Wandering Jew, The

An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)

A mediæval German legend which has several forms. Through various writers, and differing in detail, the essential features of the narratives which have been handed down to us, are the same. The legend is that as Christ was dragged on his way to Calvary, he passed the house of a Jew, and stopping there, sought to rest a little, being weary under the weight of his cross. Jew, however, inspired with the adverse enthusiasm of the mob, drove Him on, and would not allow Him to rest there. Jesus, looking at him, said, "I shall stand and rest, but thou shalt go till the last day." Ever afterwards the Jew was compelled to wander over the earth, till this prophecy should be fulfilled. The The legend of the Wandering Jew is to be regarded as the epic of the Semite people in the Middle Ages. In some parts of Germany we find the Wandering Jew identified with the Wild Huntsman, whilst in several French districts that mythical character is regarded as the wind of the night. The blast in his horn, which, rushing through the valleys creates a hollow booming sound not unlike a great bugle. In this legend we have in all probability the clue to the mythological side of the story of the wandering Jew. Or perhaps the idea of the Wandering Jew has been fused with that of the conception of the wind. The resemblance between the two conceptions would be too strong to escape the popular mind. From a literary point of view this legend has been treated by Eugene Sué and Croly.