Fat of the Sorcerers
It was believed at one time that the devil made use of human
fat for his sorceries. Witches rubbed themselves with an ointment
made from this fat in order to go to the Sabbat, a gathering
of members of their witchcraft group. Other ingredients of
the witch unguent were said to be blood of the lapwing and bat,
soot, aconite, and deadly nightshade. Francesco-Maria Guazzo,
author of Compendium Maleficarum (1608) states that the witch
unguent was made from a thick stew of boiled children, preferably
unbaptized. This was a fantastic allegation made earlier by
Sylvester Prierias, in 1521. It was claimed that this ointment
gave witches the power of transvection, flying through the air.
