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

and habits varying with different local
tiles and climates. In white Russia. for
instance, there is a water sprite, who
must>be appeased on the oath of June (old
style). a similar sprite has great atten-
ton paid to it a few weeks earlier in the
Caucasus and a few weeks later in ST.
IBERIA.
If his name day. is neglected lie will
spoil the harvest by pouring water-in
the form of rain-upon the crops. On this
day the wizard. ''viedmo'' or the village
does not possess d "prorok.'' but a PRO
rok'' for eho!ce), followed by the inhabi-
tants of the commune, goes In solemn
procession to the river Failing a stream
the largest pond is resorted to. Here they
sing songs in honor of the water sprite,
throw wreaths of flowers and grain in to
him and dance round him till daylight.
In wet seasons young girls. the prettiest
in the villageS are thrown or. in the
ecstasy of the moment, jump into the
water. If the girls get safely back to the
banks II proves that the water sprite does
not want them, being satisfied with the
other offerings. If they sink to the bot
tom the whole commune believes that
only their sacrifice has saved the har-
vests.
These are the spirits of the bad dead
who pass into wolves bodies. These are
supposed to delight in sucking pigs, or
when very wicked, in very young chill
dren. 1t is not an uncommon thing to
hear of some peasants. attacked while
sledsing by wolves, saving themselves by
throwing a child out of one of the sledges
to them. When pigs happen to be at hand
they generally suffice; failing them, a
child is sacrificed
\ peasant woman is unfaithful to her
husband. Why? Because an evil spirit
has taken possession of her. The whole
village agrees that it must be driven out
before doing further mischief. So the
woman is stripped bare, tied to the back
OF cart and driven round fhe village
tRussian villages are long and straggling),
while all who will can beat and stone
her till blood flows freely from her
wounds and has washed the evils away.
The companion of her fault generally
beats harder than anybody.
There is spirit il the mud of early
spring, Which appears whan the SHOWS
are melting. II Is favorable to the SOW
ings, therefore nothing on earth will pre-
vent the commune from sowing in this
slush, which often washes half the seed
away. THE seeds that the spirit took
away he needed" the peasants argue. and
go on chaerfui,y losing half their sowings
year after year.
The evil spirits that Turk in jealous peo-
pie are supposed to be harmful to little
children If "a baby dies in anything like
an unexplained way the peasants and
their neighbors rack their brains to re-
member who spoke enviously of 1t, so as
to have the satisfaction of beating the
| person guilty of it's death. AS a rule the
verdict falls upon some passing peddler
or tinker-a plan which works very we'll
considering how high the rate Of infant
mortality is in Russian villages.
x X
The power of the evil eye is as firmly
believed in as in Italy. though it is lin
tied TO those who squirt. Hebrews. who
strangely enough, are very often afflicted
with a squint. are hated and feared on
this account, and mothers Will hide their
babies as soon as a cross-eyed Hebrew is
IL superstition that If Christian counts
them one of their number will die. No
single peasant will venture to count 4
group or crowd of Hebrews. because he
knows that, If they see 1t, they will throw
themselves upon him and beat him.
Among the innumerable spirits to be
appeased are the grain spirits, who de-
mand that an offering of corn be left out
side the door when the harvest is gath
cred in, and the spirit of the threshold
This spirit feels much offended il people
shake hands over his dwelling--the thresh-
old of a room or cottage-and is sure to
bring misfortune upon one other of the
offenders, unless, indeed, they atone for
it by paying the local witch to ceg his
pardon. The same sort of superstition
prevails among the Cossacks, whose Gus
toms differ widely from those of other
peoples in Russia, but WHO make point
of sitting down near the threshold before
leaving home on a journey or expedition.
If they did not pay the spirit this little
attention he would be angry and not allow