Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-07-31
MODERN BLACK ART.
1T is SAID TO oUTDO 1.-THE DEVIL ON
TWO STICKS"

lWO . SIICNO.
The Three Ways of Casting a Spell-How
Toads and Wax Images Are Employed.
One Method Is Quite Fin de Siecle-Men
of Learning Believe In the Rubbish.
Modern occultism, OF, to put it in dip
lomatic costume, Poccultisme moderne,
is becoming decidedly aggressive, to say
the least of it, if we are to believe La
Revue Illustree. Strange as the news
may appear, it is nevertheless reported
that the black art is fourishing fiend
ishly both in Europe and America.
Casting spell upon an individual,
or, as they say on the Bowery, 'hoodoo-
ing a fellow" has not, according to
La Revue, fallen into innocuous des-
uetude. We all remember the scene
depicted by Alexandra Dumas in
"Reine Margot," in which the per-
fumer of Catherine de- Medici plunges
golden needle into the heart, or rather
the place where the heart ought to be,
of little wax statuette modelled in the
image of King Charles TX. But the
magicians of the present day have
brought modern improvements into the
art. They practice three kinds Of hoo
dooism, according to the caprice of the
client and the degree of hatred with
which he is possessed. In one they use
a toad, in another doll and in a third
they operate a Pesprit volant, or, in
other words, they remove the spirit and
place it temporarily just where they
want it.
Here are the prescriptions for the
three methods: You take a road, male
or female, according to the sex of the
person whom you wish to reach. You
baptize it as you would child, giving
it the full name of your enemy. While
you are committing this sacrilege you
must endeavor to work yourself up into
a paroxysm of hatred toward your vic
tim, and you must sandwich the sacra-
mental words with the most horrible
imprecations. Then you infiict upon
the toad all the tortures that your imag-
nation can suggset, for your enemy is
bound to suffer correspondingly.
If you take an eye out of the toad,
your enemy will lose an eye, etc. In
America, according to La Revue, the
Black Crooks have recourse to more
summary expedient. They bury the toad
at the threshold of the residence of the
person selected for "a victim, with the
result that he dies as if suffocated.
The doll method is the most ancient
and the most classic. 1t requires wax
figure called ''manie, resembling the
victim as much as possible. 1t is also
necessary to have some little objects that
belonged to the victim, or, better yet,
one Of his teeth, portions of his nails or
one or two hairs of his head. You mix
these things in with the wax of the doll
and baptize it. Then, just like the poi
soner of Catherine de- Medici, you stick
pin into the figure. If at that moment
your enemy is even flirting with a
young woman, he Immediately begins
to suffer from palpitation Of the heart,
naturally enough, if he does not die
from suffocation.
The proceeding l'esprit volant is the
latest improvement in this science, and
it is the child of hypnotism. In order to
execute 1t you must have subject whose
astral body, which we are told is of a
fluid nature, will abandon the material
body on your order and transport itself
toward your victim. 1t slips into his
veins the poisons which you have learn
ed how to volatilize The operation ter
minated, you return the astral body to
its carnal dwelling, and you rouse the
subject. The crime is committed with
out anybody in the world being able to
accuse you, and you are left alone with
your conscience. But the conscience of
Black Crook is particularly elastic.
Now, that is the way they work the
machine, and La Revue refuses to re-
veal the places where the ceremonies are
performed for fear of leading its read
ers into temptation. 1t is better, it says,
to let them believe that the business of
casting spells belongs to the domain of
fables. But the surprising thing about
it is that men Of learning and apparent
ly endowed with common sense indulge
in this kind of rubbish.
Witnesses well worthy of belief have
told extraordinary stories Of certain
Colonel de Rochas-stories that can
outdo the widest inventions of the
"Devil on Two Sticks" Colonel de
Rochas, we are told, has discovered
method of "exteriorizing the sensations
Of individuals. - Asmodeus used to put
the souls of Christians who died i'm
penitelt into bottles, but NJ de Rochas,
more ingenious than .Asmodeus, concen-
trates and dissolves in glass of water
the senses of enjoyment and of suffering
of subject previously magnetized. If
this water is boiled, the subject writhes
like st. Laurent ON his gridiron, and
if, on the contrary, the water freezes.
the unfortunate victim becomes biz
zardly cold.
Like the story of "Jack and the Bean
Stalk" all this may not be as true as
the Bible, but in these days of advance
ment why shouldn't the black art be
reformed and rejuvenated?