SUPERSTITIONS OF FORMER YEARS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21186, 5 November 1938, Page 11

SUPERSTITIONS OF FORMER YEARS

ANCIENT REMEDIES ARE AMUSING

It is amusing to examine the remedies of other centuries, designed to cure anything from rheumatism to thievery. These superstitions still survive to a small degree among the country folk of England, but their vogue was at its height over 200 years ago.

For instance, those bitten by scorpions were advised to whisper in a donkey’s ear, “I am bitten with a scorpion,” and thus, they were assured, to become well. Cures for poisoned hands were brought about in the following manner: a frog was sealed in a jar and roasted over a slow fire, and the resulting mess was smeared on the wound!

I Insanity offered no problem to the country folk. All that was necessary to bring about a cure was to shave the subject’s head, apply a poultice, and persuade him to eat a piece of cheese on which were inscribed the words, “Antanbragon, tetragrammaton.” Another magic formula, to be spoken aloud by a person bitten by a

mad dog, was “Lemus, ramus, remus, ramus, oxiologe.” Those who required a more concrete remedy for the same ailment were advised to apply a mixture of onion, salt, nuts and honey.

It was once believed that a twig or part of a plant that resembled a part of the body would guard against sickness in that part if the twig was always carried on the body. People afflicted with rheumatism used to fasten about their necks a shoot of elder tree.in the form of a rude cross.

Paralysed limbs received such treatment as was calculated to make even the most crippled run and jump; they were rubbed and thoroughly thrashed with nettles! Old folk who were unable to control the trembling of their hands were instructed to bury them in garden soil for a day and a night.

For those unable to stop spending money ,the following should be interesting. Fashion a purse from owl’s hide, leaving the feathers intact, and in the interior write with the blood of a bat: “Beelzebub, Zetus, Caiaphas.” Ownership of such a purse was a guarantee against loose spending. If the old superstitions are to be believed, neither teacups nor crystals are necessary for viewing the future; simply anoint yourself with a perfume made from hemp-seeds, violet roots, and parsley, and in its incense you will behold the future!