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Origins of Myths & Superstitions—Part 3
Salt
Historically, salt has been considered a precious commodity and spilling of salt was considered wasteful. Salt is unchanging, and its ability to preserve meat from decay caused it to become a symbol of eternity and immutability. To counteract the bad luck when salt is spilled, salt is thrown over the left shoulder to hit the "evil eye".
Scapegoat.
A sentence in the Christian sacred book, The Holy Bible, reads: Leviticus 16:7-10 "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat." The scapegoat got to escape, and carry the tribe's sins into the wilderness. From the word ‘escape’ and ‘goat’ we get ‘scapegoat’. Therefore, the “scapegoat” incurs the blame; deserved or not.
Tombstones
Tombstones are heavy and because of this, they were used to hold down the spirits of the corpse to prevent any harm coming to the living.
Umbrellas
The shape of an umbrella was originally used as a sunshade and not for rain. Sunshades were considered to have a magical relationship with the sun. Opening an umbrella anywhere out of the sun's rays was considered dangerously offensive to the sun spirit. This is why it is considered unlucky to open an umbrella indoors.
Witches
Women, being the natural gatherers in a clan, gained a wealth of experience about herbs and plants. They were considered wise women who understood which plants were poisonous and which plants had healing properties. But knowledge is power, and these women were seen as a threat to the Christian order. Over time, these women became known as witches and were severely prosecuted. Being accused of being a witch eventually applied to any woman the authorities wished to condemn. Sometimes a woman was accused of being a witch to acquire her property, sometimes the accusations were made by a jealous neighbour, sometimes it was misogynistic malicious conviction on behalf of the church authorities. Sometimes those in power sought sexual favours in exchange to dropping the charges. Witches were not prosecuted for being witches but for the charge of heresy. Terrible tortures were inflicted, guaranteeing confessions. Not wanting blood on their hands, after obtaining confessions, the church handed the victims over to the secular authorities who carried out the execution. Witches were burnt at the stake as a foretaste of hell.
The persecution of witches raged on for nearly three hundred years. During these years (1484-1775), several thousand people were put to death. Although the victims were mostly women, men too, suffered this terrible fate.
Among the populace there was a real fear of witches because the church did such a good propaganda job and the persistent dread of witchcraft underlies many superstitions.
The last recorded witch trials took place in: Sweden -1669, England -1682, France -1745, Germany -1775. But in England, a watered down version of witchcraft was still on the books as late as 1951.
Some plants these wise women used caused hallucinations which gave the user a sensation of flying. The sacred midwives of ancient Rome used brooms to sweep the thresholds of homes where they delivered babies. This was to sweep away evil spirits from mother and baby. The hallucinations and the broomstick resulted in the legend of witches being able to fly.
Healing plants that were used were:
Deadly Nightshade: Belladonna extracted from this plant was miraculous in calming convulsions, lulling women in labour and easing childbirth. Belladonna was a powerful poison but in small quantities it could be helpful.
Ergot: Ergot is a fungus that grows on ryegrass, and was used for relief at childbirth. Ergot based drugs are still used in childbirth today.
Foxglove: Digitalis extracted from this plant helps control the heartbeat.
Pennyroyal, rue, cyclamen and parsley leaves were concocted into potions that procured abortions. Cyclamen was very dangerous and could also be a fatal, burning a woman's insides.
In Egypt, 4,000 years ago, cats were highly valued in corn producing societies for protecting crops against mice and rats. The Egyptian goddess Bast, was a black female cat and the goddess Diana, in one of her many roles, was also a protector of cats. It was this connection of cats being sacred to goddesses that made them seen as being evil. There was a belief that witches could change themselves into the form of a cat but could do so only nine times. This is the reason that cats are supposed to have nine lives. Cats were often burnt with witches.
Wood
Touching or knocking on wood when expressing good fortune for yourself sometime in the near future, comes from the oak tree. The Druid's considered the oak to be very sacred and very powerful. Touching or knocking the tree would then deprive the spirits from interfering with a person’s hopes. |