ABSTRACT

Dr. Levy-Bruhl presents a dramatic picture of the primitives who live in a world that is capricious, unpredictable, and unstable; under the power of spirits both good and evil, to be worshipped or propitiated by ceremonies, dances, and religious rites. Dr. Levy-Bruhl shows how the mind of the primitive has no conception of the world of abstract though, natural law, causation, and categories, which has been opened up to the mind by science and philosophy. In addition, the author explains omens, talismans, amulets, ancestor worship, witchcraft, insect, defilement, and purification as fundamental parts of the primitive existence.

chapter I|28 pages

Good and Bad Luck

chapter II|27 pages

“Dispositions”

chapter III|21 pages

“Dispositions” (contd.)

chapter IV|21 pages

Ceremonies and Dances

chapter V|19 pages

The Worship of Ancestors and of the Dead

chapter VI|44 pages

Witchcraft I

chapter VII|30 pages

“Transgressions” and Incest

chapter VIII|38 pages

Defilement and Purification

chapter IX|27 pages

Blood and Its Magic Virtues

chapter X|50 pages

Blood and Its Sinister Qualities

chapter XI|36 pages

Some Methods of Purification

chapter XII|18 pages

Some Methods of Purification (contd.)