P.994 - §5 Prereligious praying was part of the mana practices of the Melanesians, the oudah beliefs of the African Pygmies, and the manitou superstitions of the North American Indians. The Baganda tribes of Africa have only recently emerged from the mana level of prayer. In this early evolutionary confusion men pray to gods--local and national--to fetishes, amulets, ghosts, rulers, and to ordinary people.
P.967 - §7 When animals became fetishes, there ensued the taboos
on eating the flesh of the fetish animal. Apes and monkeys, because of
resemblance to man, early became fetish animals; later, snakes, birds,
and swine were also similarly regarded. P.968 - §0 At one time the
cow was a fetish, the milk being taboo while the excreta were highly esteemed.
The serpent was revered in Palestine, especially by the Phoenicians, who,
along with the Jews, considered it to be the mouthpiece of evil spirits.
Even many moderns believe in the charm powers of reptiles. From Arabia
on through India to the snake dance of the Moqui tribe of red men the
serpent has been revered.
