Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-01-22
Cha sss Charms Against Evil
Spirits.

The life of the Celestial is q con-
Dkant warfare against malign in
fluences. Hts mythology Is peopled
With evil spirits, whose sole. mis-
slen Is to harrass him and infiict
him In all possible ways. The man
ner In which these spirits act is not
clearly comprehendcd, bat On that
account they are all the more 10 be
dreaded. Consequently the China
man is constantly put to his stumps
TO retain bis bodily and spiritual
integrity, and from the hour Of his
birth till the s0ds Of the valley
cover him eternal vigilance alone
preserves him from the power of
the liends. Thus beset behind and
bofore, the philosophical Chinaman
has recourse to numberless charms,
which seem absurd and laughable
70 us outside barbarians. but which
the experience of ages has shown
to be efficacious In the case of poor
John. A reporter of the San Fran.
cisco Chronicle has recently made a
study Of Chinese superstitions in
this respect, as shown by the Celes-
tial residents Of that city, and has
discovered that the two celors red
and yellow are In themselves the
most efficacious guards against
demoniac spite. Marking the pune.
tuation Of q book with red ink will
keep evil spirits from the reader,
and as these demons will often
mutilate helpless children unless
duly armed against them, cautious
parents stitch red cloth in their
pockets and braid their undevel-
oped pig-tails with red silk. yell
low paper is also efficacious and
II burnt and the ashes mixed with
tea or hot water and drank
will also confuse the fiends. An
Client coins are also very good.
They are tied to the wrists
Of children and placed under
the beds of newly-married couples,
and II . coin is not convenient the
small end Of an old iron plow-share
will do. Iron nails that have been
used In sealing collins are also not
amiss II carried In the pocket or
braided into the queue; or they may
be beaten into q ring and worn on
the finger until the age OF sixteen
years, after which age person be-
comes somewhat more impervious
to Satanic influence and more alert
to the willy practices of hobgoblins.
Thus far the defensive policy pre-
walls, but there are also provisions
whereby one may carry an offensive
warfare against the enemy. When
. man lies sick in bed, if he will but
lay about him Justify with hemp
en- whip and soundly belabor the
bed and bedsteads, the evil spirits
will be glad to make speedy exit.
A picture OF q flying tiger Is also
very discomfortfng to the spirits;
30 10 lion Rrasping q sword; but
tive lions coming down a hill, with
the sun and moon between them,
ID much better. A cat made of
lime aBd burnt clay, looking at
SONS apparently distant object, has
: dlDplTiting effect upon the goblins,
bat . plaster lion causes them to
tear their shadowy hair. Old fish.
nets cut into strips and worn about
the Waist are good also, for when
the fends attack person they are
likely to get entangled therein and
suffer Reorganization in getting
out again. The shell of a gourd is
suspended at the bed of chill
dren who have not had
the smallpox, because the
god OF measles-which is one of
the Chinaman's interesting divini-
ties-will empty the smallpox into
the shell II it be placed convenient
to his hand. Still better is it to
place an ugly mask upon the child's
face, for then the mischievous god
concludes that 1t is usIess to waste
valuable smallpox upon so home-
ly q person and will therefore pass
him by. A mirror will also Keep
the devil away, for, seeing his own
ugliness therein, he Is infallibly
frightened out Of his wits and runs
away to hide In some deep cavern
until he RECEIVERS from the shock.