T orch
VOL. 2.
Keep O u t of th e P a s t.
of
SILVERTON, OREGON. THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, ¡898.
NO. 11.
in g o u t of space th is »in-stain* d "Id lb ’s recipe for private purposes was W riting his life, and shaping the
earth of ours!
that the offender was to he cut off system of religion which was a fte r­
BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.
ward nam ed in honor of this re­
But to show that modern re­ from his people!
Of all the 200 bones of the h u ­ former, the carp en ter’s son, the
ligion still retains much of this
Keen out of the Past, for its highways
\ re dark with malarial uloom ;
Its gardens are sere and its forests are sam e mysticism, and without dis­ man body which pleased the gods, w riters of his life, w riting as they
drear,
i cussing the m orality of the practice, the hone at the base of the spinal «lid m any years after his d eath ,
And everywhere molders a tomb.
column was the most pleasing. used this magic power of m ysticism
\Vh-' seeks to regain its lost pleasures, j allow me to m ention the custom of j
Finds only a rose turned to dust;
co jy in g in triplicate prayers to the Hence the nam e “sacred bon»*” , <»r for all it was w orth. All th a t im ag­
And its storehouse of wonderful treas­ saints. Such a prayer fell into my sacrum . Thus began in th ’s age of ination could lend to fact was em ­
ures
Are covered and coated with rust.
hands by accident recently. It was bloodshed, killing and warfare, the ployed, and Jesu s became the g re at­
addressed to St. Joseph, and began, study of anatom y. T hus began a l­ est of m agicians. W hy need this
Keep out of the Past. It is haunted :
He who in its avenues gropes,
“ Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection so the robbing of th e ignorant by he? Because only •T as such would
Shall find there the ghost of a joy prized is so prom pt and whose interces­ .the cratly, the oppressing of the his teachings appeal to the people
the most,
And a skeleton throng of dead hopes. sions with God are so effectatious.” weak by the strong. W hen I see of that time. Now, given the stam p
In place of its beautiful rivers,
the strongest m onkey in the cage I of tim e and the seal of au th o rity ,
Are pools that are stagnant with slim e; At the bottom of the paper was ad­
And these graves gleaming with a phos- ( ded, “ Copy this prayer three limes snatch away from others more than this sam e old m ysticism chains
phone light,
his share of food, when I see a big some of the greatest of m inds, to
Hide dreams th at weie slain in their and give it to three persons, and |
nothing
of the m illions
you can obtain any request from hoy on the street abuse and mis­ say
prime.
treat the little ones, I think this is of
the
m asses,
in a life of
St. Joseph.”
Keep out of the Past. I t is lonely ,
And barren, and bleak to the view;
We m ust observe that mysticism quite natural. T heir fat lie fk have m ental dw arfage, every day of
Its tires have grown cold, and its stories
which became so valuable an in­ «lone the like before them for m any which they outrage their reason and
are old—
Turn, turn to the P resen t—the New; stru m en t in the hands o f the priests, ages. II"W easily in these times their last common sense. When
Today leads yo” up to the hilltops
shaped the modes of worship, the t he pt iest secured the best portions we reflect th a t intelligent people,
That are kissed by the radiant sun,
Today shows no tomb, life’s hopes are custom s and even the laws of the of food, and w ithout any labor on intellig« nt in every other respect,
in bloom,
his part. Read again your bibles, can harm onize the m ysterious c h a ­
nations. Let us exam ine
And today holds a prize to be won.
« for a mo- I
m ent the rites of worship and sac­ Lev. x., and you will learn how- this os of ideas which the orthonox
food was to he eaten by bun and i C h ristian ity represents, in this the
rifice.
B o h e m ia n E v e n in g No. VI.
his fam ily. T urn to I. Sam uel ii , greatest day of intellectual suprem ­
— —
Among the earliest n atio n s of re­
and you have the story of how the acy, he can readily u n derstand the
BY C. ELTON B L A N C H A R D .
corded history, the Hom eric con­
sons of Eli took some of G od’s share influence of m ysticism in the past.
ception of the universe was gener­
I I . MYSTICISM IN R E L IG IO N .
of the m eat, which m ade him rage For exam ple, how a god can satisfy
ally accepted. This was th a t the;
The wise King Solomon recom ­ earth was a plane, a flat expanse terribly. Bonder this m atter for a an offense of a race against him self
mended, it is recorded, a special in ­ surrounded by an ocean stream moment and you will see how d read ­ l»y allow ing th is race to kill a p a rt
ful has been the influence of th e «»f h im self tem porarily inhabiting a
vocation th a t would quiet the most which was a kind of enclosure to
m ystic upon the race, and how’ common body of flesh and blood,
refractory spirit, let it be god or keep m ortals from approaching the hard it is to throw off this influence and h«»w such an act of m urder for­
Later this
devil. This p rayer ended with the “e n d s 'o f the e a rth ”.
today, in this age of reason. Often ever sets a t n au g h t, if we can only
ocean stream became peopled with
words which m ight be translated:
the oppressed and the oppressor are believe it, the whole evil career of
m onsters which devoured any
m an, is more th an reason can fa th ­
“ And 1 furtherm ore ad jure thee by reckless and disrespectful adven­ ignorant of anx fault.
This stronghold of mxsticism is om, and when a person confesses
these awful and m ysterious letters, turers who dared to navigate it
such a faith we may rest assured
to wit: Aleph, Beth, G im el,” etc., beyond c rtain prescribed limits. m ade stronger still by the love of
life and the fear of death. As a that m ysticism , the sam e old blind ­
going through to the end of the A safe distance above this plane
modern spectre it haunts the realm ing fog, envelops th a t individual
was
the
plane
of
heaven.
Only
Hebrew alphabet. Ju st as a m inis­
and he is lost in a fate th a t is more
once were m ortals unwise enough of philosophy, and the renowned
to he lam ented th an im aginary
ter today m ight say, when his city
to undertake to seek this m ysterious H erbert Spencer nam ed it the U n­
We no longer fear hells.
was stricken with yellow fever, as country except through the portals knowable.
he prayed from his p u lpit: “ I now of death. This was at the tower of ghosts, hobgoblins, imps or real
We m ust now acknowledge th a t
warn the spirit of fever, by the use Babel. The gods soon put a stop devils, hut for all this superstition the church, as soon as it attained
of those awful, dreadful and mys­ to this prom ising undertaking by gives us a vague, undeflnable, in ­ the power, set about the suppress­
terious letters, A, B, C, D,” etc.
confusing the tongues, a very sim­ definite, inscrutable, m ysterious ion of all forms of black a rt, magic,
About this time in ancient his­ ple m atter for the gods! Above the som ething as a nolion of soul or and w itchcrall. C«»nstantine began
tory arose the custom of m aking plane of heaven was high heaven. spirit. We hear it spoken of as the this work by th reaten in g the sever­
names from the letters beginning Beneath the plane of earth was thing th a t anim ates the body, the est punishm ent. He m ade the ex­
certain words relating to the per­ hell, and lower hell. This was the ego th at is behind the m ind and its ceptions th a t magic could l>e used
son or thing in question. Thus conception of the universe generally will, and is the real entity. This in curing «liseuse and to prevent
Michael, the angel, comes from the held by all the ancient nations. m ysterious unknow able is very like rain and hail storm s during the h a r­
first letters of the Hebrew words W ith this conception in mind it is the fog which the old sage of the vest. T h is illu strates how m uch
which mean, “ One who looks like easy to understand how the smell Anglo-Saxons saw rising in the under the spell of m ysticism were
unto God.” If we could get some of burning sacrifice would ascend shape of the giant Grem lel. It is the people, from the p«>pe to the
idea of how Michael looks we would upw ard to the nostrils of the gods. the most intangible of m onsters and poorest lackey. Y et, in spite of th is
then have a bettor conception of No doubt the practice today of hides from us the r«al aspect of suppression, the m ystic powers
L uther, who set fire
the physiognomy of the A lm ighty. looking upward during prayer orig­ things an«l spreads a blinding and were abroad.
A queer influence'of the m ystic is inated with the idea of turning the infectious m ysticism about all our to all E urope by driving a nail in
the church door to hold his noted
found in the fact th at some claim face upw ard tow ard the gods. If conceptions.
So powerful had m ysticism be­ protestations,w ould have us believe
the num erical value of the letters you will turn to your bibles, Exo-
composing the nam e Yeveh isoGGO. du» xxx., you will find the special come th a t by the tim e the meek th a t he was a special subject for
Ihese advocates count the time directions of Jehovah for making and lowly Jesus appeared upon the the an tics of the m ysterious beings.
from creation to C hrist as 5761. the incense, used about the altars, j stage of action an y th in g th a t did He tells us of m any personal en ­
I bis leaves the • vear
1899 as the of such delightful smell th at it not show signs of the mystic, had counters with the devil, one in p a r­
»
year A. I). th a t will he made nota- ■ would especially please the Al­ no weight. This dem and produced ticu lar when lie drove his satan ic
file by the end of the world, clean- m ighty, aud the penalty for using the m iracles, or alleged miracles. m ajesty from his study room by