To this belief the illusion was now added that by means of magical arts
it was possible to enter into relations with the evil ones, and use
their help to further the purposes of greed, ambition, and sensuality.
Many persons were probably accused of doing so before the time when it
was actually attempted by many; but when the so-called magicians and
witches began to be burned, the deliberate practice of the black art
became more frequent. With the smoke of the fires in which the
suspected victims were sacrificed, were spread the narcotic fumes by
which numbers of ruined characters were drugged into magic; and with
them many calculating impostors became associated.
The primitive and popular form in which the superstition had probably
lived on uninterruptedly from the time of the Romans, was the art of
the witch_(strege)._The witch, so long as she limited herself to mere
divination, might be innocent enough. were it not that the transition
from prophecy to active help could easily, though often imperceptibly,
be a fatal downward step. She was credited in such a case not only with
the power of exciting love or hatred between man and woman, but also
with purely destructive and malignant arts, and was especially charged
with the sickness of little children, even when the malady obviously
came from the neglect and stupidity of the parents.
Pages:
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597