The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1909-12-30
Queer Ideas About A|Ievlating
Bodily Suffering.
MAGIC CURES OF THE TURKS.
Tho Treatment to which Crippled
Children Aro Subjeoted-Bunohes of
Garlic and Strings of Blue Beads as
Panaceas Against All Kinds of Ills.

Sh'oron ARC Observation-Disclosures Of
Garlic and Strings Of Blue Beads "a
Panaceas Against All Kinds of Ills.
! A stone strikes some part Of the BODY
or an oriental and mt1icts n wound.
Ihe~train of ideas that this accident
would produce in his mind would run
something like this: The stone is the
cause Of pain. the cause Of the wound.
It IS the principal origin Of the trouble.
But the essence of every origin is hid
den, secret and therefore sacred. The
stone becomes an awe inspiring fetch.
; The wound Is regl1cted. The fetich
has to be propitiated. This simple H.
: lustration is borne out and supported
! by everyday experience which med
| lcai men encounter in the east.
| Another instance may be derived
from among the lower classes OF the
Greek population Of Constantinoplc. \
child falls and cuts his head. The
hrst thought Of the parent is to be sure
not to wash and to bind up the wound,
! stiil less to call medical Assistance,
however grave the cut may turn out
to be. This is always an aftcrthought.
the help OF a surgeon can prove Of no
use
The first thing the father or mother of
the injured child thinks Of doing is TO
pour over the shoulder upon the place
or the accident libation Of wine or
sugared water and to whisper In Der
forming this some mysterious formula
supposed to possess supernatural cffi-
| cacy against every form of evil.
The 'MQslems are addicted to tho
queerest practices for purposes Of heal
ing or alternating bodily pain. a Turk.
for instance. in distress or suffering
! from some disease, however severe,
! knows OF no better. remedy than to fix
| piece of his dress, torn off with true
| oriental equanimity. to an iron bar Of
some saint tomb or to drink water
! from tumhler into which he has pre-
viously put sheet Of paper with writ
| 1ngS from the Koran. Sometimes be
| will take jar, the interior of which
has been written all over with strange
formulne and signs. He will then fill
1t with water. wait till these formulate
and signs have been thoroughly dis
solved and drink the singular solution
with an absolute faith in it's wonder
working efficacy.
Sheltered by the somber Expresses
OF the great MIohamneGan cemetery at
. Scutari the ancient Chrysopolis on the
Asintlc coast of the BoSporus) there
/ stands IN picturesque solitude thc'tomb
of horse. Every Friday afternoon
m
i their crippled children to be submitted
! ny a select ,"kPQdj' (priest) TO an ex-
traordfnnry course Of treatment These
children are dragged, with their dis
eGsed limbs dangling over the hillock,
from one end of the tomb to the other
and then back agaip in the same fash
ion. The occult influence emanating
from this hillock is supposed to be an
, all efficient panacea.
1t is not difficult to trace intthis case
the crude. imperfect association Of
ideas. The horse has long been con-
sidcred an emblem Of yigor, typifying,
as RuSkin says, the flow and force
Of life Hence the belief Of the orr
| entail, Inherited, no doubt, from the
Greeks. IN the all conquering virtue
and inHpepce of occult and mysterious
! ettluvia which are supposed to emanate
constantly from horses tomb.
The wearing Of a necklace of blue
beads or of garlic as potent means
Of keeping away disease OF Of wardin;~
off the evil eye is quite a universal
matter of sincere belief in The whole
of Turkey. This superstition is shared,
rs is we'll known, BY the lower classes
OF many country in civilized eastern
Europe. There. however, 1t is not so
universal and fragrant as in the orient.
There is scarcely q house in the
Moslem, Greek and Armenian districts
Of the population OF CoEst antinopc
which has not hanging above it's Oh.
trance door 4 collection of garlic and
scarcely beast Of toll which has not
attached to some part Of it string
| Of blue beads. Among the uneducatcd
! 1t is impossible to find an individual
who does not pin absolute faith to the
all healing power Of such charms
especially Of blue beads. which are
supposed to be an unfauing panacea
against every possible ILL.,
Less general is the belief in the east
in the baleful influence Of the planets
Saturn and Mars upon the constitution
of the human body. upon it's four car
dinal humorS-blood, phIegm, yellow
bile and black bile. These planets are
considered by some oricntols. especial
ly in the far south, as the unmistak-
able causes Of all sorts Of ailments.
Woe unto him who begins any work
when Saturn or Mars is in the ascend
ont.-Cleveland Plain Dealer.
IL 0nlu