The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 07 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 07 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
(M211) 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; the flesh of the slain Naga was
stowed in the corn-bin; and the blood of the Sioux girl was allowed to
trickle on the seed.(771) 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 believed themselves to
be partaking of the body of their god.
§ 4. The Corn-spirit slain in his Human Representatives.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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