, October

xiv.

4190.

10, 1885, p. 477.

tossed

wildly

fins

spring

;

sq.

;

Ovid, Fasti,

iii.

VIRBIUS

24 from

their

AND HIPPOLTTUS

brows and from the mouth of the younger

water-plants cling

Both have that wild

and troubled look which the ancient exquisite taste, loved

artists,

The

probably the

are

busts

with their

of the fickle

to give to divinities

element.

restless

a skilful artist of the first century of

work of

;

and similar plants

to their breasts,

or fish-scales to their cheeks.

and

lect.

our

era.

seem to prove that they were dedicated

Inscriptions

to Diana.''

The I

of the mythical beings at

last

have to ask your attention

Nemi

whom

Legend had

Virbius.

is

to

that Virbius was no other than the young Greek it hero Hippolytus whose story is familiar to you all. Two points in it must be borne in mind first, he was the favourite of Artemis, the Greek equivalent of ;

Diana, and second, he was killed by his horses, which

dragged him at

to

runs

so

mistress,

the

But

his divine

had Hippolytus brought

tale,

and transported him to the woods of

again,

life

their hoofs to death.

Nemi, where she entrusted him to the nymph Egeria. There he reigned

as a

king under the name of Virbius,

and there he dedicated a sacred precinct to

As

Diana.^

Virbius the

to

'

says

W.

^

to

"that

he

op. cit. pp.

32

a

is

227

p.

;

"But

the truth

deity

associated

O. Rossbach,

op. cit. p.

159;

s^.

vii. 761 s^q., with the commentary of Servius ; Ovid, Fasti, Hi. Scholiast on Persius, Sat. vi. 56, 735 s^^. id., Metam. xv. 497 sqq. cd. O. Jahn ; Pausanias, ii. 27. 4 ; ApoUodorus, iii. 10. 3 ; Scholiast on

Virgil, jien. sjq., vi.

have been doubtful.

that he was the sun.

Servius,

his patroness

of this mythical

character

Helbig, in Noti%ie degli Scavi, 1885,

G. H. Wallis, 263

real

ancients appear

Some thought is,"

the

PP- 347 '7-1 Pindar, Pyth.

;

iii.

96.

;

SAINT HIPPOLYTUS

I

Diana, as

with

Attis

Gods, and

of the

is

associated with the

This statement of the old

^

commentator on Virgil

Mother

Minerva, and

Erichthonius with

Adonis with Venus."

25

I

believe to be of the utmost

importance for the understanding both of the Arician worship in general and of the extraordinary rule of succession

to

the priesthood in particular.

regret that in former editions of

The view which

significance entirely.

the character of Virbius will a

my book

I will

implies

its

of

form the pivot on which will revolve.

only remark that in his long and chequered

career this mythical personage

—

greatly

missed

I

it

good deal of our subsequent researches

Here

I

—Hippolytus

has displayed a remarkable tenacity of

or Virbius

For we

life.

hardly doubt that the Saint Hippolytus of the

can

Roman

calendar,

who was dragged by

horses to death

on the thirteenth of August, Diana's own day, other after

than

as a heathen sinner, has

of tracing the

saint's pedigree

been

The merit Mr. Rendel

happily resuscitated as a Christian saint.^

who

no

the Greek hero of the same name, who,

dying twice over

Harris,

is

belongs to

has distinguished himself by other kindred

researches in this department of sacred history.^

We

can

now perhaps understand why

identified Hippolytus, the

Virbius, who,

companion of Artemis, with

according to Servius, Am.

^

Servius on V\r%i\,

2

P. Ribadeneira, Flos Sanctorum (Venice, 1763),

August

13, pp.

4

tqq., ed.

'

J.

stood

to

Diana

761.

(Paris and

Rome, 1867).

martyrdom which might melt the Th. Obbarius).

of the imaginary

282

sqq.

vii.

the ancients

ii.

93

Prudentius

sq.; lias

Acta Sanctorum, drawn » picture

stoniest heart {Perhteph. xi. pp.

Rendel Harris, Annotators of Codex Bezac (London, 1901),

pp. loi sq.

MATE

DIANA'S

26

lect.

For Diana,

Adonis to Venus, or Attis to Cybele.

as

Artemis, appears to have been originally a goddess

like

of

general and of childbirth in particular.^

fertility in

As such

she,

her Greek counterpart, needed a

like

That

male partner.

partner, if Servius

grove and

king of Nemi, Virbius

first

mythical predecessor* or archetype of

who served Diana under Wood, and who came, one It

is

was

the

title

is

clearly the

of priests

the line

of Kings of the

after the other, to a violent

natural, therefore, to conjecture that these

priestly kings stood to the

same

right,

In his character of the founder of the sacred

Virbius.

end.^

is

relation in

that the mortal

goddess of the grove in the

which Virbius stood to her

King of the

the woodland Diana

Wood

had for

his

queen

herself.^

Reviewing the evidence as a whole, we that the worship of

in short,

;

may

Diana in her sacred grove

conclude at

Nemi

was of great importance and immemorial antiquity that she

was revered

as the

of wild creatures, probably also of domestic of the fruits of the earth bless

men and women

childbed

in

virgins,

nymph ^

;

Egeria,

that she

;

her

holy

fire,

in a

and

was believed to

discharged one

See, for example, CatuUus's fine

tended by chaste

round temple within

that associated with

who

cattle

with offspring and to aid mothers

burned perpetually

precinct

the

"that

;

;

goddess of woodlands and

poem on her (No.

her was a water-

of Diana's own xxxiv.).

This was pointed out long ago by P. Buttmann [Mythologus, ii. 151). ^ Seneca speaks of Diana as " regina nemorum " or " Queen of the Woods " {Hiffolytus, 406), perhaps with a reminiscence of the Rex Nemortmis, as Mr. A. B. ^

Cook

has suggested [Classical RevietVj October 1902, p. 373,

/*.

3).

VIRBIUS AT

I

functions by succouring

women

NEMI

27

in travail,

and who was

popularly supposed to have mated with an old

king

in the sacred

Wood

herself

had

a

grove

to her

Cybele

and, lastly, that

;

known

as

in

the

;

Roman

Diana of the

male companion, Virbius by name,

who was

represented

further, that

what Adonis was to Venus, or Attis to

historical

this

mythical Virbius

by

times

a

line

was

of priests

Kings of the Wood, who regularly

perished by the swords of their successors, and whose lives

were

in a

manner bound up with

a certain tree in

the grove, because, so long as that tree was uninjured,

they were safe from attack.

This ends what present.

I

have to say on

In the next lecture

we

shall

of the general principles of magic.

Nemi

for the

begin our study

LECTURE

II

Castor —Relation of Spartan —Incarnate gods—Kings magicians—Principles and Law of Contact — Homoeo—Law of Magic — Both included under Contagious pathic Magic and Sympathetic Magic — Examples of Homoeopathic Magic — Magical images — Cures based on Homoeopathic Magic — Use hunting and —Negative of Homoeopathic Magic magical Magic taboo — Savage

Priestly kings

in

kings to

antiquity

and Pollux of magic

as

Similarity

fishing

in

In the

telepathy.

belief in

or

last lecture

we began our

consideration of the

position of the king in early society. that the character of sanctity

ship

I

indicated briefly

which attaches to the king-

among many savage and barbarous

peoples

is

a pro-

duct of certain primitive modes of thought and of habits based on them, which are very alien to our ways of thinking arid acting, and can only be understood after long and patient study.

down

Instead of attempting to lay

a general scheme of the development of the sacred

kingship in early society,

I

took

as the starting-point

of

our inquiries a particular example of the institution, namely, the titular kingship of the priests of Diana at

Nemi be

;

and

justified,

precision

problem

I

think that this

mode of proceeding may

not only by the greater definiteness and

which we attain by considering an abstract in

a concrete form, 28

but also by the

many

LECT.

PRIESTLT KINGS

II

interesting questions

kingship.

which are raised by

In the present lecture

examination

29

of these

this particular

propose to begin the

I

They can only

questions.

be

adequately answered by the comparative method, and

Nemi and the King of present, we must now look

Wood

accordingly, leaving

the

behind for the

about for

other examples of sacred kingships and try to discover the ideas

In the

Wood

at

on which the first place,

title

then,

based.

is

we saw

King of the

that the

Nemi, though he bore the kingly

historical times at

king.

institution

Now

this

any

rate,

much more

a priest than a

union of priestly duties with a royal

was common

in

classical

Rome and

antiquity.

Athens furnish the most familiar examples practice, but

it

was, in

title,

existed also in

many

of

the

other places.

In

Greece the duties of these priestly kings, as we learn

from

Aristotle,

Common Hearth

were especially associated of the

city.^

with

the

In the island of Cos, for

example, the titular king sacrificed to Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, the equivalent of the Italian Vesta

and he received the hide and one leg of the victim his perquisite.^

In Mytilene the kings, of

were several, invited

Hearth those guests honour.*

to

whom

the

state

delighted

to

In Chios also there were several kings, and his cows, his sheep,

or his swine to pasture in a sacred grove, the 1322 b 26

'

Aristotle, Politics, viii. (vi.) 8. 20, p.

^

Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum^

a'lmcriptiom Grecques, No. 716, '

whom there Common

banquets at the

any herdsman or shepherd drove

if

;

as

Ch. Michel,

Recueil,

Nos. 356, 357.

first

person

sqq.

No. 616;

Ch. Michel, Recueil

PRIESTLY KINGS

30

who

witnessed the transgression was

lect.

bound

to denounce

the transgressor to the kings, under pain of incurring the divine wrath and,

of

having

pay a

to

what perhaps was more

serious,

offended

deity.^

to

fine

the

In the same island the king was charged with the duty

of pronouncing the public curses,^ a spiritual weapon of

which much

made

was

use

by the

ancients.

For

example, in Teos, public curses were levelled at any one

who should prevent

the importation of corn into the

" If any man," so ran the curse, " shall by

country.

any manner of means prevent the importation of corn into the land of the Teans,

family."

^

But

may he

perish, he

and

his

need hardly inform you, was in

that, I

the dark ages, before the invention of tariff reform.

The Teans, it is obvious, were " free-fooders." You will observe that all these titular kings whom I have mentioned held office in republican states. The general opinion of the ancients seems to have been that

such priestly kingships were instituted after the abolition

of the monarchy in order to offer the

and to

sacrifices

discharge the religious duties which had formerly fallen

The view

within the province of the real king.*

improbable in

itself,

and

it

is

as a matter

a

of the old kings are

of history to have retained a shadowy No. 570

Ch. Michel,

'

Dittenberger,

^

P. Cauer, DiUctus Imcriftionum Graecarum^ No. 496

5y//rJg-«,^

not

moreover confirmed by

case in which the descendants

known

is

;

Recutil, ;

No. 707. Ch. Michel,

Reciuil,

No.

1383. P. Cauer, op.

Aristotle, Politics,

§§ 74

m-

.^tttiquit.

No. 480

Ch. Michel,

op. cit. No. 1318. 1285 b 14 sjj.; Demosthenes, Contra Neacr. Plutarch, Sluaeu. Rom. 63 ; Livy, ii. a. i ; Dionysius Halicarn.

'

•

cit.

P- '37° i Rom. iv. 74.

iii.

4.

;

14. 13, p.

PRIESTLT KINGS

II

royalty after the real

At Ephesus

31

power had departed from them.

who

the descendants of the Ionian kings,

traced their pedigree to Codrus, king of Athens, kept the

title

of king and certain privileges, such as the right

to a seat of

honour

and carry a

staff instead

of a sceptre, and to preside at

the rites of Eleusinian Demeter.'' the

monarchy was

wear a purple robe

at the games, to

So

at

Cyrene, when

abolished, the deposed

King Battus

was assigned certain domains and allowed to retain some priestly functions.^

Thus

the classical evidence points to the conclusion

that in prehistoric ages, before the rise of the republican

form of government, the various by kings, who discharged

ruled

were

tribes or cities

priestly

and

duties

probably enjoyed a sacred character as descendants of

This conclusion

deities.

is

borne out by the example

of Sparta, where the monarchy survived to historical

For there the two kings were believed to be

times.

descended from the supreme god Zeus

;

as his offspring

all

the state sacrifices, received a share of

the victims, and

held the priesthood of Zeus, one of

they offered

them

acting as priest of

priest

of Heavenly Zeus.^

Zeus Lacedasmon, the other

as

This combination of royal authority with priestly functions

common

is

in

many

parts of the world

To

take a single example,

hardly

calls for illustration.

among

the Matabeles of South Africa the king

^

and

is

at the

Strabo, xiv. i. 3.

^

Herodotus,

iv.

162.

3

Herodotus,

vi.

56

totle, Politics,

iii.

j

Xenophon, Respub. Lacedaem,

14. 3, p.

1285 a 3

sjq.

15,

compare

id.

13

;

Aris-

THE SPARTAN KINGS

32

same time

Every year he

high-priest.

at the great

and the

of the new

fruits,

little

lect.

offers sacrifices

dance, and also at the festival

On

which ends these dances.

these

occasions he prays to the spirits of his forefathers and likewise to his

own

spirit

;

for

powers that he expects every This example king

is

is

instructive, because

is

spirits

it

shows that the

He

priest.

of his fathers, but to his

clearly raised

above the

humanity

;

Similarly,

we may suppose

there

from these higher

is

blessing.^

something more than a

only to the

He

it

common

something

is

prays not

own

spirit.

standard of mere

divine

about

him.

that the Spartan kings were

regarded not merely as descended from the great god

Zeus but

This

also as partaking of his divine spirit.

clearly indicated

by a curious Spartan

by Herodotus, to which attention has been paid

I

belief

is

mentioned

do not remember that

by modern

The

writers.

old

historian tells us that formerly both the Spartan kings

went forth with the army to times a rule was to

fight,

says

that

but that in

stay

Herodotus,

at

" one

for hitherto

;

of

^

The Tyndarids,

say, are the heavenly twins, Castor

1

belief described

Father Croonenberghs,

{1882), ^

The

453. Herodotus, p.

v.

75.

And

the

kings

is left

there

both of them were invoked and

followed the kings."

of Zeus.

"

home.

remaining at home, one of the Tyndarids too

later

when one king marched out

should

other

the

accordingly,"

made

battle,

"La

I

need hardly

and Pollux, the sons

by Herodotus

clearly

Mission du Zambeze," Missions Catioligues, liv.

CASTOR AND POLLUX

11

33

implies that one of these divine beings was supposed to

be in constant attendance on each of the two Spartan

them where they stayed and going

kings, staying with

From

with them wherever they went.

we may

this

reasonably infer that they were thought

to

aid

the

kings, their kinsmen, with their advice and counsel in

time of need.

Now

represented

spearmen,

as

commonly

Castor and Pollux are

and

they were

constantly

associated or identified, not only with stars, but also

with those lurid lights which, in an atmosphere charged

with

sometimes seen to play round the

electricity, are

mastheads of ships under a similar lights

the darkness

on the points of

had seen such

Roman

sentinels as they

camp

^

;

across the steppes

and

it is

us

on stormy at

said that Cossacks, riding

nights, perceive

their

glimmer-

lance-heads.^

Since,

and Pollux were

believed to be in constant attendance it

tells

on the spears of

paced their rounds by night in

therefore, the divine brothers Castor

kings,

glitter in

Pliny

spears.

lights flickering

of the same sort

ings

Moreover,

sky.

were observed by the ancients to

that he

front of the

murky

on the Spartan

seems not impossible that they may have been

thought to accompany the march of a Spartan army, appearing in the twilight or in the darkness either as stars in the

sky or

as the

sheen of spears on earth.

might further be worth while to consider how of the appearance of the heavenly twins in

stories

It

far the battle,

charging on their milk-white steeds at the head of the 1

Pliny, Nat. Hist. ^

ii.

loi.

Compare Seneca,

Potocki, Voyages dans Us steps d' Astrakhan

Sjiaest. et

Natur.

du Cnucase,

i.

i.

i.

14.

143.

D

DIVINITT OF KINGS

34

may

earthly chivalry,

not have originated in similar

lights seen to glitter in the

and there I

mean

in the long

gloaming on a point here

hedge of levelled or ported

any two

that

lect.

spears.

on white horses whose

riders

spear-heads happened to be touched by the mystic light

might

easily

If there

be taken for Castor and Pollux in person.

any truth

is

conjecture

in this conjecture

—we should conclude

were never seen

in

—and

it is

only a

that the divine brothers

broad day, but only at dusk or in

Now their most

the darkness of night.

famous appear-

ance was at the battle of Lake Regillus, as to which are expressly told that

summer day

it

was

late in the

before the fighting was

over.''

ments ought not lightly to be dismissed tions

of a rhetorical

battles linger

Such

state-

as late inven-

The memories of

historian.

we

evening of a

great

long among the peasantry of the neigh-

bourhood.

However dotus

that to

suffices

may

was believed to

exist

and the

twins

divine

general there

is

evidence

the

be,

prove

that

an

Hero-

of

intimate

relation

between the two Spartan kings Castor and

no doubt that

And

Pollux.

in

in early society kings

have been often thought to be not merely descendants of divinities,

but themselves divine and invested with super-

natural powers.

Thus they

are frequently expected to

give rain and sunshine in due season, to

grow, and so forth.

the crops

In short, they are considered and

treated as incarnate gods. that doth hedge a king 1

make

is

Dionysius Halicarn. Ant. Rom.

In early society the divinity

no mere

vi.

13

;

Cicero,

figure of speech. De

tiatura deorum,

ii.

2. 6.

TTPES OF MAN-GOD

n

Of

these incarnate

two

distinguish divinity

is

human gods

it

spirit

which has taken up

abode in the man, whether at birth or at a

may

later time

;

its

in

consists essentially in the possession of

it

magical powers of a very high order.

one

convenient to

is

In the one type the indwelling

types.

conceived as a

the other type

35

Accordingly the

be called the inspired, the other the magical

man-god.

our notions,

Strictly perhaps, according to

the inspired type alone

while the other

is

entitled to

rank as a god,

merely a glorified magician.

is

But

such sharp distinctions are not drawn by primitive man.

To him

the

two conceptions shade

perhaps he might find

it

Certainly

I shall therefore

to carry the distinction through.

it

draw a

line

But so

probability

and of the concrete

far as

On

we can

is

older than abstract

facts points strongly to is

older than a

the particular grounds for that

conclusion I do not propose to dwell

of them would lead us too if it

not attempt

For a consideration both of

the conclusion that a belief in magic belief in gods.

would not

of demarcation between them,

appears to be probable that the magical

the inspired type.

it

particular instances definitely to one

all

or other of these heads.

theoretically

;

hard to define or even perceive

the difference between them.

be easy to refer

off into each other

far

;

an examination

from our

subject.

But

be true that in the evolution of society magic has

becomes probable that magicians

preceded religion,

it

may

have gradually developed into kings

in

before

some it

cases

occurred to people to imagine that their rulers

were the living incarnations of great

spirits

or deities.

INFLUENCE OF SUPERSTITION

36

However,

lect.

for our immediate purpose the question of

the priority of the two types

What

shall pass it by.

is

is

of

little

moment, and

of the character of kings in early society principles of

acquaintance with the

I

essential to the understanding

some

is

primitive

magic,

and some notion of the extraordinary hold which that

on the human

ancient system of superstition has had

mind else

and

in all ages

been, the old king seems

may have

he

For whatever

in all countries.

commonly

to have been a magician.

The

was simply the strongest

idea that the first king

and bravest man of

his tribe

is

one of those

facile

which the arm-chair philosopher concocts with

theories

on the fender without taking the trouble to Like many other speculations of consult the facts.

his feet

that sort

that

it

actual

it

seems so obvious, so consonant to reason,

must be

true,

instances

instances that, if

may

occur,

we could

would be found rule.

and that to seek to establish

I

would not deny

scrutinise the

it

by

That such

would be superfluous.

but

;

I

believe

whole evidence, they

to be the exceptions rather than the

All purely rationalistic speculations of this sort

as to the origin

mental defect

:

of superstition,

of society are vitiated by one funda-

they do not reckon with the influence

which pervades the

and has contributed to build up the an incalculable extent. to apprehend

how many

We

life

of the savage

social

organism to

are only beginning dimly

institutions of universal pre-

valence, not limited to one race or one religion,

perhaps rest historically on a foundation

may

of savage

PRINCIPLES OF MAGIC

II

superstition, that

is,

37

on ideas which would now only

need to be stated in order to be immediately rejected

and absurd by every reasonable and educated

as false

man, whatever I

say that

we

we

his political or religious creed

mind of

the

mind of our savage

fore-

created these institutions and handed

them

savage, and therefore the

who

be.

are only beginning to apprehend this, for

are only beginning to understand the

fathers

might

down to us. If the time should ever come when what we merely suspect should prove to be true, and the truth should be recognised by all, it may involve a reconstruction of society such as we can hardly dream But that

of.

a question for the future, perhaps a

is

stormy future.

Here we

are concerned with the peace-

ful past. I

was led into making these remarks by the observa-

tion that

it is

impossible to understand the rise of the

kingly power without some acquaintance with primitive superstition,

and particularly with that branch of

which goes by the name of magic. propose

now

to devote

some time

it

Accordingly

I

to a consideration of

the theory and practice of magic without special refer-

ence to the exercise of that art by the early king.

The

principles of thought

on which magic

appear to resolve themselves into two

produces

like,

:

first,

or that an effect resembles

is

based

that like

its

cause

;

and, second, that things which have once been in contact

continue to act on each other even after the contact has been severed. the

Law

The former

principle

of Similarity, the latter the

Law

may

be called

of Contact or

KINDS OF MAGIC

38

From

Contagion. the

Law

the

of Similarity

produce any

Contagion

—he

of these principles

—the magician

—namely, he can

infers that

he desires merely by imitating

effect

from the second

first

lect.

— namely,

Law

the

it

:

of Contact or

concludes that whatever he does to a

material object will affect equally the person with

the object was once in contact, whether

it

whom

formed part

Charms "based on the Law of of his body Similarity may be called Homoeopathic or Imitative Charms based on the Law of Contact or Magic. or not.

Contagion may be called Contagious Magic. expression Homoeopathic species

was

first

Mr. Y. Hirn.^ and

I

prefer

Magic which,

me

seems to

to

am

I

aware, by

an excellent expression,

the phrase Imitative or Mimetic

partly following

Mr. Sidney Hartland,^

formerly employed to denote the same thing. Imitative or

Mimetic Magic suggests,

imply, a conscious agent limits the scope of

principles

who

which the magician applies

I

For

does not it

thereby

For the same

in the practice of

by him to regulate the

operations of inanimate nature

;

in

other words, he

assumes that the Laws of Similarity and Contact

are of universal

human

if it

and

imitates,

magic too narrowly.

his art are implicitly believed

tacitly

The

to designate the former

employed, so far as It

it

Magic

actions.

application

and

In short, magic

not limited to

are is

a spurious system

of natural law as well as a fallacious guide of conduct, a false science as well as an abortive '

Y. Hirn,

Origins

art.

of Art (London, 1900),

2 Folk-lore, viii.

(1897), p. 65.

p.

Regarded 282.

as

KINDS OF MAGIC

11

a system of natural law, that rules

regarded

may

it

a

as

be called Theoretical Magic

set

their

ends,

shall return to this distinction

later

called Practical

what

Magic.

wish to impress on you

I

diiference between the theory as the distinction

have called

different

by

not so

and the practice of magic

two branches of magic which

Homoeopathic and Contagious. on analysis

turn out

of the

misapplications

HomcEopathic magic ideas

is

Here much the

on.

between the principles of thought that

respectively underlie the

principles

:

human beings it may be

of precepts which

order to compass

observe in

I

statement of the

as a

which determine the sequence of events through-

out the world,

I

is,

39

similarity

association of ideas.

founded on the association of

is

contagious magic

:

Both

merely two

be

to

founded on

is

the association of ideas by contiguity.

Homoeopathic

magic commits the mistake of assuming that things which resemble each other are the same

:

contagious

magic commits the mistake of assuming that things which have once been

in contact with each other are

But

always in contact.

in practice the

of magic are often combined while

homoeopathic

practised

by

or

;

contagious

itself,

be more exact,

or, to

imitative

two branches

magic

magic

will

may be generally

be found to involve an application of the homoeopathic or imitative principle. things

may

be a

readily understand

concrete examples.

little

Thus

abstractly stated, the

difficult

to grasp.

them when they Both

trains

You

are illustrated

of thought are

two will

by

in fact

HOMCEOPATHIC MAGIC

40

extremely simple and elementary. otherwise,

though

since

certainly

they

the

not in

could hardly be

It

in

familiar

are

abstract,

intelligence not only of the savage, but

people

magic,

homoeopathic

concrete,

the to

the

crude

of ignorant and

Both

everywhere.

dull-witted

lect.

of

branches

contagious,

may

conveniently be comprehended under the general

name

the

and

the

of Sympathetic Magic, since both assume that things act on each other at a distance through a secret

from the

sympathy, the impulse being transmitted

one to the other by means of what we

may

conceive

as a sort of invisible ether, not unlike that which,

understand,

postulated by

is

cisely similar

purpose

modern

—namely,

I

science for a pre-

to explain

how

things

can physically affect each other through a space which appears to be empty. All this

will, I

hope, be

examples with which

I will

made

now

plain to

illustrate

may

the

both branches

of magic, beginning with the homoeopathic. it

you by

But here

be convenient to tabulate as follows the branches

of magic according underlie

them

to

the

laws

of thought which

:

Sympathetic Magic

{Law of Sympathy)

Homoeopathic Magic

Contagious Magic

{Law of Similarity)

{Law of Contact)

We

now

take up Homoeopathic or Imitative Magic.

Perhaps the most familiar application of the idea

MAGICAL IMAGES

II

that like produces like

made

many

in

is

the attempt which has been

ages and in almost

to injure or destroy an

41

enemy by

all

parts of the world

injuring or destroying

an effigy of him, in the belief that just as the effigy suiFers so does the

must

Thus

die.

man, and

the

when

that

perishes he

it

North American Indians

believe

by drawing the figure of a person in sand,

that

ashes,

or clay, or by considering any object as his body, and

then stabbing

it

with a sharp stick or doing

injury, they inflict a corresponding injury

Among

represented.^

man was

ill

disease to

To

the

it

any other

on the person

Chippeway Indians, when a

he used to ask the sorcerer to transfer the

whom

some other person to

effect this, the sorcerer

made

he bore a grudge.

a small

wooden image

of the patient's enemy, pierced the heart of the image,

and introduced various magical powders into muttered an appropriate

it,

while he

So when a Cora Indian

spell.^

of Mexico wishes to kiU a man, he makes a figure of him out of burnt clay, strips of cloth, and so forth, and then, uttering incantations, runs thorns through the head or

stomach of the figure to make

his victim suffer in the

Sometimes the Cora

corresponding part of his body. Indian makes a

more

When

homoeopathic magic. flocks or herds, he

wants in wax or

mountains '

J.

;

^

Morse, Report

W. H.

makes

clay,

he wishes to multiply his

a figure of the animal he

and deposits

it

in a cave

for these Indians believe that the to

haven, 1822), Appendix,

u. 159.

beneficent use of this sort of

the Secretary p.

of

War

of

the

U.S.

m

of the

mountains

Indian Affairs

(New-

102.

Keating, Narrative of an Expedition

to

the Source

of

St. Peter's

River,

MAGICAL IMAGES

42

lect.

including cattle and sheep.

are masters of

all

For every cow,

deer, dog, or

riches,

hen he wants, the Indian

has to sacrifice a corresponding image of the creature.^

This may help us to understand the meaning of the figures of cattle, deer, horses, and pigs which were

They may have been or huntsmen who hoped thereby The Peruvian or the game.

dedicated to Diana at Nemi. the offerings of farmers to multiply the

cattle

Indians moulded images of fat mixed with grain to imitate the persons

whom

they disliked or feared, and

then burned the effigy on the road where the intended victim was to pass.

But they drew a

This they

called

delicate distinction

burning his

soul.

between the kinds

of ^materials to be used in the manufacture of these images, according as the intended victim was an Indian

or a Viracocha, that

is,

a Spaniard.

To

an Indian

kill

they employed maize and the fat of a llama, to

kill a

Spaniard they used wheat and the fat of a pig, because Viracochas did not eat llamas, and preferred wheat to maize.^ I

may

observe in passing that the meaning and origin

of the name Viracocha, as applied by the Peruvian Indians to the Spaniards, ness

by an early

historian

is

explained with great frank-

Italian (not,

you

will observe, a Spanish)

of America, who had himself travelled

country at the time of the Conquest. the Indians saw the very great

Spaniards committed everywhere

"

He says cruelties

:

"

in the

When

which the

on entering Peru, not

^ C. Lumholz, Unknown Mexico (London, 1903), i. 485 sq, P. J. de Arriaga, Extirfacion de la IdoUtria del Piru (Lima, 1621), pp. 25

sq.

VIRACOCHA

II

43

only would they never believe us to be Christians and children of

born on a

God,

this earth, or generated

woman

even that we were

as boasted, but not

by a man and born of

so fierce an animal they concluded

;

must be

the offspring of the sea, and therefore they called us Viracocchie, for in their language they call the sea cocchie

and the froth vira

;

thus they think that

we

are a

congelation of the sea, and have been nourished by the froth

;

and that we are come to destroy the world, with

other things in which the Omnipotence of God would not

down

ruin houses and break

them

;

They

undeceive them.

suffice to

but the

consume the very

say that the winds

and the

trees,

Viracocchie devour

burns

fire

everything, they

earth, they force the rivers, they are

never quiet, they never

rest,

they are always rushing

about, sometimes in one direction and sometimes in the other, seeking for gold

they

game

it

and

away, they

silver

make

;

yet never contented,

war, they

kill

each other,

they rob, they swear, they are renegades, they never

speak the truth, and they deprive us of our support. Finally, the Indians curse the sea for having cast such

very wicked and harsh beings on the land." explanation of the

name

ing to Spanish vanity,

is

Viracocha,

^

much more

An

flatter-

given by the Inca Garcilasso

de la Vega, himself half a Spaniard.^

But to return to

our magic.

When ^

the Lerons of Borneo wish to be revenged on

G. Benzoni, History of the New World, pp. 252 de la Vega, Royal Commentaries of

2 Garcilasso

Society],

ly.

the

(Hakluyt Society). Yncas,

ii.

65

sqq.

(Hakluyt

MAGICAL IMAGES

44

lect.

make a wooden image of him and leave jungle. As it decays he dies.^ More elaborate

an enemy they it

in the

is

the proceeding adopted by the Kenyahs of Borneo in

similar

The

circumstances.

operator retires with the

image to a quiet spot on the river bank, and when a hawk appears in a certain part of the sky he kills a fowl,

blood on the image, and puts a bit of fat in the mouth of the figure, saying, " Put fat in his mouth." By that he means, " May his head be cut off, hung up smears

in

its

an enemy's house, and fed with

Then he wooden

fat in the usual

strikes at the breast of the

spear, throws

it

image with

If an

it

tree,

make

his

Sometimes an Aino

it

a likeness it

or under the trunk of a rotten

with a prayer to a

soul or to

make

or the guelder-rose and bury

of him out of mugwort

down

out and buries

Aino of Japan wishes to compass

the destruction of an enemy, he will

in a hole upside

a small

into a pool of water reddened

with red earth, and afterwards takes in the ground.^

way."

demon

to carry off the man's

body rot away with the

woman

will

attempt to get rid of

her husband in this fashion by wrapping dress in the shape of a corpse

tree.

up

and burying

his head-

it

deep in

the ground, while she breathes a prayer that her husband

may

rot and die with the head-dress.

Often, however, magical images are employed for

more amiable purposes. ^

W. H.

P-

93-

p.

178.

^

^

to shoot an arrow into

Furness, The Home^ife of Borneo Head-hunters (Philadelphia,

Hose and M'Dougall,

J.

Thus

in

Journal of

the Anthropological Institute,

1902),

xxx. (1901),

Batchelor, The Ainu and their Folk-lore (London, 1901), pp. 329-331.

MAGICAL IMAGES

11

45

Hindoo mode

the heart of a clay image was an ancient

of winning a woman's love

;

only the bow-string must

be of hemp, the shaft of the arrow must be of black ala

wood,

No

its

plume an owl's

doubt the wound

feather,

inflicted

and

barb a thorn.

its

on the heart of the clay

image was supposed to make a corresponding impression

on the woman's

we

Among

heart.

the Chippeway Indians,

are told, there used to be few

who had

not

little

young men or women

images of the persons whose love

they wished to win.

They punctured

the hearts of the

images and inserted magical powders in the punctures, while they addressed the images by the names of the persons

whom

their affection.^

may

And

as

the

wound of

requite

may

love

be

by means of an image, so by means of an image

inflicted it

them

they represented, bidding

be healed.

How

that can

be done has been

poem based on the experiown schoolfellows. It is ence of one of his called The Pilgrimage to Kevlaar, and tells how sick people are wont to offer wax models of their ailing members to the Virgin Mary at Kevlaar in order that In Heine's she may heal them of their infirmities. poem a young man lies wasting away for love and

described by

Heine

in a

sorrow at the death of his sweetheart. his

mother on pilgrimage to the Virgin

offers

her the waxen model of

that she

1

field,

2

would be pleased to

So he goes with at Kevlaar,

and

a heart, with a prayer heal his

own wounded

W. Caland, Altmdisches Zauherritual (Amsterdam, 1900), p. Hymm of the Atharva-Veda (Oxford, 1897), pp. 358 sq. W. H. Keating, Expedition to the Source of St. Peter's River,

119

ii.

;

159.

M. Bloom-

MAGICAL IMAGES

46

commonly observed in some interesting because they show how

Such customs,

heart.

parts of Europe, are in

lect.

still

times magic comes to be incorporated with

later

The moulding of wax images of

religion.

members

is

magical

in its origin purely

the Virgin or to a saint bination of the

two

is

ailing

the prayer to

:

purely religious

:

the com-

a crude, if pathetic, attempt to

is

turn both magic and religion to account for the benefit

of the sufferer.

The

natives of

New

the

Two

woman,

the other the

are

are tied firmly

and ensure the amity of the

symbolise

They

couple.

use of effigies

spindle-shaped bundles, one representing

man and

together to

make

harmony between husband and

to maintain or restore wife.

Caledonia

made up of

various plants, together

with some threads from the woman's girdle and a piece

of the man's apron each.

The

a bone needle forms the axis of

;

talisman

is

meant

the spouses indissoluble, and

them

both.

If,

to render the union of carefully treasured

is

a domestic jar

nevertheless,

by

should

unfortunately take place, the husband repairs to the

family burying-ground with the precious packet.

he lights a

fire

with a

wood of

with water from a pre-

gates the talisman, sprinkles

it

scribed source, waves

his head,

it

round

There

a particular kind, fumi-

and then

stirring

the needle in the bundle which represents himself, he says, " I

change the heart of

love me."

If the wife

still

this

woman

remains obdurate, he

sugar-cane to the bundle, and presents a third person.

that she

it

may

ties a

to her through

If she eats of the sugar-cane, she feels

MAGICAL CURES

II

On

her love for her husband revive. the right to operate in

47 her side she has

hke manner on the bundle which

represents herself in order to

recover her husband's

affection.^

Another beneficent use of homoeopathic magic heal or prevent sickness.

man

made

died of dropsy, his children were

to

when

In ancient Greece, to

sit

body was burned.

their feet in water until the

is

a

with

This

was supposed to prevent the watery disease from attacking them.^

among the

Similarly,

on the

principle of water to water,

the natives of the hiUs near Rajamahall in India,

body of

into a river

a person :

who

has died of dropsy

they think that

if

thrown

is

the corpse were buried,

the disorder would return and carry oiF other people.^

The

ancient

Hindoos performed an elaborate

mony, based on homoeopathic magic, jaundice.

Its

main

drift

cere-

for the cure of

was to banish the yellow

colour to yellow creatures and yellow things, such as the sun, to which

it

properly belongs, and to procure

from a

for the patient a healthy red colour

With

vigorous source, namely a red bull.

tion, a priest recited the following spell

sun

shall

colour

tints,

unto long

Father Lambert, in Missions Catholiques,

da

' Plutarch,

De

sera numinis

xii.

(Noumea, 1900),

pp.

this

of yellow colour

(1880),

97

We

!

May

life.

p.

41

;

id.,

Mceurs

et

sq,

mndicta 14.

Th. Shaw, "The Inhabitants of the Hills near Rajamahall," 69 (8vo edition, London, 1807).

' iv.

Neo-Cale'doniem

to the in the

:

of the red bull do we envelop thee

person go unscathed and be free '

Up

go thy heart-ache and thy jaundice

envelop thee in red

Superstitions

this inten-

"

:

living,

Asiatic Researches,

CURES FOR JAUNDICE

48

The cows whose

divinity

is

Rohini, they who, more-

over, are themselves red {rohinih)

—

furthermore, into the yellow wagtail do

While he uttered

in order to infuse the rosy

animal's back and

him on

seated

:

made

Then

sip

which was mixed with

he poured water over the

man

the sick

in order to

by thoroughly eradicating the yellow

He

thus.

first

we put thy

these words, the priest,

the skin of a red bull

the skin to him.

the

hue of health into the sallow

gave him water to

the hair of a red bull

Into

thee.

do we put thy jaundice, and,

parrots, into the thrush,

patient,

every form

in their

and every strength we do envelop

jaundice."

lect.

and

drink

it

:

he

tied a piece of

improve taint,

his colour

he proceeded

daubed him from head to foot with a

made of turmeric or curcuma (a yellow him on a bed, tied three yellow birds, to wit, a thrush, and a yellow wagtail, by means of a

yellow porridge plant), set a parrot,

yellow string to the foot of the bed

;

then pouring water

over the patient, he washed oiF the yellow porridge, and

with

it

no doubt the jaundice, from him to the yellow After that, by way of giving a

birds.

final

his complexion, he took some hairs of a red

them

The

in gold leaf,

bloom

bull,

and glued them to the patient's

to

wrapt skin.''

ancient Greeks held that if a person suffering from

jaundice looked sharply at a stone-curlew, and the bird

looked steadily

" Such

is

at

him, he was cured of the disease.

the nature," says Plutarch,

temperament of the creature that ^

W.

it

" and such the

draws out and

M. Bloomfield, Hjmm of the Athar-va-Veda (Oxford, 1897), pp. 7 m., 263 w. Caland, Alt'mdUches Zauherritual (Amsterdam, 1900), pp. 75 so.

CURES FOR JAUNDICE

II

receives the

malady which

the eyesight."

was

49 through

issues, like a stream,

So well recognised among bird-fanciers

^

this valuable

property of the stone-curlew that when

they had one of these birds for sale they kept

it

carefully

covered, lest a jaundiced person should look at

be cured for nothing.^

The

in the drab colour

plumage but

eye, which, if lichen,

is

the

it

first

of

its

in its large golden

not mistaken for a tuft of yellow

is

thing that strikes the searcher, as the

on the ground.*

the yellow eye of the bird drew out the yellow

Pliny

jaundice.

tells

of another, or perhaps the same,

bird, to

which the Greeks gave

because

if a

and slew the

man saw

jaundiced

He

bird.*

their it

name

that of a jaundiced skin.^

In

gold coins, gold rings, saffron, still

for jaundice,

him

the disease left

mentions also a stone which

was supposed to cure jaundice because

are

and

virtue of the bird lay not

bird cowers, to escape observation,

Thus

it

its

hue, resembled

Germany yellow

turnips,

and other yellow things

esteemed remedies for jaundice, just as a stick

of red sealing-wax carried on the person cures the red

known

eruption popularly

blood-stone with

its

as St.

Anthony's

Another cure prescribed in Germany for fire

'

is

to rub the patient with ashes

Plutarch, Siuaest. Con-uiv.

2 Schol. ^ *

bird,

v. 7. 2, 8 sq.

on Aristophanes, Birds, 266

;

Alfred Newton, Dictionary of Birds, Pliny,

was

Nat.

Hist. xxx. g^.

fire,

or the

blood-red spots allays bleeding.*

;

from

a house that

Aelian, Nai. Animalmm, xvii.

Schol. on Plato, Gorgki, p.

Anthony's

St.

p.

494

1 3.

b.

129.

The Greek name

for jaundice,

and

for this singular

ikteros.

^

Nat. Hist, xxxvii. 170.

'

Leoprechting, Aus dem

Lechrain

(Munich,

1855),

p.

92; A. Wuttke, Der

diutsche Volksaberglaube^ § 477.

E

CAPILLARY ATTRACriON

50

down

has been burned pathy,

it

^

for,

;

on the principle of homoeo-

easy to see that

is

Anthony's

that house, so St.

lect.

the

as

died out in

fire

die out in that

fire will

man.

An ancient Indian cure for a scanty crop of hair, based on the same

a solution of certain

was to pour

principle,

had to be done

plants over the head of the patient

;

by a doctor who was dressed

black and had eaten

in

this

black food, and the ceremony must be performed in the early morning, while the stars were fading in the sky, and before the black crows had risen cawing from their

The

nests.^

unfortunately

exact virtue of these plants has

knowledge,

our

escaped

we

but

hardly doubt that they were dark and hairy

can

while the

;

black clothes of the doctor, his black food, and the

swarthy hue of the crows unquestionably combined to

A

produce a crop of black hair on the patient's head.

more

means of attaining the same end

disagreeable

promote the growth of

a boy's hair a

man

is

To

adopted by some of the tribes of Central Australia.

with flowing

locks bites the youth's scalp as hard as he can, being

urged thereto by

him

his friends,

who

sit

round watching

at his task, while the suiFerer

howls aloud with

on the principle of

capillary attraction.

pain.^

Clearly,

1

A. Wuttke,

2

M.

loc. cit.

Bloomfield,

Hymns of

AltindhcJus Zauhirritual,

p.

the

103.

Atharva-Veda, pp. 31, 536 In ancient Indian magic it

that charms to heal sickness should be performed at the hour

vanishing in the sky.

See

W.

Caland,

op. cit. pp.

order that the ailment might vanish with the stars ^

id..

85,

sq. is

;

W.

when

86, 88, 96.

the stars are

Was

p.

251.

this in

?

Spencer and Gillen, Northern Tribes of Central Australia (London, 1904),

Native Tribes of Central Australia,

Caland,

often prescribed

p.

352

;

HOMCEOPATHIC DOCTORS

II

if I

may

say so, he thus imparts of his

51

own mature

abundance to the scarcity of his youthfial friend.

One of the it

great merits of homoeopathic magic

enables the cure to be performed

doctor instead of on that of his victim, relieved of all trouble

man

his medical

is

that

on the person of the

who

thus

is

and inconvenience, while he

For

in anguish before him.

writhe

sees

example, the peasants of Perche, in France, labour under the impression that

brought

as they call

ingly, a practitioner

is

patient's

and so

fit

of vomiting

is

stomach becoming

down.

Accord-

called in to restore the

organ to

it,

falling

After hearing the symptoms he at

proper place.

its

prolonged

by the

about

unhooked,

a

once throws himself into the most horrible contortions, for the purpose of

succeeded in the

unhooking effort,

his

own

stomach.

he next hooks

it

Having

up again

in

another series of contortions and grimaces, while the

Fee

patient experiences a corresponding relief.

five

francs.'

Further, great use

made of homoeopathic and

is

in

general sympathetic magic for the sake of procuring a

The

plentiful supply of food.

resort to

object

is

it

hunter and the fisherman

for this purpose, whether their immediate

to multiply the

game and

the

fish,

the wild creatures to their destruction. also

employs

it

or to lure

The farmer

in order to cause his crops

and

fruits

to ripen.

Thus

to

begin

with

hunting

and

the

fishing,

Toradjas of Central Celebes believe that things of the 1

F. Chapiseau,

Le folk-lcre

de la Beucejt du Fcrche (Paris, igoz),

i.

172

sj.

NEGATIVE MAGIC

52

same sort

by means of

attract each other

ing spirits or vital

lect. their indwell-

Hence they hang up

ether.

the

jawbones of deer and wild pigs in their houses, in order that the

draw the

which animate these bones

spirits

living creatures of the

The

path of the hunter.^

New

same kind into the

western tribes of British

Guinea employ a charm to aid the hunter in

dugong or

spearing

haunts cocoa-nut spear-haft

A

turtle.

trees,

is

small

placed in the socket of the

which the spear- head

into

dugong or

turtle, just as

man's skin when

it

It

;

it

comprises a very

precepts, that

The

is,

positive precepts are

would seem to be only a

tion of sympathetic magic, with

and contact.

not formulated in so

prohibitions. also

its

the

doctrine of

special applica-

laws are certainly the savage, they

by him to regulate

the course of nature quite independently of

He

:

two great laws of

Though these many words by

are nevertheless implicitly believed

what to

charms

The whole

negative precepts are taboos.

similarity

the

not merely

is

you not merely what to do, but

taboo, in fact,

in

the beetle sticks fast to a

positive precepts

leave undone.

fast

is

bites him.^

number of negative

tells

This

fits.

But the system of sympathetic magic composed of

which

beetle,

supposed to make the spear -head stick

large

may

human

will.

thinks that if he acts in a certain way, certain conse-

quences will inevitably follow in virtue of one or other of ^

A. C. Kruyt,

schappertj

^

New

in Verdageii en Mededeelingen

Afdeeling Letterkunde,

iv.

Reeks,

B. A. Hely, "Notes on Totemism, Guinea^

Annual Report for 1894-95,

Hi.

etc.,

der komnk. Akademie -van

Wam-

Deel (Amsterdam, 1899), pp. 203 so. among the Western Tribes," Brhish

p. 56,

NATURE OF TABOO

II

these laws

and

;

53

the consequences of a particular act

if

appear to him likely to prove disagreeable or dangerous,

he

is

naturally careful not to act in that

from doing that which,

in order

In other words, he

not to incur those consequences. abstains

way

in accordance with his

mistaken notions of cause and efFect, he falsely believes

would

practical

Do

in short, he subjects himself to a

;

Thus taboo

taboo.

"

him

injure

magic.

this,

in

only a negative application of

is

order

that

Negative magic or taboo

and so should

so

Taboo that

is,

says,

so says,

is

sorcery,

says,

"Act."

Sorcery says,

The aim of

positive magic,

to produce a desired event

aim of negative magic, that

of taboo,

is,

is

:

the

to avoid

But both consequences, the desir-

an undesirable one. able

or

and so may happen." " Do not do this, lest

happen."

"Abstain."

of sorcery,

magic,

Positive

and the undesirable, are supposed to be brought

about by the same natural agencies, to wit, the law of similarity and the law of contact. desired

consequence

observance

is

not

really

of a magical ceremony,

And just

as the

effected

by the

the

dreaded

so

consequence does not really result from the violation

of a taboo.

If the supposed evil necessarily followed a

breach of taboo, the taboo would not be a taboo but a precept of morality or

taboo to say, " it

is

a rule of

Do

common

sense.

It is

not put your hand in the

common

sense,

fire

"

;

because the forbidden

action entails a real, not an imaginary evil.

those negative precepts which

not a

we

call

In short,

taboo are just as

vain and futile as those positive precepts which

we

call

SORCERT AND TABOO

54

The two

sorcery.

lect.

merely opposite sides

things are

mistaken

a

or poles of one great disastrous fallacy,

conception of the nature of the association of ideas.

Of

that fallacy, sorcery

negative pole.

If

we

is

the positive, and taboo the

both theoretical and

to the whole erroneous system,

may

then taboo

practical,

be defined as the negative

To

of practical magic.

side

form

name of magic

give the general

put

tabular

a

in

this

:

Magic \

(Magic

Practical

Theoretical pseudo-science)

(Magic

as a

Positive

I

pseudo-art)

Negative Magic

Magic

or

or

Sorcery

Taboo

have made these remarks on taboo and

magic

to

as a

—

a relation which has not yet, I think, been

—because

generally apprehended

some

relation

its

of

instances

fishermen, and

I

taboos

am

I

about to give

observed by hunters and

wished to show that they

fall

under

the head of Sympathetic Magic, being only particular applications of that general theory.

Among

the

Esquimaux of

forbidden to play

at cat's cradle,

because

so their fingers might in later

life

Here,

as

the

in

harpoon - line.^

perceive, ^

F. Boas,

the

taboo

"The Eskimo

is

obviously

of Baffin

Land boys

Baffin

if

i,

(1901),

they did

become entangled

you an

will

p.

readily

of

application

Land and Hudson Bay,"

American Museum of Natural Historv, xv. Part

are

l6l.

Bulletin

of

the

HOMCEOPATHIC TABOOS

II

the law of similarity which pathic magic the

string

is

the

playing

cradle, so

cat's

of homoeo-

basis

as the child's fingers are

:

in

55

entangled by

they

be

will

when he is a man and Again, among the Huzuls of the

entangled by the harpoon-line

hunts

whales.

may

Carpathian Mountains, the wife of a hunter spin while her husband

game

will

eating

is

wind

turn and

like

hunter will not be able to hit taboo

clearly derived

is

;

not

for if she does, the

the

and the

spindle,

Here

it.^

the

again

from the law of

similarity.

This Huzul superstition perhaps enables us to understand

curious

a

law of ancient

women

Pliny, which forbade as they walked, or

mentioned by

Italy

on the high-roads

to spin

even to carry their spindles openly,

because any such action was believed

walking on the high-road would pass that the twirling of the spindle

fields

would

and prevent them from growing

the

injure

Probably the notion was that the

crops.^

stalks

to

women

of corn, and

twirl the corn-

To

straight.

take another example of a taboo based on the law of similarity,

found

is

certain

that in

the form of in

trees

Borneo, when

may

the

men

crystals

East

are

in

Accordingly,

Indies.

searching

Camphor

the crevices of

for

They

should dissolve

1

R. F. Kaindl, " Zauberglaube Pliny, Nat. Hut. xxviii. 28.

3

W. H.

bei

lest

and disappear from the

think, in fact, that to

"

in

camphor, they

not wash the leaves which they use as plates,

the camphor tree.^

on homoeopathic magic.

is,

wash

their plates

den Huzulen," Ghbus, Ixxvi. (1899),

Furness, Home-life of Borneo Head-hunters (Philadelphia, 1902),

p.

p.

273.

169.

HOMCEOPATHIC TABOOS

S6

would be to wash out the camphor trees

from the

crystals

Again, the chief

which they are imbedded.

in

lect.

product of some parts of Laos, a province of Siam, lac.

This

the

young

creatures

a resinous

is

gum

of

branches

exuded by

trees,

have to be attached

to

which

by hand.

from washing themselves and especially

by removing the detach the

hair they should

All

boughs.-'

be

abstain

from

their

from the

insects

homoeopathic

called

some of the Brazilian Indians would

Further,

taboos.

may

these

who

from cleansing

parasites

other

little

All

gum

engage in the business of gathering the

their heads, lest

the

is

on

a red insect

never bring a slaughtered deer into their hut with-

out

first

they did

hamstringing

it

not hamstring

would never be Apparently animal they

able

it,

to

they thought at the

for

;

they believed that

they and their

run down that

their

if

children

enemies.^

by hamstringing the

same stroke deprived

their foes of

Once more, the Cholones, an

the use of their legs.

Indian tribe of Eastern Peru, employ poisoned arrows the

in

chase

but there are certain animals, such as

;

armadillos, certain

kinds of falcons, and a species of

vulture, which they

would on no account shoot

these

For they

weapons.

believe

at with

between the

that

poisoned arrows which they use and the supply of poison at ^

sur

le "

home

there exists a sympathetic relation of

E. Aymonier, Voyage dans

le

Laos (Paris, 1895-97), ' 3^^

Laos (Saigon, 1885), p. 110. A. Thevet, Les singularittK de

(Antwerp,

1558),

p.

93

[wrongly numbered, 936]

j

sq.

id.^

la

>

compare

id.^

Notes

France Antarcti^ue, autrement nommee Ameri^ue

Cosmographie

Uni-verselle

(Paris,

1575),

ii.

970

CONIAGIOUS TABOOS

11

such a sort that

if

57

they shot at any of these creatures

home would be spoilt, which would be a great loss to them.'' Here the exact train of thought is not clear but we may with poisoned shafts

all

the poison at

;

suppose that the animals in question are believed to possess a

power of counteracting and annulling the

of the poison, and that consequently

by

it, all

it

is

they are touched

the poison, including the store of

would be deprived of be,

if

at

it

However

virtue.

its

effect

plain that the superstition rests

home,

that

may

on the law

of contact, on the idea, namely, that things which have once been

in

contact with each other remain so

sympathetically always.

hunter wounds an

The

home

with the store of poison at in the

wound

venom, so

loses its

poison at home.

poison with which

These may be

;

hence

thetic influence exerted

distance,

is

may

in the

a distance, magic has none

A modern

is

sympaat a

of action is

at

one of

advocate of the influence

at a distance ;

the

Whatever doubts

faith in telepathy

;

culty in convincing a savage

long ago, and what

all

on each other by things

entertain as to the possibility

of mind upon mind

the poison

called contagious taboos.

of the essence of magic.

its first principles.

if

necessarily will

This belief of the Cholones Indians,

science

the

animal has once been in contact

would have no

diffi-

the savage believed in

it

more, he acted on his belief with

a logical consistency such as his civilised brother in the faith has not yet, so far as I

^ ii.

E. Poeppig, Reiss in Chile, Peru und

323.

am

aware, exhibited in his

auf dem Amawmtrome

(Leipsic, 1835-36),

SAVAGE TELEPATHY

58

For the savage

conduct.

lect.

convinced not only that

is

magical ceremonies afFect persons and things afar

but that the simplest acts of daily

may

life

sions the conduct of friends and relations

often regulated

is

rules, the neglect

would,

on

it

is

in certain

Hence on momentous

circumstances do so also.

by a more or

occa-

at a distance

code of

less elaborate

of which by the one

off,

of persons

set

supposed, entail misfortune or even death

Thus,

their distant friends.

when

for example,

a

men are out hunting or fighting, their relahome are often expected to do certain things,

party of tions at

or to abstain from doing certain others, for the sake of

ensuring the safety and success of the absent hunters or

How

warriors.

the particular acts or abstinences are

supposed to operate that they are

is

is

persons for good or

Thus Central

not always plain

really

to take a few instances.

lift

is

clear

evil.

Esquimaux

forbidden to

what

;

believed to afFect the distant

are

When some

away hunting on the

up the bedding

at

home

;

of the

ice, it is

because they

think that to do so would cause the ice to crack and drift off,

and so the men might be

The

lost.^

notion

seems to be that the lifting of the men's bedclothes

would cause the also

;

ice

on which they

lift

and a skater knows that the undulation of the

ice is

always a sign that

with

him.

winter, ^

are standing to

when

F. Boas, "

it

is

among new moon

thin and

may

the

the

appears, boys

The Eskimo

of

Baffin

Land and Hudson Bay,"

American Museum of Natural History^ xv. Part

i.

give

Esquimaux

Again,

(1901), p. 149.

in

way the

must run Bulletin

of

the

SAVAGE TELEPATHY

II

59

out of the snow-house, take a handful of snow, and

put

it

into the kettle.

believed that this helps the

It is

hunter to capture the seal and to bring

snow

the putting of

in the kettle

as a preparation for boiling

imitation of

home with

what his

will

is

it

Here

home.^

probably regarded

something

in

it

it

:

is

an

happen when the hunter comes

bag, and thus

it

helps by

means of

imitative magic to bring about that desired result.

Lastly, in the

Baram

district

of Sarawak, when the

men are away searching for camphor in the forest, the women at home dare not touch a comb for if they ;

did

so,

instead crystals,

the interstices between the fibres of the tree,

of

being

filled

would be empty, This

teeth of a comb.^

the law of similarity

;

with

the

like the spaces

in other words,

between the

application of

plainly an

is

camphor

precious

is

it

a case of

homoeopathic magic.

These examples may serve theory of telepathy, that

is,

savage

to illustrate the

the belief in a magical

sympathy which binds together friends

at a distance so

that their actions mutually affect each other for

or

ill.

And

foregoing instances have shown that

magic or sorcery,

may

falls

into

two great

it,

like

Contagious Taboo, according

as

^

F. Boas, op.

cit. p.

which

Taboo and

they are based on the

law of similarity or the law of contact.

W. H.

positive

divisions,

be called respectively Homoeopathic

^

good

in regard to negative magic or taboo the

160.

Furness, Home-life of Borneo Head-hunters,

p.

169.

LECTURE III war — Homoeopathic Magic Magical telepathy animals, inanimate and the dead — Homoeopathic omens — Examples of Contagious Magic Magic used annul —Magical contact between wounded person and the weapon —Public magicians hurt him — Magical contact of develop —Rise of monarchy the emerin

in

relation

to

things,

plants,

evil

to

a

footprints

that

into kings

essential to

gence of mankind from savagery.

In the

last lecture I

of magic, which the

Law

explained the two great principles

may be

called the

Law of Similarity and

The law of

of Contact.

similarity

is

foundation of homoeopathic or imitative magic.

law of contact

is

the

The

the foundation of contagious magic.

Both branches of magic assume the on persons and things

at a distance.

possibility

At

of acting

the end of last

lecture I illustrated this primitive belief in telepathy by the rules observed

by people

at

home while

their friends are

away hunting or searching for precious commodities, such as

camphor.

Rules of the same

sort,

based on a belief in

the sympathetic connection between persons at a distance, are observed

while the

men

home Thus among

by friends and relations

are out

on the warpath.

when a who stay

at

the Toradjas of Central Celebes,

party

hunting for heads, the villagers

at

60

is

away

home, and

TELEPATHY IN WAR

LECT.iii

6i

especially the wives of the head-hunters, have to observe

men

certain rules in order not to hinder the absent

In the

their task.

or spirit-house

who

is

first

at

place the entrance to the lobo

For the

shut.

live in that house, are

spirits

now away

watching over and guarding them

of their fathers,

with the warriors,

and

;

any one

if

entered their house in their absence, the spirits would hear the noise and return in great anger at thus being

from the campaign.

recalled

home have

Moreover, the people

to keep the house tidy

:

of the absent

men must

up

were to be away for a long time

as if they

wives and next-of-kin

at

the sleeping-mats

be hung on beams, not rolled

may

:

their

not quit the house at night

every night a light burns in the house, and a

fire

must

be kept up constantly at the foot of the house-ladder garments, turbans, and head-dresses aside, for if the

head

:

not be laid

turban or head-dress were put

ofi^

by

home, the warrior's turban might drop from

friends at his

may

:

in the battle.

hunter returns

home

When

the spirit of the head-

in his sleep (which

Is

the Toradja's

expression for a soldier's dream) he must find every-

thing there in good order and nothing that could vex

By

him.

the

observance

of

these

rules,

say the

Toradjas, the souls of the head-hunters are covered or protected.

they

may

And

in order to

make them

not soon grow weary, rice

and evening on the

floor

is

strong, that

strewed morning

of the house, probably

in

order

The women

to feed

and refresh the absent warriors.

too go

about constantly with a certain plant of which

the pods are so light and feathery that they are easily

TABOOS IN WAR

62

lect.

wafted by the wind, for that helps to

This

nimble-footed.^

make

the

men

custom, as well as the rule

last

wearing of turbans, are clearly applications of

as to the

the law of similarity.

Among

the Shans of

Burma

the wife of an absent

Every

warrior has to observe certain rules. she rests and does no work.

She

fills

an earthen goblet

with water to the brim and puts flowers into

omen of

is

it

Moreover, she may not sleep

death.

every

it

If the water sinks, or the flowers fade,

day.

day

fifth

an

in her

husband's bed during his absence, but she sweeps the

bedding clean and lays

it

out every night,^ perhaps in

order that her husband's soul

should

revisit his

may

home in a dream, poem

repose on like the

if

it

he

war-broken

soldier in Campbell's

Our

bugles sang truce, for the night-cloud

And

the sentinel stars set their

watch

had lozoer'd.

in the sky.

While marriageable boys of the Mekeo British

New

district in

Guinea are making their drums, they have

to live alone in the forest

and observe a number of rules

which are based on the law of

similarity, that

be used in the dances, and in

is,

The drums order that they may

the principle of homoeopathic magic.

on

will

give

out a resonant sonorous note, great care must be taken in their construction.

Having chosen

a suitable piece

of wood, the lad hollows out the inside by burning

with a hot coal 1

the sides are very thin.

A. C. Kruyt, " Het Koppensnellen

.beteekenis,"

iv.

Reeks,

iii.

The

skin

der Toradja's van Midden-Celebes, en zijne

Verslagen en Mededeelingen

Afdeeling Letterkunde, 2

till

it

der

konink.

Akademie van fVetenschappen,

Deel (Amsterdam, 1899), pp. 258

Indian Antiquary, xxi. (1892), p. 120.

sq.

HOMCEOPATHIC TABOOS

Ill

of an iguana

then stretched over the hollow and

is

tightened with string and glue.

work on

at

is

the drum, he

All the time the boy

may

not eat

fish

for if a

;

bone pricked him, the skin of the drum would

fish

If he ate a red banana,

burst.

would choke him, and

it

drum would consequently have

the

6:^

a dull stifled note

:

he tasted grated cocoa-nut, the white ants, like the

if

white particles of the nut, would

drum

if

:

gnaw

the

body of the

he touched water, the hot coal with which he

burns out the inside of the

drum would be

extinguished

:

he cooked his food in an ordinary round pot, he

if

himself would grow fat and round like a pot, and the

would

girls

can sink

a

jeer

him.^

at

Again, a Highland witch

by homoeopathic magic.

ship

She has

only to set a small round dish floating in a milk -pan full

of water, and then to croon her

dish upsets in the pan, the ship will sea. left

They home at

When

spell.

go down

say that once three witches

the

in the

from Harris

night, after placing the milk-pan thus

on

the floor, and strictly charging a serving-maid to let

nothing

come near

looking, a

duck waddled

in the water

of the pan.

came home and asked

The

pan.

girl

said

witches remarked,

night '

coming

if

"

T.

into the

was not

squattered

Next morning the witches anything had come near the No," whereupon one of the a heavy sea we had last

round Cabag

sq.

Head!"^

qu'ils font, ce qu'ils disent,"

29 ; A. C. Haddoti, Head-hunters, G. Campbell, TVttchcrafi and Hecmd Sight p.

land {G^isgovi, 1902), pp. 21

girl

room and

"What

Father Guis, " Les Canaquea, ce

XXX. (1898), 2

But while the

it.

p. in

If a Misshm

wolf

Catholiques,

257. the Highlands and Islands of Scot-

HOMCEOPATHIC MAGIC

64

lect.

know a very drop it. They let

has carried off a sheep, the Esthonians

way

simple

they happen

anything

fall

a cap

as

and

let

him

making

of

On

go.^

it

the

have at

to

or a glove, or they

up

lift

of homoeopathic

principle

magic, that clearly compels

hand, such

a heavy stone

the wolf to let

go the

sheep.

In the

magic

when

a

I

mentioned that homoeopathic

make plants grow and bear Thus among the Huzuls of the Carpathians, woman is planting cabbages, she winds many

is

fruit.

last lecture

often employed to

cloths about her head, in order that the heads of the

cabbages Prussia,

may

also be thick.^

when

carries an axe

may

hew

to

the Kurs of East

fields

and chops the earth with

the corn-stalks

needed

Among

farmer sows his

a

in

order that

be so sturdy that an axe will be

them

down.^

farmers have done digging their spades up into the

it,

in spring, he

air,

When fields,

Macedonian

they throw their

and catching them again, exclaim,

May the crop grow as high as And as plants may be helped, so "

the spade has gone

!

"

*

may be hindered The eminent and marred by homoeopathic magic. novelist, Mr. Thomas Hardy, was once informed that the reason why certain trees in front of his house, near they

Dorchester, did not thrive, was that he looked at them before breakfast ^

p.

Mr. Hardy

Boecler-Kreutzwald, Der Ehsten aberglaubische Gebrauche, Weisen und Gewohn-

heiten^ p.

^

on an empty stomach.

122.

R. F. Kaindl,

" ZaubergUube

bei

den

Huzulen,"

Globus,

Ixxvi.

276. ^ F. *

Tetzner,

''

Die Kuren in Ost-preusaen," Globus, Ixxv. (1899), Folk-lore (Cambridge, 1903), p. 122.

G. F. Abbott, Macedonian

p.

148.

(1899),

MAGIC OF PLANTS

Ill

told

me

You

this himself.^

6$

will easily perceive that the

effect

of an empty stomach, conveyed through the eye-

sight,

must

necessarily be prejudicial to trees

ing them, so

to say, of sap

by empty-

Thus

and nutriment.

stated the principle seems almost a truism.

In these examples people are supposed to influence plants

good or

for

evil

by means of homoeopathic

But on the same principle plants can recipro-

magic.

In magic, as

cally influence people.

and

action

reaction

are

equal

Cherokee Indians are adepts

Thus

sort.

I

believe in physics,

and

The

opposite.

botany of this

in practical

the wiry roots of the catgut plant or devil's

shoestring (Tephrosid) are so tough that they can almost

Hence Cherokee

stop a ploughshare in the furrow.

women wash to

make

their heads with a decoction

the hair strong, and Cherokee ball-players wash

themselves with to help

are

of the roots

them

it

to

Again,

toughen their muscles.

to spring quickly to their feet

when they

thrown to the ground, these Indian ball-players

bathe their limbs with a decoction of the small rush

{yuncus tenuis), because, so they say, that plant always recovers

its

erect position,

To

been trampled down. the Cherokees beat

no matter how often

improve a

up burs

potion

is

threefold. is

The

and there

is

The

voice of the

memory

virtue of the

Long Man or

heard in the roar of the cataract

stream seizes and holds whatever

is

cast

Compare

:

the

upon its surface

nothing that sticks like a bur. 1

has

which has been

in water

fetched from a roaring waterfall.

river-god

child's

it

Folk-lore, viii. (1897), p. 11.

Hence

;

it

MAGIC OF PLANTS

66

lect.

seems clear that with the potion the child

drink in

will

the lessons taught by the voice of the waters, will seize

upon them

and

like the stream,

will stick fast to

them

like a bur.^

The Sundanese of certain kinds of wood

the Indian Archipelago regard as unsuitable for use in house-

building, especially such trees as have thorns

who

on them.

They think that the life made of such timber would be thorny and of people

If a house

trouble.

were

lived in a house

had

built of trees that

of

full

fallen

or lost their leaves through age, the inmates would die

soon

were

if it

;

built of

had been burnt down, in the

new

went forth

would be sure

fire

Before

dwelling.^

to war, the

wood taken from the

a house that

to break out

Cherokee braves

medicine-man used to give each

of them a small charmed root which made him absolutely invulnerable.

On

the eve of battle the warrior

bathed in a running stream, chewed a portion of the root and spat the juice on his body in order that the

might

bullets

water. really

slide

from

drops of

his skin like the

Some of you may perhaps doubt whether this made the men bullet-proof. There is a barren and

paralysing spirit of scepticism abroad at the present day

which

is

most deplorable.

However,

particular

charm was proved

for three

hundred Cherokees served

in the

the efficacy of this

American in the

Civil

War

army of

the

' Mooney, " Myths of the Cherokee," ISIimteenti Arniual Report of the Bureau J. of American Ethnology (Washington, 1900), Pt. i. pp. 425 sq. ; compare ;*/., '' Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees,'' Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology

(Washington, 1891), p. 329. ^ Habbema, " Bijgeloof J.

in de Praenger-Regentschappen,"

Taal- hand' en Volkenkunde van Nedei-landsch

Indi'e\

li,

(1900),

p.

Bijdragen

113.

tot

de

MAGIC OF THE DEAD

in

67

South, and they were never, or hardly ever,

wounded

in action.^

Homoeopathic magic often works by means of the dead

;

for just as the dead can neither see nor hear nor

speak, so deaf,

and

you can render people temporarily

dumb by means

thing else that Burglars in

is

infected with the contagion of death.

and

ages

all

blind,

of dead men's bones or any-

in

many

patrons of this species of magic.

lands have

been

In ancient Greece

the housebreaker thought he could silence the fiercest '

watch-dog by means of pyre.^

To

a

brand plucked from a funeral

throw the inmates of a house into deep

slumber, the Peruvian Indian scatters the dust of dead

men's bones.^

The

Indians of Mexico employed for

this purpose the left forearm of a

With

the bone had to be stolen.

woman

dead

this

;

they beat on the

ground before they entered the house which they tended to rob

;

that

made

power of speech and motion

the

inmates

similar properties

lose

to

inall

they were as dead, hear-

;

ing and seeing everything, but powerless to

Europe

but

stir.*

were ascribed to the

In

Hand

of Glory, which was the dried and pickled hand of a

man who had been fat

of a malefactor

hanged.

who had

was lighted and placed ^

J.

^

Hand

made of

the

on the gallows

of Glory as in a

Mooney, "Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees," Seventh Annual Report of the p.

389.

P. J. de Arriaga, Extirfacion de la Idolatria del Piru (Lima, 1621), p. 22. da choses de la Noumlle Espagne (Paris, 1880),

B. de Sahagun, Histoire Ginirale

blc. iv. ch.

51

also died

in the

Bureau of Ethnology (Washington, 1891), ^ Aelian, Nat. Amm. i. 38. "

If a candle

31, pp.

274

s(j. ;

sj. {yeroffentlichungen aui

E. Seler, Altmexikanische Studien,

dem ioniglichem Museum fiir

ii.

(Berlin, 1899), pp.

FiStkerkunde, vi.).

MAGIC OF THE DEAD

68 candlestick,

it

rendered motionless

was presented

it

than

if

hand

is

all

its

they could not

;

they were dead.^ itself the

persons to

all

stir

lect.

whom more

a finger any

Sometimes the dead man's

bunch of candles,

candle, or rather

withered fingers being set on

fire

but should

;

one member of the household be awake, one finger ot the

hand

will not kindle.^

When

a Blackfoot Indian

went out eagle-hunting, he used to take

a skull with

him, because he believed that the skull would

him

invisible like the

dead man to

whom

it

make

had be-

Thus the eagles would not be able to see and attack him.^ The Tarahumares of Mexico are great runners, and parties of them engage in races with each other. They believe that the bones of the dead induce longed.

fatigue will

;

hence before a race the friends of one side

bury dead men's bones in the track, hoping that

the runners of the other side will pass over so be weakened.

own men buried.* The

Naturally they warn their

to shun the spot where the bones are

Belep tribe of

them and

New

Caledonia think they can disable

an enemy from flight by means of the leg-bone of a

dead

They

foe.

then smash

it

ancestors.

It is

the living ^

J. ^

W.

stick certain plants into the bone,

between stones before the skulls of

and

their

easy to see that this breaks the leg of

enemy and

him from running away.*

so hinders

Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, iii. 278 sq. (Bohn's edition). Henderson, Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England, pp. 239 sgq.

W.

Wolf, NiederlUndische Sagen

(Leipsic, 1843), pp.

*

G. B. Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge

Tales, p.

^

C. Lumholtz, Unknown Mexico,

i.

^

Father Lambert, in Missions Catholiques,

superstitions des

j

J.

Moeurs

et

363-365.

238.

284.

xi. (1879), Neo-CaUdoniens (Noumea, 1900), pp. 30 sq.

p.

43

;

id.,

MAGIC OF ANIMALS

Ill

Again,

many

69

animals are conceived to possess pro-

which might be useful to man, and accordingly

perties

them

the savage seeks to transfer

to himself

Thus when

of homoeopathic magic.

by means

a Galla of East

Africa sees a tortoise, he will take off his sandals and step on

it,

makes the

believing that this

Land think

of his feet

The Esquimaux of

hard like the shell of the animal.^ Baffin

soles

that if part of the intestines of a fox

placed under the feet of a baby boy, he will become

is

and

active

The flesh

skilful in

walking over thin

ice, like

a fox.^

ancient Greeks were of opinion that to eat the

of the wakeful nightingale would prevent a

from sleeping

man

that to smear the eyes of a blear-sighted

;

person with the gall of an eagle would give him the eagle's vision

and that a raven's eggs would restore

;

the blackness of the raven to silvery hair.

person

who

adopted

this last

mode of

Only, the

concealing the

ravages of time had to be most careful to keep his

mouth

full

of

oil

all

the time he applied the raven's

eggs to his venerable locks, else his teeth hair

would be dyed raven

as well as his

and no amount of

black,

scrubbing and scouring would avail to whiten them again.^

The

hair-restorer was

powerful, and in applying

you bargained

shade too

you might get more than

Ph. Paulitschke, Ethmgrafhie Nordost-AJriias F. Boas,

a

Indians of Mexico admire the beautiful

Galla und Somil (Berlin, 1896), "^

fact

for.

The Huichol ^

it

in

"The Eskimo

p.

:

die geistige

Cultur der Danakil,

27.

of Baffin

Land and Hudson Bay,"

American Museum of Natural History, xv. Pt. ' Aelian, Nat. Anim. i. 42, 43, and 48.

i.

(1901),

p.

160.

Bulletin

of

the

MAGIC OF ANIMALS

70

Hence when

markings on the backs of serpents.

woman

Huichol

is

about to

woman

while the

web

its

back

;

same hand over her forehead and

then she eyes, that

be able to work as beautiful patterns in the

may

she

in a cleft

it

strokes the reptile with one

hand down the whole length of passes the

a

weave or embroider, her

husband catches a large serpent and holds stick,

lect.

as the

Among

markings on the serpent's back.^

the Tarahumares of

Mexico men who run

races

tie

deer-hoofs to their backs in the belief that this will

make them

swift -footed

ball-players rub

make themselves and they

as slippery

the

Cherokee

deer.^

and hard to hold

as eels

;

also apply land-tortoises to their legs in the

hope of making them these animals.

They

bones.

as thick

But they

lest the brittleness

own

like

their bodies with eel-skins in order to

and strong

as the legs of

are careful not to eat frogs,

of the frog's bones should infect will not

their

wear the feathers of the bald-

headed buzzard for fear of themselves becoming bald, nor turkey feathers,

lest

they should suffer from a goitrous

growth on the throat throat of a turkey.'

grey squirrel

is

like

the red appendage

Again, the

flesh

forbidden to Cherokees

of the

who

on

the

common

suffer

from

rheumatism, because the squirrel eats in a cramped

which would

position,

clearly aggravate

the pangs of

the rheumatic patient.^

^

C. Lumholtz, UnJtnown Mexico,

'

/f/,,

^

J.

290. Mooney, " ii>,

ii.

234..

i.

Myths of the Cherokee,"

Nineteenth

of American Ethnology (Washington, 1900), Part *

Id., ib. p.

262.

i.

Annual Report of

the

Bureau

pp. 262, 284, 285, 306, 308.

MAGIC OF ANIMALS

Ill

When

a Cherokee

is

starting

71

on a journey on

a cold

winter morning, he rubs his feet in the ashes of the

and sings four

by means of which he can

verses,

fire

set the

cold at defiance, like the wolf, the deer, the fox, and the

opossum, whose

so the

never frost-bitten.

feet,

Indians think, are

After each verse he imitates the

cry and action of the animal, thus identifying himself

with

it

by means of homoeopathic magic.

he sings real

be rendered, "

may

deer,

a

real

fox,

The

burrows, and

real wolf, a

opossum."

a real

After

a real wolf, the songster

And

feet.

other animals.^ it

become a

howl and paws the ground

utters a prolonged

wolf with his

and

become

stating that he has

I

The song

similarly

like a

mimics the

he

mole-cricket has claws with which

among

be an excellent singer.

the Cherokees

Hence when

it

is

reputed to

children are long

of learning to speak, their tongues are scratched with the claw of a live mole-cricket in order that they

soon talk as distinctly as the also

who

scratched on cricket.^

may

are slow of speech

of eloquence,

if

only

the

inside

four successive

The negroes of

insect.

Grown

acquire a ready flow

of their throat be

mornings with a mole-

the Maroni river in Guiana

Day

have a somewhat similar cure for stammering.

and

night the shrieks of a certain species of ape re-

sound through the kill

may

persons

one of these

make

forest.

pests,

a cup out of

it.

Hence, when the negroes

they remove

its

larynx and

If a stammering child drinks

Mooney, " Myths of the Cherokee," Nineteenth Annual Report of J. of American Ethnology (Washington, 1900), Part i. p. 266. ^

^ Id., ib. p. 309.

the

Bureau

MAGIC OF THINGS

72 of such

out

lect.

cup for a few months,

a

it

ceases

to

stammer.^

Cherokee parents scratch the hands of with the pincers of

a live

their children

red crawfish, resembling a

lobster, in order to give the infants a strong grip, like

This

that of the crawfish.^

why on

may

help us to understand

Greek

the fifth day after birth a

child used to

from

receive presents of octopuses and cuttle-fish friends

and

and

For the numerous arms,

relations.^

its

legs,

seem well calculated

tentacles of these creatures

to strengthen the grip of a baby's hands and to impart

the power of toddling to

On

its little feet.

the principle of homoeopathic magic inanimate

may

things as well as plants and animals

with blessing or bane for mankind will extract the

examples.

of cases

infinity

child are set

little

very few

feet of the

iron, in order to strengthen

feeble soul with the strong soul of the Iron.*

larly at initiation a his right foot

" Tread on

on a

Brahman boy

;

made

is

stone, while the

this stone

may

after a birth the

which the

feast, at

on a piece of

as the case

I will cite a

Thus, on the seventh day

Toradjas hold a

its

;

one or avoid the other

Out of an

be.

be fraught

and the wise man

Simi-

to tread with

words are repeated,

like a stone be firm."

^

A

Malagese mode of counteracting the levity of fortune to bury a stone at the foot of the heavy house-

is ^

^

Voyages J. Crevaux,

dam PAmerique du Sud

(Paris, 1883), pp.

Mooney, op. cit, p. 308. Scholiast on Plato, Theaetetus, p. 160 a. A. C. Kruijt, " Het ijzer in Midden-Celebes," Bijdragen

159

sq,

J. ^ *

Volkenkunde -van Ncdirlandsch ^

Itidi^, liii.

Griiya-Sitras, translated by

(1901), p. 159.

H. Oldenberg, Part

ii,

p.

146,

tot

de Taal- Land- en

MAGIC OF STONES

Ill

The common custom of

post.^

may

swearing upon a stone

be based partly on a belief that the strength and

of the stone lend confirmation to the oath.

stability

Thus

there was a stone at Athens on which the nine

archons

when they swore

stood

rule

to

unwrought

shown which, according to

was

relieved the matricide Orestes of his

down on

he had sat

it

;

legend,

the

madness

and Zeus

'

is

as soon

certain rock in the island of Leucadia.*

cases

it

may have

and madness were counteracted

by the steadying influence of a heavy

But magical virtue

the

for

stone.

by reason of

resides in stones

and colour

The

solidity.

down

In these

been thought that the wayward and

flighty impulses of love

their shape

have

said to

cured himself of his love for Hera by sitting

on a

and

justly

In Laconia an

according to the laws.^ stone

as

73

as well as

of their weight and

Indians of Peru employed certain stones

increase of maize, others for the increase of

potatoes,

for the increase of cattle.

and others again

The stones intended

to

make maize grow were

fashioned

in the likeness of cobs of maize, and the stones destined

to multiply cattle

had the shape of

This mode of agriculture the natives of 1

New

sheep.*

extensively practised by

is

Thus

Caledonia.

Father Abinale, "Astrologie Malgache," Missions

in

order to

Catholiques,

xi.

make

(1879),

p.

482. ^ Aristotle, viii.

3 Pausanias, ^

Cmstitutim of Athens, 7 and

;

Plutarch,

Solon,

Ptolemaeus,

22.

Nova ed.

i

;

compare

Histaria, in

id.

ii.

;

Pollux,

31. 4.

Photius, Bihliatheca, p. 153, ed.

Westermann,

p.

Bekker

;

id.

in

198.

P. J. de Arriaga, Extirfacion de la Idolatria del Piru (Lima,

16, 25.

25

^ iii.

Mfthograpki Graeci, 5

55

86.

162 1), pp. 15,

MAGIC OF STONES

74

of taro thrive, they bury in the

plantation

a

resembling

stones

certain

ancestors at

lect.

A

same time.

the

praying

taros,

stone

to

palm helps

To make

produce a good crop of cocoa-nuts.

two

bread-fruit grow, they use

one

big,

As soon

bury the small stone on,

when

as the fruit begins to

of the tree

at the foot

fruit

form, they ;

and

later

the fruit approaches maturity, they replace

the small stone by the large one.

of the

one small and

stones,

the unripe and the ripe

representing

respectively.

their

marked with

black lines like the leaves of a cocoa-nut to

field

New

Caledonians

is

the

But the

yam

;

staple food

hence the number

of stones used to foster the growth of yams spondingly

Different

great.

is

corre-

have different

families

kinds of stones which, according to their diverse shapes

and colours, are supposed to promote the cultivation of the various species of yams.

buried

the

in

ancestral

they

field

skulls,

are

trees.

your offerings, ^

deposited

in

Sacrifices,

the

beside

wiped with

too,

of yams

the dead, with the words, "

Here

order that the crop of yams

may

fish are offered to

be good."

are

wetted with water, and

the leaves of certain

and

Before the stones are

In these practices of the

New

Caledonians

the magical efficacy of the stones appears to be deemed insufficient

of

itself to

accomplish the end in view

;

it

has to be reinforced by the spirits of the dead, whose

help

is

sought by prayer and

Caledonia sorcery ^

is

Father Lambert, Mcsurs

pp. 217, 294, 300-302.

et

sacrifice.

blent with supersliiions des

the

Thus

in

New

worship of the

N^o-Caledortiens

(Noumea, 1900),

THE MAGIC STAR

Ill

dead

in other words,

;

magic

combined with

is

remained, the transition

sacrifices to the ancestors

from magic

The

to religion

example

last

of things

would be complete.

I shall cite

of the magical influence

drawn from the ancient

is

ritual

Hindoos, which lay down a rule that

man

marriage night a

should

he

appears,

addressing the

star, say,

sit silent

one

!

me

point

"Firm

Then, turning to

Brihaspati

autumns."

his

with his wife

till

When

has

given

thee

art

The

live

;

the pole-

out to her, and,

it

his wife,

through me, thy husband, '^

on

thou

;

Firm be thou with me,

the firm one.

"

should

books of the

after sunset

the stars begin to twinkle in the sky. star

religion.

and the prayers

If the stones ceased to be employed,

and

75

see thee,

I

O

thriving

he should say, " obtaining

me

with

hundred

a

intention of the ceremony

plainly

is

guard against the fickleness of fortune and the

to

instability

of earthly

the constant star.

sonnet

last

by the steadfast influence of

bliss It is

the wish expressed in Keats's

:

Bright star

Not

—

would I were steadfast as thou art hung aloft the night.

!

in lone splendour

Sometimes homoeopathic or imitative magic in to annul

an

evil

omen by accomplishing

The mock calamity for mode of cheating effect

1

pp.

To

offspring

is

to circumvent destiny

a real

one.

the fates

is

1^.,

193

sqq.

is

called

in mimicry.

by substituting a

In Madagascar this

reduced to a system.

The Grihya-Stitras, translated by H. Oldenberg, Part

47

it

i.

pp. +3,

285

iq..

Part

ii.

FORTUNE OUTWITTED

76

is

determined by the day or

if that

happens to be an unlucky

Here every man's fortune hour of one

and

his birth,

his fate

lect.

sealed, unless the mischief can be ex-

is

tracted, as the phrase goes,

by means of

a substitute.

The ways of

extracting the mischief are various.

example,

man

if a

born on the

is

house will be burnt

For

of February, his

first

down when he comes of

To

age.

take time by the forelock and prevent this catastrophe, the friends of the infant will set

and burn

To make

it.

up

a shed in a field

the ceremony really effective,

the child and his mother should be placed in the shed,

and only plucked, before

it

too

is

month of

from the burning hut

Again, dripping November

late.

tears,

But

sorrow.

like brands,

and he who

is

born in

it

is

the

born to

is

in order to disperse the clouds that thus

gather over his future, he has nothing to do but to take the lid off a boiling pot and wave

drops that

fall

from the

and so prevent the Again,

if

hereafter

fate

lid will

tears

it

The

about.

accomplish his destiny

from trickling from

has decreed that a

young

his eyes.

girl should

become a wife and mother, and should

see her

children descend before her with sorrow to the grave,

she can

avert the

calamity as follows.

grasshopper, wraps

it

and mourns over

it

children

She

kills

in a rag to represent a shroud, like

Rachel weeping

and refusing to be comforted.

for

fully

grief.

air

of a

Thenceforth she looks cheer-

forward to seeing her children survive her

cannot be that she should

her

After burying

the insect, she retires from the grave with the

person plunged in

a

;

mourn and bury them

for

it

twice

CONTAGIOUS MAGIC

Ill

Once more,

over.

fortune has frowned on a

and penury has marked him

his birth,

can easily erase the

couple

if

of cheap

mark

pearls,

half- pence, and

homoeopathic or imitative as

rests,

for her own, he

by purchasing

three

rich of this

a

world can

^ .?

we have been concerned

far

at

in question

thus afford to fling pearls away

Thus

man

price

For who but the

burying them.

77

chiefly with the

branch of

magic,

which

have repeatedly observed, on the law of

I

similarity.

It is

time to look for a few minutes at the

other branch of the art

— namely. Contagious Magic.

The

should rather say the

logical, or

perhaps

basis of contagious

I

magic

illogical,

the law of contact

is

;

that

the notion that things which have once been con-

is,

joined and are afterwards separated remain nevertheless,

however great the distance between them, so united by a

bond of sympathy

that whatever

affects the other in like

A

curious

belief that

which

is

wound

contagious

magic

the

is

there exists so close a relation

done to the weapon

wounded person

one of the thought that flint

of

between a wounded person and the weapon

that whatever

the

done to the one

manner.

instance

inflicted the

affect the

is

tribes if

will correspondingly

good or

for

evil.

Thus

of South -Eastern Australia

it

in is

any one but the medicine-man touches

knife with which a certain surgical operation

has been performed on a lad, the lad will thereby be '

W.

Ellis, History

Malgache," Missions

of Madagascar,

i.

454.

Catholiques, xi. (1879), pp.

sjq.

;

Father Abinal, "Astrologie

432-434, 481-483.

CONTAGIOUS MAGIC

78

made very

So seriously

ill.

the

die,

own

our

at

door,

counties of England, where people

they can

which

heal

inflicted

superstition, at

sick

of precisely the same sort are held to

day almost

this

fall

the knife would be

man who touched

Beliefs

killed.-^

this belief held, that if

is

should chance to

after the operation the lad

and

lect.

a it.

wound by

To

Norwich

in

still

the

eastern

imagine that

greasing the instrument

take a recent example of this in

June 1902 a

woman named

Matilda Henry accidentally ran a nail into her foot.

When

the nail was extracted, she did not examine the

wound nor even

take off her stocking, but told her

daughter to grease the done, no

nail,

saying that if that were

harm would come of

the hurt.

treatment the nail recovered, but the

lockjaw a few days afterwards.^

you

Under

woman

this

died of

Similarly in Bavaria

are directed to anoint a linen rag with grease and

tie it

on the edge of the axe that cut you, taking care

As

to keep the sharp edge upwards.

axe dries, your

wound

the grease on the

heals.^

The sympathetic connexion supposed to exist between man and the weapon which has wounded him is proba ably founded

on the notion that the blood on

weapon continues to

feel

with the blood in his body.

For that reason the Papuans of Tumleo, an

German New Guinea,

2

which

their

wounds have

W. Howitt, Native Tribes of South- East Australia (London, 1904), p. 667. " Death from Lockjaw at Norwich," Tie People's fVeekly Journal fir Norfolk,

A.

July 19, 1902, '

island off

are careful to throw into the sea

the bloody bandages with ^

the

p. 8.

F. Panzer, Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie,

ii.

305, compare 277.

CONTAGIOUS MAGIC

Ill

been dressed, for fear that

if these

79

rags

into the

fell

hands of an enemy he might bewitch them thereby.

Once when

a

man

wound

with a

in his

mouth, which

bled constantly, came to the missionaries to be treated, his faithful wife

and

cast

it

contagion

took great pains to

into the is

But the doctrine of magical

sea.''

stretched

still

done to the clothes

is

man himself, and he

On

not be wearing the clothes

scanty garments,^

may have

lost

of

and why other Papuans,

in

and care-

travelling through the thick forest, will stop

scrape from a

fully

is

may why

search most anxiously

for the smallest scrap which they their

That

at the time.

Tumleo

this

done to the

is

even though he

feels the effect

these same Papuans of

man's

further, so to include a

clothes as well as the severed parts of himself.

doctrine, whatever

blood

collect all the

bough any

which may have adhered

to

of red pomade

clot

from

it

their

greasy

heads, lest a sorcerer should get possession of the rag

or of the pomade and do them a mischief by means

of

it.8

The

last

example of Contagious Magic which

shall notice is the relation

supposed to

man

left

and the impressions

by

earth which bears the imprint of your body to remain for M.

in

sand or

In virtue of the law of contact the sand or

earth.

1

between a

exist

body

his

I

J.

all

supposed

Erdweg, " Die Bewohner der Insel Tumleo, Berlinhafen, Deutsch-Neu-

Guinea," Mittieilungen

dir anthrofologUchm

Geselhchafi

in

p. 287. 2

M.

'

B. Hagen, XJnter den Papua's (Wiesbaden, 1899),

J.

is

practical purposes an integral part of

Erdweg, he,

cit,

p.

269.

Wim,

xxxii.

(igoz),

MAGIC OF FOOTPRINTS

8o

yourself even

when you

are far away, so that

any injury done to the imprint as

feel

In particular,

your person.

it

if it

you

will

were done to

a world-wide super-

is

by injuring footprints you injure the

stition that

f&et

Thus, the inhabitants of Galela,

made them.

that

lect.

the East Indies, think that

if

anybody

sticks

in

something

sharp into your footprints while you are walking, you

wounded

will be

your

in

In Japan, if a house

feet.-'

has been robbed by night and the burglar's footprints are visible in the morning, the injured householder will

burn mugwort on them, hoping thereby to hurt the robber's feet so that he cannot run far and the police

may

have a magical instrument which they

tribe in Australia

a sun, because

call

By

heat.

Wyingurri

Similarly, the

easily overtake him.^

placing

supposed to contain the

is

it

on

it

solar

man's tracks they think they

a

can throw him into a violent fever, which will soon

burn him up.^

some earth

parts

from

a footprint

the chimney

away or

smoke

is

pot along with ^

M.

J.

p.

;

is

as

tied it

up

sort prevail in

in a cloth

A

needles,

Germany,

in

dries up, so the

to boil the earth nails,

same

For example,

his foot shrivels up.*

of the charm

Bijdragen

Practices of the

of Europe.

and hung

man

Bohemian

withers

variation

from the footprint

and broken

in

glass

:

in a

the

van Baarda, " Fabelen, Verhalen en Overleverlngen der Galelareezen,"

tot

de

Taal' Land- en Volkenkunde

njati

Nederlandsch IndiF, xlv. (1895),

512. 2

L. Hearn, Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan (London, 1894),

ii,

604.

3

Spencer and GlUen, Native Tribes of Central -Australia, p. 541. ^ Hahn, In Zeitschrift der Gesellschafi fUr Erdkimde zu Berlin, J.

503; K. Bartsch, Sagen, M'drchen and 1599, i6ii='*iO; compare p. 332, § 1607 Vergleiche, Neue Folge, pp. 8, 11.

Gebr'duche aus Meklenburg, ;

ii.

iv.

(1869),

p.

330, 334, §§

R. Andree, Ethnographische Farallelen und

MAGIC OF FOOTPRINTS

Ill

man whose

footprint has thus been boiled will have a

lame leg for the

The same

rest

of his

life.^

superstition

turned

is

hunters for the purpose of running

Thus

the

Thompson

to lay charms that they

account by

to

down

the game.

Indians of British Columbia used

on the tracks of wounded deer

deemed

it

any farther that day, its

8i

;

after

superfluous to pursue the animal for,

being thus charmed through

could not travel far and would soon " Similarly, Ojebway Indians placed " medicine

footprints,

die.^

it

on the track of the

first

deer or bear they met with,

supposing that this would soon bring the animal into sight,

even

if it

were two or three days' journey off;

for this charm had power to compress a journey of several days into a few hours.^

These examples may

suffice to illustrate the principles

of Contagious Magic.

We

have now concluded our examination of the

general theory of magic, but I wish for a short time to direct your attention to certain special applications

of the

art.

The examples of

magical

rites

which

I

have put

before you have been drawn almost wholly from what may be called private magic, that is, from magical rites

^

J.

and incantations practised for the benefit or the v. Grohmann, Aberglauben und GebrSuche aus Bshmcn und Mahren,

p.

Teit, The Thompson Indians of British Columbia, p. 371 [Memoirs

Ameri-

200,

§ 1402. 2

J.

can Museum of Natural History, vol. 3

ii.

Part

iv.

of

the

April 1900).

Peter Jones, History of the Ojebway Indians,

p.

371.

G

PUBLIC MAGICIANS

82

in savage society there is

But

injury of individuals.

lect.

we may caU

to be found in addition what

commonly

public magic, that

is,

sorcery practised for the benefit of

Wherever ceremonies of

the whole community.

common

sort are observed for the

good,

obvious

is

it

this

that the magician ceases to be merely a private prac-

and becomes to some extent

titioner

The development of such

ary. is

of great importance

the

of the tribe

welfare

performance

becomes

a

of

evolution

religious

of

a class of functionaries

the

for

a public function-

well

as

political

For when

society.

as

the

supposed to depend on the

is

magical

these

personage of

much

magician

the

rites,

and repute,

influence

and may readily acquire the rank and authority of a

The

chief or king. its

profession accordingly draws into

men

ranks some of the ablest and most ambitious

the tribe, because

it

of

holds out to them a prospect of

honour, wealth, and power such as hardly any other

The

career could offer.

easy

it

to

is

dupe

their

his superstition for their

sorcerer

is

own

Not

advantage.

always a knave and impostor

convinced

sincerely

how

acuter minds perceive

weaker brother and to play on

that

he

;

that the

he

often

is

possesses

really

those

wonderful powers which the credulity of his fellows

But the more sagacious he

ascribes to him.

more

likely

he

is

impose on duller

Thus

must tend

deceivers

and

;

it

the

to see through the fallacies which

wits.

profession

their

is,

is

to

be

the ablest

more or

just these

members of the less

men who

superior ability will generally

come

conscious

in virtue

of

to the top

THEIR RISE TO

Ill

POWER

83

and win for themselves positions of the highest dignity

The

and the most commanding authority.

pitfalls

which beset the path of the professional sorcerer are

many, and

as a rule only the

man of

coolest head

and

way through them must always be remembered that every

sharpest wit will be able to steer his

For

safely.

it

and claim put forward by the magician

single profession as such is false

;

not one of them can be maintained

without deception, conscious or unconscious. ingly the sorcerer

who

extravagant pretensions

much

Accord-

sincerely believes in his is

own

and

in far greater peril

is

more likely to be cut short in his career than the

The

deliberate impostor.

honest wizard always expects

that his charms

and incantations

supposed

and when they

effect

;

produce their

will

fail,

not only really, as

they always do, but conspicuously and disastrously, as they often do, he

is

taken aback

knavish colleague, ready with

a

:

he

not, like his

is

plausible

excuse

to

account for the failure, and before he can find one he

may

be knocked on the head by his disappointed and

angry employers.

The

general result

is

that at this stage

evolution the supreme power tends to

hands of

men

of

social

into the

of the keenest intelligence and the most

unscrupulous character.

If

we could

balance the

they do by their knavery against the confer by their superior sagacity, that the

fall

good

it

benefits

harm they

might well be found

greatly outweighed the evil.

For more

mischief has probably been wrought in the world by

honest fools in high places than by intelligent

rascals.

THE RISE OF MONARCHY

84

lect.

attained the height of his

Once your shrewd rogue has

ambition, and has no longer any selfish end to further,

he may, and often does, turn his talents, his experience, his resources, to the service

who have been

least

Many men

of the public.

scrupulous in the acquisition of

power have been most beneficent

in

the use of

it,

whether the power they aimed at and won was that of

what

wealth, political authority, or politics the

and magnanimous

a wise

lifetime,

lamented

at his death,

spicuous instances,

of

may end

ruler, blessed in his

admired and applauded

were Julius Caesar and Augustus.

But once a fool always a in his

the use he

field

Such men, to take two of the most con-

posterity.

power

In the

wily intriguer, the ruthless victor,

by being by

not.

and the greater

fool,

hands the more disastrous

makes of

it.

The

is

heaviest

the

likely to be

calamity in

English history, the breach with America, might never

have occurred

if

George the Third had not been an

honest dullard.

Thus, so

as

far

the

public

profession

affected the constitution of savage society,

it

of magic

tended to

place the control of affairs in the hands of the ablest

man

:

shifted the balance of

it

the one

:

it

substituted a

monarchy

rather for an oligarchy of old

savage community

is

power from the many

men

ruled, not

;

to

for a democracy, or for in general the

by the whole body of

adult males, but by a council of elders.

The

change,

by whatever causes produced, and whatever the character of the early rulers, ficial.

For the

rise

was on the whole very bene-

of monarchy appears to be an

ESSENTIAL TO CIVILISATION

Ill

essential condition

savagery.

and

of the emergence of mankind from

No human being

of society consequently

The is

so hidebound by custom

is

your democratic savage

tradition as

85

is

no

in

;

state

progress so slow and

difficult.

the freest of

mankind

old notion that the savage

is

He

the reverse of the truth.

is

a slave, not indeed

to a visible master, but to the past, to the spirits of his

dead forefathers, who haunt his steps from birth to

What

death,

and rule him with a rod of

did

the pattern of right, the unwritten law to which

is

iron.

The

he yields a blind unquestioning obedience. possible scope

is

sarily sets the standard, since

The

The

better.

dragged down by the weakest and

fall.

least

thus afforded to superior talent to

change old customs for the

other can

they

ablest

dullest,

he cannot

who

rise,

man

is

neces-

while the

surface of such a society presents

a uniform dead level, so far as

it is

humanly

possible to

reduce the natural inequalities, the immeasurable real differences of inborn capacity superficial

and temper, to a

appearance of equality.

stagnant condition of

affairs,

From

this

false

low and

which demagogues and

dreamers in later times have lauded as the ideal

state,

the Golden Age, of humanity, everything that helps to raise society

by opening

a career to talent

and pro-

portioning the degrees of authority to men's natural abilities,

real

deserves to be

good of their fellows

influences have

welcomed by at heart.

begun to operate

for ever suppressed

—

comparatively rapid.

all

Once

who have

the

these elevating

—and they cannot be

the progress of civilisation becomes

The

rise

of one

man

to supreme

INFLUENCE OF CONQUEST

86

lect.

power enables him to carry through changes in a single lifetime which previously many generations might not have is

a

sufficed to effect

man of

intellect

and

;

as will often happen, he

and energy above the common, he

caprices of a tyrant

may be

breaking the chain of custom which

And

savage.

as

soon

Even

of the opportunity.

will readily avail himself

whims and

if,

of service in

as the tribe ceases to

by the timid and divided counsels of the yields to the direction of a single strong

becomes formidable to

mind,

it

enters

on

early

stage

to

a career

of

history

extending

often

is

and

elders,

and

at

an

favourable

progress.

For

of arms, partly

by the voluntary submission of weaker

community soon

and

resolute

which

highly

intellectual

sway, partly by force

its

be swayed

neighbours and

its

of aggrandisement,

industrial,

social,

on the

so heavy

lies

the

acquires wealth and

tribes,

the

both of

slaves,

which, by relieving some classes from the perpetual struggle

a

for

of

opportunity interested

bare

subsistence,

devoting

them

afford

themselves

pursuit of knowledge which

that

to is

an dis-

the noblest

and most powerful instrument to ameliorate the

lot

of man. progress,

Intellectual

growth of

art

liberal views,

which reveals

itself

in

the

and science and the spread of more

cannot be dissociated from industrial or

economic progress, and that

in

its

turn receives an

immense impulse from conquest and empire.

It is

no

mere accident that the most vehement outbursts of activity of the

human mind have

followed close on the

BENEFITS OF DESPOTISM

Ill

and that the great conquering races of

heels of victory,

commonly done most

the world have

87

and

to advance

spread civilisation, thus healing in peace the wounds

The

they inflicted in war.

Romans, the Arabs

may to

Assyrians, the Greeks, the

are our witnesses in the past

remount the stream of history to

an accident that

all

the

first

its

we

:

Nor,

yet live to see a similar outburst in Japan. sources,

is

it

great strides towards civili-

sation have been made under despotic and theocratic

governments, like those of

Egypt, Assyria,

China,

Mexico, and Peru, where the supreme ruler claimed

and received the

servile allegiance

of his subjects

double character of a king and a god.

much

It

Is

to say that at this early epoch despotism

best friend of humanity and, paradoxical as

For

sound, of liberty. in the best sense

after all there

—

^liberty

own

and to fashion our

absolute despotism, the

individual's lot

the iron

men

cast

mould of

destinies

have

tributed

it

the

may

liberty

own thoughts

— under

the most

most grinding tyranny, than life,

where the

hereditary custom.

the public profession of magic

of the

passed

to

more

is

from the cradle to the grave in

far, therefore, as

been one

has

is

is

to think our

under the apparent freedom of savage

So

in the

hardly too

to

roads

by which

supreme power,

the it

has

ablest

con-

emancipate mankind from the thraldom

of tradition and to elevate them into a larger, freer life, is

with

a

no small

broader outlook on the world.

This

humanity.

And

service

when we remember

rendered

to

further that in another direction

BENEFITS OF MAGIC

88

magic has paved the way for admit that

child

of

error,

truth.

it

science,

black art has done

been the source of

also

and

if the

much good

;

lect. hi

we are forced to much evil, it has that if

it

is

the

has yet been the mother of freedom

LECTURE The

IV

institution of a public order of magicians a great incentive to

—Public magicians expected weather — — calming wind New Guinea, and Melanesia—The evolution complete — among the Malays —Traces of Europe — The of

research

to regulate the

Making rain Making sunshine Making Tendency of magicians to develop into Africa

Australia,

last lecture

it

in in

kings.

we ended our

general theory of magic.

the art

in

Similar evolution divinity

In the

or

kings

may be employed

I

consideration of the

pointed out that in practice

for the benefit either of indi-

viduals or of the whole community, and that according as it is directed to

it may we saw

one or other of these objects

be called private or public magic.

Further,

that the public magician occupies a position of great influence,

he

from which,

may advance

king.

step

if

he

is

a prudent and able man,

by step to the rank of a chief or

Thus an examination of

public magic conduces

to an understanding of the

early kingship,

savage and barbarous society

many

chiefs

since in

and kings

appear to owe their authority in great measure to their reputation as magicians.

Among may

the objects of public utility which magic

be employed to secure, the most essential 89

is

an

PUBLIC MAGICIANS

90

We

adequate supply of food.

purveyors of food, the hunter, the

have seen that the fisher, the

resort to magical practices in the pursuit callings

benefit

;

lect,

farmer,

all

of their various

but they do so as private individuals for the

of themselves and their families, rather than as

public functionaries acting in the interest of the whole people.

It is

otherwise

not by the hunters, the but

when

the rites are performed,

farmers themselves,

fishers, the

by professional magicians on

their

rule,

and the distribution of the community into

classes

of workers has hardly begun, every

or less his

own

magician

when

But

man

is

the

different is

more

he practises charms and

own good and

incantations for his

enemies.

;

In

behalf.

primitive society, where uniformity of occupation

the injury of his

a great step in advance has been taken

a special class of magicians has been instituted

when, in other words, a number of men have been

;

set

apart for the express purpose of benefiting the whole

community by

their skill,

whether that

skill

be directed

to the healing of disease, the forecasting of the future,

the regulation of the weather, or any other object of general utility.

The impotence of

by most of these

practitioners to accomplish their ends

the

means adopted

ought not to blind us to the immense importance of the institution

itself.

Here

in the higher stages

is

a

body of men

relieved, at least

of savagery, from the need of earn-

ing their livelihood by hard manual

toil,

and allowed, nay

expected and encouraged, to prosecute researches into the secret ways of nature.

and

their interest to

It

was

know more

at

once their duty

than their fellows, to

GERMS OF SCIENCE

IV

91

man

acquaint themselves with everything that could aid in

arduous struggle with nature, everything that

his

could mitigate his sufferings and prolong his

The

life.

properties of drugs and minerals, the causes of rain and

drought, of thunder and lightning, the changes of the seasons, the phases of the

moon, the

daily

and yearly

journeys of the sun, the motions of the

mystery of

stars,

and the mystery of death,

life,

the

these

all

things must have excited the wonder of these early philosophers, and stimulated

them

to find solutions of

problems that were doubtless often thrust on their attention in the

demands of

most

practical

their clients,

who

form by the importunate

expected them not merely

to understand but to regulate the great processes of

nature for the good of man. truth

fell

The

helped.

That

their first shots at

very far wide of the mark could hardly be slow, the never-ending approach to truth,

as I

have pointed

and

testing hypotheses, accepting those

time seem best to

out, consists in perpetually

fit

The views of natural

which

;

at the

the facts, and rejecting the others. causation embraced by the savage

magician no doubt appear to us manifestly

absurd

forming

false

and

yet in their day they were legitimate hypotheses,

though they have not stood the

test

of experience.

Ridicule and blame are the just meed, not of those

devised these crude theories, but of those nately adhered to

Certainly no

who

who

obsti-

them after better had been propounded.

men

ever had stronger incentives in the

pursuit of truth than these savage sorcerers. tain at least an appearance

To

main-

of knowledge was absolutely

CONTROL OF THE WEATHER

92

necessary

lect.

them

This no doubt led

their life.

to practise impos-

ture for the purpose of concealing their ignorance it

them

a single mistake detected might cost

;

also supplied

but

;

them with the most powerful motive

for substituting a real for a

sham knowledge,

since, if

know anything, by far the best know it. Thus, however justly we

you would appear to

way is actually to may reject the extravagant pretensions of magicians and condemn the deceptions which they have practised on mankind, the original institution of has, take

good

all

it

in

of

men

been productive of incalculable

all,

to humanity.

this class

They were

the direct predecessors,

not merely of our physicians and surgeons, but of our investigators science.

and discoverers

They began

and

feeble,

difficulties

this

is

to

has since been

and beneficent and

;

every branch of natural

work which

the

carried to such glorious

successors in after ages

in

if

issues

by

their

the beginning was poor

be imputed to the inevitable

which beset the pursuit of knowledge rather

than to the natural incapacity or wilful fraud of the

men themselves. Of the things which to

do

for the

good of

the public magician sets himself his tribe,

one of the chief

is

to

control the weather and especially to ensure an adequate fall

of

Water

rain.

is

the

first essential

most countries the supply of

Without

rain vegetation

languish and die.

rain-maker special class

is

it

animals

in savage

is

formed

and men

communities the

a very important personage

of magicians

in

depends upon showers.

withers,

Hence

of life, and

;

and often a

for the purpose

of

RAIN-MAKING

IV

93

The methods

regulating the heavenly water-supply.

by which they attempt to discharge the duties of their office are commonly, though not always, based on the principle of homoeopathic or imitative magic.

make

wish to

rain they imitate

by mimicking clouds

by sprinkling water or

it

object

if their

:

to stop rain

is

and to cause drought, they avoid water and

warmth and abundant

fire

Examples

will

resort to

up the too

for the sake of drying

moisture.

If they

their

illustrate

modes of procedure. Thus in' time of drought the Tarahumares of Mexico will sometimes throw water towards the sky in order that God may replenish his supply. And in of they always burn May the grass, so the month

various

that the whole country travelling

becomes

is

then wrapped in smoke, and

difficult.

They think

necessary to produce rain, clouds of

smoke

their opinion, equivalent to rain-clouds.-^ tribe

and sings over

it

some of the water

takes

spits it

water

his

magic song.

Mara

all

over himself, scatters

to the camp.

Rain

rain a party of

is

Ainos

draw

it

^

as if

it

it,

and

After that he throws it

about, and returns

supposed to follow.^ will scatter water

sieves, while others will take a porringer,

and oars

to

Then he

in his hands, drinks

out in various directions.

is

being, in

In the

of Northern Australia the rain -maker goes

a pool

sails

that this

To make

by means of fit

it

up with

were a boat, and then push or

about the village and gardens,

probably to

^ C. Lumholtz, Unknown Mexico (London, 1903), i. i8o, 330. Spencer and Gillen, Northern Tribes of Central Auitralia^ pp. 313

sq.

RAIN-MAKING

94 signify that

lect.

country will soon be flooded with

the

In Laos, a province of Siam, the festival of

water.^

New

the

Year takes place about the middle of April. people assemble in the pagodas, which are

The

The Buddhist

decorated with flowers and illuminated.

monks perform

the ceremonies,

and when they come

to

the prayers for the fertility of the earth, the worshippers

pour water into

little

holes in the floor of the pagoda

symbol of the rain which they hope Buddha

as a

down on

send

The custom

the rice-fields.^

will

clearly

is

one of those combinations of magic with religion which

meet us so often

in the ritual

The Arab

peoples.

method of stopping

rain

resorted to by a tribe of

cut a fire,

bough from

of comparatively advanced

Makrisi

historian

which

nomads

describes

They

Hadramaut.

in

a

said to have been

is

a certain tree in the desert, set

it

on

and then sprinkled the burning branch with water.

After that the vehemence of the rain abated, just as the water vanished

Some of

when it fell on the glowing bough.' Angamis of Manipur are said to

the eastern

perform a somewhat similar ceremony for the opposite

The head

purpose, in order, namely, to produce rain.

of the village puts a burning brand on the grave of a

man who brand

which J.

with

Here

fall.

^

has died of burns, and then quenches the

is

water, while

the

putting

an imitation of

he

prays

out

the

rain,

is

that

Batchelor, The Ainu and their Folk-lore (London, 1901),

Tournier, Notice surle Laos Francois (Hanoi, 1900),

^

P. B. Noskowijj, Maqri%ii de valle Hadhramaut sq.

may

with water,

fire

reinforced

2

(Bonn, 1866), pp. 25

rain

p.

by the

333.

p. 80.

lihellus

arabice editus et illustratus

STOPPING RAIN

IV

influence of the dead

death,

to

man, who, having been burnt anxious for the descent

naturally be

will

of rain to cool

body and

scorched

his

95

relieve

his

pangs.^

Other people besides the Arabs have used a

means of stopping

Thus

rain.

send a

little

girl

piece of

wood

in her hand,

out

This

falling drops.

is

into

air,

which she has to show to the

supposed to arrest the downpour.^

man

Northern Australia can stop green stick

medicinefire-sticks

while at the same time they puffed and

Again, any

shouted.'

as

burning

the rain with a

At Port Stevens in New South Wales the men used to drive away rain by throwing into the

fire

the Telugus of India

in

the

fire,

of the Anula tribe in

rain

by simply warming

and then striking

a

against

it

the wind.*

Among'

the

Tor adj as of

Central Celebes the rain-

doctor, whose special business

it

is

to drive away rain,

takes care not to touch water either before or after the

performance of his professional duties, is

still less

actually engaged in the discharge of them.

while he

He

not bathe, he eats with unwashed hands, he

nothing but palm wine, and

if

he avoids stepping in the water.

does

drinks

he has to cross a stream

Having thus prepared

himself for his task, he has a small hut built outside of the village in a rice-field, and in this hut he keeps 1

T. C. Hodson,

Institute, xxxi.

"The

(1901),

p.

Native Tribes of Manipur," Journal of

Indian Antiquary, xxiv. (1895),

'

A.

*

W.

the Anthropological

308.

2

p.

up a

359.

Howitt, Native Tribes of South-East Australia, p. 398. Spencer and Gillen, Northern Tribes of Central Australia, p. 315.

RAIN-MAKING

96 little

which on no account may be suffered to go

fire,

In the

out.

lect.

fire

he burns various kinds of wood, which

are

supposed to possess the property of driving off

rain

;

and he puffs

in the direction

threatens to come, holding in his

from

at

is

their physiological properties, but

If clouds should appear in the sky while he

work, he takes lime

blows

it

from

which happen to signify something dry or

their names, volatile.

rain

hand a packet of

which derive a similar cloud-compelling

leaves and bark virtue, not

from which the

towards them.

in the

hollow of his hand and

Lime, being so very dry,

obviously well adapted to disperse the

damp

is

clouds.

Should rain afterwards be wanted, he has only to pour water on his

fire,

in sheets.-'

Again,

and immediately the rain in Central Celebes,

will

when

descend

there has

been a long drought and the rice-stalks begin to shrivel up,

many of

the villagers, especially the

young

folk,

go

to a neighbouring brook and splash each other with water, shouting noisily, or squirt water

through bamboo tubes.

plump of

rain

on one another

Sometimes they imitate the

by smacking the surface of

the water

with their hands, or by placing an inverted gourd on

and drumming on the gourd with their

fingers.^

it

The

Karo-bataks of Sumatra have a rain-making ceremony

which squirts

lasts a

The men go women with bowels

week.

and the

about with bamboo

of water, and they

drench each other or throw the water into the ^

and

A. C. Kruijt, " Regen lokken en regen verdrijven bij de Toradja's van MiddenTijd:chriji •voor Jndische Taal- Land- en Volkenkunde, xliv. (1901), pp.

Celebes,"

S-io. *

air,

A. C. Kruijt,

op. cit. pp. i sj.

RAIN-MAKING

IV

when

it

come."

they cry, "

down on them

drips

97

The

rain has

^

Sometimes, as we have seen, the rain-charm operates

An

partly or wholly through the dead.

of making rain

to dig

is

up

and

a skull

In Halmahera there

running water.^

Armenian way

is

fling

into

it

a practice of

may

throwing stones on a grave, in order that the ghost

and avenge the disturbance,

into a passion

fall

imagines, by sending heavy rain.^

as he

Sometimes, in order

make

to procure rain, the Toradjas of Central Celebes

Thus

an appeal to the compassion of the dead.

of their villages there

is

When the land

from unseasonable drought, the people go to

on us

;

if it is

it,

and

your

then give rain."

"

say,

O

suffers

this grave,

grandfather, have pity

we should eat, they hang a bamboo tube

will that this year

After that

of water over the grave

full

one

the grave of a famous chief, the

grandfather of the present ruler.

pour water on

in

there

;

is

a small hole in

the lower end of the bamboo, so that the water drips

from

it

The tube

continually.

is

always

water until rain drenches the ground.*

you

will observe that religion

is

refilled

In this ceremony

blent with magic, for

the prayer to the dead chief, which

is

purely religious,

eked out with a magical imitation of

is

grave.

In order

German East and black '

M.

to

De Zending

M.

'

A. C. Kruijt,

the

rain

at

his

Wagogo of

graves of their ancestors, and the

onder de Karo-Batak's, Mededeelingen -van ivege het

Nederlandsche ZendeUnggemotschap, '^

rain

Africa sacrifice black fowls, black sheep,

cattle at the

Joustra, "

procure

with

xli.

(1897), p. 158.

Abeghian, Der armenhche folhglaube (Leipsic, 1899), op. cit. p. 6.

*

A. C. Kruijt,

p.

93.

op. cit. pp. 3 sq.

H

RAIN-MAKING

98

lect.

rain-maker wears black clothes during the rainy season.^

Here again the dead

is

religious appeal to the spirits of the

strengthened by the black colour of the victims

and of the

which

clothes,

an imitation of dark rain-

is

clouds.

Sometimes the rain- maker resorts to an

mode of

different

entirely

He

obtaining the needed showers.

neither imitates the

of rain nor prays to his fore-

fall

but attempts to extort the waters of heaven

fathers,

from those supernatural beings who have, so to

him

cut

off at the main.

the art of thus

storm.

If

taking

him

threaten and beat

him from

The Chinese are adepts in the kingdom of heaven by

god does not

the

fall,

On

the

of Kia-King,

they will

fifth

the other hand, if the

god may get

promotion by imperial decree.^ reign

give rain,

sometimes they publicly depose

;

the rank of deity.

wished-for showers

say,

It

is

a step of

said that in the

emperor of the Manchu

dynasty, a long drought desolated several provinces of

Northern China. rain a

Processions were of no avail

-dragon hardened

drop

fall.

At

condemned the

of execution

and would not

heart

let

the emperor lost patience and

last

recalcitrant

on the banks of the process

his

the

;

river :

the

to

perpetual exile

The

decree was in

deity Illi.

divine

criminal,

with a

touching resignation, was already traversing the deserts '

H.

Cole,

"Notes on the Wagogo of German East Africa," Journal of

Anthropological Institute^ xxxii. (1902), p. 325. ^ Mgr. Rizzolati, in Annales d& la Propagation de laFoi, xvi. (1844), p.

Retord,

ilf.

xxviii. (1856), p. 102,

whip an image of Buddha Propagation de la Foi,

iv.

for

In Tonquin also a mandarin

not sending rain.

(1830), p. 330,

lias

350

been

5

tht

Mgr.

known

to

See Annales de P Association de la

RAIN-MAKING

IV

of Tartary to work out

Turkestan,

when

moved

Peking,

his sentence

the judges

with

for the

poor

on the borders of

of the high

compassion,

the feet of the emperor

at

99

flung

and implored

court

themselves his

The emperor consented

devil.

of

to

pardon revoke

doom, and

a messenger set off at full gallop to bear

the tidings of

mercy to the executors of the imperial

his

The dragon was

justice.

reinstated in his office

condition of performing his duties a

In

future.-'

1888

April

the

on

better in

little

mandarins of Canton

prayed to the god Lung-wong to stop the incessant

downpour of

rain

;

and when he turned a deaf ear to

their petitions they put

This had a salutary

god was

restored to

him

in a

lock-up for

five days.

The rain ceased and the liberty. Some years before, in

effect.

time of drought, the same deity had been chained and

exposed to the sun for days

in the

temple in order that he might urgent need of

of if

rain,

rain.^

courtyard of his

feel

for himself the

So when the Siamese are

in

they set out their idols in the blazing sun

want ;

but

they need dry weather, they unroof the temples and

let

the rain pour

down on

the idols.

They

think that

the inconvenience to which the gods are thus subjected

by the inclemency of the weather

will

induce them to

grant the wishes of their worshippers.'

You may ^

2

smile perhaps at the meteorology of the

Hue, L'empire chinoh, i. 241 sq. Rev. E. Z. Simmons, "Idols and

Journal, xix. (1888), '

p.

Mgr. Bruguiire,

131.

p.

Spirits,"

Chinese Recorder

and Missionary

502.

in Annales de

I'Association

de la Propagation de la Foi, v. (1831),

RAIN-MAKING

loo

lect.

Far East ; but precisely similar modes of procuring rain have been resorted to

By

Europe within our own lifetime.

The

of cloudless blue.

distress

The drought had

Every day the sun

months.

was great

there

of water.

in Sicily for lack six

in

the end of April 1893

rose and set in a sky

gardens of the Conca d' Oro,

which surround Palermo with a magnificent

belt

Food was becoming

verdure, were withering.

The

lasted

of

scarce.

the

most

approved methods of procuring rain had been

tried

people were

without

Men, women, and

fields.

had

beads,

Consecrated

night

the churches.

Palm

with a

accordance

in

the dust swept

had been spread on the

on

trees.

At

very old custom,

year,

if

At Nicosia the

the

me,

believe

will

In ordinary years

fields.

holy sweepings preserve

whatever.

blessed

from the churches on Palm Sunday

these

you

burned day and

had

candles

telling

before the holy

Palm branches, been hung on the

had

Sunday,

Solaparuta,

children,

whole nights

lain

images. in

All

alarm.

Processions had traversed the streets

effect.

and the their

great

in

crops

they

;

had

but that

no

effect

inhabitants, bare-headed and

bare-foot, carried the crucifixes through all the wards

of the town and scourged each other with iron whips. It

was

himself, is

in

all

who

carried

vain.

move

great St. Francis of Paola

annually performs the miracle of rain and

every spring through the market-gardens,

either could not or

concerts,

The

would not

illuminations,

him.

At

last

help.

fire-works,

the

Masses, vespers,

— nothing

peasants

began

to

could lose

RAIN-MAKING

IV

Most of

patience.

Palermo to

the

see

the

of

state

were

saints

dumped

they

loi

things

for

Other

were

saints

turned,

and

himself,

they

rain

till

naughty

like

garden

a

in

swore to leave him there in the sun

with their faces to the wall.

At

banished.

Joseph

St.

fell.

children,

Others again, stripped

of their beautiful robes, were exiled far from their parishes, threatened, grossly insulted,

At

ponds.

Caltanisetta

ducked

wings of

golden

the

in horseSt.

Michael the Archangel were torn from

his shoulders

and replaced with wings of pasteboard

:

purple

his

mantle was taken away and a clout wrapt about him

At

instead.

Licata the patron saint,

even worse, for he all

was

he was reviled,

:

with

threatened the rope

shook

As

!

left

he was put in

irons,

he was

" Rain or

drowning or hanging.

" roared the angry people at him, as they

their fists in his face.^

the magician thinks he can

fancies he can cause the sun to shine

stay

Angelo, fared

St.

without any garments at

its

going down.

Thus

the

make

rain,

so he

and can hasten or natives

of

New

Caledonia imagine that they can cause a drought by

means of

a disc-shaped stone

moment when

the

the sun

with a hole in

rises,

it.

At

the wizard holds this

stone in his hand and passes a burning brand repeatedly into the hole, while he says, 1

G. VuUlier,

(1894), pp. 54

"La

sq.

As

Sicile,

"

I

kindle the sun,

impressions du present et du passe,"

to St. Francis of Paola,

who

died in

Tmr du Monde,

in Ixvii.

1507 and was canonised

by Leo X. in 1519, see P. Ribadeneira, Fhs Sanctorum, cioi Vite de' Santi (Venice, 1763), i. 252 sq. J Th. Trede, Das Heidentum in der riimischen Kirche, iii. 45-47. He was sent for by Louis XI. of France, and his fame as a worker of miracles is stiU spread

all

over the south of Italy.

I02

MAKING SUNSHINE

order that he

may eat up the it may produce

land, so that

women

on

thick

lay

mists

used to

clouds and dry up our

When

nothing."^

and copper ornaments

rattle the silver

breasts,

the fog, hoping thus to disperse

and they blew against it

and make the sun

Another way of producing the same

shine through.

was to burn

Guar ay o Indians

salt

also

or scatter ashes in the

threw ashes

The

air.^

the air for the

in

sake of clearing up the clouded evening sky. the

the

the Sierras of Peru, the Indian

which they wore on their

result

lect.

Perhaps

of the ashes to the ground was supposed to

fall

make the clouds disappear from the sky.^ The offering made by the Brahman in the morning is supposed to produce the sun, for we are told that " assuredly * it would not rise, were he not to make that offering." The ancient Mexicans conceived the sun as the source hence they named him " He by of all vital force whom men live." But if he bestowed life on the ;

world, he needed also to receive the heart

is

life

the seat and symbol of

from

life,

And

it.

as

bleeding hearts

of men and animals were presented to the sun to maintain

him

in

vigour and enable him to run

Hence

course across the sky. to the sun were

designed, not so ^

^ P. ^

to please

J.

Catlioliques^

the two passages

:

p.

and propitiate him,

xxv, (1893), p. 116

1900), pp. 296

sq.

;

id.,

as

Moeurs

The magic

et

formula

in the text I have followed the second.

Arriaga, Extirfacim de la Iddatria del Piru (Lima, 1621),

A. d'Orbigny, Voyage dans VAmerique

1844), ^

much

Neo-CaUdoniens (Noumea,