Note 4 — Religion and Superstitious Beliefs and Practices

A knotted wisp of grass is, I think, a common form of taboo sign in parts of New Guinea; and Dr. Seligmann refers (Melanesians of British New Guinea, pp. 136 to 138) to its use by the Koita for the protection of cocoanuts and other trees and firewood, and as part of the protective sign for new gardens. The use of the wisp by the Mafulu people, as above described, is not a taboo used for the protection of an object from human interference, being intended to protect the travellers in some way from the spirit or spirits haunting the spot. But there is, I think, an underlying similarity of superstitious ideas involved by the two purposes for which the wisps are used.