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After
all, we have no such custom for people when they cough or
hiccup. In ancient times, it was believed that the soul left
your body when you sneezed and that evil spirits could then
enter. Blessing you was supposed to prevent this.
Pope
Gregory the Great (540-604 AD) ascended to the Papacy just
in time for the start of the plague. Gregory (who also invented
the Gregorian chant) called for litanies, processions and
unceasing prayer for intercession. Columns marched through
the streets chanting, "Kyrie Eleison" (Greek for
"Lord have mercy"). When someone sneezed, they were
immediately blessed in the hope that they would not subsequently
develop the plague. All that prayer apparently worked, judging
by how quickly the plague of 590 AD diminished.
The
connection of sneezing to the plague is not the first association
of sneezing with death. In the Dark Ages, it was believed
that your heart stopped momentarily when you sneezed. You
were, in effect, dead for an instant and had to be blessed.
Many cultures, even some in Europe, believe that sneezing
expels the soul — the "breath of life"—
from the body. That doesn't seem too far-fetched when you
realize that sneezing can send tiny particles speeding out
of your nose at up to 100 miles per hour!
Other
explanations are based on superstitions and urban legends
about sneezing and what a sneeze entails. Some well known
superstitions that may have contributed to bringing "bless
you" into common use are:
The
belief that the heart stops when you sneeze, and the phrase
"bless you" is meant to ensure the return of life
or to encourage your heart to continue beating. (Of course,
the heart beats because of electrical pulses that are not
affected by normal functions like sneezing.)
Your
soul can be thrown from your body when you sneeze, and saying
"bless you" prevents your soul from being stolen
by Satan or some evil spirit. Thus, "bless you"
or "God bless you" is used as a sort of shield
against evil.
A
sneeze is good luck and saying "bless you" is
no more than recognition of the sneezer's luckiness. Alternatively,
it may be possible that the phrase began simply as a response
for an event that wasn't well understood at the time.
Another
urban legend states that you cannot open your eyes while
you sneeze, or if you manage to your eyes will pop out.
During a sneeze the impulses travel through your face causing
your eyelids to blink, this response is entirely automatic.
Cat
folklore in Italy says that a cat sneezing
is supposed to be a good omen for everyone who hears
it. Other superstitions say that a cat sneezing once means
there will be rain; if a cat sneezes three times, the family
will catch a cold; and a sneezing cat is a sign of future
wealth.
We
know today, of course, that when you sneeze, your heart doesn't
stop, nor does your soul get expelled, nor will your eyes
pop out if you could keep them open. Also, it's just about
impossible to hold your eyelids open while you sneeze. They
snap shut by reflex. The nerves serving the eyes and the nose
are closely intertwined, and stimuli to the one often trigger
some response in the other.
What
does get expelled are hundreds upon thousands of microscopic
germs. The current advice when you sneeze is to cover your
mouth with your arm rather than your hand. That way, all those
germs won't be on your hands when you touch the countless
things you're going to touch in the course of the day. "Bless
you" in response to a sneeze might be to bless or thank
a person who sneezes but covers his or her mouth and nose
with a tissue, handkerchief or even a sleeve as an act of
concern and courtesy to others, in order to avoid spreading
the germs expelled so as not to sicken other people. Presumably,
a person who fails to demonstrate such concern and courtesy
by not covering the mouth and nose during a sneeze would not
be blessed or thanked.
In
many English-speaking countries, the German equivalent, gesundheit
(which means "good health"), is used after sneezing
or coughing. Gesundheit is also used in Australia.
It was imported to South Australia through the Evangelical
Lutheran refugees who fled the established Lutheran church
in the east of Germany. These Silesian immigrants spoke their
own language until the two World Wars caused a dramatic decline
in the use of German in Australia. Gesundheit was used
until recent times by the majority English speaking population.
Its usage seems now to have declined. The
expression is also found in Jewish custom. Although not technically
part of Jewish Law (Halacha), the custom of saying gezuntheit,
tzu gezunt, labree'ut, or God bless you is considered
a mannerly custom. It is written in the Talmud that the patriarch
Jacob was the first person to become ill before passing on.
Before that, people would sneeze and die. When God infused
the soul into Man, He "blew it" into Adam's nostrils.
Thus, when it came time for the soul to be returned to its
Maker, it would leave through the same portal it arrived.
These
days, one says "Bless you!" because it is expected,
not out of concern for the wellbeing of the sneezer's soul
or a need to disassociate oneself from the dying. During a
multiple sneeze episode, bless once after the first sneeze
and once after the last. Blessing each time gets tiring.
In
the final analysis, it may not be as much about souls leaping
out or demons clawing to get in as it is about simple human
acknowledgment of another's presence.
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