The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

14 The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12)give the grain to the nurse in attendance. 30 In Upper Egypt anewly-born babe is immediately laid upon a corn-sieve and cornis scattered around it; moreover, on the seventh day after birththe infant is carried on a sieve through the whole house, whilethe midwife scatters wheat, barley, pease and salt. The intentionof these ceremonies is said to be to avert evil spirits from thechild, 31 and a like motive is assigned by other peoples for thepractice of placing newborn infants in a winnowing-basket orcorn-sieve. For example, in the Punjaub, when several childrenof a family have died in succession, a new baby will sometimesbe put at birth into an old winnowing-basket (chhaj) along withthe sweepings of the house, and so dragged out into the yard;such a child may, like Dionysus, in after life be known by thename of Winnowing-basket (Chhajju) or Dragged (Ghasitâ). 32The object of treating the child in this way seems to be to saveits life by deceiving the spirits, who are supposed to have carriedoff its elder brothers and sisters; these malevolent beings areon the look-out for the new baby, but they will never think ofraking for it in the dust-bin, that being the last place where theywould expect to find the hope of the family. The same mayperhaps be the intention of a ceremony observed by the Gaolisof the Deccan. As soon as a child is born, it is bathed and thenplaced on a sieve for a few minutes. On the fifth day the sieve,with a lime and pan leaves on it, is removed outside the house30 Rev. E. M. Gordon, “Some Notes concerning the People of Mungēli Tahsīl,Bilaspur District,” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, lxxi., Part iii.(Calcutta, 1903) p. 74; id., Indian Folk Tales (London, 1908), p. 41.31 C. B. Klunzinger, Bilder aus Oberägypten (Stuttgart, 1877), pp. 181, 182;id., Upper Egypt, its People and Products (London, 1878), pp. 185, 186.32 R. C. Temple, “Opprobrious Names,” Indian Antiquary, x. (1881) pp. 331sq. Compare H. A. Rose, “Hindu Birth Observances in the Punjab,” Journal ofthe Royal Anthropological Institute, xxxvii. (1907) p. 234. See also PanjabNotes and Queries, vol. iii. August 1886, § 768, pp. 184 sq.: “The winnowingfan in which a newly-born child is laid, is used on the fifth day for the worshipof Satwáí. This makes it impure, and it is henceforward used only for thehouse-sweepings.”