The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v1.c11.s2.29

v1.c11.s2.29

The same negative result is obtained when the question of the employment of magic and the more humble beliefs of the people are concerned. All the Indo-European races practised magic, and curiously enough the Lithuanian and Old Slavonic preserve words precisely equivalent to the use of *kṛtyā* in India for magic: the formulae of some of the spells used have been traced in almost identic form in more than one language,² but these things are widespread and close parallels for magic rites can be found in the most distant parts of the earth. Similarly stories of the swan maidens and their mortal lovers occur in one form or another in all the Indo-European mythologies, but there is nothing distinctive about such tales. It is not in the slightest degree doubtful that the lesser mythology was strongly represented among the earliest peoples. The same consideration applies to the demonology: these obscure and but slightly individualized figures naturally leave no proof of their primitive identity. Nor in any strict sense can identity be postulated in such cases. These mythological figures have no history like the greater gods: they are in a sense ever new creations, and in no real way are they traditional.