Introduction to the History of Religions: Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IVToy, Crawford Howell
HistoryHistory
Introduction to the History of Religions: Handbooks on the History of Religions, Volume IV
Toy, Crawford Howell
Mythology; Religion -- History; Religions -- History; Rites and ceremonies
ANIMALS. Their social relations with men, 241, 242;
Transformation and transmigration, 243; Two attitudes of men
toward animals, 244-248; What animals are revered, 249, 250;
Regarded as incarnations of gods or of spirits, 251; Those
sacred to gods generally represent old beast-cults, 252,
253; Survivals of reverence for animals, 254; Beasts as
creators, 255, 256; Worship rarely offered them, 257, 258;
Coalescence of beast-cults with other religious observances,
259; Whether animals ever became anthropomorphic deities,
260; Historical significance of beast-cults, 261.
PLANTS. Their economic 'rôle', 262-264; Held to possess souls,
265; Their relations with men friendly and unfriendly, 266,
267; Sacred trees, 268, 269; Deification of soma, 270;
Whether corn-spirits have been deified, 271; Sacred trees by
shrines, 272; Their connection with totem posts, 273;
Blood-kinship between men and trees, 274, 275; The cosmic
tree, 276; Divinatory function of trees, 277; Relation of
tree-spirits to gods, 278-285.
STONES AND MOUNTAINS. Stones alive and sacred, 286-288; have
magical powers, 289, 290; Relation between divine stones and
gods, 291-295; Magna Mater, 291; Massebas, 293; Bethels,
294; Stones cast on graves, and boundary stones, 296; Stones
as altars: natural forms, 297; artificial forms, 298; High
pillars by temples, 299; Images of gods, 300, 301;
Folk-stories and myths connected with stones, 302; Sacred
mountains, 303-305.
WATERS. Why waters are regarded as sacred, 306-308; Ritual
use of water, 309; Water-spirits, 310, 311; Water-gods,
312-314; Rain-giving gods, 315; Water-myths, 316; Gods of
ocean, 317.
FIRE. Its sacredness, 318, 319; Persian fire-cult, 320;
Ritual use of fire, 321-323; Its symbolic significance, 334;
Light as sacred, 325.
WINDS. Their relation to gods, 327.
HEAVENLY BODIES. Anthropomorphized, 328; Cosmogonic myths
connected with them, 329, 330; Sex of sun and moon, 331;
Whether they ever became gods, 332, 333; Thunder and
lightning not worshiped, 334.
WORSHIP OF HUMAN BEINGS. Their worship widespread, with
distinction between the living and the dead, 335.
THE CULT OF THE LIVING. Worship to be distinguished from
reverence, 336; Worship of the living by savages, 337; by
civilised peoples, 338; in Egypt, 339, 340; in Babylonia,
341; but there probably not Semitic, 342; not by Hebrews and
Arabs, 343, 344; in China, 345; in Japan, 346; Whether by
Greeks and Romans, 347; Not in India and Persia, 348; Cults
of the living rarely important, 349.
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