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the ethnological notebooks of karl marx - Marxists Internet Archive

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Glauben an d. Reality d. fa<strong>the</strong>rs or bro<strong>the</strong>rs (als still living), die ihnen imTraum erscheinen, grandfa<strong>the</strong>rs dagegen regarded as generally dead. (163)Worship <strong>of</strong> Idols characterises a somewhat higher stage <strong>of</strong> human development;no traces <strong>of</strong> it among <strong>the</strong> lowest races <strong>of</strong> man in Lafitau (Moeurs desSauvages Américains, v. I, p. 151) sagt mit Recht: “ On peut dire en généralque le grand nombre des peuples sauvages n’a point d’idoles” . Sindnicht zu verwechseln mit Fetisch; fetichism is an attack on <strong>the</strong> Deity,Idolatry an act <strong>of</strong> submission to him. (225)The idol usually assumes <strong>the</strong> human form, and idolatry is closely connectedwith that form <strong>of</strong> religion which consists in <strong>the</strong> worship <strong>of</strong> ancestors,(p. 228) The worship <strong>of</strong> ancestors ... more or less prevalent among all<strong>the</strong> aboriginal tribes <strong>of</strong> Central India. (229) The Kaffirs sacrifice and pray to<strong>the</strong>ir deceased relatives. (I.e.) O<strong>the</strong>r races endeavour to preserve <strong>the</strong>memory <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> dead by rude statues. Pallas ( Voyages, v. IV , p. 79) mentionsthat <strong>the</strong> Ostyaks <strong>of</strong> Siberia “rendent un culte à leurs morts. Ils sculptent desfigures de bois pour représenter les Ostiakes célébrés. Dans les repas decommémoration on place devant ces figures une partie des mets. Les femmes quiont chéri leurs maris ont de pareilles figures, les couchent avec elles, les parent,et ne mangent point sans leur présenter une partie de leur portion.”Erman (“ Travels in Siberia,” v. II p. 56) also mentions that when a mandies “<strong>the</strong> relatives form a rude wooden image representing, and in honour<strong>of</strong>, <strong>the</strong> deceased, which is set up in <strong>the</strong>ir yurt, and receives divine honours”4 for a certain time. “At every meal <strong>the</strong>y set an <strong>of</strong>fering | <strong>of</strong> food before<strong>the</strong> image etc.” (I.e.) In ordinary cases this semi-worship only lasts a fewyears, after which <strong>the</strong> image is burned. “But when a Shaman dies, thiscustom changes in his favour, into a complete and decided canonisationdann(fahrt Erman fort) erhält “ <strong>the</strong> dressed block <strong>of</strong> wood which represents <strong>the</strong>deceased” nicht nur “homage for a limited period” , sondern “<strong>the</strong> priest’sdescendants do <strong>the</strong>ir best to keep him in vogue from generation togeneration; [sieh den Phear, “ The Aryan Village,7 wo ganz dasselbe nochheute in Bengal für Aristocraten etc] and by well-contrived oracles ando<strong>the</strong>r arts, <strong>the</strong>y manage to procure <strong>of</strong>ferings for <strong>the</strong>ir families' penates, asabundant as those laid on <strong>the</strong> altars <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> universally acknowledged gods.But that <strong>the</strong> latter (sagt Erman) also have an historical origin, that <strong>the</strong>y wereoriginally monuments <strong>of</strong> distinguished men, to which prescription and<strong>the</strong> interest <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Shamans gave by degrees an arbitrary meaning and importance,seems to me not liable to doubt; and this is, fur<strong>the</strong>rmore,corroborated by <strong>the</strong> circumstance (that) <strong>of</strong> all <strong>the</strong> sacred yurts dedicated to<strong>the</strong>se saints, which have been numerous from <strong>the</strong> earliest times in <strong>the</strong>vicinity <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> river, only one has been seen (near Samarovo) containing <strong>the</strong>image <strong>of</strong> a woman.” (p. 230)[Lubb. citirt den Salomon d. Weisen (Wisdom, ch. X I V , p. 12) wo dieserwiseacre flgdes orakelt über d. origin des worship <strong>of</strong> statues as <strong>of</strong> deities.“ 13. Nei<strong>the</strong>r were <strong>the</strong>y from <strong>the</strong> beginning, nei<strong>the</strong>r shall <strong>the</strong>y beforever.343

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