The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 09 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 09 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
dead.”(265) In Bolang Mongondo, a district of Celebes, “all calamities,
great and small, of whatever kind, and by whatever name they are called,
that befall men and animals, villages, gardens and so forth, are
attributed to evil or angry spirits. The superstition is indescribably
great. The smallest wound, the least indisposition, the most trifling
adversity in the field, at the fishing, on a journey or what not, is
believed by the natives to be traceable to the anger of their ancestors.
The superstition cripples every effort to remedy the calamities except by
sacrifice. There is perhaps no country the inhabitants of which know so
little about simples as Bolang Mongondo. What a native of Bolang Mongondo
calls medicine is nothing but sacrifice, magic, and talismans. And the
method of curing a sick man always consists in the use of magic, or in the
propitiation of angry ancestral spirits by means of offerings, or in the
banishment of evil spirits. The application of one or other of these three
methods depends again on the decision of the sorcerer, who plays a great
part in every case of sickness.”(266)
(M64) In the island of Bali “all the attention paid to the sick has its
root solely in the excessive superstition of these islanders, which leads
them to impute every unpleasantness in life, every adversity to the
influence of evil spirits or of men who are in some way in league with
them. The belief in witches and wizards is everywhere great in the Indies,
but perhaps nowhere is it so universal and so strong as in Bali.”(267) In
Java, we are told, it is not merely great shady trees that are believed to
be the abode of spirits. “In other places also, where the vital energy of
nature manifests itself strikingly and impressively, a feeling of
veneration is stirred, as on the sea-shore, in deep woods, on steep
mountain sides. All such spots are supposed to be the abode of spirits of
various kinds, whose mighty power is regarded with reverence and awe,
whose anger is dreaded, and whose favour is hoped for. But wherever they
dwell, whether in scenes of loveliness that move the heart, or in spots
that affect the mind with fright and horror, the nature and disposition of
these spirits appear not to differ. They are a source of fear and anxiety
in the one case just as much as in the other. To none of them did I ever
hear moral qualities ascribed. They are mighty, they are potentates, and
therefore it is well with him who has their favour and ill with him who
has it not; this holds true of them all.” “The number of the spirits is
innumerable and inconceivable. All the phenomena of nature, which we trace
to fixed laws and constant forces, are supposed by the Javanese to be
wrought by spirits.”(268)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account