Not a monk is there in any of the lone monasteries of Shoa, not a hermit
of the many in her cold mountains, not a dwarf nor a decrepit priest who
has renounced the society of his fellow-men, but enjoys the reputation
of being fully competent to blast the harvest at pleasure, to poison the
fountain, and to render the able-bodied incapable. The thoughts of all
classes move in a dense atmosphere of superstition. Talismans, written
in mystic characters, if mixed with the seeds and leaves of potent witch
plants, gathered by the hand of the forest recluse, afford a feeling of
security which is not to be extracted from the pages of the Gospel; nor
does any one ever venture to mount his mule without a preservative
against the spear of the bandit, or the sharp knife of the heathen.
Savage man, obtaining only through the medium of his own wishes and
imagination a glimmering idea of the invisible and supreme Power, seeks
some tangible object of veneration, and some ostensible source of
protection. Thus the Abyssinian, whose vague religious ideas afford him
but small consolation in the hour of tribulation, and but little
reliance of security or deliverance in the day of danger and distress,
reposes implicit faith in the doctrine of amulets, which present a
substance stamped with a mystic and supernatural character, and one
capable of being attached individually to himself. The arms and neck
are therefore clothed in a perfect panoply of charms against the
influence of every misfortune and disease, whether experienced or
anticipated; and the _tulsim_, which is a worked zone studded with
minute leathern pockets, containing sacred spells enveloped in double
and treble wrappers, encircles the waist of every man, woman, and child,
throughout the Christian dominions of Sahela Selassie, who himself
reposes firm faith in their efficacy.
The influence of the evil eye exercises a strong control over the minds
of all. Bad spirits are believed to roam about the earth and the
waters, and to occupy houses after dark, whence the Amhara never
ventures to throw fluid on the ground, lest the dignity of some unseen
elf should be violated. The _Beza_, or sacrifice for the sick, is
considered lawful and efficacious, and is frequently resorted to. The
bullock, as the type of the invalid, after being driven round his couch
amid singing and clamour, is slaughtered outside the threshold; or an
egg is turned thrice towards the head of the patient, and then broken
beside him. Saint Michael is, by many of the more ignorant, supposed to
be the Almighty. The Virgin Mary is considered the creatress of the
world; and _Sunday_ is understood to have been a saint of surpassing
sanctity, greatly superior both to Saint George and to Saint Michael, on
which account he claims one day out of the seven, whereas other saints
enjoy their festival only once during the month.
No Amhara will venture to destroy a serpent save on Saturday or Sunday,
when the sight of one of these reptiles is deemed a favourable omen. In
common with the heathen Galla, the Christians of Shoa make annual votive
sacrifices in June to _Sar_, the evil spirit--notwithstanding its strict
prohibition by royal proclamation. Three men and a woman, who
understand how to deal with the Evil One, having assembled at the place
appointed, proceed to perform the ceremony in a house newly swept. A
ginger-coloured hen, a red she-goat, or a male Adel goat with a white
collar, is sacrificed; and the blood of the victim, having been mixed
with grease and butter, is secretly placed during the night in a narrow
alley, when all who step therein are supposed to receive the malady of
the invalid, who is thus restored to perfect health. During a visit
some years ago to Motatit, the king perceived evidences of this pagan
ceremony in the streets; and tracing the rite to a wealthy individual,
who had caused it to be performed in order to free himself of disease,
the honour of true religion was speedily vindicated by the transfer to
the royal coffers of all the worldly substance of the delinquent.
Under cover of the night, a thread of cotton yarn is often stretched by
the hired sorcerer completely round some devoted tenement; and the
extremities having been connected by means of an iron link, well imbued
in blood, the walls and doorposts are freely sprinkled and bedaubed with
gore. Day dawns upon the incantation, which is believed to be the work
of the Devil himself; and among all the assembled multitude, who
consider that some heavy calamity, if not instant death, would follow
the act, there is not to be found one individual sufficiently bold to
remove the spell, and thus deliver the inmates from its withering
influence. Since the king's arrival in the capital, the appearance of
the bloody finger on the wall had thrown the inhabitants into the
deepest consternation; and to the astonishment of every by-stander, a
missionary of the Church of England tore away the charm without any evil
consequences following his rashness. That very night, however, the
defeated necromancer planned an attack to rob the clergyman's premises,
and it was only defeated by the extra vigilance preserved in consequence
of the exposure of the impostor.
The drum of the water kelpie is heard by the credulous native in the
echo of every roaring cataract, and the wretch drowning in the swollen
torrent is believed to be dragged under the overwhelming wave as the
favourite food of the malicious spirit of the deep. Divers plants and
herbs possess properties and qualities the most baneful; and a bunch of
the _Fegain_ grass, if skilfully cast upon the person of an obnoxious
enemy, produces dire disease and speedy death. Sorcerers and
necromancers attaining the respectable age of four and five hundred
years exist in numbers in many parts of the land, flitting through the
air, and riding upon the wings of the wind; and unbidden and invisible
guests, such as Thavanan the Tormentor, enter the banqueting hall, to
rob the festive board of its choicest viands.
Hid from mortal gaze, and realising upon earth all the delights of
paradise, the magic village of Dooka Stephanos forms the never-failing
topic of all wonder-loving souls, and the poetic fancy of Abyssinia has
been fairly exhausted in descriptions of this rare scene of blissful
enjoyment. "Its sleep-inviting groves and grassy lawns are situated on
the overflowing Nile; and there, released from the shackles of wedlock,
beautiful females abound. Potent liquors pour on in never-drying
streams, and the earth yields her spontaneous fruits without care or
labour. But shrouded in magic mist, these Elysian fields open their
portals only to those mortals of commanding form and handsome features,
on whom the glance of favour has been cast by the bewitching inmates of
the enchanted garden. Human endeavour is ineffectual to unriddle the
mystery in which it is enveloped; and the dread art of the sorcerer and
his most potent talismans, prove alike unavailing to loosen the spell
for the advantage of those on whom Dame Nature has bestowed a crooked
figure, or even an ill-starred visage."
As in the dark ages, dwarfs are nevertheless treated with considerable
respect, and regarded with the utmost fear. Many of the most learned
and praiseworthy in the land are to be found among those who have been
created during nature's freaks. The monarch's father confessor, a
perfect Asmodeus in appearance, is of extremely diminutive stature, but
he is possessed of singular good feeling, and forms a gratifying
contrast to the majority of his countrymen. The chiefs and nobles often
select their secretaries and household priests with reference to their
bodily imperfections; and the most erudite sage in the capital, whose
charms and talismans are esteemed all-powerful, and who knoweth every
plant from the "cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the
wall," sustains his character for wisdom and for lore, as much by the
deformity of his appearance as by the brilliancy of his understanding.
Sickness and misfortune are usually ascribed to the influence of the
evil eye of the _Booda_, or sorcerer. Long consultations are held to
discover from whose sinister glace the calamity has emanated; and when
suspicion has gradually settled into conviction, the most implacable
hatred is conceived towards the delinquent; and although concealed under
that garb of indifference which the savage can so successfully assume,
yet the opportunity of revenge is never suffered to pass unheeded in
after-life. Hailoo, the father of Oubie, the Nero-like Dedjasmach of
Tigre, added much to his previous notoriety by the extermination of all
the _Boodas_ who fell within his murderous reach. Superstition exulted
in reeking hecatombs of human victims; and the love and veneration of
his subjects knew no bounds on his last summary act of collecting
together and roasting to death thirteen hundred miserable wretches, who
were suspected to possess, and to have exerted with success, the
influence of "the evil eye."
By the credulous Abyssinian, every blacksmith and worker in iron is held
to be endowed with supernatural powers, and to be able to transform
himself at pleasure into the likeness of a wolf or a hyena. It is a
common practice amongst this class of handicrafts to fasten a metal
collar about the neck of the whelps of those animals, and turn them
loose; when the badge being retained through life, and occasionally
seen, the fabulous stories in circulation are strengthened in the eyes
of the uninitiated.
The presence of any Christian emblem, or portion of Holy Writ, is
supposed sufficient to neutralise the labours of the Vulcan. No metal
can be welded within sight of the cross; and should any scrap of the
Bible be worn on the person of the by-standers, the desired figure can
never be imparted. Of this belief an instance was afforded shortly
after our return from Angollala, when a bar of iron was to be
transformed into a tire for the wheel of a gun-carriage. The small
draft of air created by a pair of primitive native bellows proving of
none avail, the smiths declared aloud that the phenomenon arose from
some holy charm. Badges and emblems, spells and amulets, were cast
aside by all; but the labour was renewed without any better effect, and
the artisans stood aghast. A pair of British forge bellows were now
produced, and the assembly were requested to don their paper armour, and
to stand round the anvil. The potent blast poured from the nozzle, and
under the brawny arm of one of the European soldiers, the sparks flew
far and wide. In five minutes the work was completed, to the dismay of
the Abyssinian magicians, who came privately to request of me that no
further public exhibition of the sort might thenceforth be made, lest
their name and their glory should be extinguished throughout the land.
Volume Two, Chapter XXXVI.