Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1921-04-22
Something to
Think Ab0ut
YOUR SUPERSTITION
By +. II. WALKER

~ YOU read the cable news you saw
i few days ago an item from Bonn
bay which said that the stock and ex-
change markets of that city had been
closed and that general religious
strike was in prospect because two
European boys had killed two pigeons
In the streets of the city.
The natives considered the pigeons
sacred and the strike resulted because
the police did not take the action
which the natives thought should have
followed the destruction of the birds.
From the beginning of history there
Is a record of animal worship by hui
man beings.
The carvings and crude paintings of
the earliest Egyptian periods, which
are the first picture record that we
have, show the esteem in which the
lower forms of life were held.
The cat was especially venerated by
the ancients and in the tombs of
Egyptian rulers and nobility are found
wonderful carvings of cat heads, some
times pictured as being on human
bodies.
The tops Of funeral jars which were
placed In the tomb to contain either
food or toilet preparations for the use
of the dead had covers of cat heads
wonderfully true to nature. The
Metropolitan Museum in New York
has numerous examples Of these jars.
centuries and some modern savage
populations still worship it and lead
it, gOrgeously decorated, in all their
state ceremonials. Greek and Roman
mythology and history are filled with
references to the sacredness of the
bull and it figures largely in both
painting and sculpture.
In India, no matter how near to
starvation a man may be he will not
take food from a dog nor kill 1t to
eat, although dogs are recognized as
a staple article of food in the Philip
pines and other parts Of the world.
To kill dog in India would be al
most sacrilegiOus.
We cannot hold ourselves as wholly
immune from animal worship. To the
owl we ascribe wisdom wholly alb
sent from that dull and witless bird.
His brain power is not to be compared
with that of the crow, one of the most
intelligent of the feathered tribes.
We ascribe great wisdom to the fox
whose achievements are not nearly
equal to those of the beaver, the most
interesting Of all the animal kingdom.
The reason for the ancient venera-
ton of the animals and the modern
regard In Bombay for the welfare of
pigeons is that the people believe that
they have some peculiar power of pro-
lection from disaster or bad luck"
The human mind, when it does not
have any proven thing to believe, is
always willing to substitute supersti-
ton.
The sufferer from rheumatism after
he has found other remedies inef-
fective, will resort to carrying horse
chestnut in his pocket. The gambler
puts his lucky coin on the table as
soon as fortune begins to run against
him. Half the baseball teams in the
country pay salary to mascot and
transport him about the country for
his presumable effect on the winning
Of games.
If you spill the salt, you throw a
pinch Of it over your shoulder to allay
the unhappy results which you half
believe may follow. You will not walk
under a ladder and If you go out Of
the house and have to return for some
thing you think you must sit down
before you go out again.
You very likely thought, if you read
the Bombay item, what fools those
people are to make so much of a row
over the killing of a couple of pig
cons" The gentleman in Bombay
would be equally amused If he knew
that you attached great power to the
breaking Of a mirror to bring you bad
luck.
One superstition is about as silly as
another and so long as we harbor be-
liefs which have neither reason nor
logic to support them, we are not in
a position to criticize the people who
do not want their pet opinions inter-
fered with by foreign unbelievers.
The best way to avoid this kind of
trouble Is TO have no superstitions
ourselves but to respect the weak