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SPIRIT BASIS OF BELIEF AND CUSTOM.
JUNE, 1895.]
pregnancy rites, the first rite is to comb the girl's hair. The Sinhalese wear a comb in their hair. The Papuans of North Guinea wear a bamboo comb in their hair with a cloth hanging from the points of the comb like a flag. The comb was considered a sacred emblem in pre-Christian times, and was often used in divination. In Christian days it preserved so much of its sanctity that we find a comb mentioned among the appliances needed at a solemn High Mass, especially when sung by a Bishop. Some sacred combs were of ivory, some were plain, some were adorned with elaborate carving, even gemmed with precious stones. A list of sacred combs is given by Dr. Rock as having belonged to St. Cuthbert, St. Neot, St. Dunstan and other Saints. Various combs were long preserved at Durham, Canterbury, Glastonbury and other holy minsters. At Thetford, in the church of St. Sepulchre, may still be seen the comb of St. Thomas, the martyr of Canterbury, and at Durham the comb that was found inside St. Cuthbert's coffin.50
Coral. In Gujarat, a coral ring is worn to keep off the evil influence of the sun. The Poona Vaidus, an early tribe of wild doctors, wear coral necklaces, Pravál bhasma, or cora! ashes, is a Hindu medicine,53 The Lepchas of Darjeeling wear a profusion of mock coral and coloured beads.53 In Bengal, coral is touched by mourners when they are purified.54 Barbosa in 1514, noticed that Hindu women in Vijayadurg wore five strings of coral round their arms.55 Coral and tortoise-shell are worn as ornaments by the Andaman Islanders.56 Arab women, in North-West Africa, wear long strings of coral round their necks.57 Coral is worn on the neck in Nubia.59 The South Central African diviner holds a white coral in his hand.59 Coral keeps off fear.co A coral worn round a child's neck helps it to cut its teeth. It is an amulet against fascination. According to a Latin work (1536) witches say that coral keeps lightning, whirlwinds, tempests and storms from ships and houses.1 In England, coral was used as an amulet against epilepsy.62
Cross. In many parts of the world, long before it became a Christian symbol, the cross had a magic or spirit-scaring power. Its presence on early remains shews that, from the thirteenth century before Christ, the cross was a common and favourite ornament or shape in Asia Minor, Greece, Italy, Central Europe, the British Islands, Skandinavia, and Iceland. Besides the even-limbed Greek cross and the shafted Roman cross, two forms of cross have been held in widespread honour as lucky or talismanic. These are the ring-topped cross or crux ansata of Egypt, Asia Minor and Chaldea, and the guarded cross, the gammadion or svastika, of Skandinavia, Central Europe, the Caucasus, India, Tibet, China and Japan. At present, with no trace of connection with any of the higher religions, the sign of the cross is held to be lucky and a scarer of evil spirits by many of the lower classes in India, in Ashantee and other parts of Africa, and in North and South America.3 Spirits fear crossed lines. So, to keep off sickness, the Masâlarus, a class of Dharwâr beggars, brand with a red-hot needle their new-born babes with the form of the cross. The tribula, or trident, is one of the weapons of Siva, the lord of spirits. At the ear-boring ceremony among the Belgaum Gôsâvis, the teacher, who performs the ceremony, begins by setting a trident in the ground and worshipping it. The Bijapur Lamânis mark the backs of the bride and bridegroom with a turmeric cross.67 The Suryavaṁśi Låds of Bijapur mark with a cross the cloth that is held between the bride and bridegroom.68 The Bijapur Gavandis have a yellow cross in the centre of the cloth which is held between the
48 Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. XVIII. p. 532.
Be Cumming's In the Hebrides, pp. 64, 65.
Information from Mr. P. B. Joshi.
161
Colebrooke's Miscellaneous Essays, Vol. I. p. 174.
se Jour. Anthrop. Inst. Vol. VII. p. 430.
89 Pinto's How I Crossed Africa, Vol. I. p. 130.
61 Dyer's Folk-Lore, p. 179.
6 Moore's Oriental Fragments, p. 189.
65 Information from Mr. P. B. Joshi.
67 Op. cit. Vol. XXIII. p. 209.
49 Earl's Papuans, p. 69.
51 Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. XVIII. p. 477.
83 Dr. A. Campbell in Jour. Ethno. Soc. Vol. I. p. 148. 65 Stanley's Barbosa, p. 88.
57 Hay's Western Barbary, p. 148. 48 Burkhardt's Nubia, p. 303.
6 Brand's Popular Antiquities, Vol. III. p. 282.
62 Mitchell's Highland Superstitions, p. 31.
64 Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. XXII. p. 211.
ee Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. XXI. p. 183. Op. cit. Vol. XXIII. p. 172.
