CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



this we add that poetic utterance is a special anc 

 exceptional gift ; that the language of primitiv 

 nations is crude and unmanageable, the words 

 being as difficult to weld together as pieces of cas 

 iron ; that it is only when the poet's mind has 

 risen to unusual heat that he can fuse them into 

 those rythmical sequences that please the ear anc 

 hang together in the memory ; that, in short, his 

 art is a mystery to himself an inspiration ; we 

 need not wonder at the feeling with which every- 

 thing in the form of verse or metre was viewed. 



The singing or saying of such compositions, 

 which could thus stir the blood of the hearers 

 they knew not how, what other effects might it 

 not produce? Accordingly, there is no end to the 

 power ascribed to incantations, especially when 

 accompanied, as they generally were, with the 

 concocting of drugs and other magical rites. 

 They could heal or kill. If they could not raise 

 from the dead, they could make the dead speak, 

 or ' call up spirits from the vasty deep,' in order 

 to unveil the future. They could extinguish fire ; 

 darken the sun or moon ; make fetters burst, a 

 door or a mountain fly open ; blunt a sword ; 

 make a limb powerless ; destroy a crop, or charm 

 it away into another's barn. 



The prayers of heathens, whether for blessings 

 or for curses, partake largely of the nature of 

 magical incantations. They are not supposed to 

 act as petitions addressed to a free agent, but by 

 an inherent force which even the gods cannot 

 resist. This notion is very prominent in Hindu- 

 ism ; but it more or less disguisedly pervades all 

 superstitious worship. ' They think they shall be 

 heard for their much speaking.' Even in the 

 Buddhistic religion, which dispenses with a god, 

 prayers are still used a striking evidence of the 

 magic power which is supposed to lie in solemn 

 words. 



For almost every occasion or operation of life, 

 there were appropriate formulae to be repeated in 

 order to secure success ; and many of these, with 

 that reverence for antiquity and conservative 

 tendency which always characterise superstition, 

 continue to live in popular memory, although often 

 the words are so old as to be unintelligible. The 

 Romans, in the days of Cato, used incantations, 

 for curing dislocations, full of words the meaning 

 of which had been lost. A form of words used to 

 this day in Shetland for healing a sprain can be 

 traced back to the tenth century. In its earliest 

 form, as found in an old German manuscript, it 

 narrates how Woden and Baldur riding out to 

 hunt, Baldur's horse dislocated its foot, and how 

 Woden, using charmed words, set bone to bone, 

 &c. and so healed the foot. The repetition of this 

 rhymed narration acted as a charm to heal other 

 lamed horses. The modern version of this tra- 

 dition, as current in Norway, makes the accident 

 happen to the horse of Jesrts, and Jesus himself 

 perform the cure. In Shetland, also, it is the 

 Lord, meaning Jesus, that is substituted for 

 Woden ; and the formula is applied to the healing 

 of persons' limbs as well as those of horses. 



Divination, 



or fortune-telling, has always been one of the chief 

 objects of the magical art. A sorcerer was orig- 

 inally one who read the future by means of lots 

 (Middle-age Lat. sortiarius, from sors, sortis, a 

 lot). It was a maxim with the heathen nations 



412 



of antiquity, that if there are gods, they care for 

 men ; and if they care for men, they must send 

 them signs of their will ; and this has been a uni- 

 versal sentiment in all ages and countries. The 

 modes of becoming acquainted with the will of 

 the gods are innumerable. Astrology was a 

 favourite method among the ancient Chaldaeans, 

 as well as in the middle ages. Inspired prophets 

 or seers, and oracles, were characteristic of the 

 Greeks. Perhaps one of the most universal forms 

 of divination is that by birds. The art of reading 

 the signs given by birds, called auguries and 

 auspices (both from avis, a bird), was reduced to 

 a system by the Romans, and was considered 

 a national concern of the highest moment^ 

 Nothing of importance, public or private, was 

 entered upon without taking the auspices ; and 

 if they were unfavourable, the undertaking was 

 deferred. In the case of some birds, the sign 

 was taken from the voice, in that of others r 

 from their flight ; and while it was a good omen 

 when a raven, for instance, appeared on the 

 right, the crow, to be favourable, must be seen on 

 the left. Every sound and motion of each bird 

 had a different meaning, according to the varying 

 circumstances of time, and so forth. 



Chiromancy, or palmistry that is, the art of 

 reading the destiny from the lineaments of the 

 hand is another form of divination- that has been 

 reduced to regular system. In the middle ages, 

 along with astrology, it occupied the attention of 

 Cardan, Paracelsus, and other great men, who 

 elaborated it into the semblance of a science ; it 

 is now the exclusive property of the gipsies,, 

 who still find believers in their art among maid- 

 ervants, and occasionally, it is said, among their 

 mistresses. 



An extensive set of omens are taken from; 

 observing what first happens to one, or what ani- 

 mal or person one meets first in the morning, or 

 at the commencement of an undertaking the 

 first-foot, as it is called. To stumble has been 

 universally held to presage misfortune. Some 

 semblance of a reason might be found for this 

 jelief ; but in most cases the interpretation seems 

 altogether abitrary. The dread of a hare crossing; 

 he path seems to be widely prevalent ; while to- 

 see a wolf is a good omen. This feeling is prob- 

 ably a remnant of warlike times, when the timid 

 hare suggested thoughts of cowardice and flight ; 

 while the bold wolf, sacred to Odin, was emblem- 

 atic of victory. The character of the hare for 

 >eing unlucky is also connected with the deep- 

 rooted belief that witches are in the habit of trans- 

 brming themselves into hares. That to meet an 

 old woman is unlucky, is another very general 

 belief; arising, without doubt, from the same 

 causes that lead to their being considered witches, 

 n some places, women in general are unlucky as 

 irst-foot, with the singular exception of women of 

 3ad reputation. This belief prevailed as far back 

 as the age of Chrysostom. Priests, too, are 

 minous of evil. If hunters of old met a priest or 

 riar, they coupled up their hounds, and went 

 lome in despair of any further sport that day. 

 This superstition seems to have died out, except 

 n the case of sailors, who still consider clergy a 

 kittle cargo,' as a Scotch skipper expressed it v 

 and anticipate a storm or mischance when they 

 lave a black-coat on board. This seems as old 

 s the days of the prophet Jonah. 



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