BELIEF IN MAGIC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 283, 3 December 1935, Page 5

BELIEF IN MAGIC

THE CREDULOUS FRENCH WITCHCRAFT TURNS ELECTION ! THE TWO CLASSES The political division of France into Left and Right, Reds and Whites, extends down to the most obscure rural commune, says the New York times. It often gives a grotesque touch to local squabbles over repairing the village pump or buying new buckets for the lire brigade. But any observer of French life will tell you unhesitatingly that the national life of cleavage is the only one and th-ere are no real local issues.

A Paris reporter vocationiug in the wildest Alps of Savoy has found the one commune which is the exception. At the elections of Alay last the conn cil of the comniunt of La Vernaz was chosen on an issue all its own. ' The issue was—do you or do you not believe in witchcraft? The believers won a complete victory. Not a single sceptic was elected to manage the affairs of La Vernaz.

In that mountainous region superstitions as old as huiiianity ’live as vigorous as ever. Cue of the gorges bears the name of the Devil and is supposed, to- be his preferred residence. Naturally he spreads his influence round about and the inhabitants of La Vernaz are, so' to speak, his favoured subjects.

Dire legends are handed down from mc-uth to mouth. A century ago, it is said, c-ne witch cast a spell over a neighbour’s cow. To conjure the spell the poor beast had its tail split. That was a trick with whiefh the old hag had not reckoned. Her evil-doing came back on herself, for with the splitting of the cow’s tail she expired in atrocious agony. In Real Life. But in Savoy witches, wizards, and sorcerers are not merely legends. Only last spring occurred events which explain the curious election issue. Young girls of the countryside proclaimed themselves bewitched. In the dead of night, clad in little or nothing, they would rush wild-eyed out of their houses and go running down the paths till they dropped from exhausThe scandal became so great that the constabulary (gendarmes) had to send men to La Vernaz and conduct an investigation. Their presence had a quieting effect for the time being on the wild women. But it has not put a stop (o talk of sinister goings-on. One girl, it is said, on a moonlit evening mounted the family’s old nag, the wizard who had bewitched ii’er climbed on behind, and the two started off madly. The old nag went careering down paths too steep for the most surefooted mule; on the level Ire hit a pace which would have left far behind any thoroughbred racehorse. The sorcerers of La Vernaz are of two kinds —those who practice black magic and those who practice white magic. The first do the harm; the secund cure it, for luckily there exist remedies to the devices of the devil. He can be outwitted at time, and his work can always be undone. It is important, however, to secure the services of an expert, for a “white” sorcerer who docs not possess the requisite skill is worse than nothing. There is no telling what mischief the evil sorcerers will be up to. Their simplest and most usual trick is to dry up cows. Or they may drive mad a herd of sheep and send them rushing over the edge of a cliff. They can turn milk, even if it has been freshly drawn on a winter’s morning. They can wrtrk on a binful of potatoes and rot them within a day Peasant’s Find. At other times they play apparently innocent pranks, just to show their sense of humour. One day a peasant discovered, for no reason whatever, a huge chunk of butter in a heap of straw. The thing struck him as so strange that he consulted a “white” sorcerer. Although the butter appeared to be perfectly fresh, the wonder worker ordered it to be taken to a crossroad and burned. If it were kept, he said, dire things would happen. The “white” sorcerer does not merely counteract spells. He is a healer of all diseases, which, to be sure, are usually caused by the malevolence of the devil. One sorcerer at La Vernaz used the peculiar method of curing “in secret.” That means that he acts always as if he were treating some other ailment than the real one. Behind this screen he is able to catch the disease unaware. His reputation became so great in the countryside that all sorts of people who were perfectly well began to discover unsuspected ills within themselves, just so they might have the benefit of his “secret” treatment. Sometimes the “white” sorcerer cannot completely overcome the powers of evil and may even himself fall a victim to them. One case has been reported from La Vcrnax within the last month. A man whose stable had been bewitched called in a “white” sorcerer to purify it. The job was done successfully, but as the miracle worker was on his way home he and the two persons who accompanied him were suddenly all three struck unconscious, their automobile went careering over an embankment, and all three were badly injured. Not Local. The superstitions of La Vernaz might be taken as sonrething local, occurring only among a mountaineer population. That is not the case, as a complete survey of the subject made in all France three years ago proved. Though this is the twentieth century and the French one of the most enlightened- of peoples, the practice of magic is sill widespread among the peasantry. The only regions which appear free from it are the immediate environs of Paris and the industrial legion of the noith. Otherwise there is practically not a village in France which does not possess its soothsayer, its wise man or wise Woman, its healer, or its undoer of pells. Getting information on the subject is extremely difficult, since peasants freeze into s’lence whenever it is brought up. But those who have got into their confidence will find out what people in a village are given credit for the power to cast spells. It has its advantages. All your neighbours consider you with salutary respect. At vintage time, or th-e har-

vest, or the pig killing, you will be sure of getting little presents, bribes to hold your good will. And, greatest advantage of all in a village, the gossips will ke'ep their tongues off you. It is net healthy to discuss the conduct of a spell caster.