Previous
Adam Young/The Antichrist
Anathema is a young witch, a descendent of the 17th-century witch and prophet Agnes Nutter. She’s described as sensible and pretty. Anathema has spent her life immersed in Agnes’s book, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch—she and her family members have all dedicated their lives to decoding Agnes’s predictions, especially as they pertain to Armageddon (the end of the world). Anathema’s role is especially important: if she can correctly interpret Agnes’s predictions, she might be able to prevent doomsday. In the weeks before Armageddon, Anathema rents a cottage in Tadfield, which Agnes predicted would be the epicenter for Armageddon. This seems unreal to Anathema, as even though her readings suggest that Armageddon is getting closer to Tadfield, she also senses an overwhelming feeling of love in the village. A few days before Armageddon, she loses Agnes’s book when she accidentally leaves it in Crowley’s Bentley after he crashes into her and gives her a ride home. The following day, she meets Adam—though she’s unable to identify him as the Antichrist. Flattered by his interest in the occult, she sends Adam home with a stack of New Aquarian Digest, a magazine that one of her friends edits. She doesn’t realize that the conspiracy theories and environmental ideals the magazine supports will become the blueprint for how Adam will start to change the world once Armageddon begins. Even without The Book, Anathema is well-prepared for Armageddon thanks to an extensive card catalogue of Agnes’s prophecies that her relatives put together. Thus, she’s ready when a witch-hunter Newt shows up to investigate strange weather in Tadfield, and she coaches him through what they must do to prevent Armageddon. The novel implies that after Armageddon is averted, Anathema and Newt will eventually get married—a package arrives the next day addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Pulsifer. It contains Agnes’s next book of prophecies, but Newt convinces Anathema to free herself and leave the book alone.
Anathema Device Quotes in Good Omens
The Good Omens quotes below are all either spoken by Anathema Device or refer to Anathema Device. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Saturday Quotes
“You see, it’s not enough to know what the future is. You have to know what it means. Agnes was like someone looking at a huge picture down a tiny little tube. She wrote down what seemed like good advice based on what she understood of the tiny little glimpses.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
1111. An the Great Hound sharl coom, and the Two Powers sharl watch in Vane, for it Goeth where is its Master, where they Wot Notte, and he sharl name it, True to Ittes Nature, and Hell sharl flee it.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Good Omens LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Anathema Device Character Timeline in Good Omens
The timeline below shows where the character Anathema Device appears in Good Omens. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Eleven Years Ago
Meanwhile, eight-and-a-half-year-old Anathema Device reads from The Book. It’s not a children’s book, and it has few pictures...
(full context)
Wednesday
...it has a hazel twig strapped on top, crystal pendulums, and Celtic runes. The woman, Anathema Device, wears a sensible cloak and is a sensible person—so she carries a bread knife...
(full context)
Anathema continues to remark on her bike’s new features as Crowley drives slowly down the road,...
(full context)
...Aziraphale opens it up, bells ring in his head—he realizes that it must’ve belonged to Anathema and is glad that Crowley can’t see his face. Crowley refuses to return the book...
(full context)
Meanwhile, Anathema tries everything she can to find The Book, but she can’t—she realizes that she left...
(full context)
Thursday
...Cottage and that someone is crying. He hesitates and then peers over the hedge at Anathema, who’s young and without warts—so she’s clearly not a witch.
(full context)
To Anathema, Adam looks like a Greek god or a Biblical illustration, aside from the grubby sneakers....
(full context)
Anathema explains to Adam that the book is called The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes...
(full context)
In Jasmine Cottage, Anathema tells Adam what the devices on her table are. Adam is enthralled. His family isn’t...
(full context)
Friday
People have spent centuries trying to make sense of Agnes Nutter’s prophecies. Anathema has, thus far, done the best, but none of those people were angels. Aziraphale is...
(full context)
Over lunch, Anathema pores over her maps—Tadfield is brimming with shifting ley-lines. On the radio, a BBC reporter...
(full context)
Saturday
...the car and decide to bring him down the road to the Jasmine Cottage. Here, Anathema is already ready with first-aid items. Newt isn’t what she’d hoped for: he’s tall with...
(full context)
Anathema steps into Newt’s sight and says that she’s never met a witch-finder before. Embarrassed to...
(full context)
Newt isn’t willing to believe what Anathema is telling him. He looks back at the card she gave him: on one side...
(full context)
Anathema continues that Agnes was pretty good about predicting things relating to her descendants. Agnes thought...
(full context)
Relaxing, Newt asks if he told Anathema about the Tibetan. She’s unsurprised—two came out in her front lawn yesterday, confused as to...
(full context)
While this is going on, Anathema patiently explains to Newt that Agnes didn’t see the future; she was remembering it, albeit...
(full context)
...attractive woman who doesn’t hate him. He suggests that they go for a walk, but Anathema insists that there’s something affecting the area around Tadfield. She tells Newt that she can’t...
(full context)
Suddenly, the windows of Jasmine Cottage shatter. Newt and Anathema cling to each other, and Newt asks what’s supposed to happen next. Anathema offers him...
(full context)
Meanwhile, as Anathema gets up to shower, Newt tells her that the sex was wonderful. When Anathema comes...
(full context)
...the coldest shower of his life, and when he gets out, the sky is red. Anathema interrupts Newt’s manic muttering to ask if he thinks the sky is blood-colored, but Newt...
(full context)
As Newt drives the Wasabi toward the air base, Anathema moans that she won’t be able to sort the cards out now that they’ve fallen...
(full context)
Newt tells Anathema to pick a card. The card reads, “Behinde the eagle’s neste a grate ash hath...
(full context)
...fence is perplexed by Newt’s identification card. Suddenly, he feels something pressing into his back. Anathema tells him to drop his gun, hoping that he listens—if he doesn’t, he’ll find out...
(full context)
...seem to have “ill-fitting bodies.” Only Death hasn’t changed. As the Four leave the building, Anathema and Newt notice their strange appearance. Anathema and Newt have been hiding in the building...
(full context)
Anathema looks around at the rows of metal cabinets; the machinery doesn’t look like it’ll allow...
(full context)
Meanwhile, Newt stares at the electronics. Anathema suggests they consult Agnes’s prophecies, but Newt bitterly points out that a 17th-century witch won’t...
(full context)
...suggests that it won’t make a difference. Aziraphale agrees—he thinks that his people want Armageddon. Anathema asks what’s going on, but as Aziraphale starts to explain, lightning flashes near Adam. The...
(full context)
Anathema cries that Adam should use this opportunity to do some good in the world, like...
(full context)
...He asks who they’re fighting, and Aziraphale replies that they’re killing the Devil. Newt and Anathema watch the three of them walk forward. Aziraphale and Crowley’s coats split, revealing their wings...
(full context)
Sunday (The first day of the rest of their lives.)
...sound of the paperboy dropping three stacks of Sunday papers on the steps. He lets Anathema sleep—she needs her rest now that there are no more prophecies to attend to. The...
(full context)
...out a few letters of the title, and he can’t quite remember how he and Anathema got it. He remembers a man in sunglasses and grubby boys—and somehow, the Wasabi now...
(full context)
...encounter if the reader doesn’t put the box back. Under the letters is a manuscript. Anathema appears in the doorway and pulls out Further Nife and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter,...
(full context)
