Charles Platt, page 2
This at once recalls the Lady Godiva story, where the woman’s return to nature is supposed to bring good fortune. This craving for a return to nature is shown in many ways ; for instance it is a widespread belief that good health follows a return in late life to the district where one was born. This of course is only the skin-clothed Caveman’s craving for a return to the simple life of the Open-hence the naked woman harnessed to the plough, which no doubt, nude woman and all, formed the earliest method of farming.
I shall deal later with Nursery Rhymes and Fairy Tales, but it is important to point out that many Fairy Tales relate to the giving up of a beautiful unclothed woman, generally the Princess, to a dragon. In some cases, she forms a meal for the monster, but as a rule she is only his victim, and after a series of adventures, she is restored to her adoring parents.
All this is typical of what must have been the dream-matter of the Cave period—the woman merely returns to the conditions of life from which the tribe had recently emerged, and typifies the unclothed human’s struggle against the monsters of the period, and the successful adoption of happier sur-roundings. Many fairy tales indicate these early struggles in some form or other. The elder brothers struggle aimlessly, and it is left to the third son to reach safety, after the family has been almost wiped out of existence. The Princess he marries represents the easier life that now stretches before the tribe.
In Servia they have another custom of a somewhat similar character, but not quite so primitive in form. The Plough is omitted and a touch of artistic delicacy is introduced—the primitive caveman is disappearing! Here a naked girl is covered with leaves and flowers by her companions of the village.
Then she dances through the district and over the fields—in this way, she is supposed to ensure a good crop!
Here we see the origin of our May Queen festivities, where the chosen girl is still decked with flowers by her envious companions. But to-day it is only a pretty childish custom, and few, if any, May Queens realise that they are supposed to be responsible for the season’s rainfall, and thereby the prosperity and happiness of the district.
It is worth noting that almost every woman indulges in some new finery at about this period—but not as a rule for the sake of producing the rain needed by the crops!
There is, however, a widespread superstition that it is very lucky to see a naked person bathing—of course this must be an accident; luck never works by pre-arrangement, or the Serpentine would be full all day long with luck-bringers.
While touching upon bathing, I might mention that it is considered unlucky to bathe the feet first.
This is explained by the fact that the feet are below the head and therefore inferior; but as a matter of fact, the superstition is medically sound—the head should always be moistened first or there is a grave risk of headache, due to blood-pressure. Cramp at sea is often caused in this way, though strictly speaking it is not cramp at all.
It will be seen that Fear is at the back of most superstitions, and it is obvious that it must have been one of the earliest of all instincts. When combined with ignorance, its power was limitless; to-day some of this ignorance is passing away and with it go many of the old superstitions. Yet its power is still immense, though we no longer believe in Black Magic and White Magic—Black, of course, was the kind that was intended to harm someone, whereas White was beneficial, though still, more or less, of the devil.
But the whole power of these mediaeval charms and sorceries lay in the wish—it was a species of subconscious hypnotism. A woman carried a love charm and believed herself irresistible to the man she fancied—it often succeeded, simply because the damsel made herself specially fascinating! It is a strong belief in our own powers that makes us really strong.
No doubt the worthy sorcerers of old knew this quite well; at any rate it was always clearly understood that a charm would only be effective for the one person, and could not be passed on. This, of course, was good business in itself, for it meant a second fee; but the curious fact remains that it is still universally believed that it is unlucky to part with a gift.
Not only so, but it is obviously very unlucky to make a gift of anything that can harm—here we have Black Magic at work instead of White. If Jones wants to get rid of Smith, he goes to a Sorcerer—or he did so in the good old days—and procures something to do the trick without bringing disaster upon himself. Obviously one way of doing this was by making a gift of some dangerous article, not properly understood by the luckless Smith. The gift itself formed a useful alibi and removed all suspi-cion from the donor, while there was every likelihood that Smith would soon be removed elsewhere—where did not matter.
To-day Black Magic survives in the superstition that it is unlucky to give anyone a knife, a pin, a needle, or anything that could cause harm. But fortunately our mentality is very elastic. The man who would never, under any circumstances, give his chum a penknife, willingly accepts a penny in exchange! It is no longer a gift!
Following up the gradual development of Mankind, after crude skins for clothes—or about the same time—would come the discovery of Fire, that wonderful element about which we know nothing today beyond its existence and its power. After all, what is Fire, and why should friction produce flame?
No doubt, the harnessing of Fire as a slave of Man would be due to some disastrous mishap, such as a forest fire. The survivors of the tribe would come back in keen distress, and would find the welcome—but feared—embers in many isolated spots. It seems certain that tribal fires were kept perpetually alight in the early days, and that it was long after before Man discovered how to produce heat and fire by means of friction.
There are no real superstitions concerning fire, probably because it was far too dangerous, and the ordinary brainless man or woman of the tribe was kept carefully away from it. For this purpose it was made sacred.
Of course we all know the trick of looking for “faces in the fire.” This is not due to imagination, but to the curious shading off of the flame, which renders delicate modelling quite possible. But the domestic fire on the hearth is far too modern to carry any special superstitions, though it is generally considered unlucky to rake out all the fire overnight. This idea evidently came from very primitive days, thousands of years before there was a hearth, and when fires were merely open heaps.
But although there is this curious lack of superstition connected with fire itself, it is quite certain that it forms one of the powerful factors of the Horseshoe cult, through the intimate connection of the shaped metal with the sacred fires of the gods. But of that I shall speak later.
Although the hearth, as such, has no special superstitions, there are a few connected with the door of a house—which, of course, would be in existence, in some rude form or other, thousands of years before the hearth was a possibility.
For instance, it is generally considered unlucky if the front door does not face the street! I have not been able to trace this superstition back to any probable origin, and can only suggest that it may have arisen from a supposed lack of candour and honesty on the part of the man who thus attempt-ed to cloak his goings-in and comings-out in secrecy.
This is quite possible, as many superstitions are based upon simple philosophy of that sort. For instance you should always close a door with your face to it—clearly this is intended to avoid a
“good-bye” stab in the back!
Of the same character is the sensible remark that “One who cannot swallow a pill easily may be sure of a long life.” This of course refers to many “pills” besides medical ones.
Another of this kind is the universal superstition that “Ill-luck always follows ill-mirth.” CHAPTER II
THE CULT OF THE HORSESHOE
THERE is no superstition so popular and so broadcast to-day as the luck of the Horseshoe. This is not due to any special feature, but is the accidental result of many small circumstances; for the Shoe owes its great and undoubted fascination to its association with Fire, with Iron, with Horses—to a slight extent with the number Seven. It is connected with the most primitive of all religions, the worship of the Sex organs, and with Christianity.
It is the number of associations that cling to the Shoe that give it such a firm hold on our imagina-tions; if one link were swept away, the Cult could not perish, but would still cling to us and to our lives with a most tenacious grip.
We must go back a long way if we wish to trace this superstition through the ages. It is uncertain when Man first learnt how to utilise fire, but as soon as he could do so, he added it to his religion, which up to then had been Phallicism—or Phallism as it is sometimes called for simplicity.
There was nothing wrong in this veneration of birth and its mysteries; indeed we moderns might be all the better if we gave more thought to this wonder of wonders. Fox-hunting, and shooting have their uses, undoubtedly; still there is no getting away from the fact that although Man has learnt how to destroy life prematurely, he has not the faintest idea how to create it.
It is the wonder of wonders of the universe, yet it is such an everyday incident that no one stops to think about it at all.
It is one of the admitted peculiarities of all forms of worship, even the Christian religion, that they have invariably made use of much that they found ready to their hands; merely altering it slightly to fit their own purposes. This is due to the fact that Converts are more easily made and retained if you do not ruthlessly destroy their original beliefs, but bend them in a better direction.
Now in Phallism, a certain amount of darkness was necessary in their temples, or places of worship, which were supposed to represent the womb—we keep this element of semi-darkness in our modern churches. It is this sacredness of the womb that can be traced in the throwing of the slipper after the departing Bride, as an indication of her new importance to the community. There are several other superstitions or customs connected with the shoe, but these will be dealt with when I treat of marriage superstitions—which are many.
But this association with marriage of the woman’s shoe—for it is never a man’s shoe that is thrown!—is clearly seen in the nursery rhyme of the “Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.” It is, of course, highly probable that women wore some protection for their feet long before man; though it is generally admitted that she remained naked for many generations after Man, the Hunter, donned the skins of fallen beasts, as a protection for his heart and lungs in the chase or in war. His hands and feet were not protected till long after this.
So on to the primitive worship of Sex was added the element of Fire, and soon after this came the age of metals, which naturally were always closely associated with the sacred Fires, by which they were worked.
The discovery of metals must have made a staggering change in the life and habits of Mankind!
Humanity has never been supreme from a physical point of view, and is subject to more diseases and illnesses than any of the lower animals.
When his very existence depended upon a few roughly chipped stones, which he used for hunting his food, making his clothes, killing his enemies, and of course for defending his home, he must have lived in a state of momentary peril and uncertainty.
Any tribe armed with weapons made of metal must have appeared as demi-gods to their bewildered neighbours. Raids would be easy—desirable women could be carried off, slaves would be plentiful.
Naturally any metal-armed tribe would keep the secret to themselves ; but every now and again a slave would escape and make his way back to his own people, or some bold stone-savage would take his courage in his hands and run off with a maiden from the rival tribe.
In this way the secret would gradually spread, until at last the use of metal became general.
In the meantime, dogs and horses were domesticated and the cultivation of the land became a recognised industry. It is impossible to say whether dogs or horses were acquired first, as, naturally, there are no records. But it does not seem at all probable that Primitive Man would tackle such a revolutionary affair as the domestication of wild animals of his own initiative. For Man was a coward, first and last.
Now the dog is a nomad like Man himself, and it seems to me quite likely that this animal attached himself to Man in order to pick up what he could get. Man realised his possibilities as a hunting companion, as the dog was swift, yet not really dangerous. So Man, ever a Socialist at heart, would allow the dog to assist at the hunting, and then carefully take possession of the titbits.
Assuming such a course of events, the capture and use of horses would naturally follow —and with the horse, cultivation would become more general than when women drew the plough, rain or no rain! With the advent of Iron, ploughs would be shod and “farming” would be an accomplished fact.
It is believed that Iron came from India some four thousand years before Christ. But in all probability it was not the first metal in use, though scientists have used its name for the great age of metals.
Bronze and Copper are mentioned in the Books of Moses quite frequently, but there are only a few isolated references to Iron, which must, therefore, have been more scarce, or at any rate less regularly used. Bronze of course is a mixture of Copper and Tin, both easily worked.
But because of its wonderful powers, Iron was worshipped and considered one of the gifts of the gods. Some people say that Fire and Salt were the greatest gifts to Man—I doubt it, and should substitute Fire and Iron. It was only as part of his food that salt was really valuable to Man, and it is really wonderful how easily the human system adapts itself to a new food or a change of diet.
It might have been unpleasant at first, but certainly not vital, if Man had been obliged to do without salt—but the advent of Fire and then Iron changed the primitive savage into a civilised being. It was only when metal made cultivation simple that Humanity settled down for good—or evil—and finally abandoned its former roaming life.
Incidentally, while speaking of metal, it is worth noting that old boundary posts used to be made of iron, and these were touched, as a sign of truth, just as the modern boy will “touch wood”—the change from iron following the crucifixion, in recognition of the Cross of wood.
But we have not yet reached our lucky Horseshoes!
With the domestication of horses, it was soon discovered that their hooves gave way under the added strain of the change to hard ground after springy turf. The first effort to avoid this deadly wear and tear took the shape of clumsy boots—much like Man’s own—which were roughly fastened by means of sinews taken from dead animals.
No superstitions apply to these “boots,” no doubt because they were not worn regularly, being far too clumsy—they were only intended for use during working hours. We still see the same old boots in use for horse-drawn lawn-mowers, for cricket grounds and tennis courts ; but the all-conquering motor is gradually driving them into the limbo of the past. They are, however, still in use in Kew Gardens.
Following this clumsy makeshift, a flat leather pad was used, and was fastened to the hoof, but not upon it, as is the case with the metal shoe. It may be wise to explain here that the hoof is not the foot of the horse. It is the isolated middle toe of its foot, bent so that the horse walks upon the surface of the nail—in other words, the hoof is really a thickened nail, which explains why nails can be driven into it, when fixing a metal shoe. This does not hurt any more than it hurts you to cut your nails ; but care must be taken to avoid the quick.
This little bit of veterinary knowledge took many years to penetrate Man’s brain; but when he did at last grasp this important truth, then metal shoes were inevitable.
It is obvious, therefore, that these early shoes must have inherited an immense accumulation of sacred or lucky association.
I will mention first the association with the lucky number seven, because, frankly, I do not myself believe in it. It would be an obvious source of luck if one could accept it, but before we can do that we must assume that Man used the uneven set of Nails on purpose. This seems to me a serious difficulty, because no other superstition has ever been deliberately built up in such a way.
Man’s object was to benefit his horse by fixing a more or less permanent protection on the hoof. If four nails down the side served this purpose, he would naturally finish off the job by putting four down the other side. But when ponies became more generally used, three nails each side were found sufficient for the shoe. Here then is the natural explanation of the modern Shoe, with four nails on one edge, and three on the other. Some brilliant genius—probably by a careless accident—mixed up the four-nail shoe and the three-nail size, and evolved the odd seven-nail arrangement. But eight-nail and ten-nail shoes are seen more often than the odd seven, and I once possessed a twelve-nail shoe from a magnificent cart-horse.
I will leave the “lucky seven” superstition and glance over the many other superstitions that naturally settled round this wonderful metal shoe.
In the first place, it was closely associated with the sacred metal and the sacred fire. Many were the superstitions connected with Iron! Owing to its terrible power in early warfare, when first brought into use, the warriors—in order to bolster up their own fighting reputations—spread the view that even ghosts could not face Iron. This remained a fixed belief for many centuries, and bits of iron—closely resembling nails—were driven into the walls of houses as a protection.
When similar “nails” were used for fixing the shoes on to the horses, a staggering sensation must have been caused. For generations Man had known and dreaded the pain and mutilation caused by similar bits of metal, yet so wonderful were these new Shoes that when nails were driven through them, the horses felt no discomfort at all!
