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The
combination is familiar in history. Indeed, few religions have ever
succeeded in wholly extricating themselves from the old trammels of
magic. The inconsistency of acting on two opposite principles,
however it may vex the soul of the philosopher, rarely troubles the
common man; indeed he is seldom even aware of it. His affair is to
act, not to analyse the motives of his action. If mankind had always
been logical and wise, history would not be a long chronicle of
folly and crime.
Of the changes which the seasons bring with them, the most striking
within the temperate zone are those which affect vegetation. The
influence of the seasons on animals, though great, is not nearly so
manifest. Hence it is natural that in the magical dramas designed to
dispel winter and bring back spring the emphasis should be laid on
vegetation, and that trees and plants should figure in them more
prominently than beasts and birds. Yet the two sides of life, the
vegetable and the animal, were not dissociated in the minds of those
who observed the ceremonies.


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