296 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



Among all peoples fire has been held sacred. It was thought of as the 

 central principle of life. Among the Kafirs in South Africa every re- 

 ligious ceremony must be performed in front of a fire. The Indians 

 of Guatemala regard it as their greatest and oldest deity. The fire 

 test was practised by the Aztecs of Mexico, as well as by the Moloch 

 worshippers of Syria. In Borneo the crackling of blazing twigs is the 

 speech of the gods. The vestal fire of old, and the perpetual fire of the 

 modern Christian altar are both founded upon the assumption of its 

 sacred character. 



As the experience of man widens, he discovers not only that he can 

 destroy the tree whose spirit he worshipped, and can entrap the animals 

 and subdue them, but also that the sun, moon and stars do not vary 

 their action at their own option. They are obliged to move about in 

 certain more or less prescribed courses. Even the clouds are driven 

 to and fro by some superior power and are not free to follow their own 

 desires. Hence he easily and naturally comes to see the truth that 

 there must be powers above these forces that are far more worthy than 

 they are of his homage. He rejects the notion that the forces of nature 

 reveal the highest spirits, and he looks up to deities that can use these 

 forces freely at their option. As distinguished from nature-worship 

 and other lower forms of religion, this doctrine is called polytheism, 

 although it differs from these other forms not in kind, but only in de- 

 gree. 



Undoubtedly, the development of this doctrine is closely related to 

 the development of the social and governmental relations existing 

 among the people themselves. When chiefs and kings begin to make 

 their appearance in any community, then these greater gods begin to 

 be recognized as over and above all lesser spirits. Oftentimes the kings 

 and chiefs themselves are elevated to the sphere of gods, and in some 

 cases, even while alive, receive divine honors. Earely, however, does 

 polytheism do away with any of the lower forms of religion. On the 

 contrary, it usually coexists with belief in disembodied spirits, local 

 genii of rocks and fountains and trees, household gods, and a host of 

 other good and evil demons. The deities of this form of religion 

 simply take their place as presiding over all inferior gods, using them 

 as messengers or agents for the furtherance of their plans and purposes. 



At first, each tribe or district is thought of as having its own par- 

 ticular deity. But as the tribes intermingle and learn more of one 

 another, the tribal gods give way to national. At the outset the na- 

 tional gods of one country are regarded as distinct from those of 

 another, but of equal powers. Even the ancient Hebrews considered 

 the gods of other nations, such as those of Assyria, 'Phoenicia and 

 Egypt as real divinities. 



Many tribes and peoples have risen in some degree to the stage of 



