Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-19
sNEEzING FOLK LORE
POPULAR WIT AND WISDOM
BROUGHT TOGETHER.
Some OF the Traditions That Have Ex-
listed and Been Believed for
Centuries.

From the Pail Mall Gazette
The custom of uttering a good wish when
person sneezes dates from the earliest
times, and according to Strada the practice
originated from a belief among the ancients
OF the danger attending the act of sneez-
ing, 1t being the habit in those days for the
person sneezing to offer a short prayer to
the gods. such as Jupiter, help me-" At
forwards it became the rule for the by-
standefs to offer the prayer, this being
usually God bless you!' for the benefit
OF the sneezer. person who sneezed being
at one time supposed to be under the in
nuence OF fairies and demons, and the
name OF God repealed all evil spirits, the
Penediction Of God bless you!" drove
away the demons and concentrated their
innuence Among the ancients, Homer and
phny likewise refer to the custom, as do
the jewish rabbis and others, the legend
OF the Hebrews being to the effect that
when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden
or Eden 1t was decreed that man should
ole by sudden death, ending in a fit of
sneezlng, which would probably be induced
by the sweat of mans brow being checked
ov chill But Jacob-eVidently set back
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.
made a condition that the sneeze should
only prove fatal when staNders-by omitted
the words God bless you!"
Sign of the Plague.
1t so happened afterward that Jacob
sneezed one day when no one was near to
utter the pious ejaculation. with the result
that he became sick and expired of ling
ering illness, which was quite contrary to
the heretofore sudden death by sneezing.
so much for the rabbnical legend. Com
ing 10 other of the ancients, Polydore Yer
gil tells us that it took it's rise at the time
OF the great plague in Italy in 55S, when
the injected fell down dead sneeZng, though
apparently in sound and robust health;
ana Ihucydides also informs us that SneeZ-
ing was a fatal symptom Of the great
Athenian 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-
t1al fire to animate his newly made figure
OF clay, tradition asserting that as the fire
permeated its frame the figure sneezed,
winch caused PrOmetheuS to invoke bless
lngS upon it. Be this as it may the prac-
t1ce dates from the most ancient days, Aris-
toe having reference to it; while we
know that the Greek custom was followed
by the old Romans, and at the present day
the Portuguese and Brazilians have some
what similar legend to that of the Jews
given above.
coming now to our own country it is
somewhat quaint and Interesting to find a
superstition of the sort still existing In
these so-caled enlightened days Of univer-
sal education In our own midst. it being
still the custom In the Midands 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 kind, this
superstition taking no count Of the chilli
ness of the early morning. Another pretty
general superstition regarding sneezing IS:
Once. a wish.
Twice. a kiss.
Thrice disappointment.
which the writer has frequently heard in
London. where it is also a common belief,
well generally all over the country,
that for cat to sneeze is accounted an
unlucky omen, it being held to be sign
that all the family will have colds. An
other well-known rhyme regarding sneez-
ing runs as follows:
Once, a wish SKIS coming back.
Twice, kiss. Seyens wedding.
Three's q letter. Fights cake.
Fours something better. Nine marry black man.
Fives going away.
In Scotland.
A Scottish superstition has it that a
newly born babe is in the spells of the