Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore
§ 1. The Corn-mother in America. § 2. The Mother-cotton in the Punjaub. § 3. The Barley Bride among the Berbers. § 4. The Rice-mother in the East Indies. § 5. The Spirit of the Corn embodied in Human Beings. § 6. The Double Personification of the Corn as Mother and Daughter.
(M229) In some of the examples which I have cited to establish the meaning of the term “neck” as applied to the last sheaf, the corn-spirit appears in animal form as a gander, a...
13. xxx. 5) that husbandmen were the first to celebrate sacred rites in211 This is recognised by Professor M. P. Nilsson. See his _Studia de Dionysiis Atticis_ (Lund, 1900), pp. 95 _sqq._, and his _Griechische Feste_, p. 329. To explain the latenes...
11. CHAPTER VII. LITYERSES.(M179) In the preceding pages an attempt has been made to shew that in the Corn-mother and Harvest-maiden of Northern Europe we have the prototypes of Demeter and Persephone. Bu...
6. CHAPTER II. DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE.(M26) Dionysus was not the only Greek deity whose tragic story and ritual appear to reflect the decay and revival of vegetation. In another form and with a different application...
10. CHAPTER VI. THE CORN-MOTHER IN MANY LANDS.(M139) European peoples, ancient and modern, have not been singular in personifying the corn as a mother goddess. The same simple idea has suggested itself to other agricultural...
9. CHAPTER V. THE CORN-MOTHER AND THE CORN-MAIDEN IN NORTHERN EUROPE.(M98) It has been argued by W. Mannhardt that the first part of Demeter’s name is derived from an alleged Cretan word _deai_, “barley,” and that accordingly Demeter means neithe...
5. CHAPTER I. DIONYSUS.(M1) In the preceding part of this work we saw that in antiquity the civilised nations of western Asia and Egypt pictured to themselves the changes of the seasons, and particula...
7. CHAPTER III. MAGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF GAMES IN PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURE.(M67) In the preceding chapter we saw that among the rites of Eleusis were comprised certain athletic sports, such as foot-races, horse-races, leaping, wrestling, and boxing, th...
8. CHAPTER IV. WOMAN’S PART IN PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURE.(M84) If Demeter was indeed a personification of the corn, it is natural to ask, why did the Greeks personify the corn as a goddess rather than a god? why did they ascribe the o...
4. Chapter VIII. The Corn-Spirit as an Animal.§ 1. Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit. § 2. The Corn-spirit as a Wolf or a Dog. § 3. The Corn-spirit as a Cock. § 4. The Corn-spirit as a Hare. § 5. The Corn-spirit as a Ca...
2. Chapter VI. The Corn-Mother in Many Lands.§ 1. The Corn-mother in America. § 2. The Mother-cotton in the Punjaub. § 3. The Barley Bride among the Berbers. § 4. The Rice-mother in the East Indies. § 5. The Spirit of the...
3. Chapter VII. Lityerses.1. Part V: Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild.