M. De Sacy has made it probable that the Oriental term

Hashiskin, of which the Crusaders made Assassins, comes (as already noted) from Hashish, a species of hemp, from which intoxicating opiates were made, which the Fedavi were in the habit of taking previously to engaging in their daring enterprises, or employed as a medium of procuring delicious visions of the paradise promised to them by the Sheikh-al-Gebel.
It is a curious question how Hassan contrived to infuse into the Fedavi the recklessness of life, joined with the spirit of implicit obedience to the commands of their superiors, which they so invariably displayed. We are told that the system adopted for this purpose was to obtain, by purchasing or otherwise, from their parents, stout and healthy children. These were reared up in implicit obedience to the will of the Sheik, and, to fit them for their future office, carefully instructed in various languages.
The Assassins soon began to make themselves felt as a power in Persia and Syria. Their first victim was that very Nizam with whom Hassan and Omar had completed their youthful bargain. His son speedily followed him, as did the Sultan of Persia. That monarch's successor made war with them, but was so terror-stricken by their murderous tactics, that he speedily cemented a peace. Hassan died at an advanced age in 1124, having assassin- ated both his sons, and left as^nis successor his chief prior, Hia-busurg-Omid, during the reign of whom the Assassins were far from fortunate. The list of their victims had by this time become a long and illustrious one. The fourth Sheik of the Mountain — another Hassan — made public the secret doctrines of the society, announcing that the religion of Islam was abolished and that the people might give themselves up to feasting and pleasure. He further stated that he was the promised Caliph of God upon earth ; but some four years after this announcement he was assassinated and succeeded by his son, Mahomed II. whose rule of forty-six years was marked by deeds of revolting cruelty. But he had several implacable enemies, one of
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whom was the famous Saladin, and the Syrian branch of the society seceded from his sway, and became independent. This branch it was with whom the Crusaders came so much into contact, and whose emissaries slew Raymond of Tripoli, and Conrad of Montferrat. Mahomed's son, Hassan III., restored the old form of doctrine— that is, the people were strictly confined to the practice of Islam, whilst the initiates were as before, superior and agnostic. His was the only reign in which no assassinations occurred and he was regarded with friendship by his neighbours. But after a reign of twelve years, he was poisoned, and during the minority of his son assassination was greatly in vogue. After a reign of thirty years, Mahomed III., the son in question, was slain by his successor, Rukneddin ; but vengeance quickly followed, for only a year later the Tartars swept into Persia, took Alamut and other Assassin strongholds, and captured the reigning monarch, who was slain because of his treachery. Over 12,000 Assassins were massacred, and their power was completely broken. The like fate overtook the Syrian branch, which was nearly extirpated by the Egyptian Mamelukes. But in the more isolated valleys of Syria, many of them lingered on and are believed still to exist there. At all events, doctrines similar in character to theirs are occasionally to be met with in Northern Syria. An account of the manner in which the Assassins aroused the lust of slaughter in the Fedavis is given in Siret-al-Hahen, or Memoirs of Hakin — an Arabic historic romance, as follows : —
" Our narrative now returns to Ismael the chief of the Ismaelites. He took with him his people laden with gold, silver, pearls, and other effects, taken away from the in- habitants of the coasts, and which he had received in the island of Cyprus, and on the part of the King of Egypt, Dhaher, the son of Hakem-biemr-Illah. Having bidden farewell to the Sultan of Egypt at Tripolis, they proceeded to Massyat, when the inhabitants of the castles and fortresses assembled to enjoy themselves, along with the chief Ismael and his people. They put on the rich dresses with which the Sultan had supplied them, and adorned the castle of Massyat with everything that was good and fine. Ismael made his entry into Massyat with the Devoted (Fedavi), as no one has ever done at Massyat before him or after him. He stopped there some time to take into his service some more persons whom he might make devoted both in heart and body.
" With this view he had caused to be made a vast garden, into which he had water conducted. In the middle of this garden he built a kiosk raised to the height of four stories. On each of the four sides were richly-ornamented windows joined by four arches, in -which were painted stars of gold and silver. He put into it roses, porcelain, glasses, and drinking-vessels of gold and silver. He had with him Mamlooks (i.e., slaves), ten males and ten females, who were come with him from the region of the Nile, and who had scarcely attained the age of puberty. He clothed them in silks and in the finest stuffs, and he gave unto them bracelets of gold and of silver. The columns were over- laid with musk, and with amber, and in the four arches of the windows he set four caskets, in which was the purest musk. The columns were polished, and this place was the retreat of the slaves. He divided the garden into four parts. In the first of these were pear-trees, apple-trees, vines, cherries, mulberries, plums, and other kinds of fruit-trees. In the second were oranges, lemons, olives, pomegranates, and other fruits. In the third were cucum- bers, melons, leguminous plants, etc. In the fourth were roses, jessamine, tamarinds, narcissi, violets, lilies, anemonies, etc., etc.
" The garden was divided by canals of water, and the kiosk was surrounded with ponds and reservoirs. There
were groves in which were seen antelopes, ostriches, asses, and wild cows. Issuing from the ponds, one met ducks, geese, partridges, quails, hares, foxes, and other animals. Around the kiosk the chief Ismael planted walks of tall trees, terminating in the different parts of the garden. He built there a great house, divided into two apartments, the upper and the lower. From the latter covered walks- led out into the garden, which was all enclosed with walls, so that no one could see into it, for these walks and buildings were all void of inhabitants. He made a gallery of cool- ness, which ran from this apartment to the cellar, which was behind. This apartment served as a place of assembly for the men. Having placed himself on a sofa there opposite the door, the chief made his men sit down, and gave them to eat and drink during the whole length of the day until evening. At nightfall he looked around him, and, selecting those whose firmness pleased him, said to- them, ' Ho ! such-a-one, come and seat thyself near me.* It is thus that Ismael made those whom he had chosen sit near him on the sofa and drink. He then spoke to them of the great and excellent qualities of the imam Aii, of his bravery, his nobleness, and his generosity, untiL they fell asleep, overcome by the power of the benjeh which he had given them, and which never failed to produce its effects in less than a quarter of an hour, so that they fell down as if they were inanimate. As soon as the man had fallen the chief Ismael arose, and, taking him up, brought him into a dormitory, and then, shutting the door, carried him on his shoulders into the gallery of coolness, which was in the garden, and thence into the kiosk, where he committed him to the care of the male and female slaves, directing them to comply with all the desires of the can- didate, on whom they flung vinegar till he awoke. When he was come to himself the youths and maidens said to- him. ' We are only waiting for thy death, for this place is destined for thee. This is one of the pavilions of Para- dise, and we are the houries and the children of Paradise. If thou wert dead thou wouldest be for ever with us, -but thou art only dreaming, and wilt soon awake.' Mean- while, the chief Ismael had returned to the company as soon as he had witnessed the awakening of the candidate, who now perceived nothing but youths and maidens of the greatest beauty, and adorned in the most magnificent manner.
" He looked around the place, inhaled the fragrance of musk and frankincense, and drew near to the garden, where he saw the beasts and the birds, the running water, and the trees. He gazed on the beauty of the kiosk, and the vases of gold and silver, while the youths and maidens kept him in converse. In this way he remained confounded, not knowing whether he was awake or only dreaming. When two hours of the night had gone by, the chief Ismael returned to the dormitory, closed to the door, and thence proceeded to the garden, where his slaves came around him and rose before him. When the candidate perceived him, he said unto him, ' O, chief Ismael, do I dream, or am I awake ? ' The chief Ismael then made answer to him . ' O, such-a-one. beware of relating this vision to any one who is a stranger to this place ! Know that the Lord Ali has shown thee the place which is "destined for thee in Paradise. Know that at this moment the Lord Ali and I have been sitting together in the regions of the empyrean. So do not hesitate a moment in the service of the imam who has given thee to know his felicity.' Then the chief Ismael ordered supper to be served. It was brought in vessels of gold and of silver, and consisted of boiled meats and roast meats, with other dishes. While the candidate ate, he was sprinkled with rose-water ; when he called for drink there were brought to him vessels of gold and silver filled with delicious liquors, in which also had been mingled
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some benjeh. When he had fallen asleep, Ismael carried him through the gallery back to the dormitory, and, leaving him there, returned to his company. After a little time he went back, threw vinegar on his face, and then, bringing him out, ordered one of the Mamlooks to shake him. On awaking, and finding himself in the same place among the guests, he said . ' There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the Prophet of God ! ' The chief Ismael then drew near and caressed him, and he remained, as it were, immersed in intoxication, wholly devoted to the service of the chief, who then said unto him . ' O, such-a-one, know that what thou hast seen was not a dream, but one of the miracles of the imam Ali. Know that he has written thy name among those of his friends. If thou keep the secret thou art certain of thy felicity, but if thou speak of it thou wilt incur the resentment of the imam. If thou die thou art a martyr ; but beware of relating this to any person what- ever. Thou hast entered by one of the gates to the friend- ship of the imam, and art become one of his family ; but if thou betray the secret, thou wilt become one of his enemies, and be driven from his house.' Thus this man became one of the servants of the chief Ismael. who in this manner surrounded himself with trusty men, until his reputation was established. This is what is related to the chief Ismael and his Devoted."
To these romantic tales of the Paradise of the Old Man of the Mountain we must add to another of an even more mystical character, furnished by the learned and venerable Sheik Agd-ur-Rahman (Servant of the Compassionate, i.e., of God) Ben Ebubekr Al-Jeriri of Damascus, in the twenty-fourth chapter of his work entitled, A Choice Book for Discovering the Secrets of the Art of Imposture.
Asteroids : (See Astrology.)
Astolpho : A hero of Italian romance. He was the son of Otho, King of England. He was transformed into a myrtle by Alcina, a sorceress, but later regained his human form through Melissa. He took part in many adventures, and cured Orlando of his madness. Astolpho is the alle- gorical representation of a true man lost through sensuality.
Astral Body is in Theosophy that body which functions in the Astral World. Like the rest of man's five bodies, it is composed of matter, relatively, however, much finer than that which composes the ordinary physical body. It is the instrument of passions, emotions, and desires, and, since it interpenetrates and extends beyond the physical body, it is the medium through which these are conveyed to the latter. When it separates from the denser body- — ■ as it does during sleep, or by the influence of drugs, or as the result of accidents — it takes with it the capacity for feeling, and only with its return can pain or any other such phenomena be felt. During these periods of separa- tion the astral body is;an exact replica of the physical, and as it is extremely sensitive to thought, the apparitions of dead and dying — of which so much is heard in the new science of the Borderland — resemble even to the smallest details the physical bodies which they have lately left. The Astral World is, of course, easily attainable to clair- voyants of even moderate powers, and the appropriate body is therefore clearly visible. In accordance with theosophic teaching on the subject of thought, the latter is not the abstraction it is commonly considered to be, but built up of definite forms the shape of which depends on the quality of the thought, and it also causes definite vibrations, which are seen as colours. Hence, clairvoyants are able to tell the state of a man s development from the appearance of his astral body. A nebulous appearance betokens imperfect development, while an ovoid appearance betokens a more perfect development. As the colours are indicative of the kind of thought, the variety of these in the astral body indicates the possessor's character.
Inferior thoughts beget loud colours, so that rage, for instance, will be recognised by the red appearance of the astral body, and on the contrary, higher thoughts will be recognisable by the presence of delicate colours, religious thought for instance, causing a blue colour. This teaching holds true for the bodies higher than the astral, but, the coloration of the astral body is much more familiar to dwellers in the physical world than is the coloration of the higher bodies, with the feelings of which they are relatively unacquainted. There is a definite theory underlying the emotional and other functions of the astral body. The matter of which the latter is composed is not, of course, alive with an intelligent life, but it nevertheless possesses a kind of life sufficient to convey an understanding of its own existence and wants. The stage of evolution of this life is that of descent, the turning point not having yet, so far as it is concerned, been reached. He who possesses the body has, on the other hand, commenced to ascend, and there is, therefore, a continual opposition of forces between him and his astral body. Hence, his astral body accentuates in him such of grosser, retrograde thoughts as he may nourish since the direction of these thoughts coincides with its own direction. If, however, he resists the opposition of his astral body, the craving of the latter gradu- ally becomes weaker and weaker till at last it disappears al- together. And the constitution of the astral body is thereby altered, gross thoughts demanding for their medium gross astral matter, pure thoughts demanding fine astral matter. During physical life the various kinds of matter in the astral body are intermingled, but at physical death the ele- mentary life in the matter of the astral body seeks in- stinctively after self-preservation, and it therefore causes the matter to rearrange itself in a series of seven concen- tric sheaths, the densest being outside and the finest inside. Physical vision depends on the eyes, but astral vision depends on the various kinds of astral matter being in a condition of receptiveness to different undulations. To be aware of fine matter, fine matter in the astral body is necessary, and so with the other kinds. Hence, when the rearrangement takes place, vision only of the grossest kinds of matter is possible since only that kind is repre- sented in the thick outer sheath of the astral body. Under these circumstances, the new denizen of the astral sphere sees only the worst of it, and also only the worst of his fellow denizens, even though they are not in so low a state as himself. This state is not, of course eternal, and in accordance with the evolutionary process, the gross sheath of astral matter wears slowly away, and the man remains clothed with the six less gross sheaths. These also, with the passage of time, wear away, being resolved into their compound elements, and at last when the final disintegra- tion of the least gross sheath of all takes place, the in- dividual leaves the Astral World and passes into the Mental. This rearrangement of the astral body is not, however, in- evitable, and those who have learned and know, are able at physical death to prevent it. In such cases the change appears a very small one, and the so-called dead continue to live their lives and do their work much as they did in the physical body. (See Astral World, Aviehi Theosophy.) Astral World. (Plane or Sphere) : Kama World is, in Theosophy, the second lowest of the seven worlds, the world of emotions, desires, and passions. Into it man passes at physical death, and there he functions for periods which vary with the state of his development, the primitive savage spending a relatively short time in the Astral World, the civilised man spending relatively longer. The appropriate body is the astral (q.v.), which though com- posed of matter as is the physical body, is nevertheless of a texture vastly finer than the latter. Though it is in its aspect of the after-death abode that this world is of most
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importance and most interest, it may be said in passing, that even during physical life, man — not only clairvoyants who attain it easily, but also ordinary men — may and do temporarily inhabit it. This happens during sleep, or by reason of the action of anaesthetics or drugs, or accidents, and the interpenetrating astral body then leaves its denser physical neighbour, and taking with it the sense of pleasure and pain, lives for a short time in its own world. Here again the state of the savage differs from that of his more advanced fellows, for the former does not travel far from his immediate surroundings, while the latter may perform useful, helpful work for the benefit of humanity. Further, it may in passing be noted that disembodied mankind are not the only inhabitants of the Astral World, for very many of its inhabitants are of an altogether non-human nature — lower orders of the devas or angels, and nature-spirits or elementals, both good and bad, such including fairies which are just beyond the powers of human vision, and the demons present to the vision of delirium tremens. It will however be sufficient now to turn attention to the Astral World as the state immediately following physical death and containing both heaven and hell as these are popularly conceived.
There are seven divisions which correspond to the seven divisions of matter, the solid, liquid, gaseous, etheric, super-etheric, subatomic and atomic, and, as mentioned in the article on the Astral Body, this plays a most im- portant part in the immediate destiny of man in it. If through ignorance, he has permitted the rearrangement of the matter of his astral body into sheaths, he is cognisant only of part of his surroundings at a time, and it is not till after experience, much of which may be extremely painful, that he is able to enjoy the bliss which the higher divisions of the Astral World contain. The lowest of these divisions, the seventh, is the environment of those of gross and unrestrained passions, since it and most of the «natter of their astral bodies is of the same type, and it constitutes a very hell, and the only hell which exists. This is Avichi, the place of desires which cannot be satisfied because of the absence of the physical body, which was the means of their satisfaction. The tortures of these desires are the analogue of the torments of hell-fire in the older Christian orthodoxy. Unlike that orthodoxy, how- ever, theosophy teaches that the state of torment is- not eternal, but passes away in time when the desires through long gnawing without fulfilment, have died at last, and it is therefore more correct to look on Avichi as a purgatorial state. The ordinary man, however, does not experience this seventh division of the Astral World, but according to his character finds himself in one or other of the three next higher divisions. The sixth division is very little different from his physical existence, and he continues in his old surroundings among his old friends, who are, of course, unaware of his presence, and indeed, often does not realise that he is dead so far as the physical world is concerned. The fifth and fourth divisions are in most respects quite similar to this, but their inhabitants become less and less immersed in the activities and interests which have hitherto engrossed them, and each sheath of their astral bodies decays in turn as did the gross outer sheath of the sensualist's body. The three higher divisions are still more removed from the ordinary material world, and their inhabitants enjoy a state of bliss of which we can have no conception ; worries and cares of earth are altogether absent, the insistence of lower desires has worn out in the lower divisions, and it is now possible to live continually in an environment of the loftiest thoughts and aspirations. The third division is said to correspond to the spiritual- istic " summerland," where the inhabitants live in a world of their own creation — of the creation of their thoughts.
Its cities and all their contents, scenery of life, are all formed by the influence of thought. The second division is what is properly looked on as heaven, and the inhabi- tants of different races, creeds, and beliefs, find it each according to his belief. Hence, instead of its being the place taught of by any particular religion, it is the region where each and every religion finds its own ideal. Christ- ians, Mohammedans, Hindus, and so on, find it to be just as they conceived it would be. Here, and in the first and highest division, the inhabitants pursue noble aims freed from what of selfishness was mingled with these aims on earth. The literary man, his thoughts of fame ; the artist, the scholar, the preacher, all work without incentive of personal interest, and where their work is pursued long enough, and they are fitted for the change, they leave the Astral World and enter one vastly higher — the Mental. It was, however, mentioned that the rearrangement of the matter of the astral body at physical death, was the result of ignorance, and those who are sufficiently instructed do not permit this rearrangement to take. They are not, therefore, confined to any one division, and have not to progress from division to division, but are able to move through any part of the Astral World, labouring always in their various lines of action to assist the great evolutionary scheme. (See Astral Body, Worlds, Planes or Spheres, Theosophy, Avichi, Summerland.) Astrology : The art of divining the fate or future of persons from the juxtaposition of the sun, moon and planets. Judicial astrology foretells the destinies of individuals and nations, while natural astrology predicts changes of jveather and the operation of the stars upon natural things.
History. — In Egyptian tradition, we find its invention attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, or Thoth, by whom, under different names, is represented the various revela- tions of truth, both theological and natural ; for he is the Mercury of the Romans, the eloquent deliverer of the messages of the gods. The name of Ptolemy, the greatest of which astrology can boast, belongs also to Egypt, but to the comparatively recent period when Imperial Rome flourished. In Imperial Rome astrology was held in great repute, especially under the reign of Tiberius, who himself obtained that knowledge of] the science from Thrasyllus, which enabled him to foretell the destiny of Galba, then consul. When Claudius was dying from the effects of Locusta s poison, Agrippina cautiously dissembled his progressive illness ; nor would she announce his decease till the very moment arrived, which the astrologers had pronounced fortunate for the accession of Nero. Augustus had discouraged the practice of astrology by banishing its professors from Rome, but the favour of his successors recalled them, and though occasional edicts, in subsequent reigns, restrained, and even punished all who divined by the stars ; and though Vitellius and Domitian revived the edict of Augustus, the practices of the astrologers were secretly encouraged, and their predictions extensively believed. Domitian himself, in spite of his hostility, was in fear of their denouncements. They prophesied the year, the hour, and the manner of his death, and agreed with his father in foretelling that he should perish not by poison, but by the dagger.
After the age of the Antonines and the work of Censorinus, we hear little of astrology for some generations. In the eighth century the venerable Bede and his distinguished scholar, Alcuin, are said to have pursued this mystic study. In that immediately following, the Arabians revived and encouraged it. Under the patronage of Almaimon, the Mirammolin, in the year 827, the Megale Syntaxis of Ptolemy was translated under the title of Almagest," by Al. Hazen Ben Yusseph. Albumasar added to this work, and the astral science continued to receive new force
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from the labours 01 Alfraganus, Ebennozophim, Alfaragius, and Geber.
The conquest of Spain by the Moors carried this know- ledge, with all their other treasures of learning into Spain, and before their cruel expulsion it was naturalized among the Christian savants. Among these the wise Alonzo (or Alphonso) of Castile, has immortalized himself by his scientific researches, aDd the Jewish and Christian doctors, who arranged the tables which pass under his name, were •convened from all the accessible parts of civilized Europe. Five years were employed in their discussion, and it has been said that the enormous sum of 400,000 ducats was disbursed in the towers of the Alcazar of Galiana, in the adjustment and correction of Ptolemy's calculations. Nor was it only the physical motions of the stars which occupied this grave assembly. The two kabalistic volumes, yet existing in cipher, in the royal library of the kings of Spain, and which tradition assigns to the hand of Alonzo himself, betoken a more visionary study, and in spite of -the denunciations- against his orthodoxy, which were thundered in his ears on the authority of Tertullian, Basil and Bonaventure, the fearless monarch gave his sanction to such masters as practised truly the art of divination by the stars, and in one part of his code enrolled astrology among the seven liberal sciences.
In Germany many eminent men have been addicted to this study ; and a long catalogue might be made of those who have considered other sciences with reference to astrology, and written on them as such. Faust has, of course, the credit of being an astrologer as well as a wizard, and we find that singular but splendid genius, Cornelius Agrippa, writing with as much zeal against astrology as on behalf of other occult sciences.
To the believers in astrology, who flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, must be added the name of Albert von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland. He was indeed an enthusiast in the cause, and many curious anecdotes are related of this devotion. That he had himself studied astrology, and under no mean instructors, is evidenced by his biography and correspondence.
Of the early progress of astrology in England, little is known. Bede and Alcuin we have already mentioned as addicted to its study. Roger Bacon could scarcely escape the contagion of the art. But it was the period of the Stuarts which must be considered as the acme of astrology among us. Then Lilly employed the doctrine of the magical circle, and the evocation of spirits from the Ars Notoria of Cornelius Agrippa, and used the form of prayer prescribed therein to the angel Salmonceus, and entertained among his familiar acquaintance the guardian spirits of England, Saimael and Malchidael. His ill success with the divining rod induced him to surrender the pursuit of rhabdomancy, in which he first engaged, though lie still perserved in asserting that the operation ■demanded secrecy and intelligence in the agents, and, above all, a strong faith, and a competent knowledge of their work. The Dean of Westminster had given him permission to search for treasure in the cloisters of the abbey in the dead of the night. On the western side, the rods turned over each other with inconceivable rapidity, yet, on digging, nothing but a coffin c >uld be discovered. He retired to the abbey, and then a storm arose which nearly destroyed the west end of the church, extinguished all the candles but one, and made the rods immovable. Lilly succeeded at length in charming away the demon, but no persuasion could induce him to make another experiment in that species of divination.
The successor of Lilly was Henry Coley, a tailor, who had been his amanuensis, and traded in prophecy with success almost equal to that of his master.
While astrology flourished in England it was in high repute with its kindred pursuits of magic, necromancy, and al- chemy, at the court of France. Catherine de Medici her- self was an adept in the art. At the revolution, which commenced a new era in this country, astrology declined, and notwithstanding the labours of Partridge, and those of Ebenezer Sibley, it has only in recent years recovered- its importance.
Signs. — There are twelve signs of the Zodiac, divided in astrology into " Northern and " Commanding " (the first six), and " Southern ' and " Obeying " (last six). They are as follow : —
Aries, the house of Mars, and exaltation of the sun, or the first sign of the zodiac, is a vernal, dry, fiery, masculine, cardinal, equinoctial, diurnal, movable, commanding, eastern, choleric, violent, and quadrupedian sign. These epithets will be presently e.\plained. The native, that is, the person born under its influence, is tall of stature, of a strong but spare make, dry constitution, long face and neck, thick shoulders, piercing eyes, sandy or red hair, and brown complexion. In disposition he will be warm, hasty and passionate. The aspects of the planets may, however, materially alter these effects. This sign rules the head and face. Among diseases, it produces small-pox, and epilepsy, apoplexy, headache, hypochondriasis, baldness, ringworm, and all diseases of the head and face, paralysis, fevers, measles, and convulsions. It presides over the following countries : England, France, Germany, Syria, Switzerland, Poland and Denmark ; and over the cities of Naples, Capua, Padua, Florence, Verona, Ferrara, Bruns- wick, Marseilles, Cssarea, and Utrecht. Its colours are red and white.
Now to explain this terminology, before examining another sign, there are said to be four triplicities among the signs, viz. : the earthly triplicity, including Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn ; the airy, which includes Gemini, Libra and Aquarius ; the fiery, under which are reckoned Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius ; and the watery, which claims Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. The signs are further divided into diurnal and nocturnal : Aries diurnal, Taurus noctur- nal, and so on alternately, the diurnal signs being all masculine, and the nocturnals feminine. The terms tropi- cal, equinoctial, vernal, etc., need no comment. Fixed, common, movable, refer to the weather. Signs which are named after quadrupeds are, of course, quadrupedal. Such as are called after human states of occupations as humane. A person born under a fiery masculine diurnal sign, is hot in temper, and bold in character. If it be a quadrupedal sign, he is somewhat like to the animal after which the sign is called. Thus in Taurus, the native is bold and furious ; in Leo, fierce and cruel. Cardinal signs are those occupying the four cardinal points. The first six from Aries are termed commanding, and the latter six, obeying- signs. Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are called fruitful or prolific ; and Gemini, Leo, and Virgo, barren. Sagittarius, because usually represented as a centaur, is said to be humane, and productive of humane character in the former fifteen degrees, but of a savage, brutal and intractable disposition in the latter.
We shall now proceed with the signs. Taurus is cold and dry, earthly, melancholy, feminine, fixed and noctur- nal, southern, the night-house of Venus. When influential in a nativity, it usually produces a person with a broad forehead, thick lips, dark curling hair, of quality rather brutal, melancholy, and slow in anger, but when once enraged, violent, furious, and difficult to be appeased. The diseases under this sign are all such as attack the throat, scrofula, quinsey, imposthumes and wens. The sign rules the neck and throat. Places subject to it are stables, cowhouses, cellars and low rooms, and all places
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used for or by cattle. Of kingdoms, Russia, Ireland, Sweden, Persia and Parthia, and of cities, Leipsic, Parma, Mantua, Novogorod, and eleven others.
Gemini is masculine and diurnal, aerial, hot and moist. The native is tall, and straight of body, with long arms ; the hands and feet well formed, the complexion rather dark, the hair brown, the eye hazel ; strong and active in person, sound and acute in judgment ; lively, playful, and generally skilful in business. Diseases under this sign are those to which the arms, hands and shoulders are subject, with aneurisms, frenzy and insanity. Places : hilly and high grounds, the tops of houses, wainscoted rooms, halls and theatres, barns, storehouses and stairs ; kingdoms, Armenia, Brabant, Lombardy, Sardinia and Egypt ; cities : London, Bruges, Cordova, Metz and seven others. It is the day-house of Mercury, and rules the colours red and white.
Cancer is the only house of the moon, and the first sign of the watery northern triplicity. It is a watery, cold, moist, phlegmatic, feminine, movable nocturnal, sol- stitial, and exceedingly fruitful sign, more so than any other. The native is fair and pale, short and small ; the upper part of the body larger in proportion to the lower ; a round face, light hair., and blue or grey eyes ; phlegmatic, and heavy in disposition ; weak in constitution, and of a small voice. Diseases : All disorders of the breast and stomach over which parts the sign rules ; cancers, con- sumption, asthma, dropsy and surfeits. Kingdoms : Scotland, Holland, Zealand, Burgundy, Numidia and Carthage ; places : the sea and all rivers, swamps, ponds, lakes, wells, ditches, and watery places. Cities : Constanti- nople, Tunis, York and New York, Genoa, Venice, Algiers, Amsterdam, Cadiz, and sixteen others. The colours ruled by this sign are green and russet.
Leo is a sign of a very different nature. It is the only house of the sun ; fiery, hot, dry, masculine, choleric, com- manding, eastern, and a very barren sign. When this sign ascends in a nativity, the individual will be of a tall arid powerful frame, well-shaped, of an austere countenance, of light, yellowish hair, large piercing eyes, commanding aspect, and ruddy complexion. The character will be fierce and cruel, but yet open, generous and courteous. Such was Richard Coeur-de-Lion. But the latter part of the sign is weaker and more brutal. This sign is even more modified by planetary influences than any others. Among diseases it causes all affections of the heart, over which together with the back and the vertebrae of the neck, it rules ; fevers, plague, jaundice and pleurisy. Of places, it governs woods, forests, deserts and hunting-grounds, fire- places and furnaces ; of kingdoms : Italy, CmUcUea, Turkey and Bohemia ; of cities : Bath, Bristol, Taunton, Rome, Damascus, Prague, Philadelphia, and nineteen others. Its colours are red and green.
Virgo is an earthy, cold, dry, barren, feminine, southern, melancholy, commanding sign. It is the house and exaltation of Mercury. The native is handsome and well- shaped, slender, of middle stature, and of a clear, ruddy or brown complexion, dark hair and eyes, the face rather round, and the voice sweet and clear, but not strong ; the character amiable and benevolent, witty and studious, but not persevering ; and if not opposed by planetary aspects, apt to oratory. This sign rules the viscera, and is answerable for all diseases affecting them. Of places : cornfields and granaries, studies and libraries ; of kingdoms : Greece, Crete, Mesopotamia and Assyria ; of cities : Jerusalem, Paris, Corinth, and twelve others. Its colours are blue and black.
Libra is a sign aerial, sanguine, hot, moist, equinoctial cardinal, movable, masculine, western and diurnal, humane, and the day-house of Venus. The native is tall and well-
made, very handsome, of a fine ruddy complexion in youth, but which changes to a deep red with advancing years. The hair long and flaxen, the eyes grey, the disposition courteous, and the character just and upright. Of king- doms it governs Ethiopia, Austria, Portugal, and Savoy ; and of cities, Antwerp, Frankfort, Vienna, Charlestown in America, and twenty-seven others. The colours which it rules are crimson and tawny ; and of places, mountains, saw-pits and woods newly felled.
Scorpio, the night-house of Mars, is a cold, phlegmatic, feminine, nocturnal, fixed, northern, and watery sign. The native is of a strong, robust, corpulent body, of a middle stature, broad visage, dark but not clear com- plexion, dark grey eyes or light brown, black hair or very dark brown, short, thick legs and thick neck. Of places it governs swampy grounds and stagnant waters, places which abound in venomous creatures, orchards and ruinous houses, especially near water. Of kingdoms : Fez, Bavaria, Norway and Mauritania ; of cities : Mes- sina, and others ; of colours : brown.
Sagittarius is a fiery, hot, dry, masculine, diurnal, eastern, common, bicorporeal, obeying sign, the day- house and joy of Jupiter. The native is well-formed and rather above the middle stature, with fine chestnut hair,- but inclined to baldness, a visage somewhat long but ruddy and handsome ; the body strong, stout and hardy. He is inclined to horsemanship and field-sports, careless of danger, generous and intrepid,- but hasty and careless. This sign rules the hips, and is the cause of gout, rheu- matism and disorders which affect the muscles. Accidents and disorders occasioned by intemperance come under the government of this sign. Of kingdoms : Spain, Hun- gary, Sclavonia and Arabia ; of places : stables and parks ; and of colours, green and red.
Capricornus is an earthy, cold, dry, feminine, nocturnal, movable, cardinal, solstitian, domestic, southern, quad- rupedal sign ; the house of Saturn, and the exaltation. The native is of slender stature, long thin countenance, small beard, dark hair and eyes, long neck, narrow chest and chin, tall usually, though not always ; in disposition, cheerful and collected ; talented and upright. Ruling the knees and hips, it governs all diseases which afflict them, and also all cutaneous diseases, such as leprosy, etc., and melancholy diseases such as hypochondriasis and hysteria. The kingdoms which it rules are India, Thrace, Mexico and Saxony ; and the cities, Oxford, Bradenburg and nineteen others. The places over which it has power are workshops -and fallow grounds, and its colours, black and brown.
Aquarius is an airy,hot, moist, rational, fixed, humane, diurnal, sanguine, masculine, western, obeying sign, the day-house of Saturn. The native is a well-made and robust person, rather above the middle stature, long face, but of a pleasing and delicate countenance, clear, bright complexion, with flaxen hair, often sandy ; of a disposition fair open and honest. As this sign rules the legs and ankles, it causes all diseases which affect them : lameness, white swelling, cramp, and gout. Of places it denotes mines and quarries, aeroplane machines, roofs of houses, wells, and conduits. Of kingdoms : Tartary, Denmark and Westphalia ; and of cities : Hamburg, Bremen, and fifteen more. Its colours are grey and sky-blue.
Lastly, Pisces is a watery, cold, moist, feminine, phleg- matic, nocturnal, common, bicorporeal, northern, idle, effeminate, sickly, and extremely fruitful sign, only less so- than Cancer ; the house of Jupiter, and the exaltation of Venus. The native is short and ill-shaped, fleshy, if not corpulent, with thick, round shoulders, light hair and eyes, the complexion pale, and the head and face large ; of a weak and vacillating disposition, well-meaning, but
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devoid of energy. This sign rules the feet, and causes lameness and every kind of disorder occasioned by watery humours. Of places : all such as are under Cancer, save the sea and rivers ; of kingdoms : Lydia, Calabria, Pamphy- lia and Normandy ; of cities : Compostella, Alexandria, Rheims. Ratisbon, and eleven others ; and of colours, it rules white.
Planets. The influence and effects of the planets are still more important than those of the signs, and they are- as follow : We commence with the most remote of the planets, Uranus. The days and hours are, as we have seen divided among the planets, but as none were left vacant, the appropriation of any to Uranus would, of course, throw out almost all the ancient calculations. If these then are to be preserved, the newly-discovered planet has no in- fluence ; but if this be the case, by what analogy can any be assigned to the others ? However, when this question was likely to be debated, Uranus was rolling on in its far-off orbit, and occasioning no uneasiness whatever to astro- logers or magicians. Leaving out all mention of the astronomical elements, we proceed to notice that Uranus is by nature extremely cold and dry, melancholy, and one of the infortunes. The native is of small stature, dark or pale complexion, rather light hair, of a highly nervous temperament, sedate aspect, but having something singular in his appearance ; light grey eyes, and delicate constitu- tion. If the planet be well dignified, he is a searcher into science, particularly chemistry, and remarkably attached to the wonderful He possesses an extraordinary magnani- mity and loftiness of mind, with an uncontrollable and intense desire for pursuits and discoveries of an uncommon nature. If ill-dignified, then- the native is weak, sickly, and short-lived, treacherous, and given to gross imposture, unfortunate in his undertakings, capricious in his tastes, and very eccentric in his conduct. No planet, save Saturn, is so actively and powerfully malevolent as this. His effects are truly malefic. They are, however of a totally unexpected, strange and unaccountable character. He rules over places dedicated to unlawful arts, laboratories, etc. . The regions under his immediate governance are Lapland, Finland, and the Poles. Professions : necro- mancers and Goetic magicians ; cities : Upsala and Mexico. The name of his angel has not been found out, but he is known to be very hostile to the female sex, and when his aspects interfere in the period of marriage, the result is anything but happiness.
Saturn is by nature cold and dry ; is a melancholy, earthy, masculine, solitary, diurnal, malevolent planet, and the great infortune. When he is lord of the ascendant, the native is of a middle stature, the complexion dark and swarthy, or pale ; small black eyes, broad shoulders, black hair, and ill-shaped about the lower extremities. When well dignified, the native is grave and wise, studious and severe, of an active and penetrating mind, reserved and patient, constant in attachment, but implacable in - resentment, upright and inflexible ; but if the planet be ill-dignified at the time of birth, then the native will be sluggish, covetous, and distrustful ; false, stubborn, malicious, and ever discontented. This planet is said to be well dignified in the horoscope of the Duke of Wellington, and to have been ill-dignified, but singularly posited in that of Louis XL of France. The diseases he signifies are quartan agues, and such as proceed from cold and melan- choly ; all impediments in the sight, ear, and teeth ; rheumatism, consumption, disorders affecting the memory, the spleen, and the bones. Saturn, in general, signifies husbandmen, day-labourers, monks, Jesuits, sectarians, sextons, and such as have to do with the dead ; gardeners, dyers of black, and thirty-three other professions, which Lilly enumerates. He mentions also forty-eight plants,
including all anodynes and narcotic poisons, which are under the rule of this planet. Among animals, the cat, the' ass, hare, mole, mouse, wolf, bear, and crocodile ; all venomous creatures. Among fishes, the eel, tortoise and shell-fish ; among the birds, the bat, and the owl ; among metals and minerals, lead, the loadstone, and all dross of metals ; over the sapphire, lapis lazuli, and all stones that are not polishable, and of a leaden or ashy colour.
" He causetli the air to be dark and cloudy, cold and hurtful, with thick and dense vapours. He delighteth in the eastern quarter, causing eastern winds ; and in gather- ing any plant belonging to him the ancients did observe to turn their faces to the east in his hour. Those under him do rarely live beyond fifty-seven years ; and if he be well placed, seldom less than thirty. But his nature is cold and dry, and these qualities are destructive to man. Black is the colour which he ruleth. Of countries under his influence are Bavaria, Saxony, and Styria ; Ravenna, Constance and Ingoldstadt among cities. His friends are Jupiter, Mars and Mercury ; his enemies, the Sun and Venus. We call Saturday his day, for then he begins to rule at sunrise, and rules the first hour and the eighth of that day. His angel is Cassel."
The next planet is Jupiter. He is a diurnal, masculine planet, temperately hot and moist, airy, and sanguine ; the greater fortune and lord of the airy triplicity. The native, if the planet be well dignified, will be of an erect carriage and tall stature ; a handsome ruddy complexion, high forehead, soft, thick brown hair ; a handsome shape and commanding aspect ; his voice will be strong, clear and manly, and his speech grave and sober. If the planet be ill dignified, still the native will be what is called a good- looking person, though of smaller stature, and less noble aspect. In the former case, the understanding and char- acter will be of the highest possible description ; and in the latter case, though careless and improvident, immoral and irreligious, he will never entirely lose the good opinion of his friends. Yet he will be, as Sancho Panza expresses it : " Haughty to the humble, and humble to the haughty." The diseases it rules are apoplexy and inflammation of the lungs ; disorders affecting the left ear, cramps, and pal- pitations of the heart. Plants : the oak, spice, apples, and one hundred and seventy-two others ; gems : topaz, amethyst, hyacinth and bezoar ; minerals : tin, pewter and firestone ; animals : the ox, horse, elephant, stag, and all domestic animals ; weather : pleasant, healthful, and serene west-north and north-west winds ; birds : the eagle, peacock, pheasant, etc. Of fishes, he rules the whale and the dolphin ; of colours : blue, when well posited ; of professions : the clergy, the higher order of law students, and those who deal in woollen goods ; when weak, the dependents on the above, with quacks, common cheats, and drunkards. Places : all churches, palaces, courts, and places of pomp and solemnity. He rules the lungs and blood, and is friendly with all the planets, save Mars. Countries : Spain, Hungary and Babylon ; his angel is Zadkiel.
The next planet is Mars ; a masculine, nocturnal, hot, and dry planet ; of the fiery triplicity ; the author of strife, and the lesser infortune. The native is short, but strongly made, having large bones, ruddy complexion, red or sandy hair and eyebrows, quick, sharp eyes, round, bold face, and fearless aspect. If well dignified, courageous and invincible, unsusceptible of fear, careless of life, reso- lute and unsubmissive. If ill dignified, a trumpeter of his own fame, without decency or honesty ; fond of quarrels, prone to fightings, and given up to every species of fraud, -violence and oppression. Nero was an example of this planet's influence, and the gallows is said to terminate most generally the career of those born in low life under
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its government. This plant rules the head, face, gall, left ear, and the smell. Disease : plague, fevers, and all complaints arising from excessive heat ; all wounds by iron or steel, injuries by poison, and all evil effects from intemperate anger. Herbs and plants : mustard, radish, with all pungent and thorny plants ; gems . the bloodstone, jasper, ruby and garnet ; of minerals . iron, arsenic, antimony, sulphur and vermilion ; animals . the mastiff wolf, tiger and all savage beasts ; birds . the hawk, kite, raven, vulture, and generally birds of prey ; weather : thunder and lightning, fiery meteors, and all strange pheno- mena ; kingdoms : Lombardy and Bavaria ; cities : Jerusalem and Rome. He signifies soldiers, surgeons, barbers and butchers. Places : smiths' shops, slaughter- houses, fields of battle, and brick-kilns. His friends are all the planets, save the Moon and Jupiter. His colour is red, and his angel is Samael.
We now come to the Sun, a masculine., hot. and dry planet, of favourable effects. The native is very like one born under Jupiter, but the hair is lighter, the complexion redder, the body fatter, and the eyes larger. When well dignified, the solar man is affable, courteous, splendid and sumptuous, proud, liberal, humane, and ambitious. When ill dignified, the native is arrogant, mean, loquacious, and sycophantic ; much resembling the native under Jupiter, ill dignified, but still worse. Diseases : all those of the heart, mouth and throat ; epilepsy, scrofula, tym- panitif, and brain -fevers. Herbs and plants: laurel, vervain, St. John's wort, orange, hyacinth, and some hundreds beside ; gems : carbuncle, the diamond, the a?tites ; minerals : gold ; animals : the lion, the boar, the horse ; birds : the lark, the swan, the nightingale, and all singing birds ; fish : the star-fish and all shell-fish ; coun- tries : Italy, Bohemia, Chaldaea and Sicily ; of cities : Rome ; colour yellow ; weather, that -which is most seasonable ; professions : kings, lords and all dignified persons, braziers, goldsmiths, and persons employed in mints ; places : kings' courts, palaces, theatres, halls, and places of state. His friends are all the planets, save Saturn ; and his angel is Michael.
The influence of the asteroids, Juno, Pallas, Ceres, and Vesta, have never been calculated, and they are said by modern astrologers to act beneficially, but feebly.
The Moon is a far more important planet ; feminine, nocturnal, cold, moist, and phlegmatic. Her influence in itself is neither fortunate nor unfortunate. She is benevolent or otherwise, according to the aspects of other planets towards her ; and under these circumstances she becomes more powerful than any of them. The native is short and stout, with fair, pale complexion, round face, grey eyes, short arms, thick hands and feet, very hairy, but with light hair ; phlegmatic. If the Moon be affected by the Sun at the time of birth, the native will have a blemish on or near the eye. When the Moon is well dignified the native is of soft, engaging manners, imagina- tive, and a lover of the arts, but wandering, careless, timorous, and unstable, loving peace, and averse from activity. When ill dignified, then the native will be of an ill shape, indolent, worthless and disorderly. Diseases : palsy, epilepsy, scrofula and lunacy, together with all diseases of the eyes ; herbs : lily, poppies, mushrooms, willow, and about two hundred others ; minerals and gems ; pearls, selenite, silver and soft stones ; colour, white ; animals : the dog, the cat, the otter, the mouse, and all amphibious creatures ; birds : the goose, duck, bat and waterfowl in general ; fish : the eel, the crab, and the lobster ; weather : she increases the effect of other planets ; countries : Denmark, Holland, Flanders, and North America ; cities : Amsterdam, Venice, Bergen-op-Zoon, and Lubeck ; places : fountains, baths, the sea, and in
watery places ; professions : queens and dignified women midwives, nurses, all who have to do with water, sailors. Her angel is Gabriel.
Venus is a feminine planet, temperately cold and moist, the author of mirth and sport. The native is handsome, well-formed, but not tall ; clear complexion, bright hazel or black eyes, dark brown or chestnut hair, thick, soft, and shining ; the voice soft and sweet, and the aspect very prepossessing. If well dignified, the native will be cheerful, friendly, musical, and fond of elegant accomplishments ; prone to love, but frequently jealous. If ill dignified, the native is less handsome in person and in mind, altogether vicious, given up to every licentiousness ; dishonest and atheistical. Herbs and plants : the fig-tree, myrrh, myrtle, pomegranate, and about two hundred and twenty more ; animals : the goat, panther, hart, etc. ; birds : the sparrow, the dove, the thrush, and the wren ; gems : the emerald, chrysolite, beryl, chrysoprasus ; countries : Spain, India and Persia ; cities : Florence, Paris and Vienna ; mineral : copper ; colour : green ; occupations : all such as minister to pomp and pleasure ; weather : warm, and accompanied with showers. Her angel is Hanael.
Mercury is the last of the planets which we nave to consider. He is masculine, melancholy, cold, and dry. The native is tall, straight, and thin, with a narrow face and high forehead, long straight nose, eyes black or grey, thin lips and chin, scanty beard, with brown hnir ; the arms, hands and fingers, long and slender ; this last is said to be a peculiar mark of a nativity under Mercury. If the planet be oriental at the time of birth, the native will be very likely to be of a stronger constitution, and with sandy hair. If occidental, sallow, lank, slender, and of a. dry habit. When well dignified, he will be of an acute and penetrating mind, of a powerful imagination, and a retentive- memory ; eloquent, fond of learning, and successful in scientific investigation. If engaged in mercantile pursuits, enterprising and skilful. If ill dignified, then the native- is a mean, unprincipled character, pretending to knowledge, but an imposter and a slanderer, boastful, malicious, and. addicted to theft. Diseases : all that affect the brain, head, and intellectual faculties ; herbs and plants: the walnut, the valerian, the trefoil, and about one hundred more ; animals : the dog, the ape, the weasel, and the fox ; weather : rain, hailstones, thunder and lightning, parti- cularly in the north ; occupations : all literate and learned professions ; when ill dignified, all pretenders, quacks, and mountebanks. Places : schools, colleges, markets, warehouses, exchanges, all places of commerce and learning ; metal, quicksilver ; gems : cornelian, sardonyx, opal, onyx, and chalcedony ; his colour is purple. His friends are- Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn ; his enemies Mars, the Sun, and the Moon. His angel is Raphael.
The Aspects of the Planets are five, thus distinguished: i. Conjunction, when two planets are in the same degree and minute of a sign, which may be of good or evil- import, according to the nature of the planets, and their relation to each other as friendly or the contrary. 2. Sectile, when two planets are 6oc distant from each other, it is called the aspect of imperfect love or friendship, and is generally a favourable omen. 3. Quartile, when two planets are 90° distant from each other, making the aspect of imperfect hatred, and inclining to enmity and misfortune. 4. Trine, when the distance is 120°, promis- ing the most perfect unanimity and peace. 5. Opposition, when two planets are 180° apart, or exactly opposite each other, which is considered an aspect of perfect hatred, and implies every kind of misfortune.
The Planets are said to be in their joys when situated in the houses where they are most strong and powerful, thus ~
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Saturn in Aquarius, Jupiter in Sagittarius, Mars in Scorpio, the Sun in Leo, Venus in Taurus, Mercury in Virgo, and the Moon in Cancer. Cogent reasons are given why the planets should joy in these houses rather than others.
The Dragon s Head and Dragon's Tail are the points, called nodes, in which the ecliptic is intersected by the orbits of the planets, particularly by that of the mopn. These points are, of course, shifting. The Dragon's Head is the point where the moon or other planet commences its northward latitude ; it is considered masculine and bene- volent in its influence. The Dragon's Tail is the point where the planets' southward progress begins ; it is femi- nine and malevolent.
. The Part of Fortune is the distance of the moon's place from the sun, added to the degrees of the ascendent.
The Twelve Planetary Houses are determined by drawing certain great circles through the intersection of the horizon and meridian, by which the whole globe or sphere is ap- portioned into twelve equal parts. In practice these lines are projected by a very simple method on a plane. The space in the centre of the figure thus described may be supposed to represent the situation of the earth, and is generally used to write down the exact time when the figure was erected, and for whose nativity, or for what question. Each division or house rules certain events in this order, reckoned from the east : i, life or person ; 2, riches ; 3, brethren or kindred ; 4, parents ; 5, children ; 6, servants and sickness ; 7, marriage ; 8, death ; 9, religion; 10, magistracy; n, friends; 12, enemies. These categories are made to comprehend all that can possibly befall any individual, and the prognostication is drawn from the configuration of the planets in one or more of these " houses."
The Horoscope denotes the configuration of the planets in the twelve houses ascertained for the moment of nativity, or the hour of the question. The Ascendent (a term sometimes used instead of horoscope) is the planet rising in the east or first house, which marks the general character of the child then born. Hyleg is another term for the lord of life ; Anareta for the destroyer of life, which are considered the chief places in a horoscope.
The Characters used in astrology, to denote the twelve signs, the planets, etc., are as follows :
Signs of the Zodiac.
T b
J7ries
the ram.
7aurus
the ball.
Q W
Leo the lion.
the virgin.
S h>
Gemini
the twins.
-TV
L/6ra
thedalance.
^9
Cancer
the crab..
Jcorp/o the scorpion.
X
Jagiffar/us Capricornus Aquarius faces
the archer. the goat. t/iewatercarrier the fishes.
Planetary Signs.
h % k D
Saturn Jup/ter Mars Moon
9
Venus Mercury 5(//7 jec/.//e
U A (P &
Quarfiie Trine Oppasrf/on Conjunction
These characters represent natural object?, but they have also a hieroglyphic or esoteric meaning that has been lost. The figure of Aries represents the head and horns of a ram ; that of Taurus, the head and horns of a bull ; that of Leo, the head and mane of a lion ; that of Gemini, two persons standing together, and so of the rest. The- physical or astronomical reasons for the adoption of these figures have been explained with great learning by the Abbe Pluche, in his Histoire du Ciel, and Dupuis, in his Abrege de I'Origine de tous les Cultes, has endeavoured to establish the principles of an astro-mythology, by tracing the progress of the moon through the twelve signs, in a series of adventures, which he compares with the wander- ings of Isis. This kind of reasoning is suggestive, cer- tainly, but it only establishes analogies, and proves nothing.
Nativities. — The cases in which astrological predictions were chiefly sought, were in Nativities ; that is. in ascer- taining the fate and fortunes of any individual from the positions of the stars at the time of his birth ; and in questions called horary, which comprehended almost every matter which might be the subject of astrological inquiry. The event of sickness, the success of any undertaking, the reception of any suit, were all objects of horary questions. A person was said to be born under that planet which ruled the hour of his birth. Thus two hours every day are under the control of Saturn. The first hour after sunrise on Saturday is one of them. A person therefore born on Saturday in the first hour after sunrise, has Saturn for the lord of his ascendant ; those born in the next hour, Jupiter ; and so on in order. Venus rules the first hour on Friday ; Mercury on Wednesday Jupiter on Thursday, the sun and moon on Sunday and Monday, and Mars on Tuesday. The next thing is to make a figure divided into- twelve portions, which are called houses, as directed above. The twelve houses are equal to the twelve signs, and the planets, being always in the zodiac, will therefore all fall within these twelve divisions or houses. The line, which separates any house from the preceding, is called the cusp of the house. The first house is called the ascendant, and the east angle ; the fourth the imum cceli, or the north angle ; the seventh, the west angle ; and the tenth, the medium coeli, or the south angle. Having drawn this figure, tables and directions are given for the placing of the signs, and as one house is equal to one sign when one is given, the rest are given also. When the signs and
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planets are all placed in the houses, the next thing is to augur, from their relative position, what influence they will have on the life and fortunes of the native.
The House of Life implies all that affects, promotes, or endangers life. Saturn or Mars in this house denotes a short or unfortunate life, while Jupiter and Venus have, when free from evil aspects, an exactly contrary effect. The sign ascending will considerably modify the person and character of the native, so that to form an astrological judgment of this it will be necessary to combine the indi- cations of the sign and the planet. In what are called horary questions, this house relates to all questions of life, health, and appearance, such as stature, complexion, shape, accidents and sickness. It shows the events of journeys and voyages, with respect to the life and health of those engaged in them. When the question is of a political nature, it signifies the people in general, and being of the same nature as Aries, all that is said of that sign may be transferred to this house. The second house, which is of the same nature as the sign Taurus, is called the house of riches. It signifies the advancement in the world with respect to opulence of the querent ; and here the operations of the planets are, as in other cases, accord- ing to their own nature, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and the Sun being fortunate, if well aspected, only denoting different causes of wealth ; Saturn, Mars, the Moon, and Uranus, unfortunate. In horary questions, it signifies the money of the querent, or the success in a pecuniary point of view of any expedition of undertaking. It concerns loans, law- suits, and everything by which riches may be gained or lost. In political questions it signifies the treasury, public loans, taxes, and subsidies ; the younger branches of the blood-royal, and the death of national enemies. The third house is the house of kindred, particularly of brothers, and was probably so designated on account of the third sign Gemini, of which nature it is said to be. It denotes kindred, and the planets in this house are full of signifi- cation. Saturn signifies coldness and distrust ; Mars, sudden, violent and hasty quarrels ; Herschel, all un- accountable estrangements ; Jupiter denotes steady friendships, Venus great love between brothers and sisters, and good fortune by means of the latter ; the Sun, warm attachment ; the Moon, indifference. In horary questions, this house signifies the health, fortune and happiness of the querent's parents, his own patrimony and inheritance, and the ultimate consequences, either good or bad, of any undertaking in which he may be engaged. In political cases it denotes the landed interest of a nation ; the ancient and chartered rights of all classes, which have been handed down to them from their ancestors ; and all public advo- cates and defenders of these interests and rights.
The fifth house, which has the same government, and partakes of the same character as Leo, is called the House of Children. In nativities, therefore, it denotes the children of the native, and their success and also his own success by means of them. It also has some reference to women. The health and welfare of children, whether present or absent, are determinable by the planets in this house. It also denotes all questions relative to amusement, simply, as it would seem, on account of the fondness of youth for such pursuits. In political questions consequently, we find this house taken to signify the rising generation, theatres, exhibitions, public festivals, and all national amusements ; all increase in the population ; music and musical taste, sculpture, painting, and the advancement of the fine arts in general. The sixth house is that of servants, but it also denotes sickness and private enemies. It is usually considered an evil house, and but few con- figurations of the planets which can take place in it are fortunate. It is of the nature, and shares the government
of Virgo. When the lord of the ascendant is placed in this house, it denotes a low station, and if in addition to this he be ill dignified, the native will not rise above menial employments. In horary astrology it points out servants and cattle, dependents, and small shopkeepers ; uncles and aunts by the father's side ; tenants, stewards, shepherds and farmers. If, however, the question be political, then this house indicates the under-servants of the government ; the common seamen in the navy, private soldiers in the army, and the general health of the nation. This last refers chiefly to contagious and epidemic disorders.
The seventh house, which is of the same nature as Libra, and has the same government, is the House of Marriage. If Saturn be found here, he denotes unhappiness from constitutional causes ; Mars from difference of temper ; Herschel, as usual, from some strange and unaccountable dislike. The other planets are mostly causers of good, unless exception be made in the case of the Moon. In horary questions, this house denotes love, speculations in business, partners in trade, lawsuits, and' litigation ; it is the House of Thieves, and sets forth thier conduct and character. In queries of a political nature, it signifies the event of any war, and the consequences of a treaty ; it personates the victorious nation, army, or navy, and in- dicates outlaws and fugitives, with the places in which they have taken their retreat.
The eighth house is the House of Death. It denotes wills, legacies, and all property depending upon the death of others ; the power, means, and influence of adversaries ; the opposing parties in lawsuits. It is of the nature of Scorpio, and has the same government. If Mars be un- fortunately placed in this house, it portends a violent death to the native. Saturn is often productive of suicide, and Herschel of the mysterious disappearance of the un- happy individual, whose horoscope is so marked. Jupiter, on the contrary, and Venus, point out a late and quiet departure. In horary questions its significance has been already noticed, but it also denotes the portion or dowry of women, and seconds in duels. In political questions it has a signification of a very different character, viz., the privy council of a king or queen, their friends, and secrets of state. It does, however, bear some mark of its appro- priation to death, by being made to denote the rate of mortality among the people. The ninth house is that of religion, science, and learning. It has the same govern- ment and nature as Sagittarius. Jupiter is the most fortunate planet in it, and if joined with Mercury, then the native is promised a character at once learned, estimable, and truly religious. The Sun and Venus are likewise good significators here, but the Moon denotes a changeable mind, and frequent alterations in religious principles. Mars is the worst planet in this house, and portends an indifference, or even an active hostility to religion. In horary questions the ninth house is appropriated to the church and the clergy ; all ecclesiastical matters, dissent, heresy, schism, dreams, visions, and religious delusions. It also denotes voyages and travels to distant lands, and in questions of a political nature, the religion of the nation, and all the higher and more solemn courts of justice, such as Chancery, etc.
The tenth house is one of the most important of all. It is the House of Honour, Rank, and Dignity ; of the nature and rule of Capricorn. In this house the planets are more powerful than in any other, save only the House of Life. They point out the employment, success, pre- ferment, and authority of the native. Saturn is here the worst planet, but the Moon and Herschel are also mis- chievous, the latter by preventing the native from attaining that rank to which his services, learning, or merit entitle him, and doing this by a series of inexplicable disappoint- ments. Jupiter and the Sun signify advancement by the
Old astrological chart of the planets
Astrological Idea of Marriage ASTROLOGICAL ALLEGORIES
face p. 48
Astrology
49
Atlantis
favour oi distinguished men, and Venus, of distinguished ■women. In horary questions, the tenth house signifies the mother of the querist ; and politically the sovereign. This is a house in which Mars is not unfortunate, if well placed ; denoting -war-like achievements and consequent honours.
The eleventh house is the House of Friends : it is of the nature of Aquarius, and has the same rule. It denotes, of course, friends, well-wishers, favourites, and flatterers, but is said to be a house in which evil planets are increased in strength, and good planets diminished. The Sun is the best planet in it, and Mars the worst. In horary questions it has the same signification as in a nativity, and also denotes the expectations and wishes of the querist. It is said to be much influenced by the sign which is in it, and to signify legacies, if the sign be one of the earthy triplicity, and honour with princes, if it be one of the fiery triplicity. In political questions, the eleventh house signifies the allies of the public; with whom no particular treaty is at the same time binding ; and also the general council of the nation, and newly acquired rights.
Lastly, the twelfth house, which, of course, partakes the rule and character of Pisces, is the House of Enemies, and denotes sorrow, sickness, care, anxiety, and all kinds of suffering. Yet evil planets are weaker, according to some writers, and good planets stronger than in certain other houses. Very few configurations in this house are esteemed for the native, but its evil effects are, of course, greatly modified by the planetary influences. In horary questions it signifies imprisonment, treason, sedition, assassination, and suicide ; and in questions which are of a political character, it points out deceitful treaties, un- successful negotiations, treachery in the offices of state, captivity to princes, and general ill furtune. The criminal code, and the punishment of culprits, dungeons, and cir- cumstances connected with prison discipline are also denoted by this house. Saturn is the worst, and Venus the best planet to be present in it.
Having taken notice of the signs, the planets, and the houses, it is next necessary for the astrologer to note also the aspects of the planets one towards another, which aspects decide whether the planet is of good or evil signifi- cation. These aspects are as follows — omitting the less important :
1. The Trine, marked >v when two planets are four
signs, or 1 200 apart. * ■
2. The Sectile, marked SL. when two planets are two
signs, or 6o° apart.
3. The Quintile, (5-tile) when two planets are . . 720
apart. These are all fortunate aspects, and are here placed according to their importance.
4. The Conjunction, s~4 when two stars or planets are
of the same sign. \J This is a fortunate aspect with the fortunate, and evil with evil planets.
5. The Opposition, f~>yK^J when two planets are six signs
or 1800 apart. V_/
6. The Quartile, r"~ I when two planets are three signs
or 90° apart. I-J
7. The Semi-quartile 4-f- 1 when the two planets are
450 apart. ' "— '
These three last aspects are evil, and evil in the order in which they are here placed.
Horary questions are subjects of astrological calculations. They are so called, because the scheme of the heavens is
erected for the hour in which the question is put. Thus, let a person be sick, and the question be of his recovery, the Houses will now signify as follows, says Blagrave : — " 1. The patient's person
2. His estate
3. His kindred
4. His father or his grave
5. His children
6. His sickness and servants
7. His wife and his physician
8. His death
9. His religion
10. His mother and his physic n. His friends 12. His enemies."
And according to the position of the planets the above particulars are to be judged of. If the question be of stolen goods, a distribution of the houses is again made according to similar rules. And here the colour denoted by the signs is pertinent ; for let Mercury signify the thief, then the sign in which that planet is found will denote the personal appearance and complexion of the thief. If the question be one concerning marriage, then it points out that of the future bride or bridegroom ; and so on.
For full information on astrology, reference is to be made to the works of Ptolemy, Firmicius Maternus, Cen- sorinus, Alchabitius, Junctinus, Marcolini da Forli, Fab- ricius, Vossius, Cardan, Baptista Porta, Campanella, Chavigny, Guynaus, Kottero, Camerarius, Sir G. Wharton, William Lilly, Sir C. Haydon, Henry Coley, and Ebenezer Sibley. Later compendiums, however, have appeared, and we ought not to omit the Diitionnaire Infernal, of Collin de Plancy. and the works of Sepharial and Alan Leo.
For an interesting and most practical course of rhymed mnemonic lessons on astrology see The Palace of the King. by Isabella M. Pagan, the well-known Theosophist and writer on astrological subjects. Athanor : This occult hill is surrounded by mist excepting the southern side, which is clear. It has a well, which is four paces in breadth, from which an azure vapour ascends, which is drawn up by the warm sun. The bottom of the well is covered with red arsenic. Near it is a basin filled with fire from which rises a livid flame odourless and smoke- less, and never higher or lower than the edge of the basin. Also there are two black stone reservoirs, in one of which the wind is kept, and in the other the rain. In extreme drought the rain-cistern is opened and clouds escape, which water the whole country. The term is also employed to denote moral and philosophical alchemy. Atlantis : a supposed sunken continent, which, according to some accounts, occupied most of the area of the present Atlantic Ocean. It is dealt with here because of late years several accounts purporting to come from certain spirit " controls" have been published which give a more or less detailed description of the history, life and manners of its inhabitants, and it is of interest to Theosophists. The ques- tion regarding the existence of such a continent is a very vexed one indeed. It appears to have originated at an early date, for Plato in his Timesus states that the Atlantians overran Europe and were only repulsed by the Greeks. It is stated that the Hindu priesthood believed, and still be- lieve that it once existed ; and there are shadowy legends among the American native races which would seem to assist these beliefs. At the same time definite proof is conspicuous by its absence. Brasseur de Bourbourg held that Atlantis was an extension of America which stretched from Central America and Mexico, far into the Atlantic, the Canaries, Madeiras and Azores being the only remnants which were not submerged ; and many similar fantastic theories have been advanced. Donnelly undertook to
Atlantis
50
Aura
prove the existence of such a continent by modern scien- tific methods, and located the Atlantis of Plato as an island opposite the entrance to the Mediterranean — a remnant of the lost continent. He thought that Atlantis was the region where men first arose from barbarism to civilisation, and that all the civilised peoples of Europe and America derived their culture thence : that it was indeed the antediluvian world of the Garden of Eden ; that the Atlantians founded a colony in Egypt ; and that the Phoenician alphabet was the Atlantian alphabet : that not only the Aryan but the Semitic people, and perhaps the " Turanian " races, emerged therefrom : that it perished in a terrible revolution of nature in which the whole island sank into the ocean with nearly all its inhabitants ; and that only a few persons escaped to tell the story of the catastrophe, which has survived to our time in the flood and deluge legend? of the Old and New worlds. Even some serious scientists have not disdained to examine the question, and it is claimed that ocean de- posits show remains of what must have been at one time a land above the ocean. The theory that the Atlantians founded the civilisations of Central America and Mexico has been fully proven to be absurd, as that civilisation is distinctly of an aboriginal nature, and of comparatively late origin. (See Spence. Myths of Mexico and Peru.) The late Dr. Augustus le Plongeon and his wife spent many years in trying to prove that a certain Queen Moo of Yu- catan, founded a colony in Egypt ; but as they professed to be able to read hieroglyphs that no one else could de- cipher, and many of which were not hieroglyphs at all but ornamental designs, and as they placed side by side and compared with the Egyptian alphabet a " Mayan " alpha- bet, which certainly never originated anywhere but in their own ingenuity, we cannot have much faith in their con- clusions. We do not learn from Dr. le Plongeon' s works by what course of reasoning he came to discover that the name of his heroine was the rather uneuphonious one of Moo, but probably he arrived at it by the same process as that by which he discovered the " Mayan " alphabet. He further assumes that his story is taken up where he ends it by the Manuscript Troano, which is, however, chiefly calendric and not historical. Some years ago a French scientist left a large sum of money for research in con- nection with the sunken continent of Atlantis, and this has been fully taken advantage of by a certain author, who is pursuing his investigations in a practical manner.
The claims of certain spiritualists and occultists to restore the history of A llanlis are about as successful as these of the pseudo-scientists who have approached the question. They claim to have reconstructed almost the entire history of the island-continent by means of messages from spirit controls, which acquaint us minutely with the polity, life, religion and magical system of the Atlantians ; but in the face of scientific knowledge and probability these accounts fail to convince, and are obviously of the nature of im- aginative fiction. There is also a certain body of occult tradition concerning Atlantis which may either have orig- inated from oriental sources, or else have come into being in the imaginations of later occultists ; and this is to some extent crystallised in the works in question. It would be rash to say that such a continent as Atlantis never existed ; but it would be equally foolish to say so dogmatically without a backing of much greater proof than we at present possess on the subject.
Atmadhyana : In the Rajah Yoga philosophy of S'rimat Sankaracharya, Atmadhyana is one of the stages necessary to acquire the knowledge of the unity of the soul with Brahman. It is the fourteenth stage and is the condition of highest joy arising from the belief, " I am Brahman."
Atman : translated " Soul," but better rendered " Self," and meaning in the Hindu religion the union of the soul
with God. It is believed that the soul is neither body nor mind, nor even thought, but that these are merely conditions by which the soul is clouded so that it loses its sense of oneness with God. In the Upanishads it is said " The Self, smaller than small, greater than great, is hidden in the heart of the creature ;" and " In the beginning there was Sell."
Atmic or Nirvanic Plane : {See Spiritual World).
Attea Society : (See Italy).
Attic Mysteries : (See Mysteries).
Attwood, Mrs. : The author of a work entitled, A Sug- gestive Inquiry with the Hermetic Mystery, published anony- mously at London, in 1850. Owing to the circumstance that it was supposed to have revealed certain alchemical secrets, it was shortly afterwards withrdawn from circulation.
A tziluth : One of the three.worlds of the Kabala ; the supreme circle ; the perfect revelation. According to Eliphas Levi, it is represented in the Apocalypse by the head of the mighty angel with the face of a sun.
August Order of Light : An Oriental order introduced into this country in 1882 by Mr. Maurice Vidal Portman. Its object is the development of practical occultism, and it is continued at Bradford, Yorkshire, as "' The Oriental Order of Light." It has a ritual of three degrees. Novice. Aspirans, Viator. It adopted Kabalistic forms, and is governed by a Grand Master of the Sacred Crown or Kether of the Kabala.
August Spirits, the Shelf of the : In the country of Japan, every house has a room set apart, called the spirit chamber, in which there is a shelf or shrine, with tablets bearing the names of the deceased members of the family, with the sole addition of the word Mitama (spirit). This is a species of ancestor worship, and is known as " home " worship.
Ankh : The Egyptian symbol of life, perhaps the life which remains to one after death. It is conjectured that it symbolises the union of the male and female principles, the origins of life, and that like the American cross, it typifies the four winds, the rain-bringers and fertilizers. It has been found manufactured in every description of material, and is sometimes encountered in combination with the dad or tat symbol (q.v.) It is usually carried in the right hand by divinities.
Aura : An emanation said to surround human beings, chiefly encircling the head, and supposed to proceed from the nervous system. It is described as a cloud of light suf- fused with various colours. This is seen clairvoyantly, being imperceptible to the physical sight. ,
Some authorities trace the existence of the aura in such scriptural instances as the bright light shining about Moses, which the children of Israel were unable to look upon, when he descended from the mountain bearing the stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments ; in the exceed- ingly brilliant light which shone round about St. Paul's vision at the time of his conversion ; and in the trans- figuration of Jesus Christ, when his raiment shone so brightly that no fuller on earth could whiten it. Many of the mediaeval saints were said to be surrounded with a cloud of light. Of St. John of the Cross it is told that when at the altar or kneeling in prayer, a certain brightness darted from his face ; St. Philip Neri was constantly seen enveloped in light ; St. Charles Borromeo was similarly illuminated. This is said to be due to the fact that when a person is engaged in lofty thought and spiritual aspiration, the auric colours become for the time being, more luminous and translucent, therefore more easily discernible. In Christian art, round the heads of saints and the sacred characters, is to be found portrayed the halo or nimbus which is supposed to represent the aura ; sometimes the
Aura
51
Auspices
luminous cloud is shown around the whole of the body as well as the head, when it is called aureola. It is also thought that the colours of the body and clothing in mediaeval paintings and stained glass are intended to represent the auric colours of the person portrayed. The crowns and distinctive head-dresses worn by the kings and priests of antiquity, are said to be symbolic of the aura. In many of the sacred books of the East, representations of the great teachers and holy men are given with the light extending round the whole of the body. Instances of this may be found in the temple caves of India and Ceylon, in the Japanese Buddhistic books, also in Egypt, Greece, Mexico and Peru. In occult literature the tradition of the aura is an old one, Paracelsus, in the 16th century, making mention of it in the following terms : " The vital force is not enclosed in man, but radiates round him like a luminous sphere, and it may be made to act at a distance. In these semi-natural rays the imagination of man may produce healthy or morbid effects. It may poison the essence of life and cause diseases or it may purify it after it has been made impure, and restore the health." Again : " Our thoughts are simply magnetic emanations, which, in escaping from our brains, penetrate into kindred heads and carry thither, with a reflection of our life, the mirage of our secrets." A modern theosophical description is as follows : " The aura is a highly complicated and entangled manifestation, consisting ot many influences operating within the same area. Some of the elements composing the aura are projected from the body, others from the astral principles, and others again from the more spiritual principles connected with the " Higher Self," or permanent Ego ; and the various auras are not lying one around the other, but are all blended together and occupy the same place. Guided by occult training the clairvoyant faculty may make a complete analysis of the various elements in the aura, and can estimate the delicate tints of which it is composed — though all blended together — as if each were seen separately."
Classified more exactly, the divisions of the aura are stated to be : i, the health aura ; 2, the vital aura ; 3, the " Karmic " aura, that of the animal soul in man; 4, the aura of character ; 5, the aura of the spiritual nature.
The " health aura " is thus described : '' It is almost colourless, but becomes perceptible by reason of possessing a curious system of radial striation, that is to say, it is composed of an enormous number of straight lines, radia- ting evenly in all directions from the body." The second, or "-vital" aura, is said to be to a certain extent under the control of the will, when it circulates within the " linga charira " or astral body, of a " delicate rosy tint, which it loses, becoming bluish as it radiates outward." The third aura is " the field of manifestation, or the mirror in which every feeling, every desire is reflected." Of this aura the colours constantly change, as seen by the clairvoyant vision. " An outburst of anger will charge the whole aura with deep red flashes on a dark ground, while sudden terror will, in a moment, change everything to a ghastly grey." The fourth aura is that of the permanent character, and is said to contain the record of the past earth -life of the personality. The fifth aura is not often seen even by clairvoyants, but it is described by those who have seen it, only in the cases where the spiritual nature is the most powerful factor, as " outshining all the rest of the auras with startling brilliancy." The auric colours, it is declared, cannot be adequately described in terms of the ordinary colours discernible to the physical vision, being very much brighter, and of more varied hues and shades. The sym- bolic meaning of these is roughly of the following order : Rose, pure affection ; brilliant red, anger and force ; dirty red, passion and sensuality ; yellow, of the purest lemon
colour, the highest type of intellectual activity ; orange, intellect used for selfish ends, pride and ambition ; brown, avarice. Green is a colour of varied significance ; its root meaning is the placing of one's self in the position of another. In its lower aspects it represents dece;t and jealousy ; higher up in the emotional gamut, it signifies adaptability, and at its very highest, when it tells on the colour of foliage, sympathy, the very essence of thinking for other people. In some shades green stands for the lower intellectual and critical faculties, merging into yellow. Blue indicates religious feeling and devotion, its various shades being said to correspond to different degrees of devotion, rising from fetishism to the loftiest religious idealism. Purple represents psychic faculty, spirituality, regality, spiritual power arising from knowledge, and occult pre-eminence.
Auspices, or College of Diviners : (See Divination).
Austatikco-Pauligaur : A class of Persian evil spirits. They are eight in number,' and keep the eight sides of the world. Their names are as follows : — (1) Indiren, the king of these genii ; (■:) Augne-Baugauven, the god of fire ; (3) Eemen king of death and hell ; (4) Nerudee, earth in the figure of a giant ; (5) Vaivoo, god of the air and winds ; (6) Varoonon, god of clouds and rain ; (7) Gooberen, god of riches ; (8) Essaunien. or Shivven.
Austral Virtue : (See Fludd).
Australia : Native Magic. — From birth to death, the native Australian or blackfellow is surrounded by magical influences. In many tribes the power to perform magic, " sympathetic " or otherwise, is possessed by only a few people ; but among the central tribes it is practised by both men and women — more often, however, by the former, who conserve the knowledge of certain forms of their own. There is also among them a distinct class of medicine-men, whose duty it is to discover whose magic has caused the death of anyone. Among the central tribes, unlike many others, magic is not made a means of profit or emolument. A heavy taboo rests on a great many things that the boy or young man would like to do, and this is for the behoof of the older men of the tribe, who attach to themselves the choicest morsels of food and so forth. Among girls and women the same law applies ; and the latter are sternly forbidden to go near the places where the men perform their magical ceremonies. To terrify them away from such spots, the natives have invented an instrument called a " bull-roarer " — a thin slip of wood swung round at the end of a string, which makes a screaming, whistling noise, which the women believe is the voice of the Great Spirit. The natives preserve long oval pieces of wood, which they call churingas. In these are supposed to remain the spirits of their ancestors, so that in reality they are of a fetish nature. These are kept concealed in the most secret manner. Sympathetic Magic is of course rife amongst such a primitive people. Certain ceremonies are employed to control nature so as to ensure a plentiful supply of food and water, or to injure an enemy. One of the commonest forms of these is the use of the pointed stick or bone, which is used in one form or another by all Australian tribes. The former is a small piece of wood, varying in length from three to eighteen inches, resembling a skewer, and tapering to a point. At the handle end it is topped with a knob of resin, to which is attached a strand of human hair. Magical songs are sung over it, to endow it with occult potency. The man who wishes to use it goes into the bush singly, or with a friend, where he will be free from observation, and planting the stick in the ground, mutters over it what he desires to happen to his enemy. It is then left in the ground for a few days. The evil magic is supposed to pro- ceed from the stick to the man, who often succumbs, unless a medicine- man, chances to discover the implement.
Australia
52
Australia
The Australian savage has a special dread of magic con- nected with places at a distance, and any magical apparatus purchased or obtained from far-away tribes is supposed to possess potency of much greater kind than if it had been made among themselves. Thus certain little stones traded by Northern tribes are supposed to contain a very powerful form of evil magic called mauia. These are wrapped up in many folds of bark and string, According to their traditions this type of magic was first introduced by a Bat- man, who dropped it to earth where it made a great ex- plosion at a certain spot, whence it can still be procured. Sticks procured from a distance, with which the natives chastise their wives, aire sufficient by their very sight to make the women obey their husbands. Much mystery surrounds what are known as " debil-debil " shoes, which consist of a pad of emu feathers, rounded at both ends, in order that no one should be able to trace in which direction the wearer is journeying. These are supposed to be worn by a being called kurdaitcha, to whom deaths are attributed. Like other savages, the Australian native believes that death is always due to evil magic. A man may become a kurdaitcha by submitting to a certain ceremony, in which the little toe of his foot is dislocated. Dressed up and painted grotesquely, he sets out accompanied by a medicine-man and wearing the kurdaitcha shoes, when he desires to slay an enemy. When he spears him, the medicine-man closes up the wound, and the victim returns to consciousness oblivious of the fact that he is full of evil magic ; but in a while he sickens and dies ; and then it is known that he has been attacked by a kurdaitcha. Many long and elab- orate ceremonies are connected with the churinga, and these have been well described by Messrs. Spencer and Gillen, Howitt, Fison, and others.
Spiritualism in Australia has both a public and private representation. The latter is far more general than the former in every country except America, but although demonstrations of spirit power are more commonly known in Australia amongst individuals and families, than on the rostrum, or through the columns of the journals, they are less available for the purposes of historical record. It seems that many Australian colonists had heard of the Spiritualist movement before settling in the country, and on their arrival, pursuing the customary methods of unfold- ment through the spirit circle, a deep interest was awakened long before public attention was called to the subject. In Sydney, Melbourne, Ballarat, Geelong, Bris- bane, and numerous other towns and mining districts, communion with spirits was successfully practised in cir- cles and families, up to about 1867. After that epoch it seems to have become the subject of various journalistic reports of the usual adverse, eulogistic, or non-committal character. At or about that period, a large number of influential persons became interested in the matter, and not a few whose names were a sufficient guarantee of their good faith, began to detail wonderful experiences in the columns of the public journals. The debate and denial, rejoinder and defence, called forth by these narratives, served as propaganda of the movement, and rendered each freshly recorded manifestation, the centre of an ever- widening circle of interest.
In Victoria a gentleman of considerable wealth and learning, writing under the nom de plume of " Schamlyn," entered into a warm controversy with the editor of the Collingwood Advertiser,' in defence of Spiritualism. An- other influential supporter of the Spiritual cause who was an early convert, and for a time became a pillar of strength in its maintenance, was a gentleman connected with the editorial department of the Melbourve Argus, one of the leading journals of Victoria, and an organ well calculated to exert a powerful sway over the minds of its readers.
As the tides of public opinion moved on, doctors, lawyers, merchants, and men of eminence began to joins the ranks. Tidings of phenomena of the most astounding character poured in from distant towns and districts. Members of the press began to share the general infection, and though some would not, and others could not avow their convic- tions, their private prepossessions induced them to open their columns for debate and correspondence on the subject. To add to the stimulus thus imparted, many of the leading colonial journals indulged in tirades of abuse and misrep- resentation, which only served to increase the contagion without in the least diminishing its force. At length the clergy began to arouse themselves and manifest their in- terest by furious abuse. Denunciation provoked retort ; discussion compelled investigation. In Sydney, many con- verts of rank and influence suddenly appeared. The late Hon. John Bowie Wilson, Land Minister, and a champion ' of temperance, became an open convert to Spiritualism, and by his personal influence no less than his public de- fence of the cause made converts unnumbered. Amongst the many others whose names have also been recorded in the ranks of Spiritualism in Sydney may be mentioned Mr. Henry Gale, Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Gale, Mrs. Woolley and Mrs. Greville, besides a number of other ladies ; Mr. Greville, M.P., and several other members of the New South Wales Parliament and Cabinet ; Hon. J. Windeyer, .At- torney-General of the Colon}', subsequently one of the j udges ; Mr. Alfred De Lissa, an eminent barrister ; Mr. Cyril Haviland, a literary man ; Mr. Macdonald ; Captain Barron ; Mr. Milner Stephen, a barrister of eminence, his wife and family, and many others. Another who did more to advance the cause of Spiritualism, and crystallize its scattered fragments into concrete strength than any other individual in the ranks was Mr. Wm. Terry, the well-known and enterprising editor of the Melbourne Harbinger of Light Spiritual organ,
" About 1869 " says Mr. H. Tuttle, " the necessity for a Spiritualistic journal was impressed deeply on the mind of Mr. Terry. He could not cast it off, but pondered over the enterprise. At this time, an exceedingly sensitive patient described a spirit holding a scroll on which was written " Harbinger of Light " and the motto, " Dawn approaches, error is passing away ; men arising shall hail the day." This influenced him, and in August 1870, he set to work to prepare the first number, which appeared on the 1st of September of that year.
" There was no organisation in Australian Spiritualism, and Mr. Terry saw the advantage and necessity of associative movement. He consulted a few friends, and in November, 1870, he organised the first Victorian Association of Spiritualists. A hall was rented, and Sunday services, consisting of essays and reading by members, enlivened by appropriate hymns, were held. In October, 1872, impressed with the desirability of forming a Lyceum," he called together a few willing workers, and held the first session on October 20th, 1S72. It is, and has been from the first in a flourishing condition, numbering one hundred and fifty members, with a very handsome and complete outfit, and excellent library. He has remained an officer ever since, and conductor four sessions. He assisted in the establishment of the Spiritualist and Free-thought Association, which succeeded the original one, and was its first president. He has lectured occasionally to apprecia- tive audiences, and his lectures have been widely circulated. His mediumship, which gave such fair promise, both in regard to writing and speaking, became controlled, especially for the relief of the sick. Without the assistance of ad- vertising he has acquired a fine practice. With this he combines a trade in Reform and Spiritualistic publications, as extensive as the colony, and the publication of the
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Harbinger of Light, a Spiritual j ournal that is an honour to the cause, and well sustains the grand philosophy of im- mortality. No man is doing more for the cause, or has done more efficient work."
A short but interesting summary of the rise and progress of Spiritualism in Australia is given in the American Banner of Light, 1880, in which Mr. Terry's good service is again alluded to, and placed in line with that of several other pioneers of the movement, of whom mention has not yet been made. It is as follows : —
" The Harbinger of Light, published at Melbourne, Australia, furnishes a review of the origin of its publication and the work it has accomplished during the ten years just closed. At its advent in 1870, considerable interest had been awakened in the subject of Spiritualism, by the lectures of Mr. Nayler, in Melbourne, and Mr. Leech, at Castlemaine. The leaders of the church became dis- turbed, and seeing their gods in danger, sought to stay the progress of what would eventually lessen their influence and possibly their income. But Mr. Nayler spoke and wrote with more vigour ; the addresses of Mr. Leech were published from week to week in pamphlet form, and widely distributed. At the same time, Mr. Charles Bright, who had published letters on Spiritualism in the Argus, over an assumed name, openly identified himself with the move- ment, and spoke publicly on the subject. Shortly after, eleven persons met and formed an association, which soon increased to eighty members. A hymn-book was compiled, and Sunday services began. As elsewhere, the press ridiculed, and the pulpit denounced Spiritualism as a delusion. A number of articles in the Argus brought some of the facts prominently before the public, and the growing interest was advanced by a public discussion between Messrs. Tyerman and Blair. In 1872, a Sunday school, on harmonial principles, was established, Mr. W. H. Terry, the proprietor of the Harbinger, being its first conductor. Almost simultaneously with this was the visit of Dr. J. M. Peebles, whose public lectures and work in the Lyceum served to consolidate the movement. A controversy in the Age, between Rev. Mr. Potter, Mr. Tyerman and Mr.~ Terry, brought the facts and teachings of Spiritualism into further notice.
" Soon came Dr. Peebles, Thomas Walker, Mrs. Britten and others, who widened the influence of the spiritualistic philosophy, and aided the. Harbinger in its efforts to estab- lish Spiritualism on a broad rational basis. Mr. W. H. Terry is deserving of all praise for his unselfish and faithful exertions in carrying the Harbinger through the years of as hard labour as ever befell any similar enterprise, and we bespeak for him, in his continued efforts to make known the evidences of a future existence, and the illuminating truths of Spiritualism, the hearty co-operation and sym- pathy of all friends of the cause."
Writing to the Banner of Light on the subject of Mr. Tyerman's accession to the Spiritual ranks, an esteemed American correspondent says : —
" The Rev. J. Tyerman, of the Church of England, resident in one of the country districts, boldly declared his full reception of Spiritualism as a great fact, and his change of religious faith consequent upon the teachings of spirits. Of course, he was welcomed with open arms by the whole body of Spiritualists in Melbourne, the only city where there was any considerable number enrolled in one association. He soon became the principal lecturer, though not the only one employed by the Association, and well lias he wielded the sword of the new faith. He is decidedly of the pioneer stamp, a skilful debater, a fluent speaker, Teady at any moment to engage with any one, either by word of mouth or as a writer. So widely, indeed, did he make his influence felt, and so individual was it, that a
new society grew up around him, called the Free-Thought and Spiritualist Propaganda Society, which remained in existence till Mr. Tyerman removed to Sydney, when it coalesced with the older association, under the combined name of Melbourne Spiritualist and Free-Thought Asso- ciation."
Another valuable convert to the cause of Spiritualism, at a time when it most needed good service, was Mrs. Florence Williams, the daughter of the celebrated English novelist, G. P. R. James, and the inheritor of his talent, originality of thought, and high culture. This lady for a long time officiated at the first Spiritual meetings convened for Sabbath Day exercises, as an acceptable and eloquent lecturer, and her essays would have formed an admirable epitome of spiritual revelations at the time in which they were delivered.
The visits of several zealous propagandists have been alluded to in previous quotations, Amongst the first to break ground as a public exponent of Spiritualism, was the Rev. J. M. Peebles, formerly a minister of Battle Creek, Michigan. Mr. Peebles was well known in America as a fine writer and lecturer, and as such was justified in expecting courteous, if not eulogistic mention from the press of a foreign country, with whom his own was on terms of amicable intercourse. How widely different was the journalistic treatment he experienced may be gathered from his own remarks addressed to the Banner of Light some five years after his first visit, and describing in graphic terms the changed spirit which marked alike the progress of the movement and the alteration in the tone of public opinion. Mr. Peebles says ■ —
" Relative to Spiritualism and its divine principles, public sentiment has changed rapidly, and for the better, during the past five years. Upon my late public appear- ance in Melbourne, the Hon. John Mcllwraith, ex-Mayor of the city, and Commissioner to our Centennial Exhibition, took the chair, introducing me to the audience. On my previous visit some of the Spiritualists seemed a little timid. They preferred being called investigators, remain- ing a good distance from the front. Then my travelling companion, Dr. Dunn, was misrepresented, and meanly vilified in the city journals ; while I was hissed in the market, caricatured in Punch, burlesqued in a theatre, and published in the daily press as an ' ignorant Yankee,' an ' American trickster,' a ' long-haired apostate,' and 'a most unblushing blasphemer.' But how changed! Recently the secular press treated me fairly. Even the usually abusive Telegraph published Mr. Stevenson's article assuring the Rev. Mr. Green that I was willing to meet him at once in a public discussion. The Melbourne Argus, one of the best daily papers in the world, the Aus- tralasian, the Herald, and the Age, all dealt honourably by me, reporting my lectures, if briefly, with admirable impartiality. The press is a reflector ; and those audiences of 2,000 and 2,500 in the great Opera House on each Sunday for several successive months, were not without a most striking moral significance. It seemed to be the general opinion that Spiritualism, had never before occupied so prominent yet so favourable a position in the eyes of the public. ..."
Efficient service was rendered to the cause of Spiritualism by Mr. Thomas Walker, a young Englishman, first intro- duced in the Colonies by the Rev. J. M. Peebles. Alleging himself to be a " trance speaker " under the control of certain spirits, whom he named, Mr. Walker lectured acceptably in Sydney, Melbourne, and other places in the Colonies on the Spiritual rostrum. In March, 1878, Mr. Walker maintained a public debate with a Mr. M. W. Green, a minister of a denomination termed " the Church of Christ." This gentleman had acquired some reputation
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in the Colonies as a preacher, and as one who had bitterly- opposed, and taken every possible opportunity, to mis- represent Spiritualism. The debate, which was held in the Temperance Hall, Melbourne, attracted large audiences, and been extended for several nights beyond the period originally agreed upon.
The following extracts are taken from the Melbourne Age, one of the leading daily journals of the city. They are dated August 20th, 1878, and read thus :
" Spiritualism is just now very much to the front in Melbourne. The lectures of Mrs. Emma Hardinge-Britten, delivered to crowded audiences at the Opera House every Sunday evening, have naturally attracted a sort of wonder- ing curiosity to the subject, and the interest has probably been intensified by the strenuous efforts that are being made in some of the orthodox pulpits to prove that the whole thing is an emanation from the devil. The an- nouncement that the famous Dr. Slade had arrived to strengthen the ranks of the Spiritualists, has therefore been made at a very critical juncture, and I should not be surprised to find that the consequence will be to infuse a galvanic activity into the forces on both sides. Though I do not profess to be a Spiritualist, I own to having been infected with the fashionable itch for witnessing ' physical manifestations,' as they are'called, and accordingly I have attended several circles with more or less gratification. But Dr. Slade is not an ordinary medium even among professionals. The literature of the Spiritualists is full of his extraordinary achievements, attested to all appear- ance by credible witnesses, who have not been ashamed to append their names to their statements. ... I see that on one occasion, writing in six different languages was obtained on a single slate, and one day, accompanied by two learned professors, Dr. Slade had a sitting with the Grand Duke Constantine, who obtained writing on a new slate held by himself alone. From St. Petersburg, Dr. Slade went to Berlin, where he is said to have obtained some marvellous manifestations in the house of Professor Zollner, and where he was visited by the court conjurer to the Emperor, Samuel Bellachini. . . . My object in visiting Dr. Slade can be understood when I was intro- duced to him with my friend, whom I shall call Omega, and who was bent on the same errand. Dr. Slade and Mr. Terry constituted the circle of four who sat around the table in the centre of the room almost as immediately as we entered it. There was nothing in the room to attract attention. No signs of confederacy, human or mechanical. The hour was eleven in the morning. The window was unshuttered, and the sun was shining brightly. The table at which we sat was a new one, made especially by Wallach Brothers, of Elizabeth Street, of polished cedar, having four slight legs, one flap, and no ledges of any kind under- neath. As soon as we examined it Dr. Slade took his seat on one side, facing the window, and the rest of us occupied the other three seats. He was particularly anxious that we should see he had nothing about him. It has been said that he wrote on the slate by means of a crumb of pencil stuck in his finger-nails, but his nails were cut to the quick, while his legs and feet were ostentatiously placed away from the table in a side position, exposed to view the whole time. He first produced a slate of the ordinary school size, with a wet sponge, which I used to it. A chip of pencil about the size of a grain of wheat was placed upon it on the table ; we joined hands, and immediately taps were heard about the table, and in answer to a question — ' Will you write ? ' — from Dr. Slade, three raps were given, and he forthwith took up the slate with the pencil lying on it, and held half of it under the table by his finger and thumb, which clasped the corner of the half that was outside the table, and was therefore easily seen by all present. His left hand re-
mained near the centre of the table, resting. on those of the two sitters on either side of him. Several convulsive jerks of his arm were now given, then a pause, and immediately the sound of writing was audible to every one, a scratching sound interrupted by the tap of the pencil, which indicated, as we afterwards found, that the t's were being crossed and the i's dotted. The slate was then exposed, and the words written were in answer to the question which had been put by Omega as to whether he had psychic power or not. I pass over the conversation that ensued on the subject, and go on to the next phenomenon. To satisfy myself that the ' trick ' was not done by means of sym- pathetic writing on the slate, I had ten minutes previously purchased a slate from a shop in Bourke Street, containing three leaves, and shutting up book fashion. This I pro- duced, and Dr. Slade readily repeated his performance with it. It was necessary to break the pencil down to a mere crumb, in order to insert it between the leaves of the slate. This done, the phenomenon at once recurred with this rather perplexing difference, that the slate, instead of being put half under the table, forced itself by a series of jerks on to my neck, and reposed quietly under my ear, in the eyes of everyone present. The scratching then commenced; I heard the t's crossed and the i's dotted by the moving pencil, and at the usual signal I opened the slate, and found an intelligible reply to the question put. . . . The next manifestation was the levitation of one of the sitters in his chair about a clear foot from the ground, and the levitation of the table about two feet. I ought to have mentioned that during the whole of the seance there was a good deal of by-play going on. Everyone felt the touch • of hands more or less, and the sitters' chairs were twice wrenched from under them, or nearly so, but the psychic could not possibly have done it. . . . "
Says Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, in her Nineteenth Century Miracles : — " As personal details are more graphic than the cold narrations of passing events, we deem it expedient in this place to give our readers an inside view of Spiritualism in Australia, by republishing one of the many articles sent by the author to the American Spiritual journals during her sojourn in the Colonies. The following excerpt was written as the result of personal experience, and at a time when Spiritualism, in the usual inflated style of journalistic literature, was ' in the zenith of its triumphs.' It is addressed to the Editor, of the Banner of Light, and reads as follows : —
" ' Spiritualism in these colonies finds little or no public representation outside of Melbourne or Sydney, nevertheless warm friends of the cause are scattered all over the land, and endeavours are being made to enlarge the numerous circles into public meetings,, and the fugitive efforts of whole-hearted individuals into associations as powerful as that which exists in Melbourne. At present, the at- tempt to effect missionary work in any portions of Australia outside Sydney or Melbourne, becomes too great a burden to the luckless individual, who has not only to do the work, but to bear the entire cost of the undertaking, as I have had to do in my visits to various towns in Victoria. Ex- penses which are cheerfully divided amongst the many in the United States, become all too heavy for endurance when shouldered upon the isolated workers ; hence the paucity of public representation, and the impossibility of those who visit the Colonies, as I have done, effecting any important pioneer work beyond the two -great centres I have named. Mr. Walker at Sydney, and I at Melbourne, have been favoured with the largest gatherings ever . assembled at Colonial Sunday meetings.
" ' Having, by desire of my spirit guides, exchanged rostrums, he filling my place at Melbourne, and I his at Sydney, we find simultaneously at the same time, and on
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the same Sundays, the lessees of the two theatres we oc- cupied raising their rent upon us one hundred and fifty per cent. The freethinkers and Spiritualists had occupied the theatre in Sydney four years at the rate of f6ur pounds per Sunday. For my benefit the landlord raised the rent to ten pounds, whilst the same wonderful spirit of accor- dance caused the Melbourne manager to increase upon Mr. Walker from eight pounds to a demand of twenty. With our heavy expenses and small admission fees this was tantamount to driving us out altogether. Both of us have succeeded after much difficulty, and fighting Christian warriors with the Christian arms of subtlety and vigilance, in securing other places to lecture in ; and despite the fact that the press insult us, the pulpit curse us, and Christians generally devote us to as complete a prophecy of what they would wish us to enjoy everlastingly as their piety can devise, we are each attracting our thousands every Sunday night, and making such unmistakable marks on public opinion as will not easily be effaced again. ...
" ' Dr. Slade's advent in Melbourne since last September has been productive of an immense amount of good. How far his labours here will prove remunerative I am not pre- pared to say. Frankly speaking, I do not advise Spirit Mediums or speakers to visit these colonies on financial advancement intent. There is an abundant crop of Me- dium power existing, interest enough in the cause, and many of the kindest hearts and clearest brains in the world to be found here ; but the lack of organisation, to which I have before alluded, and the imperative necessity for the workers who come here to make their labours remu- nerative, paralyses all attempts at advancement, except in the sensation line. Still I feel confident that with united action throughout the scattered force of Spiritualistic thought in these Colonies, Spiritualism might and would supersede every other phase of religious thought in an incredibly short space of time. I must not omit to mention that the friends in every place I have visited have been more than kind, hospitable and appreciative. The public have defied both press and pulpit in their unstinted support of my lectures." The press have been equally servile, and the Christian world equally stirred, and equally active in desperate attempts to" crush out the obvious proofs of immortality Spiritualism brings.
" ' In Melbourne, I had to fight my way to comply with an invitation to lecture for the benefit of the City Hospital. I fought and conquered ; and the hospital committee revenged itself for a crowded attendance at the Town Hall by taking my money without the grace of thanks, either in public or private, and the simply formal acknowledg- ment of my services by an official receipt. In Sydney, where I now am, I was equally privileged in lecturing for the benefit of the Temperance Alliance, and equally honoured, after an enthusiastic and successful meeting, by the daily press of the city in their utter silence con- cerning such an important meeting, and their careful record of all sorts of such trash as they disgrace their columns with. So mote it be. The wheel will turn some day !
During the years 1881 and '82 the Australian colonists were favoured with visits from three more well-known American Spiritualists. The first of these was Professor Denton, an able and eloquent lecturer on geology, and one who never failed to combine with his scientific addresses, one or more stirring lectures on Spiritualism. The second propagandist was Mrs. Ada Foye, one of the best test-writing, rapping, and seeing Mediums, who has ever appeared in the ranks of Spiritualism ; whilst the third was Mrs. E. L. Watson, a trance-speaker.
Professor Denton's lectures created a wide-spread in- terest amongst all classes of listeners.
It now becomes necessary to speak of one of the most
arbitrary acts of tyranny on the part of the Victorian Government towards Spiritualism which the records of the movement can show. This was the interdict promul- gated by " the Chief Secretary " against the proprietor of the Melbourne Opera House, forbidding him to allow Spiritualists to take money at the door for admission to their services, and in effect, forbidding them to hold ser- vices there at all. A similar interdict was issued in the case of Mr. Proctor, the celebrated English lecturer on astronomy. The excuse for this tyrannical procedure in Mr. Proctor's case, might have been justified on the ground, that the Chief Secretary was entirely ignorant of the fact, that astronomy had anything to do with religion, or that-it was not orthodox to talk about the celestial bodies on a Sunday, except in quotations from Genesis, or Revela- tions ; but in the case of " the Victorian Association of Spiritualists " it was quite another point. Spiritualism was their religion, and Spiritual lectures their Sabbath Day exercises. Messrs. Walker, Peebles, and Mrs. Britten, had occupied the Opera House for months together, and admission fees had been charged at each of their Sunday services, without let or hindrance. The result of many gatherings for the purpose of denouncing their policy may be judged by a perusal of the following paragraph published in the Harbinger of Light of March, 1882 : —
" On Friday last a letter was received from the Govern- ment by the Executive of the Victorian Association of Spiritualists, intimating that the former had no desire to suppress the lectures, but endorsed the permit of May 1879. The directors of the Opera House Company were inter- viewed, and on the understanding that no money be taken at the doors, consented to the opening of the House. The fact being announced in Saturday's papers drew a large audience to hear Mr. Walker's lecture on Sunday, ' Lord Macaulay on Roman Catholicism.' The services will be continued as heretofore. Seats in dress circle or stalls may be hired by month or quarter, at W. H. Terry's 84, Russel Street."
During Dr. Slade's visit to Sydney, a very able and energetic worker in Spiritualism became convinced of its truth, in the person of Mr. E. Cyril Haviland, the author of two excellent pamphlets and many articles, tracts, and good literary contributions on this subject. Mr. Haviland, Mr. Harold Stephen, and several other gentlemen of literary repute in Sydney, combined during the author's last visit to form a " Psychological Society," the members of which like the persons above named, represented some of the most accomplished writers and advanced thinkers of the city.
Mr. L. E. Harcus, an able and fluent writer, furnished a report of the origin and growth of this society for the Banner of Light of March 1880. Austria : (For ancient magic among the Teutonic people of Austria, See Teutons. See also Hungary.)
In Austria, Spiritualism was first promulgated by M. Constantine Delby of Vienna. He was a warm adherent of Allan Kardec, and founded a society under legal aus- pices, besides starting a Spiritual journal. The society numbered but few members, in fact Spiritualism never obtained much foothold in Vienna. At Buda-Pesth it was quite otherwise. In a short time a considerable amount of interest was awakened, and many persons of note began to take part in the circles that were being formed there, amongst these were Mr. Anton Prohasker and Dr. Adolf Grunhut. At length a society was formed, legalised by the State, of which Baron Edmund Vay, was elected presi- dent. Mr. Lishner, of Pesth. built a handsome seance room which the society rented. At that time there were one hundred and ten members, many of them being He- brews, though all Christians. Baron Vay was the honorary
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president, Dr. Grunhut, was the active president, and these and Mr. Prohasker were amongst the most devoted and faithful workers. The principles of the society,, indeed the basis of it were taken from the .Geist Kraft Stoff of Baroness Adelma Von Vay and the works of Mian Kardec — purely Christian Spiritism. It never encouraged paid Mediumship. All the officers were voluntary and honorary. It had no physical Medium, but good trance, writing and seeing mediums.
Autography : A term sometimes used to denote the spirit- ualistic phenomenon of " direct " writing (q.v.).
Auto-Hypnotization : (See Hypnotism.)
Ansuperomin : A sorcerer of the time of St. Jean de Lus, who, according to information supplied by Pierre Delamere, a councillor of Henry IV, was seen several times at the " sabbath," mounted on a demon in the shape of a goat, and playing on the flute for the witches' dance.
Automatic Writing and Speaking : Writing executed or speech uttered without the agent's volition, and some- times without his knowledge. The term is used by psychical researchers and applied particularly to the trance phenomena of the seance-room. By spiritualists, writing or speaking produced under these conditions, are said to be performed " under control " — that is, under the con- trolling agency of the spirits of the dead — and are therefore not judged to be truly " automatic." The general con- sensus of opinion, however, ascribes such performances to the subconscious activity of the agent. Automatic writing and speaking necessarily imply some deviation from the normal in the subject, though such abnormality need not be pronounced, but may vary from a slight disturbance of the nerve-centres occasioned by excitement or fatigue to hystero-epilepsy or actual insanity. When the phenomena are produced during a state of trance or somnambulism the agent may be entirely unconscious of his actions. On the other hand the automatic writing may be executed while the agent is in a condition scarcely varying from the normal and quite capable of observing the phenomena in a critical spirit, though perhaps ignorant of a word in advance of what he is actually writing. Between these states of full consciousness or complete unconsciousness there are many intermediate stages. The secondary personality, as displayed in the writings or utterances, may gain only a partial ascendancy over the primary, as may happen in dreams or in the hypnotic trance. As a rulejautomatic speech and writings display nothing more than a revivifying of faded mental imagery, thoughts and conjectures and impressions which never came to birth in the upper con- sciousness. But at times there appears an extraordinary exaltation of memory, or even of the intellectual faculties. Cases are on record where lost articles have been recovered by means of automatic writing. Foreign languages which have been forgotten, or with which the subject has small acquaintance, are spoken or written fluently. Helene Smith, the subject of Professor Flournoy, even went so far as to invent a new language, purporting to be that of the Martians, but in reality showing a marked resemblance to French — the mother-tongue of the medium. Auto- matic writing and speaking have been produced in considerable quantities, mainly in connection with spirit- ualistic circles, though it existed long before the advent of spiritualism in the speaking with " tongues " of the early ecstatics. These unintelligible outpourings are still to be met with, but are no longer a marked feature of auto- matic utterance. But, though the matter and style may on occasion transcend the capabilities of the agent in his normal state, the great body of automatic productions does not show an erudition or literary excellence beyond the scope of the natural resources of the automist. The style is involved, obscure, inflated, yet possessing a super-
ficial smoothness and a suggestion of flowing periods and musical cadences. The ideas are often shallow and in- coherent, and all but lost in a multitude of words. The best known of automatic writings are the Spirit Teachings of the Rev. Stanton Moses, the works of A. J. Davis, J. Murray Spear, and Charles Linton, and, perhaps most important of all, the Trance Utterances of Mrs. Piper, these last offering no inconsiderable evidence for telepathy. A good deal of poetry has been produced automatically, notably by the Rev. T. L. Harris. Among those who are known to have produced automatic writings are Goethe, Victor Hugo, Victorien Sardou, and other eminent men of letters. (For the hypothesis of spirit control, see article Spiritualism.)
Avenar : An astrologer who promised to the Jews, on the testimony of the planets, that their Messiah should arrive without fail in 1444. or at the latest, in 1464. He gave, for his guarantors, Saturn, Jupiter, " the crab, and the fish." All the Jews kept their windows open to receive the messenger of God, who did not arrive.
Avenir : (Journal) (See France).
Avicenna : Named Aben Sina by Hebrew writers, but properly, Ebor Sina, or — to give his long array of names in full — Al-Sheikh Al-Rayis Abu Ali Al-Hossein ben Ab- dallah ben Sina, born at Kharmatain, near Bokhara, in the year of the Hegira 370, or A.D. 980. He was educated at Bokhara, and displayed such extraordinary precocity that when he had reached his tenth year, he had completely
• mastered the Koran, and acquired a knowledge of algebra, the Mussulman theology, and the His ab ul-Hind, or arith- metic of the Hindoos. Under Abdallah Al- Natheli he studied logic, Euclid, and the Almagest, and then, as a diversion, devoted himself to the study of medicine. He was only twenty-one years old when he composed his Kitab al-Majmu or, The Book 0/ the Sum Total, whose mysteries he afterwards endeavoured to elucidate in a commentary in twenty volumes. His reputation for wisdom and eru- dition was so great that on the death of his father he was promoted by Sultan Magdal Douleth to the high office of Grand Vizier, which he held with advantage to the State until a political revolution accomplished the downfall of the Samanide dynasty. He then quitted Bokhara, and wandered from place to place, increasing his store of know- ledge, but yielding himself to a life of the grossest sensu- ality. About 1012 he retired to Jorjan, where he began his great work on medicine, which is still held in some re- pute as one of the earliest systems of that art with any pretensions to philosophical completeness. It is arranged with singular clearness, and presents a very admirable resume of the doctrines of the ancient Greek physicians. Avicenna subsequently lived at Rui, Kazwin, and Ispahan, where he became physician to the Persian sovereign, Ala- eddaulah. He is said to have been dismissed from this post on account of his debauched living. He then retired to Hamadan, where, worn out with years of sensual indul- gence, he died, at the age of 58, in 1038. His works on philosophy, mathematics, and medicine, are nearly one hundred in number, and include at least seven treatises on the Philosopher's Stone. His Book of the Canon of Medicine acquired an European celebrity, and has been several times translated into Latin. Contemporary with Avicenna were numerous votaries of the alchemistical science, and almost every professor of medicine was an astrologer The influence of the stars upon the conditions of the human body was generally accepted as a first principle in medicine ; and the possible transmutation of metals engaged the attention of every enquiring intellect. At the same time, the Arabians were almost the sole depositaries of human knowledge ; and in the East glowed that steadily-shining light which, never utterly extinct, had withdrawn its
Avlchi
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splendour and its glory from the classic lands of the West. " They cultivated with success," says Gibbon, " the sub- lime science of astronomy, which elevates the mind of man to disdain his diminutive planet and monentary existence." The names of Mesua and Geber, of Rhazis and Avicenna, are ranked with the Grecian masters ; in the city of Bagdad, eight hundred and sixty physicians were licensed to exercise their lucrative profession ; in Spain, the life of the Catholic princes was entrusted to the skill of the Saracens, and the school of Salerno, their legitimate offspring, revived in Italy and Europe the precepts of the healing art. Avichi : is the Theosophic hell. Though it is a place of torment, it differs in great degree from the ordinary conception of hell. Its torments are the torments of fleshly cravings, which for want of a physical body, cannot be satisfied. A man remains after death exactly the same ■entity as he was before it, and, if in life, he has been ob- sessed with strong desires or passions, such obsession still continues, though, in the astral plane in which he finds Iiimself the satisfaction of these desires or passions is im- possible. Of course, the manner of these torments is infinite, whether it be the confirmed sensualist who suffers them, or more ordinary men who, without being bound to the things of the flesh1, have nevertheless allowed the affairs of the world to bulk too largely in their lives, and are now doomed to regret the small attention they have bestowed on higher matters. Avichi is a place of regrets for things done and things undone. Its torments are not, however, eternal, and with the passing of time — of which there is no measure in the astral plane — they are gradually discontinued, though at the cost of terrible suffering. Avidya in Theosophy is the ignorance of mind which causes man before starting on the Path to expend vain effort and pursue vain courses. It is the antithesis of Vidya. (See Path, and Vidya, and Theosophy.) Awyntyrs of Arthure at the Tern Wathelyn : an Ar- thurian poem of the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries. It is believed to be of Scottish origin, but its authorship is doubtful. Amongst other adventures, the poem relates one which King Arthur and his queen Guinevere, accom- panied by their favourite knight Sir Gawane, had whilst hunting in the wilds of Cumberland. They were overtaken by darkness, while separated from the rest of the party, and the ghost of the queen's mother appears to them. The apparition tells of the torments to which it is being sub- jected, and entreats that prayers will be offered up for its release. This the queen and Sir Gawane promise, and on their return to Carlisle millions of masses are ordered to be sung on its behalf. Axinomancy : Divination by means of a hatchet or a woodcutter's axe. It is by this form of divination that the diviners predicted the ruin of Jerusalem, as is seen
from Psalm LXXIII. Francois de la Tour-Blanche, who remarked upon this, does not tell us how the diviners made use of the hatchet. We can only suppose that it was by one of the two methods employed in ancient times and still practised in certain northern countries. The first is as follows : When it is desired to find a treasure, a round agate must be procured, the head of the axe must be made red-hot in the fire, and so placed that its edge may stand perpendicularly in the air. The agate must be placed on the edge. If it remains there, there is no treasure, if it falls, it will roll quickly away. It must, however, be re- placed three times, and if it rolls three times towards the same place, there the treasure will be found. If it rolls a different way each time, one must seek about for the treasure.
The second method of divination by the axe is for the purpose of detecting robbers. The hatchet is cast on the ground, head-downwards, with the handle rising perpen- dicularly in the air. Those present must dance round it in a ring, till the handle of the axe totters and it falls to the ground. The end of the handle indicates the direction in which the thieves must be sought. It is said by some that if this divination is to succeed, the head of the axe must be stuck in a round pot, but this, as Delancre says, is absurd. For how could an axe be fixed in a round pot, any more than the pot could be sewed or patched if the axe had broken it to pieces ?
Ayperor : A count of the infernal empire. (The same as Ipes.)
Azael : One of the angels who revolted against God. The rabbis say that he is chained on sharp stones, in an obscure part of the desert, awaiting the last judgment.
Azam, Dr. : (See Hypnotism).
Azazel : A demon of the second order, guardian of the goat. At the feast of expiation, which the Jews celebrate on the tenth day of the seventh month, _two goats are led to the High Priest, who draws lots for them, the one for the Lord, the other for Azazel. The one on which the lot of the Lord fell was sacrificed, and his blood served for expiation. The High Priest then put his two hands on the head of the other, confessed his sins and those of the people, charged the animal with them, and allowed him to be led into the desert and set free. And the people, having left the care of their iniquities to the goat of Azazel ■ — also kijgwn as the scape-goat — return home with clean consciences. According to Milton, Azazel is the principal standard-bearer of the infernal armies. It is also the name of the demon used by Mark the heretic for his magic spells.
Azer : An angel of the elemental fire. Azer is also the name of the father of Zoroaster.
Azoth : (See Philosopher's Stone).
Aztecs : {See Mexico and Central America).
B
Ba : The Egyptian conception of the soul, which in the form of a man-headed bird left the body after death and winged its flight to the gods. It returned at intervals to the mummy for the purpose of comforting it and reassuring it concerning immortality. Sometimes it grasps the ankh (q.v.) and the nif (q.v.) and is occasionally represented as flying down the tomb-shaft to the deceased, or perched on the breast of the mummy. It was sometimes carved on the lid of mummv cases. In the Book oj the Dead a chapter promises abundance of food to the Ba, so that the conception does not appear to have been entirely spiritual.
Baalberith : According to Wierins, a demon of the second order ; master of the Infernal Alliance. He is said to be secretary and keeper of the archives of Hell.
Baalzephon : Captain of the guard and sentinels of Hell, according to Wierius.
Baaras: A marvellous plant known to the Arabs as the " Golden Plant," and which is supposed to grow on Mount Libanus, underneath the road which leads to Damascus. It is said to flower in the month of May, after the melting of the snow. At night it can be been by torchlight, but through the day it is invisible. It was held to be of great assistance to alchemists in the transmutation of metals. It is alluded to by Josephus. (Lib. VIII., Chap. 25.)
Baban : A species of ogre with which the nurses in the central parts of France used to frighten their charges. He was supposed to devour naughty children in salad. The ending " au " suggests a Celtic origin. For example, " Y Mamau," the Welsh for " fairies."
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Babiagora : Certain lakes of a gloomy nature, which lie be- tween Hungary and Poland, which have figured in various stories of witchcraft. Pools, such as these, are often used for purposes of divination, as by gazing down into clear water the mind is disposed to contemplation, often of a melancholy character. This form of divination is termed " Hydromarrcy " (q.v.) and is similar to crystal-gazing.
Babylonia : The conservative element in the religion of Babylonia was one of its most marked and interesting features. All the deities retained, even after they reached their highest development, traces of their primitive de- moniac characters, and magic was never divorced from religion. The most outstanding gods were Ea, Ann and Enlil, the eider Bel. These formed a triad at the dawn of history, and appear to have developed from an animistic group of world spirits. Although Ea became specialised as a god of the deep, Anu as a god of the sky, and Enlil as an earth god, each had also titles which emphasised that they had attributes overlapping those of the others. Thus Ea was Enki, earth lord, and as Aa was a lunar deity, and he had also solar attributes. In the legend of Etana and the Eagle, his heaven is stated to be in the sky. Anu and Enlil as deities of thunder, rain and fertility, linked closely with Ea, as Dagan, of the flooding and fertilising Euphrates. Each of these deities were accompanied by- demon groups. The spirits of disease were the " beloved sons of Bel " ;. the fates were the seven daughters of Anu ; the seven storm demons, including the dragon and serpent, were of Ea's brood. In one of the magical incantations translated by Mr. R. C. Thompson, occurs the following description of Ea's primitive monster form :
The head is the head of a serpent. From his nostrils mucus trickles, The mouth is beslavered with water ; The ears are those of a basilisk, His horns are twisted into three curls, He wears a veil in his head-band. The body is a sun-fish full of stars. The base of his feet are claws, The sole of his foot has no heel ; His name is Sassu-wunnu, A sea monster, a form of Ea.
Ea was " the great magician of the gods " ; his sway over the forces of nature was secured by the performance of magical rites, and his services were obtained by mankind, who performed requisite ceremonies and repeated appro- priate spells. Although he might be worshipped and propitiated in his temple at Eridu, he could also be con- jured in reed huts. The latter indeed appear to have been the oldest holy places. In the Deluge myth, he makes a revelation in a dream to his human favourite, Pir-napishtim, the Babylonian Noah, of the approaching disaster planned by the gods, by addressing the reed hut in which he slept : " O, reed hut, hear ; O, wall, understand." The sleeper received the divine message from the reeds. The reeds were to the Babylonian what rowan branches were to northern Europeans : they protected them against demons. The dead were buried wrapped in reed mats.
When the official priesthood came into existence it in- cluded two classes of magicians, the " Ashipu," who were exorcists, and the " Mashmashu," the " purifiers." The Ashipu priests played a prominent part in ceremonies, which had for their object the magical control of nature : in times of storm, disaster, and eclipse they were especially active. They also took the part of " witch doctors." Victims of disease were supposed to be possessed of devour- ing' demons :
Loudly roaring above, gibbering below,
They are the bitter venom of the gods. . .
Knowing no care, they grind the land like corn ;
Knowing no mercy, they rage against mankind,
They spill their blood like rain.
Devouring their flesh and sucking their veins. (Thompson's translation.) It was the business of the Ashipu priests to drive out the demon. Before he could do so he had to identify it. Having done so, he required next to bring it under his influence. This he accomplished by reciting its history and detailing its characteristics. The secret of the magic- ian's power was his knowledge. To cure toothache, for instance, it was necessary to know the " Legend of the Worm," which, vampire-like, absorbed the blood of victims, but specialised in gums. The legend relates that the worm came into existence as follows : Anu created the heaven, the heavens created the earth, the earth created the rivers, and the rivers created the canals, then the canals created marshes, and the marshes created the " worm." In due time the worm appeared before Shamash, the sun god, and Ea, god of the deep, weeping and hungry. " What will you give me to eat and drink ? " it cried. The gods promised that it would get dried bones and scented wood. Apparently the worm realised that this was the " food of death," for it made answer : " What are dry bones to me ? Set me upon the gums that I may drink the blood of the teeth and take away the strength of the gums." When the worm heard this legend repeated, it came under the magician's power, and was dismissed to the marshes, while Ea was invoked to smite it. Different demons were exorcised by different processes. A fever patient might receive the following treatment : Sprinkle this man with water. Bring unto him a censer and a torch, That the plague demon which resteth in the body of the man, Like water may trickle away.
Another method was to fashion a figure of dough, wax, clay or pitch. This figure might be placed on a fire or mutilated, or placed in running water to be washed away. As the figure suffered, so did the demon it represented.
By the magic of the word of Ea. A third method was to release a raven at the bedside of the sick man so that it would conjure the demon of fever to take flight likewise. Sacrifices were also offered, as substitutes for patients, to provide food for the spirit of the disease. A kid was slain and the priest muttered,
The kid is the substitute for mankind ;
He hath given the kid for his life,
He hath given the head of the kid for the head of the man. A pig might be offered :
Give the pig in his stead And give the flesh of it for his flesh, The blood of it for his blood, etc. The cures were numerous and varied. After the patient recovered the house was purified by the " mashmashu" priests. The ceremony entailed the sprinkling of sacred water, the burning of incense, and the repetition of magical charms. Houses were also protected against attack, by placing certain plants over the doorways and windows. An ass's halter seems to have been used, as horse-shoes have been in Europe, to repel witches and evil spirits.
The purification ceremonies suggest the existence of taboo. For a period a sick man was " unclean " and had to be isolated. To each temple was attached a " House of Light " in which fire ceremonies were performed, and a " House of Washing " where patients bathed in sacred water. Oil was also used as anointment to complete the
Types of Babylonian demons
The demon was a very real presence in Babylonian life. Extraordinary care was taken not to offend the beings of the unseen world and nowhere did the art of exorcism reach a higher state of evolution than in Babylonia and Assyria. The prototypes of European demonology can be traced in these figures.
A Babylonian demon (British Museum, No. 22458)
Bk^'--;' \
Clay model of a sheep's liver used in divination (Babylon, c. 2,000 B.C.)
Exorcizing demons of disease (Babylon)
BABYLONIAN MAGICAL OBJECTS
[face p. 58
Babylonia
r,9
Bacon
release from uncleanness. foods were also tabooed at certain seasons. It was unlawful for a man to eat pork on the 30th of Ab (July-August) or the 27th of Tisri, and other dates. Fish, ox flesh, bread, etc. were similarly tabooed on specific dates. A man's luck depended greatly on his observance of these rules. But although he might observe all ceremonies, he might still meet with ill-fortune on unlucky days. On the festival day of Marduk (Merodach) a man must not change his clothes nor put on white garments, nor offer up sacrifices. Sure disaster would overcome a king if he drove out in a chariot, or a physician if he laid hands on the sick, or a priest who sat in judgment, and so on. On lucky days good fortune was the heritage of everyone. Good fortune meant good health in many cases, and it was sometimes assured by worship- ping the dreaded spirit of disease called Ura. A legend related that this demon once made up his mind to destroy all mankind. His counsellor Ishun, however, prevailed upon him to change his mind, and he said, " Whoever will laud my name I will bless with plenty. No one will oppose the person who proclaims the glory of my valour. The worshipper who chants the hymn of praise to me will not be afflicted by disease, and he will find favour in the eyes of the King and his nobles."
Ghosts. — Among the spirits who were the enemies of mankind the ghosts of the dead were not the least virulent, and especially the ghosts of those who had not been prop- erly buried. These homeless spirits (the grave was the home of the dead) wandered about the streets searching for food and drink, or haunted houses. Not infrequently they did real injury to mankind. Of horrible aspect, they appeared before children and frightened them to death. They waylaid travellers and mocked those who were in sorrow. The scritch-owl was a mother who had died in childbed and wailed her grief nightly in solitary places. Occasionally she appeared in monstrous form and slew wayfarers. Adam's " first wife Lilith " was a demon who had once been beautiful and was in the habit of deceiving lovers, and working ill against them. A hag, Labartu, haunted mountains and marshes and children had to be charmed against her attacks. She also had a human his- tory. The belief that the spirits of the dead could be conjured from their graves to make revelations was also prevalent in Babylonia. In the Gilgamesh epic, the hero visits the tomb of his old friend and fellow-warrior Ea-Bani. The ghost rises like a " weird gust " and answers the various questions addressed to it with great sadness. Babylonian outlook on the future life was tinged by pro- found gloom and pessimism. It was the fate of even the ghosts of the most fortunate and ceremonially buried dead to exist in darkness and amidst dust. The ghost of Ea- Bani said to Gilgamesh :
" Were I to inform thee the law of the underworld
which I have experienced. Thou wouldest sit down and shed tears all day
long." Gilgamesh lamented :
" The sorrow of the underworld hath taken hold upon
thee." Priests who performed magical ceremonies had to be clothed in magical garments. They received inspiration from their clothing. Similarly the gods derived power from the skins of animals with which they were associated from the earliest time. Thus Ea was clad in the skin of the fish — probably the fish totem of the Ea tribe.
The dead were not admitted to the heavens of the gods. When a favoured human being, like Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, joined the company of the gods, he. had assigned to him an island Paradise where Gilgamesh visited him. There he dwelt with his wife. Gilgamesh
was not permitted to land, and held converse with his immortal ancestor, sitting in his boat. The deities se- cured immortality by eating the " food of life " and drinking the " water of life." Donald Mackenzie.
Bacchic Mysteries : (See Greece).
Bachelor : The name given to his satanic majesty, when he appeared in the guise of a great he-goat, for the purpose of love intercourse with the witches.
Bacis : A famous augur of Beotia. Many persons who ventured to predict the future adopted the name of Bacis.
Bacon, Roger, was born near Ilchester in Somerset, in 1 2 14. In his boyhood he displayed remarkable precocity, and in due time, having entered the order of St. Francis, he studied mathematics and medicine in Oxford and Paris. Returning to England, he devoted attention to philosophy and also wrote Latin, Greek, and Hebrew Grammars. He was a pioneer of astronomy and was acquainted with the properties of lenses, so that he may have foreshadowed the telescope. In the region of the mechanical sciences, his prophecies are noteworthy since he not only speaks of boats which may be propelled without oars, but of cars which may move without horses, and even of machines to fly in the air. To him we are indebted for important discoveries in the science of pure chemistry. His name is for ever associated with the making of gunpowder, and if the honour cannot be wholly afforded him, his experi- ments with nitre were at least a far step towards the dis- covery. His study of alchemical subjects led him, as was natural, to a belief in the philosopher's stone by which gold might be purified to a degree impossible by any other means, and also to a belief in the elixir of life whereby on similar principles of purification, the human body might be fortified against death itself. Not only might man become practically immortal by such means but, by know- ledge of the appropriate herbs, or by acquaintance with planetary influences, he might attain the same consum- mation. As was natural in an ignorant age, Bacon was looked on with considerable suspicion which ripened into persecution. The brethren of his order practically cast him' out, and he was compelled to retire to Paris, and to submit himself to a regime of repression. A prolific pen- man, he was forbidden to write, and it was not till 1266 that Guy de Foulques, the papal legate in England — sub- sequently Pope Clement TV. — hearing of Bacon's fame, invited him to break his enforced silence. Bacon hailed the opportunity and in spite of hardship and poverty, finished his Opus Majus, Opus Minus and Opus Tertium. These works seem to have found favour with Clement, for the writer was allowed to return to Oxford, there to continue his scientific studies and the composition of scientific works. He essayed a compendium of philosophy of which a part remains, but its subject-matter was displeasing to the ruling powers and Bacon's misfortunes began afresh. His books were burned and again he was thrown into prison, where he remained for fourteen years, and during that period it is probable that he continued to write. About 1292 he was again at liberty, and within the next few years — probably in 1294 — he died. Bacon's works were numerous and, while many still remain in manuscript, about a dozen have been printed at various times. Many are obscure treatises on alchemy and deserve little attention, but the works he wrote by invitation of Clement are the most important. The Opus Majus is divided into six parts treating of the causes of error, the relation between philosophy and theology, the utility of grammar, mathematics, perspective and experimental science. The Opus Minus, of which only part has been preserved, was intended to be a summary of the former work. The Opus Tertium though written after the other two, is an introduction to them, and also in part supple-
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mentary to them. These works, large though they be, seem to have been only the forerunners of a vast work treating of the principles of all the sciences, which, however, was probably little more than begun. Much of Bacon's work and many of his beliefs must, of course, be greatly discounted, but judging the man in relation to his time, the place he takes is a high one. His devotion to the experimental sciences was the point wherein he differed from most from his contemporaries, and to this devotion is to be accounted the fame which he then possessed and still possess.
But no sketch of Bacon's life would be complete without some account of the legendary material which has gathered around his name, and by virtue of which he holds rank as a, great magician in the popular imagination. When, in the sixteenth century, the study of magic was pursued with increased zeal, the name of Friar Bacon became more popular, and not only were the traditions worked up into a popular book, entitled The History of Friar Bacon, but one of the dramatists of the age, Robert Green, founded upon them a play, which was often acted, and of which there are several editions. The greater part of the history of Friar Bacon, as far as it related to that cele- brated personage, is evidently the invention of the writer, who appears to have lived in the time of Queen Elizabeth ; he adopted some of the older traditions, and filled up his narrative with fables taken from the common story books of the age. We are here first made acquainted with two other legendary conjurers, Friars Bungay and Vander- mast ; and the recital is enlivened with the pranks of Bacon's servant Miles.
According to this legendary history, Roger Bacon was the son of a wealthy farmer in the West of England, who had placed his son with the parish priest to gain a little scholarship. The boy soon showed an extraordinary ability for learning, which was encouraged by the priest, but which was extremely disagreeable to the father, who intended him for no other profession but that of the plough. Young Bacon fled from home, and took shelter in a monas- tery, where he followed his studies to his heart's content, and was eventually sent to complete them at Oxford. There he made himself a proficient in the occult sciences, and attained to the highest proficiency in magic. At length he had an opportunity of exhibiting his skill before the court, and the account of his exploits on this occasion may be given as a sample of the style of this quaint old history.
" The king being in Oxfordshire at a nobleman's house, was very desirous to see this famous friar, for he had heard many times of his wondrous things that he had done by his art, therefore he sent one for him to desire him to come . to the court. Friar Bacon kindly thanked the king by the messenger, and said that he was at the king's service and would suddenly attend him, 'but, sir,' saith he to the gentleman, ' I pray you make haste or else I shall be two hours before you at the court.' " For all 3'our learning", answered the gentleman, ' I can hardly believe this, for scholars, old men, and travellers, may lie by authority.' ' To strengthen your belief ' said Friar Bacon, ' I could presently show you the last wench that you kissed withal, but I will not at this time.' ' One is as true as the other,' said the gentleman, ' and I would laugh to see either.' ' You shaD see them both within these four hours,' quoth the friar, ' and therefore make what haste you can.' ' I will prevent that by my speed,' said the gentleman, and with that he rid his way ; but he rode out of his way, as it should seem, for he had but five miles to ride, and yet was he better than three hours a-riding them, so that Friar Bacon by his art was with the king before he came.
" The king kindly welcomed him, and said that he long
time had desired to see him, for he had as yet not heard of his like. Friar Bacon answered him, that fame had belied him, and given him that report that his poor studies had never deserved, for h~ believed that art had many sons more excellent than himself was. The king com- mended him for his modesty, and told him that nothing could, become a wise man less than boasting : but yet withal he requested him now to be no niggard of his know- ledge, but to show his queen and him some of his skill ' I were worthy of neither art or knowledge,' quoth Friar Bacon, ' should I deny your majesty this small request ; I pray seat yourselves, and you shall see presently what my poor skill can perform.' The king, queen, and nobles sat them all down. They having done so, the friar waved his wand, and presently was heard such excellent music, that they were all amazed, for they all said they had never heard the like. ' This is,' said the friar, ' to delight the sense of hearing, — I will delight all your other senses ere you depart hence.' So waving his wand again, there was louder music heard, and presently five dancers entered, the first like a court laundress, the second like a footman, the third like a usurer, the fourth like a prodigal, the fifth like a fool. These did divers excellent changes, so that they gave content to all the beholders, and having done their dance they all vanished away in their order as they came in. Thus feasted two of their senses. Then waved he his wand again, and there was another kind of music heard, and whilst it was playing, there was suddenly before them a table, richly covered with all sorts of delicacies. Then desired he the king and queen to taste of some certain rare fruits that were on the table, which they and the nobles there present did, and were very highly pleased with the taste ; they - being satisfied, all vanished away on the sudden. Then waved he his wand again, and suddenly there was such a smell, as if all the rich perfumes in the whole world had been then prepared in the best manner that art could set them out. Whilst he feasted thus their smelling, he waved his wand again, and there came divers nations in sundry habits, as Russians, Polanders, Indians, Armenians, all bringing sundry kinds of furs, such as their countries yielded, all which they presented to the king and queen. These furs were so soft to the touch that they highly pleased all those that handled them. Then, after some odd fantastic dances, after their country manner, they vanished away. Then asked Friar Bacon the king's majesty if that he desired any more of his skill. The king answered that he was fully satisfied for that time, and that he only now thought of something that he might bestow on him, that might partly satisfy the kindness he had re- ceived. Friar Bacon said that he desired nothing so much as his majesty's love, and if that he might be assured of that, he would think himself happy in it. ' For that,' said the king. ' be thou ever sure, in token of which receive this jewel,' and withal gave him a costly jewel from his neck. The friar did with great reverence thank his majesty, and said, ' As your majesty's vassal you shall ever find me ready to do you service ; your time of need shall find it both beneficial and delightful. But amongst all these gentlemen I see not the man that your grace did send for me by ; sure he hath lost his way, or else met with some sport that detains him so long ; I promised to be here before him, and all this noble assembly can witness I am as good as my word — I hear him coming. With that entered the gentleman, all bedirted, for he had rid through ditches, quagmires, plashes, and waters, that he was in a most pitiful case. He, seeing the friar there, looked full angrily, and bid a plague on all his devils, for they had led him out of his way, and almost drowned him. ' Be not angry, sir,' said Friar Bacon, ' here is an old friend of yours that hath more cause, for she hath tarried these
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three hours for you,' — with that he pulled up the hangings, and behind him stood a kitchen-maid with a basting- ladle in her hand — ' now am I as good as my word with you, for I promised to help you to your sweetheart, — how do you like this ? ' ' So ill,' answered the gentleman, ' that I will be avenged of you.' ' Threaten not,' said Friar Bacon, ' lest I do you more shame, and do you take heed how you give scholars the lie again ; but because I know not how well you are stored with money at this time, I will bear your wench's charges home.' With that she vanished away."
This may be taken as a sort of exemplification of the class of exhibitions which were probably the result of a superior knowledge of natural science, and which were exaggerated by popular imagination. They had been made, to a certain degree, familiar by the performances of the skilful jugglers who came from the east, and who were scattered throughout Europe ; and we read not un- frequently of such magical feats in old writers. When the Emperor Charles IV. was married in the middle of the fourteenth century to the Bavarian Princess Sophia in the city of Prague, the father of the princess brought a waggon- load of magicians to assist in the festivities. Two of the chief proficients in the art, Zytho the great Bohemian sorcerer, and Gouin the Bavarian, were pitted against each other, and we are told that after a desperate trial of skill, Zytho, opening his jaws from ear to ear, ate up his rival without stopping till he came to his shoes, which he spit out, because, as he said, they had not been cleaned. After having performed this strange feat, he restored the unhappy sorcerer to life again. The idea of contests like this seems to have been taken from the scriptural narrative of the contention of the Egyptian magicians against Moses.
The greater number of Bacon's exploits are mere adapta- tions of mediaeval stories, but they show, nevertheless, what was the popular notion of the magician's character. Such is the story of the gentleman who, reduced to poverty and involved in debt, sold himself to the evil one, on condition that he was to deliver himself up as soon as his debts were paid. As may be imagined without much difficulty, he was not in haste to satisfy his creditors, but at length the time came when he could put them off no longer, and then, in his despair, he would have committed violence on himself had not his hand been arrested by Bacon. The latter, when he had heard the gentleman's story, directed him to repair to the place appointed for his meeting with the evil one, to deny the devil's claim, and to refer for judgment to the first person who should pass " In the morning, after that he had blessed himself, he went to the wood, where he found the devil ready for him. So soon as he came near, the devil said : ' Now, deceiver, are you come ? Now shall thou see that I can and will prove that thou hast paid all thy debts, and therefore thy soul belongest to me.' ' Thou art a deceiver,' said the gentleman, ' and gavest me money to cheat me of my soul, for else why wilt thou be thine own judge ? — let me have some others to judge between us.' ' Content,' said the devil, ' take whom thou wilt.' ' Then I will have,' said the gentleman, ' the next man that cometh this way.' Hereto the devil agreed. No sooner were these words ended, but Friar Bacon came by, to whom this gentleman spoke, and' requested that he would be judge in a weighty matter between them two. The friar said he was content, so both parties were agreed ; the devil told Friar Bacon how the case stood between them in this manner. ' Know, friar, that I seeing this prodigal like to starve for want of food, lent him money, not only to buy him victuals, but also to redeem his lands and pay his debts, conditionally that so soon as his debts were paid, that he should give himself freely to me ; to this, here is
his hand ' — showing him the bond. ' Now, my time is- expired, for all his debts are paid, which he cannot deny.' ' This case is plain, if it be so that his debts are paid.' ' His silence confirms it,' said the devil, ' therefore give him a just sentence.' ' I will,' said Friar Bacon, ' but first tell me,' — speaking to the gentleman — ' didst thou never yet give the devil any of his money back, nor requite him in any ways ? ' ' Never had he anything of me as yet,' answered the gentleman. ' Then never let him have anything of thee, and thou art free. Deceiver of man- kind,' said he, speaking to the devil, ' it was thy bargain never to meddle with him so long as he was indebted to any ; now how canst thou demand of him anything when he is indebted for all that he hath to thee ? When he- payeth thee thy money, then take him as thy due ; till, then thou hast nothing to do with him, and so I charge thee to be gone.' At this the devil vanished with great horror, but Friar Bacon comforted the gentleman, and sent him home with a quiet conscience, bidding him never to pay the devil's money back, as he valued his own safety."
Bacon now met with a companion, Friar Bungay, whose tastes and pursuits were congenial to his own, and with his assistance he undertook the exploit for which he was most famous. He had a fancy that he would defend England against its enemies, by walling it with brass, preparatory to which they made a head of that metal. Their intent was to make the head speak, for which purpose they raised a spirit in a wood, by whose directions they made a fumi- gation, to which the head was to be exposed during a month, and to be carefully watched, because if the two friars did not hear it before it had ceased speaking, their labour would be lost. Accordingly, the care of watching over the head while they slept was entrusted to Bacon's man Miles. The period of utterance unfortunately came while Miles was watching. The head suddenly uttered the two- words, " Time is." Miles thought it was unnecessary to disturb his master for such a brief speech, and sat still. In half an hour, the head again broke silence with the words, " Time was." Still Miles waited until, in another half hour, the head said, " Time is past," and fell to the ground with a terrible noise. Thus, through the negligence of Miles, the labour of the two friars was thrown away.
The king soon required Friar Bacon's services, and the latter enabled him, by his perspective and burning-glasses, to take a town which he was besieging. In consequence of this success, the kings of England and France made peace, and a grand court was held, at which the German conjurer, Vandermast, was brought to try his skill against Bacon. Their performances were something ■ in the style of Bacon's former exhibition before the king and queen. Vandermast, in revenge, sent a soldier to kill Bacon, but in vain. Next follow a series of adventures which consist of a few mediaeval stories very clumsily put together among which are that known as the Friar and the Boy, that which appeared in Scottish verse, under the title of The Friars of Berwick, a tale taken from the Gesta Romanorum, and some others. A contention in magic between Vander- mast and Bungay, ended in the deaths of both. The servant Miles next turned conjurer, having got hold of one of Bacon's books, and escaped with a dreadful fright, and a broken leg. Everything now seemed to go wrong. Friar Bacon " had a glacs which was of that excellent nature that any man might behold anything that he desired to see within the compass of fifty miles round about him." In this glass he used to show people what their relations and friends were doing, or where they were. One day two young gentlemen of high birth came to look into the glass, and they beheld their fathers desperately fighting together, upon which they drew their swords and
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slew each other. Bacon was so shocked that he broke his glass, and hearing about the same time of the deaths of Vandermast and Bungay, he became melancholy, and at length he burnt his books of magic, distributed his wealth among poor scholars and others, and became an anchorite. Thus ended the life of Friar Bacon, according to " the famous history," which probably owed most of its incidents to the imagination of the writer.
Bacoti : A common name for the augurs and sorcerers of Tonquin. They are often consulted by the friends of deceased persons for the purpose of holding communication with them.
Backstrom, Dr. Sigismund : (See Rosierucians).
Bad : A Jinn of Persia who is supposed to have command over the winds and tempests. He presides over the twenty-second day of the month.
Badger : To bury the foot of a badger underneath one's sleeping-place is believed by the Voodoo worshippers and certain Gypsy tribes to excite or awaken love.
Bael : A demon cited in the Grand Grimoire (q.v.), and head of the infernal powers. It is with him that Wierius com- mences his inventory of the famous Pseudonomarchia Daemonum. He alludes to Bael as the first monarch of hell, and says that his estates are situated on the eastern regions thereof. -He has three heads, one, that of a crab, another that of a cat, and the third that of a man. Sixty-six legions obey him.
Bagoe : A pythoness, who is believed to have been the Erithryean sibyl. She is said to have been the first woman to have practised the diviner's art. She practised in Tuscany, and judged all events by the sound of thunder.
Bagommedes : a knight mentioned by Gautier in the Conte du Graal. It is said that he was fastened to a tree by Kay and left hanging head downwards, until released by Perceval. On Bagommede's return to the court he challenged Kay, but was prevented by Arthur from slaying him.
Bahaman : A jinn who, according to Persian tradition, appeased anger, and in consequence governed oxen, sheep, and all animals of a peaceful disposition.
Bahir : (" Brightness.") A mystical Hebrew treatise of the twelfth or thirteenth century, the work of a French rabbi, by name Isaac ben Abraham of Posquieres, com- monly called " Isaac the Blind." {See Kabala).
Baian : son of Simeon, King of the Bulgarians, and a mighty magician, who could transform himself into a wolf whenever he desired. He could also adopt other shapes and render himself invisible. He is alluded to by Ninauld in his Lycanthropie (page 100).
Balan : A monarch great and terrible among the infernal powers, according to Wierius. He has three heads, those of a bull, a man, and a ram. Joined to these is the tail of a serpent, the eyes of which burn with fire. He be- strides an enormous bear. He commands forty of the infernal legions, and rules over finesse, ruses and middle courses.
BalasiUS : To describe this stone in fewer words than Leonardus has used would be impossible. It is " of a purple or rosy colour, and by some is Galled the placidus or pleasant. Some think it is the carbuncle diminished in its colour and virtue ; just as the virtue of the female differs from that of the male. It is often found that the external part of one and the same stone appears a balasius, and the internal a carbuncle, from whence comes the saying that the balasius is the carbuncle's house. The virtue of the balasius is to overcome and repress vain thoughts and luxury ; to reconcile quarrels among friends ; and it be- friends the human body with a good habit of health. Being bruised and drunk with water, it relieves infirmities in the eyes, and gives help in disorders of the liver ; and what
is still more surprising, if you touch the four corners of a house, garden or vineyard, with the balasius, it will preserve them from lightning, tempest, and worms."
Baleoin, Marie : a sorceress of the country of Labour, who attended the infernal Sabbath in the reign of Henry IV of France. In the indictment against her it was brought forward that she had eaten at the Sabbatic meeting the ear of a little child. For her numerous sorceries she was condemned to be burnt.
Balkan Peninsula : See Slavs ; Greece, Modern ; Vampire, etc.
Ballou, Adin : A Universalist minister who in 1842 formed the Hopedale Community (q.v.). He was one of those whose doctrines prepared the way for spiritualism in America, and who, after that movement had been in- augurated, became one of its most enthusiastic protago- nists (See America, U.S. of).
Balor : a mighty King of the Formorians, usually styled " Balor of the Evil Eye," in Irish mythical tales. It was believed that he was able to destroy by means of an angry glance. When his eyelid became heavy with years, it is said that he had it raised by means of ropes and pulleys, so that he might continue to make use of his magical gift : but his grandson, Lugh, the Sun-god, crept near him one day when his eyelid had drooped momentarily, and slew him with a great stone which sank through his eye and brain.
Balsa mo, Peter : (See Cagliostro).
Baltazo : One of the demons who possessed a young woman of Laon, Nicole Aubry, in the year 1566. He went to sup with her husband, under the pretext of freeing her from demon-possession, which he did not accomplish. It was observed that at supper he did not drink, which shows that demons are averse to water.
Baltus, Jean Francois : A learned Jesuit who died in 1743. In his Reply to the History of the Oracles of Fontenelle, pub- lished in Strasbourg in 1709, he affirmed that the oracles of the ancients were the work of demons, and that they were reduced to silence during the mission of Christ upon the earth.
Banshee : An Irish supernatural being of the wraith type. The name implies " female fairy." She is usually the possession of a specific family, to a member or members of whom she appears before the death of one of them. Mr. Thistleton Dyer, writing on the Banshee says :
" Unlike, also, many of the legendary beliefs of this kind, the popular accounts illustrative of it are related on the evidence of all sections of the communit3', many an en- lightened and well-informed advocate being enthusiastic in his vindication of its reality. It would seem, however, that no family which is not of an ancient and noble stock is honoured with this visit of the Banshee, and hence its non-appearance has been regarded as an indication of disqualification in this respect on the part of the person about to die. ' If I am rightly informed,' writes Sir Walter Scott, ' the distinction of a Banshee is only allowed to families of the pure Milesian stock, and is never ascribed to any descendant of the proudest Norman or the boldest Saxon who followed the banner of Strongbow, much less to adventurers of later dates who have obtained settlements in the Green Isle.' Thus, an amusing story is contained in an Irish elegy to the effect that on the death of one of the Knights of Kerry, when the Banshee was heard to lament his decease at Dingle — a seaport town, the property of those knights — all the merchants of this place were thrown into a state of alarm lest the mournful and ominous wailing should be a forewarning of the death of one of them, but, as the poet humorously points out, there was no necessity for them to be anxious on this point. Although, through misfortune, a family may be brought down from high estate to the rank of peasant tenants, the Banshee
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never leaves nor forgets it till the last member has been gathered to his fathers in the churchyard. The Mac- Carthyn, O'Flahertys, Magraths, O'Neils, O'Rileys, O'Sulli- vans, O'Reardons, have their Banshees, though many representatives of these names are in abject poverty.
" ' The Banshee,' says Mr. McAnally, ' is really a dis- embodied soul, that of one who in life was strongly at- tached to the family, or who had good reason to hate all its members. Thus, in different instances, the Banshee's song may be inspired by different motives. When the Banshee loves those she calls, the song is a low, soft chant, giving notice, indeed, of the close proximity of the angel of death, but with a tenderness of tone that reassures the one destined to die and comforts the survivors ; rather a welcome than a warning, and having in its tones a thrill of exultation, as though the messenger spirit were bringing glad tidings to him summoned to join the waiting throng of his ancesters.' To a doomed member of the family of the O'Reardons the Banshee generally appears in the form of a beautiful woman, ' and sings a song so sweetly solemn as to reconcile him to his approaching fate.' But if, during his lifetime, the Banthee was an enemy of the family, the cry is the scream of a fiend, howling with demoniac delight over the coming death agony of another of his foes.
" Hence, in Ireland, the hateful 'Banshee ' is a source of dread to many a family against which she has an enmity. ' It appears,' adds McAnally, ' that a noble family, whose name is still familiar in Mayo, is attended by a Banshee of this description — -the spirit of a young girl, deceived, and afterwards murdered by a former head of the family. With her dying breath she cursed her murderer, and promised she would attend him and his forever. After many years the chieftain reformed his ways, and his youthful crime was almost forgotten even by himself, when one night, as he and his family were seated by the fire, the most terrible shrieks were suddenly heard outside the castle walls. All, ran out, but saw nothing. During the night the screams continued as though the castle were besieged by demons, and the unhappy man recognised in the cry of the Banshee the voice of the young girl he had murdered. The next night he was assassinated by one of his followers, when again the wild unearthly screams were heard exulting over his fate. Since that night the ' hateful Banshee ' has, it is said, never failed to notify the family, with shrill cries of revengeful gladness, when the time of one of their number has arrived."
" Among some of the recorded instances of the Banshee's appearance may be mentioned one related by Miss L?frau, the niece of Sheridan, in the Memoirs of her grandmother, Mrs. Frances Sheridan. From this account we gather that Miss Elizabeth Sheridan was a firm believer in the Banshee, and firmly maintained that the one attached to the Sheri- dan family was distinctly heard lamenting beneath the windows of the family residence before the news arrived from France of Mrs. Frances Sheridan's death at Blois. She added that a niece of Miss Sheridan made her very angry by observing that as Mrs. Frances Sheridan was by birth a Chamberlaine, a family of English extraction, she had no right to the guardianship of an Irish fairy, and that therefore the Banshee must have made a mistake. Then there is the well-known case related by Lady Fanshawe who tells us how, when on a visit in Ireland, she was a- wakened. at midnight by a loud scream outside her window. On looking out she saw a young and rather handsome woman, with dishevelled hair, who vanished before her eyes with another shriek. On communicating the circum- stance in the morning, her host replied, ' A near relation of mine died last night in the castle, and before such an event happens, the female spectre whom you have seen is always visible."
" This weird apparition is generally supposed to assume the form of a woman, sometimes young, but more often old. She is usually attired in a loose white drapery, and her long ragged locks hang over her thin shoulders. As night time approaches she occasionally becomes visible, and pours forth her mournful wail — a sound said to re- semble the melancholy moaning of the wind. Oftentimes she is not seen but only heard, yet she is supposed to be always clearly discernible to the person upon whom she specially waits. Respecting the history of the Banshee, popular tradition in many instances accounts for its pres- ence as the spirit of some mortal woman whose destinies have become linked by some accident with those of the family she follows. It is related how the Banshee of the family of the O'Briens of Thomond was originally a woman who had been seduced by one of the chiefs of that race — an act of indiscretion which ultimately brought about her death."
Bantu Tribes : (See Africa).
Baphomet : The goat-idol of the Templars (q.v.) and the deity of the sorcerers' Sabbath. The name is composed of three abbreviations : Tern. ohp. Ab, Templi omnium hominum pads abhas, " the father of the temple of uni- , versal peace among men." Some authorities hold that the Baphomet was a monstrous head, others that it was a demon in the form of a goat. An account of a veritable Baphometic idol is as follows : " A pantheistic and magical figure of the Absolute. The torch placed between the two horns, represents the equilbrating intelligence of the triad. The goat's head, which is synthetic, and unites some char- acteristics of the dog, bull, and ass, represents the exclusive responsibility of matter and the expiation of bodily sins in the body. The hands are human, to exhibit the sanctity of labour ; they make the sign of esotericism above and below, to impress mystery on initiates, and they point at two lunar crescents, the upper being white and the lower black, to explain the correspondences of good and evil, mercy and justice. The lower part of the body is veiled, portraying the mysteries of universal generation, which is expressed solely by the symbol of the caduceus. The belly of the goat is scaled, and should be coloured green, the semicircle above should be blue ; the plumage, reaching to the breast, should be of various hues. The goat has female breasts, and thus its only human characteristics are those of maternity and toil, otherwise the signs of redemption. On its forehead, between the horns and beneath the torch, is the sign of the microcosm, or the pentagram with one beam in the ascendant, symbol of human intelligence, which, placed thus below the torch, makes the flame of the latter an image of divine revelation. This Pantheos should be seated on a cube, and its foot- stool should be a single ball, or a ball and a triangular stool."
Wright (Narratives of Sorcery and Magic), writing on the Baphomet says : — " Another charge in the accusation of the Templars seems to have been to a great degree proved by the depositions of witnesses ; the idol or head which they are said to have worshipped,' but the real character or meaning of which we are totally unable to explain. Many Templars confessed to having seen this idol, but as they described it differently; we must suppose that it was not in all cases represented under the same form. Some said it was a frightful head, with long beard and sparkling eyes ; others said it was a man's skull ; some described it as having three faces ; some said it was of wood, and others of metal ; one witness described it as a painting (tabula picta) representing the image a man (imago hominis) and said that when it was shown to him, he was ordered to ' adore Christ, his creator.' According to some it was a gilt figure, either of wood or metal ; while others
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described it as painted black and white. According to another deposition, the idol had four feet, two before and two behind ; the one belonging to the order at Paris, was said to be a silver head, with two faces and a beard. The novices of the order were told always to regard this idol as their saviour. Deodatus Jaffet, a knight from the south of France, who had been received at Pedenat, deposed that the person who in his case performed the ceremonies of reception, showed him a head or idol, which appeared to have three faces, and said, ' You must adore this as your saviour, and the saviour of the order of the Temple ' and that he was made to worship the idol, saying, ' Blessed be he who shall save my soul.' Cettus Ragonis, a knight received at Rome in a chamber of the palace of the Lateran, gave a somewhat similar account. Many other witness s spoke of having seen these heads, which, however, were, perhaps, not shown to everybody, for the greatest number of those who spoke on this subject, said that they had heard speak of the head, but that they had never seen it themselves ; and many of them declared their disbelief in its existence. A friar minor deposed in England that an English Templar had assured him that in that country the order had four principal idols, one at London, in the Sacristy of the Temple, another at Bristelham, a third at Brueria (Bruern in Lincolnshire), and a fourth beyond the Humber.
" Some of the knights from the south added another circumstance in their confessions relating to this head. A templar of Florence, declared that, in the secret meetings of the chapters, one brother said to the others, showing them the idol, ' Adore this head. This head is your God and your Mahomet.' Another, Gauserand de Montpesant, said that the idol was made in the figure of Baffomet {in figuram Baffometi) ; and another, Raymond Rubei, de- scribed it as a wooden head, on which was painted the figure of Baphomet, and he adds, ' that he worshipped it by kissing its feet, and exclaiming Xalla,' which he des- cribes as ' a word of the Saracens ' (verbum Saracenorum). This has been seized upon by some as a proof that the Templars had secretly embraced Mahometanism, as Baffomet or Baphomet is evidently a corruption of Mahomet ; but it must not be forgotten that the Christians of the West constantly used the word Mahomst in the mere signification of an idol, and that it was the desire of those who. conducted the prosecution against the Templars to show their intimate intercourse with the Saracens. Others, especially Von Hammer, gave a Greek derivation of the word, and assumed it as a proof that gnosticism was the secret doctrine of the temple. ..."
Baptism : It was said that at the witches' Sabbath children and toads were baptised with certain horrible rites. This was called the baptism of the devil.
Baptism of the Line : A curious rite is performed on persons crossing the equator for the first time. The sailors who are to carry it out dress themselves in quaint costumes. The Father of the Line arrives in a cask, accompanied by a courier, a devil, a hair-dresser, and a miller. The un- fortunate passenger has his hair curled, is liberally sprinkled with flour, and then has water showered upon him, if he is not ducked. The origin of this custom is not known, nor is it quite clear what part the devil plays in it. It is said, however, that it may be averted by tipping the sailors.
Baquet : A large circular tub which entered largely into the treatment which D'Eslon, the friend and follower of Mesmer, prescribed for his patients. Puysegur tells ns in his book Du Maqnetisme Animal, that in the baquet were placed some bottles, arranged in a particular manner, and partly covered with water. It was fitted with a lid in which were several holes, through which paesed iron
rods, connecting the patients, who sat round the contri- vance, with the interior of the tub. The operator was armed with a shorter iron rod. While the patients waited for the symptoms of the magnetic treatment, someone- played upon a pianoforte, a device which is frequently adopted at seances. The symptoms included violent con- vulsions, cries, laughter, and vomiting. This state they called the crisis, and it was supposed to hasten the healing, process. A commission appointed in 1784 by the French government through the Faculte de Medecine and the- Sociste royale de Medecine, reported that such practices were exceedingly dangerous, and in nowise proved the existence of the magnetic fluid. Di. Bell a " professor of animal magnetism " set up a similar institution in England in 1785, using a large oak baquet.
Bar-Lgura : (Semitic demon ) : Sits on the roofs of houses and leaps on the inhabitants. People so afflicted are called d'baregara.
Barqu : A demon in whose keeping was the secret of the Philosophers' stone.
Barguest, the : A goblin or phantom of a mischievous character, so named from his habit of sitting on bars or gates. It is said that he can make himself visible in the day time. Rich in the Encyclopedia Metropolitana relates a story of a lady, whom he knew, who had been brought up in the country. She had been passing through the fields one morning, when a girl, and saw, as she thought, someone sitting on a stile : however, as she drew near, it vanished.
Barnaud, Nicholas : A medical doctor of the sixteenth century who claimed to have discovered the Philosophers' Stone. He published a great number of short treatises on the subject of Alchemy, which are contained in the third volume of the Theatrum Chimicum of Zetzner, pub- lished at Strasburg, in 1659.
Baron Chacs : {See Busardiar).
Bartholomew : {See Dee).
Baru : Caste of priests. {See Semites.)
Basil : an astrologer. {See Italy).
Basilideans : A gnostic sect founded by Basilides of Alexandria, who claimed to huve received his esoteric doctrines from Glaucus, a disciple of the Apostle Peter. The system had three grades — material, intellectual, and spiritual, and possessed two allegorical statues, male and female. The doctrine had many points of resemblance- to that of the Ophites (q.v.), and ran on the lines of Jewish Kabalism.
Bassantin, James : a Scottish astrologer, the son of the Laird of Bassantin, in the Merse, was born in the reign of James IV. ; and, after studying mathematics at the University of Glasgow, he travelled for farther information on the Continent. He subsequently went to Paris, where for some years he taught mathematics in the University. He returned to Scotland in 1562. The prevailing belief of that age, particularly in France, was a belief in judicial astrology. In his way home through England, as we learn from Sir James Melville's Memoirs, he met with his brother, Sir Robert Melville, who was at that time engaged, on the part of the unfortunate Mary, in endeavouring to effect a meeting between her and Elizabeth ; when he- predicted that all his efforts would be in vain ; " for, first, they will neuer meit togither, and next, there will nevir be bot discembling and secret hattrent (hatred) for a whyle, and at length captivity and utter wrak for our Ouen by England." Melville's answer was, that he could not credit such news, which he looked upon as " false, ungodly, and unlawful ; " on which Bassantin replied, " Sa far as Me- lanthon, wha was a godly thologue, has declared and written anent the naturall scyences, that are lawfull and daily red in dyvers Christian Universities ; in the quhilkis.
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as in all other artis, God gives to some less, to some mair and clearer knawledge than till othirs ; be the quhilk knawledge I have also that at length, that the kingdom of England sail of rycht fall to the crown of Scotland, and that ther are some born at this instant that sail bruik lands and heritages in 'England. Bot, alace, it will cost many their lyves, and many bluidy battailes will be fouchen first, and the Spaniatris will be helpers, and will take a part to themselves for their labours." The first part of Bassantin's prediction, which he might very well have hazarded from what he may have known of Elizabeth's character and disposition, and also from the fact that Mary was the next heir to the English throne, proved true. Bassantin was a zealous Protestant and a supporter of the Regent Moray. He died in 1568. His principal work is a Treatise or Discourse on Astronomy, written in French, which was translated into Latin by John Torncesius (M. de Tournes), and published at Geneva in 1599. He wrote four other treatises. Although well versed for his time in what are called the exact sciences, Bassantin, or, as his name is sometimes spelt, Bassantoun, had received no part of a classical education. Vossius observes, that his Astro- nomical Discourse was written in very bad French, and that the author knew " neither Greek nor Latin, but only Scots." Bassantin's Planetary System was that of Ptolemy.
Bat : There is an Oriental belief that the bat is specially adapted to occult uses. In the Tyrol it is believed that the man who wears the left eye of a bat may become in- visible, and in Hesse he who wears the heart of a bat bound to his arm with red thread will always be lucky at cards. (See Chagrin).
Bataille, Dr. : Author of Le Diable au XIX. Sidcle. Under the pseudonym of Dr. Hecks he purports to have wit- nessed the secret rites and orgies of many diabolic societies, but a merely perfunctory examination of his work is suffi- cient to brand it as wholly an effort of the imagination.
Bathym, also called Marthim, a duke of the Infernal Regions. He has the appearance of a robust man, says Wierius, but his body ends in a serpent's tail. He be- strides a steed of livid colour. He is well versed in the virtues of herbs and precious stones. He is' able to trans- port men from one place to another with wondrous speed. Thirty legions obey his behests.
Baton, the Devil's : There is preserved in the marche d' A ncdne, Tolentino, a baton which it is said that the devil used.
Battle of Loquifer, The : a tale incorporated in the Charlemagne saga, supposed to have been written about the twelfth century. Its hero is Renouart, the giant brother-in-law of William of Orange, and the events take place on the sea. Renouart and his barons are on the shore at Porpaillart, when a Saracen fleet is seen. He is persuaded to enter one of the ships, which immediately set sail ; and he is told by Isembert, a hideous monster, that the Saracens mean to flay him alive. Renouart, armed only with a huge bar of wood, kills this creature, and makes the Saracens let him go, while they return to their own country. It is arranged that Renouart will fight one Loquifer, a fairy giant and leader of the Saracens ; and on the issue of this combat the war will depend. They meet on an island near Porpaillart. Loquifer is in pos- session of a magical balm, which heals all his wounds im- mediately, and is concealed in his club ; but Renouart, who is assisted by angel?, at length succeeds in depriving Loquifer of his club, so that his strength departs. Renouart slays him, and the devil carries off his soul. The romance goes on to tell of a duel between William of Orange and Desrame, Renouart's father, in which the latter is slain. Renouart is comforted by fairies, who bear him to Avalon
where he has many adventures. He is finally wrecked, but is rescued by mermaids, and awakes to find himself on the sands at Porpaillart, from which spot he had been taken to Avalon. Bauer, George : who Latinized his name (a boor or hus- bandman) into " Agricola," was born in the province of Misnia, in 1494. An able and industrious man, he acquired a considerable knowledge of the principles of medicine, which led him, as it led his contemporaries, to search for the elixir vita and the Philosopher's Stone. A treatise on these interesting subjects, which he published at Cologne in 1 53 1, secured him the favour of Duke Maurice of Saxony, who appointed him the superintendent of his silver-mines at Chemnitz. In this post he obtained a practical ac- quaintance with the properties of metals which dissipated his wild notions of their possible transmutation into gold ; but if he abandoned one superstition he adopted another, and from the legends of the miners imbibed a belief in the existence of good and evil spirits in the bowels of the earth, and in the creation of explosive gases and fire-damp by the malicious agency of the latter. Bauer died in 1555.
Bave : Daughter of the wizard Calatin. She figures in the famous Irish legend The Cattle Raid of Quelgny. By taking the form of one of Niam's handmaids she succeeded in enticing her away from Cuchulin, and led her forth to wander in the woods.
Bayemon : The grimoire of Pope Honorius gives this name as that of a powerful demon whom it addresses as monarch of the western parts of the Infernal Regions. To him the following invocation is addressed : " O King Bayemon, most mighty, who reigneth towards the western parts, I call upon thee and invoke thy name in the name of the Divinity. I command thee in the name of the Most High to present thyself before this circle, thee and the other spirits who are thy subjects, in the name of Passiel and Rosus, for the purpose of replying to all that which I de- mand of thee. If thou dost not come I will torment thee with a sword of heavenly fire. I will augment thy pains and burn thee. Obey, O King Bayemon.
Bealings Bells : In February, 1834, a mysterious outbreak of bell-ringing was heard at the residence of Major Moor, F.R.S., — Bealings, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. From the 2nd of February to the 27th of March the bells of the house rang at frequent intervals, and without any visible agency. The Major meanwhile took careful note of the condition of the atmosphere, state of the wires, and any physical cause which might affect the bells, but, as Mr. Podmore justly points out, he omitted to take precautions against trickery in his own household, and has not even left on record the names of its members, or any facts concerning them.
Beans : A forbidden article of diet. The consumption of beans was prohibited by Pythagoras and Plato to those who desire veracious dreams, as they tend to inflate ; and for the purpose of truthful dreaming, the animal nature must be made to lie quiet. Cicero, however, laughs at this discipline, asking if it be the stomach and not the mind with which one dreams ?
Bearded Demon : The demon who teaches the secret of the Philosophers' Stone. He is but little known. The (lemon barbu is not to be confused with Barbatos, a great and powerful demon who is a duke in Hades, though not a philosopher ; nor with Barbas, who is interested in mechanics. It is said that the bearded demon is so called on account of his remarkable beard.
Beaumont, John : Author of a Treatise on Spirits, Ap- paritions, etc., published in 1705. He is described as " a man of hypochondriacal disposition, with a considerable degree of reading, but with a strong bias to credulity." Labouring under this affection, he saw hundreds of
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imaginary men and women about him, though, as he adds, he never saw anything in the night-time, unless by fire or candlelight, or in the moonshine. " I had two spirits," he says, " who constantly attended me, night and day, for above three months together, who called each other by their names ; and several spirits would call at my chamber door, and ask whether such spirits lived there, and they would answer they did. As for the other spirits that attended me, I heard none of their names mentioned only I asked one spirit, which came for some nights to- gether, and rung a little bell in my ear, what his name was, who answered Ariel. The two spirits that constantly attended myself appeared both in women's habit, they being of a brown complexion, about three feet in stature ; they had both black loose net-work gowns, tied with a black sash about the middle, and within the net-work appeared a gown of a golden colour, with somewhat of a light striking through it. Their heads were not dressed in top-knots, but they had white linen caps on, with lace on them about three fingers' breadth, and over it they had a black loose net-work hood."
" I would not," he says, " for the whole world, undergo what I have undergone, upon spirits coming twice to me ; their first coming was most dreadful to me, the thing being then altogether new, and consequently most surprising, though at the first coming they did not appear to me but only called to me at my chamber-windows, rung bells, sung to me, and played on music, etc.; but the last coming also carried terror enough ; for when they came, being only five in number, the two women before mentioned, and three men (though afterwards there came hundreds), they told me they would kill me if I told any person in the house of their being there, which put me in some con- sternation ; and I made a servant sit up with me four nights in my chamber, before a fire, it being in the Christ- mas holidays, telling no person of their being there. One of these spirits, in women's dress, lay down upon the bed by me every night ; and told me, if I slept, the spirits would kill me, which kept me waking for three nights. In the meantime, a near relation of mine went (though unknown to me) to a physician of my acquaintance, de- siring him to prescribe me somewhat for sleeping, which he did, and a sleeping potion was brought me ; but I set it by, being very desirous and inclined to sleep without it. The fourth night I could hardly forbear sleeping ; but the spirit, lying on the bed by me, told me again, I should be killed if I slept ; whereupon I rose and sat by the fireside, and in a while returned to my bed ; and so I did a third time, but was still threatened as before ; whereupon I grew impatient, and asked the spirits what they would have ? Told them I had done the part of a Christian, in humbling myself to God, and feared them not ; and rose from my bed. took a cane, and knocked at the ceiling of my chamber, a near relation of mine then lying over me, who presently rose and came down to me about two o'clock in the morn- ing, to whom I said, " You have seen me disturbed these four days past, and that I have not slept : the occasion of it was, that five spirits, which are now in the room with me, have threatened to kill me if I told any person of their being here, or if I slept ; but I am not able to forbear sleep- ing longer, and acquaint you with it, and now stand in defiance of them ; and thus I exerted myself about them and notwithstanding their continued threats I slept very well the next night, and continued to do so, though they continued with me above three months, day and night." Beausoleil, Jean du Chatelot, Baron de : German min- eralogist and alchemist, who lived during the first half of the seventeenth century. He travelled over most European countries looking for metals with the aid of a divining ring. In 1626 his instruments were seized under the pretext that
they were bewitched, and he himself prisoned in the Bas- tille, where he died in 1645. In 1617 he published a work entitled Diorisinus, id est definitis verae philisophice de materia prima lapidis philosophalis . Beausoleil was the greatest of French metallurgists of his time.
Bechard : A demon alluded to in the Key of Solomon as having power over the winds and the tempests. He makes hail, thunder and rain.
Bed : Graham's Magnetic : A magnetic contrivance made use of by one Graham, physician and magnetist of Edin- burgh. His whole house, which he termed the Temple of Hygeia, was of great magnificence, but particularly did splendour prevail in the room wherein was set the magnetic bed. The bed itself rested on six transparent pillars ; the mattresses were soaked with oriental perfumes ; the bed- clothes were of satin, in tints of purple and sky-blue. A healing stream of magnetism, as well as fragrant and strengthening medicines, were introduced into the sleeping apartment through glass tubes and cylinders. To these attractions were added the soft strains of hidden flutes, harmonicons, and a large organ. Permission to use this celestial couch, so soothing to shattered nerves, was ac- corded only to those who sent a written application to its owner, inclosing £50 sterling.
Bees : It is maintained by certain demonologists that if a sorceress ate a queen-bee before being captured, she would be able to sustain her trial and tortures without making a confession. In some parts of Brittany it is claimed for these insects that they are' very sensitive to the fortunes and misfortunes of their master, and will not thrive unless he is careful to tie a piece of black cloth to the hive when a death occurs in the family, and a piece of red cloth when there is any occasion of rejoicing. So- linus writes that there are no bees in Ireland, and even if a little Irish earth be taken to another country, and spread about the hives, the bees will be forced to abandon the place, so fatal to them is the earth of Ireland. The same story is found in the Origines of Isodore. " Must we seek," says Lebrun, " the source of this calumny of Irish earth ? No ; for it is sufficient to say that it is a fable, and that many bees are to be found in Ireland."
Belin, Albert : A Benedictine, born at Besancon in 1610. His principal works are a treaty on talismans and a dis- sertation upon astral figures, published at Paris in 1671, and again in 1709. He also wrote Sympathetic Powder Justified, an alchemical work, and Adventures of an un- known philosopher in the search for and the manufacture of the Philosopher' s Stone. This latter work is divided into four books and speaks very clearly of the manner in which the stone is made. (Paris, 1664 and 1674).
Bell, Dr. : (See Spiritualism.)
Belle-FIeur, La : (See Antichrist.)
Bellenden, Sir Lewis : (See Scotland.)
Belli Paaro : A secret society of Liberia, Africa, the cult of which consists in a description of brotherhood with departed spirits. Dapper, an early author, saj'S of this society : " They have also another custom which they call Belli Paaro, of which they say it is a death,a new birth and an incorporation in the community of spirits or soul with whom the common folk associate in the bush, and help to eat the offerings prepared for the spirits." This description is far from clear, but it is obvious enough that those who join the society desire to be regarded as spirit- ualised, or as having died and having been brought to life again ; and that their society is nothing more than a con- fraternity of all those who have passed through this training in common.
Belloe, Jeanne : A sorceress of the district of Labour, in France, who in the reign of Henry IV. was indicted for sorcery at the age of 84 years. In answer to Pierre Delancre-
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who interrogated her, she stated that she commenced to repair to the sabbatic meetings of Satan in the winter of the year 1609, that she was there presented to the Devil who kissed her, a mark of approbation which he bestowed upon the greatest sorcerers only. She related that the Sabbath was a species of bal masque, to which some came in their ordinary forms, whilst others joined the dance in the guise of dogs cats, donkeys, pigs and other animals. Belocolus : A white stone with a black pupil, said to
render its bearer invisible in a field of battle. Belomaney : The method of divination by arrows, dates as far back as the age of the Chaldeans. It existed among the Greeks, and still later among the Arabians. The manner in which the latter practised it is described else- where, and they continued its use though forbidden by the Koran. Another method deserves mention. This was to throw a certain number of arrows into the air, and the direction in which the arrow inclined as it fell, pointed out the course to be taken by the inquirer. Divination by arrows is the same in principle as Rhabdomancy (q.v.). Belphegor : The demon of discoveries and ingenious inventions. He appears always in the shape of a young woman. The Moabites, who called him Baalphegor, adored him on Mount Phegor. He it is who bestows riches. Benedict IX. : At a time when the papacy was much abused — about the tenth and eleventh centuries — the papal crown was more than once offered for sale. Thus the office fell into the hands of a high and ambitious family who held it for a boy of twelve — Benedict IX. As he grew older the boy lost no opportunity of disgracing his position by his depraved mode of life. But, like his predecessors in the papal chair, he excelled in sorcery and various forms of magic. One of the most curious stories concerning him tells how he made the Roman matrons follow him over hill and dale, through forests and across rivers, by the charm of his magic, as though he were a sort of Pied Piper. Benemmerinnen : Hebrew witches who haunt women in
childbirth for the purpose of stealing new-born infants. Benjees, The : A people of the East Indies, given over to the worship of the Devil ; and whose temples and pagodas are filled with horrible statues of him. The king of Calicut had a temple wholly filled with awful figures of the devil, and which was lighted only with the gleam of many lamps. In the centre was a copper throne, on which was seated a devil, made of the same metal, with a large tiara on his head, three huge horns and four others which come out of his forehead. On his tongue and in his hand were two figures — souls, which the Indians say, he s preparing to devour. Bensozia : According to Don Martin in his Religion de Gaulois, " chief deviless " of a certain Sabbatic meeting held in France in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. She was, he says, the Diana of the ancient Gauls, and was also called Nocticula, Herodias, and " The Moon." One finds in the manuscripts of the church at Couserans. that the ladies of the fourteenth century were said to go on horseback to the nocturnal revelries of Bensozia. All of them were forced to inscribe their names in a Sabbatic catalogue along with those of the sorcerers proper, and after this ceremony they believed themselves to be fairies. There was found at Montmorillon in Poitou, in the eighteenth century, a portion of an ancient temple, a bas- relief with the figure of a naked woman curved upon it, and it is not unlikely, thinks Collin de Plancy, that this figure was the original deity of the Bensozia cult. Beowulf : an Anglo-Saxon saga of great interest. The events in this poem probably took place about the fifth century. Beowulf, himself, was most likely one of the Sons of Light or Men of the Sun, whose business it was to fight the powers of darkness until they themselves fell.
It is related in this legend how Beowulf fought the monster, Grendel, and succeeded in defeating him — the giant es- caping only by leaving his arm in Beowulf's grip. But Grendel's mother, a mer-woman, came to revenge him and slew many people. Beowulf, hearing of this, took up the quarrel, and diving to the bottom of the sea, where her palace lay, killed her after a fierce fight. Later on Beowulf was made regent of Gothland, and afterwards king, and he reigned for about forty years. He was poi- soned by the fangs of a dragon during a mighty struggle, and died from the effects. He was buried on a hill named Hronesnas, and was deeply mourned by his people.
Berande : A sorceress burnt at Maubec, in France, in 1577. She was confronted by a damsel whom she accused of sorcery, which the girl denied, whereat the beldame ex- claimed, " Dost thou not remember how at the last dance at the Croix du Pate, thou didst carry a pot of poison ? " The damsel at this confessed, and was burnt along with her accuser.
Eeresehith : .Universal Genesis, one of the two parts into which the Kabala was divided by the rabbins.
Berigard of Pisa : Alchemist. (1578 ? — 1664). Owing to his residing for many years at Pisa, this alchemist is commonly known by the appellation given above ; but in reality he was not an Italian but a Frenchman, and his name was Claude Guillermet de Bdrigard, or, as it is some- times spelt, Beauregard. The date of his birth is uncertain, some authorities assigning it to 1578, and others placing it considerably later ; but they are agreed in saying that Moulins was his native town, and that, while a young man, he evinced a keen love for science in its various branches, and began to dabble in alchemy. He appears to have studied for a while at the Sorbonne, at Paris ; and, having acquired some fame there on account of his erudition, he was appointed professor of natural philosophy at the Uni- versity of Pisa. This post he held until the year 1640, whereupon he was assigned an analogous position at Padua, and it was probably in the latter town that his death oc- curred in 1664. His most important contribution to scientific literature is Dubitationes in Dialogum Ealilcei pro Term immobilitate , a quarto published at Florence in 1632 ; but he was likewise author of Circulus Pisanus, issued at Udine in 1643, wherein he concerns himself chiefly with commenting on Aristotle's ideas on physics. Beri- garde's writings are virtually forgotten nowadays, but they are interesting as documents illustrating the progress of scientific knowledge throughout the seventeenth century.
Berkeley, Old Woman of : (See England.)
Bermechobus : The supposed writings of St. Methodius of Olympus (martyred 311 A.D.) or the saint of the same name who was Patriarch of Constantinople and who died in 846. The real name of the work is Bea-Methodius, a contraction for Beatus Methodivo, which was misprinted " Bermechobus." The work is of the nature of a pro- phetic Apocalypse, and foretells the history of the world. It was handed down by the Gnostics and was printed in the Liber Mirabilis (q.v.). There are no grounds, however, for the supposition that the work should be referred to either of the saints above mentioned. It recounts how Seth sought a new country in the east and came to the country of the initiates, and how the children of Cain in- stituted a system of black magic in India. The author identifies the Ishmaelitef with those tribe? who overthrew the Roman power, and tells of a powerful northern people whose reign will be over-turned by Anti-Christ. A uni- versal kingdom will thereafter be founded, governed by a prince of French blood, after which a prolonged period of justice will supervene.
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Bernheim : (See Hypnotism.)
Berthome du Lignon : called Champagnat, a sorcerer brought to trial at Montmorillon, in Poitou, in 1599. He confessed that his father had taken him to the Sabbath of the sor- cerers in his youth, that he had promised the Devil his soul and his body, that His Satanic Majesty had shown him marks of his favour, and that he had even visited him in prison on the previous night. He further confessed having slain several persons and beasts with the magical powders given him by the Enemy of Mankind.
Bertrand, Alexandre — His Traite da' Somnambulisme et du Magnetisme Animal en France : (See Hypnotism ; Spiritualism. "i
Beryl : Beryl, said to preserve wedded love, and to be a good medium for magical vision.
Bezoar : (red). A precious stone supposed to be possessed of magical properties, and found in the bodie? of certain animals. At one time these stones would fetch ten times their weight in gold, being used as a remedy against poison and contagion ; and for this purpose they were both taken internally, and worn round the neck. It is said that there are nine varieties of bezoar, differing greatly in composition ; but they may be generally divided into those which consist mainly of mineral and those which consist of organic matter. A strange origin was assigned to this stone by some of the early naturalists. It is said that the oriental stags when oppressed with years fed upon serpents, which renewed their youth. In order to counteract the poison which was absorbed into their system, they plunged into a running stream keeping their heads only above water. This caused a viscous fluid to be distilled from their eyes, which was indurated by the heat of the sun, and formed the bezoar.
Bhikshu : (See India.)
Biarbi : (See Fascination.)
Bible des Bohemians : (See Tarot.)
Bible of the Devil : This wa? without doubt a grimoire (q.v.) or some such work. But Delancre says that the Devil informed sorcerers that he possessed a bible consisting of sacred books, having a theology of its own, which was dilated upon by various professors. One great magician, continues Delancre, who was brought before the Parlia- ment of Paris, avowed that there dwelt at Toledo sixty- three masters in the faculty of Magic who took for their text-book the Devil's Bible.
Bibliomancy : A method of discovering whether or not a person was innocent of sorcery, by weighing him against the great Bible in the Church. If the person weighed less than the Bible, he wa- innocent. (See Witchcraft.)
Biffant : A little-known demon, chief of a legion who entered the body of one Denise de la Caille (q.v.) and who was obliged to sign with his claws the proces verbal of exorcisms.
Bifrons : A demon of monstrous guise who, according to Wierius, often took the form of a man well versed in As- trology and planetary influences. He excels in geometry, is acquainted with the virtues of herbs, precious stones and plants, and it is said that he is able to transport corpses from one place to another. ■ He it is also who lights the strange corpse-lights above the tombs of the dead. Twenty six of the infernal regions obey his behests.
Bigois or Bigotis : A sorcerer of Tuscany who, it is said, composed a learned work on the nature of prognostications, especially those connected with thunder and lightning. The book is said to be irretrievably lost. It is thought that Bigois is the same as Bagoe (q.v.), a sibly of Erithryea, but this is merely of the nature of surmise.
Binah : In the supreme triangle of the Kabala the three sides are reason, which they name Kelher ; necessity, Chochmah ; and liberty, Binah.
Biragues, Flaminio de : Author of an infernal-facetious work
entitled I'Enfer de la mere Cardine, which treats of the dreadful battle in Hell on the occasion of the marriage of Cerberus with Cardine (Paris, 1585 and 1597.) It is a satire on the demonography of the times. Didot reprinted the work in 1793. The author was a nephew of a Chan- cellor of France, Rene de Biragues.
Birds : It is a common belief among savage tribes that the souls of the dead are conveyed to the land of the hereafter by birds. Among some West African peoples, for instance, a bird is bound to the body of the deceased and then sacri- ficed, so that it may carry the man's soul to the after-world. The Bagos also offer up a bird on the corpse of a deceased person for the same reason. The South Sea Islanders, again, bury their dead in coffins shaped like the bird which is to bear away their spirits, while the natives of Borneo represent Tempon-Telon's Ship of the Dead (q.v.) as having the form of a bird. The Indian tribes of North-West America have rattles shaped like ravens, with a large face painted on the breast. The probable significance is that the xaven is to carry the disembodied soul to the region of the sun.
Birog : A Druidess of Irish legendary origin. She it was who, by her magic, brought Kian and Ethlinn together.
Birraark : Australian necromancers. (See Necromancy.)
Biscar, Jeanette : A sorceress of the district of Labour in France, who was transported to the witches' Sabbath by the Devil in the form of a goat. As a reward she was suspended in mid-air head downwards.
Bisclaveret : The name of the were-wolf (q.v.) in Brittany. It is believed to be a human being, transformed by magic into a fearsome man-devouring beast, which roams about the woods, seeking whom it may slay.
Bitru : Otherwise called Sytry, a great Prince of Hell, accord- ing to the demonographer Wierius. He appeared in the form of a leopard with the wings of a griffin. But when he -adopted a human appearance for the nonce it was in- variably one of great beauty. It is he who awakes lust in the human heart. Seventy legions obey his commands.
Bitumen, in Magic : Bitumen was greatly used in magical practices. Images for the purpose of sympathetic magic were often made of this substance ; and it was used in the ceremonies for the cleansing of houses in which any un- cleanness had appeared — being spread on the floor like clay.
Black Earth: (See Philosopher's Stone.)
Black Hen, Fast of The: In Hungary and the adjacent countries it is believed that whoever has been robbed and wishes to discover the thief must take a black hen and along with it fast strictly for nine Fridays. The thief will then either return the plunder or die. This is called " taking up a black fast " against anyone. A great deal of lore concerning black hens may be found in the works of Guber- natis and Friedrich.
Black Magic: Middle Ages. Black Magic as practised in mediaeval times may be defined as the use of supernatural knowledge for the purposes of evil, the invocation of diabolic and infernal powers that they may become the slaves and emissaries of man's will ; in short, a perversion of legitimate mystic science. This art and its attendant practices can be traced from the time of the ancient Egyptians and Persians, from the Greeks and Hebrews to the period when it reached its apogee in the Middle Ages, thus forming an unbroken chain ; for in mediaeval magic may be found the perpetuation of the popular rites of paganism — the ancient gods had become devils, their mysteries orgies, their worship sorcery.
Some historians have tried to trace the areas in Europe most affected by these devilish practices. Spain is said to have excelled all in infamy, to have plumbed the depths of the abyss. The south of France next became a hotbed of sorcery, whence it branched northwards to Paris and the
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countries and islands beyond, southward to Italy, finally extending into the Tyrol and Germany.
In Black Magic human perversity found the means of ministering to its most terrible demands and the possible attainment of its darkest imaginings. To gain limitless power over god, demon and man ; for personal aggrandise- ment and glorification ; to cheat, trick and mock ; to gratify base appetites ; to aid religious bigotry and jealous- ies ; to satisfy private and public enmities ; to further political intrigue ; to encompass disease, calamity and death — these were the ends and aims of Black Magic and its followers.
So widespread, so intense was the belief in the Powers of Evil that it may truly be said the Devil reigned supreme, if the strength and fervour of a universal fear be weighed against the weak and wavering manifestations of love and goodwill, peace and charity enjoined by religion in the worship of God.
Under the influence of this belief the world became to the mind and imagination of man a place of dread. At set of sun, at midnight, in twilight of dawn and eve, the legions of evil were abroad on their mission of terror. A running stream, a lake, or thick forest, held each its horde of malevolent spirits lying in wait for the lonely wayfarer, while the churchyard close to the House of God, the place of the gallows away from the habitation of man, the pestilential marsh, wilderness and mysterious cavern, the barren slopes and summits of mountains, were the dread meeting-places of the Devil and his myrmidons, the scenes of their infamous orgies, the temples of their blasphemous rites.
And the night was troubled by evil and ominous winds blowing from the Netherworld, heavy with the beating of the innumerable wings of the birds of ill-omen presaging woe ; the darkness was faintly lit by the flitting phosphores- cent forms of sepulchral larvse, waiting to batten on the souls and bodies of man ; of stryges infesting the tombs and dese- crating the dead ; of incubi and succubi surrounding the homes of the living to bring dishonour and madness to sleep- ing man and woman and beget monstrous and myriad life ; of ravenous vampires in search of victims for their feast of blood. Moon and stars might illumine the darkness, but in their beams were spells and enchantments, in their rising and waning the inexorable workings of Fate, while against their light could be seen the dishevelled or naked forms of warlock and witch passing overhead to their dia- bolical Sabbaths. The familiar happenings and actions of life might be nothing but the machinations of sorcery — to eat and drink might be to swallow evil ; to look upon beauty in any' form, the sesame to malign influence ; to laugh, but to echo infernal mockery and mirth.
In this fruitful soil of superstition and grotesque ignor- ance, Black Magic sowed and reaped its terrible harvest of evil, persecution, madness and death. Such a state of mind must, of necessity, have induced a weakness of will and imagination specially prone to the influence of hyp- notic suggestion by a stronger will, and even more ready to fall an easy prey to self-hypnotism, which must have often been the result of such an atmosphere of foreboding and dread.
The simplest ailments or most revolting diseases, cata- lepsy and somnambulism, hysteria, and insanity, all these were traced to the power of Black Magic, caused through the conjurations of sorcery. It followed that curative medicine was also a branch of magic, not a rational science, the cures being nothing if not fantastic in the last degree ' — incantations and exorcisms, amulets and talismans of precious stones, metals or weird medicaments rendered powerful by spells ; philtres and enchanted drinks, the cure of epilepsy by buried peachblossoms, and though in
the use of herbs and chemicals was laid the foundation of the curative science of to-day, it was more for their en- chanted and symbolic significance that they were pre- scribed by the magicians.
History shows us that the followers of the Black Art swarmed everywhere. In this fraternity as in others there were grades, from the pretenders, charlatans and diviners of the common people, to the various secret societies and orders of initiates, amongst whom were kings and queens, and popes, dignitaries of church and state, where the know- ledge and ritual were carefully cherished and preserved in manuscripts, some of which are extant at the present day, ancient grimoires (q.v.), variously termed the Black, the Red, the Great Grimoire, each full of weird rites, formulae and conjurations, evocations of evil malice and lust in the names of barbaric deities ; charms and be- witchments clothed in incomprehensible jargon, and ceremonial processes for the fulfilment of imprecations of misfortune, calamity, sin and death.
The deity who was worshipped, whose powers were invoked in the practice of Black Magic, was the Source and Creator of Evil, Satanas, Belial, the Devil, a direct des- cendant of the Egyptian Set, the Persian Ahriman, the Python of the Greeks, the Jewish Serpent, Baphomet of the Templars, the Goat-deity of the Witches' Sabbath. He was said to have the head and legs of a goat, and the breasts of a woman.
To his followers he was known by many names, among these being debased names of forgotten deities, also the Black One, the Black He-goat, the Black Raven, the Dog, the Wolf and Snake, the Dragon, the Hell-hound, Hell- hand, and Hell-bolt. His transformations were unlimited, as is indicated by many of his names ; other favourite and familiar forms were a cat, a mouse, a toad, or a worm, or again, the human form, especially as a young and hand- some man when on his amorous adventures. The signs by which he might be identified, though not invariably, were the cloven hoof, the goat's beard, cock's feathers, or ox's tail.
In all his grotesquery are embedded ancient mysteries and their symbols, the detritus of dead faiths and faded civilizations. The Greek Pan with the goat limbs mas- querades as the Devil, also the goat as emblematic of fire and sj'mbol of generation, and perhaps traces of the Jewish tradition where two goats were taken, one pure, the other impure, the first offered as sacrifice in expiation of sin, the other, the impure burdened with sins by impre- cation and driven into the wilderness, in short, the scape- goat. In the Hebrew Kabala, Satan's name is that of Jehovah reversed. He is not a devil, but the negation of deity.
Beneath the Devil's sway were numberless hordes and legions of demons and spirits, ready and able to procure and work any and every evil or disaster the 'mind of man might conceive and desire. In one Grimoire it tells of nine orders of evil spirits, these being False Gods, Lying Spirits, Vessels of Iniquity, Revenge led by Asmodeus, Deluders by the Serpent, Turbulents by Merigum, Furies by Apollyon, Calumniators by Astaroth, and Tempters by Mammon. These demons again are named separately, the meaning of each name indicating the possessor's capacity, such as destroyer, devastator, tumult, ravage, and so forth.
Again each earthly vice and calamity was personified by a demon, Moloch, who devours infants ; Nisroch, god of hatred, despair, fatality ; Astarte, Lilith and Astaroth, deities of debauchery and abortion ; Adramelek, of murder, and Belial, of red anarchy.
According to the Grimoires, the rites and rules are multifarious, each demon demanding special invocation
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and procedure. The ends that may be obtained by these means are sufficiently indicated in the headings of the chapters : To take possession of all kinds of treasure ; to like in opulence ; to ruin possessions ; to demolish buildings and strongholds ; to cause armed men to appear ; to excite every description of hatred, discord, failure and vengeance ; to excite tempests ; to excite love in a virgin, in a married person ; to procure adulteries ; to cause enchanted music and lascivious dances to appear ; to learn all secrets from those of Venus to Mars ; to render oneself invisible ; to fly in the air and travel ; to operate under water for twenty-four hours ; to open every kind of lock without a key, without noise and thus gain en- trance to prison, larder or charnel-house ; to innoculate the walls of houses with- plague and disease ; to bind fa- miliar spirits ; to cause a dead body to revive ; to transform one's self ; to transform men into animals or animals into men.
These rites fell under the classification of divination, bewitchments and necromancy. The first named was carried out by magical readings of fire, smoke, water or blood ; by letters of names, numbers, symbols, arrange- ments of dots ; by lines of hand or finger nails ; by birds and their flight or their entrails ; by dice or cards, rings or mirrors.
Bewitchments were carried out by means of nails, ani- mals, toads or waxen figures and mostly to bring about suffering or death. In the first method nails were conse- crated to evil by spells and invocations, then nailed cross- wise above the imprint of the feet of the one who is destined for torment. The next was by selection of some animal supposed to resemble the intended victim and attaching to it some of his hair or garments. They gave it the name and then proceeded to torture it, in whole or part according to the end desired, by driving nails, red-hot pins and thorns into the body to the rhythm of muttered maledictions. For like purpose a fat toad was often selected, baptised, made to swallow a host, both consecrated and execrated, tied with hairs of the victim upon which the sorcerer had previously spat, and finally buried at the threshold of the bewitched one's door, whence it issued as nightmare and vampire for his undoing.
The last and most favoured method was by the use of waxen images. Into the wax was mixed baptismal oil and ash of consecrated hosts, and out of this was fashioned a figure resembling the one to be bewitched. It was then baptised, receiving the persons name in full ; received the Sacraments, and next subjected to curses, torture by knives or fire ; then finally stabbed to the heart. It was also possible to bewitch a person by insufflation, breathing upon them, and so causing a heaviness of their, will and corresponding compliance to the sorcerer.
Necromancy (q.v.) was the raising of the dead by evoca- tions and sacrilegious rites, for the customary purposes of evil. The scene of operation might be about pits filled with blood and resembling a shambles, in a darkened and suffocating room, in a churchyard or beneath swinging gibbets, and the number of ghosts so summoned and gal- vanized into life might be one of legion.
For whatever end, the procedure usually included prof- anation of Christian ritual, such as diabolical masses and administration of polluted sacrements to animals and reptiles ; bloody sacrifices of animals, often of children ; - of orgiastic dances, generally of circular formation, such as that of the Witches' Sabbath in which undreamed-of evil and abominations, all distortions and monstrosities of reality and imagination took part, to end in a nightmare of obscene madness.
For paraphernalia and accessories the sorcerers scoured the world and the imagination and mind of man, bending
all things, beautiful or horrible to their service. The different planets ruled over certain objects and states and invocations, for such were of great potency if delivered under their auspices. Mars favoured wars and strife, Venus love, Jupiter ambition and intrigue, Saturn male- diction and death.
Vestments and symbols proper to the occasion must be donned. The electric furs of the panther, lynx and cat added their quota of influence to the ceremonial. Colours also must be observed and suitable ornaments. For opera- tions of vengeance the robe must be the hue of leaping flame, or rust and blood, with belt and bracelets of steel, and crown of rue and wormwood. Blue, Green and Rose were the colours for amorous incantations ; whilst for the encompassing of death black must be worn, with belt of lead and wreath of cypress, amid loathsome incense of sulphur and assafcetida.
Precious stones and metals also added their influence to the spells. Geometrical figures, stars, pentagrams, columns, triangles, were used ; also herbs, such as belladonna and assafcetida ; flowers, honeysuckle, being the witches' ladder, the arum, deadly nightshade and black poppies ; distillations and philtres composed of the virus of loath- some diseases, venom of reptiles, secretions of animals, poisonous sap and fungi and fruits, such as the fatal man- chineel, pulverised flint, impure ashes and human blood. Amulets and talismans were made of the skins of criminals, wrought from the skulls of hanged men, or ornaments rifled from corpses and thus of special virtue, or the pared nails of an executed thief.
To make themselves invisible the sorcerers used an unguent compounded from the incinerated bodies of new-born infants and mixed with the blood of night-birds. For personal preparation a fast of fifteen days was observed. When that was past, it was necessary to get drunk every five days, after sundown, on wine in which poppies and hemp had been steeped.
For the actual rites the light must be that of candles made from the fat of corpses and fashioned in the form of a cross ; the bowls to be of skulls, those of parricides being of greatest virtue ; the fires must be fed with cypress branches, with the wood of desecrated crucifixes and blood- stained gibbets ; the magic fork fashioned of hazel or almond, severed at one blow ; the ceremonial cloth to be woven by a prostitute, whilst round about the mystic circle must be traced with the ember; of a polluted cross. Another potent instrument of magic was the mandragore to be unearthed from beneath gallows where corpses are suspended, by a dog tied to the plant. The dog is killed by a mortal blow after which its soul will pass into the fantastic root, attracting also that of the hanged man.
The history of the Middle Ages is shot through with the shadows cast by this terrible belief in Black Maqic. Mach- inations and counter-machinations in which church and state, rich and poor, learned and ignorant were alike in- volved ; persecutions and prosecutions where the persecutor and judge often met the fate they dealt to the victim and condemned — a dreadful phantasmagoria and procession where we may find the haughty Templars, the blood-stained Gilles de Laval, the original of Bluebeard ; Catherine de Medici and Marshals of France ; popes, princes and priests. In literature also we find its trace, in weird legends and monstrous tales ; in stories of spells and enchantments ; in the tale of Dr. Fauitus and his pact with the Devil, his pleasures and their penalty when his .soul must needs pass down to Hell in forfeit ; we may find its traces in lewd verses and songs. Art, too, yields her testimony to the infernal influence in pictures, sculptures and carvings, decorating palace and cathedral ; where we may find the Devil's likeness peeping out from carven screen and stall.
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and his demons made visible in the horde of gargoyles grinning and leering from niche and corner, and clustering beneath the eaves. K. N.
{See Evocation ; Familiars ; Grimoires ; Magic ; Necro- mancy, etc.)
Black Mass : It is known from the confessions of witches sorcerers that the devil also has mass said at his Sabbath. Pierre Aupetit, an apostate priest of the village of Fossas, in Limousine, was burned for having celebrated the mys- teries of the Devil's mass. Instead of speaking the holy •words of consecration the frequenters of the Sabbath said : *' Beelzebub, Beelzebub, Beelzebub." The devil in the shape of a butterfly, flew round those who were celebrating the mass, and who ate a black host, which they were obliged to chew before swallowing.
Black Pullet, The : A French magical publication supposedly printed in 1740, purporting to be a narrative of an officer who was employed in Egypt. While in Egypt the narrator fell in with a magician to whom he rendered considerable service, and who when he expired left him the secret of manufacturing a black pullet which had much skill in gold- finding. In it we find much plagiarism from the Comle de Gabalis {See Elementary Spirits.) and the whole work if interesting, is distinctly derivative. It contains many illustrations of talismans and magical rings. The receipt for bringing the black pullet into existences describes that a black hen should be set to hatch one of its own eggs, and that during the process a hood should be drawn over its eyes so that it cannot see. It is also to be placed in a box lined with black material. The chick thus hatched will have a particular instinct for detecting the places wherein gold is hidden.
Black Veil of the Ship of Theseus : {See Philosopher's Stone.)
Blackwell, Anna : The most prominent disciple of Allen Kardec in this country, and the ablest exponent of his views. Miss Blackwell herself had psychic experiences — she had seen visions, and spirit forms had appeared on her photo- graphs.
Blake, William : (1757 — 1827) Poet, Mystic, Painter and Engraver, is one of the most curious and significant figures in the whole history of English literature, and a man who has likewise exerted a wide influence on the graphic arts. He was born in London on the 28th of November, 1757. It would seem that his parents and other relatives were ■humble folk, but little is known definitely about the family ■while their ancestry is a matter of discussion. Mr. W. B. Yeats, who is an ardent devotee of Blake, and has edited Tiis writings, would have it that the poet was of Irish descent but though it is true that the name Blake is common in Ireland to this day, especially in Galway, Mr. Yeat's con- tention is not supported by much trustworthy evidence, and it is contradicted by Mr. Martin J. Blake in his gene- alogical work, Blake Family Records.
William manifested esthetic predilections at a very early age, and his father and mother did not discourage him herein, but offered to place him in the studio of a painter. The young man demurred however, pointing out that the apprenticeship was a costly one, and saying gen- erously that his numerous brothers and sisters should be considered, and that it was not fair that the family's ex- chequer should be impoverished on his behalf. Thereafter ■engraving was suggested to him as a profession, not just because it necessitated a less expensive training than painting, but also as being more likely than the latter to yield a speedy financial return ; and accepting this offer, Blake went at the age of fourteen to study under James Basire, an engraver whose plates are but little esteemed -to-day, yet who enjoyed considerable reputation while .alive, and was employed officially by the Society of An- tiquaries. Previous to this a more noted manipulator
of the burin, William Ryland, a protege of George III, had been suggested as one who would probably give a capital training to the boy : but the latter, on being taken to see Ryland, evinced a strong dislike for him, and refused stoutly to accept his teaching, declaring that the man looked as though born to be hanged. And it is interesting to note that the future artist of the Prophetic Books was right, for only a few years later Ryland was convicted of forgery, and forfeited his life in consequence.
Blake worked under Basire for seven years, and during the greater part of his time the pupil was engaged mainly in doing drawings of Westminster Abbey, these being destined to illustrate a huge book then in progress, the Sepulchral Monuments, of Richard Gough. It is said that Blake was chosen by his master to go and do these drawings not so much because he showed particular aptitude for draughtmanship, as because he was eternally quarrelling with his fellow-apprentices : and one may well believe, indeed, that the young artist was convinced of his superi- ority to his confreres, and made enemies by failing to con- ceal this conviction. Whilst at the Abbey, Blake asserted that he saw many visions. In 1778, he entered the Royal Academy School, then recently founded : and here he continued his studies under George Moser, a chaser and enameller who engraved the first great seal of George III. Yet it was not to Moser that the budding visionary really looked for instruction, he was far more occupied with study- ing prints after the old masters, especially Michael Angelo and Raphael ; and one day Rosa found him engaged thus, reprove^ him kindly but firmly, and told him he would be acting more wisely if he took Charles le Brun as his exem- plar. He even hastened to show the pupil a volume of engravings after that painter, so redolent always of the worst tendencies of le grand siecle ; and, with this incident in mind, it may be assumed that Blake was deeply grateful when, a little later he had shaken off the futile shackles of the Royal Academy, and began to work on his own account. He had to work hard, however, for meanwhile his affections had been engaged by a young woman, Cath- erine Boucher, and funds were of course necessary ere it was possible for the pair to marry. But Blake slaved manfully with his burin, engraving illustrations for maga- zines and the like; and in 1782 he had his reward, his marriage being solemnized in that year. His wife's name indicates that she was of French origin, and it would be interesting to know if she was related to Francois Boucher, or to the fine engraver of the French Empire, Boucher- Desno3'ers ; but waiving these speculations, it is pleasant to recall that the marriage proved a singularly happy one, Blake's spouse clinging to him lovingly throughout all his troubles and privations, and ever showing a keen appre- ciation of his genius. As regards Catherine's appearance there still exists a small pencil-drawing by Blake, commonly supposed to be a portrait of his wife ; and it shows a slim, graceful woman, just the type of woman predominating in Blake's other pictures ; so it may be presumed that she frequently acted as his model, or — for Blake had no fond- ness for drawing from nature — that her appearance gradually crystallised itself in his brain, and thus trans- pired in the bulk of his works.
After his marriage Blake took lodgings in Green Street, Leicester Fields ; and feeling, no doubt, that engraving was but a poor staff for a married man to lean upon, he opened a print shop in Broad Street. He made many friends at this period, the most favoured among them being Flaxman, the sculptor ; and the latter introduced him to Mr. Matthew, a clergyman of artistic tastes, who, manifesting keen interest in the few poems which Blake had already written, generously offered to defray the cost of printing them. The writer gladly accepted the offer
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and the result was a tiny volume, Poetical Sketches by W. B. Thus encouraged, Blake gave up his printselling business, while simultaneously he went to live in Poland Street, and soon after this removal he published his Songs of Innocence, the letterpress enriched by designs from his own hand. Nor was this the only remarkable thing about the book, for the whole thing was printed by the author himself, and by a new method of his own invention — a method which can scarcely be detailed here owing to lack of space, but which the reader will find described adequately in Mr. Arthur Hind's monumental History of Engraving and Etching. Blake lived in Poland Street for five years, and during this time he achieved and issued The Book of Thel, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, and the first book of The French Revolution. In 1792 he removed to Hercules Buildings, Lambeth ; and while staying here he war forced by dire poverty to do much commercial work, notably a series of illustrations to Young's Night Thoughts, yet he found leisure for original drawing and writing also, and to this period of his life belong the Gates of Paradise and Songs of Experience. In a while he tired of London how- ever, and so he went to Felpham, near Bognor, in Sussex, taking a cottage there hard by where Aubrey Beardsley was to live at a later date, and here he composed Milton, Jeru- salem, and a large part of the Prophetic Books, while he made a new friend, William Hayley, who repeatedly aided him with handsome presents of money. The Sussex scenery, besides — afterwards to inspire Whistler and Con- der— appealed keenly to the poet, and in one of his lyrics he exclaims :—
" Away to sweet Felpham, for Heaven is there," while to Flaxman he wrote : —
" Felpham is a sweet place for study, because it is more spiritual than London. Heaven opens here on all sides her golden gates ; her windows are not obstructed by vapours, voices of celestial inhabitants are more distinctly heard, and their forms more distinctly seen, and my cottage is also a shadow of their houses."
Yet Blake tired of Sussex as he had tired of his former home, and in 1803 he returned to London, taking a house in South Bolton Street. Here again he endured much poverty, and was then forced into doing illustrations to Virgil, and also a series of designs for Blair's Grave ; but later his financial horizon was brightened by help from John Linnell, the landscape painter, and shortly after- wards the artist did some of his finest things, for instance his Spiritual Portraits, and his drawings for The Book of Job, while after completing these he commenced illustrating the Divine Comedy of Dante. In 1821 he again changed his home, taking up his abode now in Fountain Court, Strand, and here he continued to work at the Dante draw- ings ; but only seven of them were ever published, for Blake's health was beginning to fail, his energies were slackening, and he died in 1827.
Sixteen years before his death Blake held a public ex- hibition of his drawings, engravings, illustrations and the like ; and the affair was treated with haughty disdain, the only paper which saw fit to print a criticism being The Examiner, edited by Leigh Hunt. It is customary for Blake's idolators of to-day to attempt to heap scorn on those who thus expressed callousness towards his work, and to vituperate more particularly the many people among his contemporaries who showed him frank antag- onism, but is not all this noisy blaming of his bygone ene- mies and critics unnecessarily severe ? For it must be borne in mind that the artist came as a complete novelty, the mysticism permeating his pictures having virtually no parallel in English painting prior to his advent. And it should be remembered, too, that Blake as a technician has many grave limitations ; and limitations which must have
been exasperating to people accustomed to the art of that amazing century which begot masters like Ramsay, Gains- borough and Romney, Watteau and Fragonard, De la Tour and Clodion, all of them producing works eminently graceful and pre-emenently decorative. Now comparing him to any of these men, Blake's modelling appears sadly timid and amateurish, as witness his drawing of himself, or his copy of Laurence's portrait of Cowper ; while passing to his draughtsmanship, this is frequently inaccurate, and nowhere embodies the fluency and charming rhythm re- flected by nearly all the artists aforesaid. His colour again is often thin and tawdry ; while as to his composition, he is admirable only on very rare occasions, the incon- testable truth being that, in the bulk of his pictures, the different parts have little or no relation to one another. This is true especially of those of his works which include a vast assembly of figures, yet even in various others of simpler cast this lack of anything like arrangement is equally paramount, and to choose an example, one need only look at " The Door of Death " in America. This is two pictures rather than one, and the spectator's gaze wanders from side to side, fretted and bewildered.
It were injustice to Blake himself, to omit noting these technical flaws in his workmanship, yet it were no less unjust, if not actually ridiculous, to write at any length contrasting him with the other masters of his century ; for his outlook and intention were wholly different from theirs, and, lacking their charm and decorative value, he transcends these men withal in divers respects. He is a prince among mystics, his finest drawings are flushed with weirdness and mystery, and he reincarnates visions and phantasies as no one else has done in line and colour, not even Rosetti. For Blake contrived to remain a child throughout the whole of his life, and so, for him, dreams were an actuality, the things he saw in his trances were real and living, and he perpetuated all these things with just that obvious and definite symbolism which a child would naturally use. When he wants to express " Vain Desire " he draws a man trying to reach the stars with the aid of an enormous ladder ; in the " Resurrection of the Dead " he delineates actual bodies soaring heavenwards, and when his topic is morning, he shows a nude form shining from the dusky mountain tops ; while for Blake " The Door of Death " is an actual stone portal, and when illus- trating the text in Job, " With dreams upon my bed Thou scarest me," he is not content to depict a sleeper with a frightened expression on his face, but draws all around the sleeper the imaginary horrors which tormented him — serpents, chains, and distorted human creatures. Now in the hands of most men all this sort of thing would yield nothing but the laughable, yet somehow Blake's drawings; even those which are weakest technically, invariably possess just that curious air of distinction which is the dominant characteristic of all truly great pictures. In fine, he expressed the outlook of a child with a sublime mastery never vouchsafed to children.
If Blake the draughtsman and illustrator was a fierce iconoclast, turning his back resolutely on the styles current in his time, most assuredly Blake the poet, enacted a kin- dred role, evincing a sublime contempt for the trammels of Augustanism, and thus making straight the way for Burns, for Wordsworth, and for the divine Shelley. Yet just as Burns was tinged slightly by the typical failings of the pastoral century, so also Blake would seem to have found it difficult originally to break his shackles : for oc- casionally one finds him employing expletives, and this suggests that at first he thought with Pope and his school that verse is futile unless precise ; while some of bis pic- tures of child life in Songs of Innocence are unduly pretty and idyllic, almost as idyllic as the scenes in Goldsmith's-
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Deserted Village. Unlike Lowry and Mr. Kenneth Grahame those exquisite adepts in the delineation of children, Blake shows only one side of childlife : for his children are nearly all out for a holiday, they are seldom vexed, or cross, or angry, and their eyes are hardly ever dim with tears. At least, however, they are prone to dream dreams and see visions : and it is significant that, in one poem, the writer describes a child unto whom are revealed things hidden from his father's eyes : —
" Father, O father ! what do we here,
In this land of unbelief and fear ?
The land of dreams is better far
Above the light of the morning star." That verse and many others besides, charm at once by a fusion of complete naturalness with rare beauty : and the genius of Blake in his earlier poems is really this, that with the simple language of childhood, and out of the simple events of childlife, he makes a noble and enduring art — an art, charged as surely as his own drawings with an air of distinction.
Had Blake contented himself with writing his Poetical Sketches, his Songs of Innocence and the subsequent Songs of Experience, the charge of madness could not well have been levelled at him by his contemporaries. It was his later writings like The-Book of Thel and the Prophetic Books which begot this imputation, for in these later poems the writer casts his mantle of simplicity to the winds, he sets himself to give literary form to visions, and he is so purely spiritual and ethereal, so far beyond the realm of normal human speech, that mysticism frequently devolves into crypticism. His rhythm, too, is often so subtle that it hardly seems rhythm at all ; yet even in his weirdest flights Blake is still the master, he still embodies that curious something which differentiates great art from the rank and file of esthetic products. And if, as observed before, the colouring in many of his water-colour drawings is sadly thin and poor, the very reverse is true, and true abundantly of the poems written towards the close of his life. Glowing and gorgeous tones are omnipresent in these, they have the barbaric pomp of Gautier's finest prose, the glitter and opulence of Berlioz' or Wagner's orchestration, nay the richness and splendour of a sunset among towering mountains.
No account of Blake would be complete without some account of the literature which has grown up around his name, a literature whereof many items are mor^e than worthy of the topic they celebrate. The earliest systematic biography of the master is that by Alexander Gilchrist, 1863, a book, the more valuable inasmuch as it contains many reproductions of Blake's drawings, notably the whole of the Job set : and since Gilchrist's day the artist's life has been rewritten by Alfred I. Story, 1893, and by Edwin J. Ellis, 1907, while his letters have been collected and annotated by Frederick Tatham, 1906. Much interesting and important matter concerning Blake is contained in The Life and Letters of Samuel Palmer, by A. W. Palmer, 1892 in A Memoir of Edward Calvert by Samuel Calvert, 1893, and in The Lije of John Linnell by A. T. Story, 1892, while as regards critical studies of the master, perhaps the best is Swinburne's eloquent tribute, 1868, and further works of note are those of Richard Garnett, Mr. Arthur Symons and M. Basil de Selincourt. The student should also consult Ideas of Good and Evil by W. B. Yeats, 1903, and The Rosetti Papers by W. M. Rossetti, 1903, while he will find it advisable to look also at an edition of the Job illustrations containing an able introduction by Mr. Laur- ence Binyon, 1906. To speak finally of editions of Blake's own writings these are of course numerous, but the only one which is really complete is that edited by E. J. Ellis, 1906. W. G. B-M.
Blanolifleur : Granddaughter of the Duke of Fsrrara and heroine of the romance Florics and BlanchefleUr, which is probably of Spanish origin. She and Flori.ce, son of the King of Murcia, loved each other from infancy, and she gave him a magical ring. He was banished for his love and Blanchfieur was eventually shipped to Alexandria to- be sold as a slave. Florice, however, found her there, partly by aid of the mystic ring, and they were happily united .
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna : was born at Ekaterinoslav Russia, on the 31st of July, 1831. She was the daughter of Colonel Peter Hahn, a member of a Mecklenburg family settled in Russia. She married, at the age of seventeen Nicephore Blavatsky, a Ruseian official in Caucasia, a man very much older than herself. Her married life was of short duration as she separated from her husband in a few months. The next year or so she occupied chiefly in travelling, Texas Mexico, Canada and India, were each in turn the scene of her wanderings, and she twice attempted to enter Tibet, on one occasion she managed to cross its frontier in disguise but lost her way, and after various adventures was found by a body of horsemen and escorted homewards. The period between 1848 and 1858, she described as the " veiled" time of her life, refusing to divulge anything that happened to her in these ten years, save stray allusions to a seven years' stay in Little and Great Tibet, or in a " Himalayan Retreat." In 1858 she returned to Russia, where she soon achieved distinction as a spiritualistic medium. Later on she went to the United States where she remained for six years, and became a naturalised citizen. She became prominent in spiritualistic circles in America about 1870. It was there that she founded her school of Theosophy. The idea occurred to her of combining her spiritualistic " control " with Buddhistic legends about Tibetan sages, and she professed to have direct " astral " communication with two Tibetan mahatmas.
With the aid of Col. Henry Olcott, she founded in New York, in 1875, the Theosophical Society with a threefold aim : (1) to form a universal brotherhood of man ; (2) to study and make known the ancient religions, philosophies- and sciences ; (3) to investigate the laws of nature and develop the divine powers latent in man. In order to gain converts to Theosophy she was obliged to appear to perform miracles. This she did with a large measure of success, but her " methods " were on several occasions detected as fraudu- lent. Nevertheless her commanding personality secured for her a large following, and when she died, in 1891, she was at the head of a large body of believers in her teaching, numbering about 100,000 persons. (See Theosophy.)
Blindfolding a Corpse : The Afritans of the Shari River in Central America were wont to blindfold a ccrpse before burying it, to prevent it from returning to haunt the survivors.
Blockula : (See Scandinavia.)
Bluebeard : (See Gilles de Laval.)
Bodhisattva : is the official in the theosophical hierarchy who has charge of the religion and education of the world. He is the founder of religions, instituting these either di- rectly or through one of his messengers, and after a faith has been founded, he puts it in charge of a Master, though he still continues the direction of it.
Bodin, Jean : a jurisconsult and student of demonology, who died of the plague in 1596. An Angevin by birth, he studied law in youth and published his Republique, which La Harpe calls " the rerm of the spirit of law," but it is his Demonomanie des Sorciers by which he is known to occultists. In this work he defended sorcery, but propa- gated numerous errors. By his Colloquium heptaplomeron de abdites rerum sublimium varcanus he aroused very un- favourable opinions regarding his religious views. In it
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he discusses in the form of dialogue the theological opinions of Jews, Mussulmans, and deists to the disadvantage of the Christian faith, and although he died a Catholic he professed in his time the tenets of Protestantism, Judaism, sorcery, atheism and deism. The Demonomanie was pub- lished in Paris, in 1581, and again under the title of Fleau des demons et des sorciers at Wiort, in 161 6. In its first and second books Bodin demonstrates that spirits have com- munication with mankind, and traces the various charac- teristics and forms which distinguish good spirits from evil. He unfolds the methods of diabolic prophecy and communication, and those of evocation of evil existences of pacts with the Devil, of journeys through the air to the sorcerers' Sabbath, of infernal ecstasies, of spells by which ■one may change himself into a werewolf, and of carnal communion with incubi and succubi. The third book speaks of the manner of preventing the work of sorcerers and obviating their charms and enchantments, and the fourth of the manner in which sorcerers may be known. He concludes his study by refuting the work of John Wier or Wierius (q.v.) who, he asserts, was in error in believing sorcerers to be fools and people or unsound mind, and states that the books of that author should be burned " for the honour of God."
Sir Walter Scott says : " Bodin, a lively Frenchman, explained the zeal of Wierius to protect the tribe of sorcerers from punishment, by stating that he himself was a conjurer and the scholar of Cornelius Agrippa, and might therefore well desire to save the lives of those accused of the same league with Satan. Hence they threw on their antagonists the offensive names of witch-patrons and witch-advocates, as if it were impossible for any to hold the opinion of Naudaeus, Wierius, Scot, etc., without patron- izing the devil and the witches against their brethren of mortality. Assailed by such heavy charges, the philoso- phers themselves lost patience, and retorted abuse in their turn, calling Bodin, Delrio, and others who used their arguments, witch-advocates, and the like, as the affirming and defending the existence of the crime seemed to increase the number of witches, and assuredly augmented the list of executions. But for a certain time the preponder- ance of the argument lay on the side of the Demonolo- gists. Boehme, Jakob : (1575-1624) : German Mystic. The name o this illustrious mystic and philosopher, who has excited so wide and lasting an influence, is sometimes spelt Beem or Behm, Behmon or Behmont, while commoner still is the form used at the head of this article ; but it is probable that Jakob's name was really Bohme, for that spelling savours far more of bygone Germany- than any of the multifarious others do. Born in 1575, at Altsteidenberg, in Upper Lusatia, the philosopher came of humble peasant stock, and accordingly his education consisted in but a brief sojourn at the village school of Seidenberg, about a mile from his own home, while the greater part of his childhood was spent in tending his father's flocks on the grassy sides of a mountain, known as the Landskrone. This profession doubtlesj appealed to a boy of speculative and introspective temperament, but betimes it transpired that Jakob was not strong enough physically to make a good shepherd, and consequently he left home at the age of thirteen, going to seek his fortune at Gorlitz, the nearest town of any size.
To this day Gorlitz is famous for its shoemakers, while in Boehme's time it was a very centre and stronghold of "the cobbling industry ; so it was to a cobbler that the boy went first in search of employment, and very soon he had found what he wanted. Unfortunately, the few authentic Tecords of his career offer little information concerning his •early years, but apparently he prospered tolerably well.
it being recorded that in 1599 he became a master-shoe- maker, and that soon afterwards he was married to Kathar- ina, daughter of Hans Kantzschmann, a butcher. The young couple took a house near the bridge in Neiss Voistadt — their dwelling is still pointed out to the tourist — and some years later Boehme sought to improve his business by adding gloves to his stock in trade, a departure which sent him periodically to Prague to acquire consignments of the goods in question.
It is likely that Boehme began to write soon after be- coming a master-cobbler, if not even at an earlier period, but it was not till he was approaching forty that his gifts became known and appreciated. About the j'ear 1612, he composed a philosophical treatise, Aurora, oder die Mor- genrote un Aujgang, and, though this was not printed till much later, manuscript copies were passed from hand to hand, the result being that the writer soon found himself the centre of a local, circle of thinkers and scholars, many of them people far above him in the social scale. These did not say that the cobbler should stick to his last, but realised that his intellect was an exceptionally keen one ; and Boehme would no doubt have proceeded to print and publish his work but for an unfortunate occurrence, just that occurrence which has always been liable to harass the man of bold and original mind. In short, a charge of heresy was brought against him by the Lutheran Church ; he was loudly denounced from the pulpit by Gregorius Richter, pastor primarius of Gorlitz, and anon, the town council, fearing to contend with the omnipotent eccles- iastical authorities, took po session of the original manu- script of Boehme's work, and bade the unfortunate author desist from writing in the meantime. So far as can be ascertained, he obeyed instructions for a little while, per- haps fearing the persecution which would await him if he did otherwise, but by 1618 he was busy again, compiling polemical and expository treatises ; while in 1622, he wrote certain short pieces on repentance, resignation, and the like. These last were the only things from his pen which were published in book form during his lifetime, and with his consent, nor were they of a nature likely to excite clerical hostility ; but a little later Boehme circulated a less cautious theological work, Der Weg zu Christa, and this was the signal for a fresh outburst of hatred on the part of the church, Richter storming from his pulpit once again. The philosopher, however, contrived to go unscathed, and, during a brief sojourn at Dresden, he had the pleasure of listening to sundry orations made in his praise by some of his admirers, whose number was now greatly increased. But Boehme was not destined to survive this triumph long, for, struck down by fever at Dresden, he was carried with great difficulty to his home at Gorlitz, and there he died in 1624, his wife being absent at the time
Boehme's literary output divides itself easily and natur- ally into three distinct sections, and indeed he himself observed this, and drew up a sort of specification wherein he virtually indicated his successive aims. At first he was concerned simply with the study of the deity, and to this period belongs his Aurora ; next he grew interested in the manifestation of the divine in the structure of the world and of man, a predilection which resulted in four great works. Die Drei Principien Gotilichens Wes Wescus, Vom Dreifachen Leben der Menschen, Von der Mensch- werdung Christi, and Von der Geburt and Bezlichnang Aller Wescu ; while finally, he devoted himself to advanced theological speculations and researches, the main outcome being his Von Christi Testamsnten and his Von der Chaden- wahl : Mysierium Magnum. Other notable works from his hand, are his seven Quellgeister , and likewise his study of the three first properties of eternal nature, a treatise in which some of his ardent devotees have found Sir Adam
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Newton's formula anticipated, and which certainly re- sembles Schelling's Theogonische Natur.
Alchemist or not himself, Boehme's writings demonstrate that he studied Paracclsas closely, while they also reflect -the influence of Valentine Weigel, and of the earliest -protestant mystic, Kaspar Schwenhfeld. Nor was it other •than natural that the latter should appeal keenly to the philosopher of Gorlitz, he too being essentially a stout Protestant, and having little or nothing in common with the mystics of other forms of Christianity. That is to say, he is seldom or never dogmatic, but always speculative, true Teuton that he was ; while his writings disclose none -of those religious ecstasies which fill the pages of Santa Theresa, and he never talks of Holding converse with spirits or angels, or with bygone saints ; he never refers to miracles worked on his behalf, practically the one ■exception being a passage where he tells how, when a shepherd boy on the Landskrone, he was vouchsafed an .apparition of a pail of gold. At the same time, he seems to have felt a curious and constant intimacy with the invisible world, he appears to have had a strangely per- spicacious vision of the Urgrund, as he calls it, which is, being literally translated, primitive cause ; and it was probably his gift in these particular ways, and the typically German clearness with which he sets down his ideas and convictions, which chiefly begot his vast and wide influence over subsequent people inclined to mysticism. Through- out the latter half of the seventeenth century, his works were translated into a number of different languages, and found a place in the library of nearly every broadminded English theologian ; while they proved a great and acknow- ledged source of inspiration to William Law, the author of ■Christian Perfection and A Serious Call to a Devout Life. Since then, various religious bodies, regarding Boehme as their high priest, have been founded in Great Britain and in Holland ; while in America, too, the sect known as Philadelphians owe their dominant tenets to the mystic of Gorlitz. W. S. B-M.
Uogey : Perhaps derived from the Slavonic bog, god. Other fbrms of the name of this ancient sprite, spectre or goblin are bug-a-boo, boo (Yorkshire), boggart, bogle (Scotland), boggle, bo-guest, bar-guest, boll, boman, and bock. Bull- beggar is probably a form of bu and bogey allied to boll '(Northern), an apparition.
Boguet Henri : Grand Justice of the district Saint Claude, in Burgundy, who died in 1619. He was the author of a work full of peurile and ferocious zeal against sorcerers. This book, published at the commencement of the seven- teenth century, was latterly burnt because of the inhu- manities which crowded its pages. It is entitled Discours des sorciers, with many instructions concerning how to judge sorcerers and their acts. It is, in short, a compilation •of procedures, at the majority of which the author has Tiimself presided, and which exhibit the most incredible absurdities and criminal credulity. In its pages we dis- cover the proceedings against the unfortunate little Louise Maillat, who at the age of eight was possessed of eight demons, of Francoise Secretain, a sorceress, who had meetings with the said demons, and who had the Devil for her lover, and of the sorcerers Gros-Jacques and Willir- moz. Claude Gailiard and Roland Duvernois and many others figure in the dreadful role of the sanguinary author's dread judgments. Boguet details the horrible doings of •the witches' Sabbath, how the. sorcerers caused hail to fall ■of which they made a powder to be used as poison, how they used an unguent which carried them to the Sabbath, .how a sorcerer was enabled to slay whom he would by means of a mere breath, and how, when arraigned before a judge they cannot shed tears. He further enlarges on the Devil's mark which was found on the skins of these
unfortunates, of how all sorcerers and magicians possess the power of changing their forms into those of wolves, and how, for these offences they were burnt at the stake without sacrament, so that they were destroyed body and soul. The work terminates with instructions to judges of cases of sorcery, and is often known as the Code des Sorciers.
Boh : A magical word greatly used to frighten children. " Boe," a Greek word is synonymous with the Latin " Clamor " signifying our English " cry ;" and it is possible that the cry of the ox "boo ' may have suggested this exclamation, as this sound would quite naturally be very terrifying to a young child. One also suspects some con- nection between this monosyllable and the " Bogle-boe ' or " bwgwly " of Welsh people. According to Warton, it was the name of a fierce Gothic general, whose name like those of other great conquerors" was remembered as a word of terror.
Bohmius, Jean : The author of a work entitled Pyschologie, a treatise on spirits, published at Amsterdam in 1632. Of its author nothing is known.
Bolomancy : (See Belomancy.)
Bonati : A Florentine astrologer who flourished in the thir- teenth century. He lived in a most original manner, and perfected the art of prediction. When the army of Martin IV, beseiged Forli, a town of the Romagna, defended by the Count of Montferrat.BoMatfi announced to the Count that he would succeed in repulsing the enemy, but that he would be wounded in the fray. The event justified his prediction, and the Count who had taken with him the necessary materials to staunch his wound in case the pro- phecy came true, became a devout adherent of astrology. Bonati became a Franciscan towards the close of his life, and died in 1300. His works were published by Jacobus Cauterus under the title of Liber Astronomicus, at Augsberg, in 1491.
Boniface VIII., Pope, who gained an unenviable notoriety in Dante's Inferno has been regarded by many as an ex- ponent of the black art, and so romantic are the alleged magical circumstances connected with him that they are worthy of repetition. Boniface, a noted jurisconsult, was born at Anagni, about 1228, and was elected Pope in 1294. He was a sturdy protagonist of papal sapremacy, and before he had been seated two years on the throne of St. Peter he quarrelled seriously with Phillippe le Bel, King of France, whom he excommunicated. This quarrel originated in the determination ot the king to check in his own dominions the power and insolence of the church and the ambitious pretensions of the see of Rome. In 1303, Phillippe's min- isters and agents, having collected pretended evidence in Italy, boldly accused Boniface of heresy and sorcery, and the king called a council at Paris to hear witnesses and pronounce judgment. The pope resisted, and refused to acknowledge a council not called by himself ; but the insults and outrages to which he was exposed proved too much for him, and he died the same year, in the midst of these vindictive proceedings. His enemies spread abroad a report, that in his last moments he had confessed his league with the demon, and that his death was attended with " so much thunder and tempest, with dragons flying in the air and vomiting flames, and such lightning and other prodigies, that the people of Rome believed that the whole city was going to be swallowed up in the abyss." His successor, Benedict xi. undertook to defend his memory but he died in the first year of his pontificate (in 1304), it was said by poison, and the holy see remained vacant during eleven months. In the middle of June, 1305, a Frenchman, the archbishop of Bordeaux, was elected to the papal chair under the title of Clement V.
It was understood that Clement was raised to the papacy
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in a great measure by the king's influence, who is said to have stipulated as one of the conditions, that he should allow of the proceedings against Boniface, which were to make his memory infamous. Preparations were again made to carry on the trial of Boniface, but the king's ne- cessities compelled him to seek other boons of the supreme pontiff, in consideration of which he agreed to drop the prosecution, and at last, in 13 12, Boniface was declared in the council of Vienne, innocent of all the offences with which he had been charged.
If we may place any faith at all in the witnesses who were adduced against him, Boniface was at bottom a freethinker, who concealed under the mitre the spirit of mockery which afterwards shone forth in his country- man Rabelais, and that in moments of relaxation, especially among those with whom he was familiar, he was in the habit of speaking in bold — even in cynical — language, of things which the church regarded as sacred. Persons were brought forward who deposed to having heard expressions from the lips of the pope, which, if not invented or exag- gerated, savour of infidelity, and even of atheism. Other persons deposed that it was commonly reported in Italy, that Boniface had communication with demons, to whom he offered his worship, whom he bound to his service by necromancy, and by whose agency he acted. They said further, that he had been heard to hold conversation with spirits in the night ; that he had a certain " idol," in which a " diabolical spirit" was enclosed, whom he was in the habit of consulting ; while others said he had a demon enclosed in a ring which he wore on his finger. The wit- nesses in general spoke of these reports only as things which they had heard ; but one a friar, brother Bernard de Sorano. deposed, that when Boniface was a cardinal, and held the office of notary to Nicholas III., he lay with the papal army before the castle of Puriano, and he (brother Bernard) was sent to receive the surrender of the castle. He returned with the cardinal to Viterbo, where he was lodged in the palace Late one night, as he and the car- dinal's chamberlain were looking out of the window of the room he occupied, they saw Benedict of Gaeta (which was Bomjace s name before he was made pope) enter a garden adjoining the palace, alone, and in a mysteiious manner. He made a circle on the ground with a sword, and placed himself in the middle, having with him a cock, and a fire in an earthen pot (in quadam olla terrea). Having seated himself in the middle of the circle, he killed the cock and threw its blood in the fire, from which smoke immediately issued, while Benedict read in a certain book to conjure demons. Presently brother Bernard heard a great noise (rumorem magnum) and was much terrified. Then he could distinguish the voice of some one saying, " Give us the share," upon which Benedict took the cock threw it out of the garden, and walked away without ut- tering a word. Though he met several persons on his way, he spoke to nobody, but proceeded immediately to a chamber near that of brother Bernard, and shut himself up. Bernard declared that, though he knew there was nobody in the room with the cardinal, he not only heard him talking all night, but he could distinctly perceive a strange voice answering him. Bonnevault, Pierre : A sorcerer of Poitou in the seventeenth century, who was arrested as he was on his way to the Devil's Sabbath. He confessed that on the first occasion he had been present at that unholy meeting he had been taken thither by his parents and dedicated to the Devil, to whom he had promised to leave his bones after death, but that he had not bargained to leave his infernal majesty his immortal soul. He admitted that he called Satan master, that the Enemy of Man had assisted him in various magical acts, and that he, Bonnevault, had slain various
persons through Satanic agency. In the end he was con- demned to death. His brother Jean, accused of sorcery at the same time, prayed to the Devil for assistance, and- was raised some four or five feet from the ground and dashed back thereon, his skin turning at the same time to a blue-black hue. He confessed that he had met at the Sabbath a young man through whom he had promised one of his fingers to Satan after his death. He also told how he had been transported through the air to the Sabbattt how he had received powders to slay certain people whom he named, and for these crimes he received the punishment of death.
Bonnevault, Maturin , de : Father of the preceding also accused of sorcery, visited by experts who found upon his right shoulder a mark resembling a small rose, and when a long pin was thrust into this he displayed such signs of distres? that it was judged that he must be a sor- cerer, indeed, he confessed that he had espoused Berthomee de la Bedouche, who with her father and mother practised sorcery, and how he had gone -to seek serpents and toads for the purposes of their sorceries. He said that the Sab- bath was held four times yearly, at the feasts of Saint John the Baptist, Christmas, Mardi gras and Paques. He had slain seven persons by sorcery, and avowed that he had been a sorcerer since he was seven years of age. He met a like fate with his sons.
Book of Celestial Chivalry : Appeared in the middle of the sixteenth century. It is of Spanish origin ; and treats of suppositious knightly adventures, in a semi-romantic, semi-mystical vein.
Book of Sacred Magic : (See Abraham the Jew.)
Book of Secrets : (See Kabala.)
Book of the Dead : An arbitrary title given to an Egyptian funerary work called pert em hru, the proper translation of which is : " coming forth by day," or '" manifested in the light." There are several versions or recensions of this work, namely those of Heliopolis, Thebes and Sais, these editions differing only inasmuch as they were edited by the colleges of priests founded at these centres. Many papyri of the work have been discovered, and passages from it have been inscribed upon the walls of tombs and pyramids, and on sarcophagi and mummy-wrappings. It is undoubtedly of extremely early date : how early it would indeed be difficult to say with any exactness, but in the course of centuries it was greatly added to and modi- fied. In all about 200 chapters exist, but no papyrus has been found containing all these. The chapters are quite independent of one another, and were probably all com- posed at different times. The main subject of the whole is the beatification of the dead, who were supposed to recite the chapters in order that they might gain power and enjoy the privileges of the new life.
The work abounds in magical references, and it is its magical side alone which wo can consider here. The whole trend of the Book of the Dead is thaumatmagic, as its purpose is to guard the dead against the dangers which they have to face in reaching the other world. As in most mythologies, the dead Egyptian had to encounter malig- nant spirits, and was threatened by many dangers before reaching his haven of rest. He had also to undergo judg- ment by Ofiris, and to justify himself before being per- mitted to enter the realms of bliss. This he imagined he could in great part accomplish by the recitation of various magical formula?, and spells, which would ward off the evil influences opposed to him. To this end every Egyptian of means had buried with him a papyrus of the Book of the Dead, in which was contained at least all the chapters necessary to his encounter with such formidable adversaries as he would meet at the gates of Amenti (q.v.), the Egyptian Hades, and which would assist him in making replies during
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his ceremony of justification. First amongst these spells were the " words of power " (See " Egypt "). The Egyp- tians believed that to discover the " secret " name of a god was to gain complete ascendancy over him. Sympathetic magic was in vogue in Egyptian burial practice, for we find in Egyptian tombs of the better sort, paintings of tables laden with viands of several descriptions, the in- scriptions attached to which convey the idea of boundless liberality. Inscriptions like the following are extremely common — " To the Ka or soul of so-and-so, 5,000 loaves of bread, 500 geese, and 5.000 jugs of beer." Those dedica- tions cost the generous donors little, as they merely had the objects named painted upon the wall of the tomb, imagining that their kas ox astral counterparts would be •eatable and drinkable by the deceased. This of course is merely an extension of the neolithic savage conception that articles buried with a man had their astral counter- parts and would be of use to him in another world.
Pictorial representation played a considerable part in the magical ritual of the Book of the Dead. One of the pleasures of the dead was to sail over Heaven in the boat of Ra, and to secure this for the deceased one must paint •certain pictures and mutter over them words of power. On this, Budge in his Egyptian Magic says : " On a piece of clean papyrus a boat is to be drawn with ink made of green abut mixed with anti water, and in it are to be figures •of Isis, Thoth, Shu, and Khepera, and the deceased ; when this had been done the papyrus must be fastened to the breast of the deceased, care being taken that it does not actually touch his body. Then shall his spirit enter into the boat of Ra each day, and the god Thoth shall take heed to him, and he shall sail about with him into any place that he wisheth. Elsewhere it is ordered that the boat of Ra be painted ' in a pure place,' and in the bows is to be painted a figure of the deceased ; but Ra was supposed to travel in one boat (called Atet) until noon, and another (called Sektet) until sunset, and provision had to be made for the deceased in both boats. How was this to be done ? On one side of the picture of the boat a figure of the morning boat of Ra was to be drawn, and on the other a figure of the afternoon boat ; thus the one picture was capable of becoming two boats. And, provided the proper offerings were made for the deceased on the birthday of Osiris, his soul would live for ever, and he would not die a second time. According to the rubric to the chapter in which these directions are given, the text of it is as old, at least, as the time of Hesepti, the fifth king of the 1st. dynasty, who reigned about B.C. 4350, and the custom of painting the boat upon papyrus is prob- ably contemporaneous. The two following rubrics from Chapters CXXXIII. and CXXXIV., respectively, will •explain still further the importance of such pictures : —
"1. ' This chapter shall be recited over a boat four cubits in length, and made of green porcelain (on which "have been painted) the divine sovereign chiefs of the cities ; and a figure of heaven with its stars shall be made also, and this thou shalt have made ceremonially pure by means of natron and incense. And behold, thou shalt make an -image of Ra in yellow colour upon a new plaque and set it at the bows of the boat. And behold, thou shalt make an image of the spirit which thou dost wish to make per- fect (and place it) in this boat, and thou shalt make it to travel about in the boat (which shall be made in the form of the boat) of Ra ; and he shall see the form of the god Ra himself therein. Let not the eye of any man what- soever look upon it, with the exception of thine own self, or thy father, or thy son, and guard (this) with great care. Then shall the spirit be perfect in the heart of Ra, and it shall give unto him power with the company of the gods ; and the gods shall look upon him as a divine being like
unto themselves ; and mankind and the dead shall fall down upon their faces, and he shall be seen in the under- world in the form of the radiance of Ra.'
"2. ' This chapter shall be recited over a hawk standing and having the white crown upon his head, (and over figures of) the gods Tern, Shu, Tefnut, Seb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Suti, and Nephthys, painted in yellow colour upon a new plaque, which shall be placed in (a model of) the boat (of Ra), along with a figure of the spirit whom thou wouldst make perfect. These thou shalt anoint with cedar oil, and incense shall be offered up to them on the fire, and feathered fowl shall be roasted. It is an act of praise to Ra as he journeyeth, and it shall cause a man to have his being along with Ra day by day, whithersoever the god vayageth ; and it shall destroy the enemies of Ra in very truth regularly and continually.' "
It was understood that the words of power were not to be spoken until after death. They were " a great mys- tery " but " the eye of no man whatsoever must see it, for it is a thing of abomination for every man to know it. Hide it, therefore ; the Book of the Lady of the Hidden Temple is its name." This would seem to refer to some spell uttered by Isis-Hathor which delivered the god Ra or Horus from trouble, or was of benefit to him, and it is concluded that it may be equally efficacious in the case of the deceased.
Many spells were included in the Book of the Dead for the purpose of preserving the mummy against mouldering, for assisting the owner of the papyrus to become as a god and to be able to transform himself into an)' shape he desired. Painted offerings were also provided for him in order that he might give gifts to the gods. Thus we see that the Book of the Dead was undoubtedly magical in its character, consisting as it did of a series of spells or words of power, which enabled the speaker to have perfect control over all the powers of Amenti. The only moment in which the dead man is not master of his fate is when his heart is weighed by Thoth before Osiris. If it does not conform to the standard required for justification, he is cast out ; but this excepted, an absolute knowledge of the Book of the Dead safeguarded the deceased in every way from the danger of damnation. So numerous are the spells and charms for the use of the- deceased, that to merely enumerate them would be to take up a good deal of space. A number of the chapters consist of prayers and hymns to the gods, but the directions as to the magical uses of the book are equally numerous, and the conception of supplication is mingled with the idea of circumvention by sorcery in the most extraordinary manner.
Book of the Sum Total : (See Avicenna and Jean de Menug.)
Book of Thel : (See Blake.)
Boolya : (See Magic.)
Boiaek : Mahomet's mare which he has put in Paradise. She has a human face, and stretches at each step as far as the furthest sight can reach.
Boreal Virtue : (See Fludd.)
Borri, Josephe-Franeois : An alchemistical imposter of the seventeenth century, born at Milan, in 1627. In youth his conduct was so wayward that at last he was compelled to seek refuge in a church in dread of the vengeance of those whom he had wronged. However, he speedily cloaked his delinquencies under the cloak of imposture and hypocrisy, and he pretended that God had chosen him to reform mankind and to re-establish His reign below. He also claimed to be the champion of the Papal power against all heretics and Protestants, and wore a wondrous sword which he alleged Saint Michael had presented him with. He said that he had beheld in heaven a luminous palm-branch which was reserved for him. He held that the Virgin was divine in nature, that she had conceived
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through inspiration, and that she was equal to her Son, with Whom she was present in the Eucharist, that the Holy Spirit was incarnate in her, that the second and third Persons of the Trinity were inferior to the Father. Accord- ing to some writers Borri proclaimed himself as the Holy Spirit incarnate. He was arrested after the death of Innocent X by order of the Inquisition, and on 3rd of January, 1661, condemned to be burnt as a heretic. But £e succeeded in escaping to Germany where he received much money from the Queen Christina to whom he claimed that he could manufacture the Philosophers' Stone. He afterwards fled to Copenhagen, whence he wished to sail to Turkey. But he was tracked to a small village hard by and arrested along with a conspirator. He was sent back to Rome, where he died in prison, August 10th, 1695. He is the author of a work entitled. The Key of the Cabinet of the Chevalier Borri (Geneva, 1681) which is chiefly concerned with elementary spirits, and it is this work which the Abbe de Villars has given in an abridged form as the Comte de Gabalis (q.v.).
Borroughs, George : (See America, U.S. of.)
Bors, Bohors or Boort : One of King Arthur's knights. He was associated with Sir Galahad and Lancelot in their search for the Holy Grail. He is the hero of many magical adventures, one of which we relate. During the quest for the Holy Grail, a damsel offers him her love, which he refuses ; and she, with twelve other damsels, thereupon threatens to throw herself from a tower. Bors, though of a kindly disposition, thinks they had better lose their souls than his. They fall from the tower, Bors crosses himself, and the whole vanishes, being a deceit of the devil. After the quest is ended Bors comes to Camelot ; he relates his adventures, which it is said were written down and kept in the Abbey of Salisbury.
Botanomancy : A method of divination by means of burning the branches of vervein and brier, upon which were carved the questions of the practitioner.
Bottle Imps : A class of German spirits, similar in many ways to Familiars. The following is the prescription of an old alchymist, given by the Bishop of Dromore in his Relics of Ancient Poetry, for the purpose of securing one of these fairies. First, take a broad square crystal or Vene- tian glass, about hree inches in breadth and length. Lay it in the blood of a white hen on three Wednesdays or three Fridays. Then take it and wash it with holy water and fumigate it. Then take three hazel sticks a year old ; take the bark off them ; make them long enough to write on them the name of the fairy or spirit whom you may desire three times on each stick, which must be flat on one side. Bury them under some hill haunted by fairies on the Wednesday before you call her ; and on the Friday following dig them out, and call her at eight, or three, or ten o'clock, which are good times for this purpose. In order to do so successfully one must be pure, and face to- ward- the East. When you get her, tie her to the glass.
Bourru : A monkish apparition spoken of in many tales as that of an imaginary phantom which appears to the Parisians, walking the streets in the darkest hours of the night, and glancing in at the windows of timid folk — passing and re-pa?sing a number of times. Nurses are wont to frighten their small charges with the Monk Bourru. The origin of the spectre is unknown.
Boville (or Bovillus), Charles de : A Picard who died about x553' He desired to establish in his work De sensu the opinion, anciently held, that the world is an animal,- — an idea also imagined by Felix Nogaret. Others works by Boville are his Lettres, his Life of Raymond Lully, his Traite des douze nombres, and his Trois Dialogues sur I'Im- mortalite" de VAme, le Resurrection, et la Fin du Monde.
Bowls, Magical [See Magic.)
Boxhorn, Mark Querius : A celebrated Dutch critic, born at Bergen-op -Zoom, in 1612. His Treatise on Dreams (Leyden 1639) is of great rarity.
Braccesco, Jean : A canon and alchemist of Brescia, who- flourished in the seventeenth century He gave much study to the hermetic philosophy, and commented upon the work of Geber. His most curious work is The Tree of Life a dissertation upon the uses of the Philosophers' Stone in medicine. (Rome. 1542.)
Bradlaugh, Charles : A prominent member of the Committee- of the London Dialectical Society, appointed in 1869 to investigate the alleged phenomena of spiritualism. He and Dr. Edmunds were among those who served on sub-
. committee No, 5, which held seances with Home, at which the phenomena were not at all satisfactory. The two ■ investigators named therefore signed a minority report, containing a careful and critical treatment of th»- evidence.
Bragadini, Mark Antony : An alchemist of Venice, beheaded in 1595, because he boasted that he had made some gold from a recipe which he had received from a demon. He was tried at Munich, by order of Duke William II. Two black dogs which accompanied him were also arrested, charged with being familiars, and duly tried. They were- shot with an arquebuse in the public square.
Brahan Seer, The : Coinneach Odhar (Kenneth Ore). Al- though Coinneach Odhar is still spoken of and believed in as a seer throughout the Highlands, and especially in the county of Ross and Cromarty, his reputation is of comparatively recent growth. The first literary reference- to him was made by Hugh Miller in his Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland (1835). About half a century later a collection of the Seer's predictions was published by the late Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, Inverness, the author of several clan histories. Many of these alleged foretellings are of a trivial character. The most important prophecies- attributed to Coinneach (Kenneth) are those which refer to the house of Seaforth Mackenzies. One, which is sup- posed to have been uttered in the middle of the seven- teenth century, foretold that the last of the Seaforths would be deaf. It was uttered at Brahan Castle, the chief seat of the Seaforths, near Dingwall, after the seer had been condemned to death by burning, by Lady Seaforth for some offensive remark. He declared to her ladyship that he would go to heaven, but she would never reach it. As a sign of this he declared that when he was burned a raven and a dove would hasten towards his ashes. If the dove was the first to arrive it would be proved his hope was well -founded. The same legend is attached to the memory of- Michael Scott — a rather suggestive fact. Ac- cording to tradition, Kenneth was burned on Chanonry Point, near Fortrose. No "record survives of this event. The first authentic evidence regarding the alleged seer, was unearthed by Mr. William M. Mackenzie, editor of ' Barbour's Bruce, who found among the Scottish Parlia- mentary records of the sixteenth century an order, which was sent to the Ross-shire authorities, to prosecute several wizards, including Coinneach Odhar. This was many years before there was a Seaforth. It is quite probable that Kenneth was burned, but the legendary cause of the tale must have been a " filling in " of late tradition. Kenneth's memory apparently had attached to it many floating prohecies and savings including those attributed to Thomas and Michael Scott. The sayings of "True Thomas " were hawked through the Highlands in Gaelic chap books, and so strongly did the bard appeal to the imaginations of the eighteenth century folks of Inverness, that they associate him with the Fairies- and Fingalians (Fians) of the local . fairy mound, Tom-na-hurich. A Gaelic saying runs,. " When the horn is blown, True Thomas will come forth." "
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Thomas took the place of Fingal (Finn or Fionn) as chief of the " Seven Sleepers " in Tom-na-hurich, Inverness. At Cromarty, which was once destroyed by the sea, Thomas is alleged to have foretold that it would be thrice destroyed. Of course, the Rhymer was never in Cromarty and probably knew nothing about it. As he supplanted Fingal at Inverness, so at Cromarty he appearr to have supplanted some other legendary individual. The only authentic historical fact which remains is that Coin- neach Odhar war a notorious wizard, and of mature years, in the middle of the sixteenth Century. Wizards were not necessarily seers. It is significant that no reference is made to Kenneth in the letters received by Pepys from Lord Reay, regarding second-sight in the seventeenth century, or in the account of Dr. Johnson's Highland tour, although the learned doctor investigated the pro- blem sympathetically.
In the Scottish Highlands no higher compliment could be paid to the memory of any popular man than to attribute to him the gift of " second sight." Rev. John Morrison, minister of Petty, near Inverness, who was a bard, was one of the reputed seers of this order. Many of his " wonderful sayings " were collected long after his death. Rev. Dr. Kennedy, a Dingwall Free Church minister, and a man of strong personality and pronounced piety, is reputed to have had not only the " gift of prophecy " but also the " gift of healing." He was himself a believer in " second sight " and stated that his father was able to foretell events. In his The Days of the Fathers in Ross-shire (1861), he makes reference to several individuals who were similarly
' " gifted " with what he believed to be a God-given power. One of his seers was reputed to have foretold the " Dis- ruption " of the Church of Scotland about sixteen years before the event took place. By this time the seers had acquired the piety of the people who believed in them. Even the notorious Kenneth, the Brahan seer a Pagan and a wizard, became glorified by doubtful tradition, like the notorious Michael Scott, one of his prototypes.
References to second sight in the Highlands are made in the following publications : Kirk's Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies ; Martin's Western Isles of Scotland ; Deuterosophia (Second Knowledge) or a Brief Discourse concerning Second Sight by Rev. John Frazer (Edinburgh, Ruddiman, Aned and Co, 1763), Miscellanies by John Aubrey, F.R.S (London, 1696). That there is sufficient evidence to justify the serious investigation of " Second sight " phenomena in the Scottish Highlands, no doubt can remain. But that is no reason why the " Brahan Seer " legends should be accepted as genuine, especially when it is found that Kenneth died before the Seaforth branch of the Mackenzies came into existence. Whoever foretold the fall of that house, it was certainly not the " notorious wizard " of the Scottish Parliamentary records. No doubt, Kenneth made himself notorious by tyrannizing over a superstitious people in the sixteenth century, ?.nd was remembered on that arcount. During his lifetime he must have been credited with many hap- penings supposed to have been caused by his spells. After his death- he gathered an undeserved reputation for prophecy and piety by the snowball process — a not un- familiar happening in the past of the Scottish Highlands, where Sir William Wallace, St. Patrick, St. Bean, and others were reputed to have been giants who flung glaciated boulders from hill-top to hill-top across wide glens and over lochs of respectable dimensions.
Donald Mackenzie.
Brahma Charin : (See India.)
Braid : (See Hypnotism.)
Breathings, The : One of the methods of yoga practice. There are three varieties of breathing amongst yogis : (1) by
quite emptying the lungs, and holding them so as long, as possible ; (2) by filling the lungs as full as may be ; and (3) by merely retaining whatever breath happens to be in them. It is thus possible to suppress thought, thereby saving up much vital force.
Bredis : French medium. (See France.)
Brian : In the Kabala, the third of the three stages of spirit progress, the three original ranks or classes. Men are- called upon to proceed from the lower to the higher. In the Apocalypse Briah is represented as the feet of " the mighty angel with the face of the sun."
Briatic World : (See Kabala.)
Briccriu surnamed " of the Poisoned Tongue": an Ulster chieftain mentioned in the myth of Cuchulain, a mediaevaL Irish romance. It is said that upon one occasion he asked certain warriors to a feast, and started the question of which of them was the greatest. Conall, Laery, and Cu- chulain, were selected, and a demon called " The Terrible " was requested to decide the point. He suggested who- ever could cut off his, The Terrible's, head to-day, and allow his own head to be cut off on the morrow, would be the most courageous, and therefore most deserve the title of champion. Cuchulain succeeded in beheading the devil, who immediately picked up his head and vanished. The next day he reappeared in his usual form in order to cut off Cuchulain's head. On his placing his head on the block, the demon told him to rise, and acknowledged that he was champion of Ireland.
Bridge of Souls : The superstition that the souls of the dead sought the other world by means of a bridge is pretty widely disseminated. The Rev. S. Baring Gould in his. Book of Folklore says : "As peoples became more civilised and thought more deeply of the mystery of death, they conceived of a place where the souls lived on, and being puzzled to account for the rainbow, came to the conclusion that it was a bridge by means of which spirits mounted to their abode above the clouds. The Milky Way was called variously the Road of the Gods or the Road of Souls. Among the Norsemen, after Odin had constructed his heavenly palace, aided by the dwarfs, he reared the bridge Bifrost, which men call the rainbow, by which it could be reached. It is of three colours ; that in the middle is red, and is of fire, to consume any unworthy souls that would venture up the bridge. In connection with this idea of a bridge uniting heaven and earth, up which souls ascended, arose the custom of persons constructing bridges for the good souls of their kinsfolk. On runic grave-stones in Denmark and Sweden we find such inscriptions as these: ' Nageilfr had this bridge built for Anund, his good son.' ' The mother built the bridge for her only son.' ' Hold- fast had the bridge constructed for Hame, his father, who lived in Viby.' ' Holdfast had the road made for Igul. and for Ura, his dear wife.' At Sundbystein, in the Up- lands, is an inscription showing that three brothers and sisters erected a bridge over a ford for their father.
The bridge as a means of passage for the soul from this earth to eternity must have been known also to the Ancients for in the cult of Demeter, the goddess of Death, at Eleusis, where her mysteries were gone through, in order to pass at once after death into Elyisium, there was an order of Bridge priestesses ; and the goddess bore the name of the Lady of the Bridge. In Rome also the prieft was a bridge-builder pontifex, as he undertook the charge of souls. In Austria and parts of Germany it is still sup- posed that children's souls are led up the rainbow to heaven. Both in England and among the Chinese it is regarded as a sin to point with the finger at the bow. With us no trace of the idea that it is a Bridge of Souls remains. Prob- ably this was thought to be a heathen belief and was ac- cordingly forbidden, for children in the North of England
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to this day when a rainbow appears, make a cross on the ground with a couple of twigs or straws, " to cross out the bow." The .West Riding recipe for driving away a rain- bow is : " Make a cross of two sticks and lay four pebbles on it, one at each end."
Brig of Dread, The : There is an old belief, alluded to by Sir Walter Scott, that the soul, on leaving the body, has to pass over the Brig of Dread, a bridge as narrow as a thread, crossing a great gulf. If the soul succeed in passing it he shall enter heaven, if he fall off he is lost.
Brimstone : Pliny says that houses were formerly hallowed against evil spirits by the use of Brimstone.
Brisin : An enchantress who figures in the Morte d' Arthur. She plays an important part in the annunciation of Galahad and the allurement of Lancelot.
British National Association of Spiritualists : A society formed in 1873, mainly through the instrumentality of Mr. Dawson Rogers, to promote the interests of spiritualism in Great Britain. It numbered among its original vice- presidents and members of council the most prominent spiritualists of the day — Benjamin Coleman, Mrs. Mak- dongall Gregory, Sir Charles Isham, Messrs. Jacken, Dawson Rogers, and Morell Theobald, Drs. Wyld, Stanhope Speer, and many others — while many eminent people of other lands joined the association as corresponding members. The B.N.A.S. in 1882 decided to change its name to " The Central Association of ' Spiritualists." Among its com- mittees was one for systematic research into the pheno- ^mena of spiritualism, in which connection some interesting scientific experiments were made in 1878. Early in 1882 conferences were held at the Association's rooms, presided over by Professor Barrett, which resulted in the formation of the Society for Psychical Research. Many members of the latter society were recruited from the council of the B.N.A.S., such as the Rev. Stainton Moses, Dr. George Wyld, Messrs. Dawson Rogers, and Morell Theobald. The B.N.A.S. was at first associated with the Spiritualist, edited by W. H. Harrison, but in 1879 the reports of its proceedings were transferred to Spiritual Notes, a paper which, founded in the previous year, came to an end in 1881, as did also the Spiritualist. In the latter year Dawson Rogers founded Light, with which the society was henceforth associated. From the beginning of its career, the B.N. A .S. has held itself apart from religious and philosophical dogmatism, and has included among, its members spiritualists of all sects and opinions.
British Spiritual Telegraph : Spiritualistic journal. (See Spiritualism.)
Britten, Mrs. Emma Hardinge : Mrs. Emma Hardinge, after- wards Mrs. Hardinge Britten, was a distinguished " in- spirational " speaker, a native of London, but whose first championship of spiritualism was carried out in America. In 1865 she came to Britain with the intention of retiring from active service, but was persuaded by the spiritualists there to continue her labours. Her eloquent extempore lectures, delivered presumedly under spirit control, dealt often with subjects chosan by the audience, and were of a lofty and erudite character. She was the author of a History of Modem American Spiritualism, and a careful, if biased resume of spiritualism in all parts of the world, entitled Nineteenth Century Miracles.
Broseliande : A magic forest in Brittany, which figures in the Arthurian legend. It was in this place that Merlin was enchanted by Nimue or Viviana, Lady of the Lake, and imprisoned beneath a huge stone. The name Bro- celiande is often employed as symbolic of the dim un- reality of legendary scenery.
Brohou, Jean : A physician of Coutarces, in the seventeenth century. He was the author of an Almanack or Journal of Astrology, with prognostications for the year 1572,
(Rouen, 1571), and a Description d'une Merveilleuse et Prodiigeuse Comete, with a treatise on comets, and the events they prognosticate (Paris, 1568;.
Broichan, or Druid : (See Celts.)
Broom : In Roumania and Tuscany it is thought that a broom laid beneath the pillow will keep witches and evil spirits away.
Broomstick : Witches were wont to ride through the air on switches or broomsticks, on their nocturnal journey to the Sabbath. Does the broomstick magically take the place of a flying horse ?
Brotherhood of the Trowel : An esoteric society which sprang up at Florence towards the end of the fifteenth century, which was composed of eminent architects, sculptors and painters ; and continued in existence for over four hundred years. Their patron was St. Andrew, whose festival was commemorated annually by ceremonies allied to the old Mysteries:
Brothers of Purity : An association of Arab philosophers founded at Bosra in the tenth century. They had forms of initiation, and they wrote many works which were afterwards much studied by the Jews of Spain.
Brown, John Mason : on prophecy by American medicine man. (See Divination.)
Browne, Sir Thomas : A learned English medical man who died in 1682 at an advanced ' age. Besides, his famous Religio Medici and Urn Burial, he was chiefly celebrated by the manner in which he combatted popular errors in a work entitled Pseudodoxia Epadinium, an essay on popu- lar errors, — an examination of many circumstances in his time received as veritable facts, and which he proved to be false or doubtful. But frequently the learned author replaces one error by anotner, if on the whole his book is wonderfully accurate considering the date of its composi- tion. The work is divided into seven books, the first of which deals with those errors which spring from man's love of the marvellous ; the second, errors arising from popular beliefs concerning plants and metals, the third, absurd beliefs connected with animals ; the fourth book treats of errors relative to man ; the fifth, errors recorded by pictures ; the sixth deals with cosmographical and historical errors , and the seventh, with certain commonly accepted absurdities concerning the wonders of the world. For the publication of this work he was charged with atheism, which drew from him his famous Religio Medici.
Bruhesen, Peter Van : A Dutch doctor and astrologer who died at Bruges, in 1571. He published in that town in 1550 a Grand and Perpetual Almanack in which he scrupu- lously indicated by the tenets of judicial astrology the correct days for bathing, shaving, hair-cutting and so forth. The work caused offence to a certain magistrate of Bruges who plied the tonsorial trade, with the result that there appeared against Bruhesen's volume another Grand and Perpetual Almanack, with the flippant sub- title a scourge for empirics and charlatans. This squib was published by a rival medico, Francois Rapaert, but Peter Haschaerts, a surgeon, and a protagonist of astro- logical science, warmly defended Bruhesen in his Astro- logical Buckler.
Bruillant : One of the actors mentioned in the Grand Saint Graal. He it was who discovered the Grail Sword in Solomon's ship, and with it slew Lambor. For this use of the holy sword, however, the whole of Britain suffered, for no wheat grew, the fruit trees bare no fruit, and there was no fish in the sea. Bruillant himself was punished with death.
Buckingham, Duke of : (See England.)
Buddhic Plane : (See Intuitional World.)
Buer : According to Wierius, a demon of the second class. He has naturally the form of a star, and is gifted with a
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knowledge of philosophy and of the virtues of medicinal herbs. He gives domestic feliticy and health to the sick. He has charge over fifteen legions.
Buguet : A French photographer who came to London in 1874 and there produced spirit photographs with consid- erable skill. Many persons claimed to recognise their friends in the spirit pictures, and even after Buguet had been arrested, and had confessed that he had resorted to trickery, there were yet a number of persons who refused to believe that he was a fraud, and thought that he had been bribed to confess trickery of which he was innocent. (See Spirit Photography.)
Bune : According to Wierius a most powerful demon, and one of the Grand Dukes of the Infernal Regions. His form is that of a man. He does not speak save by signs only, He removes corpses, haunts cemeteries, and marshals the demons around tombs and the places of the dead. He enriches and renders eloquent those who serve him. Thirty legions of the infernal army obey his call. The demons who own his sway called Bunis, are regarded by the Tartars as exceedingly evil. Their power is great and their number immense. But their sorcerers are ever in communication with these demons by means of whom they carry on their dark practices.
Burgot, Pierre : A werewolf, burned at Besancon in 1521 with Michel Verdun (q.v.).
Burial with Feet to the East : It was- formerly the custom among Christians to bury their dead with the feet towards the east and head towards the west. Various reasons are given for this practice, some authorities stating that the corpse was placed thus in preparation for the reser- rection, when the dead will rise with their faces towards the east. Others think this mode of burial is practised in imitation of the posture of prayer.
Burma : A country east of India and south of China, and a province of British India, inhabited by an indigenous stock of Indo-Chinese type which originally migrated from Western China, at different periods, and which is now represented by three principal divisions, the Talaings, ■the Shans, and the Bama, or Burmese proper, although groups of several other allied races are found in the more remote portions of the country. The civilised part of the community, which, roughly speaking, is perhaps one half of the population, recognizes a religion the constituents of which are animism (q.v.) and Indian Brahmanic demon- olatry, modified to some extent by Buddhistic influences, and this cult if steadily making progress in the less en- lightened and outlying tribes. We have here to do only with that portion of the popular belief which deals with the more directly occult and with superstition, and we shall refrain from any description of Burmese religion proper which presents similar features to those cults from which it takes its origin, and which are fully described elsewhere.
The Burmese believe the soul immaterial and indepen- dent of the body, to which it is only bound by special attraction. It can quit and return to the body at will, but can also be captured and kept from returning to it. After death the soul hovers near the corpse as an invisible butterfly, known as leippya. A witch or demon may captuie the leippya while it wanders during the hours of sleep, when sickness is sure to result. Offerings are made to the magician or devil to induce him to release the soul. The Kachins of the Northern Hills of Burma believe that persons having the evil eye possess two souls, the secondary soul being the cause of the malign influence.
Belief in Spirits. — Belief in spirits, mostly malign, is very general in Burma, and takes a prominent place in the religious belief of the people. The spirits of rain, wind
and the heavenly bodies are in that condition of evolution which usually results in their becoming full-fledged deities, with whom placation gives place to worship. But the spirits of the forest are true demons with well-marked animistic characteristics. Thus the nat or seiktha dwells in every tree or grove. His nature is usually malign, but occasionally we find him the tutelar or guardian of a village. In any case he possesses a shrine where he may be propiatiated by gifts of food and drink. Several of these demoniac figures have almost achieved godhead, so widespread have their cults become, and Hmin Nat, Chiton, and Wannein Nat, may be instanced as fiends of power, the dread of which has spread across extensive district". The nals are probably of Indian origin, and although now quite animistic in character may at one time have been members of the Hindu pantheon. Many spirit families such as the Seikkaso, Akathaso, and Bammaso, who inhabit various parts of the jungle trees, are of Indian origin. The fulfilment of every wish depends upon the nats or spirits, who are all powerful as far as man is con- cerned. They are innumerable. Every house has its complement, who swarm in its several rooms and take up their abode in its hearth, door-posts, verandahs, and corners. The nats also inhabit or inspire wild beasts, and all misfortune is supposed to emanate from them. The Burmans believe that the more materialistic dead haunt the living with a malign purpose. The people have a great dread of their newly deceased ancestors, whom they imagine to haunt the vicinity of their dwellings for the purpose of ambushing them. No dead body may be carried to a cemetery except by the shortest route, even should this necessitate the cutting a hole in the wall of the house. The spirits of those who have died a violent death haunt the scene of their fatality. Like the ancient Mexicans (See Ciupipiltin1, the Burmans have a great dread of the ghosts of women who have died in childbed. The Kachins believe such women to turn into vampires (swawmx) who are accompanied by their children when these die with them. The spirits of children are often, supposed to in- habit the bodies of cats and dogs. The Burmans are extremely circumspect as to how they speak and act to- wards the inhabitants of the spirit-world, as they believe that disrespect or mockery will at once bring down upon them misfortune or disease. An infinite number of guardian spirits is included in the Burman demonological system, and these are chiefly supposed to be Brahmanic importations. These dwell in the houses like the evil nats, and are the tutelars of village communities, and even of clans. They are duly propitiated, at which ceremonies rice, beer, and tea-salad are offered to them. Women are employed as exorcists in a case of driving out the evil nats, but at the festivals connected with the guardian nats they are not permitted to officiate.
Necromancy and Occult Medicine. — Necromancy is of general occurrence among the Burmese. The weza or wizards are of two kinds, good and evil, and these are again each subdivided into four classes, according to the materials which they employ, as, for example, magic squares, mercury or iron. The native doctors profess to cure the diseases caused by witchcraft, and often specialise in various ail- ments. Besides being necromantic, medicine is largely astrological. There is said to be in Lower Burma a town of wizards at Kale Thaungtot on the Chindwin River, and many journey thence to have the effects of bewitchment neutralised by its chief. Sympathetic magic is employed to render an enemy sick. Indian and native alchemy and cheiromancy are exceedingly rife. Noise is the uni- versal method of exorcism, and in cases of illness the patient is often severely beaten, the idea being that the fiend which- possesses him is the sufferer.
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Mediums and Exorcists. — The tumsa or natsaw are magi- cians, diviners, or " wise " men and women who practise their arts in a private and not in a hierophantic capacity among the rural Burmans. The wise man physician who works in iron (than weza) is at the head of his profession, and sells amulets which guard the purchasers from injury, female mediums profess to be the spouses of certain nats, and can only retain their supernatural connection with a certain spirit so long as they are wed to him. With the exorcists training is voluntary and even perfunctory. But with the mediums it is severe and prolonged. Among the civilised Burmans a much more exhaustive apprentice- ship is demanded. Indeed a" thorough and intricate knowledge of some departments of magical and astrological practice is necessary to recognition by the brotherhood, the entire art of which is medico-magical, consisting of the eorcism of evil spirits from human beings and animals. The methods employed are such as usually accompany exorcism among all semi-civilised peoples, that is, dancing, flagellation of the afflicted person, induction of ectasy, oblation to the fiend in possession, and noise.
Prophecy and Divination. — These are purely popular in Burma, and not hierophantic, and in some measure are controlled bv the use of the Deitton, an astrological book of Indian origin. The direction in which the blood of a sacrificed animal flows, the knots in torn leaves, the length of a split bamboo pole, and the whiteness or otherwise of a hard-boiled egg, serve among others as methods of au- gury. But by far the most important mode of divination in use in Burma is that by means of the bones of fowls. It is indeed universal as deciding all the difficulties of Burmese existence. Those wing or thigh bones in which the holes exhibit regularity are chosen. Pieces of bamboo are inserted into these holes, and the resulting slant of the stick defines the augury. If the stick slants outwards it decides in favour of the measure under test. If it slants inwards, the omen is unfavourable. Other methods of divination are by the entrails of animals and by the con- tents of blown eggs.
Astrology. — Burmese astrology derives both from Indian and Chinese sources, and powerfully affects the entire people. Every Burman is fully aware from his private astrologer, of the trend of his horoscope regarding the near future, and while active and enterprising on his lucky days, nothing will induce him to undertake any form of work should the day be pyaithadane or ominous. The Bedin- saya, or astrologers proper, practise a fully developed Hindu astrology, but they are few in number, and are practically neglected for the rural soothsayers, who follow the Chinese system known as Hpewan, almost identical with the Taoist astrological tables of Chinese diviners. From this system are derived horoscopes, fortunes, happy marriages, and prognostications regarding business affairs. But in practice the system is often confounded with the Buddhist calendar and much confusion results. The Buddhist calendar is in popular use, whilst the Hpewan is purely astrological. Therefore the Burman who is ig- norant of the latter must perforce consult an astrologer who is able to collate the two regarding his lucky and unlucky days. The chief horoscopic influences are day of birth, day of the week, which is represented by the symbol of a certain animal, and the position of the dragon's mouth to the terminal syllables of- the day-names.
Magic. — Burmese magic consists in the making of charms the manufacture of occult medicine which will cause hallu- cination, second sight, the prophetic state, invisibility, or invulnerability. It is frequently " sympathetic." (See Magic) and overlaps into necromancy and astrology. It does not appear to be at all ceremonial, and is to a great extent unsophisticated, save where it has been influenced
by Indian and Buddhist monks, who also draw on native sources to enlarge their own knowledge.
LITERATURE.— Temple, The Thirty-seven Nats, 1906 ; Scott and Hardiman, Gazeteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States, 1900-1901 ; The Indian Antiquary, Vols. XVII.-XXXVI. ; Fielding Hall, The Soul of a people.
Busardier : An alchemist of whom few particulars are on record. Ho lived at Prague with a noble Courtier. Fall- ing sick and feeling the approach of death, he sent a letter to his friend Richtausen, at Vienna, asking him to come and stay with him during his last moments. Richtausen set out at once but on arriving at Prague found that Busardier was dead. On inquiring if the adept had left anything behind him the steward of the nobleman with whom he had lived stated that only some powder had been left which the nobleman desired to preserve. Richtausen by some means got possession of the powder and took his departure. On discovering this the nobleman threatened to hang his steward if he did not recover the powder. The steward surmising that no one but Richtausen could have taken the powder, armed himself and set out in pursuit. Overtaking him on the road he at the point of the pistol, made Richtausen hand over the powder. Richtausen however contrived to abstract a considerable quantity. Richtausen knowing the value of the powder presented himself to the Emperor Ferdinand, himself an alchemist, and gave him a quantity of the powder. The Emperor assisted by his Mine Master, Count Russe, succeeded in converting three pounds of mercury into gold by means of one grain of the powder. The Emperor is said to have commemorated the event by having a medal struck bear- ing the effigy of Apollo with the caduceus of Mercury and an appropriate motto.
Richtausen was ennobled under the title of Baron Chaos. Mr. A. E. Waite in his Lives of the Alchemists states that " Among many transformations performed by the same powder was one by the Elector of Mayence, in 1651. He made projections with all the precautions possible to a learned and skilful philosopher. The powder enclosed in gum tragacanth to retain it effectually, was put into the wax of a taper, which was lighted, the wax being then placed at the bottom of a crucet. These preparations were undertaken by the Elector himself. He poured four ounces of quicksilver on the wax, and put the whole into a fire covered with charcoal above, below and around. Then they began blowing to the utmost, and in about half an hour on removing the coals, they saw that the melted gold was over red, the proper colour being green. The baron said the matter was yet too high and it was necessary to put some silver into it. The Elector took some coins out of his pocket, put them into the melting pot, combined the liquefied silver with the matter in the crucet, and having poured out the whole when in perfect fusion into aiingot, he found after cooling, that it was very fine gold, but rather hard, which was attributed to the lingot. On again melting, it became exceedingly soft and the Master of the Mint declared to His Highness that it was more than twenty- four carats and that he had never seen so fine a quality of the precious metal."
Butter, Witches' : The devilgives to the witches of Sweden cats which are called carriers, because they are sent by their mistresses to steal in the neighbourhood. The greedy animals on such occasions cannot forbear to satisfy their own appetites. Sometimes they eat to repletion and are obliged to disgorge their stolen meal. Their vomit is always found in kitchen gardens, is of a yellow colour, and is called witches' butter.
Byron, Lord (See Haunted Houses.)
Byron, Sir John : (See Haunted Houses.)
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Caacrinolaas : According to Wierius (q.v.) Grand President of Hell, also known as Caasimolar and Glasya. He is figured in the shape of a god with the wings of a griffon. He is supposed to inspire knowledge of the liberal arts, and to incite homicides. It is this fiend who can render man invisible. He commands thirty-six legions. Cabiri, or more properly Cabeiri : A group of minor deities of Greek origin, of the nature and worship of whom very little is known. The name appears to be of Semitic origin, signifying the " great gods," and the Cabiri seem to have been connected in some manner with the sea, protecting sailors and vessels. The chief seats of their worship were Lemnos, Samothrace, Thessalia and Bceotia. They were originally only two in number — the elder identified with Dionysus, and the younger identified with Hermes, who was also known as Cadmilus. Their worship was at an early date amalgamated with that of Demeter and Ceres, with the result that two sets of Cabiri came into being — Dionysus and Demeter, and Cadmilus and Ceres. A Greek writer of the second century B.C. states that they were four in number — Axisros, Axiokersa, Axiokersos, and Cas- milus, corresponding, he states to Demeter, Persephone, Hades and Hermes. The Romans identified the Cabiri with the Penates. In Lemnos a festival of these deities was held annually and lasted nine days, during which all domestic and other fires were extinguished, and sacred fire was brought from Delos. From this fact it has been judged that the Cabiri may have been volcanic demons ; but this view has latterly been abandoned. It was in Samothracia that the cult of the Cabiri attained its widest significance, and in this island as early as the fifth century B.C. their mysteries were held with great eclat, and at- tracted almost universal attention. Initiation into these was regarded as a safeguard against misfortune of all kinds, and persons of distinction exerted all their influence to become initiates. In 1888 interesting details as to the bacchanal cult of the Cabiri were obtained by the excava- tion of their temple near Thebes. Statues of a deity called Cabeiros were found, attended by a boy cup-bearer. His attributes appear to be bacchic.
The Cabiri are often mentioned as powerful magicians, and Herodotus and other writers speak of the Cabiri as sons of Vulcan. Cicero, however, regards them as the children of Proserpine ; and Jupiter is often named as their father. Strabo, on the other hand, regards them as the ministers of Hecate and Bochart recognises in them the three principal infernal deities, Pluto, Proserpine, and Mercury. It is more than likely that they were originally of Semitic Or Egyptian origin — more probably the former ; but we find a temple of Memphis consecrated to them in Egypt- It is not unlikely, as Herodotus supposes, that the cult is Pelasgian in origin, as it is known that the Pe- lasgians occupied the island of Samothrace, and established there certain mysteries, which they afterwards carried to Athens. There are also traditions that the worship of the Cabiri originally came from the Troad, a Semitic centre. Kenrick in his Egypt before Herodotus brings forward the following conclusions concerning the Cabiri : — " 1. The existence of the worship of the Cabiri at Mem- phis under a pigmy form, and its connection with the worship of Vulcan. The coins of Thessalonica also es- tablish this connection ; those which bear the legend ' Kabeiros ' having a figure with a hammer in his hand, the pileus and apron of Vulcan, and sometimes an anvil near the feet.
"2. The Cabiri belonged also to the Phoenician the- ology. The proofs are drawn from the statements of Herodotus. Also the coins of Cossyra, a Phoenician settle-
ment, exhibit a dwarfish figure with the hammer and short apron, and sometimes a radiated head, apparently allusive to the element of fire, like the star of the Dioscuri.
" 3. The isle of Lemnos was another remarkable seat of the worship of the Cabiri and of Vulcan, as representing the element of fire. Mystic rites were celebrated here over which they presided, and the coins of the island ex- hibit the head of Vulcan, or a Cabirus, with the pileus, hammer and forceps. It was this connection with fire, metallurgy, and the most remarkable product of the art, weapons of war, which caused the Cabiri to be identified with the Cureks of Etolia, the Ida^i Dactyli of Crete, the Corybantes of Phrygia, and the Telchines of Rhodes. They were the same probably in Phoenician origin, the same in mystical and orgiastic rites, but different in number, gene- alogy, and local circumstances, and by the mixture of other mythical traditions, acceding to the various coun- tries in which their worship prevailed. The fable that one Cabirus had been killed by his brother or brothers' was probably a moral mythus representing the result of the invention of armour, and analogous to the story of the mutual destruction of the men in brazen armour, who sprang.from the dragon's teeth sown by Cadmus and Jason. It is remarkable that the name of the first fratricide sig- nifies a ' lance,' and in Arabic a ' smith.'
" 4. The worship of the Cabiri prevailed also in Imbros, near the entrance of the Hellespont, which makes it probable that the great gods in the neighbouring island of Samothrace were of the same origin. The Cabiri, Cu- retes, and Corybantes appear to have represented air as well as fire. This island was inhabited by Pelasgi, who may have derived from the neighbouring country of Thrace and Phrygia, and with the old Pelasgic mysteries of Ceres. Hence the various explanations given of the Samothracan deities, and the number of them so differently stated, some making them two, some four, some eight, the latter agree- ing with the number of early Egyptian gods mentioned by Herodotus. It is still probable that their original number was two, from their identification with the Dios- curi and Tyndarida?, and from the number of the Pataeci on Phoenician vessels. The addition of Vulcan as their father or brother made them three, and a fourth may have been their mother Cabira.
"5. The Samothracian divinities continued to be held in high veneration in late times, but are commonly spoken of in connection with navigation, as the twin Dioscuri or Tyndaridas ; on the other hand the Dioscuri are spoken of as the Curetes or Corybantes. The coins of Tripolis exhibit the spears and star of the Dioscuri, with the legend' Cabiri.' " 6. The Roman Penates have been identified with the Dioscuri, and Dionysius states that he had seen two figures of ancient workmanship, representing youths armed with spears, which, from an antique inscription on them, he knew to be meant for Penates. So, the 'Lares ' of Etruria and Rome.
" 7. The worship of the Cabiri furnishes the key to the wanderings of iEneas, the foundation of Rome, and the War of Troy itself, as well as the Argonautic expedition. Samothrace and the Troad were so closely connected in this worship, that it is difficult to judge in which of the two it originated, and the gods of Lavinium, the supposed colony from Troy, were Samothracian. Also the Palla- dium, a pigmy image, was connected at once with iEneas and the Troad, with Rome, Vesta, and the Penates, and the religious belief and traditions of several towns in the south of Italy. Mr. Kenrick also recognises a mythical personage in .lEneas, whose attributes were derived from those of the Cabiri, and continues with some interesting
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observations on the Homeric fables. He concludes that the essential part of the War of Troy originated in the desire to connect together and explain the traces of an ancient religion. It fine, he notes one other remarkable circumstance, that the countries in which the Samothracian and Cabiriac worship prevailed were peopled either by the Pelasgi, or by the iEolians, who of all the tribes com- prehended under the general name Hellenes, approach the most nearly in antiquity and language to the Pelasgi ' We seem warranted, then (our author observes), in two conclusions ; first, that the Pelasgian tribes in Italy, Greece and Asia were united in times reaching high above the commencement of history, by community of religious ideas and rites, as well as letters, arts, and language ; and, secondly, that large portions of what is called the heroic history of Greece, are nothing else than fictions devised to account for the traces of this affinity, when time and the ascendancy of other nations had destroyed the prim- itive connection, and rendered the cause of the similarity obscure. The original derivation of the Cabiriac system from Phoenicia and Egypt is a less certain, though still highly probable conclusion.
" 8. The name Cabiri has been very generally deduced the Phoenician "mighty ' and this etymology is in accor- dance with the fact that the gods of Samothrace were called ' Divi potes.' Mr. Kenrick believes, however, that the Phoenicians used some other name which the Greeks translated ' Kabeiros,' and that it denoted the two elements of fire and wind."
Pococke in his India in Greece will have it that the Cabiri are the 'Khyberi " or people of the " Khyber," or a Bud- dhist tribe — a totally unlikely origin for them.
In the Generations of Sanconiathon, the Cabiri are claimed for the Phoenicians, though we understand the whole mystically. The myth proceeds thus. Of the Wind and the Night were born two mortal men, iEon and Proto- gonus. The immediate descendants of these were, 'Genus ' and ' Genea,' man and w6man. To Genus were born three mortal children, Phos, Pur, and Phlox, who discovered fire, and these again begat " sons of vast bulk and height, whose names were given to the mountains in which they dwelt, Cassiul, Libanus, Antilibanus, and Brathu. The issue of these giant men by their own mothers were Mein- rumus, Hypsuranius, and Usous. Hypsuranius inhabited Tyre ; and Usous becoming a huntsman, consecrated two pillars to fire and the wind, with the blood of the wild beasts that he captured. In times long subsequent to these, the race of Hypsuranius gave being to Agreus and Halieus, inventors, it is said, of the arts of hunting and fishing. From these descended two brothers, one of whom was Chrysor or Hephaestus ; in words, charms and divinations ; he also invented boats, and was the first that sailed. His brother first built walls with bricks, and their descendants in the second generation seem to have completed the invention of houses, by the addition of courts, porticos, and crypts. They are called Aletae and Titans, and in their time began husbandry and hunting with dogs. From the Titans descended Amynus, a builder, and Magus, who taught men to construct villages and tend flocks ; and of these two were begotten Misor (perhaps Mizraim), whose name signifies Well-freed ; and Sydic, whose name denotes the Just ; these found the use of salt. We now come to the important point in this line of wonders. From Misor descended Taautus (Thoth, Athothis, or Hermes Trismegistus), who invented letters ; and from Sydic descended the Dioscuri, or Cabiri, or Cory- bantes, or Samothraces. These, according to Sanconia- thon, first built a complete ship, and others descended from them who discovered medicine and charms. All this dates prior to Babylon and the gods of Paganism,
the elder of whom are next introduced in the ' Generations.' Finally, Sanconiathon settles Poseidon (Neptune) and the Cabiri at Berytus ; but not till circumsision, the sac- rifice of human beings, and the portrayal of the gods had been introduced. In recording this event, the Cabiri are called husbandmen and fishermen, which leads to the presumption that the people who worshipped those ancient gods were at length called by their name.
But little is known regarding the methods of initiation: — " The candidate for initiation was crowned with a garland of olive, and wore a purple band round his loins. Thus attired, and prepared by secret ceremonies (probably mes- meric), he was seated on a throne brilliantly lighted, and the other initiates then danced round him in hieroglyphic measures. It may be imagined that solemnities of this nature would easily degenerate into orgies of the most immoral tendency, as the ancient faith and reverence for sacred things perished, and such was really the case. Still, the primitive institution was pure in form and beautiful in its mystic signification, which passed from one ritual to another, till its last glimmer expired in the freema- sonry of a very recent period. The general idea represented was the passage through death to a higher life, and while the outward senses were held in the thrall of magnetism, it is probable that revelations, good or evil, were made to the high priests of these ceremonies."
It is extremely difficult to arrive at any scientific con- clusion regarding the origin of the Cabiri, but, to summarise, they were probably of Semitic origin, arriving in Greece through Phoenician influence ; and that they approximated in character to the gods with whom the Greeks identified them is extremely likely. (See Strabo.L. 10 ; Varro, DeLinguaLatina,