Sept. 21, 1883.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



183 



Griffins, may hold within themselves traces of the totem 

 name of the horse, wolf, deer, raven, and that " animal 

 fantasticall," the griffin. In Scotland we find the clan 

 Chattan, or the wild cat; in Ireland "the men of Osory 

 were called by a name signifying the wild red deer." On 

 the otlier hand such names may have been given merely 

 as nicknames (i.e., ekename or the added name, from eke, 

 " also," or " to augment "), suggested by the physical or 

 mental likeness to the thing after which they are called. 



But it is time to turn to the religious significance of the 

 totem, as shown among races worsliipping the animal which 

 is their supposed ancestor. 



At first glance this seems strong argument in support of 

 Mr. Herbert Spencer's theory that all forms of religion 

 (and all myth) have their origin in ancestor worship. The 

 mysterious power of stimulation, of excitation to frenzy, 

 or of healing and soothing, or of poisoning, which certain 

 plants possess, has been attributed to indwelling spirits, 

 which, as Mr. Spencer contends, are regarded as human 

 and ancestral. Very many illustrations of this occur, as, 

 e.ff., the worship of the Soma plant, and its promotion as 

 a deity among the Aryans ; the use of tobacco in religious 

 ceremonies among the tribes of both Americas ; whilst now 

 and again we find plants as totems. The Pueblos have a 

 tribe called the tobacco-plant, and also one called the red 

 grass. One of the Peruvian Incas was called after the 

 native name of the tobacco-plant ; and among the Ojib- 

 ways the bufl'alo grass was carried as a charm, and its 

 god said to cause madness. Its manlike character is seen 

 in the accompanying picture (Fig. 2.) 



The worship of animals is on the like theory explained 

 as due to the giving of a nick-name of some beast or bird 

 to a remote ancestor, the belief arising in course of time 

 that such animal was the actual progenitor, hence its 

 worship. We call a man a bear, a pig, or a vampire, in 

 syml)olic phrase, and the figure of speech remains a figin-e of 

 speech with us. But the savage loses the metaphor and it 

 crystallises into hard matter-of-fact. So the tr.aditions have 

 grown, and Black Eagle, Strong BulFalo, ]5ig Owl, Tortoise, 



ic, take the shape of the actual forefathers cf the tribe 

 having their name and crest. According to the same 

 theory, the adoration of sun, moon, and mountains, kc, is 

 due to a like source. Some famous chief was called the 



Sun ; the metaphor was forgotten ; the personal and con- 

 crete, as the more easily apprehended, remained ; hence, 

 worship of the powers of nature " is a form of ancestor- 

 worship, which has lost in a still greater degree the 

 character of the original.'* 



The objection raised in former papers of this series 

 to the extreme applicaion of the solar theory applies, 

 so it seems to me, with equal force to Mr. Spencer's 

 limitation of the origin of myth and religion to one 

 source. Having cleared Scylla, we must not dash 

 against Charybdis. Religion has its origin neither 

 in fear of ghosts, as Mr. Spencer's theory assumes 

 nor in a perception of the Infinite inherent in man, as 

 Professor Max Muller holds. Rather does it lie in man's 



" Principles of Sociology," p. 413. 



