CHAPTER IV—Magic and Religion

[808] Malay magic in particular is deeply tinctured with a belief in spirits, to whom the magician appeals by kindly words and small gifts of food, drink, and even money. See R. J. Wilkinson, _Malay Beliefs_ (London and Leyden, 1906), pp. 67 _sqq._ Here, therefore, religion is encroaching on magic, as it might naturally be expected to do in a race so comparatively advanced as the Malays.

[809] “_Religio est, quae superioris cujusdam naturae, quam divinam vocant, curam caerimoniamque adfert_,” Cicero, _De inventione_, ii. 161.

[810] James ii. 17.

[811] “Piety is not a religion, though it is the soul of all religions. A man has not a religion simply by having pious inclinations, any more than he has a country simply by having philanthropy. A man has not a country until he is a citizen in a state, until he undertakes to follow and uphold certain laws, to obey certain magistrates, and to adopt certain ways of living and acting. Religion is neither a theology nor a theosophy; it is more than all this; it is a discipline, a law, a yoke, an indissoluble engagement” (Joubert, quoted by Matthew Arnold, _Essays in Criticism_, First Series, London, 1898, p. 288).

[812] Micah vi. 8.

[813] James i. 27.

[814] The opposition of principle between magic and religion is well brought out by Sir A. C. Lyall in his _Asiatic Studies_, First Series (London, 1899), i. 99 _sqq._ It is also insisted on by Mr. F. B. Jevons in his _Introduction to the History of Religion_ (London, 1896). The distinction is clearly apprehended and sharply maintained by Professor H. Oldenberg in his notable book _Die Religion des Veda_ (Berlin, 1894); see especially pp. 58 _sq._, 311 _sqq._, 476 _sqq._ Lord Avebury has courteously pointed out to me that the fundamental difference between magic and religion was dwelt on by him many years ago. See his _Origin of Civilisation_ (London, 1870), pp. 116, 164 _sq._, and the Preface to the sixth edition of that work (London, 1902), p. vi. I am glad to find myself in agreement with Lord Avebury on this subject, and only regret that in preparing my second edition I was unaware that the view here taken has the support of his high authority. When I wrote this book originally I failed to realise the extent of the opposition between magic and religion, because I had not formed a clear general conception of the nature of religion, and was disposed to class magic loosely under it.

[815] A. Wiedemann, _Die Religion der alten Ägypter_ (Münster i. W., 1890), pp. 142–145, 148; G. Maspero, _Histoire ancienne des peuples de l’Orient classique: les origines_ (Paris, 1895), pp. 212 _sq._

[816] Augustine, _De civitate Dei_, x. 11, quoting Porphyry.

[817] J. A. Dubois, _Mœurs, institutions et cérémonies des peuples de l’Inde_ (Paris, 1825), ii. 60 _sqq._

[818] Monier Williams, _Religious Thought and Life in India_ (London, 1883), pp. 201 _sq._

[819] To prevent misconception I would ask the reader to observe that the earlier stage here spoken of, in which magic is confused with religion, is not, in my opinion, the earliest of all, having been preceded by a still earlier stage in which magic existed alone. See below, pp. 233 _sqq._ On my view, the evolution of thought on this subject has passed through three stages: first, a stage in which magic existed without religion; second, a stage in which religion, having arisen, co-operated, and was to some extent confused, with magic; and third, a stage in which, the radical difference of principle between the two having been recognised, their relation was that of open hostility.

[820] See above, pp. 72, 77 _sq._, 130, 163 _sq._

[821] R. H. Codrington, _The Melanesians_, pp. 191 _sq._ The word _mana_ is Polynesian as well as Melanesian. In the Maori language it means “authority,” especially “supernatural power,” “divine authority,” “having qualities which ordinary persons or things do not possess.” See E. Tregear, _Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary_ (Wellington, N.Z., 1891), p. 203. Compare R. Taylor, _Te Ika A Maui, or New Zealand and its Inhabitants_,² p. 184, “the _mana_, virtue of the god.”

[822] H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_, p. 59.

[823] H. Oldenberg, _op. cit._ p. 477. For particular examples of the blending of magical with religious ritual in ancient India see pp. 311 _sqq._, 369 _sq._, 476 _sqq._, 522 _sq._ of the same work.

[824] S. Lévi, _La Doctrine du sacrifice dans les Brâhmaṇas_ (Paris, 1898), p. 129.

[825] M. Bloomfield, _Hymns of the Atharva-Veda_, pp. xlv. _sq._ (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xlii.).

[826] W. Caland, _Altindisches Zauberritual_, p. ix.

[827] O. Schrader, _Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde_ (Strasburg, 1901), pp. 637 _sq._ In ancient Arabia the _kâhin_ (etymologically equivalent to the Hebrew _kôhen_, “priest”) seems to have been rather a soothsayer than a priest. See J. Wellhausen, _Reste arabischen Heidentums_² (Berlin, 1897), pp. 134, 143. The confusion of magic with religion, of spell with prayer, may also be detected in the incantations employed by Toda sorcerers at the present day. See W. H. R. Rivers, _The Todas_, pp. 272 _sq._: “The formulae of magic and of the dairy ritual are of the same nature, though the differentiation between the sorcerer and the priest who use them is even clearer than that between the sorcerer and the medicine-man. It is probable that the names of the gods with the characteristic formulae of the prayer are later additions to the magical incantation; that at some time the sorcerer has added the names of the most important of his deities to the spells and charms which at one time were thought to be sufficient for his purpose.”

[828] G. Maspero, _Études de mythologie et d’archéologie égyptienne_ (Paris, 1893), i. 106.

[829] A. Erman, _Ägypten und ägyptisches Leben im Altertum_, p. 471.

[830] A. Wiedemann, _Die Religion der alten Ägypter_ (Münster i. W., 1890), p. 154.

[831] A. Wiedemann, “Ein altägyptischer Weltschöpfungsmythus,” _Am Urquell_, N.F. ii. (1898) pp. 95 _sq._

[832] J. Lecœur, _Esquisses du Bocage Normand_ (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883–1887), ii, 78. In Beauce and Perche it was especially conflagrations caused by lightning which the priest was supposed to extinguish by the recitation of certain secret formulas. There was a regular expression for this procedure, namely, “barring the fire.” See F. Chapiseau, _Le Folk-lore de la Beauce et du Perche_, i. 216.

[833] Amélie Bosquet, _La Normandie romanesque et merveilleuse_ (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 308.

[834] See above, p. 225.

[835] L. J. B. Bérenger-Féraud, _Superstitions et survivances_ (Paris, 1896), i. 455 _sq._, iii. 217 _sq._, 222 _sqq._ Compare _id._, _Reminiscences populaires de la Provence_ (Paris, 1885), pp. 288 _sqq._; D. Monnier, _Traditions populaires comparées_ (Paris, 1854), pp. 31 _sqq._

[836] J. F. Bladé, _Quatorze superstitions populaires de la Gascogne_ (Agen, 1883), pp. 16 _sq._

[837] For the evidence see my _Totemism and Exogamy_, vol. i. pp. 141 _sqq._

[838] The suggestion has been made by Prof. H. Oldenberg (_Die Religion des Veda_, p. 59), who seems, however, to regard a belief in spirits as part of the raw material of magic. If the view which I have put forward tentatively is correct, faith in magic is probably older than a belief in spirits. The same view as to the priority of magic to religion, and apparently also as to the absence of spirits from primitive magic, was held by Hegel. It was not until long after the discussion in the text had been written that I became aware that my conclusions had been to a large extent anticipated by the German philosopher. See Appendix at the end of this volume.

[839] After a visit to the ruined Greek temples of Paestum, whose beauty and splendour impressed him all the more by contrast with the savagery of the surrounding peasantry, Renan wrote: “_J’ai tremblé pour la civilisation, en la voyant si limitée, assise sur une faible assiette, reposant sur si peu d’individus dans le pays même où elle est regnante_.” See E. Renan et M. Berthelot, _Correspondance_ (Paris, 1898), pp. 75 _sq._

[840] See above, pp. 68 sq.; “The Witch-burning at Clonmel,” _Folklore_, vi. (1895) pp. 373–384; F. S. Krauss, _Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Südslaven_, pp. 144 _sqq._

[841] A. Erman, _Ägypten und ägyptisches Leben im Altertum_, p. 471.

[842] C. Fossey, _La Magie Assyrienne_ (Paris, 1902), pp. 123, 125.

[843] C. Fossey, _op. cit._ pp. 137–139. For the incident of the magical disappearance and reappearance of the garment, see P. Jensen, _Assyrisch-Babylonische Mythen und Epen_ (Berlin, 1900), p. 23; R. F. Harper, _Assyrian and Babylonian Literature_ (New York, 1901), p. 291.

[844] H. Oldenberg, _Die Religion des Veda_, pp. 66–68, 514–517.

[845] Fr. Kauffmann, _Balder, Mythus und Sage_ (Strasburg, 1902), pp. 177–203. Compare J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_,⁴ ii. 1024–1026.

[846] G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell, _Corpus Poeticum Boreale_, i. 24 _sqq._