CONCERNING SUPERSTITIONS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 8, 10 January 1908, Page 6

CONCERNING SUPERSTITIONS.

(By Jenny Wren.)

Deny it as we may, superstition, in some form or another, has an abiding place in.the,human breast. Despite all the learning, the philosophy, the cultivation of common sense, that the centuries have made our own, this relic of the dark ages still haunts the recesses of our minds and governs, perhaps unconsciously, many of our actions. It is a far cry from the days when our early ancestors endeavoured to placate their savage gods by human sacrifices to these of the twentieth century, but the same idea can be traced from then to now. Strange to say, it is not women only who lay such stress upon these latterday oracles. Watch a crowd dense or otherwise, walking along a footpath where a ladder is reared against a wall. For about three who go under it there are six who make a detour quite out of their way in order to get by—anything to avoid ill-luck, which would probably consist of a shower of mortar or possibly a falling brick or two. Quite *as many men as women avoid going under. Some people find it impossible to pass a horse-shoe wherever they may chance to see it lying, even if it should involve getting off a bicycle. Then comes the performance of throwing it over the left shoulder and wishing. If anyone, unconscious of the proceedings, should chance to be just behind at the time of throwing it cannot be considered a fortunate occurrence, as the horse-shoe invariably makes for them. No woman, if she can possibly help it, will ever get married in May. This is indeed flying in the face'of Providence, and should the marriage by overwhelming circumstances take place in that fated month she will feel as she goes through' with it that all the powers of evil are gathering together ready to descend upon her head. It is well-known, of course, that Friday is a most unlucky day to undertake ventures of any kind. Many women have missed golden opportunities rather than begin anything on a Friday. If they lose their train or their boat, it is all because they started their journey on that day of all others. Many sailors, even now, are not fond of beginning their voyages on a Friday- It is said by the Arabs that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were turned out of Paradise on that day, also dying on a Friday. Why ill-luck should be connected with the dying on a Friday is rather hard to see. It looks as though trouble were still expected to pursue our unhappy first parents in their future careers. The modern custom of christening a ship has come down from very ancient times. 1 hen sacrifices were offered up to placate the divinities, garlands of flowers hung about the figurehead representing the power un-

der whose protection the ship was placed, and libations of wine poured out. After all, there is very little of the ancient ceremony changed. Have you ever seen a girl, or "a woman walking along the street stop suddenly, half wheel till she is looking over her left shoulder at some object in the sky, and then, with the greatest solemnity and ceremony, proceed to bow nine times in succession. There is no need to wonder if she has become suddenly bereft of her senses. She has caught sight of the new moon, and is trying to secure good luck for the month by first of all turning her money three times (if she has any about her), wishing hard for something special, and bowing nine times. Tne magic rites performed, she goes on her way happily, feeling that fortune will smile brightly upon her till the next new moon appears. It is most unfortunate to see it through glass, or even through the branches of trees; always a clear open space is needed for the first view of the pale silver crescent of fate. ; j, Who, among us, that has spilled salt, does not either openly or surreptitiously cast some over the lerfc shoulder, hoping by doing so to annul the ill-fortune that inevitably follows the act, and there must be very few in the world who have not gloated over the accidental finding ot a four-leaved clover or shamrock. It is pressed most carefully and put away with our greatest treasures —a mascot indeed. ,_, ~ The "first foot" on New Year's morning is looked forward to with the the greatest'interest in nearly every part of the world- Dark people are welcomed with great cordiality, particularly if they have remembered to bring with them a crust of bread, not that it is to gratify the pangs of hunger, but merely to ensure prosperity to the household during the coming year. We owe that to the Scotch people, among very many other customs. Mothers may not think when they give their baby the usual toy of coral and bells that in olden days coral was hung around the infant's neck as a guard against fascination, and. also as an indication of health. When the coral changed colour and looked pale the wearer was sick; when it regained colour, health was restored. In Britanny, that strange haunted land of old-world customs, traditions, and beliefs, there is on the coast a "Bay of the Departed," and in the dead of night fishermen, it is said, are summoned by unseen powers to launch a boat and ferry over to a sacred island the souls of men. The boat is so crowded with the invisible freight as to be, quite low in the water, and is accompanied oh her way by the wailing of the drowned. On arrival at Sem, invisible beings are said to welcome invisible passengers, and then the wondering, awe-struck crew return to await the next supernatural summons to fenry the ghosts over to the storied isle, one of the ancient homes of the Druidesses.

Many books could be filled with the superstitions peculiar to different nationalities. Possibly the people of Celtic origin are more steeped in them than any other, having a larger share of imagination, mysticism, love of Nature, and possibly—more credulity.