Thunder and Lightning.
Thunder and lightning have been fruitful sources of superstitious terror. The ancients considered lightning as a visible manifestation of Divine wrath; hence whatever was struck with it was considered to be accursed and separated from human uses. The corpse of a person struck by lightning was never removed from the place where it fell; there it lay, and, with everything pertaining to it, was covered with earth and enclosed by a rail or mound. In some parts of the East, however, it is considered a mark of Divine favor to be struck by lightning. In England, formerly, during storms, bells were rung, and the aid of Saint Barnabas was invoked, in abbeys, to drive away thunder and lightning.
The bay-tree was commonly believed to afford protection from lightning. It was also believed that if a fir-tree were touched, withered or burned by lightning, its owner would soon die. It was customary to place a piece of iron on the beer barrel, during a storm, to keep the beer from souring.