I saw this phrase on another thread. Apparently a Britishism but I haven’t a clue to the meaning.
It was a play by one John Van Druten back in the 1950s.
A play about:
Witchcraft.
woo woo . . . .
for more information:
http://www.paganpath.com/bellbk.html
“Bell, Book and Candle” usually refers to the rite of excommunication within the Catholic Church. Other references derive from that. Cecil did something on this:
The Master has addressed the formal rite of excommunication, here (at the end of the article):
Apologies, jmullaney, it was I who used the phrase in the other thread (concerning possession of cannabis) as a silly joke about exorcism in cases of “possession” by the devil. Still, it seems as though explanations have been made already, for which I am glad, as it must have looked very strange in the context! General Questions is pretty impressive.