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Magic in Names and in Other Things

1921; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 106; Issue: 2674 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/106691a0

1476-4687

Edward Clodd,

Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies

DEALING with the question of magic in names, Mr. Clodd expounds with interesting detail a chapter in folk-lore familiar to serious students, but well deserving treatment in a more popular form. His book is, in the main, a study of magic, or, to use the new word, “mana,”“the sense of a vague, impersonal, ever-acting, universally diffused power” immanent in all things. His special subject, the name, is well defined in a quotation from Mr. Cornford which appears on his title-page: “Language, that stupendous product of the collective mind, is a duplicate, a shadow-soul, of the whole structure of reality; it is the most effective and comprehensive tool of human power, for nothing, whether human or superhuman, is beyond its reach.” Hence the preliminary discussion of the mana in a man's hair or spittle, through which the magician can work evil against the owner, merges into a detailed consideration of the name. Evil can be worked against you by anyone who knows your name, and hence it is wise to have two names, one concealed, one for daily use. This leads to the more serious name of power, curses and charms, passwords and spells, the “mantram” of the Hindu, by means of which even the gods themselves can be coerced. The Mohammedan knows the Ninety-and-Nine Names of Allah, and by repeating them over and over again for days he gains magical power. This exposition, always clear and impressive, even if at times the religious views of the author are disclosed with undue emphasis, is supported by an accumulation of interesting facts drawn from a wide range of study of the thought of primitive peoples and of popular belief throughout the world. Folk-lore, as an expression of primitive psychology, has too long remained the possession of the expert, and any attempt to popularise it is welcome. This is Mr. Clodd's achievement, and his exposition of this chapter of popular belief proves the value of the study as a key to.unlock the mind of man, which no historian or sociologist in the future can safely neglect.