The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1889-06-07
FROM THE MUSTY PAST.
MANY SUPERSTlTlONS ROOTED IN
OLD PAGAN BELIEFS.

Clinging to the Ignorance of the Past as
Well a. to Its Wisdom-The Unlueky
Day-The Barking Dog-Cutting Nails
and Hair by the Moon.
want now to look with little more
particularly into the origin of some OF
our superstitions l have already told
you, in general way, what | now wish
to emphasize, that the largest part OF
them are modern survivals of old nature
myths and pagan religions. That the
old world is still vital in us we are Civ
ing evidence every day of our lives. Our
common speech is full of traces OF old
beliefs, just as the rocks under our feet
are full of fossils and tracks of creatures
long since extinct Our carnivals, Mardi
Gras and Lents; our Christmas trees
yule logs. gift making, mistletoe boughs
and evergreens; our New Year and May
day festivals: our Easter rejoicings
Easter eggs and carols; all of there are
thousands of years old and have their
sources in all nations and all religions.
The peasants of England still kindle
of the centuries fame out an answering
signal to the old Phoenicians; and they
were kindled at the still more antique
fires of the older Persians; and even
these last are only modern representa-
tives of the old first fires of the first wor-
shippers, who, in far off .dimness of the
years, first made on earth fire in honor
of their heavenly god, the sum- The
past, then, where is it? 1t is all about
us and in us; it's wisdom not only, but
it's folly. We clothe ourselves IN its
robes of wisdom, and we still gather
about us the tattered and grotesque rags
of its ignorance.
WHY FRIDAY IS AN UNLUCKY DAY.
We will now particularize just little.
Why should Friday be now regarded as
an unlucky day? Nobody ever proved it
so. AS many facts against the notion
can be found as those that favor it. Only
| if people get fancy in their heads, they
always forget the times when their fancy
misses fire. and only remember when it
hits. Is there anything in the nature of
one day in the week to make it differ
from others? Nothing. All days equal
ly are caused by the turning of the earth
on it's axis. and thus bringing its differ
ent sides successfully toward the sun.
Suppose we should begin a new count,
and call Wednesday Monday, and SO on,
would Friday. when we got to it, still be
unlucky? No, friends, the reason is here.
In one of the old forms of paganism-
this relic of which has still survived
Friday was dedicated to Freyja, the Pa
gan Venus Christianity naturally cursed
the day and its worship, which was cor
rupt and corrupting. So poor Friga's
day was given up to fish diet and ill
fortune. wonder they kept the fish,
for it was sacred to Freyja, and this is
the reason why Friday is fish day still.
Saturday used to be the unlucky day
-Saturn's day. and hence the name.
And as Saturn was always gloomy and
malignant god it came to be thought un-
lucky to begin anything on his day.
And did you ever think of it? This is the
old Jewish Sabbath or day of rest. And
beyond question here is the origin of the
Sabbath First it was unlucky to do any
thing on that day, because they were
afraid of the god who ruled it; then, as
! the conception of the god changed, they
refrained from work, because, for some
reason, they supposed he wanted them
to. Our Sunday is still Saturday, Sa-
turns day. to thousands. and they still
keep it, because they are afraid of the
God who is supposed to have made it his
own.
THE WILD HUNTsMAN's DOG.
Take one more illustration. 1t is still
q bad sign for the dog to bark at night
under the window. 1t portends death
in the family. haven't time to go into
this at length, but this is remnant of
the old myth of Odin, the wild hunts
man. John represents Jesus as saying
that he would come for his disciples at
death and receive them to himself In
all ages and in all religions it has been
believed that at death the father of the
tribe as the god of the dead came for
and led away his followers to the land
of the departed. This faith has assumed
a thousand shapes. Odin used to be the
god of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. I'm
der the name of Wodin we still have his
name in our day of the week, Wednes-
day-Wodin's day.
In the dark nights when the storm was
up and rushing of winds could be
heard through the groaning tree tops,
the frightened peasants fancied they
heard the rush of the Wild Huntsman's
troops, accompanied by shrieking trump
cts and hurrying horses and baying dogs.
10 pick up one of the horseshoes was
lucky. for, as lightning doesn't strike
twice in the same place. he wouldn't he
likely to pass that way soon again. But
to hear the barking of one of his dogs
meant that the death call had come.
Odin is forgotten except by scholars; but
his horseshoe is remembered for luck.
and his dogs bark at night still makes us
trenlble
Another origin of many superstitions
is to he found in fanciful analogies or
ignorant interpretations of nature. or
mere condolences of color or form. For
instance. why cut the hair or nails on
the increase of the moon? mere fanci-
full connection with the idea that as the
moon grows so other things would grow
also. The witch supposed that as her
wax figures melted and wasted away be-
fore the fire. SO the man it represented
would waste away. Here is the origin of
the famous cures for warts we used to
know as boys. Rub bean on them
and throw it away. and as the bean de-
cayed the warts would go away. Or if
another boy picked it up he would pick
up the warts along with it. All the
other cures were of a like kind. The