BELGIAN PRAYER FETISHES.
The magic of pre-Christian Europe still is evident among tho country people of Belgium. Dr. Franz M. Olbrechts, of the Royal Museum of Art and History, Brussels, has just sent to the U.S. National Museum a collection of tiny wax and silver images garnered in the nearby countryside during the present year. These arc known as "ex-votos," Dr. Olbrechts says, I and are offered at certain shrines to obtain euros for specific ailments, although the practice is severely condemned by the Church. t "The cx-votO," he says, "usually represents the part of the body affected—as the ears, the teeth, the eyes or the breast. Olio of tlicso would be offered for the cure of a horse. Some represent pigs and chickens. For children's diseases a small baby or silver is offered. The practice is so strongly embedded in popular belief, dating back to heatiien times in Europe, that it is impossible to destrov the custom." I
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Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 262, 5 November 1931, Page 10
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159BELGIAN PRAYER FETISHES. Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 262, 5 November 1931, Page 10
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