In Morocco the jnûn (jinn) must not be referred to by name in the afternoon and evening after the ʿâṣar. If speaking of them at all, the people then make use of some circumlocution; the Berbers of Southern Morocco call them wīd-iáḍnin, “those others,” or wīd-urḍ-hĕr’nin, “those unseen,” or wīd-tntl-tísnt, “those who shun salt.” The Greenlanders dare not pronounce the name of a glacier as they row past it, for fear lest it should be offended and throw off an iceberg.[12] Some North American Indians believe that if, when travelling, they mention the names of rocks or islands or rivers, they will have much rain or be wrecked or be devoured by some monster in the river.[13] The Omahas, again, “are very careful not to use names which they regard as sacred on ordinary occasions; and no one dares to sing sacred songs except the chiefs and old men at the proper times.”[14] Some other Indians considered it a profanation to mention the name of their highest divinity.[15] Among certain Australian natives the elders of the tribe impart to the youth, on his initiation, the name of the god Tharamūlŭn; but there is such a disinclination to pronounce his name that, in speaking of him, they generally use elliptical expressions, such as “He,” “the man,” or “the name I told you of,” and the women only know him by the name of Papang (father).[16] The Marutse and allied tribes along the Zambesi shrink from mentioning the real name of their chief god Nyambe and therefore substitute for it the word molemo, which has a very comprehensive meaning, denoting, besides God, all kinds of good and evil spirits, medicines, poisons, and amulets.[17] According to Cicero, there was a god, a son of Nilus, whose name the Egyptians considered it a crime to pronounce;[18] and Herodotus is unwilling to mention the name of Osiris on two occasions when he is speaking of him.[19] The divine name of Indra was secret, the real name of Agni was unknown.[20] The gods of Brahmanism have mystic names, which nobody dares to speak.[21] The real name of Confucius is so sacred that it is a statutable offence in China to pronounce it; and the name of the supreme god of the Chinese is equally tabooed. “Tien,” they say, “means properly only the material heaven, but it also means Shang-Te (supreme ruler, God); for, as it is not lawful to use his name lightly, we name him by his residence, which is in tien.”[22] The “great name” of Allah is a secret name, known only to prophets, and possibly to some great saints.[23] Yahveh said, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain”;[24] and orthodox Jews avoid mentioning the word Yahveh altogether.[25] Among Christian nations, as Professor Nyrop observes, there is a common disinclination to use the word “God” or its equivalents in everyday speech. The English say good instead of God (“good gracious,” “my goodness,” “thank goodness”); the Germans, Potz instead of Gotts (“Potz Welt,” “Potz Wetter,” “Potz Blitz”); the French, bleu instead of Dieu (“corbleu,” “morbleu,” “sambleu”); the Spaniards, brios or diez instead of Dios (“voto á brios,” “juro á brios,” “par diez”).[26]
[12] Nansen, Eskimo Life, p. 233.
[13] Nyrop, ‘Navnets magt,’ in Mindre Afhandlinger udgivne af det philologisk-historiske Samfund, 1887, p. 28.
[14] Dorsey, ‘Omaha Sociology,’ in Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethn. iii. 370.
[15] Adair, History of the American Indians, p. 54.
[16] Howitt, ‘Some Australian Beliefs,’ in Jour. Anthr. Inst. xiii. 192. See also Idem, Native Tribes of South-East Australia, pp. 489, 495.
[17] Holub, Seven Years in South Africa, ii. 301.
[18] Cicero, De natura deorum, iii. 22 (56).
[19] Herodotus, ii. 132, 171.
[20] Hopkins, Religions of India, pp. 93, 111.