#st hubert
This is a standalone post about holy water and some of the history and potential of its use in magical practice. There are several religions and sects which make use of water which has been consecrated by its clergy, and I am certain that these variants of holy water are not all the same. For now, I will be talking about Catholic and Orthodox holy water in particular. In Catholic and Orthodox traditions, it is traditionally used to spiritually cleanse places, people, and objects from evil, and as an aid in the consecration of many places and things for specifically holy purposes. The magical functions of holy water don’t usually differ greatly from traditional uses, though most Christian clergy members would certainly discourage this kind of application for non-Christian purposes. I hope this post can give you some insight into its practical applications. You are always welcome to ask us if you have questions.
In the future, I also intend to do some research and experiments to determine the difference between the effects of Christian holy water from different sects. So far, I’ve only had access to that of the Catholics, Anglicans (Church of England, who do not refer to their consecrated water as “holy water,” but otherwise employ it for similar ceremonial purposes), and Episcopalians (who differ from the Church of England in numerous ways). I have not collected holy water from the few other Christian denominations whom I understand to use it (such as the Eastern Orthodox Church, whose inclusion in my experiments is essential), but when I do, I intend to begin these experiments, and I may document the results here when my tests are complete.
The history of holy water’s usage in magic goes back at least as far as the dawn of its usage in Christianity. This was so common that by the 15th century, many witch-hunting manuals made mention of this. In addition, some of them mentioned uses of holy water to counteract witchcraft and demonic influence, though they acknowledged that in that context, one would often need to accompany such a blessing with prayers such as the Angelic Salutation (Hail Mary), Lord’s Prayer, or the seven Penitential Psalms. Despite the aversion toward magic the authors of these books had, we could reasonably consider these uses to be high magic of the Roman Catholic Church, which has many practices in that category. To begin, I will discuss some of this high magic advocated by inquisitors involving holy water.
In the Malleus Maleficarum, it is stated that men who perform Catholic exorcism rituals such as the aspersion of holy water are impervious to the works of witches. They were to sprinkle holy water in any place where people or animals lived in order to protect them from harm. They were also expected to say the Lord’s Prayer, ten repetitions of the Angelic Salutation, and the Glory be to the Father during this ritual. In addition to sprinkling the rooms or houses, exorcists would sometimes further bless a home by consecrating candles by sprinkling them before lighting them and burning some consecrated herbs in the dwelling.
There is also great emphasis on the belief that holy water is very useful for cleansing livestock and cattle who have been harmed or tainted by witches. It provides many methods for this, the simplest (and probably most reliable) being the act of crossing one’s cattle with holy water.
The same book also mentions that in many cases of demonic possession or influence, it is possible to drive the demon or evil spirit away by using holy water and making the sign of the cross. However, it details one case involving an incubus where this method was completely ineffective, and later says that the same victim tried this again, and it appeared effective at first, but was later shown to have failed. The book specifies that incubi and succubi can’t always be driven away with holy water, while it is sufficient for driving away many other forms of harassing or malicious spirits.
The last use of holy water detailed in the Maleficarum is an exorcism ritual intended to expel demons from a human host. I won’t recount the details of the ritual, here, but I will discuss the role of the holy water. In this ritual, for the duration of a great deal of theatrical ritual movements, prayers, and incantations, an exorcist is expected to continually sprinkle holy water onto the possessed person. According to the authors, this is the most recommended method of exorcism, and the holy water appears to play a very important role in its effectiveness.
Compendium Maleficarum contains an entire section describing the use of holy water as a method of counteracting or preventing witchcraft. In particular, it contains the story of a Catholic priest whose house was gravely haunted by a poltergeist. This spirit would extinguish lights, smash things, and move furniture very suddenly and violently. Apparently, he requested that the Church appoint another priest to protect him from this evil spirit, and the appointed priest ultimately succeeded by sprinkling the home with holy water and saying the appropriate rites (probably the same prayers mentioned in the Malleus Maleficarum, though the particular prayers used are not specified in the Compendium). There is a similar case mentioned later in the same section which details another haunted house in which doors are ripped from their hinges, and people sustained serious head injuries. Again, a priest sprinkling holy water and saying the appropriate prayers successfully solved the problem.
TheCompendiumalso refers to cases when people have been transmuted into animals by witches. In that case, it says sprinkling their foreheads with holy water is usually sufficient to reverse this kind of curse.
Marcellus, the Bishop of Apamea around the 5th century used holy water to destroy a temple of Jupiter. According to the accounts of this event, a demon was preventing the wooden parts of the temple from catching fire, and he threw holy water on the demon, which caused the flames to erupt and consume the temple as if an accelerant had been poured on it.
There is mention of a St. Theodore who cured all manner of sicknesses with his holy water, and who could drive away demons. I believe this to be the same St. Theodore who was the Archbishop of Rostov.
There is a story of a man who made holy water and used it to cure an epidemic of tainted meat and livestock, and prevent disease from unclean food.
St. Hubertus had his home invaded by armies of demons. He called on one of his men to get him holy water with consecrated salt, and holy anointing oil (probably of the kind described in Exodus 30) blessed by a priest. These appear to have been extremely effective tools for him to use to get rid of the invading devils.
TheCompendiumalso speaks of an indigenous Mexican child who was gravely afflicted with a fever which had similar symptoms to malaria. Apparently, his mother brought him to the church, and the holy water and prayers the clergy used cured his illness entirely.
There are brief mentions of some other cases of holy water treating demonic possession, magical poisonings, and other afflictions. Most of these cases are so briefly described that it isn’t worth detailing them here.
In addition to the use of holy water by the church, there is some record of medieval witches making use of it in various situations. Not all of these have documented purposes, but I will try to discern them based on what I do know. In particular, I have found one mention (in Nicolas Remy’s Demonolatry, another witch-hunting manual) of soothsayers writing the names of thieves on parchment and submerging it in holy water. The purpose of this practice isn’t specified, but it might be to cause thieves to return with their stolen goods and confess, or to “drown” them in their guilt.
TheMalleus Maleficarum does not seem to detail any malefic uses for holy water (probably to prevent people from learning of such uses), but there is mention of a man being tempted into the service of demons, and it is relevant that this happens on a Sunday, before church services start, and specifically “before the holy water is consecrated.” Here, he has to renounce his faith in front of God and everyone, and this is the primary part of his initiation into witchcraft.
Aside from inquisitors describing witchcraft involving holy water, there are a few well-respected magicians who mention the use of holy water. For example, Pietro D'Abano advocates the use of holy water to aid in consecrating a magic circle of protection.
Henry Cornelius Agrippa writes about a Rabbi named Hama, and says this Rabbi recommends using holy water as an ingredient of a special ink, which is made after undergoing many acts of purification (in addition to making an animal sacrifice). This ink is for making talismans and sigils against disease. I believe it is unlikely that this Hama was truly a Rabbi, but his ritual cleansing and symbol-making method appears to be theoretically sound (though demanding) and extremely thorough.
In addition to the above, Cornelius Agrippa says that it is proper to sanctify corpses of the dead with holy water, in addition to several completing several other steps in order to cleanse it, and ensure that it properly returns to the earth in order to protect the flesh from devils, and properly deliver it back into the hands of God (Cornelius Agrippa often had to disguise his practices as monotheistic and Christian, due to the attitudes of people in power during his time). Consistent with accepted uses, he also recommends sprinkling holy water to cleanse the mind, and to bring tranquility to other types of places and things.
TheThree Books on Occult Philosophy also mention that holy water can be sprinkled to give reverence to “the gods,” which clearly implies that its power isn’t limited to monotheistic situations, though it is also sure in this writing that the holy water in question is that of the Catholic Church.
InOf Magical Ceremonies, Cornelius Agrippa says that all tools used in your magic can effectively be consecrated with holy water, incense, the anointing oil described in Exodus 30 (he simply says “holy Oyl,” but this is the most likely meaning), the proper symbols, prayers, and mentions of relevant verses from scriptures. He also recommends, in addition to particularly strict adherence to religious (probably Jewish) morals for many days in advance, confession, and kindness, that we should wash ourselves with holy water before performing certain kinds of (non-Christian) high magic. In addition, he says the place (particularly, I believe he is suggesting rooms as the type of place you should work) in which you perform your work should be sprinkled with holy water after you enter.
In a more folk-magic context, we can use holy water in very simple miniature rituals simply to drive out everyday negative forces from our homes, or if we are to make a bit more of an ordeal of it, to consecrate our altars, saying as thorough and powerful of a blessing as we can muster (the consecration of a home altar should probably be given a lot more energy than many people will afford it). Here, it is again worthwhile to note that holy water’s function is not at all lost when dealing with non-monotheistic systems. Its usefulness is extremely durable, and our intentions can play a significant role in the nature of its effects. Aside from the fact that this is not a Christian application, there is very little about this use which would actually be frowned upon by clergy.
Finally, it’s important to note that in situations of devil-worship (which we should note is not limited to Satan-worship), there are such ceremonies as Black Mass, which are often designed as deliberate and direct parodies of the Catholic Mass, and these often employ Catholic holy water (among other stolen implements of the Catholic Church, if possible) in order to have a greater psychic impact on the world (the theory behind this is completely sound, as a parody of an important Catholic ritual which employs actual Catholic ritual instruments will, at the very least, affect the immaterial nature of the concepts it parodies through these physical connections).
I hope this post has been helpful and informative to you. Remember that the “acceptable” uses of holy water are completely capable of being adapted for similar or identical uses by non-Christian magic users, and that none of these practices are intended to replace proper medical treatment (though they may still be beneficial to the process of recovery from ailments). As always, thank you for reading.
-Admin
