[vol. I-II] pt. 1. The magic art and the evolution of kings. -- The king of the wood -- Priestly kings -- Sympathetic magic -- Magic and religion -- The magical control of the weather -- Magicians as kings -- Incarnate human gods

pt. 2. The worship of trees -- Relics of tree worship in modern Europe -- The influence of the sexes on vegetation -- The sacred marriage -- The kings of Rome and Alba -- The king's fire -- The fire-drill -- Father Jove and mother Vesta -- The origin of perpetual fires -- The Succession to the kingdom in ancient Latium -- St. George and the Parilia -- The worship of the oak -- Dianus and Diana

[v. III] pt. II. Taboo and the perils of the soul -- The burden of royalty -- The perils of the soul -- Tabooed acts -- Tabooed persons -- Tabooed things -- Tabooed words -- Our debt to the savage

[vol. IV] pt. III. The dying God -- The mortality of the gods -- The killing of the divine king -- The slaying of the king in legend -- The supply of kings -- Temporary kings -- Sacrifice of the king's son -- Succession to the soul -- The killing of the tree-spirit -- Chinese indifference to death -- Swinging as a magical rite

[vol. V-VI] pt. IV. Adonis, Attis, Osiris -- The myth of Adonis -- Adonis in Syria -- Adonis in Cyprus -- Sacred men and women -- The burning of Melcarth -- The burning of Sandan -- Sardanapalus and Hercules -- Volcanic religion -- The ritual of Adonis -- The gardens of Adonis -- The myth and ritual of Attis -- Attis as a god of vegetation -- Attis as the father god -- Human representatives of Attis -- The hanged god -- Oriental religions in the west -- Hyacinth. -- The myth of Osiris -- The official Egyptian calendar -- The calendar of the Egyptian farmer -- The official festivals of Osiris -- The nature of Osiris --Isis -- Osiris and the sun -- Osiris and the moon -- The doctrine of lunar sympathy -- The king as Osiris -- The origin of Osiris -- Mother-kin and mother goddesses -- Moloch the king -- The widowed Flamen -- A charm to protect a town -- Some customs of the Pelew Islanders

[vol. VII-VIII] pt. V. Spirits of the corn and of the wild -- Dionysus -- Demeter and Persephone -- Magical significance of games in primitive agriculture -- Woman's part in primitive agriculture -- The Corn-mother and the Corn-maiden in Northern Europe -- The Corn-mother in many lands -- Lityerses -- The Corn-spirit as an animal -- The Pleiades in primitive calendars -- Ancient deities of vegetation as animals -- Eating the god -- The sacrifice of first-fruits -- Homeopathic magic of a flesh diet -- Killing the divine animal -- The propitation of wild animals by hunters -- The propitation of vermin by farmers -- The transmigration of human souls into animals -- Types of animal sacrament -- The ceremony of the horse at Rice-harvest among the Garos

[vol. IX] pt. VI. The scapegoat -- The transference of evil -- The omnipresence of demons -- The public expulsion of evils -- Public scapegoats -- On scapegoats in general -- Human scapegoats in classical antiquity -- Killing the god in Mexico -- The Saturnalia and kindred festivals -- The crucifixion of Christ

[vol. X-XI] pt. VII. Balder the Beautiful -- Between heaven and earth -- Seclusion of girls at puberty -- The myth of Balder -- The fire-festivals of Europe -- The interpretation of the fire-festivals -- Fire-festivals in other lands -- The burning of human beings in the fires -- The magic flowers of midsummer eve -- Balder and the mistletoe -- The external soul in folktales -- The external soul in folk custom -- The Golden Bough -- Farewell to Nemi -- Snake stones -- The transformation of witches into cats -- African Balders -- The mistletoe and the Golden Bough

vol. XII. Bibliography and general index. 3d ed., rev. and enl.