SOME MODERN-CRAZES.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12727, 20 December 1909, Page 4

SOME MODERN-CRAZES.

A little group of women in London find their recreation and amusement in the study of the occult. Ancient tomes of ponderous size and of deep learning are constantly read and carefully digested. The members of the small, but select, society. meet from time to time for .the discussion of siib-

jects abstruse and, to the aVOMgO mind, utterly uninteresting. Their pursuits are simply a form of occultism carried a trifle further than those

of the ordinary investigator, and they find them absorbing. To women outside of their own circle it must be

confessed, they are somewhat wean- j some, for conversation is always : brought to bear on the beliefs or the ' evil deeds of far-off ancestors and a comparison with the present day conditions. The recent, interest in mat- : ters pertaining to the occult sciences * certainly suggests that there has soarcely bean a time in which the j supernatural received more simple ' credence than at the present moment. ' The number of women who constantly ; consult palmists, and who believe a.l that, is told to them, is amazing. The reading of hand's occupies most of the leisure hours of many women, and coteries are held of an afternoon, for which palmists are engaged, so that they may foretell the future to their « credulous clients. The vogue -for palmistry has done a good deal in the ; way of inducing women to have special ■ care bestowed on their bands, and half ; an hour or so spent with the' mr,ni- j eUrist is one of the important engage- j ments of tho day. ' j Bridge has not ceased to bring i groups of women together, "and the j hours spent over this game frequently | ran into three or four of an afternoon, j The woman who is a good bridge play- | er finds that her amusement yields , her quite a pleasant harvest, for-sho is in great demand. A stranger enter- ■ ing into som© social circle finds very : soon that her-- engagement book is ' easily filled, not only with bridge dates but with dinners, lunches, motor . expeditions, week-ends, and so^orth. ; Many hostesses hesitate now tri make up their parties except as a rendezvous [ oi bridge players. Time was when the woman who could sing or who was a pianist, or willing to play accom r j paniments, found that her hobby provided her with a "passe-partout." ,

That, however,' is all changed, and a | complete alteration has taken plaoa in : the accomplishments that render a x guest popular. j