(Berlin, 1910-1913), iii. p. 69, No. 1428: “In the county of Glatz the people believe that on Walpurgis Night (the Eve of May Day) the witches under cover of the darkness seek to harm men in all sorts of ways. To guard themselves against them the people set small birch trees in front of the house-door on the previous day, and are of opinion that the witches must count all the leaves on these little trees before they can get into the house. While they are still at this laborious task, the day dawns and the dreaded guests must retire to their own realm”; id., iii. p. 39, No. 1394: “On St. John's Night (between the 23rd and 24th of June) the witches again busily bestir themselves to force their way into the houses of men and the stalls of cattle. People stick small twigs of oak in the windows and doors of the houses and cattle-stalls to keep out the witches. This is done in the neighbourhood of Patschkau and generally in the districts of Frankenstein, Münsterberg, Grottkau, and Neisse. In the same regions they hang garlands, composed of oak leaves intertwined with flowers, at the windows. The garland must be woven in the house itself and may not be carried over any threshold; it must be hung out of the window on a nail, which is inserted there.” Similar evidence might be multiplied almost indefinitely.
45
The Golden Bough, Second Edition (London, 1900), ii. 314-316.
46
The Dying God, pp. 249 sqq.
47
Above, vol. i. p. 117, compare pp. 143, 144.
48
See above, vol. i. p. 120.
49
The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings, ii. 56 sqq.
50
Above, vol. i. pp. 120, 167.
51
Above, vol. i. pp. 115 sq., 116, 142, 173 sq., 185, 191, 192, 193, 209.
52
Above, vol. i. p. 120.
53
Above, vol. i. p. 116. But the effigy is called the Witch.
54
The chapter has since been expanded into the four volumes of The Dying God, Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, and The Scapegoat.
Among the Klings of Southern India the ceremony of walking over a bed of red-hot ashes is performed by a few chosen individuals, who are prepared for the rite by a devil-doctor or medicine-man. The eye-witness who describes the ceremony adds: “As I understood it, they took on themselves and expiated the sins of the Kling community for the past year.” See the letter of Stephen Ponder, quoted by Andrew Lang, Modern Mythology (London, 1897), p. 160.
58
The Dying God, pp. 205 sqq.; Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, i. 216 sqq.
59
Above, vol. i. p. 120.
60
Above, vol. i. p. 186.
61
Above, vol. i. p. 148.
62
Above, vol. i. p. 233.
63
Above, vol. i. p. 194.
64
W. Mannhardt, Baumkultus, p. 524.
65
Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern (Munich, 1860-1867), iii. 956; W. Mannhardt, Baumkultus, p. 524. In the neighbourhood of Breitenbrunn the lad who collects fuel at this season has his face blackened and is called “the Charcoal Man” (Bavaria, etc., ii. 261).
66
A. Birlinger, Volksthümliches aus Schwaben (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1861-1862), ii. 121 sq., § 146; W. Mannhardt, Baumkultus, pp. 524 sq.
67
E. Meier, Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben (Stuttgart, 1852), pp. 428 sq., §§ 120, 122; O. Freiherr von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Das festliche Jahr (Leipsic, 1863), p. 194; J. A. E. Köhler, Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande (Leipsic, 1867), p. 176; J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 49, § 311; W. J. A. Tettau und J. D. H. Temme, Die Volkssagen Ost-preussens, Litthauens und West-preussens (Berlin, 1837), pp. 277 sq.; K. Haupt, Sagenbuch der Lausitz (Leipsic, 1862-1863), i. 48; R. Eisel, Sagenbuch des Voigtlandes (Gera, 1871), p. 31, Nr. 62.
68
Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube (Iserlohn, n. d.), p. 34.
69
E. Hoffmann-Krayer, Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes (Zurich, 1913), p. 163.
70
E. H. Meyer, Badisches Volksleben (Strasburg, 1900), p. 507.
71
J. A. E. Köhler, loc. cit. Tacitus tells us that the image of the goddess Nerthus, her vestments, and chariot were washed in a certain lake, and that immediately afterwards the slaves who ministered to the goddess were swallowed by the lake (Germania, 40). The statement may perhaps be understood to mean that the slaves were drowned as a sacrifice to the deity. Certainly we know from Tacitus (Germania, 9 and 39) that the ancient Germans offered human sacrifices.
72
E. Meier, Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben (Stuttgart, 1852), p. 429, § 121.
73
O. Frh. von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen (Prague, n. d.), p. 311.
74
Karl Lynker, Deutsche Sagen und Sitten in hessischen Gauen2 (Cassel and Göttingen, 1860), pp. 253, 254, §§ 335, 336.
75
E. H. Meyer, Badisches Volksleben (Strasburg, 1900), p. 506.
76
Giuseppe Pitrè, Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane (Palermo, 1881), p. 313.
77
J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 i. 489 sq., iii. 487; A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 77 § 92; O. Freiherr von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Das festliche Jahr (Leipsic, 1863), p. 193; F. J. Vonbun, Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie (Chur, 1862), p. 133; P. Drechsler, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 143 § 161; Karl Haupt, Sagenbuch der Lausitz (Leipsic, 1862-1863), i. 248, No. 303; F. J. Wiedemann, Aus dem inneren und äusseren Leben der Ehsten (St. Petersburg, 1876), p. 415; L. Lloyd, Peasant Life in Sweden (London, 1870), pp. 261 sq.; Paul Sébillot, Le Folk-lore de France (Paris, 1904-1907), ii. 160 sq.; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs (London, 1876), pp. 322 sq., 329 sq. For more evidence, see above, vol. i. pp. 193, 194, 205 sq., 208, 210, 216; Adonis, Attis, Osiris, Second Edition, pp. 204 sqq.
78
Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Calendrier Belge (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 420 sq.; E. Monseur, Le Folklore Wallon (Brussels, n. d.), p. 130; P. Sébillot, Le Folk-lore de France, ii. 374 sq.
79
E. Hoffmann-Krayer, Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes (Zurich, 1913), p. 163. See above,
