The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-02-05

Fctishsm, or the attempt 10 control cxter
nal phenomena by WitcbcIait, though the
lowest stage of religious conception, yet IN
It's primary idea of sympathy or identity OK
listing between an original and It's image, |
manilests some degree of intellectual ad-
yancement For the idea OF vicarlous or
representative influence that If you wish TO
in lure man you can do 50 by an injury to a
bit of his clothing or lock Of his han, IS,
so far as it goes, u spiritual idea, presuppos-
ing notions about the interdependencc OF ma
ture and as far as possible removed from
what we understand by mere materialism.
Materialsm, indeed, is one OF the latest
growths Of the human mind, while spiritual
ism is one of its earliest. For to a savage,
everything that exists lives and feels like
himself and the unseen spirits that surround
and affect HIM are as the mote in sunbeam
for variety and number Yet the fetish mode
of thought is undoubtedly low, and, to US,
an absurd one. Burnings in eMgy may pro.
badly be traced to it, and the stories so com.
mon IN the annals of witchcraft of waxen i'm
ages stuck with pins or burned, in order to
iniure the persons they represented, I'M
Ou5tedly belong to IL. In Sweden, there arc
still cunning men who can strike out thlcfs
eye by cutting human figure on the bark OF
a tree and driving nails or arrows into the
representative eye; and the Firms are said 10
this Gay to shoot into the water at images or
their absent enemies. In Suffolk, IN the last
century, ii an animal was thought to be be-
lwitched, it was burned over large fire, TN.
der the idea that as ii consumed away the au-
thor of Its bewichmGnt would consume away
too. In Anglesey il is still believed that the
name of a person inscribed on pippin, con.
tanning a live frog stuck full of pins, will in
| iurlouslv affect the bearer of the name And
there are a numerous set Of popular traditions
which clearly relate to the same state of
thought. There is feeling SO wide that 1t
may be called European, that cut hair should
always be burned, never thrown away; the
reason given in France, in the Netherlands,
! in Denmark, and near Saalt:cld, IN Germany,
being that its discovery by Il witch would
subject its owner to sorcery; that generally
given IN England and also IN Swabla, beng
! that if bird took any of il for It's nest the
bearer would suffer from headache or lose
the rest of his hair. \ similar idea prevails
about teeth; all over England children are
taught to throw extracted teeth into the fire,
lest a dog swallowing them should induce
toOthaChc So with the nail that has scratch
ed you, or the knife that has cut you-keep
the nail or knife from rust, and the wound
will not tester. Again, feiishism lies at The
foot of the most popular charms for certain
complaints. The remedies for warts for IN.
stance, are all vicarious. Both at home and
abroad the most usual methods is TO rub "a
black snail on the wart, and then hang 1t on
hedge, trusting 10 the sympathetic decay OF
wart and snail. But piece OF stolen raw
meat, a stalk of wheat or hair with as many
knots in it as there are warts on the hand, or
two apple halves tied together, Will, II ap-
piled to tnc part and the burned, cause cfiec-
tual relief. The essential thing is To insure
the decay or the representative object. In
Somcrsetshirc a good ague cure is TO shut up
a large black spider in a box and leave 1t L.
perish, tina; spider AMI aguc may disappear
In many places, itls thought that the whoop-
ing cough may be transferred 10 hairy cat,
erpillcr tied in bag round the neck; as the
insect dies the cough will go. And IN De
vonshire some of the patients hair Is gwen
to a dog between two slices Of buttered bread
that the dog may take the hair and cough TO-
gether; while in Sunderland the head is
|, shaved and the hair (risking, We must sup
pose headache left on bush Tor the birds
, TO carry of, that the cough itself may pass to
them. But all such practices arc but ilttle
/ removed from those actually existent among
the lowest sayaCcs. Ncw.ZCalaudCrs, tor in
, stance, believe that men are subjected to mr.
! k,tu or witchcrait, through their food or any
=. thing belonging To them being so treated as
) To insure the rage OF their Atua. And Sill
John lubbock, speaking of modern savascs
uses words which equally apply To, and
throw remarkable light upon, some traditions
We have mentioned ~ mysterious conncc
ton Is supposed 10 exist between cut lock
= of hair aud the person TO whom il belonged
: In various parts of the world the sorcerel
. gets clippings OF The hair of his enemy, par
ings of his nails, or leayings of his food con
|. WINGED that whatever evil is done to these Will
/, react on their former owner. Even piect
: of clothing, ~ the ground on which person
has trOddeu, will answer the purpose, and
, among some tribes the mere knowledge oil :
: persons name is supposed 20 give mys,eri
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