, must be on
working terms with the great world of spirits around him.
The knowledge of this spirit world constitutes the religion
of the African, and his customs and ceremonies arise from
his idea of the best way to influence it.

Or consider Henry Savage Lander's account of Thibet:

In Lhassa and many other sacred places fanatical pilgrims
make circumambulations, sometimes for miles and miles, and
for days together, covering the entire distance lying flat
upon their bodies.... From the ceiling of the temple hang
hundreds of long strips, katas, offered by pilgrims to the
temple, and becoming so many flying prayers when hung
up--for mechanical praying in every way is prominent in
Thibet.... Thus instead of having to learn by heart long and
varied prayers, all you have to do is to stuff the entire
prayer-book into a prayer-wheel,

and revolve it while repeating as fast as you can four words meaning,
"O God, the gem emerging from the lotus-flower." ... The attention of
the pilgrims is directed to a large box, or often a big bowl, where
they may deposit whatever offerings they can spare, and it must be
said that their religious ideas are so strongly developed that they
will dispose of a considerable portion of their money in this
fashion.... The Lamas are very clever in many ways, and have a great
hold over the entire country. They are ninety per cent of them
unscrupulous scamps, depraved in every way and given to every sort of
vice. So are the women Lamas. They live and sponge on the credulity
and ignorance of the crowds; it is to maintain this ignorance, upon
which their luxurious life depends, that foreign influence of every
kind is strictly kept out of the country.

#The Butcher-Gods#

In this last sentence we have summed up the fundamental fact about
institutionalized religion. Wherever belief and ritual have become the
means of livelihood of a class, all innovation will of necessity be
taken as an attack upon that class; it will be literally a
crime-robbing the priests of their age-long privileges. And of course
they will oppose the robber--using every weapon of terrorism, both of
this world and the next. They will require the submission, not merely
of their own people, but of their neighbors, and their jealousy of
rival priestly castes will be a cause of wars. The story of the early
days of mankind is a sickening record of torture and slaug