[lit-ideas] Re: God bless you
- From: JulieReneB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 22:51:24 EDT
<<'Ashes to ashes" or as some say
"Atischoo, Atischoo" which I always heard as "A tissue, a tissue" -- like
there was Kleenex in the Dark and Middle Ages -- is a corruption of "Achoo,
achoo" -- a sneeze, which was another sign of infection. >>
I always thought the "ashes to ashes" was a reference to the cremation of
the bodies to prevent the spread of the plague.\
Julie Krueger
========Original Message======== Subj: [lit-ideas] Re: God bless you
Date: 7/30/2004 7:58:14 PM Central Daylight Time From: _atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(mailto:atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) To: _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on:
Ah, my dear Andy, you are so yesterday. The sneeze benediction began with
Pope Gregory I in 590 C.E. to fight the a recurrence of the Black Plague (to
which his successor had succumbed). Gregory ordered not only that litanies,
processions and unceasing prayers be arrayed against the plague, which
directives a lot of masochists rejoiced in and began self-flagellation
parades -- Oh, religion is a dark arena, my friend, enter at your own risk,
but in addition to the prayer and flagellation medications, Gregory directed
that when anyone sneezed they should be blessed to ward off the disease,
hence: "God bless you" -- assuming you were English. God only knows what
the others were saying -- and who cares really? Let them die. Long live the
Queen -- depending on your orientation, if you know what I mean. This
account is supported by the nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosie", which
rosie, I'm sure you know that refers to a red mark, supposedly the first
sign of the plague. "A pocket full of posies"-- obviously refers to sachets
of herbs carried to ward off infection. 'Ashes to ashes" or as some say
"Atischoo, Atischoo" which I always heard as "A tissue, a tissue" -- like
there was Kleenex in the Dark and Middle Ages -- is a corruption of "Achoo,
achoo" -- a sneeze, which was another sign of infection. Then of course
there's the lovely ending: "They all fall down" Or more contemporarinessly:
"And another one down and another down and another one bites the dust."
Welcome to The Grim Brother's Mother Goose Nursery Crimes.
Mike Geary
Olim Erat, Texas
---"
---"---"--either a reference to the cremation of plague victims or to the
words said in the funeral Mass..."Ashes to ashes, dust to dust." Sometimes
line three is rendered as "Atischoo, atischoo"--sneezing, another sign of
infection.
---"We all fall down." -- The Plague was not selective in its victims; both
rich and poor, young and old, succumbed.
The custom of saying "God bless you" after a sneeze was begun literally as a
blessing. Pope Gregory I the Great (540-604 AD) ascended to the Papacy just
in time for the start of the plague in 590 AD (his successor succumbed to
it). To combat the plague Gregory ordered litanies, processions and
unceasing prayer for God's intercession. When someone sneezed, they were
immediately blessed ("God bless you!") in the hope that they would not
subsequently develop the plague.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andy Amago" <aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 6:42 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] God bless you
> I can't find the message now. In case nobody's answered it, the reason we
say "God bless you" after a sneeze is because it was once thought that
sneezing expelled all the life force, i.e. breath, out of the body. That
created a vacuum for the devil to sneak in, so someone had to quick say God
bless you to keep the devil out. But you all knew that.
>
> Most traditions are probably this silly.
>
>
> Andy Amago
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