except thou Spirit N. do come and appear visibly in this Crystal-stone in my presence here immediately as it is aforesaid Let the great curse of God the anger of God the shadow and darkness of death and of eternal condemnation be upon thee Spirit N. for ever and ever because thou hast denyed thy faith thy health and salvation For thy great disobedience thou art worthy to be condemned Therefore let the divine Trinity Thrones Dominions Principates Potestates Virtutes Cherubim and Seraphim and all the souls of Saints both of men and women condemn thee for ever and be a witness against thee at the day of judgment because of thy disobedience And let all creatures of our Lord Jesus Christ say thereunto Fiat Fiat fiat Amen And when he is appeared in the Crystal-stone as is said before bind him with this bond as followeth to wit I conjure thee Spirit N. that art appeared to me in this Crystal-stone to me and to my fellow I conjure thee by all the royall words aforesaid the which did constrain thee to appear therein and their vertues I charge thee by them all that thou shall not depart out of this Crystal-stone until my will being fulfilled thou be licened to depart I conjure and bind thee Spirit N. by that omnipotent God which commanded the Angel S. Michael to drive Lucifer out of the Heavens with a Sword of vengeance and to fall from joy to pain and for dread of such pain as he is in I charge thee Spirit N. that thou shalt not go out of the Crystal-stone nor yet to alter thy shape at this time except I command thee otherwise but to come unto me at all places and in all hours and minutes when and wheresoever I shall call thee by the vertue of our Lord Jesus Christ or by any Conjuration of words that is written in this Book and to shew me and my friends true visions in this Crystal-stone of any thing or things that we would see at any time or times and also to go and fetch me the fairy Sibylia that I may talk with her in all kind of talk as I shall call her by any Conjuration of words contained in this Book I conjure thee Spirit N. by the great wisdom and divinity of his Godhead my will to fulfill as is aforesaid I charge thee upon pain of condemnation both in this world and in the world to come Fiat fiat fiat Amen This done go to the place fast by and in a fair Parlor or Chamber make a ✚ ✚ ✚ Sorthie Sorthia Sorthios circle with chalk as hereafter followeth and make another circle for the fairy Sibylia to appear in four foot from the circle thou art in and make no names therein or cast any holy thing therein but make a circle round with chalk and let the Master and his fellow sit down in this circle the Master having the Book in his hand his fellow having the Crystal-stone in his right hand looking in the Stone when the Fairy doth appear The Master also must have upon his brest this figure here written in Parchment and begin to work in the new of the ☽ and in the hour of ♃ the ☉ and the ☽ to be in one of inhabiters signes as ♋ ♠♓ This bond as followeth is to cause the Spirit in the Crystal-stone to fetch unto thee the fairy Sibylia All things fulfilled begin this bond as followeth and behold for doubtles they will come before thee before the Conjuration be read seven times I conjure thee spirit N. in this Crystal-stone by God the Father by God the Son Jesus Christ and by God the Holy Ghost three Persons and one God and by their vertues I conjure thee spirit that thou do go in peace and also come again to me quickly and to bring with thee into that circle appointed Sibylia Fairie that I may talk with her in those matters that shall be to her honour and glory and so I charge thee declare unto her I conjure thee spirit N. by the blood of the innocent Lamb the which redeemed all the world by the vertue thereof I charge thee thou spirit in the Crystal-stone that thou do declare unto her this message Also I conjure thee spirit N. by all Angels and Archangels Thrones Dominations Principates Potestates Virtutes Cherubim and Seraphim and by their vertues and powers I conjure thee N. that thou do depart with speed and also to come again with speed and to bring with thee the fairie Sibylia to appear in that circle before I do read the Conjuration in this Book seven times Thus I charge thee my will to be fulfilled upon pain of everlasting condemnation Fiat fiat fiat Amen Then the figure aforesaid pinned on thy brest rehearse the words therein and say ✚ Sorthie ✚ Sorthia ✚ Sorthios ✚ then begin your Conjuration as followeth here and say I conjure thee Sibylia O gentle Virgine of Fairies by the mercy of the Holy Ghost and by the dreadful day of doom and by their vertues and powers I conjure thee Sibylia O gentle Virgine of Fairies and by all the Angels of ♃ and their characters and vertues and by all the spirits of ♃ and ♠and their characters and vertues and by all the characters that be in the Firmament and by the King and Queen of Fairies and their vertues and by the faith and obedience that thou bearest unto them I conjure thee Sibylia by the blood that ran out of the side of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified and by the opening of Heaven and by the renting of the Temple and by the darkness of the Sun in the time of his death and by the rising up of the dead in the time of his Resurrection and by the Virgin Mary Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the unspeakable Name of God Letragramaton I conjure thee O Sibylia O blessed and beautiful Virgin by all the royall words aforesaid I conjure thee Sibylia by all their vertues to appear in that circle before me visibly in the form and shape of a beautiful woman in a bright and white vesture adorned and garnished most fair and to appear to me quickly without deceit or tarrying and that thou fail not to fulfil my will and desire effectually For I will choose thee to be my blessed Virgin and will have common copulation with thee Therefore make hast and speed to come unto me and to appear as I have said before To whom be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen The which done and ended if she come not repeat the Conjuration till they do come for doubtless they will come And when she is appeared take your censers and incense her with frankincense then bind her with the bond as followeth I do conjure thee Sibylia by God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Gost three Persons and one God and by the blessed Virgin Mary Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and by all the
their dwelling the Caverns of the Rocks and Mountains which relation is recorded in the Antiquities of Pomonia 12. I have read another wonderful relation in a book de Annulis Antiquorum Concerning a young man from whom the power of Venus was taken away so that he could not Company with his new marryed Wife The Story is briefly thus Being busy at play or exercise with some of his Companions on his marriage day he put his weddng Ring on the finger of the Statue of Venus that stood besides the place least it should be lost when he had done returning to take his Ring the finger was bended inward so that he could by no means pluck off the Ring to his great amazement at which instant he forsooke the place and in the night the Image of Venus appeared unto him saying Thou hast espoused me and shalt not meddle with any other in the morning returning the Ring was gone and the finger made straight again which troubled him mightily so that he consulted with a Magician who wrote a Letter to some Principal Spirit in that Dominion to which Venus belong'd bidding the party stand watching at such a place at such an houre till he saw many troops of Spirits pass by him and describing one in a Chariot of stern and terrible Countenance to whom he bad him deliver the Letter All which he performed and after the person in the Chariot had read the contents thereof he broke out into this expression great God how long shall we be subject to the insolencies of this accursed Rascal naming the Magitian But withal calling to a most beauteous Woman from amongst the Company he charged her to deliver back the Ring which at length she did with much aversness and after that he injoyd his Marriage rites without impediment 13. Besides the innumerable Troops of Terrestrial Spirits called Faeryes there are also Nymphs of the Woods Mountains Groves and Fountains as Eagle Arethusa Io Menippa Irene c. who are sayd to be altogether of the faeminine kinde sporting and dancing and feasting amongst the trees in Woods and bathing in clean and limpid Fountains such have been seen by many and are often alluded to by the Roman and Greek Poets There is also a relation of a German Prince who being exceeding thirsty and weary with hunting and hawking lost his Company in the Woods on a suddain beheld an opening at a little hillock amongst the trees and a most beautiful Maiden offering a Golden Morn full of Liquor which he received and drunk and after rid quite away with the sayd Horn not regarding the Virgins tears who lamented after him t is sayd that having spilt some of the sayd Liquor it fetcht the hair from off his Horses skin and the horn is yet to be seen in Germany which I have been told by one that hath seen and handled it affirming That the Gold for purity cannot ba parallel'd 14. Another sort are the Incubi and Succubi of whom it is reported that the Hanns have the original being begotten betwixt these Incubi and certain Magical women whom Philimer the King of the Goths banished into the deserts whence arose that savage and untamed Nation whose speech seemed rather the mute attempts of brute Beasts then any articulate sound and well distinguished words To these Incubi are attributed the diseases of the blood called the Night-hag which certainly have a natural cause although at the instant of time when the party is oppressed it is probable that certain malevolent Spirits may mix themselvs therein and terrifie the soul and minde of the afflicted party 15. And amongst such Spirits as are resident amongst mortals there is a very froward kinde who take delight to pull down what man hath builded who have been seen at the building of strong and mighty Castles to come in the night and tumble all to the ground that the workmen had reared the day before of this sort were Horon Stilkon Glaura and Ribbolla four pestiferous and turbulent Animals that for many years infested the first founders of the Emperours Seraglio Till one of the holy Musselmans did by certain Charms and Exorcisms constrain and binde them to tell their names and the cause of their disturbing which they declared and were by him confined to destroy the mines of Copper in Hungaria 16. There is also a Relation extant in the Life of Paul the Hermit of a Satyr appearing to him in the Woods and discoursing with him that it was a mortal Creature as he and served the same God dehorting the people to worship them for demi-Gods as they had been accustomed to Like unto this is the Story of the Death of the great God Pan That a Mariner sailing by the Island of Cicilia was called by his name from the shore and by a certain voice was bid to tell the Inhabitants of the next Island that the great God Pan was dead which he obeyd and though in the next Island there were no Inhabitants yet when he approached he proclaimed towards the shoar that Pan was deceased immediately after which Proclamation he could sensibly hear most doleful and lachrymable Cryes and noyses as of those that lamented his departure 17. Ianthe is sayd by Magitians to be a water Spirit who is ever present when any are drownd in the water being delighted much in the destruction of mankinde that it may enjoy the Company of their Astral Spirits after their decease for according to the four Complexions or Constitutions of the body of Man The Astral Spirit associates it self with separated substances The Phlegmatick to the watry Spirits The Sanguine to those of the Aire The Cholerick to the Fire and the Melancholy to the Terrestrial Spirits But this is only to be supposed of such persons as dyed in discontent and restlesness 18. Of another sort are such Aquatick Animals as in former times have conversed and procreated with mankinde bearing divers Children And at length snatching all away into the watry Element again whereof there are variety of Examples in Cardanus and Bodin Of this sort was the Familiar of Paulus a Mendicant Frier called by him Florimella and entertaind as his Bed-fellow for forty years though unknown and unseen to any but himself till upon some unhandsome carriage of the Fryer his Companion accompanying him over the Danube leapt into the River and was never after seen 19. Innumerable are the reports and accidents incident unto such as frequent the seas as fisher-men and sailers who discourse of noises flashes shadows echoes and other visible appearances nightly seen and heard upon the surface of the water And as the disposition of the Heavens is according to the constellations and climates so are these spectres appropriate to particular parts and coasts from the North to the Southern pole But more especially abounding in the North about Norweigh Isleland Green Land and Nova Zembla 20. Neither are the Storyes of the Greek
S. Augustine saith well that he is too much a fool and a blockhead that supposeth those things to be done indeed and corporally which are by such persons phantastically imagined which phantastical illusions do as well agree and accord as Algerus saith with Magical deceipts as the verity accompanieth divine holiness CHAP. XVIII That the confession of Witches is sufficient in civil and common law to take away life What the sounder divines and decrees of councel determine in this case ALas what creature being found in state of mind would without compulsion make such manner of confessions as they do or would for a trifle or nothing make a perfect bargain with the Devil for her soul to be yielded up unto his tortures and everlasting flames and that within a very short time specially being through age most commonly unlike to live one whole year The terrour of hell-fire must needs be to them diversly manifested and much more terrible because of their weakness nature and kind than to any other as it would appear if a Witch were but asked Whether she would be contented to be hanged one year hence upon condition her displeasure might be wreaked upon her enemy presently As for theeves and such other they think not to go to hell-fire but are either perswaded there is no hell or that their crime deserveth it not or else that they have time enough to repent so as no doubt if they were perfectly resolved hereof they would never make such adventures Neither do I think that for any sum of money they would make so direct a bargain to go to hell-fire Now then I conclude That confession in this behalf is insufficient to take away the life of any body or to attain such credit as to be believed without further proof For as Augustine and Isidore with the rest of the sounder divines say that these perstigious things which are wrought by Witches are fantastical so do the sounder decrees of Councels and Canons agree that in that case there is no place for criminal action And the law saith That the confession of such persons as are illuded must needs be erroneous and therefore is not to be admitted for Confessio debet tenere verum possibile But these things are opposite both to law and nature and therefore it followeth not Because these Witches confess so Ergo it is so for the confession differeth from the act or from the possibility of the act And whatsoever is contrary to nature faileth in his principles and therefore is naturally impossible The Law also saith In criminalibus regulariter non statur soli confessioni rei In criminal cases or touching life we must not absolutely stand to the confession of the accused party but in these matters proofs must be brought more clear than the light it self And in this crime no body must be condemned upon presumptions And where it is objected and urged that since God only knoweth the thoughts there is none other way of proof but by confession It is answered thus in the law to wit Their confession in this case containeth an outward act and the same impossible both in the law and nature and also unlikely to be true and therefore Quod verisimile non est attendi non debet So as though their confessions may be worthy of punishment as whereby they shew a will to commit such mischief yet not worthy of credit as that they have such power For Si factum absit solaque opinione laborent è stultorum genere sunt If they confess a fact performed but in opinion they are to be reputed among the number of fools Neither may any man by law be condemned for criminal causes upon presumptions nor yet by single witnesses neither at the accusation of a capital enemy who indeed is not to be admitted to give evidence in this case though it please M. Mal. and Bodin to affirm the contrary But beyond all equity these Inquisitors have shifts and devises enough to plague and kill these poor souls for they say their fault is greatest of all others because of their carnal copulation with the Devil and therefore they are to be punished as Hereticks four manner of wayes to wit with Excommunication deprivation loss of goods and also with death And indeed they find law and provide means thereby to maintain this their bloudy humor For it is written in their Popish Canons That as for these kind of Hereticks how much soever they repent and return to the faith they may not be retained alive or kept in perpetual prison but be put to extream death Yea M. Mal. writeth that a Witches sin is the sin against the holy Ghost to wit irremissible yea further that it is greater than the sin of the Angels that fell In which respect I wonder that Moses delivered not three tables to the children of Israel or at the least-wise that he exhibited not commandements for it It is not credible that the greatest should be included in the less c. But when these Witchmongers are convinced in the objection concerning their confessions so as thereby their tyrannical arguments cannot prevail to imbrue the Magistrates hands in so much bloud as their appetite requireth they fall to accusing them of other crimes that the world might think they had some colour to maintain their malicious fury against them CHAP. XIX Of Four capital Crimes objected against Witches all fully answered and confuted us frivolous FIrst therefore they lay to their charge Idolatry but alas without all reason for such are properly known to us to be Idolaters as do external worship to Idols or strange gods The furthest point that Idolatry can be stretched unto is that they which are culpable therein are such as hope for and seek salvation at the hands of Idols or of any other than God or fix their whole mind and love upon any creature so as the power of God is neglected and contemned thereby But Witches neither seek nor believe to have salvation at the hands of Devils but by them they are only deceived the instruments of their fantasie being corrupted and so infatuated that they suppose confess and say they can do that which is as far beyond their power and nature to do as to kill a man at York before noon when they have been seen at London in that morning c. But if these latter Idolaters whose Idolatry is spiritual and committed only in mind should be punished by death then should every covetous man or other that setteth his affection any way too much upon an earthly creature be executed and yet perchance the Witch might escape scot-free Secondly Apostasie is laid to their charge whereby it is inferred that they are worthy to die But Apostasie is where any of sound judgement forsake the Gospel learned and well known unto them and do not only imbrace impiety and infidelity but oppugne and resist the truth erst-while by them professed But
Anno Dom. 1542. when Sultan-Solimon reigned there was such force and multitude of these kind of Wolves in Constantinople that the Emperour drave together in one flock 150 of them which departed out of the City in the presence of all the people To perswade us the more throughly herein he saith That in Livonia yearly about the end of December a certain Knave or Devil warneth all the Witches in the Countrey to come to a certain place if they fail the Devil cometh and whippeth them with an Iron rod so as the print of the lashes remains upon their bodies for ever The captain Witch leadeth the way through a great pool of water many millions of Witches swim after They are no sooner passed through that water but they are all transformed into Wolves and fly upon and devour both Men Women Cattel c. After twelve dayes they return through the same water and so receive humane shape again Item that there was one Bajanus a Jew being the Son of Simeon which could when he list turn himself into a Wolf and by that means could escape the force and danger of a whole Army of men Which thing saith Bodin is wonderful but yet saith he it is much more marvellous that men will not believe it For many Poets affirm it yea and if you look well into the matter saith he you shall find it easie to do Item he saith that as natural Wolves persecute beasts so do these Magical Wolves devour men women and children And yet God saith to the People I trow and not to the Cattel of Israel If you observe not my commandements I will send among you the beasts of the field which shall devour both you and your cattel Item I will send the teeth of beasts upon you Where is Bodins distinction now become He never saith I will send Witches in the likeness of Wolves c. to devour you or your cattel Nevertheless Bodin saith it is a clear case for the matter was disputed upon before Pope Leo the seventh and by him all the matters were judged possible and at that time saith he were the transformations of Lucian and Apuleius made canonical Furthermore he saith that through this art they are so cunning that no man can apprehend them but when they are asleep Item he nameth another Witch that as M. Mal. saith could not be caught because he would transform himself into a mouse and run into every little hole till at length he was killed coming out of the hole of a jam in a window which indeed is as possible as a Camel to go through a needles eye Item he saith that divers Witches at Vernon turned themselves into Cats and both committed and received much hurt But at Argentine there was a wonderful matter done by three Witches of great wealth who transforming themselves into three Cats assaulted a Faggot-maker who having hurt them all with a faggot-stick was like to have been put to death But he was miraculously delivered and they worthily punished as the story saith from whence Bodin had it After a great many other such beastly fables he inveyeth against such Physitians as say that Lycanthropia is a disease and a transformation Item he maintaineth as sacred and true all Homers fables of Circe and Ulysses his companions inveying against Chrysostome who rightly interpreteth Homers meaning to be that Ulysses his people were by the harlot Circe made in their brutish manners to resemble Swine But least some Poets fables might be thought lyes whereby the Witchmongers arguments should quail he maintaineth for true the most part of Ovids Metamorphosis and the greatest absurdities and impossibilities in all that book marry he thinketh some one tale therein may be fained Finally he confirmeth all these toyes by the story of Nebuchadnezzar And because saith he Nebuchadnezzar continued seven years in the shape of a beast therefore may Witches remain so long in the form of a beast having in all the mean time the shape hair voice strength agility swiftness food and excrements of beasts and yet reserve the minds and souls of Women or Men. Howbeit St. Augustine whether to confute or confirm that opinion judge you saith Non est credendum humanum corpus daemonum arte vel potestate in bestialia lineamenta converti posse We may not believe that a mans body may be altered into the lineaments of a beast by the Devils art or power Item Bodin saith that the reason why Witches are most commonly turned into Wolves is because they usually eat children as Wolves eat cattle Item that the cause why other are truly turned into Asses is for that such have been desirous to understand the secrets of Witches Why Witches are turned into Cats he alledgeth no reason and therefore to help him forth with that paraphrase I say that Witches are curst queans and many times scratch one another or their neighbours by the faces and therefore perchance are turned into Cats But I have put twenty of these Witchmongers to silence with this one question to wit Whether a Witch that can turn a Woman into a Cat c. can also turn a Cat into a Woman CHAP. II. Absurd reasons brought by Bodin and such others for confirmation of Transformations THese examples and reasons might put us in doubt that every Asse Wolf or Cat that we see were a Man a Woman or a Child I marvel that no man useth this distinction in the definition of a man But to what end should one dispute against these creations and recreations when Bodin washeth away all our arguments with one word confessing that none can create any thing but God acknowledging also the force of the Canons and embracing the opinions of such Divines as write against him in this behalf Yea he doth now contrary to himself elsewhere affirm that the Devil cannot alter his form And lo this is his distinction Non essentialis forma id est ratio sed figura solum permutatur The essential form to wit reason is not changed but the shape or figure And thereby he proveth it easie enough to create men or beasts with life so as they remain without reason Howbeit I think it is an easier matter to turn Bodines reason into the reason of an Asse than his body into the shape of a Sheep which be saith is an easie matter because Lots wife was turned into a stone by the Devil Whereby he sheweth his gross ignorance As though God that commanded Lot upon pain of death not to look back who also destroyed the City of Sodome at that instant had not also turned her into a salt stone And as though all this while God had been the Devils drudge to go about this business all the night before and when a miracle should be wrought the Devil must be fain to do it himself Item he affirmeth that these kind of Tranfigurations are more common with them in the West
elsewhere I have more largely repeated Whosoever believeth that any creature can be made or changed into better or worse or transformed into any other shape or into any other similitude by any other than by God himself the Creator of all things without all doubt is an Infidel and worse than a Pagan and therewithal this reason is rendred to wit Because they attribute that to a Creature which only belongeth to God the Creator of all things CHAP. IV. A summary of the former fable with a Refutation thereof after due examination of the same COncerning the verity or probability of this enterlude betwixt Bodin M. Mal. the Witch the Asse the Mass the Merchants the Inquisitors the Tormentors c. First I wonder at the miracle of Transubstantiation Secondly At the impudency of Bodin and James Sprenger for affirming so gross a lie devised belike by the Knight of the Rhodes to make a fool of Sprenger and an asse of Bodin Thirdly That the Asse had no more wit than to kneel down and hold up his forefeet to a piece of starch or flowre which neither would nor could nor did help him Fourthly That the Mass could not reform that which the Witch transformed Fiftly that the Merchants the Inquisitors and the Tormentors could not either severally or joyntly do it but refer the matter to the Witches courtesie and good pleasure But where was the young mans own shape all these three years wherein he was made an Asse It is a certain and general rule that two substantial forms cannot be in one subject simul semel both at once which is confessed by themselves The form of the beast occupied some place in the air and so I think should the form of a man do also For to bring the body of a man without feeling into such a thin airy nature as that it can neither be seen nor felt it may well be unlikely but it is very impossible for the air is inconstant and continueth not in one place so as this airy creature would soon be carried into another region as elsewhere I have largely proved But indeed our bodies are visible sensitive and passive and are indued with many other excellent properties which all the Devils in hell are not able to alter neither can one hair of our head perish or fall away or be transformed without the special providence of God Almighty But to proceed unto the probability of this story What luck was it that this young fellow of England landing so lately in those parts and that old woman of Cyprus being both of so base a condition should both understand one anothers communication England and Cyprus being so many hundred miles distant and their languages so far differing I am sure in these dayes wherein traffick is more used and learning in more price few young or old Mariners in this Realm can either speak or understand the language spoken at Salamim in Cyprus which is a kind of Greek and as few old women there can speak our language But Bodin will say You hear that at the Inquisitors commandement and through the Tormentors correction she promised to restore him to his own shape and so she did as being thereunto compelled I answer that as the whole story is an impious fable so this assertion is false and disagreeable to their own doctrine which maintaineth That the Witch doth nothing but by the permission and leave of God For if she could do or undo such a thing at her own pleasure or at the commandement of the Inquisitors or for fear of the Tormentors or for love of the party or for remorse of conscience then is it not either by the extraordinary leave nor yet by the like direction of God except you will make him a confederate with old Witches I for my part wonder most how they can turn and tosse a mans body so and make it smaller and greater to wit like a Mouse or like an Asse c. and the man all this while to feel no pain And I am not alone in this maze for Danaeus a special maintainer of their follies saith That although Augustine and Apulcius do write very credibly of these matters yet will he never believe that Witches can change men into other formes as Asses Apes Wolves Bears Mice c. CHAP. V. That the body of a Man cannot be turned into the body of a Beast by a Witch is proved by strong Reasons Scriptures and Authorities BUt was this Man an Asse all this while or was this Asse a Man Bodin saith his reason only reserved he was truly transubstantiated into an Asse so as there must be no part of a man but reason remaining in this Asse And yet Hermes Trismegistus thinketh he hath good authority and reason to say Aliud corpus quam humanum non capere animam humanam nec fas esse in corpus animae ratione carentis animam rationalem corruere that is An humane soul cannot receive any other than an humane body nor yet can light into a body that wanteth reason of mind But S. James saith The body without the spirit is dead And surely when the soul is departed from the body the life of man is dissolved and therefore Paul wished to be dissolved when he would have been with Christ The body of man is subject to divers kinds of Agues sicknesses and infirmities whereunto an Asses body is not inclined and mans body must be fed with bread c. and not with hay Bodins Asse-headed man must either eat hay or nothing as appeareth in the story Man's body also is subject unto death and hath his dayes numbred If this fellow had died in the mean time as his hour might have been come for any thing the Devils the Witch or Bodin knew I marvel then what would have become of this Asse or how the Witch could have restored him to shape or whether he should have risen at the day of Judgement in an Asses body and shape For Paul saith that that very body which is sown and buried a natural body is raised a spiritual body The life of Jesus is made manifest in our mortal flesh and not in the flesh of an Asse God hath endued every man and every thing with his proper nature substance form qualities and gifts and directeth their wayes As for the wayes of an Asse he taketh no such care howbeit they have also their properties and substance several to themselves For there is one flesh saith Paul of men another flesh of beasts another of fishes another of birds And therefore it is absolutely against the ordinance of God who hath made me a man that I should flie like a Bird or swim like a fish or creep like a worm or become an Asse in shape insomuch as if God would give me leave I cannot do it for it were contrary to his own order and decree and to the constitution of any body which he hath
expoundeth the other words wherewithal we are now in hand Somnia terrores Magicos miracula sagas Nocturnos lemures portentaque Thessala rides These dreames and terrors Magical These Miracles and Witches Night-walking Sprites or Thessal bugs Esteem them not two rushes Here Horace you see contemneth as ridiculous all our Witches cunning marry herein he comprehendeth not their poysoning art which hereby he only seemed to think hurtful Pythagoras and Democritus give us the names of a great many Magical herbes and stones whereof now both the vertue and the things themselves also are unknown as Marmaritin whereby Spirits might be raised Archimedon which would make one bewray in his sleep all the secrets in his heart Adincantida Calicia Mevais Chirocineta c. which had all their several vertues or rather poysons But all these now are worn out of knowledge marry in their stead we have hogs-turd and chervil as the only thing whereby our Witches work miracles Truly this poysoning art called Veneficium of all others is most abominable as whereby murthers may be committed where no suspition may be gathered nor any resistance can be made the strong cannot avoid the weak the wise cannot prevent the foolish the godly cannot be preserved from the hands of the wicked Children may hereby kill their Parents the Servant the Master the Wife her Husband so privily so unevitably and so incurably that of all other it hath been thought the most odious kind of murther according to the saying of Ovid Non hospes abhospite tutus Non socer à genero fratrum quoque gratia rara est Imminet exitio vir conjugis illa mariti Lurida terribiles miscent aconita novercae Filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos Englished by Abraham Fleming The travelling guest opprest Doth stand in danger of his host The host eke of his guest The Father of his son-in-law Yea rare is seen to rest 'Twixt brethren love and amity And kindness void of strife The husband seeks the goodwifes death And his again the wife Ungentle stepdames grizly poyson temper and do give The Son too soon doth aske how long His Father is to live The Monk that poysoned King John was a right Veneficus to wit both a Witch and a Murtherer for he killed the King with poyson and perswaded the people with lyes that he had done a good and a meritorious act and doubtless many were so bewitched as they thought he did very well therein Antonius Sabellicus writeth of a horrible poysoning murther committed by Women at Rome where were executed after due conviction 170 Women at one time besides 20 Women of that consort who were poysoned with that poyson which they had prepared for others CHAP. IV. Of divers poysoning practices otherwise called Veneficia committed in Italy Genua Millen Wittenberge also how they were discovered and executed ANother practice not unlike to that mentioned in the former Chapter was done in Cassalis at Salassia in Italy Anno 1536. where 40 Veneficae or Witches being of one confederacy renewed a Plague which was then almost ceased besmeering with an ointment and a powder the posts and doors of mens houses so as thereby whole families were poysoned and of that stuffe they had prepared above 40 crocks for that purpose Herewithal they conveyed inheritances as it pleased them till at length they killed the brother and only son of one Necus as lightly none died in the house but the Masters and their children which was much noted and therewithal that one Androgina haunted the houses specially of them that died and she being suspected apprehended and examined confessed the fact conspiracy and circumstance as hath been shewed The like villany was afterwards pactised at Genua and execution was done upon the offenders At Millen there was another like attempt that took none effect This art consisteth as well in poysoning of Cattel as Men and that which is done by poysons unto Cattel towards their destruction is as commonly attributed to Witches charmes as the other And I doubt not but some that would be thought cunning in Incantations and to do miracles have experience in this behalf For it is written by divers Authors that if Wolves dung be hidden in the mangers racks or else in the hedges about the pastures where cattel go through the antipathy of the nature of the Wolf and other cattel all the beasts that savour the same do not only forbear to eat but run about as though they were mad or as they say bewitched But Wierus telleth a notable story of a Veneficus or destroyer of cattel which I thought meet here to repeat There was saith he in the Dukedom of Wittenberge not far from Tubing a Butcher Anno 1564. that bargained with a Town for all their hides which were of sterven cattel called in these parts Morts He with poyson privily killed in great numbers their bullocks sheep swine c. and by his bargain of the hides and tallow he grew infinitely rich And at last being suspected was examined confessed the matter and manner thereof and was put to death with hot tongs wherewith his flesh was pulled from his bones We for our parts would have killed five poor Women before we would suspect one rich Butcher CHAP. V. A great Objection answered concerning this kind of Witchcraft called Veneficium IT is objected That if Veneficium were comprehended under the title of manslaughter it had been a vain repetition and a disordered course undertaken by Moses to set forth a law against Veneficas severally But it might suffice to answer any reasonable Christian that such was the pleasure of the holy Ghost to institute a particular Article hereof as of a thing more odious wicked and dangerous then any other kind of Muther But he that shall read the law of Moses or the Testament of Christ himself shall find this kind of repetition and reiteration of the law most common For as it is written Exod. 22.21 Thou shalt not grieve nor afflict a stranger for thou was a stranger in the land of Aegypt so are the same words found repeated in Levit. 19.33 Polling and shaving of heads and beards is forbidden in Deut. 27. which was before prohibited in 22. It is written in Exod. 20. Thou shalt not steal and it is repeated in Levit. 19. and and in Deut. 5. Murther is generally forbidden in Exod. 20. and likewise in 22. and repeated in Numb 35. But the aptest example is that Magick is forbidden in three several places to wit once in Levit. 19. and twice in Levit. 20. For the which a man might as well cavil with the holy Ghost as for the other CHAP. VI. In what kind of confections that Witchcraft which is called Veneficium consisteth of Love-cups and the same confuted by Poets AS touching this kind of Witchcraft the principal part thereof consisteth in certain confections prepared by lewd people to procure love which indeed are meer poysons bereaving some of
as these two Wenches with the Maiden of Westwell were detected of cosenage so likewise a Dutch-man at Maidstone long after he had accomplished such knaveries to the astonishment of a great number of good men was revealed to be a cosening knave although his miracles were imprinted and published at London Anno 1572. with this title before the book as followeth A very wonderful and strange Miracle of God shewed upon a Dutch-man of the age of 23 years which was possessed of ten Devils and was by Gods mighty providence dispossessed of them again the 27 of January last past 1572. Unto this the Maior of Maidstone with divers of his Brethren subscribed chiefly by the perswasion of Nicasius Vander-Sceure the Minister of the Dutch-Church there John Stikelbow whom as it is there said God made the instrument to cast out the Devils and four other credible persons of the Dutch-Church The history is so strange and so cunningly performed that had not his knavery afterwards brought him into suspicion he should have gone away unsuspected of this fraud A great many other such miracles have been lately Printed whereof divers have been bewrayed all the residue doubtless if tryal had been made would have been found like unto these But some are more finely handled then othersome Some have more advantage by the simplicity of the audience some by the majesty and countenance of the confederates as namely that cosening of the holy Maid of Kent Some escape utterly unsuspected Some are prevented by death so as that way their examination is untaken Some are weakly examined but the most part are so reverenced as they which suspect them are rather called to their answers then the others CHAP. IV. Of the great Oracle of Apollo the Pythonist and how men of all sorts have been deceived and that even the Apostles have mistaken the nature of Spirits with an unanswerable argument that Spirits can take no shapes WIth this kind of Witchcraft Apollo and his Oracles abused and cosened the whole World which Idol was so famous that I need not stand long in the description thereof The Princes and Monarchs of the earth reposed no small confidence therein the Priests which lived thereupon were so cunning as they also overtook almost all the godly and learned men of that age partly with their doubtful answers as that which was made unto Pyrrhus in these words Aio te Aeacida Romanos vincere posse and to Croesus his Ambassadors in these words Si Croesus arma Persis inferat magnum Imperium evertet and otherwise thus Croesus Halin penetrans magnam subvertet opum vim or thus Croesus perdet Halin transgressus plurima regna c. partly through confederacy whereby they knew mens errands ere they came and partly by cunning as promising victory upon the sacrificing of some person of such account as victory should rather be neglected then the murther accomplished And if it were yet should there be such conditions annexed thereunto as alwayes remained unto them a starting hole and matter enough to cavil upon as that the party sacrificed must be a Virgin no bastard c. Furthermore of two things only proposed and where yea or nay only doth answer the question it is an even lay that an Idiot shall conjecture right So as if things fell out contrary the fault was alwayes in the Interpreter and not in the Oracle or the Prophet But what marvel I say though the multitude and common people have been abused herein since Lawyers Philosophers Physitians Astronomers Divines General Councels and Princes have with great negligence and ignorance been deceived and seduced hereby as swallowing up and devouring an inveterate opinion received of their elders without due examination of the circumstance Howbeit the godly and learned Fathers as it appeareth have alwayes had a special care and respect that they attributed not unto God such devilish devices but referred them to him who indeed is the inventer and author though not the personal executioner in manner and form as they supposed so as the matter of faith was not thereby by them impeached But who can assure himself not to be deceived in matters concerning Spirits when the Apostles themselves were so far from knowing them as even after the Resurrection of Christ having heard him preach and expound the Scriptures all his life time they shewed themselves not only ignorant therein but also to have misconceived thereof Did not the Apostle Thomas think that Christ himself himself had been a Spirit until Christ told him plainly that a Spirit was no such creature as had flesh and bones the which he said Thomas might see to be in him And for the further certifying and satisfying of his mind he commended unto him his hands to be seen and his sides to be felt Thomas if the answer be true that some make hereunto to wit that Spirits take formes and shapes of bodies at their pleasure might have answered Christ and remaining unsatisfied might have said Oh Sir what do you tell me that Spirits have no flesh and bones Why they can take shapes and formes and so perchance have you done Which argument all the Witchmongers in the World shall never he able to answer Some of them that maintain the Creation the Transformation the Transportation and Transubstantiation of Witches object that Spirits are not palpable though visible and answer the place by me before cited so as the feeling and not the seeing should satisfie Thomas But he that shall well weigh the text and the circumstances thereof shall perceive that the fault of Thomas his incredulity was secondly bewrayed and condemned in that he would not trust his own eyes nor the view taken by his fellow-Apostles who might have been thought too credulous in this case if Spirits could take shapes at their pleasure Jesus saith to him because thou hast seen and not because thou hast felt thou believest Item he saith Blessed are they that believe and see not and not they that believe and feel not Whereby he noteth that our corporal eyes may discern betwixt a Spirit and a natural body reproving him because he so much relyed upon his external senses in cases where faith should have prevailed and here in a matter of faith revealed in the Word would not credit the miracle which was exhibited unto him in a most natural and sensible sort Howbeit Erastus saith and so doth Hyperius Hemingius Danaeus M. Mal. Bodin c. that evil Spirits eat drink and keep company with men and that they can take palpable formes of bodies producing examples thereof to wit Spectrum Germanicum seu Augustanum and the Angel whose feet Lot washed as though because God can indue his Messengers with bodies at his pleasure therefore the Devil and every Spirit can do the like How the eleven Apostles were in this case deceived appeareth in Luke 24. and in Mark 16. and also in Matth. 14. where the Apostles and Disciples were all
deceived taking Christ to be a Spirit when he walked on the Sea And why might not they be deceived herein as well as in that they thought Christ had spoken of a temporal Kingdom when he preached of the Kingdom of Heaven Which thing they also much misconceived as likewise when he did bid them beware of the leaven of the Pharisees they understood that he spake of material bread CHAP. V. Why Apollo was called Pytho whereof those Witches were called Pythonists Gregory his Letter to the Devil BUt to return to our Oracle of Apollo at Delphos who was called Pytho for that Apollo slue a Serpent so called whereof the Pythonists take their name I pray you consider well of this tale which I will truly rehearse out of the Ecclesiastical history written by Eusebius wherein you shall see the absurdity of the opinion the cosenages of these Oracles and the deceived mind or vain opinion of so great a Doctor bewrayed and deciphered altogether as followeth Gregory Neocaesariensis in his journey and way to pass over the Alpes came to the Temple of Apollo where Apollo's Priest living richly upon the revenues and benefit proceeding from that Idol did give great entertainment unto Gregory and made him good chear But after Gregory was gone Apollo waxed dumb so as the Priests gains decayed for the Idol growing into contempt the Pilgrimage ceased The Spirit taking compassion on the Priests case and upon his grief of mind in this behalf appeared unto him and told him flatly that his late guest Gregory was the cause of all his misery For saith the Devil he hath banished me so that I cannot return without a special license or pasport from him It was no need to bid the Priest make haste for immediately he took post-horse and galloped after Gregory till at length he overtook him and then expostulated with him for his discourtesie proffered in recompence of his good chear and said that if he would not be so good unto him as to write his Letter to the Devil in his behalf he should be utterly undone To be short his importunity was such that he obtained of Gregory his Letter to the Devil who wrote unto him in manner and form following word for word Permitto tibi redire in locum tuum agere qua consuevisti which is in English I am content thou return into thy place and do as thou wast wont Immediately upon the receipt of this Letter the Idol spake as before And here is to be noted that as well in this as in the execution of all their other Oracles and Cosenages the answers were never given Ex tempore or in that day wherein the question was demanded because forsooth they expected a Vision as they said to be given the night following whereby the cosenage might the more easily be wrought CHAP. VI. Apollo who was called Pytho compared to the Rood of Grace Gregories Letter to the Devil confuted WHat need many words to confute this fable For if Gregory had been an honest man he would never have willingly permitted that the people should have been further Cosened with such a lying spirit or if he had been half so holy as Eusebius maketh him he would not have consented or yielded to so lewd a request of the Priest nor have written such an impious Letter no not though good might have come thereof And therefore as well by the impossibility and folly contained therein as of the impiety whereof I dare excuse Gregory you may perceive it to be a lye Me thinks they which still maintain that the Devil made answer in the Idol of Apollo c. may have sufficient perswasion to revoke their erroneous opinions in that it appeareth in record that such men as were skilful in Augury did take upon them to give Oracles at Delphos in the place of Apollo of which number Tisanius the son of Antiochus was one But vain is the answer of Idols Our Rood of grace with the help of little S. Rumbal was not inferior to the Idol of Apollo for these could not work eternal miracles but manifest the internal thoughts of the heart I believe with more lively shew both of humanity and also of Divinity then the other As if you read M. Lamberts book of the perambulation of Kent it shall partly appear But if you talk with them that have been beholders thereof you will be satisfied herein And yet in the blind time of Popery no man might under pain or damnation nor without danger of death suspect the fraud Nay what Papists will yet confess they were Idols though the wiers that made their eyes gogle the pins that fastened them to the posts to make them seem heavy were seen and burnt together with the Images themselves the knavery of the Priests bewrayed and every circumstance thereof detected and manifested CHAP. VII How divers great Clerks and good Authors have been abused in this matter of spirits through false reports and by means of their credulity have published lies which are confuted by Aristotle and the Scriptures PLutarch Livy and Valerius Maximus with many other grave Authors being abused with false reports write that in times past beasts spake and that Images could have spoken and wept and did let fall drops of blood yea and could walk from place to place which they say was done by procreation of spirits But I rather think with Aristotle that it was brought to pass Hominum sacerdotum deceptionibus to wit by the cosening art of crafty Knaves and Priests And therefore let us follow Isaiah's advice who saith When they shall say unto you enquire of them that have a spirit of Divination and at the Soothsayers which whisper and mumble in your ears to deceive you c. enquire at your own God c. And so let us do And here you see they are such as run into corners and cosen the people with lies c. for if they could do as they say they could not aptly be called lyers neither need they to go into corners to whisper c. CHAP. VIII Of the Witch of Endor and whether she accomplished the raising of Samuel truly or by deceipt the opinion of some Divines hereupon THe Woman of Endor is comprised under this word Ob for she is called Pythonissa It is written in 1 Sam. 28. that she raised up Samuel from death and the other words of the text are strongly placed to inforce his very resurrection The mind and opinion of Jesus Sirach evidently appeareth to be that Samuel in person was raised out from his grave as if you read Eccl. 46.19 20. you shall plainly perceive Howbeit he disputeth not there whether the story be true or false but only citeth certain verses of 1 Sam. 28. simply according to the letter perswading to manners and the imitation of our vertuous predecessors and repeating the examples of divers excellent men namely of Samuel even as the text it self urgeth the
whole and holy company of Heaven and by the dreadful day of doom and by all Angels and Archangels Thrones Dominations Principates Potestates Virtutes Cherubim and Seraphim and their vertues and powers I conjure thee and bind thee Sibylia that thou shalt not depart out of the circle wherein thou art appeared nor yet to alter thy shape except I give thee licence to depart I conjure thee Sibylia by the blood that ran out of the side of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified and by the vertue hereof I conjure thee Sibylia to come to me and to appear to me at all times visibly as the Conjuration of words leadeth written in this Book I conjure thee Sibylia O blessed Virgin of Fairies by the opening of Heaven and by the renting of the Temple and by the darkness of the Sun at the time of his death and by the rising of the dead in the time of his glorious Resurrection and by the unspeakable Name of God ✚ Tetragrammaton ✚ and by King and Queen of Fairies and by their vertues I conjure thee Sibylia to appear before the Conjuration be read over four times and that visibly to appear as the the Conjuration leadeth written in this Book and to give me good counsel at all times and to come by treasures hidden in the earth and all other things that is to do me pleasure and to fulfil my will without any deceit or tarrying nor yet that thou shalt have any power of my body or soul earthly or ghostly nor yet to perish so much of my body as one hair of my head I conjure thee Sibylia by all the royal words aforesaid and by their vertues and powers I charge and bind thee by the vertue thereof to be obedient unto me and to all the words aforesaid and this bond to stand between thee and me upon pain of everlasting condemnation Fiat fiat fiat Amen CHAP. XVIII A License for Sibylia to go and come by at all times I Conjure thee Sibylia which art come hither before me by the commandement of thy Lord and mine that thou shalt have no power in thy going or coming unto me imagining any evil in any manner of wayes in the earth or under the earth of evil doings to any person or persons I conjure and command thee Sibylia by all the royal words and vertues that be written in this Book that thou shalt not go to the place from whence thou camest but shalt remain peaceably invisibly and look thou be ready to come unto me when thou art called by any conjuration of words that be written in this Book to come I say at my commandement and to answer unto me truly and duly of all things my will quickly to be fulfilled Vade in pace in Nomine Patris Filii Spiritus Sancti And the holy ✚ cross ✚ between thee and me or between us and you and the Lion of Juda the root of Jess the kindred of David be between thee and me ✚ Christ cometh ✚ Christ commandeth ✚ Christ giveth power ✚ Christ defend me ✚ and his innocent blood ✚ from all perils of body and soul sleeping and waking Fiat fiat Amen CHAP. XIX To know of Treasure hidden in the Earth WRite in paper these characters following on the Saturday in the hour of ☽ and lay it where thou thinkest Treasure to be if there be any the paper will burn else not And these be the characters This is the way to go invisible by these three Sisters of Fairies IN the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost First go to a fair Parlor or Chamber and an even ground and in no loft and from people nine dayes for it is the better and let all thy cloathing be clean and sweet Then make a Candle of Virgin Wax and light it and make a fair fire of Charcoles in a fair place in the middle of the Parlour or Chamber Then take fair clean water that runneth against the East and set it upon the fire and if thou washest thy self say these words going about the fire three times holding the Candle in thy right hand ✚ Panthon ✚ Craton ✚ Muriton ✚ Bisecognaton ✚ Siston ✚ Diaton ✚ Maton ✚ Tetragrammaton ✚ Agla ✚ Agarion ✚ Tegra ✚ Pentessaron ✚ Tendicata ✚ Then rehearse these names ✚ Sorthie ✚ Sorthia ✚ Sorthios ✚ Milia ✚ Achilia ✚ Sibylia ✚ In Nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti Amen I conjure you three sisters of Fairies Milia Achilia Sibylia by the Father by the Son and by the Holy Ghost and by their vertues and powers and by the most merciful and living God that will command his Angel to blow the trump at the day of Judgment and he shall say Come come come to judgment and by all Angels Archangels Thrones Dominations Principates Potestates Virtutes Cherubim and Seraphim and by their vertues and powers I conjure you thre sisters by the vertue of all the royal words aforesaid I charge you that you do appear before me visibly in form and shape of fair women in white vestures and to bring with you to me the Ring of Invisibility by the which I may go invisible at mine own will and pleasure and that in all hours and minutes In Nomine Patris Filii Spiritus Sancti Amen Being appeared say this bond following O blessed Virgins ✚ Milia ✚ Achilia ✚ I conjure you in the Name of the Father in the Name of the Son and the Name of the Holy Ghost and by their vertues I charge you to depart from me in peace for a time And Sibylia I conjure thee by the vertue of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the vertue of his flesh and precious blood that he took of our blessed Lady the Virgin and by all holy company in Heaven I charge thee Sibylia by all the vertues aforesaid that thou be obedient unto me in the Name of God that when and what time and place I shall call thee by this foresaid Conjuration written in this Book look thou be ready to come unto me at all hours and minutes and to bring unto me the Ring of Invisibility whereby I may go invisible at my will and pleasure and that at all hours and minutes Fiat fiat Amen And if they come not at the first night then do the same the second night and so the third night until they do come for doubtless they will come and lie thou in thy bed in the same Parlor or Chamber And lay thy right hand out of the bed and look thou have a fair silken Kercher bound about thy head and be not afraid they will do thee no harm For there will come before thee three fair women and all in white cloathing and one of them will put a Ring upon thy finger wherewith thou shalt go invisible Then with speed bind them with the bond aforesaid When thou hast this Ring on thy finger look in
minutes and to talk in my mother tongue plainly that I may hear it and understand it declaring the truth unto me of all things according to thine oath and promise else to be condemned for ever Fiat fiat Amen Also I conjure and constrain the spirit of N. by the golden Girdle which girdeth the loins of our Lord Jesus Christ so thou spirit of N. be thou bound and cast into the pit of everlasting condemnation for thy great disobedience and unreverent regard that thou hast to the holy names and words of God Almighty by me pronounced Fiat Amen Also I conjure constrain command and by the spirit of N. by the two-edged Sword which John saw proceed out of the mouth of God Almighty except thou be obedient as is aforesaid the Sword cut thee in pieces and condemn thee into the pit of everlasting pains where the fire goeth not out and where the worm dyeth not Fiat fiat fiat Amen Also I conjure and constrain the spirit of N. by the Throne of the Godhead and by all the Heavens under him and by the celestial City new Jerusalem and by the Earth by the Sea and by all things created and contained therein and by their vertues and powers and by all the infernals and by their vertues and powers and by all things contained therein and by their vertues and powers I conjure and constrain the spirit of N. than now immediately thou be obedient unto me at all times hereafter and to those words of me pronounced according to thine oath and promise else let the great curse of God the anger of God the shadow and darkness of everlasting condemnation be upon thee thou spirit of N. for ever and ever because thou hast denyed thine health thy faith and salvation for the great disobedience thou art worthy to be condemned Therefore let the divine Trinity Angels and Archangels Thrones Dominations Principates Potestates Virtutes Chrumbim and Seraphim and all the souls of the Saints that shall stand on the right hand of our Lord Jesus Christ at the general Day of Judgment condemn the spirit of N. for ever and ever and be a witness against thee because of thy great disobedience in and against thy promises Fiat fiat Amen Being thus bound he must needs be obedient unto thee whether he will or no prove this And here followeth a bond to call him to your N. and to shew you true visions at all times as in the hour of ♄ to bind or inchant any thing and in the hour of ♃ for peace and concord in the hour of ♂ to marre to destroy and to make sick in the hour of the ☉ to bind tongues and other bonds of men in the hour of ♀ to increase love joy and good will in the hour of ☿ to put away enimity or hatred to know of theft in the hour of the ☽ for love good will and concord ♄ lead ♃ tin ♂ iron ☉ gold ♀ copper ☿ quick-silver ☽ silver c. CHAP. XXVIII This Bond as followeth is to call him into your Crystal-stone or Glass c. ALso I do conjure thee spirit N. by God the Father by God the Son and by God the Holy Ghost Α and Ω the first and the last and by the latter day of Judgement of them which shall come to judge the quick and the dead and the world by fire and by their vertues and powers I constrain thee spirit N. to come to him that holdeth the Crystal-stone in his hand and to appear visibly as hereafter followeth Also I conjure thee Spirit N. by these holy Names of God ✚ Letragrammaton ✚ Adonay ✚ El ✚ Ousion ✚ Agla ✚ Iesus ✚ of Nazareth ✚ and by the vertues thereof and by his nativity death burial resurrection and ascension and by all other things appertaining unto his passion and by the blessed Virgin Mary Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and by all the joy which she had when she saw her Son rise from death to life and by the vertues and powers thereof I constrain thee Spirit N. to come into the Crystal-stone and to appear visibly as hereafter shall be declared Also I conjure thee N. thou Spirit by all Angels Archangels Thrones Dominations Principates Potestates Virtutes Cherubim and Seraphim and by the ☉ ☽ ♄ ♃ ♂ ♀ ☿ and by the twelve signes and by their vertues and powers and by all things created and confirmed in the Firmament and by their vertues and powers I constrain thee Spirit N. to appear visibly in that Crystal-stone in fair form and shape of a white Angel a green Angel a black Angel a Man a Woman a Boy a maiden Virgin a white Greyhound a Devil with great horns without any hurt or danger of our bodies or souls and truly to inform and shew unto us true visions of all things in that Crystal-stone according to thine Oath and Promise and that without any hinderance or tarrying to appear visibly by this Bond of words read over by me three times upon pain of everlasting condemnation Fiat fiat Amen Then being appeared say these words following I Conjure thee Spirit by God the Father that thou shew true visions in that Crystal-stone where there be any N. in such a place or no upon pain of everlasting condemnation Fiat Amen Also I conjure thee Spirit N. by God the Son Jesus Christ that thou do shew true visions unto us whether it be gold or silver or any other metals or whether there were any or no upon pain of condemnation Fiat Amen Also I conjure thee Spirit N. by God the Holy Ghost the which doth sanctifie all faithful souls and spirits and by their vertues and powers I constrain thee Spirit N. to speak open and to declare the true way how we may come by these treasures hidden in N. and how to have it in our custody and who are the keepers thereof and how many there be and what be their names and by whom it was laid there and to shew me true visions of what sort and similitude they be and how long they have kept it and to know in what dayes and hours we shall call such a Spirit N. to bring unto us these treasures into such a place N. upon pain of everlasting condemnation ✚ Also I constrain thee Spirit N. by all Angels Archangels Thrones Dominations Principates Potestates Virtutes Cherubim and Seraphim that you do shew a true vision in this Crystal-stone who did convey or steal away such a N. and where it is and who hath it and how far off and what is his or her name and how and when to come unto it upon pain of eternal condemnation Fiat Amen Also I conjure thee Spirit N. by the ☉ ☽ ♄ ♃ ♂ ♀ ☿ and by all the Characters in the Firmament that thou do shew unto me a true vision in this Crystal-stone where such N. and in what state he is and how long he hath been there and
fire about with them alwayes in so much as they say they leave ashes evermore where they stand Surely she made in her Prayer an unreasonable request but the date of her Patent is out for I believe that whosoever at this day shall burn a pound of good Candles before her shall be never the better but three pence the worse But now we may find in St. Margarets life who it is that is Christs wife whereby we are so much wiser than we were before But look in the life of S. Katherine in the golden Legend and you shall find that he was also marryed to S. Katherine and that our Lady made the marriage c. An execellent authority for Bigamie Here I will also cite another of their notable stories or miracles of authority and so leave shaming of them or rather troubling you the Readers thereof Neither would I have written these fables but that they are authentick among the Papists and that we that are Protestants may be satisfied as well of Conjurors and Witches miracles as of others for the one is as gross as the other CHAP. XLVI A pleasant Miracle wrought by a Popish Priest WHat time the Waldenses Heresies began to spring certain wicked men being upheld and maintained by Diabolical vertue shewed certain signs and wonders whereby they strengthened and confirmed their Heresies and perverted in Faith many faithful men for they walked on the water and were not drowned But a certain Catholick Priest seeing the same and knowing that true signs could not be joyned with false doctrine brought the body of our Lord with the Pix to the Water where they shewed their power and vertue to the people and said in the hearing of all that were present I conjure thee O Devil by him whom I carry in my hands that thou exercise not these great Visions and Phantasies by these men to the drowning of this people Notwithstanding these words when they walked still on the water as they did before the Priest in a rage threw the body of our Lord with the Pix into the River and by and by so soon as the Sacrament touched the Element the Phantasie gave place to the Verity and they being proved and made false did sink like lead to the bottom and were drowned the Pix with the Sacrament immediately was taken away by an Angel The Priest seeing all these things was very glad of the Miracle but for the loss of the Sacrament he was very pensive passing away the whole night in tears and mourning in the morning he found the Pix with the Sacrament upon the Altar CHAP. XLVII The former Miracle confuted with a strange story of St. Lucy HOw glad Sir John was now it were folly for me to say How would he have plagued the Devil that threw his God in the River to be drowned But if other had had no more power to destroy the Waldenses with Sword and Fire than this Priest had to drown them with his conjuring Box and cosening Sacraments there should have been many a life saved But I may not omit one fable which is of authority wherein though there be no Conjuration expressed yet I warrant you there was cosenage both in the doing and telling thereof You shall read in the lesson on Saint Lucies dayes that she being condemned could not be removed from the place with a teem of Oxen neither could any fire burn her insomuch as one was fain to cut off her head with a Sword and yet she could speak afterward as long as she list And this passeth all other miracles except it be that which Bodin and M. Mal. recite out of Nider of a Witch that could not be burned till a scroll was taken away from where she hid it betwixt her skin and flesh CHAP. XLVIII Of Visions Noises Apparitions and imagined Sounds and of other Illusions of wandering Souls with a confutation thereof MAny through Melancholy do imagine that they see or hear Visions Spirits Ghosts strange Noises c. as I have already proved before at large Many again through fear proceeding from a cowardly nature and complexion or from an effeminate and fond bringing up are timerous and afraid of Spirits and bugs c. Some through imperfection of sight also are afraid of their own shadows and as Aristotle saith see themselves sometime as it were in a Glass And some through weakness of body have such imperfect imaginations Drunken men also sometimes suppose they see trees walk c. according to that which Solomon saith to the drunkards Thine eyes shall see strange visions and marvellous appearances In all ages Monks and Priests have abused and bewitched the world with counterfeit Visions which proceeded through idleness and restraint of marriage whereby they grew hot and lecherous and therefore devised such means to compass and obtain their loves And the simple people being then so superstitious would never seem to mistrust that such holy men would make them Cuckholds but forsook their beds in that case and gave room to the Clergy Item little children have been so scared with their mothers maids that they could never after endure to be in the dark alone for fear of bugs Many are deceived by Glasses through Art Perspective Many hearkening unto false reports conceive and believe that which is nothing so Many give credit to that which they read in Authors But how many Stories and Books are written of walking Spirits and Souls of men contrary to the Word of God a reasonable volum cannot contain How common an opinion was it among the Papists that all souls walked on the earth after they departed from their bodies In so much as it was in the time of Popery a usual matter to desire sick people on their death-beds to appear to them after their death and to reveal their estate The Fathers and ancient Doctors of the Church were too credulous herein c. Therefore no marvel though the common simple sort of men and least of all that women be deceived herein God in times past did send down visible Angels and Appearances to men but now he doth not so Through ignorance of late in Religion it was thought that every Church-yard swarmed with souls and Spirits but now the Word of God being more free open and known those conceits and illusions are made more manifest and apparent c. The Doctors Councels and Popes which they say cannot err have confirmed the walking appearing and raising of Souls But where find they in Scriptures any such doctrine And who certified them that those appearances were true Truly all they cannot bring to pass that the lyes which have been spread abroad herein should now begin to be true though the Pope himself subscribe seal and swear thereunto never so much Where are the souls that swarmed in times past Where are the Spirits Who heareth their noises Who seeth their Visions Where are the Souls that made such moan for Trentals whereby to be
eased of the pains in Purgatory Are they all gone into Italy because Masses are grown dear here in England Mark well this illusion and see how contrary it is unto the Word of God Consider how all Papists believe this illusion to be true and how all Protestants are driven to say it is and was Popish illusion Where be the Spirits that wandered to have burial for their bodies For many of those walking Souls went about their business Do you not think that the Papists shew not themselves godly Divines to preach and teach the people such doctrine and to insert into their Divine Service such fables as are read in the Romish Church all Scripture giving place thereto for the time You shall see in the lessons read there upon S. Stevens day that Gamaliel Nicodemus his kinsman and Abdias his son with his friend S. Steven appeared to a certain Priest called Sir Lucian requesting him to remove their bodies and to bury them in some better place for they had lien from the time of their death until then being in the reign of Honorius the Emperor to wit four hundred years buryed in the field of Gamaliel who in that respect said to Sir Lucian Non mei solummodo causa solicitus sum sed potius pro illis qui mecum sunt that is I am not only careful for my self but chiefly for those my friends that are with me Whereby the whole course may be perceived to be a false practice and a counterfeit vision or rather a lewd invention For in Heaven mens souls remain not in sorrow and care neither study they there how to compass and get a worshipful burial here in earth If they did they would not have foreslowed it so long Now therefore let us not suffer our selves to be abused any longer either with Conjuring Priests or Melancholical Witches but be thankful to God that he hath delivered us from such blindness and error CHAP. XLIX Cardanus Opinion of strange Noises how counterfeit Visions grow to be credited of Popish Appearances of Pope Boniface CArdanus speaking of Noises among other things saith thus a noise is heard in your house it may be a Mouse a Cat or a Dog among dishes it may be a counterfeit or a theif indeed or the fault may be in your ears I could recite a great number of Tales how men have even forsaken their houses because of such apparitions and noises and all hath been by meer and rank knavery And wheresoever you shall hear that there is in the night season such rumbling and fearful noises be you well assured that it is flat knavery performed by some that seemeth most to complain and is least mistrusted And hereof there is a very Art which for some respects I will not discover The Devil seeketh dayly as well as nightly whom he may devour and can do his feats as well by day as night or else he is a young Devil and a very bungler But of all other coseners these Conjurers are in the highest degree and are most worthy of death for their blasphemous impiety But that these Popish Visions and Conjurations used as well by Papists as by the Popes themselves were mere cosenages and that the tales of the Popes recited by Bruno and Platina of their magical devices were but plain cosenages and knaveries may appear by the History of Bonifacius the eight who used this kind of inchantment to get away the Popedom from his predecessor Coelestinus He counterfeited a voyce through a Cane-reed as though it had come from Heaven perswading him to yield up his Authority of Popeship and to institute therein and Bonifacius a worthy man otherwise he threatned him with damnation and therefore the fool yielded it up accordingly to the said Bonifacius An. 1264. of whom it was said He came in like a Fox lived like a Woolf and dyed like a Dog There be innumerable examples of such Visions which when they are not detected go for true stories and therefore when it is answered that some are true tales and some are false until they be able to shew forth before your eyes one matter of truth you may reply upon them with this distinction to wit visions tryed are false visions undecided and untryed are true CHAP. L. Of the noise or sound of Eccho of one that narrowly escaped drowning thereby c. ALas how many natural things are there so strange as to many seem miraculous and how many counterfeit matters are there that to the simple seem yet more wonderful Cardane telleth of one Comansis who coming late to a Rivers side not knowing where to pass over cryed out alowd for some body to shew him the Foord who hearing an Eccho to answer according to his last word supposing it to be a man that answered him and informed him of the way he passed through a River even there where was a deep whirl-pool so as he hardly escaped with his life and told his friends that the Devil had almost perswaded him to drown himself And in some places these noises of eccho are far more strange than other specially at Ticinum in Italy in the great hall where it rendereth sundry and manifold noises or voyces which seem to end so lamentably as it were a man that lay a dying so as few can be perswaded that it is the eccho but a a Spirit that answereth The noise at Winchester was said to be a very miracle and much wondering was there at it about the year 1569. though indeed a meer natural noise ingendered of the wind the concavity of the place and other instrumental matters helping the sound to seem strange to the hearers specially to such as would add new reports to the augmentation of the wonder CHAP. LI. Of Theurgie with a Confutation thereof a Letter sent to me concerning these matters THere is yet another Art professed by these cosening Conjurors which some fond Divines affirm to be more honest and lawful than Necromancy which is called Theurgie wherein they work by good Angels Howbeit their Ceremonies are altogether Papistical and Superstitious consisting in cleanliness partly of the mind partly of the body and partly of things about and belonging to the body as in the skin in the apparel in the house in the vessel and housholdstuffe in Oblations and Sacrifices the cleanliness whereof they say doth dispose men to the contemplation of heavenly things They cite these words of Esay for their authority to wit Wash your selves and be clean c. In so much as I have known divers superstitious persons of good account which usually washed all their Apparel upon conceits ridiculously For uncleanliness they say corrupteth the air infecteth man and chaseth away clean sprits Hereunto belongeth the Art of Almadel the Art of Paul the Art of Revelations and the Art of Notary But as Agrippa saith the more divine these Arts seem to the ignorant the more damnable they be But their false
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
and Latine Poets all together to be sleighted in this particular for many verities are inter-woven with their fictions they speak of vocal Forrests as Dodona of Talkative Rivers as Seamander of sensitive Fountains as Arethusa Menippa and Aegle Which more credible Historians have partly confirmed in the Relation of Dodona asserting that the trees do seem to speak by reason of the various Apparitions Phantasms that attend the Forrest And also in the Story of the River Scamander which is sayd at this day to afford plenty of spectres and prophetical Spirits that have nightly conversation with the Turkish Sailers coming by that way with Gallyes into the Mediterranean 21. The like is reported of a Castle in Norweigh standing over a Lake wherein a Satyr appeareth sounding a Trumpet before the death of any Souldier or Governour belonging to the same t is sayd to be the Ghost of some murdered Captain that hath become so Fatal and Ominous to his Successors But with more probability may be called a Spectre proper to the place according to the Constellation 22. And it hath been the conjecture of eminent speculators that from the Loins of such arise the numerous brood of Elves Faeryes Lycanthropi And Pigmyes sometimes visible sometimes invisible in Green-Land and the adjacent rocks where they have no concomitants but bears and scurvy-grass to mix and make merry withal except they pass from thence to the Northern parts of America where they shall find their off-spring adored for Gods and Goddesses by the ignorant Inhabitants about new Albion and as far South as Mexico as is amply related in the discourses of Drake Cortes and Purchas concerning the conquest and discovery of these Territoryes 23. By Apparitions upon the water many have been tempted to leap into the Sea in pursuit thereof till they were drowned of which spectres there is a sort called by Psellus Ordales who do appear like Ducks or other Water fouls till they by fluttering upon the water do entice their followers to pursue them so farr that many perish in the attempt which doth greatly delight these faithless Spirits who as we have said before do long to accompany their Astral Spirits after their decease An Example of this kinde I my self knew besides the numerous relations I have had from the mouths of others which confirm the opinions of the antient Magicians concerning these water Spirits that of all the rest they are the most deceitful and dangerous like the flattering Seas and swift gliding Torrents that when they have wonn any thing to admire and sound them do carry them violently into the abysse of their own Element 24. But we will leave the waters and insist a little on the nature of Igneous or Fiery Spirits that inhabit the Mountains in Hecla Aetna Propo Champ and Poconzi Where the Courts and Castles of these puissant Champions are kept The opinion of some is That they are not Astral but Infernal Spirits and Dâ—mned Souls that for a term of years are confined to these burning Mountains for their Iniquities Which opinion although it be granted yet we may assert That for the most part the apparitions sounds noices clangors and clamors that are heard about the Mountan Hecla in Island and other places are the effects of separated Starry beings who are neither capable of good nor evill but are of a middle vegetative nature and at the dissolution of the Media Natura shall be again reduced into their primary Aether 25. And from natural Causes it may be easily demonstrated That there is great Correspondence betwixt such substances and the Element of fire by reason of the Internal Flagrat and Central Life proceeding from the Quintessence or one only Element which upholds them in Motion Life and Nourishment As every natural and supernatural being is upheld and maintain'd out of the self-same root from whence it had its original or rise So the Angels feed upon the Caelestial Manna The Devils of the fruits of Hell which is natural to their appetite as trash for swine the Astral beings of the source of the stars the Beasts Birds or Reptiles of the fruits of the Earth and the gas of the Air the fishes of the blass of the Water But more particularly every thing is nourished by its Mother as Infants at the Breast either by exhausting or fomentation 26. Such Spirits are very officious in the burnings of Towns or Cole-pits delighting much to dance and exult amidst the flames and become Incendiaries worse then the material Cause of the Combustion often tempting men in drukenness to burn their own Houses and causing Servants carelesly to sleep that such unlucky accidents may happen As the Story of Kzarwilwui a Town in Poland doth confirm which was reduced to ashes by three of these pestilentious Animals called Saggos Broundal and Baldwin who after many open Threatnings for six months together that they would destroy the City and Citizens did on a dark and stormy night set all on fire on a suddain in twenty or thirty several places which irrecoverably destroyed the Inhabitants 27. As for the nourishment of fiery Spirits it is radical heat and the influence of the Aery Region their sport and pastime consisteth for the most part in tumbling and fooling one with another when the flames are most impetuous and violent in the Mountains And it is likewise credited by some that their office is to cruciate and punish some Evil Livers retaining and tormenting their Souls or Astral Spirits for many years after the Bodies decease which is too empty a notion to be hearkened unto by any that are well informed of their natures 28. Neither is it to be wondered at that they are so much delighted with the fiery quality in regard of their affinity and appropriation with infernal spirits whose state and being is altogether damnable and deplorable for although they have not the ability of attaining either the Heavenly or Infernal quality by reason that they are utterly voyd of the innermost Center and may be rather called bruits then rational Animals yet because they belong to the outermost principle such is their innate Affinity and Unity with the dark World or infernal Kingdome that they do often become the Devils Agents to propagate his works upon the face of the Earth 29. By the Instigations of infernal Spirits they are often sent to terrifie men with nocturnal visions in the likeness of monstrous Beasts or Ghosts of their deceased Friends They are moreover often abetted to tempt and provoke melancholy people to execute themselves besides innumerable wayes they have of executing the pleasures of iniquous Spirits through malicious Instigations and secret Stratagems projected by them to the destruction of mortal men especially when the work to be effected by the Devil is too too hard for his subtle and spiritual nature to bring to pass because the same belongs to the Astral source or outward principle to which