Ever been to an honest-to-goodness Catholic Mass? Well, you shouldâ??especially now that it's Halloween season. The amount of incantations, candles, robes, and terrifying imagery at your local Mass will put any haunted house to shame. But it's nothing compared to the old-timey Masses that were the norm before the Second Vatican Council of 1962. Before that mini-reformation, Masses were done entirely in Latin, and the priest would face away from the congregation as he spoke toward the altar. Imagine a cloaked old man mumbling all sorts of weird nonsense into a wall as smoke from nearby candles slowly curls around the whole scene. Just gave myself the heebie -jeebies.
But why turn away from the congregation? Why all the secrecy? Because that's how magic works.
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