394 ON TRACES OF THE EARLY MENTAL CONDITION OF MAN. 



The worship of such spirits, found among the lower races over almost the whole 

 world, is commonly known as *'fetichism." It is clear that this childlike theory 

 of the animation of all nature lies at the root of what we call mythology ; if the 

 sun and moon are described as semi-human beings, called by the Greeks Helios 

 and Selene, by the Esquimaux Anninga and Malina, this personification is 

 founded on an original opinion still found in lively existence in the world, that 

 the sun and moon are living Anthropomorphic creatures. It would probably 

 add to the clearness of our conception of the state of mind which thus sees in 

 all nature the action of animated life and the presence of innumerable spiritual 

 beings, if we give it the name of animism instead of fetichisra. Now, by 

 examining a single phase of this animism, it seems possible to give some idea 

 how generally man in his lowest known state of culture is a wonderfully igno- 

 rant, consistent, and natural spiritualist; and also how the effects of his early 

 BiDiritualism may be traced through the development of more cultm'ed races in 

 proceedings which have often changed their meaning, and lost their original con- 

 sistency b}' the encroachment of mroe real knowledge. 



We all know how deep and sincere is the terror of ghosts among savages. 

 It is often no exaggeration to say that they are in more deadly fear of a man 

 after he is dead tlian while he is alive. The savage's notion of a ghost corre- 

 sponds very nearly with that of the English peasant in our own day — it is a 

 thin phantom going from place to place, like the person it belonged to, when it 

 does appear, but often invisible, though capable of knocking and uttering sounds. 

 The notion of the ghost runs almost inextricably into that of the spirit or soul, 

 of the Itreath and the blood, aixl of those unsubstantial somethings which follow 

 the man and are like him, his shadow and his reflection in the water. Now it is 

 consistent with this opinion of ghosts to hold that by killing a man you can 

 release his ghost and send it where you will. This is what the King of Dahome 

 does when he sends men da}^ after day to take messages to his father in the land 

 of shadows. The Getce, according to Herodotus, sent a man every five years to 

 their god Zamolxis, giving him their messages, and then throwing liim np and 

 catching him on their spears. Thus, in British India, some 80 years ago, it is 

 on record that two Brahmins, believing that a man had taken 40 rupees out of 

 their house, took their own mother and cut her head oft", that her ghost might 

 torment and pursue to death the off"ender and his family — the old woman being 

 herself a consenting party to the transaction. This is not an isolated case, but 

 one belonging to a recognized Hindu practice. 



In perfect accordance with this opinion we find in almost every country in the 

 world, at some time or other, the practice of slaying men and women at the 

 graves of the dead. In one of the South Sea Islands a cord is put round the 

 wife's neck at her marriage, and when her husband dies it will be tightened, to 

 release her soul, that it may accompany his to the land of shadows, and continue 

 to catch fish and cook yams for him there. The Dyaks, of Borneo, have a 

 passion for waylaying their enemies and bringing home their heads; as they 

 told Mr. St. John, ''the white men read books, we hunt for heads instead." 

 The}' do this to secure the services of a slave in the next world. These practices 

 are the consistent working out of a spiritualistic theory, which, if crude and false, 

 is at any rate intelligible. To some extent the same may be said, when not only 

 the dead man's Avives and slaves, but his dogs and horses are killed, and buried 

 or burnt at his grave. The man's ghost is to ride the horse's ghost in the land 

 of shadows, and the dog's ghost will run on before after ghostly game ; or, as in 

 Mexico, the dog was to carry the man across the river which lies between the 

 Avorld of the living and the world of the dead; while in Greenland, a dog's head 

 was placed by the grave of a little child, that the soul of the dog, who ever 

 knows his way lioiue, might guide the helpless infant to the land of spirits. 



But when not only men and animals, but inanimate objects are buried or burnt 

 for the dead, what does this mean? When the hunting tribes of North America 



