{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_61725/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_61725","id":"gutenberg_61725","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/61725","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Psychiatry/Psychology","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Fetishism","Magic"],"text":"RELIGIONS ANCIENT AND MODERN\n\nMAGIC AND FETISHISM\n\n\n\n\nRELIGIONS: ANCIENT AND MODERN.\n\n_Foolscap 8vo. Price 1s. net per volume._\n\n\nANIMISM.\n\n    By EDWARD CLODD, Author of _The Story of Creation_.\n\nPANTHEISM.\n\n    By JAMES ALLANSON PICTON, Author of _The Religion of the\n    Universe_.\n\nTHE RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA.\n\n    By Professor GILES, LL.D., Professor of Chinese in the\n    University of Cambridge.\n\nTHE RELIGION OF ANCIENT GREECE.\n\n    By JANE HARRISON, Lecturer at Newnham College, Cambridge,\n    Author of _Prolegomena to Study of Greek Religion_.\n\nISLAM.\n\n    By Professor T. W. ARNOLD, Assistant Librarian at the India\n    Office, Author of _The Preaching of Islam_.\n\nMAGIC AND FETISHISM.\n\n    By Dr. A. C. HADDON, F.R.S., Lecturer on Ethnology at Cambridge\n    University.\n\nTHE RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT.\n\n    By Professor W. M. FLINDERS PETRIE, F.R.S.\n\nTHE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.\n\n    By THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, late of the British Museum.\n\nBUDDHISM. 2 vols.\n\n    By Professor RHYS DAVIDS, LL.D., late Secretary of The Royal\n    Asiatic Society.\n\nHINDUISM.\n\n    By Dr. L. D. BARNETT, of the Department of Oriental Printed\n    Books and MSS., British Museum.\n\nSCANDINAVIAN RELIGION.\n\n    By WILLIAM A. CRAIGIE, Joint Editor of the _Oxford English\n    Dictionary_.\n\nCELTIC RELIGION.\n\n    By Professor ANWYL, Professor of Welsh at University College,\n    Aberystwyth.\n\nTHE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.\n\n    By CHARLES SQUIRE, Author of _The Mythology of the British\n    Islands_.\n\nJUDAISM.\n\n    By ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, Lecturer in Talmudic Literature in\n    Cambridge University, Author of _Jewish Life in the Middle\n    Ages_.\n\nPRIMITIVE OR NICENE CHRISTIANITY.\n\n    By JOHN SUTHERLAND BLACK, LL.D., Joint Editor of the\n    _Encyclop\u00e6dia Biblica_.\n\nSHINTOISM.\n\nMEDIAEVAL CHRISTIANITY.\n\nZOROASTRIANISM.\n\nTHE RELIGION OF ANCIENT ITALY.\n\n_Other Volumes to follow._\n\n\n\n\n                                  MAGIC\n                              AND FETISHISM\n\n                                   By\n                     ALFRED C. HADDON, Sc.D., F.R.S.\n               UNIVERSITY LECTURER IN ETHNOLOGY, CAMBRIDGE\n\n                                 LONDON\n                     ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO. LTD.\n                        16 JAMES STREET HAYMARKET\n                                  1906\n\n         Edinburgh: T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty\n\n\n\n\nPREFATORY NOTE\n\n\nIt is by no means easy to do justice to such a large, comprehensive, and\nat the same time vague subject as magic in the small compass of a Primer,\nand part of even that small space had to be devoted to another subject.\nFor sins of omission I must claim this excuse; for sins of commission I\nclaim the indulgence of the reader.\n\n                                                                 A. C. H.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nMAGIC\n\nI. SYMPATHETIC MAGIC.\n\n  A. Contagious Magic.\n\n    Hair, nail-pairings, etc. (3), scalp-lock (4), saliva (5),\n    luck-ball (5), footprints (6), clothes (7), rag bushes and\n    pin-wells (8), personal \u2018ornaments\u2019 (9), food (10), cannibalism\n    (10), sympathetic relations between persons (11), couvade (13).\n\n  B. Hom\u0153opathic Magic.\n\n    Plants (15), rain-making (16), wind-making (18), increase of\n    plants (18), and of animals (19), luring animals to be caught\n    (19), human effigies to injure or kill people (20).\n\nII. MAGICAL POWER OF NAMES AND WORDS.\n\n    Objection to names being mentioned of people, fairies, and\n    animals (22), names of power (24), satire (26), _geis_ (27),\n    tabu (28).\n\nIII. TALISMANS AND AMULETS.\n\n    Stones and metals (30), colour (31), bones, teeth, claws,\n    etc. (32), lucky pig (33), amulets against the evil eye (33),\n    luck-bone (39).\n\nIV. DIVINATION\u2014(40).\n\nV. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MAGIC.\n\n  A. Public Magic.\n\n    Australian _intichiuma_ totem ceremonies (41), corn-planting\n    dance of the Musquakie (45).\n\n  B. Private Magic.\n\n    Folk-remedies (46), love-charms (47), nefarious magic (48).\n\nVI. MAGICIANS.\n\n    Training of sorcerers and societies of magicians (51).\n\nVII. PSYCHOLOGY OF MAGICAL PRACTICES.\n\n    Nervous instability (53), suggestion (53), make-believe (55),\n    tabu (55), _mana_ (58), projective will-power or telepathy\n    (60), from spell to prayer (61), the impossible not undertaken\n    (62), loopholes in case of failure (63).\n\n\nFETISHISM\n\nI. DEFINITION.\n\n    1. Etymological (66), 2. Historical (66), 3. Dogmatic (67).\n\nII. ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS OF FETISHISM.\n\n    May be any object (72), a symbolic charm with sympathetic\n    properties (74), a sign or token representing an ideal notion\n    or being (76), habitation of a spiritual being (77), vehicle\n    for communication of a spirit (79), instrument by which spirit\n    acts (80), possesses personality and will (83), may act by own\n    will or by foreign spirit (84), spirit and material object can\n    be dissociated (87), worshipped, sacrificed to, talked with\n    (89), petted and ill-treated (90).\n\nIII. FETISHISM AS A FORM OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP\u2014(91).\n\n\n\n\nMAGIC\n\n\nI. SYMPATHETIC MAGIC\n\nAs knowledge increases, mankind learns more and more about the world and\nthe processes of nature, but even at the present day the vast majority of\nwhite men possess only a rudimentary amount of this knowledge; indeed,\nmost so-called educated people have very vague ideas concerning the\nphysical universe in which they live. Such being the case, it is not\nsurprising that primitive peoples have very confused notions concerning\nthese matters, and, as the result of false inductions concerning the\ncauses of phenomena, they seek to accomplish ends by means that we\nrecognise as inadequate. \u2018It is plain,\u2019 as Dr. Jevons points out (36,\n33), \u2018that as long as man is turned loose as it were amongst these\ninnumerable possible causes with nothing to guide his choice, the chances\nagainst his making the right selection are considerable.\u2019 Further, \u2018no\nprogress could be made in science until man had distinguished, at any\nrate roughly, possible from absolutely impossible effects (or causes),\nand had learned to dismiss from consideration the impossible. It might\nbe expected that experience would suffice of itself to teach man this\nessential distinction, but the vast majority of the human race have not\nyet learned from experience that like does not necessarily produce like:\nfour-fifths of mankind, probably, believe in sympathetic magic.\u2019\n\nThe instances of sympathetic magic as Dr. Hirn points out (32, 278)\nare naturally divided into two main classes which, broadly speaking,\ncorrespond to the two types of association, contiguity and similarity,\nand as in psychology it is often difficult to decide whether a given\nassociative process has its origin in a relation of contiguity or in one\nof similarity, so it is often an open question to which group a given\nsuperstition is to be assigned. We will start from the facts that are\nsimpler and easier to explain.\n\n\nA. Contagious Magic.\n\n1. Sympathetic Magic based on a material connection between things (32,\n279) has been aptly termed by Dr. Frazer (21, 77) =Contagious Magic=. All\nover the world we meet with examples of the belief that objects which\nwere once related to one another retain their connection though they may\nbe separated, and whatever may happen to one part or object the other\npart or object is similarly affected; thus, by acting upon a part of a\ngiven whole we may influence the whole as well as all its other parts.\n\nThis belief explains why a magician, wishing to influence or act upon\nsome particular individual, desires to obtain some portion of his body\nor something actually connected with him. A few hairs from the beard,\na lock of hair, some nail-parings, a drop of blood from the nose which\nhas fallen to the ground, and which has not been rendered impalpable\nby effacing it with the foot, are used by Basuto sorcerers (10, 277),\nand indeed by workers of magic everywhere. A few of the examples\ncollected by Mr. Hartland (30, ii. 66) will suffice to demonstrate the\nuniversality of this belief. In some parts of England a girl forsaken by\nher lover is advised to get a lock of his hair and boil it; whilst it is\nsimmering in the pot he will have no rest. In certain parts of Germany\nand Transylvania the clippings of the hair or nails, as well as broken\npieces of the teeth, are buried beneath the elder tree which grows in\nthe courtyard, or are burnt, or carefully hidden, for fear of witches.\nPatagonians burn the hairs brushed out from their heads, and all the\nparings of their nails for they believe that spells may be wrought upon\nthem by any one who can obtain a piece of either.\n\nThe potency of the hair is shown in the beliefs about the long narrow\nbeaded band which is used to tie up the hair of a Musquakie woman (56,\n96, 7). This, though a talisman when first worn, becomes something\ninfinitely more sacred and precious, being transfused with the essence of\nher soul; any one gaining possession of it has her for an abject slave if\nhe keeps it, and kills her if he destroys it. A woman will go from a man\nshe loves to a man she hates if he has contrived to possess himself of\nher hair-string; and a man will forsake wife and children for a witch who\nhas touched his lips with her hair-string. The hair-string is made for a\ngirl by her mother or grandmother and decorated with \u2018luck\u2019 patterns; it\nis also prayed over by the maker and a shaman. The scalp-lock ornament\nworn by the Musquakie men is kept with great care as it helps to protect\nthe soul. As the tearing out of the scalp-lock makes the soul at its root\nthe slave of the one obtaining it, so the possession of its ornament and\nshield, which has absorbed some of its essence, gives the possessor the\nability to send the rightful owner brain fever and madness (56, 106).\n\nIn the South Sea Islands it was necessary to the success of any sorcery\nto secure something connected with the body of the victim. Accordingly\na spittoon was always carried by the confidential servant of a chief in\nthe Hawaiian Islands to receive his expectorations, which were carefully\nburied every morning. The Tahitians used to burn or bury the hair they\ncut off, and every individual among them had his distinct basket for\nfood. As Mr. Hartland points out (30, ii. 76), the custom, everywhere\npractised, of obliterating all trace of the saliva after spitting,\ndoubtless originated in the desire to prevent the use of it for magical\npurposes, and the same desire led to the extreme cleanliness in the\ndisposal of fouler excreta which is almost universally a characteristic\nof savages. Thus this belief has been one of the most beneficial of\nsuperstitions.\n\nLuck-bags of red cloth, which contain \u2018the four things of good fortune,\u2019\nare made by witches in Italy (43, 287), who while sewing it sing an\nincantation. American Negroes brought over from West Africa the art of\nmaking \u2018luck-balls\u2019 or \u2018cunjerin\u2019 bags,\u2019 a practice which is kept up to\nthe present day. They are supposed to bring happiness and success in\neverything the owner undertakes; one made for Charles G. Leland, at the\ninstigation of Miss Owen (57, 173), contained, in addition to knotted\nthreads, a piece of foil to represent the brightness of the little spirit\nthat was going to be in the ball, a leaf of clover _in the place of the\nhair of the one that is going to own the ball_, and some dust which\nwas designed to blind the eyes of enemies. Miss Owen got the same man,\nAlexander, the King of the Voodoos, who made the ball for Mr. Leland,\nto make one for me, and she informed me that \u2018it was made just like Mr.\nLeland\u2019s with the same words and with the same materials, excepting the\nclover. This is not the season for clover, _so a fragment of paper, torn\nfrom one of your books, represents you_.\u2019\n\nIt is not essential that the object to be operated upon should have\nformed an actual part of a person, for something associated with that\nperson, such as something habitually worn or used, is sufficient, or as\nin the case of the luck-ball just cited, the association may be as remote\nas that between an author and a piece of the paper of a book he has\npublished.\n\nEarth from a man\u2019s footprints, on account of its close contact with the\nperson, has acquired the virtues of a portion of his body. Widely spread\nin Germany is the belief that if a sod whereon a man has trodden\u2014all the\nbetter if with the naked foot\u2014be taken up and dried behind the hearth\nor oven, he will parch up with it and languish, or his foot will be\nwithered. He will be lamed, or even killed, by sticking his footprint\nwith nails\u2014coffin nails are the best\u2014or broken glass (30, ii. 78); but\nthese are also the practices of Australian or other savages. To quote\nonly one example from Australia (34, 26), sharp fragments of quartz,\nglass, bone, or charcoal are buried in the footprints of the victim or in\nthe mark made in the ground by his reclining body. They are supposed to\nenter the victim, and rheumatic affections are very frequently attributed\nto them.\n\nClothes, from their intimate association with the person, have naturally\nattained a prominent place among the instruments of witchcraft. In\nGermany and Denmark no portion of a survivor\u2019s clothing must on any\naccount be put upon a corpse, else the owner will languish away as it\nmoulders in the grave. To hang rags from the clothing of a dead man upon\na vine is to render it barren. \u2018Probably,\u2019 as Mr. Hartland suggests, \u2018it\nis only a different interpretation of the same belief which alike in\nChristian, in Mohammedan, and in Buddhist lands has led to the ascription\nof marvellous powers to the clothes and other relics of departed saints.\nThe divine power which was immanent in these personages during life\nattaches not merely to every portion of their bodies but to every shred\nof their apparel\u2019 (30, ii. 90). An illustrative parallel can be taken\nfrom the Pacific. The red feathers which adorned the sacred girdle worn\nby the Tahitian kings were taken from the images of the gods. The girdle\n\u2018thus became sacred, even as the person of the gods, the feathers being\nsupposed to retain all the dreadful attributes of power and vengeance\nwhich the idols possessed, and with which it was designed to endow the\nking.\u2019 So potent was it that Mr. Ellis says (17, iii. 108) it \u2018not only\nraised him to the highest earthly station, but identified him with their\ngods.\u2019\n\nIt is conceivable, as Mr. Hartland suggests (30, ii. 214), that\nuneducated folk might argue thus: if an article of my clothing in a\nwitch\u2019s hands may cause me to suffer, the same article in contact with a\nbeneficent power may relieve pain, restore me to health, or promote my\ngeneral prosperity. Hence the practice of throwing pins into wells, of\ntying rags on bushes and trees, of driving nails into trees and stocks,\nof throwing stones and sticks on cairns, and the analogous practices\nthroughout the world, suggest that they are to be interpreted as acts of\nceremonial union with the spirit identified with well, tree, stock, or\ncairn (30, ii. 228). In the British Islands the sanctity of the well or\nbush was subsequently annexed by the missionaries who took up their abode\nbeside them, and thus we find the wells or trees called after certain\nsaints and the healing power attributed to the latter, whereas the\nholiness and efficacy of the wells were in the vast majority of cases, if\nnot in all, pre-Christian (27, 383).\n\nObjects are worn or eaten so that by induction the individual may acquire\ntheir properties. Thus the Red Indian hunter (70, 131) wears ornaments of\nthe claws of the grizzly bear, that he may be endowed with its courage\nand ferocity, and the Tyrolese hunter still wears tufts of eagle\u2019s down\nin his hat, to gain the eagle\u2019s keen sight and courage. \u2018Look,\u2019 writes\nCasalis (10, 271), \u2018at those strange objects hanging from the necks of\nour little black friends. There is a kite\u2019s foot in order that the poor\nchild may escape misfortune with the swiftness of the kite in its flight.\nAnother has the claw of a lion in order that his life may be as firmly\nsecured against all danger as that of a lion; a third is adorned with\nthe tarsus bone of a sheep, or an iron ring, that he may oppose to evil\na resistance as firm as iron, or as that little compact bone without\nmarrow which could not be crushed between two stones without difficulty.\u2019\n\nThe eating of certain kinds of food, more especially of the flesh of\nanimals, would similarly have a very potent effect; thus among the Dyaks\n(65, i. 176), young men sometimes abstain from eating the flesh of deer,\nlest they should become timid. The Abipones of Paraguay (14, 258) \u2018detest\nthe thought of eating hens, eggs, sheep, fish, or tortoises, imagining\nthat these tender kinds of food engender sloth and languor in their\nbodies and cowardice in their minds. On the other hand they eagerly\ndevour the flesh of the tiger [jaguar], bull, stag, boar, anta and\ntamandua [ant-eaters], having an idea that, from continually feeding on\nthese animals, their strength, boldness, and courage are increased.\u2019\n\nBelief in contagious magic leads quite logically to various revolting\npractices. In Torres Straits the sweat of renowned warriors was drunk\nby young men, who also ate mixed with their food the scrapings from the\nfinger-nails of the warriors which had become saturated with human blood\nin order \u2018to make strong and like a stone; no afraid\u2019 (29, v. 301). The\neyes and tongue of a freshly killed enemy were frequently torn out and\ngiven to lads to make them brave and fearless. The Australian natives\nbelieve that a man\u2019s fat and his strength and vitality are connected,\ntherefore the wasting of the body and disease are the result of the\nabsence of fat, perhaps to be followed by death. By eating a man\u2019s fat,\nand thus making it part of himself, the black fellow thinks that he also\nacquires the strength of the deceased. So also they think that human fat\nbrings success in hunting, causes spears which are anointed with it to\nfly true, or the club to strike irresistible blows. The possession of\nhuman fat is, therefore, much desired by these aborigines, especially\nthose who feel age or disease, or who wish to be successful in the\nmagical arts, for it is believed that the spirit of the dead man whose\nfat has been used will help the charm to act (35, 411, 361). Cannibalism\nfor magical purposes of this sort has probably been extremely common and\nis possibly at the base of a good deal of anthropophagy.\n\nVery widely spread is the belief that close relatives or even friends are\nbound together in a sympathetic relation, which is especially manifest on\nimportant occasions or at critical times. When a Land Dyak village has\nturned out for a wild-pig hunt in the jungle, those who remain at home\nmay not touch water or oil with their hands during the absence of their\nfriends, lest the hunters should all become \u2018butter-fingered,\u2019 and the\nprey so escape them (60, i. 430). It is also recorded from Borneo that\nwhen men are on a war expedition, fires are lighted at home, the mats\nare spread, and the fires kept up till late in the evening and lighted\nagain before dawn, so that the men may not be cold; the roofing of the\nhouse is opened before dawn, so that the men may not lie too long and\nso fall into the enemies\u2019 hands (60, ii. 104). Again when a Dyak is out\nhead-hunting, his wife, or, if he is unmarried, his sister, must wear\na sword day and night, in order that he may be always thinking of his\nweapons; and she may not sleep during the day nor go to bed before two\nin the morning, lest her husband or brother should thereby be surprised\nin his sleep by an enemy (20, i. 30). Similar instances could easily\nbe multiplied indefinitely from various savage countries, but even in\nEurope there are not lacking records of a real sympathy between husband\nand wife, where the former suffers from certain characteristic ailments\nof the latter (59, 240). There is a very widely spread series of customs\nbased upon the belief that the father and his unborn or newly born child\nare in such sympathetic relationship that the former has to take all\nsorts of precautions lest his offspring should in any way be injured. The\nextreme form this custom takes is for the newly made father to take to\nhis bed and be specially dieted; this occurs in many places, but notably\nin the East Indian Archipelago and in South America. The custom, which\nis known as the _Couvade_, is subject to many modifications, which have\nbeen tabulated and discussed by Mr. H. Ling Roth (59, 204). Among the\nLand Dyaks of Borneo the husband of a pregnant woman, until the time of\nher delivery, may not do work with any sharp instrument, except what may\nbe absolutely necessary for the cultivation of his farm; he may not tie\nthings together with rattans, or strike animals, or fire guns, or do\nanything of a violent character for fear of injuring the child. Often the\nmen must abstain from certain food lest it should affect the child; thus\nin Guiana partaking of the Agouti would make the child meagre, or eating\na _labba_ would make the infant\u2019s mouth protrude like the _labba\u2019s_, or\nmake it spotted like the _labba_, which spots would ultimately become\nulcers (59, 220). Thus the father is frequently debarred from performing\nmany of the usually unconsidered daily acts, lest they should affect the\nwelfare of a child that is newly born or is about to be born; and there\nis the curious development of the belief of an occult reaction of the\nexpected child on the father, affecting, to take one example, his success\nin fishing (59, 234).\n\n\nB. Hom\u0153opathic Magic.\n\n2. When man first began to think about the world around him he must\nhave noted (what he, in common with other animals, had unconsciously\nacted upon in the past) that day and night and the seasons arrived in\nregular succession, the same stars rose and set, an animal reproduced\nits own kind, in fact that there was a uniformity in nature. But side by\nside with these natural sequences there were irregularities. Some days\nwere shorter than others, some were bright, others cloudy, the length\nand character of the seasons varied from year to year, some stars had\na course in the heavens independent of the majority. Again, he might\nearly have noticed that many of these fluctuations in sunshine and rain,\nin heat and cold, affected him directly or indirectly by influencing\nvegetation. We need not be surprised, therefore, if he came to the\nconclusion that it would be better for him if he exerted himself to\nregulate matters somewhat, but then the difficulty would arise, what was\nhe to do?\n\nThe unenlightened mind does not discriminate between cause and effect,\nand imagines that as like produces like, so a result can be attained by\nimitating it. Hence arose =Mimetic= or =Symbolic Magic=, which, following\nDr. Hirn, is better termed =Hom\u0153opathic Magic=, which is occult influence\nbased upon a likeness between things (32, 282). On this was founded\nthe medi\u00e6val medical theory known as the Doctrine of Signatures, which\nsupposes that plants and minerals indicate by their external characters\nthe diseases which nature intended them to remedy.\n\nIt would be easy to give a large number of examples to illustrate\nhom\u0153opathic magic, but a few will suffice. Thus the Euphrasia, or\neye-bright, was, and is, supposed to be good for the eyes, on the\nstrength of a black pupil-like spot in its corolla (70, 123). The yellow\nturmeric, or saffron, cured jaundice. The roots of roses or their slips,\nwith their knots removed and set amongst broom, will bring forth yellow\nroses (47, x. 70).\n\nThe influence of hom\u0153opathic magic can be traced in beliefs and practices\nfrom the lowest savages to civilised nations. The magician who works\nby similarities makes representations of things or beings, in order\nto acquire an influence over them. By dramatic or pictorial imitation\nheavenly bodies are influenced, rain is made, plants and animals are\nincreased, animals enticed to their destruction, human beings acted upon.\n\nWhen it was wished to cause rain to fall in Murray Island, Torres\nStraits, the rain-maker scooped a hole in the ground, and lined it with\nleaves and placed in it a rude stone image of a man which had previously\nbeen anointed with oil and rubbed with scented grass; then he poured the\ndecoction of minced leaves of various plants mixed with water over the\nimage\u2014the image being so laid in the hole as to point to the quarter from\nwhich the rain was expected. Earth was heaped over the image and leaves\nand shells placed on the mound, and all the while the rain-maker muttered\nan incantation in a low sepulchral tone. Four large screens composed\nof plaited coco-nut leaves were placed at the head, foot, and sides of\nthe grave to represent clouds; on the upper part of each was fastened a\nblackened oblong of vegetable cloth to mimic a black thunder-cloud, and\ncoco-nut leaves, with their leaflets pointing downwards, were suspended\nclose by to represent rain. A torch was ignited and waved lengthwise\nover the grave; the smoke represented clouds and the flames mimicked\nlightning, and a bamboo clapper was sounded to imitate thunder.\n\nThe rain was supposed to come when the decoction round the image was\nrotten. The incantation consisted of enumerating various aspects of\ncertain forms of clouds. Rain could be made in this manner only by one\nsection of the community, and amongst these one or two men had a much\ngreater reputation than the others (29, vi.).\n\nThis may be taken as an example of a typical rain-making ceremony, in\nwhich all the phenomena of a thunder shower are imitated.\n\nIf a native of Mabuiag, in Torres Straits, required rain he went to the\nrain-maker and asked him to make some. The latter might reply, \u2018You go\nand put some more thatch on your house and on mine too\u2019; this was to keep\nout the forthcoming rain. The rain-maker painted the front of his body\nwhite, and the back black. This was explained by my informant thus: \u2018All\nalong same as clouds, black behind, white he go first,\u2019 or he painted\nhis body with black spots to make the clouds come separately; when they\ncongregated, the rain fell. The rain-maker put \u2018medicine\u2019 in his right\nhand and waved it towards his body and chanted an incantation. To stop\nthe rain the rain-maker put red paint on the crown of his head, to\nrepresent the shining sun, and ruddled his body all over. He then lay\ndoubled up and was closely surrounded with three mats, so that no wind\ncould penetrate to him. Finally he burnt some leaves on the sea-shore\nclose to the water, on a rising tide; the smoke represented the clouds,\nand as it was dissipated so they disappeared, and as the encroaching sea\nwashed away the ashes, so the clouds were scattered (29, v. 350).\n\nIn the island of Muralug certain old men could raise a wind by very\nrapidly whirling a thin bull-roarer attached to a long string. More wind\ncould be obtained by climbing to the top of a tree and performing there.\nIn this case the noise made by the bull-roarer imitated that produced by\na gale of wind (29, v. 352).\n\nExamples of the magical increase of plants are found in the \u2018yam stones\u2019\nplaced in their gardens by various Papuans, which by their rounded shape\nsuggest the actual tubers (28, 202; 29, vi.).\n\nThe following instances are culled from that treasury of folk custom and\nbelief\u2014_The Golden Bough_. In Th\u00fcringen the man who sows flax carries the\nseed in a long bag which reaches from his shoulders to his knees, and he\nwalks with long strides, so that the bag sways to and fro on his back.\nIt is believed that this will cause the flax to wave in the wind. In the\ninterior of Sumatra rice is sown by women who, in sowing, let their hair\nhang loose down their back, in order that the rice may grow luxuriantly\nand have long stalks. It is commonly believed in Germany and Austria\nthat leaping high in the fields will make the flax or hemp grow tall. A\nBavarian sower, in sowing wheat, will sometimes wear a golden ring, in\norder that the corn may have a fine yellow colour (20, i. 35, 36).\n\nAs references are given on pp. 41-44 to magical practices for the\nincrease of animals, further examples need not be added here, their\nobject being to provide plenty of food for the community. It was for the\nsame reason that images of fish, turtle, and dugong were made by the\nislanders of Torres Straits and taken with them when they went fishing,\nwith the idea that the image lured the real animal to its destruction;\nand men of the dugong clan who were symbolically decorated made mimetic\nmovements with a dead dugong to constrain others to come and be caught\n(29, v. 337, 182, and vi.).\n\nThe same people used to carve small human effigies out of thin slabs\nof wood and coat them with beeswax, or the images were made entirely\nof beeswax. These figures were treated in various ways for nefarious\nmagic, but always the first action was to call them by the names of the\npersons who were to be affected by them. If the magician pulled an arm\nor a leg off the image, the patient felt sore in the corresponding limb,\nand became ill, and eventually died in great pain; should the magician\nrestore the dismembered limb, the patient would recover. If a magician\npricked with the spine of a sting ray an image that had been named,\nthe person indicated would be stung in the same place by a sting ray\nwhen he went fishing on the reef (29, v. 324). Analogous customs are to\nthis day practised in Britain. The first example comes from Ross-shire\n(48, 373). The _corp creagh_ is a body of clay rudely shaped into the\nimage of a person whose hurt is desired. After a tolerably correct\nrepresentation is obtained, it is stuck all over with pins and thorns\nand placed in a running stream. As the image is worn away by the action\nof the water the victim also wastes away with some mortal disease. The\nmore pins that are stuck in from time to time the more excruciating\nagony the victim suffers. Should, however, any wayfarer discover the\n_corp_ in the stream, the spell is broken and the victim duly recovers.\nFrom Argyleshire we learn (49, 144) that a long incantation was used as\nthe pins were being put in the clay image, the beginning of which was\nsomething to this effect: \u2018As you waste away, may \u2014\u2014 waste away; as this\nwounds you, may it wound \u2014\u2014.\u2019 When it was desired that the person should\ndie a lingering death, care was taken that the pins should not touch\nwhere the heart was supposed to be; but when a speedy death was desired,\nthe pins were stuck over the region of the heart. Actual instances of\nthe employment of the _corp chr\u00e8_ or _corp chreadh_, clay body or clay\ncorpse (as Dr. Maclagan calls it), are given by the two authors last\ncited, one of which occurred about the year 1899. This practice is merely\nthe continuance of old customs, for \u2018King James in his _D\u00e6monology_,\nsays that \u201cthe devil teacheth how to make pictures of wax or clay,\nthat by roasting thereof, the persons that they bear the name of may\nbe continually melted or dried away by continual sickness\u201d; and in the\neleventh century certain Jews, it was believed, made a waxen image of\nBishop Eberhard, set about with tapers, bribed a clerk to baptize it,\nand set fire to it on the Sabbath, the which image burning away at the\nmiddle, the bishop fell grievously sick and died\u2019 (70, 124).\n\nMany magical practices and beliefs are difficult to classify as either\ncontagious or hom\u0153opathic magic; they may even be a mixture of both. Such\nis the belief in the power of names or words, talismans and amulets,\ndivination, and various practices of public and private magic. These will\nbe dealt with under separate headings.\n\n\nII. MAGICAL POWER OF NAMES AND WORDS\n\nA =Name= is considered by backward folk to be part and parcel of a\nliving being, and as magic can be performed on a person through tangible\nsubstances that have come into contact with him, so magic can be\nperformed or influence exerted through the utterance of a person\u2019s name.\nIn the west of Ireland and in Torres Straits people have refused to tell\nme their names, though there was no objection to some one else giving me\nthe information; the idea evidently being that by telling their own name\nto a stranger they were voluntarily putting themselves into the power of\nthat stranger, who, by the knowledge of their name so imparted, could\naffect them in some way. Over the greater part of America was spread the\nbelief in a personal soul, which is neither the bodily life nor yet the\nmental power, but a sort of spiritual body. In many tribes, writes Dr.\nBrinton (7, 277), this third soul or \u2018astral body\u2019 bore a relation to\nthe private personal name. Among the Mayas and Nahuas, it was conferred\nor came into existence with the name; and for this reason the personal\nname was sacred and rarely uttered. The name was thus part of the\nindividuality, and through it the soul could be injured. Professor Rh\u0177s\nhas shown (58, 566-7) from philological evidence, that Aryan-speaking\npeoples \u2018believed at one time not only that the name was a part of the\nman, but that it was that part of him which is termed the soul, the\nbreath of life.\u2019 The dislike of hearing their names mentioned is not\nconfined to human beings, for, as is well known, in the British Islands\nthe Fairies have a very strong repugnance to being so called; hence they\nshould be termed the Wee-folk, the Good People, or by other ambiguous\nterms. Certain Scottish and English fishermen believe that the salmon and\npig have a similar objection to being \u2018named,\u2019 but they do not mind being\ncalled respectively the \u2018red-fish\u2019 or the \u2018queer fellow.\u2019\n\nIf power can be exerted over men by the use of their names, it is\nonly reasonable to believe that spirits and deities can be similarly\ninfluenced. Torres Straits islanders believe that a local bogey or a\nspirit-girl can be summoned by being mentioned by name (29, v. 14, 86),\nas the witch of Endor brought up the spirit of Samuel. Dr. Frazer (20,\ni. 443-6) gives examples to show that people have believed that gods\nmust keep their true names secret, lest other gods or even men should\nbe able to conjure with them; even Ra, the great Egyptian god of the\nsun, declared that the name given him by his father and mother \u2018remained\nhidden in my body since my birth, that no magician might have magic power\nover me.\u2019 This probably was one reason why the real name of supreme\nGods was known but to a chosen few; one instance will suffice. To the\nMohammedans, Allah is but an epithet in place of the Most Great Name;\nfor, according to a Moslem belief, the secret of the latter is committed\nto prophets and apostles alone. Another reason is that the utterance of\nthese secret names gives tremendous power, for (42, 273) those who know\nthe Most Great Name of God can, by pronouncing it, transport themselves\nfrom place to place at will, can kill the living, raise the dead to life,\nand work other miracles.\n\nAccording to Jewish tradition, when Lilith, Adam\u2019s first wife, refused\nto yield obedience to him she uttered the Shem-hamphorash, that is,\npronounced the ineffable name of Jehovah and instantly flew away. This\nutterance evidently gave her such power that even Jehovah could not\ncoerce her, and the three angels, Snoi (Sennoi), Snsnoi (Sansennoi), and\nSmnglf (Sammangeloph), who were sent after her, were contented with a\ncompromise, and Lilith swore by the name of the Living God that she would\nrefrain from doing any injury to infants wherever and whenever she should\nfind those angels, or their names, or their pictures, on parchment or\npaper, or on whatever else they might be drawn, \u2018and for this reason,\u2019\nsays a rabbinical writer, \u2018we write the names of these angels on slips\nof paper or parchment, and bind them upon infants, that Lilith seeing\nthem, may remember her oath; and may abstain from doing our infants any\ninjury\u2019 (1, 165). The custom is still maintained in the east of London of\nprinting portions of Scripture and these three names on pieces of paper,\nwhich are placed on the four walls of a room where a baby is expected,\nwhere they remain eight days for a boy and twenty days for a girl.\n\nApart from the coercive power which is attributed to the pronouncing\nof names, there is an analogous belief in the utterance of words or\nphrases. Those =Words of Power= have been classed by Mr. Clodd (11,\n194) as: (1) Creative Words; (2) Mantrams and their kin; (3) Passwords;\n(4) Spells or Invocations for conjuring up the spirit of the dead, or\nfor exorcising demons, or for removing spells on the living; and (5)\nCure-charms in formul\u00e6 or magic words. Mr. Clodd points out that these\nclasses overlap and intermingle.\n\nEven among such backward people as the Australians, certain of the\nmedicine-men or sorcerers were bards who devoted their poetic faculties\nto the purposes of enchantment, such as the Bunjil-yenjin of the Kurnai,\nwhose peculiar branch of magic was composing and singing potent love\ncharms and the arrangement of marriages by elopement spells (35, 356,\n274).\n\nIn few countries was the spoken word more effective than in ancient\nIreland; a sorcerer, whether a druid or not, would stand on one foot,\nwith one arm outstretched and with one eye shut, and chant an incantation\nin a loud voice (37, i. 240). The grand weapon of the Irish poets by\nwhich they enforced their demands was the _satire_. A poet could compose\na satire that would blight crops, dry up milch-cows, and raise an\nulcerous blister on the face. A story is told (37, i. 454) of Sench\u00e1n\nTorpest, chief poet of Ireland, who lived in the seventh century, that\nonce when his dinner was eaten in his absence by rats, he muttered a\nsatire beginning, \u2018Rats, though sharp their snouts, are not powerful in\nbattle,\u2019 which killed ten of them on the spot. Shakespeare, and other\nElizabethan writers, often refer to the belief that Irish bards could\nrhyme rats to death. The Irish =geis= or =geas= [pronounced gesh or\ngass], plural _geasa_ [gassa], was the exact equivalent of an ordinary\n=tabu=, but people sometimes put an injunction on a person in some such\nform as \u2018I place you under heavy _geasa_, which no true champion will\nbreak through, to do so and so.\u2019 In this manner, the witch-lady forces\nFinn to search for the ring she had dropped into the lake; and Marbhan\nput the arch-poet Sench\u00e1n Torpest under _geasa_ to obtain a copy of a\nlost story. When the request was reasonable or just the abjured person\ncould not refuse without loss of honour and reputation and probably in\nearly days personal harm would accrue if the _geasa_ were disregarded.\nThe power of the _geis_ was so strong that when Grania put Diarmuid under\n_geasa_ of danger and destruction to elope with her, he was advised by\nhis friends against his will to agree: Oisin said, \u2018You are not guilty\nif the bonds were laid on you,\u2019 and Osgar said, \u2018It is a pitiful man that\nwould break his bonds\u2019 (25, 347, 8).\n\nSympathetic magic bulks largely in the life of backward peoples, not\nmerely in the form of actions to be performed, but also in those to be\nabstained from. The \u2018Thou shalt not\u2019 is more in evidence than \u2018Thou\nshalt.\u2019 The prohibitions of savages and barbarians are now spoken of\nunder the general term of =tabu=. Some tabus are rational from our point\nof view, others seem to us to be utterly irrational, but this does not\naffect their validity in any way. So much has been written on this\nsubject by divers writers that only one or two examples need be given\nhere. The subject is again referred to on p. 55.\n\nThe old Irish tale, the \u2018Bruiden D\u00e1 Derga,\u2019 tells of the destruction\nfollowing the violation of tabus. Conaire, King of Ulster, was put under\ncertain _geasa_ by his father, such as: \u2018Thou shalt not go _desiul_ round\nTara nor withershins round Bregia,\u2019 \u2018The evil beasts of Cerna must not\nbe hunted by thee,\u2019 \u2018There shall not go before thee three Reds to the\nhouse of Red,\u2019 and others. But on the way to D\u00e1 Derga\u2019s Hostel \u2018They went\nrighthandwise round Tara, and lefthandwise round Bregia, and the evil\nbeasts of Cerna were hunted by him, but he saw it not till the chase had\nended.\u2019 Then he saw three red men going before him to the house of Red,\nand Conaire says, \u2018All my _geasa_ have seized me to-night,\u2019 and before\nthe next day Conaire and all his host were destroyed in D\u00e1 Derga\u2019s Hostel\n(66, xxii.). When Cuchulain was on his way to his last combat he met\nthree hags, daughters of a wizard, all blind of the left eye. They were\ncooking a dog with poisons and spells on spits of a rowan tree. It was\n_geis_ to Cuchulain to eat at a cooking-hearth, or to eat the flesh of a\nhound, but the women put him on his honour not to refuse the piece they\noffered him, so he took it, and all the strength went out of the left\nhand in which he took the food (66, iii.).\n\n\nIII. TALISMANS AND AMULETS\n\nIn the forms of magic we have hitherto considered, something is done by\na human being, whether by action, representation, or word, but there is\nanother branch of magic in which the virtue resides intrinsically in\ncertain objects which are variously termed charms, talismans, amulets,\nor mascots. Those that transmit qualities or are worn for good luck\nmay be termed =talismans=, while the term =amulet= may be restricted\nwith advantage to those charms which are preventive in their action; but\nthe same charm is in some cases employed for both these purposes. These\nobjects are continuously effective without any action on the part of the\npreparer or wearer, as they possess power in their own right, but this is\nfrom very diverse causes.\n\nCertain =stones= from their colour suggest flesh; thus garnets and\ncarnelians are worn in the rough or worked into beads as amulets against\nskin diseases. Most precious stones are credited with distinctive\nproperties, and some have a reputation for being unlucky, as for example\nthe precious opal. The amethyst, as its name implies, was regarded by\nthe ancient Greeks as a charm against becoming intoxicated; among the\nancient Egyptians the amethyst corresponded to the Zodiacal sign of\nthe Goat, and as the goat was an enemy to vines, so the amethyst was a\nfoe to wine. Leland (43, 351) points out that it also \u2018drives away bad\nthoughts and confers ripe and happy genius.\u2019 Amber beads are carried by\npeople of various races for weak eyes, and it is essential they should\nbe looked through to strengthen the sight (43, 267). The electrical\npower of attraction of light objects by amber when rubbed was doubtless\none cause of its supposed virtue. The several =metals= have their active\nmagical properties. A lump of crude antimony in Italy is very efficacious\nwhen the following invocation is pronounced: \u2018Antimony, who art of zinc\nand copper! thou most powerful, I keep thee ever by me, that thou mayest\nbanish from me evil people, and bring good luck to me.\u2019 Gold is the most\ngenial or luck-bringing, and, as a woman said, \u2018antimony is stronger than\nlead, because it consists of three metals, or rather always has in it\ncopper and lead\u2019 (43, 373-4).\n\n=Colour= alone has its magical qualities, hence the frequency of red\nwoollen thread or stuff in counter-charms against the evil eye, as an old\nsaw expresses it: \u2018Roan tree and red thread, will drive the witches aa\nwud\u2019 (49, 156). For the same reason red coral is so greatly valued. Blue\nis of equal efficacy, hence the wearing of turquoise by so many Oriental\nand North African peoples, and blue beads are worn by people for much the\nsame reason, that they suspend them round the necks of donkeys or camels.\n\nWhen dealing with contagious magic, we saw that many objects are worn,\nin order that certain qualities of the animals from which they were\nobtained may be imparted to the wearer. The wild =boar\u2019s tusk=, the\nacquisition of which is greatly desired by the natives of the Papuan Gulf\nas a mark of bravery, is coveted not so much as a personal ornament, as\nfor the courage, ferocity, and daring which it is supposed to contain and\nto be capable of imparting to any one who wears it (33, 427). Probably\nthis is the reason why boars\u2019 tusks are so much prized all over New\nGuinea, where they are wrought into \u2018ornaments,\u2019 which are carried in\nthe mouth or worn on the chest when on the war-path. In West Africa the\n=bones= from the legs of tortoises are much valued as anklets, in order\nto give the wearers endurance. The lower jaw-bone of the tortoise is\nworn by certain tribes as a preventive against toothache; in this case\nthe reason would seem to be that as the tortoise has no teeth it cannot\nsuffer from toothache, and thus freedom from toothache can be imparted by\nthat edentulous jaw. The spinal bones of snakes are strung together for a\ngirdle as a cure for backache (3, 237).\n\nAfricans, according to Arnot (3, 237), believe largely in preventive\nmeasures, and their charms are chiefly of that order. In passing through\na country where leopards and lions abound, they carefully provide\nthemselves with the =claws=, =teeth=, =lips=, and =whiskers= of those\nanimals, and hang them around their necks, to secure themselves against\nbeing attacked. For the same purpose the point of an elephant\u2019s trunk is\ngenerally worn by the elephant-hunters.\n\nA large class of talismans consists of =models= or =representations of\nobjects=, and the attributes of the original pass on to the symbol. The\npig, perhaps on account of its abundant fecundity, was primarily sacred\nto the earth goddess, whether she was known as Demeter, Ceres, or by any\nother name. Leland points out (43, 255) that little gold and silver pigs\nwere offered to Ceres, who was pre-eminently a goddess of fertility,\nand therefore of good luck and all genial influences. For these reasons\nthey were worn by Roman ladies, and \u2018=lucky pigs=\u2019 are still very common\ncharms, especially in South Germany.\n\nThe belief in the =evil eye= is not only widely spread, but extremely\nancient, and in some places is still firmly rooted among the folk.\n\u2018Overlooking\u2019 may be intentional, but it is believed that many persons,\nwithout intention and even against their will, by the glance of their\neye, have caused injurious effects; so that, in some cases, mothers would\nnot venture to expose their infants to the look of their own fathers.\nPlutarch (18, 13) vouches for this, and admits that envy exerts an evil\ninfluence through the eyes, and adds that it is wise to employ charms\nand antidotes to turn aside these evil glances. A friend of his stated\nthat some even fascinate themselves by their own gaze, and alluded to the\nstory of Eutelidas, who, like Narcissus, fell a victim to the admiration\nhe felt for his own likeness. Women and children seem to have been\naccounted by all old classical writers as the most liable to injury.\nAmong the Greeks and Romans statues of Nemesis were erected which were\nadored and invoked to save their worshippers from fascination. In Rome,\naccording to Pliny, special laws were enacted against injury to crops by\nincantation, excantation, or fascination (18, 15).\n\n\u2018Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye\u2019 is just as much a maxim\nto-day as it was in the time of Solomon, and Mr. Elworthy says (18, 107)\nin Naples, at the appearance of a person having this reputation, a cry\nof \u2018Jettatore!\u2019 is passed, and even in a crowded street it causes an\ninstantaneous vanishing of everybody\u2014a rush up entries, into shops, or\nelsewhere. Ever since the establishment of the religious orders, monks\nhave had the special reputation of possessing the fatal influence. The\nlast Pope but one, Pius the Ninth, was firmly believed to have had the\nevil eye. A Roman would candidly say: \u2018Nothing succeeds with anybody or\nanything when he wishes well to it. When he went to St. Agnese to hold\na great festival, down went the floor, and the people were all smashed\ntogether. Then he visited the column to the Madonna in the Piazza di\nSpagna, and blessed it and the workmen; of course, one fell from the\nscaffold the same day and killed himself\u2019 (18, 23, 25).\n\nDomestic animals always have been considered as peculiarly susceptible\nto this evil influence. Cows are particularly liable to fascination\nin Scotland, while in England of all animals the pig is most often\n\u2018overlooked.\u2019 The Turk and the Arab think the same of their horses and\ncamels; above all the Neapolitan cabman of to-day believes in the great\ndanger to his horse from the eye of the _jettatore_.\n\nThe commonest of all ancient Egyptian amulets, except the scarab, was\n\u2018the Eye of Osiris,\u2019 as it is called by us. These mystic eyes were worn\nequally by the living and the dead as amulets; it being natural, from the\nassociations of hom\u0153opathic magic, that representations of the eye itself\nshould have been considered potent amulets against its malign influence.\nAll the peoples round the Mediterranean employed representations of eyes\nas amulets. In Syria and Cairo necklaces composed of flat glass eyes\nare sold to the present day, and eye-designs protect the clothes, horse\ntrappings, and many of the objects of daily use of the Moors (72, 211).\n\nPlutarch declares that the objects that are fixed up to ward off\nwitchcraft or fascination derive their efficacy from the fact that they\nact through the strangeness and ridiculousness of their forms, which fix\nthe mischief-working eye upon themselves.\n\nIt was this firm belief, says Elworthy (18, 143), which led to the design\nof those extremely grotesque figures, of which the ancient Romans were so\nfond; indeed, anything that was ridiculous or indecent was supposed to\nbe a corrective to the harmful influence of fascination. Amulets which\nprotect against this power are of three classes: (1) Those the object\nof which was to attract upon themselves the harmful glance (those were\nnecessarily exposed to view); (2) charms worn or carried secretly; and\n(3) written words of Scripture, Koran, and other sacred writings, or\ncabalistic figures and formul\u00e6 (18, 149).\n\nThe crescent moon was a symbol of many deities, Parvati, Devaki, and\nother Indian goddesses, Isis, Athena or Minerva, Artemis or Diana and\nthe Madonna. Artemis or Diana was the patroness of domestic animals as\nwell as of the wild creatures of the wood (21, 14); hence we may trace\nthe extreme prevalence of amulets symbolic of their attributes upon\nhorses. The crescent\u2014that is the horned moon\u2014and horns appear to be\ninterchangeable: thus horns, in one form or another, are of all objects\nthe most common as amulets against the evil eye, whether affecting man\nor beast; so much so, that at last it has come to be fully believed by\nthe Neapolitans, that in default of a horn, in coral or other form, the\nmere utterance of the word _corno_ or _corna_ (\u2018horn\u2019) is an effectual\nprotection. In Italy, particularly in Naples, the cart harness is\nliterally made up of charms and prophylactics, such as feathers, hair,\nbrightly coloured ribbons, and especially objects of shining brass; of\nthe last the crescent is the most common.\n\nIt would take too long to describe all the objects that are employed to\ncounteract the evil eye in Italy alone. The following may be mentioned:\nfish, snakes, and various other animals, tigers\u2019 teeth, keys, a hunchback\n(_gobbo_). A single pendent horn, whether of coral, shell, or metal\nis extremely common, as are miniature hands, these frequently have\nall the digits closed up except the index and little finger, which are\nfully extended. This is a potent gesture, and a Neapolitan\u2019s right hand\nis almost constantly in that position pointing downwards, just as the\nhand-charms are made to hang downwards, as a prophylactic against unknown\nor unsuspected attacks (18, 261). Dr. Westermarck has recently (72, 211)\ngiven an illuminating description of the use and representations of the\nhand against the evil eye in Morocco.\n\nOn studying various kinds of talismans and amulets, it at once becomes\nevident that while some are credited with contagious sympathy, others\nare mimetic or symbolic, that is hom\u0153opathic in their action, while\nthere are many others that owe their efficacy to an intimate relation\nwith a spiritual being of some kind or other, or with a deity. The\ncharms of this third group are to be regarded as =fetishes= so long as\nthe recognition lasts that they are dependent for their virtue upon\nthese extraneous beings; but when this belief is lost the charm becomes\na mere talisman or amulet. The change from a fetish to a =luck-object=\nis constantly taking place owing to the despiritualising effect of\nincreasing civilisation. To take one example, Mr. E. Lovett first drew\nmy attention to the \u2018=luck bones=\u2019 that are worn by Whitby, and probably\nby other Yorkshire, fishermen, and another friend subsequently confirmed\nthe fact that these bones not only bring good fortune but are safeguards\nagainst drowning. The bone in question being the =T=-shaped hyoid- or\ntongue-bone of a sheep, Mr. Lovett suggested that this bone might have\nsomething to do with Thor\u2019s hammer. Later Professor Boyd Dawkins showed\nme the identical bone worn for a similar purpose by Manx fishermen, and\nit is worthy of note that there were Scandinavian settlements at both\nWhitby and the Isle of Man. I informed Herr E. Friedel of these facts\nand inferences, and he discovered (22, 412) that the men in the Berlin\nslaughter-yards have a similar custom, the end of the long arm of the\nbone being perforated for a thread that is fastened round the neck of the\nwearer. On looking into the arch\u00e6ological evidence he found that in the\nearly iron age unmistakable representations of Thor\u2019s hammer were worn as\ncharms in Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein. In those early days there can\nbe little doubt that the influence of the god passed into the models of\nhis weapon, and that these objects partook of the nature of fetishes,\nbut later the symbols of the god degenerated into luck-objects.\n\n\nIV. DIVINATION\n\nMen not only attempt to act directly upon nature, but they usually\nexhibit a keen desire to be guided as to the best course to take when\nin doubt, difficulty, or danger, and to be forewarned of the future.\nThe practice of =divination= is by no means confined to professional\nmagicians, or even to soothsayers, but any one may employ the accessory\nmeans.\n\nAny object may be used in divination: thus in Europe, as in Torres\nStraits (29, v. 361), a stick may be dropped to indicate a direction\nto be taken; or coins may be spun or dice thrown. Divination by means\nof skulls was common in Torres Straits (29, v. 362); in this case the\nspirit of the dead person was supposed to give the required advice.\nHaruspication, or divination by means of certain viscera, was largely\nemployed by the Romans, and I have several times seen a pig\u2019s liver\nused in Borneo for the same purpose (28, 336, 354). In these instances\nthe message, as indicated by the state of the particular viscus, was\nobtained from a deity. Other examples and varieties of divination are\ngiven by Tylor (71, i. 123).\n\n\nV. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MAGIC\n\nMagic may be employed for public purposes or for private ends. In the\nformer case it is almost invariably for the public weal, in the latter it\nis most frequently nefarious.\n\n\nA. Public Magic.\n\nAmong some totemic peoples the men of a totem group perform magical\nceremonies for the benefit of the community. The best examples of this\n=communal magic=, as it might be termed, are those described by Messrs.\nBaldwin Spencer and Gillen (64, 179-183) as practised by the Arunta tribe\nof Central Australia at the =intichiuma= ceremonies. For example, the\nheadman of a local group of the Emu totem and some other Emu men opened a\nvein and allowed their blood to stream on a patch of smooth ground, until\nabout three yards were saturated. On the hard surface of the clotted\nblood the sacred design of the Emu totem was painted with white, yellow,\nred, and black. It represented certain parts of the emu; two large\npatches of yellow indicated lumps of fat, of which the natives are very\nfond, but the greater part represented, by means of circles and circular\npatches, the eggs in various states of development, some before and some\nafter laying. Various sinuous lines indicated parts of the intestine.\nThroughout the ceremony the headman was treated with the greatest\ndeference, and no one spoke to him except in a whisper. The sacred wooden\nslabs (_churinga_) were placed on one side of the painting. In the\nintervals of a monotonous chant the headman explained the drawing. Three\nmen wore a headdress which represented the long neck and small head of\nthe emu; with a curious gliding movement they approached the spectators,\noccasionally stopping and moving only their heads, imitating the aimless\ngazing about of the bird.\n\nThe witchetty grub _intichiuma_ ceremony (64, 170-179) is performed at a\nspecial cave, where lies a large block of quartzite surrounded by small\nrounded stones. The former represents the perfect insect, and the latter\nits eggs. The headman and his associates tap the large stone and chant\nsongs, the burden of which is an invitation to the insect to lay eggs;\nthe headman strikes each man with one of the small stones, saying, \u2018You\nhave eaten much food.\u2019 Later they go to a large rock which they tap, and\ninvite the animal to come from all directions and lay eggs. After various\nsymbolic ceremonies they enter a long narrow booth made of bushes, which\nrepresents the chrysalis case from which the perfect insect emerges, and\nthere they sing of the animal in its various stages and of the sacred\nstones.\n\nThere are many similar ceremonies which the men of a totem group make in\norder to increase or produce their particular totem; thus, taking the\ntribe as a whole, the object of these ceremonies is that of increasing\nthe total food supply (64, 315-319). Among the Arunta and Ilpirra only\nthe men of the totem are allowed to be present or to take part in the\nactual ceremony. During its progress there is always some ceremony,\nsuch as that of allowing the blood of young men of the totem to flow\nover the stone which is associated with the ancestors of the totem. The\nidea of this is to send the spirits of the animals out of the stone to\nreplenish the stock of the totemic animal. After the ceremony, when, as\na consequence, the animal or plant has become abundant, the men of all\nclasses and totems go out and bring supplies into the main camp. No one\nas yet may eat it. The headman of the totem, in the presence of all in\ncamp, solemnly eats a little and hands the remainder over to the men of\nthe other totems, telling them to eat freely. If the headman did not eat\na little he would lose the power of performing _intichiuma_ successfully.\n\nIn other tribes to the north similar ceremonies exist, but they are less\nelaborate and sometimes of the simplest description. The headman of the\nwhite cockatoo totem group and his son spent the whole of one night\n\u2018singing\u2019 the cockatoo. In the Wara tribe on the shore of the Gulf of\nCarpentaria a man of the rain-group goes to a pool, and, taking care\nthat no women or strangers are in sight, bends down over and \u2018sings\u2019 the\nwater; then he takes some up in his hands, drinks it, and spits it out\nin various directions. After that he throws water all over himself, and\nafter scattering some all round he returns quietly to his camp, and rain\nis supposed to follow (64, 314). There is very little difference between\nthis act and ordinary individual magic, the essential distinction being\nthat the man in this case makes rain by virtue of rain being his totem,\nit being a function of human male members of the totem group to increase\ntheir totem.\n\nWhen the totemic system falls into decay there seems to be a tendency for\nthe old magical ceremonies which had for their purport the increase of\nthe totem, to be performed by certain families, rather than by groups of\nmen; this appears to be associated with the growth of property in land,\nso that in time the performance of certain ceremonies is restricted to\na single man, who transmits the right to his son, and they alone of the\ncommunity have this duty. There is nothing to distinguish men with these\nrights from ordinary sorcerers who practise definite departments of magic.\n\nA very large number of examples of public magical ceremonies, undertaken\nfor the good of the community, have been collected by Dr. Frazer in\nhis _Golden Bough_; of especial interest are those connected with\nthe production of abundant harvests, and the active participation of\nwomen in such customs is very significant. I here give an example\nrecently published by Miss Mary Owen (56, 60). The Corn-planting dance\nof the Musquakie or Fox Indians takes place in April, though the real\ncorn-planting commences about the 1st of May. It is danced by men only;\nthey trot at sunrise along the east side of a cornfield selected by the\nshaman, going in single file with their rattles and little tambourines\nor prayer drums, while a young maiden goes into the field and plants\na few grains from a perfect ear handed to her by the Honourable Women\n(women who have borne sons). If the harvest of the year before was\nscant the dancers may go entirely round the field. Afterwards there is\nsome eating and drinking, but not an elaborate feast. Formerly the real\nplanting of the field followed the ceremonial, and no food was eaten\nuntil the women had finished planting. Another old custom was to have the\nmaid who did the planting given a husband, who went with her into the\nfield. Later a prophet had a revelation that this custom should cease.\nThe day is at the present time a favourite one for weddings.\n\n\nB. Private Magic.\n\nIndividuals frequently practise magic for private ends, of which the\nobjects to be attained may be perfectly legitimate or even praiseworthy,\nbut more frequently recourse is had to magical practices for harmful\npurposes.\n\n=Folk remedies= for sickness and pains are very frequently of a purely\nmagical character. For example, a common cure for warts is to rub them\nwith a piece of raw meat, which must then be buried; as the meat decays\nso will the warts disappear: to be effective the meat should be stolen.\nA woman in Islay was cured of toothache by a man driving a nail into the\nupper lintel of the kitchen door; he told her to keep it there, and,\nshould it become loose at any time, to tap it a little with a hammer\nuntil it had a grip, and he assured her she would be free from toothache.\nShe never again suffered from toothache (49, 158).\n\nAny variety or combination of varieties of sympathetic magic may be\nemployed in the manufacture or practice of =love-charms=; frequently\nthey are fortified by the subtle association of scent. Doubtless certain\nscents have a direct stimulating effect, but, apart from this, should any\nscent be definitely worn when young men wish to attract girls, there can\nbe no doubt that the suggestion would tend to act powerfully upon the\nlatter, and that \u2018girl-medicine,\u2019 as I have heard it called, would of\nitself be potent even if other practices were not employed. I was told by\na Torres Straits islander that just as a snake that is in one tree can,\nby swallowing its spittle, make a bird that is in another tree come to\nit, so if a man chews a certain medicine and a girl sees him swallowing\nthe infusion in his saliva, she understands what the man means and is\nconstrained to go to him (29, v. 328).\n\nVarious instances of =nefarious magic= have been given in the preceding\npages. A good example came under my own observation. In Torres Straits\nthere is a vine-like plant that loses its leaves at a certain season of\nthe year, and the stem breaks up into joints, which often bear a striking\nresemblance to some of the long bones of the human skeleton. This\ncircumstance led magicians to employ these sticks to make human beings\ninto similar dried and shrivelled-up objects. The dry segments of the\nvine were collected and the magician gave the name of some part of the\nbody to each joint: for example, one would be called an \u2018arm,\u2019 another\na \u2018leg,\u2019 and so forth. The magician crouched like a fish-eagle and,\nimitating the way that a bird tears flesh off bones, threw the segments\nbehind him without looking round. If he left the spot without turning\nround to look at the sticks the patient would die; but if he did not wish\nto proceed to this extremity, he turned and looked at the segments, and\nsubsequently he would return and pick them up and place them together and\nput \u2018medicine\u2019 on them, and the patient would recover (29, v. 325).\n\nThe following account recently published by Mrs. J. Gunn (26, 98) is so\ncharacteristic that I quote it nearly verbatim. In North Australia any\none can \u2018sing magic,\u2019 even lubras [women], but of course the wise old\nmagic men do it best. It never fails with them, particularly if they\n\u2018sing\u2019 and point one of the special \u2018death-bones\u2019 or \u2018sacred stones\u2019 of\nthe tribe. Generally a black fellow goes away quite by himself when he is\n\u2018singing magic,\u2019 but very occasionally a few men join together, as they\ndid in the case of \u2018Goggle Eye.\u2019 When enough magic has been \u2018sung\u2019 into\nthe bone, it is taken away to the camp, and very secretly pointed at the\nunconscious victim. The magic spirit of the bone runs into the man who\nis pointed at, and gradually kills him. Of course the man who has been\n\u2018sung\u2019 must be told somehow, or he will not get a fright and die. There\nare many ways of managing this; one very good way is to put the bone\nwhere he will be sure to find it, in his dilly-bag, or near his fire, or\nthrough the handle of his spear; but the man who leaves the bone about\nmust, of course, be very careful to destroy his own tracks. \u2018Goggle Eye,\u2019\nafter he had found the bones lying about, knew exactly what was going to\nhappen to him, and of course it did. His throat got very sore, and he\ngrew so thin and weak that he could hardly stand. A man can be cured\nby magic men charming the \u2018bone\u2019 away again; but \u2018Goggle Eye\u2019 was old,\nand, what was worse, he was getting very cross, and too fond of ordering\npeople about, so the black fellows thought it would be the best plan not\nto cure him, and a few more sneaked away into the bush and \u2018sang\u2019 some\nmore bones, and pointed them at him to make quite sure about his dying.\nPoor old \u2018Goggle Eye\u2019 suffered dreadfully; no native would help him\nexcept his blood-brother, because they were afraid of the curse coming to\nthem. Some said they would like to help, but that if they made \u2018Goggle\nEye\u2019s\u2019 fire for him, their own would never burn again. Nobody could even\ncarry his food to him. Soon after, at \u2018fowl sing out,\u2019 or cockcrow, he\ndied.\n\n\nVI. MAGICIANS\n\nMost forms of magic can be performed by anybody provided he knows what\nto do; but there are specialists in magic, who, by us, are variously\ntermed medicine-men, magicians, sorcerers, wizards, witches, wise women,\nand the like. Their lore is transmitted orally to their disciples, who\nmay or may not be their own children. Magical powers may be due to the\nmere accident of birth, as for example in the European belief in the\ntherapeutic gifts of the seventh son of a seventh son. In some cases\nthe sorcerer has to undergo a rigorous training, often being subjected\nto painful or loathsome ordeals; by these means the weaklings are\neliminated, and those who persist have their character and fortitude\nstrengthened, and they gain increased respect from their fellow-men.\nFurther, in Australia and elsewhere, the medicine-man is not always a\n\u2018doctor\u2019; he may be a \u2018rain-maker,\u2019 \u2018seer,\u2019 or \u2018spirit-medium,\u2019 or may\npractise some special form of magic.\n\nUsually the sorcerers unite together to form a society, which may attain\ngreat influence among backward races. According to Leland (43, 10),\n\u2018there is actually in Tuscany a culture or worship of fetishes which are\nnot Catholic, _i.e._ of strange stones and many curious relics. But there\nis a great deal of mystery and secrecy observed in all this cult. It has\nits professors; men, but mostly women, who collect charms and spells, and\nteach them to one another, and hold meetings; that is, there is a kind\nof college of witches and wizards, which, for many good reasons, eludes\nobservation.\u2019 The old faith, as it is termed, is pre-Christian, but not\nactively anti-Christian.\n\n\nVII. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MAGICAL PRACTICES\n\nThe superficial observer is apt to regard the medicine-men or sorcerers\nas cheats who deliberately humbug their neighbours; but it is probable\nthat most of them really believe themselves to be possessed of occult\nor supernormal power. Doubtless they do many things for mere effect,\nin order to enhance the respect they desire to have paid to themselves\npersonally, as well as to put the subjects or spectators into a proper\nframe of mind; but this is precisely what is deliberately done by the\norganisers of all ceremonies by all peoples. Doubtless, also, many acts\nare performed which are intended to impose upon the credulity of others;\nbut this is a device which is not unknown among cultured people, as, for\nexample, the liquefying of the blood of St. Januarius in Naples. There\nremain, however, a large number of phenomena, which are as mysterious\nto them as they are to the vast majority of mankind, and many of these\nare receiving the attention of psychologists of the present day, without\ntheir significance being understood. Mr. Podmore (55, 373) is not afraid\nto say that \u2018many of the alleged wonders of witchcraft and of ancient\nmagic in general, when disentangled from the accretions formed round them\nby popular myth and superstition, present a marked resemblance to some of\nthe facts recorded\u2019 in his book.\n\nThe mental equilibrium of many backward peoples is very unstable,\nalthough they may not suffer from the same derangements of the nervous\nsystem that affect the more highly civilised peoples. To take an example\nor two of this =nervous instability=, Castren observed long ago that if\nthe Samoyeds were sitting around inside their skin tents in the evening,\nand some one crept up and struck the tent, half of them were likely to\nfall into cataleptic fits. Bogoras (5, 42) refers to the well-known\nArctic hysteria which is so widespread among the Yukaghir and Lamut\nwomen, and to a less extent among the Chukchee, the Russianised, and\neven the Russian women. This disease develops chiefly in the form of\nan uncontrollable desire to repeat in a loud voice each word spoken by\nsomebody else, and to imitate every sudden gesture or action. This is the\nsame nervous disorder as the widely spread _l\u00e2tah_ of Malaysia, which has\nbeen so admirably described by Sir F. A. Swettenham (68, 64).\n\nThe far-reaching power of =suggestion= has been perhaps the most\npotent factor in upholding magical practices, especially when it is\n=combined with hypnotism=. The hypnotic state, it must be remembered,\nthough ordinarily produced by another, can be self-induced by gazing\nat an object. There is an overwhelming number of modern instances of\nbad habits, various diseases, inflammations, local and general pain,\ninsomnia, neurasthenia, psychic paralysis, and psychic hysteria, being\ncured by suggestion while the patient is in the hypnotic state (31,\n607). Conversely pain, inflammations, and other organic changes can\nbe produced through the same means; such is the explanation of the\nappearance of stigmata on the hands and feet of religious ecstatics,\nwho had induced auto-hypnotism by intently gazing on the Figure on the\nCross. The cataleptic and an\u00e6sthetic conditions producible by hypnotism\nare well known all over the world, and have for ages been part of the\nstock-in-trade of sorcerers, medicine-men, or of certain religious\nenthusiasts.\n\n=Suggestion alone=, without the aid of hypnotism, can effect wonders, and\nfaith-cures and Christian science are by no means a new thing under the\nsun, but something very old under new names. Probably every physician has\nknown cases of \u2018persons who died because they did not want to live or\nwere at least indifferent; and probably an equal number who materially\nlengthened their lives by the mere determination not to die\u2019 (67, 612).\n\n\u2018The psychology of the matter,\u2019 writes Marett (51, 143), \u2018is up to a\ncertain point simple enough. Just as the savage is a good actor, throwing\nhimself like a child into his mime, so he is a good spectator, entering\ninto the spirit of another\u2019s acting, herein again resembling the child,\nwho can be frightened into fits by the roar of what he knows to be but a\n\u201cpretended\u201d lion. Even if the =make-believe= is more or less make-believe\nto the victim, it is hardly less efficacious; for, dominating, as it\ntends to do, the field of attention, it racks the emotional system, and,\ntaking advantage of the relative abeyance of intelligent thought and\nwill, sets stirring all manner of deep-lying impulses and automatisms.\u2019\n\nAll peoples have prohibitions of certain kinds, and most have a firm\nbelief that should these =tabus= be broken dire consequences will befall\nthe offender. Occasionally the punishment is effected by the social\nexecutive, through representatives of secret societies or by other\nmeans; but usually it is left in the hands, so to speak, of the outraged\nspiritual powers, and so strong is this belief that it drees its own\nweird. For example, Father Merolla (54, xvi. 238) tells of a young Congo\nnegro who, being on a journey, lodged at a friend\u2019s house; the latter\ngot a wild hen for his breakfast, and the young man asked if it were a\nwild hen. His host replied \u2018No.\u2019 Then he fell on heartily, and afterwards\nproceeded on his journey. After four years these two met together again,\nand his old friend asked him \u2018If he would eat a wild hen,\u2019 to which he\nanswered that it was tabooed to him. \u2018Hereat the host began immediately\nto laugh, inquiring of him, \u201cWhat made him refuse it now, when he had\neaten one at his table about four years ago?\u201d At the hearing of this\nthe negro immediately fell a-trembling, and suffered himself to be so\nfar possessed with the effects of imagination that he died in less than\ntwenty-four hours after.\u2019 Armit (2, 459) relates that an Australian\ndied of fright within a fortnight after he had discovered his sick wife\nhad lain upon his blanket. Nowhere is the power of taboo greater than\namong the Polynesians. And examples of its potency in procuring its own\nfulfilment in the Heroic Age of Ireland have already been given (p. 29).\n\nNo wonder then that belief in the magical powers of sorcerers can cause\nthe same effects. Messrs. Spencer and Gillen (64, 537) state that the\nAustralian natives believe that any bone, stick, spear, etc., which\nhas been \u2018sung\u2019 is supposed to be endowed with what the natives call\n_Arungquiltha_, that is, magical poisonous properties, and any native who\nbelieves that he has been struck by, say, a charmed spear, is almost sure\nto die, whether the wound be slight or severe, unless he be saved by the\ncounter magic of a medicine-man. He simply lies down, refuses food, and\npines away. Actual instances are given of men with slight wounds dying in\na few days from this belief.\n\nThere can be no doubt that magical practices can act by =suggestion=\nthrough =fear= and =fascination= upon human victims who are aware of\ntheir occurrence, and it is probable that in most cases the victim is\nmade aware of such practices as in the instance given on p. 49. Also\nthere is every reason to believe that all backward peoples, including the\nsorcerers themselves, believe in the power of magic. Casalis (10, 275)\ngives an instructive instance in point. A chief of the Basutos once held\nforth in his presence on the matter of sorcery: he said, \u2018Sorcery only\nexists in the mouths of those who speak of it. It is no more in the power\nof man to kill his fellow by the mere effect of his will, than it would\nbe to raise him from the dead. This is my opinion. Nevertheless, you\nsorcerers who hear me speak, use moderation.\u2019\n\nProbably more widely spread than is usually accepted is the belief of\nsome backward peoples, and therefore of their magicians, in a spiritual\nforce that accomplishes their desires; such, for example, as the =mana=\nof the Melanesians. \u2018The Melanesian mind,\u2019 writes Dr. Codrington (12,\n118), \u2018is entirely possessed by the belief in a supernatural power or\ninfluence, called almost universally _mana_. This is what works to effect\neverything which is beyond the ordinary power of man, outside the common\nprocesses of nature; it is present in the atmosphere of life, attaches\nitself to persons and to things, and is manifested by results which can\nonly be ascribed to its operation. When one has got it he can use it and\ndirect it, but its force may break forth at some new point; the presence\nof it is ascertained by proof. A man comes by chance upon a stone which\ntakes his fancy; its shape is singular, it is like something, it is\ncertainly not a common stone, there must be _mana_ in it. So he argues\nwith himself, and he puts it to the proof; he lays it at the root of a\ntree to the fruit of which it has a certain resemblance, or he buries\nit in the ground when he plants a garden; an abundant crop on the tree\nor in the garden shows that he is right, the stone is _mana_, has that\npower in it. Having that power, it is a vehicle to convey _mana_ to other\nstones. In the same way certain forms of words, generally in the form\nof a song, have power for certain purposes; a charm of words is called\n_mana_. But this power, though itself impersonal, is always connected\nwith some person who directs it; all spirits have it, ghosts generally,\nsome men. If a stone is found to have a supernatural power it is because\na spirit has associated itself with it. A dead man\u2019s bone has with it\n_mana_, because the ghost is with the bone; a man may have so close a\nconnection with a spirit or ghost that he has _mana_ in himself also, and\ncan so direct it as to effect what he desires. All conspicuous success is\na proof that a man has _mana_; his influence depends on the impression\nmade on the people\u2019s mind that he has it.\u2019 If a man has been successful\nin fighting, it is not through his own qualities, but \u2018he has certainly\ngot the _mana_ of some deceased warrior to empower him, conveyed in an\namulet of a stone round his neck, or a tuft of leaves in his belt, in a\ntooth hung upon the finger of his bow hand, or in the form of words with\nwhich he brings supernatural assistance to his side.\u2019\n\nThe Omaha (19) believe that a man\u2019s own will can act directly on his\nfellows by singing certain songs; this act is called _wazhin-dhedhe_,\nthat is \u2018directive energy, to send\u2019; the Omaha term \u2018signifies to\nsend forth one\u2019s thought and =will power= toward another in order to\nsupplement his strength, and thereby affect his action,\u2019 or, as we should\nterm it, =telepathy=. By an appeal to _Wakanda_ (that is \u2018immanent life\nmanifest in all things,\u2019 or the \u2018hidden and mysterious power which brings\nto pass\u2019), in the rite of vision, the man\u2019s powers could be supplemented\nby the co-operation of the elements and of animals.\n\nThe innate spirituality of the savage appears to be largely ignored by\nstudents, who usually dub the magic worker as a conscious cheat and\nhumbug, whereas it seems to be more correct to regard him as dealing with\nmaterial objects mainly as endowed with life (=Animism=; 50, 171), or as\nthe vehicles of spiritual or supernatural power, and by means of such\nobjects or by the shafts of speech he can effectively project his will.\n\nIf then, as Mr. Marett points out (51, 150), the occult projectiveness\nof the magical act is naturally and almost inevitably interpreted as an\nexertion of will that somehow finds its way to another will and dominates\nit, the spell or uttered \u2018must\u2019 will tend to embody the very life and\nsoul of the affair. Nothing finds its way home to another\u2019s mind more\nsharply. It is the very type of a spiritual projectile.\n\nIn many examples of magical procedure the magician appears to act\ndirectly upon nature, and seeks to enforce the action of his will by\nthe power of the spoken word or spell. In other cases he obtains power\nfrom energy derived from something outside of himself; for example,\nthe shaman of Siberia may be possessed by a spirit, or the magician\nmay even be possessed by a god. Thus by insensible stages do we arrive\nat actions that may better be described as religious or theurgic than\nas magical. Numerous examples of transition stages are given by Mr. W.\nW. Skeat (63). The god-inspired magician may become an actual deity,\nfor many royal magicians, who are more especially rain-makers, are\nregarded, as Dr. Frazer has recently pointed out, as incarnate gods in\nAfrica and elsewhere (21). Concurrently with ideas of personification\nand progressive deification the =spell evolves into prayer=. On the\nother hand, power may be obtained over deities by practices that are\nessentially magical, as, for example, by uttering the ineffable name, or\nby spells and incantations, and these may at the same time be associated\nwith prayer, or the prayer itself may degenerate into a spell.\n\nHowever it may be with human beings, few culture-folk will admit that\nsorcerers can effect the ordinary phenomena of nature, and in this\nrespect, at all events, they should soon become discredited. On one\noccasion in Murray Island, Torres Straits, a native showed me two stones\nin a recess on the foreshore which were pointed at by men holding\ncertain leaves which were left there. A \u2018big wind\u2019 would immediately\narise which lasted until the plants were removed. This _zogo_ was\nemployed only in the season of the South-east trade wind. On my asking\nwhether the ceremony was done in the North-west monsoon, my informant\nsaid emphatically, \u2018Can\u2019t do it in North-west.\u2019 That is, the charm is\nperformed only at that season of the year when the required result is\npossible\u2014indeed, when it is of normal occurrence (28, 60; 29, vi.)\nIn this, as in other cases, I found that =the impossible was never\nattempted=. A rain charm would not be made when there was no expectation\nof rain coming, or a south-east wind be raised during the wrong season.\nProbably this is the experience of others elsewhere, and thus it is not\nremarkable if the desired result frequently follows the performance of\nthe charming.\n\nA =loophole is generally provided in case of failure=. Either some\nirregularity or mistake occurred in the performance of the charm, or\nanother sorcerer was performing contrary magic which proved of greater\npotency.\n\n\n\n\nFETISHISM\n\n\nI. DEFINITION\n\nThe word Fetishism has been so misused of late that ethnologists\nare apt to view it askance and hesitate to employ it in religious\nclassifications. It has been stretched to such an extent in various\ndirections that it has lost the definition and precision necessary for a\nscientific term. Starting from a humble origin, referring in its native\nland (Portugal) to the charms and amulets worn \u2018for luck,\u2019 and to relics\nof saints, \u2018fetish\u2019 grew to such amazing proportions when transplanted\nto West African soil, that at last there was nothing connected with West\nAfrican religion to which it was not applied. De Brosses introduced\nF\u00e9tichisme as a general descriptive term (8), supposing the word to be\nconnected with _chose f\u00e9e_, _fatum_. Comte[1] employed it to describe\nthe universal religious tendency to which Dr. Tylor has given the name\nof Animism (71, chaps. xi.-xvii.). Bastholm claimed \u2018everything produced\nby nature or art, which receives divine honour, including the sun, moon,\nearth, air, fire, water, with rivers, trees, stones, images and animals,\nconsidered as objects of divine worship, as Fetishism;[2] and Lippert\n(46) defines Fetishism as \u2018a belief in the souls of the departed coming\nto dwell in any thing that is tangible or visible in heaven or earth.\u2019\n\nAlthough Miss Kingsley (39, 139) expresses regret that the word Fetish\n\u2018is getting very loosely used in England,\u2019 she scarcely helps forward\nthe work of distinction and arrangement when a few lines further on\nshe announces \u2018When I say Fetish, or Ju Ju, I mean the religion of the\nnatives of West Africa.\u2019 Subsequently she overstepped her own definition,\ndescribing the secret societies as \u2018pure fetish\u2019 (41, 139), although they\n\u2018are not essentially religious,\u2019 but \u2018are mainly judicial.\u2019\n\nThe Rev. R. H. Nassau perpetuates this vague use of the word, grouping\nunder the name of Fetishism all native customs even remotely connected,\nas everything is in West Africa, with religious or magical beliefs,\nuntil the ejaculation uttered when one sneezes or stumbles receives the\nsounding title, \u2018fetish prayer\u2019 (53, 97).\n\nThese \u2018lumpings\u2019 are all the more to be regretted since Miss Kingsley and\nthe Rev. R. H. Nassau are among the chief authorities on West African\nFetishism in its most characteristic forms, and a clear definition of the\nuse of the word, with a rigid adherence to its proper meaning, would have\ndone great service in preventing many misconceptions.\n\nThe meaning of any word depends upon its definition, and it may\nbe defined in three ways: 1. etymologically; 2. historically; 3.\ndogmatically.\n\n1. The word fetish is derived through the Portuguese _feiti\u00e7o_ from the\nLatin _facticius_\u2014_facere_ = to do. This shows the original conception at\nthe root of the word.\n\n2. The historical definition shows the growth or evolution of the meaning\nof the word, starting from its original conception. Dr. Tylor has pointed\nout how magic has appropriated to itself the derivatives of \u2018to do,\u2019\nsuch as _feiti\u00e7o_ in Portuguese, _fattura_ in Italian, _faiture_ in Old\nFrench, and many more, thus claiming to be \u2018doing\u2019 _par excellence_\n(70, 135). This tendency is already noticeable even in classical times\n(\u2018_potens et factiosus_,\u2019 possessed of power and influence, Auct.\n_Her._ 2, 26, 40), and is well marked in Plautus, who uses various\nderivatives of _facere_ to mean \u2018powerful\u2019 or \u2018influential,\u2019 especially\nwith reference to influence due to family connection or to riches\n(_factiones_, _Aul._ II. i. 45; _factiosus_, ib. II. ii. 50; _factio_,\n_Cist._ II. i. 17, etc.). From this sense of =potent politically=,\nlater Latin developed the meaning of =potent magically=, as seen in\n_facturari_, to bewitch, _factura_, witchcraft, from which latter is\ndescended the Old French _faiture_, witchcraft, and perhaps our slang\nword \u2018fake.\u2019 =Fetish= as derived from the passive form _facticius_,\nmeaning made by art, artificial, was probably first applied to images,\nidols or amulets made by hand, and later included =all objects possessing\nmagical potency=, _i.e._ bewitched or \u2018faked.\u2019[3]\n\n3. The dogmatic definition of a word is the meaning attached to it by\nindividuals of authority.\n\nFetishism is defined as \u2018the worship of inanimate objects,\u2019 the worship\nof stocks and stones, \u2018the religious worship of material objects\u2019 (61,\n61), \u2018tangible and inanimate objects worshipped for themselves alone\u2019\n(15, 196), and a fetish is defined as \u2018differing from an idol in that\nit is worshipped in its own character, not as the symbol, image, or\noccasional residence of a deity\u2019 (_New English Dictionary_, Oxford,\nClarendon Press, 1901).\n\nThe account of the native of Fida given by Bosman (54, xvi. 493) is often\nquoted as the classic example of fetishism:\u2014\n\n    \u2018I once asked a negro with whom I could talk very freely ...\n    how they celebrated their divine worship, and what number of\n    gods they had; he, laughing, answered that I had puzzled him;\n    and assured me that nobody in the whole country could give\n    me an exact account of it. \u201cFor, as for my own part, I have\n    a very large number of gods, and doubt not but that others\n    have as many.\u201d \u201cFor any of us being resolved to undertake\n    anything of importance, we first of all search out a god to\n    prosper our designed undertaking; and going out of doors with\n    the design, take the first creature that presents itself to\n    our eyes, whether dog, cat, or the most contemptible creature\n    in the world for our god: or perhaps instead of that, any\n    inanimate that falls in our way, whether a stone, a piece of\n    wood, or anything else of the same nature. This new-chosen\n    god is immediately presented with an offering, which is\n    accompanied by a solemn vow, that if it pleaseth him to prosper\n    our undertakings, for the future we will always worship and\n    esteem him as a god. If our design prove successful, we have\n    discovered a new and assisting god, which is daily presented\n    with a fresh offering; but if the contrary happen, the new god\n    is rejected as a useless tool, and consequently returns to\n    his primitive estate.\u201d \u201cWe make and break our gods daily, and\n    consequently are the masters and inventors of what we sacrifice\n    to.\u201d\u2019\n\nBosman goes on to say:\u2014\n\n    \u2018I was very well pleased to hear the negro talk in this manner\n    concerning his country gods; but, having conversed with him\n    for some time, I observed that he ridiculed his own country\n    gods, for, having lived amongst the French, whose language he\n    perfectly understood and spoke, he had amongst them imbibed the\n    principles of the Christian religion, and somewhat towards a\n    just notion of the true God and how he is to be worshipped, ...\n    wherefore he no further concerned himself with the gods of the\n    country than as engaged to it for quietness\u2019 sake, or to make\n    his friends easy.\u2019\n\nA sceptic is scarcely likely to give a sympathetic report of a religion\nhe has discarded, and Bosman\u2019s negro is no exception to the rule. He\ndescribes the outward tangible aspect of fetishism, but ignores its\nspiritual interpretation, and the dogmatic definitions above follow in\nthe same path of error.\n\nFetishism and the fetish, as thus defined, do not exist, except in\n\u2018incomplete observations\u2019; they certainly are nowhere to be found in West\nAfrica, the typical land of fetishism.\n\n\u2018Every native with whom I have conversed on the subject,\u2019 writes Ellis,\n\u2018has laughed at the possibility of it being supposed that he could\nworship or offer sacrifice to some such object as a stone, which of\nitself it would be perfectly obvious to his senses was a stone only and\nnothing more\u2019 (15, 192). So the Maori _wakapakoko_ were only thought\nto possess virtue or peculiar sanctity from the presence of the god\nthey represented when dressed up for worship; at other times they were\nregarded only as bits of ordinary wood (69, 212), and Brinton affirms\nthat \u2018nowhere in the world did man ever worship a stick or a stone as\nsuch\u2019 (6, 131).\n\nAll cases of Fetishism, when examined, show that the worship is paid to\nan intangible power or spirit incorporated in some visible form, and\nthat the fetish is merely the link between the worshipper and the object\nof his worship. Any definition therefore which takes no account of the\nspiritual force behind the material object is seen to be incomplete and\nsuperficial, as it ignores the essential conception of the worship.\n\nDr. Tylor enlarges the scope of the word, classing Fetishism as a\nsubordinate department of Animism, and defining it as the doctrine of\nspirits embodied in, or conveying influence through, certain material\nobjects. He includes in it the worship of stocks and stones, \u2018and thence\nit passes by an imperceptible gradation into idolatry\u2019 (71, ii. 144).\n\nIt is these imperceptible gradations which blur all the outlines of the\nrigid systematist, and make an exclusive classification impossible.\nEncouragement is found in the reflection that exclusive classifications\nare almost unknown to science, and, where met with, are generally due\nto ignorance, waiting for greater knowledge or further research to\nprovide the intermediate links which everywhere blend class with class,\nspecies with species. But when the group is studied in its area of\ncharacterisation, certain features stand prominently forward, and by a\nstudy of these the essential characteristics of the whole class can be\ndetermined.\n\n\nII. ESSENTIAL CHARACTERS OF FETISHISM\n\nThe characteristic features of fetishism, and particularly of West\nAfrican fetishism, are as follows:\u2014\n\nThe fetish may consist of any object whatsoever, but the object chosen\nis generally either a wonderful ornament or curiosity, a symbolic charm\nwith sympathetic properties, or a sign or token representing an ideal\nnotion or being. It is credited with mysterious power, owing to its\nbeing, temporarily or permanently, the vessel or habitation, vehicle\nfor communication, or instrument of some unseen power or spirit, which\nis conceived to possess personality and will, and ability to see, hear,\nunderstand, and act. It may act by the will or force of its own power\nor spirit, or by force of a foreign power entering it or acting on it\nfrom without, and the material object and the power or spirit may be\ndissociated. It is worshipped, prayed to, sacrificed to, talked with, and\npetted or ill-treated with regard to its past or future behaviour. In its\nmost characteristic form a fetish must be consecrated by a priest.\n\n1. =A fetish may be any object whatsoever=, but there is always a reason\nfor its choice.\n\nThe simplest reason is =that it attracts attention= (61, 61) (71,\nii. 145), and anything that attracts attention at once acquires an\nexaggerated value, and appeals to that natural instinct of human nature,\nfound also among some birds and animals, the love for collecting.\n\n\u2018In the love of abnormal curiosities there shows itself a craving for the\nmarvellous, an endeavour to get free from the tedious sense of law and\nuniformity in nature\u2019 (71, ii. 145).\n\nSo the fetish consists of a queer-shaped stone, a bright bead, a\nstick, parrots\u2019 feathers, a root, claw, seed, bone, or any curious or\nconspicuous object.\n\nIn Benin they take everything which seems extraordinary in nature for a\ngod, and make offerings to him, and each is his own priest, in order to\nworship his gods in what manner pleases him best (54, xvi. 530).\n\n=Or= the object =may have attracted attention by its behaviour=.\n\nA visitor to a fetish hut took up a stone about as big as a hen\u2019s egg,\nand its owner told its history. \u2018He was once going out on important\nbusiness, but crossing the threshold he trod on this stone and hurt\nhimself. Ha, ha! thought he, art thou here? So he took the stone, and it\nhelped him through his undertaking for days\u2019 (71, ii. 158).\n\n=Sometimes the object= to be chosen =is revealed= to a man =in a dream=,\nas among the natives of the Gold Coast, where a dead relation will return\nto direct a man to go to a certain spot and there select a certain stone,\nor piece of a tree, which he is to bring home with him, and guard and\nreverence as the habitation of a protecting deity (15, 90).\n\nThis connects the fetish with the guardian spirits of the North American\nIndians, which appear to young men in dreams, or visions, after prayer\nand fasting. The vision generally takes the form of some tangible object,\noften an animal, a portion of which is preserved by the man as his most\nprecious possession, and if not, some concrete form is taken to represent\nthe subject of the vision. A guardian spirit differs, however, from a\nfetish, in that it is a life-long possession, some men are not privileged\nto obtain one, and no man could possess more than one; while any man\ncould obtain a fetish, and could discard one and adopt another if it\nproved to be unavailing.\n\n2. It consists of a =symbolic charm with sympathetic properties=.\n\u2018There is a relation between the selected substances and the object to\nbe obtained: to give the possessor bravery or strength, some part of\na leopard or an elephant; to give cunning, some part of a gazelle; to\ngive wisdom, some part of a human brain; to give courage, some part\nof a heart; to give influence, some part of an eye,\u2019 etc. etc. \u2018These\nsubstances are supposed to lure some spirit (being in some way pleasing\nto it) which thenceforward is satisfied to reside in them and to aid the\npossessor in the accomplishment of some specific wish\u2019 (53, 82).\n\nFor convenience of carriage these substances are put into snail-shells,\nnut-shells, or the small horns of gazelles, or of goats, and the whole\nthen forms the fetish.\n\nBosman describes the way in which a fetish, consisting of a pipe filled\nwith various substances, was generally made on the Guinea Coast in 1705.\n\n\u2018They have a great wooden pipe filled with earth, oil, blood, bones\nof dead men and beasts, feathers, hair, and to be short, all sorts of\nexcrementitious and filthy trash, which they do not endeavour to mould\ninto any shape, but lay it in a confused heap in the pipe\u2019 (54, xvi. 398).\n\n\u2018Human eyeballs, particularly of white men, are a great charm. This, I\nfancy, is to secure the man \u201cthat lives in your eyes\u201d for the service of\nthe village\u2019 (40, 305).\n\nSometimes there is a tangible connection between the object chosen for\nthe fetish and the spirit occupying it. Thus among the Gold Coast\nnatives the object which is entered by the subordinate spirit of\nSasabonsum must be taken from the habitat of a Sasabonsum, from a place,\nthat is, which is marked with red earth, where the red earth marks the\nblood of the victim of a Sasabonsum (15, 109).\n\n3. It may consist of =a sign or token representing an ideal notion\nor being=, and here it is difficult to draw any distinction between\nfetishism and idolatry, \u2018for a small line and a few streaks of colour\nmay change a fetish into an idol\u2019 (61, 77). Certainly the lower forms\nof idolatry present the aspect of fetishism, but the true fetish is not\nshaped to resemble the spirit it represents, and the true idol is only\nthe symbol, not the vessel, vehicle, or instrument of deity. At the same\ntime, an image may be worshipped as a fetish, and regarded as a material\nbody provided for a spirit; or a fetish, being regarded merely as the\nsymbol or representative of a spirit, seems to develop the earliest form\nof idolatry (71, ii. 169). The distinction lies in the attitude of mind\nin which the objects are worshipped, and no objective differentiation is\npossible, for the object will be a fetish for one worshipper and a pure\nsymbol of a spirit to another.\n\nStone worship is often pure fetishism, the stone being regarded as\nthe tangible sign or token of a spirit or power to which worship is\naddressed. But it advances beyond the limits of fetishism if a general\nspirit, or a god of a community, while worshipped in the form of a stone,\nis also believed to animate other objects. The animating force of a\nfetish must be individual, and cannot animate more than one object at a\ntime. When the spirits of the _suhman_ charms (15, 99) are considered to\nbe individual spirits dependent upon Sasabonsum they are fetishes; if the\nspirit of Sasabonsum were supposed to animate all the _suhman_ charms\nthey could not properly be called fetishes.\n\n4. A fetish is =credited with mysterious powers owing to its being the\nhabitation, temporary or permanent, of a spiritual being=.\n\nThis sounds like a definition of the principle of animism, and so it may\nbe, for fetishism is animism, seen, as it were, from the other end and\nseen in detail. Animism sees all things animated by spirits; fetishism\nsees a spirit incorporated in an individual object.\n\nBut there is this distinction, that the spirit which is believed to\noccupy the fetish is a different conception from the spirit of the\nanimistic theory; it is not the soul or vital power belonging to the\nobject, and inherent in it, from which the virtue is derived, but a\nspirit or power attracted to and incorporated in it, while separable\nfrom it. The spirit of the fetish is also distinct from a god, as it can\nanimate one object only, while a god can manifest his power in various\nforms.\n\nThus in Bosman\u2019s account of the Benin fetish quoted above, he talks of\n\u2018the pipe where the idol is lodged,\u2019 that is the material habitation\ninto which the spirit has been lured by some means of attraction. Miss\nKingsley, describing a fetish or _juju_, says \u2018it is not a doll or toy,\nand has far more affinity to the image of a saint, inasmuch as it is not\nvenerated for itself, or treasured because of its prettiness, but only\nbecause it is the residence, or the occasional haunt, of a spirit\u2019 (40,\n287).\n\nThe material objects which form the tutelary deities or _Bohs\u016dm_ of the\nnatives of the Gold Coast are not symbols of gods which usually reside\nelsewhere; each is the actual receptacle or ordinary abiding-place of\nan indwelling god. One may be a wooden figure, another a stone, a third\na covered calabash or an earthen pot, containing a mixture of blood and\nearth (15, 80).\n\nThe best example of this class is provided by the _suhman_.\n\nThe man who wants a _suhman_ takes some objects, it may be a rudely cut\nwooden image, or a stone, a root of a plant, or some red earth placed in\na pan, and then he calls on a spirit of Sasabonsum (\u2018a genus of deities,\nevery member of which possesses identical characteristics\u2019) to enter the\nobject prepared, promising it offerings and worship. If a spirit consents\nto take up its residence in the object a low hissing sound is heard, and\nthe _suhman_ is complete. It receives a small portion of the daily food\nof its owner, and is treated with reverence, and mainly used to bring\nevil on some one else (15, 100-101).\n\n5. Sometimes the fetish is merely the =vehicle or means by which the\nspirit communicates= with his worshippers, and only acquires a temporary\npersonality when thus inspired. This is the character of the New Zealand\nfetishes, _wakapakoko_, or images.\n\n\u2018A small image was used about 18 inches long, resembling a peg, with a\ncarved head. The priest first bandaged a fillet of red parrot feathers\nunder the god\u2019s chin, which was called his _pahau_ or beard; when this\nwas done it was taken possession of by the _atua_, whose spirit entered\nit; the priest then either held it in the hand and vibrated it in the\nair, whilst the powerful _karakia_ (charm, prayer) was repeated, or he\ntied a piece of string, formed of the centre of a flax leaf, round the\nneck of the image and stuck it in the ground: he sat at a little distance\nfrom it, holding the string in his hand, and gave the god a jerk to\narrest his attention\u2019 (69, 182).\n\nThese Maori fetishes \u2018were only thought to possess virtue or peculiar\nsanctity from the presence of the god they represent when dressed up,\nat other times they were regarded as bits of ordinary wood\u2019 (69, 212).\nThe use of the words \u2018image\u2019 and \u2018god\u2019 seem to place this ceremony on a\nhigher plane than fetishism, but the \u2018god\u2019 is generally the spirit of an\nancestor, and the \u2018image\u2019 is less a portrait of a worshipped deity than\nan expression of the Maori genius for wood-carving.\n\n6. While the conception of the fetish as the vehicle of communication\nbetween spirit and worshipper raises fetishism to a higher plane in\nreligious evolution, the conception of the fetish as an =instrument by\nwhich the spirit acts= lowers it to a stage which is not necessarily\nreligious at all, to a stage where the fetish is often regarded merely in\nthe light of a charm or an amulet.\n\nThis is the lowest and the commonest form of fetishism; it may\npractically be said to be universal.\n\nBosnian relates that the word Fetiche is chiefly used in a religious\nsense, or at least is derived from thence, but \u2018all things made in honour\nof these false gods, never so mean, are called Fetiche.\u2019\n\nThese material charms are so common that by the universality of their\nuse, and the prominence given to them everywhere, in houses and on the\nperson, they almost monopolise the religious thought of the Bantu negro,\nsubordinating other acknowledged points of his theology, dominating\nhis almost entire religious interest, and giving the departmental\nword \u2018fetich\u2019 such overwhelming regard that it has furnished the name\ndistinctive of the native African religious system (53, 80). \u2018The\nnew-born infant has a health-knot tied about his neck, wrists, or loins,\nand down to the day of oldest age every one keeps on multiplying or\nrenewing or altering these life talismans\u2019 (53, 85).\n\nIt is interesting to find this form of fetish charm described by Bosman\nat the beginning of the eighteenth century.\n\n\u2018The child is no sooner born than the priest (here called Fetichee or\nConfoe) is sent for, who binds a parcel of ropes and coral and other\ntrash about the head, body, arms, and legs of the infant; after which he\nexorcises, according to their accustomed manner, by which they believe it\nis armed against all sickness and ill accidents, and doubtless this is as\neffectual as if done by the Pope himself\u2019 (54, xvi. 388).\n\nFather Merolla, a still earlier traveller, mentions these charms from the\nCongo district (1682).\n\n\u2018The fourth abuse is that whilst their children are young these people\nbind them about with certain superstitious cords made by the wizards,\nwho likewise teach them to utter a kind of spell while they are binding\nthem. They also at the same time hang about them bones and teeth of\ndivers animals, being preservatives, as they say, against the power of\nany disease. Likewise there are some mothers so foolish that they will\nhang Agnus Deis, medals, and relicks to the aforesaid cords\u2019 (54, xvi.\n237). \u2018To remedy these disorders, we have thought proper to issue forth\nthe following ordinances: That all mothers should make the cords they\nbound their infants with of palm leaves that had been consecrated on\nPalm Sunday; moreover guard them well with other such relicks as we are\naccustomed to make use of at the time of baptism\u2019 (54, xvi. 239).\n\nThese fetish charms may be worshipped and regarded as anthropopathic,\nwhen they are true fetishes, or they may be merely \u2018lucky\u2019 with no\nreligious regard or spiritual interpretation, or they may be anything\nbetween the two extremes.\n\n7. Just as the human body and soul form one individual, so the material\nobject and its occupying spirit or power form one individual, more\nvague perhaps, but still with many attributes distinctively human. It\n=possesses personality and will=, it has also many human characters. It\npossesses most of the human passions, anger, revenge, also generosity and\ngratitude; it is within reach of influence and may be benevolent, hence\nto be deprecated and placated, and its aid enlisted (53, 62).\n\nThe objects used as fetishes by the Ainu, sticks, skulls of animals,\nclaws, paws, mistletoe, stones, etc., are all looked upon as animate,\nwith a distinct life of their own, with power to protect their\nworshippers in time of danger, heal them when sick, and bless them with\ngeneral prosperity (4, 375-6).\n\nIn this characteristic, in the possession of personality and will, in\nits material and spiritual duality, a fetish differs from a charm or an\namulet as from an idol; it is always \u2018anthropopathic\u2019 (61, 61).\n\n8. The fetish may =act by will or force of its own proper spirit=, or =by\nforce of a foreign spirit, entering or acting on it from without=.\n\n\u2018Beyond the regularly recognised habitats of the spirits, that may be\ncalled natural to them, any other location may be acquired by them\ntemporarily, for longer or shorter periods\u2019 (53, 62).\n\nWhen the fetish acts by force of its own proper spirit, it is something\nmore than mere Animism (v. above, p. 77). It does not become a fetish\nby applying the general belief in souls to a special object, but by\na process which has been divided by Schultze into four stages (62,\n215-223):\u2014\n\n1. The value which an uncultured man attributes to any object is often\nexaggerated, especially if the object is in any way conspicuous, unusual,\nor mysterious.\n\n2. He attributes to it an anthropopathic nature, believing that all\nnatural objects are like man, with human characteristics.\n\n3. By the causal connection of ideas he associates the object with\nauspicious or inauspicious events, which he believes it to influence.\n\n4. A belief in its power leads him to reverence it, and to attempt to\nconciliate and propitiate the power by worship.\n\nAs an example, the anchor cast up on the beach at the mouth of the river\nKeissi (45) may be cited:\u2014\n\n1. The anchor was an unusual object, and was therefore credited with an\nexaggerated value and regarded with great interest.\n\n2. It was believed to possess a life of its own, a soul or spirit,\nsomewhat analogous to man\u2019s.\n\n3. A Kaffir broke off a piece of the anchor, and he soon afterwards died.\nThe two events were associated with one another, and the breaking of the\nanchor was believed to have caused the death.\n\n4. The power of the anchor-spirit was thus established, and the natives\nworshipped it in fear and hope.\n\nThus the fetish was evolved.\n\nBut more commonly a spirit is attracted to the object from without, as\nin the case of the _suhman_ of the Gold Coast, where the spirit of the\nSasabonsum is invited into the stone or other object prepared for it,\nor as in the most usual type of West African fetish, where the wandering\nspirit becomes localised in an object by means of the ceremonies and\nconjurings of the Uganga or magic doctor (53, 81).\n\nThe distinction between the different powers animating the fetish are\nclearly distinguishable on the Gold Coast (16, 275). The Tshi believe\nthat everything in nature is animated; that everything not made with\nhands has an indwelling spirit, possessing powers beneficial or\nprejudicial to man, according to whether it is propitiated or neglected;\nso the more dangerous spirits, those of rivers, mountains, rocks, and\nshoals are worshipped. Later on an image is made of the nature-god, from\nmaterial from his habitat, and it is brought to a place more convenient\nfor the worshippers, and forms their tutelary deity. Gradually his origin\nis forgotten, and the nature-god becomes a fetish.\n\nBut besides these \u2018nature-gods\u2019 there are \u2018ghost-gods.\u2019 The fetish may\nbe animated by a \u2018ghost-god,\u2019 for the power of dead men lives on in\ntheir ghosts; sacrifices are made to them, and ghost-gods also develop\ninto tutelary deities. Perhaps ancestor-worship and Fetishism may be\nmore intimately related than is generally acknowledged (16, 280). The\nMelanesians believe that the souls of the dead act through bones; while\nthe independent spirits choose stones as their mediums (6, 131).\n\n9. In the popular view of Fetishism the material object was worshipped\nin its own character, but one of the fundamental conceptions of the\nWest African fetish is that =the spirit and the material object can be\ndissociated=, and that, although the spirit is temporarily incorporated\nin the fetish, yet the two are no more inseparable than man\u2019s soul and\nbody. The conception of the duality of everything lies at the root of\nall the West African beliefs. \u2018Everything that he knows by means of his\nsenses he regards as a two-fold entity\u2014part spirit, part not spirit,\nor, as we should say, matter; the connection of a certain spirit with a\ncertain mass of matter, he holds, is not permanent. He will point out to\nyou a lightning-struck tree, and tell you its spirit has been broken; he\nwill tell you, when the cooking-pot has been broken, that it has lost its\nspirit; if his weapon fails, it is because some one has stolen, or made\nits spirit sick by witchcraft. In every action of his life he shows you\nhow much he lives with a great powerful spirit world around him\u2019 (39,\n141).\n\nWhen the spirit is \u2018dead\u2019 the fetish has no further value, \u2018the little\nthing you kept the spirit in is no more use now, and only fit to sell to\na white man as \u201ca big curio\u201d!\u2019 (40, 304-5). But occasionally sanctity\nstill clings to the former dwelling of the spirit, and it is used as a\ncharm, though no longer worshipped as a fetish.\n\nThe _Mirrone_, a tree worshipped in the Congo region, was the tutelar\ngod of the dwelling, and the owners placed calabashes full of palm-tree\nwine at the foot of the tree for the spirit to drink, \u2018nor do they dare\nto tread upon its leaves any more than we would on the holy cross.\u2019\nBut if it were damaged in any way, they no longer worshipped it, but\nthey stripped off the bark or rind, which was made into petticoats for\nthe women, to act as protecting charms (54, xvi. 236). Owing to the\npossibility of the spirit leaving the fetish, it has to be tested, to see\nwhether it really contains an indwelling spirit or no, and the natives of\nthe Gold Coast put their Bohsum in the fire as a probation. If the fire\ninjures it in the very least degree, it is not a true Bohsum, there is no\nindwelling spirit (15, 92).\n\nSometimes the spirit is forcibly ejected from his dwelling-place for a\nparticular purpose. Soon after Sir Richard Burton had arrived at Dahom\u00e9,\n\u2018a fetish youth made his appearance in the evening, knelt down before the\ndomestic altar, broke some of the images, and went away declaring that he\nhad called out the fetishes, and that I might after the _evocatio deorum_\ndo my worst\u2019 (9, i. 299).\n\n10. The fetish is =worshipped, prayed to, sacrificed to, and talked\nwith=, as a sentient and willing personification of the spirit or power.\nExamples of sacrifices and prayers and worship offered to the fetishes\nare found in all parts, and many instances have already been quoted.\n\nOfferings of food and drink are placed before them daily, and sometimes\na cock is sacrificed; occasionally, if the worshippers are rich, a sheep\nis killed, \u2018which they offer up to the gods in words alone, for they\nimmediately fall upon it and tear it to pieces with their fingers\u2019 (54,\nxvi. 400).\n\nThe personal interest of the fetishes in the affairs of their worshippers\nis seen in the ceremonies connected with the death and burial of the\nFiote. \u2018When all are assembled, the elder addresses the two family\nfetishes held by two of the family. Pointing and shaking his hand at\nthem, he tells them how the deceased died, and all the family has done to\nsettle the matter; he tells them how they have allowed the father to be\ntaken, and prays them to protect the rest of the family; and when he has\nfinished his address the two who hold the fetishes pick up a little earth\nand throw it on the heads of the fetishes, then, lifting them up, rub\ntheir heads in the earth in front of them\u2019 (13, 135).\n\n11. The fetish is =petted or ill-treated with regard to its past or\nfuture behaviour=. The spirit is invited to enter the _suhman_ charm\nprepared for it by promises of offerings and food (16, 100), and special\nofferings are made before embarking on any great enterprise.\n\nBut when conciliation fails, the owner sometimes has resort to force,\nthough Colonel Ellis states that in all his experience of the natives of\nthe Gold Coast he has never seen or heard of any coercion of a fetish by\nthe natives, and that the idea of coercion is entirely foreign to their\nminds (15, 194). The Kafirs appear to be harsher in their methods.\n\n\u2018The Caffres play at a game of chance before their idols, and, should\nchance be against them, kick and box their idols; but if, after\nthis correction, on pursuing their experiments they should continue\nunsuccessful, they burn the hands and feet of them in the fire; should\nill fortune still attend them, they cast the idols on the ground, tread\nthem under foot, dash them about with such force as to break them to\npieces. Some, indeed, who show greater veneration for the images, content\nthemselves with fettering and binding them until they have obtained their\nend; but should this not take place as early as their impatience looks\nfor, they fasten them to a cord and gradually let them down into the\nwater, even to the bottom, thus trusting to force them to be propitious;\nif after this good fortune should not follow, the idols are then\nwithdrawn from the water, the patience of even the milder Caffres becomes\nexhausted, and the images are subjected to the grossest indignations\u2019\n(54, xvi. 696).\n\nThe negro in Guinea beats his fetish if his wishes are frustrated, and\nhides it in his waist-cloth when he is about to do something of which he\nis ashamed (38, 91).\n\n\nIII. FETISHISM AS A FORM OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP\n\nFetishism is a stage of religious development associated with a low\ngrade of consciousness and of civilisation, and it forms a basis from\nwhich many other modes of religious thought have developed, so that\nit is difficult to point out where fetishism ends and nature-worship,\nancestor-worship, totemism, polytheism, and idolatry begin, or to\ndistinguish between a fetish, an idol, and a deity.\n\nIt includes conceptions which are purely magical, coercion of the\nsupernatural by means of natural objects; and it also includes\nconceptions which persist into higher forms of religion, such as the\nworship of the symbol of an unseen power.\n\nIt is an early product of the primitive religious instinct of humanity,\ndeveloping at a low grade of culture among a people of a highly\nimaginative temperament.\n\nThe fundamental religious feeling which is everywhere part of the\nmental equipment of man has been called by Marett supernaturalism, and\nis perhaps best indicated in English by the term awe, in which word\nare implicated fear, wonder, admiration, interest, respect, even love,\nperhaps. The object of this religious \u2018sense,\u2019 or, as many would call it,\n\u2018instinct,\u2019 is the supernatural. The recognition of the supernatural, the\nfundamental religious feeling of awe, develops in two ways. \u2018There arises\nin the region of human thought a powerful impulse to objectify, and even\npersonify, the mysterious or \u2018supernatural\u2019 something felt; and in the\nregion of will a corresponding impulse to render it innocuous, or, better\nstill, propitious, by force of constraint, communion, or conciliation\u2019\n(50, 168).\n\nSo man personifies the power which he cannot understand, calling it\nby names which we translate as spirit or god, and he worships it,\npropitiating and conciliating it by offerings and sacrifice, and entering\ninto communion with it by prayer. Thus are produced the two fundamental\nfactors of religion, the belief in some mysterious power, and the desire\nto enter into communication with the power by means of worship. The\nworship of different groups of peoples expresses itself in different\nways, reflecting the mental type of the worshippers, their civilisation,\ntheir culture, their character and temperament.\n\nThe cold, practical, phlegmatic Northerners worship within bare walls,\nwhile the fervour of the imaginative South demands expression in an\nelaborate ritual, with richness of decoration, warmth of colour, dim\nlights and soft music.\n\nThe extraordinarily vivid imagination and the childlike capacity for\n\u2018make-believe\u2019 of the negro, load him further still; the lively fancy\nof the West African demands a visible object to which worship may be\ndirected. He wishes really and sensibly to behold and even to possess\nhis god, so he incorporates him in a tangible object, and satisfies his\nreligious ardour by directing his worship to that object. Thus fetishism\nand the fetish are evolved.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES\n\n\n[1] _Philosophie Positive._\n\n[2] _Historische Nachrichten zur Kenntniss der Menschen._\n\n[3] For the references to the suggestive use of the word by Plautus, I\nam indebted to Miss Rachel White of Newnham College.\n\n\n\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY\n\n\n1. ALLEN, J. _Modern Judaism._ London: Hamilton, 1816.\n\n2. ARMIT, W. E. \u2018Customs of the Australian Aborigines.\u2019 _Journ. Anth.\nInst._, ix. London, 1880.\n\n3. ARNOT, FRED. S. _Garenganze, or Seven Years\u2019 Pioneer Mission Work in\nCentral Africa._ London: Hawkins, 1889.\n\n4. BATCHELOR, J. _The Ainu and their Folk-Lore._ London: Religious Tract\nSociety, 1901.\n\n5. BOGORAS, W. \u2018The Chuckchee.\u2019 _The Jessup North Pacific Expedition_,\nvii. (1) Leiden: Brill; New York: Stachert, 1904.\n\n6. BRINTON, D. 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J. _The Native Tribes of Central\nAustralia._ London: Macmillan, 1899.\n\n65. ST. JOHN, S. _Life in the Forests of the Far East._ London: Smith,\nElder & Co., 1862.\n\n66. STOKES, WHITLEY. \u2018The Destruction of D\u00e1 Derga\u2019s Hostel.\u2019 _Revue\nCeltique._\n\n67. SUPER, C. W. \u2018Physicians and Philosophers.\u2019 _Pop. Science Monthly_,\nlxvii. New York, 1905.\n\n68. SWETTENHAM, F. A. _Malay Sketches._ London: Lane, 1895.\n\n69. TAYLOR, R. _Te Ika a Maui._ London: Macintosh, 1870.\n\n70. TYLOR, E. B. _Researches into the Early History of Mankind and the\nDevelopment of Civilisation._ (3rd Ed.) London: Murray, 1878.\n\n71. \u2014\u2014 _Primitive Culture._ (2nd Ed.) London: Murray, 1873.\n\n72. WESTERMARCK, E. \u2018The Magic Origin of Moorish Designs.\u2019 _Journ. Anth.\nInst._, xxxiv. 1904.\n\n    Printed by T. and A. CONSTABLE, Printers to His Majesty\n    at the Edinburgh University Press","title":"Magic and Fetishism","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":21487}