CHAPTER II 



TREE-WORSHIP 



THE promise not to ask the reader to 

 believe in any form of animism has 

 been kept. He will not, however, object to 

 consider for a brief space the animistic beliefs 

 that have been held in the past, and are still 

 held by a larger part of the human race than 

 is commonly realised. It would be wrong to 

 suppose that, because the old significance of 

 such observances as those still customary with 

 us at Christmas and May-Day has ceased to 

 exist for us, it has ceased to exist for even the 

 majority of our fellow-beings. We may go 

 into the woods with no thought of there being 

 in them spirits, good or evil ; but it is not so 

 with more than a considerable minority of the 

 human race. It is interesting to wake up to 

 such facts. Beliefs are still widely held that 

 are earlier in origin, and lower as thought, 



