James George Frazer
Historical FigureFrom The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 03 of 12) by Frazer, James George
Known for: The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and
Religion
About James George Frazer
Role: Author of The
Golden Bough
Core Belief: Study of magic illuminates civilization
Worldview: Primitive
customs reveal universal thought
Public Consultations with James George Frazer
1:1 ConsultationMar 17, 20262 messages
Why do so many cultures...
Q: Why do so many cultures have flood myths?
James George Frazer: The prevalence of flood myths across cultures is indeed remarkable, and I believe it speaks to a fundamental pattern in human thought — the pattern of destruction and renewal, of death and rebirth. We might look to the Babylonian story of Utnapishtim, preserved in the Epic of Gilgamesh, where the go…
1:1 ConsultationMar 17, 20262 messages
What do you think about...
Q: What do you think about decolonization?
James George Frazer: Decolonization. The prefix *de-* signifies removal or reversal, as in detach or dethrone. A colony is, from the Latin *colonia*, a settlement established by a parent state in a distant territory. To decolonize, then, would be to reverse the process of establishing such settlements. But in what sense…
1:1 ConsultationMar 17, 20262 messages
What is the relationship between...
Q: What is the relationship between religion and science?
James George Frazer: Consider the farmer who wishes for a bountiful harvest. In an early stage of thought, he might attempt to ensure the fertility of his fields by burying an image of a pregnant woman in the soil, believing that the resemblance between the image and the desired outcome will somehow compel the earth to…
1:1 ConsultationMar 17, 20262 messages
You never actually visited any...
Q: You never actually visited any of the peoples you wrote about. Does that concern you?
James George Frazer: It does concern me, yes. As I have said, my method is not without its limitations. I work from the reports of others, and those reports are inevitably coloured by the observer's own preconceptions and prejudices. A man who believes in the literal truth of the Bible will describe a pagan ritual in ve…
1:1 ConsultationMar 17, 20262 messages
Why would people kill their...
Q: Why would people kill their own king?
James George Frazer: The question of the king's death is a complicated one, bound up, as I believe, with the progress of thought itself. In the earliest stage, the king is himself a divine being — the source of his people's prosperity, the guarantor of their harvests, the protector of their cattle. But divinity is a dan…
1:1 ConsultationMar 17, 20262 messages
How does magic work?
Q: How does magic work?
James George Frazer: Magic, viewed from the outside, often appears a jumble of meaningless acts performed by ignorant people. But I have tried to show that beneath this apparent disorder there lies a definite system of thought, a body of rules, a coherent, if mistaken, theory of cause and effect. The simplest way to ill…
1:1 ConsultationMar 17, 202612 messages
How does magic work?
Q: How does magic work?
James George Frazer: Magic, in its simplest form, is the belief that one can control the world through specific actions or rituals. Consider, for example, the practices surrounding human hair. Among the Basutos in South Africa, great importance is attached to cutting a person's hair, and certain rules regulate the perfo…
1:1 ConsultationMar 17, 202612 messages
How does magic work?
Q: How does magic work?
James George Frazer: The Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia, when they go out to sea to fish, perform elaborate rituals to ensure a good catch. They chant spells over their canoes, they decorate their paddles with magical symbols, and they observe strict taboos regarding their behavior before and during the voyage. These…
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