VENTRILOQUISM
“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?”
–Isiah 8:19
Occasionally, it’s good to be reminded of the origins of the many practices 21st-century Americans now call “fun” (surely the devil’s favorite word).
It’s revealing how many “entertainments” and “amusements” began as dark customs in the occult and/or pagan worlds.
What were once discredited (and in some cases, forbidden) practices are now good old harmless FUN!
Many of these past times were rebranded as “entertainment” in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Just in time for the end times!
Originally, ventriloquism was a religious practice. The name comes from the Latin for to speak from the stomach, i.e. venter (belly) and loqui (speak). The Greeks called this gastromancy (Greek: εγγαστριμυθία). The noises produced by the stomach were thought to be the voices of the unliving, who took up residence in the stomach of the ventriloquist. The ventriloquist would then interpret the sounds, as they were thought to be able to speak to the dead, as well as foretell the future. One of the earliest recorded group of prophets to utilise this technique was the Pythia, the priestess at the temple of Apollo in Delphi, who acted as the conduit for the Delphic Oracle.
Like so many seemingly-innocent modern past times, ventriloquism has a darker history than most suspect.
In the Middle Ages, it was thought to be similar to witchcraft. As Spiritualism led to stage magic and escapology, so ventriloquism became more of a performance art as, starting around the 19th century, it shed its mystical trappings.
Other parts of the world also have a tradition of ventriloquism for ritual or religious purposes; historically there have been adepts of this practice among the Zulu, Inuit, and other peoples.
The shift from ventriloquism as manifestation of spiritual forces toward ventriloquism as entertainment happened in the eighteenth century at the travelling funfairs and market towns.
FUN!
Researching “ventriloquism first began when this writer’s Bible mentioned “ventriloquism” in a note about Isaiah 29:4, which is referring to a familiar spirit [personal demon].
“And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.”
By the late 18th century, ventriloquist performances were an established form of entertainment in England, although most performers threw their voice to make it appear that it emanated from far away, rather than the modern method of using a puppet.
A well known ventriloquist of the period, Joseph Askins, who performed at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London in the 1790s advertised his act as “curious ad libitum Dialogues between himself and his invisible familiar, Little Tommy”.
Fear of ventriloquists’ dummies appears to be a good deal more common than supposed. There’s even a name for it.
Fear of ventriloquist’s dummies is called automatonophobia. It also includes fear of wax dummies or animatronic creatures.
No doubt there will readers who will lodge those most familiar of end times American protests.
“Be reasonable! We just want to have a little fun! Lighten up! Where’s your sense of humor?”
But ventriloquism is only one of a collection of entertainments which have dark origins. These activities will be the topics of future articles; these include magic, hypnotism, ventriloquism, juggling and acting, among others: all began as something quite different than mere amusements.
Which is one reason deceived end times nations (such as our own) find such entertainments so enchanting.
“But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.”
–Isaiah 47:9
It is not yet too late to lay aside the things of this world and call upon the name of the Lord.
Time is Running Out: Today is the Day of Salvation
Tender Mercies of the Lord: Will Not Always Be Available
“But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
—John 20:31
THE GOSPEL
“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ”
–1 Corinthians 15:1-8
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
-–Romans 1:16
[Portions of this piece appeared originally in End Times Prophecy Headlines: February 17, 2016.]
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by Jeremiah Jameson
–with Mondo Frazier
images: Wikimedia Commons/pd
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