ON WITCHES

The manner of the witches’ profession is absurd, frivolous, and weak; it is narrated differently by every defendant of that faction who is subjected to questioning. Examples are readily available in the Hammer of Witches original: "Malleo maleficarum" — a famous 15th-century manual for inquisitors on how to identify and prosecute witches, a book so titled, where one reads: The manner of making the profession is twofold: one is solemn, through a likeness to a solemn vow; the other is private, which can be made separately to a demon at any hour. The solemn rite occurs among them when the witches come to a certain assembly on a fixed day and see the demon in the assumed likeness of a man. When he has warned them about keeping faith with him, and has promised success in worldly affairs and a long life, those who are present recommend the novice to be received by him. And if the demon finds the novice or disciple ready to deny the faith, the Christian religion, and the "extended woman" original: "extensa muliere" — a derogatory term used in these accounts to refer to the Virgin Mary, possibly mocking her depiction in art or her presence at the Crucifixion, and never to venerate the sacraments, then the demon extends his hand; and in turn, the disciple or novice, with hand joined, promises that she will observe these things. From here the demon adds that these things are not enough, but he then seeks homage original: "omagium", containing the condition that she give herself to him forever in soul and body, and that she strive to join others of either sex to him. Finally, he adds that she should prepare for him certain ointments from the bones and limbs of children, and especially those reborn in the font of baptism, through which she will be able to fulfill all her instructions with his assistance. We inquisitors (write the authors of the Hammer of Witches) learned of this manner in the town of Breisach in the Diocese of Basel, fully informed by a young witch. Then, later, one reads: Based on the report of the aforementioned inquisitor, I understood that in the Duchy of Lausanne certain sorcerers cooked and ate their own infants. The manner of learning such an art was, as he said, that the sorcerers...

ON WITCHES

...come to a certain assembly, and by their work they likely see the demon in the adopted appearance of a man. To him, the disciple necessarily gives his word concerning the denial of Christianity, never adoring the Eucharist, and trampling upon the cross whenever it can be done secretly. Furthermore, there was a common rumor, as Judge Peter in Boltigen narrated, that in the land of the Bernese thirteen infants had been devoured by witches; for which reason public justice had burned quite harshly against such parricides. Another young man, though married, reports this sequence: First, on the Lord's Day, before the holy water is consecrated, the future disciple must enter the church with his masters, and there deny the faith, etc. Then he performs homage to the "little master" original: "magisterulo"—for that is how they call the demon, and not otherwise. Finally, it follows: He drinks from a skin bottle original: "utre", as you shall hear; once this is done, he immediately feels within himself that he conceives the images of our art and Truly images, that is, a visual fantasy. is imbued and confirmed in the principal rites of this sect. However, when Peter inquired of a captured witch about the manner in which they ate infants, she replied that it was as follows: We lie in wait for infants not yet baptized, or even baptized ones, especially when they are not protected by the sign of the cross and prayers. These we kill in their cradles, or lying at their parents' sides, with our ceremonies; after they are thought to have been smothered or to have died from some other cause, we secretly steal them from the grave and boil them in a pot until, with the bones removed, it becomes almost like drinkable wax. From the more solid matter A terrible ointment. we make an ointment suitable for our desires, actions, and transports original: "transuectionibus" — referring to the belief that witches flew to their gatherings; but from the more liquid fluid we fill a skin bottle, from which whoever A hellish drink. drinks, with a few ceremonies added, is immediately made a master and a participant in our art.

PRO

Witches, Hammer of Witches, Demon, Sorcerer, Inquisitors, Ointment, Children, Sacraments