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Authors: Rudolf Rocker
Tags: General, Social Science, History, Sociology, Political Science, Education, Political Ideologies, Multicultural Education, Nationalism, Culture, Nationalism and nationality, Nationalism & Patriotism
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religious ritual of Lamaism and that of the Catholic Church are also in their essence fetishism. As to whether animism and the first crude concepts of fetishism can already be regarded as religion, opinions differ; but that here is to be sought the starting point of all religious concepts can hardly be doubted.
Religion proper begins with the alliance between "ghost" and man which finds expression in ritual. For primitive man, the "ghost" or the "soul" is no abstract idea, but a completely corporeal concept. It is, therefore, quite natural that he should try to impress the spirits by concrete proofs of his veneration and submission. Thus arose in his brain the idea of sacrifice and, as repeated experience proved to him that the life of the slain animal or enemy departed with the streaming blood, he early learned to recognize that blood is indeed "a most peculiar juice." This recognition also gave the idea of sacrifice a specific character. The blood-offering was certainly the first form of the rite of sacrifice and was, moreover, necessitated by the primitive huntsman's life. The idea of the blood offering, which was doubtless among the oldest products of religious consciousness, persists in the great religious systems of the present. The symbolic transmutation of bread and wine in the Christian Eucharist into the "flesh and blood" of Christ is an example of this.
Sacrifice became the central point of all religious usages and festivities, which manifested themselves also in incantation, dance and song, and gradually congealed into specific rituals. It is very likely that the offering of sacrifice was at first a purely personal affair and that each could make the offering suited to his need, but this condition probably did not last long before it was replaced by a professional priesthood of the type of the medicine men, Shamans^ Gangas, and so on. The development of fetishism into totemism, by which Jiame, after an Indian word,^ we.xaJl the belief in a tribal deity, usually embodied in the form of an animal from which the tribe derived its origin, has especially favored the evolution of a special magician-priesthood. With that, religion took on a social character which it did not have before.
When we regard religion in the light of its own gradual evolution, we recognize that two phenomena constitute its essence: Religion is primarily the feeling of man^s dependence on higher unknoimi powers. To seek ways and means to make these powers favorably inclined toward him and to protect himself from their harmful influences^ m^an is impelled by the instinct of self-preservation. Thus arises ritual, which gives to religion its external character.
That the idea of sacrifice can be traced back to the custom, prevailing in the primitive human institutions and organizations of primeval times, of giving the tribal leaders and chiefs voluntary or compulsory presents, is an assumption which has some possibility. The assertion that primitive man without this institution would never have arrived at the idea of sacrifice seems to us too bold.
Religious concepts could only originate when the question of the why and how of things arose in the brain of man. But this presupposes considerable mental development. It is, therefore, to be assumed that a long period had to pass before this question could engage him. The concept which primeval man forms of the world around him, is primarily of a sensuous nature; just as a child recognizes the objects of his environment primarily sensuously and uses them long before any question concerning their origin arises in him. Furthermore, with many savage people it remains today the custom to let the ghosts of the departed ones participate at meals, just as nearly all of the festivities of primitive tribes are connected with sacrificial rites. Therefore, it is quite possible that the idea of sacrifice could have arisen without any preceding related social custom.
Be that as it may, the fact remains that in
Religion proper begins with the alliance between "ghost" and man which finds expression in ritual. For primitive man, the "ghost" or the "soul" is no abstract idea, but a completely corporeal concept. It is, therefore, quite natural that he should try to impress the spirits by concrete proofs of his veneration and submission. Thus arose in his brain the idea of sacrifice and, as repeated experience proved to him that the life of the slain animal or enemy departed with the streaming blood, he early learned to recognize that blood is indeed "a most peculiar juice." This recognition also gave the idea of sacrifice a specific character. The blood-offering was certainly the first form of the rite of sacrifice and was, moreover, necessitated by the primitive huntsman's life. The idea of the blood offering, which was doubtless among the oldest products of religious consciousness, persists in the great religious systems of the present. The symbolic transmutation of bread and wine in the Christian Eucharist into the "flesh and blood" of Christ is an example of this.
Sacrifice became the central point of all religious usages and festivities, which manifested themselves also in incantation, dance and song, and gradually congealed into specific rituals. It is very likely that the offering of sacrifice was at first a purely personal affair and that each could make the offering suited to his need, but this condition probably did not last long before it was replaced by a professional priesthood of the type of the medicine men, Shamans^ Gangas, and so on. The development of fetishism into totemism, by which Jiame, after an Indian word,^ we.xaJl the belief in a tribal deity, usually embodied in the form of an animal from which the tribe derived its origin, has especially favored the evolution of a special magician-priesthood. With that, religion took on a social character which it did not have before.
When we regard religion in the light of its own gradual evolution, we recognize that two phenomena constitute its essence: Religion is primarily the feeling of man^s dependence on higher unknoimi powers. To seek ways and means to make these powers favorably inclined toward him and to protect himself from their harmful influences^ m^an is impelled by the instinct of self-preservation. Thus arises ritual, which gives to religion its external character.
That the idea of sacrifice can be traced back to the custom, prevailing in the primitive human institutions and organizations of primeval times, of giving the tribal leaders and chiefs voluntary or compulsory presents, is an assumption which has some possibility. The assertion that primitive man without this institution would never have arrived at the idea of sacrifice seems to us too bold.
Religious concepts could only originate when the question of the why and how of things arose in the brain of man. But this presupposes considerable mental development. It is, therefore, to be assumed that a long period had to pass before this question could engage him. The concept which primeval man forms of the world around him, is primarily of a sensuous nature; just as a child recognizes the objects of his environment primarily sensuously and uses them long before any question concerning their origin arises in him. Furthermore, with many savage people it remains today the custom to let the ghosts of the departed ones participate at meals, just as nearly all of the festivities of primitive tribes are connected with sacrificial rites. Therefore, it is quite possible that the idea of sacrifice could have arisen without any preceding related social custom.
Be that as it may, the fact remains that in
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