Dear friends, in the next several posts, I plan to summarize interesting examples of beliefs and practices from several cultures documented in a classic written by Sir James George Frazer in the earlier part of the 20th century. Many of the conclusions of this author have been challenged over the years. But the scholarly mature of the book and new research spawned by this book are important to take note of.
I just completed reading a book with the title The Golden
Bough in Two Volumes published by Macmillan, London 1920 written by Sir James George Frazer. It is a
classic but controversial. Many of the theories and explanations given by the
author have been challenged since he wrote the book in the early 1900’s. This
fact suggests that the book must have generated interest in the study of
ancient religions and practices among scholars.
It is unlikely that many people will be interested in
reading this book with patience. I found it a tedious reading experience. That
is why I am summarizing areas which I found interesting for those who might not
want to read the entire book.
Many modern scholars do not accept the author’s theories and
conclusions. I do not either. The author reflects the attitudes of scholars of
that era with a “colonial” mindset which considered cultures other than
European as of inferior status. That is evident by the words the author uses to refer to other cultures, words such as "pagan", "heathen", and "savages". But he
admits that those "pagan" practices which he scorns were practiced in the
European cultures also even in the 19th century.
Sir Frazier shows his own prejudices and thinking of his era
when he suggests: “….people in other parts of the world, who because they have
lagged behind the European race in mental development” … have kept their
superstitious customs and rituals! He did not realize that Will and Ariel Durant were more honest when they wrote in a separate section on Superstitions in their Ten Volume book on The History of Civilization. They pointed out that every culture tends to make fun of superstitions of other cultures when each one of them practices its own set of superstitions.
But this criticism is no reason for not reading the book
since it contains descriptions of rituals and religious practices in different
societies, ancient and modern. They are well-documented and valuable.
The author gives multiple examples from a variety of primitive
cultures to indicate how the ideas of sacredness and religion evolved out of
the curiosity of folks belonging to these ancient cultures. In trying to
explain natural phenomena, they resorted to magical thinking, which became the
basis for their assigning sacredness to specific sites and to the concept of
“spirits” animating man, animals and birds and “spirits” explaining natural
disasters.
There are certain critical summaries at the end of some
chapters in which the author gives his views on how the ideas and practices evolved. His views are questionable. But his examples are not. They are based on observations of
primitive societies in the 1800’s by anthropologists and missionaries and classics such as those by
Herodotus, Plutarch etc. Some examples are based on current practices which are remnants of ancient customs and rituals.
Now to the book.
This book is a “ collection of evidence of superstitions and beliefs” from several societies, spanning all the continents including Africa and Australia from ancient times.
Let us start with the author’s definition of what religion is.
“By religion, then, I understand a propitiation or
conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed powers to direct and
control the course of nature and of human life. Thus defined, religion consists
of two elements, a theoretical and a practical, namely, a belief in powers
higher than man and an attempt to propitiate or please them. Of the two, belief
clearly comes first, since we must believe in the existence of a divine being
before we can attempt to please him. But unless the belief leads to a
corresponding practice, it is not a
religion but merely a theology; .......... Hence belief and practice or, in theological
language, faith and works are equally essential to religion, which cannot exist
without both of them". (Page 222-223.)
The author's thesis is that human civilization moved from magical
explanation of natural phenomenon to religious explanations and has now moved
to scientific explanations. Initially, man believed that he can magically
control nature such as producing rain or get rid of plagues and pestilence.
When he realized that he cannot do this through shamans, he moved to
attributing nature’s phenomena to unseen forces and used priests to intercede
with the Gods. Later still, he learnt to study phenomenon using scientific
methods and discover universal laws of nature.
Before I delve into the chapters, let me give a few samples from this book on practices in India.
1. Among one clan of Todas of Nilgiri mountains, the milkman is akin to a king.
He is considered to have the ability to influence nature and therefore,
special. But that puts special restrictions on his life. 2. The reason why some
people snap their fingers in front of the mouth while yawning is to prevent the
“soul” from leaving the body. 3. He
recounts a story (most likely from Nepal) that when Adi Sankara went to Nepal
to meet with the Dalai lama and defeated him in arguments, the Dalai Lama stuck
a knife on the shadow of Sankara and Sankara broke his neck soon thereafter.
This example (by historical accounts this never happened) is given as an example of the belief that the shadow of a person carries the soul
and it is possible to control the individuals fate by manipulating the shadow.
The author also gives several examples from other cultures to
explain why some primitive people did not want their photos (their shadows
captured) taken. They feared that the person who took the photo or someone else
can cause harm to the real person by damaging the “shadow”. (I remember my
grandmother objecting to any photograph taken of her) This same applies to
reflection in the water. (In Tamizh culture, this belief was still prevalent in my childhood days and it was called "soonyam", or "laying a curse" on someone)