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Scatalogic Rites of All Nations. a Dissertation Upon the Employment of Excrementitious Remedial Agents in Religion, Therapeutics, Divination, Witchcraft, Love-Philters, Etc., in All Parts of the Globe
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Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.
We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
510 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1891
6 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
John G. Bourke
71 books8 followersJohn Gregory Bourke was a captain in the United States Army and a prolific diarist and postbellum author; he wrote several books about the American Old West, including ethnologies of its indigenous peoples. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions while a cavalryman in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Based on his service during the war, his commander nominated him to West Point, where he graduated in 1869, leading to service as an Army officer until his death.
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January 11, 2025
As a young man, I was always interested in the exotic, unusual and often scandalous books that took on topics which at the time where considered profane in high society during the 19th century, and especially books in which topics such as John G. Burke's "Scatalogic Rites of All Nations" was written.
Needless to say it caught my attention after picking up a second edition copy at Fields book store in San Fransisco back in 1992. First published in 1887, its a work that attempts to explore and categorise the myriad of "scatological" (i.e., bodily excretory functions) rituals across different cultures.
Although this book is a fascinating and unconventional subject of study, it has been met with a variety of critical responses over time. A critique of the book can explores several key aspects: its historical and cultural context, its anthropological approach, its tone and methodology, as well as its lasting impact (or lack thereof according to certain anthropologist...more on those individuals later) on the study of ritual, anthropology, and cultural practices.
1. It's Historical and Cultural Context
At the time of its publication, Scatalogic Rites of All Nations was one of the first attempts to systematically catalog and analyse what Burke understood as the universal, yet often taboo, human fascination with bodily functions. This book emerged during a period when the burgeoning fields of anthropology, sociology, and comparative religion were beginning to materialise in both literature and modern Western contemporary society. Burke's work can be viewed as part of the intellectual zeitgeist of the late 19th century, which was marked by an increasing interest in cataloging and systematising knowledge about human customs, beliefs and norms.
However, in its attempt to address such a wide variety of cultures and traditions, the book can be critiqued for lacking a modern, nuanced understanding of various cultural. The tone and approach, by today's standards, would likely be seen as overly sensational, even voyeuristic, as Burke frequently treats scatological practices with a sense of morbid curiosity, rather than attempting to understand them within their cultural contexts. Ultimately demonstrating a more enlightened Eurocentric mindset, which saw non-Western practices through the lens of Western "decency."
2. Burke's Methodology and Approach
Burke's methodology is perhaps the most glaring issue with his work. He primarily relies on secondary sources, often taking statements and descriptions from other scholars (many of them colonial officers, missionaries, and the occasional traveler of then "undeveloped or primitive countries") without fully interrogating or verifying the information. This lack of rigorous fieldwork or direct observation is a slight shortcoming but not worth exploring any further than a mere footnote.
Contemporary anthropology, on the other hand, commonly emphasises the importance of participant observation and ethnographic fieldwork, but Burke engages with many of these primitive tribes in this book. Thus, his conclusions about different cultures' practices often come across as somewhat speculative, incomplete, or by some anonymous sources are outright inaccurate. Nonetheless it has been a source of anthropological intrigue, controversy and curiosity to this day.
Unfortunately with the limited amount of ethnographic source material and depth, some critics state that Scatalogic Rites of All Nations sometimes reads more like a compendium of strange, disjointed anecdotes rather than a scholarly analysis of ritualistic practices. While it offers a vastly interesting and unique perspective on how the human body, particularly its excretory functions, is ritualised in various societies, therefore the book has been characterised as limited by the absence of a more rigorous and scientific theoretical framework that might explain why such rituals exist or what they signify. Irrespectively, I keep both a first edition copy in my extensive book collection and most notably a copy of the condensed "coffee-table" version in my bathroom, adjacent to my guest toilet for the amusement and often shock of both family, friends and guest visiting my home here in Copenhagen.
3. Tone and Sensational look into the "primative human"
The title itself, Scatalogic Rites of All Nations, already gives a hint at the sensational nature of the book. The word "scatalogic" refers to the obscene or gross elements related to bodily functions, and the focus of the book is unashamedly on what was, and still is in some circles, a taboo subject. While the subject matter itself is intriguing, and one could argue it reveals important insights about human culture, Burke's treatment often feels exploitative and I simply say so what's all the fuss about?
While his approach borders on the voyeuristic, as he delves into grotesque details of bodily functions and scatological practices with an almost prurient fascination. This is no different than every Tom, Dick and Harry that would take their entire family to local freak shows and travelling carnivals just to witness first hand the "freaks of nature" on display. These freak shows were extremely popular in both Europe and the U.S. back in the 19th-20th century.
Yes, of course this would be considered exploitative by today's "proper" standards, but this curiosity of the primitive and grotesque is a mirror into a time in history that should not be erased or sanitised. Unfortunately this horrendous practice is currently occurring across libraries and bookstores across Western nations where old classic books are getting the "Fahrenheit 417" treatment given they do not adhere to modern social justice ideology. Thus I regress so back to the topic at hand...
For modern readers, especially those with an interest in anthropology, Burke's tone may be off-putting. While his work does not exhibit the respect for cultural context and lacks an sense of modern-day leftist critical sensitivity that would be expected in today's anthropological discourse, I hold stedfast to the notion that the book provides a rather insightful view on how Western intellectuals, scientist and just plain "common folks"viewed the "un-developed third world" during the 19th century which is a whole other discipline in itself, this has been covered extensively by individuals such as Talad Asad and others who have made compiling critiques around so-called ethnocentrism.
My point being is that the political system of the time must be viewed through a wider historical and cultural context based on a perspective that also includes class as an important variable but does not nullify individual choices. Instead of seeking to understand the deeper symbolic meanings of these rituals, Burke often simplifies them for the reader’s amusement or shock, a tendency that reflects the era's fascination with the exotic and the "primitive." I personally see nothing wrong with this taken into context it was written when this was a commonly help point of view.
I find it not only amusing but funny given our current dumbed down and politically correct society, especially these intellectual miscreants that judge history unfairly from their revisionist agenda. For a lack of a more nuanced characterisation, these social justice warriors simply attempt to criticise the "errors of our past" is just arm-chair intellectualism at best, when it fact these were simply commonly held beliefs at the time. They were neither right nor wrong, just prevailing view of the times.
4. Cultural Bias and Eurocentrism according to modern academics
A major "flaw" in Burke’s work is his inherent cultural bias. Although he purports to catalogue the practices of all nations, he presents them largely through a Western lens that devalues, or even ridicules, those practices that deviate from Western norms. Well no shit Sherlock! As a result, many of the rituals described are framed in a way that underscores their "otherness" and often presents them as primitive or bizarre. Well by today's standards they of course were. However I do concede that Burke did not always attempt to understand these rituals on their own terms, he certainly did not go into all the social, religious, or historical contexts in which these practices occurred at the time, again so what? Not all vintage bottles of wine age well with time and some bottles of old wine require a particular sense of taste with added humility. His work merely reflects the Victorian-era attitudes of the time, which often viewed non-Western cultures as backward or barbaric.
The book's Eurocentric assumptions also become evident when Burke contrasts Western notions of decency with the "wild" rituals of indigenous peoples. While he does include some examples of scatological practices from European and Western societies, the majority of the book focuses on rituals from Asia, Africa, and the Americas, often implying a certain "primitive" connection between these practices and uncivilised or heathen behavior.
I find this as a double standard given that many anthropologist today, not all, have no problem with the Islamic practice of female genital mutilation or the existing forms of perverted sexual grooming, child molestation and organ harvesting by Cartels and extremist groups in our modern culture. Anthropologist nor the current media or historians barely give these current atrocities any consideration in comparison to their non-stop criticism of Burke's work? No contradictions here for sure!
5. Lack of Lasting Impact so say the detractors
Unfortunately with the books initial novelty and the intrigue generated by its unusual subject matter, Scatalogic Rites of All Nations has not had a lasting impact on the academic fields it sought to influence according to "Modern anthropologist". Arguably most of these "scientist" simply are indoctrinated way too far towards postmodern ideological agendas obsessed by cultural relativism, ethics, and an "anything goes attitude" where truth is simply an obstacle that with enough leftist talking points, simply washes away any of Burke's conclusions and credibility from his fascinating book.
Well I simply believe that many educational institutions should take seriously an entire audit of academic tenure for these anthropologist and their lack of comparative historical scientific inquiry into our past and current cultural trends. They seem to overlook the book’s contributions and only focus on its shortcomings.
Conclusion
Scatalogic Rites of All Nations is a work that both fascinates and illuminates those of us curious of the past. Its unique focus on bodily excrement rituals provides an early, albeit attempt at a cross-cultural anthropological study. While Burke's lack of in-depth fieldwork and reliance on secondary sources are slightly problematic, one should view it from a time when Eurocentric perspectives where simply pervasive in the 19th century and certainly does not undermine the book’s scholarly value. Modern readers might find the book interesting as a historical artifact reflecting the attitudes and academic practices of the late 19th century, but it is unlikely to be considered a serious work of anthropology by contemporary leftist woke standards. Its eccentric subject matter may still intrigue those interested in the oddities of cultural practices, even enjoy them, but should be a predominant contribution to any real book collector or historical anthropologist's library as a hidden gem which has had a significant and positive impact on the discipline or lack there of within the current anthropology circles of today.
Needless to say it caught my attention after picking up a second edition copy at Fields book store in San Fransisco back in 1992. First published in 1887, its a work that attempts to explore and categorise the myriad of "scatological" (i.e., bodily excretory functions) rituals across different cultures.
Although this book is a fascinating and unconventional subject of study, it has been met with a variety of critical responses over time. A critique of the book can explores several key aspects: its historical and cultural context, its anthropological approach, its tone and methodology, as well as its lasting impact (or lack thereof according to certain anthropologist...more on those individuals later) on the study of ritual, anthropology, and cultural practices.
1. It's Historical and Cultural Context
At the time of its publication, Scatalogic Rites of All Nations was one of the first attempts to systematically catalog and analyse what Burke understood as the universal, yet often taboo, human fascination with bodily functions. This book emerged during a period when the burgeoning fields of anthropology, sociology, and comparative religion were beginning to materialise in both literature and modern Western contemporary society. Burke's work can be viewed as part of the intellectual zeitgeist of the late 19th century, which was marked by an increasing interest in cataloging and systematising knowledge about human customs, beliefs and norms.
However, in its attempt to address such a wide variety of cultures and traditions, the book can be critiqued for lacking a modern, nuanced understanding of various cultural. The tone and approach, by today's standards, would likely be seen as overly sensational, even voyeuristic, as Burke frequently treats scatological practices with a sense of morbid curiosity, rather than attempting to understand them within their cultural contexts. Ultimately demonstrating a more enlightened Eurocentric mindset, which saw non-Western practices through the lens of Western "decency."
2. Burke's Methodology and Approach
Burke's methodology is perhaps the most glaring issue with his work. He primarily relies on secondary sources, often taking statements and descriptions from other scholars (many of them colonial officers, missionaries, and the occasional traveler of then "undeveloped or primitive countries") without fully interrogating or verifying the information. This lack of rigorous fieldwork or direct observation is a slight shortcoming but not worth exploring any further than a mere footnote.
Contemporary anthropology, on the other hand, commonly emphasises the importance of participant observation and ethnographic fieldwork, but Burke engages with many of these primitive tribes in this book. Thus, his conclusions about different cultures' practices often come across as somewhat speculative, incomplete, or by some anonymous sources are outright inaccurate. Nonetheless it has been a source of anthropological intrigue, controversy and curiosity to this day.
Unfortunately with the limited amount of ethnographic source material and depth, some critics state that Scatalogic Rites of All Nations sometimes reads more like a compendium of strange, disjointed anecdotes rather than a scholarly analysis of ritualistic practices. While it offers a vastly interesting and unique perspective on how the human body, particularly its excretory functions, is ritualised in various societies, therefore the book has been characterised as limited by the absence of a more rigorous and scientific theoretical framework that might explain why such rituals exist or what they signify. Irrespectively, I keep both a first edition copy in my extensive book collection and most notably a copy of the condensed "coffee-table" version in my bathroom, adjacent to my guest toilet for the amusement and often shock of both family, friends and guest visiting my home here in Copenhagen.
3. Tone and Sensational look into the "primative human"
The title itself, Scatalogic Rites of All Nations, already gives a hint at the sensational nature of the book. The word "scatalogic" refers to the obscene or gross elements related to bodily functions, and the focus of the book is unashamedly on what was, and still is in some circles, a taboo subject. While the subject matter itself is intriguing, and one could argue it reveals important insights about human culture, Burke's treatment often feels exploitative and I simply say so what's all the fuss about?
While his approach borders on the voyeuristic, as he delves into grotesque details of bodily functions and scatological practices with an almost prurient fascination. This is no different than every Tom, Dick and Harry that would take their entire family to local freak shows and travelling carnivals just to witness first hand the "freaks of nature" on display. These freak shows were extremely popular in both Europe and the U.S. back in the 19th-20th century.
Yes, of course this would be considered exploitative by today's "proper" standards, but this curiosity of the primitive and grotesque is a mirror into a time in history that should not be erased or sanitised. Unfortunately this horrendous practice is currently occurring across libraries and bookstores across Western nations where old classic books are getting the "Fahrenheit 417" treatment given they do not adhere to modern social justice ideology. Thus I regress so back to the topic at hand...
For modern readers, especially those with an interest in anthropology, Burke's tone may be off-putting. While his work does not exhibit the respect for cultural context and lacks an sense of modern-day leftist critical sensitivity that would be expected in today's anthropological discourse, I hold stedfast to the notion that the book provides a rather insightful view on how Western intellectuals, scientist and just plain "common folks"viewed the "un-developed third world" during the 19th century which is a whole other discipline in itself, this has been covered extensively by individuals such as Talad Asad and others who have made compiling critiques around so-called ethnocentrism.
My point being is that the political system of the time must be viewed through a wider historical and cultural context based on a perspective that also includes class as an important variable but does not nullify individual choices. Instead of seeking to understand the deeper symbolic meanings of these rituals, Burke often simplifies them for the reader’s amusement or shock, a tendency that reflects the era's fascination with the exotic and the "primitive." I personally see nothing wrong with this taken into context it was written when this was a commonly help point of view.
I find it not only amusing but funny given our current dumbed down and politically correct society, especially these intellectual miscreants that judge history unfairly from their revisionist agenda. For a lack of a more nuanced characterisation, these social justice warriors simply attempt to criticise the "errors of our past" is just arm-chair intellectualism at best, when it fact these were simply commonly held beliefs at the time. They were neither right nor wrong, just prevailing view of the times.
4. Cultural Bias and Eurocentrism according to modern academics
A major "flaw" in Burke’s work is his inherent cultural bias. Although he purports to catalogue the practices of all nations, he presents them largely through a Western lens that devalues, or even ridicules, those practices that deviate from Western norms. Well no shit Sherlock! As a result, many of the rituals described are framed in a way that underscores their "otherness" and often presents them as primitive or bizarre. Well by today's standards they of course were. However I do concede that Burke did not always attempt to understand these rituals on their own terms, he certainly did not go into all the social, religious, or historical contexts in which these practices occurred at the time, again so what? Not all vintage bottles of wine age well with time and some bottles of old wine require a particular sense of taste with added humility. His work merely reflects the Victorian-era attitudes of the time, which often viewed non-Western cultures as backward or barbaric.
The book's Eurocentric assumptions also become evident when Burke contrasts Western notions of decency with the "wild" rituals of indigenous peoples. While he does include some examples of scatological practices from European and Western societies, the majority of the book focuses on rituals from Asia, Africa, and the Americas, often implying a certain "primitive" connection between these practices and uncivilised or heathen behavior.
I find this as a double standard given that many anthropologist today, not all, have no problem with the Islamic practice of female genital mutilation or the existing forms of perverted sexual grooming, child molestation and organ harvesting by Cartels and extremist groups in our modern culture. Anthropologist nor the current media or historians barely give these current atrocities any consideration in comparison to their non-stop criticism of Burke's work? No contradictions here for sure!
5. Lack of Lasting Impact so say the detractors
Unfortunately with the books initial novelty and the intrigue generated by its unusual subject matter, Scatalogic Rites of All Nations has not had a lasting impact on the academic fields it sought to influence according to "Modern anthropologist". Arguably most of these "scientist" simply are indoctrinated way too far towards postmodern ideological agendas obsessed by cultural relativism, ethics, and an "anything goes attitude" where truth is simply an obstacle that with enough leftist talking points, simply washes away any of Burke's conclusions and credibility from his fascinating book.
Well I simply believe that many educational institutions should take seriously an entire audit of academic tenure for these anthropologist and their lack of comparative historical scientific inquiry into our past and current cultural trends. They seem to overlook the book’s contributions and only focus on its shortcomings.
Conclusion
Scatalogic Rites of All Nations is a work that both fascinates and illuminates those of us curious of the past. Its unique focus on bodily excrement rituals provides an early, albeit attempt at a cross-cultural anthropological study. While Burke's lack of in-depth fieldwork and reliance on secondary sources are slightly problematic, one should view it from a time when Eurocentric perspectives where simply pervasive in the 19th century and certainly does not undermine the book’s scholarly value. Modern readers might find the book interesting as a historical artifact reflecting the attitudes and academic practices of the late 19th century, but it is unlikely to be considered a serious work of anthropology by contemporary leftist woke standards. Its eccentric subject matter may still intrigue those interested in the oddities of cultural practices, even enjoy them, but should be a predominant contribution to any real book collector or historical anthropologist's library as a hidden gem which has had a significant and positive impact on the discipline or lack there of within the current anthropology circles of today.
July 2, 2025
A fun little curiosity that showcases the anthropological mindset of the era, with its penchant for just-the-facts objectivity and a chilly lack of commentary. It is basically a literature review of various sources depicting the unsavoury side of traditional beliefs and while the author ventures a couple of shy speculations, there is a clear goal of distancing the book from any interpretation or attitude besides standard-issue colonialism. The result is a relentless deluge of absurd and off-putting beliefs and habits. We encounter excrement used as plaster in homes, people using each others' urine to get high on mushrooms, priests consecrating unions of man and woman by pissing on them, animal excrement used as birth aid, countless accounts of coprophagia, worship of farts and latrines, pigeon dung used for cosmetic purposes, a manhood rite where you are deprived of your left testicle after which the priest urinates on you, and more.
Given the content, I don't find that the issue lies in Burke's open-mindedness or lack thereof. It's more that the reader can always doubt the veracity of travel writers, given that they have a motivation to embellish their accounts to make a name for themselves and later, to justify colonial politics. On the other hand, everybody readily accepts that there have been cannibalistic tribes so it's not that the admittedly outlandish depictions contained here are somehow essentially unbelievable. Besides, we are still encountered with a kind of culture shock when we see videos on YouTube about Indian celebrations involving cow excrement, particularly since the business does not even seem to be any kind of a grim duty but rather everybody looks really happy. We encounter the problem of how to talk sensitively about so loaded a subject: what would it even mean. Burke does not discriminate: he is willing to incriminate the peasantry of his own land as well as the remote tribes of Siberia. He implicates everyone, inviting us to look at our long line of ancestors and shudder at the possibilities.
It is clear how literature such as this influenced the weird fiction movement and through it the development of genre fiction. One gets the sense of a pullulation of obscene information and that the full correlation of this book's contents with each others, to quote Lovecraft's turn of phrase, would probably drive one to madness. While Lovecraft is often associated with cosmic horror and the space element of his works, one can't forget that his penchant for depicting unnamable, distinctly "primitive" cults is completely derived from literature much like this. This introduces a novel vector to the interpretation of the genre: if cosmicism emphasizes isolation and horror in space, reading a book like this emphasizes the same thing but in time. You look at the absurdities of ancient habits of Europe and shake your head but the intelligent reader will instantly appreciate that if one's current habits were analyzed by people from thousand years in the future they could very well appear just as horrifyingly gross and absurd. This way one feels lost in time and its vagaries as in a belly of an incomprehensible beast transcending all the rituals depicted herein in the extent of its horror.
However, it doesn't end there. Bourke depicts areas that might question our own habits as fearlessly as he does the ones to which we can easily gawk at. The part where he shared the opinion of some nomadic tribes that it's filthy to stay in one place because you breathe your own excrement stuck with me, alongside the accounts that suggested that latrines were developed for magical, rather than technical, purposes to protect people from magicians stealing their excrement for black magic rituals. You had extremely primitive tribes carefully concealing their excrement and you had Trojans excreting on their streets freely. There was even an aversion to designated places of excrement for reasons of filthiness, which would mean our toilet system would be interpreted as filthy. I mention it because I never thought that all of our toilet traditions are rational. What strikes me as filthy is the fact that people brush their teeth in the same room where they excrete and where the toilet plume has the chance to spread to their toothbrushes, which they then happily spread all over their gums in a supposedly exemplary act of hygiene. Yet even if people realise this, they do it, as if the force of the cultural ritual had an iron grip on everyone. It is true insanity yet it is real and accepted. One is struck with a vaguely doomed feeling indicative of the themes of weird fiction writers.
The connections that Bourke draws between the ancient excrement rituals and their more modern analogues are also not always so flattering. The data in this book seems very much to suggest that rituals like baptism and communion are actually rooted in baptism by urine drinking/excrement eating rituals, so numerous are the accounts and always with a religious signification. The body of Christ would then correspond to excrement and his blood to urine, both of which were important sources of ammonia and salt in the ancient times. Salt corresponds with Saturn due to its cubic/hexagonal structure and Christ's birthday is right after Saturnalia, in the zodiac sign of the goat; and the book particularly singles out goats as animals from whose excrement salt was made. Goat excrement is also listed as an antidote to serpent-bites, just as Christ is considered to be an antidote the original sin. Saturn is further connected with excrement through its identification with Sterculius, a god of fertilizers, which makes sense considering the agricultural function of Cronos. This identification co-exists with its identification as Earth, suggesting a connection to the "dust of the ground" from which the first human was made, connecting intellectually to the myth of the Yahoos where man was created from excrement of the gods. The connection is only strengthened with imloration in Gospel fo Matthew to account all earthly things as dung.
With regards to urine, phosphorus was made out of urine and corresponds to Lucifer the Light-Bearer, its animal being dove, whose excrement was used to combat love-potions, specifically those involving menses. Dove's excrement was also often used to replace the urine of young boys as a medicinal treatment, corresponding interestingly with the Christian dove symbolism and the doctrine of the Son. Raven, on the other hand, speaks to its own excrement according to Eskimo mythology: this connects it naturally with the excrement-salt connection. In terms of creation myths, there are accounts of world being created out of female urine, suggesting a source, or the "Ur"-myth, of the chaotic waters of life over which the spirit of God hovered (phosphorus representing spirit in alchemy).
In general, accounts of the superlative powers of the body of the Chief's body abound, reverberating to our day in the mythology of Christ. We encounter a mythologically interesting piece of Hindu-lore where the god Utanka, protected by Indra, embarks on a journey where he is met with a heroic challenge: eat the excrement of a bull, which he does. This is funny to me because it reminds me of a debate I had with a friend where he insisted that the purpose of life was to overcome hardships and I objected that then we should eat shit if overcoming is a value in itself. In this myth, it seems that they go straight to the ultimate conclusion. Utanka is then told that "the excrement of the bull was the ambrosia which made him immortal in the kingdom of the serpents". What a sentence! Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you, John 6, but with a connection to the serpentine problem of death and knowledge to boot. The trinity of Christ is reflected in the fact that he can be both the child and the God, as in Polynesia the children are considered to be the excrement of their patron deity, a fact which has some disquieting implications considering the consumption of the excrement of animals representing some deity forms a veritable theme throughout the book.
The connection between love-potions and the eucharist is also a curious one: while semen was commonly used as a secret ingredient in love potions in the belief that ingesting it would send the object to a frenzy of love, Manicheans incorporated human semen to their eucharistic bread, a habit which supposedly was maintained by Cathars who also invented the concept of romantic love. As far as the excremental aspect goes, it was also a common fixture of love-potions as well as the preceding the bread of Communion. The figure of Christ seems to bring many strands together, both light and dark: but those two may not be so far apart as it may seem, as can be seen in the Italian and German belief that sun is actually a excretion of a mythical bird. This connects with the luminosity represented by phosphorus and urine, as well as baptism, which evokes the attraction people had for the urine of the holy men as well as events like inuit baptism ritual, where the child has to be sprinkled with urine in order that he may be reborn if danger should strike the child, or Congolese baptism by urine by which they believe the child will become stronger.
This book records a curious belief sourced from a work called Chylologia according to which the philosopher's stone was to be found in mixing the two distinct salts of human urine and human excrement. Curiously enough, the name sal ammoniac derives from the god Jupiter Ammon since its temple consumed much of burnt camel excrement. The issue of Jupiter Ammon is itself a curious one, considering its close resemblance to the Carthaginian deity Ba'al Hammon. This was a deity of child sacrifice, which is interesting if we connect it to the Polynesian view of children as the excrement of Gods and then connect the names that resemble each other, Ba'al Hammon and Jupiter Ammon. Through the excremental connection we can understand why Ba'al Hammon has been related to Saturn. We can also see how the notions of Jesus and Love function as types of philosopher's stones in bringing both of the salts together, most concretely in love-potions.
I have some more notes but it is late. Overall, the book offers a rich tapestry of mythological material to consider. Perhaps most valuably, it makes you observe the common habits of your surroundings with a more suspicious eye. Why are licorice and coffee so popular? What unspeakable rites lie behind the now-innocent traditional food of black sausage - perhaps a connection to the excremental sausages this book also talks about? It is precisely the type of food which has been banned by kosher and halal as filthy due to its unsightly associations to the fecal mists of the past. One is dismayed by history, is confronted with the abyssal depths of human absurdity, bubbling in an incomprehensible abyss of stupidity, nearly fainting from the sensation. One can do little else than try to be better.
Given the content, I don't find that the issue lies in Burke's open-mindedness or lack thereof. It's more that the reader can always doubt the veracity of travel writers, given that they have a motivation to embellish their accounts to make a name for themselves and later, to justify colonial politics. On the other hand, everybody readily accepts that there have been cannibalistic tribes so it's not that the admittedly outlandish depictions contained here are somehow essentially unbelievable. Besides, we are still encountered with a kind of culture shock when we see videos on YouTube about Indian celebrations involving cow excrement, particularly since the business does not even seem to be any kind of a grim duty but rather everybody looks really happy. We encounter the problem of how to talk sensitively about so loaded a subject: what would it even mean. Burke does not discriminate: he is willing to incriminate the peasantry of his own land as well as the remote tribes of Siberia. He implicates everyone, inviting us to look at our long line of ancestors and shudder at the possibilities.
It is clear how literature such as this influenced the weird fiction movement and through it the development of genre fiction. One gets the sense of a pullulation of obscene information and that the full correlation of this book's contents with each others, to quote Lovecraft's turn of phrase, would probably drive one to madness. While Lovecraft is often associated with cosmic horror and the space element of his works, one can't forget that his penchant for depicting unnamable, distinctly "primitive" cults is completely derived from literature much like this. This introduces a novel vector to the interpretation of the genre: if cosmicism emphasizes isolation and horror in space, reading a book like this emphasizes the same thing but in time. You look at the absurdities of ancient habits of Europe and shake your head but the intelligent reader will instantly appreciate that if one's current habits were analyzed by people from thousand years in the future they could very well appear just as horrifyingly gross and absurd. This way one feels lost in time and its vagaries as in a belly of an incomprehensible beast transcending all the rituals depicted herein in the extent of its horror.
However, it doesn't end there. Bourke depicts areas that might question our own habits as fearlessly as he does the ones to which we can easily gawk at. The part where he shared the opinion of some nomadic tribes that it's filthy to stay in one place because you breathe your own excrement stuck with me, alongside the accounts that suggested that latrines were developed for magical, rather than technical, purposes to protect people from magicians stealing their excrement for black magic rituals. You had extremely primitive tribes carefully concealing their excrement and you had Trojans excreting on their streets freely. There was even an aversion to designated places of excrement for reasons of filthiness, which would mean our toilet system would be interpreted as filthy. I mention it because I never thought that all of our toilet traditions are rational. What strikes me as filthy is the fact that people brush their teeth in the same room where they excrete and where the toilet plume has the chance to spread to their toothbrushes, which they then happily spread all over their gums in a supposedly exemplary act of hygiene. Yet even if people realise this, they do it, as if the force of the cultural ritual had an iron grip on everyone. It is true insanity yet it is real and accepted. One is struck with a vaguely doomed feeling indicative of the themes of weird fiction writers.
The connections that Bourke draws between the ancient excrement rituals and their more modern analogues are also not always so flattering. The data in this book seems very much to suggest that rituals like baptism and communion are actually rooted in baptism by urine drinking/excrement eating rituals, so numerous are the accounts and always with a religious signification. The body of Christ would then correspond to excrement and his blood to urine, both of which were important sources of ammonia and salt in the ancient times. Salt corresponds with Saturn due to its cubic/hexagonal structure and Christ's birthday is right after Saturnalia, in the zodiac sign of the goat; and the book particularly singles out goats as animals from whose excrement salt was made. Goat excrement is also listed as an antidote to serpent-bites, just as Christ is considered to be an antidote the original sin. Saturn is further connected with excrement through its identification with Sterculius, a god of fertilizers, which makes sense considering the agricultural function of Cronos. This identification co-exists with its identification as Earth, suggesting a connection to the "dust of the ground" from which the first human was made, connecting intellectually to the myth of the Yahoos where man was created from excrement of the gods. The connection is only strengthened with imloration in Gospel fo Matthew to account all earthly things as dung.
With regards to urine, phosphorus was made out of urine and corresponds to Lucifer the Light-Bearer, its animal being dove, whose excrement was used to combat love-potions, specifically those involving menses. Dove's excrement was also often used to replace the urine of young boys as a medicinal treatment, corresponding interestingly with the Christian dove symbolism and the doctrine of the Son. Raven, on the other hand, speaks to its own excrement according to Eskimo mythology: this connects it naturally with the excrement-salt connection. In terms of creation myths, there are accounts of world being created out of female urine, suggesting a source, or the "Ur"-myth, of the chaotic waters of life over which the spirit of God hovered (phosphorus representing spirit in alchemy).
In general, accounts of the superlative powers of the body of the Chief's body abound, reverberating to our day in the mythology of Christ. We encounter a mythologically interesting piece of Hindu-lore where the god Utanka, protected by Indra, embarks on a journey where he is met with a heroic challenge: eat the excrement of a bull, which he does. This is funny to me because it reminds me of a debate I had with a friend where he insisted that the purpose of life was to overcome hardships and I objected that then we should eat shit if overcoming is a value in itself. In this myth, it seems that they go straight to the ultimate conclusion. Utanka is then told that "the excrement of the bull was the ambrosia which made him immortal in the kingdom of the serpents". What a sentence! Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you, John 6, but with a connection to the serpentine problem of death and knowledge to boot. The trinity of Christ is reflected in the fact that he can be both the child and the God, as in Polynesia the children are considered to be the excrement of their patron deity, a fact which has some disquieting implications considering the consumption of the excrement of animals representing some deity forms a veritable theme throughout the book.
The connection between love-potions and the eucharist is also a curious one: while semen was commonly used as a secret ingredient in love potions in the belief that ingesting it would send the object to a frenzy of love, Manicheans incorporated human semen to their eucharistic bread, a habit which supposedly was maintained by Cathars who also invented the concept of romantic love. As far as the excremental aspect goes, it was also a common fixture of love-potions as well as the preceding the bread of Communion. The figure of Christ seems to bring many strands together, both light and dark: but those two may not be so far apart as it may seem, as can be seen in the Italian and German belief that sun is actually a excretion of a mythical bird. This connects with the luminosity represented by phosphorus and urine, as well as baptism, which evokes the attraction people had for the urine of the holy men as well as events like inuit baptism ritual, where the child has to be sprinkled with urine in order that he may be reborn if danger should strike the child, or Congolese baptism by urine by which they believe the child will become stronger.
This book records a curious belief sourced from a work called Chylologia according to which the philosopher's stone was to be found in mixing the two distinct salts of human urine and human excrement. Curiously enough, the name sal ammoniac derives from the god Jupiter Ammon since its temple consumed much of burnt camel excrement. The issue of Jupiter Ammon is itself a curious one, considering its close resemblance to the Carthaginian deity Ba'al Hammon. This was a deity of child sacrifice, which is interesting if we connect it to the Polynesian view of children as the excrement of Gods and then connect the names that resemble each other, Ba'al Hammon and Jupiter Ammon. Through the excremental connection we can understand why Ba'al Hammon has been related to Saturn. We can also see how the notions of Jesus and Love function as types of philosopher's stones in bringing both of the salts together, most concretely in love-potions.
I have some more notes but it is late. Overall, the book offers a rich tapestry of mythological material to consider. Perhaps most valuably, it makes you observe the common habits of your surroundings with a more suspicious eye. Why are licorice and coffee so popular? What unspeakable rites lie behind the now-innocent traditional food of black sausage - perhaps a connection to the excremental sausages this book also talks about? It is precisely the type of food which has been banned by kosher and halal as filthy due to its unsightly associations to the fecal mists of the past. One is dismayed by history, is confronted with the abyssal depths of human absurdity, bubbling in an incomprehensible abyss of stupidity, nearly fainting from the sensation. One can do little else than try to be better.
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