As promised in part one, here’s a little more detail about the historical basis of The Kure and in particular, the ritual contained in the ancient and demonic book of healing the good doctor kept hidden in a secret compartment behind his bookcase. (You can’t imagine all the places I originally considered for a hiding place – the attic, under the floorboards, a hollow bottom in the doctor’s instrument cabinet. But the more I thought about it, I decided the most appropriate place to hide evil was in plain sight – with (and behind) the doctor’s other books.)

My goal was to present the ritual as a derivation of the dark-spirited rationalized explotation of women throughout history, and in particular, young virgin women, who were often used – sacrificed - to serve the sexual pleasure and gratification of men.

As John Tyler (our hard-working, gorgeous hunk of a protagonist) suggested, "Harwell had read the most perverse instructions imaginable, a prescription designed to justify the actions of corrupt and evil men who craved the touch of a young maiden."

So why do satanic texts place such an emphasis on virgins? (And the word “satanic” in this context means any dark or demonic influence, not necessarily the infamous fallen angel, Satan, the CEO of hell.)

Virgins, often referred to as “young virgins” in historical writings, are the popular focus and preferred ingredient in dark rituals because of the “regeneration effect”—the release of energy, thought to be the actual life force. Ancient magicians believed that a living being was a container of stored power, the quality and quantity of which was reflected by the purity and moral character of the vessel. The greatest and purest force was thought to exist in perfect innocence – the virgin.

But what about the sexual connotation?  Couldn’t they just have shaken hands?

Sex is an extremely common element in demonic rituals due to the explosion of energy at the moment of orgasm. Since these would-be sorcerers were all about stealing the life force from others—often called “soul snatching” in folklore—sexual activity was often used as a method to raise the energy levels of a practitioner’s victims to receive maximum energy transfer. 

Demonic books and texts—represented by the ancient text of healing in The Kure—have existed for thousands of years. The rituals of black magic can trace its roots all the way back to ancient Babylon, with the organized practice of satanism rearing its ugly head within the societies of the Sumerians, Phoenicians, Hitites, Egyptians and Canaanites. (There are others, but hey, for our purposes, it’s a start. And it makes it very clear that these bad boys have been around for a very long time, had a lot of influence, and left their mark – both figuratively and literally – on a lot of unfortunate people.)

I hope I’ve answered your questions about the source and inspiration for the ritual contained in The Kure. There’s lots more information for those who want to dig a bit deeper, but as the old adage warns, “be careful what you look for, you may not like what you find!”

Until next time,

Jaye