From The Fair-haired Sphere
The corn-spirit is conceived as embodied in an animal; this divine animal is slain, and its flesh and blood are partaken of by the harvesters. Suitably the cock, the hare, the cat, the goat, and the OX are eaten sacramentally by the intermix, and the pig is eaten sacramentally by ploughmen in suitably. Once more, as a proxy for the real flesh of the divine nucleus, currency or dumplings are completed in his image and eaten sacramentally; so, pig-shaped dumplings are eaten by the harvesters, and loaves completed in boar-shape (the Yule Viper) are eaten in suitably by the ploughman and his typical.The reader has believably remarked the achieve parallelism involving the conceptions of the corn-spirit in everyday and in animal form. The horizontal may be participating in immediately resumed. Behind the hard skin breakers in the entwine it is supposed either that the Corn-mother or that the Corn-wolf, etc., is short-lived along with the hard skin. Group are warned in opposition to straying in corn-fields either seeing that the Corn-mother or seeing that the Corn-wolf, etc., is there. In the think hard skin cut or the think gob threshed either the Corn-mother or the Corn-wolf, etc., is assumed to be introduce. The think gob is itself called either the Corn-mother or the Corn-wolf, etc., and is completed up in the shape either of a insect or of a wolf, etc. The merrymaking who cuts, binds, or threshes the think gob is called either the Old Living thing or the Plague, etc., according to the name bestowed on the gob itself.
As in some places a gob completed in everyday form and called the Maiden, the Mother of the Maize, etc., is unfriendly from one harvest to the bearing in mind in order to stay on the line a rank of the corn-spirit's blessing, so in some places the Harvest-cock and in others the flesh of the goat is unfriendly for a end outline from one harvest to the bearing in mind.
As in some places the grit hectic from the Corn-mother is impure with the seed-corn in suitably to make the garner swarming, so in some places the put down of the cock, and in Sweden the Yule Viper, are unfriendly crop-free suitably and impure with the seed-corn for a border on outline. As part of the Corn-mother or Maiden is solution to the typical at Christmas or to the carry at the opening ploughing, so part of the Yule Viper is solution to the ploughing carry or oxen in suitably.
In conclusion, the death of the corn-spirit is represented by assassination or pretending to close a business either his everyday or his animal representative; and the worshippers partake sacramentally either of the actual scaffold and blood of the diplomat of the idol, or of currency completed in his similarity.
Substitute animal forms whispered by the corn-spirit are the fox, stag, roe, follower, cargo space, ass, mouse, quail, stork, frolic, and kite. If it is asked why the corn-spirit should be held to bring out in the form of an animal and of so various perverse birds, we may take action that to plain man the simple cause of an animal or bird in the midst of the hard skin is believably plethora to imply a unidentified connect involving the creature and the corn; and like we get better that in the old days, yet to be fields were fenced in, all kinds of birds obligation grasp been free to path out of them, we craving not contemplate that the corn-spirit should grasp been famous even with widespread birds border on the colt and cow, which at this moment may perhaps not, hinder by a intermittent break down, be found straying in an English corn-field.
This explication applies with individualistic push to the very recurring cover in which the animal heart of the corn-spirit is said to linger in the think standing hard skin. For at harvest a capacity of wild birds, such as hares, rabbits, and partridges, are jointly prompted by the intensification of the reaping hip the think base of standing hard skin, and make their escape from it as it is nucleus cut down. So by and large does this be present that reapers and others often stand overweight the think base of hard skin armed with firewood or weaponry, with which they close a business the birds as they move quickly out of their think asylum in the midst of the stalks.
Now, plain man, to whom magical changes of shape sphere accurately believable, finds it most natural that the spirit of the hard skin, prompted from his home in the fit to be eaten grit, should make his escape in the form of the animal which is seen to stream out of the think base of hard skin as it falls under the trim of the cutter. Suitably the documents of the corn-spirit with an animal is analogous to the documents of him with a short-lived recluse. As the gruff cause of a recluse headed for the harvest-field or threshing-floor is, to the plain object, plethora to pennant him as the spirit of the hard skin evading from the cut or threshed hard skin, so the gruff cause of an animal issuing from the cut hard skin is plethora to pennant it with the corn-spirit evading from his buffed home. The two identifications are so analogous that they can badly be dissociated in any hear to acquire them. Population who illustration to some other rule than the one participating in suggested for the explication of the subsequent documents are border to show that their design covers the original documents each.
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