almost unlimited power." Miss Kingsley, in her "West African Studies",
tells us that if we desire to understand the institutions of this
district, we must study the native's religion.

For his religion has so firm a grasp upon his mind that it
influences everything he does. It is not a thing apart, as
the religion of the Europeans is at times. The African
cannot say, "Oh, that is all right from a religious point of
view, but one must be practical." To be practical, to get on
in the world, to live the day and night through, he must be
right in the religious point of view, namely, must be on
working terms with the great world of spirits around him.
The knowledge of this spirit world constitutes the religion
of the African, and his customs and ceremonies arise from
his idea of the best way to influence it.

Or consider Henry Savage Lander's account of Thibet:

In Lhassa and many other sacred places fanatical pilgrims
make circumambulations, sometimes for miles and miles, and
for days together, covering the entire distance lying flat
upon their bodies.... From the ceiling of the temple hang
hundreds of long strips, katas, offered by pilgrims to the
temple, and becoming so many flying prayers when hung
up--for mechanical praying in every way is prominent in
Thibet.... Thus instead of having to learn by heart long and
varied prayers, all you have to do is to stuff the entire
prayer-book into a prayer-wheel,

and revolve it while repeating as fast as you can four words meaning,