For some reason, certain of
our ancestors considered Mondays almost as unlucky as Fridays (Friday still
being the unluckiest day in the week to start any venture). Three such were
- The First Monday in April, the day on which Cain (the first murderer) was born and Abel (the first victim) was slain.
- The Second Monday in August, on which day the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by Holy Wrath.
and
- The last Monday in December, when Judas Iscariot (the betrayer) was born (unless that day be Christmas Day, in which case the unluckiness moves to 31 December).
“These be dangerous days to
begin any business, fall sick, or undertake a journey.”
Some attribute the above
superstitions to advice from Lord Burghley (Elizabeth I’s chief minister) to
his son; others to a book published in the reign of Charles I, or an Irish
manuscript, or ‘Ye Olde Manuscript’, or “No reference is made to any authority
for these dates…”
But you will still find
sailors who will not set out on the above dates.
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“And the Lord rained upon
Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he destroyed these cities, and all
the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that
spring from the earth. And his
wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt." Genesis 19:24-26
You already know the story
of Lot and the destruction of Sodom-and-Gomorrah, and if not, you can read it
in the 19th chapter of Genesis. As to the question
of why the Lord destroyed S-&-G…, well, I thought I knew from my early
Bible School days. It seems,
however, that we were wrong. According
to the Finest Intellects of Our Time, God destroyed the cities of the plain
because they were inhospitable.
[Well, that makes sense. Sexually assaulting visitors to your city is definitely inhospitable, don’t you think?]
Images of the cataclysm
usually include Mrs. Lot being transformed into a pillar of salt, with Lot and
his daughters fleeing or taking refuge in a cave (look closely at the above
image where a bolt of lightning is about to hit Mrs. L). Most often, she is portrayed standing
still and looking back (and already a pillar of NaCl) as in this 1866 engraving
by Gustave Doré.
The Nuremberg Chronicle
depicts the escapees as a prosperous German burgher family. Lot and his fashionably dressed and
coiffed daughters resolutely turn their backs on the flame-engulfed buildings
and follow the angel to safety, while behind them, Lot’s Wife, a salt cone with
a typically German headdress, takes a last fond look at her home.
In this stained glass
window, a white but still recognizable Mrs. L takes center stage between two
masses of color – her family with the angel on the left, whom she has seems to
be following, and a pile of burning buildings on the right to which she has
turned her head.
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And what would be perfect to put
on the table today? These, from
Kosher Cook. Yep, Lot and Lot’s Wife salt-and-pepper set (you can figure out which is which).
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Artwork:
John Martin, 1852. The
Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne. (Swiped from Wikipedia).
Gustave Dore, 1866. Lot Flees the Destruction of Sodom. Engraving.
Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. Lot Flees from Sodom. Woodcut.
Canterbury Cathedral, late
12th century. Lot's Wife
Turned into a Pillar of Salt. Gothic stained glass.
