Being a discourse by Ifor of Gwent for the edification of the populace of the Far Isles concerning the forms and guises of the foul art of witchcraft.
CONCERNING THE WITCHCRAFT OF ARCHERS
Let those who face bowmen upon the field of battle beware, for there are certain archers who make a compact with the Devil, in order to gain magical powers.
Firstly, upon the Day of the Passion of Our Lord, that some call Good Friday, they shoot with arrows at the most sacred image of the Crucified. They shoot either three or four arrows, though it appears the Devil favours the number three, in mockery of the Holy Trinity. Thereafter, the wizard may kill on each day just the same number of men. And the Devil grants them this assurance: that once they have looked upon a man, and have bent their will to his destruction, it matters not where he may hide himself, for a demon will carry forth the arrow and strike him dead with it. Moreover, the archer gains such skill that he may shoot any number of arrows with surpassing precision; and to gain this power he must offer homage of his body and soul to Satan.
As an instance of this evil practice, consider the case of the wizard Puncker, who sorely molested the garrison of a certain castle named Lendenbrunnen. For he would gaze upon one of the soldiers of the castle, and it then mattered not where the man hid himself. The wizard had only to loose his arrow, and the man would be struck and wounded unto death; and this he could do three times every day. Also, on one occasion, an eminent person demanded of this Puncker upon pain of death that he shoot from the head of his own son a penny. With trepidation the wizard took two arrows and fitted one to his bowstring. He then shot the penny from the child's head, without harming the least hair thereof, whereupon the prince asked him why he had need of two arrows. He answered: If I had been deceived by the Devil and had killed my son, since I should have had to die I would quickly have shot you with the other arrow to avenge my death. But one night this Puncker was set upon by some peasants whom he had injured, and was killed by them with spades; and thus he perished for his sins.
But though such wickedness is permitted by God for the testing of the faithful, yet greater miracles are performed by the Saviour in His mercy. Thus, in the diocese of Constance, near the castle of Hohenzorn is situated a church, wherein there is an image of Our Saviour pierced with an arrow and bleeding. For it is told that a miserable wretch who wished to make a compact with the Devil and thus be able to kill three or four in the way described, shot an arrow at this Crucifix. The image miraculously began to bleed, whereupon the miscreant was struck motionless in his steps by Divine power. A passer-by, seeing what he had done, called to some others, and surrendered him to justice. And after questioning, when he had been tortured and had confessed his crimes, he was removed and suffered a miserable death in merited expiation for his deeds.
Now it is certain that, if such misdeeds were done by an infidel, they would have no efficacy; but it is their apostasy which is pleasing to the Devil, for the injury done to Our Lord and for the corruption of the Faith. And such archer-wizards, and those who enchant other weapons, are to be considered manifestly guilty of flagrant heresy, due to their explicit pact with the Devil. It is equally plain that the patrons and protectors of such men are to be judged in the same way. They are apostates and heretics, and are to be excommunicated; and if they are clerics they are to be degraded and deprived of all office and benefit, and in no way can they be restored except by an indulgence from the Apostolic See. Thus all folk are warned and abjured to avoid and abominate all such practices and practitioners thereof, upon pain of temporal and Divine punishment.
There is also a second class of wizards who mutilate the image of Christ crucified, but in this case it is to render themselves immune to harm from weapons. For example, if they wish their head to be invulnerable, they take off the head from the Crucifix; if their arm, then they remove, or at least shorten, the arm. And sometimes they take away all above the waist, or below it. And in proof of this, it may be seen that scarcely one in ten of the images of Our Lord set up at cross-roads or in fields may be found whole and intact. Now some of these warlocks carry about with them the parts thus broken off, while others procure their invulnerability by means of incantations or superstitious words. And though these wretches resemble the archer-wizards in their apostasy from the Faith, and in their mutilation of the image of the Saviour, yet their wickedness is not of the same degree as that of the archers, for they act only to protect their own bodies, rather than to injure others by their sorcery.
Alas! How horrible it is to know that human perversity is not afraid to countenance such crimes, and that in the halls of the great are maintained practitioners of such enormities, in open contempt of the Faith, to the heavy offence of the Divine Majesty, and in scorn of Our Redeemer. Then let all rulers consider how strictly and minutely they will be called to account on the terrible Day of Judgement, for there shall be an eternal chastisement and an infernal punishment for all those in authority who allow such wizards to live and work their injuries against the Creator.
©1992 Trevor Barker. Originally published in Far Horizons, Vol. 5, No. 3.
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