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Religion and Myth, by James Macdonald, [1883], at sacred-texts.com

p. ix

CHAP.		PAGE

I.	Primitive Man And The Supernatural	1-19
	1. Religion defined	1
	2. Incarnate gods	2
	3. Sympathetic magic	3
	4. Rain-making	10
	5. Dangers of seeing divine persons	12
	6. All property and subjects owned by ruler	14
	7. Lubare of Uganda	15
	8. Departmental kings	17

II.	Guarding Divinity	20-32
	1. Danger to man-god from exposure	20
	2. The Mikado	21
	3. Kings of Shark Point and Congo	23
	4. Divine king may be deposed	24
	5. Restrictions placed on king and heir to throne	25
	6. Separation of civil and divine functions	27
	7. Killing the god	28

III.	Evolution Of Deity	33-60
	1. Doctrine of souls	33
	2. Dangers of the soul	35
	3. Worship of ancestors	36
	4. Other spirits than souls	37
	5. Fetish	38
	6. Sengero selling of women	39
	7. Confusion of seasons	39
	8. Offerings to spirit of vegetation	40
	9. Offerings to goddess of fecundity	42
	p. x
CHAP.		PAGE
III.	Evolution of Deity—continued.
	10. Muansa	43
	11. Rites at puberty	44
	12. Souls dwelling in objects	47
	13. Toad day	49
	14. Origin of national festivals	50
	15. Khond sacrifices to Tari	56
	16. Story of Balder	57
	17. Midsummer fires	57

IV.	Sacrifice	61-83
	1. Putting king to death	61
	2. Substitution	63
	3. Soul of ancestor entering person	64
	4. Kaffir methods of directing course of nature	65
	5. Propitiation	66
	6. Thanksgiving	67
	7. Substitution for murderer	71
	8. Offerings to Lubare	73
	9. Parading victim before sacrifice	76
	10. Festival and sacrifices of Bantams	78
	11. Messages to spirit-land	79
	12. Descent of priest to the lower world	81
V.	Taboos	84-98
	1. Charms against witchcraft	84
	2. Banning by curses	85
	3. Sprinkling to exorcise evil	86
	4. Eating in private	87
	5. Position of divine persons	88
	6. Power of superstition	89
	7. Ceremonial purity	90
	8. Objections to iron	90
	9. Power of iron against evil	92
	10. Sanctity of objects belonging to sacred persons	93
	p. xi
CHAP.		PAGE
V.	Taboos—continued.
	11. Dangers of barber's art	94
	12. Rise of evil spirits	97

VI.	Expulsion of Demons	99-112
	1. Taboos insufficient protection	99
	2. Animals messengers of evil	101
	3. Stone-throwing and cursing	102
	4. Expulsion of guile	103
	5. Expulsion by carrying out in wicker baskets	105
	6. "Raising" the devil	108
	7. "Laying" the devil	110

VII.	Witchcraft	113-135
	1. Crime of witchcraft	114
	2. Persons presumed to practise the art	115
	3. Power of witchcraft	116
	4. Methods of practising the art	117
	5. Witch-doctoring	118
	6. Prophetess as discoverer of witches	121
	7. Magic roots	123
	8. Witchcraft prosecutions by ordeal	126
	9. Mosaic trial by ordeal	128
	10. History of witchcraft	129
	11. Fairyland	130
	12. Growth of idea of supreme spirits	132

VIII.	Harvest Festivals	136-145
	1. Yam festival	136
	2. Pondo festival of first-fruits	137
	3. Honour done to powers of nature	138
	4. Maize mother	139
	5. The "Maiden" a survival	140

IX.	Prophecy	146-172
	1. The office and its development	146
	p. xii
CHAP.		PAGE
IX.	Prophecy—continued.
	2. Causes of its gradual decay	149
	3. False prophets	150
	4. Converse with the unseen	152
	5. Second sight	153
	6. Foretelling events	154
	7. Guarding against soul-snatching	155
	8. Funeral rites	156
	9. Guilds and sacred orders	157
	10. Reading omens	160
	11. Heresies	164
	12. Reforms among the order	166
	13. Prejudices against religious teachers	170

X.	Social Usages	173-180
	1. Ceremonial acts	173
	2. Seeking a lady's hand	174
	3. Succession to the throne	175
	4. Courtesies to guests	176
	5. Sanctuaries	177
	6. Eating and drinking	178
	7. Friendship	179

XI.	Acts of Devotion—Myths	180-193
	1. Acts of ordinary life-religious	180
	2. Caring for the soul	185
	3. Soul dwelling apart from body	186
	4. Giants and their souls	188
	5. Sacred animals and objects	190
	6. Mermaids ashore	192

XII.	Woman	194-203
	1. Woman's position	194
	2. Woman as regent	195
	3. Danger of touching woman's blood	195
	4. Dangers of girlhood	197
	p. xiii
CHAP.		PAGE
XII.	Woman—continued.
	5. Uncleanness	198
	6. Woman's influence	199
	7. Aggressiveness	200
	8. Dog language	202
	9. Public morality	203

XIII.	Courtesies of Life—Dress	204-213
	1. Hospitality	204
	2. Loyalty to chief	205
	3. Right and wrong	206
	4. Cannibalism	208
	5. Clothing	209
	6. Ceremonial courtesy	210
	7. Tein-egin	212
	8. Juju and the fairy bull	213

XIV.	Reforms	214-234
	1. Man's tenacity in holding fast all he started with	214
	2. How wide a gulf between savage and civilised	215
	3. Blankets, Bibles, or work	215
	4. Claims of commerce	216
	5. Influence of clothing	219
	6. Work and conditions of soil	220
	7. Missions and bow conducted	224
	8. Jews and ancients	225
	9. Difficulty of understanding new ideas	229
	10. Ideas become common as thought advances	232
Index		235-240

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