ABSTRACT
Primitive man seems not to have discriminated sharply between himself and nature. Not only did he think of animals as akin to himself, but he also similarly conceived of inanimate nature. He thought of things about, above, and beyond him as possessed of spirits not unlike his own. Inasmuch as mystery clung to many of these manifestations of life or of energy because they were beyond his knowledge and comprehension, the question of his attitude toward these so-conceived phenomena was to him all-important because to him they were real spiritual existences. Were they propitious or were they evilly inclined? The measure of his success in life was the measure of their favour. If they seemed hostile, he sought to placate them; if propitious, he might easily find ways of rewarding them. Sacrifices were consequently made early, though not by fire. Gifts were exposed in woody dells, or left under great trees; they were cast into wells, rivers, lakes, or seas; they were buried, or, as in the case of drink-offerings, poured out upon the ground. If the gifts exposed were carried off by wild beasts, or, if in other ways they disappeared, they were thought of as accepted; if the gifts cast into the waters were borne away, they were supposed to be accepted. If the offerings were not carried off or borne away, the giver said they had been rejected. There was then naught for him to do but to offer more precious gifts. The drink-offering, if it soaked into the thirsty ground, was well-pleasing to the spirit to whom it had been poured out.
