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The Grand Rite has begun, and the Earth cries out for innocent blood.
— Tituba[src]

The Grand Rite, also known as Ritum Magni in Latin, is the most warded and dangerous ritual known to witches. Although it has been attempted several times over the centuries, only the Essex Hive was able to complete it in 1692.

History

Many years ago, in Marburg. You were still just a baby. The German witches. Oh, far bolder than even the Essex witches. They attempted the Grand Rite. Within the space of a month, a dozen children disappeared. Their bodies were found bled dry. Their innocent blood soaked the ground. And as the full moon approached, more children disappeared, and I knew the Grand Rite was nearing its completion. So while others searched for the children, I hunted the witch. And I found him. He had taken the appearance of a 6-year-old girl, but I knew this was no girl. It was him. And I strangled her with my bare hands. And as the life left that body, the Devil reached out and snatched the body, but I held on. I was determined that he should not return to his home in Hell. And my hands were plunged into the boiling black tar. Hellfire. These hands have actually touched Hell. And they burn me still.
— Increase Mather[src]

According to the books of Reverend Cotton Mather and the stories of past experiences of Increase Mather, the infamous witch hunter, witches have tried many times to accomplish this dreaded ritual, but with little success. [1] As pointed out by both Cotton Mather and Captain John Alden, these information are fragments gathered by priests and witch hunters rather than from witches themselves. [2]

A noteworthy event took place in Marburg, Germany. Increase Mather was a young and determined witchfinder intent on fighting witchcraft in the Old World. Within a month, several children disappeared from their homes and while the denizens were looking for the children, Increase acted differently. A hive of witches led by a wicked witch worshipped in the guise of a Pagan Siren was one step away from completing the Grand Rite, but were stopped in time by the witch hunter. Under the guise of an innocent child, the witch tired to deceive Increase but he strangled her. As life left her, the Devil reached out and snatched the body, but Increase held on, determined that he should not return to his home in Hell. Increase's hands were plunged into Hellfire, boiling black tar that still burn after all those years.[3] A scar in the shape of his hand is marked on the shoulder of Countess Von Marburg as a result of the struggle. [4]

The Thirteen Sacrifices

True malice, like that which powers the Grand Rite, ferments best in a loveless heart.

The Ritual calls for a long preparation. First, it requires a particular astronomical event that happens once across centuries. Then, the Ritual claim the sacrifice of thirteen innocent victims in an annual lunar cycle, which ends with the Hunter's Moon, the blood-red moon of the month of October. The blood of the victims should cleanse the ground, so that it is prepared to bear the cloven hoof of the Devil.[5]

No matter how these victims are killed — hanged, burned, pressed — as long as its done in the stipulated time frame. Learning from the witches' past failures, Mary decided to let the Puritans commit the murders themselves rather than risk the witches being caught in the act and stopped. [6] This initial phase is the most delicate because if the thirteen victims are not sacrificed in time, the whole ritual will be rendered void. Another way to prevent the Grand Rite is to kill the witch who started it.[7] Cutting off the figurative serpent's head will thwart the Rite. Immediately after the thirteenth sacrifice, the holy relic known as Malum is to be buried in the Witch Tree, spreading a plague which will decimate humans consecrating the ground for the rise of the the Devil.[5]

Victims of the 1692 mass sacrifice

In Season 3, Rebecca Nurse is depicted as one of the hanged innocents. However, she exceeds the count unless she is a replacement for Bridget Bishop or is unrelated to the thirteen sacrifices and is just a victim of the witch panic.

Aftermath

Main article: Consecration

Should the witches complete the perilous and detailed phases constituting the Grand Rite, they will move to the next phase by performing the Consecration. Through the Witch Pox spread by opening the Malum, they will infect any person who is not aligned with their cause. [8] Their corpses will thus turn into wells of Hell-blood once gathered in The Crags at the striking of the Clock of the Doom. With the passage of the Starry Messenger Comet, the witch who led the Grand Rite will baptize her own son into the pitch-dark pool, turning his body into a Vessel for the Devil to inhabit.[9] With the Devil roaming the Earth, he will give rise to a Great Terror.[10]

Spells and Rituals

An Initiation to the Grand Rite

The Ritum Magni consecrates the Earth for the Devil's return, to pave the way for his eventual incarnation. A pure white dove is impaled as a tribute. Thereafter, a blood sacrifice of thirteen innocent souls must be made before Full Hunter's Moon.

  • Incantation: "Cruor innocentia Maleficarum pestilentia Walpurgisnacht consummatum est. Now it begins." (From Latin, "[With] sacrifice of innocents the witches' plague it is finished at Walpurgisnacht.")
  • Used by: Mary Sibley.
  • Notes: Walpurgisnacht ("Night of Walpurgis" in German) is an infamous celebration falling around May 1st. It was believed that during that date witches, devils and the spirits of the Underworld wandered freely on Earth.

The Consummation of the Grand Rite

  • Incantation: "Our Great Rite now is done. Blood-dim dawn now shall come, Powers of Moon and Sun ignite, all flesh trembles at the sight. Thirteen souls fed the hungry Earth, opens the way for our Dark Lord's birth."
  • Used by: Mary Sibley.
  • Note: It is not known whether the rhyme was a requirement for the witch to recite upon the conclusion of the Grand Rite or whether it was merely a chant to honor its completion.

Memorable Quotes

Tituba: "The Grand Rite has begun, and the Earth cries out for innocent blood."
The Stone Child

Cotton Mather: "You witnessed a real witches' Sabbath. Something no witch hunter has ever seen with his own eyes. All of our images and accounts come from confessions, some rather more believable than others."
John Alden: "It's this one."
Cotton Mather: "Ritum Magni, the Grand Rite. The greatest secret of the witches. All we have are scraps of rumors of failed attempts. Unfortunately, there are no books by witches, only witch hunters."
The Stone Child

Increase Mather: "There really is only one way to stop the Grand Rite. One must kill the witch that began it before the moonrise that ends it."
Ashes, Ashes

Mary Sibley: "You thought love would be my undoing, that I would be in the woods with my lover, and you would kill me there without a trial, thus ending my Grand Rite. I will share with you the secret that you and your kind have sought in vain for centuries! Innocent blood and when the last is spilled, our Malum opens, unleashing the red death it contains within it. And yet, not once in the last 500 years have we succeeded. Until I came along and realized we needn't spill a single drop of innocent blood ourselves. Not when we had fearful and fanatical puritans all too ready to do it for us. So you gave us Giles Corey, Bridget Bishop, the Barkers and others and of course, those poor, deceived girls innocent blood by the buckets. And now here we are, night of full Hunter's moon, and only one more required before moon fall."
All Fall Down

Mary Sibley: "I alone succeeded where you failed. Oh, mighty queen of failure. I completed the Grand Rite and I alone will open the gate for our Dark Lord. This is my accomplishment and none of your own."
Countess Von Marburg: "No, that's where you are wrong, little sister. Your accomplishment is not only my concern but my destiny."
The Wine Dark Sea

Mary Sibley: "Then let us use this common threat as reason to unite. What difference does it make who holds the key and who opens the gate? All witches will benefit from our Dark Lord's arrival. Let us work together in this noble cause."
The Wine Dark Sea

Gallery

Trivia

  • The Grand Rite is the most dangerous ritual a witch can perform.
  • Increase Mather is the only victim killed directly by a witch; the other 12 sacrifices were perpetrated by Puritans under the influence of witches running the trials in secret.
  • Countess Von Marburg was behind the Grand Rite attempt in Germany.
  • In "Ashes, Ashes", Increase referred to the witch girl and the Devil interchangeably.
  • According to Adam Simon and Brannon Braga, the Witch Pox was one of their first ideas.
  • This is one of the Great Rituals that are part of the mythology of the show- The others are the Consecration, the Dark Baptism, the Great Terror, the Royal Marriage and the Reckoning.

References

  1. Adam Simon & Brannon Braga (writer) & David Von Ancken (director). April 20, 2014. "Our Own Private America". Salem. Season 1. Episode 7. WGN.
  2. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & David Von Ancken (director). April 27, 2014. "The Stone Child". Salem. Season 1. Episode 2. WGN.
  3. Adam Simon & Joe Menosky (writer) & David Von Ancken (director). June 22, 2014. "The House of Pain". Salem. Season 1. Episode 10. WGN.
  4. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Allan Arkush (director). July 13, 2014. "Blood Kiss". Salem. Season 2. Episode 2. WGN.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & David Von Ancken (director). July 13, 2014. "All Fall Down". Salem. Season 1. Episode 13. WGN.
  6. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Richard Shepard (director). April 20, 2014. "The Vow". Salem. Season 1. Episode 1. WGN.
  7. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Bill Johnson (director). July 6, 2014. "Ashes, Ashes". Salem. Season 1. Episode 12. WGN.
  8. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Allan Arkush (director). July 13, 2014. "Blood Kiss". Salem. Season 2. Episode 2. WGN.
  9. Donna Thorland & Adam Simon (writer) & Alex Zakrzewski (director). July 13, 2014. "Midnight Never Come". Salem. Season 2. Episode 12. WGN.
  10. Brannon Braga & Adam Simon (writer) & Nick Copus (director). November 2, 2016. "After the Fall". Salem. Season 3. Episode 1. WGN.

See Also

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