Section 7. Death and Revival of Vegetation.
THESE Russian customs are plainly of the same nature as those
which in Austria and Germany are known as "Carrying out Death."
Therefore if the interpretation here adopted of the latter is right, the
Russian Kostrubonko, Yarilo, and the rest must also have been
originally embodiments of the spirit of vegetation, and their death
must have been regarded as a necessary preliminary to their
revival. The revival as a sequel to the death is enacted in the first
of the ceremonies described, the death and resurrection of
Kostrubonko. The reason why in some of these Russian ceremonies
the death of the spirit of vegetation is celebrated at midsummer may
be that the decline of summer is dated from Midsummer Day, after
which the days begin to shorten, and the sun sets out on his
downward journey:
"To the darksome hollows
Where the frosts of winter lie."
Such a turning-point of the year, when vegetation might be thought
to share the incipient though still almost imperceptible decay of
summer, might very well be chosen by primitive man as a fit
moment for resorting to those magic rites by which he hopes to stay
the decline, or at least to ensure the revival, of plant life. 1
But while the death of vegetation appears to have been
represented in all, and its revival in some, of these spring and
midsummer ceremonies, there are features in some of them which
can hardly be explained on this hypothesis alone. The solemn
funeral, the lamentations, and the mourning attire, which often
characterise these rites, are indeed appropriate at the death of the
beneficent spirit of vegetation. But what shall we say of the glee
with which the effigy is often carried out, of the sticks and stones
with which it is assailed, and the taunts and curses which are
hurled at it? What shall we say of the dread of the effigy evinced
by the haste with which the bearers scamper home as soon as they
have thrown it away, and by the belief that some one must soon die
in any house into which it has looked? This dread might perhaps
be explained by a belief that there is a certain infectiousness in the
dead spirit of vegetation which renders its approach dangerous. But
this explanation, besides being rather strained, does not cover the
rejoicings which often attend the carrying out of Death. We must
therefore recognise two distinct and seemingly opposite features in
these ceremonies: on the one hand, sorrow for the death, and
affection and respect for the dead; on the other hand, fear and
hatred of the dead, and rejoicings at his death. How the former of
these features is to be explained I have attempted to show: how the
latter came to be so closely associated with the former is a question
which I shall try to answer in the sequel. 2