The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-02-16

Dr. Brinton's Lecture Last Evening-Com-
 munity and Individual Religious Rites
 How Our Games Originated Marriage
 and Death Ceremonies-Report About
 the Origin of Mince Pies.
 That dancing, poker playing, back gammon, marriage and festival days have their origin in religious rites and ceremonies are among the rather novel ideas gleaned from Dr. Brinton's lec- ture last evening in Osborn hall The lecture was the fifth in the course thus far given by Dr. Brinton on Primitive Religions" and was well attended and very interesting.
 The doctor commenced by saying that religious rites are of two kinds-those of the community and those of the in diVidual Primitive peoples invariably assemble themselves together for their own peculiar tribal rites and ceremo- nies. The pastime of dancing began at first as a religious ceremony and is found in the religions of all primitive peoples. Many examples of this may be observed among our Indian tribes, where oftentimes as many as 5000 or 1000 Indians will join in these religious dances. At first the dance is rigid and stiff, but warns up till it is filled with religious fervor. It never degenerates into anything that is degrading. There is no place in these dances for the high kickers upon our theatrical stages. The games of backgammon, check CTS and shell dominoes also have their origin in religious rites among primi- tive people. Why are there fifty-two reason that the old Aztecs regarded | fifty-two years as a sacred cycle. The same is true of poker, where four aces beat the pack because in some remote time they were considered by primitive | peoples to represent the four gods who governed the four corners of the world. The spots on the dice in back-gam- I mon stood for some sacred formula among the primitive originators of the games.
 These statements may sound some what fanatical, but we can trace these games back by perfectly logical steps to their origin in religious formulas or | rites.
 The holidays we observe also have a religious origin, being in many 1n- stances days set apart as sacred to the gods of primitive peoples. Examples of this are Easter which takes it's name from goddess Austera, May Day and Harvest Home.
 All of these were originally days of religious observance. This observance was joyful in it's nature and had for it's l purpose the propitiation of the gods. An apparently sad element on these occasions was that of sacrifice, but this was a free-will gift to the gods. The worshippers gave the best they had to please their dieties. Gradually the gods grew avaricious, and to propitiate them the father lifted his knife against his eldest son and the mother threw her babe into the flames to appease Mo loch. Everywhere we see these sacri- i fees: there is hardly tribe that does not have them. Some even say that the mince pie we eat at Christmas time had it's origin in a pie eaten at the winter solstice festival by the ancient Germans, and made by them of chop ped-up babies
 l In these primitive rites the worship pers sought spiritual communion with the deitieS, and they sought sometimes to make themselves gods by initiating the animal which was the totem of their tribe in which the deity was SUD- posed to dwell.
 | Another idea was to make corporeal union with the deity, an idea present in all religions and exemplified in our own by the eucharist. Communal rites belong for the most part to exter- nal religion. These rites become pc ri fled and formal in their nature. Thus prayers are written on a slip of paper which, being turned over, is supposed to be prayed with each revolut n. The easiest form of prayer l have heard of is that used by one race of people where the paper is attached to a wheel which is made to revolve by water and thus the prayer is made. As religion becomes formal the spirit dies out of it and we see decay in it just as we hay seen the growth.
 Many individual rites are similar tC those in use among us. The ceremony of baptism existed among the Aztecs and also among several races of South America. Among one of these latter peoples it was regarded as a purifica- tion from sin There were baptisms
 by water and also by fire. One tribe passed four-days-old babies over the flames, believing it had an invigoratins effect upon them. The ceremony of name was also sacredly observed by them, the name being considered part of the individual and being often taken from the day of the birth or circum- stances connected with it. This ac- counts for the curious names found among primitive peoples.
 i Another important rite in the life of the individual was that at the time of the boys entry upon manhood. He secluded himself in the forest. and by fasting and suffering sought to find the tutelary deity of his life. Young wO- men also sought the tutelary deity oi their lives by fasting and religious rites in the communal house.
 | Marriage was a religious device ir spite of the common belief that it grew out of capture or purchase. The laws among primitive peoples respecting marriage were very much stricter in some respects than they are among us L E