Evening journal., 1897-10-20
MOON MYTHS.
Strange Belle s of Different Racss
Of People.
The Greenland EslKimos Believe the
sun md Moon Were Originally
Brother nnd sister = some
of the Signs.

or the signs.
"If YOU see the new moon over your
right shoulder it's good luck all the
month"-over the left shoulder being
bad luck, of course. IF you meet The
new moon face to face with money in
your pocket, you will have that kind OF
money in your pocket for a month
and so on, this last being taken from
an old blacl-letter treatise on things
worth knowing" Everywhere in the
world the idea prevails among those
who lack scientific training that any
thing falling to the lot Of man when
the moon is waxing will likewise in
crease, similarly decreasing while 'he
moon wanes. The Hindoo troubled with
warts looks at the new moon. picks
up a pinch of dust from beneath his
left foot, rubs the wart with it-and
when the moon goes. so does the wart.
If you fall-ill you can be cured by herbs
gathered in the full Of the moon.
The Moslems in the kingdom OF Oudh
cure insomnia, palpitation of the heart.
nervous prostration. and similar evils
by stationing the sufferer with basin
ofwater in his hands IN the light Of the
full moon in such a way that its re-
fulgent image shines directly from the
liquid into his eyes. Then. without
moving his gaze, he Is required to swal-
low the water at a draught.
In northern India the people lay out
food in the full moon that comes In the
months corresponding to our Septem-
Der and October. half OF each, and give
It to their friends as means OF insuring
| longevity. That same night the girls
pour water in the moonlight. sayi -;
they are getting rid Of the cold weather
1t was long ago noted that the York
shire maids "do worship the new moon
on their bare knees. kneeling upon an
| earth-fast stone" and Lady Wilde says
that the Irish damsels drop on their
! knees when they first catch sight of the
new moon and say: "Oh, moon leave us
as well as you found usl" In India the
natives take seven threads from the end
of their turbans and give them to the
new moon, with n prayer.
The spots on the moon are caused by
many persons or things. Sometimes il
Is q man with a-fagot on his back. sent
thither for picking up sticks on the
i Sabbath. Chaucer calls him thief and
j puts a thornbush on his shoulders.
Dante says It is no less a criminal than
Cain. Shakespeare provides dog TO
keep him company. Hindoos keep, not
n man, hut a hare In the moon. and the
well-lJnown connection In the minds Of
/ tta ,,,o,, 90 fbo moon md insanity mn y
account for the statement regarding
the March mare. and possibly the thorn
bush may be the distinctive covering OF
the hatter-at any rate. this is as good
guessing MS lot Of the sun myth people
have done; while Baring-Gould identi-
! fies the moon children. Bill and Hiuki
Of the northern mythology. with Jack
and Gill OF the nursery rhyme.
The Greenland Eskimo believes that
the sun and moon were originally
brother and sister. She. being teased
, by him past ordinary endurance. seized
some lamphlack and rubbed It on hi:
I face. Then she rar. her brother after
= Finally she went so fast she rose uI
I into the air and became the sun. Will,
her sooty-faced brother turned into th'
moon. In Samoa when a great famin'
oppressed the people the moon rose ont
night. big and round, like bread fruit
A patient mother. unable to quiet th'
pangs of her little one. looked up ant
said: "Why don't you come down an,
let my baby have bite of you?" Thi
made the moon so angry that she sim
ply picked up both mother and child
and they have been there ever since.
All sailors are certain that sleeping
= In tropical moon rays will either max
= them cross-eyed or blind. On the Amer
c lean vessel lcl Captain year or two ag
. a number of the crew, disregarding tn
advice of their fellows during spell O
hot weather, slept on the deck in tn
moonlight. and soon after went con
pletely blind at night. though the
- could see as we'll in the daytime as eve
. The skipper of the ship reported III
occurrence, and with It made a state
y y ment to the effect that up TO that tim
:, he had been q disbeliever in the 81
called moon blink. Paul Eve Stever
9 son reports that he, too. was hurried
awakened on his way to New York froI
h the Bahamas with the assurance froI
d the captain that all sorts CT thing
d would happen to him if he slept
moonlight. This is a disease unknow
y TO the medical profession.-Chicag
n Times-Herald.