The Encyclopedia Of Demons And Demonology

194 pact
1. They deny the Christian faith, withdraw allegiance
from God, repudiate the protection of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, and deny their BAPTISM. The Devil
places a claw on their brow to rub off the Holy
Chrism and destroy the mark of their baptism.
2. They undergo a mock baptism administered by
the Devil.
3. They forswear their old name and are given a new
name.
4. The Devil forces them to deny their godfathers
and godmothers, both of baptism and of confirmation,
and assigns them new ones.
5. They give the Devil a piece of their clothing as a
symbol of the acquired goods that now belong to
him.
6. They swear allegiance to the Devil within a circle
traced upon the ground. The circle is a symbol of
divinity, and the earth is “God’s footstool.” This
demonstrates that the Devil is their God of heaven
and Earth.
7. They pray to the Devil to strike them out of the
book of life and write their names in the book of
death.
8. They vow to sacrifice to him on a regular basis,
such as offering up children they murder.
9. They make annual gifts to their demons in order
to avoid being beaten by them. The gifts must be
black.
10. The Devil brands them with his mark on some
part of their body, especially those he suspects
will lose their faith in him.
11. After being marked, they make many vows. In
return, the Devil promises to stand by them, fulfill
all their prayers in this world, and award them
happiness after death. The vows are
• never to adore the Eucharist
• to insult and revile in both word and deed
the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints continually
• to abstain from making the sign of the cross
and from using anything consecrated by the
church, including holy water and blessed
salt and bread
• never to make confessions again to a priest
• to maintain silence concerning their pact
with the Devil
• to participate in sabbats when they can
• to recruit others into the service of the
Devil
Guazzo agreed with other demonologists that these
elaborate pacts were empty, for the Devil never keeps his
word.
Inquisitors tortured accused witches to force confessions
of devil’s pacts, which were important to securing
convictions. There was no need to produce an actual document;
an oral confession was sufficient to sentence the
accused to death, often by burning at the stake. In two
famous trials in 17th-century France, Devil’s pacts were
produced, one orally and one in writing.
In 1611, Father Louis Gaufridi was tried in the AIX-EN-
PROVENCE POSSESSIONS involving bewitched nuns. Under
torture he recited his pact verbally for the inquisitors:
I, Louis Gaufridi, renounce all good, both spiritual as
well as temporal, which may be bestowed upon me by
God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, all the Saints of Heaven,
particularly my Patron St. John-Baptist, as also S. Peter,
S. Paul, and S. Francis, and I give myself body and soul
to Lucifer, before whom I stand, together with every
good that I may ever possess (save always the benefits of
the sacraments touching those who receive them). And
according to the tenor of these terms have I signed and
sealed.
One of Gaufridi’s victims was a woman named Madeleine
de la Palud, who also confessed orally to making a
Devil’s pact:
With all my heart and most unfeignedly and with all
my will most deliberately do I wholly renounce God,
Father, Son and Holy Ghost; the most Holy Mother of
God; all the Angels and especially my Guardian Angel,
the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, His Precious Blood
and the merits thereof, my lot in Paradise, also the good
inspirations which God may give me in the future, all
the prayers which are made or may be made for me.
Father Gaufridi was convicted and burned alive at the
stake. Sister Madeleine was convicted and banished from
the parish.
In 1633, Father URBAIN GRANDIER, a parish priest of
St.-Pierre-du-Marche in Loudun, France, in 1633, was
brought to trial in the LOUDUN POSSESSIONS, also involving
bewitched nuns. A written pact was introduced as
evidence. It was written backward in Latin and signed in
blood. It read:
We, the all-powerful Lucifer, seconded by Stana, Beelzebub,
Leviathan, Elimi, Astaroth, and others, have today
accepted the pact of alliance with Urbain Grandier, who
is on our side. And we promise him the love of women,
the flower of virgins, the chastity of nuns, worldly honors,
pleasures, and riches. He will fornicate every three
days; intoxication will be dear to him. He will offer to
us once a year a tribute marked with his blood; he will
trample under foot the sacraments of the church, and he
will say his prayers to us. By virtue of this pact, he will
live happily for twenty years on earth among men, and
finally will come among us to curse God. Done in hell,
in the council of the devils.
(Signed by) Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer, Elimi, Leviathan,
Astaroth.
“Notarized the signature and mark of the chief devil,
and my lords the princes of hell.
(Countersigned by) Baalberith, recorder.
Grandier was convicted and burned alive at the stake.