[133] There are formulas in Gaelic for blessing a house, &c. The customs of nailing horse-shoes upon doors and hanging up holly at Christmas for protection against evil spirits indicate the persistence of ceremonial practices long after ancient beliefs have been forgotten. As the soul with the soul's desires swiftly to a distance flies, Thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the soul's course of flight. As a well-sharpened arrow swiftly to a distance flies, Thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the expanse of the earth. As the rays of the sun swiftly to a distance fly, Thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the flood of the sea. _Atharva-veda_, vi, 105.[134] [134] Bloomfield's _Atharva-veda_ (_Sacred Books of the East_, vol. xlii). A Scottish Highland charm similarly invokes the Powers, or the “King of the Elements”: To cause the wrath of men to ebb, Like to a wave from the sea to the floodtide, And a wave from the floodtide to the ebb. Occasionally a mantra is infused with high religious fervour. A Brahman might pray: From the sins which knowingly or unknowingly we have committed, do ye, all gods, of one accord release us. If awake or asleep, to sin inclined, I have committed a sin, may what has been, and what shall be, as if from a wooden post, release me. _Atharva-veda_, vi, 115. 1-2.[135] [135] Bloomfield's translation. Another hymn of this character concludes: In heaven, where our righteous friends are blessed, Having cast off diseases from their bodies, From lameness free and not deformed in members, There may we see our parents and our children. _Atharva-veda_, vi, 120.[136] [136] _A History of Sanskrit Literature_, Professor Macdonell, p. 199. While the tribes were spreading southward and eastward, Madhyadesa, the “middle country”, remained the centre of Brahmanic culture. In that district came into existence the earliest sacred prose works which constitute the basis of classic Hinduism. The first were the oldest _Brahmanas_; these comment on and expound the doctrines of the Vedic hymns, especially in their relation to the ritual of sacrifices. To the _Brahmanas_ were added the _Aran´yakas_, “forest books”, which are more speculative in tendency. The expository appendices to the _Aran´yakas_ are called the _Upanishads_, “the sittings down”, or “the sessions”—the pupil sat at his master's feet—and in these a high level of thought is attained. “For the first time”, says Professor Macdonell, “we find the Absolute grasped and proclaimed.” All the tribes were not infused with the same degree of culture. In the _Yajur-veda_ period there were various schools of thought, and these continued to exercise their influence into historic times, even after Upanishadic doctrines became widespread.