The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion

James George Frazer

Cosimo, Inc., Jan 1, 2009 - Religion - 732 pages

In 1890, James George Frazer began publishing The Golden Bough, his monumental study of myth, ritual, and religion, which would, by 1936, run to 13 volumes and establish him as a pioneer in the study of religion as an aspect of culture. This abridged edition, assembled in 1922, condenses this fundamental work to one readable volume that is still a source for modern anthropology, thanks to its expansive discussions ancient cultish practices and their connections to the rites of modern Christianity. In eloquent prose, Frazer discusses legends of the woods, sympathetic magic, magicians as kings, the worship of trees, the concept of the sacred marriage, the links between priestly and royal power, ritual royal sacrifices, the concept of "eating the god," the myths of Osiris, Adonis, Isis, and other ancient deities, and much more. Lovers of mythology will be enraptured by this book, which draws all of human belief under one unifying umbrella, celebrating myth and ritual as part of the basis of all human culture. Scottish anthropologist SIR JAMES GEORGE FRAZER (1854-1941) also wrote the classic The Golden Bough (1890), *Man, God, and Immortality* (1927), and Creation and Evolution in Primitive Cosmogonies (1935).

Contents

• CHAP PAGE: 1
• PRIESTLY KINGS: 9
• MAGIC AND RELIGION: 48
• MAGICIANS AS KINGS: 83
• INCARNATE HUMAN GODS: 91
• DEPARTMENTAL KINGS OF NATURE: 106
• RELICS OF TREEWORSHIP IN MODERN EUROPE: 120
• X1 THE INFLUENCE OF THE SEXES ON VEGETATION: 135
• THE KINGS OF ROME AND ALBA: 146
• CHAP PAGE XIV THE SUCCESSION TO THE KINGDOM IN ANCIENT LATIUM: 152
• THE WORSHIP OF THE OAK: 159
• DIANUS AND DIANA: 161
• THE BURDEN OF ROYALTY: 168
• Divorce of the Spiritual from the Temporal Power: 175
• THE PERILS OF THE SOUL: 178
• Absence and Recall of the Soul: 180
• The Soul as a Shadow and a Reflection: 189
• TABOOED ACTS: 194
• Taboos on Eating and Drinking: 198
• Taboos on showing the Face: 199
• Taboos on quitting the House: 200
• TABOOED PERSONS: 202
• Mourners tabooed: 205
• Women tabooed at Menstruation and Childbirth: 207
• Warriors tabooed: 210
• Manslayers tabooed: 212
• Hunters and Fishers tabooed: 216
• TABOOED THINGS: 223
• Iron tabooed: 224
• Sharp Weapons tabooed: 226
• Blood tabooed: 227
• The Head tabooed: 230
• Hair tabooed: 231
• Ceremonies at Haircutting: 233
• Spittle tabooed: 237
• Foods tabooed: 238
• TABOOED WORDS: 244
• Names of Relations tabooed: 249
• Names of the Dead tabooed: 251
• Names of Kings and other Sacred Persons tabooed: 257
• Names of Gods tabooed: 260
• CHAP PAGE XXIII OUR DEBT TO THE SAVAGE: 262
• THE KILLING OF THE DIVINE KING: 264
• Kings killed when their Strength fails: 265
• Kings killed at the End of a Fixed Term: 274
• TEMPORARY KINGS: 283
• SACRIFICE OF THE KINGS SON: 289
• SUCCESSION TO THE SOUL: 293
• THE KILLING OF THE TREESPIRIT: 296
• Burying the Carnival: 301
• Carrying out Death: 307
• Bringing in Summer: 311
• Battle of Summer and Winter: 316
• Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko: 317
• Death and Revival of Vegetation: 318
• Analogous Rites in India: 319
• The Magic Spring: 320
• THE MYTH OF ADONIS: 324
• ADONIS IN SYRIA: 327
• ADONIS IN CYPRUS: 329
• THE RITUAL OF ADONIS: 335
• THE GARDENS OF ADONIS: 341
• THE MYTH AND RITUAL OF ATTIS: 347
• ATTIS AS A GOD OF VEGETATION: 352
• HUMAN REPRESENTATIVES OF ATTIS: 353
• XXXVII ORIENTAL RELIGIONS IN THE WEST: 356
• THE MYTH OF OSIRIS: 362
• THE RITUAL OF OSIRIS: 368
• The Official Rites: 373
• THE NATURE OF OSIRIS: 377
• Osiris a Treespirit: 380
• Osiris a God of Fertility: 381
• ISIS: 382
• СПАР PAGE XLII OSIRIS AND THE SUN: 384
• DIONYSUS: 385
• DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE: 393
• THE CORNMOTHER AND THE CORNMAIDEN IN NORTHERN EUROPE: 399
• THE CORNMOTHER IN MANY LANDS: 412
• The Ricemother in the East Indies: 413
• The Spirit of the Corn embodied in Human Beings: 419
• The Double Personification of the Corn as Mother and Daughter: 420
• LITYERSES: 424
• Killing the Cornspirit: 425
• Human Sacrifices for the Crops: 431
• The Cornspirit slain in his Human Representatives: 438
• THE CORNSPIRIT AS AN ANIMAL: 447
• The Cornspirit as a Wolf or a Dog: 448
• The Cornspirit as a Cock: 450
• The Cornspirit as a Hare: 452
• The Cornspirit as a Cat: 453
• The Cornspirit as a Goat: 454
• The Cornspirit as a Bull Cow or Ox: 457
• The Cornspirit as a Horse or Mare: 459
• The Cornspirit as a Pig Boar or Sow: 460
• On the Animal Embodiments of the Cornspirit: 462
• ANCIENT DEITIES OF VEGETATION AS ANIMALS: 464
• Demeter the Pig and the Horse: 469
• Attis Adonis and the Pig: 471
• Osiris the Pig and the Bull: 472
• Virbius and the Horse: 476
• EATING THE GOD: 479
• Eating the God among the Aztecs: 488
• Many Manii at Aricia: 491
• HOMOEOPATHIC MAGIC OF A FLESH DIET: 494
• CHAP PAGE: 499
• THE PROPITIATION OF WILD ANIMALS BY HUNTERS: 518
• TYPES OF ANIMAL SACRAMENT: 532
• THE TRANSFERENCE OF EVIL: 538
• THE PUBLIC EXPULSION OF EVILS: 546
• PUBLIC SCAPEGOATS: 562
• LVIII HUMAN SCAPEGOATS IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY: 577
• KILLING THE GOD IN MEXICO: 587
• THE MYTH OF BALDER: 607
• CHAP PAGE: 641
• THE BURNING OF HUMAN BEINGS IN THE FIRES: 650
• BALDER AND THE MISTLETOE: 658
• THE EXTERNAL SOUL IN FOLKTALES: 667
• THE EXTERNAL SOUL IN FOLKCUSTOM 垂: 679
• THE GOLDEN BOUGH: 701
• FAREWELL TO NEMI: 711

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion
• Author: James George Frazer
• Edition: abridged, reprint
• Publisher: Cosimo, Inc., 2009
• ISBN: 1605209368, 9781605209364
• Length: 732 pages
• Subjects: Body, Mind & Spirit / Magick Studies; Body, Mind & Spirit / Mysticism; Religion / Comparative Religion