The Ancient Macedonians believed that to see a least weasel
was a good omen. In some districts of Macedon, women who suffered from
headaches after having washed their heads in water drawn overnight would assume
that a weasel had previously used the water as a mirror, but they would refrain
from mentioning the animal's name for fear that it would destroy their clothes.
Similarly, a popular superstition in southern Greece had it that the least
weasel had previously been a bride, who was transformed into a bitter animal
which would destroy the wedding dresses of other brides out of jealousy.[38]
According to Pliny the Elder, the least weasel is the only animal capable of
killing the basilisk;
To this dreadful monster the effluvium of the weasel is
fatal, a thing that has been tried with success, for kings have often desired
to see its body when killed; so true is it that it has pleased Nature that
there should be nothing without its antidote. The animal is thrown into the
hole of the basilisk, which is easily known from the soil around it being
infected. The weasel destroys the basilisk by its odour, but dies itself in
this struggle of nature against its own self.[39]
The Chippewa believed that the least weasel could kill the
dreaded wendigo giant by rushing up its anus.[40] In Inuit mythology, the least
weasel is credited with both great wisdom and courage, and whenever a mythical
Inuit hero wished to accomplish a valorous task, he would generally change
himself into a least weasel.[41] According to Matthew Hopkins, a witch hunter
general during the English Civil War, least weasels were the familiars of
witches.[42]
Thanks RS!
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