II. London, 1888, p. 115; F. G. Ken-

* Irenaeus, Against Heresies, I, yon, Greek Papyri in the British
30. Museum, 1893, p. 469ff.
366 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
who, with himself, constitute a group of seven corresponding and in contrast to the Holy Hebdomad which surround the Father. They are the seven mundane demons who are ever hostile to humanity. The Sethians of course took their name from Seth, son of Adam, who in the middle ages was regarded sometimes, like Enoch, as the especial recipient of divine revelation and as the author of sacred books. The historian Josephus states in his Jewish Antiquities that Seth and his descendants discovered the art of astronomy and that one of the two pillars on which they recorded their findings was still extant in his time, the first century.-"- Under the caption, Sethian Tablets of Curses, Wiinsch has published some magical imprecations scratched on lead tab- lets between 390 and 420 A. D. at Rome.^ Eight revela- tions ascribed to Adam and Seth are also' extant in Ar-
menian
3
A magical In Origen's Reply to Celsus is described a mystic dia-
gram with details redolent of magic and astrological necro- mancy,"^ which Celsus had laid to the charge of Christians generally but which Origen declares is probably the product of the "very insignificant sect called Ophites." Origen him- self has seen this diagram or one something like it, and assures his readers that "we know the depth of these un- hallowed mysteries," but he declares that he has never met anybody anywhere who put any faith in this diagram. Ob- viously, however, such a diagram would not have been in existence if no one had ever had faith in it. Furthermore, its survival into Origen's time, when he asserts that men had ceased to use it, is evidence of the antiquity of the sect and the superstition. In this diagram ten distinct circles were united by a single circle representing the soul of all
* Josephus, Antiquities, I, ii, 3. Apocrypha, Venice, 1896.
a-D \X7" u r ir ■ • i j/ ''The diagram is described in
R. Wunsch, Sethramsche Ver- ^^^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^i y^ g .^
nuchungstafeln aus Rom, Leip- ^^^ following description I have
zig, i»9«. somewhat aUered the order. An
' E. Preuschen, Die apocryph. attempt to reproduce this diagram
gnost. Adamschrift, 1900. Mechi- will be found in CE, "Gnosticism,"
tarist collection of Old Testament p. 597.
XV THE GNOSTICS z^7
things and called Leviathan. Celsus spoke of the upper circles, of which at least some were in colors, as "those that are above the heavens.'' On these were inscribed such words and phrases as "Father and Son," "Love," "Life," "Knowl- edge," and "Understanding." Then there were "the seven circles of archontic demons," who are probably to be con- nected with the spheres of the seven planets. These seven ruling demons were represented by animal heads or figures, somewhat resembling the symbols of the four evangelists to be seen in the mosaics at Ravenna and elsewhere in Chris- tian art. The angel Michael was depicted by a sort of chimaera, the words of Celsus being, "The goat was shaped like a lion" ; Suriel, by a bull ; Raphael, by a dragon ; Gabriel, by an eagle; Thautabaoth, by a bear; Erataoth, by a dog; and Thaphabaoth or Onoel, by an ass. The diagram was divided by a thick black line called Gehenna and beneath the lowest circle was placed "the being named Behemoth." There was also "a square pattern" with inscriptions con- cerning the gates of paradise, a flaming circle with a flaming sword as its diameter guarding the tree of knowledge and of life, "a barrier inscribed in the shape of a hatchet," and a rhomboid with the words, "The foresight of wisdom." Celsus further mentioned a seal with which the Father im- presses the Son, who says, "I have been anointed with white ointment from the tree of life," and seven angels who con- tend with the seven ruling demons for the soul of the dying body.
Origen further informs us of the forms of salutation Employ- to each ruling spirit employed by "those sorcerers," as they ™ames and pass through "the fence of wickedness" or the gate to the formulae, realm of each spirit. The names of the spirits are now given as laldabaoth, who is the lion-like archon and with whom the planet Saturn is in sympathy, lao or Jah, Sabaoth, Adonaeus, Astaphaeus, Aloaeus or Eloaeus, and Horaeus. The following is an example of the salutations or invoca- tions addressed to these spirits : "Thou, O second lao, who shinest by night, who art the ruler of the secret mysteries
368
MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
Seven metals and planets.
Magic of
Simon's
followers.
of Son and Father, first prince of death, and portion of the innocent, bearing now thine own beard as symbol, I am ready to pass through thy realm, having strengthened him who is born of thee by the living word. Grace be with me; Father, let it be with me!" Origen also states that the makers of this diagram have borrowed from magic the names laldabaoth, Astaphaeus, and Horaeus, while the other four are names of God drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures.
It is worth noting that immediately before this account of the diagram Celsus had described similar Persian mys- teries of Mithras, in which seven heavens through which the soul has to pass were arranged in an ascending scale like a ladder.^ Each successive heaven was entered by a gate of a metal corresponding to the planet in question, lead for Saturn, tin for Venus, copper for Jupiter, iron for Mercury, a mixed metal for Mars, silver for the moon, and gold for the sun. This association of metals and planets became a common feature of medieval alchemy. At the same time the passage is said to be our chief literary source for the mysteries of Mithras.^
The Simonians, according to Irenaeus, were as addicted to magic as their founder had been, employing exorcisms and incantations, love-philters and enchantments, familiar spirits and "dream-senders." "And whatever other curi- ous arts may be resorted to are eagerly employed by them." Menander, the immediate successor of Simon in Samaria, was "a perfect adept in the practice of magic" and taught that by means of it one could overcome the angels who had created this world. ^ In a treatise on rebaptism, falsely as- cribed to Cyprian but very likely contemporary with him, it is stated that the Simonians regard their baptism as su- perior to that of orthodox Christians, because when they descend into the water fire appears upon its surface. The writer thinks that this is done by some trick, or that there is some natural explanation of it, or that they merely imag-
* Reply to Celsus, VI, 22. *Anz. (1897), p. 78.
^ Adv. haer., I, 23.
XV THE GNOSTICS 369
ine that they see a flame on the water, or that It is the work of some evil one and of magic power.^ Epiphanius states that Simon employed such obscene substances as semen and menstruum in his magic," but this seems to be a slander, at least against Gnosticism, since in a passage of the Gnostic Book of the Saznour, adjoined to the Pistis- Sophia, Thomas asks Jesus what shall be the punishment of men who eat ''semen maris et menstruum feminae" mixed with lentils, saying as they do so, "We believe in Esau and Jacob," and is told that this is the worst of sins and that the souls of those committing it will be absolutely blotted out.^
Next to Simon Magus, Marcus was the Gnostic and Magic of heretic most notorious as a practitioner of the magic arts, as jn^the^^ Irenaeus states at the close of the second century, and Eucharist. Hippolytus and Epiphanius repeat in the third and fourth centuries respectively.* In performing the Eucharist he would change white wine placed in three wine cups into three different colors, one blood-red, one purple, and one dark blue, according to Epiphanius, while Irenaeus and Hippoly- tus more vaguely state, although they lived closer to Mar- cus's time, that he gave the wine a purple or reddish hue as if it had been changed into blood, an alteration which Marcus himself regarded as a manifestation of divine grace. Epiphanius attributes the change to an incantation muttered by Marcus while pretending to perform the Eucharist.
* Wm. Hartel, S. Thasci Caecili * Irenaeus, Against Heresies, I,
Cypriani Opera Omnia, Pars III, 13, et seq.; Hippolytus, Philo-
Opcra Spuria (1870), p. 90, De sophumena, VI, 34, et seq.;
rebaptismate, cap. 16, "quod si Epiphanius, Panarion, ed. Din-
aliquo lusu perpetrari potest, sicut dorf, II, 217, et seq. (ed. Petav.,
adfirmantur plerique huiusmodi 232, et seq.). Concerning Marcus
lusus Anaxilai esse, sive naturale see further TertulHan, De prae-
quid est quo pacto possit hoc con- script., L; Theodoret, Haeret.
tingere, sive illi putant hoc se Fab., I, 9; Jerome, Epist., 29; Au-
conspicere, sive maligni opus et gustine, Haer., xiv. "D'apres
magicum virus ignem potest in Reuvens," says Berthelot (1885),
aqua exprimere." p. 57, "le papyrus n° 75 de Leide
'Contra haercses, II, 2. renferme un melange de recettes
' ' magiques, alchimiques, et d idees
' Pistis-Sophia, ed. Schwartze gnostiques; ces dernieres em-
and Peter mann (1851), pp. 386-7; pruntees aux doctrines de Mar-
ed. Mead (1896), p. 390. cus."
370
MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
Other magic and occult lore of
Marcus.
Name and
number
magic.
Hippolytus, who ascribes Marcus's feats partly to sleight- of-hand and partly to demons, in this case charges that he furtively dropped some drug into the wine. Marcus was also accustomed to fill a large cup from a smaller one so that it would overflow, a marvel which Hippolytus again tries to account for by stating that "very many drugs, when mingled in this way with liquid substances" temporarily increase their volume, "especially when diluted in wine."
Irenaeus, who is quoted verbatim by Epiphanius, fur- ther states that Marcus had a familiar demon by whose aid he was able to prophesy, and that he pretended to confer this gift upon others. He also accuses Marcus of seducing women by means of philters and love potions which he compounded. Hippolytus does not make these charges, but unites with the others in describing at length Marcus's the- ory of mystic names and his symbolical and mystical inter- pretation of the letters of the alphabet and of numbers. Marcus made various calculations based upon the number of letters in a name, the number of letters in the name of each letter, and so on. When Christ, whose ineffable name has thirty letters, said, "I am Alpha and Omega," He was believed by Marcus to have displayed the dove, whose num- ber is 80 1, These reveries "are mere bits," as Hippolytus says, of astrological theory and Pythagorean philosophy. We shall find them perpetuated in the middle ages in the method of divination known as the Sphere of Pythagoras.
Such symbolism and mysticism concerning numbers and letters seldom indeed remain a matter of mere theory but readily lend themselves to operative magic. Thus Hippolytus can speak in the same breath of "magical arts and Pythag- orean numbers" or tell that Pythagoras himself "also touched on magic, as they say, and himself discovered an art of physiognomy, laying down as a basis certain numbers and measures." Or note a third passage where Hippolytus is discussing Egyptian theology based on the theory of numbers.^ After treating of the monad, duad, and enneads,
* Hippolytus, Philosophumcna, VI, preface; I, 2; and IV, 43-4.
XV THE GNOSTICS 37i
of the four elements in pairs, of the 360 parts of the circle, of "ascending and beneficent and masculine names" which end in odd numbers, and of feminine and malicious and descending- names which terminate in even numbers, Hippo- lytus continues, "Moreover, they assert that they have cal- culated the word, 'Deity.' Now this name is an even num- ber, and they write it down and attach it to the body and accomplish cures by it. In the same way an herb which terminates in this number is bound around the body and operates by reason of a similar calculation of the number. Nay, even a doctor cures the sick by such calculations." Similarly Censorinus states that the number seven is as- cribed to Apollo and used in the cure of bodily ills, while nine is associated with the Muses and heals mental dis- eases.^ But to return to Gnosticism.
The seven vowels were much employed by the Gnostics, The magic undoubtedly as symbols for the seven planets and the spirits associated with them, but as symbols possessed of magic power as well as of mystic significance. "The Saviour and His disciples are supposed in the midst of their sentences to have broken out in an interminable gibberish of only vowels ; magic spells have come down to us consisting of vowels by the fourscore ; on amulets the seven vowels, repeated accord- ing to all sorts of artifices, form a very common inscrip- tion." ^ As the seven planets made the music of the spheres, so the seven vowels seem to have represented the musical scale, "and many a Gnostic sheet of vowels is in fact a sheet of music." ^
Other heretics with Gnostic views who were accused of Magic of magic by the fathers were the followers of Carpocrates, who ^SSg" employed incantations and spells, philters and potions, who attracted spirits to themselves and made light of the cosmic angels, and who pretended to have great power over all
^ Censorinus, De die natali, caps. ' Ruelle et Poiree, Le chant
7 and 14. gnostico-magique, Solesmes, 1901.
'Arendzen, Gnosticism, in CE,
372
MAGIC 'AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
The
Abraxas and the number 365.
Astrology of Basi- lides.
The Book of Helxai.
things so that they were able by their magic to satisfy every desire.^
Saturninus and Basilides were charged with "practicing magic, and employing images, incantations, invocations, and every other kind of curious art." They also believed in a supreme power named Abrasax or Abraxas, whose number was 365 ; and they contended that there were 365 heavens and as many bones in the human body; "and they strive to set forth the names, principles, angels, and powers of the 365 imagined heavens," ^
Hippolytus gives further indication of the astrological leanings of Basilides, who held that each thing had its own particular time, and supported his view by citing the Magi gazing wistfully at the star of Bethlehem and the remark of Christ Himself, "Mine hour is not yet come." ^ I suppose that by this Hippolytus means to suggest that Basilides held the astrological doctrine of elections; Basilides further af- firmed, according to Hippolytus, that Jesus was "mentally preconceived at the time of the generation of the stars ; and of the complete return to their starting point of all the sea- sons in the vast conglomeration," that is, at the end of the astronomical magmis annus, variously reckoned as of 36,000 or 15,000 years in duration.
In his Refutation of all Heresies * Hippolytus tells of an Alcibiades from Apamea in Syria who in his time brought to Rome a book supposed to contain revelations made to a holy man, Elchasai or Helxai, by an angel ninety-six miles in height and from sixteen to twenty-four miles in breadth and leaving a footprint fourteen miles long. This angel was the Son of God, and was accompanied by a female of corresponding size who was the Holy Spirit. This appari- tion and revelation was accompanied by a preaching of a new remission of sins in the third year of Trajan's reign, at which time we are led to suppose that the Book of Helxai
* Irenaeus, I, 25 ; Hippolytus, VII, 20; Epiphanius, ed. Dindorf, II, 64.
^Irenaeus, I, 24; Epiphanius, ed.
Dindorf, II, 27-8.
^ Hippolytus, VII, 14-15.
*The more correct title for the Philosophumena, see IX, 8-12.
AV THti GIJSTICS 373
came into existence. It imposed secrecy upon those initiated into its mysteries. The sect, according to Hippolytus, were much given to magic, astrology, and the number mysticism of Pythagoras. The Elchasaites employed incantations and formulae to cure persons bitten by mad dogs or afflicted with disease. In such cases and also in the case of rebaptism for the remission of sins it was customary with them to invoke or adjure "seven witnesses," not however in this case the planets, but "the heaven, and the water, and the holy spirits, and the angels of prayer, and the oil (or, the olive), and the salt, and the earth." Hippolytus declares that their formulae of this sort were "very numerous and very ridic- ulous." They dipped consumptives and persons possessed by demons in cold water forty times in seven days. They believed in the astrological doctrine of elections, since their sacred book warned them not to baptize or begin other im- portant undertakings upon those days which were governed by the evil stars. They also seem to have predicted political events from the stars, foretelling that three years after Trajan's subjugation of the Parthians "war rages between the impious angels of the northern (constellations), and on this account all kingdoms of impiety are in confusion."
In the next century Epiphanius adds one or two further Epipha- details to Hippolytus' account of the Elchasaites. Besides g^cha-^^^ the list of seven witnesses already given he mentions another saites. slightly different one: salt, water, earth, wheat, heaven, ether, and wind. He also tells of two sisters in the time of Constantine who were supposed to be descendants of Helxai. One of them was still alive the last Epiphanius knew, and crowds followed "this witch" to collect the dust of her footprints or her spittle to use in curing diseases.^
We possess an important document for the attitude of The Book o)
early Christianity and Gnosticism towards astrology in The ^Countries
Dialogue concerning Fate or The Book of the Laws of
Countries of Bardesanes or Bardaisan.- The complete
^Dindorf, II, log-io, 507-9. Haase, Zur hardesanischen Gnosis,
'A. Merx, Bardesanes der Leipzig, 1910, in TU, XXIV, 4. letste Gnostiker, Jena, 1864. F.
374 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
Syriac text is extant ; ^ there is a long and somewhat modi- fied extract adopted from it in the Latin Recognitions of Clement,^ and briefer fragments in the Greek fathers. Strictly speaking, the text seems to be written by some fol- lower of Bardesanes named Philip who represents his master as discussing the problem of human free will with Avida, himself, and other disciples. The bulk of the treatise is in any case put in Bardesanes' mouth and it probably reflects his views with fair accuracy. Eusebius ascribed it to Barde- sanes himself. Person- Bardesanes (154-222 A. D.) was born in Edessa. He
Barde- Spent most of his life in Mesopotamia but for a time went to sanes, Armenia as a missionary. His many works in Syriac in-
cluded apologies for Christianity, attacks upon heresies, and numerous hymns, but the only work extant is the treatise we are about to examine, with the possible exception of The Hymn of the Soul ^ ascribed to him and contained in the Syriac Acts of St. Thomas. His doctrines were regarded by Ephraem Syrus and others as tainted with Gnostic heresy. He is often represented as a follower of Valentinus, but the ancient authorities, such as Epiphanius and Eusebius, dis- agree as to whether he degenerated from orthodoxy to Valentinianism or reformed in the opposite direction. In the dialogue which we consider he is represented as a Christian, but his remarks have often been thought to have a Gnostic flavor. F. Nau, however, has argued that he was not a Gnostic and that the statements in question in the dia- logue can be explained as purely astrological.^ Sin pos- The treatise opens with the query, why did not God
men ^°^ make men so that they could not sin? The reply of course angels, is that moral freedom for good or evil is a greater gift of God than compulsory morality. By virtue of his individual freedom of action man is equal to the angels, some of whom,
* English translation in AN, Bevan, 1897; F. C. Burkett, 1899;
VIII, 723-34. G. R. S. Mead, 1906.
"Recognitions, IX, 17 and 19- * F. Nau, Une biographic ine-
2Q. dite de Bardesane I'astrologue,
'English translations by A. A. 1897.
XV THE GNOSTICS 375
too, have sinned v^^ith the daughters of men and fallen, and is superior even to the sun, moon, and signs of the zodiac v^hich are fixed in their courses. The stars, hov^ever, as in The Book of Enoch, "are not absolutely destitute of all freedom" and will be held responsible at the day of judg- ment. Presently some of them are called evil.
After some discussion v^hether man does wrong from Does fate his nature, the treatise turns to the question, how far are a^troLgi-
men controlled by fate, that is, by the power of the seven cal sense . . prevail?
planets m accordance with the doctrine of the Chaldeans,
which is the term here usually employed for astrologers. Some men attack astrology as "a lying invention" and hold that the human will is free and that such evils as man can- not avoid are due to chance or to divine punishment but not to the stars. Between these extremes Bardesanes takes mid- dle ground. He believes that there is such a force in the stars, whom he refers to as Potentates and Governors, as the fate of which the astrologers speak, but that this fate evi- dently does not rule everything, since it is itself established by the one God who imposed upon the stars and elements that motion in conformity with which "intelligences under- go change when they descend to the soul, and souls under- go change when they descend to bodies," a statement which appears to have a Gnostic flavor. This fate furthermore is limited by nature on the one hand and human free ^yill on the other hand. The vital processes and periods which are common to all men, such as birth, generation, child- bearing, eating, drinking, old age, and death, Bardesanes regards as governed by nature. "The body," he says, "is neither hindered nor helped by fate in the several acts it performs," a view which most astrologers would probably not accept. On the contrary, in Bardesanes' opinion wealth and honors, power and subjection, sickness and health, are controlled by fate which often disturbs the regular course of nature. This is because in genesis or the nativity the stars, some of which work with and some against nature,
Z7^ MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
are in conflict. In short, some stars are good and some are evil. National If nature is thus often upset by the stars, fate in its
customs as ^^^^ "^^^ ^^ resisted and overpowered by man's exercise of a proof will. This assertion Bardesanes proceeds to prove by the will. argument which has given to the dialogue the title. The Book
of the Laws of the Countries, and which we find much re- peated in subsequent writers. Briefly it is that in various nations certain laws are enforced upon, or customs ob- served by all the people alike regardless of their diverse individual horoscopes. In illustration of this are listed va- rious prohibitions and practices fondly supposed by Barde- sanes and his audience to characterize the Seres, Brahmans, Persians, Geli, Bactrians, Arabs, Britons, Parthians, Ama- zons, and other peoples. Savage tribes are mentioned among whom there are no artists, bankers, perfumers, musicians, and poets to fit the nativities decreed by the constellations for certain times. Bardesanes is aware of the astrological the- ory of seven zones or climes, by which the science of individ- ual horoscopes is corrected and modified, but he contends that there are many different laws in each of these zones, and would be, even if the number were raised to twelve ac- cording to the number of the signs or to thirty-six after the decans. He also contends that men retain their laws or customs when they migrate to other climes, and adduces the fidelity of Jews and Christians to the commandments of their respective religions as a further illustration of the triumph of free will over the stars. He concedes, how- ever, as before that "in every country and in every nation there are rich and poor, and rulers and subjects, and peo- ple in health and those who are sick, each one according as fate and his nativity have affected him." Incidentally to the foregoing discussion it is affirmed that the astrology of Egypt and that of the Chaldeans in Babylon are identical. At the close of the treatise is appended a note stating that Bardesanes estimated the duration of the world at six thousand years on the basis of sixty as the least number of
XV THE GNOSTICS 2>77
years in which the seven planets complete an even number of revolutions.
If the work ascribed to Bardesanes is not certainly The
Pistis-
Gnostic, the Pistis-Sophia is, and we turn next to it and first Sophia:
of all to its attitude towards astroloe^y. This treatise is attitude to
. astrology,
extant in a Coptic codex of the fifth or sixth century; ^ the
Greek original text was probably written in the second half of the third century. It gives the revelations made by Jesus to his disciples after He had ascended to heaven and re- turned again to them. When He ascended through the heav- ens, He changed the fatal influence of the lords of the spheres and made the planets turn to the right for six months of the year, whereas before they had faced the left continually." In a long passage near the close of the Pistis- Sophia proper ^ Jesus asserts the absolute control of human destiny hitherto by "the rulers of the fate" and describes how they fashion the new soul, control the process of gen- eration and of the formation of the child in the womb, and decree every event of life down to the day and manner of death. Only by the Gnostic key to the mysteries can one escape their control.^ In the following Book of the Saviour, moreover, even the finding of this key is subjected to astral control, since a constellation is described under which all souls descending to this world will be just and good and will discover the mysteries of light.^
The Pistis-Sophia assumes the usual attitude of con- "Magic" demnation of magic so-called. Among the evils which Jesus denined. warns his followers to renounce are superstition and invo- cations and drugs or magic potions.^ One object of his re- ducing by one-third the power of the lords of the spheres when He ascended through the heavens was that men might not henceforth invoke them by magic rites for evil pur- eed. Coptic and Latin by M. G. manuscript occurs the Book of the Schwartze and J. H. Petermann, Saviour of which we shall also 1851 ; French translation by E. treat. Amelineau, 1895; English by G. R. ^Pistis-Sophia, 25-6.
S. Mead, 1896; German by C. 'Ibid., 336-50.
Schmidt, 1905. The Coptic text is * Ibid., 355, et seq.
thickly interspersed with Greek ^ Ibid., 389-90.
words and phrases. In the same "Ibid., 255 and 258,
378
MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
Power of names and rites.
Interest in natural science.
poses. Marvels may still, however, be accomplished by "those who know the mysteries of the magic of the thirteenth aeon" or power above the spheres.^
But while magic is renounced, great faith is shown in the power of names and rites. Thus after a description of the dragon of outer darkness and the twelve main dungeons into which it divides and the animal faces and names of the twelve rulers thereof, who evidently represent in an in- accurate fashion the signs of the zodiac, it is added that even unrepentant sinners, if they know the mystery of any one of these twelve names, can escape from these dungeons.^ In the Book of the Saviour Jesus not only utters several long lists of strange and presumably magic words by way of invocation to the Power or powers above, but these are accompanied by careful observance of ceremonial. On both occasions Jesus and the disciples are clad in linen.^ In the first case the disciples are carefully grouped with reference to the points of the compass, towards which Jesus turns suc- cessively as He utters the magic words standing at a sacri- ficial altar. The result of this ceremony and invocation was that the heavens were displaced and the earth left behind and that Jesus and the disciples found themselves in the region of mid-air. Before uttering the other invocation Jesus commanded that fire and vine branches be brought, placed an offering on the flame, and carefully arranged two vessels of wine, two cups of water, and as many pieces of bread as there were disciples. In this case the object was to remit the sins of the disciples. In the Book of Jeu in the Bruce Papyrus there is a perfect riot of such magic names and invocations, seals and diagrams, and accompany- ing ceremonial.*
The interest of the Gnostics in natural science is seen in the list of things that will be known by one who has pene-
^ Pistis-Sophia, 29-30. 692 pp., in TU, VIII, 2, with Ger-
' Ibid., 319-35. man translation of the Coptic text
* Ibid., 357-8, 375-6. at pp. 142-223. Portions have been
* Carl Schmidt, Gnostische translated into English by G. R. Schrifte in koptischer Sprache S. Mead, Fragments of a Faith aus dem codex Brucianus, 1892, Forgotten, 1900.
XV THE GNOSTICS 379
trated all the mysteries and fully entered upon the inheri- tance of the kingdom of light. Not only will he understand why there is light and darkness, and why sin and vice exist and life and death, but also why there are reptiles and wild beasts and why they shall be destroyed, why there are birds and beasts of burden, why there are gems and precious metals, why there are brass, iron and steel, lead, glass, wax, herbs, waters, "and why the wild denizens of the sea." Why there are four points of the compass, why demons and men, why heat and cold, stars, winds, and clouds, frost, snow, planets, aeons, decans, and so on and so forth.^
King has shown that many of the so-called "Gnostic "Gnostic gems" are purely astrological talismans and that "only a fstrology, very small minority amidst their multitude present any traces of the influence of Christian doctrines." ^ Many are for medicinal or magical purposes rather than of a religious character. Some nevertheless are engraved with the truly Gnostic figure of Pantheus Abraxas which King regards as "the actual invention of Basilides." Another common sym- bol, borrowed from Egypt, is the Agathodaemon, which by the third century had become the popular designation of the hooded snake of Egypt, or Chnuphis or Chneph, a great serpent with a lion's head encircled by a crown of seven or twelve rays, representing the planets or signs. Often the seven Greek vowels are placed at the tips of the seven rays. On the obverse of the gem the letter "s" is engraved thrice and traversed by a straight rod, a design probably meant to depict a snake twisting about a wand. We are reminded, not only with King of the club of Aesculapius, but of Aaron's rod, the magicians of Pharaoh, and the serpent lifted up in the wilderness; also of Lucian's tale of the pre- tended discovery of the god Asclepius by the pseudo- prophet, Alexander. At least one "Gnostic amulet" has on the back the legend "lao Sabao" (th).^
^ Pistis-Sophia, 205-15. Precious Stones and Gems, Lon-
' C. W. King, The Gnostics and don, 1865. their Remains, 1887, pp. xvi- ^ A. B. Cook, Zeus, p. 235, citing
xviii, 215-8. Also his The Natural J. Spon, Miscellanea eruditae an-
History, Ancient and Modern, of tiquitatis, Lyons, 1685, p. 297.
38o
MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE
^AP.
The planets in early Christian art.
Gnostic amulets in Spain.
Syriac
Christian
charms.
The influence of astrology may be seen in other and more certainly genuine works of early Christian art than many of the so-called Gnostic gems. On a lamp in the catacombs Christ is depicted as the good shepherd with a lamb on His shoulder. Above His head are the seven planets, although the sun and moon are shown again at either side, and about His feet press seven lambs, perhaps an indication that He is freeing the peoples of the seven climes from the fatal influence of the stars. In the Poemander attributed to Hermes it is stated that there are seven peoples from the seven planets. On a gem of perhaps the third century a similar scene is engraved except that the sun and moon are not shown apart from the seven planets, and that the lamb on Christ's shoulders is counted as one of the seven, so that there are but six at His feet.^
"Gnostic amulets and other works of art" are occasion- ally found in Spain, especially the Asturian northwest which remained Christian at the time of the Mohammedan con- quest of the rest of the peninsula. One ring is inscribed with the sentence, "Zeus, Serapis, and lao are one." On another octagonal ring are Greek letters signifying the Gnostic Anthropos or father of wisdom. A stone is carved with a candelabrum and the seven planets, "the sacred hebdomad of the Chaldeans." ^
Gollancz in his Selection of Charms from Syriac Manu- scripts presents a number of spells and incantations which, whether any of them are Gnostic or not, certainly seem to be Christian, since they mention the divine persons of Chris- tianity, Mary, and various Biblical characters.^
At the close of the fourth century the views of the Gnos- tics were revived in Gaul and Spain by Priscillian, who
Reitzenstein, Poimandres, pp. 1 1 1-3. On the planets in later medieval art see Fuchs, Die Ikonographie dcr 7 Plancten in der Kunst Italiens bis sum Aus- gange des Mittelalters, Munich, 1909.
* E. S. Bouchier, Spain under the Roman Empire, p. 125.
' Hermann Gollancz, Selection of Charms from Syriac Manu- scripts, 1898; also pp. 77-97 in Acts of International Congress of Orientalists, Sept., 1897; Syriac text and English translation.
XV THE GNOSTICS 381
seems to have been much influenced by astrology and who Pnscillian w^as put to death at Treves in 385 A. D. on a charge of magic, for magic. He confessed under torture, but w^as afterwards thought innocent. We are not told, however, what the magical prac- tices were of which he was accused.^ Both Sulpicius Sev- erus and Isidore of Seville ^ state that he was accused of maleilcmm, which should mean witchcraft, sorcery, or mag- ical operations with the intent to injure someone. But fur- ther details are wanting, except that Sulpicius calls Pris- cillian a man "more pufifed up than was right with the knowledge of profane things, and who was further believed to have practiced magic arts since adolescence," while Isi- dore states that Bishop Itacius (Ithaicus), who was largely responsible for pushing the charges against Priscillian, showed in a book which he wrote against Priscillian's heresy that "a certain Marcus of Memphis, most learned in magic art, was a disciple of Mani and master of Pris- cillian." Priscillian himself states in his extant works that Itacius had accused him of magic in 380. As the final trial proceeded, Itacius gave way as accuser to a public prosecutor {Hsci patronus) who continued the case on behalf of the emperor Maximus who seems to have had his eye upon Priscillian's large fortune. St. Martin of Tours in vain obtained from Maximus a promise that Priscillian should not be put to death. ^ But his execution brought his per- secutor Itacius into such bad odor that he was excommuni- cated and condemned to exile for the rest of his life.
We have just heard that Priscillian was taught by a dis- Manichean ciple of Mani, while Ephraem Syrus states that Bardesanes ^^^""scnpts,
^ In 1885-1886 eleven tracts by Etudes, Fasc. 169), which super-
Priscillian were discovered by G. sedes the earlier works of Paret,
Schepss in a Wiirzburg MS. They 1891 ; Dierich, 1897; and Edling,
shed, however, little light upon the 1902.
question whether he was addicted ^ Sulpicii Severi Historia Sacra,
to magic. They have been pub- II, 46-51 (Migne, PL, XX, 155, et
lished in Priscilliani quae super- seq.) S. Isidori Hispalensis
sunt., etc., ed. G. Schepss, 1889, Episcopi, De viris itlustrihus. Cap.
in CSEL, XVIII. 15 (Migne, PL, LXXXIII, 1092).
See also E. Ch. Babut, Pris- ' Realencyklopddie fur protes-
cillien et la Priscillienisnie, Paris, tantische Theologie, XVI, 63. 1909 {Bibl. d. l'£cole d. Haute s
382 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
was the teacher of Mani. Augustine in his youth, when a follower of the Manicheans, had been devoted to astrology. This connection between Gnosticism and astrology and Manicheism has been further attested by the fragments of Manichean manuscripts recently discovered in central Asia.* In them the sun-god and moon-god and five other planets play a prominent part. Besides the five planets we have five elements — ether, wind, light, fire, and water — five plants, five trees, and five beings with souls — man, quadrupeds, rep- tiles, aquatic, and flying animals. The five gods or luminous bodies are represented as good forces who imprisoned five kinds of demons ; but the devil had his revenge by imprison- ing luminous forces in man, whom he made a microcosm of the universe. / nd whereas the good spirit had created sun and moon, the devil formed male and female. The great sage of beneficent light then appeared in the world and brought forth from his own five members five liberators — pity, contentment, patience, wisdom, and good faith — corre- sponding to the five elements just as among the Christians we shall find four virtues and four elements. Then ensued the struggle of the old man with the new man. Although we are commonly told that idolatry and magic were strictly prohibited by the Manicheans, the envoy of light is in one text represented as "employing great magic prayers" in his effort to deliver living beings. When men eat living beings, they offend against the five gods, the earth dry and moist, the five orders of animate beings, the five different herbs and five trees. Other numbers than five appear in these Manichean fragments : four seals of light and four praises, four courts with iron barriers; three vestments and three wheels and three calamities; ten vows and ten layers of heavens above, and eight layers of earth beneath; twelve
* My following statements in the astuanift, Das Bussgebet der Mani-
text are based upon E. Chavannes chder, Petrograd, 1909; A. v. Le
et P. Pelliot, Un traite manicheen Coq, Chuastuanift, ein Sundenbe-
retrouve en Chine, 1913, — they date kenntnis der Manichaischen Au-
the Chinese translation about 900 ditores, Berlin, 1911. There are
A.D. and the MS of it within a further publications on the subject, century later; W. Radloflf, Chu-
XV THE GNOSTICS 383
great kings and twelve evil natures ; thirteen great luminous forces and thirteen parts of the carnal body and thirteen vices, — elsewhere fourteen parts; fifteen enumerations of sins for which forgiveness is sought; fifty days in the year to be observed; and so on.
A sect derived either from Gnosticism or from common The Man- sources seems still to exist in the case of the Mandaeans of ^^^"^• southern Babylonia.^ They believe that the earth and man were formed by a Demiurge, who corresponds to the lalda- baoth of the Ophites, and who was aided by the spirits of the seven planets. They divide the history of the world into seven ages and represent Jesus Christ as a false prophet and magician produced by the planet Mercury. The lower world consists of four vestibules and three hells proper and has seven iron and seven golden walls. A dying Mandaean is clothed in a holy dress of seven pieces. The spirits of the planets, however, are represented as evil beings, and the first two of three sets of progeny borne by the spirit of hell fire were the seven planets and the twelve signs of the zodiac. The influence of these two numbers, seven and twelve, may be further seen in the regulation that a candidate for the priesthood should be at least nineteen years old and have had twelve years of previous training, which we infer would normally begin when he reached his seventh year and not before. Other prominent numbers in Mandaean lore are five,^ perhaps indicative of the planets other than sun and moon, and three hundred and sixty, suggestive of the num- ber of degrees in the circle of the zodiac. Thus the main manifestations of the primal light are five, and the third generation produced by the spirit of hell fire was of like number. The number of aeons is often stated as three hun- dred and sixty, and the delivering deity or Messiah of the
*The following details are from Anz (1897), pp. 70-8. Fur- drawn from the articles on the ther bibliography will be found in Mandaeans in EB, nth edition, by these references. K. Kessler and G. W. Thatcher, ' The number five also appears and in ERE by W. Brandt, author in the Pistis-Sophia and other of Manddische Religion, 1889, and Gnostic literature. Manddische Schriften, 1893, and
384 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.xv
Mandaeans is said to have sent forth that number of dis- ciples before his return to the realm of light. We hear of yet other numbers, such as 480,000 years for the duration of the world, 60,000, and 240, but these too are commen- surate, if not identical, with astrological periods such as those of conjunctions and the magnus annus. A peculiarity of Mandaean astronomy and astrology is that the other heavenly bodies are all believed to rotate about the polar star. Mandaeans always face it when praying; their sanc- tuaries are built so that persons entering face it; and even the dying man is placed so that his feet point and eyes gaze in its direction. Like the Gnostics, the Mandaeans invoke by many strange names their spirits and aeons who are divided into numerous orders. Their names for the planets seem to be of Babylonian origin. Passages from their sa- cred books are recited like incantations and are considered more effective in danger and distress than prayer in the ordinary sense of the word. Such recitations are also em- ployed to aid the souls of the dead to ascend through vari- ous stages or prisons to the world of light. Earthenware vessels have recently been brought to light with Mandaean inscriptions and incantations to avert evil.-^
^ H. Pognon, Une Incantation ddische Zaubertexte, in Ephemeris
centre les genies malfaisants en f. semit. Epig., I (1902), 89-106.
Manddite, 1893; Inscriptions man- J. A. Montgomery, Aramaic In-
ddites des coupes dc Khonahir, cantation Texts from Nippur,
1897-1899. M. Lidzbarski, Man- 1913.