The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1901-02-05

| o' w SoV aG ulreCtly his
servant may be tcrrorizod into giving
him poison in his coffee, and it is
oven asserted that tho witch doctor
KNOWS how to communicate germs Of
lePfoSy to an unt1intcl human boino.
"No wonder, then, that Voodoois,n
EXTENDS y MELl"& INtIurNcr
over tho entirc population Of Hayti,
those who have no faith in the super.
natural agencies being afraid to Of
fond the organization. Rather than
do 50 they will pay largely to have
removed from themselves 'spelP of
the employment of which thoy may
have received notice by somo such
means as finding Il little bag contain
ing chicken bones and a dried lizard
or two attached to tho gate post.
Somo of tho highest officials Oh tho
island arc known to belong to tho
mysterious cult, whose membership
IS by no means restricted to the lower
orders, and history records that only
fow years ago Il President of tho
republic was instituted into tho or
ganization and took part in it's most
fearful rites, bathing himself IN blood
and otherwise declaring himself
believer in Obenh.
"Tho nominal religion Of the peo-
plo Of lIayti is Roman Catholic, but
thcro arc fow priests Of that faith
permanently rosie mt in their par
ishes, and during their absence the
churches arc commonly lcsecrated
| 10y tho performance of Noodoo rites.
~ curious mingling Of
CHRISTIANITY AND rAuANlsM
in its worst form has como about,
tho temples Of Obeah being fre-
qncntly adorned with pictures of tho
Virgin Mary and tho saints 1t is
even said that human sacrifices have
been offered up on tho altars of tho
churches, tho red drums of death
being boatcn in tho very sanctuary.
1t is worth mentioning, by tho way,
that tho kidnapping Of children for
sacrifice IL not infrcqucnt in Ilayti,
and not long ago lady missionary
testified that to her certain knowl-
edge human flosh was ofton sold in
tho markets Of tho interior towns.
rhls last might seem incredible wore
it not realized how we'll nigh univer-
sal is cannibalsm in the Dark CONT
mont, and that most Of tho people of
flayti arc almost unmodiliod savagos.
cred, "a l hnvo said, is the sacred
color Of the Vaudois, as the members
of the society call themselves. 1t
appears in tho red drums, in the red
blood Of tho sacrifcc, and in the rcd
hnndkorchiofs with which the initiates
and tho witch doctors, malo and fc-
male adorn themselves at the cere-
monlal. On tho altar stands q wood
Ell cage containing tho yellow snake,
supposed to be an incarnation Of tho
powers Of evil, which those who par
ticipate in tho ritual desire to propi-
tiato.
| TIE GREAT YELLOW SERPENT
finds all gifts Of value acceptable,
but is satisfied only with blood, and
tho blood must be that of human
being if possible-particularly that
of an infant. Like the Pythonoss of
old, tho witch woman is seized at
longth with an oracular frenzy, she
prorhesics for good and evil, but
particularly for tho lattor, and by
her words and actions she rouses her
auditors to similar madness, until,
with tho aid of unlimited supplies Of
rum, tho company assembled become
fairly crazed. Then tho sacrifice is
made, the blood is drunk, the body
Of tho animal or other victim is d.
vidcd up and oaten, and tho orgy
winds up with revel too disgusting
to describe.
"One gots a notion Of tho antiquity
Of Voodooism from the testimony of
Pliny, the historian, who writing in
the century before Christ, mentions
tho fact as well known in his time
that African slaves in Rome and else.
where in Italy had roligion of thoir
own, which, when permitted they
practiced at night with horrid incan-
tations, Tho presence Of serpent be-
ing considered necessary. and That