veryone's head was turned in
this way; the uncontrolled lust of debauchees found vent in secret
bacchanalian associations and orgies, wherein many, with or without
masquerade, played the part of Satan; shameful deeds were perpetrated by
excited women and by procuresses and prostitutes ready for any kind of
immoral abomination; add to these sexual orgies the most widely diffused
web of a completely developed theory of witchcraft, and the systematic
strengthening of the widely prevalent belief in the devil--all these
things, woven in a labyrinthine connection, made it possible for
thousands upon thousands to be murdered by a disordered justice and to
be sacrificed to delusion."[187]

To those who look closely into the subject of medieval witchcraft the
presence of a strong sexual element is undeniable. When we examine
contemporary accounts of the 'Sabbath,' some of which are so gross as to
be unprintable, we find a portion of the proceedings to be of a marked
erotic character. The figure of Satan often enough reminds one of the
pagan Priapus, and the ceremonies bear a strong resemblance to the
ancient ones, with the mixture of Christian language and symbolism
inevitable under such circumstances. Promiscuous intercourse between the
sexes was said to occur at the witches' gatherings; and, indeed, unless
some sort of sexual extravagance occurred, it is hard to account for
both the persistency of the gatherings and of the reports concerning
them. The most probable theory is, as I have just said, that these
gatherings were covers for a continuance of the older sex worship. Many
customs connected therewith lingered on in the Church itself, and it is
not a wild assumption that they existed in a less adulterated and more
extravagant form outside.

Universal as the belief in witchcraft has been, it was not until the
close of the fifteenth century that it assumed what may be justly called
an epidemic form. The famous Bull of Pope Innocent VIII. was not
unconnected in its origin with the growth of heresy. This precious
document, issued in 1484, declares:--

"It has come to our ears that very many persons of both sexes, deviating
from the Catholic Faith, abuse themselves with demons, Incubus and
Succubus; and by incantations, charms, and conjurations, and other
wicked superstitions, by criminal acts and offences, have caused the
offspring of women and of the lower animals, the fruits of the earth,
the grape, and the products of va