Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-14

more faith in the healing efficacy of some
magic connection than in the drugs of a
doctor. If some servant chances to be
smitten with some aiIment recourse is
first had to the nearest wizard or wise
woman, who supplies some supposedly
mysterious powder. which. mixed with
salt, is placed in saucer. This is
sprinkled over the patient to the accom-
paniment of a hodge podge of an incanta-
ton. Such treatment is supposed to be
sure specific for all the common ills, Or
dinarily it is only when the witch or wiz
ard fails that the doctor is called inf
it be not then too late.
A witch or wizard is to be found in ev-
cry village or commune. These mys-
ferrous people roughly divide into two
classes-the ordinary witch or "vedmo,'
simply engaged in the black cult without
having any special religious propensities.
and the "prorok, Or seer, supposed to be
inspired by God, deeply religious and well
versed in tales of the saints. their differ
ent likes, dsIikes and customs-an i'm
portant asset in a country where the
peasant arranges his seed time and har-
vest according to the saints calendar
brothers can give him a fair or foul corn
cutting as surely as spring follows the
winter. The "prorok" generally has Il
smattering of learning. can read and add
up, write his name and his neighbors
"Proroki'' are rarer than "viedmy'' as
they need the aforementioned qualiiica-
tons; but they are supposed to be much
more powerful and rule the communes
which are happy enough to possess them
Their fields are larger and their barns
better filed than their neighbors thanks
to the crcdulity OF the latter. who would
not offeMd the 'prorok'' for anything in
the world loleczwski belonged to this
latter class.
But whether the wizard be religious or
not, he is applied to for advice on all oc-
casions and under every misfortune and
difficulty that besets the peasant Sup
posing a man is unlucky with his sheep
and they die off in large numbers. He
believes that evil spirit has got into
his sheds and must be hunted out before
the misfortune can be got rid of. Tradi-
ton tells him that the head of dead
man, buried at the crossroads, must be
hung up over the door of the sheep sheds
This alone will drive away the evil spirit
If the gruesorle relic has once belonged
to shepherd, all the better Only the
local witch or wizard knows where such
things are TO be found. having knowledge
If crossroads and the secrets they con-
tain. Ee goes to the witch or wizard
who, on account of a fee (Which varies
to ,1tr.
number of sheep he has lost, promises
to find out by incantations where a corpse
lies buried. The harassed peasant returns
TO the attack in a few days, and is then
led to the crossroads that contain what
he wants. With many lamentations the
head is dug up taken home and nailed
over the sheep shed. What the wizard
does remains a secret, but it is to be pre-
sumed that an intimate knowledge of
graveyards and the possession of shovel
and knife do the trick" The strange
part about it is that every peasant will
tell you that this remedy has never been
known to fail,
AS suicides are buried Sat ds
there is a terrible amount of competition
in order to get possession of the heads
of these unhappy people. Peasants will
walk for miles, linger round suicides
grave for hours, and finally fight over the
corpse in order to get the head for their
sheep sheds. The wizard is not only the
sleeps doctor--he cures the shepherd too
When a peasant has rheumatism he goes
to the wizard, who gives him 'hare's
foot dried in the August sun-any other
sun won't do-to wear round his neck
Such charms are sold by auction after
their possessor's death and fetch various
prices, from lean hen to plump
chicken. The tail of lizard. when dried
and spelled by a wizard, lis a prevent
i've against cholera. a rats head, pre-
pared in the same way, keeps off fever.
To the peasants mind his home and i'm
mediate surroundngs-his fields. granaries
and meager forests-are full of spirits,
who have to be appeased at certain sea-
sons of the year. and who. If neglected or
offended. will wreak their vengeance
upon him and his family. Here, again.
the wizard acts as medium. These spirits