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Chapter 1

• To understand and study purity and pollution, Douglas states that one must understand religious concepts.
• Frazer had contempt for primitive society and believed it lacked ethical refinement.
• Durkheim viewed rituals as being symbolic of social processes.

Chapter 2

• Flesh can transmit disease and has an overall toxic influence according to the beliefs of many cultures.
• Sumerian civilization used medical operations and procedures for purification.
• Douglas states that primitive cultures represent pattern rules, but modern cultures involve fragmented rules.

Chapter 3

• Douglas believes that holiness is the implication of separation.
• Blessing is the creation of order and prosperity with a lack of confusion, in Douglas' point of view.
• Categories of animals are designated and animals that don't act in accordance with the rest of their type are consider pollution.

Chapter 4

• Rituals were a part of primitive culture that embraced harmony, order, and meaning.
• Douglas states that rituals require sequentiality, faith...

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