The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 11 of 12)

The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 11 of 12)

[Transcriber's Note: The above cover image was produced by the submitter at Distributed Proofreaders, and is being placed into the public domain.] At first sight the interpretation of the European fire customs as charms for making sunshine is confirmed by a parallel custom observed by the Hindoos of Southern India at the Pongol or Feast of Ingathering. The festival is celebrated in the early part of January, when, according to Hindoo astrologers, the sun enters the tropic of Capricorn, and the chief event of the festival coincides with the passage of the sun. For some days previously the boys gather heaps of sticks, straw, dead leaves, and everything that will burn. On the morning of the first day of the festival the heaps are fired. Every street and lane has its bonfire. The young folk leap over the flames or pile on fresh fuel. This fire is an offering to Srya, the sun-god, or to Agni, the deity of fire; it wakes him from his sleep, calling on him again to gladden the earth with his light and heat.1 If this is indeed the explanation which the people themselves give of the festival, it seems decisive in favour of the solar explanation of the fires; for to say that the fires waken the sun-god from his sleep is only a metaphorical or mythical way of saying that they actually help to rekindle the sun's light and heat. But the hesitation which the writer indicates between the two distinct deities of sun and fire seems to prove that he is merely giving his own interpretation of the rite, not reporting the views of the celebrants. If [pg 002] that is so, the expression of his opinion has no claim to authority. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 43433
Author: Frazer, James George
Release Date: Jul 9, 2013
Format: eBook
Language: English