Religions of Primitive PeoplesBrinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Religion
Religions of Primitive Peoples
Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Mythology; Religion; Religions -- History
In many primitive tribes, therefore, there is little fear of death. The
soul leaves the body in sleep to wander over the earth, and the only
difference of death is that it does not return in time. More than this,
the soul of the living can visit the realms of the dead. The Comanches
knew of men who had spent two days looking at the white tents of the
encampment of souls far west under the setting sun; and the Zuñi mothers
who had lost their little darlings are reconciled by being cast into a
deep sleep, during which they go and see them in the mystic world beyond.
So also believe the Australians and numberless other tribes.[67]
We need not look for any definiteness of statement as to what the soul
is. In many tribes the word for it is akin to that for breath, as in our
own expression, “the breath of life.” Frequently it is identified with
the shadow, as among the Zulus of Africa, and the Eskimos, Algonquins,
and Quiches of America. Others, as the Mincopies (Andaman Islands), think
they see it in the reflection of the body in still water or a mirror.
The Australians assert that it is a mist, fog, or smoke, etc.
These ideas are, of course, material. They impute to the soul similar
wants to that of the corporeal man. It desires a dwelling, needs food,
takes visible forms, and the like; but also it is endowed with faculties
transcending those it possessed in the flesh, and these may be directed
to the benefit or the injury of the survivors. Therefore its wants should
be gratified, and its temper conciliated by offerings and appropriate
funeral rites.[68]
3. I turn now to a perception of the primitive man, a contrast of
impressions on his senses, more potent, I believe, than even the
immeasurable one of Life and Death. It is Light and Darkness. This
universal, ever recurring change in nature controlled all his actions,
and reacted as a powerful stimulus on his religious emotions. I could
almost be willing to subscribe to the expression of a German writer that
“the adoration of Light was the foundation of all religion.”[69] The rude
litanies of paganism all over the world seem to join in the solemn chant
of the Evangelist—“God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all.”
We may begin with the Australian Blacks, who averred the supreme divinity
lives in _keladi_, eternal brightness, up above the sky. His name is
_Baiame_, meaning “the maker” or “the cutter out,” as one cuts out
patterns from a skin. He sees and knows all things.[70]
Through most of Polynesia, the chief deity was Ka-ne, which means
sunlight, the opposite of darkness, and is allied to the verb _kanea_, to
see. Another name for Ka-ne is Tangaloa, the lord of light. The colour
red is sacred to him, he was portrayed with long blond hair, and children
who had light hair or were albinos were deemed his progeny. When the
fair-skinned Europeans first landed on the islands they were called the
“children of Tangaloa.”[71]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account