My First Meme!

Cosette of Pandora's Bazaar tagged me for my first meme, a book meme no less. Thank you, Cosette. I'm honored that you thought of me.

So here it is:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.


Uh, oh, Houston, we have a problem! I'm currently at work (shouldn't I be working? No, it's Spring Break and the Library is a ghost town). I work in a library, which means I'm surrounded by books! There are several books I could grab, and they are all within reach, but I doubt you want me to turn to page 123 of any of the numerous dental and veterinary medicine books lying around. Luckily I happen to have a reading copy of Magic and Superstition in Europe: A Concise History From Antiquity to Present by Michael D. Bailey within reach. Reading copies are one of the perks of being a professor. There's nothing better than free books.


Here's the quotation:

"They suspected, moreover, that Alice had somehow enchanted their fathers with love magic, and perhaps done away with them by magical means as well. When Alice's fourth husband began to sicken in 1324, charges were brought before Richard Ledrede, bishop of Ossory, who had been educated on the continent and had spent some time at John XXII's court in Avignon. The charges developed in the course of the investigation, and ultimately Alice and a group of accomplices were accused of having renounced the Christian faith, of worshiping demons, and of gathering at night at the crossroads to offer sacrifices to them."


Alice does manage to escape, but not her servant, who had been tortured into revealing Alice's "true" witch nature. This goes to show that we have a lot of information from even as far back as the 14th century, due to the meticulous records kept by inquisitors. It also makes me wonder why we don't know more about the personage, Aradia, as a result. She either slipped by unnoticed, or she didn't exist in the way many folks believe today. We'll never know for sure.


I tag:

Chell of Chell's Roost
Helena of Goddess of Art
Lucia Modia Lupa of Lucia of the Grove
Romulus of le musée interdit
Bob at Moose at Home