The Funny Side of Physic Part 41

The idol Monandaeg had the semblance of a female, crowned or capped with a hood-like covering, surmounted by two horns, while a basque and long robe covered the remainder of her person. In her right hand she held the image of the moon.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOON--Monday.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: TUISCO--Tuesday.]

TUESDAY.

The third object of their wors.h.i.+p was Tuisco--corresponding with German _Tuisto_--the son of _Terra_ (earth), the deified founder of the Teutonic race. He seems to have been the deity who presided over combats and litigations; "hence Tuesday is now, as then, court-day, or the day for commencing litigations." In some dialects it was called _Dings-dag_, or Things-day--to plead, attempt, cheapen: hence it is often selected as market-day, as well as a time for opening a.s.sizes. Hence the G.o.d _Tuisco_ was wors.h.i.+pped in the semblance of a venerable sage, with uncovered head, clothed in skins of fierce animals, touching the earth, while he held in his right hand a sceptre, the appropriate ensign of his authority.

Thus originated the name of our third day of the week, and some of its customs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WODEN--Wednesday.]

WEDNESDAY.

This day was named for _Woden_,--the same as _Odin_,--and was sacred to the divinity of the Northern and Eastern nations. He was the Anglo-Saxons'

G.o.d of war, "who came to them from the East in a very mysterious manner, and enacted more wonderful and brilliant exploits of prowess and valor than the Greek mythologists ascribed to their powerful G.o.d Hercules." As _Odin_, this deity was said to have been a monarch (in the flesh) of ancient Germany, Denmark, Scandinavia, etc., and a mighty conqueror. All those tribes, in going into battle, invoked his aid and blessing upon their arms. He was idolized as a fierce and powerful man, with helmet, s.h.i.+eld, a drawn sword, a _gyrdan_ about his loins, and feet and legs protected by sandals and knee-high fastenings of iron, ornamented with a death's head.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THOR--Thursday.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FRIGA--Friday.]

THURSDAY.

From the deity _Thor_ our Thursday is derived. This Saxon G.o.d was the son of Woden, or Odin, and his wife Friga. He was the G.o.d of thunder, the bravest and most powerful, after his father, of the Danish and Saxon deities.

Thor is represented as sitting in majestic grandeur upon a golden throne, his head surmounted by a golden crown, richly ornamented by a circle in front, in which were set twelve brilliant stars. In his right hand he grasped the regal sceptre.

FRIDAY.

The sixth day of the week was named in honor of _Friga_, or Frigga, the wife of Woden and the mother of Thor. In most ancient times she was the same as Venus, the G.o.ddess of Hertha, or Earth. She was the most revered of the female divinities of the Danes and Saxons. Friga is represented draped in a light robe suspended from the shoulder, low neck and bare arms. She held in her right hand a drawn sword, and a long bow in the left. Her hair is long and flowing, while a golden band, adorned by ostrich feathers, encircle her snowy brow.

There is nothing in the name or attributes to indicate the ill luck which superst.i.tion has attached to the day.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SEATER--Sat.u.r.day.]

SAt.u.r.dAY.

The G.o.d _Seater_, for whom the last day of the week is named, is the same as Saturn, which is from Greek--_Time_.

He is pictured, unlike Saturn, with long, flowing hair and beard, thin features, clothed in person with one entire garment to his ankles and wrists, with his waist girded by a linen scarf. In his right hand he carries a wheel, to represent rolling time. In his left hand he holds a pail of fruit and flowers, to indicate young time as well as old. The fish which is his pedestal represents his power over the abundance of even the sea.

CHRISTMAS FESTIVALS.

Amongst the very pleasant and harmless customs which have been handed down to us from the idolatrous rites and superst.i.tions of the ancient Saxons, Scandinavians, etc., are those connected with our Christmas festivities.

The whole observance and connections form a strange mixture of Christian and heathen ceremonies, ill.u.s.trative of the unwillingness with which a people abandon pagan rites to the adoption of those more consistent with the spirit of a Christianized and enlightened faith.

Now, little folks and big, I am not going to ridicule or deny your right to Christmas and St. Nicholas enjoyments; I will merely hint at their origin, for your own benefit. The day brings more happiness--and folks--to the homes and firesides of the people of the _whole world_ than any other holiday we celebrate.[6] Thanksgiving, you know, is mostly a New England custom. The 25th of December is just as good as any other day on which to have a good time. Ancient people used to celebrate the first and sixth of January. The first three months of the year are named after heathen G.o.ds.

The _name_ of the day we celebrate is derived from a Christian source: the rest from pagan. A good feeling was always engendered amongst the most ancient people at the commencement of the lengthening of days in winter, and the approach of a new year. The hanging up of the mistletoe, with the ceremony of gathering it, the kindling of the Yule log, and giving of presents, we trace to the Druids, who were the priests, doctors, and judges of the ancient Celts, Gauls, Britons, and Germans. Our modern stoves and furnaces have shut out the pleasant old log fires, and the candles only remain. The gifts originated in the giving away of pieces of the mistletoe by the grizzly old priests.

Who St. Nicholas was, is only conjectured, _not known_, any more than who St. Patrick was. It makes no difference where he sprang from; he is a good, jolly, benevolent fellow, who brings lots of presents, and, with the little folks, we are bound to defend him.

It is supposed that the original St. Nicholas lived in Lycia, in Asia Minor, during the fourth century, and was early adopted as a saint of the Catholic church, and also by the Russians and ancient Germans, Celts, and others.

"He has ever been regarded as a very charitable personage, and as the particular guardian of children. Great stories are told of his charity and benevolence. One of these, and that, perhaps, which attaches him to the peculiar festivities of Christmas, is to the effect that a certain n.o.bleman had three lovely daughters, but was so reduced to poverty that he was unable to give them a marriage portion, as was the indispensable custom, and was about to give them over to a life of shame. St. Nicholas was aware of this, and determined in a secret way to a.s.sist the n.o.bleman.

"He wended his way towards the n.o.bleman's house, thinking how he could best do this, when he espied an open window, into which he threw a purse of gold, which dropped at the n.o.bleman's feet, and he was enabled to give his daughter a marriage portion. This was repeated upon the second daughter and the third daughter; but the n.o.bleman, being upon the watch, detected his generous benefactor, and thus the affair was made public.

From this rose the custom upon St. Nicholas Day, December 6, for parents and friends to secretly put little presents into the stockings of the children. Doubtless this custom, so near the festivities of Christmas, gradually approximated to that day, and become identical with Christmas festivities throughout the world. St. Nicholas is often represented bearing three purses, or golden b.a.l.l.s, and these form the p.a.w.n-broker's well-known sign, which is traced to this source as its origin--not, we should judge, from their resemblance to the charity of St. Nicholas, but emblematic of his lending in time of need."

POPULAR NOTIONS AND WHIMS.

There was a superst.i.tion in Scotland against spinning or ploughing on Christmas; but the Calvinistic clergy, in contempt for all such superst.i.tions, compelled their wives and daughters to spin, and their tenants to plough, on that day.

It is a popular notion to the present time in Devons.h.i.+re that if the sun s.h.i.+nes bright at noon on Christmas day, there will be a plentiful crop of apples the following year.

Bees were thought to sing in their hives on Christmas eve, and it was believed that bread baked then would never mould.

So prevalent was the idea that all nature unites in celebrating the great event of Christ's birth, that it was a well received opinion in some sections of the old world that the cattle fell on their knees at midnight on Christmas eve.

RIDICULOUS SUPERSt.i.tIONS.

"Merlin! Merlin! turn again; Leave the oak-branch where it grew.

Seek no more the cress to gain, Nor the herb of golden hue."

Merlin, the reputed great enchanter, flourished in Britain about the fifth century. He is said to have resided in great pomp at the court of "Good King Arthur." You all know the beautiful rhyme about the latter, if not about "Merlin! Merlin!" etc.

"When good King Arthur ruled the land,-- He was a goodly king,-- He stole three pecks of barley-meal To make a bag pudding."

Sublime poetry! Easy mode of obtaining the barley-meal (or Scotch territory). Merlin attached many superst.i.tious beliefs to some of our medicinal plants. The "cress" is supposed to be the mistletoe. "The herb of gold"--golden herb--was a rare plant, held in great esteem by the peasant women of Brittany, who affirmed that it shone like gold at a distance. It must be gathered by or before daybreak.

The most ridiculous part of the affair was in the searching for the "herb of golden hue." None but devout females, blessed by the priests for the occasion, were permitted the great privilege of gathering it. In order to be successful in the search, the privileged person started before daylight, barefooted, bareheaded, and _en chemise_. (Of course the priest knew the individual, and when she was going.) The root must not be cut or broken, but pulled up entire. If any one trod upon the plant, he or she would fall into a trance, when they could understand the language of fowls and animals--a belief not half as ridiculous as that of the present day, that a person may fall into a trance, and understand the language of the dead; yes, dead and decayed, the organs of speech gone! Yet thousands believe such stuff to-day.

_The Mandrake._--Great superst.i.tion was formerly attached to this root, and even now is, in some rural districts. The root often resembles the lower half of a human being, and it was credulously believed it would shriek and groan when pulled from its mother earth. This notion is expressed in Romeo and Juliet:--

"Mandrakes, torn out of the earth, That mortals, hearing them, run mad."

Again, in Henry VI.:--

"Would curses kill, as doth the bitter mandrake's groans."