The Golden Bough: The Magic Art and the Evolution of Kings

The first volume in Frazer's seminal 12 volume is set on anthropology and traditional systems of belief. Topics covered include extensive discussion on the belief in sympathetic and contagious magic, magical influence on the environment, magicians and kings, magicians as priests, the origin of incarnate living gods, and a lengthy essay on the origin of the king of the wood at the lake of Nemi.