Chapter 53 Transfer the disaster: transfer the disaster to the animals

Animals are often used as a tool to carry away or transfer disasters.A Moor, when he had a headache, used to knock down a lamb or goat to the ground, thinking that by doing so he transferred the headache to the sheep.In Morocco the richest Moors kept a wild boar in their stables, in order to transfer spirits and goblins from horses to boars.Among the Kafu people of South Africa, when other remedies are ineffective, "the natives sometimes adopt the custom of leading a goat to the patient and confessing to the sheep all the sins of the house. Sometimes the patient's blood is dripped Put a few drops on the head of the sheep and drive the sheep to a place on the grassland where no one lives. People think that this transfers the disease to the sheep and throws them in the wasteland.”In Arabia, when the plague was prevalent.Some people took a camel and traveled all over the city, letting the camel carry the plague on them.Then they strangled him at a holy place, thinking that by doing that they got rid of the camels and got rid of the plague.It is said that Formosa [the Portuguese colonialists in the 16th century called Taiwan Province of our country this way.Later, some western countries also followed this name. When the smallpox was prevalent, the savages of ] drove the disease into a sow, cut off the pig's ear and burned it, thinking that this would drive away the disease.

Among the Malagasy people, the instrument for carrying away disasters is called Faditra. "Faditra is something chosen by the Sikidi (Society of Gods) to remove any misfortunes and diseases that are detrimental to the happiness, tranquility or prosperity of the people. Faditra can be ashes, cut coins, sheep, Pumpkin or whatever else Sikidi chooses. When the object is fixed, see for whom it is chosen, and cast all the evils that may injure him on the object, and then he orders Faditra to put Take it away and never return. If Faditra is ashes, let the wind blow it away. If it is a cut coin, throw it into the deep water, or put it where it will never be found. If it is a sheep, carry it far away, and the man runs as fast as he can, complaining as he goes, as if he is very angry with Faditra for the disaster he has brought. If it is a pumpkin, take it not far away. place, and smashed it to the ground, and showed wrath and hatred."A fortune-teller told a Malagasy man that he was doomed to die, but that if he performed some ritual he might avert his doom.Use a small bucket, fill it with blood, put it on the head, climb on the back of a steer, pour the blood on the head of the steer, and then drive the bull into the wilderness, so that it will never come back.

The Batak people of Sumatra have a ritual they call "exorcism".If a woman does not have children, she sacrifices to three grasshopper gods, one representing the sheep, one representing the cow, and one representing the horse.Then let a swallow go, pray that the evil spirit will fall on the bird, and fly away with the bird. "Generally, if an animal that does not live with people comes into the house, the Malays think it is a bad omen that something will happen. If a wild bird flies into the house, it must be carefully caught, oiled, and then Let it out, and say a few spells at the same time, so that the wild bird will take away all the bad luck and disasters of the family." The ancient Greek women seem to do the same thing when they catch the swallow at home: pour oil on it, let it fly away, Apparently meant to drive bad luck away from the home.The Huzurs of the Carpathians think they can transfer their freckles to the first swallow they see in spring by washing their faces in running water and saying: "Swallow, swallow, please put my freckles Take it, and make my face rosy."

When the Badaga people in the Nigri Mountains in southern India encountered a dead person, they pushed the sins of the dead person onto a buffalo calf.For this purpose, people surround the corpse and carry it out of the village.Then an elder of the clan, standing before the dead body, recited or sang a long list of sinful clauses, which any Badagasian would commit, and each time he said one, the last word of that clause was repeated.Confession of sins is repeated three times in a row.According to tradition, the total number of crimes committed by one person can reach 1300.Even though the dead man had committed all the crimes, the person performing the ceremony shouted: "Don't stop him from flying to the pure feet of God." feet." The host read the details again, and shouted: "He killed a crawling snake, that's a sin." All the people immediately followed his last word, shouting: "That's a sin." They shouted At that time, the executor put his hand on the calf.The sin was passed on to the calf.The whole list of crimes is read in such a deep way.But that's not enough.After the last shout of "everything is going well", the saluters changed and repented again, and all the people shouted again: "that's a sin." Do it a third time.Then, in a solemn and quiet atmosphere, the calf was released.Like a Jewish scapegoat, this calf can no longer be used for worldly work. Pastor A.C. Clayton witnessed a Badag people's funeral with his own eyes. He saw a calf being led around the morgue three times, and the dead man's hand was placed on the calf's head. "In this way, the calf accepts all the sins of the deceased. Then drive the calf far away, so that it will not infect anyone. It is said that it must never be sold, and it must be regarded as a consecrated animal. The divine beast.” The meaning of this ceremony is: the sins of the dead are transferred to the calf, or in other words, the task of pardoning the sins of the dead is entrusted to the calf.It is said that the calf soon disappeared, never to be heard from again.