Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 2 1884.djvu/109

Rh restored again. (See "The Journey of Truth and Falsehood" and "The Envious Sisters" in Kriza's Collection.)

All these outer formalities which accompany such magic cures show an uninterrupted connection with religion. The performance begins in the name of the Deity, and while it lasts it is strictly forbidden to utter a single word of blasphemy; on the contrary, prayers have to be murmured, and the adverse influence of the devil has to be counteracted by some adequate means. All these facts clearly point to that epoch of our old heathen religion when the cure of the sick was the sacred occupation of our tátos priests.

The people, not being able to explain the origin of some diseases, or ascribing them directly to some superstitious cause, as a matter of course resort to a treatment which is similarly based on superstition, and thus we have arrived at the second group of cures, viz. charms.

There are several kinds of these, of which the following may be enumerated here:—

Lead-casting.—This cure is used for frenzy. A dish full of water is placed on the patient's back and a piece of molten lead of about the size of an eg^ is poured into the water, a short prayer being recited, which may run as follows: "My Lord, my God, take the frenzy out of this person's heart!" If the disease be of a graver character, the casting of the lead is repeated nine times; if less serious, five times only, and the dish with the water therein placed each time on a different part of the body. The various forms which the lead takes as it solidifies will indicate whether a man, a dog, or a creature having wings has caused the fright. When the final cast takes place they draw a cross on the ground, and placing the dish on this sign they