Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1941, Blaðsíða 281

EDWARD WESTERMARCK
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colours his experiences in Morocco in his book Sex dr i Marocko.1)
His first stay in that country was followed by others, which
often lasted for considerable periods. Before his death Wester-
marck could look back on a period of residence of ten years in
Morocco. On horse-back, on camel-back, on foot — often dis-
guised as a native he visited not only Moroccan Arabs, but also
primitive, only slightly Muhammedanised Berbers in the Atlas
Mountains. On dangerous and adventurous expeditions he tra-
velled in the least accessible parts of the inner Atlas territory,
and he also learned the Berber language. In later age he
had his own villa in Morocco, “Tusculum” outside of Tangiers.
Westermarck’s capacity to make friends helped him to win the
confidence of the natives, so that he became a welcome guest in
their huts, the friend of shereefs, sheiks and marabouts.
Westermarck’s main contribution to the comparative ethno-
logical school comprises material relating to the magical and
religious beliefs and the customs of the Moors and Berbers. His
field work gave him his firm and personal standpoint in the
analysis of ethnological problems, and the material he accumu-
lated provided the foundation for many of his theories in regard
to ethnological and sociological problems in general.
Among Westermarck’s work dealing with Morocco, apart
from short papers in periodicals published by scientific societies,
may primarily be mentioned the large work Marriage Ceremonies
in Morocco (1914), in two volumes, in which the author pays
much attention to marriage rites and their magical interpre-
tation,2) Ritual and Belief in Morocco, which not only provided
a wealth of material concerning Moroccan magic and religion,
but also attempts to cast light on the superstitions behind the
ideas. More thoroughly than any previous investigator Wester-
marck shows what the Moroccans mean by the religious holy
term bdraka, a supernatural luck-bringing force, the belief in
and fear of “the evil eye,” and the belief in Ginns, evil spirits.3)
*) (“Six Years in Morocco,” Helsingfors 1918).
2) French edition: Les cérémonies du mariage au Maroc (Paris 1921).
3) cf. Westermarck, “The Nature of the Arab Ginn,” in Journ. Anthr.
Inst. (London 1900); The Moorish Conception of Holiness (Báráka), (Finska
Vetenskaps-Societetens Förh., LVII, Avd. B: 1, Helsingfors 1916); “Mid-
summer Customs in Morocco,” in Folk-Lore (London 1905); The Belief in
Spirits in Morocco (Acta Acad. Ahoensis, Hum. I: i, Ábo 1920); “L’ar, or
the Transference of Conditional Curses,” in Anthr. Essays pres. to Tylor
(Oxford 1907); The Goodness of Gods (The Forum Series, iv, London
1926); “Moorish Saints,” in African Observer (1936).