ABSTRACT
WE have noticed a great variety of superstitious beliefs and practices connected with Moorish marriages.
Sometimes divination is resorted to by the young man's mother in choosing a suitable wife for her son.1
Sometimes the girl prevents a betrothal which she finds objectionable by making use of bad and ominous words or by behaving like a woman at a funera1. 2 The transference of conditional curses by means of tar-sacrifices· is a common method of bringing abouf a betrothment; 3 and even when no such sacrifice is made it is considered bad if the girl's father or parents persist in refusing a proposal.4 In some Berber tribes the fear of I-tar has led to a custom which makes it possible for a married woman to run away from her husband and, by taking refuge in another man's dwelling, compel the latter to marry her.s
