MODERN WITCHCRAFT.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 746, 19 February 1910, Page 13

MODERN WITCHCRAFT.

"' CUEIOUS' SURVIVALS AMONG ' SAVAGES. . '.'.Throughout the savago and. semi-cMi-vilsed '-ifprld.'to-day; somo;f6rm';'of,witchcraft itis;.a?dominant "factor in '.the,'life'- of 'the : ■■.■t'j Theso people , are as .firm believers in witchcraft as were our,ovm ancestors .a few gen'erations ago, -and are no more and no less deluded'than they, were.-': > • In the opinion j'of .scientists,the' belief : ,in witches and' the "activity": of l dßyils. liii- . pers to an enormous extent among civil-j ~ised .people.,JThe'.extent;,to which men are freeffomthese;^superstitious. ideas measures their .progress in . true ;ciyilisa-. 'tion";:: This fact 'makes. the practices of ' savages'very :importaiit to us as'well : as (m object'of curiosity. - - s - is "highly developed among .-'.the Ainorican Indians." The .exerciser of ; inagic,-;'usually termed a" medicine ..man, brings rain or fino weather, an abundance ,: of game or whatever may. bo particularly by..the'lndians, provided they pay -'liberally:■ If/they do,not "do this;- then be puts curses rand. "death thoughts" on ;fthfcm;'--Wi!"."'V'V.';^•' The'r superstitious' rites' of the Indians : ;in- Alaska; British Columbia, and along, ,the : Pacific.Coast aro made remarkable by rthe curiously-painted masks worn by the . leading 2 ' practitioners, v. These are-,, quite" ' tcrri/ying and, to .a, considerable degree ; totistac.' : i■ :■ v: -■ Tho wizard priest, or medicine man of 'tho savages, is. nearly always bent on extracting monoy or property from his -Tictims.',; Among- the Solomou Islanders a - magician ■■ called ' the "duk. , duk" - T > goes among the people and indicates those who have■bcon chosen to contribute heavily .to:-, the' priests. - If; they ; fail to comply, • trees s iall - onthem ••• and - other i accidents . attributed to ..magic, happen to them. ', - Hypnotism is. an important olement in .■the; more, successful forms of: magic prac- -. tised among savages.'.'.A'-' child-like belief in the supernatural and the presenco of

-everywhere. starb"; the" hypnotio / and; the grotesque costumes of the mafficjana and various tricks employed by them help to complsto the process.

Apparently all primitivo savages believe that, there is no natural death, but that death is always the work of a devil. When a stone falls from- a mountain and lolls a Bavage, his friends believe.it was thrown by, a : devili . So . their < lives are largely passed devil^-who aro. represented oy 'ui e magicians. ■i Throughout : the. Middle ; Ages ajarofonnd. fear 'of .witchcrjift' prevailed* When an unfortunate girl.. fell , into a trance . • or .cataleptic.'; condition everybody ;• bejieved. that .;she. was bewitched, and :in more, than one case such a victim.; was burnt at.the 6take;in order to/drive tho out of; her, ; -v : . v, i.:,yj. >C • -