The Arizona champion., 1891-02-07
RAINBOW FOLK LORE.
Divine HonorS and Worship
 Paid to the Bow.
4 MESSENGER FROM HEAVEN.
Beliefs Concerning the Beautiful Lum-
 inous Phenomena.


 rainbow-the most beautiful of the lumin- ous phenomena of the sky or air-have prevailed in all ages, and do still survive
 The ancients have left on record many of these strange beliefs They grew and spread during the Middle Ages. The symbolism of Christian art employed the rainbow as an ornament. Christ being frequently shown seated on the many colured arch of heaven.
 Tine bow has been recognized as the deity himself, and divine honors and wor- ship have been paid to it. Ancient Greeks of Delos offered cakes of flour, meal and dried fruits to the rainbow Iris, the charming and swift messenger of the gods, was the rainbow in early mythology, and one of the lesser divinities in Olympus.
 In Samoa the rainbow is recognized as the village god, and Pava (god of war appeared inits shining arch. Mozambique Turks regard it as. the bow of Mouloucou tgenius of saet9, and Turks as the bow of COusa (angel of clOuds) In the Philip pine Islands VOWS are addressed to it, and after rain prayers are said to it. It was one of the servants of the sun in ancient Peru, and niche was reserved for it in the Quito temples. In Tahiti it is one of the children of the God Taaroa.
 When not regarded as the deity himself, it is often believed to be in some way con nected with him, as many of modern names for it indicate. Carlos consider it the "basket of the God Joulouka;" Samoyedes, ''the edge of the garment of supreme being" and Kamschatkans, ''the God Biloucay." Its name in San scrit was the "arm" or the ''bow of Indra," God of the Elements. In Finnish it is called ''Ukko's bow;' Tsigane peas- ants call it the ring of God" and Scla- vonians the ''seal of God;" Croatians, the 'belt," ''rod, ' foot, {" or "stave of God" while to inhabitants of Archangel the Walloon country, and to Arabs and CZecks it is the 'bow of God" It is known in one part of France as the 'girdle of God"
 Others credit the saints with power through it. Various saints have been se- lected as patronymic. In is ''St. Marks bow" in parts of Italy and France; HSt. Martins ring' in other localities of France, and his ''bow' in still other places, and in Spain also In Belgium it is called "St. Michaels humble bee;" in France "St. Bernard's crown" and in Lorraine his ''body;" in Provence and Dauphny his ''bridge." It is est. Leon- ards crown" in one place, his Carriage" in another. Basque folk lore records it's name as the ''arm of St. John" One Arab name is the "bow of the prophet"
 In accordance with the tradition that the rainbow was a sign and promise to Noah, we find 1t connected with his name in many place, and frequently shall also find it in weather indication. Sicilians noI1 if GgNOphic q sians, 'Noah's legacy,n and 1t is named COmpte. Regarded in many lands as a messenger from heaven, or a way to the celestial regions, the luminous bow Is named in accordance with these beliefs. In old French and in modern Finnish dia- lects it is the celestial arch,' while in Spanish it is the heavenly bow;' in Ar deche, the "bridge of the Holy Spirit" in Welsh, the "arch of the Trinity and in central Russia, the ''bow of pardon" Ancient Eddaic lore named it ''BifrOst, I the bridge between heaven and earth,'' over which the gods journey Later Greek mythology represented it as the road to the gods by which Iris travelled. "Arcanum non Trim, sed viam Iridis diXit, :" says Suevius.
 III AuSCl SClltt-IluLSdly tllo IdlHUOW IS buo bridge by which St. Elias descends from heaven, and the thunder is the sound o1 his chariot wheels. Central Asian tribes also call it ''St. Elias Bridge" and Rus. sian peasants of Kazan name it the "In- elined Bridge" In one portion of France it is said to be the shadow of & bridge which exists between earth and heaven. In Greenland and Slavonia it is the road Of ,e 5oI II Milky Way. Welch tradition represents the rainbow as the way by which the man in the moon climbed to his elevated perch. It is the way by which saints de- scend to earth to punish and reward men, according to Lettonian traditions. Souls of the just ascend to heaven thus in many beliefs, and it is frequently named lad der. Ukraine peasants say the angels de- scend by it to draw water from the earth to replenish the heavenly reservoir, whence fall the copiOus showers. New Zealanders thought it a ladder by which their chiefs climbed into the sky, and Philippine Islanders, q stairway by which the souls of those dying violent death ascended to heaven. An Indian folk tale relates that mice climbed its threadlike steps to heaven, gnawing them to liberate cap tive there imprisoned.
 Contrary to this idea of celestial ori- gin, the rainbow is sometimes regarded as The Karens of Burmah point it out to their children as a denlon that will devour human souls. The un- fortunate possessor of these will, they say, die sudden and violent death. It is also said to devour human beings, which causes it great thirst, and it is then that it is seen over q pond drinking the water. F. $. Bassett in Globe-DemOcrat.