"BLACK MAGIC"

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 99, 17 December 1931, Page 2

"BLACK MAGIC"

XQ BE TESTED "ALL ROT, BUT WORTH WHILE « TO-DISPROVE THIS NONSENSE "• BAT'S BLOOD, CHURCH BELL " SCRAPINGS "Fillet of a fenny snake "In the cauldron boil and bake! ''Eye of newt and toe of frog, "Wool of bat and tongue of ' dog . . Shakespeare's "Witches' Chorus" | is rivalled in the ' prescr iption con- ; tained in a 'doctiment before the Na- ! tioiial Psychieal Researcli Labdfatory | for the creation by "Black Magic" of a "fair youth of ' sur'passing beauty," about to be: put to the test. ■ "Personally 'I think it is all rot, but the experiment is worth while, if : o'nly to disprove 'the nonsense, says I Mr.- Harry Ptice, director 'of the lab oratory. The document promises that if a maiden of pure heart, clad in white garments, anointS a he-goat with a concoction of bat's blood, "scrapings from church bells, soot and honey, the goat will ' be instantly changed into a •• fair youth of* surpassing beauty. ! Chance For Movies? The rite must be performed at full moon on the highest peak of the Harz mountains in Saxony: " " •Members enquired what it was proposed to do with the beautiful youth when he appeared-. Oth efs suggested that the expeditiOn had better take a suit of clothes — "just in case." ■The meeting decided ta leave individual memb'ers to attend the test o'n January 23. Goats and witchcraft have always gond together; but recipes for turning goats into fair young men are hard-to find, even in the literature of sorcery. Hideous Orgies Frequently' Satan figures as a goat at the witches' revels. How the animal is related to the practices of Satamworship' is illustrated by this amazin'g' historical episode: — In the latter h'alf of the 18th. century the territory of Limburg (Germany) was terrorised by a mysterious society known as "The Goats." The members met at night in a secret chapel, and after the most hideous orgies, whieh included the paying of divine honours to Satan, and other f oul blasphemies of the "Sabbath," they donned masks fashioned to imitate goats' heads. * Thus arrayed, they sallied forth in bands, plundering and destroying the homes of peaceful folk. On one occasion a tribunal of justice sent 400 "goats" to the gallows. It isn't surprising that modern pagans 'should think of the Harz mountains as the scene for their rites. These rugged heights were the last stronghold of paganism -in Germany.