A History of Witchcraft: 1. The Devil

Europe, for a period of two centuries and a half, brooded upon the idea, not only that parted spirits walked the earth to meddle in the affairs of men, but that men had power to summon evil spirits to their aid to work woe upon their fellows. An epidemic terror seized upon the nations; no person thought themselves secure, either in his person or possessions, from the machinations of the devil and his agents. Every calamity that befell him he attributed to a witch. This power was only to be acquired by an express compact, signed in blood, with the devil himself, by which the wizard or witch renounced baptism, and sold his or her immortal soul to the evil one, without any saving clause of redemption. Before entering into the study of Witchcraft in Western Europe, we must make acquaintance with the source, and understand what sort of a personage it was who gave the witches, in exchange for their souls, the power to torment their fellowcreatures.