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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Say that having discovered the places scratched b y the devil , they drove pins into them till their heads were buried , yet the witches felt or seemed to feel no pain . An imp is then selected for each noviciate , which is fostered and fed by the old witches , till it is thought proper to entrust it to the care of the newly installed . * The whole assembly then dance amidst flames of fictitious
fire to the sound of timbrels , tambarines and flutes ( the musicians of the Zugarramurdi Aquelarre were among the witnesses under our commission , and were reconciled in consequence of their disclosures ) , and the devil assures them these are the flames of hell , and
encourages them to every sort of evil , promising them that hell-fire shall no more scorch them than this unreal blaze . At cock-crowing they all disperse , each accompanied b y his familiar { or imp ) , and fly through the air to their individual homes .
On Aq uelarre nights the noviciates are employed in guarding a flock of imps ( in the form of toads ) , which furnish the witches with poisons and ointments for their various diabolical purposes , and became the agents of their misdeeds . These imps are endowed with the gift of speech , and are clad in fine cloth and velvet . Some of
the witches confessed , that they had nursed their imps with the greatest tenderness , had made them their constant companions , and these , in return , had watched over them both sleeping and waking , and been to them like guardian angels . Juanes de Echalar ( the minister of
justice in our Aquelarre ) declared , and his testimony was confirmed by many others , that if any witch absented herself from the assembly , or in anyway infringed on the laws of witchcraft , he Was accustomed to scourge the offender
with thongs and thorns , till blood streamed from the wounds , when the devil himself applied ointment to the sores , and treated the sufferers with such extraordinary care and tenderness , that the marks were almost immediately
removed . The reconciled ^ witches-stated , that ; one of the amusements of the Aquelarre was to sally forth ( in the shapes of different animals ^ to way-lay and fri g hten passengers , selecting those especially , who neglect to say grace before and after meat . This testimony was corroborated by a host of evidence from
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individuals , who had been hurried almost to death by sundry apparitions , and whose accounts agreed with those of the witches . The name of Jesus , however , ( the
inquisitors say they ascertained ) is sufficient to dissolve every charm of witchcraft ; and they report many instance * of the wonderful effects of the ejaculation " Jesus !"—Scores of witches
dispersed in a moment—tempests calmed —invisible spirits made manifest / and many other miracles . On the vespers of certain saints * days a solemn act of adoration to the devil is performed in the Aquelarre . The witches then make a confession of their
virtues ( instead of their sins ) , and are reprehended gravely on account of them . All the apparatus of mass is introduced in mockery ( black , moreover , dirty and ugly ) , and the devil reads an address from his own missal ,
and afterwards gives a sermon on the advantages of atheism and immorality . All the company then prostrate themselves at his feet , each presenting some offering , which is received by evil spirits who are in attendance , and who
always take part in the more important ceremonies . The administration of the sacrament is next turned into ridicule , by a burlesque , in which a piece of shoe-leather represents the consecrated wafer ; and when these services are over , they proceed to every species of infamous crime .
Miguel de Goyburu ( oldest wizard and king of the Aquelarre ) testified ( and he was borne out by other evidence ) , that the senior witches greatly enjoy visiting church-yards , disinterring the dead , and stealing their brains ,
cartilages , and other parts of the body . To light them while thus employed , they use a torch made of the arm of an unbaptized child , the fingers being kindled , and this torch ( they continue ) has the singular property of illuminating the witches , while it remains invisible
to all other human beings . The collected spoils are presented to the devil , who devours them greedily , encouraging the witches to do the same . In the autumnal season , the most privileged of the witches receive the
visits of the devil and his imps , who accompany them to fields and dark caves , where they instruct them how to prepare poisonous ointments , from various venemous animals , which they amalgamate with human brains and bones . With these poisons they be-
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Narrative &f a celebrated Auto de Fiin the City ofZ , ogrono . ffi
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1817, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2460/page/21/
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