The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 08 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 08 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
(M118) Again, the flesh and blood of dead men are commonly eaten and drunk
to inspire bravery, wisdom, or other qualities for which the men
themselves were remarkable, or which are supposed to have their special
seat in the particular part eaten. Thus among the mountain tribes of
South-Eastern Africa there are ceremonies by which the youths are formed
into guilds or lodges, and among the rites of initiation there is one
which is intended to infuse courage, intelligence, and other qualities
into the novices. Whenever an enemy who has behaved with conspicuous
bravery is killed, his liver, which is considered the seat of valour; his
ears, which are supposed to be the seat of intelligence; the skin of his
forehead, which is regarded as the seat of perseverance; his testicles,
which are held to be the seat of strength; and other members, which are
viewed as the seat of other virtues, are cut from his body and baked to
cinders. The ashes are carefully kept in the horn of a bull, and, during
the ceremonies observed at circumcision, are mixed with other ingredients
into a kind of paste, which is administered by the tribal priest to the
youths. By this means the strength, valour, intelligence, and other
virtues of the slain are believed to be imparted to the eaters.(443) When
Basutos of the mountains have killed a very brave foe, they immediately
cut out his heart and eat it, because this is supposed to give them his
courage and strength in battle. At the close of the war the man who has
slain such a foe is called before the chief and gets from the doctor a
medicine which he chews with his food. The third day after this he must
wash his body in running water, and at the expiry of ten days he may
return to his wives and children.(444) So an Ovambo warrior in battle will
tear out the heart of his slain foe in the belief that by eating it he can
acquire the bravery of the dead man.(445) A similar belief and practice
prevail among some of the tribes of British Central Africa, notably among
the Angoni. These tribes also mutilate the dead and reduce the severed
parts to ashes. Afterwards the ashes are stirred into a broth or gruel,
“which must be ‘lapped’ up with the hand and thrown into the mouth, but
not eaten as ordinary food is taken, to give the soldiers courage,
perseverance, fortitude, strategy, patience and wisdom.”(446) In former
times whenever a Nandi warrior killed an enemy he used to eat a morsel of
the dead man’s heart to make himself brave.(447) The Wagogo of German East
Africa do the same thing for the same purpose.(448) When Sir Charles
M’Carthy was killed by the Ashantees in 1824, it is said that his heart
was devoured by the chiefs of the Ashantee army, who hoped by this means
to imbibe his courage. His flesh was dried and parcelled out among the
lower officers for the same purpose, and his bones were long kept at
Coomassie as national fetishes.(449) The Amazons of Dahomey used to eat
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