The San Francisco call., 1910-07-03

TO be the demon Chagrin who tormenIs
the horse and wears him out. coming in
the form of hedgehog and sitting on
the horses back The hoof Of the af-
fiicted animal Is therefore smeared with
a mixture composed OF a horses hair,
salt, meal and bats blood. mixed and
cooked, the incarnation being:
stay here so long
TIL 1t shall be full"
The empty vessel holding the con-
coction must be hidden for good in the
hollow of a tree, which means that the
animals sickness gees into the tree.
Gypsies foster, also. the old witch
craft teaching that a bats heart tied
to the arm by a red thread brings. luck
at cards. while the gypsies, in passing
through the Tyrol. have left their mark
emong the people in the belief that to
possess bats left eye enables the
owner to become invisible.
The relationship subsisting in Ro-
many sorcery between the frog and the
devil is very intimate, since in all the
gypsy dialects one word Is used for
both. AS love philters the frog and the
toad are often seen in necklace form
on women all over the east and Eu-
rope. Toads and frogs are also very
handy pets for gypsy children. which
sfooks very much like playing with the
devili Among the Scotch and the Eng
lish Romantics and their American cou-
sins 1t. is believed that witches. take
the form Of frogs and toads.
The tame frog in gypsy camp is
kept as acIdck charm. and is supposed
sto help in fortune telling.
As to the house cat. he is another
kind ofAsscapegoat." When a gypsy
goes to aAtown to live and builds a
1house-the hsst live thing to enter it
must needs sdieks Poor puss is then
as cir dxy
passes the thrsshoId sasAcat is thrown
into the@aew home efefing up a will
ing sacrifice that others may live!
To keep cat at home, safe from
thieves, the gypsy ewReTA swings 1t by
the tail three times N n circle, Indoors,
not room enoughS to- sHtng 8scats1sn eX-
pressive of narrow auarteIs.
The gypsieS have handed downNIl1any
old sorceries and superstftlops a6eue
the horse, held sacred all NoEef kae
world in folklore. AS in old RoHlesoar
modern Romany still would adxlse the
hanging of horses skull over&o1F
gateways as a sufficient charm against
all spirits of evil and ghosts, while
the horse is also time honored sacri-
fetal animal in gypsy divorce cases
When man and wife decide to separate
for good the one acting as priest ,slays
a horse with a knife in the open field.
posite directions around the carcass.
finally Joining hands at its. head and
walking toward the tail, where they
turn back to back. walk away and
never meet again. The exact meaning
Of the horse in this ceremony is lost
in the dim ages of antiquity, reaching
back to India, before ever the Ronahy
had left that country to wander over
the wide world.
The bear occupies a position similar
to that OF the boar. A necklace OF
bears claws and children's teeth, worn
by a gypsy wife, is to her guarantee
of strong, healthy offspring, both boar
and bear symbolizing animal strength.
The little badger is said to prove a
good love charm If hidden under ones
sleeping place, while the. eye OF "A
crow. used in the same way, brings
about equally happy results to the
Romany maiden.
The snail. for ages past the type OF
voluptuousness. is found among some
gypsies as another love charm. BY
managing to have her lover carry one
the Romany maiden is certain, OF his