Organización de los espacios y el tiempo del aula

Regardless of whether it was gold or silver, Bernard fi nally became disillusioned. He left Vienna, vowing to give up his alchemical pursuits, but like a gambler addicted to the game, he could not stay away from them for more than two months. He resolved to fi nd an adept who had truly found the secret and would be willing to give it to him.

For eight years, Bernard wandered through Europe, northern Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. He went to England for four years. His travels cost him most of his remaining inheritance—13,000 crowns. He was forced to sell an estate which provided him with an income of 8,000 fl orins a year. Besides his travel expenses, he shoveled more money into his furnaces, and he contin- ued to lavish money on alchemists who claimed to have the secret but did not.

Bernard was about 62 by the time he returned home to Trèves, exhausted and nearly penniless. His relatives avoided him, and he was regarded as a madman. Though Bernard had generously given away much of his money, he was too proud to ask for help. He still entertained the dream that someday he would fi nd the Stone and be rich beyond imagination.

He decided to retire to Rhodes and live in anonymity, concealing his poverty. There he met a poor monk. They could afford no equipment, but together they read alchem- ical treatises. After a year, Bernard met a wealthy man who lent him 8,000 fl orins, provided he put up as collateral the last remaining property in his estate. This Bernard hap- pily did and resumed once again his alchemical experi- ments. So obsessed was he that for three years he lived and worked in his laboratory, rarely leaving it and rarely taking the time to keep himself clean. He burned away all of his money but persisted to the end, dying in 1490 in Rhodes.

According to lore, he was 82 (some accounts say 73) when he at last discovered the Stone and spent his remain- ing years enjoying his wealth. More likely, he died in pov- erty.

Bernard is credited with writing La Philosophie Naturelle

des Metaux, his major work, and Book of Chemistry, Verbum dimissum, and De Natura Ovi. He advocated that alchemists

spend much time in meditation and have great patience. Gold, he said, is quicksilver coagulated by sulphur. The secret of the Great Work is dissolution accomplished with the help of mercury.

Furt her Reading:

Mackay, Charles. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the

Madness of Crowds. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux,

1932.

Waite, Arthur Edward. Alchemists Through the Ages. Blauvelt, N.Y.: Rudolph Steiner Publications, 1970.

bewitchment The condition of being under the infl u-

ence of a SPELL. People, animals, and even objects can be

bewitched to behave in certain ways. In folk MAGIC, love bewitchments are common, as are bewitchments to cause

farm animals to be unproductive, such as for cows to stop giving milk or chickens to stop laying eggs.

An example of an amul et spell for protection against bewitchment is the following from Norwegian folk magic:

Write on a piece of paper the following words: “Porto Hamsias F Emanuel F dorenus.” Carry this with you, always.

Another Norwegian spell for breaking the bewitchment of a love spell is the following:

In secret, take or clip hair from his or her head [of the one who has caused the bewitching]. Put the hair in your left shoe and walk on it for a time. The unnatural, bewitched feeling usually goes away.

See also enc hant ment ; f asc inat ion.

Furt her Reading:

Rustad, Mary S. (ed. and translator). The Black Books of

Elverum. Lakeville, Minn.: Galde Press, 1999.

bilocation The ability to be in two places simultane-

ously by projecting one’s double or astral self to another location. To others, the double may appear as a solid physical form or an apparition but may not behave “nor- mally” or speak.

Bilocation can occur spontaneously or at will. Biloca- tion at will is a magical skill learned by adept s, and also it is an ability ascribed to spiritually advanced persons such as saints and mystics. For example, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Ambrose of Milan, Saint Severus of Ravenna, Padre Pio, Philip Neri, and Alphonsus Maria de’ Ligouri are among the many Christian saints said to bilocate. In 1774, Saint Alphonsus Maria de’ Ligouri was seen at the beside of the dying pope Clement XIV in Rome; at the same time he was in his monastery cell, a four-day journey away.

Catholicism considers bilocation to be the appearance of a phantasm, a spiritual body that can be in many places simultaneously. In Eastern traditions such as yoga, biloca- tion is one of the advanced supernormal powers of the adept, acquired through meditation and the channeling of

prana, the universal life force, through the chakras of the

body and its aura.

Magical adepts learn how to bilocate by using the force of wil l and mental thought to project out of the body, usu- ally to a specifi c location. r it ual s invoking astrological auspices and spiritual forces may be part of the bilocation process.

In occult folklore, a spontaneous bilocation may be considered a harbinger of death—the imminent separation of the soul from the physical form.

In psychical research, a bilocation observed by others falls into the category of “collective apparition.” If there is interaction with others, it is a “reciprocal apparition.”

FURTHER READING:

GUILEY, ROSEM ARY ELLEN. The Encyclopedia of Saints. New York: Facts On File, 2002.

Hart, Hornell, and Ella B. Hart, “Visions and Apparitions Col- lectively and Reciprocally Perceived,” Proceedings of the

Society for Psychical Research, vol. 41, part 130, 1932–33,

pp. 205–249.

Myers, F. W. H. Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily

Death. 1903. Reprint, New York: Longmans, Green and

Co., 1954.

binding spell See CURSE.

black book A magical book. In folklore, a black book

provides instructions for traffi cking with spirits, DIVINA- TION, and acquiring and using supernatural powers. In

some cases, possession of the black book itself bestows supernatural powers, wealth, or luck upon its owner. However, use of a black book usually backfi res with seri- ous consequences. Some black books are said to be written in BLOOD as a PACT with the devil.

According to a German tale, a black book of unknown origin was passed down through inheritance and came into the possession of some peasants. Its magical powers were released by reading it forward and backward. If anyone failed to read the book backward, the devil was able to take control of them. Once activated, the book enabled people to acquire great wealth and to do terrible things to others without punishment. However, there were consequences to using the black book that caused its owners grief. They tried to get rid of the book but could not do so. They sought

help from a minister, who successfully nailed the book into a drawer. Such a tale serves to demonstrate the power of Christianity over both occult powers and pagan folk magic.

Black books are more than mysteriously empowered things of folklore, however. In practice, many people and families kept black books as guides for living. They included magical cures and healing recipes, pr ayer s, c har ms, inc ant at ions, blessings, r it ual s for burial, sea- sonal and agricultural rites, techniques for divination, and ways to ward off evil and bad luck and attract good luck. The material is a mixture of old folk ways and lore and Christian elements. Some black books credit their origins to Cyprianus of Antioch (Saint Cyprian), who lived in the fourth century c .e. in Turkey. According to lore, Cyprian was a sor c er er who escaped the domination of demons and the devil by making the sign of the c r oss. He con- verted to Christianity and became a bishop. He ended his life as a martyr.

gr imoir es are a type of black book, sets of instructions for ceremonial magical rituals for dealing with demons, angel s, and other powers. The Key of Solomon, which calls these powers the Animals of Darkness, gives instructions for making a black book. It should be made of virgin paper. The magician should write in it the conjurations of spirits that will summon them at any time. The book should be covered with sigil s and a plate of silver and engraved with pent ac l es. The book can be used on Sundays and Thurs- days.

In other lore, sorcerers, witches, and others who pos- sess magical powers are said to keep the secrets of their powers and their spel l s in black books. In Wicca, the book is called the book of shadows.

See also sixt h and sevent h books of moses; whit e book.

Furt her Reading:

Butler, E. M. Ritual Magic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1949.

Rustad, Mary S. (ed. and translator). The Black Books of

Elverum. Lakeville, Minn.: Galde Press, 1999.

black magic See MAGIC.

Black Mass A perversion of a Christian Mass for magi-

cal or diabolical purposes. Accounts of perverted Christian masses and rituals are documented, though it is question- able how much is fact versus fi ction. The church used accusations and torture-induced “confessions” of diaboli- cal rites to persecute heretics and witches. The Black Mass also became a staple of demonic novels and fi lms.

There is no one, defi nitive Black Mass ritual. Elements include performing the traditional Catholic Mass or parts of it backward; inverting, stepping on, or spitting on the c r oss; stabbing the Host; substituting ur ine for holy water or wine; substituting rotten turnip slices, pieces of