EPISODE · Jun 19, 2026 · 50 MIN

IV. SACRED MEN AND WOMEN. Part 1. 1. AN ALTERNATIVE THEORY. Theory of the secular origin of sacred prostitution in Western Asia, It fails to account for the facts. 2. SACRED WOMEN IN INDIA. The dancing-girls of Southern India are at once prostitutes and wives of the god. 3. SACRED MEN AND WOMEN IN WEST AFRICA. Among the Ewe peoples the sacred prostitutes are regarded as the wives of the god, Human wives of serpent gods, Sacred men and women in West Africa supposed to be possessed by the deity. 4. SACRED WOMEN IN WESTERN ASIA. Sacred prostitutes of Western Asia probably viewed as possessed by the deity and married to him, Wives of the god in Babylon and Egypt. 5. SACRED MEN IN WESTERN ASIA. The sacred men (kedeshim] of Western Asia may have been regarded as possessed by the deity and representing him, The prophets, "holy men" in modern Syria. 6. SONS OF GOD. Belief that men and women may be the sons and daughters of a god, Sons of the serpent-god.

from Golden Bough. A Study in Magic and Religion. Part 4. Adonis Attis Osiris. Volume 1, The by James Frazer (1854 - 1941)

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jun 19, 2026