The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
The same custom of killing the representative of a god, of which strong
traces appear in the Khond sacrifices, may perhaps be detected in some of
the other human sacrifices described above. Thus the ashes of the
slaughtered Marimo were scattered over the fields; the blood of the
Brahman lad was put on the crop and field; and the blood of the Sioux girl
was allowed to trickle on the seed.(1292) Again, the identification of the
victim with the corn, in other words, the view that he is an embodiment or
spirit of the corn, is brought out in the pains which seem to be taken to
secure a physical correspondence between him and the natural object which
he embodies or represents. Thus the Mexicans killed young victims for the
young corn and old ones for the ripe corn; the Marimos sacrifice, as
“seed,” a short, fat man, the shortness of his stature corresponding to
that of the young corn, his fatness to the condition which it is desired
that the crops may attain; and the Pawnees fattened their victims probably
with the same view. Again, the identification of the victim with the corn
comes out in the African custom of killing him with spades and hoes, and
the Mexican custom of grinding him, like corn, between two stones.
One more point in these savage customs deserves to be noted. The Pawnee
chief devoured the heart of the Sioux girl, and the Marimos and Gonds ate
the victim’s flesh. If, as we suppose, the victim was regarded as divine,
it follows that in eating his flesh his worshippers were partaking of the
body of their god. To this point we shall return later on.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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