The work surveys comparative religion and folklore related to vegetation deities and seasonal rites, tracing beliefs about a corn-spirit often embodied in animals and represented by the last sheaf whose capture or death dramatizes the harvest. It catalogs regional harvest customs, puppets, and name-giving practices, and links these rites to myths of dying-and-reborn gods such as Attis, Adonis, Osiris, Dionysus, Demeter, and Balder. It examines motifs of the golden-branch and the external soul in folk-tales and ritual, and analyzes scapegoat and transference practices used to expel evil or secure fertility. Concluding notes discuss offerings of first fruits and the thematic unity of these rites.