18/09/2024
Genre: Religion, Social Science (Culture & Anthropology)
Chapter: 18
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The third volume of The Golden Bough. The term Taboo is one of the very few words which the English language has borrowed from the speech of savages. This volume examines the underlying moral code of many societies, both primitive and medieval, and with modern analogies. The reader is encouraged to contemplate the contradictions, inconsistencies, and absurdities, not merely between different people of different countries and ages, but also between similar people within the same countries. Frazer presents extensive evidence that the laws of morality slowly, but subtly, are in an ever changing state. – Summary by Leon Harvey
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I - THE BURDEN OF ROYALTY - Royal and Priestly Taboos, Life of divine kings and priests regulated by minute rules, rules of life observed by the Mikado, and by kings and priests in Africa and America, intention of these rules, taboos observed by African kings and others, by Irish kings, by Egyptian kings, by chiefs in Burma, by the Flamen Dialis at Rome, by the Bodia of Sierra Leone, and by sacred milkmen among the Todas.
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Divorce of the Spiritualfrom the Temporal Power, Reluctance to accept sovereignty, Sovereign powers divided between a temporal and a spiritual head in Japan, Tonquin, Fiji, Tonga, Athens, and elsewhere, Fetish kings and civil kings in West Africa, Civil rajahs and taboo rajahs in the East Indies.
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The Soul as a Mannikin. Primitive conception of the soul as a mannikin, in Australia, America, and among the Malays, in ancient Egypt, in Nias, Fiji, and India.
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Absence and Recall of the Soul. Attempts to prevent the soul from escaping from the body, Tying the soul in the body, The soul as a bird ready to fly away, The soul absent from the body in sleep and prevented from returning, Danger of suddenly awaking a sleeper or altering his appearance, Absence of the soul in sickness and attempts to recall it, Recalling truant souls in Australia, Burma, China, and Sarawak, in Luzon and Mongolia, in Africa and America, in Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes, Wandering souls in popular tales, Wandering souls detained by ghosts, Attempts to rescue souls from the spirits of the dead.
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Abduction of souls by demons and gods, Lost souls brought back in a visible form, Soul recovered from the earth, Recovery of the soul in ancient Egypt, Souls stolen or detained by sorcerers, Souls taken by head-hunters, Abduction of souls by Malay wizards, Souls extracted from the stomachs of doctors.
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The Soul as a Shadow and a Reflection, A man's soul conceived as his shadow, so that he can be injured through it, Animals also injured through their shadows, Danger of being overshadowed by certain persons, The savage's dread of his mother-in-law, Health and strength supposed to vary with the length of the shadow, Fear of the resemblance of a child to its parents, Shadows of people built into foundations to strengthen them, Foundation sacrifices, Deification of a measuring tape, The soul supposed to be in the reflection, Reason for covering up mirrors in sickness or after a death, The soul supposed to be in the portrait, especially in photographs.
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III — TABOOED ACTS - Taboos on Intercourse with Strangers, Rules of life observed by sacred kings are based on primitive conceptions of the soul, Effect of these rules to isolate the king, Savage dread of the magic arts of strangers, Various modes of disenchanting strangers, Disenchantment effected by stinging ants, pungent spices, and cuts with knives, Ceremonies observed at the reception of strangers perhaps intended to counteract their enchantments, Ceremonies at entering a strange land to disenchant it, Purificatory ceremonies observed on the return from a journey, Special precautions to guard the king against the magic arts of strangers.
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Taboos on Eating and Drinking, Spiritual dangers of eating and drinking, Seclusion of kings at their meals, Taboos on shewing the Face, Faces veiled to avert evil influences, Kings not to be seen by their subjects, Faces veiled against the evil eye, etc.
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Taboos on quitting the House, Kings forbidden to leave their palaces, Kings not allowed to be seen abroad by their subjects
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Taboos on leaving Food over, Magical harm done to a man through the refuse of his food, Customs of the Narrinyeri in South Australia, Customs in Melanesia and New Guinea, Customs in Africa, Celebes, India, and ancient Rome, Effect of the superstition in fostering cleanliness and strengthening the ties of hospitality.
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IV — TABOOED PERSONS - PART Chiefs and Kings tabooed, Disastrous results supposed to follow from usin^the dishes of a sacred personage, Sacred persons regarded as a source of danger to others, Taboo of chiefs and kings in Tonga, Touching for the King's Evil, Fatal effects of contact with Maori chiefs, Other examples of death by imagination.
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Mounters tabooed, Taboos observed by sacred persons resemble those observed by unclean persons, such as manslayers and menstruous women, Taboos laid on persons who have handled the dead in New Zealand, Persons who have been in contact with a corpse forbidden to touch food with their hands, Similar rule observed by novices at initiation, Taboos laid on mourners among North American Indians, Seclusion of widows and widowers in the Philippines and New Guinea