III. ADMISSION CEREMONIES

i. General
In the ceremonies for admission, as in all the other cere- monies of the cult, the essentials are the si me in every community and country, though the details differ. The two points which are the essence of the ceremony are invariable : the first, that the candidates must join of their own free will and without compulsion ; the second, that they devote them- selves, body and soul, to the Master and his service.
The ceremonies of admission differed also according to whether the candidate were a child or an adult. The most complete record of the admission of children comes from the Basses-Pyrenees in 1609:
'Les Sorcieres luy offret des petits enfans le genoiiil en terre, lui disant auec vne soubmission, Grand seigneur, lequel i'adore, ie vous ameine ce noziueari serzuteuv, leqttel veut estre perpetuellemcnt vostre esclaue : Et le Diable en signe de remerciement & gratification leur respond, Approchez voiis de moy : a quoy obeissant, elles en se trainant a genouil, le luy presentent, & luy receuant 1'enfant entre ses bras, le rend a la Sorciere, la remercie, & puis luy recommande d'en auoir soing, leur disant par ce moyen sa troupe s'augmentera. Que si les enfans ayans attainct 1'aage de neuf ans, par malheur se voiient au Diable sans estre forcez ny violentez d'aucun Sorcier, ils se prosternent par terre deuant Satan : lequel iettant du feu par les yeux, leur dit, Que demandez vous, voulez vous estre a moy ? ils respondent qu'ouy, il leur diet, Venez vous de vostre bonne volonte ? ils respondent qu'ouy, Faictes done ce que ie veux, & ce que ie fay. Et alors la grande maistresse & Royne du Sabbat qui leur sert de pedagogue, diet a ce nouueau qui se presente, qu'il die a haute voix, Ie renie Dieu premierement, pitis lesus Christ son Fits, le S. Esprit, la vierge, les Saincts, la Saincte Croit, le Ckresme, le Baptesme, & la Foy que ie tiens, mes Parrain & Marraine, & me remets de tout poinct en ton pouuoir & entre tes mains, ne recognois autre Dieii : si bien qtie tit es mon Dieu & ie suis ton esclaiie. Apres on luy bailie vn crapaud habille auec son
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capot ou manteau, puis il comraande qu'on 1'adore ; si bien qu'obeyssans & estants mis a genouil. ils baisent le Diable aupres de 1'ceil gauche, a la poitrine, a la fesse, a la cuisse, & aux parties honteuses, puis leuant la queue ils luy baisent le derriere.' *
The novice was then marked by a scratch from a sharp instrument, but was not admitted to the 'high mysteries' till about the age of twenty.2 As no further ceremonies are men- tioned, it may be concluded that the initiation into these mysteries was performed by degrees and without any special rites.
At Lille, about the middle of the seventeenth century, Madame Bourignon founded a home for girls of the lowest classes, ' pauvres et mal-originees, la plus part si ignorantes au fait de leur salut qu'elles vivoient comme des betes '.3 After a few years, in 1661, she discovered that thirty-two of these girls were worshippers of the Devil, and in the habit of going to the Witches' Sabbaths. They ' had all contracted this Mischief before they came into the House '.4 One of these girls named Bellot, aged fifteen, said ' that her Mother had taken her with her when she was very Young, and had even carried her in her Arms to the Witches Sabbaths '.5 Another girl of twelve had been in the habit of going to the Sabbath since she also was ' very Young '. As the girls seem to have been genuinely fond of Madame Bourignon, she obtained a considerable amount of information from them. They told her that all worshippers of the Devil ' are constrained to offer him their Children. When a child thus offered to the Devil by its Parents, comes to the use of Reason, the Devil then demands its Soul, and makes it deny God and renounce Baptism, and all relating to the Faith, promising Homage and Fealty to the Devil in manner of a Marriage, and instead of a Ring, the Devil gives them a Mark with an iron awl [aleine de fer] in some part of the Body.'6
It is also clear that Marguerite Montvoisin ' in Paris had
1 De Lancre, Tableau, p. 398. a Id. ib., p. 145.
1 Bourignon, Vie, p. 201. « id., Parole, p. 85 ; Hale, p. 26.
3 Id., Vie, p. 211 ; Hale, p. 29. « Id. ib., p. 223; Hale, p. 37. 7 Kavaisson (the years 1679-81):
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been instructed in witchcraft from an early age ; but as the trial in which she figures was for the attempted poisoning of the king and not for witchcraft, no ceremonies of initiation or admission are recorded.
In Great Britain the ceremonies for the reception of children are not given in any detail, though it was generally acknow- ledged that the witches dedicated their children to the Devil as soon as born ; and from the evidence it appears that in many cases the witches had belonged to that religion all their lives. It was sometimes sufficient evidence against a woman that her mother had been a witch,1 as it presup- posed that she had been brought up as a worshipper of the Devil.
The Anderson children in Renfrewshire were all admitted to the society at an early age.- Elizabeth Anderson was only seven when she was first asked to swear fealty to the ' black grim Man '. James Lindsay was under fourteen, and his little brother Thomas was still ' below pupillarity ' at the time of the trial, where he declared that he had been bribed, by the promise of a red coat, to serve ' the Gentleman, whom he knew thereafter to be the Devil'.3 At Forfar in i66i,Jonet Howat was so young that when Isabel Syrie l presented hir to the divell, the divell said, What shall I do with such a little bairn as she ? ' He accepted her, however, and she was evi- dently the pet of the community, the Devil calling her ' his bonny bird'.4 At Paisley, Annabil Stuart was fourteen when, at her mother's persuasion, she took the vows of fidelity to the Devil.6
Elizabeth Frances at Chelmsford (tried in 1556) was about twelve years old when her grandmother first taught her the art of witchcraft6 Elizabeth Demdike, the famous Lancashire witch, ' brought vp her owne Children, instructed her Graund- children, and tooke great care and paines to bring them to be Witches1.7 One of her granddaughters, Jennet Device, was aged nine at the time of the trial.
1 Reg. Scot., Bk. II, p. 36 (quoting from C. Agrippa}.
' Narrative of the Sufferings of a Young Girle, p. xxxix.
8 Ib., pp. xl, xli. 4 Kinloch, pp. 124, 125. e Glanvil, ii, p. 291.
0 Philobiblon Society, viii, p. 24. 7 Potts, B 2.
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In Sweden the children were taken regularly to the assem- blies,1 and in America2 also a child-witch is recorded in the person of Sarah Carrier, aged eight, who had made her vows two years before at her mother's instigation.
The ceremony for the admission of adults who were con- verts to the witch religion from Christianity follow certain main lines. These are (i) the free consent of the candidate,
(2) the explicit denial and rejection of a previous religion,
(3) the absolute and entire dedication of body and soul to the service and commands of the new Master and God
The ceremonies being more startling and dramatic for adults than for children, they are recorded in Great Britain with the same careful detail as in France, and it is possible to trace the local variations; although in England, as is usual, the ceremonies had lost their significance to a far greater extent than in Scotland, and are described more shortly, probably because they were more curtailed.
The legal aspect of the admission ceremonies is well expressed by Sir George Mackenzie, writing in 1699 on the Scotch laws relating to witchcraft in the seventeenth century :
' As to the relevancy of this Crime, the first Article useth to be faction to serve the Devil, which is certainly relevant, per se, without any addition . . . Faction with the Devil is divided by Lawyers, in expressnin, & taciturn, an express and tacit Faction. Express Faction is performed either by a formal Promise given to the Devil then present, or by presenting a Supplication to him, or by giving the promise to a Proxie or Commissioner impovvered by the Devil for that effect, which is used by some who dare not see himself. The Formula set down by Delrio, is, I deny God Creator of Heaven and Earth, and 1 adhere to thee, and believe in thee. But by the Journal Books it appears, that the ordinary Form of express Faction confest by our Witness, is a simple Promise to serve him. Tacit Faction is either when a person who hath made no express Faction, useth the Words or Signs which Sorcerers use, knowing them to be such . . . Renouncing of Baptism is by Delrio made an effect of Faction, yet with us it is relevant, Per se . . . and the Solemnity confest by our Witches, is the putting one hand to the crown of the Head, and another to
' Horneck, pt. ii., pp. 317-20.
• Howell, vi, 669 ; J. Hutchinson, Hist, of Massachusetts, ii, p. 44.
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the sole of the Foot, renouncing their Baptism in that posture. Delrio tells us, that the Devil useth to Baptize them of new, and to wipe off their Brow the old Baptism : And our Witches confess always the giving them new Names . . . The Devil's Mark useth to be a great Article with us, but it is not per se found relevant, except it be confest by them, that they got that Mark with their own consent ; quo casu, it is equivalent to a Faction. This Mark is given them, as is alledg'd, by a Nip in any part of the body, and it is blew.' *
Reginald Scot,2 writing considerably earlier, gives a some- what similar account of the English witches, though couched in less legal phraseology :
4 The order of their bargaine or profession is double ; the one solemne and publike ; the other secret and priuate. That which is called solemne or publike, is where witches come to- gither at certeine assemblies, at the times prefixed, and doo not onelie see the diuell in visible forme ; but confer and talke familiarlie with him. In which conference the diuell exhorteth them to obserue their fidelitie vnto him, promising them long life and prosperitie. Then the witches assembled, commend a new disciple (whom they call a nouice) vnto him : and if the diuell find that yoong witch apt and forward in renunciation of Christian faith, in despising anie of the seuen sacraments, in treading upon crosses, in spelling at the time of eleuation, in breaking their fast on fasting daies, and fasting on sundaies ; then the diuell giueth foorth his hand, and the nouice joining hand in hand with him, promiseth to obserue and keepe all the diuell's commandements. This done, the diuell beginneth to be more bold with hir, telling hir plainlie that all this will not serue his turne ; and therefore requireth homage at hir hands : yea, he also telleth hir, that she must grant him both hir bodie and soule to be tormented in euerlasting fire : which she yeeldeth vnto. Then he chargeth hir, to procure as manie men, women, and children also, as she can, to enter into this societie . . . Sometimes their homage with their oth and bar- gaine is receiued for a certeine terme of yeares ; sometimes for euer. Sometimes it consisteth in the deniall of the whole faith, sometimes in part. The first is, when the soule is abso- lutelie yeelded to the diuell and hell-fier : the other is, when they haue but bargained not to obserue certeine ceremonies and statutes of the church ; as to conceale faults at shrift, to fast on sundaies, etc. And this is doone either by oth, pro- testation of words, or by obligation in writing, sometimes sealed with wax, sometimes signed with bloud.'
1 Mackenzie, Title x, pp. 47, 48. 2 Reginald Scot, Bk. Ill, [>[>. 40-2.
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Forbes says that
'an express Covenant is entred into betwixt a Witch, and the Devil appearing in some visible Shape. Whereby the former renounceth God and his Baptism, engages to serve the Devil, and do all the Mischief he can as Occasion offers, and leaves Soul and Body to his Disposal after Death. The Devil on his part articles with such Proselytes, concerning the Shape he is to appear to them in, the Services they are to expect from him, upon the Performance of certain Charms or ceremonious Rites. This League is made verbally, if the Party cannot write. And such as can write, sign a written Covenant with their Blood.1 '
The general order of the ceremony of admission can be gathered from the evidence given at the trials, though no one trial gives the order in its entirety. The ceremony might take place privately, at a local meeting, or in full Sabbath ; it was the same for either sex, except that the men were not usually introduced, the women were sometimes introduced, sometimes not. If there were any sort of introduction, it was by some one who was acquainted with the candidate ; usually the person who had induced her to join. She was brought before the Devil, who asked her if she would be his faithful servant, and if she would renounce her previous reli- gion, and dedicate herself to his service, taking him as her God. After the renunciation and vows, the Devil baptized her in his own great name, and among the Scotch witches gave her a new name by which she was known afterwards at the Sabbaths and other meetings. The ceremony concluded by giving the witch ;i mark or ' flesh-brand ' on some part of the body.
2. The Introduction
It is not clear whether the introduction of a candidate by a member of the society was an early or a late detail. It is quite possible that it was early, the introducer standing in the same relation to the candidate as the Christian sponsors stand to a candidate for baptism. On the other hand, it is quite comprehensible that, when the witch religion became an object of persecution, no new member could be admitted unless
1 W. Forbes, ii, 33, ed. 1730.
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vouched for by some trustworthy person. In the cases where the first meetings with the Devil are recorded, both systems are apparently in vogue. Occasionally, however, the accounts show a confusion on the part of the recorder. Thus Anne Chattox said that Mother Demdike introduced her to the Devil in Mother Demdike 's own house, and that she there yielded her soul to him ; and in another place she is reported as saying that ' a thing like a Christian man, for foure yeares togeather, did sundry times come to this Examinate, and requested this Examinate to giue him her Soule : And in the end, this Examinate was contented to giue him her sayd Soule, shee being then in her owne house, in the Forrest of Pendle.' l The two statements are not inconsistent if we conclude that in her own house she consented to join the society, and in Mother Demdike's presence she took the vows. As a rule the men seem to have joined at the direct invitation of the Devil him- self, especially when they came of witch families.
3. The Renunciation and Voivs
The renunciation of previous errors of faith and the vows of fidelity to the new belief are part of the ceremony of admission of any convert to a new religion. The renunciation by the witches was explicit, but the records are apt to pass it over in a few words, e.g. 'I denied my baptism,' ' I forsook God and Christ,1 ' Us renient Dieu, la Vierge, et le reste,' ' Vne renoncia- tion expresse a lesu- Christ & a la foy ' ; but occasionally the words are given in full. Mackenzie, quoting from Del Rio, gives the formula thus: ' I deny God Creator of Heaven and Earth, and I adhere to thee, and believe in thee.' 2 The actual formula is still extant in the case of the priest Louis Gaufredy, tried before the Parliament of Aix in 1611 :
' le Louys Gaufredy renonce a tous les biens tant spirituels que corporels qui me pourroyent estre conferez de la part de Dieu, de la vierge Marie & de tous les Saincts de Paradis, pareillement de mon patron S. lean Baptiste, S. Pierre, S. Paul, & S. Fran9ois, & de me donner de corps & d'ame a Lucifer
1 Potts, B 4, D 3. " Mackenzie, p. 47. ed- l699-
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icy present auec tous les biens que ie feray a iamais : excepte la valeur du Sacrement pour le regard de ceux qui le recevront : Et ainsi le signe et atteste.' l
Jeannette d'Abadie, aged sixteen, said that she was made to ' renoncer & renier son Createur, la saincte Vierge, les Saincts, le Baptesme, pere, mere, parens, le ciel, la terre & tout ce qui est au monde '.2 The irrevocability of this renunciation was impressed upon the Swedish witches in a very dramatic manner : l The Devil gave them a Purse, wherein there were shavings of Clocks with a Stone tied to it, which they threw into the water, and then were forced to speak these words : As these Shavings of the Clock do never return to the Clock front which they are taken, so may my Soul never return to Heaven.' :l
The vows to the new God were as explicit as the renuncia- tion of the old. Danaeus says, ' He commaundeth them to forswere God theyr creator and all his power, promising perpetually to obey and worship him, who there standeth in their presence.' 4 The English witches merely took the vow of fealty and obedience, devoting themselves body and soul to him ; sometimes only the soul, however, is mentioned : but the Scotch witches of both sexes laid one hand on the crown of the head, the other on the sole of the foot, and dedicated all that was between the two hands to the service of the Master.5 There is a slight variation of this ceremony at Dalkeith in 1661, where the Devil laid his hand upon Jonet Watson's head, 4 and bad her " give all ower to him that was vnder his hand ", and shoe did so \c
In Southern France the candidates, after renouncing their old faith, ' prennent Satan pour leur pere et protecteur, & la Diablesse pour leur mere '.7 At Lille the children called the ceremony the Dedication,8 showing that the same rite obtained there.
1 De Lancre, Tableau, p. 182. 2 Id. ib., p. 131.
5 Horneck, pt. ii, p. 322. « Danaeus, ch. ii, E i.
- Lord Fountainhall mentions a case where a pregnant woman excepted the unborn child, at which the devil was very angry. Decisions, i, p. 14.
Pitcairn, iii, p. 601. 7 De Lancre, Tableau, p. 123.
8 Bourignon, Vie, p. 214 ; Hale, p. 31.
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4. The Covenant
The signing of a covenant does not occur in every case and was probably a late introduction. Forbes, as quoted above, gives the contract between the Devil and his follower, with the part which each engages to perform. In Somerset the witches signed whether they could write or not, those who could not write putting a cross or circle as their mark.1
The free consent of the candidate is a point always insisted on, and by the confessions of the witches themselves the con- sent was often not merely freely but actually willingly given. Isobel Crawford of the Irvine Coven in 1618 was accused that the devil 'come to hir awin dur in similitud of ane blak man, and prommeist, gif sche wold be his servand, sche sould have geir aneuch, and sould not want. Quhairunto sche was ever reddy to accord.'2 Little Jonet Howat said that the Devil ' bade her renounce her God, and she answered, Marry, shall I V In the dittay against Christian Grieve, it is stated that 1 Sathan desired you to be his servant whilk ye willingly granted to be ... And sicklike the minister posing you upon the foresaid particulars especially anent the renunciation of your Baptism, ye answered that Sathan speired at you if ye would do it and ye answered " I warrand did I."'4 Bessie Henderson and Janet Brugh, of the same Coven, acknowledged the same. To the former ' the Devil appeared and asked you gif you would be his servant whilk ye freely and instantly accepted and granted thereto '/' Janet Brugh was rather more emphatic : ' Sathan desired you to be his servant whilk ye willingly promised to be and likeways desired you to renounce your baptism whilk ye willingly did.' r
The written contract appealed very strongly to the legal minds of the judges and magistrates, and it is therefore often mentioned, but in Great Britain there is no record of the actual wording of any individual covenant ; the Devil seems to have kept the parchment, paper, or book in his own custody. In France, however, such contracts occasionally fell into the
Glanvil, ii, pp. 136, 148. 2 Isobel Inch, p. 16.
Kinloch, p. 125. Spelling modernized.
Burns Begg, p. 239. 6 Id., pp. 223-4. 6 Id., p. 237.
So ADMISSION C E R E M O N I E S
hands of the authorities ; the earliest case being in 1453, when Guillaume Edeline, Prior of St. Germain-en-Laye, signed a compact with the Devil, which compact was afterwards found upon his person.1 The witch Stevenote de Audebert, who was burnt in January 1619, showed de Lancre ' le pacte & conuention qu'elle auoit faict auec le Diable, escrite en sang de menstrues, & si horrible qu'on auoit horreur de la regarder '.2
The contract was said to be signed always in the blood of the witch, and here we come to a confusion between the mark made on the person and the mark made by the person. It seems clear that part of the ceremony of initiation was the cutting of the skin of the candidate to the effusion of blood. This is the early rite, and it seems probable that when the written contract came into vogue the blood was found to be a convenient writing-fluid, or was offered to the Devil in the form of a signature. This signing of a book plays a great