Index of Superstitions and Pagan Acts

Part III

[This is the third and final part of the Index of Superstitions and Pagan Acts. The whole text will eventually be greatly expanded and published either digitally or in print. This text is very valuable for the study of pagan, and quasi-pagan practices in Germany in the beginning of the Christian period in central Europe.]

     Item 21 is: De lunae defectione, quod dicunt Vince luna. — “On the eclipse of the moon, whereupon they call out: “Be victorious, Moon!” Norse mythology has elaborate explanations about lunar and solar eclipses which are said to be the result of temporary swallowing of the heavenly bodies by pursuing wolves. The wolf that hunts the moon is called Hati, also known as Mánagarmr (“moon-dog”). References to these wolves is widespread in the Germanic world and show up in glossaries and folklore. From Roman accounts we learn that the Germans used the moon as an indicator of good omen and thought that the day or two before the moon being full were the most auspicious (for legal assemblies or for undertaking battle). A cosmic threat to the moon (or sun) would therefore be potentially disastrous. Grammatical Note: Quod is here not a relative pronoun, but rather a conjunction meaning “in which case” or “whereupon.” 

     The twenty-second capitulary reads: 22. De tempestatibus et cornibus et cocleis.— “On storms, the horns (of cattle) and snail-shells.” This simple list of terms in the ablative case dependent upon the introductory word de remains difficult to understand precisely. The storms in question may be called up or warded off through magical means using horns or shells as instruments blown in a trumpet-like manner. This item has been the subject of much speculation due to its deceptive simplicity and lack of semantic context. One interpretation has it that the word tempestatibus refers to the individuals who were capable of raising storms and that the used horns and shells as their instruments for this kind of magic. The simplicity of text and lack of context make interpretations speculative. 

     Item 23 likely refers to a specific apotropaic practice: De sulcis circa villas.— “On furrows (in the ground) around farm-steads.” These furrows were cut using plows and were then said to be planted with the herb known as Hexenkraut in German. This word translates to “witch’s herb.” The Latin term is circaea or circaea lutetiana, “enchanter’s nightshade.” The purpose of all this was to protect the farmstead as well as the fields for m those who would practice harmful magic and cause infertility. 

     The twenty-fourth item causes some disagreements about how the Latin text is supposed to read. The best guess is probably: De pagano cursu quem yrias nominant, scissis pannis vel calciamentis— “On the heathen course which they call yrias, with torn cloths or shoes.” Two words here cause some problems: Cursus has a variety of possible meanings. Some scholars try to emend the word to something like concursus. In the former we would have more to do with a “procession” carried out in the pagan or heathen manner, whereas the latter word would imply a gathering or meeting. The word yrias occurs nowhere else and remains largely a mystery. The ceremonial or ritual act of tearing cloth or shoes appears to be connected to the encouragement of the fertility of the fields. 

     Item XXV reads: De eo, quod sibi sanctos fingunt quoslibet mortuos— “On this (belief), that they imagine any dead people to be saints.” This is, of course, one of the most potent statements in the Indiculus. It affirms the idea that the not-yet-Christianized local folk were persisting in their cult of ancestor worship. The heathens worshipped their own ancestors as potent living beings who maintained a continuing beneficial relationship to their living descendants. One of the main “tricks” of Christianity was to convince people that they should not worship their own ancestors as powerful connections with the world of the sacred and holy, but rather to switch this sort of reverence to the corporate entities officially sanctioned by the Church, i.e. the “saints.” One of the most profound aspects of true and authentic autochthonous religion was he realization that there was a continuity of connection between the presently living and the ancestors and that ultimately in one way or another the gods and goddesses of the folk were in fact also very ancient ancestral entities. Loyalty to the ancestors and loyalty to the gods was the essence of “religion,” or as they called it triuwe, meaning literally “troth” or “loyalty” (to family, clan-members and ultimately to the gods in the same chain of faith). 

     The twenty-sixth item reads: De simulacro de consparsa farina.—“On the likeness made of ground flour.” The simulacrum is a likeness or image often used in religious, magical or other cultic activity. This custom is fairly well attested in the records. Figures of the gods or other beneficial entities were made from flour-dough mixed with water that had been consecrated to the gods. They were set up and worshipped on certain festival days. These were known to be sold, but professing Christians were forbidden to buy or eat these figures. They came to be called Heidenwecke (“heathen-rolls”) and were known well into the 19th century in Lower Germany. 

     Item 27 reads: De simulacris de pannis factis.— “On likenesses made from (pieces of) cloth.” This item, as well as XXVIII, refer to the making of images that exercise an operative effect in the surviving heathen cultic practice. These representations could be made from cloth, rather like “rag dolls,” or they could refer to the use of cloth to help animate the images. Ancient practice refers to the construction of wooden images representing the gods, other entities of the ancestral dead which are then “dressed” in clothing. Such a practice is directly referred to in Hávamál 49 which reads in part: “I gave my clothes to two wooden figures in the field: It seemed they were warriors when they had pieces of clothing…” The practice of setting up is well-attested in the archeological record and collected in a beautiful book called Immortal Images published by the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark. Folklore surrounding the “scarecrow” could be relevant here. 

     The twenty-eighth item again refers to such simulacra and reads: De simulacro quod per campos portant.— “On the likeness that they carry all over the fields.” The practice of making images of certain gods or goddesses, and eventually saints after the Christianization process had become advanced, over the cultivated fields to ensure fertility and to protect the crops was a widespread one in pagan times and is mentioned in Roman sources in connection with the goddesses Nerthus and Nehalennia, later in Sweden with the god Freyr and even the legendary Swedish King (and Saint) Erik, who became a Christianized substitute for Freyr. 

     Item XXIX reads: De ligneis pedibus vel manibus pagano ritu.— “On wooden feet or hands made (according to) pagan ritual.” If and when a person was healed of an injury or sickness by intervention by the gods whom they worshipped, the healed person would make an image of the formerly afflicted body-part and affix it to the entrance to the sanctuary of that god. This practice was carried over directly into practices attached to the Christian saints, who systematically replaced the old gods and goddesses.  

     The last item on the Indiculus reads: De eo, quod credunt, quia femine lunam comendent, quod possint corda hominum tollere juxta paganos.— “On this one, that they believe, that women control the moon, so that they can lift/steal the hearts of men, in the manner of the pagans.” This item refers to the familiar association of women to the practice of the kind of magic that controls or influences the minds of men.

This concludes my Substack series on the Indiculus. This is a preview of a longer work that will delve into these matters on a deeper level, perhaps as an audio/visual presentation in the future.