CHAPTER XVIII

THE CONFESSION OF CYPRIAN AND SOME SIMILAR STORIES
The Confession of Cyprian— His initiation into mysteries — His thor- ough study of nature, divination, and magic — The lore of Egypt — And of Chaldea — Cyprian's practice of magic at Antioch — A Christian virgin defeats the magic of the demons — Summary of Cyprian's picture oi magic — Christians accused of magic — A story from Epiphanius — Joseph's experience of miracle and magic — Legend of St. James and Hermogenes the magician — Other contests of apostles and magicians in The Golden Legend.
TheCon- To the accounts of the contests of Peter and Paul with Cyprian. Simon Magus which were recorded in our last chapter we shall add in this some other encounters of early Christians with magicians, and to the picture of magic contained in the Pseudo-Clementines that presented by Cyprian in his Confession. If Simon Magus died impenitent in the midst of his magic, very different was the end of Cyprian, a magician by profession in the third century, who, after being educated from childhood in heathen mysteries and the magic art, repented and was baptized, became bishop of Antioch, and finally achieved a martyr's crown. In the Confession ^ current under his name and which most critics agree was composed before the time of Constantine ^ is described his
* Greek and Latin text in Cyprian von Antiochen, ed. O. v.
parallel columns in AS, Sept. Lamm, 1899, Ethiopic, Greek, and
Vn (1867), pp. 204fif. For an ac- German, in Petrograd Acad.
count of previous editions see Scient. Imper. Mcmoires, VIII
Ibid., p. 182. Bishop John Fell scrie, CI. hist, philol., IV, 6. Ilpa-
published a Latin text from three {ts twi' ayio^v iiaprvpccv Kvirpiavov Kal
Oxford MSS. In Digby 30, 15th Iouo-tii'tjs, with an Arabic version, ed.
century, fol. 29-, which I have Margaret D. Gibson, 1901, in
examined, the wording differed Stndia Sinaitica, No. 8.
considerably from that of the 'Ibid., p. 180, "ipsa S. Cypriana
Latin text in AS. The brief nomine vulgata Confessio quam
Martyrium of Cyprian and Jus- ante Constantini aetatem scriptam
tina follows in the same volume esse critici plurimi etiam rigidi-
of AS at pp. 224-6. Sahidische ores fatentur." BruchstUcke der Legende von
428
CHAP. XVIII THE CONFESSION OF CYPRIAN
429
education in and subsequent practice of magic. For us per- haps the most interesting feature of his account of his edu- cation is the association of magic, not only with pagan mysteries and the operations of demons, but also with natural science.
"I am Cyprian," says the author, "who from a tender age was consecrated a gift to Apollo and while yet a child was initiated into the arts of the dragon." When not yet seven years old, he entered the mysteries of Mithra, and at ten his parents enrolled him a citizen at Athens, and he car- ried a torch in the mysteries of Demeter and "ministered to the dragon on the citadel of Pallas." When not yet fifteen, he also visited Mount Olympus for forty days, and "was initiated into sonorous speeches and noisy narra- tions." ^ There he saw in phantasy trees and herbs which seemed to be moved by the presence of the gods, spirits who regulated the passage of time, and choruses of demons who sang, while others waged war or plotted, deceived, and permeated.^ He saw the phalanx of each god and goddess, and how from Mount Olympus as from a palace spirits were despatched to every nation of the earth. He was fed only after sunset and upon fruits, and was taught the efficacy of each of them by seven hierophants.
Cyprian's parents were determined that he should learn whatever there was in earth and air and sea, and not merely the natural generation and corruption of herbs and trees and bodies, but also the virtues implanted in all these, which the prince of this world impressed upon them in order that he might oppose the divine constitution. Cyprian also par- ticipated at Argos in the sacred rites of Hera, and saw the union of air with ether and of ether with air, also of earth with water, and water with air. He penetrated the Troad and to Artemis Tauropolos who is at Lacedaemon to learn
His initia- tion into mysteries.
His
thorough study of nature, divination, and magic.
* Ihid., p. 205, "et initiatus sum sonis sermonum ac strepitum nar- rationibus." L. Preller in Phi- lologus, I (1846), 349ff-, and A. .R. Cook, Zeus, iio-i, suggest that
these rites on Mount Olympus were Orphic.
'"Et aliorum insidiantium de- cipientium permiscentium. . . ."
430 MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
how matter was confused and divided "and the profundities of sinister and cruel legends." From the Phrygians he learned liver divination; among the barbarians he studied auspices and the significance of the movements of quad- rupeds, and how to interpret omens and the language of birds, and the sounds made by every kind of wood and stone, or by the dead in tombs and the creaking of doors. He became acquainted with the palpitations of the limbs, the movement of the blood and pulse in bodies, all the exten- sions and corollaries of ratios and numbers, diseases simu- lated as well as natural, "and oaths which are heard yet are not audible, and pacts for discord." There was, in fine, nothing whatever in earth or sea or air that he did not know, whether it w^as a matter of science or phantasy, of mechanics or artifice, "even down to the magic translation of writings and other things of that sort." The lore At twenty Cyprian was admitted to the shrines at ancient
of Egypt. ]\Iemphis in Eg}'pt and learned what communication and relationship existed between demons and earthly things and "in what stars and laws and objects they delight." He wit" nessed imitations of earthquakes, rain, and storms at sea. He saw the souls of giants held in darkness and fancied that they sustained the earth as a load on their shoulders. He saw the communications of serpents with demons, ideas of transfigurations, impious piety, science without reason, iniquitous justice, and things topsy-turvy generally. Be- sides the forms of various sins and vices, such as fornica- tion and avarice, which suggest the medieval personification of the seven deadly sins, he saw the three hundred and sixty- five varieties of ailments, "and the empty glory and the empty virtue" with which the priests of Egypt had deceived the Greek philosophers. And of At thirty Cyprian left Eg^-pt for Chaldea in order to
Chaldea. acquire its lore concerning air, fire, and light. Here he was instructed in the qualities of stars as well as of herbs, and their "choruses like drawn-up battle lines." He was taught the house and relationships of each star and its
XVIII THE CONFESSION OF CYPRIAN 431
appropriate food and drink. Also the meetings of spirits with men in Hght, the three hundred and sixty-five demons who divide as many parts of the ether between them, and the sacrifices, Hbations, and words appropriate to each. Cyprian's education had now advanced to such a point that the devil himself hailed him, mere youth as he was, as a new Jambres, a skilful and reliable practitioner, and worthy of communication with himself. Cyprian again explains at this point that in all the stars and plants and other works of God the devil has bound to himself likenesses in prep- aration to wage war with God and His angels, but these likenesses are shadowy images, 'not solid substances. The devil's rain is not water, his fire does not burn, his fish are not food, and his gold is not genuine. The devil obtains the material for his products from the vapors of sacrifices,
Cyprian now returned from Chaldea and wrought mar- Cyprian's vels at Antioch "like one of the ancients," and "made many of^niagic experiments of magic and became celebrated as a magician at Anti- and philosopher endowed with vast knowledge of things invisible." Men came to him to be taught magic or to secure their ends by his assistance. And he easily helped them all, some to the gratification of pleasure, others to triumph over their adversaries or even to slay their rivals. His conscience sometimes pricked him at the evil deeds which he thus wrought with the aid of demons, but as yet he did not doubt that the devil was all powerful.
But then the case of the Christian girl Justina revealed a Chris- to him the weakness and fraud of the devil. Determined defeats^'" to dedicate herself to a life of virginity, Justina repulsed the magic the love of the youth Agla'ides, who sought Cyprian's assist- demons, ance. But in vain : the demon failed to alter Justina's deter- mination and was not even able to give another girl the form of Justina and so deceive Agla'ides. Justina was shown the form of her lover, but she called upon the Virgin, and the devil was forced to vanish in smoke. Nor did disease and other plagues and torments affect her resolution. Her par- ents, however, were similarly afflicted until they besought
432
MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
Summary of Cypri- an's pic- ture of magic.
her to marry Aglaides, but instead she cured them of their ailments by the sign of the cross. The devil then inflicted a plague on the entire community and delivered an oracle to the effect that the pest could be stayed only by the mar- riage of Justina and Aglaides, but her prayers turned the wrath of the public from herself against Cyprian. When the magician in disgust cursed the demon for the evil pass to which he had thus brought him, the demon made a fero- cious attack upon him, from which Cyprian saved himself just in the nick of time by calling upon God for aid and making the sign of the cross. He then publicly confessed his crimes as a magician, burned his books of magic, and was baptized into the Christian faith. ^
Cyprian's Confession thus represents magic as a very elaborate art, requiring long study and a thorough knowl- edge of natural objects and processes. The magician has his books, and he must also be able to read the book of nature. Astrology and other arts of divination are integral parts of magic. But magic is also represented as the work of evil spirits. This involves not merely a Neo-Platonic sort of association of demons with natural forces and regions of earth or sky, but also the specific association of the devil for evil purposes with objects in nature, a doctrine which we shall find again in the works of a medieval saint, Hildegard of Bingen. Furthermore, magic aids in the com- mission of crime and is dangerous even to the magician against whom the devil may turn. While magic involves study of nature and use of natural forces and associations, and we also hear of "many experiments of magic," it is scarcely represented as operating scientifically in the Confes- sion. It is mystic, confused, shadowy, imitative, imaginary, lacking in solidity and reality, fraudulent and deceptive. Finally, this complex art, this universal system of knowl- edge, is easily balked and overthrown by the far simpler
* Shelley, it may be recalled, in 1822 translated some scenes, pub- lished in 1824, from Calderon's
Magico Prodigioso, in which Cyprian, Justina, and the demon figure.
XVIII THE CONFESSION OF CYPRIAN 433
counter-magic of Christianity, by such methods as a prayer to the Virgin, calHng on the name of God, or merely making the sign of the cross.
Such counter-magic was apt to be regarded as magic by Christians the pagans, and the account of the martyrdom of Cyprian of magic, states that the devil, that "very bad serpent," suggested to the Count of the Orient that Cyprian, together with a cer- tain virgin who is assumed to be Justina, was destroying the ancient worship of the gods by his magic tricks as well as stirring up the orient and the whole world by his epistles. He was accordingly arrested and finally beheaded. Ac- cording to one account he and Justina were first placed together in a cauldron of tallow and pitch over a fire. But when they sang a hymn, the flames left them uninjured and instead shot out and caused the death of an unreformed magician who happened to be standing near by.^ Another case of Christian martyrs who were probably accused of magic is found in Spain about 287 A. D. Two Christian sisters who were dealers in pottery refused to sell their earthenware for purposes of pagan worship. One day, as a pagan religious procession passed by their shop, the crowd trampled upon their wares which were exposed for sale. But thereupon the idol which was being borne in the pro- cession fell and broke in pieces. "Being probably suspected of magical practices," the two sisters were arrested; one died in prison and the other was strangled; whereupon the bishop rescued their bones, and these were cherished as the remains of martyrs.-
Epiphanius in the next century tells a story similar to A story that of Cyprian, Aglaides, and Justina, of a youth who vvas Ep^pha- led astray by evil companions who employed magic arts, "*"s. love philters, and incantations to force free women to gratify their licentious desires. By means of magic the youth went through the air to a very beautiful woman in
* Bouchier, Syria as a Roman " Bouchier, Spain Under the Ro- Province, p. 237. man Empire, p. 123, citing AS,
July 19.
434
MAGIC AND EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE chap.
Joseph's experience of miracle and magic.
Legend of St. James and Her- mogenes the magician.
the public bath, but she repelled him by making the sign of the cross. His companions then tried to devise some more powerful magic for his benefit, and took him at sunset to a cemetery full of caves where for three successive nights the wizards vainly plied their arts in the attempt to gratify his lust. But in every instance they were foiled by the name of Christ and the sign of the cross. ^
Joseph, the guardian of this same young man, finally became converted to Christianity after Christ had appeared repeatedly to him in dreams and cured him of diseases and after he himself, by employing the name of Jesus, had cured a man of a demoniacal possession which made him go shamelessly about the town in a nude state. After his con- version, Joseph started to complete as a Christian church an unfinished structure in Tiberias called the Adrianaion, which the citizens previously had tried to convert into a public bath. When the Jews endeavored to ruin his un- dertaking by bewitching the furnaces which he had erected for the preparation of quick-lime, he counteracted their magic by making the sign of the cross, sprinkling his fur- naces with holy water, and saying in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, ''Let there be power in this water to counteract all pharmacy and magic employed by these men and to instill sufficient energy into the fire to complete the house of the Lord." With that his fires blazed up violently.^
Very similar both to the Confession of Cyprian and the story of Simon Magus is the legend of St. James the Great
^ Epiphanius, Panarion, ed. Din- dorf, II, 97-104; ed. Petavius, 131A-137C.
' Idem. The attempt to bewitch the furnaces reminds one of the fourteenth Homeric epigram, in which the bard threatens to curse the potters' furnaces if they do not pay him for his song, and to summon "the destroyers of fur- naces,"— Hivrpiff o/iojs Xnapayop re Kal "AajSerov -qbi lia^aKTrjv, — words usually interpreted as names for mischievous Pucks and brawl- ing goblins who smash pottery.
But the two middle names sug- gest the stones, smaragdus or emerald, and asbestos. The poet also invokes "Circe of many drugs" to cast injurious spells, and appeals to Chiron to com- plete the work of destruction. He further prays that the face of any potter who peers into the fur- nace may be burned. This epi- gram is probably of late date. See A. Abel, Homeri Hymni, Epi- grammata, Batrachomyomachia, Lipsiae, 1886, pp. 123-4,
XVIII
THE CONFESSION OF CYPRIAN
435
and Hermogenes the magician, which is found in The Golden Legend and which was often reproduced in medieval stained glass windows.^ James converted to Christianity a disciple of Hermogenes whom the magician had sent against him when he was preaching in Judea. When the angry wizard cast a spell over his erstwhile disciple, the latter was freed by means of St. James's cloak. When the magician sent demons to fetch both the convert and the saint, James made them bring Hermogenes to him instead, but then set him free, telling him that Christians returned good for evil. Hermogenes now feared the vengeance that the demons would take upon himself, and so James gave his staff to him to protect himself with. Soon afterwards Hermogenes threw all his books of magic into the sea and was baptized. "In The Golden Legend," in fact, as Male says, "almost all the apostles have to contend with magicians. But it is St. Simon and St. Jude who strive with the most formidable of sorcerers, and they challenge him even in the very sanctuary in The of magic art, the temple of the Sun at Suanir, near Babylon. ^^^Jj^ Undismayed by the science of Zoroaster and Aphaxad, they foretell the future, they cause a new-born babe to speak, they subdue tigers and serpents, and from a statue they cast out a demon, which shows itself in the shape of a black Ethiopian and flees uttering raucous cries." ^ If this last exorcism reminds us somewhat of the exploits of Apollonius of Tyana, still more do the performances of St. An- drew, who "must surpass all the marvels of the magicians before he can convert Asia and Greece. He drives away seven demons who in the shape of seven great dogs desolate the town of Nicaea, and he exorcises a spirit which dwells in the thermae and is wont to strangle the bathers." ^
Other con- tests of apostles and magicians
* Male, Religious Art in France, 1913, pp. 304-6.
"Male (1913), p. 306. "Ibid.j p. 307.