"
Such a turning-point of the year, when vegetation might be thought
to share the incipient though still almost imperceptible decay of
summer, might very well be chosen by primitive man as a fit moment
for resorting to those magic rites by which he hopes to stay the
decline, or at least to ensure the revival, of plant life.
But while the death of vegetation appears to have been represented
in all, and its revival in some, of these spring and midsummer
ceremonies, there are features in some of them which can hardly be
explained on this hypothesis alone. The solemn funeral, the
lamentations, and the mourning attire, which often characterise
these rites, are indeed appropriate at the death of the beneficent
spirit of vegetation. But what shall we say of the glee with which
the effigy is often carried out, of the sticks and stones with which
it is assailed, and the taunts and curses which are hurled at it?
What shall we say of the dread of the effigy evinced by the haste
with which the bearers scamper home as soon as they have thrown it
away, and by the belief that some one must soon die in any house
into which it has looked? This dread might perhaps be explained by a
belief that there is a certain infectiousness in the dead spirit of
vegetation which renders its approach dangerous.
Pages:
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908