Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-01-15
Are There Witches Still 7
nv yre.,erie 4. ussain

WITCH" yelled a woman In NtW
York court room NOT long sKo. end 20
the rurpfiee of the Judge snd sofn" ~
the spectators, other women took up
the cry. The fact was suddenly re-
vealad that numbers 81 persons Ia the
most civilized city IN America hfmiy
believe In the power ~ the evn eye, ana
that baby had ioet The use OF ttn legs
because 4 had been cursed By woman
supposed 20 have that power.
The belief IN witchcrsft IL supposed
~ have periebed In this enlightened
country little over 200 years ago
Shortly after the witchcraft perseou-
tions which took place IN Salem IN The
/ 18th. century whole literature against
the belief In witches sprsnT into beinr
~ hegen with books which admitted
that the Devil was a dangerous fellow
and apt 10 tauper with human destiny, L
but which denied that he could do
! ~ through the medium II witches. 4
Such arguments ss this were followed 1
| by others more and more radical m /
| tone. until finally the most intelligent 4
came out Hatly for the bold idea that /
! there wna nothing in any of these Hu-
/ pernnturai ideas
/ These bold inteIientusis we're ~ fret |
regarded askance, bUt they gradually /
prevailed People who believed in |
witches became ashamed 10 acknowl- |
edge the fact Mof important n all |
/ the church and the law no longer took
/ official cognizancs of witches, az both
had done before the year 1900 witch
/ craft 80 a crime recognized ty tho
statutes ceased to exist
Relief sim alive.
But the belief In witchcraft by M
means ceased, as the. Nsw York ladies
recently demonstrated literal belief in
witches whb commune with the Devil
and cast supernatural SPELLS is still
common ~ n large part of the human
raca n is widely scattered among tho
lower paasanffY If Europe and hY
them is imported into the United states
with every h0atioad 0f irnmigra nts.
Furthermore Il stiu horishee az an
indigenous product in many sections ~
this country Down IN the southwest.
Tor example. Nexicans and Indians stnl
believe in 10 implicitly, and 70 some ex
tent openly. A Mexican woman IN
southwestern town has been known 70
Hpt in the eye Of haby IN public and
explained that she aid u ~ protect the
child from the curse of 2 witch who
was looking ~ II
Belief IN witcheraft az literal and
crude &c is indicated by this incident.
and that If the New York court room.
may he comparatively rare. or a. least
limited n few very ignorant classes
If tho population But the essentials
: ~ witchcraft are stiII widely prevalent
/ credulity that always goes with IL. and
persons who are anxious 70 turn both
] 70 their uwn advantage.
, / By his belief IN wftchcraft AZ in
: fairies. ghosts and other superna atural
! phenomena, the ignorant man IS
primarily expressing feeling that
there are forces in the universe beyond
his ken This il sound feeling
: When you cnrne right down to IT, m
2 ono can with certainty deny the OK
t fstence Of supernatural forces. The
4 universa is infinite and mysterious
The dogna,ic scientist who asserts that
. there is nothing beyond whist he car
!. prove by experiment. has No way -
4 proving that he is right
2 The sophisticated and eduratef man
may admit this hat he also realizes that
if there are supernatural forces in the
:. nature n the case II is impossible =
:. understand them. He therefore con-
n fines his mental operations 20 tho world
Z that he IS able to apprehend with MS
= / mind and hfs senses. ard refuses -
concern himself about the supernatural
on the ground that it is essentially un-
snowable.
J But this position ia possible only q
n mind somewhat trained and logical
e The unframed mind thinks not II
terms OF logic hut n emotions ant
II images. In other words. the ignoran
ss man is vaguely aware that there is
Il supernatural world. and he necesssril,
n conceive Of this world in emotional an
: imaginative terms As sure as b
1r thinks about the matter at all. ne 3
" scared Of ghosts. OF has visions O
AZ witches or fairies or hobgoblins o
- something. He or she is generally
1e hardvvorking person, drugged by rou
iv tire. and therefore does not think o
n tho matter much. But that sense z
Y. the supernatural is always there n
70 always ready TO fare up Il II has
s, chance. Il usually cherishes in secrs
a. some sort Of delusion. How many per
sons can you find among your aC
&c auaintanCes who do not believe in an
Id sort Of superstition?
re The great army of those who bs
ye lieve they communicate with the dea
,ti by means Of the ouija board, and thos
IN who support our great army of foTtur
n tellers IN luxurious ease, are the mo
NJ dern descendants Of the witchburner
as Some Of them are half-ashamsd Z
ne their superstition and some. are prouc
nu " in earnest about Il. But in all a
ire instructive belief IN the supernatura
a combined with desire to give the 81
ie- pernaturaI some definite form an
We character. is at the root Of Il. II
% very noticeable that women are MOI
a. prone TO these superstitious than me-
a. and the mason is that women hay
more leisure. and are therefore moi
81 cognizant Of the mystic element
- life. They have more time to thin
ny about it.
an This belief in the supernatural as q
,er abstraction is. as we said, inevitabl
ire There is something of it in every ma
ri II is the root OF his religious sens
~ 1t is his instructive recognition Of u
lat fact that a finite mind cannot possib
val coInPFeheio an lnliilSe ul'iN g
transcend the powers Of the humi
mind, and are beyond all laws whf
it can discover.
Pride and Superstition.
~ Il is the tendency TO manuflctu