RELIGION AMONG THE PEOPLE OF ASIA MINOR. 159 



perhaps, not that I would hold an acceptable brief with the 

 superhuman powers, but that I, as a Christian, would be s<j 

 unacccptahle as to render a service similar to that performed Ijy 

 a skull planted on a pole in a garden, whose unsightliness 

 transtixes the evil eye, and leaves the tender plants to grow 

 without harm. 



Just as a bridal couple entered their home I liave seen an 

 old woman smash an earthen dish at their feet. Her idea was 

 that as we observe human life we may safely infer that there are 

 superhuman forces at work which are bent on smashing some- 

 thing. It is better, therefore, to get the start of their activity, 

 to keep them quiet by doing their work for them, and lose the 

 value of a cheap dish rather than endanger the health or 

 property of the new household. If this superstition is not a 

 survival of devil worship I know not how to account for it. 



On the whole the power most trusted, whether as a prophy- 

 lactic against or as a remedy for the ill effects of evil spirits 

 or evil eyes, is " reading," that is, reciting from some of the 

 sacred books. It' a sheep does not come in from its pasturage 

 at nightfall, read to protect it. Then if a wolf pursues it cannot 

 catch the sheep ; if it catches cannot bite it ; if it bites cannot 

 pull its teeth out, and the sheep will reach home dragging the 

 wolf as its victim — or rather as the victim of the powerful 

 reading. If the charm fails — God knows best. 



A gipsy girl died, and her poor father attributed it to the 

 effect of readino-. The w\ had been sought in marriage, but 

 had refused, not wishing to marry at all. The disappointed 

 suitor " read " over the flowing water of a Ibuntain from which 

 the maiden drank, doubtless to win her affection : but the water 

 clove to her breast bone, and she sickened and died. Even the 

 reading over her of a Christian priest and a ]\Iohannnedan imam 

 could not save her. 



Eeligious ideas are always seeking expression in connection 

 with some visible, tangible object, such as a votive offeriiiQ-. 

 A rag or a bit of rope or hair from the person of a sick 

 suppliant at a sacred grave is usually tied to a sacred tree 

 there, in the hope that the sufferer may leave his disease bound 

 to the spot and go home without it. Parings of finger nails 

 are preserved in secret places, such as cracks in the wall, and 

 children's extracted teeth are diiven into pillars in churches 

 and mosques that new ones may come in well. At the tomb of 

 Hussein Ghazi headache is treated by an attendant leading the 

 patient seven times around the tomb, placing a string of wooden 

 beads about his head, each of which is struck with a mace, and 



