And never think that a poor old woman can alter supernaturally the notable course which God hath appointed among his creatures If it had heen Gods pleasure to have permitted such a course he would no doubt have both given notice in his word that he had given such power unto them and also would have taught remedies to have prevented them Furthermore if you will know assured means and infallible Charms yielding indeed undoubted remedies and preventing all manner of Witchcrafts and also the assaults of wicked Spirits then despise first all cosening knavery of Priests Witches and coseners and with true faith read the sixt chapter of St. Paul to the Ephesians and follow his counsel which is ministred unto you in the words following deserving worthily to be called by the name ensuing The Charm of Charms FInally my Brethren be strong the Lord and in the power of his might Put on the whole armour of God that you may stand against the assaults of the Devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against Principalities and Powers and against worldly Governours the Princes of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickednesses which are in the high places For this cause take unto you the whole armour of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day and having finished all things stand fast Stand therefore having your loins girded about with verity and having on the brestplate of righteousness c. as followeth in that Chapter verses 15 16 17 18. 1 Thess 5. 1 Pet. 5. Vers 8. Ephes 1. and else-where in the holy Scripture Otherwise IF you be unlearned and want the comfort of friends repair to some learned godly and discreet Preacher If otherwise need require go to a learned Physitian who by learning and experience knoweth and can discern the difference signs and causes of such diseases as faithless men and unskilful Physitians impute to Witchcraft CHAP. XXIII A Confutation of the force and vertue falsely ascribed to Charms and Amulets by the Authorities of ancient Writers both Divines and Physitians MY meaning is not that these words in the bare letter can do any thing towards your ease or comfort in this behalf or that it were wholesome for your body or soul to wear them about your neck for then would I wish you to wear the whole Bible which must needs be more effectual than any one parcel thereof But I find not that the Apostles or any of them in the Primitive Church either carryed St. John's Gospel or any Agnus Die about them to the end they might be preserved from bugs neither that they looked into the four corners of the house or else on the roof or under the threshold to find matter of Witchcraft and so to burn it to be freed from the same according to the Popish rules Neither did they by such and such Verses or Prayers made unto Saints at such or such hours seek to obtain grace neither spake they of any old Women that used such Trades Neither did Christ at any time use or command holy Water or Crosses c. to be used as terrours against the Devil who was not affraid to assault himself when he was on Earth And therefore a very vain thing it is to think that he feareth these trifles or any external matter Let us then cast away these prophane and old Wives Fables For as Origen saith Incatationes sunt Demonum irrisiones idololatriae fex animarum infatuatio c. Incantations are the Devils sport the dregs of Idolatry the besotting of souls c. Chrysostome saith there be some that carry about their necks a piece of a Gospel But is it not daily read saith he and heard of all men But if they be never the better for it being put into their ears hour shall they be saved by carrying it about their necks And further he saith Where is the vertue of the Gospel In the figure of the letter or in the understanding of the sense If in the figure thou dost well to wear it about thy neck but if in the understanding then thou shouldst lay it up in thine heart Augustine saith Let the faithful Ministers admonish and tell their people that these Magical Arts and Incantations do bring no remedy to the Infirmities either of Men or Cattel c. The Heathen Philosophers shall at the last day confound the infidelity and barbarous foolishness of our Christian or rather Antichristian or prophane Witchmongers For as Aristrtle saith that Incantamenta sunt muliercularum figmenta Inchantments are womens figments So doth Socrates who was said to be cunning herein affirm that Incantationes sunt verba animas decipientia humanas Incantations are words deceiving humane souls Others say Inscitia pallium sunt carmina maleficium Incantatio The cloak of Ignorance are Charms Witchery and Incantation Galen also saith that such as impute the Falling-evil and such like diseases to divine matter and not rather to natural causes are Witches Conjurers c. Hippocrates calleth them arrogant and in another place affirming that in his time there were many deceivers and coseners that would undertake to cure the Falling-evil c. by the power and help of Devils by burying some Lots or Inchantments in the ground or casting them into the Sea concludeth thus in their credit that they are all Knaves and Coseners for God is our only defender and deliverer O notable sentence of a Heathen Philosopher BOOK XIII CHAP. I. The signification of the Hebrew word Hartumim where it is found written in the Scriptures and how it is diversly translated whereby the Objection Pharaohs Magicians is afterward answered in this Book also of Natural Magick not evil in it self HArtumim is no natural Hebrew word but is borrowed of some other Nation howbeit it is used of the Hebrews in these places to wit Gen. 4.1.8.24 Exod. 7.13 24. 8.7.18 9.11 Dan. 1.20 2.2 Hierome sometimes translateth it Conjectores sometimes Malefici sometimes Arioli which we for the most part translate by this word Witches But the right signification hereof may be conceived in that the Inchanters of Pharaoh being Magicians of Aegypt were called Hartumim And yet in Exodus they are named in some Latine Translations Venefici Rabbi Levi saith it betokeneth such as do strange and wonderful things naturally artificially and deceitfully Rabbi Isaac Natar affirmeth that such were so termed as amongst the Gentiles professed singular wisdom Aben Ezra expoundeth it to signifie such as know the secrets of Nature and the quality of Stones and Hearbs c. which is attained unto by Art and specially by Natural Magick But we either for want of speech or knowledge call them all by the name and term of Witches Certainly God endueth bodies with wonderful graces the perfect knowledge whereof man hath not reached unto and on the one side there is amongst them such mutual love society and consent and
Prophet to wit I will cause the Prophets and unclean spirits to depart out of the land and when any shall yet Prophesie his parents shall say to him Thou shalt not live for thou speakest lyes in the name of the Lord and his Parents shall thrust him through when he Prophesieth c. No no the foretelling of things to come is the only work of God who disposeth all things sweetly of whose counsel there hath never yet been any man And to know our labours the times and moments God hath placed in his own power Also Phavorinus saith That if these cold Prophets or Oraclers tell thee of prosperity and deceive thee thou art made a miser through vain expectation if they tell thee of adversity c. and lye thou art made a miser through vain fear And therefore I say we may as well look to hear Prophesies at the Tabernacle in the bush of the Cherubin among the clouds from the Angels within the Ark or out of the flame c. as to expect an oracle of a Prophet in these dayes But put the case that one in our Common-wealth should step up and say he were a Prophet as many frantick persons do who would believe him or not think rather that he were a lewd person See the Statutes Eliz. 5. whether there be not laws made against them condemning their arrogancy and cosenage so also the canon laws to the same effect Chap. III. That Oracles are ceased TOuching Oracles which for the most part were Idols of silver gold wood stones c. within whose bodies some say unclean spirits hid themselves and gave answers as others say that exhalations rising out of the ground inspire their minds whereby their Priests gave out Oracles so as spirits and winds rose up out of that soil and indued those men with the gift of Prophesie of things to come though in truth they were all devices to cosen the people and for the profit of Priests who received the Idols answers over night and delivered them back to the idolaters the next morning you shall understand that although it had been so as it is supposed yet by the reasons and proofs before rehearsed they should now cease and whatsoever hath affinity with such miraculous actions as Witchcraft Conjuration c. is knocked on the head and nailed on the cross with Christ who hath broken the power of Devils and satisfied Gods justice who also hath troden them under his feet and subdued them c. At whose coming the Prophet Zachary saith That the Lord will cut the names of Idols out of the Land and they shall be no more remembred and he will then cause the Prophets and unclean spirits to depart out of the land It is also written I will cut off thine Inchanters out of thine hand and than shalt have no more Soothsayers And indeed the Gospel of Christ hath so laid open their knavery c. that since the preaching thereof their combes are cut and few that are wise regard them And if ever these Prophesies came to take effect it must be upon the coming of Christ whereat you see the Devils were troubled and fainted when they met him saying or rather exclaming upon him on this wise Fili Dei cur venisti nos cruciare ante tempus O thou Son of God why comest thou to molest us or confound us before our time appointed which he indeed prevented and now remaineth he our defender and keeper from his claws So as now you see here is no room left for such guests Howbeit you shall hear the opinion of others that have been as much deceived as your selves in this matter and yet are driven to confess that God hath constituted his Son to beat down the power of Devils and to satisfie Gods justice and to heal our wound received by the fall of Adam according to Gods promise in Genesis 3. The seed of the woman shall tread down the serpent or the Devil Eusebius in his first book De praedicatione Evangelii the title whereof is this That the power of Devils is taken away by the coming of Christ saith All answers made by Devils all Soothsayings and Divinations of men are gone and vanished away Item he citeth Porphyry in his book against Christian Religion wherein these words are rehearsed It is no marvel though the Plague be so hot in this City for ever since Jesus hath been worshipped we can obtain nothing that good is at the hands of our Gods And of this defection and ceasing of Oracles writeth Cicero long before and that to have happened also before his time Howbeit Chrysostome living lone since Cicero saith That Apollo was forced to grant that so long as any relike of a Martyr was held to his nose he could not make any answer or Oracle So as one may perceive that the Heathen were wiser in this behalf then many Christians who in times past were called Oppugnatores incantamentorum as the English Princes are called Defensores fidei Plutarch calleth Boeotia as we call bablers by the name of Many words because of the multitude of Oracles there which now saith he are like to a spring or fountain which is dryed up If any one remained I would ride five hundred miles to see it but in the whole world there is not one to be seen at this hour Popish cosenages excepted But Plutarch saith That the cause of this defection of Oracles was the Devils death whose life he held to be determinable and mortal saying they dyed for very age and that the divining Priests were blown up with a Whirle-winde and sunk with an earthquake Others imputed it to be the sight of the place of the Planets which when they passed over them carryed away that art with them and by revolution may return c. Eusebius also citeth out of him the story of Pan which because it is to this purpose I will insert the same and since it mentioneth the Devils death you may believe it if you list for I will not as being assured that he is reserved alive to punish the wicked and such as impute unto those Idols the power of Almighty God CHAP. IV. A tale written by many grave Authors and believed by many wise men of the Devils death Another story written by Papists and believed of all Catholicks approving the Devils honestly conscience and courtesie PLutarch saith That his Countreyman Epitherses told him that as he passed by Sea into Italy many passengers being in his boat in an evening when they were about the Islands Echinadae the wind quite ceased and the ship driving with the tide was brought at last to Pax and whilest some slept and others quaft and othersome were awake perhaps in as ill case as the rest after supper suddainly a voyce was heard calling Thamus in such sort as every man marvelled This Thamus was a Pilot born in Aegypt unknown to many that were in the ship wherefore being
as one that of late hath written against Prophesies saith It is no marvel that when the familiars that speak in trunks were repelled from their harbour for fear of discovery the blocks almighty lost their senses for these are all gone now and their knavery is espyed so as they can no longer abuse the world with such bables But whereas these great Doctors suppose that the cause of their dispatch was the coming of Christ if they mean that the Devil dyed so soon as He was born or that then he gave over his occupation they are deceived For the Popish Church hath made a continual practice hereof partly for their own private profit lucre and gain and partly to be had in estimation of the World and in admiration among the simple But indeed men that have learned Christ and been conversant in his Word have discovered and shaken off the vanity and abomination hereof But if those Doctors had lived till this day they would have said and written that Oracles had ceased or rather been driven out of England in the time of King Henry the Eight and of Queen Elizabeth his Daughter who have done so much in that behalf as at this hour they are not only all gone but forgotten here in this English Nation where they swarmed as thick as they did in Boeotia or in any other place in the world But the credit they had depended not upon their desert but upon the credulity of others Now therefore I will conclude and make an end of this matter with the opinion and saying of the Prophet Vain is the answer of Idols For they have eyes and see not ears and hear not mouths and speak not c. and Let them shew what is to come and I will say they are gods indeed BOOK IX CHAP. I. The Hebrew word Kasam expounded and how far a Christian may conjecture of things to come KAsam as John Wierius upon his own knowledge affirmeth and upon the word of Andraeas Masius reporteth differeth little in signification from the former word Ob betokening Viticinari which is To Prophesie and is most commonly taken in evill part as in Deut. 18. Jerem. 27. c. howbeit sometime in good part as in Isa 3.2 To foretell things to come upon probable conjectures so as therein we reach no further then becometh humane capacity is not in mine opinion unlawful but rather a commendable manifestation of Wisdome and Judgement the good gifts and noble blessings of GOD for the which we ought to be thankful as also to yield due honour and prayse unto him for the noble order which he hath appointed in nature praying him to lighten our hearts with the beams of his wisdome that we may more and more profit in the true knowledge of the workmanship of his hands But some are so nice that they condemn generally all sorts of Divinations denying those things that in nature have manifest causes and are so framed as they foreshew things to come and in that shew admonish us of things after to insue exhibiting signs of unknown and future matters to be judged upon by the order law and course of nature proposed unto us by God And some on the other side are so bewitched with folly as they attribute to creatures that estimation which rightly and truly appertaineth to God the Creator of all things affirming That the publick and private destinies of all humane matters and whatsoever a man would know of things come or gone is manifested to us in the heavens so as by the Stars and Planets all things might be known These would also that nothing should be taken in hand or gone about without the favourable aspect of the Planets By which and other the like devices they deprave and prophane the ancient and commendable observations of our fore-fathers as did Colebrasus who taught That all mans life was governed by the seven Planets and yet a Christian and condemned for Heresie But let us so far forth embrace and allow this Philosophy and Prophesying as the Word of God giveth us leave and commendeth the same unto us CHAP. II. Proofes by the old and new Testament that certain observations of the Weather are lawful WHen God by his Word and Wisdom had made the Heavens and placed the Stars in the firmament he said Let them be for signs and for seasons and for dayes and years When he created the rainbow in the clouds he said it should be for a sign and token unto us Which we find true not only of the flood past but also of the showres to come And therefore according to Jesus Sirachs advice Let us behold it and prayse him that made it The Prophet David saith The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth sheweth his handy work day unto day uttereth the same and night unto night teacheth knowledge It is also written That by the commandement of the the holy one the Stars are placed and continue in their order and fail not in their watch It should appear that Christ himself did not altogether neglect the course and order of the heavens in that he said When you see a cloud rise out of the west straightway you say a showre cometh and so it is And when you see the southwinde blow you say it will be hot and so it cometh to pass Again When it is evening you say fair weather for the skie is red and in the morning you say today shall be a tempest for the skie is red and lowring Wherein as he noteth that these things do truly come to pass according to ancient observation and to the rule Astronomical so doth he also by other words following admonish us that in attending too much to those observations we neglect not specially to follow our Christian Vocation The Physician is commended unto as and allowed in the Scriptures but so to put trust in him as to neglect and distrust God is severely forbidden and reproved Surely it is most necessary for us to know and observe divers rules Astological otherwise we could not with opportunity dispatch our ordinary affairs And yet Lactantius condemneth and recounteth it among the number of Witchcrafts from whose censure Calvin doth not much vary The poor husbandman perceiveth that the increase of the Moon maketh Plants and living creatures fruitful so as in the Full Moon they are in best strength decaying in the wane and in the conjunction do utterly wither and fade Which when by observation use and practice they have once learned they distribute their business accordingly as their times and seasons to sow to plant to prune to let their Cattel blood to cut c. CHAP. III. That certain observations are indifferent certain ridiculous and certain impious whence that cunning is derived of Apollo and of Aruspices I Know not whether to disallow or discommend the curious observation used by our elders who conjectured upon
lunatique passion and stancheth blood Mephis as Aaron and Hermes report out of Albertus Magnus being broken into powder and drunk with water maketh insensibility of torture Hereby you may understand that as God hath bestowed upon these stones and such other like bodies most excellent and wonderful vertues so according to the abundance of humane superstitions and follies many ascribe unto them either more vertues or other than they have other boast that they are able to adde new qualities unto them And herein consisteth a part of Witchcraft and common cousenage used sometimes of the Lapidaries for gains sometimes of others for cousening purposes Some part of the vanity hereof I will here describe because the place serveth well therefore And it is not to be forgotten or omitted that Pharaohs Magicians were like enough to be cunning therein Nevertheless I will first give you the opinion of one who professed himself a very skilful and well experimented Lapidary as appeareth by a Book of his own penning published under this title of Dactylotheca and as I think to be had among the Booksellers And thus followeth his assertion Evax rex Arabum fertur scripsisse Neroni Qui post Augustum regnavit in orbe secundus Quot species lapidis quae nomina quive colores Quaeque sit his regio vel quanta potentia cuique Ocultas etenim lapidum cognoscere vires Quorum causa latens effectus dat manifestos Egregium quiddam volumus rarumque videri Silicet hinc solers medicorum cura juvatur Auxilio lapidum morbos expellere docta Nec minus inde dari cunctarum commodarerum Autores perbibent quibus haec perspecta feruntur Nec dubium cuiquam debet falsumque videri Quin sua sit gemmis divinitus insita virtus Englished by Abraham Fleming Evax an old Arabian King is named to have writ A Treatise and on Nero's grace to have bestowed it Who in the World did second raign after Augustus time Of pretious Stones the sundry sorts their names and in what clime And Countrey they were to be found their colours and their hue Their privy power and secret force the which knowledge true To understand their hidden cause most plain effects declare And this will we a noble thing have counted be and rare The skilful care of leeches learn'd is aided in this cases And hereby holpen and are taught with aid of stones to chase Away from men such sicknesses as have them in a place No less precise commodities of all things else thereby Are ministred and given to men if Authors do not lie To whom these things are said to be most manifestly known It shall no false or doubtful case appear to any one But that by heavenly influence each precious Pearl and Stone Hath in his substance fixed force and vertue largely sown Whereby it is to be concluded that Stones have in them certain proper vertues which are given them of a special influence of the Planets and a due proportion of the Elements their substance being a very fine and pure compound consisting of well tempered matter wherein is no gross mixture as appeareth by plain proof of India and Aethiopia where the Sun being orient and meridional doth more effectually shew his operation procuring more precious Stones there to be ingendered than in the Countries that are Occident and Septentrional Unto this opinion do divers ancients accord namely Alexander Peripateticus Hermes Evax Bocchos Zoroastes Isaac Judaeus Zacharias Babylonicus and many more beside CHAP. VII Whence the precious Stones receive their Operations how curious Magicians use them and of their Seals CUrious Magicians affirm that these Stones receive their vertues altogether of the Planets and heavenly bodies and have not only the very operation of the Planets but sometimes the very Images and impressions of the Stars naturally ingraffed in them and otherwise ought alwayes to have graven upon them the similitudes of such Monsters Beasts and other devices as they imagine to be both internally in operation and externally in view expressed in the Planets As for example upon the Achaete are graven Serpents or venemous Beasts and sometimes a man riding on a Serpent which they know to be Aesculapius which is the Celestial Serpent whereby are cured they say Poysons and stingings of Serpents and Scorpions These grow in the River of Achates where the greatest Scorpions are ingendred and their noisomeness is thereby qualified and by the force of the Scorpions the Stones vertue is quickened and increased Also if they would induce love for the accomplishment of Venery they inscribe and express in the Stones amiable embraceings and lovely countenances and gestures words and kissings in apt figures For the desires of the mind are consonant with the nature of the Stones which must also be set in Rings and upon Foils of such metals as have affinity with those Stones through the operations of the Planets whereunto they are addicted whereby they may gather the greater force of their working As for example They make the Images of Saturn in Lead of Sol in Gold of Luna in Silver Marry there is no small regard to be had for the certain and due times to be observed in the graving of them for so are they made with more life and the influences and configurations of the Planets are made thereby the more to abound in them As if you will procure love you must work in apt proper and friendly Aspects as in the hour of Venus c. to make debate the direct contrary order is to be taken If you determine to make the Image of Venus you must expect to be under Aquarius or Capricornus for Saturn Taurus and Libra must be taken heed of Many other observations there be as to avoid the infortunate seat and place of the Planets when you would bring a happy thing to pass and specially that it be not done in the end declination or heel as they term it of the course thereof for then the Planet mourneth and is dull Such Signs as ascend in the day must be taken in the day if in the night they increase then must you go to work by night c. For in Aries Leo and Sagittary is a certain Triplicity wherein the Sun hath dominion by day Jupiter by night and in the twilight the cold Star of Saturn But because there shall be no excuse wanting for the faults espied herein they say that the vertues of all Stones decay through tract of time so as such things are not now to be looked for in all respect as are written Howbeit Jannes and Jambres were living in that time and in no inconvenient place and therefore not unlike to have that help towards the abusing of Pharaoh Cardane saith that although men attribute no small force unto such seals as to the seal of the Sun Authorities Honours and Favours of Princes of Jupiter Riches and Friends of Venus Pleasures of Mars Boldness of Mercury
the head of an Owl with a bundle of St. John's Wort or Millies Perforatum this done he must be informed of some miserable creature that hath strangled himself in some Wood or Desart place which they seldom miss to do and while the Carcass hangs the Magitian must betake himself to the aforesaid place at 12 a clock at night and begin his Conjurations in this following manner First stretch forth the consecrated Wand towards the four corners of the World saying By the mysteries of the deep by the flames of Banal by the power of the East and the silence of the night by the holy rites of Hecate I conjure and exorcize thee thou distressed Spirit to present thy self here and reveal unto me the cause of thy Calamity why thou didst offer violence to thy own liege life where thou art now in beeing and where thou wilt hereafter be Then gently smiting the Carcase nine times with the rod say I conjure thee thou spirit of this N. deceased to answer my demands that I am to propound unto thee as thou ever hopest for the rest of the holy ones and the ease of all thy misery by the blood of Jesu which he shed for thy soul I conjure and bind thee to utter unto me what I shall ask thee Then cutting down the Carcass from the tree lay his head towards the East and in the space that this following Conjuration is repeating set a Chasing-dish of fire at his right hand into which powre a little Wine some Mastick and Gum Aromatick and lastly a viol full of the sweetest Oyl having also a pair of Bellows and some unkindled Charcole to make the fire burn bright at the instant of the Carcass's rising The Conjuration is this I conjure thee thou spirit of N. that thou do immediately enter into thy ancient body again and answer to my demands by the virtue of the holy resurrection and by the posture of the body of the Saviour of the world I charge thee I conjure thee I command thee on pain of the torments and wandring of thrice seven years which I by the power of sacred Magick rites have power to inflict upon thee by thy sighs and groans I conjure thee to utter thy voice so help thee God and the prayers of the holy Church Amen Which Conjuration being thrice repeated while the fire is burning with Mastick and Gum Aromatick the body will begin to rise and at last will stand upright before the Exorcist answering with a faint and hollow voice the questions proposed unto it Why it strangled it self where its dwelling is what its food and life is how long it will be ere it enter into rest and by what means the Magitian may assist it to come to rest Also of the treasures of this world where they are hid Moreover it can answer very punctually of the places where Ghosts reside and how to communicate with them reaching the nature of Astral Spirits and hellish beings so far as its capacity reacheth All which when the Ghost hath fully answered the Magitian ought out of commiseration and reverence to the deceased to use what means can possibly be used for the procuring rest unto the Spirit To which effect he must dig a grave and filling the same half full of quick Lime and a little Salt and common Sulphur put the Carcass naked into the same which experiment next to the burning of the body into ashes is of great force to quiet and end the disturbance of the Astral Spirit But if the Ghost with whom the Exorcist consulteth be of one that dyed the common death and obtain'd the ceremonies of burial the body must be dig'd out of the ground at 12 a clock at night and the Magician must have a companion with him who beareth a torch in his left hand and smiting the Corps thrice with the consecrated rod the Exorcist must turn himself to all the four winds saying By the virtue of the holy resurrection and the torments of the damned I conjure and exorcize thee spirit of N. deceased to answer my liege demands being obedient unto these sacred ceremonies on pain of everlasting torment and distress Then let him say Berald Beroald Balbin gab gabor agaba Arise arise I charge and command thee After which Ceremonies let him ask what he desireth and he shall be answered But as a faithful caution to the practicer of this Art I shall conclude with this That if the Magician by the Constellation and Position of the Stars at his nativity be in the predicament of those that follow Magical Arts it will be very dangerous to try this experiment for fear of suddain death ensuing which the Ghosts of men deceased can easily effect upon those whose nativities lead them to Conjuration And which suddain and violent death the Stars do alwayes promise to such as they mark with the Stigma of Magicians CHAP. III. How to raise up the three Spirits Paymon Bathin and Barma And what wonderful things may be effected through their assistance THe Spirit Paymon is of the power of the Air the sixteenth in the ranck of Thrones subordinate to Corban and Marbas Bathin is of a deeper reach in the source of the fire the second after Lucifers familiar and hath not his fellow for agility and affableness in the whole Infernal Hierarchy Barma is a mighty Potentate of the order of Seraphims whom 20 Legions of Infernal Spirits do obey his property is to metamorphose the Magician or whom he pleaseth and transport into foreign Countreys These three Spirits though of various ranks and orders are all of one power ability and nature and the form of raising them all is one Therefore the Magician that desireth to consult with either of these Spirits must appoint a night in the waxing of the Moon wherein the Planet Mercury reigns at 11 a clock at night not joyning to himself any companion because this particular action will admit of none and for the space of four dayes before the appointed night he ought every morning to shave his beard and shift himself with clean linnen providing beforehand the two Seals of the Earth drawn exactly upon parchment having also his consecrated Girdle ready of a black Cats skin with the hair on and these names written on the inner side of the Girdle Ya Ya ✚ Aie Aaie ✚ Elibra ✚ Elohim ✚ Saday ✚ Yah Adonay ✚ tuo robore ✚ Cinctus Sum ✚ Upon his Shooes must be written Tetragrammaton with crosses round about and his garment must be a Priestly Robe of black with a Friars hood and a Bible in his hand When all these things are prepared and the Exorcist hath lived chastly and retired until the appointed time Let him have ready a fair Parlour or Cellar with every chink and window closed then lighting seven Candles and drawing a double Circle with his own blood which he must have ready before hand let him divide
not blind But surely he that cannot make one hair white or black whereof on the other side not one falleth from the head without Gods special Providence can never bring to pass that the visible creature of God shall become nothing or lose the vertue and grace poured therein by God the Creator of all things If they say that the Devil covereth them with a cloud or veil as M. Mal Bodin and many other do affirm yet me thinks we should either see the cover or the thing covered And though perchance they say in their hearts Tush the Lord seeth not who indeed hath blinded them so as seeing they see not yet they shall never be able to perswade the wise but that both God and man doth see both them and their knavery in this behalf I have heard of a fool who was made believe that he should go invisible and naked while he was well whipped by them who as he thought could not see him Into which fools Paradise they say he was brought that enterprised to kill the Prince of Orenge CHAP. XXXI A Comparison between Popish Exorcists and other Conjurors a Popish Conjuration published by a great Doctor of the Romish Church his rules and cautions I See no difference between these and Popish Conjurations for they agree in order words and matter differing in no circumstance but that the Papists do it without shame openly the other do it in hugger mugger secretly The Papists I say have Officers in this behalf which are called Exorcists or Conjurors and they look narrowly to other cosenours as having gotten the upper hand over them And because the Papists shall be without excuse in this behalf and that the world may see their cosenage impiety and folly to be as great as the others I will cite one Conjuration of which sort I might cite a hundred published by Jacobus de Chusa a great Doctor of the Romish Church which serveth to find out the cause of noise and spiritual rumbling in Houses Churches or Chappels and to conjure walking Spirits which evermore is knavery and cosenage in the highest degree Mark the cosening device hereof and confer the impiety with the others First forsooth he saith it is expedient to fast three days and to celebrate a certain number of Masses and to repeat the seven Penitential Psalms then four or five Priests must be called to the place where the haunt or noise is then a Candle hallowed on Candlemas day must be lighted and in the lighting thereof also must the seven Psalms be said and the Gospel of St. John Then there must be a Cross and a Censer with Frankinsense and therewithal the place must be censed or perfumed holy Water must be sprinkled and a holy Stoal must be used and after divers other Ceremonies a Prayer to God must be made in manner and form following O Lord Jesus Christ the knower of all secrets which alwayes revealest all wholesome and profitable things to thy faithful children and which sufferest a Spirit to shew himself in this place we beseech thee for thy bitter Passion c vouchsafe to command this spirit to reveal and signifie unto us thy servants without our terrour or hurt what he is to thine honour and to his comfort In Nomine Patris c. And then proceed in these words We beseech thee for Christs sake O thou spirit that if there be any of us or among us whom thou wouldst answer name him or else manifest him by some sign Is it Fryer P. or Doctor D. or Doctor Burc or sir Feats or sir John or sir Robert Et sic de caeteris circumstantibus For it is well tryed saith the gloss he will not answer every one If the Spirit make any sound of voyce or knocking at the naming of any one he is the Cosenour the Conjuror I would say that must have the charge of this Conjuration or Examination And these forsooth must be the interrogatories to wit Whose Soul art thou Wherefore camest thou What wouldst thou have Wantest thou any Suffrages Masses or Alms How many Masses will serve thy turn three six ten twenty thirty c By what Priest Must he be religious or secular Wilt thou have any Fasts What How many How great And by what persons Among Hospitals Lepers or Beggars What shall be the sign of thy perfect deliverance Wherefore liest thou in Purgatory and such like This must be done in the night If there appear no sign at this hour it must be deferred until another hour Holy water must be left in the place There is no fear they say that such a Spirit will hurt the Conjuror for he can sin no more as being in the mean state between good and evil and as yet in the state of satisfaction If the Spirit do hurt then it is a damned soul and not an elect Every man may not be present hereat specially such as be weak of complexion They appear in divers manners not alwayes in body or bodily shape as it is read in the life of S. Martine that the Devil did but sometimes invisible as only by sound voyce or noise Thus far Jacobus de Chusa But because you shall see that these be not empty words nor slanders but that in truth such things are commonly put in practice in the Romish Church I will here set down an instance lately and truly though lewdly performed and the same in effect as followeth CHAP. XXXII A late Experiment or cosening Conjuration practised at Orleance by the Franciscan Friers how it was detected and the Judgement against the Authors of that Comedy IN the year of our Lord 1534. at Orleance in France the Maiors wife dyed willing and desiring to be buried without any pomp or noise c. Her husband who reverenced the memorial of her did even as she had willed him And because she was buryed in the Church of the Franciscans besides her Father and Grandfather and gave them in reward only six Crowns whereas they hoped for a greater prey shortly after it chanced that as he felled certain Woods and sold them they desired to give them some part thereof freely without money which he flatly denyed This they took very grievously And whereas before they misliked him now they conceived such displeasure as they devised this means to be revenged to wit that his Wife was damned for ever The chief workmen and framers of this tragedy were Colimannus and Stephanus Aterbatensis both Doctors of Divinity this Colimannus was a great Conjuror and had all his implements in a readiness which he was wont to use in such business And thus they handle the matter They place over the Arches of the Church a young novice who about midnight when they came to mumble their Prayers as they were wont to do maketh a great rumbling and noise Out of hand the Monks began to conjure and to charm but he answered nothing Then being requireed to
food is the Gas of the Water and the Blas of the Air And in their Aspects or countenances they differ as to vigour and cheerfulness They occupy various places of this world as Woods Mountains Waters Air fiery Flames Clouds Starrs Mines and hid Treasures as also antient Buildings and places of the slain Some again are familiar in Houses and do frequently converse with and appear unto mortals 15. They are capable of hunger grief passion and vexation they have not any thing in them that should bring them unto God being meerly composed of the most spiritual part of the Elements And when they are worn out they return into their proper essence or primary quality again as Ice when it is resolved into Water They meet in mighty Troops and wage warr one with another They do also procreate one another and have power sometimes to make great commotions in the Air and in the Clowds and also to cloath themselves with visible bodies out of the four Elements appearing in Companies upon Hills and Mountains and do often deceive and delude the observers of Apparitions who take such for portents of great alterations which are nothing but the sports and pastime of these frolick Spirits as Armies in the Air Troops marching on the Land noises and slaughter Tempest and Lightning c. 16. These Astral Spirits are variously to be considered some are beings separate and absolute that are not constitute to any work or service Others are subservient to the Angels that have dominion over the Influences of the Stars Others are the Astral Spirits of men departed which if the party deceased was disturbed and troubled at his decease do for many years continue in the source of this world amongst these airy Spirits to the great disquietness of the soul of the person to whom they belong Besides the causes are various that such Spirits rest not 1. When by Witchcraft they are inchanted and bound to wander so many years as thrice or fourtimes seven before they can be resolved into nothing 2. When the person hath been murthered so that the Spirit can never be at rest till the crime be discovered 3. When desires and lusts after Wife or Children House Lands or Money is very strong at their departure it is a certain truth that this same spirit belonging to the Starrs will be hanckering after these things and drawn back by the strong desires and fixation of the Imagination which is left behind it Nor can it ever be at rest till the thing be accomplished for which it is disturbed 4. When Treasure hath been hid or any secret thing hath been committed by the party there is a magical cause of something attracting the starry spirit back again to the manifestation of that thing Upon all which the following Chapters do insist more largely and particularly CHAP. II. Of the Good and Evil Daemons or Genii Whither they are what they are and how they are manifested also of their names powers faculties offices how thy are to be considered 1. ACcording to the disposition of the mind or soul there is a good or evil Daemon that accompanies the party visibly or invisibly and these are of such rancks and orders and names as the capacity of the persons soul is to whom they belong Their Office is said to be fore-warning the person of eminent danger sometimes by inward instinct sometimes by dreams in the night and sometimes by appearing outwardly The Daemon or Genius changeth its nature and power as the person changeth his and if from good the party degenerate to iniquity then by degrees the good Angel leaves him and an evil Daemon doth naturally succeed for each thing draws after that which is like it self 2. Magicians mention three several wayes of enjoying the society of the Bonus Genius first by intellectual association when secret and mental instigations do arise in their hearts to do this or that and to forbear the other as in the Manuscript of Nagar the Indian his own testimony of himself is to this effect My blessed Guardian Damilkar hath now so sweetly communicated himself unto me That by all the manifestations whereby a holy Daemon can attend and converse with mankind he appeareth unto me first in the intellectual way he is ever present and every moment prompts me what to act what to forbear from acting Ah had he not rushed up through the powers of my soul and suddenly warned me in my Travel to Quiansi in China through the airy Region to turn nimbly to the right hand at an instant a mighty Troop of Devils whose Leader was Grachnoek coming through that tract of air had crusht me into a thousand peices This is the first degree of its appearing 3. Then he proceedeth in the language of Sina describing the second way of its manifestation And when the deepest sleep hath over-poured we I am never without him sometimes my Damilkar stands before me like a glorious Virgin administring to me a Cup of the drink of the Gods which my Intellectual man exhausteth sometimes he brings caelestial Companies and danceth round about me and when after the weariness of the Senses through contemplation I fell into gentle sleep on the holy Mountain of Convocation which is called Adan he shewed me the motion of the Heavens the nature of all things and the power of every evil Daemon 4. Thirdly he continueth to describe the External appearance of the Genius to this effect Damilkar appears before me at my desire for my desires are as his desires When I slept a long space in my private dwelling he appeared outwardly and watering me with the dew of the fourth Heaven I awakned when he had thrice said Nankin Nagar so the time being come we mounted through the Air unto the holy Mountain of Convocation 5. In this Example the three degrees of the Apparition of the Bonus Genius or Good Daemon are excellently deciphered which is also the same in the appearance of the bad Genius and according to the deepest Magicians there be seven good Angels who do most frequently become particular Guardians of all others each to their respective capacities and also seven evil Daemons that are most frequent in association with depraved persons as Guardians to them 6. These are the seven good Angels or Daemons Iubanladace a mighty Prince in the Dominion of Thrones he cometh unto such as follow national affairs and are carryed forth unto warr and conquest he beareth alwayes a flaming Sword and is girded about having a helmet upon his head and appearing still before the party in the Air he must be sollicited and invocated with Chastity Vows Fumes and Prayers and this his is Character to be worn as a Lamin â— Yah-li-Yah one of the Powers accompanying such as are Virgins and devoted to Religion and a Hetmits life he teacheth all the names and powers of Angels and gives holy Charms against the assaults of Evil Daemons he
it easily be denyd That to every man and woman while they live the natural Life there belongs a Syderial or starry Spirit which takes its original wholly from the Elemental property And according to the weaker or stronger capacity of the party it hath the longer or shorter continuance after the bodyes decease 3. Such persons as are secretly murthered and such as secretly murther themselves do most frequently appear again and wander hear the place where their Carcase is till the radical moisture be totally consumed according to the opinion of Paracelsus after the consumption whereof they can re-appear no longer but are resolv'd into their first being or Astrum after a certain term of months or years according to the vigour or force of that first attraction which was the only cause of their returning 4. The manner and seasons of their appearing are various Sometimes before the person unto whom they do belong depart this life they do by external presentations forewarn him near the time that the day of death approacheth As it is reported of Codrus Laaenus to whom an empty meager Ghost appeared at midnight signifying unto him how sad and lachrymable a Tragedy was shortly to attend him and also adding that he would visit him in the Execution thereof which proved not contrary to the words of the apparition for at the very instant when his Treacherous Wife had stab'd him at the heart on a suddain he beheld the same with preparations for his interment whilst he yet survived after the fatall wound was given 5. Sometimes the starry spirit of a person appears to his beloved Companion many hundred of miles asunder who was ignorant of the death of the party And it hath often been heard that when none of the kindred or family of the said party deceased have ever been disturbed by it or in the least been sensible of its appearing yet to some of its most intimate acquaintance it discovers it self and importunes them to perform some ceremony or other that it may be returned into rest or else discovers some treasure which was hid by the party whilest alive or else some murther which it had commited But the most frequent cause of their returning is when the party hath himself been privately murthered 6. For such is the poysonous malice and bloudy spirit of the murtherers that it sufficeth them not to have privately bereaved them of their Lives but also by certain earnest Wishes Curses and Conjurations they do afterwards adjure them that for such a term of years they shall never have power to appear again Which wishes being earnestly given forth from the hellish root in the murtherer do exceedingly torment the murthered parties spirit taking deep impression thereon so that it is alwayes in continual sorrow and anguish till the term of years be expired and till the murther be made manifest to the world after which discovery it returns to perfect rest This is well known to those that are exercised in Witchcraft and cruell Murthers though not common to those that murther but once 7. There be many Ancient families in Europe to whom the Ghost of their first Progenitor or Ancestor appears immediately before the departure of some Heir or chief in the same family which assertion is confirmed by Cardan in an Example of an Antient family in the Dukedome of Parma called the Tortells to whom there belongs an ancient Castle with a spatious Hall near the Chimney of the said Hall an old decrepit Woman for these hundreds of years is wonted to appear when any of the Family is about to dye And it is reported amongst them that the same is the Ghost of one belonging to the same name and family who for her Riches was murthered by some of her Nephews and thrown into a pit 8. Many such apparitions do for many years continue to be seen in one particular place ever watching for opportunity to discover some murther or Treasure hid And the cause of the difficulty of the said discovery consists in the nature of their substance for could they make use of the organ of the Tongue they might quickly discover it or if they had the outward benefit of Hands they might produce the said Treasure or Carcase murthered but this they are seldome able to accomplish being destitute of the outward Organs and mediation of Hands to hold withall or Tongue to vent their grievances And that this is true the manner of their appearance doth confirm it For all that they are able to effect if they have been murthered is commonly to appear near the very place where their body lies and to seem as if they sunk down or vanished in the same or else to appear in the posture of a murthered person with mangled and bloudy wounds and hair dishevel'd But it is rarely known that any such apparitions have plainly spoken or uttered by words the time of their murther with the cause the persons name or place unless the murther by circumstances hath been more then ordinary horrid and execrable then the remembrance of the same doth sometimes enable the apparition to frame a voice by the assistance of the Air and discover the fact 9. But to speake in general concerning apparitions why they are so seldome seen and why such spirits as appear can not without mans assistance accomplish their design It may easily be apprehended that all Spirits or spiritual Substances and Devills have their life breath and motion in another source or Element then this external world And as any creature whom the Element of Water hath nourished and bred can live but short while upon the Land So it s with them when they come out of their proper habitations which is the cause of the rarity of apparition it being as difficult for any spirit to manifest it self in this outward principle of the four Elements as for a man to continue with his head under water yea it is rather pain then pleasure for any spirit whether good or bad to come into this outward world 10. Great is the villany of Necromancers and wicked Magicians in dealing with the spirits of men departed whom they invocate with certain forms and conjurations digging up their Carkasses again or by the help of Sacrifices and Oblations to the infernal Gods compelling the Ghost to present it self before them how this was performed in antient times by Hags and Witches is notably described in the Aethiopian History of Heliodorus in the practice of an antient woman who coming into the Camp in the dead of night where amongst many slaughtered bodies the body of her Son was also slain whose carkase she laid before her digging a hole and making a fire on each side with the body in the midst Then taking an earthen pot from a three footed stool she poured honey out of it into the pit then out of another pot she poured milk and likewise out of the third Lastly she cast a Lump
have in the faculties of the humane Life as to the indowments of the Soul considered in the just and in the wicked for to be good pure and holy is really present as a quality in potentia with the depraved soul although at that instant the Soul be cloathed with Abominations so that the eye which should behold God or Goodness is put out Yet if the soul would but come out of it self and enter into another source or principle in the center it might come to see the Kingdome of Heaven within it self according to the Scripture and Moses The word is nigh thee in thy Heart and in thy Mouth 5. True it is that the Devils and damned Souls cannot sometimes manifest themselvs in this Astral World because the nature of some of them is more near unto the external quality then of others so that although properly the very innermost and outermost darkness be their proximate abode yet they do frequently flourish live move and germinate in the Aery Region being some of them finite and determinate Creatures 6. But according to their fiery nature it is very difficult for them to appear in this outward world because there is a whole principle or gulph betwixt them to wit they are shut up in another quality or existence so that they can with greater difficulty finde out the being of this World or come with their presence into the same then we can remove into the Kingdome of Heaven or Hell with our intellectual man for if it were otherwise and that the Divels had power to appear unto Mortals as they list how many Towns Cities c. should be destroyed and burnt to the ground how many Infants should be kild by their malicious power yea few or none might then escape in Lives or Possessions and sound minds whereas now all these enjoyments are free amongst mortals which proves that it is exceeding hard for evill Spirits to appear in the third principle of this world as for a man to live under water and fishes on the Land Yet must we grant that when the imaginations and earnest desires of some particular Wizards and envious Creatures have stirr'd up the center of Hell within themselvs that then the Devil hath sometimes access to this world in their desires and continues here to vex and torment so long as the strength of that desire remains which was the first attractive Cause 7. For the very cause of the paucity of appearances in these dayes is the fulness of time and the brightness of Christianity dispelling such mists as the sun doth cause the clouds to vanish not by any violence or compulsion but from a natural cause even so the Kingdome of Light as it grows over mans soul in power and dominion doth naturally close up the Center of darkness and scatter the influences of the Devil so that his tricks lye in the dust and his will at length becomes wholly passive as to man 8. In the time of the Law when the wrath and jealousie of the Father had the dominion in the Kingdom of Nature all Infernal Spirits had more easie access unto mankind then now they have for before the Incarnation of Christ the anger of God had more dominion over the soul of Man and was more near in nature unto the same so that the Devils could with more facility spring up in the element of Wrath to manifest themselves in this outward principle because the very Basis and Foundation of Hell beneath is built and composed of the Wrath of God which is the channel to convey the Devil into this sublunary World 9. But when Christ began to be manifest unto the World the multiplicity of Appearances and possessed with Devils began insensibly to decay and vanish And if any should object That betwixt the space of his Incarnation and his Suffering such accidents were rather more frequent than in the times before To this I answer That the Devil knowing well that his time was but short and also knowing that till the great Sacrifice was offered up he had leave to range and rove abroad the Kingdom of this World therefore he imployed all his forces and endeavours to torment those miserable souls and captives to whom Christ came to Preach Deliverance 10. But after the Partition wall was broken down and the vail of Moses and of the anger of God from off the soul in the death of Christ there was a sensible and visible decay of the Devils prancks amongst mortals and that little remnant of Lunaticks and Possessed which continued after Christ did the Apostles relieve and set at liberty through the influence and virtue of the promise of the Son of God to wit the Holy Ghost or the Comforter which could not come until he went away And on the day of Pentecost whilst they waited in humility for the fulfilling of his promise the very effect of Christs birth and sufferings did first manifest it self when the Holy Ghost sprung up amongst them to the destruction of Sin and Satan 11. And so long as the purity of Christianity continued in the Primitive Church there were very few that the Devil could personally or actually lay hold of in the Astral Man for the space of two hundred years after the death of Christ until that from Meekness and Abstinence the Christians began to exalt themselves in Loftiness and Worldly Honours then the Devil began to exalt his head amongst the Lip-Christians bewitching them into every Lust and captivating their inward and outward faculties at his pleasure As all along in Popery is clearly seen 12. Yet notwithstanding the coming of Christ hath prevented the Devils force in general Such Nations as have never embraced the Christian Faith are still deluded and bewitched by him because the center hath never been actually awakened in any of them so that the Devils power prevails over them mightily to seduce them to worship things visible and not the true God For where the most darkness is in Religion and Worship or in natural understanding there his power is most predominant As in Tartary China and the East-Indies also in Lapland Finland and the Northern Islands 13. In the West-Indies or America his access is very facil and freequent to the Inhabitants so that by custom and continuance they were at the first discovery thereof become so much substitute and obsequious to his power that though they knew him to be a power of Darkness yet they adored him lest he should destroy them and their Children And unto such a height were they come at the Landing of Cortes Drake and Vandernort that they could familiarly convert themselves into Wolves Bears and other furious Beasts in which Metamorphosis their Enthusiasms and Divinations were suggested and such were held in greatest esteem 14. Till upon the Invasion of the Spaniards the greater evil drove out the less and the cruel Murthers of that Antichristian tradition did both depopulate
According unto which as also according to the rest of their attributes viz. their Rancks Numbers Times Powers Places c. their Names are fitted and conformed according to the uniformity of name and thing in the principles of the eternal and external nature 24. And as all other Nations have their various Appellations for Devils and Damned Souls like their natural tone or language so we can mention one Kingdom more admirable then the rest viz. the Kingdom of Fiacim at the Northern Pole where all the Counsellors are Magicians and the Names which they use in Invocations are Mathematically disposed in a wonderful harmony and efficacy to the performance of Magical operations So much of the Places and Names of Infernal Beings the next to be considered is their Shapes and Likenesses 25. The Shapes of Devils are answerable to the cause of their Fall and the Dominions to which they belong Those that belong to the Supreme Hierarchy when they are called by Magicians do at first appear in the form of fierce and terrible Lyons vomiting fire and roaring hideously about the Circle from thence they convert themselves into Serpents Monkies and other Animals till the Magician do repeat the form of Constriction or Confinement to a Trine or Triangle as before is mentioned in the Fifteenth Book of the Discovery 26. After the Conjuration is repeated they forsake these bestial shapes and indow the humane form at first like troops of Armed Men till at last by frequent repetitions of other Ceremonies they appear as naked Men of gentle countenance and behaviour Yet is the Magician to take care that they deceive him not by insinuations for their fraudulency is unspeakable in their appearance and dealings with Mankind because we may be assured they appear not willingly but are by forceable Conjurations compelled so that they will ever minde their own ends in medling with man that is to deprave his minde or subvert the Lives and Estates of others through his means and assistance 27. The rest of the Infernal Dominions have various appearances The two next Orders affect to represent the beautiful colours of Birds and Beasts as Leopards Tygers Pecocks c. But by Conjurations they may be likewise reduced to a Manlike form wherein they will readily answer every demand within the compass of their capacity answerable to the Order unto which they belong Yet many of them appear in Monstrous forms and can hardly be conjured to desert them Though the Exorcist Charm them never so wisely they will shew him a pair of Crocodiles jaws or a Lyons paw with other dreadful menaces enough to terrifie any Novice from such Damnable Injunctions as the practice of Magick 28. But more especially the opinion of the antients is That according to the division of the clean and unclean Beasts in the Law given unto Moses the Shapes of Devils are disposed in the Infernal Kingdom So that the most perverse and potent amongst the Devils represent the most ugly and mischievous amongst the Beasts according to this following division viz. such Devils as Astaroth Lucifer Bardon Pownok who incline men and instigate them to pride and presumptuousness have the shapes of Horses Lyons Tygars Wolves Such as instigate to Lust and Covetousness have the forms of Hogs Serpents and other filthy reptiles or envious Beasts as Dogs Cats Vultures Snakes c. Such as incline to Murther have the shapes of every Bird and Beast of prey Such as Answer Questions humane in Philosophy or Religion have more tolerable shapes almost manly but with crooked Noses like Mermaids or Satyres And of all the rest it is to be observed that as not one single Lust or Vice hath dominion without mixture in the evil Spirits so they are not of a distinct shape lik one single Beast but compounded into Monsters with Serpents-tails four eyes many feet and horns c. 29. And as in general these are the shapes of Devils so the particular shapes of Damned Souls are to be considered in the same manner with the rest only with this difference that they are more addicted to metamorphose themselves and vary their appearances Though for the most part the Damned Souls retain the humane shape after a Magical manner so that the greatest part of that numberless number are in their antient shapes especially when they appear in sleep to their surviving acquaintance Their aspects are very dismal and melancholy like the Ghosts of the Astral source 30. Now to speak of the Times and Seasons of their Appearance The better sort of Magicians do square their times with Astrological hours especially of Saturn Luna and Venus in the Moons increase and the middle of the night or twelve a clock at noon In which hours they do likewise compose their Garments Caps Candlesticks Figures Lamins Pentacles and Circles for Conjuration As for the Times in respect of their Infernal Courses the fittest are when they spring up in the Wrath or when they sink in the Dispair which is a mystery to the learned Conjurers of Europe 31. In respect of this exterior World they can most easily appear in solitary places when the Sun is down for they are naturally at enmity with the Sun because it stands as a type of the Mediator or Heart and Centre which they lost utterly in their fall and now are destitute of like a wheel without an axletree And indeed the want of this is the chief cause of all their torment and of the rising of the gnawing Worm when they consider of their irrevocable sentence and irrecoverable loss 32. In storms of Hail or Snow Wind Tempest and Lightning is accounted amongst Magicians a time for Conjuring at an easie rate And they say That such Ceremonies will prove very effectual if a Conjurer begin his Exorcisms in the hour and day of Luna in the middest of a furious storm of Lightning Rain and Thunder in a low Vault or Celler that is close and retired Also when the Wind blows high without Rain they say the Devils are more near the Kingdom of this World and may with great facility be sollicited or raised at such a season because they delight in all extremities of weather being themselves the first cause of the disorder of the properties in the Kingdom of Nature 33. But in some Countries they can more easily appear then in others according to the Constellations for they delight much in the extremities of the two Poles toward Lapland Nova Zembla Greenland Tartary and in the South towards the Islands scattered about the confines of Terra Incognita They are likewise easily Invocated on the shoar amongst lofty Rocks and Precipices or in Deserts and Wildernesses far from Towns or Inhabitanâ—â— And it is said they do much respect the motion of the Seas in their appearance unto such as solicite them in places Maritime or Plagiary 34. As for their Rancks or Orders there is some difficulty in the true
are not subject to conjurations What Spirits may be conjured The nature of the Astral Spirits Their degrees Their actions and affections The distinct orders of starry Spirits The office of Daemons or Genii Three ways of enjoying their society The first way The second way The third way of their appearance Their number The seven good Angels The nature of both The seven evil Genii and the manner of their appearances An example The uncertainty of communicating with Angels Familiars in the time of the Jews Several men have wrote and methodized the Art of Conjuration The spirits of men return again All men have starry Spirits What sort of persons most frequently re-appear The manner and time of their appearance The reason thereof The power of Magitians over them Example The cause the difficulty and paucity of appearances More particularly of the same The nefarious practices of Necromancers in an example Example The state of the Starry Spirit Why the Ghost of Samuel appeared The opinions of Plato Of Phythagoras Of other Philosophers The Raptures of Lunaticks Their Entertainments A strange example Apparitions before Christianity were frequent Why Funeral Piles were instituted What the want of Burial causeth The conclusion of this Chapter with an example Astral Spirits common The Spirits of the Planets The Power of the Planets Spirits the Air. Their Actions Spirits appropriate to the Spheres Terrestrial Spirits Faeries Lares and Domestick Spirits Luridan a famaliar Spirit Balkin a Familiar A strange example Spirits of Woods and Mountains Incubi and Succubi A froward kinde of Spirit Example Example Janthe a Spirit of the water Watry Spirits that procreate Apparitions on the water Prophetical rivers and vocal fountains Example Spirits in Green-Land Destroying Spirits Fiery Spirits What these Spirits are Why they delight in the fiery element Spirits that burn Cities Their food and pastime Why they delight in the fiery quality Astral Spirits ministers to the devill Why the devil requires their help Subterranean Spirits Spirits of the Mountains Caves and Tombs Spirits of hidden Treasures The nature of such Spirits Spirits that infest Mines and Miners An Example of a turbulent Spirit Conclusion What this Chapter treats of The place of hell or the habitation of devils Illustrated by a similitude The differerence betwixt heaven and hell How the Devils can come into this World The great difficulty of their appearance The cause of few appearances now The Devils power in the time of the Law His power under Christ in the flesh Under Christianity Under Apostacies Under Idolatry How power in new discovered Lands His power in America The variety of Conjurations according to the Countries Why few are able to raise Spirits The Names of Devils in the time of the Law Their Names in China In the East-Indies Tartaria Greece Italy West Indies The nature of their Names The names of of Devils in Scot. The names of Damned souls Whence the names of Devils are The names of Devils in the Kingdom of Fiacim The Shapes of Devils As they appear to Magicians in the highest ranks In the lower orders That the Devils are answerable to the unclean Beasts The shapes of Damned Souls Their times and seasons Their places of appearance When Tempests reign According to the situation of Regions Their Ranks and Orders In three distinctions Their numbers Their natures and properties Their torments The Variety thereof The Nature thereof Their torment in the source of Anger In all the five Senses By their acquaintance on earth The Nature of Hell The food of Devils Their food in the Astral source Their Speech What Language they affect Their unconstancy Their Power When they are called up Fumigations made unto them The Conclusion Shews before Spirits appear A Relation of a Magician His Actions Another Magician What Charms are Pentacles Their force Telesms For Diseases Fumigations For Saturn Jupiter Mars Sol. Venus Mercury Luna Why such Ceremonies are of force Charms Natural Operations Places ascribed to the seven Planets Spells Secret Conclusions The Candle of life That Characters are compacts The force of Words and Characters The vanity of Conjuration By Similitude Exorcising or casting out Like desires its like Nothing is compelled by contraries Of Images of Wax and what is wrought by them Further concerning Images Of Images provoking Love Forms of Charms in Tartary The tying of the Point Charming by the Sive By Bottles Skins Letters Cords Lots Transplantation Ceremonious And meerly natural Magical Instruments Their matter Substance And Form The Conclusion