02927cam a22003613u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000370011324501770015026400510032730000470037833600260042533700260045133800360047750000310051350803280054452013980087253400450227065300390231565300320235465300440238665300110243065300240244165300400246585600430250599900170254820116UtSlPG20260610133451.0mcr n260607r2006||||utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aBL1 aFrazer, James George,d1854-194114aThe Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume 1 (of 3) :bThe Belief Among the Aborigines of Australia, the Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea and Melanesia 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2006  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier  aRelease date is 2006-12-15  aE-text prepared by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, David King, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net/) from page images generously made available by the Humanities Text Initiative (http://www.hti.umich.edu/), a unit of the University of Michigan's Digital Library Production Service  a"The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume 1" by J. G. Frazer is a scholarly treatise on anthropology and religious studies written in the early 20th century. This first volume focuses specifically on the beliefs surrounding immortality and the cult of the dead as observed among aboriginal communities in Australia, the Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea, and Melanesia. The work delves into the profound influence that these beliefs exert on human life, seeking to elucidate their origins, practices, and cultural meanings.  At the start of the text, Frazer outlines the scope and methodology of his lectures, which were originally delivered at St. Andrews. He introduces the historical method of inquiry into religious beliefs, distancing his approach from dogmatic or philosophical discussions. The opening portion lays the groundwork for exploring the concept of immortality, emphasizing the necessity of understanding primitive religious ideas. He discusses how various communities perceive death, the afterlife, and their dead, positing that the worship of spirits is a universal aspect of human culture that has persisted through time. Frazer also highlights the need to study these primitive beliefs as they are rapidly fading in contemporary society, with the aim of preserving knowledge about humanity's shared past. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  nOriginal publication data not identified  aImmortality -- Comparative studies  aAncestor worship -- Oceania  aFuneral rites and ceremonies -- Oceania  aBurial  aOceania -- Religion  aOceania -- Social life and customs.40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20116  c61401d61401