Editing Cardea (section)

===Carna and the ''striges''===
The ''[[aition]]'' of the whitethorn explains why, Ovid says, a branch or twig of it is used to repel ''tristes ... noxas'', "baleful harms", from doorways (''fores''). This is necessary, he says, because there are greedy winged creatures ready to fly in and suck the blood from sleeping infants so young they still take only breast milk.<ref>For other child-stealing demons and creatures who prey on infants in the folklore of the [[Mediterranean world]] or [[Near East]], see [[Lilith#Lilitû demons|Lilith]], [[Lamashtu]], [[Gello]], and [[Abyzou]]. See also [[Christopher A. Faraone]], "The Undercutter, the Woodcutter, and Greek Demon Names Ending in ''-tomos'' (Hom. ''Hymn to Dem.'' 228–9)", ''American Journal of Philology'' 122.1 (2001) 1–10, on the "woodcutter" demon who might cause pain in the gums of teething babies.</ref> Ovid describes these creatures (6.131–142) as having a large head, prominent eyes, and beaks suited for snatching and carrying off; their wings are white, and their talons are like hooks. They are given the name ''[[Strix (mythology)|striges]]'', singular ''strix'', the word for an [[owl]] as a bird of evil [[Religion in ancient Rome#Omens and prodigies|omen]] and supposedly derived from the verb ''strideo, stridere'', "shriek". At the same time, Ovid says that they are the winged creatures who tormented the marooned [[Phineus]] by stealing the food off his table – that is, the [[Harpies]]. They are a "disconcerting composite" that recalls images on certain [[curse tablet]]s, one of which shows a "heart-feasting [[Hecate]]" that matches Ovid's description.{{sfnp|McDonough|1997|pp=324–326}}<ref>For the drawing, see John G. Gager, ''Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World'' (Oxford University Press, 1992), p. 181 [https://books.google.com/books?id=rmhw2eVJnS0C&q=%22drawing+of+three+winged%22+Hekate online] (also on the cover).</ref> The poet himself emphasizes that it's hard to tell what they really are, whether they were born as birds, or whether they had been transformed by an incantation (''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#carmen|carmen]]'', the word Ovid has just used to describe his own account). He then glosses ''carmen'' as "a [[crone]]'s [[Marsi]]an chant" ''({{lang|la|neniaque ... Marsa ...anūs}})''.