The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion

James George Frazer, Sir James George Frazer

Simon and Schuster, 1995 - Body, Mind & Spirit - 864 pages

A world classic. The Golden Bough describes our ancestors' primitive methods of worship, sex practices, strange rituals and festivals. Disproving the popular thought that primitive life was simple, this monumental survey shows that savage man was enmeshed in a tangle of magic, taboos, and superstitions. Revealed here is the evolution of man from savagery to civilization, from the modification of his weird and often bloodthirsty customs to the entry of lasting moral, ethical, and spiritual values.

Contents

• CHAPTER PAGE: 1
• PRIESTLY KINGS: 10
• MAGIC AND RELIGION: 56
• MAGICIANS AS KINGS: 96
• INCARNATE HUMAN GODS: 105
• DEPARTMENTAL KINGS OF NATURE: 122
• CHAPTER PAGE: 139
• THE INFLUENCE OF THE SEXES ON VEGETATION 156: 156
• THE KINGS OF ROME AND ALBA: 169
• THE SUCCESSION TO THE KINGDOM: 176
• THE WORSHIP OF THE OAK: 184
• THE BURDEN OF ROYALTY: 194
• THE PERILS OF THE SOUL: 206
• ΧΙΧ ΤABOOED ACTS: 225
• TABOOED PERSONS: 235
• TABOOED THINGS: 260
• XXII: 284
• XXIII: 305
• TEMPORARY KINGS: 330
• SACRIFICE OF THE KINGS: 336
• THE KILLING OF THE TREESPIRIT: 344
• CHAPTER PAGE 3 Carrying out Death: 357
• Bringing in Summer: 361
• Battle of Summer and Winter: 367
• Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko: 369
• Death and Revival of Vegetation: 371
• Analogous Rites in India: 372
• The Magic Spring: 373
• THE MYTH OF ADONIS: 376
• ADONIS IN SYRIA: 381
• ADONIS IN CYPRUS: 383
• THE RITUAL OF ADONIS: 389
• THE GARDENS OF ADONIS: 396
• THE MYTH AND RITUAL OF ATTIS: 403
• ATTIS AS A GOD OF VEGETATION: 409
• HUMAN REPRESENTATIVES OF ATTIS: 410
• ORIENTAL RELIGIONS IN THE WEST: 413
• THE MYTH OF OSIRIS: 420
• THE RITUAL OF OSIRIS: 427
• The Official Rites: 433
• THE NATURE OF OSIRIS: 438
• Osiris a Treespirit: 441
• Osiris a God of Fertility: 442
• Osiris a God of the Dead: 443
• OSIRIS AND THE SUN: 446
• CHAPTER PAGE XLIII DIONYSUS: 448
• DEMETER AND PERSEPHONE: 456
• THE CORNMOTHER AND THE CORNMAIDEN IN NORTHERN EUROPE: 463
• THE CORNMOTHER IN MANY LANDS: 478
• The Ricemother in the East Indies: 479
• The Spirit of the Corn embodied in Human Beings: 486
• The Double Personification of the Corn as Mother and Daughter: 487
• XLVIILITYERSES: 492
• Killing the Cornspirit: 493
• Human Sacrifices for the Crops: 500
• The Cornspirit slain in his Human Representatives: 508
• THE CORNSPIRIT AS AN ANIMAL: 518
• The Cornspirit as a Wolf or a Dog: 519
• The Cornspirit as a Cock: 522
• The Cornspirit as a Hare: 524
• The Cornspirit as a Cat: 525
• The Cornspirit as a Goat: 526
• The Cornspirit as a Bull Cow or Ox: 529
• The Cornspirit as a Horse or Mare: 532
• The Cornspirit as a Pig Boar or Sow: 533
• On the Animal Embodiments of the Cornspirit: 536
• YLIX ANCIENT DEITIES OF VEGETATION AS ANIMALS: 538
• Demeter the Pig and the Horse: 543
• Attis Adonis and the Pig: 546
• Osiris the Pig and the Bull: 547
• Virbius and the Horse: 552
• EATING THE: 556
• LI: 572
• KILLING THE DIVINE ANIMAL: 578
• LIII: 600
• TYPES OF ANIMAL SACRAMENT: 616
• THE TRANSFERENCE OF EVIL: 624
• THE PUBLIC EXPULSION OF EVILS: 633
• PUBLIC SCAPEGOATS: 651
• KILLING THE GOD IN MEXICO: 680
• BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH: 686
• THE MYTH OF BALDER: 703
• THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIREFESTIVALS: 743
• The Burning of Effigies in the Fires: 754
• BALDER AND THE MISTLETOE: 763
• THE EXTERNAL SOUL IN FOLKTALES: 773
• CHAPTER PAGE: 787
• FAREWELL TO NEMI: 824

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion; A Touchstone Book
• Authors: James George Frazer, Sir James George Frazer
• Edition: abridged, reprint
• Publisher: Simon and Schuster, 1995
• ISBN: 0684826305, 9780684826301
• Length: 864 pages
• Subjects: Body, Mind & Spirit / Magick Studies; Philosophy / General; Religion / General; Religion / History; Social Science / Folklore & Mythology; Social Science / General