BOURKE. ] SACRED CORDS. 567 
The sacred thread and garment which were worn by all the perfect 
among the Cathari, and the use of which by both Zends and Brahmans 
shows that its origin is to be traced back to a pre-historic period.} 
“No religious rite can be performed by a (child) before he has been 
girt with the sacred girdle, since he is on a level with a Stdra before 
his (new) birth from the Veda.” ” 
In explaining the rules of external purification—that is, purification 
in which water is the medium—Baudhayana says: ° 
The sacrificial thread (shall be made) of Kusa grass, or cotton, (and consist) of 
thrice three strings. 
(It shall hang down) to the navel. 
(In putting it on) he shall raise the right arm, lower the left, and lower the head. 
The contrary (is done at sacrifices) to the manes. 
(If the thread is) suspended around the neck (it is called) nivita. 
(If it is) suspended below (the navel, it is called) adhopavita. 
A former use of sacred cords would seem to be suggested in the con- 
stant appearance of the belief in the mystical properties and the power 
for good or evil of the knots which constitute the characteristic append- 
age of these cords. This belief has been confined to no race or people; 
it springs up in the literature of the whole world and survives with a 
pertinacity which is remarkable among the peasantry of Europe and 
among many in both America and Europe who would not hesitate to 
express resentment were they to be included among the illiterate. 
The powers of these knots were recognized especially in strengthening 
or defeating love, as aiding women in labor, and in other ways which 
prove them to be cousins-german to the magic knots with which the 
medicine-men of the Lapps and other nations along the shores of the 
Baltic were supposed to be able to raise or allay the tempest. ‘ One of 
the torments with which witchcraft worried men was the Knot by which 
aman was withheld so that he could uot work his will with a woman, 
It was called in the Latin of the times Nodus and Obligamentum, and 
appears in the glossaries, translated by the Saxons into lyb, drug.” 
“To make a ‘ligatura’ is pronounced ‘detestable’ by Theodorus, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, in 668. The knot is still known in France, and 
Nouer Vaiguillette is a resort of ill-will.” Then is given the adventure 
of Hrut, prince of Iceland, and his bride Gunnhilld, princess of Nor- 
way, by whom a “knot” was duly tied to preserve his fidelity during 
his absence. * ‘Traces of this philosophy are to be found elsewhere,” 
(references are given from Pliny and Galens in regard to ‘‘nod”).° 
“A knot among the ancient northern nations seems to have been the 
symbol of love, faith, and friendship, pointing out the indissoluble tie 
of affection and duty. Thus the ancient Runic inscriptions, as we 
gather from Hickes’s Thesaurus, are in the form of a knot. Hence, 
1 Henry Charles Lea, History of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages, vol. 1, p. 92, New York, 1888. 
2 Miiller, Sacred Books of the East, vol. 14, Vasishtha, cap. 2, par 6. 
3 Tbid., Baudhayana, prasna 1, adhyaya 5, kandika 8, pars. 5-10, p. 165. 
4 Saxon Leechdoms, vol. 1, pp. xli-xliii. 
6 Tbid., p. xliii. 
