St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-05-31

Il
up his ittle accounts ON. his fingers,
Ultimately Using his hand a. . symbol
OF hve. and consequently attaching extra
importance to that number.
Seven was considered holy number;
and throughout the Scriptures it is fire..
qGenely used - such. The seventh son
of seventh SON vas formerly looked
upon a. natural doctor who possessed
miraculous powers Of healing the sick.
and could. in fact frequently effect q
cure by. merely touching the sufferer.
Even at the present day this piece Of
superstition has not died out, and occa.
| sionally one may still meet with
these so-cslled natural doctors, who
fully believe in the marvellous powers
ascribed to them. Among The GabOon
tribes there is superstition that on the
seventh day after the birth Of "a child.
the woman who is nursing the mOtheri is
in danger Of being converted into an an
imal by some evil spirit il the necessary
steps are not taken to prevent her met
anosphosis. According to a popular
superstition. sseven years Of bad luck
may be expested by the unfortu-
nate person who chance to break mir.
TOR. There Is general belief with
most people thas they undergo some
change every seven years; man's life is
popularity divided into seven. ages, and
formerly ii was supposed that seven and
nine were capable of cxerting much
subtle Influence over men, the product
Of these two numbers being particularly
powerful in this respect Thus sixty
three years Has called the grand eli.
macteric, and that age was considered
very important crisis in a mans life.
Women, on the other hand,
were supposed to be more sus-
ceptible to the influence OF
six. Probably it was this belief in the
supposed influence Of nine and six on
mems lives which originally gave rise
to the custom Of granting leases for
multiples of seven or nine years. Long
leases are granted for ninety-ninc OF
nine hundred and nipety-Aine years, in
stead Of a hundred or . thousand years,
and there is, we believe, a piece of
supesSti tioA that otherwise the hum
aredth or thousandth year wound be
under the influence Of the Evil One.
Nine, trinity of trinities, is the per-
feet plural. and is credited with mystic
properties. As might be supposed,
therefore, many superstitions are con-
nectcd with it. The first unmarried
man passing beneath the Intel post of
a door over which has been hung pod
nine peas, win marry the
maid who placed it there: and piece of
worsted with nine knots tied in it is con-
sidered a charm for . sprained ankle.
Nine is not in every case lucky num-
nine tails Of the ''cat" with very little
favor; to see nine magpies is considered
an i'll omen; and the nine of, diamonds |
has been called-although no one seems
to know Why-the Course of Scotland"
Twelve is of constant recurrence.
ThuA there were twelve tribes of Israel |
and twelve apostles; year is divided |
into twelve m0nths. :. -trs
I It is a vell-knOwn piece of supersti- !
lion thatif thirteen people sit down to
able together one of them will die
Within a year; and probably, IS has been
'nggested, the origin Of this belief may
,e traced to the Paschal Supper. Even
Il the present day many people. who
certainly ought to possess more sense,
Ire reluctant totake part IN dinner or
upper party containing the unlucky
lumber Of guests Some, indeed, wlI
ven refuse 70 sit At the same table
With twelve others; and formerly in
france there were men who gained
livelihood by attending dinner-parties
md making up the number of guests to
ourteen in CASES sof'emergency, Of where
t was discovered st the last moment
hat only thirteen were present-Cham-
'ers' Journal - -~-s @ u