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The Golden Bough #1
The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 1 of 12) / The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings
The Golden Bough, a Study in Magic and Religion, 12 volumes, Third Edition, by James George Frazer. Part I. The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, Vol. I.
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (retitled The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer. The Golden Bough was first published in two volumes in 1890; in three volumes in 1900; and in twelve volumes in the third edition, published 1906–15. It has also been published in several different one-volume abridgments. The work was aimed at a wide literate audience raised on tales as told in such publications as Thomas Bulfinch's The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes (1855). The influence of The Golden Bough on contemporary European literature and thought was substantial.
Frazer attempted to define the shared elements of religious belief and scientific thought, discussing fertility rites, human sacrifice, the dying god, the scapegoat, and many other symbols and practices whose influences had extended into 20th-century culture.[2] His thesis is that old religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship and periodic sacrifice of a sacred king. Frazer proposed that mankind progresses from magic through religious belief to scientific thought.
Frazer's thesis was developed in relation to J. M. W. Turner's painting of The Golden Bough, a sacred grove where a certain tree grew day and night. It was a transfigured landscape in a dream-like vision of the woodland lake of Nemi, "Diana's Mirror", where religious ceremonies and the "fulfillment of vows" of priests and kings were held.
The king was the incarnation of a dying and reviving god, a solar deity who underwent a mystic marriage to a goddess of the Earth. He died at the harvest and was reincarnated in the spring. Frazer claims that this legend of rebirth is central to almost all of the world's mythologies.
The book's title was taken from an incident in the Aeneid, illustrated by Turner, in which Aeneas and the Sibyl present the golden bough to the gatekeeper of Hades to gain admission.
Frazer wrote in a preface to the third edition of The Golden Bough that while he had never studied Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, his friend James Ward, and the philosopher J. M. E. McTaggart, had both suggested to him that Hegel had anticipated his view of "the nature and historical relations of magic and religion". Frazer saw the resemblance as being that "we both hold that in the mental evolution of humanity an age of magic preceded an age of religion, and that the characteristic difference between magic and religion is that, whereas magic aims at controlling nature directly, religion aims at controlling it indirectly through the mediation of a powerful supernatural being or beings to whom man appeals for help and protection." Frazer included an extract from Hegel's Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion (1832).
The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (retitled The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion in its second edition) is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion, written by the Scottish anthropologist Sir James George Frazer. The Golden Bough was first published in two volumes in 1890; in three volumes in 1900; and in twelve volumes in the third edition, published 1906–15. It has also been published in several different one-volume abridgments. The work was aimed at a wide literate audience raised on tales as told in such publications as Thomas Bulfinch's The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes (1855). The influence of The Golden Bough on contemporary European literature and thought was substantial.
Frazer attempted to define the shared elements of religious belief and scientific thought, discussing fertility rites, human sacrifice, the dying god, the scapegoat, and many other symbols and practices whose influences had extended into 20th-century culture.[2] His thesis is that old religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship and periodic sacrifice of a sacred king. Frazer proposed that mankind progresses from magic through religious belief to scientific thought.
Frazer's thesis was developed in relation to J. M. W. Turner's painting of The Golden Bough, a sacred grove where a certain tree grew day and night. It was a transfigured landscape in a dream-like vision of the woodland lake of Nemi, "Diana's Mirror", where religious ceremonies and the "fulfillment of vows" of priests and kings were held.
The king was the incarnation of a dying and reviving god, a solar deity who underwent a mystic marriage to a goddess of the Earth. He died at the harvest and was reincarnated in the spring. Frazer claims that this legend of rebirth is central to almost all of the world's mythologies.
The book's title was taken from an incident in the Aeneid, illustrated by Turner, in which Aeneas and the Sibyl present the golden bough to the gatekeeper of Hades to gain admission.
Frazer wrote in a preface to the third edition of The Golden Bough that while he had never studied Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, his friend James Ward, and the philosopher J. M. E. McTaggart, had both suggested to him that Hegel had anticipated his view of "the nature and historical relations of magic and religion". Frazer saw the resemblance as being that "we both hold that in the mental evolution of humanity an age of magic preceded an age of religion, and that the characteristic difference between magic and religion is that, whereas magic aims at controlling nature directly, religion aims at controlling it indirectly through the mediation of a powerful supernatural being or beings to whom man appeals for help and protection." Frazer included an extract from Hegel's Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion (1832).
595 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1911
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194 people want to read
About the author
James George Frazer
683 books329 followersSir James George Frazer was a Scottish social anthropologist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion. His most famous work, The Golden Bough (1890), documents and details the similarities among magical and religious beliefs around the globe. Frazer posited that human belief progressed through three stages: primitive magic, replaced by religion, in turn replaced by science.
He was married to the writer & translator Lilly Grove (Lady Frazer)
He was married to the writer & translator Lilly Grove (Lady Frazer)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 2, 2007
Ignoring the textual/scource condescension by the author, this is a great meta-source of much of pre-christian theologies. The Victorian social smugness is subtle in the way it slights the religious, sacred impulses of the source cultures and doesn't really examine the syncretic thievery of the early catholic church.
June 25, 2009
i have three bibles, and this is one of them. his approach to pre-christian religion; almost purely scientific (just a touch of condescension). he covers ancient beliefs from cultures world-wide, details their rituals, the root of the belief or myth, everything.
February 16, 2025
اگر به جادو و رابطه جادو با دین و اینطور موضوعات علاقه دارید حتما این کتاب رو بخونید .
این کتاب گشت و گذاری است در دنیای جادو و خرافات اقوام و قومیت های مختلف .
نویسنده ابتدا اصول جادو رو بیان میکنه که مبتنی بر دو اصل هست : یکی تشابه و همبستگی کارهای جادویی و دیگری اصل سرایت جادو به دیگران و اشیا هست . سپس مثال های خیلی زیادی از قبایل بدوی نقاط مختلف جهان در این زمینه میاره که واقعا خوندنی هستن و در ضمن به مطالعات زیاد و تحقیقات این نویسنده پی میبرید . .
این کتاب گشت و گذاری است در دنیای جادو و خرافات اقوام و قومیت های مختلف .
نویسنده ابتدا اصول جادو رو بیان میکنه که مبتنی بر دو اصل هست : یکی تشابه و همبستگی کارهای جادویی و دیگری اصل سرایت جادو به دیگران و اشیا هست . سپس مثال های خیلی زیادی از قبایل بدوی نقاط مختلف جهان در این زمینه میاره که واقعا خوندنی هستن و در ضمن به مطالعات زیاد و تحقیقات این نویسنده پی میبرید . .
abandoned
January 13, 2010I'll go back to this if I'm not so busy. Very interesting as it is, I don't really go along with e-books.
December 1, 2009
Ehrlich gesagt, wenn das Buch als Enzyklopädie der historischen pseudo- proto- und religiösen Praktiken ausgelegt gewesen wäre, hätte ich es besser gefunden.
December 22, 2009
One of the most fascinating books I have ever read. Frazer's attitude is easily ignored. Concentrate on the rich information and history.
November 20, 2015
Mr. Frazer is very thorough. A little too thorough for me, with his innumerable examples. His theories are quite interesting, his lists less so.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews