i^.X^. I'j. -.^"^ «J^ ^t tilt mtaioQU^l PRINCETON. N % %. BL4-ZS MCS m I'M. 11 THE EAST-INDIAN PRIMITIVE I IIMI'll^l I I I'll I I l; I III I M I \ I III) \ - \K \l- I II M V i: \K \ I \N I \ I'l III mM\MI\. IIM III llll: IMilll.sl l.mn fs Ol >l\NKiMl IN KM^IIMI^ KM IINsriei I llll I KlIM nKIIi.mw . \ I.I(I>\-( KVi <>>! ft. Ill, \. M\l i»|;MII v\K\| M\| XMi\, !•! . l. |l. >.\K\r i«i|-:N()l-s\K MM \l \KK.\i I. ■;!l. is:t. I .-11. IIM. IKIIII illVK \ I \N-lt(>iI\K I. I!l. ll\IIIIO\ lit XKATW-ltOKNKOi ri . \\\ii. ini^i (i;\K \ I \N-itiii{\K ri.. \\ii-\\\l. i iimp \iii i in I. Kill I' I'll II ICI^ \\ I I IIIN. PREHISTORIC RELIGION A STUDY IN PRE-CHRISTIAN ANTIQUITY APR 29 191. q AN EXAMINATION OF THE RELIGIOUS BELIEFS OP THE OCEANIC, CENTRAL AFRICAN, AND AMAZONIAN PRIMITIVES, THEIR DEVEL- OPMENT AMONG THE LATER INDO-ASIATIC AND TOTEMIG PEO- PLES, THEIR INTERPRETATION BY THE WESTERN-ASIATIC AND CAUCASIAN RACES OP NEOLITHIC CULTURE, AND THEIR POSSIBLE CONNEXION WITH THE EARLIEST RELIGION OP MANKIND. PHILO LAOS MILLS, S.T. L. CAPITAL PUBLISHERS, INC. WASHINGTON 1918 Copyright, 1018, BY Philo Laos Mills All Rights Reserved. LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 1. The East-Indian Primitive Frontispiece 2. The Aborigines of the Far East XXIII 3. The Oldest Symbol of the Human Race, The Latin Cross 1 4. Facsimile of a Charm-Tube (Malakka) 7 5. The "Great Master" (Ceylon) 19 6. The "Spirit-Father in Heaven" (Borneo) 25 7. The "Father of AH" (Australia-Melanesia) 37 8. The "Father above the Clouds" (Africa) 47 9. The "Father of Shining Light" (South America) S3 10. Specimen of a Buru-Mystery, the Sun-Serpent (India) 61 11. The Secret of Life, or the African Snake-Mystery 67 12. The Giant Wollunqua, or the Australian World-Serpent 71 13. The Great Medicine, or the North- American Sun-Mystery 75 14. "To Anu and Ishtar" (Babylonian Votive-Tablet) 83 15. Sumerian Prayers to Bel, "Father Enlil, Lord of the Lands" 87 16. Royal Pyramid Texts (EgjTitian Wall-Paintings) 91 17. A Hymn of Praise to Ashur (Assyrian Tablet) 99 18. A Prayer to Ishtar, Queen of Heaven (Assyrian Tablet) 100 19. The Transcendence of the God of Israel, the Twenty -third Psalm 101 20. The Trilingual Behistun-Inscription of Darius the Great 106 21. The Yasna of the Avesta (Persian Text) 107 22. A Primitive Planisphere, The Six Cycles of Creation '. 133 23. A Developed Planisphere, The Seven Great Wakandas 151 24. The Seven Tablets of Creation (Babylonian Series), "The Chaos" 161 25. Do. "The Making of Heaven and Earth," "The Making of Man" 162 26. The Bilingual Tablets of Sippar, "The Primitive Ocean" 163 27. The Modelling of Mankind on the Potter's Wheel (Egyptian) 167 28. The Hebrew Hexahemeron, with Assyrio-Babylonian Parallels, 172 29. revealing its Immense Antiquity, but Theological Independence 173 30. The Persian Dualism as Expressed in the Ancient Avesta 175 31. The Babylonian Zodiac, or the Advanced Planisphere 183 32. The Converted Zodiac, or the Christian Heavens 186 33. Primitive Paradise Picture, The Seven Heavens and The Tree of Life 195 34. Developed Paradise Picture, The Seven Wakandas and The Magic Cedar 209 35. The Adapa-Legend of Babylonia, "The Sage of Eridu" 212 36. The "Tree of Eridu" (Bilingual Incantation-Text) 213 37. Egyptian Fragments on the Tree of Life and the Serpent 215 38. The Tree of Life in Assyrio-Babylonian Art 216 39. The Hebrew Toledoth, with a few Assyrian Parallels 217 40. The Persian Hom-Yasht (Zoroaster's Vision of the Soma) 219 41. Advanced Paradise-Picture, "The Music of the Spheres" 222 42. Converted Paradise-Picture, The Christian Apocalyptic Signs 223 43. The Four Rivers of Paradise (Prehistoric Map of the East) 232 44. The Island of Borneo as a "Fraction" of the Lost Continent 233 45. Ideal Paradise-Scene, "The Enchanted Forest at Night" 239 46. The Star of Bethlehem as The Guiding Star of the Magi 251 LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 47. The Babylonian "Tables of Destiny" as the Perverted Channels 273 48. of a Prehistoric Hope ( Planetary Signs) 274 49. Egyptian Parallels on the Advent of a Better Age 275 50. The Proti;v.\ngf.i.ii-.\i. nR thk First Gospel Given to Man 279 51. The Gatha Ushtavaiti, or the Persian Cry for Deliverance 291 52. The Finding of the Light of the World 295 53. Primitive Sacrifice, "The Sadaka," or The Cain-Abel S.\crifice 315 54. Primitive Sacrifice (Malakkan Rite). The "First Fruit" offering 320 55. Primitive Sacrifice (Malakkan Rite), The Blood-Throwing 321 56. Primitive Sacrifice (Sinhalese Rite), The Coconut-Offering 326 57. Primitive Sacrifice (Sinhalese Rite), The Deer-Sacrifice 327 58. Primitive Sacrifice (Bornean Rite), The Betel-Palm Offering) 334 59. Primitive Sacrifice (Bornean Rite), The Bird-Sacrifice 335 60. Primitive Sacrifice (Australian Rite), The Spear-Throwing 341 61. Primitive Sacrifice (African Rite), The Moduma-Fruit-Offering 342 62. Primitive Sacrifice (African Rite), The Buffalo Sacrifice 343 63. Primitive Sacrifice (Amazonian Rite), The Arrow-Shooting 345 64. Totemic Sacrifice (Indian Rite), The Consumption of the World-Egg 349 65. Totemic Sacrifice (African Rite), The Sprinkling of the Meal 351 66. Totemic Sacrifice (Australian Rite), The Intichiuma Ceremony 353 67. Totemic Sacrifice (North-American Rite), The Smoke Offering 356 68. Totemic Sacrifice (North-.^merican Rite), The Sun-Dance 357 69. Recent Sacrifice, The Pre-Sargonic Temple of Bel at Nippur 358 70. Recent Sacrifice, Babylonian Incantation Ritual 359-363 75. The Statue of Gudea, Patesi of Lagash 364 76. Recent Sacrifice (Egy-ptian Rite), The Corn-Offering 365 77. Recent S.\crifice (Hebrew-Palestinian Rite), The Sacrifice of Melchisedech . . 370 78. The Manna, The Tabernacle, and The Holy of Holies 371 79. The Temple of Jerusalem in the Visions of Ezekiel ill 80. Plan of a Parsee Fire-Temple, Bombay, India Hi 81. Recent Sacrifice (Persian Rite), The Mazdaean Soma-Worship 374 82. Hellenistic Development — The Mysteries of Mithras 375 83. Recent Sacrifice (Brahministic Rite), The Hindoo Pagoda of Trinchinopoli 377 84. Recent Sacrifice (Brahministic Rite), The Cave-Temple of Vishvakarman 378 85. Recent Sacrifice (North-American Rite), The "Banquet of the Clouds" 382 86. Recent Sacrifice (North-American Rite), The Dance of the Corn-Maidens 383 87. Recent Sacrifice (Aztec Rite), The Great Fire-Temple of Mexico 384 88. Recent Sacrifice (Aztec Rite), The Burning of the Human Victim 385 89. The Double Sacrifice of the Redeemer 414 90. The "Fractio Panis," or the Eucharist in the Catacombs 415 91. The Babylonian Ark in Form and Imagery 435 92. The Deluge-Tablets ( Selected Readings) 437 93. The Deluge-Tablets ( Selected Readings) 438 94. The "House of the Se\en Foundations of Heaven and Earth" 439 95. The Borsippa Tower-Inscription of Nebuchadnezar II 438 96. The so-called "Babel-Tablet" describing the Confusion of Tongues 439 97. Migrations of the Ark and Tower-Motif 440 98. A Savage Picture of the Future Life 459 99. Ishtar's Descent Into Hell (Assyrian Tablet) 479 100. The Isles of the Blessed or the Apex of Pre-Christian Hope 482 101. The Balance of Truth and the Egyptian Hespcrides 483 102. The Supernatural Consummation 486 103. The Persian Aftermath, or the Last Judgment 487 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AHB Assyrisches Handworterbuch (Delitzsch-Leipzig, 1896). ASKT Akkadische und Sumerische Keilschrifttexte (Haupt). B A. E Reports of the Bureau of American Ethnology (Washington). Q T Cuneiform Texts of the British Museum (London). J. A. I Journal of the Anthropological Institute. J. A. O. S Journal of the American Oriental Society. J I. A Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia. J. R. A. S Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. J. R. G. S Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. KB Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek (Jensen) KT Keilinschriftliches Textbuch zum alten Testament (Winckler) O.B.I Old Babylonian Inscriptions (Hilprecht-Pennsylvania). OT "The Old Testament," etc. (Works by Pinches or Jeremias). PSBA Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Arch'aeology R Rawlinson, Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia. RBA Religion Babyloniens und Assyriens (Jastrow-Giessen, 1914). S. B. E Sacred Books of the East (Clarendon Press, Oxford). SR Report of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington). ZE Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologic. ZKT Zeitschrift fiir Katholische Theologie (Innsbruck). ZNW Zeitschrift fiir Neutestamentliche Wissenschaf t (Giessen) . TO MY BELOVED FATHER THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED Nihil obstat D. J. KENNEDY, O.P, S.T.M. C. F. AIKEN, S.T.D. CEKSORES DEPUTATI, OCTOBER 20, I918. Imprimatur it JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS, ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE, OCTOBER 21, 1 91 8. PREHISTORIC RELIGION PROLOG This work is the result of ten years of labor in the museums and libraries. Its main purpose is to contribute something to the defence of the dignity of man and the divinity of Christ from prehistoric sources, — that is, before any books were written. It is a defence of the dignity of man, — because it brings before us a picture which is in sharp contrast to the sordid materialism of the day, — it is a defence of the divinity of Christ, — because it reveals facts in the early history of man which must be the relics of a past supernatural revelation having an intimate relation to His own supernatural Person, — it goes back to prehistoric sources, — because this is the field above all others which has been abused and dis- torted in such a manner as to call for an immediate and searching investi- gation. A few words are necessary to explain the use of our terms. By the word "prehistoric" is here understood that long period that preceded the days of the Jewish Covenant and is generally, though not with strict accuracy, described as that of the "Natural Law." I say not with strict accuracy, because there never was an age when the human race has been without some supernatural light, and there never has been a time when the primitive supernatural revelation, transmitted from father to son, has not been to some extent binding in conscience. But inasmuch as the frontiers of that revelation have been badly battered by the fall and the wholesale apostasy of man, inasmuch as the race as such has lost the fulness of that light until the coming of the great Restorer, it is per- missible to use the tepm as implying that the full supernatural deposit of faith, from Adam to Moses, had not yet been committed to \vriting. If, then, we speak of our present work as a "natural theology" of man, it must be understood in the only legitimate sense, as conveying that a large body of religious truth can be demonstrated by the application of natural reasoning alone, not that we ourselves are dispensed from fidelity to a higher supernatural standard. This is distinctly forced upon us by the words of the Vatican Council : — "// any man shall say that the one true God, our Creator and Master, cannot be certainly known by the light of natural reason from the things created by Him, let him, be anathema." (Cone. Vat. Sess. III. Can. 1. de Revelations). 2 PREHISTORIC RELIGION But more than tliis. The same Hglit ot reason has also a moral aspect, it points to a great Lawgiver, the guardian of the moral conscience, one who has written His law in the heart of man in such manner that The primary dictates of the \aUiral Laic cannot be ignored with- out some culpability. (S. Thorn 1, 2. q. 94. Suarez, de Legibus, 2, ch. 5-17ff.) This means tliat, quite apart from any revealed decree, the love, honor, and worship of God, together with the love and respect for his neighbor, are to a large e.xtent natural to man, nay. that even the practice of sacrifice, with the various rites or ceremonies that may yet accompany it, is so firmly rooted in the very constitution of man that it may be called instinctive. To put it briefly, the "prehistoric" religion of man may be said to embrace a belief in God as Creator and Judge, the binding power of the ten commandments, and the offering up of some kind of atonement-rites. On the other hand this "natural" religion has its well-defined limits: — "// any man shall say that in the divine revelation no true and proper mysteries are contained, but that all the doctrines of faith can be understood and demonstrated by properly cultivated reason out of natural principles, let hiyn be anatfiema." (Vat. III. Can. 4, 1.) Now it is important to undei^stand that throughout this work we are treating of man as under a double aspect, natural and supernatural, and that no attempt is being made to ground supernatural doctrines upon naturalistic antecedents, but rather to show that the supposed parallelisms are typical and nothing more. This concerns more especially (1) the relation of the cosmic triads to the doctrine of the Trinity, (2) the belief in a saving demiurge as distinct from the divine Messiah. (3) the use of certain medicines as preceding the Seven Sacraments, In each case it will be our endeavor to show that no triad has ever developed into a Trinity, no demiurge into a divine Redeemer, no medicine into a supernatural Sacrament. It will be found that the former are separated from the latter by a gulf which no unaided power of reason can bridge. Nevertheless, as the golden thread of the supernatural has never been entirely lost in any age of the human race, whether historic or prehistoric, as we cannot say to what extent the primitive revelation has not been preserved in this or that fragment of prehistoric antiquity or by this or that section of primitive man, it is clearly impossible to treat this subject in such a manner as to exclude the influx of all supernatural light from the rich body of folk-lore which we are about to examine. PROLOG 3 For if the two orders of truth are so inextricably woven together in every period of man, we must be prepared to find occasional vestiges of an idea which we know from other sources to have been a revealed dogma. Hence in the treatment of this subject due allowance must be made for the necessary infiltration of supernatural light upon a belief, a tradition or a practice which could never have been derived from the innate tenden- cies of human nature. This may apply to any of the following subjects : — ( 1 ) Under the title "God" we intend to show that the idea of a supreme personal Being is entirely natural to man, but that any intimations of a "Trinity" must be traced to a past revelation, handed down in corrupt form. (2) Under "Creation" the idea of six creative epochs, culminating in the creation of man, may be looked upon as the relic of a fuller light. (3) Under "Paradise" it is clear that the story of the elevation and fall of man presupposes a fact which cannot be gleaned by natural reasoning alone. (4) Under "Redemption" it is particularly plain that, although the longing for salvation is inherent in the human breast, the distinct prophecy of a divine Messiah to come is something that cannot be read from the stars. (5) Under "Sacrifice and Sacramentals" we note that the various pre- historic medicines are suggested by the various religious needs in the life of man, but that the idea of a "suffering" god, and pre-eminently that of the Mystical Lamb, must be regarded as a supernatural symbolism of an all-sufficient Sacrifice to come, while the purely natural medicines have no connexion whatever with the seven supernatural channels of grace. (6) Under "Retribution" the recollection of a great devastation by fire or water must be traced in part at least to a "visitation from heaven." (7) Under "Life Eternal" the notion of a heaven of delights and a hell of punishment is natural enough, though the subject of a "beatific vision" must, if genuine, be handled with similar reservations. Thus we see that nature and sui>er-nature are so intertwined in the history of man in all ages, that it is quite impossible to treat the one to the exclusion of the other, — we must always allow for some supernatural influx. Nevertheless, as the primary aim of our present study is simply to bring out a voluminous collection of prehistoric facts, and then to interpret those facts in the light of our own supernatural standpoint, it is evident that the question of fact should be the primary one; theories and explanations should in every instance be made to follow. In this way each of the above subjects will be brought before the reader just as it presents itself to us in perfectly nude and colorless form, and only in the subsequent analysis will an attempt be made to group the phenomena in such a manner as to suggest some theological conclusions. 4 PREHISTORIC RELIGION The importance of sucli a work seems to me to be obvious. In the first place there are those whose superficial reading has brought them in contact with perverted views of the nature and origin of man. They have been taught to look to a purely animal ancestor as the progenitor of the human race and naturally feel disquieted when they hear of a con- fessedly simian type as the only representative of primitive man. How is this consistent with the dignity and nobility of human nature? To them we offer our Introduction, in wiiicii the existence of a very primitive human type, of normal mental and moral qualities, is sought to be demon- strated out of the purely scientific and ethnological data, leaving to the biologist the task of accounting for such a type. In other words, our primitive is a 7na7i, not a developed anthropoid. Then there are those who have dabbled with Tylor's Primitive Culture, with Frazer's pretentious work on Totemism and Exogamy, and who are firmly convinced that primitive man was either entirely atheistic, or if in possession of any religion at all. that the idea of God was developed out of the ghost or the magical nature-cult. To them we shall oppose an enormous array of religious facts which have only recently been unearthed, but which in their united force point to conclusions of precisely the opi)osite character.^it is the .All-Father belief which precedes the totemic or animistic cult by indefinite ages. Primitive man believed in God, and only in later times was the belief corrupted. Then again there are other subjects which have a more intimate rela- tion to man's supernatural destiny. The fact that the Redeemer points to an age of original innocence which was subsequently lost by an act of moral rebojlion, this can hardly be squared with the current notions, popular or professional, that the human race has on the contrary raised itself by its own impetus from the lowest fetichism and animal-worship to the most exalted monotheism and monogamous practices of modern times. If the one is true, the other is clearly false. Now whatever view we may lake of the Paradise-story as having a mystical content, it is quite certain that the Messiah refers to it not simply as speecii-figure, but as an actual condition of the first couple. "Have ye not read, that He irho made ma)i from the her/inninfj, nuide them male and female?" — "Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put an-ay your* wives, but from the beyinniny it was not so." (Matt. 19, 4. 19, 8.) .\s Christ is continually quoting the Torah, it is clear that He regards it as revealed history, and part of this history includes the originally sacred character of Ihe marriage-tie. Primitive ynan was monogamous, polygamy belongs to a later age. PROLOG 5 In like manner the story of Eden cannot be dissolved into myth, but is a definite prehistoric event, upon which the whole of Christian theology- is founded. "And as in Adam all die, so also i7i Christ all shall be made alive." (I. Cor. 15, 22.) What becomes of this doctrine if man be regarded as a mere product of nature, of blind evolutionary forces? The first and second Adam stand and fall together; and in defending the one, we are defending the other. Similarly the idea and the hope of Redemption is traced by the Messiah and indeed by tlie whole cycle of Christian thought to the earliest ages of man, — it is part of a revelation given to man in paradise. Is it con- ceivable that this revelation should have been entirely lost, that it should have left no vestiges whatever in the folk-lore of humanity? And in the picture of the Tree of Life, in the first-fruit offerings of Cain, in the bread and wine of Melchisedech, have we not a distinct intimation of the originally unbloody nature of the primitive sacrifice? If these are facts and not fancies, it will stand to reason that they must have left some impress in the prehistoric annals of the race, and in searching for these traces, we shall be indirectly supporting the divine tradition: "Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech." (Heb. 5, 6.) Finally we have the revealed picture of the Father in Heaven as the Dispenser of justice, as the Rewarder of the good and the Punisher of the wicked. Here again the portrayal of the ten antediluvian patriarchs, of the rising dualism of humanity, of the pious Enoch, of the corrupting Nephilim, of the righteous Noah, of the salvation of the few and the destruction of the many in the Great Flood, — all these things, together with the broad doctrines of a future recompense in soul and body alike, could not have vanished from the face of the earth in their entirety; if a record of momentous facts and actual prehistoric beliefs, they must have left some mark of their presence in their trail. But w^hat is more important, the Great Deluge is quoted by Christ as actual history: — "And as in the days of Noe, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days before the flood they were eating and dnnking, marrying and giving in marriage, even till that day in which Noe entered into the ark and they knew not till the flood came, and took them all away, so also shall the com- ing of the Son of man be." (Mat. 24, 37 Lk. 17, 26ff.) If words mean any- thing at all, they imply a period of corruption, destruction, and reconsti- tution of the human race upon a more recent Asiatic level, of which humanity as such could not have lost the entire record. If real and actual events, they must be to some extent verifiable. 6 PREHISTORIC RELIGION Now I am aware liial I shall be met with the usual objection that I am trying to prove loo much, that I am starting with dogmas, that I have already made up my miiul that such and such must be the case. \\e can imagine such an objector appealing to the so-called "colorless" methods of modern science and baldly denouncing our entire thesis as an « priori assumption, somewhat as follows: "You are looking for God, and therefore you find Him ; for the idea of creation, and therefore it is easily verified; for the garden of pleasure, and therefore it can be readily mapped out ; for redemption, and therefore every belief in a demiurge points to a future Messiah; for a primitive unbloody sacrifice, and therefore every first-fruit offering takes on a sacrificial character; for a ubiquitous deluge, and therefore every story of a floating raft is a direct reference to such an event; for a heaven, hell and purgatory, because it fits in beautifully with your own eschatologj", — throughout you are consciously doctoring the facts to make them square with your own preconceived views on the nature, origin, and 'super- natural' enlightenment of the human race; you are reading the past by the light of the present, — plainly begging the question." To this polite insinuation we make the following polite reply: — "You are not looking for God, and therefore you do not find Him; you have no conception of the act of creation, and therefore you deny the concept to the savage; you have no belief in an age of original innocence, and therefore you throw over all the testimonies to that effect; you have no adequate idea of redcrmption. and therefore you entirely ignore the gropings of the savage heart for final deliverance; you have a horror of sacrifice and the greatest contempt for holy observances, and therefore you interpret the entire ritual of mankind as nothing but mummery and magical superstition; you have been taught to throw unending ridicule on the story of the ark, and therefore you studiously avoid everything that can remotely point to such an event; you have lost all faith in a definite hereafter, and therefore you convert the savage heavens and hells into mere dream-states, — in short, you are wilfully perverting the plain mes- sage of humanity to suit your own decadent philosophy, you are evidently trying to make out a case for universal nihilism in religion. — a petitio principii of the worst kind." It is a pity that we should start with a mutual misunderstanding, but I will endeavor to remove it by an appeal to a more balanced judgment, a more approved system of reasoning. PROLOG 7 Let us approach this subject in a frankly impartial spirit, putting out of our minds as far as possible any personal leanings towards this or that aspect of life or existence. It will surely be allowed that there is an order of reality which is independent of a man's personal sympathies, otherwise the science of discovery would come to an end, there would be nothing to "discover." I may not enjoy the sensations of an earthquake, but I can- not argue it away by an appeal to idealistic philosophy. The testimony of the senses is objective and absolute. In hke manner it ought to be possible to bring together a sufflcient number of data in the pre-history of man to point to more or less definite conclusions, whether I accept those conclusions as illustrating my own philosophical opinions or not. In other words, our first duty should be to eliminate the personal equation as far as possible, to look upon things as they are. You appeal to the facts of prehistoric antiquity, — / will do the same, — it is a perfectly fair chal- lenge. Then, as to interpretation, — here of course we are liable to part com- pany. To you the religious phenomena may suggest nothing but a spon- taneous evolutionism out of the inner consciousness of man, — to me they are eloquent of a far deeper truth, of the fact that man has preserved many fractions of a primitive undiluted truth, which in the course of ages has become corrupted by a downward moral development. And upon what do I ground this persuasion? I ground it upon what is nothing more or less than a principle of reason itself, — that there are certain truths that are beyond the limits of unassisted reason to attain, tliat transcend the full comprehension of the human intellect, that are frankly mysteries. To deny this would be to deny the existence of psychic powers higher than our own, to measure the Infinite by the capacity of our feeble brain-cells — a slight disproportion! If then I find a belief or a practice in the pre- historic past which is evidently more than a mere product of natural phil- osophy, my own logic forces me to trace these beliefs to si/yjer-natural causes, — they cannot be spun out of mere reflexions, they demand a com- munication from the Father of lights. What these truths are, we have just been considering, and it is here that we stand upon two entirely different pedestals. You derive the entire folk-lore of the human race out of a merely natural reflexion on the facts of consciousness. I derive that same folk-lore out of a primitive plenitude of supernatural truth, which has since been shattered into a thousand fragments, — though I also allow that some of it can be proved by natural reason. It is simply a case of separating the lower from the higher sources of intellectual vision, and this should commend itself to any fair-minded searcher after truth. 8 PREHISTORIC RELIGION With the supernatural tluis well in tlie foreground, we have no fear of bringing to light certain aspects of belief and practice which may at first sight appear surprising. Uut there are two errors that we must guard against, — the error of traditionalism, and the error of immanenlism. As to the danger of deriving all forms of belief from a divine tradi- tion, pure and simple, it is an insidious tendency which we have long since outgrown, and is already condemned by the above propositions on the 'natural" knowledge of God. Before I can follow any tradition, how- ever inspiring, I must be sure, on independent grounds, that the tradition is true, worthy to be followed. Thus a belief in God as Creator and Rewarder of the tiuman race precedes the act of faith in a divine tradition at least in nature if not in time. The two acts may synchronise in this or that particular circumstance, but logically they are two distinct opera- tions of the mind, — I believe in God, because He exists, — then, I believe in God, because He has spoken, — the one follows the other. But apart from this, it is quite certain that a divine tradition may be lost, and has de facto been lost by a large section of the human race. We must there- fore be prepared not only for corruptions but for entire eclipses of truth, though this is fortunately the great exception. On the other hand, the opposite practice of dissolving the entire body of revealed truth into myth and allegory, of looking ujjon the supernatural as a mere evolution out of subjective states of consciousness, is far more fatal in its consequences than any over-estimation of the tradition-argu- ment. Those who would avoid all appeals to the past records of the race on the score of ■'traditionalism" are in reality secret immanentists; they have no belief that divine dogmas have any real or objective basis, and therefore they scorn every attempt to find such a basis. The elevation and fall of man are not physical but symbolical events, paradise is con- verted into a pious allegory, Noah's ark consigned to the realm of pedagogic literature, — throughout it is symbolism, and only symbolism that forms the background of dogma, there is no objective or absolute criterion of truth, everjthing is psychological "tendency." It is needless to state that this Origenistic allegorism is gnawing at the very entrails of a sound theology, that it is in direct opposition to the repeated declarations of the Church. The separation of faith and history is a modernistic error, and those who interpret the opening chapters of Genesis as mere "poetry" incur tlie risk of a severe censure. (See the decree "Lamentabili" passim, and the n-ports of the Biblical Commission.) PROLOG 9 Another question, to be sure, is tliat which concerns the degree in which faith is proved by history, to wliat extent the divine tradition can be supported by archaeological facts. For it is not per se inconceivable that a divine revelation, once given, might have vanished from the earth in such a way as to leave but few vestiges, and none that are at all unsul- lied by later corruptions. This is a point which we must always bear in mind. The supernatural certainty in a divine tradition may coexist with a non-committal attitude on the subject of its prehistoric transmission, of its positive verification in this or that instance. The fact that some of these vestiges may be regarded as doubtful, and that the entire subject of prehistoric faith is a comparatively modern acquisition, naturally leads the cautious believer to suspend his judgment; he assents to the deposit, not because it is provable, but because it is revealed, even if not confirmed by vestiges, it is still eternally true. This is a well-intended measure of safety, and wisely points to divine authority as the ultimate norm of super- natural truth. But we have already noted that, although corruptions and perversions of truth are only to be expected in all the ages of man, the supernatural has never entirely vanished, and it is on the face of it incredible that in view of the enlarged field of modern research nothing whatever should be left of tlie finger of God in human history to be dis- covered by scientific means. The enemy has been throwing this at us for many centuries, and it is time that the tide were turned, that the true picture of prehistoric man were at length presented. If, then, in the treatment of certain aspects of this q'uestion we have erred on the side of excessive realism, it is a pardonable antidote to the prevalent looseness with which the historic supernatural is dismissed, — simply ignored as a power in the life of man. We may, as I have said, try to find too much, we may overestimate the content of the message by carrying into it too much of our own psychology. But it is better to find too much than too little, and to find nothing at all is a wilful conspiracy against natural reason no less than against supernatural light, — it is simply ignoring the overwhelming evidence of both sources of truth. It is easy enough to sneer at the six "days" of creation, but what if the savage has a vague recollection of a similar work? It seems hard to believe that our first parents ate of the forbidden fruit at the instigation of a "talking" serpent, but what if this is one of the earliest persuasions of man? It is easy to make cheap jokes about a universal deluge, but what if a unique drowning-calamity is one of the most widespread traditions of the human race? 10 PREHISTORIC RELIGION Those who studiously avoid these subjects have a secret conviction that they never aclitalhj occurrfd, and they might as well be candid enough to say so. They may smile at our reconstructions, but they having noth- ing better to oder in tiieir jtluce. — in fact, they ollVr us a blank, and are rather haj)py to do so: it helps to support tin'ir theory uf a progressive evolution of dogmas. To such as these, and in fact to the entire school of negative thinkers, the present work cannot but be distasteful; it is a direct repudiation of their favorite ttiesis of a gradual rise of the religious conscience out of a mental and moral zero. We have firmly determined to fight this universal atheism, and are ready for the fight, — let there be no misunderstanding of our initial purpose. But to those of the conserva- tive school, who belong to the "household of faith," this book may yet convey a double impression : — (1) There are those to whom the religious data will come as a welcome surprise. They will be glad to feel that the sign of the Cross is so ancient, that the All-Father cult is the earliest religion of man, that the six days of Genesis admit of such valuable illustration, that the Tree of Life and the Garden of God are once more restored to them as physical realities. Even if overdrawn in this or that particular instance, the main body of facts can hardly be questioned, and they cannot fail to be reassuring. Nay more, — the same group of believers will be looking for the Star of Redemption in the later ages of man; they will thrill with delight when they find that of all the peoples of antiquity we alone of the noble Aryan race, the Persian Magi of the gospels, were allowed to find the King of Glory as the reward of our supernatural faith. Is this not a beautiful confirmation of the gospel narrative, hitherto regarded by some as almost a romance, almost loo good to be true? Then again the early sacrificial rites of humanity will make a similar impression. They will hail with universal sympathy tiie natural instinct by which man uses the medicines of nature as the natural expression of his religious feelings, they will see in the First-fruit Sadaka a distant symbolism of the divine benevolence, and the entire sacrificial practice will tend to show that man is by nature ritualistic, far removed from a merely esoteric religion. Finally, to hear once more of a real "ark," and of a real heaven, hell, and purgatory, can- not but bring solace to a humanity distraught with doubts and with religious dissensions, — in fact, all these things sound traditional and orthodox, they seem to support the revealed position in a thousand dilTerent ways, and they make Christ our Lord the one unique Light of the World, the common hope of Jew and Gentile alike. PROLOG 11 (2) There are others, however, to whom the same religious data might suggest an erroneous inference. What? The sign of the Gross before Christ? The hexahemeron before Moses? Tlie tree of life before Eden? Redemption before the Redeemer? The sadaka before the Eucharist? Medicines before sacraments? Deluge-heroes before Ararat? Visions of God before Calvary? It looks as if you were deriving the whole of the revealed basis of faith out of a mere human tradition, making the supernatural to "grow" out of the natural, supporting that very scheme of religious evolutionism which you pretend to condemn. It does not increase, but rather it lessens my faith, to be told that some of our most cherished dogmas have been anticipated by unregenerate savages, that prehistoric man should have shared, however remotely, in a volume of holy lore and tradition which I cannot but regard as all-sacrcd, unfit for any "pagan" hands to touch. So far from being elevated by all this prehistoric rubbish, I am on the contrary chagrined and depressed at its evident portent. It seems to imply that there is nothing entirely unique in the Christian religion; that the latter is but the crown and apex of many previous attempts to solve the riddle of existence, — simply the pleroma or the natural fulfilment of the spontaneous longings of the human race, — a "culmination." It leaves me with a less powerful grip on the supernatural than I had before, and the last state of my soul is worse than the first. After what we have just been expounding on the mutual relation of the natural and the supernatural in all ages of man, it is needless to repeat that the above impression is indeed deplorable, ancl one which we are doing our best to remove. In the first place, we deny the insinuation in toto. We are not deriving the religious ideas of humanity out of a primitive blank, but out of a primitive plenitude. We are starting with the supernatural, not closing with it, — even if it is also true that some of these ideas might have been suggested by the natural constitution of man. We have separated the two sources with sufficient clearness. It is therefore untrue to say that we are evolving dogmas, — on the contrary, we are pre- supposing a large body of primitive dogma, out of which, as out of a rich mine, the sacred traditions of man have been quarried. If this is not poles apart from modern immanentism, then what is it? It reestablishes the supernatural, it does not repudiate it. If, then, we find many striking beliefs in the early history of man, they are so many confirmations, not repudiations of Christian dogma, which latter, as we shall invariably show, cannot be evolved out of naturalistic speculations. This will always remain the most powerful 'critique' at our disposal, and we intend to apply it cautiously, but unsparingly. 12 PREHISTORIC RELIGION In the second place, it must be candidly admitted that some of us have all too narrow a view of the divine economy. Tiiere was a time when we could shelve the prehistoric problem by a wholesale denunciation of every form of pre-Christian bi-lief as a damnable superstition, an unadul- terated falsehood. Omnes clii gentium daemonia, — "all the gods of the gentiles are demons," — such was the cry with which the early Christian apologists justly assailed the disgusting vices with which the contemporary pagan world was rank, and it was not very ditricult to prove that Christian- ity was immensely superior to any of its "heathen" competitors. But the matter assumes a different aspect when we ascend into high antiquity. Not corruptions, but illuminations are the prominent feature in the earlier periods of the race, and the further we mount up, the stronger and purer does the light of heaven appear to shine, though never with the splendor of Christian truth. All this, however, is a modern acquisition, and in keeping time with this new world of thought that is opening out before us, we are happy to find that "God's in his heaven, all's right with the world." The discovery of these facts should furnish a strong support to the dogma of a primitive revelation, indeed they point so forcibly in this direction that they cannot be explained without the theory of a partial survival of revealed truth over large sections of the human race. Thus they expand our ideas of the divine government, — they do not becloud them. Finally, it is most important to distinguish between the external form and the internal content of a religion. For, although forms may be indefi- nitely ancient, the content is liable to change; in no case more so than in the sudden and violent transition which marks the use of the pagan rites from the entirely new use of the Christian mysteries. It is here especially that we must guard against any misconstructions. The discovery of ])re- Christian analogies,— whether in theological terminologj", or in the external ritual by which religion is expressed, — is something that we must be pre- pared for, and cannot be argued away by a worn-out appeal to the unique- ness of Christian ceremonies on the purely material side. Are there not many things in our Christian ritual which, viewed in their broader and more general aspects, exhibit some external points of resemblance to Jewish or pagan practice? Does not religion clothe herself in similar garb the world over? The fact is there are certain natural forms by which religion is expressed in all ages of man, and from this point of view we may rightfully admit some continuity witii the remote past. Nature is perfected by grace, not destroyed or entirely cancelled by its higher operations. PROLOG 13 But continuity of form has notliing to do with continuity of content. The use of prayer-beads and holy water is as old as the ocean, but neither can the Holy Rosary be derived from an Astarte-cult, nor the rite of Baptism from a Mithraic douche. Sacred candles have nothing to do with prehistoric torches, nor the Blessed Sacrament with a transplanted Soma- worship. In each case there are external resemblances and typical pre- figurations which it would be unwise to deny,— we may even hail them as the forerunners of better things to come, as providential or prehistoric "lights,"— but to evolve the one out of the other indicates the crassest ignorance of the meaning and content of the Christian formulae. Did any savage ever baptise in the name of a triune God? any Persian paitish see in the "bread of chastity" the body and blood of a crucified Savior? Is there anything in common between the Dominican Rosary, with its fifteen mysteries of the life of Christ, and the vain babblings of the gentiles, with their knotted cords and their spinning prayer- wheels? If mere externals be the test of a similarity, we answer,— yes,— there is many a rationalist tliat can learn from primitive man the art of invoking God by prostrations of body no less than of soul, by consecrating every minute to some ritual act, by using beads, pictures, water, and incense as the vivid expressions of his own interior faith, and to this extent we are nearer to Him than he, our religion is symbolic and sacramental, — a "living" faith. But when it comes to dogma, there is no bridge between paganism and Christianity, between the Old and the New Law, and those who cannot see the essential difference between bath-house and Bap'tism, prayer-beads and Rosary, soma and Sacred Host, are indeed in a pitiable state. Let them read the gospel of the New Birth, the formula of the Annunciation, the "eucharistic" chapter of St. John, and they will be convinced of the oppo- site ; the Messiah inaugurates an entirely new dispensation, as is evident from the misconstruction put upon His words,— "How can a man be born ivhen he is old?", "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (John, 3, 4. 6, 53.) If these were current beliefs, they would not have occasioned the wonderment, nay even the apostasy of some of his early followers,— they are new, transcendent, heaven-begotten mysteries. With this initial misunderstanding removed, we do not hesitate to reveal the beauty and the symmetry of pre-Christian faith in all its ful- ness, without needlessly clipping its wings under the absurd pretext that it will destroy the uniqueness of the gospel. There is a primitive light to which the Messiah would call us back, and in finding its vestiges, we shall be adding but one more jewel to the crown of His Divinity. 14 PREHISTORIC RELIGION It is therefore hoped, tliat the main impression of tliis book will be a favorable one; that it will help to clear up certain questions which until recently have been handled with indifTerent success. There are millions of people who are driven to despair by the apjjarently hopeless verdict of modern science on all that concerns the nature, origin, and destiny of the human sj)ecies, and to whom the opening chapters of Genesis seem to be in appalling contradiction to the unanimous voice of modern research. If the revealed history of primitive man is exploded to the four winds, what becomes of the Bible as the infallible word of God? And if Moses be consigned to the limbo of romance, where is the guarantee that the New Testament will fare any better? The w^hole system stands and falls together as a unit, and by cultivating a negative habit of mind we gradually undermine the entire basis of supernatural truth. — the whole structure gradually dwindles from our mind, — we have lost the Faith. It is surely worth while to save what we can out of this universal wreckage, and to re-examine the data to see whether the message of science is in reality such as it is commonly given out to be, whether in fact it forces us to assume 60 radical a position. If it can be shown that this is no! the case, that on the contrary the most recently discovered facts tend (o support the revealed tradition with an almost epoch-making force, it is surely high time to bring these facts before the public, to let them know that real science has a very different story to tell. If this book accomplishes nothing more than to restore to primitive man his birthright as a God-created being, it will, not have been wriltevn in vain. But we hope that it may lead to more than this. The reader should feel at the end of this study that he is nearer to the supernatural than he was before, that his own religion is acquiring a new lease of life by ils alliance with prehistoric lore, that the name of Christ is nean-r and dearer lo him now that he sees what the divine Being has meant to humanity throughout the ages of time, how vividly the teachings of Christ are illustrated by the prehistoric annals of mankind, how suggestive of heavenly light are many of the beliefs and practices with which he has come in contact, yet how incomparably superior is the Faith of Pentecost. To what extent this is actually borne out by the facts must of course be our main object of controversy. — it is now to be estab- lished by a painstaking analysis of all the data. But that this may be the final effect of the book, is the sincere desire of the author. If, then, the present work is branded as a "Tendenzschrifl." we have nothing to say beyond what has already been noted above. We all have "tendencies" of one kind or another, and the obvious course is lo measure the value of the tendency by an impartial appeal to the logic of facts. The true tendency will vindicate its own right to existence. PROLOG 15 In the nature of the case this work must assume the character of a com- pilation. The field of comparative and prehistoric religion being well- nigh illimitable, it is beyond the capacity of any single individual to master it with his own private resources, — he must be copiously supported by the investigations of others if his work is to be in any sense comprehensive as well as convincing. It is, therefore, necessary for me to preface once and for all that a large portion of this book is the result of the labors of spe- cialists, whose willing cooperation has been secured, and to whom I am directly indebted for immediate and timely illumination. For while I can say without exaggeration that a large part of the prehistoric and Baby- lonian cuneiform matter is in a more direct sense my own work, while the entire treatment of the subject, with its analyses, criticisms and conclu- sions, as well as the diagrams, stands and falls with my own personality, it would be grossly wanting in propriety not to acknowledge the immense debt that is due to the labors of the many authors who have made it pos- sible for me to collect this material and to ofTer it to the public in a new and more easily accessible dress. No modern writer can face the world of criticism unless he is firmly supported by authorities of the highest rank, — it would be unblushing audacity to attempt such a thing, — he must let the voice of professional scholarship speak without reserve, even if that voice be occasionally ambiguous and wanting in firm and well-tested solidity, — he cannot afTord to stand on his own feet. It has, therefore, been my spe- cial endeavor to illustrate this subject by appealing to as many first-class authorities as is conveniently possible. I am, in fact, rS-editing their work per longum et latum, though I wish it to be distinctly understood that all obligations have been publicly or privately acknowledged. Among these obligations those to the British Museum and the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania take the first place. Dr. Kenyon has given me full authority to publish the "Cuneiform Texts" in the United States with inter- linear transliterations, while rare and interesting material has been obtained from Prof. Hilprecht's "Old Babylonian Inscriptions" and Prof. Langdon's newly-edited "Sumerian Psalms." A special and personal tribute of thanks is due to Prof. George S. Duncan, of the department of Assyriology and Egyptology of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, for reviewing the Babylonian matter and transcribing and translating the Egyptian Pyramid Texts, — the latter entirely his own composition. A word of acknowledgment is also due to Drs. Butin and Vaschalde of the Catholic University of America, and especially to Dr. Kennedy, without whom I could hardly have undertaken this work. These and that emi- nent Jewish expert. Dr. Immanuel Casanowicz, are the principal gentle- men in Washington to whom I owe a lasting debt of personal gratitude. 16 PREHISTORIC RELIGION In the department of Persian liieratic literature, I iiave obtained prac- tically all that is here offered from the pen of my own fatlior. the late Professor Lawrence Heywortii Mills, Doctor of Divinity of nolumbia Uni- versity. New York, and for many years Professor of Iranian Liti.Tature and Philology in the University of Oxford, England. While I have the highest regard for the standing and ttie accomplishments of this eminent scholar, — in his own day undoubtedly the greatest living authority on the pre-exilic Persian or Acliaemanean Zoroastrianism, — I have taken the liberty of viewing the entire subject from a some- what diflerent standpoint, and altliougli I may rightfully assume tliat his literary productions are technically llawless. I have put my own perspec- tive into their liigher theological interpretation. As to the prehistoric archaeological and ethnological data, it would take a small volume even to mention the names of those upon wliose works I have reared the greater part of this edifice. The present abnormal state of the world has made it impossible to communicate with many of these European gentlemen, whose timely word of advice and assistance would have been most desirable. I can only presume their cooperation and gen- erous approval wlien making use of their sources. In the meantime a sincere word of appreciation is due to Mr. F. W. Hodge, of the Bureau of American Ethnology, and to his co-workers at the Smithsonian Insti- tution, for supplying me with many archaeological curiosities, and for reviewing the material on the North-American folklore, and especially on the Pueblo ritual. Mr. W. H. Holmes furnished the .\ztec fire-temple. Finally, it is impossible to bring out a "prehistoric bible" of this nature without craving the indulgence of the public, and still more that of accredited scholars, on the subject of its necessary imperfections. It is beyond all human capacity to produce an ideally perfect edition of any ancient text by purely autographic methods, — try as hard as he may, the copyist is bound to make some slips and oversight; he is only human. And as in the present case the author is at the same time the copyist and has had to do the entire work from cover to cover without any assistance, it should be understood that these reproductions are only approximations, they cannot claim to be absolutely exact. It is therefore confidently expected that, with all the care that has been given to make these texts, tablets and transcriptions as nearly perfect as possible, the few oversiglits will be readily pardoned in view of the substantial accuracy of the great bulk of the work. Philo L. Mills, Capital Publishers. Washington. D. C. Sept. 24, 1918. PREFACE 17 A GENERAL ORIENTATION ON THE STATUS QUAESTIONIS To bring before the reader the main points of our present study in more clear and concise form, I have thought it useful to bring out the chief objects of controversy with a view to showing how I intend to handle these questions and what provisions have been made to meet the more common objections that will naturally arise and to guard against all pos- sible misunderstandings. The following should be carefully borne in mind by all who peruse these pages with a view to understanding their general spirit and tendency. (1) The doctrine of unlimited evolution naturally finds no place in the present work. Natural reason and supernatural light are at one in con- demning a system which is scientifically, philosophically and theologically false. Hence it will be of inestimable value to discover that in every department of religious belief and practice there is evidence of an initial fulness and integritu which cannot be explained on Darwinian or evolu- tional lines, but presupposes the direct influx of a higher Power, something transcendent. (2) Applying this to the human species as such, it will be found that by no possibility can the original type of mankind be deduced from an anthropoidal precursor, but that on the contrary, the gap between savagp and simian is more glaring in the earlier than in the later ages of humanity, which suggests that there has been a very large, if not a universal physical degeneration. Primitive man was undoubtedly an ideal and unique being. What we see is the more or less corrupted though comparatively pure sur- vivor, not the "ideal" man. (3) From this it will follow that no existing type of humanity can be regarded as the bearer of an undiluted primitive faith except as an approximation, as something similar to what was once upon the earth. Hence all the existing savage beliefs are more or less tainted, but exhibit greater or less approximations to absolute truth in proportion to their antiquity or to the purity with which the primitive revelation has been handed down. (4) On the other hand, there is no direct connexion between religious and material culture, the earliest races of man being culturally low but religiously and morally highly developed. In fact, an advance in culture is often accompanied by a collective degeneration, as can be easily proved. Only in Christianity do we find the highest material and moral civilisation fused into one, but even this by no immanent necessity. 18 PREFACE (5) The "Law of Progress" is iiol so simple tliat it can be expressed in a single sentence. It is a complicated c', (London, 1915), whose reconstructions are more ingenuous than scientific, though as anthropoidal types they are possibly of some value. The same of H. F. Osborn, Men of the Old Stone Age, (New York, 1916), an otherwise admirable work. INTRODUCTION III A far more satisfactory metliod is that of turning to ttie existing races of man and asking ourselves the simple question, — Who are the lowest in the scale of human culture? For the general principle will be accepted, that in the upward ascent of man the lower normally precedes the higher stage of civilisation, that where we find a comparative blank we have reasons to suspect a case of arrested development, — a primitive survival. The Ages op Man It is evident for instance that we are now living in the age of iron and steel, of electricity and motor-cars, and we feel quite certain that where these are entirely absent it is a sufficiently plain proof that the people lived before these powers or commodities were discovered or became the recognised means of construction, of transportation. It is possible, of course, for a man to bury himself in the back woods, to return to the "simple" life, to live like a savage,— but it is quite impossible for an entire race to do so without assuming something akin to a miracle, an extraor- dinary catastrophe, by which the whole of the former civilisation was wiped out, entirely forgotten. Now although there is some evidence for cultural breaks, and even catastrophes, in the early history of man, there is hardly a single case in which a typical industry, once established, has ever been abandoned without the introduction of a higher industry, which industry has been normally evolved out of the lower. On this the buried remains speak with no uncertain voice. In every case the cruder tools have given away to the more perfected implements, and as to the celebrated "golden" age, where is the evidence that this age was material rather than moral, an age of peace and of spiritual enUghtenment? '^ The Bronze Age But if the use of the black metals marks the highest level of "civilised" man, the preceding Bronze and Copper Period is no less distinctive. It belongs essentially to those half-cultured yellow races of Central Asia who have carried their yellow metal to the furthest ends of the earth, not perhaps in person, but by contact with neighboring peoples. India, Arabia, North Africa, the Malay Archipelago, — all have felt the influence of the bronze sword, and its presence is an infallible index that these peoples are living in a period which has definitely passed away for the higher races, say, between 2- and 4000 B. G. These shining metals are also found in the New World, the Indians being the bearers of a high copper industry. 2 Comp. W. I. Thomas, Source-book for Social Origins, (Chicago, 1912), p. 335ff. for inventions and technology J. Dechelette, Manuel d'Archeologie, (Paris, 1908), for palaeo- graphic data. IV PREHISTORIC RELIGION The New Stone Age II is possible, however, lo go considerably further down in the scale of human progress. We have all heard of the great Stone Age, and its name marks it olT from all the metallic cultures. Though distributed over vast sections of the earth's surface, it exists in its purity only in the wilder and less accessible portions of the globe, more especially in the Oceanic and Australian regions of the far East. In all other quarters it is partly fused with the metal cultures, though it still forms the background of the Central Indian, the North-.\frican, and the native North and South-.Vmeri- can cultures. The .American Indian is still living in the Stone .\ge, even though he understands the use of copper and has borrowed his steel chisel from the whiles, for the latter arc clearly imported or superficially acquired. — otherwise he would not continue the use of stone as the chief instru- ment of his handicraft. This puts him back at least 5000 years before the commencement of the present era, and for similar reasons the above races must be dated back to a period at least equally early. The Old Stone Age But the shape and finish of stone implements is by no means uniform. There is a sharp distinction between the perfected and polished flint of the neolithic age and the more crude productions of its predecessor, a difference which is accompanied by a standard of life and industry which is in every respect more primitive. Man is no longer tied to the soil, he has become a wild hunter, for whom the animal creation possesses a paramount interest, it becomes the chief theme of his art. of his inspira- tion. Clothing, housing, nutrition, navigation, and so on, — all are adapted lo the more simple requirements of the buffalo-hunt, they show a continual tendency to become less artificial, more and more dependent on the needs and circumstances of the hour, — skin-raiment, round-house, forest-fauna, bark-canoe, etc. — the latter a specially commodious and portable means of locomotion. Among the peoples where this phase of life may still be seen in its more essential features are the wild Dravidians of Southern India, the Bantus of Eastern Africa, the Prairie Indians of Nortli America, and again the .Australian and Melanesian peoples of Oceanica. While the sta|)le foods and commodities vary considerably throughout this region, the general similarity in habits and conditions of life, more e.^spe- cially in the interior, is too striking not to arrest attention. They carry us back to the time when our forefathers hunted the bison on the steppes of Central Europe, — a period between 10 and 20000 years before Christ.' 'W. J. Sollas, Ancient Hunters and their modem Representatives, (London, 1915) pp. 160ff. Obermaicr, Der Mensch der Vorzeit. (Vienna. 1914), pp. 176, 2S3. 316ff! It is not pretended that the American and European Palaeolithic were strictly contemporaneous. The glacial culture of Europe reached America at a later age. See p. LVI. INTRODUCTION V The Age op Shell, Bone, and Bamboo Will it be possible to sink still lower, to arrive at a period when human- ity had not even acquired the art of making the pointed flint, of cutting the hard stone into the more or less definite form of a lozenge? Such a period seems to be postulated by the existence of "eoliths," which are hardly more than scrapers, rough flints of jagged outline, of irregular pattern. In view of the fact, however, that acknowledged experts are unable to agree as to the human origin of these flints, and that several notable writers have boldly denied it, they are not a safe means for measuring the age or industry of a people, they are of no value as a time- piece, except in so far as their exclusive use would seem to show that the users had not yet arrived at the stage known as the Ghellean industry. If, however, we find a group of peoples who cannot manufacture any kind of a flint, but simply pick up the eoliths ready made, and whose cut- ting-implements consist for the most part of flakes, shells, bones, bamboo- slivers, and pointed pieces of wood, hardened or "tempered" by fire, — the suggestion arises that they may belong to an age before flint-chisels were manufactured, especially when their mode and manner of life is even more primitive than anything to be found in the Stone Ages. Who are these peoples? Geographical Extent op the Bamboo Culture (1) Malay Peninsula: — "Stone implements are very numerous in the peninsula, but it is an open question whether any forms of stone imple- ment, except possibly chips or flakes, were ever manufactured by any of the wild tribes, the weight of evidence being decidedly against it. Tlije rudimentary stage through which these tribes have passed, and in some cases are still passing, may perhaps be more accurately described as a "wood and bone" age than as an age of stone. The most primitive form of knife, still found among them, consists of a sharp sliver of bamboo, which makes a very fair tool. None are in the habit of dressing them- selves in the skins of animals, or of decorating themselves with the feathers of birds. "They use a girdle made of leaves or fungus-strings, and live in the simplest of wind-shelters. Their weapons are the wooden bow and the bamboo blowpipe, they hunt the tiger, the elephant and the rhinoceros, but they do not resort to the hunting of game until their supply of vegetable food begins to give out. They live off wild yams and jungle produce, they "plow" fire, but have no knowledge of navigation. Their bamboo tubes furnish the only music." * * W. W. Skeat and C. O. Blagden, Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula, (London, 1906), Vol. I. pp. 242, 249ff. (weapons and implements), 137-138, (dress), 168ff. (habitations), 200, (hunting), 109, (food), 113, (fire). Vol. II. 117ff. (music), — an indispensable work on the aboriginal life, recommended to all beginners (copious illustrations.) VI PREHISTORIC RELIGION Geographical Extent of the Bamboo Culture (2) Andaman Islands: — "Stones are not used by the Andamanese for cutting wood or bone, IJie latter being usually crushed by a hammer for the sake of the marrow. Before tlie (quite recent) introduction of iron, small holes were bored with bone or pieces of shell, but rarely if ever with stone, and no implement has been found which might be supposed to have served as a stone saw or scraper, for which purpose shells apparently have been generally employed. The Andamanese assert that they never, even when iron was scarce, made arrow-heads, axes, adzes, or chisels of stone. They also allirm that the fragments that have been found in the kitchen-middens are merely quarlz-dakes or broken pieces of cook- ing slones or hones which in former times, as now, were thrown among the rubbish when no longer in use. The bamboo, though not employed in such a variety of ways as it is by many savages, is yet in constant use, — for the making of harpoon and arrow-shafts, of water-holders, knives, tongs, and netting-needles." Their only vesture consists of small bunches of Pandanus-leaves, skins of animals are not made use of in any way, and their huts are simple lean-to's or tree-shelters. With large bows and harpoons they hunt for flesh, fish, or fowl indiscriminately, though here also their primary diet is a vegetable one. They cannot make fire, but produce rude pottery and fairly good canoes, made of solid tree-stumps, and formerly hollowed out with shells." (3) Southern India, Ceylon: — Among the Forest-Veddas the use of stone, except in the shape of quartz-eoliths, is apparently unknown. Here the bow and arrow seem to perform the function of implements. "The arrow is still the almost universal cutting-tool, as we had good opportunity of ascertaining at Hennebedda." Both are made of hardwood or bamboo, and the bowstring of twisted tree-bast. Their leaf-hut is equally primitive, and their hunting-life closely resembles that of the Andamanese. Like them they make crude pottery, but do not manufacture any kind of canoe.* (4) Philippines: — The Negritos of Zambales make practically every- thing out of bamboos, banana-leaves, and bark fibre-slrings. In no single case has the use of stono chiseling instruments been reported. In the wild state they build rough wind-screens, hunt the forest deer with bamboo bows and arrows, and use the bamboo firestick. Baskets, conibs. knives, fiddles and fiules, — all are made of the same material. Navigation is wanting.' » E. H. Man, On the Original Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, (London. 1885), p. 160- 161 (flint chips and shells, — cf. Stoliczka, Notes on the Kjokken-Moddings of the .Andaman Islands), p. 157 (bamboos), p. 110 (attire), p. 39 (huts), p. 179 (shell-adze). • C. G. Selig- man, The Veddas, (Cambridge, 1911), p. ,?24fT. (tools, etc.), p. 19-20 (quartz implements), p. 36ff. (huts). 'W. A. Reed, Negritos of Zambales (Manila, 1904), p. 39-48, (general ethnology). INTRODUCTION VII Geographical Extent of the Bamboo Culture (3) Borneo:— The wild Dayaks, or Bakatans, are grouped in small communities and inliabit tlie dense jungle at the head-waters of the prin- cipal rivers of Borneo. They are a nomad people who build no permanent houses of any kind, do not cultivate the soil, and live by hunting and gathering the wild fruits and jungle produce. Their mode of life is very much more primitive than that of the Kayans and other inhabitants of the interior. Leaf-shelter, fire-stick, absence of clothing, use of cocoanut- shells, of palm and banana-leaves, of bamboo harps, flutes, implements, and blowpipes, all connect them with the Malakkan, and still more with the Philippine region, the actual use of higher stone implements being conspicuous by its absence.* (4) Celebes:— The Toalas or "Back-woodsmen" of Celebes make quartz imitations of palaeolithic celts, but their quality is far inferior to the Magdalenian flints, the natives preferring the use of tooth, bone, and bamboo." (5) Neiv Guinea and Melanesia:— Though the Papuans are living in an age of stone, there are many tribes in the interior that reveal vestiges of a far more primitive state. Among the Mimika of the North- West "the one and only kind of shelter (except the communal dwelling) is the primitive and temporary leaf-hut, pitched to the ground." Though in possession of a stone adze, a great deal of their cutting *s done by means of shells and bone-scrapers, and among the Tapiros these and the split bamboos are the only cutting instruments of native use. The Mafulus of the East know nothing but a shell, bone, and bamboo industry, their stone axe being borrowed from the coast tribes. This distinctive culture may in fact be traced far into Melanesia, where it still survives in the bamboo- knives, bows and arrows, quivers and Jew's harps, that are so frequently met with.'" (6) Central Africa:— Among the Akkas or Negrillos of the great Congo region, a very similar stage of industrial life has been revealed. Most of the above elements are here represented in equally crude form, and as to the use of stone implements, there is nothing intermediate between the borrowed iron and the prehistoric bone or shell-industry, if we except a few stone hammers or scrapers. Central Africa has hardly been touched by the palaeolithic wave, and its isolation is still to be accounted for." 8H Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, (London, 1896) Vol I p 16-18 A. C. Haddon, Head-hunters, black, white, and brown, (London, 1901), p. 320.' Hose and McDougall, Journ. Anthr. Instit. (1901) Vol. XXXI, p. 125, AW. Nieu- wenhuis, Quer durch Borneo, (Levden, 1907) Vol. I. p. 52. » P. and F. Sarasin, Matenalien zur Naturgeschichte der Insel Celebes, (Wiesbaden, 1905), Vol. V. Pt. I.p. 9-26ff. I'C. G. Rawling, The Land of the New Guinea Pygmies. (London. 1913) p 233-259 (shells, spht rattans) W. WilHamson, The Mafulu Mountain People of British New Guinea, (London, 1912) p. 26flf. 11 B. Ankermann, L'Ethnographie actuelle de I'Afrique mendjonale. Anthropos, I. (1906) p. 919. Mgr. LeRoy, Les Pygmees d'Afrique et de 1 Inde. (Tours, undated) p. 255. Mil PREHISTORIC RELIGION Geographical Extknt or the Ijamboo Culture (9) South America: — In llie forests of Central Brazil there are groups of wild peoples who seem lo be on liie same primitive level of existence. "The Shitifju-tribes are liviiKj in an age of shell, wood, tooth, and bone," — such is the implied conclusion of the greatest expert on the Amazon- ian region, and it is based on the fact that so few of the natives under- stand the art of making a celt, though Ihey are otherwise intelligent and the materials are not wanting. All their necessities are supplied by the natural produce of the jungle, — cane, rattan, bamboo, or palm-wood, — and the exceedingly low state of their culture is out of harmony with what we know of the material condition of the stone-age peoples. If a stone- industry is nevertheless in existence, the above author is convinced that these are not native but imported features. A similar condition is revealed by the Kaingang and Botokudos in the mountainous regions of Eastern Brazil.'^ A Par.\llel Culture in the Antarctic Region But if all the above phenomena be explained on the principle of accli- matisation, of the loss of a high stone culture through migration into the tropics, where stone is scarce, and wood and bamboo abundant, such a theory is gravely impugned by the parallel condition of very low peoples at the extreme southern ends of each of the continents, to wit — The Tasmanians, Bushmen, and Fuegians Here we find an almost identical state of affairs as in the equatorial belt, less only the tropical material, out of which weapons and implements are manufactured. The Tasmanian is still very near the "eolithic" age of industrj-, stones and sticks are his only weapons, flakes or scrapers his only tools, and his manner of life is almost equally primitive." The same to some extent of the Bushmen," also the Fuegians." The ver^' fact that these tribes go almost naked and sleep in miserable lean-to's in spite of the biting frosts of a frigid climate, this alone is sufficient evidence that they have never learnt the art of making clothes or houses, they are a "survival." A Pre-palaeolithic Horizon (?) If then a pre-palaeolithic age is unquestionable, it will seem highly probable that the above equatorial peoples have not lost a hir/hei' stone induslnj, but have never possessed one, as it is inconceivable that such an enormous section of humanity should have sunk to the crude level of life in which we find them, — a level far below the wildest of North-American Indians." " K. Von den Steinen, Unter den Xaturvolkern Central Brasiliens (Berlin, 1894) p. 20O-2O-4ff. P. Ehrenreich, Uber die Botokudos. (in ZE. 1887, p. 14-33.) '» H. LinR-Roth. The Aborigines of Tasmania, (Halifax, IPW) p. 67, 83, 145 (eoliths.) •« G. W. Stow, The Native Races of South-Africa (London, 1910) p. 62ff. "J- M. Cooper DD. Bulletin 6,3 of the Bureau of American Ethnolopry (Washington, 1917) p. 223. "Obermaier. 1. c. 176, 415. For a full presentation of the mltiire argument see below, pp. XLI, 121ff, where the entire material, mental, social and religious complexity is seen to form a "convergence" irresistible in its power. INTRODUCTION IX (B)The Evidence of Government, — the Patriarchal Age This is not the place to enter into a discussion of all the theories that have been propounded to solve the problem of the primitive social organi- sation of man. Such a solution seems as far oiT as ever as long as we confine ourselves to one line of argument to the exclusion of every other. Nay more, the supposed priority of this or that social system cannot be judged on its own merits, (intrinsic probability), but must be determined in every case by the concomitant evidence of the cultural and ethnological sciences, which in this respect should claim our principal attention. In other words, the priority of a system should be judged by the priority of its culture, and not otherwise. This means that a sociological argument tends to become more and more a cultural one, and is treated as such by the more advanced experts. Nevertheless, there is something to be said for the psychological method, to this extent at least, that, given a complex system, a more simple state of society is thereby postulated. Now in comparing the social condition of the above peoples even with their nearest neighbors, a perceptible difference is at once noticeable. Kingship and aristocracies are for the most part unknown, hereditary chieftainship as a rule the exception, natural '"headmanship" by far the more common, and simple patriarchal rule on family units the most com- mon of all, — evidently the basis of the entire system. But what is still more important, the complicated institution of totemism, by which the whole of the community is divided into innumerable clans or septs, and these again combined into higher groups, known as the two-, four-, or eight-class "phratries," — such a state of society is largely unknown to these peoples, and it is a point upon which I desire to lay particular stress. While a primitive tribal division is here and there to be found, and may no doubt have taken place in very early times, it seems quite certain that the family must have preceded the higher unit, whether as class or clan, that the individual must have existed before the social group, unless we admit a system of group-evolution from lower forms, a theorj- which is entirely arbitrary and has no foundation in fact. What we see in this lowest stratum of human culture is the prominence of the individual as against the state, a method of government in which the father of a family obtains a "natural" leadership, which is largely independent of the col- lective group." •° See the above authors passim, under social organisation, government, totemism, relation- ship, etc. Thus Skeat, I. 494. Man, 40, 58. Seligman, 59-121. Reed, 70. Ling-Roth (Borneo), CXCVII. Hose and McDougall, 202-212, Sarasin, V (II). 125. Rawling, 275. Williamson, 90, 114. LtRoy, 210, 221. Von den Steinen, 330. Ehrenreich, 30. Ling-Roth (Tasm), 57,63. Stow, 33. Cooper, 149, 177. But Bushmen are more advanced and most Melanesians have arrived at totemic organisation. Comp. also W. I. Thomas, Source-Book for Social Origins (1912), p. 753f f. on the Patriarchate. Contra : E. S. Hartland, "Matrilineal Kinship and the Question of its Priority," Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association, Vol. IV, No. 1 (Jan.-March, 1917), whose analysis is excellent but incomplete. The author seems to be entirely oblivious of the above peoples, where father-right is the preponderating, if not the only form. X PREHISTORIC RELIGION This has been well expressed by Ratzel and Weslermarck : — "Among most 'natural' races the family and society form unions so large, so frequently coinciding, so exclusive, that little remains to spare for the state. The rapid break-up of (the later) empires is counterbalanced by the sturdy tribal life, \\lien the empires fall to pieces, new ones form themselves from the old tribes. The family of blood-relations, in their common barrack or village, represents at the same time a political unit, which can from lime to time entiT into combination with others of the same kind, to which perhaps it is bound by more distant relationship. But it is quite content to remain by itself so long as no external power operates to shake its narrow contentment. Negro Africa, with all its wealth of population, contains no single really large state. In that country, the greater an empire, the less its duration and the looser its cohesion. It requires greater organising and consolidating power, such as we meet with among tlie Fulbes or Wahuma, not merely to found, but also, even if with dilTiculty, to maintain kingdoms like Sokoto or Uganda. Even the Zulus, high as they stand in warlike organisation, have never been able to spread permanently beyond (heir natural boundaries, and at the same time maintain cohesion with their own country. Even in the Mussulman states of the Sudan we meet with this want of firm internal cohesion, which is equally at the bottom of the weakness which brought down the native states of Central and South .America. . . In the Malay .\rchipelago it seems not to have been until the arrival of Islam that the formation of states rose above disjointed village communities. Even in our own day the great powers of South and East Asia lacked the clearness and definition in the matter of political allegiance, which are a privilege of the higher civilisations." '* "The suggestion that, in olden times, the natural guardian of the chil- dren was not the father, but the maternal uncle, has no foundation in fact. Neither has the hypothesis that all the males of the tribe indiscriminately were the guardians. All the evidence we possess lends to show that among our earliest human ancestors the family, not the tribe, foi^ncd the nucleus of every social r/roiip. Even now there are savage peoples of the lowest type who live rather in separate families than in tribes, and facts indicate that the chief reason for this is want of sutTicient food(?). The sociability of man sprang in the main from progressive intellectual and material civilisation, whilst the tie that kei)t together husband and wife, parents and children, was, if not the only, at least the princijial factor in the earliest forms of man's social life." " '• F. Ratzel, A History of Mankind, Vol. I. p. 138. '• Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage (N. Y. 1003). p. 538. INTRODUCTION XI (C)The Evidence of LiXGUAOE,— the Pre-Inflexional Age On the same principle it is impossible to argue with absolute certainty that the structure and vocabulary of a language is an infallible index of its relative age, that because we find words that are short and simple, they are ipso facto the earlier forms. Phonetic decay has affected nearly every living tongue, and is demonstrable for the modern Chinese, and to some extent also for modern English. The history of language is not so simple a matter that it can be expressed by a rigid formula, according to which the monosyllabic invariably precedes the agglutinative, this again the inflexional or polysynthetic stage. A reverse process is conceivable, at least in the matter of syllables. On the other hand it is equally one-sided to deny the existence of primitive "roots" on the ground that no root-sound was ever uttered by man, and that primitive languages already show an advanced, a complex organisation. Now such a statement is at variance with facts. Nearly all the tongues spoken by the above peoples are simple and crude in the extreme, monosyl- labic roots are common, not only as interjections, but as fully constituted words, descriptive of persons, actions, or things. But what is more strik- ing, there is practically no syntax,— no delicate arrangement of words or particles by which the meaning of the sentence is more or less modified, if we except a few inversions or prepositional uses. The meaning is more often determined by the context or by the tone of voice, and as to inflexions, they simply do not exist. There is often no article, no gender, number or case, no declensions, no conjugations, no voices, moods, or tenses, other than occasional inversions, reduplications, appositions, or postpositions. The same word may stand for noun, verb, or adjective, and even when of two or more syllables, the use of prefixes, affixes, or infixes as an integral part of a word is quite frequently wanting. This means that many of these tongues have not even arrived at the agglutinative stage of develop- ment, and apart from any theories, it seems incredible that these races should have entirely lost a developed grammar, together with a higher numeral system, if they had ever possessed one. Again, the existing dis- tribution of archaic Melanesian forms is phenomenal, — extending from Hawai to New Zealand, and from Madagascar to Easter Island, almost to within reach of the South-American continent, — further evidence for the priority and remote antiquity of the Oceanic tongues.'* ^o,rr *^ aboriginal dialects of Malakka, consult C. O. Blagden, apud Skeat op. cit. II. u t. Tauern, Versuch einer Sakai-Grammatik (Anthropos, Vol. IX 1914) p. 529. For the other regions see the above authors under "language," and comp. H. Codrington, The Melanesian Languages (Oxford, 1885) p. lOlff. There is considerable evidence to show that human language was originally one, and continued to be one in root-sounds long after agglutination had begun to operate. XII PREHISTORIC RELIGION To lake an illustration from the Senoi-Sakai dialects of Central Malakka. we shall see at a glance how simple, or rather "imitative," they appear to be. Thus, — Lng cha cha-na, "I eat rice", Heh te-las kuh ka jih, "He has killed fish this-one", Derk eng be ma^chut, "House mine very small", Ok xodz eng ma he, "Give axe mine to him". He chip ma'lor?, "You go to where? (whither?)", Ja-lok ine-nang eng hot chip ma se-rak bort chep, "Tomorrow brother mine will go to forest, catch birds", {ma, general particle for motion, direction) Abu eng ta peng ta adja, "My father (is) a great chief, great master", etc. The Andamanese, though essentially monosyllabic, has advanced to agglutination: — Ar-tam do-ra ab-ja-bag Veda-re, dona a-chilik a-be-ri nga-ke, "Dora was formerly a bad man, but now he is a good one," lit- erally: artam, formerly, dora (proper name), ab-ja-bag, man-bad, Veda-re, exist-did, (/'euphonic, eda, exist, re, did.-past time), dona, but, a-chitik, now, a-be-ri-nga-ke, man-good is {ke, present time) {Abu, abe, apai, gen- erically for man,-father or mother.) The Sinhalese, though considerably influenced by Sanskrit, shows many archaic forms as spoken by the wilder Veddas: — Bus-ki Bas-Ki! adina atak gena at baruivak gena pimbiiui atak gcna, thopa ommat appat enda kixjapa, — "Bush-ki, Bash-ki! (imitating cry of deer), bring the bow, axe, and firestick, and tell your mother and father to come", {atak gena, lit. pulling-stick.) The Philippine Negrito and Bornean Dayak exhibit the Austronesian tongues in their greatest purity, as witness: — A-ma na-na ma-ham-pa, "Father-mother are good", Iko sam a-nak mang-an-ka-nin, "I and my chil- dren eat boiled rice", Al-lo bii-in bi-tit-in alet la-lang-it, "Sun, moon, and stars, shine in (he sky", (Zambal-Aeta.) A-ba-lin-go a^ma-ka ta-bru-wu ta^peng ta adja bali pen-ya-long, "Our Father (in) heaven (is a) great father, great spirit, great master, great man, a heavenly spirit" (Central Borncse and Forest-Dayak). The Melanesian languages will be found to re-echo many of the above word forms, and to show in fact traces of an original linguistic unity. This is less the case with the Tasmanian-.Vuslralian group, though expres- sions like {a)-baia, at-natu, dara, papang, mung-an, mara-wa, point in the same direction. For the Congo region of Central Africa we have abundant illustra- tions:— A-ba-ta a-dija ani-dmba wa-lungu wa^nkiila ua-aka tca^ba-twa, etc. The father hunter, the great one, who has made the heavens, the fruit-frees, the black man, the persecuted race", {wa sign of plural, twa passive of ta, to hunt.) For the .Amazonian belt we have such forms as Aba-angui pa-pa ka- mu-shi-ni, "Father (of) heaven, father (of) shining light", in which the same fundamental roots may be traced, though the structure is otherwise polysynfhetic." " These examples arc taken partly from quoted authorities, partly from material collected by the author independently. Further illustrations will be found throughout the text of this book. INTRODUCTION XIII (D)The Evidence of Mathematics and Music the quinary system and the pentatonic scale It will stand to reason that when life is simple and the needs of a peo- ple are few, the science of counting will be correspondingly weakly devel- oped, that there will be little or nothing to count. At the same time, some method of measuring things, of determining, for instance, the number of foodstuffs collected, — plants, animals, or birds, — will be clearly of primary importance, and must have taken place at a very early age of human devel- opment. There can now be little doubt that the first measuring-rod of humanity was supplied by the human body, it was the legs and arms, and more especially the fingers, that were first used to express number. This means that the first mathematical system was a quinary one, based on the five fingers of one hand, the decimal system being by comparison com- plicated and presupposing at least a greater number of things to count, while the astronomical method of dividing the year into months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes, according to the relative position of sun, moon, and stars in the zodiac etc. requires an elaborate study of the motions of the heavenly bodies, which (except for day and night-divisions, seasons and so on), can hardly be credited to the unsophisticated consciousness of early man. Now this is in harmony with what we actually find among the lowest peoples of whom we know. Among the aborigines of Malakka native numerals do not extend beyond three, four, or five, all higher digits being demonstrably of Malay origin. In the Andaman Islands the only arith- metic consists of one, two, and many, expressed by the forefinger, this and the middle-finger, and finally by all the fingers united. The Veddas count everything by one's, holding up sticks or fingers, and they become confused when attempting to count above five or six, the Sinhalese twenty being incomprehensible. The Philippine Negritos and the Bornean Dayaks are in a very similar stage. They count things by their fingers and toes, the one-to-five series being again fundamental. The five-system is equally prominent among the Melanesians, and more especially in the Banks Islands, where we have reasons to suspect a primitive survival. Australians rarely get beyond four or five, or at most ten, while the Tasinanians close their counting with five. The same or very similar con- ditions are presented in Central Africa and South-America, which shows that this is not a mere local but a universal trait of very primitive peoples. Can this and the absence of exact time-divisions be explained on any other principle but that of a primitive finger-counting ?=" 20 Evidence on this subject will be found in each of the above authors ynder Numera- tion", "Arithmetic", sometimes under "Language", or "Mental culture Compare U. Kewitsch, Zur Entstehung des 60— Systems (Zeitschr. f. Assynologie, June, 1915), p. ,i6Mt. For a possibly still earlier 3-system,— father, mother, child,— see the same, and compare the East Indian one, two, three,— ya, dua, ;peaks of "Quintcnparallelcn," five-tone singing. INTRODUCTION XV (E)The Evidence of Physique, — the Pre-Neanderthal Age It has been seen that the reconstruction of the primitive type ofTers no ordinary difficulties. And indeed, apart from our laiowledge from revealed sources, it must be admitted that the primitive nature of man, whether physical or mental, eludes our grasp. In the words of Dwight and Kohl- briigge, "we know nothing of the great problem of evolution, we have not even seen its face." ^ At the same time there are a certain number of facts, descriptive and scientific, which seem to suggest that we must look to the above equatorial races as the nearest approach to the primitive type. Let us see upon what grounds this assertion is made. (1) A Tropical Form It is true that we have no means for fixing the first appearance of man with anything like certainty. If he arose during the last glaciation or in high altitudes, a more or less familiar "white" type is not unpicturable. But the fact is, we have grave reasons for believing that man as a species is pre-glacial. His Chellean industry was certainly interglacial, and the existing Java skull and other remains, — even if parallel, anthropoidal forms, as they probably are, — point suspiciously in the same direction. We are thus inclined to look to the melanic races as satisfying more closely the demands of a monogenetic original. With the growing consciousness of the enormous antiquity of man, and his possible existence under pliocene suns, there has come the conviction that the 'earlier types must be sought among those branches of humanity that exhibit the conditions of life that are decidedly tropical, if not equatorial. The fact that man is a non-furry animal would seem to indicate that he saw the light in a warm climate, that he belongs in fact to the tropical fauna. In other words we may have to go back to the time when the whole earth was covered with giant grasses and bamboos, when the conditions of climate, of heat, vegeta- tion and moisture, were more or less uniform, when the combined action of environment, of food, occupations, and habits of life, was such as naturally to suggest the type of humanity that is now confined to the two tropics. To this opinion the great majority of writers are now converging, even if considerations of climate are not always the primary ones. The question of temperature as a morphological factor is one which we cannot ignore.^ IT. Dwight, Thoughts of a Catholic Anatomist, (N. Y. 1911), p. 199. L. H. Kohlbriigge, Die morphologische Abstammung des Menschen, (Stuttgart, 1908), p. 88. = Consult among others A. H. Keane, Ethnology, (Cambridge, 1909) pp. 221-240. A. C. Haddon, The Wander- ings of Peoples, (Cambridge, 1912) p. 15ff. A. R. Wallace, Natural Selection and Tropical Nature, (London & New York, 1895), pp. 178-181. K. Weule, Kulturelemente der Menscheit, (Stuttgart, 1912) p. 8-9. Stratz. Naturgeschichte des Menschen, (Stuttgart, 1904) p. 45. Dr. Hugo Obermaier, Der Mensch der Vorzeit, (Munich, 1912), p. 325ff. XVI PREHISTORIC RELIGION (2) An Indo-Oceanic Form But there are other and more weighty reasons why we should turn to the tropics, and more especially to South-Easlern Asia in our quest for the earlier forms. Given a more or less uniform climate in the earlier days of the earth's history, this would locate man at the poles with as much propriety as on the equator. Palm-trees and magnolias then flourished as far north as Spilzbergen. This might be a plausible argument, but is con- tradicted by the palaeontological and zoological evidence, which confines the continuous evolution of higher life to the eastern tropics. Contrary to the Darwinian theory, which is purely hypothetical, the existing primitives as we actually find them are distributed over an area which shows that they followed the higher anthropoids but are in no wise descended from them. Now the Southern-Asiatic and Australasian area is precisely that region in which these forms predominate, and for this reason nearly all modern authors turn to this area as to (he cradle of the race.^ It is true that the "higher life"-zone extends into Central Africa, and in fossil form as far north as Switzerland, where we have the Pleiopithecus of the miocene. But it has always been felt that these groups are too sporadic and isolated to form anything like a continuous bridge. Africa is poor in fossils, and European anthropoids can hardly be said to furnish us with a complete cycle of higher forms. Thus it is precisely the zoological and biological data that make the Southern-Asiatic theory so powerful. In no other portion of the earth is there such cumulative evidence for the continuity of floral and faunal development.* If then the verdict of biologists is now almost unanimous on the Old- World origin of man, — the pan-American theorists finding but little favor among our best specialists — ,the question arises, what type of humanity the term "melanic" is intended to imply. Though it is commonly asso- ciated with a negroid physiognomy, it is important to note that we do not take it in this restricted, but in the wider sense of "constitutionally dark- skinned." As such it includes not only the negroid, but, as we shall presently see, the proto-mongoloid and proto-caucasioid peoples, which are perhaps equally ancient, or approximately so. All that is here intended is that the tawny to dark-faced aborigines of the far East are. as far as we can conjecture, the nearest approach in a lineal descent to the supposed "primitive" man. ■■' Keane, Haddon, Wallace, Stratz, Obermaier, etc. loc. cit. supra. * See especially Ober- maier, 1. c. p. 380, the leading Catholic authority on the matter. The term "Indo-Austral" is meant to include any land (possibly submerged) extending from Peninsular Asia south- wards, vaguely "Australasia" "Lemuria" "Miocene Continent", etc. Compare Osbom, Men of the Old Stone Age, (1916), p. 49, 511 ff. INTRODUCTION XVN (3) A Melanic Sub-Form Another and more subtle question is that of the relative priority of the melanic races among one another. Here there is room for considerable controversy. There are two types that present themselves, — the normal melanic, and the pygmoidal sub-form. The latter exist in three varieties, — known as Negritos, Veddas, and Jakuns — , the latter being the famous Malayan sea-gypsies who form the undercurrent of the present Malayan civilisation. (1) It is argued in favor of the pygmoidal races that they are real "first- forms", that the biogenetic law requires a juvenile as a prelude to the fully developed type, that we must go beyond diluvial man to a still more primitive, ante-diluvian, pre-Neanderthal form of high-brow features, that some of the tertiary anthropoids are more strikingly human, and exhibit these qualities in a manner which they share with the above races alone, that these are in any case the most tropical peoples and exhibit the most rudimentary form of life and industry, — all this, moreover, on the embry- ological theory, that the development of the race follows the development of the individual and postulates therefore a more juvenile form. (The general position of Keane, Kollmann, Ranke, Schmidt, Hubrecht, Kohl- briigge, based on previous speculations of Huxley, Haeckel, Mueller, etc.) (2) For the priority of the normal type it is asserted that there is no palaeontological evidence for the existence of any pygmoidal primitives, that nearly all the diluvial skeletons are of normal height, dolichocephalic and low-brow types, that the negritos are pygmies, degenerates, or bio- logical freaks, (on the starvation-theory), that the true homo primigenius must be sought among the Indo-Australians as the nearest approach to diluvial man, (Neanderthal, Piltdown, Heidelberg, Java.) (Followed by Schwalbe, Klaatsch, Virchow, Obermaier, though with considerable hesitancy) .' It is evident that this question cannot be settled in the present state of our knowledge. Nevertheless it is worth while to bring forward the chief arguments which, apart from mere plausibilities, tend to make the priority of a human sub-type a fairly strong proposition. It is necessary in the first place to be impartial, and not to be swayed either by sentiment or by the sound of great names. As to sentiment, it makes no difference to "Man", psychology being equal, whether he be five or sixi feet in height. * For a full discussion of the biological question, see J. Kollmann, Die Pygmaen und ihre systematische Stellung innerhalb des Menschengeschlechts (Verhandlungen der Natur- forscher-Gesellschaft, Basel, 1902) Vol. XVI. Idem, Die Abstammung des Menschen, Globus, 87, 1905) p. 144ff. Also Rev. W. Schmidt, Die Stellung der Pygmaenvolker in der Entwickelungsgeschichte der Menscheit, (Stuttgart, 1910) pp. 1-43 (Opinions of Huxley, Hackel, Kollman, Ranke, Miiller, Klaatsch, etc.) Rt. Rev. Mgr. LeRoy, Les Pygmees d'Afrique et de I'Inde (Tours, undated) pp. 283-308. (The two latter from the Catholic Standpoint). Also Keane, Ethnology, pp. 242-263. XVIII PREHISTORIC RELIGION Normal and Sub-normal Forms And as to authorities, the balance is if anything in favor of the sub-type theory, the names of Schmidt. Huxley, Kollmann. being more professional in this line of research than those of the rival school, who are moreover divided. (1) There is a gradual decrease of stature as we descend into the remote past. (Comp. modern European with neolithic and glacial man, — 5ft.G to 5 ft. 2 (Neanderthal). The Veddas (av. 5fl. 1) taper into the negrito (av. 4 ft. 10)." (2) The embryonic phenomena are particularly strong among the negrito races. This does not imply any genetic relation with existing anthropoids, but rather tlie opposite, the appearance of a very primitive, more or less embryonic or foetal form. This form is characterised by the high brow, normal profile, straight features, and brachycephalism, — somethiug very different from the long-headed, sloping-faced negro, as we know him. It is generally surmounted by an abundance of frizzly, in the case of the Veddas of curly black hair, which makes the combined impres- sion a passable one. There is nothing pathological about this type. It is normal, vigorous, healthy, human. — but exhibits certain very primitive, almost embryonic symptoms which are altogether unique. Foremost among these is the lanugo, or pall-like hair, which occurs sporadically among these types, and regularly with the human foetus, but whicli is not found among any other section of humanity of which w^e know. Then again, tlie large eye-balls, the broad nose, the receding chin, the smallness of the legs and iiands in proportion to the trunk. — all these are not so much anthropoidal as infantile, if not foetal traits, and stamp their possessors as being possibly a very primitive people.' (3) The uniformity and distribution of those peoples is another proof of their antiquity. The fact that we fiiul three nf-arly identical types on both sides of the Indian Ocean. — Negrito-Negrillo, Toala-Vedda, Tas- manian-Bushmen — , that all are sub-types to the higher races, that all have been isolated by the stronger races that surround them, — tliis fact can hardly be explained except on the theory of priority. Moreover a large portion of the Indo-.\sian, Australian, and Polynesian sub-area is strongly negroid, and presuj)iioses a melanic and probably a negrito ba.sis in extremely remote limes." " For gradations of stature among liviriK races, see F. Birkner, Die Rassen iind \'61ker der Menscheit. (Munich, 1914) p. 184-192. Kollmann, 1. c. supra. 'Comp. Birkner. 1. c. p. 191-192, for Nubian and Akka-tjTie, (side-face, limbs), p. 194-203 (for infantile traits), LeRoy, 1. c. p. 82. Schmidt. 1. c. p. 27. Kcane, 1. c. p. 175 (for lanugo). 'Recently called Papuasia. Comp. Keanc, 1. c. p. 242-294. Also A. B. Meyer, The Distribution of Negritos (Dresden, 1899) p. 79. Gcrland, The physical uniformity of the Oceanic Race (London, 1895). Flower and Lydekkcr, The Study of Mammals, p. 748. Quatreiages extended this area even to the New World, an opinion which has been recently revived bv Kollmann, in Globus, 81, (1902) p. 325. Comp. Schmidt, 1. c. LeRoy, 1 c. p. 321ff. Haddon, 'l. c. p. 33-37.— The reader is cautioned against many of Kcanc's statements, which, though true in the main, are entirely unreliable on the negrito physique, as are his appended sketches, which are mere caricatures. INTRODUCTION XIX Normal and Sub-normal Forms (4) The alleged absence of palaeonlological evidence is at most a nega- tive argument, and is partly at variance with facts, partly not to the point. Most of the glacial skeletons are rather below the normal, and the existing Piltdown skull is a high-brow type, now proved to be fully human." We are dealing with a pre-Australian, pre-Neanderthal form, and the existing fragments are too problematical to furnish any certain conclusions, the Java remains being very possibly those of a female gibbon(!) Such in brief are the reasons which make the theory of a subtype more or less plausible. In fact the evidence is sulTiciently positive and suffi- ciently variegated to establish a certain presumption in favor of its truth. In any case, as this is one of the types of humanity that is to be the main object of the present study, it is well to know what can be said in favor of its antiquity. It is a type of mankind which is quite interesting. Though small of stature, the Vedda-varieties exhibit an attractive exterior. Their splendid physique, unmarred by scarification, their noble locks of curly or wavy hair, their almost biblical countenances, — all combine to make this in many respects a worthy approximation to primitive man. The negritos are divided into two sections, Indo-Oceanic and African. Besides the pure negritos, properly so called, there are the allied pygmoidal races mentioned above, who are slightly below the normal height. Of these the Veddas, Dayaks, and Tasmanians are of principal interest to us as belonging to one of the oldest groups of humanity in existence. (A) PURE NEGRITOS (1) Indo-Oceanic : The Semang of Malakka, the Mincopi of the Andaman Islands the Aeta of the Philippines, the Tapiro and Mafulu of New Guinea. (2) African: The Akka, Batwa, Watwa, Wambutti, etc. of the Great Congo Forest, with scattered East- and West-African Negrillos, (as far as known to us). The Ainos of Japan are at present irreducible. (B) PYGMOIDAL RACES (1) Indo-Oceanic: The Sakai and Jakun of Malakka, tiie Veddas of Ceylon, the Forest-Dayaks of Borneo (?), the Toalas of Celebes, and the axtinct Tasmanians. (2) African: The Bushmen only are so far known to belong to this group. (3) American : The Tapuya races of Central Brazil, — Botokudos, etc. — together with the Fuegian primitives at the far southern end of the conti- nent, though it is far from certain that these can be classed with them. If tropical man and woolly hair be made the chief test of priority, it will be seen that (A) takes precedence of (B), though we cannot afford to ignore (B) as a very primitive offshoot of early man. » The earliest certainly human remains so far discovered, belonging to the third inter- glacial (Riss-Wiirm), See Osborn, Men of the Old Stone Age, (1916), p. 512 (Appendix). XX PREHISTORIC RELIGION Three Types of Melanic Primitives This, however, involves no small assumption. If there are good rea- sons for believing lliat jjrimitivi? man belongs to the torrid belt, and more especially to the Oceanic regions of the Old \\orld, if moreover we admit, that the case for the negrilos is a plausible one, especially when coupled with the cultural and ethnological data, as we have seen. — it is still far from certain tiiat the woolly-haired types are necessarily the earlier ones. On the basis of flat or round hair-sections we find the following grada- tions among e.\isting races: — (1) Nigritic Form — Frizzly Hair — Flat Section — (Negroid). It may be argued that as the weak hair-section predominates in the eastern tropics, the Malayan invasion being quite recent, it is quite probable that this accompanies the earliest form of bodily evolution as yet known to us, the downy or flufl'y nature of the lanugo tending to confirm it, — (Infant hair). It is here that the juvenile traits are most pronounced, whether in stature, physiognomy, or bodily proportions. (2) Veddaic Form — Smooth Hair — Elliptic Section — (Caucasioid). Nevertheless, — the existence of a very similar type with wavy or Caucasian hair, and with features of almost European regularity, and this also within the tropics and suspiciously near the negrito areas, among a people that are almost equally low down in the scale of culture, — this should make us hesitate in assigning point blank the priority to the woolly- haired varieties. The Veddas are perhaps equally ancient, the 'hairy .\ino' being very probably the survival of a pre-Mongolian race, with long curly 'ocks, in the near Pacific. (3) Malayic Form — Lank Hair — Round Section — (Mongoloid). Finally, there is the proto-Malayic or Jakun form of humanity, which Is characterised by the lank or sleek hair-section, and has also shown a fair degree of persistency in both eastern and western tropics, if we are to consider the Brazilian aborigines as their nearest relatives. (proto-Indian form). These also are wild races on extremely low levels of existence. The Re.\l Primitive a Composite Thus on the embryological theory of sub-forms we find three more or less close approaches to what is believed to be the aboriginal form, the three types furnishing the germs as it were for the three main divisions of humanity, — black, white, and yellow. Such a convergence would seem to indicate that the real primitive was a composite, that he embodied the characteristics of many races. M the same time the shapely Vedda, as being a medium-type and satisfying all the essential requirements of a primitive, may not impossibly represent the nearest approach to the underived original. INTRODUCTION XXI Recent Evidence on the Physique of These Peoples (1) Malakkan Type: — "Both Semang and Sakai are generally well- formed, and are not unfrequently described as showing a magnificent physique. Deformed people and dwarfs are extremely rare". "The Semang as a race were far from being unpleasant-looking people, the most striking peculiarity in their appearance being a certain wild look about the region of the eyes, as well as a natural restlessness of the eyes themselves, which these tribes possess in common with wild animals." "Their skin-color is a dark chocolate brown, their hair woolly and brown- ish-black, their face round, their forehead narrow and projecting, their nose short, and their nostrils much distended." "The face of the Sakai is fairly long and broad, but pointed towards the chin, their color is distinctly lighter than that of the Semang." The hair is black, long, and wavy, and they have large brown eyes, very much as the Veddas.^ (2) Andamanese Type: — "The remark that is commonly made by strangers who see them for the first time is, 'How well these savages are developed!' In confirmation of this I would refer you to the photographs. The ammoniacal, rancid, goat-like exhalations of the negro are not found among them. When in health and under ordinary circumstances, their breath is sweet".= (3) Sinhalese Type: — "The Veddas are a medium brown-black — the eyes are always dark-brown — the chin is rarely prominent — the lips, though well developed, are not tumid — the jaw is not prognathous — a short, wavy-haired, dolichocephalic race, with moderately long faces, and moderately broad noses".^ (4) Philippine Type: — "So far from being ape-like in appearance, some of the Aetas are very well-built little men, with broad chests, symmet- rical limbs, and well-developed muscles, hardened by incessant use. The lips are medium-thick, far less than the lips of the African negro, and are not protruding. The Aeta have practically no prognathism".* (5) Bomean Type: — "The Forest Dayaks, or Bakatans, are a slender race, of moderate height, and paler in color than most tribes. They are among the finest of aboriginals, with long wavy hair, imposing brows, and fairly regular features". "The physique of the inland tribes is supe- rior to that of the Malays. The Kayans and Muruts are specially lithe and active, — bronzy, straight-limbed, and statuesque". "It seems very probable that the pure Dayaks, like the Battaks (of Sumatra), belong to a proto- morphic, almost mediterranean aboriginal race and are closely related, if not identical, with the American and Oceanic primitives".' 1 Skeat, 1. c. I. p. 100. Also 34-42, 43-48, S6-S7f f. « Man, 1. c. p. 5-7. ^ Seligman, 1. c. p. 17-18, I>\->\lv \l -lOXIA-HVK A IAN IM'K Ol IHMA^I|■^. (INK Ol INK KAItl ll>l I^KOI I'S IKN< t. I AKKN IKOM C. (i. M-:l. K.MAN ( M-:i>l> A-( KM.OM . I>l.. V, \ I. It. MAKTIN >l:N<> \-» \ K \ I MAI.AKKA). I'l.. II. II. MNti-KOril (BAKATAN-HOKNKO) . I». IB. .\XI) (OMI'MiK I. SVKASIN. V (II). ri,. VIII (lOK TOAI.A-.> hiintliiK iinil Iff till- M itliin "r 1.l<>« -|il|i.-. I liiit.- ..iiIa ■..-.-n .,ii.. I UK iinil lit- \mi> ii < hi.-r. ii Hi-ll- liiiilt niilll iilit.iil .-. fi-et K Inilii-s IiIk'i, kHiii. iiiiiI iiIIIi ii nillwr r.-llii.-.l fn.-e, uiiil ii nilh.-r iii..r.- |.r..liil- ni.nl n..M- lliiin Ilii- IXilk, ^MlllllJ, iir Ka.. lOi. INTRODUCTION XXIII The Physical Picture of Primitive Man We are now in possession of sufficient materials for forming a more or less proximate estimate of tlie physical appearance of primitive man,— an estimate which is based not upon hypothetical fragments, but upon the actual appearance of living groups of humanity which antedate any- thing that can be certainly known from the buried remains. It will be seen that the groups which we have established as the "child-races" of man are practically the same as those which we have found to bo primitive on entirely independent grounds, — culture, industry, social and linguistic phenomena. Such a united testimony can hardly be accidental, but makes the antiquity and priority of these peoples an increasingly certain prop- osition. But on closer inspection it will be noticed that cultural and phys- ical evolution do not always proceed pari passu, that there are some very low races of man that are physically well-developed, practically normal. Such for instance are the wild Dayaks of Borneo, the Fuegians and Botokudos of South-America, and perhaps also the Tasmanians. From this it will appear that Stature is not the final test, that it is possible to have very primitive peoples who, however juvenile in other respects, show no signs of being stunted or underdeveloped. The Borne:an Type as a Normal Primitive If we take the East-Indian types as the nearest appr'oach to the real primitive on biological grounds, we shall find that the Central Indonesian group contains specimens of humanity that are as low as any to be found on earth, while their stature approaches the normal, if it does not some- times exceed it. Here in the supposed cradle of mankind, at the meeting- point of Malaysia and Papuasia, of black, brown, and yellow races, are we brought face to face with a type of humanity which forcibly recalls the traditional picture of the father of humanity. Whether as Toalas or Toradjas, Bukits or Bakatans, Kayans or Kanowits, a confused but noble type may be dimly discerned in the background. It is of medium height, with well-proportioned limbs, and of statuesque bearing. The color is a genial dark-brown, which in the depths of the forest verges into a lighter tint. The face is oval, the forehead erect, the eyes large and piercing, the long black hair falls in graceful curls over the shoulders. These are largely "ideal" traits, rarely to be found in combination, but the juvenile symptoms are nevertheless strongly marked, — slender hands and feet, fresh complexions, generally youthful features — , which tends to show that they belong to the same child-group of humanity that we have already described above. (See the frontispiece and the appended group-pictures). XXIV PREHISTORIC RELIGION Summary, — CoNVEnoENCE of Evidence II will thus be seen thai from whatever point of view the subject be approached, the antiquity of the proto-melanic area, — understanding by lliis the more or less nigritian sub-types of Oceania, Central Africa, and possibly South America — , is one that makes a growing impression on the mind of the student. This does not imply of course that any one type can be taken as literally primitive, for such a type is no longer in existence. Doubtless there has been a process of degeneration as well as evolution, which makes the fixity of any single type largely problematical. But in spite of this it will hardly be denied, that the races in question do approximate more closely to the primitive conditions of life, — climatic, somatic, social and industrial — , than any other section of humanity that has so far come within our knowledge. Moreover the general similarity of type, of physical, mental and social culture, over such vast and widely separated areas, has long been a puzzle to ethnologists, and can only be explained on the supposition of a fundamental unity of stock, from which by successive climatic modifications the present races of mankind have been developed. Such being the present state of our knowledge, it is useless to indulge in further speculations as to which of these varieties should claim pre- cedence over the other. There has been a tendency in recent times to look upon these so-called pygmoidal races as the common progenitors of humanity. It must never be forgotten, however, that the real primitive eludes our grasp, that he was probably a composite, that he may have been anything from a simple Negrito up to a handsome Vedda. but that the youth of humanity would seem to be in harmony with a youthful type, — such a type being commonly called pygmoidal, but in Us one line perfect, fresh from the hand of the Creator. On the supposition then, that this idea shoiild be rendered increasingly plausible. — and the cultural and biological data seem to suggest it — , the term itself, implying as it does a tone of contempt, is an unfortunate one. Did not the giant Germans ridicule the puny Romans as a band of pygmies? .\nd yet the "pygmies" ronquored the world. The designation is therefore best avoided, and in dealing with these types they will be referred to as "negrilos", "veddas", "dayaks", "toalas", or simple "primitives", as the case may be. In this way their dignity will be safeguarded as in the best sense human, while ample room will be left for the priority of an "ideal" form in the remote past. But such an "ideal" is beyond the powers of any known science to reconstruct. The existing types are shadows of the original, the original itself has been lost. INTRODUCTION XXV II. THE SOURCE-QUESTION In estimating the value of a preliisforic tradition, it is important to separate the clear from the doubtful, the certain from the problematic, the indigenous element from that which has been borrowed from an outside source. This concerns the authenticity of two factors, — (1) the authen- ticity of report, and — (2) the authenticity of tradition. (1) As to the truth of that which is reported, much will depend on the character and equipment of the reporter. The field of comparative religion is a new one, that of prehistoric religion quite recent. The latter depart- ment is being pioneered by men who, whatever their powers of observa- tion, are certainly beyond the average of trustworthiness. Names that include those of Catholic bishops, like Schneider^ and LeRoy,* Prefects apostolic, like Mgr. Dunn,* missionaries of the Divine Word, like Schmidt^ and Hestermann,* apostles of the Sacred Heart, like Meyer* and Egedi,* are apt to solicit our attention on the score of seriousness, if on no other But apart from this, they have lived, or are living, on intimate personal terms with the natives, they have penetrated into regions that are rarely if ever visited by the white man, and they have studied their customs, their folk- lore and their mythology in a manner that is epoch-making and that reflects undying credit on the great Institution that brought them forth. If to this be added the names of Breuil and Cartaillac,^ of Piette and Ober- maier,^ — experts in the allied field of palaeontology and rock-paintings — , the honor-list of the Catholic Church swells to a noble figure. If however their writings be suspected of "tendency", these tendencies can easily be corrected by more secular writers, whose "tendencies", though in an opposite direction, have involuntarily brought out the same results. Graebner, Thomas, Foy, and Ankermann,' are admittedly colorless, while Mrs. Parker* and Andrew Lang' are frankly "converts", who have been brought to change their opinions solely by an impartial examination of the overwhelming evidence of facts. Though this subject has all the attractions as well as the dangers of novelty, it is beginning to occupy the serious attention of men of science, of religious students of all persuasions.'" 'Mgr. W. Schneider, Die Naturvolker, (Mitnster, 1885). Idem, Die Religion der afrikanischen Naturvolker, (Miinster, 1891). ^ligr. A. LeRoy, La Religion des Primitifs, (Paris, 1911). ' Rev. W. Schmidt, Ursprung der Gottesidee, (Miinster, 1912). Idem, Pygmaenvolker, (Stuttgart, 1910). Idem, Mythologie der austronesischen Volker, (Vienna, 1910. * Articles in Anthropos passim, (Vienna, 1907-1914). ' Cartaillac-Breuil, La Caverne d'Altamira a Santillane, (Paris, 1910). ° Dr. Hugo Obermaier, Der Mensch der Vorzeit (Munich, 1912). 'The Culture-cycle school, see below under Kulturkreis, p. XLIff. 'Mrs. Langloh-Parker, The Euahlayi tribe, (London, 190S). 'Andrew Lang, The Making of Religion, Magic and Religion, Secret of the Totem (London, 1901-9). ^o Comp. Intern. Congr. of Religions (Basle, 1904, Oxford, 1908, Louvain, 1912). XXVI PREHISTORIC RELIGION So much for a general survey. As to special sources for particular areas, we have, in addition to the above, a large number of independent authors, whose divided voices might be open to question, but whose united testimony is surely powerful. Only the most important can be given here. Thus we have Skeal," Vaughan-Stevcns,'^ and Martin," for the Malakkan races, Man •* and Portman "> for the Andaman Islands, Meyer,'« Reed," and Montano,'* for the Philippines, Rawling ■» and Williamson =» for New Guinea, Howitt " and Ling-Roth " for the Tasmanian-.\ustralian region. For the Central African Negrillos we have only one standard work, that of Mgr. LeRoy, Bishop of Alinda." The same for the South-African Bush- men, where the name of Stow^^ stands easily first. This completes the negrito cycle strictly so-called, but includes the somewhat taller Tas- manians and Bushmen as cognate races with hair of woolly texture. With regard to the wavy-and sleek-haired pygtmoidal races, so little is j'et known of their higher culture that they are not alwaj^s a safe investment in the present state of our knowledge. We have Skeat " again for the Sakai. Seligman^" for the Veddas, and Sarasin" for the Toalas. and in the New World, Von den Steinen=' and Ehrenreich,='» for the lank-haired primitives of the Amazonian belt. If we touch upon these races at all, it is chiefly for the reason that something should be said to complete the picture, if it is only to show how the primitive ideals may still be kept up by a group of races which on the above ethnological schedule are possibly equally ancient. As to the much later, glacial and neolithic, peoples, (Indo-Asiatic and Eurasian), authorities are quoted only for the sake of comparison, chiefly religious, with early man. Names and titles are too numerous to be mentioned in this place, — they will be found in the footnotes, under each section.^" " VV. W. Skeat and C. O. Blagden, Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula. 2 vols. (Lon- don, 1906). '== H. Vaughan-Steveiis, Materialien zur Kenntniss der wilden Stamme auf der Halbinsel Malakka, 3 vols. (Berlin, 1892-4). "^ R. Martin, Die Inlandstamme der Malaischen Halbinsel, (Jena, 1905). '* E. H. Man, The aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands, (London, 1883). '* M. V. Portman, A History of our Relations with the Andamanese, 2 vols. (Calcutta, 1899, rare). '"A. B. Meyer, Die Philippinen, 3 vols. (Leipzig, 1902). " W. A. Reed, The Negritos of Zanibales, (Manila, 1904). '"Joseph Montano, Voyage aux Philippines, (Paris, 1886). Idem, Missions aux Philippines, (Paris. 1887). >» C. G. Rawling, The Land of the New Guinea Pygmies, (London, 1913). -" R. W. Williamson, The Mafulu Mountain People of British New Guinea, (London, 1912). -' A. W. Howitt, The Native Tribes of South-East Australia, (London, 1904). == H. Ling-Roth, The Aborigines of Tasmania, (Halifax, 1899, rare). '^ LeRoy, op. cit. supra. Also, Les Pygmees d'Afrique et de ITnde, (Tours, undated). '* G. W. Stow, The Native Races of South Africa, (Lon- don, 1910). 28 skeat-Blagden, op. cit. sup. '" C. G. Seligman and Brenda Z. Seligjman, The Veddas, (Cambridge, Engl. 19ll). '' Dr. Paul and t)r. Fritz Sarasin, Materialien zur Naturgeschichte der Insel Celebes, (with valuable plates), (Wiesbaden. 1905). •' K. Von den Steincn Unter den Naturvolkern Central Brasilicns, (Berlin, 1894). 2* Paul Ehrenreich. Die Mythen und Legenden der Siid-Amerikanischen Urvolker, (Berlin, 1905). '"A good reference-work on primitive man in general will be found in \V. I. Thomas, Source-Book for Social Origins. (Chicago, 1912), with excellent bibliography. Tylor's Primitive Culture should be read with caution as many of his data are entirely unreliable. INTRODUCTION XXVII Supplementary Sources For those, however, who wish to pursue this subject at further length and do some original work on areas that are still largely unexplored, I would recommend as a preliminary study the inspection of certain works which have recently attracted considerable attention by reason of the important facts which they promise to bring to light. Among these are the collections or discoveries of Ling Roth," Haddon,^- and Nieuwen- huis," concerning the wild inhabitants of Central Borneo, and the articles that have appeared on the same subject from the pen of Messrs. Hose and McDougall in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, and in a more recent work.''^ In view of the fact that many of these inland tribes are as primitive as any to be found in the archipelago, the startling disclosures of the two latter should be carefully examined and weighed, — the only two white men that have given us anything like a complete account of the beliefs and practices of the Forest-Dayaks and their allies in the tropical jungle, though the work of Nieuwenhuis is otherwise indispen- sible. For similar reasons the mythology of the Gelebesian Toradjas, com- monly known as Posos or Alfoors, should not be omitted, as they may shed some valuable light on the Toala beliefs, which are as yet very obscure^" Nor should the Molukkas be passed over without comparing the findings of Kruyt and Riedel on the subject of the pre-Islamic Malayan and Papuan faith, which are here found in juxtaposition.^^ As to New Guinea itself, it is a land of mystery, but the current articles in the Anthropos " and the reports of the Royal Netherlands Missionary Society ^^ should be occasion- ally inspected. These and the Journal of the Indian Archipelago ^' furnish in fact the main channels through which further light in this region may be expected. Finally the important work of Dr. Cooper is opening out a new world of research in the antarctic zone, his immense collection of facts on the South-American Fuegians being altogether invaluable." 3' The Natives of Sarawak and British North Borneo, (London, 1896), 2 vols. ^- A. C. Haddon, Head-hunters, black, white, and brown, (London, 1901). ^^ A. W. Nieuwenhuis, In Centraal Borneo, (Leyden, 1900). Idem, Quer durch Borneo, (Leyden, 1904), both two- volume works. ^* Charles Hose and William McDougall, The Relation of men and animals in Sarawak, Journ. Anthr. Inst. Vol. XXXI, (London, 1901), p. 173-213. Idem, The Pagan Tribes of Borneo, (London, 1912), 2 vols. ^^ A. Kruyt, De legenden der Poso-Alfoeren, Mededeelingen van wege het Nederlandsche Zendelingsgenootschap, 38de jaarg. (The Hague, 1894). Idem. Het Animisme in den Indischen Archipel, (Hague, 1906). ^s pr. Riedel, De sluik-en kroesharigen rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, (Hague. 1886). 3" Anthropos, (Vienna, 1907-1916). ^^ Mededeelingen van wege het Koninklijke Nederlandsche Zendelings- genootschap, an annual report published at the Hague, Netherlands. Also the reports of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, (ibid), a geographical pub- lication of the Dutch government. "9 journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, Also Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, (Straits branch), both of which contain at times interesting material. ■'"J. M, Cooper, DD. Analytical and critical Bibliography of the tribes of Tierra del Fuego and adjacent territory, Bull. 63 of the Bureau of American Ethnology, (Washington, 1917), p. 1-228. XXVIII PREHISTORIC RELIGION The Source-Question, — Indioenous Origin (2) A more complex problem is that of the antiquity and indigenous origin of the beliefs and practices that are reported. Can it be possible that this or any other section of humanity has preserved intact a tradition which upon the most conservative estimate must reach back many thou- sands of years? From what we know of 'progress' in modern limes, such an idea seems altogether unlikely, — an improbable assumption. But per- haps we have not been schooled in time-values. It seems difTicult to realise, for instance, that Chinese culture has been stagnant for three-thousand years, that the neolithic age was for six-thousand years non-mt.'tallic, thai before that time the unpolished flint was in use for at least double that period and the rough eolith for periods indefinitely longer. But if there is one thing that palaeontology has impressed upon our minds, it is the fact that for countless ages the human race has been on the same uniform level of culture, that changes have been incredibly slow, and that in many instances there have been 'stagnations' of ancient areas which have left them in prfcisely the same condition, social and industrial, tiiat they occu- pied from time immemorial. Now if such a 'stagnation' be admitted in type and physiognomy, in arts and industries, in social and linguistic phenomena, why not a stagnation in religion also? Does it not form an important, nay, the most essential cultural element of all? But this is a problem of wide ramifications. Suffice it to say for the present, that the evidence for the remote antiquity of a cult is based on the convergent tes- timony of numerous and widely separated sources. The secrecy of the cult, the nature of its propagation, the mythologj- in which it is clothed, the fidelity with which it is echoed in distant centers on exactly the same level, — all these make a combined impression of originality, which it would surely be unwise to put down as a mere coincidence. They may in some cases produce moral certainty. Whether they do this or not, must of course be determined in single instances. It is through elimination of all impossible values that the unknown quantity is discovered." •" Comp. an excellent article by Father I.c Clcrcq : 'Indications pratiques pour faire des observations en maticre religieuse chez les peuplcs incultes', in Anthropos, VIII. (1913) p. 12-21. The objection on the score of "hoary antiquity" is sentimental rather than scientific. Wherever a borrowing cannot be distinctly i)roved. the evidence is in most cases too strong to be resisted. Comp. A. Lang. Magic and Religion. (London. 1901), Chapt. II. (pp. 15-45), on "The Theory of Loan-gods", a clear and forcible statement. It is through the principle of "cumulative convergence" that the mind begins to see that the early development of man exhibits a homogeneity of mental phenomena which is so striking that, in view of the parallel phenomena in the social and cultural field, an essential connexion is positively demanded between the age of a people and its corresponding beliefs. See below, pp. XLI, 121, 507. INTRODUCTION XXIX III. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PRIMITIVES — A Normal Mentality — Another question that has intimate bearings on the present subject is that of the mental capacity of the races with which we are deahng. Given a set form of rehgious beliefs, how far can they be said to embody an adequate, that is a metaphysical idea of divine truth? Have the races in question a sufflcient power of abstraction to attain to the idea of God in any sense in which we understand it? Clearly there is room for discus- sion here, as opinions have not been wanting that have boldly affirmed, that the so-called "savage" of today is a mental pariah, that his intellect is but little removed from the associative power of brutes. Evidence for this was believed to be abundant. They could not count beyond four, they had no names for generic ideas, they could not always recognise pictures, they were slow and unprogressive, they were stunted if not obtuse. This impression has colored the works of nearly all wTiters, from Sir John Lubbock ^ down to Tylor ^ and even Westermarck,^ and it was easy to make out a case for the stupidity of primitive man, when so little could be said for his modern survivor. These hasty inductions were destined to be modified, partly by the findings of palaeontology, partly by the more profound study of the nature-peoples as we actually find them. In both cases have materials come to our hand that have greatly influenced, in some cases reversed, our judgment on the early mentality of the race. — Inventive Power — (1) As to palaeontology, it has long been recognised that the very fact of the survival of man amid the wreck and ruin of the glacial epoch is in itself a proof of his decided superiority to the animal creation. What he lacks in physical and muscular strength, he more than makes up by the quickening power of his intellect. Thus it has come to pass, that while large and swift-footed animals, like the Cave-Bear and the Irish Elk, were unable to protect their species from extinction, man alone has, by the sheer force of his ingenuity and contriving-power, saved his race from the "deluge" by means of inventions, — tools, fire, clothing, means of trans- port,— devices. It has even been argued that the art of making fire by fric- tion is alone sufficient to prove his higher mentality.* 1 Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, 6th. Ed. (N. Y. 1910) p. 548. 2 Tylor, Primitive Culture, 4th. Ed. (N. Y. 1904). ^ Westermarck, The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas, (New York, 1912) II. 595. < Obermaier, op. cit. p. 418. Weule, Die Kultur der Kulturlosen, p. 60-99. - XXX PREHISTORIC RELIGION Psychology, — Cranlvl Capacity Then again the fossil remains of man are telling a similar story. They have revealed the fact tliat there is no substantial dilTerence between man glacial and man recent, tiiat in both cases we are dealing with a true 'homo sajjii'ns', however undeveloped the type may be. For neolithic man parallels may be found among the Caucasic races of today, while the palaeolithic type recalls a confused Caucasioid to-Mongoloid to-Negroid image which is best expressed by the Dravidian or Indo-Australian races of our time. There is in fact so close a resemblance between the Neander- thal and the modern Australian skull, both in form and capacity, that many authors, including Klaatsch and Virchow, have boldly identified the diluvial race, and even primitive man. with this type.' For reasons that have already been given, such a conclusion seems altogether premature. Granted, that diluvial man and the Australian type are close parallels, a loophole must surely be left for the priority of still earlier types on the basis of KoUmaun's theory of pre-glacial forms.- Here palaeontology deserts us, but the finger of ethnology points with growing emphasis to the equatorial belt, and offers the melanic sub-type as a possible transition to glacial man. Once more, therefore, the past yields to the present, the dead is interpreted by the living form. — High Art — But before quitting the field of buried antiquity, it would be well to call attention to the general verdict of this science on the mental endow- ment of the human race during the long period of the Ice Age. Apart from the inventive talent already referred to, the more recent discoveries of rock-paintings have revealed a degree of esthetic taste, of artistic refine- ment which is surj»rising and which has caused many to look upon them as masterpieces, which have rarely if ever been excelled.'' Summing up this question Prof. Klaatsch thus expresses himself: — "Primitive man was neither bad nor stupid He is rather to be looked upon as a siipcrii^r being . . ('hochstehendos Wesen') . . who by the power of his individ- uality and mental adroitness was in many respects above the parvenues of culture."* Compare also some very similar remarks made by Eduard Meyer in his new History of Antiquity, an admittedly cold and materially prejudiced author: "We shall have tn dosrend to the fifth dynasty of Egypt in order to find parallels of equal worth." (to the Magdalenian paintings)." * Australian-Prcneanderthaloid. (Klaatsch. in Proc. Anat. Soc. 1908, 38.) * Kollitiann, 1. c. supra. ^ Carfailhac-Breuil, op. cit. p. 126. Obermaier, p. 25.1. * Klaatsch. at the Cologne Congress of German Physicians and Scientists, 1908. ° E. Meyer, Geschichte des Altertums, (Berlin, 1910), vol. I. p.' 247. INTRODUCTION XXXI Psychology, — The Modern Survivor (2) So far the verdict of archaeology. What have the living races to tell us of their own psychology? Does not the preceding eulogy seem rather far-fetched when applied to existing races as we actually find them? And yet there are enormous sections of humanity that are living on approximately the same level as the Magdalenian bear-hunters. I have only to refer to the rock-paintings and chromographs of the modern Australians and Bushmen to see how nearly they approach the diluvial type. Then again, if we compare the bone-engravings of the Indian and Eskimo with those of his palaeolithic forefathers, we shall find it difficult in some cases to note any ditference. Much the same may be said of their other industries and their habits of life. Clearly we are here face to face, either with a direct racial equation, or with a 'mental convergence' of such a nature that the psychology of the past may be safely interpreted by the light of the present, or vice versa. If then the Mammoth- and Rein- deer-man solicits our admiration by reason of his prowess, his skill, his inventive and artistic faculty, the same meed of praise should be due to his modern survivor, — always allowing for possible degenerations, owing to want of fixity in the type.^ — ' ' I NTELLIGEN CE' ' — But it is a far cry from these to our own primitives of the equatorial belt. Here we have nothing but ethnology to go by, as, they are believed to be 'pre-glacial', to antedate the age of the earliest fossil remains of man. What then is to be learnt of this interesting people? Are they 'pygmies' in intellect as they are supposed to be in their bodily frames? Far from it. The study of their psychology is, like their discovery, a new acquisition. "Bright, keen, vivacious, adroit, intelligent, — of almost fairy-like deft- ness",— such are a few of the epithets that have been employed by different travelers in their reports from different and widely separated areas, "Intelligence" is of course an elastic term, and has been employed with a variety of popular meanings, but the sense in which it is used in the present place is at least synonymous with that of adaption of means to ends, and implies therefore a delicate perception of cause and efTect, — more than a mere 'instinct'. Far from being crude, or in any sense blunt or puny, it is a faculty which is relatively high, relatively 'perfect'.^ 1 Birkner, Der diluviale Mensch in Europa, (Mun. 1912). Obermaier, op. cit. 253f. 2 Opinions of Skeat, Reed, Meyer. Man, Portman, Stow, Johnston, etc. collected by Schmidt, Pygmaenvolker, p. 111-116. See also Johnston, The Pygmies of the Great Congo Forest, (SR. 1902, 489). LeRoy, Les Pygmees, pp. 95-145. XXXII PREHISTORIC RELIGION Psychology, — Abstractive Power Yet even willi lliese concessions there may be some doubt as to whether tliese 'low' and culturally backward types are in any sense worthy to figure as the earliest representatives of the race. Does not the sexless char- acter of their language, the absence of generic terms, tiie paucity of their numerals, argue against any really abstractive knowledge on their part, any adequate perception of immensity, eternity, infinity, etc. as we under- stand them? To this question a twofold answer may be given. (1) It is important to distinguish between the capacity for intellectual processes and tlieir facility. The former may exist in full vigor, while the latter may, tlirougli want of training, remain dormant or unde- veloped,— confined to 'essential' relations. (Compare the scholastic 'potency' and 'act').' (2) On the oilier liand, their existing psychology' has been largely mis- interpreted, largely misunderstood. Tlie fact that these races are endowed with speech, (whether native or borrowed), this alone implies a power of abstraction, though the simplicity of their wants begets a simplicity of language, a small vocabulary, a paucity of terms. In all these matters means are proportioned to ends, as in other departments of life. Then again many are gifted with wonderful memories, certainly not a sign of degeneracy.^ But the best test is that of the school or mission house, where we meet with statistics that are surprising. Dr. Brander mentions the case of a young boy. who had been educated in an orphan-school, and who, in spite of liis tender years, (12), could read English and Urdu fluently, as well as speak and write in both these languages, retaining also a knowledge of his mother tongue. He had besides acquired a fair knowl- edge of arithmetic. And. Mr. Man is careful to add, — "this is not an excep- tional case, for I could instance others, and one lad in particular, who was his superior."^ That this is not a mere case of infant precocity is sho\\'n by the fact that some of them have been known in later years to figure as teachers.* Mgr. LeRoy speaks of polyglot Akkas (0-koas), with "an intelligence at least equal to those of their own age", and he and many other missionaries have assured us that they show as deep a grasp of the Catholic Faith as any other races with which they have come in contact." While little is yet known of this subject, it seems to be clear that those theories will have to be revised, that speak so slightingly of the 'infant mentalitv' of early man.' 'The inherent defect in J. G. Romanes. Mental Evolution in ^tan, (1896). = Parker, 1. c. p 11. Man, 1. c. p. 28. ■■' Man, 1. c. p. 27-28. * Portman, 1. c. vol. I, p. 117. "> LeRoy, Les Pygmees, p. 143-144. Compare, for instance, the reports of the Mission Fathers in British New Guinea, Borneo, and the far East. " Compare D. Brinton, Religions of primitive peoples, (N. Y. 1889) p. 15. (Am. Indians). INTRODUCTION XXXI 1 1 Psychology, — Abstractive Power This subject has been well handled by Mr. W. I. Thomas in his new Source-Book, (Chicago, 1912), an exceedingly useful manual. He says: — "Another serious charge against the intelligence of the lower races is lack of the power of abstraction. They certainly do not deal largely in abstraction, and their languages are poor in abstract terms. But there is a great difference between the habit of thinking in abstract terms and the ability to do so. The degree to which abstraction is employed in the activities of a group depends on the complexity of the activities and on the complexity of consciousness in the group. WIilmi science, philosophy, and logic, and systems of reckoning time, space, and number, are taught in the schools; when the attention is not so much engaged in perceptual as in deliberate acts; and when thought is a profession, then abstract modes of thought are forced on the mind. This does not argue absence of power of abstrac- tion in the lower races, but lack of practice. To one skilled in any line an unpracticed person seems very stupid, and this is apparently the reason why travelers report that the black and yellow races have feeble powers of abstraction. It is generally admitted, however, that the use of speech involves the power of abstraction, so that all races have the power in some degree. When we come further to examine the degree in which they possess it, we find that they compare favorably with ourselves in any test which involves a fair comparison. On the other side of number we have another test of the power of abstraction and while the lower races show lack of practice in this, they show no lack of power. It is true that tribes have been found with no names for numbers beyond two, three, or five ; but these are isolated groups, like the Veddas and Bushmen, who have no trade or commerce, and lead a miserable existence, with little or nothing to count. The directions of attention and the simplicity or complexity of mental processes depend on the character of the external situation which the mind has to manipulate. // the activities are simple, the mind is simple, and if the activities are nil, the mind ivould be nil. The mind is nothing but the means of manipu- lating the outside world. . . . From the standpoint of modern mathe- matics. Sir Henry Savile and the Bushmen are both woefully backward; and in both cases the backwardness is not a matter of mental incapacity, but of the state of the science".' 'W. I. Thomas, Source-Book for Social Origins, (Chicago, 1912), pp. 160-164. XXXIV PREHISTORIC RELIGION IV. THE SOCIOLOGY OF PRIMITIVES — A Normal Morality — If we pass from the mentality to the morality of these races, it is chiefly for the reason that mind alone furnishes an incomplete picture of man, that it is worse than useless unless it finds a normal, healthy, and legitimate outlet for its operations. And so, in estimating the general character of these peoples, the social and ethical question is one that we cannot afford to pass over. There must be some guarantee that we are dealing with a type which is fully 'human', which is ethically fit to be the recipient of divine truth. What light have the sciences to shed on this question? — Past vkrsus Present — (1) It cannot be denied that the general tone of ethnology has until recent years been decidedly negative. Under the pressure of extreme evo- lution theories, the priority of a lower standard of ethics, of promiscuity, group-marriage and free love, has become almost a dogma. We have only to turn to any of the more widely-read works on this subject to see how thoroughly this idea has taken possession of the modern mind. 'Low, degraded, beastly, animalish", — such are the expressions that are com- monly heard, whenever this subject is treated, ex professo, or otherwise. > And yet it was dilTicult to believe that these races could have fallen below the average of the higher anthropoids, — say of the Orang, which is gen- erally monogamous. Quite recently, however, criticism has taken a new turn, and it has been found necessary to make some important conces- sions. In the first place, there are two classes of morals, corresponding to two classes of races, — the Negro and the Negrito. While the former is considerably better than he is commonly painted, he cannot compare in this respect to his more primitive prototype. It has already been remarked that the Negrito social system is primitive to a degree. It is made up of simple family units, with little or no coherence. The father of the family is king, priest, judge, ruler, physician, — all in one. Now it is clear that under such a system of direct paternal surveillance, the tendency to violate the moral law will be considerably diminislied. And such, in fact, is found to be the case. All reports agree, that, while considerable ante- nuptial freedom seems to be allowed, "the Negritos as a race are virtuous," and that, "once married, they rarely, if ever, desert their consort".' ' See for instance Lubbock, op. cit. p. 540-559, (Savage ideas of virtue, absence of religion). 'A general summary of the evidence will be found in Schmidt, op. c. 155-168. Also in LeRoy, op. cit. 223-224. Johnston, 1. c. Wcstermarck, op. cit. II. 424, Human Marriage, 436. INTRODUCTION XXXV Morality, — High Standards Do we require further evidence on this subject? Here are the words of a recent author, who writes from a purely material or "evolutional" point of view : — "Marriage is indissoluble among the Andamanese, some Papuans of New Guinea, (certain tribes) in Sumatra, among the Igorrotes and Italones of the Philippines, the Veddas of Ceylon, and in the Romish Church".'' And, — he might have added — , among the aborigines of Malakka, among the Aeta of the Philippines, among the wild Dayaks of Borneo, among the Toalas of Celebes, among many of the American and Australian aborigines, and among the Negrillos of Central Africa. Here is the evi- dence : — "This idea of the laxity of the marriage-tie among the negritos may possibly arise from the great ante-nuptial freedom which appears to be allowed, but there is every reason to believe that when once married, the Semang of both sexes are in the highest degree faithful to one another and that cases of unfaithfulness are exceedingly rare. That conjugal infidelity is strongly discountenanced, is shown by the penalty assigned to it, — death." Among the Sakai "divorce, though permitted, was extremely rare", "the punishment for adultery was death", and among the Jakun, "I do not remember a single case in which a Besisi had more than one wife".* "So far from the contract being regarded as a merely temporary arrangement, to be set aside at the will of either party, no incompatibility of temper or other cause is allowed to dissolve the union, and while bigamy polygamy, polyandry, are unknown, conjugal fidelity till death is not the exception, but the rule".'* "The Veddas' constancy to their wives is a very remarkable trait in their character. They are strictly monogamous, and infidelity whether in the husband or wife appears to be unknown".® "Divorce is not very common among the Negritos of Zambales. There seems to be a sentiment against it. If the otTender is caught and is unable to pay the necessary fine, the penalty is death".'' "Highly significant as against other Dayak tribes is the complete fidelity to the marriage-tie among the Bahau, and the equality of conjugal rights between man and woman, in spite of the numerical superiority of the latter, argues for a degree of continence and sexual self-control that we would hardly expect among a people on such a low level of culture".* 2 L. T. Hobhouse, Morals in Evolution, (London, 1906) Vol. I. p. ISO. ■* Skeat, Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula, Vol. II. p. 55-56, 65-67, 76ff. •• Man, on the Andaman Islands, p. 67. "Seligman, 1. c. p. 87-88. 'Reed, 1. c. p. 61ff. « A. W. Nieuwenhuis, Centraal- Bomeo, Vol. I. p. 100, (Translation from the Dutch). XXXVI PREHISTORIC RELIGION Morality, — High Standards "The Toalas are strict monogamists. . . Infidelity and desertion are rare".' In Australia "a wife is bound to be faittiful to her husband. For the first ofTense she is branded with a fireslick; for a second offence she is speared in the leg; for further offences slie is killed." It is added, how- ever, that "no penalty attaches to the man", and that wife-loaning is occa- sionally practiced. Among the Kurnai bigamy is allowed, but sex-relations are otherwise strict. "Wives were not exchanged under any circumstances, nor were lent to friendly visitors".'" For the Congo-region Mgr. LeRoy gives similar testimony: — "When we visited Hip difTerent camps, we saw that it was precisely the family which monopolises everything else. The father is ruler, the father is judge, the father is priest, and he unites all these attributes in one quality, that which gives him paternity. His wife is his, and his only". The author is careful to add, however, that while monogamy is the rule, polygamy is by no means unknown, the latter being due to economic causes." Among the South-American Botokudos, monogamy preponderates and divorce is punished with blows. Less so among the Caingang and Bakairi, for here the family tins are no longer as rigid, and polygamy and deser- tion are said to be practiced. There seems to be no uniform standard in the Amazonian belt, and exact statistics are difficult to obtain.'' The same remarks apply to some extent to the Tasmanians and Bush- men. We are distinctly told that divorce is prohibited under the usual penalties, that stability marks the normal stale of the family. But there is considerable evi'dence to show, that exceptions are too numerous to allow of any universal statement in the matter, and that polygamous unions have undoubtedly occurred. It is more especially among the Bushmen, that we have reasons to suspect a growing invasion of Hottentot influence." The Fuegians, in like manner, seem to have preserved many ideals of the primitive life. Among the Yahgans the unity and stability of the mar- ried state is a very general characteristic, even if the occasional custom of taking two or more wives connects them witli tlie common Patagonian practice.'* Taken all in all, these testimonies suggest, if they do not always prove the permanency of the marriage-bond, and are in any case a valuable argument for tlie i)riority iuid the preponderance of a high standard of marital ideals. '° 0 Sarasin. 1. c. Vol. V (II). p. 126. '" Howitt, I. c. pp. 258. 280. " LeRoy, I. c. pp. 221- 224 (Translation from the French). '= Ehrenreich, Die Botokudo.<, 1. c. p. 31. P. Teschauer. S. J. Die Caingang etc. 1. c. p. 22ff. Von den Steinen, 1. c. p. 332{{. " Ling Roth (Tasm) p. 113. Stow, 1. c. p. 95. '* Cooper, 1. c. p. 166. '■'■ Cf. Westcrmarck. Human Marriage (N. Y. 1903) pp. 431-517ff. who supports this thesis with an abundance of data. INTRODUCTION XXXVII Morality, — .Vbsence of Grosser Grimes But have not ugly reports reached us with regard to cannibalism, infanticide, theft, murder, and "head-hunting"? It is certainly a remark- able fact that it is precisely in these particulars that these stock-races offer such a strong contrast, not only to their more powerful congeners, but even to many of the so-called culture-peoples, which in this respect claim to stand so high. The general absence of crime, or at least its extreme rarity, is something that cannot fail to make a powerful impres- sion upon the mind of the unprejudiced student. As to cannibalism, if is one of the latest triumphs of ethnology to have demonstrated its relative absence. Sporadic cases may occur here and there, owing to contact with "higher" races, but it forms no part of primitive practice as such.^ The same may be said of infanticide, and other forms of violence, whether to person or property. Individual cases are indeed reported, and in some sections degeneracy has undoubtedly set in, but these do not affect the general statement, that the care of offspring, the sanctity of the marriage- tie, the respect for life and liberty, is one of the most noticeable features of these peoples. Moreover, if the opposite practice is reported from this or that particular region,- it can nearly always be traced to external causes of pressure and persecution, whicli, by forcing an alien culture upon them, has destroyed the simplicity of their nomadic life.^ GULTIVATION OF HiGHER VIRTUES ' (2) But there is also evidence to show, that these people are not with- out the higher virtues, — truth, mercy, justice, charity, liberality, and self- sacrifice, — virtues that are rarely if ever associated with 'primitive' man. As to honesty and the love of truth, it has come to the notice of more than one traveler how favorably they compare with many of the civilised peoples, say with the Malays, in this regard. "I have never detected an untruth except one arising from errors of judgment," writes Gol. Reed,^ and similar reports have reached us from other parts of Oceania and Central Africa.* Respect for women and children, and care for the aged and the infirm, is in many cases equally well attested. Certainly any race that will sacrifice food and clothing, nay even life itself, for the support of the aged and the little ones, can hardly be called a degenerate, but is in this respect an ideal people." 1 Schmidt, p. 147, LeRoy, r- 193, (general statistics), = Schmidt, 141f. LeRoy, 227f. ' Reed, Negritos of Zambales, p. 61. * Portman, A History, II. p. 872. LeRoy, 212. ^ Comp. Man, op. cit. p. 25-26. Howitt, 1. c. pp. 594. 766, 777 (for philanthropy). Further evidence on this subject will be found below under each section. For the general morality of the nature-peoples see also Joseph Miiller, Das sexuelle Leben der Naturvolker, (Leipzig, 1901), 2d. Edit, and H. Visscher, Religion u. sociales Leben bei den Naturvolkern. (Bonn, 1911). 2 vols. XXXVIII PREHISTORIC RELIGION Moral Statistics In illustration of these principles a few testimonies may be worth quoting in greater detail. (1) For the Malakkans : — 'Crime among tiie ^cmang appears to be extremely rare". "Theft and nuirdiT among the Sahfii are so exceedingly rare as to be a quantile uegligeable". "Child-bearing generally continues up to the age of about forty-two years, though tiiere was one case in which a woman gave birth to a child at fifty. Elsewhere we are informed that the average number of children in a Sakai family is four". "\Mien an unmarried Jakiui girl had recourse to procuring abortion, she entirely lost all position and status in the clan. She was despised by the other women, and scorned as a bride by the men; and finally she exposed herself to the disgrace of being chastised by her parents". "None of the wilder jungle- folk are cannibals, and there is no proof at all that cannibalism has ever, at least in historical limes, occurred among them". "The fact is, — and it is but scant justice to acknowledge it — , that, rude and uncultivated as these people are, yet in some respects they are vastly superior to the races by whom they are likely to be absorbed, — more honest, more truthful, less covetous, more free in every way from crime".* (2) For the Anclamanese: — "That outcome of civilisation, — suicide — , is unknown among tiiem". "Not a trace could be discovered of the existence of cannibalism in their midst, even in far off times". "The unnatural custom of infanticide is unknown to the Andamanese". "Every care and consideration arc paid by all classes to the very young, the weak, the aged, and the helpless, and these, being made special objects of interest and attention, invariably fare better in regard to the comforts and neces- saries of life than any of the otherwise more fortunate members of the community".' (3) For the Vedda.i: — "The Hennebeddas have retained their old vir- tues of truthfulness, ciiastity. and courtesy". "The only case of suicide of which we iieard look place in connection with a breach of the common rule of conjugal fidelity". "In every respect the women seem to be treated as the equals of tiie men. Indeed, when we gave presents of food, the men SI I mod usually to give the women and children their share first". "The Veddas are affectionate and indulgent parents, the babies are generally haitfiy, hnl should tliey cry. their wishes are immediately gratified by either parent". They have a keen sense of ownership, (juarrels are rare, and violent crimes, together with cannibalistic practices, apparently unknown, the eating of the enemy's "liver" being an exceptional and doubtful instance." •Skeat. Pagan Races. I. 497. 501. 524. II. 11-12. 24, 285. ' Man. Andaman Islands, 25, 43, 45, 109. (Comp. Portman, op. cit. sup.) » Scligman. 1. c. 37, 88-90, 106, 207-208. INTRODUCTION XXXIX MoR/iL Statistics (4) For the Philippine Aefirri/o*.— "Murder is so rare as to be almost unknown. The disposition of the Negrito is peaceable, and seldom leads him into trouble. Parents seem to have great affection for their children, (and vice versa). This continues through life, as is shown by the care which the aged receive at the hands of the juniors. I have never detected an untruth except one arising from errors of judgment. I believe that many of the vices of the negrito are due to contact with the Malayan, to whom he is, at least in point of truthfulness, honesty, and temperance, far superior". There is no evidence of cannibalism among the pure Aetas, either at present or in any previous times.' (5) For the Bornean Dayaks :— ''The Land-Dayaks are amiable, honest, grateful, moral and hospitable. Crimes of violence, other than head-hunt- ing, are unknown. The wild Bakatans, or Forest-Dayaks, are very mild savages, they are not head-hunters, do not keep slaves, are generous to one another, are moderately truthful, and probably never do any injury by making a false statement. On first acquaintance they appear melan- choly, and certainly shy and timid-looking, but when they have gained confidence, they show themselves in their true colors as a cheerful and bright people, M'ho are very fond of their children, and kind to the women".^" (Combined testimony of Low, Haddon, Hose, and McDougall). "It must not be imagined that either the Malays or the native Borneans are the bloodthirsty savages they are sometimes made out to be. The Malays generally are courteous, dignified, and hospitable. But monogamy is the rule with the Borneans, and polygamy with the Malays. The aboriginals are active, while, as a class, the Malays are lethargic and luxxirious"." (6) For the Papuans:— As a race the Papuans can hardly be described as a peaceful or mild-mannered folk. Nevertheless it is worth noting that neither the Tapiros nor Mafulus are habitual cannibals, the latter con- fining the practice to the devouring of an enemy. Among the Melanesians. on the other hand, "it may be safely asserted that in the Banks Islands and Santa Cruz there has been no cannibalism, though the natives were not ignorant of the practice of it by others". Slavery and head-hunting are alike unknown in this region, and family life reveals an attractive picture. The same remarks apply in part to the Papuan Mafulu, and doubtless also to the Tapiro above, though information on this subject is as yet too fragmentary to furnish any certain conclusions." » Reed, Negritos of Zambales, p. 56, 61, 62, 63. i" Haddon, 1. c. p. 320, 321, 322. >i Burbidge, The Gardens of the Sun, p. 152, 156. '= Codrington, The Melanesians, p. 27ff. p. 343, 345. Comp. Williamson, The Mafulu, p. 63, 179ff. Rawling, The Tapiro, 1. c. p. 275. XL PREHISTORIC RELIGION MoiuL Statistics (7) For the Tasnianian- Australians: — "I was saved by a native girl, when my sisters were drowned while bathing"." "The three deadly sins were unprovoked murder, lying to the elders of the tribe, or stealing a woman within the prohibited degrees".'* '"The Kurnai men carry their wives about the country, when too old or too sick to walk"." "There was no cannibalism in Tasmania"." (8) For the Central Africans: — "The sentiment of shame is universal among the Negrillos, as elsewhere. Nudity is not obscenity. . . The black, like the white man has invented certain special dances, particular feasts, secret initiations etc. in which it is understood that sexual indulgence has its rights. This is a proof that in the ordinary course of life chastity has its also. As to theft it is strictly prohibited among themselves. As to others, they are looked as strangers and usurpers, and it is lawful to take from them whatever can be filched. Slander and calumny are equally reproved. I have made frequent inquiries about cannibalism, but the answer was always a negative one except among the Beku who are a mixed race. They have a fellow feeling for one another, assisting each other as the occasion may require"." (9) For the North-American Indians: — "A maiden guilty of fornica- tion may be punished by her mother or female guardian, but if the crime is flagrant, the matter can be taken up by the council-women of the gens. The punishment for adultery consists of various bodily mutilations . . . for theft twofold restitution must be made . . . maiming is com- pounded ... in the case of murder, compensation must be offered to the aggrieved party . . . witchcraft is punished by death, stabbing, toma- hawking, or burning"." "The common and substantially universal cus- tom of hospitality among the American Indians, at the period of their dis- covery, must be regarded as evidence of a generous disposition, and as exhibiting a trait of character highly creditable to the race"." (10) For the Amazoyiian Peoples: — We find a striking gradation of morals as we pass from the primitive East to the more advanced West. Among all monogamy preponderates, but among the Botokudos divorce is punished with blows, among the Bakairi it is freely countenanced, and with till' Yivaros multiple marriages are no longer uncommon. Cannibal- ism, infanticide, and head-hunting appear to show a steady increase the nearer we approach the Andean plateaus."" In most other n'spects these peoples resemble the North-American Indiiin." >■'" Langloh-Parker, 1. c. p. 1. 'Mdem, p. 78. " Ilowitt, 1. c. p. 766. " LinR Roth (Tasm), p. 97 (quotitiR original authorities). '" LeRoy. Les Pytrmocs. pp. 193. 209-217 short translation). "J. W. Powell, Reports of the Dureau of American Ethnology, Vol I. i;p. 59-69 (condensed statement). " L. H. Morgan. Houses and Home-life of the American Aborigines, pp. 44-62. Contributions to American Ethnology'. \'ol. I\'. Cf. Thomas. Source- book (1912). p. 855. =" Data taken from Ehrenreich, Uber die Botokudos. (Zeitschrift. fiir Ethnologic, 1887), p. 31 fF. Von den Steinen. 1. c. p. 332. P. Rivet, Les Indiens Yivaros (.Anthropologic, 1907) p. 333f. =' Further information in Westermarck, The Origin and Development of Moral Ideals, (1912), 2. Vols., a masterly digest. INTRODUCTION . XLI V. SPONTANEITY OR COLLECTIVISM? THEORY OF CULTURAL UNITS AND 'CIRCLES' (KULTURKREIS) There is one more question to be considered before approaching this subject at closer range. It concerns the analysis of religious facts, with a view to determining their origination,— either spontaneously, without regard to time, place, or industry,— or by transmission from definite centers corresponding to dilTerent eras of social and cultural development. That this is a problem of vast importance, will be seen immediately, when- ever it is a question of analysing a religious complexity, of determining the priority of this or that element in the complexity. Thus if it can be proved that certain forms of belief go hand in hand with certain forms of culture and with them exclusively, it will follow that the occasional over- lapping of one culture over the other will entail a corresponding over- lapping of ideas and produce a complexity, in which the prior and posterior elements should be clearly recognised. In this way many of the 'primitive' areas have been overflooded by a later culture, and present to us a mythologj' which cannot be left as it stands, but must be examined and carefully dissected before it can pass muster as a primitive belief. How far is this mythology native, and how far has it been imported from a foreign source? such is the question upon the answer to which much of the value of the succeeding pages will have to depend. In answering this question ethnologists have been divided into two camps. There are those that believe that similarities in the laws of thought are sufficient to produce similarities of development, that identities are mere coincidences ; while others are as firmly convinced that the accumu- lation of these identities is so striking that some genetic connexion must be postulated, that there must be some equation between different 'cultures' and different 'phases' of belief. The former is represented by the school of Bastian,^ Andree,= Ehrenreich,' etc, while the latter is the position taken up by Ratzel," Frobenius," Graebner,« Thomas,' Foy,« Schmidt," Anker- mann,'» and many others." 'A. Bastian Der yolkergedanke," etc. (Berlin, 1881). 2 R. Andree, Ethnographische Parallelen tind Verg eiche (Leipzig, 1889). a p. Ehrenreich, Die allgemeine Mythologie und ihre ethnologischen Grundlagen, (Berlin, 1910). « Fr. Ratzel, Volkerkunde, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1895) 5L. Frobenius, Volkerkunde, (Hannover, 1902), Idem, Geographische 7"vt in'Ar ^' ^JbfiP^'^' ^^'^■^^- *'^- Graebner, Kulturkreise u. Kulturschichten in Oceanien, (ZH. 1905, p. 28f). Idem, Die melanesische Bogenkultur, (Anthr. 1909. 730f) 'N W Thomas, Kulturkreise in Australien, (ZE. 7905, 7S9f). » W. Foy, Fiihrer durch das Kautenstrauch-Joest Museum, (Cologne), 1910. » W. Schmidt, Mythologie der austronesischen Volker, (Vienna, 1910). lo Ankermann. Kulturkreise in Afrika, (ZE. 1905 p 54-84) "General exposition by W. Schmidt in Anthropos, VI. (1911), pp. 1010-1036 and F Graebner, Methode der Ethnologic, (Keiueiberg, 1911) XLII PREHISTORIC RELIGION KULTURKREIS Now with regard to this whole subject it may be said in a general way that there is no reason to talie an extreme or exclusive view, either for or against the system of "unified progress" or otherwise. There can be no doubt that the "elemental" concept has come to stay, that it embodies an important truth, the fact, namely, that the psychology of man is very much the same all the world over, that with similar conditions of climate, soil and productive material, similar developments are apt to follow, that when they change, these change, though not always with the same physiographic persistency. It was this general law, verified in numerous instances, that led Buckle of old to exclaim : — "Give me the latitude and longitude of a nation, and I will give you its religion," — an observation which, however distorted, contains some germs of truth when applied to religious expres- sion. But more than tliis. The wholesale application of the transmission theory, (understanding by this a literal migration not only of culture but also of culture-bearers), — has been the occasion of great abuses and led many to abandon the whole system as an artificial construction. We have only to recall the heroic attempts of Winkler'^ and Jeremias" to re- duce the whole of the astral mythology to Pan-Babylonian waves of culture to see how easy it is to make our conclusions overlap our premises; though here the mistake was caused by deficiency of material and has no bearings on the general truth of the culture-notion as such. For indeed that notion, in the sense of cultural 'eras' (with or without racial contact), is some- thing that must be clearly postulated in any system that would account for the development of the human race in all its fulness and complexity. The fact that different cultures correspond to different ages, and these again to different climates, races, and so on, — this thought was at the bottom of the elemental theory and has become the mainstay of the tradition-argu- ment, only with this difTerence, that the number of identities is felt to be so striking, (even down to the smallest details) that the idea of transmis- sion, in one sense or another, has become almost irresistible. Thus while the old theory of spontaneous development still holds its own, the newer idea of organic and cultural units encircling the earth in successive waves of social and mental advancement is one that is steadily gaining ground and is now coming more and more to the front." ■=H. Winkler, Himmels-und Weltenbild der Babylonier, (Leipzig. 1903). 2d. Ed. "A. Jeremias, Die Panbabylonisten, (Leipzig, 1907). Comp. also E. Stiicken, Astralmythen, (Leipzig, 1907). '* See the "Scmaine d Ethnologie religieuse" of Louvain, (Paris, 1913), pp. 35-56. (L'Etude, d'Ethnologie," by W. Schmidt) (Bibliography), Idem. Solar and Lunar Mythology, Totemism, (ibid. pp. 99, 25Sff). Hestermann, Kulturkreis, (ibid. p. 117ff.). INTRODUCTION XL 1 1 1 Culture-Cycles for Three Epochs What then are the facts upon which the new system is founded? Broadly they may be stated as follows : — Let us take two typical cultures,— the lowest known culture, that of our own "primitives", and a decidedly higher culture,— that of the North- American Indians. Comparing these two cultures, we are struck by two features, — a certain uniformity within each culture, and a certain radical diversity between the cultures. The points to be noted are briefly these : (1) In the "primitive" culture there are certain similarities between the negrito peoples and their allies which extend, as we have seen, into the social sphere. Now if these similarities are found to extend still further, if they are found to embrace such details as the leaf-apron, the wind- screen, the fire-plow, the simplest of bows and arrows, the bamboo knife, the bone- or shell-scraper, the stone hammer, the wooden clapper, the tubeviol, the quinary numeration, the pejitatonic scale, the tree-float, the balsaraft, the patriarchal system, the local exogamy, the paternal descent, the earth or tent-funeral, etc. etc. — we begin to suspect more and more that they form a complete cultural unit, that as there is uniformity in nearly every aspect of life, there is probably a uniformity in religion also. And such in fact is found to be the case. This region is characterised by extreme simplicity, both of thought and practice. The father of the family combines in his own person the otTice of king, priest, and medicine-man, there are no classes, professions, or vocations in life, other than those dictated by the natural requirements of sex. Moreover it is especially to be noted that there is a minimum of astral mythology in this region, as well as a general absence of that complex system of relationship between a man and a natural (generally a living) object, that goes by the name of totemism, and that forbids the killing or eating of the totem, or the inter- marrying of those that belong to the same totemic clan.^ (2) Now let us take the North-American Indian on the broad prairies. He was formerly wrapt in heavy blankets of buffalo-skin, was covered with quills and feather-ornament, and was often painted or tattooed. He lived in tent, wigwam, or round houses of earth or grass, he produced fire by rapidly twirling a stick; he used a heavy spear, a broad shield, and a stone- headed club, as well as a massive bow, which was often spliced, tipped, or doubly-reflected. 1 All the sources agree on this point. (See pp. V-XIV above for the combined data.) "There is no trace of totemism among the Semang" writes Skeat, (1. c. II. 260). There is only the Soul- or Conception-bird (the dove), which is eaten by the mother during par- turition. (Ibid. II. 3-5.) The so-called "taboo" or "yat-tub" of the Adamanese has no relation to marriage, but is designed to prevent indigestion! (Man, 1. c. 134). The Sex- bird reappears in S. E. Australia among the Kurnai who are otherwise non-totemic, though the idea of relationship is more pronounced. (Howitt, 1. c. 148, 168). For Central Africa, see LeRoy, 1. c. p. 19Sff. XLIV PREHISTORIC RELIGION Culture-Cycles fob Tiiuee Epochs He knew how to sliarpen. sometimes also to polish stone, and he was an expert carver in horn, bone, anri wood. He was a painter in polychrome, whether on skin, wood, or rock, and had acquired the art of making pottery and of weaving his own garments, though the latter are still in the hand- made stage of development. Music he expresses chiefly by means of the bone-flute, drum, and the rattle, and his songs extend over three octaves. He counts by the vigesimal or the decimal system, and plies the rivers in well-shaped canoes, "dug-outs", "bull-boats", or balsas. He governs the tribe or nation by means of a single chieftaincy, which is often heredi- tary, the dignity passing from father to son in a regular line. Before he arrives at manhood, he is initiated, either by a strenuous fast, or by some other form of bodily penance which admitts him to a full knowledge of the secrets or mysteries of the tribe. These ordeals are managed by professional "medicine-men", who have the power to expel bad spirits, and to treat the patient by means of dances, manipulations, incantations, and the like. Matrimonial rites are complicated. A man is forbidden to marry any woman of his own clan-totem, and in addition to this he is often obliged to marry into another class or "phratry", which makes the sub-tolem divide with the group-totem the power of regulating the tie. When a man dies, he is often given a platform- or tree- burial, and the corpse is either embalmed and mummified, or sometimes cremated. But, more important than all, there is a wonderful similarity of beliefs throughout this region. Apart from the question of a supreme divinity, there is a strong solar element running through the mythology, and the whole of nature is looked upon as genetically related to man, as in some sense his direct ancestor. That this is not putting the case too strongly, may be proved by any one who will examine this mythology' in its native setting. All the plainsmen "dance" to the sun, they "come" from the sun. the bear, and the buffalo, to which at death they return, while the Kwakiutl of the far North-West claim to be descended from the sun, the sea, and the thunder-bird, and they have an elaborate ghost-dance, in which the "mask of the sun" and the fire-wheel are leading features. In the words of Dr. Boas, "all nature is animated, and tiie spirit of any being can become the spirit of a man, who thus acquires supernatural power.* 'Cultural items will be found in F. W. Hodge. Handbook of American Indians. (Wash- ington, 1907), each under its respective hea-, 3d. Report of the Bureau of .American Ethnology, (Washington. 1884), p. 347ff. Idem. A Study of Siouan Cults, 11th. Report, p. 395; G. B. Grinnell. Blackfoot Lodge Tales (London. 1893) pp 191-193. Dr. Franz Boas, The social organisation and the secret societies of the Kwakiutl Indians, Rep. of U. S. National Museum for 1895 (Washington, 1897), pp. 374-37Sff. Also 5th. Report of B. A. E. p. 52. Comp. J. A. Jacobsen, "Gchcimbiinde der Kiistenbcwohner NordWcst-Amerikas", in Zeitschr. Ethnol. XXIII, pp. (383)-(38S). INTRODUCTION XLV Culture-Cycles for Three Epochs But these ideas are not confined to the North-American continent. This system of metamorphic evolution and transmigration of souls finds a close parallel in far-off India, Africa, and Australasia. Nay more, it goes hand in hand with a very similar culture, whether we look at it from the industrial, social, or religious point of view. As to India, there are wild tribes living in ttie Dekkan, generally known as Dravidians, who, (in so far as they are not hindooised), exhibit such a striking resemblance to the North-American Indian in their social and matrimonial life, that some resemblance in their religious ideas is only to be expected. Apart from the fact that the clans and "gotras" show an identical organisation, we find the same practice of the "sororate" (or marriage with deceased wife's sister), the same taboos on food, the same fear of devouring an ancestor concealed in this or that plant or animal totem, the same permission to eat the said totem as a sacred or "sacramental" rite, and above all the same kind of astral mythology, which associates all natural objects, animate or inanimate, with the great central orb of heaven, — the Dravidian "Sin Bonga".^ This is hardly a Brahminical importation. "The (aboriginal) Mallas", writes Professor Oppert, "like their ancestors, still worship the Sun, which is the presiding deity of Multan, a circumstance that intimates a Scythian (?) or non-Aryan origin."^ "Like other primitive races of Turanian or Scythian origin (?), the Todas revere the great luminaries of the sky, the Sun and the Moon, besides the Fire." ^ With the latter the buffalo is sacred, and cannot be killed or eaten, except on'sacrificial occa- sions.* Practically all the Dravidian races believe in their descent from the totems,— sun, moon, plants or animals, and with these and the Khasis of Assam transmigration of souls into the totems is clearly taught.' It is true that modern India has been largely "overcoated" by a higher culture, so that many of the minor elements of the totemistic complex are difficult to trace, — implements, initiations, burial-rites.* But in its main outlines this picture is almost a reproduction of the conditions that exist in the Missouri and St. LaviTence basins, and it calls for some explanation, whether from the mental or the cultural point of view. IS. C. Roy, The Mundas and their country, (Calcutta, 1912), pp. 400-412, App. XXff. Criticism in Anthrop. VIII (1913) pp. 272-274. (W. Schmidt, on solar mythology, &c.) ^ G. Oppert, The original inhabitants of India, (London, 1893), p. 78. ' lb. p. 188. ■'lb. p. 186-188. Here the totemic relation is not clearly recognised. Comp: — ^^ Frazer, op. cit. vol. II. pp. 218-335, for Indian totemism in general. lb. p. 321, (note 4), for totemism and metempsychosis in Assam. « Comp. however the rudimentary bow, the bufifalo-hunt, the use of palaeoliths in the wild state, the existence of circumcision, the platform or pyre-funeral, the painting or embalming of the corpse, — all attested in numerous instances. See Roy, 1. c. p. 354-466. E. Thurston, Ethnographic Notes in Southern India, (Madras, 1908), pp. 140-145-150 (funeral), 388ff. (circumcision, shell-trumpet), 466 (Fire-drill), 634 (Bark-belt), 556 (Boomerang, etc). XLVI PREHISTORIC RELIGION GCLTLRE-CVCLEb FOH TlIKtlE EPuCHS But if we pass over to Eastern Africa and Auslral«isia, and find the idenlicai combination of points, even down to many minor details, — the argument for a cultural connexion, — even if by oceanic highways, — begins to assume serious proportions. Not one or two elements only, but whole complexities of culture are here at stake. To take but one instance, — Australasia. Here we have the same totemic system as in India and North America. We have the Sun-god in Indonesia, and the Moon-god in Melanesia, clans or "septs" in the former. class-"phralries" in the latter, round-houses in the one, gabled houses in the other, communal life in one case, mask-dances and secret societies in the other, — both of these areas overlapping each other in many parts. All the minor elements of the culture, — from the fire-drill down to the pointed flint, the solid canoe, and the shell-trumpet, together with circumcision, j)latform-burial, mummification, sand- or rock-painting, bone- or wood- carving, animal hunting by means of bevelled bows, flint-headed spears, and bone-constructed harpoons, — all these elements are vividly represented in tiiis region and are partly fused on the .Australian continent.' Here we have in the "Alchoringa" that same idea of transmigration and re-incarna- tion of totemic spirits in the womb of the mother that has been mentioned above.' Now can all these facts be fortuitous? Can all these identities be explained by a merely accidental, mental "convergence"? Perhaps. But in the meantime they form a cultural unit, as distinct from the "archaic" or "neolithic" types, as the middle ages dilTer from classic times and from the twentieth century. Says Frazer: "What communication was pos- sible between . . . Southern India and N. E. .\merica . . . between Dravidians and Iroquois . . . between N. S. Wales and S. Africa . . . between the Kamilaroi (E. Australia) and the Herero. (W. Africa)?" And he suggests the "action of similar minds", by reason of impassable (?) oceans." .\nd yet he draws a menacing parallelism between Dravidian and Australian totomism, and in comparing them with the Iroquois of North- Eastern .\merica, he says: "Their agreement in the principles and most of tlii^ details of a complex family system has been justly described by its discoverer, L. H. Morgan, as 'one of the most extraordinary applications of the natural logic of the human mind to the facts of the social system preserved in the experience of mankind" ". — and this without any reference to the remaining ethnological data." ' H. L. Roth, The Natives of Saravak and British North Borneo, (London. 18%). C. G. Seligman, The Melanesians of British New Guinea, (Cambridge. 1910). R. H. Codrington. The Melanesians. (Oxford. 1891) 32. 69. 348. Comp. Frazer. op. cit. V. II. pp. 185-217 (Indonesia), 25-150 (New Guinea and Melanesia). Gracbner in Anthrop. IV (1909) pp. 998f. Foy. op. cit. pp. 61, 74-75, 226 " Spencer and Gillen, The Northern Tribes of C. Australia, pp. 145, 174. »IV. 15. 'Oil. 228, 331. INTRODUCTION XLVII Culture-Cycles for Three Epochs Now the point that the "cycle"-theory wishes to bring forward is this.— It affirms that the similarities throughout this area are altogether too strik- ing to be dismissed as mere coincidences. Apart from the question of how the culture was propagated,— whether by land-bridge or ocean-pas- sage, (both are possible),— it requires us to assume an intimate cultural interdependence of humanity at a certain definite stage of its development. This stage is known as the "Totem-culture", of which the following facts are believed to be provable: — (1) That it is later than the "archaic" culture, (No. 1). This would appear to be self-evident. The whole complexity is in every way more advanced. Compare any of the items in the above summary, and the statistics given on pp. V-XIV. (2) That it is earlier than the neolithic and a fortiori to the metallic (or bronze) ages. (Recent culture). This does not imply the absence of all neolithic or "metallic" elements. There is hardly a section of humanity that has not felt the influence of the polished flint or the bronze sword. But it does imply that there is a strong under-current of pre-neolithic or "palaeolithic" elements precisely in those sections of the area that have preserved the totemistic culture in its great- est purity,— Central Australia, Central India (in parts), South-Central Africa, and North-Central North America.' Moreover from what is known of Neolithic peoples in the strict sense, — European Lake-dwellers, Oceanic Polynesians, North-African Mauretanians, North-American Cliff-dwellers, &c. etc. — it appears to be more and more evident that though they have some analogies to the totem-culture,— worship of sun, moon, stars, plants, animals etc. — the idea of a personal descent from these objects, with pro- hibition of marriage to those of the same totem, is conspicuous by its absence.'' Not until far later, Hindoo or Brahminical, times do we find the idea of metempsychosis at all strongly developed, but without any relation to marriage or the classificatory system.' Finally there is a strik- ing parallelism between palaeolithic man (as known to us) and the social and industrial condition of these peoples, a parallelism which extends to solar symbols, animal paintings, hand-silhouettes, and masked dances.* iComp. W. Foy, op. cit. pp. 51-62 (Australia), 225-227, (India), 181-186 (Africa) 149-154, 167-171 (North America), — showing parallelism with Oceania and strong palaeolithic sur- vivals. 2 Por analogies and contrasts between totem-culture and European Neolithic, see Graebner, Die Melanesische Bogenkultur (supra), pp. 1025-1030. Implying a palaeolithic totemism, ib. &p. 1031 note. Also Frazer, op. cit. IV. 12-14 (pre-Caucasic) 30-38 (pre-poly- theistic). 3 Frazer, IV. 13. For alleged Egyptian totemism, see J. Capart in "Semaine d'Ethnologie religieuse" (supra) pp. 274-278. < Obermaier, op. cit. 253-258, 413-430. XLVIII PREHISTORIC RELIGION Culture-Cycles for Three Epochs This is illustrated by a comparison of the totem-culluro with the last great prehistoric era that we know of, the age of polished and hafted flint, and of the more advanced social and mental phenomena that accompany it. (3) To begin again with the North-American region, it is more espe- cially among the plateau-Indians of Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, generally described as Puublos, that we meet with a far higher culture than is to be found in most of the other sections of llie continent. Instead of the miserable skins or blankets, formerly so common in the plain-states, the Zuni Indian and the Navajo is a comparatively well-dressed man, his loom-weaved shirts, trousers, and moccasins, presenting an almost modern appearance. These have since spread over nearly the entire continent, but they are of finer quality among the highland tribes, and are par- ticularly elaborate in the .Alaskan region. In place of the simple wigwam, we here meet with the castellated dwelling or cliff-house, which is often constructed of large and solid blocks of masonry, the sign of a settled non- nomadic civilisation. Fire is made by the flint and pyrites method as well as by drilling, and the compound double-reflected bow, made of several strips of bufl'alo-horn, is clearly a new invention. Superfine axes, chisels, and boring-tools testify to a more finished industry, while as potters and weavers the Pueblos are unexcelled, the elaborately painted vessels and the famous "Navajo-loom" being an addition to any museum. Blow-horns and polyphonic flutes accompany a richly melodic chant, and on the Pacific coast we find the built-up plank-boal, with all the modern acces- sories. We have entered in short a new world of culture, and with this a new world of ideas." Among these the institution of hereditary Priest-Kingsiiip must be pro- nounced as one of tiie most distinctive. Tlie Pueblo "Sun-Priests" origin- ally controlled not only the weather, but the entire gens or nation. But, what is of particular interest to us, they are the center of an astrono77ucal rilufil, in which sun, moon, and stars are not so much the genetic causes of things as tlie exponents of the divine will, the abode of numerous spirit- beings, themselves immaterial, — rO'Wa. This is evident from the fact that marriage is no longer dependent on cosmic or animal ancestry, — the totems are mere symbols — , and at death man is delivered from nature, he becomes a sjiirit, migrating from star to star. In other words, man has become independent of nature and his spirits are personal "gods" who manifest their will by the relative position of the heavenly bodies, — Sun, Moon, and Venus.* » Cultural Items in Hodge, op. cit. supra. « For mythology and sociology see F. H. Gush- ing, Outlines of Zuni Creation-m>ths, 13th. Ann. Rep. B. A. E. (Washington, 1891), p. 247ff. M. C. Stevenson, The Zuiii Indians. 23d. Rep. do. (1904) passim. INTRODUCTION XLIX Culture-Cycles for Three Epochs But if these data be justly regarded as inconclusive, they may be sup- plemented by a vast material from the Old World, vi'hich shows that our main contention is a correct one, though the evidence can here only be given in brief. From vv^hat can be known of the mound-builders of neolithic Europe, it appears that they stood on a very similar stage of culture, their large stone monuments being frequently inscribed with very similar hieroglyphs, — the star, the cross, and later, the swastika. These and the stone "circles" may or may not be taken as solar symbols, — on this opinions are divided — , but the practice of tomb-burial and of supplying the deceased with a large part of his personal and household efTects, including food and drink "for the journey", shows without a question that the life beyond is conceived as essentially the same as the present, — there is no return to the bulTalos. Moreover the occasional trepanning of the skull reveals a strong belief in spiritism, in the escape of the soul (or demon) from its material environ- ment.' Further and more definite evidence is obtained from the buried remains of Egypt and Mesopotamia. There is an abundance of material to prove, — as we shall presently see — , that the earliest symbols for divinity were dis- tinctly astral, the eight-rayed star being the foundation of Babylonian religion. This is not a sun-cult in the purely material sense, but an astrotheological system, in which the heavenly bodies are looked upon as so many distinct persons, the solar orb being invariably the "father" of all the gods and himself apparently transcendent. The same ideas are re-echoed in the later Graeco-Roman, the Polynesian, and the contempo- rary Chinese theology. In every case we have a "heavenly one" or a "shining father", whose vice-regent is the "son of heaven" or the national high-priest, who decides the fate of kingdoms and the conduct of private life largely by what he sees in the skies, in the twelve signs of the zodiac, or in the entrails of certain animals. Religic^ has become largely astro- logical and animistic, the sexagesimal system finally triumphant. Archi- tecture, sculpture, painting, music, navigation, and so on, all show a far more developed state than anything to be found among the totemic peoples, and with this has come a different aspect of life and existence. Man is no longer descended from plants or animals, he is "created" by god or demi-god, and as such he is free to marry within certain degrees of descent, he becomes in fact more and more aristocratic, more and more endog- amous. As to his soul, it does not re-enter the brutes, but passes to a land of shades or to a life of glory, it has become "divine".' ' For the European Neolithic consult Obermaier, op. cit. pp. 465-524. Dechelette Manuel d'Archeologie (Paris, 1908) pp. 347-630. * S. P. Handcock, Mesopotamian Archaeology (N. Y. 1912). Also Jastrow, Sayce. Meyer, Schmidt, etc. op. cit. infra, for Babylonian, Eg>ptian, Indo-European, and Polynesian data. L PREHISTORIC RELIGION CtLTURE-CVCLES FOK THREE EPOCHS From all this material it may be inferred wilti some certaintj- that there are at least throe epochs in the pre-history of man, corresponding to three mental or social stages in the evolution of the race. These are : — (1) The "primitive" or "archaic" stage, which is believed to be pre- palaeolithic, and which is characterised by an extreme simplicity of thought and practice, by the absence of cosmic or animal "pedigrees", and by the general superiority of man over nature, which makes him a unique, a supra-mundane being.' (2) The "mediaeval" or "totemic" stage, which belongs roughly speak- ing to the palaeoliliiic, and whose dominant note is the identity of a man with a natural object, his descent from that object, and his possible return into that object by palingenesis, or re-birth. This object may be anything, from the sun or moon down to a blade of grass; it affects food and matri- mony very vitally, but leaves the transcendent Cause of nature otherwise untouched.^ (3) The more "modern" or "recent" stage, which is contemporarj- with the neolithic, and in which the astral elements have become real divinities, though they are generally subordinate to chief divinity and have no genetic relation to man. (Henotheism).^ IJul besides tliese general comi)lexities, — which seem to be well proven, — modern ethnologists have carried the culture-notion to such an extent as to subdivide these areas into smaller units, and to require transitional stages from one culture to the other. Thus between the "Archaic"- and the "Totem"- they insert the "Boomerang"-('ulture, (with a supposed lunar mythology), and between the Totem- and Recent- they introduce a "Two- class" or "Mask"-culture with similar tendencies. Then again the Totem- culture may be divided into three sections, — .Aurignacian, Solutrean, Mag- dalenian, — and the Neolithic age similarly into three stages, known as the "How", "Polynesian" and "Arctic" culture. But whether all these "transitions" etc. will stand the test of verification, remains to be seen, as also the supposed equations between any given age and its accompanying industry (down to the smallest details). In tiie following table, (p. LVI- LVII), are given the main results of this system as applied to five principal periods. This table is compiled from original sources,* — and this. 1 believe, for the first time, — but it makes no pretence to being final or exhaustive and is subject to indefinite modification with the advance of the times. ' This would seem to follow from its non-totcmic character, Man is not 'classified' with nature, though he 'belonRs' to it. Cp. .Schmidt. 1. c. pp. 183-187, 241 f. ' Frazer. Totemism and Exogamv. vol. IV. pp. 4-6. Spencer and Gillen, loc. cit. sup. ■'' Comp. Leopold von Schroeder. Altarische Religion. {Munich, 1918). (in the press). Also O. Schrader, Reallexi- con der indogermanischoii Altcrthumskunde, pp. 824ff. Recent opinions on Totemism. Animism, Solar and Lunar Mythology, will be found in the Compte-Rcndu of the "Semaine d'F.thnoIogic" (Louvain, 1912) p. 93, 99, 22Sff. ♦ Graebner, Foy, Schmidt. Ankcrmann. opera citata supra. INTRODUCTION LI Arguments for the Five-Period System Advanced It has been seen that a threefold stratification of culture is fairly well evidenced by nearly all the data from taken from three extreme and widely separated periods of humanity. Does it not seem on the face of it probable that the gap between the lower and the far higher culture is bridged over by some intervening stage of development, some transition from the one to the other? Such transitions have been verified over and over again in the domain of palaeontology, and would seem to suggest that the kindred fields of ethnology and comparative mythology run on parallel lines, show a parallel course of development, corresponding to some extent with the industrial change. Let us see to what extent this argument is borne oUt by the facts. SOME INTERVENING PERIODS NECESSARY It seems incredible that the rise from the crude primitive to the com- plicated totemic culture could have taken place without leaving some ves- tiges of a transitional period. Such vestiges are revealed in the palaeonto- logical data, which require the Chellean-Mousterian as a stepping-stone to the perfected Aurignacian-Magdalenian industry. Man could hardly become such a fine artist,— painter, engraver, carver, boat-builder—, in a day. The evolution of perfected tools requires time, and such time is clearly marked in the annals of archaeology. Similarly the rise from the Magdalenian to the full Neolithic reveals a hiatus which has only recently filled out. The existence of a transitional Azylian-Tardenoisian stage, with microlithic industry, perfected bone-needles, stringed instruments', and masked dances, may now be regarded as certain, whether from the archaeological or the ethnological point of view. Let us consider these two transitions one by one. FIRST TRANSITIONAL STAGE, — "B00MERANG"-CULTURE Between the Oceanic Primitives on the one hand and the advanced Indo-Asiatic and totemic peoples on the other, an intermediate type of humanity is revealed in the proto-Malayan family, which has left vestiges of its presence in Indo-Africa, Indo-Australia. and possibly in Indo-South- America. (Bororo-Group?). Its architecture rarely exceeds that of the bee-hive hut, or tunnel-house, and its typical weapon is the Boomerang, which can be traced from Southern India, through Egj-pt to the Sudan,' through Malaysia to Australia, and through North America to Peru and Central Brazil. Its "Bundle-Canoe" is found in regions as far apart as the Coromandel-Coast and Tasmania, the upper Nile and the lower Amazon (Shingu Region). LI I PREHISTORIC RELIGION Arguments for the Five-Period System This reveals a considerable advance upon primitive conditions, in that the making of palaeolitlis, liowever crude, the more complex dwellings, however unsubstantial, the manufacture of plaited belts and basket-work, of bundle-canoes and of a highly finished throwing-instrument, is a dear indication that the bearers of this culture have learnt more of the arts and sciences than their immediate predecessors, even though it falls equally short of that of their immediate successors. It is not pretended that all tiie items of this culture can be verified throughout the above vast area, — far from it — , but tiie elements common to Indo-Africa and Australia are sufficiently striking to merit the further consideration of ethnologists, and the South-American data seem to reflect many of its distinctive features. As to social organisation and higher beliefs, the material is as yet far too fragmentary to admit of any generalisations, — that is, for the com- bined area. The wild Malays of the East, the Tamils of Southern India, the Nigerians of the Sudan, the Tasmanioids of Australia, and the Bororos of Central Brazil, — all these exhibit such striking variations, both in climate, physique and adopted culture, that anything like a uniformity, either in beliefs and practices, is hardly to be expected. But upon one aspect of tills development emphasis can, I think, be laid with a fair degree of security. From what is so far known of the mythologj' of these peoples, it appears that in large sections of the Oceanic and South American regions, the association of religious ideas with the waxing and waning moon, and the practice of more or less occult magic by means of the whirring-disk or "bull-roarer", is too significant to be dismissed offhand as a mere side-issue. We shall find very shortly that the idea of the "Spider-Moon", and the association of divinity witli some mysterious and apparently sagacious animal — the spider, the lizard — , extends with slight variations from the Malay Peninsula, through Central Borneo and Melanesia, to South-East Australia on the one hand, and to the farthest Amazonian regions on the other. Considering that these territories are already linked together by many of the cultural elements above referred to, a presumption is formed that they are linked together in their beliefs as well, and this opinion has recently been defended with considerable force by several experts in ethnology and comparative mythology.' >F. Gracbncr. Kulturkreise in Ozeanien, (ZE. 1905. p. 28ff). Idem. Methode. (1911), p. 149. \V. Foy, Fuhrcr, pp. 60, 72, 149, 155, 182, 225ff (Data for five continents). W. Schmidt, Mvthologic dcr austronesischen, Volker, (1910), p. 25. (Lunar Myths). Ehren- reich, Allgemcinc Mythologie, (1910), p. 115, 262-272. Idem. Die Mythen und Legenden der sud-amcrikanischen Urvolkcr, (1905), pp. 34-36. 42-44, 66-102 (Migrations of solar and lunar myths,— the "Spider-Moon," etc.). INTRODUCTION LIII Arguments for th£ Five-Period System SECOND TRANSITIONAL STAGE, — TWO-CLASS OR "MASK"-CULTURE Until recently no separation has been made between the pure totem- culture and the classificatory-system. Both appeared to be so closely inter- twined, so inextricably woven together, as to form almost a unit. Yet even Frazer soon began to recognise that the two ideas are by no means synony- mous, that it is possible to have the class-system without totemism and vice versa, even though in practice they are nearly always found together.^ It has been shown that the break between the full Magdalenian and the early Neolithic culture is no longer as abrupt as was once supposed. The palaeontological evidence has brought to light an intervening stratum, known as the Azylian-Tardenoisan period, which was famous for the production of superfine flints and bone-needles, for the manufacture of higher musical instruments, and for the performance of costume- or masked-dances. If we look to the existing races of mankind as its pos- sible representative, we shall find that in no single case has this culture been preserved with anything like purity, but that strong undercurrents of the culture may be discerned among the Turanian-Asiatic, the West- African-Bantu, the East-Indian-Melanesian, and the more advanced North and South-American peoples. Here we shall discover that the above elements are accompanied by the painted mask, the gable-roofed club- house, the built-up canoe or plank-boat, the bamboo-fiddle and pan-pipe, the men's secret society, the female "matriarchate", the skull-trophy with associated head-hunting, and above all the Ghost-Dance, which is the most distinctive of all the external features of this culture, and which can be traced from Nigeria to Melanesia, and from Alaska to Brazil." While many of the intervening links have disappeared, it is being felt that these complexities are too strong to be accidental, that a parallelism over such widely separated areas points to some genetic relation in the past, or at least to some unified or collective development. In nearly every case, the social and industrial stage of this period may be marked off from the full neolithic on the one hand and from the preceding "glacial" stage on the other, though the growing contact with higher cultures and the general fusion of cultures will probably account for the apparent want of con- tinuity in its geographical distribution. 2 Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, (1910), Vol. IV. pp. 71-136, on the origin of exogamy and the class-system, and their geographical distribution, esp. p. 136. ^ Items will be found in F. Graebner, Die Melanesische Bogenkultur, (Anthropos, 1909), p. 998ff. (with a valuable map). Also in Foy, op. cit. pp. 61, 75, ISO, 156, 170, 183, 225ff. showing distribution over five continents, if European Palaeolithic (Azylian stage) be included. Comp, Obermaier, Der Mensch der Vorzeit (1912) pp. 213-222, 424-430. 434-435, for late-palaeoIithic parallels. Also J. Dechelette, Manuel d'ArcheoIogie, (Paris, 1908), p. 318ff. LIV PREHISTORIC RELIGION Arguments for the Five-Period System The quality of belief whicli is ciiaracteristic for tiiis period is intimated, partly by the numerous buried remains, partly by the existing races as we actually find them. The combined data furnish sulficienl evidence for inferring that a pronounced spirit-cult with a developed ancestor-worship forms as it were the background, upon which the skull-cult, the ghosl- tdance, the fire-walk, and other secret orgies, have been in part engrafted. We have only to refer to the decapitated skeletons of Ofnet and Mas d'Azyl, to the phantastic figures with masked heads that adorn so many of the French and Spanish caverns of this period, not to speak of the spiral designs, the "eye" patterns, the hand-silhouettes, the amputated fingers, the painted pebbles, and other symbolic devices, to see how faithfully many if not most of these features are represented among the surviving peoples above enumerated.* If they have so many elements in common witii late-glacial man, including their industry, does it not seem highly probable that they mirror to some extent their religious beliefs, that where a spirit-cult is demonstrable in the one case, it is to say the least strongly suggested in the other? But as to the nature of the existing beliefs, there is throughout a strongly developed ghost-worsliip, which without attaining to the full maturity of a universal animism, has brought the tribal ancestor into bold relief, who now occupies the principal position in the cult, the converging- point in the ritual. The numerous "ghost-societies", distributed over such vast regions, — from Melanesia to Brazil — , are alone sulTicient to prove this, however vague and mysterious may be their inner symbolism. The fact that most of these dancing-escapades take place by moonlight has trans- ferred the central object of the mytholog>' from the sun to the moon, it is the lunar phases which again arouse the interest of man, the bright and dark moon being often symbolical of the twofold division of society into the class-phratries, which division is commonly expressed in Oceania by the "Eagle-Hawk and Crow", — the two typical birds of the class-system.' But whatever be exact relation of the social and mythological data. — and much obscurity still surrounds this subject — , the case for an intervening culture, characterised by the above features, and illustrated in part by the above peoples, is becoming increasingly strong with every fresh discovery. *Obermaier, loc. cit. supra, giving the latest discoveries of the Abl)e Breuil (Paris, 1910), with existing survivals among nature-peoples, (pp. 253-258). "J. Mathew, Eagle-Hawk and Crow, (London and Melbourne, 1899), pp. 93-148. R. Codrington, The Melanesians, (Oxford, 1891), pp. 20-68 (social features), pp. 69-115, (secret societies and mysteries), p. 34Sff. (skull-trophies, etc.). Also Graebner, Foy, 1. c. sup. and W. Schmidt. .■Xusfronesische Mythologie, (1910), pp. 128ff. Ursprung, p. 302ff. Ehrenreich, Siidamerikanische Myth- ologie, p. 34ff. INTRODUCTION LV Arguments for the Five-Period System Thus the combined evidence, — palaeontological, ethnological, myth- ological— , establishes a fairly strong presumption in favor of at least two intermediate stages, which are marked off with sufficient clearness to be for the most part recognisable. However deficient many of the existing links may prove to be, — and such deficiencies are only to be expected by analogy with geological "breaks" — , the convergence is in most cases too striking not to rivet the attention of the inquiring student. Such transitions are not only a priori probable, but for certain periods plainly demon- strable, and have been long since recognised in the field of archaeology, the discovery of the ethnological parallels being comparatively recent. Thus in the Neolithic, the lacustrian is sharply divided from the later megalithic and pyramid-building-stage, the huge monuments of Western- Eurasia, Northern India, Polynesia, and Peru, being characterised by so many similarities, both in structure and design, as to call for some period of common development during which massiveness in architecture became, as it were, the craze. Advanced navigation in finely constructed galleys, with typical three-cornered (Polynesian) sails and elegantly constructed rudders, was then the order of the day, the ocean became the common highway of commerce, bereft of many of its old-time terrors. At a still later period, the sub-arctic peoples of the far North gave birth to the most recent of all developments of prehistoric industry, that of stitched moccasin foot-wear and European trousers, — the so-called "Pantaloon- culture". It is not always realised that the standard male attire of modern times is the distant descendant of the Eskimo snow-costume, and that, far from being ancient, or in any full sense primitive, the existing sub-arctic populations are in reality the bearers of a very late, almost contemporary phase of civilisation, — for which reason they are of little or no value as the exponents of an early tradition. It will thus be seen that in the analysis of any known culture — Periods may be multiplied indefinitely, nearly every supposed break has brought to light an intervening bridge, from which the transition from a lower to a higher civilisation may as a rule be vaguely recognised. In view, however, of the greater primitive- ness of the non-metal ages, the above five periods may be deemed sufficient, they embody five of the earliest stages in the upward ascent of man.® « Further details in Obermaier, op. cit. pp. Part II. pp. 439f f. K. Weule, Die Urgesellschaft und ihre Lebensfursorge, (Stuttgart, 1912), pp. 63-110. Idem, Leitfaden, (1912) pp. 103- 136, and with great clearness bv the writers of the Cologne-school, esp. W. Foy, op. cit. pp. 76, 271ff. LVI THE PREHISTORIC DEVELOPMENT O TIME-TABLE: R.\CE-TYPE : (survivals) (A) ARCHAIC (PRE-PALAEOLITHIC) (B) BOOMERAN( (EARLY-PAL.\EOLIT CLIMATE : Oceanic Primitive (East Ind.) Indo-Asian-Malaysian (T African Primitive (Congo Belt) C. African Nigerian (Sudi Australian Primitive (Tasman) Indo-Asian-Australian (S Amazonian Primitive (Brazil)?* [ndo-Asian-Am6izonian (E Tropical (with Pluviation) Tropical to Mild. Glacial: FOOD: (Veg.) (Staple Animal) (Narcotics) CLOTHING: Banana, Plantain, Palm-fruit. Wild Boar. (Tiger, Eleph. and Rhinoceros in Indo-Africa). Narcotics originally wanting. Banana, Palm-fruit, Pine- Wild Boar. (Tiger, Eleph Hippopotamus in Indo-A Narcot, originally wanlir Leaf-Belt and Skin-Mantle ORNAMENT: Generally wanting. (Combs & Shell-necklace in Malaysia. Body-painting in parts). Loin-strap and Fur- jacket. Plaited Belts and Head-b{ Nose. Lip, and Ear-ornan Painting and Scarificatio HABITATION : FIRE-MAKING: WEAPONS: Cave, Tent, or Windshelter. Fire-Strap and Fire-Plow Bee-hive Hut and Tunnel Fire-Plow and Fire-Drill. Staff-Bow, with fibre-string & reed arrow. Blowpipe in parts. Also clubs & simple spears. Boomerang dominates, w spear, club, and fencing-s Bow and arrow survive. IMPLEMENTS: Bamboo-Knife & Stone Hammer. Chipped Flint and Stone Flint-chips, flakes, bone and (Chellean-Mousterian Ind shell-scrapers (untouched). Bone implements survive. ARTS AND The Bamboo Vessel & Charm-tube.The Magic Wand or Bull INDUSTRIES: Simple tracery. Crude Pottery. Bamboo vessels and bask Zig-zag patterns. Network. Cord & Hair-string techniq MUSIC: The Monochord, or "Pangolo"? Sounding-slick and Bull- N.\VIG.\TION: Tree-Float or "Balsa"-Rafl. Balsa-Raft and Bundle-Ca GOVERNMENT: Patriarchal Family-system, Presidential Clan-system, with "natural" Headmanshlp. elective Headmanship(?). INITLVnoN: Fasting and lustration. Fasting and tooth-pulling SACRIFICE: MARRIAGE: BURIAL: BELIEFS : First-fruits and animals. Paternal, — local exogamy. Simple earth or tent-grave. First-fruits and animals. Maternal, — clan-exogamy ( Niche or Tree-grave. Crer Supposed Monotheistic Belt. Region of Lunar Mytholo^ Mythology appears in simple Divinity as waxing and wi anthropomorphic dress. moon, "spider"-moon. (Mi •Non: The whole of the New-World culture must be looke LVII VE PERIODS-CULTURE SCHEDULE (C) TOTEM V. PALAEOLITHIC) (D) TWO-CLASS (LATE PALAEOLITHIC) (E) RECENT (NEOLITHIC) n-Dravidian (Kolar) 3an Bantuan luan-Australian in N. American?* Indoasian-Eurasian (Turan) West-African Bantuan East-Papuan-Australian West-Indian N. American?* Eurasian-Caucasian (Ligur). N. African-Mauretanian. Oceanic-Polynesian. Melanesian-Pan- American.* Glaciation full. Mild. Glaciation recedes. e, and Pine-apple, leindeer, Kangaroo. 1, Rhinoceros, etc.) imported. Corn, Rice, and Pine-apple. Great Elk & Forest-Stag. Tropics retain fauna. Narcotics imported. Normal. Alluvium begins. Corn, Wheat, & Barley-Cult. Dog, Horse, Sheep, Pig, etc. Tropics retain fauna. Hemp, Tobacco, Betel-nut. ture & Fur-jacket. Bark-cincture & Fur-jacket. Flax-garments, (weaved). Flower-ornament. >ests & Head-gear. & Scarification. The Painted Mask in all its varieties. Ghost-garb. Painting & Scarification. »use or Wigwam. Gable-roofed Club-House. The Diadem. Spiral Cinc- ture. Boar-tooth necklace. Branding and Tattooing. Pile-, Stone-, or Cliff-House. (perfected). Fire-Drill and Fire-Saw. Fire-Flint, Fire-Pump, etc. 3ow (oval section), pear. Throwing- ae Dagger. Bevelled Bow w. Broad Shield. Flinted Spear & Morning- star Bludgeon. Flat Bow w. Round Shield. Flinted Spear. Sling-Bow, Double-reflected Arctic Bow. lint (perfected) )ian-Magdalenian) ilements (perfected) Small Flint, Bone Needle. (Azylian-Tardenoisian) Digging-stick or shovel. Ground or polished Flint. ( Flenusian-Robenhausen) Knee-adze, Spindle-whirl. !d Figurine. Carved The Painted Mask. Painted ainting & Engraving. Pebbles. Phonetic Alphab. spiral Pattern. Circle & Spiral Pattern. e & Shell-Trumpet. Fiddle, Gong, Panpipe, etc. Pottery & Loom-weaving. Hammock and Rope-bridge. Star and Swastika. Horn, Drum, Piano, Organ. )e and Dug-out. Bark-canoe & Plank-boat. i\ Sept-system, ditary chief. Presidential Tribe-System with electing classes. Sail-boat, w. outriggers &c. Patriarchal-National. Kingship and Aristrocracy. ; Circumcision, falo, Reindeer. Ghost-dance. Fire-walk. Branding and Tattooing. Cannibalism and Human. Corn, Horse, Sheep, Human. Totemic Exogamy. Mummification. Maternal, Class Exogamy. Skull-Trophy, Cremation. ' Solar Mythology. Advanced Lunar Mythology. IS Genetic Power Ghost-dance & Skeleton- (Totemism). cult point to Spiritism. ortation from Asia. America forms a separate province Paternal, Local Exogamy. Tomb-burial. Cremation. Advanced Solar Mythologj'. Divinity as "World-Soul" or "Mana". (Animism). LVIII PREHISTORIC RELIGION Does the Evidence Caiiry Conviction? As a broad generalisation, then, it would seem some such groups of social and industrial development are revealed with considerable cer- tainty by all the data thai are so far accessible to us. Is it sufTiciently strong to establish a corresponding mental development, to prove that in a given age the thoughts and mythologies of a people will assume a definite color and tendency, pointing to some leading motif or guiding- theme as being uppermost for the lime? This from the above evidence may be regarded as a fairly safe induction. The points enumerated are not too few, the analysis not too brief, to warrant a decisive verdict on the subject for ai least three cultural epochs. But it does not lay claim to such convincing power as to render a detailed investigation superfluous. The Culture-Schedule is a Well-Propounded Working-Scheme Like other movements in the inductive sciences it has to pass through the stage of extended verification before it can attain to the dignity of a fully demonstrated system. It is by means of more or less plausible theories that the greatest triumphs of modern science have been attained. The discoverer uses an artificial scheme as a "working-hypothesis", finds it satisfactory, and by repeated applications in numerous individual instances, comes to the conclusion that he has discovered a '"law", that nature has yielded one more of her secrets. In like manner — The Parallelism Between Mental and Social Evolution is a Thesis Which Requires Extensive and Individual Proof. Such a proof has been broadly intimated in the preceding analysis, but it is summary and suggestive rather than final and exhaustive. It points the finger to those regions where such a parallelism may be expected, and where it is in part demonstrated, it makes no pretense to establishing a rigid equation between the ethnological and the mythological data. The data will be tested and verified in the ensuing study: it is only through a detailed examination of each area that anything like a cumulative argument can be propounded with any hope of success. Tiie mythologies must be carefully dissected, whereby some such stratification in beliefs and practices may be estab- lished with greater or less certainty or probability, as the case may be. The proof will then be brought nearer, that for three (or possibly five) broad eras of humanity, the material, mental, and social data reveal such an astounding similarity and dis- tinctive coloring, that some genetic unity in the past will seem to be postu- lated. INTRODUCTION LIX Application of the Form-Criterion In estimating the value of this system, the following points deserve to be noted, in so far as they concern its purely material aspect : — (1) The equations between time, race, industry, etc. are only approxi- mations. They do not pretend to be rigidly fixed, but admit of much over- lapping. (2) The migration of culture does not imply a migration of culture- "bearers." (3) The cultural items for any single region have no reference to their origination but rather to their dissemination. They simply mean that in this or that period this or that form of culture obtained the ascendancy. With these provisos we will now reconsider the scheme. What have the leading specialists to say on the subject? It is to be noted in the first place that none of the "convergence" school of writers excludes the idea of cultural "units", and even the idea of whole- sale borrowing in this or that particular instance.^ But more than this, the general tone of criticism, though often reserved, is on the whole decidedly in favor of transmission-possibilities, exception being taken only to smaller details, which in the first effort to master such an enormous area, are naturally difficult to verify in all their complexity. Roland B. Dixon, in a monograph, "The Independenge of the Culture of the American Indian," ^ handles the Asiatic theory somewhat roughly as "in no sense demonstrated". At the same time he gives Dr. Graebner the credit of having called attention to some striking parallelisms between American and Oceanic culture, viz: — "the true plank-canoe, the use of a masticatory with lime, head-hunting and associated skull-cults, the blow- gun, the throwing-stick, the hammock and perhaps the institution of the men's house and certain peculiar masked dances and forms of masks in use in Papuan Melanesia and in America only in parts of Brazil." (But what about the Ghost-Dance in the far North-West?) Elsewhere he puts the "historical" on the same level with the "evolutionary" school: — "We have, it is hoped, left behind us the period of vague and futile theorising, without facts or with too few facts, but there are still many who believe that evolution is the master-key which will unlock all doors, and that by the amassing of more or less heterogeneous and unrelated facts from all over the world a continuous development through definite stages of culture may everywhere be shown. The partisans of independent development iComp. Anthropos, VI. (1912) pp. 1010-1036. Also K. Weule, Kultur der Kulturlosen, (supra) pp. 11-30. ('Ethnographische Parallelen') esp. p. 16. where the author, following Andree, admits a cultural borrowing "within the enclosed province", though he is otherwise non-committal, and leaves the question an open one. -In "Science", vol. XXXV. (1912) pp. 46-55. Professor Dixon is on the whole the most cautious writer on this subject, and is open to conviction. LX REHISTORIC RELIGION Application' of the Form-Criterion based on the theory of the psychological unity of the human mind, are set over against tliose who believe in the "complexity" of cultures, and tiie possibihly that by analysis and comparison their historic relationships may be determined, and who would explain similarities in culture between widely separated peoples on this basis or on that of convergent evolution." Dixon therefore clearly recognises "definite stages of culture", with or without "historical relationships".' R. H. Lowie, in an article "On the Principle of Convergence in Ethnology",* draws a valuable distinction between the morpholog\' and the teleology of a culture. To prove identity of culture there must be not only identity of form but identity of purpose in the details of the culture. He argues that many of the identities are mere "analogies" and have differ- ent meanings under different conditions of origination. But he seems to overlook the principle that many of these analogies may become identities by serving exactly the same purpose, as for instance the different kinds of throwing-sticks, loin-cinctures, platform-graves, etc. and that where the form-criterion is weak, the teleological criterion is by comparison strong, so strong in fact as to produce a "unity" of culture. Lovvie's ideas, though suggestive, are too rigid and one-sided to be likely to triumph. His analysis has revealed a strong parallelism and has failed to disprove an historical connexion." As against the hesitating attitude of American writers, the bold stand taken by Prof. Nordenskjold, — one of the greatest Americanists of the day, — comes as a welcome surprise. He says: "Without accepting the classification of Mr. Graebner, I believe that it is impossible to deny that we have, especially in South America, different elements of civilisation, which without any doubt have come from Asia and Melanesia. We have, for instance, the 'Sling-Bow' whose singular Asiatic-American distribu- tion is well known. Is it possible that such a complicated instrumnnt could have been invented independently in .\sia and .\merica? I hardly think so. We have also the Blow-pipe, the big Alarm-drum, the Pan-fiule (or Mouth-organ), the star-headed Bludgeon or 'Morning-star' Club, the 'Ikattic' Tattooing-process, the Rope- or Suspension-Bridge, etc. — all of which we may find in Asia, Melanesia, and America." * n is interesting to note in this connexion that Prof. W. H. Holmes, of the U. S. National Museum, has recently given utterance to a similar pos- sibility:— 'Criticism in Anthropos, VII. (1912), pp. 505-506. * In the Journal of American Folk- lore, Vol. XXV (1912) pp. 24-42. 'Criticism in Anthropos VII. (1912). pp. 1061-1062. " Erland Nordcnskjiild, Une Contribution a la Connaissancc dc I'AnthropoReographie de I'Amrrique, in Journalc de la Socictc des Amcricanistes de Paris, (Paris, 1912), Tome IX, pp. 24f. See also Anthrop. VI. (1911), pp. 1018(f. for opinions of Franz Boas and W. H, Rivers on the same subject. INTRODUCTION LXI Application op the Form-Criterion Prof. Holmes takes the following suppositional case: — "The student examining certain collections of primitive antiquities discovers that a particular form of chipped flint knife-blade occurs in America and also in the Old World, and explains the occurrence by the oft-observed fact that with a given state of culture, given needs, and given materials, men of all races reach kindred results. When, however, he observes that the blade of the knife in each case is hooked at the end, keen and highly specialised, he wonders how such correspondence could occur. Pressing his inves- tigation further, he discovers on the two continents other knife-blades of chipped flint with curved and keen point and identical specialisation to facilitate hafting, and a further identical elaboration for purposes of embellishment, and he begins to inquire whether the people concerned in the making of these two groups of artifacts are not related or have not in some way come in close contact. His interest is intensified when he observes that the groups of closely identical blades occur in two trans- oceanic areas at points of nearest approach, and also not in any case in more remote localities on the respective continents, and he is astonished to discover further that the two areas involved are connected by oceanic currents and trade winds by means of which sea-going craft could make the ocean voyage from continent to continent with comparative ease. Later he finds that other objects of handicraft belonging to these adjacent areas have similar correspondences, and his previous impressions are decidedly strengthened. When going more deeply into the investigation, he learns that similar phenomena occur elsewhere, that in numerous localities on the shores of the one continent the culture traces have close similarities to those of the adjacent transoceanic areas, and no such resemblances elsewhere, and he concludes without hesitation, and con- cludes safely, that contact of peoples and transfer of transoceanic cultures have taken place, not only at one but at many points".' This is only an ideal case, but Prof. Holmes then mentions the peculiar forms of axes, adzes, gouges, bannerstones, ceramics, pyramid-temples, etc. which he compares with Old-World models, and though he does not handle the question of stratified culture, he does not exclude a possible migration of "members of the White, the Polynesian, and perhaps even the Black races", — a strong admission, though it falls short of culture-cycles as such.* These quotations will be sufficient to show that "transmission" is begin- ning to be talked about, that it is attracting the attention of high author- ities. 'W. H. Holmes, in the American Anthropologist, Vol. XIV, No. 1. (Jan-March. 1912). Reprint, p. 33-34. « Ibid. p. 36. For Pleistocene connexions, see articles by Dall, Gidley, Clark; for Neolithic connexions those by Hough, Hagar, et al. in the same number. LXII PREHISTORIC RELIGION Application- of the Form-Criterion This is brouglit out with unhesitating force in a very recent pubHca- tion of Prof. Gudmund Hatt, tiie Danish expert of Copenhagen. In liis analysis of the distribution of various types of arctic footwear, etc. he finds it difTicull to believe that this can be explained without transmission. "Some ethnologists like to imagine local and independent origins for cultural phenomena. Others have a natural dislike for independent origins and prefer to search for cultural centers and the ways and roads of cul- tural transmission. The present writer belongs to the latter class. This may perhaps to some extent be a matter of personal taste. Cultural phe- nomena of striking similarity may develop independently in different areas. But when we find a certain cultural element distributed over a con- tinuous area, we have a right and the obligation to search for a center of origin. 11 is and always has been much easier to borrow an idea from one's neighbors than to originate a new idea, and transmission of cultural elements, uhich in all ages has taken place in a great manij different ways, is and has been one of the greatest promoters of cultural development".' Applying this to the Asiatic-American province, he says: — "My study of arctic clothing, the results of which have been published in my book Arktiske Skinddragter, has strengthened the opinion that Nor- thern Asia has been the scene of a great development of clothing types." 1. Clothing developed from the poncho type. 2. Clothing developed from the loose mantle (originally a simple deerskin). 3. Trousers developed from leggings (with triangular genital cloth). 4. Trousers developed from breechdoth (passing between the legs). 5. Boots and shoes developed from stocking and sandal ("sandal- boots"). 6. Moccasins and boots developed from moccasins ("moccasin- boots"). The author then distinguishes two large cultural iraves, which in pre- historic times swept over the norlliern regions. The first he calls tlie "Coast"- or "Eskimo-culture", which was without snow-shoes, the sec- ond the "Inland"- or "Tungusic-culture", extending from Lapland to Labrador, and which brought with it that most valuable possession of arctic races. The conical lodge and the birch-bark canoe are also men- tioned in this connexion as well as the reindeer nomadism, but these are evidently far more ancient than the writer would seem to imply, though they may have reached northern Asia at a comparatively late epoch. In any case, it is noteworthy tiiat one of our greatest authorities on pre- historic footwear should be tracing our highest arctic culture to two independent waves originating in .\sia. » Gudmund Hatt, Moccasins and their relation to arctic footwear, Memoirs of the Am. Anthropol. Assoc. Vol. III. No. 3 (July-Scpt. 1916) p. 246ff. INTRODUCTION LXIII Parallelism with the Mental Development Among English writers the idea of a mental parallelism is for the first time prominently defended by Dr. W. H. Rivers, who in a lecture delivered before the British Association for the Advancement of Science calls atten- tion to "The Ethnological Analysis of Culture" as a new field of research.'" He says "It was through the combined study of social forms and of lan- guage that I was led to see that the change I had traced (between different systems of blood-relation) was not a spontaneous evolution, but one which had taken place under the influence of a blending of peoples. The com- bined morphological and linguistic study of systems of relationship has led me to recognise that a definite course of social development had taken place in an aboriginal society under the influence of an immigrant people". . . . "Further study made it clear that those I have called the immigrant people, though possessing these features in common, (totemism, class- system), had reached Melanesia at different times and with decided differ- ences of culture".^' "In recent speculation the idea of mmm is coming to be regarded as having been the basis of religious ideas and practice, preceding animism as the earliest form of religion. ... If I am right in my analysis of Oceanic culture, the Melanesian concept of inana is not a suitable basis for these speculations. It is certain that the word mana belongs to the culture of the immigrants into Melanesia, and not to that of the aborigines.'^ . . . The evidence certainly does not support the view that the concept of mana is more primitive than animism, for the immigrants were already in a very advanced stage of animistic religion, a cult of the dead being certainly one of the most definite of their religious institutions"." Mana and animism are therefore looked upon as concomitant and later develop- ments in religious history. "I have tried to indicate that evolutionary speculation can have no firm basis unless there has been a previous analysis of cultures and civilisa- tions now spread over the earth's surface. Without such an analysis it is impossible to say ivhether an institution or belief possessed by a people who seem simple and primitive may not really be the product of a relatively advanced culture forming but one element of a complexity which at first sight seems simple and homogeneous".^* This is the first estimate as far as I know (in English) of the religious value of the Kulturkreis, totemism and animism being regarded as dis- tinctly later phenomena, and this purely from the ethnological or cultural data.'' '"W. H. Rivers, The Ethnological Analysis of Culture, in "Science" Vol. XXXIV, (1911) pp. 385-397. ^ Ibid. p. 389. i= Ibid. p. 390. " jbid. p. 390. ' Mb. p. 392. i' Comp. Elliot Smith, The Evolution of Man, (Smiths. Rep. 1912-13. p. 553-554), Rev. John M. Cooper, DD., The Higher Culture of Early Man (Eccles. Review, Sept. 1914,) pp. 259-283 (an able article). LXIV PREHISTORIC RELIGION Parallexism with the Mental Development Still more clear is the voice of Dr. F. Boas, admittedly one of the great- est authorities on North-American folk-lore and comparative mythology' : — "Our considerations make it probable that the wide differences between the manifestations of the human mind in various stages of culture may be due almost entirely to the form of individual experience, which is determined by the geographical and social environment of the mdiiidual. It would seem that, in different races, the organisation of the mind is on the whole alike, and that the varieties of mind in different races do not exceed, perhaps not even reach, the amount of normal individual variation in each race. It has been indicated that, notwithstanding this similarity in the form of individual mental processes, the expression of mental activity of a community tends to show a characteristic historic develop- ment. From a comparative study of these changes among the races of man is derived our theory of the general development of hwnan culture. But the development of culture must not be confounded with the develop- ment of 7nind. Culture is an expression of the achievements of the mind, and shows the cumulative effects of the activities of many minds. But it is not an expression of the organisation of the minds constituting the community, whicli may in no way difTer from the minds of a community occupying a much more advanced stage of culture"." Boas thus empha- sises the psychological unity of the human race, while he admits that culture is an index of its collective manifestation; implying a collective progress, a "unified" development. Speaking of its expression in terms of a dominant mytholog)', he says : — "Perhaps the objection may be raised to my argument, that ihe similar- ities of mythologies are not only due to borrowing, but also to the fact that under similar conditions which prevail in a limited area, the human mind creates similar products. While there is a certain truth in this argument so far as elementary forms of human thought are concerned, it seems quite incredible that the same complex theory should originate twice in a limited territory. The very complexity of the tales and their gradual dwindling down to which I have referred above, cannot possibly be explained by any other method than that of dissemination. Wherever geographical continuity of the area of distribution of a complex ethnic phenomenon is found, the laws of probability exclude the theory that in this continuous area the complex phenomenon has arisen independently in various places, but compels us to assume that in its present complex form its distribution is due to dissemination, while its composing elements may have arisen here or there"." "Journal of American Folk-lore, Vol. XIV p. 11. "Ibidem. Vol. IX. p. 1-11. INTRODUCTION LXV Parallelism with the Mental Development Coming to the native North American mythology and its relation to the Old World groups, the same author makes the following characteristic summary : — "These considerations lead me to the following conclusions, upon which I desire to lay stress The analysis of one definite mythology of North America shows that in it are embodied elements from all over the con- tinent, the greater number belonging to neighboring districts, while many others belong to distant areas, or, in other words, that dissemination of tales has taken place all over the continent. In most cases we can dis- cover the channels through which the tale flowed, and we recognise that in each and every mythology of North America we must expect to find numerous foreign elements. And this leads to the conclusion that similar- ities of culture on our continent are always more likely due to diffusion than to independent development. When we turn to the Old World, we know that there also diffusion has taken place through the whole area, from Western Europe to the islands of Japan, and from Indonesia to Siberia, and to Northern and Eastern Africa. In the light of the similar- ities of inventions and myths, we must even extend this area along the Northern Pacific coast of America as far south as Columbia River. These are facts that cannot be disputed".^' (The italics are ours). From the greatest specialist on South-American mythology we are now assured that these similarities do not stop here, but extend far into the Cordilleran region, the southern continent being by no means isolated. "It may be looked upon as a certain proposition", says Paul Ehren- reich, "that the legends of both halves of the New World are organically interrelated. A whole number of South-American myths, legends, and fairy-tales are to be looked upon as the relics of a very ancient layer of tradition covering the whole of the New World. On the other hand, a younger peregrination and infiltration of mythical elements and motives, a corresponding uniformity of combinations, and even a complete set of well-rounded hero-stories, are demonstrably of northern, probably of pacific coast, origin, and can be traced at least in part into the Eastern Hemisphere. Old-World mythology, — this may be affirmed with cer- tainty— , is much more copiously represented in America than has been heretofore supposed. This is not confined to the north-western region, which forms almost a mythological province with certain portions of Eastern Asia, but stretches with its numerous otTshoots far into the South- American region"." •^Journal of American Folk-lore, Vol. IX, p. 1-11. Ibidem, p. 10. These quotations may also be found in W. I. Thomas, Source-Book, (Chicago, 1912), pp. 155, 308, 313. '^ P. Ehrenreich, Siidamerikanische Mythologie (1905), p, 97-98. Comp. idem, p. 100, for ural- altaic and East-Indian connexions. LXVI PREHISTORIC RELIGION Parallelism with the Mental Develupment Still more recently Prof. G. Elliot Smith, of Manchester University, England, has expressed his opinion in such clear and forcible language that we cannot help feeling there must be something back of the scheme. In a current article in "Science" he voices his conviction that "those whose minds are still sulTiciently alert to be no longer blinded by the out- worn dogmas of Bastian and Tylor will be led to accept the views which I have sketched as the only possible interpretation of the facts" — "The writings of Graebner, Frobenius, Ankermann, Foy, Schmidt, and Montadon, were quite unknown to me when my conclusions were first formulated; their views and mine have nothing in common except that both repudiate the speculations and the antiquated psychology which for far too long have been permitted to hide the truth". Here are some of his "facts": — "We are now sufficiently acquainted with the earliest literatures of Eg>-pt, Babylonia, and India, to know that the association of the eagle or hawk with all tiiese varied phenomena was not due to the reasons Mr. Brinfon gives, — (natural instinct). The mingling of eagle-people with sun-people and the association of the latter with serpent-people and with the worshippers of Osiris (the controller of water) was the beginning of the cmnplex blending of the symbol of the sun, the serpent, the eagle, and the water. In the Babylonian thunder-bird further attributes were added, and others again in India, the far East, and America". "The Ainerican thunder-bird and the winged snake with deer's antlers certainly came from the Old World". "We can trace the association of the deer with control of the waters from Babylonia along the whole Asiatic littoral, watching the symbolism gradually increase in richness and complexity as, in its passage from west to east, it blends with a variety of other elements, until eventually it emerges in the Chinese dragon, which it sup- plies with antlers". "In the light of the complex history and the scores of wholly chance circumstances tiiat contributed to the making up of this Asiatic wonder-beast, is it at all credible that the .Mgonkin and Iroquois serpent with wings and deer's horns is an independent invention?" He concludes by citing Prof. Hopkins as having "proved up to the hilt" the Asiatic, and more especially the Indian, derivation of many of the religious ideas of the American Iroquois, and believes that "in the light of our present knowledge it is now possible to refer to its original source the germ of a very large number of elements in the pre-Columbian civilisation of America".^" '" G. Elliot Smith, The Origin of the Pre-Columbian Civilisation in America, (Science, Vol. XV. March, 1917), p. 241ff. INTRODUCTION LXVII Parallelism with the Mental Development As all these writers are dealing with comparatively advanced, stone- or bronze-age peoples, — whether in Asia, Melanesia, or America — , it will stand to reason that if a convergence of material and mental phenomena be admitted for the earliest ages of man, as is strikingly illustrated by the earliest phenomena of negrito culture, such a convergence, if not a genetic interdependence, must, in view of the above testimonies, be also admitted for the higher peoples, and thus the idea of broad units of culture, extend- ing in almost unbroken continuity from the earliest times is, to say the least, powerfully suggested, — admitted even by the supposed advocates of spontaneous development. Combined evidence for a "stratified" development. We are now in position to appreciate this subject in its proper per- spective. It is true that the above extracts are only broad statements, show- ing the general homogeneity and interdependence of cultural or myth- ological phenomena over certain wide areas. They do not of themselves demonstrate the further claim that this development has taken place in certain well-defined and progressive periods. If now we turn to the detailed evidence as given in the preceding summary, we shall find I think that the combined material is sufficienthj iveighty and sufficiently well- tested to merit the serious consideration of a scientific mind. What was there shown to be solidly evidenced, — whether from the archaeological, eth- nological, or mythological point of view — , is now seen tp be endorsed in its main outlines by the voice of authorities, who are not as yet identified with any definite "scheme" of development, but who see in its general tendencies a movement in the right direction, and whose more specific utterances appear to lend it a powerful corroboration. If Boas and Norden- skjold make out such a strong case for a mythological or cultural "prov- ince" in their respective departments, if Ehrenreich is prepared to stake his reputation on certain successive waves of Asiatic and Pan- American traditions binding together whole continents in a common inheritance of folk-lore, it is surely time to turn to the period-scheme with renewed zest, and to see how beautifully these conclusions accord with what culture-specialists by profession have discovered by more detailed examination. These opinions strongly corroborate the Period-system, of this there can be no doubt, and its further confirmation must, as I have said, be sought in the continual application of the schedule to definite and detailed instances, from which its importance and its truth may be the more completely tested. LXVIII PREHISTORIC RELIGION Preliminary Conclusions As to my own position in the matter, I wish to say once and for all, that I do not regard the above evidence as sufTiciently exhaustive in all its parts to be able to serve as the only foundation upon which the stately structure of a religious system is to be reared. Even if it be allowed, as indeed it must, that most of the ethnological data are substantially accurate, their higher interpretation in terms of a corresponding myth- ologj- is not always beyond criticism, and we cannot always be sure that a given instrument, such as the 'bull-roarer', has always served the same magical purpose and no other, (Compare the modern 'whirly-gig' or 'buzzing'-(oy). Then again it is risky in the present slate of our knowledge to speak of all culture as having been derived from Asia, even if we include Eurasia and Australasia. Though the evidence points strongly in this direction, the time has not yet come to speak with certainty of 'Auslro- Asiatic waves of inlluonce' as excluding all native or autochthonous devel- opments. The Arctic (and Antarctic) problem is one that is still to be worked out in many of its details, and may yet modify a universal theory of transmission. These and other uncertainties have made me hesitate to give full sanction to a theory which is still dividing the attention of the learned world, but whicii will require many years of patient labor and investigation to be verified in all its details, that is, as a rigid transmission- system. On the other hand, it would be foolish not to recognise the important services that the system may render to the religious student in all those matters which seem to be well-established. These are: — (1) The extreme simplicity of the primaeval area (a) in the nomadic manner of life, (b) in the rudimentary arts and industries, (c) in the primitive social state (d) in the general absence of totemism and of "nature-atnnily" theories (e) in the personal and anthropomorphic myth- ology which makes man (and God?) the first and most direct object of apprehension, (see above pp. V-XV. p. XLIII). (2) The intrusion of a later and far more complicated culture in which all these elements have become dominated by a totemic, cosmic, or astral mythology, — though the fundamental features of (1) are still to be traced. (3) The existence of a slill later and strongly animistic belt, in which the primitive elements re-appear as deities, but without the totemic relation. As a broad system, therefore, the above schedule may be safely fol- lowed, (even down to the transitional stages), but its complete endorse- ment can only be attained by a detailed examination of each individual area."' 2' Further opinions on this subject in "Mitteilungen der .\nthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien" Vol. 42 (1912) pp. (102-125) Discussion by leading experts. INTRODUCTION LXIX APPLICATION From these conclusions it is evident that the culture-notion admits of valuable applications. Where in former times people saw nothing but the casual and the haphazard, there now reigns the dominion of law, an orderly succession of different social and mental complexities which cor- respond to different "ages" or "stages" of belief. To take but one illus- tration,— the Australian Continent. Until recently there has been no dis- tinction made between North, South, East, or West, except on the a priori grounds that this or that social system must have been the more primitive one. The whole continent was looked upon as a homogeneous unit, with- out any differentiations either as to physique, language, weapons, imple- ments, industries, and other details. With the help of a more powerful method, it is now possible to separate at least five different layers or epochs of culture with nearly the same precision as that with which the geologist discovers layers or stratifications in the earth's crust. Thus, for instance : — (1) There is a Tasmanian under-current, which is 'archaic' or nearly so. This forms the basis of a large portion of the South-Eastern maritime belt. (2) There is a 'Boomerang' -layer, which has been pushed into the far South-East and in which magic and a lunar mythology become promi- nent. (3) There is the Totem-culture, which, advancing from the North- west, has taken possession of the center, and given a solar turn to the preceding. (4) The Two-Class or 'Phratraic' culture has invaded the continent from the North-East, advanced to the center, and driven the former into the background; (5) and finally there is a Neolithic wave, which, originating (vaguely) in Eurasia has travelled via India and Indonesia into Oceania, but has affected the continent chiefly on the Northern and Eastern border, though its influence can be felt in other sections (Mana, strong Animism). Now the value of these generalisations is apparent. With their help it is possible to dissect any given mythology into its component parts, and to determine the earlier and the later elements of the mythology with some degree of accuracy. It is true, of course, that these elements are sometimes confused and difficult to disentangle, but when we have ninety-nine per- cent of totemism in one area to only one percent in the other, it will stand to reason that the elements that make up the totemistic complex, — such as sun, moon, stars, plants, animals, in their vital relation to man, — must be first removed in order to reveal the pre-totemic mythology in all its purity. In this way many of the Australian areas can be successfully "expurgated." LXX PREHISTORIC RELIGION In the following study it is therefore taken for granted that the culture- scheme above indicated is now appreciated at its proper value. This does not mean that the question of cultural origins or mythological propaga- tion is thereby settled. Quite the contrary. It simply adirms that there is good evidence to show that the items enumerated under each section are sufficiently well-tested to serve, broadly speaking, as the basis for a classi- fication, in which the elements of time, race, industry, and higher beliefs form as it were a "unity", whether by convergence or by actual physical transmission. That this is really the case can of course only be brought to a positive proof by a far wider analysis than the one we have just attempted. It is only through repeated applications and verifications in individual cases that a proposed "system" passes over into a demonstrated fact. This was the method by which astronomers discovered the "Ring" of 256 (?) asteroids, where before they suspected nothing but an acci- dental display of meteoric phenomena. It is time alone that can bring forth complete certainties, whether in the field of cosmologj- or of sociology. The treatment is as follows: — The material is arranged according to theological headings, — God, Creation, Paradise, etc. — and is handled under a double aspect, — {[) Direct Analysis: — Here are given the statistics for each area, with the chief points of criticism and their suggested solutions, (very briefiy). Then (2) Combined or Comparative Analysis: — (a) of Antiquity, (of the areas examined), (b) of Sources, (native or imported), (c) of Interpretation, (by combination of sources), — followed by criticism and counter-criticism of recent authors, and conclusion. It has been found more serviceable to separate the direct from the comparative analysis for the simple reason that it is quite impossible to estimate this problem in its true proportions without a clear understanding (1) of Iho precise "state of the question" for each area, (2) of the identities, similarities, and inter- dependencies of religious ideas, which can only be discovered by a detailed comparison and collation of all the sources and their location in a definite "system" of primitive belief. In this manner it is hoped that the treatment will gain in clearness and focus the attention of the student upon the main point at issue; — the accumulation of evidence for the social and religious solidarity of man during tiie earliest epoch of his evolution that is at present known to us. The other alternative, — that of bringing the entire religious system before the reader in a single glance, offers too much material to be easily digested. The individual picture will be given first, tlie universal picture will be reserved for our concluding chapter. INTRODUCTION LXXI SUMMARY The main results of this introductory survey are therefore as follows- (1) Primitive man belongs to the torrid zone, and more especially to the^Oceanic regions of the Old World. Isolated survivals may exist else- (2) The combined evidence of the biological, ethnological,^ and sociological data establishes a strong presumption, that the proto- rnelanoid^oi the far East are in many respects the nearest approach to the primitive type. i^i ,Pi^ ™^^"' "'^* *^'^ ^^^^ primitive was probably a composite - an i(ka fornix, from which the three main divisions of humanity have issued, leaving the existing sub-forms {negrito, vedda., proto-malay) as its germinal vestiges. ^ (4) We are therefore justified in looking to the latter as the earliest existing representatives of the race;-as the "protomorphic" group. _ (5) On no account can the primitive type be derived from any exist- ing anthropoids, as the morphological traits of these peoples show a strik- ing divergence from any of the simian types, as well as an equally strong convergence into an unknown type, which cannot now be reconstructed browZnn '^''^' however, points to a relatively symmetrical, high- (6) The mentality of primitives is far higher than w*s formerly sus- pected. There is no essential difference between man recent, glacial or pre-glacial, nor is there a shred of evidence for the "hojno alalus'' or speechless man. In every case we have a "homo sapiens" endowed with different degrees of mental facility, depending upon the complexity of his needs and environment. In this respect the above races compare favor- ably with the higher peoples. (7) The morality of primitives has recently been placed in a far more favorable light. There is considerable evidence to prove that the institu- tion of monogamy is very generally recognised by the lowest races of man that are known to us. Among the East-Indian primitives this is especially the case. Furthermore, there is a very general absence, or at least a rarity of gross crime, whether as theft, murder, infanticide, cannibalism or human sacrifice. On the contrary, the lessons of honesty, charity kindli- ness and generosity are strongly inculcated from the tenderest years and social and domestic relations reveal a simple, but attractive picture. (8) These statistics are sufpcient to show that the supposed incapacity of primitive man to be the recipient or the bearer of a relatively high order of theological truth is ipso facto an untenablet proposition. It is further contradicted by the reports from the missionary field, which show that the despised primitive is as receptive of supernatural doctrines and as retentive of them, as any of his more favored or "civilised" brethren. LXXII PREHISTORIC RELIGION SUMMARY (9) In the analysis of any given mythology, however, it is necessary to distinguish the original from the imported elements. (10) This can only be accomplished by an ethnological and myth- ological analysis of culture, from which it may be shown that certain groups of ideas go hand in hand with certain definite stages of culture, and are characteristic of certain definite periods of human development. (H) A preliminary analysis of three wide epochs of humanity has revealed the fact that the institution known as tolemism is confined to a certain group of races, which are higher than any of the above primitives, and lower than the full neolithic and civilised races of antiquity. (12) A further investigation has disclosed with some probability the existence of two intermediate layers, in which magic and spiritism respec- tively claim an important element in the religious belief. (13) // therefore magic and totemism, spiritism and animism, can be proved to be absent from the earliest belt, it will stand to reason that they are all later developments in religious history, and by a similar process of exclusion it may be proved that they follow one another in the order indicated, or at least are characteristic of their respective cultures. (14) Such a proof has been roughly outlined in the above analysis, but it presents the results of professional researcii, rather than the research itself. It is a broad summary of what has already been discovered. (15) Detailed proof will be found in the following study, in which each of the above statements will be made good by a rigid examination of the cultural and mythological data for each successive or typical region. (16) But without a preliminary schedule it is quite impossible to understand the bearings of this subject on the religious problem as such. (17) In its broader tendencies the system is receiving the support of many notable experts, and is attracting the attention of all scholars. (18) Independently of all theories, however, the facts will be able to speak for themselves, and should therefore merit our primary attention. I have thought it useful to summarise once more the main points of our present contention, in order that the exact position of the stcUus quaes- tionis may the more easily be recognised. We will now proceed to the examination of tlie religious material as such, — beginning with the lowest aborigines of Oceania, and concluding with the highest culture-peoples of North and South America. PREHISTORIC RELIGION CHAPTER THE FIRST DE DEO UNO The Savage idea of a Supreme Being in its origin and development — Direct Analysis — THE OLDEST SYMBOL OF THE HUMAN RACE THE ALL-FATHER SIGN AS BECONSTBCCTED FROM THE EABLrEST EXISTING PICTOORAPHS AND COMBINED WITH ATTESTED LIGHT- AND 8PIRIT-ST3IBOL8 AND WITH THE CREATION- OR BENE- DICTION-SIGNS. HATEKIALS, SOIRCES AND PICTOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATIONS IN THE FOLLOWING PLATES, AND CO.MPABE TH. DANZEL, DIE ANFANOE DER SCHRITT (LEIPZIG, 1910) PI. I-XII. J. ASHTON, THE HISTORY OF THE CROSS (LONDON, 18»e). T. WILSON, THE SWASTIKA (WASinNGTON, 1894). W. HOFFMAN, THE BEGINNINGS OF WRITING (NEW YORK, 1898) P. 11« FF. EVOLU -ri ON (mopfman) GOD 1 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (A, 1) KARI — Peninsular Region, Malakka. Semang Negrito, Prov. of Perak There is a deity worshipped by the aborigines of Malakka who seems to possess the qualities of a supreme Being. His name is Kari, (Thunder), and is described by the natives in the following terms : — ' He is of supernatural size and of fiery breath, but is now invisible. He has always existed, even before the creation. He knows all things, at least all things that concern man. He can do all things. His will is irresistible. He has made all things, excepting the earth and the body of man. These were made by Pie, a subordinate being or demiurge. He is angered by the commission of sin, but shows pity for' man, and is moved by the plead- ings of Pie on man's behalf. He is the supreme Judge of souls and the Master of life and death. He requires at times a sacrifice of blood, with a definite ritual, — human blood-aspersion — , accompanied by the burning of incense, (benzoine), and the formula, — "Blood! I throw you up to Heaven!" Three questions suggest themselves with regard to these data: — (1) Are the Semang the real aborigines of the land? (2) Can the testimony of the reporters be trusted? Is not the wording rather advanced and somewhat suggestive of foreign influence? (3) May not the supreme figure be a glorified hero, a mythological ancestor? Let us consider these points one by one. (1) The racial antiquity of the negritos in general has already been vindicated in the preceding pages. In the present instance there are spe- cial reasons for believing that the Semang are among the earliest inhabit- ants of Malakka. In the first place, they inhabit the interior of the country, and are surrounded by taller and more powerful races, — Malayan, Indone- sian, etc. — which shows that they were not the invaders but the invaded, the true aborigines of the land. Then again the three peninsular races form three gradations of culture, in which the Semang occupy the lowest rung of the ladder. None of these peoples make celts, but are living in an age of wood, bone, and bamboo.^ All their industries and habits of life are on the same primitive level of crudeness, and their language cannot be iden- tified with any known dialect, but is rather a decrepid survival of the aboriginal Ocean-tongue, spoken long before the Malayans and other races had invaded the archipelago.^ All this shows that we are dealing with an aboriginal people. ' Points taken from W. W. Skeat, Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula, (London, 1906), Vol. II. pp. 177-178, 199-205, founded partly on H. Vaughan-Stevens, Materialien ztir Kenntniss der wilden Stamme auf der Halbinsel Malakka. (Berlin, 1894), Vol. III. pp. 107-109, 117, 132ff. Cf. R. Martin, Die Inlandstamme der Malaischen Halbinsel, (Jena. 1905) pp. 932-987. W. Schmidt, Pygmienvolker (Stuttgart, 1910), p. 219ff. = Skeat, 1. c, I, 53-54, 242-254, 494-496. ^ Skeat, II. p. 379ff. 2 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (2) With regard to the sources, the testimony of Vaughan-Stevens is now generally accepted. The fact that most of his details have been veri- fied,—blood-charms, burial-bamboos, wind-spirits, and much mythological matter, — "establishes", in the words of Skeat, "a presumption in favor c? his general accuracy".* This is further strengthened by the fact that in the neighboring Andaman Islands a very similar deity has been inde- pendently verified by Man and Portman, and the picture of a "Thunder- God" "of fiery breath, surrounded by Wind- or Sky-spirits is rather too specific, with all its details, to have been arbitrarily invented. It is a forcible reminder of the Thunder-Gods of Soulh-East Australia and other primitive regions, where we have abundant evidence for its authenticity. It may therefore be presumed in default of evidence to the contrary, that the sources are trustworthy. As to the native origin of the belief, we must remember that a striking similarity of belief among widely-separated aborigines points to a com- mon internal, indigenous source. But apart from this, an imported religion can hardly be admitted in the present instance for the following reasons : — First: — There are no traces of Hindoo or Western-Asiatic influences. Brahminism, with its strong metempsychosis-doctrine, finds little support among these simple people, much less the pantheism that accompanies it. The supreme Being is simply the Sky-Lord, who hurls His shafts in the thunder-storm, and to whom the soul returns at the hour of death." His Wind-spirits are the executioners of His will, not the high and mighty divinities of Western Asia, ever contending for supremacy, challenging His authority. Second: — There are no traces of Christian or Islamic influences. Needless to say, the absence of Christological notions excludes the former, while the worship of Allah, with its distinctive rites and ceremonies, has little in common with the simple invocation of Kari for protection from lightning. Could the Moslems have introduced this faith without intro- ducing some at least of the Moslem practices, more especially the general custom of circumcision? There is nothing exactly analogous to the human Blood-throwing of the Negritos among any of the civilised races of the Peninsula.* Fitially: — The name Kari cannot be derived from any known Malayan or Austroasiatic tongue, which shows that the name at least could not have been borrowed. The secrecy of the cult is also heavily against impor- tation.'' If then Kari is both pre-Islamic and pre-Brahministic in concept, and pre-Austro-asiatic in name, it is not too much to say that He is a native divinity. ' Skcat, II. 211. » Ibid. II. 209. • Ibid. II. 204. ' Schmidt, 1. c. 228-229. GOD 3 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM ^■J\ With regard to interpretation, the theory of a "glorified hero" is fhtTicult to maintain, for there is positively no ancestor-worship or cult of the dead. Moreover the qualities assigned to Him can hardly be applied to spirits or saints. "He knows all things. He has made all things, He can do all things. It is true that we have a possible ancestor, but more likelv a Mediator, in Pie. He helps to create, and is appeased by sacrifice ' There are also numerous Wind-, or SkY.spirHs,-Se7itiu, Chini, Tappern, Min- ang, etc. These, however, play a very subordinate role, they are all the servants of Kari, and to none, as far as we know, is a regular sacrifice olered. But as to magic and animism, spirit and ancestor-worship the following points should be considered in greater detail :— The magical combs and mystical bamboos serve as protections against disease. As such they might be interpreted as charms or amulets But the important point is, that although they serve the purpose of apparent safeguards," they are brought into close relation with Kan and Pie from whom in fact they derive all their efficacy. It is. through the divinity that n J^l^o^'" '' ^o^'^^^-'" This is more especially the case with the so- called Blood-Charm" in which human blood is drawn from the shin-bone mixed with a little water, and thrown in a bamboo-cylinder up to Heaven — with the exclamation:— "5/oorf./ / throw you up to Heaven! I draw blood, I draw curdled blood! Blood! I throw you up to the sun!", or words 1o that effect, the invocation being repeated each time that the liquid is thrown up, until all is finished." The purpose of this strange rite is to avert the thunderbolts of the Almighty, not merely to placate the "angry skies, as some have suggested. This is proved by the fact, that Kari the Thunder-God, has Himself instituted the rite, that He is its direct object The practice of throwing blood up to the skies", says Skeat, "is a Semang sacrifice addressed to Kari",'' and the moral and personal nature of this sacrifice is also attested by Vaughan-Stevens : "Kari Himself makes no use of the blood thus sacrificed, but is pacified by this sign of His children's repentance and ceases to hurl His thunderbolts, and continue His com- plaints of their misdeeds to their creator-demiurge. Pie, at least until they again give Him occasion to do so"." Thus the supposed "thunder-charm" IS in reality an atonement-sacrifice to the supreme divinity, a beautiful ceremony, and suggestive of some symbolic meaning. It shows that Heaven can only be regained by the shedding of blood, by a human "life"- sacrifice, though the ceremony is of course only mystical, strictly symbolic. This and the analogous practices connected with the "magic flower" are in fact among the earliest forms of the Sadaka at present known to us,— the offering of the most precious substances, solid or liquid, to the Creator. describe'dhv°^«;w V-4^ff ifii- 'J^'^-J^-- ^^' 212- 214, 217. lo See the Bamboo-patterns MKaS '" stf^^Ks""'" ifr m "^ThM"°^^ ''' ^'^"'- '^P' M^h-ban.boo. No. 4 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM In like manner the Birth- and Burial-bamboos are better described as "sacramentals" than as wonder-working charms. The former sanctifies the marriage-bond very much as a wedding-ring does among ourselves," while the latter conducts the dying soul directly to the judgment-seat of Kari?" This judgment-seat is vividly depicted in the famous Myth- Bamboo, No. 1. which, however crude in execution, brings out the supreme position of the Thunder-God in a manner that is quite unmis- takable.'» It shows that all these bamboos have an inner moral relation to a personal deity. If then the objection be raised that the alleged "divinity" is shrouded in magic, that there little personal worship connected with this belief, the answer is that the conclusion is altogether too premature, that it is not founded on a careful analysis of facts. If but few formal prayers have so far been authenticated, it is owing to our meagre knowledge as yet of the interior lives of these people, to their extreme reticence with regard to things sacred, and to the fact that they express their feelings and yearnings for the divine in actions rather than words, though informal cries for help and protection are attested in this or that instance. The above practices show clearly that Kari is worshipped, both by word and action, and this proves that He is a Person, not a mere force or nature-power. But if magic is practically nil, spirit- and ancestor-worship is still less in evidence. The medicine-man is still identified with the tribal chief, an early custom,'^ and he casts out not "demons" of disease, but the dis- ease itself, which shows that the idea of demoniacal possession is not yet fully present to the mind of these savages.'' Then again the practice of spirit-feeding is quite unknown, — there is no fear of any occult ancestor returning to life in the shape of a ghost, of requiring propitiation. Authorities are strong on this point. "The Semang religion shows remarkably few traces demon-worship, very little fear of ghosts, and still less of any sort of animistic beliefs"." Vaughan-Stevens declares in fact that they do not believe in ancestor-spirits at all, an opinion which is at least worth quoting.^" From these data it may be concluded that Ka7i is a transcendent Per- sonality, that "He possesses all the essential attributes of a Supreme Being".^' There is here a minimum of crime, no human life-sacrifice, and no cannibalism. Conjugal fidelity is strict, and the natives are in many respects "vastly superior to the races by whom they are likely to be absorbed". Though this is doubtless an exaggerated estimate, it will probably be admitted that in some of its more fundamental features the moral condition of the natives is not overdrawn." •« Skeat, 1. c. I. 458-459. " Ibid. I. 460. '« Ibid. I. 44S-454. >■ Ibid. II. 196. "Ibid. II. 200,229. "Ibid II. 181. »<> Ibid. II. 181. " Schmidt, 1. c. p. 225. " Skeat, 1. c. I. 524, and compare the extracts given above, p. XXXVIII. GOD 5 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM If further evidence be desired on this subject, we might call attention to a few points in the mythology and legends of the Malakkan Negritos which throw an interesting sidelight on the nature of these beliefs. The statement that Kari made all things is in itself a vague proposition unless some details are given as to how He made them, to what extent this action was a personal and direct process. Now, not only is Pie clearly a subordinate being, but Kari produces the entire universe by His word, as it is distinctly stated that He "commanded" Pie to complete the work." This takes place in successive periods, during which Sky and Wind-spirits, Heaven, Earth, and Underworld, are all pictured as the result of a divine action, symbolised by the powerful metaphor,— "His Breath"." Moreover He has prepared a Paradise for man, known as the "Island of Fruits" or the "Rising Land" where He stations the first human couple, Ayer and Tanah, meaning "Water" and "Earth", a suggestive nomenclature." Though Pie produces the body of ma.n— Kan inspires the soul of man directly,— "A'ari Himself gave them souls".^'' These grow on the Paradise- Tree, and are sent out by Him to the womb of the expectant mother in the form of the "Soul-Bird,"— here the Argus-Pheasant—, which bird is then reUgiously eaten by the mother as a sacred obligation." There are also distinct echoes of a state of primitive innocence and immortality, during which man offered up the first-fruits of the earth to His Creator, which we may regard as the earliest form of the Paradisaic Sacrifice,— ihe command to abstain from certain fruits,— the Palm, the Banana(?)— , during certain seasons, and this under penalty of death. The common Malakkan tradi- tion has it that originally men were destined to live forever,— "there was no pain or sickness there"—, but that through the growing wickedness and disobedience of man,— evidently connected in some way with the breach of a divine command,— Afari decreed their death, and it was only through the intercession of Pie, the "mediator", that the entire race was not extinguished.^^ "Let men die like the Banaim, and leave their offspring behind", runs the Mantra legend, and stories of a great Deluge are also in circulation.^^ Nevertheless there is still hope. At death each soul is brought before the judgment-seat of Kari, and, according to its merits, is cither condemned to a boiling lake, or admitted to the joys of Kari's Fruit- Paradise.'" These items make it more clear than ever that what we have here is not a loose bundle of nature-myths, but a pure theology, with a personal God in the center. It is the story of a heavenly Father, of an exacting Judge, even if the phantastic forms under which He appears are equally good evidence that we are here in presence of a simple-minded and strongly anthropo- morphic mythology. "Skeat, II. 211. "idem, II. 207, 212. 2' Idem, II. 207, 336. 2« Idem, II. 211. '-' Idem, II. 2I5ff. zs idem, II. 211, 292. " Idem, II. 336ff. 30 idem, II. 209. 6 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM As this is one of the earliest and possibly purest regions of Negrito culture,— being paralleled only by certain sections of Central Africa and possibly Tasmania,— it may not be amiss to call attention to the main points of this controversy in so far as they affect the question of Negrito beliefs in general, and of which this is a good average specimen. It will be seen that the main objection to the authenticity of these beliefs is that the races in question are not primitive, that their ideas are probably borrowed, and that, even if native, they fall short of being Iheistic, they are too much mixed up with magical and other obscure practices to be of any theological value. As to the first point,— enough evidence has surely been given to show that of all the known peoples these are the lowest and least developed exemplars of the human family and in this case they are unquestionably the aborigines of the land. As to a borrowing from outside sources, anything like a recent borrowing from high cultures is very generally ruled out,— there are no traces of any such influence,— though in some few cases the cast and color of the mythology, with a slightly higher grade of industry, may demand some contact with a more advanced wave of civilisation, but this only in extremely remote times. Such influences may conceivably affect the form and even the content of the legends, they may even obscure and obliterate the original picture,— but of this in the present instance there is hardly a sign. The Malakkan Negritos are among the least contaminated, and their mythology can be' left to stand as it is. It shows no traces of importation from any source other than that of the common Oceanic tradition, which we iiave every reason to believe embodies the most ancient and unadulterated tradition of the human race, — speaking of course relatively, as far as our present sources of knowledge can carry us. Finally, the picture presented by the supreme Divinity is anthropomorphic and undeniably childlike, but this is all in favor of llis personal character and His remote antiquity. Nay more, the supposed "magical" practices resolve themselves into the use of certain articles, (bamboos, etc.), which are believed to be sacred, and to protect the wearer from harm, not by their own hidden virtue, but by the fact that the Divinity has ordained them, that He alone operates through them. They are in a certain sense "sacramentals". Thus magic in the absolute sense can hardly be said to exist, and the absence of any animistic or spiritistic beliefs, makes the picture of a "Supreme Person," tower head and shoulders above all wind-spirits and demiurges, however sacred, — a transcendent Being. With this the social and ethical data are in striking accord. THE AGE OF BAMBOOS AND OF STRAIGHT-LINE PATTERNS FAC-SIMILE OF A "CHARM-TUBE" AS ISED BY THE ABORIOINES OF MAI-AKK.* AND FOIND IN SIMILAR FORM OVER LAROB SECnOMS OF THE EQIATORIAL BELT, \»1IEKE -f OR X IS FINDAMENTAL FOR M.\N OB SIPER-MAN (GOD). ANTU-TO-BRUWA-TO-AMTU X ABU — TA-T>ENG PLF-TO-KARI -TO-SNA SUAH-TA-TAE U TA-BUAV) CHAWA-TD AHTU- CH ARAWA ADI<--nJABANg-TO-AD>»i; L AvSA - ASAPA ~ ASAVl illll![nl!iilijfc^ TAMAH -BANGUN SITPOSED INTERPRETATION "THE FATHER ON HIGH— WITH HIH SKY- AND WTND-SPIRIT8— JIDGES MANKIND WITH THINDEB AND LIGHTNINCi— IN THE GARDEN OF FRMTS — 111.1. ED WITH WILD .\NIMAI.S — PROTECTED BY Gl .\RI)IAN SPIRITS— ANI> RISING IN SPLENDOR Ol T OF THE EASTERN SEA." SEE MYTH-BAMBOO NO. 1. SKE.\T-BLAODEN, PA Idem, II. 261, 256. " Idem, II. 235-240. '= Idem, I. pp. 527- 529, giving the combined evidence, also I. 501. II. 285. GOD 11 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (A, 3) TUHAN — The Mantra-Jakuns op Malakka — , Prov. op Selangor As the last of the pagan peninsular races the "savage Malays" of southern Malakka deserve at least a passing notice. Of their native divinity, — Tuhan di Bawah — , a few important facts may be gathered : — This being is a "Lord of the Underworld" and a creator of the earth and man. He seems to be omniscient and all-powerful, as he knows the actions of man and is capable of destroying him. He is guardian of human destiny and to some extent a divine judge. He has a son or demiurge, To Entah, to whom he has entrusted the care of the race. He has appointed certain sacrificial observances, chiefly against demons, among which the blood-throwing ceremony is still practiced among a section of the aborigines. A few remarks on the nature of these beliefs will be sufTicient. (1) The Jakuns are the earliest sleek-haired brachicephalic race that we know of. Together with the Semang-Sakai they belong to the lowest group of pygmoidals in existence, and are undoubtedly the fore-runners of the historic Malayan family. Their arts and industries, though con- siderably above the negrito average, are yet sufficiently undeveloped to merit the title of "pre-lithic", and their distinctive weapon is the bamboo- gun or "blowpipe", which they have distributed over large portions of the Indian archipelago. Thus they form the third member of the aboriginal group, and should be judged accordingly.^ This makes a borrowing of religious ideas on the face of it unlikely, and is out of harmony with the tone of the mythology, which shows many more analogies with the preceding than with the civilised Islamic system. "Tuhan di Bawah has made the earth, and lives beneath it (sic). He dwells beneath the land of Nayek and by his power supports all above him. He is the Father of Ayer and Tanah, the parents of the race, who came from a place called 'Rising Land' in the sky, which sky was 'originally very near low and near to the earth'. Here there was no death but an abun- dance of fruits, and Tuhan, seeing that mankind multiplied too rapidly (through eating the fruit), turned half of them into trees. The pleadings of Tu Entah "The Lord knows who" are of no avail, — "Let men die like the banana" — is Tuhan's verdict. In the sequel To Entah arranges the climate, fixes the divisions of time, makes the earth habitable, and saves the race from the deluge. At death the soul is judged by Tuhan, and the good are carried to Tuhan's Fruit-Island.^. •Skeat, op. cit. I. 66, 304ff. = Idem, II. 290-376, esp. 319-348 (on the Mantra), founded partly on D. F. Hervey, The Mantra Traditions, J. R. A. S. No. 10, p. 189ff. & H. Borie, Notice sur les Mantras, transl. by P. Bourien. in Transactions of Ethnological Soc'-'— of London, vol. III. p. 72fr. 12 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM In the parallel tradition of the Benua, it is Pirman (Master), who made the world and everything that is visible. He dwells in the sky and is himself invisible, and can only be approached through the mediumship of Jewa-Jewa. All spirits derive their power from Ilim.^ Among the Besisi, again, it is Tuhan to whom they pray to rcleas3 their moon-ancestors from Island of Fruits, and Gaffer "Engkoh" (or Jongkoh) who is the guardian of Paradise. Here again we have the Chinduai, or Love-Plant, as well as the "Yearning Bamboo", the sacred Cocopalm, and other distinctively native touches.* Throughout the wording of the creation-legends, with their apes and tortoises, their solar and stellar-myths, their rising-lands and fruit-palaces, their numerous guardians, and above all their almost universal mediators or "saviors", makes a derivation from Mussulman sources impossible to maintain, even if individual expressions, — Tuhan, Pirman, etc., may be linguistically traced to outside influences. In every case the "Lord-Master" is intimately interwoven with the rest of the folk- lore; they form an indivisible unit. "The Mantra", says Skeat, "have not to any great extent acquired any of the Malayan ideas respecting the form of the earth, the motion of the sun, etc." "The Malays" (like Mr. Logan) "were not aware, either that the Benua believed in God, or that the magician's power was considered to be derived from Him and entirely dependent on His pleasure"." On the contrary, it is far more likely that the natives have borrowed many of their superstitious practices (as well as their less-pleasing morals) from the Malays, their Poyangism, their sacrificial "trays", their developed magic, finding its duplicate in the Islamic shamanism of the day, while the theistic part of the belief, with a savior-demiurge, grows more and more pronounced the more we penetrate into the more isolated sections of this region, — the "thunder-fruit" and the "father-mother"-god being most conspicuous among the orang-utan or "wild men of the woods", as we have seen. On the other hand, the expression "Lord of the Underworld" marks a decided degeneration, and reveals with some force the contact with demonism, with the ghost-god, — only to be expected. This is further illustrated by the ethical data. For although "crimes are very rare", "theft unknown", "cannibalism unheard of", polygamy and idivorce have eaten their way into the social fabric, though even here "I do not remember a single case in which a Besisi had more than one wife". The general decency of these people, even if occasionally marred by con- trary examples, is an argument in favor of their simple if crude religious beliefs.* »J. R. Logan, The Orang-Benua of Johor, Journ. Ind. Archipel. Vol. I. p. 283flF. Cp. Skeat, II. 349. ♦ G. C. Bellamy etc. apud Skeat, II. 298-319. » Skeat, II. 319, 353. •Idem, I. 512. II. 76, 285. GOD 13 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (B) PULUGA— Andaman Islands MiNcorr Negrito, (South Andaman) Adjacent to the coast of Malakka, in the Andaman Islands, there is a deity worshipped who is described in very similar terms. His name is Puluga, (Thunder). Of Him it is said:—' Though His appearance is like fire, He is now-a-days invisible He was never born and is immortal. By Him the world and all objects, animate and inanimate were created, excepting only the powers of evil He IS regarded as omniscient while it is day, knowing even the thoughts of men s hearts. He is angered by the commission of certain sins,-false- hood, theft grave assault, murder, wax-burning,_while to those in pain or distress He is pitiful, and sometimes deigns to afford relief. He is the Judge from whom each soul receives sentence after death, and is said to a^ect their course of action in life. He has instituted a sacrifice,-the offering-up of the first-fruits of the season,-which is implied by the com- mand not to partake of the said fruits during a portion of the rainy season. Ihe penalty for this in remote times was said to be death,— the deluge The following difiiculties might suggest themselves with regard to this subject. (1) The antiquity of this region is not incontestable, the industries are somewhat advanced. (2) The sources are scanty and Indo- Malayan influences not impossible. (3) The picture is tarnished by two defects which seem to be serious, to wit:-There is strong anthropomor- phism; Puluga eats and drinks, has wife and family, knows things "while it IS day", gives way to anger, etc. There is also an incipient dualism- The spirits of evil are apparently self-created, and Puluga is powerless to control them,-they seem eternal. (4) Puluga is in no sense divine but rather a female spider or possibly a lizard, without cult and without sacrifice. These difficulties are more apparent than real, but as they seem to be of considerable weight, the following considerations may not be out of place:— (I) The Andamanese belong to the Archaic belt, of purely Negrito stock (p. VI). As such they are real primitives, even if some" of their industries are slightly above the Negrito level,— painting, pottery canoe- building. These exist only in rudimentary form and are believed to be for the most part indigenous. The natives cannot work stone, but employ chips and flakes in the natural state.' The supposed palaeoliths found in the kitchen-middens are really quartz-eoliths, and the "celts of tertiary sandstone" the rudest of scrapers.' don te^ f5 «oTr- M v^P T''* °TS-^' inhabitants of the Andaman Islands (Lon- (&\l^.'?iiO^'^?-f^- ^ Yi ^c:°u"'^"' ^ ^''^°^ °f °"'' Relations with the Andamanese, (Calcutta, 899) Vol. I. p 44-45 Schmidt, 1. c p. 193-219. ' Man, 1. c. p. 160ff. a Man p 161. Stohczka, Notes on the Kjokken-Moddings of the And Isld^ 14 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (2) The convergence between the testimony of Man and Portman, a testimony paralleled by Skeat and Vaughan-Stevens in Mdaysia, is a strong argument for its authenticity. A "Thunder-God", "of fiery breath", and surrounded by Wind- or Sky-spirits, agrees too closely with what has been found in other Negrito areas to have been invented or bor- rowed. We cannot of course exclude all outside influences. But that these influences must have been extremely remote, is evident from the fact that there are not the smallest vestiges of any such influence as having proceeded from any of the higher cultures, whether of historic or pre- historic times. Thus Puluga is pre-Islamic, because there has never been the shadow of Mussulman influence in the islands and the entire myth- ology' and practice of the Andamanese excludes it. He is pre-Christian, because it is inconceivable that any missionaries could have landed among the people without leaving some impress of a Christian sotoriology on their minds or in their language, — and this is here notoriously absent. He is pre-Brahministic, because pantheism and metempsychosis agrees very ill with the simple personal position of Puluga and His direct lord- ship over His creatures, who return directly to Him as their Judge. He is pre-Shaministic because there are not the least traces of spirit- or ances- tor-worship in any part of the islands, and the figure of Puluga is supreme, singular, and unique, not sharing His authority with any other gods or demigods of Asiatic or Indian fame, even though the wicked spirits are eternally opposed to Him. Thus it is next to certain that the idea of divinity could not have been borrowed from any of the Central or West- ern-Asiatic religions. Both Man and Portman bear witness to this. "It is extremely improbable that their legends were the result of the teaching of missionaries" says Man,* and he calls attention to the want of any tradition, to the absence of any traces, and to the existence of parallel cases elsewhere. Similarly Portman; — "The anthropological professors are very anxious to prove that the Andamanese must have derived their word for, and their idea of, a Deity from some of the more civilised nations, etc., but I cannot agree with it," » and he points to the immense antiquity of the race, to their seclusion and innate conservatism, and the absence of any vestiges, cultural, linguistic, or otherwise. As the greatest authority on Andamanese history, these words are significant. They show that peo- ple of unprejudiced minds and of considerable erudition have openly acknowledged the existence of native divinities independently of "civilised" sources, even though their physical and moral attributes may seem astoundingly high. « Man, 1. c. p. 88-89. » Portman, A History, Vol. I. p. 45. GOD ,5 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM ff i?'„„?"' "'"''='!"' «"""« anliquity of Ihis cull seems unqueslionabk nnue„"o inThfea f; T' '"f'^' ""'= """''•''• ">■" -"- -^i «' &„,tra:taT= -i-s .Ts srjx- ~ mythobgy which, we have every reason to believe, is a LTr accreUon affects the form rather than the content of the egends but U haTmod Sfd a h^:^^h:^t?^-^f^t.:::s^^ ^si^th^ sins of men Puluga's "wife and family", and the expression "to know things while It is day" reveals the inroads of an undoubedly later cS g nr^lt'a^dT ' 'kn ''' "5/1^° 'T""''''' ''' "'^"^^'"-^ figures and at generally said to know all things" without qualification; they have no connexion with day and night themes; with the revolution of the heavens. Moreover the description of Puluga's wife and famiJv as the mother eel with black daughters and white sons" is believedbbe a lunar the spider in certain sections of these islands, shows without a quesUon Z ril P.'"'""^ '''^ ^^^* ^' has come in contact with 'he typical theme of the Boomerang culture, the "Spider-Moon" ^^ xr^^fn *^'f-f- '\"''y' ^h*" intrusion of later notions, with or without the moon-mohf is clearly revealed by the ethnological dkta, and this no do^M 2uoTTV': *'^ ''? ''''' *'" '''' ^P'^"^ ^-^ h-«-e independent 0 Puluga, the first and only case of dualism among the entire Negrito cycle But even if the report be left to stand as it does. The spirits of efi though elf-created, are powerless to create, they have no theistic attribu es and though greatly feared, they are neither obeyed nor in any sense worshipped or appeased. Puluga is in this respect a unique Being If then a later wave of culture has made some inroads, it cannot be Chauga-ta, or Bone-necklace, are employed in the hope of averting or curing Illness. After recovery no ceremonies of purification take plafeV The dreamers are not a fixed cast, but must earn their reputation".^ ' Ma?"''c p.^29.°^- ''*• ^- ^- ^''° ^"'^'"'<^'' Pygm^nvQlker, p. 211-212, r y^^^^ j. ,. p. pj. 16 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM As to animism and spirit-worship, no organised worstiip of ancestors or of the forces of nature can be said to exist. "There is no trace to be found of the worship of trees, stones, or other objects, and it is a mistake to suppose that they adore or invoke the celestial bodies".' Altogether, it seems more natural to suppose that Puhiga is a primeval Heaven-God, whose voice is the thunder, and whose shafts the lightning, but whose image has been obscured in parts by the intrusion of a somewhat later phase of belief. (4) Tliis phase can be traced throughout the secondary, more advanced Oceanic region, and down into the heart of South-America, — Central Brazil. It consists in bringing the supreme figure into connexion with the waxing and waning moon, and identifying Him in some way with the spider, the lizard, or some other mysterious animal. Thus Amaka, Quat-Marawa, Daranniliin, and Kamiishiyii are all spinning spiders surrounded by a strong lunar mythology, (q. v.). and they one and all belong to a slightly higher stage of culture, compared with the Malakkan, Tasmanian. and Central-African divinities, where this theme is conspicuous by its absence. This is a clear proof that they are a later development, that the original Heaven-God has no connection with animal or astral symbols. Now this is precisely the case in the Andaman Islands. Puluga, the personal Heaven-God, rules supreme in South-Andaman, even if His picture is slightly tarnished by sexual and unworthy themes. But in the neighboring North and Little Andamans we find Biliku, the female spider, and Oluqa, the female lizard, both usurping the position of the Thunder-God. Now these are precisely the areas that are more advanced, where we have reasons to suspect an outside infiuence. (Bark-cincture, Round-house, Communal-dwelling. Platform-couches, Out-rigged Canoes, &c). This has robbed the North and Little Andamanese of the clear notion of a Creator, but has left Piiluga in exclusive possession of the center, — a supreme, personal Being, worshipped in the best sense, by the sacrifice of obedience and of the first-fruits of the earth. Such is the true picture of Puluga, which has forced Mr. Man to exclaim: "It is from regard to the fact that their beliefs approximate so closely to the true Faith concerning the Deity that I have adopted the Eng- lish method of spelling all equivalents of 'God' with an initial capital". This agrees with the ethical data. The marriage-tie is strict, and there is a notable absence of gross crime, infanticide, cannibalism, or human sacrifice. "Man, 1. c. p. 95. '"Compare A. R. Brown, in "Folk-Lore" (Sept. 1909). pp. 257-271. " See Man. pp. XXIV, 30. Portman, 1. c. I. 13, 40. 45-46. II. 721-726, 825-826. Also B. KIoss. In the Andamans and Nicobars, (New York, 1903), pp. 28-43. Schmidt, 1. c. pp. 204-210, (lexical analysis). " Man, p. 90, note. Cp. Portman, I. 44, GOD 17 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM Yet even with these concessions it may still be objected that the absence of any distinct cult of the alleged divinity, of any personal invocations of his name, of any cries for help, protection, and the like, makes it increas- ingly doubtful whether he can be regarded as in anv sense a living per- sona divinity. This is a plausible objection, but I have already called attention to the fact that observations of this nature are extremely difficult to make by reason of the shyness and timidity of the natives and their reserve on all matters of a private and religious nature. It is even remarkable that enough should have leaked out of their beliefs to supply two white men with the skeleton at least of a religious creed. That this IS the sum-total of all their beliefs and practices seems hardly credible even though formal prayers in our modern sense are largely at a discount' nor should we expect to find them. But apart from our ignorance of the interior side of the religion, the numerous legends and some of the prac- tices of the Andamanese leave no room for doubt that Puluga is a real force and power in their lives. Thus the Creation-legends speak of Puluga's Sky-Palace where he reigns with his numerous family, with the Moroviii or Sky-spirits, and with his only son, Pichor, a kind of mediator or archangel. As in Malakka he IS the Creator of heaven and earth, of the seas and the underworld and even the bad spirits are forced to acknowledge his sway. Here also he has prepared a Paradise for man at Wotaemi, a locality in South Andaman Island. Into this Garden of Pleasure he places the first man and woman Tomo and Chana, and here he instructs them in the arts and industries of life, and supplies them with the power of speech. But what is more important, he shows them all the different fruit-trees of the jungle and in doing this he commands them not to partake of certain fruits during the rainy season. Here we have the Paradisaic Sacrifice in clear outline,— the idea of abstention from an otherwise legitimate gratification the offering up of the first fruits of the garden. Furthermore, it is distinctly stated (hat death and misery came upon man through disobeying the divine command, through eating the forbidden fruit. Men became more and more violent, they grew more and more remiss in observing the laws of Puluga, until finally he sends a great Flood and destroys them all except a favored few who repeople the earth from Wotaemi. That is why the First-fruit sacrifice is offered up to this day. In the meantime those who have kept his commandments pass over the Paradise-bridge to live forever with Puluga in his Sky-Palace." '^D«t3ils and items will be found in ^^an. op. cit. pp. 90-106: 18 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM If then it is still insisted that we have no means of proving a personal worship, we answer that the mythologj' of the Andamanese clearly implies such a worship, that the best proof for the cult of a divine Being is afforded partly by the position He occupies in the popular mind, partly by the degree in which His laws are obeyed and are a controlling force in the customs and habits of the people. Now the above legends show with considerable force that Puluga is not a mere myth, nor is he an ancestor or a glorified hero, however exalted, but that he is looked upon as a Creator, a Ruler, a Judge, a Lawgiver, with whom his people have been and are still in close communion, — he is still ruling over them, he is their Father. This consciousness of a supernatural being need not express itself in words so much as in acts, — the best form of worship, even if the word, of which we know so little, helps to make it more personal, more direct. How then is this worship expressed in practice, what form does it take? It shows itself among other things in the high tone of morality that is here apparently in vogue, in the general security of human life, in the unity and stability of the married tie, in the absence of all the more brutal and unnatural practices that so often disfigure the lives of many of the nature-peoples, and finally in the delicate care that is taken of the old, the sick, and the afflicted, who invariably fair better than their more fortunate brethren. In so far as these practices can be proved to be in force, they argue for a high grade of belief, or, at least, they prove that such a belief brings forth good fruits, that it is practical, that the divinity is commen- surate to produce the result. But if these phenomena be put down as mere "nature-religion", common-sense philosophy, and the like, so much belter for the common-sense philosophy, especially as it leads to a Creator of all, or seems at least to accompany Him. A simple theism is here reflected in the simple lives of a simple people." But if a complete act of religion demands some external manifestation, some visible acknowledgment of the Creator's dominion over His creatures, surely the first-fruit sacrifice is such an act. By fasting and abstinence man offers to the Giver of all that which he prizes most dearly, his moans of subsistence. He then consumes the very object he has sacrificed as a token of union, — as a pledge that he and his Father are one, are reconciled. Surely this is a "worship", and one of the highest kind. It need not be clothed in words, it speaks for itself. '* Further particulars on this subject in Man, op. cit. pp. 24, 43, 45, 67ff. Also Portman, op. cit. I. p. 42ff. THE AGE OF BAMBOOS AND OF STRAIGHT-LINE PATTERNS THE GREAT MASTER OTTLIN'E-DRAWrNGS MADE BY THE VEDDA8 ON ROCKS, AND DOUBTLESS ORIOINAXLT OK BAS1B008, TO EXPRESS THE IDEA OF HEADSinP, MALE OR FEMALE, AXD THENCZ APPLIED ALSO TO THE SUPREME 8KT-BEENO. AT» PA -AM rv\i> KA^ose-WANN^YA KANBE-BAMDARA- MAKAPPA SUS-Kl JBA3-KI, ADIISA ATAKGEtJA AT 3ARUWAK qe-NA Pl^VBINA ATAK qE>4A TbOPA AMPvAAT APPAT ENDE KtYAVA ■TATnEB-MOTHEB" (SUFEB-MAN OB WOMAH). "GREAT MASTER", "MIOHTT Hl'NTEB". "BVSn-KI, BASH-BU! GO AND BRING THE BOW. THE AXE, AND THE FIRE8TICK, AND TELL TOIB MOTHER AND FATHER TO COME" (GBTNER^VL FORMULA FOR THE HUNTINO PARTY). COM8CLT C. O. SELIGMAN, THE VEDDA8, (CAMBRrDCE, I9I1), PL. LTl-LX (FOB DESIONB), AND PP. tit, lee*. 8M FT. (FOB LEXICOLOGY), IJt FF. (FOR BELIEFS). GOD 19 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (B, 2) KANDE-YAKA— The Veddas,— Southern India, Ceylon Among the Forest- Veddas of the interior of Ceylon there is a cult of a personal being known as Kande-Yaka or "Great Spirit", who seems to stand very high in the minds of the natives, even if his creative-power is not clearly provable. He is pictured as an "ideal hunter",— a helpful and benevolent being, who was once upon earth and taught them all they know. Apparently He was without beginning and is certainly without end, as He still hears the petitions of his children, and is in some sense omniscient. All things are subject to Him, and nothing in heaven and earth happens without his permission, all spirits acknowledging Him as the "Lord of the Dead". He requires a sacrifice of first-fruits and animals, accompanied by the burning of incense, during which He is invoked as Kande-Wanniya, or "Great Master", and is petitioned for temporal and spiritual favors.^ On this subject a few concise statements will be sufficient. The Veddas are the last vestiges of a pre-palaeolithic race in India.* Though generally free from foreign influence, they were at an early period invaded by settlers from the Ganges valley, who intermarried with them and became the Sinhalese of the present day, with a later infusion of Tamil blood. This explains the fact that many of the Veddas are decidedly advanced, — with kingship and nobility — , and this must be taken into account in every attempt to reconstruct their early religion. Among the Forest Veddas or Hennebeddas, however, we meet with very primitive traits, which leads us to expect that here at least the old Vedda beliefs should appear in their purest form. That there are such beliefs is now unquestionable, but as to their nature, there is still great obscurity. Dr. Seligman confirms the reports of the two Sarasins that there is a pronounced worship of ancestors and cult of the dead. Nay more, he speaks of a "Lord of the Dead", Kande Yaka, who may be no more than a great yaka, or departed spirit or tribal chief, but whose rather unique position as the "Lord" of the lesser spirits and the object of invocation at the I'a/co-sacrifice for protection from evil and success in hunting seems to reflect many of the negrito practices in this regard. I would like to state briefly why I regard this being as originally more than a tribal hunter, a mere weather-doctor. It is true that the absence of any creation-legends makes this "mighty hunter" of the Veddas a rather weak figure. But when we consider the intimate relation between religious belief and public and private morals, we are inclined to suspend a hasty verdict on this subject and to look upon him as the relic of a better and purer state of religious consciousness, and this for the following reasons : — 1 Points taken from C. G. Seligman, The Veddas, (Cambridge, 1911), pp. 30, 132ff. Comp. Sarasin, Religiose Vorstellungen bei den niedrigsten Menschenformen, 1. c. supra, p. 124ff. 'Seligman, op. cit. p. 20 (quartz-eoliths), pp. 81 (family-life), p. ol8ff. (arts and industries). 20 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (1) He is not described as having any human ancestors, and He is unmarried. (2) He is immortal, He is above all spirits, and He has supreme command. (3) He listens to prayer for favors that are beyond finite power to bestow. (4) He controls rain, wind, and seasons, implying some notion of transcendence. (5) He is the guardian of the moral conscience, which is here con- spicuously high, forbidding any needless aggression, violence, adultery, etc. In illustration, take the following invocations at the Kirikoraha cere- monies, in which the sacred cocoanut is offered to Kande Yaka: — "King of the hills, who continues to go from hill to hill, cause rain!" "It is the Great Master, {Kande Wanniya), whose place is on the crest of this hill, who continues to go unto this hill. The Great Master of the high- est place of the hill, who continues to cause this rain of great drops, drops from a dense cloud, makes out footprint by footprint of excellent sambar deer.'" "Long life! Long life! To the Great Master, to the great God of the chief place of the hill, ivho has become the Chief of the group of the sixty- seven of the hill!" "Today, grant your divine favor to the beautiful cooked food of this offering which I give! May it seem good to you to arrange it at the point of the arrow, etc. Long life! Long life!"^ The sixty-seven here referred to are nearly all bandaras or deified chiefs, and the fact that none of these 7iae ijakas or departed spirits are addressed in precisely the same strain as the foregoing, that none are described as the causes of natural phenomena or as having anything like the same prominence, — this in my opinion should make us hesitate in putting down Kande-Yaka as a mere ghost-god. Without doubt the ancestor-cult is strongly developed in this region, spirit-feeding is only too common, — both doubtless inherited from the hybrid Sinhalese — , for it is precisely among the Hennebeddas and their more primitive kin that the simple picture of an all-bestowing Mahappa or Great Father looms up in clearer perspective, comparatively free from the polytheistic superstructure. Finally, the fact that "no reverence is paid to heavenly bodies",* that there is "no worship of sun or moon", together with the high morality of the natives and their strictly monogamous life," renders the theory of a purely ancestral god more and more difficult to maintain. The Veddas are a beautiful, peace-loving, gentle-mannered, and highly moral race, and it seems difficult to account for all the above facts without assuming some consciousness, however bedimmed in parts, of a quasi-supernatural I'ower. » Seligman, op. cit. pp. 284-286 (Texts and Translations by H. Parker, slightly amended in parts), ♦Seligman, 1. c. p. 144. » Seligman, 1. c. p. 81flf. GOD 21 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (C, 1) ANITO— Phillipine Negritos, North and South Luzon The material on the Philippine rehgion is unfortunately rather scat- tered. There is however a great supernatural Being who is generally described as Anito in South Luzon, though He goes by the name of "Maker" or "Creator" in other parts, and of whom the following informa- tion may be gathered from different sources : — ^ He appears to dwell in a huge rock, but is otherwise invisible, a spirit He knows all things, at least all things that concern man, He sees their actions at all times. He can do all things. He is above all other spirits, and is greatly feared. He has evidently created all things, and as sucb He IS the Lord of all spirits, though in what relation we are not informed. He punishes the wrongdoing of man by sending diseases, and is therefore in some sense the guardian of the moral order, and probably the supreme Judge of mankind as a consequence. He is invoked on certain occasions, as at weddings, when He is prayed to in low tones: '■Praise to the Supreme Being, our Maker!" He has instituted a sacrifice,— deer-sacrifice, banana- sacrifice,— which, though sometimes offered to the minor spirits, is at least in one instance offered only to the supreme Spirit, to Him directly, with the invocation :—'T/iw for Thee!"— a. thanksgiving after the chase. Against the authenticity of this belief it might be urged :— (1) Neither the antiquity of the regions nor the genuineness of the sources are beyond challenge. (2) The feeding of the spirits of the dead is a common practice, and the medicine-man plies a large and lucrative traffic. There are elaborate exorcism-rites with dances and manipulations. Such practices seem to point to an advanced spirit-worship, or demonism. A brief consideration of these points will be sufficient. (1) The Phihppine Negritos are pure only in South Luzon, (Zambales, Bataan) and in portions of the islands of Alabat, Panay, Negros, and Mindanao. These are generally known as Aetas, and are on the lowest level of culture.^ In all other regions, and more especially in North Luzon, they are strongly saturated with Malayan blood, and have adopted a higher type of civilisation, together with many evil practices of a later age,— cannibalism and head-hunting. It is therefore all-important to note that the regions examined are with one exception the most primitive in the islands, and that all ethnologists look upon the Aetas as the aborigines of the land, r XT^-.A,- ^^^^' ^^^ Negritos of Zambales, (Manila, 1904) p. 65. F. Blumentritt, Negritos of North Luzon, in Globus, XLV, (1884), p. 75, quoting Fr. Villaverde, OP. Steen A Bille Keise der Corvette Galathea, (Copenhagen, 1852) Vol. I. p. 452, quoting Father Estevan Mena. (Alabat Aetas). 2 Reed, 1. c. p. 17-23. 22 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM As to the sources, there can hardly be any doubt as to their genuine- ness, but there may be some complaint of their content, of the fact that so little has been reported. The testimony of three independent witnesses, — two of them Catholic priests, — and these from three different areas, must surely carry some weight, though the poverty of the material reported is somewhat disappointing. We must remember, however, that this task is a very difTicult one, and although the reports have come to us only in fragments, they are nevertheless precious, indispensable fragments. (2) This means that for two very primitive areas, — Zambales and Alabat, — we find the distinct outlines of a divinity, who, however mys- terious His nature, is recognised as an Over-Lord, a supreme Spirit, nay, even as a Creator. This idea extends also into the third area, — North Luzon, — though here the reports are equally fragmentary. It shows, how- ever, that the idea is continuous, not confined to any one section of the island group. On the other hand, it must also be admitted, that as nearly all these populations have come in contact with a later Indonesian wave of culture, as many of them have advanced to ranch-life, substantial houses, use of higher musical instruments, &c., the existence of spiritism in some form or another is a correspondingly prominent feature. We know that cast-priesthoods and professional medicine-men are admittedly later elements, the Shamanism of Western Asia finding practically no response among the Negritos in their purest state, as witness its general absence in Malakka, the Andaman Islands, Central Africa, and probably Tasmania. Votive-offerings and spirit-feeding are quite unknown in these sections, or exist only as sporadic phenomena. But even in the Philippines there are signs that the Shamanistic wave has but little affected the purest and least advanced section of the aborigines, for it is precisely from Alabat and South Luzon, — areas of least contamination, — that the reports of a supreme personal Divinity come to us in their strongest if simplest form. It may therefore be concluded, that although spirit-worship has invaded these populalions in parts, it has not succeeded in dethroning a personal Creator in the oldest region, a Being worshipped by prayer and sacrifice. The very simplicity of this nomadic cult, without temple, hierarchy, or circumcision-rite, is a guarantee of its non-Malayan origin, of its remote antiquity. Here also the moral statistics are comparatively high. For although degeneracy has set in among the half-breeds of North-Luzon, the pure Aetas are a peaceable race, and lead simple, upright and virtuous lives.' •Reed, 1. c. p. 61fl. Comp. A. B. Meyer, Die Philippinen, (Dresden, 1899), Vol. III. p 33flf. J. Montano, Voyage aux Philippines, (Paris, 1898"), p. 71. Schmidt, 1. c. 142ff. GOD 23 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM But if the direct reports of a supreme divinity in this region are dis- appointingly brief, there are several points connected with the social and religious practices of these people that deserve to be considered in greater detail, as they may help to shed some valuable light on nature of the belief and the power it has to enforce the moral law by sanctions more or less rigorous. (C, 2) The Negritos of Zambales In the Zambales region, which is best known to us, and where the natives are still living the half-naked life of the deer-hunter which is con- tent with the frail and collapsible windshelter, there are interesting customs at the end of the chase which deserve to be noticed. Col. Reed has described the ceremony in a few forcible words. "A bed of green rushes or cane is made on which the animal is placed and skinned. This done, the head man of the party, or the most important man present, takes a small part of the entrails or heart, cuts it into fine bits and scatters the pieces in all directions, at the same time chanting in a monotone a few words which mean 'Spirits, we thank you for this successful hunt! Here is your share of the spoils!' This is done to feed and appease the spirits which the Negritos believe inhabit all places, and the ceremony is never neglected".* It is a pity that this reporter has not supplied us with more information as to the nature of these spirits, whether good or evil, helpful or malevolent. He says indeed that "all adverse circumstances, sickness, failure of crops, unsuccessful hunts, are attributed to them, and that so long as things go well, the spirits are not much considered"." But even good spirits, and the supreme Being himself, are not always heeded in such cases, and it appears that these spirits are not demons, but dead ancestors, which, with the hunting formula mentioned above, is an important point in favor of their benevolence. Be this as it may, the author goes on to say that "there is a huge black bowlder, which the Negritos believe to be the home of One powerful Spirit, and that the spirits of all who die enter this one Spirit, called Anito, who has his abiding place in this rock. No Negrito ever passes this rock without leaving a banana, or some other article of food. If they do, bad luck or accident is sure to attend the trip".' This has the suspicious ring of the "Creator" of the Alabats, and is in any case an interesting find. But more than all, this Banana-sacrifice to Anito is a forcible reminder of the Paradisaic or First-fruit sacrifice of the Andamanese, and the exclamation "This for Thee!" might well be applied in this place.' * Reed, Negritos of Zambales, p. 48. ' Reed, 1. c. p. 65. » Reed, 1. c. p. 65. ' Taken from Fr. Villaverde's report of the Negritos of North Luzon (above). 24 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM In connection with tiiis ceremony, Col. Reed tells us that the present governor of Zambales, Senor Lesaca, once passed this rock, and for amuse- ment, and greatly to the horror of the Negritos with him — , spurned it by kicking it with his foot and eating part of a banana and throwing the rest in the opposite direction. The Negritos were much concerned and said that something would happen to him, and, sure enough, before he had gone far, he got an arrow through both legs from savage Negritos along the frail who could have known nothing of the occurrence. Of course this only strengthened the belief.* This incident is given for what it is worth, but it shows that there was something peculiarly sacred to these people in the mysterious rock, in which the Great Ainto was believed to be present, and where, as upon a gigantic altar, they placed the sacred Banana with the evident hope of securing some favor, of imploring His mercy. For Anito has a direct control of human life, He is the Master of human destiny. "Disease is considered the punishment for wrong-doing, the more serious diseases coming from the supreme Anito, the lesser ones from the lesser anitos. If smallpox visits a rancheria, it is because someone has cut down a tree or killed an animal belonging to a spirit which has invoked the aid of the supreme Spirit in inflicting a more severe punishment than it can do alone"." This also implies that Anito listens to prayer, that He is invoked by His needy ones, for if the dead can obtain favors, so surely can the living. Moreover it is distinctly stated that the dead return to Anito, they do not pass into lower animals, which is one more proof that we are deal- ing with a strong personality, with a direct Judge. It is also worth noting that here too the so-called "Magic Comb" is in use, together with other "charm-tubes" of the variety that we have already certified for Malakka. In so far as these articles are brought into con- nexion with the divinity, they obtain a "sacred" character analogous to the Malakkan tubes (q. v.). But in the absence of any clear proof to this effect and the far greater development of spiritism, we have reasons to suspect that most of these objects are mere "good-luck" amulets, harmless enough in their way, but of no definite religious import.'" Such in brief is the picture of Atiito, — a being who is evidently trans- cendent, but of whose inner nature we are still left in the dark. It is here in the Philippines that the pure, "unshaved" Negrito is seen at his best." "Reed, 1. c. p. 6S. "Reed, ibidem. '"Reed, 1. c. pp. 37-38. "See Reed's photographs, where the original pompadour-type may be clearly distinguished. THE AGE OF BAMBOOS AND OF STRAIGHT- LINE PATTERNS THE SPIRIT FATHER IN HEAVEN AS 8YMBOLICA1.LY DEPICTED IN BLOWPIPE-PATTERNS. ALTAR-POSTS, BAMBOO DLIiDEMS AND SO-CALLED "TOTEM-POLES". AMONG THE ORANG-IKIT AND ORANG-KENTA. THE ABORIGINAL DAYAK8 OF BORNEO SYMBOLIC ALTAB-CBOBS ^^ T^SK OF UFC fH-f-H-HJ CO R O N CT •PEN- >A- LONN SI-JIBOLIC ALTAR-CBOSS &»(4 TREH OF LIFE KAYU--c4eU C0B.0 NET PEN- yA-uois»a PRIMITIVE INTERPRETATION 'TATHKB OF SPIRITS ABOVE— HOLY. HOLY. HOLY.— GIARDIAN SPIRIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE." THE NIMEBOVS CROSSES AND TREE PATTERNS CAN ONLY BE EXPLAINED AS A DISTANT SYMBOLISM THE FRITT— ^AND FATHER-OOD-TIIEME OF THE ABORIGINES. SEE II. LINO- ROTH, THE NATIVES OF SARAWAK AND BRITISH NORTH BORNEO, n. 39. I8». H08E- McDOCOALL, THE PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO. (LONTWN, l»l«), PL. 146, 157. GOD 25 OCEANIC PRIMITH^E FORM (D, 1) AMAKA— The Forest Da yaks of Central Borneo Among the wild inhabitants of the interior of Borneo there is a belief in a mysterious being, variously known as Amei, Balingo, or Bali Penya- long, of whom the following information may be gathered:—' He is the supreme Governor of the world and the Master of human destiny. He sees and knows all things, at least in so far as they concern the human race. He is a good being, both helpful and benevolent, and is evidently their Judge, as He- has supreme control over human life. He is a Thunder-God and a "Father in Heaven", to whom they have access in all their needs. He has a female partner, Doh Penyalong, who is a special patroness of women, a "Mother-Mediator". He has instituted their sacred rites and observances, among which the throwing up of blood and the offering up of the sacred blossom of the betel-palm are the most distinc- tive, with the simple 'm\ocdi[ion:—Ama-ka!—Bcdi-Penya-long!—"Our Father in Heaven!" A few preliminary remarks on this subject will be necessary. The wild "Punans", or "Bakatans", are grouped in small communities and inhabit the dense jungle at the head- waters of the principal rivers of Borneo. They are a slender race, of moderate height, and paler in color than most tribes. They do not cultivate the soil, but live on whatever they can find in the jungle. Leaf-hut, firestick, scarcity of clothing, absence of a higher stone or metallic industry, all these are aboriginal symptoms which, together with their bamboo implements and blowpipes, connect them with the central Malakkan and also with the Philippine region. They may therefore be classed as "primitives" in the best sense, and are more- over a genial and attractive race, which makes their study a doubly inter- esting one. Unfortunately there are only two white men that have supplied us with any exact details of their religious beliefs, and even these are con- fined to the barest essentials, though they furnish a sufficient basis for drawing conclusions of considerable value when coupled with the remain- ing data, the discoveries of Dr. Nieuwenhuis being very important. And first,— as to the name of the divinity. There is here an apparent discrepancy, which can only be remedied by collating all the designations for divinity both here and among the neighboring Kenyahs, Kayans, and Kalamantans. From this it will appear that Aba [Ama), Abali [Amaka], Bali, Balingo {Tamei, Tamaka), are fundamental for this region, the form' Amaka extending, as we shall see, far into the xMolukkas, to the Spice Islands. Vol. I iH. Ling Roth, The Natives of Sarawak and British North-Borneo, (London 1896) «Aa /?• , • Hidden, Head-hunters, black, white, and brown, (London, 1901) p ia)tt. (for general ethnology). Charles Hose and W. McDougall, The Relation between men and animals in Sarawak, (J. A. L London, 1901, Vol. XXXI. pp. 173-213) Idem The Pagan Tribes of Borneo, (London, 1912), Vol. II. pp. 1-19, 185-186. (For ethnolog^ and religious beliefs). For the work of Dr. Nieuwenhuis, see below, p 27 26 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM Thus the name reported by Hose and McDougall as Bali-lutong can easily be dissected into more primitive elements, in which the roots ab-ba- ling -long -lung reappear in many of the above word-combinations, signify- ing Father, Master, Heaven, High, Clouds, etc. In this manner Aba-lingo is probably the original of Balingo, the high thunder-god of the neighbor- ing Kenyas, though the word bali has also a secondary technical sense of "spirit" or "soul", terms equally well known to the wild forest-folk. "The Punans", writes Dr. Hose, "worship the Supreme Being (sic) as the Kenyas do, and they address Him as Bali-lutong. They have similar ideas with regard to the soul of man and its destination after death, and like all other peoples they believe themselves to be surrounded by spirits which may be harmful to them. Their medicine-men are sometimes called in by people of other tribes and enjoy a high reputation".^ Again, — "They pray to Bali-Peny along, (evidently the same being), who seems to be the principal object of their trust. This being is probably conceived anthro- pomorphically — but they make no images in human form, and we do not know that Bali-Penyalong is supposed by them to have a wife — their rites involve no animal sacrifices, and they do not look for guidance or answer to prayer in the entrails of animals". Moreover, "the term bali is only applied to a being having special powers of the sort that we should call supernatural", "indeed no human being is addressed or spoken of with the title bali".'' It is certainly noteworthy that one of the few prayers so far recorded should be addressed directly to Him, as when at the common sacrificial ceremony the ritual fires are lighted, and the blossom of the Betel-Palm is solemnly offered to the Aba-lingo, the Bali-Penyalong, the "Spirit-Father-in-Heaven".* This seems to reveal an extraordinary power for help, for neither the crocodile nor the omen bird are of any serious significance in this ceremony, as I shall presently show. "The Punans are very mild savages, they are 7iot head-hunters, do not keep slaves, are generous to one another, and moderately truthful, and probably never do any injury by making a false statement. They are a cheerful and bright people, who are very fond of their children and kind to the women". "The Bakatans are not cannibals"." This is an attractive picture, as it tends to reveal a moral, peaceful, and truth-loving God as the author and keeper of the public conscience. But it is impossible to appreciate this subject without comparing them with their next-door neighbors, the Kenyas and Kayans. » Hose-McDougall. Men and Animals, p. 195. 'Idem, Pagan Tribes, II. 186, 29, 121. ♦Idem, Men and Animals, p. 196. Pagan Tribes, II. 84, 189 (hatred of crocodiles). » Had- don, op. cit. p. 320-321. Brooke, apud Ling-Roth, op. cit. I. 17. Compare Hose, Pagan Tribes, I. 175 (no cannibalism), II. 180 (innocent of vices, primitive family life). GOD 27 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM Of these the Kenyahs are the nearest blood-relations of the Bakatans, and the lowest in point of culture, which makes it probable that they embody a very similar belief. Here Balingo is distinctly the god of thunder, and Bali Penyalong is "the supreme Being to whom the Kenyahs pray for guidance in important undertakings, while the women pray to Doh Penyalong, his wife".' But the most distinctive feature is the cult of the Hawk, an omen-bird, which is never killed or eaten, but is ofTered in sacrifice to Bali-Peny along, with the words : — "0 Spirit of this bird Ask Bali Penyalong to take away all sickness from us and to keep us from all harm!" '' — accompanied by the flame and smoke of the ritual fires and the sprinkling of the worshippers and the image of Bali Penyalong with the blood of the bird. Here the "Blood-Brotherhood" is firmly established, "when each of the two men drinks or smokes in a cigarette a little of the other's blood drawn with a bamboo knife". But the most important point in this ceremony is the fact that the omen-bird is not in itself the divinity, but that "they look upon the hawks as messengers or intermediaries between themselves and Bali Penyalong".^ Among the Kayans we find the same fundamental ideas, but somewhat differently worded. "Like the Kenyahs they worship a supreme Being under the name of Laki Tenangan, or 'Grandfather Tenangan', and the women pray to Do Tenangan, his wife". Here Laki Neho appears under the form of the Hawk, but he is a niediator between God and man, as is clear from the sacrificial rite, in which fires are lighted, k hen or a pig slaughtered, and an egg offered to him with the invocation: — "This is for thee to eat! Carry my message directly to Laki Tenangan, that I may become well, and may train my children in the patl\ of right living!" " In the parallel account furnished by Dr. Nieuwenhuis it is Amei Tingei (intensitive Amaka, Tamaka), who is the "High Father" of the Kayans, who spins the world out like a spider, who made the first human pair, Adja and Djaja, who induces a rice-famine in the earthly Paradise, who punishes the violations of the moral law, who is an all-knowing, all- ruling Spirit or Bruwa, having innumerable spirits under His sway. Here also the hen and the egg are sacrificed, and foods are wrapt in banana- leaves and liquids offered in bamboo-cylinders to the Great To, or "Uni- versal Spirit". At death the good are carried to Apu Lagan, — Amaka's place of heavenly delights. This report, furnished by an eminent scientific expert, is of considerable value, as it tends to corroborate the findings of less professional authors and to supply us with something approaching to a native story of world-origins.^* «Hose, Men and Animals, p. ITS. 'Ibid. p. 184-185. sibid. p. 177. »rbid. p. 189-190. »<>A. W. Nieuwenhuis, In Ccntraal Borneo, (2 Vols. Leyden. 19CI0) Vol. I. p. 139-141. Idem, Quer durch Borneo, (2 vols. Leyden, 1904) Vol. I. pp. 98-99, 100-103, 112-132. (This is a short English version of the original Dutch and German report). For the Kalamantans, see the Bakatans above, & Comp. Hose, p. 192. 28 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM Now in collating all this evidence it seems to be clear that the belief a supreme personal Being shines through the different mythologies in a manner which makes it quite impossible to confound Him with any bird, beast, or tribal ancestor, however sacred. As a fact, the hawk or omen- bird becomes less conspicuous the more we delve into the jungle, and is quite unimportant among the Bakatans or lowest aborigines of the land. This shows that divination, with all the animistic practices that it implies, shows a steady decrease the more we penetrate into the primitive zone. The simple "Our Father" of the jungle-folk has little or no connection with the omen-bird, nor is the "spirit" of a pig, or any other animal invoked in order to obtain mystic communion with Him. Again, He is sexless and wifeless. His female "partner" being prominent only among the Kenyahs and the more advanced tribes, while the general absence of nature and ancestor-worship is at least equally striking. But as to the purity and authenticity of this belief, it is to be noted that there is no organised totemism among any of the natives, least of all among the Bakatans. "The prevalence of the beliefs in a supreme Being" says Hose, "tends to prevent the development of totemism. and we can- not conclude without saying something as to the possible origin of this conception of a beneficent Being, more powerful than all the others, who sends guidance and warnings by the omen-birds, and who receives and answers prayers carried to Him by the souls of the fowls and pigs. It might be thought that this concept had been borrowed, directly or indirectly, from the Malays. But we do not think that view is tenable." And the autliors emphasise the fact that this is a living belief among the wild forest-men, far from Malay influence, while it is a dead one the Ibans or Sea-Dayaks, close to Malay influence, — an important point, and one upon which Archdeacon Perham concurs." Moreover — "It is doubtful whether those of the aboriginals who have mixed least with the other peoples pay any attention to the omen-birds. With that exception there is probably no wild animal of the jungle that the Punans do not kill and eat"." The crocodile is shunned and avoided, but this is not "totemism", for which reason we are amply justified in contending for a pure and lofty cult of divinity. Again, — "Highly significant as against other Dayak tribes is the complete fidelity to the marriage-tie among the Bahau (or wild men of the interior), and the equality of conjugal rights between man and woman, with a numerical preponderance of the latter, argues for a degree of continence and sexual self-control that is surprising among a people on such a low level of culture," " Hose and McDouaall, Men and Animals, p. 202-212. " Ibid. p. 195. " Nieuwenhuis, In Centraal Borneo, Vol. I. p. 100. (Translation from the Dutch). Comp. also P. W. Schmidt, Mythologie der Austronesischen Volker, (Vienna, 1910). pp. 11, 12, 23ff. for further criticism. GOD 29 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (D, 2) The Toalas and Toradajas of Celebes These conclusions are seen to be still further corroborated by the exist- ence of a common form Kalangi as the designation for the "Heavenly- One" among the aborigines of Central Celebes. For the Toalas, or "backwoodsmen", religious statistics are as yet very meagre. The authors speak vaguely of a tree-cult with sacrifice, which cannot but remind us of the betel-fruit offerings above." Fortunately the deficiency can be supplied in part by the neighboring tribes. Among the Makassars and Buginese of Southern Celebes we find Adji- Patoto as the "Ruler of Destiny", with whom is associated Datu-Palinge as the "Creator" of the world. The latter is a female, it is true, but Adji- Patoto suggests "Fatherhood", while Palinge is too suspiciously near Kalangi not to reveal the fundamental meaning of Pa-lingo as the "Father- in-Heaven", of which Ka-langi as the "Chief" or Creator of Heaven is but a variation. Though these deities are apparently married, and have a divine child, — Batara, "the Lord" — , who descends from heaven in a bamboo and prepares a paradise for man — , there is evidence to show that they were originally free from the sex-relation, as we shall presently see.'" A similar tradition is preserved by the Toradjas of the interior, among whom I-lai and In-dara figure as the "Father-Mother"-God, and a being called Samoa takes the place of the demiurge. The latter makes two human beings, man and woman, out of stone, and breathes into them the breath of life. He conducts them to a high mountain, ofTefs them a stone and a banana, and through choosing the banana they have lost the gift of immortality. Here I-lai is the common Austronesian I-laki, or I-langi, which as Yalangi means nothing less than "I am in Heaven" (the Great "I AM"?), and where the phonetic analogy with Kalangi is once more apparent." But as to Kalangi himself, He forms the background of the Minahassa traditions of Northern Celebes. Though apparently one of the sons of Lumimu'ut, the "Mother Earth", his position as the "Lord of Heaven" and his identification with Muntu'untu, the "Highest One", (the mountain- peak), "the Great Master, who has made heaven and earth, and is acknowl- edged as the Lord by all the gods", seems to reveal a distinct notion of transcendence. Here also He is the center of a "tree-cult with sacrifice", He is prayed to by gods and men, and He is the Helper of man and the Ruler of human destiny." " p. and F. Sarasin. Materialien zur Kenntniss der Naturgeschichte der Insel Celebes, (Wiesbaden, 1905) Vol. V. Part II. p. 126. " g. Wilken, Het Animisme in den Indischen Archipel (Leyden, 1885) p. 232ff. A. C. Kruyt, Idem (Hague, 1906) p. 467ff. i" Kruyt, 1. c. p. 469. Also, Mededeeligen van wege het Nederlandsche Zendelingsgenootschap. (1894) p. 339ff. 1' Schwartz-Adriani, Tontemboansche Teksten, (Leyden, 1907). Vol. II. p. 337, 477 ff. 30 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (D, 3) The Ceramese-Amboina Group, — Southern Molukkas Finally we have the mixed Malayan and Papuan populations of the eastern Spice Islands, among whom we find the same mythological con- cepts in all their essentials. For Geram Frederik Riedel reports of a Heaven-god, Vpu Langi, and an Earth-mother, Upu Tapene, both of whom are invoked on solemn occasions. The natives say that they came down from heaven, others that they sprang out of the Nunu-lree, a species of fig, which was planted on the mountain summit of an island in the West. The same tradition is found among the natives of Buru, where Ubun Langi and Vbun Sanane are evidently synonymous with the above. This is further emphasized by the Amaka Lanito and the Inaka Ume of the Amboina-group. the col- lateral forms Upu Lanito and Upu Ume revealing the fact that Amaka and Upu {Apo, etc) are identical terms. These are invoked by the common expression Aamina Lanito, "Father-Mother-Heaven", which shows that both are equally heavenly, though their creative power is here no longer as vivid, men springing out of the Kanari-tree, which however was planted by Amaka, the "Father" of All. It is He that carries on a con- tinual war against thunder and lightning, and who lives in the place where Anin, the wind, has its source, — showing that He is distinct and above the creation and above His female "mediator"." It will now be seen with what right we have identified the forms Aba, Ama, Apu, Upu, Amaka, Tcmnaka, as the original designations for the divine "Fatherhood" throughout the central Indonesian zone. Ab or Am is one of the earliest roots for "father" in existence, its reduplicated or syncopated form appearing in all combinations with Ba, Bu, Pa, Pu, Ma, Mu, such as Ba-lingo, Pa-lingo, Pu-lingo (perhaps Pu-luga?) Ma-amba, Mu-untu, Mu-lungu, etc. Ka and Ta are for the most part intensitive or causative, from which we get Ka-ri, Ka-lingo, Ka-langi, Ama-ka, Ta-ma-ka, etc. signifying "Great Father", "Creator", and so on, while the La, Langi- series is fundamental for "Heaven", "Clouds", "Light", etc. which in com- bination with the Aba-noiion reveals Aba-Langi, "Father in Heaven" as the universal basic form, the idea of "thunder" being a secondary notion expressive of power, — Ka, Ta. (Compare also Loica-Langi of the Niassians). On the other hand Da, Do, Dara, Djadja, Chawah, etc. as "Blood", "Life", "Female Principle", is always subordinate to Adja, Adji, Adjam, as the male "governor", which shows that Amaka-Balingo-Kalangi is essentially sexless." '• Fr. Riedel, De sluik-en kroes-harigen rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, ('s Gravenhage, 1886), p. 160ff. 7, Slff. "Further discussion in W. Schmidt, Austronesische Mythologie, pp. 11, 23, 55, 68, 94ff GOD 31 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (E, 1) ABUDA— The Aru Islanders, — Arafura Bay, New Guinea In crossing the Molukkas we have already entered the "black" region, in which the Papuan type begins to assume the ascendancy. We leave Indonesia proper and enter the enormous domain of Papuasia, which extends from here to Tasmania on the one side, and to Fiji and New Caledonia on the other. Of the aborigines of the Aru Islands we have as yet little knowledge, but the following points should be noted: — It appears that they worship an "Abuda" or "Father"-5ortoi, "who lives at the foundation, under these islands", and to whom they still pray and offer wild fruits. Though pictured as a man, as the ancestor of all the frizzly-haired Papuans, he seems to be an eternal being, to whom they have continual access in prayer. This is suggested by the fact that the astral triad, — sun, moon, and earth, — is of very little significance in this region, being entirely eclipsed by Boitai, the "Lord" of the Earth, and Taidue, the "Lady" of the Sea, — once more a divine couple. That the former overshadows the latter, and is a supra-mundane being, may be inferred from the conjuration-formula, in which He is invoked in astronomical language, to be sure, but in which the idea of a single divine personality is clearly revealed, to wit, "0 Moon, Lord-Sun! Thou ivho seest all things that are in Heaven and Earth!" An inspection of His titles will show that the position of sun, moon, and earth, etc. in Dyabu- laran, Dyabu-vulan, Dyabu-vava, is either subordinate, or, what is more probable, purely descriptive and complementary, being a triple invoca- tion to Boitai as the "Lord of the sun, the Lord of the moon, and the Lord of the earth," — a suggestive prayer.^ That this is really the case is rendered increasingly certain by the testimony of Baron Van Hoevell, who dis- tinctly states that there is no vestige of an organised sun-cult on the islands.^ I am prepared to admit, however, that the astral mythology has made considerable inroads in these regions, which is only to be expected from their growing contact with higher cultures. At the same time an analysis of Dyabu reveals once more the two roots dya and abu, the former of which is here vaguely "Lordship", doubtless a later addition to the more primitive abu which we have already identified as the "father"-root in the earliest zone. Boitai is therefore an abu, and in his triple manifesta- tion He is in fact an Abuda, an "Oldest One", a "Life-giver", which is sur- prising in view of the confused racial and religious character of these ' Fr. Riedel, De sluik-en kroes-harigen rassen tusschen Selebes en Papua, ('sGravenhage, Ind. Taal-Land-en Volkenkunde, Vol. XXXIII (1890), p. 82. 2 Comp. W. Schmidt. Austron- esische Mythologie, p. 89ff. to whom I am indebted for these references. 32 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (E, 2) The Tapiros, — North-West Netherlands New Guinea Of the newly discovered Tapiros we have as yet no definite informa- tion. It will be useful, however, to call attention to a few anthropological and ethnological data which may serve as a help for correctly estimating their religious position. The following is from the pen of Dr. H. S. Har- rison:— "In the case of the Tapiro of New Guinea recently discovered by Cap- tain Rawling and his colleagues, circumstances prevented anything but a preliminary survey, though the information gained is sufficient to show that they fall into line with other negritos scattered in small groups over a wide but discontinuous area of the earth's surface. . . . Conspicuous among the physical characters of the Tapiro are the low stature, the woolly hair, the dark skin, and the broad head. To use the language of science, they are ulotrichous melanic brachicephals of an average height of less than five feet. The same definition may be applied to certain pygmy-tribes found in regions not far distant, and also in Central Africa. The former are usually called Negritos, and the latter are often spoken of as Negrillos. The Negrito-group has hitherto included only the Andamanese of the Andaman Islands, the Semang of parts of the Malay Peninsula, and the Aeta of the Philippines. To these must now be added the negritos of Dutch New Guinea, for which the only native name is that of Tapiro".' Speaking of their social and religious customs, he says — "We have no information as to the manners and customs, and the social or tribal organisation of the Tapiro, but if they are in agreement with other pygmy groups, there will be no departure from the prevailing simplicity. Amongst these, totemism and clan-systcms are wanting or rudimentary, hereditary chieftainship is apparently unknown, and the social groups partake of the nature of family associations, the villages, if such exist, being always small. There is no ancestor-cult or ceremonial spirit-worship, but in some cases at least a belief in supernatural beings is known to prevail, and there may even be recognition of a supreme deity. Monogamy is usual and women are not ill-treated. Death appears to be regarded as a natural event, and not as the result of witchcraft or sorcery, and burial of the dead in the ground is customary, though platform and tree-burial are occasionally practiced in some groups".* But as we have no knowledge of the Tapiro beliefs as such, we are forced to turn to the adjacent areas for further enlightenment. ' H. S. Harrison, in Rawling, The Land of the New Guinea Pygmies, (London, 1913) p. 266-267, on the neRrito-question. * Ibid., p. 275. GOD 33 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (E, 3) AWONA-KAWA— The Karesau-Islanders of German New Guinea This deficiency can now be supplied by the Karesau-Islanders, who inhabit the coast region directly to the north-east, on the German side of the great continental divide, known as the Charles-Louis range or the Victor-Emmanuel mountains. These peoples are sufficiently low to have been the bearers of an aboriginal Papuan faith, their semi-nomadic life and loose social organisation being based exclusively on "natural" or clan headmanship, which, as we have seen, approaches nearest to the primitive standard. Organised totemism is here unknown, and spirit and ancestor- worship at a minimum, all of which are points favorable to a lofty cult of divinity. They acknowledge a supreme being whom they call Awona-kaiva or Wonek'au, who lives in the heavens and has no temples or sculptured representations. In this He is distinguished from the ancestor-spirits who live in the marea or spirit-house. He is recognised as the Maker if not the Creator of all, but is himself an invisible, benevolent, and providential being, who is very powerful, directs the destinies of man, and is appealed to in all important undertakings. At the end of the initiation-ceremony for youths — in which all, including women and children assist—, there is an offering of fruits and animals, where, with eyes raised to heaven, He is solemnly invoked in the following strain:— "0 Wonekau! Come down, and look upon my wife, my children, my mother, my father, my sisters^ my brothers, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, my friends, 7ny fellow-beings!" ° It is fortunate that in this case we have the direct reports of a very reliable witness, the Rev. Father Schmidt, S. V. D., who, as he says, was most careful not to suggest anything to the minds of the natives, but let them tell their own story, in their own words, and in their own way. The following conversation with one of the aboriginals is certainly interest- ing:— "Has Wonekau lived in heaven for a long time, forever?" "They haven't told me" was the answer, "but I am forbidden to eat the casuar forever", (as long as time lasts), showing that the idea of timeless dura- tion was not absent. "When a child has been lost in the back-woods, the mother runs into the forest and shrieks to Wonekau as follows:— 0 Wonekau! Thou art good! Go, and tell the whites, that my child must come back!"— this apropos of the fact that the child had left the maternal hearth, and gone to the coast to live with the whites. "When a child has arrived at the sixth or eighth year, the father tells him all about Wonekau and what He demands, as follows : — » Anthropos, II. (1905) p. 1029ff. The same report will be found, supplemented and fa part corrected in Austronesische Mythologie, p. 117-119. 34 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM "They are not to steal arrows, cocoa-nuts, or other things, for Wonekau sees all things, though He cannot be seen Himself. But if people do steal, they are not taken by Wonekau into His palace in Heaven, but are con- signed to the flames". "Where are these flames, are they under the earth?". "I don't know". When strangers are amused at their native customs, they answer: "You mustn't laugh, Wonekau has made it so". When a man has finished a difficult piece of work, they say, — "That comes from Wonekau, who helped him". At night the men gather together on the sea-shore, and one tells the story of Wonekau under the light of the stars: — "Men and fellow beings! We are in existence! (Just think of it). Our land is very good. The Pleiades and the stars are shining. This is a great year. Wonekau, He is very good. He is invisible. He makes the Pleiades and the stars!" — and so on. Further evidence of the moral nature of this being is furnished by the story of the adulterer, who, after being warned by his fellows with the words, — "Friend, you must not do that, no one may steal the wife of another, you must give back the woman", is finally reproved by the leader with the strong allocution : — "Friend, I will say nothing more to you. The Lord Wonekau is already seeing you". As to the authenticity of this belief, its native origin, it seems to be fully established, partly by the isolation of the natives, partly by the phrase- ology of the legends. I have suggested Aivona-kawa as the original of Wonekau, hitherto regarded as irreducible. This would give the mean- ing "Father on High", which accords well with His heavenly character. But what is more important, a borrowing from Christian sources is directly repudiated by the natives themselves. Children for the first time trained in the mission-school of Tumleo involuntarily exclaimed: "Now it comes out that father was right after all. You boys of Dallmannhafen! Is not 'Gott' the same as your Wonekau and our Woiiakau?" A more conspicuous proof of the originality of a religious system could hardly be desired. Taking it all together, this report must be pronounced as one of the most well-supported and epoch-making in the entire "black" belt, and one of which our Catholic missionary fathers may well be proud. The dis- covery of a monotheistic and monogamous people among the "barbarous and bloodthirsty Papuans", is one of the many surprises to which we are gradually becoming accustomed in other regions. It is still too early to say how far these lofty notions extend into the interior, but the first pillars of the bridge have been constructed connecting the Aru Islands with Dutch and German New GuinBa. GOD 35 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (E, 4) CHIDIBEY— The Mapulu Negritos op British New Guinea Of the Mafulus of North-West British New Guinea a few interesting facts have been collected by Mr. Robert W. Williamson, whose valuable work on the social and religious condition of that people has been com- mended by Prof. A. C. Haddon, of Cambridge, England.' They know of a semi-divine being called Chi-di-bey, who "may be a man, or may be a spirit, (they appear to be vague as to this), who has immense power, and who once passed through their country in a direc- tion from east to west. Wherever you may be, if you speak of this per- sonage, and ask to be told in what direction he travelled, they always point out one which is from east to west. They believe that it was Chidibey who taught them all their customs, including dancing and manufacture, and that he ultimately reached and remained in the land of the white man, where he is now living, and that the superior knowledge of the white man has been acquired from him. One of the Fathers of the mission was seriously asked by a native whether he had ever seen Chidibey {I) They seem to think that he is essentially a beneficent being. They regret his having left the country, but they have no doubt as to this, and they do not regard him as still continuing to exercise any influence over them and their affairs, have no ceremonies or observances with reference to him, and do not address to him any supplications. As traces of his passage through their country they will show you certain extraordinarily shaped rocks and stones, but they have no ceremonies with reference to these, and they have no feeu" of them".^ It is impossible to read this report without being reminded of the old negrito Heaven-God, who is without fixed habitation, who has "immense power", who teaches them all they know, who is a benevolent being, who dwells or manifests his presence on certain rocks. (Comp. Atiito of the Philippines). This agrees well with the primitive culture of the Mafulu, whose crude bamboo industry and non-totemic organisation is in such contrast to the perfected stone civilisation of the Melanesians. Neverthe- less, the fact that many of them are of mixed Melanesian blood and have naturally borrowed some of their customs, such as cannibalism and ghost- worship (though only to a limited extent), this will explain the fact that the above divinity is no longer untarnished, he has lost the role of Creator, he has no external cult, he has ceded all his rights to the more popular "spirits", who are the controlling power of Melanesian religion.* • R. W. Williamson, The Mafulu Mountain People of British New Guinea (London, 1912). ^Idem, pp. 264-265. * Idem, p. 266ff. Note: — I have adopted the spelling Chi-di-bey as the phonetic equivalent of the original Tsi-di-be. THE AGE OF BAMBOOS AND OF STRAIGHT- LINE PATTERNS THE FATHER OF ALL AS SYMBOLISED IN THE BARK SHIELD-rNSCRlPTIONS OF THE AfSTBALXAN KAMILABCOI, IK THE ACSTBAiLiN CAVE-DBAWIXCS. AND BY THE 'LANO OF QVAT", THE CEBEMONOAI- HEAD-GEAR OF THE BANKS-ISLANDERS. CENTRAL MELAN'ESIA ••FA-FA K<»" « It < t ( I I t I « 11 t « V » t ' i » I I 1 « t ♦ • I t I I « t t I « t 3YAMEE dUAJJOUN MuNGtftH wiReeC?) f I t « 1 \ < « \ 1 \ ( 1 t 1 « ( I I ( 1 t r=^ + SI (i(iK,srKIJ MIC.\NIN(i ••MAY I'ATHKK UAIME I'ROTECT IS HV HIS FIKKV BREATH." SEE K. LANGLOH-I'ARKER. THE EIAIILAVI TRIBE. (LONDON. 190.1). P. 80, 121 K. HEl LE. LEITKADEN DEK VOLKERKl NDE, McDonald and Gunther, loc. cit. supra. ' Parker, 1. c. p. 9. » Parker, 1. c. pp. 8-9 (prayer), 72 (address), 79-80 (Baiame-song, untranslated). » E. B. Tylor, Journ. Anthrop. Inst. Vol. XXI. pp. 283-299 (Limits of savage religion), i" Howitt, 1. c. pp. 491, 500-501, 506-507. (Exaggeration of human attributes), i' E. S. Hartland, in "Folk- lore", Dec. 1898. (Denial of divine attributes). 38 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM Let us see to what extent these objections are justified. (1) It is quite true that none of these Australian tribes are strictly "primitive", that is primitive compared with the pure Negrito and the suggested Tasmanian type. Their culture is in every way more advanced, they live in more solid structures, and have discovered the art of making flint implements of palaeolithic and even neolithic design. They have an elaborate totemic system with four matrimonial classes, — an institution which is quite unknown among the lowest races of mankind. Yet with all this, there are clear traces or survivals of an earlier age, and of an earlier race, with whom they must have fused in very remote times, — the Tasmanian. This is revealed by their approximation to the Tasmanian type and by the fact that there is a strong under-current of very primitive culture which agrees very ill with an advanced stone-civilisation, — the grass apron, the fire-plow, the windshelter, the general sparsity of cloth- ing in spite of a more rigorous climate. We must therefore be prepared for something anomalous, for a social and religious mixture. If certain features of this mythology can be proved to be common to the lowest Negrito and Tasmanian belt, it will stand to reason that these are the earlier forms, while the existence of a difTerent circle of ideas will argue just as strongly for their introduction from a higher culture, provided these ideas can be shown to be peculiar to that culture, or at least to be strongly associated with it. A different question is that of the native origin of the beliefs. Here the evidence gives no uncertain sound. For if a later wave of prehistoric influence must be admitted, a recent borrowing from Christian sources is now impossible to maintain. Tylor's objection that no savage mind is capable of such "advanced" thought is directly contradicted by the testi- mony of Lang, Howitt, Thomas, Langloh-Parkcr, and others, that these ideas are indigenous. Howitt has proved conclusively that Baiame ante- dates all the missions," and Mrs. Parker writes: — "I was first told of Baiame in whispers by a very old native, said to have been already grey- haired, when Sir Thomas Mitchell discovered the Narran in 1846, (ten years before the missions). But He was a worshipful being, revealed in the mysteries, long before missionaries came, as (he) and all my inform- ants aver"." Similarly Thomas has shown that Baiame dates back to 1830, — evidence which ought to be conclusive," — especially as Wailz, our greatest authority, emphaticaJly denies importation." "Howitt, Native Tribes, p. 504-505. " Langloh-Parker, 1. c. p. 5. (summary). >* Thomas, loc. cit. supra. " VVaitr, Anthropologic dcr X,itiirvolker, (Leipzig, 1872), Vol. IV. pp. 796-798. Comp. A. Lang, Magic and Religion, (London, 1901), p. 25. GOD 39 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (2) But if the theory of a "Loan-God" is now generally abandoned, — and detailed reasons for this will appear in the sequel, — it is not on the face of it impossible that the supposed divinity might have been derived from an ancestor, — an "ideal headman" who lives in the sky, and to whom the natives pray in the hour of need. But this is going beyond the imme- diate data, it is "theorizing" on the probable origin of the belief. That a great headman might have suggested the idea is not per se impossible, but it will have to be proved that such a headman ever existed, nay more that he was worshipped and adorned with the supernatural qualities above mentioned. Now, not only is this unprovable, but there is strong evidence to show, that this could hardly have been the origin of the belief. There is no trace of hero- or ancestor-worship from which such a concept could have been developed. Moreover a headman, though "great", is hardly a "Baiame", a "Creator", a "Maker of all things", "an endless Being", an "all-seeing Spirit". The transition from human to divine attributes is too abrupt. Baiame stands out of all relation to tribal chiefs, to medicine-men and magicians. He is worshipped, while they are not, the image is human, but the attributes are superhuman. Hewitt's objection is therefore merely a speculative one. It concerns the origin of the idea, not the idea itself, for he is satisfied that Baiame in His present form is, to say the least, an "ideal" being.** Then again, the worship that is given to Baiame, and His hold over the public conscience, is something that is difficult to derive from a defunct ancestor. At the Borah, or Initiation-ceremony, He is solemnly invoked as "Father of All, whose laws the tribes are now obeying!", and the youth are put through a severe fire- and fasting-test, in which they are instructed in all the details of what can only be called a "religion". Baiame "has made all things", He is "the original source of all totems". He has com- manded them to observe the customs, "because Baiame says so", He requires them to observe the moral law, — for the "three deadly sins are: unprovoked murder, lying to the elders of the tribe, and stealing a woman within the forbidden degrees". Moreover "kindliness towards the old and sick is strictly inculcated as a command of Baiame, to whom all breaches of His laws are reported by the all-seeing spirit at a man's death, and he is judged accordingly". Finally, the petition to Baiame, that "the blacks may live long", that "He may send rain", that "the dead may rest in peace", etc., — all are so many indications that we are dealing with a superhuman, an omniscient, an omnipotent Being." " Howitt, Native Tribes, p. 507. J" For the facts, Parker, 1. c. pp. 7-9, 78-79. Cf. Schmidt, Ursprung der Gottesidee, (Miinster, 1912), pp. 173, 349ff. 40 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (3) But is not Baiame disfigured by "wife and family", by his role as a "hunter", by his confusion with the sun and the emu, by his invo- cation under the form of a crude clay figure which is anything but sug- gestive of a spiritual, an invisible being?" We are here face to face, partly with a harmless anthropomorphism, partly with a social and religious complexity, in which certain features are clearly of later growth, the result of a fusion with higher and later forms culture. (Cp. point 1). This can be shown by the fact that in the most primitive region, that of the East Indies, Central Africa, and probably Tasmania, the supreme Being is very generally unmarried, the hunting-theme is absent, sun, moon and animals have no relation to Him, and there are no plastic representa- tions of the divine. Baiame as the Sun-god, with Emu feet, is the leading motif of the .\ustralian totem-culture, as may be easily proved by the very similar figure of Altjira among the strongly totemic Aruntas, where we find the Emu-Sun, wife and family, hunting-escapades, and other undig- nified traits. This culture, and the solar ideas that accompany it, can be traced to at least four continents, and is in every way more advanced than any of the Negrito cycles or the supposed Tasmanian belt." If then Baiame is tarnished in part by solar and sexual features, if He has been dragged into the world of plant and animal totems, we know from what quarter this part of His picture could alone have been derived. It cor- responds to the more advanced aspect of Kamilaroi civilisation, that aspect which binds them to the central Aruntas, while its more primitive features suggest just as forcibly that the simple picture of the All-Father rivets Him to the lowest stratum of belief as yet known to us, — the Negrito Tasmanian circle. Thus two different phases of thought are here in col- lision, and by eliminating the elements that are demonstrably later, the original picture of Baiame stands out in bold relief, to wit : — The human notes bring out His Personality, the supernatural notes His Divinity." This argumentation will appear more conclusive the more the subject is developed in greater detail. For the present it should be observed that although a decadence in beliefs and practices is here distinctly notice- able,— growing nature-worship with magical and totemic ceremonies, cannibalistic practices, etc. — there is a strong undercurrent of pure theology which has left Baiame in undisputed possession of the field, — a moral Being who requires from His creatures a strict account of their actions, a high standard. For any being that can vindicate the moral law not only in the future but also in the present life, 7nust be more than a 'headman', he must be a faint image, to say the least, of the supreme Judge of heaven and earth.'* 2' Hartland, 1. c. supra. Cp. Schmidt, Ursprung, pp. 222, 370fF. '^ See Introduction p. XLIII. above. " Schmidt, Ursprung, p. 388ff. " Parker, 1. c. p. 50-60, 61-70ff. GOD 41 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM In illustration of this subject, the following customs, violent though some of them undoubtedly seem, will speak for themselves: — "Should a girl be found guilty of frailty, it being her first fault, her brothers and nearest male relations made a ring around her, after having bound her hands and feet, and toss her one from the other until she is in a dazed condition and almost frightened to death. Should a woman have been discovered to be an absolute wanton, men from any of the clans make a ring around her, she being bound, and tossed from one to the other, and when exhausted is unbound and left by her relations to the men to do as they please to her, — the almost inevitable result is death".^' The practice of killing half-caste babies is justified on the plea that Baiame's laws have been ignored, that His children have strayed from the path of virtue, — a brutal custom, but indicative of a strong moral feeling. For Baiame had said that "as long as the blacks kept his sacred laws, so long should He stay in His crystal seat (in heaven), and the blacks live on earth. But if they failed to keep up the Borah rites as He had taught them, then He would move and their end would come, and only the Wundah, or white devils, be in their country".^' The high price that is placed upon chastity is illustrated by the beautiful legend of the seven virgins that came down from heaven, two of whom were ravished by mortals and made to live with them, while the remaining five remained spotless. The seven virgins are the Pleiades, and the two ravished virgins are the two stars in the Pleiades that shine with a diminished brightness.^'' Charity and self-sacrifice are inculcated from the tenderest years. Mothers sing to their babies somewhat as follows: — "Give to me, baby, give to her baby, give to him, baby, give to one, baby, give to all, baby! Be kind, do not steal, do not touch what belongs to another, leave it alone, be kind!" While there are some ugly blotches on the morality of these tribes, — theory and practice being not always in harmony and many revolting customs in vogue, — this picture will show beyond doubt that Baiame has a close relation to morals, that He is an ethical Being. As the best known of the Australian "High-Gods", this may serve as a good example of Australian belief and practice in its earlier form. Of the still earlier but far less known divinities of the South-East a brief summary will be suffi- cient, as the want of space and the poverty of matter forbid a more lengthy discussion in these pages, interesting though such a discussion might prove to be. " Parker, 1. c. p. 60. " Parker, 1. c. p. 95-96. '' Parker, 1. c p. 52-54. 42 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (F) (2) NURRUNDERE,— Narrinyeri Tribes, South Australu As an equivalent of Baiame, but with some approach to Bundjil below, stands the figure of Nurrundere, the chief deity of the Narrinyeri-tribes. He has made all things, and has taught men the arts and sciences.' His voice is the thunder, and his work the rainbow.^ He has brought his people down the river, (Murray), and has ordained a sacrifice which he requires at slated intervals, — a Wallaby-offering.' He is no longer on earth, but is now in heaven, and his name is uttered only with the greatest reverence.* Here again the notion of a headman, hunter, or tribal leader, can be separated from that of a Maker and Giver of all, a being who is dis- tinctly superhuman, though he is pictured under human forms. Mar- riage in these tribes is on the local totemic system with male descent, and there is a starvation-ceremony by which the youth are admitted to full membership of the clan. Spirit and ancestor-worship are wanting, or at least weakly developed." (F) (3) BUNDJIL, — KuLiN tribes, South West Victoria For Bundjil of the Kulin tribes, the material is scanty and difTicult to collate. Moreover his picture is tarnished by astral features, as he is now identified with a star, (Altair, or Fomalhaul). "See!" (pointing to the star), "that one is Bundjil. You see Him, and He sees you!". His sons (or brothers) are also stars, and his alleged wives are two black swans.* By disentangling the complicated mythology, often contradictory, by which this central figure has been obscured, it has been possible to elimi- nate one by one those notes or attributes that are inconsistent with his prime qualities and show traces of belonging to a later group of ideas. We have already seen that the notion of a married divinity, associated more or less with the sun, moon, and stars, is the leading theme of tiie more advanced totem-culture, and is conspicuously absent in the earliest stream of human tradition. (Comp. p. 40.) When these items are removed as out of harmony with the more primitive aspect of this people, socially and culturally, the original picture of Bundjil as the Heaven-God, with thunder and rainbow-trails, may be clearly discerned in the background, as witness: — He is the Maker of all things, and the teacher of arts and sciences. He is the guardian of the moral order, and the Father in Heaven, in short. He is a personal being, with mixed human and di\ine attributes.' This is the region of two-class totemism. with paternal descent.' > Howitt, 1. c. p. 488, quoting G. Taplin, The Narrinyeri, (.Adelaide, 1879), p. 55. ^ Taplin. 1 c p 57f s Taplin. 1. c. p. 55. ••Taplin, ibid. ' Howitt, 1. c. p. 260. 673. 434. 'Hewitt, I. c 128 489-492. 'Howitt, 1. c. 491-492. Cp. Brough-Smith, The Aborigines of Victoria (Melbourne, 1878) Vol. I. pp. 423-442. » Howitt, p. 126, 610. GOD 43 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (F) (4) DARAMULUN— YuiN-KuRi, New South Wales Another prominent figure in this connection is that of Daramulun, — the high Thunder-God of the Kuri nation,— New South Wales. It is remarkable that he is one of the few deities in Australia that is not hampered with rivals or assistants or family retinue, but stands supreme as the one God of heaven to whom deference is due. He is Biamban, or "Great Master", He can go everywhere and do any- thing.i He is Creator of all things, at least in one instance.^ He was once upon earth, but is now in heaven, where He watches the actions of men. He can see people, and is very angry when they do wrong.' He has taught mankind the arts and industries, and He alone has instituted the sacred mysteries, — the so-called Kuringal. On these occasions, his voice, which is heard in the thunder, is re-echoed in the whirring of the "Bull-roarer", or sacred wand, and one who is deputed to take his place marshals the young men, and in the name of Daramulun knocks out one of their front teeth. This is the only occasion on which his picture is allowed to be exposed or his name uttered. The women and uninitiated know Him only under the more common title Papang, — Father, — or Biamban, — Master.' But if this picture of Daramulun is simple and clear, his later associa- tions are indeed manifold. He is a falcon. He has a mother, the Emu, He has only one leg, {Dara-mulun) , He is the spirit that dwells in the Bull- roarer as in a secret charm, and that compels obedience by virtue of its own hidden power, (Schwirrholzgeist).^ These items may be interpreted as accidentals, of no essential importance to his main character as a creat- ing divinity. But that they are later accretions derived from the same source as in the preceding cases, is, to say the least, highly probable. His identification with the falcon, spider, or lizard, and his association with the emu-sun, reveals a close connection with the central Arunta totemic region, where animal and astral themes are alone in evidence. More- over his maimed condition is by no means primitive, — the existing figures are all complete, — while the bull-roarer-spirit is a natural intensification of his hidden presence, which has become more and more blended with magical rites.'' It will be noted, moreover, that the nearer we approach the Tasmanian region, the more pure is the picture presented by the supreme Being, the more free from sexual and naturalistic details. Mar- riage in these tribes is on the simple totemic system with local exogamy and male descent. 1 Howitt, 1. c. p. 553. 2 Ridlev, Kamilaroi, p. 156. » Howitt, pp. 494-495. * Ibid. » Howitt, p. 516-562. « Howitt, p. 560, SSSflf. ' HoYritt, p. §53, 563fiE. Cp. Schmidt, Ursprung, pp. 344-349. - 44 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (F) (5) MUNGAN-NGAUA,— KuRNAi, South Victoria As the last and in many respects the purest form in Australian the- ology, the figure of Mungan-ngaua looms bright and clear as the supreme being of the Kurnai tribes of South-East Victoria, — Gippsland. He is the only divinity that has no other name but that which describes his paternal relation to man, — Mungan-ngaua — , "Our Father", the "Father" of the human race. Unfortunately but little is known of his physical and ethical traits. These are kept a strict secret, and are known only to the initiated, and to them obscurely. Perhaps the most vivid picture of his character is obtained at one of these tribal initiations, or Jeraeils, where the youth are instructed in the following terms: — "Long ago there was a great being called Mungan-ngaua, who lived on partli and taught the Kurnai all they know. He gave them also their personal names, such as Tulaba. He had a son, Tundun, (Adam?), who was married, and is the direct ancestor of the Kurnai. He instituted the Jeraeil at the command of his father, and made the instruments, — bull- roarers — , that bear his name, — Tundun. Some tribal traitor impiously revealed the secrets to the women, and for this reason. He sent down fire from heaven, (the Aurora Australis), and a great flood, in which all were drowned except a few of their own ancestors. After this He left the earth and ascended into heaven, where He still remains."^ It has been objected that this story is somewhat thin, that it leaves the real nature of Mungan-ngaua undermined. It must be confessed that his role as Creator is inferential rather than self-evident, but the sparsity of the attributes that are assigned to Him is at most a negative argument, and proves little when compared with the unique position tliat He occupies in the life of the people. At least this much may be alTirmed: — He was apparently never made, and is certainly immortal. He is their father, their teacher, their judge, and their lawgiver. He has commanded them (1) to listen to and obey the old men, (2) to share everything with their friends, (3) to live peaceably with their friends, (4) not to inter- fere with girls and married women, (5) to obey the food-restrictions, etc.* — from which it is evident tiiat we are dealing with an ethical being, — the Author and Guardian of the moral law. Marriage in these tribes is on the local system, with "sex"-totems and male descent. These are among the most primitive and strongly Tasmanioid tribes on the entire continent.' ' Howitt, op. cit. pp. 490, 630ff. ' Idem, p. 633. ' Comp. Schmidt, Ursprung, pp. 324-332. Howitt, 1. c. pp. 269-271. GOD 45 OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM (F) (6) MARRA-BOONA— Tasmanian Pure Of the aborigines of Tasmania, now extinct, we have only the most slender statistics.' Only those, moreover, will be of any religious value to us that depict the natives as they existed before their loss of liberty, before they were placed under conditions of pressure, that is, before 1834. These accounts speak of a divinity, Marra Boona, whose name, though only seriously studied since the time of Milligan, (1854), can hardly be any other than that of the chief god of the Mount Royal tribes, — South Tas- mania. The full name, — Tiggana-Marra-Boona — , has been variously interpreted by scholars, either as "Spirit of great creative power" accord- ing to Milligan, or simply as "High-One-Exalted", (Extremus-Unus- Eminens), according to Fr. Schmidt. The exact meaning must be deter- mined by future lexicologists.^ In any case these epithets fit in well with the vague descriptions of a deity that have been handed down from very early sources, collected and quoted by Ling-Roth, to wit:— He is the spirit of light and is opposed to the spirit of darkness. (On this point all are agreed, — Jeffreys, Horton, Leigh, etc. — 1820-1822). He is a benevolent being and the author of good, (Ibidem). He is the Creator of man, if not of the universe, (Horton, 1821), and therefore in some sense supreme, at least over the human race. He is addressed by prayers and invocations, which imply an ethical relation of worship and a "feel- ing" for personality,— (Jeffreys, 1820, Leigh, 1822). Approaching this subject in greater detail, — it must'be admitted that the evidence is neither as clear nor as copious as might have been desired. But the explicit statement of three very early writers must surely be of some weight, more especially as the lexical evidence tends to support it. "These creatures have a song", says Jeffreys (1820), "which they sing to their imaginary deity, of whom however they have a very vague idea and who as they say, presides over the day, while an evil spirit or demon appears at night. This divinity, whatsoever He may be, they look upon as the Giver of good, and it does not appear that they acknowledge more than one God". Horton also testifies, (1821), that they have a creation- legend, according to which they were created "by a benevolent Being", at first "with tails and without knee-joints, when another being descended from heaven, and full of sympathy for the sufferers, cut off their tails and lubricated their joints." If these items mean nothing more, they imply, at least, that the origin of man is apparently attributed to a good, wise and benevolent Creator, though the tail-motif leaves, of course, much to be desired in the way of a pure concept.' ' Collected by H. Ling-Roth in his classic work, The Aborigines of Tasmania, (Halifax, 1899), from which most of the present material has been derived. ^Compare Schmidt, Ursprung, p. 216flf. for Milligan and the lexical analysis. ^ The simplicity of this story is a guarantee of its native origin. For the sources, see Ling-Roth, pp. 53-54. 46 GOD OCEANIC PRIMITIVE FORM Similarly Leigh, (1822), writes: — "Their religious beliefs are very obscure. Nevertheless, they believe in two spirits : the good spirit governs the day, and the evil spirit the night. To the good spirit they attribute all the good, and to the wicked spirit all the evil. WTien any member of the family is on a journey, they are accustomed to sing to the good spirit, in order to implore his protection over their absent friends, and that they may return in health and safety". The later testimonies of Henderson, Robinson, Lloyd, Bonvvick, etc. (1832-1870), confirm in part the earlier reports, with this difference that all, with the exception of Robinson, recognise demonism and spirit-worship to be the chief constituent of Tasmanian religion. From these data it may be inferred with great probability that the T£is- manians at one time recognised a single, supreme, and benevolent divinity, opposed by another, malevolent divinity, and that with the loss of their liberty and their constrained conditions of life, they have turned more and more to spiritism as a last refuge fo their shattered hopes. We cannot therefore reject the united testimony of the earlier reports confirmed by Milligan's lexical studies in 1854. It reveals the existence a "Great High One", whose creative power is attested as early as 1821, and whose benevolence, providence, and personal worship seem to be implied by Uie existing data. But with regard to His nature, we are left very largely in the dark. The word "spirit" is dubious, and we have no knowledge of ancient Tasmanian worship, that could give us a clue to the "forms" under which it took place. If however Ling-Roth is right in his explicit denial of any sun- or moon-worship on the part of the natives,' we have an important point in favor of a pure, unadulterated cult of divinity, unassociated with the elaborate nature-worship of later times. This is a consideration of no small value. It means that Tasmanian religion antedates the cosmic theology by indefinite periods, that the supreme divinity has no relation to sun or moon-cult. This and the absence of totemism * brings it very near the Negrito level, with whom from the standpoint of culture as well as physique the Tasmanians are closely allied." From what can still be known of this interesting people it appears that they stood on a comparatively high moral level. The marriage-tie was strict and adultery was punished with blows. All agree that there was no cannibalism, and no infanticide except such as was forced upon them by contact with whites.* "Ling-Roth, op. cit. p. 54. «Idem, p. 63. (totemism). 'Idem, p. 67ff. (culture). •Idem, pp. 113-115 (marriage), p. 97 (cannibalism), p. 162 (infanticide). Note:— "There is no evidence that they were in awe of the sun, nor that they associated childbirth with the moon",— p. 54. where the authorities are given. (I have not been able to procure the originals). THE AGE OF BAMBOOS AND OF STRAIGHT-LINE PATTERNS THE FATHER ABOVE THE CLOUDS QOTER-rNSCRIPTION ISED BY THE NEGRILLOS OF THE CONGO-BELT FOB SECFRINO A SUCCESSFUL CHASE, AND INTERPRETED IN PART BY THE MY'THOLOGY', IN PART BY THE APPENDED SY'SIBOLS FOR THE "JLiSTEB IN HEAVEN." X OMWlH\ ANYAMBVE /\ TRIBAU IMIXIATIOM MARKS BUSHMAN A'KENQ- t ABA- WAkA- MULLINGU SOiDAKA-MODUMA-SAMKA \ X MuzIru muzTru ^^ amulX-YE X OMYvfaj ANYAMBYE TRIBAU . INtTlATtON MARKS CGabooh) 3USHMAM TRIPLE CROSS ■ UAAMQ COMBINED INTERPRETATION "THE FATHER ON HIGH— THE CREATOR — WHO HAS PLANTEJ) THE SACKED MODVMA TREX— MAT HE PROTECT IS BY HIB Gl'AKDIAN-SPIRITS." SEE MOR. LEBOV, LES PYORIEES NEGRILLES D'AFKIQrE ET NEGRITOS DE L'ASIE. (TOIBS, leiO), P. 160, 2S2, AND O. W. STOW. THE N.VTIVE RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA. (LONDON, 1910), P. 28, 120, FOR NEGRILLO AND BUSHJLVN SYMBOLISM. GOD 47 CENTRAL AFRICAN PRIMITIVE FORM (G) The Akka-Batua Negrillos op Central Africa The Negrillos of Central Africa, though famed since classic times. have only recently been studied with anything like precision. And even now, little enough is Imown of their more subtle beliefs to be able to pass any final conclusions as to their character. But the materials that have come to hand are nevertheless sufficiently well-tested and sufficiently sur- prising to merit further inquiry. (G) (1) WAKA — East Central Africa, — Boni-Watwa Of a mysterious being called Waka the following facts have been col- lected by Mgr. LeRoy in a personal interview with the natives : — ' Waka can see everything, but cannot be seen Himself,— a spiritual being(?). He is the Master of all and has given them all they have, — a Creator. He is the Judge of all, as when He descends from heaven and takes the lives of men at His will, who are then buried in the earth. He is severe and requires a sacrifice, in which the best portions of food are burnt, poured out, or thrown up to heaven, with the following words: — "Waka! Thou hast given me this buffalo, this honey, this ivine. Behold thy portion. Grant me continued strength and life, and tlvxt no harm may come to my children!" The Boni-Watwas are pure primitives and their antiquity unquestion- able. As to possible importation, it is to be noted, that although Waka is also the name for God among the Hamitic Gallas, their neighbors, it is hardly probable from the want of any Islamic features in their religion that the name or idea is of Islam origin, (Allah). For if so, why were not other Islamic elements, such as dances and dervishes, fakirs, circum- cision and medicine-men, transferred also? Moreover the Negrillos com- monly speak the language of their neighbors, and Waka would be their natural expression for what the Gallas call God. This is in fact a mere question of terminology^, and has no bearing on the native origin of the belief, which is now generally admitted.^ As to spiritistic and magical practices, the author has taken care to determine that no charms or amulets of any kind are used by the natives in the hope of driving out the pepos, or bad spirits, of which they know nothing.* On the other hand the Sadaka, or firstling-sacrifice is common to nearly all the Negrillos, and is generally wanting among all tribes or peoples of Mohammedan per- suasion. This is a strong point against importation." iMgr. LeRoy, Les Pygmees, Negrilles d'Afrique et Negritos de I'Asie, (Tours, undated), pp. 175-178. Comp. Schmidt, Pygmaenvolker, p. 232. ^ See above pp. ^ Schmidt, 1. c. p. 232, note 1, 4. ■'LeRoy, 1. c. p. 176. ^^ Idem, p. 178, where the author states that on the con- trary the first-fruit idea was borrowed from the Watwa, this on the testimony of a Pocomo tribesman. 48 GOD CENTRAL AFRICAN PRIMITIVE FORM (G) (2) INDAGARRA,— Mid-Central Africa,— Urundi-Watwa Father J. M. Van der Burgt reports of a deity in Central Africa, (Urundi), whose name, Indagarra, he associates with a verb meaning "to live", "to be strong" (?).' The following facts deserve in any case to be noted : — He appears to abide in the heavens and cannot now be seen. He has made the first man and the first woman, the parents of the race. He has a subordinate spirit, fiyaiigombe, who may be a mediator, but who is identified in the popular mind with the first man, (or Adam). He is the supreme Judge of man after death, when He sends the good upwards to a place of enjoyment, and the bad downwards to a place of misery. The author also states that few amulets are worn by the natives, though they manufacture them for the neighboring Warundi and Watutsi, and that very few temples or fetich-houses are to be found, which in this case are certainly imported features. We are therefore justified in conjectur- ing that this is a deity similar to Waka above, though further information will be necessary before any more definite opinion can be formed. (G) (3) NZAMBI, — West-Central Africa, Ajongo-Gaboon (Mixed) From the Gaboon-region, West-Africa, Mgr. LeRoy has obtained the following information concerning Nzambi^ — again by personal (inter- view : — He lives on high, and His voice is the thunder. He is the Master of all. He has made all, and "in His sight we are all very small". He causes men to live and to die. When a man dies, his shadow descends into the earth, deeper and deeper. (Purgatory). Then it gradually rises and ascends to God. If he has been good, God says: "Stay here, you will possess great forests and want nothing". If evil, God throws him into the fire, which is above (sic!). All these things, we are assured, the Ajongo have believed from time immemorial. As against Anyambic of the Nkomis, Nzambi is distinctly a Judge, with rewards and punishments. His name has no connection with the neigh- boring divinity, and the Ajongo wear no amulets, and have no priests and sorcerers.' Similar reports have reached us of the Akkas,* Bafuas, Wambultis," etc. This, in connection with the firstling-sacrifice above mentioned,' renders the conclusion probable that these are primary, aboriginal, Central-African beliefs.' Such is the verdict of Mgr. LeRoy, who moreover assures us that this belief is superior to that of the Bantus, and is accompanied by a higher standard of private and public morals,— less violence, greater observance of chastity.* I J M Vander Burgt, Un grand peuple de I'Afrique Equatoriale, (Bois-le-Duc, 1903) pp 46, 74, 82, 119, 137. Cp. Schmidt, 1. c. p. 234. 'LeRoy, op. cit. pp. 179-180. 'LeRoy, 1. c. p. 180. ♦Comp. Casati, Ten years in Equatoria, (London, 1891). Also 'Schmidt, 1. c. 234-235. • LeRoy, 178, 192. ' Idem, p. 187, 177. » Idem, p. 209ff. GOD 49 CENTRAL AFRICAN PRIMITIVE FORM To illustrate this subject, and at the same time to obtain a graphic idea of how the natives express their religious views to those whom they feel they can make their confidentials, I cannot do better than quote verbatim the report of Mgr. LeRoy, one of the few white men who has ever taken the trouble to handle this matter with anything like satisfaction.' "I have been singularly struck", says the bishop, "at the difference which exists, — and this entirely to their advantage,— between our little men and the neighboring tribes, a difference which I had already dis- covered on the eastern coast and which to my astonishment I found to be the same on the other side of Africa. When I accidentally invaded the fioni-setllement, (close to Malindi, Zanzebar), and made the acquaintance of the chief, I drew from him a remark which surprised me. Contrary to the custom of the Bantus around them, pagan or more or less mussul- man, these Bonis carry no amulets. " 'I do not see among you those daivas, irizis, and all those things which other tribes carry around their necks, arms, and everywhere', was my remark. 'No', was the answer. 'Why not? are these things wicked?' 'We know nothing about them'. 'But if the pepo (or spirit) enters one of your bodies, what do you do to expel him?' 'The pepo never comes to us, he knows only the Wa-nyika and the Mussulman'. 'And you have no sacrifice either, (Sadaka), for example when you kil.l a buffalo, when you find honey, when some evil threatens you?' 'Listen, if you want to know everything. When I kill a buffalo, I take a small portion, the best of it, and place it on the fire. One part remains there to be burnt, the other I eat with my children. If I find honey, I take none of it until I have thrown a little into the forest or up to heaven. And when I get palm- wine, I must first scatter a little of it over the ground. ... Is that what you want to know? " 'Yes,— but in doing this, you say nothing?' 'I do. I say for example : — "Waka! Thou hast given me this buffalo, this honey, this wine. Behold thy portion. Grant me strength and life, and that no harm may come to my children!" ' " H^aAra is the Galla name for God. I knew this, but it was better to play the ignorant, and let this savage explain himself in his own way. "Waka?" said I, "what is Waka?" "You have never heard of Waka? Why, He is the Master of all. He whom the Swahilis call Mu-ungu. He gives us these lands, these forests, these rivers, everything that you see : We live off Him, but He is severe, He wants His share of things, and we give it to Him." "Have you seen Him?" "Seen Waka? Who could ever see Waka? But He sees us easily. ° LeRoy, op. cit. p. 17Sff. I give a short English version of the original French. 50 GOD CENTRAL AFRICAN PRIMITIVE FORM "Sometimes He comes into our camp and makes one of us die. Then we bury him in the earth, liim whom he has deprived of life. For it is dangerous to remain under the eye of God". The author concludes: — "These backwoodsman-idoas of God and of sacrifice that is due to Him made, I repeat, a profound impression upon me, superior by far as they were to those commonly scattered among their agricultural, sedentary, and comparatively civilised neighbors. They reversed the conceptions that I had made on the subject, and which wanted to make out (according to the books) that religious and other knowledge goes hand in hand with material civilisation". This is only one specimen of the above author's numerous interviews with the natives, and every time he found not only "the recognition of a personal and supreme Divinity" but the otTering up of sacrifices to His name. "For my part", he says, "I have found no group in which He was unknown.'" But if the magical and animistic practices of the Bantus are here con- spicuously absent, any notions of totemism, of a descent from trees or animals, are equally distant. Waka has made men and all things directly, they do not spring from lower forms, and at death He is their immediate Judge, there are no reincarnations. They have a natural shyness towards the Chimpanzee, and they regard the Moduma-Tv&e as sacred, the latter containing the secret of life, from which they abstain at stated intervals, offering up the sacred nut as a "present to the Lord". Moreover, "I made many inquiries to know whether the negrillos were cannibals. The answer was always in the negative, except among the Beku (or Bushmen), or very intermittently," — a verdict with which Casali agrees." They are a peaceful, afTectionate, and comparatively moral people, among whom monogamy prevails and women are not ill treated. "They have a fellow-feeling for one another, assisting one another as the occasion may require", and their family life and social customs should be studied with the help of Mgr. LeRoy's interesting pictures, which will reveal more powerfully than any words can do, how these simple childish people reverence themselves and their Creator. As to the name of this divinity, the word Waka contains the two roots Wa and Ka, from which the meaning "High Man" "Great Master" may not improbably be revealed. Nzambi (Nza-arnba) is "He who creates", while inda-garra is taken to mean "The Strong One" "He who is alive". In any case, the expression Abe-Yehu-Mu-lungu will speak for itself — "Our Father, who art in Heaven!" " '» LeRoy, 1. c. p. 187. "Ibid. p. 193. '^ pgr linguistic notes and invocations see Idem. p. 112ff. Also, U Religion des Primitifs (Paris, 1911) p. 173ff. 301. GOD 51 CENTRAL AFRICAN PRIMITIVE FORM (H) KAANG— South-African Belt— Kalahari Bushmen, (Maluti) Of the Bushman religion, (Kalahari Desert, South Africa) conflicting reports are in circulation. This is owing to the fact that these tribes are no longer unadulterated, but exhibit certain advanced features (use of palaeohths, poisoned arrows, pottery, and polychrome), side by side with very early elements, (wind-screen, loin-strap, flre-stick, etc.), which makes their position an anomalous one. They are also beyond the negrito stature,' have powerful hereditary chiefs,= show vestiges of totemic ideas ' are strongly addicted to magic,^ and exhibit a morality by no means flaw- less,—polygamy and infanticide in parts.' These, by contrast with qualities of an opposite nature, make their combined character very diffi- cult to estimate. Nevertheless, there is a general consensus of opinion that they are an ancient people, and in the most primitive area, that of the Maluti, or Mountain-Bushmen, we hear of a great being called Kaang (Master), of whom the following information has been gathered:—' Kaang cannot be seen with the eyes, but only with the heart of man. Kamig causes to live and causes to die, gives or refuses rain. '\\t first he was very good and nice, but he got spoilt through fighting so many things" (Idea of original goodness contending with increasing evil) "He has made all things and we pray to Him". He is to be addressed in times of famine, or before going to war, or when performing the sacred dance (Mo-koma). The following prayer is authenticated:— "O Kaang Kaang' Are we not thy children? Do you not see our hunger? Give us food'- "And He gives us both our hands full".'' He has instituted the Mo'koma or "Dance of Blood", a terrible gambol, in which both sexes take part, and which ends with swooning and nose-bleeding, but the transgression of whose rites on the score of sexual excess is punished by Kaang with ter- rible chastisements,— transformation into beasts, and banishment to a mysterious region under the water." From what has been seen above, it seems probable that Kaang is an old Bushman "God", whose character has been partly lost by growing social and moral deterioration. Dr. Bleek's identification of Kaang with the grasshopper, (Mantis), shows inroads of tiie totem-culture in the West, but leaves his nature undetermined in the more primitive region, (Maluti)."' A similar invasion of animal ideas has been noted in Australia and the Andaman Islands, (q. v.) It must be admitted, however, that this figure is too humanised and corrupted in its present appearance to satisfy the rigid demands of a pure theism. It points at the most to a former and probably more elevated conception of the divine. 'G. Stow The Native Races of South Africa, (London, 1910), p. 12. = Idem v 186 r nn^ii^V M^'^-./^l'™' P- \^^- '^<^^'"' PP- 55-97, SO-Sl. « Idem pp. 40 15 .^Stow 1 c. pp. 113, 132-I34, taken partly from T. Arbousset, Relation d'un voyage au Cap de Bonne ST?Id 13^13?'"' Monthly Magazine, July, 1874. » Stow, 1. c. p. 134. » Idem 52 GOD CENTRAL AFRICAN PRIMITIVE FORM Review Such in brief are the main outlines of the earliest African faith as yet known to us. It cannot be denied that the picture is fragmentary, that the material offered is far from voluminous, that the conclusions drawn are not in every case beyond criticism. We must remember, however, that this is an entirely new field, and that in the first endeavor to uncover these beliefs, to penetrate beyond the veil of tribal secrecy, there must needs be considerable ditficulty and not a little disappointment, that with such an expenditure of labor the material reported should be apparently small. But the quantity of the matter offered is not always the best test of its veracity, of its relative importance. A few vital statistics are worth volumes of undigested folk-lore, of secondary issues. In the present case the splendid work of Mgr. LeRoy has opened out a new world of investiga- tion in Central Africa, and the facts that he has brought to light should be a stimulus for every searcher after truth to widen its domain, to bring more secrets to the surface. The more essential points of his report have been given above, for the more descriptive matter the reader is referred to the work itself, which serves as an excellent and at present the only popular introduction to the study of Negrillo beliefs. Taking this area as a whole, there can be no doubt that the main points established admit of a fairly rigid demonstration, — to wit, — (1) It cannot now be denied that the races in question, Negrillo and Bushman, are the real aborigines of the African continent. It is also impos- sible to suppose that their beliefs were borrowed from "higher" peoples for the simple reason that their isolation and the want of any higher traces, whether in their tradition or in their practices, makes the above supposition increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to maintain. (2) The facts collected are sufficiently numerous and variegated to warrant the conclusion that a personal and providential "Maker of All" is not only acknowledged, but worshipped and invoked by His needy chil- dren. This simple childlike religion binds the Negrillos to their brethren, the Oceanic Negritos, which is one more point in favor of its authenticity. This completes the cycle of negrito races and tiieir allies, the Tas- manians and Bushmen being included as cognate races of woolly hair. It is now lime to turn our attention to another group, which, though closely allied to them, represents a transition to a somewhat different type of humeuiily. THE AGE OF BAMBOOS AND OF STRAIGHT-LINE PATTERNS THE FATHER OF SHINING LIGHT PICTOCRAPHIt SERIES DISCOVERED AMONG THE SHINOI-TRIBES OF THE MTDDI F AMAZON AND SUGGESTING THE PRINCIPAL THEME OF THE K£RI-KAJfE8 LEGEND PATTERNS 0 Op m FROM THE o /^MAZONlAN PAPA- K.AMlJ§lNt ^^ sSEveBMt N/lTIA-VuKKeDCXKA /a. I YUXKe-KERI-KAMeS MYTH- •pA-rrERHS AMAOCNVAM REGION 81CGE8TED INTERPRETATION "THE FATHER ABOVE, THE SHINING ONE,— HAS PLANTED THE SEED— WHICB BRINOS FORTH THE FRIIT— OF THE KERI-KASfES THEE." SEE K. VON DEN STEINEN, Dl'RCH CENTRAL BRA8ILIEN, (1886), P. S81, AND COMPARE W. C. FARABEE, SOME SOl'TH-AMERICAN PETROGLVPHS, (HOLMES ANNIVERSARY VOLUME, WASHINGTON, 1918), P. 88-90, FOR THE APPENDED SKETCHES. FOR NOMENCLATURE SEE KOCH-GRl NBERG, DIE BETOVA-SPRACHEN, (ANTHKOPOS. 1913), P. 944, AN*D CONSULT THE COMBINED CENTRAL-BR.%ZILL\N LEXICOLOGY. GOD 53 AMAZONIAN PRIMITIVE FORM (K) South American Region, Central Brazil,— Tapuyas, etc. The fact that we find extremely low races in the heart of Brazil sug- gests the conclusion that they are the survivals of a former age when they held exclusive dominion of the soil, that they were pushed into the remote confines of the tropical forest by the stronger races that followed in their wake. These tribes, known under the collective name of "Tapuyas", or "Barbarians", are believed by some authorities to be the earliest represen- tatives of a South-American indigenous race of which we have any knowl- edge.' They are the modern descendants of the "Lagoa-Santa" race (pre- liistoric), they are more or less pygmoidal, they arp possibly of pre-Indian origin, (proto-Malayic, comp. Jakun), they antedate the ageof stone (wood and bone industry), they have no developed totemic ideas (local exogamy), they have no permanent settlements (wind-screen), and they wander from river-jungle to mountain-creek in quest of such animal and vegetable food as can be collected by the crudest of weapons (staff-bow, boom- erang?),—all of which stamp their possessors as being one of the earliest invaders of the New World, though, for reasons already given, we cannot consider them on precisely the same level as the East-Indian Negritos,— (lank hair, taller stature, more complex culture). We have therefore classified them as "late archaic", with elements derived from the Boom- erang-culture, and as such they merit our attention, though little enough is known of their higher beliefs to justify any certain conclusions as to their nature. (K) (1) IGUANCHI,— Yivaros— , West-Central Brazil, or E. Peru The Yivaros of the upper Amazon are not generally classed as Tapuyas. But a few items of their belief may serve to interpret a region where a primitive undercurrent is to be suspected,— a former Tapuya-zone.= Their unique divinity Igmnchi is probably identical with Pillan, a Thunder- God, who lives in volcanoes and spits lire. Of his personal character nothing is known, but his name is invoked on all occasions.' He also appears as a fire-spewing ape, and is worshipped in the narcotic-trance, Natema, when his servants hold mystic communion with him. This shows at least that a personal cult is in evidence, but leaves Iguanchi himself a blurred image,— supreme, but otherwise indefinable. There is no clear evi- dence of totemism. But cannibalism and head-hunting have made violent inroads in this region, the Yivaros are a decadent people.* „, p- E- Church, The Aborigines of South America, (London, 1912). p. 66ff. Also K. Weule, Leitfaden. (Leipzig, 1912), p. 47. D. G. Brinton, The Dwarf Tribe on the Upper Amazon, Amer. Anthr. (Washington, 1898) Vol. XI. pp. 277-279 (unidentified). » K. Moi"f\' !>'f-i^"^" '^" Naturvolker Amerikas, in Archiv fiir Religions\vis<;enschaft. XIV (ivil), p. 293ff. 'Idem, p. 293. * Comp. Rivet, Les Indiens livaros. Etude geographique, histonque, ethnographique, L'Anthropologie, XIX, pp. 235-254. (religion), lb. Vol. XVIII, pp. iiia. (ethnography). 54 GOD (K) (2) KAMUSHINI,— Bakairi-Bororo — , South Central Brazil But if the upper Amazon is largely a "terra incognita", the Shingu- region gives promise of better results. Here the Bakairi and other allied peoples are not impossibly the forerunners of the great Amazonian family, they and the Paressis. Bororos, and Caingang, approaching nearer to the Botokudo-type, — admittedly the most primitive type of mankind on the continent. Somatically they are of low to medium stature,' they go prac- tically naked, and live a largely nomadic life, which is content with the simple hut or windshelter.* Staff-bow. boomerang, and bull-roaror are well represented in this region, as well as the peculiar facial disfigurement that accompanies them, — nose, lip, and ear-ornament.^ As to their industries, "the Shingu are living in an age of shell, wood, tooth, and bone".* they "plow" fire, and bark-canoe and balsa are still in evidence. They have neither lance, blowpipe, nor poisoned arrow, though the Tupi employ a throwing-stick.' If it is true that some of these people can also work stone and produce fair pottery, our leading authority is convinced that these are not native but imported features, as most of the Bakairi cannot make celts.' Finally there is no totemism, but rather a strong lunar mythology with a peculiar "spider"-niotive, wliich again suggests the typical theme of the Boomerang-circle.' This is illustrated by Kamushini, the supreme figure of Bakairi myth- ology. Whether the name be Arowakish or not, Kamu may be taken vaguely as "light", whether sun- or moon-light, and the fact that he appears under tlie form of a spider, spinning the universe out of his brain, makes it more than probable that he was once connected with the moon, and in still earlier times with the heavens in general. (Comp. Puluga, Atnaka, Quat-Maraiva above). In any case Kamushini is apparently a Creator, He has made Keri and Kame, the first human twins, and He con- trols the moral law by sanctions that are rigorous and severe.' This idea of justice is particularly strong among the Tupi, where Monan, the Creator, destroys mankind by a confiagration, in which Irin- mage alone is saved, whose righteous posterity repeople the earth." Similar legends are told throughout the Amazonian region, and invariably with a high moral purpose. In fact, the combined folklore of the Brazilian races is so immense and these heroes of the divine mercy so extremely numerous that, apart from any creation-legends, the reward of virtue and the punishment of vice point vaguely to certain similar ethical qualities as vested in some form of supreme moral Governor.'" > K. Von den Steinen, Unter den Naturvolkern Central Brasiliens (Berlin, 1894) "a justhr famous work, the best on South America" (Thomas, Source-Book, p. 881), see p. 160-165. Mdem. p. 200f. Md. 228ff. « Id. 204. » Id. 228, 23H. « Idem. 20.1. ' Id. 375. « Id. .164ff. •Denis, Une fete bresilienne celebree a Rouen en 1555. (Paris, 1851) pp. 86-90. »<> Comp. Paul Ehrenreich, Die Mythen und Legenden der Siid-Amerikanischen Urvolker, (Berlin, 1905), pp. 30-31, 40-5SfT. Also P. C. Teschauer, S. J., Die Kaingang odcr Coroados-Indianer, Anthropos, IX. (19141. p. 32-35, (or linguistic connection through A'iiiM(7ntip, Karnes, Kayurukre. Also L. Adam, in Compte Rendu, (Congr. Amer. Paris, 1900), p. 317fT. for Creation-legend, GOD 55 AMAZONIAN PRIMITIVE FORM It is impossible, however, to estimate this subject in its true propor- tions, and at the same time to realise its weak features, without recount- ing the Keri-Kame legend with some detail.^' The story opens with Kamushini, the Heaven-god, the oldest figure of the mythology. The Bakairi trace everything to heavenly origins, and so in the beginning, heaven and earth were united, all was heaven, and Kamushini was apparently supreme, the king of heaven, the author of all existence. For although a creation is not explicitly mentioned, and Keri and Kame appear to be ready-made, such a creation is hinted at by the designation of Kamushini as a being belonging to a "different people",— a superhuman being — , and as "making threads like a spider", a "heavenly spider", etc. Moreover he is evidently the creator of man, for he "makes men out of arrows and women out of maize-stampers", who then address him as "Papa", — Father — , a plain index of paternal though non-sexual relations. In those days men lived for ever, there was no death, and paradise was on the earth, a heavenly world blazing with light, and the mystery is, how the reign of immortality came to an end, how heaven and earth were separated. The firm conviction that there would be no death if all men were good, that death is the result of sorcery, of bad magic, — this seems to imply that death is in some way the result of sin, of a moral failure, though not necessarily in far off times. But whatever be the origin of death, heaven and earth were destined to be parted, there is a mysterious transmutation-scene in which Keri thus addresses the god of heaven (Kamushini). "You shall not stay here, my people are dying! And yet you remain here. You are good, but I do not wish my people to die!" And Heaven answered : — "I will stay !" — and Keri replied : "Then / will change 1" After that he and all his people went off to the earth, and heaven went upward. The prayer of Ken to Heaven that he may leave them, because, though "good", he is the cause of his people's death, seems to insinuate that immortality was lost in paradise as the result of a rebellion against the decrees of heaven, that death is the result of divine justice. Keri's attempt to escape justice by "changing his climate" was doomed to dis- appointment, for ever since men have continued to die, and Keri himself has had to make men out of arrows. As an atonement for the sins of man, offerings of fruits are still placed on the Keri and Kames-Tvee, — an indirect hint that life and death are possibly connected with a forbidden food, which food must be sacrificed to Heaven in order to procure recon- ciliation." "Von den Steinen, op. cit. p. 348ff. "Idem. p. 360. Ehrenreich. 1. c. p. 39. 56 GOD AMAZONIAN PRIMITIVE FORM The idea of retribution, both temporal and eternal, is strongly developed among the Bakairi as among other Brazilian tribes. Nearly all have the tradition of a great flood or fire which was brought upon mankind through their own culpability, — violation of the moral law, of social customs, of the "couvade"." This institution is regarded as particularly sacred, and consists of a fasting-ordeal during which the father of the new-born child sleeps or shares his bed with the latter, and abstains from all foods and dissipations which he conceives will endanger the life of the child, so intense is his consciousness that he and his child are one( !). "The father is a patient, in so far as he feels himself one with the new-born".'* This singularly beautiful custom is evidently meant to symbolise not only the close union between father and child, but also that the child is his, and his only. Terrible consequences are believed to follow from its neglect, — not only the fire and brimstone of the past, but especially ferocious demons are said to devour the culprit. On the other hand those who observe the sacred customs and abstain from witchcraft will never die but will go to the paradise of their ancestors, Keri and Kame. The body is always interred.'^ This picture has many attractive features, but the surprisingly high tone of the stories should not blind us to their inherent deficiencies. From the beginning there is no very clear distinction between creator and creature, both are sun and moon-heroes, they change and produce things with equal ease, they are facetious and in some cases even ridiculous, and the hypothetical Heaven-god has been long since forgotten, his place has been taken by the bupd or ghost-god, whicli is the natural outcome of a trivial theology. The morals of the natives tend to bear this out. For although theft is rare, and the position of women comparatively high, both abortion and desertion are said to be common, and the practice of cannibalism, however sporadic, shows that the condition of these people is far from ideal.'" On the other hand the native origin of the legends can hardly be ques- tioned. It seems quite certain that no intruding missionaries, however accommodating, would clothe their message of salvation in the cast and phraseology above described, and the natives themselves repudiate it. "Is Keri the 'god' of the Portuguese?" — "No, we know nothing of him, he is another, . . . Keri lives in heaven, he is the grandfather of the Bakairi"." It is evident, however, that Keri, Karnes, and Kamushini, have been fre- quently confused, that the original Heaven-god has been mixed up with the national ancestors. " Ehrenreich, 1. c. p. 31. »« Von den Steinen, 1. c. pp. 334-336. '» Ibid. p. 349. 339 (mat- burial). " Idem, p. 334flF. " Idem, p. 380. GOD 57 AMAZONIAN PRIMITIVE FORM Are we to think of mere "culture-heroes" after the type of Deucalion and Pyrrha? I agree with Ehrenreich that a creation in the strict sense is difficult to prove from the existing data, and that in their present form these stories have the unmistakable ring of hero-legends. Nevertheless the fact that Kamushini is said to have "made men out of arrows, and women out of maize-stampers" ( !), this is certainly a bold exploit even for a Hercules, and when we consider that very similar stories are told of Monan of the Tupi and of Kayurukre of the Kaingang, — not to speak of Aba-angui of the Guarayo, Uabale of the Paressi, Kara of the Mundruku, Karakara of the Guayakuru, and Tin of the Yurakare, — all of whom are "fathers" of humanity and are said to have made, formed, or equipped man, while they themselves are unborn or immortal, — the question of an All-Father belief in this region, partially obscured by lunar worship, is one that we cannot afford to dismiss. In my own opinion these semi- divine "culture-heroes" are a forcible reminder of the Qiiat-Maraiva legends of Melanesia, and should be interpreted accordingly. (K) (3) TuPAN, — BoTOKUDOs — , East-Central Brazil That the Botokudos worship a personal divinity may now be regarded as certain." He is known as Tupan, — a Tupi-Guarani word signifying "chief", "master". The difficulty in this case concerns his derivation. Some have suggested that while the word is native, the idea is of mis- sionary origin, being imported by the Catholic priests, — also called "tupans". But it is notoriously unsafe to rely too exclusively on the latter source. There are some facts that seem to point in an opposite direction. He is a "Thunder"-god, He is invoked in the chase, there is not a vestige of Christological dogma, which seems strange when we consider the com- pactness of the Catholic system. Moreover, the custom of shooting arrows into the air during thunder-storms, with the exclamation, "The Great Chief is angry",''' has a native ring that recalls strangely many of the Negrito practices in this regard (thunder-charm?). Sun- or moon- worship are undeveloped, and spiritism seems to have had no efTect on the supremacy of the "Great Master". "In the Botokudos we have the oldest representatives of the Ges" (pure Tapuyas)." Windsheller, bee- hive hut, fire-plow, nose and lip-ornament, rank them as quasi-primitives, though some of them work flint. Chieftaincy is limited, monogamy pre- ponderates, but cannibalism and infanticide are not unknown. After death the body is interred. Cremation and urn-burial are wanting." "Paul Ehremreich, Uber die Botokudos, Zeitschr. f. Ethnol. (1887) p. 34-3S, on religion. "Reported by Renault and St. Hilaire, ibid. p. 35. "Ibid. p. 81. '♦For anthropology and ethnology, consult G. Church, The Aborigines of South America (1912) p. 66-71. T. Joyce. South American Archaeology (1912), p. 256fE. 58 GOD AMAZONIAN PRIMITIVE FORM (L) Patagonian Extension, — Tierra del Fueoo As a southern offshoot of the same Amazonian race certain Fuegian tribes on the Straits of Maghellan should merit our final attention by reason of the additional light that they promise to shed on the Brazilian data, which are as yet none too numerous. Here we find three groups of primitives, known as the Yahgans, the Onas, and the Alacalufs, the first and the third of whom occupy the same relation to the higher Patagonian peoples that the Botokudos do to the higher Arowaks. The bee-hive hut of the Yahgans and their almost naked existence, in spile of a thermometer which is frequently below freezing, — this is a fairly strong proof that they antedate the age of round-houses and of stitched or weaved garments, they are the relics of a tropical race whose artificial methods of keeping warm by means of extensive bon-fires has given the name to the archi- pelago,— it is the "Land of Fire". Moreover their shells, bones, and flake- implements tell a similar story, their fiint arrow-heads being probably of remote Patagonian origin, as are a few other items of the specifically "Ona" culture. Finally the absence of totemism and of elaborate tribal divisions is a sociological fact which in combination with the industrial data reveals with sufficient clearness that we are dealing with an antarctic survival, — the "Tasmanians" of the New World. (L, 1) THE GOOD AND THE EVIL SPIRIT OF THE YAHGANS The Rev. Mr. Bridges repeatedly stated that the Yahgans have no supreme deity, God, or Creator. A negative is notoriously risky when there is a question of a savage's iiighcr religious beliefs, and in this case we have fairly good evidence to the contrary. Captain Bove mentions both a good deity and an evil deity among the Yahgans. Whether these are two greater spirits corresponding to Yerri-Yupon and Yaccy-ma among the Alacalufs, or whether they are only lower good and evil spirits, such as are spoken of by Admiral Fifz-Roy, it is hard to say. The Yahgans, however, seem to be well supplied with malevolent spirits and beings, as, when a man dies, the natives have been heard to say at times that "such a one has been taken by GopofT", an evil spirit. As to Aia}Xikal and Lucooma, the former is hardly more than a deceased witch-doctor, while the latter is the spirit of the tides and whirl-pools, whom they greatly dread, and to whom the portions of a fish, a dog, or even an infant are occasionally sacrificed. This may of course have no connexion with Capt. Bove's "Good Spirit", but the prominence of the negative cult makes it difficult to say, what this "benevolent being" really is." " Rev. J. M. Cooper, DD., in the work immediately cited, p. 148-149. GOD 59 AMAZONIAN PRIMITIVE FORM (L, 2) WALIGHU op the Onas Father Beauvoir^s identification of Jhowcn witli the Hebrew Jahive is more startling than commendable, but the account of a certain divinity called Walichu, who "sends good and bad things to men", shows, if the report be correct, that the Onas have a vague idea of a power that rules. In practice, however, the invocation of two deceased weather-doctors by the living medicine-men is the only worship recorded. The Onas believe in metempsychosis. (L, 3) YERRI-YUPON op the Alacalups'" According to our best-authenticated reports the religious ideas of the Alacalufs verge upon dualism. They believe in a "good spirit, Yerri-Yupon, author of all good, and invoked in time of distress and danger", and also in "an evil spirit, Yaccy-ma, who, they think, is able to do all kinds of mischief, cause bad weather, famine, illness, etc. He is supposed to be like an immense black man". This idea of a big black man in the woods has been independently verified by at least two observers, and he appears on the whole to be an evil being. "A great black man is supposed to be wandering about the woods and mountains, who is certain of knowing every word and every action, who cannot be escaped, and who influences the weather according to a man's conduct". After narrating the killing of a thief, an Alacaluf added: — "Rain come down — snow come down — hail come down — wind blow-blow — very much blow — very bad to kill man — big man in woods no like it — him very angry!" This is probably the same being as the Taquatu of the Salesian Fathers, — "an invisible being whom they imagine to be a giant, who travels by day and by night in a large canoe over the seas and through the air. If he finds any man or woman idle or distracted, he takes them without more ado into his great canoe and carries them away from home. It is at night particularly that the Alacalufs dread to meet this terrible being". It seems quite clear that Yerri Yupon is more than a "weather-doctor" on the one hand, and less than an "exalted ethical being" on the other. He is perhaps a faded supreme Being, as he is "invoked in times of distress and danger" and "the good go to a delightful forest, and the wicked to a deep well, where they cannot escape", — implying justice. The relatively high tone of morality, in spite of contrary instances, tends to bear this out. Monogamy is the more general rule, though polygamy is allowed, and the natives are a quiet and peaceable race, for most of whom, at least, cannibalism is unknown. This and the splendid Yahgan physique makes them an attractive object of study."^ *' Recent evidence shows that Fitz-Roy's "Chonoans" are the identical race. '^ Fur- ther information in Rev. J. M. Cooper, D.D., .Analytical Bibliography of the Tribes of Tierra del Fuego and adjacent islands, Bulletin 63 of the Bureau of American Ethnology, (Washington, 1917), p. 203ff. Compare Lang, Making of Religion, p. I73ff. Schmidt, Gottesidee, p. 145. 60 GOD AMAZONIAN PRIMITIVE FORM Summary With this brief survey of the more essential points of the South- American faith in its earlier form, we note at the outset that what little is shown of the supreme figure in the mythology is no longer as simple and clear as in the corresponding African and Oceanic region. The hypothetical Pillan is apparently a "thunder-god" like Puluga, etc. of the far East, but under the form of Iguanchi he is also an ape, a fire-spewing monkey, which is hardly a noble conception of the divine. The reason why he has even been mentioned in the present place is simply to com- plete the picture, to chronicle what little is known of the only personal deity that is so far reported from the far Western portion of the Amazonian region. The fact that the Yivaros are a comparatively advanced people is no argument that the deity is not a survival of far earlier days, when the Tapuya races extended their influence to the foot of the Andes. But even in their present condition the Yivaro-tribes are sutTiciently antique to merit consideration as the possible carriers of an earlier faith, which has since become corrupted, but whose simple outlines may still be discerned in the fragments. The same remarks apply to the Shingu-region, though here the greater purity of the stock and their more primitive footing has preserved the more ancient form of the belief in a clearer perspective. Kamushini "spins" the world out of his brain, but he is more distinctly a person, a magnified man, if you will, but still supernormal, apparently transcendent, the "maker", if not the "creator" of all. Relics of the moral idea of justice may be discerned in the fire and flood-legends, where Monan and similar "makers" act as the punishcrs of mankind for their adultery, blasphemy, sacrilege, etc., but these lessons are not always heeded in practice, they are often forgotten. Finally, the picture of Tupan among the Botokudos brings us once more face to face with a "Great Master", who is simply the leader of his people, but whose laws have more hold upon the conscience, — a "living" god. Yet even here, the few items reveal a powerful helper rather than a rigorous judge, a being who forbids adultery, yet appears to sanction tlie taking of life. To sum up then, these earliest exemplars of South-American civilisa- tion cannot compare to our 01d-\^'o^ld primitives, either in their antiquity, their morality, or their religious beliefs. It is interesting to note, however, that the nearer we approach to the earliest and purest region, the more vivid becomes the picture of a simple "Father" or "Master" of all, one who has no connection with ape or spider, but is the direct moulder of human destiny. THE AGE OF ROCK-PAINTINGS AND OF SPIRAL DESIGNS SPECIMEN OF A BURU-MYSTERY SHOWING THE EVOLUTION OF THE SUN-SERPENT THE WORLD-EMBRYO (BIRD— BRINGS FORTH THE SERPENT'S HEAD (MlRl) — AND DEVELOPS INTO THE OL\NT COBRA (WILINKI) (COMBINED Sl'BJGCT) grot'nd-drawing in rice-flol'r i'sed in the malab.%r ceremont of thb ^nake:-totem. (Soithebn indl%), and paralleled by similar drawings in totemic africa, aistr.\ha. and north america. "SIN-BONGA BIRIDJANAI" "O SIN-BONGA. SAVE US I" SEE THIRSTON, ETHNOGH. NOTES IN S. INDIA, (MADRAS, 1908), PI. XVn. GOD 61 INDO-ASIATIC TOTEMIC FORM (M, 1) SIN-BONGA, — Central India, — Kolarian Aborigines, (Munda-Kol) There are good reasons for believing that Central India is the radiating- point of the totem-culture, that phase of belief which can be traced to four continents, — the Indo-African-Australian-North American cultural con- nexion,— (late pleistocene?).' The Indo-Kolarian or Dravidian races are, with the Australians, perhaps the nearest approach to the undifferentiated glacial type, (Neanderthal), and of these the Munda-Kol tribes of Western Bengal are the best representatives of an "unclaimed ignoble horde, who occupy the background of Indian history as the jungle once covered the land, to prepare the soil for better forms of life".^ Although this is no longer strictly true, the Mundas having been largely civilised by their Hindoo neighbors, (agriculture, metallic arts), they are sufficiently back- ward in many ways to reveal many of the more prominent features of the palaeolithic belt, (mid-glacial). Among these are the general tendency to the nomadic life as shown by the minimum of their clothing, the instability of their habitations, (mud-huts), and the general popularity of the buffalo- hunt by means of simple bows and arrows, wooden spears, throwing- sticks, etc. The discovery of numerous caves with rude ornamentation, (comp. Australia), and the existence of undoubted palaeoliths, (of native manufacture), secures their geologic past and their continuity with palaeolithic culture.' The carved wooden bowl and the bamboo-flute point in the same direction. Finally we have the hereditary chief, the bachelor's dormitory, the practice of painting and anointing the dead, and above all a totemic system of marriage and consanguinity which is based on animal ancestors, all of which suggest the conclusion that "here, more perfectly than elsewhere in India, do we find preserved the ancient systems of totem- ism and exogamy".* These Kolarian tribes worship a Light-god, known as Sin Bonga, whose name is commonly rendered "Sun-Spirit", the supposed Austro- nesian equivalents being Sina, — sunlight, daylight — , and Bona, the gen- eral term for God, Spirit. This being seems to possess the attributes of divinity. He is the ever-beneficent God of gods, the author of the universe and man, including the entire host of bongas, or minor spirits. He is apparently judge of man and is invoked in prayer, rice-offering, or bird- sacrifice, with the words : "0 Sin-Bonga, save us!" At death the soul re- incarnates, either as man or beast, according to merit, and this is the dis- tinctive feature of the Munda religious beliefs. Where before we had a comparative freedom from metempsychosis, we now have an explicit doctrine of animal descent with a possible return into animal forms.* ' Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, Vol. IV. p. 15. W. Schmidt, in the Compte Rendue of the Louvain Congress (1913), p. 265. See also the Introduction above, pp. XLV. * S. C. Roy, The Mundas and their country, (Calcutta, 1912), p. 2ff. 361ff. 'Roy, op. cit. p. X, and 24-26. * Frazer, op. cit. Vol. II. p. 285. "Roy, 1. c. p. 467flF. Comp. W. Schmidt, in Anthropos, VIII (1913), p. 273. « Roy, 1. c. p. 471. 62 GOD INDO-ASIATIC TOTEMIG FORM But what is the nature of this deity, and where did he come from? May he not be of Hindoo or Brahminical origin in view of the reincarna- tion-doctrine with which he is associated? It is satisfactory to note that we have excellent reasons for believing that this is a native, pre-Aryan, pre-Brahministic divinity. In the first place his name cannot be derived from Aryan sources, but is pure Austro- asiatic or Austronesian, belonging to the group of languages that were spoken in India long before the Hindoos ever were heard of, and whose radiating center is now believed to be Southern Asia, and not impossibly Central India. ^ In the second place, his unique and personal position differentiates him toto caelo from any Brahminical triads, and the fact that he is worshipped without temples, law-books, or ascetical rites, and that the Hindoo intrusion can always be separated as something sporadic and out of harmony with the national life, something tliat the Mundas have ever detested from time immemorial, makes his derivation from Hindoo or Mussulman sources, to say the least, a precarious proposition. Should we not expect to find some traces of Hindoo or Islamic notions, — some account of Vishnu, some faint echo of Allah, with his distinctive laws and ceremonial observances? Now, not only are these conspicuously absent, but the Munda belief and practice is rather opposed to them, it is strictly territorial, peculiarly national, underivable either from strongly ascetical or strongly polygamous peoples. Furthermore, the existence of pre-Aryan divinities of a similar nature has now been firmly established by Prof. Oppert, and the parallel case of the Todas and other races of supposed Turanian (?) origin, makes the figure of Sin Bonga more and more natural and easy to understand.' Finally, those who would derive the doctrine of reincarnation from Brahminism are hopelessly at sea with the facts, as this is one of the earliest, though not the earliest, persuasions of mankind, found among peoples where no such Brahminical influence can be suspected, as it is far out of their reach. It would be more true to say that the Aryans have borrowed this belief from the Dravidians, which belief binds the latter with the far-off Australians, North-Americans, and other primitive peoples. In the words of Roy, "the Munda's idea of rebirth is yet in a rudimentary stage, and not half so elaborately worked out as by his Hindoo neighbors". Moreover, the Brahministic reincarna- tions, though ostensibly realistic, have no essential relation to the laws of marriage, nor are connected, as far as we know, with any definite matri- monial interdicts.' ' Roy, op. cit. p. 18-22. Foy, op. cit. p. 227. W. Schmidt, Die Mon-Khmer Volker als Bindeglied zwischen den Volkern Central Asiens und Austronesiens, (Braunschweig, 1906). • G. Oppert, Die Gottheiten der Inder, Zeitschrift f ijr Ethnologie, 1905, p. 719-726ff. Idem, The original inhabitants of India, (London, 1893) p. 78, 188. "Roy, 1. c. p. 471. Comp. also P. T. Iyengar, "Did the Dravidians of India obtain their culture from the Aryan Immi- grant?" Anthropos, IX (1914) pp. 1-15. GOD 63 INDO-ASIATIG TOTEMIG FORM As to the inner nature of this divinity, he is certainly a "light"-god, and though Father Schmidt insinuates a possible lunar origin, (Austronesian Svia-Bona, light-month?), this is of no great import in view of the fact that his name might have travelled from India to Oceanica, and that among the Mundas he is universally identified with the sun. "Sin-Bonga, the Sun-God, is the supreme deity of Munda mythology".^" What then is his relation to nature, to the universe, to man? It is true that the expression "sun-god" is not in itself decisive. The great luminary is too common an object in the heavens not to attract the attention of all men in all ages. Moreover he is apparently a Creator and evidently a Person, as he com- mands in the imperative mood. To take an illustration — "In the beginning of time", runs the old Mundari legend, "the face of the earth was covered with water. Sin-Bonga, the Sun-God, brooded over the waters and the first beings that were born were a tortoise, a crab, and a leech. Sin-Bonga commanded these first-born of all animals to bring him a lump of clay from the depths of the ocean. And with this clay Sin-Bonga made this beautiful earth of ours. At his bidding the earth brought forth trees, plants, herbs and creepers. He next filled the earth with birds and beasts of all sorts and sizes. Finally a certain swan laid an egg, and out of this Qgg came forth a boy and a girl, the first human beings"," etc. This legend has a dignified, almost biblical ring. Nevertheless there are certain points that are strangely suggestive of a nature-god, of a being who is not clearly transcendent: — (1) There is no statement that the Sun-God created the waters, but that he "brooded over" the waters, which seem to be anterior, or at least coeval with him, though such a creation might be implied in the context. (2) The absence of any creation of sun, moon, and stars is a point that suggests their eternity, more especially as Sin-Bonga is himself the Sun- Spirit. (3) Throughout the idea of "hatching" by sun-power, of "brood- ing" over the waters, of evolving things out of "eggs", is too strong to be lightly dismissed. It shows that Sin-Bonga, though a person, is intimately connected, if not identified, with the sun, that he acts by "solar" power. This idea, harmless and even beautiful as it may seem, has colored the entire mythological system of the Mundas, it has drawn the divinity into the world of lifeless matter, it has made Him part and parcel of the world, it is the first indication of a half-naturalised Creator, — of a "totem"-god. ^"Roy, op. cit. p. XX. note. ''Roy, 1. c. p. V.-IX, described as the most valuable of the Mundari mythical legends. 64 GOD INDO-ASIATIG TOTEMIG FORM Now such a naturalisation is bound to leave its impress on the social and eschatological aspects of the question. A deity who is himself related to nature as the sun-light, is apt to produce the conviction that his chil- dren are also related to her, nay that they are bound to her by fetters that can never be completely shaken off. Hence the general persuasion of these people that they are not only connected, but in some way related to the lower creation, tliat plants, animals, and even the "red earth" are their direct ancestors. Tiiis genetic relation between a man and his "totem" has produced a feeling of identity, which forbids not only the killing or eating of the totem, but the intermarriage of those who belong to the same fotemic kill or clan,— this evidently on the score of incest. But more than this, there is no deliverance from nature at the hour of death. The soul is not summoned to the judgment-seat of God, but is condemned to be reborn, whether as man or animal, — there is no escape from palingenesis. Now this is a point of no small importance. Father Schmidt finds no evidence for the belief in the descent of men from their totems, though he admits a close, a parallel relation. But surely the transformation info bird, beast, or reptile implies a return into the totem and a vital relation to nature of no ordinary kind. Frazer also testifies that the Oraons, their neighbors, "like many other totemic peoples conceive themselves to be descended from their totems".'^ Then again the growth of magical and spiritistic practices is a striking feature. The Soso-Bonga ceremony, in which the "ghost-finder" draws a figure on the ground with coal-dust, red earth, and rice-flour, inserts an egg with a 5o*o-slip in the center, sprinkles the whole with rice, and starts a long incantation to the Soso- (or Bhelva-tree) spirit, in which Ihe story of Sin-Donga is related, shows without a question, that although the supreme divinity is not forgotten, the efficacy of the entire function depends on the Soso-iree, whose branch the worshipper then religiously plants in his fields to increase the harvest, — a sort of fructification-rite." To conclude, — there is less of prayer and more of magic in this religion, and its "sun-god", though theoretically supreme, has become otiose, less exacting in morals. For among the Mundas divorce is openly recognised and there is at times considerable sexual laxity.'* They have local exogamy with tribal endogamy and male descent of the totem. The clan-totems, of which there are no less than 339, are the chief regulators of the tie. This and the formerly common practice of cannibalism and human sacrifice shows that we have entered a different world of ethical consciousness, we are dealing with a new mental, social and cultural complexity." " Frazer, 1. c. II. 290. "Roy, 1. c. p. 482. "Roy, p. 455. " Frazer, II. 292. GOD 65 INDO-ASIATIG TOTEMIC FORM It may bo objected, however, that this estimate of Muuua belief and practice is needlessly severe, that the picture of deity as sun-spirit is surely harmless enough, that the supposed magical practices are in reality invo- cations to the supreme divinity under the form of a flower-stalk, which is thus brought into close relation with the Giver of all and cherished with a peculiar atTection as sacred to him, — a beautiful harvest-ceremony, reminding with its evident symbolism of the sacred palms of Holy Week(?). — of the life and resurrection symbols of all nations. This is a well-timed observation, and I for one do not wish to place any obstacles in the path of those to whom the religious data suggest such an interpretation. The alliance between the deity and the solar orb is in many respects an advance upon the crude anthropomorphisms that we find among many primitive peoples, and the sun is as good a "represen- tation" of God, himself unpicturable. as any miserable mannikin or ideal- ised thunder-man, sitting on the clouds, and hurling his lightnings. But the point that I wish to bring forward is simply this, that the idea of per- sonality is more easily suggested by "man" than by "sun", and that where we have an elaborate sun-cult, we require special proof that the sun is a person, that he is invoked and treated as a person, not a mere force or principle. In the present case we have a "sun-man" who seems to furnish the proof, and yet his want of direct control over the life and destiny of man seems to indicate that his cosmic preponderate ov5r his personal traits, that he is simply a buru-bonga, a vague deity, partly identified with his own creation. Hence the interpretation of the Soso, or Bhelva-Tree totem as a "mys- tery", as a sacred "medicine", nay as a possible "sacrament", — the ghost- finder devouring the egg, if not the Soso-slip — , is one which I would not exclude but would rather approve as in harmony with similar practices in all ages of humanity, — the desire of union with the divine. The above data show moreover that the sun-spirit is not forgotten, that he is appar- ently the object of the ceremony. But even with these concessions it would surely be premature to conclude that the God of Heaven is actually believed to present in any of the burns or sacred totems in unadulterated form. We cannot of course penetrate beneath the surface of tilings, but the entire mytliology and practice of these people tends to show that a Father in Heaven is no longer as vivid to them as in the earlier days of the world, that his action is less direct, — more mysterious, more "mystical".'" ^' Comp. A. Lang, Magic and Religion, Chap. XIV. "First-fruits and Taboos", p. 256- 269, esp. p. 265. Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, I. 120, II. 590. IV. 230-232. 66 GOD INDO-ASIATIC TOTEMIC FORM Of these Bwrw-mysteries we have ample evidence both here and in other parts of the Indian peninsula. The custom of offering up this or tliat plant or animal to the local deity of the village or to the household- god is too common a practic lo be call d in any sense distinctivi', nor is it necessarily polytheistic because llie name of the Marang Bitru or "Great God" is not explicitly mentioned. Thus at the Sohorai festival of the Sacred Buffalo, the Munda owners of buffalos remain fasting all day until the evening, when the buffalos are brought home and lamps are lighted near them. A handful of rice is then thrown over the cattle by way of a benedictory rite. At the door of the buffalo-shed a black fowl is sacrificed and rice-beer otTered up to the Gorea-Bonga, or Cattle-deity. This ceremony is repeated the next morn- ing, and finally the buffalos and other cattle are washed and anointed with oil or lard, and are sent out to the pasturage bedecked with gay marigolds, yellow fiovvers that are particularly abundant in this region." In so far as all these bongas are in control of a supreme Sun-Spirit, the Function may be interpreted as a simple dedication-ceremony to the "patrons" of all the buffalos, who is himself a representative of the sun- god. There is a striking similarity between these and the dedication-rites of the Todas of Southern India, — another race of Turanian or pre-Aryan origin. Here also the buffalo is sacred, and cannot be killed or eaten except on sacrificial occasions." In the Malabar ceremony of the Snake-totem, a ground-drawing is made in rice-flower representing the convolutions of the reptile in all possible forms. Then follows a long incantation to the Snake-deity, dur- ing which the performer brandishes a fruit-stalk (here the Cocoa-nut) in the hope of warding off the serpent's bite.'" That the serpent is inti- mately connected with the sun is revealed by the stone slabs, etc. repre- senting the "Sun-Serpent", a particularly favorite theme among the Mallas and other aborigines of Southern India, the leading idea being that of divine protection.^" Thus the concept of deity as the Sun, the Bhelva-Tree, the Buffalo, and the Serpent, is to say the least a prominent feature among the Dravidian races. To what extent this involves an identification of One Deity with the totems among the Munda-Kol, I have endeavored to indicate in the above. "Roy, op. cit. p. 481. '» W. H. Rivers, The Todas, (London, 1906). Comp. G. Oppert, The Original Inhabitants of India, (London, 1893), pp. 186-188. "> E. Thurston. Ethno- graphic Notes in Southern India, (Madras, 1908), p. 290, (PI. XVI). J" Idem, PI. XXIII. THE AGE OF ROCK-PAINTINGS AND OF SPIRAL DESIGNS THE SECRET OF LIFE OR THE AFRICAN SNAKE MYSTERY THE EVOLVTNG MIXITNGU BEING ANOTHER VERSION OF THE SUN-SERPENT WITH A VAGIE PERSONAL FORCE IN THE BACKGROUND. DESIGNS rSED BY THE NANDI AS SHIELD ORNAMENTS ANTJ FOUND ALSO ON BOCKS OVEB LARGE SECTIONS OF THE EAST-AFRICAN AREA, WITH THE E^TDENT MOTIVE OF DmNE PROTECTION. BANTU INVOCATION TO THE SUN-F.ATHER: ■•O MULUNGU. MERCYl " BEE MGR. LEROV, LA RELIGION DES PBIHITIFS, (PARIS, 1911), P. 126 GOD 67 CENTRAL AFRICAN TOTEMIC FORM (M, 2) MULUNGU, — East Central Africa, — (Eastern Bantu) The cultural connexion between India-Africa, like ttiat between India- Australia, India-North America, makes it more than probable that they form in a sense a religious unit, in which the institution of totemisra forms a primary if not a paramount element. Among the Bantus of Eastern Africa nearly all the items of this culture may still be traced, more especially the bark-belt, the round-house, the fire-drill, the half- round bow, the carved figurine, circumcision, platform-burial, etc. though in nearly every case the Western-Asiatic neolithic wave has driven the older civilisation into the background, with the result that many of these elements appear in the far South-West, as among the Hereros.^ For this region the form Mulungu is fundamental for deity, extending with slight variations from the Tana to the Zambezi, and far into the interior. Mgr. Schneider, late bishop of Paderborn, has already treated these central figures of Bantu mythology with considerable detail,^ but his reports must be supplemented by those of Mgr. LeRoy, which are more recent and more direct.^ The following are the main points of the report : — Mulungu is a great Sky- or Light-Lord, and is believed to be the author of the world and of all existence. He has many mulungus or minor spirits under him, but he himself is unique and indescribable, "neither man nor spirit, nor ghost, nor heaven, nor earth nor anything, though he is in all and through all".* In many parts his name is still invoked in prayer and sacrifice, but in others, as among the Zulus, his'worship has long since been abandoned, and he is simply known as Vnku-lunkulu, the "Old, Old One", the "Ancient of Days", etc. Some of the old invoca- tions breathe quite a lofty spirit: — "Mulungu! Send us rain! We are in misery, we hunger! and we are thy children. Send us clouds of rain, that we may obtain food. We ask it of thee, 0 Mulungu, our Father!" "0 Mulungu, send us peace, tranquillity", etc.^ Such aspirations are a clear indication of a personal beneficent divinity. But as to the inner nature of Mulungu, He is mysterious. The name is variously translated as '"He who is in heaven", {Mu-lungu, — Mu-ingu, Mungu), or as the equivalent of Molimo, Modimo, Morimo, South-African for "spirit" "soul" etc.* There is evidence, however, to show that the name and the idea may be taken in a very different sense, a sense which we cannot afford to ignore. Let us consider for a moment the various appella- tions for divinity in these Bantu lands and note the widely divergent mean- ings that are assigned to words of similar if not identical sound. ' Foy, op. cit. p. 182-185. B. Ankermann, Kulturkreise in Africa, Zeitschr. fiir Ethnologic (1905) p. 54-84. 2 Schneider, Die Religion der afrikanischen Naturvolker, (1891), pp. 28- 48, 59-100. 3 LeRoy, La Religion des Primitifs, (Paris, 1909). « LeRoy, op. cit. p. 184ff. » Idem, p. 298ff. « Idem, p. 176ff. and comp. Schmidt, Ursprung, p. 139. Comp. Lang, Magic and Religion, p. 235. Making of Religion, p. 213flF. 68 GOD CENTRAL AFRICAN TOTEMIC FORM I am not in a position to speak with any linguistic certainty, but thie form mu-longo as a designation for the totemic taboo is too suspiciously near the above to be passed over in silence. It is found among the Wa- gogo and other tribes of German East Africa, admittedly one of the centers of African totemism, where it occurs side by side with the form mu-ziro. "As a Wa-goyo clan has its muziro (forbidden thing), so each Wa- gogo family has its mulongo (forbidden thing), which is transmitted from the father to his children. The wife may have a different mulongo from that of her husband, but her children do not inherit it. The mulongo is apparently forbidden only after marriage. To eat the mulongo involves the loss of hair and teeth; to eat the muziro is said to cause the skin to fall off. From this account it would seen that the Wa-gogo have, like the Herero, a double set of totems, one set (muziro) being appropriated to the clans, and the other set (mulongo) to the families. The latter are heredi- tary in the male line".' In view of the conflicting etymologies given above and its additional derivation from the Kanioka molongo, a word apparently meaning "row", "line", "descent",' we are equally justified in inferring that mulungu is an abstract for anything sacred or mysterious, and more especially for the genetic relation of things, the family taboo, the occult ancestor. "The Wa-gogo think that tf a person kills or eats the animal which is the totem of his clan, he thereby endangers his relations, but not himself".* More- over, throughout the Bantu domain, there is a very general belief in the transmigration of souls into the lower animals, especially into snakes and serpents, which shows that the supposed divinity is incapable of deliver- ing man from the shackles of nature, that he is himself to a certain extent a nature-god.'* What then is Mulungu? It would be premature to reach any dogmatic conclusions from the existing material. But although the ancient picture of a Father in Heaven is still in evidence, there are strong reasons for believing that he has lost much of his original purity, that he has been drawn into this own creation as a family totem, that he is simply "taboo". Morality in this region is not flawless. "At time of circumcision", says Mr. Cole, "abusive language is very much indulged in, and the women espe- cially lose all sense of modesty, and the country becomes a mighty bed- lam"." While this is doubtless an exaggeration or at most a sporadic phenomenon, the inroads of moral laxity, of general polygamy, is a fact that can hardly be denied.'' ' Frazer, Totemism and Exogamy, Vol. II. p. 404. ■' Schmidt, Ursprung, p. 140. " Frazer, I.e. II. 403. '0 Frazer, 1. c. II. 388-392 (Theory of Bantu Totemism). Dr. Theal's theory is vet to be proved false. " H. Cole, Notes on the Wagogo of German East Africa, Journ. Anthr. Inst. XXXII (1902) p. 307. Frazer, II. 403. " LeRov, op. cit. p. lOlff GOD 69 CENTRAL AFRICAN TOTEMIC FORM But the character of a divinity is best described by the legends, rites and practices of a people in his regard. How far does he help or direct them? To what extent is he a personal power in their lives? Now it is interesting to observe that throughout the Eastern Bantu domain the Sun and the Hyaena are intimately interconnected, that they are in a peculiar sense sacred, — mulungu. Not only is the hyaena sac- rified to Mulungu, the Heaven-God, but among many, as among the Nandi, the bodies of the dead are given to the hyaenas to eat, in the hope that their spirits may share the occult powers of the animal, that they may communicate with their ancestors." Here there are special Sun- and Thunder-men that drive away thunder-storms by throwing an axe into the clouds with the exclamation: — "Thunder! Be silent in our town! ^* We have little information of the higher Nandi beliefs, so that it would be premature to conclude that this is a mere thunder-charm, (compare the Malakkan negritos). But the custom such as it is, savors strongly of sympathetic magic, of the control of nature by means of parallel, dispro- portionate forces, — impersonal power. Further South, among the Bechuanas, there is a whole tribe dedicated to the Sun. The members of this "Sun-Tribe" say that, when the sun rises in a cloudy sky, he is afHicting their heart (!). All the food of the previous day is then given to the old women, who alone may touch it or give it to the children whom they nurse. The people go down in a body to the river to wash their bodies. On returning to the village after this ablution the chief kindles a fire in his hut, and the people come and get fire for themselves from his. Then follows a "Sun-Dance", accompanied by a monotonous chant, on the public place of the village. In this dance he who has lost his father lifts his hat towards the sun ; he who has lost his mother, his right hand; while orphans who have lost both parents, raise neither, but cross both hands on the breast." It is not easy to interpret this ceremony with anything like satisfac- tion. But the saluting of the sun, and the raising and crossing of the hands in honor of the dead ancestor, seem to reveal some connexion between the Sun and the ancestor, while the fire in the hut of the Sun- chief is best explained by supposing that the kindling of the fires of the earth will re-kindle the fires of the solar orb. — the celestial ancestor, — a probable case of long-distance magic. The similar customs among many savage and semi-civilised peoples tend to confirm this view, founded as it is upon detailed and repeated observations among numerous and widely separated races of mankind.^* "A. C. Hollis, The Nandi, (Oxford, 1908), p. 70ff. "Ibidem. " Arbousset et Daumas, Voyage d'Exploration, pp. 3S0ff. Frazer, II. 373. "Idem, II. 374. Comp. Lang, Magic and Religion, p. 3, 235. Making of Religion, p. 65fl. 70 GOD CENTRAL AFRICAN TOTEMIC FORM Among the Hereros of the far South-West there are curious stories of the origin of the Sun and Rain-clans, but they shed little light on the real origin of the cult, they are evidently mythical and extremely simple. "Once upon a time there were two sisters, whose uncle was dead, and they thought they would go to the funeral. The one said, 'It is very hot, let us wait for the rain'. But the other had no fear of the heal, and away she went to the funeral. So the one who waited for the rain was called 'She who was related by marriage to the rain', and the one who had no fear of the heat was called 'She who is related by marriage to the Sun'. That was the origin of the Sun and Rain clans." It cannot be said that these stories carry much conviction, either on the subject of the origin, or on the equally difTicult question of the nature of these beliefs. Some allowance must always be made for the pictorial and symbolic method by which savages commonly convey their meaning, more especially to strangers. But the combined picture can hardly be rejected in those points that are particularly prominent, and these are the more or less direct cult of the Sun and the Hyaena, and the belief that these objects are in some way related to man, that they are his ancestors. A realistic interpretation is suggested by the fact that the disembodied spirit speaks "through" the Hyaena, and that in both cases the Sun-cult is associated with the souls of the deceased, with the funeral of a relative. Hence the strong expression "to be married to the Sun" implies at least this much, that the ancestor has migrated to the Sun, which, for this reason, obtains the closest relation to the survivor expressed by the marriage-rela- tion. Finally, the production of rain and sunshine by more or less occult agencies, and the general absence of personal prayers to the great Mulungu, except in isolated sections of the North East, makes it more and more probable that this is a vague divinity whose name is invoked in parts, but whose personality has been dimmed in others by the growing importance of nature-powers. In so far as Mulungu is the Father of All, he is trans- cendent, in so far as he is Sun, Serpent, or Hyaena, he is the totem, sacred or profane just in proportion to the degree in which his All-Father char- acter is still recognised. To what extent this is the case in each individual instance, it is impossible from the existing material to determine, but the above data show with sufficient clearness, that the concept has been largely naturalised, whether for better or for worse, must remain for the present a disputed question. THE AGE OF ROCK-PAINTINGS AND OF SPIRAL DESIGNS THE GIANT WOLLUNQUA OR THE AUSTRALIAN WORLD-SERPENT I'ABTLY EXPRESSIVE OF CREATIVE ACTION, AND PARTLY DESCBXPTIVE OF THE MYTHICAL FEATS OF THE REPTILE AS HANDED DOWN IN THE POPULAR LEGENDS ^^unq.o'^ THE WORLD-SERPENT ISSUES FROM THE EMU-SUN AND GIVES BIRTH TO THE SPXRIT- ANCESTORS OF DREAM-TIME. MOTIVE: MULTIPLICATION OF FOODS GROUND-DRAmNG ASSOCIATED WITH THE WARRAMUNGA CEREMONY OF THE WOLLUNQUA SNAKE AND INTERPRETED BY THE SIMILAR DRAWINGS CONNECTED WITH THE INTICHIUMA CEREMONIES OF THE EMC TOTEM (ARUNTA TRIBE), HERE THE CIRCLES ORIGINALLY REPRESENTED THE EMU-SUN, AND WERE LATER CONVENTIONALiaED INTO TREES, WELLS, ROCKS. ETC. ARUNTA INVOOATIONi •'O ALTJIRA, HELP!" SEE SPENCER AND GIXLEN, THE NORTHERN TRIBES OF CENTBAI, AC8TKAUA (LONDON 1904), PP. 177, 226, 737 FF. GOD 71 CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN TOTEMIG FORM (M, 3) ALT JIRA,— Central Austr.\lia,— (Arunta Tribe) But if the preceding divinities are partly related to nature and man, either as the "sun-spirit", or vaguely as the "taboo", their counterpart in Australia is still more immersed in the nature-complex, his personality has been largely forgotten. Of this being,— Altfira, (Aboriginal One?)—, a few reliable facts have been gathered by C. Strehlow, a recent mission- ary,^ of whom W. L Thomas says in his Source-book that "his reports are important as supplementary to and corrective of those of Spencer and Gillen in the same region".^ Altjira is an eternal being, and is represented as a big strong man of ruddy complexion, whose long flaxen hair hangs over his shoulders. This is the first indication of his solar character, the long glistening hair repre- senting the sun's rays.= Like the Indian divinity he lives in the Sun, he has several beautiful wives and many sons and daughters, who carry out his behests. But though his image is human, he and his family have emu- or dog's feet, he is not the creator of the world, which is eternal, and though "good" {7nara), he has no ethical relation to man, who neither fear nor love him. These were not created, but evolved from shapeless masses during the primaeval age of evolution, Alcheringa, ("Dream-Time"), and partly fashioned by totemic lizard-gods, or serpents, {amunga-quinia- quinia), who instituted the rites of circumcision and subincision. It is from these inaperiwas, inter-interas, or shapeless ancestors,— called also altjira-inkaras, (the uncreated, immortal ones)—, of partly human, partly animal form—, that the Arunta derive the whole universe of being. More- over in every Central-Australian tribe without exception there exists a beUef that each soul is a reincarnation of a totemic ancestor, to which he may return at the hour of death. According to another tradition, how- ever, the good return to the great Altjira, while the wicked are devoured by evil spirits.* The main outlines of this system seem clear enough. Altjira, though formerly supreme, is now an evolutional divinity with emu-feet(!), who arose out of nature and has conquered the high heavens. In other words he is a totemised Heaven-God, who has become part and parcel of nature, of which he forms the climax.'^ This will become increasingly evident the more the Arunta customs and beliefs are studied as a whole and compared with the neighboring cults. Throughout this region the divinities have been mixed up with the forces of nature to such an extent as to hide, if not to entirely eclipse, their original features. 1 C. Strehlow, Die Aranda und Loritja Stamme in Central-Australien, edited bv F. Leon- hardi, in Veroffentlichungen aus dem stiidtischen Volkermuseum der Stadt hrankturt, (Frankfurt, 1907-1910) Vol. I. ^ Thomas, Source-book, p. 913. J Strehlow, 1. c.( Aranda) p. 1 16 (Loritja) p. 1, 8. '•See Spencer and Gillen, The Northern Tribes of Central Aus- tralia, (London, 1904), pp. 145ff. 174fr. for "Dream-Time", reincarnation, and eschatology. ' Schmidt, Ursprung, p. 124, 372. 72 GOD CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN TOTEMIC FORM For it seems clear that this another case of an otiose divinity, a forn>er Creator, a forgotten God. The fact that Altjira is eternal, of superhuman outlines, of righteous ethical cfualities, this alone suggests that He was at one time supreme, and probably worshipped. It is difilcult to explain such a "rudimentary survival" unless we suppose that, like the divinities of the South-East, he was at one time a "living" God. But with this more ancient concept there has been blended a different set of ideas. Of these ideas that of the "Emu-Sun" is one of the most important. The identification of Altjira with the Sun and the Emu is the first indication that we are deal- ing with a naturalised divinity, an impersonal force, an evolutional god. This is not putting the case too strongly. His very name has been applied to the shapeless "monads", lizards, grass-seed totems, and the like, who as the altjira-inkaras are unborn, undying, — the germs of all life, of all existence. But more than this. They are the centers of an elaborate cult, in which they alone are recognised as all-powerful. Thus at the Intichiuma. ceremony of the Emu-totem, elaborate draw- ings representing primarily the sun, but secondarily the emu-intestines, feathers, eggs, etc. are made upon the ground in red or black ochre. Then two men, — bedaubed with paint and emu-feathers, take their place in the center, one personifying the tribe, the other a "sun"-ancestor (sic). The former brandishes a fiower-stalk, while the latter holds a small disk with a central patch representing the navel of the original sun-ancestor. Both performers kneel one behind the other, and by swaying their bodies from side to side seek to obtain supernatural power from the emu-sun to the accompaniment of a rude incantation, Wah, Wah, IVah!, by the sur- rounding tribesmen.* Now in so far as Altjira is behind the sun, a certain notion of trans- cendence is here implied, it is through Altjira that the "charm" is operated. But the fact is, his personality is hardly recognised, there are few suppli- cations to a Heavenly Father, but rather crude magical incantations to the sun for the increase of food, for the multiplication of totems. This ceremony, suggestive though it be, is magical rather than religious, though it is capable of a religious interpretation with a personal god. Such a personality may still be traced in part, but he is a married divinity, of half animal nature, unloved and unrespected. The Aruntas have 4-class totemism with male descent. Monogamy is in vogue, but polygamy, wife- loaning, cannibalism, and infanticide, are all represented in this region. In fact, it is these practices, which, with the revolting custom of "sub- incision," have given the proverbially shady reputation to the modern "savage" as most of us hear of him.' • Spencer and Gillen, The Northern Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 182, 737. Idem, Across Australia, (1912), Vol. II. pp. 268-273ff. 'Ibidem. GOD 73 CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN TOTEMIG FORM Among other strongly totemised cults of this region those of the neigh- boring Loritja deserve to be mentioned, for the reason that their chief divinity Tukura is in many respects a duplicate of the foregoing, — a quondam Creator, whose personality has been lost by excessive naturalism. All the remarks that have been made of the former apply with equal force to the latter, and it is sufficient in the present place to indicate, that the above data are corroborated by the appearance of a parallel divinity among a people who are culturally and industrially on nearly the same level.' If the same cannot be said of the Dieri nation, a group of tribes inhabit- ing the Lake-Eyre region, it is precisely for the reason that here more than elsewhere animism and spirit-worship have made more than ordinary progress, it is the defunct ancestor that alone is recognised. There may be some doubt as to the exact meaning of the term Mura Mura, whether with Gason we take it as "the Good Spirit", — Mooramoora — , written as a proper name, or whether, as seems more likely from the practices of these people, it is simply the generic designation for anything mysterious, — spirit, ghost, ancestor, rainmaker, etc." The attempt of Lang and others to read a unique divinity into this term is one that does not commend itself to an impartial criticism.'" To substantiate such a prop- osition, a personal cult would have to be clearly proved, but of such a cult there is no direct evidence. On the contrary, the existing data tend to show that mura-mura is either generic, or, if anything specific, the Dieri designation for the alcheringa of the Aruntas, the half-animal indescribables who are the origin of all existence. Nay more, the mura- mura ceremony of the snake-totem, in which two men dig up the fossil reptile, here distinctly called mura-mura, sprinkle the remains with blood drawn from the arm, collect the supposed excrement of the animal, and then scatter the mixture over the sandhills in the hope of increasing the supply of carpet-snakes, — this is as good evidence as can be desired that, whatever other meanings may have been attached to the term, the name is certainly applied to the snake and lizard totems from which the Dieri believe themselves to be descended." It also shows that here, as in the intichiuma ceremonies to the North, entities are multiplied by occult forces which are not clearly in control of a personal divinity. At the most, the mura-mura is a wonder-working ancestor, and he of half-animal form. Such an interpretation will gather additional force when we consider the numerous parallel cases in this immediate area in which the divinity is identified with emu, falcon, snake or spider. If the neighboring deities are of such a nature, it is hardly probable that this supposed "ancestor" is much more than a mysterious magical agency.'* * Strehlow, op. cit. supra. " S. Gason, The Dieri Tribe, (Adelaide, 1874), p. 260ff. Frazer, I. 350. ^•> Lang, Magic and Religion, p. 62-63. Schmidt, Ursprung, 268, 269. Howitt, Native Tribes of South-East Australia, p. 480-482. " Idem, p. 798, for the Minkani ceremony. '^ Thus it is probable that Frazer's view comes very near the truth. 74 GOD CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN TOTEMIC FORM This is of course mostly negative evidence, based on the apparent absence of personal invocations to a supreme Being. But that such a belief is entirely absent, I do not pretend for one moment to assert. It may be a concealed, symbolic belief, expressed in ritual rather than words, and there are one or two vague indications that Miira-Mura was at one time invoked by the mythical ancestors, though the few items collected by Fr. Schmidt are too vague and isolated to carry conviction. They show at the outside that the deity was formerly worshipped, but has since been abandoned in favor of a more alluring belief, in itself an important point as it helps to explain the genesis, if not the deterioration of the idea expressed by mura-mura. But that such a deterioration has here set in, can hardly be questioned, and until it can be proved that the Great mura- mura{?) has made the totem his own, that He is working in and through the supposed ancestor, — which is not in itself impossible — , the religion of these people can hardly be called more than a disguised form of nature and ancestor-worship. With this the social and ethical data are in sus- picious accord. This is one of the few regions of Australia where the pure 8-class system with maternal descent is in vogue. While there is no essential connexion between this and a lower standard of practice, we have reasons to believe that spiritism, cannibalism, and head-hunting are the accompaniments of a culture which is typically late-Melanesian and which is here represented in its most vivid form. In any case, it is a note- worthy fact that here alone do we find the strange practice of group-mar- riage,— technically called the Pirauru-relation — , not simply as an aberrant phenomenon, but as a legally recognised matrimonial state." We will now be able to appreciate how sharply the divinities of Central Australia are marked off from those of the far South-East, as well as to trace the origin of those elements in the latter which are clearly disfigure- ments. If the All-Father is strong in the South-East and weak in the Center, it is because the sun and the emu, the lizard and the carpet- snake, are paramount in the interior and comparatively unknown or unheeded on the coast. Altjira, the Emu-Sun, has supplied Baiame with Emu-feet, it has associated Daramulun with the Lizard, but in neither case has the totem-culture dethroned the ancient Father in Heaven in the most primitive region of the Australian continent as yet known to us.'* " Howitt, Native Tribes of Central Australia, p. 73 N. W. Thomas Kinship-organisation and Group-marriage in Australia, (Cambridge, 1906). '< See under Baiame, etc., pp. 37(1. above. THE AGE OF ROCK-PAINTINGS AND OF SPIRAL DESIGNS THE GREAT MEDICINE OR THE NORTH AMERICAN SUN-MYSTERY THE ATI-SEEING WAKANDA SHOWING SVN- AND SEBFENT-THEMES SEPABATED MYSTERY-DECORATIONS PAINTED BY THE OMAHAS AND OTHER 8IOUAN TRIBES UPON ROCKS, BLANKETS, OB Dtt'ELLLNGS, TO EXPRESS THE TRIBAL CILT TO THE SIN, THE SNAKE, THE CEDAR ANT) THE CORNSTALK, WHICH ARE PECULIARLY SACRED. "HAIL, MYSTEKIOIS POWER, THOU WHO ART THE SIN! I WISH TO FOLLOW THY COURSE! O WAKANDA, PITY ME I YOU REGULATE EVERYTHING THAT MOVES, YOU DECIDE WHEN MY LAST HOUR SHALL COME!" TAKEN FR03I J. O. DOKSEY, A STUDY OF SIOUAN CULTS, IITH. REP. OF THE BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY, (WASHINGTON, 18W), PP. 872-480. GOD 75 NORTH AMERICAN TOTEMIG FORM (M,4) WAKANDA— Prairie Belt— (Sioux-Dakota-Omaka) It is in the broad Prairie-belt of the Missouri basin that the more advanced totem-culture of North-America has been preserved in its most distmctive form.^ We have the nomadic life, the buffalo-hunt, the fur- blanket, the face and body paint, the round-house, the fire-drill ' the half- round bow, the flint-headed spear, the throwing-stick, the carved figurine the polychrome picture, the bone-flute, the bark-canoe, the patriarchal sept- system, the tribal initiation, the totemic marriage, the platform and tree- burial.^ It is to be noted, however, that these elements have been largely fused with a later neolithic and copper wave of industry, and some allow- ance must therefore be made for the possible intrusion of later stages of belief. Of Wakanda of the Omaha an early authoritv, Edwin James, writes as follows: "The Wakanda is believed to be the best of beings, the Creator and Preserver of all things, and the Fountain of Mystic Medicine. Omniscience, omnipresence, and vast powers are attributed to Him, and He is supposed to afflict them with sickness, povertv or misfortune, for their evil deeds. ... He seems to be a Protean god, he is supposed to appear to different persons under different forms. ... He appears to one in the shape of a grizzly bear, to another in that of a bison, to a third in that of a beaver, owl, etc. All the Magi, in the administration of their medicine to the sick and afflicted, mimic the action and voice, variously exaggerated and modifled, of the animal, which, they say, is their respective medicine, or, in other words, that in which the \vakanda appeared to them." ' Now it is objected by J. Owen Dorsey that the writer mistook the generic name Wakanda for a specific one, that it stands for any great spirit, anything sacred, anything wonderful, not necessarily the supreme Being.* This no doubt is possible. The name ivakan is used indeflnitely for anything marvellous, mysterious, incomprehensible. It's best equiv- alent is /a6oo,— "sacred".' But on the one hand, the wording of the report, even if exaggerated, seems inconsistent with the idea of a merely tutelary power, on the other hand, his personal nature is attested among other things by the "Smoke" ceremony of the Buffalo men, in which smoke is blown up to heaven with the exclamation, "Here, Wakanda, is the smoke!" They say they do this because Wakanda "gave" them the pipes, and that he "rules" over them.* iprazer, Totemism and Exogamy, III. p. 87ff. '^Yot each of these items consult F W Hodge, Handbook of American Indians, (Washington, 1907-10), 2 volumes, an excellent com- pilation. 3 See Frazer, III. 398. "J- O. Dorsey, A Study of Siouan Cults, llth. Rep. B. A. E. (Washington, 1894), pp. 372-430. 'Frazer, III. 108. « Ibidem. See also the Sun-Dance prayers on the opposite page. 76 GOD NORTH AMERICAN TOXEMIC FORM But this question is not so easily disposed of. The fact that Wakanda is the general term for "Mystery", and that there is practically no supreme or absolute worship attached to him, makes it difficult to believe that he is in any real sense a unique divinity. There are also no clear-cut crea- tion-myths to show that he is above, superior, or anterior to the world, — a transcendent being. On the contrary, the beliefs and practices of the Omahas tend to reveal a vague nature-worship in which the wakans are the primary germinal-units, which contain within themselves the power to produce all things, to operate all wonders. Here again it is the Sun and the Buffalo that figure as the most important agencies, — as witness: During the BufTalo-Dance of the Omaha Ghost-Society the members prance about disguised in the skins and horns of the animal and then come together for the purpose of making rain. This they do by dancing around a vessel of water and spurting the water into the air in imitation of rain. Then they upset the vessel, spill the water on the ground, fall down, and lap the water up, besmirching their faces in the act.' Members of the Turtle-clan draw a figure of the turtle on the ground and place some pieces of cloth on the figure in the hope of dispelling a fog.* The same tribes have an order of Thunder-shamans, who predict the weather by what they see in dreams and visions of the Thunder-being, — in this case the Sun, the Moon, and other celestial phenomena." But the most distinctive ceremony of all the Plains tribes was the Sun-Dance, in which the performers gyrat: d for hours before a buffalo-skull and a sacred pole representing the Sun. This ceremony is rich in symbolism, mostly astrological, but it shows, in the words of Dorsey, that "the Sun, or a god spoken of as the 'Great Mystery,' 'Great Medicine' {Wakanda), or 'Man above', was even more prominent in their eyes, being symbolised by the center pole".'" It will be noticed how close is the approach to the Intichiuma ceremonies of Auslralia and the Soso-bonga rites of Central India. This is carried still further in the death-ceremony. "You are going to the animals the bu.Talos", the dying-man is told, wrapped in bufTalo skins. "You are going to rejoin yoiu' ancestors!" " This shows with considerable clearness that the Wakanda is essentially a nature-god, that he appears under a niyri:id forms, t!;e highest of which is the Sun, — the Great Wakanda. Though theor tically sujjreme, he has lost his hold upon human life, upon human destiny. For any god that can suffer his clients to reappear as bufl'alos can hardly be described as a wise and benevolent Creator; there is something essentially deficient, something essentially sinister in his make-up. ']. O. Dorsey, Omaha Sociology, 3d. Rep. B. A. E. (Washington, 1884), pp. 347ff. ' Uorscy. 1. c. p. 2A0. ''Idem, A Study of Siouan Cults, 11th. Report, p. 395. '"Idem, in i.'odKC. Himdhook, II. p. 651. " Idem, Omaha Sociology, p. 229. GOD 77 NORTH AMERICAN TOTEMIC FORM Are we then to conclude that this is typical for the entire continent, that what W3 find is at most a nature-worship disguised by the term wakanda? This in the pr sent state of our knowledge wou d be a som - what premature induction. The fact that hints o; a "Man above", of a Maker, a Giver, a Ruler, are distinctly thrown out to us, and that acknowl- edged authorities like Dorsey and Fletcher are able to read a personal, and even a creative meaning into the term,— this, together with the com'mon tendency of man to personify nature, to make it human and lifelike, should make us hesitate in associating this idea with the unknown X,— the mere sum-total of all the powers in existence. While Wakanda "is the name given to the mysterious all-pervading and life-giving power to which certain anthropomorphic aspects are attributed, the word is also applied to objects or phenomena regarded as sacred or mysterious. These two uses of the word are never confused in the minds of the thoughtful. When, during his fast, the Omaha sings— 'Wakanda! Here needy he stands, and I am he!', his address is to 'the power that moves', 'causes to move', that is, gives life; for the ability to move is to the Omaha mind synonymous with life. In this prayer the Omaha is not crying to those forces or forms spoken of as ivakanda in songs that relate to objects seen in dreams or to symbols of magic." ^^ If then we have some standing- gi'ound for a personal divinity, a transcendent Wakanda. it is no 1 ss evi- dent that this divinity is associated if not identified with the Sun. and the above remarks are at least in part justified, the solar predominating over the human features, with the result that a direct personal worship is here at a minimum, it is shrouded in magical and totemic practices which may have an intimate relation to Him, but of whose "sacred" character there is no clear proof. Thus it is not impossible that the Great Wakanda may be concealed under some lesser wakan,—h&?iV, buffalo, snake, turtle—, to whom He imparts His divine character in a secret and incomprehensive manner, the whole process being described as the "Great Mystery", offered up to the Supreme Being as a sacrifice of atonement, and even partaken of by the worshipper as a sacrament of union with the divine. Such a "com- munion"-rite is indoed beautiful to contemplate, more especially under the "Sacred Corn", but it is yet to be proved that Wakanda is present as a Person, that He is not simply a magic force or potency. In so far as He is above the totems, unique and incommunicable, such an imparting of power is not inconceivable, but in so far as simply the X of existence, the Great Unknown, such a function is hardly more than a charm. "See the article on the Wakanda by Miss Alice B. Fletcher of Washington, (1910), in Hodge, Handbook, II. p. 897. Also on the Totem by J. N. B. Hewitt. Ibid. p. 787. 78 GOD NORTH AMERICAN TOTEiMIG FORM II is iiiturestiug to note in ttiis connection that the generic idea of "mystery" as a common designation for the Godhead is particularly strong, and especially developed on the North American continent. The Algonquin Mauitoo and the Iroquois Orenda have practically the same meaning. — that which surpasses tlie ordinary powers of man to compre- hend— , anything extraordinary, whether in the mental or physical world. Here too the term cannot be interpreted as a personal one without qualifi- cation. Mauitoo is an appellative, designating 'ihe mysterious and unknown potencies and powers of life and of the universe." " As the Kitchi Manito, or "Great Spirit", it has been brought into connexion with a personal divinity, nay with a Creator of all. and this in view of the undoubted existence of parallel cases elsewhere, makes the Chippewa deity a strong figure, though convincing evidence is in most cases ditlicult to obtain.'* The ISapi divinity of the Blackfeet and the Ahone-goA of the Virginians are unquestionably prominent and apparently personal, but tlie Blackfeet have outgrown totemism. and of the Virginians we know loo little to be able to pass any final judgment as to the nature of their beliefs as a totemic people." Moreover, as a branch of the Iroquois, they belong to the Orenda-vegion, of which Mr. Hewitt thus writes: — "This hypothetic principle was conceived to be immaterial, occult, impersonal, myterious in mode of action, limited in function and etficiency, and not at all omnipotent (sic), local and not omnipresent, and ever embodied and immanent in some object, although it was believed that it could be transferred, attracted, acquired, increased, suppressed, or enthralled by the orenda of occult ritualistic formulas endowed with more potency." '* How a "local" force can be always "immanent in some object" is difficult to understand, but consistency is hardly to be expected in this place, and the entire catalogue of attributes that are assigned to the Orenda shows how confused and entangled the notion is, how far from satisfying the rigid demands of a theistic notion. Hence the existence of "High Gods" in the Iroquois region must be interpreted by the parallel light of the orenda. While a personal dominance can be proved in this or that instance, the sources are too far off to allow of any exact defini- tions as to its nature. From what has already been found of existing divinities, it appears to be more and more probable that although a com- manding figure is for the most part traceable in single outline, the orenda- wakan-maniloo system ha-s either expanded the notion, or, — what is more likely — , it has obscured it by a confused jumble of nature-beliefs. "A. F. Chamberlain under "Manito" (Hodge, I. 800). '♦ W. Warren, A History of the Oiibways, (St. Paul, Minn., 1885), pp. 63-65. Frazer, HI. 382ff. >' Cp. Lang, Making of Religion, 230-237ff. i«J- W. B. Hewitt, under "Orenda", (Hodge, H. 147). GOD 79 NORTH AMERICAN TOTEMIG FORM The social and moral statistics tend to bear this out. While the noble and the ignominious are mysteriously intertwined in all the ages of man, there is here no longer that delicate perception of the moral fitness of things that we find in the earlier stages of human society. Polygyny and divorce exist side by side with the stricter code of an earlier age, and there is evidence to show that irregular unions, even at sacred functions were by no means unknown. There was also less regard for the sanctity of life. Cannibalism in some form or another was at one time practised by all these tribes, whether confined to cases of hunger, or to those of sharing the brave qualities of an enemy. Wars, duels, and blood-revenge were once the order of the day, though striking instances of kindliness, hos- pitality and the like are also on record. The picture in short is a two- fold one, but the growing inroads of a weaker standard are distinctly noticeable.^^ (M, 5) CHINIGCHINICH,— Pacific Belt— (Califor>-i.\ Region) The Rocky Mountain divide separates the Plains and Plateau Indians from their more primitive forbears on the Pacific slope, to whom pottery, weaving, agriculture, and mocassin-raiment, are largely unknown, or exist only as sporadic features. They lead the half-naked life of the deer- hunter that goes hand in hand with the loin-cloth, the round-house, the fire-drill, the unpolished flint, the self-bow, the throwing-stick, the wooden boomerang, the bull-roarer, the bone-whistle, the basket-canoe, and the balsa-raft — (California region)." Father Boscana in his labors among the Acagchemem tribes of Southern California thus writes of their religious beliefs :— '* "Although ignorant as they were of the knowledge of the true God, the moral instruction given by parents to their children was contained in the precepts of Chimgchinich, which were strongly impressed upon their minds, that they might become good, and avoid the fate of the evil. The perverse child invariably was destroyed, and the parents of such remained dishonored. At the age of six or seven years they gave him a kind of god as protector, — an animal, in whom they were to place entire confidence who would protect them from harm, etc. They were not, however, to consider this animal as the real God, for He was invisible, and inhabited the mountains and bowels of the earth, but if He did appear to them at any time, it was in the shape of an animal of the most terrific description. '2 Hodge, op. cit. I. 200, 571, 808. "Items in Hodge, passim. " Fr. Geronimo Boscana, Chinigchinich, An Historical Account of the Origin, Customs, and Traditions of the Indians at the Missionary Establishment of S. Juan Capistrano, Alta California, called the Acagche- mem Nation, in "Life in California", by an American [A. Robinson], N. Y. 1846, pp. 270, a very rare work. (Frazer, HI. 404.) 80 GOD NORTH AMERICAN TOTEMIC FORM This was not Chinigchinich, but another called Touch, signifying a Devil. That they might know the class of animal, which the God, Chinigchinich, had selected for their particular veneration, a kind of drink was administered to them, made from a plant called Pibat, which was reduced to a powder, and mixed with other intoxicating ingredients. Soon after taking this preparation they became senseless, and for three days were deprived of any sustenance whatever." The report then describes how the neophyte is commanded to obey implicitly whatever visions are vouchsafed him during the trance, how he imagines an inter- view with a bear, crow, or rattlesnake, how he finally divulges the secret to the by-standers and the commands of the mysterious apparition. This report is of value because it reveals a distinction between the supreme divinity and the totems. While the former is invisible and benevolent, the latter are visible and of animal form. This is characteristic of the totem-culture in its earlier stage, for though an advanced clan- system is here absent, matrimonial totemism of the undeveloped form (individual and local), is now known to exist. Moreover Merriam assures us all these Galifornian tribes believe that they "came from" certain ani- mals, trees, or rocks, which suggests the conclusion that they may also return to the same by re-birth." This and the narcotic ceremony recorded above shows with some force that the divinity has lost much of his power to control the life and destiny of man by rational sanctions, that he is after all only a nature-god. Institutions appear to be patriarchal and plutocratic, with local exogamy and male descent. It will thus be seen that throughout the totemic zone there exists a cer- tain similarity of belief and practice which is too striking to be put down as a mere coincidence. In every case the divinity has been drawn into closer relations with nature, whether as the Buru-Bonga of India, the Mulungu of Africa, the Altjira-lnkara of Australia, or the Wakanda of North America. This is evidenced by his role as a married hunter, by his cosmic and solar character, by his possible confusion with the tribal totem, and by his want of direct control of the moral law. Throughout this region there is also a strong belief in metempsychosis and in tlie multiplication of entities by impersonal magic. To what extent these elements have afTected the combined picture of the divinity, will be dis- r'ussed later on. ''Merriam, in the American Anthropologist, X. (1908), No. 4. Compare Hodge, II. 793. GOD 81 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM (N) EURASIAN-POLYNESIAN-CORDILLERAN GrOUP,— NEOLITHIC BeLT, (Recent) The association of the European NeoUthic with the Caucasian race of historic memory is one of the most daring achievements of modern ethnol- ogy. It is believed to be solidly probable by reason of the striking homo- geneity of that culture, by the fact that the modern ethnical boundaries correspond very largely to the ancient ones, (Nordic, Alpine, Mediterranean Group), and by the survival into historic times of certain elements that are believed to be peculiar to the Indogermanic races,— among others the Dagger and the Blow horn, which are well certified for the middle-Euro- pean Pile-period. 1 Whether this will be substantiated by further evidence, remains to be seen. In the meantime it can hardly be doubted that, as the character of this culture was fundamentally Caucasian, it was at least in part Indogermanic, and we are therefore justified in using the latter as one of our sources. On this system it will be possible to read the religion of the lake-dwellers and megalithic architects partly in the linguistic records of the past, (Aryan religion), partly in the existing Austronesian and Cordilleran-American traditions, which are still associated with a very similar culture, (Advanced neolithic and bronze age). It is essen- tially a highland culture, encircling the earth in almost unbroken con- tinuity,—from the Alps and Carpathians to the Caucasus, and through the ?Iimalayan region to Indo-China and Polynesia on the one hand, and to Alaska, Mexico, Peru, and Patagonia on the other. (Polynesjan-Cordilleran extension). 2 But if the Aryan race was a conspicuous figure during the second stone age, it was by no means the earliest or only one, and it seems certain that we must go beyond Europe to Western Asia in order to find the real begin- nings of neolithic civilisation. The threefold dispersion of Caucasian races, to Arabia, Egypt, and Iran, seems to postulate some common radiat- ing center from which the proto-Caucasian race must first have emerged into prominence. Now such a center is fonnd in that portion of Western Asia which is racially and territorially neutral, — neither Aryan, Semitic, Hamitic nor Mongolic— , but which is associated with the beginnings of all four, and tenanti'd by a people whose physique and language are irreducible,— the so-called "Sumerian" race of the Mesopotamian plains. Whatever be the exact interrelation of these peoples in prehistoric ages, some remote binding-link seems to be called for, and such a link is siilTi- ciently prominent in the "land of the four rivers" to merit our serious con- sideration.^ ^ F. Graebner, Die Melanesische Bogenkultur, (Anthropos, IV. 1909) pp. 1029-1030. O. Schrader, Sprachvergleichung und Urgeschichte, (Jena. 1907) pp. 349f. Idem, Reallexicon der indogermanischen Alterthumskunde, (Strassburg. 1901) p. 824ff. A. Schliz, in Prae- historische Zeitschrift, (Berlin, 1912), pp. 36ff. (Craniology), Comp. also Keane, Ethnology, p. 108. Haddon, Wanderings, p. 40. 2 Graebner, op. cit. pp. 998ff. ' Comp. L. W. King, A History of Sumer and Akkad, (London, 1912). pp. 321-348. (Cultural influence on Egj'pt, Asia, and the West). 82 GOD WESTERN ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM It is not prelended that this was the direct ancestor of any of the ''white" races as we now linow them. It was not even Caucasian in the modern sense, but is better described as proto-Caucasioid, revealing per- haps some Mongolic atTmities. Their ethnic position is still largely proble- matical, while their language has been atTdiafed with nearly every known tongue. This agrees well with the theory above supported and is only to be expected on the supposition that they antedate any existing represen- tatives of the Caucasian stock, forming a possible Jink between the Dravidians of Central India and the pre-Aryan Ligurians of the middle- European Pile-belt.* Here we have a people whose prehistoric past ascends indefinitely, and not impossibly to the eighth millennium before Christ.' For these remote ages the alluvial mounds of Mesopotamia have revealed a culture which is characteristically neolithic, and this in its earlier Stages. We have the simple mat-garment, or apron, (hand-weaved), the mud-hut and the clay architecture, (indigenous), the fire-flint, the sling-bow, the developed boomerang, the polished flint-knife, the bone-needle, the simplest kind of pottery, (unmarked), the clay figurine, the wooden lyre, the xylophone, the reed-boat, the "patesi"-kingship, the free marriage, (iion-tofemic), and above all the tomb-burial with contracted corpse, which is now believed to antedate the cremation-rite of the later Caucasian and Indoger- manic peoples." It will be seen that most of these elements fit in well with what we know of the early pre-megalithic lacustrian age, though the nature of ttie soil will account for its strongly "alluvial" character. If then we raise the Sumerian problem to the forefront of ethnic pos- sibilities in relation to early neolithic man, it is because the finger of archaeology points strongly in this direction, because we require a neutral Caucasioid race as the bearer of the earliest neolithic culture, and because it carries us back to a time when the whole of Western Eurasia formed as it were a unit, — a time which was pre-Sargonic in Babylonia, predynastic in Egypt, and generally prehistoric in Persia. Finally, as our present appeal must be to the buried records of the past, it is only in Egypt and Mesopotamia that we possess the earliest extant syllabic or alphabetic writing, as distinct from mere pictographs, and this must always be a heavy denominator in any attempt to evaluate in their true proportions the early beliefs and practices of a civilisation which has been buried for five-thousand years.' Further details in S. P. Handcock, Mesopotamian Archaeology, (N. Y. 1912) and P. Dhorme, La Religion Assyro-babylonienne, (Paris, 1910). SUMERIAN PRAYERS TO BEL FROM THE Cl'NKIFORM TKXT8 OF THR BRITISH HVSBl'M Vol. XV. ri. 10, 3-11, ft PI. U. 1-9. "FATHER. ENJLIU.LOFUD OFTHE LAfJOS " A— A lt>\ MU UL LIU U MO 0"^ E KUHKUR — -RA A — A lt>\ MU UU t-IL U tviU DM SUa — GA X( i)A A A i»l MU Ol. LIU 2>l» — SAC (3lu UL UIU I OK S>u |M xt NA A— A (D^ MU uu UU AMa eUlN tSA SA SA A— A (Dl MU uu UIU U UUU UA .BUR - DUR. "1=«.ETUR.M. LOOK DOWN UPON TVTY CITV" >-T> x=l l(a>«4 U URU XU U - tClC -IJUil) U MU Uf* KOKKUH. KA Gt MICIM U UUU — ZU U MU UN &A4 — QA 31 X)A mci»4 u uf>.u-(.Z>J) (155 MU uu UIU A A K.A MA AO CA GICJ QA MIGIN U URU-CJU) 6ia SAC GIQ QA MIGIN U U«U-CJU> ■» » < •» < I DK DU IM1 TS •** NIOIN-U URU- AMA eWIM NA Sa SA MICIN U UW.U-C ■UA UUI* Oum. NICIN U unU-C«U> SKK I.AI«OI>ON. SI MKRI.IN AND B.\BVI,0>iIAN raAI.M8. (LONDON !»•») F. tl«. Ml. JA8TBOW. RKLJUION BABV1.0NIKN8 I'ND ASSVRIENS, (UIK8BKN, l»Oa), n. P. SI, ST. VANDKRBl'HOH. IN J. A. O. 8. VOLj XXX (l»l»> P. «1-7I. GOD 87 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM As to the expression of worship by prayer, the oldest Sumerian hymns reveal a deep fooling of dependence upon an all-morciful Father. Hut we must not be surprised if these supplications are directed chiefly to Enlil, the second member of tlie triad. A "Heaven-God" was too distant and abstract a conception to withstand the encroachments of a "Lord of the lands", one who was in a peculiar sense the national savior. At the temple of Bel in Nippur the lamentation-ritual of this kind was par- ticularly vivid : — 1, "Father Enlil, Lord of the lands! 2, Father Enlil, Lord of the living command! 3, Father Enlil, shepherd of the blackheads! 4, Father Enlil, who seest by thine own power! 5, Father Enlil, strong Lord directing mankind! 6, Father Enlil, who causest mul- titudes to repose in peace!" " 1, "0 miglity Enlil, return, took down upon thy city! 2, O strong and mighty one, return, look down upon thy city! 3, Lord of the lands, return, look down upon thy city! 4, Lord of the living command, return look down u}x>n thy city! 5, Faiher of the land, return, look donm upon thy city! G, Shepherd of the blackheads, return, look down upon thy city! 7, Who regardest us with eyes of mercy, return, look down upon thy city! 8, Who bringest forth the light, return, look down upon thy city! 9, Who protcctest the weak against the strong, return, look (town upon tliy city!" and so on in endless refrain." Again, Lugal-Zaggisi, king of Uruk, thus addresses the god of Nippur: — "0 Enlil, King of the lands, my beloved Father! Grant me long life! Give rest and peace unto this land! Make my armies lo flourish! Preserve the sanctuaries, look favorably upon this land! Have mercy upon the people! Give me power to rule with a firm hand!" " Again, take the following formula for the general confession of sins: — "0 Lord, my transgressions are many, greai are my sins! 0 God, my transgressions are 7nany, great are my sins! O God, whoever it be, my transgressions are nuiny, great are my sins!" '• But there is evidence of another kind that may prompt us to modify this conclusion to some extent. The existence of divination, augury, hep- tascopy, and demoniacal obsession, with an elaborate incantation-ritual for the expulsion of witches, this is a fact which cannot be passed over without revealing a belief in magical and spiritistic agencies, which is generally branded as "superstitious," and which seems to detract from the simplicity and purity of an All-Father cult. >• Cun. Texts. XV. PI. lo, 3-8. " Cun. Texts. XV. PI. 13, 1-9. Elima nituki. Assyrian transcription f&r Enlil (Bel). Compare the versions of Langdon, Jastrow, and Vandcrburgli, cited on the opposite page. '» Hilprecht, Old Babyl. Inscript. I, 2, no. 87. Thur. Dang. op. cit. p. 154; Jastrow I. 394. '" Rawlinson, Cun. Inscr. of Western Asia, IV. pi. 10 ff. ("whoever it be":="known or unknown"), Jastrow, II, 102. 88 GOD WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM I have already liad occasion to remark that a ceremony can only be called "magical" if a sii|)reme Being is deliberately and explicitly excluded. The invocation of a patron saint and the expulsion of a harmful demon is the most natural of religious actions, and even the diagnosis of future events by inspecting the liver of llie sacrificial animal is more or less excusable in proportion as the whole action is referred to the deity, is believed to be the expression of his divine will. Hence the 6fl/'»-inspections and the .s/ii/>/i<-incantations must be interpreted in the light of a higher belief, in which they become the expressions of a divine power acting through the kabittu, the soul or "liver" of the animal, which for the time was identified with the soul of the deity. Such a practice, however repre- hensible, led to the study of the science of medicine. Moreover in the shiptu-ritua] for the expulsion of demons we find the higher divinities often invoked : — "May Anu and Antum arise, lo disijel the disease! May Bel, the Lord of Nippur, arise, lo give life by his irrevocable decrees! May Ea, the Lord of humanity arise, he who n-ith his hands made man- kind". &c. It is a long litany for the sick, in which by means of prayers and purga- tions, water-aspersions and so on, the imprisoned demon is let loose, and the sufferer restored to health, — surely an appropriate custom.^" Yet with all this the intrusion of demon-worship, with many spiritistic and occult practices, is too pronounced a fact to be put down as a mere side-issue. The growing importance of the nature powers, not simply as mystery-forces, but as personal life-centers endowed with ":i" — , "life- or spirit-power" — , has produced a hierarchy of strong independent divin- ities which is frankly polytheistic, the distinction between god and demon being often difiicult to trace. They are all dinffir-ilu,— high and mighty personalities, whose kabittu or liver-soul decides the fate of humanity, sometimes to their great misfortune. It is Shamash, the god of divination, who is the father of this science, by which stars and entrails, bird-flights and the "evil eye", are in direct control of human life, the manu or "ghastly look" being the chief exponent of this secret power. I do not venture to hazard any etymologies, but the combination shamah-manu is loo suggestive of "Shamanism" as a doctrine of "fire-spirits" to be lightly dismissed.^' Manistic animism, with occasional phallic develop- ments, was destined to be one of the most important moulding-forces of early neolithic region, — as we shall see. And this is the one point thai should never be ignored whenever we attempt to read the exact meanings into terms which have long since changed their original significations. -o Surpu, IV. 68-87. in Zimmern, Beitrage zur Kenntniss der babylonischen Religion, (Leipzig, 1901). PI. X. (Incantation-text). => Comp. the ritual-tablets in Zimmern, loc. cit. & Shiptu-tablets, No. 57, 1. 14. viinulu. (i7) Samcs (iniamiu.) .Mso Dclitzscli, Ass\t. Hand- worterbuch, under shainit, maim, etc. (Leipzig. 1896). GOD 89 WESTERN-ASIATIC OR NEOLITHIC FORM What then is the idea expressed by :i2 Does it stand for life in gen- eral, or for a special form or manifestation of life, the disembodied spirit, the soul-double? Hieroglyphically :i is expressed by the flowering stalk, Assyr. ^J^Im i and is generally translated "life", Assy- rian nisu." It occurs very early, being found in the inscriptions of Ean- natum and Gudea between two and three thousand B. C.=' Here it is appar- ently used as an abstract, the "Life" of Ea {zi dingir Ea) being interpreted by the parallel en-zd, the equivalent of en-ti, — "Lord of Life" — , and by such combinations as :i-kum or zd-kura, which as the "Life of Heaven and Earth" became the standard formula for the expulsion of demons. Thus a well-known siptu-labM, which begins with an invocation to the Ocean- god, ends with an incantation to the heaven and earth : — "0 Life of Heaven, maijest thou conjure it! 0 Life of earth, mayest thou conjure it!" — in which zi appears to have no other meaning than that of life in general, as it is not applied to the tigillu, or iiealing herb, which cures the patient on such occasions.'-* But even admitting that zi was originally the flower- ing reed, as suggested by the ideogram, there is no evidence to show that it was a disembodied spirit, much less a demon, as the latter are known as lilu, lilitu (airy ones), alu, yalu, shedu, utukku (great ones), ekimmu, akkhasu (capturers), laba^u, labartu, (tormentors, destro-yers), but never to my knowledge described as zi, which was evidently the Sumerian symbol for the gesh-tin, or "Tree of Life", the shammii balati of the Baby- lonians,— the source of immortality, ( y\f K-rf^T" =ti).-' ^^ Again, the Assyrian transcriptions show with considerable clearness that the Semitic invaders understood the expression in a similar sense, the nis Hani, being the "Life of the gods", used in all conjuration-formulas. Thus nis same lu-u ta-mat, tiiS irsiti lu-u ta-mat, (general form), or more specifically, ni-is Asur beli-iarabi . . . sum-ma ina libbi sabe annuti nam simtu la usahru, — "By Ashur, great god ! ... To think that I should have dug this canal!" Delitzsch goes so far as to say that nisu stands for exist- ence, essence, or personality, "a word of very broad signification", though he admits its application to spirits or demons in some instances.-" If then the Semitic transcribers read such a lofty and refined meaning into the term, and there is no clear proof that it was used for lilu or wandering spirits, is it too much to say that zi stands for life- or spirit-power in gen- eral, even though it might also be taken for "spirits"? "Barton, Babylonian Writing, (Leipzig-Baltimore, 1913), PI. 23, No. 91. " Sarzec, Decouvertes en Chaldee, PI. 3, A, 1, 11. Cun. Texts. IX. 1. 1, 6. Comp. Price.— The great Cylinder-inscriptions of Gudea, A. 1. IS. B. 1. 3. 9, 22. Th. D. 89. -* Rawlinson, V. 1-58. C. T. XVII. PI. 19. Kol.I. 32-51. "•Barton, op. cit. PI. 18 No. 76. -« Delitzsch, Assyrisches Hand- worterbuch. p. 482-483, under »isu. 90 GOD WESTERN-ASIATIC OR RECENT FORM Thus the application of zi to the High gods, while it appears to be ani- mistic, seems to reveal a deeper notion of divinity than can be conveyed by a discarnate form, a mere phantasm. "The HI, or ghost", says Prof. Sayce, "was distinct from the ^i. While the zi belonged to the world of the living, the HI belonged to the world of the dead".^' . . . "Unlike the Hlla, the zi represented the man himself in his personality; if that person- ality were destroyed, it also ceased to exist". It is true of course that on this view En-Hl would be a "Lord of ghosts", but it must be remembered that the earliest picture-writing gives no direct intimation of a malev- olent being, but is vaguely expressive of earth, clouds, air, in a gen- eral sense, the identification of HI with the demon not being provable except in the later s/H'/>?u-ritual, when it was applied to the night-spirits that terrified the living in the form of a cloud. That ghost-hunting was rampant during this period admits of no doubt, but it was a secondary development, not a primary one. Though magic and demonism are strongly developed within the historical period, it cannot be proved that Bel was originally evolved from the ghost. Rather should it be said that the zi of the gods represents perhaps the first attempt to define the nature of the supreme Being as a "Personal Spirit", one who was more than a personal "Father" on the one hand, or an impersonal "Mystery" on the other, — an ethereal Essence, who, though clothed in the garb of nature, was above all totems, the life and animating power of all being. If it is also true that there is a spiritistic side to the concept, this is only to be expected by analogy with all great movements, in which a new idea is struggling for recognition, but is at once distorted and applied in the wrong direction, — the ghost-god. This represents a distinct advance upon all the preceding systems. As an offset to the elaborate fasts, the dreams and trance-visions, by which the bonga or the wakan is secured as a personal guardian, union with the divine is once more obtained by the more direct channels of prayer and sacrifice, though fasts and penances survive as a secondary means for achieving the same end. All culminates in the "Bread and Water of Life", — the bloodless immolation oiTered to Ann by the earliest kings, — clearly a survival of the paradisaic or first-fruit libations of the days of man's innocence. After that the outlook is gloomy. There is no clear vision of a heavenly Father, but Aralii, the land of shades, the abode of "the spirits in prison". Yet the soul has crossed the rivers of death, it has no more need of earthly necessities, it is immortal, — it has arrived at the "Isles of the Blessed". "'Sayce, The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, (Edinburgh, 1903), p. 280. « Ihid. p. 278. THE CONTEMPORARY AGE OF WALL-PAINTINGS AND THE BEGINNINGS OF ALPHABETIC WRITING A TIMELESS CREATOR PYRAMID TEXT: PEPI L SETHE, VOL. II. P. 302, SEC. 1410. P. 663b. P. 66 »r. P. 664d. Me-SI (MSI)PEP-t »»EH IN ITFF ATUM EN HEPER-Rer PET BH HEVBR- 1*£T T-A EM HEPER-RCr RENTTTr EN ME-Sl-T NETeiMJ EN HEPEW-MT MET INVOCATION TO THE NINE PARTS OF THE HEART OF ATUM '•O MIGHTY ENNEAD" PVRAillD TEXT: PEPI II. SETHE, VOL. II. P. 374. 8KC. les.!. X. 6G5o. N. 66Sb. X. «6.1i-. HA VESEUCX CAT l-Ml-T I - UN ATurw «HU TCPNVJT oeB NUT osiF<.is ISIS se-r NePHTYS mesu ATUM^peD-iBET ehmesup HIEKOtil.YPIIlC: ORIGIXAI, IN K. SETHE, DIE A1.TAGVPTI8CHEN PYRAin- DENTE.XTE N.4CH DEN P.VPIERABDRICKEX IXD PIIOTOC.B.VPHIEN DES BER- LINER MISEIMS. XEi: HEBAl SGEGEBEN IXD ERI.AITERT (LEIPZIG, 1008- l»tU). VOL. U PP. 302 AND 314. TRANSLITEBATIOX AND TRVNSLATION BY PROF. See J Capart. in Compte Rendu of the Louvain Congress, (Paris, 1913) p. 274ff. »'DeU Saussaye, Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte, (1905), I. pp. 214-240. >- Comp. Saycc. op. cit. p. 46-70. 153-180. Maspero. op. cit. I. p. I66flf. GOD 95 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM It is evident tliat tlie character of Egyptian religion cannot be appre- ciated witliout taking into consideration tlie meaning and function of the Ka,—\he philosophy of the "double". That it embodies an immaterial concept seems certain, it is an abstract for "life'\ yet as the double of the body it is subject to limitations, nay it is in need of food and sustenance, and as such it partakes of a material nature, it is but a rarified body, a "ghost". This is shown by the fact that the Ka of a dead man can only communicate with his entombed mummy by means of a pictured door, through which the Ka passes in entering the iomb. It is living in a world of shams and pictures, and these for if are as good as the reality. Never- theless real food-stuffs are offered to the Ka, and in this it is distinguished from the Khu or pure -'light-soul" which has got beyond the stage of earthly necessities.^' This is illustrated by the following address which the dead man makes to his Ka on the day of resurrection : "Hail to thee, who wast my Ka during life ! Behold I come to thee, I arise resplendent, I labor, I am strong, I am hale. I bring grains of incense, I am purified thereby, and I thereby purify that which goeth forth from thee ... I am that amulet of green feldspar, the necklace of the god Ra, which is given to them that are on the horizon. They flourish, I flourish, my Ka flourishes even as they. The scale of the balance rises. Truth rises' high unto the nose of the god Ra on the day on which my Ka is where I am. My head and my arm are restored to me where I am. I am he whose eye seeth, whose ears hear. I am not a beast of sacrifice. TiTe sacrificial formulae for the higher ones in heaven are recited where I am"." Now it is a noteworthy fact that the Egyptian sign for the Ka ^ H^ corresponds to some extent with the Babylonian ideogram for "life" ^^, (Sum, zi, Ideogr. %^^ ) , not so much in their external form, as in the context in which they are found.>= In both cases we are dealing with a flowering reed, whether single or double, which is clearly symbolical of a disembodied form, as there is a sharp distinction between the Ka or zi of a god and the god himself. This affects such forms as En- zi, (En-ti), En-til, zi-an-ki, zi-kum, zi-kiira, etc., the zi of Eridu being the HI of Nippur, and both the equivalent of the Assyr. niSu, the niS ilani being the "life" or spirit" of the gods, paralleled by the Eyptian ka-chepra, ka- Turn, ka-Ra, ka-Hotep, Osiris-ka, the life-double, the picture, or the simil- itude of the divine.'" "A. H. Sayce, The Religions of ancient Egypt and Babylonia, (Edinburgh, 1903) p. 56-70. "Book of the Dead, ch. 105. Sayce, 1. c. p. 55. »» Sayce, 1. c. p. 58, 276ff. Barton, Baby- lonian Writing, 23, No. 91. Delitrsch, Assyrisches Handworterbuch, under nisu. '* Cun. Texts, IX, 1. 6. Erman, p. 102. Brugsch, op. cit. p. 420, 306. Virey, 1. c. p. 231flf. 96 GOD WESTERN-ASIATIC AND REGENT FORM But Ka is not the highest expression of the divine nature. There is ba, the less material soul, and above all things, khu, the completely emanci- pated spirit, the "spark" of the divine intelligence, symbolised by the Phoe- nix, the mythical fire-bird. This expression is the most subtle that can well be conceived for conveying the notion of rarified light as the most appro- priate picture of what is essentially spiritual, of its nature immortal and godlike. The four Khu of Horus, the Sun, are the four major stars of the Great Bear, and they became the "Manes" or Guardian-spirits of Manetho, the semi-divine dynasty which intervened between the dynasties of gods and men." Their Babylonian equivalent was the zi of the gods, the zi of heaven and earth, the zi of all things, the invisible life-power concealed in all being. It was essentially personal, even if it worked through inanimate objects.^' This sublime and apparently advanced concept could only be kept pure, however, in so far as it was separated from the lower Ka, the needy or carnal double, which as the HI or hobgoblin of the Euphrates, wandered about from tomb to tomb, seeking rest and finding none. But this was only partially to be the case. The confusion of Ka and Khu, of hungry ghost and heavenly spirit, was often such that the whole system degenerated into a demon-worship with the most baneful moral consequences to the race. "The double did not allow its family to forget it, but used all the means at its disposal to remind them of its existence. It entered their homes and their bodies, terrified them, waking and sleeping, by its sudden apparitions, struck them down with disease and madness, and would even suck their blood like the modern vampire".'' Phallic symbols, both in Egypt and Babylonia, testify to the preverted nature of this influence. It is even on record that Turn begat Shu and Tefnut by means of a solitary act, — surely the limit of a distorted notion, — even if it be looked upon as aberrant phenomenon, an isolated case.==" Throughout the attribution of personal spiritual powers even to lifeless objects of whatever kind, while it broad- ened the sphere of divine action in its better manifestations, entailed a cor- respondingly dangerous tendency, whenever the A'rt-worship took exclusive possession of the field. We are here in presence of what is commonly called "animism", — belief . in a spiritual power emanating from countless life-centers. "As in Eg>-pt, so in Babylonia, animism was the earliest shape assumed by religion, and it was through animism that the Sumerian formed his conception of the divine"." " Sayce op cit p. 61. '« Idem, p. 58. >» Maspero, Dawn of Civilisation, p. 114. 20 Brugsch,' op. cit. p. 423, founded on Pyr. Text. Unas, 467fT. (Maspero). For similar stories of Horus, etc., see idem, p. 309, 407. " Sayce, op. cit. 276. GOD 97 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND REGENT FORM (N,3) ASHUR-ISHTAR-ADAD— (Assyrian Triad) "As far back as we can trace the history of Semitic religion, whether in Babylonia, Canaan, or Arabia, its fundamental conception is always the same, the gods are human, and men are divine".' These words are meant to imply that divinity is always personal, that humanity has been elevated to a likeness with the divine. Whether this can be proved by evidence that is strictly suasive, remains to be seen. Certain it is, that by contrast with Egypt, India, and early Greece, Semitic religion shows comparatively few traces of animal-worship, though animal or astral symbolism has rarely, if ever, been rejected. This is evident from the fact that Ashur, the High God of the Assyrian pantheon, though distinctly human, military, and aggressive, is symbolised by the winged orb of heaven, that Ishtar is the morning or evening star, (Venus), that Adad is the lightning-flash, that the Cherubim are winged figures with the heads of eagles. But, even admitting that these divinities are garbed in the nature-symbolism of the totem-age, the point is that they are each independent, self-directing per- sonalities, revealing themselves in nature, yet not identified with her. Thus Ashur, though of solar form, is the great god of battles, he is sexless and childless, and though he produces all things, he is not linked with inferior divinities, he admits of no rivals, he is unique, personal, supreme.' Combinations With Ilu — Ayil — El It will be diflicult to prove that the Semitic-Babylonian Ilu, (goal, apex meeting-point?), was ever used as more than an appellative, that is, for divinity in general, (Lat. numen). Only among the Aramaeans and Phoenicians can the forms El and Hut be certified as proper names for individual deities. Nevertheless an absolute Ilu cannot be excluded, and is indeed quite probable in view of the similar use of Anu in Sumerian antiquity. In any case Ilu occupies the same place on the Euphrates that Ra occupies on the Nile, and divine combinations are at least equally fre- quent. Thus we have Ilu-suma, sangu-Ilu-Asir, "Servant of God, High- Priest of Ashur", one of the earliest authenticated rulers, (ca. 2300 B. G.),' Sumula-Ilu, Iluma-Ilu, early Babylonian kings, another Ilu-Suma, Sangu- llut-Utar, builder of the temple of Ishtar, etc., not to speak of the later Aramaic combinations with El, now well known. The antiquity of Ashur- Ilu as a person is thus supported by good monumental evidence, but how far these early Semitic ideas extend into the prehistoric past, it is impossible for the existing records to determine. 1 Sayce, op. cit. p. 3S1. ^ idem, p. 366-372. ^ See L. Pinches, The Cappadocian Tablets of Liverpool, in Annals of Archaeol. & Anthropology (Liverpool, 19(»), Vol. L p. 49ff. for early Assyrian inscriptions in Cappadocia (ca. 30(K), B. C). 98 GOD WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM 'i'lit' fleveloprncnt of Aslnir-woi'sliip can be tniced in outline rrom the above remote period tliroiigli tlio times of Tiplatli-Pileser down lo the age i.f Sai-gon find S; iinacliefib. From the fact tliat tlie earliest temple at Ashur was dedicated to A)iu and Adad about 2400 B. C.*, and not to the national god wliose temple dates from the time oi Samsi-Adad, (ca. 1800),= it has been inferred that the Ashur-cult was originally imageless, which is indeed quite probable, though of little importance. Tiglath-Pileser T. (1100), places Islitar side by side with Anu-Adad, with whom Ashtir is also invoked, and from that time the Assyrian triad became more and more prominent, until by the time of Sargon. we find the following concatena- tion:— " "To Shamash, who grants the victory, (Names inscribed on the To Adad, who gives the overflow, Eastern gale of the palace) To Bel, who lays the foundation of my city, (On the Northern gate To Belit, who gives fertility to the land, of the palace) To Anu, who completes the work of our hands. (On the Western gate To Ishtar, who brings thrift to the people, of the palace) To Ea, who conducts the waters, (On the Southern gate To Belit ilani, who multiplies the posterity, of the palace) To Ashur, who gives years to the king (On the inner wall and protection to his troops, of the palace) To Ninib, who founds the city for eternity. "" (On the outer wall). Now the fact that Ashur occupies the inner wall of the palace, while Ishtar stands at the Western, and Adad at the Eastern gate, seems to show that preferential positions are assigned to the distinctively Assyrian divinities, the Northern and Southern gates being inscribed with the com- mon Assyrio-Babylonian names, — [let, Ea, Belit, — though Shamash is coupled with Adad, and Ami with Ishtar, precisely because these are the oldest and best known divinities of the entire Mesopotamian plains.' We arc thus brouglit to the conclusion that the Assyrian pantheon is so closely interlaced with tliat of Babylonia, that for all practical purposes tliey form a imit. Hence the religion of the Northern kingdom may be safely interpreted by that of the Southern in its more advanced form, the .\ssyrian belief being revealed by ttie Semitic-Babylonian. (See under N, 1). If however we would trace the development of ilu in its highest form, we must turn to the land of the Hebrews, where we find the early Semitic ideas of God represented in their greatest purity. ♦Andrae. Dcr Anu-Adad Tempel. (Leipzig, 1909). » Rawlinson, I. 6, No. 1. "See M. Jastrow, Rel. Babyl. u. Assyr. (Gicsseii. 1905) Vol. I. p. 244ff. for texts and references. A HYMN OF PRAISE TO ASHUR •LORD OF LORDS ALL-KNOWING" >0 •5 20 K.3258 OBv. euR— JUI u e — TIU lUAHl nu Oil u «.*— lA — "* MAM—'TU i\f~'ni — KU(ll.V4)BEU ILANI MU Slkl £) MA A Tl ►4 ^ 1 "^ iui- M[iri= ':^:n^»== ^^^B |ILU^ AiuR »eU) iU«— BU U MU — UU VJ K-A l>>— MA KAS— TU so— TU— KU(lLUl »CI. ILAMl MU— t'lvl «1 MA A _T1 (AVBt (ItU) A^Un OAH-^OAM-MU E-TIU ILANI »E - EL MA-TA — A-Tl MIR — Bl E £u TA-HIT— TaJ^U LU-uS-TAR-WJk^AH A^Uli tU— iA — »» 21 — K1R-&U UU— Sa(». — Bl SuM 4u (A'^ilB C HAA— ^A&-«A1.KURKUR-^^A T* — MIT— XA - lu LU-U* -TA _«VA — "" UU — UT— Ta) — KAR KUR — U6 St) UUP ■ tUt. C %AR »»A (ILU) AiuR MU &IM illMATt (AIMA-K)J).LU-MC AE NA— -k — Tl A— MAR— ml UO OP Tl T^H — ftl» -TU A— HA— ie-tvre-g AR— KU— U— T* *._NA »A l\A A— Tt UU 4aR Bl C — NU— U» »U (&U%HklA— U RA»-i^ UZ-MI AB-KAk. lUAMI HUT TAk— tt. SA-MU U fck>-4UR-&* •> Ml »A— WU U IIAMI MU— AL l-tO flWU) tt T»^^ (LIWBU) 1«U U »CU KA — RA% NtK— VA — A Tl MUT k.ll.^-^t.U U *A SI KUR - &U 4aH TU •41— ' &U Ot-U) A&UR 4a Kl BIT »U RU— KA— ^XT .Cl — MA fc«»-»t B OU UT. ^T*_A %A l_SlO_»A (Kl)- MA %l TIR »U-RU— UM.>v MUT— "TAB-Bl lA AT KAK KB 4a-K1-MA-AT TU— KU — ON— Tl KA — Ml-MAX ai— — Pv*in. P&f(-SI /^— t>|_RA.T A CI e BE — lu— Tl (lUU) BCIIT SUP-PU U KAR SU Kl BUI K>— l> lUAMI «t— <^U " WHERE THOU UOOKEST IN PITY " A — SaK tap— «»L— la— S» > &AL-LUT MITU I TE >■-»» MAR-SU l$— £|— in, LA I — 4a RU A— Ml Ru »A— Nl W.I AMA-KU Al. &I K.« AN— HU Su — NU — NU ^UM— RU — SU ADDI— Kl A — MUR •« N' MA (ILUl seen — I A Ul X\ — 6 u>«— Ml-*tl liV Kl — Nl$ NAP-H — ^IM-Nl— MA Si Ml G TAS Ul Tl A — HU-LAP lA Kl Bl— MA KA-BIT— TA — K< UIP PA-aS— «A A HU-LAP 2HMB.I— lA MA — AS SI Sa MA-UU-U E - Sa-A-TI U JJAij-HA-A-T* A — HU— VAP LI6-BI — I A SuM-Ru — au Sa ma-uu-u i>im-t> o ta— ^4\— hi TEXT AND TRANSLITERATION BT L. W. KING, THE SEVEN TABLETS OF CREATION, (LONDON, 1902), VOL. I. PL. L3tXV-LXXIX, VOL. It P. 232FF. AND COMPARE P. DHORHE, CHOCS DE TEXTES RELIGIECX, (PARIS. 1S07), P. 35«FF. JASTROW, R. B. A. n. 66-68. THE TRANSCENDENCE OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL AS ILLCSTBATED BY THE 24TH PSALM, DOi Al, i-S. 33 :nn nan >2n n^it>Qi r^^n nin^> i THE BAWTH IS THE LOGO'S AKD TMB FULNess THEREOF : n33D' nnn3''>vi mo^ D*ry-i>v ^w:> 2 POR He HATH rOUKJset> it UFON THr SEA=, AND HATV* T>RePAReD IT UPON THS RIVSRS. VA(0 SHAt.t. ASCCSD INTO THE MOUNTAIN OF THE LOPUi. OR WHO «KAl.l. «TANa Ih4 VAlS HOI.V T^UACE- ? TMC IHKOCENT OF HANDS AIH3> THE CV_GAN OF HEAKT, WHO HATH NOT TAKEN H»3 90UU IH VAIN , NOR SWORN ©rceirruuuv to h\* Ne]v ^nriD i^\ii2m d:^^\ii^"i Dnv\u i^w t-.tt^ld UPT U^ YOUR GATe« ', O ve 'RRINCeS.ANS ■BE VE LirTEB UP.YE ■%/CRJUASnNQ r>OOR» , AKID THE KING OF GLORY SHALL ENTER IN. riry ttiit io:)n i>q nr *ii s nn:)^ "w ^ni WHO Ift THE RINQ or CLORY ? THC l.OR» STRONG AN» MICHTiT, THE LORD MIGHTY IN BATTUE. D>TOi Dfi^ \w 9 : nDn>D icn niiT "imi urr'ui* vouR"cA"rcar©'vB princes, and bbve urrec up. ve ^in ^rs 10 : in:)n TO 01 Dt>iy ^nriD m^i . SWWLASTINa SOORS, AND THC KtNC OF OLORV SHAUt. 6NTCR IM . WHO l%TMe KING or OtORY? TV»C tORB OF HOSTS, WC l»THS K\N8 OPCIAW: V. 7. B. V. "LIFT I'P YOIB HEADS, O YE GATES". A LITERAL TR.VXSLATION OF THE MA880RITIC TEXT. "EVERLASTING DOORS". DOL'AI. "GATES." FITCHE LIT. OPENINO DOORWAY. ENTRANCE (GESENll S-BROWN, P. 835) GOD 101 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND REGENT FORM (N. 4) The Divine Names and the Tetragrammaton, — Hebrew Form In the treatment ot tlic divine names as used in tlie Old Testament it is important to distinguisli between the occurrence of a parallel root in pre- historic antiquity and its use by the inspired author in exactly the same sense as tliat which characterised its prehistoric signification. While a borrowing of roots is unquestionable, a borrowing of ideas is more and more difficult to maintain, especially in view of the unique position occu- pied by Jahwe. (1) Elohim IS the universal cause of existence, the "almighty" Whatever be the root-meaning of ilu, alah, el, eloah, there is a general consensus of opinion tiiat the idea of power, cause, origin, destiny, is vaguely concealed in their symbols or in the context in which they are found. Thus Ilu is the Sumerian Aim, the eight-ray star or sun, which is the source of life and tlic goal of human destiny and divination. It is the equivalent of qadmu. [qadam). to be "the first", to be "in front of".» also of digint, dimmerii. Sum. diiujir, (perhaps tin-gir). "'Life-Power" (?),» as well as of Inlibu, (-kuzbu), a rare ideogram for "productive power" "splendor" etc.'" also of malku, Sarru, baal, lugal, "king" "ruler"." The Western-Semitic El is possibly connected with a-yil, or a-ul, to be "first", to be "strong", and in prepositional form motion is clearly implied.'- With El the intensitive Eloah, and the majestic plural Elohim are closely con- nected. It is significant that the author uses the abstract Elohim, already in circulation for "gods" in general, for "divinity", in order to bring out the spirituality and transcendence of the Divine Being, One who is not necessarily identified with any local god, but who is Himself the "septes- sence" of all the gods, in a unique sense the ■.\Imighty". [El Shaddai). (2) Jahwe {Adonai) is the revealing "lord" of the supernatural order The indiscriminate coupling of Jahwe-Elohbn, or their equivalence, shows that Elohim is unquestionably singular and unique, quite apart from the use of bara in the singular number ("created"), a word which is used only of divine action.'- But, unlike Elohim, Jahwe ("He is"), can- not be certainly traced to non-Jewish parallels, the Babylonian Jau is hardly a divinity but rather an appellative or pronoun (as it lacks the determinative), and there is every reason to believe that the Tetragram was directly revealed to the great Lawgiver as related in Exod. 3, 14. This means that Elohim-Jahwe stand for "Power" and "Subsistence", two deeply metaphysical concepts, which raises them far above the astral and half-naturalised divinities of their time." ' Brit. Mus. Cun. Texts. XXV, 16-18. Rawlinson, Inscriptions. II. 9ff. K, 21000. » Ibidem. '"Ibid. & Texts, XIX, 19, 28. Inscr. II, 48, 26. "Texts, XVIII, 29, Iff. Ins. V. 30, 8. '2 Delitzsch. Assyr. Handworterbuch, p. i2. '^ is. 45, 7. 4g_ 7. 65, 18. Jer. 45. Amos. 4, 13. '* Compare Hehn. Die biblische und babylonische Gottesidee, (Leipzig, 1913), pp. 1 50-271 ff. 102 GOD WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT F^ORM The physical and ethical attributes of the "Lord of Hosts' are sufTi- cienfly wcli-i-, (London, 1903), a general synopsis. '• Haupt, Babylonian elements in the Levitical Ritual (Journ. of Biblical Literature, 1900. pp. 5S-81), and see below under "Sacrifice", p. 3S5flf. " Deut. 6, 4. >» Id. 13. 1. •• Ex. 22. 18. -•» Id. 22. 20. =• Ex. 3, 14. GOD 103 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM The Question op Trinitarianism While the divine Unify is thus conspicuously safeguarded from the very beginning, there are nevertheless indications that such a unity of nature is not inconsistent with a plurality of manifestations,— whether as message-bearing angels, (maleachim), or as cryptic insinuations of a plurality of persons concealed in the structure and phraseology of certain passages which have long been a serious difficulty to critic arid apologist alike. To what extent are they of any serious dogmatic import? Wc pass over the interpretations of some of the Fathers, who see in every combination of divine attributes, in every description of the divine operations, a direct reference to a mystery which was not to be revealed until the fulness of time. Thus bereshUh was taken as the Logos, the divine "Son", Elohim as the "Father", nmch Elohiin as the "Holy Ghost", and in the later Wisdom-literature every allusion to the "Word" of God, whether as the memra or dibra of the targums, was at once applied in the full hypostatic sense to the Redeemer, the "Wisdom" of God being reserved for the "Holy Spirit", which expression is actually found in the Greek text of the same passages a few verses below.-- But quite apart from the very late redaction of the Book of Wisdom, a verdict of "not proven" is the only safe one in the present case. "All these ideas which do not denote concrete hypostases of the Deity, but abstractions, originally served the single purpose of guarding, during the reading of Scripture in the synagogues, against sensible representations of God, such' as the Bible- text might have aroused among the common people".-^ At the same time it is quite permissible to read a deeper meaning into these terms, and there are other considerations which show that such an interpretation may still be regarded as a plausible one. Among these are the almost deliberate changes to the first person plural in certain "majestic" passages, where a plurality of persons seems to be wilfully insinuated and yet a unity of essence as mysteriously emphasised. "And God said" (in the singular), "Let us make man" (in the plural) "in our image and likeness"," "Behold, Adam has become as one of us",-'' "Let us go down and confound their language",^* etc. and yet "/ have com- manded" " "/ will put enmity" =' "I will destroy",^' etc. and Abraham's adoration of the three men whom he addresses as "My Lord" (Adonai), followed by, a singular construction, has always been a dilficult crux for those who sec in them nothing but three angelic messengers.-" "Wisdom, 9, 1, (Word). 9, 17. (Holy Spirit). Comp. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. II. 30, 9. 2»G. Dalman, The Words of Jesus, (Edinb. 1902), p. 230. -'4 Gen. 1, 26. =5 jj 3^ 22. =«Gcn. 11, 7. "Id. 3, 11. 28 ij. 3, 15. sMd. 6, 11. °» Gen. 18, 1-3. Cp. Irenaeus Adv. Haer. rv. 20, 7-11. S. Augfust. De Trinitote, II. 19-20. 104 GOD WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FURM Again, (he symbolism of tlie Jewisli liturgy is suggestive of fri-uuo conceptions even if it fails to be a rigirl proof. The priestly benediction, with the triple invocation of Jahire is somewhat striking, inasmuch as protection, mercy, and peace may be fittingly applied to Father, Son, and Spirit as their respective propria. "The Lord bless thee and keep thee: The Lord make His face to shine upon thee and be merciful to thee: the Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace!"'" This is also illustrated by the vision of Isaiah, in which the Seraphim intone the Trisagion, Kadhosh, kadhosh, kadhosh! and the voice of the Lord is heard: "Whom shall / send, and who shall go for us?" — a mysterious utterance.^- But whatever be the interpretation of these obscure texts, it is quit* certain that the Trinitarian notion was not derived from pagan, more especially Babylonian sources. Elohim, bereshith, memar, dabar, niach, etc. have absolutely nothing in common with Heaven, Earth. Underworld, — Sun. Land. Ocean, — or any other artificial contrivances that are commonly known as triads. We are moving in a different world of thougiit. These are not cosmic but personal, if not metaphysical, appellations, and the marvel of it is. how the Jewish nation arrived at such a lofty notion of divinity without the help of a philosophy, of an organised system of speculative thought. If then the idea of God as a personal Word or an invisible Spirit is in such marked advance upon the religious ideas of the times. — it is rather surprising to find the notion of Judgment and a Life to come by com- parison weakly developed. The Sheol of the Jews is hardly more hopeful than the Aralu of the Babylonians, and the outlook is almost equally sor- rowful : — "The dead praise Thee not. 0 Lord, neither any that go down into silence".'' It is quite true that the translation of Enoch,'* the salvation of Noah," the assumption of Elias,'* the prophecies of Job,'" and the vision of Ezekiel," are clear indications that retribution is swift and decisive, that the dead shall "see God" in both natures, that He is clearly a Judge. But the detention of souls in the region of "limbo" is nevertheless too strik- ing a feature not to demand some explanation. Even the patriarchs are in "Abraham's bosom", they do not seem to enjoy the vision of God. Now this is only to be expected, and can only be explained on the principle that the hour of deliverance has not yet come, that they are still waiting for the redemption of Israel, that they are "sleeping". It is this paradisaic "sleep", with the hope of resurrection, that binds the Hebrews with the prehistoric past. "'Numbers. 6 2,V25. ^Ms. 6. 1-8. '•' Ps. US (113). 17.. '"Gen. 5. 24. '"Gen.. 6. 8. "4 Kings, 2. U. " Job, 19, 25-27. '» Erekiel, 37, 1-14. GOD 105 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND REGENT FORM (N, 5) AHURA— MITHR/\— HAOMA— (Indo-Aryan Development) The reconstruction of the Aryan religion is now well under way.' Apart from conclusions which are largely speculative, the results of liguistic "palaeonotology" have only confirmed what has long been sus- pected, the existence of a prehistoric root, div, (to shine), from which most of the nominal Indogermanic forms seem to have been derived, — sanscr. dyaus, Iran, diva, Greek, zeus, Lat. deus, Old-High-Germ. Hu, Old-Norse, tyr, Esthon. taeva, Lith. dieva, etc. Moreover the personal prominence of the hypothetical dcva, (proto-Aryan form), is shown by such combinations as Dyaus-pitar, Zem-pater, Ju-piter, the heavenly Father, the Father-in- heaven, etc. With Him are associated the Mother-earth, tlip sun, moon and stars, dawn and fire, wind and water, in fact nearly every depart- ment or force in nature, generally personified. But was deva a person from the very beginning? It is argued from the root-meaning "to shine", and from certain Aryan symbols,— the star, the triangle, the tri folium, or the swastika—, that div is identical with the orb of heaven, that no per- sonality can be proved for what was originally an astral symbol. After what we have learnt of symbols and what they stand for, this argument is not conclusive. Tlie fact is, we have no linguistic or archaeological means for deciding the question; we can only say that the existing evi- dence point to a divine "Fatherhood", which was no doubt associated, and perhaps identified, with the sun-light, but which was certainly the belief of our ancestors before the dispersion (about 4000 B. C.). If, how- ever, the cradle-land of our race be placed on the Western-Asiatic table- land,— a theory which is again coming to the front—, it is not impossible that we have in Iran the earliest stream of undivided tradition. = Here we find a deep and decidedly abstract concept of divinity in the forms Ahura [Asura) -Mazda, "Life-Spirit-Lord", and the 5oma-sacrifice, with per- sonal prayers to the great Maker of all indicates a high state of theistic feeling,^ On this subject Schrader remarks: "The Persians have pre- served the original Indo-gcrmanic ideas of God with great fidelity",* and elsewhere he speaks of "the extremely primitive Persian sacrificial rite, the only one essentially connected with prayer".^ While this is consoling in view of the animal and even human sacrifices of the Western-Aryans, the priority of these beliefs is still to be demonstrated. The subject opens out an interesting field of discussion, and although such a discussion would be out of place in these pages, we cannot refrain from pointing out a few of the reasons that are urging scholars to look to this quarter for inspiration. 'Compare O. Schrader, Reallexicon der indogermanischen Alterthumskunde, (Strass- burg, 1901). L. Von Schroeder, Altarische Religion, (Munich. 1918, in the Press). = Ed. Meyer, Geschichte des Alterthums (Berlin, 1913) Vol. II. pp. 901-903. ^h. H. Mills, The Gathas of Zoroaster, (Leipzig, 1900). Idem, Zoroaster, Philo, the Achaemenids, and Israel (Lepizig, 1906). Idem, Our own Religion in ancient Persia (Chicago. 1913) .■'.Schrader,.!. c, p. 599. 5 Idem. p. 605. 106 GOD WESTERN-ASIATIG AND REGENT FORM The Case for Ahura-Mazda — (Iranun Form) It will be seen that the revival of the old Asiatic theory of migrations tends to make the Iranian position increasingly plausible. When acknowledged experts, like Schrader and Eduard Meyer, are once more looking to the East for the common radiating center of the Aryan slock, the matter is surely worth reconsidering. While the former leaves us on the South-Russian steppes, the latter would carry us to the highlands sur- rounding the Pamir-Plateau ( !) as the earliest scene of Aryan activity. Apart from the fact that a mountainous region seems to be postulated, it is the narcotic 5oma-trance. whose 5ornffl-plant grows only in high alti- tudes and is associated in Aryan lore with the Himalayan and Bactrian ranges, that seems to Meyer to decide the question." In this he is largely followed by Roth, Pishel, Geldner and others, and recently Oldenberg has given expression to the same opinion.' As to the linguistic evidence, a few specialists, like Hincks and Lang- don,' are beginning to trace Sumerian roots to proto-Aryan originals, and the parallelism is certainly suggestive. Thus we have Apsu and Tiamat (Apsu-Temah) Aiimr and Kisar (Ashra-Khshatra), Anu, Adar, Asur, Asmu (close homophones). Mush and Mummu (early serpents), Tabu, Tebeth, Tin, Tis/iri (sacred fire-symbols), as well as Pi'at (Prathu), Euphrates, Hu-Prathu, (the "well-flowing"), and such common designations as Patesi (Palish), "father, king, priest, ruler", whose very sound is familiar to Aryan ears." On the other hand, similarities, and even identities are no proof of direct dependence on either side, many of the Sumerian roots are still largely irreducible, and the fact that this Mesopotamian race was as non-Aryan as it was non-Semitic, and that the earliest Persian petroglyphs do not carry us beyond the famous Behistun-inscription of Darius the Great (about 500 B. C.), — an age incomparably younger than that of Mesilim and the early kings of Kish (about 3000) — , all this suggests the conclusion that Iran was not the originator but rather the borrower of Sumerian civilisation, but that Persia is as fair an exponent of this early Gaucasian theology as any of her Semitic or Egyptian rivals. This makes the figure of Ahura-Mazda as a personal Creator, spiritual, bountiful, mer- ciful, yet inexorable, stand out in bold relief, — with whom are associated Mithra as "Friendship", and Haoma (Soma) as "Life, Health, Immor- tality".'" " Meyer, loc. cit. supra. ' Evidence in Meyer, Schrader, Mills, Weissbach, 1. c. * See F. H. Weissbach, Die Sumerische Frage, (Leipzig, 1898), for a full discussion of the lin- guistic problem. Langdon, Babyloniaca. Vol. I. 225, 230, 284flF. " L. H. Mills, Zoroaster, Philo, the Achaemenids, and Israel, pp. 445-453, entitled, "The immemoral antiquity of the Aryan race", with suggested derivations and Sumerian equivalents. '" Texts and Trans- lations by Mills, Gathas, (supra) and Idem, The Zend-Avesta, Part III. Yasna, Visparad, Afringans, Gahs, etc. being Vol. XXXI. of the Sacred Books of the East, edited by F. Max Muller (Oxford, 1887). THE TRILINGUAL BEHISTUN-INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS THE GREAT ACCOBDING TO THE TEXT OF THE BRITISH Ml'SElIM, (LONDON, 1»01), COL. I. {) !». TH-A— T — 1-V -HA. - A - -RA — YA — VA — U — S «¥ . "^ ^HT-P^ T«T "W T^< "TiT <*tT P^ Ttl M "Wtn KM- SA - A-YA--TM - I -YA A — U — XA.-MA- AX-a>A- A ^ MA -Q - y] - I - MA KH-^-TKA-M F-RA-A-SA-WV - A — U -T(A-KiA,-A3:-3i*.-A- WA-I — Y U -"PA- a4-ta-A -M (C A-SA-RA YA-A-TA— A I - MA KH-4a-TBA-M 111 A-A --RA-YA-I -Cy3 vA- » — MA-A Iff A- A -HA 1 — MA tOI-^A-TRA-M 3V\ — A ~ T^A — YA — A — Ml — » — V ft ^^im^ (AI-) — AK (M^ TA -Rl - h YA MA-ui((^)2UNKUK (HAVAN-Kl fAN) U-KA-MaS-TA Hl(f^MKUK-*ie ^ (M)U TU — NI-\^ AJ — AK CAN) U— TV^-MAi-TA T»l — IK" fn J CM)U -TA — aS KU- Us (nJQ UOn)zUNKUKrMe-HI TS- lA AI-AK ZA-U — Ml IN [M* UJ- TVV- MAi -TA-HA^M) U (M) aUNKUK- ME MAR— XI — YA Tl , (M)l>A — Hi — )A — mU^ &ArwU W — A- AM I- VCAB-SI Z l)l>A — Hi — (A — MUS &ArwU W — A-AM I- KAB-»| ' (lUU) U — Kl — Ml — I3.-3JA SatstoU— -ru — A l»— KAN-NU Q (ILU) U — Kl — MI-|Z.-X»N |S-«I 3»SN-NU A— 3>» MU^j^l 4^ '1 ^»4HWJ-XU A-qA— T-A IQ (ANAK.U a5— <>A— BAT IHA OIIJ-I ^A (ILU) U - W - Ml - IX-3»^ — » SATVKU]— TM A - aA— A - ^] ANAKU AS— 3/. THE YASNA OF THE AVESTA FACSDOLE OF THE RESTORED AVESTA TEXT AS IT APPEARED IN THE AGE OF ZOROASTER (.\B01T 7M-VM B. C.) THE PERIOD OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE HISTORIC RELIGION OF THE MAGI A CREATOR WITH HIS ATTRIBUTES "I Wn.L ANNOUNCE AND COMPLETE MY SACRIFICE" (YASNA, I, 1) HVAnCNANUHATO . RAfVATO MAZI>A>0 AHUKAHYA JJPlOQ^l?|t)6iO^^ i)\f^Q>^]^ibm)()- ^piaSa no YO VOUnuRAFNASlHS HU^ANtANO SPEMTOTCMO MAINYU^ YO TU©RUVE YO XAXASA TEXT: OELDNEB, AVESTA. (STl'TTGART, 1891). FOR NEW PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION SEE "A 8TIDY OF YASNA 1." WITH INTRODIXTION PAHLAVI AND PERSIAN TEXTS, AND W^TH THE CLOSER SANSCRIT EQl'lVALENTS, BY PROF. LAWRENCE HEYWORTH MILLS, D. D. (BROCKHAIS-LEIPZIO, 1910), P. 87 (AVESTA TRANSLITERATION), P. 95 (CORRECTED ENO- LISH EQl'lVALENTS). FOR THE APPROVED TRANSLATION, BASED ON AN EXHAC8TIVK 8TIDY OF ALL THE DOCUMENTS. SEE "THE ZEND-AVESTA, PART III." BEING VOL. XXXI OF THE SACRED BOOKS OF THE F-%ST. EDITED BY F. MAX MILLER (OXFORD, 1«S7), P. 1»S. GOD 107 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND REGENT FORM Bui the most characteristic feature of the Zoroastrian faith is its dual- ism and the doctrine of the st^ven spirits. At the very outset we find two personal principles at work, each of which brings forth two antagonistic worlds, the one essentially good, the other essentially evil." 1 2 3 4 o (i 7 .4 hura-Mazda,A sha, Voh u-Manah, Kshathra,A ramttitiJHaurvatat^ meretatat Life Truth Love Law Energj- Health Immortality These are opposed by an opposite series corresponding to each mem- ber:— 12 3 4 5 Angra-Mainyu, Druj, Akem-Mana, Dush-Kshathra, Taramaiti, Evil Falsehood Hate Anarchy Insolence 6 7 Avaetat, Merethyii Dejection Death Whether the seven Ameshas of the first series are seven aspects or attributes of divinity, of which Mazda is one, or whether they are to be looked upon as dependent spirits after the manner of the Jewish-Christian archangels, cannot be determined with certainty, though the original num- ber, six, favors the latter supposition. In any case, whether as a "sep- tade" of attributes or a sevenfold hierarchy, they figure very .early both in Avesta and Rig- Veda, but there is no necessity of deriving the "seven spirits of Zekariah directly from the Amesha-Spentas. There is ample evi- dence for a "Holy Seven" or a sevenfold division of divine manifestations in the Babylonian and perhaps even in the Egyptian system, the "septes- sence" of divinity surviving in the Sabbath and Hexahemeron of the Jews, while the Hebrew Cherubim, Seraphim, Maleachim, etc. are clearly of pre- exilic origin, being closely paralleled by the Assyrian karubu and other pro- tecting divinities. However, a comparison of the Ameshas with the Heb- deads or Enneads of the Euphrates or the Nile reveals at a glance that, while the former are abstracts, the latter are cosmic designations and stand for an entirely different circle of ideas. (Compare the Babylonian and Egyptian lists). '- As to the nature of Ormazd, (Ahura-Mazda), it is revealed in the Gathas, or "Hymns." which, as tlie Yasna, or "Sacrifice", represent the oldest documents of the moral idea and of subjective religion, the esoteric faith: — "/ ivill announce and complete my sacrifice to Ahura-Mazda, the Creator, the radiant, the glorious, the greatest, the best, and the most beautiful. Whose bodyi?) is all-perfect, whose Order is supreme, who disposes our minds aright. Who sends His joy-creating grace afar. Who made us and fashioned us, who has nourished and protected us, who is the most boun- tiful Spirit".^'" " L. H. Mills, Avesta Eschatology compared with the Books of Daniel and Revelations (Chicago, 1908) pp. 67-83: "God and His Immortals". Idem, Our Own Religion, p. 18, lOSff. Also Gathas, passim. " See under "Creation", p. 175ff. where this subject is treated with more detail, i' Yasna. I, 1. This is a free translation, based upon the combined .Avesta and Pahlavi texts. 108 GOD WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM He is tlius declared to be a S|Hi'it, — Manuli — . a good Spirit, — Vohu- Manah — in fact a "holy" Spirit, — Spenla-Maiiuju, — He is unique. He is the Truth, He is the supreme Goodness. He is also omniscient," omnip- otenl,'° and all-provident."- He is Creator of heaven and earth, of men and of all the "gods".'' He is a Teacher and I^awgiver.'" an unchangeable Friend, Protector and Strengthener.'" the Founder of a kingdom that is to be for the poor,-" the supreme Judge of man at the end of the \vorld.=' As nearly all these expressions are found in the Gathic .\vesta. their high antiquity seems assured, (700-900 B. C). Furthermore, there is the Paradise of Ainjana-Vejah in the Himalayas, where Ahura-Mazda has stationed the first man, Yima, and where Mithra, Friendship, and Uaoma, the sacred Soma-Tree, impart health, life, immor- tality. In the sequel Yima falls into the power of the Serpent, Azhi-Dahaka, through an act of prevarication, through telling an untruth, — a character- istically Iranian touch.--' Nevertheless Redemption is promised, there are echoes of a Savior, to be born of a virgin, though the Bundahish tradition is very late and disfigured by unworthy details.-^ In the meantime salva- tion may be purchased and forgiveness obtained by a blameless life "in thought, word, and deed", by offering up the .voma-sacrifice, by tending the sacred fires [Atar) by abstaining from heresy, violence, untruthful- ness, perjury, and sexual sins, by practicing charity, generosity, philan- thropy. At death the soul is judged by its own conscience before Ahura's throne in presence of Mithra, Sraosha, Pashnu, it is rewarded or punished by a heaven or hell of "thoughts, words, and deeds", and at the end of time will come the last prophet, the resurrection of the dead, the general judg- ment, and the final ti'inmph of Mnzrlo over the evil spirit, who will be destroyed for ever.-* I do not intend to handle the ditficult question of the origin and antiquity of these beliefs, nor to propound any theories on the nature of manah or I'ravashi as the "soul" or "spirit" of a person, and their possible connexion with the Latin manes or the Hindoo pitris. Suffice it to say that the exor- cism of demons is a pronounced feature from the earliest times, and seems to reveal a strong belief in spiritistic influences,— not simply personified forces, but personal agencies.-'^ But if the entire system be branded as comparatively late, as surviving in its hellenistic form in the "Mysteries of Mithras", we answer that tlie .-Vryan race was a late arrival on the field of the world's activity, that Egypt and Babylon both preceded her by many centuries, but that she was the first to adore at the crib of the Redeemer." '^Yasna, 31. 13, U. " Y. 43, 6. >Mbid. '• Behistun. »» Y. 31. 5. 11. "Y. 31, 7. -« Y. 28. 4. 34, 3. => Y. 43, 4ff. " Vendidad, Iff. -^ Yasht, 13. 62, 142. 19. 92. and Bundahish. 144ff. -* Details in Yashts (13, 19, 22) and Vendidad (19) etc. " See the Yasna and Ven- didad passim. =' as the Iranian magi(?). See under "Redemption" below. GOD 109 WESTERN-ASIATIC AND RECENT FORM Brahministic Development The common impression that the Aryan invaders of India were the originators of a more or less pantheistic nature-worship, culminating in the later Brahminisra, is one that needs to be considerably modified. THE EARLY VEDIC FAITH IDENTICAL WITH THE AVESTIC-IRANIAN There can no longer be any doubt that the equations Ahura-Asura, Mithra-Milra, Haoma-Soma, etc. hold good, and this not only as verbal identities (under Grimm's law), but also as theological expressions for "Spirit", "Friendship", "Immortality" (?), even if as nature-symbols they can also be read as "Heaven", "Sun", "Earth", etc. — relics of the totemic age.' This does not destroy their personality, but only the manner of its expression, the form in which it is clothed, as there can be no doubt that, vi'ith Varuna and Indra, they were worshipped as persons from the remotest, historical antiquity (about 2000 B. C). BRAHMINISM AN ARYAN-DRAVIDIAN COMPOUND But in the subsequent intermingling and partial fusion with the Indo- Kolarian aborigines, it was unavoidable that this comparatively lofty the- ology should be soiled by the prevailing totemism and reincarnation- doctrines of Central India, even if the rigid caste-system is something entirely new.- Brahnm-Vlshnn-Svwa take the place of the older pantheon, in which personal creation recedes more and more into the background, the new triad being simply a theogony of divine manifestations, first as Thought-power, ( ?) , second as Sun-power, and finally as Storm-power, which in still later times were worked up into the more refined concept of "Creator", "Preserver" and "Destroyer", three aspects of the one undeflnable, illimitable Being.^ In modern Hindooism we find a few faint vestiges of the true light struggling through the mists of a belated naturalism. Taoistic Development The existence or parallel ideas among the Mongolian races is a fact that should here be noted. In the Yi-king or "Book of Changes" (perhaps 1500 B. C), all things are the result of two opposite principles, the yatig and the ying, — in which the great triad "Heaven, Earth, and Man" is sym- bolished by the trigram. ^^^^ [Kluen-Khwan-Kan) , called "Father- Mother-Son", and over which Shang-Ti rules as the Lord of creation. The same to some extent in the SIni-King or "Book of History".* In the age of Confucius and Laotze (6-500) it is the doctrine of the Too, — the "vital monad" — . that leads lo strong ancestor-worship.' 'Oldenberg, Vedic Religion, p. 103flE. Mills, Our own Religion, pp. 77-78, 93ff. = Cf. S. Iyengar, on the origin of Aryan culture in India, .Anthr. IX. p. 1-15. ' Ci. Rig-Veda, I-X, with the later Brahmanas and Upanishads (S, B. E. 1-XLVI). * S. B. E. Vol. XVI. (Yi- king), p. SO. III. (Shu-King), p. .xxiiiff. and compare Paul Caru'^, Chinese Thought (Chi- cago. 1907) p. 25ff. '-S. B. E. Vol. XL. fTao-Teh-King). no GOD \\ ESTERN-ASIATIC AxND RECENT FORM Shintoistic. Devklopmknt In the Shinto system of Japan llwtr Civatois aiv proniinL-nl from the earhest tim"s. Tht-y are called Ameno-minaka-niishi, Takaini-musubi, Kami-busubi, the first of whom existed immovably at the time of creation, while the latter wei'e agents in the creation. They are followed by seven generations of lieavenly spirits, several other groups, and finally by the fathers of Japan from whom the emperor, or Mikado, is directly descended. It is instructive to notice how the early ideas of a transcendent Being are. as in China, gradually fused with those of the ancestor, — it is the "Way of the gods!" • Wester n - A k y a n Develop ir en t Homer and Hesiod are the classic sources for the Graeco-Roman religion, (co. 1000 B. C). It has already been shown that the liguistic evidence establishes with some certainty the existence of the common Indo-germanic root div, to "shine", from which our own word "divinity" has been derived. In the Greek Zeus and the Latin deus this root is par- ticularly clear, and the combination Zeus-pater, Deus-pater, Ju-piter, tells its own story, it is a "Heavenly Father" that is here intimated. Neverlhe- y^^ less in the works of the above authors there is apparently a "theogony", V Zeus being the son of Chnnios (Time), which makes Jupiler the son of j>^l" Saturn, while the position of fJranos, Oceamis, and other elemental y^jf deities, is strongly suggestive of a rise of divinities out of nature-powers, ^'^ even if the latter be treated as "personifications" rather than "personal- ities", a point whicii can never be settled. The main features of the Graeco-Roman l)elief are sufficiently well known. I would however call attention lo the generally lofty tone of the father of Greek literature, to the absence of deliberate obscenity, to the delicate portrayal of social and family life in the character of liis heroes, and to tlie unbloody sacrifices or "libations" {spondai) to which he bears witness. Much the same may be said of the Germanic religion as revealed in the Eddas and the Niebelungen Lied. The germanic gods have given tiieir names to our days of tlie week. — Tiu's tUti/ being next to Sun and Moon- day, the most imf)ortant ferial. In both religions, however, there is a strong spirit-cult known as "inanism " among the Latins, and the practice of divination, spirit-feeding, ghost- and demon-hunting, of caricaturing the gods by clothing them at times with the basest of human pa.ssions, shows that even the offering of i)riceless hecatombs and the sacrifice of human life is unable to redeem a world which is gradually speeding to its own inevitable dissolution." • rapinot, Diet, d'histoire et