[21] Ibid. p. 184.
[22] Friend, ‘Euphemism and Tabu in China,’ in Folk-Lore Record, iv. 76. Cf. Edkins, Religion in China, p. 72.
[23] Sell, Faith of Islám, p. 185. Lane, Modern Egyptians, p. 273.
[24] Exodus, xx. 7.
[25] Herzog-Plitt, Real-Encyklopädie für protestantische Theologie, vi. 501 sq.
[26] Nyrop, loc. cit. p. 155 sqq.
These taboos have sprung from fear. There is, first, something uncanny in mentioning the name of a supernatural being, even apart from any definite ideas connected with the act. But to do so is also supposed to summon him or to attract his attention, and this may be considered dangerous, especially if he is looked upon as malevolent or irritable, as is generally the case with the Moorish jnûn. The uncanny feeling or the notion of danger readily leads to the belief that the supernatural being feels offended if his name is pronounced; we have noticed a similar association of thought in connection with the names of the dead. But a god may also have good reason for wishing that his name should not be used lightly or taken in vain. According to primitive ideas a person’s name is a part of his personality, hence the holiness of a god may be polluted by his name being mentioned in profane conversation. Moreover, it may be of great importance for him to prevent his name from being divulged, as magic may be wrought on a person through his name just as easily as through any part of his body. In early civilisation there is a common tendency to keep the real name of a human individual secret so that sorcerers may not make an evil use of it;[27] and it is similarly believed that gods must conceal their true names lest other gods or men should be able to conjure with them.[28] The great Egyptian god Râ declared that the name which his father and mother had given him remained hidden in his body since his birth, so that no magician might have magic power over him.[29] The list of divine names possessed by the Roman pontiffs in their indigitamenta was a magical instrument which laid at their mercy all the forces of the spirit world;[30] and we are told that the Romans kept the name of their tutelary god secret in order to prevent their enemies from drawing him away by pronouncing it.[31] There is a Muhammedan tradition that whosoever calls upon Allah by his “great name” will obtain all his desires, being able merely by mentioning it to raise the dead to life, to kill the living, in fact to perform any miracle he pleases.[32]
[27] Tylor, Early History of Mankind, p. 139 sqq. Andree, Ethnographische Parallelen, p. 179 sqq. Frazer, Golden Bough, i. 403 sqq. Clodd, Tom Tit Tot, pp. 53–55, 81 sqq. Haddon, Magic and Fetishism, p. 22 sq.
[28] Tylor, op. cit. p. 124 sq. Frazer, op. cit. i. 443. Clodd, op. cit. p. 173. Haddon, op. cit. p. 23 sqq.
[29] Frazer, op. cit. i. 444.