most material Actions of Mortal Bodies as he has reserved to himself the disposing of that pure substance Mans Soul And such was his love to Mankind that he would Teach a way whereby they might recover part of that Knowledge was lost in the first Mans Fall and Disobedience And so that they might not be altogether involved in Darkness and obscurity of what was to come he Taught them to Read in that Great Volume the Chief Contingencies of their Life That what I say is probable and not an Idle Whimsey of some Melancholick Brain is Manifest from the common Opinion of Learned Men among the Iews Greeks and Latines and others who call the Heavens a Sacred Book wherein by those Capital Letters the Stars may be read the Events of things below The Learned Origen upon this place of Genesis Et erunt in signa Affirms that the Stars were placed in this Order in the Heavens for no other end but to shew by their diverse Aspects and Figures whatever is to happen while the World indures aswell in general as in particular yet not so as that they were the Causes of all these things never any such thing came into the Thoughts much less into the Writings of this Learned Man For as the Prophecies that are Written in Books are not the Causes of those Events which they foretel shall happen but only the Signs so may the Heavens be says he very justly called a Book wherein God hath Written all that is hath been and hereafter shall be And for Confirmation Cites a Passage out of a Book called Narratio Ioseph wherein the Patriarch Iacob giving his Blessing to all his Children upon his Death-bed says Legi in Tabulis Coeli quaecunque contingent vobis Filijs vestris whence the same Origen concludes on this Question Vtrum Stellae aliquid agant That some Mysteries may be assuredly Read in the Heavens by reason that the Stars are disposed and Ordered there in the Form of Characters Iulius Syrenus has undertaken the Defence of this Doctrine and holds it a most safe and true Opinion St. Augustine lib. 2. contra Manichaeos cap. 2. has this Expression Neque in illis corporibus Caelestibus hic latere posse Cogitationes credendum est quemadmodum in his corporibus latent sed sicut nonnulli motus animorum apparent in Vultu maximè in oculis sic in illâ perspicuitate ac simplicitate Caelestium corporum omnes motus animi latere arbitror All the Platonists in a manner were likewise of the same Persuasion and this is the reason that Porphyrie assures us that when he had resolved to have killed himself Plotinus who had Read his intention in the Stars hindered him from doing it To the same purpose is that of Orpheus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 certus tuus Ordo Immutabilibus mandatis currit in Astris Amongst the Modern men Flud has this expression in his Apology for the Rosie Cross men In Coelo inquit inserti impressi hujusmodi Characteres qui non aliter ex Stellarum ordinibus conflantur quà m lineae Geometricae Literae Vulgares ex punctis superficies ex lineis Corpus ex superficiebus Postellus gives us this account of his own Experience in this matter in these words Si dixero me in Coelo vidisse in ipsis Linguae Sanctae Characteribus ab Esrâ primum publicè expositis ea omnia quae sunt in rerum naturâ constituta ut vidi non explicitè sed implicitè vix ullus mihi crediderit tamen testis Deus Christus ejus quia non mentior After the Deluge and the scattering abroad of the Nations through the whole Earth the Study of Astrology was likewise Dilated and become common to many Nations so that they not only Vied one with another in the accurateness and perfection of Skill but also about the Invention of it every one desiring to ascribe the Invention of so Noble a Science to their own Country but 't is most probable nay in a manner certain that they of Asia considering that Adam was there made and that Noahs Arks rested upon a Mountain in that part of the world from whom the Face of the whole Earth was Inhabited were they who first improved this Study Nor is it reasonable to think that the Asians who were setled in a Residence and had both Motives and Opportunities enough should let the Africans or Europoeans outstrip them in the Invention of Arts who were Cumbered for many years in finding out convenient Habitations and in defending themselves from the Incursions of their troublesome Neighbours Amongst the Asians the Chaldaeans Challenge Priority in this mater and glory of instructing other Nations herein according to which is that of Herodotus in Euterpe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The Graecians Learned of the Babylonians or Chaldeans the Doctrine of the Poles and of dividing the Day into Twelve parts Likewise Didorus Siculus in the Third Book of Antiquities Testifies of the Chaldaeans that by long observation of the Course of the Stars they found out their Nature and Foretold things that were afterwards to come to pass Tully likewise in primo de Divinatione Principio inquit Assyrij ut ab ultimis auctoribus repetam propter planitiem magnitudinemque regionum quas incolebant cum Caelum omni ex parte patens atque apertum intuerentur trajectiones motusque Stellarum observaverunt Nor is it meet that we forget Abraham a man so highly approved of by God who was a Chaldaean and the Chief Astrologer of the East of whom Berosus as Eusebius says spoke in this manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Decimâ vero post Diluvium generatione apud Chaldaeos erat vir justus magnus Coelestium habens experientiam i. e. in the Tenth Generation after the Floud there was amongst the Chaldaeans a Just and Great Man one well skill'd in the Heavens which no doubt is meant of Abraham who was so Famous in respect of the great sway he bore as a Nobleman but more especially for his Piety and Sober manner of Living and his Miraculous and Conspicuous Preservation in all Dangers by the immediate hand of Providence Abraham Learn'd of his Father Thare or Terah which is the Opinion of Philo in his Book of Nobility where he Writes thus of Abraham and his Father Thare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Primus Parens Iudaeorum Chaldaeus erat Natione Patre prognatus dedito syderali Scientiae uno ex ijs qui circa Mathesin versarentur Where by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is meant Thare the Father of Abraham Now although we ought to look upon the Chaldaeans as the First and most Eminent in this Faculty yet we are not to look upon them as the sole Monopolists of Sydereal knowledge the Bactrians will put in for a share and say that though they did not first lay down the Rules yet they improved them as high as any Witness their so
other Cross whatever to Witches but to the hand of God or to men openly and violently Robbing Spoiling or Killing Where it may be demanded why seeing there is such mention of Witches and Sorcery and the like unlawful Arts in the Scriptures they do not Ascribe any harms to them as men do in these days and the reason is for that the Word of God doth never Assign Instruments to be set on work by him which have not power in themselves to do what he employeth them about whether it be Angel Devil or any other Creature and to teach us that they are but Satans slaves and that it is not they that do any but that whatever is done is the work of the Devil CHAP. VI. That there are Witches THat there are Witches and such Persons as from contracts with the Devil have undertook and seemingly performed some strange things though denyed by some Sensual men of this Age whose Interest it is there should be neither Heaven nor Hell and who have therefore proceeded from the denial of the Soul to the denial of Spirits and from thence even to the denial of the Existence of God himself is yet deducible from several reasons 1 st And first from the most Ancient and veracious Authority of the Word of God in its forbidding such Diabolical practices as in the first place Deut. 18. 10 11 12. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his Son or his Daughter to pass through the Fire or that useth Divination or an Observer of times or an Inchanter or a Witch Or a Charmer or a Consulter with Familiar Spirits or a Wizard or a Necromancer For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out before thee From which words it not only appears that there were those that worshiped Idols that gave themselves to Diabolical Arts but also that for these Abominations the Lord cast them out of the Land and introduced his own people the Israelites strictly charging them that they abstain from such unlawful practices For the Ammonites caused their Children to pass through the fire not as some have supposed to kill them or burn them but only to pay a kind of Adoration to that Element For as Heurnius saith Ignem in Vr Chaldaeorum urbe Abrahami Patriâ adorandum ponit gravi poenâ in pertinaces promulgatâ Where yet there is no mention made of burning or killing For who can believe that Solomon Murthered little Children or cast them into the Fire because the Scripture saith of him Colebat Solomon Astharten Deam Sidoniorum Moloch Idolum Ammonitarum And yet this unhappy Custom hath so spread it selfe ver since throughout the whole world that even in America the Brasilians do the same as Iohannes Lerius in Nav. Bras reports of them And among Christians also Mothers did yearly cause their Children to pass over the Fire of Saint Iohn which Custom though condemned by a Council held at Constantinople and proved by Theodoret to have been derived from this Custom is yet retained and practised amongst those of the Romish-Church But to leave observations and return to our intended Business We find in the History of the Bible the names and practices of certain Witches and Sorcerers as particularly we have the names of those two so famous or rather infamous Sorcerers of Egypt 2 Tim. 3. 8. Dan. 2. 2. We read that Nebuchadnezzar had Dreamed certain Dreams at which he was much perplexed and very desirous to know the Interpretation of them he gave Commandment to call the Magicians and the Astrologers and the Sorcerers and the Chaldeans for to shew the King his Dreams So we have also accounts of other Witches as Balaam of Iezabel and her Witchcrafts 2 Kings 9. 22. of Manasses who to the rest of his wickedness caused his Children to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom Also he observed times and used Inchantments and used Witchcraft and dealt with a Familiar Spirit and Wizards So have we Relations of the Sorcery of Simon Magus both in Holy Writ and other Authors of good Credit as Act. 8. 9. Eusebius his Eccles. Hist. which Historian tells us how he came to Rome in the days of Nero and how strangely he Bewitched the people from the true Belief by his Magical Inchantments till undertaking to flie in the Air God was pleas'd at the Prayers of Saint Peter to throw him down in which fall he lost both his Life and Reputation To these Proofs we may add the Practices of several Witches mentioned in the Word of God as Exod. 7. Isaiah 47. 9. Ezeck 21. 21. and this we read of those that went to them 1 Sam. 28. 7. For so goes the story of Saul when he said to his servants Seek me a woman that hath a Familiar Spirit that I may go to her and enquire of her And his servants said to him Behold there is a woman which hath a Familiar Spirit at Endor And Saul disguised himself and put on other raiment and he went and two men with him and they came to the woman by night So also did Balack send to Balaam to Curse his enemies All these things were done contrary to the practice of good Iosiah who as the Sacred Records report put away the workers with Familiar Spirits and the Wizards 2 Kings 23. 24. These are such evident Proofs that it is to me a wonder that any one who believes the Scriptures can offer to deny the existence of Witches though there were no Demonstrations in these our days to evidence this so palpable a Truth CHAP. VII Of the ground of Witchcraft and of all the Practices thereof ALthough some persons who have not altogether denied that there is a certain kind of Magick will not yet be perswaded that there is any Contract with the Devil we shall endeavour to prove that there are Leagues and Covenants made betwixt wicked persons and the Devil 1. The word Chabor which is an Inchanter signifies one joyned to another in League and Society now we cannot suppose this League to be with any other than the Prince of Darkness who Cooperates with these his Vassals in their black and ungodly Actions 2. From the Confessions of some of these miserable Creatures may be confirmed what we here go about to Demonstrate One Cyprian whether the Ancient Father or some other I am not certain avouches it from his own experience who was himself once ensnared in an actual and explicit Obligation with this black Angel but afterward through Gods mercy was unloosed from thsoe destructive Ties So that as his Experience in the practice of Magick rendred him a sufficient Witness his Conversion to Christian Principles should engage us to Credit what he says to be unfeigned And lastly the privy marks and brands of the Beast found in several parts of Witches bodies do confirm it as also the very Copies
famous Zoroaster who as Iustin tells us in lib. primo Epitomes Trogi Primus Magicas Artes dicitur invenisse mundi principia Siderumque motus diligenter observasse and was doubtless as expert in this Reading the Starry Book as the greatest Chaldaean of them all The Aegyptians Learned from the Assyrians and had the same convenience for the Business that is a plain Champaign Country and an Air seldom or never Overcast with Clouds or Vapours to hinder the Eye from Viewing the Motions of those Glorious Bodies 'T is the Opinion of Vossius in his Book De quatuor artibus popularibus That Abraham brought it amongst them when he Travelled into that Country but however it was they proved so good Proficients as to invite the Graecians to come into their Schools for Instructions in this and other curious Arts as Theon Alexandrinus upon Aratus his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The Graecians received these Arts from the Aegyptians and Chaldaeans And as Pride is still Fatal to great Parts the Aegyptians puffed up with their Learning began to be Ungrateful and Kick at their Masters the Chaldaeans they thought themselves more Skilful and would have the Credit of Invention to themselves on their side was Diodorus Siculus who to make the Story Plausible Affirms that Babylon is a Colony of the Aegyptians first Planted by Belus the Son of Neptune and Lybie who Erected a Colledg in Babylon and set Scholars therein to Study Astrology as they did in Aegypt Yet Diodorus Siculus is to be suspected as being too great a Favourer of the Aegyptians and another thing which makes this Opinion Invalid is that the Egyptians can produce no Observations before Alexander the Great whereas the Chaldoeans can prove theirs to be of far greater Antiquity The Arabians too were Skill'd in Astrology as may be gathered from Chap. 9. verse 9. of Iob where mention is made of the Pleiades Orion and Arcturus The Aethiopians were not ignorant of the Stars and their different influences for which they were beholding to Atlas King of Mauritania who is said to have Lived about the time of Ioseph the Patriarch or as others about the time of Moses and was so excellent in this Study that the Poets Feigned him to bear up Heaven with his Shoulders Having Traced Astrology through Asia and Africa we will now bear it company into Europe and see by whom it was first Taught in this Part of the world which is not inferior to the other for curious knowledge Though Learning be never more Disturbed and Eclypsed than where a Country is embroyled in War Mars his Drum being too obstreperous for the sweet lays of the Muses yet 't is observable that it follows the Victor and delights to fix her Seat where the Sword has drawn a place of Defence to secure her from the Affronts of those that desire to enjoy the Liberties and conveniences others have in Lawful Possession It was then Learning began to flourish in Greece when they had by their Prowess awed those that before Lorded it over them And though it may be observed that they were not altogether ignorant in Astrology but had some Glimpses thereof at the time of the Trojan War from Homers telling how Achilles his Armour had Stars Engraven on it by Vulcan as also from the Story of Endymions being Loved by the Moon which was occasioned from his Observations concerning the Moon as also Phaethons Guiding the Chariot of the Sun from the like occasion the Stories of Orion and Perseus and Orpheus his Harp being made Stars all which only intimate unto us their skill in the Course of the Stars yet 't was never improved to any considerable height till Thales Before his time they had only so much knowledge therein as to know the Seasons of the year and the Rising and Setting of some remarkable Stars such an Astrologer was Hesiod and such Plato calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men only indued with the little Rudiments and unacquainted with that accurateness which Thales brought in of whom Diogenes Laertius gives this account in Vitâ Thaletis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. most are of opinion that Thales was the first that Studied Astrology in Greece and observed the Course of the Sun and Taught the reason of the Eclypses as Eudemus says in his Astrological History Anaximander Milesius was the Scholar of Thales he Taught that the Earth was the Center of the World and that it was Round observed the Tropicks and Equinoctials and Taught to know the hours by the shadow of a Gnomon Scholar to Anaximander was Anaximenes Milesius who found that the Moon borrowed her Light and that the Interposition of the Earth betwixt her and the Sun was the Cause of her several Phases After Anaximines was Anaxagoras Clazomenius who Taught that the Moon had in it Hills and Valleys like the Earth and that it was Habitable that the Milky-way was made by the Reflection of the Sun-beams that Comets are a Mass of Sparkles proceeding from the Stars by reason of their Swift Motion Collected into one Body that the Sun was a Round Fiery-Ball Bigger than all Peloponnesus that the Heavens consisted of Stones which yet do not Fall by reason of that extraordinary Circumgyration In the second year of the Seventy Eight Olympiad he foretold that one of those Stones should Fall from Heaven which they say came to pass by the River Aegos in Thrace how much he was addicted to the Study of Astrology may be gathered from this One asking wherefore he was Born he Answer'd to Contemplate the Sun and Moon and the Heavens to another Rebuking him for neglecting his Temporal Affairs and asking him if he did not care for his Country he said Yes I do pointing with his Finger towards Heaven that is my Country Pythagoras is accounted Chief of the Italian Sect and Taught in Italy at the same time as Anaximenes did at Miletum he is said to have first observed the Obliquity of the Eclyptick he Taught that the Earth moved about the Sun betwixt Mars and Venus After him was Democritus the Abderite and Empedocles Agrigentinus About the first year of the Eighty Seventh Olympiad flourished Meton the Son of Panthias who Corrected the Calendar and found out the Circulum decennovennalem which we call the Golden Number of whom Festius Avienus Illius ad numeros prolixa decennia rursum Adjecisse Meton Cecropeâ dicitur arte Inseditque animis tenuit rem Graecia sollers Protinus longos inventam misit in annos Whereby is meant that Meton added Ten years to the Computation of Harpalus who made Tables for Eight years only This period of Nineteen years was approved of by Euctemon and Philippus as best reconciling the Differences in the Sun and Moons Revolutions Eudoxus the Son of Aeschines a Cnydian a Famous Geometrician and Astrologer opposed the Period found by Meton by one of Eight years but to no purpose The Multitude