REL 2000 Chapter : Pals 28 48
Document Summary
A1: frazer also defines religion as a belief in spiritual beings, but whereas tylor was interested in the similarities that magic has with religion, frazer was interested more in how magic contrasted religion. A2: the golden bough is the story of a special yellow branch, guarded by a king of the wood whose purpose is to defend the forest and himself against assailants who would also wish to become the new. This relates to tylor as this customary praise at a nearby shrine is yet another one of his survivals, an example of a completely unnecessary custom which we still cling to (or at least did at the time). (pg. 30-31) A3: according to frazer, magic was the first to arrive on the anthropological scene. Compared to religion, magic is still an attempt by those without scientific capabilities to explain the natural world around them.
