The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1929-01-08

One can call LnlS mar DSXluS
a pagan rite, a foolish myth,
silly legend, yet the fact remains
the potency of its use has survived
the centuries and is part of the
ouanga charms made by the Haitian
vOodooists today.
Hair has always held a lure for
workers Of magic. Perhaps the old
law Of sympathetic magic is behind
it, the theory that possessing q BIT
of personal property of the one you
wish to torment is certain to pre-
dispose that person to the effective
ness of the curse you are working.
Among pagan tribes hair-cutting
even the ordinary hair cut of
modern generatiOns-was an event.
In the Fiji Islands the chief, when
getting q trim. always ate a man
to prevent disaster. Picking out 8
gentlemen for the sacrificial rite
meant a studied council Of the
brains Of the tribe. Spells were in
cantated among the MaOr!s; the OBJ
sidian knife was consecrated with
the cut hair; thunder and lightning
were traced directly to the opera
ton Of hair cutting.
Heads Sacred
Heads were often sacred-fc lred,
too-and the barber whose hands
had touched the victims head was
put under taboo. His hands were
detested and he was frequently fed
by a third person. To release the
taboo he must wait a day, then rub
his hands with potato or fern root
which had been cooked on a sacred
fire-a blaze blessed by the medi.
cine men. Too, his food must have
been taken to the family head, via
the female line, and eaten by her.
Disposal of the cut hair, or the
parings of ones nails, always has
been a problem with tribes and
peoples in many parts Of the world.
The sympathetic magical notion is
widespread and the possibility of
evil Detailing the original owner
should these items, once a part Of
his body, fall into. evil hands is
always considered. Contagion, as
understood in sorcery or magic, Is at
the bottom Of this belief.
A Marquesan sorceror in olden
days would take the hair, the spittle,
or other bodily refuse of the man
he wanted to bewitch and wrap it in
leaf; then place in a bag woven
of threads or fibers, knotted intri'
| cately. When he buried this with
due rites the victim languished from
20-day illness. If his friends, how
ever, discovered the hiding place Of
the bag and recovered it, the charm
ceased. This same contagious magic
is found among the Maoris.
Australian Rite
An Australian tribesman wishing
to eliminate his wife, steals a lock
OF her hair, ties it to a spears end,
and gives it to a friend. He. in turn.
holds it before a campfire nightly.
When the thread burns away and
the hair falls down. the wife is dead,
according to the arts.
In the Carpathian mountains the
Huzuls believe that il mice get bit
! of ones hair and build a nest OF it,
the victim suffers headaches, often
becomes idiotic. In parts of Ger
| ing that If birds build the nests
| from the hair, the victim suffers
head eruptions. West Sussex, in
| England, SuDSCrlDeS 10 lHlS theory,
In New Zealand, combed-out hair
can bring rain; in the Tyrbl
witches use it to make hailstones
the Thlinkeet Indians blame bad
weather on a girl who has combed
her hair outside the house; old
Rome was right in line with such
a belief, sailors always cutting their
hair on shipboard during storm
arguing the mischief already had
| been done.
In the South Seas
The Makoko Of Anzikos begged
missionaries for half their boards
as rain-charms
often prisoners among tribes were
shorn Of their locks and the pos
| session Nf the hair viewed as =
} surety that the unfortunates woul