RECEIV ED
MAR 1 U 1904
£FRIOD!CM.^T'
R eason .
T orch of
•TRUTH BEARS THE TORCH IN THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH.” - 1 „ , . , . (7 , „ ,
VOL. 4.
-II.V EK T ox, OREGON, THURSDAY, JUNE 14. E. M. 300 (A. I). l!»0O.)
NO. 23.
H u m a n ity .
chanting no psalms, yet the sen­ The Old an d The New M agic.
in religion as well as in occultism,
timents that here exhale their
BY J . JO H N S .
in mysticism and obscurantism,
fragrance should lift us on their
BY DR. PA U L PA RU S.
treated science as its hereditary
wings
into
the
spirit
and
harmony
c sh th e loud c a n n o n ’s roar,
enemy. It is now succumbing in
„
, 41IWv
°f the bIen(1>ng music of wisdom
The . fran
tic w a rrio r’s b c rnn.
a ll!
he very word magic has an the fight, although its last vestiges
\Vhv should th e e a rth be drenched w ith ,
love. Though blinded not with
alluring sound, and its prac­ which prove toughest in their sur­
gore,
the
dazzling
glory
of
gods
uor
of
tice as an art will probably vival, viz., the notions of an ani­
Are we not b ro th ers all?
supernatural saviors, yet every never lose its attractiveness for
W ant, from th e w retch d e p a rt!
strong and true man and woman is people’s minds. But we must re­ mistic God-conception and an ani­
C h ain s from th e captive fall!
mistic soul-conception, are still
Sweet M ercy,m elt th e o p p resso r’s h e a r t ; for us a savior, and every princi­
member
that
there
is
a
difference
Sufferers are b ro th ers all.
ple that underlies the rights and between the old magic and the new, haunting the minds of ultra-con­
C hurches and sects, strik e down
joys of the race worthy of the su­ and that both are separated by a servative people. In the meantime
Each m ean p artitio n w all!
preme loyalty of our hearts and deep chasm, which is a kind of a new inagic has originated and
L e t love each h a rs h e r feeling drow n ;
taken the place of the old magic,
For m en are b ro th ers all.
minds.
color line, for though the latter de­ performing miracles as wonderful
ljet Love and T ru th alone
To reverence, to love, and to velops from the former in a gradual
as those of these best conjurers of
H old hu m an h earts in th ra ll,
understand the worth of anoth and natural course of evolution,
T h a t we o u r work at length m ay own,
former days, nay, more wonderful;
And m en be b ro th ers all.
er, whether living or dead, is not to they are radically different in prin­
—[Secular Songs.
flatter. No one can truly under­ ciple and the new magic is irre­ yet these miracles are accomplished
with the help of science and with­
stand the worth of man hut the deemably opposed to the assump­
out the least pretense of super­
T he Difference.
Liberal. Every church is founded tions upon which th e ‘old magic natural power.
on the degradation of man. Every rests.
The new magic originated from
BY GEORG E C H A IN E Y .
one who enters a church to join in
The old magic is sorcery, or, con­ the old magic when the belief in
the worship must leave his man­ sidering the impossibility of gen­
sorcery began to break down, viz.,
ANY have bent the knee this hood at the door. Though he have
day to gods, creations of the walked uprightly among men, been uine sorcery, the attempt to practice in the eighteenth century, which is
imagination in the skies, a loving husband, a faithful father, sorcery. It is based upon the pre- the dawn of rationalism and marks
scientific world-conception, which the epoch since which mankind has
hungering and thirsting to become
a kind friend, divided his bread in its primitive stage is called
been systematically working out a
more like those to whom they
as­ the hungry, and comforted the
with
cribe every excellence. The fears of afflicted, yet all that must he re­ animism, imputing to nature a scientific world-conception.
Magic originally means priest­
ignorance and the craft of priests nounced, that he may give a jeal­ spiritual life analogous to our own
have mingled so much that is utter­ ous god all the glory, and say, “ We spirits, ghosts, goblins, gods, devils, craft, being that which character­
ly unworthy with what is worthy in beseech thee, good Lord, nave mer­ ogres, gnomes, and fairies. The izes the Magi, the Iranian priests.
these ideals that ihe worshipper is cy upon us, most miserable sin­ old magic stands in contrast to It is probable that the word is very
degraded and cursed instead of ele­ n e r s .” We honor and respect our­ science; it endeavors to transcend old, being handed down to us from
vated and blessed. While we abhor selves. With the true patriot and human knowledge by supernatural the Greeks and Romans, who had
the object of worship, pity and re­ reformer, whose country was the methods and is based upon the received it from the Persians. But
spect the worshipper, still we can world, and to do good his religion, hope of working miracles by the they in their turn owe it to the
not hut reverence that inward hun­ we can unite to honor every other assistance of invisible presences or Babylonians, and the Babylonians
ger of the heart that leads them to patriot and reformer whose life has intelligences, who, according to this to the Assyrians, and the Assyrians
look above them, seeking goodness, been consecrated to the great and belief, could be forced or coaxed by to the Sumero-Akkadians.
Imga” in Akkad meant priest,
as the flowers turn hungering divine service of humanity. In the magic into an alliancce. The savage
and thirsting toward the light words of Carl Heiuzen, we can say: believes that the evil influence of and the Assyrians changed the
the powers of nature can be averted word to “maga,” nailing their high
and dew of heaven. But for us the
skies are depopulated. We no lon­ ’Iw a s Freedom th a t m y sp irit fired bv charms or talismans and their priest “Rab-mag;” and considering
a n d stren g th e n ed ,
ger strain our eyes to see gods, any Twas Truth th a t my h e a r t’s sp rin g tim e aid procured by proper incanta­ the fact that the main business of
tions, conjurations and prayers.
priests in ancient times consisted in
kep t and lengthened,
more than we think of looking for
And N atu re fed me silently my fill.
The world-conception of the exorcising, fortune-telling, miracle-
fairies when we take a walk in the Not by base a rts and flattery sought I
savage is long lingering, and it.- in­ working, and giving out oracles, it
favor,
woods. But that does not keep us
My speech n e ’er o f hypocrisy did savor
from looking for the sweet wild­ N or open tru th held I as co n trab an d . ’ fluence does not subside instantane­ seems justifiable to believe that
flowers that fill the air with fra­ The torch of th o u g h t I have k ep t b rig h t­ ously with the first appearance of the Persian term, which in its Latin
ly flam ing;
grance, or for some new vista of Toward high endeavor have kep t l>oldlv science. The Middle Ages are still version is “magus,” is derived from
the belief in it the Chaldean and is practically the
aiming,
| full of magic, • and ---
aim
ing
iPauty through the leafy avenues,
And never thought it shame to be a
»ot died out to this day.
same; for the connotation of a wise
i ea, the absence of all belief in
m an.
Goethe introduces the belief in man endowed with supernatural
these mystical beings has only pre­
—[The Infidel’s Pulpit.
magic into the very plot of Faunt. powers has always been connected
pared us the better to discern the
in his despair at never finding the with the word “magus,” and even
worth of Nature and to drink deep­
key to the world-problem in sci- today magician means wizard, sor­
er draughts of inspiration from her
The Frencl‘ fvangihcal mission- e„CP> whicb, as he thinks, does not cerer, or miracle-worker.
perennial springs of beauty and arms on the Zambesi river, Egypt. offer what we peed, but useless
In primitive society religion is
truth.
,
report the baptism of the heir to the truisms only , FaU9t hopes to find magic and priests are magicians.
■ o, though we bend not the knee throne of the country—Lilia, son of ,he royal road to knowledge bv
The savage would think that if the
■ f f craven
Lewanika. He
He has
has been
been a a proftssed
proftssed supernatural
supernatural methods. He says:
raven fear
fear in
in our temple of lib- Lewanika.
medicine-man could not work mira­
\ , utter no fulsome eulogy to un- Christian, “excppt for one or two
cles, there would be no use for re-
H
T
n
jnstice, or beauty in man or nature,
1 Rough denying all religions, yet
are more than religious. Though
scorninc
... yet
...
rurning ovovi,
every r,.........
form of ' .......
prayer,
are more than prayerful. Though
not the least evidence thut Litia,
— ----- ,
.lo
....
.
_
t -
son of Lewanika, knows anything 1Kerm.s^rJdSctive powers explore ! know t h o n ^ f • C m U8 t
about the faith he is accepting. It A,i l " lrwrna*e in empty words no more !’’ .
’ .
b r e i l g10us re-
......
.
L
.
A
.
.
forms
of
this
are are not ac-
is English, and that is all he | The old magic found a rival in complished at kind
once but come on
knows.—[Ex.
science and has in all its aspects, gradually in slow process of evolu-