REST DAYS
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REST DAYS
A Study in Early Law and Morality
BY
HUTTON WEBSTER, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
AUTHOR OF “PRIMITIVE SECRET SOCIETIES”
“The study of their own species is doubtless the most interesting and important that can claim the attention of mankind; and this science, like all others, it is impossible to improve by abstract speculation, merely. A regular series of authenticated facts is what alone can enable us to rise towards a perfect knowledge in it.”—WILLIAM MARSDEN, The History of Sumatra, London, 1811, Preface.
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1916
All rights reserved
COPYRIGHT, 1916,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and printed. Published May, 1916.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co.—Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
To MY WIFE
PREFACE
What perhaps might be described as the first edition of this work appeared in 1911 in the University Studies of the University of Nebraska. The title of the original monograph has been retained for the present volume, in which the same line of argument is followed and the same conclusions are reached. After a lapse of nearly five years I have not felt the necessity of modifying, to any essential degree, the results of the earlier investigation. The book, then, differs from its predecessor chiefly in providing a more extensive collection of the relevant data.
Although much has been written on the Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Sunday, and on the assumed Babylonian prototype of these institutions, little inquiry has hitherto been made into the rest days so commonly observed outside the Semitic area in antiquity and later ages. The principal reason for this neglect of the comparative aspects of the subject must doubtless be found in the still imperfect appreciation of the fact that the great institutions of modern civilization have their roots in the beliefs and customs, and often in the superstitions, of savage and barbarian society. It will be the task of social anthropology, by an impressive accumulation of evidence, to make this truth a commonplace of popular knowledge.
Among the friends and correspondents who have aided me by criticisms and suggestions I wish particularly to mention Dr. Crawford H. Toy, now Professor Emeritus in Harvard University, and Dr. Louis H. Gray, now Assistant Editor of Hastings’s Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics. Mr. G. D. Swezey, Professor of Astronomy in the University of Nebraska, was good enough to help me in some troublesome details relating to the calendar. The late Walter Kendall Jewett, formerly University Librarian, and the kindest and most genial of men, put at my disposal many books which otherwise would have been difficult of access. To my honoured colleague, Professor George Elliott Howard, I owe the inspiration, reaching back to undergraduate days, which comes from association with one whose devotion to scholarly ideals is matched only by his enthusiasm for social service. Finally, I must acknowledge my obligation to Chancellor Samuel Avery, whose interest in the book has made possible its publication at this time.
HUTTON WEBSTER.
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, February, 1916.
ERRATA
Page 80, note 2, read: p. 156; Macrobius, Satur-
Page 92, note, read: αὖον ἀπὸ χλωροῦ τάμνειν αἴθωνι σιδήρῳ
Transcriber’s Note: The errata have been corrected.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Observance of days of abstinence and quiescence not unknown in the lower culture, p. 1.—Probable origin of the sabbatarian regulations in primitive taboos, pp. 1, 2.—Tabu in Polynesia and equivalent customs in other parts of the world, pp. 2, 3.—Classification of taboos, p. 4.—Characteristics of taboos, pp. 4, 5.—Their animistic sanctions, pp. 5, 6.—Reasons for imposing taboos which necessitate abstinence and quiescence, pp. 6, 7.—Connection of communal taboos with those observed by individuals, p. 7.
CHAPTER I
TABOOED DAYS AT CRITICAL EPOCHS
The institution of taboo in the Hawaiian Islands, pp. 8, 9.—Observance there of tabooed days, pp. 9, 10.—Likeness between the Hawaiian Sabbaths and the sabbatarian regulations introduced by missionaries, p. 10.—Communal taboos imposed when a chief temple was consecrated, pp. 11-13; at the time of the celebration of the New Year’s festival, p. 13; and in connection with the taking of certain fish, p. 14.—The four regular tabu periods in the Hawaiian month, pp. 14, 15.—Tabooed days observed in the Society Islands, the Marquesas Islands, and New Zealand, pp. 15-17.—In the Tonga Islands a period of taboo imposed at the time of the first-fruits’ sacrifice, pp. 18, 19.—Days kept sacred to certain gods in Samoa and other parts of Polynesia, pp. 19-21.—Tabooed days of the Fijians, pp. 21-24.—Other instances of communal rest days in Polynesia, pp. 24, 25.—General significance of the Polynesian evidence, p. 25.—Tabooed days not unknown in New Guinea, p. 26.—Tabooed days in Borneo, pp. 26, 27.—Those observed by the Kayan of Sarawak and Dutch Borneo, pp. 27-33; by the Iban or Sea Dyak, pp. 33-35; and by the Land Dyak, pp. 36, 37.—General significance of the Bornean evidence, pp. 37-39.—Observance of seasons of communal repose confined to the Indonesian population of Borneo, pp. 39, 40.—Tabooed days in the Nicobar Islands, pp. 40, 41; in Bali and Nias, pp. 41-43; in the Mentawi Islands, pp. 43, 44; in Formosa, p. 44; and in the Philippine Archipelago, pp. 44-49.—The genna among the Naga tribes of Manipur, pp. 49-53.—Genna customs among other peoples of Assam, pp. 53-55.—Customs allied to the genna in Burma, pp. 55-58.—Indo-China probably the centre of diffusion of the genna, p. 58.—Resemblance of communal rest days to the practice of the couvade, pp. 58, 59.—Psychological and sociological aspects of these communal regulations, pp. 59, 60.—Days of abstinence and quiescence mark crises in the community life, pp. 60, 61.
CHAPTER II
TABOOED DAYS AFTER A DEATH AND ON RELATED OCCASIONS
Prohibition of work and other forms of activity a common regulation following a death, p. 62.—The animistic explanation of this taboo, pp. 62, 63.—Belief in the pollution of death, p. 63.—Many instances of communal taboos imposing abstinence and quiescence to be found among semi-civilized peoples in various parts of the world: in the East Indian Archipelago, pp. 63, 64; among the tribes of Borneo, p. 65; in Assam, pp. 65, 66; in India and Tibet, pp. 66, 67; throughout Africa, pp. 67-70; in Madagascar, p. 70; in North America, especially among the Eskimo, pp. 70-73; and among some Siberian tribes, pp. 73, 74.—Survivals of such taboos in the funeral observances of civilized peoples, p. 74.—Similar regulations imposed in connection with feasts of the dead and ceremonies of demon-expulsion, pp. 74, 75.—The evidence from Africa, pp. 75-78.—Unlucky days observed by the Athenians in connection with the festivals of the Genesia and the Anthesteria, pp. 79, 80.—Unlucky days observed by the Romans in connection with the festivals of the Parentalia and the Lemuria, pp. 80, 81.—The Hebrew Day of Atonement, pp. 81-83.—The Feast of Sacrifices in Islam, p. 83.—World-wide diffusion of the custom of observing tabooed days after a death and on related occasions, p. 84.
CHAPTER III
HOLY DAYS
Characteristics of religious festivals, p. 85.—Festival times often marked by cessation of labour, pp. 85, 86.—Origin of the conception of a “holy” day, pp. 86, 87.—Consecration of holy days to particular divinities, pp. 87, 88.—Connection between tabooed days and holy days, p. 88.—The taboo element in the festivals observed by Dravidian peoples of India, pp. 88-90.—The Hebrew Day of First-fruits, pp. 90, 91.—Greek holy days, p. 91.—The Athenian Plynteria, pp. 92, 93.—The Roman Vestalia, pp. 93, 94.—Ferial days of the Romans as tabooed days, pp. 94-100.
CHAPTER IV
MARKET DAYS
The observance of periodic rest days confined to agricultural peoples, pp. 101, 102.—Connection of these days with the institution of the market, pp. 102, 103.—The evidence for market weeks and market days in various parts of the world: in New Guinea and Melanesia, pp. 103, 104; in Celebes, Sumatra, Java, and the Malay Peninsula, pp. 104, 105; in Tonkin, Siam, and Assam, pp. 105, 106; throughout the central parts of Africa, pp. 106-108; among the Congo negroes, pp. 109, 110; and among the Guinea negroes, pp. 110-117.—Origin of the market week in Africa, pp. 117, 118.—Sabbatarian features of the west African market day, p. 118.—Market weeks and market days in ancient Mexico and Peru, pp. 118-120.—The Roman nundinal day, pp. 120-123.
CHAPTER V
LUNAR SUPERSTITIONS AND FESTIVALS
Great importance assigned to the moon by primitive peoples, pp. 124, 125.—The lunar rays often believed to be deleterious to both children and adults, pp. 125-127.—The moon supposed to cause menstruation and impregnation, pp. 127-130.—Influence of the moon on the tides, p. 130.—Belief that the moon affects the growth of vegetation, pp. 130, 131.—Doctrine of lunar sympathy, p. 131.—The waxing moon commonly regarded as favourable, the waning moon as unfavourable, for business of various sorts, pp. 131-134.—Lunar eclipses sometimes marked by a general suspension of activity, pp. 134, 135.—The interlunium often observed by a cessation of labour, pp. 136-140.—Ceremonies performed at new moon, pp. 140-142.—Seasons of abstinence and restriction at new moon and full moon, p. 143.—Tabooed days in connection with the lunar changes found among the Bantu peoples of Africa, pp. 144-148.—Lunar taboos in modern India, pp. 148, 149.—The upavasatha of the Aryans of ancient India, pp. 149-151.—Sabbatarian observance of lunar days in post-Vedic times, pp. 151-154.—The posaha of Jainism, pp. 154, 155.—The Buddhist Sabbath, or uposatha, pp. 155-158.—Introduction of the uposatha into Ceylon, Burma, Siam, and Cambodia, pp. 158-162.—The Buddhist Sabbath in Tibet, Mongolia, China, and Japan, pp. 162-164.—Lunar days observed in Indonesia, pp. 164, 165.—Lunar festivals of the ancient Iranians, pp. 165, 166.—Lunar festivals in ancient Egypt, pp. 166-169.—The Greek Noumenia and Dichomenia, pp. 169, 170.—The Roman Kalends, Nones, and Ides, p. 170.—The dies postriduani, pp. 170, 171.—Lunar festivals in heathen Europe, p. 172.
CHAPTER VI
LUNAR CALENDARS AND THE WEEK
Beginnings of the calendar, p. 173.—The moon as the measure of time, pp. 173-175.—Popular calendars based on the moon, pp. 175, 176.—The lunar year, pp. 176, 177.—Adjustment of the lunar year to the solar year, pp. 177, 178.—Calendarizing of the lunation, p. 178.—Commencement of the lunar month, pp. 178, 179.—Phases of the moon often named and used for time-reckonings, pp. 180-182.—Bipartite division of the lunation, pp. 182-186.—Shorter divisions of the lunation, pp. 187, 188.—The decade, pp. 188-192.—The ennead, pp. 192, 193.—The octad, pp. 193, 194.—Six-day weeks, p. 194.—The pentad, pp. 194-196.—The hebdomad, pp. 196, 197.—Diffusion of the hebdomadal cycle: in Africa, pp. 197-199; in India, pp. 199-201; in southeastern Asia, p. 201; in China and Japan, pp. 202-204; and in the Malay Peninsula and the Malay Archipelago, pp. 204, 205.—The Arabic week and the Mohammedan Sabbath, pp. 205, 206.—Mystic numbers in general, pp. 206-208.—Seven as a mystic number among semi-civilized peoples, pp. 208-211.—Symbolism of seven in ancient India, Greece, and Babylonia, pp. 211-212.—The seven planets and planetary deities of the Babylonians, pp. 213-215.—The planetary week, pp. 215, 216.—Theories of its origin, pp. 216-218.—Spread of the planetary week in the Roman Empire, pp. 218, 219.—Adoption of the planetary designations of the weekdays by the Christians, pp. 220, 221.—Spread of the planetary week among Romance, Germanic, and Slavic peoples during the early Middle Ages, pp. 221, 222.
CHAPTER VII
THE BABYLONIAN “EVIL DAYS” AND THE SHABATTUM
The “evil days” of the months of Elul II and Markheshwan, pp. 223, 224.—Possible explanations of the origin of these days, pp. 224, 225.—The Babylonian lunar month, p. 226.—Determination of the beginning of the month, pp. 226, 227.—Adjustment of septenary divisions to the lunation, pp. 227, 228.—Association of septenary divisions with successive phases of the moon, pp. 228, 229.—The seven-day cycles in Babylonia not true “weeks,” pp. 229, 230.—Special significance attached to the seventh day, pp. 230, 231.—Taboo in Babylonia, pp. 231, 232.—Prohibitions observed on the seventh day, p. 232.—Their connection with primitive taboos, pp. 232-234.—How far the seventh day was marked by a general abstention from labour, pp. 234, 235.—The term shabattum, pp. 235, 236.—Various explanations of its meaning, pp. 236-238.—Shabattum applied to the fifteenth day of the month, pp. 238, 239.—Festival observance of new moon and full moon by the Babylonians, pp. 239, 240.—Probable connection of the shabattum with the “evil days,” pp. 240, 241.
CHAPTER VIII
THE HEBREW SABBATH
The Sabbath an ancient institution, pp. 242, 243.—The theory of its origin in the worship of Saturn untenable, pp. 243, 244.—Connection of the Sabbath Day with Saturday, pp. 244, 245.—The Sabbath, with the seven-day week, not borrowed from Egypt or Babylonia, pp. 245, 246.—Importance of the moon to the early Hebrews, pp. 246-248.—The festival of the new moon, pp. 248, 249.—Observance of the new-moon day by abstinence from work, pp. 249, 250.—Religious significance attached to the day of full moon, pp. 250, 251.—The Sabbath originally the full-moon day, p. 251.—Early association of new moon and the Sabbath, pp. 251-253.—The term shabbath later applied to every seventh day of the month, p. 253.—Differences between the Hebrew seven-day week and the septenary cycle of the Babylonians, pp. 253, 254.—The Hebrew week probably at first no periodic but connected with the lunation, pp. 254, 255.—Obsolescence of the new-moon day as a day of rest, p. 255, 256.—Character of the Sabbath in pre-Exilic times, p. 256.—Various sabbatarian regulations to be explained as taboos, pp. 256-262.—Revival in post-Exilic times of the austere significance attached to the Sabbath, pp. 262, 263.—Strict observance of the Sabbath rest according to the rules of pharisaic Judaism, pp. 263, 264.—The Sabbath as a day of gladness and good cheer, pp. 264-266.—Introduction of the Sabbath into the Roman world, pp. 266, 267.—The Lord’s Day as observed by the early Christians, pp. 267, 268.—Their adoption of the pagan designation Sunday, p. 268.—Ecclesiastical recognition of Saturday as a holy day, p. 269.—The Lord’s Day not at first marked by abstinence from labour, pp. 269, 270.—Beginning of Sunday legislation, pp. 270, 271.
CHAPTER IX
UNLUCKY DAYS
The belief in unlucky days frequently a result of erroneous association of ideas, pp. 272-274.—The observation of natural phenomena sometimes accounts for the unlucky character attached to certain times, pp. 274, 275.—The conception of unluckiness sometimes deduced from the assumed critical nature of certain periods, such as epagomenal months and days, p. 276.—The Twelve Days in ancient India, pp. 276, 277.—European folklore of the Twelve Days, pp. 277-279.—Unlucky character of the five supplementary days in the Mexican and Maya calendars, pp. 279-281.—The five supplementary days among the ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Armenians, pp. 281-283.—Epagomenal days in the French Republican calendar, p. 283.—Some unlucky days observed in southeastern Europe probably derived from the holy days of classical antiquity, pp. 283-285.—Likeness between tabooed days and the unlucky days observed in southeastern Asia, pp. 285-288.—The Toda rest days, pp. 288-292.—Rest days of the Siah Posh Kafirs, pp. 293, 294.—Unlucky days among the Malagasy, pp. 294, 295.—Egyptian calendars of lucky and unlucky days, pp. 295-297.—A Babylonian calendar, pp. 297, 298.—The Hesiodic calendar, pp. 298, 299.—Unlucky days observed during the Middle Ages, pp. 299-301.—Decline of the superstition after the Reformation, p. 301.
CONCLUSION
The observance of tabooed and unlucky days exerts a hampering influence on social and economic progress, pp. 302, 303.—Non-working days in Hawaii, in Ashanti, and among the Hopi Indians of Arizona, p. 303.—The numerous religious festivals held in modern China and Korea and in ancient Egypt and Greece, pp. 303, 304.—Excessive development of Roman festivals, pp. 304-306.—Holy days in the religious calendar of Christendom, pp. 306, 307.—Passage of the holy day into the holiday, pp. 307, 308.
REST DAYS
INTRODUCTION
The custom of refraining from labour on certain occasions is by no means unknown to peoples in the lower stages of culture. Associated practices include the discontinuance of public gatherings, the closing of the house or of the village against all strangers, the extinguishing of lights, and fasting, either partial or complete. Bright and gay dresses may be laid aside, bathing and anointing given up, and songs, dances, and loud noises forbidden. Under these conditions the cessation of labour merges into a cessation of all the usual activities. The day of rest becomes a day of abstinence and quiescence.
It might be thought that such observances, especially those which impose a period of rest, have a rationalistic basis and arise from man’s need of relaxation and idleness as a relief from daily toil and the harsh conditions of existence. Yet for the vast proportion of the rest days observed by primitive peoples it would be rash to assume an origin in considerations of practical utility. A survey of the evidence to be submitted indicates that the sabbatarian regulations have arisen chiefly, if not wholly, as pure superstitions, the product of an all-too-logical intellect or of a disordered fancy. In the last analysis they are based primarily on fear, that “fear of things invisible,” which Hobbes, foreshadowing modern anthropological theories, regarded as “the natural seed of religion.”[1] They find their clearest expression in the “taboos,” or prohibitions, first noticed among the natives of the South Seas, but now known to exist in many other regions of the aboriginal world.[2]
“Taboo,” from the Polynesian tabu, is one of the few words which the languages of the Pacific have contributed to our English speech. Tabu appears to be, properly, the Tonga term, tapu, the word as found in Samoa, the Marquesas Islands, the Society Islands, and New Zealand, and kapu, the Hawaiian expression.[3] The etymology of tapu is uncertain, though an attempt has been made to derive it from ta, to mark, and pu, an adverb of intensity. The compound tapu would then mean “marked thoroughly,” and would come to signify “sacred” in a secondary sense, since sacred things and places were commonly indicated in a particular manner.[4] The word tapua’i means “to abstain from all work, games, etc.”[5]—a translation which indicates how intimately the idea of abstinence was associated with the notion of tapu.
In all the Polynesian languages tapu or tabu appears to have been employed with an adjectival meaning, referring to something holy, sacred, and inviolable, or to something polluted and accursed. The word, we learn, did not imply any moral quality, but expressed “a connection with the gods, or a separation from ordinary purposes, and exclusive appropriation to persons or things considered sacred; sometimes it means devoted as by a vow.”[6] In a derivative sense tabu came naturally to signify “forbidden” or “prohibited”;[7] and this is the most general meaning of the word in its anglicized form. But in anthropological usage the term “taboo” refers, not to all negative regulations or prohibitions, but to those only which are supported by a supernatural sanction and the violation of which is visited with a supernatural punishment.
The progress of comparative research has shown that conceptions very similar to the Polynesian tabu have a wide prevalence in the lower culture and even among peoples of archaic civilization. The Melanesian tambu, though never signifying any inherent holiness or awfulness, does refer to the sacred and unapproachable character which things may possess when solemnly cursed in the name of a powerful ghost or spirit.[8] Among the natives of the Gabun colony of French Equatorial Africa orunda meant, originally, “prohibited from human use.” Under missionary hands the word developed into its related sense of “sacred to spiritual use,” and in the Mpongwe Scriptures orunda serves as the translation of our word “holy.”[9] The Malagasy equivalent of tabu is fady, which means, primarily, “dangerous,” but which has the derivative meanings sacré, “prohibited,” “ill-omened,” “unlucky.”[10] Anthropologically, it is no far cry from such expressions to the Greek ἅγιος or to the Latin sacer, since each of these terms conveys the twin ideas of sanctity and pollution.[11]
It is convenient to distinguish between taboos which are artificially imposed and those which follow inevitably as the consequence of particular acts or as the outcome of certain situations. Thus, a chief may set a taboo over the common crops until harvest time, or a private individual may protect his own property through the use of the same supernatural machinery: these are prohibitions analogous to the laws of an advanced society, though supported by sanctions both human and divine. On the other hand, new-born children with their mothers, strangers, manslayers, and mourners are frequently subjected to taboos which exist in the social consciousness rather as well-defined customs of anonymous origin than as specific ordinances laid down by some superior authority. In both cases, however, it is legitimate to suppose that a reason has always existed for the ascription of the tabu character to persons and things—although an explanation may not now be forthcoming and although the ideas on which the practice was once based may have become obscure or meaningless with the lapse of time.
A comparative study of the taboos observed by primitive peoples indicates that originally things or persons are tabooed because they are considered dangerous, mysterious, abnormal, uncanny, “awful”—because they are felt to be potent for weal or woe in the life of man. Primitive psychology, refining these ideas and applying them to different classes of phenomena, produces the cognate notions of pollution and sanctity. The corpse is unclean; the shedder of human blood is likewise unclean; but the chief or king, who belongs to a superior order of beings, is sacrosanct or holy. These characteristics are easily regarded as infectious, as capable of transmission, not alone by physical contact, but also by sight and mere proximity. It is probably true that, in using such expressions as “contagion” and “infection,” we are resorting to a refined terminology to express what must be really simpler in the thought of the savage. Living in a mental stage where distinctions of cause and effect are not clearly drawn, where a rigid distinction of the natural and the supernatural can scarcely be said to exist at all, he finds no difficulty in imagining an universe in which all things have power, after their kind, a power for good or a power for ill—in other words, have mana. This now-familiar Melanesian term, like the Algonkin manitou, the Iroquoian orenda, and the Siouan wakanda, may be said to express early man’s sense of those ever-present, though vague and impersonal, forces immanent in nature.[12]
At the same time the fact must be recognized that the majority of taboos are now supported by animistic beliefs of a much more precise character. The penalty for the infraction of a taboo is generally death or some physical ailment supposed to be inflicted by the offended spirits or demons.[13] The Polynesian atua, by entering the body of any impious person, caused disease or “intestinal embarrassment”: the culprit forthwith swelled up and died. The same demonic beings, if angered, might visit entire tribes with an epidemic, or send down lightning and fire from heaven, or bring about the unsuccessful issue of a war.[14] Among the Kayan and other pagan tribes of Borneo the minor spirits, or toh, play a considerable part in the regulation of conduct. They are the powers that bring misfortunes upon an entire house or village when any member of it ignores taboos or otherwise violates tribal customs, without performing the propitiatory rites demanded by the occasion. “Thus on them, rather than on the gods, are founded the effective sanctions of prohibitive rules of conduct.”[15] Among the Akikuyu of British East Africa, who possess a most elaborate system of taboos, it is a general belief that any one in the condition of thahu becomes emaciated and ill or breaks out in eruptions and boils. If the thahu is not removed, the patient will die. “In many cases this undoubtedly happens by the process of auto-suggestion, as it never occurs to the Kikuyu mind to be skeptical in a matter of this kind. It is said that the thahu condition is caused by the ngoma, or spirits of departed ancestors, but the process does not seem to have been analyzed any further.”[16] The Babylonians, again, appear to have entertained very definite conceptions of taboo, and conceptions, equally definite, of the evil spirits which vexed the soul and body of one who had infringed a mamit, or prohibition with a supernatural penalty.[17] With the progress of religious conceptions the punishment of the taboo-breaker may come to be regarded as an important function of the tribal or national god, whose chief concern is the maintenance of the customary moral rules.
Since persons, objects, and even actions are all liable to infection, prudence dictates a variety of precautions: the dangerous individual or thing is removed to a safe distance; or is carefully isolated; or is subjected to a series of insulating regulations. The entire community is interested in such proceedings, and on certain occasions may itself be placed under a rigid quarantine. When this happens, a period of abstinence and quiescence is regarded as the surest means of avoiding dangers felt to threaten each and every member of the social group. Nor will the procedure greatly differ where distinctly animistic ideas prevail, and when the impending danger is specifically attributed to the action of spiritual beings or of gods. In the latter case, it is true, the idea of propitiation becomes increasingly prominent, since it is often felt to be necessary to appease by various rites and ceremonies the supernatural powers responsible for the visitation. The two conceptions of abstinence and propitiation are not, indeed, always sharply distinguishable in concrete cases, and with advancing culture they tend to become more and more closely conjoined.
It is highly probable that the origin of some of the communal regulations is to be sought in the taboos observed by persons at such great and critical seasons as birth, puberty, marriage, and death.[18] Comparative studies have indicated how numerous are the prohibitions which attach to these times of high solemnity and significance; and it is reasonable to suppose that, with the deepening sense of social solidarity, observances once confined to the individual alone, or to his immediate connections, would often pass over into rites performed by the community at large. Some evidence tending to substantiate this opinion will be presented incidentally as the investigation proceeds.
CHAPTER I
TABOOED DAYS AT CRITICAL EPOCHS
Our knowledge of taboo within the Polynesian area rests chiefly on the vague and unsatisfactory accounts by early missionaries, who were unable to describe much more than its exterior aspects, its origin and inner significance having quite escaped their consideration. Fundamentally, the system of taboos formed a religious institution, if religion be understood in its broadest sense as a recognition of the supernatural. The Polynesian belief that the violator of a taboo would be punished by the offended atua, or spirits, readily lent itself to priestcraft and statecraft and so became in the hands of the ruling classes an instrumentum regni, a powerful engine of social and political control. In Hawaii, where the superstitions in question reached their most elaborate and grotesque development, communal taboos could be imposed only by the priests, although this action was often taken at the instance of the civil authorities. Police officers were even appointed to make sure that all prohibitions were strictly observed. For every breach of the rules the death penalty was inflicted, unless the delinquent had some very powerful friends who themselves were either priests or chiefs.
The range of these Hawaiian taboos, as extended for reasons of state or religion, was very wide. We are told that idols, temples, the persons and names of the king and his family, the persons of the priests, and the houses and clothes of the king and priests were always tabu. Certain much-prized articles of food, besides almost everything offered in sacrifice, were reserved by taboos for gods and men; hence women, except in cases of particular indulgence, were restricted from using them. Sometimes an entire island or district was tabooed and no one was allowed to approach it.[19]
The institution of taboo also included regulations for the special observance of certain times and seasons. Their duration was various, and apparently much longer in remote ages than in the period immediately preceding the arrival of the missionaries. In Hawaii, before the reign of Kamehameha II, forty days was the usual length of time. There were also periods of ten days and of five days, and sometimes of only one day. Tradition declares, however, that once a taboo was in force for thirty years and that during this time the men were not allowed to trim their beards. A tabooed period kept for five years is also mentioned. Elsewhere in the South Seas less extensive periods prevailed, the longest known being at Huahine, one of the Society Islands, where a season of abstinence is said to have lasted for ten or twelve years.[20]
The observance of such taboos varied according as they were common or strict. When a common season prevailed, the men were required only to abstain from their usual duties and to attend at the heiau, or temple, where prayers were offered every morning and evening. During a period strictly tabooed the regulations had a sterner character, and in consequence a general gloom and silence pervaded the whole district or island. Every fire and light was extinguished; canoes were not launched; no person bathed; and no one was to be seen out of doors, save those whose presence was required at the temple. Even the lower creation felt the force of the law: “no dog must bark, no pig must grunt, no cock must crow—or the tabu would be broken, and fail to accomplish the object designed. On these occasions they tied up the mouths of the dogs and pigs, and put the fowls under a calabash, or fastened a piece of cloth over their eyes.”[21] From another account we learn that any one found in a canoe on a tabu day incurred the death penalty, and that the same Draconian punishment was meted out to the individual who indulged in carnal pleasures or made only a noise at such a time.[22]
The sabbatarian regulations introduced by Christian missionaries among their Hawaiian adherents presented no sharp contrast to the rigours of the old dispensation. The natives even called Sunday la tabu, “the tabooed day.” No food was cooked on that day, the meals being all prepared on the previous Saturday; no fires were kindled; and no canoes were paddled. The people neither fished nor tilled the soil and, if on a journey, they halted until the sacred day was over.[23] In Tahiti, also, the Sunday rest was rigidly maintained. On that day no canoes were launched, and no person was seen abroad except on the road to church or when returning from divine service. The success of the missionaries in introducing this strict observance of Sunday was, we learn, “ascribed by themselves in a great degree to its analogy to the taboo days of heathen times.”[24]
Communal taboos were observed by the Hawaiian Islanders generally in connection with important religious ceremonies. Of these, one of the most elaborate was the consecration of a luakini, or chief temple. The rites, which were often performed just before a war in order to insure victory, occupied ten or more days. After a solemn purification of the island or district all the people were summoned to divine service, during which a priest sprinkled them with holy water, i.e., salt water mixed with a little turmeric, some moss, and a bunch of a sacred fern. “The next thing in order was to bring down the principal idol, called the hakuohia, from the forest. A great procession was formed, consisting of the king, the hakuohia priest, and a crowd of attendants carrying idols and various offerings, and leading a human victim. The tree had been selected and the axe consecrated the day before. On arriving at the tree, the priest recited the appropriate aha [prayer] amid dead silence, after which the king pronounced the amama [spell], and killed the hog with a single blow. The priest inquired whether any sound of man or beast or bird or cricket had been heard during the aha, and if not, it was a good omen. The doomed man was then brought forward, and offered to the god by the king, after which his body was buried at the foot of the tree. The consecrated hog was baked in an oven on the spot, while the tree was cut down, trimmed, and covered with ieie vines. After the company had feasted, a procession was formed with the feather-gods in front, followed by the chiefs and people with pala fern, ohia-branches, etc., and others carrying the new idol.... The inhabitants remained indoors, for it was death to meet the procession, and all fires were strictly forbidden. The images were finally carried to the heiau, where they were deposited with shoutings and beating of drums.”[25] Following this rite came a long series of services at the heiau. The night of the great aha “was the most solemn and critical of all. The omens were carefully observed, and prayers were offered in every house for the success of the coming aha, and for auspicious weather, that there might be no wind or rain, no thunder or lightning, no high surf, and no sound of man or beast to mar the ceremonies. If the sky was clear and everything favourable, between midnight and morning the king and high-priest entered the small house, called waiea, to perform the great aha (hulahula), while the congregation sat in front of the mana house, listening and watching in profound silence. The king stood listening intently and holding a pig, while the high-priest, clad in white kapa, and holding a lama rod wound with aloa (white kapa), recited the long prayer. At its close the king killed the pig with a single blow, and offered it up with a short prayer to the four great gods. The priests then asked the king whether the aha was perfect, and whether he had heard the voice of man or dog or mouse or fowl, or anything else during the prayer. If not, he tapped the large drum as a signal that it was over, and they both went out to question the assembly outside. If no one had heard a sound during the ceremony, the high-priest congratulated the king, and predicted for him victory and long life. The people then raised loud shouts of Lele wale ka aha e! which were repeated by all who heard them, and so the news travelled far and wide.”[26] Such were some of the ceremonies at the dedication of an important temple.[27]
Communal taboos also marked the celebration by the Hawaiians of the great makahiki, or New Year’s festival, sacred to the god Lono. On the twenty-third of the month Welehu, which nearly corresponded to November, Lono’s image was decorated and, when night came on, all the people went to bathe in the sea. This rite of purification having been accomplished, men and women donned new clothing in preparation for the festival which began at sunrise on the morrow. During the four days of its continuance no fishing, no bathing, no pounding of kapa, and no beating of drums or blowing of conchs was permitted. Land and sky and sea were tabu to Lono, and only feasting and games were allowed. The high-priest was blindfolded and remained in seclusion. On the fifth day the bandage was removed from his eyes and canoes were allowed to put to sea. On the sixth day the tabu season began again and continued for about twenty days longer. The festivities at length drew to a close, the ornaments of Lono’s image were packed up and deposited in the temple for use another year, and all restrictions on fishing and farming were taken off—noa ka makahiki.[28]
In old Hawaii, as in the other Polynesian islands, fishing formed one of the chief means of livelihood and ranked next to agriculture in importance. The fishermen, who composed almost a distinct class, observed many religious rites peculiar to themselves. For instance, a man would not venture to use a new net or to build and launch a new canoe, without prayer and sacrifice to his gods. Communal regulations relating to fishing were imposed twice a year in connection with two sacred fish, the aku, or bonito, and the opelu. Each was tabu by turns for six months. In Hinaiaelee (July) the taboo began on the first night of the month, at which time no fire might be kindled, and no sound of man or beast or fowl might break the profound silence. The following morning the high-priest repaired to the house of Ku-ula, the god of fishermen, to offer a pig and to recite the great aha, as during a dedication. Meanwhile a man was sent to the woods to gather pala fern. All that day a solemn rest was observed on shore. Next morning the head fisherman, wearing a white malo, or girdle, took the sacred fern and a new net in his canoe and put to sea. After prayers to his tutelary deities and to Ku the fisherman proceeded to cast the net. If he and his crew made a haul of opelu, they paddled joyfully for the shore and presented the fish to the high-priest, who sent some to the king and placed the rest on the altar in the temple. Next day the opelu became noa, or free to all, but the aku in its turn was prohibited to human use for six months, and was not to be eaten on pain of death.[29]
The Hawaiian religious system included a remarkable approximation to the institution of a weekly Sabbath. In every lunar month there were four tabu periods, dedicated severally to the four great gods of the native pantheon. The first was that of Ku, from the third to the sixth night; the second, that of Hua, at full moon, including the fourteenth and fifteenth nights; the third, that of Kaloa, on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth nights; and the fourth, that of Kane, on the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth nights. During these tabu periods a devout king generally remained in the heiau, busy with prayer and sacrifice. Women at such times were forbidden to enter canoes, and sexual intercourse was also prohibited.[30]
The occasions when seasons of communal abstinence and quiescence were enforced in the Society Islands, the Marquesas Islands, Samoa, and New Zealand were not always the same as in the Hawaiian group. Divergencies of custom might well be expected among the widely scattered divisions of the Polynesian race. But, if such rites as those for the dedication of a temple or for the observance of four tabu periods in every month were confined to the Hawaiians, some other ceremonies, notably those connected with fishing, were much alike throughout the entire Pacific area.
In the Society and the Marquesas islands the bonito fishing in November or December opened with a ceremony removing the prohibition which had previously rested on the capture of that fish. A strict taboo of all activity marked the first day of the proceedings: no one could approach the seashore, or make a fire, or cook food, or even eat before the going-down of the sun. The customary employments of the men in canoe-building and house-building, of the women in the preparation of cloths, mats, and thread, were abandoned; “in a word, all work was forbidden; it was a day of silence and of devotion.” Meanwhile the priests remained in the marai, or temple, engaged in prayer; and their assistants prepared an altar to receive the first-fruits of the fishing. At nightfall the single canoe which had gone forth to the fishing returned with the catch of bonito. Several of the largest fish were placed on the altar, and the others were entirely consumed in a blazing fire before the altar. The fish caught on this day belonged to the gods and those on the following day to the high-priest; but on the third day fishing was opened to all.[31] Among the Maori of New Zealand the preparations for mackerel fishing included the observance of various taboos. Every one concerned in making or mending nets, the ground where the nets were made, and the river, on the banks of which the work went on, were in a state of sacredness. Nobody might walk over the ground, no canoe might pass up and down the river, no fire might be made within a prescribed distance, and no food might be prepared, until the holy season came to an end.[32] In this instance only fishermen and their assistants appear to have been subject to the restrictions. The Maori, however, observed communal taboos in connection with the planting of the kumara, or sweet potato, formerly the most important agricultural product of New Zealand and the chief reliance of the natives for food. An old chief of Mokoia Island, Lake Rotorua, has described how, when the time to plant kumara arrived, the priests went forth to the woods for branches of the sacred mapau tree. “On that day and the day following, everything was tapu. The people fasted and did no cooking. The waters of the lake were tapu; no canoes were allowed to put out and no fishing was done.” The priests took the mapau twigs to the stone image of the kumara-god (still kept on the island), and laying them on the idol, prayed for an abundant harvest. In the evening they went to the gardens and stuck the branches in the earth. The skull of a tribal chief of ariki rank was disinterred and placed beside the mapau sticks, in order that the mana, or magical power of the dead chieftain, might guard the plantation and assist in securing a bountiful harvest.[33]
Still another critical epoch when the Maori subjected themselves to communal taboos occurred at the beginning of a war. Hostilities having been decided on, the first thing necessary was to take the auspices by casting the niu. One of the leading priests procured a quantity of fern-stalks, some of which represented spears, and the remainder, warriors. The warrior-sticks were stuck in a mat and a fern-stalk was hurled at each one. If the missile fell on the left side of the warrior-stick, this was a sign that the person whom it represented would fall in battle, if on the right side, that he would live. A similar procedure was enacted with sticks named for enemies, and for the men, women, and children who were to be left at home. On the completion of the niu ceremony, the priests lifted the taboo which had rested over the settlement, a taboo imposing abstinence from food, but not, apparently, from work.[34]
The sacrifice of first-fruits seems to have formed a regular part of the religious system of the Polynesian peoples, for we possess specific references to it among the Hawaiians, the Samoans, the New Zealanders, the natives of the Society Islands, and those of the Tonga Islands. In the latter group the ceremony, called inachi, generally took place about October. It was observed with scrupulous care, since the people believed that to neglect it would bring upon them the vengeance of the gods. We are fortunate in possessing a detailed description of the ceremony by an eye-witness of it.[35] According to William Mariner the word inachi referred to that portion of the fruits of the earth and of other eatables which was offered to the god in the person of the divine chief Tooitonga, an allotment made once a year, just before the yam crop had arrived at maturity. On the day before the ceremony the first-fruits of the yam season were dug up, ornamented with ribbons, and dyed red, in preparation for the procession on the morrow. “The sun has scarcely set when the sound of the conch begins again to echo through the island, increasing as the night advances. At the mooa [capital] and all the plantations the voices of men and women are heard singing Nófo, óooa tegger gnaoóe, óooa gnaoóe, ‘Rest thou, doing no work; thou shalt not work.’[36] This increases till midnight, men generally singing the first part of the sentence, and the women the last, to produce a more pleasing effect: it then subsides for three or four hours, and again increases as the sun rises. Nobody, however, is seen stirring out in the public roads till about eight o’clock, when the people from all quarters of the island are seen advancing towards the mooa, and canoes from all the other islands landing their men; so that all the inhabitants of Tonga seem approaching by sea and land, singing and sounding the conch. At the mooa itself the universal bustle of preparation is seen and heard; and the different processions entering from various quarters, of men and women, all dressed up in new gnatoos, ornamented with red ribbons and wreaths of flowers, and the men armed with spears and clubs, betoken the importance of the ceremony about to be performed.” The proceedings consisted in the solemn presentation of the first-fruits to the divine chief at the grave of his predecessor, and closed with a feast and dance. Then the people returned to their homes, perfectly assured of the protection of the gods.
The natives of Samoa possessed a remarkably complex pantheon of household and village gods, the recipients of prayer and sacrifice, and, in the case of the village gods, honoured with temples, priests, and annual festivals. The Samoans had also war-gods, who in character resembled the other deities, since they were supposed to be incarnate in animals or embodied in inanimate objects.[37] One of these militant divinities was the cuttle-fish (fe’e), said to have been imported from Fiji. In one place Fe’e was a general village god whose province was not confined to war. “The month of May was sacred to his worship. No traveller was then allowed to pass through the village by the public road; nor was any canoe allowed in the lagoon off that part of the settlement. There was great feasting, too, on these occasions, and also games, club exercise, spear-throwing, wrestling, etc.... In another district three months were sacred to the worship of Fe’e. During that time any one passing along the road, or in the lagoon, would be beaten, if not killed, for insulting the god. For the first month torches and all other lights were forbidden, as the god was about and did not wish to be seen. White turbans were also forbidden during the festivities, and confined to war. At this time, also, all unsightly burdens—such as a log of firewood on the shoulder—were forbidden, lest it should be considered by the god as a mockery of his tentacula.”[38] Another village god, who rejoiced in the name of Titi Usi, or Glittering Leaf Girdle, received worship at the new moon. “At that time all work was suspended for a day or two. The cocoanut-leaf blinds were kept down, and the people sat still in their houses. Any one walking in front of the house risked a beating. After prayer and feasting a man went about and blew a shell-trumpet as a sign to all that the ceremonies were over, and that the usual routine of village and family life might be resumed.”[39] The festivals of the other village deities of Samoa seem not to have been marked by compulsory cessation of activity.[40]
The observance of regular periods consecrated to the gods has been noticed in some other parts of Polynesia. At Fakaofo, or Bowditch Island, in the Union group, the month of May was devoted to the worship of the great god Tui Tokelau. All work was then laid aside. The people assembled from the three islands of the group to enjoy feasting and dancing. They prayed to their divinity for life, health, and a plentiful supply of fish and cocoanuts.[41] In tiny Manahiki, or Humphrey Island, the natives had special days for worship, every three or four months. At such times heaps of food were collected in the place of public assembly, and the king, who was high-priest as well, prayed for food and life and health in behalf of his people.[42] We are told, also, that when the god Ratu-mai-Mbulu visited the Fiji Islands, the inhabitants lived very quietly for an entire month, lest they should disturb the deity in his task of making the fruit-trees blossom and bear fruit. During this Lenten season the natives did not plant or build or sail on the ocean or go to war. The priests announced the time of the god’s advent and departure.[43] According to a later account Ratu-mai-Mbulu (Lord from Hades) was probably a deity of foreign extraction. “Through him the earth gives her increase. In December he comes forth from Mbulu, and pours sap into the fruit-trees, and pushes the young yam shoots through the soil. Throughout that moon it is tabu to beat the drum, to sound the conch-shell, to dance, to plant, to fight, or to sing at sea, lest Ratu-mai-Mbulu be disturbed, and quit the earth before his work is completed. At the end of the month the priest sounds the consecrated shell; the people raise a great shout, carrying the good news from village to village; and pleasure and toil are again free to all.”[44]
The descriptions of Polynesian customs by early observers, though frequently the only accounts we possess, are sometimes very brief and obscure. These remarks apply to a curious ceremony annually performed by some Fijian tribes. The time of its celebration was determined by the appearance of a certain sea-slug, which swarms out in dense shoals from the coral reefs on a single day of the year, usually in November during the last quarter of the moon. The arrival of the sea-slugs furnished the signal for a general feast at those places where they were taken. Hostilities were suspended between rival communities for four days, and a taboo was laid to prevent noise or disturbance during this period. No labour might be done and no person might be seen outside his house. “In Ovolau the ceremony begins by a man ascending a tree and praying for fine weather and winds throughout the year. Thereupon a tremendous clatter, with drumming and shouting, is raised by all the people inside of the houses for about half an hour, and then a dead quiet ensues for four days, during which they are feasting on the mbalolo. If in any dwelling a noise is made, as by a child crying, a forfeit (ori) is immediately exacted by the chief.”[45] According to another account the rule requiring quiescence was so strictly observed that not even a leaf might be plucked or the offal removed from the houses. During these four days the men lived in their special club-house (mbure), and the women and children remained shut up in the family abodes. At daylight, on the expiry of the fourth night, the whole town was in an uproar; and men and boys scampered about, knocking with sticks at the doors of the dwellings and crying Sinariba. This concluded the ceremony.[46] It would seem that these accounts refer to a Fijian New Year’s festival, which, like that of the Hawaiians, was held in November for a period of four days, and was marked by communal taboos imposing abstinence and quiescence.[47]
The western tribes of Viti Levu, largest of the Fiji Islands, in traditions, language, and physical type are recognized as distinctly Melanesian. In former days these tribes possessed a secret association known as nanga, or mbaki, which closely resembled the secret societies so common in the Melanesian Archipelago. It is highly probable, therefore, that, at least in its known form, the nanga was a late importation into the island of Viti Levu. Initiation into the nanga was supposed to bring the youth of the tribe into relations with the ancestral spirits, who were represented, at the time of the ceremonies, by the elders and by some of the middle-aged men. The sanctuary and lodge of the association formed the earthly dwelling-place of the spirits; it was a tabernacle as holy to these Fijians as was the structure in the Wilderness to the Israelites; there the first-fruits of the yam harvest were solemnly presented to the ancestors; and there the young men of Viti Levu were introduced to the mysteries of the tribe. When the nanga enclosure was being raised for the initiatory performances, the people suspended all other work. Not even food-planting might be done at such a time. “If any impious person transgressed this law, ‘he would only plant evil to himself and to his kinsfolk.’”[48] In this instance there was no attribution of the sacred period to any particular divinity, though all the ceremonies connected with the nanga were supposed to be directed by the ancestral spirits.
The scanty records of aboriginal Polynesian society also contain some passing references to the observance of communal rest days on certain occasions when the social consciousness had been deeply moved by untoward and disastrous events. In Futuna, or Erronan, an island which lies close to the dividing line between Polynesia and Melanesia, the custom of taboo is said to be very common. “They go so far as to tapu the day—e.g., to interdict all work in order to please the gods, or to avert the hurricanes.”[49] In Hawaii a tabu period was declared during the sickness of chiefs.[50] In Samoa the death of a chief of high rank was followed by the suspension of all work in the settlement for from ten to thirty days, until the funeral ceremonies were performed. During this time no stranger might approach the stricken village; a luckless wayfarer, pushing in by accident, would have been promptly clubbed.[51] This Samoan regulation, as we shall see, is only a particular instance of a widespread primitive custom. Communal rest days are still observed in some parts of Micronesia, as on the island of Yap, one of the Carolines. Here two aged “wizards,” before whom all important questions come for decision, have the power of imposing taboos on an entire village. The periods of seclusion have been known to last for six months. The critical epochs, when such interdicts are enforced, occur during a time of drought, famine, or sickness, after a death of a chief or famous man, and before a fishing expedition.[52] “In short, any great public event is thus celebrated, and, in fact, there is always a tabu in full swing somewhere or other, to the great disgust of the traders, who only see in these enforced holidays an excuse for idling, drunkenness and debauchery.”[53]
The accounts preserved in the older literature relating to Polynesia thus make it evident that communal taboos occurred at critical, or especially important, seasons. The prohibitions were negative in character, required a period of abstinence sometimes verging upon complete quiescence, and were closely connected with the aristocratic and theocratic organization of Polynesian society. At the same time the communal regulations, artificially created, are to be assimilated to those which rested upon individuals alone and arose spontaneously as a result of various circumstances. Every description of aboriginal culture, from Hawaii to New Zealand, contains numerous references to the network of taboos which invested private life. All persons dangerously ill, all mothers at childbirth, together with their infants, all persons who handled a corpse or assisted at a funeral, were deemed unclean and hence were subjected to a rigid quarantine, a protective measure necessary for the safety of the social group. If we assume that the individual taboos represent the earlier phase of the institution, then the communal taboos may be regarded as merely an extension to the body politic of these simpler and more rudimentary customs. The probability of such a transition will be strengthened by a consideration of the tabooed days found among some other primitive peoples.