The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 01 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 01 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
took for being wakened from his long sleep. Sometimes, in order to
procure rain, the Toradjas of Central Celebes make an appeal to the
pity of the dead. Thus, in the village of Kalingooa, in Kadombookoo,
there is the grave of a famous chief, the grandfather of the present
ruler. When the land suffers from unseasonable drought, the people go
to this grave, pour water on it, and say, “O grandfather, have pity on
us; if it is your will that this year we should eat, then give rain.”
After that they hang a bamboo full of water over the grave; there is
a small hole in the lower end of the bamboo, so that the water drips
from it continually. The bamboo is always refilled with water until
rain drenches the ground.[973] Here, as in New Caledonia, we find
religion blent with magic, for the prayer to the dead chief, which is
purely religious, is eked out with a magical imitation of rain at his
grave. We have seen that the Baronga of Delagoa Bay drench the tombs of
their ancestors, especially the tombs of twins, as a rain-charm.[974]
In Zululand the native girls form a procession and carry large pots of
water to a certain tree which chances to be on a mission station. When
the girls were asked why they did this, they said that an old ancestor
of theirs had been buried under the tree, and as he was a great
rain-maker in his life, they always came and poured water on his grave
in time of drought, in order that he might send them rain.[975] This
ceremony partakes of the nature of religion, since it implies an appeal
for help to a deceased ancestor. Purely religious, on the other hand,
are {p287} some means adopted by the Herero of south-western Africa to
procure rain. If a drought has lasted long, the whole tribe goes with
its cattle to the grave of some eminent man; it may be the father or
grandfather of the chief. They lay offerings of milk and flesh on the
grave and utter their plaint: “Look, O Father, upon your beloved cattle
and children; they suffer distress, they are so lean, they are dying
of hunger. Give us rain.” The ears of the spectator are deafened by
the lowing and bleating of herds and flocks, the shouts of herdsmen,
the barking of dogs, and the screams of women.[976] Among some of
the Indian tribes in the region of the Orinoco it was customary for
the relations of a deceased person to disinter his bones a year after
burial, burn them, and scatter the ashes to the winds, because they
believed that the ashes were changed into rain, which the dead man sent
in return for his obsequies.[977] The Chinese are convinced that when
human bodies remain unburied, the souls of their late owners feel the
discomfort of rain, just as living men would do if they were exposed
without shelter to the inclemency of the weather. These wretched souls,
therefore, do all in their power to prevent the rain from falling, and
often their efforts are only too successful. Then drought ensues, the
most dreaded of all calamities in China, because bad harvests, dearth,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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