Written and published on 7 February 2021
Image: “The Polish Folklore Legend Pan Twardowski and the Devil,” by Michał Elwiro Andriolli, 1895, in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twardowski_z_diablem.jpg … CC BY-SA 3.0 … DESCRIPTION: Effected by Alice B. Clagett
Image: “The Polish Folklore Legend Pan Twardowski and the Devil,” by Michał Elwiro Andriolli, 1895, in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Twardowski_z_diablem.jpg … CC BY-SA 3.0 … DESCRIPTION: Effected by Alice B. Clagett
Dear Ones,
Legend has it that a Polish sorcerer named Pan Twardowski sold his Soul to the devil so as to obtain magical powers. He attempted to outwit the devil by saying he might only be carried off to Hell were he to go to Rome.
For years Pan enjoyed the magical powers with which the devil imbued him. Then one day … without a thought of the consequence of his act … he went to an inn named ‘Rzym’. Now the word ‘Rzym’ means ‘Rome’ in Polish. Because of that the devil saw his chance, and took it.
Before Pan could nod his head or wink at the innkeeper there at his desk, the devil tossed Pan on his back, and spirited him away towards Hell … which in the case of sorcerers lies on the dark side of the moon.
As they flew through the cold night air, Pan moaned and writhed atop the evil sprite, attempting to get free … though that would surely mean his death, as they were flying far above the earth.
The sorcerer Pan could see the moon … which was full that night … become larger and larger, until it seemed likely to him they might run straight into it. In the depths of despair, he began to pray to Mother Mary … and that proved the charm that saved him … for the devil dropped Pan mid-flight, onto the bright side of the moon, by mistake.
During his long life, the sorcerer had once, in a pique, turned a friend into a spider … I am pleased to say this is something only sorcerers can do.
When the sorcerer found himself on the bright side of the moon, there was no one there at all to befriend him, except one being. That was the very spider that had once been his friend, and who was faithful to him still … For they say the spider, from time to time, spun itself on a silver thread … down, down, and down again, from the moon to the tops of the trees of Earth.
There it listened with all its might to the dreams of the sleeping people. All night long it listened and listened. Then as the moon began to set in the dark of the western sky, the spider would hie itself back up the silver thread. Up, up, and up it would go, until it reached the moon.
There it let its friend Pan know the news it had heard in the dreams of the sleeping people. And so … though forever set apart from the world of humankind … the sorcerer might yet learn of their nightly dreams.
Image: “Pan Twardowski,” by Włodzimierz Tetmajer, 1923 … in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_Twardowski_(Rydel)_rys.1.jpg … public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1926 … DESCRIPTION: Effected by Alice B. Clagett
Image: “Pan Twardowski,” by Włodzimierz Tetmajer, 1923 … in Wikimedia Commons … https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pan_Twardowski_(Rydel)_rys.1.jpg … public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1926 … DESCRIPTION: Effected by Alice B. Clagett
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In love, light and joy,
I Am of the Stars
See also … Link: “Pan Twardowski,” in Wikimedia Commons … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Twardowski ..
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Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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black magicians, deals with the devil, spiritual adepts, legends, stories, stories by Alice,
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