Sex and culture / by J.D. Unwin.

  • J. D. Unwin
Date:
1934
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Sex and culture / by J.D. Unwin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    would not work at all. The truth seems to be that the savage conducts the rites which seem to us so futile and so complicated because he regards them as being both necessary and efficacious. To him they are necessary because the powers that surround him must be attended to, and efficacious because if the proper rites are performed by the proper person, in the proper place, at the proper time, there will be nothing to fear. We must not go beyond the evidence and maintain that such savages are ignorant of all natural law. They may not conceive of nature as an assembly of orderly activities which follow one another in a determined order; but they have a very clear idea of what is usual and unusual in their limited world. The Melanesians of whom Professor Malinowski has written possess a sea-lore as rational and as consistent as our own; but they believe that incantations must be sung when a canoe is being made. Their methods of agriculture are based on logic and experience, and they always plant at the right season; but in their opinion the powers in the universe must be attended to while the planting is being carried out. They believe that magic is indispensable to success, and among such people the domain of the sacred (or the dangerous) so permeates the pro- fane (or the ordinary) that nothing can be undertaken without attention being paid to the powers which are manifest therein. The stimulation and control of the sun, sky, and earth, however, are only part of the business of life; or to put the matter in another and more accurate way, it is not only in the sun, sky, and earth that the powers are manifest. The great events of every person's life, birth, adolescence, and death, are also times of peculiar danger and immense significance. Therefore on these occasions also certain social ceremonies must be per- formed which are equally necessary and equally efficacious. Inevitably every man and woman must pass through these crises, and, as an insulation against danger, and as an injection of power for the negotiation of future difficulties, certain ceremonies must be performed in the proper manner, by the proper person, in the proper place, and at the proper time.3 Lastly, it is usual for an uncivilized man to assume that an illness which does not yield to the simple treatments which are based on his stock of herbal or medicinal correctives can be explained only by the assumption that some malignant power is working against him, or that some hitherto friendly power has been angered by his neglect. He must have recourse, therefore, to the man who can withdraw, control, or influence that power, or who can advise concerning its identity. I have stated these beliefs in general terms in order that the words might apply, so far as possible, to all uncivilized societies. We can sum the matter up by saying that to the members of every uncivilized society a certain power (or powers) manifests itself (or manifest themselves) in the universe, and that steps are taken to maintain a right relation with it (or them). Now the evidence is that different societies conceive of these powers in different ways and adopt different methods in their efforts to preserve a
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