The golden branch

The book The Golden Bough discusses the development of religious beliefs since ancient times and links them to the development of human thought. It classifies them into three stages: magic, religion, and science. It also highlights each stage and studies it in detail, then presents it supported by examples from various tribes and primitive peoples. The author dedicates a wide space in the book to studying the relationship between magic and religion among primitive peoples, clarifying that there are common points between them, especially in attempts to interpret natural phenomena and control them. The author attributes many current religious and social practices to ancient pagan customs, such as lighting fires to celebrate the solstice in summer and winter. He also provides many other examples, such as: fire representing the sun, and burned wheels representing its circular movement. He explains that the practice of offering sacrifices is actually pagan customs based on burning live sacrifices of animals, sometimes humans, to appease a certain deity or to achieve a specific goal. The writer elaborates on the concept of the soul among primitives and the ancient Egyptians, and discusses the idea of spirit possession of human bodies, trees, or inanimate objects like stones in some cultures. He also shares many popular stories circulating among some tribes in Asia, Africa, and among Native Americans. The book is a reference in anthropology because it covers a wide sector of the development of human thought and human history, clarifying the origin of many customs followed by different peoples today. It is a rich book with information worth careful and detailed reading to explore an important aspect of human history and culture that remains mysterious to many. Frazer (1854-1941) came from a wealthy family living in Glasgow, Scotland. He received his education at the University of Glasgow first, when Charles Darwin’s theories were popular, and thought was free. He studied classical sciences, which include philosophy and natural philosophy. He then continued his studies at Cambridge University and at Middle Temple in London. In 1907, he became head of the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Liverpool but soon abandoned it. Frazer was inspired by the pioneering work of his friend William Robertson Smith on ancient religions to publish articles on folk customs and anthropology. He dedicated his time to in-depth research, writing articles for the ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, two of which dealt with taboos and totemism, occupying a prominent place in his extensive work. Later, Frazer began writing a book titled The Golden Bough, published in 1890 in two parts. That book was merely a draft of another work with the same title, completed in 1915 with additional parts published gradually until 1939. Frazer also wrote a small book titled The Belief in Spirits, in which he concluded that belief in superstitions, which he described as “false opinion,” helped humanity by encouraging respect for authority, and consequently prevented many forms of violence.