ABSTRACT
In religious ritual man enters into relation with supernatural powers, whether his object is to constrain and coerce them, as in magical rites, or to gain their goodwill by fair means. The success of these actions depends always to a great extent on the purely personal qualifications of the man or woman who performs them. Primitive man’s dealing with the spirits is in essence a struggle against the Supernatural. The spirits are endowed with supernatural power, while the sorcerer directs his own powers, natural or acquired, to the attempt to subdue them. In savage societies it is quite common for a psychological susceptibility to spiritual influence to be enhanced, for instance, by intoxicating and narcotic drinks. These call forth in the person consuming them all sorts of dreams, visions, hallucinations, or real ecstasy. Asceticism in the proper sense of the word is thus a phenomenon characteristic of the higher religions.
