150 BUULETIN 139^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



or more cardinal points according to Pueblo geocentricism. It is 

 associated with clouds and rain. The Zuni have a cause and effect 

 symbol representing the rain clouds of the four quarters as high ter- 

 raced black cumuH arranged as the swastika. In the angles strike 

 lightning, depicted as arrowheads, and at the center is the body of 

 water stored up from the resulting rains. From the borders of this 

 figure spring sprays of vegetation. 



As to the maleficent effects of Hghtning there are many behefs call- 

 ing for special observances. Among the Hopi when a house is struck 

 by hghtning it is necessary to hold a ceremony; it is conjectured that 

 its intent is to remove the bad influences or to set the pueblo right 

 as to the protective beings. This ceremony was under the control 

 of the yaya or fire priests, whose order is now extinct. Unfortunately, 

 no scientific observer has seen the ceremony and there is no record 

 of the observance. The last ceremony was held over a blasted 

 dwelling about 20 years ago. 



Among the South African Thonga: 



"If lighting strikes the 'hubo' it is a very bad omen. The medi- 

 cine man, who has the power of ' treating the place struck l)y light- 

 ning,' is called in. Should he be able to exhume from the ground 

 the mysterious bird which causes lightning, or at least the 

 coagulated urine which it has deposited, and which is called 

 heaven (see Part V), the people are allowed to stay. But if he does 

 not discover it deep down in the soil the village must move, as the 

 presence of the mysterious power of heaven inside the circle of huts 

 would bring disaster. This is a taboo."" 



A widely spread folk belief in Europe and America is that sweet 

 milk is efficacious in putting out a fire started by lightning. The 

 writer has seen this custom in practice. This bit of folklore has 

 probably a very ancient origin, which Mr. Frazer could dehghtfully 

 investigate. 



As to charms, fetishes, and observances to insure protection from 

 lightning, from Junod's work above cited is quoted: 



" The sala and the kwakwa are two species of the genus Strychnos 

 (perhaps one of them is the Strychnos spinosa) which furnish chem- 

 ists and poisoners with the well-known drug strychnine. Does the 

 fruit contain any proportion of this substance? I do not know. It 

 has never been known to kill anyone, although it may be the cause 

 of many intestinal troubles which naturally result when the natives, 

 having no more maize or sweet potatoes, live on nothing but this 

 particular fruit. Strange to say, the kwakwa stones are credited 

 with the power of attracting lightning; the old women say that when 

 making *nf uma' these large white stones must never be allowed to he in 



" H. A. Junod. The Life of a South African Tribe, London, 1912, p. 289. 



