CHAP. IV. FOr the Reader must minde that Witches and all those that doth attain to the Visions and hear Voices within them they do use means to attain unto it also they have some standing Rule or Art by which they come to enquire or to know things that are above that knowledge which is common to other people it is much like unto the ways of God Therefore let the Reader mind the ground-work laid down at the first that the imagination of reason had begotten a son out of the Womb of the seed of reason in man which I call the Mother and Imagination the father and the son that is begotten in the womb of reason by imagination the father is that great wisdom knowledge and power by which they go beyond other people who are of a lower capacity This son is that familiar spirit Witches doth deal with it is another spirit begotten in them which was not in their birth when they were born but begotten in themselves sence by Imagination as aforesaid neither is this familiar spirit produced or doth come from any thing or any devil without them as people do vainly imagin but the familiar spirit it is produced and doth come from within for out of the heart cometh evil thoughts murder adultery c. and all familiar spirits they are all conceived in the heart and being conceived there in its season it bringeth forth such spirits as are conceived in the heart if envy and murder be conceived as it was in Cain then it bringeth forth the spirit or deed of murder if lust be conceived in the heart it bringeth forth the spirit and act of adultery as it did in David and if a familiar spirit be conceived in the heart then it bringeth forth such a spirit that shall speak motional voices within them as if some spirits without them did appear without a body and speak to them and reveal those things unto them Many wicked spirits more then is mentioned are conceived in the hearts of men and women and acted by them spirits essay that were never of Gods Creation but hath been conceived in the minde of man since for when sin is conceived as in James 1.15 When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death so that there is a conception of sin first in the heart and if it doth not die before it quickens into life that is into act then it bringeth forth death which is the punishment due to such sins that are alive in mans actions after they were conceived in the heart and as the evil of murder adultery and theft is conceived first in the heart so is that familiar spirit witches and wizards have they are first conceived in the mind and in a little season it groweth alive in them and speaketh unto them as if it were without them for this I say that a familiar spirit is conceived and begotten in the heart of man and womâ—n as the other sins aforementioned are and the cause why God is more angry with those that deal with a familiar spirit and hath commanded them to be Put to death more then for other sins conceived in the mind is because they imitate the way of God or the spirit of Prophesie which causeth the people to believe in a meer fiction or shadow without any substance that a spirit may be raised out of the ground without a body and so they forsake the living God who hath a body of his own and gave life to every creature thâ—t hath a body and doth beleeve a lie which hath been conceived in the mind and hath quickned into a familiar spirit and this spirit doth always live within the Witch and not without her and this familiar spirit thus conceived first in the evil minde and afterward quickning in the evil heart it goeth from strength to strength and from one degree of knowledge to a further degree of evil knowledge and evil wisdom as all things else doth that hath life for sin hath life in it and the outward Law causeth sin to revive in every one that doth evil as St. Paul saith Rom. 7.9 thus in some measure the Reader may understand what a familiar spirit is and how it comes to have a being in Witches and Wizards and how the ignorant are partakers with the familiar spirit In the next place I shall shew how those that have a familiar spirit do imitate the way of God or the way of true Prophets observe the way and manner of true Prophets High-Priests and all other people who are richly gifted with the spirit of Prophesie or revelation for the seed of faith planted in the heart is the seed and nature of God as reason is the seed and nature of the Serpent or devil and as the seed of reason is the womb or mother for imagination to get a son So likewise the seed of faith in man is the womb or mother for the revelation of faith to beget a son out of the seed of saith answerable as the Imagination doth out of the seed of reason And this son the revelation hath begotten out of the seed of faith is that heavenly wisdome discerning knowledge and power over the spirits of others and knowledge of things above the Stars and knoweth the true God in forme and nature with many other heavenly secrets which none else can know but those that believe them So that the Revelation of faith hath begotten this heavenly wisdom power and glory out of the seed of faith which is the seed of God even of his divine nature and this wisdom power and glory is that son or spirit by which all Prophets High-Priests Apostles and others that have it I say this is that by which they can truly divine by in that they can foretel truly what shall come to pass according to the knowledge of the revelation of faith and this wisdome and knowledge being produced by revelation out of the womb of the seed of faith it may and is called the spirit of God in man that doth teach and shew the wisdom of God to others so that others cometh to be taught and subjected by it to their great peace here and eternal Joy hereafter CHAP. V. ANd this spirit of wisdom knowledge and power which is produced by the revelation as aforesaid it hath motional voices in the Conscience as the familiar spirit hath in the evil Conscience but the motional voices in a good conscience speaketh peace likewise this motional voice in Prophets High Priests Apostles and others is that by which they do foretel things by whether it be good or bad that shall befal those that shall enquire Also the spirit of revelation hath a standing rule to inquire by as those have that doth tell things by a familiar spirit as I said before for the Witches doth imitate the way of Prophets and the devils way is as like Gods way as he can Now let the Reader minde and
and speaks those voices unto them They count nothing too dear for this their imaginary God no not their own sons and daughters as Manasseh and others did that made their sons and daughters pass through the fire as a sacrifice to their imaginary God that had spake so many voices to them and had whispered to them But all these whisperings and low voices and peeping of spirits out of the ground as they thought I say they were all within them for when they came in any trouble their familiar spirit departs from them and will not comfort them any more let it be either in poor or rich nay Kings that have dealt with familiar spirits when they have been in trouble all their comfort hath been lost as the poorest Witch that is as may be seen by Manasseh and other Kings spoken of in Scripture Now observe when God doth bring upon a people nation or partitular person some great judgment and destruction let it be either outward or inward in the mind when it comes upon a people nation or particular person for their sins and wickedness they have committed in forsaking the Lords Prophets and dealing with Witches and familiar spirits as Sâ—ul forsook the Lord and went to a Witch and Manasseh and several other Kings of Israel who ought onely to have obeyed the Prophets of the Lord but they forsook him and enquired of Witches and Wizards and dealt with familiar spirits themselves and caused the people to worship the Devil whom they imagined to be God instead of the true God whom the Prophets would have had them to worship But when this punishment for sin is inflicted upon a people nation or particular person for dealing with familiar spirits and worshipping of devils when punishment comes it makes the heart or hearts to fail for the spirit is brought down by this judgment even to death and so goeth to the ground so that the very fear trouble and sorrow of heart shall speak as it were out of the dust or out of death for sin will speak out of the ground and the speech of death will below in them that have escaped the destruction which others did go through for there will be a resemblance in those that have escaped how their friends and relations are fallen to the ground or dust of the earth for their wickedness so that sorrow and grief will speak in the mind of those that have escaped with a low speech even as one doth who hath a familiar spirit Or as if their friends and relations the remembrance of their destruction being taken away in wrath for sin it speaks a small low voice of grief and sorrow in the heart of those that are alive even as one thâ—t hath a familiar spirit even a low motional voice of sorrow and grief and it cometh as it were out of the ground or out of the dust That is the very influence of grief and sorrow for their dead friends and people it causeth where grief is to hear as it were low voices and small speeches even out of the ground or out dust of the earth just as it was with Cain in another case the Lord said to Cain Thy brothers bloud crieth from the ground for vengeance and so the bloud of those that were slâ—â—n under the altar did from the ground cry for vengeance as in Rev. 6.10 it crieth for vengeance in the consciences of all bloudy persecutors So in like manner doth the death and destruction of a people who are destroyed for wicked idolatry as those were the Prophet Isaiah speaketh of they spake from the ground a low speech in the conscience of those that were concerned grief sorrow and fear of the same punishment and such like CHAP. VIII FOr where grief and sorrow is rooted and settled in the heart it speaketh with low motional voices in the mind that is the thought of fear in the mind both of temporal losses and the loss of eternal peace The fear moves to and fro in that mind as if it were a speech out of the ground for the thoughts of the heart are low voices which cannot be heard by any but themselves So is it with those that have a familiar spirit their voices and speech they hear from spirits without them as if spirits did speak to them out of the ground which speech they say they hear is nothing else but the thoughts that pass to and fro in their own minds a low motional voice in themselves as if spirits did speak to them with a low voice out of the ground or out of the dust For their faith is strong and above all those that come to enquire of a Witch they do all believe that spirits may be raised without bodies out of the ground as the Witch doth so they both do believe that the spirit come out of the ground that spake those low voices to the Witch and she tells it to the other that enquire of her and they believe her as King Saul did So they are wholly departed from the Lord and believe a lie to think that spirits can be raised out of the ground without bodies after men have been dead it is a thing God never did we never read in Scripture that God or his Prophets did ever raise any spirits out of the ground without bodies after they were dead but we read in Scripture that God and his Prophets have raised some from the dead with bodies as that of Lazarus being raised out of the ground by Christ and the Child that was raised from death by the Prophet Elijah and another Child raised from death to life by the Prophet Elisha and several others come forth out of the ground at the rising again of Christ from death as those Saints that did arise out of the graves and appeared to many that were alive these all did arise out of the graves with bodies after they were dead and Lazarus came forth out of the ground after he was dead but his spirit came not out of the ground without his body but body and soul came out of the ground together For it was always Gods practice to raise soul and body together and because the imagination of reason in those that have a familiar spirit cannot do so nor those that enquire of them therefore they do imagine that spirits may be raised out of the ground without bodies or assume a shape and appear like a body yet it shall be of no substance a shape that can neither be felt nor handled by the hand of man Now mind all those God doth raise out of the ground after they were deâ—d they may be handled and felt though they be spiritual bodies yet they may be felt and handled as Christ said to Thomas Feel me and handle mâ— after he was risen from the dead and Thomas laid his fingers in the print of the nails and on his side Yet Christ was at that time a spiritual body that was risen from the
and unseparable one from the other they were but one visible sensible being and when the life was dead the body was dead and when the body is really dead the spirit and life was and is dead also and both are laid in the ground together as is declared in all our writings but more especially in that book entituled The Mâ—rtality of the Soul CHAP. X. ALso I do further declare that God did never create any spirit without a body neither of Angels nor Men nor no other creature neither in Heaven above nor in the Earth beneath nor in the Waters under the earth There is no spirit or life whatsoever that is created of God but it hath a body to that life or spirit but if a spirit have any being without a body that spirit is none of Gods creation for God never created any spirit whatsoever without a body as I said before But the imagination of reason in man which is the devil hath created all creatures in the imagination to have spirits without bodies both of Angels above and Man here on earth and all creatures upon the earth and in the waters that have the breath of life the imagination of reason saith their spirits may subsist without bodies or go out of those bodies they have and enter into other bodies and appear in the shape of a body and yet be of no substance so that the Devils creation is all of spirits without bodies and Gods creation is all with bodies and spirits together And this darkness hath overspread the nature of man all the world over which is the occasion of that opinion of houses and places being hanted with evil spirits and spirits walking without bodies and deaâ—ing with familiâ—r spirits that peep and mutter and whisper as it were out of the ground These things and many more are produced by the imagination of the heart of man for the imagination of mans heart is evil and continually evil for it hath given a being to spirits without bodies to fright it self to that which hath no being of it self For I declare and perfectly know that there is no such thing as spirits to walk without bodies nor assume any shape after death nor be raised out of the ground by any Witch or any familiar spirit whatsoever it is all produced out of the dâ—rk imagination of the heart where ignorance beareh rule for there is no such thing can be presented but to the ignorant and dark-minded people Thus I have given the Reader to understand something more concerning the power of Witches and how they may be said to raise spirits out of the ground and from whence that low speech doth come with those Scriptures opened that speak as if a familiar spirit did hear whispering out of the dust Also I have given the interpretation of that in Samuel concerning the Witch of Endor and those places of Scripture in Isaiah these places are the most concerning spirits being raised without bodies of any in the Scriptures but there have been some other places of Scripture that do seem to carry a shew as if spirits might rise again without bodies and I have been desired by some to open those Scriptures that seem to tend to that purpose though the common and general objection amongst all people is that of the Witch of Endor and King Saul which I have opened before yet for the further satisfaction of the Reader I shall open and interpret the other places objected that seem to tend to the same thing The places of Scripture are three the first is Isa 61 1. the wordâ— are these The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound So Luke 4.88 the words in Luke are much to the same purpose and little difference onele that which Isaiah did prophesie of it was fulfilled by Christ in his time So the first Epistle of Peter chap. 3. and 18 19 20. verses the words are these For Christ also hath once suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit Verse 19. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison Verse 20. Which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a 〈◊〉 wheâ—â—in few that is eight souls were saved by water CHAP. XI AS for thâ—t saying of the Prophet Isaiah it was a prophecy of Christ that he should be anointed to preach glad tidings unto the meek and that he was sent to bind up the broken-hearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound This prophecy was fulfilled when he was upon earth as may plainly appear by those words in Luke aforementioned Also the Reader may understand that these places of Scripture have no relation at all to the raising of spirits without bodies nor of spirits being in prison nor delivered out of prison by the power of Christ without bodies But the meaning is this that the Spirit of the Lord Almighty was upon Christ and in him and did anoint him to preach glad tidings of salvation to the meek in heart who did believe in him and trusted in his words all such as were broken-hearted who were led captive by the error ignorance and darkness of the mind he came to proclaim liberty to the spirit of man who was in captivity and to open the prison door of mens hearts For this I say all mens spirits by nature are shut up in the prison of spiritual darkness in the mind and are lead captive by the ignorance of truth so that the spirit or soul of man is shut up prisoner in the body of man untill the true God and Saviour hath been preached to them as it was by Christ himself when on earth he was anointed to preach glad tidings of salvation and he anointed his Apostles to preach glad tidings of peace to men and to open the prison and to deliver the captive out of captivity and to set the spirits of many that were in a prison of darkness in their own minds go free this prophecy was fulfilled at that time by Christ and his Apostles in their Commission But the same captivity and prison of darkness is now upon the spirits of all men as it was at that time for this I say and many people can witness that their spirits have been shut up prisoners in spiritual darkness in their own bodies untill the the true God and Saviour hath been preached unto them by his last messengers For this I declare that those words of the Prophet Isaiah they were spoken with relation to a spiritual liberty and to a spiritual captivity of the mind or spirit of man