X 
SUPERSTITIONS 
The market of Ejahyay was an excellent place 
in which to observe the people in all their outer 
life, but one could get very little idea of the 
misery of their inner life by what he saw in the 
noisy and apparently happy throngs around him 
there. Hidden in the recesses of their secret life 
are many hideous spectres. Prominent among 
these is the mental unrest which constantly tor¬ 
tures those under the dominion of cruel super¬ 
stitions. While acknowledging the existence of 
a Supreme Being under the name of “Orlorun” 
(Possessor of Heaven), they declare that he does 
not concern himself about his creatures on earth, 
but has left everything in the hands of one 
whom they call “Orisha.” But Orisha, they 
say, is not willing to be bothered by the trifling 
affairs of men, and so has appointed a number 
of inferior deities to whom men may come in 
times of emergency. They believe, also, that 
the spirits of the dead are present in the world, 
and that they have power to bring evil or good 
to people in this world. I have frequently seen 
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