Book III the principal ritual attitudes

CHAPTER I

the negative cult AND ITS functions тие ascetic rites

I.—The system of interdictions—Magic and religious interdictions— Interdictions between sacred things of different sorts—Interdictions between sacred and profane—These latter are the basis of the negative cult—Leading types of these interdictions ; their reduction to two essential types ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..299

II.—The observance of interdictions modifies the religious state of indivi-viduals—Cases where this efficacy is especially apparent: ascetic practices—The religious efficacy of sorrow—Social function of asceticism ……………………………………………………………………...309

III.—Explanation of the system of interdictions : antagonism of the

saered and the profane, contagiousness of the sacred …………………………………….317

IV.—Causes of this contagiousness—It cannot be explained by the law» of the association of ideas—It is because religious forces are outside of their subjects—Logical interest in this property of religious forces …………………………………………………………………………….321

CHAPTER II the positive cult I.—The Elements of Sacrifice

The Intichiuma ceremony in the tribes of Central Australia—Different forms which it presents ………………………………………………………………………………………………326

I.—The Arunta Form—The two phases—Analysis of the first: visit to sacred places, scattering of sacred dust, shedding of blood, etc., to assure the reproduction of the totemic species …...327

II.—Second phase : ritual consumption of the totemic plant or animal ………………….333

III.—Interpretation of the complete ceremony—The second rite consists in a communion meal—Reason for this communion ………………………………………………………………336

IV.—The rites of the first phase consist in oblations—Analogies with sacrificial oblations—The Intichiuma thus contains the two elements of sacrifice—Interest of these facts for the theory of sacrifice …………………………………………………………………………………………...340

V.—On the pretended absurdity of sacrificial oblations—How they are explained : dependence of sacred beings upon their worshippers— Explanation of the circle in which sacrifice seems to move—Origin of the periodicity of positive rites ……………………………………………..344

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CHAPTER III the positive cult—(continued) II.—Imitative Rites and the Principle of Causality

I.—Nature of the imitative rites—Examples of ceremonies where they are employed to assure the fertility of the species……………………………………………………………………..351

II.—They rest upon the principle : like produces like—Examination of the explanation of this given by the anthropological school—Reasons why they imitate the animal or plant—Reasons for attributing a physical efficacy to these gestures—Faith—In what sense it is founded upon experience—The principles of magic are born in religion ……………………………………..……355

III.—The preceding principle considered as one of the first statements of the principle of causality—Social conditions upon which this latter depends—The idea of impersonal force or power is of social origin— The necessity for the conception of causality explained by the authority inherent in social imperatives . ……………………………………………………………………361

CHAPTER IV the positive cult—(continued) III.—Representative or Commemorative Rites

I.—Representative rites with physical efficacy—Their relations with the ceremonies already described—Their action is wholly moral …………………………………………………….…..371

II.—Representative rites without physical efficacy—They confirm the preceding results—The element of recreation in religion : its impor­tance ; its reason for existence—The idea of a feast

III.—Ambiguity of function in the various ceremonies studied ; they substitute themselves for each other—How this ambiguity confirms the theory proposed……………………………...376