Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-11-15
SUPERSTITION IN ROUMAN!A.
Observances Which Are Required to In-
 srre Personal Safety-Old Belief.

Observances Which Are Required to In-
 srre Personal Safety-oId Belief.
 Countless are the superstitions which gov ern the daily life of tho Roumanian, and the observances which are required to insure his safety in the midst of the mysterious dan gers which surround him. Neither on We'd nesday nor Friday should he take bread or use needle or scissors, nor should bargain be concluded on those days. On Tuesday no spinning should be done and there is even danger in washing the hands or combing the hair "May the spirit of Tuesday evening carry you off" is equivalent to saying "May the devil take you!" Neither should any one make the mistake of supposiag that on the comparatively lucky days of Monday, Thursday and Saturday he may safely do as he pleases One may attend to the house hold wash on Thursday and spin on Satur- day, but terrible consequences would ensue should this order be reversed. It is true that Thursday is lucky day for marriages, but it is most inauspicious for field labor.
 The exact hour of noon is always dan gerous moment, and so is midnight; it is safer to be in the house at these times. The night before Easter Sunday witches and de- mons are about, and flames betray the site of hidden treasures. None but the most reck- less peasant, however, would dare appropri- ate the treasures thus revealed, for on that night they cannot be taken without sin. A whirlwind shows that the devil is dancing with a witch, and whoever comes near the circle may be swept off to hell. One should neither point at the rainbow nor at an ap- preaching storm, and eff house struck by lightning begins to burn, it is not allowed to put out the flames, because God has lit the fire, and it were presumptuous for man to dare meddle with his york; Whoever turns three somersaults the first time he hears the thunder will be free from pains in the back for the following year. It is lucky to meet a gypsy the first thing in the morning, and 1t is also lucky to meet Q woman with jugful of water, while an empty jug or pail is un- lucky; therefore the Roumanian maiden meeting you on the way back from the we'll will display her brimming pitcher as she passes with a pleased consciousness of bring ing good luck, while the girl whose pitcher is empty will slink past shamefacedly, as though she had a crime to conceal"
 It was an old Roumanian belief that in the building of large edif1ce it was absolutely essential that living human being should be built into the walls to give them stability. There can be no doubt that this barbarous custom was often observed, and the remnant of it is seen in the practice which still pre- vails of walling into any large building the shadow of living man. The shadow of some person, who must be unconscious Of the spell to be cast upon him, is measured with a cord or strips of reed, and the measure is tn- terred within the wall The victim is sure to pine and die within forty days. A careless passer near some building in process of erec- tion may even now hear warning cry from the bystanders: "Beware lest they take thy shadowI' It Is not long since there were pro fessional shadow traders whose business 1t was to supply architects with the necessary victims -''The Land Beyond the Forest.n