The Pale Horse

One reason the ritual at the Pale Horse is so effective is that it uses both witchcraft and machinery. Not only is the séance carried out with Bella’s chanting and animal sacrifice, but a strange electric contraption is set aglow. If only one method was employed, then the clientele would be halved; but with the use of both kinds of operation, the effect is all the greater. At the end of the ritual, Thyrza remarks: “The old magic and the new. The old knowledge of belief, the new knowledge of science. Together, they will prevail” (192). Thyrza synthesizes the two approaches as though using both is the most effective way of achieving their nefarious ends.

Once the mystery is solved, however, Mark notes that even if the ritual was all a sham, the use of both methods was still necessary to have the desired effect on the witness: “The trance and the white cocks and the brazier and the pentagrams and the voodoo and the reversed crucifix—all that was for the crudely superstitious… the famous ‘box’ was another bit of hooey for the contemporary-minded” (239). Even if it was a sham, however, Mark proves himself to be open-minded and humble about the limits of his knowledge.