n individual relation to a guardian
spirit. The development of this higher religious conception will be
discussed below.[324]

+172+. Finally, instruction forms a part of most initiation ceremonies.
The youth is told the secrets of the tribe, and is thus inducted into
its higher and more intimate life.[325] This confiding of tribal secrets
(the tradition and the knowledge of sacred things) to the young man
about to enter on public life is a political necessity, but in the
nature of the case connects itself with religious conceptions.
Generally, also, moral instruction is given.[326] The ethical code is
usually good so far as intratribal relations are concerned (foreigners
are not considered): the youth is told that he must obey his elders,
respect the rights of his fellow clansmen, and especially be careful in
his attitude toward women. In some cases a supernatural sanction for
such instructions is added; it is impressed on the youth that some
supernatural being will punish him if he disobeys these instructions.
The moral code in question is one which springs naturally and
necessarily from the relations of men in society, and the supernatural
sanction affixed to it is a consequence of the belief that the tribal
deity is the lord of the tribe and the natural and most effective
guardian of its rights.

+173+. From this brief statement of initiation ceremonies it appears
that they rest substantially on social ideas and necessities. Religion
enters into them, as is pointed out above, when a superhuman being is
represented as the patron of the clan and the protector of its
ceremonies, or when the moral teaching is referred to such a being, or
when the initiate seeks a supernatural patron with whom to enter into
relations, or when, as in some North Australian tribes, the
supernatural being is believed to be angry at the omission of the
ceremonies. This last case might recall the displeasure of the Greek
gods when sacrifices to them were withheld or diminished; but more
probably it involves simply the belief that all important ceremonies and
affairs are under the control of the being in question, who demands
obedience to him as lord.

+174+. In later stages of savage or semicivilized life the clan
constitution as a rule has been succeeded by the formation of secret
societies, and then initiation into a society takes the place of the old
initiation into the clan.[327] Initiation into such a society is often
elaborate and so