BOUBKE.] MAGICAL CORDS AND KNOTS. 569 



Burton alludes to the &quot;inehanted girdle of Venus, in which, saith 

 Natales Comes, . . . all witchcraft to enforce love was contained.&quot; 



The first general council of Milau, in lf&amp;gt;(55, prohibited the use of what 

 were called phylacteries, ligatures, and reliquaries (of heathen origin) 

 which people all over Europe were in the habit of wearing at neck or 

 on arms or knees. 2 



&quot;King Jauies 3 enumerates thus: Such kindeof charmesas . . . 

 staying married t olkes to have naturally adoc with each other, by knit 

 ting so many knots upon a point at the time of their marriage. &quot; 4 



&quot;Tying the point was another fascination, illustrations of which may 

 be found in Reginald Scott s Discourse Concerning Devils and Spirits, 

 p. 71; in the Fifteen Comforts of Marriage, p. i5; and in the British 

 Apollo, vol. 2, No. 35, 170!. In the old play of The Witch of Edmonton, 

 1658 Young Banks says, Ungirt, unbless d, says the proverb. &quot; 5 



Frommanu speaks of the frequent appearance of knots in witchcraft, 

 but, beyond alluding to the &quot; Nodus Cassioticus&quot; of a certain people 

 near Pelusia, who seem, like the Laplanders, to have made a business 

 of fabricating and selling magic knots, he adds nothing to our stock of 

 information on the subject. He seems to regard the knot of Hercules 

 and the Gordian knot as magical knots. 6 



Bogle mentions the adoration of the Grand Lama (Teshu Lama). 

 The Lama s servants &quot;put a bit of silk with a knot upon it, tied, or 

 supposed to be tied, with the Lama s own hands, about the necks of the 

 votaries.&quot; 7 



A girdle of Venus, &quot; possessing qualities not to be described,&quot; was 

 enumerated among the articles exhibited at a rustic wedding in England. 8 



In 1510, Torralva, the Spanish magician, was given by his guardian 

 spirit, Zequiel, a &quot; stick full of knots,&quot; with the injunction, &quot; shut your 

 eyes and fear nothing; take this in your hand, and no harm will happen 

 to you.&quot; 9 Here the idea evidently was that the power resided in the 

 knots. 



&quot;Immediately before the celebration of the marriage ceremony [in 

 Perthshire, Scotland] every knot about the bride and bridegroom (gar 

 ters, shoe-strings, strings of petticoats, &c.), is carefully loosened.&quot; 10 



&quot;The precaution of loosening every knot about the new-joined pair is 

 strictly observed [in Scotland], for fear of the penalty denounced in the 

 former volumes. It must be remarked that the custom is observed even 

 in France, nouer Vaiguillette being a common phrase for disappoint 

 ments of this nature.&quot; 11 



1 Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, London, 1827, vol. 1, p. 91; vol. 2, p. 291). 



Picart, Ceremonies et Cofttumes, etc., vol. 10, pp. 69-73. 



8 Dmonology, p. 100. 



Brand, Pop. Ant., vol. 3. p. 299. 



Ibid., p. 170. 



IVommann, Traetatns &amp;lt;le Fascinatione, Nuremberg, 1675, p. 731. 



Markham, Bogle s mission to Tibet, London, 1876, p. 85. 



&quot;Brand, Pop. Ant., vol. 2, p. 149. 



9 Thomaa Wright, Sorcery and Magic. London. 1851, vol. -. p. 10. 



10 Brand, Pop. Ant., vol. 2, p. 143. 



&quot; Pennant, in Pinkerton, Voyages, vol. 3, p. 382. 



