SUPERSTITIONS AMONG SOLDIERS

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 1207, 12 November 1919, Page 2

SUPERSTITIONS AMONG SOLDIERS

_ < __ c To hear them toll it, most normal human ' beings ''take no stock" in charms, omens, magic formulas, lucky numbers, and such, j holding that these things are the rem- ' rants of a superstitious age, and as such J not worthy of credence on the part of anybody who makes even a pretence of being up to date. As a strict matter of fact, however, it would appear that a I goodly portion of even the most civilised j communities still harbor sundry supersti--1 tions which ever and anon arc revealed j when " all the signs are right." Thus we | are told that during -the war it became ap- | parent that most- of the soldiers still beI lieved in the power of charms to protect • them against the dangers to which they were exposed, it seems that this belief prevailed in all the armies of both the ■ Allies and the enemy, and was by no means confined to the common soldiers, manifestations thereof being found among the officers as well. A writer in the London ' Morning Post,' in discussing the superstitions among the British soldiers, says he found many of these shared also by the troops from overseas. For instance : '* One day I happened to meet an Australian soldier, who wore the figure 5 on the collar of his tunic. This 5 is known on the Continent as the Pentad, and in Belgium the Fifth Regiment is considered to be the lucky regiment. The logic of the Pentad is as follows:—Figure 1 stands for God, absolutely alone. Figure 2 is-the i mind of God in operation, as shown by | the works of Nature. Figure 3 represents ' man as the highest work of God. Taking, I therefore, figure 1- as -being unique, the i figures 2 and 3 (that is, God's work in the i hands of man) equal 5, and* this 5 is said to represent everything. In this country we do not fully appreciate the meaning of the figure 5. To come back to the Australian soldier, he told me that he knew nothing of the Pentad, and he was rather inclined to sneer at luck in general; but he told me that his company, which was the Fifth, was very lucky, and day after day the men had many narrow escapes from death or wounds. The company, in fact, had lost only 15 men out of 180, while the second company had lost a much larger proportion. He also told me that the number 13 was considered by them a lucky number, and most of the men in the Fifth Company, curiously enough, had. 13 in fheir regimental numbers, his own number being 5i327. . It would be inevitable that the ancient but exceedingly potent Swastika should be numbered among the charms carried by somebody, and it is not surprising that that person should be an officer: but one wonders by what exercise of mental processes a piece of coal should come to be invested with magic qualities. We read : " On one occasion, after lecturing to some men from New Zealand and Australia, I was entertained for the night and put up in an officers' hut. Before turning in I chatted over tlie subject of folklore and soldiers' mascots with four officers. At first the conversation was naturally formal, but we soon warmed to o»r work and broke down any barriers which may have existed between us. Then, to my surprise, one of the officers told me that lie carried a charm, and I said I would like to know what it was. It turned out to be simply a Swastika, which was apparently new to him, and ho was glad to hear more about il. The second officer took from his pocket a small cross of grotesque form, winch he informed me was his mascot. The third officer laughingly added: ' Well. 1 need not show you mine,' because it is only a piece of coal, wrapped in a little bag which ; [ brought over from Australia.' The fourth (and this to my astonishment, being j the ' highest possible') said: 'I also have , a mascot, but 1 regret to say that I don't ! intend to show it to you. I won't even j tell you what it is, because it would spoil I my luck." Nothing I could say would ■ induce him to alter his decision. His was ' the most superstitious case of all." The Maoris have not been numbered ' among civilised nations as long as sonic of the others who took pari in the war, but when if comes to lucky pieces it would .seem as if there should be more luck 1 ■ in one of their greenstone amulets which , had taken two or three men's lifetimes ;1 to prepare than there would be in a mere ; chunk of anthracite: "During my visit to I this camp I. was pleased to be able to i have.some conversation with one or two ! .Maoris. They were exceedingly interest* | ing fellows, and did not object'to tell me i all they could about mascots. The great I mascot of the Maoris is a quaint contorted | greenstone figure, which is known to be of j enormous antiquity. This greenstone—,i j kind of jade—is extremely hard ; in fact, j it is almost as hard as corundum or the j diamond, The ordinary-sized jade tiki, or I club, would take it native New Zealander j several months or even years to rub down; j and it has been stated' that some of tli-s j large clubs of pure jade take tbe lives'of three men, at constant work, to make. There are, however, a large number of machine-made tikis on the market. My -Maori friend told me that when a .Maori dies his tiki is always buried with him." What is said of the French and Belgian charms is reminiscent of the Indian's belief that the commendable qualities of tin? enemy he slew passed to himself with his appropriation of the slain man's scalp. "The commonest charms among the soldiers of France and Belgium are. made of aluminium and copper fragments oi German shells'. It is considered that- if you wear a piece of an enemy's projectile it inoculates you against future danger from such sources. As a matter fact, >t may be pointed out here that every Irish cottage has in it what is called a ' thunder-bolt';' which is supposed to profeet the cottage from being struck by lightning, and instances of. such doctrine or idea exist practically all over Europe. The French soldier is also very keen on fragments of shells, any one of which he will wrap up in a. bit of rag and put hi his pocket. Aluminium and copper fragments are treated more carefully. They are made into crosses, anchors, stars,' diamonds, shields, finger-rings, and even into Model flying machines, and in this form they were Carried as .amulets by thousands of men who 'were fighting on outside. In Italy, the men wore the kincb of charms and amulets which have been cominon in that country for many generations—even centuries, I may say. They consist chiefly of phallic emblems, and may he,seen by thousands in the streets and' markets of Naples especially." , True to their instincts, the Germans carried charms symbolising the gross and obscene. '. . ' "I have a number of examples of German charms,, some of, which were taken from German prisoners, while others were collected by myself in Germany about two years ago. They are of a character you might expect from such a people, and consist largely of pigs, many of which, I regret to say, are grossly vulgar and. offensive. Moreover, the pig is not a lucky charm, as we might regard it; calculated to prevent danger, it simply implies wealth, and that is not much use in actual fighting. -Another German charm is >i small model . of a fungus, which ; is .qf natural ■ blood-red -.color. This ; is really vi phallic'emblem, A third kind is a teetotum,'the meaning of which is ' chance.'

On the other hand, ill the German Navy or what remains of it, they have rathe)' a pretty charm. It consists of a small, cheap medal bearing the figure of Christ stilling the tempest, with the motto- ' Safety in storms.' I gathered from several of my friends that the charm? in common use by the Germans were generally small objects, such as I have mentioned, which had been presented to the wearers by their mothers or sisters, but in Few cases had the charm any definite logical meaning."