Note 648 — Chapter VI · ORIGINS OF THESE BELIEFS—continued The Notion of the Totemic Principle, or Mana, and the Idea of Force

Nat. Tr., p. 548, n. 1. It is true that Spencer and Gillen add: "The idea can be best expressed by saying that an Arungquiltha object is possessed of an evil spirit." But this free translation of Spencer and Gillen is their own unjustified interpretation. The idea of the arungquiltha in no way implies the existence of spiritual beings, as is shown by the context and Strehlow's definition.