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Her business as a fortune teller gradually developed into a business of professional [[black magic]]. During her activity as a fortune teller, she noticed similarities among her clients' wishes about their future: almost all wanted to have someone fall in love with them, that someone would die so that they might inherit, or that their spouses would die so that they might marry someone else. | Her business as a fortune teller gradually developed into a business of professional [[black magic]]. During her activity as a fortune teller, she noticed similarities among her clients' wishes about their future: almost all wanted to have someone fall in love with them, that someone would die so that they might inherit, or that their spouses would die so that they might marry someone else. | ||
La Voisin decided to profit financially from her clients' wishes by offering [[ritual magic|magic services]] to make their wishes come true. Initially, she told her clients that their wish would come true if it was also the will of [[Yahweh|God]]. Later, she started to recommend to her clients some action that would make their dreams come true. These actions were initially to visit the church of some particular saint; then she started to sell | La Voisin decided to profit financially from her clients' wishes by offering [[ritual magic|magic services]] to make their wishes come true. Initially, she told her clients that their wish would come true if it was also the will of [[Yahweh|God]]. Later, she started to recommend to her clients some action that would make their dreams come true. These actions were initially to visit the church of some particular saint; then she started to sell [[amulet]]s, and gradually, she recommended more and more alleged magical objects or rituals of various kinds. | ||
For those clients who wished for someone to fall in love with them, she manufactured love powders: the bones of toads, the teeth of moles, Spanish fly, iron filings, human blood and mummy, and the dust of human remains were among the alleged ingredients of the love powders concocted by La Voisin. | For those clients who wished for someone to fall in love with them, she manufactured love powders: the bones of toads, the teeth of moles, Spanish fly, iron filings, human blood and mummy, and the dust of human remains were among the alleged ingredients of the love powders concocted by La Voisin. | ||
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===Black Masses=== | ===Black Masses=== | ||
[[File:La Voisin Black Mass.jpg|400px|thumb|The Guibourg Mass by Henry de Malvost]] | [[File:La Voisin Black Mass.jpg|400px|thumb|The Guibourg Mass by Henry de Malvost]] | ||
Finally, her most radical and expensive recommended practices were the [[Black Mass]], which she arranged for clients for profit, during which the client could pray to Satan for their wish to come true. During some of these masses, a woman performed as an altar, upon which a bowl was placed: a baby was held above the bowl, and the blood from it was poured into the bowl. Whether the baby in question was actually killed on this occasion, or whether the baby was already dead by natural causes, such as being stillborn, could vary. | Finally, her most radical and expensive recommended practices were the [[Black Mass]], which she arranged for clients for profit, during which the client could pray to [[Satan]], and other [[demon]]s, for their wish to come true. During some of these masses, a naked woman performed as an altar, upon which a bowl was placed: a baby was held above the bowl, and the blood from it was poured into the bowl. Whether the baby in question was actually killed on this occasion, or whether the baby was already dead by natural causes, such as being stillborn, could vary. These rituals typically included [[sex magic]]. | ||
She had several associates working for her arranging and participating in her professional magic services, notably Adam Lesage, who performed alleged magical tasks; and the priest Étienne Guibourg and abbé Mariotte, who officiated at the Black Masses. | She had several associates working for her arranging and participating in her professional magic services, notably Adam Lesage, who performed alleged magical tasks; and the priest Étienne Guibourg and abbé Mariotte, who officiated at the Black Masses. | ||
==Poisoner== | ==Poisoner== | ||
La Voisin took the step from creating magical potions, | La Voisin took the step from creating magical potions, [[amulet]]s, and [[ritual magic|rituals]], to selling aphrodisiacs to those who wished for someone to fall in love with them, and fatal poison was given to those who wished for someone to die. The art of poisoning had become a regular science at the time, having been perfected, in part, by Giulia Tofana, a professional female poisoner in Italy, only a few decades before La Voisin. La Voisin provided a large variety of poisons for her clients and had a network of poison providers working for her, notably the apothecary Catherine Trianon. | ||
On 12 March 1679, La Voisin was arrested outside Notre-Dame de Bonne-Nouvelle after having heard mass, just before her meeting with Catherine Trianon. In April 1679, a commission appointed to inquire into the subject and to prosecute the offenders met for the first time. | On 12 March 1679, La Voisin was arrested outside Notre-Dame de Bonne-Nouvelle after having heard mass, just before her meeting with Catherine Trianon. In April 1679, a commission appointed to inquire into the subject and to prosecute the offenders met for the first time. | ||