Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-06-10
OFFERINGS TO OCEAN.
HUMAN SACRIFICES TO APP
PEASE THE GODS.
Casting Lots TO See Who Was the Jonah,
of the Ship-The siameso Offer
ings Set Afoat Tiny
Bamboo Rats.

Then the mariners were afraid.
and they said. Let us cast lots that
we may know on whose account this.
storm has come So they cast lots.
and the lot fell upon Jonah. They
took up Jonah and cast him forth,
into the sea- and the sea ceased from.
raging"
! This as described in the scriptures.
was rough on Jonah, but it was q
very common thing in his day to
make human sacrifices for the purpose
OF appeasing the elements. The
Chinese used to make a practice OF
flinging men overheard during storms
and as late as the year 1870 a number
OF persons were publicly killed in one
| province in order to prevent the tide
from rising higher and overlooking
certain dikes.
Many African tribes formerly sacri-
! feed human lives to the sea. accord
ing to the Washington Star and it
was the custom not very long ago in
Dahomey for a man to be chosen by
the king on the occasion of period
! ical festival as an Offering to the ocean
divinity HUI. He was carried 10 the
shore in a hammock. aJtired in the
costume and having the stool and um-
brella OF a minister OF state and was
thrown TO the sharks. Fijians and
Samoans OF old sacrificed living people
to their shark deities.
Human beings gayly dressed for the
ceremony. were sacrificed by the an.
cieat Mex1cans TO the spirit OF
mountain torrent Boats were taken
to n whirlpool in Lake Mexico. filled
with children. and there sunk-a hor.
rid propitation TO the gods supposed to
dwell in the subaqueous caverns The
navigators Of antiquity, to whose
imaginative ignorance the ocean
seemed peopled and beset with chin
eras dire and supernatural agencies
of all sorts. used often to sacrifice
human lives to the mysterious water
gods 1t is recorded by tradition that
1domeneus king OF Crete vowed to
sacrifice 20 Neptune the first living
thing he met after escaping from
storm. and this happening to be his
son. he fulfilled the VOW religiously.
Medea nearly became q sacrifice dur.
ing the return voyage OF the Argo.
nauts. Mussulmau chroniclers tell
that at certain intervals virgin was
sacrificed to the river Nile, but was
later replaced by mummy's finger.
| In ancient Scotland tho same bar
barous custom existed which cost
Jonah so much Inconvenience. When
a ship became unmanageable il was
usual to cast lots for discovering who
| ~. - ~
man upon whom tho lot fell was con-
demned Instead Of human beings
dogs used sometimes to be thrown
into the sea with their legs bound In
Germany cakes were offered to the
spirit jewellers OF the lakes. In win
ter the ice was cut through. when ac-
cerding to traditional belief. hand
would reach out and seize the cake
Lamps filled with cocoanut oil were
formerly set afoat on the Ganges as
an Offering fer those at sea. IL they
sank Immediately it was ominous. but
it was good sign II they located un-
til out of sight
In many East India islands it used
to be customary TO set adrift small
vessels laden with food as an Offering
to the spirits Of disease, to entice
them to sea The Siamese still float
down the rivers little bamboo RATS
bearing images. offerings and lighted
taperS Chinese boatmen. in dead
calm. set paper boats aaoat in order
TO secure a breeze. The use OF oil to
calm waves is mentioned by Piutarch.
and it is possible that recognition OF
its real efficacy often led to Its use as
an Offering. Frequently the Offering
of gratitude for preservation from the
sea took the form of model of the
ship in which the danger was in
Cured. Such votive vessel was
found in tho coffin of an Egyptian
Queen. and is preserved in the
museum 1T Boulak, near Cairo II is
of solid gold, mounted on wheels OF
bronze. There are twelve silver
| rowers and u captain and helmsman
in solid gold.
A story is told OF Frenchman 90
shipboard in n storm who beloved
out promises OF WAX image OF 81.
Christopher as large as that gentle.
man statue at Paris on condition that
he should be preserved from death. A
fellow passenger nudged Sim and sug
ges,ed that he could not pay for such
an image. even IL he sold all his pos.
sessions. But the other replied in
whisper; '.Be still. you fool! DO you
fancy am speaking in earnest? II
once touch the shore shall not give
him n tallow candle"
Equally absurd is the account givcn
OF q certain man who greatly terri
fed by rough weather on the ocean.
vowed he would eat no moro ham.
Just as the danger was over he quail
fed his promise by adding. without
mustard. . Lord!'