Page:Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion volume 1.djvu/328

 same time conspicuously material, what we may call the immortal material part, is represented by the bones. Among many peoples, therefore, the bones of the dead are held in reverence, and are used as instruments of magic. We may in this connection be reminded of relics, and it is the fact that on the one hand missionaries are zealous in opposing this veneration for bones, while on the other hand they ascribe a greater power to their own religion. Thus a monk relates that the negroes have bandages which are prepared with human blood by a magical process, and to which is attributed the power of enabling a man to hold his ground against wild beasts. He had often observed that men provided with such bandages had been torn by animals, from which those upon whom he had hung relics had always remained protected.

As representing this power, the dead therefore demand veneration, and this consists in nothing beyond the bestowal of a certain care upon them, and in providing them with food and drink. Most ancient peoples buried food with the dead. Accordingly the idea of what is true, lasting, enduring, is of a very inferior kind. It is also supposed that the dead return to the present world, or it may be they are thought of partly as a power which will avenge neglect of care, partly as called up by magic, through the power of the magician, of the actual self-consciousness, and consequently as being subject to this latter. A few examples will illustrate this.

The Capuchin monk Cavazzi (Histor. Beschreibung d. drei Königr. Congo u. s. w., München, 1694), who remained for a considerable time in the neighbourhood of the Congo, relates a great deal about these magicians, who are named Singhilli. They are held in great repute by the people, and call them together whenever it pleases them to do so. They always do this from time to time, and state that they are impelled to it by this or that dead person. The tribe must present itself, each man