ARE WE REVERTING TO FETISHISM?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18465, 28 January 1922, Page 17

ARE WE REVERTING TO FETISHISM?

1 What he regards as a “remarkable recrudescence I '' of the belief, in amulets ■ is , discussed in a leading editorial in Nature {London)., This belief has never died;’out among the lower classes in Europe; the “recrudescence” noted in the editorial is in the upper or so-called educated stratum of society. The living amulet, or “mascot,” is especially in vogue, and popular interest in all sorts of other magical or occult things seems on the increase. That these manifestations must bo regarded by the anthropologist as antisocial “reversions to a wholly primitive mode of thought" is the editor’s belief. Social security and progress - may, he thinks, be endangered. We have won i our way up from the darkness of superstition to at least the beginnings of civilisation by the sweat- of .our brows, by bloodshed, and tears. Backsliding of* this kifid, even if part of it is a jest and part thoughtlessness, contains a large enough residuum; of caveman ethics and superstition to be of the greatest .moment in the history of racial' progress. Modem civilisation has no place for mascots- and amulets. Writes -theeditor of Nature: “During the last 10 or 12 ’years there has been 'a remarkable recrudescence of the amulet or mascot. Nowadays there must be few collections of . jewellery which do not contain at least one piece for. luck, whether it be. a four-leaved shamrock, an effigy of (a- pig, cat, or, other animal in one of,the precioils metals, a holed coin inset with a turquiso or other stone, real or. imitation, or some similar,- 1 object to which protective properties .arc attributed in some degree. “It must afford a peculiar joy to Sir William Ridgeway to see his theory of the magical element in primitive jewellry translated into actual practice in civilised conditions. The;more grotesque or bizarre the object,the, greater the 'attachment of the owner. " Hence the remarkable forms taken by ornaments in china; and other material." ■ Nor need the mascot be .an inanimate object. Dogs, 'oats, ‘monkey?,, and, other animals are pressed into service. In Paris hunchbacks have a regular diem, tele among' stockbrokers, who make .a point. of touching the deformity before an important deal; while, one Drench actor is said always to - 'have a hunchback in his dressing room during first night. ~ ... “Tho mascot appeals in particular to those,'.whose'pursuits' expose them, 4tor.riskdr to the ‘ effects ( of chance. -It : h ie*.quht(£ in keeping that their use shoTHld .Jj.ei'pah'-' ticularly prevalent, among those addicted to betting and card-playing, among, mem-, bers of the theatrical profession, and among, motorists. In the case of'the lastnamed; the practice is perhaps more 'common in Prance and the Cnited- States; but even in this country, at one time, quite a considerable proportion of cars carried a ‘Teddy’ bear, a black cat, a golliwog,' or a policeman on the bonnet. The, fact that applications hafe been entered'for-' patent rights in special tynee ' of improved mascots and luck-Cliarms suggests a sense of humour notwithout cynicism in the would-be patentees. “During the war the ' belief in the efficacy of mascots was both -extended and intensified. The army has always - had a certain inclination toward some form of luck-bringer, which, more often than not, is. the regimental pet. The goat of the Royal Welsh;,Fusiliers is perhaps the bestknown example. V ...... .......... “The recognised use of the; mascot in the army, however, is ; collective . rather than personal ; and it was the personal use which became so prominent during the war. It extended to the whole community, and not merely to those on active service. There were few into whose lives the elements of luck and chance did not, seem'to have'entered with a tragic signifi-, cance which was absent before the wax.” Other forms, too, are often taken by this interest in the'occult, the edior goes on-to say- Apart frbm the serious study of telepathy and other forms - of psychic. ’manifestation, as well as the, more p# Ifesa-' religious': belief in. faith-healing, there wafe, before the-war, a great deal"of halffrivolous and wholly superstitious belief in crystal-gazing, palmistry, and other means’ of foretelling the future, .which afforded an opportunity-to innumerable charlatans; to ; prey upon a cre|iuMu£ pui4 lie.,! The .-writef continues " ' "Dui’ing thb last few. years, for reasons' which are. obvious, -this interest ha? assumed'a more serious character, and a .desire, perhaps not consciously realised, to mitigate the . loss of an: intimate association h/ta -intensified the wis,h to, know somethings of- the life after death- and to communicate with those who have ‘-passed beyond. 1 - .'Aiir, a {result, a ; mass/of evidence has been brought forward which, it is maintained, establishes the possibility, of communication with'the {spirits of the departed, .and affords some indication of the character and conditions .of existence after death. Investigations halve been carried a step further. The evidence is no longer confined to the existence of spirits once embodied, in ■ human form. To earth= spirits, elemehtals, poltergeists, and other influences which are said to, have mahi- { fested themselves by various, means ate “It is clear that these beliefs tanbot be treated .as . heipg:,.all upon the same level. Mascots are undoubtedly largely a result of fashion, and in a number ol cases—probably the majority—tire - owners would' deny any faith in their efficacy. They arc ‘just for luck.’ The Spiritualist. however, holds his. convictions with something of the, fervour of a religious zealot; yet taking the beliefs as a whole: they have one,element in common. They : jpepresynt-a reversion to a verjr primitive pointvibf ;view-” -! , WhUe.lhe revival of the mascot and , aii I interestother forms of? the occult are a new fad among the upper and well-to-do classes, continues the writer, “among- the lower and less educated classes of Europe belief in certain forms of magic has never die’d out; it goes back to prehistoric times. 1 ’ . . ' “In the Mediterranean the belief in the eyil-eye retains all, its old vitality. .At. {Naples,' dpring.,: the current year, an old ' woman was harried as • a witch, -arid a • 'sheep’s head,' ’wrapt in human hair fastened with 43 , large nails, found -dn her possession, was seized by the police and burned in. a church at' the request of the excited populate, In the recent elections in Italy a political party of gamblers was formed, also at Naples, ’of' which 'the -chosen representatives were noted for,the magical powers which they placed at the service of their clients.. In; this country the belief in the; witch ! has.! pot died, out—in 1906,! at the Thames Police Court, a reputed witch was convicted of obtaining money by. moans of a trick, and other cases have occurred-since that date. “Love-charms and amulets against sickness and misfortune are common. A potato (against rheumatism), an oddly shaped bone, a fossil, a thread of red silk, even a modified phallus 1 in, glass or. other material worn as. a pendant, are. objects familiar to the collector. Thesecharms and amulets of (he ‘folk,’ in both town and country, are more closely akin to primitive belief and less sophisticated than the mascot; but in both cases the; psychological basis is identical. “To the anthropologist it is a commonplace that the belief in the efficacy of charms and amulets, like other forms of magic,; rests upon ignorance of the operation of cause and effect. In the. primitive mind this • arises from an imperfect; knowledge of natural forces. The owner of a ; . mascot, though not unaware of the relation of causes and effect, ignores it and hopes to influence - favourably antecedent conditions which are beyond his personal control. The. desire to learn what conditions will prevail in the future; either from mere curiosity or in order that they may be controlled or, utilised, as in a stock exchange, gamble or a bet, is responsible for the • clairvoyant, the crystal-gazer, and other, forms of fortuneteller. 1 “A further point of contact-with primitive belief is that the use of the mascot implies faith in its efficacy; it has occult powers, a belief which differs, ho way from ' that of the' primitive mind that certain individuals - and certain objects , have mana. In. the use',of the of a policeman as a motor mascot* we may even see a form of sympathetic magic; by its means the owner may hope to escape the attentions of the real policeman and the snare of the police trap. ” ’ Turning to the sociological’ significance of this new vogne of the occult, idle writer goes on to say: ft..

“Totbo sociologist this phaso,of si credulity is of the greatest ,U Religion, with the attendant moral ood«, has, on the whole, proved one of Ajia j strongest factors ,in the preservation the social structure. Magic, when oilia i* it has served its purpose in the develd)*- > ment of human society, has usually bom . anti-social, while iSpirtfcoalism, at _a».y rate in some if its recent manifestation*, A contravenes the generally accepted cones>-' ft tions of religious belief. A certain amount of intellectual scepticism may be rerard|dft| ■as ; a healthy and necessary- jSStfwwt Jp«| any society; but should the'’place religion be taken by a revemon. on agy ft extended scale to a wholly primitive mono of thought, the prospedt affords fafejt ,<s\ hope of sodal security and progre»’ , |ftf| ' ■ ■ > ;■ _ W ? MS