Magic Science and Religion 39 



initiation. They present right through the vast range of their 

 occurrence certain striking similarities. Thus the novices have to 

 undergo a more or less protracted period of seclusion and prepara- 

 tion. Then comes initiation proper, in which the youth, passing 

 through a series of ordeals, is finally submitted to an act of bodily 

 mutilation : at the mildest, a slight incision or the knocking out 

 of a tooth ; or, more severe, circumcision ; or, really cruel and 

 dangerous, an operation such as the sub-incision practised in some 

 Australian tribes. The ordeal is usually associated with the idea 

 of the death and rebirth of the initiated one, which is sometimes 

 enacted in a mimetic performance. But besides the ordeal, less 

 conspicuous and dramatic, but in reality more important, is the 

 second main aspect of initiation : the systematic instruction of 

 the youth in sacred myth and tradition, the gradual unveiling of 

 tribal mysteries and the exhibition of sacred objects. 



The ordeal and the unveiling of tribal mysteries are usually 

 believed to have been instituted by one or more legendary ancestors 

 or culture-heroes, or by a Superior Being of superhuman character. 

 Sometimes he is said to swallow the youths, or to kill them, and then 

 to restore them again as fully initialled men. His voice is imitated 

 by the hum of the bull-roarer to inspire awe in the uninitiated 

 women and children. Through these ideas initiation brings the 

 novice into relationship with higher powers and personalities, such 

 as the Guardian Spirits and Tutelary Divinities of the North 

 American Indians, the Tribal All-Father of some Australian 

 Aborigines, the Mythological Heroes of Melanesia and other parts 

 of the world. This is the third fundamental element, besides 

 ordeal and the teaching of tradition, in the rites of passing into 

 manhood. 



Now what is the sociological function of these customs, what 

 part do they play in the maintenance and development of civilisa- 

 tion ? As we have seen, the youth is taught in them the sacred 

 traditions under most impressive conditions of preparation and 

 ordeal and under the sanction of Supernatural Beings — the light 

 of tribal revelation bursts upon him from out of the shadows of fear, 

 privation, and bodily pain. 



Let us realise that in primitive conditions tradition is of 

 supreme value for the community and nothing matters as much as 

 the conformity and conservatism of its members. Order and 

 civilisation can be maintained only by strict adhesion to the lore 



