Awake!, June 22, 1968
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The Ouija Board—Harmless Amusement or Deadly Threat? PAGE 3
Summer Is Year's Happy Time!
PAGE 8
Wild Berries for the Family
PAGE 12
Be My Guest for a Day at Gilead
PAGE 16
JUNE 22,1968
THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awaken" has no fatters. It recognizes the importance of self-expression. "Awaken" is its unique peddler of traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
The viewpoint of "Awakel" is not narrow, but is international. "Awakel" has its own correspondents in scores of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.
In every issue "Awake!" presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awake!" provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.
"Awkew!" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subdue dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of God's righteous new order in this generation.
Get acquainted with "Awake!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!"
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CONTENTS
The Ouija Board—Harmless Amusement or Deadly Threat?
Summer Is Your's Happy Time!
Wild Berries for the Family
Antarctic Ice
Is Spiritism Involved?
Be My Guest for a Day at Glead
So You're Going to Move! 20
Your Name—a Gift for a Lifetime 23
Relatives Respond to Bible Truth 26
An Old Man's Endurance 26
"Your Word Is Truth"
Jehovah, the Unchangeable God 27
Watching the World 29
London, England, June 22, 1968
Number 12
-Harmless Amusement OR Deadly Threat?
HANG onto your ouija boards, folks, the occult arts are rising again," declared a New York newspaper in 1967.
"From the gloomy haunts of the Manhattan mystics to the raunchy halls of the West Coast cultists, a psychic wave is swelling. . . Sales of outja boards tripled during the past year," the same source added.
It is reported that for the first time the ouija board has become the top seller among "games." With sales of about 2,000,000 sets in the United States, it has surpassed the game called Monopoly for the first time in thirty-two years! So popular have they become that Time magazine commented: "The spirit world is fairly crackling with activity these days. . . Even the Harvard University Co-op sells out whenever it stocks them."
Widely advertised, they are presented to the public as a way of increasing psychic powers. One advertisement declared: "Reach into the unknown . . . place your hands on it and ask a question. Concentrate, and your question will be answered." The inventor of "a better ouija board" claims it is "so spellbinding that it will draw you and your friends into an inner world of amazing mysticism."
Many of those who use the board claim they can communicate with the "other world." Even prominent people use it for this reason. Canada's former prime minister Mackenzie King, a practicing spiritualist for twenty-five years, believed he had communicated with his mother, with Franklin D. Roosevelt, and even with his dog Pat, after they had died. As Maclean's magazine of Canada noted: "To his real intimates he made no secret of these beliefs. Some of them joined him many times in sessions with the oulija board at Ottawa."
Just what is the ouija board? Is it merely an innocent amusement? Or is it really a means of communicating with spirits in the "other world"?
Its Background
In the 1890's a Baltimore manufacturer put on the market a device that was called the "ouija board." The name was derived from the French and German words for "yes."
While there are now several variations of the board, it is generally a rectangle about two feet by eighteen inches, and a quarter of an inch thick. Its surface is polished smooth and contains the letters of the alphabet in two arcs. Below these are the ten numerals in a straight line. At the upper left-hand corner is the word "Yes" and at the upper right-hand corner the word "No." with "Good-bye" at the bottom. The most important part is the small, heart-shaped indicator that sits on three pegs shod with felt. At the pointed end is a transparent disk pierced by a pim. This points to each letter to spell out the message.
The first detailed account of a similar device comes from a fourth-century Roman historian. He tells how a band of conspirators determined the name of an emperor's successor by suspending a ring from a thread over a disk, around which were printed the letters of the alphabet. The ring, it was claimed, pointed to the letters that spelled out the name of the emperor's successor.
There have been other varieties of this pendulum type of indicator. They all bear a similarity to the ouija board. One ESP (extrasensory perception) game today utilizes a pendulum instead of the heart-shaped indicator for pointing to the letters.
Does It Work?
To operate the outja board, usually two persons sit facing each other, placing the board on their knees. They rest their fingertips lightly on the heart-shaped indicator and then ask a question and wait for an answer.
Does it really work? Can it spell out messages from the "other world"? The Wall Street Journal of March 17, 1967.
said: "It all goes well—and the number of people who say that all goes well is legion—the pointer starts racing around the board and spelling out the answer. In a book, How to Develop Your ESP Power, believer Jane Roberts indicates her Outja talks as fast and as readily as a gossipy woman."
Others say that such claims are preposterous. However, those who have investigated the matter thoroughly have often been shaken by what they found. One veteran reporter began his probe with a view to writing an expose. Before he was finished he was convinced that these communications had awesome significance. An eminent psychologist, noting the success some had with the oulja board, said:
"Either our concept of what we call the subconscious must be radically altered, so as to include potencies of which we hitherto have had no knowledge, or else some cause operating through, but not originating in the subconscious . . . must be acknowledged." —Psychics and Common Sense, by W. O. Stevens.
The Wall Street Journal further reported: "Actress Julia Migenes says her Ouija predicted she would win a leading role in a play that she didn't even know was going to be produced. She says that she and a girl friend were working the board in early 1965 when the Ouija spelled Anina. In September of that year she was invited to be in The Saint of Bleeker Street—playing the leading role of Anina."
One Wisconsin woman asked her outja board: "What is my aunt in Chicago doing right now?" After receiving the answer, she waited five minutes and called long distance to ask her aunt what she had been doing. When her aunt answered, the woman was astonished to find out that her aunt had been doing the very thing the outja board said she was doing!
Among the most publicized experiences with the ouija board was one that occurred several decades ago.
The book Hypnotism and the Supernormal, by S. Edmunds, tells of it:
"In 1913 a Mrs. Pearl Curran, a normal, healthy American woman with no special abilities or ambitions, was induced, somewhat against her will, to take part in some experiments with a ouija board. After a few sittings a 'communicator' who gave the name of Patience Worth, and claimed to be the spirit of an English girl who had lived during the seventeenth century took control. These communications continued for many years, Patience graduating from the slow and clumsy method of the ouija board, first to automatic writing, and later to direct dictation . . . to a note taker. In this manner a large number of poems . . . were produced, also no less than six full length novels."
One novel, 60,000 words in length, all in blank verse, was taken down in just thirty-five hours! Thousands were invited to hear Mrs. Curran's readings. None questioned the genuineness of the performance. Among her audiences were leading authors, poets, lawyers, judges, doctors, scientists, journalists and professors of philosophy, psychology, English and literature. The most painstaking investigation of Mrs. Curran over a period of about twenty-five years confirmed that she could not possibly have been the author of the material that came through her. As Walter Prince said in his book The Case of Patience Worth: "A conversation with [Mrs. Curran], however, though based upon an extended acquaintance, does not give the impression that one is in the presence of the mind that wrote."
How, then, was she able to produce the fantastic quantity and quality of material that she did, first from the ouija board, later by orally dictating it to others? From whom did she, as well as the thousands of others who use the ouija board, get such messages?
In Mrs. Curran's case, she stated that the "control," named Patience Worth,
"takes pains to remind us that she is in some sense . . . a messenger from God, commissioned in her way to speak for Htm." Yes, those who develop a capacity for receiving messages from the ouija board often testify that these come from the spirit of a dead person, or from God, or from God's angels.
Is this really so? Can the ouija board actually contact the spirits of dead persons? Does it relay messages from God or from his angels?
Whose Qualities Displayed?
If these messages originate with God, his angels, or the spirits of dead persons whom God has taken to heaven with him, then we must expect them to reflect God's qualities.
The Bible, God's Word, says that "God is love." (1 John 4:8) It also tells us that "God is a God, not of disorder, but of peace." (1 Cor. 14:33) Also, God declares that his name and purposes must be made known by those who represent him. Hence, these godly qualities of love, order and peace, as well as information regarding his name and purposes, should be highlighted in any communications for which God is responsible. And they should reflect the very high standards of morality that God represents.—Matt. 6:33; 24:14; John 17:26; 1 Cor. 6:9, 10.
But are these things highlighted through the ouija board? Note just a few of the many thousands of examples that can help us to determine the source of these messages.
One person wrote to the manufacturer of his outja board and said: "I have one of your outja boards and use it a lot with my friends. With mine it gives very good answers early in the day and very dirty answers at night. It feels like someone's moving it."
Good answers, then dirty ones? Is that consistent with God's love? his orderliness? his morality?
Another verified experience is the following: "One woman had been using an ouija board, which led to automatic writing. Within two weeks the 'spirits' were whispering obscenities in her cars. She then felt them in her bed. She had been driven to near insanity by the experience." Was this a display of godly qualities at work?
In another instance a woman started to study the Bible. Previously, as a young girl, she had often talked over her problems with a voice she thought was God's. Now that she was studying the Bible the voice told her to quit associating with Bible students. Then she and her children experienced attacks from unseen forces. Does this sound like these spirit forces were from God?
In Venture Inward, by H. Cayce, we read the following experience of a person who first used a ouija board, later went to automatic writing, then began hearing voices:
"For several weeks I was under their control to the extent I could not move, lift an eyelash, or even speak without their allowing it. . . I was 'exercised' but that is something I might at, coming back imminently, is greater in importance than they pretended to be spirits of departed relatives and friends, angels, etc. and laid down firm and needed reforms toward spiritual development, thereby gaining my confidence, stressing I was an 'instrument'. . . Then it became all at once a most terrible obsession aimed at complete possession and control of the mind, cunning and possessing a warped intelligence. . . While the spirits picked me over they explored my memory from top to bottom. . . Sex is an obsession with them."
This source also tells of a man who bought a ouija board for his wife because he had seen a magazine article recommending it. They began to use the board
and contained amazing answers. The messages claimed to originate with dead friends and relatives. But one day while her husband was away, the woman heard a soft whisper in her ear. The more she responded to the suggestions of the whispering voice, the clearer it became. But then, the voice said the woman was in "his" power, that he was "in love" with her and would bring her to "his plane" by killing her. Following this, she could hardly eat or drink without vomiting. One morning she came under sexual attack from an invisible form in bed with her.
Multiply these few examples by the thousands. They show that without doubt the influence is far from godly, far from loving, far from orderly, far from moral. As Psychics and Common Sense noted: "More twaddle, misstatements of fact, predictions that fall, wrong names and predictions in—short, general rubbish, has come via the ouija board than is easy to explain."
The Source
No, neither God nor his loyal angels could possibly be responsible for such God-dishonoring messages.
Who, then, are responsible? The spirits of departed dead ones? Of the dead, God's Word states: "As for the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all." (Eccl. 9:5) "He goes back to his ground; in that day his thoughts do perish." (Ps. 146:4) No, these messages could not originate with the spirits of dead persons, because the Bible plainly teaches that man does not have an immortal soul. Death brings a halt to all mental and physical activity. —Eccl. 9:10.
Who, then, are left? Which spirits could be the source of these messages? They are spirits, true, but of what kind? The Bible clearly identifies them. The apostle Paul spoke of them when warning Christians that they had "a fight, not against blood and flesh, but .
. . against the wicked spirit forces in the heavenly places." (Eph. 6:12) Yes, these are wicked spirits! Throughout the Bible they are also referred to as demons.
Do these wicked spirit forces make predictions? Do they have the power of divination? Yes, but such power is not used for the good of mankind. The apostle Paul noted this when he foretold: "In later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons." (1 Tim. 4:1) This demonic influence is actually leading this entire system of things to disaster! Of our day Revelation 16:14 foretold how "expressions inspired by demons" would "go forth to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty."
Because such wicked spirits turn men away from true faith in God, God's people are commanded to have nothing to do with them. The Bible says: "There should not be found in you anyone . . . who employs divination, a practition of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer, or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead. For everybody doing these things is something detestable to Jehovah."—Deut. 18:10-12.
These wicked spirit forces are the ones who joined Satan the Devil in rebellion against God. They materialized before the flood of Noah's day so they could cohabit with women. (Gen. 6:1-4; Jude 6) However, since the Flood they have been prohibited from materializing in the flesh, although they can contact humans. And today, as in Noah's day, they are obsessed with sex.
So these wicked spirit forces, demons, are the ones responsible for all of today's manifestations of ESP. They are the ones who originate messages through ouija boards, spirit mediums, crystal balls, by speaking directly to persons, or otherwise. And why is their influence so strong today? Because we live in the "last days" of this wicked system of things. (2 Tim. 3:1-5) Soon God will bring this system to an end. He will also put into the death state Satan and his demons. They know this, for Revelation 12:12 states: "The Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time." Hence, Satan and his demons work feverishly to turn all mankind away from the pure worship of God before they are put out of the way.
Protect Yourself
How can you protect yourself from these lying spirits? For one thing, have absolutely nothing to do with any manifestation of extrasensory perception (ESP). This includes the use of the ouija board. In fact, do not even keep one in the house, as that can be an invitation to demon influence. Imitate the course of many who became Christians in the first century, of whom the Bible tells us: "Indeed, quite a number of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them up before everybody." (Acts 19:19) Where possible, it is also wise to avoid association with persons who operate ouija boards or who otherwise engage in spiritistic practices.
Do not be misled by predictions that have come true through the use of ouija boards. The demons can give some true predictions. The Bible at Acts 16:16 speaks of a "servant girl with a spirit, a demon of divination." Some of such predictions no doubt come true. But the demons do this to gain the confidence and trust of unsuspecting ones in order slyly to draw them away from the true worship of God.
That is why Satan and his demons often pose as angels of light.—2 Cor. 11:14, 15.
The Bible counsels: "Oppose the Devil, and he will flee from you. Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you." (Jas. 4:7, 8) So to protect yourself from wicked spirit forces, turn to the Word of God that he has inspired as a guide for mankind. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) Study God's Word. Apply the fine counsel it gives. Associate with Jehovah's Christian witnesses, who are doing the same.
No, the outlaw board is most certainly not just a harmless amusement. It can bring you into contact with wicked spirit forces and under their control, thus leading you into opposition to Jehovah God. Such could result in your losing out on everlasting life in God's new system of things. Emphasizing the danger are the Bible's words that those who engage in the "practice of spiritism . . . will not inherit God's kingdom." -Gal. 5:20, 21.
So, far from being a harmless game, the ouija board is a deadly threat to your everlasting welfare!
IT WAS in the middle of May when the view from the corner window suddenly disclosed that summer was not far away. The trees in the front yard and in the orchard were sprinkled with hints of reddish and green colors. Shortly thereafter a soft rain fell and the tiny pink blossoms seemed to explode into full bloom. Soon summer was bursting out all over!
Summer in the temperate zones of the earth somehow has always seemed the most vivid of seasons, a long, rich pause in the fast-folding year, the time of the biggest possibilities and promises. It is the
year at high noon, beginning up north on the longest day of the year, about June 21, and from there it glides downward toward the autumn equinox. During the summer months life can be seen in all its stages. It is when days seem their longest, nights their warmest and all creation is either its liveliest or its laziest.
Summer is a fresh reminder of earth's infinite variety, its ever-amazing bounty. From little plots of corn to vast rolling acres of wheat, oats and rye reaching for the sun and thrusting their golden heads or tassels up to be swept by the dry summer winds.
The earth is like an artist's easel, rich with the color of golden grainfields, cool with the infinite variety of greens, and intensely hot here and there with flaming-red flowers.
The land abounds with flowers. It is a season for roses! In casual profusion tangle the wild roses, blackberries and honey-suckles. The fields have come alive with daisies, black-eyed Susans, lady's slippers, all sorts of summer wild flowers, bright and jaunty and full of sun..
Summer is a time of abundant food. Alfalfa, clover and timothy, hay for the cattle. Hay in bloom, hay cut and baled, hay in cocks drying in the sun. Stacks of hay, bales of hay, millions of tons of hay for animals to eat. There is grass for cows to eat and for children to roll on. In the freezer there are fryers for the Sunday dinner and on the stove new potatoes in the pot for guests. The table abounds with fresh lettuce, garden-ripe tomatoes, delicious corn on the cob, fresh-baked cherry pie and wild blackberries with cream! How this reminds us of God's splendor and his care over all his works. Wrote the appreciative psalmist: "You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing." "He is making green grass sprout for the beasts, and vegetation for the service of mankind, to cause food to go forth from the earth . . . The trees of Jehovah are satisfied . . . where the birds themselves make nests. . . How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions."—Ps. 145:16; 104:14-24.
The Sounds of Summer
The vivid sounds and movements of spring surrender to the stillness and the green serenity of summer. High in the deep summer sky, cumulus clouds move in full sail; their soft cottonlike shapes belie the storms building up in their powerful bellies. Distant rumbles give warning. From time to time lightning and thunderstorms jolt the hills and rain comes down like silver threads hanging from dark clouds. In the calm before the storm the boughs of giant trees stand motionless, often scattering motes of sunlight on the forest floor. In their leafy limbs the voices of birds are muted. The woods are imbued with the rapture of fulfillment.
A happy boy, glad to be out of school, stalks the streams for minnows, worms, frogs, perhaps a lumbering turtle. With shirttail out, sneakers wet, followed by a panting dog, the lad whistles away joyfully. Other groups of boys can be discovered chattering away beside streams with fishing poles, or playing games in some empty lot.
The summer sound is the hum of insects and birds. Only a few months before, the icy world was silent and empty of these tiny creatures. Now they seem to be everywhere. Winged termites swarm out of bits of riddled wood. A hungry generation of beetles launches an attack on plants. At the same time, other insects flit hurriedly from flower to flower, transferring the vital pollen from one plant to another. While some create a good deal of mischief, no doubt, they also do even a greater amount of good. Small creatures scuttle through the grasses, burrow in the soft warm earth, or snap their wings through the air. The nights are full of fireflies. The lightning bug streaks the dark skies with its tiny green light. A beetle delights children with its bright-red wings. The buzzing of bees, chirping of crickets, whine of mosquitoes, panting of wasps, fill the air with summer's symphony.
Birds, too, join in the "happy" chorus. Now that the nests are empty and the offspring have tried their wings, the noisy crowd expends its energy by singing, warbling, cawing, caloing, mimicking, croaking, warning, Talkative red-winged blackbirds, their nests empty of eggs, are seen swinging uproariously on brown stalks of the cattails, scolding their young nearby who are flickering their feathered wings.
One cannot help but be reminded of King Solomon's words: "Everything [God] has made pretty in its time."—Eccl. 3:11.
The Sights of Summer
A soft white haze from the summer's heat blankets the earth. The forests, fields and backyard flutter with song sparrows, robins, catbirds, wrens, blackbirds, woodpeckers, jays, baboholls and crows. Overhead a buzzard floats by silently. Below nests eggshells lie on the ground. Offspring are trying their wings. Baby rabbits are pillering in the garden. A young calf is trying its wobble legs while mother cow chews her cur leisurely in the shade of an old elm at the side of the meadow. The vineyards are heavy with grapes and orchards with their fruit. A lacy leaf tells where the Japanese beetles have feasted. Raging spring rivers are reduced to creeks, and brooks to trickles. The pond water is tepid with mud warmth. Fish hardly stir. They seem lazy and reluctant to bite the fisherman's bait. But why should they? Plant and insect food and small fish are available on all sides. The fish are contentedly full.
The earth's creations languidly stir with sights and sounds and smells that belong exquisitely and uniquely to summer. There is the faint scent of sweet clover along the roadside and the haunting fragrance of hot white clover and new-mown hay. Nervous butterflies fill the meadows and sip the sweet nectar of flowers. Fields are alive with their dancing colors. There is a mellowness about a moonlit summer
night and something surprisingly,pleasant about warm pool waters.
There are invaluable lessons to be learned in summertime's wonders. The apostle Paul said: "For all that may be known of God by men lies plain before their eyes; indeed God himself has disclosed it to them. His invisible attributes, that is to say his everlasting power and deity, have been visible, ever since the world began, to the eye of reason, in the things he has made." (Rom. 1:19, 20, The New English Bible) We should learn much about God, then, in our study of creation. Well, we have?
The Master Teacher, Jesus Christ, observed in creation God's loving care. After observing the way of birds, he said: "They do not sow seed or reap or gather into storehouses; still your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are?" A good question for us to contemplate if we profess trust in God.
Next Jesus draws a lesson of faithful trust and dependence on God from his study of plant life. He says: "Take a lesson from the lilies of the field, how they are growing; they do not toil, nor do they spin; but I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. If, now, God thus clothes the vegetation of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much rather clothes you, you with little faith?" A fine point to learn in this era of materialism. Jesus then concludes: "So never be anxious and say, 'What are we to eat?' or, 'What are we to drink?' or, 'What are we to put on?' For all these are the things the nations are eagerly pursuing. For your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you." (Matt. 6: 26-33) No greater lessons could possibly be learned from summertime than unease.
Have you learned them yet?
Vacation and Hazards of Summertime
For many summer is get-up-and-go vacation time. It is the happy time of the year. They want to go to the seashore, the lakes, the mountains, anywhere but home. But once vacations are over many feel that they need to get rested from the vacation they just had. Summer is a picnic, a red canoe, a suntanned back, a softball game, ice tinkling in a tall glass. Summer is when drugstore counters display a profusion of suntan lotions, poisonivy cintiments and heat-prostration pills. Stores feature sandals, shorts and bathing suits, insect sprays and fly swatters.
Summer in more affluent areas means air conditioners, fans, wading pools, skin divers' fins and goggles, tents, fishing equipment and other paraphernalia.
For many Christian witnesses of Jehovah summer is happy convention time when they head faithfully for their annual assembly points and enjoy the association of their brothers.
However, summer is not entirely a time of joy. It has its potential for violence and disaster. Polio reaches its peak during the hottest summer months. Diarrhea and food poisoning add their toll. Sunstroke and sunburn are dangerous hazards. Swimming in polluted waters, wading in brooks with sharp stones, tumbling in salty ocean waves, sailing in the bay are all charged with sudden danger. For example, tragedy struck when a young lad climbed to the top of a high diving board, slipped and fell to his death against the side of the pool in full view of his parents and hundreds of horrified onlookers. Poison ivy, grass and ragweed pollens add to the discomfort of summertime. Therefore, there is a need for caution, for moderation, for sound judgment to keep disaster from
striking and marring this happy time of year.
Summer Past Its Peak
In late August summer has passed its peak. There may be a touch of frost in the early morning mountain air. There is a change in the way the shadows fall and where the sun sets. Two or three small maples have turned scarlet across the pond. Everywhere there is the wonder of the seed, earth's promise of a new season. The uncut grass has tiny seedlings on it. Pods begin to form where the milkweed hung. The sweet clover along the roadside is covered with a rash of seedlings. Cattails lift brown thumbs of packed seeds to ripen in the south sun. Thistle heads are covered with floss that delights the goldfinches. Garden beans are too tough to eat. Sweet corn that was delicious yesterday is too hard for eating today. The insistence of the seed to ripen is a race plants always win, for it is God's way of preserving plant life. This is one of the marvels of God's creation, as he told Noah: "For all the days the earth continues, seed sowing and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, will never cease."—Gen. 8:22.
the goldenrod, wild asters and other tall-growing flowers of later summer brighten the fields. Some birds are already preparing to fly south. Vacationers are homeward bound. Birdecalls have changed, with fewer songs of ecstasy and more of parental scolding. The calls of the wood thrush, the dove and the whippoorwill dominate the twilight hours. On a distant hill the bark of a fox is testing the air for some faint hint of autumn. Beetles click in haste. Ants scurry. Dragonflies dart on rattling wings. Autumn, another of Jehovah's beautiful seasons, is just over the horizon, but summer has triumphed completely with its happy abundance.
HUNTING for who
herries takes much
more effort than going
to a local market and
buying berries there, but
it is far more enjoyable.
It gets the family doing
WILD
something together in the out-of-doors, providing them with healthful exercise and fresh air, as well as the fun of looking for these luscious tidbits. What is more, they are free.
In the northern hemisphere there are a number of easily recognized berries growing wild that are not only fine eating but also good nourishment.
Some look so much like what you buy in the store that you can recognize them immediately. Wild blackberries and raspberries, for example, can be quickly spotted even by children. The blackberries are especially plentiful along the edges of woods and roads. How tempting these shiny berries are! As you fill your bucket with them the temptation is usually too great to resist popping a goodly number into your mouth. When you return home you may have the added pleasure of eating them with cream and making them into jams and jellies. A refreshing drink can also be made from blackberry juice.
In northern regions such as the Scandinavian countries another relative to the blackberry is the cloudberry. These too are delicious when eaten directly from the vines. A fine drink can be made by mixing cloudberry juice with a little brew made from white pine needles. Soak fresh white pine needles in warm water for about forty-eight hours, and then mix the cloudberry juice with it. Then dilute the mixture with fresh water or carbonated water. This refreshing drink is much better than any commercial soft drink, being packed with vitamins. The needles themselves yield a goodly amount of vitamin A and five times as much vitamin C as found in lemons. The berries too have a substantial vitamin content.
In every 100 grams of these nourishing berries, a little less than half a glass, there are 32 milligrams of calcium, 19 of phosphorus, 170 of potassium, 21 of vitamin C and 200 international units of vitamin A. A cordial made from blackberry juice is said to be a good remedy for diarrhea. Their close relative, the raspberry, is also a fine wild fruit.
Strawberries and Blueberries
Wild strawberries require a lot of effort to gather because of being very small, much smaller than the cultivated variety. To some extent this is compensated for by their being much sweeter. If you have the patience to pick enough to fill a pail, you will find them to be a thoroughly enjoyable berry to eat with cream, ice cream or mixed with other berries. Such a mixture of berries makes a good jam.
Look for wild strawberries around the end of June in northern latitudes. You will find them on sunny slopes that have a southern exposure. Since they are easily crushed, it is best to avoid putting sticks and leaves in the pail with them.
Their leaves, by the way, can be used to make a tea that is very rich in vitamin C.
You may also wish to look for blueberries, which ripen about the same time of the year as strawberries. There is one variety that grows only in the mountains, and others, only in swamps. In some woodlands this shrub is the most common type of undergrowth.
The blueberry is a fine-tasting berry and a nourishing food. Every 100 grams
of these berries, or a little less than half a glass, contain 62 calories, 15 milligrams of calcium, 13 milligrams of phosphorus, one milligram of iron, 60 milligrams
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of potassium, 40 international units of vitamin A and 6 milligrams of vitamin C. They also have small amounts of vitamin B. When dried, they make a good substitute for raisins.
Dried blueberries, blueberry soup and blueberry juice or wine have been credited as being helpful in treating hemorrhoids, diarrhea and stomach troubles. The claim has also been made that the leaves of the blueberry can be used as a partial substitute for insulin. The water from boiled blueberry leaves is supposed to decrease the sugar in the urine of a diabetic and increase his sugar tolerance.
The highbush cranberry also has medicinal qualities and makes a good drink as well as a good food. Although it too has red, acid fruit, it is not related to the low-growing cranberry. It is a tall shrub
Another name for this variety is the lingonberry.
Cranberries
An excellent drink can be made with cranberry juice, one that is refreshing and healthful. The juice is also good when mixed with blueberry juice, which makes a drink that is said to be good for people with rheumatism or diabetes.
The bright-red cranberries that are such a delight when eaten with roast turkey can be found along the edges of swamps. But another variety known as the mountain cranberry grows in the big pine forests of northern lands. They are very popular with the Scandinavian peoples.
that sometimes reaches a height of six to ten feet. The bark can be used in a tea that is said to lessen menstrual pains and muscular cramps.
Every 100 grams of the highbush cranberry contain 100 milligrams of vitamin C and 2,105 international units of vitamin A. When cooking these berries, as well as the low-growing cranberry, less sugar is needed to counteract the acidity if a little salt is added to the berries. For one quart of berries a teaspoon of salt will replace a cup of sugar.
Less Familiar Wild Berries
While walking through the woods look carefully for a very small plant near your path that has green, glossy, oval-shaped leaves. It may be only three to six inches high. Hanging on this tiny plant are bright-red berries that stay there all winter. This plant is called the teaberry or wintergreen. Both the berries and the leaves have the delicate flavor of wintergreen and are pleasant to chew. A delightful tea can be made from the leaves by pouring hot water on them and then allowing them to soak in the water for a couple of days.
The slight fermentation that usually takes place strengthens the wintergreen flavor. Because the oil of wintergreen that is in the leaves contains 99 percent methyl salicylate, the tea is useful for headaches and muscular aches.
Another useful wild berry plant that hugs the ground is the bearberry. Although its bright-red berries are edible, they are not very inviting. But the green, glossy, leathery leaves can be used to make an infusion that has an antiseptic effect on the urinary passages. It is a very effective home remedy for troubles with the kidneys and bladder.
A wild shrub that goes by the name of black haw produces one of the sweetest of all wild fruits. The plant may grow as big as a small tree and it has distinctive clusters of white flowers. By autumn its half-inch-long berries have become purple-black. Since the quality of the fruit varies from shrub to shrub, try the berries of several trees. An infusion made from its bark has been used to prevent cramps and to ease the discomfort from menstruation. Some women who have had trouble with miscarriages have credited it with helping them overcome the problem.
A rather neglected but tasty berry is the Juncberry, also called the serviceberry. The plant varies from a knee-high shrub to a tree that may be as much as thirty feet high. It has loose bunches of purplish berries that resemble large blueberries. These are good either raw or cooked. When cooked, their seeds add to their flavor. Some persons can the berries for use in pies and muffins. They also can be frozen and used as a fine dessert. The dried berries have a distinctly different taste and are good in puddings and muffins.
When you are out looking for wild berries, do not pass up the elderberry. This berry is one of the most useful of the wild fruits. The shrub grows from four to twelve feet high and can be found along fences, walls, roadside, ditches, streams and in fields. In June and July it is decorated with clusters of creamy blossoms. The berries are ripe by late summer and early fall. Being rich in vitamins A and C as well as potassium and phosphorus, they are among the most healthful fruits.
You will probably be disappointed in the taste of raw elderberries because of a rank taste and odor, but this unpleasantness disappears when they are dried. The dried berries can then be stewed or used in pies. The white flowers can be beaten into pancake, waffle or muffin batters, giving the batters a delicate flavor. The undried berries can be mixed with crab apples and boiled together to get the juice. This combination makes a fine jelly.
As you can see, there are a number of wild berries that a family can look for in the open countryside and that are nourishing and tasty. Those that are gathered in excess of what is immediately needed can be canned or frozen for future use, and, of course, jams and jellies can be made from them and stored away until needed. Besides helping to reduce the food bill, wild berries benefit the family with nourishing vitamins and minerals. They also provide healthy exercise and fun in gathering them. All these berries were created for our use, so why not benefit from them, having family enjoyment in doing so?
Antarctic Ice
Antarctica is said to contain 90 percent of all the ice in the world. It has been estimated that if this were to melt, the level of the oceans would rise at least 200 feet.
IS SPIRITISM INVOLVED?
"THE Strange Hand of Fate in S.A.'s Great Heart Drama." "The Eerie Truth." "Did a Spirit Guide His Hand?" By these headlines the South African weekly, Soope, of December 29, 1967, called attention to an aspect of the Cape Town heart transplants that has escaped the notice of most of the rest of the world.
In one article Scope tells of a combination of seven coincidences, any one of which would have prevented the first human heart transplant from taking place. Among these are the following: Had Miss Darvall not gone out of her way to buy a cake at a certain bakery, she would not have been struck by a certain truck. Had the man whose truck struck her down not decided to go back to the factory after he had completed his shift, there would not have been this accident. And had not Dr. C. Barnard several times changed his mind about being away for the weekend, the operation would not have taken place. But he changed his mind several times because, as he put it, "I've got a funny feeling that something is going to happen."
And something did happen, an opportunity to perform a heart-transplant operation, a thing that for weeks he had eagerly been waiting to do and for which he had prepared for years.
Dr. C. Barnard once told a friend, Scope also reported, that he felt that while performing operations his hand was being guided by some outside force. "It is something greater than me," he is reputed to have said.
In this regard the weekly, Scope, went on to say: "Did a spirit guide Dr. Chris Barnard's hand during the historic heart transplant operation several weeks ago? . . . A former member of Dr. Barnard's heart surgery team . . . had often seen a spirit figure standing behind Dr. Barnard during operations in the hospital theatre. He did not recognize the person but one day he mentioned it to a member of Dr. Barnard's family and described the spirit. But that's "Klein Ouputjtike," Chris Barnhard's late father!" was the immediate reaction. The apparition stands behind the surgeon while he is operating—a short, dignified figure with an open Bible in his hand. (Dr. Barnard's father, who was a missionary, died nine years ago.)"
Town who claims to be in touch with a recently deceased doctor "who cannot praise Dr. Barnard enough. This doctor has told her that he helps guide the surgeon's hand when he operates" and that he expressed approval of Dr. Barnard's heart-transplant operation but, at the same time, criticized certain aspects of it.
Then, again, there is a spiritualist in Cape JUNE 22, 1968
Scope went on to report further aspects of the matter: "Stranger still is the following occurrence described by a nurse formerly employed at Groote Schuur Hospital and who has asked that her name be withheld. 'I was on night duty a few years ago when Dr. Barnard was a patient in the hospital. He was suffering from jaundice and at times his condition was critical. One night his ward bell began to ring continuously. I could not go to him at once because a patient in the next ward to his was dying and we had to attend her. When I eventually rushed to his ward with an apology for taking so long, I could see that something was the matter. He was as white as a sheet.
"When he eventually spoke he did not say much but just wanted to know who the nurse in white was who had tried to pin him to the bed. Apparently she suddenly rushed in through the door while he was reading in bed. Without saying a word she grabbed him by the shoulders and pressed him against the bed. Her strength was phenomenal, Dr. Barnard said, but when he grabbed, hold of her wrists he could feel they were thin and delicate. Then she let go of him and walked out through a window of his ward, which was on the second floor.
"At the time I thought Dr. Barnard was running a temperature and was seeing things, as sick people sometimes do. But he wasn't. In fact, he was already on the road to recovery and was sitting up in bed reading a book when the incident occurred. I think he must be very psychic."
In view of all this testimony, circumstantial and direct, as well as the many moral and ethical questions raised by his operations, could it be that Dr. C. Barnard is involved in spiritism? That there is such a thing as wicked spirits influencing the lives of humans is apparent from the warnings against spiritism found repeatedly in the Bible, from the writings of Moses to those of the apostle John—Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:11; Rev. 22:15.
Be my guest for a day
WHAT would the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead be like? I had heard that it was hard. Would I be a success as a student training for foreign missionary service as one of Jehovah's witnesses? I talked to many about the subject, with little in the way of information being obtained. Then at one of the assemblies of Jehovah's witnesses last summer I got to talk to some missionaries, themselves graduates of Gilead. At last I began to get some real facts and I could begin to appreciate what a privilege it would be to attend such a school. Greatly encouraged, I sent in my application. In effect I was saying as did the prophet Isaiah; "Here I am! Send me."—Isa. 6:8.
I was not disappointed. But it has occurred to me that there are doubtless others like myself who hesitate to apply for enrollment in Gilead because they may lack information. Perhaps if I were to tell you about a typical day at Gilead—today for example—it would help you to make up your mind.
Gilead School is located in a quiet, wellkept residential section of Brooklyn, New York, overlooking the New York harbor. Sunsets over this glistening expanse of water are among the most picturesque I have seen, breathtaking at times for colorful beauty. We students live on the third, fourth and fifth floors of the residence at 107 Columbia Heights, close to the large school library on the third floor and the classrooms on the second floor.
This location of the school brings us into everyday association with the governing body for Jehovah's witnesses world wide, as well as the large staff of the
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society's headquarters. We have opportunity, too, to become acquainted with experienced ministers from congregations of Jehovah's witnesses throughout the United States who come here to receive advanced training at the Kingdom Ministry School. It is especially upbuilding to meet some of the older members of the headquarters staff who have been at their post of duty here for thirty or forty or more years and are truly spiritually mature.
The day begins at 6:30 in the morning: If one fails to hear the bell that rings at this time, one's roommate will, and soon we are ready for breakfast. By seven o'clock we are all in our assigned places in the main dining room. After upbuilding comments on a Bible text by a chosen group whose helpful discussion is televised for the benefit of all occupants of the three (now four) dining rooms, the Society's president, N. H. Knorr, sums up the discussion and calls for someone to ask Jehovah's blessing on our meal.
All members of the headquarters staff as well as Gilead and Kingdom Ministry School students have their turn in that morning discussion, being heard and seen by all the more than a thousand persons of this large family. Does the thought of this make you nervous? Well, do not worry. We soon got over it and found that, if one is properly prepared, there is really no cause for anxiety.
During breakfast each day someone previously assigned reads interesting experiences about the field ministry from the 1968 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses. So you can see that we really get off to a good start each day. I should mention that we are also assigned to take our turns commenting at the Bethel family's Watchtower study, held on Monday evenings. Thus we students soon become known to the staff members, and in no time we feel like "one of the family."
Classroom Organization
This class of Gilead has 101 students, divided into four groups. Most of those in Groups 1 and 2 are studying French, while the rest of us study Spanish. Our schedule calls for classroom activity one half of the day and extracurricular training the other half of the day. Groups 1 and 2, for example, are in their classrooms while Groups 3 and 4 are undergoing training in other departments of the Society's home and offices. Since our group went to class yesterday afternoon, that means we will go to class this morning also. So after breakfast we have time to go to our rooms and pick up our books and still get to the classroom by eight o'clock.
My roommate, a student from Germany, has probably left already for the Society's printing plant, eight blocks away, where she is being given training. We can count on seeing her at dinner.
and II, Foundations of Bible History, Doctrines and Ministerial Activity—two courses each quarter of the term.
My group, Group 4, meets in classroom A first thing this morning. That means my first session today will have to do with the Hebrew Scriptures, one of eight courses (in addition to language) taught throughout the term: Hebrew Scriptures I, II and III, Greek Scriptures I
Right now our Hebrew Scriptures course is covering the Bible book of Proverbs. To show how the principles of Proverbs can be applied in a practical way to missionary service, the instructor divided us into groups of three, each to present a demonstration based on assigned settings. In our demonstration, for instance, I am supposed to be a missionary who fails to do her fair share of the work in the missionary home. Another student, acting the part of missionary home servant, offers tactful counsel to me, using Bible texts from Proverbs. He also counsels the complaining missionary who prides herself on being so efficient.
Before we present our demonstrations, though, we will be taking a written test on what was discussed at the last session of class. This is no surprise, for we have such a test almost every day. And they are most valuable. Not only do they make us study a little harder each evening, but they also provide an excellent guide in studying for final examinations. And, of course, they help us to retain the information obtained in the classroom.
Exploded view showing 2nd and 3rd floors of the 11-floor 107 Columbia Heights building
Many teaching methods are employed in Gilead.
For each of the five courses that cover the entire Bible analytically, we receive a book containing instructions on preparation of reports, as well as hundreds of questions. Then we do research on the portion of the Scriptures we have been assigned, answering all the questions designated for that portion. Finally we present the completed report in class, in various forms—short stories, dramatizations, verse-by-verse explanations, demon-
bers of the headquarters staff with long years of experience in the ministry. Each weekday, following the noon meal, we meet in the Lecture Hall and listen to a discourse that ties in closely with our current classroom studies. The depth of the material together with the distinctive manner of delivery of each speaker makes every subject come to life. So absorbed does one get that we sometimes forget to take notes. But the main points live in our memories for a long time.
stations, panel discussions, and so on. The instructor then offers further explanation and clarification. Meantime we are all taking notes in the large-print edition of the New World Translation of the Bible for personal future reference and use.
Language Class
After a ten-minute break, we go to Spanish class at ten o'clock, changing places with Group 3, who will now have their class on Hebrew Scriptures II. Language class is never dull. Blunders are in-
The school's president, Brother Knorr, gave the opening lecture on the first day, as well as a number of other lectures, all of them very practical. He explained how we could make a success of Gilead, and spoke on such topics as "Dwelling Together in Peace and Unity," "Making the Most of Your Opportunities," and "What Makes a Good Missionary." We feel as if we are prepared for whatever assignment we may be given.
By the way, there are no report cards at Gilead, no competing for high place as
evitable. I recall how the instructor once asked in Spanish, "In what season of the year does October belong?" The answer should have been "Otoño" (fall), but, instead, the student answered, "La estación de otonto"—the foolish season. We all had a laugh and felt more relaxed.
The method that is used in teaching Spanish involves the memorizing of dialogues, with grammar Introduced gradually. The instructor says most of us are developing good pronunciation and seem to
at other centers of education. Instead, our work is graded and then each quarter we receive a Progress Report, a short, personal letter to each of us, describing our progress both in school and in relation to our development of the qualities needed by a good missionary. As one instructor mentioned, these Reports are based on observations made by all of our overseers who are in position to observe our activities.
On my last Report I was commended
be getting a good "feel" for the language. My roommate said that in French class the other day the students presented an entire one-hour meeting, with all students participating.
Daily Lectures
A splendid feature of our training is the course of lectures presented by mem-
for doing well in studies and working diligently at extracurricular assignments. But I was also encouraged to be more friendly and outgoing with others. So now I am putting forth more effort along this line, taking the initiative in getting better acquainted with others. This quality is so vital for our future missionary service too. And always we are encouraged to approach instructors and other mature men on the headquarters staff for help on any matter that might be giving us difficulty.
Training Assignments
Well, after the lecture, we who attended school this morning begin heading for our training assignments in the residence or the printing plant. Half of us will get assignments to work in the home, the other half in the factory, where we may be assigned to help in shipping literature, or in assembling and binding the books and booklets of the Society. My assignment for a time was to help care for the hundreds of thousands of stencils that bear the names of subscribers for the Awake! and Watchtower magazines.
Other students receive special training in the Society's office filing, typing, and so on. Still others have housekeeping assignments in the residence buildings. In fact, before we graduate all of us will have had training in making beds, cleaning rooms, aiding in the kitchen and laundry. So, wherever we go in the world, we shall know how to contribute in a practical manner toward maintaining a good, orderly, clean missionary home.
No student is kept at the same work for the entire five months of the course. At least once during the term our assignments will change. If we have been assigned in the residence, we will have our turn going to the Society's publishing plant and helping there. But no matter where we are assigned, it is always pleasurable, for we are learning to work as a team with many others in order to get work accomplished.
After three and a half hours of work in the training assignment, one is really ready for supper. Right after supper we go to our Spanish coaching session. Here someone already proficient in the language helps us with homework, pronunciation, and so forth. Then I have to spend some time doing research in the library for my report that is due to be given in the "Doctrines" class not many days hence. At nine o'clock a group of us will get together to review what we learned on our tour of the United Nations last Saturday. A written test on this is likely to come up any day now.
The tour to the United Nations is but one of five different tours to historic sites and educational institutions in the New York area. These tours together with a series of educational film programs comprise another course—General Knowledge. They are valuable in testing our powers of observation and in broadening our outlook.
Gilead is hard work all right. But is not every good thing worth the effort to attain it? Weekends provide a change from the general routine. On Friday evening, Saturday afternoon and Sunday we have opportunity to support congregational activities in one or another of the congregations of Jehovah's witnesses in New York city. Here we meet many new friends friends we are likely to correspond with when we are finally assigned to some faraway missionary post. Busy, busy days, but the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment is something I have never before felt so strongly.
There is no doubt that Jehovah's spirit is what makes everything about Gilead operate so beneficially. I have never heard anyone complain or talk sharply to others. We are all here with one desire—to learn as much as we possibly can in five months and to qualify for the missionary work.
Just a few days ago we learned of the countries to which we shall be sent, and there was great excitement as each one began to make inquiries about customs and language and conditions in his pros pective missionary assignment.
Yes, we are going to those lands to make permanent friends with many people and to make our homes there while we preach and teach until God sees fit to conclude this grand work.
I hope you have enjoyed your "day" at Gilead, and who knows?—perhaps we will meet again in some missionary field.—As told by a student of the forty-fifth class of Gilead.
MOVING elicits conflicting re- actions. Says one person: "I can't think of anything more tiring or frustrating."
Yet another enthusiastically says: "How nice! When we moved,
we really enjoyed it. I'm sure you will too."
To understand the reactions one must consider the attitude of those moving. Some families see looming before them all the many tasks to be performed and so little time in which to do them, and they get depressed. Others see beyond the work to the good accomplished by it, and their attitude is entirely different.
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