The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 06 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 06 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
they with the planet may rest and arise.”(351) The Zulus welcome the first
appearance of the new moon with beating of drums and other demonstrations
of joy; but next day they abstain from all labour, “thinking that if
anything is sown on those days they can never reap the benefit
thereof.”(352) But in this matter of sowing and planting a refined
distinction is sometimes drawn by French, German, and Esthonian peasants;
plants which bear fruit above ground are sown by them when the moon is
waxing, but plants which are cultivated for the sake of their roots, such
as potatoes and turnips, are sown when the moon is waning.(353) The reason
for this distinction seems to be a vague idea that the waxing moon is
coming up and the waning moon going down, and that accordingly fruits
which grow upwards should be sown in the former period, and fruits which
grow downwards in the latter. Before beginning to plant their cacao the
Pipiles of Central America exposed the finest seeds for four nights to the
moonlight,(354) but whether they did so at the waxing or waning of the
moon is not said. Even pots, it would seem, are not exempt from this great
law of nature. In Uganda “potters waited for the new moon to appear before
baking their pots; when it was some days old, they prepared their fires
and baked the vessels. No potter would bake pots when the moon was past
the full, for he believed that they would be a failure, and would be sure
to crack or break in the burning, if he did so, and that his labour
accordingly would go for nothing.”(355)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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