MASCOTS AND HOODOOS, a mascot is a person or thing supposed to bring good luck, while a hoodoo is an influence of evil. Another name for the hoodoo is Jonah, a term originating with superstitious sailors. The word mascot was first introduced into literature by means of the comic opera 'La Mascotte' writ ten by Audran, but in France it appears to hive been in common use for a long time previously among gamesters and sporting characters. It was used to signify some object, animate or in animate, which Like the luck-penny brought good fortune to its possessor. The word is traced back to the patois of Provence and Gas cony, where a mascot is something which brings luck to a household. Etymologically the word is derived from masque (masked or concealed), which in provincial French is applied — as ne coifs' is in more polished French — to a child born with a caul. Such a child was believed to be destined, not only to be lucky himself, but to be the source of luck to others. In most European countries there is a large trade in charms and talismans to bring good fortune.
The term hoodoo is a manifest' corruption of African voodooism and is a modified supersti tion of the system of terrorism which has been cultivated for years by the voodoo priesthood with remarkable success. There is, however, no scientific foundation for belief in either hoodoos or mascots, any more than there is in a reliance upon dreams and visions. Natural laws are not to be set aside by touching a hunchback or Carrying a rabbit's foot in one's pocket. It is a fact, however, that in every age of the world the goddess of chance has been worshipped tin der one name or another, and modern civiliza tion has not destroyed this cult. The belief in the mascot for luck, or the hoodoo for ill-luck. is an indication of weakness and lack of deci sion. In the 'Iliad,' when Hector is told that "the birds are against him," and all the omens unlucky, the Trojan hero makes answer: "Without a bird his sword the tree man draws; and asks no omen but his country's cause." See also OMEN ; SUPERSTITION.