The Law is for All

164 The Law is for All 23. For perfume mix meal Sc honey 8c thick leavings of red wine: then oil of Abramelin and olive oil, and afterward soften 8c smooth down with rich fresh blood. 24. The best blood is of the moon, monthly: then the fresh blood of a child, or dropping from the host of heaven: then of enemies; then of the priest or of the worshippers: last of some beast, no matter what. 25. This burn: of this make cakes 8c eat unto me. This hath also another use; let it be laid before me, and kept thick with perfumes of your orison: it shall become full of beetles as it were and creeping things sacred unto me. 26. These slay, naming your enemies; & they shall fall before you. 27. Also these shall breed lust & power of lust in you at the eating thereof. Commentary: The word “lust” is not necessarily to be taken in the sense familiar to Puritans. It means robustness, “merri­ ment” as of old understood: the Germans have retained the proper force of the term in lustig. But even the English retain “lusty.” The Puritan is undoubtedly a marvel. He has even succeeded in attaching a foul connotation to a colourless word like “certain”—“In a section of the city with a certain reputation women of a certain class suffering from certain diseases are charged with performing certain acts” is a common enough item in the newspapers. It allows the fullest play to the dirtiest imaginations—which appears to be the aim of the Societies for the Suppression of Vice, and their like. 28. Also ye shall be strong in war. 29. Moreover, be they long kept, it is better; for they swell with my force. All before me. 30. My altar is of open brass work: bum thereon in silver or gold!