Pueblo chieftain., 1921-10-30

'ilTN 'iitttt any b'uy . Iliuu vas IL
, direct suggestion from him
Just as Halloween has become in
/ these modern days a playful festival.
/ altogether nonsensical so also the
! Devil himself has become joke. On
( the stage OF human affairs he is relc-
! gated almost to the status OF a but
foon. Tho professional magician sd
/ vcrtises his performances on the bill
| boards with huge posters in which he
| is shown in the act OF receiving whis-
| pered and confidential communica-
/ tions from a seemingly authentic Satan
wearing horns and tail. At the period
when Columbus discovered America
such an adj would have been likely
to land him in torture chamber.
with a good prospect of being burned
| at the stake.
Manifestly We have progressed in
enlightenment since then. But what
| shall b. said about tho conventional
I physical traits and 'ENi-up" OF his in
/ fernal ma jestic. which. even to details
] of his costume are 80 well established.
/ From what source is the accepted por-
! trait OF him derived? These questions
II Is possible to snswer in fairly dcfi-
| nite and very Interesting way,
4 His horns and cloven hoofs. as well
\ as his pointed cars. are almost un-
SessSe~@si.s dcrs>,.d IRON, Ton. who WAS
| the god of the woods and hauntcr
| of dark and lonely solitudes. The tail
| seems Il natural enough addition. sug-
costing the bcstial-thoush the spike
on its end Is not so easily accounted
for. As represented in art. his wings
are not always those of "A bat: and in
somes ancient paintings he wears a
halo. This might be deemed puzzling e
were it not understood that the origi-
nal significance OF the halo was not
that OF Nanctity but of power.
The Devil. usually pictured Is d
notably handsome man AID beautiful
ly dressed. He has long thin. aris-
tocratic nose, and sharply angular
chin. and his physiognomy is adorned
with a long pointed moustachc and
chin n-beard-though the latter has been
reduced by the recent stage devil and
up-to-date theatrical magician to
hardly more than a goatce.
WHENCE THE DEVILS FEATURES.
You may see the same features. with
the same characteristics OF beard IN
any portrait OF Charles l, the mar
tyred king of England. Nor is this at
all surprising, inasmuch as they were
copied from that monarch. who was
declared by the Protestants of his day,
who hated him with holy hatred on
account of his politics and his religion,
to be Antichrist-in other words. an
incarnation of Satan. In those times
the Devil was believed on occasions to
become incarnste In a human individ-
ual. just as he was thought by the
early Christians to hc embodied in the
Emperor Nero, who prosecuted them
Charles ] was the political head OF
the party to which all good and pious
Protestants We're vehemently opposed.
and, at the same time, he represented
the domination OF the church OF Rome.
He was n cavalier. and therefore a
free liver. a blasphcmcr. and every
thing else that was wicked What.
from their viewpoint. could be mora
obvious than that he was Antichrist in
person.
The features above described are ia
cial traits of tho StIsrts. The costume
of the conventional Devil Cas illus
tratcd by tho stage Mephistopholos) is
the dress of the period Of Charles L.
with douhlet and hose. Gentlemen in
those days were clad in gay colors. and
rcd was a hue that any man of con
dition'' might wear. and which was not
necessarily OF dabolical Significance.
The feather worn by Mcphistopholcs
in his cap is a mark OF noble rank.
Among the Halloween toys of today
VIC find numerous imps. always clad in
the conventional red. There must have
been plenty of them In old times. work.
ing In the service OF the Evil Ono, their
master. Doubtless they had great
variety Of mischief making duties to
perform. but their most famous trick
was that OF getting into pcoplc-in
which case It was necessary to chain
up the sufferer. or perhaps to torture
him in some horrible way with view
to driving out the dcvil that infested
him. ---
MAGIC METHODS.
Nowadays. In cases OF this sort. we
say that person Is insane, q suffers
from cpilcptic seizu,cs. But in old
times mental arrangements and dis
eases of the ncrvous system were not
understood, and therefore were put
down to the supernatural. II was part
of the business OF the clergy to drive
devils out of people by processes of So
called "cxorcism." which were in cf-
feet magical rites. The ritual of prim-
tive religions is always magic in ono
shape or another, and their sacerdotal
performances largely consist of con-
jurinE tricks.
DUNG the.middle ages documents
bearing the signature of the Dcvil'
were on many occasions presented as
evidence at trials In courts OF justice.