Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heaven_n	pray_v	prayer_n	saint_n	5,346	5	6.7276	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A53649	A voyage to Suratt in the year 1689 giving a large account of that city and its inhabitants and of the English factory there : likewise a description of Madiera, St. Jago, Annobon, Cabenda, and Malemba (upon the coast of by J. Ovington.	Ovington, J. (John), 1653-1731.	1696 (1696)	Wing O701; ESTC R26896	238,999	640

Persuasion and kind of life are several sorts both among the Gentiles and the Moors some of whom shew their Devotion by a shameless appearance and walking naked without the least Rag of Cloaths to cover them And even at Mid-day and in the heart of the City and places of chief Concourse will they walk the Streets as shameless and unconcern'd as if they were Cloathed all over The constant sight of them in the City which offers it self at every turn abates that bashfulness in the Spectators which such an immodesty might be apt to create and diverts neither Sex from their Society from a familiar Conversation and Intimacy with them and Custom has wore off all that Coyness even in the Women which would be startled at such an immodest Spectacle at first Others make solemn Vows of continuance in such and such kind of Postures all the days of their life The several tormenting Postures of these Faquirs and will never move from them or alter them tho' the Pains are never so violent which seem to be attended with so much Torture as would even force them to forbear For these are Penitentiaries in earnest without any Mask or possible appearance of Deceit and voluntarily mortifie their Limbs and distort their Joints to a perfect Dislocation For by the Delusions of Satan these infatuated Votaries are possessed with a wretched Opinion of making themselves unspeakably happy hereafter by these insufferable Torments here And the Enemy of Mankind impatient of Delays in exercising his infernal Cruelty persuades them to undergo these Torments which will end in making them Meritorious Saints and that by these horrid Punishments they may secure a future larger Bliss Among these violent Postures some I observ'd with both their Arms stretcht out toward Heaven continually which they never let fall and are therefore by long use grown so much into that Position that by long continuance it begins to grow Natural and without Violence they cannot move them downward The Nails from their Fingers too are grown beyond the Paws of any Lyon into three or four Inches length by an Opinion which they have imbibed like that of the Emperour of Japan who after his Coronation is deterr'd from permitting either Razor or Scissers to come near his Hair or Nails upon a Persuasion that it is a kind of Sacriledge in those cases to cut them Others as devout as these gaze with their Eyes continually toward Heaven by holding their Faces directly upwards They throw their Heads so far backwards between their Shoulders that their Eyes can never behold any other Object but the Stars and Sky whither with unwearied Earnestness they look continually delighted as it were with the pleasant sight of the blessed Regions above and loath to cast their Eyes upon any thing of this vile and wicked World But before their Eyes can be thus fixt and their Heads setled in this Posture the Faquirs run thro' much Uneasiness and Trouble molested both in the Utterance of their Words and in receiving any Food And both those who extend their Arms continually towards Heaven as if they were reaching at that place and those whose Eyes are constantly fixt upwards are rendred thereby wholly unserviceable to themselves and are therefore attended always by a Servant or two who administer to them in their Necessities and conduct the gazing Saints to different places of Abode Others there are with their Right Arm brought round the Neck over the left Shoulder and the Left Arm over the Right Shoulder and their Fingers clasping one another before their Breasts with the Palms of their Hands turn'd outwards This twists the Arms dislocates the Shoulder-bones and therefore vexes the Patient with inexpressible Torments Some of the Faquirs neither sit nor ever lie down but constantly either walk or lean They lean upon a small Pillow or Quilt laid upon a Rope which hangs down from the Boughs of a Tree where the two Ends are fastned above and swing in that posture to and fro Day and Night But when these Faquirs prepare themselves to pray they change this Gesture and fasten their Feet in two Ropes that hang down from the Boughs of a Tree and with their Heels upwards and their Heads down as if they were asham'd to lift up their Eyes to Heaven they pour out their powerful Supplications And from the Prayers of these humble Saints are expected to flow considerable Blessings and the prevention of many Mischiefs Some of these devoted Mendicants extend only one Hand toward Heaven others turn only one Arm round their Shoulders But they are all in singular Esteem and religiously resorted to by the Vulgar and by these Distortions of their Bodies they gain the Repute of Men of perfect Hearts and of upright Minds Besides these painful unnatural Postures near Suratt A savage Custom near Carwar a savage Custom is still maintain'd by the Gentiles near Carwar in offering Sacrifice to the God of Plenty at the Season of the growing Corn. The Bramins at this time kill a Cock and make an Oblation of his Blood as was usual with other Heathens while the People that are concern'd in it are struck with amazing Horror and Consternation their Faces are writhed and their Looks ghastly their Flesh creeps upon them and their Joints tremble and to all Men they appear frightful as if they were possessed and they own too that the Devil at that time inhabits them and acquaints them with several strange things After the Sacrifice is past Six Men and an equal number of Women are appointed to perform a Ceremony very dreadful Upon each side of the Back-bone of the Men are stuck two Iron Hooks into the Flesh by which they are lifted up to the top of a Pole standing out like a Gibbet above 20 Foot high This Gibbet is fasten'd to an Engine with four Wheels which is drawn upon the Ground above a Mile with the Men hanging upon the Tenters all the way The Women have each of them a sort of Bason upon their Heads upon which are set Six Cups as large as Tea-Cups one upon another with Fire in each of them which being very tottering makes the Women exceding careful how they tread lest if they slip and thereby any Cup falls or the Fire be shaken out of any the Woman forfeits her Life and is sentenc'd to immediate Death But if with Care and Dexterity they go thro' with the Walk as far as the Men they then are safe and the Solemnity ceases And notwithstanding all the tediousness of the Passage and the jogging of the Carriage whereon they hang which one would think would force the Hooks to tear the Flesh in pieces yet will the Men poor miserable Wretches take Swords and brandish them in their Hands as it were in defiance of their Torments all the way The Faquirs resort sometimes together in great numbers and live upon the Spoil and Alms of the Country as they pass in their Pilgrimage If they find the