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396
HISTORY OF THE ROSICRUCIANS.
dence, they solemnly bound themselves never to derogate
from the articles to which they had subscribed, whatever
might happen, to turn a deaf ear to the Gospel of Christ,
and to publish among all the nations to whom they were
transported the truth of the mighty dominion whereof
he was the emissary, in order that by their preaching
they might dissipate the errors of those men who
believed in the immortality of the soul. The articles were
then ratified, confirmed, and approved by Astaroth on the
part of his master,
after which the demon vanished to
assist at the Sabbath, which was held, from eleven at night
to one in the morning, on the vigil of S. John the Baptist,
in the vicinity of the labyrinth among the Pyrenees.
The
necromancer was left alone with the invisibles, who were to
receive the powers promised by being breathed on in the
following manner :
All stripped naked and prostrated
themselves with their faces flat upon the earth ; the magi-
cian, with a pot of grease and unguents, rubbed each of
them, after the ancient fashion of Thessalian sorcery, on
the upper part of the neck, the arm pits, the lower portion
of the spine, the parts of generation, and the fundament ;
then he breathed in the right ear of each deputy, saying :
"Depart and rejoice in the result of my promises." He
gave the demoniacal ring to all of them, and then a sudden
blast of wind transported them, at the command of the
magician, an hundred leagues, to the great assembly of the
sorcerers. Here, as new comers, they received from Satan
the mark of magicians ; six of them were sent into Spain,
six into Italy, six into France, six into Germany, four to
Sweden, two into Switzerland, two into Flanders, two into
Lorraine, and the remaining two into Burgoyne. Thus
they were commissioned only to go into Catholic countries,