The Irish standard., 1886-11-13
OMENS AND AMULETS.

OMENS AMI AN UlEIS.
Odd superstitions OF Noble and
Plebeian Persians.
! Curious Belief In the Evil Eye-The shah's
Horoscope-yarious Oriental Charms
The Brass Steps of an Ispahan
0Ios1fne--nIyth OF the Owl.
Nv OFF Won Schierbrand, in San Francisco
ChronicAe.]
There are many and curious supersti-
! tions in Persia Without meaning to ex-
haust the subject will give you some OF
the most peculiar oues. The s'baade
khadem,'' which is approximately rem.
dered in English by the term of evil eye,
though literally it would be translated
'evil STEP" plays ths largest part in this
line. The evil eye is believed in by every
body in Persia, the highest as we'll as the
lowest. A baby is healthy and pretty. a
friend Of the mother admires the little one
in glowing terms. That would be ''baade
khadem"--of evil omen--and would be
taken as diabolical design to .injcre
the child if the phrase 'Eenshallahn\
(may it please Cod we're not add
ed TO every eulog,um. An old woman
looks at the child from the right
hand side--evil eye again, Tho chill
stulnbles early in the nlorning-evil
eye. The father by accident speaks
first to the baby at surrise-evil
eye. 4 girl, pretty, well-manncrel.
healthy, with good dowry, is wedsel TO
! q man. The first business undertaking OF
| tbs young benedict turns ous t1isastrous.y.
Eyi, eye' Nothing could induce that
young man to keep MS yo7ng wife She
| is s.,,aade ,shade,u'' to him, an she's got
| to go, willy nilly As the divorce law is
| such that it virtually lies with t,.e husband
| alone to keep OF send away his wife, AM!
| as the ceremony tsalf is very simple, and
requires neither time nor money, he soon
| gets rid of her. Melody blanes HIM. t'She
! was 'baade kha.ienl' to him. every body
| says in explanation, and that is enough.
| The Shah never dares to undertake Il
| trip any whe. Q, not even 81 hunting excuf-
sion of weeks duration, unless the
horoscope be q favorable one. And il,
after starting out, he should have to
sneeze, he'd 5urn back Immediately, for
nothing is OF more evil omen. II a
bird should happen to fly across his
path Oh starting out ON a voyage the Tsl'-
sian would not pursue his journey. Not
only numbers are considered unlucky, bxaa
! jewels, furniture, horses, dogs, houses
trees, wives, days, hours, e4c., ars believed
to be lucky Or unlucky. Thus NO earthly
power, no expectations Of large preft
! could prevail upon Farsee to sell every
thirteenth piece OF goods. He will pass it
by, no matter how much you might urge
him. A1nulets are worn by nearly every
body 10 avert the evil eye and to attract
! the tuck. These amalets are Of ail shapes
and subs tances. The wealthier Ladies, for
instance, wear gold bracelets, neck-chains
and rings around thae ankles, often Of very
artistic workmanship, containing in q
| sealed-ap cavity ysrses from the Koran,
made specially powerful by the blessing Of
some imaum or pious derv1sh. The poorer
women will content themselves with q
string around the neck, 10 which may be
tied strong talisrnan in the shape OF q
snakes tooth, 8 locpard's tongue, a
hyena's 5uft OF hair, etc. often, too, a little
silver or brass loekat, with the finger joint
of newborn bahe q dead mans spittle
or q drop Of blood lrona an executed crim>
inal.
Snperstitiens OF this peculiar kind ars
| practically innnmarable. Thus, Shells
parts Of the hyena or hare {two animals
thought to be especially unclean} aud The
fruit of the anacardium are worn as anul-
cts to secure the love OF husband or win
tho affection Of lover, OF turn in her tlirec-
ton Che preference hitherto shown for "a
rival. Girls, young yidssss and divorced
| women will sit astride the whif2etiae Of
mills, aud thus allow themselves to be
turned twice around the pillar in the aoa.
tor, in the firm conviction that TINS pro~
redure will soon catch husband for tho,n.
The funniest superstition which prevails
80 the sams end is connected with an an.
ciens mosque i'll Ispahan, the n1inaret OF
which is known as the "Kunebrindii.n
There are twelve brass steps leading up to
it's entrance MarTiageable girls aud wild.
ows will pray at the gata Of she sanctuary
Tor man; but before doing SO, in order to
make their prayer effective, they must
crack walnut placed oa each Of the dozen
stops, and reite, after persornaing tae
feat varsa OF poetry. This shrine has
heen resorted to 3or laany centuries and
the belief in its seRcasy is still! as unshakeu
to-day as ever.
Knight so on citing many more cases Of
his kind, bat will instead wind up by re.
iating strange belief in regard to the lit
tic Persian hoeting owl. This birds nan.s
Is legion iii Persia. Their cry sounds like
a continual repetition ef Sch hakk, oh
hakk.n Tho word 'hakkn is the religious
tsrm for "eternal TRUTH end forms tho
favorite phrase Of the dervishes, Also 5he
ccncomitanr Of nearly every prayer. The
Persians believe that these birds, quite in
the beginning Of the world: once destroyed
poor mans field by ripping open the fur
! rows with 5heir beaks and eating up all the
seed The poor man died with grief and
hunger. Allah, to punish the miscreants
for their sin, ordained that the birds must
20 on wailing stOh hakki oh hakkl'' sill a
! drop ef blood oozes out OF their throats,
vhen the curse will be taken from them.
This anti-ornitAological feat has not yet
been accomplished by the hooting owls to
all appearances, for I still heard them
singing the old tune il the gardens Of
i Teheran. Tie samo birds VIXEN they come
and SIT Oh the roof of house and hoot in
\ To- o1oo Al