Demonology

Max Ernst, They have slept in the forest too long (1926)

Elemanzer, Peckin the Crown, Grizzel, Greedigut,

Pyewacket, and that other “like a black Rabbet,”

Imps “no mortal could invent,”† were no doubt bad enough,

But they’d scarcely make the cut

Alongside Grindr, GitHub, Influenster, and Crunchyroll,

Let alone Truth Social, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Google, and "X":

Our time’s the undisputed champion when it comes to hex.

Alas, the martyrs on this Holy Inquisition’s merry pyre

Are ourselves—the very ones who lit the damnèd fire!

We entertain ourselves, ourselves to vex.

Max Ernst, The Virgin Spanking the Christ Child before Three Witnesses: Andre Breton, Paul Eluard, and the Painter (1926). Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany.

† Matthew Hopkins, The Discovery of Witches (1647), quer. 4.

Sunday, May 18, 2025