"All the Brahmans wear a Cord over the shoulder, consisting of three black twists of cotton, each of them formed of several smaller threads.... The three threads are not twisted together, but separate from one another, and hang from the left shoulder to the right haunch. When a Brahman marries, he mounts nine threads instead of three." Children were invested with these sacred cords at the age of from 7 to 9. The cords had to be made and put on with much ceremony, and only Brahmans could make them. According to Dubois, the material was cotton; he does not allude to buckskin.[614]
Coleman[615] gives a detailed description of the manner in which the sacred thread of the Brahmans is made:
The sacred thread must be made by a Brahman. It consists of three strings, each ninety-six hands (forty-eight yards), which are twisted together: it is then folded into three and again twisted; these are a second time folded into the same number and tied at each end in knots. It is worn over the left shoulder (next the skin, extending half way down the right thigh), by the Brahmans, Ketries and Vaisya castes. The first are usually invested with it at eight years of age, the second at eleven, and the Vaisya at twelve.... The Hindus of the Sutra caste do not receive the poita.
The ceremony of investiture comprehends prayer, sacrifice, fasting, etc., and the wearing of a preliminary poita "of three threads, made of the fibers of the suru, to which a piece of deer's skin is fastened."[616] This piece of buckskin was added no doubt in order to let the neophyte know that once buckskin formed an important part of the garment. The Brahmans use three cords, while the Apache employ four; on this subject we shall have more to learn when we take up the subject of numbers.
Maurice says that the "sacred cord of India," which he calls the zennar, is "a cord of three threads in memory and honor of the three great deities of Hindostan."[617] It "can be woven by no profane hand; the Brahmin alone can twine the hallowed threads that compose it and it is done by him with the utmost solemnity, and with the addition of many mystic rites."[618] It corresponds closely to the izze-kloth; the Apache do not want people to touch these cords. The zennar "being put upon the left shoulder passes to the right side and hangs down as low as the fingers can reach."[619] The izze-kloth of the Apache, when possible, is made of twisted antelope skin; they have no cord of hemp; but when the zennar is "put on for the first time, it is accompanied with a piece of the skin of an antelope, three fingers in breadth, but shorter than the zennar."[620]
On p. 128 of Vining's An Inglorious Columbus, there is a figure of worshipers offering gifts to Buddha; from Buddha's left shoulder to his right hip there passes what appears to be a cord, much like the izze-kloth of the Apache.
Examples of the use of such cords are to be found elsewhere.
In the conjuration of one of the shamans, "They took a small line made of deers' skins of four fathoms long, and with a small knot the priest made it fast about his neck and under his left arm, and gave it unto two men standing on both sides of him, which held the ends together."[621] It is difficult to say whether this was a cord used on the present occasion only or worn constantly by the shaman. In either case the cord was "medicine."
Hagennaar relates that he "saw men wearing ropes with knots in them, flung over their shoulders, whose eyes turned round in their heads, and who were called Jammaboos, signifying as much as conjurors or exorcists."[622]
The Mahometans believe that at the day of judgment Jesus Christ and Mahomet are to meet outside of Jerusalem holding a tightly-stretched cord between them upon which all souls must walk. This may or may not preserve a trace of a former use of such a cord in their "medicine," but it is well to refer to it.[623]