{"collection":"Paganism & Neopaganism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/pag/mm/mm02a00a.htm","path":"pag/mm/mm02a00a.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/mm02a00a.htm","text":"Of those against whom the Power of Witches availeth not at all.\nThe second main part of this work deals with the method of procedure\nadopted by witches for the performance of their witchcraft; and these are\ndistinguished under eighteen heads, proceeding from two chief difficulties.\nThe first of these two, dealt with in the beginning, concerns protective\nremedies, by which a man is rendered immune from witchcraft: the second,\ndealt with at the end, concerns curative remedies, by which those who\nare bewitched can be cured. For, as Aristotle says (Physics, IV),\nprevention and cure are related to one another, and are, accidentally,\nmatters of causation. In this way the whole foundation of this horrible\nheresy may be made clear.\nIn the above two divisions, the following points will be principally\nemphasized. First, the initiation of witches, and their profession of\nsacrilege. Second, the progress of their method of working, and of their\nhorrible observances. Third, the preventive protections against their\nwitchcrafts. And because we are now dealing with matters relating to morals\nand behaviour, and there is no need for a variety of arguments and\ndisquisitions, since those matters which now follow under their headings\nare sufficiently discussed in the foregoing Questions; therefore we pray\nGod that the reader will not look for proofs in every case, since it is\nenough to adduce examples that have been personally seen or heard, or are\naccepted at the word of credible witnesses.\nIn the first of the points mentioned, two matters will be chiefly examined:\nfirst, the various methods of enticement adopted by the devil himself;\nsecond, the various ways in which witches profess their heresy. And in the\nsecond of the main points, six matters will be examined in order, relating\nto the procedure of witchcraft, and its cure. First, the practices of witches\nwith regard to themselves and their own bodies. Second, their practices with\nregard to other men. Third, those relating to beasts. Fourth, the mischief\nthey do to the fruits of the earth. Fifth, those kinds of witchcraft which\nare practised by men only and not by women. Sixth, the question of removing\nwitchcraft, and how those who are bewitched may be cured. The First Question,\ntherefore, is divided into eighteen heads, since in so many ways are their\nobservances varied and multiplied.\nIt is asked whether a man can be so blessed by the good Angels that he\ncannot be bewitched by witches in any of the ways that follow. And it seems\nthat he cannot, for it has already been proved that even the blameless and\ninnocent and the just are often afflicted by devils, as was Job; and many\ninnocent children, as well as countless other just men, are seen to be\nbewitched, although not to the same extent as sinners; for they are not\nafflicted in the perdition of their souls, but only in their worldly goods\nand their bodies. But the contrary is indicated by the confessions of\nwitches, namely, that they cannot injure everybody, but only those whom they\nlearn, through the information of devils, to be destitute of Divine help. Answer. There are three classes of men blessed by God, whom that\ndetestable race cannot injure with their witchcraft. And the first are those\nwho administer public justice against them, or prosecute them in any public\nofficial capacity. The second are those who, according to the traditional\nand holy rites of the Church, make lawful use of the power and virtue which\nthe Church by her exorcisms furnishes in the aspersion of Holy Water, the\ntaking of consecrated salt, the carrying of blessed candles on the Day of\nthe Purification of Our Lady, of palm leaves upon Palm Sunday, and men who\nthus fortify themselves are acting so that the powers of devils are\ndiminished; and of these we shall speak later. The third class are those who,\nin various and infinite ways, are blessed by the Holy Angels.\nThe reason for this in the first class will be given and proved by various\nexamples. For since, as S. Paul says, all power if from God, and a sword\nfor the avenging of the wicked and the retribution of the good, it is no\nwonder that devils are kept at bay when justice is being done to avenge\nthat horrible crime.\nTo the same effect the Doctors note that there are five ways in which the\ndevil's power is hindered, either wholly or in part. First, by a limit fixed\nby God to his power, as is seen in Job i and ii. Another example is\nthe case of the man we read of in the Formicarius of Nider, who had\nconfessed to a judge that he had invoked the devil in order that he might\nkill an enemy of his, or do him bodily harm, or strike him dead with\nlightning. And he said: \u201cWhen I had invoked the devil that I might\ncommit such a deed with his help, he answered me that he was unable to do\nany of those things, because the man had good faith and diligently defended\nhimself with the sign of the cross; and that therefore he could not harm him\nin his body, but the most he could do was to destroy an eleventh part of the\nfruit of his lands.\u201d\nSecondly, it is hindered by the application of some exterior force, as in\nthe case of Balaam's ass, Numbers xxii. Thirdly, by some externally\nperformed miracle of power. And there are some who are blessed with an\nunique privilege, as will be shown later in the case of the third class of\nmen who cannot be bewitched. Fourthly, by the good providence of God, Who\ndisposes each thing severally, and causes a good Angel to stand in the\ndevil's way, as when Asmodeus killed the seven husbands of the virgin Sara,\nbut did not kill Tobias.\nFifthly, it is sometimes due to the caution of the devil himself, for at\ntimes he does not wish to do hurt, in order that worse may follow from it.\nAs, for example, when he could molest the excommunicated but does not do\nso, as in the case of the excommunicated Corinthian (I. Corinthians\nv), in order that he may weaken the faith of the Church in the power of such\nbanishment. Therefore we may similarly say that, even if the administrators\nof public justice were not protected by Divine power, yet the devils often\nof their own accord withdraw their support and guardianship from witches,\neither because they fear their conversion, or because they desire and hasten\ntheir damnation.\nThis fact is proved also by actual experience. For the aforesaid Doctor\naffirms that witches have borne witness that it is a fact of their own\nexperience that, merely because they have been taken by officials of public\njustice, they have immediately lost all their power of witchcraft. For\nexample, a judge named Peter, whom we have mentioned before, wished his\nofficials to arrest a certain witch called\nStadlin; but their hands were seized with\nso great a trembling, and such a nauseous stench came into their nostrils,\nthat they gave up hope of daring to touch the witch. And the judge commanded\nthem, saying: \u201cYou may safely arrest the wretch, for when he is\ntouched by the hand of public justice, he will lose all the power of his\niniquity.\u201d And so the event proved; for he was taken and burned for\nmany witchcrafts perpetrated by him, which are mentioned here and there in\nthis work in their appropriate places.\nAnd many more such experiences have happened to us Inquisitors in the\nexercise of our inquisitorial office, which would turn the mind of the\nreader to wonder if it were expedient to relate them. But since self-praise\nis sordid and mean, it is better to pass them over in silence than to incur\nthe stigma of boastfulness and conceit. But we must except those which have\nbecome so well known that they cannot be concealed.\nNot long ago in the town of Ratisbon the magistrates had condemned a witch\nto be burned, and were asked why it was that we Inquisitors were not\nafflicted like other men with witchcraft. They answered that witches had\noften tried to injure them, but could not. And, being asked the reason for\nthis, they answered that they did not know, unless it was because the devils\nhad warned them against doing so. For, they said, it would be impossible to\ntell how many times they have pestered us by day and by night, now in the\nform of apes, not of dogs or goats, disturbing us with their cries and\ninsults; fetching us from our beds at their blasphemous prayers, so that we\nhave stood outside the window of their prison, which was so high that no one\ncould reach it without the longest of ladders; and then they have seemed to\nstick the pins with which their head-cloth was fastened violently into their\nheads. But praise be to Almighty God, Who in His pity, and for no merit of\nour own, has preserved us as unworthy public servants of the justice of the\nFaith.\nThe reason in the case of the second class of men is self-evident. For the\nexorcisms of the Church are for this very purpose, and are entirely\nefficacious remedies for preserving oneself from the injuries of witches.\nBut if it is asked in what manner a man ought to use such protections, we\nmust speak first of those that are used without the uttering of sacred words,\nand then of the actual sacred invocations. For in the first place it is\nlawful in any decent habitation of men or beasts to sprinkle Holy Water for\nthe safety and securing of men and beasts, with the invocation of the Most\nHoly Trinity and a Paternoster. For it is said in the Office of Exorcism,\nthat wherever it is sprinkled, all uncleanness is purified, all harm is\nrepelled, and no pestilent spirit can abide there, etc. For the Lord saves\nboth man and beast, according to the Prophet, each in his degree.\nSecondly, just as the first must necessarily be sprinkled, so in the case of\na Blessed Candle, although it is more appropriate to light it, the wax of it\nmay with advantage be sprinkled about dwelling-houses. And thirdly, it is\nexpedient to place or to burn consecrated herbs in those rooms where they\ncan best be consumed in some convenient place.\nNow it happened in the city of Spires, in the same year that this book was\nbegun, that a certain devout woman held conversation with a suspected witch,\nand, after the manner of women, they used abusive words to each other. But\nin the night she wished to put her little suckling child in its cradle, and\nremembered her encounter that day with the suspected witch. So, fearing some\ndanger to the child, she placed consecrated herbs under it, sprinkled it\nwith Holy Water, put a little Blessed Salt to its lips, signed it with the\nSign of the Cross, and diligently secured the cradle. About the middle of\nthe night she heard the child crying, and, as women do, wished to embrace\nthe child, and life the cradle on to her bed. She lifted the candle, indeed,\nbut could not embrace the child, because he was not there. The poor woman,\nin terror, and bitterly weeping for the loss of her child, lit a light, and\nfound the child in a corner under a chair, crying but unhurt.\nIn this it may be seen what virtue there is in the exorcisms of the Church\nagainst the snares of the devil. It is manifest that Almighty God, in His\nmercy and wisdom which extend from end to end, watches over the deeds of\nthose wicked men; and that he gently directs the witchcraft of devils, so\nthat when they try to diminish and weaken the Faith, they on the contrary\nstrengthen it and make it more firmly rooted in the hearts of many. For the\nfaithful may derive much profit from these evils; when, by reason of devils'\nworks, the faith is made strong, God's mercy is seen, and His power\nmanifested, and men are led into His keeping and to the reverence of Christ's\nPassion, and are enlightened by the ceremonies of the Church.\nThere lived in a town of Wiesenthal a certain Mayor who was bewitched with\nthe most terrible pains and bodily contortions; and he discovered, not by\nmeans of other witches, but from his own experience, how that witchcraft\nhad been practised on him. For he said he was in the habit of fortifying\nhimself every Sunday with Blessed Salt and Holy Water, but that he had\nneglected to do so on one occasion owing to the celebration of somebody's\nmarriage; and on that same day he was bewitched.\nIn Ratisbon a man was being tempted by the devil in the form of a woman to\ncopulate, and became greatly disturbed when the devil would not desist. But\nit came into the poor man's mind that he ought to defend himself by taking\nBlessed Salt, as he had heard in a sermon. So, he took some Blessed Salt on\nentering the bath-room; and the woman looked fiercely at him, and, cursing\nwhatever devil had taught him to do this, suddenly disappeared. For the\ndevil can, with God's permission, present himself either in the form of a\nwitch, or by possessing the body of an actual witch.\nThere were also three companions walking along a road, and two of them were\nstruck by lightning. The third was terrified, when he heard voices speaking\nin the air, \u201cLet us strike him too.\u201d But another voice answered,\n\u201cWe cannot, for to-day he has heard the words \u2018The Word was\nmade Flesh.\u2019\u201d And he understood that he had been saved because\nhe had that day heard Mass, and, at the end of the Mass, the Gospel of S.\nJohn: In the beginning was the Word, etc.\nAlso sacred words bound to the body are marvellously protective, if seven\nconditions for their use are observed. But these will be mentioned in the\nlast Question of this Second Part, where we speak of curative, as here we\nspeak of preventive measures. And those sacred words help not only to\nprotect, but also to cure those who are bewitched.\nBut the surest protection for places, men, or animals are the words of the\ntriumphal title of our Saviour, if they be written in four places in the\nform of a cross: IESUS \u2020 NAZARENUS \u2020 REX \u2020 IUDAEORUM \u2020.\nThere may also be added the name of MARY and of the Evangelists, or the\nwords of S. John: The Word was made Flesh.\nBut the third class of men which cannot be hurt by witches is the most\nremarkable; for they are protected by a special Angelic guardianship, both\nwithin and without. Within, by the inpouring of grace; without, by the\nvirtue of the stars, that is, by the protection of the Powers which move\nthe stars. And this class is divided into two sections of the Elect: for\nsome are protected against all sorts of witchcrafts, so that they can be\nhurt in no way; and others are particularly rendered chaste by the good\nAngels with regard to the generative functions, just as evil spirits by\ntheir witchcrafts inflame the lusts of certain wicked men towards one woman,\nwhile they make them cold towards another.\nAnd their interior and exterior protection, by grace and by the influence\nof the stars, is explained as follows. For though it is God Himself Who\npours grace into our souls, and no other creature has so great power as to\ndo this (as it is said: The Lord will give grace and glory); yet, when God\nwished to bestow some especial grace, He does so in a dispositive way\nthrough the agency of a good Angel, as S. Thomas teaches us in a certain\nplace in the Third Book of Sentences.\nNext: Chapter I Of the several Methods by which Devils through Witches Entice and Allure the Innocent to the Increase of that Horrid Craft and Company.","title":"Malleus Maleficarum Part 2 Question I","type":"page"}