Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 5, 1894.djvu/283



—I have by me three MS. (confessors' manuals) in vulgar Greek. I fancy they are none of them more than three hundred years old at the most. In most cases references are given under each heading to the articles of the synodic canons, the canons of the Apostles and the canons of Basil. These I cannot consult. I have thought it worth while to make the following summary of the articles relating to superstitious practices and beliefs, as it will at least show what was thought important at the date these vulgar Greek manuals were drawn up. The three volumes do not in the least correspond in arrangement or contents.

The most interesting chapter is one which says it is derived from the canon of Matthew, ch. i, 60. It is written in very bad vulgar Greek by a very illiterate person, and is sometimes scarcely intelligible. The following offenders are dealt with: (1) Those who lead about performing bears; (2) those who pursue the clouds (sic); (3) those who believe in luck, or lucky and unlucky days; (4) those who put on their necks or heads brightly coloured beads  or silk strings  to protect themselves from disease and the evil eye; (5) those who keep tame snakes (this is repeated in one of the other books), or rub the skins of snakes on their eyes and mouth in order to attain their desire; (6) those who make ear-rings for their children on Holy Thursday; (7) those who use various medicinal charms