Those who assert that wine should be condemned on account of the evil disposition, and the irrational behavior which it causes drunkards to exhibit, and who think that its use as a beverage should be prevented for this reason, attempt to render something wicked which, in itself, is not of that character. But remembering that one of the laws promulgated by the ancient legislators, which sometimes punishes enchantments because it regards them as crimes, and again, on the contrary, authorizes and approves them on the ground that they are not an evil, taking into account the intentions of those who practice such arts, even though by their very nature they are vicious, and, as it were, reeking with filth and stench, I would not say that the said legislators are worthy of censure, but in order that no one may have reason to criticize this law, I am of the opinion that it ought to be repealed. For it provides that enchantments shall be punished because they are instrumental in removing all innate modesty, and are productive of an amorous fury which causes loss of reason; and, on the other hand, it approves of them because they are supposed to aid in the production of grains and fruits, and apparently supply Us with other benefits. Thus this law honors as advantageous something which it thinks should be punished as productive of injury. We, however, are convinced that enchantments of this kind are pernicious, and We cannot be induced to believe that they are productive of any advantage whatever; and, indeed, if they appear to be the source of any good (as seems to have been the opinion of those who rendered them legal), We believe that they are not an actual benefit, but merely an attractive and dangerous snare set for those to fall into whom, with the prospect of the greatest benefit, it entices to the greatest of evils. For We are aware that those who devote themselves to these matters instead of to worship of the Creator, Our Lord, invoke malevolent and cruel demons, and those who have recourse to them by means of a certain pleasant exterior, receive wounds in their souls; just as timid men who, in order to avoid a blow which threatens their hands, allow it to be inflicted on their heads or their bellies; therefore anyone who employs incantations for the restoration or preservation of his health, or for the purpose of avoiding calamities which threaten his harvests, if convicted, shall undergo the punishment of an apostate and suffer death.