The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

§ 4. The Corn-spirit slain in his Human Representatives. 297by a young maiden, but when it is conceived as the Corn-motherit shall be cut by an old woman; 773 in the Lothringian warninggiven to old women to save themselves when the Old Womanis being killed, that is, when the last corn is being threshed; 774and in the Tyrolese expectation that if the man who gives the laststroke at threshing is tall, the next year's corn will be tall also. 775Further, the same identification is implied in the savage customof killing the representative of the corn-spirit with hoes or spadesor by grinding him between stones, and in the European customof pretending to kill him with the scythe or the flail. Once morethe Khond custom of pouring water on the buried flesh of thevictim is parallel to the European customs of pouring water onthe personal representative of the corn-spirit or plunging himinto a stream. 776 Both the Khond and the European customs arerain-charms.To return now to the Lityerses story. It has been shewn Humanthat in rude society human beings have been commonly killedto promote the growth of the crops. There is therefore noimprobability in the supposition that they may once have beenkilled for a like purpose in Phrygia and Europe; and whenPhrygian legend and European folk-custom, closely agreeingwith each other, point to the conclusion that men were soslain, we are bound, provisionally at least, to accept theconclusion. Further, both the Lityerses story and Europeanharvest-customs agree in indicating that the victim was put todeath as a representative of the corn-spirit, and this indication isin harmony with the view which some savages appear to take ofthe victim slain to make the crops flourish. On the whole, then,we may fairly suppose that both in Phrygia and in Europe the773 Above, pp. 134, 157 sqq.774 Above, p. 223.775 Above, p. 224.776 Above, p. 170, with the references in note 1; Adonis, Attis, Osiris, SecondEdition, pp. 195-197.representativeof the corn-spiritslain on theharvest-field.