Theosophical Siftings

"Violationism" or Sorcery in Science

Vol 3, No 5

"Violationism" or Sorcery in Science

by Anna Kingsford , M.D. (Paris)
Reprinted from Theosophical Siftings Volume 3 The Theosophical Pu lishing Society, !ngland

"#n $ie% of the recent attempt of the &ritish 'hloroform 'ommission, under sanction of the Ni(am of )ydera ad, to de auch the people of #ndia y introducing among them the practice of painful e*perimentation upon animals in the alleged interests of physiological research, the follo%ing address deli$ered in +ondon, in ,--., y the late /r0 1nna 2ingsford, possesses a peculiar interest03

&elie$ers in the conclusions of the e*ponents of physical science, are apt to ring against the students of Spiritual Science, the charge of re$i$ing the old tric4s and e$il doings of sorcery0 Some persons %ho ma4e this allegation elie$e that sorcery, %hether ancient or modern, ne$er had, nor can ha$e, any other asis, than mere imposture and ignorant credulity5 others elie$e or suspect that it represents a real art of an unla%ful and a omina le character0 # propose to sho% that sorcery has indeed een re$i$ed in modern times to a considera le e*tent, ut that its re$i$al has ta4en place, not in the domain of Spiritual Science, ut in that of physical science itself0 1 further o 6ect,of my address is to suggest to those %ho, li4e myself, hold as a fundamental doctrine of all Spiritual 4no%ledge, the 7nity of Su stance, and %ho thin4 it incum ent on them to gi$e the 4no%ledge of that doctrine practical e*pression in uni$ersal sympathy %ith all forms of sentient eing, that it is high time for them to enter the lists acti$ely against the %orst manifestation of 8aterialism and 1theism the %orld has yet seen, and to declare their recognition of the simple and o $ious "Page 93 moral issue of faith in a good :od, namely ; the duty of +o$e to all incarnations of the /i$ine Su stance, and horror and reprehension of cruelty as such, %hate$er plea may e ad$anced for its practice0 #t %ould e difficult to find stronger e$idence of the anefulness of the influence e*erted y the materialistic spirit of the day, than that %hich is furnished y the apathy and uncertainty of the pu lic generally in regard to the practice 4no% as $i$isection0 To the $itali(ed minority of persons, the spectacle thus afforded is as ama(ing as it is deplora le0 That any human eing, claiming to e ci$ili(ed, should, through indifference or dou t, hesitate to condemn an organi(ed system of torture, on %hate$er plea instituted, is in itself sufficiently surprising0 &ut %hen all the aggra$ating circumstances are ta4en into the account ; especially the innocence and helplessness of the $ictims ; the pre$alent attitude of the pu lic mind ecomes e*plica le only as the result of some moral epidemic0 <rom the ordinary point of $ie%, the utilitarian and the moral, this =uestion has already een amply discussed, and %ith these it is not no% my purpose to deal0 There is a third aspect of it, especially Page ,

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interesting to the student of psychological and occult science, and one %hich, for %ant of a more precise definition may e descri ed as the Spiritualistic Persons to %hom the chronicles of the modern $i$isector>s la oratory and the records of ancient and medie$al sorcery are ali4e familiar, must dou tless ha$e noted the family resem lance et%een the t%o, and %ill need only to e reminded that the practice %hose ethics are no% so prominently can$assed in medical concla$es, and on popular platforms, represents no ne% feature in the %orld>s history, ut is in e$ery detail a resuscitation of the old and hideous cult us of the lac4 1rt, %hose ghost %as deemed to e for e$er laid0 The science of medicine, placed originally under the direct patronage of the :ods, %hether !gyptian, ?riental, :recian, or Teutonic, and su se=uently under that of the 'hristian 'hurch, %as among all nations in the days of faith associated %ith the priestly office0 The relation et%een soundness of soul and soundness of ody %as then held to e of the closest, and the health@gi$ing man, the therapeut, %as one %ho cured the ody y means of 4no%ledge, /i$ine ali4e in its source and in its method0 #n !gypt, %here the order of the Theraputae seems to ha$e had its origin, healing %as from the earliest times connected %ith religion, and there is good reason to elie$e that the practice of medicine %as the e*clusi$e and regularly e*ercised profession of the priesthood, the first hospital of %hich %e ha$e any record eing %ithin the consecrated precincts of the temple, and the sic4 eing placed under the immediate care of its ministrants0 "Page A3 8ore than one deity %as associated %ith medical and therapeutic science0 1ccording to /iodorus Bli 0 i0C the !gyptians held themsel$es inde ted for their proficiency in these respects to #sis0 Stra o spea4s of the methodical treatment of disease in the Temple of Serapis, and :alen ma4es similar o ser$ations %ith regard to a temple at 8emphis, called )ephaestium0 1s is %ell 4no%n, the name Paean, the )ealer, %as one of the most ancient designations of 1pollo, in his capacity of Sun@god0 This title, and the function it implies, are ascri ed to him in the ?rphic hymns, in the ?des of Pindar, and in the %ritings of )ippocrates0 Plato, and all the later poets and historians, oth :ree4 and +atin0 ?$id attri utes to 1pollo the declarationD ; "8edicine is my in$entionD throughout the %orld # am honoured as the )ealer, and the po%er of the her s is su 6ect to me"0 1esculapius, reputed the son of 1pollo, ga$e his name to medical science5 and his temples, the principal of %hich %ere at Titana in Sicily, at !pidaurus in Peloponnesus, and at Pergamus in 1sia 8inor, %ere recognised schools of medicine, to %hose hierophants elonged the dou le function of priest and physician0 These medical temples %ere al%ays uilt in localities noted for healthiness, and usually in the $icinity of mineral springs, that at !pidaurus, the most cele rated of them all, eing situated on an eminence near the sea, its site ha$ing een determined dou tless rather y the eauty of the scenery and the purity of the air, than y the tradition that !pidaurus %as the irthplace of 1esculapius himself0 The course of treatment adopted comprised hydropathy, shampooing, dieting, magnetism, fumigations, gymnastics, and her al remedies, internally and e*ternally administered, these remedies eing in all cases accompanied %ith prayers, music, and songs called EFGFH0 #n the hospitals of Pergamus and !pidaurus the use of %ine %as for idden, and fasting %as fre=uently en6oined0 #t %as also held indispensa le that the professors of so di$ine an art as that of medicine should e persons of profound piety, and learning, of sound moral and spiritual integrity, and therefore of lameless li$es0 #t %as, as !nnemoser o ser$es in his ")istory of 8agic", deemed necessary that the aspirant after medical honours should e "a priest@physician0 Through his o%n health, especially of the soul, he is truly capa le, as soon as he himself is pure and learned, to help the sic40 &ut first lie must ma4e %hole the inner man, Page .

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the soul, for %ithout in%ard health no odily cure can e radical0 #t is therefore a solutely necessary for a true physician to e a priest"0 This %as also the idea of the early )e re% and 'hristian 'hurches, %hose physicians al%ays elonged to the sacred order0 8any of the "Page -3 primiti$e 'hristian religion communities %ere schools of medicine5 and the $isitation of the sic4, not only in the priestly, ut in the medical capacity %as held to e a special function of the clergy0 The custom still sur$i$es under a modified form in 'atholic countries, %here "religious" of oth se*es are employed in hospitals as nurses and dressers, the higher duties of the calling ha$ing een %rested from them y the laity ; often too 6ustly designated the "profane"0 Such, uni$ersally, %as the early character of medical science, and such the position of its professors0 "Priest" and ")ealer" %ere religious titles, elonging of right only to initiates in /i$inity0 <or the initiate only could practice the true magic, %hich originally, %as neither more nor les" than the science of religion or the 8ysteries, that /i$ine 4no%ledge, %on y re$erent and lo$ing study of Nature, %hich made the 8agian free of her secrets and ga$e him his distincti$e po%er0 Side y side %ith this true magic, sanctioned y the :ods, taught y the 'hurch, hallo%ed y prayer, there gre% up, li4e the poisonous %eed in the cornfield, the unholy art of the lac4 magician or sorcerer, %hose endea$our %as to ri$al, y the aid of su @human or "infernal" means, the results o tained legitimate y the adept in %hite or celestial magic0 1nd, as on the one hand, in order to attain the grace and po%er necessary to perform /i$ine %or4s or "miracles, the true 8agian culti$ated purity in act and thought, denying the appetites, and a ounding in lo$e and prayer5 so, on the other hand, in order to achie$e success in %itchcraft, it %as necessary to adopt all the opposite practices0 The sorcerer %as distinguished y o scene actions, male$olence, and renunciation of all human sentiments and hopes of )ea$en0 )is only $irtues ; if $irtues they can e called ; %ere hardihood and perse$erance0 No deed %as foul enough, no cruelty atrocious enough, to deter him0 1s the supremacy of the 8agian %as o tained at the price of self@sacrifice and un%earying lo$e and la our for others, so the sorcerer, re$ersing the means to suit the opposite end, sacrificed others to himself, and culti$ated a spirit of indiscriminate malignity0 <or the patient and re$erent study y means of %hich the 8agian sought to %in the secrets of Nature, the sorcerer su stituted $iolence, and endea$oured to %rest from her y force the treasures she gi$es only to lo$e0 #n order to attract and ind to his ser$ice the po%ers he in$o4ed, he offered in secluded places li$ing o lations of $ictims the most innocent he could procure, putting them to deaths of hideous torture in the elief that the results o tained %ould e fa$oura le to his %ishes in proportion to the inhumanity and monstrosity of the means employed0 Thus as !nnemoser o ser$es, "the sorcerers in$erted nature itself, a used the innocent animal "Page I3 %orld %ith horri le #ngenuity, and trod e$ery human feeling under font0 !ndea$ouring y force to o tain enefits from hell, they had recourse to the most terri le of infernal de$ices0 <or, %here men 4no% not :od, or ha$ing 4no%n, ha$e turned a%ay from )im to %ic4edness, they are %ont to address themsel$es in %orship to the 4ingdom of hell and to the po%ers of dar4ness"0 Such, precisely, is the part enacted y the $i$isector of today0 )e is, in fact, a practitioner of lac4 magic, the characteristic cultus of %hich has een descri ed y a %ell@4no%n %riter on occult su 6ects as that of $icarious death0 "To sacrifice others to oneself, to 4ill others in order to get life, ; this %as the great principle of sorcery"0 B!liphas +e$i0C The %itches of Thessaly practised horri le cruelties5 some, li4e Page 3

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'anidia, of %hom )orace spea4s, uried infants ali$e, lea$ing their heads a o$e ground, so that they died of hunger5 others cut them into pieces and mi*ed their flesh and lood %ith the 6uice of elladonna, lac4 poppies, and her s, in order to compose ointments deemed to ha$e special properties0 The %ell@ 4no%n history of :illes de +a$al, Seigneur of Ret( and 8arshal of &rittany in the fifteenth century, may ser$e as an illustration of the atrocities perpetrated in secret y professors of sorcery0 This man distinguished for the military ser$ices he rendered to 'harles V##0, and occupying an honoured and rilliant position in the society of the day Bas also do most of our modern sorcerersC, %as yet, li4e the latter, guilty of the most infamous practices concei$a le0 8ore than .JJ children of tender years died in torture at the hands of the 8arshal and his accomplices, %ho, on the faith of the doctrines of sorcery, elie$ed that the uni$ersal agent of life could, y certain processes conducted under appro$ed conditions, e instantaneously fi*ed and coagulated in the pellicule of healthy lood0 This pellicule, immediately after transfusion %as collected and su 6ected to the action of di$erse fermentations, and mingled %ith salt, sulphur, mercury and other elements0 [These formulae, prescri ed y the ancient science of alchemy, ha$e reference, of course0 lo truths of %hich the terms used are sym ols only0 &ut the sorcerer, not eing an initiate, understood these terms in their ordinary sense, and acted accordingly0 ] B!liphas +e$iC 1n almost e*act parallel to the modern $i$isector in moti$e, in method, and in character is presented y the portrait thus preser$ed to us of the mediae$al de$il@con6urer0 #n it %e recognise the delusion, %hose enunciation in medical language is so unhappily familiar to us, that y means of $icarious sacrifices, di$inations in li$ing odies, and rites consisting of torture scientifically inflicted and prolonged, the secrets of life and of po%er o$er nature are o taina le0 &ut the spiritual malady "Page ,J3 %hich rages in the soul of the man %ho can e guilty of the deeds of the $i$isector, is in itself sufficient to render him incapa le of ac=uiring the highest and est 4no%ledge0 +i4e the sorcerer, he finds it easier to propagate and multiply disease than to disco$er the secret of health0 See4ing for the germs of life he in$ents only ne% methods of death, and pays %ith his soul the price of these poor gains0 +i4e the sorcerer, lie misunderstands ali4e the terms and the method of 4no%ledge, and $oluntarily sacrifices his humanity in order to ac=uire the eminence of a fiend0 &ut perhaps the most significant of all points of resem lance et%een the sorcerer and the $i$isector, as contrasted %ith the 8agian, is in the distincti$e and e*clusi$e solicitude for the mere ody manifested y the t%o former0 To secure ad$antages of a physical and material nature merely, to disco$er some effectual method of self@preser$ation in the flesh, to increase its pleasures, to assuage its self@induced diseases, to minister to its sensual comforts, no matter at %hat cost of $icarious pain and misery to innocent men and animals, these are the o 6ects, exclusively, of the mere sorcerer, ; of the mere $i$isector0 )is aims are ounded y the earthly and the sensual5 he neither cares nor see4s for any 4no%ledge unconnected %ith these0 &ut the aspiration of the 8agian, the adept in true magic, is entirely to%ards the region of the /i$ine0 )e see4s primarily health for the soul, 4no%ing that health for the ody %ill follo%5 therefore he %or4s through and y means of the soul, and his art is truly sympathetic, magnetic, and radical0 )e holds that the soul is the true person, that her interests are paramount, and that no 4no%ledge of $alue to man can e ought y the $icarious tears and pain of any creature soe$er0 )e remem ers a o$e all things, that man is the son of :od, and it for a moment the interests of 2no%ledge and of +o$e should seem to e at $ariance, he %ill say %ith e=ual courage and %isdomD "# %ould rather that # and my elo$ed should suffer and die in the ody, than that to uy relief or life for it our souls should he smitten %ith disease and death"0 <or the 8agian is priest and 4ing as %ell as physician5 ut the sorcerer, %hose misera le craft, di$orced from religion, deals only %ith the lo%er nature, that is, %ith the po%ers of dar4ness, clings %ith passionate despair to the flesh, and, y the $ery character of his pursuits, ma4es himself incapa le of real science0 <or, to e an adept in this, it is indispensa le to e pure of heart, clear of conscience, and 6ust in action0 #t is not enough that the aim e no le it is necessary that the means should e no le li4e%ise0 1 /i$ine intention presupposes a /i$ine method0 1s it is Page K

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for idden to man to enrich himself y theft, or to free himself y murder, so also is it for idden him to ac=uire 4no%ledge y unla%ful means, ; to fight e$en "Page ,,3 the attles of humanity %ith the %eapons of hell0 #t is impossi le to ser$e humanity y the sacrifice of that %hich alone constitutes humanity ; 6ustice and its eternal principles0 Lhene$er the %orld has follo%ed the a*ioms of the $i$isector, %hene$er it has put s%ord and flame and rac4 to %or4 in the interests of truth or of progress, it has ut reaped a har$est of lies, and started an epidemic of madness and delusion0 1ll the triumphs of ci$ilisation had een gained y ci$ilised methodsD it is the /i$ine la% that so it should e, and %hoe$er affirms the contrary is either an im ecile or a hypocrite0 The $i$isector>s plea that he sins in the interests of humanity is, therefore, the product of a mind incapa le of reason, or %ilfully concealing its true o 6ect %ith a lie0 That, in the ma6ority of cases, the latter e*planation is the correct one is pro$ed eyond dou t y the nature of the operations performed, and y not a fe% incautious admissions on the part of some of the school itself0 To multiply pamphlets, "o ser$ations", and "scientific"discussions5 to gain notoriety among follo%ers of the cultus, to e distinguished as the in$entor of such a "method" or the chronicler of such a series of e*periments, and there y to earn %ealth and position, these constitute the am itions of the a$erage $i$isector0 1nd, if he go eyond these, if some $ague hope of a "great disco$ery" delude and lind his moral nature as it did that of the misera le Seigneur de Ret(, %e must in such case, relegate him to the category of madmen, %ho, for the poor gains of the ody, are %illing to assassinate the soul0 8adness such as this %as rife in those mediae$al times %hich %e are %ont to spea4 of as the "dar4 ages", and the follo%ing e*amples, selected for the stri4ing resem lance they present to the "scientific" crimes of the nineteenth century, may, %ith the instances already gi$en, suffice as specimens of the a ominations %hich the delusions of sorcery are a le to suggest0 "The Taigheirm %as an infernal magical sacrifice of cats, pre$alent until the close of the si*teenth century, and of %hich the origin lies in >the remotest times0 The rites of the Taigheirm %ere indispensa le to the %orship or incantation of the su terranean or dia olic gods0 The midnight hour, et%een <riday and Saturday, %as the authentic time for these horri le practices5 and the sacrifice %as continued four %hole days and nights0 1fter the cats had een put into magico@sympathetic Bsur@e*citedC condition y a $ariety of tortures, one of them %as put ali$e upon a spit, and, amid terrific ho%lings, roasted efore a slo% fire0 The moment that the ho%ls of one agoni(ed creature ceased in death, another %as put on the spit ; for a minute of inter$al must not ta4e place if the operators %ould control hell ; and this sacrifice %as continued for four entire days and nights0 Lhen the Taigheirm %as complete, the "Page ,.3 operators demanded of the demons the re%ard of their offering, %hich re%ard consisted of $arious things, such as riches, 4no%ledge, fame, the gift of second sight, etc0"; Horst's " Deuteroscopy " and Ennemostr's " History of Magic" [1mong the practices of Mapanese sorcerers in the present century, the follo%ing is cited in 8r0 Pfoundes> oo4 <u@so 8imi &u4uro"D ; "1 dog is uried ali$e, the head only eing left a o$e ground, and food is then put almost %ithin his reach, thus e*posing it to the cruel fate of Tantalus0 Lhen in the greatest agony and near death, its head is chopped off and put in a o*" ] +et the follo%ing e*tracts from pu lications circulated among the $i$isectors of today e compared %ith the foregoing, and the reader %ill himself e ena led to 6udge of the e*actness of the parallel et%een the lac4 art of the past and of the present0 "/r0 +egg>s e*periments on cats at St0 &artholome%>s )ospital included a great $ariety of tortures0 1mong others, their stomachs %ere opened, %hile the cats %ere pinned ali$e on a ta le, their li$ers %ere pric4ed %ith needles, the stomachs %ere then se%n up, and the cats left in that condition until death ensued from prolapse of the o%els5 some of the animals sur$i$ing the torture as long as t%enty@si* days"0; St. Page 5

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"&urns %ere produced y sponging the chests and ellies of dogs %ith turpentine fi$e or ten times in =uic4 succession, setting fire to it each time5 and scalds, y pouring o$er the dogs eight ounces of oiling %ater nine times in =uic4 succession0 1ll the dogs died, either in a fe% hours, or at the latest, after fi$e days"0; Edin!urgh Medical "ournal# $%&'. "/elaroche and &erger a4ed hundreds of animals to death in o$ens, the heat eing gradually increased until death ensued0 'laude &ernard in$ented a furnace for roasting or a4ing animals to death, the details and diagram of %hich apparatus are gi$en in his >+essons on 1nimal )eat>0 8agendie has also sho%n y numerous e*periments that dogs perish at the end of a out eighteen minutes in a furnace heated to,.J degrees BcentigradeC, and at the end of t%enty@four minutes in one heated to IJ degrees5 or in one at -J degrees at the end of thirty minutes"0 ; Beclard's "(reatise on )hysiology"# and *avarret's "+nimal Heat,0 "Professor 8antega((a has recently in$estigated the effects of pain on the respiratory organs0 The est methods for the production of pain he finds to consist in planting nails, sharp and numerous, through the feet of an animal in such a manner as to render the creature almost motionless, ecause in e$ery mo$ement it %ould feel its torment more acutely0 To produce still more intense pain, it %as found useful to employ in6uries follo%ed y inflammation0 1n ingenious machine, "Page ,33 constructed e*pressly for the purpose, ena led the professor to grip any part of an animal %ith pincers %ith iron teeth, and to crush or tear or lacerate the $ictim so as to produce pain in e$ery possi le %ay0 ?ne little guinea@pig far ad$anced in pregnancy, endured such frightful tortures that it fell into con$ulsions, and no o ser$ations could e made on it0 #n a second series of e*periments, t%enty@eight animals %ere sacrificed, some of them ta4en from nursing their young, e*posed to torture for an hour or t%o, then allo%ed to rest an hour, and then replaced on the machine to e crushed or torn for periods $arying from t%o to si* hours0 Ta les are appended y the Professor in %hich the cases of >great pain> are distinguished from those of >e*cessi$e pain> the $ictims of the last eing >larded %ith nails in e$ery part of the ody>0 1ll these e*periment %ere performed %ith much patience and delight0 -f the +ction of )ain#etc 0, y Prof0 8antega(sa of 8ilan, ,--J0 The t%o follo%ing e*periments are cited from &aron !rst de Le er>s "(orture.cham!er of Science", and also from the /ourier de 0yon, Mune -th, ,--JD; "The ody of a pregnant itch at the point of deli$ery %as cut open to o ser$e %hether in her dying and mutilated condition she %ould not attempt to caress and lic4 her little ones0" "The forehead of a dog %as pierced in t%o places %ith a large gimlet, and a red@hot iron introduced through the %ounds0 )e %as then thro%n into a ri$er, to o ser$e %hether in that state he %ould e a le to s%im0" Professor :olt(, of Stras urg, %ritesD;

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" 1 $ery li$ely young dog %hich had learnt to sha4e hands %ith oth fore@pa%s had the left side of the rain e*tracted through t%o holes on the ist /ecem er, ,-A50 This operation caused lameness in the right pa%0 ?n eing as4ed for the left pa% the dog immediately laid it in my hand0 # no% demand the right, ut the creature only loo4s at me sorro%fully, for he cannot mo$e it0 ?n my continuing to press for it, the dog crosses the left pa% o$er, and offers it to me on the right side, as if to ma4e amends for not eing a le to gi$e the right0 ?n the ,3th Manuary, ,-A9, a second portion of the rain %as destroyed5 on <e ruary ,5th, a third5 and on 8arch 9th, a fourth, this last operation causing death0" 80 &rachet %ritesD ; " # inspired a dog %ith a great a$ersion for me, tormenting him and inflicting on him some pain or other as often as # sa% him0 Lhen this feeling %as carried to its height, so that the animal ecame furious e$ery time he sa% and heard me, # put out his eyes0 # could then appear efore him %ithout his manifesting any a$ersion5 ut if # spo4e, his "Page ,K3 ar4ings and furious mo$ements pro$ed the indignation %hich animated him, # then destroyed the drums of his ears, and disorgani(ed the internal ear as much as # could0 Lhen an intense inflammation had rendered him completely deaf, # filled up his ears %ith %a*0 )e could no% no longer hear or see0 This series of operations %as after%ards performed on another dog0" The pri(e for physiology %as, y the <rench #nstitute, a%arded to the perpetrator of the a o$e "e*periments"0 #n "'yon>s 8ethodi4", a " Hand!oo1 for 2ivisectors", %e read the follo%ingD ; The true $i$isector should approach a difficult e*periment %ith 6oyous eagerness and delight0 )e, %ho shrin4ing from the dissection of a li$ing creature, approaches e*perimentation as a disagreea le necessity may, indeed, repeat $arious $i$isections, ut can ne$er ecome an artist in $i$isection0 The chief delight of the $i$isector is that e*perienced %hen from an ugly@loo4ing incision, filled %ith loody humours and in6ured tissues, he dra%s out the delicate ner$e@fi re, and y means of irritants re$i$es its apparently e*tinct sensation0" )a$e %e in this nineteenth century indeed e*punged from among us the foul and hideous practice of sorcery, or rather, if comparison e fairly made et%een the %itchcraft of the "dar4 ages" and the "science" of the present, does it not appear that the latter, ali4e for num er of professors, ingenuity of cruelty, effrontery and folly, ears a%ay the palmN No need in this "year of grace" to see4 in the depths of remote forests, or in the recesses of mountain ca$es and ruined castles, the midnight haunts of the sorcerer0 1ll day he and his assistants are at their %or4 unmolested in the underground la oratories of all the medical schools throughout the length and readth of !urope0 7nderground indeed, they needs must %or4, for the nature of their la ours is such that, %ere they carried on else%here, the peace of the surrounding neigh ourhood %ould e endangered0 <or %hen from time to time a door s%ings open elo% the gloomy stone staircase leading do%n into the dar4ness, there may e heard a urst of shrie4s and moans, such as those %hich arose from the su terranean $aults of the mediae$al sorcerer0 There still, as of old, the Li(ard is at his %or4, the $otary of "Satan" is pursuing his researches at the price of the torture of the innocent, and of the loss of his o%n humanity0

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"Violationism" or Sorcery in Science

Vol 3, No 5

&ut et%een the positions of sorcery in the past and in the present is one nota le and all important difference0 #n the past it %as held a damna le offence to practise the de$il>s craft5 and once pro$ed guilty, the sorcerer, no matter %hat his %orldly ran4 or pu lic ser$ices, could "Page ,53 not hope to escape from death y fire0 &ut no% the professors of the &lac4 1rt hold their Sa at in pu lic, and their enunciations and the recitals of their hideous "e*periments" are reported in the 6ournals of the day0 They are decorated y princes, feted y great ladies, and honoured %ith the special protection of State legislation0 #t is held superstition to elie$e that in former ages %i(ards %ere ena led y the practice of secret a ominations and cruelties to %rest 4no%ledge from nature, ut no% the self@same crimes are openly and uni$ersally perpetrated, and men e$ery%here trust their efficacy"0 1nd in the last in$ention of this horri le cultus of /eath and Suffering, the modern sorcerer sho%s us his "de$ils casting out de$ils", and urges us to loo4 to the parasites of contagion ; foul germs of disease ; as the regenerators of the future0 Thus, if the sorcerer e permitted to ha$e his %ay, the malignant spirits of fe$er, sic4ness, and corruption %ill e let loose and multiplied upon earth, and as in !gypt of old, e$ery li$ing creature, from the cattle in the field to the first orn son of the 4ing, %ill e smitten %ith plague and death0 &y his e$il art he %ill 4eep ali$e from generation to generation the multitudinous roods of foul li$ing, of $ice, and uncleanness, none of them e suffered to fail for need of culture, ingrafting them afresh day y day and year y year in the odies of ne% $ictims5 paralysing the efforts of the hygienist, and rendering $ain the %or4 of the true 8agian, the )ealer up, and the teacher of pure life0

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