ABSTRACT
Among magical rites we may mention the purification ceremonies, which are common among the lower cultures and in some cases assume the character of real acts of worship. In order fully to understand them we must start from the conception of taboo already dealt with, and from those ideas of ritual impurity current among uncivilized peoples. The ideas of ritual purity or impurity, expressed in the taboo regulations of the lower peoples, take on a religious significance owing to the fact that certain objects, conditions, and acts are intimately associated with evil or “impure” spiritual beings or demons. The idea that sin consists in a sort of material impurity which can be removed through external rites, was also familiar to early Christianity. Besides direct purifications by means of water, fire, and so forth, many peoples practise a sort of transference of sins by means of purificatory sacrifices.
