Ancestor Worship

Ancestor Worship, a form of Animism (q.v.) arising from the belief that as the soul exercises power over the body during life, so after death it retains its activity and power and the characteristics which distinguished it in this world - the souls of good men becoming good spirits, and those of bad men evil spirits or demons. In some cases, as among the Zulus, the idea is carried back from one ghostly ancestor to another more remote, till the most remote - in other words, the first man - is reached, and erected into a supreme deity. Ancestor worship has a wide range in time and space, and survives to an appreciable extent even among cultured nations. With regard to the practical effect of ancestor worship, Tylor considers that it "encourages good morals; for the ancestor who, when living, took care that his family should do right by one another, does not cease the kindly rule when he becomes a divine ghost, powerful to favour or punish."