agree about his form or aspect. Some say he has no form at all; others
describe him as a great bear, or as a great man with one arm, or as small
as a finger. He is immortal, but might be killed by the intervention of
the god Crepitus.”—(“Myth, Ritual, and Religion,” Andrew Lang, London,
1887, vol. ii. p. 48.) A footnote to the above adds, “The circumstances
in which this is possible may be sought for in Crantz, ‘History of
Greenland,’ London, 1767, vol. i. p. 206.”
Crantz says of Torngarsuk: “He is immortal, and yet might be killed, if
any one breaks wind in a house where witchcraft is carrying on.”—(Crantz,
as above.)
[56] Among the Chinese and Hindus an identical partition of
responsibility will be found ascribed to the deities. It would require a
special disquisition to enumerate these gods and their functions, so far
as known to us, but such an enumeration would do no good, because the
accuracy of the statement will be admitted without dispute.
A clipping from the “Times,” of India, copied in the “Sunday Herald,” of
Washington, D. C., June 2, 1889, bears upon this point:
“The general public are not aware of a ludicrous custom still followed
in Hindu households of Bengal. The last day of Falgoon, that fell on
the 12th ultimo, was observed in worshipping Ghantoo, the god of itches
and the diseases of the skin which afflict the natives. Very early in
the morning of the day the mistresses of the families, changing their
nocturnal attire, put a useless, black earthen vessel outside the
threshold of their back doors, with a handful of rice and masoor dal,
four cowries, with a piece of rag smeared with turmeric. Wild flowers
appearing in this season are offered in worship. (These flowers are
called Ghantoo fool.) The young boys of the family stand in a semicircle
before the mistress, with cudgels in their hands. When the conches are
sounded by the female worshippers, as the signal of the poojah being
over, the boys break the vessels into atoms. The mirthful children, in
their anxiety to strike the first blow, sometimes break the fingers and
hands of the matrons. The piece of rag is preserved over the doors of
houses in the zenana. In the evening of the day, the boys of the lower
order of the villages sing the songs of the occasion from door to door
for pice.”
Although the adoration of Flatulence cannot be found among the Chinese,
religious customs equally revolting have been ascribed to them. “The
Chinese are addicted to the abominable vice of Sodomy, and the filthy
practice of it they number among the indifferent things they perform in
honor of their idols.”—(“The Travels of Two Mahomedans through India and
China,” in Pinkerton, vol. vii. p. 195.) These Mahomedans travelled in
the ninth century.
“The negroes of Guinea have a god of the small-pox.” See “Fetichism,” by
Father P. Baudin, New York, 1885, p. 74.
According to the Guinea negroes, “Every man has three genii, or
protecting spirits. The first is Eleda, who dwells in the head, which he
guides.... This second genius (Ojehun) has his habitation in the region
of the stomach.... Ipori, the third protecting genius, takes up his abode
in the great toe.”—(Idem, p. 43.)
“The Samoans supposed disease to be occasioned by the wrath of some
particular deity.... The friends of the sick went to the high priest of
the village.... Each disease had its particular physician.”—(Turner,
“Samoa,” London, 1884, p. 140.) See, in this connection, Banier’s
“Mythology,” English translation, vol. i. p. 196, _et seq._
“They (the ancients) had gods and goddesses for all the necessaries
of our life, from our cradles to our graves; viz., 1. for sucking;
2. for swathing; 3. for eating; 4. for drinking; 5. for sleeping; 6.
for husbandry; 7. for venery; 8. for fighting; 9. for physic; 10. for
marriage; 11. for child-bed; 12. for fire; 13. for water; 14. for the
thresholds; 15. for the chimneys.”—(Harington, “Ajax,” p. 27.)
Consult, for the Chaldeans, “The Chaldean Account of Genesis,” George
Smith, New York, 1880, pages 11 and 125. Dibbara, the god of pestilence,
has the title of “The Darkening One,” which recalls the passage in Psalm
xci. 6, “The pestilence that walketh in darkness.” ... “Each of the
Babylonian gods had a particular city.” (Idem, p. 46.) “The Chaldeans
had twelve great gods.” (Idem, p. 47.) See, also, “Chaldean Magic,”
Lenormant, 35. It was written of the deceased (Egyptian), “There is not
a limb of him without a god.” (“Ritual of the Dead,” cap. xliii., idem.)
See “Le Moyen Age Médical,” Dupouy, for the list of saints and shrines
to cure all afflictions, in Europe, Minor’s translation, p. 83. Those
possessed claimed to be in the power of a demon, who entered their body
by one of the natural passages, sporting with their persons. (Idem, p.
50.) The Church recognized the truth of these beliefs (idem, p. 40); see,
also, notes taken from Turner’s “Samoa.”
[57] These ideas remained among the early Christians: “an odor of a sweet
smell; a sacrifice, acceptable, well-pleasing to God.”—(Phil. iv. 18.)
So, among the Chaldeans: “The gods smelt the savor, the gods smelt the
good savor.”—(“Chaldean Account of Genesis,” Smith, p. 286.)
[58] They also keep urine in tubs in their huts for use in dressing deer
and seal skins. (Hans Egede; also quoted in Richardson’s “Polar Regions,”
Edinburgh, 1861, p. 304.) The same custom has been noted in Alaska.
The same thing mentioned by Egede’s grand-nephew, Hans Egede Saabye.
(“Greenland,” London, 1816, p. 6.)
[59] The whole process was carefully observed by Captain Robert G.
Carter, 4th Cavalry, U. S. Army.
[60] “Todas estas cosas que digo y muchas que no sé y otras que callo
se venden en este mercado destos de Mejico.”—(Gómara, “Historia de la
Conquista de Mejico,” p. 349.)
[61] See Graah, “Greenland,” London, 1837, p. 111, and Hans Egede Saabye,
“Greenland,” London, 1818, p. 256.
[62] Contra la caspa será necesario cortar muy á raiz los cabellos y
lavarse la cabeza con orinas y despues tomar las hojas de ciertas yerbas
que en indio se llaman coioxochitl y amolli ó iztahuatl que es el agenjo
de esta tierra, y con el cuesco del aguacate molido y mezclado con el
cisco que está dicho arriba; y sobre esto se ha de poner, el barro negro
que está referido, con cantidad de la corteza de lo dicho.—(Sahagun, in
Kingsborough, vol. vii. p. 294.)
[63] Father De Smet, “Oregon Missions,” New York, 1847, p. 383.
[64] “Le maléfice amoureux ou le philtre” is defined as follows: “Telle
est la pratique de certaines femmes et de certaines filles, qui, pour
obliger leurs galans ... de les aimer comme auparavant ... les font
manger du gâteau où elles out mis des ordures que je ne veux pas
nommer.”—(Jean Baptiste Thiers, “Traité des Superstitions,” Paris, 1741,
p. 150.)
[65] Quâ occasione vel potius execrabilis superstitionis quadam
necessitate coguntur electi eorum velut eucharistiam conspersam cum
semine humano sumere.—(Saint Augustine, quoted by Bayle, “Philosophical
Dictionary,” English edition, London, 1737, article “Manicheans.”)
[66] Les Catharistes qui étoient une espèce choisie de Manichéens,
pétrissoient le pain Eucharistique avec la semence humaine.—(Thiers,
“Superstitions,” etc., Paris, 1741, vol. ii. lib. 2, chap. i. p. 216; and
Picart, “Coutumes et Cérémonies,” etc., Amsterdam, 1729, vol. viii. p.
79.)
E. B. Tylor says that “about A.D. 700 John of Osun, patriarch of Armenia,
wrote a diatribe against the sect of Paulicians” (who were believed to be
the descendants of the Manicheans, and in turn to have transmitted their
doctrines to the Albigenses). In the course of the diatribe the patriarch
declares that “they mix wheaten flour with the blood of infants, and
therewith celebrate their communion.”—(E. B. Tylor, “Primitive Culture,”
London, 1871, vol. i. p. 69.)
[67] See in Picart, Coutumes et Cérémonies Religieuses, vol. vii. p. 47.
[68] Au Coromandel, ils mettent le visage du mourant sur le derrière
d’une vache, lèvent la queue de l’animal et l’excitent à lacher son urine
sur le visage ... si l’urine coule sur la face du malade, l’assemblée
s’écrie de joye et le compte parmi les bienheureux, mais ... si la vache
n’est pas d’humeur d’uriner, on s’en afflige.—(Picart, “Coutumes et
cérémonies religieuses,” etc., Amsterdam, 1729, vol. vii. p. 28.)
[69] Picart, Coutumes et cérémonies religieuses, etc., Amsterdam, 1729,
vol. vii., pp. 52, 57.
[70] Eloise seems here to allude to the well-known Greek inscription on
an ancient marble, still to be seen in the Medicean gardens: “θεμῶρ εὐχρὶ
θέλες εὐπὶς.” Above it is an elegant figure in alto-relievo, supposed to
be the representation of the melting Niobe,—Eloise, _en déshabillé_.
[71] “We have in the folk-medicine, which still exists, the unwritten
record of the beginning of the practice of medicine and surgery....
The early history of medical science, as of all other developments
of culture, can be studied more narrowly and more accurately in the
folk-lore of this and other countries than some students of modern
science and exact modern records may think possible.”—(“Folk-Medicine,”
William George Black, London, 1883, pp. 2, 3.)
[72] Bull-urine was given to men, cow-urine to women.
[73] Garrett, Myths in Medicine, New York, 1884, pp. 148, 149.
[74] El remedio mas usual y eficaz es el de la triaca humana, así
llamada, para mayor decencia, el excremento humano, fresco y disuelto
en agua que hacen beber al mordido.—(Clavigero, “Historia de la Baja
California,” Mexico, 1852.)
[75] Decian que era el antidoto de esta ponçona el Fuego i el agua del
mar, la dieta y continencia. Y otra dicen que la hez del herido tomada en
pildoras o en otra forma. (Herrera, “Decades,” 2, lib. i. pp. 3, 9, 10.)
They used to say that the antidotes for this poison were fire, sea-water,
fasting, and continence. Another of which they speak was the excrement of
the wounded man, taken in form of pill or otherwise.
[76] Garcilasso de la Vega, “Comentarios Reales,” Markham’s translation,
Hakluyt Society, vol. xli. p. 186.
[77] Il se fit un jour une dance de tous les jeunes hommes, femmes et
filles toutes nues, en la présence d’une malade à la quelle il fallut
(traict que je ne sçay comment excuser ou passer sous silence), qu’un de
ces jeunes hommes luy pissast dans la bouche et qu’elle auallast et beust
cette eau, ce qu’elle fit avec un grand courage, esperant en receuoir
guérison.—(Sagard, “Histoire du Canada,” edition of Paris, 1885, p. 107.)
[78] “The urine of young children, mixed with lime and evaporated until a
solid is formed, cures general debility, and, made into a liquid, is most
usefully applied as a lotion for the eyes.” (China.)—(“Evening Star,”
Washington, D. C., Oct. 11, 1890.)
[79] This is confirmed by Mr. Frank G. Carpenter, who has visited Corea.
[80] Pour faire de l’eau bénite le Bouc pissoit dans un trou à terre et
celui qui faisoit l’office en arrosoit les assistants avec un asperge
noir.—(Thiers, Superstitions, etc., vol. ii. book 4, cap. 1, p. 367. See
the same story in Picart, vol. viii. p. 69.)
[81] Leur faisant voir en songe, qu’ils ne sçauroient guérir qu’en
se veautrant dans toutes sortes d’ordures.—(Père Le Jeune, “Jesuit
Relations,” 1636, published by Canadian Government, Quebec, 1858.)
[82] Brand quotes Camden as relating of the Irish that, “if a child is
at any time out of order, they sprinkle it with the stalest urine they
can get.”—(Brand, “Popular Antiquities,” article “Christening Customs,”
London, 1849, vol. ii. p. 86.)
[83] Ceux qui lavent leurs mains le matin avec de l’urine pour détourner
les maléfices ou pour en empêcher l’effet. C’est pour cela que le juge
Paschase fit arroser d’urine Sainte Luce, parce qu’il s’imaginoit qu’elle
étoit sorcière.—(Thiers, “Traité des Superstitions,” Paris, 1741, vol. i.
cap. 5, p. 471.)
This statement is repeated verbatim by Picart (“Coutumes et Cérémonies,”
etc., Amsterdam, 1729, p. 35), and he adds that the judge believed that
he would by this precaution disable her from evading the torments in
store for her. John of Saulsbury, bishop of Chartres, with good reason
cast ridicule upon this charm.
[84] La rociaba con sus orinas.—(Torquemada, “Monarchia Indiana,” lib. x.
cap. 23.)
[85] Pétrir un petit pain avec l’urine qu’une personne malade de la
fièvre quarte aura rendue dans le fort de son accès, le faire cuire,
le laisser froidir, le donner à manger à un ... et faire trois fois la
même chose pendant trois accès, le ... prendra la fièvre quarte et elle
quittera la personne malade.
Faire durcir un œuf, le peler, le piquer de divers coups d’aiguille, le
tremper dans l’urine d’une personne qui a la fièvre ... puis le donner
à un ... si le malade est un mâle, ou à une ... si le malade est une
femelle et la fièvre s’en ira.—(Thiers, “Traité des Superstitions,”
Paris, 1745, vol. i. lib. v. cap. iv. p. 386, copied in Picart, “Coutumes
et Cérémonies,” etc., Amsterdam, 1729, vol. x. p. 80.)
[86] See Dulaure’s “Des Divinités Génératrices,” Paris, 1825, pp. 271,
277, 278, 280, 283. He says that this vestige of phallic worship was
discernible in France “à une époque très-rapprochée de la nôtre,” and
that women “raclaient une énorme branche phallique que présentait la
statue du saint; elles croyaient que la raclure enfusée dans un boisson,
les rendrait fécondes.”
But Davenport, who has probed deeply into the question of phallic
worship, contends that such vestiges existed in some of the communities
of France, Sicily, and Belgium, not only down to the Reformation, but
even to the opening decades of the nineteenth century.—(See Davenport,
“On the Powers of Reproduction,” London (privately printed), 1869, pp.
10-20.)
E. Payne Knight speaks of this same instance of survival at Isernia, in
Sicily. It was known at that place as late as 1805.
See also “The Masculine Cross and ancient Sex Worship,” Sha Rocco, New
York, 1874, etc.
Dulaure, however, admits that he knew of no example in antiquity of
scraping the phallus and drinking an infusion of the powder. “L’usage de
racler le phallus et d’avaler de cette raclure avec de l’eau, usage dont
je ne connais point d’exemple dans l’antiquité.”
Dulaure, as above, p. 300.
[87] See, in Rousselet’s “India,” London, 1876, pp. 173, 343. It has
been identified as our April Fool’s Day. See in “Asiatic Researches,”
Calcutta, 1790, vol. ii. p. 334; also, in Moor’s “Hindu Pantheon,”
London, 1810, pp. 156, 157; also, the Encyclopædia Britannica, and
Appleton’s Encyclopædia, article “April.”
On the Sunday and Monday preceding Lent people are privileged at Lisbon
to play the fool; it is thought very jocose to _pour water_ on any
person who passes, or _throw powder_ in his face; but to do both is the
perfection of wit.—(Southey, quoted in Hone’s “Every-Day Book,” vol. i.
p. 206, London, 1825. See Brand’s “Popular Antiquities,” London, 1849,
vol. i., p. 131, article “April Fool’s Day.”)
[88] The authority for this statement will be found in “The Press,” of
Philadelphia, Penn., copied in the “Evening Star,” of Washington, July
26, 1890.
[89] Para este juego, todos los hombres y muchachos que querian jugar
hacian taleguillas ó redecillos llenos de flor de las espadañas ó de
algunos papeles rotos; ataban estos con unos cordelejos ó cintas de media
vara de largo, de tal manera que pudiese hacer golpe; otros hacian á
manera de guantes las taleguillas é hinchabanlos de lo arriba dicho ó de
ojas de maiz verde; ponian pena á todos estos que nadie echase piedra
ó cosa que pudiese lastimar dentro las taleguillos. Comenzaban luego
los muchachos á jugar este juego á manera de escaramuza y dabanse de
talegazos en la cabeza y por donde acertaban y de poco en poco se iban
multiplicando de los muchachos y los mas traviesos daban de talegazos á
las muchachas que pasaban por la calle; á las veces, se juntaban tres ó
quatro para dar á una de tal manera que la fatigaban y la hacian llorar.
Algunas muchachas que eran mas discretas, si habian de ir á alguna parte,
entonces llevaban un palo ú otra cosa que hiciese temer para defenderse.
Algunos muchachos escondian la talega y quando pasaba alguna mujer
descuidadamente, dabanla de talegazos y quando la daban un golpe, decian
Chichiquatzinte mantze, que quiere decir, “Madre Nuestra, és la talega
de este juego.” Las mugeres andaban muy recatadas quando ivan á alguna
parte.—(Sahagun, in “Kingsborough,” vol. vii. p. 83.)
At the feast of the goddess Tona the same game was played.—(See idem,
vol. vi. p. 33.)
[90] Hacia toda la gente de el Pueblo unas talegas, á manera de bolsas,
y henchianles de heno y paja y otras cosas que no hacen golpe ni tienen
peso y colgavanlas de un cordel y traianlas escondidas debajo de los
mantos que les servian de capas. Con estas talegas daban de Talegaços á
todas las mugeres que encontraban por las calles.
[91] R. Patterson, in “Asiatic Researches,” Calcutta, 1805, vol. viii. p.
78.
[92] The African deity, Obatala, is symbolized by a whitened gourd
provided with a cover, which is placed in the temples.—(“Fetichism,” Rev.
P. Baudin, New York, 1885, p. 14.)
[93] John de Laet, lib. vi. chap. vii. p. 202.
[94] See Francis Parkman’s “Jesuits in North America,” the works of John
Gilmary Shea, and Kipp’s “Jesuit Missions.”
[95] Pliny contains a number of references to plants to which mystic
properties were attached, which could only be dug up after a circle had
been traced about them with a sword, prayers recited in certain postures,
etc.—(See among others, the “Mandragora,” in lib. xxv. c. 94.)
[96] Copious references to color-symbolism will be found in the works
of Von Helmont (p. 1060); Frazer, “Totemism;” J. Owen Dorsey; Dr. W. J.
Hoffman; Black, “Folk-Medicine;” Pettigrew, “Medical Superstitions;”
Andrew Lang, “Myth, Ritual, and Religion;” Garrick Mallery, and many
others; also in an article entitled “Notes on the Cosmogony and Theogony
of the Mojaves of the Colorado River,” published in the “Journal of
American Folk-Lore,” July-September, 1889, by the author of this volume.
In the last it is shown that the idea in the aboriginal mind is that each
color is a medicine, and that the rainbow, being a combination of them
all, is a panacea; but it should be pointed out that, even in the days
of Dr. Joseph Lanzoni (1694) there were some bold medical scholars who
openly derided such notions as absurd and irrational.
[97] There can scarcely be a doubt that pharmacy was, in its incipiency,
distinctly and unequivocally religious in character. Grimm is full of
the matter. He tells us that “the culling and fetching of herbs had to
be done at particular times and according to long-established forms....
Shortly before sunrise when the day is young.... The viscum was gathered
at new moon, Prima Luna.... Some had to be gathered in darkness, others
plucked by the light of the moon, generally the new moon; others by a
person fasting; others before hearing thunder that year.... In digging
up an herb, the Roman custom was first to pour mead and honey round it,
as if to propitiate the earth, then cut round the root with a sword,
looking towards the east (or west), and the moment it is pulled out, to
lift it on high without letting it touch the ground.... A great point
was to guard against cold iron touching the root; hence gold or red-hot
iron was used in cutting.... In picking or pulling up, the operator used
the left hand in certain cases; he had to do it unbelted and unshod, and
to state for whom and for what purpose it was done.” Grimm complains of
the scantiness of German tradition on this point; yet, he finds that the
“hyoscyamus,” or henbane, had to be taken from the ground by a naked
virgin, using the little finger of the right hand and standing on the
right foot. The French formulæ for such purposes require: “Quelques uns
pour se garantir de maléfices ou de charmes vont cueillir de grand matin,
à jeun, sans avoir lavé leurs mains, sans avoir prié Dieu, sans parler à
personne, et sans saluer personne en leur chemin, une certaine plante, et
la mettent ensuite sur la personne maléficiée ou ensorcelée. Ils portent
sur eux une racine de chicorée, qu’ils ont touché à genoux avec de l’or
et de l’argent le jour de la Nativité de Saint Jean Baptiste un peu avant
le soleil levé, et qu’ils ont ensuite arrachée de terre avec un ferrement
et beaucoup de cérémonies, après l’avoir exorcisée avec l’épée de Judas
Machabée.” The herb was to be “neither fretted nor squashed.” “The
Romans had a strange custom of laying a sieve in the road, and using the
stalks of grass that grew up through it for medical purposes.” (Grimm,
“Teut. Mythol.” vol. iii. p. 1195 _et seq._) He fully describes the
ceremony for gathering the mandrake, and also refers to the mistletoe,
but adds nothing to the information in these pages. In many of the
prescriptions given by Marcellus, which prescriptions were generally of a
magical character (tempus, A.D. 380), there are injunctions to “observe
chastity.”—(See “Saxon Leechdoms,” lib. i. pp. 20, 29.)
Again, in “Saxon Leechdoms,” vol. i. p. 11, we learn that certain
medicinal plants were to be pulled in a prescribed manner, the name of
the patient to be murmured at the same moment (quoting from Pliny, lib.
xxi., xxii.; again, idem, vol. i. p. 14, quoting Pliny, lib. xii. c. 16.)
The herb mandrake could not be pulled for medicinal purposes except by a
pure man. “Its virtue is so mickle and famous that it will immediately
flee from an unclean man” (idem, vol. i. p. 245); again, in gathering the
periwinkle, “when thou shalt pluck this wort, thou shalt be free from
every uncleanness” (vol. i. p. 313).
The belief in regard to the manner of pulling the mandrake exists among
the Turks: “The pacha told me of a curiosity to be seen at Orfa....
This curiosity consisted of two small figures, made of a peculiar
shrub, partly trained and partly twisted and partly cut into the form
of a man and woman, very rudely done, and stained over to give them the
appearance of having grown in that shape.... The inhabitants, in order
to obtain them, tied a dog by a string to each figure, and then went a
long distance off. As soon as the dog pulled the string, and drew the
creature out of the ground, the noise it made killed the dog.”—(“Assyrian
Discoveries,” George Smith, New York, 1876, p. 161.)
[98] Hippocrates did not believe that epilepsy was a “divine” disease,
sent by the gods; such an idea was, in his opinion, fostered by quacks
for personal advantage.—(See the edition of his work by Francis Adams,
Sydenham Society, London, 1849.)
“Nothing could tend more to retard the progress of medicine, and paralyze
all efforts for its improvement, than the opinion, once so generally
entertained, of the celestial origin of disease, which, if admitted,
appears necessarily to demand divine interposition for its relief.
Religion and medicine were both brought into contempt by the adoption of
sacrifices and incantations and the mercenary practices of the priests to
insure intercession with the gods.”—(“Medic. Superstitions,” Pettigrew,
p. 45.)
[99] Epilepsy was called the comitial disease “because the
comitia were prorogued in the event of any ominous case of this
disorder.”—(White-Ridley, Latin-English Dict. See also Lemprière’s
“Classical Dictionary,” article “Comitia.”)
[100] The word “carmen” shown to be the origin of “charm,” by
Grimm.—(“Teut. Mythology,” vol. iii. p. 1035.)
The same derivation is given by Webster and other authorities.
In the Samoan islands “When offerings were eaten in the night by dogs or
rats, it was supposed that the god chose to become incarnate for the time
being in the form of such living creatures.”—(“Samoa,” G. Turner, London,
1884, p. 25.)
[101] The anointing of kings is a survival of Pagan usages; anointed
monarchs are alluded to in the sacred books of Thibet: “du monarque oint
... Pratimoksha Sutra.”—(W. W. Rockhill, Société Asiatique, Paris, 1885.)
ADDENDA.
Dr. Thomas G. Morton, of Philadelphia, imparts the information that not
only is the use of human urine still general among ignorant women during
pregnancy, but that it has been learned that female abortionists have
been in the habit of vending a nostrum for defeating pregnancy, one of
the components of which was the catamenial discharge.
* * * * *