Paper 88

Meredith Sprunger's Synopsis of The Urantia Book
Synopsis of Paper 88
FETISHES, CHARMS, AND MAGIC

1. This doctrine of spirit possession is nothing more nor less than fetishism. The savage does not necessarily worship the fetish; he very logically worships and. reverences the spirit resident therein.

2. Primitive man always wanted to make anything extraordinary into a fetish...The first fetishes were peculiarly marked pebbles, and “sacred stones” have ever since been sought by man; a string of beads was once a collection of sacred stones, a battery of charms. Many tribes had fetish stones, but few have survived as have the Kaaba and the Stone of Scone. Fire and water were also among the early fetishes, and fire worship, together with belief in holy water, still survives.

3. At one time the cow was a fetish, the milk being taboo while the excreta were highly esteemed. The serpent was revered in Palestine, especially by the Phoenicians, who, along with the Jews, considered it to be the mouthpiece of evil spirits. Even many moderns believe in the charm powers of reptiles. From Arabia on through India to the snake dance of the Moqui tribe of red men the serpent has been revered.

4. Certain days of the week were fetishes. For ages Friday has been regarded as an unlucky day and the number thirteen as an evil numeral. The lucky numbers three and seven came from later revelations...It was held unluckyto count cattle or other possessions; the ancients always opposed the taking of a census, “numbering the people.”

5. Saliva was a potent fetish; devils could be driven out by spitting on a person. For an elder or superior to spit on one was the highest compliment. Parts of the human body were looked upon as potential fetishes, particularly the hair and nails.

6. Many people looked upon geniuses as fetish personalities possessed by a wise spirit. And these talented. humans soon learned to resort to fraud and trickery for the advancement of their special interests ...Thus did chiefs, kings, priests, prophets, and church rulers eventually wield great power and exercise unbounded authority.

7. It was supposed preference of ghosts to indwell some object which had belonged to them when alive in the flesh. This belief explains the efficacy of many modern relics. The ancients always revered the bones of their leaders...Even today, pilgrimages are made to the tombs of great men ...It is heathenish to believe in fetishes and magic but supposedly all right to accept relics and miracles.

8. Idols were a refinement of fetishism. The primitive believed that a ceremony of consecration caused the spirit toenter the image; likewise, when certain objects were blessed, they became charms.

9. Words eventually became fetishes, more especially those which were regarded as God's words; in this way the sacred. books of many religions have become fetishistic prisons incarcerating the spiritual imagination of man...A doctrinal fetish will lead mortal man to betray himself into the clutches of bigotry, fanaticism, superstition, intolerance, and the most atrocious of barbarous cruelties.

10. Totemism is a combination of social and. religious observances...Totems were at one and the same time symbols of the group end their god ...The totem eventually evolved. into the flag, or national symbol, of the various modern peoples.

11. Fetish kings have ruled by "divine right," and. many other forms of government have obtained. Men have also made a fetish of democracy, the exaltation and adoration of the common man's ideas when collectively called "public opinion."

12. Magic...was the art of obtaining voluntary spirit co‑operation an. of coercing involuntary spirit aid through the use of fetishes or other and more powerful spirits...The objects of science are identical with those of magic. Mankind is progressing from magic to science, not by meditation and reason, but rather through long experience, gradually and painfully.

15. Primitive man believed that names must be treated with respect, especially names of the gods...Names were pawned. for loans; a man could not use his name until it had been redeemed by payment of the loan. Nowadays one signs his name to a note. An individual's name soon became important in magic.. .The savage could get a new name by buying it from the tribal chief; men still invest in titles and degrees.

16. The savage never doctored himself; he never used medicines except on the advice of the specialists in magic. And. the voodoo doctors of the twentieth century are typical of the magicians of old.

17. Word combinations, the ritual of chants and incantations, were highly magical… Gesture, being older than speech, was the more holy and magical, and mimicry was believed to have

strong magical power.

18. But a world so filled with charms did much to destroy all personal ambition and initiative. The fruits of extra labor or of diligence were looked upon as magical. If a man had more grain in his field than his neighbor, he might be haled before the chief and charged with enticing this extra grain from the indolent neighbor's field. Indeed, in the days of barbarism it was dangerous to know very much; there was always the chance of being executed as a black

artist.

19. Gradually science is removing the gambling element from life. But if modern methods of education should fail, there would be an almost immediate reversion to the primitive beliefs of magic.

20. Ancient magic was the cocoon of modern science, indispensable in its time but now no longer useful...Today, Urantia is in the twilight zone of this intellectual evolution. One half the world is grasping eagerly for the light of truth and the facts of scientific discovery, while the other half languishes in the arms of ancient superstition and but thinly disguised. magic.

Discussion Questions

1. What fetishes do contemporary people believe in?

2. Are pilgrimages to the tombs of great men a form of fetishism?

3. Has the Bible been used as a fetish?

4. Has the atonement doctrine become a fetish?

5. Have we made a fetish of democracy?

6. Do people still practice magic to get results?

7. Are the use of titles and degrees a form of magic?