The New Golden Bough. Sir James George Frazer.

The New Golden Bough
Sir James George Frazer. Edited by Dr. Theodore H. Caster.
New York: New American Library. 1890 (1959).

Why read it? Nonfiction. This book contains a thorough discussion of primitive superstitions. The book may appear to be of formidable length, but it is readable, entertaining and even humorous. I loved discovering ideas buried in my memory that had been passed on to me by my mother and other relatives. Readers will learn just how much our thoughts are controlled by ideas that go back to primitive people. They will be surprised by the degree to which these superstitions are part of our present-day thinking.

Study of primitive rites and cultures, vestiges of which underlie our own modern culture. Two major principles: homeopathy or 'like produces like' (pouring water induces rain) and contagion, that things or persons once in contact can forever after influence each other. The study of the slow and toilsome ascent of humanity from savagery to civilization. Contains "folk" cures for pimples, jaundice, etc.