The San Francisco call., 1910-07-03

iected Roulany girl # IS ytIsed In taklnB
revenge upon her faithless lover II ne
marry another. She breaks the sheA
OF the crab into powder and mikes II
secretly with his food-a charm renoer-
ing his marriage unhappy, the former
lover pining for his hrst love- YET uh-
able to be satisfied.
The common barnyard hen maintains
a high place in Romany magic; tnat lS'
the black hen, for the hen, like the dog.
must needs be black in gypsydom II II
would play its part we'll The black
hen enters into magic for the cure or
bOils which. like any other evil, are
caused by a demon. First the patient
is put to bed, given drinks and anotnted
with a salve blythe professional witches
or sorceresses in the camp While do
ing this they chant the following IN
cantatiOn:
Be gone. he gone, be gone
To the evil one Stay there!
May thirty snakes devoUr thee,
Thirty dogs tear thee,
Thirty cocks swallow thee!
Then occurs the sacrifice Of the black
hen, which is afterward split open and
laid on the boil The sufferer then
must take three drinks from spring
and throw wood on the IRE nine times
a day until~healed- Without the sacrl-
fee of the black hen the spell would
not last.
All black fowls are believed by the
gypsies to be in the service OF witches,
as are also black dogs.
In Slavonia and Tuscany, where
gypsy .sorcery is so rife among the
Christian population, black rooster Is
often sacrificed to appease the devil!
The black fowl appears also in hus-
bandry, for it is the feathers OF a black
hen, hidden in the four corners OF the
cornfeId. that keep away the Nevasi.
or thieving earth spirits in female form.
Totlocate asrobber all that one has to
do to save detectives fees Is to secure
a black hen. II the party who was
robbed and his hen both fast together
for nine successive Fridays the stolen
property will either be returned or else
the thief will die.
- Many magic spells center In quailS.
swallows and wrens. For sick cattle
staRs-twO quatls. XIII one as a sacri-
ffceand let the other go free after
spFsRkAing it with the others blood
Then gpfinkIe the fodder with some OF
TIE Blood, and set it before the sick COW.
whffe uttefing the following incanta-
tion33A
What fn thee is evil come forth!
Here isEno home for the evil onel
When h1eod comes not
Sickness zones not
Thou, eYtl eae> come forthr"
BY OILS procsdurs you win surely
cQT6FyOuT. dlAlQS cow.
Gypsies calfSze1uatAethe devils bird"
because of it's edevflfsA' operations IN
the cornhe1ds q Sc s9fHg Nine. being re-
Sarded at SUCH seasons rs an incar-
mated Nevasi w0ulan Or tnbeving earth
spirit. From an6tap days the quail
has been the synfbal NoxA spring. and
thus it gradually SerepE into gypsy
witchcraft as its fostssinE Aother
The little wren does not escape a
place in the witchs calendar any easier
than the black hen or the quail He
IS a diabolical bird and Nather too
much in witches company. IL not often
a witch himself in disguise. TfsA swal-
low marks the spot where nzdhev may
be found where you first chSndA to see
this bird. In the half heathSAl half
Christian wttchery OF some OF Au&AEng-
hsh- Scotch and American Rorhanies
the swallow is called the fowl OF the
Lord"
Gypsy sorcery has both its attractive
and its repulsive aspects, but in all its
various phases it is a survival OF the