A Buffalo's Skull.
Nowhere has superstition a greater power over the human mind than among the inhabitants of Java. Mr. Crawford relates that some years since it was accidentally discovered that the skull of a buffalo was superstitiously conveyed from one part of the island to another. The point insisted upon was never to let it rest, but to keep it in constant progressive motion. It was carried in a basket, and no sooner was one person relieved from the load than it was taken up by another; for the understanding was that some dreadful imprecation was denounced against the man who should let it rest. In this manner the skull was hurried from one province to another, and, after a circulation of many hundred miles, it at length reached the town of Samarang, the Dutch governor of which seized it and threw it into the sea, and thus the spell was broken. The Javanese expressed no resentment, and nothing further was heard of this unaccountable transaction. None could tell how or where it originated.
Superstitious Notion of the Number One.
The Bedui, a people found in the interior of Bantam, Java, have a superstitious notion of the number one. It is an established rule among them to allot but one day for each of the different successive operations of husbandry,—one day for cutting down the trees and underwood; one day for clearing what has been so cut down; one day for sowing the grain; one for weeding the field; one for reaping; one for binding up the grain; one for carrying it home. If any part of what has been reaped cannot be carried home in one day, it is left to rot in the field.
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.
Manna Marked with the Number Six.
In the Cabala, the number six was considered to be one of potent mystical properties. The rabbinical writers assert that the manna, when it was found, was marked with the Hebrew vau, the equivalent of number six. As the world was created in six days; as a servant had to serve six years (Exodus xxi. 2); as the soil was tilled for six years (Exodus xxiii. 10); as Job endured six tribulations—so this number was typical of labor and suffering. Consequently it was impressed on the manna not only to show the Israelites that it fell but on six days, but also to warn them of the miseries they would undergo if they dared to desecrate the Sabbath day.