CHAPTER VII. OUR DEBT TO THE SAVAGE.

(M254) It would be easy to extend the list of royal and priestly taboos, but the instances collected in the preceding pages may suffice as specimens. To conclude this part of our subject it only remains to state summarily the general conclusions to which our enquiries have thus far conducted us. We have seen that in savage or barbarous society there are often found men to whom the superstition of their fellows ascribes a controlling influence over the general course of nature. Such men are accordingly adored and treated as gods. Whether these human divinities also hold temporal sway over the lives and fortunes of their adorers, or whether their functions are purely spiritual and supernatural, in other words, whether they are kings as well as gods or only the latter, is a distinction which hardly concerns us here. Their supposed divinity is the essential fact with which we have to deal. In virtue of it they are a pledge and guarantee to their worshippers of the continuance and orderly succession of those physical phenomena upon which mankind depends for subsistence. Naturally, therefore, the life and health of such a god-man are matters of anxious concern to the people whose welfare and even existence are bound up with his; naturally he is constrained by them to conform to such rules as the wit of early man has devised for averting the ills to which flesh is heir, including the last ill, death. These rules, as an examination of them has shewn, are nothing but the maxims with which, on the primitive view, every man of common prudence must comply if he would live long in the land. But while in the case of ordinary men the observance of the rules is left to the choice of the individual, in the case of the god-man it is enforced under penalty of dismissal from his high station, or even of death. For his worshippers have far too great a stake in his life to allow him to play fast and loose with it. Therefore all the quaint superstitions, the old-world maxims, the venerable saws which the ingenuity of savage philosophers elaborated long ago, and which old women at chimney corners still impart as treasures of great price to their descendants gathered round the cottage fire on winter evenings—all these antique fancies clustered, all these cobwebs of the brain were spun about the path of the old king, the human god, who, immeshed in them like a fly in the toils of a spider, could hardly stir a limb for the threads of custom, “light as air but strong as links of iron,” that crossing and recrossing each other in an endless maze bound him fast within a network of observances from which death or deposition alone could release him.

(M255) Thus to students of the past the life of the old kings and priests teems with instruction. In it was summed up all that passed for wisdom when the world was young. It was the perfect pattern after which every man strove to shape his life; a faultless model constructed with rigorous accuracy upon the lines laid down by a barbarous philosophy. Crude and false as that philosophy may seem to us, it would be unjust to deny it the merit of logical consistency. Starting from a conception of the vital principle as a tiny being or soul existing in, but distinct and separable from, the living being, it deduces for the practical guidance of life a system of rules which in general hangs well together and forms a fairly complete and harmonious whole.(1551) The flaw—and it is a fatal one—of the system lies not in its reasoning, but in its premises; in its conception of the nature of life, not in any irrelevancy of the conclusions which it draws from that conception. But to stigmatise these premises as ridiculous because we can easily detect their falseness, would be ungrateful as well as unphilosophical. We stand upon the foundation reared by the generations that have gone before, and we can but dimly realise the painful and prolonged efforts which it has cost humanity to struggle up to the point, no very exalted one after all, which we have reached. Our gratitude is due to the nameless and forgotten toilers, whose patient thought and active exertions have largely made us what we are. The amount of new knowledge which one age, certainly which one man, can add to the common store is small, and it argues stupidity or dishonesty, besides ingratitude, to ignore the heap while vaunting the few grains which it may have been our privilege to add to it. There is indeed little danger at present of undervaluing the contributions which modern times and even classical antiquity have made to the general advancement of our race. But when we pass these limits, the case is different. Contempt and ridicule or abhorrence and denunciation are too often the only recognition vouchsafed to the savage and his ways. Yet of the benefactors whom we are bound thankfully to commemorate, many, perhaps most, were savages. For when all is said and done our resemblances to the savage are still far more numerous than our differences from him; and what we have in common with him, and deliberately retain as true and useful, we owe to our savage forefathers who slowly acquired by experience and transmitted to us by inheritance those seemingly fundamental ideas which we are apt to regard as original and intuitive. We are like heirs to a fortune which has been handed down for so many ages that the memory of those who built it up is lost, and its possessors for the time being regard it as having been an original and unalterable possession of their race since the beginning of the world. But reflection and enquiry should satisfy us that to our predecessors we are indebted for much of what we thought most our own, and that their errors were not wilful extravagances or the ravings of insanity, but simply hypotheses, justifiable as such at the time when they were propounded, but which a fuller experience has proved to be inadequate. It is only by the successive testing of hypotheses and rejection of the false that truth is at last elicited. After all, what we call truth is only the hypothesis which is found to work best. Therefore in reviewing the opinions and practices of ruder ages and races we shall do well to look with leniency upon their errors as inevitable slips made in the search for truth, and to give them the benefit of that indulgence which we ourselves may one day stand in need of; _cum excusatione itaque veteres audiendi sunt_.

Note. Not To Step Over Persons And Things.(1552)

The superstition that harm is done to a person or thing by stepping over him or it is very widely spread. Thus the Galelareese think that if a man steps over your fishing-rod or your arrow, the fish will not bite when you fish with that rod, and the game will not be hit by that arrow when you shoot it. They say it is as if the implements merely skimmed past the fish or the game.(1553) Similarly, if a Highland sportsman saw a person stepping over his gun or fishing-rod, he presumed but little on that day’s diversion.(1554) When a Dacota had bad luck in hunting, he would say that a woman had been stepping over some part of the animal which he revered.(1555) Amongst many South African tribes it is considered highly improper to step over a sleeper; if a wife steps over her husband he cannot hit his enemy in war; if she steps over his assegais, they are from that time useless, and are given to boys to play with.(1556) The Baganda think that if a woman steps over a man’s weapons, they will not aim straight and will not kill, unless they have been first purified.(1557) The Nandi of British East Africa hold that to step over a snare or trap is to court death and must be avoided at all risks; further, they are of opinion that if a man were to step over a pot, he would fall to pieces whenever the pot were broken.(1558) The people of the Lower Congo deem that to step over a person’s body or legs will cause ill-luck to that person and they are careful not to do so, especially in passing men who are holding a palaver. At such times a passer-by will shuffle his feet along the ground without lifting them in order that he may not be charged with bringing bad luck on any one.(1559) On the other hand among the Wajagga of East Africa grandchildren leap over the corpse of their grandfather, when it is laid out, expressing a wish that they may live to be as old as he.(1560) In Laos hunters are careful never to step over their weapons.(1561) The Tepehuanes of Mexico believe that if anybody steps over them, they will not be able to kill another deer in their lives.(1562) Some of the Australian aborigines are seriously alarmed if a woman steps over them as they lie asleep on the ground.(1563) In the tribes about Maryborough in Queensland, if a woman steps over anything that belongs to a man he will throw it away.(1564) In New Caledonia it is thought to endanger a canoe if a woman steps over the cable.(1565) Everything that a Samoyed woman steps over becomes unclean and must be fumigated.(1566) Malagasy porters believe that if a woman strides over their poles, the skin will certainly peel off the shoulders of the bearers when next they take up the burden.(1567) The Cherokees fancy that to step over a vine causes it to wither and bear no fruit.(1568) The Ba-Pendi and Ba-thonga of South Africa think that if a woman steps over a man’s legs, they will swell and he will not be able to run.(1569) According to the South Slavonians, the most serious maladies may be communicated to a person by stepping over him, but they can afterwards be cured by stepping over him in the reverse direction.(1570) The belief that to step over a child hinders it from growing is found in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Syria; in Syria, Germany, and Bohemia the mischief can be remedied by stepping over the child in the opposite direction.(1571)

INDEX.

Abdication of kings in favour of their infant children, 19, 20

Abduction of souls by demons, 58 _sqq._

Abipones, the, 328, 350; changes in their language, 360

Abnormal mental states accounted inspiration, 248

Abortion, superstition as to woman who has procured, 153

Absence and recall of the soul, 30 _sqq._

Achilles, 261

Acts, tabooed, 101 _sqq._

Adivi or forest Gollas, the, 149

Aetolians, the, 311

Africa, fetish kings in West, 22 _sqq._; names of animals and things tabooed in, 400 _sq._

Agutainos, the, 144

Air, prohibition to be uncovered in the open, 3, 14

Akamba, the, 204

Akikuyu, the, 175, 204, 286; auricular confession among the, 214

Albanians of the Caucasus, 349

Alberti, L., 220

Alcmena and Hercules, 298 _sq._

Alfoors of Celebes, 33; of Minahassa, 63 _sq._

Amboyna, 87, 105

Amenophis III., his birth represented on the monuments, 28

American Indians, their fear of naming the dead, 351 _sqq._

Ammon, Hanun, King of, 273

Amoy, 59

Amulets, knots used as, 306 _sqq._; rings as, 314 _sqq._

Ancestors, names of, bestowed on their reincarnations, 368 _sq._; reborn in their descendants, 368 _sq._

Ancestral spirits, cause sickness, 53; sacrifices to, 104

Andaman Islanders, 183 _n._

Andania, mysteries of, 227 _n._

_Angakok_, Esquimaux wizard or sorcerer, 211, 212

Angoni, the, 174

Animals injured through their shadows, 81 _sq._; propitiation of spirits of slain, 190, 204 _sq._; atonement for slain, 207; dangerous, not called by their proper names, 396 _sqq._; thought to understand human speech, 398 _sq._, 400

Animism passing into religion, 213

Anklets as amulets, 315

Annamites, the, 235

Anointment of priests at installation, 14

Antambahoaka, the, 216

Ants, bites of, used in purificatory ceremony, 105

Apaches, the, 182, 184, 325, 328

Apollo, purification of, 223 _n._1

Apuleius, 270

Arab mode of cursing an enemy, 312

Arabs of Moab, 273, 280

Araucanians, the, 97, 324

Ares, men sacred to, 111

Arikaras, the, 161

Aristeas of Proconnesus, 34

Army under arms, prohibition to see, 13

Arrows to keep off death, 31

Aru Islands, 37, 276

Arunta, their belief as to the ghosts of the slain, 177 _sq._; ceremonies at the end of mourning among the, 373 _sq._

Arval Brothers, 226

Aryans, the primitive, their theory of personal names, 319

Ashes strewn on the head, 112

Ash-tree, parings of nails buried under an, 276

Assam, taboos observed by headmen in, 11; hill tribes of, 323

Astarte at Hierapolis, 286

Aston, W. G., 2 _n._2

Astrolabe Bay, 289

Athens, kings at, 21 _sq._; ritual of cursing at, 75

Atonement for slain animals, 207

Attiuoindarons, the, 366

_Atua_, ancestral spirit, 134, 265

Augur’s staff at Rome, 313

Auricular confession, 214

Aurohuaca Indians, 215

Australian aborigines; their conception of the soul, 27; personal names kept secret among the, 320 _sqq._; their fear of naming the dead, 349 _sqq._

Aversion of spirits and fairies to iron, 229, 232 _sq._

Avoidance of common words to deceive spirits or other beings, 416 _sqq._

Aymara Indians, the, 97

Aztecs, the, 249; their priests, 259

Babylonian witches and wizards, 302

Bad Country, the, 109

Badham, Dr., 156 _n._

Baduwis, the, of Java, 115 _sq._, 232

Bag, souls collected in a, 63 _sq._

Baganda, the, 78, 87

—— fishermen, taboos observed by, 194 _sq._ _See also_ Uganda

Bagba, a fetish, 5

Bageshu, the, 174

Bagobos, the, 31, 315, 323

Bahima, the, 183 _n._; names of their dead kings not mentioned, 375

Bahnars of Cochin-China, 52, 58

Baking, continence observed at, 201

Balder, Norse god, 305 _n._1

Ba-Lua, the, 330

Banana-trees, fruit-bearing, hair deposited under, 286

Bandages to prevent the escape of the soul, 32, 71

Bangala, the, 195 _sq._, 330

Bangkok, 90

Baoules, the, 70

Ba-Pedi, the, 141, 153, 163, 202

Baron, R., 380

Baronga, the, 272

Basagala, the, 361

Basket, souls gathered into a, 72

Bastian, A., 252, 253

Basutos, burial custom of the, 107; purification of warriors among the, 172

Bathing (washing) as a ceremonial purification, 141, 142, 150, 153, 168, 169, 172, 173, 175, 179, 183, 192, 198, 219, 220, 222, 285, 286

Ba-Thonga, the, 141, 154, 163, 202

Battas or Bataks of Sumatra, 34, 45, 46, 65, 116, 296

Bavili, the, 78

Bawenda, the, 243

Bayazid, the Sultan, and his soul, 50

Beans, prohibition to touch or name, 13 _sq._

Bear, the polar, taboos concerning, 209; customs observed by Lapps after killing a, 221

Bears not to be called by their proper names, 397 _sq._, 399, 402

Bechuanas, purification of manslayers among the, 172 _sq._, 174

Bed, feet of, smeared with mud, 14; prohibition to sleep in a, 194

Beef and milk not to be eaten at the same meal, 292

Beer, continence observed at brewing, 200

Bells as talismans, 235

Benin, kings of, 123, 243

Bentley, R., 33 _n._3

Besisis, the, 87

Beveridge, P., 363 _sq._

Bird, soul conceived as a, 33 _sqq._

Birds, ghosts of slain as, 177 _sq._; cause headache through clipped hair, 270 _sq._, 282

Birth from a golden image, pretence of, 113; premature, 213. _See_ Miscarriage

Bismarck Archipelago, 128

Bites of ants used as purificatory ceremony, 105

Blackening faces of warriors, 163; of manslayers, 169, 178, 181

Blackfoot Indians, 159 _n._

Black Mountain of southern France, 42

—— ox or black ram in magic, 154

Bladders, annual festival of, among the Esquimaux, 206 _sq._, 228

“Blessers” or sacred kings, 125 _n._

Blood put on doorposts, 15; of slain, supposed effect of it on the slayer, 169; smeared on person as a purification, 104, 115, 219; drawn from bodies of manslayers, 176, 180; tabooed, 239 _sqq._; not eaten, 240 _sq._; soul in the, 240, 241, 247, 250; of game poured out, 241; royal, not to be shed on the ground, 241 _sqq._; unwillingness to shed, 243, 246 _sq._; received on bodies of kinsfolk, 244 _sq._; drops of, effaced, 245 _sq._; horror of, 245; of chief sacred, 248; of women, dread of, 250 _sq._

—— of childbirth, supposed dangerous infection of, 152 _sqq._; received on heads of friends or slaves, 245

—— -lickers, 246

Blowing upon knots, as a charm, 302, 304

Boa-constrictor, purification of man who has killed a, 221 _sq._

Boars, wild, not to be called by their proper names, 411, 415

Boas, Dr. Franz, 210 _sqq._, 214

Bodia or Bodio, a West African pontiff or fetish king, 14 _sq._, 23

Bodies, souls transferred to other, 49

Bodos, the, of Assam, 285

Boiled flesh tabooed, 185

Bolang Mongondo, a district in Celebes, 53, 279, 341

Bonds, no man in bonds allowed in priest’s house, 14

Bones of human bodies which have been eaten, special treatment of, 189 _sq._; of the dead, their treatment after the decay of the flesh, 372 _n._5; of dead disinterred and scraped, 373 _n._

Boobies, the, 8 _sq._

Born again, pretence of being, 113

Bornu, Sultan of, 120

Bororos, the, 34, 36

Bourke, Captain J. G., 184

Box, strayed soul caught in, 45, 70, 76

Bracelets as amulets, 315

Brahman student, his cut hair and nails, 277

Brahmans, their common and secret names, 322

Branches used in exorcism, 109

Breath of chief sacred, 136, 256

Breathing on a person as a mode of purification, 149

Brewing, continence observed at, 200, 201 _sq._

Bribri Indians, their ideas as to the uncleanness of women, 147, 149

Bride and bridegrooms, all knots on their garments unloosed, 299 _sq._

Bronze employed in expiatory rites, 226 _n._6; priests to be shaved with, 226

—— knife to cut priest’s hair, 14

Brother and sister not allowed to mention each other’s names, 344

Brothers-in-law, their names not to be pronounced, 338, 342, 343, 344, 345

Buddha, Footprint of, 275

Building shadows into foundations, 89 _sq._

_Bukuru_, unclean, 147

Bulgarian building custom, 89

Burghead, 230

Burial under a running stream, 15

—— customs to prevent the escape of the soul, 51, 52

Burials, customs as to shadows at, 80 _sq._

Burma, kings of, 375

Burmese conception of the soul as a butterfly, 51 _sq._

Burning cut hair and nails to prevent them being used in sorcery, 281 _sqq._

Buryat shaman, his mode of recovering lost souls, 56 _sq._

Butterfly, the soul as a, 29 _n._1, 51 _sq._

Cacongo, King of, 115, 118

Caffre customs at circumcision, 156 _sq._

Caffres, “women’s speech” among the, 335 _sq._

Calabar, fetish king at, 22 _sq._

Calabashes, souls shut up in, 72

Calchaquis Indians, 31

Californian Indians, 352

Cambodia, kings of, 376

Camden, W., 68

Campbell, J., 384

Camphor, special language employed by searchers for, 405 _sqq._

Canelos Indians, 97

Cannibalism at hair-cutting, 264

Cannibals, taboos imposed on, among the Kwakiutl, 188 _sqq._

Canoe, fish offered to, 195

Canoes, continence observed at building, 202

Captives killed and eaten, 179 _sq._

Carayahis, the, 348

Caribou, taboos concerning, 208

Caribs, difference of language between men and women among the, 348

Caroline Islands, 25, 193, 290, 293

Caron’s _Account of Japan_, 4 _n._2

Carrier Indians, 215, 367

Catat, Dr., 98

Catlin, G., 182

Cats with stumpy tails, reason of, 128 _sq._

Cattle, continence observed for sake of, 204; protected against wolves by charms, 307

Caul-fat extracted by Australian enemies, 303

“Cauld airn,” 233

Cazembes, the, 132

Celebes, 32, 33, 35; hooking souls in, 30

Celibacy of holy milkmen, 15, 16

Ceremonial purity observed in war, 157

Ceremonies at the reception of strangers, 102 _sqq._; at entering a strange land, 109 _sqq._; purificatory, on return from a journey, 111 _sqq._; observed after slaughter of panthers, lions, bears, serpents, etc., 219 _sqq._; at hair-cutting, 264 _sqq._

Cetchwayo, King, 377

Chams, the, 202, 297

Change of language caused by taboo on the names of the dead, 358 _sqq._, 375; caused by taboo on names of chiefs and kings, 375, 376 _sqq._

—— of names to deceive ghosts, 354 _sqq._

Charms to facilitate childbirth, 295 _sq._

Chastity. _See_ Continence

_Chegilla_, taboo, 137

Cheremiss, the, 391

Cherokee sorcery with spittle, 287 _sq._

Chiefs, foods tabooed to, 291, 292; names of, tabooed, 376 _sq._, 378 _sq._, 381, 382

—— and kings tabooed, 131 _sqq._

—— sacred, not allowed to leave their enclosures, 124; regarded as dangerous, 138

Child and father, supposed danger of resemblance between, 88 _sq._

Child’s nails bitten off, 262

Childbed, taboos imposed on women in, 147 _sqq._

Childbirth, precautions taken with mother at, 32, 33; women tabooed at, 147 _sqq._; confession of sins as a means of expediting, 216 _sq._; women after, their hair shaved and burnt, 284; homoeopathic magic to facilitate, 295 _sqq._; knots untied at, 294, 296 _sq._, 297 _sq._

Children, young, tabooed, 262, 283; parents named after their, 331 _sqq._

Chiloe, Indians of, 287, 324

China, custom at funerals in, 80; Emperor of, 125, 375 _sq._

Chitomé or Chitombé, a pontiff of Congo, 5 _sq._, 7

Chittagong, 297

Choctaws, the, 181

Chuckchees, the, 358

Circumcision customs among the Caffres, 156 _sq._; performed with flints, not iron, 227; in Australia, 244

Circumlocutions adopted to avoid naming the dead, 350, 351, 354, 355; employed by reapers, 412

Cities, guardian deities of, evoked by enemies, 391

Clasping of hands forbidden, 298

_Clavie_, the, at Burghead, 229 _sq._

Cleanliness fostered by superstition, 130; personal, observed in war, 157, 158 _n._1

Clippings of hair, magic wrought through, 268 _sqq._, 275, 277, 278 _sq._

Clotaire, 259

Clothes of sacred persons tabooed, 131

Cloths used to catch souls, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 64, 67, 75 _sq._

Clotilde, Queen, 259

Cobra, ceremonies after killing a, 222 _sq._

Coco-nut oil made by chaste women, 201

_Codjour_, a priestly king, 132 _n._1

Coins, portraits of kings not stamped on, 98 _sq._

Comanches, the, 360

Combing the hair forbidden, 187, 203, 208, 264; thought to cause storms, 271

Combs of sacred persons, 256

Common objects, names of, changed when they are the names of the dead, 358 _sqq._, 375, or the names of chiefs and kings, 375, 376 _sqq._

—— words tabooed, 392 _sqq._

Concealment of miscarriage in childbed, supposed effects of, 152 _sqq._

Concealment of personal names from fear of magic, 320 _sqq._

Conciliating the spirits of the land, 110 _sq._

Conduct, standard of, shifted from natural to supernatural basis, 213 _sq._

Confession of sins, 114, 191, 195, 211 _sq._, 214 _sqq._; originally a magical ceremony, 217

Connaught, kings of, 11 _sq._

Consummation of marriage prevented by knots and locks, 299 _sqq._

Contagious magic, 246, 268, 272

Continence enjoined on people during the rounds of sacred pontiff, 5; of Zapotec priests, 6; of priests, 159 _n._

—— observed on eve of period of taboo, 11; by those who have handled the dead, 142; during war, 157, 158 _n._1, 161, 163, 164, 165; after victory, 166 _sqq._, 175, 178, 179, 181; by cannibals, 188; by fishers and hunters, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 207; by workers in salt-pans, 200; at brewing beer, wine, and poison, 200 _sq._, 201 _sq._; at baking, 201; at making coco-nut oil, 201; at building canoes, 202; at house-building, 202; at making or repairing dams, 202; on trading voyages, 203; after festivals, 204; on journeys, 204; while cattle are at pasture, 204; by lion-killers and bear-killers, 220, 221; before handling holy relics, 272; by tabooed men, 293

Cooking, taboos as to, 147 _sq._, 156, 165, 169, 178, 185, 193, 194, 198, 209, 221, 256

Coptic church, 235, 310 _n._5

Cords, knotted, in magic, 302, 303 _sq._

Corea, clipped hair burned in, 283

—— kings of, 125; not to be touched with iron, 226

Corpses, knots not allowed about, 310

Cousins, male and female, not allowed to mention each other’s names, 344

Covenant, spittle used in making a, 290

Covering up mirrors at a death, 94 _sq._

Cow bewitched, 93

Cowboy of the king of Unyoro, 159 _n._

Creek Indians, the, 156; their war customs, 161

Crevaux, J., 105

Criminals shaved as a mode of purification, 287

Crocodiles not called by their proper names, 403, 410, 411, 415 _sq._

Crossing of legs forbidden, 295, 298 _sq._

Crown, imperial, as palladium, 4

Crystals used in divination, 56

Curr, E. M., 320 _sq._

Cursing at Athens, ritual of, 75

—— an enemy, Arab mode of, 312

Curtains to conceal kings, 120 _sq._

Cut hair and nails, disposal of, 267 _sqq._

Cuts made in the body as a mode of expelling demons or ghosts, 106 _sq._; in bodies of manslayers, 174, 176, 180; in bodies of slain, 176. _See also_ Incisions

Cutting the hair a purificatory ceremony, 283 _sqq._

Cynaetha, people of, 188

Cyzicus, council chamber at, 230

Dacotas, the, 181

Dahomey, the King of, 9; royal family of, 243; kings of, their “strong names,” 374

Dairi, the, or Mikado of Japan, 2, 4

Dairies, sacred, of the Todas, 15 _sqq._

Dairymen, sacred, of the Todas, 15 _sqq._

Damaras, the, 247

Dams, continence at making or repairing, 202

Dance of king, 123; of successful head-hunters, 166

Dances of victory, 169, 170, 178, 182

Danger of being overshadowed by certain birds or people, 82 _sq._; supposed, of portraits and photographs, 96 _sqq._; supposed to attend contact with divine or sacred persons, such as chiefs and kings, 132, 138

Darfur, 81; Sultan of, 120

Dassera, festival of the, 316

Daughter-in-law, her name not to be pronounced, 338

David and the King of Moab, 273

Dawson, J., 347 _sq._

Dead, sacrifices to the, 15, 88; taboos on persons who have handled the, 138 _sqq._; souls of the dead all malignant, 145; names of the dead tabooed, 349 _sqq._; to name the dead a serious crime, 352; names of the dead not borne by the living, 354; reincarnation or resurrection of the dead in their namesakes, 365 _sqq._; festivals of the, 367, 371

—— body, prohibition to touch, 14

Death, natural, of sacred king or priest, supposed fatal consequences of, 6, 7; kept off by arrows, 31; mourners forbidden to sleep in house after a death, 37; custom of covering up mirrors at a, 94 _sq._; from imagination, 135 _sqq._

Debt of civilisation to savagery, 421 _sq._

Defiled hands, 174. _See_ Hands

De Groot, J. J. M., 390

Demons, abduction of souls by, 58 _sqq._; of disease expelled by pungent spices, pricks, and cuts, 105 _sq._; and ghosts averse to iron, 232 _sqq._

Devils, abduction of souls by, 58 _sqq._

Dido, her magical rites, 312

Diet of kings and priests regulated, 291 _sqq._

Dieterich, A., 369 _n._3

Difference of language between husbands and wives, 347 _sq._; between men and women, 348 _sq._

Diminution of shadow regarded with apprehension, 86 _sq._

Dio Chrysostom, on fame as a shadow, 86 _sq._

Diodorus Siculus, 12 _sq._

Dionysus in the city, festival of, 316

Disease, demons of, expelled by pungent spices, pricks, and cuts, 105 _sq._

Disenchanting strangers, various modes of, 102 _sqq._

Dishes, effect of eating out of sacred, 4; of sacred persons tabooed, 131. _See_ Vessels

Disposal of cut hair and nails, 267 _sqq._

Divination by shoulder-blades of sheep, 229

Divinities, human, bound by many rules, 419 _sq._

Divorce of spiritual from temporal power, 17 _sqq._

Dobrizhoffer, Father M., 328, 360

Dog, prohibition to touch or name, 13

Dogs, bones of game kept from, 206; unclean, 206; tigers called, 402

Dolls or puppets employed for the restoration of souls to their bodies, 53 _sqq._, 62 _sq._

Doorposts, blood put on, 15

Doors opened to facilitate childbirth, 296, 297; to facilitate death, 309

Doubles, spiritual, of men and animals, 28 _sq._

Doutté, E., 390

Dreams, absence of soul in, 36 _sqq._; belief of savages in the reality of, 36 _sq._; omens drawn from, 161

Drinking and eating, taboos on, 116 _sqq._; modes of drinking for tabooed persons, 117 _sqq._, 120, 143, 146, 147, 148, 160, 182, 183, 185, 189, 197, 198, 256

Drought supposed to be caused by a concealed miscarriage, 153 _sq._

Dugong fishing, taboos in connexion with, 192

Dyaks, the Sea, 30; their modes of recalling the soul, 47 _sq._, 52 _sq._, 55 _sq._, 60, 67; taboos observed by head-hunters among the, 166 _sq._

Eagle, soul in form of, 34

—— -hunters, taboos observed by, 198 _sq._

Eagle-wood, special language employed by searchers for, 404

Eating out of sacred vessels, supposed effect of, 4

—— and drinking, taboos on, 116 _sqq._; fear of being seen in the act of, 117 _sqq._

Eggs offered to demons, 110; reason for breaking shells of, 129 _sq._

Egypt, rules of life observed by ancient kings of, 12 _sq._

Egyptian magicians, their power of compelling the deities, 389 _sq._

Egyptians, the ancient, their conception of the soul, 28; their practice as to souls of the dead, 68 _sq._; personal names among, 322

Elder brother, his name not to be pronounced, 341

Elder-tree, cut hair and nails inserted in an, 275 _sq._

Elephant-hunters, special language employed by, 404

Eleusinian priests, their names sacred, 382 _sq._

Elfin race averse to iron, 232 _sq._

Emetic as mode of purification, 175, 245; pretended, in auricular confession, 214

Emin Pasha, 108

Epidemics attributed to evil spirits, 30

Epimenides, the Cretan seer, 50 _n._2

Esquimaux, their conception of the soul, 27; their dread of being photographed, 96; or Inuit, taboos observed by hunters among the, 205 _sq._; namesakes of the dead among the, 371

Esthonians, the, 41 _sq._, 240

Ethical evolution, 218 _sq._

—— precepts developed out of savage taboos, 214

Ethiopia, kings of, 124

Euphemisms employed for certain animals, 397 _sqq._; for smallpox, 400, 410, 411, 416

Europe, south-eastern, superstitions as to shadows in, 89 _sq._

Evil eye, the, 116 _sq._

Ewe-speaking peoples of the Slave Coast, 9; rebirth of ancestors among the, 369

Execution, peculiar modes of, for members of royal families, 241 _sqq._

Executioners, customs observed by, 171 _sq._, 180 _sq._

Exorcising harmful influence of strangers, 102 _sqq._

Eye, the evil, 116 _sq._

Eyeos, the, 9

Faces veiled to avert evil influences, 120 _sqq._; of warriors blackened, 163; of manslayers blackened, 169

_Fàdy_, taboo, 327

Fafnir and Sigurd, 324

Fairies averse to iron, 229, 232 _sq._

Fasting, custom of, 157 _n._2, 159 _n._, 161, 162, 163, 182, 183, 189, 198, 199

Father and child, supposed danger of resemblance between, 88 _sq._

—— and mother, their names not to be mentioned, 337, 341

—— in-law, his name not to be pronounced by his daughter-in-law, 335 _sqq._, 343, 345, 346; by his son-in-law, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344

Fathers named after their children, 331 _sqq._

Faunus, consultation of, 314

Feast of Yams, 123

Feathers worn by manslayers, 180, 186 _n._1

Feet, not to wet the, 159. _See also_ Foot

Fernando Po, taboos observed by the kings of, 8 _sq._, 115, 123, 291

Festival of the Dead among the Hurons, 367

Fetish or taboo rajah, 24

—— kings in West Africa, 22 _sqq._

Fever, euphemism for, 400

“Field speech,” a special jargon employed by reapers, 410 _sq._, 411 _sq._

Fiji, catching away souls in, 69; War King and Sacred King in, 21; custom as to remains of food in, 117

Fijian chief, supposed effect of using his dishes or clothes, 131

—— conception of the soul, 29 _sq._, 92

—— custom of frightening away ghosts, 170

—— notion of absence of the soul in dreams, 39 _sq._

Fingers cut off as a sacrifice, 161

Finnish hunters, 398

Fire, rule as to removing fire from priest’s house, 13; prohibition to blow the fire with the breath, 136, 256; in purificatory rites, 108, 109, 111, 114, 197; tabooed, 178, 182, 256 _sq._; new, made by friction, 286

—— and Water, kingships of, 17

Firefly, soul in form of, 67

First-fruits, offering of, 5

Fish-traps, continence observed at making, 202

Fishermen, words tabooed by, 394 _sq._, 396, 408 _sq._, 415

Fishers and hunters tabooed, 190 _sqq._

Fison, Rev. Lorimer, 30 _n._1, 40 _n._1, 92 _n._3, 131 _n._2

Fits and convulsions set down to demons, 59

Flamen Dialis, taboos observed by the, 13 _sq._, 239, 248, 257, 275, 291, 293, 315 _sq._

Flaminica, rules observed by the, 14

Flannan Islands, 392

Flesh, boiled, not to be eaten by tabooed persons, 185; diet restricted or forbidden, 291 _sqq._

Flints, not iron, cuts to be made with, 176; use of, prescribed in ritual, 176; sharp, circumcision performed with, 227

Fly, soul in form of, 39

Food, remnants of, buried as a precaution against sorcery, 118, 119, 127 _sq._, 129; magic wrought by means of refuse of, 126 _sqq._; taboos on leaving food over, 127 _sqq._; not to be touched with hands, 138 _sqq._, 146 _sqq._, 166, 167, 168, 169, 174, 203, 265; objection to have food over head, 256, 257

Foods tabooed, 291 _sqq._

Foot, custom of going with only one foot shod, 311 _sqq._ _See also_ Feet

Footprint in magic, 74; of Buddha, 275

Forgetfulness, pretence of, 189

Forks used in eating by tabooed persons, 148, 168, 169, 203

Fors, the, of Central Africa, 281

Foundation sacrifices, 89 _sqq._

Fowl used in exorcism, 106

Fowlers, words tabooed by, 393, 407 _sq._

Foxes not to be mentioned by their proper names, 396, 397

Frankish kings, their unshorn hair, 258 _sq._

Fresh meat tabooed, 143

Fumigation as a mode of ceremonial purification, 155, 177

Funerals in China, custom as to shadows at, 80. _See also_ Burial, Burials

Furfo, 230

Gabriel, the archangel, 302, 303

_Gangas_, fetish priests, 291

Garments, effect of wearing sacred, 4

Gates, sacrifice of human beings at foundations of, 90 _sq._

Gatschet, A. S., 363

Gauntlet, running the, 222

Genitals of murdered people eaten, 190 _n._2

Getae, priestly kings of the, 21

Ghost of husband kept from his widow, 143; fear of evoking the ghost by mentioning his name, 349 _sqq._; chased into the grave at the end of mourning, 373 _sq._

Ghosts, sacrifices to, 56, 247; draw away the souls of their kinsfolk, 51 _sqq._; draw out men’s shadows, 80; as guardians of gates, 90 _sq._; kept off by thorns, 142; and demons averse to iron, 232 _sqq._; fear of wounding, 237 _sq._; swept out of house, 238; names changed in order to deceive ghosts or to avoid attracting their attention, 354 _sqq._

Ghosts of animals, dread of, 223

—— of the slain haunt their slayers, 165 _sqq._; fear of the, 165 _sqq._; sacrifices to, 166; scaring away the, 168, 170, 171, 172, 174 _sq._; as birds, 177 _sq._

Gilyaks, the, 370

Ginger in purificatory rites, 105, 151

Gingiro, kingdom of, 18

Girls at puberty obliged to touch everything in house, 225 _n._; their hair torn out, 284

Goajiro Indians, 30, 350

Goat, prohibition to touch or name, 13; transference of guilt to, 214 _sq._

—— -sucker, shadow of the, 82

God, “the most great name” of, 390

—— -man a source of danger, 132; bound by many rules, 419 _sq._

Gods, their names tabooed, 387 _sqq._; Xenophanes on the, 387; human, bound by many rules, 419 _sq._ _See also_ Myths

Gold excluded from some temples, 226 _n._8

—— and silver as totems, 227 _n._

—— mines, spirits of the, treated with deference, 409 _sq._

Goldie, H., 22

Gollas, the, 149

Good Friday, 229

Goorkhas, the, 316

Gordian knot, 316 _sq._

Gran Chaco, Indians of the, 37, 38, 357

Grandfathers, grandsons named after their deceased, 370

Grandidier, A., 380 _sq._

Grandmothers, granddaughters named after their deceased, 370

Grass knotted as a charm, 305, 310

Grave, soul fetched from, 54

—— -clothes, no knots in, 310

—— -diggers, taboos observed by, 141, 142

Graves, food offered on, 53; water poured on, as a rain-charm, 154 _sq._

Great Spirit, sacrifice of fingers to the, 161

Grebo people of Sierra Leone, 14

Greek conception of the soul, 29 _n._1

—— customs as to manslayers, 188

Grey, Sir George, 364 _sq._

_Grihya-Sûtras_, 277

Grimm, J., 305 _n._1

Ground, prohibition to touch the, 3, 4, 6; not to sit on the, 159, 162, 163; not to set foot on, 180; royal blood not to be shed on the, 241 _sqq._

Guardian deities of cities, 391

Guaycurus, the, 357

Guiana, Indians of, 324

Gypsy superstition about portraits, 100

Haida medicine-men, 31

Hair, mode of cutting the Mikado’s, 3; cut with bronze knife, 14; of manslayers shaved, 175, 176; of slain enemy, fetish made from, 183; not to be combed, 187, 203, 208, 264; tabooed, 258 _sqq._; of kings, priests, and wizards unshorn, 258 _sqq._; regarded as the seat of a god or spirit, 258, 259, 263; kept unshorn at certain times, 260 _sqq._; offered to rivers, 261; of children unshorn, 263; magic wrought through clippings of, 268 _sqq._, 275, 277, 278 _sq._; cut or combed out may cause rain and thunderstorms, 271, 272, 282; clippings of, used as hostages, 272 _sq._; infected by virus of taboo, 283 _sq._; cut as a purificatory ceremony, 283 _sqq._; of women after childbirth shaved and burnt, 284; loosened at childbirth, 297 _sq._; loosened in magical and religious ceremonies, 310 _sq._

—— and nails of sacred persons not cut, 3, 4, 16

—— and nails, cut, disposal of, 267 _sqq._; deposited on or under trees, 14, 275 _sq._, 286; deposited in sacred places, 274 _sqq._; stowed away in any secret place, 276 _sqq._; kept for use at the resurrection, 279 _sqq._; burnt to prevent them from falling into the hands of sorcerers, 281 _sqq._

—— -cutting, ceremonies at, 264 _sqq._

Hands tabooed, 138, 140 _sqq._, 146 _sqq._, 158, 159 _n._, 265; food not to be touched with, 138 _sqq._, 146 _sqq._, 166, 167, 168, 169, 174, 265; defiled, 174; not to be clasped, 298

Hanun, King of Moab, 273

Hawaii, 72, 106; customs as to chiefs and shadows in, 255

Head, stray souls restored to, 47, 48, 52, 53 _sq._, 64, 67; prohibition to touch the, 142, 183, 189, 252 _sq._, 254, 255 _sq._; plastered with mud, 182; the human, regarded as sacred, 252 _sqq._; tabooed, 252 _sqq._; supposed to be the residence of spirits, 252; objection to have any one overhead, 253 _sqq._; washing the, 253

—— -hunters, customs of, 30, 36, 71 _sq._, 111, 166 _sq._, 169 _sq._

Headache caused by clipped hair, 270 _sq._, 282

Heads of manslayers shaved, 177

Hearne, S., quoted, 184 _sqq._

Hebesio, god of thunder, 257

Hercules and Alcmena, 298 _sq._

Herero, the, 151, 177, 225 _n._

Hermotimus of Clazomenae, 50

Hidatsa Indians, taboos observed by eagle-hunters among the, 198 _sq._

Hierapolis, temple of Astarte at, 286

Hiro, thief-god, 69

Historical tradition hampered by the taboo on the names of the dead, 363 _sqq._

Holiness and pollution not differentiated by savages, 224

Hollis, A. C., 200 _n._3

Holy water, sprinkling with, 285 _sq._

Homicides. See Manslayers

Homoeopathic magic, 151, 152, 207, 295, 298

Honey-wine, continence observed at brewing, 200

Hooks to catch souls, 30 _sq._, 51

Horse, prohibition to see a, 9; prohibition to ride, 13

Hos of Togoland, the, 295, 301

Hostages, clipped hair used as, 272 _sq._

Hottentots, the, 220

House, ceremony at entering a new, 63 _sq._; taboos on quitting the, 122 _sqq._

—— building, custom as to shadows at, 81, 89 _sq._; continence observed at, 202

Howitt, A. W., 269

Huichol Indians, 197

Human gods bound by many rules, 419 _sq._

—— sacrifices at foundation of buildings, 90 _sq._

Humbe, a kingdom of Angola, 6

Hunters use knots as charms, 306; words tabooed by, 396, 398, 399, 400, 402, 404, 410

—— and fishers tabooed, 190 _sqq._

Hurons, the, 366; their conception of the soul, 27; their Festival of the Dead, 367

Husband’s ghost kept from his widow, 143

—— name not to be pronounced by his wife, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339

Husbands and wives, difference of language between, 347 _sq._

Huzuls, the, 270, 314

Ilocanes of Luzon, 44

Imagination, death from, 135 _sqq._

Imitative or homoeopathic magic, 295

Impurity of manslayers, 167

Incas of Peru, 279

Incisions made in bodies of warriors as a preparation for war, 161; in bodies of slain, 176; in bodies of manslayers, 174, 176, 180. _See also_ Cuts

Incontinence of young people supposed to be fatal to the king, 6

India, names of animals tabooed in, 401 _sqq._

Indians of North America, their customs on the war-path, 158 _sqq._; their fear of naming the dead, 351 _sqq._

Infants tabooed, 255

Infection, supposed, of lying-in women, 150 _sqq._

Infidelity of wife supposed to be fatal to hunter, 197

Initiation, custom of covering the mouth after, 122; taboos observed by novices at, 141 _sq._, 156 _sq._; new names given at, 320

Injury to a man’s shadow conceived as an injury to the man, 78 _sqq._

Inspiration, primitive theory of, 248

Intercourse with wives enjoined before war, 164 _n._1; enjoined on manslayers, 176. _See also_ Continence

Intoxication accounted inspiration, 248, 249, 250

Inuit. _See_ Esquimaux

Ireland, taboos observed by the ancient kings of, 11 _sq._

Irish custom as to a fall, 68; as to friends’ blood, 244 _sq._

Iron not to be touched, 167; tabooed, 176, 225 _sqq._; used as a charm against spirits, 232 _sqq._

—— instruments, use of, tabooed, 205, 206

—— rings as talismans, 235

Iroquois, the, 352, 385

Isis and Ra, 387 _sqq._

Israelites, rules of ceremonial purity observed by the Israelites in war, 157 _sq._, 177

Issini, the, 171

Itonamas, the, 31

Ivy, prohibition to touch or name, 13 _sq._

Ja-Luo, the, 79

Jackals, tigers called, 402, 403

Jackson, Professor Henry, 21 _n._3

Japan, the Mikado of, 2 _sqq._; Kaempfer’s history of, 3 _n._2; Caron’s account of, 4 _n._2

Jars, souls conjured into, 70

Jason and Pelias, 311 _sq._

Java, 34, 35

Jebu, the king of, 121

Jewish hunters, their customs as to blood of game, 241

Jinn, the servants of their magical names, 390

Journey, purificatory ceremonies on return from a, 111 _sqq._; continence observed on a, 204; hair kept unshorn on a, 261

Jumping over wife or children as a ceremony, 112, 164 _n._1

Juno Lucina, 294

Junod, H. A., 152 _sqq._, 420 _n._1

Jupiter Liber, temple of, at Furfo, 230

_Ka_, the ancient Egyptian, 28

Kachins of Burma, 200

Kaempfer’s _History of Japan_, 3 _sq._

Kafirs of the Hindoo Koosh, 13 _n._6, 14 _n._2

Kaitish, the, 82, 295

Kalamba, the, a chief in the Congo region, 114

_Kami_, the Japanese word for god, 2 _n._2

Kamtchatkans, their attempts to deceive mice, 399

Karaits, the, 95

Karen-nis of Burma, the, 13

Karens, the Red, of Burma, 292; their recall of the soul, 43; their customs at funerals, 51

Karo-Bataks, 52. _See also_ Battas

_Katikiro_, the, of Uganda, 145 _n._4

Kavirondo, 176

Kayans of Borneo, 32, 47, 110, 164, 239

Kei Islanders, 53

Kenyahs of Borneo, 43, 415

Key as symbol of delivery in childbed, 296

Keys as charms against devils and ghosts, 234, 235, 236; as amulets, 308. _See also_ Locks

Khonds, rebirth of ancestors among the, 368 _sq._

Kickapoos, the, 171

Kidd, Dudley, 88 _n._

King not to be overshadowed, 83

—— of the Night, 23

King’s Evil, the, 134

Kings, supernatural powers attributed to, 1; beaten before their coronation, 18; forbidden to see their mothers, 86; portraits of, not stamped on coins, 98 _sq._; guarded against the magic of strangers, 114 _sq._; forbidden to use foreign goods, 115; not to be seen eating and drinking, 117 _sqq._; concealed by curtains, 120 _sq._; forbidden to leave their palaces, 122 _sqq._; compelled to dance, 123; punished or put to death, 124; not to be touched, 132, 225 _sq._; their hair unshorn, 258 _sq._; foods tabooed to, 291 _sq._; names of, tabooed, 374 _sqq._; taboos observed by, identical with those observed by commoners, 419 _sq._

Kings and chiefs tabooed, 131 _sqq._; their spittle guarded against sorcerers, 289 _sq._

—— fetish or religious, in West Africa, 22 _sqq._

Kingsley, Miss Mary H., 22 _n._3, 71, 123 _n._2, 251

Kiowa Indians, 357, 360

Klallam Indians, the, 354

Knife as charm against spirits, 232, 233, 234, 235

Knives not to be left edge upwards, 238; not used at funeral banquets, 238

Knot, the Gordian, 316 _sq._

Knots, prohibition to wear, 13; untied at childbirth, 294, 296 _sq._, 297 _sq._; thought to prevent the consummation of marriage, 299 _sqq._; thought to cause sickness, disease, and all kinds of misfortune, 301 _sqq._; used to cure disease, 303 _sqq._; used to win a lover or capture a runaway slave, 305 _sq_.; used as protective amulets, 306 _sqq._; used as charms by hunters and travellers, 306; as a charm to protect corn from devils, 308 _sq._; on corpses untied, 310

—— and locks, magical virtue of, 310, 313

—— and rings tabooed, 293 _sqq._

Koita, the, 168

Koryak, the, 32

Kruijt, A. C., 319

Kublai Khan, 242

Kukulu, a priestly king, 5

Kwakiutl, the, 53; customs observed by cannibals among the, 188 _sqq._; change of names in summer and winter among the, 386

_Kwun_, the spirit of the head, 252; supposed to reside in the hair, 266 _sq._

Lafitau, J. F., 365 _sq._

Lampong in Sumatra, 10

Lamps to light the ghosts to their old homes, 371

Language of husbands and wives, difference between, 347 sq.; of men and women, difference between, 348 _sq._

—— change of, caused by taboo on the names of the dead, 358 _sqq._, 375; caused by taboo on the names of chiefs and kings, 375, 376 _sqq._

—— special, employed by hunters, 396, 398, 399, 400, 402, 404, 410; employed by searchers for eagle-wood and _lignum aloes_, 404; employed by searchers for camphor, 405 _sqq._; employed by miners, 407, 409; employed by reapers at harvest, 410 _sq._, 411 _sq._; employed by sailors at sea, 413 _sqq._

Laos, 306

Lapps, the, 294; their customs after killing a bear, 221; rebirth of ancestors among the, 368

Latuka, the, 245

Leaning against a tree prohibited to warriors, 162, 163

Leavened bread, prohibition to touch, 13

Leaving food over, taboos on, 126 _sqq._

Leavings of food, magic wrought by means of, 118, 119, 126 _sqq._

Legs not to be crossed, 295, 298 _sq._

Leinster, kings of, 11

_Leleen_, the, 129

Lengua Indians of the Gran Chaco, 38, 357

Leonard, A. G., Major, 136 _sq._

Lesbos, building custom in, 89

Lewis, Rev. Thomas, 420 _n._1

Life in the blood, 241, 250

Limbs, amputated, kept by the owners against the resurrection, 281

Lion-killer, purification of, 176, 220

Lions not called by their proper names, 400

Lithuanians, the old, their funeral banquets, 238

Liver, induration of the, attributed to touching sacred chief, 133

Lizard, soul in form of, 38

Loango, taboos observed by kings of, 8, 9; taboos observed by heir to throne of, 291

—— king of, forbidden to see a white man’s house, 115; not to be seen eating or drinking, 117 _sq._; confined to his palace, 123; refuse of his food buried, 129

Locks unlocked at childbirth, 294, 296; thought to prevent the consummation of marriage, 299; as amulets, 308, 309; unlocked to facilitate death, 309

—— and knots, magical virtue of, 309 _sq._ _See also_ Keys

Lolos, the, 43

Look back, not to, 157

Loom, men not allowed to touch a, 164

Loss of the shadow regarded as ominous, 88

Lovers won by knots, 305

Lucan, 390

Lucian, 270, 382

Lucina, 294, 398 _sq._

Lucky names, 391 _n._1

Lycaeus, sanctuary of Zeus on Mount, 88

Lycosura, sanctuary of the Mistress at, 227 _n._, 314

Lying-in women, dread of, 150 _sqq._; sacred, 151

Mack, an adventurer, 19

Macusi Indians, 36, 159 _n._

Madagascar, names of chiefs and kings tabooed in, 378 _sqq._

Magic wrought by means of refuse of food, 126 _sqq._; sympathetic, 126, 130, 164, 201, 204, 258, 268, 287; homoeopathic, 151, 152, 207, 295, 298; contagious, 246, 268, 272; wrought through clippings of hair, 268 _sqq._, 275, 277, 278 _sq._; wrought on a man through his name, 318, 320 _sqq._

Magicians, Egyptian, their power of compelling the deities, 389 _sq._

Mahafalys of Madagascar, the, 10

Makalaka, the, 369

Makololo, the, 281

Malagasy language, dialectical variations of, 378 _sq._, 380

Malanau tribes of Borneo, 406

Malay conception of the soul as a bird, 34 _sqq._ —— miners, fowlers, and fishermen, special forms of speech employed by, 407 _sqq._ —— Peninsula, art of abducting human souls in the, 73 _sqq._

Maldives, the, 274

Mandalay, 90, 125

Mandan Indians, 97

Mandelings of Sumatra, 296

Mangaia, separation of religious and civil authority in, 20

Mangaians, the, 87

Manipur, hill tribes of, 292

Mannikin, the soul conceived as a, 26 _sqq._

Manslayers, purification of, 165 _sqq._; secluded, 165 _sqq._; tabooed, 165 _sqq._; haunted by ghosts of slain, 165 _sqq._; their faces blackened, 169; their bodies painted, 175, 178, 179, 180, 186 _n._1; their hair shaved, 175, 177

Maori chiefs, their sanctity or taboo, 134 _sqq._; their heads sacred, 256 —— language, synonyms in the, 381

Maoris, persons who have handled the dead tabooed among the, 138 _sq._; tabooed on the war-path, 157

Marco Polo, 242, 243

Marianne Islands, 288

Mariner, W., quoted, 140

Mariners at sea, special language employed by, 413 _sqq._

Marquesans, the, 31; their regard for the sanctity of the head, 254 _sq._; their customs as to the hair, 261 _sq._; their dread of sorcery, 268

Marquesas Islands, 178

Marriage, the consummation of, prevented by knots and locks, 299 _sqq._

Masai, the, 200, 309, 329, 354 _sq._, 356, 361

Matthews, Dr. Washington, 385

Meal sprinkled to keep off evil spirits, 112

Measuring shadows, 89 _sq._ —— -tape deified, 91 _sq._

Mecca, pilgrims to, not allowed to wear knots and rings, 293 _sq._

Medes, law of the, 121

Mekeo district of New Guinea, 24

Men injured through their shadows, 78 _sqq._ —— and women, difference of language between, 348 _sq._

Menedemus, 227

Menstruation, women tabooed at, 145 _sqq._

Menstruous women, dread of, 145 _sqq._, 206; avoidance of, by hunters, 211

Mentras, the, 404

Merolla da Sorrento, 137

Mice thought to understand human speech, 399; not to be called by their proper names, 399, 415

Midas and his ass’s ears, 258 _n._1; king of Gordium, 316

Mikado, rules of life of the, 2 _sqq._; supposed effect of using his dishes or clothes, 131; the cutting of his hair and nails, 265

Mikados, their relations to the Tycoons, 19

Miklucho-Maclay, Baron N. von, 109

Milk, custom as to drinking, 119; prohibition to drink, 141; not to be drunk by wounded men, 174 _sq._; wine called, 249 _n._2; and beef not to be eaten at the same meal, 292

Milkmen of the Todas, taboos observed by the holy, 15 _sqq._

Miller, Hugh, 40

Minahassa, a district of Celebes, 99; the Alfoors of, 63

Minangkabauers of Sumatra, 32, 36, 41

Miners, special language employed by, 407, 409

Mirrors, superstitions as to, 93; covered after a death, 94 _sq._

Miscarriage in childbed, dread of, 149, 152 _sqq._; supposed danger of concealing a, 211, 213

Moab, Arabs of, 280; their custom of shaving prisoners, 273

Moabites, King David’s treatment of the, 273 _sq._

Mohammed bewitched by a Jew, 302 _sq._

Mongols, their recall of the soul, 44; sacred books of the, 384

Montezuma, 121

Monumbos, the, 169, 238

Mooney, J., 318 _sqq._

Moquis, the, 228

Moral guilt regarded as a corporeal pollution, 217 _sq._

Morality developed out of taboo, 213 _sq._; shifted from a natural to a supernatural basis, 213; survival of savage taboos in civilised, 218 _sq._

Morice, A. G., 146 _sq._

Mosyni or Mosynoeci, the, 124

Mother-in-law, the savage’s dread of his, 83 _sqq._; her name not to be mentioned by her son-in-law, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346

Mothers, African kings forbidden to see their, 86; named after their children, 332, 333

Mourners, customs observed by, 31 _sq._, 159 n.; tabooed, 138 _sqq._; bodies of, smeared with mud or clay, 182 _n._2; hair and nails of, cut at end of mourning, 285 _sq._

Mourning of slayers for the slain, 181

Mouse, soul in form of, 37, 39 _n._2

Mouth closed to prevent escape of soul, 31, 33; soul in the, 33; covered to prevent entrance of demons, etc., 122

Muata Jamwo, the, 118, 290

Mud smeared on feet of bed, 14; plastered on head, 182

Munster, kings of, 11

Murderers, taboos imposed on, 187 _sq._

Murrams, the, of Manipur, 292

Muysca Indians, 121

Myths of gods and spirits to be told only in spring and summer, 384; to be told only in winter, 385 _sq._; not to be told by day, 384 _sq._

Nails, prohibition to cut finger-nails, 194; of children not pared, 262 _sq._

—— and hair, cut, disposal of, 267 _sqq._; deposited in sacred places, 274 _sqq._; stowed away in any secret place, 276 _sqq._; kept for use at the resurrection, 279 _sqq._; burnt to prevent them from falling into the hands of sorcerers, 281 _sqq._

Nails, iron, used as charms against fairies, demons, and ghosts, 233, 234, 236

—— parings of, used in rain-charms, 271, 272; swallowed by treaty-makers, 246, 274

Name, the personal, regarded as a vital part of the man, 318 _sqq._; identified with the soul, 319; the same, not to be borne by two living persons, 370

Names of relations tabooed, 335 _sqq._; changed to deceive ghosts, 354 _sqq._; of common objects changed when they are the names of the dead, 358 _sqq._, 375, or the names of chiefs and kings, 375, 376 _sqq._; of ancestors bestowed on their reincarnations, 368 _sq._; of kings and chiefs tabooed, 374 _sqq._; of supernatural beings tabooed, 384 _sqq._; of gods tabooed, 387 _sqq._; of spirits and gods, magical virtue of, 389 _sqq._; of Roman gods not to be mentioned, 391 _n._1; lucky, 391 _n._1; of dangerous animals not to be mentioned, 396 _sqq._

Names, new, given to the sick and old, 319; new, at initiation, 320

—— of the dead tabooed, 349 _sqq._; not borne by the living, 354; revived after a time, 365 _sqq._

—— personal, tabooed, 318 sqq.; kept secret from fear of magic, 320 _sqq._; different in summer and winter, 386

Namesakes of the dead change their names to avoid attracting the attention of the ghost, 355 _sqq._; of deceased persons regarded as their reincarnations, 365 _sqq._

Naming the dead a serious crime, 352, 354; of children, solemnities at the, connected with belief in the reincarnation of ancestors in their namesakes, 372

Namosi, in Fiji, 264

Nandi, the, 175, 273, 310, 330

Nanumea, island of, 102

Narbrooi, a spirit or god, 60

Narcissus and his reflection, 94

Narrinyeri, the, 126 _sq._

Natchez, customs of manslayers among the, 181

_Nats_, demons, 90

Natural death of sacred king or priest, supposed fatal consequences of, 6, 7

Navajo Indians, 112 _sq._, 325, 385

Navel-string used to recall the soul, 48

Nazarite, vow of the, 262

Nelson, E. W., 228, 237

Nets to catch souls, 69 _sq._; as amulets, 300, 307

New Britain, 85

—— Caledonia, 92, 141

—— everything, excites awe of savages, 230 _sqq._

—— fire made by friction, 286

—— Hebrides, the, 56, 127

—— names given to the sick and old, 319; at initiation, 320

—— Zealand, sanctity of chiefs in, 134 _sqq._

Nias, island of, conception of the soul in, 29; custom of the people of, 107; special language of hunters in, 410; special language employed by reapers in, 410 _sq._

Nicknames used in order to avoid the use of the real names, 321, 331

Nicobar Islands, customs as to shadows at burials in the, 80 _sq._

Nicobarese, the, 357; changes in their language, 362 _sq._

Nieuwenhuis, Dr. A. W., 99

Night, King of the, 23

Nine knots in magic, 302, 303, 304

Noon, sacrifices to the dead at, 88; superstitious dread of, 88

Nootka Indians, their idea of the soul, 27; customs of girls at puberty among the, 146 _n._1; their preparation for war, 160 _sq._

North American Indians, their dread of menstruous women, 145; their theory of names, 318 _sq._

Norway, superstition as to parings of nails in, 283

Nose stopped to prevent the escape of the soul, 31, 71

Nostrils, soul supposed to escape by the, 30, 32, 33, 122

Novelties excite the awe of savages, 230 _sqq._

Novices at initiation, taboos observed by, 141 _sq._, 156 _sq._

Nubas, the, 132

Nufoors of New Guinea, 332, 341, 415

Obscene language in ritual, 154, 155

O’Donovan, E., 304

Oesel, island of, 42

Ojebways, the, 160

Oldfield, A., 350

Omahas, customs as to murderers among the, 187

Omens, reliance on, 110

One shoe on and one shoe off, 311 _sqq._

Ongtong Java Islands, 107

Onitsha, the king of, 123

Opening everything in house to facilitate childbirth, 296 _sq._

Orestes, the matricide, 188, 287

Oro, war god, 69

Orotchis, the, 232

Ot Danoms, the, 103

Ottawa Indians, the, 78

Ovambo, the, 227

Overshadowed, danger of being, 82 _sq._

Ovid, on loosening the hair, 311

Ox, purification by passing through the body of an, 173

Padlocks as amulets, 307

Painting bodies of manslayers, 175, 178, 179, 180, 186 _n._1

Palaces, kings not allowed to leave their, 122 _sqq._

_Pantang_, taboo, 405

Panther, ceremonies at the slaughter of a, 219

Parents named after their children, 331 _sqq._

—— -in-law, their names not to be pronounced, 338, 339, 340, 341, 342

Partition of spiritual and temporal power between religious and civil kings, 17 _sqq._

Patagonians, the, 281

Paton, W. R., 382 _n._4, 383 _n._1

Pawnees, the, 228

Peace, ceremony at making, 274

Pelias and Jason, 311

Pentateuch, the, 219

Pepper in purificatory rites, 106, 114

Perils of the soul, 26 _sqq._

Perseus and the Gorgon, 312

Persian kings, their custom at meals, 119

Persons, tabooed, 131 _sqq._

Philosophy, primitive, 420 _sq._

_Phong long_, ill luck caused by women in childbed, 155

Photographed or painted, supposed danger of being, 96 _sqq._

Pictures, supposed danger of, 96 _sq._

Pig, the word unlucky, 233

Pigeons, special language employed by Malays in snaring, 407 _sq._

Pilgrims to Mecca not allowed to wear knots and rings, 293 _sq._

Pimas, the purification of manslayers among the, 182 _sqq._

Plataea, Archon of, forbidden to touch iron, 227; escape of besieged from, 311

Pliny on crossed legs and clasped hands, 298; on knotted threads, 303

Plutarch, 249

Poison, continence observed at brewing, 200

—— ordeal, 15

Polar bear, taboos concerning the, 209

Polemarch, the, at Athens, 22

Pollution or sanctity, their equivalence in primitive religion, 145, 158, 224

—— and holiness not differentiated by savages, 224

Polynesia, names of chiefs tabooed in, 381

Polynesian chiefs sacred, 136

_Pons Sublicius_, 230

Port Moresby, 203

Porto Novo, 23

Portraits, souls in, 96 _sqq._; supposed dangers of, 96 _sqq._

Powers, S., 326

Pregnancy, husband’s hair kept unshorn during wife’s, 261; conduct of husband during wife’s, 294, 295; superstitions as to knots during wife’s, 294 _sq._

Pregnant women, their superstitions about shadows, 82 _sq._

Premature birth, 213. _See_ Miscarriage

Pricking patient with needles to expel demons of disease, 106

Priests to be shaved with bronze, 226; their hair unshorn, 259, 260; foods tabooed to, 291

Prisoners shaved, 273; released at festivals, 316

Propitiation of the souls of the slain, 166; of spirits of slain animals, 190, 204 _sq._; of ancestors, 197

Prussians, the old, their funeral feasts, 238

_Pulque_, 201, 249

Puppets or dolls employed for the restoration of souls to their bodies, 53 _sqq._

Purge as mode of ceremonial purification, 175

Purification of city, 188; of Pimas after slaying Apaches, 182 _sqq._; of hunters and fishers, 190 _sq._; of moral guilt by physical agencies, 217 _sq._; by cutting the hair, 283 _sqq._

—— of manslayers, 165 _sqq._; intended to rid them of the ghosts of the slain, 186 _sq._

Purificatory ceremonies at reception of strangers, 102 _sqq._; on return from a journey, 111 _sqq._

Purity, ceremonial, observed in war, 157

Pygmies, the African, 282

Pythagoras, maxims of, 314 _n._2

Python, punishment for killing a, 222

Quartz used at circumcision instead of iron, 227

Queensland, aborigines of, 159 _n._

Ra and Isis, 387 _sqq._

Rabbah, siege of, 273

Rain caused by cut or combed out hair, 271, 272; word for, not to be mentioned, 413

—— -charm by pouring water, 154 _sq._

—— -makers, their hair unshorn, 259 _sq._

Rainbow, the, a net for souls, 79

_Ramanga_, 246

Raven, soul as a, 34

Raw flesh not to be looked on, 239

—— meat, prohibition to touch or name, 13

Reapers, special language employed by, 410 _sq._, 411 _sq._

Reasoning, definite, at the base of savage custom, 420 _n._1

Rebirth of ancestors in their descendants, 368 _sq._

Recall of the soul, 30 _sqq._

Red, bodies of manslayers painted, 175, 179; faces of manslayers painted, 185, 186 _n._1

Reflection, the soul identified with the, 92 _sqq._

Reflections in water or mirrors, supposed dangers of, 93 _sq._

Refuse of food, magic wrought by means of, 126 _sqq._

Regeneration, pretence of, 113

Reincarnation of the dead in their namesakes, 365 _sqq._; of ancestors in their descendants, 368 _sqq._

Reindeer, taboos concerning, 208

Relations, names of, tabooed, 335 _sqq._

Relationship, terms of, used as terms of address, 324 _sq._

Release of prisoners at festivals, 316

Religion, passage of animism into, 213

Reluctance to accept sovereignty on account of taboos attached to it, 17 _sqq._

Remnants of food buried as a precaution against sorcery, 118, 119, 127 _sq._, 129

Resemblance of child to father, supposed danger of, 88 _sq._

Resurrection, cut hair and nails kept for use at the, 279 _sq._

—— of the dead effected by giving their names to living persons, 365 _sqq._

Rhys, Professor Sir John, 12 _n._2; on personal names, 319

Rice used to attract the soul conceived as a bird, 34 _sqq._, 45 _sqq._; soul of, not to be frightened, 412

—— -harvest, special language employed by reapers at, 410 _sq._, 411 _sq._

Ring, broken, 13; on ankle as badge of office, 15

Rings used to prevent the escape of the soul, 31; as spiritual fetters, 313 _sqq._; as amulets, 314 _sqq._; not to be worn, 314

—— and knots tabooed, 293 _sqq._

Rivers, Dr. W. H. R., 17

Rivers, prohibition to cross, 9 _sq._

Robertson, Sir George Scott, 14 _notes_

Roepstorff, F. A. de, 362 _sq._

Roman gods, their names not to be mentioned, 391 _n._1

—— superstition about crossed legs, 298

Romans, their evocation of gods of besieged cities, 391

Rome, name of guardian deity of Rome kept secret, 391

Roscoe, Rev. J., 85 _n._1, 145 _n._4, 195 _n._1, 254 _n._5, 277 _n._10

Roth, W. E., 356

Rotti, custom as to cutting child’s hair in the island of, 276, 283; custom as to knots at marriage in the island of, 301

Roumanian building superstition, 89

Royal blood not to be shed on the ground, 241 _sqq._

Royalty, the burden of, 1 _sqq._

Rules of life observed by sacred kings and priests, 1 _sqq._

Runaways, knots as charm to stop, 305 _sq._

Russell, F., 183 _sq._

Sabaea or Sheba, kings of, 124

Sacred chiefs and kings regarded as dangerous, 131 _sqq._, 138; their analogy to mourners, homicides, and women at menstruation and childbirth, 138

Sacred and unclean, correspondence of rules regarding the, 145

Sacrifices to ghosts, 56, 166; to the dead, 88; at foundation of buildings, 89 _sqq._; to ancestral spirits, 104

Sagard, Gabriel, 366 _sq._

Sahagun, B. de, 249

Sailors at sea, special language employed by, 413 _sqq._

Sakais, the, 348

Sakalavas of Madagascar, the, 10, 327; customs as to names of dead kings among the, 379 _sq._

Salish Indians, 66

Salmon, taboos concerning, 209

Salt not to be eaten, 167, 182, 184, 194, 195, 196; name of, tabooed, 401

—— -pans, continence observed by workers in, 200

Samoyeds, 353

Sanctity of the head, 252 _sqq._

—— or pollution, their equivalence in primitive religion, 145, 158, 224

Sankara and the Grand Lama, 78

Saragacos Indians, 152

_Satapatha Brahmana_, 217

Saturday, persons born on a, 89

Saturn, the planet, 315

Savage, our debt to the, 419 _sqq._

—— custom the product of definite reasoning, 420 _n._1

—— philosophy, 420 _sq._

Saxons of Transylvania, 294

Scapegoat, 214 _sq._

Scarification of warriors, 160 _sq._; of bodies of whalers, 191

Scaring away the ghosts of the slain, 168, 170, 171, 172, 174 _sq._

Schoolcraft, H. R., 325

Scotch fowlers and fishermen, words tabooed by, 393 _sqq._

Scotland, common words tabooed in, 392 _sqq._

Scratching the person or head, rules as to, 146, 156, 158, 159 _n._, 160, 181, 183, 189, 196

Scrofula thought to be caused and cured by touching a sacred chief or king, 133 _sq._

Sea, horror of the, 10; offerings made to the, 10; prohibition to look on the, 10; special language employed by sailors at, 413 _sqq._

—— -mammals, atonement for killing, 207; myth of their origin, 207

Seals, supposed influence of lying-in women on, 152; taboos observed after the killing of, 207 _sq._, 209, 213

Seclusion of those who have handled the dead, 138 _sqq._; of women at menstruation and childbirth, 145 _sqq._, 147 _sqq._; of tabooed persons, 165; of manslayers, 166 _sqq._; of cannibals, 188 _sqq._; of men who have killed large game, 220 _sq._

Secret names among the Central Australian aborigines, 321 _sq._

Sedna, an Esquimau goddess, 152, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 213

Semangat, Malay word for the soul, 28, 35

Semites, moral evolution of the, 219

Seoul, capital of Corea, 283

Serpents, purificatory ceremonies observed after killing, 221 _sqq._

Servius, on Dido’s costume, 313

Seven knots in magic, 303, 304, 308

Sewing as a charm, 307

Shades of dead animals, fear of offending, 205, 206, 207

Shadow, the soul identified with the, 77 _sqq._; injury done to a man through his, 78 _sqq._; diminution of shadow regarded with apprehension, 86 _sq._; loss of the, regarded as ominous, 88; not to fall on a chief, 255

Shadows drawn out by ghosts, 80; animals injured through their, 81 _sq._; of trees sensitive, 82; of certain birds and people viewed as dangerous, 82 _sq._; built into the foundations of edifices, 89 _sq._; of mourners dangerous, 142; of certain persons dangerous, 173

Shamans among the Thompson Indians, 57 _sq._

—— Buryat, their mode of recovering lost souls, 56 _sq._

—— Yakut, 63

Shark Point, priestly king at, 5

Sharp instruments, use of, tabooed, 205

—— weapons tabooed, 237 _sqq._

Shaving prisoners, reason of, 273

Sheep used in purificatory ceremony, 174, 175; shoulder-blades of, used in divination, 229

Shetland fishermen, their tabooed words, 394

Shoe untied at marriage, 300; custom of going with one shoe on and one shoe off, 311 _sqq._

Shoulder-blades, divination by, 229

Shuswap Indians, the, 83, 142

Siam, kings of, 226, 241; names of kings of, concealed from fear of sorcery, 375

Siamese children, ceremony at cutting their hair, 265 _sqq._

—— view of the sanctity of the head, 252 _sq._

Sick man, attempts to prevent the escape of the soul of, 30 _sqq._

Sick people not allowed to sleep, 95; sprinkled with pungent spices, 105 _sq._

—— -room, mirrors covered up in, 95

Sickness explained by the absence of the soul, 42 _sqq._; caused by ancestral spirits, 53

Sierra Leone, priests and kings of, 14 _sq._, 18

—— Nevada of Colombia, 215, 216

Sigurd and Fafnir, 324

Sikhim, kings of, 20

Silkworms, taboos observed by breeders of, 194

Simpson, W., 125 _n._3

Sin regarded as something material, 214, 216, 217 _sq._

Singhalese, 297; their fear of demons, 233 _sq._

Sins, confession of, 114, 191, 195, 211 _sq._, 214 _sqq._; originally a magical ceremony, 217

Sisters-in-law, their names not to be pronounced, 338, 342, 343

Sit, Egyptian god, 68

Sitting on the ground prohibited to warriors, 159, 162, 163

Skull-cap worn by girls at their first menstruation, 146; worn by Australian widows, 182 _n._2

Skulls of ancestors rubbed as a propitiation, 197; of dead used as drinking-cups, 372

Slain, ghosts of the, fear of the, 165 _sqq._

Slave Coast, the, 9

Slaves, runaway, charm for recovering, 305 _sq._

Sleep, absence of soul in, 36 _sqq._; sick people not allowed to, 95; forbidden in house after a death, 37 _sq._; forbidden to unsuccessful eagle-hunter, 199

Sleeper not to be wakened suddenly, 39 _sqq._; not to be moved nor his appearance altered, 41 _sq._

Smallpox not mentioned by its proper name, 400, 410, 411, 416

Smearing blood on the person as a purification, 104, 115; on persons, dogs, and weapons as a mode of pacifying their souls, 219

—— bodies of manslayers with porridge, 176

—— porridge or fat on the person as a purification, 112

—— sheep’s entrails on body as mode of purification, 174

Smith, W, Robertson, 77 _n._1, 96 _n._1, 243 _n._7, 247 _n._5

Smith’s craft regarded us uncanny, 236 _n._5

Snakes not called by their proper names, 399, 400, 401 _sq._, 411

Snapping the thumbs to prevent the departure of the soul, 31

Snares set for souls, 69

Son-in-law, his name not to be pronounced, 338 _sq._, 344, 345

Sorcerers, souls extracted or detained by, 69 _sqq._; make use of cut hair and other bodily refuse, 268 _sq._, 274 _sq._; 278, 281 sq. _See also_ Magic

Soul conceived as a mannikin, 26 _sqq._; the perils of the, 26 _sqq._; ancient Egyptian conception of the, 28 _sq._; representations of the soul in Greek art, 29 _n._1; as a butterfly, 29 _n._1, 41, 51 _sq._; absence and recall of the, 30 _sqq._; attempts to prevent the soul from escaping from the body, 30 _sqq._; sickness attributed to the absence of the, 32, 42 _sqq._; tied by thread or string to the body, 32 _sq._, 43, 51; conceived as a bird, 33 _sqq._; absent in sleep, 36 _sqq._; in form of mouse, 37, 39 _n._2; in form of lizard, 38; in form of fly, 39; caught in a cloth, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53, 64, 67, 75 _sq._; identified with the shadow, 77 _sqq._; identified with the reflection in water or a mirror, 92 _sqq._; supposed to escape at eating and drinking, 116; in the blood, 240, 241, 247, 250; identified with the personal name, 319; of rice not to be frightened, 412

Souls, every man thought to have four, 27, 80; light and heavy, thin and fat, 29; transferred to other bodies, 49; impounded in magic fence, 56; abducted by demons, 58 _sqq_.; transmigrate into animals, 65; brought back in a visible form, 65 _sqq._; caught in snares or nets, 69 _sqq._; extracted or detained by sorcerers, 69 _sqq._; in tusks of ivory, 70; conjured into jars, 70; in boxes, 70, 76; shut up in calabashes, 72; transferred from the living to the dead, 73; gathered into a basket, 72; wounded and bleeding, 73; supposed to be in portraits, 96 _sqq._

—— of beasts respected, 223

—— of the dead all malignant, 145; cannot go to the spirit-land till the flesh has decayed from their bones, 372 _n._5

—— of the slain, propitiation of, 166

Sovereignty, reluctance to accept the, on account of its burdens, 17 _sqq._

Spells cast by strangers, 112; at hair-cutting, 264 _sq._

Spenser, Edmund, 244 _sq._

Spices used in exorcism of demons, 105 _sq._

Spirit of dead apparently supposed to decay with the body, 372

Spirits averse to iron, 232 _sqq._

—— of land, conciliation of the, 110 _sq._

Spiritual power, its divorce from temporal power, 17 _sqq._

Spitting forbidden, 196; as a protective charm, 279, 286; upon knots as a charm, 302

Spittle effaced or concealed, 288 _sqq._; tabooed, 287 _sqq._; used in magic, 268, 269, 287 _sqq._; used in making a covenant, 290

Spoil taken from enemy purified, 177

Spoons used in eating by tabooed persons, 141, 148, 189

Sprained leg, cure for, 304 _sq._

Spring and summer, myths of divinities and spirits to be told only in, 384

Sprinkling with holy water, 285 _sq._

St. Sylvester’s Day, 88

Stabbing reflections in water to injure the persons reflected, 93

Stade, Hans, captive among Brazilian Indians, 231

Standard of conduct shifted from natural to supernatural basis, 213

Stepping over persons or things forbidden, 159 _sq._, 194, 423 _sqq._; over dead panther, 219. _See also_ Jumping

Stone knives and arrow-heads used in religious ritual, 228

Stones on which a man’s shadow should not fall, 80

Storms caused by cutting or combing the hair, 271, 282

Strange land, ceremonies at entering a, 109 _sqq._

Strangers, taboos on intercourse with, 101 _sqq._; suspected of practising magical arts, 102; ceremonies at the reception of, 102 _sqq._; dread of, 102 _sqq._; spells cast by, 112; killed, 113

String or thread used to tie soul to body, 32 _sq._, 43, 51

Strings, knotted, as amulets, 309. _See also_ Cords, Threads

“Strong names” of kings of Dahomey, 374

Sulka, the, 151, 331

Sultan Bayazid and his soul, 50

Sultans veiled, 120

Sumba, custom as to the names of princes in the island of, 376

Summer, myths of gods and spirits not to be told in, 385 _sq._

—— and winter, personal names different in, 386

Sun not allowed to shine on sacred persons, 3, 4, 6

—— -god draws away souls, 64 _sq._

Sunda, tabooed words in, 341, 415

Supernatural basis of morality, 213 _sq._

Supernatural beings, their names tabooed, 384 _sqq._

Superstition a crutch to morality, 219

Swaheli charm, 305 _sq._

Sweating as a purification, 142, 184

Swelling and inflammation thought to be caused by eating out of sacred vessels or by wearing sacred garments, 4

Sympathetic connexion between a person and the severed parts of his body, 267 _sq._, 283

—— magic, 164, 201, 204, 258, 268, 287

Synonyms adopted in order to avoid naming the dead, 359 _sqq._; in the Zulu language, 377; in the Maori language, 381

Taboo of chiefs and kings in Tonga, 133 _sq._; of chiefs in New Zealand, 134 _sqq._; Esquimaux theory of, 210 _sqq._; the meaning of, 224

—— rajah and chief, 24 _sq._

Tabooed acts, 101 _sqq._

—— hands, 138, 140 _sqq._, 146 _sqq._, 158, 159 _n._

—— persons, 131 _sqq._; secluded, 165

—— things, 224 _sqq._

—— words, 318 _sqq._

Taboos, royal and priestly, 1 _sqq._; on intercourse with strangers, 101 _sqq._; on eating and drinking, 116 _sqq._; on shewing the face, 120 _sqq._; on quitting the house, 122 _sqq._; on leaving food over, 126 _sqq._; on persons who have handled the dead, 138 _sqq._; on warriors, 157 _sqq._; on manslayers, 165 _sqq._; imposed on murderers, 187 _sq._; imposed on hunters and fishers, 190 _sqq._; transformed into ethical precepts, 214; survivals of, in morality, 218 _sq._; as spiritual insulators, 224; on sharp weapons, 237 _sqq._; on blood, 239 _sqq._; relating to the head, 252 _sqq._; on hair, 258 _sqq._; on spittle, 287 _sqq._; on foods, 291 _sqq._; on knots and rings, 293 _sqq._; on words, 318 _sqq._, 392 _sqq._; on personal names, 318 _sqq._; on names of relations, 335 _sqq._; on the names of the dead, 349 _sqq._; on names of kings and chiefs, 374 _sqq._; on names of supernatural beings, 384 _sqq._; on names of gods, 387 _sqq._

—— observed by the Mikado, 3 _sq._; by headmen in Assam, 11; by ancient kings of Ireland, 11 _sq._; by the Flamen Dialis, 13 _sq._; by the Bodia or Bodio, 15; by sacred milkmen among the Todas, 16 _sqq._

Tahiti, 255

Tahiti, kings of, 226; abdicate on birth of a son, 20; their names not to be pronounced, 381 _sq._

Tails of cats docked as a magical precaution, 128 _sq._

Tales, wandering souls in popular, 49 _sq._

Tara, the old capital of Ireland, 11

Tartar Khan, ceremony at visiting a, 114

Teeth, loss of, supposed effect of breaking a taboo, 140; loosened by angry ghosts, 186 _n._1; as a rain-charm, 271; extracted, kept against the resurrection, 280. _See also_ Tooth

Temple at Jerusalem, the, 230

Temporary reincarnation of the dead in their living namesakes, 371

_Tendi_, Batta word for soul, 45. _See also_ Tondi

Tepehuanes, the, 97

Terms of relationship used as terms of address, 324 _sq._

Thakambau, 131

Thebes in Egypt, priestly kings of, 13

Theocracies in America, 6

Thesmophoria, release of prisoners at, 316

Thessalian witch, 390

Things tabooed, 224 _sqq._

Thompson Indians of British Columbia, 37 _sq._; customs of mourners among the, 142 _sq._

Thomson, Joseph, 98

Thorn bushes to keep off ghosts, 142

Thread or string used to tie soul to body, 32 _sq._, 43, 51

Threads, knotted, in magic, 303, 304 _sq._, 307

Three knots in magic, 304, 305

Thumbs snapped to prevent the departure of the soul, 31

Thunderstorms caused by cut hair, 271, 282

Thurn, E. F. im, 324 _sq._

Tigers not called by their proper names, 401, 402, 403 _sq._, 410, 415; called dogs, 402; called jackals, 402, 403

Timines of Sierra Leone, 18

Timor, fetish or taboo rajah in, 24; customs as to war in, 165 _sq._

Tin ore, Malay superstitions as to, 407

Tinneh or Déné Indians, 145 _sq._

Toboongkoos of Celebes, 48, 78

Todas, holy milkmen of the, 15 _sqq._

Togoland, 247

Tolampoos, the, 319

Tolindoos, the, 78

_Tondi_, Batta word for soul, 35. _See also_ Tendi

Tonga, divine chiefs in, 21; the taboo of chiefs and kings in, 133 _sq._; taboos connected with the dead in, 140

Tonquin, division of monarchy in, 19 _sq._; kings of, 125

_Tooitonga_, divine chief of Tonga, 21

Tooth knocked out as initiatory rite, 244. _See also_ Teeth

Toradjas, tabooed names among the, 340; their field-speech, 411 _sqq._

Touching sacred king or chief, supposed effects of, 132 _sqq._

Trading voyages, continence observed on, 203

Tradition, historical, hampered by the taboo on the names of the dead, 363 _sqq._

Transference of souls from the living to the dead, 73; of souls to other bodies, 49; of sins, 214 _sqq._

Transgressions, need of confessing, 211 _sq._ _See also_ Sins

Transmigration of souls into animals, 65

Transylvania, the Germans of, 296, 310

Traps set for souls, 70 _sq._

Travail, women in, knots on their garments untied, 294. _See also_ Childbirth

Travellers, knots used as charms by, 306

Tree-spirits, fear of, 412 _sq._

Trees, the shadows of trees sensitive, 82; cut hair deposited on or under, 14, 275 _sq._, 286

Tuaregs, the, 117, 122; their fear of ghosts, 353

Tumleo, island of, 150

Tupi Indians, their customs as to eating captives, 179 _sq._

Turtle catching, taboos in connexion with, 192

Tusks of ivory, souls in, 70

Twelfth Night, 396

Twins, water poured on graves of, 154 _sq._

—— father of, taboos observed by the, 239 _sq._; his hair shaved and nails cut, 284

Tycoons, the, 19

Tying the soul to the body, 32 _sq._, 43

Tylor, E. B., on reincarnation of ancestors, 372 _n._1

Uganda, 84, 86, 112, 145, 164 _n._1, 239, 243, 254, 263, 277, 330, 369. _See also_ Baganda

Ulster, kings of, 12

Unclean and sacred, correspondence of the rules regarding the, 145

Uncleanness regarded as a vapour, 152, 206; of manslayers, of menstruous and lying-in women, and of persons who have handled the dead, 169; of whalers, 191, 207; of lion-killer, 220; of bear-killers, 221

Uncovered in the open air, prohibition to be, 3, 14

Unyoro, king of, his custom of drinking milk, 119; cowboy of the king of, 159 _n._; diet of the king of, 291 _sq._

Vapour thought to be exhaled by lying-in women and hunters, 152, 206; supposed, of blood and corpses, 210 _sq._; supposed to be produced by the violation of a taboo, 212

Varuna, festival of, 217

Veiling faces to avert evil influences, 120 _sqq._

Venison, taboos concerning, 208 _sq._

Vermin from hair returned to their owner, 278

Vessels used by tabooed persons destroyed, 4, 131, 139, 145, 156, 284

—— special, employed by tabooed persons, 138, 139, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 160, 167, 185, 189, 197, 198

Victims, sacrificial, carried round city, 188

Vine, prohibition to walk under a, 14, 248

Virgil, the enchantress in, 305; on rustic militia of Latium, 311

Vow, hair kept unshorn during a, 261 _sq._, 285

Wabondei, the, 272

Wadai, Sultan of, 120

_Wakan_, mysterious, sacred, taboo, 225 _n._

Wakelbura, the, 31

Wallis Island, 140

Walrus, taboos concerning, 208 _sq._

Wanigela River, 192

Wanika, the, 247

Wanyamwesi, the, 112, 330

Wanyoro (Banyoro), the, 278

War, continence in, 157, 158 _n._1, 161, 163, 164, 165; rules of ceremonial purity observed in, 157 _sqq._; hair kept unshorn in, 261

—— chief, or war king, 20, 21, 24

—— -dances, 169, 170, 178, 182

Warm food tabooed, 189

Warramunga, the, 384

Warriors tabooed, 157 _sqq._

Washing the head, 253. _See_ Bathing

Water poured as a rain-charm, 154 _sq._; holy, sprinkling with, 285 _sq._

—— -spirits, danger of, 94

Wax figure in magic, 74

Weapons of manslayers, purification of, 172, 182, 219

Wedding ring, an amulet against witchcraft, 314

Were-wolf, 42

Whale, solemn burial of dead, 223

Whalers, taboos observed by, 191 _sq._, 205 _sqq._

Wheaten flour, prohibition to touch, 13

White, faces and bodies of manslayers painted, 175, 186 _n._1; lion-killer painted, 220

—— clay, Caffre boys at circumcision smeared with, 156

Whydah, king of, 129

Widows and widowers, customs observed by, 142 _sq._, 144 _sq._, 182 _n._2

Wied, Prince of, 96

Wife’s mother, the savage’s dread of his, 83 _sqq._; her name not to be pronounced by her son-in-law, 337, 338, 343

—— name not to be pronounced by her husband, 337, 338, 339

Wild beasts not called by their proper names, 396 _sqq._

Wilkinson, R. J., 416 _n._4

Willow wands as disinfectants, 143

Windessi, in New Guinea, 169

Winds kept in jars, 5

Wine, the blood of the vine, 248; called milk, 249 _n._2

Wing-bone of eagle used to drink through, 189

Winter, myths of gods and spirits to be told only in, 385 _sq._

Wirajuri, the, 269

Witch’s soul departs from her in sleep, 39, 41, 42

Witches make use of cut hair, 270, 271, 279, 282

Wollunqua, a mythical serpent, 384

Wolofs of Senegambia, 323

Wolves, charms to protect cattle from, 307; not to be called by their proper names, 396, 397, 398, 402

Women tabooed at menstruation and childbirth, 145 _sqq._; abstinence from, during war, 157, 158 _n._1, 161, 163, 164; in childbed holy, 225 _n._; blood of, dreaded, 250 _sq._

Women’s clothes, supposed effects of touching, 164 _sq._

“Women’s speech” among the Caffres, 335 _sq._

Words tabooed, 318 _sqq._; savages take a materialistic view of words, 331

—— common, changed because they are the names of the dead, 358 _sqq._, 375, or the names of chiefs and kings, 375, 376 _sqq._; tabooed, 392 _sqq._

Wounded men not allowed to drink milk, 174 _sq._

Wrist tied to prevent escape of soul, 32, 43, 51 —— bands as amulets, 315

Wurunjeri tribe, 42

Xenophanes, on the gods, 387

Yabim, the, 151, 306, 354, 386

Yakut shaman, 63

Yams, Feast of, 123

Yaos, the, 97 _sq._

Yawning, soul supposed to depart in, 31

Yewe order, secret society in Togo, 383

Yorubas, rebirth of ancestors among the, 369

Zapotecs of Mexico, the pontiff of the, 6 _sq._

Zend-Avesta, the, on cut hair and nails, 277

Zeus on Mount Lycaeus, sanctuary of, 88

Zulu language, its diversity, 377

Zulus, names of chiefs and kings tabooed among the, 376 _sq._; their superstition as to reflections in water, 91

FOOTNOTES

M1 Life of divine kings and priests regulated by minute rules. The Mikado or Dairi of Japan.

1 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 332 _sqq._, 373 _sqq._

_ 2 The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 352 _sqq._

_ 3 Manners and Customs of the Japanese in the Nineteenth Century: from recent Dutch Visitors to Japan, and the German of Dr. Ph. Fr. von Siebold_ (London, 1841), pp. 141 _sqq._

4 W. G. Aston, _Shinto_ (_the Way of the Gods_) (London, 1905), p. 41; Michel Revon, _Le Shintoïsme_, i. (Paris, 1907), pp. 189 _sqq._ The Japanese word for god or deity is _kami_. It is thus explained by the native scholar Motoöri, one of the chief authorities on Japanese religion: “The term _Kami_ is applied in the first place to the various deities of Heaven and Earth who are mentioned in the ancient records as well as their spirits (_mi-tama_) which reside in the shrines where they are worshipped. Moreover, not only human beings, but birds, beasts, plants and trees, seas and mountains, and all other things whatsoever which deserve to be dreaded and revered for the extraordinary and pre-eminent powers which they possess, are called _Kami_. They need not be eminent for surpassing nobleness, goodness, or serviceableness alone. Malignant and uncanny beings are also called _Kami_ if only they are the objects of general dread. Among _Kami_ who are human beings I need hardly mention first of all the successive Mikados—with reverence be it spoken.... Then there have been numerous examples of divine human beings both in ancient and modern times, who, although not accepted by the nation generally, are treated as gods, each of his several dignity, in a single province, village, or family.” Hirata, another native authority on Japanese religion, defines _kami_ as a term which comprises all things strange, wondrous, and possessing _isao_ or virtue. And a recent dictionary gives the following definitions: “_Kami_. 1. Something which has no form but is only spirit, has unlimited supernatural power, dispenses calamity and good fortune, punishes crime and rewards virtue. 2. Sovereigns of all times, wise and virtuous men, valorous and heroic persons whose spirits are prayed to after their death. 3. Divine things which transcend human intellect. 4. The Christian God, Creator, Supreme Lord.” See W. G. Aston, _Shinto_ (_the Way of the Gods_), pp. 8-10, from which the foregoing quotations are made. Mr. Aston himself considers that “the deification of living Mikados was titular rather than real,” and he adds: “I am not aware that any specific so-called miraculous powers were authoritatively claimed for them” (_op. cit._ p. 41). No doubt it is very difficult for the Western mind to put itself at the point of view of the Oriental and to seize the precise point (if it can be said to exist) where the divine fades into the human or the human brightens into the divine. In translating, as we must do, the vague thought of a crude theology into the comparatively exact language of civilised Europe we must allow for a considerable want of correspondence between the two: we must leave between them, as it were, a margin of cloudland to which in the last resort the deity may retreat from the too searching light of philosophy and science.

5 M. Revon, _op. cit._ i. 190 n.2

M2 Rules of life formerly observed by the Mikado.

6 Kaempfer, “History of Japan,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, vii. 716 _sq._ However, Mr. W. G. Aston tells us that Kaempfer’s statements regarding the sacred character of the Mikado’s person cannot be depended on (_Shinto, the Way of the Gods_, p. 41, note †). M. Revon quotes Kaempfer’s account with the observation that, “_les naïvetés recèlent plus d’une idée juste_” (_Le Shintoïsme_, vol. i. p. 191, note 2). To me it seems that Kaempfer’s description is very strongly confirmed by its close correspondence in detail with the similar customs and superstitions which have prevailed in regard to sacred personages in many other parts of the world and with which it is most unlikely that Kaempfer was acquainted. This correspondence will be brought out in the following pages.

7 In Pinkerton’s reprint this word appears as “mobility.” I have made the correction from a comparison with the original (Kaempfer, _History of Japan_, translated from the original Dutch manuscript by J. G. Scheuchzer, London, 1728, vol. i. p. 150).

8 Caron, “Account of Japan,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, vii. 613. Compare B. Varenius, _Descriptio regni Japoniae et Siam_ (Cambridge, 1673), p. 11: “_Nunquam attingebant (quemadmodum et hodie id observat) pedes ipsius terram: radiis Solis caput nunquam illustrabatur: in apertum aërem non procedebat_,” etc. The first edition of this book was published by Elzevir at Amsterdam in 1649. The _Geographia Generalis_ of the same writer had the honour of appearing in an edition revised and corrected by Isaac Newton (Cambridge, at the University Press, 1672).

M3 Rules of life observed by kings and priests in Africa and America.

9 A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_ (Jena, 1874-75), i. 287 _sq._, compare pp. 353 _sq._

10 H. Klose, _Togo unter deutscher Flagge_ (Berlin, 1899), pp. 189, 268.

11 J. B. Labat, _Relation historique de l’Éthiopie occidentale_ (Paris, 1732), i. 254 _sqq._

12 Ch. Wunenberger, “La Mission et le royaume de Humbé, sur les bords du Cunène,” _Missions Catholiques_, xx. (1888) p. 262.

13 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 415 _sq._

14 Brasseur de Bourbourg, _Histoire des nations civilisées du Mexique et de l’Amérique-centrale_, iii. 29 _sq._; H. H. Bancroft, _Native Races of the Pacific States_, ii. 142 _sq._

M4 The rules of life imposed on kings in early society are intended to preserve their lives for the good of their people. M5 Taboos observed by African kings.

15 A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, i. 355.

16 O. Dapper, _Description de l’Afrique_ (Amsterdam, 1686), p. 336.

17 O. Baumann, _Eine afrikanische Tropen-Insel, Fernando Póo und die Bube_ (Wien und Olmütz, 1888), pp. 103 _sq._

M6 Taboos observed by African kings. Prohibition to see the sea.

18 G. Zündel, “Land und Volk der Eweer auf der Sclavenküste in Westafrika,” _Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde zu Berlin_, xii. (1877) p. 402.

19 Béraud, “Note sur le Dahomé,” _Bulletin de la Société de Géographie_ (Paris), Vme Série, xii. (1866) p. 377.

20 A. Bastian, _Die deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Küste_, i. 263.

21 Bosman’s “Guinea,” in Pinkerton’s _Voyages and Travels_, xvi. 500.

22 A. Dalzell, _History of Dahomey_ (London, 1793), p. 15; Th. Winterbottom, _An Account of the Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone_ (London, 1803), pp. 229 _sq._

23 J. B. L. Durand, _Voyage au Sénégal_ (Paris, 1802), p. 55.

24 W. S. Taberer (Chief Native Commissioner for Mashonaland), “Mashonaland Natives,” _Journal of the African Society_, No. 15 (April 1905). p. 320.

25 A. van Gennep, _Tabou et totémisme à Madagascar_ (Paris, 1904), p. 113.

26 Father Porte, “Les Reminiscences d’un missionnaire du Basutoland,” _Missions Catholiques_, xxviii. (1896) p. 235.

27 Plutarch, _Isis et Osiris_, 32.

28 P. J. de Arriaga, _Extirpacion de la idolatria del Piru_ (Lima, 1621), pp. 11, 132.

29 W. Marsden, _History of Sumatra_ (London, 1811), p. 301.

M7 Taboos observed by chiefs among the Sakalavas and the hill tribes of Assam.

30 A. van Gennep, _Tabou et totémisme à Madagascar_, p. 113, quoting De Thuy, _Étude historique, géographique et ethnographique sur la province de Tuléar_, Notes, Rec., Expl., 1899, p. 104.

31 T. C. Hodson, “The _genna_ amongst the Tribes of Assam,” _Journal of the Anthropological Institute_, xxxvi. (1906) p. 98. The word for taboo among these tribes is _genna_.

M8 Taboos observed by Irish kings.

32 The Duibhlinn is the part of the Liffey on which Dublin now stands.

33 The site, marked by the remains of some earthen forts, is now known as Rathcroghan, near Belanagare in the county of Roscommon.

_ 34 The Book of Rights_, edited with translation and notes by John O’Donovan (Dublin, 1847), pp. 3-8. This work, comprising a list both of the prohibitions (_urgharta_ or _geasa_) and the prerogatives (_buadha_) of the Irish kings, is preserved in a number of manuscripts, of which the two oldest date from 1390 and about 1418 respectively. The list is repeated twice, first in prose and then in verse. I have to thank my friend Professor Sir J. Rhys for kindly calling my attention to this interesting record of a long-vanished past in Ireland. As to these taboos, see P. W. Joyce, _Social History of Ancient Ireland_, i. 310 _sqq._

M9 Taboos observed by Egyptian kings.

35 See _The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings_, vol. i. pp. 418 _sqq._

36 Diodorus Siculus, i. 70.

37 G. Maspero, _Histoire ancienne des peuples de l’Orient classique_, ii. 759, note 3; A. Moret, _Du caractère religieux de la royauté Pharaonique_ (Paris, 1902), pp. 314-318.

38 (Sir) J. G. Scott, _Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States_,