For it is thought that
she herself would suffer if she were to neglect the prescribed
regimen. Thus Zulu girls, as we have seen, believe that they would
shrivel to skeletons if the sun were to shine on them at puberty,
and the Macusis imagine that, if a young woman were to transgress
the rules, she would suffer from sores on various parts of her body.
In short, the girl is viewed as charged with a powerful force which,
if not kept within bounds, may prove destructive both to herself and
to all with whom she comes in contact. To repress this force within
the limits necessary for the safety of all concerned is the object
of the taboos in question.
The same explanation applies to the observance of the same rules by
divine kings and priests. The uncleanness, as it is called, of girls
at puberty and the sanctity of holy men do not, to the primitive
mind, differ materially from each other. They are only different
manifestations of the same mysterious energy which, like energy in
general, is in itself neither good nor bad, but becomes beneficent
or maleficent according to its application.
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