The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion

According to an ancient legend, the Golden Bough, torn from the sacred tree, grants a person a kind of freedom. Inspired by this tradition, British anthropologist and folklorist Sir James George Frazer unfolds a tapestry of beliefs from around the world – from the most ancient cults and beliefs to mysterious initiation rites, ritual meals, and the relocation of souls. What ideas shaped the worldview of primitive humans? What unites the ancient customs, rituals, and superstitions of different peoples? How has human perception of the afterlife and departure from the earthly world changed? By what methods did people try to protect themselves from the influence of hostile spirits?

First published in 1890, «The Golden Bough» is still regarded as a classic study in the history of religion and magical beliefs. This monumental work, translated into dozens of languages, garnered the author international recognition and had a tremendous impact on whole generations of outstanding psychologists, writers, and poets.

«Ultimately, magic, religion, and science are merely ways of theoretical thinking, and just as science has replaced its predecessors, another more perfect hypothesis may come to replace it in the future. Perhaps it will be a radically different perspective on things that our generation cannot even begin to imagine. The progress of knowledge is an endless advancement toward a perpetually elusive goal. And it is hardly worth complaining that this search has no end,» - James George Frazer