ABSTRACT
The lack of curiosity in the primitive mentality does not arise from intellectual torpor or from mental weakness. To understand the primitives' mentality, we must first of all rid our minds of our own idea of death and the dead, and try to replace it by that which dominates their collective representations. To the primitive mind his preconnections establish without any possibility of doubt, the direct transition from such-and-such a sense-impression to such-and-such an invisible force. When he perceives what is presented to his senses, the primitive represents to himself the mystic force which is manifesting itself thus. The invisible forces which persistently preoccupy the primitive's mind may be briefly arranged in three categories: the spirits of the dead; the spirits which animate natural objects, and inanimate objects; charms or spells due to the agency of sorcerers.
