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Magic and Religion
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Victorian folklore and anthropology

Magic and Religion

Andrew Lang1901
Intermediatecomplete

Andrew Lang's anthropological examination of the relationship between magic and religion in primitive societies. Lang argues against the evolutionary theory that magic preceded religion, proposing instead that monotheistic concepts existed alongside animistic beliefs in early cultures. He critically engages with the work of E.B. Tylor and J.G. Frazer, offering evidence from Australian Aboriginal traditions and other indigenous peoples to support his thesis that belief in a supreme being was present in even the earliest human societies.

Also known asLang's Ritual and Belief
This edition1901
EditionLondon: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1901. First Edition.
Comparative ReligionComparative Mythologyhigh god theorycomparative anthropologymythology and folklorefolk magic and healingAustralian Aboriginal beliefsanimism and monotheismAnimismritual documentationAnthropologysympathetic magicBritish anthropologyFolklore StudiesWestern Anthropological / FolkloreTotemism

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Comparative Religion

Comparative religion texts on ritual, myth, sacrifice, belief, ancient religion, and cross-cultural theories of sacred practice.

Comparative Mythology

Comparative mythology texts on gods, hero cycles, symbolic patterns, classical myth, Indo-European myth, and cross-cultural mythic structures.

Folklore Studies

Folklore studies texts on folk tales, fairy belief, superstition, regional customs, oral tradition, and the collection of vernacular belief.

Anthropology of Religion

Anthropological texts on ritual, animism, totemism, taboo, early religion, culture, and theories of belief formation.

Contents41 chapters

  1. 01MAGIC AND RELIGION
  2. 02ANDREW LANG
  3. 03AUTHOR OF 'MYTH, RITUAL, AND RELIGION' 'CUSTOM AND MYTH' ETC
  4. 04PREFACE
  5. 05Corrigenda and Addenda
  6. 06I
  7. 07SCIENCE AND SUPERSTITION
  8. 08II.
  9. 09THE THEORY OF LOAN-GODS; OR BORROWED RELIGION
  10. 10III
  11. 11MAGIC AND RELIGION
  12. 12IV
  13. 13THE ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
  14. 14V
  15. 15THE APPROACHES TO MR. FRAZER'S THEORY
  16. 16VI
  17. 17ATTEMPTS TO PROVE THE SACÆAN CRIMINAL DIVINE
  18. 18VII
  19. 19ZAKMUK, SACÆA, AND PURIM
  20. 20VIII
  21. 21MORDECAI, ESTHER, VASHTI, AND HAMAN
  22. 22IX
  23. 23WHY WAS THE MOCK-KING OF THE SACÆA WHIPPED AND HANGED?
  24. 24X
  25. 25CALVARY
  26. 26XI
  27. 27THE GHASTLY PRIEST
  28. 28XII
  29. 29SOUTH AFRICAN RELIGION
  30. 30XIII
  31. 31'CUP AND RING:' AN OLD PROBLEM SOLVED
  32. 32XIV
  33. 33FIRST-FRUITS AND TABOOS
  34. 34XV
  35. 35WALKING THROUGH FIRE
  36. 36APPENDIX A MR. TYLOR'S THEORY OF BORROWING
  37. 37APPENDIX B THE MARTYRDOM OF DASIUS
  38. 38APPENDIX C THE RIDE OF THE BEARDLESS ONE
  39. 39THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
  40. 40"Cover"
  41. 41The Project Gutenberg eBook of Magic and Religion, by Andrew Lang.

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