The examples collected in the last chapter may suffice to illustrate5 the general principles of sympathetic magic in its two branches, to which we have given the names of Homoeopathic and Contagious6 respectively. In some cases of magic which have come before us we have seen that the operation of spirits is assumed, and that an attempt is made to win their favour by prayer and sacrifice. But these cases are on the whole exceptional; they exhibit magic tinged7 and alloyed with religion.?[808] Wherever sympathetic magic occurs in its pure unadulterated form, it assumes that in nature one event follows another necessarily and invariably without the intervention8 of any spiritual or personal agency. Thus its fundamental conception is identical with that of modern science; underlying9 the whole system is a faith, implicit10 but real and firm, in the order and uniformity of nature. The magician does not doubt that the same causes will always produce the same effects, that the performance of the proper ceremony, accompanied by the appropriate spell, will inevitably11 be attended by the desired results, unless, indeed, his incantations should chance to be thwarted12 and foiled by the more potent13 charms of another sorcerer. He supplicates14 no higher power: he sues the favour of no fickle15 and wayward {p221} being: he abases16 himself before no awful deity17. Yet his power, great as he believes it to be, is by no means arbitrary and unlimited18. He can wield19 it only so long as he strictly20 conforms to the rules of his art, or to what may be called the laws of nature as conceived by him. To neglect these rules, to break these laws in the smallest particular is to incur21 failure, and may even expose the unskilful practitioner23 himself to the utmost peril24. If he claims a sovereignty over nature, it is a constitutional sovereignty rigorously limited in its scope and exercised in exact conformity25 with ancient usage. Thus the analogy between the magical and the scientific conceptions of the world is close. In both of them the succession of events is perfectly27 regular and certain, being determined28 by immutable29 laws, the operation of which can be foreseen and calculated precisely30; the elements of caprice, of chance, and of accident are banished31 from the course of nature. Both of them open up a seemingly boundless vista of possibilities to him who knows the causes of things and can touch the secret springs that set in motion the vast and intricate mechanism32 of the world. Hence the strong attraction which magic and science alike have exercised on the human mind; hence the powerful stimulus33 that both have given to the pursuit of knowledge. They lure22 the weary enquirer34, the footsore seeker, on through the wilderness36 of disappointment in the present by their endless promises of the future: they take him up to the top of an exceeding high mountain and shew him, beyond the dark clouds and rolling mists at his feet, a vision of the celestial37 city, far off, it may be, but radiant with unearthly splendour, bathed in the light of dreams.
The fatal flaw of magic lies not in its general assumption of the uniformity of nature, but in its misapprehension of the particular laws which govern the sequence of natural events.
The fatal flaw of magic lies not in its general assumption of a sequence of events determined by law, but in its total misconception of the nature of the particular laws which govern that sequence. If we analyse the various cases of sympathetic magic which have been passed in review in the preceding pages, and which may be taken as fair samples of the bulk, we shall find, as I have already indicated, that they are all mistaken applications of one or other of two great fundamental laws of thought, namely, the association of ideas by similarity and the {p222} association of ideas by contiguity39 in space or time. A mistaken association of similar ideas produces homoeopathic or imitative magic: a mistaken association of contiguous ideas produces contagious magic. The principles of association are excellent in themselves, and indeed absolutely essential to the working of the human mind. Legitimately41 applied42 they yield science; illegitimately applied they yield magic, the bastard43 sister of science. It is therefore a truism, almost a tautology44, to say that all magic is necessarily false and barren; for were it ever to become true and fruitful, it would no longer be magic but science. From the earliest times man has been engaged in a search for general rules whereby to turn the order of natural phenomena45 to his own advantage, and in the long search he has scraped together a great hoard46 of such maxims47, some of them golden and some of them mere48 dross49. The true or golden rules constitute the body of applied science which we call the arts; the false are magic.
Relation of magic to religion.
Religion defined: it is a propitiation or conciliation50 of superhuman powers which are believed to control nature and man. Thus religion comprises two elements, a theoretical and a practical, or faith and works, and it does not exist without both. But religious practice need not consist in ritual; it may consist in ethical51 conduct, if that is believed to be well-pleasing to the deity.
If magic is thus next of kin40 to science, we have still to enquire35 how it stands related to religion. But the view we take of that relation will necessarily be coloured by the idea which we have formed of the nature of religion itself; hence a writer may reasonably be expected to define his conception of religion before he proceeds to investigate its relation to magic. There is probably no subject in the world about which opinions differ so much as the nature of religion, and to frame a definition of it which would satisfy every one must obviously be impossible. All that a writer can do is, first, to say clearly what he means by religion, and afterwards to employ the word consistently in that sense throughout his work. By religion, then, I understand a propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to direct and control the course of nature and of human life.?[809] Thus defined, religion consists of two elements, a theoretical and a practical, namely, a belief in powers higher than man and an attempt to propitiate53 or please them. Of the two, belief clearly comes first, since we must believe in the existence of a divine being before we can attempt to please {p223} him. But unless the belief leads to a corresponding practice, it is not a religion but merely a theology; in the language of St. James, “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”?[810] In other words, no man is religious who does not govern his conduct in some measure by the fear or love of God.?[811] On the other hand, mere practice, divested54 of all religious belief, is also not religion. Two men may behave in exactly the same way, and yet one of them may be religious and the other not. If the one acts from the love or fear of God, he is religious; if the other acts from the love or fear of man, he is moral or immoral55 according as his behaviour comports56 or conflicts with the general good. Hence belief and practice or, in theological language, faith and works are equally essential to religion, which cannot exist without both of them. But it is not necessary that religious practice should always take the form of a ritual; that is, it need not consist in the offering of sacrifice, the recitation of prayers, and other outward ceremonies. Its aim is to please the deity, and if the deity is one who delights in charity and mercy and purity more than in oblations of blood, the chanting of hymns58, and the fumes59 of incense60, his worshippers will best please him, not by prostrating61 themselves before him, by intoning his praises, and by filling his temples with costly62 gifts, but by being pure and merciful and charitable towards men, for in so doing they will imitate, so far as human infirmity allows, the perfections of the divine nature. It was this ethical side of religion which the Hebrew prophets, inspired with a noble ideal of God’s goodness and holiness, were never weary of inculcating. Thus Micah says:?[812] “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly63 with thy God?” And at a later time much of the force by which {p224} Christianity conquered the world was drawn65 from the same high conception of God’s moral nature and the duty laid on men of conforming themselves to it. “Pure religion and undefiled,” says St. James, “before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”?[813]
By assuming the order of nature to be elastic66 or variable religion is opposed in principle alike to magic and to science, both of which assume the order of nature to be rigid67 and invariable.
Claim of Egyptian and Indian magicians to control the gods.
But if religion involves, first, a belief in superhuman beings who rule the world, and, second, an attempt to win their favour, it clearly assumes that the course of nature is to some extent elastic or variable, and that we can persuade or induce the mighty68 beings who control it to deflect69, for our benefit, the current of events from the channel in which they would otherwise flow. Now this implied elasticity70 or variability of nature is directly opposed to the principles of magic as well as of science, both of which assume that the processes of nature are rigid and invariable in their operation, and that they can as little be turned from their course by persuasion71 and entreaty72 as by threats and intimidation73. The distinction between the two conflicting views of the universe turns on their answer to the crucial question, Are the forces which govern the world conscious and personal, or unconscious and impersonal74? Religion, as a conciliation of the superhuman powers, assumes the former member of the alternative. For all conciliation implies that the being conciliated is a conscious or personal agent, that his conduct is in some measure uncertain, and that he can be prevailed upon to vary it in the desired direction by a judicious75 appeal to his interests, his appetites, or his emotions. Conciliation is never employed towards things which are regarded as inanimate, nor towards persons whose behaviour in the particular circumstances is known to be determined with absolute certainty. Thus in so far as religion assumes the world to be directed by conscious agents who may be turned from their purpose by persuasion, it stands in fundamental antagonism77 to magic as well as to science, both of which take for granted that the course of nature is determined, not by the passions or caprice of personal beings, but by the operation of immutable laws acting78 mechanically.?[814] In {p225} magic, indeed, the assumption is only implicit, but in science it is explicit79. It is true that magic often deals with spirits, which are personal agents of the kind assumed by religion; but whenever it does so in its proper form, it treats them exactly in the same fashion as it treats inanimate agents, that is, it constrains80 or coerces82 instead of conciliating or propitiating83 them as religion would do. Thus it assumes that all personal beings, whether human or divine, are in the last resort subject to those impersonal forces which control all things, but which nevertheless can be turned to account by any one who knows how to manipulate them by the appropriate ceremonies and spells. In ancient Egypt, for example, the magicians claimed the power of compelling even the highest gods to do their bidding, and actually threatened them with destruction in case of disobedience.?[815] Sometimes, without going quite so far as that, the wizard declared that he would scatter86 the bones of Osiris or reveal his sacred legend, if the god proved contumacious87.?[816] Similarly in India at the present day the great Hindoo trinity itself of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva is subject to the sorcerers, who, by means of their spells, exercise such an ascendency over the mightiest88 deities89, that these are bound submissively to execute on earth below, or in heaven above, whatever commands their masters the magicians may please to issue.?[817] There is a saying everywhere current in {p226} India: “The whole universe is subject to the gods; the gods are subject to the spells (mantras); the spells to the Brahmans; therefore the Brahmans are our gods.”?[818]
This radical91 conflict of principle between magic and religion sufficiently92 explains the relentless93 hostility with which in history the priest has often pursued the magician. The haughty94 self-sufficiency of the magician, his arrogant95 demeanour towards the higher powers, and his unabashed claim to exercise a sway like theirs could not but revolt the priest, to whom, with his awful sense of the divine majesty96, and his humble97 prostration98 in presence of it, such claims and such a demeanour must have appeared an impious and blasphemous99 usurpation100 of prerogatives101 that belong to God alone. And sometimes, we may suspect, lower motives102 concurred103 to whet84 the edge of the priest’s hostility. He professed104 to be the proper medium, the true intercessor between God and man, and no doubt his interests as well as his feelings were often injured by a rival practitioner, who preached a surer and smoother road to fortune than the rugged105 and slippery path of divine favour.
This hostility comparatively late: at an earlier time magic co-operated, and was partly confused, with religion.
Confusion of magic and religion in Melanesia.
Yet this antagonism, familiar as it is to us, seems to have made its appearance comparatively late in the history of religion. At an earlier stage?[819] the functions of priest and sorcerer were often combined or, to speak perhaps more correctly, were not yet differentiated107 from each other. To serve his purpose man wooed the good-will of gods or spirits by prayer and sacrifice, while at the same time he had recourse to ceremonies and forms of words which he hoped would of themselves bring about the desired result without the help of god or devil. In short, he performed religious and magical rites108 simultaneously109; he uttered prayers and incantations almost in the same breath, knowing or {p227} recking little of the theoretical inconsistency of his behaviour, so long as by hook or crook110 he contrived111 to get what he wanted. Instances of this fusion106 or confusion of magic with religion have already met us in the practices of Melanesians and of other peoples.?[820] So far as the Melanesians are concerned, the general confusion cannot be better described than in the words of Dr. R. H. Codrington:—“That invisible power which is believed by the natives to cause all such effects as transcend112 their conception of the regular course of nature, and to reside in spiritual beings, whether in the spiritual part of living men or in the ghosts of the dead, being imparted by them to their names and to various things that belong to them, such as stones, snakes, and indeed objects of all sorts, is that generally known as mana. Without some understanding of this it is impossible to understand the religious beliefs and practices of the Melanesians; and this again is the active force in all they do and believe to be done in magic, white or black. By means of this men are able to control or direct the forces of nature, to make rain or sunshine, wind or calm, to cause sickness or remove it, to know what is far off in time and space, to bring good luck and prosperity, or to blast and curse.” “By whatever name it is called, it is the belief in this supernatural power, and in the efficacy of the various means by which spirits and ghosts can be induced to exercise it for the benefit of men, that is the foundation of the rites and practices which can be called religious; and it is from the same belief that everything which may be called Magic and Witchcraft114 draws its origin. Wizards, doctors, weather-mongers, prophets, diviners, dreamers, all alike, everywhere in the islands, work by this power. There are many of these who may be said to exercise their art as a profession; they get their property and influence in this way. Every considerable village or settlement is sure to have some one who can control the weather and the waves, some one who knows how to treat sickness, some one who can work mischief115 with various charms. There may be one whose skill extends to all these branches; but generally one man knows how to do one thing and one another. This various knowledge is handed down from father {p228} to son, from uncle to sister’s son, in the same way as is the knowledge of the rites and methods of sacrifice and prayer; and very often the same man who knows the sacrifice knows also the making of the weather, and of charms for many purposes besides. But as there is no order of priests, there is also no order of magicians or medicine-men. Almost every man of consideration knows how to approach some ghost or spirit, and has some secret of occult practices.”?[821]
Confusion of magic and religion in ancient India.
The same confusion of magic and religion has survived among peoples that have risen to higher levels of culture. It was rife116 in ancient India and ancient Egypt; it is by no means extinct among European peasantry at the present day. With regard to ancient India we are told by an eminent117 Sanscrit scholar that “the sacrificial ritual at the earliest period of which we have detailed118 information is pervaded119 with practices that breathe the spirit of the most primitive120 magic.”?[822] Again, the same writer observes that “the ritual of the very sacrifices for which the metrical prayers were composed is described in the other Vedic texts as saturated121 from beginning to end with magical practices which were to be carried out by the sacrificial priests.” In particular he tells us that the rites celebrated122 on special occasions, such as marriage, initiation123, and the anointment of a king, “are complete models of magic of every kind, and in every case the forms of magic employed bear the stamp of the highest antiquity124.”?[823] Speaking of the sacrifices prescribed in the Brahma?as, Professor Sylvain Lévi says: “The sacrifice has thus all the characteristics of a magical operation, independent of the divinities, effective by its own energy, and capable of producing evil as well as good. It is hardly distinguished125 from magic strictly so called, except by being regular and obligatory126; it can easily be adapted {p229} to different objects, but it exists of necessity, independently of circumstances. That is the sole fairly clear line of distinction which can be drawn between the two domains127; in point of fact they are so intimately interfused with each other that the same class of works treats of both matters. The Samavidhana Brahma?a is a real handbook of incantations and sorcery; the Adbhuta Brahma?a, which forms a section of the ?a?vi??a Brahma?a, has the same character.”?[824] Similarly Professor M. Bloomfield writes: “Even witchcraft is part of the religion; it has penetrated128 and has become intimately blended with the holiest Vedic rites; the broad current of popular religion and superstition129 has infiltrated130 itself through numberless channels into the higher religion that is presented by the Brahman priests, and it may be presumed that the priests were neither able to cleanse131 their own religious beliefs from the mass of folk-belief with which it was surrounded, nor is it at all likely that they found it in their interest to do so.”?[825] Again, in the introduction to his translation of the Kausika Sūtra, Dr. W. Caland observes: “He who has been wont132 to regard the ancient Hindoos as a highly civilised people, famed for their philosophical134 systems, their dramatic poetry, their epic135 lays, will be surprised when he makes the acquaintance of their magical ritual, and will perceive that hitherto he has known the old Hindoo people from one side only. He will find that he here stumbles on the lowest strata136 of Vedic culture, and will be astonished at the agreement between the magic ritual of the old Vedas and the shamanism of the so-called savage137. If we drop the peculiar138 Hindoo expressions and technical terms, and imagine a shaman instead of a Brahman, we could almost fancy that we have before us a magical book belonging to one of the tribes of North American red-skins.”?[826] Some good authorities hold that the very name of Brahman is derived139 from brahman, “a magical spell”; so that, if they are right, the Brahman would seem to have been a magician before he was a priest.?[827] {p230}
Confusion of magic and religion in ancient Egypt.
Speaking of the importance of magic in the East, and especially in Egypt, Professor Maspero remarks that “we ought not to attach to the word magic the degrading idea which it almost inevitably calls up in the mind of a modern. Ancient magic was the very foundation of religion. The faithful who desired to obtain some favour from a god had no chance of succeeding except by laying hands on the deity, and this arrest could only be effected by means of a certain number of rites, sacrifices, prayers, and chants, which the god himself had revealed, and which obliged him to do what was demanded of him.”?[828] According to another distinguished Egyptologist “the belief that there are words and actions by which man can influence all the powers of nature and all living things, from animals up to gods, was inextricably interwoven with everything the Egyptians did and everything they left undone141. Above all, the whole system of burial and of the worship of the dead is completely dominated by it. The wooden puppets which relieved the dead man from toil142, the figures of the maid-servants who baked bread for him, the sacrificial formulas by the recitation of which food was procured143 for him, what are these and all the similar practices but magic? And as men cannot help themselves without magic, so neither can the gods; the gods also wear amulets144 to protect themselves, and use magic spells to constrain81 each other.”?[829] “The whole doctrine145 of magic,” says Professor Wiedemann, “formed in the valley of the Nile, not a part of superstition, but an essential constituent146 of religious faith, which to a {p231} great extent rested directly on magic, and always remained most closely bound up with it.”?[830] But though we can perceive the union of discrepant147 elements in the faith and practice of the ancient Egyptians, it would be rash to assume that the people themselves did so. “Egyptian religion,” says the same scholar, “was not one and homogeneous; it was compounded of the most heterogeneous148 elements, which seemed to the Egyptian to be all equally justified149. He did not care whether a doctrine or a myth belonged to what, in modern scholastic150 phraseology, we should call faith or superstition; it was indifferent to him whether we should rank it as religion or magic, as worship or sorcery. All such classifications were foreign to the Egyptian. To him no one doctrine seemed more or less justified than another. Nay151, he went so far as to allow the most flagrant contradictions to stand peaceably side by side.”?[831]
Confusion of magic and religion in modern Europe.
Mass of the Holy Spirit.
Mass of Saint Sécaire.
Among the ignorant classes of modern Europe the same confusion of ideas, the same mixture of religion and magic, crops up in various forms. Thus we are told that in France “the majority of the peasants still believe that the priest possesses a secret and irresistible152 power over the elements. By reciting certain prayers which he alone knows and has the right to utter, yet for the utterance153 of which he must afterwards demand absolution, he can, on an occasion of pressing danger, arrest or reverse for a moment the action of the eternal laws of the physical world. The winds, the storms, the hail, and the rain are at his command and obey his will. The fire also is subject to him, and the flames of a conflagration154 are extinguished at his word.”?[832] For example, French peasants used to be, perhaps are still, persuaded that the priests could celebrate, with certain special rites, a “Mass of the Holy Spirit,” of which the efficacy was so miraculous155 that it never met with any opposition156 from the divine will; {p232} God was forced to grant whatever was asked of Him in this form, however rash and importunate157 might be the petition. No idea of impiety158 or irreverence159 attached to the rite52 in the minds of those who, in some of the great extremities160 of life, sought by this singular means to take the kingdom of heaven by storm. The secular161 priests generally refused to say the “Mass of the Holy Spirit”; but the monks162, especially the Capuchin friars, had the reputation of yielding with less scruple163 to the entreaties164 of the anxious and distressed165.?[833] In the constraint166 thus supposed by Catholic peasantry to be laid by the priest upon the deity we seem to have an exact counterpart of the power which, as we saw, the ancient Egyptians ascribed to their magicians.?[834] Again, to take another example, in many villages of Provence the priest is still reputed to possess the faculty167 of averting168 storms. It is not every priest who enjoys this reputation; and in some villages, when a change of pastors169 takes place, the parishioners are eager to learn whether the new incumbent170 has the power (pouder), as they call it. At the first sign of a heavy storm they put him to the proof by inviting171 him to exorcise the threatening clouds; and if the result answers to their hopes, the new shepherd is assured of the sympathy and respect of his flock. In some parishes, where the reputation of the curate in this respect stood higher than that of his rector, the relations between the two have been so strained in consequence that the bishop172 has had to translate the rector to another benefice.?[835] Again, Gascon peasants believe that to revenge themselves on their enemies bad men will sometimes induce a priest to say a mass called the Mass of Saint Sécaire. Very few priests know this mass, and three-fourths of those who do know it would not say it for love or money. None but wicked priests dare to perform the gruesome ceremony, and you may be quite sure that they will have a very heavy account to render for it at the last day. No curate or bishop, not even the archbishop of {p233} Auch, can pardon them; that right belongs to the pope of Rome alone. The Mass of Saint Sécaire may be said only in a ruined or deserted173 church, where owls174 mope and hoot175, where bats flit in the gloaming, where gypsies lodge176 of nights, and where toads177 squat178 under the desecrated179 altar. Thither180 the bad priest comes by night with his light o’ love, and at the first stroke of eleven he begins to mumble181 the mass backwards182, and ends just as the clocks are knelling183 the midnight hour. His leman acts as clerk. The host he blesses is black and has three points; he consecrates184 no wine, but instead he drinks the water of a well into which the body of an unbaptized infant has been flung. He makes the sign of the cross, but it is on the ground and with his left foot. And many other things he does which no good Christian64 could look upon without being struck blind and deaf and dumb for the rest of his life. But the man for whom the mass is said withers185 away little by little, and nobody can say what is the matter with him; even the doctors can make nothing of it. They do not know that he is slowly dying of the Mass of Saint Sécaire.?[836]
The early confusion of magic with religion was probably preceded by a still earlier phase of thought, when magic existed without religion.
Yet though magic is thus found to fuse and amalgamate186 with religion in many ages and in many lands, there are some grounds for thinking that this fusion is not primitive, and that there was a time when man trusted to magic alone for the satisfaction of such wants as transcended187 his immediate188 animal cravings. In the first place a consideration of the fundamental notions of magic and religion may incline us to surmise189 that magic is older than religion in the history of humanity. We have seen that on the one hand magic is nothing but a mistaken application of the very simplest and most elementary processes of the mind, namely the association of ideas by virtue190 of resemblance or contiguity; and that on the other hand religion assumes the operation of conscious or personal agents, superior to man, behind the visible screen of nature. Obviously the conception of personal agents is more complex than a simple recognition of the similarity or contiguity of ideas; and a theory which assumes that the course of nature is determined by conscious {p234} agents is more abstruse191 and recondite192, and requires for its apprehension38 a far higher degree of intelligence and reflection, than the view that things succeed each other simply by reason of their contiguity or resemblance. The very beasts associate the ideas of things that are like each other or that have been found together in their experience; and they could hardly survive for a day if they ceased to do so. But who attributes to the animals a belief that the phenomena of nature are worked by a multitude of invisible animals or by one enormous and prodigiously193 strong animal behind the scenes? It is probably no injustice194 to the brutes195 to assume that the honour of devising a theory of this latter sort must be reserved for human reason. Thus, if magic be deduced immediately from elementary processes of reasoning, and be, in fact, an error into which the mind falls almost spontaneously, while religion rests on conceptions which the merely animal intelligence can hardly be supposed to have yet attained196 to, it becomes probable that magic arose before religion in the evolution of our race, and that man essayed to bend nature to his wishes by the sheer force of spells and enchantments197 before he strove to coax198 and mollify a coy, capricious, or irascible deity by the soft insinuation of prayer and sacrifice.
Among the Australian aborigines magic is universal, but religion almost unknown.
The conclusion which we have thus reached deductively from a consideration of the fundamental ideas of religion and magic is confirmed inductively by the observation that among the aborigines of Australia, the rudest savages199 as to whom we possess accurate information, magic is universally practised, whereas religion in the sense of a propitiation or conciliation of the higher powers seems to be nearly unknown. Roughly speaking, all men in Australia are magicians, but not one is a priest; everybody fancies he can influence his fellows or the course of nature by sympathetic magic, but nobody dreams of propitiating gods by prayer and sacrifice.?[837]
Magic is probably older than religion, and faith in it is still universal among the ignorant and superstitious200.
But if in the most backward state of human society now known to us we find magic thus conspicuously201 present and religion conspicuously absent, may we not reasonably conjecture202 that the civilised races of the world have also at some period of their history passed through a similar {p235} intellectual phase, that they attempted to force the great powers of nature to do their pleasure before they thought of courting their favour by offerings and prayer—in short that, just as on the material side of human culture there has everywhere been an Age of Stone, so on the intellectual side there has everywhere been an Age of Magic??[838] There are reasons for answering this question in the affirmative. When we survey the existing races of mankind from Greenland to Tierra del Fuego, or from Scotland to Singapore, we observe that they are distinguished one from the other by a great variety of religions, and that these distinctions are not, so to speak, merely coterminous204 with the broad distinctions of race, but descend205 into the minuter subdivisions of states and commonwealths206, nay, that they honeycomb the town, the village, and even the family, so that the surface of society all over the world is cracked and seamed, sapped and mined with rents and fissures207 and yawning crevasses208 opened up by the disintegrating209 influence of religious dissension. Yet when we have penetrated through these differences, which affect mainly the intelligent and thoughtful part of the community, we shall find underlying them all a solid stratum210 of intellectual agreement among the dull, the weak, the ignorant, and the superstitious, who constitute, unfortunately, the vast majority of mankind. One of the great achievements of the nineteenth century was to run shafts211 down into this low mental stratum in many parts of the world, and thus to discover its substantial identity everywhere. It is beneath our feet—and not very far beneath them—here in Europe at the present day, and it crops up on the surface in the heart of the Australian wilderness and wherever the advent212 of a higher civilisation213 has not crushed it under ground. This universal faith, this truly Catholic creed214, is a belief in the {p236} efficacy of magic. While religious systems differ not only in different countries, but in the same country in different ages, the system of sympathetic magic remains215 everywhere and at all times substantially alike in its principles and practice. Among the ignorant and superstitious classes of modern Europe it is very much what it was thousands of years ago in Egypt and India, and what it now is among the lowest savages surviving in the remotest corners of the world. If the test of truth lay in a show of hands or a counting of heads, the system of magic might appeal, with far more reason than the Catholic Church, to the proud motto, “Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab omnibus,” as the sure and certain credential of its own infallibility.
Latent superstition a danger to civilisation.
It is not our business here to consider what bearing the permanent existence of such a solid layer of savagery216 beneath the surface of society, and unaffected by the superficial changes of religion and culture, has upon the future of humanity. The dispassionate observer, whose studies have led him to plumb217 its depths, can hardly regard it otherwise than as a standing113 menace to civilisation.?[839] We seem to move on a thin crust which may at any moment be rent by the subterranean218 forces slumbering219 below. From time to time a hollow murmur220 underground or a sudden spirt of flame into the air tells of what is going on beneath our feet. Now and then the polite world is startled by a paragraph in a newspaper which tells how in Scotland an image has been found stuck full of pins for the purpose of killing221 an obnoxious222 laird or minister, how a woman has been slowly roasted to death as a witch in Ireland, or how a girl has been murdered and chopped up in Russia to make those candles of human tallow by whose light thieves hope to pursue their midnight trade unseen.?[840] But whether the influences that make for further progress, or those that threaten to undo140 what has already been accomplished223, will {p237} ultimately prevail; whether the impulsive224 energy of the minority or the dead weight of the majority of mankind will prove the stronger force to carry us up to higher heights or to sink us into lower depths, are questions rather for the sage26, the moralist, and the statesman, whose eagle vision scans the future, than for the humble student of the present and the past. Here we are only concerned to ask how far the uniformity, the universality, and the permanence of a belief in magic, compared with the endless variety and the shifting character of religious creeds225, raises a presumption226 that the former represents a ruder and earlier phase of the human mind, through which all the races of mankind have passed or are passing on their way to religion and science.
The change from magic to religion may have been brought about by the discovery of the inefficacy of magic.
If an Age of Religion has thus everywhere, as I venture to surmise, been preceded by an Age of Magic, it is natural that we should enquire what causes have led mankind, or rather a portion of them, to abandon magic as a principle of faith and practice and to betake themselves to religion instead. When we reflect upon the multitude, the variety and the complexity227 of the facts to be explained, and the scantiness228 of our information regarding them, we shall be ready to acknowledge that a full and satisfactory solution of so profound a problem is hardly to be hoped for, and that the most we can do in the present state of our knowledge is to hazard a more or less plausible229 conjecture. With all due diffidence, then, I would suggest that a tardy230 recognition of the inherent falsehood and barrenness of magic set the more thoughtful part of mankind to cast about for a truer theory of nature and a more fruitful method of turning her resources to account. The shrewder intelligences must in time have come to perceive that magical ceremonies and incantations did not really effect the results which they were designed to produce, and which the majority of their simpler fellows still believed that they did actually produce. This great discovery of the inefficacy of magic must have wrought231 a radical though probably slow revolution in the minds of those who had the sagacity to make it. The discovery amounted to this, that men for the first time recognised their inability to manipulate at pleasure certain natural forces which hitherto they had believed to be completely within {p238} their control. It was a confession232 of human ignorance and weakness. Man saw that he had taken for causes what were no causes, and that all his efforts to work by means of these imaginary causes had been vain. His painful toil had been wasted, his curious ingenuity233 had been squandered234 to no purpose. He had been pulling at strings235 to which nothing was attached; he had been marching, as he thought, straight to the goal, while in reality he had only been treading in a narrow circle. Not that the effects which he had striven so hard to produce did not continue to manifest themselves. They were still produced, but not by him. The rain still fell on the thirsty ground: the sun still pursued his daily, and the moon her nightly journey across the sky: the silent procession of the seasons still moved in light and shadow, in cloud and sunshine across the earth: men were still born to labour and sorrow, and still, after a brief sojourn236 here, were gathered to their fathers in the long home hereafter. All things indeed went on as before, yet all seemed different to him from whose eyes the old scales had fallen. For he could no longer cherish the pleasing illusion that it was he who guided the earth and the heaven in their courses, and that they would cease to perform their great revolutions were he to take his feeble hand from the wheel. In the death of his enemies and his friends he no longer saw a proof of the resistless potency237 of his own or of hostile enchantments; he now knew that friends and foes238 alike had succumbed239 to a force stronger than any that he could wield, and in obedience85 to a destiny which he was powerless to control.
Recognising their own inability to control nature, men came to think that it was controlled by supernatural beings.
Thus cut adrift from his ancient moorings and left to toss on a troubled sea of doubt and uncertainty240, his old happy confidence in himself and his powers rudely shaken, our primitive philosopher must have been sadly perplexed241 and agitated242 till he came to rest, as in a quiet haven243 after a tempestuous244 voyage, in a new system of faith and practice, which seemed to offer a solution of his harassing245 doubts and a substitute, however precarious246, for that sovereignty over nature which he had reluctantly abdicated247. If the great world went on its way without the help of him or his fellows, it must surely be because there were other beings, like {p239} himself, but far stronger, who, unseen themselves, directed its course and brought about all the varied248 series of events which he had hitherto believed to be dependent on his own magic. It was they, as he now believed, and not he himself, who made the stormy wind to blow, the lightning to flash, and the thunder to roll; who had laid the foundations of the solid earth and set bounds to the restless sea that it might not pass; who caused all the glorious lights of heaven to shine; who gave the fowls249 of the air their meat and the wild beasts of the desert their prey250; who bade the fruitful land to bring forth251 in abundance, the high hills to be clothed with forests, the bubbling springs to rise under the rocks in the valleys, and green pastures to grow by still waters; who breathed into man’s nostrils252 and made him live, or turned him to destruction by famine and pestilence253 and war. To these mighty beings, whose handiwork he traced in all the gorgeous and varied pageantry of nature, man now addressed himself, humbly confessing his dependence254 on their invisible power, and beseeching255 them of their mercy to furnish him with all good things, to defend him from the perils256 and dangers by which our mortal life is compassed about on every hand, and finally to bring his immortal257 spirit, freed from the burden of the body, to some happier world, beyond the reach of pain and sorrow, where he might rest with them and with the spirits of good men in joy and felicity for ever.
The change from magic to religion must have been gradual.
In this, or some such way as this, the deeper minds may be conceived to have made the great transition from magic to religion. But even in them the change can hardly ever have been sudden; probably it proceeded very slowly, and required long ages for its more or less perfect accomplishment258. For the recognition of man’s powerlessness to influence the course of nature on a grand scale must have been gradual; he cannot have been shorn of the whole of his fancied dominion259 at a blow. Step by step he must have been driven back from his proud position; foot by foot he must have yielded, with a sigh, the ground which he had once viewed as his own. Now it would be the wind, now the rain, now the sunshine, now the thunder, that he confessed himself unable to wield at will; and as province after province of {p240} nature thus fell from his grasp, till what had once seemed a kingdom threatened to shrink into a prison, man must have been more and more profoundly impressed with a sense of his own helplessness and the might of the invisible beings by whom he believed himself to be surrounded. Thus religion, beginning as a slight and partial acknowledgment of powers superior to man, tends with the growth of knowledge to deepen into a confession of man’s entire and absolute dependence on the divine; his old free bearing is exchanged for an attitude of lowliest prostration before the mysterious powers of the unseen, and his highest virtue is to submit his will to theirs: In la sua volontade è nostra pace. But this deepening sense of religion, this more perfect submission260 to the divine will in all things, affects only those higher intelligences who have breadth of view enough to comprehend the vastness of the universe and the littleness of man. Small minds cannot grasp great ideas; to their narrow comprehension, their purblind261 vision, nothing seems really great and important but themselves. Such minds hardly rise into religion at all. They are, indeed, drilled by their betters into an outward conformity with its precepts262 and a verbal profession of its tenets; but at heart they cling to their old magical superstitions263, which may be discountenanced and forbidden, but cannot be eradicated264 by religion, so long as they have their roots deep down in the mental framework and constitution of the great majority of mankind.
The belief that the gods are magicians may mark the transition from magic to religion.
A vestige265 of the transition from magic to religion may perhaps be discerned in the belief, shared by many peoples, that the gods themselves are adepts266 in magic, guarding their persons by talismans267 and working their will by spells and incantations. Thus the Egyptian gods, we are told, could as little dispense268 with the help of magic as could men; like men they wore amulets to protect themselves, and used spells to overcome each other. Above all the rest Isis was skilled in sorcery and famous for her incantations.?[841] In Babylonia the great god Ea was reputed to be the inventor of magic, and his son Marduk, the chief deity of Babylon, inherited the art from his father. Marduk is described as “the master of exorcism, the magician of the gods.” {p241} Another text declares that “the incantation is the incantation of Marduk, the exorcist is the image of Marduk.”?[842] In the legend of the creation it is related that when Marduk was preparing to fight the monster Tiamat he gave a proof of his magical powers to the assembled gods by causing a garment to disappear and reappear again at the word of his mouth. And the other Babylonian deities had in like manner recourse to magic, especially to magical words or spells. “The word is above all the instrument of the gods; it seems to suit the high conception of their power better than mere muscular effort; the hymns celebrate the irresistible might of their word; it is by their word that they compel both animate76 and inanimate beings to answer their purposes; in short, they employ almost exclusively the oral rites of magic.” And like men they made use of amulets and talismans.?[843] In the Vedic religion the gods are often represented as attaining269 their ends by magical means; in particular the god B?haspati, “the creator of all prayers,” is regarded as “the heavenly embodiment of the priesthood, in so far as the priesthood is invested with the power, and charged with the task, of influencing the course of things by prayers and spells”; in short, he is “the possessor of the magical power of the holy word.”?[844] So too in Norse mythology270 Odin is said to have owed his supremacy271 and his dominion over nature to his knowledge of the runes or magical names of all things in earth and heaven. This mystical lore272 he acquired as follows. The runic names of all things were scratched on the things themselves, then scraped off and mixed in a magical potion, which was compounded of honey and the blood of the slain273 Kvasir, the wisest of beings. A draught274 of this wonderful mead275 imparted to Odin not only the wisdom of Kvasir, but also a knowledge of all things, since he had swallowed their runic or mystical names along with the blood of the sage.?[845] {p242} Hence by the utterance of his spells he could heal sickness, deaden the swords of his enemies, loose himself from bonds, stop the flight of an arrow in mid-air, stay the raging of the flames, still the winds and lull276 the sea; and by graving and painting certain runes he could make the corpse277 of a hanged man come down from the gallows-tree and talk with him.?[846] It is easy to conceive how this ascription of magical powers to the gods may have originated. When a savage sorcerer fails to effect his purpose, he generally explains his want of success by saying that he has been foiled by the spells of some more potent magician. Now if it began to be perceived that certain natural effects, such as the making of rain or wind or sunshine, were beyond the power of any human magician to accomplish, the first thought would naturally be that they were wrought by the more powerful magic of some great invisible beings, and these superhuman magicians might readily develop into gods of the type of Odin, Isis, and Marduk. In short, many gods may at first have been merely deified sorcerers.
The fallacy of magic is not easy to detect, because nature herself generally produces, sooner or later, the effects which the magician fancies he produces by his art.
The reader may well be tempted203 to ask. How was it that intelligent men did not sooner detect the fallacy of magic? How could they continue to cherish expectations that were invariably doomed278 to disappointment? With what heart persist in playing venerable antics that led to nothing, and mumbling279 solemn balderdash that remained without effect? Why cling to beliefs which were so flatly contradicted by experience? How dare to repeat experiments that had failed so often? The answer seems to be that the fallacy was far from easy to detect, the failure by no means obvious, since in many, perhaps in most cases, the desired event did actually follow, at a longer or shorter interval280, the performance of the rite which was designed to bring it about; and a mind of more than common acuteness was needed to perceive that, even in these cases, the rite was not necessarily the cause of the event. A ceremony intended to make the wind blow or the rain fall, or to work the death of an enemy, will always be followed, sooner or later, by the occurrence it is meant to bring to pass; and primitive man may be excused for regarding the occurrence as a direct result of the ceremony, and {p243} the best possible proof of its efficacy. Similarly, rites observed in the morning to help the sun to rise, and in spring to wake the dreaming earth from her winter sleep, will invariably appear to be crowned with success, at least within the temperate281 zones; for in these regions the sun lights his golden lamp in the east every morning, and year by year the vernal earth decks herself afresh with a rich mantle282 of green. Hence the practical savage, with his conservative instincts, might well turn a deaf ear to the subtleties283 of the theoretical doubter, the philosophic133 radical, who presumed to hint that sunrise and spring might not, after all, be direct consequences of the punctual performance of certain daily or yearly ceremonies, and that the sun might perhaps continue to rise and trees to blossom though the ceremonies were occasionally intermitted, or even discontinued altogether. These sceptical doubts would naturally be repelled284 by the other with scorn and indignation as airy reveries subversive285 of the faith and manifestly contradicted by experience. “Can anything be plainer,” he might say, “than that I light my twopenny candle on earth and that the sun then kindles286 his great fire in heaven? I should be glad to know whether, when I have put on my green robe in spring, the trees do not afterwards do the same? These are facts patent to everybody, and on them I take my stand. I am a plain practical man, not one of your theorists and splitters of hairs and choppers of logic57. Theories and speculation287 and all that may be very well in their way, and I have not the least objection to your indulging in them, provided, of course, you do not put them in practice. But give me leave to stick to facts; then I know where I am.” The fallacy of this reasoning is obvious to us, because it happens to deal with facts about which we have long made up our minds. But let an argument of precisely the same calibre be applied to matters which are still under debate, and it may be questioned whether a British audience would not applaud it as sound, and esteem288 the speaker who used it a safe man—not brilliant or showy, perhaps, but thoroughly289 sensible and hard-headed. If such reasonings could pass muster290 among ourselves, need we wonder that they long escaped detection by the savage?
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1
postulates
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| v.假定，假设( postulate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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vista
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| n.远景，深景，展望，回想 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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contagious
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| adj.传染性的，有感染力的 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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intervention
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| n.介入，干涉，干预 | |
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underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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implicit
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| a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的 | |
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inevitably
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| adv.不可避免地；必然发生地 | |
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thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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supplicates
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| vt.& vi.祈求，哀求，恳求（supplicate的第三人称单数形式） | |
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fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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abases
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| 使谦卑( abase的第三人称单数 )； 使感到羞耻； 使降低（地位、身份等）； 降下 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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wield
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| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
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strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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practitioner
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| n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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conformity
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| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
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sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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immutable
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| adj.不可改变的，永恒的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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enquirer
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| 寻问者，追究者 | |
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enquire
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| v.打听，询问；调查，查问 | |
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wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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contiguity
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| n.邻近，接壤 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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legitimately
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| ad.合法地；正当地，合理地 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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bastard
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| n.坏蛋，混蛋；私生子 | |
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tautology
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| n.无谓的重复；恒真命题 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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hoard
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| n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积 | |
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maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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dross
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| n.渣滓；无用之物 | |
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conciliation
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| n.调解，调停 | |
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ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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propitiate
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| v.慰解，劝解 | |
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divested
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| v.剥夺( divest的过去式和过去分词 )；脱去（衣服）；2。从…取去…；1。（给某人）脱衣服 | |
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immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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comports
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| v.表现( comport的第三人称单数 ) | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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prostrating
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| v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的现在分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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deflect
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| v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向 | |
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elasticity
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| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
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persuasion
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| n.劝说；说服；持有某种信仰的宗派 | |
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entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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73
intimidation
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| n.恐吓，威胁 | |
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74
impersonal
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| adj.无个人感情的，与个人无关的，非人称的 | |
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75
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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76
animate
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| v.赋于生命，鼓励；adj.有生命的，有生气的 | |
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77
antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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78
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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79
explicit
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| adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的 | |
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80
constrains
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| 强迫( constrain的第三人称单数 )； 强使； 限制； 约束 | |
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81
constrain
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| vt.限制，约束；克制，抑制 | |
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82
coerces
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| v.迫使做( coerce的第三人称单数 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配 | |
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83
propitiating
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| v.劝解，抚慰，使息怒( propitiate的现在分词 ) | |
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84
whet
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| v.磨快，刺激 | |
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85
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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86
scatter
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| vt.撒，驱散，散开；散布/播；vi.分散，消散 | |
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87
contumacious
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| adj.拒不服从的，违抗的 | |
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88
mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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89
deities
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| n.神，女神( deity的名词复数 )；神祗；神灵；神明 | |
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90
hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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91
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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92
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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93
relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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94
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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95
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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96
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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97
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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98
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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99
blasphemous
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| adj.亵渎神明的，不敬神的 | |
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100
usurpation
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| n.篡位；霸占 | |
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101
prerogatives
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| n.权利( prerogative的名词复数 )；特权；大主教法庭；总督委任组成的法庭 | |
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102
motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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103
concurred
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| 同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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104
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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105
rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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106
fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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107
differentiated
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| 区分，区别，辨别( differentiate的过去式和过去分词 )； 区别对待； 表明…间的差别，构成…间差别的特征 | |
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108
rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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109
simultaneously
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| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
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110
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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111
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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112
transcend
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| vt.超出，超越(理性等)的范围 | |
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113
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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114
witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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115
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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116
rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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117
eminent
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| adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的 | |
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118
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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119
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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120
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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121
saturated
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| a.饱和的，充满的 | |
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122
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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123
initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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124
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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125
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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126
obligatory
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| adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的 | |
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127
domains
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| n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产 | |
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128
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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129
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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130
infiltrated
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|
| adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
cleanse
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| vt.使清洁，使纯洁，清洗 | |
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132
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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133
philosophic
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| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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134
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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135
epic
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| n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的 | |
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136
strata
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| n.地层（复数）；社会阶层 | |
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137
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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138
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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139
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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140
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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141
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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142
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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143
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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144
amulets
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| n.护身符( amulet的名词复数 ) | |
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145
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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146
constituent
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| n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的 | |
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147
discrepant
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| 差异的 | |
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148
heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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149
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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150
scholastic
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| adj.学校的，学院的，学术上的 | |
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151
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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152
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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153
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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154
conflagration
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| n.建筑物或森林大火 | |
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155
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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156
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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157
importunate
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| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
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158
impiety
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| n.不敬；不孝 | |
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159
irreverence
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| n.不尊敬 | |
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160
extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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161
secular
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| n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的 | |
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162
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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163
scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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164
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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165
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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166
constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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167
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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168
averting
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| 防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移 | |
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169
pastors
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| n.（基督教的）牧师( pastor的名词复数 ) | |
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170
incumbent
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| adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的 | |
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171
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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172
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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173
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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174
owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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175
hoot
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| n.鸟叫声，汽车的喇叭声； v.使汽车鸣喇叭 | |
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176
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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177
toads
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆( toad的名词复数 ) | |
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178
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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179
desecrated
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| 毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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180
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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181
mumble
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| n./v.喃喃而语，咕哝 | |
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182
backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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183
knelling
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| v.丧钟声( knell的现在分词 )；某事物结束的象征 | |
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184
consecrates
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| n.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的名词复数 )；奉献v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的第三人称单数 )；奉献 | |
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185
withers
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| 马肩隆 | |
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186
amalgamate
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| v.(指业务等)合并，混合 | |
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187
transcended
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| 超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的过去式和过去分词 )； 优于或胜过… | |
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188
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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189
surmise
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| v./n.猜想，推测 | |
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190
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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191
abstruse
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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192
recondite
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| adj.深奥的，难解的 | |
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193
prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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194
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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195
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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196
attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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197
enchantments
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| n.魅力( enchantment的名词复数 )；迷人之处；施魔法；着魔 | |
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198
coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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199
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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200
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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201
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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202
conjecture
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| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
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203
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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204
coterminous
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| adj.毗连的，有共同边界的 | |
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205
descend
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| vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降 | |
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206
commonwealths
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| n.共和国( commonwealth的名词复数 )；联邦；团体；协会 | |
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207
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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208
crevasses
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| n.破口，崩溃处，裂缝( crevasse的名词复数 ) | |
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209
disintegrating
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| v.（使）破裂[分裂，粉碎]，（使）崩溃( disintegrate的现在分词 ) | |
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210
stratum
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| n.地层，社会阶层 | |
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211
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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212
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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213
civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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214
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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215
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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216
savagery
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| n.野性 | |
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217
plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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subterranean
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| adj.地下的，地表下的 | |
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219
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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220
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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221
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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222
obnoxious
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| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
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223
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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224
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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225
creeds
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| （尤指宗教）信条，教条( creed的名词复数 ) | |
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226
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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227
complexity
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| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
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228
scantiness
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| n.缺乏 | |
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229
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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230
tardy
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| adj.缓慢的，迟缓的 | |
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231
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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234
squandered
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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236
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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237
potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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238
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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239
succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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240
uncertainty
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| n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物 | |
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241
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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242
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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243
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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244
tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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245
harassing
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| v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人） | |
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precarious
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| adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的 | |
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247
abdicated
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| 放弃（职责、权力等）( abdicate的过去式和过去分词 )； 退位，逊位 | |
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248
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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249
fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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251
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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252
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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253
pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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254
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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255
beseeching
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| adj.恳求似的v.恳求，乞求（某事物）( beseech的现在分词 ) | |
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perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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257
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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258
accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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259
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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260
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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261
purblind
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| adj.半盲的；愚笨的 | |
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262
precepts
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| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
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263
superstitions
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| 迷信，迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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264
eradicated
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| 画着根的 | |
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265
vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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266
adepts
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| n.专家，能手( adept的名词复数 ) | |
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267
talismans
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| n.护身符( talisman的名词复数 )；驱邪物；有不可思议的力量之物；法宝 | |
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268
dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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269
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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270
mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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271
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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272
lore
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| n.传说；学问，经验，知识 | |
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273
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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274
draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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275
mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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276
lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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277
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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278
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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279
mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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280
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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281
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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282
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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283
subtleties
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| 细微( subtlety的名词复数 )； 精细； 巧妙； 细微的差别等 | |
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284
repelled
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| v.击退( repel的过去式和过去分词 )；使厌恶；排斥；推开 | |
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285
subversive
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| adj.颠覆性的，破坏性的；n.破坏份子，危险份子 | |
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286
kindles
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的第三人称单数 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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287
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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288
esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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289
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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290
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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