The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-14
Frederic Haslkin's Letter


not in terms Of logic but Of ~.
tons and images. In other -.
the ignorant man is vaguely s"
that there ID Q supernatural ~.
and he necessarily conceiyes 4, ~:
world In emotional and im..,
tive terms. Az sure as he mar
about the matter at all, he n .ssI
ed Of ghosts, or has vision,
witches or fairies or hobsoblin,
something. He or she is gene ~. N
. hard-working person, drusrsS \
routine. and therefore does =.
think Of the matter much. But ~.
sense Of the supernatural is alvss
there. 1t is always ready tn A..
up il 1t has q chance. Il ususi,
cherishes in secret some sort !.
delusion.. How many persons ~.
you find among your acauaiptans..
who do not believe in any con !,
superstition?
The great army OF those who \.
lieve they communicate with n.
dead by means Of a ouija boar
and those who support our srs,,
army Of fortune tellers in luYuri
Gus ease, are the modern descsna
ants Of the witch-burners. Som.
Of them are half-ashamed o. tbe;,
superstition and some are pro,IS,
in earnest about il. But in iii ~
instructive belief in the supern,.
ural, combined with a desira !,
give the supernatural some des.
mite form and character, is Il ina
root Of it. 1t is very noticlahl,
that women are more prone IA
these superstitions than men, md
the reason is that women have
more leisure, and are therefore
more cognizant Of the mystic ele.
ment in life. They have more time
to think about 1t.
This belief in the supernatural
as an abstraction is, as We said
inevitable. There is something q,
it in every man. 1t is the root o,
his religious sense. 1t is his IN.
stinctive recognition Of the fact
that a finite mind cannot possibly
comprehend an infinite universe
that there are vast areas of exist.
ence which transcend the power Of
the human mind. and are beyond
all laws which it can discover.
Pride and Superstition.
1t is the tendency to manufac.
ture this mystic sense into defnit.
images which does the damage
Man is full Of troubles which an
due to the miserable precarious
ness of human life coupled witt
the remarkable stupidity OF human
beings. But man, being a proud
animal, hates to admit that hi
troubles are due to the fact tina
he is merely unfortunate and stu
pid. The child who burns his ham
does not blame his own stupidity
He blames the stove, endows !
with a malignant spirit. and want
it punished. The savage who Ia
no luck in hunting does not blam
his own laziness and lack OF Gun
ming. He blames the gods an
makes a E-ayer to them. The be
lever in witchcraft likewise refuse
to put the blame for his trouble
where it belongs-on himself. In
stead he picks out some neiehbo
whom he envies or dislikes and &C
cuses that person Of being a vito
and in league with the devil. Thu
he at once dignifies his own mis-
fortunes and gets even with a
enemy.
And another element enters int
the matter here. There are usual
" leaders OF the community VII
are to some extent to blame for tn
misfortunes of its members. an
they are only too glad to have tn
blame saddled on some supernat
ural force. Hence the sanction
which witchcraft long receives
from the law and other high IN
stitutions.
1t is easy to see how the psyche
logical essentials OF witchcraft Still
work among us. All OF our Will
ingness to believe in bugaboos con
jured by our politicians is based o
the same credulity, the same ls
norance. and the same desire
find a dramatic cause for troupie
which are really due to our oV
stupidity more than to anytnln
else. The tendency to blame a
our economic troubles on prom,
GERS" reds" and other such nan
mythical malefactors, is the sam
tendency that made witchcraft 2op
ular with our ancestors.