the ethnological notebooks of karl marx - Marxists Internet Archive

mystery which religion requires, and which nocturnal animals so eminendypossess. As, however, civilisation progresses, and the chiefs separatethemselves more and more from their subjects (!), this ceases to be the case andman-mrship becomes an important element of religion. (235) The worship of agreat chief seems quite as natural as that of an idol. “Why, said a Mongolto Friar Ascelin, (Astley, Collection of Voyages, v. IV, p. 551) since youChristians make no scruple to adore sticks and stones, why do you refuseto do the same honour to Bayoth Noy, whom the Khan has ordered to beadored in the same manner as he is himself?” This worship fast immerbegleitet mit a belief in higher beings. (234)Wo Shamanism noch nicht ganz replaced Totemism, the establishment ofmonarchical government with its usual pomp and ceremonial led to a muchmore organised worship of the old gods.9 Of this the serpent-worship in WesternAfrica, and the sun-worship in Peru, are striking examples. (235) Whitemen often taken for deities, so Captain Cook in the Pacific etc. “ Tuikilakila,the chief of Somosomo, sagte zu Mr. Hunt: “If you die first, I shall makeyou my god” . “No certain line of demarcation between departed spiritsand gods, nor between gods and living men, for many of the priests andold chiefs are considered as sacred persons, and not a few of them will also claimto themselves the right of divinity. “/ am a god” , Tuikilakila wouldsometimes say; and he believed it too.” (Erskine, “ Western Pacific.” p. 246)Lubb sagt: “It seems at first sight hard to understand how men can be regardedimmortal [meint hier: not capable of suffering a natural death; Lubbockspottet seiner selbst u. weiss doch nicht wie; er findet es quite natural,that they are “ capable” of an unnatural death” , d.h. dass sie fortleben,obgleich eines natürlichen Todes verstorben]. Yet even this belief has beenentertained in various countries” . (235)Merolla tells (in Pinkerton's “ Voyages” , v. XVI, p. 226 sq.), that in his timethe wizards of Congo were called Scinghili, that is to say Gods of the Earth.The head of them is styled “ Ganga Chitorne, being reputed God of allthe Earth__ He further asserts that his body is not capable of sufferinga natural death; and,... to confirm his adorers in this opinion, wheneverhe finds his end approaching, either through age or disease, he calls forsuch a one of his disciples as he intends to succeed him, and pretends tocommunicate to him his great powers” ; lässt sich von dem hängen od.todtschlagen coram publico etc” (p. 23 5, 36) So d. Great Lama of Thibet.Sacrifices, to propitiate the Spiritual Beings for good or evil. (237)Erst supposed that the spirits actually eat the food offered to them;aber observed that animals sacrificed did not disappear; hence geschlossenthat the Spirit ate the spiritual part of the victim, leaving the grosser partto his devout worshipper. Thus the Limboos near Darjeeling (India) eattheir sacrifices, dedicating as they forcibly express it, “ the life-breath to thegods, the flesh to ourselves.” (p. 237)In New Zealand die fairies, when Te Kanawa gave them his jewels, carried346