The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-08-29

( sumo Ih-N ana important AiSEL mas been
thrown upon magic and withchcrafE by
the discovery of the wonderful code Of
laws formulated by Khammurabi. the
great Babyionian lawgiver, about 2s5a
B. c. The code opens with TWO clauses
directed against withcraft The hrst
read: If a man cast q spell or MACE
ban upon another man, and does not
justify himself. the one weaving a spell
shall be put to DEATH
The second clause is more curious and
at first difficult 10 explain. IF a man
/ cast an enchantFnent upon another
man, and has not justified himself-che
one on whom the enchantment is. placed
shall plunge into the holy river. II the
| holy river retains or browns him he
who cast the spell shall take his house.
| On the contrary. II the man survives
he takes the property of the one who
| cast the spell. who is put to death.
Here, az the outset. is found a parallel
to the Hebrew legislation which did
not permit a witch to live. The ordeal
by water survived in the duckiug of
witches carried with it coutag ion. The
one under a spell or ban was ever be-
fore the mind OF the Babylonian. and
he was forever on the lookout for signs
of witchcraft; he wore amulets against,
the evil eye. against Inuttered enchant-
ments and spells. The person on whom
a ban was put was constantly in mis-
cry; he was a social pariah, a moral
contagion, and a curious series of mag
zeal Htaines in the British museum
throws great light upon this interest
ing subject
Here it is learned that it entailed
magical possession and the terrible
bans to eat or drink with such one.
To sleep in the bed of one under a
spell. to drink water. to touch him.
caused impurity which could only be
removed by religious ceremonies. To
be looked upon by a bewitched person
carried with it contagion. To one un-
der a spell was on a par with the
sinner, the leper. the fallen woman.
Hence the terrible crime of placing a
spell upon another and not being able
to clear oneself of the change of witcil-
craft
In these tablets may be noticed many
curious social customs which carried
evil results-to invoke the personal god.
or goddess, OF one under a spell: to
take an oath before God with Enclean
hands, to drink from an unclean cup.
to spit in running water. Another
seriou: offense was TO talk scandal or
point the finger of seorn or scandal at
another. There is a clause dealing with
this offense in the code IF man
cause the finger OF scorn to be pointed
at the wife Of another and has not
justified himself they shall take that
man before the judges and brand him
on the forehead To point the finger
was a serious offense and is constantly
rebuked. as is also speaking evil Of
superior or even of ones own city.
Some Of the offenses which entailed
a social ban are interesting as showing
a deep spirit of charity. etc refuse
one a days allowance of water or to
deny water rights, to pull UP or damage
crops, to cut an irrigation channel"
One of quaint interest is the refusal
of an offering or casting aims into the
water. Animals We're protected even in
those remote days, for it was a. social
crime to kill the young Of animals or
to cali man who was tending cattle
in the stall of field and thus put them
off their feed. One curious superstition
which survives TO this day is the mag
zeal power attached to the seventh son
of a seventh son.
In these ancient social precepts all
the essential restrictions of the Heb
rev decalogue are found. 1t was a SER
ious offense to draw near to a neigh
bor's wife, to shed his blood, to steal
his garment
Even although it does not appear to
have been recognized by many of the
commentators on these laws, the sin
of covetousness is rebuked, for if
man lifted his eyes TO his neighbours
he
Here. then, in this ancient magical
literature is found a wonderful treas
ure house of Babylonian ethics. The
dread of enchantment was only equal
ed by the dread Of the spirits of the
dead, who were uncared for and con-
stituted a terrible army ever at war
with men. Having no food or. drink,
they prowled about the cities al night.
drinking the putrid water from the
pools and woe betide the benighted
citizen who met them
1t is interesting to find that it is this
form of Chaldean possession that is
found in the testament. These evil
spirits and those of whom they had
taken possession haunted the grave
yards and tombs-they usually were
in troops of seven. like the seven devils
of Mary Magdalene or the seven evil
spirits of the possessed man. The des-
ert was their true home and there they
waylaid and tempted men as Satan
tempted Jesus. One OF the principal
charms to expel them was the slaught-
er of a pig which reminds one Of the
Gadarene swine. They could be expell-
ed by the loud voice of the pure mag
ician as Christ expelled them, and de-
mons of disease could be exercised by
the use of spittle mingled with dust.
The demonoIogy of the new testament
is that of the postcaptivity Jews, and
one can see how valuable an addition
to knowledge of magic these ancient