Note 321 — Chapter III · THE ORIGIN OF GNOSTICISM
Reading edition
The use of ointment for magical purposes is well known, and it was the incautious use of an ointment of this kind which changed Lucius, the hero of Apuleius’ romance, into an ass. The use of ointments which had the property of translating the user to the Witches’ Sabbath frequently occurs in the witch-trials of the Renaissance, and it has been suggested that drugs producing hallucinations were thus applied. The word κοινή often found in these spells seems to point to some ointment or preparation used in all the magic ceremonies described.