THE WORSHIP OF SATAN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9581, 4 August 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE WORSHIP OF SATAN.

I LATEST FRENCH MONSTROSITY. ' Reports of a dreadful manner of sacrilege ; and blasphemy come to us from Prance ' These reports tell of the robbery of conse crated hosts in the Church of Notre Dame 1 Paris, and in many of the churches in othei , parts of the country. The fact that tin 1 thieves never steal the valuable chalices o: other altar decorations has given rise to th< • belief that these thefts have been com - ' mitted by a sacrilegious sect which wnrshit i the devil. These people are variously re > ferred to as Luciferians, Demonites, am < Satanifces, and the existence of the sect i • acknowledged by many high in ecclesiastii i rank. Mgr. Fa va, Bishop of Grenoble, ha , denounced the extraordinary religion. Thi . worship of Satan is not by any means a nev l thing. In the fifteenth and sixteentl ' centuries much was known and wrifcter j about it. Priests who celebrated the blacl ' mass were excommunicated, and the matte > went on record. The cult is practised botl i by men and women, and consists mainly ir open blasphemy of Christian rites anc beliefs, and in the practice of every form o ' sexual vice. 1 THE PLACE OF MEETING. Mr. J. K. Huysman, a French novelisb has written a book entitled "La Bag,' which treats entirely of this Satan worship, and in one chapter he describes the per 1 formance of the black mass. Most of th< author's statements are believed by many U be absolutely true, as he is known to have 1 been an earnest student of these questions, 1 and to have been at one time in a positior 1 where he could obtain information frore personal experience. In an interview published recently in a Paris newspaper, Mr Huysman said —"lb is quite true that ] have written my book from facts that wen given to me by a well-informed person, bat the Lucifcrian world became excited, and toe adepts of tho black mass, who had al first welcomed me as one of their own, suddenly broke off all communication with me.' After speaking of the many robberies in the churches, the author went on to state "I can vouch for the truth of the state' ments which I will now give you, which were raado to me by an eye-witness in whose veracity I have absolute confidence. In a part of the canton of Frioourg, called the Grande Fontaino, there exists in the rear of a house of ordinary appearance a sort of grotto cut in the rock. The house is oconpied by the tiler of the Masonic lodge, La R<sg6ner6e. The members of this lodge hold their ordinary communications there ; bub those who belong bo the Satanic sect meet on certain days in the grotto which is decorated like a Catholic church. The choir is raised above the ground floor and separated from the nave by a communion table In the centre stands an altar surmounfcod by tho' grand blazing star.' This Masonic emblem takes the place of the cross. In front of tho choir there is another altar, intended for the profanation of the consecrated hosts. Between the house and tho grotto there is a little garden, intended for the ceremonies preparatory to the ' sacrifice.' I could not very well describe the character of these ceremonies, bub it is enough to say that the costume de rigutur for the lady members 13 that of Eve before the fall. It is these sisters who are charged with the duty of furnishing the hosts, which they procure for the most part through the sacrilegious communions. Moreover, they make black hosts which the "Grand Mistress" solemnly consecrates to Lucifer. NATURE OF TUB CEREMONIES. The ceremonies are a parody of the mass, and-psalms are sung in honour of Satan. On the little altar in front of the choir they stab with daggers the consecrated hosts, and finally they proceed with communion according to the black rite. I should add that the Lodge R<s2<sner<je of Fribourg does not belong to Freemasonrv proper. Ib§ delegates have been cut off from all communication with the German lodges in which the influence of Findel is predominant. which is hostile to the Satanic masonry. That is all I can add to the revelations that appear in my work." That Mr. Huysman treats of an author who performed the black mass using for his altar a nude woman, who held candles in her bands and shrieked blasphemy as the priest elevated the host. The author asserts that these masses were celebrated upon, the persons of Mme. de Montespan, Mme. de Argenaon, and Mmo. de Staint-Pout, all prominent women. He assert* that -many women of the court submitted to the celebration of this sacrilegious mass much as women nowadays seek out gypsies to have their fortune* told. The principal aim of the sacrilege was to turn the host to infamous use. In proof of this he cites the existence in Paris in 1855 of an association consist- ' ing mainly of women who went frequently to communion so as to obtain a consecrated host. They preserved this in their mouths and then gathered at their orgies and submitted the host to disgusting 1 contact. The author goes on to quote authorities for his statements and asserts thab many bishops knew of the existence of Satanic sects in their dioceses, bub were unable to eradicate them. Renegade priests are usually the leaders of these devilish associations. Bub to come down to the nineteenth century blasphemy and sacrilege as described in "La.Bias." the story tells of an excommunicated priest, known as the Deacon Docre, who has Gathered a sect of Satan worshippers about him. Docre so hates Christ that he has an imatre of the Saviour tattooed on his feet that he may alwavs tread on Him. There is a woman in the talewhoknows the hero's taste formysticism, and, being a member of Docre's devilish sect, she offers to take the author to see the celebration of a black mass. The man and the woman jump into a cab one evening to drive to a distant quarter of Paris. They are admitted into a small house by a sicklv. pal 6 faced youth, with painted cheeks and blackened eves, and the man asks his companion if she has brought him to a den of infamy where such creatures are to revel. " You did not expect, to meet saints here?" she answers. The house is built on the site of an old Ursuline monastery, but only the chapel has been preserved. It is here thab the orgies and the SACRILEGE OP THE BLACK MASS ■ are to be performed. The man is led in by a female companion, and he c its aside ana take 3in his surroundings. The chapel is dark and damp and lighted up with torches that have been profanated in diabolical ways. Tho atmosphere is heavy and oppressive to the man. The worshippers of Satan, mostly women, sib about, waiting for the deacon to appear. There are some men present, hag-gard-looking specimens. with marks of •unnatural crime stamped upon their faces. Presently a choir boy, dressed in a red gown and wearing no other clothing, comes in and lights the candles on the altar. The Luciferians no longer say mass on a human altar, but use a travesty of a real altar. Above the one in this chapel was a horrible ' and infamous crucifix. The Saviour is represented nude, with distorted ..features and a mouth stretched in devilish laughter. The choir boy makes a grimace at the crucifix instead of a genuflexion, and retires. Presently the deacon enters with two choir boys. He is clad in a red surplice, and nothing else. On his head is a sorb of tiara with Satan's horns projecting. The celebration of the black'mass then begins. It is a travesty of the low mass of the Catholic Church. At tho end the priesb turns to the devotees, and Huysman : puts into his mouth a curse that stretches over several pages, and is of such a blasphemous nature as to make the reader doubt the possibility of making a more profane combination of words. At the end of the speech the women are seized with satanic hysteria, and the proceedings become in innumerable ways blasphemous boyond description. The man who sees this frightful performance is finally so overcome that he flees from the hellish chapel and finds his way home through the night. ; •