ANTHROPOLOGY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 November 1938, Page 6

ANTHROPOLOGY

WEST EUROPEAN TRIBES OF EARLY AGE RELIGIOUS CHARACTERISTICS. SOME LINKS WITH THE PAST. (Diligent experiment with the spacetime theory has dislosed the following article from “The Economist of Jan. 15, 1938, under the title “The Anthropology of tne West European Tribes in the Early Autarkic Age.”) It is one- of the first principles of anthropological science that the soul of a primitive people can be seen most clearly in its religion. This is certainly true of a tribe which inhabited at this period a large island off the westwern coast of Europe. There has been some dispute about the identity of the chief religion of the country. Many eminent authorities have argued, with an impressive array of evidence, that the sporting events, which occurred with the utmost regularity and attracted the devout respect of the people, were its religious observances. There is much to be said for this supposition, since these athletic ceremonies had many religious characteristics...

Without definitely discarding this theory, we think it more probable that the real religion of this somewhat peculiar people centred in a special district known as the City, which, from the number of its churches, was clearly entirely devoted to piety and religion. Many of the features of this cult closely resemble those of other primitive religions. There was a complicated hierarchy of priests, of whom the most numerous appear to have been called- brokers and jobbers. As is usual with savage peoples, access to the innermost temple of the cult was denied to all save the priests, and the most dreadful fate awaited any adventurous layman who defied this taboo. The High Priestess was a being referred to as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. (The “Old Lady” motif frequently occurs in the legends cf the tribe; it reems probable that the Old Lady’s real name was Queen Victoria. “Threadr.eedle” was presumably symbolic of skill in the textile arts, on which the people particularly prided themselves). This religion of the City had its darker side. For example, it apparently required living sacrifices, and there is even a suspicion of human jives being offered to the gods. There are references to widows and,orphans being “put into oils,” and there is one mention of a priest being “hammered,” which seems to have been a sort of purification ceremony. Whether human blood was spilled or not, that of animals certainly was. Bull fights, bear baiting and stag hunts were the chief amusements of the priestly caste. Apparently little mercy was shown, and the grisly collection of instruments of torture found in a near-by building known as the Tower were doubtless used upon the wretched animals. The rack was the favourite instrument for use on the bulls, who are often referred to as being “extended.” But their fate was hardly worse than that of the other beasts, for the “squeezing” of the bears is the subject of many reports. The bears appear to have been hunted before their torture began, for they are often spoker. of as “rushing to cover.” ' The whole populace seems to have been organised in so-called “companies.” Some of these were known as “limited companies” and these were doubtless the most exclusive, to which it was an honour to belong. Each company had a central nucleus of priests, the chief being known as the Chairman and the others as Directors. We also come across the title of “Managing Director,” applied probably to certain individuals who showed particular’ skill in managing to become directors. To each group (or “Board”) of priests were attached a number of lay individuals known as “shareholders” or “investors.” The functions, and, indeed, the identities, of ‘hes-e shadowy persons are obscure. One possibility is that they were ordinary citizens placed at the disposal of the directors for money-raising purposes. It seems to have been the convention to treat them with the utmost verbal deference, but rarely, if ever, to consult their wishes . ..

Each company had an annual ceremonial known as a meeting. The chief event at a meeting was the exposure of the balance sneet, a sacred text placed under the care of a special caste of medicine men known as accountants. who appear to have spoken a language of. their own. The balance sheet was a recital of the prowess of ihe company and it may be assumed lhat, as with other boastful epics, its ■terns, though doubtless based on some reality, were translated by the recitative skill of the accountants into a form in which they conveyed little to the assembled- multitude. ...

It may be supposed that many of Ihe priests of the cult saw through its pretenses, bet fully realised their value in maintaining the high status of •he priesthood. They were no ascetic caste of hermits. On the contrary there are many mentions of banquets held by City companies. But it is doubtful whether rhe investor partook of these feasts. On the contrary we have the record of a speech in which the Chairman of one of the largest companies refused, his shareholders even the consolation of a ham sandwich. Other shareholders were apparently more fortunate, for there were occasions on which the directors of a company were known to slice a melon for the shareholders, and some of them even appear, though rarely, to have been granted a “dividend,” a word from the Latin dialect meaning “meat to be divided.”

At this point the article, perhaps fittingly, comes to an abrupt conclusion.