Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 July 1896 — Belief in Omens. [ARTICLE]

Belief in Omens.

In former times beilef In omens was an article of religious faitn and belief In them exists to a considerable extent in some countries to-day; When the pious mother of James i. of Spain wished to select a name for her child, she surrounded his cradle with twelve lighted tapers, each bearing an apostle’s name; It was decided, that the saint whose taper burned longest was the one who would thus signify his intention of becoming the Infant’s 1 special patron. St. James’ light outlasted that of his brother apostles, and to St. James was the child therefore dedicated. This was in the thirteenth century, but the same spirit of pious superstition survived long afterward. The Puritans believed in casting lots, apd in opening the Bible and receiving as an oracle the first words on which their eyes fell and the early Methodists practiced the same description of divination.