The Opelousas patriot. [volume] (Opelousas, Parish of St. Landry, La.) 1855-1863, 1858-10-02
ss-.-
81 to the
nselves Of its words,
them from their proper IN.
pport of their ghostly cause

them from their proper III.
pport of their ghostly cause
Does no. the Bible often speak Of witches,
aud pecromancers, and familiar spirits? aud
does not the mention of these things in the
Scriptures, show that In old times invisible
beings communicated with mortals :? We have
never denied that both good and bad angels,
have manifested themselves to men, the first
lpinistering To the righteous, whilst the, latter
are seeking to destroy. Angel good Or bad
are not departed spirits. BntEtle design aii
these questions u, to suggest tiat the witches,
Lecronlanceus9sic among the ancient Egyl-s
tiuns, s,sabylonians and Caananites, were not
mere ssfeienders or imposttrs, but that icy
really had intercourse with departed S =.
let's inaaire then into the origin and cht er
nf their professions.
l. Earlyaal the history Of man, it wns5 ghti
him that ts3gsre was n future mode o fexi zee F:
and the %sEequent appearing OF angels ring
The Pat a and Mosaic dIsIep lolis
confirmed man III the belief Of Il spiri and
immortal life. And whenever The. do ines OF
the immortality of the soul pref he doc
Urine Of future rewards and punis. pts also
prevailed hence there arose u mat sollci.
tide abpnt .tIbe future, md a cpnyftion that
the dead Wet Experiencing sonethf sbat the
living had not. aud thus they kteg eihlng
the living did mol !: Consequently con-
cluded. that, If The living could only SAmunl-
cate with the dead, they would at once learn
their OVID future destiny. together With sall the
secrets of the spirit world. Add to This a
natural desire il every infegeperate heart TO
pr* % future, and learn those hidden
things Which belong to God I aud we have the
original element that gave birth 70 wltchcratl
and all systems of divipation. The shre~d
seeing this tendency Of The human MUD and
knowing that it might be turned to pecuniary
profit, yielded to the temptation and set up as
diviners, or as we would say fortune lellers, or
more moderily " rapping." sM &
In ancient times these di6 ars were divided
into several classes, distinguished generally, by
the manner in which they pretended ~ obtaiu
their superhnman information, ,e,l-s g.sr
Ist. Witches and Wizards, were those who
prolessed 10 divine by aid Of the devil. These
claimed TO be in league with Satan. and to
each possess a :. lan1i iar spirit Of. devil, who
revealed to them the secrets, they told to others.
I'd, Necromancers-lhey frofessed to di-
vine by intercourse with theAdead. The term
%1ecromaney is from 1ckros, the dead, and mqn-
tea, to divine. therefore. means. to djvHle bv
the dead. AS our modern 4 rappers disclainl
any league with the devil, they are properly
called n~efromaneeYs. Bat necrpnnncy was
practiced among The Greeks, in Homer's time,
and afterwards by the Romans but we have
satisfactory proof, that in all cases they weresa
work Of science producing Illusion. like our
plantasnagoria, or dissolving views,
3D.. Sootlsayers-Tbey pretended to divine
by the clouds, and by The eight aud chatter of
birds. Banlam, the son of Beor, whom Balak
hired to curse Israel, and who was slain after
wards by the lsraelites, was . Soothsayer. See
Joshua, IL Chapt. I'D Verse. s3V
4th, Asirolegers-4hcJ pretended to divine,
by the aspects Of the stars, and planets We
have Inaliy astrologsrs now, who advertise
themselves. and get ihclr Iivings, by imposing
op,sand detraudlng the creduluus, and snpersti.
tloas. e
9th. Magicians-They were those who per,
formed seeming miracles, by !" legerdenain,A 3,
slight Of hand "Jai,ses and Jamhress'' who
w1thstood Moses, were m'tylc'ans and Messfs.
anderson, bl'tz' and others Of ouffoSn tlhes
aic,'h same, eAcei,' nat .ne iatler gentlemen
uc'a. ~. i W., that thcif apparent miracles
aiesupiy i'a,'ohs' 81
osn' pesiues VIC aooYe' Were were ~7nreerers
eo'y'fers' e'eaa,,,srst 49, INC precise character
u m.vse ltc,easioiAs ~ ls hot easy now 70 as
cef.aln: avg ron 'hese We come down TO ON
mpusin u Pses, aug ieftuherteilefs ol every
flass ! mnea rs ansy a's,ne oy cards look.
aas ... Y. p'a .a s I'M q In,o q iial w ex-
ar'nllss wv Msi''Nes Y y'nf liaila, or inc SCI
naSs ."y''i sonee ZIP lnty are ail-oI tht
w" nv ,an,,,A a''u e9'ssaiy feliaolesf
,.,s y ses sa elatacter z, iAe owners men
.iuaso ,u ~ 5Sf'Pipfes aha tne iaght IN Whlcl
my we1s neia oSr lne Almighty, may b.
"a,t'e ~, irvn 'ae lo'lew,hg
.nsle = noea sy'lneie inFthes blblc 10 IA
~ u "s'eas,a,s s9Fcery, necroniahcy Or d.
sl';s'lon :. any h'la. Asa,n-Ihe Scriptures
u.1o,,'''y c'asslly Wi!encfatts neefamancy, etc.
) Snn Wy Wo,@ No"ih1nations: ln lsev; ~ and
2 81 i spive'ers are classea WIN the I abunitiia,
Il a.'a 'n.lesretsi a.in whore melgers. atc
'uo.a'els' ana alaFs, wfo are 70 lave then
hart ~ me ,ahe WINCH bufnoth with iife. and
o'a aa;sa, wa,eh ~ lhe sesond death, PAU!
e'a,sshes w,tcheIat. &lih lornlcalion
any \. N,araer. ana othsr a'worss ofii'e fesh..
son . aho zu'h, ana ,i,eb ADDS, "oi Which
LOU you before, as ! haye also told you ir
'i'ne past that they which do such things
sAa,' not inherit Ing Kingdom 81 Ged.'
GOd saws IInah shalt NAT r,tHnr a uui+at