Corn and Grapes
Corn and grapevines get the starring treatment in this text. Much of is made of the “corn god” and the “vine god.” The author turns to a simple metaphor familiar to Christian ritual to put things in perspective:
“when the god is a corn-god, the corn is his proper body; when he is a vine-god, the juice of the grape is his blood; and so by eating the bread and drinking the wine the worshipper partakes of the real body and blood of his god.”
Science
Although a text overwhelmingly concerned with religion and spiritual matters, the faith of the author is firmly in the arena of science. Science is really the new godhead here, as this assertion makes metaphorically plain:
“For ages the army of spirits, once so near, has been receding farther and farther from us, banished by the magic wand of science from hearth and home”
The Seasons of the Devil
Interestingly, history has revealed an unusual connection between the human desire to expunge evil from his world and the seasonal changes in climate:
“Certain seasons of the year mark themselves naturally out as appropriate moments for a general expulsion of devils…towards the close of an Arctic winter, when the sun reappears on the horizon after an absence of weeks or months…the Esquimaux choose the moment of the sun's reappearance to hunt the mischievous spirit Tuña from every house."
Not an Actual God, but a Reasonable Facsimile
One rather strange use of a simile is applied to a king whose people treat him as a god…but don’t go all in, exactly:
“The king of Loango is honoured by his people `as though he were a god; and he is called Sambee and Pango, which mean god. They believe that he can let them have rain when he likes; and once a year, in December, which is the time they want rain, the people come to beg of him to grant it to them.’"
Injuries Are Merely Metaphorical: Who Knew?
The author relates a story told by the ancient philosopher Pliny which seems to suggest that actual physical injuries are really just a metaphor not existing entirely within the concrete world:
“Pliny tells us that if you have wounded a man and are sorry for it, you have only to spit on the hand that gave the wound, and the pain of the sufferer will be instantly alleviated.”
