'

THE
BLACK ART
ROLLO AHMED

INTRODUCTION BY
DENNIS WHEATLEY ,

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

C. A. MILLS

Rollo Ahmed

lfiDl
SENATE

INTRODUCTION
T gives me very great pleasure to introduce this
book because, to some extent, I am responsible
for it.
Last year my "Black Magic" romance, The
Devil Rides Out, aroused such widespread interest that
Messrs. John Long asked me if I would write a serious
book upon the subject for them.
That I could not do. All the data that went into my
novel was acquired from old treatises or from conversations
with occultists to whom I secured introductions for the
purpose of obtaining such information as would enable
me to build up an accurate background for my story.
To this day my practical knowledge of magic remains
absolutely nil.
However, the genius of publishing lies in the ability of the
publisher to sense and supply a public demand. Messrs.
John Long were not put off by my inability to attempt
such a book as this, and they asked me if I could suggest
a serious student of the subject who would write a full
account of the history and practice of the Black Art.
That was altogether a different matter ; I had met
numerous occultists during my search for genuine local
colour for my book, and several of them might have produced a very readable study of this kind, but one stood out
beyond all the rest as a man of profound knowledge and
one whose very presence radiates power.
In Mr. Rollo Ahmed I introduced to Messrs. John Long
no student who has confined himself only to dusty books
and minor experiments, but a Master, who has devoted a
lifetime to acquiring a first-hand knowledge of that grim
" other world " which lies so far from ordinary experience,
and yet is so very near for those who have the power to
pierce the veil.
Mr. Rollo Ahmed is a member of that ancient race which
possessed by far the greatest and longest enduring
civilisation of all known antiquity-the Egyptians. They

I
The Black Art
First published in 1936 by John Long Ltd, London
This edition published in 1994 by Senate, an imprint of
Studio Editions Ltd, Princess House, 50 Eastcasde Street,
London WIN 7AP, England
Copyright this edition Studio Editions Ltd 1994
All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the publishers.

ISBN I 85958 048 3

Printed and bound in Guernsey by
The Guernsey Press Co Ltd

INTRODUCTION

were coupling astrological predictions with exact and

scientific astronomical observation when both Greeks and
Romans were still skin-clad barbarians. Much of the
ancient Egyptian wisdom has been lost, but such portions
of it as still remain have been handed down through countless generations to the few, such as Rollo Ahmed, who are
its heirs to-day.
In his childhood Mr. Ahmed was taken to the West
Indies, which was the home of his mother. He spent many
years there and in the little-explored forests of Yucatan,
Guiana and Brazil. There he was able to acquire firsthand knowledge, not only of the primitive magic of the
native forest Indians but Voodoo and Obeah ; those sinister
cults which are still practised by the descendants of the
African negroes who were imported as slaves during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Mr. Ahmed then left South America for a period in
Europe, and later for Asia, and settled for some time in
Burma to study occult practices in that sorcery-ridden
land, where he had many strange experiences.
Having studied the worst aspects of the Black Art in
three continents, he eventually sat at the feet of the
" white" magicians who lead lives of almost unbelievable
asceticism in order that they may acquire power to work
for the good of all mankind.
Mr. Rollo Ahmed is himself a practitioner of Raja Yoga,
and all those who have heard him lecture upon this subject
must envy him his remarkable clarity of exposition.
A little time ago he came to live in Europe, and all those
who have been privileged to meet him recognise his brilliant
intellect and astounding erudition in all matters connected
with the occult.
Such praise as I have received in a most voluminous
correspondence from all over the world as t_o the accuracy
of the data in my book, The Devil Rides Ottt, is almost
entirely due to my many long conversations with Mr.
Rollo Ahmed. With unfailing patience he answered my
innumerable questions, and in the most generous manner
he placed his profound knowledge entirely at my disposal,
in order that I might make my novel a little more than an
ordinary fiction book.
It is a very great pleasure to be able to acknowledge my
indebtedness to him here, and in the Black Art to introduce

INTRODUCTION

9
I c:. the public a really masterly work which I feel certain
will prove of the highest interest both to students of the
ncntlt and the general reader who, in one volume, now
lt uw the opportunity to learn many of the mysteries which
lw ve, throughout all ages, fascinated most thinking people.
DENNIS WHEATLEY.

CONTENTS
PART

CHAPTER

I
PAGK

l'IIE EARLIEST RECORDS OF BLACK MAGIC

I7

Traces sorcery back to antediluvian times, and mentions various

early evidences and records of its practice.

CHAPTER
I"HE ANCIENT MAGIC OF THE EAST

II

23

Deals with Oriental magic of all kinds, divinations, auguries,

beliefs regarding witchcraft and black magic, and accounts of
various practices including those of China and Japan, etc.

CHAPTER
EGYPTIAN RITES AND PRACTICES

III

34

Is concerned exclusively with black magic among the ancient

Egyptians and the methods they employed.

CHAPTER

IV

JEWISH NECROMANCY AND MAGIC

47

Gives a brief outline of the history of Jewish necromancy, and

its symbols and practices-the use of the mystic Kabala.

CHAPTER

MAGIC IN GREECE AND ROME

57

An account of black magic among the Greeks and Romans, with

references to famous characters and legends of the times.

CHAPTER

VI

THE DARK AGES, MEDIJEVAL SORCERY AND BLACK MAGIC

Shows how a Satanic wave flooded the whole of Europe during

the Dark Ages, Famous practitioners of the black art and
their methods. Brief account of the punishments meted out to
witches and sorcerers of the Middle Ages.
II

67

CONTENTS

I2

CONTENTS
PART II

CHAPTER VII
PAGE

94

THE CHURCH AND MONASTIC BLACK MAGIC

Deals with black magic practised within the Church and

furnishes instances when her dignitaries were accused of witchcraft, and the dealings of saints and ecclesiastics with demons
and the black art.

I3

CHAPTER I
I'AOa

il

L Hfl~ l<ll Y oGIS AND FAKIRS OF INDIA.

195

I ! ull l ~

with m agical practices of the lesser Yogis and Fakirs, and

loull.111 black magic as a whole.

CHAPTER VIII
WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM AND WEREWOLVES IN EUROPE

CHAPTER II

I06

~IM:IC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

Deals with witchcraft on the Continent, and relates various

beliefs in vampires and werewolves, with accounts of instances
of Lycanthropy, etc.

OF

206

witchcraft and black magic in the British Isles, and

""'' ul the superstitions and legends in connection with it.

CHAPTER IX
THE ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS
EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES

ll rnc oiht~

CHAPTER III
THE

THIRTEENTH

TO

SPIRITUALISM

I28

229

oounancy and spiritualism show the relation between very

"'0:1rnt magical practices and modern mediumship :>!::' dt
"'"'unication.

Gives an account of the famous alchemists and sorcerers of the

thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, and their pursuits of
the elixir of life, etc. And the results of their practices; the
Mesmerists, etc.

CHAPTER IV
I,At] K MASS

CHAPTER X
SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES

OF

IH

MAGIC

2)6

1 lull account of the chief ceremony of black magic and the

lltuds employed in its ritual.

Explains the symbols and material objects used in sorcery and

necromancy, gives various incantations, etc.

CHAPTER V
2H

CHAPTER XI

159

BLACK MAGIC AND SEX-RITES

\ olr~cription of the spirits known as elementals, their origin,

fll"lilltnce a nd field of manifestation, and how they are dealt
illo loy the black magician.

Is a brief outline of the sex-rites performed in connection with

black magic ceremonies and sorcery in many countries.

CHAPTER VI

252

account of sorcery as it is practised to-day in all grades

itty.

I ilii

CHAPTER XII
168

PRIMITIVE RACES AND BLACK MAGIC

CHAPTER VII

Describes the habits and beliefs of savage races in connection

with witchcraft, and some account of their ceremonies and
secret societies.

CouNTE RACTING SoRCERY

262

olttails of exorcism, and protection against the black art,

lllt'thods of counteracting the effects of evil.

CHAPTER XIII
SORCERY IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

Is a brief account of sorcery in North and South America from

earliest times up to the present day.

I8I

CHAPTER VIII

274
~ i 1i i R of the au t hor's opinion on various subjects touched
!ldiu~ chapt ers and his advice to would-be occultists.

on in

THE BLACK ART

PART I
CHAPTER I
THE EARLIEST RECORDS OF BLACK MAGIC
li -111

~orcery

back to antediluvian times, and mentions various early

evidences and records of its practice.

,. = ,. HE

history of man is the history of magic. It is

a difficult task to turn to any particular era and
say that at this time or that magic made its
appearance in definite form, because, although
1!0!0 11rc very early records of its practice, there are still
nli: traces and evidences left behind in the shape of rude
ii Vi ugs, symbols, and so forth, and the legends that have
handed down through generations by word of mouth
lni!f'l These traces are to be found among every race and
.-y untion on the globe. Magic was man's first effort to
f ,li~ h contact with the unknown; the hidden spiritual
, which he dimly felt to exist and by means of which
lf J)t'cl to attain his desires and accomplish matters that
d <lifficult or too much for him by ordinary means.
1 nil magic was black, but all magic did eventually develop
il ltndency, and magic as a whole grew to imply that
ill h was dark and dubious if not actually evil. In the
lutlo u of thought, magic, as representing a lower intelurd ltvel, probably everywhere preceded religion but,
lrr, l'fllt parallel with it.
ow, the occultist traces black magic much further back
lUi\ llut mcre materialist. He goes b;:~.ck to the lost continent
I AUnuti'l, which sank beneath the waves of the Western
na 11nd thereby caused the greatest cataclysm the world
C' ' xpcrienced, referred to in the Bible as the Flood.
,-,, 1ln of Atlantis had reached a high state of evolution,
17

18

EAHLIEST RECORDS OF BLACK MAGIC

THE BLACK ART

physically, mentally, and spiritually, and had attained a

vast knowledge of psychic powers. Unfortunately they
proceeded to misuse their knowledge, and the initiates of
Atlantis fought one against the other for supernatural
supremacy, using their powers for the enslavement of their
fellow creatures and the race as a whole. They are supposed
to have reached an even higher standard of civilisation than
man has since attained, but they became adepts of the black
art and controlled psychic and elemental forces to dominate
the animal and mineral kingdoms. This race is symbolised
in the Bible as the Tower of Babel, a civilisation whose base
rested on earth and whose summit reached into higher
realms than man was yet entitled to penetrate.
In the end, the Atlanteans brought about their own
destruction by the perversion of forces which even destroyed
the entire continent. Some few of the Atlantean people
escaped, by removing themselves to other countries before
the final upheaval. The yellow races of to-day are regarded
by some as their descendants, and if any traces of these
remote ancestors remain, and their magic practices, they
should be looked for among the Chinese and the closely
guarded secrets in the Lhamasseries of Thibet.
It is certain that these ancient people fell into monstrous
evils, and became the first earthly masters of the black art,
bestowing upon an unfortunate world the earliest vibrations
of sorcery. The material proof of the existence of Atlantis
is slight, but is an accepted fact among most occultists. In
a work of this description details cannot be entered into, but
the seeker will find circumstantial evidence of its actual
existence by comparing the habits, artifacts, architecture,
and myths of widely separated peoples, who can only have
acquired their characteristics from a common basis, now
extinct.
We find material evidences of magical practices in the
European caves of the Pala:olithic age; those belonging to
the interglacial period, which is sometimes also called
Aurignacian, after the cave dwellers of Aurignacia, whose
remains and drawings link them with some of the primitive
African tribes. In a cave near Bagneres de Luchon there
are spirited drawings of masked men and animals; also,
the impress of hands in a mutilated condition, some of which
appear to have been dipped in a sticky fluid, while others
have been outlined with black or yellow pigments.

19

llunities on the subject do not consider that they are

ho imprints of lepers, but all have fingers tom or cut away

tllu) ltrst

joint, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that

lio !]l llr St' of this dismemberment was for sacrificial purposes.
1

ny primitive peoples do the same thing even to-day.

i lu; rase of epidemics it is quite usual to offer a finger or

for the magical purpose of "cutting off" the deaths.

f>;rvage tribes maim themselves as a mark of grief or
illrning. Quite recently an educated Englishman, whose
de had left him, consulted the author on the advisability
I 1 crificing the first finger of his right hand in order to
or ,. her to return; needless to say, he was advised to do
lfl hurg so drastic.
I here is another cave in France with a drawing on the
, .... 1. surface of a masked man with antlers. It is found on
lit( walls of a little room at the end of a long passage, and
idtntly represents a primitive sorcerer masquerading as
ur unimal. Nearby is a sort of altar, where this prehistoric
'":grcian probably made sacrifices. Antlers and horns have
l it~e n the_insignia of devils and black magicians from time
ln11rrcmorial, and are worn by present-day witch doctors.
l'hc carving in question is a particularly lively illustration
,-,1 this early wizard, prancing and bedecked.
"urther east, and coming to a different period, we find
!Ill' great Zoroaster, the founder of the Magian religion, who
is thought to have lived about rooo B.c. or even earlier.
Onginally the aim of his teaching was the distinction between
good and evil, with good triumphant, but as the years rolled
on it degenerated into an idolatrous form of fire worship
111d its priests were certainly black magicians, judging by
I he methods they employed for divination and the like.
The Magi flourished when Cyrus founded the New Empire.
I hey sacrificed to the sun, moon, earth, water, and winds,
with many revolting rites performed with the blood and
bodies of children and animals. In many countries witch<raft is found blended with religion. Every early religion has
the characteristic of blood sacrifice, particularly of children
and the first-born. The Jews are only typical of many
in this respect. In fact, it was so common a practice that
many may contest the theory that it was in any material
sense black magic, even though all blood sacrifice is sorcery.
In India all kinds of magic are found blended with the
holy Vcdic rites, and the Samaridham Brahmna is composed
Hilfi

THE BLACK ART

EARLIEST RECORDS OF BLACK MAGIC

largely of sorcery and incantations. In early Egypt the

worshipper could only approach his gods through the media
of magic rites. In following early evidences of sorcery and
incantations we must not overlook the Jewish Kabala, nor
the various forms of phallic worship which were a feature
of the very earliest religions. Phallic worship, however, was
not so much connected with black magic until its revival in
later times. It continued, nevertheless, to run, as a disguised and unacknowledged thread, through all beliefs, and
is clearly interwoven with the various Serpent religions,
wherever found. It also leaves its traces in the formation
of the Cromlechs and Dolmins of the Celtic peoples.
A great Sicilian traveller of Julius Cresar's day discovered
a Chaldean tribe composed entirely of a sacred caste, which
devoted the whole of its time to the culture of occult science,
and was eternally occupied in discovering secrets of the
future and the spirit world by means of astrology and
every kind of magic. The same historian tells us that
the Assyrians practised divination and auguries, and
undoubtedly handed down their methods to the Romans,
whose customs regarding sorcery and the consultation of
oracles show evidences of this origin. We know that in
Homeric times black magic was extensively used, and there
are still traces of it among the Etruscans. It is recorded
that Menelaus, detained in Egypt, sacrificed children so
that he might divine the future by their entrails; a practice
which he acquired from Egyptian sorcerers. Julian the
Apostate is well known to have practised the black art at
the Temple of the Moon, built at Carra in Mesopotomia, and
after his death in battle an unfortunate woman was found
there, hanging by her hair with her liver tom out.
Of Babylonian magic there is comparatively little data;
only the records of possession by demons, and various forms
of exorcism found in cuneiform, on tablets of Assyrian and
Babylonian origin, together with little figures and amulets
used for working magic, and as protection against sorcery.
Among the North American Indians, the Aztecs, and other
native dwellers of America, black magic flourished as far
back as we can trace. Many of these records, however,
are based on the discoveries of early missionaries and are
correspondingly scant. None the less, although so widely
separated from other races of the world until comparatively
recent times, their myths and legends prove in word and

pa mllel with those of better known peoples and lands.

ytnpathetic magic acted between persons and some
nardniHl object-such as a wax figure, and in a different
iil ~ l rncc between a wound and the weapon that caused it.
11d1 was all very simple and elementary, but there were
11d nrc far deadlier forms. The non-Aryan nations of
I 111 ope carried on a procedure which was practically the
IIIII ' ns the modem savage's demonism, and their religions
'"'' into pure sorcery. Some people do not agree with this
llwmy; claiming that there is too big a gap between
lltrr idism and the earliest mention of witchcraft. Yet
! ltllldism, in a bastard form, continued to exist long after it
\' 1" officially supposed to be extinct. British magic and
Wilt hcraft was its successor. Britain was a centre of
lltllidism even for continental Celts, who sent men over to
lw ome Druid priests. There was, too, a school of this order
in France, or Gaul; and Julius Cresar mentions that their
It Hining was arduous. This training was chiefly in astrology
!lid magic. The Druids were Magi, priests and hierophants,
nd also medicine-men. They deviated to the left-hand
path; to use their powers for personal ends, to become
invisible, to cause enchanted sleep, and in preparing spells
to produce lunacy, disease and death.
From the earliest days, the Deity worshipped in black
nwgic was the source and creator of evil, the rival of goodtH 'SS. Various forms were the Egyptian god Set, the Persian
Ahriman, the Python of the Greeks, the Jewish Serpent,
Satanas, Balial the Devil, and later Baphomet of the
I tmplars, the Goat Deity of the witches Sabbath. In the
.tncient Kabala Satan's name was that of Jehovah reversed,
rnd he was not actually a devil but the negation of light and
truth. In the Roman Saturnalia we find one of the earliest
forerunners of black magic festivals. In this ceremony
1-laves reversed places with their masters, and there was
general feasting and abandoned behaviour. There followed,
'11 over Europe, festivals of a semi-religious nature, in
which those t aking part adorned themselves with hideous
masks and gave themselves up to wild dancing, licentiousness and sacrifices.
As we shall see, a time came when black magic rose like
a hideous psychic wave, swamping Europe and permeating
all daily life. So widespread became the belief in the spirit

20

21

'v 11rg and architecture that their main ideas and practices
!i'

22

THE BLACK ART

of evil that it may be truly said that the devil reigned

supreme. Black magicians flourished everywhere, and the
world was a nightmare place of terror. Whenever the rays
of the sun began to fade, and the twilight hours of evening
and dawn appeared, the legions of evil were abroad to work
their destruction upon mankind. The simplest action was
fraught with danger, and could only be accomplished with
the aid of talismans and counter-spells, and people lived in
constant dread of the unknown.
This state of affairs gave the evil intentioned limitless
scope to trick and mock, to gratify base and licentious
appetites, to indulge in lust of every description, and
unbelievable cruelty and sadism. Black magic sowed and
reaped its horrible harvest of evil persecution, obscenity,
madness, torture and death. Until, in course of time, black
magic became organised to work against established religions
and societies, and was practised in dark and secret places
with the object of overthrowing established powers.

CHAPTER II
THE ANCIENT MAGIC OF THE EAST
I inli I; wt t h Oriental magic of all kinds, divinations, auguries, beliefs regardlit If witchcraft and black magic, and accounts of various practices
1111 htding those of China and Japan, etc.

N dealing with the history of black magic it is

rxtremely difficult to unravel the evidences of the
black art from merely magical practices of a beneficent
or protective nature. On the other hand, nearly all
ifl.tf~k tends in time to the left-hand path; as being a
lr~ v1ous means of attaining desires unobtainable by ordinary
1wlhods.
A good example of left-handed magic may be seen in the
'll!:i of love charms and spells. They appear on the surface
h(lt mless and romantic enough, but they only too frequently
legtnerate into use in cases where some legitimate barrier
Ht5tS between the two people. They may often be resorted
to hy women desiring to entice the husband of another, or
viet versa. In cases where no material or moral difficulty
WitS to be overcome, the magic of nature was quite sufficient,
llt it is to-day. However, that is a digression. As we delve
1nt o the mysteries of the past we find a mass of evidence of
m;tgic in mythology, folk-lore, history and religion, and
gt adually from among these records we are able to dist mguish black magic, but even then it is hard to say where
nrdinary magic ends and sorcery begins.
In ancient Babylon, Assyria and Chaldea, magic was a
prerogative of the priest, and in very early times there was in
Mesopotamia a sect of priests set apart for magical practices.
I heir work seems to have largely consisted in exorcising
troublesome spirits, suppressing demons, and probably
practising hypnotism, which was a very usual art among the
Egyptians and adjacent peoples.
In Babylonia such priests were called Asipu, and were
pre-eminently exorcists, and probably necromancers as
well. There were also the Barii, who were Augurs divining
2J

24

THE BLACK ART

the future by the entrails of birds and animals ; the liven

of sheep being a very favourite means.
There was evidently warfare between the priest
magicians and avowed wizards and sorcerers, and even in
those times there existed a very stringent law against black
magic. The means of testing whether or no a man was a
sorcerer was the very favourite one, employed in all eras, of
trial by water. This took the form of flinging the accused
into a river, and, if he were able by any means to save
himself, he was considered innocent and his accuser drowned
forcibly in his place; if he sank, however, it proved that he
was guilty. The method must have caused some excruciatingly anxious moments for both the parties concerned.
In later times European witches were subjected to similar
trials in village ponds.
Tablets cast in the days of ancient Babylon and Chaldea
relate how black magicians and witches roamed the streets
of cities, ready to seize on any evil to be performed.
Exorcists made images of witches, and called upon the firegods to bum them. Indicating the eyes, tongue, hands,
feet and reproductive organs of the witch, the exorcist
prayed that sin itself might cast her into a hell of fire and
water. So that the witch should not, in tum, direct her
sorcery to him, he fastened upon her the counter-spell of the
Haltapper plant and Sesame, to make her undo her work
and force back her own words upon her.
These Babylonian and Chaldean tablets abound in
magical matters, and date back at least to the seventh
century B.c. They are largely concerned with exorcism,
the common method of dealing with sorcery and evil beings,
and the inconsistency of the fact that the counter-spells
involved were in themselves forms of black magic does not
seem to have been noticed by the Babylonians ; unless they
believed in working on the similar rates of vibration and
casting out evil by evil-as unsatisfactory a method in
occultism as it is materially.
In both Assyria and Babylon, disease was looked upon as
the work of evil spirits or sorcerers. Yet though many
potions and herbs of a curative nature must have been
taken, they were supplied by a magician and not by anyone
corresponding to our idea of a physician, although the
tablets mention a distinct body of surgeons and give some
accounts of their work. These men are much to be com-

NCIENT MAGIC OF THE EAST

25

HI I hC' punishment for causing injury or death

li OJ)I~rotion

was to have both hands cut off.

till lntc:l' times, when physicians of a kind had been
1. lluw were also practitioners of magic, and were
1i ; the exorcists still existing as a separate branch.
(Joys it was fairly common for these doctors-cumno to be sent from one country to another at the
Cl' wyalty as a mark of favour to illustrious neighhe) were sick. They came chiefly from Egypt and
i:1, ;1s these countries were then the most important
I (;drnce and learning. There is a tale recorded of
1!0 Cf the Rameses, being married to the daughter of a
l!i l(ing, Khattushil, sent his physician to heal his
in law in an illness. This man failed to do any good,
I Plcfii,IOh next despatched a holy image of the Egyptian
!-God, Khona, in order to cure her. The god at length
I und according to legend wrought mightily with the
pilt, while the Hittite King stood without with his
rs and feared greatly. Happily the god was victorious.
t 1(llogy does not appear to have dominated Assyrian
:nahylonian magic as much as has been popularly
pposr.d; not, for instance, to the extent that it influenced
II Hi -H((yptian magic.
ll!o l~gyptians had a great interest in astronomy, and in
ltiuc\ of astral mythology closely linked with their disf' is in that direction. They were also great believers in
occult significance of numbers. Seven was thought to
i power both for good and evil, and we find this number
111 ring again and again in magic incantations and for use
i < \orcism.
J\ It hough there were in Egypt many male practitioners of
n 1ty, there seem to have been as many women engaged
11pon the black art. The tablets upon which the events of
l!ac day were recorded refer to enchantresses, and we can
cut lude that they were by no means restricted to ancient
llclclames. Black magicians themselves have left very little
lre of their doings, and our knowledge of them is chiefly
1ined through the records of the priest-magicians and
orcists of the measures employed against them.
l'hree things were considered necessary in exorcism.
First, the word of power, by which the magician called upon
the aid of gods or spirits. Secondly, the name and
cl<"scription of the demon or person being worked against.

26

THE BLACK ART

ANCIENT MAGIC OF THE EAST

Thirdly, charms, amulets, the inevitable figure of wax, and

sometimes hair or nail-parings taken from the object of
the ceremony.
Many tablets are inscribed with long lists of known
demons to be exorcised. As these entities must therefore
have been exorcised and removed from their human
habitation many times over, we can only suppose that
casting a demon out of one body certainly did not prevent
him seizing on another, until he and the professional exorcist
must have become quite old acquaintances. A great deal
of ritual and ceremony was observed, such as sprinkling
the room and person of the subject with water and massaging
the body with special herbal ointment. But a very great
part was played by the patient himself, who had to throw
himself upon the ground, kneel, recite incantations, and so
forth.
Ea and Marduk appear as the chief gods of the exorcising
priests. The sun, moon and stars entered largely into their
religion, but with scarcely the same astrological significance
that they had in other countries.
There is little direct evidence of blacK magic, although
we know it was very extensively practised by both the
Assyrians and Babylonians. We know of their sorceries
almost entirely through tablets dealing with exorcism, and
we are told the results of their activities but comparatively
little of their methods. Magicians of both countries used
clay or wax figures for " working upon" their objects, and
one formula tells us to choose mud from the banks of two
rivers and form a clay image with it, inscribing upon this
image the names of the persons concerned. We next
require seven stalks from seven date trees (note the occult
significance of seven), and, having made a bow from horses'
hair, the image must be set up and the stalks shot at it from
the bow with the words: "Destroyed be so-and-so."
The Tamerisk was used in black magic rituals, and cut
with great ceremony with a silver knife or a golden axe.
Nearly all Eastern peoples believe that Tamerisk possesses
magical properties ; some Egyptians hold it sacred, and it
was used for good and bad magic by them as well as by the
Chaldeans, Assyrians and Babylonians.
A common dread was the evil eye, and the chief charm
against it was in the form of a knotted cord woven by a
" wise woman." Assyrian magicians were in the habit of

lwol 'i, while repeating incantations. One inscription

o fharm containing the phrase (presumably about a
li !1) " hrr knot is loosed, her works are brought to
ld ,"
In quite recent times the Russian peasantry
('(( that a bewitched person must have no knots or
l r1d 11g~ in a garment worn for exorcism; it must be all in
tlj,.,.", so that the witch or evil spirit would have no
lo hide.
! lit 'ndless verses describing various spells that had been
t llpon people must have been the work of the lesser
i,_;httts, and as such it is quite understandable that they
It ill) lirst-hand record behind them.
ct'l iO tar-rings and bracelets, that form such a striking
'"'" of nearly all Assyrian drawings and carvings of
tl uH'n and women, were originally worn for protection
!llllllds, and were frequently inscribed with incantations.
llu y believed that newly shed blood was attractive to
il and elementals, and had a great horror of it accord~~
We can trace here one of the origins of the intense
ill11ug of female blood evinced by Assyrians and
mit1'i, which resulted in a taboo upon women during
rl [I in periods. The magic and beliefs of these peoples
viwd into later times and even penetrated into Europe,
!l.eting down through the ages, partly by the instruiil'llt:tlity of the Romany peoples, and also through the

27

1It

Juw

J)tvination and auguries, and the consulting of oracles,

Jllrtyt<l a large part in all ancient magic, and in Egypt
fllllllar dreams were sought in certain Temples. Devotees
kp t on the skins of sacrificed rams, and the priests
till!: preted the resulting dreams. If they were satisfied,
t h y threw pieces of gold into the waters of a Holy Spring in
ll u Temple precincts-one imagines it was very unlikely
tl nd anyone had the courage to deny the gods their offering .
.Ht ligious dances, mutilations for sacrifice, and the magical
lutprcss of blood-stained ~ands as a protection against evil,
"' found among nearly every race, and the same beliefs
1111l customs crop up time and again.
<>ne of the commonest Assyrian forms of divination was
ly pouring oil on water, and calculating future events by the
patterns it made. The building of temples and palaces was
l:t~lly undertaken after having consulted oracles, or omens,
I o discover a propitious time for their construction.

28

THE BLACK ART

ANCIENT MAGIC OF THE EAST

Another method was practised by the Baru, or Seer, by

means of the liver of a sacrificial sheep. After the animal
had been slaughtered with the usual rites, the liver was
exposed and the future judged by its appearance and that
of the accompanying glands. Thus a swollen gall bladder
indicated an increase of power for a reigning king or
individual. Unusual marks on the left of the liver were
thought to indicate misfortune, those on the right foretold
favourable events.
This form of consultation is called hepatoscopy. Many of
the appeals to the oracle were on political affairs and those
concerning warfare.
The gods were supposed to indicate the trend of the
future in the liver, since the ancients supposed that organ to
be the seat of life. An equally popular means of divination
was the sun oracle, dedicated to Shamish the sun god,
which Assyrian kings consulted before undertaking any
enterprise, and especially on occasions of birth and
marriage, etc.
The Chaldeans kept a close watch upon the heavens for
any unusual manifestations among the planets, and comets
or shooting stars were thought to be the omens of misfortune to royalty and nations. Even the radiance of
the various stars and planets was carefully noted and
deductions made from their appearance. The Chaldeans
made such a fine art of their knowledge that to the Greeks
their very name was synonymous with astrology.
In ancient India the practice of divination by horoscope
was largely spread by the influence of Persian and Greek
astrologers, but even earlier the power of the sun, moon and
planets over man was recognised. The Indian diviner of
omens regarded every event of nature, from the rising and
setting of sun and moon to earthquakes, floods and tempests,
as direct portents of the gods. The flight of birds and the
movements of wild animals held a special meaning for him ;
he not only presaged events from these things but interpreted dreams, every possible object encountered in life
having a dream symbology unknown to the ignorant.
Much Indian divination was performed through the fear of
witchcraft, and anyone suspecting that a spell had been cast
upon them frequently consulted an oracle to find the best
means of dispelling the evil, or a means of avoiding it
altogether. To the superstitious Indian of humble caste,

humdrum happening of existence had a portent;

llr<l he noticed upon a tree, every animal that crossed
n<d h, held a particular significance and was either a good
II omen. Omens were more or less casual affairs,
!!ill!: man's way as though by accident ; but oracles were
lil:u~~t.llcly consulted, either privately or professionally,
1uic.,ts or seers.
!"he ancient Shinto documents give a clear idea of
hliii'"' ''>(' theories of magic and omens, and the consultation
il 11 lcs held as large a part in the magic ritual of Japan
!i a that of other nations. The Japanese, too, believed in
"~ ular dreams.
There is an old tale of the Emperor
ti11i11, who had a dumb son, and in a dream he was told
' d 1f he built a temple to a certain god, whose name was
illal~tld, the child would gain his speech. On awakening
1111 Fmperor anxiously consulted an oracle, and discovered
hiJ ..:od's name by this means. He triumphantly built the
l!:iilplt, and on its completion the boy received the use of
li i8 tongue.
I iLc the Indians, the Japanese consulted oracles and
ncus in connection with the simplest affairs, and the most
triviul events wore the aspect of omens to him. Even his
{I s were only "superior beings," just a little more intellint and powerful than man, who needed even to consult
awlcs and practise divination themselves. A very
Ia vourite method borrowed from the Chinese was that of
(n11sulting the formation of the carapace of a tortoise, while
uaother was divination at the cross-roads under the auspices
of I unado, the road god. In the latter case one had to cut
t 11pecial stake of bamboo, and going to a cross-roads at dusk
1o ftx it in the centre. The diviner then stood aside, and
made his prognostications from the remarks of the passersby The idea of the staff was to represent the stick or wand
tt t:; cd by Izangi on leaving Hades, pursued by evil gods. He
plnccd his wand upright in the sand, and malevolent spirits
were unable to pass it and overtake him.
!'he Japanese believed firmly in the protective qualities
c,f rice against witchcraft, and for that reason sprinkled it
11 pon the floors in houses of pregnant women. It was also
used at cross-roads, since for centuries back the place where
roads met was regarded as having a sinister influence.
Every nation had its methods of " trial by ordeal " for
witchcraft and sorcery, and one very much in favour in old

29

THE BLACK ART

30
Japan was by boiling water and mud. When a cauldron of
this mixture was seething, the suspect was required to
plunge his or her hand and arm in and stir it round ; if the
hand remained unscalded, innocence was proved. Still
another means was to place the hand in a bottle or basket
containing poisonous snakes, and extricate it without
being bitten.
We have already touched upon the importance of crossroads in Japanese divination, and such spots were prominent
in many kinds of Japanese sorcery. Witches were thought
to work their spells at the cross-roads, which were also
regarded as of sinister danger to travellers. In consequence
phallic symbols were erected there, as a protection to wayfarers and to ward off witchcraft. Phallic emblems nearly
always stood for preservation and good fortune, the
generative organs representing life and abundance. And
often special festivals were held, with great ceremony, in
places where several roads met.
Strangely enough Japanese ghosts and demons were
usually thought to be female. They haunted wells, forests
and dark places generally, seeking to terrify and seize upon
the unwary. Their strangest feature was an absence of
legs!
To both the Japanese and Chinese, spirits and the spiritual
world were, and are, very real, and play a large part in the
lives of the people. The reverence of the Chinese for the
spirits of their ancestors is well known, but quite apart
from them there were ghosts of demons and goblins who
had to be guarded against.
One spirit is largely responsible for the unique structure
of Chinese buildings and bridges, with their strange angles
and turns. He is called Sha, and as he could only move
in straight lines, architecture took twists and bends to
confuse him, and thwart his malevolent influence. For
the same reason earthenware lions were placed on the roofs
of houses.
The fox and serpent were specially connected with witchcraft, but almost any animal was thought to become a
malevolent spirit in its old age. A Japanese belief was that
the souls of those about to depart this life went to the
Temple to announce their approaching death, and then
either rapped, or rang the "spirit" bells, as a sign to the
priest.

ANCIENT MAGIC OF THE EAST

111!

3I

dcmon beings, called Oni, were exceedingly dreaded.

Cc believed to be hideously ugly, and were possessed

nenc;c strength. Another, called Tenga, obsessed men

\\ 1\IS<'d frenzy and disease.
Japanese witches and
tl' ii1t fl were thought to have the power of assuming
nl i c~ size, and of travelling long distances by merely
lift 1 stride. Their feats have formed the basis of many
ill, "nd tales for children, but they were nevertheless
il 'il'tiously enough by the people of the times, who
incessantly preoccupied in finding means of exorcising
111 nn<l preventing their spells from working.
I !u.: Persian of ancient times personified every imaginable
I or ill attribute as a devil, and pictured them living in
I r.mroundings, the companions of the wicked and
lflfnnt ; which shows that the Avestan beliefs of elemental
II wcn not far from the truth. They believed in an archld c;~lled Ahriman, who lived surrounded by malevolent
lo!! .. wtrs, one of the chief being Jahi (the harlot) embodying
tho t~ pirit of sexual lust and destructiveness. All their
ic was steeped in astrology, and sorcery was worked
lcr the influence of the planets, while the propitious times
c'otmter-spells and exorcisms was discovered by the

111 0.

nwhere in the East had demons and sorcerers more

The lives of the inhabitants were
literally charged with magic, and
tCC'I y had there one of its firmest strongholds. There was
rwt ial fiend, named Pe-Kar, who was the guardian of the
!OII:tsteries of the " yellow-hats " sect. To him human
~e' iftces were offered up, and rites of black magic performed
fl)l' I he discovery of gold, and many other reasons. The
li 0p1 tiating of this demon, and the activities of the" yellowiii I!!," are not entirely things of the past; but Pe-Kar has
ww to be more often content with offerings of the blood
11d brains of slaughtered animals offered in bowls made of
llllll:tn skulls. These sorcerers summoned the spirits with
wltc_~ m they worked, by blowing on horns made from human
llti~o:h bones and beating on skull drums and gongs.
Au especially interesting part of the sorcerer's paral'lemalia was the three-cornered dagger, wi th which he
luhbcd or drove off the demons that he dispelled from other
11l11c nee than in Tibet.
IHI!! .1 d in an atmosphere

.
I

(ltOJllC.

A strange feature of Eastern magic has always been the

3Z

THE BLACK ART

mixture of sorcery and the worship of gods ; often, it is

true, with the idea more or less of " holding the candle to
the devil." Thus, in Burma, when temples and pagodas
were built to the honour of Budda, living men were walled
in at the four corners, as a sacrifice to the powers of evil.
A method of consulting oracles, which dates back to the
remotest periods but is still to be found among primitive
peoples, was that of placing a skull close by the head while
sleeping. During the night the skull was expected to talk,
and predict forthcoming events. Sometimes rice and different varieties of food and fruit were offered to the skull first.
Indian magic was as much a matter of avoiding sorcery as
invoking it, and a great deal of it was directed against human
ghosts, who, on account of violent death or some similar
reason, had become inimical to mankind. The Churel, or
woman dying in child-birth, has been mentioned elsewhere.
Among all classes of Indians it was a terrible misfortune
to die unmarried, and the spirit of such was greatly feared.
In the Deccan, the ghost of a young bachelor is thought
to waylay travellers and mislead them, to impersonate
husbands who are absent, and to cause all manner of misfortune. This has led to many post-mortem rites of" marrying " both young men and girls who have met untimely
deaths, in order to prevent their ghosts from haunting the
district and becoming a demon. The K'Chins of Upper
Burma used to celebrate the whole ceremony of marriage,
in the case of the dead person having been betrothed to a
man or girl, as if that person were still alive, in order to
insure the security of the spirit.
There have been reports of cases where, in the event of a
girl having died, a man was chosen to go through the
marriage ceremony and even have intercourse with the body,
before burial, so that she might not" walk."
All diseases were regarded as the work of demons, and
there were hundreds of ways of attempting to dispel them.
A very common one was to take an animal and, after various
ceremonies, to sprinkle it with blood and let it loose as a
scape-animal, carrying the disease away. Threads and
nails were extensively used, too. In dealing with undesirable spirits, the exorcist sometimes bound threads about a
house and fastened them to a near-by tree. This was for
the spirit to hang itself on, while iron nails were also
hammered into the ground at the four corners of the house.

ANCIENT MAGIC OF THE EAST

33
l lrmouology had a powerful hold on the people, and
llllllu tn many districts. An example of this was Shamantty that sect the devils were thought to be cruel,
l!fl'''"l, capricious, and only able to be appeased by
rt ,,.,ifices and devil-dancing. Thus, a sort of medium
low r.1stc impersonated the demon Viravesin, as Buffalo
111<l killed the sacrificial animal by tearing out its
1t wi th his teeth. The Shamanist believed in the potency
ltloo<l, nnd consulted a sanguinary oracle as follows. Rice
plnr.cd before the sheep or ram to be killed, and the
lur r: was then wounded and its blood sprinkled on the
I r it ate the grains it was a favourable omen, but if it
ned .1way it presaged disaster. In either case the poor
\1 111 t was killed.
!Gvll spirits and demons played a large part in Indian
hln[l, magic, too, and by their aid the sorcerer could either
~I IIi V( power over others or retain the demon to protect him.
if! l tans claimed to sell demons, sealed in bottles or in
fl ow bamboo rods, to those desiring vengeance on other
!pl<!. When a man died, it was commonly supposed in
1ir; parts of India that his soul had been stolen by somed .:;c's devil. The only way to discover the guilty demon
HI hy consulting an omen, having an augur to inspect the
lrual's or bird's entrails, or by rice grains. This done,
liC heir to the departed redeemed his relative's soul with
ift fl, and then secured it in a jar or pot for safety, making
t ollerings of food from time to time.
It. is a platitude to speak of the unchanging East, but
10 1hing exemplifies this attribute more than its magic
uo,loms and practices connected with sorcery. The witch' '' rt of Europe has become modified and altered, at least
i some degree, by religious persecution and changing
ln.hions a,nd habits; but that of the East remains to-day
.lftly what it was hundreds and probably thousands of
~rs ago, handed down from generation to generationthe oppressive legacy of fear.

I ~ G \'PTIAN

RITES AND PRACTICES

35

pain comes over me as thou hast freed, as thou hast

I I hy son Horus, as I enter the fire, and go forth
II! O wntcr."

CHAPTER III
EGYPTIAN RITES AND PRACTICES
Is concerned exclusively with black magic among the ancient Egyptiana,
and the methods they employed.

HE words mystery and magic are so interwoven

with the atmosphere of Egypt that it is difficult
to imagine a time when Egyptians were not past
masters in the art, black and white. Records
prove that by the IVth Dynasty magic was firmly established, and played a recognised part in the lives of the people,
though its actual inception was as old, and possibly older,
than the gods themselves.
Toth was regarded as a powerful magician, and from him
was derived the fame of Hermes Trismegistus. Horus was
credited with magical powers, while, according to at least
one papyrus, Astarte was looked upon as being an evil
and furious goddess lying in wait for man's destruction,
particularly by sea.
Isis, the mother of Horus, was the supreme enchantress.
In early Egypt itself she appears to have been a goddess of
protection and power against evil, and was honoured as the
mother and symbol of creation. In later times, though, in
many lands her worship gradually became confused with
sorcery, and she was regarded as the deity of witches and the
genius of necromancers. In the Tarot cards the High
Priestess was represented in the Egyptian pack by the figure
of Isis, and this symbology is still noticeable in the modern
European version, though not so clearly as it was in that of
the Middle Ages. Thus, originally the enchantments and
magic of Isis were beneficent, but these aspects became
perverted to the darker side by certain groups of mystics
and occultists, such as the Gnostics.
An early Egyptian invocation to Isis as the protectress
ran like this : '' 0 Isis, great enchantress, free me, release
me from all evil red things, from the fever of the god, and
the fever of the goddess. From death, and death from pain,
34

The exact meaning is somewhat obscure,

iilny even have been the plea of one expecting to
f) t lw tests of fire and water.
It is interesting to note
i' of "red things," and how this colour was so conwi I h evil that it even led to red-haired men being
liv1~.

v,.,ton of the Egyptians was far from being merely a

llf'i' ol mystic cultivation; they stood pre-eminent as
! 8 of the arts and sciences of the day. They were
llous metal workers, and from this purely practical
kdge they developed their skill in alchemy, whose
rlflliH' is derived from a black powder evolved in the
of separating gold and silver from their native ore.
powder was described as "Kamt" or "Qemt,"
'''''!-:dark or dusky. In later years the Coptic Christians
nit ted the words to the Arabs, and other peoples, in
lf11111 of " Kheme." To the knowledge of metals and
clumistry the term "Khemia" was applied. To this
rnbs added the article" al," and thus the word became
I 'hhcmia or alchemy.
'I his knowledge, and the attempts involved to transmute
tnls, grew to have its mystic side, and the wonderful
I( powder became mysteriously identified with the body
lnitts in the Underworld. The whole came to be thought
1 source of life and power, and the Egyptian alchemists
!0 ngarded as magicians, just as others were in Europe
I lrn Middle Ages.
ll11 Egyptian people themselves do not appear to have
Hlri any very strong demarcation between black and white
ir. Enchantments, exorcism, divination and all magic
were so universally practised that sorcery crept in
liittst everywhere, and was in turn connected with the
ir!'hip of the gods. However, when acts of a definitely
hnr'111ful and evil nature were perpetrated by means of magic,
Ill y came within the jurisdiction of the law, and were
lu;,rvtly punished, usually by mutilation or death. A
JHpyri of the IIIrd Dynasty records the case of two harem
11spirators, "who made magical writings to lead astray,
11111 work mischief, and made certain gods of v/ax, and
rill'dicine to weaken the limbs of man." Both were conkmned to death.

36

THE BLACK ART

The Egyptians had very definite ideas about possession by

evil spirits and demons, and the work of an exorcist can
have been no sinecure. They particularly believed in
possession by the spirits of negro and Asiatic women, and
thought that these ghosts came to claim their victims
secretly by night, "arriving in darkness, gliding in with its
nose backwards, and its face turned," though details of the
exact methods employed by such beings are disappointingly
vague.
One of the most dreaded sorceries was to deprive a man of
his heart. An ancient record of a black magician casting a
spell upon another, says : ". . . thou fallest upon the
ground upon which thy loin-cloth is spread, and there thou
gropest in quest of thy heart." There is a picture upon a
tablet of Nefer-uber-f, a priest, guarding himself from the
destroyer of hearts, who appears as a ferocious creature,
something between a man and a baboon, holding in the
right hand a long knife, and flourishing his tail, while the
priest protectively clutches his heart in his left hand. There
are many scenes depicted, also, of the priests and gods
weighing the hearts of men.
In some respects magicians were regarded with rather less
than the customary awe, in a country where magic was
almost commonplace and their gifts were ascribed more to
their own knowledge than to any supernatural source. The
instructions accompanying magical inscriptions presupposed
that the private individual could carry them out, and that
the magician was not always essential to successful results.
For the same reason, professional magic had to be more
than ordinarily impressive and mysterious, and therefore
"hike," or magic, gathered around it a wealth of ceremonies
and elaborate detail. This was especially so when certain
deficiencies and failures in results had to be covered up.
Magicians sought to impress the people not only with
the powers of the gods and themselves, but by means of all the
ideals of antiquity and established authority. Special rites
were performed at nightfall by a lector of the fane in
the fore court of the Temple of Coptus, for example, in the
honour of Isis, and the eeriness of the scene, increased by
the light of the moon shining upon the book (of Cheops ?)
must have been immensely impressive. Egyptian sorcerers,
and other practitioners of magic, rigorously tested their
magical performances, and if they were successful the trap-

" In the mysteries of Isis, the neophyte had to undergo

a rigorous probation."

EGYPTIAN RITES AND PRACTICES

il86 and
lt way,

39

purely theatrical aspects of the rites tended to

being unnecessary.
l luman sacrifices of a definitely black magical order
,(, place at the tomb of Osiris, while similar orgies with
1111111.111 victims were performed at Heliopolis. In the latter
i:li iHce, however, King Amesis eventually substituted
l :K tm images. The hands and sex organs were customarily
111 c,ff from those slain in battle, and were also sometimes
IIV!rted to the uses of the black magician. Embalmers,
prc raring bodies for mummification, always preserved the
hni1 that they had had to clip away in the course of their
r11 k. This hair was placed carefully wrapped up within
ti11J cavity of the abdomen, in company with certain organs,
uGh as the heart and liver. For, if a sorcerer could procure
I he hair of a person, it was believed that he could attain
ltnost limitless power over them, not only in this life but
vc n within the tomb.
l'he Warren magical papyrus mentions a method of
ltl.tining knowledge as to whether a certain person was
live or dead by means of the sorcery of numbers. Thus:
'' ke him (presumably the querent) reckon the quarter
I I he cup, let him fill this with water, add .... the number
111 ., .... and let him subtract 353, which is Hermes. If pairs
1t found in the numbers, he (the person enquired of) lives ;
il not, death has come.
Hydromancy was extensively practised by the Egyptian
rucsts and sorcerers, with a boy under puberty, a pregnant
~oman , or a black female slave, as the seer. The media
\t-as usually a bowl of clear water, but it was also sometimes
pool of ink, or even ink placed in the palm of the hand.
fhe Egyptian sorcerer is related to have been able to
1111bue wax figures of animals or reptiles with life, and in
this form sent them out to destroy the intended victims.
Ar; an illustration of this, there is a story that the wife of
111 official at the Court of one of the Pharaohs fell in love
with a soldier, and had an intrigue with him. She was in
the habit of spending the day with the man, at one of her
husband's houses near the Nile.
Now, the chief steward of this place thought it his duty
to warn his master of what was occurring, and mentioned
"t the same time that the soldier went down to bathe in
the river every evening. The husband, who was named Aba;mer, listened carefully, and proceeded to secretly fabricate
1II

40

THE BLACK ART

a crocodile in wax, over which he said some magic words.

This he gave to the chief steward, with instructions to cast
it into the waters next time the soldier went down to bathe.
The same evening when the lover left the house, the
steward followed him, and directly he entered the river
threw the wax crocodile after him. Upon which, the
simulacra instantly turned into a living crocodile, and carried
the terrified man down into the depths.
Seven days passed and then Aba-aner came to the river
bank, bringing Pharaoh with him. He called to the crocodile,
which rose up, bringing its victim in its jaws, and laid him
down at the feet of its master. Pharaoh remarked upon the
reptile's repulsiveness and fierceness, but Aba-aner laughed
and, stooping down, placed his hand beneath it. Instantly,
then, the creature became nothing more than a small
waxen image. Pharaoh was, of course, astounded, and
Aba-aner explained the situation to him.
Finally, raising his hand aloft, Aba-aner threw the
crocodile back in the water, saying: "Begone, and take
that which is thine with thee." Once more the object
became a living thing and, snapping up the unhappy
soldier, disappeared with him in a swirl of blood-stained
water. To complete the good day's work, Aba-aner with
Pharaoh's permission set about burning his faithless wife
to death. And as he watched her writhing in the flames,
and heard her piercing shrieks, he contemplated his twofold revenge with the utmost satisfaction.
The Egyptian sorcerers were also credited with the power
to restore amputated limbs, and even to replace the heads
of the slain without injury. They whispered their commands in the ears of the dead, so that they should carry
out the magician's designs in the land of the spirits, and
wove spells and enchantments that made a man's strength
fall from him like a garment, and turned his blood to water.
The Book of the Deati-or The Coming Forth by Daywas an elaborate manual of instruction and guidance for
the souls of the dead in the Underworld. It was full of
magic, but not of sorcery. It was a common practice for
whole chapters and leaves from this book to be entombed
with mummies, so that the dead would know how to proceed. The work also contained instructions for embalmers,
and many spells and incantations to prevent the mummy
from decaying.

EGYPTIAN RITES AND PRACTICES

4I

A great sorcerer and necromancer was the last native

I. lnlt of Egypt, Nectanebus, who lived about 358 B.C., and
" Ito was thought to rule and overcome his enemies by the
, ' 11 ise of his magic arts.
Indeed, he became an almost
lrrHlary figure; credited with semi-divine powers, as
111 who had familiar intercourse with the gods themselves.
I was an astrologer, also, and is supposed to have stood
li\ the side of Olympias, scanning the heavens while she
'" giving birth to Alexander the Great. Nectanebus
lud the child to be born at the exact moment when the
I'L111cts were most propitious, and begged Olympias to
itlthold the birth until he perceived a certain radiance
11 the sky. At length the psychological moment arrived,
uul the sorcerer called upon her to deliver the child, saying
Itt n he was born that he would be a governor of the world.
I )uring the reign of Rameses III there was a conspiracy
" tl!'throne him. A sorcerer named Hui, taking a prominent
it I in the plot, worked black magic to bring destruction
Jpon Rameses. Hui was the author of various works on the
111 of enchantment, and made a book that is related to have
l1 1v<n men mad. In the case of Rameses he sued wax
lltgics of the King and members of the Royal Household,
ul his sorceries proved of no avail and Hui met with the
tl'lltl fate of workers of witchcraft who were discovered.
rtlC Egyptians placed implicit faith in the power of
mds and names. To know the name of a spirit or demon
'" lo have control of it, and so we find many of them are
Ivc n secret names as well, which only the magician or
.lrpt could know. Thus, it was believed that no deity
o11ld withhold a favour from those who called upon them
l1v name. Their magicians had numerous ways of divining
ll u future, the most important being astrology, and horo' opes were cast for everyone and everything imaginable.
I ltcy also made moving statues for the pronouncement of
'' .1r.les, which answered some questions by gestures or an
1111 lination of the head.
l'he most important of the oracular statues was that of
]11 piter Ammon, situated in the great oasis. People travelled
l1om every part of the kingdom to consult it, alike on
,.,., ighty matters of State or on quite trivial affairs. It is, I
he lleve, somewhat uncertain what form exactly the statue
I ook ; but if it was a copy of the earlier one at Thebes, it
I'' obably had a ram's head and was certainly clothed daily

42

THE BLACK ART

by the priests in magnificent garments and sandals, and

ornamented with jewels.
Sorcerers, who wished to perpetuate a curse, or to guard a
tomb, would have several slaves chosen and tortured to
death. Before they lost their last spark of consciousness,
the sorcerer would confront them, giving a hypnotic command that in the spirit life they should guard the spot in
question and pursue any who desecrated it with misfortune
and disaster, fastening upon them to haunt them to
destruction. Curses were carried out in a like manner. It
is probable that at the time of Tutenkhamon (his real name
being Tutenkhaton, 1350 B.c.), when he was incarcerated in
his famous tomb, Egyptian sorcerers set the souls of slaves
to guard it by this method. And this may be said to account
for the misfortune that overtook many of those concerned in
the excavation under Lord Carnarvon and Mr. Harold
Carter in 1932.
There are innumerable objects and treasures both in
England and on the Continent that have been brought from
Egypt, and which have proved to be disastrous to all who
owned or came in contact with them. It is easy enough to
pooh-pooh such things ; but the fact remains that logical
minded people, who were not in the least credulous or
superstitious, have met with misfortune just as much as
those who were possibly more impressionable.
The obelisk, erroneously called Cleopatra's Needle, now
standing on the Embankment at Westminster, was brought
to England only after great difficulty, loss of life and shipwreck. Coincidence might explain some of these occurrences, but when they happen with such regularity as to
become almost a recognised sequence of events, then that
theory is not entirely satisfactory.
The Egyptian Magi had long discovered the secret of
perpetual fire , and many tombs which had not been entered
by any human beings for an immense number of years still
had their lamps steadily burning when at length men
entered there again. Every true magician had power over
the elements, but the power of commanding the appearance
of fire or flame in a certain place, for an indefinite (and
sometimes very lengthy) period, seems to have been limited
in early times to the magicians of Persia, Babylonia, Chaldea
and Egypt.
In the latter country, though native sorcerers abounded,

" J'he sorcerer would confront them, giving hypnotic

ommand that in the spirit life they should guard the spot
in question."

EGYPTIAN RITES AND PRACTICES

45

I they were overrun with Chaldean astrologers, witches

fortune-tellers, who made a fine trade from the poorer

t} ople, though at the same time the Chaldean magical
dPpts were honoured and sought after by every country.
Adcpts can read the future in the heavens with ease, and
i heir rites and formulas enable them to exert their powers
in rmy place at all times. The Chaldeans, even more than
ll w Egyptians, believed in and propitiated elemental
pirits, who seemed to them monstrous beings of semi1111111an appearance, ruling the winds and waters. The
lmon (or elementary) of the South-West wind was
p.u ticularly dreaded, as being the gini of fever and madness.
Among their lesser accomplishments the Egyptian
11 cerers possessed the art of dividing water, so that it
ould stand aside and expose the beds of rivers, and enable
t laings that had been lost to be discovered. This, of course,
l 'i not really sorcery at all, but white magic. If we are to
lwve Chapter XIV of Exodus, verse 2r, Moses possessed
llu~ !>arne power ; in the capacity of a sort of medium of
Jehovah. However, I do not think there is any record of
lit Fgyptian adept parting the water on quite such a grand
lie as the leader of the Israelites.
\OJ the God of Darkness, and the Evil genius of the other
!.lites, we should expect to find Set the particular guardian
ol the magicians and sorcerers. Yet, in point of fact, it is
l!! t who seems to have always been especially invoked for
illll;ic of all kinds both black and white.
IH considering Egyptian (or any other) black magic as a
hole, it is very necessary to discriminate between what is
wlintcntional sorcery and that which is deliberate. Any
t t ' which entailed living sacrifices, and offerings of blood,
t c definitely witchcraft in execution.
Some of the
Et;v ptian mysteries were certainly black magic, as far as
t lw11 ritual was concerned ; particularly those which were
Ill r rormed in honour of Osiris and Isis. On the other hand,
llf'n' is no evidence that they were conducted with the
pn~ss object of sorcery.
In the mysteries of Isis, the neophyte had to undergo a
IIJ)rous probation. This included baptism for purification,
wJ an arduous system which reduced the body almost to
'INil h, during which the soul was believed to reach the
irlflncs of good and evil spirits alike. While it thus hovered
n the: realms of mystery the spirits of the blessed imparted
illd

46

THE BLACK ART

their wisdom to it, and those of the dark regions on the

other hand endeavoured to inculcate such madness and
horror within the mind that the stricken soul would leave
its body forever. The exact rites which took place have
never been described, but it is certain that they included a
living sacrifice, which was offered when the neophyte had
successfully passed through his trials and become an initiate
of Isis.
The mysteries of Osiris were celebrated as a passion play,
the subject being the sufferings, passion, death and resurrection of Osiris. They took twenty-four hours to perform,
from six in the evening until the same time on the following
day, and we can imagine that their mode of presentation
was exceedingly beautiful.
The Egyptians had a marvellous sense of the beauty
of colour, and the beauty of line and formation, and in their
dramatic productions these qualities were given the utmost
expression. Linked with their love of clarity and precision,
the result in the passion play of Osiris was a piece of exquisite
pageantry that moved forward imperceptibly hour by hour
towards the triumph of the god. Yet, so perfect was the
formation, that each hour comprised in itself a separate
poignant drama, through which the main theme ran as a
golden thread, culminating in the victory of Osiris over
Darkness and Death. Indeed, here we can see quite plainly
the presence of the same verities that lie at the root of
the Christian religion. Although expressed differently,
they are none the less the same in inception hundreds of
years before the advent of the Great Master.

CHAPTER IV
JEWISH NECROMANCY AND MAGIC
l

brief outline of the history of Jewish necromancy, and its symbols

and practices-the use of the mystic Kabala.

I' is an accepted fact that the Jews acquired most of

I heir knowledge of magic from the Egyptians,
during their period of captivity, but they certainly
had their own characteristic practices that can be
,,ly recognised.
'l'luir first references to magic appear in the Pentateuch.
II1J Jews themselves attributed the earliest knowledge of
l/, ic and sorcery to a book of magic that was supposed
11 1, ve been given to Adam before he was cast out of
l\\1'. 11lise, and which was called the Book of Raziel. Another
r~ ion relates that witchcraft and sorcery were imparted
to woman by the fallen angels Uzza and Azail, and also
ll1!.i use of cosmetics, which were ranked as wicked enchant111' 11 t s.
II wish magicians invoked spirits with fumigations,
lf[i, and sacrifices. They agreed with all other sorcerers
llmt the gift most acceptable to evil spirits was blood, of
lddt the operator must also partake to gain the desired
ults and by so doing became the associate of demons.
llu baleful influence of blood being thus recognised, it is
llilcnlt to understand the free use of it for religious purposes
hy the Hebrews; unless they believed that Jehovah was
rnpable of taking pleasure in the same offerings as Satanic
1ngs from the Pit of Hell. Certainly, the harsh imagina111)11 of the Jew seemed incapable of conceiving anything
hut a God of Wrath.
lhe typically Hebrew attitude to magic was that its
''~ ' omplishments were at best only temporary ; that they
cJuld be undone by other magicians; and that magic
il r.l'lf was independent of the operator, who relied upon
oi11g something, some art, which would have certain results,
111<1 not upon his own innate power. Witchcraft and sorcery
47

THE BLACK ART

48
were looked upon with deep aversion, as being impure and
lewd, and those who practised it depraved to the last
degree.
This special attitude evidently arose from the fact that
so many of the rites of sorcery were performed naked and
involved gross sexual practices. Witches were classed with
harlots, and their works pronounced an abomination.
Nevertheless the Rabbis did not go out of their way to be
unduly harsh towards sorcery, except in very flagrant
instances, when the penalty was that of being stoned to
death. As magic became identified with idolatry, the exercise
of the laws against it became more stringent.
Even so, the Hebrews wavered between the two fires of
orthodox religion on the one hand and the paganism of
magic on the other ; and with them, as with other nations,
magical rites and beliefs were intermingled with religious
ceremonies, and white magic was unofficially practised.
To the strictly orthodox Jew, however, magic of any kind
was abhorrent (apart from the rites of his faith) ; and the
very word magician stood unequivocally for one who dealt
with dark and evil forces. Young boys were used for the
discerning of spirits in the following manner. A male child,
seven years of age, having been chosen for the ceremony,
his hand was anointed with olive oil and into it was placed
a crystal. The magician then seated himself on a threelegged stool, drew the boy between his thighs with his back
turned-so that the man's mouth could be close to the
child's ear-and took his free hand. Then, facing the sun,
the magician repeated in the child's ear: '' Aungil, I adjure
thee in the name of the Lord God, God of truth, God keeper
of the hosts, Alpga, Aidu, that thou shalt send one from the
three angels." The boy thereupon was supposed to see
a figure like that of a man, and the charm was repeated
twice more. After that, when the three figures had appeared,
the boy said to them:" Your coming be in peace," and proceeded to ask the required questions. If there was no answer,
the child was to address the figures as follows : " Kaspar,
Kelei, Emar, the master and I adjure thee with a second
adjunction, that thou wilt tell me that thing "-whatever
the required knowledge might be.
Hundreds of years later we read of Benvenuto Cellini
and a priest employing a small boy in their magic ritual.
Cagliostro also used boys for divination,

JEWISH NECROMANCY AND MAGIC

49

lite Jews believed that the true knowledge of magic

'"only available to the adepts, among whom they classed
''lmnon. Josephus mentions the works on magic that he
I II , the most famous of these being the Clavicule or Key
"-,'olamon, which is believed to have been translated from
l11 original Hebrew by the Archbishop of Aries. The
!!':'''uscript fell into his hands following a massacre of the
Imv~ of that City, and during the Middle Ages several
1!jilt'S were made.
lhc Hebrew magician used all the usual paraphernalia
of Htagic-wands, candles, black-handled knives, circles,
J]i 111 agrams and the like. In fact, medireval sorcerers and
11 1mmancers were indebted to the Kabala for most of
t lu 1r evocations. The former also used bowls inscribed with
t 1,,. names of mighty spirits.
These may have been empl,yed as crystals; the Talmud refers to "the Princes and
!ilrs of all shining objects and crystals," which appears
t" Indicate the spirits who manifested by such means.
Many famous children of Israel had the reputation of
!)dug magicians beside Moses. Manasseh was one who
~~~~rved times and enchantments, practised witchcraft and
lc,dt with familiar spirits and wizards. Balaam was
rllllllbered among them, and taught the daughters of Moab
''' be witches; it is, therefore, somewhat surprising that
111 was so taken back by the eloquence of his ass, accustomed
1 he must have been to supernatural events.
l'he witch of Endor was, of course, the outstanding
t'';'mple of Jewish necromancy, and it is unnecessary to
nl1r into details of how Saul consulted her in order to get
11 I ouch with the spirit of Samuel, the prophet, who had
!"''n the spiritual and political guide of Israel during his
Ii i' time.
1\ form of sorcery, called "Kischuph," was extensively
I" 1H.: tised. By its means witches and magicians changed
tl umselves into animals, and were able to cover great
[ll';lances in a short space of time. They caused disease,
p.tlll and death to attack men and women and animals.
lu women who indulged in it had" made a covenant unto
[l11 Schedim, and met them at certain times to dance with
ll iilll , and visited the spirits that appear to them in the
l.pe of goats." In many places such women were killed
I 1y stoning, when their activities were discovered.
Another and more "mental" kind of Kischuph was

so

THE BLACK ART

JEWISH NECROMANCY AND MAGIC

exercised by means of evil sympathy and disturbing the

harmony of the natural elements by exciting false " rapports" between various objects and substances.
There is a story of how three Rabbis overcame the work
of a Kischuph sorcerer. In the course of a journey the
Rabbis, named respectively Joshua, Eleazar and Gamalial,
came across a young man who had been robbed of his manhood and made a eunuch by a certain witch. On learning
the full circumstances, Rabbi Joshua undertook to make the
witch undo her work and restore his functions.
The three Rabbis therefore held a ceremony, in the course
of which Joshua sowed flax seed in a circle upon a table.
Just as the little mango grows under the hand of Fakir or
Yogi, so the flax grew and sprouted on the Rabbis' table.
Suddenly a shadowy form appeared, which materialised
into the witch herself. The Rabbis adjured her to endow
the young man with his former virility, but she vehemently
refused to do so. They then threatened to call the witch's
name aloud, and thus divulge it to the world ; whereupon
she confessed that she had cast her victim's organs of
generation into the sea.
Having obtained this knowledge, Joshua released the
witch from the bondage of the spell and she vanished.
Joshua and his companions next took the eunuch to the
seashore, where the Rabbis commanded the waters to cast
up his organs from their depths. This miracle occurred, and
the man's strength and powers were restored to him, so that
in due course he became the father of one named Judah.
Another tale relates how some witches enchanted the
young pupils of a Rabbi, and having lured them to their
house produced food and drink by magic means. During
the revelry the young men seized the witches in their arms
and lifted them from the ground. Immediately, the banquet
and all the dazzling appointments vanished, which
illustrates the Hebrew belief that a witch could only retain
her power so long as her feet were on the ground.
The Jews feared the sorcery of binding or enclosing the
soul or heart of a man, which was evidently a relic of
Egyptian black magic, and many references are found
regarding this form of witchcraft.
The favourite method of inviting intercourse with the
dead was by spending the night in cemeteries, and there
performing ceremonies of necromancy. A sorcerer of this

1!.'1,, 1 iption was referred to as" he who burns incense to the

II 1din, and he who passes the night by the graves in order
' " cnter into communication with unclean spirits." Their
o'ltnms were condemned as leading to insanity. A
' 1\(>hen " and an Israelite possessed by demons once sought
tl ll a physician.
The latter prescribed for the Israelite,
' "'' ;mse "he was of those who spent the night at graves,"
t)ll t declared that the Kohen should need no such assistance,
'-" 111g a man of spiritual learning.
Jcwish magicians divined a man's prospects of life by his
IIIUOW, on the night of Hosh'anah Rabba, by the light of
I li t moon. If a man " lost his shadow" on that particular
"'casion it was regarded as a sure indication that he would
tl1c: within the year. Frequent reference is made to the
111isfortune of those whose shadow has departed from them.
I he jocular expression" may your shadow never grow less"
lias an ancient and far deeper significance than its casual
1:ood humour implies.
The performances of Moses and Aaron, before the
tl rparture of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage,
wtre just as much magic as that of Pharaoh's magicians, and
I om the spiritual standpoint of our day it is difficult to
believe that God would really endow His Prophet with
power to smite any of His creation. Moses and his brother,
having sat at the feet of the Egyptian adepts, had become
uperior magicians themselves, who worked by control of
lhe elementary forces of nature, and may or may not have
1ttributed their powers to Jehovah in their own hearts.
Biblical magic has been glorified by the word "Miracle,"
hut that does not change its intrinsic quality. Indeed,
judging from the frequently cruel results it is not merely
always " white " magic, though it was justified by the
Israelites in the name of Jehovah.
The prophets Elijah and Elisha had power over the
clements also, and the former was evidently regarded by
Ahab as one who could make drought or cause rain to fall
at will; Elijah having stated that " there shall not be dew
or rain three years, but according to my word." They both
recalled departing spirits to life when the body appeared
already dead, and had they not been respectively the
mouthpiece of the Hebrew deity, would certainly have been
regarded as magicians. Elisha must rank with those who
charmed wild animals and birds, as he was able to call upon

'!

5I

52

THE BLACK ART

two she-bears to come and eat up the children who had

treated him irreverently-an unworthy proceeding on the
part of Jehovah's representative.
It is evident that the Jewish necromancers, male and
female, worked with familiar spirits, called Ob. The witch
of Endor conjured her own particular "familiar" with
ceremonies and enchantments, and only then did she
enquire whom Saul wished to have raised from the dead. It
was also a custom of Hebrew necromancers to use mummified bodies for divinatory purposes, which was another
practice learnt from the Egyptian sorcerers. Heads were
consulted, too-first-born children being slain, and the
heads cut off, salted and embalmed. Gold plates were prepared with invocations engraved around the edges, and the
heads mounted upon them. Thereafter they were kept very
carefully, and consulted upon special occasions.
Metal images and mummified bodies were kept as household gods, and fulfilled the part of oracles, to be questioned
in times of difficulty, as were those made by Micah. Quite
possibly, also, it was a mummy of this description that
Michal placed in David's bed to impersonate him to Saul's
messengers. The Ob, or familiar spirit, was considered
responsible for the manifestations of necromancy ; Rabbinical magic manuscripts mention it as " that spirit which
caused a man to speak from some part of his dead body."
Necromancers were thought to have the power of restoring
activity to the dead, either temporarily or permanently, and
the Jewish belief in vampires was linked with the work of
the necromancers.
Strangely enough the spirits of the departed, and of
demons, were frequently invoked in the name of the angels,
or sons of light-such as Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael.
The name El6him appears, also, inscribed within the
pentagrams which stood for the personified emanations
from the Godhead, as well as that of Asmcedeas the guardian
of demons. All these invocations were handed down to
the European medireval sorcerers, principally through the
Kabala.
This Hebrew system of theosophy had a great deal more
importance attached to it than possibly it deserved, but
certainly mystics and magicians of early times owed a great
deal of their knowledge to it. The first was devoted to a
mixture of primitive science and mysticism, and the rest

JEWISH NECROMANCY AND MAGIC

53
transcendental theory of the Cosmos, which was
~~~d ingly comprehensive, including as it did the science
1111tnbers and other occult matters. The origin of the
"''' is obscure; many have credited Egypt with being
I~ l111c source, while other accounts make it no older than
II" Ihirteenth century and the work of a succession of
H11hhis. The oldest Kabalistic book was the Sefer yesua,
!111 h the Jews themselves attributed to Abraham, but the
iORI important part, and the one most frequently referred
, w.ts the Z6har.
l l11 whole of the Kabala was unknown to the majority
! .I' ws in all lands, and the orthodox Hebrew looked upon
I with suspicion and disfavour. Until well on in the
I idd lc Ages it was kept as a closely guarded " secret
1I1Jf: l1 ine" by the Rabbis, who handed it down from
111 ration to generation among themselves.
I l1c central feature of the Kabalistic teaching expounded
1111 Deity as being the source of Ten Rays, or Sephiroth.
I Ihcse Rays the first was the desire to become manifest,
11d the nine others emanated one from another. The
I t11llt Sephiroth was the creator of man, or Adam. The
till' Rays corresponded to wisdom, intelligence, love;
IIi 1 which, came justice, beauty, fortitude and so on, in
(1 i111 tics.
II taught that the spirits animating the human race
pi 1 Pxist in a spiritual world of Divine emanations, and
li lt t every soul has ten potencies. On this plane of existIl l t, and before birth into the material world, the human
j.i 11 t was composed of the two elements-male and female,
tw, !ling as one, but at the time of their nativity they
l!' t~ tporarily separated and dwelt in different bodies. The
tl tt.l iny of the soul was to obtain experience and purification
11 1d, this achieved, it returned to the source En Soph.
II purification was not attained in one incarnation the Ego
i l11rned to earth three times, before being absorbed within
!l11 Divine Flame once more. The Kabala insisted upon
1ht importance of numbers, and supplied many names of
i11gels and spirits and systems of invocations. The Seraphim
llgurcd among the angels. These spirits were also referred
It as " fiery serpents," and were identified as the guardians
Ol tombs, who were synonymous with the "Threshold
I lwcllers " of other theologies.
!-lerpents, in one form or another, played a large part in
1

THE BLACK ART

JEWISH NECROMANCY AND MAGIC

the idolatrous worship of the Jews ; as is shown by

brazen serpents made by the children of Israel during their
sojourn in the wilderness, and those of terra-cotta and brass
that have been found in Palestine, together with the pre
served and mummified heads of snakes. A serpent was th
'' totem" of the house of David, but the fiery serpents o
the Kabala were evil or awe-inspiring spirits who appeared
in serpentine form.
The practical books of the Kabala were extensively
occupied with talismanic and ceremonial magic, but like a
great many other such works were confusingly interspersed
with matter of no value and crude symbology, sometimes
of the coarsest kind. That which is of value, and true, has
to be weeded out from that which is merely ridiculous and
worthless. The complete Kabala was probably the work of
about twenty different authors, chiefly Rabbis, and was
added to from time to time until as late as the end of the
seventeeenth century.
With all its faults, the Kabala stands pre-eminent among
works of transcendentalism and serious magic, and as
previously mentioned formed the bed-rock of the learning
of media:val magicians. The so-called '' secret Kabala ''
consisted of a doctrine and mystic instructions handed
down among the Rabbis. It existed by word of mouth alone
and was never written, and though many occultists have
claimed acquaintance with it, it is almost impossible to
know if any of its teaching exists to-day, except possibly
among certain Rabbis.
Divination was practised by the Jews on almost identical
lines with that used by the Egyptians. The Jews' most
noted oracle, however, was not connected with unorthodox
magic, but was that of the Urim and Thummim within the
Tabernacle.
This mysterious source was consulted by the Jewish
priests on matters referring to the judgment of accused
persons, whether they were guilty or innocent, and on
religious and political affairs. Only one wearing the breastplate of the judgmen.t might consult it to obtain an answer
from Jehovah. According to the 28th chapter of Exodus,
30th verse, the Urim and Thummim were actually placed
within the breast-plate of judgment and worn over Aaron's
heart.
Some writers have attached a magical significance to

'llw Jewish custom of circumcision, and others have tried

54

55

I Identify ceremonial sucking of the blood from the wound

11 It rites of sorcery. It is, however, probable that the
tt 1lom of the relatives actually partaking of the circumcl flesh, existent among certain Jews, may have been
!!'I'll for evil purposes. Probably the Jews, as well as other
i" plcs, originally regarded and intended circumcision as
11 .t ct of sacrifice to invoke fertility; in which form it was
pt trlised for centuries before becoming a custom attaching
!n tnfancy. In the very earliest times circumcision was
~, l 1 formed on attaining manhood, or at marriage. While,
:lltr, the age was reduced to puberty, about the thirteenth
nr, and finally to the eighth day after birth.
An important Jewish sorcerer was Simon Magus, who is
1111~ 11tioned in the New Testament and who was supposed to
It tvc bewitched the people of Samaria into thinking he
jussessed Divine attributes. He seems to have had a thirst
iu power over his fellows, and approached the disciples of
lt'o;us with a view to joining them. As, however, the
,Ji..,ciples repulsed him, he began to imitate their works and
111iracles and even permitted himself to be worshipped.
unon Magus declared that he was a manifestation of God,
'nd claimed a Divine origin for his Greek medium Helen.
lit imitated Christianity in the reverse sense, affirming the
ltrnal reign of evil. Travelling to Rome, he was called
lu' fore Nero, who eventually made him a Court magician.
!'here is a story that Nero imagined St. Peter to be a
orcerer also, and thought it would be amusing to pit Simon
111d Peter against one another. When, accordingly, Nero
.tiled them together, they both displayed various powers
tnd Simon flew gracefully out of the window. St. Peter
I hereupon prayed fervently, and the magician fell and broke
his legs, so that the saint triumphed.
The Jews had many methods of purification and dispelling
evil. The best known was that of the " scapegoat," which
IH'came incorporated in the orthodox religious rites, although
I he underlying belief was a purely magical one.
At the appointed time the High Priest would take two
goats as a sacrifice for sin, and at the same time make burnt
tfferings of a ram and a bullock. The goats were placed at
I he entrance of the Temple and the High Priest cast lots.
<>ne goat was to be for J ahveh (Jehovah} and the other for
scapegoat , which was allotted to the demon, Azazel. The

56

THE BLACK ART

goat allotted to J ahveh was sacrificed with the

animals, but the High Priest placed his hands on the
of the scapegoat, and confessed over it all the sins of th
children of Israel, which were then considered to have been
transmitted to the beast. A man, after that, was chosen to
lead the unfortunate animal away into the wilderness
where he abandoned it to the demon to whom it had
given over. When the man who had thus loosed the
goat returned, both he and the High Priest went thrnmrh
a ceremony of purification.
It is interesting to note that the Kabala upholds
theory of metempsychosis, and admits the reincarnation
souls at least three times on earth ; a doctrine not accepted
by orthodox Jews. Nevertheless, reincarnation has probably
played a very large part in maintaining the consolidation of
this wonderful people, who through all vicissitudes
maintained their racial characteristics within the very
heart of nearly every nation upon the earth. So that it is not
unreasonable to suppose that their spirits have returned
time and again to animate Jewish bodies, thus fortifying and
strengthening both the people's mental attributes and
customs.

CHAPTER V
MAGIC IN GREECE AND ROME
1

rount of black magic among the Greeks and Romans, with references
to famous characters and legends of the times.

REEK mythology abounds with tales of enchantment and magic, and it would be wearisome to
recount here legends with which most people
are familiar, and many of which are attributable
llomer.
About the fourth century B.c., Osthanes, who was thought
I! l1ave recorded all the magic secrets of his time, is related
hilve initiated Democritus, the Greek alchemist, into his
11 arts, and the latter is said to have been the author
I he first book on medical magic.
I he Greeks regarded magic powers as a gift that was
horn, or as a special privilege of the gods. To them, such
hi ll f{S were connected with any abnormality, such as a
Iiiii hback, an hypnotic eye, or being born with a caul,
11ch latter condition was supposed to confer the gift of
111 1phecy. Most of the troubles and ills of mankind were
111 to evil spirits of the dead, wandering over the earth,
ording to their beliefs.
J lecate was especially the goddess of magic, and in her
huour many ceremonies were performed. The white
u.dcian practised extreme chastity, and while preparing
his rites rigorously fasted, taking frequent baths and
1\(unting his body with especially prepared oils.
h>r the actual ceremony the white magician wore a flowwhite robe, without knot or fastening and adorned with
11111 ple streamers, and it was essential that he should have
"111 plete faith in his own powers. The time chosen does not
111l to have been of great importance; astrological
I ulations not entering into the proceedings until a later
!11 11. However, certain hours were reserved for the perlnlu tance of the rites of particular dieties, those of the magic
ll rc ate being celebrated at sunrise or sunset.
!he favourite places for performing sorcery and magic
1c1 graveyards and cross-roads, and the participants
57

THE BLACK ART

58
employed the usual wand, lamps, symbolical keys, portions
of the human body, bones and the like. The Greeks also
used an instrument called the rhombus, or witches' wheel.
As the wheel spun round, it was thought that influence was
gained over certain people or circumstances.
Greek sorcerers cast spells from a distance ; chiefly by
means of wax figures, which were often made hollow, so
that written incantations could be placed within them.
Images of Hecate were used for the same purpose, made
from the powdered bodies of lizards and roots of rue ; also,
the bodies of birds with sprigs of myrtle and rue, with the
name of the object of the sorcery written on the bird's body.
The Greeks had a magical alphabet, to be written in
sacred ink and with endless incantations, which they considered gained power by constant repetition. They believed
in the magic of numbers, especially odd ones, and made
feasts and libations to the gods and demons. In the latter
case the remains were disposed of at cross-roads.
If a demon were thought to have taken possession of a person, the sufferer was held down while the exorcist called the
name of the Evil Spirit in a loud voice three times, and fumigated the nostrils of the sufferer with bitumen and sulphur.
Sorcery was especially resorted to in order to incite love.
A famous love charm was the ceremony known as " Drawing
down the Moon," in the process of which Hecate was
invoked, and an image of clay imbued with a spirit which
was bidden to go forth and fetch the desired man or woman.
Lovers made figures of dogs in wax, upon the sides of
which words of power were written. The dog was fixed to a
magic tablet, and placed over a tripod. The words written
on the animal were next repeated impressively, and if the
dog began to bark, it was a sign that the lover would gain his
objective; if, on the contrary, the image snarled and
snapped, the supplicant's suit would fail.
Another powerful love sorcery was to make two figures
of wax or clay-that of Ares, and another of a woman.
The male figure was to stand upright, pointing a sword at
the throat of a woman, who knelt with her hands tied
behind her back. On the limbs of the woman were to be
written the names of demons, and thirteen bronze needles
stuck into the image. The lover meanwhile recited : " I
pierce her heart" (or whatever part of the body was being
stuck) "that she may think of me." Magic words were

MAGIC IN GREECE AND ROME

5~J

lhtn inscribed upon a metal plate, and tied to the wax

together with a string knotted three hundred and
tKty-:five times. After which both figures were buried in
1111' grave of a person who had died young, or who had met
1 violent death ; the accompanying rites concluding with
wvocations to the demons and infernal gods.
I ~elief in werewolves and vampires was very strong in Greece
lm the earliest times, and has survived to the present day.
there is an account of how Apollonius of Tyana defeated
1 female vampire or "lamia," which in the guise of a
I .IUtiful woman had enticed one of his pupils named
~ ~ ~nippus with the enchantments of love. The Philosopherltlgician warned Menippus carefully to discover the origin
ol his beloved, but the young man replied that everything
'oi '> prepared for the wedding on the morrow. Apollonius,
lll'refore, attended the nuptial feast, and found displayed
1 luxury which could never have been provided by the
11111ble Menippus. Accordingly the master rebuked the
lule, declaring all the lavish appointments to be a magic
llll',ion. At first the bride braved him out, but gradually
littler the power of the other's words she gave way, the
d I t>ndants vanished and the riches disappeared. Before
lu also departed the Philosopher forced her to confess that
lu was a vampire, who had been nourishing Menippus with
lu : ury, in order eventually to tear him to pieces and eat
Itt, living flesh.
l his special kind of female ghoul, or lamia, was thought
I roam about enticing men in the shape of beautiful
mtesans, only to turn into the most hideous shapes and
tu\ them to pieces when once the unhappy men were
urely in their clutches.
Another story concerns the sorcerer Polycrites. It relates
!111 marriage with a woman, and how, after only four days
11i matrimony, he died. In due course his widow bore a
l11lt\, which was an hermaphrodite, and this abnormality
,,, looked upon by the people as being a terrible ill omen,
I'"' tending war between the 1Etolians and Locri. In conse. 111 nee, it was decided to burn the unfortunate widow and
tl "' monstrous child. Everything was prepared, and they
a t about to set light to the pyre, when Polycrites himself
llJwared from the grave-a dreadful sight, with mould and
h ood adhering to his shroud. In a terrible voice he bade
tbe crowd desist from burning his wife and child, but they
ii,~ ures,

THE BLACK ART

6o
took no heed of him and proceeded with their preparation
Thereupon the living corpse seized on its own child an
tearing it to pieces, ravenously ate the body until nothi
but the head remained, after which it disappeared in t
direction whence it came. In the midst of the subsequen
uproar (for none had dared disturb the ghoul), the leade
decided hastily to send an emissary to the Delphic orad
to enquire the reason for this disturbing event. They wer'
checked, however, by a Voice emanating from the still
bleeding head of the child on the ground. This Voice for
told many misfortunes and catastrophes in store for th
1Etolians. The head was eventually placed on a pillar in
the market place, and caused great consternation some day
later by suddenly opening its eyes, which shone with baleful
gleams, and announcing in a hoarse voice that the lEtolian
armies had been cut to pieces in a battle with th
Acarnanians. And this prophecy proved to be true.
There was a general belief in Corinth that the children o
Media became vampires after their death, and were in th
habit of prowling at night-time for the purpose of destroying
infants. The Corinthians consulted an oracle to learn what
they could do to stop these depredations, and were
to make a yearly sacrifice before the statue of a hiaeu~
woman in the form of a lamia, which was to be "r""+..d
over the tomb of Media's children.
In the early spring, towards the end of February or
beginning of March, the Greeks held a three-day fp<:fm!llt
in honour of the spirits of the dead, called the
It was somewhat analogous to the " All Saints " cele
of later times ; the Greeks believing that on those
the souls of the departed returned from Hades and
"to and fro in the city." The new birth of nature, blossoming forth in all her beauty-and how beautiful she
be in Greece-typified the resurrection of the spirit from
the bondage of Earth; it was, in fact, an early prototype
of Easter, before the birth even of the Nazarene.
At this feast honour was paid to Dionysius, and garlands
of flowers decorated homes, where abundant food and wine
was sent out to welcome the return of the dead. Good
and happy spirits were thought to come first, but in
train followed those who were miserable and evil, and these
last were accompanied by the very demons themselves.
The Athenians also tied knotted ropes around their temples
and sacred places, to keep evil spirits out at these times,

MAGIC IN GREECE AND ROME

ll
l11lc sprigs of the bush thorn (or Christ thorn) were plactd
11 windows to keep vampires and witches away.
Happy
pll its were thought to return serenely whence they came,
llcr this brief visit to the scenes and people they loved on
11th, but the evil ones had a tendency to linger behind,
11d had to be driven away with the words : " Out of the
wnse with you, out of doors, ye ghosts ! The Anthesteria
over and done."
'"llrangely enough, the Greeks thought that the spirits of
hcir heroes returned to be enriched by the blood of the
''' 111g, as well as did the dreaded vampires. It was, therelllt' , possibly this idea which gave rise to the human sacri1. cs, which they made from time to time, believing that
l11 blood of the victim contained magical properties, and
I h.t t ghosts who tasted it received enchanted life.
l he most famous of the forms of divination practised
ly the Greeks was that of the Delphic Oracle, which was
li ld in a temple built over a volcanic chasm, on the southern
lopes of Mount Parnassus. The wild and impressive
, cnery surrounding the temple was itself enough to imbue
tl11 minds of consultants with awe, as they wended their
,o,;1y to the Oracle. Soldiers, statesmen, philosophers, and
lll'n of every imaginable status in Greece, went there for
ulvice and prophecies.
l'he Oracle spoke through the mouth of a priestess, called
I he Pythia after the serpent Pytho whom Apollo slew. She
was seated upon a tripod, placed over the gaseous vapours
11 ising from the chasm, and as the fumes encircled her the
I'' tcstess became stimulated into a state, half trance, half
f1 t"nzy. Foam covered her lips, as with glazed and staring
yes she uttered disjointed phrases, which were translated
llt( o clearer meaning by the attendant priests. Meanwhile
I he querent stood before the Altar, crowned with laurel,
while powdered laurel leaves were burnt as incense. No
woman might consult the Delphic Oracle.
Also famous was the Oracle of Trophonius ; but there
I he consultant passed the night in the temple and experiuced prophetic dreams, or at least dreams whose symbology
was interpreted by the priests next morning. These dreams
were frequently of a disturbing, not to say terrifying nature,
111d were probably considerably assisted by the fumigations
llld incense used.
Reference has already been made to the sorcery known as
"Drawing down the Moon"; which was one of the major

62

THE BLACK ART

MAGIC IN GREECE AND ROME

sorceries of Greece, and is even secretly practised to-day.

The preliminaries included burning vervain and frankincense,
followed by a solemn chant whose cadences were so potent
that they were believed capable of calling down the moon
or "making the cold-blooded snake burst in the field."
An image of the beloved was bound round three times with
fillets of three colours, while the words '' Thus I bind the
fillets of Venus " were recited, and the figure was then carried
round an altar. Another wax image and one of clay were
placed in the same fire, and as the figure of clay hardened
so did the heart that was sought, or as the wax softened so
was the heart of the beloved made tender. The goddess
Hecate was invoked to possess the first image, and to go
forth to entice the desired woman, and a sacred cake was
broken over it, and laurels burnt before it.
Circe was also worshipped as a dark goddess of wrath
and destruction, many sorceries being performed in her name
and horrible sacrifices made in her honour.
The Harpies were feared, and propitiated as furious
female demons of death. The earliest conception of them
appears to have been a more or less symbolical one, identified
with the pestilential winds of the sirocco that brought
fevers and disease in their wake. However, the Harpies
gradually became personified, and found a place among the
malevolent gods and demons of Greece.
Death magic was a common form of sorcery, and in its
pursuance tablets inscribed with the names of enemies and
victims were buried in tombs, after being pierced with nails.
Images, again, were made; having their limbs twisted and
their bodies hammered to cause tortures and disease.
Witchcraft and black magic do not seem in Ancient
Greece to have had many material penalties for a very
lengthy period. But we read of the witch Theoris being
burnt by an outraged populace, and eventually various other
punishments for sorcery are mentioned.
The famous Elusinion mysteries contained elements that
strongly linked them with sorcery, and also. intermingled
Greek and Roman ceremonies. People of the latter
nationality were eligible to take part in them, but no other
foreigners were allowed to participate. Both Greek and
Roman priests made offerings and sacrifices of flesh and
blood, often human, before rude altars erected in open spaces
or dark woods. A trench was dug around the sacrificial

lone into which the blood of the victims overflowed, and

the spirits were believed to come and feed upon it.
The Roman imagination was a remarkably sanguinary one.
Ceremonies involving blood were used in the worship of the
nds and at public and private feasts and festivals. For
lll'itance, after the chariot races in the Field of Mars, a
tl'rifice was made of the right-hand horse of the victorious
f,,tm, and the tail of the animal dripping with blood was
; trried to the Altar of the Regia. The blood was sub''IJUently stored in the Temple of Vesta till the following
pring, when it was used at the festival of Parilia, where the
1 tlizens of Rome believed that they were purified by the
111-.tral bonfire and magical rites of blood sprinkling. This
was known as the sacrifice of the October Horse.
Most Roman magic had a Greek origin, and no mention
of its official recognition is found before the "Twelve
I abies," in which it was forbidden to change crops from one
l~eld to another by magic. Presumably enterprising farmers
11 tempted to annex neighbours' property in this way.
The Etruscans and Sabines were especially considered to
lu possessed of magic powers; probably a large number of
I hrm were psychic and mediumistic, and thereby gained a
tputation for power over the elements and were sought
1fter as necromancers.
The Romans dreaded the " Evil Eye " even more than
1110st peoples, and guarded against it by modelled amulets of
I he phallus that were worn alike by every one. Like the
c.reeks they celebrated the return of the spirits of the
dtparted on certain days of the year, but their festivals
wore a darker aspect and lacked the joyous and welcoming
dtaracteristics of the Anthesteria. Three times annually
I he Romans set apart days for the return of their dead, on
which no work had to be done, no battles fought and no
111arriages took place. On those occasions the stone covering
lite entrance to the Underworld was ceremoniously removed,
tnd the spirits who issued forth were placated with offerings.
I rom the nature of the ceremony evidently only those
11 malevolence or gloom were expected.
A depressing
,, tmosphere reigned at those times, and the Romans turned
with relief to their ordinary days and festivals ; with the
possible exception of witches and sorcerers, for whom passed
xceptional opportunities of getting in touch with evil and
arth-bound spirits.
1l~ere

63

64

MAGIC IN GREECE AND ROME

THE BLACK ART

There is a tale, probably familiar to many, of how

Candidia, having fallen in love with the handsome and
youthful Varus, decided to arouse his passion and obtain
his love by sorcery. At dead of night, therefore, she repaired
to a graveyard with three assistants, and, standing in the
fitful moonlight with venomous snakes entwining her hair,
she gave them orders to tear the young fig trees and
cypresses from their roots among the graves. With wild
incantations a fire was made of the wood, and to it was added
herbs gathered in Thessaly, toads' eggs sprinkled with blood,
the feathers of screech owls and bones torn from the jaws
of a hungry dog. Perfumes of Colchis were then cast upon
the blaze, so that the mounting flames might gleam bloodred upon the gloomy scene. Drops of water were next
sprinkled on the ground by one assistant, while another
performed the lengthy rite of " Calling down the Moon " ;
which we can only presume was successful in its object of
drawing Varus to the scene, as the ceremony concluded by
the third assistant digging a pit and burying the unfortunate
lover naked, up to his chin. As Candidia certainly had him
at a disadvantage in that position, we are left to suppose
that she then dictated her own terms.
Roman sorcerers dug pits by night, into which they
poured the blood of slaughtered animals and sometimes
human beings. Holding aloft a lighted torch, they cried
loudly upon demons, avengers and furies to come and
partake of the ghoulish feast. They were invoked in the
names of Hecate and Prosperine, and were thus enticed to
do the magicians' bidding.
Human sacrifices for sorcery were by no means rare. In
the time of Cicero and Horace boys were sacrificed for the
purpose of black magic, and everywhere blood was thought
to possess a magic virtue. At certain ceremonies the statue
of Jupiter was smeared with blood, the officiating priests
making incisions in their veins and cutting themselves with
knives.
MAGIC IN GREECE AND ROME

The Romans loved to foresee the future. Every imaginable form of augury and divination was practised among
them, and both Chaldeans and Egyptians were popular as
astrologers, casters of horoscopes and interpreters of dreams.
Old witches in the cities and country-side throve upon the

~II'

65

of death spells and love philtres. They also made a trade

ol aborti:ficants, and frequently practised the whiles of the

I'' ocuress. Evil and depraved, they worked these spells

11ttong the dregs of the populace, until the time came when
Roman law took a very firm hand with witchcraft, and
w re punishments were meted out, not only to those who
111 actised it but to those who consulted the sorcerers.
I ovc philtres were deemed poison, and the selling and buying
11 them became a criminal offence. Chaldean astrologers
' re banished from Rome in 139 B.c.
<>ne has a dreadful picture conjured up of hag-like witches
rning the cemeteries by night, in search of poisonous
li hs and bones for their nauseating mixtures. They rifled
1111protected graves of their poor human relics, and by the
li1ht of the moon made dreadful fires, the while calling upon
pcnts and the hounds of Hell to come to their horrible
ltnquet. Tearing a black lamb to pieces with their teeth,
1l11y offered dripping portions to the infernal creatures,
l11ch glided and prowled around. While they melted waxen
luges of their victims over the fire, the moon is reputed to
hn" <' turned to blood, and as the images liquefied, the lives
lll'y represented expired in torture.
lklief in the vampires was equally strong among the
n cunans as the Greeks, and they were so similar in the
!lt>ral characteristics that it would be wearisome to repeat
mples. Witches were thought frequently to turn into
mpires after death, and in some instances to act as ghouls
the form of bats and reptiles during their earth life.
An outbreak of the birth of monsters, half-animal and
hnlf human, following the reign of Nero, was believed to
111 '\hadow disaster and to be the result of unions between
1111pires and women. Nero and his mother Agrippina both
lhad the reputation of resorting to sorcery.
1xtus, the decadent son of Pompey, consulted the terrible
1 eress Erichto, in order to learn the secrets of the future
hv .necromancy.
On the occasion of Sextus' visit, the witch, having magic. II,V made the night pitch dark and caused the moon to
llltl its face, led her consultant with some of his friends to a
hn It lcfield, where she groped among the slain for a corpse
fli.d would serve her purpose. At length she found one with
111111: 1and larynx intact, and together they bore it away to a
locuny cavern dedicated to the infernal gods.
I IIf'

THE BLACK ART

66
The body was placed upon the ground, a ghastly sight with
gaping wounds and limbs caked with coagulated blood,
while Erichto wreathed her head with vipers and proceeded
to make a terrible brew with poisonous herbs.
They next infused new blood into the corpse, and prepared it for the return of the spirit. This being done, the
witch invoked the denizens of Hell, calling upon them with a
loud unearthly voice and reminding them that she always
came to them replenished with human blood, and had offered
them many a sacrifice of unborn babes, torn from the
mother's womb.
Before the startled gaze of Sextus and his friends Erichto
then demanded of her familiars the spirit of the soldier
which was still close to earth, and suddenly it appeared
standing above the body. But the poor ghost shrank from
returning to its mangled earthly form, and Erichto only
persuaded it to do so by the promise that she would free
it for ever from the powers of magicians and that it should
never again be recalled to earth.
Painfully the soldier's spirit retook possession of its body,
and stood erect to answer the questions put to it by the
sorceress. Still bearing the imprint of death, the ghost foretold the coming fortunes of Pompey and his armies through
its old form's cracked and purple lips.
The work at length over, the sorceress made a
pyre, upon which the corpse lay down, and she then repeated
a spell releasing it from earth and the enchantments of
magicians for ever. After which the pyre was ignited and,
as the flames mounted and destroyed the remains, the
ceremony was at an end.
Roman magicians used to bind departing spirits with
spells upon their death-beds-a sorcery possibly learnt from
the Egyptians ; and they visited the dying, to whisper
them commands that were to be carried out in the inf~>r
regions. If a particularly revengeful and malevolenf
was required, they did not hesitate to commit murder
selves, so that such a being might be at hand,
bound to them by incantations and enchantments.
Nevertheless, when all is said and done, Greek and Roman
sorcery leave an impression of grandeur on the mind. Blood
stained and hideous that impression may be, yet about
whole there is something of Olympian proportions and
certain dark magnificence.

CHAPTER VI
I liE DARK AGES, MEDilEVAL SORCERY AND BLACK MAGIC

hows how a Satanic wave flooded the whole of Europe during the Dark
Ages. Famous practitioners of the black art and their methods. Brief
account of the punishments meted out to witches and sorcerers of the
Middle Ages.

AGIC held a potent influence upon the imagination and lives of all peoples from the earliest
times, but in the Dark Ages it assumed gigantic
proportions and the practice of Satanism became
11ft> in every country. During this era the minds of men as a
whole appear to have become clouded and debased, so that
dl cruelty and wickedness held an incredible sway, life was
nl no account, torture a joy to inflict, power was to the strong
111d the rich, and lust and violence went unchecked. No man
ould look with certainty for charity and humanity from his
ldlows, and a woman still less.
I he few people born with a finer intelligence and sensitive""o;s, and blessed with a love of art, beauty and learning
nerally, found refuge from the coarse world in the religious
'" dt>rs ofthe day. Thus, the best brains and finest characters
,rmained sterile, and the hapless children of the period were
Iii f'<L from ruthless cruelty, gross stupidity and brute force.
t is a wonder, indeed, that the nations of the earth gradually
! 111ggled out of the mental and moral morass, and helps
to prove that heredity, although an important factor, does
tl claim the last word. History shows that even in the
invents and monasteries of that earlier day life was far
rom pure. Many dignitaries of the Church were lustful
'"' luxury loving men, greedy of temporal power, and many
11 .1bbess was a very unworthy follower of the Virgin Mary.
vt'rtheless, the Church garnered in her religious houses
I l11 learning, art and wisdom of the Dark Ages, and con' Vl'd them to be handed down to more enlightened times.
II is open to question whether medireval brutality and
II'! .1c hery were the direct results of the drawing down to
il I h of the lowest elements of the spirit planes, through
67

68

THE BLACK ART

sorcery and black magic, or whether the gross minds and

crude life of the people provided a good soil for the seeds of
Demonism and Evil.
In dealing'with this period, the influence of the Crusades
cannot be ignored, because they had a profound effect upon
the religious outlook and psychology of the times.
In one aspect they were probably the salvation of all that
was best and ennobling among the European nations, calling
forth the spirit of chivalry and idealism. Men who otherwise
might have scorned religion, welcomed her when she came
to them sword in hand. The simple-minded people were
stirred by the idea of their Lord's shrine in the hands of the
infidel, and they flocked to the banner of His Church. In
the midst of political intrigue, jealousy, greed, ambition and
brutality, the underlying idealism remained unscathed and
exerted a leavening influence through the spiritual darkness.
THE DARK AGES, MEDilEVAL SORCERY AND BLACK MAGIC

Side by side with evil and sorcery, existed a penitential

spirit, which was probably more a matter of " fleeing the
wrath to come " than true repentance, for no one wished to
ultimately go to Hell, however friendly they may have been
with the Devil in this life. This is exemplified in the pilgrimages made to the Holy Land, which led eventually to
the wars known as the Crusades. The same desire to run
with the hare and hunt with the hounds can be seen in many
of the pacts with the Devil, participants frequently making
conditions of allegiance for a certain period only, thinking
to outwit his Satanic majesty when they had secured
sufficient of the world's goods.
Another effect of the Crusades was the mingling of Eastern
and Western ideas and beliefs; men who had been prisoners
of the Saracens in particular, bringing back theories and
practices of Oriental magic, upon which much of the current
witchcraft came to be based. The Devil was already accepted
as a personified reality, but the Infidels believed even more
strongly, if anything, in the opposing forces of Darkness and
Light, and their faith in demons very subtly strengthened the
Satanic beliefs of their opponents also. The Knights Tern
plars, especially, are reputed to have had a great deal to do
with the Saracens, and to have become imbued with their
faiths; the very name of their supposed diety, Baphomet,
being a corruption of that of Mohammed.

The Goat Baphomet of the Knights Templars.

THE DARK AGES

The Crusades led, also, to the foundation of the variou
orders of Military Monks ; with the possible exception of
that of St. John of Jerusalem, which probably existed earliPr
in connection with the Hospital of that name, for the
protection and welfare of pilgrims. Thus, the very attack
upon Christianity was probably the means of preserving
its existence through a long period of darkness and chaos.
At home, the Jews were taking advantage of the poverty
caused by the wars, and extorting heavy usury from those
who resorted to them for funds, and who were forced to sell
their lands in order to finance the armies that travelled to
the Holy Land. In consequence, everywhere Jews who were
not too powerful were seriously persecuted and forced back
upon themselves, which resulted in endless antagonism
and enmity between them and the Gentiles of the countries
they inhabited. They were accused of sorcery, witchcraft,
unheard-of cruelties to children and others who fell into their
hands, and were believed to practise black magic with the
bodies of Christians.
Such, then, were the conditions under which sorcery
obtained the greatest sway that it ever possessed over
European peoples. It was the day of fierce emotions,
intense hatreds and biased judgments. Warfare, famine
and disease were men's constant companions, and Death
awaited upon every hand.
In such an atmosphere men's minds were intensely
susceptible to the lower astral impulses, and found expression
in their faith in the activities of the Devil and his hosts of
demons, and in the readiness with which they either gave
themselves up to Satanic practices or else fortified themselves
.tgainst them with exorcisms and counter-spells. Hundreds
of men and women indulged in sorcery. They exercised
their mediumistic gifts for evil, and were swept into an
incredible vortex of bestial deeds and cruelty in their pursuit
of the black art. They dedicated their children to the Devil,
1 nd from an early age inaugurated them into the abominable
cNemonies of sorcery.
!'hose who followed the Devil's path lived in a grotesque
\l'orld of gruesome imaginings and hallucinations surrounded by demons ; they sank into the very quagmires
r.l .t mental Hell-and revelled in it. They became pitiable
liHI disgusting wrecks, half-demented sadists and workers
11 c vil for the love of it. Small wonder that the general

72

THE DARK AGES

THE BLACK ART

terror of the supernatural and unseen was augmented by the

fear of sorcerers and witches ; though it is quite certain that
many of their fears were unfounded, and centred upon
perfectly innocent people-especially those who were what
we now call " mediumistic " or " sensitives." It is interesting to speculate whether some of those supposed to
be in league with demons, and who were the centre of
malevolent manifestations, were not in reality mediums for
spirit disturbances of the " Poltergeist" order; but this
is merely by the way.
All over Europe people of every grade of society flocked
to the gatherings of the witches' Sabbaths, there to give
themselves up to debauchery and cruelty. Every action of
life was governed by spells, the consultation of oracles and
divination of all descriptions. Works called Grimories, or
the Black Books, were eagerly consulted by the few who
could read, in order to obtain information for calling up the
dead, casting spells and exorcising demons, and the like.
The inhabitants of the convents and monasteries were not
exempt from an interest in witchcraft and sorcery, and
most probably the Grimories were consulted even more
assiduously within their walls than outside, as those who
followed the religious life were almost the only ones possessed
of the necessary education. There were three chief varieties
of these textbooks of black magic, the Grimorium V erium,
the Grand Grimorie, and that attributed to Pope Honorius,
himself a sorcerer by reputation.
The true black magician, however, probably worked more
or less in secret. He did not trouble about petty sorcery, or
the casting of mediocre spells ; his ambitions were higher,
and he worked for power both on the material and spiritual
planes. Such a one, possibly, was the extraordinary man
known as " the Old Man of the Mountains " and the Prince
Alamond or Alaodin.
Marco Polo relates that the Prince lived in an impregnable
mountain fastness upon the borders of Persia.
There, in a fertile valley situated high up among the
mountain peaks, the Old Man had made a veritable paradise.
He called himself the companion of Mohammed, and everything was created to give the illusion of living in the Prophet's
Paradise of Houris. It was a little kingdom of luxury and
riches ; flowers and fruit abounded in the lovely gardens,
the women were clothed in the costliest silks and jewels,

and music, feasting and material joys were the order of

the day.
The entrance to the valley was guarded by a mighty
fortress, manned with soldiers recruited from the surrounding
districts and who were captured from time to time to serve
the sorcerer. The method the latter employed was to send
his envoys into nearby towns and villages, and the men
chosen were drugged, and only awoke to find themselves
in the Old Man's kingdom. Once there, they dared not leave;
but there is every reason to suppose that they were more
than well treated, unless they violated the wishes and rules
of the Prince, whereupon they mysteriously disappeared.
Despite the joys of his earthly Eden, or perhaps because
of them, the Old Man was at constant warfare with the
neighbouring sultans and emirs. He made depredations
upon the caravans of merchants, whose families had to
pay out large sums in ransom if they did not wish to incur
the enmity of Alamond. When the Crusades began, however,
the Prince armed himself against the Christians with the
rest, and his assassins, who asked nothing better than to die
in his service, were sent into every country in Europe secretly
to kill outstanding leaders. It is an interesting fact that
the word " assassin " was first applied to these envoys of
the Old Man of the Mountains, and was originally derived
from that of the drug hashish, with which they were stimulated before attempting the murders for which they became
notorious.
The Old Man's emissaries were responsible for the death of
Augustus Conrad, Marquis de Montferrat J while Richard
Creur de Lion and Philippe Augustus are supposed to have
been marked out for a sudden end by him. Hearing of the
immense preparations that Louis IX of France was making
for the conquest of the Holy Land, Alamond attempted to
have him killed, but for once the plot failed. He then sent
spies to the very Court of Paris for the same purpose, but
is supposed to have so greatly admired the reports that he
received regarding the King's courage and fine character that
he altered his intentions, and made overtures of friendship
mstead, sending impressive gifts to the French monarch,
mcluding a magic ring. It was always thought that once the
Old Man had decided upon an assassination the victim was as
good as dead, and indeed it was rarely that he met with failure.
Every imaginable magic art was attributed to the

74

THE BLACK ART

companion of Mohammed, including the power of fascination

and the evil eye and the ability to render himself invisible. It
is certain that he possessed the gift of arousing intense loyalty
in his followers, and that once he had determined upon a given
object it was almost invariably attained. The murders
committed at his instigation, however, were brought about
by the usual methods ; the only unusual feature being that
the actual perpetrators were either drugged or hypnotised.
At the same time, if the accounts of the conditions in the
Old Man's little kingdom, and of the Old Man's activities, are
not wild exaggerations, it is almost certain that he did indeed
work with a profound knowledge of elementary spirits, and
possessed the magician's ability to turn to his own use and
advantage Nature's forces.
Every sorcerer was reputed to have a familiar spirit,
which usually attached itself to the owner on his making a
pact with the Devil, or at the Initiation of a Witches
Sabbaths. The familiars of the magicians, on the other
hand, were not in all cases evil, and often may have approximated the " guides " with whom present-day spiritualists are well acquainted. The famous Cornelius Agrippa
was the possessor of an immense black dog that followed him
everywhere. When the great magician found death approaching, it is related that he called the Satanic animal to
him and, removing a collar studded with iron nails from its
neck, upon which was written a magical inscription, he
exclaimed: "Away, accursed beast, through whose agency
I must now sink to perdition!" The dog then dashed away,
and threw itself into a foaming river, disappearing for ever.
Faust, in later times, was also supposed to have a black
dog as a familiar.
The toads, snakes, cats, owls, and other creatures thought
to be the familiars of witches, are known to everyone, and
even in children's stories, magic boxes, rings and boots
used to figure largely. Though we consider these things
entirely fanciful to-day, they were in reality but simple tales
of events that were taken for granted as actual facts in the
days of the far past. Thus, it was popularly supposed that
familiar spirits could be enclosed in rings, or confined in
bottles and boxes, just as the Persians thought that djinns
could be kept in jars and flasks.
Johann Rosa confessed to having a spirit within a magic
ring, which he consulted on certain days every week. By

THE DARK AGES

75

this means he was acquainted with everything that was

going on, not only in his own home and town but abroad as
well. This obliging sprite also gave such excellent prescriptions for curing all manner of complaints that Johann
earned a great reputation for healing diseases. In the end,
he was accused of sortilege, or enchantments, and the ring
was publicly destroyed upon a blacksmith's anvil in the
market place. Paracelsus was another owner of a familiar
spirit, which he kept in the hilt of his sword.
Mandrakes were sometimes considered in the light of
familiars. Witches kept both male and female specimens of
the magic root in bottles, and there are accounts of persons
who visited sorcerers having seen mandrakes, thus secured,
jumping up and down, shrieking with protest apparently
at their confinement. Very occasionally it would seem that
entities of this description attached themselves to persons
uninvited, and performed many services for those whom
they singled out. But these attentions were not always
welcome, and some people were ungrateful enough to have
their voluntary familiars exorcised!
In the most primitive ages men attached a magic importance to bones, and to-day bones play a large part in the
black magic rites of savage tribes. I have myself seen South
American Indians point a bone at persons over whom they
wished to cast a spell. Even the Church reverenced the
supposed bones of saints, and attributed magical or miraculous powers to them. In the Dark Ages and medireval
times witches performed every variety of socery by this
means. The bones and skulls of criminals were greatly in
request, and skulls were used particularly as drinking
vessels for the Black Mass, and in other magical ceremonies.
The dust of bones was used in concocting potions to prolong
life, and also for causing death.
There was a superstition that any woman at enmity with
another who was pregnant could delay the birth of her
child indefinitely by obtaining the bones of a criminal or
sorcerer and performing certain magic rites with them. This
method was much sought after by women whose husbands
had been unfaithful to them, in an attempt to prevent
another woman successfully bearing him a child, and there
were many accusations against witches and those who
consulted them, that women and girls had been killed by
tiP ;rfering with the proper birth of their infants.

THE BLACK ART

76
There are legends, as old as Merlin himself, that bones or
their dust had the power of impregnating women under
certain conditions, and the following tale is found in various
European countries under different guises.
A mountain chieftan wed a young bride on the eve of
battle, and, the enemy surprising a band of his men sooner
than expected, he was forced to ride away and leave her
without consummating the marriage. The chieftan was
killed, and his wife's grief was bitterly increased by the
knowledge that he could leave no son to succeed him. The
husband's followers implored her to resort to a witch, who
dwelt in the mountains, to see if by magical means she
could restore the dead chief.
The bride accordingly visited the ancient sorceress, but
the witch was unable to overcome death in one aspect. She
told the girl, however, to have her husband's body removed
from the.field where it lay and to wash and purify it. She
must then get his followers to carry the corpse to a lonely
spot upon the mountain-top, where it must be completely
burnt at night in her presence alone. When nothing was left
but the ashes of the bones, she must sit down and arrange
her clothing around her waist, leaving the lower part of her
body uncovered. She had then to repeat a formula given
to her by the witch, whereupon a wind would arise and blow
the ashes of the dead about her body, and she would conceive
a child from them and in due course bear her husband a son.
This rite was faithfully carried out by the bride, and she
eventually bore a posthumous child, who grew to be the
leader of his father's people.
Fascination was as potent an agency of black magic as the
evil eye, and somewhat similar in its method of operation.
The object of fascination, however, was to attract and enchant people, usually with the motive of making them fall
in love against their will, or yield to unlawful passions.
On the other hand, it was also exercised over animals, and
in some cases over even material possessions. The Romans
had believed in it so implicitly that they even created a god
Fascinus in honour of this power, and vestal virgins rather
strangely were mentioned in connection with the celebrations
of the god's rites. He was represented by phallic symbols,
which were hung round the necks of children and upon the
triumphal chariot.
Varius, Prior of the Benedictine Convent of St. Sophia in

THE DARK AGES

77

Beneventua, wrote a treatise called De Fascino; in which he

refers to " Hamaxobi and Biarbi " being deeply versed in the
nrt of fascinating and enchanting men, so that they became
rnslaved and lost their reason. The old legend of Medusa's
head, too, is familiar to everyone ; one glare from the terrible
1yes being sufficient to turn a man to stone or strike him
c.lead. And the Basilisk of N arcissas is equally notorious.
Some sorcerers were reputed to be able to appropriate
gems or money, by casting their eyes upon them ; others
were thought to have the power of splitting jewels in two
with a glance, so that goldsmiths and those who dealt in
precious stones particularly feared them_ Wolves were
accredited with the power of depriving men of speech, should
they unfortunately gaze into the animal's eyes, and there
was a peculiar belief that if one of these creatures attacked a
man from the left-hand side it could be easily beaten off,
l.mt if from the right he was almost certainly doomed.
There was a deeply seated belief in the fascination or
tnchantment of shadows ; so that the witch, or magician,
could use them either to produce sickness and death or to
inspire love. This fear of the shadow is common in many
parts of the world to-day ; the Slavs, particularly, shun the
.,hadow of a red-headed man or woman, who are considered
malevolent and unlucky. Wolves, also, were universally
believed to enchant sleeping men and dogs by casting their
"'hadow over them in the moonlight. In rather later times
the shadow of the priest's fingers raised in blessing was
t onsidered to have an evil significance.
The position of the hand, with the second and third fingers
taised, symbolises God and Perfected Man pouring out their
blessing. Yet, like all forces manifesting in the physical
world, this blessing may become a curse-according to the
desire and the will of the Pontiff. A retna~.rkable thing in
connection with the hand so lifted, is that its shadow
tsembles the head and horns of the Goat Baphomet,
the symbol of black magic. The use of the ' shadow of the
blessing " was regarded as the legitimate prerogative of the
I 'ope, and was most terribly exercised during the Dark Ages
;IJ\d at the times of the Inquisition. The fate of the man or
woman upon whom the shadow fell was terrible, indeed.
l'ictures representing the blessing were inscribed "Benecltctionem," while upon the shadow appeared the word
' Maledictus.''

78

THE BLACK ART

While those in high places were engaged in discovering

secret poisons, and resorting to sorcery to rid the world of
their enemies, the common people of all nations dabbled in
witchcraft, if they did not actually participate in Satanic
gatherings and revels.
On moonlit nights, lonely moorlands and wooded glades
were the scenes of strange masquerades. Prancing figures,
surrounded by terrible heads of beasts and reptiles, whirled
round in a mad dance with naked women, their backs turned
upon the rude altars on which lay the mangled figure of the
human sacrifice, bathed in its own blood.
The witches made a thriving trade of spells and potions,
and concocted the most extraordinary mixtures to produce
disaster or love, as the case might be.
Scent was a most important item in dealing with the unseen world, and in necromancy, particularly, the odours
arising from burnt substances had a powerful influence upon
the spirits. From time immemorial, and especially in the
East, the value and potency of incense and perfumes in all
magic has been fully recognised, but the fearful smells that
must have arisen from the revolting substances that the
ancient sorcerers burned and boiled must have been
calculated to drive away any but the most perverted beings,
whether in the flesh or out of it.
Astrology was inextricably interwoven with all practices
of sorcery, and the suitable days and times for performing
the rites of black magic were calculated by this means.
Each planet had its particular scent, or rather odour, by
which its peculiar attributes could be invoked. Thus, to the
Sun, a mixture of saffron, amber, musk, incense and the
blood of a cock was offered; and to the Moon, camphor,
boiled with the eyes of a bull, the blood of a lark and a frog's
head. Mars was invoked with a heterogeneous mixture of
magic herbs, saffron, the blood of a black cat, and so on.
The most nauseating compounds were used as love
philtres, and anyone responding to the treatment meted out
must indeed have been under a spell. The only wonder is
that they survived. However, the prescriptions of the
physicians of the Middle Ages are very little better, and
many of them read so exactly like a witch's potion that if
we were asked which was the magical formula and which the
doctor's compound it would be impossible to tell.
The consecrated or unconsecrated host was used for many

THE DARK AGES

79
purposes in connection with the black art and, stamped with
mvocations in letters of blood, it was considered the most
potent means of operating malevolent influences. Apart
from this sacrilegious usage, all potions or philtres employed
in sorcery had to contain portions of three necessary ingredients-the scales of a fish, the intestines of animals and
birds' feathers. These substances were augmented by nail
parings, human hair, powdered bones, blood and the like.
Crystals, and crystal gazing, were of course unknown ; but
magic mirrors were used for reflecting the images of the
departed and those who were absent, and for invoking visions
of their conditions and circumstances.
The French placed great faith in the qualities of the
"chemise de necessite," which was much sought after by
soldiers and others whose lives entailed danger. This famous
vest had to be woven by a virgin during a night of Christmas
week, to the accompaniment of evocations and incantations.
Over the heart, or in the centre, was embroidered the
head of a two-faced man, surmounted by the crown of
Beelzebub, and the garment's property was to render the
wearer invisible.
Continental sorcerers caused death at a distance by means
of magical arrows, invisibly directed to their mark by demons
or elementals. These Satanic archers were called the
'' Sagittarians," and were greatly feared. At Lautenbourg,
m Prussia, a sorcerer by the name of Pumbert was in the
habit of daily shooting off three of these murderous missiles,
but the inhabitants of the district became incensed against
him and at a prearranged time they fell upon him in a body
and literally tore the man to pieces. The same form of witchcraft was to be found among the Lapps and Finns.
Everything pertaining to the human body was used for
magical formulas, as we have seen, and without having
1 ccourse to witches and sorcerers, the fluids and substances
of the body were often privately employed for the making of
-.pells to influence others. Indeed, nearly all ordinary
people dabbled in sorcery in the Dark or Middle Ages.
Women, in particular, believed that the substances mixed
with emanations and secretions from their own bodies had
power over those they wished to enchant. Thus, they
would make dough of flour and, having heated themselves
hy some means, would remove their clothes and rub them:>clves with the dough in order to impregnate it with their

THE BLACK ART

So
sweat. This done, they would bake little cakes from the
same mixture and give them to any man whom they wished
to entice for base desires. A similar little sorcery is still
performed by the peasant women of Hungary, who bake
cakes and take them to bed with them, before giving them
to the men they desire as sweethearts. A means of dispelling
an enchantment of this description was for a man to walk a
good distance in new shoes until his feet perspired. If he
removed the shoes immediately he returned home, and drank
wine from the right shoe at once, he would be free from the
spell.
In magic most revolting compounds were often made,
to be taken or burnt, involving the use of urine, sweat, and
other human fluids, and the pubic hair and other matters too
gross to mention, and which would be unthinkable to all but
the most depraved.
The belief in Satan, as an actual personality, was so strong
that he was accredited with performing the most amazing
feats, such as building bridges, removing churches from their
original foundations, and so on. And there are several
legends of the Devil having constructed bridges, in exchange
for a Christian soul. The first creature to set foot upon the
bridge must become the slave of the demon; but Satan
seems to have been very easily cheated, as on the famous
occasion when the inhabitants of St. Cloud fobbed him off
with a black cat !
This spirit of poking fun at the Devil, and making him
ridiculous, is a noteworthy point of many ancient myths.
And, while demons and the Satanic powers and influence
were universally dreaded, at the same time there existed
an impish glee and lack of awe at the idea of a human getting
the better of the Prince of Darkness, which is reminiscent
of unruly schoolboys setting up against an overbearing and
irate schoolmaster.
One of the mythical figures of these times was the Wandering Jew, who was doomed to roam the world until Christ
came again. It was believed that he had offered some insult
to the Master as He staggered beneath the weight of the
Cross to Calvary, and therefore wandered without rest until
the Judgment or, according to some accounts, until his
sufferings and repentance earned pardon and release.
Various people of standing claimed to have seen ana known
him, but he was popularly feared and dreaded, and strangers

THE DARK AGES

were often treated with suspicion as possibly being llu

Wandering Jew himself.
Prester John was another legendary figure, but this
supposed European priest and ruler of a distant Asiatic
kingdom scarcely belongs to the realms of sorcery, although
magical powers were attributed to him. During these eras,
there were literally hundreds of people who had established
reputations as witches and sorcerers, and among the plethora
of outstanding names in this respect it is difficult to isolate
the most important.
A certain Peter of Apono was famous as having power over
materials, and was also a water and mineral diviner. His
chief feat, however, was to cause money to return to
his pocket, and he even supplied coins that possessed this
property of always returning to the owners. He was in
the habit of using a well belonging to a neighbour to obtain
the water he needed for his household, but for some reason
or other the permission to continue doing so was withdrawn,
Peter thereupon, with the assistance of the Devil, caused
the water to overflow and flood his neighbour's land.
In the British Isles Thomas the Rhymer was a famous
seer, who predicted events many years ahead of his time and
was commonly supposed to be a sorcerer. Merlin was
probably the most ancient of the British sorcerers of whom
there is any record, but he is almost a mythical figure.
Merlin is, in fact, a link with the Druids, and most probably
belonged to that Order or to one of its surviving branches.
A sorcerer, Gerald Desmond, lived in a castle situated
in the middle of Lough Gur, and there he brought his young
bride at her marriage. In course of time, the bride became
very inquisitive about her husband's practices in black
magic and, seeking him out one day in his secret chamber,
desired him to reveal to her the mystery of the Black Cat.
After much argument, Desmond agreed that she should
witness some of his sorceries, but on the condition that she
uttered no sound, since otherwise the castle would fall in
ruins and sink beneath the lake.
Her promise given, his wife thereupon witnessed such
t crrible and horrifying sights that it seemed as if the room
had been transported to some corner of Hell itself. The
hrave lady stood her ground, however, until, when all seemed
quiet, her husband lay down at her feet and stretched liter.dly, from wall to wall. Thiswastoomuchforherand, uttering

82

THE BLACK ART

shriek upon shriek, she was crushed by the ruins of the

castle, as its walls caved in upon herself and her husband,
and at the same moment the little island was engulfed
within the lake. Every seven yea1s Gerald Desmond is
reported to rise from the waters, and, riding upon a white
horse, shod with silver, to circle the lake three times before
returning to its depths.
In the twelth century there was a black magician named
Artephius, who claimed to have lived more than a thousand
years by magic means, and who was identified by some
alchemists with Apollonius of Tyana. He was the author
of some very extravagant works on magic, which however
were not of any great value.
Berthomine de Gert, a sorceress of Gascony, specialised
in love philtres. She also ultimately made some extraordinary statements about the witches' gatherings in her
confessions, relating that, if anyone murdered a witch on
her way back from the Sabbath, the Devil would temporarily impersonate her at home, so that none should
know where she had been.
One love potion was composed of the powdered navel
string of a new-born baby boy. Another, reputed to be
very efficient, was the tongue of a sparrow enclosed in a wax
wafer, and was to be kept upon the body for four days, after
which an opportunity must be made to see the desired
woman and, placing the wafer under the tongue, kiss her
while the charm was still in the mouth.
Wax figures were as much used for creating love as for
working death spells. In order to entice a woman, an image
must be made of her in virgin wax, with her name written
on the forehead. The name of the admirer must be imprinted
on the figure's breast, with blood taken from the third
finger of the left hand. Four new needles had to be selected,
and one placed in the back, one in the head, one in the heart
and one in the pelvis. A fire was then made, in the woman's
name, which must afterwards be written in the ashes. Salt
and mustard-seed must be sprinkled on the image, which
had finally to be placed in the heart of the fire , and as the
flames leapt up so would the woman's passion be kindled.
The Rabbi Jachiel, a Jewish sorcerer in France, was reputed to have marvellous powers over the elements, by
means of which he lighted his house ; but it is now thought
he may have had some advance knowledge of electricity.

" Her husband .. stretched literally from wall to wall."

THE DARK AGES

At night the windows of his home blazed out with a strnug(
light, and if unwelcome and inquisitive neighbours knocked
too frequently at his door, he caused blue sparks to IH
emitted from the door-knocker by pressing a button in hi:
laboratory.
At some time during the Middle Ages there existed a
Witches' Tower at Lindheim, prints of which were made as
recently as the eighteenth century. It was a strong castellated tower, in which sorcerers and witches were supposed
to assemble at night to perform black magic, and no one
dared go near it either by day or night. This tower was the
centre of countless rumours and legends, and human sacrifices were supposed to be made within its walls, particularly
upon the fifteenth day of the month. The number fifteen
had a Satanic significance, and came to be regarded as an
evil number of bad omen on account of its use by Black
Magicians.
Nearly all the alchemists were popularly supposed to be
sorcerers, but in all probability very few of them actually
were ; with the exception of men like Paracelsus, and later
~lichael Nostradamus, who in the sixteenth century was
astrologer to Charles IX.
The famous Nicholas Flame!, and his wife Perenelle, were
considered sorcerers of the deepest dye, and even after their
cleath the house they occupied was avoided as a centre of
Satanic influences. In passing the place, wayfarers crossed
themselves and hurried to the opposite side of the street.
Poor Jacques Dulet, savant and alchemist, was imprisoned
for sorcery in the reign of Philippe le Bel, and committed
suicide after his wife had been burned alive as a witch.
Those who did not engage in sorcery were overcome by
.m almost hysterical fear of it, and the most fantastic
construction was placed upon matters of natural phenomena.
l'hus, nearly every storm was thought to be the work of some
wizard, and at one period strange and alarming visions were
.,ccn in the sky almost universally, but especially in France.
Demons, dragons, skeletons, and all manner of dreadful
.tnd horrifying shapes appeared in the clouds and struck
terror into the hearts of those who beheld them.
After the Inquisition had been established by Papal
;ltlthority, and had taken into its hands the punishment of
witchcraft and sorcery, various "secret" societies arose.
l'hese were ostensibly for the furtherance of Justice, but

THE BLACK ART

86
more often they were conspicuous for what would nowadays be called "lynch law," particularly when their power
had consolidated.
Such was the society which was founded in Westphalia and
called the Vehmgericht (in France, the Saint Vehme).
Originally this terrible and mysterious band of men was
established as an improvement on the existing system of
justice, and sought to administer equity by their own hands.
Men of power and position belonged to it, and their "free
judges" sat in various towns, covering a wide area known as
the Red Territory. The function of the "franc-judges "
was to travel about the country looking for crime, and on
the discovery of criminals to denounce the latter immediately
and administer summary justice. Very little imagination
is needed to perceive the abuses this system lent itself to,
and eventually the Saint Vehme became so blinded by its
own power, and the terror it inspired, that it scarcely
troubled to offer even a . pretence of justice. Finally, the
people gathered sufficient courage to protest against its
iniquities, and it was disbanded, but not before it had
tortured and executed many innocent people.
There was also the Inquisitorial society of the '' Council
of Ten," which was inaugurated in Venice in 1310. Originally, it was called into being as a sort of emergency council,
and was only supposed to exist for two months, but later it
was reassembled and lasted five years. Its members worked
in secret, and could not be distinguished from ordinary
people by their dress. It was noted for the harshness and
cruelty of its judgments, even in that age, and those it
condemned to death were poisoned. When meeting in
council, the members of this sinister body wore black
robes, with a square black cloth covering the face, the eyes
only being visible. On one side of the garments was incongruously embroidered a medallion of the Prince of
Peace, and in their hands they carried a stout bar to the
end of which was attached a short iron chain-presumably
for the purpose of :B.agellation.
Nearly all the various bodies of Monastic Knights fell
under suspicion of sorcery even as the alchemists did, and
also the famous Order of Rosicrucians. This latter mystical
society, which was founded on the Continent and has
survived in various forms to the present day, was introduced into England by Fludd, the alchemist and astrologer,

THE DARK AGES

in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Some accounts n
even earlier date, but though the Rosicrucian'l wcn1 1111
doubtedly known before Fludd's day, they seem to hrtV.l ltlld
no authorised branch established in Britain. Variun ~J ntrn
who earned the reputation of being sorcerers wt:n ullin
Rosicrucians, such as Friar Bacon, but it definitely w:
not a Black Magic society.
The Knights Templars, originally founded to protect I lu~
Holy Sepulchre in the wars with the Saracens, became a v<ry
rich and powerful society, having members in nearly every
country in Europe. Indeed, so overbearing and arrogant
did they become, that "the pride of a Templar" became a
by-word. In course of time, however, rumours began to be
whispered about the infamous blasphemies of the Templars;
that they were heretics, and worse. It was reported that
they worshipped a huge idol in the form of a goat, which was
called Baphomet, and before which they performed revolting
ceremonies.
Templars themselves had hinted at horrifying experiences
in connection with their initiations, and at last the King of
France, Philippe le Bel, and the Pope turned their attention
to the sect. The King was actuated by jealousy of their
riches and was badly in need of money, while the Pope
quite possibly feared their spiritual influence. The Templars were undoubtedly heretics, in so far as they had
acquired some of the Gnostic principles and probably did
not believe in the Divinity of Jesus the Christ although
honouring Him as a Master. On the other hand, they had
mixed considerably with the Saracens in the East, and some
of the beliefs that they adhered to had an unmistakably
Mohammedan flavour and very likely followed the doctrine
of the Gnostic Ophites of Islam.
The Church accused the Templars upon their initiation
of spitting upon, and trampling under foot, the Cross, at
the same time crying three times, " I e renonce I esu."
They were also supposed to be stripped naked and kissed
upon various parts of the body, before being led into the
presence of Baphomet, whom they greeted with cries of
" Y alla ! " There are various accounts of their ceremonies,
all of which differ. Some accounts relate that homage was
paid to a dog or a cat, and remains of the idol known as the
Goat (Baphomet) have been discovered as definite evidence
that they employed such effigies. The idol form was,

THE BLACK ART

88
however, probably regarded as a pantheistic and magical
figure of the Absolute. The animal head (usually that of a
goat, with a torch between the horns) represented the
responsibility of matter and the expiation of physical
sins in the body ; the human hands of the figure, betokening
the sanctity of labour, were pointed above and below to two
crescents, the upper white and the lower black, corresponding
to good and evil, mercy and justice ; the organs of generation
were veiled, symbolising the mystery of creation; tlw
belly was green in colour, and scaled as a fish or reptile, it:
female breasts were blue; on the forehead, beneath the torch,
appeared the sign of the pentagram, with one beam in th
ascendant. The whole image was seated upon a cube, the
symbol of four, the square and foundation of all things, th
feet being placed upon a sphere representing the world.
Whatever may have been the true nature of the ceremonies
of the Templars, their downfall occurred when Philippe 1
Bel arranged to trap Jacques de Molay and the principal
Templars at a royal ceremony in Paris. The Knights were
graciously received and entertained by the Court, but were
subsequently suddenly arrested by the King's soldiers and
hailed before the Inquisition. Under torture the Knights
confessed to many dark practices and were condemned to
various fates, their Order being disbanded. Their various
trials spread over a number of years, and they received very
different sentences and punishments in different countries.
A number of civilian people in Germany, called Stedingers,
had very similiar accusations made against them by the
Holy Inquisition ; their real crime in the eyes of the Church
being heresy. It was related that they, too, had terrible
ceremonies of initiation and horrible rituals, but there seems
to have been little real evidence of these things. So much
of the Inquisition's proof of its accusations rested upon the
infirm basis of confessions extracted under terrible torture,
that the just and reasonable mind cannot accept them as
authentic.
The Papal authorities had issued a remarkable work called
the "Malleus Maleficarum," by two Inquisitors, Jacob
Sprenger and Henricus Institor. This was nothing more nor
less than a treatise on black magic and the practice of witch
craft in general, although it was written with the intention
of acting as a warning against such things. It revealed how
sorcerers were able to rouse storms and cause thunder,

THE DARK AGES

89
arthquakes and shipwreck ; to turn themselves into animals
md become the companions of demons, after having made
pacts with the Devil ; and much other information of a
">imiliar nature.
We have seen that every sorcerer was thought to have
inevitably bound himself to Satan in return for some favour ;
like the famous Dr. Faustus who gave himself to the demon
Mephistopheles, but was eventually found dead and terribly
mutilated-a very usual fate of black magicians. The legend
of Faust or Faustus, in fact, became so popular in different
versions, that it is unnecessary to enter into the details.
!here can be little doubt that such a person at some time
1xisted, and was a dabbler in the Black Art.
The Inquisition destroyed many works on sorcery, but
the Clavicule de Solomon and the Sword of Moses escaped
this fate, and remained unscathed to hand on magic
formulas, rules of exorcism and necromancy, details of the
processes for casting spells, and so on. The Sword of
r\ l oses was the work of a magician named Abraham, who
hved in Germany probably during the fourteenth century.
lie was trained in occultism from an early age, and later
journeyed to the East to continue his studies. Eventually
ht' settled in Prague, where he met a man by name Anthony
vho initiated him into further mysteries. We gather from
Ius writings that he was attracted by black magic for a time,
hut grew weaty and disgusted with it and turned his
't tention to the higher aspects of magic. The Sword of
\loses was an elaborate work on magic and sorcery, giving
\<'ry complete details of the requirements and methods of
I he magical adept.
Abraham's friend Anthony apparently had made a pact
1 \'tlh the Evil One for forty years in return for his wisdom;
hut before this time had expired he was found dead with
Ill'> tongue torn out, possibly as a retribution for having
H vealed some of his magic secrets. This idea of the Devil
!liming his own was found everywhere, and it was even
1hought that he came and carried witches off bodily to their
particular little corner of Hell at the end of the time that
they had promised to serve him. Many people even declared
r hat they had seen the Evil One doing it !
fhe punishment that the early Church inflicted upon
orcerers and witches was not nearly so drastic as that later
itl'ted out by the Inquisition. Thus, the first Ecclesiastical

THE BLACK ART

THE DARK AGES

Councils, such as that of Laodicea in 363, contented themselves by merely driving sorcerers from the Church and fining
them. It was not until the Middle Ages that the persecution
became so bitter, and the methods employed so cruel.
The " Holy " Inquisition became the most pitiless and
ferocious institution the world has ever known ; condemning
men, women and even children to the flames, and submitting
them to ghastly tortures, in the name of God and the Saviour
of Mankind. The atrocities the Inquisition committed
constituted the most blasphemous irony in religious history ;
defiling the Catholic Church with the deaths of innocent
victims who were burnt to avoid breaking the maxim
"Ecclesia non novit sanguinem."
It was believed that the Devil left his mark on all those
who were pledged to him, and that this spot was perfectly
insensible, no matter what part of the body it occurred on.
Suspected witches or sorcerers were, therefore, pricked with
pins, needles and knives from head to foot in order to discover
this mark. If the unfortunate person did not react to every
prick or stab, it was counted as absolute proof of guilt.
They were then thrown into rivers and ponds, to see if they
would sink or float.
Suspects were put to the ordeal by fire, and forced to
drink boiling oil. Another torture was to strap the victims
down and constantly pour water down their throats, until
the body could hold no more. The Inquisitors, again, used a
dreadful ceremony called " the Question." In the process of
this, the accused person was torn with red-hot iron pincers
furnished with iron spikes, which made it scarcely surprising
that such startling confessions were obtained from them.
Another torture was "the Collar." This instrument was
also fitted with spikes, and was held fast by cords fixed to the
corners of the room. The sufferer was placed in such a
position that the soles of his feet roasted slowly, and was
eventually handed over to the executioners to be burnt, if
there was a spark of life left in his wretched body. Flagellation, thumb-screws, the rack, all entered into the agonising
and shameful programme of the Inquisition.
Long lists of persons convicted of witchcraft contained the
names of little children (from about six years of age, and of
both sexes-but more generally girls), who were spared none
of the horrors of the dreadful executioners. They were
committed to the flames in the name of the Master who

had said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me." Moreover, the accusations of sorcery often became as ridiculous
ts they were cruel and unjust; even leading in France to
the burning of a poor horse, which had been trained to
recognise figures and make divinations by indicating
numbers with its hoof.
Again, religious persecution was not confined to the
destruction of those who were believed to be practitioners
of witchcraft and black magic ; the arts of divination were
l'qually punished. Thus, the wandering Bohemians, or
gipsies, often suffered on the simple score of palmistry,
'iOothsaying and clairvoyance. These travelling magicians
were seldom sorcerers like the occultists who were settled
in villages and towns, and, though renowned for the evil
l'ye and other psychic gifts, they rarely penetrated more
deeply into magic than cartomancy, palmistry and the like.
The children who were burnt at the stake were probably
mostly ones who had been dedicated to Satan by their
parents, but there are accounts of some having actually
asserted that they had seen the Devil. In Spain and Italy
'iOrcerers who appeared before the Court of the Inquisition
were grotesquely dressed in a special costume, consisting of
a Dalmatic and a Mitre, called the Carocha. These robes
were beautifully designed, and of a special variety according
to the fate of the wearer. Thus, a witch who was condemned
to be burnt wore a mitre covered with the figures of demons
in the act of poking the fires of Hell, in the midst of which
L woman's head appeared on burning coals.
In some rare
instances the victim avoided the stake by confession, and if
.,he had obtained this mercy she performed a public penance
111 a dalmatic ornamented with tongues of fire representing
the Holy Ghost, symbolical of her reconciliation with God
11nd her renunciation of witchcraft.
The method of burning witches varied somewhat, but it
must have been an equally painful process however inflicted.
I he stake to which the victims were bound was usually
'>urrounded by a very high pyre of faggots, to the top of
which they had to climb. It is possible that some of these
unfortunate people were suffocated by the smoke before
feeling the pangs of burning, but there are accounts of life
having lingered until the body was merely a charred mass.
In the case of sufferers possessed of true occult powers, the
pain may to some extent have been a withdrawal into the

90

91

92

THE BLACK ART

THE DARK AGES

Etheric Body; in other words, some may have been able t

exercise a form of self-hypnosis to overcome their agoni
It is, for instance, recorded of many saints, and martyrs that,
while they underwent their torture, they could withdraw
themselves sufficiently by their ecstasy of mind to enahl
them to sing praises; while it is related of Cranmer that h
deliberately burnt his right hand in the flames, becauCI
with it he had once signed his renunciation of the Catholi
Church.
In Holland a favourite method of burning under the crud
Duke of Alva and his " Council of Blood " was simply t
make a large fire on the ground. The witch was then strapp1d
to a ladder and, when the flames were burning fiercely, sh
was first propped upright by two men and afterwards flun
face downwards in the heart of the fire. Sorcerers in som
countries were forced into a hole just large enough to
accommodate a bed composed of faggots, and when they
had been lashed to this couch of torture, more faggots wer
mercilessly piled on top of them and set alight with torches.
Methods of extracting confessions included the Boot '' ;
an iron contraption that fitted the leg with crushing force.
When pressure was brought to bear on the victim, this
" Boot " was caused to tighten so much that the flesh and
blood were literally pulped and the bones crushed.
The Inquisitorial judges were more cruel in certain
countries than others, and again in certain districts. Though
France and Spain were notable for the hideous ferocity of
their persecutions, even they revolted against the methods
and sentences imposed by the judges of Arras in France,
who cannot be exonerated from motives of personal gain.
For there the sorcerers were accused of heresy as well, and
by that means the Ecclesiastical Councils seized their
property and extorted heavy fines from their relatives.
And it is a notable fact that of the priests and monks burnt
during these periods, few were openly accused of sorcery ;
the charge of heresy being brought against them more
frequently, except in flagrant cases.
The Papal authorities in those days made a scandalous
trade out of selling Dispensations, so that people who were
rich and influential enough escaped the flames and tortures
of the Inquisition.
Somewhat later, in 1569, Jean Wier, a native of Brabart,
who was a celebrated physician, did much to decrease the
II

93

lnrtures of the witches by writing his Cinq livres de l'mpostre et tromperie des diables. This book set out to prove that
tthmy of the accused were not sorcerers at all, and therefore
i111t not in any way merit the punishments meted out to them.
lllan of Arc, whom the English burnt as a witch and who was
trcused of sortilege, nowadays would merely have been
i, tlled a " clairaudiante."
l'he district of Bambury in Germany was supposed to
.:ontain most witches, and as late as the seventeenth century
litis town went so far as to build the "Haxenhaus" or
" Malefitzhaus " (" House of Witches "), where suspects
were imprisoned and tried. The building was a triumph of
rchitecture and accommodated about twenty-six women at
1 time, but it is to be regretted that so much skill and appre' 1ation of beauty could not have been put to a better purpose.
Literally thousands of people of all ages and conditions
WPre burnt in the course of a year under the worst period of
I he Inquisitorial persecutions, and at the time when the
(,nights Templars met their downfall fifty-nine of them were
burnt in a single day, including their leader Jacques de
Molay. Such executions pandered to all that was worst
in human nature, and the crowds that attended these human
acrifices were maddened by a sadistic lust of bestial cruelty.
l he onlookers, indeed, thrilled and rejoiced in the sufferings
of the victims, and displayed as devilish a spirit as any
that could have been evoked by the vilest sorcerer. It
was comparatively seldom that a Laval, or a Gaufridy,
who alone could possibly have merited the fiendish torture
tmployed, was brought to book.
For days and weeks the fires of persecution never went out,
one victim after another being led to the stake. There is a
rtcord in Jersey of how a young woman accused as a witch
was burnt in the Royal Square. The poor girl was pregnant
md already in labour, and as the flames began to mount
Iter child was born. By some means or other in her agony
the wretched mother managed to kick the infant from the
tncroaching fire. But the inhuman bystanders cast the
progeny back into the flames that were consuming its
mother, crying that they desired no imp of Satan.
Although the extreme cruelty and enormous numbers
of t he accusations and persecutions for sorcery gradually
diminished, they continued to exist until the eighteenth
Lcntury.

CHURCH AND MONASTIC BLACK MJ\G 'Jt

CHAPTER VII
THE CHURCH AND MONASTIC BLACK MAGIC
Deals with black magic practised within the Church and furnishes instances
when her dignitaries were accused of witchcraft, and the dealings of
saints and ecclesiastics with demons and the black art.

URING the Middle Ages the Church paid as much

attention to Satan as she did to the Virgin and
Son, and certainly fed the forces of darkness by
increasing and trading upon the fear of the Devil
and his attendant hosts of demons. She possessed also her
trained band of exorcists, who practised as much magic as
the professional caster of spells.
At a time when alchemy was preoccupying the minds of
men, the clergy were no exception to the rule, and nearly
every parish priest was engaged upon alchemical experiments and sorcery in a greater or lesser degree. The state
of affairs in many monasteries all over Europe was even
worse. It is not to be denied that many monks, friars, and
priests led saintly lives, but there was another side to the
picture. The confinement and unnatural conditions of life
led to terrible states of mind among the inhabitants of
monasteries and convents, and many abnormal practices
were the result. Hysteria and sexual disturbances gave place
to religious exaltation on the one hand, and to visions of
Hell, Satan and myriads of demons on the other. No better
breeding-ground for sorcery could be found.
Monks were not always men who had taken up the religious
life from motives of piety, nor had many of them taken full
vows ; though all alike were enjoined to celibacy, and at least
outward chastity. That this chastity was often a mockery
there is abundant evidence, and the perversions they fell
into were more revolting than a lapse from continence.
It is small wonder, therefore, that there are so many
accounts of these men and noted " saints " being troubled
with Satanic manifestations and demoniac visitations,
Even making due allowance for credulity, superstition and a
desire to impress the outer world, there is still ample ground
for concluding that these people did, indeed, come into

94

contact with the dark and malevolent forces of l lit! r.pifil

planes.
Many of the "saints" of the Dark and Middle Ag< ~S Wt)ldd
not necessarily be considered holy nowadays, bnl, r:11 lit' I',
fit cases for psycho-analysis and the mental SJW<:i:dir.t..
Many of their " pious " actions betrayed an abnorma I !ll n h
of mind, inducing them to act under influences thal, <:<HI
trary to their own statements, must have come from a faa
from exalted origin. Many holy women meditated upon tlu:
crucified figure of Jesus with a love that was far more camal
than spiritual in its expression. Guichard, Bishop of Troyts,
was accused in 1303 of being the son of a demon, and of
calling up his father whenever he needed Satanic assistance.
For which convenience the bishop suffered imprisonment.
Nowhere during the Middle Ages was sorcery more
practised within the Church than in Spain and Portugal.
These countries had already acquired a great knowledge
of magic, sorcery and alchemy from the Moors, and those
cults became grafted on to the esoteric knowledge of the
monks and priesthood. The latter grew to find that their
spiritual power became gratifyingly augmented by temporal
power, when backed by a practice of the black art. In past
eras the Church teemed with men who were intensely
ambitious, and was the school for political supremacy.
In that respect their secrets stood them in good stead, for
by such means they influenced weak-minded royalty and
women who held unacknowledged power.
On the other hand, the Church held the learning and
culture of the times in her hands, and many men whose
intellect and achievements were far beyond their age
earned the reputation of being magicians and enchanters
simply because the ordinary people of all classes could
neither understand them nor their works. Thomas Aquinas,
whose wonders were far-famed, may well have belonged to
such a group, though he seems to have been the Master, or
[nstructor, of at least one sorcerer, Albertus Magnus, who
became Bishop of Ratisbon in Bavaria.
The Church discouraged any occult knowledge or manifestation outside her own walls, but made ample use within
of matters attributed to the Devil when performed by others.
However, when magical practices, either among groups or
individuals, became too blatant the Pope or his representatives were forced to denounce them openly. So it

96

THE BLACK ART

came about that a very favourite method of divination, used

by all ranks of the clergy, was forbidden publicly. This was
called the" Sortilegium," or divination by" sortes" or lots,
which had even been used by St' Agustine himself.
The system was perfectly simple. Seven candles were
lighted and placed upon the altar of church or chapel, and
an invocation uttered in the name of the Trinity that light
might be shed upon the immediate future or some particular
problem. The Bible was then placed on the altar and opened
at random, the first verse meeting the eyes being interpreted
as having a bearing upon the case in point. I believe quite
a number of people have engaged in this form of prediction
for themselves, without knowing that they were practising
sorcery in the eyes of the Church.
The accounts of saints, hermits, priests and monks who
held converse with demons, are too numerous to mention,
from the famous temptations of St. Anthony onwards.
However, there is a flavour about many of them that make
one think that they were either pure inventions for the
glorification of the Church, or else that actual dealings with
evil spirits were very much altered and glossed for the same
reason. A case in point is the Golden Legend, in which
may be read a description of conversations between St.
Dominic and a devil. The answers of the demon to the
Saint's questions very much support the interests of the
clergy of the day.
At one period a perfect epidemic of demoniac obsession
swept through the convents of Europe, accompanied by
attacks by the Devil-on the nuns and the practice of sorcery.
This outbreak was particularly marked in Germany, Holland
and Italy. The nuns declared that the Devil himself visited
them, had carnal conversation with them, and in some
cases actual intercourse. Their behaviour became extremely
peculiar-they being impelled to sing and dance to the
utterances of blasphemies; to climb trees in the convent
gardens; to disarrange their clothing in a suggestive manner,
or to abandon it altogether. The devils in them threw
them on the ground, caused them to swell to abnormal sizes
and to abandon all evidences of piety or sanity. During
and after these attacks they vomited nails, pins, bits of iron
and all manner of peculiar substances that they vowed had
never been swallowed.
Sister Mary of the convent of St. Esprit, in France, caused

"The Church made ample use, within her walls, of matters

attributed to the Devil."

CHURCH AND MONASTIC BLACK MAGIC

~complete upheaval in that holy establishment, and
.~certain priest a great deal of trouble in his efforts to

99

gave
exorrise the obsessing demon. The nuns of the convent of
Nazareth, in Cologne, also suffered from sexual manifesta1ions, induced by attacks from the Devil and his followers
Similar outbreaks occurred at the convent of Auxonnes,
I hrowing the nuns into terrible convulsions, during which
I hey emitted fearful shrieks and cries and went into all
rnanner of unnatural contortions. The dignitaries of the
"1orbonne investigated these cases, and apparently could
only come to the conclusion of demoniac obsessions.
In the year 1633, the Bridget Nuns, near Xanthus, behaved like sheep, jumping about and bleating continuously.
While, when the sisters of an Ursuline convent in France
were seized by one of these Satanic onslaughts, their conlc~ssor, Urbain Grandier, was suspected of casting spells over
I hem by sorcery and was accordingly arrested. No evidence
of having made a pact with the Devil could be found against
l11m, but it was alleged that his life was immoral and that
his writings proved his beliefs and practices to be contrary
lo established religions. Nuns then came forward, admitting
I heir complicity with demons and testifying against
<rrandier, so that he was accordingly burnt at the stake. The
I roubles at the convent continued, however, and it was a
long time before the disturbance was finally quelled by the
' xorcisms of a certain Brother Surin.
Another strange manifestation of collective mental
.clmormality, though not directly connected with sorcery, was
lite Brotherhood of Flagellants. There had been several
outbreaks of religious self-torture, but the worst occurred
hout the middle of the eleventh century ; inaugurated
111 st by a monk, Dominicus Loricutus, and later by Peter
Ilamian, Cardinal of Ostia (1072).
fhese men lashed themselves and each other unmercifully
,\'Jth knotted leather scourges until the blood ran, two or
three times daily. They gathered bands and, marching
into towns and villages, called upon the inhabitants to come
tnd be scourged for their sins. Men, women and even
hildren joined the Flagellants, and threw themselves into
111 ~o:ies of self-torture, and sadism.
l'his sadistic practice swept over Europe, and became
pccially popular in certain districts, and it has been
Holed that an outbreak of religious flagellation frequently

IOO

THE BLACK ART

preceded an epidemic of the Plague, or Black Death. Tb

fanatical Flagellants at length began to claim ability. t
cure disease and cast out devils, and the Papal authorities be
came disquieted by the abuses of the sect. Pope Clement VI
and the Emperor Charles IV finally prohibited their practices,
although they were by no means immediately stamped out.
These were the times when the Witches Sabbaths, and
sorcery of all kinds, engaged the minds of the people. In
many outlying villages and hamlets nearly all the inhabitant
frequented Satanic meetings, where they could give un
bridled rein to their passions and find an outlet for th
dullness of their lives in the excitement of demonism. As a
result the Church no doubt felt it must provide some counter
attraction, and the clergy introduced various feasts,
moralities and miracle plays. These were certainly far from
holy in their respective precedure and execution, and even
if they succeeded in so far as they appealed to the populace,
to a disinterested onlooker they might not have been found
so very different from the influences they were designed to
supersede.
One such performance was the Feast of Asses, celebrated
publicly in churches or in the chapels of the monasteries.
Readers will notice beneath the foolery a disquieting re
semblance between some of the practices at this and similar
feasts and those performed at the Sabbaths and celebrations
of the Black Mass. In this particular ceremony an ass,
covered with sacredotal robes, was led to the altar, where a
priest conducted a service before it and hymns were chanted
as discordantly as possible. Pails of dirty water were flung
at the heads of the singers, and the ass provided with food
and drink. The feast continued on and off for two days, the
participants, both monks and laymen, drinking, dancing
and braying like asses.
A variation of the Feast of Asses was for a "Pope of
Fools" to be chosen, who burlesqued the divine service.
During the service rubbish was burnt in the censers, and
obscene singing and dancing took place. Sometimes the
monks, priests and laity disguised themselves in the skins of
animals and behaved with abominable depravity, the while
ordure and filth were scattered among the audience and
games of dice were played upon the altar.
The moralities and religious plays were full of " crosstalk" between saints and demons, very much to the latter's

CHURCH AND MONASTIC BLACK MAGIC ror

d1sadvantage, and the Devil himself always figured to receive
11ltimate defeat at the hands of the clergy. There were all
I, inds of religious representations of the life of Christ, but
not all were remarkable for either beauty or art. Among
I hem was a very naive play based on the legend of the
<.arden of Eden, in which Adam and Eve appeared entirely
naked ! One of the charges brought against witches and the
.Lbbath gatherings by the Church was the immorality of
I heir nude dancing, but the inconsistency seems to have
passed unnoticed at the time.
An enormous number of monks and priests gave them,t'lves up to sorcery, and there was no lack of apostate
1niests to perform the ceremonies of the Black Mass. Some
abandoned the Church, but many more continued their
practices within the monasteries and convents, or became
I he private confessors of royalty and nobility, for whom
I hey conducted their blasphemous sorceries. It was notorious that Catherine de Medici had such a priest at her beck
.md call, and Benvenuto Cellini secured the assistance of one
who performed necromancy and sorcery to restore Cellini's
mistress at the Coliseum in Rome. It is recorded that even
Cardinal Wolsey was in league with a monk who cast spells
on his behalf, and manufactured for him a magic ring which
had such power that when he wore it Henry VIII could deny
him nothing.
Many charges of sorcery were brought against eminent
and learned men within the Church; but it is not always
rasy to determine the truth of them, accusations of that
description frequently being made by those jealous of their
achievements or power.
For instance, Trithemius was an abbot of the Benedictine Monastery at Spanheim and also an exceedingly
clever man. He had many abstruse works to his credit and
was an advanced alchemist. The Emperor Maximilian,
being terribly grieved at the early death of his first wife,
Mary of Burgundy, in his distress sent to Trithemius for
consolation. On the latter's arrival, the Emperor repeatedly
said that he could .be comforted if only he might see his wife
again. Trithemius asked him if this was his earnest desire,
and the Emperor having replied in the affirmative, the Abbot
then and there proceeded to call up the spirit of his wife.
The lady appeared before her astonished husband's eyes,
as fresh and lively as in life, but the Emperor exclaimed

THE BLACK ART

CHURCH AND MONASTIC BLACK MAGIC

that it could not really be her ! Trithemius then asked

Maxmilian to remember some particular mark on his wife's
body by which he would know her, and Maxmilian recalled a
small scar upon the back of her neck which no one knew but
himself. The Abbot asked him to inspect the apparition for
this mark, and sure enough it was there. Instead of being
grateful for the manifestation, however, the Emperor was
displeased and denounced Trithemius as a necromancer
and banished him to the monastery. When eventually he
died, Trithemius communicated to a monk a prescription
for the elixir of life, although it seems scarcely an appropriate
moment for recommending a method of securing comparative
material immortality!
A very great number of the clergy made walking and
talking statues, which were possibly not magic in intenton
but early attempts to manufacture "robots." They also
made brass heads, for the purpose of acting as oracles. One
of these "talking heads" was the work of Robert Grosset~te, Bishop of Lincoln (1235), and the friar, Roger Bacon,
possessed one as well.
The priests of Rome certainly did not disdain temporal
power, and it must often have been as much ambition as
anything that impelled them to sorcery; the Jesuits,
in particular, being lovers of power and deeply versed
in occult matters. However, they did not employ their
magic for this alone, but were in some instances noted for
using sorcery for immoral purposes. This was the sorcery
by breath, which is a well-known method in the East.
Breath is the very essence of life, and it can be used by the
occultists for many other purposes than merely breathing.
The effects of ''insufflation " are well known ; by this process
prolonged warm breathing upon a person stimulates their
magnetism, and operators, if good and without wrong
intentions themselves, have been enabled to cure diseases
by such means. On the other hand, there is a similar method
that is used in sorcery. This last is cold breathing and has
a repellent effect; animals, particularly, can be warded off
by a steady cold breath, which they greatly fear.
The priests in question breathed upon the women whom
they desired, and thereby aroused in them insatiable sexual
passion for the breather. So many scandals had arisen in
the Church on that account that Augustine, Jerome and
Gregory denounced this form of sorcery, while the Emperor

<onstantine forcibly proscribed against '' sorcery by the

IOZ

103

breath to arouse lustful passions."

Several priests met their death at the stake. One of them
hcing the Cure of Peifane, who seduced a well-born and
virtuous woman, the Dame du Lieu. Another was a priest
named Gaufridy, who breathed upon a penitent at the confessional and had intercourse with her, for which he was
burnt by the Parliament of Provence
Pere Girard, again, a Jesuit priest, was accused at Aix in
1731 of seducing a certain Mile Catherine Cadiere by the
arne means, and of other revolting offences in connection
with her. The lady in question was young and pure and
lived with her parents, but her confessor became enflamed
with a passion for her. One day Girard found an excuse to
blow away something from the lady's gown, and from that
moment she fell under his spell and became infatuated with
him. Her religious ecstasies increased, and she even displayed the Christ stigmata of wounded hands and feet
nnd bleeding forehead ! It was not long before the priest
found an opportunity to see her alone, whereupon he
breathed on her again and placed her in such a delirium of
passion that she realised nothing until his purpose was
.tccomplished. For some time their relations continued;
the priest trading upon his charge's simplicity and religious
fervour, to induce her to believe that she had done nothing
wrong. At length doubts arise in Mile Cadiere's mind, and
she told her parents all that had occurred. In consequence
Pere Girard was arrested, and accounts relate that he was
acquitted of the charges, while others state that he was
burnt at the stake.
A marked feature of these ecclesiastical sorceries was that
the victims nearly all experienced visions and ecstasies, and
received these stigmata already referred to ; although in
the circumstances they could not possibly have contracted
anything but the worst and lowest spiritual influences.
It will thus be seen that the ecstatic and exalted frame of
mind peculiar to religious fanatics is largely due to physiological and psychological causes, allied with unwise opening
up of the personality to astral influences.
Even the Popes were not exempt from charges of sorcery.
Silvester II, among others, was believed to have attained
his position by making a pact with the Devil, and to have
obtained much of his wealth from buried treasure discovered

THE BLACK ART

104
by sorcery. However that may be, he was one of the most
brilliant and learned men of his day, although he is supposed
to have confessed his complicity with Satan to his Cardinals
before his death. His very tomb was regarded with awe and
considered to have magical properties, one of them being that
his effigy wept tears before the accession of subsequent Popes.
Pope Leo the Great wrote a collection of charms and incorporated them with a magical work called the Enchiridiot~
of Pope Leo, but it was on the whole a very inferior production. Notwithstanding this, it found favour with the
Emperor Charlemagne, who is reported to have written to
Leo expressing his pleasure in it and remarking on his good
fortune since possessing it.
Benedict IX came from a noble and ambitious family who
secured the Papal throne for him, and was noted for his evil
life and debauchery. He was also a past master of sorcery,
and among other things made the matrons and maidens of
Rome follow him up on the hills and groves, though what
transpired after that history does not relate.
Boniface VIII was thought to be an exponent of the black
art. When arrested and charged with witchcraft, he refused
to recognise a council not called by himself. He was
eventually released, but the anxieties and troubles which he
had experienced conduced to his death. He was believed
to have power over the elements, and to be able to produce
thunder and lightning at will.
The magical achievements of the Bishop of Ratisbon
caused quite a stir in his day, the well-known Catholic
bishop having the power to bring about changes of temperature and to produce fruits and flowers out of their season.
He was considered a sorcerer, but he himself claimed that he
had no assistance from either God or Devil, relying entirely
upon the achievements of his own power.
In the reign of Louis XVI the infamous Abbe Guibourg
was associated with a notorious woman named Catherine
Deshayes (La voisine), who practised sorcery and was involved in cases of poisoning. They celebrated the Black
Mass in cellars, and sacrificed young children for their
abominable purposes. Lemignan, vicar of St. Eustace in
Paris, was also convicted of having dedicated and sacrificed
children to Satan.
In England the magical adventures of a monk called
William Stapleton, in the reign of Henry VIII, were recorded

CHURCH AND MONASTIC BLACK MAGIC ros

at the Rolls House. In 1527 he was living in the monastery
of St . Benet at Holm in Norfolk, and was set upon the road
of sorcery by certain works on black magic lent to him by a
parish priest. He began after six months study to practise
sorcery, and obtained a magic ring, a plate, a cup, a sword
and a circle. Eventually he secured leave from the monastery, and set about discovering buried treasure. However,
he failed in his first tests to discover gold at Calkett Hall, by
means of a book to which another monk was said to have
bound a spirit by necromantic methods. Having taken up
sorcery in good faith , Stapleton was obliged to fall back
upon common fraud in order to substantiate his claims. In
the end he was imprisoned; probably at the instigation of
Cardinal Wolsey, whom he had accused of sorcery in the
course of some investigations.
Nor was sorcery confined to the male orders of the Church.
A Spanish nun, named Magdalen of the Cross, was Abbess of a
convent at Cordova. The nuns strongly suspected her of
black magic and, knowing this, in hope of obtaining the
Pope's pardon, she confessed that from an early age she
had had almost nightly intercourse with the Devil in the
shape of a Moor. The demon, as a recompense for her
favours, was said to help her to perform seeming miracles,
such as levitation, and at certain celebrations of the Holy
Eucharist the Host was conveyed to her through the air
in the presence of the congregation of nuns.
Pope Joan, who once occupied the throne of the Vatican,
was reputed to be the blackest sorcerer of them all. A
certain work on magic has been attributed to her, and the
female Pope or Priestess on the Tarot cards was said to
represent her ; but, on the other hand, this figure is certainly
symbolical of Isis. It is possible, however, that at one time a
set of cards was made with the High Priestess of the Major
Arcana, resembling Pope J oan, in the aspect of a Priestess of
Isis.
There are endless accounts of pacts made with the Devil.
One actually exists in writing, made by the monk Louis
Gaufridi already referred to ; although Satan would appear
to have failed his partner, in view of the monk's ultimate
fate. The Inquisition with all its attendant horrors does
not enter here ; but who knows if the Church's ferocity
towards witchcraft and sorcery may not have been all the
greater in its attempt to cover the corruption within ?

WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM & WEREWOLVES 107

CHAPTER VIII
WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM AND WEREWOLVES IN EUROPE
Deals with witchcraft on the Continent, and relates various beliefs in
vampires and werewolves, with accounts of instances of Lycan
thropy, etc.

we have seen, witchcraft-whether real or

imaginary-flourished everywhere in Europe

during the Middle Ages. It continued to be common, in spite of suppression, until fairly recent
times, and even to-day is by no means dead as so many
people imagine. Witches were persons of both sexes, who
were able to perform acts beyond the scope of ordinary folk
by means of help from evil spirits and by the casting of
spells.
However, the word "witch" came to be applied almost
exclusively to women who were believed to achieve their
power by making a blood pact with the Devil, sealed with
their blood. They were usually old and ugly, and for this
reason many unfortunate old ladies, whose only crimes were
loneliness and a lack of beauty, went to the stake. There are
many accounts of spritely and seductive young witches,
who by " sex-appeal " lured men to destruction or introduced them to their own evil ways. They were supposed
regularly to attend witches' meetings or Sabbaths ; these
ceremonies being terrible orgies where the participants
indulged in drinking blood and urine, kissing the posterior
of the materialised devil-usually in the form of a goat, and
trampling upon the Host in the ceremony of the Black Mass.
Promiscuous sexual indulgence took place, and every
filthy act the human mind can conceive was performed
accompanied by gluttony and drunkenness.
Witches of all ages attended these lively gatherings by
flying away on their broomsticks, or else being taken by a
spirit in the form of a wild animal, who also thoughtfully
conducted them back before sunrise. It was not so simple a
matter for a witch to handle her broomstick, and there
are amusing accounts of mischievous demons tipping them
106

up and upsetting them in the branches of trees, where they

were subsequently found woefully entangled. Sometimes the
witches conducted friends to these gatherings, and then
accidents were more than ever apt to happen en route,
presumably owing to the disapproval of Satan, who was quite
particular in his own way about whom he accepted. Priests,
however, were especially welcome.
Before starting out, it was the custom to anoint the body
with certain ointments, which in authentic cases undoubtedly helped by their drug-like qualities to produce
physical excitement, hysteria and hallucinations.
Every witch had her familiar, an animal, reptile or bird,
which was her constant companion and was believed to be
an evil spirit taking that form. On their first initiation at
their Sabbaths these women were often presented with a toad,
which they were strictly enjoined to take great care of.
The witches dressed these engaging pets in a sort of crimson
velvet sack, with a little hood like a monk's cowl, and tied
around the middle. Milk formed their chief diet, and this
they were supposed to imbibe from the witch herself, from a
third " teat " which had been made beneath the arm by a
nip from the Devil's pincers. Cats, owls and snakes were
also used as familiars. The neophyte was given a new name
in place of the baptismal one, usually of an evil and revolting
character, and this was written in blood in the Devil's book,
the covers of which were bound in the skin of unbaptised
infants.
There is a great gulf between the majestic witch of classic
antiquity, such as the Witch of Endor and of the Norse Sagas,
and the witches of Europe in the Middle Ages. The latter
had degenerated into commonplace practitioners of petty
evil for the most part, and had lost the grandeur of earlier
times. They were, on the whole, women of the peasant
class; ignorant, crude and themselves credulous, although
there were instances even then of ladies of high rank having
given themselves up to the black art. Sometimes the alliance
was forever, sometimes only for a term of years; but in our
experience it is easier to ally oneself with evil than to
turn from it, and, once having set dark forces into operation,
it is to be expected that the majority became the helpless
servants of the powers invoked. The evil one set his seal
upon his followers once they had vowed themselves to him
by
k with his hoof, a nip with pincers or some other

ro8

THE BLACK ART

implement, all of which had the same property of bein

insensible forever after. This insensible spot was alway
searched for with pins by the examiners in trials of witchcraft
The worst kinds of sorcery, witchcraft and black magi
were practised in France, Spain and Italy, and although tlu
folklore and history of Germany teemed with accounts of
witches and so forth, they do not take on the degraded
aspects of French and Italian magic until the fourteen! h
century. The Black Forest, the Harz Mountains, and
particularly the Brocken Peak, were the home of every
possible form of magic and wizardry in Germany. In
Teutonic legends the beautiful witch is often a feature; for
example, there is the Lorelei, who by her glorious hair and
marvellous singing lured enchanted voyagers and fishermen
to destruction on the rocks of the Rhine, and Wagner has
immortalised the symbolically glorious witch of the Venusberg in Tannhiiuser.
In the British Isles the meeting-places and the meetings of
witches and warlocks were called "covens." The relation
between this word and the word convent is interesting, as
betraying its religious connection. A coven grew to mean
a meeting-place for twelve witches and the Devil. Now,
this Devil may indeed have appeared as a materialisation of
.evil in assemblies of intensely Satanic power, as most
occultists will agree, but more often than not the Chief or
Leader of the coven, personally known only to a few, impersonated the Prince of Darkness.
The Chief of the coven arrived quietly and inconspicuously
and, divesting himself of his garments, donned a mask with
horns or antlers, and had another fixed to the lower part of
the spine for the assembly to kiss. This posterior mask
was nearly always used, particularly in early times. A
French witch, accused of kissing the posterior of Satan,
indignantly refuted the idea of obscenity exclaiming, " It is
indeed another face that he bears beneath his tail ! " However, sometimes the votaries were not even helped by this
illusion of covering when the Goat offered its buttocks to
receive the affectionate kiss of the neophyte.
The actual Sabbath occurred only once in seven years,
and the other meetings were merely "covens." At the
Sabbaths the Black Mass was practised, but this we will deal
with separately in a later chapter. A dreadful feature of
meetings was the presence of little children, who were

"The actual Sabbath occurred only once in seven years."

WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM & WEREWOI.Vh:,

1J t

brought to be sealed to the Devil and were only too frequ

the votive offering or human sacrifice. Stillborn bahi
unbaptised infants were especially sought after for cn1111
balistic purposes. All over Europe many witches wen.~ mid
wives, who dedicated babies to Satan the instant they wert'
born. The Church became alarmed by this wholesale in~
ursion upon its future members, and a society of malt~
midwives was formed under the auspices of the priests anu
Church, to counteract the activities of the Satanic nurses and
to baptise infants even before the severance of the umbilical
cord.
Children were so greatly in request by the Devil that if
the witches were unable to produce a child of their own in
the ordinary course of events, they had to procure one by
some means or other, and many unfortunate little ones were
kidnapped, or in some cases kept by the witches until the
time for sacrifice arrived. We can thus see where the
foundation of many of childhood's fairy stories arose,
particularly those of Grimm and Hans Andersen. In
Germany St. Walpurgis night was the great event in the
witches' calendar, and an eyewitness of one of these
hellish gatherings is related to have seen a ring of children
seated beyond giant toads, the witches' familiars, being yet
too young to take part in the rituals and orgies. There are,
however, many accounts and old engravings extant of
children being presented to the Devil to receive his mark.
Witches also used the corpses of children extensively in
making fat for their ointments and candles.
The Sabbaths and covens were only witches' high-days and
holidays, and the greater part of their work was carried on
from their own little huts and hovels. Most witches were
women who lived alone, in part, because like most occultists
they chose to do so, in part because the general community
feared and shunned them.
In their dwellings witches concocted love philtres and
potions, and worked their spells and enchantments. For
the most part such were composed of herbs like Artemisia,
Hemp, Camphire, Flax, Coiander, Anise, Cardamom, Aloeswood and Chicory. The purpose of the mixtures was to
make apparitions appear. A concoction founded on a basis
of animal matter consisted of a Lapwing, Lion's Gall, Bull's
Gall, the Fat of a White Hen, Eyes of a Black Cat, and Ant's
Eggs. All had to be boiled together according to the ancient

II2

THE BLACK ART

manuscript in which the chann was found. The sorcerer

does not tell us where to obtain the Lion's Gall, but perhap
an obliging demon provided that! Aromatics were used,
too, especially in necromancy, and an old recipe of that sort
comprises Musk, Myrrh, Frankincense, Red Storax, Mastick,
Olibanum, Saffron, Benzoin and Labdanum. In the event
of anyone wishing to invoke the very Prince of Spirits, th
following ingredients were prescribed to be burnt-Juice
of Hypericon, Saffron, Artemisia, and the root of Valerian.
Witches always anointed themselves with ointments before
departing up the chimney to their Sabbaths. One such
ointment was composed of Aconite, Belladonna, Water
Parsley, Cinquefoil and Babies' Fat. The property of some
of those ingredients was to produce various states of excitement or numbness, and they undoubtedly not only spurred
the witches on to their wild doings but produced hallucinations as well. The Mandrake, which was extensively used
in black magic of all kinds, is the plant that is supposed to
utter a terrible cry like a human being on being plucked. It
is of two varieties, the male and female, and witches often
kept both specimens in bottles for magic purposes. From
the Mandrake, mandragonia is obtained-a powerful narcotic used by the old Greeks as an anresthetic.
Although tradition portrays the witch as ancient and haglike, many young women indulged in sorcery as well. Some
were even married, and their husbands unaware of their
true nature until some accident betrayed them. Such
often escaped from their homes at night by placing their
husbands in an enchanted sleep, or by leaving an image
resembling themselves in the bed. There are many accounts
of husbands denouncing their wives for witchcraft on discovering their activities, and one cannot but wonder how
often this was found an easy way of getting rid of an
unwanted wife !
No one has reasonably explained why witches always
departed up the chimney, although many theories have been
advanced. There are a number of engravings and pictures
depicting them about to ascend in that manner, some of
them intensely interesting. Goya has given us two of the
best pictures on the subject; one representing a materialisation of the Goat Baphomet surrounded by a few followers,
the other depicting three male sorcerers about to depart for
a Sabbath up the chimney. The atmosphere of the second

\\ I TCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM & WEREWOLVES

I'" lure is very grim and macabre,

II3

the sorcerers being in

lu- process of changing into animals.
Much of the practice of witchcraft depended on the
I'ISl'Ssion of the Evil Eye. This was sometimes believed
J he an involuntary gift, often accompanying a squint,
ncl proved to be an even more unfortunate matter for the
t !O~.scssor than other people, sometimes even leading tlhem to
i l11 stake. Upon other practitioners of witchcraft this baleful
Ltnce was said to be bestowed as a reward by the Evil One,
tul by it were enchanted children, lovers, animals, crops
111cl cattle, and a host of different things. If a crop failed,
row fell sick, or an accident happened, everyone began to
lc'tok around for the possessor of the blighting Evil Eye.
Witches were kept quite busy, causing all manner of
Ute kness and hann at the behest of those who consulted
tltcm. Even to-day in rural districts the Evil Eye is dreaded.
I n old times, if the possession was only acquired and not a
natural attribute, it was thought that its power could be
warded off by saying something disgustingly rude, or by
cli'Splaying some atrociously vulgar gesture accompanied by
loud laughter. Which custom led to some very Rabelaisian
pt>rformances, as may be imagined. Another method of
ncutralising the influence was by extending the first and little
li ngers of the right hand, representing the horns of the
Moon. It is recounted that the Devil had told his followers :
'' If you bear anyone ill will, look at them full and wish
I hem every evil in my name, and you will get your heart's
clcsire."
During these times compacts with the Devil were very
common, and were made for apparently trifling objects.
!'here were three methods. The first was a solemn ceremony,
complete with circles, burning herbs and so on, in the midst
of which the Prince of Darkness himself would appear.
The second was a simple request in writing, signed by the
one who requested his favours. The last took the form of
merely a tacit understanding. All engagements taken on
by the Devil were of criminal or impious nature, and if the
human covenanter failed to keep his word, or wished to
withdraw, the punishment was instant death.
At all times and in all places a favourite form of witchcraft was to cause illness or death by means -of a wax figure.
A small image was made representing the victim, and this
was subiected to all kinds of adverse treatment ; pins

II4

THE BLACK ART

being stuck through the eyes, heart, bowels, and so forth

Such treatment was accompanied by burning herbs nn
various incantations, with the object of causing agony and
death. Sometimes a human heart and long needles Wt'l
used in the ceremony.
As it was the custom to leave the bodies of malefact01
hanging in chains on public gibbets until they literally fell t
pieces, it was not difficult to obtain human remains for th
practice of black magic. Sorcerers and other practitiontJ
of witchcraft used to make a variety of candlestick callrd
the Hand of Glory, chiefly from the flesh of criminals olJ
tained in this manner. Sometimes a whole hand was drit>d
and used, and sometimes a variety of stands were made in
the shape of the crescent moon. These human candle
holders were said to have the power of making everyone whr
saw them unable to move. Thieves confessed to havin
obtained such magical articles, which also had the propert
of opening any lock to which they were held.
No sorcerer or witch could have communion with the dead
or with demons without first making a circle. And modern
occultists also recognise the importance of circles. Theri
are many forms of circles and pentacles ; they are a featur
of what may be called good magic as well as black, and form [
very important part of all exorcism. For instance, there was
an evil spirit named Lilas, who was supposed to be the wiff"
of Satan. Her particular activity was to enter the room of a
confined woman and kill the newly born child. In order
to exorcise this she-devil, the attendants made circles on th
walls with charcoal, within each was written: "Adam, Eve,
Lilas, avaunt ! "
A great deal of the literature of witchcraft has been attributed to Solomon. One such book was banned by Pop
Innocent VI, because it was filled with evocations and rules
for communicating with Devils. Another, La Claveiculc
de Salomon, is full of interest to the sorcerer, and would-be
necromancer and student of the occult.
By the third century the Church had found that, in order
to cope with witchcraft, they needed a band of special
exorcists. Demons and devils were almost as common as
witches, often appearing in the most grotesque forms.
Sometimes they were shapeless trunks, with no heads, but
immense bellies with faces upon them, the arms and legs
stuck out at extraordinary angles. Sometimes a face re-

WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM & WEREWOLVES

II5

ph ced the genital organs, or, again, those appeared in an

.tggerated form upon unlikely parts of the body. It is
11ough to say that the creatures presented every possible
11 ightmare conception. Incidentally, such beings may be
111 1 to have an existence of a sort upon the lower astral
l'l. mes; they are the elementals created by man's evil
tlto.,ires and unclean thoughts. When the occult truth is
' c~ognised that every thought makes a definite creation,
t l11n foul shapes of an elemental kind will be disintegrated
111d cease to wield their influence upon this plane of exist nce. The sufferer from " delirium tremens " is not
dt>luded; he is simply all at once conscious of the devils
Ill!; habit had created, and finds himself surrounded by the
vtlc shapes of his passion for drink with all its attendant
v1ces and horrors.
It would almost seem that the people of earlier times were
rarcely astonished or perturbed by the most amazing
rnanifestations, judging by the very old engravings which
how quite comfortable and even friendly relations between
clemons and ordinary people. Monks and saints, presumbly backed by the moral support of the Church, are to be
ren complacently surrounded by every variety of loathorne and grotesque creature.
Many people famous in history are mentioned as having
had dealings with witchcraft, either being themselves
o;orcerers or having had dealings with them for various
rrasons. Benvenuto Cellini gives a most interesting account
of resorting to sorcery, in order to get in touch with his
mistress, Angelica. The poet Virgil undoubtedly practised
witchcraft, and is supposed to have had remarkable adventures with a Princess of Babylon by means of sorcery.
l'he history of witchcraft in Italy is closely interwoven with
the Church, even some of the Popes not being exempted
from accusation of practising the black art.
_
Italy was, also, the home of astrology in Europe. It is
very interesting to note how Italian witchcraft appears
to-day as the survival of the pagan religions of Rome.
Even now there are old people, in out-of-the-way places,
who know the Etruscan names of the twelve gods ; while
sorcery is known there as '' La Vecchia Religione ''-the old
religion. In these parts a magic rite is sometimes carried
on by the young people. A feast, composed of meal, salt,
honey and water, among other things, is placed upon a

II6

THE BLACK ART

table and a special conjuration said over it. The conjuration

is fourfold-one being to the meal, one to the salt, one t
Cain, one to Diana the Moon Goddess. After that, naked
men and women sit down to eat, and later dance, sing and
make love in the darkness.
In speaking of the black magic of the past we cannot.
ignore Gilles de Laval, Lord of Raiz, Marshal of Franc
He was a native of Brittany, and fought against the English
under Joan of Arc. On his retirement from the strenuou
life of a soldier, he married and kept up an immense estat
of great luxury. In course of time his need of money caused
him to investigate alchemy, and finally to ally himself
with a sorcerer named Prelati. In the pursuit of their
ends the two men took to the most hideous practices of tlw
black art imaginable, in which the mutilation, torture,
rape and murder of little children of both sexes played a
very large part. At length, while the Lord of Raiz was away
on a pretended visit to the Holy Land (but in reality was
only on a short journey to consult his sorcerer), his wife, who
had had her suspicions aroused, investigated and discovered
the most gruesome and terrible relics of her husband's guilt.
Laval returned suddenly, having been told that he must now
go to the length of sacrificing his unborn child to the Devil.
He discovered that his wife knew everything, and proceeded
to take her to his chapel reserved for the Black Mass, where
his priests and accomplice presided. There Laval announced
his intention of literally disembowelling the wretched
woman in order to make a cannibalistic sacrifice of the
child she was carrying. At that point, however, there
mercifully occurred the unexpected arrival of the lady's
brothers to visit her. The Lord of Raiz was compelled to
release his victim, but under the threat of immediately
carrying out his dreadful purpose if she hinted at any
trouble to her brothers. The lady managed to face the
visitors with outward serenity, but she and her sister were
at length able to convey the facts of their terrible position.
After a fierce struggle between his own retainers and those
of his wife's brothers, Laval and his sorcerer Prelati were
captured. Accused of sodomy, rape, murder and sorcery,
they were finally tried by the Bishop of Nantes, and executed
by being hanged and burnt somewhere about the year 1440.
The beautiful castle of Champtoce, the scene of innumerable
horrors, still stands in a lovely valley ; but the peasants

WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM & WEREWOLVES

II7

\y that the ghost of Laval, accompanied by some of his

!i11y victims, haunts the castle walls in wailing and great
iill'lery.
l'he practice of witchcraft and sorcery eventually became
11 rife that the Church set up an Inquisition to deal with
tl, when literally thousands of people, including small
l11ldren, were sent to the stake. Indeed, such an hysterical
1o .tr seized everyone that all accused of sorcery had little
lt.mce of reprieve. The authorities lost all judgment
li1 tween true evil-doers and the innocent (there were probably
11 more of the latter), and the mildest mediumistic gift
IS supposed to manifest witchcraft.
Joan of Arc, whom
tlu English burnt as a witch at Rouen, was an outstanding
! , ,,mple. In a word, the hideous cruelties inflicted upon
IIII'SC poor creatures were as terrible as the crimes of which
lluy were accused, and so a vicious circle of horror and
ltloodshed was caused.
Many of the accusations included that of turning into an
11nimal, or of forcing others to do so. The commonest form
nl this was transformation into a wolf, which gave rise to
lhl' universal European legend of werewolves. Nearly every
1 nuntry in the world has records of similar creatures;
unly sometimes it is the changing of men into tigers, hyenas,
hupards and, in colder lands, bears, foxes, dogs and cats.
I have heard of seal-men in Iceland and the Esquimo lands
ftl the far north.
I have seen myself many strange transformations in this
'onnection in my own country. The accounts of enchantment
lty which people were turned, either permanently or for a
t tme, into animals seem to have very slight foundation,
.tlthough they are as numerous as the legends of the werewolves themselves. Closely bound up with this subject is
I hat of Lycanthropy, and it is possible that people suffering
Irom this horrible mania, which is very rare now, formed a
Ita sis for many of the so-called enchantments. Now and
.11{ain, particularly among the peasantry of France and the
peoples of Austria, Russia and the Balkan States, instances
clo crop up where the individual is seized with a desire to
violate graves and devour corpses.
A famous case in point was that of a French soldier,
'-lcrgeant Bretrand, as recently as r849. The authorities
of the great cemetery of Pere la Chaise in Paris were puzzled
111d horrified by the wholesale desecration of graves and the

n8

THE BLACK ART

mutilation of corpses that took place in July of that

Attendants had noticed a shadowy form flitting
graveyard, and had imagined it to be a ghost.
rumours were rife, and the cemetery more rigidly
The horrible activities were then transferred to more out
the-way cemeteries. At last the ghastly visitant was sho
and left behind in his hurried escape the portion of a
tunic. Late that same night soldiers in a barracks
a sergeant so badly wounded by bullets that he had t
removed to a military hospital. The unhappy man
upon confessed that an overwhelming impulse would
him to tear open graves and violate and feed upon
corpses they contained. If the bodies were newly
so much the better. The full details of the sergcan
admissions are too horrible to relate. After his nauseati
orgies, Bretrand would be overcome by a coma and n
impelled to his horrible lust for many days.
Gilles de Laval, already mentioned, became a victim
this same mania through his practice of black rna.
Laval admitted that while tearing open his living victim
gave him the most exquisite pleasure to behold their suff
ings and torture, and that tears, cries and supplications onl
enhanced his terrible joy. He was also overcome with com
after his holocausts.
In recent years the murderer of Dusseldorf, Peter Kurten
who was executed in July, 1931, destroyed many women an
children and a man, after violating them and literally
feeding upon their quivering flesh and drinking their blood,
Kurten was, moreover, possessed by the rage for blood
(hrematomania) ; being called the vampire of Dusseldorf,
as most of my readers will remember. His known victim
numbered -over a score, but there were probably many
undiscovered; besides women who had been attacked but
had been fortunate enough to escape.
There was also a case in America in 1935 of an old man
who was sentenced to the electric chair for sacrificing and
eating many children for the purposes of black magic.
At his trial the old man confessed to his misdeeds in this
respect.
Returning to far earlier times, in 1521, a Frenchman
admitted that he was a werewolf and had become so after
making a pact with the Devil at the witches' Sabbath. By
anointing himself with a certain ointment, he could turn

" A young woman was pointed out . . . as one who

turned into a wolf at night ."

llCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM & WEREWOLVES

ur

1!11 a wolf during the hours of night till dawn, and in that
,~"'he had killed and mauled many people, besides having
tt.ll intercourse with wolves. A peculiarity of were!IIIIHtls is the sympathy that exists between their animal
nn11 and that of the human with whom it is connected.
:.1 werewolves left their own bodies during their excursions,
ul If anyone were able to kill or injure these creatures the
ltc h or the sorcerer would be found dead or wounded in a
ndl.lr portion of the body. Hunters in many lands had
k.., to relate of having shot an animal-wolf, bear, or tiger
, ully to find in its place the body of a man. The legends and
11 l.mces of this kind are too numerous to recount.
ll undreds of German, Scandinavian and Slavonic stories
,. children are based on the subject of witchcraft and were(dvcs; not really the most suitable subject for them, to
111 modern minds.
r\s night fell over the little villages of Europe, so many of
t l~trn situated on the outskirts of forests, in deep valleys
or .towed away high up among the mountain peaks of Italy,
\'ltzerland or Germany, or surrounded by the frozen
t'tles and sinister forests of Russia, the peasantry hurried
l111 k t o t heir cottages and feared to brave the uncanny
lfl11gers and horrors of darkness except in numbers. A lone
nlf, slinking through the trees to prowl around the deserted
1Ilc tracks and humble homes, on the outlook for an opporlunity t o seize upon a woman drawing water at a late hour
rom the village well, might only too likely be the dread
trcwolf lusting after human flesh and thirsting for human
ltlood. Hearts throbbed and blood froze at an unexpected
I rrock upon the door, which so often lured a peasant out
1o the waiting ghoul, or admitted the weary traveller who
ould later in the night assume his or her wolfish form, to
r 1vish and rend the helpless family or depart with a cherished
'lrild.
!'he human being who wac; a werewolf was supposed to have
l ire characteristics of glaring eyes (often with the pupil
'wtical instead of round) , long front teeth and very long
11ails. The writer's wife, when visiting Germany as a child,
1rmembers having a young woman pointed out to her in a
Bavarian village as one who turned into a wolf at night,
111d would come and eat her up if she were not careful. This
;lrl was a laundress, and on several occasions when bringing
dean linen to the house tried to ingratiate herself with the

I22

THE BLACK ART

children in the garden. The children, however, were repell

by the other's glassy eyes, cruel mouth and hands which,
despite her occupation, had abnormally long nails. For t h
rest I believe the girl had golden hair and a fine complexion 1
nevertheless all the community feared and shunned hrl',
if on no other grounds than purely instinctive ones.
The subject of werewolves is closely linked up with that (
vampirism. The vampire is that terrible phenomenon, th
living corpse. At night the vampire was supposed to ri
from its grave and, gaining entrance to houses, to attack
people in their sleep. The creature usually fixed its teeth
in the veins of the neck, draining the victim of his or h
blood. This performance was carried on nightly, the person
thus attacked becoming more and more weak and frequently
dying of consumption if they did not succumb earlier,
In past centuries the vampire was universally dreaded, and
even to-day is still believed in and reported as existing all
over Europe, particularly in the eastern portion of tlu
Continent.
The vampire is also noted for its sexual activities, and it
nocturnal visits are equally connected with lust as its thirst
for blood. They are supposed to possess great strength
when fully vitalised by their disgusting nourishment, even
begetting children, who in their turn become living vampires.
If any district was suffering from the depredations of these
ghouls, an investigation was made of the local cemetery.
There the coffin of the vampire, after being found and
opened, was invariably discovered with its corpse fresh and
full of blood-the eyes open, the lips full and red, the teeth
and nails grown to an unusual length. The body was also
flexible, and lacking the rigidity of death. The creature,
however, was powerless during daylight hours, and,
exorcising ceremonies having been performed in the
cemetery, a stake was thrust through the corpse's heart.
At that there would sound a terrible scream, while fresh
blood spouted from the wound. As a rule, the body was
then subsequently burnt.
Among many Russian tales of vampirism, there is an
amusing one which runs as follows. A certain mujik was
driving along a country road after nightfall, and paused to
rest his tired horse by a cemetery. It was a bright moonlight
night and, by that ghostly radiance, the mujik was horrified
to see a nearby grave begin to heave, until by and by the

"At night the vampire was supposed to rise from its

grave and to attack people."

fTCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM & WEREWOLVES

I25

I h fell away on either side and a coffin appeared.

The

1 lurst open, and from the interior the corpse of a man

ed in his grave clothes emerged. The mujik, however,
not wanting in courage and, when this spectre had
runted, he climbed over the low wall, went to the empty
vt and removed the coffin-lid to the shelter of some
u hy trees. There the man hid and awaited events.
II r an hour or so the vampire appeared, visibly refreshed
ul licking blood from its lips. When it reached the grave,
I l1tlted and gazed anxiously around, as though searching
1 the coffin-lid. Its glance then fell on the mujik and it
lh 11 ely demanded what he had done with the essential
vPring. " Not so fast, not so fast," said the mujik,
hat have you been up to, I should like to know?" "It is
111111!! of your business," retorted the vampire. "Return my
.. tim-lid at once." "Not I," said the mujik. "Tell me first
,. hat you have been doing." "Don't waste time," shouted
!11' ghoul, "the dawn is nearly here, and my time is getting
hort, and if you do not return it at once I shall attack
011." "Pooh ! " said the mujik, "you are full up already,
tiul if you are in a hurry to return to your grave tell me
hom you have killed." "Well, if you must know," said
1 ht vampire, "I have killed two little boys, and now where
i, I he lid? " "Not yet," said the mujik. "Tell me how I can
11 vive the children." " Fetch me the lid, and I will tell
\'ott," replied the ghoul. The mujik thereupon produced
ll11l top of the coffin and, seizing it, the vampire said:
' Cut off a piece of my shroud and take it with you. Go to
lite boys' home and, shutting yourself in with their bodies,
l10il a pot of water. Put the live coals in the pot, and the
1tt~ce of my shroud, and the steam that arises will revive
litem." So saying, the spectre hastily jammed itself into
the coffin, which began to sink into the earth. Owing to
I ltc fact that the lid had not fitted properly in the creature's
hurry, a piece of the shroud protruded. The mujik quickly
ut this off and the coffin disappeared, the earth falling into
place again just as dawn came. The mujik drove at once
1uto the village, and was not long in finding the children's
home. The parents were overcome with grief at the fate of
their little sons, but the mujik assured them he could
r<'store them to life. He set about carrying out the
'ampire's instructions, and sure enough as the steam arose
from the live coals, the piece of shroud and the boiling

126

THE BLACK ART

water, the boys came to life again. The parents were overjoyed, but neighbours coming in to see the miracle suggested
that the mujik must have caused the children's death in the
first place. So everyone fell upon him and handled him
very roughly, until he could make himself heard above the
din, and was at length allowed to explain about the vampire.
In the end they all adjourned to the cemetery with the
priest, and, on opening the grave, the vampire was found
fresh and warm, although he had been dead many months.
Exorcism was performed, and an ash stake driven through
the heart. The corpse at that uttered a fearful cry and,
after an immense gush of blood, fell into decay and was
burnt.
The grave of a vampire can usually be distinguished by
several small holes appearing on the surface, about the size
made by a man's finger.
In some countries it was the custom to decapitate the
corpse, remove the heart, and impale the body with a stake
of white thorn. As a precaution against vampires a wreath
of garlic is sometimes worn around the neck while sleeping,
or protection sought by using assafcetida on the body. In
the West Indies great faith is put in this grass to ward off
vampires and all occult evils. For many years a custom
survived in England of piercing the hearts of suicides with
a stake, which appeared to be a relic of belief in vampires;
this custom was abolished by law in the year 1824.
In many parts of Europe people believed that so long as
the body remained intact in the grave it drew vitality from
the remaining members of the family. Not so long ago a
Scotsman is reported to have exhumed the body of his
daughter and burnt her heart, as he thought she was
devitalising her remaining brother and sister and making
them ill.
There were epidemics of vampirism in nearly all countries
during the Middle Ages, which were assigned to witchcraft.
There are immense numbers of accounts of vampires nightly
visiting women, with amorous intentions, and sucking their
blood as part of their lustful indulgence. Some even went
so far as killing, or warding off, husbands who stood in the
way. There were, however, also female vampires. Witches
were said to practise vampirism, often sucking the blood of
children and frail people. One quaint way of frustrating
such women was to kill a dog or a cat, and place the body

WITCHCRAFT, VAMPIRISM & WEREWOLVES

127

cross t he threshold. The witch would then have to stop

"''count every hair on the animal's body, for some obscure
' lt;on, and by that time dawn would have come and her
twcr would be gone.
Bulgarian exorcists believed that they could imprison a
tmpire in a bottle. Their method was to present the
ltoul with a picture of a saint, or an icon, whereupon it
~ nuld retreat in fear and, if a bottle half-filled with blood
're placed nearby, the vampire would vanish into it and
t could be corked down and destroyed.
Scandinavians
hclicve extensively in vampirism, but consider it essential
11 destroying the creatures to pierce the heart of the vampire
with a single blow from a maple stick; if two blows were
ivPn, the creature would be revived.
Another belief is that the dead persons themselves are
pnl always the vampires, but that an evil spirit animates
i It corpse for the satisfaction of its own foul desires. This
a far more reasonable theory, and the Hon. Ralph Shirley
t 1led as recently as the year 1934 that he doubted whether
'mpirism is as absent from our midst as people think.
llnwever, it is difficult to obtain evidence in such cases;
lie facts being usually concealed, in the same fashion as in
the' case of the birth of monsters.

ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS

CHAPTER IX
THE ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS OF THE THIRTEENTH
TO EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES
Gives an account of the famous alchemists and sorcerers of the thirteenth
and eighteenth centuries, and their pursuits of the elixir of life, etc
And the results of their practices ; the Mesmerists, etc.

HE art of alchemy first saw the light in the East,

and was introduced into Europe by the Arabians
through Spain. The great Arabian, Geber, called
in his own country Bu-musa-Juba, the Azdite,
was one of the greatest pioneers of true alchemy. These
chemical philosophers claimed to be able to transmute base
metals into pure gold or silver, and their two great quests
were for the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life.
A perfect wave of alchemy swept over Europe during the
Middle Ages, coinciding with the spread of witchcraft, and
the mysterious activities and magical claims of the alchemists
caused them to be looked upon as magicians by the majority
of people. The true alchemists were serious scientific
seekers, philosophers with vision and high ideals, and
there are many illustrious names among them, covering
several centuries. There were, however, men of a different
calibre, who were simply charlatans mixing up their alchemy
with inaccurate astrology, and practising fortune-telling
and petty sorceries. They made large sums of money out
of credulous people for their false experiments, and from
fashionable women seeking perennial youth and rejuvenation. Many of these men turned to sorcery and black magic,
hoping by their aid to discover an easy method of transmutation, and were willing to plunge themselves into any
villany, in the hope of discovering the secret of fabricating
gold and of the Elixir of Life.
Mention of the " Puffers " cannot be overlooked. This
branch of alchemists did not attain the fame of their greater
brethren, and were indeed looked upon by efficient workers
as mere bunglers. They were derisively called " Puffers,"
being considered good for little more than puffing at their
128

I29

p uaces with bellows. However, though none of them

o,. to any great degree of alchemy, and expended their
li! lll ' and substance without achieving their goal, they,
1eqrtheless, made accidental discoveries of great value to
lil y chemistry; in fact, this science gained more from
1111: m than from the true alchemists. Thus, Kunckel
i(Gtdcntally isolated phosphorus, and Blaize de Vigenere
llllllbled upon the discovery of benzoic acid without
I 11owing it, in the course of his experiments.
Alchemy had two aspects, the material and the mystic.
lite latter was expressed in the most elaborate symbology,
lt u h has been handed down, absolutely intact, from the
il lest times. It was conveyed in exactly the same metatlioricallanguage by alchemists of every age, without change
" rnodification, since alchemy was held to be exact and
1111feet , and therefore did not admit of any change what" vcr, even through the passage of centuries.
I1art of the use of symbolism was to ensure that the
lr hcmists might at all times be understood by brother
ulipts, and at the same time it effectively cloaked their
uowledge from the vulgar. They thought that by the
' II' understanding of creation and the cosmos the secret
I transmutation could be fathomed, and held that the first
ILtpter of Genesis was the greatest page in alchemy. All
'kulations were based upon astrology, and number and
dour played a very important part in their philosophy.
lll.tck was the paramount colour ; next came ruby red,
Ilie hue of the fire of the sages ; then perfect gold ; then
''' c ~n-the '' Green Lion '' holding an important place,
uumg others.
In alchemy of both the material and transcendental order
till' four elements were brought in, to assist in the completion
I " the Great Work," as the search for the philosopher's
I one was called. This stone was a mystery ; a stone, yet
1\ll a stone. No one could hope to discover it, or to effect
(1.11lSmutations, who was not pure in heart and of single
1111pose. Only he who was noble, patient, just and pure,
cnuld attain the goal and initiation of alchemy. The
"' hcmists' watch-word was : " Pray theosophically, and
ork psycho-chemically."
I he Great Work took anything from a year to complete,
the; time of its commencement being calculated astrologiilly. The sun should be in the sign of the Ram, and the

THE BLACK ART

ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS

moon in that of the Bull. The vessel used for containin

the necessary substances was egg-shaped; the matrix, (
Orphic egg, which is found at the base of all initiation
This was called the Aludel, the furnace being an Atheno
This furnace had, also, a particular significance. The prill\
tive substance of alchemy was mercury, but alchemist
insisted that it was not ordinary mercury but that of th
philosophers, which is purified and quickened by a secret
process involving sulphur and mercury. All these, th('ll
must be of the special variety of the sages, and not t h
ordinary and common substances. "Sulphur," it was said
'' is everything that burns. Mercury is that which go
into air and consumes itself in vapour, and the residu
is pure salt." Fire was essential in completing the Great
Work, but there again it was the mystic fire that vivif1
and does not destroy, as ordinary fire does. Some alchemist
claimed that it was necessary to know how metals grew in
the earth ; engendered, as they supposed, by sulphur (
male principle) with mercury (female), the test of alchemical
power being to discover their seeds.
Materially, it is recorded that certain of the alchemist
succeeded in the transmutation of mercury into silver or
gold. But on the whole there were many more discourag<tl
and disappointed seekers and experimenters, who, if they
did not drift into sorcery and charlatanism, lost money and
health in their pursuit of the unattainable.
During the period covering the time from the thirteenth
to the eighteenth centuries, there were so many alchemist
of renown, both in Britain and on the Continent, that it i
only possible to mention a few.
In England Michael Scott, whose patron was Frederick II,
Fludd, Roger Bacon, who joined the Franciscan Brother
hood, Norton, George Riply, Alexander Seton, a Scotsman,
who studied alchemy on the Continent, and Ashmole,
who founded a society of alchemists at Oxford, are amon
the most outstanding and noted of the philosophers. On
the Continent Jacob Boheme and Van Helmont wer,
brilliant exponents of alchemy. The famous Dr. John De
and Edward Kelly were alchemists, but they were of cours
also sorcerers and practitioners of necromancy.
One, Nicholas Flamel, was a master alchemist in Franc
during the fourteenth century. He wrote extensively on
alchemy, and compiled a very valuable treatise on the

ubject adorned with mystical illustrations of a transcendtntal order, depicting among other matters the symbolical
llermetic Androgyne. There are, also, alchemical hiero~:lyphs in the Cathedral of Notre Dame attributed to Flame!.
lie recorded that on two occasions he was successful in the
I ansmutation of mercury-the first time into silver, the
t'COnd into gold, in the presence of his wife Perenelle. That
was in the year 1382.
In the seventeenth century there was a band of men who
ollled themselves the Brotherhood of Hermetic Philosophers,
I, nown also as Rosicrucians, who brought the occult myst rism of the alchemists into prominence. Robert Fludd
l11came very interested in them, and introduced them to
I he notice of English doctors and philosophers. The Oxford
.alchemists were descended from this Rosicrucian society,
I he famous Ashmole being one of the last of them.
English alchemy finally became discredited through a
'rrtain Dr. Price, who had a prominent position and who
,Jaimed to have succeeded in making transmutations.
O...,ome gold that he was supposed to have obtained by this
method was even presented to George III. However, on
hcing pressed to give another demonstration before members
of the Royal Society, of which he was a fellow, Price committed suicide on the appointed day in the presence of his
;mdience.
Alchemy continued to exist in isolated societies, and
unong a few individuals, up to quite recent times, and there
.tre still a small number of transcendental alchemists. There
was an association of alchemists in Westphalia, which conIinued until the year 1819 under the name of the Hermetic
Society, and in 1830 there existed two well-known alchemists,
Cyliani and Cambriel.
Paracelsus is a prominent link between alchemy and
-.orcery. This remarkable man was born in Germany during
lite fifteenth century, his grandfather being an illegitimate
-.on of royalty. His father was interested in medicine, and
;at an early age Paracelsus began to study both chemistry
.md medicine. He very soon decided for himself that
lite doctors of his time knew nothing of any worth, and that
I he only way to knowledge was to study nature for himself.
With that end in view he started on his travels, which took
him into nearly every country of the known world. In
Egypt and Arabia he received occult instructions from the

130

131

132

THE BLACK ART

magicians and alchemists there, and became versed in th

science of metallurgy.
Eventually he returned, and lived for a time at Basi
attracting great attention by his theories and magicfll
pretensions, and also by his flamboyant personality and
eccentric behaviour. He wrote extensively on occult
subjects, and attracted the attention of many men
learning as well as merely credulous people. In many way
Paracelsus appears to have been a charlatan, but he w
nevertheless an extraordinary and in some ways a gre!ll
personality. He brought disfavour upon himself by publi<
ally burning the works of Galen and Aricenna, and wa
forced to leave Basle on account of a conflict with the law.
After that he wandered from one place to another, liviug
by his wits and applying his occult knowledge to gain hi
own ends by sorcery and other means. There are variou!l
accounts as to his death, some relating that he was poisoned
and others that his own profligacy and excesses killed him.
However that may be, Paracelsus left to posterity some of
the greatest works on magic in existence, and as a figure
is so well known that it is scarcely necessary to enlarge upon
him or his work.
The alchemists John Dee and Edward Kelly made
themselves famous both in England and on the Continent.
Of the two, John Dee was a man of learning, and was
genuinely attached to his investigations for the love of
wisdom alone. In the course of time, however, he became
hopelessly credulous, and after he had . taken Kelly into
partnership he allowed himself to be involved in various
nefarious schemes, completely under the domination of
the other.
Dee originally was well-born, and after completing his
education travelled on the Continent studying astronomy
and alchemy. He returned home after a time, and then
once more crossed to France. When he settled in England
again he had the misfortune to be imprisoned at Hampton
Court for alleged sorcery against Queen Mary, daughter of
Henry VIII, but was released.
Dee then settled down to his favourite study of alchemy,
and became interested in the Rosicrucians theories, being
very ambitious of discovering the Elixir of Life and the
Philosopher's Stone. He became utterly lost in his alchemical
dreams, and worked himself into a highly impressionable

ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS

133

IlLII' of mind. As a result, it is not surprising that he was

11ildenly visited by the Angel Uriel in his laboratory one
l;1y, and advised to take up crystal gazing. This he did
ith great zest, receiving the most remarkable impressions
11d visions, though he probably used what was known as a
' Magic Mirror" for the purpose.
llowever that may be, Dee appears to have been quite
1\'l'rcome with the manifestations he was receiving, which
tlid not confine themselves to the crystal as time went on.
' cordingly he looked about for an assistant, or neophyte,
' ho might record his remarkable experiences ; he himself
h tving become quite bewildered by his conversations and
111tcrcourse with the spirit beings. He found the man he
ought in Edward Kelly, who at this time was a druggist in
Worcester. Kelly's past did not bear a very close inspection,
111d among other misdeeds he had been convicted of coining,
lor which he had had his ears cut off. He was in the habit
il[ wearing a black skull cap, well pulled down, to hide this
, ldect. He was also an alchemist in some degree, and a
practitioner of necromancy.
Kelly soon saw in Dee an easy tool, to be used for personal
gain and social advancement. He probably had genuine
lllediumistic gifts, but in any case the visions as interpreted
by him became more and more marvellous, and increasingly
concerned with the affairs and movements of the famous
pair. At the same time the visions lost some of their
celestial aspect, and Kelly began to impart his fears to Dee
that it was not always pure spirits they were contacting but
" Goblins Damned." By this means Kelly began to secure
the hold over Dee that lasted nearly all their lives.
Kelly is believed to have practised necromancy on many
occasions, both before he met Dee and later. On one
occasion he is recorded to have exhumed a body from the
grave and forced it to speak and disclose certain information,
although there are varying accounts of this episode. Mention of a well-known illustration of Dr. Dee and Kelly calling
up a spirit in a churchyard has been made in another
chapter.
Dee, continuing his investigations in alchemy, and
patiently searching for the secret of transmutation, suddenly
announced that he had discovered the Elixir of Life. This
was Kelly's opportunity, and money poured into their
coffers from wealthy men and women seeking rejuvenation.

I34

THE BLACK ART

About this time a distinguished Pole, named Laski, visit

the Court of Queen Elizabeth and was very much dt
appointed not to find Dee there; Laski having heard of h
fame as an astrologer and alchemist on the Continent
However, it so happened one day that, while waiting with
the Earl of Leicester for an interview with the Quel'll
Dr. Dee also appeared. An introduction took place, and it
was not long before Laski, dazzled by Dee's learning ancl
Kelly's plausible personality, was financing their alchemical
activities and being duped by their false or misleadin
visions.
The worthy pair then went to Poland with Laski, in
order to make transmutations of iron into gold. The alleged
object of the expedition was the founding a kingdom pre
dieted by the "spirits," with Laski as ruler and Dee and
Kelly as his principal advisers. But, alas, time went on
and nothing of any moment occurred, except that Laski
was losing all his money. At length he appears to have
lost faith in the couple, and have financed them to depart
elsewhere.
They next wended their way with sundry adventures to
the Court of the Emperor Rudolf, where they were received
guardedly. Dee's learning and fundamental honesty
created respect wherever he went, but Kelly was frequently
" seen through " and treated with corresponding caution.
However, even in this case they became very popular, and
were widely consulted in their capacity of astrologers and
magicians. So much so, indeed, that at last the Papal
Nuncio complained of the favour shown to heretical
sorcerers, and the Emperor ordered Dee and Kelly to leave
without delay.
We next find them in Cracow, suffering an eclipse in their
fortunes and in fact living on the meagre proceeds of
divination and sorceries. Kelly had Dee completely under
his influence by this time and, having fallen deeply in love
with the latter's young wife, the" spirits" began to expound
a doctrine of community in all things, including wives,
between the two men. This idea did not at all :;tppeal to
the doctor, but the "spirits," as represented by Kelly,
showed him that sin was only relative and that it was God's
will that both men should share each other's wives. Kelly
knew Dee was dependant upon him as his "skryer," and,
in order to get his way, left the doctor for a time, only

ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS

I35

nnc;enting to return if this communal arrangement were

f.tblished. Dee gave way and Kelly came back, but there
'.t "' still trouble with the wives to be overcome, as they had
c111 wish to be shared.
However, Kelly and Dee signed a
nltmn pact, and the wives submitted unwillingly.
rhe new arrangement was not a great success, as the
~ 1vcs quarrelled and were bitterly jealous. None the less,
!lw strange menage persisted, though lack of money increased
llceir difficulties. Finally, Dee and Kelly separated for
1;nod, after many and various adventures. Some accounts
late that Dee returned to England in poverty, others that
h1 q expenses were paid by a nobleman and that he travelled
in luxury. But it is certain that he was no longer looked
upon so favourably in England; many rumours of his
dubious work with Kelly having reached the ears of the
Oueen. Her Majesty, even so, received Dee fairly graciously,
possibly having a superstitious dread of the consequences
u! slighting the magician.
Meanwhile, Kelly descended upon Bavaria with his
<>-called elixir of life and was imprisoned as an impostor.
In attempting to escape he had a fall, and sustained injuries
lrom which he died. Dr. Dee held various posts of more or
less importance, but finally retired to his home at Mortlake.
After the parting with Kelly, he employed other" skryers,"
1s they were called. But they all appear to have been
charlatans, and in his old age he fell into poverty once more,
becoming known purely as a sorcerer and magician and
living by astrology and fortune-telling.
After the accession of James I, he appealed to the King for
protection from the persecution which he suffered on account
of his reputation. But the King having become tired of
him, nothing appears to have been done, and Dee died in
poor circumstances in his Mortlake home.
Besides the search for the Elixir of Life and the
Philosopher's Stone, alchemists of all periods sought for a
method of making living creatures apart from the usual
process of procreation. Paracelsus, in particular, claimed to
have made artificial men, called "Homonculas." The
process was, roughly, as follows. The necessary spagyric
substances having been obtained, they were shut up in a
glass phial and left to incubate in horse dung for forty days.
At the end of that time, something was found to be living
in .n 'lial, and that something was a man, but transparent

136

THE BLACK ART

and without a definite body. This creature consolidated nn<l

grew if fed with human blood consistently for forty wee!,
by which time it would have developed into a child, but mm~ h
smaller and needing more care than the usual hum a 11
variety. Paracelsus was supposed to have manufactuncl
many of these monstrosities, which never grew very large cJt
showed particular intelligence. It is a definite fact that h
spent much time experimenting in that direction, but hi
success is problematical.
Another alchemist, Albertus Magnus, worked for thirty
years upon a " man of brass," and cast together his material
under certain astrological constellations which threw so
much spirit into his brazen man that it was reported that
he grew visibly. When this monstrous creature was full
grown he is stated to have been excessively talkative, and
the inhabitants of Koln became quite worried about having
such an unusual citizen in their midst. The great Thomas
Aquinas was Magnus's master, and one day he became so
tired of the brazen man's wagging tongue that he declared
that it was possessed with a demon, and there and then
dealt it a blow on the head, which silenced it for evermore.
Heads of brass were frequently made by sorcerers for the
purpose of divination, and learned men disputed among
themselves considerably as to whether they spoke of their
own intelligence or were possessed by "demons." Buried
treasure was another subject that engrossed the mind of
the lesser alchemists, and they are recorded frequently to
have practised black magic in the hope of discovering
hoards of wealth. They made pacts with the Devil in order
to secure knowledge of the whereabouts of treasure, or for
the secret of transmutation, promising themselves to do
good with the wealth once it was attained and to turn their
backs upon evil. Very few, if any, of them appear to have
succeeded in this venture, for in cases where sorcerers
obtained large sums of money and lived in luxury, they all
died in poverty with their money squandered or exhausted.
The most romantic figure of all in this respect was
Cagliostro, who first appeared at Palermo in the eighteenth
century. His origin is obscure, but he seems to have been a
difficult boy whose mother, being a widow, placed him in the
care of Benedictine monks at an early age. Under the
apothecary of the monastery he learnt chemistry and
medicine, but this life was altogether too dull for him and,

ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS

137

hidng escaped, he took up a rough life among vagabonds.

Nnw, there lived in Palermo a wealthy goldsmith named
~l.1rano , who was exceedingly credulous of everything
ilt,tgical, and the young Cagliostro, knowing this, made his
ic quaint ance and posed to him as a veritable master of
II w occult.
~1arano had already expended a good deal of money on
I lise alchemists, but he placed faith in Cagliostro, who
1uformed him that he knew of buried treasure in a field. It
would, however, require the expenditure of a large quantity
of gold to procure the necessary apparatus for the treasure's
ccovery. At length Marano reluctantly parted with the
old to Cagliostro, and a night was arranged to begin
operations.
The two entered the field about midnight, and having
II rst made a circle, Cagliostro began a series of the most
I trrible and blood-curdling incantations.
The terrified
Marano fell fiat upon his face, and, while he lay upon the
ground, a number of Cagliostro's ruffian friends rifled his
pockets and then made off, the false magician accompanying
I hem. Marano created an uproar about this escapade, and
ragliostro left hurriedly. Having now plenty of money,
however, he began his travels, calling himself" Count."
About this time Cagliostro came in contact with the
mysterious Althotas, whom he claimed was his master in
occultism. On the other hand, so little is known of this
individual, except through Cagliostro, that it is somewhat
doubtful whether he had any existence outside the latter's
vivid imagination. However that may be, it is certain that
: They" travelled extensively in Egypt, Arabia and parts
of Asia, gaining knowledge and instruction from the priests
of ancient religions and occult societies. Until, in the
course of time, their journeys brought them back to Malta,
where Althotas suddenly disappears from the picture.
Cagliostro simply stated that he had died there.
At about this period in his adventures the now famous
occultist obtained large sums of money from a Sicilian
Prince, and married a lady named Lorenza Felicini. It is
usually agreed that she was a woman of great charm and
honesty, and that though she and her husband had a deep
devotion for one another, Cagliostro had the effect of
undermining her integrity and persuading her to assist him
in many nefarious schemes. Their home became the resort

138

THE BLACK ART

of gamblers and card sharpers, besides those in search fo

the marvellous.
The Cagliostros travelled about from place to place, and
came over to London, where they lived in great style in
Witcomb Street. There they left behind a reputation fo
honesty and fair dealing, and for being occultists of genuin
powers. When they left on their journeys again they wer
accompanied by a Frenchman named Duplaisir, with whom
Countess Cagliostro eloped. She is supposed to have been
imprisoned at her husband's instigation for this littl
interlude, but upon her release they were permanently
reunited.
Cagliostro himself was always in conflict with the law,
suffered several imprisonments, and was more or less forced
to keep moving from one country to another, either on
account of his sorceries or other misdeeds. He and his wif
lived for a time at Strasbourg, where they were f~ted and
treated with immense esteem; Cagliostro now undertakin.
to cure people of various diseases by magical means, which
appear frequently to have succeeded. He had always been
interested in freemasonry, and he evolved a masonic system
of his own which he called" Egyptian Freemasonry." Both
men and women were eligible for this society ; Cagliostro
styling himself " The Grand Copt " and his wife " The
Grand Mistress.''
The Cagliostros then settled in Paris, where people had a
passion for the occult, and they made enormous sums of
money from their masonic lodge. They lived in a house
surrounded by large grounds, while to increase the mystery
Countess Cagliostro could only be seen as a rare privilege,
clad in diaphanous garments. They gave banquets at
which the dead were the chief guests, and at which performances of necromancy supplied a sensational interest.
The ceremonies of initiation to their lodge had many startling and somewhat grotesque features; the fair initiates
especially having to undergo some very remarkable
experiences of an enthralling and slightly ridiculous nature,
after having sacrificed large sums of money on the altar
to the Grand Copt.
Cagliostro and his wife visited the supposedly immortal
Count de St. Germain, and he and Cagliostro had the whole
of French Society at their feet at a time when people were
harsh and practical, not to say cynical, in all other aspects

ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS

139
,f life, but intensely credulous of and attracted to the
rnlt. People were caused by Cagliostro to see marvellous
' hions in his magic mirror, to become rejuvenated by his
lixir, to receive cures and to fraternise with spirit beings.
111 some of the gatherings of his society his followers were
' 1IIC'd upon to cast away their clothes, when he himself
nnld descend from the ceiling seated naked upon a golden
I dl with a star shining upon his forehead. Jaded Parisians
1ll'>hed to Cagliostro's salons, finding a new thrill among his
utarvels and an outlet for their emotions, if nothing else, as
li ll'mbers of his Egyptian Freemasonry.
At length, Cagliostro became involved in the affair of the
l)t,tmond Necklace, in company with Cardinal de Rohan,
1 Madame Lamotte, and other famous people. The necklace
lulonged to Marie Antoinette, and much intrigue centred
~r ound it. There was a trial at which Cagliostro acquitted
ht mself splendidly, leaving him more popular with the people
Ihan ever. It was a gift with him, at all times, to touch the
imagination and keep the friendship of the poor-probably
(n account of his generosity. This trial may well have been
one of the causes which finally set light to the French
! ~evolution, so much of the lives and habits of those who
ft vcd in careless ease and luxury being exposed.
Cagliostro left France with his wife and came to England
once more, but a French newspaper called the Courier de
1: Europe published an exposure of him and from that
moment his descent began headlong. He wandered from
place to place on the Continent, harassed everywhere;
r<sting awhile in Italy, where he wrote a prophecy of the
downfall of the French aristocracy. But the Pope, ever the
'ncmy of freemasonry, denounced Cagliostro's Masonic
'1ociety and the Holy Inquisition arrested him in 1788. In
the following year he was condemned to death, but the
entence was commuted to imprisonment for life, which the
Inquisition intended should be tantamount to death owing
to the terrible conditions under which he was confined.
After endeavouring to escape from his first prison,
Cngliostro was transferred to even worse surroundings in the
Castle of San Leo, where he dragged out a terrible existence
under slow torture until he died three years later. His wife
was imprisoned in the Convent of St. Appolonia, where she
was reported to have died in 1794
The Pope ordered the destruction of Cagliostro's works,

I40

THE BLACK ART

but strangely enough an Inquisitor was appointed after I

death to write an account of his life. This was dOl
although the result was largely coloured by Cathol
prejudice.
The Elixir of Life, so anxiously sought by all alchemiRt
attracted Cagliostro among the others, and he claimed I
have discovered it. Disappointed but not disillusion('c1
some of the philosophers foresaw in the discovery a menu
of prolonging life so that they might extend their studi
and experiments, while others counted only on a menn
whereby they could charge heayy sums to the rich wh
desired to renew their youth.
The Count de St. Germain was rumoured to have lived fu
centuries, and to have known Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba. He was in some respects a charlatan, but at th
same time an adept at chemistry. At the Court of Loui
XVI he was greatly in fashion, and maintained an atmo
sphere of grandiose mystery about all his magical pet,
formances. His apartments were furnished in a lavish
style to create awe and mystification, visitors being admitted
only with much theatrical display. As I have said, he and
Cagliostro had the whole of the French Court at their feet,
and sorcery and divination became the absorbing pastime of
the aristocracy.
Cagliostro's treatment for rejuvenation was a com
plicated one. It was to be started on attaining fifty years of
age, and necessitated retreat for forty days. It had to be
begun in the month of May, with fasting; the patient only
partaking of early morning dew, gathered on clean linen
from sprouting corn. The next step was to be bled, but not
excessively, and after purging to remain in bed. Doses
of " Universal Medicine " were next to be taken, which
produced deep sleeps. On the thirty-sixth day followed a
glass of Egyptian wine ; on the thirty-seventh the last
grain of this medicine ; after which a profound sleep would
ensue. During this sleep the hair, teeth, nails and skin
should renew themselves. On awakening a bath of herbs
was prescribed, and on the last day a dose of Elixir of Achrat
taken in red wine.
Earlier philosophers believed that the precipitation of the
Philosopher's Stone in mercurial water would restore youth
and prolong life, and nearly all of them had their favourite
concoctions for this purpose. The fact remains, however,

ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS

I4I

l1 d none of them attained to any unusual old age, let alone

1111110rtality, and so we must suppose that all failed in their
ql~tst.
The Count de St. Germain alone may . have
jin'!sessed some secret of prolonging life, but his origin and
lti1 th are so obscure that it is impossible to tell with any
JCruracy how old he was. Some accounts give him a
~ mitic origin, and even identify him with the Wandering
j1W.

J'he dust of mummies was also thought to have a power(lllly revitalising effect, and formed a part of many of the
111 tscriptions

of Elixir of Life. Not only could some of the

tlrcerers prolong life (according to themselves), but they
lltcted abnormal conditions in the climate. Thus Albertus
Magnus, already mentioned, entertained a certain nobleman
i11 Koln during a severe winter with a display of flowers,
l1uits and warm summer weather. The famous Baptista
l'orta is reported to have been able to produce wine to
drink while his companions had only water, and on a hot
nmmer's day, when others complained of the heat, he
111agically procured a cool breeze that almost froze them.
Before the days of Cagliostro (to be exact a century
l'arlier), there was a noted Italian astrologer, Cosmo
Ruggieri, who had already made death spells fashionable.
And it is rather amusing, in the light of her own sorceries,
I hat Catherine de Medici should have complained about him
to the Prowreur-General by letter, stating that he had made
.t waxen image of Charles IX with intent to injure him. She
had been told that Ruggieri had repeatedly struck this
image on the head, and later enquired if the King were yet
bleeding or if he had begun to vomit. The Italian was
accordingly arrested, but Charles subsequently died of a
mysterious consumption.
The English Queen Elizabeth, again, was very disturbed
when a wax figure of her was found in Lincoln's Inn Fields,
stuck full of pins. The Queen had Dr. John Dee brought
hastily to her at Richmond, to explain the whole ritual of
death spells, and it was some time before he could calm her
fears in that respect.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries methods
for curing disease were as much sought after as favours to be
attained by magic, and this led to many methods of healing
and curing, quite apart from the strange medicine and
surgery of the time. An illustration is furnished by Sir

142

THE BLACK ART

Kenelm Digby and his famous "Sympathetic Powder."

Sir Kenelm was banished from England (his grandfather
having taken part in the Gunpowder Plot), and lived in Paris.
His life was devoted to the natural sciences, and he gained
many occult secrets from a Carmelite monk who had
travelled in the East. About 1657 Sir Kenelm Digby
introduced this sympathetic powder, or salve, which had
the property of healing wounds, especially those made by
firearms. Instead of applying the substance directly on th
wound, bandages soaked in the wounded person's blood
were steeped in the salve (which was largely composed of
sulphuric acid powder) and these were placed not upon the
injury at all, the cure working through the sympathetic
action between the blood and its source. This system
became the rage in France.
A hundred years or so later, Mesmer from Vienna discovered that a magnetic force similar to that possessed by
iron was to be found in everything. Mesmer opened a
consulting-room in Paris, whither people came to be cured
of every sort and kind of illness. The chief feature of the
mesmeric healing was the magnetic tub, a sort of vat with
cords and iron bars to which the limbs of the patients were
attached. After having remained seated by the tub for a
time, the invalids (particularly women) fell into fits and
convulsions, which are generally supposed to have cured
them. Mesmer had about a hundred people whom he had
instructed as magnetisers, some of whom belonged to the
nobility, who also "mesmerised" people by making passes
over the affected parts of the body. The term mesmerism is
often used in connection with hypnotism, and the original
mesmeric passes possibly had a soothing affect that produced a semi-hypnotic state ; but originally it was confined
to healing by magnetism alone.
People flocked to Mesmer's apartments, and the magnetic
tub became quite a fashionable rendezvous. The spectacle
of the convulsed invalids was very enthralling, even to those
who required no cure. The tub itself was not a mystery.
It was merely filled half-way with water and had bottles of
water arranged around the sides, though Mesmer himself
said that iron filings would have served the same purpose.
Music from an orchestra was provided, and the most extraordinary scenes took place to its strains-some people
ecstatically announcing their cure, others falling into con-

ALCHEMISTS AND SORCERERS

143

nalsions, and still more rushing wildly about and embracing

,,ch other under the force of the magnetism. Naturally it
was a very profitable craze for its inventor, but the magnetic
l ub was available to the poor on certain days.
Controversies raged about him ; his followers proclaiming
his marvellous cures, and scientists denouncing him as a
quack. The Church went further and accused him of
rltalings with the Devil, and Mesmer had a bitter enemy in
' certain Abbe Fiard. However, it was not long before all
I he marvels and crazes and inventions of the French nobility
were to be swallowed up in the horrors of the Revolution.

SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES OF MAGIC 145

11

desired, the magician must be clothed in robes of red,

1i1111<', or rust colour and wear a wreath of absinthe and rue.

CHAPTER X
SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES OF MAGIC

Explains the symbols and material objects used in sorcery and necroman
gives various incantations, etc.

CIENT magic, whether black or white, required

the assistance of many accessories for its successfu.l
completion ; modem magic, on the other hawl
tends to be a matter of Desire, backed by
Will. The Masters of the World have always bccu
able to produce their miracles by the power of
Will, operating in harmony with the forces of Nature,
without any other adjuncts, whereas lesser magicians have
been compelled to use symbols and material things to obtain
their results. And this is particularly true of black magic
However, the accessories used by magicians of both kind~
were very similar, and in some cases identical; the sorcerer
merely perverting, or inverting, their original intention.
In the Middle Ages different days of the week were chosen
for different magical performances, as exemplified in the
writings of Abraham the Jew. White magic was to be
enacted on Sunday, the magician wearing purple vestments
ornamented with gold and jewels. The powers of the Moon
were to be invoked on Monday, white vestments embroidered with silver being worn and the head crowned with a
tiara of twisted golden silk. Pearls and crystals, again, were
the chosen ornaments, and an incense compound of camphor,
aloes, amber, sandalwood and cucumber seed was to be
burnt. For evocations to acquire transcendental wisdom,
the vestments had to be of a brilliant green ornamented with
pearls, while hollow glass beads were worn containing
mercury.
Magical ceremonies of a religious character, or for invoking
material forces, were conducted in scarlet robes; a brass
tablet with mystical inscriptions being worn round the neck
or on the breast, and the head crowned with a garland of
fig leaves, oak, poplar and pomegranate. If vengeance
144

\\ lltn death spells were to be cast, black must be worn;

tl It a chain of lead around the magician's neck, an onyx
ctug upon his right hand, and a garland of cypress, ash and
i[llltbore about his head. Sulphur, alum and assafcetida
,\'c re burnt in the ceremony. In practices of black magic,
1111' sorcerer wore scarlet or black robes, with a leaden cap
111 his head, inscribed with the symbols of the Moon,
\'cnus and Saturn, and also a garland of vervain and cypress.
t\l.ocs, camphor and storax, were burnt.
!'he exorcist priests of the Church were no less specially
robed for their task of dispelling evil spirits. At midnight
iluy entered a circle, wearing a new surplice and with a
I .til pointed cap on their heads on which appeared the
111<-ffable name Tetragrammerton, written in the blood of a
white dove. The circle itself was sprinkled with the blood
of a black lamb and a white pigeon. The use of blood made
I his rite one of black magic in itself, but with sublime
tllconsistency the priestly magician went on to abjure the
<;pirits of Hell in the name of Adonai, Eloahin and Sabaioth.
'-luch ecclesiastical exorcists seem to have been particularly
anxious to get rid of spirits who were thought to be guarding
buried treasures, which then would become the property of
the Church.
This question of buried treasure exercised the minds of
ancient occultists considerably, and in connection with it
there was frequently employed the art of Rhabdomancy,
which was similar to that of water divining or water" dousing." The operator used a forked stick of hazelwood or
oak, and with this held between both hands walked over the
ground where treasure or minerals were thought to lie.
When he had arrived at a spot that covered such things,
the stick would twist violently in his hands, as in the case
with the water diviner. In the Middle Ages Rhabdomancers
were employed to discover mines, and the whereabouts of
precious stones.
During the seventeenth century there lived in France a
man named Jacques Aymar, who was able to trace robbers
and murderers with his rod. He was once called in to discover who killed a merchant and his wife, and after he had
inspected the scene of the crime, and cut small pieces from
their garments, the magnetic vibrations in the stick led

146

THE BLACK ART

him a considerable journey. When he turned from the

path that the murderer had taken the rod became lifeless,
but as soon as he picked up the trail again it became vibrant
and difficult to hold. Eventually it brought him outside
the prison of a town at some distance from the crime, and
where there was a hunchback, undergoing a sentence of
robbery. When taxed with the crime, the hunchback
confessed that he had indeed murdered the merchant and
his wife.

The Triangle of Pacts.

Circles were, and are, a necessary adjunct to any successful
magic involving dealing with spirits. And there are literally
hundreds of different varieties of circle mentioned in ancient
magical manuscripts. One of these, called '' Le Dragon
Rouge," was professed to have been published at Avignon
about I522, but was more probably a production of the early
nineteenth century. However, it gives many interesting
accounts of magic rites, among them the correct formation
of the mysterious "Triangle of Pacts."

SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES OF MAGIC I47

In this the magician, or Karcist, traced the circle with
.m enamelled stone, and then outlined it with strips of the
skin of a goat fastened down with four nails. Within the
circle a triangle was drawn, at the apex of which was a
brazier containing fire. Beneath this was an oval erection,
m horizontal position, in which the sorcerer stood. On
the sorcerer's left was another circle from which a pathway
led, called" La Route du T," and on his right another plain
circle. In these last two circles the assistants were placed.
Outside the triangle two candles stood on either side, while
beneath the letters J H S appeared with a cross before and
.tfter. The candlesticks were surrounded by wreaths of
vervain, and the fire was composed of charcoal, willow,
camphor and spirits, placed in a new receptacle. After
having gone through the ceremony of invoking the spirits,
the participants were supposed to follow the path from the
triangle, which would then infallibly lead them to Satanic
freasure ; though how, and why, it is difficult to see.
Once the magic circle had been entered, the magician
must not on any account leave it until all manifestations
had ceased under the peril of his life. The circle usually
contained one or more pentagrams and interlaced triangles,
though a few were perfectly empty. Others, again, presented
<L most complicated arrangement of geometrical figures
and pentacles. The size of the circle was exactly nine feet
in diameter, by the most careful measurements, with a
smaller one following it at a distance of six inches from the
rim of the outer. Within this space was written the names
of the Beings to be invoked, or the magical names of powerful spirits interspersed with crosses.
There is evidence that prehistoric man worked with
circles, as did the ancient Druids of Europe. The Assyrian
sorcerer made a circle sprinkled with lime, and set seven
little winged figures within it before the image of a god.
I Iindu magicians made circles of black pebbles.
Properly speaking, the sorcerer was not one who had made
.t pact with the Devil, like the true necromancer. He was
independent, and invoked the spirits for good or ill as
Master. Although the term " sorcerer " has come to mean
one who is a black magician, that is not necessarily the case.
One who wished to invoke the Devil and make a pact with
him had to perform a preliminary sacrifice on the third
day of the moon, in a wild and desolate spot between twelve

148

THE BLACK ART

and one in the tnorning. The sacrifice consisted of a kid

dog, cat or a cock and hen; but the kid or goat seem
to have been chosen for preference. A garland of vervaf
was placed around the victitn's neck and tied with a gret'n
ribbon. With the right artn bare to the shoulder, th
.Rarcist decapitated the animal or bird with a very shar
steel knife and, having made a wood fire, burnt the body

Circle for all Conjurations (sixteenth century).

When a goat or a kid were used, the skin was kept to form
the circle for the final ceremony.
On another night, chosen by astrological calculations
and usually at the full moon, the magician and an assistant
returned to the scene, taking with them a rod, or wand,
and two candlesticks, with candles of pure wax made by a
virgin girl and two wreaths of vervain. The magician
wore a blood-stone ring, and proceeded to make a circle
with strips of the skin of a goat or kid. A fire was kindled
with wood, incense that had been blessed by the Church.

SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES OF MAGIC 149

e 11nphor and four nails from the coffin of a -dead child. A

bottle of brandy was taken, too, for replenishing the flames,
nd must on no account be drunk by the participants in
lite rite-which must have been a temptation to fall from
Ircngth for some would-be Satanists, having regard to
Ihe uncanny object of the excursion and the conditions
1111der which the invitation to his Satanic majesty had to
IH' made! If it were not convenient to wait for the full
moon, a night of wind and rain had to be chosen, and if a
I hunderstorm could be thrown in, so much the better.
Huins of churches and monasteries were very favourite
localities, as were also old Druid or Roman remains and
'lturchyards.
If the Devil was summoned indoors, a disused cellar
or vault was propitious, hung with black draperies. Some
lorms of black magic confined themselves to sacrificing a
black cock, from which the eyes, heart and tongue had been
tcmoved.
Sometimes the assistance of the Devil or his demons was
;ought without the magician wishing to go so far as to
give up his soul to the Evil One. Generally, however,
once he had been invoked, the Devil refused to carry out
nny wishes without a pact having been made with him;
which fact doubtless caused some moments of agonising
indecision on the part of the reluctant necromancer. These
strange pacts were simple statements of allegiance, signed
in the blood of the person concerned.
Many pacts were made verbally, at witches' gatherings
and the like. But in solitary cases the Devil, like other
people, evidently preferred to" have it in writing." Nevertheless, there are very few of these documents still in exist
cnce ; partly because when witches and sorcerers were
burnt their pacts were burnt with them, and partly because
they were dangerous things to let others see or to leave
about. Warring against the Church as they did, they
easily led the participants to the stake if discovered ; as in
the case of Urbain Grandier, who was accused of enchanting
the nuns of a Ursuline convent. Grandier had made three
pacts with the Devil, which were ordered to be burnt with
him; but one must have been overlooked, as it is now
preserved in the Bibliotheque N ationale, and was a singularly damning document from the point of view of the
Church of the day.

THE BLACK ART

SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES OF MAGIC

Another, written in blood on virgin parchment, was much

simpler. "I promise great Lucifer, to repay him in twenty
years for all he shall give me, for witness whereof I have
signed X . . . . "
Even after having made the unholy arrangement, amateur
sorcerers were often anxious to evade payment and tried
to rob the Devil of his dues. A humorous touch is given
by a prayer made for use after a pact had been made, and

laced triangle, called by the Hebrews the Shield of David,

and also known incorrectly as the Seal of Solomon, was
used within circles. With one beam in the ascendant it
was used for white magic, but in the reversed position it
was a potent sign of the black art. Mystics will understand

50

151

The Pentacle or Five-pointed Star.

by which it was hoped to escape the Evil One at the eleventh
hour. The prayer runs thus: "Inspire me, 0 great God,
with the sentiments necessary for enabling me to escape
the claws of the Demons, and of all evil spirits."
Of almost equal importance with the circle were the
pentacles or pentagrams, which were chiefly used in white
magic and for protection and exorcism. They consisted
of the names of spirits of superior power, with suitable
accompanying symbols. They were also used for binding
evil spirits, and reconciling beneficent beings. The inter-

The Interlaced Triangle or Seal of Solomon.

the deep significance of this symbol, and therefore realise
its potentialities for evil when reversed.
Another important symbol was that of the five-pointed
star or pentacle, whose origin is lost in the mists of antiquity,
but which is attributed to Solomon. It stands for the
microcosm, and this too could be used in the inverted
position.
According to Eliphas Levi the pentagram, or pentacle,

152

THE BLACK ART

signifies the domination of the mind over the elements,

and by this sign one enchained the demons of the air, th
spirits of fire, the phantoms of the water and ghosts of
earth.
No magician was complete without his wand, varieties
of which are found in every quarter of the globe. They
were, and are, always composed of wood; bamboo being
very much in favour in the East, while in Europe hazel,
elder, oak and cypress were chiefly used. This rod, or
wand, measured anything from I foot to I9t feet in length,
and was cut from a tree that had never borne fruit. The
two ends were cut to sharp points with a sacrifi~ial steel
knife, and sometimes steel caps were fitted made of metal
that had previously composed a magician's knife. Magical
inscriptions were cut or written upon the wand, through
which ran a magnetic needle. For binding evil spirits
and propitiating good ones, Peter de Abano calls the wand
the "most priceless treasure of the light," and advises the
magician to wear pure white linen woven by a virgin and a
white leather cap and shoes. He must first, however, take
a complete bath in exorcised water.
In addition to his wand, the paraphernalia of the magician
included two or more candles ; a crystal, or magic glass,
set in pure gold, surmounted by the interlaced triangle
and with the names of Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael
written around it; a magic ring; a sword, or knife; and
a torch-like receptacle for incense, which could be held in
the hand or rammed into the ground. This last was sometimes replaced by a tripod.
There was a special rite for binding spirits that might
appear in the crystal or magic mirror. Having become
visible to the Karcist and his assistant, if they refused to
speak they were to be conjured in names such as
"Methralton, Raziel, Cassie!, Michael, Raphael and
Gabriel," in the hope of compelling them to do so. In order
to bind the spirit, the magician repeated : " I bind th(e
spirit that art appeared in the stone of crystal, that thou do
not disobey my commandments, but do all things for me
that to thy office pertaineth, and more also. I bind thee,
not to go thy way from me, until I release thee. Here to
remain until thou hast fulfilled all my commandments, for
I will use art towards thee . . . and thou spirit, therefore
herestand, I charge thee, in the crystal stone." The formula

SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES OF MAGIC 153

(1 111
1111

ludes with a general curse on all evil spirits, to be used

~otone, glass or circle. A fire was next to be made of such

duHninable substances as dry cow's dung, brimstone,

11lphur, and having written the spirit's name upon a piece
"' parchment, it was to be burnt with a curse.
Magicians' knives and swords were made after a variety
"' styles, and were used both for sacrifice and for marking
n11t circles and symbols upon the ground. The sword had,
1l'iO, a higher significance of power on the spirits.
Paracelsus' sword was famous and takes a prominent place
Ill the portraits of the great medireval sorcerer and occultist,
111 which he appears holding the hilt between his hands.
I his hilt was made in the formation of a crystal ball, and
Ill it Parcelsus was thought to have bound a familiar spirit,
whom he called Azoth or Zoth. However that may be,
111itiates believe that "Liber Azoth" was not a demon at
til, but the term used to describe the vital mercury of the
ulchemists.
The swords used for magic had to be especially scoured
110d cleaned and made from virgin steel or iron, and usually
had a copper handle in the form of a crucifix. The blade
was tempered in the blood of a bird, animal or human
according to its uses, and anointed with the juice of magic
herbs. Swords were pre-eminently part of the insignia of
black magicians, and did not always form a part of the
accessories of the ordinary conjurer of spirits. Variations
of the sword and knife were daggers, and a particular knife
with a curved blade more like a sickle, called" Andamcos."
Magic tridents were also used by witches and sorcerers,
cut out of hazel or almond wood. Both swords, wands and
tridents had to be '' consecrated '' by a magician who already
owned one. The knives were to be made on a certain day,
at a certain time that was propitious according to the
planets. In black magic the haft was often made of ebony
or jet, and in white magic of ivory; both the blade and
handle being engraved with magical inscriptions, the word
" Agla " often appearing on the blade.
The parchment upon which pacts and inscriptions were
written was often composed of the skin of embryonical
animals, while the " ink " was the blood of black animals or
birds, though sometimes a special variety was used made
from the juices of herbs.
Censers were made of bronze or silver, and lamps of gold,

154

THE BLACK ART

silver, brass or iron. The chalice used was composed

different metals according to the rites ; those used in bla
magic being black engraved with symbols of the Moon
Human skulls were used for this purpose, too ; containin
the blood of the sacrifice, which was to be drunk. Candl
sticks were of gold, brass, silver, copper or iron, and in th
case of black magic of ebony and shaped like the crescent
moon. The candles were of virgin wax, or human fat if th
practices belonged to the black art.
The magicians often had as many as four assistants, all o
whom were provided with magic rings and swords and t
whom were allotted different tasks. One had to carry th<
incense and its censer ; another books, pen and ink ; a third
was entrusted with the knife ; the fourth carried th
receptacle for fire. No woman could take part in th
ceremonies, and to admit one was to nullify results.
It was held in ancient magic that the sexes could not mix
as a rule; sorcerers very rarely conspiring with witche!i,
and vice versa. Some magicians required a virgin for act
of divinatio'D., but she appeared solely as an instrument and
not as a participator.
Male children were employed for the discerning of spirits,
or as we should now say---clairvoyance. They were chosen
for their innocence and freedom from evil, and were dressed
for the occasion in white silk, the head and eyes being
covered with a white veil, upon which the name "Uriel"
was written. The magician was clothed in black vestments,
with a black veil upon which was woven the name
"Adam."
The fires at ceremonies of necromancy and black magic
were made up of cypress, alder wood, laurel, broken crosses
and the blood of snakes. The ungents with which sorcerers
and witches anointed themselves contained human fat, the
blood of corpses, aconite, belladonna and poisonous fungi.
Oils for anointing the Karcist in white magic were made of
olive oil, myrrh, cinnamon and galingala.
Incense, or perfumes, were made from a very large
variety of woods, herbs and flowers, and each day of the
week had its special magical perfume. For instance, that
used on Sundays was composed of mastick, musk, labdanum,
amber, ammoniacum, benjamin and storax. All sweet
woods were used for the middle days of the week, and on
Friday the petals of roses and violets with sandalwood and

SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES OF MAGIC 155

11nkincense. To raise spirits suddenly, "Sperma-a-Ceti,
nn'>isting of sperm oil, red storax, the blood of a bird,
I" pperwort and saffron" was recommended.
For black
01 gic, assafretida, garlic, dragon's blood, sulphur, and
ttrlt-like vile-smelling concoctions were used.
l'he incense and fumigations that the ancient magicians
lutployed included among them several powerful drugs and
rcotics, whose effects they well understood. The fumes
lwm these substances must have influenced those present,
ncl most certainly produced hallucinations and a partial
11lrase of the astral body. Such things as poppies:(opium),
lunbane, hellebore and mandrake were known to incite
fll'Ople with spurious courage and produce strange sights and
onnds t o the senses. Sorcerers claimed that the knowledge
of these things was obtained through Hermes Trismegistus,
who discovered a book of herbs hidden in a stone by Abel
I he son of Adam.
The altars used for magical purposes were of carved wood
or, if made of stone, had to be a natural slab, unhewn and
untouched by hammer or chisel.
The underlying principle of the use of magic rings was
practically the same as in case of the circle. Rings were
cmployed to bestow protection and various supernatural
qualities upon the wearer. According to old Hebrew
manuscripts a ring of copper and iron, engraved with magic
igns, rendered the wearer invisible at will. Most commonly
' ings were formed of copper or lead, and were about three
inches wide. They had the word " Tetragrammerton "
inscribed upon them, and a hole so that the ring could be
tied upon the finger. In " good " magic, they were consecrated with Holy Oil before being worn. Another variety
was made of gold, engraved with the name of a spirit and
bearing the symbol of the Sun. When nearly completed,
they were fumigated with mastick, red storax, benjamin
and musk. A piece of marigold or bay leaf was imbedded in
the metal, and over it a carbuncle or chrysolite was placed.
Certain gems and stones were considered to be under the
influence of the planets and the signs of the Zodiac, and were
chosen accordingly. Thus, Mars was represented by the
ruby, and moonstones were the emblem of Virgo.
King Solomon's ring was famous in tradition, and had
the magic word " Schempamphorasch " written upon it,
which gave him command over spirits. By his ring's power

56

THE BLACK ART

Solomon procured the aid of the wonderful Shamir, which

helped him to build the Temple, and was enabled to foresee
future events.
The potency of magic rings was universally believed in,
as is demonstrated by the gift of four of them by Pope
Innocent to King John of England. He requested the King
graciously to study the symbology and magical significance
of the stones with which the rings were set, rather than
have regard to their intrinsic value.
There are still wax impressions of various famous magic
rings in existence. A notable example is that of Dr. Simon
Forman, the sixteenth-century alchemist and magician.
This ring was of silver and on the outside edge the signet was
engraved with the word Ariel and Anael, while on the
outside of the circle was written : Die et H ora. Simon
Forman was notorious in his day, and was a man of many
reverses. Brilliant and clever, he was something of a
quack doctor and openly practised necromancy and sorcery
as well. He became involved in the murder of Sir Thomas
Overbury in r6r5; having provided the Countess of Essex
with a philtre to alienate her husband, and another to win
the love of the Earl of Somerset. It was also found that
he had made wax images of the people concerned. Eventually his manuscripts and seal impress passed into the hands
of Elias Ashmole, who left them to the Bodleian Library.
Of the jewels used in rings, the diamond was believed to
have remarkable powers over evil spirits, being the one
unchangeable substance that fire itself was unable to injure.
Rubies conferred increased virtue and banished sadness,
but had their darker side as the agents of Mars in stirring
up strife and disharmony. The sapphire had great healing
properties, and was an emblem of goodness and peace.
Emeralds were believed to ward off evil spirits and bestow
eloquence. They were also thought to show the fidelity
of a loved one, by shining with pure green brilliance, whereas
if he or she were unfaithful the stone clouded and became
pale. For this reason they were favourite gems for betrothal
rings and love gifts. Rubies, again, had the property of
turning black or loosing colour if misfortune threatened the
wearer. Opals were not considered unlucky as they are
now, but had qualities of sympathy and protection like the
turquoise and coral. The topaz was the emblem of the Sun,
and conferred wisdom and good health. The place of the

SYMBOLS AND ACCESSORIES OF MAGIC 157

onyx in magic was an important one, and was considered
potent for good or evil.
An ancient magic manuscript tells us that if we make a
ting of silver or gold, having set within it a red jacinth,
inscribed with the image of a naked girl, tall and strong,
riding upon a lion, with six men worshipping her, and make
it at midday upon a Sunday morning, with the Moon in the
tenth degree, then it will confer power over others. People
shall bow down before the owner of such a ring, and no man
shall be able to withstand him.
If a magician were undertaking any particular experiments, he was advised to prepare himself for three or six
months beforehand. He should choose a hut built of logs
in a wood for his magic arts, the floor to be covered with
sand that could be thrown away in a secret place after any
operations had been carried out. If the magician lived in a
town, he must choose a house with a balcony, part of which
could be enclosed with wood to form a hut. He must keep
aloof from the world and shun much company, must not on
any account touch wine or alcohol and have daily baths.
The latter injunction was in itself an undertaking, we
imagine, in days when personal cleanliness was not regarded
with favour, even by members of the higher classes, and
washing was supposed to weaken the body.
Very many herbs, plants, trees and shrubs had magical
significance, and formed an indispensable part of all magic
ceremonies and practices.
Garlic and assafcetida were used in exorcism, and also for
some rites of black magic. Deadly nightshade, henbane,
hellebore and mandrakes were of evil reputation ; the latter
being called the "Devil's Candles," as they were supposed to
shine out with baleful gleams upon dark nights. The
hemlock had been known from very ancient times as a
deadly poison, being employed by the Greeks and Romans,
and was used in Russia and by the Slavonic peoples for
black magic. Vervain (or as it is more often called, verbena)
was extensively used in witchcraft, and its properties were
related to have been revealed to sorcerers by the Devil
himself. Foxgloves were called "Witches Bells," and were
used by them for love philtres. Sea-poppies and ragwort
were plants of ill-fame, too.
The oleander tree was looked upon as malevolent to any
animal who came beneath its shade, and the Italians

58

THE BLACK ART

shunned walnut trees because under them witches w

thought to gather at night time. In respect to walnut tr
the same superstition was found in Spain. The elder, yew
cypress, oak, hazel and others too numerous to mention,
were used for magic purposes.
Brooms were connected with witches both in the East and
West, and in Europe they were thought to make them o
hazel or from the " broom-plant." Curiously enough, in
Germany brooms were used to keep witches off, and in som
parts were laid across the threshold at night as a protection
against them.
Now and again old countrymen can be found who know
all the lore of the witches' herbs and the legends pertaining
to the local sorcerers who used them, and a striking fact is
that whether you speak to a Dorset farm hand, a Southdown shepherd, an Italian, German or French peasant, the
underlying beliefs and practices are iqentical. Magic,
indeed, was always a kind of freemasonry, but the gipsies
(or Bohemians, as they were called in the Middle Ages) did
much to carry the beliefs and rites of magic from one far
country to another.

CHAPTER XI
BLACK MAGIC AND SEX-RITES
brief outline of the sex-rites performed in connection with black magic
ceremonies and sorcery in many countries.

N early times, and among more modern primitive

races, phallic worship had little or nothing to do
with sorcery. On the contrary, the sex forces were
regarded as protective and beneficent, and were
tLvoked to operate against evil. They symbolised life versus
ltath, and fertility and plenty as against barrenness,
destruction and disease.
The phallus had power to subdue the attacks of demons
lnd the Evil Eye ; and the female organs were potent
over elemental disturbances, thus a woman uncovering
herself could quell a storm. The snake, typifying man's
virility, was everywhere worshipped and accepted as the
symbol of wisdom, and solar deities were reverenced with
phallic rites. Celebrations heralding the spring and the
sowing of crops were accompanied by rites of sexual intercourse to stimulate fertility, and in the autumn the festivals
of harvest were acclaimed in the same manner in the expression of joy and thanksgiving.
Civilisation has imbued man's minds with false ideas of
the evil of sex and its fulfilment. Light is dawning upon
this subject at the present time, but there is still a tendency
in some quarters to regard sex as an unseemly necessity,
and to stifle that which is naturally grand and pure with
obscene thoughts. Not so the peoples of bygone eras,
and the primitive races to-day. We have ourselves to
thank for the evils of sexual promiscuity and vice, which
wreck the health and serenity of so many thousands.
The carving and representations of sexual acts, which
cover Hindu temples especially, were probably placed there
with no intention of pandering to the worst in man, but
rather in honour of the great creative force which was the
highest manifestation which he could conceive of the unseen
mysteries. I am not contesting the fact that gross sexuality
159

r6o

THE BLACK ART

is one of the characteristics of India as a whole nor that

the Hindu religion has given birth to the apparently opposed
twins, Ascetism and Sensuality; but most people who have
studied the subject will agree that the primitive concept
of the generative act was one of awe and worship, accorded
to a force which was incomprehensible and baffling.
Nearly all amulets originally appeared in phallic formations, but gradually their significance became covered over.
Thus, hands represented the male and female generative
organs ; the former being commonly in the shape of part
of an arm with the fist clenched, and the latter merely a
hand alone and open. Most people are familiar with such
little ornaments made in coral. Even the pyramid, triangle,
or cone is but a form of the phallus reduced to simple lines;
and most Egyptian amulets were of this origin, with the
possible exception of the Scarab (which was a symbol of
resurrection) and the Eye of Horus.
Phallicism was, therefore, at the root of all religion, and
was definitely the opponent of evil and darkness. However,
as time went on and magic became identified with so many
of the religious customs and ceremonies, the phallic aspect
became considerably degraded. The original high symbolism was lost sight of, and the sexual rites became a blind
outlet for men's passions-occasions upon which promiscuous indulgence had not only the sanction of custom but the
blessing of the gods. From the natural and joyous intercourse which acclaimed the bounty of nature, or invoked
her abundance, foul rites of unnatural sensuality crept in,
stimulated by heavy feasting and drunkenness.
Religious sodomy was practised by male prostitutes in
the Hebrew temple groves, which was one of the abominations of Israel that Josiah cleared away. We are told in
the 23rd chapter of 2 Kings that Josiah broke down their
houses which were near the temple, and drove the Sodomites
out, burning their groves and scattering the ashes on the
graves of the people. At the same time he" put away" all
the wizards and workers with familiar spirits, and destroyed
the idols and images, filling up the site of the groves with the
bodies of the dead. This custom of sacred male prostitution was not confined to the Israelites, and its counterpart can be found in nearly all the ancient religions of the
East. In Egypt and Assyria it appears to have been
customary to make eunuchs expressly for this purpose.

BLACK MAGIC AND SEX-RITES

I6I

The practice of having sacred female prostitutes attached

Rome, Egypt and India is so well
hnown as to require no comment.
Sorcery and witchcraft, being in themselves evil, naturally
.tized upon the sexual instinct and passions to pervert
I hem to their own ends. While, since the object of Satanic
worship or demonism, was to swamp the personality in
tvil, no better means could be found than by first arousing
lust and then giving it free play. In Europe the witches'
~abbaths were the outstanding example of sexual depravity
111 connection with sorcery.
Participants divested themc;clves of their clothing, and yielded themselves to every
conceivable lustful impulse, this condition being further
1nduced by the drug-like properties of the ointments and
oils which were first smeared on the body.
From the end of the fifteenth century onwards small
coteries, practising spells and enchantments and indulging
in performances of the black mass, found an ugly fascination
in lewd indulgences and a taking part in rituals which
<'ntailed entire nakedness or partial exposure. Many of the
so-called rites of these secret societies were so patently
ridiculous, that it is quite obvious that they were merely
an excuse for men and women to indulge in sex-play and
lustful gratification, frequently of an abnormal kind. We
can imagine how the fashionable women of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries, already robust to the point of
crudity in their love affairs, welcomed opportunities of
greater coarseness, with the added thrill of flirting with the
Devil.
Love philtres were compounded of various odious substances mixed with certain human fluids, according to the
sex of the would-be lover, while special charms were made
after the fashion of the genital organs. Moreover, though
to some extent disguised, among many peoples the nature
of such charms was perfectly obvious. To-day, these phallic
talismans are to be seen everywhere among barbarous races,
and are worn without any concealment in many parts of
India and the East.
The powdered roots of the male and female mandrake
were, and still are, used to incite love in many European
countries. The method of the root's use was pure sorcery;
the powder being burned over a fire, with some of the
operator's pubic hair and characteristic secretions. At
to temples in Greece,

162

THE BLACK ART

the same time a coarse incantation was uttered, invokin

a demon to draw the desired person to the operator's abod
at midnight.
Hindu women make a powder of an aphrodisiacal natun
by frying the genital organs of male turtles, which they also
use with enchantments. Until quite recently there was a
secret society in India, which possibly still exists, called
Saktas. Roughly, their philosophy expounded the need
of wallowing in sensuality of all kinds in order to attain
perfection. This doctrine of " sin for salvation " was very
popular in Russia during the first decade or so of the present
century. The Saktas indulged in rites in which the men
represented Siva and the women Durga, Siva's wife. They
all sat in a circle without any consideration of caste, and
in the centre of it, the naked wife of the priest. After
feasting on meat, fish and grain and drinking wine, th
Saktas gave themselves up to wholesale sexual intercourse,
without even care to avoid incest. The ritual of this society
became so notorious that no decent people would associat
with its members.
Nearly all the sex ceremonial of which we hear so much
among primitive races both was, and is, connected with
the puberty rites of their youths and girls, the fertility of
the soil, and in a lesser degree the celebration of marriag'
and funeral customs; comparatively little is related in any
way to witchcraft. To say that their religions and ceremonial
are consciously or unconsciously phallic is perfectly true ;
but, at the same time, such things are not sorcery. Certainly some of the meetings of Voodoo and Obeah in th
West Indies end in a general carouse and sexual intercourse.
Yet the reason for that is not so much to do with the actual
ceremonial as the fact that it represents a usual ending
in any country to large gatherings of men and women, when
feasting and drunkenness predominate and customary
restraints are removed. The same thing could be said,
in a lesser degree, of the very early English May Day revels;
which, incidentally, also had a phallic origin, the May Pol
itself peing an emblem of the phallus. All Hallow's E'en,
the night of the first of November, when the souls of th
dead are believed to return and witches and warlocks roam
abroad, is a time for casting love spells and going through
magic ceremonies. Even in Scotland, where the rites of
Hallow's E'en are still kept up, the original significance

BLACK MAGIC AND SEX-RITES

of many of the customs has long been forgotten. Gnna
with apples and candles figure very largely ; but
are a fruit with a phallic symbolism, and we nerd go lac,
farther than the Garden of Eden to find that Adanl lllld
Eve had no sex-consciousness until they had COIIS111ll(d
the tempting fruit.
From time immemorial candles have represented Ill!
phallus upon altars, although many people might ang ily
deny the fact, and many architectural designs upon ancir:nt
buildings have the same origin. Again, some writers Ita VI'
suggested that the birch brooms bestrode by the witcht
were but symbols of the same potent factor.
In Italy, on Midsummer's Night, many Christians keep
vigil, while witches and demons are thought to hold unholy
and unmentionable revelry around the walnut trees of
the country districts. Peasants gather garlic onions and go
about carrying them by the bulbous roots, shaking the
long flowering parts in the faces of their friends, in imitation
of the wooden phallus that used to be so carried at an earlier
day.
Little feasts of the boiled vegetable are also made, as
it is believed to incite desire for intercourse ; while childless
women eat certain snails, in hope of conceiving, though
the parents of a child begotten on Midsummer Night would
run the risk of its possessing the evil eye. Young lovers
seek each other out with love potions and gifts of flowers
which symbolise passion; unless, of course hard-headed
Fascism has swept away all the picturesque pagan customs
and " la vecchia religione " lies dead at last, which I can
scarcely believe.
Sex rites were used in medireval times and even more
recently, in very gross forms of necromancy, and for invoking
the presence of demons or elementals. The virile life forces
of the body were believed to have an even greater potency
than blood, and both were employed for demoniac invocation, together and separately, the use of these methods
entailing the exercise of base forms of sex perversion. In
parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and elsewhere, when necromancy was performed with the dead bodies of women, an
assistant of the operator often had intercourse with the
corpse as a preliminary means of .revitalising it.
Women taking part in the rites of black magic were
required to sacrifice their virginity to Satan, usually at the

I64

THE BLACK ART

instance of the chief officiator, who was sometimes disgutset,

as the Devil ; and subsequently they had intercourse with
other participants. Some black magicians, however, kept
themselves severely aloof from the surrounding indulgences;;
merely drinking the blood of the sacrifice and diverting the
animal and emotional vibrations released to their own end8,
or to those of the purpose of the celebrations. Women had
a special part to play at the time 6f :their lunar periods,
and among savage tribes and elsewhere, the characteristi
female fluids were used in sorcery. Normally primitive
p~eoples dread and detest the condition, many of them going
so far as to banish their women from encampments and
villages at those times. In any case women so afflicted
are considered rigidly taboo, and may not be approached
by their menfolk for fear misfortune would fall upon the
latter.
Blood has been reverenced or dreaded everywhere among
all nations and races, as possessing the vital essence of life
and an incalculable mystic potency. It was either poured
out freely so that its lavish expenditure should imbue the
living with courage, strength and vitality, or else it was
carefully guarded and great pains taken not to spill it, even
in carrying out executions. For that reason, so many
medireval tortures did not entail the actual shedding of
blood and those who inflicted punishment by burning were
not held guilty of the blood of their victims.
Certain flesh-eating peoples will not partake of animal
blood in any form, but require all blood to be first drained
from the meat. In some such instances, the poor animal
is allowed to bleed to death.
The sorcerers of the Australian Aborigines were accustomed to bestiality, usually in those instances where the
magician himself was supposed to turn into an animal at
certcin periods. The custom was also by no means unknown
among such people as the early Egyptians, Assyrians and
Hebrews. In some of the cults of Isis, and the forbidden
idolatries of Israel, both priest and priestess performed the
horrible ritual with sacrificial animals immediately before
their slaughter.
Among certain modern races these practices, for the
purpose of sorcery, seem to be deliberately undertaken in
order to form a link with everything vile and base; but the
more primitive men did so with the object of completely

BLACK MAGIC AND SEX-RITES

165
,,)rntifying themselves with particular animals. It may be
objected that it would normally be impossible for men to be
111 sufficiently close touch with the wild beasts for this to
occur ; yet seemingly impossible events are common where
uative sorcerers were concerned, many of them having an
.tpparently supernatural influence over the animal kingdom.
Much of the so-called monkey worship in places like
Cambodia bordered upon open phallicism; the sorcerers
' asting their enchantments and spells with the aid of the
phallus of monkeys and baboons, either mummified or
ground to powder. Women were the guardians of the
o;imians in the temples and are believed to have entered into
relationship with them.
Many native customs that appear on the surface utterly
crude and repugnant were not sorcery, although the acts
were done with the express purpose of using their magic
potency to attain a given end. Thus, in some parts of Africa
nnd the East Indies, where large crops of spices are grown,
men will strip naked and go to the trees and shrubs by
night, and there, singly or in small groups, simulate copulation with the trees, at the same time crying for more
abundance.
When sorcery was resorted to as a revenge for slighted
love, figures were made of wood, clay, wax or dough, according to nationality, with enormously disproportionate
reproductive organs, which were subjected to various
ingenious tortures, to bring about suffering in the unfaithful
victim. In some of the South Sea Islands women, whose
husbands have committed adultery, make such an image
and fasten it to a tree with a long thorn driven through the
phallus ; in other cases, a lighted brand is held to the
member until it is gradually burnt off. These customs are
equally to be found in different parts of Europe and Asia.
Coition was, and is, regarded in many parts of the world
as being fraught with uncanny dangers, and even husbands
and wives before embracing had to perform special rites to
prevent demons taking possession of them or causing their
death. This idea of the disastrous consequences of sexual
union was so deeply ingrained in some races that a youth,
having passed through the puberty rites, sought out some
old woman and, taking her unawares, raped and killed her;
it being believed that anyone with whom a man had his
first intercourse was bound to die.

!66

THE BLACK ART

In Polynesia giving birth to twins is considered terribly

unlucky and ill omened, not to say a pollution to the moth
The latter consequently has ceremonial intercourse, with
four men, presided over by a witch doctor before cohabitin.
with her husband again. These acts of coition are purposely
incomplete and unfruitful, and it is believed inevitable that
three at least of the men will die.
If rain-making be considered black magic, then many of
the ceremonies and dances for procuring it are of a sexual
character. To mention only one instance, in many parts o{
Africa drought is thought to be due to concealed mis
carriages among the women. The witch-doctor, thereforf',
has a round up of the females of his district and has littl~
difficulty in making them confess their guilt. A black ox is
then killed, and the grass removed from its stomach and
placed in a vessel with four openings, north, south, east and
west. Little girls next pour water into the vessel, which
escapes through the channels to the four points of the
compass ; the girls at the same time intoning a chant. The
women strip naked and dance a rain dance ; after which
they proceed to dig up the remains of the abortions and
miscarriages, water or urine being emptied into the graves.
At nightfall the pathetic remnants are reinterred, and the
rain is then confidently expected.
Among tribes where the customs regarding sexual intercourse are not rigid, the rain dance and burials are followed
by general sexual licence ; the men visiting the huts of
different women during the night, and a free interchange of
wives taking place for the occasion.
Among certain European black magic societies circumcision is performed on male members, the flesh being
consumed as a sacrifice by the participants. In some parts
of Asia again, the whole or parts of the genital organs are
amputated as a sacrificial offering. Ceremonial shaving of
the pubic hair of both sexes is common in connection with
sorcery in nearly every part of the world. After its removal
the hair is either sprinkled with blood and buried, or else
burnt with various other substances.
Many forms of phallic worship in older days entailed
human sacrifice, especially of children and virgins. Astarte,
Isis and Dionysius were honoured with offerings of blood,
and children were willingly cast down the temple steps into
deep ravines by their unnatural parents. The celebrations

BLACK MAGIC AND SEX-RITES

r&,

Mllhra wore a phallic aspect, and in some sects cultivating

worship the blood was obtained by most unholy means.
In Asia the phallic hand is a common feature of many
lnl-4 and carvings representing Siva, and others. In India,
''''Kes with a greatly exaggerated phallus are resorted to
h\ women who desire to bear children ; their methods of
111ship in many cases entailing acts of sorcery. In some
11"1.tnces the image was actually embraced. Sex rites of a
hul and devilish nature are performed in order to induce
wtic passion in lovers.
l'hese pages give some indication of the general trend of
x rites everywhere. To enlarge upon the subject would
o11ly entail dwelling ad nauseam on man's perverse use of
l1i'1 creative forces.

CHAPTER XII
PRilliTIVE RACES AND BLACK MAGIC
Deecribes the habits and beliefs of savage races in connection with witch
craft, and some account of their ceremonies and secret societies.

ONG the majority of primitive peoples, sorcery

and magic are the prerogative of the witchdoctors and secret societies, though in a few
cases solitary black magic can be performed by
ordinary individuals. In such places as Polynesia, the
South Sea Islands and parts of Africa, every adult male
belongs to a secret society and takes part in magic rites and
dances; but as a member of the group only, never as a
separate individual outside it.
An example of this is the Leopard Society of Sierra
Leone, whose members dress in leopard skins and imitate
these animals in ceremonial dances and ritual. They are
believed to be" Ju-Ju" or were-leopards, and in this guise
to roam through the forest in bands, bent on evil and
destruction. They are known to fall occasionally upon an
unwary wanderer and kill him, or her, for sacrificial purposes.
It is doubtful whether they possess the powers claimed for
them ; but it is certain that, when bent on killing, they are
covered with the entire skins and masks of leopards, and
behave as these jungle beasts rather than as humans.
An acquaintance of mine once had a remarkable experience of leopard-men, while on a shooting expedition in
Africa. As nightfall was approaching, he and his "boys"
entered a native village, where drums were beating to
summon the men to their "Lodge." My friend's boys,
although they were fatigued, and in spite of hospitality
offered by the women of the village and an old man, urged
him to press on. Having gone some distance from the
village, the boys explained that the men were "Ju-Ju"
leopards who would be abroad that night, and that misfortune and probably death would overtake anyone crossing
their path. The party arranged to sleep in the trees, therefore ; the boys taking it in turn to keep watch. During the

168

"Among the majority . .. sorcery and magic are the

prerogatives of the witch-doctors, and Secret Societies."

PRIMITIVE RACES AND BLACK MAGIC 171

night my friend was cautiously awakened by the man on
guard and, peering out from his shelter, dimly perceived in
the moonlight filtering through the branches what appeared
to be literally hundreds of leopards passing silently but
quickly through the forest. He was very much mystified
by a certain uncanny atmosphere about the beasts, and
their unusual numbers, as the leopard is a comparatively
solitary creature. The next day brought the party to
another village, where a great clamour of mourning and
distress was going on on account of an attack that had been
made by wild beasts during the night, women and children
having been killed and carried off. Was the presence of the
strange leopards moving in that direction pure coincidence ?
In the East Indies such creatures are believed first to
attack their victims in animal form, whereupon the latter
fall into a sort of stupor. The were-animal then resumes
human form, cuts open the body, tears out the liver and
eats it. The victim is then closed up again, but subsequently gradually dies, fading away much as the victim of
the European vampire is supposed to do.
The famous Duk-Duk Societies of Melanesia and other
parts are not concerned with sorcery, except in as much as
the whole life of the native is bound up with magic in every
shape and form. On the contrary, the main purpose of the
Duk-Duks is to enforce the customs and laws of their
respective tribes, and to deal with the rules of Taboo, the
rites and initiation ceremonies of puberty, the ceremonial
dances and the social regulation of the people. They try
men and women accused of wrong-doing and mete out the
penalties.
There are endless varieties of rain-making practised by
witch-doctors; one very interesting African method being
carried out with the help of a skeleton. The sorcerer
exhumes a dead body and, having boiled all the remnants
of flesh from the bones, gathers them together and takes
them to a cave or a hut made with the branches of trees.
The skeleton is then tied together as well as possible, and
suspended from the roof. Piles of leaves are placed under
it, and the witch-doctor and others pour water through the
bones on to the leaves. If no water is available, their own
urine is used. An animal such as a goat or dog is sacrificed,
its blood being drunk by the sorcerer and the carcase left
outside for the rain-gods. As a matter of fact, these deities

THE BLACK ART

PRIMITIVE RACES AND BLACK NAG1C

arrive in the lorm of the inevitable birds of prey. After

that, custom decrees that the witch-doctor shall remain in
the cave or hut, fasting and repeating chants until rain doe
fall. For some reason or other, he usually does not have to
remain there many days. If, however, the clouds refuse to
appear, it is due to some fault in the ceremony, which take
place all over again ; with additions such as a rain dance by
the young men accompanied by much lunging of spears and
shouting at the skies.
Bull-roarers" are used in Africa and Australasia to
encourage rainfall, besides being employed in other rites of
the secret societies. The bull-roarer is merely a thin oblong
or oval piece of wood, with pointed ends and a hole in the
centre through which a string is passed. If it is correctly
pulled the roarer whirls round, giving out a loud booming
sound. Small ones are made for children to play with, but
the very large ones used by the men make an immense noise,
that can be heard at a distance.
The African witch-doctor casts his spells chiefly by means
of sympathetic magic. That is, he requires some article
belonging to the victim, or some actual part of his person, on
which to work. Hair, toe or nail parings, saliva, urine or
excrement, and best of all a tooth are used. When such
has been obtained the witch-doctor may either mix it in the
blood of an animal which has been especially killed and cast
it in the fire, or he may bury it in the ground, wrapped up
in the leaves of poisonous shrubs if the article is substantial.
If, on the other hand, the article is liquid it must be placed
in a small bowl in a hole in the ground that has been halffilled with blood. This will infallibly cause death or illness ;
particularly if the victim gets to hear of what has transpired,
when his psychological reactions do the rest.
The bones of the dead are also used ; being ground to
powder, and blown towards the victim or in the direction
in which he lives. Skulls are used for divinatory purposes,
the walls of the witch-doctor's hut being sometimes literally
festooned with these grim-looking relics. A man very
anxious to get in touch with his parents in the spirit world
will occasionally dig up their earthly remains and, taking
their skulls home with him, sleep with one on each side.
The dreams that visit him are then supposed to be direct
portents, sent to guide or instruct him ; though it often
takes the local sorcerer to supply the exact meaning-if any.

On the banks of the River Amazon and elsewhere boiled

heads (examples of which can be seen in London and Continrntal museums) are employed by the natives for divination
1nd sorcery. The heads are those of children or adults,
It om which the bony structure is very cleverly removed
without cutting or injuring the face or scalp. They are
I rcated with a certain process and boiled, finally shrivelling
lo about the size of a large orange. They, too, are hung up
in the witch-doctor's hut or adorn the walls of the lodges."
The African sorcerer works with curses, personally delivtred, and sometimes accompanied by an act such as blowin~
hone-dust or salt or pointing a bone at the person. These
curses are generally of a character calculated to cause the
victim so much discomfort and distress that he or she is
willing to pay the witch-doctor anything in reason to have
the spell removed. Thus, the snake curse " may be laid
on a man, and everywhere he goes these reptiles will appear
to dog his path. They will be found coiled in his sleeping
place, and lurking in the receptacles for his food. Growing
desperate, the victim resorts to the sorcerer to remove the
pell for the consideration of gifts, or else employs a rival
witch-doctor to operate a counter enchantment. The latter
ourse often results in some very heated feuds between some
magicians and their followers.
Totemism, or the tribal adoption of a certain animal to
represent them, is not strictly speaking sorcery. The totem
mimal is respected and seldom killed, the humans of the
tribe claiming brotherhood with it. In some places marriage
must not take place between men and women of the same
totem, and children are bound to respect the totem of their
mother's families. The custom of totemism is found in
North and South America, Africa, Polynesia and Australasia;
many peoples erecting totem poles adorned with carved
images and faces at the entrance to their villages. There
are, also, an innumerable number of totems acknowledged
in India and the surrounding countries.
In Annam, Ot\g Cop," the tiger, is deeply reverenced
and has special priests and sorcerers in his honour. Many
temples have no representation of any deity, except the
image of a huge tiger on the altar. Nevertheless, OD.g
Cop " is hunted just the same, the natives apparently making
some sort of distinction between tigers in the spirit and
those in the flesh. Indeed, these peoples' lives are constantly

1:7~

11

173

11

11

11

11

174

THE BLACK ART

overshadowed by dread of various well-known type

of evil spirits. A particularly malignant one is " Ma-lai,"
who appears as a pretty young girl to mislead travellers and
the unwary. At night a hideous transformation come
over her, the head detaching itself from the body and
rising into the air, with only the alimentary canal still
connected with it. The dreadful thing then glides among th
haunts of men and animals, feeding on excrement and even
seeking for it in the bowels of sleepers. The demon is also
believed to attend vile revels, in the company of every variety
of witch and demon.
The natives of Annam believe in earth and other elemental
spirits, particularly those who guard mines and fiercely
resent men attempting to wrest the treasures of earth from
them. The same beliefs are found in Europe, in the legends
of gnomes and goblins. Welsh miners have many tales to
tell of the beings encountered in the depths of the earth,
some of them puckish and even willing to be of assistance,
others terrible in their stony malignity.
The Annamese believe that the spirits of the drowned lurk
in the water, waiting to seize upon swimmers and give them
cramp. In order to avoid this state of affairs, a sorcerer
and a kind of mediumistic assistant are called in to trap the
errant soul, by providing another body for it to be properly
buried in. The first task is to make an artificial body, the
bones of which are the branches of the mulberry tree, the
entrails strong-coloured threads, the flesh and viscera earth
and wax, the skin a sort of pancake-like substance made
principally of flour. This macabre image is dressed in the
best garments of the deceased and placed in a coffin, ready
for the spirit to enter into it. The sorcerer and his assistant
then go in a boat to the place where the deceased is supposed
to have drowned, and the assistant holds out a coat that
belonged to the departed, rather as the douser holds the
hazel-twig. When the assistant's arm and the coat begin
to tremble, he declares that the man's spirit is rising
up to put his garment on once more. After which the
assistant dives into the water himself. In a few seconds he
rises again and announces that he has got the spirit in the
coat, which is quickly taken back and placed in the coffin.
The magician recites some incantations and the burial takes
place, the spirit having been placated by the funeral
arrangements.

PRIMITIVE RACES AND BLACK MAG I

Many of the native tribes of Burma, such as the K'Chins,
practised cannibalism in connection with their sorcery until
quite recent times; they probably do so still surreptitiously,
llhough every kind of human sacrifice and torture has been
tcrnly suppressed by the Government. The Burmans
proper are Buddhists, nevertheless they were very fond
llf propitiating the powers-that-be with offerings of living
victims. They greatly dread evil" Nats" or spirits, to whom
they attribute every possible misfortune or illness. Like
their Western brothers, groups of native youths from outlying places set out cheerfully on Saturday nights to visit
the nearest "Bioscope," as they call the cinema, but on
their return along the tree-shadowed roads or jungle pathways they blow feverishly upon reed pipes and bang drums
~tnd little gongs to keep the Nats away. In particular are
(eared those malevolent ladies with their feet turned back
to front.
The more barbaric tribes perform divination by entrails,
and make sacrifices of blood to procure rain. Some of the
tortures which the natives of Upper Chindwin used to
inflict upon children in this respect are too terrible to
mention. The K'Chin sorcerer kills a dog, in order to cast
n spell of illness or madness upon a man. The carcase is
placed at a cross-road, and the magician and young men
cast spears over it in the direction of the victim's home.
In Cambodia the sorcerers place great faith in the fretus
of an unborn child for producing magical results. This
fretus is believed to possess as developed a spirit as any child
born in the normal way, but as it is regarded as malevolent
if frustrated in its effort to be born, any woman who has
a miscarriage calls in the sorcerer to deal with the unlucky
event. Burning incense and chanting incantation, the sorcerer seals the abortion in a jar, to prevent its escape.
He is then supposed to take it to the nearest stream or river
and, having broken the jar with his wand, to leave the
contents in the water. More often than not he takes possession of the fretus himself, and roasts it over a fire protected
by seven cotton threads. He then proceeds to blacken it
with soot and varnish it, after which it is sewn in a bag
which he keeps, as a familiar spirit that will regard him as
an adopted father. Sorcerers visit the Cambodian burialgrounds, and command the spirits of women who died in
pregnancy or early labour to give up their children. They

176

THE BLACK ART

then dig the bodies up and remove the fcetus, or still-born

child, as the case may be, for the foregoing purposes.
Sometimes the body is magically revitalised and the tongu
bitten out of the women before re-burial.
The powers of the embryonical body are supposed to be
so potent that, formerly, a wife carrying her first child was
not safe from attack by her husband, should he require an
invincible amulet. The fcetus of the first child of a couple
was believed to be doubly protective, and the spirit attached
to it even more useful than that of others. A husband with
such designs would enquire jokingly of his wife, about th
fifth month or so, if she would give him the child she was
bearing. If she was unwary and replied to the effect that
it was his already, he would take her away to a secluded place
and kill her. When he had removed the child he took it to
the sorcerer to roast and blacken, and henceforth used the
remains of his child as a familiar and an amulet that rendered
him invulnerable. Even at the present, the parent of a young
wife keeps her under surveillance as much as possible during
her first pregnancy, in case of such attacks upon her.
Among all the different inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula, magic is brought into every aspect of the daily life.
Omens are consulted, and divination practised even before
setting out on hunting or fishing expeditions. The official
medium between the material world and that of the spirits
is the "Pawang," who employs a familiar to cope with
demons and ghosts on his behalf, but who is not above
casting spells himself occasionally, principally by " pointing
the kris" at the intended victim. This act is designed to
inflict agonising suffering, and when the spell is beginning
to work the kris or dagger is supposed to drip blood. The
"Pawang" also inflicts death from a distance, by burning
the cordiform top of a newly opened bunch of bananas on the
tree. This, too, is a recognised method of causing exquisite
torture, and when the sorcerer finally cuts the top through,
the victim suddenly dies from hremorrhage of the lungs.
Certain cults and individuals of the West look towards
Tibet as the abode of mysterious Mahatmas and" Masters,"
and the home of the Great White Brotherhood. However
that may be, it is undoubtedly true that some of the Llamas
of the monasteries possess great occult knowledge, which is
for the most part hidden to the world in general, but on the
other hand, many of them are comparatively ignorant and

PRIMITIVE RACES AND BLACK MAGIC

177

\mdeveloped, and never get beyond the first stage of their

tlementary initiation.
Black magic is extensively practised in this part of the
world, a prominent example being the well-known Bon
cult. The symbol of these people is the swastika with its
arms reversed, which indicates its lunar origin. They
secretly make living sacrifices, accompanied by horrible
blood rituals, and wandering members of the cult, travelling
in remote places, carry out the rites of their Order with
devotees collected in the desolate villages.
In this connection it is rather suggestive that the German
Nazis have presumably unconsciously chosen the same reversed aspect of the swastika for their emblem ; the sign which
represents to most occultists the sinister" Soma" influence of
the moon, and the dark and blood-stainedernanationsfrornit.
Corning to Japan, we find those strange aboriginal people
the Ainus, steeped in magic, which always brings sorcery
in its train. The Ainus hold the bear in remarkable veneration, not to say worship, but strangely enough do not hesitate
t o make deliberate living sacrifices of their deified pets,
who become at once the god and the votive offering. Nearly
every humble Ainu family has its own bear, kept with every
mark of affection and fed on the choicest morsels. A day
comes, however, when the poor creature is made into a public
sacrifice, and its owners ask their friends to come and share
the festivity. The bewildered animal, accustomed to being
petted, is seized upon by four men and strung up on horizontal poles in a very cruel position. The local sorcerer
presides over the sacrifice, the bear's throat ultimately
being cut and other wounds inflicted. As the blood pours
out, the sorcerer and men rush forward to catch the blood
and drink it warm from the body. None must fall to the
ground ; if so much as a drop of the blood is spilt, misfortune
will come upon the owners, if not upon the entire village.
In Northern Africa-Tripolitania, to be exact-there is a
t ribe of women with the reputation of being able to turn
into foxes on a certain night of full-moon every month.
They live in cave-like dwellings in the sides of hills and
seldom see the light of day, preferring to live in the darkness
of their caverns and only corning out as a rule at sundown.
The well-known woman traveller and explorer, Rosita
Forbes, recently published the story of a visit she paid to
these women, and according to her .own account witnessed

THE BLACK ART

178
occurrences which would seem to be undoubted proof of
their claims.
One of the chief African secret societies that actually
practise black magic is the Ngil society of sorcerers. Th
initiation into this " Order " is accompanied by many
obscene and disgusting rites, together with excessive
gluttony. Strange to say, however, these men also practise
exorcism and act as witch-finders : since although the fetishman, or witch-doctor, is an almost indispensable adjunct
to most barbarous tribes, the witch is looked upon with fear
and loathing, and the official sorcerers hate her as a rival
and are only too glad to have the opportunity of '' smelling
her out." One of the witches' supposed activities is to
catch the wandering souls of sleepers at night, and prevent
them from returning to their bodies. Other magicians are,
therefore, employed to frustrate the witches' work. In the
past very few of the negro secret societies were free from the
taint of cannibalism ; even the famous Duk-Duks ate human
flesh on certain occasions, though less with the deliberate
intention of sorcery than to imbue themselves with bravery
and free themselves from the spiritual onslaughts of deceased
enemies.
The same theories and practices of magic and witchcraft
are to be found with little variation among the aboriginal
inhabitants of Australia, the adjacent islands, Melanesia
and Polynesia. The sorcery of the Australian aborigine is
closely bound up with the animal and reptile kingdom, the
black magicians there also claiming the ability to turn into
animals at certain seasons. These men are known occasionally to practise bestiality, in pursuance of their magic rites.
The Maoris also have many customs in relation to the
black art. They apparently have a theory that the indefinable psychic gift that they call magic, and which we
might designate" psychicism," can be acquired by accosting
the soul of a murdered man in a burial ground at midnight.
Sorcery is not the exclusive prerogative of the ~etish-man,
but is practised haphazardly by anyone who wishes to
cast a spell upon another. The official enchanter may be
consulted as to the propitious time for the casting of the
spell and to acquire various substances in connection with
the sinister performance.
Salt is a very favoured ingredient of spell-binding concoctions. Thrown after a man, it causes him irritation and

PRIMITIVE RACES AND BLACK MAGIC

179

x:cessive unrest, so that he wanders by day and cannot sleep

Sprinkled with the blood of a black cock, and
I hrown across the threshold of a dwelling for three nights
111 succession, it will cause the inhabitants to leave. Mixed in
love philtres it will arouse passion ; and placed in the bed
nf a desired lover or sprinkled upon the hair during sleep,
If will irresistibly draw the subject towards the operator.
I he coloured peoples, wheresoever found, connect salt in
orne mysterious way with the forces of sex, and it often
lakes an important place in the marriage rites for that
teason. The inherent qualities of salt are stimulating, and
cxcessive stimulation for the release of physical and
cmotional forces is the underlying principle of orgies.
Alum and sulphur are also employed for magical purposes,
und the primitive man uses bitumen ochres and coloured
days. Iron is considered protective, and hence in many
lribes we find the people wearing heavy iron rings on their
arms and legs as amulets.
In New Guinea and the adjacent islands the natives firmly
believe in the magic power of various stones and animals,
but to a large extent they make their own magic. For
instance, if a man comes across a stone or similar object
that appeals to his imagination, he decides to appropriate it
for his own "fetish." He then brings money (formerly
blood), and scatters it in a circle around the chosen object,
announcing to others that that place is henceforth" rongo."
Sometimes there is a living creature involved as well, such
as a snake in a hole or an octopus sheltering in a rock pool ;
in which case the creature is fed, and induced to remain in
that particular spot.
To the peoples of the Pacific Islands all success in life
depends on inciting the forces of nature with magic. They
realise that the elements do their work independently of
mankind, and are excellent weather-prophets ; but they
appear to think that they can add power to the natural
phenomena by singing and performing ritual dances, and
so on. As the men build their canoes they sing certain
songs in rhythm, and unless these are sung correctly the
canoe will be sluggish in the water, while, again, wind and
rain are invoked by dances and sacrifices.
The sorcerers of the islands are called" balubualata," and
give the fetish-men as much trouble as anyone else, the latter
being expected to undo their machinations. Their main

lty night.

r8o

THE BLACK ART

activities take the form of causing illness, parting lovers and

married couples, making canoes heavy in the water, withhold
ing rain, causing pigs to run away.
In some of the islands it is considered terribly unlucky to
mention the name of a man who is away fishing or hunting,
as to do so will recall his spirit and cause him misfortune or
even death. Wives have to be particularly careful of their
smallest actions and words, on account of the magical
sympathetic link which is believed to exist between them
and their husbands. The theory is that the husband
depends to some extent on the quality of the magnetism
exchanged between him and his wife, no matter how great
the distance between them ; and vice versa.
Until comparatively recent years human sacrifices to
obtain rain were common among the natives of the Pacift{:
Islands, and also among those of the West Indies. Th(~
women stripped naked and took part in a rain-dance, a girl
being chosen for the sacrificial victim. Sometimes she was
clubbed to death and her blood offered to the rain-gods, but
occasionally a more lingering and terrible death was inflicted.
Travellers have testified to seeing women tied to the tops of
trees (so that the guardians of the elements can see them),
and being eaten alive by birds of prey. The rain-dances arc
still petformed without the element of human sacrifice,
although in remote places it is very difficult to say that the
custom is entirely suppressed.
Fetishism is inextricably bound up with native magic and
totemism. As we have seen, any object may become a
fetish; the actual thing itself not being reverenced, but the
spirit which is believed to have taken up its abode within it.
The fetish is seldom regarded as a god; its spirit being
looked upon more in the light of a familiar that can be
cajoled and propitiated, like the djinns of the Arabians.
Fetishism is very often erroneously identified with sorcery;
generally speaking, however, it is nothing of the kind, only
ordinary magic. Even so, the primitive sorcerer does
occasionally use a fetish in performance of his enchantments.
Within the space of one chapter it has only been possible
to touch very briefly on the magic customs of peoples who
are dispersed over a very wide area of the earth. Consequently, there has been chosen those which are as far as
possible representative of the whole.

CHAPTER XIII
SORCERY IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

Is a brief account of sorcery in North and South America from e,uli!J=I

times up to the present day.

HE sorcery of the primitive peoples of the grea I

American continent has naturally always been
connected with the beliefs regarding the spirit
world and its manifestations, and has centred
chiefly round a form of Shamanism.
Eskimos of the Far North deal with the Unseen through
the Shaman, or Tun-gha-lik. This man's power is judged
by the number of spirits he is able to subjugate to his will ;
not necessarily all of them evil, though their controller's
method of gaining his position is by means of sorcery.
The would-be Tun-gha-lik directly murders, or causes the
the death of, a new-born child and steals the body. He next
dries and embalms it and keeps it always with him, thereby
gaining control over the spirit of the child, which becomes
his familiar and does his bidding and divines the future for
him. When fully fledged, the Tun-gha-lik can call upon both
the spirits of men and animals, change the weather, cause
or cure disease and illness. But the Shaman who fails in his
claims, or misuses his gifts, risks his life at the hands of
the tribe to which he belongs.
Some of the Eskimo peoples practise a kind of spiritualism ; the " medium " sitting down in a darkened hut, from
which strange noises subsequently emanate. The" medium
then entertains his familiar, who can be asked questions by
the seekers sitting respectfully outside, but not before gifts
of tobacco and the like have been pushed into the hut.
Occasionally the Shaman claims actually to go away to
visit the spirit world with his guardian, bringing back
with him disturbing information of future events that will
certainly come to pass unless his commands are strictly
adhered to.
The Tun-gha-lik supplies amulets and charms of every
I8I

r82

THE BLACK ART

description, particularly for the protection of hunters and

children. The charms are composed chiefly of parts o{
animals, such as teeth, claws and ears, and the skin from the
roof of the mouth of bears. The Eskimo fears and dislikes
all storms and disturbance of the elements, and the Shaman
accordingly provides a jacket made from the skin of a stillborn seal. If a thunderstorm occurs, the hunter must take
off this coat and beat it upon the ground, whereupon the
thunder will stop.
The " medicine-man " of the Red Indians was only a
rather more advanced Shaman, but the Red Indians' form
of Nature worship was infinitely superior to the very elementary beliefs of many of the native races of North and South
America. I say was, because unfortunately civilisation has
robbed the Red man of much of his former dignity and simple
grandeur.
The Red Indian "medicine-man" was also a spiritmedium like the "Tun-gha-lik," and erected a special tent
in which to operate, upon the same principle as the cabinet
of the seance-room. This tent was cone-shaped, and
supported by three poles covered with skins and mats.
Only a very small aperture was left in the front, through
which the medicine-man had to crawl. The subsequent
phenomena were very similar to that of the Eskimo ritual ;
the tent creaking and groaning as if assailed by a furious
gale and voices that sometimes seemed to speak from high up
in the air, and sometimes to proceed from the depths of the
earth, issuing from it. Those consulting the spirit had to
make offerings of tobacco, beads and the like ; though it
seems more probable that the medium benefited rather
than the spirits.
In some tribes the " medicine-man " kept a mask to represent each of his different familiars, and these he donned
before entering the hut or wore alternately on ceremonial
occasions. The duties of a "mediCine-man," in addition
to his being the official link with the Unseen, were to heal,
to influence the weather, to interpret omens, to divine the
the future, and so on. In healing he made use of hypnotism,
magnetic passes with the hands, blowing or breathing upon
the afflicted, besides having a very wide knowledge of the
properties of herbs.
Sorcery does not seem to have been the exclusive prero8ative of the" medicine-man," nor does it appear to have

SORCERY IN NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA r83

been carried out on any large scale as a rule. It was, rather,
a matter of isolated individuals casting spells and enchantments, or obtaining the services of the " medicine-man "
to operate for them. Disease was sometimes thought to be
caused by the absence of the soul, and it was the duty of the
" medicine-man " to charm the soul back to the body ;
though in the practice of sorcery he also expelled souls, to
cause illness and death. Both results were obtained by
wild dances, accompanied by the beating of drums,
tambourines and rattles.
Necromancy was extensively practised among all tribes of
the North American Indians. The bodies of the dead were
arrayed in ceremonial costume and seated within a special
hut, to be consulted regarding the future by the local
" medicine-man," who was operator and interpreter. Lycanthropy also was common, in early times at least, and
belief in werewolves and werefoxes existed among all tribes.
A curious means of communication with the dead was
established by the Ghost Dance of the Paviotso of Nevada.
By this a state of hypnotic trance was induced, during which
the people were believed to discourse with their departed
friends.
The Sioux Indians induced visions by removing the skin
from a freshly killed animal and tying it so tightly round
the neck that consciousness was lost. The hallucinations
thereby invoked were believed to have particular significance. These people also used the symbols of the supernatural powers painted upon their war-shields, both to
strike fear into the enemy and to invoke protection. Their
" totems " or tribal symbols were animals, birds or reptiles,
such as the bear, wolf, eagle and turtle; while their amulets
were composed of the teeth, claws, skins and feathers of these
creatures. In addition, the Sioux made powerful charms
from the navel-strings of newly-born children in the shape of
turtles. Children, too, were frequently provided with their
own navel-strings, placed in small bags made of bearskin
and slung round the neck. The " medicine-man " supplied
a special amulet, composed of the dried body of the blue
bird with the ears of a jack-rabbit attached to it.
Hunters believed that by chewing the sinews of a deer
that had been "charmed" by a sorcerer, the muscles of
wounded quarry would contract so painfully that it was
bound to fall into the hands of the pursuer.

184

THE BLACK ART

A very strange hunting sorcery was practised by th

natives of Alaska, for capturing the sea-otter. The preparation for this lasted for a month, during which time the
hunter had no intercourse with his wife and must take great
care that no one but himself touched the receptacle for his
urine. At the end of the month he killed an eagle and cut
off one of the bird's feet. To the claws of the foot he attached
some of the plant called "grabbing medicine," which had
very potent magic properties. The next thing was to make
a clay canoe, with an image of himself taking aim, and to
fasten the eagle's foot to the seat of the craft. The next day,
fortified with his charms, the hunter set out in his canoe.
Directly he sighted a likely otter, he blew some of his urine
which had been saved towards it, and was thereby supposed to
confuse the creature. After that, the hunter fired. If he
had not abstained from intercourse with his wife as was
required, his arm would tremble and his aim be weak.
Otherwise, however, the" sympathetic magic" between the
clay canoe, with its eagle's foot and "grabbing medicine"
would ensure the hunter's success.
If they wished to secure a doe, the Alaskans took the
pubic hair from one already killed, and tying it up with some
of the " grabbing medicine " plant attached it to his arrows.
All Red Indians had implicit faith in love charms, and
believed that by means of them they could obtain the love
of any woman they desired. One of the simplest methods
was to take two plants, male and female, and, after tying
them up with the hair of the lover and the beloved, to bury
them in the ground. A fire had then to be made over the
spot, and certain incantations uttered as the smoke arose.
Another process which brought many gifts and dollars to
the "medicine-man," was to take a plant and a small flatstone supplied by him and, having tied them together,
throw them at the woman concerned. The woman, after the
lapse of three days and nights, would come to visit the lover.
Certain tribes made a peculiar magi<;: effigy, as a means of
obtaining money. This figure was composed of two pieces
of sheet-copper, stuffed in between with broken remains of
valuable articles that had been stolen, and was kept secretly
among its owner's blankets or in some other hiding-place.
It was offered food, and possibly had prayers addressed to
it, and was supposed to bring not only money but other
material gain to the possessor.

SORCERY IN NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA 185

The greatest charm of all, perhaps, was the sacred cord
made by the Shaman-composed of malachite, pieces of
lightning-struck wood, claws, teeth, and so on-which was
supposed to render the wearer invulnerable to the attacks
of enemies, man or animal, and to endow him with the power
of covering great distances without fatugue.
The Botocados ate their enemies in order to be protected
from the revenge of their relatives and tribe, and to make
them invulnerable against hostile arrows. Other tribes ate
pieces of their murdered victims, to prevent their ghosts
haunting them; evidently working on the theory that when
the body was eaten and assimilated, the spirit was rendered
powerless.
The Cherokee sorcerers worked by means of spiders and
their web; the spider being regarded as a representative
of evil. Having obtained one, complete with its web, the
sorcerer repeated incantations for destroying the life of his
victim, entangling his soul in the web of spells or enticing
it away from its body.
The Red Indians had a very important secret society for
the development of "medicine-men" called the Midiwiwin,
their initiation passing through various stages and grades.
They practised fasting and offered prayers to the Bear
Spirit ; and at a later stage entered initiation through the
Serpentine Gateway, which was symbolised by the materialisation of an immense snake, under the archway of whose
coils the initiate had to pass. Those who passed through all
the various degrees attained the power to see events in other
places and in the future, and to live in the spirit world as
well as on earth. The cult was originally supposed to have
been inaugurated by a god, who revealed his secrets to a
sacred otter, giving it a mystic drum, rattle and sacred
tobacco.
A great deal of the magic of the native Mexican tribes
was founded on the remains of the old Aztec religion, many
of whose deities were magicians. In the days of the Aztecs'
supremacy, there was a striking resemblance between many
of their customs and those of the Egyptians, one of them
being the official status of their sorcerers. The Aztecs
possessed a college of Augurs, whose members divined the
future by the flight and songs of birds, and their sorcerers
were believed to have power over life and death and the
elements. They interpreted dreams, and claimed that they

186

THE BLACK ART

could visit distant lands in the spirit. According to them all

sorcerers, necromancers and evil-doers were born under thr!
baleful influence of the seventh calendic sign, and all eu
chantments were operated within the number seven.
Following in the Aztecs' footsteps, Mexican magician!t
chose an evil planetary influence under which to work their
enchantments, and, after having prepared their spells for
four consecutive nights, they finally set out in animal form
actively to put them into operation. These men were called
"naualli," and appear to have been also dreaded as vampires. On ceremonial occasions they displayed remarkable
powers, such as cutting off their own hands or feet with no
loss of blood and restoring the limb without injury. They
caused fire to ignite spontaneously, and even burned their
huts, renewing them immediately without damage.
Most of our knowledge of these people is gained from the
early Spanish traders and missionary priests, who, while
condemning their witchcraft, seem to have had no doubt
as to its reality and potency. Most Mexican amulets had
some relation with their deities ; especially Tezcatlipoca,
the magician, who was supposed to have driven the aboriginals crazy, by beating upon a magic drum which caused
thousands of them to perish by throwing themselves into a
deep ravine. A favourite Mexican symbol was a staff carved
in serpentine form, like that of Quetalcoatl.
Like the Hindus, the Mexicans dreaded the ghosts of
women who died in child-birth, which were to be seen by
night at cross-roads, wailing and weeping for their children.
They were thought to be vampires, and such a woman was
usually decapitated before burial. At certain times of the
year such creatures were supposed to attempt to enter
houses, in order to steal the children or suck their blood, and
every opening and crevice was accordingly stuffed up, to the
accompaniment of incantations and protective spells.
Serpents were regarded everywhere with great respect
and treated with a reverence little short of worship, rattlesnakes being used as "familiars" by the "medicine-men"
of some tribes.
The deer, or goat-god, of north-west Virginia was believed
to lie in the mountains of that State, where there was a
huge slant-eyed image of him in the Blue Ridge district.
He was worshipped with sorcery, while offerings of both
fresh and dried blood were made to him.

SORCERY IN NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA 187

The Cherokee Indians placed great importance on the
symbolism of colour, and divined omens from the colours
of lakes, of the sunrise and sunset, and so on. Colours, for
them, corresponded to the four elements and the four points
of the compass. Thus: the North was represented by Blue,
which meant trouble or defeat; the South by White, which
signified peace and happiness ; the East by Red, which
meant success and triumph; the West by Black, which was
Death. Yellow had practically the same evil significance
as Blue ; Brown was propitiatory ; Green was the colour
of nature and magic.
The Red Indians, generally, made drums and tambours
from the skins of slain enemies, and at certain seasons, or
before war, held wild dances with the "medicine-man"
as the most prominent figure. Huge fires were made and
young warriors, caked with pigment and clay, danced
half-naked around them, from time to time seizing brands
with which they touched themselves and the bare backs of
those in front of them without apparent injury. Orgies,
again, were held, in which the spirits of evil were propitiated
and invoked by means of the Shamans and warriors falling
upon each other with terrible blows and sharp weapons ;
so that the blood flowed and the flesh hung down in strips.
Sometimes the celebrants died of their wounds, and from
their exhibitions of swallowing sticks and knives. The
warriors of Arikaras and Gros Ventres tribes, when preparing
for war, made incisions in their bodies and thrust pieces of
wood through them beneath the shoulder blades, allowing
themselves to be thus suspended over river chasms and
the like.
All tribes of Indians were proficient conjurers ; so much
so that the early French settlers called them "Jongleurs,"
and believed that most of the manifestations of the Shamans
could be attributed to the same art. The more intelligent
Indian tribes, however, worshipped the Great Spirit, whom
they considered was served by all the forces of Nature.
Indeed, even the more ignorant and undeveloped of the
race do not seem to have been so overshadowed by the belief
in unseen evil as many primitive peoples.
Indian sorcerers and " medicine-men " induced visions and
ecstatic states by drinking the juice of tobacco and poisonous
herbs, and used shiny flat stones as crystals, which they
" fed " by smearing them with blood. A form of black

188

THE BLACK ART

magic was practised by obtaining the hair or tooth of

victim and burying it in a hole under a tree. A fire was next
made over the spot, and the spirit of the tree was invoked
in the flames and smoke. When the spirit duly appeared,
it was" sent out" to injure the desired person.
Bones, too, had magic properties, and he who could obtain
the "finger bone" of an enemy would have unlimited power
over him. This belief may have been at the back of th
strange custom of the widows of the carrier Indians taking
about the bones of their husbands with them for a period
of four years after death. Such widows anointed themselves
at the funeral pyre with the fat that ran from the roasting
bodies of their husbands, often getting seriously burned in
the process. When nothing more remained but the charred
bones, the women gathered them up and placed them in a bag
made of skins, and this they afterwards carried continually
strapped to their sides, or upon their backs. When four
years had passed, the spirit of the husband was supposed
to be secure in the happy hunting-ground of all good warriors,
and his bones could safely be buried.
Many tribes, however, merely left the bodies of the
dead on high scaffolds erected outside their villages, or in
the branches of trees. The spirits of suicides were greatly
dreaded, and their bodies were disposed of as quickly as
possible without ceremony ; the " medicine-man " in some
cases shooting arrows over the corpse to scare away its
ghost.
Nearly all Red Indian sorcerers claimed the power of
turning into foxes, bears or wolves, and practised the
universal form of magic by which life was transferred to
material objects to accomplish the magician's end. Thus,
the clay figure of a buffalo or wolf would be made and
blood smeared over it to the accompaniment of incantations,
which process was thought to imbue it with life to go out to
kill the sorcerer's victims. In the same way the Shaman
made life-size clay figures of infants and sold them to sterile
women in order to induce child-bearing.
The magic practices of all the native tribes of North
America bear a striking similarity; but two important
kinds of black magic are practised in the United States, as
well as in the West Indies and Guiana, by the Negro population who were originally imported from Africa. These two
branches are Voodooism and Obeah, and both are carried

SORCERY IN NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA 189

on to-day, though not to the same extent as was formerly
the case.
Voodooism is Devil worship pure and simple. In past
days it entailed the sacrifice of a girl-child who was called
"the goat without horns," although the natives declare
that no such sacrifice has now been made for over fifty years.
We hope this is true, but the author's opinion is that both
Vodooism and Obeah have probably claimed human victims,
quite apart from still-born infants, much more recently
than that. Nowadays a real goat or young kid has been
substituted, and whether the sacrifice was human or animal
it was the custom to administer a powerful drug composed
of herbs, so that no pain was felt at the moment of death.
However, beside the goat, black cocks and hens and sometimes dogs were sacrificed, by the cruel process of ripping
open the stomach so that the bowels and other organs fell
out.
The Voodoo rites were carried out in lonely and desolate
places, when the moon was full, the participants joining
hands and dancing round the altar. Sometimes these dances
were in honour of the moon as representing the" Old Master"
or Devil, and sometimes they were " Fire " or " Snake "
dances. In the latter case those taking part brought their
own snakes and placed them in the centre of the gathering,
where they usually remained torpid under the charms of
the Voodoo priest or priestess. As the dances grew wilder,
the victims were killed and pieces of the quivering flesh
given to each of the celebrants to eat, which spurred them
on to even greater delirium. They shouted invocations to
the " Old Master " and the " Sweet Moon," piled the fires
of wood and tar higher and higher, until eventually the
dancers sank to the ground exhausted with their revelry.
Such scenes were usually, though not always, accompanied
by drunkenness and debauchery.
The Voodoo priest or priestess was usually chosen by an
existing one, and if they were naturally epileptic or hysterical
so much the better. Sometimes whole families were Voodoo
priests by descent. The training was exceedingly difficult,
and calculated to test the endurance and will power up to the
hilt. It included fasting, going without sleep, eating offal
and drinking foul ooze, the endurance of terrible dreams
induced by drugs, solitude in the jungle and extremes of
heat and cold. Having successfully passed these tests,

rgo

THE BLACK ART

the priest or priestess had to learn how to make love charm!l

and various objects to cause enchantments ; such as fingers
of-death, hands-of-love, luck balls and tricken-bags, the
names of which adequately express their purpose. Thry
had also to be numerologists, fortune-tellers, interpreter!
of omens and, above all, hypnotists.
The excessive power that Voodoo exercised over the Negro
races was largely psychological, working through the fear
instilled into credulous minds by the sorcerers. At the same
time, the results of Voodoo cannot always be denied. Obeah
and Voodoo became considerably intermingled, but originally
the former was the worship of the fetish of the snake-god
Obi, the spirit of evil. Like Voodooism the rites of Obeah
took place in groves and mountain caves, where Satanic
orgies were carried out. Nearly every village of the Southern
States and the West Indies had, or has, its Obeah-Man,
who practises sorcery of every description. Nowadays he is
usually a very shabby and dirty old Negro, who claims to
have known slavery days and who will undertake any dubious
commission for money. He will cast spells and enchantments
on enemies, and still claims the power of the jungle ObeahMan to kill at a distance. In outlying places some of the
original Shamanistic Obeah-Men are to be found.
Usually the sacrifices of Obeah were confined to animals
and birds, but where it mixed with Red Voodooism it openly
practised human sacrifice. In the old days both branches
indulged in wholesale poisoning, the favourite being the
fine hairs of bamboo cane mixed with food to produce acute
dysentery. In the actual ritual of the ceremonies the priest
and priestess dressed in red and danced a snake dance before
the altar, drinking at intervals the blood of the sacrifice.
As these two kinds of sorcery were practised both in the
United States and the northern portion of South America
around the basin of the Orinoco River, Guiana, they formed
a superficial link between the magic of the north and south,
though even among the aborigines there was no very
marked difference between the " medicine-man " of the
north and the witch-doctor of southern tribes.
Among the native Indians of Brazil and Patagonia there
was a form of sorcery called N agualism, whose participants
worked witchcraft against the Whites. Like the devotees
of Voodoo and Obeah, its members met in dark caverns
and indulged in rites founded upon the ancient religions

SORCERY IN NORTH & SOUTH

that had been at any rate partially SIIJllll
White man. Part of the ritual consisted if
various anmals, who were looked upon as tIt
the participants; each member having the Gpi tll
wolf, bison or snake, and the like, consii!IH'll I
initiation.
A particular tribe in Brazil worshippl'd n
called Jupurari, to whom the young men Wi' l
at certain seasons of the year. This god wr"' illlli
women, and when the drums began to beat nne\ 'lit
to wail in what was known as the Jupurari mtttiic, nil
and girls hid themselves away. Any femalt wh
into the light from curiosity, was apt to ht't~ftu
sacrifice.
The majority of South American people~. itlcl
Chiquitos of Bolivia, believed that the souls t) f th
incarnated into animals. With them evil spitit o wl
once been humans were supposed to dwell in th e W1il
the form of huge serpents or crabs, and tv:n
objects were thought capable of being imbued with !lpltll I
In Patagonian tribes the Shaman, or witch-dodf!l',- l!l'ltl
important position, second only to the Chief. II i8 ptll
purpose was to cure the sick, but he also occupied hllfl
with all the usual duties of sorcerers, his worl<tl I
beneficent or evil according to the requireml'nt iJ oi
who consulted him.
The usual treatment of the afflicted consistetl or HHikin
as much noise as possible, in order to drive away tht1 nlln
ing demon, and of the Shaman sucking a part of thiJ invnlid
body and subsequently displaying a stone, stiGk or lni!C! t
which was supposed to be the evil spirit. Sonu: t i1ileS tIt
stricken person was strapped naked on a horse, nnd lotcNI
to ride out in the cold amid a great clamour. Nt~.xt to !loirw,
cold was considered of invaluable assistance in brint;inl
about a cure. If a disease threatened to be fatal, u IIICI!C-w brought to the hut of the sufferer and sacrificed on th e spot :
men falling upon it with their knives, and tlu: S l~<~ttt:lll
dealing the fatal blow to the heart. This organ WilD tlu~ n
removed, and carried round and round the potll' ~~ rc:llt ur t:
as it died in convulsions. The whole company rdt crwanls
fell to and ate the whole body, including the cntmils, until
nothing but the head, hoofs and bones remained. Tlw head
and feet were attached to a pole, and a party of hur~l'mcn

192

THE BLACK ART

galloped with it to the nearest hill-top, where it was erected.

If this ceremony did not effect a cure, the case was considered
hopeless.
At birth a child was placed inside the carcase of a horse,
which had been ripped from throat to tail and the entrails
removed. This was believed to ensure that the child would
live to be a good horseman.
Those who practised sorcery exclusively kept aloof from
the rest of the tribe as a rule, living alone on hill-sides or
in caves. It was believed that their magic power was concentrated in small rough stones, which they inherited from
father to son, mother to daughter, and so on. If these
stones were lost or damaged, the magician lost his or her
power.
With the South Americans, the smallest particles of hair,
nails, teeth and even rags of clothing, were thought to
have the property of turning into evil spirits, and so such
things were always carefully burnt. At death all material
possessions were either buried with the body, or burnt
separately as quickly as possible.
The Chilian sorcerers also lived in caves, and were served
by men who claimed the power of transforming themselves
into animals at will. Such men visited the sorcerers in their
animal form, but mixed among men in their human shape
to accomplish the requirements of their Masters. The
sorcerers themselves were supposed to turn into nocturnal
birds, and fly through the air after dark, shooting arrows
at those who had incurred their displeasure. In many
parts, again, they were believed to be vampires.
The training for these sorcerers was everywhere exceedingly
arduous ; including the usual test of going without food and
sleep, and in the case of the Chilian natives eating alive
toads, snakes and small birds, and other practices too
revolting to mention. By the time the aspirant had successfully passed through all the horrors of his initiation, he
was usually half-demented. Yet even then his path was
fraught with difficulty; he having to provide and arrange
the weather to suit his tribe, to bring about their victory
over enemies, and so on. Fortunately it is the prerogative
of oracles to be obscure, and witch-doctors were usually no
less so in their weather prophecies, seldom committing
themselves until various signs in nature indicated the coming
of rain. One of their spectacular rain-making ceremonies

SORCERY IN NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA 193

consisted of the slaughter of a particular kind of duck, and
the throwing of its blood towards the sky; but the appearance
of these birds was in itself an indication of the coming
deluge, as they did not migrate south until certain that the
swamps would be not merely barren wastes of hardened mud
and sun-cracked earth but filled with water.
In Guiana the native Red man practised in early times
very much the same sort of magic and sorcery as was to be
found in other parts of the continent. He believed in the
transmigration of souls, propitiated demons and evil spirits,
and sometimes made human sacrifices to them of his enemies
-eating the flesh with great relish himself, and offering the
blood to the demons. Unlike many other peoples, the Red
man of these parts never made sacrifices of their children ;
the latter being regarded from a very personal standpoint,
as actually part of their fathers, and protected accordingly.
In course of time, however, and particularly after the
discovery of gold deposits in rivers, the imported Negro
population began to make an impression on the primitive
beliefs of the Red man, and Obeah and Voodoo became
inextricably mixed up with their own witchcraft. These
quasi-Obeah-Men, or witch-doctors, of Guiana were distinguished by the calabash that they carried thrust through
with a bamboo stick. The interior of the calabash was
scooped out, filled with fiat white stones which were rattled
to summon the spirits, while coloured threads and feathers
were attached to the protruding end of the stick. This
affair was used by the witch-doctors in the same way as the
medireval magician used his wand.
Originally a certain amount of inter-marriage took place
between the Red men and slaves who had escaped to the
forest, and in later times with some of the less-developed
Negroes, resulting in a form of magic consisting of the worst
and crudest practices of both races. The author knows that
not more than twenty years or so ago ceremonial black magic
was practised by the Red man in the forest of Guiana, and
the banks of the Essequibo River, large numbers of West
Indians attending, although they actually took no
part.
In conclusion, the witchcraft of the white settlers and
the subsequent European population cannot be overlooked,
but this ran so much upon the lines of the black magic and
sorcery of the Old World that details would be superfluous.

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THE BLACK ART

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the persecution of American witches was as acute as that of their
European contemporaries ; a man named Cotton Mather
gaining an unenviable reputation for the extreme cruelty
of the punishments he inflicted upon them. Americans
have been renowned as the originators of freak religions and
peculiar sects, and until recent times the United States was
certainly the home of various Satanic societies and groups
d~voted to black magic, and quite possibly still is.

PART II
CHAPTER I
THE LESSER YOGIS AND FAKIRS OF INDIA
Deals with magical practices of the lesser Yogis and Fakirs, and Indian
black magic as a whole.

HERE is a prevalent idea in Europe that Yogis

and Fakirs are one and the same thing, which has
caused many people to ignore Yoga philosophy
when it has been presented to them.
The true Yogi is a man of culture, has developed his powers
through a long and arduous training, and is one who devotes
his time to the upliftment of mankind physically, mentally
and spiritually. He is not to be found by the roadsides of
India, and the thousands of mendicants and charlatans
who throng the great roads and busy streets calling themselves " Yogis," have no real claim to the title at all. Nor
have the deluded men, who sit by the wayside with uplifted
arms that have become fixed and withered and perform
similar feats of self-torture.
There are many people who evidently believe that Yoga
practices are a form of black magic, but I can assure them
most emphatically that this is not so. Presumably, the idea
springs from this confusion between the so-called Yogis and
Fakirs and the true ones. The former are usually beggars
and performers of petty sorceries and conjuring, and
occasionally hypnotists.
There are, of course, many practices in the various
branches of Yoga (especially Hatha Yoga) that are distasteful
to the intelligent mind and which would only be attempted
by the credulous. On the other hand, the Yoga philosophy
as a whole offers an immense field of development, both of
mind and body, as those who have studied the subject and
learnt the breathing according to Yoga principles will readily
agree. Many, it is true, who start upon the path do not
complete it and, falling by the wayside, use the knowledge

195

196

THE BLACK ART

and powers they have gained for the practice of black magic
and sorcery. This applies equally to Oriental and Occidental
students; though, fortunately, the highest wisdom and
greatest attainments can only be gained by those who have
earned these closely guarded treasures, and those who turn
aside achieve only a modicum of power.
The wandering Yogis and Fakirs usually perform their
magic by means of elementals, and have what is called in
the West" mediumistic powers which produce phenomena.
These men are often snake-charmers and jugglers as well,
and are feared and despised by the natives as workers of
malicious evil which they are willing to perform for a few
"pice." The spirits they work with are called "Afrits,"
and they employ the agency of the Evil Eye. Generally
speaking, this type will deny that he works with elemental
spirits, even as the higher variety claims to do. The evolved
Yogi and Fakir also has power over the elementary spirits,
but he very seldom uses it. When he does, it is as a Master
summoning obedient servants. The former kind, however,
court the aid of spirits on the same rate of vibration as
themselves.
Fakirs make frequent reference to the "Pitris," and
attribute much of their powers to the influence of these
spiritual beings. The latter are not elementals but spirits
of the Genii order, and correspond to the inferior " gods
of the invisible worlds. It is these that the orthodox
Christian world calls "Angels."
Most Fakirs possess mediumistic powers in a marked
degree, but they do not use them in the same way as a
European "sensitive" does. Indeed, the average Fakir
considers attempts to converse with departed spirits as little
short of blasphemy, regarding it as the prerogative of the
Yogis and Gurus only, to consult with spirits; though there
again it is difficult to make an entirely definite statement,
some Brahmin Fakirs admitting that they depend on the aid
of disembodied human spirits.
The actual status of the Fakir is a most complicated one,
depending upon degrees of spiritual evolution and progress.
Broadly speaking, however, they are confined to the lowest
path of a course of initiation whose highest adepts are
members of the "Ancient Supreme Council of Seventy."
They are constantly under the will and supervision of their
" Gurus," and very frequently serve as " mediums " for a
11

11

LESSER YOGIS AND FAKIRS OF INO.IA ' {>

power which emanates in reality from this mastt~r unci i
often handed on to them by a sort .of hypnotic suggest ion.
On the death or transition of the "Guru," the l.1ki1
frequently loses his powers, which he is in the habit of
g-athering to himself from this master during meditation in I he
remples.
Although he cannot pass beyond the first degree of initial ion, the Fakir is nevertheless the agent and a link between
the "Silent Brothers (who may not pass the threshold of
their sacred dwelling) and the material world. He carries
f heir teaching and makes known their wishes in some
instances, and always accomplishes his "magic" through
their instruction or actual assistance.
The genuine Fakir lives a life of unbelievable sacrifice and
self-abnegation, which to Europeans appears so much
fanatical madness. To the Fakir, on the contrary, it is all a
means of quickly accomplishing "Karma," and will enable
him to make rapid progress in initiation in his next incarnation.
Every Fakir is attached to a temple, and never acts except
under the orders of the temple. Moreover, unless he has
attained an extraordinary degree of sanctity, he is never
freed from the influence of his Guru, from whom he receives
the small bamboo wand with seven notches. This wand is
his protection from contaminating influences, and is designed
to shield him from debasing elements. None the less, he
is still liable to contamination from the magnetic emanations
of profane people and also from unclean objects.
I remember a travelling Fakir from India, who was reported
among the Burmans of our district to be very clever at
producing magic. _Some army officers of our acquaintance
were very anxious to see some performances of the '' rope
trick order, but were intensely sceptical of any real result.
The Fakir was approached and at length consented to come
to our bungalow and give a demonstration. He arrived clad
only in his scanty loincloth, with a wooden whistle attached
to his hair and the seven-notched bamboo wand in his hand.
He was accompanied by a small boy who carried his mat,
which was placed for him to sit on. The room in which we
received him had been previously cleared, and we ourselves
were seated on rugs.
The Fakir explained that anything that occurred should
be received calmly and without disturbance, and particularly
11

11

198

THE BLACK ART

enjoined that when he entered the trance state no one

must touch him or place a foot over his circls.
Having given one or two minor displays, the man consented to make a plant grow for us, and showed us the wellknown trick of a mango springing up before our eyes from
a seed placed in ordinary earth and a pot which we had
provided. Having first " magnetised " the earth with his
hand, the Fakir caused slowly to appear the first green shoot
of the tiny tree. The shoot gradually grew larger ; developed
leaves, a flower, a fruit; and then withered and died-the
whole process probably taking about half an hour, or so.
The Fakir next had water provided, and this he poured into
two of our glass jugs and proceeded to colour by breathing
over it. One lot of water became a rosy pink, the other blue.
The man then poured the contents of both jugs back into the
large bowl in which the water had been brought, the two
portions remaining separate and retaining their colours one
upon another. Finally the water was restored to its usual
appearance by the Fakir inhaling over it.
After that we gave our visitor a piece of chalk, with which
he drew a wide circle upon the floor. Sitting cross-legged
upon his mat in the middle of the circle, the Fakir recited
three mantrams and then gradually became entranced.
His complexion turned livid and his body gradually relaxed
from his position, until he was lying stretched upon the
ground. Thereupon he slowly rose in a horizontal position
to about four feet from the floor, where he remained for
several minutes suspended in space. Without placing our
feet whithin his circle or touching him, we were able to
stretch over and pass our hands around him. One of the
officers, however, disobeyed the Fakir's command and tried
to cross the circle. In an instant the young man received a
violent blow on the chest, from some invisible force, that
sent him reeling back against the door. He described it
afterwards as like having been "hit by a blast of wind."
The Fakir then descended from his levitation, and soon
recovered his normal state. Shortly after which he departed,
having refused to accept anything from us other than a bowl
of rice that had been specially prepared for him.
As all travellers in the East know, wherever crowds gather
there are to be found Guni, the snake-charmers, "Fakir"
mesmerists and jugglers, and those who will often predict
the future with marvellous accuracy. There are, of course,

"He remained for several minutes suspended in space."

LESSER YOGIS AND FAKIRS OF INDIA

201

snake-charmers who are charlatans ; but many go about

literally festooned with some of India's deadliest serpents,
and certainly very many of these reptiles have not had their
fangs removed. The Fakir has knowledge of a particular
mantram which prevents the serpents from biting, and also
has power over wild animals.
How the Fakirs and Yogis are trained to their attainments
in the temples and pagodas is a secret that lies hidden with
the adepts and the Brahmins and can never be divulged.
Occultists of both the Left Hand and the Right Hand Path
refuse to divulge their secrets to the uninitiated.
Fakirs are to be seen occasionally seated in dangerous
proximity to wild animals and reptiles, while engaged in
contemplation and meditation. For example, they will
remain lost to the material world by the side of pools
seething with alligators, who crawl out and sun themselves
on the banks. The reptiles remain quite harmless so long
as the Fakirs are present, but ordinarily it would be fatal
for anyone to approach.
Witchcraft is universally feared in India and the adjacent
countries, and various forms of Devil worship are to be
found everywhere. Even in parts where demons are not
worshipped, the eternal struggle between the forces of
dark and light are everywhere typified in the religious rites,
with a distinct tendency to propitiate evil. The temple
dancers of Burma, Java and Indo-China all have their
representations of grotesque devils; who war against the
gods and their followers or against mankind, sometimes with
defeat, but often with triumph, when the god's attendants
feign suicide.
The women of India, especially, are overshadowed by the
fear of sorcery, and every important occurrence in their lives
is accompanied by rites to shield them from demons, witches
and the evil-eye. Children, again, are looked upon as the
prey of sorceries and devils, and are all protected by amulets
and talismans. The ceremonies attending birth and marriage
are often intermingled with rites for the prevention of
witchcraft.
The Kangalins and Jadiigar (witches and sorcerers) are
believed to possess almost unlimited powers, and are
dreaded accordingly. It is thought that they can inspire
love or hatred at will, send devils to take possession of men
and torture them, cause sudden death or cast incurable

202

THE BLACK ART

disease upon their victims. The Jadiigar are believed to

have the power to expel a man's soul from his body and to
cause sterility, to arouse unbridled passions in both men and
women. The very sight of a supposed sorcerer or Master of
Darkness causes the most extreme terror.
In this respect it is certainly true that sorcery is practised,
but probably many men and women (particularly those
attached to the temples, or who are connected with any
of the multitudinous religious sects) have a reputation for
witchcraft that is undeserved. All supernatural powers are
not necessarily evil, but the ignorant and fearful of all
nations are inclined to regard that which they cannot understand as being of the Devil.
Away from the cities, particularly, the bodies of the dead
are guarded until cremation. Sorcerers are always anxious
to obtain parts of the body for the practice of black magic ;
especially in the case of pregnant women, as the human
fretus is much coveted for working the black art. In the
cremation grounds of Burma and Java the towering funeral
pyres are carried round and round in circles, to avoid the
evil spirits who are thought to be hungering for the souls of
the dead.
I have mentioned elsewhere the dreadful ghost of the
"Churel," who walks at night with her broken feet turned
back to front. She is the wraith of a woman who died in
child-birth, and stalks abroad to wreak her vengeance upon
man.
There is also the Yakshini l who lies in wait for men and
arouses their passions, with the ultimate object of delivering
them over to demons or of feeding upon them as a vampire.
This class of witch-spirit has the power to stretch her limbs
abnormally ; so that many a man having married one has
been terrified to see his wife suddenly stretch out her arm
the length of a room, to extinguish a light or perform
some similar act. There is an account of a poor man who
married a Yakshini and in due course was borne a child by
her. One day the wife was busy cooking, when the baby
became hungry and began to cry. In order that she might
both suckle the child in comfort and attend to the cooking,
the Yakshini assumed gigantic proportions, stretching from
one part of the room to another. The husband, on returning
home, was horrified to witness the spectacle and at once
realised the kind of woman he had married. The creature,

LESSER YOGIS AND FAKIRS OF INDIA

203

however, immediately vanished away, leaving behind only

the child as a memento of her existence.
In Persia, and further West, beyond India, in the regions
1round Asiatic Turkey, there are some people called Yezides
who are notorious for the cult of black magic and witchcraft.
They are divided into tribes, under sheikhs noted for their
knowledge and powers in magic. Of Mohammedan origin,
the Yezides appear to believe that Satan, though at present
at enmity with God, may at any time become reconciled
with Him, and so in the meantime it is best to cultivate His
arts and acknowledge His powers. Their practices rank them
among the cruellest and most degraded of Black Magicians.
In Burma it is well known that there is a city whose inhabitants are given over entirely to the practices of sorcery
and devil worship. It is cut off on one side from the inquisitiveness of travellers by a swamp, infested with alligators and other reptiles. Burmese sorcerers indulged in the
practice of consulting bleeding heads as oracles, usually
those of infants. A woman on the point of child-birth was
chosen, and the sorcerer and his assistant remained with her
during her labour. The instant the baby was born, its head
was literally wrung or torn off and placed in a dish. Amid
volumes of incense the sorcerer bowed repeatedly and rocked
backwards and forwards, calling upon the evil spirits to
answer him through the mouth of the newly born.
Closely allied with black magic in India is serpent worship,
which is to be found in every province, although not all the
sects who worship snakes are sorcerers by any means. In
thousands of gardens all over India shrines are to be found
reserved for the serpents, but probably their more intellectual devotees regard them purely symbolically.
The members of a religious sect in Persia practising black
magic are the Yakuts, if they still exist. Their ancient
temples are now mostly ruined, and they have to meet in
secret places. They hold their celebrations with delirious
dancing, until they reach a point of mad exultation. With
shaven heads and long white garments they whirl frenziedly
around, cutting and wounding themselves and each other,
until they are bathed in blood and the ground beneath their
feet becomes saturated. It is reported that this devilish
performance entices evil spirits, which can be seen dancing
with the celebrants, every man having his fiendish companion, who is distinguishable from the shaven Yakuts by

204

THE BLACK ART

hair on the head. Other rites are too revolting and terribl
to relate.
This custom of dancing and wounding is a very ancit'nt
one, having had a place in early Greek and Roman cult
Again, similar rites took place in the Jewish temple groves ,
young men dancing themselves into a daze, stabbing them
selves and their companions with knives until they fell on
the ground, bathed in each other's blood. Obviously sadistic,
such ceremonies had a homosexual aspect as well.
The Indian Yogis have a world-wide renown for their
wisdom and so-called supernatural powers. Many people, of
course, believe that their claims are greatly exaggerated
and are the result of self-deception; but the greatest of
these men hardly ever come in contact with the outside world
and their powers are very real indeed. The Yogi cannot be
surpassed for majestic calm, simplicity, infinite wisdom and
utter self-mastery. At the same time there are scores of
different varieities of Yogis, including those who have no
real claim to the title at all. There are some who lead a
celibate life in the monasteries, or live alone as hermits ;
and again sects who do not practise a very rigid austerity,
but who marry and, while treading the Path, bring up a
family, the sons often to be Yogis in their turn.
The female cult, called Yogini, is looked upon with
suspicion. Its members are regarded as witches and
sorcerers, but there does not seem to be any substantial
proof to support the belief.
A very important branch of what may be termed the
Lesser Yogis is that of the Kanphatas, who can be distinguished by the enormous ear-rings they wear and which are
inserted on Initiation. They have no cast prejudices,
including among them men of every grade. Some of them
are attached to monasteries, but they have permission to
live in market-places, by the road-side and beneath trees.
This is rather an elastic rule, too ; many being married,
pursuing ordinary occupations and even becoming soldiers.
The ordinary people on the whole fear and either despise or
respect them, with the possible exception of the Brahmins.
They have a reputation for sorcery, astrology and soothsaying, which is often true of those who live by begging or
travelling about singing the religious songs. In their yellow
robes, with horn whistles around their necks, a satchel slung
on the left side, a begging gourd in the right hand, and the

LESSER YOGIS AND FAKIRS OF INDIA

205

111ous ear-rings, they are a feature of both the Indian cities

rul country-side.

l hose known as the Western Kanphatas live in monasalthough they occasionally mix with their fellow-men.
,1 sect they are very rich and are noted for their charity,
1lr, tdbuting food three times a day. The most depraved of
llu;,e Yogis are to be found in the hills, where they are
, puled to follow the black ritual of Tantras in orgies that
lrl ong to the Left Hand Path.
I here is an increasing interest in the cult of Yoga in the
\\tst t o-day. Many people fear it, and not altogether
11mcasonably. This is so not because it is evil, but because
rncrally the western temperament, the western physical
l1ncly and western vibrations are unsuited to it. Neverthelr ..,s, the European or American student can with advantage
quire some of the Yoga practices, and a knowledge of
their various forms of mental development.
' 11~.

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISL'I

CHAPTER II
BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLE~

Describes witchcraft and black magic in the British Isles, and some of th
superstitions andJegends in connection with it.

RITISH magic of which there is any record begin

with the Druids; though magic itself was a featur
of the lives of all Celtic peoples before the dawn o
history, and must therefore have existed in som
parts of these islands from the remotest ages.
The Druids, were, of course, a sect of priests who
philosophy was primarily a pantheistic one, and whose
influence extended among most of the Celtic peoples of
Western Europe. They were well established in Gaul,
for instance, but their " headquarters " were in Britain ;
other Celts sending men over to be initiated into their
learning and rites. Such men as Julius Ccesar and Porn.
poriius Mela spoke of the Druids' philosophic science and their
school of learning ; but their terrible human sacrifices were
mentioned, also, which Suetonius described as being savage
and cruel. So that, in early times at least, the barbarity
of the Druids' ceremonies probably outweighed their
philosophy.
There are many relics of this mysterious fraternity in
various parts of the British Isles. They appear to have
held their ceremonies within circles composed of huge slabs
of stone, arranged at intervals both in perpendicular and
horizontal positions, after the manner of the famous Stone
henge. The position chosen for the site of these circles was
usually in a barren place, on the tops or slopes of hills, which
probably had a Solar significance. However, many Cromlechs and Dolmins are carelessly called "Druid's circles,"
when in reality they were the burial places of ancient
chieftains and their households, although the Druids may
certainly have influenced their construction.
There are several such Cromlechs in the Channel Islands ;
one in Guernsey bearing upon its walls a remarkable carving
206

of a face that is called "Le Gardien du Torul

nude markings present a face of remarkol bl
pression, particularly about the eyes, and tlu) Ill
probably placed there by some prehistoric a1 t iol
I'Ven a Druid), to represent the Spirit which lulil
voked to guard the sleeping bodies and their pc)
Another relic of Druid times in Guernsey is tl1
chiselled figure of a woman in a stone, found on ll
St. Martin's Church graveyard. Its true origin Itt rll
mysterious, some people having even identifit'CJ it. \\<ll11
!'arly rites of Isis worship. However that may lu~, lhfl f
was originally placed upright in the church pore lr. wl!
were so many votive offerings brought to it by stPrtlth
I he authorities decided to have it removed to iI !l lll
position as a pillar of the church gateway. And !'V('II II
as recently as a few years ago, offerings of coin-. owl 11
were found in a hollow on the top of the image'-. head
It is not improbable that in the early days of tlw i
discovery, the peasantry regarded it in the ligld '" Hi
of the Virgin, but nowadays it is irreverently n~f('l'ft'd
"Granny" and the "Old Lady" of St. Marlin'll ( l
Who knows but that in dim ages of the pagt, tl1l
figure may have been the centre of wild orgicg tqiOil il
light nights. Sacrificial fires may have lighted np it
enigmatical features, while it received libation
victims' blood. Now village children carelessly pi
it, and regard "Granny" as little more than 11 VIlli
giant doll. In jocular spirit the author oll<:O pr
"The Old Lady" with a libation of wine itt lll('lllt
former homage, probably the last she will ever 1 ~cl' iv~
But these remains of the Druids' days arc nell ltiiHjtl
their counterpart are to be found in various p:uto Olllt
British Isles. The Druids themselves were liukfl I
simple shamanism and the magic of medireval t irrH
sect had a profound knowledge of herbs, both fot
o.nd curative purposes, and gathered them with {.ll
ceremony, clad in white and with bare feet. A sru]ritko Wll
made and the herbs plucked in a certain way, at :t pn)pitiou
time which was ascertained by astrology.
The solar and lunar positions were particularly impol'tnnt
to the Druids' activities. Mistletoe figured largely in tlu:ir
ceremonies, and sprigs of it were attached to their stnvcs
or wands, or in some instances grafted on to them.

208

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

THE BLACK ART

The female Druids especially were seers and diviners, bu

some of them appear to have held positions as propheH
poetesses. The chief magical attainments of the Druids wer,
their power to change their shape, to become invisible, to
cause prolonged sleep by enchantment, to overcome distance,
and to cause sterility or fertility to human beings, animals,
or land at will.
The legendary Merlin, the magician of King Arthur's
Court, may have been a Druid in reality. Merlin is certainly
one of the oldest British sorcerers of whom there is any
record, being one of the original Welsh Bards. Anglo-Saxon
magic, which made its appearance much later, was naturally
of Teutonic origin ; its practitioners being called " Wicca "
{a wise woman, or witch) and "Wiglaer" (wizard). The
Romans do not seem to have made much impression on
native British magic, though some few practices and beliefs
are traceable to that origin.
The early British witches seem to have excelled in necromancy and divination, and to have made a speciality of
love-philtres. By their art they not only bestowed but
alienated affections, which in many instances led to deeds
of cruelty and murder. As early as the seventh century
A.D. laws against witchcraft existed, and in the year 696
the Council of Berkhamsted condemned to severe physical
punishment those who had intercourse with evil spirits.
The first trial for witchcraft in Britain took place in the
reign of King John, when the wife of a merchant accused a
Jew named Guideon of sorcery. Guideon, however, underwent the ordeal of trial by red-hot iron without turning a
hair, and thereby established his innocence. The latter
conclusion in such cases always seems somewhat paradoxical, as the ability to pass through terrible trials
unscathed was surely a sign of superior powers, if not of
sorcery itself.
There is a very early Scottish record of a witch named
Iona, who lived in the reign of Natholocus in the second
century A.D. This King sent one of his captains to consult
her about a rebellion that was troubling his kingdom.
The witch declared that the king would very shortly be
assassinated by one in whom he placed implicit trust. This
disturbed the captain considerably, and he pressed her to
name the friend who would do so foul a deed. The witch
replied simply that it was himself. The captain, who had had

209

thought of disloyalty to his king, was terribly angry and

dtstressed, and protested that he would see the witch burnt
ltl'fore he did such a thing. However, after leaving her, he
' onsidered matters carefully and came to the conclusion
I hat if he related the witch's prophecy to the king, the latter
would certainly have him put to death as a precaution. On
ltts return, therefore, the captain lured Natholocus into a
quiet place, and falling upon him slew him.
In every part of the British Isles the witches were believed
to attend the witches' Sabbaths, or midnight Satanic
1:ttherings. These assemblies were so named because,
being held just after midnight on Friday, they coincided
with the Jewish Sabbath, and popular prejudice identified
the witches' orgies with the Jews' Holy Day.
The Sabbaths were held on lonely moors and deserted
wastes or in fields adjoining cross-roads, while it was believed
that on the exact spot where the orgies took place no
flowers or herbs would grow. Other accounts relate that
r;uch places were surrounded by poisonous weeds and
creeping plants, and that excessive numbers of worms, toads,
slugs and vipers were to be found there among the roots and
stones.
There was a noted sorcerer in England in very early times
named Eudo de Stella, who had a large following of people
given over to the practice of black magic. It was related of
him that he collected disciples by travelling about the
country-side, and holding miraculous feasts in forest glades.
Whoever tasted his food, or accepted any gift from him,
was henceforth his faithful follower. William of Newbury
relates that a neighbouring knight, accompanied by his
squire, once visited Eudo de Stella, to try and persuade him
to abandon his evil deeds and .sorcery. De Stella received
his admonitions politely but non-committally, and on their
departure offered the squire a beautiful hawk. The knight
advised his companion not to accept the gift, but the
bird's strength and gallant bearing appealed to the squire
too forcibly for him to refuse. As they rode back to the
knight's castle, the hawk's talons gripped its new owner
more and more strongly and he became alarmed. The
hawk then suddenly rose up into the air with the unhappy
squire in its clutches, and he was never seen again.
Ireland was the home of many witches and wizards, as a
country so steeped in the belief in magic and the super-

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BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

natural might be expected to be. The Irish witches were

adepts in changing themselves into wild animals, cats, dogs
and bats, and were able to travel amazing distances by
magic means.
Dame Alicia Kyteler, or Le Poer, was notorious in her
day for being a sorceress of the deepest dye. About 1324 it
came to the ears of the Bishop Ossory that the people of
Kilkenny were given up to witchcraft, and that their leader
was none other than Dame Alicia herself. The Bishop
forthwith ordered her to be placed on trial for sorcery, and
she and her friends were accused of a long list of crimes.
It was said that Dame Alicia Kyteler and her friends had
abstained from church worship for varying periods, according
to the requirements of the Devil, from whom they obtained
favours ; that they had made sacrifices of living animals,
tearing them limb from limb and offering them at crossroads to a demon named Robert Artisson; that it was their
practice to seek answers and oracles from demons. It was
further alleged that Dame Alicia used the rites of the
Church in a degraded form to excommunicate her husband,
and the husbands of her friends; attending the altar,
candle in hand, and systematically committing each part of
the excommunicated person's body to Hell, naming them
from crown to heel and at length extinguishing the candles
with unholy cries. It was believed that Dame Alicia had
made horrible offerings of the entrails of cocks, together
with disgusting worms, poisonous herbs, the nails and hair
of dead men, the brains, hair and clothes of unbaptised
children, and other dreadful thi:r:1gs, which were all boiled
with the skull of a robber who had been beheaded, over a
fire made of oak sticks. Dame Alicia was also accused of
having invented ointments and powders, and of making
candles of human fat boiled in the same skull, which were
used for enchantments to cause love or to torture the bodies
of true Christians.
This lady had been married four times, and the sons and
daughters of her different husbands complained to the
Bishop that she had beguiled and enchanted their respective
fathers into parting with all their property to her and the
son of her first husband (William Cutlawe) ; and that she
had reduced her last husband, John de Poer, to a wreck
with her magic potions and incantations. It was believed,
furthermore, that she had had unholy relations with the

demon Robert Artisson, who came to her in the form of a

black dog, or a very tall negro, accompanied by two others.
In spite of John de Poer testifying against her, Dame
Alicia escaped Bishop Ossory's clutches by the aid of her
rich and influential friends, and so turned the tables on the
good Prelate that he himself got into trouble and was forced
to withdraw the interdict that he had laid over Kilkenny.
I Iowever, the Bishop persevered and some time later
o.; ucceeded in having the case brought up again. This time
Alicia Kyteler fled away to England, and the brunt of the
.tccusations fell on her friends and finally upon her maid
Petronella of Meath.
The unhappy Petronella had no money to get her out of
difficulties, and under severe flogging she made a confession.
[n her confession she declared that Dame Alicia was the
greatest sorceress in Britain ; that she offered sacrifices to
lhe Evil One ; and that she made unguents with the disgusting substances already mentioned, which had the magic
property of turning women's faces into those of horned
goats. Petronella further stated that she and her friends
joined Satan in unholy revelries, and that her mistress had
damned the souls of her husband with the rites of the Black
Mass. According to the maid's admission she had bccu
present when Dame Alicia held her assignations with tlu
demon, and had seen foul acts of unmentionable immorality
pass between them.
But, of course, her asservations only served to bt~t ru
the unfortunate Petronella herself, and after being f1,1111d
guilty of witchcraft she was sentenced to be burnt alive, 01
Dame Alicia herself we hear nothing more.
Ireland abounds in tales of fairies and goblins, lcpn~chr1111
and banshees, and sorcery had as great a hold there n
where. According to legend, poor St. Patrick was drivel
of Scotland by the Devil, with demon hounds, n nd
when he was settled in Ireland the saint had tu runt
endlessly with the onslaught of the Evil One and hiG iltm
In Ireland tales of werewolves and lycanthropy HI
rare. In one instance a priest was journeying wit II 11
and was forced to spend the night in a dark !01 ~~!it
crouched round the fire they had lit, a wolf hPJ
and bade them not to fear. The good priest cn11l'lt'r11
however, and enquired what manner of w11lt
spoke in human tongue. The animal repli1d th

2IO

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THE BLACK ART

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

truth a man, but that he and his wife had been cursed by
Abbot to appear as wolves for seven years. Now, the man'
wife lay very ill, and he requested the favour of the priest'
attendance upon her, as she did not wish to die withou
confessing her misdeeds. In some trepidation the priest and
his friend accompanied the wolf to his den, where lay a sh
wolf on the point of death. The first animal tore her skin
down with its paw, and disclosed the face of an elderly
woman. The poor priest, although he felt that all the
circumstances were very ungodly, received the she-wolf'
confession and ministered extreme unction. However,
nothing untoward occurred, and when the priest's errand of
mercy was accomplished the human wolves allowed him and
his friend to depart with their blessing.
In October, 1925, the Occult Review published an account
of the strange appearance of an Irish priest after his funeral.
The priest in his lifetime had been studious and unsociable,
and his parishioners had respected rather than loved him.
He was taken ill, somewhat suddenly, and died within a
few days, the body being carried back to the home of his old
mother, to whom her son's death was a great sorrow.
When the time for the funeral arrived quite a large procession of relatives set out, leaving the old lady behind alone
in the house, as was the custom. It was a long way to the
cemetery, and the Burial Service was conducted as quickly
as possible as dark was already approaching. The company
of mourners were all sober (they were not always so at Irish
funerals), and had not stopped at public-houses on the way,
in view of it being a priest's burial. This explanation is
necessary in the light of what occurred.
The cortege rapidly drove away from the cemetery, and
had proceeded some miles of the homeward way, when a
priest's figure was seen approaching from the opposite direction. Now this was strange, as those who had officiated
at the grave-side lived near the country, and all the priests
around were known. As this one approached the procession,
he turned his face away towards the hedge ; nevertheless,
the horrified relations clearly recognised the gait and features
of him they had buried an hour or so ago. Instead of the
grave clothes the spirit wore the dead man's usual garments,
but the face was livid and corpse-like and bore the appearance of that of a vampire.
The terrified mourners egged on the horses to travel

L1ster than ever, but when they reached the priest's mother's
home again they were uncertain what to do. At length
they entered, to find the house in darkness and the old lady
unconscious on the floor. When they succeeded in reviving
her, she related how thunderous knocks had come upon her
1\oor, and when she opened it her son stood there, but
l'hanged, a horrible expression distorting the livid face,
while the glaring eyes would not meet her own. He pressed
forward to enter, but the mother was so horrified at his
appearance that in her terror she lost consciousness, until
revived by her relatives.
Here, then, is a little puzzle for psychic investigators.
Did the priest return as a vampire, or was it the impersonation of an evil spirit ?
In Scotland, in or near Pendle Forest, there was a lofty
ruin called the Malkin Tower, which was the meeting-place
of all the witches and warlocks of the neighbourhood ; and
the Forest, incidentally, apparently teemed with them.
They were led by two rival cronies, Mother Chattox and
Mother Dundike, who caused so much trouble in the district
by their supposed spells and quarrels that a local magistrate
had them arrested. Accordingly, on the night of Good
Friday, r6r2, a quaint gathering of witches met to hold their
Sabbath, celebrate the Black Mass, and discuss what sorcery
or plot could be set on foot to free their leaders. However,
a child, named Janet Device, attended the meeting, and
betrayed the witches' secrets, with the result that most of
the band were subsequently arrested and went to the stake.
Malkin Tower, nevertheless, continued to be regarded as the
centre of sinister occurrences and dreadful hauntings, and
no one would approach its grim walls after nightfall.
All Celtic witches were believed to have the power of
turning themselves into hares, and in this form sucked the
milk from cows, leaving them dry. An antidote for this
activity was to make a fire of cow's dung, and place a pan of
milk full of pins over it. As the milk boiled, the witch would
be troubled by the pricking of the pins, and in some instances
would appear at the window and request the operator to
cease from tormenting her. In many cases, the cows would
be troubled no more.
Irish witches, in particular, had the gift of turning common
objects into red pigs ; though why red, it is impossible to
say. They sold these creatures on market days, but if they

2!2

213

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THE BLACK ART

were subsequently driven across a stream or over a bridge

they disappeared, and in the ordinary course of events
creatures so created could not last longer than three days.
We have mentioned the famous Earl of Desmond elsewhere. He was credited with performing terrible sorceries
in his island castle, and with changing himself into any
desired shape, frequently taking on the form of a vast bat
and flitting about the country-side. Slavonic sorcerers who
changed into bats were always connected with vampirism,
but this does not seem to have been the case with Gerald
Desmond.
An Irish prophetess forewarned James I of Scotland of his
impending fate, on the very night that he was assassinated
in Perth. The prophetess herself had been previously
informed of the catastrophe by her familiar spirit, named
Ruthart. Teutonic witches had dealings with familiars of
the goblin order, who were called Hudekins of Hildekins,
and Anglo-Saxon witches in Ulster may have introduced
these sprites to the Celts. The familiar, " Ruthart," was
probably therefore of this order.
Irish mythology naturally contains many gods and heroes
possessing magical powers, but few of them can be identified
with actual persons. One at least, however, Dagda the god of
agriculture and fertility, was worshipped with rites that
bordered on sorcery. Images of this Dagda were called
Cromm-cruaich (bloody head) and at certain seasons many
children were sacrificed to the deity. The blood of the infant
sacrifices was smeared over the god's image, in order to
obtain an abundance of corn and milk, while the children's
bodies were buried in the ground to promote fertility.
Mannanen, the son of the sea, who gave his name to the
Isle of Man (formerly the Isle of Falgar), was also accorded
homage that in some respects smacked of the black art.
There is a legend, too, that the English sorcerer Merlin, who
was himself enchanted by the Lady of the Lake, removed
the Druid's Circle or Giant's Dance by magic means from
Ireland to Stonehenge.
To return to more recent times, a volume could be filled
with accounts of the witchcraft and sorceries of Florence
Newton, the witch of Youghall, and many others, did space
permit.
All Hallows Eve, which was celebrated everywhere on
the First of November, but especially in Scotland and

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

215

Ireland, was originally one of the great fire festivals of Britain

in the time of the Druids. The latter built huge fires around
their altars on the hilltops, but every other fire had to
be extinguished, the people renewing their own fires by
"buying" them from the Druids at the price of a sacrifice.
In very early times this probably took the form of a goat
or cocks and hens, and rather later an offering of the
fruits of the harvest. In Ireland All Hallows Eve was
celebrated purely as a Solar festival, called the Samhein ;
while in Scotland it became identified with the return of
the spirits of the dead, and was believed to be a night on
which witches and demons mingled with visitants from
beyond the grave.
Strangely enough, All Hallows Eve was also the night
upon which youths and maidens performed magic ceremonies to discover their future marriage partners. In the
darkness they besieged their neighbours' kitchen-gardens,
to " pluck the Kail " or cabbage stalk growing there. If a
girl found that she had pulled a fine upstanding stalk, with
fresh leaves and strong roots, she would be married to a
handsome husband who would give her bonny children;
but should she pluck a poorly developed and twisted one, her
husband would be small and sickly and she herself would be
barren. The phallic symbol in the superstition is obvious.
While the young people were flirting and enjoying their
matrimonial magic on All Hallows Night, the older people
were carefully guarding their homes from the attacks of
the witches and demons. This they did by smearing the
windows and doorways with garlic, and hanging bunches of
St. John's Wort on the entrance. Usually the good folk
did not go to bed till cock-crow, when all foul shapes, vampires, ghosts and the" pestilence that walketh in darkness"
would have vanished away.
A little known magic gift among both Irish and Scottish
peoples was that of "horse-whispering" or charming,
although this art is also known to the gipsies of Europe
and in South America. A common superstition of these
people is that it is fatal to praise a horse or any other animal,
unless you add "God save it." If any misfortune occurs
within three days to a horse that had been praised, the
person who commends it mw;t be sought out and, when
found, must whisper the "Lord's Prayer" in the animal's
right ear.

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THE BLACK ART

There was an Irish horse-whisperer in the last century

named Con Sullivan, who was noted everywhere for his
marvellous skill with ferocious horses. He was quite an
ordinary uneducated peasant, who did not know himself
the source of his power. A Colonel Westenra (who later
became the Earl of Roscoe) had a horse named" Rainbow"
which he was attempting to train for racing. However,
" Rainbow " was exceedingly vicious, and attacked his
would-be jockeys by tearing their legs with his teeth.
Sullivan was called in and, after spending a quarter of an
hour alone with the horse, succeeded in making him perfectly
docile, although both horse and man were utterly exhausted.
This is only one instance of this otherwise insignificant
man's peculiar gift of charming and training horses.
In the North of Scotland there existed a secret society
called "The Horseman's," whose members claimed that
its origin lay far back in the Dark Ages. Only those who
earned their living exclusively by the care of horses were
eligible, and men of education and means were jealously
excluded. Farmers looked upon " The Horseman " with
suspicion and prejudice, but were forced to admit that their
services were of more value than those of the ordinary
veterinary surgeon. These men were skilled in the knowledge
of herbs, and the society possessed an " inner circle " given
up to the practices of the black art and the study of spells,
incantations and charms. Initiates were able to smite
horses and cattle with disease and cause wild animals to
attack them, as well as having the power to overcome
intractable horses and miraculously cure them of disease.
They were masters of hypnotism, at least as far as animals
were concerned ; but the root of their powers of fascination
probably did not lie in magnetic influence alone, though
their exact secrets were never divulged. Possibly, like
Sullivan, they could not explain their own gifts, though the
society probably taught some of its members how to develop
their faculty of 1 ' charming."
The curious feature of the art was that "horsewhisperers " actually talked to the animal, usually from
mouth to ear, in an unintelligible tongue; which, however,
the horses appeared to understand. It is possible that such
a society may still exist.
Scottish witches appear in literature from Shakespeare's
Macbeth down to the Waverley Novels of Sir Walter Scott.

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

217

Those in high places were accustomed to consult witches

and soothsayers, and practise sorcery themselves for
political purposes, in instances too numerous to mention.
Many of the famous " hauntings " of Scottish and Irish
families, also, were due to a curse laid on an ancestor by
witch or sorcerer.
The sorceries of any country are connected quite naturally
with the particular industries of the people, and thus we
find ancient Scottish witches weaving spells as they work at
their spinning wheel, and sending good winds or contrary
ones to mariners and fishermen. This art of " raising the
wind" must have been quite a profitable one for the old
crones, as in some parts they actually sold winds to seamen.
A certain Scottish fisherman, having a sweetheart whose
mother was a witch, begged this old dame to raise him a good
wind to take a catch of fish to a northern harbour. In
response, the witch gave him a thread from her spinning
distaff, with three knots in it. The first knot the fisherman
unloosed as his boat put out to sea, and a fresh little breeze
arose ; then, farther out, the man undid the next knot,
which produced a strong wind that carried him nearly into
port. As the boat entered the harbour, however, the
fisherman was unable to resist untying the last knot to see
what would happen, but with that a tidal wave suddenly
towered up and, carrying the man's craft and many others
with it, dashed them to pieces upon land.
Witches were believed to cause storms and shipwreck
by the simple process of setting a pailful of water, in which
was placed a small dish, upon the floor. They then said
incantations and spells over the pail and as the water grew
agitated, a storm sprang up at sea. When the dish filled
and upset, a certain ship would be wrecked.
Sometimes, too, the witches were in league with the
wreckers, who lured ships to destruction on rocky coasts to
obtain their spoils. The witches on the wild east coast of
Jersey were supposed to do the same thing, and on stormy
nights the villagers declare the witches can still be heard
singing and shrieking, their cries mingling with those of their
victims far out to sea.
" Witches wailing " is believed to be heard before deaths
in Scotland, just as the " Banshee" is in Ireland. The
"Banshee," though, is an actual spirit which is supposed
to attach itself to certain families, and to give warning of

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THE BLACK ART

death by its plaintive cry. The "witches wailing" is

dreadful sou1;1d that is heard at the place where grief will
soon be felt, a mixture of grim mirth and mournful dirge.
Gaelic witches were thought to be able to find the bodi
of drowned persons, by casting some of the deceased'
clothes upon the sea or wherever they had met their death
The garments floated on the spot where the body had sunk
The same belief is held in parts of India, and some Fakit
find bodies by similar means. The Normans and Bretons
believe that if two persons drown together, and one body
is cast upon the coast, the other will follow to the exact spot
within three days.
There is an amusing story of an English medireval
witch, who hoped to defeat the Devil on her death-bed. This
beldame was called "The Old Woman of Berkeley " and,
according to William of Malmesbury, she had made a pact
with the Evil One but was extremely anxious that he should
not claim her, body and soul. As her end was approaching
she confessed her sorceries to some Monks, who conveyed
her to a convent. She prayed that her body might be
encased in a stag's skin, and placed in a stone coffin with
iron bars, and that fifty Masses might be said for her soul.
Her wishes were faithfully carried out after her death, but
the Monks had to struggle with demons each night for the
possession of her body. On the third night Satan himself
appeared riding upon a black horse, and in a voice of thunder
called upon the Old Woman of Malmesbury to rise out of
her coffin. Her corpse replied that it was boup.d down by
chains and bars. The Devil thereupon repeated some words,
at which the coffin burst asunder, and, seizing the witch, the
Devil placed her on his horse and rode rapidly away.
Both horse-shoes and horses were believed to have protective qualities, and anyone riding through witches' revels
on horseback was thought to be able to dispel their power.
Another superstition was that no one riding upon a horse
could be assailed by a demon. One legend relates that a
certain man was brave enough to ride a horse to a Scottish
Witches' Sabbath and, without dismounting, snatched away
"The Red Book of Appin" from the clutches of a sorcerer.
This Red Book was a sort of Scottish Grimorie, and without
it the wizards and witches were at a loss to work their
enchantments. The luck and protection attributed to horses
was probably a legacy of the gipsies, who impressed their

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

2I9

hcliefs very strongly in Scotland, whence the idea was

ronveyed to the English. The amulet of the horse-shoe
It self, though, was ingrafted on to a much earlier symbol of
protection, and was of no use unless it had been accidentally
found.
A sorcery practised all over the British Isles among the
country witches, was that of roasting a black cat alive over
an open fire, to the accompaniment of incantations. A
demon, usually in animal form, was believed to appear before
the creature was dead, in order to answer questions about
the future or to bestow favours. Another method was to
sacrifice a bull, and, having removed the entire skin, to
wrap oneself up in it and lie down by the bank of a river or
stream on a moonlight night. Evil spirits would then come
up from the water and impart secrets or carry out commands.
In the Middle Ages, Friar Roger Bacon had the greatest
reputation for sorcery, though it is more probable that he
was actually merely an advanced scientist for his time.
He manufactured a head of brass, and rpade various experiments to endeavour to make it speak. There is a very
quaint satirical account of his troubles with it, written by
a contemporary of the Friar's, which relates how Bacon
enlisted the help of a Friar Bungay.
The two friars were at their wits' end to endow the head
with motion without which it could not speak, and decided
to consult a spirit in the matter by necromancy. Accordingly,
on a certain night they both repaired to a wood and, by
means of the usual conjurations, raised a spirit of whom they
enquired the right method of setting the head in motion
for it to speak. The demon told them that " with a continued fume of the six hottest simples, it would have motion
in one month and speak; the time of the day he knew not,
also he told them that if they heard it not before it had done
speaking, all their labour was lost." The two friars carried
out these instructions to the letter, watching the brazen
head night and day for weeks. At length, they grew so
weary and worn out for lack of sleep that they placed Bacon's
servant, Miles, to watch instead, with strict injunctions
that they should be awakened if the head spoke.
Now, Miles was a merry jocular fellow, who found the
time hang heavy on his hands. In consequence, he played
upon a tabor and sang, to keep himself awake. Until finally,
all of a sudden, there was a whirring sound inside the head,

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THE BLACK ART

the brazen jaws opened and a voice intoned: "Time is."

Poor Miles was very taken back, but thought the unmeaning
statement was not sufficiently important to justify his
waking Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. He began, therefore, to jest and make merry at the expense of the head,
and composed a rhyme on the spur of the moment about it.
At the end of half an hour the head spoke again, saying
impressively: "Time was." "Well, Marry," said Miles,
"we all know that, and if you speak no wiser, Master shall
not be waked by me. To think he has been working upon
you all this while, and all you can say is' Time was.'"
Miles then went on merrily singing. Until, after another
interval, the brazen head said in funereal tones: "Time's
past," and fell to the ground with a terrible crash and a flash
of fire. Terrible noises thereupon broke out all around from
an invisible source, and Miles nearly died of fright. The
two friars, awakened by the din, rushed to the scene of
disaster and, seeing what had happened, demanded to know
if the head had spoken. Miles tremblingly confessed that it
had, but to no purpose ; a parrot being able to speak better
in three weeks than the brazen head. At which poor Friar
Bacon cursed the man with admirable invective, and a
grandeur that is unfortunately lost to these superficial times.
So potent indeed were his curses that Miles was reputed to
have been struck dumb for a month.
Quite a number of people famous in English history were
accused of sorcery and necromancy from time to time.
In I44I a man named Roger Bolingbroke, an astronomer,
and Thomas Southwell, who was Canon of St. Peter's
Chapel, Westminster, were charged with conspiring against
the life of Henry VI with sorcery. They declared that they
had performed the Black Mass at the command of Dame
Eleanor, daughter of Lord Cobham, and that she, in her
turn, had enlisted the aid of a witch named Margery Goodmayne. Bolingbroke and Southwell were committed to the
Tower, where the latter died, and Dame Eleanor had to
make public penance for her crimes. Margery Goodmayne
was burnt at the stake, while Bolingbroke was finally fixed
to a hurdle and dragged through the streets at a horse's tail,
before being hanged and quartered.
Again, in the reign of Edward IV the Duchess of Bedford
consulted a sorcerer named Thomas Wake, in order to make
the King fall in love with her daughter, Elizabeth. Whether

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

22r

or not the Duchess' success was due to the black art, Edward
married Elizabeth, who later became the mother of the
unfortunate little Princes murdered in the Tower at the
instigation of Richard III. The charge against the Duchess
of Bedford in this respect was finally withdrawn. After the
death of Edward his one-time mistress, Jane Shaw, was
convicted of witchcraft against Richard, together with
another lover, Lord Hastings, whose implication with Jane
Shaw cost him his head.
During the Middle Ages, and up to the time of the
Commonwealth, various men made a profession of " Witch
Finding " and hunting down individuals suspected of
sorcery. The most noted of them all was Matthew Hopkins
(r645), who by various means-some of them grossly
unjust and ridiculous-secured the convictions of hundreds
of people; many, if not most, of whom must have been
entirely innocent of wrong. The tortures imposed on these
poor creatures were hideous, and under them they confessed
to the most wildly improbable actions ; often retracting
their confessions on the removal of the torture. The fires
for destroying the wretches were kept continually burning,
while death was frequently made even more excruciating
by disembowelling the victims when still alive before they
were tied to the stake. It is almost incredible, but life even
then still lingered in some of the remains.
The boot, thumbscrews, the shackles, and a contraption
called the "warm hose," were only a few of the inflictions
that faced those accused of witchcraft ; some of the tortures
being too terrible to mention. Hopkins secured no less
than two hundred and sixty convictions in two countries
alone. Scotland was not behindhand in burning her witches,
the flames of their fires reddening the skies of Edinburgh
and Aberdeen in particular. In London the favourite place
for the execution of witches and sorcerers was at Tyburn
Gallows, which stood near the present site of the Marble
Arch, and they were also burnt nearby.
The character of British sorcery had changed somewhat by
the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Little was heard of
Sabbaths and witches' gatherings, of transformation into
animals, and the more fantastic operations of Black Magicians, but necromancy flourished and divination and
enchantments were still used for personal motives and
political aims.

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THE BLACK ART

Nevertheless, towards the end of the sixteenth centu

witches seem to have made as good a business out o
so-called " cures " and counter-spells as some folk do to-da
in out of the way nooks and corners of the cities and country
side. A certain Thomas Gale mentions that he visited
St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew's Hospitals in London
about that time, and saw there many people in dreadful
bodily and mental states, who said they had bought cure
from the witches or, having fallen under enchantment, had
sought a counter-spell, only to become more deeply poisoned
At all times it was thought possible to draw upon th
power of the moon by certain ceremonies, and to divert this
force for personal gain, such as love, revenge, money, or to
back up some particular enterprise. This sorcery probably
made its appearance in Britain through the Romans, who
had themselves learnt the art of drawing down the moon
from the Greeks. In England the rites accompanying it
required the slaughter of a young animal or female child, or
that the blood of an adult virgin should be offered. Most
of us are familiar with the " magic " word ABRACADABRA,
but in the Middle Ages it was seriously regarded as being
extremely potent against demons, having in fact a phallic
origin which can be traced back to the Egyptian Toth. It
was invaluable if written in the following formation, and
used as an amulet :
ABRACADABRA
BRACADABR
RACADAB
ACADA
CAD
A

But it also found a place in evil incantations accompanying

certain rituals used by necromancers, treasure-hunters, and
the like.
It was believed that Welsh witches and bards had the
power of "rhyming people to death." That is, a sort of
curse in rhyme was said or sung at a certain person, who
would later fall ill and perhaps die. Alternatively, a wax or
leaden image might be made and the verses sung over
it, which would have the same effect. Much of Welsh
magic carried on the most ancient Druid customs into
comparatively recent times.

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

223

Wookey Hole in Somerset, only a short distance from the

Welsh border, was once as noted for being the abode of a
witch as for the archreological discoveries that have been
rnade there. The vast caves situated in the Mendip Hills,
I hat go by the odd name of Wookey Hole, were evidently
I he abode of primitive man in the age of flint and stone, and
rt'mnants of wild beasts who have long disappeared from
l ~ urope have been found in that spot. In the Middle Ages,
however, the country folk greatly feared a Welsh witch who
was believed to dwell there. They attributed all sorts of
disasters and illnesses to the influence of her evil-eye, and
believed that she caused demons and other malign spirits to
roam the neighbourhood at night. A priest accordingly
went to Wookey Hole and, on entering, saw an old woman
seated in the cave. What formula the priest used is unknown, but the hag fled away into an inner cave and was seen
no more. Later, when a search was made, after excavations
a large stone was discovered having the appearance of the
huddled form of a woman, and legend declared that the
witch had been turned into stone.
It is interesting to note that the tale of the witch of
Wookey Hole, which has been handed down from generation
to generation by word of mouth, in course of time became
discredited, until not so long ago fresh excavations brought
to light the skeleton of an old woman within the third
chamber of the caves. With her were the remains of a young
goat and sheep; while relics of paraphernalia remained, too,
in the shape of bowls and utensils used for fire. In consequence the existence of the witch of Wookey Hole was
re-established. Perhaps the old woman really was a witch ;
perhaps she was merely a lonely strange creature, who had
fled from her persecutors into the inner caves, and died
there eventually of privation. The truth will never be
known, but the Witch's Stone is still pointed out to visitors.
Witchcraft, both in England and Scotland, had a bitter
enemy in James VI, afterwards James I, the successor of
Queen Elizabeth. James wrote an exhaustive work on
Demonology, and vehemently denounced sorcery. Yet the
original cause of the king's hostility to the black art seems
to have been altogether fantastic. In 1591 James was to
marry a Norwegian Princess, but when the time came for
the king to sail terrific storms prevented his ships from
putting out, and on the slightest grounds a man named

THE BLACK ART

224
J ohanne Fane was accused of consorting with witches to
delay the king. When the latter did eventually sail, tempests
still pursued him and Johanne was then reported to hav
thrown an enchanted cat into the sea to produce them.
Only the king's natural piety was supposed to have saved
the man. In any case, the alleged enchantments resulted
in a round up of the witches of Oslo on James' arrival. On
James' return to Scotland with his bride Fane was arrested
for sorcery, and under torture confessed that he had broken
into North Berwick church at night by means of a magic
candle (or "Hand of Glory"), had there taken part in a
mock service conducted by the Devil with a congregation
of demons, and had conspired for the destruction of the king.
On being released from the torture, Fane recanted all he
had said, and the most excruciating inflictions could not
subsequently force from him any further confessions. Fane
was finally burnt on Castle Hill, greatly to the relief of King
James.
The gipsies believed in a strange evil spirit called Chagrin
or Cagrino, which took the form of a hedgehog-like creature
and specialised in riding horses almost to death. These spirits
were sometimes thought to be the agents of " chov-hanis"
or witches, and it was always easy to recognise the symptons
of their nightly activities. The afflicted animals appeared
utterly exhausted, covered with foam and sweat, their manes
tangled and caked with mire. For protection the gipsies
tethered their mounts to stakes rubbed with garlic juice,
and marked the ground with a cross made of red thread.
Sometimes a dough was made of meal mixed with the horse's
hair, salt and the blood of a bat, and smeared over the
animal's hoofs, for the same purpose.
It is interesting to speculate whether the secret language
of the British tinklers, or tinkers, could have any connection
with the hidden tongue of the witches. This "Shelta
Thari," as it is called, is believed to have descended directly
from the Celtic Druids and Bards, and is not a form of the
Romany tongue. The wandering tinkers of the British
Isles kept their language closely hidden until the last
century. The true witches spoke an unknown language
among themselves, and it is at least possible that it was a
form of this " Shelta Thari" which would be conveyed to
them by the nomadic tinkers, just a~ much of their magical
knowledge was carried by the gipsies.

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

225

Again, it is possible that witches originally derived their

nse of flint-arrow-heads in sorcery from a purely Celtic
basis ; the instruments called elf-arrows, that is, which were
used for "shooting death," though some people thought
they sped from the bows of malicious goblins and elves.
There seems to have been practically no outstanding
magicians in England after the reign of Elizabeth and James,
and certainly none of repute after the Reformation. Nevertheless, witchcraft and sorcery existed in isolated cases,
and the persecution and execution of witches continued until
the beginning of the nineteenth century.
William Lilly, r6o2, who was himself an astrologer and
prophet, has recorded the activities of many occultists of
his day, and seems to have been quite blithely engaged upon
investigating the unseen amid the horrors of the Plague.
Rather earlier than Lilly, in Elizabeth's time, Robert
Fludd introduced various continental theories and doctrines
into England, and is credited with having founded the first
branch of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood in Britain. This
mystic society at no time had anything to do with sorcery,
and so a detailed account of it is irrelevant here. Suffice
it to say that the Rosicrucian doctrine was, and is, transcendental, and that the early Rosicrucians at least made
very large claims which were difficult to prove. Fludd was
not, strictly speaking, a sorcerer ; but he was an ardent
follower of Paracelsus, besides being engrossed in theories
of the powers of magnetism. One of his great enthusiasms
was for a " sympathetic " weapon salve, an idea originating
in Paracelsus. With this preparation the weapon that had
caused a wound was to be anointed, and the wound itself
was to be merely washed and bandaged. To make the salve,
one took'' moss growing on the head of a thief, who had been
hanged and left in the air, of real mummy one ounce, of
warm human blood another ounce, of human suet or fat
two ounces, and of linseed oil, turpentine and Armenian
Bole two drachms each." This revolting concoction was to
be mixed together, and then kept in a narrow urn till
required. It was supposed to be remarkably efficacious for
healing, so long as it was confined to the cause and nothing
more harmful than water contacted the actual wound I
Sir Keneln Digby later used the same substances but
reduced them to a powder. A certain Pastor Foster, however,
publicly condemned the use of such things; declaring

226

THE BLACK ART

that it was neither more nor less than witchcraft both in

mixture and application.
During the reign of Charles I a certain Dr. Lamb
flourished, who had the reputation of being a sorcerer and
was certainly a quack doctor and a very evil-living man. It
was reported that on one occasion two men went to visit
him, and on entering his room Lambe immediately produced
a vision of beautiful trees hung with fairy fruit. As the
astonished gentlemen gazed entranced, two little mannikins
trundled in with minature axes and proceeded to cut down
the trees ! Chips flew about, and one of the visitors picked
one up and placed it in his pocket. When the trees were
disposed of, the gnomes vanished again. Later on, after
the inquisitive visitor had returned home, a terrible hurricane
arose, the windows rattled and wind shook the house, while
the man related to his wife the happening of the evening.
His wife implored her husband to throw the chip away,
as she felt sure they were the cause of the storm, and on his
complying with her request the hurricane immediately
died away.
Dr. Lambe was the confidant of the infamous George
Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, and undertook various
nefarious commissions for him.
Ultimately, however,
Lambe's connection with that gentleman cost him his life.
Rumour reported that he supplied Buckingham with love
philtres, by means of which the notorious rake seduced the
many victims of his fascination. Eventually, on an occasion
when the populace had become bitterly enraged with
Buckingham and with Lambe as his abettor, they seized
upon the latter and, though he fought desperately, he was
overcome by numbers. In a short time Lambe was little
more than a mangled heap of flesh and bones, one of his
eyes being beaten out of its socket by cudgel blows. He
was rescued by soldiers and constables while still a small
spark of life remained, but he died of his injuries almost
immediately. Charles I was very disturbed on learning of
the occurrence, as it indicated the hatred that was felt
everywhere towards the Duke of Buckingham, who would
have fared even worse had the people been able to get at
him.
William Lilly, referred to previously, was able to maintain
a position of importance and standing up to the last. He
was widely consulted as a prognosticator of the future, and

BLACK MAGIC IN THE BRITISH ISLES

227

was commonly regarded as a magician; but he was also a very

hrewd man of affairs, who understood the art of keeping
on the right side of the law-a very difficult feat in those days,
when a thoughtless word of spiteful implication could send
.l man to the gallows.
Gradually sorcery became discredited, and although the
rigid views and bitter austerity of the Puritans during the
Commonwealth period had much to do with this change
in public opinion, the cynicism of the Court of Charles II
had more. From time to time there had always been famous
outbreaks of accusations of withcraft, such as those of the
Lancashire witches and the witches of Salmesbury; but
gradually the actual convictions and executions for sorcery
grew less. In 1703 a labouring man, named Richard Hathaway, declared an old woman had bewitched him. Hathaway
himself, however, was prosecuted for having made a false
accusation, which indicates the altering trend of opinion.
Actually, none the less, persecutions did not entirely cease
until the dawn of the nineteenth century.
Witchcraft has continued to be practised by the ignorant
and undeveloped in out-of-the-way places until recent years,
but the more intelligent varieties of sorcery tended to
operate in various secret societies, which pursued it under the
cover of "Brotherhoods" and outlandish religious sects.
From time to time the people took it into their own hands to
" lynch " so-called witches and wizards, but of the thousands who lost their lives either by the law or by the
unreasoning fury of public hatred only about one in a few
hundreds deserved their fate. The secret societies were more
or less safe from prosecution in the eighteenth century,
and when accusations of black magic grew too numerous
and pointed, they merely dissolved, to rise Phcenix-like
elsewhere under another name. In the British Isles these
societies were comparatively few. They flourished mostly
on the Continent, and boasted many English members who
could afford to travel or who lived abroad.
Secret societies of a magical nature often began quite
innocently, as coteries for the study of animal magnetism,
Kabalism, astrology, and so on. But their practices of
ceremonial magic sometimes drifted into the black art, ot
some of the members broke away to form fraternities ~-;ivt~u
up to sorcery and black magic. Some of the original sor it~l it
had wonderfully impressive names; such as the Acadt:rn

228

THE BLACK ART

of Ancients and the Mysteries (r767), and the Society of the

Universal Aurora at Paris in 1783.
Nevertheless, the belief in witchcraft even to-day is by
no means dead, especially in such counties as Devon, Cornwall
and Somerset ; while black magic, true or professed, is still
to be found in every part of the country.

CHAPTER III
NECROMANCY AND SPIRITUALISM

Necromancy and spiritualism show the relation between very ancient

magical practices and modem mediumship and spirit communication.

VERSE in Deuteronomy says : " There shall

not be found among you anyone that useth
divination, or an observer of the times, an
enchanter, a witch, a charmer, a consulter of
familiar spirits, or a necromancer." If we are going to
take this text seriously and literally, I think it would have
to be applied equally to sorcerers of the past and modern
o;piritualists. It is quite clear that the whole Bible, with the
Pxception of the Acts and the Epistles, frowns upon intercourse with those who have departed from the material
world. And, indeed, as spiritualism stands to-day, I think
there is much to be said for those who are antipathetic to
tt, although I have often spoken on spiritualist platforms
myself and shall probably continue to do so.
Necromancy is the practice of calling up the spirits of the
departed ; not always, of course, for an evil purpose,
although in the past it did figure very largely in black magic.
Elephas Levi said: "Evocations should always have a
motive, and a becoming end, otherwise they are works of
darkness and folly, dangerous to health and reason." I
wish it were possible to impress this truth upon people who
rush into spiritualism from curiosity, or who try "table
rapping " or some similar phenomenon " for fun."
Necromancers of the past were looked upon with fear and
loathing, as their art seemed the most ghastly of all the
categories of black magic. Most commonly spirit beings
appear in their etheric bodies, but there are many accounts
of these old sorcerers calling up spirits in the fleshly bodies
which they had inhabited during life, frequently at tombs and
in graveyards. The gruesome visitants thus invoked can
only be imagined as most horrifying spectacles. There is a
print extant, showing Dr. Dee, astrologer to Queen Elizabeth,

229

THE BLACK ART

NECROMANCY AND SPIRITUALISM

and his assistant, Kelly, calling up a spirit in its corpse in a

English graveyard. The invokers were protected by th
usual magic circle and pentacles, and Dr. Dee, who is holdin.
a torch to see the ghastly visitor more clearly, seems,
notwithstanding his experience as an occultist, distinctly
horrified at what he beholds. The raising of Samuel by th
witch of Endor is an historic instance of necromancy,
apparently Samuel appeared only in the spirit, as he seem
to have been invisible to Saul.
The sorcerers who constantly invoked the dead had an
elaborate system of conjurations, evocations, symbols and
spells, as we have seen in a previous chapter. And no
necromancer would embark upon calling up a spirit unless
protected by his magic circle, from which he must not move
on any account. Herbs and incense of various kinds wer
burnt on such occasions. The systems employed were
practically the same all over the world, sorcery being a sort
of freemasonry among all nations.
In Europe Latin evocations were the most common for
obvious reasons. Words of power and the names of spirits
and angels taken from the Kabala were inscribed between
the inner and outer hedges of the magic circle, interspersed
by crosses in the case of " good " evocations. In Spain
necromancy was taught as an art in Toledo, Seville and
Salamanca. It was practised commonly in caves specially
reserved for the purpose, and which Isabella the Catholic
subsequently had walled up. Both witches and necromancers of the past were frequently nothing more than
mediums as we know them to-day, and in some aspects
the methods used have not altered so greatly. "Familiar
spirits " coincided with the " Guides " of modern mediums,
and a circle is still required as a necessity for protection and
power. Nowadays the circle is composed of people sitting
in a ring, often holding hands ; but the principle is the same.
Prayers called" invocations" are usually offered, and hymn
singing is customary. In the Reginon de Prtim's De Ecclesiasticis Disciplinis et religione Christiana we find a passage
dealing with'' diabolic songs sung by the ignoble and vulgar
over the dead at night time " ; the analogy being obvious.
Musical instruments are often placed in circles for physical
phenomena, while a certain necromancer of past days possessed a Necromantic Bell for calling up the spirits and which
they could use themselves for manifestation.

The witch-doctors of barbaric peoples are mediums and

necromancers in Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia, Africa,
and indeed wherever primitive races are found. It is not to
be disputed that high intelligences can be contacted through
various kinds of mediumship, but only too often seances
degenerate into pure sorcery or necromancy, attracting all
kinds of undeveloped and earth-bound entities.
Mediums should study occult laws, and know the power
and possibilities of their own minds, before embarking upon
their calling. They should also realise that it is essential
to lead a particularly abstinent life, and to conserve their
magnetism. In failing to do this, they suffer in health and
cannot rely on the validity of the spirits they contact.
Psychic gifts do not necessarily presuppose spirituality, and
it would be a very good thing if seekers in this direction
recognised the fact. Some time ago I came across a woman
who practised as a medium. She was looked upon as gifted,
and was widely consulted by people wishing to get in touch
with those "beyond." I found, however, that while the
woman in question possessed psychic gifts, they were very
much abused by their owner living a life incompatible with
spiritual laws. The woman, in fact, was not above participating in Satanic practices, and at the same time continuing her
mediumistic work in connection with a spiritualist centre.
Now, the "Guides" of such people cannot be what they
represent themselves, and those who "sit" with a medium
should be immensely careful of the vibrations they are
contacting, otherwise disappointment and possibly disaster
are bound to follow in the end.
Many circles and seances only attract the most undesirable
elements of the astral world. The result is the moral
degeneration of those who attend, accompanied by ill-health
and mental troubles which they seek to have cured by
"Healers," who, in many instances, are themselves suffering
and unhealthy. Not so very long ago I was consulted by
a lady who had become obsessed by an entity of the incubus
type, which had attached itself to her at a " Healing "
meeting.
In nearly every respect the seance room can find its prototype in the Lodge of the Witch-Doctors. I do not dispute
the fact that spirit communication has brought comfort and
conviction of survival to thousands of people, but I do
contend that many of the methods in connection with it

230

23!

23:l

THE BLACK ART

should be abolished, and that none should venture on this

ground without knowledge, preparation and, above all,
sincerity. The peoples of past centuries were wiser than we
are in this respect, and, whether they were " good " necromancers and astrologers or occultists of the Left-Hand Path,
they investigated and studied their art diligently. We
know that it required great patience and practice, and that
no one rushed lightly into these matters ; and the same is
true of primitive peoples to-day.
There is a very amusing account in Wrexall's Memoirs
of Courts of Berlin, Dresden, Warsaw and Vienna, of a little
adventure in necromancy by Prince Charles, nephew and
heir of the Chevalier de Saxe, in his palace at Dresden. The
good Chevalier had died, leaving treasure hidden or buried
about his palace according to rumour. Friends urged the
heir, Prince Charles, to try and call up the spirit of his uncle,
so that he might divulge the hiding-place. Accordingly they
called in a necromancer named Schrepfer, and arranged a
night for the attempt. The company assembled in one of
the rooms of the palace, the necromancer going away in a
corner by himself to pray and to manipulate his sorceries.
After a time weird sounds were heard outside the windows
and within the room, which Schrepfer said were good and
evil spirits assembling. Suddenly the door burst open, and
there whirled into the room a large black ball surrounded
by a cloud, in the middle of which appeared the face of the
Chevalier de Saxe, wearing a very angry expression. A
voice then shouted: "Was wollte du mit mich, Carl?"
(What do you want with me, Carl ?) Everyone was so terrified that most of the company fled, and the necromancer
only restored order among the Satanic outburst of yells and
cries by frantic exorcisms, leaving the purpose of the meeting
entirely unachieved.
The test of the ancient occultist lay in his power of necromancy. By that means alone could he prove his abilities,
as he had to be in the position to summon and command
spirit entities without fear or danger to himself. Not all
necromancers were black magicians ; they frequently
tried to contact the departed for the same purpose that draws
people to spiritualist seances to-day-the hope of communicating with someone dearly loved, or for information that
would be helpful to those in difficulties. Nevertheless,
their work did associate them with sorcery, and it was

" Psychic phenomena . . . where materialisations ..

are sought."

NECROMANCY AND SPIRITUALISM

235

ll'lieved that no one could practise necromancy without a

l'.ct with the Devil. Quite a large majority of the conjurati ons and incantations extant in old manuscripts are of
I htistian origin, calling upon the names of Christ and the
'r 11 gin Mary, and commanding the spirits by the power of
I tght, especially when it was desired to get in touch with
1 -;pirit in order to exorcise a" Haunting."
I'he place chosen for the practice of necromancy does not
tm to have been of any great importance, though in the
1 .tse of invoking one recently dead the room which they
hiefly inhabited was regarded as favourable. The darker
J, mds of this art were carried on in gloomy caves, ruined
c hurches and buildings of all kinds, or in dark woods. DarkI IPSS is certainly considered necessary for psychic phenomena
to day, in a greater or lesser degree ; particularly where
materialisations or any physical manifestations are sought,
und modern necromancers, both civilised and barbarian, use
'ilbinets for consolidating the power for the spirit to "build
up." "Cabinets," of course, is not quite the word to use
for the means employed among some savage tribes. None
the less, the apportionment of a special hut is common
111 the wilds, and I have frequently seen a kind of arbour
Prected for a witch-doctor or sorcerer to sit in while
t'ntranced, and from which subsequently issued phenomena
Himilar to those obtained in Western seances.
The object of this chapter is not to decry sincere spiritualists in their effort to form a link between this world and the
Unseen. It is rather to point out the difference between
mere psychism and true spirituality, and to emphasise the
dangers of ignorantly handling practices that inherit a
vibration of darkness from time immemorial, and even now,
in their less evolved aspects, put them on en rapport with
barbaric customs.

THE BLACK MASS

CHAPTER IV
THE BLACK MASS

Is a full account of the chief ceremony of black magic and the methocS.
employed in its ritual.

HE Black Mass is the most important and blasphemous ceremony in the whole performance of
black magic. Festivals of evil and witches'
Sabbaths were held long before Christianity became a power, but the mass, being essentially a perversion of
the highest and holiest ceremony of the Church, was
evidently introduced later, as the predominant feature of
the Sabbaths and the supreme ceremony of evil performed
by sorcerers and workers of the Left-Hand Path.
We must first consider some of the aspects of the great
Christian Sacrament.
From the earliest dawn of humanity man was obsessed
by the idea of propitiating his deity or gods with the sa,rifice
of life and blood, and frequently of human beings. Even
in the Bible this idea of the worthiness of human sacrifice
is evident ; as is shown by Abraham's readiness to offer
up his son to the supposed wishes of an omnipotent God,
and the requirement of the first-born sons of the Egyptians
on the eve of the departure of the Jewish people from
slavery. And, while making due allowance for the occult
symbology of these matters, the Jewish sacrificial ideal
rose in a crescendo, until it culminated in the belief among
the followers of the Nazarene that the universal Creator
required the life of His own Son as a fleshly sacrifice-a
scapegoat for humanity.
With the understanding that He always displayed, and
with His readiness to use the formulas to which His people
were accustomed, the Master said to them symbolically at
the Last Supper: "This is my body which is given for you,"
and "This cup is the New Testament in my blood which
is shed for you." It is very much open to question, however,
whether Our Lord intended this ceremony to be anything
236

237

more than an act that should be imprinted on the disciples'

minds It was probably His intention that, when He returned in His spiritual body and repeated the phrases, His
followers should immediately recognise their significance ;
the Master having undoubtedly foreseen there would be some
hesitation over His recognition. The doctrine of transubstantiation, in fact, is going right back to the most
primitive ideas regarding communication with the Godhead and the theory of propitiation for sins, because such
a transmutation could be nothing else but magic and, in its
gross aspect of flesh and blood, black magic. Nor is it reasonable to suppose that the Master Christ could have been
speaking in any other terms than the symbolism of the times,
and drawing an analogy between His own impending fate and
Jewish sacrificial rites. To the evolved personality the sacrifice of even animal flesh and blood is revolting, and entirely
inharmonious with a conception of the Divine Consciousness.
From the occult point of view the redeeming blood so
frequently mentioned is the force of the Red Ray, through
which humanity has been, is still, and for many ages yet
will be working. But as very few whose feet are not upon
the Path of Initiation have any idea of this aspect, the matter
becomes confined to its lower material issues and cut off
as it were from the higher significance. Wherein, then, lies
the power of the Holy Sacrament? Very briefly, its power
operates through the very life force of this Red Ray,
manifesting through symbols and backed by the creative
thought of the Master linked with the vast thought-form of
centuries and generations of believers. Christian mystics
and occultists may consider this explanation very inadequate,
but this work is chiefly concerned with man's evil perversion
of the Sacrament in the ceremony of the Black Mass, the
chief feature of which was originally human sacrifice-flesh
and blood. The performance of the Black Mass could only
be accomplished by a renegade priest, one who had taken the
vows of the Holy Mother Church, but had either been unfrocked or had turned his back upon her. When witchcraft
was at its height in the Middle Ages, the ceremony of the
Black Mass was celebrated almost openly and the priests and
clergy had to guard their churches closely against sacrilege.
As it was, the graveyards were frequently the scene of witches'
Sabbaths, and the church of North Berwick on the borders of
England and Scotland was notorious for the celebration of

THE BLACK ART

THE BLACK MASS

the " Sacrament of Hell." In the ceremony the officiating

priest was usually accompanied by female assistants, clad
in a travesty of the garments of the Church, and the Host
itself was made in the form of small black wafers, mixed with
revolting substances and stamped with obscene images or the
impress of Satan. Sometimes, however, the wafers were of
a darkish red colour, resembling dried blood. The Chalice
used was occasionally of wood and metal, but frequently
the hollowed skull of a criminal served this purpose. The
fluid within the Chalice was blood mixed with vile substances;
or in another variation of the ceremony the urine of the
participants, especially that of women, would be substituted.
There were many slight differences in the form of
procedure, and even in the appurtenances employed, but
the main features of the blasphemous ceremony remained
the same. In some cases the altar was covered with a
black linen cloth ; in others it was left bare, or was merely
a rough slab of stone on which were placed the candles,
bowls or skulls to be used. The candles were composed of
human fat mixed with sulphur and other substances, and
were always black. The candlesticks represented the
heavenly bodies-sun, moon and stars-and were made of
ebony. The "incense" used was a mixture of assefretida,
sulphur and alum, or other herbs of obnoxious odour. The
priest's vestments were sometimes black, with a white silk
cape embroidered with fir cones, while on other occasions
he .and his assistants wore violet or scarlet robes.
Henri de Valois, son of Catherine de' Medici (herself no mean
sorceress), practised the black art in one of the turrets of his
castle in the Bois de Vincennes, where he evidently celebrated
the Black Mass himself. After his death a most interesting
collection of articles used for the altar was discovered.
There was a cross, and two silver figures of satyrs turning
their backs upon the cross and carrying behind them large
crystal bowls that were evidently used for drugs or libations.
A good deal of controversy raged about the exact purpose of
these articles, but they were undoubtedly the appurtenances
of sorcery. Among the relics the dressed skin of a child was
also found.
Again, when King Charles IX of France lay dying,
Catherine de' Medici decided to consult the oracle of the
Bleeding Head. Of all her infamous family she was probably
the most cruel and implacable, and among other atrocities

he instigated the massacre of St. Bartholomew. She had

her service an apostate priest, who was an adept in the
black art and accustomed to working sorcery for Catherine
hy torturing people through their wax simulacra, and so
lorth. For the oracle in question a child was required, who
was both good-looking, pure and sweet-natured. A boy
was accordingly chosen and prepared in secret for his first
communion by the palace chaplain. Then, at midnight on
111 appointed day, the Black Mass was celebrated by
Catherine's sorcerer in the chamber of the dying King, the
Oueen-Mother also being present. In the room an altar
had been erected, with the figure of the Devil above it and
under his feet a reversed cross. The sorcerer-priest first
consecrated two wafers, one black and one white, after which
I he child victim was brought in, dressed as for baptism, and
1;iven the white wafer. Immediately after having received
his first communion, the little victim's head was struck off
with one blow from a sword upon the very steps of the altar.
The head was placed, bleeding and quivering, upon the black
wafer, and then transferred to a table upon which lights
were burning. The priest next pronounced an incantation,
and the demon was commanded to speak through the head
of the poor little victim, in reply to a secret question of the
King's that could not be spoken aloud. It was recorded that
.1 strange voice did, in fact, speak; but what it said is
unknown, and the sorcery failed in its main object, as the
King died.
A similar form of black magic is found in many parts of
the world, practised by primitive peoples with the heads of
newly born infants placed in a bowl of blood.
Most of the sacrificial victims of the Black Mass were
women. but young children and even babies were not
~xempt, and occasionally men were butchered as well. All
were slain with ingenious torture and cruelty, their bowels
.md entrails being literally tom out, while, when women
were the victims, the reproductive organs were chosen as
the point of t()rture. Little children were treated in the same
way ; the Devil, or at least his followers, evidently taking an
unholy pleasure in the sacrifice of the young.
Reading of these atrocities, we feel that those who
participated in them must have been so sunk in evil as to be
;llmost devils themselves. Nevertheless, the horrors performed in the pursuance of black magic were not worse than

~.38

111

239

240

THE BLACK ART

those perpetrated upon so-called sorcerers and witches by

the Church itself. In the course of their persecutions neith
Church nor State discriminated between the true and th
false, the innocent and the guilty. Even children were bum
by them, and the tortures they inflicted were the equal of
any evil performed in the honour of Satan.
Cruelty is not absent from the world to-day, but in th
West at least the type of mind that can endure such abomina
tions is fortunately becoming rare and its possessor look
upon as abnormal. The Black Mass was always performe
between eleven o'clock and midnight, but the subsequent
revellings lasted till dawn. As a further perversion of th
Holy Sacrament, which should be taken fasting, enormou
quantities of food and wine were consumed before and aft
the main part of Satan's banquet. There does not appe
to have been any fixed rule for the time of the sacrifice of th
victim; that is, whether it took place before the actual
celebration of the Black Mass or during its rites. Som
early accounts place it before, some as the culminatin
point of the whole hideous ritual.
Accompanying the candles and receptacles on the altar,
there was frequently an inverted crucifix and a missal
bound in the skin of an unbaptised infant. The number of
the candles was seven, nine or thirteen, and they wer
occasionally arranged to form an inverted triangle. All
being in readiness, the priest would sprinkle his follower
with wine mixed with the blood of the victim (if he or sh
had been already killed) and proceed to open the service of
the Black Mass by an invocation of praise to the Devil and
a repetition of the Lord's Prayer backwards. This wa
followed by a mock confession, the celebrant making an
inverse sign of the Cross with his left hand. The Chalic
would then be passed round, to be filled with the urine of th
participants or dipped in the blood of the sacrifice. Next
came the elevation of the Host, which was received with wild
screams and hideous yells from the congregation. Th
priest then stabbed the Host with the same knife which b
had used for killing the victim, and the wafers composing
it were dipped in the blood. The Host, after that, was
thrown upon the ground, where the priest spat upon it and
all the participants rushed forward with growls and screams
to trample it underfoot. The final desecration was the outpouring of the contents of the Chalice upon the crushed remains.

THE BLACK MASS

24!

H Na:s believed that if anyone had an enemy, and at a

celebration of the Black Mass secured a portion of the bloodtained Host and holding it aloft called out the name of the
person with curses, he or she would surely die or be injured.
As nearly everyone possessed an enemy, or at least someone
I o whom they wished harm, the dreadful scramble for the
I rampled Host was feverish in its intensity. The ceremony
tnded in feasting (often upon the remains of the sacrificial
victim) with every imaginable exhibition of gluttony, after
which all possible forms of sexual licence were indulged in by
those who were not too overcome by excessive eating and
<lrunkenness.
As we have stated before, there were many variations in
the performance of the Mass. Where the celebration was
held more or less privately, by a few persons or by the
members of some secret society, it was often confined to
I he sacrifice and the Satanic ceremony alone, without the
ll'atures of debauchery. Very often on such occasions as
I hose the Black Mass was performed with the special purpose
of cursing some particular person, or bringing about disaster
.md downfall to individuals and systems, and its actual
t haracter depended largely upon the intellect, class and
development of its inaugurators. But all forms were alike
111 the utter debasement of their cruelty and sadism.
The Black Mass became the chief feature of the witches'
Sabbaths, and if the witches did not actually attend them in
.my magical manner they certainly participated in the
.tbominations of Satan's Sacrament. This last replaced
tarlier pagan rites connected with Isis, Diana or Astarteall different aspects of a single conception of the female deity.
lhose taking part in these orgies abandoned clothes entirely
or donned strange cloaks resembling the wings of bats and
wore hideous masks representing birds, animals and reptiles.
A time arrived, however, on all such occasions when all
possible coverings were stripped off, and naked men and
women, joining hands, danced in a ring around the altar
with their backs turned to it. At the Sabbaths the Devil
was either impersonated by his priest or an evil materializa1ion, who received neophytes and children, and presented
ltis posterior for the kiss of his followers, with unprintable
ildditions. During the performances of the sexual orgies
I hat followed, there are many accounts that the Devil had
mtercourse with people of both sexes.

242

THE BLACK ART

It is, of course, easy to understand how the sexual element

became so interwoven with the Black Mass and the witches'
Sabbaths ; quite apart from the obvious reason of givin
fullest expression to humanity's lowest passions. Th
true origin is to be found in the old phallic worship, which
has never been obliterated from any religion. Man from th
earliest times worshipped the creative force, and its material
vehicle the Linga and Yoni, seeing in them a mighty mystery
and realising dimly the power behind them.
The mystic and high occultist knows the potentialitit'
of the serpentine force and the Kundalini vibrations, by
which all things may be accomplished; and recognises that
pure sexual union of the positive and negative (male and
female) forces has an immense creative power on many
other planes than the physical. In effect it unlocks the gate
of initiative wisdom. Man, dimly groping after truth,
worshipped the material physical vehicles and expression
of the dynamic element. As a result, there grew up the system
of sacred prostitution in temples and sexual orgies in
relation to the worship of deities. Humanity had not learnt
to conserve and use its creative force intelligently, and often
with no impure motive could see no other way of invoking
the blessings of abundance and increase to the land than by
a wholesale outpouring of creative energy. Unfortunately
man is almost as ignorant to-day of the esoteric nature of
his reproductive force as he was in centuries past.
The inaugurators of the Black Mass and witches' Sabbaths
were undoubtedly steeped in Left-Hand occultism, or th
black art, and knew how the great generative power might
be abused and perverted both on the psychic and material
planes. By inciting lust, and devising every imaginable
means for its expression, they turned the great force and
power of creation towards the energising of foul shapes,
disease and destruction in every possible form. The ordinary
participants, inflamed with drugs and drink, maddened with
blood and sadistic excitement, would certainly have had no
thought but of expressing their lowest and filthiest impulses,
and of wallowing in a mad phantasmagoria of sexual lust.
On the other hand, the officiating priest, or sorcerers, undoubtedly used the degraded release of man's highest
potency with deliberate intent.
The sorcerer of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
constantly performed the Black Mass for reasons of political

THE BLACK MASS

243
intrigue, especially in France. On the night of the murder
of Louis XVI in 1793, a large number of these people and
their followers assembled to celebrate the Eucharist of Hell.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century there sprang up a
society at Linburg, calling themselves" The Goats." They
met at night in a secret chapel to perform the Black Mass,
after which they put on masks of goats with long gowns and
set out in bands to commit rape and murder, plundering
and robbing everyone who was unlucky enough to cross
their path. The tribunal of Foquemont over a period
condemned 'four hundred of this society to be hanged, but
the Goats were not stamped out till 1780.
In Gascony there was a similar ritual to that of the Black
Mass, called the Mass of St. Secaire. This form was used
exclusively by priests who wished to avenge themselves
on those who were their enemies. They conducted their
evil ceremonies in ruined or deserted churches, ancient
vaults and dungeons beneath castles, or in caves. At
eleven o'clock precisely the officiating priest began the Mass
backwards, ending on the stroke of midnight. The Host
used on these occasions was black and three-pointed.
No wine was consecrated, but the priest drank filthy water
or, according to some accounts, water in which the body of
an unbaptised child had been thrown. He used no crucifix,
but formed the sign of the cross on the ground with his left
foot. It was supposed that this ceremony caused injury
or death to the person against whom it was directed, who
would begin to wilt and fade away from the time of its first
performance. People were sometimes described as '' dying
of the Mass of St. Secaire."

ELEMENTALS

CHAPTER V
ELEMENTALS
Is a description of the spirits known as elementals, their origin, appearanr
and field of manifestation, and how they are dealt with by the
black magician.

LEMENTALS are the most elusive form of spirit

beings of which we have knowledge, and can b1l
roughly divided into three categories. First, there
are the strange quasi-intelligent thought-creations,
usually of an evil and malevolent character, that dwell
upon the lower regions of the astral plane. Secondly, there
are the so-called Nature Spirits. Thirdly, there are the
" Shells," or astral simulacra of those whose actual spirits
have become sunk in evii to the extinction of the ego.
We will turn our attention to the first group, to begin
with. Just as man materialises his thoughts in the objective
world, in the form of buildings, sculpture, art, clothes,
ornaments and possessions of all kinds, and the harmonies
of sound in music, so do his unexpressed thoughts create
upon the mental plane. Creations of extreme beauty
result from harmonious mind-vibrations, but evil and
destructive thoughts produce ugly and revolting forms as
malevolent and harmful as any " demon " could be. The
life of these creatures depends, therefore, upon the continuation of the individual or collective thought that begat
them, feeding and growing strong upon the lusts and evil
passions that emanate from mankind.
Men and women build elemental beings up and support
their existence, and they in turn influence the weak-minded
and obsess those who do not control their thoughts. The
same applies, also, to those who neglect to guard themselves
from evil on the mental plane. There are thousands of
people who refrain from doing wrong outwardly, for various
reasons, but who entertain the vilest guests in the house
of the mind. Then the day comes when these thought
elementals take command, and the result is crime in some
shape or form.

24-f

245

There is no such thing as a completely unp1remeditated

1ct, since the whole accustomed trend of thought leads in
orne particular direction, which is bound to Cltllminate in
1ction sooner or later. Thus, the man who had been nursing
IPelings of enmity or hatred, when suddenly faoed with the
opportunity of murder will most probably take advantage
of it. When his passion has passed the man may be
01stounded at his own act; but it is only the outcome of a
long period of a similar trend of thought, even if not actually
directed at the ultimate victim.
The drunkard, the profligate, the murderer, the sadist,
the thief, the hypocrite, the miser, and so on ad infinitum,
.1re surrounded by their own abominable elementals ; who
feed upon them and in turn influence them, until, growing
powerful, they become capable of a wider range of activity
within a limited radius and grow into a menace to others.
There is a gigantic elemental of war, formed by the
thoughts of individual men and nations. This, of course, is
a creature centuries old and still powerful ; though men are
beginning to realise that it must be slain. It iis, however,
still being animated by the crude and undeveloped, and is
accompanied by a host of other thought-creations as foul as
itself. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are no
picturesque figment of the imagination, but an elemental
reality. Battle-fields are the breeding ground of millions
of elementals, which spread over the earth inciting men to
further deeds of cruelty, lust and violence. Beautiful and
creative thoughts naturally are equally potent for good and
protection ; but as we are dealing with black magic our
present concern is with the darker side, and the fact that the
black magician obtains many of his results by the use of
evil elementals.
These beings are dependent entirely on thought forces
for their existence, and if the thoughts that nourish them are
withdrawn they begin to die away. Nevertheless, they do
not actually become extinct until their source of maintenance
is completely and utterly cut off. During their " life "
period they are possessed of a semi-intelligence of their own,
actuated on the mental plane, and become drawn to persons
whose auras and emanations are similar. Clairvoyants can
perceive elementals clearly, but occasionally such spirits
achieve sufficient power to materialise objectively on this
plane of existence.

246

THE BLACK ART

In times when men were intensely evil and given up

to wickedness and cruelty, as during the Dark Ages,
elementals received so powerful an impetus that their
appearance was comparatively common. They were called
demons, and it is doubtful whether even occultists knew the
difference between them and actual evil spirits. At Satan's
gatherings elemental materialisations took place and do so
still, the resulting form being the embodiment of the thoughts
and actions of those present. Spiritualist seances which are
not carefully conducted, and whose sitters are not practising
self-mastery and spiritual development, give great impetus
to these beings ; making them frequently manifest themselves, though not always in their true form but masquerading as departed human beings.
In some instances certain houses or districts are haunted
by elementals, who still receive their force from some act of
violence or, more often, continued evil deeds, in a given place.
As an illustration of this, my wife was once alarmed by the
appearance of a malevolent elemental form in a bungalow
we were inhabiting. The two Airedale dogs who were with
her also perceived it, and showed the greatest terror. On
another occasion we both saw the same figure built up in the
garden. The reason was that the whole district for miles, and
our little domain in particular, had been the scene of the
activities of French smugglers about two hundred years
previously, and they had been noted for their revolting
cruelty to anyone who was unfortunate enough to fall into
their hands.
Every scene of horror and debauchery, then, every
brothel, every asylum, every prison, every slaughter-house,
attracts and creates these vile beings. To a certain variety of
them blood has a powerful attraction, so that they congregate
around abattoirs and all places of violence and bloodshed.
Paracelsus says that with the fumes of blood spirits can be
called up.
The elemental is one of the types of spirits especially
attracted by acts of sorcery, and contacted by means of
human sacrifice and bloodshed. In appearance these
creatures vary very greatly. Sometimes they are semihuman, or half-animal, and again may have a completely
grotesque aspect or a huge slug-like form. They frequently
seem shapeless and indefinite in outline, and their presence can
be detected by a terrible smell that is sometimes noticeable

"He (the magician) clothes such forms in the shape he

desires."

ELEMENTALS

249
even to the material sense. Being dependent upon man
for their existence, they can be made his slaves, and by them
the sorcerer often works. On the other hand, they can
become so powerful that they swamp the whole human
personality in the case of pronounced evil-doers, and the
body becomes nothing but the house of a host of elemental
creations. Such a one was Mary Magdalene, out of whom
the Master cast seven devils.
Thought forms can be deliberately built up in any aspect
we choose, and sent out to do our bidding. This power can
be used for good ; but the black magician employs it to
injure, destroy and cause bitterness, hatred, strife and
immorality. He clothes such forms in the shape he desires
to influence people in accordance with his own will, and for
whatever end and purpose he desires. But in this form of
black magic, as in all others, there is a price to pay, and the
time comes when the sorcerer has to deal with the creatures
he has created, and only too often they turn upon him to
his destruction. Being of the sorcerer's own creation and substance, elementals return to him with the dregs of the injury
or desires inflicted on his subject. For a time, therefore,
the sorcerer might not be outwardly affected by the poison
within him ; but eventually the accumulation of wrongs sent
out will injure him vitally, if a more powerful thought-form
or elemental does not earlier destroy him mentally and
physically.
The magician should be able to control elementals ; the
man or woman who is merely a medium, however experienced,
cannot do so. Unless a medium leads an exceptional life,
has a pure mind and carefully guarded thoughts, he or she
can only attract undeveloped or evil human spirits and
elementals. To sit, apparently open to any influence that
may be present, is to furnish these beings with the power
and shape to manifest.
The medium's thought, and the thoughts of those present,
become reflected in the astral elements, enabling them to
appear as individual intelligences drawing from the sitters
the forces necessary to produce various phenomena. Thus,
those who attend seances can easily be depleted of their
magnetic energy, to bring about the resulting manifestations.
In a case where elementals are suspected of being the
origin of the phenomena at a seance, their presence can be
tested by bringing fresh blood into the circle. Should

250

THE BLACK ART

elementals indeed be responsible, the power and variety of

the forces would thereupon increase. As has been already
said, elementals literally feed on the emanations of blood,
that fact being the groundwork of all black magic in which
blood is used.
The elementals known as Nature Spirits can be used for
the purposes of black magic and conversely for beneficent
ends, but they are far more elusive and difficult to contact.
All miracles that entail conquest of the elements are per~
formed by mastery of such beings' essential spirit. Many
people disbelieve that this form of spirit has any existence
outside the pages of myths and legends. The explanation is
simply that everything is imbued with spirit in a greater or
lesser degree of individualisation and development, and some
persons gifted with clairvoyance have the ability to "objectivise "elemental life. In other words, all spirit existence
has form on its own plane of manifestation, and clothes
itself from the thought forces of man with recognisable
shapes.
There are many legends and accounts of how man has
united himself with elemental beings, conferring immortality
on them by so doing. But such tales are either pure myth or
else symbolical of esoteric truths. It is true that there is
much evidence of men and women having union with
spiritual beings, especially in the course of the practice of
sorcery; but such alliances could not be with Nature
Spirits, only with beings of the Incubus and Succubus type.
Any spirit manifesting sex inclination should be looked upon
with the gravest suspicion, as their influence can only be
of evil origin and has an obsessing or depleting effect.
Spirits, who are literally vampires as far as the magnetic
forces of the body are concerned, are not so rare as might
be imagined. Naturally they present themselves to their
object as pleasingly as possible, so that their origin is unsuspected by the uninitiated. I am not overlooking the
fact that an advanced spiritual union is possible between a
soul on the higher planes and one who is still a dweller on this
earth. Such cases, none the less, are exceedingly rare and
are altogether another matter.
In addition to those already mentioned, there are two
other varieties of elemental : the " group-soul," to which the
spirits of animals belong ; and what some occultists term
" Psychic Embryos," the forms of humans yet to be. These

ELEMENTALS

25I

l.ttter never manifest objectively in the usual sense, but are

...ometimes seen by women who are about to conceive, or who
are expecting the birth of a child.
There are people walking our earth now whose spiritual
self is already dead or has detached itself from being sunk
in matter. Some souls cast themselves so wilfully into the
pleasures of the material world, living only for its power, its
luxuries and riches, bodily beauty, intellectual brilliance
and wit, that they loose even the smallest link with the
Divine Spark within. Starved and ignored, this gradually
detaches itself and returns to the Divine Source, leaving a
living and intelligent corpse behind it. Others live lives
of physical, moral and spiritual evil ; until the ego or soul
is literally lost and becomes swamped in darkness. At
death both these kinds of " living corpses " expel a shell or
simulacra of the living person, which is animated for a time
by an intelligence usually very inferior to that possessed on
arth. They gravitate to the lower astral regions, and there
become the instruments of actively evil spirits. They
themselves are cunning and malicious, and are responsible
for many adverse spirit manifestations. In Indian philosophies they are known as the '' Brothers of the Shadows.''
Gradually the vibrations and impetus received during earth
life die away and with it the empty wraith. The small spark
of the ego, which had long ago departed, returns to be
embraced in the Absolute before going forth to incarnate
once more.
The magician who wishes to subjugate elementals, must
be free from vices or besetting sins himself. There is an
erroneous idea among some would-be occultists that, in
order to work with elementary beings, it is necessary to place
oneself on their rate of vibration. The truth is that the
magician must be above them in every respect, and in full control of the trinity of his personality-that is, body, mind and
spirit. Thus, a man of changeable temperament could not
hope to control the element of water, and the ruler of fire
must be calm and the governor of his temper. He who desires
the world's goods must not be covetous or greedy, and must
be pure within and without. Paracelsus has given lengthy
exorcisms for the spirits of the earth and elements, but
admits that they are based on other rituals which have been
lost in antiquity.

MODERN BLACK MAGIC

CHAPTER VI
MODERN BLACK MAGIC

Gives an account of sorcery as it is practised to-day in all grades of society.

N approaching the actual practices of black magic

to-day we are only concerned with what are called
the civilised parts of the world. Everyone recognises
that sorcery and magic are a natural part of the lives
of barbarous peoples, but many find it difficult to believe that
black magic has any reality in advanced countries, or that it
is actually an evil to be reckoned with in contemporary
society.
European sorcery has changed but little since medireval
times; the structure and framework have altered in some
degree, according to the development and intellectual
attainment of the individuals participating, but the groundwork is the same. There are probably fewer isolated people
who practise witchcraft (except in country districts, among
the peasantry of all countries), and real sorcery is more
consolidated in groups and societies. Magic is, of course,
less common than in past centuries ; but that is partly
due to the fact that there are more outlets for occult curiosity
now than formerly.
There are a few sects to-day practising black magic who
more or less openly announce their perverted religious views,
but most of these societies exist ostensibly for astrology,
mystic development, and so on, while a few of them call
themselves private spiritualist groups. In many cases
members join in all good faith, and it is some time before
they realise the true nature of the organisation. Gradually
hints of secret rites come to the ears of the associate, and if
he or she shows no inclination for such things, ways and
means are found of getting rid of them before they have
discovered anything conclusive; that is, if they have not
already withdrawn in disgust. I know of one lady who
became a member of such a society, and it was not very long
before it dawned upon her that it was very far from being

252

253

an organisation for mystic attainment. She decided, however, to stay on in order to discover the exact nature of
procedure in the Inner Circle. But the " high priestess " of
the fraternity soon informed the lady that she was not
sufficiently evolved and enlightened to become an initiate,
and that in effect many were called but few were chosen.
Having, therefore, become an associate for three months,
she was not allowed to extend her membership.
The first line of procedure is always an insidious undermining of the neophyte's moral standards. Doctrines are
expounded to the effect that evil is only a relative term ;
that people have to be evolved, to see the beauty in so-called
wickedness; that sin has no reality, and that the only way
to a full life is to ignore ordinary standards of honesty,
purity and kindliness, because the exercise of these qualities
prevents people yielding to all their impulses and limits
their material attainments. Until, at length, the individual
who is not strong-minded begins to believe that his or her
previous standards were foolish and non-progressive, and to
think that black is white. Usually someone who is already
an initiate is singled out to unfold the new member ;
cleverly finding out their weakest points, such as love of
money, jealousy, repressed sexual desire, and so forth, and
dangling before them tempting suggestions as to how they
may achieve their ends by entering into the full membership of the society.
Of course there are many, unfortunately, who need no
such gradual encouragement, but who are ready and on the
look out for any centres where they may find people who like
themselves are secret worshippers of the decadent. Once
the neophyte shows an encouraging adaptability to the
body's doctrines and methods of conduct, he or she usually
passes through a more or less impressive initiation, presided
over by a " High Priest " or " Priestess "-sometimes both.
The staging of these affairs naturally varies ; but it is often
accompanied by the sacrifice of small animals, such as cats,
dogs, or goats and birds, such as black cocks.
The would-be initiate frequently has to strip naked, drink
some of the blood of the sacrifice, and sign a pact or agreement to uphold the doctrines of the Order, written in his or
her own blood and signed with the new name accorded to
him on this occasion. Sometimes it is not a name, but a
number; the members having a collective name, followed

255

THE BLACK ART

MODERN BLACK MAGIC

by an individual number chosen sometimes in rotation, and

occasionally in a vibrational sequence, such as " beast 77."
It is usually enjoined, also, that they will do their best
insidiously to spread the theories of Satanism ; but it is not
always so, as many of these coteries prefer to remain exclusive and depend on those of a like disposition gravitating
to them.
In London, Paris and elsewhere numbers of such groups are
only open to the wealthy, who must pay large sums before
being initiated. In this connection it may be said that some
of the so-called black magic societies, especially those run
by a single individual, are but a trap for the unwary to
lose their money. The decadent's search for depravity,
therefore, becomes his or her own undoing.
In certain centres that genuinely deal with the occult, the
members are promised the assistance of a " familiar " or
"guide." These will help them in all their outside undertakings, and in the attaining of unusual powers, such as
attracting money everywhere, the ability to see and know
what is going on at a distance, hypnotic powers, and so forth.
An added impressiveness is given by displays of genuine
psychic phenomena.
Once membership of a society of this kind is undertaken,
it is a very hard matter to get out of the clutches of such
people and their cult ; both materially (as ex-members
open themselves to guarded blackmail) and spiritually.
The evil vibrations created by disgusting rites, sexual
depravity, malicious thoughts, and warped and perverted
imagination, leave impressions on the mind and soul that
are tremendously difficult and in some cases "wellnigh"
impossible to shake off. Melancholia, loss of vitality,
delusions, suicide and positive insanity are some of the
consequences of having dabbled in the black art. Very few
dare to" break away" and still fewer do so with impunity,
becoming sucked into the irresistible vortex of Satanic
influence. Some organisations tempt members with financial
successes to be attained by astrological calculations, and,
blinded by cupidity or the desperate need of cash, the victims
do not realise the seriousness of the step they have
undertaken.
A large majority of people will be inclined to think the
dangers greatly exaggerated, and will either laugh at the
whole matter as ridiculous or think that these centres

are merely attended by those who are pathological cases of

an unpleasant nature. There is certainly some truth in this
theory, as far as the type of mind which is attracted by black
magic and sorcery is concerned. On the other hand, the
menace to society in general lies not only in the number of
people who indulge in the black art, but in the effect that
their conduct has upon the lives of others, consequent
upon the disharmony and unhappiness caused by the
breaking-down of moral standards and a plunge into
debauchery. I have personally known the case of an intelligent woman who dabbled with necromancy in connection
with one such organisation, whose habits became so depraved
that she had no shame in confessing that she had enticed
her own son, a rather abnormal boy, into having intimate
relations with her, on the pretext that it would be good for
him and remove some complex from which she thought he
suffered.
On the Continent, if not in England, there are black
magic centres whose aim is political and financial intrigue.
Indeed, in certain parts of the world-on the North Coast of
Africa, for instance-there are" watch Towers," whose aim
is to spread darkness and horror in the world. These
centres are sinks of iniquity; constantly holding ceremonies
and performing sacrifices with the object of augmenting the
spirit of dissension and warfare among the nations, and of
increasing suffering and moral depravity in the world.
The element of human sacrifice is still not absent from
many of these Satanic orders, and in countries where murder
is more difficult to trace, unimportant people who disappear
have frequently become the victims of the modern Devil
Worshippers. Again, it is never difficult to obtain children
for this purpose in the impoverished underworld of Eastern
Europe, and in the cities of Egypt and Africa.
The adepts of these organisations are highly educated
men, who have concentrated all their gifts and mental
qualities on the side of occultism. They may be compared
with the Gun-men of America ; the only difference being
that the latter are well-recognised public enemies, working
crudely, violently and obviously on the destructive side of
life. The modern anti-social black magician is t be '' Mental ''
Gun-man of Europe and other centres of civili:sation.
Many people have accused Gregory Rasputin, the Russian
"Staretz," of having been a black magician. It is very

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THE BLACK ART

doubtful whether he really was so in the accepted meanin

of the word, however, though he undoubtedly had an
extensive occult influence over the Tsarina and, through
her, over the Royal Household. Rasputin possessed
hypnotic power, a remarkable degree of animal magnetism
and probably dabbled in sorcery ; but the tales related of
the philtres and potions he is supposed to have had
administered to the Tsar are difficult to substantiate. It i
quite possible that this remarkable man was linked con
sciously or unconsciously with the sources of darknes
through his mode of life and crudely sinister mentality, and
became an instrument for the operation of disaster to th1
Romanoffs and the Russian nobility.
The centres which operate disharmony, and work to
increase all the evils of mankind, such as warfare, strike~.
rebellion, famine, prostitution, and the like, find their
outlet through individuals and groups who are in harmony
with them, according to their actions and mental outlook .
All vices form a link, and all groups working in aggression
and disharmony are likewise linked.
Spiritualism, wrongly conducted, forms an excellent
channel for the forces of black magic. Circles which th
sitters use more or less as "petting parties," with a littl
thrilling psychic phenomena thrown in, are a breeding
ground for moral degradation. Earnest Spiritualists of
integrity may disbelieve that such cases exist, but there is
a well-known male medium in London who used to hold
seances of such a description, and probably still does.
Mediums, again, who drink to excess, make a focussing
point for the cesspool of the astral world. Such are often
supposed to have very high and wonderful guides, but in
reality they are either conscious frauds or controlled by
impersonating entities who at any moment may betray
them with incorrect information and false teaching. Those
with a real knowledge of occultism will understand how
easy it is for evil centres to send out their gathered forces
and vibrations for individuals and groups to unconsciously
"pick up" and transmit to the world by their own thoughts
and actions.
I have personally known Spiritualistic Societies in which
everyone who takes part in the organisation or enrols as a
member degenerates in time morally and loses all standards
of morality, justice and honesty. They keep a certain

MODERN BLACK MAGIC

257

hypocritical front to the world, but behind the scenes they

have become completely degraded. Coming in contact with
such groups, it is sometimes exceedingly difficult to avoid
being influenced and swamped by their vibrations ; the only
thing to be done is to withdraw immediately. While the
phenomena of such places is frequently powerful, they
have nothing to do with spirituality, as those who attend
would realise if they knew more of the lives of the mediums
and promoters. Everyone joining a circle or society should
know something of their fellow-sitters and members before
embarking on the dangerous undertaking of opening themselves to astral contacts in their company.
The actual procedure and ritual of modern centres of
black magic are based on those of medireval times, and of
course vary in some degree according to the nationality and
inclination of the promoters. None the less, all forms are
alike in their sadistic and lustful practices.
At a Satanical gathering of these days the participants
are of all ages and both sexes, and provide a most unhappy
picture of all the vices personified-greed, lust, avarice,
gluttony, drunkenness, homosexuality and the like. The
room in which the Satanists meet is commonly furnished
as a temple, with black or crimson hangings and long tables
covered with piles of food and drink of every description in
the centre. At the farthest end of this "sanctuary" an
altar is erected ; dedicated to the Prince of Darkness, Isis,
or any other male and female deity of sorcery. There may
or may not be any actual image of the object of adoration,
but the altar will be adorned with tall black candles and
either a hollowed human skull or a chalice to receive the
sacrificial blood. There is, also, a very sharp knife with an
ebony handle for the slaying of the victim. Incense of
powerful and exotic odour is burnt, except during the
offering of the sacrifice, when sulphur and various resins
are used instead.
The magician or priestess, as the case may be, is dressed
in black or scarlet robes, while the other participants wear
black cloaks. The latter are frequently surmounted with the
heads of birds, animals and reptiles, so that an onlooker
might think he had wandered into some strange domain
of the animal kingdom.
The ritual comprises vows on the part of the members
to renounce all orthodox religions and allegiance to God

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THE BLACK ART

(in whatever form, or by whatever creed, he is worshipPfc1)

and instead to uphold the service of evil. A vow is a.J
taken to keep the ritual of the society secret, under dradl
penalties. These things having been done, a feast tak
place-the members temporarily throwing back their 1Jrut1
dresses and consuming huge quantities of food and driu
In some societies a weird dance follows ; in which QIJ
clothing is cast aside, and men and women simply, will
joined hands, prance wildly, with their backs to the alt
In the end the dancers fall exhausted to the ground. Aftt~l
that, animals or birds are sacrificed on the altar steps, t h
members drinking the blood and in some cases even eatiu
the raw flesh of the victim.
In Europe the full ritual of the Black Mass is occasionally,
though not always, carried out. The orgy usually ends iu
complete sexual abandonment, under dim red lights or in
complete darkness. All the animal passions of the partici
pant.s have been previously augmented by the food and wint,
which is mixed with aphrodisiacal drugs, as well as by th
fumes from the burning herbs and incense. During th
latter period of the orgy the principal officiator or black
magician usually occupies himself with manipulating by
sorcery the elemental forces released, and seldom takes
part in the general abandonment.
It is not to be understood, however, that all gatherings
of black magic run upon these lines. The foregoing outline
is but a typical example of some of the special ceremonies
analogous to the witches' Sabbaths. There are weekly or
monthly meetings, at which sacrifices and evil practices
take place to a lesser degree ; accompanied by such serious
matters as discovering propitious dates for certain activities
by astrology, divining the future by clairvoyance in ink or
blood or by necromancy, and discovering matters of importance to the society by means of hypnotism. In the latter case,
the etheric body of the hypnotised subject is "sent out," or
the subconscious mind is made to see the conditions about
which information is required. On special occasions male
and female members are required to make personal " offerings" from their own bodies of a sexual character, and t o
indulge in various practises for the purpose of sorcery which
cannot be mentioned here. There are, again, black magic
sects which do not introduce the sexual element, but work
upon different lines entirely, many of them using the self-

MODERN BLACK MAGIC

259
inflicted sufferings of extreme ascetism and material symbolism. For example, among those Lamas of Tibet who indulge
in the black art, the female element is entirely non-existent.
In the past century many charges of black magic were
brought against the freemasons, chiefly at the instigation
of ardent Roman Catholics. Even to-day many people
believe that there is an " Inner Circle " of freemasonry,
unknown to the majority of its members, which is given up
t o sorcery. Such accusations are as manifestly untrue as
t hey are absurd. There certainly have been societies that
claimed association with the masons, but none have any right
to do so, nor could they ever prove their extraordinary
statements. "The Sovereign Council of Wisdom," or the
Order of Palladium, founded in Paris, was a diabolic order
claiming masonic origin. These people had a branch for
women, called the "Companions of Penelope," but the
whole affair was utterly fantastic and an unpardonable
parody of masonry.
Satanism can be divided, roughly, into two branches:
the Luciferians and the Palladists. The first mentioned
seem to believe that evil is good ; and that the so-called
devil (or dark forces) can offer abundant material life,
together with the obtaining of all material desires, by yielding
to every temptation without thought of morality, selfsacrifice or duty to others. The Palladists, however, openly
worship the Devil as such, taking their stand by the Goat
Deity (Baphomet of the Templars) and wallowing in evil
for its own sake. Both varieties had a strong following in
America and on the Continent during the nineteenth century,
and of course still exist in solitary groups.
Public interest in these matters was greatly inflamed
about the year r8go, and onwards, by a Frenchman and
ex-Jesuit, who, writing under the name of Leo Taxil,
denounced freemasonry as a nest. of black magicians. To
support his statements, Taxil introduced the "works" of
a certain Diana Vaughn, who was supposed to be an American
ex-Palladist that had taken part in semi-masonic gatherings
where the Demon Asmodeus had appeared in person, and
other extravagances. It was further claimed that men were
imprisoned in the caves about Gibraltar, for the purpose of
manufacturing idols of Baphomet' and other instruments of
black magic and of concocting virulent poisons to be used
in political intrigue. The French public became so engrossed

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THE BLACK ART

MODERN BLACK MAGIC

in, and shocked by, these revelations" that they ultimately

demanded that Taxil should arrange for Diana Vaughn's
personal appearance. This Taxil promised to do, but
eventually was forced publicly to confess that such a person
had never existed and had only been used as a means of
arousing interest in her creator's anti-masonic propaganda.
Taxil still adhered to the statement that his charges against
masonry and the Palladists were true, but naturally his
word no longer bore any weight, except with those people
who were equally prejudiced.
Very few people are imprisoned for witchcraft nowadays.
Cases, nevertheless, do arise from time to time ; especially
on the Continent, where persons are accused of having
received money to cast spells. Only in the last decade an
Irishman murdered his wife very cruelly, because he believed
her to be a witch. In such counties as Devonshire, Cornwall,
Somerset, and in Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle
of Man, the belief in sorcery and witches is particularly deeprooted. In such parts farmers still consult " wise women "
with regard to their cattle and crops, and the power of the
"evil-eye " is by no means dead. Even in cities "fortunetellers " often undertake little commissions, such as making
a faithless lover return, which are neither more nor less than
sorcery.
We mentioned in another chapter that an elderly American
went to the electric chair in March, 1935, for having murdered and, on his own confession, partially eaten children
for the purposes of black magic. Again, as recently as
October 27th, 1935, the Sunday Express published a short
account of the death of an old negro, named "Voodoo"
Gray, in a cemetery at Waynesboro, Mississippi, the previous
week. It had been discovered that someone was tampering
with the graves in the burial-ground, and a watch was
accordingly set. The negro, "Voodoo" Gray, was suspected of practising black magic, and one night he was seen
to approach a grave with a spade. The guard sprang upon
him, and in the ensuing scuffle a shot was fired which
killed the desecrator immediately. Afterwards a belt was
discovered on the body with human bones attached to it,
fairly conclusive evidence that Gray did indeed practise
sorcery with the remains of the dead.
The few cases that become public, however, represent
many that are never heard of. And it is at least possible

that some of the mysterious murders, in which the remains

cannot be identified and the problem of the crime is never
solved, may be due to this cause. It is less easy to prove
that there are societies devoted to the black art, although
there are hundreds of people who can testify to the truth of
their existence.

200

METHODS OF COUNTERACTING SORCERY

CHAPTER VII
METHODS OF COUNTERACTING SORCERY

Gives details of exorcism, and protection against the black art, and method
of counteracting the effects of evil.

HE two most powerful methods of counteractin

sorcery and evil were, and are, prayer an1l
exorcism. They commonly went hand in hand,
not only in the Christian Church but in oth<'r
religious beliefs as well. Amulets, charms, protective
symbols, incantations, all had their place ; but exorcism
stood pre-eminent, as dealing with the very demons and '
devils themselves.
Exorcism is, of course, a method of binding evil spirits
by command, by means of ceremonies and formulas, and the
word in itself implies the act of casting away or throwing
out. The old time exorcist was often called a conjurer;
but that word was also applied to the type of necromancer
who was not a worker of evil, but an invoker of spirits for
a good purpose. From the earliest times the exorcist has
existed, and is the natural reaction to the black magician
or sorcerer ; seeking to undo the work of the latter, though
it cannot be said always with success.
In Greece Epicurus and .l.Eschines were the sons of a woman
who got her living as an exorcist, and were reproached by
the Stoics and Demosthenes for having assisted her in her
work, which they considered dishonourable. This was a
very different view from that held by the peoples of the
East, for, as we have mentioned elsewhere, in Assyria and
Babylon the exorcist held an important place in the temples,
while the same is true of the exorcist-magicians of Egypt
and India. The Jews held that God had bestowed this power
upon Solomon, as one of the examples of his wisdom, in
that the casting out of demons was of benefit to mankind.
There are several accounts in the New Testament of the
Master Jesus having expelled evil spirits from the obsessed,
while in the first verse of the ninth chapter of the Gospel of
262

263

St. Luke we read that He gave His disciples " authority

over devils." The disciples thereafter practised the art of
exorcism in the course of their work and propaganda.
However, the Christian Church in Europe does not
appear to have acquired a body of exorcists until the close of
the third century. Later, in the Council of Antioch (A.D.
341), in the Xth Canon, exorcists are mentioned in conjunction with sub-deacons, and for centuries they held quite
an important place in the Church ; waging war against
sorcery and witchcraft in general, as well as their very
particular branch of work. Possibly they had to wrestle
with original sin, also as Catachumens were exorcised for
twenty days before taking the Sacrament.
The exorcist forms one of the minor orders of the Roman
Catholic Church, and at their ordination the Bishop addresses
them upon their duties. There exists a very ancient
complete manual for the Roman exorcists, who in earlier
times were subjected to severe bodily and spiritual training,
Their exorcisms number nine: (1) Ex-Sanctio-nominibus
Dei, Schem Namphorus, Eloha, Ab, Bas, Ruachaccreia,
Jehovah, Tetragrammerton, Hehije, Haja hove veyheje,
Yschiros, Otheos and Athamatos; (2) Ec-ominum
Sanctorum ordini ; (3) Ex-pracipuis animadversione dignis,
Sanctorum Angelorum; (4} Ex-actibus vitre gloriosre
Virg. Marire; (5) Ex-gestis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi;
(6) Ex-Vistitut venerabilium Sacramentorum; (7) ExPrrecipuis; (8) Ecclesire Dogmatibus; (9) Apocalypsis
Beati J onnas Apostoli.
There are various psalms, prayers and litanies to
accompany the foregoing, followed by eight Post-exorcisations. Of these the first three deal with obstinate cases
of obsession by a demon. In the event of their failure, a
very horrible picture of the evil spirit was to be drawn, and,
after the spirit's name had been written upon it or a name
considered sufficiently insulting if that was unknown, the
picture was to be burnt, the whole having been sprinkled
with holy water and fumigated with incense. The fourth
and fifth of the Post-exorcisations were thanksgivings for
freedom attained from obsessions; the sixth was used in
dealing with Incubi and Succubi ; the seventh was for use
in haunted houses, with a special " Service " for each day of
the week ; the eighth and last deals with storms and
tempests of a demoniac origin, or raised by sorcery. An old

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THE BLACK ART

formula for making an exorcising fire, to deal with the latter

kind of black magic, comprised the following ingredients :
Sabinre, Hupericonis, Palmre Christie, Arthemesize,
Verbermre, Aristolochire rotundre, Rutre, Aster, Altica,
Sulphuris and Assafcetida. The fire was to be banked to
huge proportions, so that an immense blaze would result.
Although not so common as many other forms of
exorcism and protection, exorcising fires are sometime
burnt among primitive peoples, and evidently the purifying properties of fire were dimly understood if not actively
realised by all peoples of earlier times. We find fire playing
an important part in many protective rites and ceremonies,
as well as in sorcery and black magic.
In China the Ching-Ming Spring Festival was preceded by
three days called "Ham-Shik," or "Cold eating." The
meaning was that the household fires were all being allowed
to die down, and fresh ones were not kindled until the end of
the third day, when they were relit with great ceremony.
This rite was looked upon as one of the purifications by
which evil was banished ; the old life of the household being
renewed in goodness and purity, with every hope of happiness, health and good fortune.
In all Chinese exorcising ceremonies pure fire and pure
water were intensely important. The water naturally had
to be drawn from a " Holy " well, and had itself to be
exorcised before use, while pure fire was obtained by burning
certain woods and incense, and charcoal perfumed with
incense. Until quite recent times a fire ceremony was
celebrated in the province of Fuhkein, by the well-known
practice of letting off crackers intended to exorcise demons
and evil spirits and effect a general purification.
In the Middle Ages an exorcist addressed the demons by
the worst possible names, in the hope of getting them to
announce their true ones. Not unreasonably great power
was thought to attach to a name, and exorcists once
possessed of the name of a demon were considered to have
attained a degree of mastery over the evil visitant. The
latter were adjured to reveal their true names, but in many
instances the demon evidently did not obey. They were
then called everything vile that could be imagined, and the
person affected was anointed with oil, fumigated and
exhorted to patience if able to understand. I myself have
known cases intensely difficult to exorcise, and have usually

METHODS OF COUNTERACTING SORCERY

265

found that the possessed person had some queer link with
the obsessing entity and did not wholly desire to get rid of it.
The last recorded acknowledgment to exorcism in the
Anglican Church appears in the Baptismal Service of the
Liturgy of Edward VI. Charms and amulets are, of course,
the commonest form of protection used; including the
relics of Holy Masters or Saints. Such things have power
according to the amount of faith placed in them, and the
vibration or thought form aroused by generations of belief.
There was an enormous cult and trade in relics in the early
Church and during the Middle Ages. Indeed, in many
instances it became a grave scandal, on account of the
preposterous nature of the so-called relics. The actual sweat
of Jesus Christ, the milk of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and so
on, were examples of the absurdities in this connection. Many
bishops and dignitaries of the Church did all they could to
counteract the trade in relics, but many also supported it.
And even to-day Catholics place great faith in their medals
and medallions inscribed with the images of saints and
martyrs.
The power of the relic lies in the supernatural grace
bestowed by its holy origin, which is comparable with an
inextinguishable light. This power is considered to pervade
all who come in contact with the sacred object, and especially
the owner. So that it is easily seen that the underlying
belief in the relic is little different from the faith placed in
ancient charms and talismans, and the root theory of
savage magic.
Charles I of England is recorded to have carried on his
person a charm against danger and poison, especially
written for him by Pope Leo IX. Nowadays we give the
name " charm " to little figures and symbols that are commonly supposed to be lucky, but a charm is really a magical
formula that is spoken or sung. Charms were the good
counterpart of the sorcerers' incantations, and were uttered
on entering houses, over possessions and children, and to
obtain some desired benefit. They were also written out on
pieces of parchment and sewn into clothing, or otherwise
attached to the person. The Burmans and others have their
charms tattooed upon them.
An amulet is a material object that was worn or carried
for magic reasons. Sometimes it took the form of a relic,
but it was always worn to overcome disease, to give strength,

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THE BLACK ART

to obtain love or good fortune, and as a defence against

dangers.
Jewels were, and are, very favourite amulets. The
Chinese and Japanese especially believe in the efficacy of
jewels ; red and rose coloured stones, such as rubies and
garnets, being particularly favoured. Many forms of
jewellery had their origin as amulets.
The Assyrians and Babylonians specialised in necklaces
from which depended little images of the sun, moon, stars
and astrological symbols, while ear-rings and bracelets were
used both as amulets and ornaments. The amulets of
Egypt are almost too well-known to mention, and appear
in an amazing number and variety of forms. Among the
best known are the scarab, symbol of life and resurrection;
the looped cross, also a symbol of life ; the snake-head
amulet, usually in red stone and representative of Isis. The
amulet of Menat, and the amulet of Sam, were two widely
used phallic symbols representing sexual power.
Talismans were used for active benefit : that is, to bring
about desired conditions and events, in contrast with the
more negative protective qualities of the charm and amulet.
Barren women of all races and times have worn talismans
to procure the blessing of children, such articles frequently
being of phallic origin. Talismans of this description are
very common among the peoples of India, but are by no
means confined to them; the Phallus having always been
considered a powerful token. A favourite talisman among
native warriors of Mexico and the Orinoco River was to
attach to their shields the hair and middle finger of the left
hand of a woman who died in childbirth, to give them
strength and protection against enemy arrows. In India and
among Mohammedan peoples, the colours red, yellow and
black are thought to be obnoxious to demons and evil
spirits, while in India and China mothers tie a red thread
to the hair of their children to afford them protection. In
the two latter countries, again, touching fire at funerals is
thought to give freedom from ghosts. The Burman believes
in the efficacy of loud noises for the exorcising of evil spirits
and demons ; banging gongs and drums, and playing a
weird " tune " upon little reed pipes to drive away the
"nats" of the jungle, which is infested with evil demons
and the dreaded spirits of women dead in childbirth.
In India there is no more dreaded ghost than the '' Churel,''

METHODS OF COUNTERACTING SORCERY

2&]

the name by which the woman who died in childbirth type

of spirit is known. She is supposed to have a great grudge
against mankind on account of the manner of her death,
and to appear in lonely places to lure travellers and jungle
wayfarers away to destruction. She is also inimical to
pregnant women and children. This spirit may be known
by the feet being turned backwards.
Such a woman is buried in great haste, if not cremated ;
it being feared that sorcerers may attempt to desecrate the
body in order to obtain the body of the unborn fretus
for the practice of black magic. Sometimes the child
is removed and destroyed on this account. The corpse
is then buried feet foremost, the bones having been broken
above the ankle, and the feet turned round, while long
thorns are struck through the heels. Sometimes charms
are recited, to prevent the return of the woman spirit.
The dread of this particular kind of ghost is almost worldwide, and many savage tribes go through ceremonies of
propitiation if the husband of such a one marries again.
The chief means of exorcising the female demon is by the
exhibition of a phallic symbol, the spirit being thought to
dread the Phallus as constituting in one aspect the cause of
her death and in another the symbol of fertility against
her sterility.
The K'chins of Burma have a blood sprinkling ceremony
at weddings, for the protection of the couples from demons
and misfortune. Some Indian and Burman exorcists drink
blood with this object.
In ancient Babylon there were many charms to avert the
evil of a returning ghost. One of them instructs those who
are haunted by the spirit of a dead man to make a clay
image of him, writing his name upon the left side with a
stylus ; and then to hide the image in a hollow piece of
horn, which must in turn be buried under a thorn bush.
Just as fire was regarded as a powerful means of exorcism,
and the use of protecting or exorcising fires is found among
all peoples, so water is regarded as the purifier par excellence.
In Babylon and Assyria, once the temple exorcist had diagnosed the trouble from which his "patient" was suffering,
the first thing to be done was for the latter to be purified by
special water from the river Euphrates, or holy water from
the Abyss. This "Abyss" might have meant the mystic
waters upon which the whole earth was considered to be

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THE BLACK ART

floating-a sort of vast ditch, whose sides were the heavens ;

or merely the waters from the sacred wells or tanks of the
temples, which were also known as the "Abyss." The
necessary purification took place frequently in the house
of the priest, to which a "lustration chamber " was always
attached for that purpose. The ritual was performed with
great ceremony, both the exorcist and the obsessed patient
being clothed in black robes.
In ancient Egypt natron was extensively used for purification and for exorcism. The whole body was fumigated
with it, and a piece of natron was sucked to purify the mouth,
but it was never chewed or swallowed. Any person reciting
a counter-spell had to be pure in body and habits, and clothed
for the occasion in linen and shod in white sandals.
The beetle was thought by the Egyptians to drive away
every kind of sorcery, and for this purpose the head and
wings were cut off and the insect's body boiled and laid in
oil. The dismembered parts were then heated and steeped
in the oil of a serpent, and the whole mixture on being boiled
again was drunk by the person desiring to be free from
enchantment.
Precious stones have been universally used as talismans,
and the Egyptians especially attached much importance
to them. The Mongolian races, also, believed greatly in
the protective influence of precious stones against evil. The
emerald worn on the person dispels demoniac illusions and
conserves chastity. Rubies give courage, good health, and
immunity from poisons. Sapphires are the emblem of
peace and protection, and so forth. The Egyptians were
particularly fond of amulets made of lapis-lazuli, and certain
metals were regarded by them as fortunate. The Romany
peoples love silver, as do also the native West Indians and
various African races ; probably with the idea that the
metal dispels evil and is a luck bringer. And the last fact
is rather curious, as the alchemist and others identified
silver with the moon, whose beneficent influence is very
doubtful and in some aspects definitely malevolent. However, when lunar aspects are courted as being protective
and favourable, the origin is probably to be found through
Isis the moon goddess; though she, too, only smiled upon
her particular devotees.
A feature of all varieties of exorcism is the counter spell,
and it was definitely thought that all forms of demoniac

METHODS OF COUNTERACTING SORCERY

269

enchantment could only be removed by this means. Thus,

we find that both in the East and medireval Europe the use
of articles connected with religion was considered potent
against evil and sorcery. Quite an amusing little account
in this connection is of how some heretics, suspected of
sorcery, were seen by scandalised villagers to be walking
upon the waters of a nearby river. The local priests were
hurriedly called to the scene and threw pieces of the consecrated Host into the river, whereupon the heretics promptly
sank and lost their lives.
Only in very rare cases did the Church ever sanction the
use of black magic to overcome sorcery ; the Powers of
Light were depended upon to overcome Satan in the long
run. However, there is a tale of a medireval German bishop,
who, on returning from Rome, had a spell cast upon him by
his mistress, causing him severe pain and illness. The poor
bishop implored the permission of the Pope to call in another
witch to undo his mistress's enchantments, and, St. Peter's
successor having consented, the effect of counter black
magic was the recovery of the bishop and the death of his
mistress.
An ancient story of a very different character is that
known as the Legend of Ainat. This relates how the Master
Jesus and his disciples, walking by the Sea of Tiberius,
encountered an old witch of terrible appearance, her eyes
burning with flames and fire issuing from her mouth. The
disciples questioned the Master as to whom this terrible
apparition could be, and Jesus replied that she was the
evil demon who caused shipwrecks and disaster, flung horsemen from their saddles, and parted mothers from their
children. He then confronted her, and used some words
of power that rendered her helpless. The disciples, after
that, seized the witch and burned her body; scattering her
ashes to the four winds, with the words : " May the memory
of Ainat forever be destroyed."
There are many variations in the exact methods of exorcising an obsessing spirit or places haunted by evil influences,
but on the whole the groundwork is the same. Manifestations due to sorcery accomplished by means of elementals
are comparatively easy to deal with, if the exorcist has an
iron will. The following methods of counteracting occult
disturbances due to evil spirits or black magic have been
used extensively and with success ; but it is well to mention

'270

THE BLACK ART

here that all people troubled with such things must guard
their thoughts and expel fear from their minds, otherwise
good results will seldom follow.
The exorcist should be a priest, or some person versed in
occult matters. The entrance to the house in question should
be sealed with a wax made with wafers of the Host, and in
the case of a particular room being exorcised even the
windows should be treated in the same manner. Crosses
must be placed or drawn with chalk upon the doors, and a
large fire made upon which frankincense should be burnt.
A small portion of this fire is then placed in a censer, and
carried from room to room with prayers for the departure
of evil. Holy water which has been consecrated in a church
should next be sprinkled about the house by means of
hyssop dipped in the purifying fluid, and the words : " I
exorcise thee, 0 unclean spirit, in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," must be pronounced
in each room. Possibly violent manifestations might occur
during the ceremony ; in which case it would be best for the
exorcist and his assistant in all cases to demand the name,
or source, of the evil demonstration.
Here is another ceremony, to ward off evil vibrations and
occult disturbances, or to help persons rid themselves of
some bad habit or obsession.
A room should be chosen for the ritual and thoroughly
cleaned, and all except the essential furniture in it removed.
If that cannot be done, the furniture must be pushed back
against the wall and tidily arranged. The person performing
the ceremony, or the one who needs purification, as the case
may be, must then have a bath (cold, for preference) and
afterwards put on clean clothes, or a white robe, especially
prepared for the occasion. Seven small brass bowls must
be arranged at intervals to form a circle, which should be
nine feet in diameter, or, if the room be too small, three or
six feet. These bowls must be filled with fire made of
charcoal, and sprinkled with frankincense. The officiator
should take his or her place within the circle, at the lower
edge, standing or sitting cross-legged and facing east or north.
J arvardi incense sticks should be burnt in the circle,
and facing the operator should be two bowls, full of water
-a small one on the right and a larger one on the left.
Immediately in front of the larger bowl should be thre
candlesticks, with unlit candles. The base of the candle

METHODS OF COUNTERACTING SORCERY

271

sticks should have three, five, or eight points like a star,

but this is not absolutely necessary. The candlesticks must
be arranged in a straight line or triangular formation ;
according to the inclination of the officiator, which is important.
The time chosen for the ceremony should be eleven o'clock
in the morning or eleven o'clock in the evening, but the
morning is preferable. The room can either be darkened
or not, but undarkened is better. The operator having
entered the circle, the following evocation is recited. " I
invoke the powers of light and the powers of love, and the
purifying spirit that is in fire, and in water, to gather
around me their forces and protection.'' After a pause of
about three minutes, the invocation continues : " I call
upon all the higher spiritual forces and beings who
have the progress and welfare of their human brothers
in their care, to be witness to the promise (or vow) that I
am about to make to cast away those things that are
unworthy and to release the spirit within, and thus become
impervious to any evil vibrations that may be seeking to harm
me." Then the officiator utters aloud: "I renounce so
and so " (whatever evil or fault it is required to banish ;
such as pride, vanity, lust, intemperance and so on)," which
forms a link with evil forces."
The Lord's prayer is next recited, care being taken to
say: "Leave us not when in temptation," instead of" Lead
us not into." Having renounced evil, the candles should
be lit and a portion of the water in the small bowl drunk.
After a period of five minutes' meditation on peace and
harmony, the fingers are dipped in the larger bowl of water
and shaken three times. The circle is then left, the large
bowl of water being removed and its contents emptied
away. The circle and the rest of the articles in it are left
untouched, the candles being allowed to bum themselves
out. The circle must not be entered again, and the door of
the room must be locked, none entering until the next day.
If the foregoing exorcising ritual can only be performed
at night, when a light is required other than candles, on no
account must a red light be used. Blue or green, or a dim
orange, is better. The officiator must be careful not to
move about or fidget within the circle, as this causes disharmony and weakens the vibrations. In most cases the
participant should be alone, but if he or she is mentally
distressed, another person should be present to witness the

272

THE BLACK ART

proceedings for obvious reasons. In the event of th

ceremony or purification being used for dispelling an evil
influence, from an individual and not from a house, t h
sentence "I renounce . . . " can be altered to "I exorr.i
the evil influence, and dispel the dark forces within tlu
house."
The same ritual can be performed with flowers in pla
of fire, arranged in seven new white glass vases. The floW!!
should be picked by the officiator if possible, and l
white, blue, mauve, pink, mixed, but never red. In such
case, however, at the end of the ceremony the circle shoul
be broken, by removing the vases of flowers and placin
them in a straight row in another part of the room, which
must be locked as before. After the twenty-four hour
the flowers must be burnt or buried; not thrown away or
used in any other part of the house.
A form of exorcism used in the Church for dealing with
obsessing entities is briefly as follows. The exorcist (or
priest), having first made the sign of the cross, command
the possessed person to kneel before him and proceeds to
sprinkle him with Holy Water. The name of the trouble
some spirit is then enquired and, having placed his hands
on the demoniac's head, the exorcist repeats: "I exorcise
thee, unclean spirit, in the name of Jesu!? Christ; tremble,
0 Satan, enemy of the faith, thou foe of mankind who hast
brought death to the world, and hast rebelled against justice,
thou seducer of mankind, thou root of evil, source of avarice,
discord and envy." Prayers follow, and the spirit is commanded to leave in the name of the Blessed Virgin and the
Holy Trinity.
In forming a circle for the purpose of the exorcism of
sorcery, a large five-pointed star should be drawn with
chalk and a circle of double lines drawn around it. Within
the double lines the following words should be written, care
being taken to place a cross after each word and to make
the letters touch the top and bottom lines of the circle.
"IN NOMINA PATRIS + ALPHA + OMEGA +
ELELOHYM + SOTHER + AGIA + TETRAGRAMMERTON + AGIOS + OTHEOS + ISCHIROS +" The
participants should wear garlands of assafretida and garlic
flowers, and where the disturbances are of a material nature
they must on no account leave the circle until peace and
harmony have been restored.

METHODS OF COUNTERACTING SORCERY

273

Symbols can be also used within any protective circle;

the cross, for instance, and, if drawn, the cross within the
circle. The triangle, again, may be employed; so long as
the apex is placed upwards. From the time when man
first shod horses, an unused horseshoe has been used as a
protection against evil. There, however, the true origin
is a sexual one ; the shoe being originally representative
of the female organ of generation, plenty and fertility. It
is very possible that the Romany or gipsy peoples, wandering
into every country in Europe, spread the belief in the
protective power and " luck " of horseshoes ; even as
they introduced many beliefs and also practices of sorcery
and the black art. In any case, in course of time the symbol
of the womb became confused with the horseshoe, on
account of the rough similarity of outline.
The power of all symbols lies not in the material object,
but in the thought forces attached to it, and which in time
form an elemental for good or ill. Thus, the ancient swastika,
which was known in India at a very remote period, has a
beneficent symbolism for protection and good fortune, and
has been used as an amulet. It, also, has its reversed
position, in which it becomes a symbol of evil significance.
While not overlooking the history and esoteric meaning
of the swastika, space does not permit of more than this
brief mention here.
Elemental spirits can be exorcised by calling upon the
spirits of air, fire, water and earth. The procedure is by
breathing and sprinkling perfumes, and by tracing upon the
ground the star of Solomon and the sacred Pentagram
drawn with the ash of a consecrated fire. The exorcist must
then pronounce the Conjuration of Four; holding the
Pentacle of Solomon in his right hand, and having before
him the symbolical sword, cup, and stave or wand, which
he must take up in turn. This little ceremony must be
preceded, and ended, by forming the sign of the Kabalistic
cross.
In all Christian exorcisms for the protection of the body
it was the custom to seal its nine openings with Holy Water,
so that no evil influence could gain entrance. It was
thought that demons could enter the body with food and
drink, and even by breathing. Although this idea has
become quite outgrown, the ritual is still in practice among
persons preparing themselves against Satanic forces.

CONCLUSIONS

CHAPTER VIII
CONCLUSIONS

Consists of the author's opinion on various subjects touched on in preceding

chapters and his advice to would-be occultists.

the majority of people the subject of black

magic ranks as an impossible nightmare; an
unpleasant and ridiculous phantasmagoria, at
best tinged with the fascinating horror of a good
ghost story, but in any case not to be treated more seriously
than our childhood's stories of witches and orgies.
Others know better. Nevertheless, many, if not the
worst of, the practices of the past appear to us incredible
and foolish, and we wonder how many men of undoubted
learning and scientific bent could have placed their faith in
such preposterous magic and have worried with such outrageously foolish formulas.
Well, many people think much the same about such
famous spiritualists as Sir Oliver Lodge, the late Sir William
Crookes, and the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; to say
nothing of the Hannen Swaffers and Shaw Desmonds in
our midst. Yet these men and their conclusions are not
to be discredited ; even though the world as a whole appears
to regard all psychic investigations as either a waste of
time or an unwarranted interference, almost amounting
to blasphemy, with matters that are" purposely hidden."
This latter argument is the most futile. Everything
has been hidden in the past, and much still is hidden.
It is for man to unveil the mysteries. The Divine Intelligence, which we call God, working through His creative
forces, placed man in an empty world, except for the
vegetable and animal kingdoms, and left him to evolve
the material expressions of his own life and conquer the
elements alone. I believe that nothing is purposely hidden ;
it is for us to invent, to design, to investigate, to claim and
to attain. Everything is ours when we have earned it
through effort, and have evolved sufficiently to grasp it.

274

275

To return to the question of witchcraft. I believe in

black magic. I know it exists, and I have personally witnessed many incredible happenings; but I do not necessarily
believe all that I hear on the subject, and nowadays analyse
any phenomena very carefully before coming to any conclusion. I have a great deal of sympathy with scientific
doubters, and with those who test psychicism up hill and
down dale and are not satisfied. But there are latent powers
within man alone that are not yet fully understood, and
until we can say definitely what are our own limits (including
those of our spiritual self and etheric body), we cannot
definitely state what is, and what is not, due to the interference or influence of discarnate intelligences.
Members of my race are prone to believe in magic in any
case. Probably hundreds of my ancestors practised sorcery,
in one form or another, back to a remote period, and more
recent generations have, I know, been deeply imbued with
occultism. This being so, there is all the more reason why
I should be very critical of my beliefs in this respect, and
especially careful to avoid being deluded or credulous.
Wherefore I am become a very" doubting Thomas," indeed,
when faced with phenomena of any description.
I have sat in many circles where good but credulous
people have been entirely satisfied that they are communicating with those beyond, yet have personally seen and
heard nothing that may not be attributed to the subconscious mind and the strange magnetic force called
Pranic Energy. Likewise, I have investigated so-called black
magic circles that are equally futile and non-productive of
anything but delusions, except for the fact that evil
intentions must always link the participators with the dark
forces.
There are probably very few to-day who believe in a
personified Devil, complete with hoofs, horns and " toastingfork." What, therefore, is the force of evil with which
most of us, consciously or unconsciously, wage continuous
warfare? Very largely, of course, it is our own Lower
Nature. And this, while it would have been considered a
perfectly presentable thing five thousand years or so ago,
is quite objectionable and out of place in the present era.
It has, therefore, to be sternly suppressed, which accounts
for most of our nightmares and occasional anti-social lapses
according to psychologists.

276

THE BLACK ART

Apart from this undesirable double, however, though

possibly including it, there is an intangible force, vibration
or current of evil, eternally emanating from man's per
versions of his gifts and misuse of the knowledge anci
wisdom to which he has attained. Man's thoughts create,
and in as much as they are dark and warped they feed foul
shapes of elemental beings that grow and consolidatt
upon the lower mental planes. These are the " Demons " of
the astral world. Man, then, is the creator of his own evil,
being endowed with free will in thought and action. That
is to say, he possesses liberty of choice collectively, but by
his tyranny and imperfect social construction he denies this
freedom to all but the most rebellious and progressive of
thousands of his fellow creatures.
The suffering and distress upon this earth are due to man's
refusal to harmonise with the Divine Law. All the disease,
cruelty, torment and injustice of the world to-day can be
laid at our own door, and will continue to be so until the
lesson of conforming to this rule of Universal Harmony is
learnt. Another name for Universal Harmony is Love,
according to the Sermon on the Mount.
We do not have to look outside this world for fiends and
demons ; nothing could be more cruel and diabolical than
man at his worst. Death does not change him, and when
such a one passes over, he lingers to impress his vileness
still further upon weak humanity. Such souls can with
assistance rise to better things, but it is a very arduous task
and for the most part they remain rejoicers in evil.
The undoubted materialisations, somewhat approximating the popular concept of the Devil, which have been
seen from time to time, can be accounted for by the fact
that human thoughts have so long projected a mental image
of his Satanic Majesty that elemental beings have actually
built up around this mental form and become occasionally
objective. All these things must die away as humanity
struggles towards the Light.
In my dealings in these pages with necromancy and
spiritualism there is no wish to depreciate the work of a
large number of people who are seriously trying to prove to
the world the truth of survival after death. But for myself
I do not regard mediumship very favourably. I believe
that all who have the time should so enlarge their own
powers as to be able to contact the so-called " psychic

CONCLUSIONS

277

planes" without any outside assistance. Unfortunately

most people have not the time, even if they have the
necessary patience, and so mediums remain indispensable.
In my own view steps need to be taken within the movement
to prevent anyone who feels inclined from starting a
" Church " or unsupervised open circles, and the employment of untested mediums, who may be positively fraudulent or attracting undesirable or unevolved entities under
the cloak of " Guides."
In Chapter VIII, Part I, reference has been made to Peter
Kurten, the Dusseldorf murderer, and his case cited in connection with lycanthropy. To occultists it is evident that
Kurten was at certain times the victim of a demoniac obsession, and I have since found that this fact is recognised by
such experts in crime as Mr. E. T. Woodhall, late of Scotland
Yard and H.M. Secret Service, who mentions Kurten in
his book Crime and the Supernatural.
There is a good deal of interest taken in Yoga nowadays
among people who have the leisure and inclination to study
various cults, and I am often asked whether Yoga is really
black magic. I think the chapter in this volume on Indian
Yogis should have made it quite clear that Yoga is nothing
of the sort. Any unfortunate results that may ever have
originated from Yoga practices are probably due to the
student having attempted mental exercises and postures
for which he or she was totally unfitted.
Personally, I believe that the Yoga Science of Breath,
and the accompanying system of self-development, can be
of inestimable value to most people if suitably adapted for
Western needs. To the average European student of Yoga
philosophy I particularly recommend the study of Raja
Yoga, which is far and away the most practical for this part
of the world. There are a great many books on Yoga and
its different branches, and there is no harm in reading
them. But I strongly advise no one to take up practices,
or to execute exercises and postures, without first consulting
a teacher, who will instruct them as to what is suitable and
harmless to carry out. The different modes of breathing
alone need to be learnt gradually, as some can be definitely
injurious physically and mentally, unless they are properly
preceded by the more elementary and foundational exercises.
Altogether, the matter of Yoga needs careful attention
before benefits can be attained, and furthermore it is useless

278

THE BLACK ART

for the student to take up even modified Yoga without

conforming his life to the necessary principles. The prolonged one-pointed concentration, for example, is not to be
advocated unless the training has started very early in life
and special rules prescribed have been carried out. This
form of concentration may lead to mania, and other forms
of insanity.
Upon the score of the philosophy itself, however, I can
only say that the Yoga system offers an expansion and a
self-realisation that I have yet to find surpassed elsewhere.
It is almost certain that I shall be accused in these pages
of having left out many well-known instances of sorcery,
and famous witches, magicians and warlocks ; but it has
been impossible to give even a brief account of them all.
I have simply attempted to place before the reader a gradually unfolding pictm;e of the story of magic and witchcraft ;
beginning in the dim mists of antiquity, when the sun was
man's greatest comfort and the moonlit darkness filled his
soul with an inexpressible dread of the unknown, every
shadow becoming to his uneasy fancy a monstrous being of
incalculable evil. From which primitive period, down a
long road of grandeur and misery, the instinct has continued
until now, when often enough European magic is represented
by a few elderly people waiting quietly in semi-darkness,
for a Voice to speak from the same Unknown.
Among the neglected figures in this work is one who
greatly captured my imagination in my younger days, the
Flying Dutchman or nautical Wandering Jew. The legend
which relates how that heroic form was doomed to battle
round the Cape, year in, year out, till Judgment day, is too
well-known to bear repetition. Even so, I have met sailors
of many nationalities and differing race who declared that
they had seen the Flying Dutchman's ship scudding past
in the darkness with a full press of sail, though not always
proving an omen of disaster.
Lastly, while there is no need to enlarge upon the profanities of the Black Mass, it is known to still take place.
Occasional thefts are made from churches of the Holy Wafers,
and only a few years ago a large quantity of the consecrated
Host was stolen from the Cathedral of Notre Dame, by an
old woman who confessed that she was procuring them for
those who celebrated the Black Mass.
Just as most people wish to avoid black magic, if they

CONCLUSIONS

279

take it seriously at all, so there are others who edge up and

say : " Oh, but black magic is so fascinating! " Possibly
it may be fascinating to those who do not look beneath
the surface, but surely the very word they use implies
fatality? In other days, fascination betokened a glamour
that covered emptiness, if not corruption, and so it is very
aptly applied to the lure of black magic.
No one should ever yield to a temptation to dabble in
sorcery, even if only from curiosity or the search for a
new thrill. It is impossible to involve oneself in black
magic in any shape or form without becoming contaminated ;
it is impossible to approach it and not risk losing judgment
and reason. I have personally investigated it and, speaking
from experience, strongly advise no one to do likewise.
There is nothing of true value to gain, and everything to
lose. It does not matter how light-heartedly it may be
entered into as an intriguing pastime, with a tempting spice
of the forbidden, the penalty is equally the same.

INDEX
A

Aaron, 51, 54
Aba-aner, 39, 40
Abano (de), 152
Abel, 155
Aborigines, I 64
Abortion, 166
Abraham, 53
Abraham (magician), 89
Abracadabra, 222
Absinthe, 145
Absolute (The), 88, 251
Abyss, 267, 268
Academy (of Ancients), 228
Accusations, 75, gr, 93
Aconite, 154
Acts, 229
Adam, 47, 53, ror, 154, 155, r63
Adepts, 45, 49, 255
Adonai, 145
Adults, 173
Afrits, 196
Agios, 272
Agrippina, 65
Ahab, 51
Ainat (Legend of), 269
Alamond, or Alaodin, 72, 73
Alaska, r84
Alchemists, 85, 86, r28 and the following pages of Chapter IX, Part I
Alchemy, 35, 94, 95
Alder, 154
Alexander the Great, 41
All Hallows Eve, 214, 215
All Saints, 6o
Aloes, 145
Alpha, 272
Alphabet (Magical), 58
Altar, 19, 6r, 62, 63, 78, 96, 259, 288
Althotas, 137
Aludel, 130
Alva (Duke of), 92
Amber, 78, 154
Amesis, 39
Ammoniacum, 154
Amulets, 26, 27, r6o, 174, r8r, 183,
262, 265, 268
Anael, 156
Andamcos, 153
Andersen (Hans), III
Androgyne (Hermetic), 131
Angels, 47, 133, 196
Animals, 49, 64, 76, 77, Bg, 102, 121,
153, 173, 177, 182, 189, 212
Anthony (St.), 96

281

Antlers, 19
Apocalypse, 254
Apollo, 61
Apollonius of Tyana, 59
Aquinas (Thomas), 95, 136
Arabs, 35
Arbour, 235
Arcana (The Major), 105
Archers, 79
Architecture (Chinese), 30
Ares, 58
Aricenna, 132
Ariel, 156
Arikaras, I 87
Artemesia, r II, I I 2
Artephius, 82
Arthur (King), 208
Artisson (Robert), 210, 2II
Arras, 92
Ascendant, 151
Ascetism, r6o
Ash, 145
Ashes, 76, r6o
Ashmole (Elias), 130, 131, 156
Asipu, 23
Assafretida, 145, 157, 238
Assassins, 73
Assistants, 64, 148, 174, 238
Astarte, 34, 166, 241
Astral, 25, 155, 244, 251
Astrology, Astrological, Astrologers,
25, 64, 65, 78, 148, 254
Astronomy, 25, 132
Asfl, 25
Auguries, 27, 64
Augustine (St.), 96
Aungil, 47
Auxonnes, 99
Avestan, 31
Avignon, 146
Azail, 47
Azazel, 55
Azoth, 153
Aztecs, 20, 185, r86

B
Babel (Tower of), 18
Baboon, 36
Babylon, Babylonia, Babylonian, 20,
23,24,25, 26,42, 45.115,266,267
Bachelor, 32
Bacon (Roger), 219, 220
Balaam, 49

z8z

INDEX

Balla!, 21
Bamboo, 33, 197
Bamburg, 93
Banshee, 217
Baphomet, 21, 68, 77, 87, u2, 259
Baptism, 45
Baptismal (Service), 265
Bards, 224
Baru, 23,28
Basilisk, 77
Bath, 57, 270
Battle, 76
Bats, 241
Bavaria, 95, 121
Beauty, 6o
Bedford (Duchess of), 220, 221
Beelzebub, 79
Belief, 30, 59, 6o
Belladonna, II2
Bells (Spirit), 30; (Necromantic), 23
Benedict IX, 104
Benedictine, 76
Benet (St.), 105
Berwick, 224
Beneventua, 77
Benzoin, I 12
Bertrand (Sergeant), u7, uS
Bestial, 93
Betrothed, 32
Biarbi, 77
Bible, 17, rB
Bird, Birds, 28, 33, 209, 241, 275
Birth, 75. 25 I
Black Books, 172
Black Forest, roB
Black magic, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, so,
62, 68, 71, 76, Bs, 88, Bg, gr, ros, U4,
u6, 118, 144, 157, 163, r66, 177, 178,
187, r88, 194, 195, 196, 202, 227, 228,
236,239,245,252,255,258,260,264,
267,269,274.275,278,279
Black Mass, 75, 104, ro6, roB, u6, 213,
220, 237 and following pages of
Chapter IV, Part II, 25B, 278
Bleeding Head (The), 238
Blessing, 77
Blood, 19, 27, 32, 33, 45, 47, 62, 63, 66,
78, 79. 118, 122, 126, 136, 238, 239.
240, 242, 246, 249. 250, 257. 258, 267
Blood (Council of), 91
Blue, 271, 272
Body, Bodies, 39, 56, 66, 76, go, 91,
118, 121, 212, 258, 273
Bolingbroke (Roger), 220
Bon Cult, 177
Bones, 38, 75, 172, r88
Book (of the Dead), 39
Boot (The), 221
Boy, Boys, 48
Boxes, 74
Bracelets, 27
Brass, Brazen, 34
Breast-plate, 54
Bretons, 218
Bride, 59, 76
Bridget (Nuns), 99
Brocken Peak, roB

INDEX

Bronze, 58
Broom-stick, ro6
Brooms, 158
Brothers of the Shadows 251
Buckingham (Duke of), 226
Budda, 32
Bull-roarers, I 72
Burgundy (Mary of), ror
Burma, 32, 267
Burmans, 266

c
Cabinets, 235
C<eSar (Julius), 20, 21, 206
Cagliostro, 48, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140,
141
Cagrino, 224
Calkett Hall, 105
Calvary, So
Cambodia, 165
Cambriel, 131
Candidia, 64
Candles, 148, 152, 154, 157, 238, 257
Candlesticks, 114, 154. 270, 271
Carbuncle, 154
Carmelite, 142
Carnarvon (Lord), 42
Carocha (The), 91
Carter (Mr. Harold), 42
Catherine Cadiere, 103
Catherine de Medici, 141, 238, 239
Cellini (Benvenuto), -48, rot, 115
Celibacy, 94
Celts, Celtic, 20, 206, 213
Cemetery, Cemeteries, so, u7, uS,
122, 212, 260
Censers, 153
Chagrin, 224
Chalice, 238, 240
Champtoce, 116
Channel Islands, 206, 260
Chapel, 116, 243
Charles I, 226
Charles II, 227
Charles IV (Emperor), roo
Charles IX, 85, 238
Charming, 216
Charms, 23,265,267
Chastity, 94
" Chemise de necessite," 79
Cheops (Book of), 36
Cherokee, 185
Chevalier (de Saxe), 232
Chicory, 111
Child, Children, 67, 71, 74, 75, 76, 91,
99. 127, t66, 175. 176, 201, 239. 240,
262
Chilian, r 92
China, rB, 29, 30, 264, 266
ChingMing Festival, 264
Chequitos, 191
Chov-hanis, 224
Christ, Bo, B7, rot, 103, 235, 236, 237
Christmas, 79

Chrysolite, r 55
Church, 67, 68, 73, 75, 87, 88, go, 92,
95, 96, 105, III, 114, 115, 117, 143,
145. 148, 149, 23B, 239
Churel, 32, 202
Circe, 62
Circle, Circles, 82, 145, 147, 148, 150,
153. 231, 249. 253. 256, 257, 271
Circumcision, 55
Clairvoyance, Clairvoyants, 91, 154,
245
Clavicule of Solomon, 89
Cleopatra's Needle, 42
Cloud (St.), So
Cock, 7B, 148, 179
Coffin, 125, 149, 174
Cologne, 99
Conjuration of Four, 273
Coptic Christians, 35
Coptus (Temple of), 35
Cornelius Agrippa, 74
Cornwall, 228, 260
Corpse, 66,154,163,212
Council of Ten, B6
Court of Paris, 73
Coven, roB
Cranmer, 92
Crocodile, 40
Crorulechs, zo, 206
Crookes (Sir William), 274
Cross, Crosses, Cross-roads, 57, Bo, I 54,
238, 240
Crusades,68, 71,73
Crystals, 48, 79, 152, 153, 154, 187
Cyliani, I 3 r
Cypress, 154

D
Dagger, 31
Dalmetic, 91
Damian (Peter, Cardinal of Ostia), 99
Dance (Ghost), 183
Dances, Dancing, 49, r66, r8o, 204, 258
Darkness (Prince of), So, roB, 113
David, 54
David (Shield of), 151
Deadly nightshade, 157
Death, 30, 32, 46, 71
Death (Black), roo
Dee (John), 132, 133, 134, 135, 137
141, 229
Deity, 21, 53, 173
Delphic (Oracle), 6o, 61
Democritus, 57
Demon, Demons, 25, 30, 36, 55, 58,
So, 85, ro5, 114, 136, 149, r5o, 163,
210, 239. 244. 262, 263, 26B, 276
Demonology, 232
Deshayes (Catherine), 10-4
Desire, 144
Desmond (Gerald), 81, 82, 21-4
Desmond (Shaw), 274
De Stella (Eudo), 209
Deuteronomy, 229

z83

Devil, 32, 33, 68, 71, 7-4, So, 8r, 82, 85

89, go, 91, 94, 95, 96, 99, 103, ws,
107, roB, 113, 114, II6, xx8, 136,
143, 147, 149, 150 157, 164, 189,
202, 211, 2IB, 235, 239. 259. 275, 276
Devil-dancing, 33
Devotees, 27
Diamond, 156
Diamond necklace, 139
Digby, Sir Kenelm, 225, 230
Dionysius, 6o, r66
Disciples, 55, 269
Divination, 27, 28, 29, 30, 48, 54
Divine, 53, 55, 251
Dog (Black), 74, 175
"Dousing," 145
Doyle (Sir Arthur Conan), 274
Dragon Rouge (Le), 46
Dragons, 85
Drawing down the Moon, 61
Dreams, 27, 28, 29, 172
Drink, Drinking, Drunkenness, roe,
ro6, 162, 248
Drug, 73, 107
Drums, 31, r68
Dulet (Jacques), 85
Durga, r62
Dusseldorf, uS, 27i
Dynasty, 37

E
Ea, 26
Earth, 6o, 25 I
Ear-ring, 27, 204
Easter, 6o
Ebony, 257
Ecclesiastical Councils, go, 92
Eden, 73
Edward IV, 220
Ego, 244, 251
Egypt, Egyptians, 20, 25, 26, 27, 3-4,
36, 39. 40, 41, 42, 45. 46, 47. sr, 52,
54. 64, 268
Eleanor (Dame), 220
Elementals, 27, 244, 245, 246, 250, 273
Elijah, sr
Elisha, 51
Elixir of life, 135, 140, 141
Elizabeth (Queen), 221, 223, 225, 229
Elohirn 52
Elusinion (mysteries), 62
Embalmers, Embalming, 39, 40, 52
Embankment, 42
Emblems, 30
Emirs, 73
Enchantments, Enchantress, En.chau.ting, 21, 25, 66, 77, Il7
Endor (Witch of), 49, 52
Enmity, 245
En Soph, 53
Entity, Entities, 231, 232
Epistles, 229
Erichts, 65, 66
Etruscans, 20, 63

INDEX

284

Eucharist of Hell, 243

Euphrates, 267
Eve, 101, li4
Evil eye, 26, 62, li3
Evocations, 230
Exodus, 54
Exoccist, Exorcism, 31, 263, 264, 268,
272, 273
F

Fairies, 2li
Fakirs, 195, 196, 197, 198, 201
Falgar (Isle of), 214
Familiars, 74, 75, 152, 175, 176, 181,
182, x86, 214, 254
Fane (Johanne), 224
Fascination, Fascinating, 76, 216, 279
Fascinus, 76
Fat, 112, 154, 209
Feast, Feasts, 64, liS
Feast (of Asses), 100
Female, 30, 62, 126, 161, 164, 222, 257
267
Festivals, 21, 63
Fetish, 178, 179, 180
Fiard (Abbe), 143
Figures, 58, 91, li3, 154, 188, 207
Fire, Fires, 37, 42, 64, 82, go, 130, 148,
161, 187, 207, 221, 251, 260, 264, 270,
271
Fire dances, 189
First-born, 236
Fish, 79, 217
Fishermen, 217
Flagellation, 86, go
Flagellants (Brotherhood of), 99
Flame (Divine), 53
Flame! (Nicholas), 85, 130, 131
Flesh, 121, 164, 226, 237
Flood (the), 17
Flour, 79, 174
Flowers, 154, 272
Fludd (Robert), 86, 87, 130, 225
Fluids, x8, So, 164
Flying Dutchman, 278
Folk-lore, 23
Forbes (Rosita), 177
Forest, Forests, 209, 2li, 213
Fortune-tellers, 45
Foster (Pastor), 225
Four Horsemen (of the Apocalypse),
245
Fox, Foxes, 30, 117, 177
France, 19, 85, 86, 87, 92, n6, 145
"Franc-judges," 86
Frankincense, 270
Freemasonry (Egyptian), 138, 139
Freemasons, 259
Friars, 94
Friday, 154, 209
Fuhkein, 264
Fumigations, 155
Funado,29
Funeral, 12, 220
Furies, 64

INDEX
G

Gabriel, 52, 152

Gaelic, 218
Gamalial, so
Gardien (Le, du Tombeau), 207
Garland, 144, 148
Garlic, 157, 163, 215
Gascony, 243
Gaufridi, 103, 106
Gaul, 157, 163, 215
Generative, x6o
Genesis, 129
Genii, 196
Genitals, 161
Gentiles, 71
George III, 131
Germany, 88, 8g, 93, g6, xo8, III, 121,
131' 158, 177
Gert (Berthomine de), 82
Ghost, Ghosts, 30, 36, 66, 185, 215
Ghost Dance, 183
Ghoul, Ghoulish, 30, 36, 66, 185, 215
Giant's Dance, 214
Gibraltar, 259
Gipsies, 158, 215, 218, 224, 273
Girard (Pere), 103
Girl, Girls, go, 93, 121, 162, x66, 174
Gnomes, 174
Gnostics, 34
Gnostic Ophites, 87
Goat, Goats, 49, 87, roB, 186, 2ll
Goat (Baphomet), 77, 87, li2
Goat (Deity), 21, 87, 259
"Goats (The)," 243
Goblins, 30, 133. 174. 2li, 225
God, Gods, 91, 134, 147, x6o, 191, 196,
201' 274
Golden Legend, 96
Goodmayne (Marjorie), 220
Gourd (Begging), 204
Goya, 112
"Grabbing medicine," 184
"Grand Copt," 138
wand wimcrie, 72
"Grand Mistress," 138
Grandier (Urbain), 99, 148
"Granny" (of St. Martin's, GuernAily),
207
Grave, Graves, 59, 65, li7, n~. 1
126, 215
Graveyard, 207
Gray (" Voodoo "), 260
Great Master (the), 46
Great Spirit, 187
Great White Brotherhood, 176
Great Work (alchemical), 129, tHo
Green, 88, x87
"Green Lion" (The), 129
Grimm,lii
wimories, 72, 218
wimorium, 72
Gros Ventres, 187
"Group-soul," 250
Groves, x6o
Guernsey, 206, 207
Guiana, x88, xgo, 193

Guibourg (Abbe), 104

Guichard (Bishop of Tryes), 95
"Guides," 74, 231, 256
Guideon, 208
Guni, 198
Gun-men, 255
Gurus, 196

H
Hades, 29, 6o
Hair, 39, 78, x66, 192, 210
Hallucinations, 71
Hamaxobi, 77
Hand, Hands, 18, 24, 30, 39, 40, 77,
122, x6o, 167
"Hand of Glory," li4
Hanged (Man), 225
Harem, 37
Harlots, 48
Harmony, so
Harpies, 62
Hashish, 73
Hathaway (Richard), 227
Haunting, Hauntings, Haunted, 32,
213, 232, 235
Hazel, 152
Head (Brazen), 220
Heads, 32, 40, 52
Heads of Brass, 136, 219
Healers, Healing, 225, 231
Heart, Hearts, 38, 39, so, 51, 126
Hebrew, Hebrews, 47, 48, 49, so, 52,
53. 151, 164
Hecate, 57
Helen (Greek medium), 55
Heliopolis, 39
Hell, 24, 65, 68, 71, 81, 91, 210
Hell (Pit of), 47
Hellebore, 145
Hemlock, 157
Hemp, III
Henry VIII, 104, 132
Heresy, 92
Herebcs, 87
Herbs, Herbal, 26, li3, li4, 158, 182,
207. 209, 230, 258
Hermaphrodite, 59
Hermes, 39
Hermes (Trismegistus), 34, 155
Hermetic Society, 131
Hermits, 204
Hierophants, 21
"Hike," 36
High Priest, 55, 56, 253
High Priestess, 253
Hildekins, 214
Hindu, Hindus, x6o, 186
Hittite, 25
Holland, 96
Holes, 125
Holocausts, liB
Holy Ghost, 91
Holy Inquisition, go, 139
Holy Land, 68, 73, n6

285

Holy Mother Church, 237

Holy Oil, 155
Holy Sacrament, 237, 240
Holy Spring, 27
Holy Wafers, 278
Homeric, 20
Homonculas, 135
Homosexual, 204
Hopkins (Matthew), 221
Horace, 65
Hom, Horns, 19, 34, 37, 204, 267, 275
"Horseman's" (The, Secret Society),
216
Horoscope, 28, 41
Horseshoes, 273
Horse-whisperers, 216
Horses, 216, 224
Horus (Eye of), x6o
Hosh'anah Rabba, 51
Hospitals (St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew's), 222
Host, 78, 240, 241, 243
Hounds (Demon), 2li
Hounds of Hell, 65
Hudekins, 214
Hui, 41
Humanity, 242
Hunchback, 57
Hungary, Bo
Husband, Husbands, 23, 165, 176, 188,
210, 2Il
Hut, 157, 183
"Huthart," 214
Hydromancy, 39
Hyenas, li7
Hypnotism, 23, 142, 182, xgo, 216, 258
Hysteria, 94, 107

Iceland, II7
Icon, zoB
Idealism, 68
Idols, Idolatry, Idolaters, 19, 87
Illness, II3, 142, 172
Ill omen, 59
Illusion, 59, 72, 108
Ill will, II3
Image, Images, 52, 62, II3, 174, 186,
xgo, 21 i. 266, 268
Immortality, 102
Impress (of hands), x8
Incantations, 66, 137, 174, 175, 222,
223, 265
Incense, 148, 152, 155, 175, 230, 257,
270
Incubi, 262
India, Indian, Indians, 19, 28, 29, 32,
33, I6I, 162, 187, 188, 201 0 203, 204,
218, 251,262, 273
Indies (East), 171
Infamous, 87
Infants, 107
Infernal, 65, 87
Infidels, 68

286

INDEX

Initiates, Initiation, 18, 74, 87, 138,

196, 197, :u6, 253
Ink, 258
Ink (Sacred), 58
Inner Circle, 230, 239
Innocent (Pope), 156
Inquisition, Inquisitors, 77, 85, 86, 88,
89, 90,91, 92, 105
Inscriptions, 152, 153
Insignia, 153
" Insufllation," 102
Intercourse (with the Devil), 105
Intestines, 79
Intri~e, 68
InviSlble force, 198
Iona, 208
Irish, Ireland, 211, 212, 214, 215,
216, 217, 260
Isabella, 230
Isis, 34, 45, 105, 164, 166, 207, 241
Islam, 87
Islands, 206
Israel, Israelites, 45, 49, 51, 54, I6o
164
Italy, Italians, 96, 108, 115, 121, 139,
141, 157, 159, 163
Izangi, 29

J
Jachiel (Rabbi), 82
J adiigar, 202
Jaki, 31
James I, 223, 224, 225
Japan,Japanese,29,30,3I, 177,266
Java, 201
Jealousy, 68
Jehovah, 21, 45, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56
Jersey (C. I.), 93, 217
Jesuit, 103, 259
Jesus, 269, 272
Jewish Kabala, 20
Jews, Jewish, 27, 47, 49, 51, 54, 55, 71,
209, 236
Joan of Arc, u6, 117
Joan (Pope), 105
John (St.), of Jerusalem, 71
"Jongleurs," 187
Josephus, 49
Joslma (Rabbi), 5o
Josiah, 108
Judah, so
Judgments, 71
Julian (the Apostate), 20
Jupiter, 64
Jupiter Ammon, 41
Jupurari, 191
Ju-ju, 168

Kabala, Kabalistic, 2I, 49, 52, 53, 56

~an!l"alins, 201

INDEX

Kanphatas, 204
"Kamt,"35
K'Chins, 32
Karcist, 148, IS2, 154, 174
Karma,197
Kelly (Edward), 132, 133, 134, 135, 230
Keurten (Peter), u8, 277
Khattushil, 25
Kingdom, Kingdoms, 73, 74, 208, 274
Kiss, Kissing, 1o8
Knife, Knives, 26, 36, 64, 152, I53, 187,
240, 257
Knights Templars, 68, 87, 88, 93
"Kohen," 51
Kohna, 25
Kris, 176
Kundalini, 242
Kyteler (Dame Alicia), 210

La Clavicule de Solomon, I 14
La Dragon Rouge, 146
" Lamia," 59, 6o
Lambe (Dr.), 226
Lapis-lazuli, 268
Lappe, 79
"La Route du T," 147
Laski, 134
Latin, 230
Laurel, 6I, 62
Laval (Gilles de), 93, n6, 117, u8
" Lavecchia religione," I I5, I63
Left-hand, Left-handed, 23, :zor
Left-Hand Path, 232, 236
Left-Hand Occultism, 242
Legend,Legends,2o,76,77,85,89
Le~endary figure, 41
Leicester (Earl of), I 34
Lemingnan (Vicar of St. Eustace), I04
Leopard Society, I68
Leprechauns, 211
Levi (Eiiphas), 15I, 229
Light,68
Lilas, 114
Lilly (William), 226
Lincoln's Inn Fif'lds, I4I
"Linga," 242
Lion's gall, II 1, I I 2
Litanies, 263
Liturgy, 265
Liver, Livers, 20, 24
Lizards, 58
Lamas, 176
"Lodge," I68
Lodge (Sir Oliver), 274

Loeri, 59

London, 138, 254, 256

Lord's Prayer, 240, 271
Lord's Shrine, 68
Lorelei, 108
Louis XVI, 104
Love, 276
Love (charms and spells), 23, 58
Lovers, 58

Love philtres, 65, 161, 179

Luciferians, 2 59
Lycanthropy, 211, 183

M
Madness, 22, 45
Magdalen of the Cross, 105
Magi, 17, 2I, 42
Magic, I7, 2I, 25, 26, 27, 29, 32, 35, 45,
47, 48, so, 51, 58, 64, 75, 81, 133, 144,
ISS, 157. 158, I76, 177. 178, I79.
I8o, I84, 187, I88, I97, 2I5, 252,
278, 279
Magic circle, 2 30
Magic Mirror, I 33, I 52
Magical, 88, 89
Magical impress, 27
Magician, Magicians, 19, 24, 26, 27, 33,
3~ 39. 4I, 42, 4~ 49. 51, 55. 6~ 74.
I44, 145, 148, 154, 155, 157, 25 I
Magnetic, 49, 142
Magnetism, 102
Magnus (Albertus), 95, 136, 14 I
Mahatmas, 176
Male, 53. sB, 112, 160, 161, I62, 256,
258
" Maledictus," 77
" Malefitzhaus," 93
Malkin Tower, 2I3
" Malleus Maleficarum," 88
Mandragonia, II2
Mandrakes, 75, 112, 161
Mango, 198
Mannenen (Son of the Sea), 214
Mannikins, 226
Mantram, 200, 201
Marco Polo, 72
Marduk, 26
Marriage, 32, 2I5, 201
Mars, 7t!, 155, 156
Mars (Field of), 63
Mary Magdalene, 249
Mary (Queen, daughter of Henry VIII),
132
Mask, 182, 241
Masked men, 18, 19
Mass of St. Secaire, 243
Masses, 218, 24<;>, 243
Master (The), 236, 269
Mather (Cotton), 194
May Day, 162
Maypole, I6:z
Maximilian (Emperor), IOI, 102
Medicine, 37
Medicine-man, 182, 183, 187
Medium, Mediums, 33, 45, 55, 182,
Ig6, 256, 277
Mediumistic, 72, 117
Media, 6o
Melanesia, 171
Melancholia, 254
Mendicants, I95
Menelaus, 20
Menippus, 59

287

Mephistopheles, 89
Mercury, 130, I44
Merlin, 81, 208, 2I4
Mesmer, 142, I43
Mesmerism, 142
Mesopotamia, :zo, 23
Michael, 52
Midsummer's Night, 163
Milk, 107, 213
Miracle, so, 5 r
Miracle play, 100
Mistletoe, 207
Mohammedan, 266
Molay de (Jacques), 93
Monastic Knights, 86
Monday, I44
Mongolians, 266
Monkey-worship, 163
Monks, 94, 96, 100, toi, 215
Moon, 26, :z8, 6I, 65, 144, 145, 147, 148,
I 54, I 89, 268
Moon (Temple of the), 20
Moon-God, 25
Moonlit, Moonlight, 64, 78, II2
Moonstones 155
Moors, 95
Monsters, 65, 127
Moses, 51
Mother Chattox, 213
Mother Dundike, 213
Mujik, 122
Mummy, Mummified, 52
Murder, 66, n6, I8I
Myrtle, 58
Mythology, 25
Myths, I7, So
Mystic, Mystics, 37, I 5 I

Nagualism, 190
Nails (Iron), 7 4, 96
N arcissas (Basilisk of), 77
Natholocus, :zo8, 209
Natron, :z68
"Nats,'' 175
Nature Spirits, 244, 250
" Naualli " 186
Navelstrlngs, 183
Nazarene, 6o, I36
Nazareth (Convent of), 99
Nazis (German), 177
Necromancers, 52, II4, 229, 232, 262
Necromancy, so, 65, 78, 133, 156, 163,
183, 220, 221, 231, 232, 235. 276
Nectanebus (King of Egypt), 41
Needles, 82
Neferuba-F (a priest), 58
Negro, 173, 190, 193
Neophyte, 108, 133, 253
Nero, 55, 65
Nevada, 183
New Empire, 19
New shoes, So
New Zealand, 231

288

INDEX

Ngil Society, I78

Nightmare, us, 247
Nine, 53, I47
Norse Sagas, I07
Northern Africa, I77
North America, 188
North American Indians, 20, I83
North Berwick Church, 224, 237
Norwegian (Princess), 223
Nostradamus (Michael), 85
Notre Dame, I3I, 278
Nuns, 96

Oak, 158
Oak sticks, 2IO
Oasis, 41
Ob, 52
Obeah, 162, I88, I89, I9o, I93
Obeah-Men, I9o, 193
Obelisk, 42
Obi, 190
Object, 22
Obscenity, 22
Obscess, 294
Occidental, 196
Occult, Occultists, I7, I 37, I 38, 201
231, 232, 251, 252
Occult Review, 212
Oil, Oils, 27, 57, I54, 264
Ointment, Ointments, 210
Old Lady, 207
Old Man of the Mountains, 72, 73
Old Man's kingdom, 73, 74
Old Master, 189
Old Woman of Berkeley, 218
Oleander tree, I 57
Olibanum, II2
Olympian, 66
Omega, 272
Omens, 173, x8z, 291
Oni, 31
"Ong Cop," 173
Opals, 156
Oracle, Oracles, 27, 28, 29, 32, 61, 239
Oracle (Delphic) 61
Oracular statues, 4 I
Orgies, 179, 187, 209, 241
Oriental Magic, 68, 196
Orinoco River, 190, 266
Orphic egg, 130
Orthodox religion, 48
Osiris, 35, 39, 45, 46
Oslo (Witches of), 224
Ossory (Bishop of), 210, 2II
Osthanes, 57
Otheos, 272
Our Lord, 236
Owls, 107

p
Pact, Pacts, 103, 146, 149, 150
Pagan, Paganism, 48

Pageantry, 46
Pala:olithic Age, I 8
Palmistry, 91
Palladists, 259
Papal Authority, Authorities, 85, 88, 92
Papyrus, 34, 39
Paradise (of Houris), 72
Paracelsus, 75, 85, 153, 225, 246, 25 I
Parliament of Provence, 103
Passion Play, 46
" Pawang," 176
Peasantry, I 4
Peifane (Cure of), 103
Pe-Kar, 31
Pendle Forest, 213
Pentacle, Pentacles, 147, 151
Pentacle of Solomon, 273
Pentagram, 88, 130, ISI
Pentateuch, 47
Pere Ia Chaise (Cemetery of Paris), I 17
Perfected Man, 77
Perfumes, I54, 273
Persia, Persians, 42, 72, 74
Persecutions, 22, 33, 93
Perversion, I 8
Peter (St.), 55
Phallic, 30, I62, 167
Phallic Symbols, 30, 76, 267
Phallic Worship, 20, 159, 166
Phallicism, 165
Phallus, 63, 159, x6o, 163, 267
Pharaoh, Pharaohs, 40, 51
Philippe LeBel, 85, 87, 88
Philosopher-Magician, 59
Philosophers, 61
Philosopher's Stone, I28, 132, I48
Physical sins, 88
Physician, Physicians, 24, 25, 92
Pigments, I8
Pilgrims, 71
Pit, Pits, 64
Pit of Hell, 47
Planets, 28, 155
Poisonous herbs, 2IO
Political intrigue, 68
Political supremacy, 95
Poltergeist, 72
Polycrites, 59
Pompey, 65, 66
Pope, Popes, 95, 103, 104
Pope of Fools, xoo
Possession, 58
Posthumous child, 76
Power, Powers, 32, 34, 51, 67, 91, 95, I02
Prague,89
Pranic energy, 275
P~elate, u6
Prester John, 8 I
Priest, Priests, Priestess, 23, 26, 30, 42,
54, 61, 62, 94, 96, IOI, 103, I07,
164, I9I, 2II, 212, 243, 257, 270
Primitive peoples, 19, 32
Primitive races, 159, 180
Prisoner, Prisoners, 68
Professional exorcist, 26
Prognostications, 29
Prophecy, Prophecies, 6o, 61

INDEX
Prophets, 5 I
Proserpine, 64
Prussia, 79
Psychic, 63, 242
Psychic gifts, 91, 178, 231
Psycho-analysis, 95
Psychologists, 275
Psychology, Psychological, 68, 103
Puberty, 59, 171
"Puffers," 128
Punishment, Punishments, 25, 88, 89
Purple vestments, 144

Q
"Qernt," 35
Querent, 61
" Question" (The), 90
Question (Secret), 239
Quetalcoatl, I86

R
Rabbi, Rabbis, 40, so, 54
" Rainbow " (horse). 216
Rain-dane~. 166
Rain gods, I71, 180
" Raising the Wind," 217
Raiz (Lord of), u6
Ram, 129
Rameses III, 41
Raphael, 52, 152
Rasputin (Gregory), 255, 256
Rays, 53
Raziel, 152
Re-burial, 176
Records, 20
Red, 34
Red Book of Appin, 218
Red Indians, 184, 185
Red Indian sorcerers, 188
Red Man, 193
Red pigs, 213
Red Ray, 237
Red Storax, II2
Red things, 34
Red Voodism, 190
Redeeming blood, 237
Reformation, 225
Regia, 63
Reincarnation, 56
Relic, Relics, 265
Religious ecstasies, I03
Religious exaltation, 94
Religious plays, 100
Religious presentation, 33
Reptiles, I 73
Revitalised (magically), 176
Revolution (French), 143
Rhabdomancy, Rhabdomancers, 145
Rice, 33
Richard Camr de Lion, 73
Richa~d Ill, 221

28g

Richmond, I4I
Right-Hand Path, 20I
Ring, Rings, 73, 155, 156
Ring (Solomon's), 155
Rip!y (George), 131
Rite, Rites, 75, 76, 149, 163, 264
Rites (Voodoo), 190
Rivers, 193
" Robots " 102
Robes (S~arlet), 238
Rod, 148, 152
Rolls House, 105
Romans, 63
Roman Cults, 204
Roman Catholic, 259
Roman Catholic Church, 263
Roman remains, 149
Romany peoples, 27, 268, 275
Romany tongue, 224
Rome, 65, Ioi, 102, IIS, I61, 222, 269
Roscoe (Earl of), 216
Rosa (Johann), 74
Rosicrucian Brotherhood, 225
Rosicrucian doctrines, 225
Rosicrucians, 131, I32, 225
Rotunda, 264
Royal Society, 13I
Royal Square (Jersey), 93
Ruby, Rubies, 155, 156, 266
Rudolf (Emperor), I34
Ruggieri (Cosmos), 141
Russia, 117, 121, 157
Russian tales, I22

s
Sabaioth, 145
Sabbat (witches), 2I, too, u8
Sabbaths, 72, 82, xoo, 106, 108, II I,
161, 237, 241, 256, 258
Sacrament of Hell, 238
Sacraments (Satan's) 241,
Sacrifice, Sacrificed, Sacrificing, Sacrificial, Sacrifices, I9, 21, 28, 31, 32,
III, 149, 163, 164, 166, I68, 175, 207
Sacrificial fires, 207
Sadism, 22, 99
Sadistic (practices), 99
Saffron, I 12, II5
Sagas (Norse), 107
Sages, I29
Sagittarians, 79
Saktas, I62
Saints, 94, 155
Salamanca, 230
Salt, 130, 178, 179
Samandham (Brahmna), 19
Samaria, 55
,
Samuel (the Prophet), 49, 230
Saracens, 68, 87
Satan, 91, Io4, 107, I63, 203
Satan (posterior of), xo8
Satanic archers, 79
Satanic beings, 47
Satanic majesty, 68, 149

290

INDEX

Satanic manifestation, 94
Satanic onslaughts, 99
Satanic powers, xoS
Satanic societies, 194
Satanic treasure, 147
Satanic worship, 161
Satan's name, 21
Satanists, 149
Saturnalia (Roman), 21
Sapf.hire, x56
Sau, 230
Savage tribes, I 64
Scandinavian (stories for children), 121
Scaffolds, ISS
Scapegoat, 55
Scarab, x6o, 266
Scarlet robes, I 44
Scotland, 162, 221, 223, 224, 237
Scott (Michael), 130
Scottish, 217
Scottish Grimorie, 21S
Sea of Tiberius, 269
Sea-otter, xS4
Seal of Solomon, 151
Seances, 246, 249
Secret places, 22
Secret societies, S5, 161, 168, 172, 17S,
277
Seers, 29, 39
Sensitive, 196
Serpent (Jewish), 21
Serpent religions, 20
Serpent worship, 203
Serpents, 52, 186
Serpents (Brazen), 54
Serpents (Fiery), 53, 54
Sextus (son of Pompey), 65, 66
Set (Egyptian god), 21
Seton (Alexander), 130
Seven, 26, 197, 240, 249, 270
Seville, 2 30
Sex, Sexes, 39, 90,154,159, x66
"Sex-appeal," xo6
Sex ceremonial, 162
Sex-forces, 159
Sex rites, 163, 167
Sexual, 94
Sexual depravity, x6o
Sexual instincts, 161
Sexual intercourse, 159
Sexual rites, x6o
Sexuality, 159
Shadows, 77
Shaman, Shamans, xSx, 1S2, 1S5, 187,
191
Shamanism, xSx, 207
Shamanistic (Obeah-Men), 190
Shamish, 2S
Shaw (Jane), 224
" Shells," 244
Shield of David, 151
Shinto, 29
Shipwreck, 217
Shirley (Ron. Ralph), 127
Signs (Magic), 155
"Silt'nt Brothers," 197
Silvester II (Pope), xS3

Simon Magus, 55
Simulacra, 244
"Sin for Salvation," 162
Sinister, 29
Sioux (Indians), 1S4
Siva, 162, 167
Skeleton, 171, 223
"Skryer," "Skryers," 134, 135
Skulls, 31, 75, 172, 238, 257
Snails, 163
Snake charmers, 20
"Snake-dances," 189,203
Snakes (Poisonous), Snakes, 30, 54,
154, 159. 192, 203
Societies, 22
Society (French), 158
Solar, 206
Solomon, 151
"Soma," 177
Sorcerers (Chilian), 192
Sorcerer's paraphernalia, 31
Sorcerers' victims, 18S
Sorceries, 13S, 141
Sorceries (Ecclesiastical), 103
Sorcery, Sorcerer, Sorcerers, Sorceress,
76, 82
Sortilegium, 96
Souls, 30
South Americas, 192
South Sea Islands, 165
Southwell (Thomas), 220
"Sovereign Council of Wisdom," 259
Sowed, 22
Spain, 95, xoS
Spagyric (substances), I 35
Spells, 7S, 161, 217
Spells, 40, 78, 94, 99, xo6, 161, 162, 172,
217
Sperm-a-Ceti, 155
Spinning-wheel, 217
Spirit (Bear), xS5
Spirit, Spirits, 22, 32, 63, 66, 134, 147,
176
Spirits (Elemental), 196
Spirits (Elementary), 196
Spirits (Evil), 192, 202, 203
Spirits (Prince of), II2
Spiritual, 49
Spiritualism, 229, 256
Spiritualist, 232, 246, 252
Spirit World, xSx
Sprenger (]a cob), SS
St. Germain (Count de), x.p
Stake, 106
Stapleton (William), 104
Star of Solomon, 273
"Starezt," 255
Stars, 2S, 23S
Stedingers, 88
Stigmata, 103
Stoics, 262
Stonehenge,2o6
Storax (Red), 154
Storms, 217, 223
Succubus, Succubi, 250, 263
Suetonius, 206
Suicide, 254

INDEX
"Sulphur," 130, 145, 155
Sun, 26, 156, 238
Swastika, 177, 273
"Sweet Moon," 1S9
"Sword" (of Moses), S9
Sword (Paracelsus'), 153
Sword, Swords, 75, 152, 153
Symbol, Symbols, 151, 273
Sympathetic magic, 21

291

Vestments, 154, 238.

Victims, 93, II3, 175, 239
Virgil, 115
Virgin, Virginity, I4S, 163
Virgin Mary, 67, 207
Virgo, I55
Voo-doo, 162, x8S, 189, 190, 193

w
T
Table rapping, 22Q
Tablets, 24, 25, 26
Taboo, Tabu, 27, 164, 171
Talismans, 22, 266
Talmud, 49
Tambours, xS7
Tamerisk, 26
Tarot cards, 105
Tatooed, 265
Taxi! (Leo), 259, 260
Templars, S6, S7, SS
Temple, Temples, 27, 156, 201, 204
Ten Rays, 53
Tent, 1S2
Tenth Sephiroth, 53
"Tetragrammerton," 155
Thebes, 41
Thomas the Rhymer, 81
Thummim (Urim and), 54
Toad, Toads, 107, III
Topaz, 156
Totem, Totems, 54, I73, 183
Totemism, I73
Tree, Trees, 96, 152, 174, x8o, 226
Treasure, 104, I05
Triangle of Pacts, I 46
Trithemius (Abbot of Spanheim), 101
Tromphonius (Oracle of), 61
"Tun-gba-Ltk," I8I
"Twelve Tablets," 63
Tyburn Gallows, 22 I

u
Universal harmony, 276
"Universal Medicine," 140
Urim (and Thummim), 54
Uzza, 47

v
Vampire, Vampires, 59, 61, 65, 122
I26, 2IZ
Van Helmont, 130
Varus, 64
Vedic, I9
Vengeance, 144
Vervain, I4S
Veravesin, 33

Wafer, Wafers, 239, 240, 270, 27S

Wake (Thomas), 220
Wand, Wands, 14S, 207
Wandering Jew, So
Warlocks, 27S
Wars, 7I
Watch-towers, 255
Water, 35, 39, 45, 171, 179, 217, 267
Wax (figures), 21, 26, 35, 39, 40, 5S, 62,
S2
Welsh Bards, 208
Westenra (Colonel) 216
Western, 6S, I75
Western Ocean, 17
West Indies, I6z, 1~8
Werewolves, II7, uS, 121
Whistles, 204
White Magic, 45, 51
"Wicca," zoB
Wife, Wives, II2, 116, 121, 134, 165,
176, I77, xSo
"Wiglaer," 2oS
Will (The power of the), 144
"Wise Woman," 26
Witch, Witches, 24, 34, 4S, so, bt, b3,
6 5, s5, 9 x, ux, 114, 149, zox, 209,
213, 217, 260, 27S
Witchcraft, 28, 4I, 4S, so, II2, u.s,
t86, 20S
Witch-doctor, 172, 173, 17S, 191, 19~.
25S
"Witches Wailing," 217
Wizard, 24
Wolsey (Cardinal), rot
Wolves, 77, rSS, 211
Woodhall (Mr. E. T.), late of Scotland
Yard, 277
Woman, Women, 29, 32, 39, 58, 75, 78,
79, So, S2, 95, uS, 126, 128, 134,
163, 165, 184, 203, 204, 231
Womb, 66

y
Yakshini, 202
Yakuts, 203
"Yalla," S7
Yellow (evil significance), 187
"Yellow-bats," 31
Yellow pigments, 18
Yellow races, xS
Yellow robes, 204

292
Yezides, 203
Yoga, 195, 196, 277, 278
Yoga (Hatha), 195
Yoga philosophy, 195
Yoga (practices), 195, 205
Yoga (Raja), 277

Yoga (Science of Breath), 277

Yoga System, 278
Yogi, 195, 204
Yogini, 204
"Yogis," 195, 196, 201, 204, 205

INDEX
Youghall (The witch of), 214
Yschiros, 263

z
Zodiac, 155
Uhar, 53
Zoroaster, 19
Zoth (or Liber Azoth), 153

itchcraft has been the necessary complement to

organized religion for nearly two thousand years.
Forbidden, placed outside the everyday, it has
been the wilderness to the tended garden of Christianity.

First published in 1936, The Black Art owes a great deal to

Dennis Wheatley's popular success with The Devil Rides Out
which revived public interest in witchcraft in the thirties.
Wheatley's introduction to The Black Art places this
fascination in a twentieth century context.
This authoritative account of witchcraft by Rollo Ahmed
draws on the suppressed knowledge of many cultures.
From ancient Egyptian rites,Jewish Necromancy and
medieval Alchemy, to modern practitioners of Black
Magic, Rollo Ahmed traces the development and practices
of the Black Art to the present. It is of interest to any
reader who has ever considered the interdependence of
the sacred and profane, the play of light on dark.

ISBN 1-85958-048-3
Cover: Skull inscribed with the Vever for the

'primal priestess' Ayizan. The Vever is an

arcane representation of the meeting in sexual

congress between male and female.

l moges Colour Library.

Printed in Guernsey

9 11 7