The Bible on Dartmoor

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The Bible on Dartmoor may seem a weird subject for a webpage as it may well seem obvious what role the 'Good Book' plays for most Christian folk. But there is an ironic twist in some of its uses in days gone by and I use that term loosely as for some people the days haven't gone by. Dartmoor has always been a remote area which means that a mixture of fear, the unknown, lack of medical services and beliefs has led to some deep seated ideals. Therefore it is not surprising that the moor folk sought divine protection from the evils that in their minds surrounded everyday life. For some the bible was probably the only form of book to be found in the house and therefore was their means of learning to read. The bible also served as way of recording births, marriages and deaths within the family, to this day I have the 'Family Bible' which at the back has our ancestral tree dating back a couple of centuries. It is however the strange powers that folk perceived the bible possessed and in many cases actually dictated the course of their lives. There are three main aspects of this, firstly the belief that the bible could cure illnesses and ailments, secondly it could be used for divination where decisions needed to be made and finally for protection against all evils.

Cures

Divination

Here is a strange way to catch a thief; first take the front door key of your house and tie it to the book mark ribbon, then place the key over the eighteenth verse of the fiftieth psalm which is the psalm of Asaph. This reads: "When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.". The next step was to get another person and then both hold the key by it bow, next say the name of the suspect thief and recite the verse, if the bible moved then that person was guilty, if not innocent.

If there was a particular dilemma which needed to be solved one would open their bible at the forty ninth chapter of Genesis then chose any verse between the third and twenty seventh verse, whichever one was selected would foretell the outcome.

Another universal method of divination was to simply open the bible at any page of fancy and stab a finger on the page then which ever word was closest would be the answer to your question.

24/12/2011