batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l4270-l4347
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg-l4270-l4347
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 4270-4347'
start: '4270'
end: '4347'
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 distinguishes direct expulsions of ills from expulsions in which
evils are embodied in visible figures or loaded onto a material vehicle. He gives
examples involving disguised or painted people chased away as devils among the
Pomos, Mandan, Cambodian palace ritual, Kasyas, and Carmona, then describes a
Ceram rite in which sicknesses are invited into a small provisioned ship and sent
away by sea.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: The passage introduces a class of expulsions in which evil influences are
embodied in visible form or placed on a material medium that carries them away
from a community.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The Pomos of California are described as celebrating an expulsion of devils
every seven years with disguised men representing devils.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: In the Pomo example, masqueraders wear paint and pitch vessels on their heads,
enter from the mountains with flames and noise, and are eventually chased back
into the mountains.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: In the Mandan example, a black-painted man represents the devil, enters from
the prairie, frightens women, participates in a buffalo dance, and is chased from
the village.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: In the Cambodian palace example, men painted as fiends are chased by elephants
around palace courts and then excluded by a consecrated cotton thread stretched
around the palace.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: In the Kasya example, an annual demon-expulsion ceremony includes two bands
of men pulling a rope across a stream, with one side probably representing demons.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: In the Carmona example, boys smeared with glue and feathers run from house
to house while people try to avoid them and bar their houses.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: The passage then distinguishes cases where expelled demons are not represented
visibly but are thought to be present invisibly in a visible material vehicle.
category: other
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: In the Ceram example, a village suffering from sickness makes a small ship
filled with contributed goods, including rice, tobacco, and eggs.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: In the Ceram rite, sicknesses are addressed directly and told that a ship
and provisions have been prepared for them so that they may depart and never return.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:11
text: The Ceram vessel is carried to shore and set adrift; after it disappears,
the sicknesses are proclaimed gone and the villagers rejoice with instruments.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Pomos of California
description: Community described as celebrating a seven-year expulsion of devils.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Pomo disguised men / devils
description: Men in costume and paint with flaming pitch vessels on their heads,
personifying devils.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Pomo herald
description: A herald who speaks from the top of the assembly-house before the masqueraders
appear.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Pomo men, women, and children
description: The women and children flee; men protect them and later expel the represented
devils.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Mandan black-painted man / devil
description: A man painted black to represent the devil in the Mandan festival.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Mandan women
description: Women who are frightened and later pursue the represented devil with
hisses, gibes, sticks, and dirt.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Cambodian men painted as fiends
description: Men painted as fiends and chased about the palace courts by elephants.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Elephants in Cambodian palace rite
description: Elephants that chase the men painted as fiends around the palace courts.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Kasyas of Assam
description: Hill tribe described as annually expelling demons.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Kasya bands of men
description: Two bands of men who pull opposite ends of a rope across a stream during
the ceremony.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Carmona boys
description: Boys stripped naked, smeared with glue, and covered with feathers,
running house to house.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Southern Ceram villagers
description: Village community suffering sickness and contributing provisions for
a small ship.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Ceram caller
description: A man who loudly addresses the sicknesses and later announces their
departure.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: Ceram sicknesses
description: Sicknesses such as smallpox, agues, and measles addressed as departing
entities to be carried away by ship.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: fig:15
name_or_label: Ceram bearers
description: Ten or twelve men who carry the prepared vessel to the shore and let
it drift away.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
roles:
- id: role:1
label: ritual community
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:9
- fig:12
basis: The passage identifies communities performing expulsion ceremonies or preparing
the vehicle of removal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:5
- ev:8
- id: role:2
label: embodied devil or demon representative
assigned_to:
- fig:2
- fig:5
- fig:7
- fig:11
basis: These figures are described as disguised, painted, or probably relic forms
representing devils, fiends, or demons.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: ritual announcer or speaker
assigned_to:
- fig:3
- fig:13
basis: The Pomo herald addresses the crowd, and the Ceram man addresses the sicknesses
and announces their removal.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: role:4
label: community defenders or pursuers
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:6
basis: Pomo men fight and chase the devils; Mandan women pursue and strike the represented
devil.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:5
label: expelling agents
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: Elephants chase the painted fiends around the Cambodian palace courts.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: role:6
label: ritual contestants
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: The Kasya men stand on opposite sides of a stream and tug on a rope during
the annual ceremony.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: personified illnesses to be expelled
assigned_to:
- fig:14
basis: The Ceram speech directly addresses sicknesses and tells them to depart by
ship.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:8
label: vehicle bearers
assigned_to:
- fig:15
basis: Ten or twelve men carry the sickness-laden vessel to the shore and let it
drift away.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: flaming pitch vessels
literal_form: Vessels of pitch flaming on the heads of Pomo masqueraders.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:2
label: firebrands
literal_form: Blazing firebrands swung by Pomo men against the represented devils.
associated_figures:
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: mountains
literal_form: Surrounding mountains from which the Pomo devil-representatives enter
and to which they are chased away.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs:
- mountain
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: consecrated cotton thread
literal_form: A consecrated cotton thread stretched around the Cambodian palace
to keep expelled devils out.
associated_figures: []
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: sym:5
label: stream
literal_form: A stream across which the Kasya rope is stretched during the tugging
contest.
associated_figures:
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:6
label: rope across water
literal_form: A rope stretched across a stream and pulled by two bands of men.
associated_figures:
- fig:10
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:7
label: feather disguise
literal_form: Glue with feathers stuck to boys' bodies in the Carmona rite.
associated_figures:
- fig:11
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:8
label: small ship of sickness
literal_form: A small ship filled with rice, tobacco, eggs, and other provisions
to carry sickness away.
associated_figures:
- fig:12
- fig:14
- fig:15
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:9
label: sail and sea-drift
literal_form: A little sail on the ship, which is set adrift from shore with the
land-breeze.
associated_figures:
- fig:14
- fig:15
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:10
label: gongs and tinkling instruments
literal_form: Instruments beaten by villagers after the sicknesses are declared
gone.
associated_figures:
- fig:12
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Pomo seven-year devil expulsion
summary: Disguised men personify devils, arrive from the mountains with fire and
noise, frighten the crowd, enter the assembly-house, and are then expelled and
chased back to the mountains.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Mandan spring devil expulsion
summary: During a spring annual festival, a black-painted man representing the devil
enters from the prairie, frightens women, takes part in a buffalo dance, and is
chased from the village.
figure_refs:
- fig:5
- fig:6
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:3
label: Cambodian palace purge
summary: On the last night of the year, men painted as fiends are chased by elephants
around the palace courts and expelled, after which a consecrated cotton thread
is stretched around the palace.
figure_refs:
- fig:7
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:4
label: Kasya annual demon expulsion contest
summary: Two bands of men stand on opposite sides of a stream and tug at a rope
stretched across the water as part of an annual demon-expulsion ceremony.
figure_refs:
- fig:9
- fig:10
symbol_refs:
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:5
label: Carmona feathered boys
summary: Boys covered with glue and feathers run from house to house while people
avoid them and bar their houses; Frazer presents this as probably a relic of an
annual devil-expulsion rite.
figure_refs:
- fig:11
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: scene:6
label: Ceram sickness ship
summary: A sick village prepares a provisioned small ship, addresses the sicknesses
as passengers to depart, sets the vessel adrift from shore, and celebrates when
it disappears.
figure_refs:
- fig:12
- fig:13
- fig:14
- fig:15
symbol_refs:
- sym:8
- sym:9
- sym:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: expulsion of evil through visible representatives
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Several examples describe disguised or painted human figures as devils, fiends,
or demon-like beings who are chased away from a community or palace.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The passage reports these examples through Frazer's comparative framing;
individual local meanings are not independently supplied here.
- id: motif:2
label: material vehicle carrying away illness or demons
taxonomy_refs:
- ark_vessel
basis: The passage explicitly says invisible demons may be present in a material
vehicle; the Ceram example uses a small ship provisioned for sicknesses and sent
away by water.
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The available taxonomy term 'ark_vessel' only partially matches the described
small sickness-bearing ship; it is not an ark in the passage.
- id: motif:3
label: periodic communal purification at calendrical intervals
taxonomy_refs:
- seasonal_cycle
basis: 'The passage gives periodic rites: Pomo every seven years, Mandan in spring,
Cambodian on the last night of the year, and Kasya annually.'
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The seasonal or calendrical timing varies across examples.
- id: motif:4
label: fire used against represented demons
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: In the Pomo example, devil-representatives wear flaming pitch vessels, and
defenders swing blazing firebrands while attacking them.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: medium
cautions: This motif is explicit only in the Pomo example within this passage.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The Pomo, Mandan, Cambodian, Kasya, and Carmona examples are grouped in the
passage as variants of a pattern in which devils or demons are represented by
visible human figures and driven away.
claim_level: same_motif
target: visible embodiment and expulsion of devils or demons
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The grouping is Frazer's comparative classification; the passage does
not establish historical contact among the communities.
- id: claim:2
claim: The Ceram sickness-ship example is presented as the same broad function of
expelling ills, but with an invisible presence placed in a material vehicle rather
than an openly represented demon figure.
claim_level: same_function
target: expulsion of ills by a material carrier
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:7
- ev:8
- ev:9
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The passage compares functional form only and does not claim a shared
origin with the visible-representative rites.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 4270-4276
quote_or_summary: Frazer distinguishes direct expulsion from a second class in which
evil influences are embodied visibly or loaded onto a material medium that draws
them off from a people, village, or town.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 4276-4301
quote_or_summary: 'The Pomos of California hold a seven-year expulsion of devils:
disguised men with paint and flaming pitch vessels personify devils, come from
the mountains, frighten the crowd, enter the assembly-house, and are chased back
into the mountains after sham fighting.'
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 4301-4310
quote_or_summary: The Mandan spring festival includes a black-painted man representing
the devil who enters from the prairie, frightens women, acts as a buffalo bull
in a buffalo dance, and is chased from the village by women with hisses, gibes,
sticks, and dirt.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 4310-4314
quote_or_summary: On the last night of the year, the Cambodian royal palace is purged
of devils by men painted as fiends being chased by elephants; after expulsion,
a consecrated cotton thread is stretched around the palace to keep them out.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 4314-4322
quote_or_summary: The Kasyas annually expel demons; part of the ceremony is a rope-pulling
struggle between two bands of men on opposite sides of a stream, with one side
probably representing demons.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 4322-4326
quote_or_summary: At Carmona in Andalusia, boys covered with glue and feathers run
from house to house while people avoid and bar their houses; the passage calls
this probably a relic of an annual expulsion of devils.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 4327-4332
quote_or_summary: Frazer says that more often expelled demons are not represented
visibly but are understood to be invisibly present in a visible material vehicle
that conveys them away.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 4332-4343
quote_or_summary: In southern Ceram, when a village suffers sickness, people make
a small ship filled with contributed rice, tobacco, eggs, and other goods; a man
addresses the sicknesses and tells them that the ship and provisions are ready
for their voyage away from the village.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 4343-4347
quote_or_summary: Ten or twelve men carry the Ceram vessel to the shore and let
it drift away; when it is lost to sight, a man announces that the sicknesses have
gone, and the people rejoice with gongs and tinkling instruments.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-2-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: high
notes: The passage is a comparative prose discussion with explicit classifications,
making extraction of described roles and patterns relatively direct. Taxonomy
mapping is more tentative where available terms only partly match the material.
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: |-
All interpretations are limited to the supplied passage. No historical-contact claims are made.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-2-frazer-gutenberg__l4270-l4347
passage_sha256=c9931c1bf9078da57fc6310f3fc1def798cd6cb0988b10cbff8bbc8e91eea3d2