Folk lore : $b or, Superstitious beliefs in the west of Scotland within this centuryNapier, James
History
Folk lore : $b or, Superstitious beliefs in the west of Scotland within this century
Napier, James
Folklore -- Scotland; Scotland -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
Upon the first sight of the new moon stand still and take a small
portion of earth from under the right foot, make it into a paste, put it
on the wart and wrap it round with a cloth, and thus let it remain till
that moon is out. The moon's influence and the fasting spittle are very
old superstitions.
The moon or Ashtoreth, the consort of Baal, was the great female deity
of the ancients, and so an appeal to the moon for the purpose of
removing interferences with beauty, such as skin excrescences, was quite
appropriate. Moon worship was practised in this country in prehistoric
times. Bailey, in his _Etymological Dictionary_, under article "Moon,"
says, "The moon was an ancient idol of England, and worshipped by the
Britons in the form of a beautiful maid, having her head covered, with
two ears standing out. The common people in some counties of England are
accustomed at the prime of the moon to say '_It is a fine moon. God
bless her._'"
From a custom in Scotland (particularly in the Highlands) where the
young women make courtesy to the new moon by getting upon a gate or
style and sitting astride, they say--
"All hail to the moon, all hail to thee,
I prithee good moon declare to me
This very night who my husband shall be."
Every one knows the popular adage about having money in the pocket when
the new moon is first seen, and that if the coins be turned over at the
time, money will not fail you during that moon. To see the new moon
through glass, however, breaks the charm. It was a prevalent belief that
if a person on catching the first glimpse of new moon, were to instantly
stand still, kiss their hand three times to the moon, and bow to it,
that they would find something of value before that moon was out. Such
practices are evidently survivals of moon worship. How closely does this
last practice agree with what Job says (chap. xxxi, 26),--"If I beheld
the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness, and my heart
hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: this also
were an iniquity to be punished by the Judge: for I should have denied
the God that is above."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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