The Dickinson press., 1905-09-09
QUEER BELIEFS
ANIMAL suPERsT'TloNs in: VARIOUS
PANTS OF THE WORLD.

E&E@Et f. 4
The Pig Plays 4 Large Part In the
Mythology Of the Orient-Thc Place
Animals Hold In the Creed Of the
Observation-Disclosures ana Death.
The pig plays a part in many beliefs,
Mr.. Hickson, who Travelled much in the
Celebes and adjacent islands, found a
tribe who believed that the whole earth
u borne by a pig belonging to the god
Matchmaking, who dwells in the UNI
derworld, and that the frequent earth
Quakes in that region are caused by the
pig rubbing itself against the trees.
Some of the inhabitants, however, as
sert that the world does not. stand on
che pig Itself, but on a number of piles,
and 1t is against these that the porker
rubs itself. with such terrible results.
Another, example Of pig superstition
is FOUND in the mythology of the east,
from which one learns that when the
earth was hidden away by the malice
OF a giant the god Vishnu took upon
himself the form of q great boar. This
animal had fiery tusks, with which it
rooted the earth up from the. depths
OF Patalas, putting it once more in
its proper place.
This circumstance places the pig high
in the estimation of a large portion
OF the people of Asia by associating
1t with his third Avatar, in comment
grafton Of which the god is sometimes
represented in HindOo temples with,
the head Of a pig.
Animals generally, however, have
not insignificant positions in the realms
of superstition. Thus, in Holland and.
Belgium, to kill a stork is considered
one of the greatest misfortunes that
could happen to a man, for i'll luck is
certain to follow him through life. In
the Ural mountains the peasantry be-
lieve that If a wolf sees a man before
the man sees the wolf the man will be
struck dumb and remain SO as long
as the wolf lives.
The Eskimos consider that bad for
tune will follow a hunter unless when
ever he kills a polar bear he cuts off
the animals nose and throws it on the
Ice. The Lapps, too, believe that the
bear Is invested with supernatural
powers and consequently never men
ton" his name, speaking Of him as
Goods dog or "the old man In the fur
cloak" The screeching of an owl or
the killing of n as well as the croak-
Ing of a ave- or the growing Of a
hen is also sometimes regarded as an
indication of coming calamity.
But some of the most interesting SUI
perstitions are connected with death.
In some country districts of England
and, Germany there Is an idea that if
the bees swarm upon a rotten tree
there will be a death in the family
owning or living on the property with
in a,year. In Greenland when a child
dies the natives bury a live dog with
it to be, used, by the child as a guide to
the other world, because, they say, a
dog can find it's way anywhere.
A prettier custom prevails among
the Seneca Indians when a maiden
dies.@1A young bird is imprisoned I'M
til it, first begins to sing, and then they
kiss it and set it at liberty over the
girls grave, believing that it will not
fold Its wings or close it's eyes until
it has flown to the spirit land and de-
livered it's burden of affection to the
departed one. In this way 1t is not
uncommon for q score of birds to be
released owe the same grave. The Mo-
javes say that all the dead who are not
cremated are turned into owls, and the
screeching Of one of these birds at
night they imagine to be caused by the
spirit: of some dead Mojave.
And lin the; Mohammedan creed. ami
mails have. a place. Among the beliefs
Of. the followers Of the prophet is one
that eleven animals were admitted to
paradise. These were the dog Khatim
of the seven sleepers Of Ephesus, Ba-
laam'si ass, Solomon's ant, the partic-
ular one which reproved the sluggard;
Jonah's whale, Ishmael's ram, the
cameleof Saleb, the cuckoo of Belkis,
the OK, Of Moses, Al Borek, the animal
which conveyed Mohammed to heaven;
the ass on which Christ rode into Jeru-
salem and the one on which the queen
Of Sheba4 rode when she paid her IA
nous visit to Solomon. j"
This is not, however, by any means
the only superstitious belief concern
ing paradise. For instance, many of
the south sea islanders believe that
heaven can.o only be inherited by per-
sons whose physical forms are perfect.
Where this idea prevails a man will
die rather than submit to amputation.
1t would e that John Chinaman's
pigtail owed it's existence to the belief
that it would form a convenient han
die by which n day he would be lift
ed intol paradise.
But one can find a superstition relat-
ing to heaven nearer home than China.
A few years ago a man in st. Pc
tersburg earned for himself a great
reputation as a wizard among the igno-
rant and superstitious. When at last
he was laid by the heels one witness
testified that she firmly believed in
what he said, especially that the two
little keys which he gave her would
accomplish what he asserted they
would-that with their aid she would