SNEEZING SUPERSTITIONS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9496, 9 January 1919, Page 5

SNEEZING SUPERSTITIONS.

Sneezing superstitions arc prevalent j all over the world. In \ Scotland it has been maintained that idiots are incapable of sneezing, and the power to do so has been' deemed evidence of the possession of a certain degree of intelligence. It was a Flemish belief that a sneeze during a conversation or a bargain proved that what you said was the truth. The Chinese believe that a sneeze on New Year's Eve means bad hick through the coming year. The Japanese hold that one sneeze means that someone is praising you; two, show blame; whereas, if you sneeze three times, you are merely ill. . When an American Indian lalls sick and sneezes lie. believes his ill— ncsa to be the work of some spiteful spirit. When he gets well he changes his name, so that the demon may not know him again. > A pious Brahmin will touch his right ear when he sneezes: Evil, spirits are believed to enter the body by. the '> ears, and the object of protecting the ear with the hands was to prevent their gaining admission. Speke and: Grant, African explorers, were unable to discover any trace .-.' of religion among the natives of Equatorial Africa except an ejaculation a prayer) whenever a person sneezed, i In France,-in earlier days, a sneeze was' greeted by the removal of the hat, and when the paroxysm was was over the sneezer formally returned the salutes of all present. In England, also, in the seventeenth century, a sueeze was saluted by. the removal of the hat. Joseph Ball, Bishop of Exeter in 1627, wrote that a man no longer reckoned among his friends those who failed to uncover when he sneezed. The Siamese have a peculiar idea of their own—that the gods are continually turning over the pages of the Judgment Book, and when they come to the page relating to any particular person, that, individual invariably sneezes. Their salutation is, "May the Judgment be favourable to you.'.' Homer, in the Odyssey, mentions a princess who prayed to the gods for the speedy return of her Husband. Scarcely was her prayer ended when her son sneezed! This was regarded as a sign from the gods that her prayer was granted! ;