THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 6
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sults of which are often the reverse of good in their effects upon the social organization.
The initiations being of moment to the tribe, they are celebrated as occasions of festivity which appeal to every initiated member. The materials for the
festivities are provided in part by the
4. Social fathers of the candidates, in part by
Character. the tribe at large. As culture advances, the number of the initiated comes to be less than all the males of the tribe. In the case where centralization of power in the hands of the chief has not developed, where the government is rather by elders, the ideal fostered by the mysteries is strongly that of fidelity to the tribe as represented by the elders, who conduct the ceremonies in the presence of the initiates. Where centralization has occurred, a less democratic organization may arise, various secret societies may form, more or less limited in membership and with different demands for qualification on the part of aspirants to membership. In these cases the ceremonies may grow in complexity and impressiveness, and the religious element is often more stressed, so that these become largely the guardian of religion. In such a situation puberty ceremonies become more curtailed and do not carry with them membership in the societies. These more aristocratic organizations involve not universal obligation, as do the most primitive type, but special privilege, the obtaining of which requires not only the suffrage of members, but also no slight expenditure, which in turn secures such a degree of consideration in the tribe as seems quite commensurate with the difficulty and expense attendant. The performance of the rites still required at puberty devolves upon the higher grades in the societies, each of which grades has its own ceremony of initiation possibly performed at considerable intervals. Entrance into these, therefore, becomes a desideratum to the ambitious. Where this stage of civilization is reached, the separation of the boy from his parents may take place at as early an age as five years, and the course of instruction and service to the tribe may last till he is forty or till his father dies and he enters upon his inheritance. In the tribal societies the simplicity and naiveté of primitive faith dies, and self-seeking enters in with an almost inevitable duplicity and deceit, advancing to extortion and governing by oppression and even murder, as in the interior of Africa. In cases not a few the tribal society becomes a means of perpetuating the power of the elders and of securing for them an easy support in their old age. Necessarily, the conditions described in the preceding paragraphs tend to die out with progress in culture, the mysteries may come to be no secret, and the proscribed classes may obtain admission at any rate as witnesses. Among the North American Indians, who are in this stage, the institution of initiation has as its central feature the lonely puberty watch of the candidate, who under the stress of fasting and mental effort dreams of an animal or spirit which thus becomes his guardian genius. Still, the fraternities which are associated with this stage evidently often perpetuate the principal religious beliefs and ceremonies of earlier conditions.
With the belief in the virtue of magic invariable among primitive peoples, it is not strange that magical fraternities should form about
5. Magical the rites of initiation, and that the Fraternities. ceremonies should not seldom come to have,association with the purpose
of securing success in hunting and agriculture. One of the fundamental ideas of initiation is correctness of one’s, status with respect to marriage (and therefore the obtaining of progeny). In primitive logic the step from this end to consideration of the means of living is a short one. Mimetic magic is resorted to for success in various undertakings, as in the buffalo dance of the Indians (G. Catlin, Report of Smithsonian Institution for 1885, ii. 309-311, Washington, 1886). And as deceased ancestors are supposed to have power for good or ill in the directions of increase of progeny and of the fruits of the chase and of toil, it is not strange that societies form around the cult of ancestors. In many societies the dead are regarded as members still active though unseen. Such organizations, in this way bound to the past yet actively interested in present welfare, become repositories of tradition, creators of secret ritual, and protectors of such rude poetic art as exists under such conditions. On the other hand, they may and do degenerate and become the centers of orgies and practises too horrible to describe, especially in Africa, where the worst results of this species of domination are found. In short, the phenomena attending the initiation into the mysteries among primitives illustrate both the noblest and the meanest qualities of humanity. They have contributed both to the uplift and to the degeneration of peoples, and exhibit the lofty and worthy aspirations of man as well as his most lamentable failings. In the most primitive conditions and when tribes are migratory, no exact location other than some place apart from the tribal camp is
6. The fixed for the ceremonies. In these *Men’s circumstances it is usual for the bache- House.” lors and boys to camp apart from the
place where the families are settled for the time being. The rites are in a still more retired location, guarded from intrusion by the noise of the bull-roarer or other instrument, the sound of which indicates that the ceremonies are in progress. Where settled habitations are the rule, the separation of the sexes already referred to has brought about in many communities the establishment of the “men’s house.” This is usually the most conspicuous structure in the place, and admission to it is denied to the non-initiates, or at least to those not eligible to initiation. There the unmarried males may live, or at the most sleep, their separation from the women necessitating nonparticipation in family life. This house becomes the center and locus of the mysteries, and as development proceeds, societies and fraternities make it their home. With the multiplication of fraternities, there may be several of these houses in a community. This house serves the purpose also of council house, may answer the uses of the modern club, or may even become the center of defense in case of attack. Celebrations take place in or before it, and