They pass things through the fire,
and bring the sick into contact with it, while they utter prayers for
their recovery. The ashes of the bonfires are also reputed to possess
beneficial properties; hence in some places people rub their hair or
their bodies with them.[552] For example, the Andjra mountaineers of
Morocco kindle large fires in open places of their villages on Midsummer
Day. Men, women, and children jump over the flames or the glowing
embers, believing that by so doing they rid themselves of all misfortune
which may be clinging to them; they imagine, also, that such leaps cure
the sick and procure offspring for childless couples. Moreover, they
burn straw, together with some marjoram and alum, in the fold where the
cattle, sheep, and goats are penned for the night; the smoke, in their
opinion, will make the animals thrive. On Midsummer Day the Arabs of the
Mnasara tribe make fires outside their tents, near their animals, on
their fields, and in their gardens. Large quantities of penny-royal are
burned in these fires, and over some of them the people leap thrice to
and fro. Sometimes small fires are also kindled inside the tents. They
say that the smoke confers blessings on everything with which it comes
into contact. At Salee, on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, persons who
suffer from diseased eyes rub them with the ashes of the midsummer fire;
and in Casablanca and Azemmur the people hold their faces over the fire,
because the smoke is thought to be good for the eyes.
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