The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-29
THE LORE OF THE SNEEZE
IN MANY LANDS SUPERsTITIoNS
CLING ABOUT THE ACT.
Primitive People Had Beliefs Which
still Survive I'm Legend-Prayer
and Good Wishes.
Pail Mall Gazette.

sneezing, il being the habit in those days
for the person sneezing TO offer short
prayer to the gods. such as Jupiter, help
me-" Afterward it became the rule for the
bystanders to offer a prayer. this being
usually God bless youi" for the benefit of
the sneezer, a person who sneezed being at
one time supposed to be under the influence
OF fairies and demons, and, the name of
Ged repealed an evil spirits the benediction
of God bless your drove away the dem
ons and counteracted their influence.
Among the ancents, Homer and Pliny like
wise refer to the custom, as do the Jewish
rabbis and others, the legend of the He
brews being to the effect that when Adam
and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden II
was decreed that man should die by sudden
death, ending in a tit of sneezing. which
would probably be induced by the sweat of
mans brows being checked by a chill. But
Jacob-evidently set back a few years for
the benefit of the story-saw this terrible
state of affairs, and fought with the angel
over the point as to whether men should
fall to pieces when they sneeze. Jacob
gained the victory but the angel made
condition that the sneeze should only prove
fatal when the standers-by omitted the
words God bless your
Il
sneezed one day when no one was near
to utter the pious ejaculation, with the
result that he became sick and expired
of a lingering illness, which was quite
contrary to the heretofore sudden death
by sneezing. So much for the Rabbini-
cal legend. Coming TO other of the an
clients, Polydore Vergil tells that it
took its rise at the time Of the great
fell down dead sneezing, though appar-
emily in sound and robust health; and
Thucydides also informs us that sneezing
was a fatal symptom of the great Ath-
enian plague. The custom OF Saluting
the sneezer, before referred to- was one
which the ancient Greeks claimed TO have
derived from Prometheus, who stole celes-
tial fire to animate his newly made figure
of clay, tradition asserting that as the fire
permeated its frame the figure sneezed,
which caused Prometheus to invoke bless
ings upon it. Be this as 1t may the prac-
tice dates from the most ancient days,
Aristotle having a reference 10 it, while we
know that the Greek custom was followed
by the old Romans, and at the present day
the Portuguese and BrazilianS have a some
what similar legend to that of the Jews
given above.
IN OUR OWN DAY
Coming now 10 our own country, il Is
somewhat quaint and interesting to find a
superstition of the sort still existing in
these so-called enlightened days of uni
versal education in own midst, it being
still the custom in the midlands when a
child sneezes for the granddams TO cry out,
God help you"' while it is also a very
| common belief that any one who sneezes
| three times before breakfast will shortly
receive present of some time, this super
| stition taking no account of the chillness
| of the early morning. Another pretty gen.
eral superstition regarding sneezing is,
! Once a wish,
| Twice a kiss,
Thrice disappointment.
which the writer has frequently heard In
/ London, where 1t is also a common belief,
/ as well as generally all over the country
/ that for a cat to sneeze is accounted an
| unlucky omen, ii being held TO be a sign
| that AL the family will have colds. An
| other well-known rhyme regarding sneez-
| ing runs as follows;
Once wish,
Twice a kiss,
Three's a letter
Fours something better,
| f1VeS going away,
SIX coming back,
! SeVens a wedding,
| Fights a cake,
| Nine, marry black man.
A Scottish superstition has it that a
\ newly-born babe is in the spells of the
/ fairies till II Sneezes, and when this takes
place all danger is past, many old danes
even making the sign of the cross on the
youngsters forehead ioyfully exclaiming,
| God salr the BARN, its a warIock .
| or, in other words an idiot or natural
| 1t being very prevalent idea that no idiot
| could sneeZe or ever Sneezed Some per-
! sons attach Importance to the day on
| which a person sneeZes, and in the west of
| England 1t is said that
! Sneeze on Sunday morning fasting.
| You'll enjoy your own true love to ever
| lasting.
That good wishes have ever been asso-
| ciated with sneezing is pretty generally
| known, ii being a favorite form of good
| SCOtChmnn hai-
snuffboX and TIA a sneeshin together "
| According TO some authorities the origin
of the custom in England Of calculating
! God bless youi' when a person sneezes
| dates from no more remote time than that
| of St. Gregory That the custom is not
confined to the British isles is apparent
| TO sneezer takes the form of "Dieu vous
| beniSSe, in Germany "Gesundheit" or
| ''Wohlsein;" in Italy Salute" and in Spain
the name of our Lord.
AMONG SAVAGE TRIBES.
CHANGING now at the customs Of savage
nations or races in this connection, we find
that in the Solomon islands when a baby
sneezes IL is believed by the natives that its
ancestors and the gods are endeavoring to
snatch away its soul The Maoris. of New
Zealand, look upon sneeze as a good
omen, it being considered as a sign from
the spirits Of their ancestors. and also
When naming q baby they repeat all the
names in their vocabulary till the infant
sneezes, then bestow on the youngster thai
name, believing that the sneeze is a sign that
the child will bring credit to its family anc
! kill a sufficient number of men to Justify
his eyes being converted into stars when he
dies Among the Zulus when a sick chill
| sneezes they say Grow" and when tbe
adults of this tribe sneeze they utter ;
prayer for what they require most. or fo,
long life: while the Khonds regard the
sneeze as a divine act, and do not look Inor
a priest as being properly constituted siIcF
till he has sneezeo
The custom of superstition Travelled IN III.
new world and is 10 be found among th,
aboriginal Indian tribes in some form, .,
other, we'll as in some eastern parts o.
the savage world. Thus, an amusing ac
count of the ceremonies which used 70 81
tend the sneezing of King Monomotan n.
shows what a national concern was RI,
his Majesty's person when this hannener
saluted in so loud tone that persons IN RI.
antechamber heard il and Joined the accIa
nation. In the adjoining apartments the,
did the same. till the noise reached RI,
street and became propagated throuehon
the city, so that each sneeze of his latest,
tations of many thousands of his yassaIe
Again when the King of Senaar sneaze,
his courtiers Immediately turned . tbei
backs on him. and gave a loud Sian on tbai
thigh, This is certainly a novel saIutation
even for a regal sneezeA As might only -
expected, the subject has been referred :,
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