A BURNT OFFERING.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 368, 9 March 1932, Page 5

A BURNT OFFERING.

Evil Spirit, Fortune and Rich Uncle. FRAUD LEADS TO ARREST. . (Special to the “ Star.”) LONDON, January 26. How a burnt offering was made to placate an evil spirit which was said to stand between a Carmarthenshire farmer and fortune from a rich uncle abroad was explained to the Magistrate at Llansawel. Carmarthenshire. Lily Jones, aged fifty, and her daughter. Violet Jones, twenty-two. both of the New Bungalow, Mountain Hare, Merthyr Tydfil, were charged with “ pretending to tell fortunes so as to mislead his Majesty’s subjects.” The mother was fined 30s; the daughter, who had pleaded not guilty, was discharged. The farmer, Morris Jones, of Penygraig, said the women drove up in a saloon motor-car. The older woman, he said, told him that he had a relative abroad who was going to leave him a large sum of money. He was invited to gaze into a crystal. The woman wrapped the crystal in a black cloth, on which she sprinkled salt, and after an incantation he saw the words, ” Overcome evil by good.” Looking again, he saw the figures £SOO. The woman said an evil spirit stood in the way and a burnt offering would have to be made. At her bidding, said the farmer, he produced a £1 note and a half-sovereign, which were wrapped with great ceremonial and deposited on a plate, over which were drawn two strips of paper in the form of a cross. The offering was then placed in the kitchen fire. A charm was produced and the farmer was bidden to wrap it in money, not less than £5, and conceal it in his bed. On a subsequent visit by the women, while rites of a further offering of £2 were being performed, two policemen emerged. The burnt offering was snatched from the fire and was found to contain only an empty cigarette packet, while charm was a piece of tinfoil. The £1 notes were found on the floor at the feet of the two women.