Balder the Beautiful, Volume I A Study in Magic and Religion: the Golden Bough, Part VII | Page 4

of study it is the fate of theories to be washed
away like children's castles of sand by the rising tide of knowledge, and
I am not so presumptuous as to expect or desire for mine an exemption
from the common lot. I hold them all very lightly and have used them
chiefly as convenient pegs on which to hang my collections of facts.
For I believe that, while theories are transitory, a record of facts has a
permanent value, and that as a chronicle of ancient customs and beliefs
my book may retain its utility when my theories are as obsolete as the
customs and beliefs themselves deserve to be.
I cannot dismiss without some natural regret a task which has occupied
and amused me at intervals for many years. But the regret is tempered
by thankfulness and hope. I am thankful that I have been able to
conclude at least one chapter of the work I projected a long time ago. I
am hopeful that I may not now be taking a final leave of my indulgent
readers, but that, as I am sensible of little abatement in my bodily
strength and of none in my ardour for study, they will bear with me yet
a while if I should attempt to entertain them with fresh subjects of
laughter and tears drawn from the comedy and the tragedy of man's
endless quest after happiness and truth.
J.G. FRAZER.
CAMBRIDGE, 17th October 1913.

CONTENTS
PREFACE, Pp. v-xii

CHAPTER I.
--BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH, Pp. 1-21
§ 1. Not to touch the Earth, pp. 1-18.--The priest of Aricia and the
Golden Bough, 1 sq.; sacred kings and priests forbidden to touch the
ground with their feet, 2-4; certain persons on certain occasions
forbidden to touch the ground with their feet, 4-6; sacred persons
apparently thought to be charged with a mysterious virtue which will
run to waste or explode by contact with the ground, 6 sq.; things as well
as persons charged with the mysterious virtue of holiness or taboo and
therefore kept from contact with the ground, 7; festival of the wild
mango, which is not allowed to touch the earth, 7-11; other sacred
objects kept from contact with the ground, 11 sq.; sacred food not
allowed to touch the earth, 13 sq.; magical implements and remedies
thought to lose their virtue by contact with the ground, 14 sq.; serpents'
eggs or snake stones, 15 sq.; medicinal plants, water, etc., not allowed
to touch the earth, 17 sq.
§ 2. Not to see the Sun, pp. 18-21.--Sacred persons not allowed to see
the sun, 18-20; tabooed persons not allowed to see the sun, 20; certain
persons forbidden to see fire, 20 sq.; the story of Prince Sunless, 21.

CHAPTER II.
--THE SECLUSION OF GIRLS AT PUBERTY, Pp. 22-100
§ 1. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in Africa, pp. 22-32.--Girls at puberty
forbidden to touch the ground and see the sun, 22; seclusion of girls at
puberty among the Zulus and kindred tribes, 22; among the A-Kamba
of British East Africa, 23; among the Baganda of Central Africa, 23 sq.;
among the tribes of the Tanganyika plateau, 24 sq.; among the tribes of
British Central Africa, 25 sq.; abstinence from salt associated with a
rule of chastity in many tribes, 26-28; seclusion of girls at puberty
among the tribes about Lake Nyassa and on the Zambesi, 28 sq.; among

the Thonga of Delagoa Bay, 29 sq.; among the Caffre tribes of South
Africa, 30 sq.; among the Bavili of the Lower Congo, 31 sq.
§ 2. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in New Ireland, New Guinea, and
Indonesia, pp. 32-36.--Seclusion of girls at puberty in New Ireland,
32-34; in New Guinea, Borneo, Ceram, and the Caroline Islands, 35 sq.
§ 3. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty in the Torres Straits Islands and
Northern Australia, pp. 36-41.--Seclusion of girls at puberty in
Mabuiag, Torres Straits, 36 sq.; in Northern Australia, 37-39; in the
islands of Torres Straits, 39-41.
§ 4. Seclusion of Girls at Puberty among the Indians of North America,
pp. 41-55.--Seclusion of girls at puberty among the Indians of
California, 41-43; among the Indians of Washington State, 43; among
the Nootka Indians of Vancouver Island, 43 sq.; among the Haida
Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands, 44 sq.; among the Tlingit
Indians of Alaska, 45 sq.; among the Tsetsaut and Bella Coola Indians
of British Columbia, 46 sq.; among the Tinneh Indians of British
Columbia, 47 sq.; among the Tinneh Indians of Alaska, 48 sq.; among
the Thompson Indians of British Columbia, 49-52; among the Lillooet
Indians of British Columbia, 52 sq.; among the Shuswap Indians of
British Columbia, 53 sq.; among the Delaware and Cheyenne Indians,
54 sq.; among the Esquimaux, 55 sq.
§ 5. Seclusion of Girls