The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-07-25
H00D00S TODAY AS TN 0LDEu TIMES.
Dr. Jastrow. Of Philadelphia Tells Of Ancient supersdons,
Many Of Which Survive

duct, and hole in the right lobe, were
regarded as bad signs, and augured III
for the one Offering the sacrifice.
This form of divining the future
also played an important part among
the Greeks>and Etruscans, and, through
the latter, subsequently became adopt
ed by the Romans. The system OF
Interpretation was taught in the tenn
pie schools of Babylonia and Etruria
and in the British Museum there is a
clay model of sleeps liver, used
thousands Of years ago, in the in
struction of the young priests of Baby
lon"
0mens in Divination Cup.
From divination by means of the
liver DR.. Jastrow turned to the other
methods used by the ancients to at
tain the same end One of the most
interesting of the latter perhaps was
the application of oil bubbles, in a
bowl of water, commonly known as the
divination cup.
1.-The cup of Joseph" continued Dr.
Jastrow, "as referred to in the Book
of Genesis, probably was divination
cup Of this character. The manner Of
using such cup was to place water
In the cup, and upon the water a small
quantity Of oil was poured.
If the bubble which formed moved
toward the east, and the bubble spread
the patient would die. If on the other
oil h0 ri oh ~ ha
cup he would recover. The oil assum-
ing red color was OWNED to be an
indication Of rain.
IF water were poured over the oil,
and the bubble sank and rose again,
an escape from trouble was predicted.
IF the oil moved to the right, the
army would win.
IF the oil should form three bub-
bles the army would be defeated; II
four, general misfortune would ensue:
il two bubbles appeared, one large and
the other small, suffering was predict
ed for the sick and misfortune for
the army.
IF two bubbles approached, happy
marriage was predicted; ii one burst.
1t denoted the early death Of one OF
the couple"
What the Heavens ForetoId.
From the omens Dr. Jastrow gave q
brief resume Of the portents, the most
important feature of which was the
observation Of the sun, moon, planets
and stars.
This practice of what we now
know as astrology bears the closest
connection with the theory fundament-
al to the entire Assyrian and Babylon
ian religions, that whatever happened
or was going to happen on earth was
paralleled in the heavens Movements
In the heavens were thought to repre-
sent form of activity foretelling what
would happen on earth, and like the
other forms of divination, there were
certain prescribed rules which were
followed by the priests.
III the sun and moon appeared to
be In conjunction, out of the usual
time, the sign was interpreted to mean
that an enemy would overcome the |
land; II this condition should occur in |
the heavens on the twelfth day of the |
month, the dynasty would come to an
end
"Eclipses of the sun and moon were
regarded as unfavorable. but the omen
Of i'll fortune varied, according to the
month and day of the month.
III an eclipse occurred during the
first month, it denoted a failure Of
crops; If during the third month, re-
bellion in the land; if during the fifth
month, great floods.
Venus, Mars and the remaining
planets, in their relation to the other
heavenly bodies, also had great sig.
nificance to the ancients."
Interpretation Of Dreams.
The Interpretation of dreams was
another subject that DR.. Jastrow spoke
If Interestingly. The manner Of such
The manner of such in
indeed, remains today as
almost al exact duplicate of the Gus
ON then in vogue. A dream about q
certain object meant that given thing
would transpire, either of good or i'll.
IF one dreamed of dates" said the
loctor, the Interpretation was that
distress would follow, particularly II
hey were carried on the head.
III one dreamed that he was sup
,orting q mountain on his head, the
IfgniAcance was that he had no rival. 1
III the dream were of salt, ones Or
lers would not be carried out
ITO dream Of grain running through
he streets meant that one would gain
ontrol of his adversary.
"a dream about green herbs was