The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-06-04
Luck and Omens,

There Is scarcely any country IN ,bo
| world so blinded by superstition as India
| The mind of HindoO is tinctured to such
al extent with the conviction of suner
natural agency directing his every sten
whether for good or for evil, that each
| moment almost of his life he looks for somo
omen indicating approval or disapprovol
OF what ne might at the time be engaged
III, or DC about to engage in. No sooner ia
son born than the Brahmin who ia tho
family priest draws up his horoscope, aa
| II aDle TO announce whether the oath In
| NE OF tic child will be smooth and unruf-
nc', or II lie ls destinod to romph and
stormy future. When he has reucbod
marrl geablc age the Brahmns again an.
pear on the scene and. are asked to fx an
auspiclous day, nay, even the hour and
inc minute When tho nuptial knot IA to bc
tled; and should, through some mischance
mat particular moment be allowed 10 naoa
away without the ceremony taking nlace
The marriage has to be put off till somo
other propltious day that is subseuucntiv
TO be fixed upon, and which in some casca
might not occur for year or two. Even
alter his death man cannot be secure
from being made victim to omens for
when that event docs happen the priests
are al work to ascertain wheth the dav
he died was favorable to his hanpincaa
hereafter or otherwise
Should per 'on about to undertake. q
journey or commence any work hear an
other snccze, he will consider it good or
bad omen, according as the latter has
sneeZcd once or twice. If once only. he
will delay his departure for few minutes
or put OF his work til! some ohertime 81
slrongl " and 80 generally is this believed in
That often serious consequences follow ON
person sncezing inopPortunely. Servants
nave been known to be dismissed hy their
masters, courtiers to be deprived of the fa-
vor OF princes, for having been inadvcrtcnt.
~ the medium through whom an unluckv
0 nen was displayed. The screechinp Gf
an owl IS believed to portend death. So
thoroughly are the people convinced of
thls That no sooner are its dismal notes
heard than quite Il commotlon is created
and IL often happens that ut dead of night
the whole village turns out to drive awav
this bird Of i'll omen. Great care is also
taken not to mention the name of a child
IN tho night, for fear an owl should hear
it, the popular belief being Tint it would
IN that case repeat the name every night
ana tle chllu, III consequence, would pine
away and die. The scratching of the palm
OF inc hand is believed to prognosticatc
that THO pdrson will receive some money.
while the scratching of the sole OF the foot
indicates that long journey will have to
oc undertaken. TO hear the word tsmon-
Key early in the morning is considered
very unlucky, and evils OF every descrip
ton are looked forward to us likely to
happen during the day And vet
~ lknv 10 Of
the llndOos. at Bcnarcs thousands of
them are allowed to live in gardens spec
ialIy set apart for thcm and are fed by ali
classes OF people, who IN 80 doing con.
slider they are performing an act of great
charity and devotion. The snake is never
mentioned at night, the popular belief be.
ing that it is Sure to make its appearance
if its name be uttered. If there is occa
sion to speak about it the word reptile ia
used instead. There exists supcrsttious
belief that should credit be given for the
first article sold in the morning, that DAVIS
bu mess will be attended with great loss.
Even If the purchaser be his best customer.
the shopkcepcr will either ask him to
come again or to buy trifling article and
pay cash for 1t, thus enabling tho person
to perform his first cash transactions Af-
ter person has taken off his shoes, should
one fall over another 1t ls believed to be
an omen tn t the person Is about to travel.
Should he really mediate Il Journey he a..
lows the shoes to remain in tht position: If
not, he puts them rlight and -is sIipposed
thus to prevent his Journey. a person
meeting severe loss or getting into some
trouble Is often known to attribute his
misfortune to having seen some unlucky
face in the morning, such as that of an
Gilman or man of notorously bad char
uctcr, or one who has some bodily dcform-
ity. A person blind of one eye IS consiC.
cred exceptionally unlucky, and is gcner
ally avoided by all IN tic morning or when
journey is about to be undc taken.
Among other bal omcns may be mentioned
snake or a iackall crossing ones path
hearing person cry when you arc going
anywhere; the cawing Of crow and the
crying OF kite; cat crossing ones path,
and the seeing al empty pitcher. 1t Is
strange as compared with the bad there
are few good omens. Among these may
be mentioned the following: Tho meet
ing of Il dead body being carried away and
no one crying with it; seeing pitcher
attached to it or Brahmln CARRYING a lug
of water from the Gangcs; a lizard creep-
ing up ones body; hearing bride cry
when she is leaving her parents and gong
to live with her husband; hearing the bell
Of tho temple strike or a trumpet sound
when one is setting out on a journey a
crow pcrchcd ona dead body floating down
the river, and a fox crossing ones path,
Suurraa AT (,,Iin,uu