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38
son, Jim Pike, after the latter's suicide
death.
There are presently two major organi–
zations of spiritualist churches. The old–
est and largest is the National
Association of Spiritualist Churches.
But perhaps the fastest growing is the
Universal Church of the Master,
founded in Los Angeles in 1908.
lt
claims about 125 churches, the majority
of which are in California, though exact
The
PLAIN TRUTH
Mrs. Virginia Tighe, was hypnotized
by Morey Bernstein. As he took her fur–
ther and further back into her early life,
he found her describing experiences in a
distant land long before her birth.
According to the story, he was talking
to one Bridey Murphy who lived in Ire–
land in the early 1800's.
With the publication of the best–
selling book
The Search for Bridey
Murphy,
speculation about reincarnation
l{eyrtone Photo
WITCHES' HUT NEAR LONDON -
In this reputedly four-hundred-year–
old hut secret gatherings of Britain's witches regu larly occur.
mernbership figures are not available.
However, in the approximately 400
spiritualist churches in the United
States, there are sorne 150,000 members.
Another religious group, the Spiritual
Frontiers Fellowship, has mainly clergy–
rnen of different denominations for
its 4,000 members. But it also has 110
scientists. Among those meeting regu–
larly in groups, even in the late 50's,
were a smattering of politicians and
sorne outstanding ministers of religion.
The Bridey Murphy Affair
In the early 50's an unusual incident
caused no small stir among the Ameri–
can populace. A Colorado housewife,
became household conversation. Many
other people claimed to come up with
details of "past lives" while under hyp–
nosis.
1
personally had a man tell me
his fear of .fire was the result of being
burned at the stake while a Crusader in
a previous lifetime.
Reincarnation is, of course, a basic
constituent of a nurnber of Oriental
religions. Once despised by a "Chris–
tian" populace, these religions are iind–
ing new adherents, sorne perhaps with
tongue in cheek, but others quite serious.
Witches Ride Again
One Scotland Yard official estimated
there is presently more black magic in
November
1971
Britain than there was during the
Middle Ages. One witch estimated there
are at least 3,000 witches in Great Brit–
ain today.
There are approximately 2,000 active
secret sects in France, which include the
"onionists" (God is shaped like an
onion), the navel worshippers, and the
Druids (Druids are also in England
and have an annual festival at Stone–
henge) . One report estimates the
French spend about 1,000 million
francs ($200 million) a year in con–
sulting 60,000 sorcerers.
Germany is the traditional land of
witches, spells and hexes. According to
the German Medica! lnformation Ser–
vice, 10,000 people are engaged in
witchcraft there. Charges of witchcraft
often come up in court.
In
the United States there are those
who actually claim to be practicing "Sa–
tanists." According to Arthur Lyons,
Jr., author of the book
The Second
Coming: SataniJm in America,
there are
20,000 followers of this ideology in the
United States. Sorne are "playing
games" but others are quite fervent
about their "religion." Perhaps the most
well-known is San Francisco's Church
of Satan, headed by High Priest Anton
LaVey.
You Can Bet Your Lucky Stars
lt
is estimated that at least 5 million
Americans plan their lives by the stars.
This naturally does not include the
additional millions who consult their
daily horoscope out of curiosity or buy
zodiac-decorated items ranging from
drinking glasses to silk pajamas. There
is enough business to keep 10,000 full–
time and 175,000 part-time astrologers
on the go.
More than two thirds of the daily
newspapers in the United States carry
astrology columns. The columnists in–
elude such famous names as Jeanne
Dixon and Carroll Righter as authors.
Sybil Leek, self-professed witch, writes
an astrology column each month for a
leading women's magazine.
You can now receive your own per–
sonalized horoscope by computer. A
French firm began such a program
about four years ago and has since ex–
panded its operations to the U. S. The
París operation spits out astro info in