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| | FORTES- SOME REFLECTIONS ON ANCESTOR WORSHIP IN AFRICA |
 | | Ancestor worship isa representation or extension of the authority component in the juralrelations of successive generations; it is not a duplication, in asuper natural idiom, of the total complex of affective, educative,and supportive relationships manifested in child-rearing, or in marriage,or in any other form of association, however long-lasting and intimate,between kinsmen, neighbours, or friends. |
 | | Worship in rituals of prayer and sacrifice,the observance of religious prescriptions in the form of taboo andinjunction, and submission to such moral norms as the incest prohibition,may all be validated by reference to what we describe as spiritualbeings, be they gods or ancestors or nature deities. |
 | | The distinguishedand erudite authority on Chinese religion and philosophy, J.J. M.De Groot, was typical in his view that 'the worship of the deadin China is the worship of the ancestors' (1910. |
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