The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-07-11
FROM THE MUSTY PAST.
MANY sUPERsTITIoNs BOOTED IN
OLD PAGAN BELIEFS.

/ want now to look with q little more
particularly into the origin Of some Of
our superstitions I have already told
you, in general way, what I 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 evergTeens; our New Year and May
day festivals; our Easter retoicings,
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
their Bel fires which across the darkness
Of the centuries flame 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 of Idimness Of the
years, first made on earth fire in honor
of their heavenly god, the SUM- The
past, then, where is it2 It is all about
us and in US; its wisdom not only, but
/ its folly. We clothe ourselves In its
robe 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 unluclky day7 Nobody ever proved it
so. As many facts against the notion
can be found as those that favor it. Only
| IL people get fancy in their h ,ads, 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 its 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 a fish diet and i'll
fortune. 1 wonder they kept the fish
for it was sacred to Freyja, and this il
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
q ! malignant god it came to be thought IN
| lucky to begin anything on his day
And did you ever think of it2 This is the
old Jewish Sabbath or day Of rest. AND
D beyond question here is the origin of thu
J.. Sabbath. First it was unlucly to do any
s thing on that day, because they wer'
!. | afraid of the god who ruled it; then, a
Z the conception of the god changed, the.
refrained from work, because, for som
reason, they supposed he wanted then
to. Our Sunday is still Saturday, Sa
=, turns day, to thousands, and they still
keep it, because they are afraid of tn
God who is supposed to have made it hi
d own.
J, THE WILD HUNTsMANs DOG.
q Take one more illustration. 1t is stil
a bad sign for the dog to bark at nigh
under the window. It portends a deaf
in the family. haven't time to go int
q this at length, but this is remnant @
q the old myth of Odin, the wild hunts
n man. John represents Jesus as sayin
v that he would come for his disciples g
J. death and receive them to himself. L
% | all ages and in all religions it has bee
- believed that at death the father Of tn
tribe as the god of the dead came fC
70 and led away his followers to the Ian
u of the departed. This faith has assume
FL hn
n. god of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors. VI
v der the name of Wodin we still have h
N name in our day of the week, Wednea
day-Wodin's day.
In the dark nights when the storm we
, up and a rushing Of winds could
L heard through the groaning tree top
I, the frightened peasants fancied the
ut heard the rush Of the Wild Huntsman
h troops, accompanied by shrieking truml
le cts and hurrying horses and baying dog
10 To pick up one Of the horseshoes W;
10 lucky, for, as lightning doesn't stril
twice in the same place, he wouldn't
III likely to pass that way soon again. 81
III to hear the barking of one of his dol
rs meant that the death call had com
Odin is forgotten except by scholars; b
his horseshoe is remembered for luc
and his dogs bark at night still makes
tremble.
Ia Another origin of many superstition
q. is to be found in fanciful ana1ogies
u ignorant interpretations of nature,
i'd mere condolences of color or form. F.
As instance, why cut the hair or nails {
the increase Of the moon? A mere fanC
full connection with the idea that as Il
moon grows so other things would gro
also. The witch supposed that as b
ne wax figures melted and wasted away
fore the fire, SO the man it represent
ce would waste away. Here is the origin
,r- the famous cures for warts we used
know as boys. Rub a bean on the
nd and throw it away, and as the bean
n cayed the warts would go away. Or
by another boy picked it up he would phi
no up the warts along with it. All t
u.s. other cures were Of like kind. T.
lg middle ages were full of such medicil
us as this, even among grave and learn
AN men. 1t still survives among old nurse
nc Because the mandrake root was forke
~ and supposed to resemble man, it W
u, conceived to possess remarkable curah
NJ powers. NJ. j. Savage in Bost
10 Globe.
To- Virtues OF Jobs Tears.
of Jobs Tears for Sale" is the legel
ks displayed in the window Of an up toy
Die drug store.
lie. what are Jobs Tears, and what a
10 10 they used for7" inquired a curious
he he porter. whose eyes fell upon the inscr+
ton.
ug The druggist in reply exhibited sm
pasteboard box. The box looked Ii
1T, other boxes, suggestive of pills and 9th
uncomfortable things, but when the
"a was removed number Of small, be
like seeds were exposed. They We
ne about the size Of pea beans and shap
70 like Prince Ruperts drops.
Az "These are Jobs Tears" said the I
compounder. ''You see they are shap
us as a tear is supposed to be. They {
on the seeds Of a small, grass-like pls
ip- that is a native of India but grows n,