Compendiously of many questionable Customs,
Opinions, Pictures, Practices, and Popular
Observations.
[Sidenote: _The ground of many vain observations._]
1. If an Hare cross the high way, there are few above threescore years
that are not perplexed thereat: which notwithstanding is but an Augurial
terror, according to that received expression, _Inauspicatum dat iter
oblatus Lepus._ And the ground of the conceit was probably no greater
than this, that a fearful animal passing by us, portended unto us some
thing to be feared: as upon the like consideration, the meeting of a Fox
presaged some future imposture; which was a superstitious observation
prohibited unto the _Jews_, as is expressed in the Idolatry of
_Maimonides_, and is referred unto the sin of an observer of Fortunes,
or one that abuseth events unto good or bad signs; forbidden by the Law
of _Moses_[SN: Deut. 18.]; which notwithstanding sometimes succeeding,
according to fears or desires, have left impressions and timerous
expectations in credulous minds for ever.
[Sidenote: _The Emblem of superstition._]
2. That Owls and Ravens are ominous appearers, and pre-signifying
unlucky events, as Christians yet conceit, was also an Augurial
conception. Because many Ravens were seen when _Alexander_ entred
_Babylon_, they were thought to pre-ominate his death; and because an
Owl appeared before the battle, it presaged the ruin of _Crassus_. Which
though decrepite superstitions, and such as had their nativity in times
beyond all history, are fresh in the observation of many heads, and by
the credulous and feminine party still in some Majesty among us. And
therefore the Emblem of Superstition was well set out by _Ripa_[SN:
Iconologia de Cæsare Ripa.], in the picture of an Owl, an Hare, and an
Old Woman. And it no way confirmeth the Augurial consideration, that an
Owl is a forbidden food in the Law of _Moses_; or that _Jerusalem_ was
threatned by the Raven and the Owl, in that expression of _Esay_ 34.
That it should be a court for Owls, that the Cormorant and the Bittern
should possess it, and the Owl and the Raven dwell in it. For thereby
was only implied their ensuing desolation, as is expounded in the words
succeeding; He shall draw upon it the line of confusion, and the stones
of emptiness.
3. The falling of Salt is an authentick presagement of ill luck, nor can
every temper contemn it; from whence notwithstanding nothing can be
naturally feared: nor was the same a general prognostick of future evil
among the Ancients, but a particular omination concerning the breach of
friendship. For Salt as incorruptible, was the Symbole of friendship,
and before the other service was offered unto their guests; which if it
casually fell, was accounted ominous, and their amity of no duration.
But whether Salt were not only a Symbole of friendship with man, but
also a figure of amity and reconciliation with God, and was therefore
observed in sacrifices, is an higher speculation.
4. To break the egg shell after the meat is out, we are taught in our
childhood, and practise it all our lives; which nevertheless is but a
superstitious relict, according to the judgment of _Pliny_, _Huc
pertinet ovorum, ut exorbuerit quisq; calices protinus frangi, aut
eosdem coclearibus perforari_; and the intent hereof was to prevent
witchcraft; for lest witches should draw or prick their names therein,
and veneficiously mischief their persons, they broke the shell, as
_Dalecampius_ hath observed.
5. The true Lovers knot is very much magnified, and still retained in
presents of Love among us; which though in all points it doth not make
out, had perhaps its original from the _Nodus Herculanus_, or that which
was called _Hercules_ his knot, resembling the snaky complication in the
caduceus or rod of _Hermes_; and in which form the Zone or woollen
girdle of the Bride was fastned, as _Turnebus_ observeth in his
_Adversaria_.
6. When our cheek burneth or ear tingleth, we usually say that some body
is talking of us, which is an ancient conceit, and ranked among
superstitious opinions by _Pliny_. _Absentes tinnitu aurium præsentire
sermones de se receptum est_, according to that distick noted by
_Dalecampius_.
_Garrula quid totis resonas mihi noctibus auris?
Nescio quem dicis nunc meminisse mei._
Which is a conceit hardly to be made out without the concession of a
signifying _Genius_, or universal _Mercury_; conducting sounds unto
their distant subjects, and teaching us to hear by touch.
[Sidenote: _The original of the proverb_, Under the Rose be it, _etc._]
7. When we desire to confine our words, we commonly say they are spoken
under the Rose; which expression is commendable, if the Rose from any
natural property may be the Symbole of silence, as _Nazianzene_ seems to
imply in these translated verses:
_Utq; latet Rosa Verna suo putamine clausa,
Sic os vincla ferat, validisq; arctetur habenis,
Indicatq; suis prolixa silentia labris:_
And is also tolerable, if by desiring a secrecy to words spoke under
the Rose, we only mean in society and compotation, from the ancient
custom in Symposiack meetings, to wear chaplets of Roses about their
heads: and so we condemn not the _German_ custom, which over the Table
describeth a Rose in the cieling. But more considerable it is, if the
original were such as _Lemnius_, and others have recorded; that the Rose
was the flower of _Venus_, which _Cupid_ consecrated unto _Harpocrates_
the God of silence, and was therefore an Emblem thereof, to conceal the
pranks of Venery; as is declared in this Tetrastick;
_Est Rosa flos veneris, cujus quo facta laterent,
Harpocrati matris, dona dicavit Amor;
Inde Rosam mensis hospes suspendit Amicis.
Convivæ ut sub eâ dicta tacenda sciant._
8. That smoak doth follow the fairest, is an usual saying with us, and
in many parts of _Europe_; whereof although there seem no natural
ground, yet it is the continuation of a very ancient opinion, as _Petrus
Victorius_ and _Causabon_ have observed from a passage in _Athenæus_:
wherein a _Parasite_ thus describeth himself:
_To every Table first I come,
Whence Porridge I am cal'd by some:
A Capaneus at Stares I am,
To enter any Room a Ram;
Like whips and thongs to all I ply,
Like smoake unto the Fair I fly._
9. To sit cross leg'd, or with our fingers pectinated or shut together,
is accounted bad, and friends will perswade us from it. The same conceit
religiously possessed the Ancients, as is observable from _Pliny_.
_Poplites alternis genibus imponere nefas olim_; and also from
_Athenæus_, that it was an old veneficious practice, and _Juno_ is made
in this posture to hinder the delivery of _Alcmena_. And therefore, as
_Pierius_ observeth, in the Medal of _Julia Pia_, the right hand of
_Venus_ was made extended with the inscription of _Venus, Genetrix_; for
the complication or pectination of the fingers was an Hieroglyphick of
impediment, as in that place he declareth.
10. The set and statary times of pairing of nails, and cutting of hair,
is thought by many a point of consideration; which is perhaps but the
continuation of an ancient superstition. For piaculous it was unto the
_Romans_ to pare their nails upon the Nundinæ, observed every ninth day;
and was also feared by others in certain daies of the week; according to
that of _Ausonius_, _Ungues Mercurio_, _Barbam Jove_, _Cypride Crines_;
and was one part of the wickedness that filled up the measure of
_Manasses_, when 'tis delivered that he observed times. [SN: 2 Chron.
33.]
11. A common fashion it is to nourish hair upon the mouls of the face;
which is the perpetuation of a very ancient custom; and though
innocently practised among us, may have a superstitious original,
according to that of _Pliny_, _Nævos in facie tondere religiosum habent
nunc multi._ From the like might proceed the fears of poling Elvelocks
or complicated hairs of the head, and also of locks longer than the
other hair; they being votary at first, and dedicated upon occasion;
preserved with great care, and accordingly esteemed by others, as
appears by that of _Apuleius, Adjuro per dulcem capilli tui nodulum._
12. A custom there is in most parts of _Europe_ to adorn Aqueducts,
spouts and Cisterns with Lions heads: which though no illaudable
ornament, is of an _Egyptian_ genealogy,[8] who practised the same under
a symbolical illation. For because the Sun being in Leo, the flood of
_Nilus_ was at the full, and water became conveyed into every part, they
made the spouts of their Aqueducts through the head of a Lion. And upon
some cœlestial respects it is not improbable the great Mogul or
_Indian_ King doth bear for his Arms a Lion and the Sun.
[8] geneologie, 1658, 1669, geneology, 1672.
[Sidenote: _Symbolical significations of the girdle._]
13. Many conceive there is somewhat amiss, and that as we usually say,
they are unblest until they put on their girdle. Wherein (although most
know not what they say) there are involved unknown considerations. For
by a girdle or cincture are symbolically implied Truth, Resolution, and
Readiness unto action, which are parts and vertues required in the
service of God. According whereto we find that the _Israelites_ did eat
the Paschal Lamb with their loins girded; and the Almighty challenging
_Job_, bids him gird up his loins like a man. So runneth the expression
of _Peter_, Gird up the loins of your minds, be sober and hope to the
end: so the high Priest was girt with the girdle of fine linnen: so is
it part of the holy habit to have our lines girt about with truth; and
so is it also said concerning our Saviour, Righteousness shall be the
girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. [SN: Isa.
11.]
Moreover by the girdle, the heart and parts which God requires are
divided from the inferior and concupiscential organs; implying thereby a
memento unto purification and cleanness of heart, which is commonly
denied from the concupiscence and affection of those parts; and
therefore unto this day the _Jews_ do bless themselves when they put on
their zone or cincture. And thus may we make out the doctrin of
_Pythagoras_, to offer sacrifice with our feet naked, that is, that our
inferiour parts and farthest removed from reason might be free, and of
no impediment unto us. Thus _Achilles_, though dipped in Styx, yet
having his heel untouched by that water; although he were fortified
elsewhere, he was slain in that part, as only vulnerable in the
inferiour and brutal part of Man. This is that part of _Eve_ and her
posterity the devil still doth bruise, that is, that part of the soul
which adhereth unto earth, and walks in the paths thereof. And in this
secundary and symbolical sense it may be also understood, when the
Priests in the Law washed their feet before the sacrifice; when our
Saviour washed the feet of his Disciples, and said unto _Peter_, If I
wash not thy feet thou hast no part in me. And thus is it symbolically
explainable, and implyeth purification and cleanness, when in the burnt
offerings the Priest is commanded to wash the inwards and legs thereof
in water; and in the peace and sin-offerings, to burn the two kidneys,
the fat which is about the flanks, and as we translate it, the Caul
above the Liver. But whether the _Jews_ when they blessed themselves,
had any eye unto the words of _Jeremy_[SN: Jer. 13.], wherein God makes
them his Girdle; or had therein any reference unto the Girdle, which the
Prophet was commanded to hide in the hole of the rock of _Euphrates_,
and which was the type of their captivity, we leave unto higher
conjecture.
[Sidenote: _Certain_ Hereticks _who ascribed humane figure unto God,
after which they conceived he created man in his likeness._]
14. The Picture of the Creator, or God the Father in the shape of an old
Man, is a dangerous piece, and in this Fecundity of sects may revive the
Anthropomorphites. Which although maintained from the expression of
_Daniel_, I beheld where the Ancient of dayes did sit, whose hair of his
head was like the pure wool; yet may it be also derivative from the
Hieroglyphical description of the _Ægyptians_; who to express their
Eneph, or Creator of the world, described an old man in a blew mantle,
with an egg in his mouth; which was the Emblem of the world. Surely
those heathens, that notwithstanding the exemplary advantage in heaven,
would endure no pictures of Sun or Moon, as being visible unto all the
world, and needing no representation; do evidently accuse the practice
of those pencils, that will describe invisibles. And he that challenged
the boldest hand unto the picture of an Echo, must laugh at this
attempt, not only in the description of invisibility, but
circumscription of Ubiquity, and fetching under lines incomprehensible
circularity.
The Pictures of the _Ægyptians_ were more tolerable, and in their sacred
letters more veniably expressed the apprehension of Divinity. For though
they implied the same by an eye upon a Scepter, by an Ægles head, a
Crocodile, and the like: yet did these manual descriptions pretend no
corporal representations; nor could the people misconceive the same unto
real correspondencies. So though the Cherub carried some apprehension of
Divinity, yet was it not conceived to be the shape thereof: and so
perhaps because it is metaphorically predicated of God, that he is a
consuming fire, he may be harmlessly described by a flaming
representation; Yet if, as some will have it, all mediocrity of folly is
foolish, and because an unrequitable evil may ensue, an indifferent
convenience must be omitted; we shall not urge such representments; we
could spare the holy Lamb for the picture of our Saviour, and the Dove
or fiery Tongues to represent the holy Ghost.
15. The Sun and Moon are usually described with humane faces; whether
herein there be not a _Pagan_ imitation, and those visages at first
implied _Apollo_ and _Diana_, we may make some doubt; and we find the
statua of the Sun was framed with raies about the head, which were the
indiciduous and unshaven locks of _Apollo_. We should be too
Iconomical [SN: _Or quarrelsom with Pictures._] to question the pictures
of the winds, as commonly drawn in humane heads, and with their cheeks
distended; which notwithstanding we find condemned by _Minutius_, as
answering poetical fancies, and the gentile description of _Æolus_,
_Boreas_, and the feigned Deities of winds.
16. We shall not, I hope, disparage the Resurrection of our Redeemer, if
we say the Sun doth not dance on Easter day. And though we would
willingly assent unto any sympathetical exultation, yet cannot conceive
therein any more than a Tropical expression. Whether any such motion
there were in that day wherein Christ arised, Scripture hath not
revealed, which hath been punctual in other records concerning solary
miracles: and the Areopagite [SN: _Dion._ Ep. 7. _a._ ad Policar. et Pet.
Hall not. in vit. S. Dionys.] that was amazed at the Eclipse, took no
notice of this. And if metaphorical expressions go so far, we may be
bold to affirm, not only that one Sun danced, but two arose that day:
That light appeared at his nativity, and darkness at his death, and yet
a light at both; for even that darkness was a light unto the _Gentiles_,
illuminated by that obscurity. That 'twas the first time the Sun set
above the Horizon; that although there were darkness above the earth,
there was light beneath it, nor dare we say that hell was dark if he
were in it.
17. Great conceits are raised of the involution or membranous covering,
commonly called the Silly-how, that sometimes is found about the heads
of children upon their birth; and is therefore preserved with great
care, not only as medical in diseases, but effectual in success,
concerning the Infant and others; which is surely no more than a
continued superstition. For hereof we read in the life of _Antoninus_
delivered by _Spartianus_, that children are born sometimes with this
natural cap; which Midwives were wont to sell unto credulous Lawyers,
who had an opinion it advantaged their promotion.
But to speak strictly, the effect is natural, and thus may be conceived:
Animal conceptions have largely taken three teguments, or membranous
films which cover them in the womb, that is, the Corion, Amnios, and
Allantois; the Corion is the outward membrance wherein are implanted the
Veins, Arteries and umbilical vessels, whereby its nourishment is
conveyed: the Allantois a thin coat seated under the Corion, wherein are
received the watery separations conveyed by the Urachus, that the
acrimony thereof should not offend the skin. [SN: De formato fœtu.] The
Amnios is a general investment, containing the sudorus or thin serosity
perspirable through the skin. Now about the time when the Infant
breaketh these coverings, it sometimes carrieth with it about the head a
part of the Amnios or nearest coat; which saith _Spiegelius_, either
proceedeth from the toughness of the membrance or weakness of the Infant
that cannot get clear thereof. And therefore herein significations are
natural and concluding upon the Infant, but not to be extended unto
magical signalities, or any other person.
18. That 'tis good to be drunk once a moneth, is a common flattery of
sensuality, supporting it self upon Physick, and the healthful effects
of inebriation. This indeed seems plainly affirmed by _Avicenna_, a
Physitian of great authority, and whose religion prohibiting Wine, could
less extenuate ebriety. But _Averroes_ a man of his own faith was of
another belief; restraining his ebriety unto hilarity, and in effect
making no more thereof than _Seneca_ commendeth, and was allowable in
_Cato_; that is, a sober incalescence and regulated æstuation from wine;
or what may be conceived between _Joseph_ and his brethren, when the
text expresseth they were merry, or drank largely, and whereby indeed
the commodities set down by _Avicenna_, that is, alleviation of spirits,
resolution of superfluities, provocation of sweat and urine may also
ensue. But as for dementation, sopition of reason, and the diviner
particle from drink; though _American_ religion approve, and _Pagan_
piety of old hath practised it, even at their sacrifices; Christian
morality and the doctrine of Christ will not allow. And surely that
religion which excuseth the fact of _Noah_, in the aged surprizal of six
hundred years, and unexpected inebriation from the unknown effects of
wine, will neither acquit ebriosity nor ebriety, in their known and
intended perversions.
And indeed, although sometimes effects succeed which may relieve the
body, yet if they carry mischief or peril unto the soul, we are therein
restrainable by Divinity, which circumscribeth Physick, and
circumstantially determines the use thereof. From natural
considerations, Physick commendeth the use of venery; and happily,
incest, adultery, or stupration may prove as Physically advantagious, as
conjugal copulation; which notwithstanding must not be drawn into
practise. And truly effects, consequents, or events which we commend,
arise oft-times from wayes which we all condemn. Thus from the fact of
_Lot_, we derive the generation of _Ruth_, and blessed Nativity of our
Saviour; which notwithstanding did not extenuate the incestuous ebriety
of the generator. And if, as is commonly urged, we think to extenuate
ebriety from the benefit of vomit oft succeeding, _Egyptian_ sobriety
will condemn us, which purged both wayes twice a moneth, without this
perturbation: and we foolishly contemn the liberal hand of God, and
ample field of medicines which sobriety produce that action.
[Sidenote: _Why the devil is commonly said to appear with a cloven
foot._]
19. A conceit there is, that the Devil commonly appeareth with a cloven
hoof; wherein although it seem excessively ridiculous, there may be
somewhat of truth; and the ground thereof at first might be his frequent
appearing in the shape of a Goat, which answers that description. This
was the opinion of ancient Christians concerning the apparition of
Panites, Fauns and Satyres; and in this form we read of one that
appeared unto _Antony_ in the wilderness. The same is also continued
from expositions of holy Scripture; for whereas it is said, [SN: Levit.
17.] Thou shalt not offer unto Devils, the Original word is
_Seghnirim_, that is, rough and hairy Goats, because in that shape the
Devil most often appeared; as is expounded by the _Rabbins_, as
_Tremellius_ hath also explained; and as the word _Ascimah_, the god of
_Emath_ is by some conceived. Nor did he only assume this shape in elder
times, but commonly in later dayes, especially in the place of his
worship, if there be any truth in the confession of Witches, and as in
many stories it stands confirmed by _Bodinus_[SN: _In his_
Dæmonomania.]. And therefore a Goat is not improperly made the
Hieroglyphick of the devil, as _Pierius_ hath expressed it. So might it
be the Emblem of sin, as it was in the sin-offering; and so likewise of
wicked and sinful men, according to the expression of Scripture in the
method of the last distribution; when our Saviour shall separate the
Sheep from the Goats, that is, the Sons of the Lamb from the children of
the devil.