the black mass
“The tension between skepticism and credulity in the seventeenth century produced a new phenomenon, the black mass, a strange combination of disbelief in Christianity and belief in the Christian Devil. . . .
Several elements distinguish such phenomena from witchcraft: first, the focus was more exclusively on sex; second, the obscene rites were presided over by a priest. . . .
Such fantasies plumbed the lowest depths in the black masses of the 1670s. A brisk trade in fortunetelling, aphrodisiacs, and poisons was uncovered by the Paris police in 1678. As the scope of the crimes among reputable families and nobility was revealed, a special court was established to deal with them. The investigations brought to light magic and black masses as well as drugs and poisons. The affair got out of hand as people began to see how they might use lurid accusations against their enemies for their own political and economic advantage. In 1680 a number of priests were indicted for saying mass on the bodies of naked women at the center of a ring of black candles, of leading the congregation in sexual intercourse, of ritual copulation on the altar, of sacrificing animals, of murdering children and using their blood in the preparation of aphrodisiacs, of desecrating the Eucharist, of using the chalice to mix children’s blood with sexual fluids, of invoking the Devil, and of making a written pact with him. . . . The king terminated the proceedings of 1682, issuing an edict eliminating prosecution for witchcraft. The black mass, a product of the cynical, skeptical, yet credulous seventeenth century, was not revived until the late nineteenth century.”
—Jeffrey Burton Russell, from The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History, 1988.
he cried out: Golden star!
“Toward the star trembling pale on the horizon
He pressed, leaping from one dark foothold to another. . . .
He ran, he flew, he cried out: Golden star!
Brother! Wait for me! I am coming! Do not die yet!
Do not leave me alone. . . .”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885), from La fin de Satan, “Satan’s End”. Found in The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History by Jeffrey Burton Russell, 1988.
shadow belongs to the light
“The shadow belongs to the light as the evil belongs to the good, and vice versa.”
—Carl Jung (1875–1961). As found in The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History by Jeffrey Burton Russell, 1988.
Ludwig the Stern
“Duke Ludwig the Stern (1228–1294) of Bavaria, after executing his wife in a fit of rage, was so stricken with remorse that his hair turned white in a single night—although he was only 28”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 18th series, December 1971.
red seal
“The red seal stamped on documents by the head of the taoist sect of China is believed capable of protecting them from evil spirits”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 18th series, December 1971.
The bones of the garfish
“The bones of the garfish are a vivid green—cooking makes them even greener”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 18th series, December 1971.
bells and gold and silver coins
“Persian girls dancing in village celebrations attach to the ends of their long tresses bells and gold and silver coins”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 18th series, December 1971.
the sacred colors of the Tibetans
“The monastery of Potala in Lhasa, Tibet, is painted white, red and brown—the sacred colors of the Tibetans”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.
The Silver Pavilion
“The Silver Pavilion of Kyoto, Japan, built in 1483, was constructed without the use of silver . . . it was planned to cover it with silver but it was never done”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.
The green wine of Minho
“The green wine of Minho Portugal, comes from grapes that are shaded by trees around the trunks of which the vines grow to a heigh of 30 feet”
—Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, 27th series, November 1977.