The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion

audiobook

The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion

by James George Frazer

EN·~39 hours·72 chapters

Chapters

72 total
1

Preface - Subject Index - Chapter 1. The King of the Wood - 1. Diana and Virbius - 2. Artemis and Hippolytus - 3. Recapitulation - Chapter 2. Priestly Kings - Chapter 3. Sympathetic Magic - 1. The Principles of Magic - 2. Homoeopathic or Imitative Magic - 3. Contagious Magic - 4. The Magician's Progress - Chapter 4. Magic and Religion - Chapter 5. The Magical Control of the Weather - 1. The Public Magician - 2. The Magical Control of Rain - 3. The Magical Control of the Sun - 4. The Magical Control of the Wind - Chapter 6. Magicians as Kings - Chapter 7. Incarnate Human Gods - Chapter 8. Departmental Kings of Nature - Chapter 9. The Worship of Trees - 1. Tree-spirits - 2. Beneficent Powers of Tree-Spirits - Chapter 10. Relics of Tree Worship in Modern Europe - Chapter 11. The Influence of the Sexes on Vegetation - Chapter 12. The Sacred Marriage - 1. Diana as a Goddess of Fertility - 2. The Marriage of the Gods - Chapter 13. The Kings of Rome and Alba - 1. Numa and Egeria - 2. The King as Jupiter - Chapter 14. Succession to the Kingdom in Ancient Latium - Chapter 15. The Worship of the Oak - Chapter 16. Dianus and Diana - Chapter 17. The Burden of Royalty - 1. Royal and Priestly Taboos - 2. Divorce of the Spiritual from the Temporal Power - Chapter 18. The Perils of the Soul - 1. The Soul as a Mannikin - 2. Absence and Recall of the Soul - 3. The Soul as a Shadow and a Reflection - Chapter 19. Tabooed Acts - 1. Taboos on Intercourse with Strangers - 2. Taboos on Eating and Drinking - 3. Taboos on Showing the Face - 4. Taboos on Quitting the House - 5. Taboos on Leaving Food over - Chapter 20. Tabooed Persons - 1. Chiefs and Kings tabooed - 2. Mourners tabooed - 3. Women tabooed at Menstruation and Childbirth - 4. Warriors tabooed - 5. Manslayers tabooed - 6. Hunters and Fishers tabooed - Chapter 21. Tabooed Things - 1. The Meaning of Taboo - 2. Iron tabooed - 3. Sharp Weapons tabooed - 4. Blood tabooed - 5. The Head tabooed - 6. Hair tabooed - 7. Ceremonies at Hair-cutting - 8. Disposal of Cut Hair and Nails - 9. Spittle tabooed - 10. Foods tabooed - 11. Knots and Rings tabooed - Chapter 22. Tabooed Words - 1. Personal Names tabooed - 2. Names of Relations tabooed - 3. Names of the Dead tabooed - 4. Names of Kings and other Sacred Persons tabooed - 5. Names of Gods tabooed - Chapter 23. Our Debt to the Savage - Chapter 24. The Killing of the Divine King - 1. The Mortality of the Gods - 2. Kings killed when their Strength fails - 3. Kings killed at the End of a Fixed Term - Chapter 25. Temporary Kings - Chapter 26. Sacrifice of the King's Son - Chapter 27. Succession to the Soul - Chapter 28. The Killing of the Tree-Spirit - 1. The Whitsuntide Mummers - 2. Burying the Carnival - 3. Carrying out Death - 4. Bringing in Summer - 5. Battle of Summer and Winter - 6. Death and Resurrection of Kostrubonko - 7. Death and Revival of Vegetation - 8. Analogous Rites in India - 9. The Magic Spring - Chapter 29. The Myth of Adonis - Chapter 30. Adonis in Syria - Chapter 31. Adonis in Cyprus - Chapter 32. The Ritual of Adonis - Chapter 33. The Gardens of Adonis - Chapter 34. The Myth and Ritual of Attis - Chapter 35. Attis as a God of Vegetation - Chapter 36. Human Representatives of Attis - Chapter 37. Oriental Religions in the West - Chapter 38. The Myth of Osiris - Chapter 39. The Ritual of Osiris - 1. The Popular Rites - 2. The Official Rites - Chapter 40. The Nature of Osiris - 1. Osiris a Corn-god - 2. Osiris a Tree-spirit - 3. Osiris a God of Fertility - 4. Osiris a God of the Dead - Chapter 41. Isis - Chapter 42. Osiris and the Sun - Chapter 43. Dionysus - Chapter 44. Demeter and Persephone - Chapter 45. Corn-Mother and Corn-Maiden in N. Europe - Chapter 46. Corn-Mother in Many Lands - 1. The Corn-mother in America - 2. The Rice-mother in the East Indies - 3. The Spirit of the Corn embodied in Human Beings - 4. The Double Personification of the Corn as Mother and Daughter - Chapter 47. Lityerses - 1. Songs of the Corn Reapers - 2. Killing the Corn-spirit - 3. Human Sacrifices for the Crops - 4. The Corn-spirit slain in his Human Representatives - Chapter 48. The Corn-Spirit as an Animal - 1. Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit - 2. The Corn-spirit as a Wolf or a Dog - 3. The Corn-spirit as a Cock - 4. The Corn-spirit as a Hare - 5. The Corn-spirit as a Cat - 6. The Corn-spirit as a Goat - 7. The Corn-spirit as a Bull, Cow, or Ox - 8. The Corn-spirit as a Horse or Mare - 9. The Corn-spirit as a Pig (Boar or Sow) - 10. On the Animal Embodiments of the Corn-spirit - Chapter 49. Ancient Deities of Vegetation as Animals - 1. Dionysus, the Goat and the Bull - 2. Demeter, the Pig and the Horse - 3. Attis, Adonis, and the Pig - 4. Osiris, the Pig and the Bull - 5. Virbius and the Horse - Chapter 50. Eating the God - 1. The Sacrament of First-Fruits - 2. Eating the God among the Aztecs - 3. Many Manii at Aricia - Chapter 51. Homeopathic Magic of a Flesh Diet - Chapter 52. Killing the Divine Animal - 1. Killing the Sacred Buzzard - 2. Killing the Sacred Ram - 3. Killing the Sacred Serpent - 4. Killing the Sacred Turtles - 5. Killing the Sacred Bear - Chapter 53. The Propitiation of Wild Animals By Hunters - Chapter 54. Types of Animal Sacrament - 1. The Egyptian and the Aino Types of Sacrament - 2. Processions with Sacred Animals - Chapter 55. The Transference of Evil - 1. The Transference to Inanimate Objects - 2. The Transference to Animals - 3. The Transference to Men - 4. The Transference of Evil in Europe - Chapter 56. The Public Expulsion of Evils - 1. The Omnipresence of Demons - 2. The Occasional Expulsion of Evils - 3. The Periodic Expulsion of Evils - Chapter 57. Public Scapegoats - 1. The Expulsion of Embodied Evils - 2. The Occasional Expulsion of Evils in a Material Vehicle - 3. The Periodic Expulsion of Evils in a Material Vehicle - 4. On Scapegoats in General - Chapter 58. Human Scapegoats in Classical Antiquity - 1. The Human Scapegoat in Ancient Rome - 2. The Human Scapegoat in Ancient Greece - 3. The Roman Saturnalia - Chapter 59. Killing the God in Mexico - Chapter 60. Between Heaven and Earth - 1. Not to touch the Earth - 2. Not to see the Sun - 3. The Seclusion of Girls at Puberty - 4. Reasons for the Seclusion of Girls at Puberty - Chapter 61. The Myth of Balder - Chapter 62. The Fire-Festivals of Europe - 1. The Fire-festivals in general - 2. The Lenten Fires - 3. The Easter Fires - 4. The Beltane Fires - 5. The Midsummer Fires - 6. The Hallowe'en Fires - 7. The Midwinter Fires - 8. The Need-fire - Chapter 63. The Interpretation of the Fire-Festivals - 1. On the Fire-festivals in general - 2. The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals - 3. The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals - Chapter 64. The Burning of Human Beings in the Fires - 1. The Burning of Effigies in the Fires - 2. The Burning of Men and Animals in the Fires - Chapter 65. Balder and the Mistletoe - Chapter 66. The External Soul in Folk-Tales - Chapter 67. The External Soul in Folk-Custom - 1. The External Soul in Inanimate Things - 2. The External Soul in Plants - 3. The External Soul in Animals - 4. The Ritual of Death and Resurrection - Chapter 68. The Golden Bough - Chapter 69. Farewell to Nemi

7:30
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The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion - by - Sir James George Frazer

0:05
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Preface

7:06
4

I. The King of the Wood

26:26
5

II. Priestly Kings

6:13
6

III. Sympathetic Magic

2:04:29
7

IV. Magic and Religion

39:23
8

V. The Magical Control of the Weather

1:15:47
9

VI. Magicians as Kings

25:56
10

VII. Incarnate Human Gods

50:13

Description

A prodigious survey of the world's oldest stories, this work follows the threads that bind myth, magic and early religion. It begins with the figure of the forest king and moves through the tangled relationships of gods and mortals, showing how societies imagined the power behind the throne. The tone is scholarly yet conversational, inviting listeners to consider the underlying logic of ancient rites.

The author examines the principles of sympathetic magic, the many forms of taboo, and the rituals that marked seasonal change. Chapters on tree‑spirits, sacred marriage and the sacrificial king reveal how different cultures tried to coax fertility from the earth. Detailed examples—from the worship of oak in Italy to the corn‑mother figures of the Americas—illustrate a striking web of shared belief.

Listening feels like a guided tour through countless ceremonies, each explanation building on the last. The narrative weaves anthropology, folklore and history into a cohesive picture of humanity’s first attempts to master the unseen. It offers a thought‑provoking glimpse into why magic and religion have remained intertwined across ages.

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Details

Language

en

Duration

~39 hours (2267K characters)

Release date

2003-01-01

Rights

Public domain in the USA.

About the author

James George Frazer

James George Frazer

1854–1941

Best known for The Golden Bough, this Scottish scholar helped shape early modern thinking about myth, ritual, and comparative religion. His sweeping, sometimes controversial ideas influenced generations of writers and researchers far beyond anthropology.

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