The Golden Bough
by James George Frazer
"The Golden Bough" by James George Frazer explores the evolution of human thought and the role of religion in society, emphasizing the connections between ancient customs and contemporary beliefs. Central to Frazer's thesis is the idea that religion emerges from humanity's desire to reconcile the fear of supernatural powers with the need for social cohesion. He posits that while early religions were marked by primitive rituals and a direct relationship with nature's forces, they have evolved into more complex systems of belief that often mirror ancient practices. Frazer articulates two essential components of religion: belief in higher powers and the corresponding practices intended to appease them. This duality underscores a broader theme: the transformation of human understanding from a focus on ritualistic customs to a more reflective engagement with morality and ethics. He also highlights the similarities between primitive beliefs and fundamental Christian doctrines, suggesting that the core of human spirituality transcends cultural boundaries. Moreover, Frazer examines how myths evolve while customs persist, leading to a dissonance between ancient practices and their original meanings. This historical perspective sheds light on humanity’s enduring quest for knowledge and the interplay between societal development and spiritual beliefs. Ultimately, "The Golden Bough" serves as a profound exploration of the human condition, illustrating how the quest for understanding and the fear of the unknown shape our collective consciousness and moral framework.
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Below are the most popular and impactful highlights and quotes from The Golden Bough:
Small minds cannot grasp great ideas; to their narrow comprehension, their purblind vision, nothing seems really great and important but themselves.
By religion, then, I understand a propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to direct and control the course of nature and of human life. Thus defined, religion consists of two elements, a theoretical and a practical, namely, a belief in powers higher than man and an attempt to propitiate or please them. Of the two, belief clearly comes first, since we must believe in the existence of a divine being before we can attempt to please him. But unless the belief leads to a corresponding practice, it is not a religion but merely a theology; in the language of St. James, “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” In other words, no man is religious who does not govern his conduct in some measure by the fear or love of God. On the other hand, mere practice, divested of all religious belief, is also not religion. Two men may behave in exactly the same way, and yet one of them may be religious and the other not. If the one acts from the love or fear of God, he is religious; if the other acts from the love or fear of man, he is moral or immoral according as his behaviour comports or conflicts with the general good.
For strength of character in the race as in the individual consists mainly in the power of sacrificing the present for the future, of disregarding the immediate temptations of ephemeral pleasure for more distant and lasting sources of satisfaction. The more the power is exercised the higher and stronger becomes the character; till the height of heroism is reached in men who renounce the pleasures of life and even life itself for the sake of winning for others, perhaps in distant ages, the blessings of freedom and truth.
the fear of the human dead, which, on the whole, I believe to have been probably the most powerful force in the making of primitive religion.
For myth changes while custom remains constant; men continue to do what their did before them, though the reasons on which their fathers acted have been long forgotten. The history of religion is a long attempt to reconcile old custom with new reason, to find a sound theory for an absurd practice.
For extending its sway, partly by force of arms, partly by the voluntary submission of weaker tribes, the community soon acquires wealth and slaves, both of which, by relieving some classes from the perpetual struggle for a bare subsistence, afford them an opportunity of devoting themselves to that disinterested pursuit of knowledge which is the noblest and most powerful instrument to ameliorate the lot of man.
So in Scotland witches used to raise the wind by dipping a rag in water and beating it thrice on a stone, saying: “I knok this rag upone this stane To raise the wind in the divellis name, It sall not lye till I please againe.
Thus religion, beginning as a slight and partial acknowledgment of powers superior to man, tends with the growth of knowledge to deepen into a confession of man’s entire and absolute dependence on the divine; his old free bearing is exchanged for an attitude of lowliest prostration before the mysterious powers of the unseen, and his highest virtue is to submit his will to theirs: In la sua volontade è nostra pace.
God may pardon sin, but Nature cannot.
fear of the human dead, which, on the whole, I believe to have been probably the most powerful force in the making of primitive religion.
Sie glaubte augenscheinlich, je weniger Kleidung sie trage, desto weniger Hülse werde der Reis haben.
Im Fricktal in der Schweiz gehen die Knaben zu Pfingsten in den Wald und hüllen einen von ihren Gefährten in belaubte Zweige. Er wird der Pfingstlümmel genannt und zu Pferde, mit einem grünen Zweig in der Hand, ins Dorf zurückgeführt. Am Dorfbrunnen wird halt gemacht, und der blättergeschmückte „Lümmel“ wird vom Pferde geholt und in den Trog getaucht. Damit erwirbt er sich das Recht, jedermann mit Wasser zu bespritzen, und er übt dieses Recht besonders an Mädchen und Straßenjungen aus. Die Jungen und Mädchen marschieren in Trupps vor ihm her und bitten ihn, er möchte ihnen eine Pfingstdusche geben.
Wenn bei den Gallas eine Frau der Haushaltssorgen überdrüssig wird, beginnt sie unzusammenhängende Worte zu reden und sich ungewöhnlich zu betragen. Dies ist ein Zeichen, daß der heilige Geist Callo über sie gekommen ist. Sofort wirft sich ihr Mann vor ihr auf die Erde und betet sie an. Sie führt nicht mehr den bescheidenen Namen „Gattin“, sondern wird „Herr“ genannt. Mit häuslichen Pflichten hat sie nichts mehr zu schaffen, und ihr Wille ist göttliches Gesetz.
Der sagenhafte Salmones, König von Elis, ahmte den Donner nach, indem er bronzene Kessel hinter dem Wagen herzog oder über eine Bronzebrücke fuhr, wobei er flammende Fackeln schwang, die den Blitz darstellten. Es war sein gottloser Wunsch, den donnernden Wagen des Zeus nachzuahmen, wie er über das Himmelsgewölbe rollt. Ja, er erklärte geradezu, daß er Zeus sei und ließ sich als solcher Opfer bringen.
Nach Ansicht der Kwakiutl-Indianer Britisch Columbiens sind Zwillinge verzauberter Lachs.
Bei den Südslaven gräbt ein Mädchen die Erde von den Fußtapfen ihres Geliebten aus und tut sie in einen Blumentopf. Dann pflanzt sie eine Ringelblume, eine Pflanze, die als unverwelklich gilt, hinein. Und wie ihre goldene Blüte wächst und blüht und niemals welkt, so soll die Liebe ihres Freundes wachsen, blühen und niemals verwelken.
Das Stuhlbein, welches an Stelle des Tierbeines behandelt wird, gehört in keiner Weise zu dem Tiere, und das Verbinden dieses Gegenstandes ist nichts weiter als eine Nachahmung der Behandlung, welche eine rationellere Chirurgie dem wirklichen Patienten angedeihen lassen würde.
Man sollte auch hinter den Ofen gehen und sich den Zahn nach rückwärts über den Kopf werfen mit den Worten: „Maus, gib mir deinen eisernen Zahn. Ich werde dir meinen Knochenzahn geben.“ Danach bleiben die übrigen Zähne gesund.
Sie meinten, wenn sie ununterbrochen tanzten, würden ihre Männer im Kampfe nicht ermüden.
Chapter
legend ascribed to the Tauric Diana is familiar to classical readers;
THE PRIMARY aim of this book is to explain the remarkable rule which regulated the succession to the priesthood of Diana at Aricia.
