Omaha daily bee., 1908-12-13
MYSTIC RITES AND CUSTOMS
Curiosities from the Folklore Of the
Christmas Season.
QUAINT BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
Modern Adaptation of h Ancient
Sacrifices 10 h GOds-FaIth
Moves simple People to
DO odd Things.

OF Bethlehem TO the present time. No other
epoch In the worlds history has given rise
TO such an abundance Of curious customs
and strange beliefs. Linking the visible
here with the invisible hereafter, the bound
less void between the two lures unques-
tioning faith to the uttermost limit OF
credulity. ST akespeare was impressed with
the prevailing beliefs Of the Christmas sea-
son when he penned the lines:
Some say that ever 'gainst that season
comes
Wherein our savfor's birth is celebrated.
The bird Of dawning singeth all night long;
And then they say. no spirit can walk
abroad:
The nights are wholesome. then no planets
No fairy takes. nor witch hath power to
= charm,
So hallowed and so gracious is the time.
Though the warp and wool of Christmas
superstitiOns and customs runs the thread
81 faith in the good will Of the ruler Of
our destinies. The incredulous may scott
at what in this commerc.alized age APP
pears to be mental decisions, yet the fact
remains that most of them are wholesome
in thought and purpose.
Apple Orchard Incarnation.
Some of the customs, many Of them OBJ
selete. may be traced back to pre-Chris-
tain times, when the sacrifices to the gods
Of the fields and the trees were important
celebrations in the middle of the winter
s~olstice. One OF these survfvals Is the
quaint custom OF greeting apples trees.
which used to be regularly observed In
the west OF England. Indeed. II is quite
possible that the custom may even still
exist. for, according to a writer In the
Western Antiquary. 1888, in some places
the parishioners walk in procession visiting
the principal orchards Of the parish. In
each orchard one tree is selected as the
representative OF the rest. This Is saluted
with a certain form OF words which have
in them the form OF incantation. They
then sprinkle the tree with cider or dash
a bowl Of cider against II to insure its
bearing plentifully the next year. In other
places the farmers and their servants only
assemble on the occasion. and after i'm
mersing apples in cider hang them on tho
apple tree. The trees having been sprinkled
with cider. a formal incarnation is uttered.
and after a dance around the tree the com
pany returns to the farm house to conclude
these solemn rites with copious ~draughts
of cider. Some times in Cornwall a few
OF the household took out a Jar OF cider.
a bottle and a gun to the orchard and put
q small bough into the bottle. They then
said:
Here's to thee. old apple treel
Hats fun, packs full. great bushel bags
Hurrah. and fire off the gun.
A Birthday HoOdOO.
Births on Christmas day have not always
been reckoned TO be Of advantage to those
children who enter the world on that date;
In fact. in the Island OF Cos. such children
are held to be accursed, because they thus
impiously mimic the beginning of our
Lords life on earth, and when born become
what the Green islanders call Kalizazari,
which are curious monsters. believed in all
over the Greek world.
They are not pleasant creatures. accord.
ing to all accounts, combining the worst
features and characteristics OF were
wolves, vampires, satyrs, and such like
undesirables. According TO this writer
such Christmas children are not born a.
infants but. by the power OF Beelzebub
they become full-grown men and women
or take upon them some other shape
They remain on earth for twelve day
until the Epiphany. for on that day b.
baptism the whole earth was made holy
and all demons are forced to depart from
It. The Kalikazari flee away, crying out
Flee away, that we may flee!
Priest. with pot-belly, here Is he,
with his holy-water brush,
with the sprinkler, too. for us;
He will sprinkle us about,
And defile us without doubt.
In a most interesting paper communi
Gated by Mr.. ]. b. Andrews to Folk Lore
March 1870. is a very complete accoun
Of a neapoiitan witchcraft. and from tina
II appears that
Among witches by birth are womei
born on Christmas eve or at the feast o
the convention OF ST. Paul. Whoever in
vokes the devil on Christmas eve before
mirror may become a witch.
In Russia this time, /. e., Christina
eve, is considered to be most particular
favorable to divination, and there is n
doubt but that the date for the birth O
our Lord has infused a vast quantity d
mystical power into old customs, invest
ing them with a great Importance 70
good or evil, according to the manner /
which II was desired that they should b
regarded. In this country the popula
superstition is quite in favor OF the chill
born on the midnight which links te
gether Christmas eve and Christmas day
Hunting the Wren.
Another old custom, formerly held 1
great repute by our ancestors, was tina
known as the Hunting of the Wren" an
that this should bear the closest pOssibl
relation to the old Christmas game Q
blind mans buff would seem to be almos
incredible; nevertheless their close and In
innate relationship has been most abb
shown by n. W. Thomas in his learne
disqulsitlon on Animal superstitions an
Totemism" C'Folklore," volume XXI, 1900
wherein he clearly demonstrates them to B
tribal sacrifices OF the Totem tribe. Tn
Hunting OF the Wren has been ofte
described, and was pretty general through
out Great Britain. Some parts Of n
country hunted other animals for Totei
reasons at different periods OF the year, bS
II was reserved for silly suffolk to hui
the owl and the squirrel at Christma
time. According to Mr.. Thomas, bin
mans buff corresponds in form to Il
'Hahnenschlag," which Is the sacrifice
a cock. also for Totem reasons, In warrior
cruel ways the English association VIII
this custom remaining In the WoI
'cockshy." Mr.. Thomas points out TIA
the game Is known nearly all over EuroI
by names derived from animals, such 4
blind COW. blind mouse. blind he-goat, sh'
goat. hen. cat, fly, owl and wolf. J
ancient Greece it was known as Il
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