In 1566 Conrad Platz, a preacher in the town of Biberach, attacked the activities of a local exorcist as an example of magic “on the left side.” Post-reformation Germany seemed overrun with supernatural beings (angels, demons, spirits, the dead) that were mentioned in the Bible. In the absence of the old comforting rituals, the people turned to forms of popular magic for protection. It was a golden time for purveyors of spells and charms, soothsayers, diviners, specialists such as swine and cattle doctors. They were asked to perform counter-magic against bewitchment, to heal, to protect, to cast spells, or to find stolen objects.