African
Religion and Myth: Contents
Religion and Myth, by James Macdonald, [1883]
| CHAP. | | PAGE |
| | | |
| I. | Primitive Man And The Supernatural | 1-19 |
| | 1. Religion defined | 1 |
| | 2. Incarnate gods | 2 |
| | 3. Sympathetic magic | 3 |
| | 4. Rain-making | 10 |
| | 5. Dangers of seeing divine persons | 12 |
| | 6. All property and subjects owned by ruler | 14 |
| | 7. Lubare of Uganda | 15 |
| | 8. Departmental kings | 17 |
| | | |
| II. | Guarding Divinity | 20-32 |
| | 1. Danger to man-god from exposure | 20 |
| | 2. The Mikado | 21 |
| | 3. Kings of Shark Point and Congo | 23 |
| | 4. Divine king may be deposed | 24 |
| | 5. Restrictions placed on king and heir to throne | 25 |
| | 6. Separation of civil and divine functions | 27 |
| | 7. Killing the god | 28 |
| | | |
| III. | Evolution Of Deity | 33-60 |
| | 1. Doctrine of souls | 33 |
| | 2. Dangers of the soul | 35 |
| | 3. Worship of ancestors | 36 |
| | 4. Other spirits than souls | 37 |
| | 5. Fetish | 38 |
| | 6. Sengero selling of women | 39 |
| | 7. Confusion of seasons | 39 |
| | 8. Offerings to spirit of vegetation | 40 |
| | 9. Offerings to goddess of fecundity | 42 |
| | p. x | |
| CHAP. | | PAGE |
| III. | Evolution of Deity—continued. | |
| | 10. Muansa | 43 |
| | 11. Rites at puberty | 44 |
| | 12. Souls dwelling in objects | 47 |
| | 13. Toad day | 49 |
| | 14. Origin of national festivals | 50 |
| | 15. Khond sacrifices to Tari | 56 |
| | 16. Story of Balder | 57 |
| | 17. Midsummer fires | 57 |
| | | |
| IV. | Sacrifice | 61-83 |
| | 1. Putting king to death | 61 |
| | 2. Substitution | 63 |
| | 3. Soul of ancestor entering person | 64 |
| | 4. Kaffir methods of directing course of nature | 65 |
| | 5. Propitiation | 66 |
| | 6. Thanksgiving | 67 |
| | 7. Substitution for murderer | 71 |
| | 8. Offerings to Lubare | 73 |
| | 9. Parading victim before sacrifice | 76 |
| | 10. Festival and sacrifices of Bantams | 78 |
| | 11. Messages to spirit-land | 79 |
| | 12. Descent of priest to the lower world | 81 |
| V. | Taboos | 84-98 |
| | 1. Charms against witchcraft | 84 |
| | 2. Banning by curses | 85 |
| | 3. Sprinkling to exorcise evil | 86 |
| | 4. Eating in private | 87 |
| | 5. Position of divine persons | 88 |
| | 6. Power of superstition | 89 |
| | 7. Ceremonial purity | 90 |
| | 8. Objections to iron | 90 |
| | 9. Power of iron against evil | 92 |
| | 10. Sanctity of objects belonging to sacred persons | 93 |
| | p. xi | |
| CHAP. | | PAGE |
| V. | Taboos—continued. | |
| | 11. Dangers of barber's art | 94 |
| | 12. Rise of evil spirits | 97 |
| | | |
| VI. | Expulsion of Demons | 99-112 |
| | 1. Taboos insufficient protection | 99 |
| | 2. Animals messengers of evil | 101 |
| | 3. Stone-throwing and cursing | 102 |
| | 4. Expulsion of guile | 103 |
| | 5. Expulsion by carrying out in wicker baskets | 105 |
| | 6. "Raising" the devil | 108 |
| | 7. "Laying" the devil | 110 |
| | | |
| VII. | Witchcraft | 113-135 |
| | 1. Crime of witchcraft | 114 |
| | 2. Persons presumed to practise the art | 115 |
| | 3. Power of witchcraft | 116 |
| | 4. Methods of practising the art | 117 |
| | 5. Witch-doctoring | 118 |
| | 6. Prophetess as discoverer of witches | 121 |
| | 7. Magic roots | 123 |
| | 8. Witchcraft prosecutions by ordeal | 126 |
| | 9. Mosaic trial by ordeal | 128 |
| | 10. History of witchcraft | 129 |
| | 11. Fairyland | 130 |
| | 12. Growth of idea of supreme spirits | 132 |
| | | |
| VIII. | Harvest Festivals | 136-145 |
| | 1. Yam festival | 136 |
| | 2. Pondo festival of first-fruits | 137 |
| | 3. Honour done to powers of nature | 138 |
| | 4. Maize mother | 139 |
| | 5. The "Maiden" a survival | 140 |
| | | |
| IX. | Prophecy | 146-172 |
| | 1. The office and its development | 146 |
| | p. xii | |
| CHAP. | | PAGE |
| IX. | Prophecy—continued. | |
| | 2. Causes of its gradual decay | 149 |
| | 3. False prophets | 150 |
| | 4. Converse with the unseen | 152 |
| | 5. Second sight | 153 |
| | 6. Foretelling events | 154 |
| | 7. Guarding against soul-snatching | 155 |
| | 8. Funeral rites | 156 |
| | 9. Guilds and sacred orders | 157 |
| | 10. Reading omens | 160 |
| | 11. Heresies | 164 |
| | 12. Reforms among the order | 166 |
| | 13. Prejudices against religious teachers | 170 |
| | | |
| X. | Social Usages | 173-180 |
| | 1. Ceremonial acts | 173 |
| | 2. Seeking a lady's hand | 174 |
| | 3. Succession to the throne | 175 |
| | 4. Courtesies to guests | 176 |
| | 5. Sanctuaries | 177 |
| | 6. Eating and drinking | 178 |
| | 7. Friendship | 179 |
| | | |
| XI. | Acts of Devotion—Myths | 180-193 |
| | 1. Acts of ordinary life-religious | 180 |
| | 2. Caring for the soul | 185 |
| | 3. Soul dwelling apart from body | 186 |
| | 4. Giants and their souls | 188 |
| | 5. Sacred animals and objects | 190 |
| | 6. Mermaids ashore | 192 |
| | | |
| XII. | Woman | 194-203 |
| | 1. Woman's position | 194 |
| | 2. Woman as regent | 195 |
| | 3. Danger of touching woman's blood | 195 |
| | 4. Dangers of girlhood | 197 |
| | p. xiii | |
| CHAP. | | PAGE |
| XII. | Woman—continued. | |
| | 5. Uncleanness | 198 |
| | 6. Woman's influence | 199 |
| | 7. Aggressiveness | 200 |
| | 8. Dog language | 202 |
| | 9. Public morality | 203 |
| | | |
| XIII. | Courtesies of Life—Dress | 204-213 |
| | 1. Hospitality | 204 |
| | 2. Loyalty to chief | 205 |
| | 3. Right and wrong | 206 |
| | 4. Cannibalism | 208 |
| | 5. Clothing | 209 |
| | 6. Ceremonial courtesy | 210 |
| | 7. Tein-egin | 212 |
| | 8. Juju and the fairy bull | 213 |
| | | |
| XIV. | Reforms | 214-234 |
| | 1. Man's tenacity in holding fast all he started with | 214 |
| | 2. How wide a gulf between savage and civilised | 215 |
| | 3. Blankets, Bibles, or work | 215 |
| | 4. Claims of commerce | 216 |
| | 5. Influence of clothing | 219 |
| | 6. Work and conditions of soil | 220 |
| | 7. Missions and bow conducted | 224 |
| | 8. Jews and ancients | 225 |
| | 9. Difficulty of understanding new ideas | 229 |
| | 10. Ideas become common as thought advances | 232 |
| Index | | 235-240 |