The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 11 of 12)Frazer, James George
Religion
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 11 of 12)
Frazer, James George
Magic; Mythology; Religion; Superstition
(M175) Examples of this supposed death and resurrection at initiation are
as follows. In the Wonghi or Wonghibon tribe of New South Wales “the
youths on approaching manhood attend a meeting of the tribe. The
ceremonies of initiation are secret, and at them none but the men of the
tribe who have been initiated attend with the novices. At the spot where
the ceremonies are to be performed, a large oval space is cleared. The old
men of the tribe conduct the ceremonies, and the ‘medicine man’ of the
tribe is the master of them. Part of the proceedings consists in knocking
out a tooth and giving a new designation to the novice, indicating the
change from youth to manhood. When the tooth is knocked out, a loud
humming noise is heard, which is made with an instrument of the following
description: a flat piece of wood is made with serrated edges, and having
a hole at one end, to which a string is attached, and this swung round
produces a humming noise. The uninitiated are not even allowed to see this
instrument. Women are forbidden to be present at these ceremonies, and
should one, by accident or otherwise, witness them, the penalty is death.
The penalty for revealing the secrets is probably the same. When
everything is prepared the women and children are covered with boughs, and
the men retire, with the young fellows who are to be initiated, to a
little distance. It is said that the youths are sent away a short distance
one by one, and that they are each met in turn by a Being, who, so far as
I can understand, is believed to be something between a blackfellow and a
spirit. This Being, called Thuremlin, it is said, takes the youth to a
distance, kills him, and in some instances cuts him up, after which he
restores him to life and knocks out a tooth. Their belief in the power of
Thuremlin is undoubted.”(602)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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