h solemn
deliberation, and when he repeats--

'Blessed is thy Former, Blessed is thy Maker,
Blessed is thy Possessor, Blessed is thy Creator,'

he is to meditate on the initials of the four Divine epithets, which
form 'Jacob'; for the moon, which is called 'the lesser light,' is his
emblem or symbol, and he is also called 'little' (see Amos vii. 2).
This he is to repeat three times. He is to skip three times while
repeating thrice the following sentence, and after repeating three
times forwards and backwards: thus (_forwards_)--'Fear and dread
shall fall upon them by the greatness of thine arm; they shall be as
still as a stone'; thus (_backwards_)--'Still as a stone may they be;
by the greatness of thine arm may fear and dread fall on them'; he
then is to say to his neighbour three times, 'Peace be unto you,' and
the neighbour is to respond three times, 'Unto you be peace.' Then
he is to say three times (very loudly), 'David, the King of Israel,
liveth and existeth!' and finally, he is to say three times, 'May a
good omen and good luck be upon us and upon all Israel! Amen!'"
[396a]

That the ancient Germans held the moon in similar regard we know
from Caesar, who, having inquired why Ariovistus did not come to
an engagement, discovered this to be the reason: "that among the
Germans it was the custom for their matrons to pronounce from lots
and divination, whether it were expedient that the battle should be
engaged in or not; that they had said, 'that it was not the will of
heaven that the Germans should conquer, if they engaged in battle
before the new moon.'" [396b]

Halliwell has reproduced an illustration of British superstition of the
same sort. "A very singular divination practised at the period of the
harvest moon is thus described in an old chap-book. When you go to
bed, place under your pillow a prayer-book open at the part of the
matrimonial service 'with this ring I thee wed'; place on it a key, a
ring, a flower, and a sprig of willow, a small heart-cake, a crust of
bread, and the following cards:--the ten of clubs, nine of hearts, ace
of spades, and the ace of diamonds. Wrap all these in a thin
handkerchief of gauze or muslin, and on getting into bed, cross your
hands, and say:--

'Luna, every woman's friend,
To me thy goodness condescend
Let me this night in vision see
Emblems of my destiny.'

If you dream of storms, trouble will betide you; if the storm ends in
a fi