Omaha daily bee., 1916-08-20
OUR ODD BELIEFS
Wide Variety of Superstitions
Prevail Among Even
Educated People.
NO. 10 THROWS A SCARE

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II an intelligent Chinaman or Hindu
who had cnioyed the advances al a
modern edncat;on should y,s;, Tho
I'n,ted States and an retnrr;nc boms
should write down the rcsults ~ h,s
Observations IN th;S country he wound
nrohahIv make such Statements az
The foIlGv;ng.
"The AmeTi,ans are verv spnersti-
t;ous neonlc Nearly ali NJ them he
licyc in great VARIETY Of Childish
SIGNS and encns one notion nar.
tiruIarlv common among them i that
the number "a ,s unlucIv Travellers
v.;u ,efrso 70 occun,, bed cb,r,ber
nnmhcred n y, Iotsr ~ st,te
room nnmbered +, an ste,mboat.
hence Is is freouentIv omitted in num,
herring such rooms H;chIv educated
men and women refuse ~ s;t At a
table at which the nunher NJ oursts
is thirteen. Fortune tellers naIm;sts
nhrenolopists and astroloeers flonr;sh
in every American citv. The wide
spread belief in astrologv is esneciallA
remarkable in a country where astron.
omy is more assiduously cultivated
than anywhere else In the world. NV
educated countrymen who have heard
of the marvellous scientific achieve.
ments of the Yerkes, Lick and Mount
Wilson observatories will probably be
astonishcd to learn that MANY of the
leading American newspapers publish
daily horoscope supposed to be
based upon astrological calculations,
and frequently devote long articles to
particular ASTROLOGICAL prophecies re-
garding public events. There are also
many books published in the United
States every wear in which astrology
is treated quite seriously as a legitl-
mate branch of science"
Literature of Astrology.
Alas, too true! Only a month ago
New York publishing house of the
highest standing issued a book on
astrology, which was advertised in
one of our most dignihed literary
magazines in the following terms:
"A book about star influence on hui
man destiny. A powerful and stimu- 1
lating introduction to astrology.
Practical information about drawing
horoscopes In short, this was by \
no means a book that anatomical the
ancient and picturesque superstition
of astromancy from the point of view
of the twentieth century, as we an
atomic the history of the OlSx,-
plan gods or the folklore of the Au-" "
stralian aborigines. Such books have
been written, and they are decidedly
valuable. In the year 1916 know
ledge of astrology is a useful accom-
plishment-not as a means OF divning
the future, but as an aid in understand
ing the past Much history and
great deal OF our finest literature are
not fully ineligible without such
knowledge. Our very language en-
shrines a multitude of astrological
notions; and we use such words as
consider" and disaster saturnine'
and "jovial," with finer discrimina- =,
ton for being able to trace them back '
to the vocabulary of astrology. The
book in question was, however, not
written from the standpoint Of the
twentieth century, but from that of
the Middle Ages, And it was not
published in Peking or Bagdad, or
Serngapatam, but in New York Cityl
In Portland, Ore, college OF AS
trology' has tlourlshed tor years.
Perhaps this explains why so many
astrologers are professors The tic
ton that astrology is extinct in CIV
illzed countries is kept up by the en-
cyclopedlas, which in their articles on
this art almost invariably refer to
the practice of it in the past tense.
Yet of the scores Of medical alma
macs, issued in enormous editions
every year in America, there is
scarcely one that does not contain the 4
venerable Man of the Signs, or Ana
omy of Mans Body, in which the s
of the zodiac responsible for the welS
fare of each part of the human Or
ganism is graphically indicated.
Only Half Beliefs.
1t is true, Of course, that great
many ridiculous beliefs prevalent
among us are only half beliefs. The
retains ite vitality because NJ III. large