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<titleStmt>
<title>The History of Magic</title>
<author>Kurt Seligmann</author>
</titleStmt>
<publicationStmt>
<p> Published as a project for <name>Illinois State University</name
> course, <name>ENG 416: Best Practices in Digitizing Historical Documents</name
> </p>
</publicationStmt>
<sourceDesc>
<bibl> <title>The History of Magic</title> by <author>Kurt Seligman
n</author>. <pubPlace>New York</pubPlace>: <publisher>Pantheon Books Inc</publis
her>,
<date when="1948">1948</date>. <extent>504 p.</extent>
</bibl>
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<text>
<body>
<pb n = "290" rend="left"/>
<lb />
<head rend="center" type = "title">
<emph style="font-style: normal; font-size: xx-large">DIABOLIC RITES
</emph>
</head>
<head rend="center" type="subtitle">
<emph style="font-style: italic; font-size: large">Black Magic</emph>
</head>
<p rend = "right" style="font-size: small">...that by magical mutterings
rapid rivers
<lb break = "no" />
can be made to run backwards, the ocean be
<lb break = "no" /
>
congealed, the winds robbed of breath, the
sun stopped in his course, the moon made to
" />
drop her foam, the stars plucked from their
<lb break = "no" />
spheres, the day innihilated, and the night <lb break = "no" />
indefinitely prolonged.
<lb break = "no" />
Apuleius, <emph>Metamorphoses, Book I</emph></p>
<p>Turning from the witch to the "black" magician, we may now uncover t
he<lb break="no" />
latter's secret ritual, the means by which he conjures up the infern
al pow-<lb break="no" />
ers, and holds them in servitude. For unlike the witch, who is the s
<p>
"After this, take a bloodstone, as it is known by the druggists who s
ell it,<lb break = "no" />
and two blessed wax candles and select a lonely place where the conju
ration
</p>
<p rend="center" style="font-size: small">Fig. 124. The Devil Pointing o
ut Hidden Treasures</p>
<p>
may proceed undisturbed. Old ruined castles are excellent, for spirit
s like de-<lb break = "no" />
cayed buildings; a remote room in your house may do equally well. Wit
h your<lb break = "no" />
bloodstone, trace a triangle upon the floor, and set the candles at t
he sides of<lb break = "no" />
the triangle. At the bottom of the triangle, write the holy letters I
H S, flanked<lb break = "no" />
by two crosses (fig. 125).
</p>
<p>
"Take your stand within the triangle with your hazel wand and the pap
ers<lb break = "no" />
conatining the conjuration and your demands, and summon the spirit wi
th<lb break = "no" />
hope and firmness:
</p>
<pb n="292" rend="left"/>
<lb />
<p>
" 'Emperor Lucifer, master of the rebellious spirits, I beg you to be
favorable<lb break = "no" />
to me, when now I call for your minister, the great <emph>Lucifuge Ro
focale</emph>, as I<lb break = "no" />
desire to sign a contract with him. I beg also that Prince Beelzebub
may pro-<lb break = "no" />
tect my enterprise. O Astaroth, great count, be favorable likewise, a
nd make it<lb break = "no" />
possible for the great Lucifuge to appear to me in human form and for
ce, with-<lb break = "no" />
out bad odor, and that he grant me, by the agreement which I am ready
to sign<lb break = "no" />
with him, all the riches which I need. O great Lucifuge, I pray that
you leave<lb break = "no" />
your dwelling wherever it may be to come here and speak to me. If you
are
</p>
<p rend="center" style="font-size: small">Fig. 125. Magic Circle</p>
<p>
not willing to come, I will compel you to do so by the power of the g
reat living<lb break = "no" />
God, of the Son and the Spirit. Come promptly, otherwise I will torme
</p>
<p>
Now the conjuror will step out of the magic triangle at the point ind
icated in<lb break = "no" />
figure 125 and follow the evil spirit to the riches, which he will to
uch with the<lb break = "no" />
magic wand. He will also place the agreement upon the treasure, and a
fter<lb break = "no" />
having taken as much money as he can carry, he will return to the mag
ic tri-<lb break = "no" />
angle, walking backward. Then he will dismiss the spirit with these w
ords:
</p>
<p>
"O great Lucifuge, I am satisfied with you; for now I will leave you,
go in<lb break = "no" />
peace, and I permit you to retire wherever you desire, but without no
ise or<lb break = "no" />
stench."
</p>
<p>
and to become rich
This is a simple way of conjuring up the evil powers
<lb break = "no" />
quickly. Other black books prescribe far more complicated rites. Ther
e is, how-<lb break = "no" />
ever, the <emph>Black Pullet</emph> whose virtue is also simplicity.
According to the author,<lb break = "no" />
the magician must carry a black hen that has never laid an egg, to th
e crossing<lb break = "no" />
of two roads; there, at midnight, cut the fowl in half and pronounce
the words:<lb break = "no" />
<emph>"Eloim, Essaim, frugativi et appellavi."</emph> Then he must tu
rn his face towards the<lb break = "no" />
east, kneel down, and pronounce the great appellation, holding a cypr
ess staff<lb break = "no" />
before him and "he" will rise immediately (fig. 127).
</p>
<p>
King Solomon was considered the master of all dealings with the under
world,<lb break = "no" />
and many "original" texts of his conjuration circulated among the mag
icians.<lb break = "no" />
the wording was Hebrew, written in Roman characters (fig. 128). Solom
on's<lb break = "no" />
seal was considered a most efficacious magic design, recommended by P
eter<lb break = "no" />
of Abano for the summoning of an air spirit. It should take place whe
n the<lb break = "no" />
moon is expanding (fig. 129). Another magic design, four concentric c
ircles,<lb break = "no" />
Abano recommends for the invocation of good spirits in the first hour
of the
</p>
<pb n="295" rend="left"/>
<lb />
<p>
Lord's day in springtime. It is a circle of white magic in appearance
, the name<lb break = "no" />
of Varcan being that of the Lord's king-angel of the air; Tus, Andas
and Cyna-<lb break = "no" />
bel are his holy ministers. The highest angels of the Lord's day, Aba
no says,<lb break = "no" />
are Michael, Dardiel and Huratapal. The wihd which carries them is th
e north
</p>
<p rend="center" style="font-size: small"> Fig. 127. Apparition by the S
ecret of the Black Hen</p>
<p>
wind. These angels may be invoked in magical ceremonies which should
be<lb break = "no" />
rendered efficacious with incense made of red sanders.
</p>
<p>
Other magic circles and signs may be found in the rare black books wr
ongly<lb break = "no" />
attributed to Pope Honorius, in the <emph>Little Albert</emph>, and i
n the <emph>Red Dragon</emph>. Espe-<lb break = "no" />
cially suggestive symbols illustrate a series of works attributed to
the arch-<lb break = "no" />
wizard, Dr. Johann Faust, who lived in the sixteenth century.
</p>
<p>
There are several versions of the Faustian <emph>Hllenzwang</emph> (Hel
l's Coercion),<lb break = "no" />
like that said to have been printed in Rome during the pontificate of
Alexander<lb break = "no" />
VI (1492-1503). It is known, however, that Faust did not start his oc
cult career<lb break = "no" />
before 1525, or even 1530, a fact which makes the little treatise som
ewhat sus-<lb break = "no" />
picious. At any rate, the magic drawings which it presents are very f
ine. Figure<lb break = "no" />
130 shows Faust's magic circle inscribed with Hebrew letters, and his
wand.
</p>
<pb n="296" rend="left"/>
<p rend="center" style="font-size: small"> Fig. 128. Magical Incantation
According to the Key of Solomon</p>
<pb n="297" rend="left"/>
<lb />
<p rend="center" style="font-size: small"> Fig. 129. The Great Magic Cir
cle of Agrippa</p>
<pb n="298" rend="left"/>
<lb />
<lb />
<p>
profile that does not fit his lyrical name. Brigadier <emph>Sargatana
s'</emph> signature is a<lb break = "no" />
butterfly of hell, and <emph>Nebiros</emph>, the field marshal, has a
dopted as his seal a leaf<lb break = "no" />
and a being which is half insect, half baby. These quasi-official eff
igies are not<lb break = "no" />
very frightening. Are they caricatures drawn by some fearless humoris
t?
</p>
<p>
Related closely to the conjuration of devils by the magician is the o
ld necro-<lb break = "no" />
mantic art, the evocation of the dead. At the operator's demand, they
rise from<lb break = "no" />
the tomb to reveal the future and to tell of treasures which they had
hidden<lb break = "no" />
during their lifetime.
</p>
<p>
The deceased walking by night appear often without being summoned; at
<lb break = "no" />
times they form weird processions, marching silently thorugh the terr
ified city.<lb break = "no" />
In Mediterranean countries, this belief is still alive, and in many t
owns the in-<lb break = "no" />
habitants barricade themselves in their homes at nightfall, in fear o
f the wan-<lb break = "no" />
dering dead.
</p>
<p>
Sometimes these ghosts are garrulous, adding thus to the terror of th
eir<lb break = "no" />
appearance. So in Shakespeare's <emph>Hamlet</emph>, "the sheeted dea
d did squeek and<lb break = "no" />
gibber in the Roman streets."
</p>
<p>
Ghosts do not find peace in their graves because they have committed
evil,<lb break = "no" />
have neglected to accomplish something important during their lifetim
e, or<lb break = "no" />
have taken a secret with them to the grave. They return but, having b
een sepa-<lb break = "no" />
rated from life, they behave in unnatural and incomprehensible ways.
They<lb break = "no" />
guard their money chests yet are unable to reveal the place where the
se are<lb break = "no" />
buried. They stare, mumble, remain immobile. They walk without moving
their<lb break = "no" />
legs, they haunt the places which they used to like, unable to forget
the de-<lb break = "no" />
lights of life which have now become alien to them. They sit in their
rocking<lb break = "no" />
spot, the necromancer returns to the grave, where his experiment bega
n, and<lb break = "no" />
with his left hand he traces a cross upon the stone.
</p>
<p>
The instructions on the black book end like this: "Do not forget the
slightest<lb break = "no" />
detail of the ceremonial as it is pre<lb break = "no" />
into the snares of hell."
</p>
<pb n="306" rend="left"/>
<lb />
<p rend="center" style="font-size: small"> Fig. 136. Ideal Portrait of D
octor Faustus</p>
</body>
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