e ages of a
somewhat later time. The same can be said of them as of the former
societies. They carried on the old phallic and mystic rites in modified
form, and set up their beliefs in opposition to Christianity. When the
Knights Templar were initiated they were made to deny Christ and the
Virgin Mary, to spit on the cross, etc. They also were charged with
homosexuality, and with them as with the Rosicrucians and the Gnostics,
homosexuality was a part of their teachings. They likewise advocated
communal marriage. At their secret meetings and initiations many vices
existed; idols were worshipped, phallic features were introduced, and
the entire ceremony was similar to the mysteries of antiquity.

Should there be any doubt regarding the association of these secret
societies of the middle ages with the mysteries of the Ancients, this
doubt is at once dispelled when we read of the practices of a remarkable
secret organization described as the "Witches' Sabbath." Any one who
has read a description of the Ancient Mysteries and of the initiation
ceremonies of primitive tribes cannot but see in the Witches' Sabbath a
remarkable similarity to the earlier mysteries. R. P. Knight[21] has
given us a description of the Witches' Sabbath and he quotes freely from
a French writer[22] who has given full details. We shall use such parts
of these descriptions as are necessary to illustrate these practices
during the middle ages.

The Witches' Sabbath is described by these writers as it existed during
the latter part of the fourteenth century. It was held on four occasions
during the year, being a festival corresponding to the Priapiea and
Bacchanalia of former days. Women played the leading part just as in the
Bacchanalia. There were minor and major festivals corresponding to the
lesser and greater Eleusinia. Pilgrimages were made at this time, which
"resembled a fair of merchants mingled together, furious in transports,
arriving from all parts--a meeting and a mingling of a hundred thousand
subjects, sudden and transitory, novel, it is true, but of a frightful
novelty which offends the eye and sickens you."

A symbolic representation of Satan presided at the festivals, and he
assumed a number of disguises, in all of which we recognize Priapus in
degenerated form. He very often appeared in the disguise of a goat; in
fact the meeting place is called "Goat's Heath."

The association of the goat with priapic ceremonies has already been
m