Birmingham age-herald., 1895-05-05
PIERCING THE VEIL.
MEANS USED BY THE sUPERsTITloUs
 FOR READING THE FUTURE.

lowers Today-Spiritualism Ancient and
 Modern-Devotees of Divination.
 The origin of cards, according to the celebrated Ettoilla, one of the most inde- fatigable researchers into the mysteries of the ancients attributes to the primitive Egyptians the invention of tarots, or of the Book of Thot They were composed of 7S thin plates of gold, the purest and fnesJ known to antiquity upon which were traced hieroglyphs, or mysterious characters, the explanation of which was daily mado to each family by it's head as embodying revelations of destiny. That book was the only relic of Egyptian lore which escaped the wrath of the Caliph Omar when that Mohammedan zealot caused the burning of the celebrated libra " at Alexandria. The Alexandrian Jews regarded the book only as secondary to their mysterious Caballa. The Greeks next obtained 1t, and the Arabs regarded the original form of the golden plates with a holy reverence When the Moors founded the kingdom of Granada in Spain, they brought with them the vestiges of the mystic work which had perished in the east and had been debarred entranoefintos Europe during tho continuance of tliat gloomy reign of persecution designated as the dark ages.
 From the Moors Europe received the Book of Thot and that date is the true one to assign the revival and expansion of car tenancy At the close of tho fourteenth century cards were popular amusement. With the Germans they formed an impor- tant commerce, and France soon followed, establishing factories for the production of cards at Lyons, Colmar and Belfort. But they suppressed the sense of the originals by replacing the signs with others of their own invention. The Book of Thot was composed of 7S tarots, or emblematical leaves, while our modern pack of cards has been reduced to 52, but the same ideas arc expressed in slightly altered symbol ism The changes were made evidently the better to conform to the then existing condition of society, to which the general moral rules of Thot could be as well ap- piled as to the primitive government of Egypt, and it is in this revised state that we now have them. So for ages the art of divnation by means of tarots has been handed down with more or less degree of superstition, and today there are people who consider them as did the Arabs of old.
 To unveil the secrets of the future is a desire that every mortal possesses, and from the earliest ages of mankind has la- bored in vain to gratify it. At the present time many people consult some species of oracle to ascertain that which is to happen Sher - -"~~o who affect to ridioule this senora. .--~.c, who'll speaking of it in pub lie, arc in secret the most rlgidly devoted to divination. Many persons never at- tempted an important matter without re-. sort to some form in prophetic consulta- tion. Seeresses, trumpet and slate me- diums, seventh children of seventh children and other claims to supernatural or un- common origin OF power are sought after eagerly, and, as they offer to read the fu- ture of any one for dollar or so, they al ways have plenty of business to attend to- Many patronize them from sincere belief in their claims; others from mere cunios- ity The curiosity to learn of the future will attract mankind to anything or any body that promises to gratify it. Fortune telling by cards is one method which is tried by young and old and we hear peo- pie say that the cards can foretell certain affairs or happenings. Another method is spiritualism. It is not a modern subject. It was known to the ancients and for countless ages it has been sought after. Dr. McLaury has set forth that tho forma- tion of religious creeds and dogmas of all nations has had for it's origin and founda- tien the belief in unsubstantial vagaries.
 Evidences of faith in the Christian re- ligion largely rest upon Mary vision and Joseph's dream. The Buddhist faith is visionary. Phenomena identical with the manifestations of modern spiritualism ap- pear in the Delphic oracles, in the lives of seers and clairyoyants, in the Camissard marvels of France 16S6- 1707), in the oo- currences in the Wesley family Q716), in Sweden borg's alleged communication :. with tho cpirit xyorld and foDyarcatiop with angels moro than century ago. in the records of mesmerism and somnam- bulism, in family traditions and in in- numerable accounts of remarkable dreams, predictions and physical phenomena.
 Spiritualism has advanced rapidly in America the estimated number of spirit ualsts being from s, GOO, GOO to 10 GOO, 900. The periodicals devoted to the subject num- Der about 125. Many spiritualists advertise in the local papers. They claim that the spiritual world controls their powers, and that they can receive from departed spirits messages to their earthly relatives and friends. By slate writing, trumpet seances and other mysterious ways they say these messages can come. Persons have received .eautiful flowers said to be from the gar ,.ens of paradise. We are all human. ome are gifted with greater physical or mental power than others, some capable f attaining to positions of prominence .:nong men by acts of valor or skill in de- iopng some wonderful discovery of ,cellanism or great revelations of soien- :ie nature but can human beings solve .u mysteries of the hereafteri That loTe is a life beyond this no one can doubt, all must admit that nothing can per sh absolutely, not even matter. The sub- stance of the body is not annihilated.
 How much less, then, mind or soull- Cincinnati Enquirer.
 With balance of more than S7,000,000 70 show for year which has included Q 'ronounced period of depression, the To- .teco trust is prepaaed to maintain that