Vincent Price - Witchcraft - Magic - An Adventure In Demonology (1969) Full Album [source]
1. Prologue - The Tale of Master Seth 2. Hitler and Witchcraft - Witchcraft in History 3. Women as Witches - Witch Burning 4. Witch Tortures 5. Witch Tortures (continued) - The World of Spirits and Demons 6. Preparation for Magic - Instruments of Magic 7. How to Invoke Spirits, Demons, Unseen Forces - The Magic Bloodstone 8. The Witches’ Cauldron - How to Communicate with the Spirits 9. How to Communicate with the Spirits (continued) - Gerald Yorke and Necromancy 10. How to Make a Pact with the Devil - How to Become a Witch 11. Curses, Spells, Charms 12. Curses, Spells, Charms (continued) - Potions 13. The Hand of Glory - The Witches’ Sabbat 14. Witchcraft Today - Epilogue
It’s not surprising that Capitol Records would have tapped horror
movie icon Price to record a demon-soaked spoken word double album in
the late ’60s. At the time, the occult was going pop — the giant monster
and flying saucer flicks of the 1950s had given way to unsettling
satanic cinema like ROSEMARY’S BABY, and personalities like Anton LaVey
were openly pushing Satanism as a religion. Add Price’s velvety voice
and perfect delivery to some witchy content… and you have a sure hit.
What’s surprising about WITCHCRAFT-MAGIC is how serious it is —
there’s none of Price’s famous tongue-in-cheek humor here. The record
doesn’t come across as a cheap cash-in to take advantage of a craze as
much as a detailed and serious recording of occultist instruction. I
can’t find any info on who wrote it or did the research, but it seems
somehow legitimate — as legitimate as any occultism, anyway.
The first disc features Price detailing rumors about the occult
practices of Hitler and the Nazis, giving a brief history of witchcraft
in Europe, then describing some of the gruesome tortures that befell
accused witches during the Salem Witch Trials.
But Disc Two is where things really go off the chain.
The second disc begins with Price issuing listeners a challenge,
asking: “Do you have the heart” for demon summoning and witchcraft? If
you’re not a total wuss, Price goes on to provide very specific
instructions on the basics of witchcraft: Which symbols to carve onto
your magic wand; what invocations to repeat; exactly where to bury your
wand to charge it up with magical power; how to get the most out of your
cauldron; and other practical tips for beginner magicians.
Price’s sonorous, one-of-kind voice — spiced with witchy ’60s reverb —
is the perfect delivery vehicle for information on how to cast specific
spells, throw curses, invoke charms, and sell your soul to the devil.
Then we get to the invocation of demons: Price’s matter-of-fact
instructions tell you exactly how to summon hell-spawn into your living
room — and how to protect yourself from them when they arrive.
His description of a Hieronymus Bosch-style demon invasion —
accompanied by old-school analog synths — is amazing. Price promises you
can summon “A scaly dog with yellow eyes,” “a fantastic holothurian
with a grinning head,” “a rabid monkey with a cudgel,” “a toothless hag
slithering reptilian on her belly,” “a snake with the face of a baby,”
“disembodied bloodied heads crawling like centipedes,”
“porcupine-scorpions,” “lizard-bats,” “flying red-eyed rats,” and a
“beautiful baboon in royal robes.” Sounds like Saturday night at my
house!
Like most occultist instruction, it’s complicated and esoteric — and
should you fail to summon anything, it’s probably because you messed up
some small step. Maybe you should start by following Vincent Price’s pickled mushroom recipe instead…?
Original pressings of WITCHCRAFT-MAGIC: AN ADVENTURE IN DEMONOLOGY are
relatively rare and expensive, and will run you about $100 for a nice
copy of the best version, which contains an illustrated booklet with
drawings of sacred seals and a how-to on constructing a Hand of Glory (a legendary magical item of great power).
Luckily, though, you can listen to the whole haunted thing on YouTube… if you dare!
To my followers who are more experienced in this than I, what do you think?
