Page 35 - Malaysia by John Russel Denyes

world of human affairs. They neither help nor
hinder, and therefore are but little considered.
They are neither worshiped nor propitiated. "Be-
lief in God has been reduced by nature worship,
fear of spirits, and moral coarseness, to a state
in which it is no longer recognizable. The host of
spirits born of fear thrust themselves between
God and man, and left behind that faded image of
God, which still throws a faint shadow on the
feelings of the people, but not on its thought,
which is therefore so full of contradictions. . . .
We meet with the idea of God as of a dimly-felt
highest court of appeal, enthroned above all the
gods that are known or named.''

It is not the supreme god who is considered, but
the mysterious forces of nature, for they are more
feared. The greater danger calls for the more
careful service and propitiation. There are spirits
which watch over the oceans, the rivers, the rocks,
the harvests, the forests, the beasts of the field,
and the fowls of the air. Food, comfort, health,
children, and life itself are in the hands of these
lower deities. At any time one of these may be-
come offended by lack of cosideration and then
there is trouble ahead. Hence the poor animist
is in a constant state of fear and anxiety.
''From a universal soul, an indestructible store
of life, living souls flow to men, animals, plants,
metals, instruments, houses, etc.'' Hence the all
important question for the animist is to protect
and enrich his own soul. The accumulation of
goods means the increase of soul-stuff. This soul-
stuff is especially rich and plentiful about human
beings, and doubly so about the human head.
Hence the taker of a human head adds materially
to his own soul-stuff, and thereby adds to his
prospects in the world to come as well as to his
prestige here on earth."

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