Magic Science and Religion 73 



must be realised first that our knowledge of the mana, notably in 

 Melanesia, is somewhat contradictory, and especially that we have 

 hardly any data at all showing j ust how this conception enters into 

 religious or magical cult and belief. 



One thing is certain : magic is not born of an abstract con- 

 ception of universal power, subsequently applied to concrete cases. 

 It has undoubtedly arisen independently in a number of actual 

 situations. Each type of magic, born of its own situation and of 

 the emotional tension thereof, is due to the spontaneous flow of 

 ideas and the spontaneous reaction of man. It is the uniformity 

 of the mental process in each case which has led to certain 

 universal features of magic and to the general conceptions which 

 we find at the basis of man's magical thought and behaviour. It 

 will be necessary to give now an analysis of the situations of magic 

 and the experiences which they provoke. 



4. Magic and Experience 

 So far we have been dealing mainly with native ideas and with 

 native views of magic. This has led us to a point where the 

 savage simply afllirms that magic gives man the power over certain 

 things. Now we must analyse this belief from the point of view 

 of the sociological observer. Let us realise once more the type of 

 situation in which we find magic. Man, engaged in a series of 

 practical activities, comes to a gap ; the hunter is disappointed by 

 his quarry, the sailor misses propitious winds, the canoe-builder 

 has to deal with some material of which he is never certain that it 

 will stand the strain, or the healthy person suddenly feels his 

 strength failing. What does man do naturally under such 

 conditions, setting aside all magic, belief and ritual ? Forsaken by 

 his knowledge, baffled by his past experience and by his technical 

 skill, he realises his impotence. Yet his desire grips him only the 

 more strongly ; his anxiety, his fears and hopes, induce a tension 

 in his organism which drives him to some sort of activity. Whether 

 he be savage or civilised, whether in possession of magic or entirely 

 ignorant of its existence, passive inaction, the only thing dictated 

 by reason, is the last thing in which he can acquiesce. His 

 nervous system and his whole organism drive him to some substitute 

 activity. Obsessed by the idea of the desired end, he sees it 

 and feels it. His organism reproduces the acts suggested by the 



