Apotropaic and Other Magic Devices in Greek ... - Triceratops Home

104 JOURNAL OF THE HELLENIC DIASPORA
measure called for the bratimos to shoot his gun three times into
the spring or well before he fetched the water. This was supposed
to frighten the spirits away and to keep them from polluting the
water.
At home, the water was placed in the fireplace or on the stove
in a cauldron in which various herbs, salt, and pieces of silver
or gold coins had been thrown. Fire, salt, silver, and gold are
common items employed as protective or curative devices against
magic and the evil eye. Afterwards, the bride and groom are
dressed in their finest clothes, while the bridesmaids and the
groom's best friends sing various nuptial songs praising the
couple's beauty and good fortune. In some villages in Thrace
(Psaltes, 524), during the ritual dressing of the bride and groom,
the couple is required to wear a piece of underwear inside-out.
This is supposed to provide them with extra protection against
the evils of fascination, as well as to ensure success in consummating
their marriage on their wedding night.
When the bride's hair is combed and her fingernails are
trimmed, the hair left on the comb and the nail pairings are
burned for fear that they might fall into enemy hands. For the
same reason, the bars of soap and the razor used for the bathing
and shaving of the groom are wrapped in the towel and carefully
hidden away in a locked chest where other personal items were
kept. Human substances and personal articles are tokens often
employed for harmful magic. In their reference to the use of
such articles, Richard Blum and Eva Blum (130) state: "If
taken from a person they may be treated as though they were
that person, the person himself suffering whatever consequences
must ensue, dependent upon what is done to the materials that
once were his." Bars of soap, fingernail clippings, and hair are
favorite tokens employed by sorcerers to gain and maintain power
over people. It is for fear of magic, and to protect the bride and
groom from it, that these substances are burned or disposed of.
The fear and concern over this matter is expressed clearly in
wedding songs such as the following ones from Grevena (Karapatakis,
84-86, 101). The first two were sung at the bathing and
dressing of the bride, while the third one was sung during the
shaving and dressing of the groom.