In this groundbreaking work, first published in the late nineteenth century, Dorman explores the origins and evolution of human belief systems. Drawing on an impressive range of sources, he argues that superstition and magic were fundamental to primitive societies and continue to exert a powerful influence on modern culture. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

The study of archaeological subjects is increasing in interest. Recent disclosures concerning the early condition and history of the human race have directed much attention to these subjects. Man's oral history crystallized in myths and superstitions reflects much light into a past which written history has not penetrated. Mythology is, therefore, a very important branch of anthropological science. Mythology in its broadest definition includes all pagan religious beliefs, commonly called superstitions, and cannot be confined to collections of fables and traditions, which are the folk-lore of peoples. It is the aim of this book to contribute facts to show the homogeneity of man's religious beliefs. Although the New World is the field of research in the present volume, the rudimentary forms of belief are shown to be the same there as elsewhere, and their systematic development is also the same.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1881.

Excerpt from The Origin of Primitive Superstitions and Their Development Into the Worship of Spirits and the Doctrine of Spiritual, Agency Among the Aborigines of America The study of archæological subjects is increasing in interest. Recent disclosures concerning the early condition and history of the human race have directed much attention to these subjects. Man's oral history crystallized in myths and superstitions reflects much light into a past which written history has not penetrated. Mythology is, therefore, a very important branch of anthropological science. Mythology in its broadest definition includes all pagan religious beliefs, commonly called superstitions, and cannot be confined to collections of fables and traditions, which are the folk-lore of peoples. It is the aim of this book to contribute facts to show the homogeneity of man's religious beliefs. Although the New World is the field of research in the present volume, the rudimentary forms of belief are shown to be the same there as elsewhere, and their systematic development is also the same. A striking illustration of this fact occurs to the writer, who, while among the negroes of the South, found among that uncultured people the same superstitions that prevailed in Africa, which were also the same as those found among equally uncultured peoples everywhere. The only way to account for their presence among the Southern negroes is to ascribe them to the natural outgrowth of the human mind, everywhere the same in the same stage of progress. Mythologists have studied myths without studying the superstitions which have found expression in the myths. They have exhausted resources in attempts to prove that the higher phases of belief and worship have been the most ancient and have become debased in the ruder forms. Voss endeavors to find in pagan myths a distortion of Hebrew revelations. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.