This article may not contain faithful quotations from the English edition of Frazer’s “The Golden Bough”. It was originally written in Japanese based on the Japanese edition of Frazer’s “The Golden Bough”, then automatically translated into English using AI translation (DeepL). The author has reviewed the translated content before publication.
Shamanism
Chapter 1: Reason of Origin 06/07
According to Frazer’s *The Golden Bough*, there is only one fundamental law underlying the theory of magic. That is the “Law of Sympathy.” This law states that “there is some form of interaction (sympathy) between things that come into contact with one another,” and Frazer argues that all theories of magic are applications of this law. Below, I will list some applications of the “Law of Sympathy.”
Law of Contact or Contagion
"Things that were once one, or that were in contact with one another, retain a mystical connection even after they have been separated. Therefore, whatever happens to one affects the other as well."
Frazer “The Golden Bough”
For a like reason the Papuans of Tumleo, an island off German New Guinea, are careful to throw into the sea the bloody bandages with which they have staunched a wound, lest an enemy should find them and make them a means of injuring the man by magic.
Again, we are told of a native of the same island who, having wounded his mouth and being unable to stop the bleeding, came to a missionary to be cured. The missionary’s wife, to whom the case was referred, did her best to stop the flow of blood, but, in spite of all her efforts, it continued to run. At last the woman, in despair, collected all the blood which had flowed from the man’s mouth, and going down to the sea threw it into the water. Immediately the bleeding ceased.
Further, the belief in a sympathetic relation between a man and his clothes or other things which have been in contact with him is widely spread; and it is commonly held that whatever is done to such things will be felt by the man himself, even though he should be far away. Thus in the Wotjobaluk tribe of Victoria a wizard would sometimes get hold of a man’s opossum rug and tie it up with some small spindle-shaped pieces of casuarina wood, on which he had made certain marks, such as likenesses of his victim and of a poisonous snake. This bundle he would then roast slowly in the fire, and as he did so the man who had owned the opossum rug would fall sick. Should the patient suspect what was happening, he would send to the wizard and beg him to let him have the rug back. If the wizard consented, “he would give the thing back, telling the sick man’s friends to put it in water, so as to wash the fire out.” In such cases, we are told, the sick man would feel cooled and would most likely recover.
For a like reason the Papuans of Tumleo, an island off German New Guinea, are careful to throw into the sea the bloody bandages with which they have staunched a wound, lest an enemy should find them and make them a means of injuring the man by magic.
Again, we are told of a native of the same island who, having wounded his mouth and being unable to stop the bleeding, came to a missionary to be cured. The missionary’s wife, to whom the case was referred, did her best to stop the flow of blood, but, in spite of all her efforts, it continued to run. At last the woman, in despair, collected all the blood which had flowed from the man’s mouth, and going down to the sea threw it into the water. Immediately the bleeding ceased.
Further, the belief in a sympathetic relation between a man and his clothes or other things which have been in contact with him is widely spread; and it is commonly held that whatever is done to such things will be felt by the man himself, even though he should be far away. Thus in the Wotjobaluk tribe of Victoria a wizard would sometimes get hold of a man’s opossum rug and tie it up with some small spindle-shaped pieces of casuarina wood, on which he had made certain marks, such as likenesses of his victim and of a poisonous snake. This bundle he would then roast slowly in the fire, and as he did so the man who had owned the opossum rug would fall sick. Should the patient suspect what was happening, he would send to the wizard and beg him to let him have the rug back. If the wizard consented, “he would give the thing back, telling the sick man’s friends to put it in water, so as to wash the fire out.” In such cases, we are told, the sick man would feel cooled and would most likely recover.
Law of Similarity
"Like Begets Like (Contact in the Semantic Space)"
Frazer “The Golden Bough”
Thus among the Esquimaux boys are forbidden to play at cat’s cradle, because if they did so, it is thought that when they grow up the lines of the harpoon would get entangled in their fingers, just as the string is entangled in their fingers when they play the game.
Again, among the Huzuls of the Carpathians the wives of hunters are forbidden to spin while their husbands are at their meals, because if they did so the game would turn round and round like the spindle, and the hunters would not be able to shoot it.
Thus among the Esquimaux boys are forbidden to play at cat’s cradle, because if they did so, it is thought that when they grow up the lines of the harpoon would get entangled in their fingers, just as the string is entangled in their fingers when they play the game.
Again, among the Huzuls of the Carpathians the wives of hunters are forbidden to spin while their husbands are at their meals, because if they did so the game would turn round and round like the spindle, and the hunters would not be able to shoot it.
Furthermore, the “Law of Similarity” evolves into the following three laws.
“If one being acts in a certain way, similar beings will act in the same way”
Frazer “The Golden Bough”
Nowhere is the theory of sympathetic magic more systematically carried into practice for the maintenance of the food supply than in the barren regions of Central Australia. Here the tribes are divided into a number of totem clans, each of which is charged with the duty of multiplying their totem for the good of the community by means of magical ceremonies. Most of the totems are edible animals and plants, and the general result supposed to be accomplished by these ceremonies is that of supplying the tribe with food and other necessaries. Often the rites consist of an imitation of the effect which the people desire to produce; in other words, their magic is homoeopathic or imitative. Thus among the Warramunga the headman of the white cockatoo totem seeks to multiply white cockatoos by holding an effigy of the bird and mimicking its harsh cry. Among the Arunta the men of the witchetty grub totem perform ceremonies for multiplying the grub which the other members of the tribe use as food. One of the ceremonies is a pantomime representing the fully-developed insect in the act of emerging from the chrysalis. A long narrow structure of branches is set up to imitate the chrysalis case of the grub. In this structure a number of men, who have the grub for their totem, sit and sing of the creature in its various stages. Then they shuffle out of it in a squatting posture, and as they do so they sing of the insect emerging from the chrysalis. This is supposed to multiply the numbers of the grubs.
Nowhere is the theory of sympathetic magic more systematically carried into practice for the maintenance of the food supply than in the barren regions of Central Australia. Here the tribes are divided into a number of totem clans, each of which is charged with the duty of multiplying their totem for the good of the community by means of magical ceremonies. Most of the totems are edible animals and plants, and the general result supposed to be accomplished by these ceremonies is that of supplying the tribe with food and other necessaries. Often the rites consist of an imitation of the effect which the people desire to produce; in other words, their magic is homoeopathic or imitative. Thus among the Warramunga the headman of the white cockatoo totem seeks to multiply white cockatoos by holding an effigy of the bird and mimicking its harsh cry. Among the Arunta the men of the witchetty grub totem perform ceremonies for multiplying the grub which the other members of the tribe use as food. One of the ceremonies is a pantomime representing the fully-developed insect in the act of emerging from the chrysalis. A long narrow structure of branches is set up to imitate the chrysalis case of the grub. In this structure a number of men, who have the grub for their totem, sit and sing of the creature in its various stages. Then they shuffle out of it in a squatting posture, and as they do so they sing of the insect emerging from the chrysalis. This is supposed to multiply the numbers of the grubs.
“What happens to one thing happens to similar things as well”
Frazer “The Golden Bough”
Thus the North American Indians, we are told, believe that by drawing the figure of a person in sand, ashes, or clay, or by considering any object as his body, and then pricking it with a sharp stick or doing it any other injury, they inflict a corresponding injury on the person represented.
For example, when an Ojebway Indian desires to work evil on any one, he makes a little wooden image of his enemy and runs a needle into its head or heart, or he shoots an arrow into it, believing that wherever the needle pierces or the arrow strikes the image, his foe will the same instant be seized with a sharp pain in the corresponding part of his body; but if he intends to kill the person outright, he burns or buries the puppet, uttering certain magic words as he does so.
Thus the North American Indians, we are told, believe that by drawing the figure of a person in sand, ashes, or clay, or by considering any object as his body, and then pricking it with a sharp stick or doing it any other injury, they inflict a corresponding injury on the person represented.
For example, when an Ojebway Indian desires to work evil on any one, he makes a little wooden image of his enemy and runs a needle into its head or heart, or he shoots an arrow into it, believing that wherever the needle pierces or the arrow strikes the image, his foe will the same instant be seized with a sharp pain in the corresponding part of his body; but if he intends to kill the person outright, he burns or buries the puppet, uttering certain magic words as he does so.
In Japan, it could be said that the straw doll (straw effigy) is a classic example of this principle.
“Like produces like”
Frazer “The Golden Bough”
Thus it is related that long ago the town of Tsuen-cheu-fu, the outlines of which are like those of a carp, frequently fell a prey to the depredations of the neighbouring city of Yung-chun, which is shaped like a fishing-net, until the inhabitants of the carp-shaped town erected two lofty towers within the walls to serve as posts on which the net might be hung up and so prevent it from catching the carp. From that time the depredations of Yung-chun ceased.
Thus it is related that long ago the town of Tsuen-cheu-fu, the outlines of which are like those of a carp, frequently fell a prey to the depredations of the neighbouring city of Yung-chun, which is shaped like a fishing-net, until the inhabitants of the carp-shaped town erected two lofty towers within the walls to serve as posts on which the net might be hung up and so prevent it from catching the carp. From that time the depredations of Yung-chun ceased.
At present, the “Law of Sympathy” is generally rejected because no scientific basis has been found for it. However, the “Law of Sympathy” has by no means disappeared; it survives in various forms. A good example of this is the use of animals—such as “tigers” or “eagles”—that are generally perceived as strong as mascots for baseball teams. By adopting the image of a powerful animal as their trademark, teams use the “Law of Sympathy” to project a stronger team image. In other words, magic based on the “Law of Sympathy” seeks to harness the power of the attributes possessed by symbols (or entities) that constitute the world by taking on a form resembling those symbols (or entities). Therefore, it can be said that the Law of Sympathy is valid only within the Symbolized Worldview. The Law of Sympathy can only hold true when multiple entities possessing specific attributes already exist.
The fatal flaw in the “Law of Sympathy” is that it only establishes that “there is some form of interaction (empathy) between things that come into contact.” In other words, there is no scientific explanation for the “Law of Sympathy” itself. The “Law of Sympathy” exists as an irrefutable fundamental premise, and for ancient people, everything operated strictly within the bounds of that law. Sorcery is of such a nature that, just as “one can converse even without understanding how sound travels,” “one can practice sorcery even without understanding why the Law of Sympathy holds true”; it “remains at the level of technique rather than science”. In other words, the principles of sorcery itself—that is, the basis of the Law of Sympathy—have not yet been elucidated. Therefore, while the “Law of Sympathy” itself has no scientific basis, those who employ it can achieve sufficient results. In other words, the essence of the “Law of Sympathy” does not lie in the concrete expressions themselves—such as dressing up as a lion or performing a spirit dance—but rather in the human will to “empathize” with the attributes and symbols hidden behind each individual expression.
Based on the above, it can be said that sorcery is a great power that skillfully harnesses the fundamental premise of an as-yet-unexplained Law of Sympathy toward the spirits and souls that govern the world; and that shamanism is a form of society that functioned among people who sought to reflect their worldview in the real world by worshiping “shamans”—individuals capable of harnessing these unknown laws as their own power.
As time went on, Sympathetic Magic gradually declined, and its traces were preserved only in the form of public rituals and ceremonies. However, the “Law of Sympathy” itself—which is not merely a technique but a principle—did not disappear even in later eras when people began to reflect on its underlying principles, and its influence continues to be felt in various forms even today.
The fatal flaw in the “Law of Sympathy” is that it only establishes that “there is some form of interaction (empathy) between things that come into contact.” In other words, there is no scientific explanation for the “Law of Sympathy” itself. The “Law of Sympathy” exists as an irrefutable fundamental premise, and for ancient people, everything operated strictly within the bounds of that law. Sorcery is of such a nature that, just as “one can converse even without understanding how sound travels,” “one can practice sorcery even without understanding why the Law of Sympathy holds true”; it “remains at the level of technique rather than science”. In other words, the principles of sorcery itself—that is, the basis of the Law of Sympathy—have not yet been elucidated. Therefore, while the “Law of Sympathy” itself has no scientific basis, those who employ it can achieve sufficient results. In other words, the essence of the “Law of Sympathy” does not lie in the concrete expressions themselves—such as dressing up as a lion or performing a spirit dance—but rather in the human will to “empathize” with the attributes and symbols hidden behind each individual expression.
Based on the above, it can be said that sorcery is a great power that skillfully harnesses the fundamental premise of an as-yet-unexplained Law of Sympathy toward the spirits and souls that govern the world; and that shamanism is a form of society that functioned among people who sought to reflect their worldview in the real world by worshiping “shamans”—individuals capable of harnessing these unknown laws as their own power.
As time went on, Sympathetic Magic gradually declined, and its traces were preserved only in the form of public rituals and ceremonies. However, the “Law of Sympathy” itself—which is not merely a technique but a principle—did not disappear even in later eras when people began to reflect on its underlying principles, and its influence continues to be felt in various forms even today.