The Binding of the Fairies:Four Spells

Sex has always been a dangerous business. In medieval and early modern England, sex with priests might lead to excommunication; sex with prostitutes to the French pox; sex with animals to deformed or half-human offspring, and perhaps the death of the human or animal partners; and sex with demons to the sealing of a demonic pact and thence to the loss of one's soul. This introduction will discuss four early modern spells, found in Folger MS Xd 234, that show how a mage may bind to his will and command one or more fairies for sexual purposes; it is clear that this operation is considered to be fraught with its own dangers, perhaps the more fearsome for never being fully described. But it also appears to offer unique pleasures and benefits not obtainable from other forms of sexual congress. I explore how and why a mage might have considered sex...