Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review Volumes 32 and 33.djvu/355

 As-imis in Tegiilis. 47

be the seat of magic almost entirely malignant, this is just what we should expect. The bride and bridegroom are surrounded with all manner of good magic of a positive and vigorous kind ; in particular, the bride's head is generally- protected in some way ; so it seems hardly to have occurred to anyone that the dangers of the roof were to be specially averted. It may, however, be noted that the drip of the eaves ought to be avoided, in parts of Germany at least (Grimm, op. cit. p. 453, § 558). In any case, marriage is older than houses, and is rather conservative in its ritual.

But here I may mention an instance or two of the con- nection of the roof with love-magic. Krauss, in his Slavische Forschungeu, p. 165, has two curious love-charms collected by him from an unsavory Serbian gipsy woman. In one of these, the operator takes two needles, and after reciting an interesting formula, invoking restlessness and discomfort of the most acute kind on the person to be influenced, until he or she comes, sticks them side by side into the overhang of the roof {Dachvorsprung). Another method is much simpler ; the lover's name is called three times up chimney. These might be classed at first sight with good magic, and serve to redeem the roof's character ; but we must note, firstly, that they are per- formed in the evening twilight, secondly, that one of them includes a conditional curse on the lover. 0}i )ie badine pas avec r amour ; and it is no uncommon thing for a low- philtre, among the South Slavs as elsewhere, to produce madness if it does not succeed in evoking affection.

V. Death. With death, the roof has much more to do. I have already mentioned sundry death-omens in which the roof plays its part (I.), and I shall have more to say in the next section about the connection of the roof with ghosts. I content myself here with mentioning the very common practice of making a hole in the roof when anyone dies, or alternatively, when he has trouble in dying. Examples are common enough ; I mention at present only