The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (Third Edition, Vol. 11 of 12)
110
See above, vol. i. p. 315 n. 1.
111
The treatment of magic and witchcraft by the Christian Church is described by W. E. H. Lecky, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, New Edition (London, 1882), i. 1 sqq. Four hundred witches were burned at one time in the great square of Toulouse (W. E. H. Lecky, op. cit. ii. 38). Writing at the beginning of the eighteenth century Addison observes: “Before I leave Switzerland I cannot but observe, that the notion of witchcraft reigns very much in this country. I have often been tired with accounts of this nature from very sensible men, who are most of them furnished with matters of fact which have happened, as they pretend, within the compass of their own knowledge. It is certain there have been many executions on this account, as in the canton of Berne there were some put to death during my stay at Geneva. The people are so universally infatuated with the notion, that if a cow falls sick, it is ten to one but an old woman is clapt up in prison for it, and if the poor creature chance to think herself a witch, the whole country is for hanging her up without mercy.” See The Works of Joseph Addison, with notes by R. Hurd, D.D. (London, 1811), vol. ii., “Remarks on several Parts of Italy,” p. 196.
112
Strabo, iv. 4. 4, p. 197. See the passage quoted above, p. 32, note 2.
113
W. Mannhardt, Baumkultus, pp. 532-534.
114
Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, i. 270-305.
115
Some of the serpents worshipped by the old Prussians lived in hollow oaks, and as oaks were sacred among the Prussians, the serpents may possibly have been regarded as genii of the trees. See Simon Grunau, Preussischer Chronik, herausgegeben von Dr. M. Perlbach, i. (Leipsic, 1876) p. 89; Christophor Hartknoch, Alt und Neues Preussen (Frankfort and Leipsic, 1684), pp. 143, 163. Serpents played an important part in the worship of Demeter, but we can hardly assume that they were regarded as embodiments of the goddess. See Spirits of the Corn and of the Wild, ii. 17 sq.
116
For example, in China the spirits of plants are thought to assume the form of snakes oftener than that of any other animal. Chinese literature abounds with stories illustrative of such transformations. See J. J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China, iv. (Leyden, 1901) pp. 283-286. In Siam the spirit of the takhien tree is said to appear sometimes in the shape of a serpent and sometimes in that of a woman. See Adolph Bastian, Die Voelker des Oestlichen Asien, iii. (Jena, 1867) p. 251. The vipers that haunted the balsam trees in Arabia were regarded by the Arabs as sacred to the trees (Pausanias, ix. 28. 4); and once in Arabia, when a wood hitherto untouched by man was burned down to make room for the plough, certain white snakes flew out of it with loud lamentations. No doubt they were supposed to be the dispossessed spirits of the trees. See J. Wellhausen, Reste Arabischen Heidentums2 (Berlin, 1897), pp. 108 sq.
117
J. L. M. Noguès, Les mœurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis (Saintes, 1891), p. 71. Amongst the superstitious practices denounced by the French writer J. B. Thiers in the seventeenth century was “the gathering of certain herbs between the Eve of St. John and the Eve of St. Peter and keeping them in a bottle to heal certain maladies.” See J. B. Thiers, Traité des Superstitions (Paris, 1679), p. 321.
118
A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), pp. 150 sq.
119
Jules Lecœur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 8, 244; Amélie Bosquet, La Normandie romanesque et merveilleuse (Paris and Rouen, 1845), p. 294.
120
De la Loubere, Du Royaume de Siam (Amsterdam, 1691), i. 202. The writer here mentions an Italian mode of divination practised on Midsummer Eve. People washed their feet in wine and threw the wine out of the window. After that, the first words they heard spoken by passers-by were deemed oracular.
121
Aubin-Louis Millin, Voyage dans les Départements du Midi de la France (Paris, 1807-1811), iii. 344 sq.
122
Alexandre Bertrand, La Religion des Gaulois (Paris, 1897), p. 124. In French the name of St. John's herb (herbe de la Saint-Jean) is usually given to millepertius, that is, St. John's wort, which is quite a different flower. See below, pp. 54 sqq. But “St. John's herb” may well be a general term which in different places is applied to different plants.
123
Bruno Stehle, “Aberglauben, Sitten und Gebräuche in Lothringen,” Globus, lix. (1891) p. 379.
124
L. F. Sauvé, Le Folk-lore des Hautes-Vosges (Paris, 1889), pp. 168 sq.
125
I. V. Zingerle, “Wald, Bäume, Kräuter,” Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde, i. (1853) pp. 332 sq.; id., Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes2 (Innsbruck, 1871), p. 158, §§ 1345, 1348.
126
Christian Schneller, Märchen und Sagen aus Wälschtirol (Innsbruck, 1867), p. 237, § 24.
127
J. H. Schmitz, Sitten und Bräuche, Lieder, Sprüchwörter und Räthsel des Eifler Volkes (Treves, 1856-1858), i. 40.
128
J. H. Schmitz, op. cit. i. 42.
129
A. Kuhn, Märkische Sagen und Märchen (Berlin, 1843), p. 330.
130
K. Bartsch, Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg (Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. p. 287, § 1436.
131
W. von Schulenburg, Wendische Volkssagen und Gebräuche aus dem Spreewald (Leipsic, 1880), p. 254.
132
M. Prätorius, Deliciae Prussicae (Berlin, 1871), pp. 24 sq. Kaupole is probably identical in name with Kupole or Kupalo, as to whom see The Dying God, pp. 261 sq.
133
Alois John, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen (Prague, 1905), p. 86.
134
R. F. Kaindl, Die Huzulen (Vienna, 1894), pp. 78, 90, 93, 105; id., “Zauberglaube bei den Huzulen,” Globus, lxxvi. (1899) p. 256.
135
Dr. F. Tetzner, “Die Tschechen und Mährer in Schlesien,” Globus, lxxviii. (1900) p. 340.
136
J. B. Holzmayer, “Osiliana,” Verhandlungen der gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft, vii. Heft 2 (Dorpat, 1872), p. 62.
137
P. Einhorn, “Wiederlegunge der Abgötterey: der ander (sic) Theil,” printed at Riga in 1627, and reprinted in Scriptores rerum Livonicarum, ii. (Riga and Leipsic, 1848) pp. 651 sq.
138
J. G. Kohl, Die deutsch-russischen Ostseeprovinzen (Dresden and Leipsic, 1841), ii. 26.
139
A. Strausz, Die Bulgaren (Leipsic, 1898), pp. 348, 386.
140
F. S. Krauss, Volksglaube und religiöser Brauch der Südslaven (Münster i. W., 1890), p. 34.
141
G. F. Abbott, Macedonian Folk-lore (Cambridge, 1903), pp. 54, 58.
142
H. A. Weddell, Voyage dans le Nord de la Bolivie et dans les parties voisines du Pérou (Paris and London, 1853), p. 181.
143
W. Westermarck, “Midsummer Customs in Morocco,” Folk-lore, xvi. (1905) p. 35; id., Ceremonies and Beliefs connected with Agriculture, certain Dates of the Solar Year, and the Weather in Morocco (Helsingfors, 1913), pp. 88 sq.
144
J. Lecœur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1887), ii. 9.
145
K. Bartsch, Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg (Vienna, 1879-1890), ii. 285.
146
J. A. E. Köhler, Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande (Leipsic, 1867), p. 376.
147
O. Freiherr von Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Fest-Kalender aus Böhmen (Prague, n. d.), p. 312.
148
Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, loc. cit.
149
M. Töppen, Aberglauben aus Masuren2 (Danzig, 1867), p. 72.
150
Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, loc. cit.
151
J. A. E. Köhler, Volksbrauch, etc., im Voigtlande, p. 376.
152
C. Lemke, Volksthümliches in Ostpreussen (Mohrungen, 1884-1887), i. 20.
153
P. Drechsler, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube in Schlesien (Leipsic, 1903-1906), i. 144 sq.
154
Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Calendrier Belge (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 423.
155
Marie Trevelyan, Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales (London, 1909), p. 252.
156
M. Töppen, Aberglauben aus Masuren,2 p. 72.
157
M. Töppen, op. cit. p. 71.
158
A. Wiedemann, Aus dem inneren und äussern Leben der Ehsten (St. Petersburg, 1876), pp. 362 sq.
159
L. Lloyd, Peasant Life in Sweden (London, 1870), pp. 267 sq.
160
Willibald Müller, Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren (Vienna and Olmütz, 1893), p. 264.
161
W. von Schulenburg, Wendisches Volksthum (Berlin, 1882), p. 145.
162
Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube (Iserlohn, n. d.), p. 145; A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 100, § 134; I. V. Zingerle, “Wald, Bäume, Kräuter,” Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde, i. (1853) p. 329; A. Schlossar, “Volksmeinung und Volksaberglaube aus der deutschen Steiermark,” Germania, N.R., xxiv. (1891) p. 387; E. Meier, Deutsche Sagen, Sitten und Gebräuche aus Schwaben (Stuttgart, 1852), p. 428; J. Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1882-1883), i. 307, 312; T. F. Thiselton Dyer, Folk-lore of Plants (London, 1889), pp. 62, 286; Rev. Hilderic Friend, Flowers and Flower Lore, Third Edition (London, 1886), pp. 147, 149, 150, 540; G. Finamore, Credenze, Usi e Costumi Abruzzesi (Palermo, 1890), pp. 161 sq.; G. Pitrè, Spettacoli e Feste Popolari Siciliane (Palermo, 1881), p. 309. One authority lays down the rule that you should gather the plant fasting and in silence (J. Brand, op. cit. p. 312). According to Sowerby, the Hypericum perforatum flowers in England about July and August (English Botany, vol. v. London, 1796, p. 295). We should remember, however, that in the old calendar Midsummer Day fell twelve days later than at present. The reform of the calendar probably put many old floral superstitions out of joint.
163
Bingley, Tour round North Wales (1800), ii. 237, quoted by T. F. Thiselton Dyer, British Popular Customs (London, 1876), p. 320. Compare Marie Trevelyan, Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales (London, 1909), p. 251: “St. John's, or Midsummer Day, was an important festival. St. John's wort, gathered at noon on that day, was considered good for several complaints. The old saying went that if anybody dug the devil's bit at midnight on the eve of St. John, the roots were then good for driving the devil and witches away.” Apparently by “the devil's bit” we are to understand St. John's wort.
164
J. L. M. Noguès, Les mœurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis (Saintes, 1891), pp. 71 sq.
165
Alois John, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen (Prague, 1905), p. 84. They call the plant “witch's herb” (Hexenkraut).
166
James Sowerby, English Botany, vol. v. (London, 1796), p. 295.
167
Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube (Iserlohn, n. d.), p. 35.
168
T. F. Thiselton Dyer, Folk-lore of Plants (London, 1889), p. 286; K. Bartsch, Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg, ii. p. 291, § 1450a. The Germans of Bohemia ascribe wonderful virtues to the red juice extracted from the yellow flowers of St. John's wort (W. Müller, Beiträge zur Volkskunde der Deutschen in Mähren, Vienna and Olmütz, 1893, p. 264).
169
K. Bartsch, op. cit. ii. p. 286, § 1433. The blood is also a preservative against many diseases (op. cit. ii. p. 290, § 1444).
170
A. Kuhn, Märkische Sagen und Märchen (Berlin, 1843), p. 387, § 105.
171
Die gestriegelte Rockenphilosophie 5 (Chemnitz, 1759), pp. 246 sq.; Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfesten, Volksbräuche und deutscher Volksglaube, p. 147.
172
Berthold Seeman, Viti, An Account of a Government Mission to the Vitian or Fijian Islands in the years 1860-61 (Cambridge, 1862), p. 63.
173
James Sowerby, English Botany, vol. xvi. (London, 1803) p. 1093.
174
K. Seifart, Sagen, Märchen, Schwänke und Gebräuche aus Stadt und Stift Hildesheim2 (Hildesheim, 1889), p. 177, § 12.
175
C. L. Rochholz, Deutscher Glaube und Brauch (Berlin, 1867), i. 9.
176
J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), p. 98, § 681.
177
A. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube2 (Berlin, 1869), p. 100, § 134.
178
J. A. E. Köhler, Volksbrauch, Aberglauben, Sagen und andre alte Ueberlieferungen im Voigtlande (Leipsic, 1867), p. 376. The belief and practice are similar at Grün, near Asch, in Western Bohemia. See Alois John, Sitte, Brauch und Volksglaube im deutschen Westböhmen (Prague, 1905), p. 84.
179
F. Panzer, Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie (Munich, 1848-1855), ii. 299; Bavaria, Landes- und Volkskunde des Königreichs Bayern, iii. (Munich, 1865), p. 342; I. V. Zingerle, Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes2 (Innsbruck, 1871), p. 160, § 1363.
180
J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 ii. 1013; A. de Gubernatis, Mythologie des Plantes (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 189 sq.; Rev. Hilderic Friend, Flowers and Flower Lore, Third Edition (London, 1886), p. 75. In England mugwort is very common in waste ground, hedges, and the borders of fields. It flowers throughout August and later. The root is woody and perennial. The smooth stems, three or four feet high, are erect, branched, and leafy, and marked by many longitudinal purplish ribs. The pinnatified leaves alternate on the stalk; they are smooth and dark green above, cottony and very white below. The flowers are in simple leafy spikes or clusters; the florets are purplish, furnished with five stamens and five awl-shaped female flowers, which constitute the radius. The whole plant has a weak aromatic scent and a slightly bitter flavour. Its medical virtues are of no importance. See James Sowerby, English Botany, xiv. (London, 1802) p. 978. Altogether it is not easy to see why such an inconspicuous and insignificant flower should play so large a part in popular superstition. Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) is not to be confounded with wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), which is quite a different flower in appearance, though it belongs to the same genus. Wormwood is common in England, flowering about August. The flowers are in clusters, each of them broad, hemispherical, and drooping, with a buff-coloured disc. The whole plant is of a pale whitish green and clothed with a short silky down. It is remarkable for its intense bitterness united to a peculiar strong aromatic odour. It is often used to keep insects from clothes and furniture, and as a medicine is one of the most active bitters. See James Sowerby, English Botany, vol. xviii. (London, 1804) p. 1230.
181
Breuil, “Du culte de St. – Jean-Baptiste,” Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Picardie, viii. (1845) p. 224, note 1, quoting the curé of Manancourt, near Péronne.
182
L. Pineau, Le folk-lore du Poitou (Paris, 1892), p. 499.
183
J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren (Prague and Leipsic, 1864), pp. 90 sq., §§ 635-637.
184
F. Panzer, Beitrag zur deutschen Mythologie, i. p. 249, § 283; J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 ii. 1013; I. V. Zingerle, in Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde, i. (1853) p. 331. and ib. iv. (1859) p. 42 (quoting a work of the seventeenth century); F. J. Vonbun, Beiträge zur deutschen Mythologie (Chur, 1862), p. 133, note 1. See also above, vol. i. pp. 162, 163, 165, 174, 177.
185
A. de Gubernatis, Mythologie der Plantes (Paris, 1878-1882), i. 190, quoting Du Cange.
186
A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France (Paris and Lyons, 1846), p. 262.
187
Jules Lecœur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand (Condé-sur-Noireau, 1883-1886), ii. 8.
188
Joseph Train, Historical and Statistical Account of the Isle of Man (Douglas, Isle of Man, 1845), ii. 120.
189
Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Calendrier Belge (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 422.
190
J. J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China, vi. (Leyden, 1910) p. 1079, compare p. 947.
191
J. J. M. de Groot, op. cit. vi. 947.
192
J. J. M. de Groot, op. cit. vi. 946 sq.
193
Rev. John Batchelor, The Ainu and their Folk-lore (London, 1901), p. 318, compare pp. 315 sq., 329, 370, 372.
194
Zeitschrift für deutsche Mythologie und Sittenkunde, iv. (1859) p. 42; Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste, p. 141. The German name of mugwort (Beifuss) is said to be derived from this superstition.
195
K. Bartsch, Sagen, Märchen, und Gebräuche aus Mecklenburg (Vienna, 1879-1880), ii. 290, § 1445.
196
Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste, p. 141.
197
J. Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1882-1883), i. 334 sq., quoting Lupton, Thomas Hill, and Paul Barbette. A precisely similar belief is recorded with regard to wormwood (armoise) by the French writer J. B. Thiers, who adds that only small children and virgins could find the wonderful coal. See J. B. Thiers, Traité des Superstitions5 (Paris, 1741), i. 300. In Annam people think that wormwood puts demons to flight; hence they hang up bunches of its leaves in their houses at the New Year. See Paul Giran, Magie et Religion Annamites (Paris, 1912), p. 118, compare pp. 185, 256.
198
C. Lemke, Volksthümliches in Ostpreussen (Mohrungen, 1884-1887), i. 21. As to mugwort (German Beifuss, French armoise), see further A. de Gubernatis, Mythologie des Plantes, ii. 16 sqq.; J. Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie,4 iii. 356 sq.
199
James Sowerby, English Botany, vol. xix. (London, 1804) p. 1319.
200
John Aubrey, Remains of Gentilisme and Judaisme (London, 1881), pp. 25 sq.; J. Brand, Popular Antiquities of Great Britain (London, 1882-1883), i. 329 sqq.; Rev. Hilderic Friend, Flowers and Flower Lore, Third Edition (London, 1886), p. 136; D. H. Moutray Read, “Hampshire Folk-lore,” Folk-lore, xxii. (1911) p. 325. Compare J. Sowerby, English Botany, vol. xix. (London, 1804), p. 1319: “Like all succulent plants this is very tenacious of life, and will keep growing long after it has been torn from its native spot. The country people in Norfolk sometimes hang it up in their cottages, judging by its vigour of the health of some absent friend.” It seems that in England the course of love has sometimes been divined by means of sprigs of red sage placed in a basin of rose-water on Midsummer Eve (J. Brand, op. cit. i. 333).
201
M. Töppen, Aberglauben aus Masuren2 (Danzig, 1867), pp. 71 sq.; A. Kuhn, Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen (Leipsic, 1859), ii. 176, § 487; E. Hoffmann-Krayer, Feste und Bräuche des Schweizervolkes (Zurich, 1913), p. 163. In Switzerland the species employed for this purpose on Midsummer day is Sedum reflexum. The custom is reported from the Emmenthal. In Germany a root of orpine, dug up on St. John's morning and hung between the shoulders, is sometimes thought to be a cure for hemorrhoids (Montanus, Die deutschen Volksfeste, p. 145). Perhaps the “oblong, tapering, fleshy, white lumps” of the roots (J. Sowerby, English Botany, vol. xix. London, 1804, p. 1319) are thought to bear some likeness to the hemorrhoids, and to heal them on the principle that the remedy should resemble the disease.
202
See above, vol. i. pp. 162, 163, 165. In England vervain (Verbena officinalis) grows not uncommonly by road sides, in dry sunny pastures, and in waste places about villages. It flowers in July. The flowers are small and sessile, the corolla of a very pale lilac hue, its tube enclosing the four short curved stamens. The root of the plant, worn by a string round the neck, is an old superstitious medicine for scrofulous disorders. See James Sowerby, English Botany, vol. xi. (London, 1800) p. 767.
203
Dr. Otero Acevado, in Le Temps, September 1898. See above, vol. i. p. 208, note 1.
204
Le Baron de Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Calendrier Belge (Brussels, 1861-1862), i. 422.
205
A. de Nore, Coutumes, Mythes et Traditions des Provinces de France, p. 262; Amélie Bosquet, La Normandie romanesque et merveilleuse, p. 294; J. Lecœur, Esquisses du Bocage Normand, i. 287, ii. 8. In Saintonge and Aunis the plant was gathered on Midsummer Eve for the purpose of evoking or exorcising spirits (J. L. M. Noguès, Les mœurs d'autrefois en Saintonge et en Aunis, p. 72).
206
J. V. Grohmann, Aberglauben und Gebräuche aus Böhmen und Mähren, p. 207, § 1437.
207
A. Kuhn, Sagen, Gebräuche und Märchen aus Westfalen (Leipsic, 1859), ii. 177, citing Chambers, Edinburgh Journal, 2nd July 1842.
208
I. V. Zingerle, Sitten, Bräuche und Meinungen des Tiroler Volkes2 (Innsbruck, 1871), p. 107, § 919.
209
Laisnel de la Salle, Croyances et Légendes du Centre de la France (Paris, 1875), i. 288.
210
