Scatalogic Rites of All Nations: A Dissertation Upon the Employment of Excrementitious Remedial Agents in Religion, Therapeutics, Divination, Witchcraft, Love-Philters, Etc., In All Parts of the Globe

Explore a global survey of how human waste and excreta have influenced religion, healing, and ritual.

This rigorous study collects hundreds of sources from many traditions to show how ordure and urine have appeared in medicine, magic, festivals, and worship across continents and eras. Rich with historical context and carefully documented, it offers a window into beliefs that shaped cultures and everyday practices.

The book frames the topic with fairness and breadth, drawing on texts in several languages and a wide range of travelers’ accounts. It demonstrates why these practices mattered to people, how they were understood, and how they connected to larger ideas about purity, punishment, and sacred ritual. It also features a substantial scholarly apparatus, notes, and cross-cultural comparisons that invite readers to consider the origins and meanings of these customs without sensationalism.
What you’ll experience

• A global, evidence-based look at the use of excrement in religion, medicine, and ritual.
• Connections between everyday practices and larger beliefs about purity, divination, and healing.
• See how researchers compiled and compared sources from many traditions to build a coherent picture.
• Examples of specific rites, temples, and ceremonies where these elements played a role.

Ideal for readers of cultural history, anthropology, and the study of ritual, who want a detailed, carefully sourced portrait of a provocative subject.