Note (return) — Chapter II
Reading edition
Even in the marriage customs of various races we may perhaps detect traces of this belief that women can be impregnated by the sun. Thus amongst the Chaco Indians of South America a newly married couple used to sleep the first night on a mare's or bullock's skin with their heads towards the west, "for the marriage is not considered ratified till the rising sun shines on their feet the succeeding morning."175 At old Hindoo marriages the first ceremony was the "Impregnation-rite" (Garbh[=a]dh[=a]na); during the previous day the bride was made to look towards the sun or to be in some way exposed to its rays.176 Amongst the Turks of Siberia it was formerly the custom on the morning after the marriage to lead the young couple out of the hut to greet the rising sun. The same custom is said to be still practised in Iran and Central Asia under a belief that the beams of the rising sun are the surest means of impregnating the new bride.177