Diabolical Pact

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and the Devil, by Michael Pacher.

A deal with the Devil, pact with the Devil, or Faustian bargain is a cultural motif widespread wherever the Devil is vividly present, most familiar in the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, but elemental to many Christian folktales. In the Aarne-Thompson typological catalogue, it lies in category AT 756B – "The devil's contract."

According to traditional Christian belief in witchcraft, the pact is between a person and Satan or any other demon (or demons); the person offers his or her soul in exchange for diabolical favours. Those favours vary by the tale, but tend to include youth, knowledge, wealth, or power. It was also believed that some persons made this type of pact just as a sign of recognising the Devil as their master, in exchange for nothing. Regardless, the bargain is a dangerous one, for the price of the Fiend's service is the wagerer's soul. The tale may have a moralizing end, with eternity damnation for the foolhardy venturer. Conversely it may have a comic twist, in which a wily peasant outwits the Devil, characteristically on a quibble (plot device).Among the credulous, any apparently superhuman achievement might be credited to a pact with the Devil, from the numerous European Devil's Bridge to the superb violin technique (now attributed in part to Marfan syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) of Niccolò Paganini.

Overview

It was usually thought that the person who had made a pact also promised the demon to kill children or consecrate them to the Devil at the moment of birth (many midwife were accused of this, due to the number of children that died at birth in the Middle Age and Renaissance), take part in Sabbath (witchcraft), have sexual intercourse with demons, and sometimes engender children from an incubus (demon), or succubus in the case of men.

The pact can be oral or written. An oral pact is made by means of invocations, conjurations, or rituals to attract the demon; once the conjurer thinks the demon is present, he/she asks for the wanted favour and offers his/her soul in exchange, and no evidence is left of the pact; but according to some witch trials and inquisitions that were performed, even the oral pact left evidence, namely the diabolical mark, an indelible mark that could be used as a proof to determine that the pact was made. A written pact consists in the same forms of attracting the demon, but includes a written act, usually signed with the conjurer's blood (although sometimes was also alleged that the whole act had to be written with blood, meanwhile some demonologist defended the idea of using red ink instead of blood and others suggested the use of animal blood instead of human blood).

These acts were presented often as a proof of diabolical pacts, though critics claim there is no proof of whether they were authentic, written by insanity persons believing they were actually dealing with a demon or just were fake acts presented by the tribunals of the Inquisition. Usually the acts included strange characters that were said to be the signature of a demon, and each one had his own signature or seal. Books like The Lesser Key of Solomon (also known as Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis) give a detailed list of these signs, known as Diabolical signature.

According to demonology, there is a specific month, day of the week, and hour to call each demon, so the invocation for a pact has to be done at the right time. Also, as each demon has a specific function, a certain demon is invoked depending on what the conjurer is going to ask.

Theophilus, servant of two masters The predecessor of Faustus in Christian mythology is Theophilus ("Friend of God" or "Beloved of god") the unhappy and despairing cleric, disappointed in his worldly career by his bishop, who sells his soul to the Devil but is redeemed by the Virgin Mary.P.M. Palmer and R.P. More, The sources of the Faust tradition from Simon Magus to Lessing, (New York) 1936. His story appears in a Greek version of the sixth century written by a "Eutychianus" who claims to have been a member of the household in question. A ninth-century Miraculum Sancte Marie de Theophilo penitente inserts a Jew as intermediary with diabolus, his "patron", providing the prototype of a closely-linked series in the Latin literature of the West.Representative examples of the Latin tradition were analysed by Moshe Lazar, "Theophilus: Servant of Two Masters. The Pre-Faustian Theme of Despair and Revolt" in Modern Language Notes 87.6, (Nathan Edelman Memorial Issue November 1972) pp 31-50. In the tenth century, the poet nun Hroswitha of Gandersheim adapted the text of Paulus Diaconis for a narrative poem that elaborates Theophilus' essential goodness and internalizes the forces of Good and Evil, in which the Jew is magus, a necromancer. As in her model, Theophilus receives back his contract from the Virgin, displays it to the congregation, and soon dies. A long poem on the subject by Gautier de Coincy (1177/8 – 1236), entitled Comment Theophilus vint a pénitence provided material for a thirteenth-century play by Rutebeuf, where Theophilus is the central pivot in a frieze of five characters, the Virgin and the Bishop flanking him on the side of Good, the Jew and the Devil on the side of Evil.

Alleged diabolical pacts in history Musicians

Niccolò Paganini, Italian violinist, who may not have started the rumour but played along with it.
Tommy Johnson, blues musician, who claimed to have met with Satan at the crossroads and signed over his soul to play the blues.
Robert Johnson (musician), blues musician, who likely cribbed the same story from Tommy Johnson.

Non-Musicians

Urbain Grandier A notorious case of a diabolical pact was the one that cost Urbain Grandier his life. One of the pacts was redacted in Latin; the other is written in abbreviated, backwards Latin (which is readable when reversed), and signed by several "demons", one of them Satan, whose name was clearly written "Satanas" (see the article on Urbain Grandier for the original pact).
Gilles de Rais (executed)

Diabolical pacts in fiction In print

The Malleus Maleficarum has plenty of allusions to these pacts, especially concerning women. It was considered that all witches and warlocks had made a pact with some demon, especially with Satan.
In many variants of the Aarne-Thompson type 361, of which Bearskin (fairy tale) is an instance, the hero escapes, but the devil still comes off the better: the heroine's sisters have killed themselves, and he has gained two souls instead of one.
The story of Theophilus of Adana, a saint who made a deal with the devil, predates the Faust legend and is a likely partial inspiration.
The compact between human hubris and diabolical intelligence raises the old tale to its cultural peak in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1.
Doctor Faustus. Thomas Mann.

Other works depicting deals with the Devil include:

The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe.
Goethe's Faust, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Faust (opera), opera by Charles Gounod.
Mefistofele, opera by Arrigo Boito.
Mephisto (novel), novel by Klaus Mann
The Master and Margarita, novel by Mikhail Bulgakov
"The Devil and Tom Walker", a short story by Washington Irving
"The Devil and Daniel Webster (short story)", short story based off of the Washington Irving story; by Stephen Vincent Benét.
"Pan Twardowski", poem by Adam Mickiewicz
"Gimmicks Three", by Isaac Asimov
"That Hell-Bound Train", by Robert Bloch
Rosemary's Baby, novel by Ira Levin
Jack Faust, novel by Michael Swanwick
Damn Yankees, musical theatre production and film by George Abbott and Stanley Donen
"The Bet", by Anton Chekhov

In film

The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941 film) (1941)
Bedazzled (1967 film) (1967)
Rosemary's Baby (film) (1968)
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Crossroads (1986 film) (1986)
Angel Heart (1987)
The Little Mermaid (1989 film) (1989)
Spawn (film) (1997)
Bedazzled (2000 film) (2000)
Ghost Rider (film) (2007)

In music

"Devil Went Down to Georgia" by The Charlie Daniels Band, a song about a fiddle contest between the Devil and boy named Johnny from Georgia.
"Friend of the Devil" by The Grateful Dead
"Deal with the Devil" by Mötley Crüe
"In the Presence of Enemies" by Dream Theater
"Cross Road Blues" by Robert Johnson
"Deal with the Devil" by Judas Priest

In television

The Collector (TV series), about a former monk who sold his soul to the Devil in the 1300s.
Multiple episodes of The Twilight Zone involved sales of character's souls to the devil or to demons.
In The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror IV", Homer makes a pact with the devil for a donut.
The TV series G vs E featured several people who made deals with the forces of evil. These people were known collectively as "Faustians".
In Supernatural (TV series) episode "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part 2", Dean makes a pact with the red-eyed Demon to resuscitate his brother.
In Metalocalypse episode "Bluesklok", the band is told to make a deal with the devil to get blues-playing skill.
In the Futurama episode "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings", Fry makes a deal with the Robot Devil and they trade hands so Fry can play the holophonor. The Robot devil asks for nothing in return apparently just hoping to use the deal as an excuse to torment an innocent robot.
In Reaper (TV Series), about a young man, Sam Oliver, whose parents sold his soul to the Devil to save the father from a serious illness. He must work as Satan's bounty hunter, or his mother's soul is forfeit.