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The same confusion of magic and religion has survived among peoples that have risen to higher levels of culture。 It was rife in ancient India and ancient Egypt； it is by no means extinct among European peasantry at the present day。 With regard to ancient India we are told by an eminent Sanscrit scholar that the sacrificial ritual at the earliest period of which we have detailed information is pervaded with practices that breathe the spirit of the most primitive magic。 Speaking of the importance of magic in the East； and especially in Egypt； Professor Maspero remarks that we ought not to attach to the word magic the degrading idea which it almost inevitably calls up in the mind of a modern。 Ancient magic was the very foundation of religion。 The faithful who desired to obtain some favour from a god had no chance of succeeding except by laying hands on the deity； and this arrest could only be effected by means of a certain number of rites； sacrifices； prayers； and chants； which the god himself had revealed； and which obliged him to do what was demanded of him。
Among the ignorant classes of modern Europe the same confusion of ideas； the same mixture of religion and magic； crops up in various forms。 Thus we are told that in France the majority of the peasants still believe that the priest possesses a secret and irresistible power over the elements。 By reciting certain prayers which he alone knows and has the right to utter； yet for the utterance of which he must afterwards demand absolution； he can； on an occasion of pressing danger； arrest or reverse for a moment the action of the eternal laws of the physical world。 The winds； the storms； the hail； and the rain are at his command and obey his will。 The fire also is subject to him； and the flames of a conflagration are extinguished at his word。 For example； French peasants used to be； perhaps are still； persuaded that the priests could celebrate； with certain special rites； a Mass of the Holy Spirit； of which the efficacy was so miraculous that it never met with any opposition from the divine will； God was forced to grant whatever was asked of Him in this form； however rash and importunate might be the petition。 No idea of impiety or irreverence attached to the rite in the minds of those who； in some of the great extremities of life； sought by this singular means to take the kingdom of heaven by storm。 The secular priests generally refused to say the Mass of the Holy Spirit； but the monks； especially the Capuchin friars； had the reputation of yielding with less scruple to the entreaties of the anxious and distressed。 In the constraint thus supposed by Catholic peasantry to be laid by the priest upon the deity we seem to have an exact counterpart of the power which the ancient Egyptians ascribed to their magicians。 Again； to take another example； in many villages of Provence the priest is still reputed to possess the faculty of averting storms。 It is not every priest who enjoys this reputation； and in some villages； when a change of pastors takes place； the parishioners are eager to learn whether the new incumbent has the power （pouder）； as they call it。 At the first sign of a heavy storm they put him to the proof by inviting him to exorcise the threatening clouds； and if the result answers to their hopes； the new shepherd is assured of the sympathy and respect of his flock。 In some parishes； where the reputation of the curate in this respect stood higher than that of his rector； the relations between the two have been so strained in consequence that the bishop has had to translate the rector to another benefice。 Again； Gascon peasants believe that to revenge themselves on their enemies bad men will sometimes induce a priest to say a mass called the Mass of Saint Sécaire。 Very few priests know this mass； and three…fourths of those who do know it would not say it for love or money。 None but wicked priests dare to perform the gruesome ceremony； and you may be quite sure that they will have a very heavy account to render for it at the last day。 No curate or bishop； not even the archbishop of Auch； can pardon them； that right belongs to the pope of Rome alone。 The Mass of Saint Sécaire may be said only in a ruined or deserted church； where owls mope and hoot； where bats flit in the gloaming； where gypsies lodge of nights； and where toads squat under the desecrated altar。 Thither the bad priest comes by night with his light o' love； and at the first stroke of eleven he begins to mumble the mass backwards； and ends just as the clocks are knelling the midnight hour。 His leman acts as clerk。 The host he blesses is black and has three points； he consecrates no wine； but instead he drinks the water of a well into which the body of an unbaptized infant has been flung。 He makes the sign of the cross； but it is on the ground and with his left foot。 And many other things he does which no good Christian could look upon without being struck blind and deaf and dumb for the rest of his life。 But the man for whom the mass is said withers away little by little； and nobody can say what is the matter with him； even the doctors can make nothing of it。 They do not know that he is slowly dying of the Mass of Saint Sécaire。
Yet though magic is thus found to fuse and amalgamate with religion in many ages and in many lands； there are some grounds for thinking that this fusion is not primitive； and that there was a time when man trusted to magic alone for the satisfaction of such wants as transcended his immediate animal cravings。 In the first place a consideration of the fundamental notions of magic and religion may incline us to surmise that magic is older than religion in the history of humanity。 We have seen that on the one hand magic is nothing but a mistaken application of the very simplest and most elementary processes of the mind； namely the association of ideas by virtue of resemblance or contiguity； and that on the other hand religion assumes the operation of conscious or personal agents； superior to man； behind the visible screen of nature。 Obviously the conception of personal agents is more complex than a simple recognition of the similarity or contiguity of ideas； and a theory which assumes that the course of nature is determined by conscious agents is more abstruse and recondite； and requires for its apprehension a far higher degree of intelligence and reflection； than the view that things succeed each other simply by reason of their contiguity or resemblance。 The very beasts associate the ideas of things that are like each other or that have been found together in their experience； and they could hardly survive for a day if they ceased to do so。 But who attributes to the animals a belief that the phenomena of nature are worked by a multitude of invisible animals or by one enormous and prodigiously strong animal behind the scenes？ It is probably no injustice to the brutes to assume that the honour of devising a theory of this latter sort must be reserved for human reason。 Thus； if magic be deduced immediately from elementary processes of reasoning； and be； in fact； an error into which the mind falls almost spontaneously； while religion rests on conceptions which the merely animal intelligen