When the fetish acts by force of its own proper spirit, it is something more than mere Animism ([v. above, p. 77]). It does not become a fetish by applying the general belief in souls to a special object, but by a process which has been divided by Schultze into four stages ([62, 215-223]):—
1. The value which an uncultured man attributes to any object is often exaggerated, especially if the object is in any way conspicuous, unusual, or mysterious.
2. He attributes to it an anthropopathic nature, believing that all natural objects are like man, with human characteristics.
3. By the causal connection of ideas he associates the object with auspicious or inauspicious events, which he believes it to influence.
4. A belief in its power leads him to reverence it, and to attempt to conciliate and propitiate the power by worship.
As an example, the anchor cast up on the beach at the mouth of the river Keissi ([45]) may be cited:—
1. The anchor was an unusual object, and was therefore credited with an exaggerated value and regarded with great interest.
2. It was believed to possess a life of its own, a soul or spirit, somewhat analogous to man’s.
3. A Kaffir broke off a piece of the anchor, and he soon afterwards died. The two events were associated with one another, and the breaking of the anchor was believed to have caused the death.
4. The power of the anchor-spirit was thus established, and the natives worshipped it in fear and hope.