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 SOME MAGICAL APPLICATIONS OF BROOMS IN JAPAN.

BY W. L. HILDBURGH.

(Read before the Society, March 19th, 1919.)

many parts of the world there exist beliefs as to the supernatural powers inherent in the broom, for man, in his contests with the personified unseen, has often, and in many ways, made use of the broom either as a weapon of defence (or, less frequently, one of offence) or as an instrument of control. An examination of some of the magical applications of the broom in Japan, and of some of the beliefs attached to it there, should consequently prove instructive not only in the study of Japanese popular beliefs, but also in the explaining of certain practices or beliefs, into which the broom enters, amongst European and other peoples. Two collections, each of considerable size, of material concerning the superstitions attached to brooms and to sweeping, but dealing almost exclusively with the peoples of Central Europe, came to my notice after I had originally prepared the present paper. One