The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 03 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 03 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
speaking to each other they address the person spoken to as brother,
cousin, friend, or whatever relation the person spoken to bears. Sometimes
a black bears a name which we would term merely a nickname, as the
left-handed, or the bad-handed, or the little man. They would speak of a
person by this name while living, but they would never mention the proper
name. I found great difficulty in collecting the native names of the
blacks here. I found afterwards that they had given me wrong names; and,
on asking the reason why, was informed they had two or three names, but
they never mentioned their right name for fear any one got it, then they
would die.”(1197) Amongst the tribes of central Australia every man,
woman, and child has, besides a personal name which is in common use, a
secret or sacred name which is bestowed by the older men upon him or her
soon after birth, and which is known to none but the fully initiated
members of the group. This secret name is never mentioned except upon the
most solemn occasions; to utter it in the hearing of women or of men of
another group would be a most serious breach of tribal custom, as serious
as the most flagrant case of sacrilege among ourselves. When mentioned at
all, the name is spoken only in a whisper, and not until the most
elaborate precautions have been taken that it shall be heard by no one but
members of the group. “The native thinks that a stranger knowing his
secret name would have special power to work him ill by means of
magic.”(1198)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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