(28.) BERITH. - The
Twenty-eighth Spirit in Order, as Solomon bound them, is named
Berith. He is a Mighty, Great, and Terrible Duke. He hath two other
Names given unto him by men of later times, viz.: BEALE, or BEAL, and
BOFRY or BOLFRY. He appeareth in the Form of a Soldier with Red
Clothing, riding upon a Red Horse, and having a Crown of Gold upon
his head. He giveth true answers, Past, Present, and to Come. Thou
must make use of a Ring in calling him forth, as is before spoken of
regarding Beleth.17 He can turn all metals into Gold. He can give
Dignities, and can confirm them unto Man. He speaketh with a, very
clear and subtle Voice. He governeth 26 Legions of Spirits. His Seal
is this, etc.
In the year 1609,
Madeleine
de Demandolx de la Palud
, a 14 year old nun
prone to fits of
melancholy and petulance
returned to her
family's care for just such an episode
met a friend of the
family,
Father
Louis Gaufridi
a priest of a lower
class, but witty
twenty years her
senior
Soon, rumors began
circulating
Gaufridi had spent
an hour and a half closeted with the girl
they were prone to
intense conversation
Madeleine admitted to
Mother
Catherine de Gaumer
at the Ursuline
convent of Marseille
that the handsome
priest had his way with her
and the mother
superior sent her to the convent
at Aix en Provence,
far from his touch
and for two years,
nothing happened.
Madeleine became
subject to shaking fits
her face convulsed
and writhed
she shouted
obscenities
and before
Christmas, at confession
she smashed a
crucifix.
Father Romillon, her
confessor, attempted an exorcism
Three other nuns
caught her malady
and began
convulsing, crying out
Madeeline claimed
Gaufridi
had been given
intoxicating breath by the devil
had given her a
green devil as a familiar
that he had first
had intercourse with her
when she was nine
and that he had
given her a charmed peach
that he had denied
god, and given her a powder
that any offspring
she bore
would not bear his
face
Louise Capeau,
another nun
spoke in the voices
of a demon named Verin
convulsed and
screamed like a flock of parrots
claimed she would
not be free until Gaufridi was killed
Romilon reached out,
in despair
to the grand
inquisitor, and then another exorcist
Verin spoke, in a
deep voice
blamed Gaufridi for
6,660 demons in her body
Astaroth, Ba'al
Berith a host of black birds
for the ecstasies that racked her body
Gaufridi was sent
for to exorcise Capeau
Verin claimed
Gaufridi had eaten human flesh
and every tangle
that bodies can do
claimed he was
marked of the devil
Gaufridi did not
know the rite of exorcism
and the nuns, drunk
on the devil
called him magician,
witch, fumbler
Gaufridi said,
exasperated
“If I were a
witch, I would certainly give my soul to a thousand devils!”
Gaufridi was taken
into custody
his body searched
for the devil's mark
his quarters
searched for black books,
for tapers of baby
fat
nothing was found
Released, he
petitioned the pope to clear his name
took legal actions
to suppress the convent
in her cell,
Madeleine neighed like a horse
sang love songs,
vomited froth
laughed and cried,
disrupted mass
her bones cracking,
her bowels unsprung
she crooned of
sabbats, of blood libel and sodomy
Gaufridi was brought
to court
and the devils
allowed to testify against him
the girls writhed
and had orgasms in his presence
shouted out that all
was false, then showed their
devils marks under
their breasts
Madeline's
maidenhead was inspected
in despair, rat
bitten and shaved
Gaufridi said the
truth did not matter anymore
confessed to eating
babies
sorcery, magic,
idolatry, and fornication
He was strung up,
dropped,
his bones delocated
weights were
attached to his feet
and he was dropped
again
he refused to indict
Madeline in anything
and was finally
dragged through the streets of Aix
in a sled for five
hours
then by merciful
dispensation of the bishop
strangled, before
being burned atop a pile of bushes.
Madeline was cured
and exhibited no more signs
though the posession
burned through two more convents
and condemned a
blind girl to the pyre
In 1642 Madeline was
accused of witchcraft
and spent her
inheritance on her defense
again in 1652, when
witches marks were found on her body
after ten years in
prison, she was released
and died in the care
of her family, at 77
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