Chapter XXIV.

Witchcraft.

Minor gods--Saint and Satyr--Tutelaries--Spells--Early Christianity and the poor--Its doctrine as to pagan deities--Mediæval Devils--Devils on the stage--An Abbot's revelations--The fairer deities--Oriental dreams and spirits--Calls for Nemesis--Lilith and her children--Neoplatonicism--Astrology and Alchemy--Devil's College--Shem-hammphorásch--Apollonius of Tyana--Faustus--Black Art Schools--Compacts with the Devil--Blood covenant--Spirit-seances in old times--The Fairfax delusion--Origin of its devil--Witch, goat, and cat--Confessions of Witches--Witchcraft in New England--Witch trials--Salem demonology--Testing witches--Witch trials in Sweden--Witch Sabbath--Mythological elements--Carriers--Scotch Witches--The cauldron--Vervain--Rue--Invocation of Hecaté--Factors of Witch persecution--Three centuries of massacre--Würzburg horrors--Last victims--Modern Spiritualism