Thursday, October 25, 2007

A rehearsall both straung and true, of hainous and horrible actes committed by Elizabeth Stile, 1579

LOL Manuscripts -- For a limited time in TECHNICOLOR!















This pamphlet is pretty similar to the earlier entry about the Satanic Kitty who did the bidding of the witches of Chensford in 1566. Both women have familiars that they feed with their own blood in exchange for some "hainous" act. In this pamphlet, though, Elizabeth Stile has a cat, a rat (named Philip), a lizard, and a frog. Her familiars kill a butcher, and I'm pretty sure that a line in there hints at an abortion (it's about the destruction of a babe or something, but I can't quite make it out). I like to think the same SatanCat from the other witch trail is up to his old tricks again, killing men and aborting fetuses...although Stile doesn't get any sheep.

Why do these witches want abortions all the time? They must have been sort of slutty...but is sleeping around really worth your immortal soul?

3 comments:

Doug said...

Elizabeth Stile got screwed, and I'm not just talking about her constant need for abortions, either.

If SatanCat is all you need for an abortion, what can an ACTUAL miniature demon do?

Actually, I think this illustration answers that question: It can turn you into a witch the size of a Dallas Cowboys linebacker and allow you to see despite the fact that there are only black, cavernous sockets where your eyes should be.

Seriously, if you have a minimum of four and possibly even five familiars you need to conjure up more magic than a layperson with a coat hanger and a flight of stairs.

Sarah Redmond said...

"A coat hanger and a flight of stairs" -- Nice job Doug.

In all fairness, the demonic image is more symbolic, I think, of her vision of Satan. Also, Stile did some really odd stuff, like turning people's hands around backwards. She even had three other witches (Mother Dutten, Mother Devell, Mother Margaret) to help her out. But I guess she killed a butcher, so that's something.

Doug said...

Well, if she's got her own witch posse I'm not going to question her powers.

I will say, however, that the backwards-hand spell would really improve one's ability to pimp slap someone else.

Was this what Elizabeth actually had in mind? Was the spell just a misunderstood gift to a pimp? Was Elizabeth herself being victimized in the sex trade? Is that why she needed so many abortions? Could this be a dissertation?