SECRET SOCIETY OF WITCHES

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 264, 3 August 1929, Page 29

SECRET SOCIETY OF WITCHES

DOES ONE EXIST IN ENGLAND? “Witches still exist in this country, and, of course, everyone of us has his or her pet superstition.” Miss Margaret A. Murray, author of “Witchcult in Western Europe,” and assistant professor of Egyptology at University College, London, made this statement to a “Daily News” reporter when discussing the strange case of the Somerset farmer who was charged with using threats against a man whom he believed had bewitched him. “Women, as a rule, are the witches and very often it is a man who believes himself bewitched,” she said. “All our country districts have them, but I imagine Wales, Cornwall, East Anglia and Lancashire are favourite places. “In France,” said Miss Murray, the witches have their organisation, or society. Their folk-lore shows that each canton has a fixed number. When one dies another takes his place, rather,” she added with a laugh, “like our civil service—promotion by seniority. “I don’t know if English witches have their secret society, but it wouldn't surprise me. “Motor-cars which fly through villages have not really brought them much nearer to the town, or civilisation. Witches flourish abroad in the Basque country, in remote parts of Finland, in Eastern Europe, and the Balkans. “We all have our pet superstitions. We throw spilt salt over our left shoulder, or refuse to pick up a pin whose point is towards us, or we won t walk under a ladder, or take off a sock that is inside out. “Broken mirrors, falling pictures — these spell bad luck to a great many people. “Students commonly take charms Into examination rooms. One I know took a potato, a piece of coal and several foreign copper coins. “Some parts of witchcraft have a sound basis. For example, toads have always been associated with deadly charms. Liquid distilled from toads’ skin is poison. It. is true also that the ointment with which witches have been known to anoint themselves to make them fly contained aconite, which affects the heart powerfully, making it irregular. If used before sleep, the witch might well suppose when she woke that she had been flying."