"Do Kamo" by Maurice Leenhardt & Jaynes' Theory
Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 1:05 am
Do Kamo: Person & Myth in the Melanesian World by Maurice Leenhardt was assigned by Jaynes to his students in the "Mentality of Tribes" section of his course. It describes the culture and customs of the Canaque (or Kanak), the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific.
The book should be read in its entirety, but below are a few quotes relevant to Jaynes's theory.
Chapter 3 - The Living Dead
"The bao is the ancestral god to whom prayer at the altar is addressed. The ritual of this prayer is simple. When the steam begins to escape from the sacrificial pot, the sacrificer raises the lid of bark with his left hand and holds it suspended while he leans into the steam which will carry away his words. He addresses his request to the gods: 'I summon you, fathers, grandfathers, elder brothers, and all the gods, so that you will accept this yam cooked here for you.'
"The bao is the ancestor, male or female, who is sought. Just below the roof of the tall conical native house there is often a kind of platform encircled by a railing from which pieces of old bark cloth hang. When the Canaque wants a place for solitude and meditation, he climbs up here to lie in what he calls, 'the railed bed.' Thus surrounded by bark cloths and their magical influence, he searches for visions and waits especially for a revelation. Then the god comes to find and instruct him" (p. 28 )
"The gods appear without bodies. This is not simply a detail belonging to legend. I saw young people in moments of crisis who heard their ancestral god summon them and who said, 'I see my grandfather. ... I see his hands. I see his head.' Never did they mention the body or the limbs. This vision of the god reduced to head and extremities is found in a variety of places, it is said, even in China" (p. 29).
"Society is composed of the living and the gods, and there is a constant exchange between the two" (p. 34).
The book should be read in its entirety, but below are a few quotes relevant to Jaynes's theory.
Chapter 3 - The Living Dead
"The bao is the ancestral god to whom prayer at the altar is addressed. The ritual of this prayer is simple. When the steam begins to escape from the sacrificial pot, the sacrificer raises the lid of bark with his left hand and holds it suspended while he leans into the steam which will carry away his words. He addresses his request to the gods: 'I summon you, fathers, grandfathers, elder brothers, and all the gods, so that you will accept this yam cooked here for you.'
"The bao is the ancestor, male or female, who is sought. Just below the roof of the tall conical native house there is often a kind of platform encircled by a railing from which pieces of old bark cloth hang. When the Canaque wants a place for solitude and meditation, he climbs up here to lie in what he calls, 'the railed bed.' Thus surrounded by bark cloths and their magical influence, he searches for visions and waits especially for a revelation. Then the god comes to find and instruct him" (p. 28 )
"The gods appear without bodies. This is not simply a detail belonging to legend. I saw young people in moments of crisis who heard their ancestral god summon them and who said, 'I see my grandfather. ... I see his hands. I see his head.' Never did they mention the body or the limbs. This vision of the god reduced to head and extremities is found in a variety of places, it is said, even in China" (p. 29).
"Society is composed of the living and the gods, and there is a constant exchange between the two" (p. 34).