Those who controlled the weather, who could cause or calm rain, drought or wind, had a hard time when heavy rains were pouring for a long time, there was a drying heat or gusty winds were blowing, and they, despite the requests of people, could not change anything for the better. In this case, the people acted decisively and quickly.
For example, if the deity for a long time remained deaf to the pleas of the Japanese peasants for rain, then, in the end, they cast down his image and, with loud curses, threw his head forward into the stinking rice field.
The Chinese did the same. In the event of a drought, they threatened and beat God. They treated him in the same way during the period of incessant rains. So, in April 1888 for a similar "offense" they put God under arrest for five days. And only when the rain stopped, they released him.
During a drought that occurred several years before this episode, the same deity was chained and kept in the sun in the courtyard of the temple for days on end, so that it felt the urgent need for rain.
When the Siamese need rain, they also expose their idols to the mercilessly scorching sun. But if, on the contrary, they need dry weather, they remove the roofs from the temples and thus leave the idols soaking in the rain.
Sometimes Europeans did the same with their saints. In 1893, when crops were threatened by the lack of rain over Sicily, angry residents in Palermo threw Saint Joseph out of the church and into the garden to see for himself how things were going. Other saints, like disobedient children, were turned with their faces to the wall, while still others were stripped of their magnificent robes and expelled far beyond the boundaries of their parishes.
They were threatened, grossly insulted, dipped into puddles. In the city of Caltanisetta, the golden wings of the Archangel Michael were torn off and replaced with cardboard ones; he was also stripped of his purple robe and dressed in rags. Even worse was Saint Angelo, the patron saint of L ikat. He was generally stripped naked, insulted in every possible way, then put in chains and threatened to hang or drown. "Rain or rope?" the angry crowd shouted, shaking their fists in front of the saint.
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A little kinder to his saints, especially to St. Peter, were peasants from Navarre: they, in case of persistence of the deity they worship in the "organization" of rain, carried his statue to the nearest reservoir and immersed it in water.
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Much worse in all such situations had the earthly "managers" with the weather, especially rain. In many tribes of Australia and South Africa, that is, in areas where precipitation is especially scarce, there is a group of people - priests, sorcerers, chiefs, etc. - who, as the aborigines believe, wield the magic of controlling natural elements.
As usually happens in such situations, everything goes well until an incident occurs, for example, by the will of the leader, it will not rain or, conversely, the sun will not come out.
For example, in Africa, a leader who has failed to cause rain is often expelled - at best - or killed. In some areas of the same Africa, if, despite the prayers and offerings addressed to the leader, the rain still does not sprinkle the earth, the subjects bind their ruler with ropes and forcefully lead them to the graves of their ancestors in order to use it to demand the necessary rain from them.
The Banjars of West Africa also attribute to their leader the ability to make the weather dry or rainy. While the weather is fine, they shower him with gifts of grain and livestock. But if drought or rain threatens to destroy the crops, they insult and beat the leader until the weather changes for the better.
In the letuka tribe (the Upper Nile region), when the crops dry up and all efforts of the leader to make it rain are unsuccessful, they usually attack him at night, rob his property, and drive him out. Often it comes to murder.
In the past, the coral islands of Niue, or the Wild Islands, were ruled by a royal dynasty. But since its representatives were at the same time high priests and, it was believed, contributed to the growth of edible plants, then in times of famine the people came to anger and killed them. When, finally, after a series of murders, no one wanted to take the throne, the end of monarchical rule came.
Chinese authors report that when too little or too much rain fell in Korea and the crops did not mature or died, the king was blamed. And then the outraged subjects demanded either simply the deposition of his majesty, or even his death.
The Indians of Brazil treated their pages (sorcerers) with such reverence and reverence, as if they were not people, but gods. At a meeting with a page, an ordinary Indian prostrated himself and, with trepidation in his voice, turned to him, as to a deity, with prayers.
But if someday he suddenly made a mistake in his predictions, the people would not hesitate to kill them as unworthy of such a high title and rank.
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One of the methods of causing rain, which was used more recently by the Thais, consisted in provoking a battle of elephants, which were tied to poles at such a distance from each other that they could not injure each other, but their tusks were in contact. The clatter of tusks was seen as a magical imitation of thunder. The winner was the elephant that raised the opponent's head with its fangs, thrusting them between the tusks of the defeated.
After that, the elephants were bred, and the race was continued by the drivers who performed the appropriate dances and cursed the enemy. The entire program of this fight was repeated three times.
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During a severe drought, the Dieri people of Central Australia dig a hole about 3.5 by 3 meters in size and build a conical hut from logs and branches above it. The influential elders of the tribe use a sharp stone to bleed two sorcerers, which, flowing from their elbows, falls on the tribesmen huddled in the hut.
At the same time, bleeding sorcerers scatter handfuls of fluff around themselves, part of which sticks to the bodies of people splattered with blood, and part of it swirls in the air. It is believed that blood symbolizes rain, and fluff - clouds.
During the ceremony, two large stones are rolled out in the middle of the hut, which represent clouds foreshadowing rain; then the same sorcerers carry these stones at a distance of 10-15 miles from the settlement and drag them as high as possible to the tallest tree. At this time, the rest of the men collect gypsum, grind it into powder and throw it into a pit of water.
In conclusion, young and old men surround the hut and, bowing their heads like rams, butt it. This gore continues until the hut collapses. The use of hands is prohibited during this ritual. However, when only heavy logs remain, it is allowed to use hands.
The piercing of the hut with the heads symbolizes the perforating of the clouds, and the fall of the hut symbolizes the falling of rain. It is also obvious that placing two stones symbolizing clouds on the top of a tree implies in this way accelerating the appearance of real rain clouds in the sky.
Dieri also believe that the foreskin taken from young men during circumcision also has the ability to sew for the appearance of rain. Therefore, the Grand Council of the tribe always keeps a little flesh in reserve. It is carefully hidden by keeping it wrapped in feathers along with the fat of a wild dog and a carpet snake. It is believed that at the end of the ceremony of making the rain, the foreskin is exhausted, so it is buried in the ground.
After the rain fell, several men, boys and girls undergo surgery to cut skin patches from their breasts and arms with a silicon knife. The wound is patted with a flat piece of wood so that more blood flows out, and then red ocher is rubbed into it, from which scars on the body swell.
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On the island of Java, when rain was needed, two men would whip each other with flexible rods. And they continued this execution until blood began to flow from their backs, symbolizing rain.
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The people of the Egghiu tribe from Abyssinia, in order to make it rain, each time in January, engaged in bloody battles - with each other, village with village - which lasted for a whole week. Apparently, the blood shed in these battles was supposed to appease the spirits.
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Some tribes of the Upper Nile did not have kings in the ordinary sense of the word. But there were the Rain Kings, who were credited with the ability to cause rain at the right time of the year, that is, during the rainy season, which occurs at the end of March.
When this date approached, the head of each family went to the King of Rain and presented him with a cow so that he would send blessed water to the brown, withered pastures.
If it did not rain, people gathered and demanded that the king not resist, but give the heavenly moisture so necessary for them and their cattle. If the sky was still cloudless, the tsar's stomach was ripped open, in which, according to the ideas of the aborigines, he hid the showers.
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A similar position, it was called "Alfai", existed among the Barea, a tribe that inhabited the outskirts of Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia). Alfai and his family lived alone on the mountain. The people brought him tribute in clothing and fruits, and cultivated his large field for him. It was believed that with spells he could cause rain and drive out locusts.
If he did not justify the responsibilities entrusted to him, and a prolonged drought set in in the country, the rebellious people stoned the Alfai to death. Moreover, the first to throw a stone at him was the closest relative.
