batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l3463-l3544
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l3463-l3544
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2) / CONTENTS;
lines 3463-3544'
start: '3463'
end: '3544'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 2 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: 'Frazer discusses animal processions and the uncertain relation of such
customs to agriculture, then introduces the transference of evil: misfortunes,
sins, illnesses, or dangers are placed upon another being or object, which carries
them away or suffers in the afflicted person''s stead. Examples include illness
transferred to leaves, a spear-thrower, animals, an ox, Malagasy faditra objects,
and a bullock sent into the wilderness.'
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage says the hunting of the wren and a procession with a man clad
in a cow-skin do not visibly show an agricultural relation.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The passage compares European animal customs with a Gilyak bear procession
and an Indian snake procession as possible evidence for an early pre-agricultural
date.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: Some European processions involve animals or men disguised as animals, and
the passage says they may possibly be agricultural in origin.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:4
text: The passage states that accumulated misfortunes and sins of a whole people
are sometimes laid upon a dying god, who is supposed to bear them away.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:5
text: The passage describes a belief that pains and griefs can be transferred to
another being who bears them instead of the sufferer.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The passage states that trouble may be transferred to a person, an animal,
or a thing; in the case of a thing, it may serve as a vehicle to convey the trouble
to the first person who touches it.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:7
text: In one East Indian example, epilepsy is believed to pass into leaves after
the patient is struck with them, and the leaves are then thrown away.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: In one Australian example, toothache is treated with a heated spear-thrower
that is then cast away; the toothache is said to go with it as a black stone called
karriitch.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: The passage says stones called karriitch are collected and thrown toward enemies
in order to give them toothache.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:10
text: In one Moorish example, a headache is transferred to a lamb or goat by beating
the animal until it falls down.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: In one Bechuana example, a king sits on an ox, water is poured over him, the
ox is drowned, and the ox is believed to have died of the king's disease.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:12
text: Among the Malagasy, a faditra may be ashes, cut money, a sheep, a pumpkin,
or another selected article, charged by a priest to take away evils or diseases.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:13
text: The Malagasy faditra is disposed of by blowing ashes away, throwing cut money
into deep water, carrying a sheep away at speed, or dashing a pumpkin on the ground.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:14
text: In a Malagasy rite, a man threatened with a bloody death is told to spill
blood from a vessel onto a bullock's head and send the bullock into the wilderness.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: European animal procession participants
description: Animals or men disguised as animals in European processions discussed
as possibly pre-agricultural or agricultural in origin.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: dying god
description: A god who is killed and upon whom the accumulated misfortunes and sins
of the whole people are sometimes laid.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: whole people
description: The collective whose accumulated misfortunes and sins are placed upon
the dying god.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: sufferer
description: A person whose pains, griefs, illness, or trouble are believed transferable
to another being or object.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: substitute being or vehicle
description: A person, animal, or thing that receives or carries away transferred
pain, trouble, evil, or disease.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: East Indian epilepsy patient
description: A patient struck with leaves so that epilepsy is believed to pass into
the leaves.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Australian toothache sufferer
description: A sufferer whose toothache is treated with a heated spear-thrower that
is then cast away.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Moor with headache
description: A person who beats a lamb or goat so that his headache is believed
to be transferred to the animal.
role_refs:
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: lamb or goat
description: An animal beaten until it falls down and believed to receive a Moor's
headache.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Bechuana king
description: A king who sits on an ox after illness while water is poured over his
head and body.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Bechuana ox
description: An ox on which the king sits and which is drowned, then believed to
have died of the king's disease.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: native doctor
description: The ritual specialist who pours water on the Bechuana king, has the
ox drowned, and declares that the ox died of the king's disease.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Malagasy priest
description: The ritual specialist who counts evils upon the faditra and charges
it to take them away forever.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: Malagasy diviner
description: A diviner who tells a Malagasy man that a rite might avert a doomed
bloody death.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:15
name_or_label: Malagasy man threatened with bloody death
description: A man instructed to carry blood on his head, mount a bullock, spill
blood on the bullock's head, and send it away.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: fig:16
name_or_label: bullock sent into wilderness
description: The animal onto whose head blood is spilled and which is sent away
into the wilderness so it may never return.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
roles:
- id: role:1
label: substitute bearer of evil or disease
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:9
- fig:11
- fig:16
basis: These figures are said or implied to receive, bear away, die from, or carry
off misfortunes, sins, illness, or threatened death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:2
label: beneficiary or afflicted party
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:10
- fig:15
basis: These figures are the persons or collective from whom misfortune, sin, illness,
pain, or danger is to be removed.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:7
- id: role:3
label: ritual actor transferring affliction
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The Moor beats the animal while believing the headache will be transferred
to it.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:4
label: ritual specialist
assigned_to:
- fig:12
- fig:13
- fig:14
basis: These figures direct, perform, declare, or prescribe ritual actions connected
with transferring or averting evil.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
- id: role:6
label: animal or animal-disguised procession figure
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: The passage describes processions of animals or men disguised as animals.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: wren
literal_form: bird hunted in the custom called the hunting of the wren
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: cow-skin disguise
literal_form: man clad in a cow-skin
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:3
label: bear procession
literal_form: Gilyak procession of the bear
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:4
label: snake procession
literal_form: Indian procession of the snake
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs:
- serpent
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:5
label: corn-spirit in animal shape
literal_form: animals representing the corn-spirit conceived in animal shape
associated_figures:
- fig:1
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:6
label: burden of pains and sorrows
literal_form: pains, griefs, trouble, misfortunes, and sins treated as transferable
burdens
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: sym:7
label: leaves receiving epilepsy
literal_form: leaves of certain trees used to strike a patient and then thrown away
associated_figures:
- fig:6
taxonomy_refs:
- tree
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:8
label: heated spear-thrower
literal_form: heated spear-thrower applied to the cheek and then cast away
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:9
label: karriitch black stone
literal_form: black stone called karriitch, identified with toothache and thrown
toward enemies
associated_figures:
- fig:7
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:10
label: lamb or goat substitute
literal_form: lamb or goat beaten to receive a headache
associated_figures:
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:11
label: ox substitute
literal_form: ox sat upon by a king and drowned in water
associated_figures:
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:12
label: faditra
literal_form: Malagasy vehicle for carrying away evils, such as ashes, cut money,
sheep, or pumpkin
associated_figures:
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:13
label: deep water disposal
literal_form: cut money thrown to the bottom of deep water
associated_figures:
- fig:13
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:14
label: blood vessel
literal_form: small vessel full of blood carried on the head
associated_figures:
- fig:15
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: sym:15
label: bullock in wilderness
literal_form: bullock sent away into the wilderness after blood is spilled on its
head
associated_figures:
- fig:15
- fig:16
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: animal processions and uncertain origins
summary: The passage weighs whether European animal customs and animal-disguised
processions are pre-agricultural survivals, agricultural representations of the
corn-spirit, or later customs with agricultural coloring.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: communal misfortunes laid on the dying god
summary: The accumulated misfortunes and sins of a people are placed upon a dying
god, who is supposed to carry them away permanently.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: principle of transferable pain and grief
summary: The passage explains the idea that pain, grief, and trouble may be shifted
from one person to another being or to an object.
figure_refs:
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: illness transferred to discarded objects
summary: Epilepsy is transferred to leaves and thrown away; toothache is transferred
to a spear-thrower and associated with a black stone that may be thrown toward
enemies.
figure_refs:
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
- sym:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: illness transferred to animals
summary: A Moor's headache is transferred to a lamb or goat; a Bechuana king's disease
is transferred to an ox that is drowned.
figure_refs:
- fig:8
- fig:9
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
symbol_refs:
- sym:10
- sym:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Malagasy faditra carries evils away
summary: A priest charges a selected faditra with evils or diseases and the object
or animal is blown away, sunk in water, carried off, or dashed to the ground.
figure_refs:
- fig:13
symbol_refs:
- sym:12
- sym:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:7
label: bullock sent away to avert bloody death
summary: A Malagasy man threatened with bloody death performs a rite involving blood
poured onto a bullock, which is then sent into the wilderness and not expected
to return.
figure_refs:
- fig:14
- fig:15
- fig:16
symbol_refs:
- sym:14
- sym:15
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: transference of evil or affliction to a substitute
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The passage repeatedly describes misfortunes, sins, pains, diseases, or death-danger
being shifted to another being, animal, or object.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: The exact label is supplied descriptively from the passage rather than
from the available motif-family list.
- id: motif:2
label: dying god bearing communal sins and misfortunes
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: The passage says the custom of killing the god includes cases where accumulated
misfortunes and sins are laid on the dying god, who bears them away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: The passage summarizes a custom in comparative terms and does not narrate
one specific mythic episode.
- id: motif:3
label: object as vehicle for illness removal
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Leaves, a spear-thrower, stones, ashes, cut money, and a pumpkin function
as objects that receive, carry, or dispose of trouble or disease.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The examples are ethnographic reports quoted or summarized by Frazer,
not a single local narrative.
- id: motif:4
label: animal substitute carrying away disease or death-danger
taxonomy_refs:
- sacrifice
basis: A lamb or goat receives headache, an ox dies of a king's disease, and a bullock
is sent into the wilderness after receiving blood connected with a threatened
death.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:7
confidence: medium
cautions: Not every animal substitute is explicitly killed; the taxonomy reference
to sacrifice is strongest for the ox that dies and less exact for the bullock
sent away.
- id: motif:5
label: animal procession as divine animal or corn-spirit representation
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
basis: The passage discusses processions of animals or animal-disguised men as possibly
either early animal reverence or agricultural representations of the corn-spirit
in animal shape.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
cautions: Frazer explicitly calls the origin obscure and difficult, so interpretation
should remain tentative.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage presents an analogy between European customs involving the wren
or cow-skin figure and Gilyak bear and Indian snake processions, suggesting a
possible shared function or early animal-veneration pattern.
claim_level: same_function
target: Gilyak bear procession and Indian snake procession
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
counter_evidence_refs:
- ev:1
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage says the European origins are obscure and allows both pre-agricultural
and agricultural explanations.
- id: claim:2
claim: The passage groups diverse examples from East Indian, Australian, Moorish,
Bechuana, and Malagasy contexts as instances of a common pattern in which trouble
is transferred to another person, animal, or object.
claim_level: same_function
target: cross-cultural folklore devices for transferring pain, disease, or evil
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- ev:7
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The claim is a functional comparison made by Frazer; the passage does
not establish historical contact or common inheritance.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: 3463-3478
quote_or_summary: Animal customs such as hunting the wren, the cow-skin procession,
and European animal processions are discussed in relation to possible pre-agricultural
animal reverence, Gilyak bear and Indian snake analogies, and possible agricultural
corn-spirit interpretations.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: 3480-3486
quote_or_summary: Frazer states that the custom of killing the god has been found
in multiple social stages and that the people's accumulated misfortunes and sins
may be laid upon the dying god, who bears them away.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: 3486-3496
quote_or_summary: The passage explains the belief that pains and griefs can be transferred
like physical burdens to another being, who suffers them in the sufferer's place.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: 3498-3513
quote_or_summary: Trouble may be transferred to an animal or thing; examples include
epilepsy transferred to leaves, toothache transferred to a heated spear-thrower,
and black stones called karriitch thrown toward enemies to give them toothache.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: 3514-3527
quote_or_summary: A Moor transfers headache to a lamb or goat by beating it; a Bechuana
king sits on an ox while water is poured over him, and the ox is drowned and believed
to have died of the king's disease.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: 3527-3540
quote_or_summary: Among the Malagasy, a faditra is selected to carry away evils
or diseases; possible forms include ashes, cut money, sheep, and pumpkin, each
disposed of in a prescribed way.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: 3540-3544
quote_or_summary: A Malagasy man warned of bloody death is instructed to carry blood
on his head, mount a bullock, spill the blood on its head, and send it into the
wilderness where it may never return.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is strong because the passage is explicit. Motif and comparison
labels require caution because Frazer frames several origins as uncertain and
the passage is comparative scholarship rather than a single mythic narrative.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
No historical contact, common inheritance, or archetypal claim is inferred beyond comparisons explicitly made or functionally grouped in the supplied passage.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg__l3463-l3544
passage_sha256=1ca6ed1441467249f71869d0b104d9d3ce0b4cab17f61974ce0abd655c61b6aa