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and the people dancing around。 Whether in the Apollo ritual the dancers were naked I cannot say； but in the affair of the golden Calf they evidently were； for it will be remembered that it was just this which upset Moses' equanimity so badly 〃when he SAW THAT THE PEOPLE WERE NAKED〃and led to the breaking of the two tables of stone and the slaughter of some thousands of folk。 It will be remembered also that David on a sacrificial occasion danced naked before the Lord。＇2＇
＇1＇ Book II； ch。 viii； Section 14。
＇2＇ 2 Sam。 vi。
It may seem strange that dances in honor of a god should be held naked； but there is abundant evidence that this was frequently the case； and it leads to an interesting speculation。 Many of these rituals undoubtedly owed their sanctity and solemnity to their extreme antiquity。 They came down in fact from very far back times when the average man or womanas in some of the Central African tribes to…daywore simply nothing at all； and like all religious ceremonies they tended to preserve their forms long after surrounding customs and conditions had altered。 Consequently nakedness lingered on in sacrificial and other rites into periods when in ordinary life it had come to be abandoned or thought indecent and shameful。 This comes out very clearly in both instances above quoted from the Bible。 For in Exodus xxxii。 25 it is said that 〃Aaron had made them （the dancers） naked UNTO THEIR SHAME among their enemies （READ opponents）；〃 and in 2 Sam。 vi。 20 we are told that Michal came out and sarcastically rebuked the 〃glorious king of Israel〃 for 〃shamelessly uncovering himself； like a vain fellow〃 （for which rebuke； I am sorry to say； David took a mean revenge on Michal）。 In both cases evidently custom had so far changed that to a considerable section of the population these naked exhibitions had become indecent； though as parts of an acknowledged ritual they were still retained and supported by others。 The same conclusion may be derived from the commands recorded in Exodus xx。 26 and xxviii。 42； that the priests be not 〃uncovered〃 before the altarcommands which would hardly have been needed had not the practice been in vogue。
Then there were dances （partly magical or religious） performed at rustic and agricultural festivals； like the Epilenios； celebrated in Greece at the gathering of the grapes。＇1＇ Of such a dance we get a glimpse in the Bible （Judges xxi。 20） when the elders advised the children of Benjamin to go out and lie in wait in the vineyards； at the time of the yearly feast； and 〃when the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances； then come ye out of the vineyards and catch you every man a wife from the daughters of Shiloh〃a touching example apparently of early so…called 'marriage by capture'！ Or there were dances； also partly or originally religious； of a quite orgiastic and Bacchanalian character； like the Bryallicha performed in Sparta by men and women in hideous masks； or the Deimalea by Sileni and Satyrs waltzing in a circle； or the Bibasis carried out by both men and womena quite gymnastic exercise in which the performers took a special pride in striking their own buttocks with their heels！ or others wilder still； which it would perhaps not be convenient to describe。
＇1＇ ： hymns sung over the winepress （Dictionary）。
We must see how important a part Dancing played in that great panorama of Ritual and Religion （spoken of in the last chapter） which； having originally been led up to by the 'Fall of Man；' has ever since the dawn of history gradually overspread the world with its strange procession of demons and deities； and its symbolic representations of human destiny。 When it is remembered that ritual dancing was the matrix out of which the Drama sprang； and further that the drama in its inception （as still to…day in India） was an affair of religion and was acted in； or in connection with； the Temples； it becomes easier to understand how all this mass of ceremonial sacrifices； expiations； initiations； Sun and Nature festivals； eucharistic and orgiastic communions and celebrations； mystery…plays； dramatic representations； myths and legends； etc。； which I have touched upon in the preceding chapterstogether with all the emotions； the desires； the fears； the yearnings and the wonderment which they representedhave practically sprung from the same root： a root deep and necessary in the psychology of Man。 Presently I hope to show that they will all practically converge again in the end to one meaning； and prepare the way for one great Synthesis to comean evolution also necessary and inevitable in human psychology。
In that truly inspired Ode from which I quoted a few pages back； occur those well…known words whose repetition now will； on account of their beauty； I am sure be excused：
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting： The Soul that rises with us； our life's Star； Hath had elsewhere its setting； And cometh from afar； Not in entire forgetfulness； And not in utter nakedness； But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God； who is our home： Heaven lies about us in our infancy！ Shades of the prison…house begin to close Upon the growing Boy； But He beholds the light and whence it flows He sees it in his joy； The youth who daily farther from the east Must travel； still is Nature's Priest； And by the vision splendid Is on his way attended； At length the man perceives it die away And fade into the light of common day。
Wordsworththough he had not the inestimable advantage of a nineteenth…century education and the inheritance of the Darwinian philosophydoes nevertheless put the matter of the Genius of the Child in a way which （with the alteration of a few conventional terms） we scientific moderns are quite inclined to accept。 We all admit now that the Child does not come into the world with a mental tabula rasa of entire forgetfulness but on the contrary as the possessor of vast stores of sub…conscious memory； derived from its ancestral inheritances； we all admit that a certain grace and intuitive insight and even prophetic quality； in the child…nature； are due to the harmonization of these racial inheritances in the infant； even before it is born； and that after birth the impact of the outer world serves rather to break up and disintegrate this harmony than to confirm and strengthen it。 Some psychologists indeed nowadays go so far as to maintain that the child is not only 'Father of the man；' but superior to the man；＇1＇ and that Boyhood and Youth and Maturity are attained to not
by any addition but by a process of loss and subtraction。 It will be seen that the last ten lines of the above quotation rather favor this view。
＇1＇ Man in the course of his life falls away more and more from the specifically HUMAN type of his early years； but the Ape in the course of his short life goes very much farther along the road of degradation and premature senility。〃 （Man and Woman； by Havelock Ellis； p。 24）。
But my object in making the quotation was not to insist on the truth of its application to the individual Child； but rather to point out the remarkable way in which it illustrates what I have said ab