ABSTRACT
In the higher religions the approach to God through sacrifice and acts of communion usually leads up to, and is accompanied by, vocal expressions of corporate and individual needs and aspirations. In primitive society, the spoken word tends to be regarded as a charm, or incantation, exercising its own functions by virtue of its inherent potency. Thus, words used in a magical rite are chosen and pronounced with the greatest care and precision lest the spell should be broken by a slip of the tongue. More explicit than the words spoken are the actions performed when man is prone to dramatize his desires and make his needs known to a transcendent source of strength by mimetic rites, which are virtually acted prayers. Prayer for moral values is alien to primitive society, and is almost entirely non-existent in the religions of the ancient civilizations prior to the rise of ethical thought in Greece and in Israel.
