[lit-ideas] Re: God bless you
- From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 22:16:03 -0500
JK:
> I always thought the "ashes to ashes" was a reference to the cremation of
> the bodies to prevent the spread of the plague.\
You thought wrong, darling. What can I say?
Mike Geary
without doubt
in Memphis
----- Original Message -----
From: <JulieReneB@xxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 30, 2004 9:51 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: God bless you
>
> <<'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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