,,the ,,evolution ,,of   ,,religion     
,,an ,,anthropological ,,study     ,,by 
,l4 ,r4 ,,farnell1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,litt4    
,,author ,,of 8,,cults ,,of ,,the       
,,greek ,,states0   ,,fellow ,,and      
,,tutor ,,of ,,exeter ,,college1        
,,oxford2 ,,university ,,lecturer   ,,in
 ,,classical ,,arch,,ology2             
,,corresponding ,,member ,,of ,,the     
,,german ,,imperial ,,arch,,ological    
,,institute2 ,,fellow   ,,of ,,the      
,,anthropological ,,society             
,,new ,,york3 ,g4 ,p4 ,,putnam',s ,,sons
   ,,london3 ,,williams ,,and ,,norgate 
#aije           ,preface    v    ,a     
small book on a great and difficult     
subject must explain and  apologise for 
itself1 especially if it cannot claim a 
raison d'tre  as a handbook for         
beginners4 ,having accepted the         
stimulating  invitation to give in the  
spring of this year a short series of   
lectures for the ,hibbert ,trust on some
 subject belonging to the  department of
 comparative religion1 ,i felt that it  

was desirable to  avoid those topics    
that had been appropriated by former    
lecturers2 and  also that the ,trustees1
 as well as the audience1 deserved that 
what  the lecturer put forth should     
embody the results of some personal and 
original study4 ,i finally selected for 
special discussion the ritual  of       
purification1 and vi the influence of   
the ideas associated with  it upon law1 
morality1 and religion2 and secondly1   
the development of  prayer from lower to
 higher forms4 ,these subjects do not   
appear to  have been as yet exhaustively
 treated by modern anthropology or      
scientific and comparative theology1 and
 ,i had already worked upon  them to    
some extent as 8parerga0 of the treatise
 that ,i am completing  for the         
,clarendon ,press on the history of     
,greek cults4 ,i am aware that  these   
special questions would well repay      
longer and more minute  research1 and   
could each furnish material for a large 
volume4 ,but  having been advised to    

publish the lectures more or less as    
they were  delivered1 ,i put them forth 
as tentative and incomplete work4 ,i    
specially regret to have been unable to 
have gone further at present  into the  
,egyptian evidence1 with the kindly     
proffered assistance of ,mr  ,griffiths1
 the ,reader in ,egyptology at ,oxford4 
,the first two lectures1 dealing with   
the methods and the value of the  study 
of comparative vii religion and its     
relations to anthropology1  are of a    
more general character4 ,if they seem to
 occupy somewhat too  large a part of a 
work of this small compass1 the urgency 
of the  questions they raise may serve  
as an apology4 ,it was suggested to me  
that some such pronouncement might be   
timely at the point we have  reached4   
,for the subject is winning greater     
consideration1 and even  receiving      
endowment1 in the organisation of the   
newer ,universities4  ,from the         
scientific point of view it is one of   
the most fascinating of  studies2 and   

its practical importance for our        
colonial administrators  and our        
missionaries is obvious to those who    
reflect4 ,it is also a  legitimate hope 
that its wider and more intelligent     
recognition in  ,england may tend to    
cool and temper the heated atmosphere of
 dogmatic  controversy1 by presenting   
religious facts in their true proportion
  and proper setting4    ,i must take   
this opportunity of expressing my       
gratitude to many  friends for valuable 
viii assistance1 and especially to my   
friend  and colleague1 ,mr ,r4 ,marett1 
to whose comprehensive knowledge of the 
religious thought and ritual of savage  
races ,i owe many important  clues4     
,l4 ,r4 ,,farnell4    ,august1 #aije4   
,contents    ix    ,,lectures ,i4 ,,and 
,,ii4     ,,the ,,comparative ,,study   
,,of ,,religions3 ,,its ,,method ,,and  
,,problems    ,,lecture ,,iii4     ,,the
 ,,ritual ,,of ,,purification ,,and     
,,the ,,conception ,,of ,,purity3       
,,their   ,,influence ,,on ,,religion1  

,,morality1 ,,and ,,social ,,custom     
,,lecture ,,iv4     ,,the ,,evolution   
,,of ,,prayer ,,from ,,lower ,,to       
,,higher ,,forms    ,,index             
,,endnotes           ,the ,evolution of 
,religion    #a     ,,lectures ,i4 ,,and
 ,,ii4   ,,the ,,comparative ,,study    
,,of ,,religions3 ,,its ,,method ,,and  
,,problems    ,the reasonable and       
sympathetic study of the various        
religions of  mankind1 which are perhaps
 the clearest mirror we possess of human
  feeling1 aspiration1 and thought in   
its highest and lowest forms1 is  only  
possible for the individual or for the  
age that feels no  constraining call to 
suppress and obliterate all save one    
cherished  creed4 ,such study began1 as 
we should expect1 in the earlier        
,hellenic  period1 the ,hellenic        
religion throwing few or no obstacles in
 the way  of undogmatic investigation2  
and the first anthropologist of religion
  is ,herodotus4 ,then among            
,hellenistic #b scholars and those of   

pre-,christian ,rome there were some who
 devoted themselves to the  collection  
and exposition of the religious         
institutions of foreign  races4 ,but    
save a few short treatises1 such as     
,plutarch's ,de ,iside et  ,osiride1    
,sallustius' ,de ,diis et ,mundo1       
,lucian's ,de ,dea ,syria1  nothing has 
survived beyond the titles and the      
fragments of their  works2 and by an    
irony of fortune we owe much of our     
knowledge of  ,hellenic and other       
religions of the ,mediterranean area to 
the  ,christian controversialists1 who  
reveal many of the essential features   
of the various pagan creeds in order to 
expose them to obloquy3 they  could not 
anticipate that we should gather as the 
fruit of their  labours a better        
appreciation than we could otherwise    
have gained of  the religions which they
 strove to destroy1 and possibly of     
,christianity itself4 ,if ,i were       
attempting1 as ,i do not propose to     
attempt1 to give a complete survey of   

the growth and development of  the study
 which we are considering1 ,i should    
probably be able to cull  #c but little 
material for the narrative from         
,byzantine and medival  sources4 ,we may
 note that the spirit of these ages was1
 on the whole1  alien to our present    
interest2 and that it is not till after 
the  ,renaissance and the discovery of  
,america that systematic work in this   
field begins again4 ,to two ,spaniards  
of ,peruvian and ,mexican  descent1#c4a 
we owe our knowledge of the religions of
 the ,incas and  the ,aztecs1 that of   
the latter at least being of prime      
importance for  the student of the      
higher religions of mankind4 ,a ,polish 
nobleman of  the #afth century has left 
us a fairly detailed account of the     
religious practices and beliefs of the  
then semi-pagan  ,lithuania4#c4b ,but it
 may be regarded as one of the greatest 
achievements of the latter part of the  
#aith century to have raised the        
comparative study of religion to a high 

position in the whole domain  of        
inductive speculation and inquiry4 ,and 
#d its development has been  mainly due 
to two independent lines of             
investigation4 ,the first  stimulus came
 with the discovery and the             
interpretation of the sacred  books of  
the ,east1 a momentous epoch in the     
history of ,european  thought1 and      
certain important theories concerning   
religious origins  were put forth by    
,vedic scholars1 and based on the       
evidence of ,vedic  literature3 at the  
same time the decipherment of the       
,assyrian-,babylonian and ,egyptian     
texts has contributed a wealth of new   
material1 and has started new problems  
of religious inquiry1 which  specially  
concern the students of ,hellenic as    
well as those of ,semitic  antiquity4   
,but an equally or1 as some may think1  
more powerful factor  in the recent     
advance towards the organised knowledge 
of religions has  been the growth1 in   
the last half-century1 of the study that

 has  appropriated the name of          
anthropology1 which is generally        
understood  to mean the study of        
primitive or savage man1 both in the    
past and the  present1 #e in respect of 
his physical and mental conditions4 ,it 
is  quite unnecessary for me to dilate  
on the high and manifold utility1  both 
practical and speculative1 of this new  
branch of human inquiry2  the theme has 
become almost a popular commonplace in  
the leading  journalism of the day4 ,and
 anthropology1 defined as above1 has a  
definite value and object apart from its
 contributions to our  knowledge of the 
religions of the world4 ,it is          
nevertheless true that  the religious   
interest in ,england is so strong and   
penetrating1 that  many of our leading  
anthropologists1 in their investigations
 of savage  society1 have directed their
 attention mainly to religious or       
quasi-religious phenomena4 ,even if     
their labours were confined to the      
discovery and the exposition of savage  

ritual and belief1 we should  still be  
greatly indebted to them2 for to many of
 us at least the  savage man is         
interesting in his own right1 whether it
 is true or not  that the study of his  
mental phenomena helps to explain the   
mental  phenomena of our higher selves  
or of the #f higher races in the past4  
,but these writers claim1 and ,i think  
with right1 to have done more  than     
this1 and by comparison1 induction1 and 
hypothesis to have thrown  some light on
 the evolution of religion from lower to
 higher forms1  and therefore to have   
laid the foundation for the science with
 which  we are concerned4 ,also attempts
 have been recently made by an          
accomplished scholar of the new         
doctrine1 ,dr ,frazer1 to trace what may
  be called the anthropological genesis 
of the central idea of  ,christianity   
itself4#f4a ,it is not then surprising  
that in ,england  at least such claims  
and such ambitions should excite        
mistrust1 even  hostility1 and the      

prestige of anthropology may have also  
suffered at  times from the indiscretion
 of its friends4 ,still1 its work is of 
wide  vogue1 its energy exuberant1 and  
its influence in the future assured4    
,in considering1 therefore1 the aims and
 methods of the comparative  science of 
religion1 it has appeared to me that its
 relations to  anthropology #g are now  
one of the main points in the inquiry4  
,and we  may seem to have reached a     
stage where it is desirable to test our 
position1 to take stock as it were1 to  
examine our methods1 and to  consider   
whether they are capable of improvement4
 ,the task is  difficult1 and in facing 
it one must face the imputation of      
presumption1 especially as in a short   
course of lectures one must be  brief1  
and may therefore appear over-dogmatic4 
,if the comparative study of religion is
 to examine1 as on the ground  of its   
title it must1 the various recorded or  
discoverable religions  of every branch 
of the human family1 then a part of     

anthropology1  limited1 as it has       
usually chosen to limit itself1 to the  
study of the  savage races1 is obviously
 a sub-department of the whole4 ,and its
  work1 conducted often under great     
difficulties1 has been solid1           
well-organised1 and of high importance4 
,even those who deny its claim  to be   
called a science1 whatever that word may
 mean1 must admit that  it is at least  
an indispensable branch of historic #h  
inquiry1 and  that it has deepened the  
self-knowledge of mankind4    ,some of  
its pioneers may have been overeager in 
their theorising1  premature in their   
attempts to reveal the origin of all    
religion in  some savage ritual or in   
the background of savage thought1 for   
instance in ancestor-worship or         
totemism4 ,such rash generalisations    
are inevitable in the opening periods of
 a new study1 and may be  discredited or
 abandoned without discrediting the     
investigations that  gave rise to them4 
,we may have come to be aware of the    

excesses of the  students of totemism3  
we may have come to the conviction that 
neither  theirs nor any other special   
and single hypothesis has as yet        
supplied  us with the master-clue by    
which we can penetrate to the aboriginal
  source of human religion3 we may have 
found scientific reasons for  rejecting 
the belief that all gods arose as ghosts
 of departed  ancestors4 ,but if we     
discard such theories of origin1 we owe 
this  negative result to the maturer    
study of anthropology #i itself2 and  we
 may owe to it the positive induction   
that the religious product at  the      
different stages and in the different   
branches of mankind was a  complex      
growth from many different germs4    ,it
 has taught us also much more than this4
 ,it has shown us that all  through the 
present societies of savage men there   
prevails an  extraordinary uniformity1  
in spite of much local variation1 in    
ritual  and mythology1 a uniformity so  
striking as to suggest belief in an     

ultimately identical tradition1 or1     
perhaps more reasonably1 the            
psychologic theory that the human       
brain-cell in different races at the    
same stage of development responds with 
the same religious speech or  the same  
religious act to the same stimuli       
supplied by its  environment4    ,we    
have learnt to discover a certain savage
 style1 as we may call it1  in myth and 
ritual2 and anthropology has performed a
 twofold work of  comparison2 for it has
 not only compared the various savage   
races of  mankind1 but it has compared  
the results of this colligation #aj with
  the religious phenomena of the higher 
races1 and has revealed the  savage     
style in much of their mythology and    
ritual4 ,it was first  discovered by the
 earlier investigators of the antiquity 
of ,northern  ,europe1 such as the      
brothers ,grimm and ,mannhardt1 that    
underlying the  religion of ,christendom
 lay a stratum of peasant-ritual and    
belief1  not yet extinct nor likely soon

 to be1 that reveals the same mental    
condition in early ,europe that exists  
among our savage contemporaries  in     
various parts of the world4 ,then the   
sacred edifice of ,hellenism  was       
attacked2 and the complacency of        
,hellenic scholars was sometimes        
disturbed by the revelation1 through a  
strict comparative method1 of  the same 
savage style in much of ,hellenic ritual
 and ,hellenic myth4  ,thus for the     
first time we came to understand the    
true significance of  many of the crude 
and repulsive facts in ,hellenic        
religion--the human  sacrifices1 the    
reverence paid to animals1 stones1 and  
trees1 the  demonology and magic rites4 
,many of these practices #aa had lost   
their meaning for the more advanced     
generations1 who nevertheless  retained 
them under the strong constraint of     
religious conservatism2  but if we find 
the same practices among existing races 
who perform  them with a living and     
plenary faith as part of a quasi-logical

  structure of belief1 we can place them
 back into their proper setting  when we
 discover them still surviving in the   
higher and alien society4  ,greek       
religion especially1 having never       
violently broken with its own  past1 is 
a bed of rich deposit still inviting    
exploration4 ,and now  ,hellenic        
scholars are ransacking the same        
treasure for further  anthropological   
material2 while ,assyriologists and     
,egyptologists are  treating a part of  
the phenomena of their special          
departments in the  same spirit4    ,we 
realise the gain of this3 we are slowly 
and surely arriving at  inductive       
conclusions concerning the similarity of
 development through  which the higher  
and lower races have passed and are     
passing2 the  solidarity of the human   
family appears stronger than we #ab     
might  have supposed4 ,at the same time 
we have now to be on our guard against  
certain common anthropological          
fallacies4 ,some of these are less      

inevitable than others3 for instance1   
that which we may call the  fallacy of  
simple enumeration4 ,on the ground of   
the general inductive  belief that the  
higher races have at one time passed    
through a savage  phase1 it is often too
 rashly assumed that each and all of    
them must  at one time have possessed a 
particular institution1 such as totemism
  or ancestor-worship1 which1 as a      
matter of fact1 is found among the      
majority of the savage races of to-day4 
,this is to exaggerate the  principle of
 solidarity1 to ignore the fact of the  
great diversity  actually observable    
among existing primitive societies1 and 
the  possibility that it was just by    
avoiding some particular detrimental    
institution that some of the higher     
peoples were able to proceed on  their  
path of progress4 ,again1 the           
anthropological explanation is  often   
obliged to be hypothetical1 for the     
evidence presented #ac is  often very   
fragmentary3 by means of a reasonable   

and expert  imagination1 an attempt is  
made to reconstruct a whole fabric out  
of  a few fragments4 ,a single bone may 
enable the expert biologist to  reshape 
unerringly the once living animal2 but  
in anthropology the  fragment in        
question may have descended from either 
one of two  differing organisms or      
organic institutions that may have left 
very  much the same imprint upon        
mythology and religion4 ,for instance1 a
  full-fledged totemistic system1 having
 fallen into decay1 might leave  its    
trace in certain stories about animals  
or in occasional reverence  paid to a   
particular animal3 but direct           
animal-worship1 a religious  view that  
may be quite independent of totemism1 or
 certain forms of  ancestor-worship may 
equally well have deposited the same    
fossil-thought or fossil-rite4#ac4a ,and
 we know how recklessly the  theory of  
the ubiquitous practice #ad of human    
sacrifice has been  used to explain     
certain peculiar phenomena in later     

ritual1 such as  the scourging of the   
,spartan boys1 for example4    ,but a   
stricter anthropology can correct the   
over-narrow hypotheses of  its          
immaturity1 and can render masterly aid 
to the evolutionary study  of the higher
 religions2 for each of these1 in spite 
of revelation or  transforming          
enthusiasm that would obliterate the    
past1 contains a  mass of mysterious    
dead matter2 and it is for the          
anthropologist to  show the prior       
functional organic significance of this4
 ,but if1 in  obedience to the currently
 accepted limitation of his subject1 he 
confines himself mainly to the study of 
savage life and to the dead  matter of  
the higher religions1 and yet is tempted
 to deal with the  more vital and       
essential elements in these1 he will be 
liable to the  special bias of his own  
study4 ,we may note such bias in recent 
attempts to explain the essential       
features of the ,eleusinian ,mysteries  
in the light of merely savage           

anthropology4 #ae ,and of course we are 
all apt to lose the sense of proportion 
and to exaggerate the  importance of the
 special phenomena to which we confine  
our regard4  ,the folk-lorist will be   
liable to over-emphasise the part played
 by  mythology in religion1 and may     
ignore the higher importance of prayer  
and ritual2 for the most conscientious  
cobbler is never really able to  stick  
to his last4 ,in fact1 though the whole 
exposition of the higher  religions is  
impossible without anthropology1 there  
is some danger at  present lest the part
 be at times mistaken for the whole4    
,for  instance1 we may feel with some   
uneasiness that recent expositions of   
,hellenic religion tend1 unintentionally
 no doubt1 to distort the view  of the  
reader and to produce a false impression
 by exaggerating the  savage and        
primitive facts1 missing the true       
perspective and  misjudging the whole4  
,our appreciation of ,greek mythology   
may suffer  in the same way1 unless we  

can keep the keen edge of our           
appreciative  faculty3 the ,greek myth  
has often its striking #af affinities   
with  the ,arunta or the ,pawnee1 and it
 is necessary for comparative  folk-lore
 and anthropology to point this out1 and
 often to insist on  the beauty of the  
legend and the dignity of the religious 
thought  among savages3 but it is       
unfortunate if these studies should     
result in  our loss of the perception   
that ,greek mythology1 after all1 is the
  most beautiful of any of which we have
 record4    ,the fallacy which ,i have  
so far tried to indicate arises from the
  temper of mind that a special study is
 liable to engender4 ,on the  other     
hand1 there is a particular fallacy of  
method to which the  modern study of    
anthropology1 as it has chosen to limit 
itself1  specially exposes us4 ,it is   
liable to withdraw us from the immediate
  entourage of a particular fact--a     
particular legend or a religious        
service--to the distant circumference4  

,it was inevitable for the  earliest    
pioneers of the study to travel far1 for
 the circumference  was unexplored1 and 
there were facts lying at the distant   
points that  concerned us4 ,but1 after  
all1 our first #ag object of study      
should be  the more immediate           
environment of the thing which we wish  
to  understand4 ,the student of         
,hellenic religion and myth may have    
ultimately to roam1 in a literary sense1
 into ,central ,australia and  the      
byways of ,america2 but he ought first  
to explore the ,mediterranean  regions  
and the lands of anterior ,asia4 ,it is 
interesting1 and may be  necessary1 to  
know 8the ,pawnee version of the        
,eleusinia02 but1 for the  true         
understanding of the great ,greek       
mystery1 certain elements in the        
,egyptian religion1 in ,mithraism1 and  
in ,christianity itself will  probably  
afford a more illuminative comparison4  
,the mind of our  student is sometimes  
tempted1 in fact1 to travel too easily  

and too  cheaply to the other side of   
the globe1 and to leave undone work that
  should first have been done nearer    
home4    ,to reduce these ideas to      
something like a working formula of     
method1  may we say that the            
anthropology which the comparative study
 of any  one of the more complex and #ah
 advanced religions immediately  demands
 is 8an adjacent anthropology08 ,for    
religious ideas1 legends1  and ritual   
are most contagious1 and tend to        
propagate themselves over  large        
contiguous areas3 for1 to reverse a     
stereotyped question1 8what  is less its
 own than a people's gods80 ,we greatly 
desiderate an  anthropology of the      
,mediterranean basin1 including anterior
 ,asia2 for  there are strong reasons   
for the belief that from very early     
times the  frequent intercourse of the  
leading peoples in this region endowed  
them with a common stock of religious   
ideas1 ritual1 and legend which  have   
probably left their impress on the      

higher religions of the world4  ,it is  
these that specially interest most of   
us1 and we feel we cannot  solve their  
problems by means of savage anthropology
 alone4 ,why1 after  all1 should the    
latter term be restricted1 as it usually
 is1 to the  study of savage life8      
,doubtless we cannot so extend the use  
of the  word as to cover its full       
etymological signification3 else it     
would  come to include the whole of     
human history #ai from the beginning    
down to the present1 and would lose its 
value as a mark of any special  science4
 ,but we might somewhat enlarge its     
present connotation with  advantage to  
the comparative method1 and without a   
too wide departure  from current usage4 
,we might define the anthropological    
study of any  one of the higher         
religions as an evolutionary study of   
its  embryology3 the evolutionary law   
might appear in the first instance as  a
 proximate law of growth4 ,for probably 
every one of the world-creeds  has      

inherited1 apart from its own           
achievement1 a double tradition1 a      
tradition from the more remote and one  
from the more immediate past4  ,the     
first may descend from immemorial       
antiquity1 and from really  primitive or
 savage mental and social life2 and it  
has been the task  of primitive         
anthropology to expound and explain the 
facts that this  tradition has          
deposited4 ,but many if not most of     
these facts may be  regarded as         
functionally dead matter surviving in   
the more advanced  system of belief1 and
 as not belonging #bj to its essential  
life4 ,on  the other hand1 from the     
immediate tradition much will be found  
to  have been taken over by an          
inevitable law of assimilation1 certain 
potent ideas which1 though transformed1 
will enter into the very  life-blood of 
the new creed4 ,and these are to be     
discovered and  analysed by what ,i have
 ventured to call an 8adjacent0         
anthropology1  which will include a     

comprehensive study of the literature   
and  monuments belonging to the more    
proximate past of the race which        
develops the new faith as well as of the
 races that are its nearer  neighbours4 
,such a method1 though not hitherto     
styled anthropological1 has already     
been applied by various scholars in the 
different parts of our field2  the      
exposition of the ,babylonian elements  
in ,judaic religion1 of the  ,judaic and
 pagan elements in ,moslemism1 are      
examples of it4 ,on the  present        
occasion ,i would prefer to illustrate  
it by noting its  application to the    
scientific study of ,christianity       
itself1 of which  the remarkable        
complexity1 #ba the variety of forms    
that it has  assumed in different parts 
of ,christendom at different periods1   
seems  specially to invite the higher   
anthropological treatment4 ,moreover it 
probably contains a richer deposit than 
any other of the  world-religions from  
the various streams of thought and      

belief that  nourished the life of early
 civilised or semi-civilised man4 ,the  
illustration drawn from our own religion
 will be also more personally           
interesting to ourselves2 and though the
 limits of time and my own  knowledge   
may prevent me from putting forth any   
original statement1  yet something may  
be gained and a more extended interest  
awakened by a  brief notice of what has 
been and what remains to be done4       
,there is now no need for apology if one
 wishes frankly to consider the  genesis
 of the fundamental ideas and prevailing
 institutions of  earlier and later     
,christianity1 although hitherto a      
certain religious  shyness1 which       
belongs to the national character1 may  
have made  ,english #bb scholars        
reluctant to attempt the anthropology of
 our  national faith2 and the progress  
of the subject owes more to foreign     
workers4 ,our own theological students  
of distinction have not evaded  the     
question as to the early influences that

 may have moulded the  religious thought
 of ,christ and ,st ,paul2 but these    
were naturally  sought mainly in the    
later ,judaism2 and though the debt of  
the  developed ,christianity to         
,hellenic philosophy has never been     
ignored1  yet that neither our sacred   
books nor ,judaic literature nor ,greek 
philosophy explain the whole complex of 
historic ,christianity1 is a  conviction
 of recent growth1 and the              
investigations to which it has  prompted
 are recent4 ,for instance1 it was a new
 departure of great  promise for the    
future of our science when1 in a course 
of ,hibbert  lectures delivered some    
years ago1 ,dr ,hatch publicly expounded
 the  deep indebtedness of ,christianity
 in respect of ritual1 organisation1    
and even religious concept to the       
,eleusinian ,mysteries and other  mystic
 societies of ,greek lands4 ,and the few
 #bc students of ,hellenic  religion in 
,england have often noted its many ties 
of affinity with  our own1 though of    

these there has been as yet no complete 
and  authoritative account4 ,we may     
admit that the triumph of a new and     
great creed may imply a potent          
revelation1 perhaps a sudden mental     
transformation in the catechumens       
difficult to equate with any  formulated
 law of evolution4 ,still we cannot     
gainsay the experience  that as the     
religion establishes and organises      
itself1 it draws  nourishment from the  
old soil which is full of the living    
germs of  past organisms4 ,therefore it 
was inevitable that ,hellenic religion  
should leave a deep impress upon earlier
 and later ,christianity2  partly       
because the religious temper in the     
,greek world throughout the  centuries  
immediately preceding the adoption of   
,christianity was more  powerful and    
fervid than it had been in the days of  
,homer or ,pericles1  and mainly because
 ,hellenic converts became the pillars  
of the ,church4  ,but the comparative   
student must pursue the #bd problem     

further  afield and beyond the track of 
,hellas4 ,the old ,phrygian religion1   
which ,professor ,ramsay's travels and  
investigations have assisted us  to     
know1 must be seriously taken into      
account2 for ,phrygia was one of  the   
earliest homes of ,christianity1 its    
aboriginal religion had  germinated in  
ideas strikingly akin to some that are  
primary in all or  many of the creeds of
 ,christendom2 and the morbid and       
ecstatic  temperament of the native     
,phrygian1 which gave so distinct a     
colour to  the ,cybele-,attis cult1     
seems to have appeared again in certain 
schismatic forms of ,christian doctrine 
in ,phrygia1 especially in the  heresy  
of ,montanism4 ,finally1 we may learn   
much1 even adopt much1 from  our        
enemies4 ,the most dangerous antagonists
 of ,christianity were1  after all1 the 
worship of ,isis and ,mithraism4 ,it may
 be possible to  trace the influence of 
these on their conqueror3 the great work
 of ,m4  ,cumont on ,mithras cult       

suggests at least many interesting      
religious  parallels2 and even the older
 ,zoroastrian #be literature must be    
considered within the range of necessary
 and legitimate comparison4    ,as ,i am
 here concerned with illustration of    
method rather than with  positive proof1
 ,i can only offer a very brief summary 
of the results  which the               
anthropological study of ,christianity  
has hitherto achieved1  and may yet     
achieve4    ,the religious affinities   
discoverable between the earlier and    
later  8,mediterranean0 systems may be  
classified according as they appear in  
the legends1 in nomenclature and        
terminology1 in external symbols and    
liturgical objects1 in hieratic         
institutions1 and finally in the  ideas1
 aspirations1 and concepts of faith4 ,as
 regards legend and  mythology1 a great 
historic religion may of course claim to
 be free  from all mythology2           
nevertheless it is a matter of          
experience that  popular legends are    

sure at some period earlier or later to 
creep in1  for the people insist on     
telling the old stories under changed   
names4  ,i myself have heard the        
immemorial story of ,odysseus walking   
inland  with his oar1 which the rustic  
mistakes #bf for a winnowing-fan1 told  
about ,st ,peter1 ,st ,paul1 and ,st    
,john on the coast of the ,peloponnese2 
just as an old ,norse legend about ,odin
 and ,baldur is retold of ,christ  and  
,st ,peter4#bf4a ,and students of       
medival hagiology will discover  more   
and more clearly various fragments of   
pre-,christian mythology  embedded in   
the legends of the saints4 ,such facts  
are the material of  comparative        
folk-lore1 which plays a useful but     
quite subordinate part  in the work of  
comparative religion4 ,legends have     
indeed their own  independent interest1 
poetical1 ethical1 and other2 but the   
importance  of mere mythology in the    
study of religion has been often much   
overrated2 ,st ,augustine1 mistaking    

,greek legends for ,greek religion1     
could discover no morality in it at     
all1#bf4b and modern scholars  have     
inherited the fallacy4 ,myths are often 
irresponsible1 capricious1  volatile1   
and flit like a vapour round the solid  
structure of real  #bg belief and       
ritual4 ,a high religion may attract low
 myths3 some of  our own are not        
spotless1 but ,christianity can ignore  
them4 ,the myth  that is an essential   
fact for the student of religion is that
 which  enshrines some living religious 
idea or institution1 or one which       
proves the survival of some ritual or   
faith that belonged to an older  system4
 ,i may note a few of this kind which   
illustrate the affinities  of ,judaic1  
,christian1 and pagan legend4 ,the      
cessation of  human-sacrifice in the    
,mediterranean area1 the awakening of   
the  conviction that the practice was   
abhorrent to a merciful ,god1 implied   
so momentous a change in religious and  
moral thought and practice that  it     

would be strange if it left no legendary
 record of itself4 ,we may  discern one 
in the story of ,abraham's sacrifice2 to
 which we find a  very striking and     
close parallel in the ,laconian legend  
of ,helen1  whose father intended to    
sacrifice her to ,god in order to stay a
  plague3#bg4a #bh the eagle1 the       
messenger of ,god1 swooped down and     
snatched the knife from the sacrificer's
 hand1 and let it fall on a  kid that   
was pasturing near4 ,again1 we are all  
familiar with the story  of ,jephtha's  
vow3 the fact is not so well known that 
a story identical  in nearly every      
detail was told of ,idomeneus1 the      
,cretan hero1#bh4a  who vowed that if he
 returned home from the ,trojan war he  
would  sacrifice to ,god the first thing
 that he met on landing3 his daughter   
was the first that met him--and         
,idomeneus 8did with her according to   
his vow10 or intended to do so1 and the 
people exiled him for it4  ,different   
from these1 but belonging to the inner  

circle1 so to speak1  of sacred         
narrative1 are one or two ,gospel       
stories which are not  peculiar to      
,palestine or to our sacred books4 ,the 
miraculous star that  guides sacred     
personages on a divine errand must be an
 ,anatolian  star-legend1 for it is told
 of neas and his voyage to ,italy4#bh4b 
,and a critical appreciation of the #bi 
style of ,hellenic folk-lore  detects at
 once a marked ,hellenic colour in the  
legends that gather  around the birth   
and rearing of the ,virgin in the       
apocryphal ,gospel of  ,st ,james4 ,more
 important and suggestive of much more  
is the  parallelism that we discover    
between the story of our ,lord's        
temptation and the temptation of        
,zarathustra in the ,zend-,avesta3 here 
also the evil god offers the holy       
prophet the kingdoms of the world if  he
 will fall down and worship him4#bi4a   
,finally1 it is not improbable that the 
strange legend preserved in  various    
late ,greek ,,mss41 of the ,virgin      

,mary's descent into  hell1#bi4b where  
she is shown the torments of the damned1
 is derived  ultimately from the        
,babylonian myth of the descent of      
,ischtar1 which  in the ,greek world    
transformed itself into the story of the
 descent of  ,aphrodite4 ,this          
suggestion is in harmony with the       
evidence which will  be #cj noticed     
below for the belief that the           
development of the  worship and the     
divine character of the ,virgin owed    
much1 directly or  indirectly1 to the   
great ,anatolian cult of the            
mother-goddess4    ,as regards the      
legend just mentioned1 we may suppose   
direct borrowing1  or at least direct   
mental suggestion from an older         
mythology and  faith4 ,to the other     
examples which ,i have adduced--probably
 only a few  among many that might be   
quoted--the theory of borrowing may be  
inappropriate4    ,it may be more       
scientific1 and certainly it is at      
present more  expedient1 to be content  

with the assumption that for thousands  
of  years over contiguous human areas a 
similarity of religious  temperament1   
religious institutions1 religious crises
 may tend to  produce a common stock of 
legend2 whether the legend is true or   
false  is not our present concern4    ,i
 turn now to the second group of        
affinities1 those in nomenclature  and  
terminology4 ,this may at first sight   
appear a matter unimportant  #ca for the
 evolution of religion1 and of merely   
linguistic concern4  ,a people changing 
its religion cannot suddenly change its 
speech1 but  must adapt the old         
terminology to the new thought4 ,it may 
be of  interest for the student of      
language to know that when ,st ,paul    
promises to 8show you a mystery0 he is  
borrowing the language of  paganism2    
that when ,bishop ,clemens#ca4a         
ecstatically exclaims1 8,the  ,lord is  
our hierophant2 bearing the sacred torch
 ,he has marked the  initiate with ,his 
own seal''' once join our mystery and   

you will dance  in the choir of angels10
 he is using the phraseology of the     
,eleusinian  and ,attis ,mysteries4 ,but
 the interest of such a style1 upon     
which ,dr  ,hatch has sufficiently      
commented1 is more than linguistic2 for 
it  foreshadows a real though           
fortunately a temporary change which    
came  over ,christianity in the first   
few centuries of its life1 transforming 
it from an open doctrine into a mystery 
organised after the old ,greek  type4   
#cb ,moreover the modern logical view of
 names as merely  indifferent           
speech-symbols1 which can be changed    
without affecting the  essence of the   
things1 was by no means the old-world   
view4 ,the formula  nomina sunt numina  
was valid in all the old religions of   
the  ,mediterranean area1 including     
earlier and even later ,christianity3   
the  divine name was felt to be part of 
the divine essence and itself of        
supernatural potency2 and this will be  
seen to be of paramount  importance when

 we consider the forms of ancient       
prayer4 ,therefore the  propagation of a
 new religion was greatly assisted if it
 could allow  itself to employ some at  
least of the names potent and familiar  
in the  older creed4 ,now the personal  
names of the various deities of         
paganism1 owing to the mental illusion  
noted above1 were necessarily  hateful  
to the new faith and were ruthlessly    
suppressed1 surviving  merely as names  
of demons or for purposes of magic3 only
 in remote  corners of the old world one
 or two may still be lingering1 purified
  as it #cc were and at peace1 as in the
 modern chapel of 8,panagia             
,aphroditissa10 near the old ,paphos in 
,cyprus4 ,but some of the sacred  names 
of ,greek paganism were mere            
appellatives1 possessing less           
individual personality1 and were        
therefore innocent in the ears of the   
,christian propagandists4 ,and two of   
these were destined to become  names of 
primary virtue in the terminology of the

 new faith4 ,when the  apostles and     
their successors preached the ,gospel of
 8the ,saviour10  this title could      
awaken at least a responsive religious  
thrill in the  hearts of the ,hellenes  
who had been nursed in their ancestral  
religion4 ,for it had long been attached
 to their supreme god1 and in  its      
feminine form to their beloved goddess  
,kore1 and as applied to her  the       
appellative already connoted 8salvation0
 after death2#cc4a and  already it had  
been used by the ,alexandrian ,greeks to
 sanctify the  divine man1 ,god's       
representative on earth1 8the #cd living
 image of  ,god10 as one of the later   
,ptolemies is styled in the ecstatic    
language  of the ,rosetta               
inscription4#cd4a ,but in the history of
 divine names  none have been of greater
 import for paganism and ,christianity  
alike  than 8,kore-,parthenos0 and that 
of the ,greek and ,phrygian 8,divine    
,mother10 the  4 ,it is at least        
probable that the  prevalence of the    

cult and the name of 8,kore10 the       
goddess who  proffered salvation in the 
pre-,christian ,hellenic world1 afforded
  strong stimulus to the later growth   
and diffusion of ,mariolatry1 which  is 
one of those phenomena in the history of
 the ,church which cannot be  adequately
 explained without looking beyond the   
limits of ,christianity  proper4 ,a     
passage in the ,panarium of             
,epiphanios#cd4b is of singular         
interest for those who wish to study the
 period of transition between  old      
things and #ce new4 ,this writer tells  
us that on the night of the  #eth or    
#fth of ,january1 in ,alexandria1 the   
worshippers met in the  sacred enclosure
 or temple of 8,kore10 and having sung  
hymns to the  music of the flute till   
dawn1 they descended by the light of    
torches  into an underground shrine and 
brought up thence a wooden idol on a    
bier representing ,kore1 seated and     
naked1 with the sign of the cross  on   
her brow1 her hands1 and her knees4 ,and

 with the accompaniment of  flutes1     
hymns1 and dances the image was carried 
round the central  shrine seven times1  
before it was restored again to its     
nether  dwelling-place3 8and the        
votaries say that to-day at this hour   
,kore--that is1 the ,virgin--gave birth 
to the ,eternal40    ,it is strange that
 ,epiphanios should quote this rite as  
an example of  pure paganism4 ,this     
cannot be true3 the image has been      
carefully  signed with the cross in such
 a way as to suggest1 not casual        
violence1 but the deliberate intention  
of the worshippers2 nor #cf  could the  
formula1 8the ,virgin has born the      
,eternal10 have been part  of a purely  
pagan liturgy consecrated to the        
,hellenic ,kore4 ,still less  could the 
service be purely ,christian3 at least  
,i imagine that a naked  ,virgin1 kept  
in a cavern shrine and carried round    
with timbrels1 would  be a unique fact  
in ,christian archology4 ,the belief is 
forced upon  us that we have here a     

blending of at least two rival creeds in
 a  period of transition4 ,an old ritual
 of ,kore at ,alexandria1 the goddess   
of the underworld whose statue was kept 
in a subterraneous cavern1 may  have    
included a kind of passion play in which
 a holy child was born3  as this        
occurred near the beginning of ,january1
 it could all the more  easily be       
adapted to the requirements of a        
gradually prevailing  ,christianity4    
,the idol is sanctified with the sign of
 the cross1 and  the child is called    
8the ,aion40 ,this name betrays the     
influence at  work4 ,the doctrine which 
laboured most zealously to combine the  
various elements of the pagan and       
,christian creeds was ,gnosticism1  #cg 
and 8,aion0 was a figure which the      
,gnostics borrowed from                 
,mithraism4#cg4a ,it seems that the     
religious rays from ,hellas1  ,persia1  
and ,bethlehem converged at the         
8,korion0 of ,alexandria4 ,but the  name
  does not seem to have usually formed  

part of the sacred  title accepted by   
the early ,church for the ,mother of our
 ,lord4  ,probably the name had acquired
 a personal association with the pagan  
goddess too strong to allow it to be    
used for the new faith2#cg4b  nor was   
the idea of virginity so directly       
connoted by it as by the  term 3 hence  
or    is chosen for  the ,christian     
appellation of ,mary4 ,but these words  
themselves belong  to the ancient       
hieratic vocabulary of ,hellas1 for the 
maiden-goddess  known by no other name  
than ,parthenos had long been adored in 
#ch  various states of ,asia ,minor and 
,thrace2#ch4a 8,hagne10 the 8,holy      
,one10 was a divinity dear to the       
,arcadians2#ch4b and at ,assos1 the     
chief port of ,mysia1 visited by ,st    
,paul on one of his journeys1 an        
inscription attests that 8the ,holy     
,virgin of our fatherland0--such is  her
 style--had been pre-eminent in the     
pagan worship4#ch4c ,moreover  the      
sacred title1 8the ,mother of ,god10 was

 sympathetic with a very  ancient and   
dominant ,mediterranean faith3 in       
prehistoric times from  ,crete1 and at a
 later period from ,phrygia1 had gone   
forth the worship  of the divine mother1
 known generally as 8the ,gods' ,mother0
 or 8the  ,mother10 which had left a    
deep impress upon the religious         
imagination  of the various races of the
 ,greek and ,roman world4 ,it is no     
paradox to  affirm that one of the      
streams #ci that fostered the later     
growth of  ,mariolatry may have         
descended from the ,minoan palace of    
,knossos4#ci4a    ,as regards the third 
group in my classification1 external    
symbols and  liturgical objects1 we     
might suppose that these mainly belong  
to the  minuti of archological study4 ,a
 philosopher may ignore them as  trivial
 facts2 but they have been the cause of 
too much bloodshed and  strife to be    
ignored by the history of religions1 and
 the feelings  they excite are still    
powerful enough to divide the churches  

and the  sects of ,christendom4         
,besides1 if one religion borrows its   
symbols and  sacred objects from        
another1 it probably borrows much more  
besides4  ,the use of candles and       
incense in churches1 the fashion of     
certain  ecclesiastic vestments1 can be 
shown to have descended to us from a    
pre-,christian world4 ,and it was quite 
natural that the new faith  should take 
over the religious property of paganism1
 whatever at least  it could #dj receive
 without violation of its own essential 
principles4 ,it is only the             
anthropological study of these          
particulars1  apparently insignificant  
in themselves1 that enables us to       
understand  certain modern              
controversies1 as for instance          
concerning incense1 and  also to        
appreciate the extraordinary tenacity   
with which the  successive generations  
cleave to the smaller things of cult4   
,these  latter are felt to be part of   
the spell which is exercised upon us by 

an immemorial tradition1 a spell that is
 all the stronger because it  works upon
 the 8subconscious0 self2 and those who 
maintain them are  rarely aware of the  
aboriginal reason which prompts them4   
,and often  the question about the      
symbols or the sacred objects of        
worship1 as  distinct from the ideas and
 personalities1 becomes obviously of    
prime  importance for the comparison and
 classification of religions4 ,thus  the
 distinction between iconic or          
idolatrous and aniconic or              
non-idolatrous cults is of deep         
significance1 for it may correspond to  
the distinction between a more and a    
less #da anthropomorphic  conception of 
the divinity1 or to a belief that the   
embodiment of him  in material objects  
is right and seemly or wrong and        
unseemly4 ,the  more spiritual a        
religion becomes1 the greater is its    
inclination to  dispense with the idol  
and even to reprobate it2 the worshipper
 of  ,jahv was thus set in antagonism to

 the surrounding tribes1 and in  the    
,iranian region the ,zarathustrian      
votary to the worshipper of the         
,daevas4 ,the history of ,christianity  
in regard to this matter is  familiar to
 us all3 in spite of the vehement       
protests of its apostles  and earlier   
propagandists who inherited the         
spiritual ,judaic view1 we  know that   
all the efforts of the iconoclastic     
emperors could not  suppress the        
veneration of images in the later       
period4 ,even in the  ,teutonic north1  
,christianity came1 in the days before  
the ,reformation1  to assume an iconic  
character which is not accounted for by 
the  ancestral tradition of our pagan   
forefathers3 who certainly carved       
images1 in spite of what ,tacitus tells 
us1 but do not appear to have  been     
markedly idolatrous4 #db ,we infallibly 
detect here the abiding  influence of   
,greco-,roman paganism1 in which        
idolatry had taken so deep  a root1     
satisfying as it did the                

artistic-religious cravings of the      
people4 ,we have records of the         
transformation of the old statues into  
,christian images2 in an epigram we find
 ,heracles pathetically  complaining    
that he is forced to become ,st         
,luke3#db4a a beautiful  head of        
,aphrodite in ,athens is rudely stamped 
with the cross1 perhaps  to convert her 
into the ,virgin3#db4b at the present   
day there exists  in ,south ,italy an   
image of a ,madonna del ,granato1       
holding a  pomegranate1 which by a      
curious chain of evidence can be traced 
with  some probability back to the ,hera
 of ,argos1 carved by ,polycleitos4     
,now the image may be regarded in two   
aspects3 as a symbol merely  bringing   
close to the sense the spiritual idea of
 divinity1 and #dc  serving to stimulate
 the prayerful thought of the           
worshipper3 or it  may be venerated as  
the indwelling abode of the divinity1 in
 which he  habitually resides1 or into  
which1 by spells and blood-offerings1 he

  may be compelled to enter4 ,the first 
is the more spiritual and  advanced     
point of view1 the orthodox aspect of   
the image in the iconic  churches of    
,christendom at most periods2 and this  
is put forward as an  apology for what  
may seem idolatry3 we may note in       
passing that the  same apology was put  
forward by the advanced champions of    
paganism4  ,the second is the more      
primitive view1 accepted at most periods
 by the  people1 and sometimes tolerated
 or even encouraged by certain of the   
churches3 the idol is regarded as       
miraculous1 as infused with divine      
power1 perhaps itself the very divinity2
 and the uncultured ,greeks who  whipped
 the idol of ,pan with squills if food  
was scarce1#dc4a or  bound the image of 
,aphrodite with cords to prevent it     
running  away1#dc4b the #dd ,breton     
smith mentioned by ,renan1 who          
threatened  the saint's image with      
red-hot pincers to compel him to heal   
his son1  the modern savage who smears  

his idols with blood1#dd4a are to be    
classed together in the morphology of   
religion4    ,idolatry in this sense is 
a higher form of fetichism1 which1      
strictly  defined1 is the veneration of 
material objects1 often shaped by art   
and handled in such a way as to endow   
them with divine potency1 which  bring  
good fortune to the owner4 ,it is       
supposed to connote savagery1  but      
survivals of it are found in most       
civilised communities1 and we  probably 
all inherit some faint impress of the   
fetichistic spirit1 nor  need we be     
startled if we find it in the higher    
religions4    ,in ancient ,greece the   
fetich was common enough3 sacred axes1  
sacred  sceptres1 pyramidical or        
cone-shaped stones1 rudely hewn #de     
tree-stumps1 are examples which we find 
in the literature and art of  the       
historic or prehistoric periods2 the    
most common kind of private  fetich was 
the gem1 carried as an amulet4 ,this    
superstitious view of  gems belonging to

 primitive faith has continued through  
many ages4  ,moreover1 both in the      
public and private religion of          
,christendom in  many periods1 and even 
at the present time1 we can easily      
recognise  the fetichistic value of the 
sacred objects1 relics1 crucifixes2 and 
the ,bible itself might sometimes be    
carried as an amulet about the  person  
to secure one from danger1 and its      
modern use in the ,english  legal oath1 
the witness 8kissing the book10 conforms
 to a fetichistic  type of oath which   
was common in the primitive ,teutonic   
communities4#de4a ,when ,tertullian     
exclaims1 8,how great is the  difference
 between the wood of the cross and the  
shapeless wooden  emblems of ,pallas or 
,ceres10#de4b he is thinking generally  
#df of  the wide difference between     
,christianity and ,hellenic polytheism4 
,as  regards the attitude of the        
,christian and pagan worshippers towards
  these emblems of their cult which     
,tertullian mentions1 we are not sure   

that any such general distinction could 
be drawn4 ,the 8adoration of  the true  
wood of the cross10 of which we have    
heard in recent times1  if we merely    
consider the nature of the religious    
object and the value  of the material   
thing for faith1 must be called         
fetichistic3 at least  ,i know of no    
other word equally appropriate in the   
terminology of the  science of          
religions4 ,doubtless the modern mind1  
in the performance of  such ritual      
practices1 can distinguish between the  
inanimate or  material thing and the    
divine spirit which sanctifies it4 ,but 
so also  can the intelligent savage1 who
 cares nothing for his piece of wood    
when he thinks the power-giving spirit  
has departed from it4 ,the  fetichism   
then of the higher religions and of the 
savage faith is  morphologically the    
same2 the vital difference lies in #dg  
the  conception of the divinity that is 
supposed to animate or sanctify the     
material thing4    ,it would be wrong to

 attribute the fetichistic proclivities 
discovered  in the ,christian           
communities wholly to the ,hellenic or  
,mediterranean  strain in our religion2 
for we must reckon with the survival    
among the  later ritual-observances of  
the superstitions of the ,northern      
peoples1  and fetichism was certainly   
characteristic of the early ,teutonic1  
,celtic1 and ,slavonic races4 ,in this  
matter1 as in others1 we have to  note  
that the puritanism of the early ,church
 could not prevail against  the strength
 of habit and immemorial tradition4     
,the illustration of this group of      
affinities may conclude with the        
observation that the most cherished     
emblem of our creed1 the type of  the   
cross itself1 had already been in vogue 
as a religious symbol of  certain of the
 earlier pagan peoples2 it played a part
 in the ancient  ,egyptian#dg4a and #dh 
,assyrian ritual1 and recently ,dr      
,evans has  revealed to us in the       
,palace of ,minos in ,crete a chapel of 

the cross  dedicated to the worship of  
the divine mother4#dh4a ,we can go no   
further than the surmise that the       
propagation of ,christianity may have   
been assisted by the fact that the      
emblem of the new faith would not       
appear wholly unfamiliar to some of the 
converted races4    ,as regards the     
affinities discernible in respect of    
hieratic  institutions1 the organisation
 of churches1 the relations of ,church  
and ,state1 ,i have only space to cite a
 few salient illustrations4 ,the        
earliest ,christian ,church1 a private  
religious society united by the  bond of
 faith1 the members contributing to each
 other's wants1 with a  simple          
democratic organisation of ecclesia and 
sacred officials1 would  not strike the 
contemporary ,greco-,roman world as an  
unfamiliar  phenomenon2 for its family  
likeness #di to the ,hellenic 8thiasoi0 
or  brotherhoods of cult was            
sufficiently obvious1 and has often been
  commented on4 ,they1 like it1 were    

often proselytisers1 and1 ignoring  the 
barriers of caste1 gens1 and city1      
accepted in principle the  religious    
fellowship of man4 8,it is well to      
consider all men friends  and brothers1 
as being the family of ,god10 says      
,apollonius1#di4a  echoing the doctrine 
of the ,stoics4 ,the soil was ready     
prepared for  the new cosmopolitan      
religion4    ,in considering the history
 of the hierarchy in ,christendom1 we   
are  often obliged to turn our eyes back
 upon the pre-,christian period4 ,for   
instance1 the insistence on the         
apostolic succession in the various     
churches1 a primary #ej article of faith
 with many at the present  time1 is     
entirely in keeping with a very old     
,mediterranean tradition3  for we find  
it not infrequently maintained in       
,hellenic paganism that  the priest     
should descend directly from the god    
whom he serves1 or  from the first      
apostle who instituted the particular   
cult or  mystery2#ej4a we hear of the   

priest being qualified 8by descent and  
by divine appointment40#ej4b ,but in the
 earlier religious period the           
succession or descent was regarded in   
the linear and physical sense3  this has
 become refined into the idea of a      
spiritual succession1  maintained       
however by a continuity of physical     
though mystic contact4  ,here1 as so    
often in the comparative study of       
religion1 we have to  note #ea the      
physical and material ideas of the more 
primitive period  maintaining themselves
 in the later but translated into a     
spiritual  significance4    ,the        
relation between the priesthood and the 
,state has been one of the  burning     
questions of the secular and religious  
history of ,europe4 ,to  understand     
fully all the features in the ,state    
organisation of the  ,church and the    
many points of controversy1 we need     
often to go far  back into the records  
of early ,aryan and ,mediterranean      
society4 ,we may  mark here and there in

 the pagan ,anatolian region the        
emergence of the  idea that the priest  
should be temporal lord1#ea4a while in  
most  early ,aryan societies the        
subordination of the spiritual to the   
secular power appears to have been      
maintained4 ,a study of the sagas of    
the ,north suggests the reflection that 
the struggle fought out to a  definite  
decision at the ,reformation had already
 been decided in the  #eb ,teutonic     
,north in the far-off days before       
,christianity2#eb4a  also that the      
secular character of the married        
,english priesthood in  our             
pre-,conquest period is only the reflex 
of old ,teutonic custom4    ,the        
celibacy of the priesthood is1 again1 a 
question that has agitated  and divided 
the churches1 nor does it appear that we
 ourselves have  finished with it4 ,to  
trace its origin and inner significance1
 a wide  anthropological study is       
necessary1 and ,i may be able to return 
to it  in another association in a later

 lecture4 ,within the history of the    
,church1 we may trace back the religious
 ideas underlying the dogma of  celibacy
 to the ascetic enthusiasm of the third 
and fourth centuries1  and we may be    
right in connecting it with the growth  
of ,mariolatry4  ,but the original      
source of the phenomenon lies far in the
 background  of our religion2 the       
impulse to religious celibacy had long  
been  congenial to the temperament of   
#ec some of the ,anatolian races4 ,we   
find it powerful in the ,judaic sect of 
the ,essenians2 and in the  anthropology
 of primitive societies we are often    
confronted with the  idea that the      
virgin body is the only fit organ for   
the full divine  afflatus4    ,in       
another question of administration1 in  
the position of women in  regard to the 
ministry1 we can trace the opposing     
forces of differing  pre-,christian     
traditions4#ec4a ,their present total   
exclusion from  sacred functions in all 
but a few sects shows the triumph of the

  ,judaic rule sanctioned and insisted  
upon by ,st ,paul2 it is not at all  in 
accordance with ,teutonic or            
,greco-,roman religious custom2 and in  
fact we find in the early centuries of  
the ,church1 when ,greek  influence was 
strongest1 that certain offices of the  
ministry could be  fulfilled by women2  
we even hear of a heretic sect in the   
fifth  century that signalised itself by
 the orgiastic processions of the       
8priestesses #ed of the ,virgin         
,mary40#ed4a ,it is still possible  that
 the old ,teutonic view in this matter  
may reassert itself4    ,if we try to   
give a complete account of any of the   
important  institutions of the churches1
 infant baptism or the ,roman confession
  for instance1 we ought at least1      
before we can pronounce that any        
particular one is a spontaneous or a    
unique growth1 to survey the  religions 
contiguous to or immediately preceding  
,christianity4 ,as  regards the practice
 of confession1 a usage which1 as ,i    

hope to show1  may be explained as      
connected with a ritual of purification1
 its  institution cannot at least be    
regarded as a unique phenomenon in the  
early ,church4 ,a very simple form of it
 appears to have been known to  the     
,judaic system1 and it appears as a     
formal element in the  ,babylonian      
liturgy3#ed4b as a spiritual relief to  
which a man might  voluntarily resort1  
it was encouraged by the ,delphic #ee   
oracle2#ee4a as part of the cathartic   
ritual which was preliminary  to        
initiation it was required by the       
ordinances of the ,samothracian         
,mysteries2 and it is in an anecdote    
concerning these that we meet with  the 
first example of the free ,protestant   
spirit reprobating the  practice4#ee4b  
,we may infer that it was uncongenial to
 the character  and alien to the        
tradition of our ,teutonic forefathers1 
in the record  of whose pagan           
institutions there is no hint of it1 and
 ,alcuin  complains of his ,goths 8that 

no one of the laity was willing to      
confess to the priests40#ee4c ,it may   
well have been a spontaneous  growth of 
southern ,christianity2 but it appears  
to have arisen first  within the early  
monastic orders1#ee4d and #ef as these  
in their  origin had certain affinities 
with the non-,christian mystic          
brotherhoods1 where the practice was not
 unknown1 it is possible that  in this  
matter also a pre-,christian tradition  
was still of some  effect4 ,or1 if this 
is unlikely1 we must maintain that like 
conditions  evolve similar products over
 the whole area with which comparative  
religion deals2 and the most striking   
resemblance to a ,christian             
confessional is to be observed in the   
old ,mexican ritual1 if we can  trust   
,sahagun4#ef4a ,as regards the other    
suggested example1 we  should probably  
find1 if we followed out the history and
 origin of  infant baptism1 that the    
pre-,christian tradition was a strong   
efficient force in the settlement of the

 question2 there were urgent  reasons at
 least why the rite should soon have    
come to be maintained  by the early     
,church1 for analogous rites whereby the
 new-born child  was consecrated to the 
divinity were probably part of the      
hereditary  tradition of most of the    
converted races4 #eg ,we know that many 
of  the ,hellenes had been in the habit 
of passing the infant solemnly  round   
the fire1 a purificatory and also       
consecrating process2#eg4a  the northern
 ,teutons sprinkled the infant with     
water3#eg4b and when  ,aristotle tells  
us that many of the barbarian tribes    
were in the habit  of plunging the      
new-born into river-water1 to harden the
 little ones1  he is mistaking a        
religious for a secular practice4#eg4c  
,looking at  the baptism of the adult   
neophyte1 we find interesting           
resemblances to  the ceremonies of the  
pre-,christian mystic initiations2 the  
idea  commonly expressed in these       
latter1 that the catechumen died to his 

old life and was born again1 was eagerly
 adopted and developed by the  later    
religion1 and here as there left its    
imprint on the ritual3  death and       
rebirth were actually simulated in the  
mystic  service4#eg4d    #eh    ,the    
affinities between ,christian and pagan 
ritual1 in many cases no  doubt the     
result of direct inheritance1 demand a  
more detailed  investigation than they  
have yet received1 especially in respect
 of  the festival calendar3 even the    
early writers of the ,church were of    
opinion that the feast of the           
,purification of the ,virgin ,mary in   
,february1 was a development of the old 
,roman ,februalia instituted by         
,numa2#eh4a and such names of ,christian
 saints and bishops as  ,hilarion1      
,hilarius1 attest the popularity of the 
,hilaria1 the festival  of ,adonis in   
the last days of paganism4 ,much might  
be still discovered  by a minute        
knowledge of the ,greco-,roman records1 
combined with travel  in ,mediterranean 

lands and with personal observation of  
the ritual of  feast- and fast-days in  
the remoter villages4#eh4b    #ei       
,finally1 there remains the question1 of
 greater moment and perplexity  than all
 the preceding1 concerning the          
affinities of the ,christian and        
pre-,christian religions in primary     
ideas and essential belief4 ,to  point  
out resemblances is not necessarily to  
ignore contrasts2 only it  is of more   
avail for present science to emphasise  
the former1 as the  latter are obvious  
enough and have always been emphasised4 
,but we must  guard against accepting   
too rashly the fact of resemblance for  
proof  of actual origin2 nor must we    
ignore the truth that two religions may 
be vitally different in effect1 while   
they use the same materials of  thought 
and belief4 ,the subject demands great  
knowledge and critical  insight1 and ,i 
can only indicate here clues that have  
already been  followed and might be     
followed further4 ,there is probably no 

need to  call to your notice the fact   
that the incarnation of the ,godhead in 
human form was a familiar conception to 
the civilised and  half-civilised races 
of the old world1 and was attached      
equally to  #fj mythic personages as    
well as to actual men4 ,that such a     
personality could serve as a mediator   
between man and the ,supreme ,god  was  
conceivable to the ,hellenic1 ,egyptian1
 even the ,latin imagination2  and      
though the idea does not seem to have   
been woven into any fabric  of faith by 
these races1 it appears as a natural    
product in the higher  stages of        
polytheism1 and in many primitive and   
advanced societies it  has dominated    
men's views concerning the person and   
position of the  ,king4    ,more        
important still for the purposes of the 
religious comparison is  the wide       
prevalence in the ,mediterranean        
communities of the belief in  the death 
and resurrection of the divinity3 and   
this has been the  theme of much recent 

anthropological investigation4#fj4a     
,this is not  #fa the time to examine   
into its origin and significance or to  
track  out the various phenomena that   
illustrate and group themselves around  
it in the ,mediterranean cults4 ,i would
 merely call attention in  passing to   
the fact that the belief existed1 and   
was probably  expressed in the          
pre-,christian ritual of ,st ,paul's own
 city of  ,tarsos1#fa4a and that it was 
especially strong in the ,attis         
,mysteries of the ,great ,mother of     
,phrygia and ,crete2 we know that these 
were celebrated at a season which       
corresponded to the end of our  ,lenten 
period and the beginning of ,easter1    
that they were preceded by  fasting and 
began with lamentations1 #fb the        
votaries gathering in  sorrow around the
 bier of the dead divinity2 then        
followed the  resurrection1 and the     
risen god gave hope of salvation to the 
mystic  brotherhood1 and the whole      
service closed with the feast of        

rejoicing1  the ,hilaria4#fb4a ,the     
,christian fathers themselves were      
struck with  the deep resemblance       
between this and their own mystery1 and 
they were  tempted to attribute it to   
the diabolic spirit of parody4 ,we may  
take  the words of ,firmicus            
,maternus1#fb4b with which he concludes 
his  description of such an ,attis      
,mystery as ,i have outlined--8truly the
  devil has ,christians of his own0--as 
the text of a very important  chapter in
 comparative religion4 ,we hear of a    
,christian convert in  ,crete being     
seduced by the fascinations of the      
,hilaria2 and ,phrygia1  its ancestral  
home1 was one of the earliest           
strongholds of  ,christianity4 ,here at 
least we may assume that the #fc ancient
 dogma  and ritual of the people was one
 of the predisposing causes operating   
in favour of the new4    ,the           
comparative student must also give      
careful consideration to what  are      
called the eschatologic doctrines1 the  

beliefs concerning  posthumous          
happiness1 salvation1 and damnation1 not
 only of the  ,judaic1 but also of the  
,hellenic1 ,anatolian1 and ,egyptian    
religions3  and especially to those of  
the ,hellenic1 for it was they that were
  most widely known in the area of the  
,greco-,roman world1 and modern  theory 
has at times endeavoured to trace back  
the apocalyptic  literature of          
,christianity to ,hellenic sources4#fc4a
 ,the  investigation would demand a     
careful study of the ,eleusinian and the
  ,orphic ,mysteries1 in both of which  
we find the pregnant idea that          
salvation after death depended #fd on a 
religious act of faith or on  a mystic  
communion with a divinity that might be 
attained on earth by  a sacrament or    
other liturgical means3 and the inquiry 
will include  the question how far in   
these earlier systems the doctrine of   
salvation by faith was actually blended 
with any admixture of the  ethical      
doctrine of salvation by works4 ,and the

 problem1 like many  others in the      
scientific study of religion1 will be   
found to concern  philosophic as well as
 religious history4    ,the ideas       
attaching to sacrifice in the           
,mediterranean world have long  been    
recognised as a vital subject of inquiry
 for the comparative  science2 and both 
the lower and the higher anthropology   
can contribute  much that is essential  
to the full understanding of the        
evolution of  the ,christian doctrine   
concerning the divine sacrifice and the 
,holy  ,communion4 ,i need not here     
enlarge on this subject1 even by way of 
mere illustration1 for ,i have already  
dealt with it1 however  inadequately1   
#fe in a former paper3#fe4a it is an    
intricate and  fascinating theme and    
invites further research4    ,but for   
proving the revival on the new          
,christian soil of the older            
pre-,christian religious thought and    
aspiration1 there is no special  subject
 so fruitful as the study of            

,mariolatry4 ,i have already  suggested 
by way of illustration the possibility  
of such pagan titles  as                
8,kore-,parthenos10 the 8,gods' mother10
 having exercised an abiding  influence 
in exciting and shaping the nascent     
thought of earlier  ,christendom2 and ,i
 affirmed that their prevalence         
corresponded to a  prevailing religious 
bias which turned the minds of many of  
the  peoples in the old world to cleave 
affectionately to the  mother-goddess or
 to the divine maid4 ,apart from mere   
titles1 the  student of the latter days 
of paganism is forced to note at almost 
every point the deep impress of such    
ideas and the enthusiasm they  evoked4  
,in all the leading ,greek mysteries1   
the ,mother and the ,maid  #ff held a   
dominant position1 and the ,orphic      
brotherhoods had ranged  the ,mother by 
the side of the ,son-,god and the       
,father-,god2 and even in  the          
state-cults of the ancient centres of   
,hellenic civilisation1 the  maternal   

character of the divine power had long  
been cherished4  ,finally1 the ,phrygian
 religion of the ,mother1 to which even 
,mithraism1  a pre-eminently masculine  
or paternal religion1 was obliged to    
accommodate itself1 had captured the    
greater part of the ,greco-,roman       
world2 and was certainly very           
influential in the districts of ,asia   
,minor visited by ,st ,paul and in every
 one of the cities of the ,seven        
,churches4 ,the sentiment it evoked is  
expressed by the words of a poet  of the
 ,middle ,attic comedy3 8,for those who 
have true knowledge of  things divine1  
there is nothing greater than the       
,mother2 hence the  first man who became
 civilised founded the shrine of the    
,mother40#ff4a ,this then is a leading  
factor in the religious  psychology of  
the converted nations with which we must
 reckon4    #fg    ,we cannot1 in       
accordance with the laws of human       
nature1 suppose that a  religious       
tradition of such hereditary power as   

this could wholly lose  its force under 
a changed creed4 ,the gaps in the record
 will probably  make it impossible to   
supply a detailed and geographical      
statement  showing how in the various   
communities of the ancient cult the     
personality of the pre-,christian       
goddess was fused gradually with the    
ideal image of the ,virgin-,mother of   
,christ4 ,only a few suggestive  facts  
in the development and organisation of  
,mariolatry may be  mentioned here4 ,the
 heretic ,montanists of ,phrygia were   
charged with  deifying the ,virgin and  
believing that one of their leaders was 
united  in a mystic marriage with her1 a
 belief natural to ,phrygian paganism2  
and their founder ,montanus is said to  
have originally been a priest of        
,cybele4#fg4a ,the mother of            
,constantine1 the #fh ,empress ,helena1 
who  is supposed to have been of        
,bithynian origin1 was praised for      
decking  the grotto of ,bethlehem with  
sacred gifts as the shrine of the       

,virgin2#fh4a it is noteworthy that her 
earliest recorded chapel  should be a   
grotto or cave2 for it was in such      
underground shrines  that the ,phrygian 
,mother was commonly worshipped in her  
own land4  ,another striking analogy to 
the ancient ritual of the mother-goddess
  is presented by the feast called the  
and    1 first mentioned by ,andreas of 
,crete 7circ4 #fej ,a4,d471 but         
probably in existence long before his   
time3 the ,mother of ,god dies and      
rises again in the ,assumption4 ,it     
would be of special interest if we      
could discover that this ritual first   
became canonical in ,crete1 the  home of
 ,andreas2 for in ,crete as in ,cyprus1 
where the ,virgin succeeded  to the name
 of ,aphrodite1 we have traces of a     
similar rite in which  the goddess      
,aphrodite was laid out #fi as dead on a
 bier and was  afterwards raised to     
life4#fi4a    ,and is it nothing more   
than a coincidence that in the same city
 of  ,ephesus1 where during ,st ,paul's 

visit the fanatics raised a tumult in   
behalf of their ,virgin ,artemis1 some  
six centuries later the people  with    
equal ecstasy hailed the decision of the
 ,synod that proclaimed  the            
,virgin-,mother of ,god 778 ,the mention
 of ,ephesus suggests  another          
consideration of the greatest importance
 for the study of the  development and  
propagation of the ,christian dogma     
concerning the  virginity of the ,mother
 of ,god4 ,the ,virgin-birth1 an idea   
which has  long been a stumbling-block  
to science1 and which has recently been 
pronounced by some to be unessential to 
,christianity1 was a dogma that  could  
easily be understood and even eagerly   
accepted by the converts  of            
,anatolia#fi4b and the #gj ,greek world4
 ,in ,ephesus itself the  ancient       
goddess had been imagined in some sense 
as a maternal or  generative divinity1  
yet also as a virgin1 in whose ritual1  
conducted  partly by a priesthood of    
monks1 a strong rule of austerity and   

chastity was enforced4#gj4a ,the great  
,phrygian ,mother was herself1          
according to a native legend1           
miraculously conceived1 and there are   
grounds for suggesting that she was     
occasionally regarded as a  virgin4#gj4b
 ,the evidence indeed concerning such   
ideas in the  pre-,christian cults is   
always confused1 casual1 and often      
contradictory1 with no power apparently 
in themselves to develop a  fixed dogma 
of faith4 ,it would be in fact          
unreasonable to maintain  that the      
,christian doctrines concerning the     
,virgin-,mother could have  been evoked 
merely by the spontaneous demand of the 
,anatolian or ,greek  converts4 ,but we 
may affirm that when that doctrine was  
#ga presented  to them1 their own       
traditions had prepared their           
imaginations to  receive it as          
congenial4 ,we meet in the late pagan   
literature passages  in praise of       
virginity as a divine quality quite as  
ecstatic and  extravagant as many in the

 ,christian fathers4#ga4a ,many of the  
nations had long cherished the ideal of 
a virgin goddess2 most had  been        
devotees of the ,divine ,mother4 ,the   
successful propagation of  ,christianity
 may have owed much to the means which  
it possessed for  satisfying these two  
sentiments and for reconciling them in a
 primary  article of faith4 ,then1 we   
must certainly ascribe the exaltation of
  ,mary in the ,church of the first six 
centuries to the enthusiasm  engendered 
by the older goddess-worships4          
,alexandria may have  contributed much  
more than we have already noted2 and    
more than one  writer has explored the  
deep indebtedness of the developed      
,mariolatry  to the older figure of #gb 
,isis4#gb4a ,the extravagance of an     
enthusiasm that was rooted in old pagan 
sentiment occasionally  engendered      
heresies4 ,besides the records          
concerning the ,montanist1 of  which the
 significance has already been noticed1 
most interesting and  valuable for our  

purpose is the sermon of ,epiphanius    
against the  heresy of the              
,collideriani1#gb4b wild women who      
devoted themselves  to the worship of   
,mary1 and whose orgiastic service he   
describes and  reprobates3 in their     
processions they appear to have drawn   
the ,virgin  round in a car strewn with 
raiment1 and they solemnised a sacrament
  with bread3 and he adds that they came
 from ,thrace1 the immemorial  home of  
fanatic women and of the goddess        
8,artemis the ,queen10 to whom  also    
offerings of corn were made4#gb4c ,the  
procession of a goddess  in a car was   
probably part of an old                 
,thrako-,phrygian #gc ceremonial1  and  
we hear of a sacramental eating of bread
 in the service of ,cybele4    ,we may  
finally note that the enthusiastic      
literature devoted to the               
pre-,christian ,divine ,mother and ,maid
 and to the ,virgin-,mother of ,god  is 
the same in quality and tone4 ,the      
prayer addressed to ,isis in the  story 

of ,apuleius reminds us of a ,christian 
hymn of praise2 and the  older          
liturgical or literary expressions would
 naturally colour the  later4#gc4a      
,another question with which the        
comparative study of ,christianity is   
concerned touches the evolution of the  
,trinitarian idea4#gc4b ,here  #gd again
 it is necessary carefully to sift the  
phenomena of the  contiguous religions1 
to consider whether they present such a 
conception at all1 and whether in any of
 them it had gained sufficient          
vividness and power to be likely to     
evoke a dogma of religious  metaphysic4 
,moreover1 to understand the complete   
genesis of the  ,christian doctrine1 we 
must trace out the idea of divine       
emanations in  the ,mediterranean and   
the ,east2 for the religions of the     
,iranian and  even the ,greek world     
present us with parallels to the process
 whereby  the ,holy ,spirit becomes in  
relation to the personal ,god a distinct
  though closely attached personality4  

,in the ,zoroastrian ritual the         
,fravashi or ,soul of ,ahura receives   
reverence1#gd4a and in ,greek           
speculation and even cult the   or      
,divine ,providence is  sometimes       
regarded as an individual and #ge       
personal power2#ge4a  nor is the        
conception of a plurality of beings     
within the limits of  the same          
personality unfamiliar to primitive     
thought4 ,the subject is  one of the    
most intricate in the field of religious
 study1 and the  more hopeful           
investigation of it would demand        
anthropological study in  its widest    
sense1 combined with a knowledge of the 
later ,greek  metaphysic which has      
clearly left its impress on our         
doctrine4    ,i will close these        
illustrations with the most obvious     
example of the  contribution of         
anthropological study to our knowledge  
of actual  ,christendom4 ,one of the    
most fruitful offshoots of the older    
,hellenic  system was hero-worship1     

which itself may have arisen as a       
development  of ancestor-cult4 ,at first
 confined to the mythic figures of the  
past1  it came to be applied to founders
 of colonies1 legislators1 and even  to 
athletes2 in its final development in   
the last centuries before  ,christ it   
was chiefly consecrated to kings and    
dynasts1 #gf the  founders of religious 
societies1 men of science1 and political
  benefactors4 ,the divine worship of   
the mortal1 an idea abhorrent to        
,judaism1 and not accepted by the       
severer ,zoroastrian1 was part of the   
state system of earlier and later       
,egypt1 and was finally imposed on  the 
,greco-,roman world4 ,the soil in which 
it had most rankly flourished  was      
,greek1 and ,greece and ,anatolia were  
crowded with chapels  consecrated to    
recently living men or to faded figures 
who were  supposed to have once lived on
 earth1 some of them perhaps actual     
ancestors1 some imaginary personages of 
the epic or legendary world1  some      

merely functional divinities of         
subordinate departments1 like the  hero 
of the ploughshare or the tutelary hero 
of the potters4 ,this  growth of        
polytheism had struck its roots so      
deeply that ,christianity1  in spite of 
its monotheistic ideal1 was unable to   
eradicate it4 ,the  ancient hero may    
sometimes be lurking under the later    
disguise of the  saint3 the medival     
guild1 like the ,attic fraternity of    
potters1 #gg  had its sacred tutelary   
patron2 and it is curious to observe    
that in  the matter of canonisation the 
,pope came to play exactly the same part
  as the ,delphic oracle had played in  
the public consecration of the          
hero-cult3 the divine authorisation is  
given or withheld by the vicar  or agent
 of ,god4 ,the importance of this       
inherited tradition in  determining our 
religious estimate of historical        
,christendom is of the  highest3 for    
whatever may have been or may be the    
orthodox dogma of  the ,church          

concerning the status of the saint1 such
 worship inevitably  means polytheism   
from the point of view of the popular   
faith3 and we  gather that in many      
outlying communities of ,christendom1 as
 of the  ancient ,greek world1 the lower
 cult overshadows the higher4 ,and this 
is one of the most salient and sure     
examples that we can quote of the       
direct influence of the older religions 
upon the later4 ,this special  influence
 is mainly ,greek1 though the pagan     
,north1 the ,celtic and  ,lithuanian1   
and perhaps the #gh ,teutonic peoples1  
have contributed  much to the tradition 
of saint-worship4    ,the illustrations 
given may suffice as a sketch of the    
various  applications of a comparative  
method to the problems that the         
phenomena of ,christianity offer to the 
student4 ,in the choice of  illustration
 ,i may seem to have ignored the        
strength of the ,judaic  element in     
determining the evolution2 but ,i have  
considered it  unnecessary to touch on  

this1 as it has long been the familiar  
theme  of scientific theology4 ,i have  
also ventured to suggest that our own   
religious history should be traced back 
to the period of our ancestral          
paganism4 ,and ,i would strongly        
recommend to the student of comparative 
religion in ,england a devoted attention
 to the world of the ,norse  ,saga3 for 
this has been strangely and fatally     
neglected by our ,english  system of    
culture1 with grievous loss to our      
poetic imagination1 and  to our         
knowledge of the early law and the      
religious institutions and  temperament 
of our ancestors4 ,such a work #gi as   
,golther's ,handbuch  der germanischen  
,mythologie shows us what a harvest may 
be reaped in  that field for the science
 of religion4 ,the subject in its own   
right  claims our interest1 and certain 
phenomena in the old ,teutonic          
religion1 its fatalistic ideas1 its     
eschatologic beliefs concerning a  8day 
of judgment10 demand consideration in   

the light of more advanced  creeds4 ,on 
the other hand it may be wrong to       
attribute to it any  direct influence on
 the inner development of ,northern     
,christianity2  for there may be reason 
for the view that1 when the new religion
  conquered the ,teutonic ,north1 it    
found there in some sense a religious   
vacuum1 the old ritual and faith having 
lost its vitality and hold2  and        
certainly our ancestral paganism made no
 such struggle to survive  as did the   
,greco-,roman4 ,nevertheless the history
 of its institutions  may be necessary1 
as has been suggested already1 to       
explain the  struggle between ,church   
and ,state in ,teutonic lands2 and1     
further1 it  is only the pages of the   
,norse ,saga-book that can yield us #hj 
an  answer to the question whether we   
may not have inherited from remote      
times a certain average racial law of   
religious temperament resulting  in a   
characteristic attitude towards matters 
of religion that may have  determined   

our religious history4 ,if the answer   
were affirmative and  definite1 the fact
 would have a practical no less than a  
speculative  importance4 ,at least we   
shall not know ourselves completely in  
this or  in other matters if we continue
 to think that ,greece and ,rome and    
,palestine are our sole intellectual and
 spiritual ancestors2 in fact  we may   
say that no account of the history of   
,christianity in any  ,european ,state  
can be real and complete unless we can  
get back to the  pre-,christian past of 
that community4    ,yet1 while making   
full allowance for the influence of     
special  ancestral traditions1 those who
 work on the lines which have been      
indicated in the illustrations of method
 which ,i have selected1 will  acquire  
the ever-growing conviction that ,hellas
 has dominated the #ha  creed as she has
 dominated the intellectual history of  
,christendom2  that the new faith1 in   
spite of its fierce or contemptuous     
intolerance  of the past1 was only able 

to transform but not to abolish the     
,mediterranean tradition3 that in fact  
,sir ,henry ,maine's often quoted       
aphorism1 while by no means wholly true1
 was truer in respect of  religious     
history than he himself was aware4    ,i
 have been speaking hitherto mainly on  
the relations of anthropology  to the   
comparative study of religion4 ,and it  
may be well now to point  out that      
anthropology1 as ,i have tried to define
 and distinguish its  functions1 though 
an essential part1 is only a part of the
 whole4 ,for  we must know not only the 
past but the present conditions1 not    
only  the embryology but the perfected  
growth4 ,and1 again1 we compare         
religions not merely to test theories of
 origin1 ancestry1 and  indebtedness1   
but also to form the proper estimate of 
each one1 and to  correct the one-sided 
judgment that is always quick to        
pronounce this  phenomenon #hb or       
feature in any particular system as     
unique4 ,if the  comparison reveals more

 divergences than parallels1 the result 
is no  less important4 ,and the         
comparative method should be applied not
  merely to ritual1 liturgy1 hieratic   
institutions1 legends1 and dogmas1  but 
also to the varying phenomena and       
expressions of the religious            
temperament in the various races4 ,only 
the study of the latter can  enable us  
to test the living force of a faith1 the
 degree with which  it possesses the    
national mind2 and such a study is only 
possible when  a nation has produced a  
rich religious literature or monuments  
of art  embodying the public and private
 worship and religious sentiment4 ,we   
know what we have gained by the         
discovery of the sacred books of the    
,east1 by the interpretation of the     
,babylonian inscriptions1 and from      
their revelation to us in the ,vedic1   
,iranian1 and ,mesopotamian             
cult-centres of a fervour as deep and   
passionate as any that we find  in      
,hebraic or ,christian writings4 ,on the

 other hand1 when a religion  has passed
 away1 #hc as is the case with that of  
pre-,hellenic ,rome1  without leaving   
any articulate expression of its inner  
life1 our  knowledge of it can be       
superficial only1 confined to mere      
ritual1  fragments of liturgies1 and the
 externals of cult4    ,a dispassionate 
and uncontroversial study of that which 
is at least  one of the greatest forces 
in human society cannot but be          
interesting1  and fruitful also for     
other branches of inquiry1 such as the  
history  of early law and morals1 of    
which in many primitive communities the 
religion is the only record4 ,it may    
even solve certain problems  concerning 
the early migrations of races1 as ,i    
have been convinced by  the             
investigation of various ,greek cults4  
,in ,england the trained  workers in    
this field are still unfortunately few1 
perhaps because a  certain latent       
prejudice1 born of religious            
partisanship1 is not yet  extinct1 and  

may act somewhat as a deterrent4 ,i have
 avoided hitherto  alluding to any of   
the practical and controversial         
considerations #hd  which the methodical
 pursuit and propagation of this science
 may  excite1 though ,i am well aware   
that its practical effects may be of    
high importance2 but they are not       
immediately our concern at present4     
,there is1 however1 one such            
consideration that it is pertinent to   
touch on before concluding the survey of
 the methods and functions of  this     
branch of historical inquiry1 which     
deals much with origins and  with the   
evolution of higher forms of religion   
from the lower4  ,discoveries of origins
 may appear to affect the validity of a 
creed or  certain articles of creed4    
,that this is actually the case in      
regard to  the great problem with which 
the illustrations ,i have put before you
  are mainly concerned1 namely1 the     
genesis of ,christianity1 has been      
recently frankly admitted by a leading  

dignitary of the ,roman ,church3  who1  
moved by a rumour of anthropological    
research1 has promptly  turned it to the
 profit of his cause by maintaining that
 the ,roman  ritual and communion gains 
in force and validity by #he the        
discovery  that it has inherited and    
absorbed the religious thought and      
practice  of ancient ,greece and ,rome4 
,on the other hand1 others may find the 
exposition of the so-called pagan       
elements in the essence of              
,christianity repugnant to their        
sentiment2 and hence are inclined to    
accept the dictum 8that origin does not 
affect validity40 ,i imagine  the facts 
of religious psychology make somewhat   
against this aphorism4  ,but it only    
concerns the science of comparative     
religion1 because in  the history of    
creeds validity has been very often     
found to maintain  itself mainly by an  
appeal to origin2 and as our science1 to
  reiterate1 is much concerned with     
origins1 it is indirectly concerned     

with those claims of validity that      
support themselves by such an  appeal4  
,another cause of the paucity of workers
 in this field is the  complexity and   
difficulty of the subject1 which can be 
handled  successfully only by the       
advanced and mature student4 ,the       
pre-requisites of competence are an #hf 
exact philological as well as  an       
archological training1 with a view to   
the proper appreciation  both of texts  
and monuments2 secondly1 a general      
acquaintance with the  problems and     
history of philosophy1 and especially of
 ethics1 and with  the history of early 
social institutions and law2 thirdly1 a 
comprehensive study of anthropology4 ,to
 this must be added a  sympathetic and  
minute knowledge of at least two of the 
great  world-religions1 whereby alone a 
critical insight into the essential  and
 significant phenomena of the religious 
experiences of our race can  be         
obtained4 ,the comparative science of   
religion has now become  possible1      

thanks partly to the labours of         
philological specialists in  the ancient
 languages of ,europe and ,asia1 and    
partly to the  organisation of          
anthropological travel4    ,let me      
conclude with remarking that subdivision
 of labour is  imperative in this field3
 and it is especially in ,oxford that   
the  opportunities for the requisite    
preliminary #hg training are  plentiful4
 ,it would be a gain for more than      
science if we could see a  group of     
mature students organised here exploring
 the various  departments of this       
complex subject in co-operation and with
 mutual  assistance4           ,,lecture
 ,,iii4   ,,the ,,ritual ,,of           
,,purification ,,and ,,the ,,conception 
,,of ,,purity3 ,,their   ,,influence    
,,on ,,religion1 ,,morality1 ,,and      
,,social ,,custom    #hh    ,among all  
the varied religious acts of man1 there 
is probably none  that has been so      
widely prevalent throughout the         
different races of  mankind as the      

ritual of purification1 nor does any    
idea seem to have  possessed so strong a
 legislative power in the various       
departments of  our life as the concept 
of purity4 ,we can trace it back to     
instincts  that we appear to share with 
the higher animals1 and we can track it 
upwards through the complex rites of the
 higher religions4 ,the record  presents
 us with a vast mass of phenomena which1
 as far as ,i am able  to discover1 have
 not yet been reduced to system or      
unified by any  constructive #hi theory 
of evolution4 ,in this lecture ,i       
venture to  attempt the systematisation 
of the subject1 first giving a brief    
summary of the main facts which are well
 known to the students of  primitive    
anthropology and comparative religion   
and which confront us  in nearly all the
 societies that have been explored4     
,in the stage of our conscious life     
which we may call1 relatively to  man's 
growth1 primeval1 certain bodily acts   
and states and certain  material        

substances are regarded as unclean and  
impure1 likely to  imprint a stain upon 
the person4 ,it is impossible here to   
attempt to  enumerate all the examples1 
and it is enough to mention a few that  
are  salient and typical4 ,the          
generative processes of life1 the states
 and  activities of the male and        
especially the female organism connected
  with them1 the bodily changes incident
 on puberty1 are among the most         
familiar phenomena with which the idea  
of impurity in some peculiar  sense has 
been universally associated4 ,a chief   
centre or #ij 8nidus0  of impurity is   
child-birth2 but still more dangerously 
impure is its  counterpart1 death and   
all the phenomena of death4 ,in respect 
of  child-birth the idea is fading away 
from our civilised consciousness2  but  
it has left a deep deposit in our       
conscious or subconscious self  in      
regard to death4 ,the material substance
 that has been most  generally felt to  
be impure is blood2 the curious feeling 

that the  mere mention of the word often
 excites in certain modern people is a  
faint reflex of the savage mental state 
in respect to the thing2 and  the       
influence of this disposition upon      
advanced society raises the  most       
interesting question in which           
comparative law1 ethics1 and  religion  
are jointly concerned1 and which will be
 considered later4 ,to  continue our    
enumeration we may not find that the    
objects of the  inanimate world outside 
ourselves are usually regarded by       
primitive  thought as in themselves     
impure1 but all or most of them are     
capable  of catching the infection from 
ourselves1 from death or child-birth    
#ia for instance3 hence it may be       
necessary to break or destroy or  purify
 the utensils and furniture of the house
 where a death or a  birth has occurred4
 ,at a somewhat more advanced stage1    
certain  food-stuffs come to rank as    
impure1 and a complicated code of 8tapu0
  is established for specially          

sanctified persons4 ,then we are        
confronted1 but not apparently in the   
most primitive period1 with the         
distinction between pure and impure     
animals1 which also dictates  certain   
rules and practices of diet4    ,on the 
other hand certain natural things may   
come to be regarded as  specially       
8pure10 whether on the ground of a      
certain intrinsic  quality1 because for 
instance they are bright and lustrous1  
or from  the fact that they were        
habitually used for cathartic or        
cleansing  processes1 as fire1 water1   
odorous wood or spices1 or substances   
which  emitted a pungent odour such as  
sulphur4 ,such objects 8are used in     
ritual10 says ,jamblichus1#ia4a #ib     
8because they are specially full  of the
 divine nature40 ,but the psychic       
phenomena and the corresponding  acts   
with which we are dealing may be well   
suspected of descending  from an age at 
which no definite concept of a divine   
nature had as yet  arisen1 an age not   

yet perhaps even animistic1 for in their
 crudest  form they do not seem         
necessarily to imply any articulate     
system of  belief in a world of ghosts  
and spirits4 ,and this reflection brings
 us  to the first question of           
importance1 what this primitive concept 
of  purity and impurity really is1 and  
what were the sensations from which  it 
was evolved4 ,nothing is more difficult 
to describe than simple  sensations1 but
 it is possible to distinguish one from 
another4 ,and we  must distinguish      
between the modern feeling about        
cleanliness and the  primitive feelings 
which we are considering4 ,that         
8cleanliness is next  to godliness0 is  
an aphorism suggested no doubt by       
sensations  fundamentally akin to these2
 but many a savage who is most          
particular  about 8impurity0 #ic cares  
little or nothing for what we call      
8cleanliness40 ,we consider that the    
cleansing acts we ourselves  perform are
 purely hygienic or pleasure-giving1    

partly connected with  the instinct of  
self-preservation1 and some of them we  
find performed  by other animals than   
man4    ,but the savage ritual of       
purification does not by any means tend 
necessarily to self-preservation1 but at
 times may lead to  self-destruction1   
and no hygienic or utilitarian or       
secular  considerations will carry us   
far in explaining the cathartic code of 
,leviticus or the ,zend-,avesta1 or     
,buddhism1 or the impurity of tabooed   
animals4 ,these codes1 while some of    
their prescriptions may be such as      
modern utilitarian ideas might dictate1 
are obviously instinct with  religious  
or superstitious beliefs1 and to explain
 the distinction  between the pure and  
the impure animals would need a long    
excursus  into primitive religion2 the  
distinction is certainly not one between
  wholesome and unwholesome1 or pleasant
 and unpleasant1 meat4    #id    ,we may
 probably discover the nature of the    
instinct underlying much of  the        

cathartic custom-law by taking as our   
typical example the savage  feeling     
about blood4 ,evidence from almost every
 society in the world  yields proof that
 the stain of blood is the primary      
impurity that  needs a purifying ritual3
 hence arose a body of rules that were a
  burden upon domestic life1 hence the  
elaborate purifications of  warriors    
after battle or of the individual       
homicide4 ,such rules in no  way remind 
us of the natural desire to take a bath 
at the end of a  warm field-day3 the    
savage purifications after battle may   
last for  weeks2 it is recorded that a  
,north ,american ,indian tribe was      
extirpated because it needed a month to 
wipe off the stain of a single          
conflict1 while their enemies needed    
only a week for that purpose and        
therefore had the advantage of three    
weeks' start in preparing for the  next 
attack4 ,the sense-instinct that        
suggests all this is probably  some     
primeval terror or aversion evoked by   

certain objects1 as we see  animals #ie 
shrink with disgust at the sight or     
smell of blood4 ,the  nerves of savage  
man are strangely excited by certain    
stimuli of  touch1 smell1 taste1 sight3 
the specially exciting object is        
something  that we should call          
8mysterious10 8weird10 or1 still more   
expressively1 8uncanny40 ,to the        
primitive mind nothing was more  uncanny
 than blood1 and there are people still 
who faint at the sight  of it3 for 8the 
blood is the life10 life and death are  
the great  primeval mysteries1 and all  
the physical substances that are        
associated with the inner principle of  
either partake of this  mysteriousness4 
,for the savage1 what is mysterious is  
also dangerous  and not to be lightly   
handled or approached4 ,now1 the man who
 incurs  such stain not merely is       
exposed to some unaccountable danger    
himself1  but he is able to infect      
others by contagion2 he spreads a sort  
of  miasma1 he is the conducting vehicle

 of a dangerous spiritual               
electricity--mere metaphors1 which1     
however1 may enable us to catch         
something of the primitive thought4     
,such a #if man therefore must  avoid   
communion with his fellows for a time1  
must be 8tabooed02 and  will naturally  
endeavour to remove the 8tapu0 or       
dangerous 8miasma0 by  some magic rites 
of cleansing or release4 ,the kinsmen of
 the recently  dead in all primitive    
societies are impure1 because they have 
come  into contact with death1 the chief
 source of all impurity2 therefore  they
 must be isolated1 and1 until they are  
purified1 must wear some  badge or      
external mark--which we call            
8mourning0--to warn others  against     
approaching them4 ,the 8tapu0 still     
remains in civilised  communities2 we   
abstain from intruding on the bereaved  
family1 though  we give a different     
motive for our keeping aloof4 ,it so    
often happens  that in such matters we  
act as the savage acts2 but we must     

abandon  for a time our normal way of   
looking at things in order to imagine   
his4 ,to us a corpse may be an object of
 aversion1 and it is in some  degree    
contagious2 but our view of it1 when we 
are cool1 is secular  and scientific3   
while the primitive aspect of it is #ig 
supranormal  and mystic1 and the        
contagion is something spiritual and    
incalculably  dangerous4 ,in the        
,zend-,avesta we find an interesting    
special  application of this idea3 the  
defiling power of the dead varies       
directly according to the sanctity or   
rank of the deceased2 thus it is        
greatest in the corpse of the priest1   
somewhat less in that of a  warrior1 and
 least in that of the husbandman3#ig4a  
corruptio optimi  pessima3 the most     
sacred person can defile the most1      
because he is  charged with the most    
mysterious and therefore dangerous      
potency4 ,the  ,latin term 8sacer0 has  
the double meaning of 8holy0 and        
8accursed03  from the same ,greek root1 

1 spring a word connoting holiness and a
  word meaning 8pollution40 ,primeval   
thought or feeling holds together  in a 
vague unity ideas that afterwards       
differentiate themselves and  even      
become antithetical4 ,the same power of 
radiating dangerous  influence1 supposed
 #ih to attach to the holy man1 the     
polluted man  and the polluting thing1  
brought them originally under the same  
dim  conception4    ,it would not repay 
us here to endeavour to trace out and   
explain all  the minuti of this         
superstition3 the long lists of pure and
 impure  things that one might compile  
do not disclose any single regulative   
idea1 and nothing is more baffling than 
the eccentricities of  prejudice and    
terror4 ,but this superstition often    
proceeds with a  logic of its own3 as a 
corpse is most unclean1 and all who     
touch it  are impure1 therefore dogs and
 wolves and carrion birds are impure and
  must not be eaten3 and anything that  
however distantly reminds us of  danger 

and death1 such as quarrelsome acts and 
words1 may come to be  rigidly          
prohibited during a ritual of           
purification4 ,as blood is  primevally  
impure1 therefore any substance         
analogous to it or of the  same colour  
might be regarded as ill-omened1 such as
 beans or  pomegranates4 ,the same kind 
of sensational aversion will cause      
malodorous substances to #ii be regarded
 usually as unclean2  therefore food of 
an evil savour1 or such as leaves       
unpleasant traces  in the person1 will  
often be tabooed by certain strict      
sects4#ii4a  ,there is also a certain   
common-sense discoverable in the        
distinction  between substances on the  
ground of their greater or less         
susceptibility to spiritual contagion3  
earthen pots1 for instance1  have been  
often considered more easily infected   
than metal1 and need  longer            
purification1 liquid substances more    
dangerous conductors than  dry4 8,should
 the dry mingle with the dry10 says     

,ahura ,mazda in a  conversation with   
,zarathustra1 8how soon all this        
material earth of  mine would be only   
one ,peshtanu10 which is as much as to  
say that  the earth would become a      
charnel-house of impurity4 ,and         
,darmesteter#ii4b remarks1 in commenting
 on this verse1 8,nowadays in  ,persia1 
the ,jews are #ajj not allowed to go out
 of their house on a  rainy day1 lest   
the religious impurity conducted through
 the rain  should pass from the ,jew to 
the ,mussalman40 ,we have here a view of
  contagion that seems to agree with    
that of modern science1 only the  latter
 is physical1 the former mystic or      
spiritual4 ,again1 the choice  of       
substances used for purification was not
 dictated by the modern  idea of a      
cleansing quality1 but by a certain     
superstitious logic  which we can       
sometimes detect4 ,if liquid substances 
have a natural  affinity for contagion1 
then if we take them while they are     
uninfected  and use them for lustration1

 they will easily absorb the impurities 
of  our own persons and rid us of them2 
therefore the modern savage or the      
ancient ,greek might think it desirable 
to daub himself with clay or  mud to    
wash away his taint3 and from this      
example we see how distinct  these      
primeval lustral processes are from the 
modern hygienic washing1  to which      
nevertheless they often bear a close    
resemblance4 ,by a  similar reasoning we
 #aja may explain an inconsistency that 
occasionally appears in the cathartic   
ritual2 a substance impure as  food     
might be used for purposes of           
lustration3 for instance1 we find       
garlic used as a cathartic in the       
worship of the ,phrygian god ,mn at     
,athens4#aja4a ,fire1 the universal     
purifier1 may have been accredited  with
 this power by right of its own nature1 
but partly in all  probability because  
it was believed to dry up miasma and    
damp  infection4#aja4b    ,in the       
,zend-,avesta code1 after drying for a  

whole year under the light  of the sun1 
the corpse at last becomes pure2 for by 
the same natural  instinct that caused  
the aversion to blood1 the sun's light  
comes to  be regarded as the purest     
thing in the world3 meat cooked by its  
warmth is more sanctified than          
fire-cooked meat2 and certain acts and  
states of man have a greater defilement 
in the sun's face4    ,so far ,i have   
been trying to present the #ajb         
phenomena without  reference to any     
definite religious belief1 to express   
them as far as  possible in terms of    
simple sensation2 for1 as was said at   
the  beginning of the discussion1 it is 
possible that they have descended  from 
a pre-religious age4 ,we may now ask how
 the baneful influence of  the impure   
thing in this primeval stage of thought 
was supposed to  work1 unassisted by any
 spiritual agency such as spirit or god4
 ,we may  suppose that it produced its  
results indirectly by depressing the    
vital energies of the man who was the   

victim of the superstition3 the  savage 
might believe that it worked directly1  
by some mysterious law  of luck1        
paralysing a man's force and spoiling   
his hunting and  fighting4 ,this idea of
 a spontaneous mesmeric power of evil   
that  certain things possess seems to   
glimmer through the verse in the        
,zend-,avesta4 8,here am ,i10 says an   
unlucky man to those whom he meets1     
8one who has touched the corpse of a man
 and who is powerless in mind1          
powerless in tongue1 #ajc powerless in  
hand2 do make me  clean40#ajc4a ,is it  
an illusion to believe that we have here
  penetrated to the psychological root  
of the whole matter8 ,and here  there is
 no direct reference to spirit or god4  
,but at an early period such reference  
was made1 and it was then that  this    
cathartic ritual really started on a    
momentous career4 ,when the  doctrine of
 animism became firmly established1 it  
attracted the ritual  and the ideas     
associated with it1 and the animistic   

imprint upon them  can still be traced  
even in the higher religions4 ,a        
dangerous spirit  was supposed to abide 
in the impure thing and to be evoked by 
the  unclean act2 the potency which in  
the primeval stage of feeling had  been 
perhaps regarded merely as something    
mysteriously baneful and  8uncanny10 now
 becomes personal and intelligible and  
can be dealt with  and exorcised by     
certain efficacious rules4 ,the stain of
 blood on the  homicide attracts the    
ghost of the slain to pursue him1       
certain foods  #ajd are impure because  
evil spirits attach to them1 disease is 
specially their work1 and a veritable   
pandemonium gathers around the  corpse1 
the woman in child-birth1 and the       
new-born child4  ,illustrations showing 
how this demoniac faith has pervaded the
 thought  of the world are broadcast in 
the records of primitive man as well as 
in the higher literature of our race1   
the ,vedic and ,iranian sacred  books1  
the ,new ,testament1 the ,pythagorean1  

,platonic1 and ,neoplatonic  texts4 ,in 
the view of the ,zend-,avesta1 which    
regards the whole  universe as an       
overcharged battery of spiritual        
electricity1 a single  careless act of  
accidental uncleanliness is a cosmic    
catastrophe3  legions of 8drugs0 or     
devils start up at once into existence  
to  destroy the world of                
righteousness4#ajd4a ,plato1 though on  
the whole  he preserves his sanity in   
the matter1 is under the dominion of    
similar ideas1 and ,neoplatonism reverts
 back to the savage view1  believing    
that the chief aim of 1 or              
purifications1 was to  #aje drive the   
evil spirits out of certain kinds of    
food4#aje4a    ,the deep animistic      
colouring that the conception we are    
analysing came  at a very early time to 
acquire may be responsible for a very   
important event in the history of       
religion3 the evolution1 namely1 of  the
 dualistic principle1 the idea of the   
antagonism between good and  evil       

spirits1 the germ of which we can       
already detect in the animistic  stage  
which may have preceded the faith in    
high personal gods4 ,if the  impure     
things and acts are impregnated with    
evil spirits1 it is  natural to suppose 
that the pure are the abode of the good1
 and these  are contrary the one to the 
other4 ,it may have required a very long
  period for a clear belief in the good 
spirit to crystallise2 for to  the very 
primitive mind all spirits are          
mysteriously dangerous1 even  the ghosts
 of one's dearest kinsmen4 ,still1 the  
ancestral spirits make  on the whole for
 righteousness1 and can be given the    
position of  guardians of #ajf the      
purification code4 ,thus the ,new       
,caledonians  avert the wrath of the    
ghosts of their ancestors by washing1   
fasting1  and chastity3#ajf4a the       
ancient ,greek might pray or sacrifice  
to  a vague animistic company of   or 1 
regarded  perhaps as ghosts of the lower
 world1 to avert the impure omen or to  

wash off the taint of blood4            
,finally1 the conception of purity comes
 under the dominion of the  higher faith
 in a personal god4 ,in ,greece1 ,apollo
 and ,zeus attach to  themselves the    
ritual and the associated ideas2 in     
,persia the whole  complex code of      
purity is established by ,ahura ,mazda2 
in ,israel by  ,jahv1 who enforces the  
minutest details of the law with        
insistence  on the purity of ,god4#ajf4b
 ,in ,babylonian as in ,vedic religion1 
the  fire-god is pre-eminently the      
purifier1 a name which is attached      
particularly to ,agni1 and we find in   
the ,babylonian liturgical texts  the   
#ajg prayer1#ajg4a 8,may the torch of   
the shining fire-god  cleanse me40 ,nor 
does ,buddhism appear to differ from    
,leviticus or the  ,zend-,avesta in     
respect of the complications of its     
cathartic rules and  the importance it  
attached to them4 ,the ,buddhist        
missionary1 ,i-,tsing1  exhorts the     
faithful to observe the elaborate       

prescriptions of the  ,buddha1          
8because10 as he naively puts it1 8gods 
and spirits get  disgusted with our ways
 of wearing garments and eating food40  
,with  this abundance of testimony      
before us1 we are all the more surprised
  to find that very little is           
forthcoming from the records of our own 
ancestral paganism4 ,we can scarcely    
believe that our ,teutonic  ancestors   
were destitute of the idea of           
lustration1 and that their  cleanliness 
and chastity1 attested by the ,roman    
writers and still more  clearly by their
 own sagas1 were virtues of purely      
secular origin4 ,and  in fact we have   
certain records of ,teutonic ritual that
 seem to point  to cathartic ideas3     
8,after the goddess ,nerthus had gone on
 her annual  #ajh procession round the  
villages10 as ,tacitus informs us1#ajh4a
  8her chariot and garments and her own 
person were solemnly washed in  the     
waters of a sacred lake1 as if the holy 
divinity had been polluted  by her      

intercourse with men40 ,it is also      
possible that the custom  still         
prevalent in the ,teutonic populations  
of ,europe1 of leaping over  the bonfire
 on midsummer's eve1 is the relic of a  
ceremony of  fire-lustration performed  
before the beginning of harvest4#ajh4b  
,doubtless also they had the same rules 
as those prevailing in nearly  all      
communities1 whether civilised or       
uncivilised1 concerning the  purity of  
temples2 for we have record of an       
,icelandic law that the  8,holy ,place  
of ,peace0 was not to be defiled by     
blood or any human  uncleanness4#ajh4c  
,still1 though other evidence pointing  
in the same  direction might be         
gathered1 it seems clear that the burden
 of the  cathartic ritual did not weigh 
heavily on the consciences of our       
fathers when the dawn #aji of their     
history begins4 ,i am not aware of  any 
indication1 for instance1 that they     
regarded formal lustration  after       
bloodshed to be obligatory or desirable4

 ,and their comparative  freedom in     
regard to such ceremonies is a fact of  
great importance  with which we must    
reckon in our estimate of our later     
spiritual  history4 ,we may at the same 
time believe1 on general grounds1 that  
they also had at some remoter epoch     
passed through a period of bondage  to  
the same ideas and the same formalities 
that we find so generally  prevalent in 
other kindred and alien races4    ,the  
more interesting side of the inquiry now
 presents itself1 the  question about   
the influence that these cathartic ideas
 may have  exercised upon religion1     
morality1 and law4 ,we may endeavour1   
for the  sake of systematisation1 to    
maintain this tripartite classification1
  although we find it becoming more and 
more illusory the further our           
investigation travels back to the       
earlier social life of man4    ,but     
before attempting to survey the special 
#aaj facts that present  themselves     
within these three departments1 it is   

well to note one  phenomenon that       
concerns religion and morality in equal 
measure1 and  is of perhaps greater     
importance than all others in the varied
 process  of the evolution of the       
cathartic idea4 ,we have mainly been    
dealing so  far with facts that seem to 
belong to the most primitive deposit of 
human consciousness and not properly to 
be ethical in the modern sense  at all3 
the stain of blood1 even incurred by    
ruthless murder1 the  stain of          
childbirth and the sexual processes1 the
 contagion of the  corpse1 are all for  
the same reason 8suspect0 to primitive  
man because  they involve vague and     
mysterious danger1 not because they are 
associated with the concept of sin4 ,nor
 does this latter concept  necessarily  
enter in1 even when a more articulate   
animism has taken  possession of the    
superstition1 and the impurity means the
 presence of  an evil spirit3 the leper1
 the man who has come into contact with 
the  dead1 #aaa the blood-stained       

murderer1 are all regarded as suffering 
from the same trouble1 though in greater
 or lesser degree4 ,the idea of  purity 
and impurity1 in fact1 whether corporeal
 and external or  whether spiritual in  
the sense of its association with the   
world of  spirits1 is still non-ethical1
 and we must not apply our moral        
standards to it until a later stage4 ,it
 arrives at this stage and at  its      
higher significance for morality when it
 has evolved the  conception of a pure  
heart1 a pure soul4 ,and that this      
latter1 which  is one of the most       
pregnant of the concepts of developed   
ethics1 was  actually evolved from the  
primitive ritualistic and demoniac      
superstition can1 ,i believe1 be proved 
by the evidence1 and accords  with a    
well-known psychologic law of early     
thought4    ,we deceive ourselves if we 
are content to say that terms such as   
8pure  heart10 8pure soul0 are mere     
metaphors4 ,the theory of metaphors is a
  refuge for those who do not           

understand1 or who do not wish to       
understand1 #aab religious history1 and 
much might be said of the  far-reaching 
effects of this fallacy of              
interpretation4 ,the soul was  not      
called 80 or 8animus0 or 8spiritus0 by  
mere metaphor3 nor was  the phrase      
8white liver0 a metaphor for the people 
who first applied  it to the coward4    
,primitive man may be the victim of     
false analogy and  association of ideas1
 but these mental processes mean for him
  something other than metaphor means   
for us4 ,it is not by way of  metaphor  
that the modern ,basuto speaks of his   
heart 8being black and  dirty10 that is1
 8impure0 or 8sad10 the same word being 
used for  corporeal impurity1 sadness1  
and sin4#aab4a ,the colour of the impure
  act or bodily state is1 so to speak1  
transferred inwards3 if the act         
involves a physical stain1 then1 as     
things1 #aac words1 and thoughts  are so
 closely correlated in early psychology1
 the term 8unclean  word10 8unclean     

thought0 expresses a literal belief3    
gradually1 as the  concept of mind and  
soul becomes more and more immaterial1  
we may  reach the spiritual concept of  
mental purity which is of value for     
modern ethics4 ,the example quoted above
 reveals the ,basuto at the  half-way   
point in this evolution3 and a certain  
,north-,american ,indian  tribe1 whose  
customs have been recorded by ,miss     
,alice ,fletcher1  appears to have      
reached the same mental stage2 in her   
paper called the  8,shadow of a ,ghost  
,lodge10#aac4a she mentions that the    
kinsmen who  sit together isolated from 
others and mourning the dead for a      
period  must rigidly abstain from any   
tales of fighting or 8bad words10 they  
must forget old injuries and cancel all 
grudges4 ,the mental process  that leads
 to this excellent tapu may be stated   
thus3 the mourners  are in a condition  
of deep impurity which they are         
endeavouring #aad  to cleanse away2     
quarrelling1 vindictive speech1 and     

memories would  intensify the impurity1 
because all these are associated with   
bloodshed and death4 ,this analogy may  
serve to explain the curious  rule      
prevailing at ,athens that anyone who   
laid a suppliant-bough on  the altar in 
the ,eleusinion during the period of the
 ,eleusinian  ,mysteries was liable to  
the penalty of death or a heavy         
fine4#aad4a  ,i would suggest that the  
underlying thought is the same3 the     
laying  the suppliant-bough indicated a 
grievance and was a legally  quarrelsome
 act1 and therefore a violation of the  
purity of the solemn  season4 ,it was   
probably a similar chain of reasoning   
that induced the  ,greeks and other     
races of the higher religion to enforce 
silence  before and during the          
sacrifice1 not merely in order that the 
priest  should not be disturbed by the  
chatter of the crowd2 for the word used 
for this sacred silence is 1 8auspicious
 speech03 it is  obvious that the       
original motive of the rule #aae was to 

guard  against the utterance of any     
impure word that might produce an       
ill-omened condition of mind in the     
congregation4    ,of this development of
 the idea of spiritual from that of     
ritualistic  purity1 the language of    
certain of the higher races affords the 
same  indication as we find in the      
,basuto phrase3 the ,latin 8purus0 and  
the  ,greek  and  themselves have an    
original material or  physical          
significance2 the blood that is shed and
 the unburied corpse  emit a 8miasma10 a
 defiling atmosphere charged with       
dangerous spirits1  and the same word   
comes to denote a spiritual corruption  
of the  soul3 touching a corpse is      
called 8sin0 in the ,zend-,avesta2#aae4a
  and it is significant that the same   
word which is used to express the       
material idea of impurity in the ,old   
,testament in the earlier books of  the 
,law is employed in the later and more  
advanced ethical vocabulary  of the     
,bible for a real sin against ,god as   

understood in the modern  sense4    #aaf
    ,again1 we have other evidence      
besides the linguistic that the earliest
  conception of sin which we can call   
spiritual was still  half-materialistic1
 and was still closely allied to that of
 bodily  impurity4 ,in the theory of    
earlier ritual1 the sin can be washed   
away  like a physical taint1 the        
atonement takes the form of certain     
lustrations1 and repentance is not      
considered necessary as a moral         
condition of release4 ,and to the same  
middle stage of development  belongs the
 process known as the transference of   
sin1 whereby the sin  can be extracted  
as if it were a substance from the      
person of the  sinner and transferred   
into another man or animal or even an   
inanimate  object4 ,think of sin as an  
inner vapour or exhalation and the idea 
of  quasi-mechanical transference is    
intelligible4#aaf4a ,it no doubt        
belongs to a comparatively early #aag   
period of savage religion4  ,among the  

,atkans1 for instance1#aag4a we hear of 
such a release as  this3 the sin1 which 
in this case was a gross violation of a 
natural  law of the sex-instinct1 was   
made to enter into certain weeds which  
were worn about the person1 and then1   
under a clear sun were carefully  thrown
 away1 the sun himself being called to  
witness the act of  transference4 ,in   
the ancient ,peruvian ,church1 the      
shaking off of evils  was a great public
 festival3 bands of warriors marched    
forth crying  out1 8,go forth1 all      
evils10 and then bathed in the river1   
while the  people shook out their       
clothes from the doors4#aag4b ,a similar
  record speaks of the ,inca praying to 
the river-god to bear away his  sins1   
which he had confessed in the sight of  
the sun4 ,and during the  ,peruvian     
purification a similar rule prevailed to
 that which was  noticed above1 that all
 abusive language and strife was to be  
avoided4  ,or again1 the #aah belief    
that the sin is an evil spirit that can 

be  induced to find another             
living-lodgment1 suggests the scapegoat1
 a  familiar figure in ,leviticus and in
 ,greek ritual1 the animal who bears    
away with it into the wilderness the    
sins of the people1 or is put to  death 
with the uttered prayer that into it may
 enter all the evils of  the community4 
,the ,judaic record tells us that ,aaron
 8confessed over  him all the iniquities
 of the children of ,israel''' putting  
them on the  head of the goat02 after   
this1 as the animal was in a high degree
 of  sin-infection1 both ,aaron and the 
man who led it away into the  wilderness
 must wash and change their             
clothes4#aah4a ,the ,egyptian  rite     
described by ,herodotus1#aah4b shows us 
the same idea  differently worked out3  
the head of the animal is severed with  
the  imprecation that it may bear the   
evils of the community1 and is then     
either thrown into the river so that the
 stream may carry them away1  or is sold
 to the ,hellenes wherever there happens

 to be a ,hellenic  market3 ,herodotus  
#aai does not tell us the reason of     
this1 which1  however1 is easily        
divined3 the ,hellene is the stranger   
who1 as the  ,egyptians hoped1 might eat
 the infected flesh and thereby absorb  
into  his alien person the people's     
sins2 for the eating of other people's  
sins is a recognised primitive process  
of transference4#aai4a ,what  is unique 
in the ,egyptian management of the      
ceremony is the skilful  combination of 
religion and trade4    ,finally1 the    
ritual may demand a human scapegoat1 who
 will fulfil  exactly the same function 
as the animal4 ,he may be put to death1 
or  driven over the border1 carrying    
away the national sins3 he may be  very 
vile1 and therefore a fitting receptacle
 for sin1 like the  810 the 8purifying  
man0 in the ,attic festival of the      
,thargelia1  who was led through the    
streets1 whipped with rods1 and at one  
time  burnt2 or the slave at            
,marseilles1#aai4b who was fed up and   

reverentially treated for #abj a year1  
and then was led forth in  solemn       
procession through the streets and      
expelled from the city1  praying that on
 him might fall all the evils of the    
community3#abj4a  or the scapegoat-man  
may be exceptionally holy1 being the    
better able1  through his very holiness1
 to absorb harmlessly and dissipate the 
evils of others4 ,thus even the         
miserable victim of the ,thargelia was  
mysteriously invested with a certain    
sacred character1 and seems once  to    
have been regarded in a certain degree  
as the counterpart of the               
divinity4#abj4b    ,much of this ritual 
of sin-transference is altogether       
independent of  the higher gods2 it is  
worked by mesmeric or mimetic or        
mechanical  magic4 ,at a later period it
 is harmonised with their service and   
accompanied with prayer2 and at this    
stage we note a curious  ritualistic    
phenomenon4 ,blood1 the primeval source 
of impurity1  becomes itself #aba a     

purifier1 not by the law similia        
similibus  curantur1 but owing to the   
growing power of the sacrificial        
concept4  8,the blood of bulls and goats
 can wash away sins10 because the animal
  that has been consecrated by contact  
with the altar becomes charged  with a  
divine potency1 and its sacred blood1   
poured over the impure  man1 absorbs and
 disperses his impurity4 ,illustrations 
are easily  gathered from ,hellenic     
ritual1#aba4a which frequently employed 
the  blood of swine for cathartic       
purposes4 ,on an early vase-painting we 
see the hero ,theseus seated on the     
altar of ,god the ,atoner with pig's    
blood running down his body to cleanse  
him from the slaughter of the           
brigands4#aba4b ,in the ,judaic rule the
 blood of the red heifer was  #abb first
 sprinkled by the priest before the     
tabernacle of the  congregation seven   
times1 but for special purposes of      
lustration the  8water of separation0   
was used1 that is1 water made holy by   

being  mingled with the ashes of the    
heifer that had been burnt4 ,we have a  
curious illustration of the double      
character of this water of  separation3 
being consecrated and holy1 it was      
powerful to cleanse  away stain and sin3
 yet its own impure composition was not 
wholly  forgotten1 for he who sprinkled 
the water or touched it was unclean     
till evening4#abb4a    ,these ideas     
belong to very old-world thought1 yet   
their reflex abides  with us still in   
the heart of a spiritual creed2 for     
their association  is clear with the    
,christian conception of the            
transference of sin and  of the divine  
victim that takes upon himself the sins 
of the people4    ,as far as we have    
examined it as yet1 the concept of a    
8pure heart0 is  not necessarily wholly 
ethical2 it is often coexistent with the
 ideas  of sin that do not clearly      
recognise #abc moral responsibility or  
the  essential difference between       
deliberate wrong-doing and the          

ritualistic or accidental or involuntary
 sin4 ,in the middle stage of           
ethical-religious growth1 an innocent   
dipus may yet be regarded as   1 impure 
body and soul4 ,the final point is      
reached when it  is realised that the   
blood of bulls and goats cannot wash    
away sin1  that nothing external can    
defile the heart or soul1 but only evil 
thoughts and evil will4 ,this purged and
 idealised concept will then in  the    
progressive religions revolt against its
 own parentage1 and will  prompt the    
eternal antagonism of the prophet       
against the ritual  priest1 of the      
,christ against the ,pharisee4    ,it   
would be interesting to trace the points
 of this long development1  which has   
here been hastily sketched1 among the   
higher races of the  old world2 but a   
brief and partial indication of its     
history among  some of them must here   
suffice4 ,we are all acquainted with the
 final  evolution of the idea of purity 
in #abd ,judaic history3 but the        

phenomena of its embryonic stages1 as   
revealed in the ritual books of  the    
,old ,testament1 may not be so familiar4
 ,they present the ,hebrew  mind in     
regard to this particular as on the same
 level with the  ,zarathustrian         
,persian1 the ,vedic ,indian1 and the   
,hellene of the  seventh century4       
,purity is the strictest law of ,jahv1  
the pure god1  who intimates that he    
would punish ,aaron with death if he    
heedlessly  entered the holy place      
without purification4#abd4a ,but the    
processes  by which it is secured are   
mechanical1 quasi-magical1 and the      
concept  itself appears more            
materialistic than spiritual1           
ritualistic rather  than ethical in our 
sense3 the processes of cleansing are   
such as the  use of incense1 lustrations
 with blood1 water1 and even fire1      
cathartic methods which are almost      
universal3 we hear nothing of  prayer or
 repentance4 ,blood is the chief        
impurity1 whether shed  deliberately1   

accidentally1 or righteously4 ,the      
warriors after battle  must be purified 
#abe before they enter the camp4#abe4a  
,murder has  indeed become a tribal     
offence1 and this marks a great advance 
in the  social development of human     
society3 no satisfaction such as the    
were-gilt was allowed for murder2 but it
 is regarded as a sin rather  than a    
crime1 and its sinfulness is the        
uncleanness of the land on  which the   
blood is shed4 8,blood defileth the     
land10 and 8,i the ,lord  dwell among   
the children of ,israel40#abe4b ,even   
the accidental  homicide must fly to the
 city of refuge1 not merely to escape   
the  avenger of blood1 who represents   
the old family right of the  blood-feud1
 but to rid the land of the impurity of 
his presence4 ,nor  must he return till 
the death of the high priest4#abe4c     
,this latter  restriction has not yet   
been explained1 so far as ,i am aware4  
,i  venture the explanation that the    
high priest is regarded here as the     

temporary representative of ,jahv1 and  
as infected with the impurity  that     
cleaves to the outraged god2 but when   
#abf he dies1 the stain  that has been  
put upon the god fades away and his     
wrath ceases4  ,finally1 we may note the
 rule that when the murderer could not  
be  discovered1 the nearest city must   
offer cathartic sacrifices1 8and thy    
sin0--that is1 the ritualistic sin of   
having an impure spot of ground  in     
one's territory--8shall then be forgiven
 thee40#abf4a ,in fact the  ,judaic law 
concerning homicide as shown in these   
books1 though it has  advanced far      
beyond savagery1 and has even attained  
to the modern view  that manslaying     
concerns the whole community1 is yet    
barbaric on the  whole4 ,the concept of 
purity aided development up to a certain
 point  and then probably retarded it4  
,on the other hand1 in the department of
  sexual morality its operation was most
 powerful for good2 it  consecrated and 
safeguarded the fundamental laws if it  

did not  actually construct or evoke    
them2 but1 as we should expect1 the     
sexual  purity of the ,hebrew code      
remains a religious law and does not    
pass  into the domain of secular ethic4 
#abg    ,another religion that is of    
equal value for our present purpose is  
the  ,zarathustrian4 ,trusting as far as
 we may the translation and             
interpretation of its sacred books1 we  
may gather the impression from  the     
study of them that no religion on the   
earth has ever been under  such bondage 
to the cathartic ideal as this one2 nor 
does it appear  very profitable at first
 sight to put the question here of the  
influence of the idea of purity on      
religion1 law1 and morals1 for the  idea
 seems all-absorbing and these three to 
have no independent  existence apart    
from it4 ,it creates for the ,mazdean   
believer a  morality of its own1 with   
which the secular systems have little or
  nothing to do4 8,oh1 maker of the     
world10 asks ,zarathustra of ,ahura     

,mazda1 8can he be clean again who has  
eaten of the carcase of a dog or  the   
corpse of a man80 ,the deity            
answers--8,he cannot1 oh holy           
,zarathustra40#abg4a ,nor is there any  
purification possible for the           
unforgivable sin of walking about after 
fifteen years of age were  #abh reached 
without a girdle or a proper shirt3     
8such a one goes  henceforth with power 
to destroy the world of                 
righteousness40#abh4a  ,on the other    
hand1 the highest act of righteousness  
which brings  forgiveness of all sins to
 him who performs it is the pulling down
 of  a dakhma1 the scaffold on which the
 corpses were hung according to the     
,persian system of burial1 after it had 
served its purpose2 for  naturally it   
was a focus of impurity1 and demons     
congregated there in  swarms4#abh4b ,and
 the ,persian concept of purity makes   
its own law4  ,as the ritual of         
cleansing is the prime article of the   
,zarathustrian  code1 so the            

sacrilegious cleanser1 that is1 the     
amateur who tried to  purify another    
without knowledge of the ,mazdean       
ceremonies1 brought  sterility upon the 
land and was punished with death4#abh4c 
,and death  was the penalty for him who 
dared to carry a corpse alone1 for the  
dead body spread around the contagion of
 a myriad 8drugs0 or demons1  #abi and  
two men at least must set hand to it to 
prevent an  intolerable epidemic of     
impurity4#abi4a ,legislation in the     
,zend-,avesta is merciless beyond any   
recorded code2 we must suppose  that it 
was mainly idle thunder1 or ,persia     
would have been  depopulated4 ,the whole
 universe of ,mazdeism is permeated with
 these  cathartic ideas1 and a secular  
or physical view of things scarcely     
glimmers through3 the ritual order      
dominated what we call the material  as 
well as the spiritual world2 the sun1   
moon1 and stars are purified  by the    
,word4 ,on this basis arose a religion  
of great exaltation and a  religious    

fervour of rare intensity3 and the      
sacred books of ,persia  are of great   
value for the present inquiry1 for they 
show us more  clearly than any other    
record the spiritual concept of the pure
 heart  emerging from the ritualistic   
idea2 while it is often hard in any     
particular text to distinguish between  
the lower and the higher  significance4 
,when ,god speaks to the prophet        
thus--8,purity #acj is  for man1 next to
 life1 the highest good3 that purity1 ,o
 ,zarathustra1  that is in the religion 
of ,mazda for him who cleanses himself  
with  good thoughts1 words1 and         
deeds10#acj4a we believe we have reached
 a  high ethical conception2 but the    
phrase is supposed by ,darmesteter to   
refer to him who cleanses himself       
according to the prescriptions of  the  
law4 ,yet in their cathartic code were  
the germs of an advanced  morality1 and 
truthfulness and chastity were fostered 
by it4#acj4b  ,the lustrations were     
partly of the primitive type1 taken     

over1 as  usual1 from a lower stratum of
 religion2 their most interesting       
features are the cleansing words that   
accompanied them1 which were not        
usually prayers but spells1 formul of   
magic potency1 but drawn from  a high   
#aca religion1 such as these1 for       
instance3--8,the will of the  ,lord is  
the ,law of ,righteousness02 8,holiness 
is the best of all ,good3  it is also   
,happiness40#aca4a ,even the virtue of  
philanthropy is  given cathartic value  
in a spell-formula1 8he who relieves the
 poor  makes ,ahura ,king10 recited     
before the person was washed with the   
holy  water of ,mazda and the 8gmz0 of  
an ox4#aca4b    ,in a certain sense the 
,mazdean religion has been the 8purest0 
the  world has known2 but the high      
spiritual concept of purity that it     
evolved never escaped nor struggled to  
escape1 as did the ,judaic and          
,hellenic1 from the bondage to ritual4  
,therefore the religion was  doomed to  
ceremoniousness and sacerdotalism2 and  

the modern student  who is fascinated   
with its frequent outbursts of genius   
and its deep1  whole-hearted conviction 
must be prepared for the inevitable     
bathos  that awaits him4 ,its remoteness
 from the modern and civilised view of  
things may be estimated from #acb the   
,zarathustrian text1 in which  the      
prophet exalts the priestly medicine-man
 who heals the diseased  limb with a    
cleansing spell and by the ejection of  
the demon1 above  the surgeon who heals 
it with a knife4#acb4a    ,it is with a 
feeling of relief that we now turn to   
the survey of the  ,hellenic phenomena1 
passing by as we must the ,vedic and the
 ,islamic1  which appear to be of lesser
 importance so far as ,i have been able 
to  study them4 ,the ,hellenic religion 
more than all others of the ancient     
world is the mirror of the manifold     
civilisation of a people2 for its       
lesser intensity allowed it more varied 
application1 and it was  obliged to     
reconcile itself speedily with the      

utilitarian and secular  forces of      
rational progress1 which there was no   
sacerdotal caste  strong enough to      
oppose4 ,and it is in the light of this 
religion  therefore that the concept of 
purity can best be studied in its       
relations to law and morality4 ,the     
history of the cathartic ritual in      
,greece #acc does not begin till the    
eighth century2 for the ,homeric  age   
was strikingly sane1 cheerful1 and      
secular in its views about such  things4
 ,though ,hektor feels1 as any modern   
gentleman would feel1 that  it was wrong
 to go to a religious service 8bedabbled
 in gore and  filth10 though ,odysseus  
purifies his house with                 
sulphur-fumigation  after the carnage of
 the fight1 the world for whom ,homer   
sang does not  appear to have been      
burdened with the ceremoniousness of    
purification  or with dread of the      
impurity of blood and death1 or with any
 sort of  care for the vengeance or     
miasma of the ghost4 ,an age that could 

rise  to the height of such a sentiment 
as 8best of omens is it to fight for    
one's country10 was likely to be        
healthy-minded in all such matters4     
,the first mention of purification for  
bloodshed is in a poem of  ,arctinos of 
the eighth century2 and a certain       
ritual-code of purity  begins to emerge 
in ,hesiod4 ,henceforward cathartic     
legislation comes  to be very rife in   
,greece1 emanating chiefly from two     
centres as it  #acd seems1 ,delphi and  
,crete4 ,the gods to whom the domain of 
ritual-purity belongs especially are    
,apollo1 ,zeus1 and ,dionysos2 at  the  
same time the ghostly terrors of the    
underworld appear to be  gaining a      
greater hold on the ,hellenic           
imagination1 and 8catharsis0 is         
specially needed to deal with these4    
,probably all this is only a  revival of
 aboriginal practices and superstitions 
rooted in the  ,hellenic soil1 a        
religion which the intellectualism of   
,homeric  civilisation had happily      

suppressed for a time1 but which        
asserted  itself with renewed strength  
when that civilisation was overthrown4  
,yet the revival1 though apparently a   
8set-back10 bore fair fruit for         
morality1 law1 and even religion4 ,the  
history of ,greek ethic must  reckon as 
it has not yet done with the ritual of  
purity1 and the  history of ,greek law  
with the fear of the ghost and the      
miasma of  bloodshed4    ,at first the  
idea is1 as usual1 ritualistic and      
non-moral3 and much  that we find in    
savage communities1 and in ,juda1       
,persia1 and ,india1  we find again in  
,greece4 ,as the ,hebrew #ace warriors  
were purified  before returning to camp1
 so the ,macedonian army was purified in
  spring before the campaign1#ace4a and 
the misunderstood story of the          
,phokians daubing themselves with gypsum
 before battle points to a  cathartic   
ritual4#ace4b ,and the ,hellenic        
ceremonies agreed with  those of most   
other nations in regard to the causes of

 uncleanness and  the methods of        
deliverance3 fire1 water1 blood1 onions1
 the skins of  animals sacrificed1 even 
clay and bran1 are the usual purifying  
media4  ,in one method of  only the     
,hellenic ritual is unique so far as  ,i
 know3 sacrificial communion with ,god  
was sometimes considered an  effective  
means of obliterating the impurity which
 the kinsmen  contracted by a death in  
the family3 at ,argos the mourners put  
off the  8tapu0 by eating of the        
sacrifice to ,apollo1 believing that the
 spirit  of the pure god in the sacred  
food could destroy #acf the miasma      
within and around them4#acf4a ,the      
strongholds of ,pharisaic  purification 
were the religious brotherhoods of      
,orphism and the  earlier               
,pythagoreanism1 a religious-philosophic
 school closely  associated with the    
former2 in these the law of 8the pure   
life0 is a  ceremonious law1 specially  
concerned with abstinence from certain  
food4 ,but ,greek thought did not remain

 long on this level3 a saying is        
attributed to ,charondas of ,catana1 but
 perhaps of later origin1 which  asserts
 that 8foul speech is a defilement of   
the soul02#acf4b and in  a fragment of  
,epicharmos of the fifth century1 we    
have the utterance  of the higher       
gospel1 8,if thou art pure of soul1 thou
 art pure of all  thy body02 and the    
later ,pythagorean literature1 such as  
the 8,golden  ,song0 of ,hierocles1     
contains the doctrine that 8purity of   
soul is the  only divine service02 8,god
 has no more familiar abode on the earth
  than the pure soul40 ,and to an       
unknown writer1 probably of the same    
#acg school1#acg4a we owe the dogma1    
8,we worship ,god most meetly if  we    
render our own soul pure from every     
stain of evil40 ,there are two  epigrams
 in the ,anthology1 included in the     
fanciful collection of  ,pythian        
oracles1 expressing the same idea that  
holiness is a spiritual  fact           
independent of ceremonies or            

lustrations3 8,oh stranger1 if holy  of 
soul1 enter the shrine of the holy ,god1
 having but touched the  lustral water3 
lustration is an easy matter for the    
good1 but all  ocean with its streams   
cannot cleanse the evil man40#acg4b ,the
 other  maintains as clearly as ,isaiah 
or the ,new ,testament the uselessness  
of  all mere washing of hands3 8,the    
temples of the gods are open to all     
good men1 nor is there any need of      
purification3 no stain can ever  cleave 
to virtue4 ,but depart1 whosoever is    
baneful at heart1 for thy  soul will    
never be washed by the cleansing of the 
body40#acg4c ,the  better ,greek mind   
attained this freedom the more easily in
 that it was  not strongly #ach or      
generally possessed with the belief in  
the  aboriginal impurity or sinfulness  
of the flesh and the earthly life4  ,and
 ,greek ritual itself1 conservative as  
it was and never abandoning  its code of
 purification1 comes at last to be      
influenced by this freer  atmosphere and

 to reconcile ceremonious purity with a 
higher moral  law4 ,before the temple of
 ,asclepios at ,epidauros stood the     
text1  8,within the incense-filled      
sanctuary one must be pure2 and purity  
is  to have righteous thoughts40#ach4a  
,an inscription on a temple in  ,rhodes 
of the time of ,hadrian#ach4b shows a   
strange blend of  primitive and advanced
 thought4 ,its preamble mentions 8rules 
concerning righteous entrance into the  
shrine40 8,the first and  greatest rule 
is to be pure and unblemished in hand   
and heart and to  be free from an evil  
conscience40 ,then follows the usual    
ceremonious  code of rules concerning   
the impurities of food1 #aci funerals1  
and  natural affections of the body3 and
 the last clause shows the ethical  idea
 penetrating even these1 for the code   
prescribes that a person may  enter the 
shrine 8on the same day after lawful    
married intercourse40  ,this means that 
the adulteress was excluded1 as she was 
at ,athens by a  law quoted by          

,demosthenes4#aci4a ,it appears then    
that the liberal  ethic judgment        
attributed to ,theano1 the female       
,pythagorean teacher1  that while lawful
 intercourse was no bar to participating
 in a  religious service on the same    
day1 the adulteress was to be for ever  
excluded1#aci4b was not wholly out of   
accordance with the advanced            
ritualistic code of ,greece4    ,the    
above is some slight illustration of the
 development of the ,greek  concept of  
purity and of its ethical influence4 ,it
 remains to trace  its action in a very 
important department of law--the law of 
homicide4  ,perhaps the most significant
 distinction between the code of a      
civilised and that of a savage or #adj  
barbaric community lies in  their       
respective attitudes towards            
manslaughter or murder3 in the  latter  
society it is mainly an affair between  
the families concerned1  to be settled  
by the were-gilt or the blood-feud3 in  
the former the  whole community feels   

itself to be deeply concerned4 ,our     
,teutonic  ancestors1 at the time of    
,tacitus and for centuries after1       
remained at  the lower stage1 though we 
discern that the legal genius of the    
,icelanders was impelling them towards  
the higher even before  ,christianity   
reached them4 ,what is strange is that  
some societies  appear to have attained 
a high general level of civilisation    
without  making this momentous advance3 
the ,homeric world1 for instance1 was   
scarcely abreast with the early         
,icelandic in this respect1 although we 
may see signs that the higher idea was  
ready to emerge in the later  ,homeric  
period4#adj4a ,then follows a blank in  
#ada our record which  may be           
tentatively filled up by the            
interpretation of mythology1 until  in  
the developed ,attic law--which we know 
better than the law of any  other ,greek
 state--we find the modern idea fully   
recognised and  applied to a criminal   
code1 probably from the sixth century   

onward1  though traces of legal         
barbarism still survive4 ,we would      
gladly  discover the constructive       
forces1 spiritual or political1 that    
brought  this great reform about4 ,the  
anthropology of our contemporary savage 
societies has not yet supplied us with  
analogies that we could apply  to ,greek
 history3 a few savage states have      
indeed spontaneously  achieved the great
 advance from the blood-feud to a public
 law of  homicide1 but there is no      
record showing how they have achieved   
it4  ,some writers have supposed that   
the emergence of criminal law in        
general is always due to some great     
increase of power in the central        
government1 probably to the development 
of the monarchy4 ,but as a  universal   
axiom this cannot be accepted2 for1 as  
#adb ,steinmetz in  his treatise on     
8,the ,development of ,punishment0#adb4a
 has shown1  such a suggested cause is  
not found operative in the backward     
communities of modern times that have   

developed a public criminal law4  ,nor  
would it be reasonable to urge that the 
central authority was  stronger in      
,greece of the seventh century than in  
the earlier  monarchical period4        
,probably ,steinmetz is right in his    
belief that  among savage societies the 
earliest criminal law arises from some  
intense feeling of hatred or dread      
excited by acts that violate  religious 
feeling or secular interests4 ,one of   
the earliest crimes to  be punished by  
death at the hands of the society is    
incest3 the horror  that it excites     
among savages is a feeling that we may  
call religious4  ,we may not be able to 
show indeed that the primitive ideas of 
purity  would explain the earliest      
complicated codes of human marriage3 but
  the circles of kinship that are thus  
established seem certainly to  have been
 consecrated #adc at a very early time  
by the concept of  purity that came to  
be attached to them4#adc4a ,now it is   
probable  that a similar religious      

feeling was operative in the case of    
homicide4    ,if in any given society   
the primitive belief in the impurity of 
bloodshed became intensified beyond a   
certain point1 homicide might  easily   
come to be regarded no longer as a      
matter to be settled by the  families of
 the slayer and the slain1 but as the   
deep concern of the  people of the land4
 ,we have seen that it was just this    
religious  concept of impurity that     
brought the act under the cognisance of 
the  national religious law of ,israel3 
the people are terrified because the    
soil has been made impure and their god 
has been stained4 ,in the  ,zend-,avesta
 we find that #add the slaying of a     
water-dog was an  impure act against    
,god1 and was avenged by the whole      
community2 and  sacrifice was offered to
 appease the holy soul of the dog4#add4a
  ,these facts then offer some analogy  
for the theory that ,i would  suggest1  
namely1 that the civilised law in       
,greece concerning homicide  arose in   

the post-,homeric period through an     
intensification of the  feeling         
concerning the impurity of bloodshed and
 owing to the greater  hold that the    
terrors of the ghostly world had come to
 gain over the  later ,hellenic         
imagination2 for the ghost or the       
,erinys of the dead is  the embodiment  
of the miasma that arises from the      
slaying2 and the  ghost knows how to    
drive it home1 and is no respecter of   
persons1 but  can make a whole area     
uninhabitable4 ,the religious phenomenon
 and the  legal fact that ,i would      
connect as cause and effect are not     
found in  the ,homeric period3 both are 
found coexisting in the later4 ,and much
  legendary evidence accords with this  
hypothesis4 #ade ,perhaps the  earliest 
indication of the emergence of the idea 
in ,greek society that  certain kinds of
 homicide concern the ,state1 is found  
in the legends  about exile and         
excommunication for the shedding of     
kindred blood1 the  exile1 for instance1

 of ,bellerophon and ,ixion4 ,such exile
 is not the  ordinary flight of the     
homicide to avoid the avenger of blood2 
for in  the cases where a man is of the 
same kin as the slain1 there is no      
family avenger1 but the whole community 
in horror cast him out lest  the curse  
should infect themselves4 ,kinsmen's    
blood was more sacred  than other1      
therefore the shedding it spread the    
greater impurity over  the land4 ,and   
the ,greek legends suggest that this    
offence was one of  the earliest in the 
legal history of the race which awoke   
the  religious conscience of the        
,state4#ade4a #adf ,now if we assume    
that  the old ideas associated with     
kinship came to be extended to the whole
  community of the polis--as might      
easily happen through the  intermarriage
 of the --then a similar miasma would be
 caused  by the slaying of a citizen as 
by kindred murder3 the ,state would feel
  the supernatural peril of the act and 
would take cognisance4    ,the reasons  

for supposing that this was the actual  
order in the  ,hellenic evolution of the
 homicide law may appear to rest on mere
  legends1 but legends are often direct 
and firsthand evidence of early         
thought1 and the stories about the      
slayers of kindred who were driven  out 
of the communities and who were the     
first applicants for the  ritual of     
purification1 such as ,ixion1 ,orestes1 
,theseus1 accord well  with the early   
belief that the ,erinyes were the       
ghostly avengers of  kindred slaughter4 
,then we find that in the ,aithiopis1   
the poem of  ,arctinos of ,miletus1     
,achilles has to leave the army and     
retire to  ,lesbos for #adg             
purification1 although ,thersites1 whom 
he has slain1  is no real kinsman of    
his3 whence we may draw the conclusion  
that the  ,state of ,miletus1 in the    
eighth century1 had come to take        
cognisance  of the slaying of any       
citizen4 ,and the ,argives1 in the fifth
 or fourth  century1 offer atonement to 

,zeus ,meilichios for a civic massacre1 
the  god who has a legendary association
 with purification for the shedding  of 
kindred blood4 ,by the fifth century in 
,athens the religious feeling           
concerning the sacredness of all life   
within the city had so deepened  that   
even the slaying of a slave caused a    
miasma and was a ,state  offence4#adg4a 
,now when we examine certain details of 
,attic law1 together with  certain      
expressions of sentiment concerning     
homicide in the classical  writers of   
,attica1 we see the clear imprint of its
 origin4 ,accidental  homicide was as   
gravely regarded by the ,athens of the  
fourth century  as by the old ,hebrew   
code3 such homicides must fly over the  
border1  but if they went by #adh a     
certain road1 the ,state refused to     
allow  the avenger of blood to follow   
them3 they must remain in exile until   
they have won the forgiveness of one of 
the kinsmen of the  dead4#adh4a ,we may 
suppose that the kinsmen are regarded as

 taking  up the feud of the ghost1 who  
is likely to be vindictive1 even when   
the slaying was accidental4 ,finally1   
when the pardoned homicide  returns he  
must go through elaborate purifications4
 ,these latter were  to wipe off the    
miasma1 not to ease what we might call  
the burden of  conscience4 ,and the     
community were obliged to expel         
temporarily even a  perfectly innocent  
man1 because of their fear of the wrath 
of the  dead4 ,this dread of the ghost  
is appealed to by an ,attic orator as a 
motive that should influence the judges 
to condemn the  prisoner4#adh4b ,the    
first legal preliminary in a case of    
murder1  which reveals clearly the      
religious origin of the ,state law1 was 
the  solemn proclamation1 made by one of
 the relatives holding #adi a  spear at 
the funeral1 that the murderer should   
keep aloof from all the  holy and public
 places of the community4#adi4a ,and    
,antiphon strongly  expresses the       
popular sentiment that the unpunished   

murderer pollutes  the public altars and
 vitiates the atmosphere of the         
city3#adi4b and  the whole of ,plato's  
legislation#adi4c concerning homicide is
 based  on the idea of the miasma       
arising from bloodshed1 and is quite in 
accord with ,attic law4 ,the exile of   
the murderer purges the city as  well as
 his execution2 therefore the accused   
was allowed to go out of  the country   
before the verdict4#adi4d ,the contagion
 was worse under  a roof than in the    
open air2 therefore the ,athenian judges
 insisted on  trying homicide in an     
unroofed court1 8lest they should be    
under one  roof with the slayer40#adi4e 
,also it is part of primitive animistic 
belief that such miasma could cleave to 
things which had caused the  death of a 
man3 hence the #aej inanimate object    
such as an axe or bar  of iron might be 
solemnly tried and1 if found guilty1    
would be thrown  into the sea to rid the
 ,state of infection3#aej4a the same    
superstition explains the old ,english  

law that a waggon which ran over  a man 
and caused his death should be given to 
,god--8deodand03 that is1  it was to    
become a perquisite of the ,king1 who   
represented ,god4    ,so far we seem to 
discern clearly the concept of purity   
evolving ,state  law in a very vital    
matter4 ,and this is a great            
achievement4 ,but it  might easily      
evolve law which from our point of view 
would be unjust  and superstitious4 ,the
 terrors of the ghost1 the inequitable  
wrath of  a pure god1 the insistence on 
the ritualistic view of impurity1 might 
retard progress and prevent the         
evolution of the highest law which      
regards extenuating circumstances and   
admits justifiable homicide4  ,such law 
is not heard of in the ,mosaic books1   
but it #aea existed in  the ,attic      
code1#aea4a which specially on this     
account may be called  civilised4 ,the  
court which tried admitted cases of     
homicide where the  plea of             
justification was raised was the        

,delphinion1 and its  foundation legend 
claimed that it was instituted to try   
,theseus for  slaying the ,pallantids   
who attacked him1 and that the plea of  
justifiable homicide was allowed4#aea4b 
,the name of the court shows  that its  
patron is the pure god1 and points to   
,crete and ,delphi1 the  chief centres  
of the ritual of purification4 ,now it  
is quite possible  that this momentous  
advance in law may have been prompted by
 the  healthy rationalism of the early  
,greek mind1 to some extent by secular  
utilitarian thought1 which reacted on   
the religious view of purity4 ,we  shall
 then say that the religion adapted     
itself dexterously to a  secular        
movement1 as it usually did in ,greece4 
,or it may #aeb be the  truth that the  
advance was due to a spontaneous        
movement within the  religion itself1   
beginning perhaps in the seventh        
century1 and to the  growing            
consciousness that the purity or        
impurity of an act depended  on motive  

and will4 ,if this idea penetrated at an
 early time1 as it  certainly did at a  
later1 into the sacerdotal circle1 then 
the priest  of ,apollo might grant or   
withhold purification according to the  
degree  of justification the homicide   
might prove3#aeb4a in this case a  court
 would be established at the instigation
 of the purifying god to  consider the  
circumstances4 ,this explanation must   
remain a hypothesis1  but it is one that
 assumes the action of real forces4     
,enough has been said to illustrate the 
intimate association of the  idea of    
purity with legal progress1#aeb4b and it
 only remains to  indicate #aec very    
briefly its impress and effect on       
religious  institutions4 ,one of the    
methods most frequently employed to     
attain  mental purity or freedom from   
the evil spirit is fasting2 from all    
human societies1 primitive and advanced1
 we could gather a copious  stock of    
illustration4 ,and mankind has1 on the  
whole1 agreed as to the  occasions at   

which the ritual is desirable2 in spring
 before the crops  and the first-fruits 
appear1 before the warriors go forth to 
battle1  before any kind of intimate    
communion with ,god1 when the family is 
in  mourning for a kinsman and evil     
influences are abroad1 fasting has  been
 practised as a mode of purging the body
 and safeguarding it  against spiritual 
harm or preparing it for the privilege  
of divine  intercourse4 ,it has been    
held necessary before any mystic        
initiation1#aed4a #aed the early        
,christian ,church prescribing it  for  
the days preceding the ,easter          
communion2 also before the  individual  
can attain the divine afflatus of       
prophecy or the  supernatural potency   
for expelling evil spirits or working   
wonder-cures4 8,such kind goeth not     
forth save by prayer and fasting40  ,the
 psychological basis of the ritual is   
the belief that certain  foods1 and     
finally all food1 are liable to engender
 evil influences in  the body2 and1     

moreover1 the experience that the       
abstinence generates  a peculiar mental 
condition of exaltation1 ecstasy1 and   
supra-normal  self-confidence3 other    
ideas1 such as the discipline of        
self-denial1  that come to gather round 
the practice are of later growth4       
,from the same primitive view of the    
relations between our body and the      
spiritual world has arisen the          
enforcement of celibacy upon the        
priesthood4 ,to trace the phenomenon1   
#aee which is commonly or  exceptionally
 found in all human societies1          
throughout the history of  the churches1
 would require a separate chapter4 ,it  
is not a late  growth in religion1 nor  
of necessity a sign of high development4
 ,and  here again the original          
psychological motive is not a spirit of 
self-mortification1 but the belief that 
the chaste body is the purer  abode for 
the ,divine ,spirit1 and the mental     
experience that such  self-abnegation   
usually engenders a stronger            

consciousness of  religious power4      
,there are signs that the idea is losing
 its hold on  the modern consciousness1 
but we see the deep impress it has made 
upon  some of the ideas and dogmas of   
our religion4 ,the institution of a     
sacerdotal rule of celibacy corresponds 
to the view prevalent in any  given     
society of the priestly function2 it is 
likely to be enforced  when the priest  
is invested with a specially prophetic  
and mystic  character1 and is required  
to mediate between the society and ,god 
by  means of frequent communion with the
 #aef divinity3 it is rare when  the    
civic and semi-secular view of the      
sacerdotal office prevails1  rare       
therefore among the ,northern ,aryans   
and in the pre-,christian  ,greek and   
,roman states1 although the ,hellenic   
ritual generally  required virginity1 or
 at least a prolonged chastity1 in the  
prophetess and occasionally in the      
ordinary priest4 ,it was common in  the 
ecstatic religions of ,anatolia1 and in 

the worship of ,cybele was  pushed to an
 unnatural extreme4 ,it is interesting  
again to trace the  association between 
the ,phrygian-,christian heresy of      
,montanism and the  older ,phrygian     
paganism2 and we have noted that        
,montanus1 its founder1  the champion of
 celibacy1 is reported to have been in  
his unconverted  days a priest of       
,cybele4    ,again1 the baptismal rite  
is a form of purification of world-wide 
prevalence1 as has been already         
intimated4 ,the washing of the new-born 
has been generally interpreted as a     
purgation of dangerous and evil         
influence among the lower as well as the
 higher races4 ,an interesting  form of 
such lustration is #aeg recorded of the 
old ,aztec home-life3  the midwife      
washed the infant with the prayer1 8,may
 this water purify  and whiten thy      
heart3 may it wash away all that is     
evil40#aeg4a ,the  adult1 before        
initiation into any mystic society1     
usually needed  elaborate purification2 

and this often took the form of baptism 
with  water and occasionally with blood3
 and in certain of the ,mediterranean   
religions the lustration was not merely 
regarded as a washing away of  the old  
sin1 but as a spiritual rebirth4#aeg4b  
,in the ,isis rites the  baptism with   
water was supposed to raise the mortal  
to the divinity3  in the description of 
the baptismal purification of ,setis ,i4
 the words  occur3 8,i have purified    
thee with life and power1 so as to make 
thee  young1 like thy father ,ra40 ,and 
the gods themselves were believed to  be
 reborn through the sprinkling of       
lustral water over their  images4#aeg4c 
,we discover the same theories held by  
the #aeh early  ,church concerning the  
,christian rite3 the font washes away   
the taint  of the flesh1 while at the   
same time the divine potency of the     
water  revivifies and recreates the     
catechumen1 who dies to the old life and
  is born again2 so that the font1 which
 itself was exorcised and  purified in  

the early period1 was in some sense the 
womb of spiritual  life1 and the rite is
 both an exorcism and a communion4 ,very
 soon in  the history of the ,church it 
came to be regarded as of such serious  
and critical significance that the      
catechumen must prepare himself for  it 
by prior purifications and exorcisms3   
such ceremonies as the  breathing on his
 forehead by the priest1 the sacramental
 partaking of  the salt1 the anointing  
with oil1 together with the utterance of
 a  prayer that 8the enemy might be put 
to flight10 have an obvious  cathartic  
significance4#aeh4a    ,we must also    
regard confession as a kind of          
purification2 for the  8speaking out0 of
 #aei sin would be regarded as a real   
purgation and  deliverance at that      
period of thought when words might be   
viewed as  things1 or at least as       
controlling things4 ,this was its       
meaning in the  preliminary ritual of   
the ,samothracian ,mysteries1 in the    
,mexican  religion#aei4a where it was   

associated with purification and the    
concept of rebirth1 and finally in the  
early ,christian ,church1 where  it was 
specially imposed upon the priest before
 the ,easter communion  as part of the  
purificatory preparation4#aei4b ,an     
interesting  formula of confession is   
found among the ,babylonian liturgical  
tablets3 the penitent prays to the god  
and the goddess--8,let the seven  winds 
carry away my sighs''' let the bird bear
 my wickedness to the  heavens3 let the 
fish carry off my misery1 let the river 
sweep it  away4 ,let the beast of the   
field take it from me4 ,let the waters  
of  the river wash me clean40 ,here the 
purificatory confessional #afj  works   
partly by prayer to the high god1 partly
 by the old idea of the  magic          
transference of sin into an alien       
substance4#afj4a    ,these are examples 
of practices in the advanced religions  
aiming at  the purging of internal and  
spiritual sin4 ,but the older and more  
materialistic view of impurity as a     

physical taint or as the miasma of  an  
evil spirit1 has not wholly faded even  
from historic ,christianity3  the       
ceremony of the churching of women1     
though transformed into a  thanksgiving 
service1 has descended from an old      
cathartic ritual that  purged away the  
dangerous pollution of child-birth3 and 
the  consecration of churches was       
originally merely a special application 
of the old-world practice of purifying  
the house against demons1 as we  may see
 from the legendary example given in the
 apocryphal 8,acts of ,st               
,thomas40#afj4b    #afa    ,the facts   
which ,i have collected and exposed1    
incomplete as the  statement is1 may    
justify what was said at the outset of  
the inquiry1  that the aboriginal idea  
of purity has struck deep roots in the  
soil  on which much of our ethical      
thought and feeling1 many of our legal  
and religious institutions1 have grown  
and developed4 ,the concept1  owing     
perhaps to its immemorial continuity of 

life and deep primeval  instinctiveness1
 if the word may pass1 is liable to     
fantastic  exaggerations4 ,it has       
sometimes proved itself an              
insurmountable  barrier to moral and    
legal progress4 ,when it has            
crystallised into a  hard 8pharisaic0   
form1 it has arrested and imprisoned the
 life of a  hitherto progressive people4
 ,on the other hand1 though its innate  
quality1 so to speak1 is never          
secular-utilitarian1 its contributions  
to our civilisation have been1 as we    
have seen1 of inestimable  service4 ,it 
has engendered the modern horror of     
murder #afb and  bloodshed1 and the     
ideal of the chaste life3 we owe to it  
in great  degree the delicate           
sensitiveness of spiritually gifted     
characters4  ,for good and for evil1 it 
has been an instinctive religious force 
more  potent than any other of these in 
the mental evolution of man4            
,,lecture ,,iv4   ,,the ,,evolution ,,of
 ,,prayer ,,from ,,lower ,,to ,,higher  

,,forms    #afc    ,there is no part of 
the religious service of mankind that so
 clearly  reveals the various views of  
the divine nature held by the different 
races at the different stages of their  
development as the formul of  prayer1 or
 reflects so vividly the material and   
psychologic history of  man4 ,the       
historic material at our disposal is    
unfortunately modern1  not reaching     
back1 that is to say1 to a period       
earlier than some four  thousand years  
before ,christ2 but this can be         
supplemented1 as usually  happens1 by   
the evidence gathered from the lower    
societies1 as well as  by the           
observation of practices that frequently
 accompany and are very  closely blended
 with prayer even in the higher         
religions1 #afd and  that we may with   
confidence believe to have descended    
from an  immemorial antiquity4 ,the     
question as to the origin of prayer is  
one  of great difficulty and of the     
deepest significance for the history    

and philosophy of religion2 for it      
inevitably involves the questions       
concerning the origin of the belief in a
 personal divinity1 concerning  the     
relation of magic to religion1 of the   
spell-ritual which commands  or         
constrains to a prayer-ritual of        
humiliation and entreaty4 ,even if  ,i  
had an original and matured judgment to 
put before you on questions  of such    
importance1 a single lecture would be a 
very inadequate space  for its          
exposition4#afd4a ,therefore1 though ,i 
may indicate1 ,i will  not attempt in   
this lecture to decide on1 the question 
of origin4 ,i  will content myself with 
arranging the phenomena according as    
they  appear from our point of view to  
belong to a lower stratum of religion   
or a higher2 such an #afe arrangement   
begs no question1 and agrees  with our  
experience that in all religions1       
whether savage or  civilised1 lower and 
higher elements are able to coexist4 ,i 
will first  give a general sketch of the

 facts1 with some interpretation of     
them1  and will follow this with an     
illustrative selection of the prayers of
  primitive and advanced communities4   
,according to the modern definition of  
prayer1 man addresses uttered or        
inaudible speech to a divine power      
conceived as ,spirit or ,god1 but       
always as personal1 in order to obtain  
material1 moral1 or spiritual           
blessings3 that part of the address that
 contains the actual prayer  will be    
often accompanied by words of homage1   
adoration1 confession of  sin1          
expressions of doctrinal faith1         
statements concerning the  beneficent   
operations of the divinity in time past1
 self-assuring  utterances of confidence
 in divine protection or the divine     
promise4  ,though the formul contain    
much positive statement and are by no   
means confined to the optative mood1 the
 attitude of the #aff  supplicator is   
always reverential and self-abased2     
modern religion  reprobates any idea of 

compelling the divinity2 only it        
generally  seals its petitions with the 
mystic signature of a powerful name4 ,if
  this may pass as a fairly             
comprehensive and adequate account of   
modern  or advanced prayer1 it will     
still be found to contain elements that 
may descend from a very ancient mould of
 religious thought not easy to          
reconcile with our higher religious     
consciousness2 and it is no  adequate   
account of the various modes which less 
advanced societies  have used and are   
still using to express their desires to 
the  supernatural power4 ,it has indeed 
been recently asserted1 with some       
plausibility1#aff4a that no savage      
community yet explored lacks the        
conception of a high god making for     
righteousness2 and certainly many  of   
the lower races have spontaneously      
developed genuine prayer in the  modern 
sense4 ,still it is sometimes reported  
by scientific observers  that some      
backward #afg peoples do not pray at    

all2#afg4a and it  appears not to be    
uncommon for the savage to regard his   
high god as  too remote to be addressed 
for any practical purpose4    ,but the  
savage1 though he may pray as we do1 has
 other ways of  addressing himself to   
the unseen personal agencies that he    
believes to  surround him2 and these are
 the ways of magic and the magic-spell4 
,having learned from human experience   
that he can project his  will-power by  
an occult process so as to subdue the   
mind of his  fellow-man1 he experiments 
with this method upon the world of      
nature  and spirits3 he deals with      
ghosts chiefly in this way1 though he   
may  pray to them also2 and he has no   
reluctance in applying his magic even   
to the higher divinities4 ,as           
magic-worker he stands on a different   
footing altogether from the petitioner3 
his attitude towards the  supernatural  
power is self-confident and imperious1  
his speech is no  prayer but a command4 
,he may project his will by dumb show1  

#afh by  action suggestive of his       
desire3 but in most cases he will       
probably  prefer to accompany it with   
potent speech1 so as to drive his will  
home to the mark1 so to speak3 and the  
psychology of such magic  practices has 
been ably investigated by recent        
writers4 ,the technical  name for such  
exercise of will upon another person is 
suggestion2 a  modern application of it 
sometimes appears in the extreme form   
that we  call mesmerism or hypnotism4   
,for the successful application of the  
charm1 it is often an essential         
condition that one should possess       
oneself of the name of the person       
against whom it is directed1 and at     
times of his picture or effigy1 for both
 the name and the picture are  regarded 
as vital parts of the whole             
individuality that one seeks to         
control4 ,the same ideas transferred    
into the world of supernatural          
personalities account for the potency   
and deep significance that  attaches to 

the divine name1 and for the prominence 
of the picture and  the effigy in the   
religious magic4 ,but the savage has    
also #afi  learned from experience that 
he can work upon his fellows by         
entreaty1  flattery1 soothing and       
endearing address3 and it was obviously 
natural  for him to approach the divine 
powers in the same fashion1 and to use  
humble and prayerful petitions4 ,nor    
does there seem any reason why he       
should not employ the methods of magic  
and prayer simultaneously or in  close  
conjunction on the same occasion4 ,we   
may often in fact be in  doubt whether  
to interpret a certain primitive        
religious act from one  point of view or
 the other4 ,thus we are told that when 
the ,khonds of  ,orissa are about to    
enter on a campaign1 8the priest cuts a 
branch and  dresses it and arms it1 so  
as to personate one of the foe3         
thereupon  it is thrown down at the     
shrine of the war-god03#afi4a ,this     
formal  appeal to the god is speechless1

 and may be thought to be a speechless  
prayer2 but it is of the same colour as 
a multifarious mass of  practices which 
are mimetic and which are intended to   
work by means of  suggestion4 #agj ,a   
singular ritual is recorded of the rain 
societies  of ,north ,america3#agj4a    
emblems or picture-writing representing 
clouds1 with vertical drops symbolising 
rain1 are placed on an altar1  ears of  
maize are placed by the side of them    
with other objects1 and  the corn-ears  
are sprinkled with water1 while at the  
same time prayers  are proffered to the 
ghosts that control the rain-supply4 ,we
 would  wish to know what the manner of 
the praying is2 but it seems clear  that
 we here have the ritual of prayer      
combined with magic-suggestion1  which  
consists in pretending to do the thing  
which it is desired to  bring about4    
,again1 the primitive formul devised to 
drive out the  demons of disease and    
poverty are usually imperious commands  
and not  prayers3 such as the ,chinese  

8,let the devil of poverty              
depart02#agj4b the ,greek1 8,go out1    
hunger10#agj4c and 8,to the  door1 you  
ghosts40#agj4d    #aga    ,but when1 as 
in ,buro1 the bidding takes such a form 
as 8,grandfather  small-pox1 go         
away10#aga4a the reverential and        
soothing address  allows us to          
approximate this to prayer1 for in the  
liturgies of the  earlier as well as the
 advanced religions the divinity is     
commonly  addressed in terms of kinship4
 ,we shall note instances of real       
prayers  proffered by the uncultured    
races to a high god1 yet retaining      
something of the magic character and    
tone3 we detect it in the mystic        
employment of the name1 in the          
reiteration of the same short phrase1   
in the droning sing-song in which1      
according to ,professor  ,tylor1#aga4b  
savage prayers are usually intoned1 the 
tone of a  mesmeric incantation4 ,but   
gradually1 as the concept of divinity   
deepens in the progressive race1 and the

 mind becomes penetrated with  the      
consciousness of the littleness of man  
and of the incomparable  greatness of   
,god1 the worshipper tends to become the
 humble petitioner  and prayer #agb     
comes to predominate over spell4 ,and it
 has happened  in the legislation of the
 higher religions that magic at last    
becomes  8suspect0 and tabooed3 yet the 
most austere and purified religion      
often unconsciously retains certain     
elements of spell-ritual1 and even      
legitimatises the spell by virtue of the
 distinction between white  magic and   
black4 ,the distinction is              
morphologically unsound1 and  arises    
generally from ex-parte prejudice4 ,we  
do not find1 in fact1  if we broadly    
compare the phenomena of all religions1 
that cleavage  and irreconcilable       
antagonism between magic and religion   
which has  often been supposed4 ,even in
 religions that we must class as high1  
the  deity himself is often imagined to 
work by means of magic1 and the         

,christian ,church itself has given its 
patronage and consecration to  practices
 of magical significance1 such as the   
ordeal1 purification1  certain forms of 
healing1 exorcisms of evil spirits3 all 
these will be  accompanied by prayers to
 ,god1 but the prayers are so           
impregnated with  the ideas of #agc     
animistic magic that we can hardly      
regard them as  pure forms4             
,nevertheless1 though the lower elements
 are so difficult  to eradicate1 yet the
 experience of some few of the higher   
communities  may reassure us that as a  
religion progresses in spirituality it  
can  purge itself more and more         
thoroughly of these1 and the progress is
  from spell to prayer4    ,again1 we   
may compare the phenomena from the point
 of view of the  progress in aspiration4
 ,in the primitive period1 when the     
struggle is  to live at all rather than 
to live well1 the objects of prayer must
 be  material blessings1 and these are  
still prominent in the liturgies of  the

 civilised societies4 ,there is a       
sameness in all these1 and the  chief   
distinction to note is between the      
prayers that look to the  individual    
alone and those that look to the good of
 the community4 ,a  higher stage is     
reached when moral and spiritual        
qualities become the  object of prayer2 
and when this is attained1 the principle
 of prayer  is likely to become more and
 more spiritual1 and the #agd petitioner
  more and more diffident in the        
expression of his material wants1 and   
with a growing consciousness that the   
,deity knows best what is good  for man1
 may rise to the height of the formula1 
8,thy will be done40 ,it  is interesting
 to note in how many races some such    
utterance has been  heard2 and at times 
men may have been helped to it by the   
consciousness which scientific advance  
had awakened1 that the laws of  the     
material universe cannot be capriciously
 altered to suit the  temporary needs of
 the individual3 a formula of           

acquiescence appears  then to be the    
deepest and truest prayer4 ,finally1 in 
the evolution of  prayer we may consider
 that the consummation is marked by the 
theory1  maintained by later ,greek     
philosophy and early ,christian fathers 
alike1 that the true intention of prayer
 is not the mere petition for  some     
special blessing1 but rather the        
communion with ,god1 to whom it  is a   
spiritual approach4 ,here as often      
elsewhere1 the highest  spiritual       
product of human thought #age reveals   
its affinity with  some dimly remote    
primeval concept2 for much of the       
spell-ritual at  which we have been     
glancing implies an idea of such        
communion1 the  human agent endeavouring
 to charge himself with a potency drawn 
from a  quasi-divine source4    ,it     
remains now to take concrete examples   
from the record of prayer  illustrative 
of these phases of development4 ,looking
 first at the  savage races1 we have    
already observed that some of their     

formul  seem to belong to the borderland
 between spell and prayer4 ,when the    
,new ,caledonian says over the fire that
 he kindles to increase the heat  of the
 sun1 8,sun1 ,i do this that you may be 
burning hot10 it is  obviously not a    
prayer that he utters to the sun-god but
 a formula  expressing the suggestion of
 his magic4#age4a ,and when the ,karens 
of  ,burma at the threshing of the rice 
call out to the corn-mother1 8,shake    
thyself1 grandmother1 shake thyself4    
,let the paddy ascend till it  equals a 
hill1 equals a mountain2 shake thyself1 
#agf grandmother1  shake thyself10#agf4a
 we have surely a command rather than a 
pure  prayer2 for primitive             
vegetation-ritual works by compulsion   
rather  than entreaty4 ,on the other    
hand1 we have record of a genuine ,karen
  prayer addressed to 8the ,god of      
heaven and earth1 ,god of the mountains 
and hills10 on the occasion when a sin  
of unchastity was supposed to  have     
sterilised the earth3 8,do not be angry 

with me1 do not hate me1  but have mercy
 on me and compassionate me4''' ,now ,i 
repair the  mountains1 now ,i heal the  
hills4''' ,make thy paddy fruitful1 thy 
rice  abundant4''' ,if we cultivate but 
little1 still grant that we may obtain  
a little40 ,but the prayer is           
accompanied with rites that are purely  
magical and aiming at the restoration of
 the earth4#agf4b    ,the buffalo clan  
among the ,sioux ,indians decorate      
themselves with  emblems of their totem 
animal before going on the war-path1    
#agg and  express the purpose of the    
dressing with a sententious phrase3 8,my
  little grandfather is always dangerous
 when he makes an  attempt40#agg4a ,such
 an utterance1 considered formally1 is  
not a  prayer but a statement about the 
power of the buffalo1 8the little       
grandfather02 for it is an article of   
faith in the magic creed that  the      
supernatural force1 which the spell aims
 at setting in operation1  can be made  
to work by definite statements that it  

is working2 these  are suggestive       
assurances that increase one's own      
confidence2 and the  ,sioux formula is  
of such a nature2 only the coaxing and  
endearing  phrase of kinship seems to   
imply a half entreaty as well4 ,we      
discern  more clearly the rudiments of a
 prayer in the words addressed by the   
,santee ,indians to the buffalo when    
they have offered him a feast3          
8,grandfather1 venerable man1 thy       
children have made this feast for  you3 
may the food thus taken cause them to   
live #agh and bring them  good          
fortune40#agh4a ,the account of the     
,sioux religion preserves a  quaint form
 of words which are used for the        
riddance of the ghost1 to  despatch the 
soul of the deceased to the home of the 
dead3 8,you are  going to the animals1  
you are going to your ancestors1 you    
came hither  from the animals and you   
are going back thither3 do not face this
 way  again3 when you go1 continue      
walking40#agh4b ,the tone of the words  

is kind and considerate1 but            
authoritative rather than supplicatory1 
and unlike the formula which the same   
,indians are reported to use when       
praying to their ancestors for good     
weather or good hunting1 8,spirits  of  
the dead1 have mercy on us40#agh4c      
,certain prayers used  habitually by the
 ,todas of the ,nalgiri hills for the   
thriving of the  dairy and the buffalo  
herd have recently been published1#agh4d
 and  as the formul are all #agi in the 
optative mood--8,may it be well  for the
 buffaloes1 may there be no destroyer1  
etc410 and there is an  appeal to divine
 personages or powers--8for the sake of 
such or such a  god may this happen0--we
 may class them as prayers2 but the     
appeal is  very faint and the formul    
seem to be used as if they possessed a  
self-dependent efficacy4 ,more          
interesting and fervent is the address  
to the sun1 proffered by a solitary     
hunter of the half-christianised        
,kekchi tribe of ,indians3#agi4a his    

object is to secure game and food  in   
the wilderness both for himself and as  
an oblation to the god2 but  in the very
 long and impassioned utterance1 with   
its many repetitions1  there is very    
little direct entreaty3 the ,indian     
contents himself with  definite and     
reassuring statements concerning the    
omnipresence of the  deity and the ease 
with which the latter can execute his   
will3 8,it  will give you no trouble to 
give me all kind of game02 and a moving 
#ahj appeal is made on the ground of    
kinship3 8,thou art my father3  who is  
my mother1 who is my father8 ,only thou1
 ,o ,god40    ,we may regard these      
utterances of the hunter not indeed as  
spells1 for  his attitude is most       
reverent and loving1 but as potent      
statement  effecting the purpose of     
prayer4 ,nor need we see ,christian     
influence  in the striking phrase last  
quoted1 though of course this is        
possible2  such endearing address is    
common both in the lower and higher     

liturgies3 the ,egyptian appealed to    
,isis in similar terms#ahj4a--8,oh  my  
father1 my brother1 my mother ,isis10   
the ,babylonian addressed ,bel  as      
father and mother1#ahj4b and a ,vedic   
hymn contains the phrase1  8,thou1 oh   
,agni1 art our father1 we are thy       
kinsmen40#ahj4c ,such  appeals1         
suggested by the affection between      
kinsmen #aha and the idea  of the       
kinship of man with ,god1 belong to the 
alphabet of pure prayer4    ,of still   
more value for the light it throws on   
the attitude of the  ,indian's mind to  
the powers of the unseen world1 is the  
so-called  prayer of a ,navajo ,shaman  
belonging to the district of ,arizona1  
recently published in the ,american     
,anthropologist2#aha4a and to           
understand it the circumstances must be 
briefly stated4 ,the ,shaman had  been  
telling the ,american inquirer the story
 of his tribe's descent  through the    
lower world and their re-emergence3     
after the narrative he  fears that      

speaking about the lower regions may    
have caused his own  spiritual or astral
 part to have left his body and departed
 thither2  and he therefore proceeds to 
recite a long so-called prayer intended 
to deliver his soul from the witchcraft 
that may be detaining it  below4 ,we    
should not strictly call it a prayer at 
all1 but a narrative  in the indicative 
mood stating that the war-gods of the   
tribe are  actually doing what he       
specially #ahb wants them to do1 namely1
 to go  down and rescue his soul from   
the woman-chieftain1 8the underground   
witch40 ,every step of their way there  
and back is carefully recounted  several
 times over1 so that they cannot go     
wrong2 and when they are  supposed to   
have brought back his soul1 the recital 
ends with the  joyful refrain1 8,the    
world before me is restored in beauty3  
my voice  is restored in beauty10 each  
phrase repeated five times4 ,it is      
really  a spell-narrative about the     
gods1 having the same effect as prayer1 

and is a twofold illustration of the    
primitive idea that talking about  a    
thing makes it happen2 an idea not      
wholly extinct among ourselves1  and    
possibly underlying some of the         
liturgies of higher religions4    ,for  
the rest1 savages often pray very much  
as the civilised man1 and  accompany    
some of their purifications and         
medicine-magic with real  prayers to    
higher gods to give them efficacy3 for  
instance1 the  ,african doctor          
administering the medicine shown him by 
#ahc the  fetich holds it first up to   
heaven and prays1 8,father ,heaven1     
bless  this medicine that ,i now        
give40#ahc4a ,but ,i have not been able 
to  find any example of a savage prayer 
for moral or spiritual blessings4  ,an  
interesting feature is1 however1        
observable in a verbose and very        
exacting prayer made by the ,khonds of  
,orissa to the earth-goddess2  after    
particularising very carefully their    
material wants1 they  conclude with the 

words1 8,we are ignorant of what it is  
good to ask  for4 ,you know what is good
 for us1 give it us40#ahc4b ,this       
appears  to be a unique savage version  
of the great phrase1 8,thy will be      
done40    ,turning now to the liturgies 
of the more advanced peoples1#ahc4c we  
may note briefly at the #ahd outset one 
feature that is found in most  of them  
if not common to all2 namely1 the idea  
that the prayer gains  potency from the 
solemn utterance of the true divine     
name4 ,the  phenomenon has been examined
 by recent writers on comparative       
religion1 especially by ,giesebrecht in 
his treatise on ,die                    
,alt-testamentliche ,schtzung des       
,gottesnamens4#ahd4a ,in primitive      
psychology1 the name is part of the     
personality1 and the soul or power  of  
the individual inheres in it3 therefore 
he who has the name of the  person1     
whether human1 superhuman1 or divine1   
can exercise a certain  control over him
 by means of its magical application4   

,thus in the  appeal to the god ,ukko in
 the ,kalevala1 8,ukko1 oh thou god in  
heaven1  ,ukko come1 we call upon thee1 
,ukko come1 we need thee sorely10 there 
is virtue in the threefold repetition of
 the name1 and the passage is  part of  
an address which is called 8magic       
words40 ,evidence from #ahe  ,teutonic  
paganism1 so far as ,i know1 is lacking1
 although the idea has  left its clear  
imprint on the human saga4 ,its         
influence is strongest  and its         
operation most interesting in the       
liturgies of the  ,mediterranean and of 
,india4 ,in old ,latium1 it seems1 the  
pontifices  endeavoured to conceal the  
true names of the gods1 lest they might 
be  wrongly used by unauthorised        
persons#ahe4a or lest the enemy should  
get the knowledge of them and therewith 
the power to draw the  divinities away4 
,we may thus understand the often       
misinterpreted  statement in ,herodotus1
 that the ,pelasgian deities were       
nameless2 and  the ,greeks themselves   

must have been familiar with the ritual 
precaution of keeping secret the divine 
name1 as we may gather from  the phrase 
in the ,euripidean fragment#ahe4b about 
the enlightened  man 8who knows the     
silent names of the gods03 it is curious
 to find  exactly the same expression in
 a ,vedic hymn1#ahe4c #ahf in which  the
 sacrificial post1 or tree to which the 
sacrifices were attached1  is thus      
addressed3 8,where thou knowest1 oh     
tree1 the sacred names of  the gods1 to 
that place make the offerings go40 ,it  
is possible that  the same superstition 
may have been the original cause of the 
custom  that has sometimes been observed
 of silent or inaudible prayer3 the     
formul with the divine name attached to 
them being of such potency  that they   
must be concealed4    ,the belief that  
the name belongs to the essence of the  
personality  explains the curious       
formula in the ,umbrian prayer preserved
 in the  ,tabul ,iguvin1 where the god  
,grabovius is implored to be propitious 

to the 8,arx ,fisia0 and to 8the name of
 the ,arx ,fisia10 as if the name  of   
the city was a living and independent   
entity4    ,in the ,greek liturgies we  
note the anxious care with which        
particular  qualifying epithets were    
selected and attached to the personal   
name of  the divinity1 so as to make    
clear what was the precise operation of 
divine #ahg favour which the prayer     
aimed at evoking4 ,this explains  why so
 many divinities1 some of whom were     
scarcely known outside a  narrow area1  
were invoked as 1 8thou god of many     
names10 all  possible titles of power   
being summed up in one word4 ,certain   
passages  in the poets become           
intelligible only in the light of this  
idea3 such  as the well-known phrase in 
the chorus of the ,agamemnon of         
schylus3#ahg4a 8,zeus1 whosoever the god
 is1 if this name of ,zeus is  dear to  
him1 by this name ,i now appeal to him40
 ,the thought and the  words of the     
,vedic poet are often the same as the   

,greek3 ,agni is  3 8,agni1 many are the
 names of thee the ,immortal one02 and  
again1 8,the father adoring gives many  
names to thee1 oh ,agni1 if thou        
shouldest take pleasure therein40#ahg4b 
,but it is in ,egypt1 the land of magic1
 where the idea of the potency  of the  
divine name #ahh assumes dimensions that
 are truly gigantic4  ,in an early      
metaphysical theory of the origin of    
things1 which in its  harmonious        
self-contradiction reaches quite to the 
level of ,hegelian  philosophy1 the     
universe is said to have come into      
being1 and the  first god himself       
effects his own creation by the         
utterance of his own  portentous        
name3#ahh4a in the beginning was the    
name4 ,it is said of  the great god ,ra 
that 8his names are manifold and        
unknown1 even the  gods know them not40 
,naturally1 therefore1 the goddess ,isis
 was  desirous of knowing his real name1
 and having discovered it by a ruse1    
she became mistress over him and all    

gods4#ahh4b ,in certain ,egyptian       
papyri containing ,abraxas prayers1 we  
find the prayer sometimes  coupled with 
the reminder that the petitioner knows  
the divine mystic  name2#ahh4c thus     
equipped1 the prayer is more than a mere
 humble  entreaty4    #ahi    ,was it   
from ,egypt that the early ,israelites  
derived the same mystic  illusion       
concerning the divine name1 which to    
some of the scholars of  the last       
generation appeared to be a faith       
peculiar to the chosen  people8 ,at     
least we are now enabled1 by the recent 
exposition of the  facts1 to understand 
the inner force of such prayers as the  
,psalmist's  8,save me1 oh ,god1 by thy 
name and judge me by thy                
strength03#ahi4a  of ,jahv's warning to 
his people in the ,exodus to obey the   
angel whom  he sends them1 8,obey his   
voice''' for my ,name is in him30#ahi4b 
of the  oath taken by those initiated   
into the ,essenian sect not to reveal   
the  names of the angels3#ahi4c of      

expressions in the ,new ,testament      
concerning the casting out of devils and
 the healing of the sick in  the name of
 ,jesus3 finally1 of the significant    
baptismal phrase1 8to  baptize into the 
name of ,christ10#ahi4d which reveals   
the name as a  religious potency into   
which as into a #aij spiritual          
atmosphere the  adult catechumen or the 
initiated infant is brought4 ,and these 
facts  of old-world religion and        
religious logic cast a new light on the 
name-formul which close most of the     
prayers of the ,christian ,church1  and 
which are words of power to speed the   
prayer home2 and though the  modern     
consciousness may often be unaware of   
this mystic function of  theirs1 we may 
believe that it was more clearly        
recognised in the  early days of        
,christianity1 for in the apocryphal    
acts of ,st ,john we  find a long list  
of mystical names and titles attached to
 ,christ  giving to the prayer much of  
the tone of an enchantment4#aij4a       

,connected as it seems with this        
superstition about names is the belief  
that1 in order to gain complete power   
over a human or divine  personality1 it 
is necessary to know their origin and to
 express what  one knows about them in  
the charm3 thus in the ,kalevala the    
young  magician is taught the origin    
#aia of things in order that he may     
know the proper enchantment against     
them1 and a long account of the  origin 
of iron1 regarded as a demoniac         
substance1 occurs in the  word-magic    
used to cure the wound it inflicted4    
,hence we may account  for the          
descriptive or1 so to speak1            
biographical element in charms  that are
 on the borderland of prayer4 ,the      
exorciser of evil dreams in  the        
,atharva-,veda prays or sings thus3 8,we
 know1 oh sleep1 thy birth2  thou art   
the son of the divine women-folk1 the   
instrument of ,death4  ,thou art the    
ender1 thou art ,death4 ,thus do we know
 thee1 oh sleep3 do  thou1 oh sleep1    

protect us from evil dreams40#aia4a ,and
 in the  worship of ,agni the belief is 
expressed that 8the prayers fill thee   
with power and strengthen thee10 and    
this is at once followed by an  account 
of his nature and origin4#aia4b ,is it  
then too far-fetched  to trace the      
survival of this old-world #aib thought1
 rooted as it is  in the magic of the   
word and the statement1 in the          
prominence given to  the dogmatic       
biographical statement in our own       
liturgy8 ,we regard it  as a confession 
of faith3 it may also be regarded as an 
expression of  the worshipper's         
knowledge of the divine personality1    
whereby he  raises himself into         
communion with it and thus gains power  
for his  prayer4#aib4a    ,considering  
now in a more general survey the        
liturgies of the nations  that have     
attained culture1 we might begin with   
our own fathers4 ,but  so little that   
touches the inner life of their         
pre-,christian religion  has been       

preserved1 that probably not much       
material for our present  purpose is to 
be discovered from the records4 ,we know
 that they were  given to the employment
 of the rune or the spell1 the rival or 
the  parent of prayer2 and one of these1
 used by ,odin to heal the sprained     
foot of ,baldur's foal1 is perhaps #aic 
the only surviving fragment of          
,indo-,germanic poetry4#aic4a ,odin     
sings1 8,bone to bone1 blood to  blood1 
limb to limb1 as though they were glued 
together02 in a later  ,norwegian1 and  
also in a ,scottish version1 it is      
,christ who heals the  foal with the    
same magic words1 strengthened however  
by the formula1  8,heal in the ,holy    
,ghost's name40 ,and this useful        
medicine-charm was  not forgotten by the
 ,aryan ,indians1 for we find the words 
in the  ,atharva-,veda1 8,fit together1 
hair with hair1 fit together1 skin with 
skin3 thy blood1 thy bone shall         
grow40#aic4b ,neither god nor ghost  was
 needed to help out the force of such   

incantations4 ,but probably  some time  
before ,christianity prayer had come to 
prevail over spell in  the ,teutonic    
,north1 for there are traces there of a 
certain #aid  antagonism growing between
 magic and religion1 which led to the   
condemnation of certain forms of        
magic4#aid4a    ,an interesting question
 arises about a prayer-charm used by the
 early  ,english against sterility of   
the fields3 8,hail be thou1 ,earth1     
,mother  of ,men1 wax fertile in the    
embrace of ,god1 fulfilled with fruit   
for  the use of man40#aid4b ,this poetic
 utterance implies a veritable   1 or   
holy marriage of earth and heaven in the
 ,greek sense2  and reminds us vividly  
of the spell-formula1 used in the       
,eleusinian  ,mysteries and descending  
from the period when the purpose of     
these was  mainly agricultural1  1      
8,rain and ,conceive10 which was uttered
 by  the mystes1 who folded his arms and
 glanced up to the sky at the first     
word and down to the earth at the       

second3 a spell-prayer for fertility    
and human increase4 ,it is probably then
 correct #aie to call this  phrase of   
our ancestors1 which is the only        
surviving fragment1 so far  as ,i am    
aware1 of their pre-,christian liturgy1 
a spell-prayer that was  efficacious by 
way of suggestion rather than of        
entreaty4    ,of the same ambiguous     
character was the old ,roman chant of   
the priests  of ,mars1 8,enos ,lases    
juvate10 8,help us1 ,o spirits of our   
ancestors10  repeated with the iteration
 common in enchantments and accompanied 
with dancing and with the utterance of  
the word 8triumpe40 ,from the  higher   
point of view the ,roman prayers that   
have come down to us are  barren and    
dull2 the well-known liturgical archive 
containing ,rome's  address to ,jupiter 
in the critical days of the ,hannibalic 
war is a  wary and cleverly drawn legal 
document1 intended to bind the god as   
well as the ,state4#aie4a ,in fact the  
spiritual side of the old ,roman        

character has left no trace of itself in
 any ritual or liturgy of  which we have
 record4 ,the prayer of #aif ,cato's    
that has been  preserved is merely      
materialistic4#aif4a    ,we expect much 
more from ,greece1 and in some measure  
we are not  disappointed4 ,spell-ritual 
was no doubt always much in vogue1      
especially for the purposes of          
agriculture and purification3 we hear   
of certain 8magicians0 or  of ,cleonae  
who averted hailstorms with             
incantations and the shedding of their  
own blood4#aif4b ,and a solemn  part of 
the ,state liturgy in ,greece was a     
commination service1 which  pronounced a
 curse on certain offences against the  
,state4 ,the  religious curse is an     
interesting phenomenon of which it is   
not easy  to give briefly a full and    
exact anthropological account2 it is    
taken  up by the higher religions1 but  
it by no means originated in them1      
belonging to the sphere of spell rather 
than of prayer1 and working  out its    

effect by means of magic suggestion4    
,even the #aig ,jewish  service1 which  
we still use on ,ash ,wednesday1 employs
 curse-formul  in which there is no     
immediate reference to ,god1 and they   
may have  been regarded originally as   
having an independent efficacy4 ,this   
was  certainly the case in ,greece1 for 
the curse was itself personified as  an 
independent1 personal power2 and the    
,erinyes themselves1 in some  degree the
 personal embodiments of the curse1 work
 their effect on the  victim by singing 
a spell-song1 according to schylus1     
which binds  his soul and withers him   
away4#aig4a ,and the many private       
8devotiones0 or 8dir0 that have come    
down to us from ,greek  antiquity1      
written usually on leaden tablets and   
consecrating the  enemy to the powers of
 the lower world1 employ indeed an      
appeal to  these powers that may be     
interpreted as prayer1 but their        
essential  quality is magical1 and they 
certainly were supposed to operate as   

spells against the individual1 while    
even the divinities to whom they  are   
addressed appear to be constrained #aih 
rather than entreated4 ,in  one         
interesting example of the first century
 ,a4,d41 found in  gina1#aih4a of       
,hellenic-,christian or possibly ,judaic
 origin1 the  curse takes on the form of
 a prayer for righteous vengeance--8,i  
call  on the ,highest ,god1 the ,lord of
 all spirits and of all flesh1 before   
whom every soul this day is humbled with
 supplication1 against those  who have  
treacherously slain or poisoned the     
unfortunate ,heracleia40  ,in the ,greek
 legal procedure a curse was sometimes  
uttered against  oneself if one forswore
 oneself or if one was guilty of the    
charge2  and here as in similar cases in
 ,christian jurisprudence the curse is  
an invocation of the high god who will  
punish perjury2 but we find it          
similarly employed in the animistic     
stage of religion1 by the ,african  for 
instance1 who takes an oath by his      

fetich1#aih4b 8,may this  fetich slay me
 if ,i do not fulfil the contract02 and 
in such cases we  must regard the curse 
as a spell working by #aii suggestion   
against  oneself rather than as a       
prayer4    ,before considering ,greek   
prayer proper1 we may note as a last    
example  of an ambiguous formula1       
standing midway as it seems between     
spell and  prayer1 the striking         
liturgical utterance of the old ,dodonan
 ritual1  employed for an agricultural  
service3 the priestesses chanted the    
refrain in two hexameters1 the old metre
 of religion1 8,god was1 ,god  is1 ,god 
will be1 oh ,great ,god2 the earth      
brings forth fruits1  therefore call on 
mother earth40#aii4a ,the resemblance of
 this to  the early ,english formula    
quoted above is striking enough4 ,the   
first  line belongs to an elevated      
religion and seems far removed from the 
region of magic2 but equally spiritual  
formul concerning the nature  and the   
attributes of ,god were used in the     

,zarathustrian and  ,babylonian         
liturgies for magical purposes1 just as 
texts from the  ,bible and ,koran have  
been4 ,and the second line employs the  
same method  as the ,navajo #bjj ,shaman
 employed1 for it states that the       
divinity  is doing that very thing which
 it is the object of the liturgy to     
bring about4 ,the appeal to mother earth
 which is enjoined may have  been merely
 the invocation of her name1 a spell at 
least as much as a  prayer4 ,the same   
may be said of the other popular        
refrains chanted by  the husbandmen of  
ancient ,greece to obtain good crops or 
fair  weather--8,give us big sheaves1   
sheaves10 to ,demeter1#bjj4a or 8,come  
forth1 dear sun10 to the sun-god4#bjj4b 
,the public prayers of ,greece1 those   
actually used in the  temple-service and
 the official liturgies1 have not been  
preserved1  and in this respect the     
,greek record is very barren compared   
with the  ,babylonian1 ,vedic1 or       
,iranian4 ,but though the actual formul 

are  lost1 we can gather some impression
 from the inscriptions and other        
literary sources as to the objects of   
prayer4 ,the ,athenian state  prayed1   
8,for the #bja health and safety of the 
people of the  ,athenians1 their wives  
and children and all in the             
country10#bja4a  and the formula might  
include a prayer for the prosperity of  
their  allies1 such as ,milesians or    
,platans4 ,but we have no indications   
that the blessings prayed for included  
others besides the material  ones4 ,the 
,lacedmonians are commended by          
,socrates#bja4b for  refraining from    
specifying any particular want1 either  
in their  private or public prayers1 but
 contenting themselves with praying that
  the gods should grant them     3 the  
phrase has  something of a genuine ring1
 and is probably derived from a real    
liturgy1 but it is not absolutely       
precise2 it seems1 however1 to  comprise
 spiritual blessings as well as         
material1 and in this respect  to be    

unique among the public prayers in      
,greece1 if we dare judge them  by the  
scanty record4 ,probably the formul were
 very old and the range  of aspiration  
usually narrow2 and the #bjb idea that  
moral advance  could be attained by     
prayer is perhaps hardly likely to have 
been  reflected in them2 yet we must    
take note of the plaintive question put 
by the ,corcyran state1 weary of civic  
strife and massacre1 to the  ,dodonan   
oracle1 asking1 8,to what god or what   
hero shall we pray in  order to obtain  
concord1 and to govern our city fairly  
and  well80#bjb4a and we find an        
educational official of ,cos1 in the    
second century ,b4,c41 praying 8for the 
health and the virtuous  behaviour of   
the boys40#bjb4b    ,we are better      
informed concerning the style of private
 prayer in  ,greece1 as also concerning 
the theory of prayer that gradually     
commended itself to the highest         
intelligences4 ,the average private man 
was certainly capable of praying for    

blessings other than material4 ,we  have
 the prayer of a potter of ,metapontum1 
of the sixth century ,b4,c41  praying   
#bjc to the god that he might 8have a   
good report among  men40#bjc4a ,among   
the prayers contained in the literature 
of the  fifth century1 our interest is  
arrested by such utterances as          
,pindar's1 8,may ,i walk1 oh ,god1 in   
the guileless paths of life1 and  leave 
behind me a fair name for my            
children02#bjc4b and again1 8,oh  ,god  
that bringest all things to pass1 grant 
me the spirit of reverence  for noble   
things02#bjc4c and by this of           
,euripides1 8,may the spirit  of        
chastity abide with me1 the fairest gift
 of ,god40#bjc4d ,to this  age may      
belong the poetical fragment of a       
banquet song--for the ,greeks  could    
pray genially and seriously in the midst
 of social  intercourse--which must have
 once had much vogue3 8,oh ,pallas1 born
 of  waters1 ,queen ,athena1 mayest thou
 and thy father keep this city and  its 

citizens in prosperity1 free from       
sorrow1 civic discord1 and  untimely    
deaths40#bjc4e ,the prayers of ,xenophon
 and ,plutarch may  #bjd be taken as    
typical of the average ethical feeling  
of their  respective periods3 the former
 petitions for 8health1 bodily strength1
  good feeling among friends1 safety in 
war1 and wealth02#bjd4a the  latter for 
8wealth1 concord1 righteousness in word 
and deed40#bjd4b    ,meantime the       
philosophers from ,socrates onwards were
 insisting on the  more spiritual view  
of prayer1 preaching that1 in the first 
place1  there was no need to            
particularise one's needs in one's      
petitions to  ,god1 for there was danger
 lest one should pray for what is       
injurious2  in the second place1 that   
prayer should look only to the          
spiritual1  not the material life4 ,and 
we owe to this theory some striking     
utterances that must rank high in the   
literature of ethical religion3  such as
 the prayer of ,socrates1     1  8,grant

 me to become noble of heart0#bjd4c2 of 
,apollonius of ,tyana1       1 8,oh     
gods1 grant me that which ,i            
deserve0#bjd4d2 the longer poetic #bje  
formula quoted by ,plato1  8,king ,zeus1
 grant us the good whether we pray for  
it or not1 but evil  keep from us though
 we pray for it0#bje4a3 and with these  
we may  compare the dictum of           
,epictetus#bje4b3 8,in praying to the   
divine  powers ask for divine things1   
things free from fleshly or earthly     
circumstance40 ,other expressions of the
 ,stoic sect are equally  striking for  
the spirit of fervent acquiescence and  
resignation that  inspires them4 ,here  
is the prayer of ,epictetus3 8,do with  
me what thou  wilt3 my will is thy will3
 ,i appeal not against thy              
judgments0#bje4c2 and a poetic version  
of this has come down to us  from       
earlier stoicism--8,lead me1 ,o ,god1   
and ,i will follow1 willingly  if ,i am 
wise1 but if not willingly ,i still must
 follow40 ,a prayer  recorded in the    

apocryphal ,acts of ,st ,thomas#bje4d   
seems almost an  echo of these3 8,i go  
whither ,thou wilt1 oh ,jesus3 ,thy will
 be done40    ,when the best thought of 
the age had #bjf reached to such a point
 of  spiritual abstraction1 it was      
natural that the same question should   
arise as arose among the more           
philosophic adherents of early          
,christianity1 whether special prayers  
were justifiable at all4 ,it  seems that
 at some period the ,pythagorean school 
were inclined to  forbid prayer         
altogether1#bjf4a for the reason that   
,god knew better  how to give than man  
knew how to ask2 but the later          
,neo-,platonism  discovered an ideal    
raison-d'tre for the practice1 on the   
ground  that it raised the mind to      
direct communion and converse with ,god2
 and  this view is developed at great   
length by ,proclus4#bjf4b    ,this      
sketch of the ,greek phenomena that     
belong to our subject may  close with an
 example of that perfervid mysticism    

that marks the  liturgies of latest     
paganism3 the #bjg following is the     
close of a  long address to             
,asclepios--an ,hellenic deity attracted
 here into the  ,egyptian circle--found 
in the treatise called ,asclepios1      
attributed  to ,apuleius3#bjg4a 8,we    
rejoice in thy divine salvation1 because
 thou  hast shown thyself wholly to us3 
we rejoice that thou hast deigned to    
consecrate us to eternity1 while we are 
still in these mortal bodies4  ,we have 
known thee1 oh true life of the life of 
man4''' ,adoring thy  goodness1 we make 
this our only prayer''' that thou       
wouldst be willing  to keep us all our  
lives in the love of thy knowledge40    
,portions at  least of this prayer1     
which was the prelude to a communion    
supper1  would not surprise us if we    
found it in a ,christian liturgy4#bjg4b 
#bjh    ,it will be convenient next to  
glance at the records of the other great
  branches of the ancient ,aryan world1 
the ,vedic ,indians and the  ,iranians4 

,one does not read long in the sacred   
books of ,india without  attaining the  
conviction that the highest religion of 
the ,vedas was  deeply penetrated with  
sacerdotal magic2 which was so far from 
losing  its hold in the later period    
that it imprisoned the religious        
thought1  and the later ,brahmanism was 
capable of the belief that without the  
spell of the sacrifice the sun could not
 run his course in heaven4 ,and  the    
recital of spells forms a great part of 
the ,vedic ritual4 ,thus the  hymns say 
of the fire-god ,agni1 8,the thoughtful 
men find ,agni when  they have recited  
the spells02 and the gods themselves1   
like the ,norse  divinities1 work by    
spells3 8,agni upholds the sky by his   
efficacious  spells40#bjh4a ,yet the    
early record gives us also copious      
illustration of real prayer1 and        
occasionally of a very exalted tone4    
,it is true1 as we should expect1 #bji  
that material and temporal  advantages  
are by far the predominant objects of   

the petition3 the  head of the household
 prays for wealth1 offspring1 victory in
 battle  or the races2 with rare        
exceptions1 the prayers are personal and
  private rather than political1 and are
 thus in marked contrast to the         
,hellenic2 yet we have a few that are   
evidently proffered for the             
community1#bji4a and at times the deity 
is petitioned to grant an  abundant     
supply of valiant men4 ,but even in the 
few prayers that  reflect the political 
life of the ,state1 the individualistic 
spirit is  apt to appear4 ,we have a    
curious example of a petition to ,indra 
to  make a man powerful in the political
 assembly3 8,in this entire  gathering  
render1 ,o ,indra1 me successful10 and  
this is combined with a  nave spell     
whereby the politician endeavours to    
mesmerise the whole  meeting3 he names  
the assembly--as our ,speaker might name
 a  recalcitrant member--8,we know thy  
name1 #baj oh assembly4''' ,of them     
that are sitting together ,i take to    

myself the power and the                
understanding03 and again1 8,with my    
mind do ,i seize your  minds40#baj4a    
,but even when the prayer is personal   
and materialistic  a real fervour and a 
genial poetic freshness is often to be  
found4  ,here is a beautiful prelude to 
a prayer for long life proffered to the 
ancient heaven-god3 8,many dawns have   
not yet dawned3 grant me to live  in    
them1 ,o ,varuna40 ,and often the       
worshipper rises above mere material    
aspirations1 as in such appeals to ,agni
 as the following3 8,may we be          
well-doers before the gods40#baj4b      
8,give us not up1 oh ,agni1 to want  of 
thought40#baj4c 8,mayest thou bestow    
splendour1 renown1 and 7wise7  mind upon
 such mortals as satisfy thee with      
refreshment1 oh  ,agni40#baj4d 8,drive  
far from us senselessness and anguish3  
drive far  all ill-will from whom thou  
attendest40#baj4e #baa ,at times also   
the hymns reveal a deep consciousness of
 sin and a desire for divine            

forgiveness4 8,through want of strength1
 thou strong and bright god1  have ,i   
gone astray4 ,have mercy1 ,almighty1    
have mercy60#baa4a 8,agni1  drive away  
from us sin1 which leads us             
astray40#baa4b 8,by the  earth's        
greatness1 oh ,agni1 forgive us even    
committed sin1 that we may  be          
great40#baa4c 8,whatever sin we have    
committed against thee in               
thoughtlessness1 men as we are1 make    
thou us sinless before  ,aditi40#baa4d  
,yet we may suspect that the term sin is
 not always  used in these prayers in   
its modern ethical sense1 not for       
instance in  the prayer1 8,from the sins
 which knowingly or unknowingly we have 
committed1 do ye1 all gods1 of one      
accord release us02#baa4e and the       
primitive concept on which the old magic
 of sin-transference was based  survives
 in such passages as the following3 #bab
 8,pass far away1 oh  sin of the mind3  
why dost thou utter things not to be    
uttered8 ,pass  away1 ,i love thee not3 

to the trees and the forests go         
on60#bab4a  8,enter into the rays1 into 
smoke1 oh sin2 go into the vapours1 and 
into the fog40#bab4b ,the context       
discloses only an indirect appeal  to a 
personal deity1 though the term sin in  
the former passage is  clearly applied  
to what we should call moral offences4  
,in the ,vedic ritual1 then1 we find a  
pure and spiritual form of  prayer2 yet 
a certain spell-power may attach even to
 the highest  types1 for we find not    
infrequently the conception that not    
only the  power of the worshipper but   
the power of the deity also is nourished
  and strengthened by prayer2#bab4c and 
the prayer itself is usually            
accompanied by a potent act4 ,with this 
aspect of ,vedic prayers we may         
associate #bac the fact that ,agni1 the 
fire-god1 appears as the chief  divinity
 to whom they are addressed2 for his    
ritual is purificatory1  and the prayers
 are thus based on a liturgy of         
purification which  stimulates the      

mental or spiritual force of the        
worshipper4    ,we may now turn to      
another great ,aryan stock1 the         
,iranian1 whose  earlier religion       
culminated in the ,zarathustrian system4
 ,the relation  of spell to prayer is1  
on the whole1 the same in the           
,zend-,avesta as we  find it in the     
,vedic hymns1 a real spell can accompany
 a real prayer1  and the text of the    
prayer itself becomes a most potent     
charm4 ,the  8sacerdotal0 physician1    
who1 as we have seen1 occupied a higher 
rank  in the ,zarathustrian estimate    
than the scientific practitioner1 offers
  first a genuine prayer to             
,ahura-,mazda for spiritual strength to 
deal  with the disease--8,give us1      
,ahura1 that powerful sovereignty by the
  strength of which we may smite down   
the drug 7the demon740 ,fraught  with   
this mesmeric power he then directs his 
spell #bad against the  sickness-demon3 
8,to thee1 oh ,sickness1 ,i             
say--,avaunt6 ,to thee1 oh  ,death1 ,i  

say--,avaunt60#bad4a ,and in the ritual 
of purification1  which closely         
resembles the system of therapeutics1   
the formul of  prayers of the most      
exalted type in the sacred books are    
used1 not as  prayers1 but as cathartic 
spells4#bad4b ,it is not hard to discern
  the steps that lead from this grade of
 thought to the highest at which  the   
religious speculation of the            
,zarathustrian arrived4 ,the uttered    
,word of ,god is given a supernatural   
cosmic force2 and the prophet           
pronounces that this utterance of the   
8,holy ,word is of such a nature  that  
if all the corporeal and living world   
should learn it1 and  learning hold fast
 to it1 they should be redeemed from    
their  mortality40#bad4c ,and we can    
understand why a large part of the      
,zarathustrian liturgy should be devoted
 to the recital of formul  which are    
statements of the #bae ,mazdean faith4  
,before rising in the  morning and      
retiring at night1 the pious ,persian   

was recommended to  say1 8,all good     
thoughts1 all good words1 all good deeds
 ,i do  willingly3 all evil thoughts1   
all evil words1 all evil deeds ,i do    
unwillingly40#bae4a ,it is interesting  
to compare with our own creed  the      
following ,mazdean confession3 8,i      
confess myself a ,mazdayasnian of       
,zarathustra's order3 ,i celebrate my   
praises for good thoughts1 good  words1 
and good deeds4''' ,with chanting       
praises ,i present all good  thoughts1  
good words1 and good deeds1 and with    
rejection ,i repudiate  all evil        
thoughts and words and deeds4 ,here ,i  
give to you1 oh ye  ,bountiful          
,immortals1 sacrifice and homage with   
the mind1#bae4b with  words1 deeds1 and 
my entire person1 yea1 ,i offer to you  
the flesh of  my very body40#bae4c ,the 
formul of confession1 as well as other  
parts of this liturgy1 are penetrated   
with the idea of a  moral-theological   
#baf dualism to which our ,christian    
theology has  been indirectly deeply    

indebted4 ,the ,mazdean proclaims his   
detestation  of the ,daevas1 and of     
,angra-,mainyu1 the evil god4 8,taught  
by ,ahura1 ,i  drive away ,angra-,mainyu
 from this house1 this borough02 such   
words are  8victorious1 most            
healing10#baf4a and could be used as the
  recitation of our creed and           
paternoster have been used1 as veritable
  spells against the evil power or      
demon4 ,but in comparing the            
spell-prayers of the ,persian with the  
,vedic1 we are struck with the          
superiority of the former liturgy in one
 respect1 that here the spell  is only  
brought to bear on the demon1 not on the
 highest god2 the  prayer increases the 
spiritual force of the worshipper but   
does not  constrain ,ahura4    ,and the 
,iranian prayers appear to rise above   
the ,vedic in the  enthusiasm of the    
idea of righteousness that pervades     
them1 and in the  conviction that the   
believer can aid ,ahura-,mazda in the   
continual  struggle against the #bag    

power of evil and in helping towards the
  final establishment of the righteous  
kingdom4 ,he prays that1 8,through  the 
good thought and the holiness of him who
 offers thee the due meed  of praise    
thou mayest1 oh ,lord1 make the world of
 ,resurrection appear  at thy will1     
under thy sovereign rule40#bag4a 8,may  
we be such as  those who bring on this  
great ,renovation40#bag4b 8,may we help 
to  bring on the good government of     
,ahura1 which is the best for us at     
every present hour40#bag4c 8,be         
righteousness life-strong and clothed   
with body4 ,in that realm which shines  
with splendour as the sun1 let  piety be
 present1 and may she1 through the      
indwelling of thy good  mind1 give us   
blessings in reward for deeds40#bag4d   
,in fact the  greater number of the     
prayers are strikingly spiritual1 and   
for  spiritual1 not material blessings4 
,the prophet asks ,ahura1 8,how man  may
 become most like unto thee80#bag4e and 
prays for 8aids of grace1  beseeching   

what in accordance with #bah thy        
wished-for aim is  best40#bah4a ,and the
 prayer is sometimes directed to        
abstract moral  powers1 emanations of   
,ahura3 8,if the ,mazda-,ahura and      
,righteousness and  ,pious ,concord be  
invokable1 ,i implore through the good  
mind a kingdom  for myself1 through     
whose increase we may conquer the ,lie40
 ,the  kingdom is here the 8,desirable  
,kingdom of ,righteousness40#bah4b      
,certainly the ,mazdean kingdom was not 
of this world1 and the  ,zarathustrian  
religion is one of the least            
materialistic that the  world has known2
 its chief moral weakness being1 as we  
have seen1 its  bondage to ritualistic  
purity4 ,we may note in conclusion1 as  
showing  the continuity of the national 
spirit1 the pronouncement of a ,persian 
,christian1 ,bishop ,aphrahat of ,east  
,syria1 that the only valid object  of  
prayer was purity of heart4#bah4c       
,many of the phenomena that we have been
 noting among the ,aryan races  confront

 us #bai again when we turn to the      
,chaldan-,babylonian  liturgies4 ,here  
also there appears no real antagonism   
between spell  and prayer1 magic and    
religion4#bai4a ,spell-formul are used  
and  accompanied with a ritual of       
purification to drive out the evil      
spirits of sickness2 and the highest    
hymns containing real prayers can  be   
employed as texts for magic purposes2   
even the gods themselves work  by magic1
 and ,marduk himself is invoked as the  
arch-magician4#bai4b  ,and the idea that
 the prayer could in some sense exercise
 compulsion  on the god appears in an   
anecdote told by ,porphyry about a      
,chaldan  who was an expert in          
8purifications of the soul3 but found   
his efforts  thwarted because another   
man who was powerful in the same art    
had1 by  means of mystic prayers1 bound 
over the powers he had invoked not to   
grant his demands40#bai4c ,yet by the   
side of all this we find often  an      
exalted #bbj type of prayer1 with       

spiritual and fervent  expressions of   
homage2 and the religious law that      
8prayer absolves  from sin0 is given as 
part of ,marduk's revelation to         
man4#bbj4a ,a  large number of the      
records contain the liturgies used by   
the kings1  and while victory1 health1  
and long life1 the permanence of the    
dynasty are the more usual objects of   
the petition1 the deeper ethical  tone  
is often heard4 ,the following are a few
 examples of the higher  aspirations of 
the ,babylonian religion4 ,the founder  
of the new  ,babylonian kingdom has     
recorded his convictions for the        
guidance of  his successor3 8,marduk    
sees through the lips1 sees the heart3  
he who  keeps true to ,bel and the son  
of ,bel will last for ever40#bbj4b ,one 
of the greatest prayers in this or any  
other liturgical collection is  that    
which ,nebukadnezar made to ,marduk on  
his accession3#bbj4c 8,oh  ,eternal     
,ruler1 ,lord of ,all''' lead the ,king 
by the right way''' ,i am''' the  work  

of thy hand3 #bba after thy great mercy 
which thou showest to  all1 oh ,lord1   
grant that thy high majesty may show    
compassion upon me3  set in my heart the
 fear of thy ,godhead3 grant me what    
thou deemest  best3 for thou it is that 
hast created my life40 ,this is scarcely
 the  ,nebukadnezar whom we once thought
 we knew4 ,there is also a pathetic     
interest attaching to the prayer of     
,nabonnedos to the god ,schamasch  for  
his son ,belsazar3#bba4a 8,prolong the  
days of ,belsazar1 my  first-born       
son--may he commit no sin40 ,the king   
,nabonnedos prays also  to ,marduk3     
8,may ,i rule as king according to thy  
wish''' let me not in my  pride lose    
knowledge of thee1 for it is thou that  
hast chosen me  out40#bba4b ,the        
following phrases in a prayer to ,marduk
 of an  unknown ruler are still more    
striking3 8,oh ,marduk1 great ,lord'''  
let me  behold thy ,godhead1 let me     
attain my heart's desire3 set           
righteousness  on my lips and grace in  

my heart40#bba4c #bbb ,among the        
attributes  of the gods there is a      
fervent recognition of their mercy and  
compassionateness3 ,marduk is 8the god  
full of mercy1 who loves to  quicken    
that which is dead02#bbb4a and ,ischtar1
 the goddess1 is  invoked as 8the helper
 of the oppressed1 oh thou endowed with 
majesty2  thou who raisest the fallen   
and exaltest the trodden under          
foot40#bbb4b ,and the same idea         
reappears in a hymn to another  goddess 
of like character with ,ischtar1 in     
which we catch the tones of  a high     
religious poetry of homage3#bbb4c 8,oh  
strong and majestic1  highest of the    
goddesses1 radiant star''' strongest of 
the goddesses  whose robe is the light3 
thou who dost course through heaven and 
engirdle the earth''' dealing punishment
 and pleading for men1 rewarding  the   
just1 leading the wanderer1 overthrowing
 the enemy who feareth not  thy         
,godhead1 protecting the captive1 taking
 the weak by the hand--be  #bbc gracious

 unto thy servant1 who calls upon thy   
name with grace40    ,this brief        
illustrative selection may close with   
the quotation of a  prayer or hymn of   
praise to ,marduk1 perhaps the most     
remarkable among  those that have as yet
 been translated3#bbc4a 8,the ,lord1    
peerless in  might1 the ,king of grace1 
the ,ruler of the lands1 that bringeth  
peace  in heaven1 that through his      
glance overthroweth the mighty4 ,lord1  
thy  seat is ,babylon1 thy crown        
,borsippa4 ,thy thought1 oh ,lord1      
passeth  over the wide heavens1 and with
 thine eyes thou beholdest the          
affliction of men1 through the anger of 
thy countenance thou spreadest          
lamentation1 and thou takest him captive
 who regardeth thee not and  setteth    
himself up against thee4 ,through thy   
gracious countenance thou  showest men  
favour1 thou lettest them see the light 
and they proclaim  thy ,righteousness4  
,oh ,lord of the lands1 ,light of       
,izizi1 thou who  proclaimest grace1 who

 is it whose #bbd mouth doth not tell of
 thy  ,righteousness1 who doth not      
praise thy majesty1 and glorify thy     
lordship8''' ,look down upon the hands  
raised in prayer to thee4 ,grant  favour
 to thy city ,babylon''' and turn thy   
countenance upon thy house1  and give   
help to the sons of ,babylon and all thy
 people40    ,with all their spells and 
their magic1 the higher minds of the    
,babylonians knew how to pray1 and the  
fervent and exalted tones of  such      
liturgies remind us of the religious    
poetry of ,israel4 ,and it is           
interesting to note that among the few  
deities of ,babylon whose ideal  reached
 to such a point of ethical development1
 the moon-god ,sin  appears1 who gave   
his name to ,sinai1 and who has been    
thought by some  to have had some       
original affinity with the ,god of      
,israel4#bbd4a    ,as regards the       
liturgies of ,egypt1 so far as ,i have  
been able with  very limited            
opportunities to examine them1 the      

superstition of the  spell lay so heavy 
on the ,egyptian mind1 #bbe that prayer 
does not  seem able to extricate itself 
from its prepossession4 ,not only do the
  deities work by means of spells and   
the magic of their names1 but the       
worshipper uses the same means to work  
upon them2 and the prayer that          
accompanies the spell seems usually to  
savour of self-confidence and  command4 
,at least this is the impression one    
gathers from what is  published         
concerning the ,book of the ,dead and   
the ritual practised to  secure the     
happiness of the deceased4 ,by utterance
 of words of  enchantment over pictures1
 the soul of the dead becomes           
divine4#bbe4a ,the magic word helps to  
transfer the power of the  deity into   
the fetich1 and this with the word      
written upon it is  placed on the body  
of the dead3 for instance1 an amulet    
with the  words1 8,may the blood of     
,isis''' and the word of power of ,isis 
be mighty  to protect this mighty       

one02#bbe4b a terra-cotta lamp of the   
,greco-,roman period1 carved with the   
symbol #bbf of the frog-headed  goddess 
,heqt1 and bearing the words1 8,i am the
 ,resurrection40#bbf4a  ,on an object   
placed under the head of the deceased to
 maintain the  warmth of the body1 we   
find the following words1 supposed to be
  addressed by the spirit to            
,amen3#bbf4b 8,i am a perfect spirit    
among  the companions of ,ra1 and ,i    
have gone in and come forth among the   
perfect souls''' grant thou unto me the 
things which my body needeth1  and      
heaven for my soul and a hidden place   
for my mummy40 8,may the god  who       
himself is hidden and whose face is     
concealed1 who shineth upon  the world  
in his forms of existence and in the    
underworld1 grant that  my soul may live
 for ever40#bbf4c ,here we have the     
statement of a  conviction that gains   
its assurance from magic1 followed by   
prayer4 ,it  seems that the ,egyptian   
prayed to the gods1 as if by such prayer

 he  might gain immortality1 but that he
 trusted equally to #bbg magical  means1
 to pictures and words of power from the
 sacred texts1 and  employed at once the
 methods of religion and of             
enchantment4#bbg4a    ,looking at the   
,christian religion1 we should find it  
hard to give a  succinct and accurate   
account of these phenomena in the       
various stages  of its history4 ,we may 
be able to set forth the theories and   
ritual-practices of the various churches
 and compare them with what we  find    
elsewhere2 but it is more difficult to  
analyse accurately the  religious       
psychology1 the thought and feeling     
which accompanies the  ritual3 the      
quality of the mental state would depend
 partly on the  ancestral conditions and
 the strength of the ancestral instincts
 of  the individual4 ,and the teaching  
of the most spiritual ,christian        
philosophy has not been able to prevent 
some touches of the old-world  magic    
from contaminating the worship4 ,the    

theory of the leading  thinkers among   
the early ,christian fathers agreed1 as 
we have seen1  with the #bbh            
pronouncement of later ,greek           
philosophy4 ,both for  ,clemens1 who    
gives us the earliest theory of         
,christian prayer1 without  finding1    
however1 a clear logical system1 and for
 ,origen1 the final  justification of   
prayer was communion with ,god1         
1#bbh4a      4#bbh4b ,and ,clemens      
maintains that the true gnostic1 he who 
has the true knowledge of ,god1  8works 
himself with ,god in his prayer so as to
 attain  perfection40#bbh4c ,the gnostic
 of ,clemens1 then1 is not purely       
petitionary in his prayer2 by his       
spontaneous self-projection he          
contributes something himself to the    
attainment of the end he prays  for2    
and1 as ,i have ventured to suggest     
above1 we may discern in this  theory   
the meeting-point of the more primitive 
and the more exalted  religious views4  
,meantime the actual heretic sect of the

 gnostics were applying much of  the old
 magic #bbi under new names and new     
texts1 and did not even  care to discard
 wholly the old                         
spell-nomenclature4#bbi4a ,and even in  
the orthodox churches1 as we have seen1 
the mystic power and  liturgical use of 
the name has continued1 being the       
inheritance of a  different religious   
world from that with which we are       
familiar or of  which we are conscious4 
,we may also legitimately compare many  
of the  ritual acts which accompany     
prayer1 for instance in the earlier and 
later ,roman ,church1 with the          
suggestive or mimetic religious actions 
of less advanced cults4 ,one of the most
 interesting examples that may  be      
quoted is the description of the        
blessing of the baptismal water on  the 
eve of the ,epiphany1 a custom prevalent
 in the earlier ,church of  ,rome3#bbi4b
 the priest1 while praying to ,god to   
sanctify the water1  dipped a crucifix  
thrice into it1 recalling in his prayer 

the miracle  described in ,exodus1 the  
sweetening of the bitter water with     
wood2  then #bcj followed antiphonal    
singing describing ,christ's baptism in 
,jordan1 which sanctified the water4 ,we
 appear to have here a  combination of  
the great typical forms of the          
immemorial religious  energy1 prayer    
pure and simple1 the potent use of the  
spiritually  charged object1 the fetich 
7in this case the crucifix71 and an     
intoned  or chanted narrative which has 
the spell-value of suggestion4#bcj4a    
,what maintained the use of the         
spell-prayer in full vigour throughout  
the earlier and medieval epochs of      
,christendom1 even in the orthodox      
ritual1 was chiefly the practice of     
exorcism and the belief in demons  and  
demoniac possession2 and the legal      
institution of the ordeal  contributed  
also to its maintenance4 ,as modern     
society has abandoned  such             
institutions1 and the modern mind is no 
longer possessed with  demonology1 so in

 the modern worship prayer has become   
more and more  purified from the        
associations of the spell2 the traces   
that remain of  the latter are #bca     
faint and usually unintelligible to the 
modern  worshipper4 ,and on the other   
side there is a progressive tendency    
beginning to be felt1 making for a      
reform of our liturgy in respect of  the
 objects for which prayer should be     
proffered4 ,but in this respect1  as the
 comparison has shown1 we cannot be said
 to have advanced as yet  beyond many of
 the old-world religions4    ,the       
special subjects of these last two      
lectures1 the history of  purification  
and prayer1 have only been presented in 
an inadequate  sketch4 ,the full and    
exhaustive treatment of either would    
serviceably  fill a gap in the library  
of comparative religion4 ,but they have 
served my present purpose1 if they have 
been able to illustrate and to  some    
extent test the value of the comparative
 study of the various  theologies of    

mankind4     ,the ,end           ,,index
    ,aion1 #cf1 #cg4    ,anthropology1  
value of1 #e3 occasional defects in its 
method of  treating religious problems1 
#ab-ag3 suggested improvements in       
method1  #ag-bc4    ,apostolic          
succession1 #di-ej4      ,babylonian    
spells and prayers1 #bah-bbd4           
,baptism1 a cathartic ritual1 #aef-aeh3 
of infants1 #ef-eg4    ,buddhism1 ideas 
concerning purity1 #ajg4      ,celibacy 
of priesthood1 #aed-aef4                
,christianity1 comparison with earlier  
8,mediterranean0 religions in           
mythology1 #be-cj2 in terminology1      
#cj-ci2 external symbols1 #ci-dh2       
institutions and organisation1 #dh-eh2  
in dogma and belief1 #ei-ge3  vide      
,prayer4    ,collideriani1 #gb4         
,comparative religion1 method of study1 
#ha-he3 short survey of its  growth1    
#a-f4    ,confession1 #ed-ef1 #aeh-afj4 
,cursing-ritual1 a form of spell1       
#aif-aih4      ,eschatological beliefs1 
#fc-fd4      ,fasting1 a cathartic      

ritual1 #aec-aed4    ,festivals1        
influence of pagan on ,christian1 #eh4  
,fetichism1 #dd-dg3 in ,hellas1 #dd-de3 
in ,christianity1 #de-dg4               
,hellenism1 influence on ,christianity1 
#bc4    ,hero-worship1 #ge-gf4          
,hilaria1 #fb4    ,homicide1 cathartic  
origin of law concerning1 #adj-aeb4     
,human incarnation of divinity1 #ei-fj4 
#bcc    ,human sacrifice1 legends       
concerning1 #bg-bh4      ,idolatry1     
#dj-dd4    ,indo-,germanic spell1 #aic4 
,ischtar1 legend of1 #bi4               
,kalevala1 #ahd1 #aia4    ,kore1 #cc3   
gnostic-pagan worship of1 #cd-ce1 #fe4  
,mariolatry1 #fe1 #fi1 #gb4    ,mexican 
religion1 #c4    ,montanism1 #fg4       
,mother of ,god1 #ch1 #ff4      ,names1 
religious influence of1 #cb1 #ahd-aib4  
,parthenos1 #cg-ch3 cf4 #fe1 #fi1 #gj4  
,peruvian religion1 #c4    ,phrygian    
religion1 #bd1 #fb1 #ff-fh4    ,prayer  
7vide ,spell7 definition of1 #afe3      
distinction between prayer  and spell1  
#afg-afi3 antagonism between them1      

#aic-aid3 objects of  prayer1 progress  
from material to spiritual1 #agc-agd3   
prayer a form of  communion with the    
deity1 #agd3 ,christian theory of       
prayer1 #bbg-bbh3  survival of spell in 
,christian liturgy1 #bbh-bcj3 ,egyptian 
prayer1 #ahh2  dominated by spell1      
#bbd-bbg3 ,english1 earliest example of 
spell-prayer1 #aid3 ,eleusinian         
spell-prayer1 #aid3 ,hellenic prayer1   
#ahg1  #bjj-bje1 #bjg2 ,hellenic spells1
 #aif2 spell prayer1 #aii-bjj2 theory of
  prayer in ,hellenic philosophy1 #bjf3 
,iranian liturgical magic1 #aii2        
prayers and spells in ,zarathustrian    
ritual1 #bac-bah3 ,latin prayer1  #ahe3 
,roman spell-prayer1 #aie3 ,peruvian    
prayer1 #ahc n4 #c3 savage  examples of 
real prayer1 #ahb-ahc3 ,umbrian prayer1 
#ahf3 ,vedic  spell-formul combined with
 prayer1 #bjh-bac4    ,purification3    
primitive ideas concerning pure and     
impure substances1  #hi-ia3 analysis of 
primitive sensation of impurity1 #ib-ih3
  purification after battle1 #id2 after 

funerals1 #if3 logical development  of  
idea of purity1 #ih-aja3 psychological  
effect of impure contact1  #ajb-ajc3    
purity connected with belief in spirits1
 #ajc-ajd2 dualism of  good and evil    
spirits1 #aje3 with belief in gods1     
#ajf3 earliest concept  non-moral1      
#aaj-aaa3 evolution of idea of 8pure    
heart10 #aaa-aae3  cathartic sacrifice1 
#abj-abb3 opposition between spiritual  
and  ritualistic #bcd purity1 #abc3     
,iranian ideas1 #ig1 #aja1 #ajg1 #aae1  
#abg-acb3 ,jewish1 #abd1 #abf3          
,hellenic1 #acb-aci2 influence on       
,hellenic  law1 #adj-aeb3 influence of  
idea of purity on religious             
institutions1  #aeb-afj4      ,rebirth1 
mystic sense of1 #eg4    ,resurrection1 
belief in1 #fj-fb3 resurrection of      
divinity1 #fh4      ,sacrifice1 #fd1    
#abj-abb4    ,saint-worship1 #gg4       
,savagery1 survival of1 in higher       
religion1 #aj1 #aa1 #ae1 #ag4           
,scapegoat1 cathartic use of1 #aai1     
#abj4    ,spell1 examples of            

spell-prayer1 #afi1 #agj1 #age1 #ahj3   
spell-value of  the name in lower and   
higher religions1 #ahd-aib3 use of      
narrative as a  spell-form of suggestion
 7,navajo prayer71 #aha-ahb3 knowledge  
of origin  of person or substance useful
 for spell-purposes1 #aij-aic3 progress 
from spell to prayer1 #aga-agc4         
,teutonic religion1 #da1 #ea1 #ec1 #ee1 
#eg1 #gh-hj3 ideas of purity1  #ajg-aji4
    ,thiasoi1 #dh-di4    ,totemism1 #ac4
    ,transference of sin1 #aaf-aai4     
,trinitarian ideas1 #gc-gd4             
,virginity1 exaltation of1 #gj-ga4      
,,endnotes     ,,lectures ,i ,,and ,,ii 
,,notes    #c4a ,garcilasso de la ,vega1
 ,royal ,commentary of the ,incas       
7,hakluyt  ,society73 ,sahagun--transl4 
,jourdanet et ,simon4    #c4b ,jacob    
,laskowski1 vide ,usener1 ,gtternamen1  
p4 #hb1 etc4    #f4a ,golden ,bough1    
#bnd ed41 vol4 iii4 p4 #ahf4    #ac4a   
,for instance1 an ancestor may for      
certain reasons be worshipped  in the   
form of a snake1 and yet this need not  

imply a snake-tribe or  any tribal      
worship of snakes in general4    #bf4a  
,vide infra1 pp4 #aib1 #aic4    #bf4b   
,e4g4 ,de ,civ4 ,dei41 bk4 #b1 ch4 #f3  
deos paganorum nunquam  bene vivendi    
sanxisse doctrinam4    #bg4a ,plutarch1 
,parallela1 #ce4 ,vide my ,cults of     
,greek ,states1  vol4 i4 p4 #ic4        
#bh4a ,servius1 n4 iii4 #aba4    #bh4b  
,ibid41 ii4 #hja4    #bi4a ,sacred      
,books of the ,east1 vol4 iv4 7ed4      
,mills71 p4 #baa4    #bi4b ,vide account
 of these in ,revue des tudes grecques1 
xiii4  7#aijj71 p4 #bcc1 and ,annuaire  
de l',association pour l'encouragement  
des tudes grecques1 #ahga1 p4 #ib4      
#ca4a ,protrept41 #ab1  #abj 7p4 #ib    
,p74    #cc4a ,i have noticed the       
evidence of this in my forthcoming third
  volume of the ,cults of the ,greek    
,states4    #cd4a ,c4,i4,g41 #dfig4     
#cd4b ,haeres4 #ea1 #bb2 ,dindorf1 vol4 
ii4 p4 #dhc1 #ab-bi3 vide  ,philologus1 
#af1 p4 #ced4 ,i find that the view ,i  
have taken of this  important text      

agrees on the whole with that of ,usener
 in his  ,untersuchungen1 p4 #bg4       
#cg4a ,that ,aion was a real figure of  
,mithraic religion has been  finally    
proved by the ,mithras-,liturgie1       
published by ,dieterich1 p4  #d1 l4 #ba4
    #cg4b ,usener quotes a few examples 
from the liturgy of the ,greek  ,church 
and one or two from patristic           
literature1 ,religionsgesch4            
,untersuchungen1 #a1 p4 #bh1 n4 #e3 some
 of these are poetical4    #ch4a ,vide  
,artemis ,r4 #cg1 in my ,cults of the   
,greek ,states1 vol4  ii4 p4 #efg4      
#ch4b ,paus4 #d1 #cc1 #d3 inscription in
 ,dittenberger1 ,sylloge7#b71 #fec4     
#ch4c ,vide ,report of ,american ,school
 at ,athens1 vol4 i41 inscr4 ,no4  xxvi4
    #ci4a ,vide chapter on ,cybele in   
the forthcoming third volume of my      
,cults of the ,greek ,states4    #db4a  
,anth4 ,pal4 xi4 #bfi1 8,i am ,heracles1
 the triumphant son of  ,zeus2 ,i am not
 ,luke1 but they compel me40    #db4b   
,ephemeris ,archaiologik1 #aijj1 4 #e4  

#dc4a ,theocritus1 ,id4 #g1 #ajf4       
#dc4b ,cults of ,greek ,states1 vol4 ii4
 p4 #gce3 ,r4 #be;b4    #dd4a ,cf4 the  
method of ,greco-,egyptian magic of     
strangling birds  before the idol of    
,eros1 in order that their breath may   
animate it1  mentioned in an ,abraxas   
papyrus1 ,class4 ,rev4 #ahif1 p4 #dji4  
#de4a ,vide ,schrader1 ,real-,lexikon1  
s4v4 ,eid4    #de4b ,ad ,nat4 i4 #ab4   
#dg4a ,the ,tatu1 ,tat1 or ,ded pillar  
erected in the ritual of  ,osiris1      
perhaps as a symbol of the resurrection 
of the god1 had the  form of a cross3   
vide ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough7#b71 ii4 p4
 #ada4    #dh4a ,vide ,palace of        
,knossos3 ,provisional ,report for year 
#aijc1 p4  #ib3 the writer quotes       
,babylonian and ,assyrian examples4     
#di4a ,epist4 #cie3 the doctrines of the
 ,orphic sects from the fourth  century 
,b4,c4 onwards also emphasised the      
kinship of man with ,god1 as  the       
well-known ,orphic tablets1 found in    
,south ,italy and ,crete1 reveal        

7,hell4 ,journ4 #c1 p4 #aab3 ,miss ,j4  
,harrison1 ,prolegomena to the ,study   
of ,greek ,religion3 ,appendix by ,prof4
 ,murray1 p4 #ffj74 ,in the             
pseudo-,platonic ,axiochus1 p4 #cga ,d1 
the sick man is assured of  salvation as
 being 8of the family of ,god0   4      
#ej4a  ,e4g4 a priest of ,megalopolis1 a
 hierophantes of the ,great ,goddesses1 
is spoken of as descended from 8those   
who first established the mystic        
worship of the ,great ,goddesses among  
the ,arcadians10 ,eph4 ,archaiol4       
#ahif1 p4 #abb3 the priests of ,poseidon
 at ,halikarnassos traced their  descent
 from those who brought his cult from   
,troezen at the foundation  of the city1
 ,c4,i4,g4 #bfee4    #ej4b ,at ,cos1    
vide ,paton and ,hicks1 ,inscriptions of
 ,cos1 ,no4 #ajc  7,roman ,imperial     
period74    #ea4a ,e4g4 the priest of   
,cybele at ,pessinus1 and the priest of 
,ma  in the two ,comanas4    #eb4a ,vide
 ,golther1 ,handbuch der germanischen   
,mythologie1 p4 #fab1  #fag4    #ec4a   

,vide my paper in the ,archiv fr        
,religionswissenschaft1  #aijd1 on 8,the
 ,position of ,women in ,ancient        
,religion40    #ed4a ,vide infra1 p4    
#gb4    #ed4b ,see ,king1 ,babylonian   
,religion1 p4 #baa4    #ee4a ,vide      
chapter on 8,apollo ,cult0 in my        
forthcoming fourth volume  of ,cults4   
#ee4b ,plutarch1 ,apophtheg4 ,lacon4 p4 
#bbi ,d3 ,lysander is told by the       
priest that before initiation he must   
confess his worst sin3 he asks  if this 
was the gods' command or the priests'1  
and on hearing that it  was the gods who
 enjoined it1 he replied1 8,then do you 
stand aside and  ,i will tell the gods  
if they ask me40    #ee4c ,opp4 ,ep4    
#if4    #ee4d ,vide ,herzog1            
,real-,encyclopdie1 s4v4 ,beichte4      
#ef4a ,jourdanet et ,simon1 p4 #bd4     
#eg4a ,heszch1 s4v4 4    #eg4b ,vide    
,golther1 op4 cit4 p4 #eee4    #eg4c    
,polit4 p4 #accf ,b4    #eg4d ,in the   
,attis ,mysteries the reborn and        
initiated were fed on                   

milk--,sallustius1 ,de ,diis et ,mundo1 
#d3 for a careful treatment of  the     
whole question1 vide ,dieterich1 ,eine  
,mithras-,liturgie1 pp4  #aeg-agh3 for  
various savage parallels showing the    
prevalence in  primitive societies of   
the idea of death and rebirth at        
initiation1  vide ,frazer1 ,golden      
,bough1 vol4 iii4 pp4 #dbd-ddf4    #eh4a
 ,vide ,herzog1 ,real-,encycl41 xii4 p4 
#cai4    #eh4b ,vide ,trede1 ,das       
,heidenthum in der rmischen ,kirche1    
vol4 i4  p4 #bhj1 8,neue und alte       
,fest-,lust40    #fj4a ,vide ,frazer's  
,golden ,bough1 passim1 especially vol4 
ii4 pp4  #aae-afh 7death and            
resurrection in rites of ,adonis1       
,attis1 ,osiris1  ,dionysos71 and vol4  
iii4 pp4 #ach-bjj3 cf4 articles by      
,bernard ,cook  in ,classical ,review1  
#aijc1 #aijd1 on 8,zeus ,jupiter and the
 ,oak03 we  must distinguish between the
 simulated death of the divine effigy1  
and  the simulated or real death of the 
human representative of divinity4  ,in  

,hellenic religion we can trace the idea
 in the worship of ,pan1 in  the legends
 and ritual of ,artemis-,iphigenia and  
,aphrodite1 vide ,cults  of the ,greek  
,states1 vol4 ii4 pp4 #ddj-ddb1         
#fej-feb1 and in the ,cretan  worship of
 ,zeus1 vol4 i4 pp4 #cf-ch3 but it had  
lost its vitality in  the purely        
,hellenic cults of the classical period1
 and was only real  and energetic in the
 legends and ritual of ,adonis and      
,dionysos4    #fa4a ,vide ,dio ,chrys41 
vol4 ii4 p4 #af 7,dindorf71 and ,k4 ,o4 
,mller's  ,sardon und ,sardanapal       
7,kleine ,schriften1 vol4 ii4 p4 #ajj73 
on a  coin published in ,british ,museum
 ,catalogue1 8,lycaonia10 etc41 pl4     
xxxiii4 #b1 p4 #ahj1 we see the god on  
his lion standing on what may be  his   
pyre4    #fb4a ,vide especially         
,hippol41 ,ref4 ,haeres4 #e1 p4 #aah    
7,miller73  ,macrob41 ,saturn4 #a1 #ba1 
#g3 ,arnobius1 ,adv4 ,gent4 #e1 #g1 #af2
 #g1 #di3  ,julian1 ,or4 #e1 #afh ,c4   
#fb4b ,de error4 c4 #bb4    #fc4a ,for  

the ,greek origin of the ,christian     
apocalyptical literature1  vide         
,dieterich1 ,beitrage zur ,erklrung der 
neu-entdeckten ,petrus  ,apokalypse1    
,leipzig1 #ahic4 ,the clearest trace of 
,orphic influence on  historic          
,christianity is the doctrine of        
purgatory1 which was  popularised for   
the later ages by ,vergil's ,v,ith neid3
 vide  especially the purgatorial theory
 in ,servius' ,commentary1 n4 vi4  #gda4
    #fe4a ,hibbert ,journal1 ,january   
#aijd4    #ff4a ,alexis in ,stobus1     
,florileg4 7,meineke71 vol4 iii4 p4 #hc4
    #fg4a ,vide ,herzog1 ,real-,encycl41
 s4v4 8,montanismus03 cf4 the  article  
there on 8,maria0 and the chapter in    
,trede1 op4 cit4 vol4  ii41 8,die grosse
 ,mutter40    #fh4a ,euseb4 v4 ,const41 
iii4 #dc1 #b4    #fi4a ,vide ,cults of  
the ,greek ,states1 pp4 #fej-feb4       
#fi4b ,one of the ,babylonian goddesses 
is addressed in the same hymn  as       
8,mother1 wife1 and maid10 ,jastrow1    
,relig4 ,babyl4 ,assyr41 p4 #dei4       

#gj4a ,vide ,cults of the ,greek        
,states1 vol4 ii41 ,artemis1 ,r #acc3   
cf4 ,paus4 #h1 #ac1 #a4    #gj4b ,i am  
treating this question in an appendix to
 the ,cybele  chapter in vol4 iii4 of my
 ,cults1 etc4    #ga4a ,e4g4 fragment of
 ,naumachius in ,stobus1 op4 cit41 vol4 
iii4 pp4 #af-ag4    #gb4a ,vide         
specially ,trede1 ,das ,heidenthum in   
der rmischen  ,kirche3 ,renan1 ,les     
origines du christianisme1 vol4 vii4    
#egb-egc4  ,the resemblances are        
particularly striking between the       
,catholic and  the ,isiac sacerdotalism4
    #gb4b ,hres41 #gi4    #gb4c ,herod41
 #d1 #cc4    #gc4a ,cf4 the prayer to   
,ninlil or ,belit 7a parallel form to   
,ischtar7 of ,asarhaddon1 8may the lips 
of ,nin-lil1 the ,mother of the  ,great 
,god1 utter daily a gracious word before
 ,aschur for the ,king of  ,assyria0    
7,jastrow1 op4 cit4 p4 #ebe74 ,mary was 
chiefly worshipped in  the same way as  
an intercessor4    #gc4b ,for the       
identity of ,father and ,son in the     

later ,mithraic  cult-dogma1 vide       
,dieterich1 ,eine ,mithras-,liturgie1 p4
 #fh3 for the  ,trinitarian idea in     
,mithraism1 vide ,cumont1 ,die          
,mysterien von  ,mithra 7deutsche       
,ausgabe71 pp4 #if1 #ade3 ,mr ,cook     
endeavours to trace  it in the old      
,pelasgian cult of ,zeus1 ,class4 ,rev4 
#aijc1 #aijd3 vide  ,hell4 ,journ41     
#aija1 p4 #aci1 for ,trinitarian        
symbolism in  ,carthaginian worship4    
7,note a certain mystic sanctity        
attached to the  triad in later ,greek  
philosophy1 e4g4 in ,porphyry1 ,serv41  
,verg41  ,ecl41 #e1 #ff3 ,io4 ,lydus1 de
 ,mens41 #b1 #ai47    #gd4a ,sacred     
,books of the ,east1 vol4 xxxi4 pt4 iii4
 p4 #bgh4    #ge4a ,vide ,cults of the  
,greek ,states1 vol4 i4 p4 #cjf4        
,,lecture ,,iii ,,notes    #ia4a ,de    
,mysteriis1 #e1 #bc4    #ig4a ,sacred   
,books of the ,east1 vol4 iv41          
,zend-,avesta1 pt4 i4 pp4  #eh-ei4      
#ii4a ,e4g4 onions1 pease-soup1 cheese3 
,i-,tsing1 ,records of the  ,buddhist   

,religion1 p4 #ach1 8onions have a foul 
smell and are impure03  cf4 list of     
impure substances in ritual inscription 
of ,rhodes1  ,c4,i4,g4 ,ins4 ,mar4 g4 i4
 ,no4 #ghi4    #ii4b ,sacred ,books of  
the ,east1 ,zend-,avesta1 pt4 i4 p4     
#aje4    #aja4a ,c4,i4,a41 #c1 #gc4     
#aja4b ,the purifying power that ashes  
possess in certain ritual may  be       
derivative from fire4    #ajc4a ,op4    
cit41 pt4 i4 p4 #abj4    #ajd4a ,e4g4   
op4 cit41 pp4 #bja1 #bjd4    #aje4a     
,e4g4 ,porphyry in ,euseb41 ,prp4       
,evang41 #d1 #bb4    #ajf4a ,steinmetz1 
,die ,entwickelung der ,strafe1 vol4 ii4
 p4 #cee4    #ajf4b ,cf4 8,ye shall be  
holy1 for ,i am holy10 ,lev4 xi4 #dd2   
,deuteron4 xxiii4 #ab4    #ajg4a        
,jastrow1 op4 cit41 p4 #ejj4    #ajh4a  
,germania1 c4 #dj4    #ajh4b ,golther1  
op4 cit4 p4 #egj4    #ajh4c ,golther1   
op4 cit4 p4 #fjg4    #aab4a ,casalis1   
,les ,bassoutos1 p4 #bfi3 among the     
,zulus1 sin and  dirt are spoken of as  
the same1--8,you have dirt1 you are     

dirty0  8,you  have done wrong10        
,leslie1 ,among the ,zulus1 p4 #agj4    
7,these and other  references to the    
evidence from savage society ,i owe to  
the kindness  of my friend ,mr ,r4      
,marett47    #aac4a ,p4 #cja4    #aad4a 
,andoc41 ,de ,myst41 #aaj4    #aae4a    
,op4 cit41 p4 #ajb4    #aaf4a ,the same 
kind of ceremonious logic inspires the  
practice of  the ,damaras1 who1 when    
making peace with an alien tribe1 go    
into a  river with their foes and throw 
water into their faces to wash away     
enmity4--,sir ,j4 ,e4 ,alexander1       
,expedition and ,discoveries1 vol4 ii4  
p4 #aga4    #aag4a ,veniaminoff ap4     
,petroff1 ,alaska1 p4 #aeh4    #aag4b   
,molina1 ,fables and ,rites of the      
,yncas 7,hakluyt ,society71 p4  #bb4    
#aah4a ,lev4 xvii4    #aah4b #b1 #ci4   
#aai4a ,the cathartic process of        
transference applied to plague as  well 
as actual sin1 e4g4 ,aristotle1 ,frag41 
#ded1 transference of  disease into a   
raven4    #aai4b ,serv41 n4 #c1 #eg4    

#abj4a ,in modern ,india a criminal and 
his wife sometimes undertake to         
transfer into their own persons the sins
 of the ,rajah and the ,rani3  ,anthrop4
 ,journ41 #aija1 p4 #cjb4    #abj4b     
,vide chapter on ,apollo ,ritual1       
,cults1 vol4 iv4    #aba4a ,cf4         
,blood-purification in ,vedic ritual1   
,hillebrandt1  ,vedische ,opfer und     
,zauber1 p4 #agi 7evil spirits driven   
away by a  reed dipped in blood of the  
sacrifice1 p4 #agf73 in the ,lupercalia 
at  ,rome the foreheads of youths were  
smeared with the blood of the           
sacrificed goat and dog and then wiped  
with wool dipped in milk1  probably a   
piacular ceremony2 vide ,w4 ,fowler1    
,the ,roman ,festivals1  p4 #caa4       
#aba4b ,cf4 ,apollon4 ,rhod41 #d1 #dgh1 
for pig's blood in purification  from   
murder4    #abb4a ,numbers c4 #ai4      
#abd4a ,levit4 xvi4 #b4    #abe4a       
,numbers xxxi4 #ai4    #abe4b ,numbers  
xxxv4    #abe4c ,numbers xxxv4 #be4     
#abf4a ,deuteron4 xxi4    #abg4a ,sacred

 ,books of the ,east1 vol4 iv4 part i4  
p4 #ha4    #abh4a ,sacred ,books of the 
,east1 vol4 iv4 part i4 p4 #bjd4        
#abh4b ,ib4 p4 #hh4    #abh4c ,ib4 p4   
#acf4    #abi4a ,sacred ,books of the   
,east1 vol4 iv4 p4 #bh4    #acj4a       
,sacred ,books of the ,east1 vol4 iv4 p4
 #ef2 cf4 p4 #ada4    #acj4b ,the virtue
 of chastity is religious rather than   
ethical2 the  courtesan is reprobated   
because she mingles the seed of         
believers and  unbelievers alike1 ib4 p4
 #bje4 ,yet the ,zarathustrian system   
escaped  the extravagant exaltation of  
mere virginity that is found in early   
,christian literature3 8the man who has 
a wife is far above him who  lives in   
continence0 7,fargard1 iv4-iii4 b1 p4   
#df74    #aca4a ,sacred ,books1 vol4 iv4
 p4 #baf4    #aca4b ,ib4 p4 #baf4       
#acb4a ,sacred ,books1 vol4 iv4 p4 #hg4 
#ace4a ,livy1 #dj1 #f1 #a-c3 the whole  
host was led between the severed  limbs 
of a dog4    #ace4b ,herod41 #h1 #bg4   
#acf4a ,plutarch1 ,qust4 ,grc41 #bd4    

#acf4b ,stobus1 ,florileg4 ,meineke1    
vol4 ii4 p4 #ahd4    #acg4a ,mullach1   
,frag4 ,philos41 ,adespota4    #acg4b   
,anth4 ,pal41 #ad1 #ga4    #acg4c ,ib4  
,no4 #gd4    #ach4a ,wilamowitz1        
,isyllos1 #f2 ,anth4 ,pal41 ,adespota1  
ccxxxiii4  b3 cf4 inscription from      
,astypalaia in ,collitz1                
,dialect-,inschriften1 ,no4 #cdgb4      
#ach4b ,c4,i4,g4 ,ins4 ,mar4 g4 #a1     
#ghi4    #aci4a ,in ,neram1  #he4       
#aci4b ,clem4 ,alex41 ,strom41 #fai1    
,pott4    #adj4a ,i believe that the    
trial scene on the shield of ,achilles1 
rightly interpreted1 implies that the   
community are beginning to  decide      
whether the avenger shall accept the    
were-gilt or not4    #adb4a ,die        
,entwickelung der ,strafe1 vol4 ii4 p4  
#cdg4    #adc4a ,an example is given by 
,steinmetz1 op4 cit4 ii4 p4 #ccf1 of    
the punishment of incest among the      
,pasemaher3 the guilty pair were  buried
 alive with a hollow pipe reaching from 
their mouths to the top  of the earth3  

if they survived seven days of this     
agony their lives  were spared3 no      
explanation is offered1 but it is not   
improbable that  the law is inspired by 
the idea that the earth could absorb    
their  impurity4    #add4a ,sacred      
,books1 vol4 iv4 p4 #afi 7pt4 i474      
#ade4a ,vide ,cults of the ,greek       
,states1 vol4 i4 pp4 #ff-fi3            
,steinmetz1 op4 cit41 vol4 ii4 p4 #cde1 
discusses a record concerning  the      
,ossetes1 who live habitually in the    
system of the blood-feud1 to  the effect
 that a person guilty of parricide was  
surrounded and burnt  in his house by   
the whole people1 and he suggests that  
this may be the  first example among    
them of a ,state cognisance of murder4  
#adg4a ,antiphon1 ,or4 #f1 p4 #gfd3 cf4 
,eurip41 ,hecuba1 pp4  #bia-bib4        
#adh4a ,demosthenes1 c4 ,aristocrat41   
pp4 #fdc-fdd4    #adh4b ,antiphon1 p4   
#fhf4    #adi4a ,plato1 ,laws1 #hgc     
,a-,b3 ,demosth41 c4 ,euerg41 p4 #aafj4 
#adi4b ,p4 #gdi2 cf4 #gfd4    #adi4c    

,laws1 pp4 #hed1 #hfe4    #adi4d        
,demosthenes1 c4 ,aristocrat41 p4 #fdc4 
#adi4e ,antiphon1 p4 #gji4    #aej4a    
,demosthenes1 op4 cit41 p4 #fde3 cf4 the
 account in  ,pausanias1 #e1 #bg1 #aj1  
of the purification by the ,eleans at   
,olympia of  the bronze ox which had    
caused the death of a boy4    #aea4a    
,drako appears to have systematised it1 
but it may have existed  as custom-law  
before his period4    #aea4b ,paus41 #a1
 #ai1 #a2 #a1 #bh1 #aj3 ,plut41 vit4    
,thes41 #ab1 #ah3  ,demosth41 c4        
,aristocrat41 #gd4    #aeb4a ,we note   
the legend that purification was refused
 to ,ixion1 and  the express statement  
that no one would purify ,king          
,pausanias from his  brutal crime       
against the ,olynthian maiden4    #aeb4b
 ,the procedure by ordeal1 prevalent in 
the ancient world and  common among     
contemporary savages1 is probably       
derived from an  animistic conception of
 purity3 the primitive theory appears to
 be  that1 if the person is innocent1   

the pure spirit within him makes his    
body able to resist the trial1 and is   
not dependent upon any idea of a  higher
 god of righteousness4 ,the ordeal      
procedure is very common in  ,african   
society3 ,post1 ,afrikanisch4           
,jurisprud41 #b1 p4 #aaj4    #aed4a     
,e4g4 the ,eleusinian1 ,mithraic1 and   
,phrygian ,mysteries3 for  examples of  
it in savage initiation rites1 see      
,annual ,report  ,smithsonian           
,institute1 #ahii-aijj1 p4 #dce4        
#aeg4a ,sahagun1 ,jourdanet1 pp4 xxxix4 
and #dee4    #aeg4b ,vide supra1 p4 #eg4
    #aeg4c ,vide ,archiv fr             
,religionswissenschaft1 #aijd1 pp4      
#dja-dji4    #aeh4a ,duchesne1 ,origines
 du culte ,chrtien1 transl4 by          
,m',clure1 p4  #bif4    #aei4a ,sahagun1
 op4 cit41 pp4 #cdj-cda4    #aei4b ,vide
 ,herzog1 ,real-,encyclop41 s4v4        
,beichte4    #afj4a ,king1 ,babylonian  
,religion1 p4 #bab4    #afj4b ,vide ,von
 der ,goltz1 ,das ,gebet1 p4 #big3      
,cabrol1 ,prire  ,antique1 p4 #caf3 the 

aspersion with holy water in the present
 ,roman  ritual does not seem to have   
been obligatory in the early period3    
vide ,duchesne1 ,origines1 p4 #djd1     
,engl4 transl4           ,,lecture ,,iv 
,,notes    #afd4a ,an interesting and   
original contribution to the solution of
  the question will be found in a recent
 paper by ,mr ,r4 ,marett in            
,folk-,lore1 #aijd1 8,from ,spell to    
,prayer40    #aff4a ,vide ,a4 ,lang1    
,the ,making of ,religion4    #afg4a    
,vide ,anthropolog4 ,journ41 #aijd1 p4  
#afe4    #afi4a ,r4 ,marett1 op4 cit41  
p4 #ade4    #agj4a ,man1 #aijb1 p4 #ajd4
    #agj4b ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough7#b7  
iii4 #hc4    #agj4c ,plutarch1 #fic ,f4 
#agj4d ,at the ,anthesteria1 ,photius1  
s4v4  3 ,hesych41  s4v4    #aga4a       
,frazer1 op4 cit41 iii4 #ih3 vide       
,marett1 op4 cit41 p4  #afc4    #aga4b  
,primitive ,culture1 vol4 ii4           
7concluding chapter74    #age4a ,marett1
 op4 cit41 p4 #aeb4    #agf4a ,tylor1   
op4 cit41 ii4 p4 #ccd4    #agf4b        

,frazer1 ,golden ,bough17#b7 vol4 ii4 p4
 #bab4    #agg4a ,annual ,report of     
,smithsonian ,institute1 8,study of     
,sioux  ,cults1 by ,dorsey10 #ahii-aijj1
 p4 #cha1 etc4    #agh4a ,peabody       
,museum ,reports1 vol4 iii4 p4 #bgf1    
etc4    #agh4b ,annual ,report          
,smithsonian ,institute1 #ahii-aijj1 pp4
 #dbj-dba4    #agh4c ,tylor1 op4 cit41  
ii4 p4 #cca4    #agh4d ,folk-,lore1     
#aijd1 p4 #afh3 ,toda ,prayer1 ,w4 ,h4  
,r4 ,rivers4    #agi4a ,published by    
,carl ,sapper in ,nrdliches             
,mittel-,amerika1 vide  ,archiv fr      
vergl4 ,relig4 ,wiss41 #aijd1 p4 #dfh4  
#ahj4a ,budge1 ,egyptian ,magic1 p4 #di4
    #ahj4b ,jastrow1 ,religion          
,babyloniens ,assyriens1 p4 #dij3 cf4   
the  formula in the prayer of one of the
 early kings to the goddess  ,ga-tm-dug3
 8,i have no mother--,thou art my       
mother3 ,i have no  father--,thou art my
 father10 ,jastrow1 p4 #cie4    #ahj4c  
,sacred ,books1 vol4 xlvi4 p4 #bc4      
#aha4a ,vol4 ,i4    #ahc4a ,tylor1      

,prim4 ,cult41 ii4 p4 #ccc4    #ahc4b   
,tylor1 op4 cit41 ii4 p4 #cce4    #ahc4c
 ,i have only space to make a summary   
reference here to the very  noteworthy  
collection of ,peruvian prayers         
preserved by ,de ,molina1  ,fables and  
,rites of the ,yncas1 p4 #bh1 etc41 #ch1
 #ef3 they have all  the character of   
pure prayer1 and occasionally reach a   
high spiritual  level3 the only         
appearance of magic is in the sacrifice 
that  accompanies the singular petition 
8that the ,creator and the sun may      
remain ever young40    #ahd4a ,vide also
 ,andrian in ,deutsch4 ,gesellsch4      
,anthropol41  xxvii41 #ahif1 p4 #aji4   
#ahe4a ,serv41 n41 #b1 #cea4    #ahe4b  
,fr4 #gha1 ,phaethon4    #ahe4c ,vedic  
,hymns 7,sacred ,books1 etc471 pt4 ii4  
p4 #cgh4    #ahg4a l4 #afj3 cf4 ,plat4  
,crat41 #djj ,e41 8,it is our custom in 
our  prayers to call the gods by        
whatsoever name they most rejoice to be 
called by40    #ahg4b ,vedic ,hymns1 pt4
 ii41 pp4 #bha1 #cgb4    #ahh4a ,budge1 

op4 cit41 p4 #afa4    #ahh4b ,budge1 op4
 cit41 pp4 #acg-ada4    #ahh4c ,vide    
examples quoted by ,ausfeld1 ,de        
,grcorum  ,precationibus1 p4 #eai4      
#ahi4a ,ps4 #ed1 #ca4    #ahi4b c4 #bc1 
v4 #ba4    #ahi4c ,joseph1 ,de bell4    
,jud41 #b1 #h4    #ahi4d ,acts #h1 #af2 
#ai1 #e4    #aij4a ,von der ,goltz1 ,das
 ,gebet1 p4 #cec4    #aia4a ,hymns of   
the ,atharva-,veda 7,sacred ,books1     
etc41 xlii4 p4  #afg74    #aia4b ,vedic 
,hymns1 pt4 ii4 p4 #cia4    #aib4a ,cf4 
a formula in an ,egyptian papyrus       
published by ,kenyon  7#abb1 v4 #ac71   
8,i know thee1 ,hermes1 who thou art and
 whence thou art  and what city is the  
city of ,hermes03 quoted by ,ausfeld1   
op4 cit4 p4  #ebd1 n4 #a4    #aic4a ,the
 8,merseburg charm10 old ,high ,german  
tenth-century ,,ms43  cf4 ,r4 ,chambers1
 ,fireside ,stories1 ,edinburgh1 #ahdb4 
,my attention  was called to the great  
antiquity of this ,norse charm by ,prof4
 ,napier1  to whose kindness ,i owe     
these references4    #aic4b ,sacred     

,books1 xlii4 p4 #bj4    #aid4a         
,golther1 op4 cit41 pp4 #fdg-fdh4       
#aid4b ,in a pre-,conquest ,cotton ,,ms4
 in the ,british ,museum1 vide  ,grein's
 ,bibliothek der ngelschsischen ,poesie3
 ed4 ,mlcker1 vol4 i4  p4 #caf4         
#aie4a ,livy1 #bb1 #aj4    #aif4a ,de   
,re ,rustica1 #aci1 #ada3 ,wordsworth1  
,fragments and ,specimens  of ,early    
,latin1 p4 #cce4    #aif4b ,clemens1    
,strom41 p4 #ged1 ,pott4    #aig4a      
,eumen41 #ccb4    #aih4a ,dittenberger1 
,sylloge7#b71 vol4 iii4 #haf4    #aih4b 
,post1 ,afrikanisch4 ,jurisprud41 #b1 p4
 #abh4    #aii4a ,paus41 #aj1 #ab1 #aj4 
#bjj4a   1  1 ,athen41 #fah ,e4         
#bjj4b ,the song sung by the children1  
probably an old weather-spell1  called 1
 with the refrain1    1 ,pollux1 #i1    
#abc1  ,athen41 #fai ,b4    #bja4a      
,ephem4 ,archaiol41 #ahia1 p4 #hb4      
#bja4b ,plato1 ,alcibiad41 #b1 p4 #adh  
,c4    #bjb4a ,collitz1                 
,dialect-,inschrift41 #aefb1 #aefc1     
early fourth  century ,b4,c4    #bjb4b  

,collitz1 #cfdh4    #bjc4a ,roberts1    
,greek ,epigraphy1 vol4 i4 p4 #cjd4     
#bjc4b ,nem41 #h1 #ce4    #bjc4c ,ol41  
#ac1 #aae4    #bjc4d ,med41 #fce4       
#bjc4e ,bergk1 ,frag4 ,lyr4 ,grc41 vol4 
iii41 ,scolia #b4    #bjd4a con41 #aa1  
#h4    #bjd4b ,de ,superst41 p4 #aaf ,d4
    #bjd4c ,plat41 ,phdr41 #bgi ,b4     
#bjd4d ,philostr41 ,vit4 ,apoll41 #d1   
#da4    #bje4a ,plat41 ,alcib41 #b1 p4  
#adc ,a4    #bje4b ,epictet4            
7,schenkle71 p4 #dgi4    #bje4c ,id41 p4
 #aeh4    #bje4d ,von der ,goltz1 ,das  
,gebet1 p4 #bib4    #bjf4a ,diog4       
,laert4 #h1 #af1 #g3 yet1 according to  
,clemens1 8,the  ,pythagoreans enjoin   
that prayer should be uttered aloud1 so 
that one  might never pray for what one 
would be ashamed that others should     
hear10 ,strom41 p4 #fda1 ,pott4         
#bjf4b ,porphyry ap4 ,proclus in ,tim41 
#b1 #fd ,b3 ,procl4 in ,tim41 #b1  #fe3 
,sallustius1 ,de ,diis et ,mundo1 c4    
#af3 cf4 ,max4 ,tyr41 ,dissert4  xi4    
#bjg4a ,vide ,archiv fr vergl4          

,religionswissensch41 #aijd1 p4 #cie4   
#bjg4b ,the remarkable ethical fragment 
of an unknown philosopher1  ,eusebios1  
in ,ionic dialect1 quoted by ,stobus1  1
  #he 7vol4  i4 p4 #ci1 ,meineke71      
contains moral aspirations that         
strikingly  resemble ,new ,testament    
doctrine1 and may possibly have been    
intended  as a prayer1 but it contains  
no appeal to a divinity3 he may belong  
to  the ,neo-,platonic sect1 vide       
,orelli1 ,opusc4 ,grc4 ,sentent41 vol4  
ii4 p4 #gbh4    #bjh4a ,vedic ,hymns1   
pt4 ii4 p4 #fa4    #bji4a ,e4g41        
8,protect our people all around with    
those undeceived  guardians of thine1 oh
 ,agni10 ib41 p4 #aeh4    #baj4a        
,atharva-,veda 7,sacred ,books1 vol4    
xlii4 p4 #ach74    #baj4b ,vedic ,hymns1
 pt4 ii4 p4 #cgf4    #baj4c ,ib41 p4    
#bgc4    #baj4d ,ib41 p4 #chc4    #baj4e
 ,ib41 p4 #ceb4    #baa4a ,quoted by    
,prof4 ,tylor1 ,primitive ,culture1 vol4
 ii4 p4 #cci1  from ,rig ,veda1 vii4    
#hi1 #c4    #baa4b ,vedic ,hymns1 pt4   

ii4 p4 #aha4    #baa4c ,ib41 p4 #bdi4   
#baa4d ,ib41 p4 #ced4    #baa4e         
,atharva-,veda1 p4 #afd4    #bab4a      
,atharva-,veda1 p4 #afc4    #bab4b ,ib41
 p4 #afe4    #bab4c 8,bring ye forward  
an ancient mighty speech to ,agni4'''   
,may our  prayers increase ,agni10      
,vedic ,hymns1 pt4 ii4 p4 #bei3 cf4 p4  
#cia1  8,the prayers fill thee 7oh      
,agni7 with power and strengthen thee1  
like  great rivers the ,sindhu40        
#bad4a ,sacred ,books1 etc41 vol4 iv4   
7,zend-,avesta1 pt4 i4 p4 #bbh74        
#bad4b ,ib41 pp4 #ade-adg4    #bad4c    
,sacred ,books1 etc41 vol4 xxxi4        
7,zend-,avesta1 pt4 iii4 p4  #bfb47     
#bae4a ,zend-,avesta1 pt4 i4 p4 #bdf4   
#bae4b ,cf4 the ,greek sentiment1    1  
,joann4  ,damascen41 ,sacr4 ,par41 tit4 
ix4 p4 #fdj4    #bae4c ,zend-,avesta1   
pt4 iii4 p4 #bdg4    #baf4a             
,zend-,avesta1 pt4 i4 p4 #ach4    #bag4a
 ,pt4 i4 p4 #adg4    #bag4b ,pt4 iii4   
pp4 #cc-cd4    #bag4c ,ib41 p4 #agi4    
#bag4d ,ib41 p4 #ajf4    #bag4e ,ib41 p4

 #di4    #bah4a ,pt4 iii41 p4 #agj4     
#bah4b ,archiv f4 ,religionswiss41      
#aijd1 p4 #cie4    #bah4c ,von der      
,goltz1 ,das ,gebet1 p4 #bhh4    #bai4a 
,jastrow1 ,religion ,babyloniens w4     
,assyriens1 vol4 i4 pp4  #cia-cic1 #dbc1
 #dbg4    #bai4b ,ib41 p4 #dig4         
#bai4c ,s4 ,aug41 ,de ,civ4 ,dei41 #aj1 
#i4    #bbj4a ,king1 ,babylonian        
,religion1 p4 #hc4    #bbj4b ,jastrow1  
op4 cit41 p4 #dja4    #bbj4c ,ib41 p4   
#djb4    #bba4a ,jastrow1 op4 cit41 p4  
#djh4    #bba4b ,ib41 p4 #daa4    #bba4c
 ,ib41 p4 #eja3 the elevated tone of the
 old ,babylonian royal  liturgy was     
still preserved under the later         
,seleukid rule1 vide p4  #dad4    #bbb4a
 ,jastrow1 op4 cit41 p4 #eja4    #bbb4b 
,ib41 p4 #ecc4    #bbb4c ,ib41 p4 #ecf4 
#bbc4a ,jastrow1 op4 cit41 p4 #eji4     
#bbd4a ,jastrow1 op4 cit41 pp4 #dci-ddj4
    #bbe4a ,budge1 ,egyptian ,magic1 pp4
 #ajh1 #aaj1 #abj4    #bbe4b ,ib41 p4   
#abg4    #bbf4a ,budge1 ,egyptian       
,magic1 p4 #fc4    #bbf4b ,ib41 p4 #aai4

    #bbf4c ,ib41 p4 #aai4    #bbg4a     
,budge1 ,egyptian ,magic1 p4 #ahd4      
#bbh4a ,origen1  1 c4 #aj1 #b4    #bbh4b
 ,clemens1 ,strom41 vii41 ch4 #g1  #ci1 
p4 #hed1 ,pott4    #bbh4c ,ib41  #ch1 p4
 #hec1 ,pott4    #bbi4a ,vide ,von der  
,goltz1 op4 cit41 p4 #caj4    #bbi4b    
,vide ,usener1 ,archiv fr               
,religionswiss41 #aijd1 p4 #bic4        
#bcj4a ,vide supra1 pp4 #aha-ahb4       
,transcriber's ,notes    ,this book is  
twelfth in the ,crown ,theological      
,library series4    ,page numbers are   
given in curly brackets4    ,plain text 
version only3 endnote markers are given 
in square  brackets4    ,minor spelling 
inconsistencies 7e4g4                   
childbirth_/child-birth1                
,ahura-,mazda_/,ahura ,mazda1 etc47 have
 been preserved4    ,add title and      
author's name to cover image4           
,alterations to the text3    ,convert   
footnotes to endnotes1 relabel note     
markers 7append the  original note      
number to the page number71 and add a   

corresponding  entry to the ,,toc4      
,lecture ,,iv    ,change 8employs the   
same method as the ,navajo ,sharman     
employed0 to  ,shaman4    8all evil     
thoughts1 all evils words1 all evil     
deeds ,i do  unwillingly0 to evil4      
,end of text