The Golden Bough

James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough is a wide-ranging study of magic, ritual and religion, beginning with the priestly king of Diana’s grove at Nemi. From this starting point, Frazer compares beliefs and customs across different societies, looking for recurring patterns in the ways people have understood nature, divinity and sacred authority.

The book considers sympathetic magic, distinguishing between imitative and contagious forms, alongside attempts to control rain, sunlight and wind through ritual. It also examines kingship, incarnate gods, tree spirits, tree worship in modern Europe, fertility customs and the sacred marriage. Its comparative method brings classical mythology, European folklore and accounts from societies around the world into a single, influential argument about the development of religious thought.