ABSTRACT
T a b o o is a Polynesian word, said to mean “ strongly marked” ; but though the word is Polynesian, the institution is universal.1 Things are taboo which are thought to be dangerous to handle or to have to do with : things “ holy ” and things “ unclean ” are alike taboo ; the dead body, the new-born child ; blood and the shedder of blood; the divine king as well as the criminal ; the sick, outcasts, and foreigners ; animals as well as men ; women especially, the married woman as well as the sacred virgin ; food, clothes, vessels, property, house, bed, canoes, the threshing-floor, the winnowing fan ; a name, a word, a day; all are or may be taboo because dangerous. This short list does not contain one-hundredth part of the things which are supposed to be dangerous ; but even if it were filled out and made tolerably complete, it would, by itself, fail to give any idea of the actual extent and import ance of the institution of taboo. If it were merely bodily contact with the person or thing tabooed which entailed danger, it would be sufficiently difficult for the savage to avoid unintentionally touching some of all the many things taboo. But the difficulty and danger are multiplied by the fact that involuntarily to catch sight of the tabooed object, or to be seen by the tabooed person, is as dangerous as to
touch, taste, or handle. Thus in Samoa, “ Tupai was the name of the high priest and prophet. He was greatly dreaded. His very look was poison. If he looked at a cocoa-nut tree it died, and if he glanced at a bread-fruit tree it also withered away.” 1 The king of Loango may not, for the same reason, see a river or tree, and he has to make many long detours in consequence when he goes visiting.2 In some places girls when taboo have an equally poisonous glance, and are made to wear very broad-brimmed hats, in order that they may not infect the sun. The custom common amongst savage royalties, of holding a state umbrella over the king, may be, I conjecture, a survival from times when the king was a divine king, and, like Tupai or a tabooed woman, might do mischief with his eyes. In Whydah, “ in former times, on the eve of the day for the public procession [of the sacred python], the priests and Danh-si went round the town, announcing the approach of the festival, and warn ing all the inhabitants, white and black, to close their doors and windows, and to abstain from looking into the streets.” 3 In ancient Greece the same belief manifests itself in the tale that Eurypylus was stricken with madness, when he ventured to open the Xapva£ or tabernacle, and look upon the image of Dionysus iEsymnetes.4 In the mysteries, the secret objects of worship were so taboo that it was only after a long course of preparatory purification and communion that it became safe for the worshipper to see them: “ the eiroirreia was the last and highest grade of initiation.” 5 In modern folk-lore it is held to be fatal to see “ the good people ”— “ they are fairies: he who looks on them shall die.”
