Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-03
HEX DOCTOR" DESCRIBES ART
OF WEIRD MAGIC" IN SPEECH
Bewitched Pigs That Gould Neither Live
Nor Die We're Saved From Spell
by Fire, He Says.

Pigs so bewitched that they could
neither live nor die.
A 560-pound woman reduced to $50
pounds.
Bleeding stopped by Divine healing
! and repetition of part of the Lords
Prayer.
A bucketful of milk taken out of a
hand towel.
Four mules "spcllbound" so they
could not pull load of wood on level
road until the spell was broken by
threat of an ak.
Relates Other Phenomena.
These and many other strange phe-
nomena Of the Witchcraft and hex"
region of York COUNTY. Pa, were re-
lated to an amazed class at the Grad
uate School of American University
last night by Samuel Zeller. hex doc
tor, OF York, Pa, who admitted lie
possesses strange powers to drive out
evil spells, but not to inflict evil His
powers are healing, he claimed. and
those of witches evil and destructive.
Among his startling statements was
one that in the course OF his driving
the hex" or evil spirit. out of be-
witched people, he had known CT five
witches" who had suffered the SUI
preme penalty of death, when the evil
spirit they had inflicted upon others
returned with overpowering strength
upon them.
Il know of five that I killed" said
Zeller, but figure that they killed
themselves when the evil came back
on them"
The whole trouble of witchcraft Eel
Ter blamed on the sixth and seventh
Books of Moses, which now are not
parts of the Bible. When Moses brought
the Israelites out of Egypt, zeller related
from the Bible. Moses smote rock
and water gushed forth; he split the
Red Sea so the Israelites could cross
over to safety; he waited until the
Egyptians we're crossing in the midst OF
the sea and then closed the sea on
them, drowning the enemies Of the
IsraeliteS.
Few Men Are Witches.
"Moses used the power of the sixth
and seventh COOKS of Moses for the good
of the Israelites," said Zeller, but
when other people got hold of it they
used it for evil instead of good. That's
the whole thing about witchcraft in
nutshell"
Nearly all witche sare women, he said,
but there are few men witches.
Zeller, a sturdy little Pennsylvania,
of German ancestry, with flashing eyes,
decided accent and dynamic person.
atty, fascinated his audience for nearly
three hours. He came to Washington
from his home in York at the invitation
of the seminar class in 1.-THE Philosophy
of Human Institutions" which is con-
Quoted by DR.. Walton Colcord John,
adjunct professor of education OF the
Graduate School of the American Uni
versity. DR.. John also Is an official OF
the Government being specialist in
graduate and professional education In
the Office of Education, Department of
the Interior. So Zeller had a serious
and a learned audience, which at times,
however, was convulSed with mirth. as
Zeller said he thought they would be.
Good-natured and full of humor him.
self, he went farther in explanation Oh
witchcraft and "hexing", he said, than
had ever been gone into before in pubic
by one who knew all about it from per-
sonal experience. To his knowledge
there had never been lecture before
on the subject by a hex" doctor or
divine" healer. But he would not reveal
all his secrecy" That he said, would
take away some of his power.
Relation 10 Ancients Shown.
The purpose of inviting zeller to APP
pear, DR.. John Explained, was to show
1.-THE striking similarity between the
practices of pow-wowing and witch
craft doctors O" the present time and
those of ancient magic and witchcraft--
the old Babylonian priests who lived
centuries before Christ"
In comparing the religion of Babylon
and that of other Oriental nations be-
fore the time of Christ, with some pres
ent-day practices. Edwin r. Danner of
Spring Grove, Pa. a member of the
class and personal acquaintance of the
''pow-wow DOCTOR" pointed out that