The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-07-22
MEANING OF sNEEzES.|
INTERESTING LORE FROM MANY
LANDSsTRANGE CUSTOMS s
Jews, Greeks, Romans, Europeans
and Even Savage African Tribes
Had Their Legends, Many *
Of Which Survive.

WHen a person SneezeS dateS tTOIu tug
earliest times. and, according to Strada,
the practice originated from belief
among the ancients OF the danger attend
ing the act OF sneezing. IL being the habit
In those days for the person sneezing tc
offer short prayer to the gods. suen
as Jupiter. help me-" Afterward It be,
came the rue for the bystanders to ofrer
prayer, this being usually God bless
your 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 as the name OF
God repe.led all evil splits the benedie-,
ton of God bless you! drove away tn
demons and counteracted their influence.
Among the ancients. Homer and PinS
likewise refer to the custom. as do the
Jewish rabbis and others, the legend of
the Hebre ws being to the effect that when
Adam and Eve sinned In the Garden Of
Eden, 1t was decred that man should die
by sudden death. ending In a fit Of sneez-
ing, which would probably be induced by
the sweat of mans brows being checked
by chill But Jacob-evidently set
back a few years for the benefit of the
story-saw this terrible state fof 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 snceze should only prove fatal
when the stAnders-by omitted the words
God bless your
Jacobs Illness.
1t 40 happened afterward that Jacob
sReezed one day when no one was near
TO utter the picus ejaculation. with the
result he became sick and expired OF a
lingering Illness, which was quite con-
trary to the heretofore sudden death by
c. ~ Do tnh
legend. Coming to other Of the ancients,
Polydore Vergil tells us that it took its
rise at the time of the great plague in
Italy in 55S, when the infected fell down
dead sne ezing. though apparently In sound
and robust health: and Thucydides also
informs us that sneeZng was a Iatai
symptom of the great Athenian plague
The custom of saluting the sneezer' oe-
fore referred to, was one which the an
cient Greeks claimed to have derived
from Prometheus, who stole celestial nre
to animate his newly made figure OF clay,
tradition asserting that as the fire per-
meated its frame the figure sneezed,
which caused Prometheus to invoke oles-
sings upon it, Be this as 1t may, the
practice dates from the most ancient
DAYS, Aristotle having a reference TO IL;
while We know that the Greek custom
was followed by the old Romans, ana at
the present day the Portuguese and Bra
zillians have a somewhat similar legend
to that Of the Jews given above.
Coming now to our own country u u
somewhat quaint and Interesting 10 una
n superstition of tho sort still existing in
these so. called enlightened days of uni.
versal education in our own midst, 1t be-
ing still the custom in the Midlands when
a child sneezes for the canadians to cry
out. God help you! while 1t Is also very
common belief that anyone VINO sneezeS
three times before breakfast Will snortiy
receive a present of some king, this super
stition taking no count ofsthe chllliness
of the early morning.
Pretty Superstition.
Another pretty general superstition re-
gardng sneezing is:
Once a wish,
Twice kiss,
Thrice a disappointment.
which the writer has frequently heard IN
London, where it is also a common be-
Iies. as we'll as generally all over the
country. that for a cat to sneeze Is ac-
counted an unlucky omen, 1t being held
to be q sign that all the family will have
colds. Another well known rhyme re-
garding sneezing runs as fellows;
Once a wish.
Twice a kiss,
Three'S letter,
Four's something better.
Fivcs going away.
SKIS coming back,
Seven's a wedding.
Eeights cake,
Nine, marry a black man. &C..
A Scottish superstition has 1t that
newly born babe is in the spells Of the
fairies till 1t sneezes, and when this takes
place all danger Is past, many old danes
even making the sign of the cross on the
youngster s forehead, loyfully eXclaiming.
God sair the BARN. it's no warlock,
or in other words, an idiot or natural,
1t being a very prevalent idea that no
idiot could sneeZe or ever sneezed. Some
persons attach importanc to the day on
which a person sneezes and in the West
of England it 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 prstty generally
known, it being a favorite form of good
will among Scotchmen to hold out their
snuffbox and ia a sneeshin' together"
According to some authorities the origin
of the custom In England of calculating
God bless you!" when person sneezes
dates from no more remote time than that
OF st. Gregory. Tnat the CUSTOMS Is not
confined to the British Isles is apparent
from the fact that in France the greet
ing to a sneezer takes the form of 'Dien
vous benisse," in Germany 'Gesundheit"
or "Wohlsein;" in Italy Salute and in
Spain the fame of our Lord.
Savage Beliefs.
CHANGING now at the; customs of saw
age nations or races in. this connection,
we find that in the Solomon Islands when
a baby sneezeS it is believed by the ma
tives that Its ancestors and the gods are
endeavoring to snatch away its soul The
Maoris Of New Zealand look upon
sneeze as good omen. 1t being consid-
cred as a sign.from the spirits of their
ancestors. and also when naming a baby
they repeat all the names in their voca-
bulary till the Infant 5sneezes, then be-
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