SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— H. 483 



vanishes altogether, and nothing is left but ejaculations and simple move- 

 ments repeated over and over again. 



Ritual is not peculiar in this breakdown. The logical structure of science 

 can be broken up by the emotionalists, as we can see happening in the social 

 sciences. The same can be observed in architecture and even in music. 



It is a general law that logical constructions lose their structure under the 

 stress of strong emotion. 



Mrs. N. K. Chadwick. — Ritual and tradition (2.35). 



Ritual and tradition belong properly to oral phases of culture. Where 

 the order of a ritual is committed to writing, this is only for mnemonic 

 purposes, or purposes of reference. Records of ritual and of tradition 

 from the past have generally been committed to writing in the first instance 

 by the intellectual classes, which are largely sacerdotal. Hence such records 

 tend to assume a religious colouring, which conveys a disproportionate idea 

 of the part played by religion in the cultures to which they belong. The 

 study of the traditions and ritual of modern peoples shows that secular 

 traditions and social ritual are quite as important, and that secular learning 

 and education are generally held in high esteem, even among peoples who 

 have no writing. Educational methods among unlettered peoples, e.g. 

 the Polynesians and the Bantu peoples, are deserving of careful study. 



Prof. S. H. HooKE. — Ritual and myth (3.10). 



The paper is based on the examination of some of the early documentary 

 material from Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Hittite and Canaanite 

 sources. It attempts to establish the following points for the culture area 

 which the texts in question cover. 



(i) In these texts a number of very early myths have been preserved. 

 Some of these myths, which might be called basic myths, in slightly varying 

 forms, are common to the culture area referred to above. In them the 

 actions of certain persons are described. These persons are gods, divine 

 kings, or semi-divine heroes. 



(ii) By comparison of these myths with early ritual texts, and especially 

 with the class of texts called ritual commentaries, it becomes clear that the 

 basic myths are actually the description of ritual situations which spring 

 from, and are characteristic of, the social and religious organisation of our 

 culture area at the earliest stage of which we have documentary knowledge. 



(iii) By examination of certain changes which this myth and ritual material 

 undergoes as it passes from one part of this culture area to another, it is 

 possible to trace the emergence of history from the ritual situation. 



Prof. H. J. Rose. — Ritual and magic (3.45). 



Definitions of the words ' ritual ' and ' magic' The former is a series 

 of actions, generally of religious import (in the wide sense of ' religious ') 

 forming a pattern. The latter is used in a modification of the Frazerian 

 sense, without implying any priority in time to worship. Ritual is of three 

 main kinds ; one is dramatic, setting forth some kind of myth ; another a 

 series of acts of worship, designed to win the favour or avert the anger of a 

 superhuman being. The third is magical, a process or series of connected 

 actions, supposed efficacious in themselves, to secure some desirable end, 

 positive or negative. This may be illustrated by the ritual of the Lupercalia 

 in classical and pre-classical Rome. Description and interpretation of this 

 rite : it was not addressed to any deity, but intended of itself to draw a 



