Note 838 — Chapter IV · MAGIC AND RELIGION

The suggestion has been made by Prof. H. Oldenberg (Die Religion des Veda, p. 59), who seems, however, to regard a belief in spirits as part of the raw material of magic. If the view which I have put forward tentatively is correct, faith in magic is probably older than a belief in spirits. The same view as to the priority of magic to religion, and apparently also as to the absence of spirits from primitive magic, was held by Hegel. It was not until long after the discussion in the text had been written that I became aware that my conclusions had been to a large extent anticipated by the German philosopher. See Appendix at the end of this volume.