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Rosalia - the Evil Black Witch of the Harz, Part One

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Rosalia – The Evil Black Witch of the Harz

By Gary Bateman

PREFACE

Author’s Notes on “Rosalia – The Evil Black Witch of the Harz”

Introduction and Overview:  This epic narrative poem on “Rosalia” is pure fiction—but it is a creative reality though in the deep poetic recesses of my mind, however; I should note to you that there is indeed a tradition of Witchcraft and Sorcery in the region of the Harz Mountains here in Germany which definitely dates back to medieval times.  People who live there have some fun with Halloween and Walpurgis Nacht parties each year in Bad Harzburg and other towns within the Harz.  Though the witch thing is a friendlier proposition in today’s “modern world,” it was certainly not this way centuries ago when those accused of Witchcraft and Sorcery met a rather gruesome fate when they were convicted of doing evil things and consorting with “The Devil.” Moreover, throughout the text I have sprinkled a few witchcraft-oriented terms in the German so the reader can get feel for the Germanic setting for the poem.  The “Cliff Notes” I’ve cited below will ensure that these few German terms are precisely explained and defined in their English equivalent meanings.  Any other terms in Latin, for example, will be defined and explained as well.  The time and location setting for this epic narrative poem is the early 16th Century in the Harz Mountains in Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, with the principal events occurring in and around the vicinity of the Brocken Summit which is the highest summit in the Harz mountain range and in Northern Germany.    

Academic Source Attribution:  The source attribution on the subject of the Black Arts for “Rosalia” came from:  Richard Cavendish, The Black Arts, (New York:  The Putnam Publishing Group, 1967), passim throughout book.  Mr. Cavendish's scholarly book on this subject was quite helpful while I was doing my research on this epic narrative poem.  I wanted to make sure that the information I was presenting was at least in line with the common terminology used and associated with this rather arcane subject area.  I also conducted on-line internet research on a number of related topics within the Witchcraft genre to get a more in-depth feel for this fascinating topic. 

Dramatis Personae:

Rosalia—The Evil Black Witch of the Harz

Aurelia—The Princess of the Light and The Precious Child of God

Monseigneur Wolfgang Augustus Hardenberg (Regional Catholic Church Monseigneur in the Harz at Cloister Marten)

Rosalia’s Hell-Spawned Minions

Monseigneur Hardenberg’s Priests from Cloister Marten

Jehovah —The Almighty Lord God

Jesus Christ—Son of God

Archangel Gabriel and His Force of Heavenly Angels

Lucifer—The Dark Angel and Ruler of the Underworld

Author’s Cliff Notes – Answer Key for Challenging Words and Foreign Phrases in the Text:

Title of Poem: “Rosalia—die boese Hexe aus dem Harz”   (Note: This is the actual title of this epic poem, and in English, it means: “Rosalia—The Evil Black Witch of the Harz.”)

Prologue:  “Brocken summit in the Harz.”  Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz Mountains.  It is part of the ongoing Witchcraft tradition today in the Harz.

Rosalia’s Entrée to the 16th Century:  Entrée in the Section II title here means “Entrance.”

Vocabulary Terms:  (in order of text presentation througout the poem)

Scaurous:  An adjective that refers to “with large ankles.”

Schnauzkrampf-like mouth:  “Schnauzkrampf” is a noun that refers to “a mouth that looks more like a snout.”

Die Hexerei:  German noun for “Witchcraft.”

Nefandous:  Adjective for “unmentionable” or “unspeakable.”

Black Mass Satanist Prayer:  The lead-in for this unholy prayer starts with the words, “Our Father, which wert in heaven . . . ,” meaning, of course, “Our Father, which was in heaven . . . ,” with wert being the Old English form of was.

Nefast:  Adjective for “wicked.”

Malleus Maleficarum (1486):  This term from the Latin means, “Hammer of Witches.”  This medieval document was written by two Catholic inquisitors in 1486, and then they codified it and passed it down within the Church hierarchy.  This particular document reflected the Church’s “then” present knowledge of witchcraft and sorcery.

Cloister Marten:  The regional catholic monastery located in the Harz.

mirabile visu:  a Latin term or expression for “Wonderful to behold.”

Burg Worlerede:  A fortress castle very near to Cloister Marten in the Harz.

Gary Bateman, Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Schoeningen, Germany (September 20, 2014)

Rosalia - The Evil Black Witch of the Harz Prologue This is a rather grim epic poetic tale of Rosalia, a 16th century German witch who terrorized villages, destroyed the lives and corrupted the souls of many people throughout the countryside in the Harz Mountains in Germany. Rosalia focused her evil and malicious activities at the outset in a land area directly below the Brocken summit in the Harz. Over the time and extent of her macabre reign as a Black Witch and a Master of the Black Arts, Rosalia began to expand her campaign of evil among other provincial areas of the Harz beyond the Brocken. Her periodic nightly raids on villages in the Harz are part of the continuing legends of witchcraft and sorcery that still pervade the local culture there to this very day. Rosalia in modern day parlance was the “real deal” when it came to wreaking havoc and pandemonium among mankind. That is, she was truly a redoubtable force of evil and unmitigated malevolence, not to be toyed with nor underestimated by anyone seeking to confront her. Rosalia was bent on fulfilling Lucifer’s principal goals: destroying the peace and harmony of mankind; disrupting the holy balance of the relationship between Man and God; corrupting the eternal souls of men, women, and children; extinguishing the light in the world; and bringing mankind into darkness and despair. Rosalia’s Entrée to the 16th Century Rosalia was born and later raised as a child in a Witches’ coven. Although Rosalia was born in the 16th century again in human form, she was, in reality, a reincarnated evil soul many centuries old. Her Hell-spawned soul was seared in Hell’s very own oven, and like the Gorgon Medusa herself—she was a creature gone wild. Rosalia indeed was also an intense and a very precocious child: who was imbued with uncanny and unearthly powers, who was “left-handed” and obviously “sinister,” who possessed a keen and piercing intellect, and had scaurous, strong ankles and a schnauzkrampf-like mouth, and was fisslingual like the Devil—with a “forked tongue,” who had a horrifying and monstrous Medusa-like appearance at a glance—stark and menacing, frightening and rapacious, with jet black stringy, snake-like hair and black teeth, with dark probing eyes and exceptional sensory perception, and a bulbous, bile-ridden black wart . . . protruding on the lower left side of her nose close to the tip. Rosalia and Black Magic were one in the same, and her craggy appearance and coarse demeanor—black wart and all, her deceptive powers, and her utter malevolence toward man— all constituting a terrifying reflection of pure evil and foreboding, and all the while illuminating mankind’s quizzical wonderment at the power of die Hexerei. Rosalia was aptly known and greatly feared as the “Queen of Walpurgis Nacht,” “The Devil’s Concubine,” and “The Queen of Darkness.” Rosalia delighted in being “The Devil’s Concubine” by name, for her liaisons with Lucifer made her omnipotent and devoutly unholy. Her unbridled sense of power and invincibility was this Black Witch’s aim, for this fed her conviction to do vicious and evil things—to be unholy. Rosalia’s Power and Relationship to the Devil It is said that Rosalia’s power of Witchcraft and the Black Arts derived from her worship to and direct relationship with the Devil himself, thus making her virtually omnipotent, all-powerful. As the most favored disciple and mistress of the Dark One Rosalia acutely honed her pagan skills in the Black Arts to the highest rapture while using her Gorgon-grimaced face to strike fear in all who resisted her using a withering and wicked mesmerizing gaze with which she paralyzed her victims with unending torment, agony, and fear. On occasion she would extract the putrid bile liquid from her Black Wart and used it to poison and corrupt the life essence of her victims—if they resisted. The utter revulsion and palpable fear felt by Rosalia’s victims was practically indescribable given its horrible nature. Both her power and her conviction to do vicious evil things appeared to be wrapped in a cloak of seeming invincibility. Lucifer did exceedingly well in his choice of Rosalia as his most favored disciple and mistress—for she savored his ferocious favor and unleashed without a conscience a torrent of evil doings and unholy machinations on those unlucky enough to cross her path. To know Rosalia was to realize a gorgonesque damnation forever while she pursued the unholy glorification of her master—Lucifer. In time Rosalia was granted the power over all hell-spawned demons forever to support and consummate her unholy activities in the name of Lucifer. End of Part One Gary Bateman, Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Schoeningen, Germany (September 20, 2014)

Copyright © | Year Posted 2014




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Date: 8/16/2015 5:49:00 PM
I am taking this all in, and i mean to read the entire series... awesome prologue! Roselia is quite the character...wouldn't wanna meet up with her any time soon. "On occasion she would extract the putrid bile liquid from her Black Wart and used it to poison and corrupt the life essence of her victims—if they resisted." I'm not sure if her wart is supposed to be metaphorical or if it's an actual wart and part of her powers; either way, its terrifying! Very well done!!!! Always, Laura
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Gary Bateman
Date: 8/18/2015 12:30:00 PM
Hello Laura, And so you found Part One of my epic work on "Rosalia." I reworked and refined this entire multiple-part poem over time for publication in my first book: "Conversations with My Muse," where the entire poem (with preface) resides in Part II of my book at pp. 171-194.) Her Black Wart can be viewed as metaphorical, but it's actually real with putrid black bile and all!! If see the entire poem in my book and read it straight through you can absorb its full picture. (I live here in Germany about an hour's drive from the Brocken Summit in Harz which is in my poem here and in Goethe's Faust.) Cheers, Gary
Date: 1/29/2015 3:56:00 PM
My friend just started reading Rosalia today.. I think its a marvelous write and so very entertaining! A solid 7 from me and will now continue reading the continuing story as time permits..
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Gary Bateman
Date: 1/30/2015 6:56:00 PM
Robert, I just responded to your other comment on Rosalia a few minutes ago. (The final word document of this poem for my publisher is coming your way via e-mail so you have it with all of the final changes. It will make the whole thing much easier to read!!) Glad you like "Rosalia" Robert!! Best Always, Gary
Date: 12/17/2014 11:11:00 AM
Gary, I have started Rosalia.The Evil Black Witch has a beautiful name .Does it suggest anything more in addition to literal and connotative meaning ? Love Gary.Love to Ingrid.--your friend RAJAT
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Gary Bateman
Date: 12/17/2014 7:04:00 PM
Rajat, You may want to send me your mailing address where you live at for the future when my first book of poetry is published by May-June 2015. (My private e-mail address is: gbateman@live.de) Best Wishes, Gary
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Gary Bateman
Date: 12/17/2014 7:02:00 PM
Rajat, Thanks my friend for starting this read. You are really the only person who has even initially commented on this epic poem. Congratulations!! The big theme behind this poem is the classic struggle of Good vs. Evil. The setting from this poem at the Brocken Summit in Harz is similar to Goethe's Faust. This poem will be in my future book. (I will send you a copy!!) Best, Gary

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