okes the curse
of the deity on his enemy, and it is supposed that such curse will bring
its punishment.[1671] A curse was regarded as an objective thing, which
reached its object quite independently of guilt or innocence.[1672] In
Morocco a conditional curse is pronounced and is supposed to become
effective if the wrong complained of is not righted.[1673] These ordeals
and imprecations were sometimes effective in fixing guilt; the dread of
incurring the wrath of the deity sometimes forced a guilty person to
confess, or his dread of the punishment produced signs of guilt. On the
other hand, it is probable that just as often innocent persons were
convicted and punished through such tests.

With all such systems of signs may be compared the Chinese quasi-science
called Fung-Shui ('Wind and Water'), which determines proper sites for
graves and for temples and other buildings by observations of the
influences of the sky (moisture, warmth, wind, thunder), of waters and
hills, and of the earth, and by the study of various magical
combinations. Thus, it is held, it is possible in important undertakings
to obtain the favor and support of the good Powers of the world. The
site of a grave, affecting the future of the dead, is of especial
significance, and the Fung-Shui interpreters, regularly trained men,
levy what contributions they please from surviving relatives, sometimes
purposely prolonging their investigations at a ruinous cost to the
family of the deceased.[1674] The system sprang from the Chinese
conception of heaven and earth as the controlling Powers of the world;
but, neglecting the higher side of this conception, it has sunk into a
fraudulent trade.[1675]

+927+. _Oracles._ As men went to the tents or palaces of chiefs or kings
for guidance in ordinary matters, so they went to the dwelling places of
superhuman Powers for direction in matters that were beyond human ken.
Such appeal to divine or quasi-divine beings began early in religious
history. In Borneo and the islands of Torres Straits the abodes of
skulls are places from which responses are obtained;[1676] speaking
heads are found there and elsewhere. The Sunthals of West Bengal have
the ghost of a specially revered ancestor as a dispenser of superhuman
knowledge.[1677] When local gods arose every local shrine, it is
probable, contained an oracle.[1678] The shrines of the great gods
naturally acquired special prominence, their oracles were consulted by
kings an