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 The Enchanted World

CI>€$6CReCJIRC$
 The Enchanted World

CB€$€CR€CJIRCS
by the Editors of Time-Life Books
 Cbe Content
Chapter One

Cbc Power Of tbclUor(l*6

The Secret Script of Egypt's Priestly Mages . 8

Inscriptions Charged with Occult Force . 15

A Hoary Charm from Magic's Morning . 17

A Calligraphic Cure for Stomach Pains • 22

Chapter Two

Decoding Destiny 24
Revelations Writ in Flesh • 27
An Arithmetical Talisman . 36
Mother of All the Triads . 37
Ghostly Replicas Presaging Doom . 39

The Esoteric Number . 40

Chapter Three

J1rcanel)arntonie$*44
Collusions of Sweet Sounds and Savagery . 46
A Demon Army Put to Flight . 54

Chapter Four

ClKUIitcb'$Kitcbcn-6o
A Lethal Antidote to Hostile Spells . 72
Opening Windows on a Hidden World • 73
 Chapter Five

EapidaryCoreso
The Chain of Cosmic Connections . 86
Living Liquid Turned to Stone . 89

A Sage's Golden Quest . 94

Chapter Six

mirrors and metals 100

Trapped in the Enchanter's Web . 109

A Romany Ritual to Catch a Thief .110

Chapter Seven

Jimagician'sHrsenaliH
Defenses against Spiritual Assault . 124

The War between

Light and Darkness . 1 32

Time-Life Books . Alexandria, Virginia

 Chapter One

Cbe Power
oftbeOlord

Tnsatiable in their lust for knowledge,

the practitioners of magic yearned to
see beyond the tangible world, to
learn the secret laws that governed
the fates of souls and nations In every
age, scholars sought to piece together
fragments of these hidden tmths, and to
grant themselves a kind of immortality by
preserving their hard-won discoveries for
adepts as yet unborn
Their messages took different forms
Fragile baked-clay tablets bore cuneiform
impressions made with reed pens when
the clay was new and soft Carved hiero-
glyphic charms were sealed in the
changeless air of Pharaohs' under- '

ground tombs Shreds of papyrus lay '

deep under hot sands that over the centur-

ies crept whispering away, revealing /
the scrolls finally to the eyes of
y
mystified herdsmen Tall sentinel /
stones inscribed with spidery runes
wept with the gentle rain that
soaked the hillsides where they
stood Heavy volumes with
black-lettered pages were
chained out of sight in

monastic libraries. Encap-

'^^W1I,

-:-^»^^
i
J^ r V

wSrT
 sulated in silent characters, the words ations far beyond the comprehension of
waited, charged with arcane powers all but the most gifted initiates Every
To those adventurers who would crack scholar spoke of this legendary text, but
their codes, the chroniclers passed on a none had ever seen it

caveat The secrets of the universe were Nefrekeptah immediately offered any
not lightly disclosed, any unworthy soul price for knowledge of the Book's where- j

who probed too deep risked an unspeak- abouts All the priest asked in payment
able fate Yet the lure of knowledge often was a hundred bars of silver and a burial

overcame the dictates of caution with royal privileges This granted, he

Cbe secret script of One seeker who could not quit the told the Pharaoh's son that the Book lay
Egypt's priestly mages quest despite the cost was Prince Nefre- in the innermost casket of a nested series
For the scribes of ancient Egypt, the keptah, son of an eighteenth-dynasty of boxes sunk in the Nile at Koptos, far to
written word, whether set down on
Pharaoh and an accomplished sorcerer in the south Reptiles and scorpions sur-
papyrus or etched in stone, was a
gift from the gods But hieroglyphs his own right Dedicated to the pursuit of rounded it, and a deathless serpent pro-
were more than abstract symbols
occult wisdom, he spent his days studying tected it from thieves
Each one embodied the very spirit of
the object it represented Eternal the texts that were carved on the walls of Nefrekeptah brought this news to his
life could be gained, or an enemy's
the temples and within the pyramids of wife, Ahura, who, according to pharaon-
spirit destroyed, by the judicious use
of these figures Egypt's long-dead Kings ic custom, was also his sister She was the
The most powerful of all the
It happened once in an ancient shrine companion of his heart in everything,
hieroglyphs was the ankh, a looped
cross that symbolized life itself A at Memphis, when the Prince was pursu- and the mother of Merab, his idolized
Pharaoh anxious to protect himself
after death from the ravages of grave
ing his researches, that a harsh laugh in- young son. Convinced that evil would
robbers or the envy of ambitious terrupted his concentration He turned come of her husband's fanatical pursuit of
relatives could ensure his soul's sur-
from the hieroglyphs he was transcribing knowledge, Ahura begged him to desist.
vival by instructing the painter of
his tomb to depict him with the to find that a temple priest stood watch- But Nefrekeptah ignored her From the
sacred ankh held beneath his nose,
ing him. The man asked Nefrekeptah Pharaoh, father to them both, he begged
seat of the body's vital forces So
long as the image remained undis- why he wasted his time on trivialities for the use of the royal barge. With
turbed, his spirit would live on, in-
when, if he wished, he could go straight Ahura and Merab, he sailed to Koptos in
haling the very breath of life

to the fountainhead of all knowledge search of the Book.

Nefrekeptah's pulse raced He knew
that the priest meant the Book of Thoth,
written by the deity of that name, patron m Ht Koptos he setded his wife and
of wisdom and scribe of the gods, the in- •^ Bson in a riverside palace, and
ventor of speech itself The Book's forty- went alone to the bank of the Nile to be-
two scrolls contained all the wisdom of gin his preparations If the fishermen had
the world: TTie very first lines imparted looked up from their nets, or the peasants
to the reader an understanding of the from their fields, they would have seen
languages of all living creatures, the next something wonderful and strange. For
passage revealed the secrets of the divin- Nefrekeptah conjured out of nothing a
ities, and all that was hidden in the stars small house, no larger than the inner
The pages that followed contained revel- chamber of a tomb With whispered
 —

spells he created an army of small statues,

men in miniature, and imbued them with

life Then he set them all to work
Some were commanded to load the

barge up with sand from the riverbank,

which they did with an alacrity that no
human laborer, many times their size,

could equal The others Nefrekeptah or-

dered into the little house, which, by

means of spells and with the aid of a

stout rope, he proceeded to lower

inch by inch — until it rested on the

bottom of the Nile With solemn

words of invocation, the sorcerer-

prince called on his creatures to search

the riverbed until they found the Book of

Thoth, and at once they appeared, shim-

mering under the surface, as at home in

water as in air After three days and nights

of painstaking toil, one of them swam up
through the water to tell Nefrekeptah
that the Book had been found
Smiling at his own cunning, Nefrekep-

tah called out again and the small crea-

tures began to shovel the sand from the
barge into the river, spadeful by spadeful,

forming a shoal that gradually rose up to-

ward the light and broke the surface of

the water Step by step, the miniature

slaves pushed their prize up the under-

water hill of sand until finally, alive with

writhing reptiles and scorpions, the box

containing the Book of Thoth emerged
into daylight The serpent that could not

die lay coiled around it

Nefrekeptah stepped from the river-

bank onto the shoal With a cry of com-

mand, he stmck the snnkes and scorpions
into immobility However, the great ser-

pent was immune to spells as well as

The lUKtatl EclypUiim rcpcmi ihc Ihis-haulcil daiy Thoih, nirailot of

the art of iprilitul, tpho hiui raordcd o)i scrolU dll ihc sards oj llw iiHiprrsc,
 Learning that the Book oj Thoth lay buried beneath the Nile, one intrepid seeker after

truth used his magical prowess to create an army oj manikins who could labor in the

watery depths. They searched until they unearthed a chest containing the precious text.

10
to physical assaults, when Nefrekeptah within moments, she too possessed the

smote off its head, the two parts instantly miraculous knowledge

drew toward each other. But the Prince But it did her little good, for Nefrekep-

was as quick-witted as he was skilled in tah committed an act of sacrilege that

the magic arts, and by sealing the cut sur- called down wrath upon their heads To
faces of the snake's body and head with make the spells his own, he copied them
sand, he prevented the two pieces from on sheets of papyrus Over the writing he

knitting together Helpless at last, the poured barley beer, so that the ink, still

box's faithful guardian lay inanimate, its wet, mingled with the brew, and ran
muscular coils slack and useless, as its down the pages into a cup Raising the

conqueror rifled the treasure that it had vessel to his lips, the Prince imbibed the

watched since the dawn of time liquid, and thus took the magic words
into his own body Triumphant, he of-

fered a draught to Ahura, but she clamped

Bust as the priest had described, each her lips together and shook her head in

^^Pbox concealed another The outer- anguished refusal

most was of iron, the next bronze, the Punishment came swifdy The family

third wrought of sycamore wood Inside it set off for Memphis, but the royal barge

was a case of exquisite workmanship, they sat in swung around in the water, to

made of ivory and ebony, containing a float above the spot where the Book had
silver casket that itself enclosed a box rested As it hovered, the litde boy Mer-

fashioned from gold ab rose from his place, as if in a dream,

Opening them with trembling fingers, and walked straight off the deck into the
Nefrekeptah at last set eyes upon his water, where he sank from sight With
treasure the forty-two small scrolls that trembling hands Nefrekeptah found a

made up the Rook of Thoth He took the spell in the Book of Thoth that drew the
first scroll in his hands and scanned it child's body to the surface But no magic

Then he raised his head All at once he existed that could bring him back to life

understood the calls of the water birds and Shattered, Nefrekeptah and Ahura re-

the language of the land creatures Even turned to shore to bury their child ac-

the hissing of snakes had meaning He cording to the ancient rites At last thev

read on, then gazed up at the heavens, set out again to bring their lather the

and knew the secrets of the stars news of their misfortune But when they

(Jutching his prize, Nefrekeptah hur- came to the place where Merab had died,

ried back t(j AhuoT Thmstmg the scrolls Ahura too was drawn, entranced and un-
nt her, he implored her to cast her eyes resisting, out ol the boat to drown in the

over the (irst lines The woman recoiled river A second lime, Nelrekt ptah used

at the sight, as if the snakes and scorpions his sorceiy to redeem the body trom the
still writhed around the scrolls But she water, but he could not restore his lie

yielded to her tuisbnnd's entreaties Aiul loved to lile 1 U- iituilKd to Koplos oiue

II
 Having vanc^uished the serpents and scorpions that guarded the Book,

the scholar devoured the scrolls with his eyes. Instantly, he found he

could see the immortal gods and understand the language oj the beasts.

12
 1

^<

0^

1^
 —

more, borne down by grief, to bury his Celtic seers crooning for long nights in

wife beside their child the smoky gloom of rainswept hovels,-

A third time, Nefrekeptah set out for gowned scholars solitary at midnight be-
Memphis. As his barge progressed along hind the tall, leaded windows of medieval
the waterway, many people paused in casdes, appalled but unflinching in their

their labors — farmers and fishermen, car- obsessional quest, Moorish philosophers

penters and scribes, cooks and priests working quietly in the austere peace of

to watch the scion of Egypt's royal house marbled Cordoban courts.

pass by But Nefrekeptah never appeared

on deck, no banners fluttered, and no
rowers chanted as the barge
between the reed-fringed banks
slid silently

Some
One of the greatest of the inquirers

into such mysteries was the Ren-

folk claimed, much later, that they had aissance polymath Heinrich Cornelius
heard inhuman noises emanating from Agrippa von Nettesheim, whose life was
the craft: hissing, wailing, screams and spent searching tirelessly through the

howls After a long, slow voyage, the works of ancient and modem writers to

boat arrived at last at Egypt's capital city perfect his own system of occult philos-

and the Pharaoh came on board to greet ophy If any man deserved to partake
his son. But all was silent In the cabin lay of mystic knowledge it was he, for his

the corpse of Nefrekeptah, its sighdess scholarship was boundless and his respect

eyes open wide On his breast were for the unseen powers profound
draped the scrolls of the Book of Thoth But in his house, the story was told,

So was Nefrekeptah destroyed for his there lodged a student who possessed
presumption in appropriating the book of none of the master's wisdom. One day,

all books, which contained in its purest when the man was away from
great

form the body of knowledge that gave home, the student managed to slip into
power over the whole of creation But his Agrippa's study The young meddler read

fate deterreu few In every age appeared the open pages of the book on the lec-

power-seekers ready to risk everything to tern, then turned the leaves (made, it was
gain possession of the priceless discover- whispered afterward, of dead men's skin)
ies of vanished masters, ready to follow up in awestmck fascination So absorbed was
the slightest mmor that might lead them he that at first he was not aware of an-
to the secrets of ages past other figure in the room When he did
Diverse figures stood in Nefrekeptah's look up, he nearly died of fright, for there

succession: stiff-bearded Assyrian sorcer- stood before him a demon — it might have
ers, turning their eyes to the heavens,- been the Devil himself —
who demanded
wizened sibyls in sacred groves, reeling to know why he had been sent for The
from narcotic fumes as they strove to student had no answer but a gasp of hor-
hold the tmths that they had glimpsed ror, and the demon throttled him on the
through the rents in their consciousness. spot, leaving his corpse as a warning

14
 Inscriptions charged
with occult force
Odin, tather and chief ot the Norse
gods, passed on his knowledge of
magic and rune-lore to poets, sor-

cerers, sages and other especially

favored mortals The runes in his

gift constituted an alphabet for uTit-

ing But they were far more than
mere symbols Initiates knew them
as actual sources of power — tools
and weapons of wizardry
Tliose who understood the se-

crets of the runes knew the proper

figures to inscribe on a sword to pro-
tect its owner in battle, or which
runes to carv'e on a tombstone to
keep evil spirits at bay The cun-
ning of some runemasters ran so
deep that their inscriptions could
even control the dead preventing a
restless corpse from rising and wan-

dering, or causing a hanged man to

walk and speak
But men of such prodigious power
inspired more fear than admiration
in Europes dark ages of rival cults
and wamng tribes Kings and priests
looked upon them with suspicion
In some lands the very possession of
a tablet filled with wonder-working
runes became a punishable crime
Adepts were burned to death, and
their knowledge disappeared with
them In the remotest regions, their
carved stones survived as objects of
mystery and menace But the real
power of the runes was lost forever

15
against interference with the dangerous
powers contained in books Agrippa, it

was said, took no more students into his

house from that day forward

The country people of Brittany, in
knew all too well the perils
former times,
that attended books, and would have been
glad to have had nothing to do with the
insidious objects But, against their will,

these folk were the guardians of certain

volumes of great antiquity and power
which were known, after the famous
philosopher, as Agrippas Originally the
Agrippas had resided in the keeping of the
priests to whom the peasants looked for
spiritual protection While the books lay

safely under lock and key in monastic

libraries, the holy aura of the Church
sufficed to contain the demonic forces
 ABRACADABRA
bottled within them But in a troubled The possession of an Agrippa, with all ABRACADABR
era, when the Church was torn by strife the troubles that it brought, was a life ABRACADAB
and its priests scattered, some of the sentence — or worse than that When its
ABRACADA
Agrippas found their way into the pos- owner was dying, the Agrippa, sensing AB R A C AD
session of ordinary families, who were left abandonment, would create a terrible
A B RA C A
to cope unaided with the dark, intricate uproar, driving the farm animals to a
A B RA C
knowledge from a vanished age frenzy, shaking the stone walls of the
The only
AB RA
The potency of an Agrippa came from house and its outbuildings

force that could stop was a ritual exor-

AB R
the fact that it was signed by the Devil it

himself Its text listed the names of all de- cism by the parish priest Instructed by AB
and indicated the services they the cleric, the family would light a pile of
A
mons,
could perform for humankind: the gratifi- straw and haul the Agrippa onto the
Hboarv Charm
cation of lusts, the acquisition of knowl- flames The great book would burn with from magics morning
edge otherwise forbidden and of wealth a fierce heat, and soon be consumed to
Healers traveling with the Roman
untold More perilously, it gave instruc- ashes These the priest would meticu- legions used the ancient Hebrew
gather up into pouch, name of power, Abracadabra, to
tions for summoning these infernal ser- lously a little
make a fever-conquering spell The
vants Hence it was possible to tell if a which he would hang around the dying letters were arranged in an inverted
begmning with the whole
person had opened an Agrippa, even if he man's neck and bury with him to rid the triangle,

word and ending with a single letter

tned to keep it a secret The sulfurous survivors of any residual affliction, and to The word was begun anew on every
line, each time losing the last of its
breath of devils and the smoke of Hel free them for all time from the curse of
letters until only one, "A", re-

lingered on his hair and clothes. such a dangerous possession mained The fever was supposed to

Brittany imitate the decreasing number of

An Agrippa, it seemed, was itself a de- In Penvenan, close to the
letters by gradually waning away

mon The book was of enormous size, as coast, where the gales swept in off the To effect the cure the physician

man set the spell, written on parchment,

tall as a man It was a living thing, with a Atlantic, there lived a stout-hearted
around the invalid's neck for nine
will and a stubborn temper of its own It who once tried to rid himself of the stub- davs At the end of that time, it was
removed and flung over the victims
violently resented being consulted, and born Agrippa that had been in his familv
shoulder into an eastward-flowing
would only submit after a long and ex- for generations But he succeeded onlv in
stream The rushing waters drew
away from
hausting stRiggle And even if the owner proving the book's implacable power the heat of the infection
the patient and back to the nsing
forbore to open
unpredictable rages meant that
pcrpeaial
building that housed
danger
the book's covers,

It could destroy the

it or drive
it

its
was

owner
its

a
rH oizo-goz was
^^^Bdetennination and much
a Breton ol taciturn
physical
sun, source of
pleting the treatment
all warmth thus com-

mad, tor it had nil the heat and fury of strength The huge, rebellious Agrippa

helKire bound up within its pages. Sages in his house had become such a nuisance

suggested that the only way to ensure it to him that he could tolerate its presence

did no harm was to keep it padlocked, no longer He called on a nearby famier

hanging by a chain Irom a twisted beam who, according to local gossip dabbled in

m an otherwise empty room Hut few magic Loizo-goz raised the lopn- cii

who owned an Agrippa could resist the cumspectly Finding the man intrigued

curiosity that compelled them toward it even em-ious, ol his |-iossi-ssioii ,iih1 not ,H

Thf jmcsls oj lhiHd}iy ni hyijouc iliiy^ took c/'iin/c oj ccr/./i/i hooks oj jiauhsk

character, ip/icrciii were recorded the tniniiiers oj \uitii}to}U}hl i/cp/ls 1 he hooks irere

pro}ie to niu iimok loi/css si/s/icndnl /'_y a ihaui inui sauM'il irith <; stout piulUxk.

17
 all worried by its well-known perils, he book down to the beach, where he tied to

offered the farmer the book To his re- it several stones as large as he could lift

lief, the gift was accepted. Somehow he got the whole cumbersome

A few nights later, everyone in the dis- bundle into his boat and put out to sea
trict heard a terrible din It was Loizo- with it Once in deep water he hoisted
goz, dragging his complaining Agrippa the weighted book out of the boat It

by its chain to his neighbor's farm He sank and the water closed over it

managed to manhandle the resisting bulk As he beached the boat, he glanced

to the farmer's house, and together the back over his shoulder, and what he saw
two men forced it into an attic room. froze his blood The book had risen

again. At incredible speed, it glided to-

ward the shore Its chain rasped on the

Ill
^^^L hen the door was locked upon pebbles as it passed him on the beach and
^^^9^ it they went downstairs to the sped toward the house Just as he had ex-

spacious, low-ceilinged kitchen, where pected, when Loizo-goz reached home,

the farmer poured two much-needed tots the Agrippa was hanging once more by
of brandy to revive them Few words were its chain Its cover was bone dry, its pages

exchanged, and Loizo-goz did not stay did not even smell of the sea Unbeliever

long When at last the farmhouse door though he was, he finally turned to the

swung to behind him and he heard its Church to help him But each time he

heavy bolt fall into place, he pursed his tried to summon the priest, some acci-

usually grim lips and whisded a snatch of dent ensured that his message was not re-

an old Breton folktune ceived First he sent a farmhand to deliver

As he entered his own house, however, his plea, but halfway to the church the

his mood darkened. He went to the door man fell off his horse and broke his neck

of the room where the Agrippa had been Next, Loizo-goz went himself to beg for

imprisoned He opened it a crack, but he aid, but found the cleric had died the

already knew what he would see There night before He tried again with the

was the great black book, hanging once new incumbent, and found himself para-

more from its crooked beam and Uirning lyzed with a sudden seizure before he

slowly on its stout chain could give voice to his request He died

Loizo-goz grew desperate He made a soon after, but the Agrippa's brooding

huge fire and heaved the book onto the presence so darkened his house that no

pyre But the flames, although they one would li\e in it Inmi that dav lonvard

burned as brightly as ever, drew away While the possession ol an A^nppa

from the bcjok and would not touch it meant unmitigated miseiA' lor a lasniaii

When the lire had burned itsell out, the and heavv cares even lor a priest ni,in\'

Agrippa's c(jver hardly kit warm niagKal writings were treasured allies in

Since fire had proved no help, I .(iizo the stniggle <il good against evil I heir

goz resolved to try water He hauled the words recorded tin- lomuilas to control

A HrcUni jiininr uiijoihDidk aunKjh to /losscss one oj liu' Jcvilt^h hooks strove lo mi hiwsclj

oj hi-, huniai. Pml irhai he liial lo dioirti /I, ;l rose jnm ihc u\ivcs ,/)/(/ /'insi/c,/ inm sjiorcu\iul

19
 unruly forces, and the letters themselves he walked around the rock, moving, in

pulsed with virtuous energy the time-honored manner of the sorcerer,

Icelandic bards told of a benevolent anticlockwise, and uttered a spell.

wizard named Eirikur who owned such a As the magician murmured, figures

magical tome, and used it to help his emerged from the living rock and crowded
countrymen when dark powers threat- together on the grass These, said Eiri-

ened them One of his clients was a kur, were mortals who had been spirited

young farmer from the Vestmanna Islands to the otherworld by trolls He bade the
off the mainland's southern coast Seven farmer look carefully to see whether his

weeks after their wedding, the fanner's wife was one of them. The farmer walked

bride had risen early one morning and through the silent figures, scanning their
gone out, as usual, to fetch the fire- impassive faces His bride was not there
wood She never returned The farmer The wizard gravely thanked the reven-

searched everywhere, but could discover ants for answering his call, and they van-
no sign of her Picturing her drowned be- ished into the rock

neath the cold sea that beat upon the Again, Eirikur turned to his book,
island from every side, he fell into such found a new place in it, then paced his

a black slough that his friends began to way around the rock, murmuring A dif-

fear for his life They advised him to sus- ferent group of people drifted from the
tain hope a litde longer, and urged him rock, but the farmer's wife was not among
to consult Eirikur them Eirikur tried once more, and once
When the farmer arrived at the seer's more failed The seer, pale and weary,
house on the mainland, he found he was confessed that he had called every troll in

expected: The wise man's first words Iceland, and now knew nowhere to turn

were an inquiry about the missing bride Suddenly his eyes lit up
The seer promised to put his skills at the Eirikur recalled one pair of trolls who
wretched husband's disposal had not been named in his spells He drew
from his robe a single page of antique
writing Unfolding the parchment, he

^Jor three days Eirikur studied his laid it upon the open book and softly read

^^ book, but made no move Then on a out a spell Out of the rock came a pair of

morning of foul weather he led the farmer hideous creatures carrying a glass cage
on horseback to a pile of great rocks on Within it was the figure of a woman only
a lonely hillside He leaned the book inches high The farmer cried out The
against the largest of the ancient stones, tiny creature was his wife

and although the storm billowed about With words of power, Eirikur rebuked

them, the volume remained dry and un- the trolls and drove them back to their

spotted, and its leaves never stirred own dark world As they vanished, the
Eirikur stared intently at the book as if glazed box shattered on the ground, and
sucking sustenance from its pages Then Eirikur lifted away the shards to release

With a whispered spell, a wise man oj Iceland summoned a troll couple

who had stolen a farmer's bride. They emerged from the earth carrying

the young woman, still alive, hut shrunken and imprisoned in glass.

20
 ^S-iT^v- '/ff/

4^;,

''^Ikfc-
'
IWV^*

n.m>''^''

^ \
 —

ifcalltdrapbiccure
for stomach pains
In the age when few could read,
writing was deemed to possess un-
canny powers A written spell to
overcome illness might work with
the prisoner At first she remained un- to collect water that was poured over the
more force than spoken magic,
especially if the words remained in naturally small, as if seen from a great text to absorb its virtue, it could be
physical contact with the sufferer
height, Eirikur read a passage from his brewed into efficacious potions Chinese
The people of early England
cherished a formula against stom- book and she grew to her proper size, talismans of ivory and jade, inscribed with
ach ailments that bore vestiges of
then collapsed into her husband's arms the ideograms for happiness, long life,
the languages of the ancients
Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin and Greek For safety's sake the wise man jour- peace or prosperity, were worn to confer
Tradition held that the charm had
been brought down from heaven by
neyed with the couple back to their own their meanings upon their possessors. In a

an angel The spell began with an island Trolls robbed of their prizes could similar vein, when a patient consulted a
incantation meaning "Shout, the
Lord is my shield," and ended with
be vengeful He stayed for three days, healer in Anglo-Saxon England, he might
the cry "Alleluiah, Alleluiah "
In lying each night with his head pillowed receive a spell written down on a scrap of
between came a babble of incoher-
on his book at the door of their house, parchment, to be bound like a poultice
ent words, that made neither sen-
tences nor sense listening to the sounds outside What he over the afflicted part
When on a long, narrow
written
heard was neither the pounding of the

V
strip of parchment and bound around
the sufferer's head, the age-old waves nor the calling of seabirds, but the
words were charged with power
The magically inscribed paper was
sibilant whispers of an inhuman hate et for many purposes, the spoken
said to cure the patient promptly The trolls, unwilling to accept defeat, .^^word possessed greater powers than
had come back to claim their slave the written A name, once pronounced,
They lurked outside the door of the evoked its owner, anyone who was fool-

house, peered through the windows with hardy enough to utter the name of a per-

eyes red and malevolent, muttered threats son deceased could expect to be visited
and curses through the chinks in the by his or her spirit

wall But Eirikur drew strength from the Gods, too, could be summoned by the
book that was his pillow He rose up and utterance of a name, and since a god was
from his parted lips there issued a spell so likely to be angered if invoked for a trivial

terrible that it turned the night sky cause, many peoples kept the names of
white, and sent the trollish kidnappers the beings they worshiped a hallowed
squealing back to the netherworld Hear- secret Curses and blessings likewise har-
ing this tale, the women on Iceland's nessed the power of the spoken word As
farms walked warily, knowing that some- a curse was uttered, it released super-

where, on a lonely shore or at the foot of natural powers against those named, a

a black volcano, a pair of disgruntled blessing channeled a deity's beneficence.

trolls were on the hunt for a new slave But most spells had to be spoken aloud
Eirikur's book imparted much of its to be effective English rustics addressed a
magic directly, through physical con- verse to swarming bees to discourage
tact, just as the spells in the Book of them from leaving home, and throughout
Thoth had entered Nefrekeptah in the medieval Europe, repetition of the Lord's
beer he gulped Many other writings pos- Prayer was a tmsted cure for warts.
sessed such concrete powers Magical in- Some spells had to be chanted, others,

scriptions carved on stone in ancient such as Eirikur's invocation of the trolls'

Egypt sometimes incorporated channels victims, were to be murmured in a low

22
 f^:>«?'5ck:
- '
'

.^''*5'vK-y^*'''-'"I''^°"-^
so. that the formulas could
.•
.*^V";i:f^r' ^' ?-C'^^^ overheard. In most spells,

'
'furthermore, the words had to be spoken
'
*

in precisely the right rhythm and tone It

profited a scholar litde to know the secret

words of power if, when he uttered them,

he could not make the correct sounds to

conjure their meanings out of the air

If a wizard who wanted to fly as fast as

the speediest hawk followed to the letter

the instructions given in his handbook of

magic — if he boiled snow and oil to-

gether on a fire of two kinds of wood,

ripened it in a sheep's bladder for a moon
and a half, mingled it with charcoal, then
powdered the charcoal and placed a pinch

of the powder between the pages of a

book, took the book in his hand and
concentrated his whole attention on his
destination —what good was all that if he
did not know how to pronounce the es-

sential words SlSPl SlSPl that the spell

prescribed? If that seemed simple en-

ough, and he did indeed find himself far

away, could he be sure that when he read

off the returning charm, ITTSS ITTSS,

he would hit on the right sound and not
sentence himself to pennanent exile"
Words, indeed, were powerful, even
perilous The common currency of hu-

man relations they might be, but thev

were also keys that tit an infinity ot hid

den locks, opening the doors of occult

wisdom The more an initiate knew of

ihcn potential, the more circumspect he

or she becaim- Storvtellers, recouiUiiig

wonders, might wax loqiKKioiis Hut a

wizard, working woiulers, kept siknt

lest his secrets i.ill into uiiworthv liamls

,iiul ,ill lull hicik loosf in tonscqueiKr

from kiivnuj iheir hive

A si<rc iPiiy lo prevail snv/nji/n^/ /'ccs i/'(/s

(() ihroir si/ik/ </I llnvi iiiul Jaliinn </ s/xll llhil /'(,/</", "Sdilc, ridonou^

womai, iiuk (lowii lo anlh You timsl )uva jly iriU lo ihc wood.

23
 Chapter two

Decoding
Destiny

army would march with the

Chedawn All had been decided: The
supply carts had been loaded and
tallied by the quartermasters, the
legate of each legion had addressed his co-

hort commanders and each centurion had

his orders The decurions had seen to the
last issue of sour ration wine and checked
the harnesses and the weapons of each of
their men, in the cavalry lines, shivering
troopers stood to beside their horses and
gave their nervous, whinnying beasts
such comfort as they could
But it was not only the sunrise they
awaited No Roman army would set forth

without more guidance than mere light

of day could give it: First, it must know
the will of the gods A sign must be found
and its meaning read by one steeped in

mysterious lore And now, before the as-

sembled troops, the ritual ran its course

Torches flared and smoked, lending a

sullen gleam to the gilded eagles of the

legions and the helms and breastplates of

their expectant generals. His features
concealed by the robes that
marked his office, the
haruspex began his
 work From the darkness beyond the
torchlit circle, his servants brought him a

sheep The animal bleated in fear, but

the haruspex stroked it with skilled fing-
ers, and at last the creature stood quietly
It was as well: A sacrifice that came un-
willing could grant no revelation
The haruspex reached inside his robes
The waiting soldiers caught the flash of
the knife as it swept across the animal's
throat The sheep crumpled with a sigh,

and the haruspex kneeled beside it Again

the knife slashed The animal's entire

body heaved and bubbled

Al around the diviner, centering him

in a pool of yellow light Without a

word, he plunged his arms elbow-deep in

the slit belly For a moment, his fingers

probed Then he pulled once, sharply
The convoluted mass of the sheep's en-

trails slithered out onto the ground, rank

and steaming in the night air

The haruspex beckoned to a servant,

and a torch was lowered Expertly, he ex-

w amined the
random bunching
fingers

liver,
folds

sought out the warm,

teasing
and the loops and the
of intestinal veins. His

meaning from the pattern

flopping
of

its lobes Then he stood, wiped his hands

upon his bloodstained robe and nodded to
the commanding General In turn, the
General made a sign to the clerk of his

treasury The haruspex would be reward-

ed All was as it should be In the east,

yellow began to streak the sky. Trum-

pets blared Unit by unit, the great armed
array wheeled off to meet its destiny.

To a skilled practitioner, the undulations oja plume

oj smoke conveyed hidden truths oj things to come.

16
 Haruspio,' and hepatoscopy — the arts

of predicting the future from the entrails

and the liver of a slaughtered animal

were ancient before Rome was bom The

Romans learned their skills from the

Etruscans, whose vanished civilization

once held sway between the River Tiber

and the Alps that shielded their glittering
cities from barbarian Europe Perhaps the

Etruscans' knowledge was a gift from

their own dark, forgotten gods, perhaps it

had come to them from Mesopotamia,

where the first civilizations arose In

many-towered Babylon, might\' \\'izards

used livers shaped from clay to teach the

secrets of divination to their acolytes

The word divination bespeaks the ulti-

mate origins of the soothsayer's knowl-

edge: the gods themselves, divinities who
mled all things And for those who pos-

talent, skill and learning, the were numerous and, to the uninitiate,
sessed Rc\?clation$u'ritititlc$b
knowledge could be found in all things, often bizarre Their very names formed a
Would a lite be Ion" and healthy"
too There was a unity in nature, the litany of hidden learning Practitioners of Would a lover be constant till
and death" Would toraine tavor a new
ancients reckoned, and nothing happened hydromancy cast pebbles into a pool
enterprise" The cunning chiro-

by chance There were no causes and no learned the future from the circles they mancer could find the answers to all

and many more,

effects, instead, everything — past, pres- made in the water Alectoromancy re- such
atter
questions,
brooding over an open hand
ent and future —was bound into a seam- quired its adepts to study the movements and tracing the
cordis, linea fortunae
linea
—
vitae,

the lines ot
linea

of a white cockerel as pecked grain

less whole By studying a tiny part of it, it
life, the heart and tate —and other
from magic circle inscribed on the
the great complexit>' might be revealed a markings that tomied the pattern of
a palm Both hands had to be stud-
Haruspicy was only one of myriad earth Those who were well versed in the
ied tor the left told ot original des-

routes to revelation Signs and portents skills of amniomancy could read the fu- tmv while the right revealed an
individuals reactions to his tate
could be found everywhere by those who aire m the b:rth-caul of a newborn child
Tile reading ot hands was an art
from the shifting coils of and seers trained in the art of gcloscopy old as civilization itsell The
cared to look as

the pitch and rhythm ancient Egyptians concealed a treat-

smoke above a fire, or from the patterns learned much from
ise on the subiect in one ot their

formed by molten wax in water, by the of a person's laughter pyramids ,And it was said that sages

progress of stars through the firmament, The practitioners of chiromancv — the recognized Huddha as their long-
promised prophet at the moment of
or by the flight of birds The gods were reading of hands —opened the hook ot
birth from a contemplation of the

whorls and markings on his infant hands as well

generous with their clues fate by mterpreting the lines,
as those on the soles of his tiny feet
To read the meanings, though, was mounds ot the human palm To a chiro-

mancer, these features represented

seldom easy The methods for doing so
.111

27
 —

account of their owner's past, present and they fulfilled their duties honestly, their

future, written with the skin's own al- utterances could be obscure

phabet in a language whose intricate Before their war with the Persians, for
grammar had been studied for millennia example, the Greek leaders went to Del-
throughout the world Astragalomancy phi to learn their prospects of success.
entailed the casting of lots — the knuckle- They received a couplet "Seedtime and
bones of sheep, sticks, pebbles or, in later harvest, weeping sires shall tell How
ages, dice Shaken and scattered, these thousands fought at Salamis and fell " It

tokens displayed seemingly random pat- was less than helpful —although in the

terns that, if properly interpreted, could event it was the Greeks who won the sea-

indicate the will of the gods fight at Salamis Another ruler on the eve
But the gods could also make their of conflict was told: "You shall go you
wishes known by using human beings as shall return never you shall perish in the

their message-bearers Throughout the war" —and was left to punctuate the per-
ancient world, pilgrims sought out the plexing message for himself
sacred precincts that sheltered divinely Despite such frustrations, the oracles,
appointed oracles The most famous was especially that of Delphi, were deeply re-

at Delphi in Greece, reputedly the center spected, serving as neutral points around

of the world Long ago, a temple was which the creative tumult of Greek poli-

built there over a volcanic crack in the tics could revolve. When powerful citi-

rock Beside the fuming chasm, the ap- zens went to Delphi, reaching out to the
pointed priestess — the "Pythoness," she divinities through the quirky and unre-
was called, after a legendary snake that liable conduit opened by the Pythoness's
had once guarded the shrine — sat upon a holy trance, they left their pride behind,

tripod and did her visionary work. The and even if the advice they received
sacredness of the place, as well as the served them litde, they learned humility
laurel leaves she chewed and the subter- from the experience.
ranean vapors she inhaled, ensured that
she was in a highly receptive trance In-

itially, the Pythoness responded directly

to her questioners,- but there soon grew tions of the gods could reach
up a tradition of priestly intermediates men and women more directly With
who received the question, listened to nightfall came sleep, with sleep came
the incoherent mumbling of the Oracle dreams The science of oneiromancy
and prepared an appropriate reply, gener- the interpretation of dreams —was old
ally written out in verse. when the Pharaohs ruled in Egypt Hiero-
In later times, the priests often came glyphs on crumbling papyrus, inscribed
out with interpretations that suited their by the dream-diviners of Egypt's Middle
own purposes, sometimes with unhappy Kingdom, established some ground rules

consequences for the inquirer Even if for students of the craft "If a man sees

28
 Wmillmi ni lriniLC-nuhii.uuj i\;/hvs .;;i(/ iillaului hy sacred sn/u'uls, ihc ouiclcs

oj lUiaail ( ticae iklivcmi mcssacjes from lU ilody \t^/nim</s, /'rom/scs ,;;;ii

/)ro/)/'a/cs ipm'/m'/y (jivai, hut i^hhikJ tit /'/tiiscs oj <; ((jiid/lizii;./ (/iiJ'ii/i/ily.

I"-)
himself in a dream looking at a snake:

good It signifies abundance of provision."

But, "If a man sees in a dream his bed on
"
fire: bad It signifies the rape of his wife

Many dreamers and diviners alike were

convinced that helpful or informative
dreams could be provoked by design, if

the sleeper passed the night in an ap-

propriate place Greeks who visited the

Oracle at Delphi often hoped for a mes-

sage of their own during their stay, deliv-

ered in the form of a dream The cult of

Asclepius, Greece's god of healing, was

founded on directed dreams, a process

known as incubation The hopeful sick

made their way to the god's great shrine

at Epidauros; with luck, as they slept in

the temple dormitory, they would see the

god come to them with a cure

The Greeks differentiated between

fanciful dreams —deceptions perpetrated
upon the sleeper by divine caprice —and
dreams that were windows on the truth

Two gates, it was said, led from the world wanderer, and although he had no idea

of shadows into the mind of the dreamer of Odysseus' whereabouts, he promised

Pmelope. wife to long-ahieiit
a gate of ivory, which released only Penelope that her husband was alive and
Odysseus, dreamed 0/ a predator
chimeras, and a gate of horn, through well Warmed by these assurances, Pen- slaucjhtennii her geese. A stranger

which emerged the accurate likenesses of elope asked her guest to interpret a dream mterpreted (bf i'isioh as a premonition

of her bushand's return, when he would

things to come It was through this sec- that had disturbed her She kept a flock of
slay the fortune-hunting suitors

ond portal that a vision came to Pen- twenty geese, as much for the pleasure in who assaded her.

elope, wife of Odysseus, royal General of their company as for the pot But in her

the Greek troops in the war with Troy dream, all twenty were attacked and killed

During her spouse's long absence, she by a giant eagle Leaving its prey broken-

was plagued by a horde of suitors demand- necked upon the ground, it flew up to

mg that she give herself in marriage perch on a roofbeam and addressed Pen-

She was, they insisted, a widow — for elope in human speech The geese, said

many years had passed without word from the bird, were her would-be lovers, and

her lord Daily they visited her, to drink the eagle itself Odysseus incognito, re-

deep from her wine barrels and feast on turned to claim his rightful place

T
the rich provisions that the laws of hos-

pitality demanded she supply Making

themselves at home in her house, they H^ here was, responded the stranger,

cajoled her, their lips moist with ill- ^^ no ambiguity What the eagle

suppressed lechery, their eyes straying to promised would come to pass Penelope

the jewels on her bosom and the fat flocks reminded her guest that the gods often

that grazed outside her door sent false dreams through the gate of

One day a stranger interaipted ihcir ivory Only later, when the ragged visi-

revelry He was as threadbare as any beg- tor had slain his rivals and revealed him-

gar, but his form and manner hinted of a self as her long-lost spouse, would she
higher birth hie claimed that he was an accept that this prophecy had come to

old acquaintance of Odysseus, a Prince her through the tnilhtul gate of hotn

from the island of Oete who had be- Sages elsewhere believed that dreams

Iricnded the hero and given hini slK-lter were best interpieted in a sense fjuite

during' his travels Now he was himselt a

 opposite to their obvious meaning Such secrets of past and future from the sealed
was the premise of an old Indian treat- lips of the dead Its practitioners were the

ise on dreams Nightmares in which the necromancers, most fearless —and most
dreamer had his limbs or genitals hacked feared — of all soothsayers

off, it said, were orhens of good fortune, Their method was powerful but peril-

conversely, to dream of playing with a ous, and not to be used unless all else had
lotus was a warning of the real-life ampu- failed One of the earliest accounts of

tation of an arm or leg A man who successful necromancy comes from the
dreamed that he was chained by iron Old Testament, when King Saul of Is-

would be sure to marry a virgin The rael, despairing at the strength of the

treatise's authors also noted that dreams Philistines, sent for a witchwoman out of

that appeared early in the night were the Endor, she called up for him the spirit of

last to be fulfilled, while those received the prophet Samuel, who promised the

shortly before the dawn were coming to King success in battle But the experience

pass even as the sleeper dreamed them was painful: Saul "fell at once full length
"

But of all the schools of divination, upon the ground, filled with fear

none was so potent, nor so terrible, as The Roman historian Lucan told an
the dark discipline that sought to pry the even more harrowing tale of a summon-
ing during the Civil Wars Sextus Pom-
pey, anticipating batde on the morrow
A deck of cards embodied desthry. The
with Caesar's host, asked the archwitch
hand a player dreui could intimate

disaster, joy or death

Erichtho for advice She
 n.iirlffii u'ds always a number of ill
was a woman, wfio "never hesi-
fearful
omeii- Its fi'il rff)iilrtlioii/oi(«(i pivid
tated to commit murder, should the warm i1Iii5(riitroti ill the Tarot pack, whose

lifeblood from a slit throat be needed for thirteenth card represented the Grim

Reaper, Death.
her spells "
But she agreed to help, pro-
vided a "clear-voiced recent corpse" could

be found among the crop of dead from

that day's skirmish The witch selected a

relatively undamaged cadaver, drained its

veins and replenished them with warm

menstrual blood mixed with "the froth of
dogs suffering from hydrophobia, a lynx's

guts, the hump of a corpse-eating hyena"

and other extraordinary ingredients And

when Sextus and his retinue flinched in

terror, she sneered, "Cowards, it is the

dead who have reason to fear rne\"

The wretched victim was duly made to

speak But for his pains, Sextus got little

joy from the prophecy "Tell your family

not to shrink from death," said the dead
man grimly, the next day Sextus' amiy its potency, the deck had to be shuffled

was destroyed at Pharsalus by the hands of the questioner Directed

o ^cvenants from the realm of the

^dcad, god-smitten oracles, dream
by the
certain

pattern

Tarot-reader
initiate,

cards
ritually
and
he or she then selected

would then
laid

prescribed,
them out
which
inteqiret
in

the

ac-
a

apparitions — all these gave voice to their cording to an age-old system

But out of the F.ast, in the cenUir- There was a total ot sevent>'-eighl
secrets

ies of crusades and conflict, came another cards in most packs The minor arcana,

mysterious band of emissaries who had the "lesser mystery," contained tiftv-six ot

much to tell, yet kept silent These enti- them, divided into the cryptic suits ot

ties, pcjwerful in their knowledge and ter- Batons, Cups, Swords and ( oins liut the

rible in their reticence, were the figures Tarot's real power lay m the major ,ir

painted in vivid colors upon a deck of cana, twenty-two cards each ot a unic|ue

cards the symbtjls of the larot design, and each charged to groaning

Whether enacted in the cell of a mas- point with meaning and countermeaning

ter magician or in the flimsy bonih ul a 1 he tool, the MagKian, the 1 owei the

fairground CJypsy, the reading ot the Hanged Man the (hanot-even then

Tarot cards was a solemn ceremony names stirred iipples m the |->ool ol nns
piotci tcIV RlMtl intuitive pi.K lltlolKl
Unwrapped Irom ihc silk th.it titl In' .111

^^
 a

the Tarot cards opened a new gateway not only the four elements but also the
to insight and prophecy four letters of the F-Iebrew Tetragramma-
The Hanged Man, for instance — ton the one true name of the one true

youth dangling inverted from a gallows God, which must never be pronounced.
tree, with one leg crossed behind the Cunning fortunetellers could exploit
other and an expression of tranquil wis- the divinatory potential of ordinary play-
dom on his haloed features —could be ing cards as well as Tarot The systems
taken to mean self-sacrifice. Yet a sensi- they employed differed from country to
tive intelligence, following the card's country and century to century, but they
symbolism through, would see the mean- used the standard deck for prediction and
ing open up like a flower at daybreak. character analysis The four suits were

The gallows was the Tree of Life, the thought to govern different human types
knot that held the man suspended was and temperaments: Hearts were the sign
Faith,- the hanging itself stirred pagan of the fair-skinned, the amorous and the
echoes Did not Odin, god of the dark nobly born. Clubs of dark-skinned folk
north, hang nine days from a tree until with a penchant for hard work and profit-
the mystery of the runes was opened up able deals. Diamonds governed the mild-

to him? And what of the act of suspen- mannered and penny-wise, while Spades
sion between heaven and earth? To the ruled those grave-faced dignitaries who
adept, the reverberations were endless, governed states and commanded armies.
the more so because many had trained by A good deal of the cards' full meaning
means of hours spent in a trance-state, was found in their numbering Each card
immersing themselves in the subtleties of in a suit bore a different message. The
each symbolic card. Four of Diamonds, for instance, foretold

nW H French
•^
magician,
H considered the Tarot
Eliphas
as far
Levi,

more
of a legacy, while the Nine in the same
suit

arily
warned of
was auspicious
happy in
a loss. But a

in one
another:
suit

In
number
was not necess-
Hearts the
that

than an aid to divination In its intricate ninth card promised a wish come true,

design, he saw "the universal key of while in Spades it spoke of suffering

magical works," with whose aid he could ahead Simplistic as these signs might be,

"open the sepulchers of the ancient they had their underpinning —however
world, to make the dead speak, to behold corrupted or debased — in a completely
the monuments of the past in all their separate branch of the secret arts, per-

splendor, to understand the enigmas of haps the purest of all, and certainly one of
every sphinx and to penetrate all sanc- the most far-reaching numerology
tuaries "
In the major arcana's twenty-two Men and women had seen awesome
cards, he found a link with the twenty- significance in the shimmering clarity of

two letters of the F^ebrew alphabet, in numbers ever since they had learned to

the four suits of the minor arcana he saw count To those initiated into their mys-
s^
terious workings, they

stract things, cleaner and

were pure and ab-
infinitely more
ligion

souls
based on
Within a
the transmigration
few generations, the
of

faith

precise than the coarse, earthly quanti- had vanished, leaving behind it only a few

ties they were used to measure Numbers baffling commandments such as: "To ab-
could combine to form new numbers, the stain from beans," "Not to touch a white
"

relationship between them could be ex- cock," and "Not to walk on highways

pressed in yet more numbers They could But his numerical insights were the foun-

be manipulated with an exquisite, intel- dation of a new occult science After his

lectual grace Numbers, in short, were death, generations of numerologists pol-

the nearest that mortals could reach to ished and refined it, incorporating ideas

the crystalline perfection of divinity with origins far removed in space and
time from ancient Greece Yet it con-

T
B
^^in
his fascination

every civilization
gripped
—and
thinkers
none
tinued to sparkle with the same glorious
simplicity that

Every number had

had inspired Pythagoras.
its meaning, said the

more thoroughly than the Greek mystic adept, and the number One was the

and mathematician Pythagoras His en- pillar, stern and unique, upon which all

lightenment, it was said, was the result of the other meanings rested It represented

his study of music He discovered the the divine principle, the good, it was
arithmetical ratios that governed octaves, sometimes regarded as masculine, the

fourths and fifths: 2 1, 3 2 and 4 3 But "father of numbers," and it conveyed the
Pythagoras was not content to explain qualities of daring and self-reliance, stub-

harmony by means of numbers In a great bornness and austerity

conceptual leap, he understood that har- Two was One's opposite the "mother
mony u'ds number, and number hannony of numbers," associated with boldness as

Pythagoras and his followers pushed well as strife Ghristian numerologists as-

the glcammg new idea further, until they signed it to the devil, they also noted

had proved to their satisfaction that "all that, in the Bible, "God saw that it was

things are number "

Irom the concept of good" after every day of creation except

odd and even, they deduced the idea of the second But beneath Pythagoras' har-

limit and the unlimited, and they went on monic reasoning lay a dark magic that

to proclaim a whole series of oppositicjns reached down to the taproot of humanity

that extended the magical power of their Pairs were alwavs uncannv The birth

beloved number Male and female, rest ol iwms was a great lolt to the natural

and motion, light and darkness, good and order ot the universe Usually twins sig-

evil These and other dichotomies were naled danger and ohen ihcv had to be

encompassed and m a sense conlmlled bv sl.iughteied at hiith Si)metiiius thev

die art of these first numerologists bn )Uglit g( >( )cl li )i tune Iv ime was founded

Pythagoras also devoted much time to hv the twin biotluTs Romulus mm\ Re-
the establislinuiu ul ,i mvsterious re mus And sometimes iIha' bei ame gods
4
 mother Of all tbe triads
The number three was inextricably
linked with the ancient Greek god-
dess Hecate She possessed three
incarnations — mare, dog and lion
and three heads to see in all direc-
tions Hecate ruled over the triad of
—
human existence birth, life and
death —and the triple planes of the
physical planet, the underworld, the
earth and the air Her dominions
also embraced the tripanite tempor-

al sphere of past, present and future

Itwas believed that the goddess drew

her powers of enchantment from the
moon, with its three phases, new,
full and old

The triple reins of power that she

held over humanity, time and space

made her an indispensable ally to
the sorcerers who sought to work
changes on the seemingly immut-
able physical world Those brave
enough to invoke her name in their
spells were rewarded with a share of

her uncanny powers

Quite independently, ens, and in the Tarot it was the number

to mistortune it

number in the Norse of the grim card, Death Always, Thir-

was an ill-starred

tradition, too Once, when twelve gods teen was shrouded in evil omen, so en-

were feasting in Valholl, the evil spirit veloped in doom that its legend fed itself

Loki joined them uninvited By foul cun- without the need for further explanation

ning, he caused the death of the beloved In any case, most explanations of the
power of numbers soon turned circular
Balder, god of light The final outcome
was Ragnarok, the downfall of Valholl Did Loki make Thirteen unlucky^ Or
itself Loki's Thirteen could hardly have did he simply make use of the number's
innate malevolence as an allv in his evil
been more catastrophic
Christian numerology, Thirteen scheme^ The elegant systems of the nu
In

was the number present at the 1-ast Sup- merologists allowed them access to the
power and granted tlieiii (.ertain ii};liis ot
per, it was the quorum for witches' cov-

M
 manipulation, but the power's source re- alent The so-called Chaldean alphabet
mained deeply hidden. Like an unknown gave every letter a value between one and
planet circling in the darkness, it could be eight A, 1, J, Q and Y counted as one, B,

measured only by its pull K and R as two, C, G, L and S were worth

Numerology's ambition and complex- three, D, M and T, four, E, H, N and X,
ity reached its zenith in the work of the five, U, V and W equaled six, O and Z,
medieval Cabala — a marvelous system of seven, and F and P valued eight And
metaphysical theology created originally thus, by means of simple addition, any
by a fraternity of Jewish scholars. Some- name could be reduced to one of the el-

times working under threat of violent ementary numbers between one and nine
persecution and often the object of bewil- The arithmetical sum of any name's com-
dered suspicion, they labored to interpret ponents was itself a symbol, revealing
the Hebrew scriptures in the light of certain truths about the person, the city

their vast knowledge of astrology and the or even the nation that bore it Scholars
occult In ancient Hebrew, every letter in many lands wrote texts to aid interpret-
had a numeric value as well as a literal ation, but there were other adepts who
one,- the Cabalists — in a system they preferred to keep their secret wisdom un-
called the Gematria, the Hebrew version written, locked behind their own sealed
of the word geometry —sought to assign lips and communicated, when the time
a number value to many of the key words was ripe, to a younger magician judged
in the sacred Hebrew texts By searching worthy of the inheritance
out other words of the same value, they The most ambitious of the numerol-
discovered mystical correspondences that ogists were not satisfied with merely the
had hitherto escaped notice name-number of the object of their in-
quiries They preferred to match with

r
it

other numbers, obtained from astrologi-

^^ he Cabalists careful reduction of cal calculations built around birthdates or

^•^ words to numbers did not originate Zodiacal signs But the name was at the

with them, numerologists had always heart of the study, armed with it alone, a
dabbled in the art, and since the Greek al- practitioner with a subde knowledge of
phabet also uses letters as number signs, the shades of meaning could penetrate
Pythagoras himself may have experimen- the secrets of the heart and map the un-
ted with it But no one before the Cabal- known paths of human destiny
ists had pursued the task with such vigor, For those scholars so gifted, the per-
and their esoteric labors put prophetic mutations were endless, the possibilities
analysis within the reach of anyone who intoxicating Obsessed, the students of
could master basic arithmetic such secrets burned their lamps while
Wizards in the West adapted the code others slept, wandering in labyrinths of
for their own languages and alphabets, as- their own creation, in the place where
signing every letter a numerical equiv- mathematics and magic met

38
 Ghostly replicas
presaging doom

Woe to any mortals who met their

own fetch—an identical image of

themselves that foretold death Just
where the double came from, no
one knew for sure Some people
believed it was the immortal soul
projected in bodily form Others
thought it entered the world at the
moment of birth and passed away
when the body died Whatever the
truth, it was known to congregate

with others of its kind At midnight

on All Souls' Eve, the fetches of
local people fated to die that year
trooped into village churches
Only the foolish ventured out to
observe them at that hour, smce
they risked seeing themselves If

that happened, they could only

commend their souls to heaven A
girl might swoon, a man might draw
his sword, but nothing could protect
the self-seer from the tomb

39
 The CeozeKic

he number se\'en radiated power

No
c
daughter
than she
witch engendered more fear

ol' a
who was the seventh
seventh daughter no
ph\-sician healed more skillfulK' than he
who \s'as the se\enth son ol' a sexenth
son In prophecies, sevens appeared with
uncannx- regularitN' Ancient seers,

predicting the \sorlds end warned of

seven seals that would be broken, seven

plagues that would be suffered, seven
trumpets that would be sounded before
the destruction was complete
The earliest sages pondenng the
mvstenes ot space and time, looked
sk\'ward and counted seven planets sa\\'

se\'en colors in the rainbo\\" studied the

moons mutations and obser\'ed that each
or Its four phases lasted for seven days at a

time Poets and priests told how in the

cosmic battle for mortal souls, the foul-

visaged monsters of the seven deadly sins

clashed against the angelic embodiments
of the seven virtues And even.- human
lifespan encompassed seven ages
progressing from infanc\' to decrepitude
For the old philosophers even
number was a symbol of a higher truth
Seven was the sum of three the number
ot spiritual harmon\' and tour
representing earthly solidit\- Vet no
other numbers could be multiplied to
make se\'en It was solitan' pure and
virginal and therein la\' its magic

40
Seven deadly sins medieval repro-
bates were warned, preyed upon
humankind and impcnled souK
Of ihe seven devils that tempted
mortals to vice, Ijucitcr instilled

pnde. Mammon avance and Bed-

zebuh gluttony
41
 The seven Japanese gods of good
fortune brought serenity, longev-
ity, wisdom, work, wealth, love,
and prowess in battle TTie aspect of
each bespoke his qualities The
great belly of the god of serenity
revealed his inner resources, the
domed brow of the god of wisdom
his mental powers

The biblical book of Revelation

warned of a beast rising out of the
sea,with seven heads and ten horns
and ten diadems upon its horns The
embodiment of evil and deceit, the
seven-faced monster would struggle
with the powers of good for sway
over the nations

m
The ancient Hebrews told that the

rainbow was a heavenl>' weapon laid

down on earth as a sign ot a pact be-

tween God and mortals The celes-

tial bow encompassed the se%en

colors ot the Sf)ectrum red and
orange, yellow and green blue
indigo and violet

The ancient world counted Seven

Wonders a temple a pyramid
Babylons hanging gardens, a mas-
sive tomb, a lighthouse a glontjus
suiue of Zeus, and the Colossus a
great bronze hgurc standing one
hundred tcet high, straddling the

harbor at Rhodes
 CbapterCbrcc

Arcane
liarttionies

^9 ^ hen the first sorcerer lifted his

M I voice
fl in a chant to weave a
^L^^l spell, he discovered the po-
^^^^r tent magic of music In the
sinuous melody that charmed serpents, in

the pulsing rhythm of the rainmaker's

dance, spellcasters harnessed music to
control the loveliest creatures of the earth
and the mightiest elements of the heav-
ens Humans could also be enchanted
into sleep, love, battle, even death, by
secret harmonies played on certain instru-

ments So entwined were the magical and

musical arts that scholars who needed
words to describe the dreaded work of
sorcery found them in the language of
music The words enchantment and in-

cantation came from the Latin cantan, to

sing, while the word charm was derived

from the Latin for song, carmen.

The ancients knew that mystical har-

monies were not of earthly origin By the

reckoning of some philosophers, such as

the Greek Pythagoras, a divine music had

reverberated through the universe since
the beginning of time. He called it the
music of the spheres, since the sound
came from the heavenly bodies as they

r
 whirled through the cosmos The seven beneath the water with their makeshift
visible planets corresponded to the seven poles they felt something under the

notes of the musical scale, and with these boat, something harder than a sandbar,

seven notes the heavens sang Mortals yet more yielding than a rock Peering
were deaf to this celestial music only be- into the waves, Lemminkainen saw a

cause they had never known its absence shadowy gray shape beneath them it was
Should it cease, mankind would realize larger than the boat itself and, with slug-

what perfection had been lost gish twists and turns, it was moving
Lemminkainen staggered back from
the side of the vessel They were caught
H mong the immortals were many not on rocks or tree branches, he cried,
^r musicians, such as Pan, who cut but on the shoulders of an enormous
€oIlu$lon$of sweet
the first pipes from a bundle of reeds, and pike Calmly, old Vainamoinen told him
sounds and sav^agerv
Apollo, who played the first lyre When to cut the fish in half with his sword
In the days when wolves roamed the
forests of France, many tales were the gods feasted, Apollo played for them Eager to show his prowess, the youth
told of men who possessed a sinister thmst his blade into the water, but
while the nine Muses supplied an an- its
rapport with the beasts Music, it

was said, could charm them into tiphonal chorus Divine patrons of all the weight was great and he fell in after it.

submission, and every flautist was

arts, the Muses sang with such enchant- Laughing, llmarinen reached down and
suspected of an evil association with
a ravening pack Rumor held that ment that even the great Zeus looked caught his friend by the hair He dragged
some musicians were not true men him up into the boat, then hefted his own
upon them with favor
at all, but were werewolves, who at

the stroke of midnight acquired the Among humankind, those who could sword and plunged it into the pike's back.
fangs and bristling pelt of their
With powerful muscles, the
count gods among their ancestors were a ripple of its
fawning confreres
Summoning his savage associates often blessed with the divine gift of mu- mighty fish broke the blade.
to a forest glade with a haunting
sic One such hero was the Finnish
note, a minstrel would charm them
with the sound of his flute or bag- patriarch Vainamoinen, who had been
pipes Once the animals were spell-
goddess by the wind and the
begotten of a
bound, they became as obedient as
dogs If the sorcerer-musician bore waves Wise and white-haired from birth,
any man grudge, he would murmur
a
he was a natural leader of younger men
to the wolves the whereabouts of
his enemy's flocks Their bloodlust Once, he set sail in the company of men
aroused, the wolves and their leader
around
and women across the wide, icy waters of
would dance, howling, a

blazing fire, then set off to wreak a lake called Pohja Their craft was
havoc After such a night, the
heavy-laden with food and weapons, tents
morning would discover a field

strewn with the bloody carcasses of and horses, so Vainamoinen steered care-
slain lambs and ewes Meanwhile,
fully. Yet the boat suddenly pitched,
the leader of the wolves walked
again among men, his crime sus- shuddered and stopped dead in the water,
pected but impossible to prove '^\
flinging everyone onto the deck As they ^-fi'.:-

got to their feet, a boisterous youth

 Utuietareii by ^u\ml thrusts, ii ijuwl pike

rose from tlicfricjid waters o/d Fimush lake

f If to mauiic <) hoiit-loiui of Scujes iiuii heroes.

47
 Vainamoinen rose then and shouldered old Vamamomen tried to play the kan
past the youths Striplings must make tele But when they plucked its strings,

way for a man with the wisdom to kill this only dull, discordant notes rose from it

great creature, he said He thrust his Even the bold Lemminkainen, sure that
blade so deep into the fish's flesh that it he could cajole a melody from it, could
hi': stayed fast Then, with a strength that make only noise instead of music Vaina-
amazed the younger men, he hoisted the moinen took back the harp and carried

pike up from the depths As its massive, it to all the villages around the lake.

thrashing body broke the surface, its own Hundreds of hands took it up, but none
weight on the sword cut the fish in two could play it properly In the last village,

Its silver-scaled tail sank, while the rest of a blind man, awakened from his sleep by
Its body fell into the boat His compan- the sour song of the kantele, opined that
ions crowded around the pike, staring at such a poor instrument should be thrown
Its huge gaping gills and glazing eyes, as at once into the sea
Vainamoinen steered the vessel for shore At his words, the harp trembled Its

On the beach, he cut the meat from strings quivered and spoke in a human
the pike with his sword and bade the voice It asked to be played by the hands
women cook it for a feast As they scaled that had made it Vainamoinen took up
and minced it, Vainamoinen sat looking the kantele and walked down to the
at the pike's bones drying in the sun He lake He sat on a rock beside the clear
wondered aloud what useful thing might water and began to play
be made of them The youths beside him
scoffed at the notion of any good coming
from fishbones But Vainamoinen ran his rom the strings arose a melody clear-

gnarled fingers gently over the wide curve .^ er and more achingly sweet than any
of the fish's jawbone song that had ever floated through that
Taking his knife from its sheath, he cold air In the pine trees high above, the

lifted the jaw onto his lap He smoothed small birds of the forest fell silent and lis-

and shaped it while the young men stood tened with cocked heads Soon the squir-
around Carefully, he notched it along rels crept out on the branches beside
each side and fitted some of the pike's them Below, the thickets stirred with
teeth into the notches. Then, he pulled animals drawn to the enchanted song.
some long, silky hairs from the tail of Lynx and ermines, bears, wolves and rein-
one of the company's horses These he deer, followed the music to the water's
stretched across the jaw between the edge The surface of the lake seemed to
pairs of teeth, tying each end tightly At boil with the bubbling and splashing of
last, he stood and held out to the youth thousands of fish that struggled to hear

the five-stringed harp called a kantele the old man playing His music sum-
One by one, each man and boy, each moned the eagles from the mountains and
woman and girl, who had gathered around the swans from the marshes
 Where the music touched human ears, storm swept the mstrument into the dark

men and women left their work and chil- waters Vainamoinen was heartbroken
dren abandoned their games Everyone but his vocation for music endured. In

gathered amid the birds and animals. As time, he fashioned another kantele from a

the song reached its crescendo, even the birch and with it entranced the beasts,

gods of forest, water and sky appeared the trees, and the sun and moon them-
among the mortals to listen All who selves Long after Vainamoinen's death,

heard the melody wept at its beauty But people remembered his haunting mel-

the one whose eyes filled the fastest was odies as vividlv as his heroic exploits

Vainamoinen himself As he played, his

down onto
tears rolled slowly

and into the water

the rocks
III
^L
^L Hhile noble Vainamoinen had
Sensing that it was no common brine ^^^9^ been a just recipient of the

that he was weeping, Vainamoinen called magical gift of music, unworthy souls

out to all the company and asked for were sometimes granted it too A story

someone to retrieve his tears from the was told in the mountains of Wales of
water's depths The beasts were silent an old cottager named Morgan who re-

The humans whispered to each other that ceived an instrument from the fairies.

no one could bring them back One night, as Morgan nodded drowsily
Again, the old man called for his tears, by his hearth, a knock on his door roused

this time to a raven circling above him him At his shouted welcome, three road-

Plummeting to the lake, the bird disap- weary strangers entered the dwelling and
peared in the water He was not a swim- asked for food The graybeard, warmed
mer, though, and soon sputtered up to by his fire, his pipe and his good ale,

the surface Then, a blue duck swooped waved them toward the bread and cheese
down from the sky It dived gracefully laid out on his table

into the waves and knifed through the icy The travelers took what they needed,

water, drawn toward a silvery gleam amid promising in return to grant any wish

the black ooze of the lake bed that Morgan had He laughed at their

On the beach, the crowd watched the nonsense and asked for a harj.-) that would

waves in silence Suddenly, the blue duck sing even for his stiff, clumsy fingers In-

broke the surface and bcjbbcd to the stantly, the strangers vanished In their

shore Waddling up to Vainamoinen, it place stood a beautiful harp, so delicately

dropped a clutch of perfect white pearls at wrought that nnlv the smallest hands

his feet Like the tears they had been, the could have made it Morgan recognized
pearls shimmered in the sun with the last It as a fairy's instalment, just as — too
magic f)f the kantele's song late —he realized that his visit. )rs had

The kantele accompanied Vainamoi- been fairies in Inini.in >;uise I le stand at

nen on his adventures until one fateful day the harp lor a lung while, wishing that he

when he was traversing a lake and a great had asked for something belter

/!//f^.'v-''v,j:'
 With an instrument wrought jrom the great pike's jaws, the wizard

Vainamoinen played the world's sweetest music. All the creatures

of the air, the flood and the forest came in peace to hear the melody.

50
51
 When he heard his .
wife and some'^
iriends outside the doQf, he dtcided to
make them. laugh withliis poor playing.
As they came in, hp plucked the strings.

Melody flowed from the harp in a stream

i
of notes swifter and more complex than
any Morgan had played. His wife's toes

began tapping its'srhythm, while her

friends started to sway. Soon, they were
turning and bobbing, then whirling and
leaping to the music. Yet, there was no
joy in their faces, only fear and confu-
sion They begged Mor^n to stop play-

ing, and when he did they staggered to

*'
an exhausted halt. "

With a mischief that soon turned to

cruelty, Morgan found he could make in-

valids leap from their beds and cripples

dance ifi agony to the harp's music. He
caused his enemies to dance until the
bones of their Jjeg's snapped When the
fairies saw how wickedly Morgan was us-
ing their gift, they took the harp away
orte n^ght while he slept. They had not
fashioned the instrument for evil, and
^Vere appalled to see how easily its potent
magic could be harnessed to malice.
Another instrument that could be bent
to wicked ends was the violin, whose
notes insinuated themselves into the lis-

tener's being. Gypsy tale-spinners ex-

plained that its dangerous seductiveness

stemmed from its origins: The first violin

had been made by the Devil himself.

According to the Gypsy legend, when

a Hungarian peasant girl named Marika
fell in love with a handsome and wellborn
huntsman who rode past her family's cot-

tage each day, she called to the Devil for

help. He appeared before her. thaf night.

\f
 \

Sttrfed by his om music, Vainambinen's tears j^ascaded into the lak. A bird

dived to the bottom to retrieve tljeffi^^r they had metamorlihokd tnto pearls.

the could She played the violin in the forest the

ready to grant any request if girl

He could give her the next day As the huntsman rode by, he
pay hi§.^rice.
huntsman's love if she would give her four heard its haunting vofce, heard in it all
|

young brothers into his infernal keeping he had ever loved or dreamed of loving:
As the girl wpnt from bed to bed in the He galloped up through >d}e trees, ^joy-

down at the sleeping fig- ously lifted the girl to his*^ddle and
cottage, gazing

ures, the Devil followed her He looked turned his horse toward home
at theljoys greedily, but the girl's expres-
After only a few days, the Devil came \j ^
sion was distent, fixed on the beautiful looking for them. They had listened to

her mind's eye She nodded his music and were his creatures now, he
huntsman in

instandy transformed said, sweeping them away to hell As

to the Devil \\'ho

the boys into four lengths of string Marika vanished in^e infernal darkness,

Next, he must have their father, her the violin slipped from her grasp and fell

After the briefest pause, to the forest floor There it lay with
r benefactor said

r the girl agreed and watched as he changed silent strings until a Gypsy boy found it

box that stretched among the leaves Marveling at its lovely

the old man into a
long elegant design, he plucked at and tapped it with
from a rounded body to a it

neck He fastened the strings across it and the bow. When at last he discovered how
draw the bow across the strings, he
plucked them with his clawed fingers At to

their twanging sound, the Devil looked made a music Gypsies played ever after-

ward make men laugh or weep

A
pained and turned to the girl again to

He asked for her mother Almost feel- In the hands of some spellcasters, mu-
was a force to fight evil rather than
ing the huntsman's embrace, Marika ges- sic

of her family to promote The delicate harmonies

tured to where the last it

of certain stringed instruments, for ex-

slept From the old woman, the Devil fa-

shioned a slender stick of wood strung .-afhple, were known to soothe the restless

one side with a twist of her hair evil in creatures of the night The Celtic

musician Cailte used the enchantment of

/
hi<; lute against three^werewolves that

the Devil drew the bow had ravaged the flocks of his countrymen
t last,

acr©^ the strings oi the violin Early one morning, he climbed to the
a steep cairn and began to pla\' .^
.Marika listenfed with wonder to music peak of

that trembled on the air^^like a human lyrical melody floated down over forest

and meadow, tillmg even,' hollow and

fe voice. In its song she seemed to hear her
'broth'ers laughter, her mother's scolding, glade and penetrating the deepest cay^
prayeti As she began to where evil creatures hid from the sun
her father's

up merry tune Gailtc played through all the hours of

. -weep, the [3evil struck a

mood to joy Then the mf)rning and the afternoon As even-

that transformed her
''

tnusic ing drew on and the sun began to set, he

he gave it to her, saying tljat 't''

wfRild ensnare the huntsmanV heart S9U^ three shapes ciaiker than the dusk

_i>
53
 ^

J1 demon artnv
putrofligbt

One musician skilled at taming

malevolence with melody was Lady
Pengerswick, an Eastern Princess
who was married to a great Cornish
enchanter Lord Pengerswick had
wed her during his sojourn among
the magicians of the Orient, with
whom he had studied the mystical
arts When he returned to Corn-
wall, he was a master of all the
magical sciences save one He could
not bend a song to his will and make
itwork enchantment for him
His bnde possessed the very skill
that her husband lacked When
Lord Pengerswick brought her to
his castle in that cold, wet land so far

from her home, she sang the songs

of her childhood and accompanied
herself with a harp's haunting har-
monies The words of her refrains
were in a language not even her hus-
band could understand Her voice
was low and sweet, yet it seemed to
fill every room of the castle TTie
servants paused in their work to lis-
ten and mermaids gathered in the

54
cove below to catch the melody
One night, while her strains
floated through the castle, her hus-
band resolved to put his prowess as a

sorcerer to the test With a potent

incantation, he summoned the most
unruly of evil spirits to visit him
and bow to his magic
The\' emerged from an oblivion
darker than Lord Penger^wick had
ever imagined Hissing and spitting
sulfurously the hellbom company
matenalized around the fnghtened
man They whirled about him until
he, was whirling and stagger-
too,
ing He
shouted charms to dispel
them, but in vain The demons' un-
leashed fury was more powerful than
the spoken word
seemed lost lor the foolhardy
All

wizard until, above the demons'

snarls and his own ones, he heard
the music of his wife's harp The de-
mons heard it too and their wild

spinning slowed to the harps gentle

rhythm The ordered hamionv of

her playing imposed itself on their

chaos, lulling them into quietude

At last she sent them in the thrall of

her music out through the air and
back into the night

55
 —

Bewitched hy the enemy's pipes and horns, a Greek army's

warhorses began to dance —and lost a battle jor their masters.

moving toward him Three she-wolves yet more perfect music that Cailte had
with glittering eyes crept through the promised, the musician killed them
shadows to lie at Cailte's feet, listening While stringed instruments conquered
to the charmed music the human heart and wielded influence
Cailte knew that the evil in the beasts, over evil spirits, instruments that were
stilled only for the moment by his music, blown carried the most powerful magic
had to be destroyed Yet, such creatures into batde With seven blasts upon seven
could only be killed in their human form trumpets, the Israelites razed the mighty
Over the sound of his lute, Cailte spoke walls of Jericho in ancient Palestine

to the wolves, saying that music played And centuries later, another wind instru-

by human hands was sweetest to human ment, the pipe, magically turned the tide
ears After a moment, the animals rose on of batde in the war between the Mediter-
their hind legs and their dark fur fell away ranean cities of Sybaris and Croton.
from them Before Cailte stood three In the clear dawn air that morning, the
women with pate, smooth skin, long, sounds of armies readying for battle
silky hair and glittering wolves' eyes swords rasping into scabbards, helmets
While they paused, waiting to hear the clanking against breastplates, the snorts

56
 ,# V ll

of the horses, the curses of vanced, Milon in desperation called the

and whinnies
themen — carried sharply across the field pipers forward to play his army into batde

The men of Croton, outnumbered three in the trumpeter's stead

to one, clearly heard the brazen blast that The rollicking melody of the pipes

called the Sybarites' superbly mounted produced an extraordinary effect When

arms the tune reached them, the Sybarites'
and equipped horse soldiers to

horses broke the smooth stride of their

T
K
^^
he
knew
Croton commander,
that a victory on
Milon,
this battle-
gallop
shouts
in
Despite spurs on their flanks and
in their ears, they skidded to a halt
the middle of the field Then, in per-

rhythm with the pipers' playing, the

field could be his only by favor of the fect

gods Raising his eyes heavenward in sup- horses began to dance

plication, he ordered his own call to Their dance was as full of flourishes as

arms The trumpeter blew with practiced the piping, with graceful prancing punc-
tuated by bucking and rearing Riders fell
strength But, strain as he might, no blast

split the air Again he blew, and again the to the ground, others dismounted and fled

as the Croton troops closed on them I o

gods stilled the blast As the Sybarites ad-

57
the accompaniment of the charmed me
ody, the Sybarite army was routed
God-fearing peasants and powerful soi

cerers alike had always known the grei

enchantment in the sudden clash of gonj

or cymbals, the insistent beat of drurr
and the solemn tolling of bells Throug
these percussive voices, mortals seeme
able to speak to ghosts or spirits, callin

them up or driving them away

TH n ancient Rome, sorcerers knew th

H secret of casting a special bell that wj

buried along with a dead body for seve

days. If the bell were exhumed and run
on the eighth day, the corpse itself coul
rise with the music Roman householdei
who wished to send family ghosts bac
to the grave did so with a clash of cyrr

bals and the invocation "Ghosts of m

fathers, go forthi"

Both drums and bells were known t

thwart storms, while the power of chimt

to ward off evil was such that Wester
exorcists traditionally rang bells whe
casting out demons In the East, Chines
 TIj£ hells of medieval churches tolled }iot only to announce a death

but to keep at hay the evil spirits that swarmed around the departed.

priests struck gongs to drive spirits away it swinging from his horse's neck Later,

And at the precise moment of death, repenting of his crime, the King decided

the soul was most vulnerable to to return the bell to St Illtyd's But no
when
mystical influence, European church bells sooner had he lashed it to his horse's

were rung to keep evil at bay neck once more than the animal galloped
Dunng great festivals of the witch's away, riderless, toward Wales

calendar, such as N4idsummer Eve and The magical bell rang as the horse

Walpurgis Night, the malevolence afoot crossed the countryside of England, mark-

was so terrible that some panshioners ing every stride of the westward journey

tolled church bells from dusk to dawn Other horses, heanng the wondrous mu-
The righteous power of bells often came sic, fell under its enchantment Leaping

from the saints to whom they were over walls and fences, they followed the

consecrated. Most well-loved bells were bell westward By the time the belled

named — some were even baptized steed reached the Severn River at the

The mystical voices of such bells were Welsh border, a great bev>' of horses fol-

nearly impossible to silence Many cen- lowed behind him The animals did not
turies ago in England, an entire village break stride at the river's edge, but gal-

was buried in an earthquake, but the loped straight across the water, upheld by

chimes of the entombed church bell still the music of the bell On the other side

rang each Christmas Eve On the same more beasts joined them, until all the

night every year in one German town, horses of Wales escorted the bell to the

three silver bells tolled from the bottom gate of St Illtyd's church.

where they had from

r
of a lake fallen a

burning church steeple

One of the most beloved bells in medi- B here, the King's steed lowered its

eval times belonged to the church of St ^^head and allowed the priest to lift

Illtyd, in Wales When an English King the charmed burden from its neck Raised

heard its sweet song on his travels, he to the steeple, the bell rang out in a beni-

stole it from its belfry and rode home with son that released the horses from their
spell For cenUiries to come, the villagers
listening to their bell blessed the horse

that had sensed the mystical power ot

music and responded to its elusive magic

',
..;^
^)gyiJ iil^M|U-)',J!,W>
l
i» HgB

ssSW*^*^
 Chapter four

KitclKn

n villages that clung to the storm-

carved cliffs of Cornwall, mothers

T
them
taught
plants

to chum
their

and flowers
daughters
just as

fresh butter
the lore

they taught
from thick
of

cream In their warm, firelit kitchens,

hung with bundles of herbs to keep the

plague away, the air was heavy with

the scented steam of soothing infusions
Ointments to heal wounds and teas to

tame fevers crowded their shelves, and

hidden among them were amulets filled

with more potent concoctions These

the good wives of the hamlet of Fraddam
hung around their necks on market day,
when the road to town took them past

one cottage set apart from the rest

The uimbledown house seemed almost

part ot the hedgerow, thorny branches

wove themselves into its thatch, and
ancient roots airled around its threshold

The women hurried past their

•\
it

faces averted, though there was

little sign of life within Hut
\

sometimes, when the tides ran

high and the moon was lull a

greasy black smoke poured In mi

Its 1, hiniiKA I n\ (!( ipcd hv U^

 stench, the women caught their children night she climbed down the rocky cliffs

up in their arms and ran. The whisper above Kynance Cove to summon an ally.

would pass from cottage to cottage: The As the tide ran out, she kneeled at the

witch of Fraddam was in her kitchen water's edge and softly whispered a de-

The noxious fumes oozed up from mon's name into the night
the kitchen more frequently with each Instantly, a hissing creature burst into

year that passed, for the district around being at her feet, its twisted, puckered
Fraddam had become a battleground of face glowing red in the firelight She
magic where the witch's hellborn powers crouched beside it and offered a bargain

clashed with the more beneficent sorcery The witch promised her soul in exchange
of a wizard who lived close by Each time for power over her enemy But, as her tar-

the crone bewitched herself into the nished soul was not a very great prize, the
farmer's churn and drank his milk, the hellish creature refused her terms In-

wizard responded by burning her tongue stead, it offered only the secret of a brew
with a hot poker When she disfigured that would enslave anyone it touched.
one of the village children with her evil

eye, he restored it

she spread sickness, he cured

The witch wandered
with a spell

it
Where

the countryside
T
^L hinking the potion would be
^fc^ficient for her ends, the
suf-

witch ac-
at night, gathering herbs by moonlight cepted the demon's offer and hurried
and listening at cottage windows for quar- home In her smoke-stained kitchen, she
rels that might profit her in her spell- mixed the ingredients of the infernal bev-

making Against the midnight sky she erage in a caldron Then she concocted a
could often see a single candle burning in second preparation, a toxic dilution of

the turret window of the wizard's home deadly nightshade, in a bucket

There, she knew, her rival sat turning The next night, bent beneath the
the britde pages of books bound in ivory weight of her dual load, she trudged
and edged with gold The witch herself through the twisting lanes until she came
had passed her hands over such tomes, to a crossroads she knew the wizard must
hoping to draw their powers, but no pass She placed the bucket in the middle
magic had come from them of the road, where its poisoned water
She turned from the light and spit, tell- might tempt a hot, tired horse

ing herself that she did not require spells Keeping the caldron close beside her,

from books She made her own magic, the witch huddled down in a ditch and
just as her mother and grandmother had chuckled at the cleverness of her plan
taught her, from herbs and flowers, cats' The wizard's mare would drink deeply of
blood and toads' skin the maddening tincture, and before her
Yet her powers needed strengthening master could feel the witch's snare closing
against the encroachments of her high- about him, he would be thrown by the
born and learned rival, and one moonlit crazed animal It would be easy to douse

Waiting at a crossroads Jor the wizard who had thwarted her,

the vengeful witch of Fraddam chuckled and stirred a hellish hrew.

62
r -^^^
 '"^ ^^e er ^'
road lonely her ^^^dron l
^nd thf
^'tch sank
deeper into the
"^hh °"^ ^f
sight.
shadows. Startled by the strange object at
''"f '^ugh, the
the crossroads, the mare reared. But the
wizard's prescience was too great for the spurred his horse homeward That night,
old woman Leaning forward in his saddle, and in all the nights to come when storms
he whispered in the horse's ear Instandy, beat against the coast, he knew that the

the beast turned and kicked the bucket, witch was still aloft on the wind, some-
which flew across the road and struck the times swooping down to stir up the sea

caldron at the witch's feet The crone beneath her From the roof of his turret
screamed as the brew splashed over her he had only to shout a word of command
to watch the storm die away as his defeat-

T
^k
^^^ sky,
he wizard shouted
and a
at the night
whirlwind came sweep-
ed rival deferred to his superior force.
The powers
came not only from
of both witch and wizard
the demon's brew,

ing out of the still heavens Riding on the but from an ancient knowledge of the
crest of the storm was the demon from plants that flowered in hedgerows, mead-
Kynance Cove, lashing it to greater fury ows and in The men and
graveyards
As the winds engulfed the witch, the women who wielded magic knew the
bucket was sucked into the eye of the properties of every growing thing, and
cyclone and stretched by magic into the how to bend them to their will

shape of a coffin The flying sarcophagus The skill and cunning with which
dipped earthward and scooped the crone they manipulated nature was a legacy
 '°^^ festivals
and holy days
"ne of currents of particularly power-
^P'ntual influence to be exploited
^ centuries to the
priests When the witch desired to stir a quar-

and priestesses of Hecate, in ancient rel between lovers in Fraddam, she picked

Greece Hecate, goddess of witchcraft, vervain by the dawn light of a May morn-
was embodied by the moon Her suppli- ing to strew in their path If she needed a

cants knew that when its full orb hung charm to open locked doors, she waited
cold and white in the night sky, the god- until St James's Day in high summer

dess's influence flowed down in its light Leaves of chicory cut with a golden blade

upon all earthly life Herbs picked under at noon and again at midnight on that day

Hecate's spell would flavor any charm were the essence of the spell The old

with superhuman malevolence teachings decreed that betony must be

Thus, the witch of Fraddam obeyed an gathered on May Day During its har-

age-old principle of her kind when she vest, an invocation of the Holy Trinirv

carried out her deadly harvest under the made the herb a healing simple, while a

full moon She and her rival practitioners call to Satan ripened it for evildoing

worked by a complex calendar of days and Most plants in the sorcerer's pharma-

hours to gather plants either for good or copoeia had a similar potential for either

for ill This magical timetable took ac- good or evil Only a lifetime of careful

count both of natural events, such as the study enabled the magician to handle

passing seasons, and of the offices of the them properly for the desired result The

Foiled by n siromja miu)u, l/'f irikh inis condmucd forever to

ride the clouds and the waves, raising storms in her uhike.

65
66
dangerous propenies of vewain, tor ex- alike often poured a healing libation of

ample, were released only if the plant honey on the ground to appease Mother
was picked by human hands To nullifx- Earth, from whose breast the plants had

them, many spellspinners of good intent drawn their strength

tied the stems of such herbs to a dog's leg The herbs they picked with such care

When the animal ran, the plants were possessed pedigrees of magic dating back

uprooted without human touch and thus to the beginning of time The properties

were fit for witchen.' Among the Druids, of some plants had been discovered by
priesdy sorcerers wrought scissors of iron the animals in the ages before man's

for cutting leaves that would be made evil ascendancy Fennel, for example, was

by contact with skin sought out by skin-shedding serpents that

The moment of gathering plants was knew its power of renewal Human spell-

dangerous, for it was the first, irrevocable casters valued it more for its efficacs'

step in the ritual of spellmaking Both for against evil, especially on Midsummer

the power of the spell and the safety of its Eve, when a locked door seemed frail pro-

maker, that initial progression into the tection against the wraiths and spirits

tides of enchantment, somerimes benign, loosed outside On such nights, the wise

sometimes deadly, had to be made cau- householder hung fennel over the door-

tiously and correcdy way to ward off witches, and stuffed it

Greek magi ate gadic, whose strong into the keyhole to keep out ghosts

scent was known to be loathsome to evil In the age when immortals walked the

spirits, and anointed themselves with oil earth with men, the centaur Chiron,

picking their herbs They ap- who had learned the medical arts from
before
proached each individual plant from a .Apollo, discovered the extraordinary se-

prescribed direction In order to draw crets of many herbs One, known after

sap at the moment of him as the centaurs' plant, had, in the

power into its

harvest, the ancient physicians beguiled hands of healers like himself, the power

each plant with flattering incantations to prevent infernal enchantment Yet,

steeped in the blood of a lapwing and

mixed with oil, centaurs', too, could be-

witch Sorcerers claimed that when such
nourished the hurtful powers a potion was burned in a lamp, it caused

i,\ plants by spitting on the seedlings, all who came within its light to think

v.atcring them with the venom of their themselves witches

own evil Then, to coax supreme malev- The name given by men of learning

to another plant, Aiii/fliai archivhnh'.d,

olence from an herb, they picked it be-

neath a moon whose bewitching power betokened its association even among
the flickering light of a scholars with Saint Michael, the arch-
was enhanced by
torch fixed m the hand of a corpse After a angel who did celestial battle with Satan

herbal harvest, blick .hh! white witches Drawing on its namesake's power to cast

( lorcr dHii c/)it/i(f/oi/, caHaury and hislorl dll /'<;</ l/'nr J^Lkc ni ihc

garland of herbs and wild flowers used lo ward off ir/k/'cs and eril spmis.

67
 out the devil, angelica was a potent to keep enchantment at bay, while par-
igredient against evil and danger If it ents hung daisy chains around their chil-
was picked, in accordance with ancient dren's necks lest fairy kidnappers should

teachings, when the sun was in Leo, even leave changelings in their beds
a small piece of angelica could drive away Not all plants were benign Some
pestilence and storms could be used to enhance, rather than

Rosemary, too, an ingredient in count- guard against, witchcraft It was said that

less protective amulets, was a benevolent parsley would flourish only in the gardens

herb with the power to protect against of evildoers. Even there it was slow to
both bodily and spiritual harm So great sprout Its roots descended nine times to

was its innate virtue that only righteous the underworld before sending up shoots
people could cultivate it A single sprig of replete with the devil's own malevolence
the pine-scented herb would guard the The malign influence of the herb basil
wearer against evil spirits by day as well as was so potent that its leaves exuded a

against their nocturnal visitations in the deadly miasma The fern, too, was a use-

guise of nightmares. Any man who feared ful aid to the magician Cursed by Saint
that a poisoner mightsit among his Patrick, it could bear no flowers, instead,
guests at the dinner table was wise to it carried tiny seeds with the power to

eat with a spoon carved from a rose- make a skillful sorcerer invisible

mary bush, whose wood could pur- Such herbs on their own, however,
ify tainted food Many herbs and had relatively litde power For their most
flowers could shield the virtuous potent magic, spellmakers bolstered the
against the infernal mischief of plants' efficacy with the aid of other
witches and fairies Farmers and ingredients from the witch's kitchen
shepherds gained special protec- The blood, bone or skin of an animal of-

tion from peonies, flowers thought ten lent power to the concoction In the
by the ancient Greeks to ward off trial of one sorcerer brought to justice by
night spirits by shining in the frightened townsfolk, the evidence in-
dark Cowherds garlanded the cluded his witch's bag containing bears'
horns of their catde claws, cats' ears, hedgehogs' bristles, the

with marsh marigolds teeth of a mole and the bones of a mouse

Some of the most powerful unguents and
ointments called for ingredients from the
grave —human blood, brains and flesh

m Because the stain of

their efficacy,
sin added
these ingredi-
to
ents were sought from unbaptized babies, first her step was light and quick, but

still bearing the guilt of Adam's fall, and after many hours and many miles she

from hanged felons Witches sought out grew weary of walking and stopped to rest

lonely country gibbets and untended cribs at a crossroads The downland spread out

for their grisly needs around her, wide fields and empt\' roads as

Fat taken from a felon's corpse had far as she could see She had just closed

many magical uses By long boiling, a her eyes when a voice spoke to her out of

witch could render it into tallow Candles the emptiness Cherry jumped to her

molded from this infernal wax had the feet Looking down at her with kindly

power to disclose hidden treasure eves was a man — a gentleman, Cherry

knew, by the gleaming leather of his

TH n the pharmacopoeia of sorcer\' were

boots and the fine wool of his cloak She
curtsied in respectful silence, though she

I many embrocations that worked their was longing to ask how he had come
magic on the human eye, the window of upon her so unexpectedly
the soul Since time began, the earth had TTie gendeman asked where Cheny
been inhabited by more creatures than was going, and when she told him he
the mortal eye could see, but certain very smiled He had gone out that very day to

sharpened human sight and find a gid to keep house for him, he was a
secret salves

allowed it to glimpse the realm of en- widower whose young son needed tend-
chantment One girt who unwittingly ing Cherry's chores would be simple in

saw into that kingdom was young Cherr\' his comfortable house with its warm fires

of Zennor, in Cornwall and richly stocked larder As he spoke,

whose the girl nodded and said "Yes, sir" as her
Cherry's father was a fisherman
handsome mother had taught her to say to gentle-
only wealth was his flock of

children Cherry was the youngest, a men Soon she found herself accompany-
beautiful child who ran barefoot on the ing him They walked and walked, yet

beach in dresses her sisters had outgrown Cherry still felt fresh when they stopped
When she was old enough to notice that before a gate in a high stone wall

other girls had new dresses and ribbons for Together, they stepped through the
gate into a garden lovelier than any
their hair, she grew dissatisfied with the
Cherr>' had seen or imagined Flowers of
simple pleasures of her father's cottage by
Her mother begged her to stay every color blossomed at her feet like a
the sea
among the fisherfolk she knew, but proud silken carpet Against the garden wall,

Cherry was determined to find a life espaliered faiil trees spread branches that

who had were heavy with ripe apples, pears and

among the prosperous farmers
plums The plants in this garden seemed
beef for supper instead of periwinkles
With no possessions to burden her, she to know no season, the fruits and flowers

simply set off one morning up the rising of spring grew beside those of summer
Downs At and auaimn, nil reads' to be pn.kcd
ground known as the Lady

Nujhl-roimii) Ihii)^ inuuiaecl the hicjlnihiy^ m sduxb oj i)thhch citul llnv hunum

himiais.jor ihc flesh of haucjeti tnai uuis n sovcreigu ificjreiiiatl m mulcfiavl spclh.

Oi)
 —

The gentleman — her master now staring past Cherry into the empty air

held open the door of his manor house for He took litde notice of her for the rest of

Cherry, who blushed at his courtesy In- the day, and she busied herself in the gar-
side the handsome hall, he called his son den while he played his solitary games
The boy was no more than three years Over the weeks Cherry got used to the

old, yet he met Cherry's friendly smile work about the house and spent more and
with a cold, piercing gaze more time in the garden The master was
often there, waiting to reward his pretty

r
^^
^•^ easy
he man described her new
duties and ready pleasures
life, its
servant with a kiss
the boy and touched
guent, then marveled at
Each day she bathed
his eyes

its
with un-
dramatic ef-

She would sleep in the child's room, cook fect Gradually her curiosity increased
and care for him by day and tend the gar- One day she could overcome it no
den while he played The mles were few, longer The boy had wandered off after

her master said, but strict Never must his bath Cherry purposefully dawdled as

she open her eyes at night Never could she returned the crystal box to its hiding-
she stray into the many rooms whose place When she was sure that she was
doors were always closed Most import- alone, she dipped a finger into the oint-
antly, each morning she must bathe the ment and mbbed it into her eyes A
boy's eyes with an ointment, but never scorching pain seared them and she stag-
let it touch her own gered to the spring After splashing her
Cherry took up her work the next day face again and again, she found that she
She bathed the boy in a spring at the bot- could open her eyes without any pain
tom of the garden In the cleft of a rock There, beneath the gentle bubbling of
nearby, where her master had told her to the spring's surface, she saw tiny people,
look, she found a box hewn from ice-clear men and women who could fit inside her

crystal When she opened it, a faint, bit-

ter scent rose from the bright green paste

inside The boy wriggled and twisted in

her arms, but at last she touched the oint-

ment to his eyes. At once he was still,

-^^^
^^ss^r-
 Jlktbalantidore
to hostile spells

The causes of painful ills and wast-

ing diseases were invisible, sufferers
laid the blame on malevolent magic
and sought the counsel of a friendly
sorcerer After diligent inquiry, it

was on occasion divined that the

patient's sufferings were affected by
the machinations of a hostile witch,
acting either from simple malice or
in revenge for a slight
As the cause was magical, so was
the cure The sorcerer filled a

glazed stone drinking jar — a jug

with a painted face, round belly and
narrow neck was reckoned as the
ideal receptacle —with a mixture of
blood, hair, nail and urine
parings
from the patient Sometimes the
practitioner would add pins, knotted
threads and the heart of a small ani-
mal This foul concoction was
brought slowly to a boil over the
kitchen fire at dead of night, with
the sorcerer chanting the Lord's
Prayer backward, at first slowly,
then faster as the liquid began to
bubble and emit vile fumes As the
bubbles rose in the brew, it was ex-
pected that the distant witch or war-
lock would be clutched by terrible
cramps If the sorcerer did not re-

lent, the enemy was sure to die

72
thimble Cherry bent close to the water that had the opposite effect Sometimes

and watched as the sprites danced and these could blind the victims to certain

spun in its depths Women clustered aspects of the scenes before their eyes

around one of the men, kissing and pet- More frighteningly, they could deepen

ting him Cherry stared at the diminutive the beholder's vision, enabling him to see

figure — and recognized her master the reality beneath surface appearances

She turned away, her eyes stinging In a rockbound castle high in the Car-

now with tears of fury She had been liv- pathian Mountains, a pair of bold oudaws «-'9'»A

ing with fairies, creatures of wicked mis- discovered just how fearsome the powers ^^'^:j'^^-
chief The gendeman who had seemed so of such an unguent could be

grand, whose kindness and kisses she had The poor and powerless folk of the
Opening windou's on
welcomed, was not a man at all, but a be- Hungarian highlands had a champion in
a bidden world
ing as elusive as dew or moonlight the bandit Dobosz He led a company of
the
She ran through the garden toward the men who were not afraid to defy the op- Tantalizing in its proximitv,
kingdom ot the fain,' races hov-
house All around her she could see fairies pressive Magyar lords He lived in a
ered somewhere just beyond human

cavorting, frolicking in the grass, among mountain redoubt with his men, and it view Its denizens cavorted in the
forest glades and among the wild
the flowers and through the treetops was there one night that he heard a
meadows as
flowers of the mortal

She slammed the kitchen door behind her knocking on the door He opened it on a men and women walked past unsee-
ing But there were folk who knew
and huddled beside the kitchen fire Even- sleek-haired man dressed all in black, who how to penetrate the mystenes of

announced himself as an envoy of the this other realm They sharpened

ing came and with it her master, once secret by anointing
their sight in

again in smiling human guise When he greatest lord of the region The Voye- their eyes with certain fragrant

bent to kiss her cheek. Cherry slapped vode wished, after many years of hostility' herbs infused in oil

Ordinan' oil was rendered en-

him, crying that he should save his at- and bloodshed, to make peace with Dob- chanted by washing it with specially
He was holding splendid ball in his prepared rose and mangold water
tentions for the fairy girls who so ob- osz a
until It lost its golden hue and uinied

viously enjoyed them castle that night and hoped the outlaw white The mixture was then placed

would be honored guest a vial with buds of hollyhock,

The fairy gentleman saw at once what his in

mangold, thyme and hazel, and

she had done and drew back from her,
shaking his head sadly
keep a serving-girl

whelmed her obedience

whose
He could not
curiosity over-

Early the next

n
^r
I nv normal man would have feared
I and declined the
a trap invitation,
grass gathered from a hillock known
to be the haunt of faines

the unguent could

open the eves
then be
Set to
strengthen for three days in the sun,
used to
ot the mortal seeker

morning he took her back to the cross- but Dobosz disdained caution He agreed

roads where he had ftjund her f^e left her to go in the company of his taisted triend

there, and Cherry made her way safely Iwanczuk Donning the plumed hats that

back to her family Yet, like all mortals were their only finer\', the two men

who had glimpsed ihc tairv kingdom, she climbed into the waiting eoaeh with the

lived ever after with a longing to see the envov and dro\e ott

Some hours later thev le.iehed the

creatures just once more
Ihe unguent Cherry had used enabled castle, perched high on a craggy peak A
her to see into a realm usually invisible to militaPv' band sounded horns and diTims as

but there were other potions Dobosz mounted the steps Main' doois
niortdls,

7.^
 swung open and he strode into a ballroom ing sparkling chandeliers. This could
lighted by a thousand candles A swarm of never be the stronghold of a warrior nor
lackeys, veiy like the Voyevode's emis- the home of a simple man He turned
sary in their black frock coats, crowded again to the Voyevode. The honor was
around the bandits, smiling and bowing too great for him, he answered. If the
Dobosz brushed them away and joined Voyevode wished to give up his casde, let

the guests. Although richly clad in silks it be made into a church for all the
and jewels, they seemed to him a sickly people, sanctified to the glory of God.
collection Pale and slight, stiffly posed As Dobosz's last word rang through
beside their ladies, not one of the men the room, the whole company of nobles,
stood taller than the bandit's shoulder. servants and musicians seemed to sag
They answered politely, even humbly, The Voyevode swayed and fell to the
when he spoke to them, but no laughter floor. The lackeys dropped to their hands
or conversation filled the air and knees, tongues lolling from their

mouths. Dobosz bent to help his host,

but Iwanczuk kept his eyes on the ser-

vants. They were crawling or dragging

^^^ joyment when the envoy darted themselves down the room toward a bur-
up to him Behind him came the impos- nished font, from which they scooped out
ing figure of the Voyevode As he bowed dollops of an oily salve they then touched
to the oudaw, the guests and lackeys to their eyes. At once, they rose back to
alike drew around in silence Iwanczuk their feet and resumed their duties. The
felt as though a performance were about envoy anointed the eyes of his stricken

to begin and, indeed, when the nobleman lord, who sat up with new strength
spoke, the words hardly seemed to be his Soon everything was as it had been be-
own Glancing nervously at his envoy, he fore Amid the confusion Iwanczuk sidled
said that he hoped Dobosz would feel at off unnoticed toward the font and dipped
home in the castle. As the bandit nodded one finger in the unguent He touched
at this pleasantry, the Voyevode added, the potion to his right eyelid, and at once
"Not just for tonight, but for all time." he felt the room dissolve around him. A
He offered Dobosz a ring of golden keys dizzying sea of shapes, colors and sounds
Dobosz and Iwanczuk stared at each washed over him until he clapped a hand
other in bewilderment. Seeing their sur- to his other eye. At that all fell still The
prise, the Voyevode explained that he only sound was the shriek of the night
had no heirs and that Dobosz was famed wind Iwanczuk found himself standing
as an honorable man. He had only to ac- amid the rubble of a ruined castle lighted
cept the keys and the castle would be his. by the moon. The bare skeletons of trees
Dobosz looked around the ballroom growing up through holes in the shat-
with its tall windows arching toward a tered floors swayed in the wind. Slinking
frescoed ceiling, its polished floor reflect- about the fallen masonry was a pack of

Whm the hold bandit Dobosz was invited to a hall, he was

startled by the offer ojthe keys of the castle in which it was held.

74
m

75
A;j uifhi-ii^iil opcnm the C)^.

henchman, iwmirnu

he hare trees and snarlu

 ''
^'tt'^'
sleek black dogs with lolling tongues.
When the bandit looked out over one
broken wall and saw that the ruin was
spinning above the cliffs, he staggered
back in terrified understanding.
This was the devil's castle, known by
all God-fearing men to whirl near the

summit of the mountain called Pietros.

The guests at the splendid ball were the

blasted trees swaying in the unearthly
wind and the lackeys were the hounds of
hell Trembling, Iwanczuk blinked, then
opened his left eye Once again, the ball-

room glittered with candlelight

Iwanczuk mshed to his friend's side.

The Voyevode was urging Dobosz to re-
consider Iwanczuk realized that Dobosz
Fleeing the trap that had been setjor than, the two brigands turned

to find the castle spinning like a top on the mountains summit.

would commit his soul to the inferno if

he accepted the keys that the Prince of

Darkness himself was offering. He whis-

pered to Dobosz that they were in the

midst of great evil and must escape Al-

though the chieftain could see no danger

among these pallid aristocrats, he took
his comrade at his word They edged
their way toward the door The lackeys,
black hair bristling and smiles twisting
into snarls, closed around them
"God keep you all!" Iwanczuk shouted
to them At the sound of the holy name
the lackeys fell back, crawling once again

toward the font

The oudaws ran out into the night,

leaping across boulders to the safety of

the forest Gasping for breath, Iwanczuk
told Dobosz the tmth about the castle

TTie bandit chieftain shook his head in

wonder, almost in disbelief, for he had
seen neither devils nor dogs.

TH wanczuk bathed his right eye in the

I first clear mountain pool they found

and in every stream they crossed on the
long journey home Yet the unguent that
bestowed both the power to sustain illu-

sion and the power to see through it

would not wash away

Ever afterward, he had only to close
one eye to glimpse the devil slipping

through a crowd or lurking in a corner

Bom cautious, Iwanczuk grew ever more

so, threading a careful path through in-

fernal mischief that only he could see

1?^..
 Chapter fipc

Capidary
Core

from the earth's secret

Delved
places or brought into being by

the wiles of demons, gods and

sorcerers: Such were the origins
of the stones, jewels and precious gems
/
that lent their energies to enchantment
To catch and tame the energies en-
trapped even in a humble earth-stone
took skill and knowledge The dark,
gleaming lodestone, for example, was
known to all for its eerie attraction for

iron, and those versed in the rudiments of

magic lore could use its uncanny tugging
to bring together lovers pulled apart by
misfortune Others, more advanced in

study, appreciated the living soul the

stone contained, and told how its eman-
ations snatched the shoes from horses,

drew nails and even levitated statues But

the wisest magicians went further, and
they kept their secrets to themselves
In adept hands and with the proper in-

cantations, a lodestone could cure insan-

ity or raise the phantoms of the dead, set

fire to water or ease the pangs of child-
birth And there were ways to revive its

powers, should they ever flag. Sometimes

it was enough to bathe the
/ €

'^.
stone in precious linseed oil and bury it in hewn by anything so base as iron They
the earth, but a lodestone was a living spoke of the Shamir, but added that it had
thing and had to be fed —with iron filings now lay
vanished, centuries before, and

or, if all else failed, with blood beyond the reach of mortal men Yet
Some useful talismans came not from Solomon could achieve what common
the earth but from the things that crawl mortals could not, for he was not only
upon it Inside the heads of certain rep- King of Israel and acknowledged as the

tiles, enfolded in their little brains, ma- wisest man of his age, he was also famed
gicians occasionally discovered stones of as a master magician Marshaling his en-

startling potency A tortoise might yield ergies, he summoned up the Prince of

an enchanted pebble with the power to demons, Ashmodai himself, to tell the

quench flames Europe's witches hunted secret It was not easy even for Solomon
frogs and toads, whose skulls often bore to bind Ashmodai to his will,- but at last

miracle-working gems the deed was done

Others looked skyward for their occult "What do you want with me, might>'

treasure A venturesome sorcerer could King^" the demon snarled

hope to find inside an eagle's nest a scarlet "With you, nothing," retorted Sol-

stone that promised its owner wealth and omon "But for my temple I must have
"

protection from evil chance Backed by the Shamir

the right technique, the stone would also "Then ask the moorhen," sneered Ash-
detect a guilty thief —but its loss was a modai "She uses it to split the barren

grievous blow to the eagles, which could mountainside to make crevices where
"
not breed without its help green trees and plants may grow

T
Birds played a vital part in the quest for

the most remarkable stone of all — the

fabulous Shamir According to the elder ^L he King took the demon at his

legends of the Hebrews, the Shamir had ^^ word, and sent his servants to find

been one of the miracles of Creation, a the moorhen's nest When they tracked

barleycorn-sized object that could smash it down, they saw that it was full ot

iron and slice through rock like butter It chicks The King used some of his fabled

had been used by Moses, so some said, to wisdoiTi He had the nest covered with a
carve sacred inscriptions in places where dome of glass When the modihcii iv-
the Law forbade the use of metal, but all turned, she was frantic, she muld see her

agreed that it had been lost utterly on the young without being able to re.Kh tluni

death of the great patriarch Then she Hew nil, ,iih1 i. amc hack with
That misfortune seemed most acute in the Shamir in her beak .At Us touch, the

the days when Solomon was building the glass shattered A ser\'ant seized the Sha-

temple, the gIniA' ol his reign Priests mir, anti Siiliimoii had his uisli

reminded the King that the temple's With the Shamii, the lose gnKl lime

great stone blocks could nut l.iwkillv he stdne that h.id been selected Idi the

S^

WIAPiUlOE LIBRARY DISTRICT

temple was effortlessly cut into perfect of its rich lore, declared that the Shamir
blocks, free of contamination by the was not a stone or a jewel but a worm: a

masons' workaday iron tools The shap- worm both miniature and miraculous,
ing of the temple masonry was only one whose small, adamantine jaws pierced
of the tasks that it performed for Sol- crystal, rock or steel at its master's will.

omon. The Shamir also had a role in the As for the ring itself, it was variously
carving of Solomon's seal, most potent of believed to be forged from bands of silver
all the gems of power This seal, in the and copper, or made of heavy iron. The
form of an enchanted signet ring, guaran- marks of power that were engraved upon
teed Solomon's authority over demons, it were said to include pentacles and words
jinn and other spirits, and allowed him to of binding from the ancient Phoenician

converse with birds and the beasts. With- tongue, or the design upon the seal was of
out it, he was no mightier than any other stars nestling within stars, and the words
mortal, at least according to one account around the ring were Hebrew. Given
such an array of descriptions, reconstruc-

T
^L
^r
he King, so that story goes, had
become arrogant in his power,
tion was an impossible
thousand generations of magicians were
not deterred from trying
task, although a

to punish him, God had the ring snatched Even if the fabulous power of Solomon
from him and thrown into the sea For and his seal had vanished forever from
three years, Solomon wandered as a beg- the world of men, much could still be
gar own kingdom, while a mock-
in his achieved by means of "ordinary" precious
ing demon assumed his likeness and his and semiprecious stones, and the lapidar-

throne Only when God relented, and the ies who cut and sold such gems often

ring turned up in the belly of a fish, did compiled meticulous lists of their proper-

the humiliated monarch return to his ties Many stones had strong associations

former glory But soon, with the passing with the planets and the zodiac, and were
of Solomon's age of grandeur and of wis- best used or worn under the guidance of a

dom, the Shamir disappeared again skilled astrologer. But even without their
It was never forgotten, yet in later, less celestial correspondences, certain gem-
blessed years, no one could remember stones had no small influence on the
just exactly what it was A diamond, said health and wealth of their owners
those who knew that jewel's purity and Queen of them all was the diamond,
hardness, mere emery, said others, who brilliant and all-healing, especially in

had traced its name through every al- cases of mental illness A symbol of divin-

phabet and language, back through the ity, it protected its wearer against plague
incunabula and grimoires to the dusty, and unseen ill-wishers, turning dark to
faded vellum and the crumbling papyrus warn of the presence of poison in an
of a vanished world Some sages, deeply innocent-looking dish of food To the
versed in all the fragments that remained faint-hearted, it brought relief from the
terrors of the night, and to the brave it precious luster was a sure sign of failing

promised strength and victory health The variety of garnet known as

The ruby, like the diamond, would the carbuncle was especially prized in
time of plague an infected victim
guard against pestilence and poison, and, If

though it could not match the curative should draw near to the owner of the car-

power of the diamond, it had one very buncle, the deep-red gem would fade, as a

useful property of its own When danger warning of danger

loomed, a ruby would change its color Sapphire and lapis lazuli —even the

to alert its owner most ancient of authorities sometimes

Other gemstones also changed their confused the tu'o —never lost their per-

color, often for very specific reasons fect blue, but were relied

The opal generally brought good luck, upon as painkillers Water

and in some cases could inspire its wearer in which either gemstone

to foretell the future But a loss of its had been dipped was a certain

ForhhUai hy (mesl^ to u^c hn^- miLil jot adlnuj ihc sloiics oj ihc tmj^lc,

Solomon mployed the Shamir to hew huildini) hlo^h iiud mwc ni.scM/)lk)ii

85
86
 Cbc chain of
cosmic connections
Between the heavenly bodies and
the human world stretched a web of
correspondence and affinities that
was diligently explored by students
of arcane lore The sun, the moon
and the five known planets were all
linked to specific zodiacal signs. In
addition, each of them was held to
govern a skill and a day of the week,
as well as a particular color, stone
and precious metal
Sunday was ruled by the sun,
whose gleaming light was reflected
in its talismans —
gold, diamond and
topaz It was a good da\' for acquir-
ing wealth and winnmg powerful
fnendsThe pale moon controlled
Monday and the destinies of trav-
elers at sea, who, by wearing white
garments and ornaments of silver and
pearl, might guarantee a safe voy-

age Mars, with its ruddy glow, sent

soldiers mto battle on Tuesday,
carrying the standards of the war-
god iron and bloodred mbies Fleet-
footed Mercury, the messenger of
the gods, fostered commerce Wed-
nesday s patron, he favored quick-
silver, the muted tones of gray, and
shimmenng opals
On Thursdays, Jupiter clothed
in roval blue, presided over the
health of mortals with his emblems,
tin and amethyst Pleasure-seeking
\'enus lent her graceful presence to
Inday, providing luck in love to
those who displayed her tokens
the green of growing things, emer-
alds and shining copper Baleful

Saturn lent special power to lead and

onyx The stabilirs' of the distant

.Hid unwavcnng planet ensured the

success of building works begun on
Saairday, but its dark side made in-

iiincs more likely

Magicians used their knowledge

111 the astrological connections to
enhance their spells They could,

h ir example, give added sia-ngth to a

love potion bv making ii in a copper

Ibailee on a green clolh on a Inday
Venus would then be sure to cast a

l,wt)rable aspect over their work

87
 —

cure for eye troubles, a lapis bracelet must be worn in the navel, others swore
would protect a child from illness, and a that its proper place was beneath the
sapphire preserved chastity. drinker's tongue Bishops of the Church
Emerald, too, could cure eye ailments simply set amethyst in their rings
But when used as a defense against vipers, though less for its sobering effect than
it had an opposite effect: It struck them out of respect for its long tradition as the
Branches of pink, calcareous coral, blind, it shared the sapphire's chaste in- gem of the high priests
gathered jrom the sea bed. deflected
fluence and generally promoted love and Settings, in fact, could be almost as im-
demons, soothed sicfoifss, warded off

nightmares and averted the Evil Eye. understanding Emerald would also pre- portant as the stones themselves Ameth-
vent epileptic fits yst, for instance, worked best in a silver

^. ^ The
similar
deep, dark green of jade granted
powers as an ocular remedy And
it mounting,
setting greatly
though, as

increased the
a rule, a golden
power of
jade was thought to bring good luck In almost any stone Judicious engraving,
eastern lands, merchants reckoned that a both of setting and of stone, was another
small piece of the stone clenched in the way to multiply the effective potency of
/ fist would guarantee the profitable out- a charm For example, a sea-green beryl,
come of a business deal set in gold, was known to bring love and
Amethyst had the convenient power of friendship, but such an outcome was only
preventing dmnkenness To benefit from assured if the gem had been incised with
its full effect, some insisted that the gem the image of a frog And the white crys-

tals of chalcedony, which could grant

protection to a traveler, must be
/" first

carved in the likeness of a galloping

% horseman with a pike in his right hand.

Emerald's powers might be reinforced by

%. the carving of a starling Sapphire was

improved by the etching of a ram

T
H^
^^
he adroit use of images,
cryptic runes was as important a
letters and

part of a lapidary's skills as the selection

of the appropriate gem Many a learned

treatise was devoted to the choice of the

correct words for an inscription TTie

names Jasper, Melchior and Balthazar,
y -:

which tradition ascribed to the Magi who

brought gifts to the infant Jesus, were
known to possess a general curative ef-

fect For a more precise action — to help

.r^
out in a case of unrequited love, to guard charms, it was not so remarkable a thing
CtDing liquid
against assault by witchcraft or simply to But Charlemagne was no longer in the

assuage a toothache — it might be necess- first flush of youth, he had had three
turned to stone

ary to search long and deep in the ancient wives before her and, besides, he was Ancient poets claimed that trees

wept tear^, which fell to the ground

texts of prophecy and magic careworn with the burdens of his Empire and hardened into amber Others
In a little time, his courtiers predicted, he opined that amber was pure sunlight
The amulet might take the form of a
JTozen into stone Dimly translu-
brooch, a bracelet or a medallion Rings, would tire of his new bride cent, Its misty depths seemed to trap
long-vanished days
though, were generally favored A nng the light of

was compact and difficult to steal,

was almost part of the wearer's body, and

for it
T nstead, the aging Emperors passion
Even the remains of
forgotten
insects
entombed
—could
plantlife

within
living things
and unknown
sometimes be seen
Small wonder
according to need it could be ostentatious B burned bright and constant as a star that,
it

through the ages, amber was

Night or day, he knew no happiness credited with mystical powers

or discreet Best of all, safely hidden on
Sometimes it was used as a medi-
the ring's inner surface, a well-chosen when he was not beside his Queen cine Ground up and mixed with
honey, strengthened the eyes If
charm could do its work in quiet secrecy Neither he nor any of his courtiers sus- it

rose oil was added, it could sharpen

No later rings, alas, could ever match pected an enchantment, and for a time the ears against deafness

everything went well Other physicians prescribed its

the power and authority of Solomon's
beauty by enjoining its use as a tal-

great lost seal But it was known that But Frastrada's ring could only guaran- isman Strung into necklaces or

her Charlemagne's devotion, as its bracelets, drops of amber guarded

some of them, at least, could cast a fair tee
their wearer from a host of ailments,
enchantment Naturally they were never shapers had intended It gave her no other from ague to the croup The King
protection, and when, in the spring- of Persia wore a necklace said to be
commonplace, and indeed they left their still
made of amber that fell from heaven
mark on the legends of the world time of her marriage, she sickened with in the time of the Prophet So
mortal the ring was powerless mighty were the ornament's powers
So it was with the ring of the Princess a illness,
that the ruler feared no danger while
Frastrada She was a beautiful and accom- to help She had achieved her life's am- under its protection

plished young woman of noble birth, and bition and would have died content, but
one thing pained her fading heart the
in the ordinary course of things she would
have needed no magical assistance to find thought that another woman, after she

husband But she had set her was gone, might use her ring to steal the
a suitable

sights high Not only was she determmed Emperor's affections Unattended for a

to be a Queen, but she would be Queen moment, she slid the ring from her finger

Charlemagne himself. King of France and hid it in her mouth, so that it might
to

and Holy Emperor of the western world be buried with her Then she died

The chroniclers did not record how the

magic ring came into her possession, it

may have been a bequest from some

ancestress who dabbled in the darker arts

But from her greenest youth she knew

the golden circlet's capabilities and used
them to further her ambitifjns

In due course she had her way, arid,

given her high rank and exalted luini.m

"*%«

L-/ HW
 Charlemagne was almost mad with
grief Great funeral pomp was planned for
the dead Queen, but the Emperor could
not bear the thought of her lying in the

darkness and solitude of the tomb. Dis-

traught, he maintained a hopeless vigil in

Frastrada's chambers, ignoring the pleas

of his court and even that of Turpin, his
friend and highest counselor.

n
^r
Ht
Hcery
length Turpin suspected sor-
He waited until Chade-
magne fell into an exhausted sleep Then
he crept silently to the dead Queen's side

He searched her neck, hands and ears for

the talisman he was certain must exist,

but found nothing Just as he was about

to admit defeat, his torchlight glinted on
gold Turpin opened Frastrada's icy, half-

parted lips and drew forth the ring

The effect was as immediate as it was

miraculous. Chademagne awoke at once
and saw his friend 'Turpin, most faithful

of my counselors!" he cried "You shall

be by my side forever "

Almost absent-
mindedly, the Emperor gave orders for

the burial to proceed The crisis seemed

'
)ver, and the busy imperial court heaved
a great sigh of relief

For Turpin, however, the crisis was

Dnly beginning Chademagne insisted

that his counselor never leave his pres-

ence He knew no peace Worse still,

the rest of the court grew increasingly

icalous of the Emperor's blatant favor-
itism, and the atmosphere around tlu-

throiH- ^^n\^' thick and tense Turpin had

hhjour umm, ywuc uiinivaled Charlmciijm so sUouijly us the lady Frastrada. WIjoi

sfje died, a mhlanan joutui the secret of her allure, a magk ring concealed on her pcisou

-m
 "

been the monarch's loyal friend for many show a reluctance to leave He bade them
years and had no need of the ring's assis- cease their packing. "We shall pass today
tance to keep his high position But the hunting, here in the forest, " he ordered.
charm's power appalled him, as Charle- Turpin was worried, and rightly For it

magne's shrewdest adviser, he knew the so befell that Charlemagne, leading the
damage that would be done if it fell into hunt, found himself before the pool that
the hands of a less devoted servant So he held Frastrada's ring. To the Emperor,
kept the secret to himself and shouldered this was the most beautiful place in the
the burden as best he could world He drank deeply of the water and
let his old eyes linger on the graceful
home
£i
rHradually, the strain grew unendur-
swans whose
a great blast on his
it was. Then he blew
hunting horn to sum-
^^^able. It reached a peak one sum- mon his scattered courtiers

mer night, in the course of a royal When they arrived, led by an alarmed
progress from south to north across the Turpin, the Emperor declared, "Here
Emperor's great domains. The party had would I stay forever. 1 have never seen
encamped in a forest, and all but Tiir- such beauty." Only when evening fell

pin were sleeping soundly. Restless with could he be persuaded to leave the spot,
worry and fatigue, he wandered awhile much to his chief counselor's relief. And
amid the moonlit trees. Each step he even then, the Emperor would not go un-
took from his master eased the pressure til he had made a vow. "By this pool, " he
that he felt, and when at last he stood be- swore, "I shall build the greatest palace of

side an exquisite pool in the forest, he ex- my Empire. From this place shall I rule,

perienced something like relief and here shall I leave my bones.

He took out the ring and looked at it, And all that he had vowed came to
as he had done so many times before. pass. The palace was built, and i,n time
The signs and symbols written on it there grew around it the great imperial
meant nothing to him, though he knew capital of Aix-la-Chapelle A fine cath-
their power But this time, in the moon- edral was raised there, too, and in its

light, he noticed the figure of a swan, vaults the Emperor lay, obedient even in
which he had never seen before Almost death to the old enchantment of a master
without thinking, he threw the ring out- lapidary's magic ring
ward, into the pool. And as it sank, a The ring remained in its tranquil pool,
swan, ghostly in the moonlight, passed although the spell faded with the turning
silently over the spot where it had fallen of a thousand years and more. But it never
The next day, the Emperor greeted faded altogether. Sometimes by moon-
Turpin as the old friend he was, and not light it regained its power, wise men said
as the object of a dark obsession. But as Those who passed close to its resting-
the royal servants struck camp and pre- place at such an hour would feel its tug
pared to move off, Charlemagne began to forever after, and forever long to return.

To break the spell upon the monarch, the ring was cast into a lake. But Charlemagne,
drawn by its power, resolved to build a palace on the shore and end his days there.

92
 f^

%
A %
m,^.-AsX'^,fzs\

-A —— .^
5V,,(f,>^C>;f.(5i
 After some months he heard tall

3 prior in the cit>' of Bath reputed to

have alchemical powers He tracked
the man down, only to find that his |

knowledge had not brought hii

appiness Overmuch study had left
im blind, and the small boy he paid
to lead him informed Chamock that
the old man's wits were going too
Nonetheless, he possessed the for-
mula and from his disconnected
ramblmgs, the younger man learned
that he needed to know
The details of the formula he re-

ceived were lost when the line of

alchemical knowledge came to an
end Chroniclers suggested, though,
that the process inx'olved subjecting
a weak solution of gold to a com-
plex c>'cle of twelve separate distil-

ations If the seeker was on the

right tTBck, he could expect first to
create a hard, white pebble Later
the white would aim The
to a'd
resulting russet nugget was known
to alchemists as the philosopher's
stone .A mystical substance it could
not merely mm ordinars' metals into
t gold, but improved evcr\'thing in its

kind Tlius, if used on humans, it

w as also a sure cure for disease and

li\ir of vnuth
 irS^

liumiiig wilh t-nthubiasm tu put

Ills newly acquired knowledge to
the test, Chamock used his small
Kinds to equip a laboratory in his
gloomy country mansion He sought
out the finest equipment from metal-
workers and glassblowers, to conceal
the true nature of his work, he
spun wild tales of a plan to make a

brazen head that would speak and

keep him company in the long
winter nights He preserved his
pnvacy from the prying eyes of
neighbors by draping the windows
of his study with thick curtains rarely
opened to let in light
At last all the utensils were in

place, the retorts gleaming and the

fire lighted jars of gold pieces, silver,

mercury, ammonia and aqua fortis

lined the wooden shelves, vying
for space with leather-bound books
and dusty parchments inscnbed in
crabbed and ancient hands Guided
by the lessons contained in these
manuscripts as well as by the prior's
directions, Chamock dropped flakes
of gold into a flask of acid to start
the long process of manufacture
Aher each cycle of evaporation
and condensation, the substance in
Sometimes it seethed as it m anger
and emitted strange, noxious odon.
At other times it was white and pow-
der\', tinng Chamock with hope
Finally, it changed no more It be-

came black and viscous, like oil and

lay sullenly at the base of the still

After his initial despair, Char-

nock began again, only to fail once
more But he did not give up hope
He turned back to his books and
manuscripts in search of fresh know-
ledge Soon he was breathing the
ii.imes of the masters in his sleep

Ramon Lull, Hermes Trismegisais.

/iisimus the EgN'ptian
By day he kept to his room, tend-
ing the gentle flame that encour-
iged the slow cycle of distillation
Ile rarely left the house except

when dnven out bv the reeking

lunics of acid and ammonia that the
llasks belched forth .At night bv
ihc smoky light ol cheap tallow
. indies, he sought to decipher the
nddles of the manuscripts, seeking
Ik- root of his failure in the accu-
Mulated experience of the past
Hiat there was some simple error
n his calculations he did not doubt,
\.<\ who dared sav that the masters

^ (•^wnmaMM
-I
lied;^ He studied the nature of the
elements and the properties of mat-
ter, consulting astrological charts to
determine propitious conjunctions
of the planets, for Trismegistus
himself had said that everything
above is reflected below
Although he persisted with his
research, success still eluded him As

time passed, he himself changed

He restarted his work after every
setback as before, but the passion
for enlightenment grew calmer in

his soul Fear of failure no longer

disturbed his nights Instead, the
tending of the flame became a disci-

pline, almost an end in itself

As his character mellowed, his

concentration grew, he came to re-
alize that his state of mind affected
the substance in the flask. If his
mood was good, the process pros-
pered, if worldly cares assailed him,
the liquid became as black as spleen
many years, a day
After finally
came when he saw that the matter
in the still had grown hard and
white He was not aware of any al-
teration in the process he had em-
ployed so often in the past, rather, .,

he thought, the breakthrough must jM

V
 lilcct the change in himself Calni-
i\ betraying no agitation, he con-
iinued the cycle of distillation

^ liamock watched in awe as a red

tkish spread across the white, until

the stone had turned the color ot

blood With a mounting sense ot
tnumph, he lifted it from the retort,

chipped off a flake and dropped it

into a caldron of molten lead 1 he
bubbling metal fizzed and hardened,
and as it did so it was suffused with a

rich yellow glow .After twenr\'

vears of effort, Thomas Chamock
had finally reached his goal
As a young man he might have
used his skill to make himself rich,

but the quest had taken away his

taste for worldly show Instead he
lived and comfortably for
quietly
the few years of life that remained to
him, and his neighbors noted in hiin
an aura of saintlv calm The lesson
he had learned in the course of his
long pursuit was an old one, thai it

IS the journey, not the arrival th.ii

matters He had come to see th.ii

the change his niissit)n had wrought

in himselt was more imponant than
,inv

111 all
(it

his
the transmutations achieved
bubbling retorts
I
 :*•

V'^

#.

t
Ni
 Chapter Six

mirrors
and metals
opened windows into
mirrors
other worlds, perfect replicas

ol" our own but always alien

Sages inmany lands recog-

nized and sought to harness the arcane

powers residing in the silvered glass Mir-

rors from the time of the Three King-

doms damascened with precious metal
and bristling with amethysts and Uir-

quoises, defended the ancient Chinese

from the menaces of demons Confronted
by Its own likeness, an evil spirit would
howl in anguish and stumble away to
die Legend has it that, at Syracuse, Ar-

chimedes, master of machinery, concen-

trated the blistering heat of the Ionian

sun in a burning-mirror —and thus con-

sumed a Roman fleet with tlame Shield-

ing their eyes from the blaze, the Creek

elders reminded their amazed young war
riors that it was with mirrors, not Hints
thai the god Prometheus created lire

In the Dark Ages, when leprosy and

plague first crawled into the villages ol

Europe, families learned to turn a niiiioi

lace to the wall it someone in the house

hcild died —and rjuicklv The mirror was

window from the wuilil ol tin envious

Oj^ dead: Through it, the corpse's soul England His face and home have escaped
could spy on those who remained alive the legacy of legend, but the story of his
and choose from their number a partner combat with the evil Leech of Folkestone
to accompany it into the gloom of eter- is remembered to this day
nity Mothers everywhere forbade their The "leech" — a doctor of some local
children to play with mirrors, or even to renown — lived alone in a cold, stone cot-
touch them: It was widely known that a tage perched on a cliff top, overlooking
broken mirror unleashed seven years' mis- the harbor Little was known of him:
fortune to haunt its destroyer Spies sent Casual callers were rarely invited beyond
each other messages in mirror writing, the threshold, and patients in distress
eccentric Kings filled their palaces with were ushered to the pantry, an anony-
distorting mirrors to amuse and horrify mous and depressing room distinguished
their friends, and children on lazy sum- only by shelves of bottles in which
mer afternoons trapped hectic beetles and strange objects loomed in murky fluid It

burned them with reflected light until was rumored that the leech spent litde
the unfortunate creatures burst. time in his cottage, that he spent his days
Sorcerers, warlocks and holy men the working beneath it, in his cellar, where-
world over, servants of black and white in he had constmcted a vast underground
magic alike, dedicated their lives to the laboratory. Nevertheless, the people of
art of "scrying" —peering into mirrors of Folkestone were not afraid to seek his
their own making to foretell the future advice They secretly enjoyed the enig-
High priests of the Cabala hid them- matic aura of their leech, and boasted to
selves away for years, perfecting scry- visitors of his successful doctoring
ing glasses of polished obsidian crystal, One patient, however, seemed only to
framed in lapis lazuli and beryl, haggard grow sicker in the leech's care This was
sages of the Indian lowlands pored over a certain Thomas Marsh, master of Mar-
puddles of ink they had spilled onto sand, ston Hall — a property whose lands em-
and foresaw in their murky reflection the braced much of the countryside around
fortunes of travelers. Folkestone For many months Thomas

C
^^uch practitioners of mirror magic,
had suffered from excruciating cramps
his stomach which, when they
convulsed him in agony.
struck,

Coming upon
in

^9^ or "catoptramancers" as they were Thomas in the throes of such a fit, the
called, were much sought after for their leech straightaway bled the poor man
powers of scrying But prophecy was not heavily, then proceeded to prescribe a
the only province of the catoptramancers host of medications, from powders to
art: Some could also coax their mirrors to poultices to impossibly sweet-smelling
unravel mysteries of the present, expres- unguents of his own concoction. All
sing the truth of a well-kept secret Such these treatments Isabella, Thomas' beau-
a man, with such a mirror, once dwelled in tiful Andalusian wife, scmpulously con-
 k.

li
tinued to administer in the following Spanish and disjointed English, she

months, but her husband's condition only implored him not to go Then she

deteriorated further stopped and stood still She seemed to

Throughout Thomas' long ordeal, the be waiting for something Her six-year-
leech called at Marston Hall regularly, old daughter Marian watched the scene

professing himself baffled and intrigued from the nearby orchard, where she had

by the malady TTiomas, despite his con- been playing unobserved

tinued sufferings, found the doctor's inter- Seeing her mother standing so pensive-

est reassuring: He trusted his analytical ly, she was about to run to her when she

perspicacity and judgment. noticed the leech approaching from the

V
n gateway The litde girl hid behind a

hedge and stared uncomprehendingly as

Hnd so he was easily persuaded to the physician took the woman in his

^r comply when one day the leech arms He kissed her for a long time, then

determined upon a radical assault on the the two of them turned and went into the

Having subjected his patient's house Confused and curious, Marian fol-
disease

belly to the fury of wasps caged in an lowed them TTiey went straight to her

upended bell jar, the doctor suddenly mother's bedroom Squinting through a

Thomas upright and pronounced crack in the door, Marian could see them
pulled
to hear huddled around a small object on a table,
him cured Pleased though he was
the news, Thomas was obliged to ob- handling it Her mother laughed and
serve that he was nevertheless yet in kissed the leech again Then they un-
great pain Favoring him with a rare dressed and lay down on the bed

leech assured him that the Cray afternoon slid into night, and the
smile, the
cramps that still assailed him were merely pair at last fell asleep As stealthy as a Jat.
the dregs of his long anguish He should hunting cat, Marian crept into the room,

go The wind would soon blow

for a ride took the object from the table and fled

them away With these words, the doctor back to the sanctuary of the orchard
Only then did she dare look at her prize
turned on his heel and left

was a little doll, the figure of a man,

His heart pounding with excitement, It

Thomas limped over to the window and lovingly fashioned And in its stomach
were embedded a mass of metal skewers
shouted down to his stableboy, Ralph, to
Wrinkling her nose in distaste, the little
saddle the horses That very day they
together to nearby Osten- girl worked the barbs out ot ihe bod
would ride

hanger and see the goose tair The her new-found toy

Thomas mounted his Even as she labored Ihoma

groom ccjmplied
the roadside manv miles trnni home
roan with great difficulty and, his gaunt
screams, flung out to ilu- nearby trees,
face creased with pain, trotted off into the

with Ralph riding behind His wife were heard only by R.ilpli who tightiv
fields,

way mixture of gripped his master's hand as he sruninud

ran after him a little In a
ind twisted in the dirt But suddenly,

Thomas ceased to howl. Soaked in sweat,

he sat up unsteadily and pronounced his

fit finished After a while, the two men

continued gently on to Ostenhanger

By the time they arrived, the fair was
in full cry Fire-eaters, freaks and fakirs

from the Orient and Araby held the

a tall man,
crowds spellbound TTiomas,
looked around over the heads of the
throng until his gaze was arrested by an
elderly man in sorcerer's robes, leaning on

a staff before the entrance to a pavilion

The wizard was staring at him intendy
Drawn by a force stronger than curiosity,
Thomas found himself pushing through
the crowd toward the magus, who beck-
oned him into the billowing tent.

T nside, Thomas found a massive iron

Bbath, shaped disturbingly like a cof-

fin. Dirty-looking liquid filled it almost

to the top Silently the old man indicated

that Thomas should undress and get

into the bath To his own astonishment,

Thomas meekly did as he was bidden

The instant that he lay down, the

aide shock of freezing water catapulted

Thomas to his senses Sitting bolt up-

tight with a startled cry, he rapidly took

 'r^t malady's cause: A faithless wife had conspired with an evil

Aryjiaan against the invalid. The two were even now working lethal magic on his effigy.

stock of his weird surroundings. A!! about the bath nervously: Time was short for
hirn were draped rich silks and thick what? But Aldrovando made no answer.
tapestries. Skeletons of unfamiliar beasts His attention was fixed firmly on the mir-
hung suspended in space, the air was ror TTie sorcerer began to murmur to
close and fogged with smoldering in- himself, waving his head from side to side
cense, and all was dominated by a huge and passing his fingers across the glass.
mirror, in which Thomas could see him- Then, to TTiomas' amazement, the mir-
self reflected, pale and ludicrous in the ror began to hum like a spinning top. Be-
candlelight The old man grinned, seem- fore his eyes a picture began to resolve on
ingly amused by the situation. its mottled surface. Thomas drew in his

breath in horror. He could clearly see

his own daughter, hunched in the comer
^^haking with cold and seething with of a darkened room. Her face bore the
^9^ anger, Thomas demanded to know weals of a severe beating, and she was
into what mischief he had been tricked. sobbing freely, her hands held up to her
Had he fallen into the hands of a necro- mouth in abject terror.

mancer or some other practitioner of Aldrovando bent his head abruptly.

the black arts? His incantations grew louder. The pic-
With a flowing movement surprising ture in the mirror waned, then shone
in its elegance, the old man swept off his again more brilliandy than before, this
sorcerers skullcap and bowed low before time revealing Isabella and the leech
Thomas. He introduced himself as Aldro- poised before a tattered figurine. At once
vando, an Englishman despite his name, the old man turned. There was no humor
and catoptramancy was his science, not in his glance. He spoke urgently, com-
meddling in the affairs of the dead. He manding Thomas to submerge himself
apologized for the simple subterfuge of entirely as soon as he gave the word.
hypnotizing Thomas, but time was very Thomas nodded dumbly, unable to tear
short —too short to explain the ritual his eyes away from the bizarre spectacle
necessities that had led to his patient's in the glass. The leech was now inspect-
present situation. ing the edge of a rapier, and leveling
By no means set at ease by this strange its point at the breast of the figurine.
explanation, Thomas grasped the sides of
 0m
ilK

-^
( ^
 —

Suddenly Aldrovando cried out in an ur- air, Thomas plunged into the slimy fluid
gent voice: "Now! Under!" once again and remained there until he
Gulping down his breath, Thomas could bear it no longer When he sur-
quickly slid beneath the surface of the faced, he found himself quite alone. The
liquid A stench of rotting matter flooded picture in the mirror was fading, but
his nose, and almost immediately he Thomas could yet discern the body of the
erupted into the air once again, choking leech sprawled across the floor — his face
and cursing like a tavern drunk Aldrovan- exploded to a pulp of bloody meat
do was standing very close to the mirror, It was some time before Ralph, who
studying it with intense concentration had become anxious for his master's safe-
Thomas cleared his eyes and leaned for- ty, discovered TTiomas He found him
ward to see The leech was gesticulating still in the tent, balanced on the rim of a
at Isabella, brandishing the hilt of his cast-iron coffin, naked, covered in foul-

rapier at her The sword's blade lay shat- smelling filth, and gazing benignly at his
tered at their feet own reflection in an ancient mirror
Aldrovando growled with satisfaction, From that night on, Thomas Marsh
then shouted again in warning as the enjoyed improbably good health until
leech suddenly drew a skewer from his the day he died Of Isabella nothing was
pocket and made to jab at the doll Once ever heard again Some said that she fled
more Thomas ducked, but not fast en- back to Andalusia,- others that her hus-
ough As the leech's stabs first struck, band took radical steps to cure her of
Thomas' hands were not yet under the her infidelity The leech was reportedly
filthy surface of the liquid Roaring in sighted at several places in England
pain, he sat up at once to find the top of despite the fact that his corpse had been
his left hand slashed open, as by a razor publicly burned at Marston Aldrovando,
Aldrovando was again absorbed in scru- however, continued to ply his white
The leech had disap-
tinizing the mirror magic many years after saving the soul
for
peared from view Thomas could see and body of Thomas Marsh, appearing in
Isabella weeping: She clutched her face various guises to folk held prisoner by the
where she, too, had been struck forces of evil, and setting them free with
power

T
the mystical of mirrors
Many such workers of wonders were
^L hen the leech moved back into itinerant, traveling to where their ser-
^•^the picture, dragging behind him vices were in demand and where new
Thomas' old harquebus This monstrous scope for their talents lay. Perhaps, too,
gun, a relic of a foreign campaign long they were driven ever onward by some
past, the leech hastily mounted on its inner demon that would not allow them
support, aiming it squarely at the doll's to rest and put down roots like the
head Aldrovando turned and whipped good, ordinary folk whose ways they
down his hand. Filling his lungs with fetid scorned but whose needs they served

108
 Crapped in the

enchanters web

T>ie old lore had many stories of

mirrors that were windows into dif-

ferent worlds But out of Arthur's
Britain came a tale of one that served
mstead as a barrier set between an

ill-starred maiden and the real world

she was forbidden to gaze upon
Chroniclers do not record who
put the curse on the Lady of Sha-
lott, nor why, and even she herself
could not tell what punishment
threatened if she fell afoul of her
maledictors bane She knew only
that she was condemned to live

cloistered forever in a gray-walled

Island castle upstream from Cam-
elot, she could not leave her room,
nor even glance Irom its gabled win-
dow on the river and fields below
Her only link with the outside
world was the great mirror that
hung upon the wall opposite the
open casement Before it stood a
loom She spent her days weaving
,m endless tapcstr>' capturing in fab-
ric the shadow-images she received
alsecond hand from the glass
In the slow rhythms of her shel-

tered days the Lad\' had almost found

contentment when one morning a

vision appeared in the mirror that

aidely broke the spell It was the
boldest of Anhur's knights, Sir

Lancelot nding to his liege lord's

court She glimpsed his noble steed

the sun glinting triim the knights
breastplate, the dark cruris cascading
from plumed helm It was the
his

finest sight she had ever seen

lorgcttuig the cMn.e that hung
over her she stepped to the win-
dow Impulsively, she looked out
into the sunlight At once the mir-
ror shattered and the tapestrs' ripped
asunder ^"ith a despairing crs- she
leaped back but too late She had
brought down dot)m upon herself

1 ler reliige gone, she left the

louei ,iikI wandered, spellbound,
lo«Ti to the nver Liter that day,
.ounieis noticed a small boat float

ing nidderless under the bakonies ol

t amelol In it lav the white robed
body ol the Lidy, who had forsaken
the pale world of mirror images lor
ilie I old embi.n.e of death

10*)
 JIKontanv ritual
to catcba thief

Among the Gypsies, who were as

skilled in metalworking as they were

wise in magic, the blacksmith's
anvil was used as a ritual tool to de-

tect thieves The victim of a rob- One group who roamed the lands in earth was shoveled in. The medieval
bery would turn an anvil into an
altar by hallowing it with a lighted
days past had learned to harness not only church damned the ancestors of the Gyp-
candle, a pile of salt and a piece of the magic of mirrors, but also of metal sies for having wrought the very nails
bread. Around the
set utensils taken
anvilhe would
from every per- These were the Gypsies —wanderers of that fixed Christ to the cross—but the
son who could have committed the open road in every country of the Gypsies scoffed: If a Gypsy had made
the crime Then he would summon
the suspects, and urge the guilty
European continent Men and women them, they said, the workmanship would
one to confess feared the Gypsies, calling them the de- have been so fine, and the nails so slim,
If no one came forward, he would
ask each individual in turn to kiss
scendants of Cain, barred for eternity that Christ would not even have felt

the anvil and to strike it with a from Christian brotherhood and doomed them pass through his hands.
tool Then all would join together
down retribution
to traipse the earth in search of a home
in an oath calling
Driven by fears of an unspeakable, Everywhere the Gypsies traveled, the
supernatural vengeance, the wrong-
doer was compelled —even against
legends of their secret rituals and their H or it was true that the Gypsies had in

his will — to return the spoil and mastery of unnatural arts preceded them .^ their possession all manner of secret
beg forgiveness
It was said that Gypsies could under- formulas for coaxing metals to perform
stand the speech of horses, and could fantastic feats In particular, they fostered
calm mares in labor with reassurance and the power of iron to heal the sick and
advice Gypsies buried their shadows in to ward off evil Emblematic of this prop-
ground where they had been made unwel- erty was the horseshoe that hung above
come, to haunt the dreams of their op- the doorway of every Romany caravan, to
pressors,- when Gypsy men died, their keep misfortune from sneaking in and in-

wild-haired women flung themselves into fecting the family within The story of
the grave to caress the coffin, and how the simple "lucky horseshoe" came
fought to remain there even as the to be endowed with such supernatural
strength was familiar to every Gypsy
child from Naples to Vladivostok The
tale went this way:
Long ago there lived in the mountains
four evil demons, known to the world as

Bad Luck, Bad Health, Misery and Death

It was their mission and only pleasure
to ambush innocent travelers and
tear them to shreds in a frenzy of

bloodlust One night, after a riotous

evening of drinking, dancing and song, a

young Gypsy chieftain rode up into the
hills to clear his head in the cool air. He
had not gone far before the demon Bad
Luck — left to watch for victims while
his comrades snored —crashed out of the
trees and lunged up the track, howling for

I 10
blood The chieftain's horse reared in ter- snarling to rip him to pieces, but when
ror, turned and bolted back down the they saw that the chieftain had nailed
mountainside, its rider gripping tightly to over his doorway the horseshoe that had

its mane At once Bad Luck gave chase killed Bad Luck, the demons quailed
But as the horse fled clattering along the Remembering that the horse had yet
rocky path, one of its iron shoes flew off three other shoes, the avengers slunk

and smacked into Bad Luck's face, exactly away into the night Forever after, they

between the eyes With a dull thud that padded in the tracks of Gypsy caravans,

shook the mountain, the demon col- waiting for their revenge, and watching

lapsed, dead as stone to spy out a doorway unguarded by the

Bad Health, Misery and Death slept weapon that slew Bad Luck
on The cacophony of violence was lul- Gypsies, it was sometimes claimed,
laby to their ears Hearing no sound of had been the first to master the science of

pursuit, the chieftain calmed his horse metallurgy, but in tmth, the art of the

and returned to the stiffening corpse of smith stretched further back in time even

Bad Luck The prongs of the horseshoe than the Romany race Among every

were deeply embedded in his forehead people, from the most sophisticated to

Wondering at the chance that had saved the most barbaric, the blacksmith was

his life, the chieftain wrenched the shoe credited with great powers In Africa, a

out and took it home to his camp, there, Wachaga smith took the greatest care

before the embers of a cooking fire, he with his simple tools, for if he pointed

told the tribe of his escape any of them at another human, that per-
son was marked out for death In the val-
Shortly before dawn, the other three
demons awoke feeling hungry. Bad Luck leys of Southeast Asia, parents looked to

had brought them no meat Ranging blacksmiths to protect their newborn

children from evil The smith would
across the mountainside in search of their
brother, they soon found the disfigured forge a tiny iron ring to set around the

body on the track Snatching birds from baby's ankle When the first, dangerous

foxes from their the months had been successfully weathered,

the trees and lairs,

evil trio tortured them to tell the name of the infant would return to the forge and

man who had Bad Luck —and the ring would be removed

n
the felled

h(jw he had done so

While It was still dark, the avenging

demons thundered int(j the Gypsy camp, V l.icksmiths also possessed the art of

bawling to the chieftain to show him ,Jl^ luciling, in their hands fire could

self Without hesitating, the ycjung man cauterize, puntv and invigorate Paradox-

caravan door, framed in ically, as well as being sealers ot wounds

threw open his

light in the entrance, he boldly an- they were weaponmakers In the sear

l.ven as he spoke. ing heat ol their torges smiths wrought

nounced his presence
nislied suits ot im|X-iu-ti,ible i li.iin mail spiked
I'„id t le.ilth, Misery and I )(Mth
 maces, helmets of iron and shields of cop- ing into Grendel's mother But the evil

per, and double-headed axes so strong creature's blood was so corrosive that it

they could hack the head off an elephant melted the blade to a pool of black liquid.

TTiey understood the ebb and flow of Undaunted, Beowulf snatched up another
molten iron, and how to harness and con- sword from the wall of the cave and at-

dense its strength as steel tacked the vile beast once more. This
weapon had been wrought long ago by
giants —the most assiduous and talented
of smiths, against such a powerful blade,

iMas in the forging of swords If the the monster's body enjoyed no defense.
steel was shoddy or hurriedly made, the With a hurricane of thmsts and hewing,
blade would shatter when it struck against Beowulf slew the foul ghoul, and returned
another that was not The warrior's love triumphant to his people. Of Hmnting
of a fine sword was therefore the very he spoke no unkind word: The sword had
stuff of jealous passion fought its best against a foe of unim-
Some said the finest swords were the aginable horror
work of fairy smiths, others thought that Of all the swords whose names were
the greatest blades came from the ancient sung by poets of the Vikings, none was so
race of dwarfs, working in underground vibrant with its own identity as Skof-
forges The magic of such beings pro- nung, the weapon of the warrior-king
duced swords that could warn their mas- Hrolf Kraki Skofnung had such a lust for

ters of impending danger or that would blood that it would shriek in its scabbard
refuse to strike an unjust blow The at the sight of wounds, crying to be let

polished blades of certain brands could be out for carnage When Kraki died, his
used, like mirrors, for scrying Arthur be- subjects and descendants were too fright-

came King of England by effortlessly ened of Skofnung to claim it as their own,-

drawing from the bowels of a rock a sword instead, they buried the terrible sword
that other men had failed to budge at all with its master
It was Arthur, too, who rode to battle There Skofnung lay, untouched, for
wielding bright Excalibur, most famous two long centuries, until a fearless war-
sword of all, given him at Merlin's bidding rior called Skeggi dug up the grave with
by the Lady of the Lake his bare hands and wrested the weapon
Other swords featured proudly in the from the decomposed fist of the dead
unending struggle between mortals and King Skeggi's followers watched this

the forces of darkness When Beowulf desecration with alarm, convinced that
plunged into a lake-bottom cave to fight Skofnung would turn on their leader and
the grisly mother of the monster Gren- hack him to death But Skofnung, it

del, he took with him Hmnting, the seemed, was content to be thus resur-
mighty saber of herald Unferth In the rected: In the peace of the grave there
ensuing combat, Beowulf rammed Hrunt- were no battles to be fought

Swords were the proudest oj weapons, and could have wills oj

their own. So one foolish Viking warrior found to his cost when
he failed to treat a peerless blade with the respect it warranted.

112
 —

Moreover, Skeggi was not a fool He

had carefully studied the protocol for

being the sword's partner He knew that

Skofnung should never be drawn without

the express intention of drawing blood If
there were none to draw, then Skeggi
would have to shed own blood in order
his

to slake the sword's thirst The sun

should never be allowed to shine full on
the handle of Skofnung, nor should the
eyes of women rest on the unsheathed
blade All these rules and more Skeggi
religiously followed, and in return Skof-

nung brought him fabulous success and

invincibility in batde
One fateful day, however, Skeggi's

comrade Kormak presented the warrior

with a conflict of loyalties Kor
mak asked to borrow the sword
to fight a duel After much procrasti-

nation, Skeggi eventually surrendered his

treasure, but only after he had spent

many hours lecturing his friend on how
to handle Skofnung correctly [3clighted,

Kormak hurried home with his prize

and broke the mles at once by unsheath-
ing Skofnung with a flourish in bright

sunshine and calling to his mother to

come and admire the splendid weapon
that Skeggi had lent him
At such gross sujpidity Skotnung Hew
mto a terrible lantnim The mighty blade

hacked and hewed, slicing the boastful

warri(jr and his unfortunate mother to

ribbons Then it hurled itself violently

against a mighty rock and shattered into a

thousand tiny pieces As if the Vikings

needed reminding, the suicide of Sko

nung taught them that great swords were
not toys lor lools to trille with
 »o accomplish his mysterious pur-
poses, a wizard would arm himself
with an understanding of all the
interwoven occult disciplines. But
before he could put this knowledge into
practice, he also required an arsenal of
implements to enhance his powers and
protect him in his dealings with spirits

and demons Robe and headdress, sword,

dagger and wand, were the foremost tools
of his trade With these and the arcane
knowledge enshrined in his library of

manuscripts, charts and books, the priest

of the night could span the abyss between
the seen and the unseen worlds
White, not the black of fairy tales, was
the proper color for a wizard's robe
Cornelius Agrippa, the German scholar
whose celebrated Occult Philosophy be-
came a textbook for 16th Century mages,
said the wizard should dress in a gown
of the finest linen, covering the whole
body from head to foot, close-fitting and
tied only with a girdle

:^*
 Buckles and buttons would obstmct the
free flow of supernatural energy TTie
headdress, whether tall or flat, pointed
or round, should also be white, with
YHVH, the Hebrew name of God, em- peel its soft green bark in the first rays of

broidered on the front Both robe and the reborn sun The three sacred instru-
headdress should be adorned with sacred ments — sword, knife and wand —should
emblems — stars, pentacles and circles then be wrapped in a silken cloth until

they were required

Delicate though it seemed, the slen-

Once equipped with headdress and derwand was by far the most formidable
robe, the wizard's most vital task weapon in the sorcerer's arsenal With it
was to forge a sword and dagger This he could summon spirits, cast spells or
operation was best conducted when the wreak destruction, he could make objects
moon was rising in the sphere of Jupiter, disappear, or reveal to the naked eye
planet of good fortune and success. The things that were otherwise invisible. If he
mage would then burn incense of amber- were a beneficent practitioner, he might
gris and peacocks' feathers, saffron, aloe use the wand to liberate the victims of
wood, cedar and lapis lazuli — the scents dark forces from the curses laid upon
associated with Jupiter —and chant in the them, as did one nameless magician who
name of God, heaven and the stars to in- wandered the seashores and valleys of
fuse his weapons with mystic strength Wales This was how it happened:
Only then could the wizard prepare his The Welsh bards tell that, in the days
wand, the most precious of all the magic of chivalry, a countryman named Ein-
implements A slim wooden rod, some ion was collecting berries for his wife
twenty inches long, the wand was ideally Angharad in a wood near their cottage
cut from a solitary bush that had never in Treveillir when he met a beautiful
fruited On the first night of a new moon, woman leading a black mare. He had
in the hour before dawn, the magician never seen such a vision as this lady of the
should dip his knife in blood Facing the woods Her black hair was combed in

eastern horizon, he should cut the shoot gleaming tresses, each held in place by a
with a single stroke of his dagger, then clasp of pearls, her red dress twinkled

A wizard prepared a wand oj power by cutting a branch from a tree that had not yet

frutted. To multiply the wand's magic, the blade that hewed it had to be steeped in blood.
with tiny golden brooches, oibies and
emeralds shone from her slender fingers
Einion was bewitched He fell to his

knees and heard himself swearing to fol- knew no one and recognized nothing or 1

jw her wherever she should lead what seemed like many years, he serN'ed

But when Einion helped the lady to the lady of the woods and followed wher-
mount the black mare, he discovered that ever she led Her beaut\' still beguiled

she had hooves instead of feet He knew him, but he knew he was under a spel

and each da\' he staiggled to free himsel

at once that he had fallen under the spell

irom the illusion Slowlv his dreadtul

of a goblin, and begged to be released
promise But the lady of the vision of Angharad faded, and he could
from his
her youthful face to his
woods was adamant "You must follow me again bring
mind's eye he still had no idea where
wherever go," she commanded, "as long
I
Btit

he was, or how to return to his home

as my beauty shall last
One day, as Einion was exercising the

T
B
^^^ well
hen she took Einion
to
to say fare-

Angharad, and laughed at

black mare,
gown of the
he met
finest linen,

white stallion and carrs'ing

a man
riding

a
in a

slim white
while
pure

his discomfiture when, in place of his stick They both dismounted and 1 inicm

asked the stranger he had passed iieai

young wife, he saw an aged crone, her
if

Treveillii in luMid neus nl Anghaiad

body twisted, her face wrinkled
The stranger shook his luad but listened
Suddenly Einion found himselt in a
svmpatheticallv Soon iiiion was telling
place he had never seen before, where he
I

117
 the whole story of his meeting with the
lady of the woods, and his pledge to serve
her for as long as her beauty should last.

Then the horseman said, "If you truly

wish to see your wife again, you must
first face reality Take this stick in your
hand —and observe the beauty of the lady
of the woods." Einion took the stick. At
once a horrible goblin appeared before
him, baying curses and howling threats
of vengeance. But the stranger in white
whipped his cloak around Einion to pro-
tect him, and the furious goblin sprang

Guided by a white-clad stranger, a Welsh peasant saw the true face of

the mistress who held him in thrall. A stroke ojhis benefactor's

wand exposed the fair lady as a monstrous goblin in disguise.
 —

)nto the black mare and galloped away. the house came laughter and the soft

The stranger took the stick again and trills of a harp, and in an orchard beyond

jointed it at the ground Suddenly, they the house, pages dressed in livery were

vere back at Treveillir, outside what tethering a dozen magnificent horses

Einion thought to be his cottage, but it among them a handsome black mare.
leemed gready changed — larger, more The goblin, arch-manipulator of time
iplendid,and surrounded with gardens and and truth, had been busy. She had ridden
archards They were far from being the straight to Angharad and, changed in ap-

anly visitors The narrow lane, usually pearance to a gallant knight, had won her

deserted, was full of bystanders peering over Convincing Angharad that her hus-

3ver the wall, from the open windows of band was dead, the goblin-knight had
even claimed her hand in marriage And
Angharad had been so impressed with the
knight that she too had plunged into the
world of illusion The wedding cele-

brations had begun But unlike Einion,

 TIk woodlands of the old world abounded with caches of treasure, buried by long-dead

sorcerers, thieves and Kings. Unknown or forgotten, the hiding-places remained

inviolate, but a (Quivering switch in a diviner's hand could reveal their whereabouts.

Angharad had not seen the goblin's feet harp set by the window, a small peat fire
The two men pushed their way in burning inthe hearth and Einion snoring

through the crowd jostling in the lane beside her on the settle. Of the goblin-

and entered the house In the kitchen, a knight and the white-clad stranger who
dozen cooks were hard at work, roasting had broken the spell, there was no trace

suckling pigs on a giant spit, simmering Many writers on the magic arts recor-

sauces in cast-iron pans, and piling salvers ded that the best wands were made from

high with vegetables and exotic huits hazel wood, and this tradition may date as

through far back as biblical times According to

Butlers with silver ewers hurried

the halls, filling goblets for everyone Hebrew sages, the rod of Moses was cut

that they passed Einion and the stranger from a hazel tree in the Garden of Eden,

in white followed the strains of music with it the leader of the Israelites was able

and squeezed into the best room of the to divide the waters of the Red Sea and to

water from a desert rock

house, where Angharad and the goblin- strike

couch, listening to The hazel's botanical attributes may

knight sat on a velvet
have played some part in winning the tree
a courtier plucking a golden harp
unique standing Because flowered at
Einion stepped forward and of-
it
Then its

knew was the end of winter, the Germans regarded

fered to play an air that he
him an emblem of immortality, while
Angharad's favorite She looked at it as

and saw only an old man, bent and weary, English farmers picked branches bearing

with watery eyes and withered jowls She catkins — also known as lambs' tails — to

watched cunously as Einion sat down at encourage their sheep during the lamb-
then plucked the ing season Hazelnuts were widely held
the harp and tuned it,

A scrap of to symbolize love and nuptial happiness

strings with tremulous fingers

memory flickered across her mind,

was quickly banished By the time Einion

played the last notes of the melody, he
but

n But botany cannot explain the long-

knew that Angharad was lost to him Jl^held belief, recorded by the 16th

The goblin-knight held her in his Century scholar Agricola, for example,
that a forked wand could be used to find
arms and caressed her cheek She gazed
Then the white- underground springs, coal and precious
lovingly into his eyes
metal, even buried treasure For many
clad stranger leaned forward and placed
Angharad's hand In- centunes, diviners known as dowsers de-
the white stick into
she saw the handsome knight tected the vibrations emitted by these
stantly

transformed into the most hideous de- subterranean elements by walking with a

mon, and she shrieked in a frenzy of fear hazel rod held out in front of them \<'hen

until her voice gave out and her body the rod passed over water or metal, it

would dip and twist in the dowser's hands

slumped to the floor When Angharad
always Elazel was not the onlv tree endowed
revived, the room was as it

such mysterious qualities Alder.

had been, with the old wooden with

k ^i\

\ \
<','
 . oak and apple twigs could all produce the
same effects. Blackthorn was favored in

Ireland, especially if cut from an isolated

bush concealed in a moorland hollow,
which might be a fairies' trysting-place.

Some Welsh dowsers preferred to use yew

instead of hazel. In this they followed the
custom of their country's wizards, who
chose the yew tree to supply wands. So
powerful was this wood that even a wand
prepared by the uninitiated could some-
times have marvelous effects
According to one celebrated legend, a
Welsh catde-drover named Dafyd Meirig
cut a yew switch at dawn one day to use as
a goad while driving his beasts across
country to London's Smithfield Market.
A week later, his livestock sold, he
strolled across London Bridge, swinging
his stick and admiring the view. Dafyd
was so taken by the sights of the great
city that he did not notice the stick twist-
ing as he crossed the river. But an English
wizard, passing by, observed it, and asked

122
 —

In a subterranean cavern, one thousand sleeping heroes guarded a heap oj ancient gold.
With

the aid of a magician, a cattle-drover penetrated the sanctuary and helped himself to treasure.

Dafyd where he had found the switch sphere of Jupiter In the hour before

When the wizard heard that the drover dawn, the two men dug around the yew

had cut the rod himself, he told Dafyd tree's roots until they found a heavy ob-

that such a potent tree must draw its long slate Beneath it yawned a narrow

strength from forces beneath the earth staircase, and at its foot a winding pas-

Only gold and silver could yield such en- sageway led deep into the hillside The
he declared And he promised Dafyd two men followed it for several hundred
ergy,

unlimited riches if he would lead him to feet, until the wizard touched Dafv'd's

the yew tree from which it came sleeve and pointed out a heaxy golden bell

Dafyd Meirig agreed Together they hanging at the end of the passage They
made the journey back to Wales, finally ducked beneath it and entered a cavern,

arriving at the great hill of Craig-y- lighted with an eerie glow

Dinas, the Rock of the Fortress, beneath Before them a thousand warriors lay

was King Arthur and his sleeping in a giant circle, shoulder to

which, it said,

knights awaited the call to fight again shoulder, swords in hand At the center
a King —who must have been Arthur
r
B
^k^
here on the
in the drove road,
hillside, close to a fork

Dafyd and the

sat entranced and motionless, a massive
broadsword
slowly took
in

in
his hands.

the scene
Dafyd's eyes
Then he re-

yew was old, but alized that the strange light, which had
wizard found the It

than a bush, bent low seemed to come from a fire behind the
scarcely larger

by gales, gripping the stony soil with King, was by two great heaps of
cast

gnarled and twisting roots gold The magician whispered to Dafyd

Tliat night was propitious for their that he could claim as much treasure as

search since the moon was rising in the he could cany, and the Welshman quick-
ly stuffed his shirt and coat with gold

- /

]'
 4

JlMA^

124
 Menses against
spiritual assault
In the dangerous times when demons
lurked in the shadows by day and
sought to enter mortal dwellings at
night, people used what tools they
could to shelter themselves and their
loved ones Irom harm A thorough
versing in the lore of channs, the
traditional antidotes to evil, pro-
vided the best hope of success
In cases of supernatural assault,

the weakest points of any home

were its apertures — doors, windows,
and especially the wnde chimneys
Such inviting entrances needed con-
stant protection A simple wooden
St, carved with bands and crosses,
might be set up to guard the hearth
against the incursions of wntches
The color red was also effective
against their malice, bundles of
twigs from the scarlet-berried rowan
were tied into a cross with cnmson
thread to guard a door or window-
Nature offered numerous such an-
tidotes to evil A chance-found
stone with a hole worn through it

brought certain luck, for example,

particular!)' if the finder tied a key or

some other iron obiect to it Bril-

iant kingfisher feathers were also

sought out, folded in fresh linen,

they would keep the cloth safe from

dcca\' even as they kept the owner
safe from baleful magic
Other devices offered personal se-

curity against the evil eye Because

an open palm was the sovereign
remedy, on Midsummer Eve peas-
ants searched out wild orthid roots
that mimicked the shape of an un-
curled fist When traveling, riders

sought to assure their safe arrival by

embellishing their horses bndlcs
with bnghtlv-polished brasses that
reflected ill-will back towani us
source Crescent shapes were par-
ticularly favored for this Bcanng
the form of the waxing moon, their
influence was especially benign

125
Then they left as they had come, taking tree and pushed aside the stone. Moments
great care to avoid ringing the bell. later, he had stuffed the sack with gold
It was almost dawn when they emerged and hoisted it onto his shoulders, scarce-

on the hillside and heaved the slate back ly glancing at King Arthur and the sleep-
over the narrow opening The English- ing warriors Dafyd stooped beneath the
man told Dafyd that he might return as heavy bell But he could not bend low en-
often as he wished to collect more gold, ough The sack of gold stmck it and the
but warned him never to disturb the bell bell's ear-splitting chime brought every
Then the wizard cut a slim, straight warrior instantly to his feet
shoot from the blasted yew, and peeled its

green bark with a small dagger As the

first rays of the reborn sun lanced over the

horizon, the two men parted and beat him mercilessly be-
Dafyd Meirig grew fat and lazy on the fore throwing him empty-handed back
proceeds of that night, and years passed into the night. After that, Dafyd never
before he found either the need or the again dared venture onto the Craig-y-
courage to enter the cave alone But fi- Dinas He told his story often, however,

nally greed and curiosity overcame him and many people searched for the slate

Taking a stout sack, he walked in dark- beneath the yew, but always in vain
ness across the bleak hillside to the yew To an initiate in the occult arts, this

tale reaffirmed the fact that magic im-

plements could draw strength from the
dead By the same principle, bones could
hold great power. They were worn as tal-

ismans, ground up for consumption in

curative potions, employed as tools

in curses and conjuring And no

wizard's workshop was complete
without a polished skull grinning
It from the clutter of scrying
glasses, medicine jars, wands
and incunabula For sorcer-
.TS of a moralizing bent,
the relics provided a reminder of human- danger to himself But if he stepped out-
kind's inescapable and universal destiny, side the circle, or even thrust an arm or
while practitioners with a more prag- leg over the line by accident, no formula
matic turn of mind used skulls as mor- could save him His death would be vio-
tars, mixing bowls or caldrons But every lent, swift and explosive, and his suffering

wizard knew that skulls had the power to would endure beyond the grave
deflect evil, keeping watch through eye- Only one man in all the long history of

less sockets and blocking demons with a magic had been able to consort with de-
barricade of bone mons without such defenses This was
In the magician's arsenal, such defen- the might>' monarch Solomon, whose

sive shields were as important as wands or dominions, so it was whispered, extended

spell books Physical safety, even sur- beyond the lands of the Hebrews to en-

vival, could depend on them. The invo- compass the spirit world itself

cation of spirits was always a dangerous TTie secret lore of this master ma-

enterpnse, for denizens of the demonic gician flowed like an underground river

realm were reluctant servants and un- Arab sages and Jewish mystics preserved
tmstworthy collaborators No wonder- anecdotes of his power that did not find
worker, however sure of his skills, was their way into the more conventional
naive enough to trust them Before call- chronicles One of these concerned an

ing up these volatile powers from the extraordinary trial, held in Solomon's pal-

darkness, the initiate had to take precau- ace at Jerusalem The plaintiff was a poor

tions Following directions laid down in widow, the charge was theft, and the de-
the grimoires — the old handbooks of sor- fendants were the four winds

cery —he drew a magic circle on the floor

of his chamber, or

worked outdoors
on the earth
Its
itself

purpose was to form

if he
TIt pleased the King to hold a daily audi-

a boundary that no spirit dared cross Bence in his palace On one spring
The grimoires differed in their instaic- afternoon, the great hall was packed

tions Some enjoined the practitioner to with petitioners famiers quarreling over

draw the figure on the ground with the boundaries between their olive groves,

point of a magic sword or dagger, others heirs disputing the terms of a will, schol-

exhorted the use of vermilion paint, a ars anxious for the King's adjudication on

color demons were thought to abhor some point of law Palace servants opened

The circle had to consist of two concen- the high windows, hoping the breezes

tric rings, the space between them dense- might dilute the choking cloud of stale

ly filled with inscribed words of power and perfumes, sweat and exhaled onions

pots of devil-deterring herbs The crowd grew impatient pushing

Safe within its ciraimferencc, a wizard ever closer to the throne where the great

could summon up even the most malevo- Solf)mon sat in splendor, surrounded bv

entities and command them wuhuiit the high pin-sts (il his temple. awesDnu-
lent

Skulls of ihciiciul, anles adormJ in//' ccci/ll symhol\ loimuhis jot ilcvtUiiiismf),

were the sorcerer's slock -i>i-lrcuie. Hul even the most ^killcJ <ii/(/'(s u^al ihcsc

tools uhirily, jor ihcy kmw llmnsebes to Ik pliynul trilh tosm/c jtre.

127
 So mighty a mage was King Solomon that he did not fear to put even the

forces of nature on trial. When a widow complained of maltreatment,

the monarch summoned all four winds to answer the charges.

128
 in their homed headdresses The King
leaned forward to catch the stammers of
an awestruck supplicant. But a sudden
commotion at the rear of the great hall

made listening impossible A small figure

slipped through the crowd like wind

through a wheat field

i c
^^Bolomon s face darkened when he
^9^ discovered that the interloper was
his twelve-year-old son, whom the tale-

tellers named Absalom The boy an-

nounced that he had discovered a terrible

crime, which had to be avenged at once

The King commanded Absalom to hold
his peace until the man before him had

had his say The boy fumed and fidgeted,

weeping tears of outrage Finallv at

Solomon's nod, Absalom approached

the throne and told his story He had
morning the study-

N spent that in

house, learning the portion of the

law concerned with justice for the

needy On his way home he heard
weeping, and followed the sound to

the mouth ot a nuiddv allcvwa\' A

woman, dressed in ragged niounv
ing, crouched on the ground sob
bing into an empty bowl Her
skirt, her sandaled feet and the
mud she sat in were spattered
with Hour Absalom litted up the
widow and hurried her t<i liis

father's palace, ignoring all lui

protestations and promising sIk

would lind justice at his lathei s

court liven now, she waited

at the door ol the great hall
The King betkoiied In i

129
 forward and turned to his son If the boy father's Generals on the parade ground
was so keen on dispensing justice, it was "Which of you stole the flour?"

high time he learned how it was done Each in turn, the wind spirits looked
Rising, Solomon draped his robe of to Solomon before they answered TTie
state around Absalom's shoulders, bal- winds of the West, East and North offered
anced the crown of Israel on his head and their condolences to the widow, and their
placed the scepter in his hand, the only alibis to the King The West Wind had
token of power he withheld was the ring been in the Copper Mountains, watch-
that gave him dominion over the spirit ing laborers mine ore to make the roof-
world Absalom bade the widow testify plates for Solomon's new temple The
Through her tears, she told how she East Wind, emerging from the desert, had
had spent her last copper shekel on flour lingered on Lebanon's forested slopes,

to bake a small loaf of bread But as she where woodsmen cut down thousand-
carried her purchase home, a great wind year-old cedars to form the temple's col-
whisded out of heaven and scattered the umns Their northern brother was but
flour What, she asked ruefully, did his lately come from Lydia, where quarriers

young highness propose to do about that? cut the marble for the temple's floor But
The boy looked at his father, in a mute none of them had been in the market-
appeal for aid The King did not seem to place at Jerusualem, nor seen the widow,
be paying attention He stood to one side, nor touched her flour
toying with the ring on his finger, then Then the South Wind spoke He ad-
raised it to his lips and kissed the stone mitted his guilt, his gusts had blown the
flour from the bowl But there were miti-
gating circumstances Would the court
Hs he did so, four winged spirits care to hear them^ Absalom shook his

•^ H flew in through the open win- head and launched into a vehement at-

dows the West Wind, golden-haired, tack, but his father motioned for the
with salty sea spray clinging to his plu- South Wind to speak

mage,- his brother from the East, whose That very morning, said the spirit, he
feathers were coated with a dusting of had floated over the Arabian Sea, billow-

desert sands, the North Wind, white- ing the sails of an Egyptian galley, it

maned, dripping melted snow upon the cartied three hundred peasants fleeing
marble floor, the South Wind, whose famine But the vessel in which they had
every wingbeat released a heady scent of placed their hopes was an ancient hulk,
jasmine and oranges Absalom sat on the rotting and unseaworthy In a sudden
throne, caparisoned in all the trappings of swell, it foundered and began to sink
kingship, but it was to Solomon, master Waves slapped over the decks, and the
of the ring, that the winds bowed down wails of frightened children rose skyward
"Tell us the truth!" shrilled the young The South Wind heard them and took
Prince, in a voice striving to imitate his pity He swooped low upon the surface of

130
 >-,

the sea, gathered all his strength and said to send foul weather over the border.
blew the craft to shore As it ran aground, These sorcerers trapped the wind with
the ship broke up beyond repair, but three different knots: Unt>'ing the first

none of the souls it carried perished So produced a breeze, the second unleashed

vigorously did the South Wind perform a gale, the third sent forth a hurricane

this act of mercy that its strength was felt Many a ship's crew, surprised by the
as far as Jerusalem. The blast that saved sudden arrival of foul weather, wondered

three hundred lives was the blast that what onshore enemy wished them ill

stole the widow's flour They knew that Scottish warlocks, on

receipt of a fat purse, were more than

IT willing to summon up a storm If, by

I ^is face crimson, the Prince slipped chance, the winds did not obey them in

I F off the throne and handed back the their evil ploys, these wizards would not
tokens of power to Solomon The King scruple to subvert the sea itself. A dish set

ordered his treasurer to compensate the afloat in a pail of water could be upset and

widow for her loss with one hundred sunk by dint of spoken spells And at the

golden shekels This done, he turned to precise moment that the bowl turned over

the South Wind and held out the hand in the pail of water, a ship would cap-

that wore the ring of power The spirit size, somewhere out at sea

kneeled before it to receive the monarch's In skilled hands, such humble utensils

blessing Then he soared out through could be as efficacious as the arcane ap-

the open window and vanished into the paratus of Agrippa and his ilk A true

sky But for many days thereafter, the initiate into the secret arts understood

fragrance of southern blooms and spices that all the world was a workshop, full ot

lingered in the hall untapped potencies and untested tools

Wands and circles, skulls and rings, knots

Solomon, the greatest magician of his

own or any age, could command the and spells, were but the best-known keys

touch of his ring and simple to unlock the door into a different, and
winds by a a

word of power, confident of unquestion- dangerous, universe

ing obedience But lesser practitioners

also sought dominion over the el-

ements The witches who dwelled in

the wild seafaring lands of Europe's

northern verges were famed and feared
tor their weatherwork Shetland sailors

climbed dank stone staircases in the

port of Lerwick to buy lair winds tied up

111 string from certain old w<;men Csto

man peasants cast a baleful eye on their

linnish nei^'hbors, whose wizards were

-.-^

^ 131
'^
 ClKUIar
between CigM
anaDarkne$$
's old as time, and as implacable,
the war between good and evil

magic never ceased. In the earli-

est days, the hierophants of rival

cults called upon their shadowy gods

to outdo each other's miracles, forever

after, evil sorcerers tested their mettle

against adepts who worked their wonders
for the good of humankind
Jewish storytellers of Eastern Europe
spoke of a sage named Rabbi Israel, who
conducted a trial of strength against an
emissary from hell.

On long journey, the Rabbi and his

a

disciples paused for the night at an inn.

On entering, it empty,
they found
al-

though itswere covered with em-

tables

broidered cloths and set with goblets and

silver platters as if for a feast. Then they
heard sobbing from the kitchen. There
the innkeeper and his family sat weeping
around a small, but empty, coffin.

The host explained that the feast was

to celebrate the birth of his son. But his
wife had borne two boys before, each
one had died on the eve of the festivities.

This time, he was ready for the worst:

The tiny casket awaited its occupant.
The Rabbi mused awhile, he ordered
candles to be lit around the baby's cradle
and a sack placed behind his head He
and two pupils settled down to watch
An hour after midnight, the candles
wavered A cat glided silently toward the
cradle, presence betrayed only by two
its

green eyes shining out of the gloom.

With a sudden hiss, the feline bunched
its shanks and sprang. But at that very
instant, it met the Rabbi's gaze. The
cat froze in midair, then fell into the
open sack: Swiftly, the students pulled
the drawstrings to imprison the creature.
The Rabbi, laughing softly, reached for
a stick and belabored the cat with all his
might. At last, when his arm was tired,
he opened the window and emptied the
sack's shrieking contents into the night.

The next day, the feast was held amid

much rejoicing. But strangely, the lord
of the manor, who was to have been the
guest of honor, was absent. Bearing a gift
of festive cake, the Rabbi inquired at the
manor house, where he found the man
lying in bed, bruised
all over The two
recognized each other instantly. The
lord's eyes glowed green, hissing furious-
ly, he challenged the Rabbi to a test of
supernatural strength.
The next morning, a platform was
raised in the nobleman's courtyard and a
huge furnace erected. Seeing this, the
Rabbi smiled, summoned his students to
him and traced two concentric circles in
the earth around them.
is opponent fired the furnace and
flung open the doors. A multitude
of wild beasts leaped out, sprang at
the Rabbi, but could not pass the
circles. Again the lord opened the doors.
This time the sun dimmed, the air be-
came dark, and the furnace spewed forth
Some bony and
creatures of the night.
clad in rags,some plump and blind like
huge maggots, they advanced on the
circles, which wavered as if the earth

quaked beneath. But the Rabbi raised

'^^
his hand and muttered prayers that
caused the attackers to vanish.
For two days and nights the battle
raged on. Again and again the sorcerer
opened his furnace doors, each onslaught
was more terrifying than the last Even
the dead were called back h-om their
graves, but although the circles quivered
so much that they threatened to break,
the Rabbi and his students remained safe.

— n the third day the nobleman be-

gan to weaken, and he resolved to
bring out his most powerful ally.

He ordered his serfs to stoke the

furnace until it could take no more.
Then, when the flames were at their,
height, he walked into the fire and sum-
moned the Devil The pair embraced,

and such was the heat of their malevo-

lence that the very grass about the Rab-
bi's feet began to smolder. Replete with
power, the sorcerer strode out of the
furnace, seized a pig from one of the
villagers, and dashed it to the ground.

Under his evil gaze, its belly broke,

and where its entrails split, the ground

opened in a dark chasm.
Out of the crevice there arose an army
of monstrous creatures, breathing fire

Slithering and crawling, they aished at

the Rabbi and bunit through the outer
circle. The scorched earth cracked and
the inner circle started to crumble. But
the Rabbi called his pupils close and,
raising his arm, began to utter words of
piety and power. With each syllable, the
creatures diminished, sinking back into
the dirt from which they had arisen.
The earth closed, and all became still.
Exhausted, the lord fell to his knees by
the useless furnace and begged to be de-
stroyed, for he was beaten. The Rabbi
looked down on his adversary with con-
tempt and replied, "1 shall not destroy
you." Then he ordered the broken man
to kneel and raise his eyes to heaven.
The lord did as he was bid, and a low
groan escaped his lips as he saw two
black specks in the sky. The specks
grew larger and larger, until at last they
became visible as a pair of eagles.
^ wooping down, they sank their
^
talons in the face of the kneeling
I sorcerer. As he screamed in terror,

they worked their hooked beaks

deep into his eye sockets, plucked out
his eyes, and disappeared into the sky.
Satisfied with the punishment, the Rabbi
called his disciples to him, and the group
continued on its travels once more. Be-
hind them, they left the sorcerer-lord,
blinded, belittled, bereft of power, and
vanquished by the might of faith and the
help of virtuous magic.
 J)cKnou)k(ldinent$
The editors wish to thank the fol- ing, Lx>ndon; John Gaisford, Lon- brary- London X'enetia Nenfall,
lowing [jersons for their help in don. Nick Growse. Bury St London, Robin Olson, London,
the piepaiation of this volume Edmunds Suffolk. England, .Alan Deborah Thomj>son, London,
Guy Andrews. Lxtndon.- Susie Lodiian. .Anghiari. ltal>'. Simone Hanna Tourmouche German
Dawson. Ixmdon,- Fergus Hem- \liihlen. German Institute Li- Institute Ubran' London, Wal-
tiaud Voder London

Picture Credits
counes>- The .Mar\- Evans Picture David OConnor 86-87 .Artwork
Library. London 42-43 Artwork by Fataneh Ramazani and John
by Tony Smidi top . Shiriey Howe 88-89 Artwork by Lynne
Cover -Artvk'ork b\' John Howe Culhim center and Max Schind- Dennis 90-93 .Artwork by Susan
1-5: Artv%'orkby Giles Waring ler bonom right 44-45 An- Gallagher 94-99 Artwork by
6-7: Artwork by Malcolm ChaiKl- work by David Bergen 46 George Sharp 100-101 Artwork
ler. 8-13 .Artwork b>' Tony Courtes\' The Mary Evans Pic- by David OConnor 102-103
Smith. 15 by .Vlax
-Artu-ork ture Librarv'. London 47 Art- Anwork by .Alan Baker 104-107:
Schindler 16 by Nick
.Arrv^'oHc work by John Sibbick. 48-49 Artwork by Barbara Loftus 109
Harris. 18 .Artwork by John Wat- .Artwork by Alan Baker 50-51; William Holman Hunt, courtesy
Idss 21-22 .Artvk'ork by Gles -Artwork by John Sibbick 52-53 The Bridgeman An Librar>', Lon-
Waring 23 .Artviork by John .Artwork by Shirley Culhim don Artvt'ork by Ed Dovey
1 1

Waddss 2-1-25 .Art\»ork by 5-1-55 .Artwork by Ian .Miller 113 .Artwork by John Howe
David O'Cormor 26 .Artv.-ork by 56-57 .Artwork by .S'ick Harris 114-115 by .Malcolm
.Artwork
Susan Gallagher 27-29 Courtesy 58-59 .Artwork by Pam .Vlasco Chandler 116-117: .Artvi'ork by
The Mary Evans Picture Library, 60-61 .Art\*'ork by .Malcolm Qles Waring 118-119 .Artwork
London 30-31: Artwork by Ol- Chandler 63-65 .Arr^'ork by by David Bergen 120-121 Art-
lian T>der 32-33 .Art\%ork by -Mark Langeneckert 66-67 .An- work by .N'iall Harding 122-123:
RoyCoombes 34-35 .Artwork b>' work by Charies Raymond 68 .Artv*^ork by John Howe 24- 25:
1 1

Cathy Shutde\A'OTth 37 William .Artwork by Tim Pearce 70-71 .Artwork by Caroline Holmes
Blake, courtesy The Tate Gal- Artwork by Anita Kunz 72 Art- Smith 126 .Artwork by Tim
lery, London. 39; Dante Gabriel work by Graham Ward 73 .An- Pearce 128-129 .Artwork by
Rossetti. The fitzwil-
courtesy work b\' Malcolm Chandler Nick Harris 130-131 Artwork
liam Museum Cambridge, Eng- 74-79 .Artwork by Gary Kelley by Philip .Argent 132-139 Art-
larKl 40-41 .Artwork by Philip 80-8 Artwork by Jenny Tylden-
1 work by Graham Ward 144;
Argent 42, bottom; Based on an Wright 82: Artwork by .Martin .Artwork by Qles Waring
engraving by Albrecht Diiier, Knowelden. 85: Artv»fork bv

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142
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