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Primitive Culture : Researches Into the Development of Mythology

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Primitive Culture : Researches Into the Development of Mythology PRIMITIVE CULTURE PRIMITIVE CULTURE RESEARCHES INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF MYTHOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION LANGUAGE, ART, AND CUSTOM BY EDWARD B. TYLOR, D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S. PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD AUTHOR OF "RFSEARCHES INTO THE EARLY HISTORY OF MANKIND," ETC. " Ce n'est pas dans les possibilites, c'est dans 1'homme meme qu'il faut etudier 1'homme : il ne s'agit pas d'imaginer ce qu'il auroit pu ou du faire, mais de regarder ce qu'il fait." DE BROSSES. IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. II LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1920 PRINTED IN U.S.A. Translation and [Rights of Reproduction reserved} CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME. CHAPTER XII. ANIMISM (continued). of Soul's Existence after Death its main Trans- Doctrine ; divisions, migration and Future Life Transmigration of Souls : re-birth in Human and Animal Bodies, transference to Plants and Objects Resurrection of Body : scarcely held in savage religion Future Life : a general if not universal doctrine of low races Continued rather than second death of Soul Ghost existence, Immortality ; of Dead remains on if unburied its earth, especially corpse ; attachment to bodily remains Feasts of the Dead . CHAPTER XIII. ANIMISM (continued). Journey of the Soul to the Land of the Dead Visits by the Living to the Regions of Departed Souls Connexion of such legends with myths of Sunset : the Land of the Dead thus imagined as in the West Realization of current religious ideas, whether of savage or civilized theology, in narratives of visits to the Regions of Souls Localization of the Future Life Distant earthly region : Earthly Paradise, Isles of the Blest Subterranean Hades or Sheol Sun, Moon, Stars Heaven Historical course of belief as to such localization Nature of Future Life Continuance-theory, appar- ? ently original, belongs especially to the lower races Transitional theories Retribution-theory,apparentlyderived,belongs especially to the higher races Doctrine of Moral Retribution as developed in the higher culture Survey of Doctrine of Future State, from savage to civilized stages Its practical effect on the sentiment and conduct of Mankind . -44 Vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. ANIMISM (continued). PAGE Animism, expanding from the Doctrine of Souls to the wider Doctrine of Spirits, becomes a complete Philosophy of Natural Religion Definition of Spirits similar to and apparently modelled on that of Souls Transition-stage : classes of Souls passing into good and evil Demons Manes-Worship Doctrine of Embodiment of Spirits in human, animal, vegetable, and inert bodies De- moniacal Possession and Obsession as causes of Disease and Oracle- inspiration Fetishism Disease-spirits embodied Ghost attached to remains of Corpse Fetish produced by a Spirit embodied in, attached to, or operating through, an Object Analogues of Fetish- doctrine in Modern Science Stock-and-Stone-Worship Idolatry Survival of Animistic Phraseology in modern Language Decline of Animistic theory of Nature . .108 CHAPTER XV. ANIMISM (continued). as causes of Phenomena of the Spirits regarded personal World Per- \ as evil vading Spirits good and Demons affecting man Spirits manifest in Dreams and Visions : Nightmares ; Incubi and Succubi ; Vampires ; Visionary Demons Demons of darkness fire Demons otherwise manifest : seen repelled by by animals ; detected by footprints Spirits conceived and treated as material Guardian and Familiar Spirits Nature-Spirits; historical course of the doctrine Spirits of Volcanos, Whirlpools, Rocks Water- : of Worship Spirits Wells, Streams, Lakes, &c. Tree-Worship : embodied in or Trees Spirits inhabiting ; Spirits of Groves and Forests : Animal-worship Animals Worshipped, directly, or as incarnations or of Deities Totemism representatives ; ; Serpent- their relation to Worship Species-Deities ; Archetypal Ideas . 184 CHAPTER XVI. ANIMISM (continued). Higher Deities of Polytheism Human characteristics applied to Deity Lords of Spiritual Hierarchy Polytheism : its course of development in lower and higher Culture Principles of its inves- tigation ; classification of Deities according to central concep- tions of their and significance function Heaven-god Rain-god Thunder-god Wind-gods Earth-god Water-god Sea-god Fire-god Sun-god . Moon-god . 247 CONTENTS. Vll CHAPTER XVII. ANIMISM (continued'). PAGE Polytheism comprises a class of great Deities, ruling the course of Nature and the life of Man Childbirth-god Agriculture-god War-god God of the Dead First Man as Divine Ancestor its and unethical nature low Dualism ; rudimentary among races its the course of culture Good and ; development through Evil Deity Doctrine of Divine Supremacy, distinct from, while tending towards, the doctrine of Monotheism Idea of a Highest or evolved in various forms its as Supreme Deity ; place completion of the Polytheistic system and outcome of the Animistic philo- x its continuance nations sophy ; and development among higher beneral of Animism as a of | survey Philosophy Religion Recapitulation of the theory advanced as to its development successive of culture its best through stages ; primary phases represented among the lower races, while survivals of these among the higher races mark the transition from savage through barbaric to civilized faiths Transition of Animism in the History of its earlier later as a of the Religion ; and stages Philosophy Universe its later as the of a Moral Institution . ; stages principle 304 CHAPTER XVIII. RITES AND CEREMONIES. Religious Rites : their purpose practical or symbolic Prayer : its from low to levels of Culture its lower continuity high ; phases Unethical its Ethical Sacrifice : its Gift- ; higher phases original theory passes into the Homage-theory and the Abnegation-theory Manner of reception of Sacrifice by Deity Material Transfer to of substance elements, fetish-animals, priests ; consumption or idol of blood transmission fire incense by deity ; offering ; by ; Essential transfer: consumption of essence, savour, &c. Spiritual Transfer : consumption or transmission of soul of offer- ing Motive of Sacrifice! Transition from Gift-theory to Homage- : and formal sacrificial theory insignificant offerings ; banquets sacrifice of Sacrifice of Sub- Abnegation-theory ; children, &c. stitutes : for whole inferior life for part given ; superior ; effigies Modern survival of Sacrifice in folklore and religion Fasting, as a means of ecstatic its course lower producing vision ; from to higher Culture Drugs use to produce ecstasy Swoons and fits induced for religious purposes Orientation : its relation to and rules of and as to burial Sun-myth Sun-worship ; East West of dead, position of worship, and structure of temple Lustration Viii CONTENTS. by Water and Fire : its transition from material to symbolic puri- fication its connexion with events of life its ; special ; appear- ance the lower races Lustration of new-born children among ; of of those bloodshed or the dead Lustra- women ; polluted by tion continued at higher levels of Culture Conclusion . 361 CHAPTER XIX. CONCLUSION. Practical results of the study of Primitive Culture Its bearing least upon Positive Science, greatest upon Intellectual, Moral, Social, and Political Philosophy Language Mythology Ethics and Law Religion Action of the Science of Culture, as a means of furthering progress and removing hindrance, effective in the course of Civilization ...... 443 PRIMITIVE CULTURE CHAPTER XII. ANIMISM (continued). of Soul's Existence after its main Doctrine Death ; divisions, Transmigra- tion and Future Life Transmigration of Souls : re-birth in Human and Animal Bodies, transference to Plants and Objects Resurrection of Body : scarcely held in savage religion Future Life : a general if not universal doctrine of low races Continued existence, rather second death of Soul Ghost of than Immortality ; Dead remains on unburied its attachment to earth, especially .if corpse ; bodily remains Feasts of the Dead. HAVING thus traced upward from the lower levels of cul- ture the opinions of mankind as to the souls, spirits, ghosts, or phantoms, considered to belong to men, to the lower animals, to plants, and to things, we are now prepared to investigate one of thegreat religious doctrines of the world, the belief in th& in a Life after soul's^ontinued existence Death. Here let us~once more call to mind the considera- tion which cannot be too strongly put forward, that the doctrine of a Future Life as held by the lower races is the all but necessary outcome of savage Animism. The evi- dence that the lower races believe the figures of the dead seen in dreams and visions to be their surviving souls, not only goes far to account for the comparative universality of their belief in the continued existence of the soul after the death of the body, but it gives the key to many of their speculations on the nature of this existence, speculations 2 ANIMISM. rational enough from the savage point of view, though apt to seem far-fetched absurdities to moderns in their much changed intellectual condition. The belief in a Future Life falls into two main divisions. Closely connected and even in their largely overlapping one another, both world-wide distribution, both ranging back in time to periods of un- known antiquity, both deeply rooted in the lowest strata of human life which lie open to our observation, these two doctrines have in the modern world passed into wonderfully different conditions. The one is the theory of the Trans- migration of Souls, which has indeed risen from its lower stages to establish itself among the huge
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