s imitates the movements of the animal sought.[264]

+130+. Very elaborate ceremonies including imitations of animals
(imitative or sympathetic magic) are found in Central Australia.[265]
When any animal is to be hunted the old men of the appropriate totemic
group, dressed to imitate the totem and accompanied by some of the young
men, repair to a spot regarded as sacred, and, along with other
ceremonies, trace on the sacred rock, with blood drawn from the young
men, a picture of the animal, or figures representing its growth--in
general, something that sets forth its personality. These ceremonies,
very numerous and extending over a long space of time, constitute the
main business of the elders, as, in fact, the procuring of food is the
chief concern of the people.

+131+. There is no perceptible religious element in these Australian
ceremonies--no utterance of charms or prayers, no mention of any
supernatural being. The acts appear to be simply procedures of imitative
magic, customs sanctified by long usage. They relate to the life of the
tribe; this life, like all life, is mysterious and therefore
sacred.[266] The belief in the potency of the ceremonies appears to come
from belief in the vital identity of the two groups, human and
nonhuman--the latter is supposed to respond, in some occult way, to the
expression of kinship involved in the official proceedings.

+132+. The employment of blood (considered as the locus of life) may
indicate more definitely a sense of the unity of life-force; the human
blood is, perhaps, supposed to stimulate life in the kindred animal
group, and so to produce a large supply of individuals. In the
published accounts there is no hint that the blood is supposed to have
atoning power. There is no sense of wrongdoing or unworthiness on the
part of the performers, or of any relation to a deity. The theology of
Central Australia is still obscure--the general religious situation in
that region has much that is enigmatical.

+133+. A more advanced ritual occurs among certain agricultural tribes,
among whom is found a more elaborate use of blood and a definite
recognition of superhuman beings. In these communities it is regarded as
necessary to profitable tilling to fertilize the soil with the blood of
a slain victim, sometimes human (as among the Khonds of Orissa, the
Pawnees, and others[267]), sometimes bestial (as in Southern
India[268]); parts of the victim's flesh are buried, or blood is
s