“I FEEL IT IN MY BONES”

To many people, bones represent the essence of all living things, and they believe that bones have special mythic powers. From the images in the Bible, particularly in the book of Ezekiel, to the Australian aborigine’s belief in the power of pointing the bone, bones have always resonated strong images of doom. The giant in the fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk threatens Jack with, “I’ll grind your bones to make my bread.” This intuitive belief in the power of bones is with us all, revealed when we utter, “I feel it in my bones.” “To point the bone” is an Australian expression, meaning to finger someone or expose their guilt. Its origin is the Aboriginal belief that by pointing an animal or human bone at someone, they could cause their death. The ritual was always performed in full public view, and that was part of its success. The accuser would point a bone at someone and utter a curse. So strong was the belief by everyone in the bone’s power, the effect was usually almost instantaneous. The victim would become physically ill, often fainting. The rest of the tribe would shun him, and, isolated and ostracized, he stopped eating and waited to die. Despite the practice being challenged and shown to be ineffective by British settlers, pockets of belief survived, and the custom continued; deaths from bone pointing were reported as recently as 1980. The power of the bone, of course, lay not in the bone itself but in the victim’s belief in its power, and that was what killed him. In parts of Africa, bones are used to solve disputes rather than kill. Skilled practitioners throw a selection of bones in the air. They decipher the future or find answers to specific questions in the way the bones fall.
While most of us dismiss the power of bones as superstition, who among us doesn’t have a lucky number or talisman? The rabbit’s foot (although originally it was more likely a hare’s foot) has a long history as a lucky charm. Revered for their reproductive prowess, rabbits and hares symbolized fertility, plentiful crops, and many children, all of which equaled prosperity. Their innate good luck was enhanced by their speed and the animals’ ability to outrun their predators. So, the logic went, if you carried a piece of this lucky animal, its luck would rub off on you. But not just any rabbit’s foot would bestow good luck—it had to be the left hind foot. Why? It’s true that the hind legs touch the ground before the front ones, and they are more powerful, but the preference for the left foot remains a mystery.

Excerpts from the book "Bones Recipes, History, and Lore" by Jennifer McLagan, Harper-Collins,2005. Compiled, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.