ient world. Here the whole
population took part, there were religious ceremonies, and the
consciousness of the presence of the deity was made more distinct not
only by visible and tangible representations, but often also by the fact
that these occasions were connected in current myths and legends with
histories of gods and ancient national experiences. Processions and
pilgrimages brought the people to sacred places to which stories were
attached, and the religious life became a series of object lessons. The
Greek and Roman calendars contain a great number of feast days, each
assigned to some god.[1998] The Hebrews at a comparatively early date
(eighth or ninth century B.C.) connected their great festivals with
remote national events;[1999] examples of festivals attached to recent
historical events are Purim,[2000] the Feast of Dedication established
in commemoration of the rededication of the temple by Judas Maccabaeus
(December, 165 B.C.) after the Syrian profanation,[2001] and the "Day of
Nicanor" commemorating the victory of Judas over that general (March,
161 B.C.).[2002] In the Hindu festivals (New Year's Day and during the
spring months) stories of gods formed a prominent feature.[2003] The
Greek Genesia, the season of mourning for the dead, came to be connected
with the victory of Marathon.[2004]

All such celebrations tend to become seasons of merrymaking, and the
religious element in them then receives less and less attention.[2005]
This remark holds of the festivals that Christianity took over from the
old religions, adapting them to the new conditions.[2006] Such occasions
lose their distinctive religious significance in proportion as the
events they commemorate recede into the past and become less and less
distinct. It is in very early times, when they are thought of as
representing realities, that they are religiously effective; in later
times they give way to more reflective forms of devotion.

+1090+. Vows, blessings, and curses may be considered to belong to
worship in the regard that they contain petitions to the deity; the
curse or the blessing, however, sometimes rested on a baldly objective
conception of the power of words, sometimes was held to be magical: once
uttered, the word, beneficent or maleficent, went to its object, person
or thing, did its work, and could not be recalled; its effect could be
set aside only by an utterance in the opposite direction.[2007] A
magician, by the power resident