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rather die than revoke what God has made me do.'
On her letters were placed sometimes the words Jhesus Maria or a cross. 'Sometimes I put a cross as a sign
for those of my party to whom I wrote so that they should not do as the letters said.' Though the mark was
merely a code-signal to the recipient of the letter, it seems hardly probable that a Christian of that date would
have used the symbol of the Faith for such a purpose. She also consistently refused to take an oath on the
Gospels, and was with difficulty persuaded to do so on the Missal. When she was asked whether she had ever
blasphemed [blasphemaverit] God, she replied that she had never cursed the Saints [maledixit Sanctum vel
Sanctam]. When pressed whether she had not denied [denegaverit] God, she again refused a direct answer,
saying that she had not denied the Saints [denegaverit Sanctum nec Sanctam].
The general feeling towards her among the Christian priesthood is shown by the action of Brother Richard.
When he first entered her presence 'he made the sign of the cross and sprinkled holy water, and I said to him,
Approach boldly, I shall not fly away.'
Another point to be noted is her answer that she learned the Paternoster, Ave Maria, and Credo from her
mother, thus proving that she was not of a witch-family. According to Reginald Scot it was sufficient
evidence to condemn a woman to death as a witch if her mother had been a witch before her. At the same
time, however, Joan refused to say the Paternoster except in confession, when the priest's lips would have
been sealed if she had proved herself not to be a Christian. She was very urgent to confess to the Bishop of,
Beauvais, but he was too wary to be caught.
She first heard the 'Voices' at the age of thirteen, the usual time for the Devil and the witch to make 'paction'.
One of her followers, Pierronne, was burnt as a witch, avowing to the last that she had spoken with God as
friend with friend, and describing the costume of her Deity with a detail which shows the reality of the
occurrence. If also there is any weight to be attached to certain names as seems likely after studying the
lists given above then we have in this history four of the chief witch-names; Joan, the daughter of Isabel,
and the two saints Katherine and Margaret. These coincidences may be small, but there are too many of them
to be ignored.
There is evidence from Joan's own words that she felt herself divine and also that she knew her time was
limited, but she never realized till the last that th end meant death; this, however, the 'Voices' knew and it was
APPENDIX IV 172
 The Witch Cult in Western Europe
for this that they were preparing her. At the beginning of the trial, 'she said she had come from God, and had
nothing to do here, asking to be sent back to God from whom she came [dixit quod venit ex parte Dei, et non
habet quid negotiari quidquam, petens ut remitteretur ad Deum a quo venerat]. 'Many times she said to him
[the King], I shall live a year, barely longer. During that year let as much as possible be done.' The 'Voices'
told her she would be taken before the feast of St. John, and that thus it must be, and that she must not be
troubled but accept willingly and God would help her. They also said it was necessary for her to be captured:
'Receive all willingly, care not for thy martyrdom, thou shalt come at last to the kingdom of paradise.' On the
fatal Tuesday when she learned her doom, flesh and spirit quailed at the prospect of the agony to come, and
she cried out that her 'Voices' had deceived her, for she had thought that in her imprisonment she had already
suffered the promised martyrdom. Yet within twenty-four hours she went to the stake with courage
unquenched, acknowledging that her 'Voices' were from God. Like John Fian nearly two centuries later, her
spirit had sunk at first, and again like Fian she endured to the end, dying a martyr to the God who had
exploited her confidence and simplicity and whom she had served so well. To her de Lancre's words might
well apply, 'The witches are so devoted to his service that neither torture nor death can affright them, and
they go to martyrdom and to death for love of him as gaily as to a festival of pleasure and public rejoicing.'
The ashes were collected and thrown into running water; a common rite, in religions of the Lower Culture,
after the sacrifice of the Incarnate God. It is also worth noting that Rouen was one of the French cities in
which there was still a living tradition of human sacrifice.
2. Gilles de Rais
Like Joan of Arc, Gilles de Rais was tried and executed as a witch and in the same way, much that is
mysterious in this trial can also be explained by the Dianic Cult.
On the mother's side he descended from Tiphaine de Champtocé, and on the father's from Tiphaine de
Husson; this latter was the niece of Bertrand du Guesclin, and called after du Guesclin's wife, who was a fairy
woman.[1] The name Tiphaine appears to come from the same root as Fein, Finn, and Fian, all of which
meant 'fairy' in Great Britain, and probably in Brittany as well. There is therefore a strong suggestion of a
strain of fairy blood, and with that blood there may also have descended to Gilles many of the beliefs and
customs of the dwarf race.
The bond between Gilles and Joan was a very close one. She obtained permission from the King to choose
whom she would for her escort; her choice at once fell on Gilles, for she would naturally prefer those of her
own faith. He held already a high command in the relieving, force, and added the protection of Joan as a
special part of his duties. Later on, even after he had reached the high position of Marshal of France, he still
continued those duties, remaining with her all day when she was wounded at the assault on Paris. It is an
interesting point also that Charles VII granted permission to both these great leaders to bear the royal arms on
their escutcheons. It seems incredible that a soldier of Gilles's character and standing should have made no
move to rescue Joan by ransom or by force, when she was captured. She was not only a comrade, she was
especially under his protection, and it is natural for us to think that his honour was involved. But if he
regarded her as the destined victim, chosen and set apart for death, as required by the religion to which both
he and she belonged, he could do nothing but remain inactive and let her fate be consummated. If this is so,
then the 'Mystery of Orleans ', of which he was the author, would be a religious play of the same class as the
mystery-plays of the Christians.
The extraordinary prodigality and extravagance of Gilles may have been due, as is usually suggested, to
profligacy or to madness, but it may equally well have been that he took seriously the belief that as the
Incarnate God or at any rate as a candidate for that honour he must give to all who asked. He rode a
black horse, as also did Joan and the 'Devils' of later centuries; and on two separate occasions he attempted to
2. Gilles de Rais 173
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