Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-09-15

practice OF THIS superstition upon the
authority OF the Bible, and use saul
and Baalam as examples. The spirit
of witehcraft Is destructive Of the spirit
OF enlightenment, and no men or wo-
men who indulge In It can enjoy the
Spirit Of God. II is not only the enc
my OF religion, but 1t is the enemy Oh
civil liberty,
This country in the years 1912 had
taste Of It's destructive influence In
the Salem wltchcraft epidemic Accord
Ing to the laws Of the Church ana the
laws Of the land, men and women are
entitled to meet their accusers, and be-
fore aught can be proved against them
Trustworthy witnesses must be pro-
duced The Gospel and the laws OF the
land alike guard men and women
against accusations Of secret origin
and from the superstltlous practices OF
witchcraft or necromancy Chnroh
discipline viii not tolerate that men or
women accuse their brethren upon no
higher authority than tho superstitlous
cunning Of a man OF woman who pr'c-
tees the occult art OF witchcraft
There are doubtless some in our larg-
or cities who would gladly play upon
the superstltlons and ignorance of
those of our brethren and sisters who
are weakmlnded enough TO consult
those who deal in magic. The sooner
our people cease the practice OF con-
sulting these pretended maglcans'
either to have their fortunes told, or
to get information from an unknown
world, by which 20 accuse their breth-
rem and sisters OF bewltchIng people,
the better II win be for the peace OF
those communities afflicted by such su-
perstitlon and ignorance, believer
In wtchcraft and few oredulous fol-
lowers IN community can make no
end of trouble IL belief In wltchcratt
ever did one particle Of good In the
world, there might be little plausible
excuse for It's existence From the
beginning It has been destructive of
human happiness and human progress,
and the Saints must not permit It's
baneful influence to sap the founda-
lions OF their belief in God and In the
authority Of His Priesthood.
Let II not be forgotten that the evil
one has great power In the earth, and
that by every possible means he seeks
to darken the minds OF men and then
offers them falsehood and deception In
the gulse Of truth. Satan is a sklllful
imltator. and as genuine Gospel truth
Is given the world In ever-increasing
abundance, so he spreads the counter
felt coin Of false doctrine Beware of
his spurious currency, 1t will purchase
for you nothing but disappointment,
misery and spiritual death. The ia
Their OF lies he has been called, and
such an adept has he become through
the ages OF practice in his nefarious
work, that were II possible he would
deceive the very elect
Men and women, so-called wizards
and witches, fortune-tellers, clairvoy-
ants and necromancers, who have be-
come subject TO the powers of the devil
and are leagued with him In the work
Of deception among their fellows, do
posses q power, which, gagged by the
more common OF natural laws, appears
supernatural The weak and doubt
ing ones are dazzled by these manifes-
tations OF super-human agencies, and
are readily made TO believe that such
are OF divine origin.
One OF our people, a man OF scien-
tlhc thought and training, recently made
an examination OF some Of the peep
stones employed by necromancers In
this community, including the stones
used by the woman referred to in the
foregoing communication, He found
some of these marvellous stones TO be
ordinary quartz crystals, while one was
an irregular lump of common glass. He
questioned the users OF the peep
stones" and investigated their methods
OF procedure, and demonstrated to his
own complete satisfaction, as we'll as
that OF others, who were present, as
also to the discontinue OF the 'medi-
lms,' the deception that was being
practiced and the evil power there man
ifest.
Those who turn to soothsayers and
wizards for their information are invar-
iably weakening in their faith. When
men began to forget the God of their
fathers who had declared Himself In
Eden and subsequently TO the later
patrlarchs. they accepted the devils
substitute and made for themselves
gods Of wood and stone. II was thus
that the denominations OF ldolatry had
their origin,
The gifts OF the Spirit and the pow
ers OF the holy Priesthood are of God,
they are given for the blessing Of the
people, for their encouragement and
for the strengthening Of their faith
This Satan knows full we'll, therefore
he seeks by lmitation-miraclos to blind
and deceive the children OF God. Re-
member what the magicians Of Egypt
accomplished In their efforts TO deceive
Pharaoh as to the divinity OF the mis-
sion OF Moses and Aaron. John the Rev
elator saw in vision the miracle-work-
ing power Of the evil one Note his
words And / beheld another beast
coming up out Of the earth;
and he doeth great wonders, so that
he maketh fire come down from heaven
on the earth in the sight of men,
And deoelveth them that dwell on
the earth by the means Of those mira
Giles" etc REV ~; HID, Fur
ther John saw three unclean spirits
whom he describes as the spirits OF
devils working miracles" (Rey. ls
l2-lD.