Victorian comparative religion

James George Frazer

1854 – 1941

Sir James George Frazer was a Scottish social anthropologist and folklorist whose monumental work The Golden Bough (1890, expanded to 12 volumes by 1915) systematically compared mythology, magic, and religion across world cultures. He argued that human thought progressed through stages of magic, religion, and science, providing a framework that shaped a generation of anthropologists, classicists, and occultists. His documentation of dying-and-rising god myths, sympathetic magic, and sacred kingship became foundational reference material for Western esotericists seeking ancient precedents for their beliefs.