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
dead that might be felt and handled and not a spirit without a body as most people do vainly imagine that spirits may be raised without bodies And as for that Lazarus and others that were raised by the power of God out of the ground after they had been dead they had bodies as well as spirits that might be seen with natu al eyes and handled and felt with natural hand So that Gods power in raising the dead it is no cheat the creature is not cheated nor deceived but is fully satisfied in his mind But for a familiar spirit to say or tell people they de or cantaise spirits out of the ground in such a shape without a body or bodily substance or shall say they hear voices from this spirit so raised is a mere cheat to the ignorant and unbelieving and leâ—ds them into the pit of darkness and makes them fear where no fear is and are afraid of their own shâ—dows for it is the nâ—â—ure of reason the devil to imagine that this way of raising of spirits without bodies to be of a more high nature then to raise spirit and body together as God doth and the imagination doth conceive it a more great power to raise spirits without bodies out of the dust of the ground then it is to râ—ise spirit and body together as Christ did for Christ always raised spiâ—it and body together as the Scriptures do testifie For the reasâ—n in man doth send forth the imagination of the heart the unclean spirit in man walking through dry places seâ—king â—est but can find none the ignorant dark thoughts of the imâ—gination goeth out of a man to enquire of one that hath a familiar spirit seeking rest but can find none as King Saul did for the imagination of the heart being continually evil it always walketh through dry places where no matter of life is to be had to quench the thirst of sin or a defiled conscience neiâ—her can the thâ—ughts of imagination be satisfied with what a Witch or a Familiar saith therefore called dry places they may be called dry because the heart is never satisfied with what a Witch saith for she always saith a lie To tell a man or woman that she doth or can raise spirits out of the ground without bodies as the Witch of Endor did to King Saul or that she did hear any low voice or speech of Samuel out of the ground as she told the King I say she did but cheat the King and made him believe she had raised Samuel and had heard him speak to her with a low speech out of the ground which had revealed unto her what sad things would befall the King so he believing her words his spirit fainted so that no strength was in him when as indeed and in truth that Samuel she said she saw arise out of the earth he did arise out of her own heart and that low speech she said Samuel spake it was all in her self by the motions of the familiar spirit begotten in her And King Sâ—ul believing her being partaker of her faith Samuel spake a low motional voice or speech in him also he believing it was Samuel spake out of the earth but it was nothing else but the voice of his own guilty conscience within himself as it was the voice her familiar spirit in her self that spake as aforesaid So that the meaning of the Prophet Isaiah chap. 29.4 concerning the destruction of Jerusalem that grief and sorrow of heart should speak in themselves as if the speech came out of the ground because they saw in themselves nothing but death and destruction did approch and was like to follow upon them all fearing they should all be destroyed by their enemies and slain and fall to the ground so that fear of heave of destruction 〈◊〉 spake a low speech in every mans heart even as if it spake out of the ground or as one that hath a familiar spirit for it is the nature of a familiar spirit to speak as if the speech did proceed from the earth and the speech doth seem to the Witch and those that enquire of her to whisper out of the dust whenas the speech cometh not out of the ground neither doth it whisper out of the dust as is imagined by most people because ignorance and darkness hath overspread the minds of most people in the world But that low speech the familiar spirit spe ks or whispers it is out of her own heart even that wisdom begotten by the imagination in her own thoughts that speaks as aforesaid and no spirit without her as hath vainly been imagined So likewise the people of the Jews the fear grief and sorrow of heart being begotten in them for such like lins as that of witchcraft idolatry dealing with familiar spirits causing their sons and daughters to pass through the fire as burnt offerings and sacrifices unto Devils which they supposed to be Gods these things caused their hearts to fail and faint and their thoughts were troubled within themselves which causeth their speech to grow weak and low within them even as if some familiar did speak out of the ground or whisper out of the dust fear grief and sorrow of heart but all come out of their own grieved hearts who were punished for their sins and not out of the natural ground or natural dust as people do vainly imagine This is the true meaning of the Prophets words and how familiar spirits may be said to speak out of the ground and whisper out of the dust CHAP. IX AGain it hath been objected by many that spirits may be raised without bodies and that spirits may be talked with after they have been dead and buried and that spirits have appeared in a shape to several people yet this spirit so appearing hath no body nor substance at all neither can it be felt or handled by mortal man nor no immortal creature neither this is the vain conceit of most people But to satisfie the Reader in this I declare that there is no immortal spirit whatsoever but it hath a spiritual body sutable to its spirit if the spirit be immortal the body is immortal also for this I say no spirit can have any being at all without a body no not God himself who was from eternity his spirit could not be from eternity without a spiritual body in form like a man they were both from eternity and the one was never divided nor separated from the other but they were both eternal And further I declare that God was a spiritual body from eternity in form like a Man therefore God created man in his own image and likeness Now observe if man hath a body sutable to his spirit so hath God a body sutable to his spirit else man was not created in his image if God hath never a body but is all spirit as people do vainly imagine For this I know that God was spirit and body in form like a
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